History and Thin Ice

At the front of the picture, under the trees, is thin ice.  A penguins dream, fun to slide on but not to thick.  Beyond that is the documentary history of the United States, the National Archives.  This was taken from the Hirshorn Museum of Art - one of the best views in the City.

TR

LA is a great big subway . . . actually it is a nice system. Reasonably clean and efficient and avoids the traffic. It needs about 10 times as many lines and stations. 
TR

Ho! Ho! Ho!

Merry Christmas!

2011 was a great year.  We traveled to lots of interesting places, ate well, lived well and had a lot of fun.  May 2012 be just as amazing!

TR

I wonder

I wonder if the horses watch them selves on the TV monitor, or on the live animation?  The screens have changed the nature of watching a horse race, for Keenland in Lexington Kentucky it has only been a little over a decade since they added a live announcer to the races, and to go from there to live video is quite a jump.  So, if you were the horse, would you want to watch?  I wonder if they say, the camera really adds a 100 pounds?

TR

Fashion Inspiration

How to you think I would look in something like this?  You have to admit, we penguins tend to be a bit reserved in our fashion sense.  Should we venture into more color?  I think not, it is a bit ostentatious, black and white are the new peacock blue.

Chicks on the beach

We winter birds don't often get to chase chicks on the beach, and when we do we have to watch out for the ice.  So it was a novelty in Florida to be able to admire and chase this little sweetie down the sand.  My but she was fast, every time I got close, she would dart ahead like I was going to steal her krill if I got to close.

TR

A Very Good Reason

First and foremost among the reasons that penguins do not swim in Florida swamps, is the alligators.  Gators have more teeth then a dental hygienist and live to do two things, eat and make little gators.  If you get between an expectant momma gator and her eggs, she won't protest, she will devour you.  Look all you want, you won't find any penguins living in Florida swamps, and old big mouth is the reason why.

TR

Semi Tropical Birds

We recently spent a week in Florida and along the way we encountered several birds, odd birds, the kind that fly without airplanes.  This one was successfully avoiding being lunch for an alligator, while looking for lunch in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Preserve. 

TR

Where to in 2012?

Planning is well underway for the 2012 travel season.  Confirmed are Philly, New Orleans, Lexington, KY, Cadiz, KY(the middle of nowhere,) Chicago and Jacksonville, FL. The list of possible but not confirmed, currently includes Seattle and Denver.  And, we need to figure out a summer vacation.  A nice quite get away week.  Any suggestions?

Over the River and Through the Woods

Off to Florida for Thanksgiving and visits with some old friends.

TR

Train Ride

We took the train to Boston, and flew back.  Amtrak on the east coast is a real delight.  The seats are big and comfy, the train was never really crowded, the snack bar is a couple of cars away and the train lumbers slowly but steadily along.  It was early November - the peak of leaf season.  In the 8-hour train ride from DC to Boston, I spent at least 6-hours watching the countryside glide by.  Someplace north of New York City, we were wandering along the coast and went through a coastal fog in the middle of the afternoon.  Granted the flight home took half the time, but the plane was packed, the seat uncomfortable and tiny. For the train I picked up my boarding pass from the automated machine, showed my ticket and ID to get on board and that was it.  With the plane I had to check in the machine, wait in line at the counter to check a bag, only to be told I needed to go to another counter to check my bag, then take off my shoes, belt, glasses, jacket, empty EVERYTHING out of my pockets and go through the automated strip search machine to get on the plane. If you are on east coast and you can spare the extra couple of hours, take the train.  

Boston

So this Penguin walks into a bar in Boston, stop me if you have heard this one,  the bartender looks up at the penguin and says, "just what we need, another bird that thinks he can fly, don't the Celtics have enough problems?"

Back on the Road

Well, here I am at the Palace Gates this summer, on my way for a visit.  It was great fun, a little big and drafty, but the staff was every so nice.  I am off on the road, railroad that is in the morning.  We are taking the train from DC to Boston, I have never been to Boston.  Should be fun, but DG has far too much work to do in far too little time.  Talk to you soon,

TR

DG met another blogger today.  Kesha Bruce is an American artist, married to a French man (AKA  French Boy.)  She is having a gallery show in DC.  Very cool! Her work is all about understanding self  identity.  http://mysocalledlifeinfrance.blogspot.com/  and http://www.keshabrucestudio.com/

Dallas

It is kind of a pilgrimage, if you are in Dallas you have to go to the place that JFK was shot.  It was kind of shock when the shuttle van from the airport drive through Dealey Plaza on the way to the hotel.  Later that day we want back, paused, and took a few pictures.  How many specific locations have changed the course of history. 

TR

Nice Ride

There are only about a dozen Tesla dealerships in the US, we were in Palo Alto recently and stayed in a hotel next door to one of them.  They had about 15 new Tesla's on the ground (in case you are looking to buy one - they have them in stock and ready to go.)  I think I need peddle extensions.

What this place needs

Is a flock of tropical penguins to put on a show.

e-Fun

You are never very far away from a slot machine in Las Vegas.  E-Fun can be fun, I do miss the tubs full of quarters.  TR

Headed out again

We are headed to Las Vegas in the morning, business for someone, pleasure for me, what penguin wouldn't want to visit the dessert.  From there we go back to San Francisco, south to Stanford, then home from San Jose, seven nights, eight days and five workshops.  We will try to have a little fun along the way.  TR

Out for a bike ride

On the recent trip west, we took a bike ride across the Golden Gate Bridge.  An electric bike really helped level out the hills. 

Mass Transit

I love relaxing and letting someone move me from place to place.  Mass transit is very relaxing, I can sightsee - read - and daydream while moving from place to place.  Reading while driving a car was always a bad idea, daydreaming and sightseeing are also problematic, I have drive right past my exit a couple of times.  The San Francisco Cable Cars are just neat, more cities should have them. Surprisingly many air travelers have ridden cable cars, some of the underground people movers in airports like Cincinnati are actually cable cars.  In a cable car system, the cable moves constantly and the train grabs onto it to move, look for the moving cable below or on the side of the car the next time you are moving from concourse to concourse. 

Sometimes it is good to be small

Last week was the week of packed flights, the only flight that was not packed was one that was so badly delayed most people missed it.  When the planes are full, it is good to be small, I can hide away and bask in the vastness of the space. 

Wide Body Flight

The last trip was airline hell, delayed because of mechanical problems, delayed because of weather, 10 minute change of planes, followed by another weather delay, landing and waiting 30 minutes to get to a gate, taking 15 mintues for someone to drive the jet bridge.  The only highlight was a cross country flight on a 767.  Passengers LOVE riding on wide body jets, why don't the airlines fly more of them? 

Guess who is back traveling

Ok, I know it has been a very-very long time since my last post, and yes I have been a few places, but have failed to post. I am back for an active travel year, I just flew in from five days in San Francisco.