A parking place in the office garage

DG finally has a parking place in the office garage, for a bike. Nice way to commute.

Down Along the Anacostia

Teddy Roosevelt Memorial

Long slog around the swamp and then back to the hidden memorial, on the island.  It feels like we are a thousand miles away, and yet we are surrounded by the City.  TR

Georgetown

Out for s stroll, along the water of course. TR

Water fowl weather

A tropical storm is blowing in, great weather for flightless waterfowl. 

Very crowded

From the end of the line, barely room for a feather

Hot Morning

It is a hot morning as we start our morning commute.  Being a Friday, and being a little later in starting, there are fewer people then usual.  It will be another swampy hot day, a day when the humidity is so heavy you can almost swim down the sidewalk.  TR

Waiting at O'Hare

Good visit to Chicago. We took at river archetectural tour.  Met up with friends.  Went shopping and walked and walked and walked.  Slept 11 hours Saturday night.  Waiting for the flight back to DC.  Travel

Guess who is out of the bag

The view in Chicago

Along Wacker Drive

On the road

In Chicago for annual memorial day weekend festivities

Ice Skating In the National Sculpture Garden

 

Every winter the fountain in the National Sculpture Garden on the National Mall in Washington DC, across from the National Archives, is transformed into a skating rink.  A winter wonderland, in the shadow of the national monuments.  This winter the weather has been moderate, no reason to freeze to enjoy a little icy fun.  



My how time flies, Happy Holidays to you and yours! Happy Travels in the comming year!
TR

Drifting Along, time seems to be flying like the proverbial bird.  I am about to embark on three trips - almost back to back.  Hopefully I remember to post when I am home for a day or two in between.  Lots of frequent flyer miles for a flightless fowl.  TR

Lazy River

The River Walk in San Antonio creates an isolated view of the tourist part of the city, you become totally unaware of the city that is just a flight of stairs above.

TR

Early Spring

This was taken on March the 14th, Washington DC, it is a very early spring.  The weather has turned warm, and the trees, blooms and grass are busting out all over.  The Cherry blossoms are way ahead of schedule.  No more icy waterways for a few months!

TR

I was at a street party and a parade broke out

I stood for far too long waiting for the parade, but there was a nice party going on to keep me distracted.  Bee loved! TR

Casting a shadow

New Orleans was a good trip, I had a lot of work to do, but I was only a couple of blocks from the wonders of the old city, the part of the city that survived, but still the city is in the shadow.  The a five minute walk up the street and buildings are boarded up, stripped to their walls and floors and not yet rebuilt, and the people are forever changed, forever living in the shadow of the storm.
TR

Weenies on Bourbon Street

You never know what you are going to see on Bourbon Street.  I watched one of the weenie wagons being pushed down the street car tracks on Canal Street, right in front of a Street Car, with the car starting and stopping, and starting and stopping.  The guy pushing it must have been partying on his way to work.  TR

On The Road Again

Headed to New Orleans this morning.  I have not been there since the hurricane.  Fun city, great food.  Lots of work to do. 

TR

Another day in Paradise

It was just another day in Paradise, lounging under the colonnade, watching the people saunter by, contemplating the meaning of life. 

Be good and have fun,

TR

Birds in a Church?

Taxidermy in the Smithsonian Castle.  The Smithsonian is a vast collection of museums and galleries. People who have not been to DC think of the Smithsonian as a place, but it is a collection of many big places, each one with a unique focus and collection.  This image was captured in the Castle, sort of the visitors center for the Smithsonian.  This room was once the library, modeled after the library of great European Universities. It has served a variety of purposes over the years, including being the dinning room for a restaurant for a decade or two (I had lunch there once.) At the moment is a gallery of north American history, art, and science.  A wonderful space.

TR

Rising Above

Life is about rising above, not getting stuck in the mire that can be everyday life.  The trick is to rise above without losing perspective by placing yourself on a pedestal and forgetting what it is that you have risen above.



Glass Houses

Dutch parable: don't worry about what the neighbors see, god sees all

American parable: people who live in glass houses, shouldn't throw stones

Transport

I am always looking for the next ride to someplace.  DG bought new wheels, Mazda 3 hatch.

Underground

Mass transit was one of the reasons that we moved to DC, being able to get out and go places without fighting traffic and parking was a major plus, along with having all kinds of places that are worth going to (museums, monuments.)  When I travel I like to ride public transit, in the last couple of years I have ridden the transit systems in San Francisco, LA, Dallas, Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Chicago, and London.  They all have advantages and disadvantages but they all have one thing in common, they are a great way to get around a big city - and I love big cities.

TR

The Wide View

Last Saturday we went to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and yes there were people running up the stairs and acting silly.  This is an incredible museum.  Great space and a good collection. The building is very wide, the image above was taken in three exposures using the panoramic mode on my camera.  Neat?

TR

Pink?

We are back from Philly and feeling quite in the pink, doing quite well.  We took a couple of nice train rides and spend most of Saturday in the art Museum.  The picture above was taken on a visit a few years ago.  I have no idea why the water was pink that day, but it was, kind of a striking color. 

TR

Concord Moment

I occasionally hear the phrase, "Concord Moment."  What is it?  A moment of great achievement.  The Concord represented a monumental technological achievement - and one that we let slip into obsolescence.  Why do we achieve great things and then let them slip away without building on the accomplishment? 

TR

Belly up to the

seafood bar in Seattle.  This was taken at a seafood restaurant in the Pike Place Market in Seattle, reminds me of all of the great NW fish.

TR

Wheels

I am thinking it is time for a new car.  Big Red is great fun, easy to drive and very complex with all kinds of complex toys.  Complex toys that are failing, not because of use, but age.  She only has a little over 46,000 miles on her, less then 4,000 average miles per year.  She is also very large, a real challenge to park and maneuver.  Despite her overall size, she has little limited cargo space.  In short she is great fun to drive, tons of get up and go, at 2 1/2 tons she will squeal the tires if you put you foot down, but not very practical and starting to need maintenance.  We started looking at possible - sensible- replacements today.  Shopping will be interrupted for a couple of weeks due to other travel.  But it is time to get the ducks in a row and find something shiny and newer.

TR

Staying Ahead

Having lunch, or being lunch, it is always a simple matter of staying ahead.  Each day we keep our eyes on the goal, move ahead, one step at a time.  If we keep doing this, we are having lunch, instead of being lunch.  Be the bear, or be lunch, I'd sooner be the bear. 

TR

Happy New Years

This is a completely random photo, taken in the Haupt Garden at the Smithsonian Castle.  Welcome to 2012 - Best Wishes for a great year. 

TR

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.