Oh, sure!

.

Isn't it just like an Englishman to answer a question with a question?
I asked a simple question:

"...who's August Bank and why does he have a holiday named for him?"

My friend, the Brighton Pensioner, turns around and creates A Puzzle. Instead of answering my inquiry, he goes off on a tangent about how do we determine someone's nationality by how they look.
I haven't a clue. I suppose I could have said, "Come to think of it, those drivers who kept turning in front of me in Oregon looked like tourists." But then I'd probably not have gotten the reaction.

On his photo blog, he gave us a title, Down in the Park. I must've enlarged that photo to about as big as possible. I found absolutely no down. I didn't even see a sign of any ducks.

At the risk of stirring things up a little further (or is it farther?), the #1 Nana posted about her letter to the editor.
I agree with her as far as she went. But she could have capitalized even more by pointing out that Big Bird is yellow and doesn't fly.

No, I really can't tell one nationality from another just by looking at them.

for all I know those
idiot drivers were
Californians with
Oregon license plates
.

I have a question

.

My friend in England posted yesterday about the August Bank Holiday.
What I want to know is who's August Bank and why does he have a holiday named for him?
Do the Brits just decided they need a three day weekend, pick someone's name from a hat, and name the holiday for them?
Besides, I thought everyone on that side of the pond took the entire month off... well, the ones who aren't retired.

Come to think of it, those drivers who kept turning in front of me in Oregon looked British

Enjoy the pictures of wildflowers that I don't have any names for

We didn't make it to the Dream Cruise this year. Actually we don't go for the Dream Cruise. We go for any number of other things that happen to be going on at the time of the Dream Cruise. Last year I think there was a tornado

I'm sure the English have nice things to say about Americans, too.

BTW - they should appreciate that our next holiday is named for one of their political parties.

Imagine that

.
We can take a brief trip (four days) and drag out the reportage for more than two weeks... and only the Good Lord knows for how long we'll be posting photographs. I guess you should be happy blogging didn't exist back when we bought this house... or we'd still be talking about it.

I forgot to mention Mt Theilsen is over 9,000 feet. It doesn't appear too high because the picture was taken from the 6,000 ft. elevation.
What a way to get high.

Over at the photoblog we've been dawdling along at an even more leisurely pace. Just be happy that pictures are worth a thousand words.
By now it's probably obvious that the detour on the way home was to Crater Lake National Park. In relation to a whole lot of other places, it is only a few miles out of the way, but as many times as we've made that trip north, we'd never been there... and now that we're "honored citizens," we have a pass that gets us into those places at no cost (actually I bought a Senior Pass last year at the Badlands for ten bucks).
Let me qualify that. We get in for free, but those places all seem to have gift shops, just like Zoos do. You can't get away without some kind of souvenir.
Anyhow, in a couple of days... or next month... we'll have some photos of the actual Crater Lake.

not named after Judge Crater
.

About those pictures

.

So here we are on a scenic detour on our way south from Portland and there are these drivers who insist upon turning onto the two-lane highway in front of us and driving about 15-20 mph slower than the posted limit. Then, when we reach a passing lane, they speed up just enough that the following vehicle can't quite get past. I'm thinking they're related to the other drivers who barrel down the freeway until it's time to pass a big rig. They then slow down to just a little faster than the tractor-trailer combo so it takes a couple of minutes to get by.

Oh, yeah, the pictures... yesterday's image is of Mt. Theilsen from a rest area in a place called the Pumice Desert. Today is more of the Pumice Desert along with bit of an explanation of how and where it was formed.

But, before we got to the Pumice desert we had about 120 miles of highway frustration. I'd forgotten it was Saturday and there was a full moon.

knew there had to be a reason
.

Who knew?

.

About yesterday

More information here and here

The guy who invented that should have a statue on the National Mall.

where'd we be
without him
.

It was when?

.

Two weeks ago today the morning dawned overcast in Portland. Perhaps there was some sadness because we were leaving. After a slight misadventure, related here, we were on the road home. We weren't really in a hurry, so a little detour was planned. Oregon has a lot to see besides the views from I-5.
The entire length of I-5 from Mexico to Canada, alternates from some spectacular scenery to some of the worst, sometimes in the distance of only a few miles. On the other hand it is convenient.
Anyhow, we headed south to just beyond Eugene, where we made our way onto the Willamette Highway and headed east into the Cascade Range, through miles and miles of green forests on winding two lane roads... behind some folks with peculiar driving habits.

I'll get around to explaining the
pictures at R,M&P soon enough
.

A week might be enough time

.

Anyone who really, really likes books could easily spend a week in Powell's City of Books. The photo, here, doesn't do the place justice. The store takes up the entire block and a couple of buildings across the street. Just the children's books section is bigger than any Barnes and Noble I've ever seen: 68,000 square feet packed with books... think WalMart, more than 1,000,000 volumes on the shelves. A quote from the website:

"So is our mother ship the world's largest bookstore? Heck, it may be bigger than your whole town."

It's probably a good thing we waited until the afternoon of the day before we were leaving, or we'd never have seen anything else in Portland.

and we didn't have
a bad meal anywhere
.

On day two

.
After breakfast we ventured across the Willamette River. For this excursion we took a taxi because it seems public transportation doesn't quite go there. Also it's not all that expensive as the rates are pre-established and there wasn't even a meter. Road construction created a situation where we had a street by street tour of an industrial section of Portland.
Oh, yeah. We were headed to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. It's a pretty big place with exhibits appealing to just about everyone and an IMAX theater. The movie might have shown a little better if the screen had been just a little more distant. We saw a Narnia exhibit, relating to the filming of the series. Then we toured the USS Blueback. The guide was a former crewmember, who continually related how confined living on a submarine is. He obviously hadn't tried some of the previous versions of subs... that's cramped. Of course, a visit to the museum store was in order.

that filled our morning
.

On the drive home tonight

.

This is rare stuff.

memories of college
.

.

So we departed the zoo after visiting the Zoo Store and purchasing a few souvenirs. It was off to the other end of the park to see the Rose Test Garden and Japanese Garden. We boarded a city bus, which was free because the price was included in the tickets we'd already purchased. Then it was back to Pioneer Square, near our hotel. As this was only our first full day, we managed to cram a lot of activity into it.

Other than mentioning the food carts, I have managed to avoid discussing the meals. I will leave at we ate well.

but not often
.

Guess where

.

Uh, huh.

Maybe turn the volume down a little



Those are not bat noises. There are some still photos of other animals who don't climb trees over here.

Most of them were acting so as to live up to our expectations (animals in a zoo don't act normal), except for the hippo, who was eating the wall.

Yeah we were there over a week ago. So what? The longer I stretch this out, the longer I can go without coming up with anything new.

not a vampire
.

Still at the zoo

.

Really, I do like zoos. This one is compact without being confining. I mean the animals had plenty of room to roam and with a few exceptions they were.
Most of the animals were up and about as you will see over here. The lions were even playing. The tiger was doing what he does best... blending in. See if you can spot him. The picture of the eagle leaves something to be desired because I'm still learning some of the intricacies of the camera. The bears, all four, were doing their best to avoid one another.

more tomorrow
.

Wrapping up the week

.
Over here are zoo pics. There isn't much to say about them except the first beast was not impressed with the visitors.

Friday Grandma Skip and I went to the Sacramento area (Elk Grove specifically) for the funeral of a Lions Past District Governor we only met a few years ago. He made a pretty good impression then... and every other time I saw him. A lot of others must have been impressed and touched at one time or another, too. There were over 400 folks at Mel Oneto's funeral mass and there were a lot of tears.
I wish I'd know him sooner.

/\

Bloggus interuptus

.

Our sojourn has been interrupted monetarily because I posted a photo from another website over at RM&P. Some At least one of you knows how easily I can be distracted.

The least I can do is continue the story. It doesn't have to have pictures. In fact parts of the trip didn't have photo accompaniment because it just didn't quite seem appropriate.
Portland reportedly had over 700 food carts. We saw more than we could count. If I got a picture of one, it was an accident. We also managed to miss eating food from one.

Another reason to return to Portland (I'm saving the main reason for another post... if I remember).

not done at the zoo yet
.

To the Zoo

.

Actually it was the park... but the Oregon Zoo is in the park. The park is called Washington Park. There are a lot of things about Oregonians I don't quite understand... and Washington is only a couple of miles up the road.

Rather than drive, we determined to avail ourselves of the excellent public transportation system. There are even perks for those of us of a certain age and are called Honored Citizens (Portland's way ahead of the federal gov't on that). The ride is only a buck. All of the tickets are good for two hours no matter what direction you go... oh, and within certain boundaries in the downtown, the ride's free for all. Who'd want to drive?

But this is about going to the park... well to the zoo first, then we'll see the other stuff.

Those who follow may remember that I will go to a zoo almost before anything else. So far I've rarely been disappointed.

So what happens when you ride the light rail system for the first time is you experience some confusion, particularly when the map of the layout is just a schematic (I understand that Londoners know how these things work?) and not to scale. The person who gave us directions failed to mention the stop for the zoo was not designated as such and in a tunnel. So we missed it and found ourselves a couple of miles beyond our destination. Not to worry. We had tickets that were validated for two hours and the trains run every ten minutes or so... and I had something to amuse myself.

On the way I saw a bridge, but didn't have the camera ready.


This one, from Google Maps, is better anyway.

there's more
.

What was that

.

Shiny thing.
While we awaited the streetcar at Pioneer Square a motor home... one of those huge multi-million dollar class A bus chassis diesel stinking suckers... went past. The shiny thing in the picture fell off one of the lug nuts.
Guess who retrieved it and amused himself... and others... for the next hour.
I tried to give it away, but nobody else wanted it.
The last time I saw it, it was atop a trash can in Beaverton, Oregon.

The fun part was the conversation about what it could be

...besides a lug nut cover
.

Free movies

.

A lot of communities are giving free concerts and showing movies in public venues now. Portland does it. So does Anderson. The big difference is location. Anderson doesn't have a square downtown with public transportation like Portland's Pioneer Square.
Anderson also doesn't have a Starbuck's on every corner, either.

oh, wait... neither does Portland
.

Here's what I'm gonna do

.

At least I am going to do it today... or try anyway.
The pictures will go over here. I will attempt a small story here. Maybe I will even remember to include links... maybe. This will probably last until my next bright idea.

So there's a giraffe in the second floor window of the building across the street.
I have absolutely no idea why.
Smokers lounge is a euphemism [think sidewalk in front of the hotel].

no, I didn't start again
.

Better than the last one

_

Cat video, that is.
I saw this on F***book, I think. It had been stolen from that Cheezburger place.
BTW: Don't look for vacation photos here. They're over at the other place and will probably improve with time.

better'n vacation photos...
innit?
.

.

I'm not sure this is necessarily relevant to anything else on this blog.

read it anyway
.

About the camping trip

.

You've probably already figured it out...

I lied.

This was our campsite




...and here's the view.



I post this only because Grandma Skip seems to think this is the only way I am accustomed to roughing it.

it does beat sleeping on the ground
.

Adventures

.

It seems I can't go anywhere.
Wait.
That doesn't sound right.

Before I write anything about the sojourn to Portland... I did mention we were going to Portland, didn't I? I guess I didn't.
Anyway, I have to tell on myself. Last year, in October, we managed to have the car battery go away while we were waiting to catch a ferry from Port Orchard to Seattle. Somehow it revived long enough to eventually get us all the way home before it died a permanent death.
This year, I attempted to kill another battery. When we arrived in Portland on Wednesday, I immediately found a parking garage near out hotel in which to leave the car. I was not going to pay for valet parking... even if it is convenient. When I took the time stamped ticket from the machine at the entrance, I turned on the map light to see what was written. Then I parked the care and we toted our luggage around the corner to the hotel.
On Saturday, when we got back into the car I turned the key in the ignition and there was an ominous clicking sound. Then even that stopped.
Thank goodness for AAA. There was only one minor glitch. It seems the 800 number directs the call to the dispatch center where the area code from the phone the call is being made is located... in my case the call, because it was my cell phone, was in Northern California. The lady in the dispatch center was astonished when I told her I was in downtown Portland, but was able to transfer me to an Oregon dispatch center and the road service vehicle arrived within 15 minutes and we were on our way shortly.
We made it home without further incident.
For the most part driving in Oregon in tame when compared to other parts of the country. That said, I am particularly fond of some of the roads from just east of Reno to just east of the Mississippi River where traffic is much lighter.

The annual

.

We're on the road in a few minutes... after I finish putting the clothes in my suitcase... to meet up with my "twin" cousin to celebrate his birthday.
Maybe when we return there will be some pictures to post here. Maybe I will have some exciting stories to tell.
We won't be away as long as we were last year... and I'm relatively certain there won't be any posts before Monday.

but I'm not making any promises
.

Once upon a time

.
I was self-employed a number of years ago. I even had a number of folks working for me. I was even relatively prosperous and enjoyed the challenges. There were regulations and laws I had to follow and there were government folks who periodically checked to make sure I was doing so. It was relatively simple to open and operate a business 45 years ago... even 25 years ago. Today, I'm not sure I'd even want to attempt it. The number of regulators and their ilk seem to have doubled and the fees paid up front to have them breath down your neck are oppressive. Even worse there are some government agencies who seem to feel it is their duty to shut down businesses for even the slightest error.
It's a wonder there is anyone risking their savings or employing anyone else in the private sector any more. Those folks are truly heroes.
So it's been said the government is there to protect us. Who's gonna protect us from too much governing?

I'm taking a few days off, starting tomorrow, to go camping* with Grandma Skip, and my "twin" cousin and his wife. We may be back Sunday.

*In a Marriott Hotel

cue up On the Road Again
.

Watch

_

not my cat
.

Did anyone really notice?

.

I was away for the better part of the last 55 plus hours. About 19 were spent on the road so it's going to take some effort to recover from monkey butt.
Friday was a straight through trip with a periodic rest stop to stretch my legs. It seems someone in the state highway department determined that a majority of the rest areas on Highway 99 south of Stockton should be closed for renovation this summer. That meant stopping at filling stations along the way instead of rest areas. It meant I met strangers at each who, "only need a little fuel to get to Visalia."
I might have driven Interstate 5 but for a construction project that subjects motorists to up to three hour delays and advises alternate routes. Besides, according to Google Maps it is only three miles further and six minutes longer on 99.
I was reminded several times after Highway 99 merged with I-5 south of Bakersfield why I am happy I live in a rural area of Northern California and not in the south.

I went for an orientation session for a new position I was appointed to in Lions. To say I was impressed with the folks I'll be reporting to and working with would be an understatement. The folks who presented the information, volunteers all, had done their homework and kept ten district coordinators and a number of observers attention for all of 5 1/2 hours and they bought our lunch. I won't bore anyone with details.

I only drove part of the way home after leaving on Saturday, stopping in Clovis to visit my sister (not the one who had the birthday) and her husband. They offered to feed me, which I declined because I wasn't hungry, and put me up for the night, which I gratefully accepted. It was nice to catch up because I haven't seen them for over a year and a half. The balance of the drive was uneventful unless listening to the Giants on the car radio can be considered a highlight.

On Tuesday

.

I said this.

Yesterday afternoon I found the perfect place to use that exception.

This from CNN:
"...Leon Panetta said he intends to make sure 'some common sense prevails'..."

What has he been smoking?
The only thing prevailing in DC lately is OGA.

My sisters don't read this blog. The older of the two, which makes her my oldest sister, is celebrating a birthday today. She is much younger than I. While looking at birthday wishes I came across the following sentiments:

Happy birthday to a sister who never ran me over with the family car.
Boy, you’re tough to compliment.

and

Nothing tests one’s character like coming upon a steamroller with keys in the ignition.
May your birthday be filled with unexpected opportunities.

If anyone sees her or talks to her, you can point her in this direction. I bought a card, but it probably didn't make it into the mail soon enough to arrive on time.

Headed south to the L.A. area for as short a period of time as I can arrange. That means I probably will be back sometime Sunday afternoon.
there's nothing quite like driving the length of California's Central Valley on a summer day.

except driving
back the next day
.

Just what is "normal?"

_

This was a below normal temp recorded yesterday. It actually peaked at 101 a few moments earlier.

On the other hand, the Giants knocked off the D'backs to regain sole possession of first place in the Western Division.

I see a certain irony taking place here.

Fluvius Innominatus is a river that flows into San Francisco Bay.

The quote for the day is from Napoleon:

In politics stupidity is not a handicap.

'bout time the G-mens bats woke up
.

Stop already

.

The local TV weatherguy insists on reminding everyone that recent high temperatures are "below normal" and we're having a "cooling trend."

In the next breath he reads off temperatures just below 100° and predicts temperatures in the low to mid 90s.

He does all of that with a straight face.

Meanwhile in San Francisco the high temperatures haven't reached the level of our lowest temperatures. Yesterday they maxed at 64°.

now if only the Giants
could score some runs
.

English is a funny language

.

A linguistics professor was lecturing to his English class one day. "In English," he said, "A double negative forms a positive. In some languages, though, such as Russian, a double negative is still a negative. However, there is no language wherein a double positive can form a negative."

A voice from the back of the room piped up, "Yeah, right."

touché
.

A brief jaunt

.

We stole away Saturday afternoon to Sacramento. There are several reasons I could give:

1. It is cooler there because they benefit from what is known as the Delta Breeze.
2. It was the end of the California State Fair.
3. I wanted some photo ops.
4. I like driving on Interstate 5 with all of those folks who travel like they need to get where they're going by yesterday.

You have probably surmised by now the answer is none of the above.

We went for a visit and were entertained by Hugh and his parents, my daughter and son-in-law.



He doesn't stand still long enough for a really, really good photo, and the posed shots all say, "Cheese."



Some aren't too bad.

This time around we were able to spend parts of two days with them. We went for dessert on Saturday evening and had some delightful crepes. Afterward we were entertained by bath time.

Their neighborhood is really nice. People actually walk to and from places.

Yesterday we went for brunch and then to the park. The day ended too early.

the only time he
stops is when he's
asleep... maybe
.