Day 19

 

A river runs through it.

Yesterday was a really nice day. 

This morning it was cold enough to snow here . . .

. . . and it did!

It didn’t stick. 

MB posted a short video on the koobecaf. 

Days 15 – 17

 Nada, nichts, zilch, nothing to see here.

Not that we haven’t managed to keep busy.

Except for a major storm blowing through, with all of the bells and whistles, including tornado warnings, nothing worth mentioning has happened.

We’re relocating for a couple of days. 

Maybe there might be a picture?

As a public service

source: XKCD

 the subtext reads:
There's a supposed Mark Twain quote, "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.
It isn't really by Mark Twain, but I don't know who said it—I just know they've never been to McMurdo Station.

Time flies

 I can’t post much about Valdez, other than it wasn’t here until 1898, and it almost vanished in 1964 during the 9.2 earthquake.

It was foggy when there weren’t low clouds, so we could not see the glacier.

It finally began to clear a little as we were leaving port.

Did I mention August is the rainy season?

Who knew?

 August is the rainy season here.

So we went on a jet boat ride and a hike.

As luck would have it

We left the Dallas area this morning as the temperatures were dropping. 

I watched the reading in the dashboard bounce between 39° and 37°.

It was 80° Yesterday.

Anyway, as we progressed west and south, the temperature began to rise so we were comfortable at 77° in Pecos, Texas, where we enjoyed Taco Tuesday.

Delicious!

Beat the weather

As we’ve traveled west, we have been fortunate.

We have found, mostly, clear skies. 

What rain we have found arrived after we’d reached our destination 

We head west from the Dallas area today, headed southwest, as winter arrives, again, from the northwest.

Rain again

 

Ringling Museum @ Sarasota

On the move . . . again

 Before heading further east we stopped off for a brief tour of Ft. Sam Houston. 

It’s quite a place. 

Even the original fort, now called “the Quad,” and still in use, is something to see. 

We have to return to see more. 

Then we hit the road again, and found rain. 

Lots of rain. 

Just missed it

MB and I like experiences more than stuff. 

The WADAPS* gave us one this year for Christmas. 

We went to see Mt Rainier from the top of the gondola at Crystal Mountain.

The mountain was there, and visiblen through the clouds, momentarily. 

It isn’t in any of these pictures. 

*some of the Washington members of the family

some  day it may be explained 

White Christmas

 It is if you celebrate the 12 Days 

We’re late

 Started at 4:45am…

It’s about 12 hours from our place, near Sacramento to the kids, near Monroe, WA. 

The weather could’ve been worse and colder. 

Mt Shasta enshrouded 

Black Butte, just north of the city of Mt Shasta

Wet

Updated: 9:08am - weather service reprts 2 1/3” in 24 hours. 

Just reporting, not complaining.

The NWS reported that we had more than two inches of rainfall in the 12 hours leading to 11pm last night.

Oh my!

 I had forgotten just how dense the fog gets in the valley because it has been a while since I have experienced it.

Last night I went to a meeting at the Congregational Church.

Visibility wasn't great, but I could see a couple of blocks in the distance.

An hour later, as I came out the door, even just down the breezeway, the mist was evident.

On the road it seemed like I could only see clearly about 200 ft.

This all in contrast to earlier in the week, when there was much sunshine and relatively warm days.

What we really need, though, is some rainfall and snow in the mountains.

PHG alert

The weather has been anything but tame just about anywhere you look.

Well, except maybe in my neighborhood, so I won't post any pictures.

The extended family have, for the most part, been fortunate that the weather has only slightly inconvenienced them.

Except this morning!

PHG* had to have her roommate drive her to work.

There are others who aren't nearly as fortunate.

We pray they get relief soon.

*christened Permanent House Guest in May 2012, rechristened Pretty Hot Girl soon thereafter.

Pictures tell a story, too

But here's the setup.
Originally we planned to stay the night at Laramie, WY.
Our long detour put an end to that, so we spent the night in Loveland, stopping at Costco on the way out of town and finding a local place to eat breakfast in Laramie before heading west on I-80.

The weather had changed.
It was really windy.
The winds from the west had caused a huge wildfire on the northwest corner of  the Rocky Mountain NP to flare up such that the visibility in Loveland and Fort Collins was greatly reduced, not to mention the smell.
Just a sample.

Wyoming had no smoke, but there were other issues . . .

. . . almost all the way to Salt Lake City.
There were two semis sleeping on their sides on the side of the freeway near Rawlins.

We made it as far as West Wendover, NV,  where we spent the night.
The only sightseeing was at the Salt Flats.

The road

Guess who's taking a trip?
There's a new addition to the family, MB's grandnephew.
He's in Ohio and is being baptized in a little over a week.
So we have a really good excuse to pack the car and make at least a part of the trek we'd planned for September.
I don't imagine there will be much more than pictures here for the next couple of weeks, and probably not many of those, either.
We leave tomorrow after church, getting out of town just in time to miss the forecast trip digits.

We have deadlines to meet throughout this trip, but should still get to do some sightseeing.

Smoke gets in your eyes

California seems to be generating enough smoke for everyone.

Clicking on the image will enlarge it. Another click will expand it even further,

The entire Central Valley of California is filled with smoke from the wildfires.
Most of the rest of the image is also covered in smoke, as far as western Montana (in the upper right of the photo).
With the photo enlarged to its full size the some of the sources of the smoke can be observed.
This satellite photo was taken at 4:16pm (PDT) Tuesday August 25.

We haven't done this in awhile

Done what?

A weather post.

We wouldn't be doing it now, but there are pictures.
I won't bore you with statistics.
It's hot here, somebody's hurricane's remnants paid a visit.
Almost no rain hit the ground. 

source: MB

Not the typical August sky, but at least there are no fireworks here.

source: unknown

source: Ellen Cooper

A friend says this was shot near Vavaville, about 30 miles west.

source: Vinent James Photography

This is another shot from early this morning, looking from Treasure Island toward the Oakland Harbor through the Bay Bridge.

None of the preceding pictures are mine.
I have given credit where I can.

This!

I was inspired enough to post it on koobecaf yesterday.

There was so little that the weather service didn't bother to even remark.
The 70+ degree weather is easy to take.