A Full-time Life

ACROSS THE COUNTRY IN A PANDEMIC

Last morning walk of the season in Florida

We traveled 3,359 miles pulling a 13-foot travel trailer to get home to Oregon this month.  We did it in 12 nights -- the fastest we've ever driven across country.   It could have been a risky thing to do, but we thought it was our safest bet during this pandemic (and ultimately our decision turned out well.)

Getting from one place to another as quickly as possible is really not our thing -- we'd rather take time to smell the roses.  But taking our time was not an option this year. Fortunately we both like road trips, even just the 'on-the-road' part of them.  And this time, the trip itself at least gave us some challenges and new things to talk about during this time of isolation.      

 

(click to enlarge)

 

We drove from North Fort Myers Florida with these overnight stops: 

Ocala Florida, Elko Georgia, Jasper Alabama, Jonesboro Arkansas, Harrisonville Missouri, York Nebraska, Sidney Nebraska, Rawlins Wyoming, Declo Idaho, Burns Oregon, Blue River Oregon, and  then HOME!   

"We" didn't drive long days (Bill did all the driving) -- The longest driving day was 426 miles (going from Wyoming to Idaho).  The shortest was  the last -- 54 miles just because we didn't want to arrive home tired after a long day,  (The trailer had food in it!   And dirty clothes!  We had to unload it as soon as we got home.) 

  Here are some of the places where we stayed overnight:                                    .

 I don't usually take pictures of the RV Parks where we stay, but some days, especially toward the beginning of the trip, we didn't really  see anything else that was picture-worthy.   We had almost no problem finding open RV Parks and mostly saw nobody else while we were parked.  (This is unusual for RVers who are a friendly bunch as a rule.  We were glad it was different this time.)   Most of the parks handled registration  completely over the telephone.     

 

 

We didn't do any sightseeing, other than what we saw from the car window.  And we were on major highways all the time on this trip.  (In a normal travel year, we like to go off freeway as much as possible  --   the trip might take longer, but you see more.)   Some of the time it was just us and the truckers on the road!  Lots of trucks.  We are grateful that they are out doing their job  -- it is certainly an essential one now as always.

We did see interesting things through the windows sometimes though -- and occasionally I was even able to get a quick picture.   

 

Car window picture somewhere in Wyoming.

Wyoming was hard on both of us because we usually drive through it on our way to or from visiting our son and daughter-in-law in Colorado.   That was not to be this year, since at that time none of us knew for sure if we were virus-free.   We did appreciate the blue skies -- and that the roads were clear of ice and snow (we were lucky in our weather) -- and were glad that we were getting closer to home.

 

 

We were back in Oregon before I was able to get my 'first-mountain-of-the-season' picture.  Taking that picture is an annual tradition when we return to the West from the flatlands of Florida.   (In most years, that picture has  been taken in Colorado.)  On this trip, we began to see nice elevation on the horizon well before we hit the Oregon border, but this lonely road between Burns and Bend Oregon was the first good opportunity for a decent picture.   I don't think about missing mountains while we're in Florida -- but as soon as I see them when we come back I realize that I did!

The Mountains are always there whenever we return, but Spring flowers are usually gone by the time we get here.  So seeing them is one good thing about this year: 

 

All these lovely flowering trees and bushes were in the little RV Park where we stayed on the last night of the trip --- Blue River Oregon.  

And here's the first picture I took after we got home:

 

One of the gardens in Cyndi and Jeff's yard 

 

We'd already unloaded everything out of the trailer at home and then driven it out to the country to stash it on our gracious kids' property.    We talked to them at the prescribed safe distance and of course haven't yet been back as we're just ending our first week of self-isolating at home.     So we're communicating electronically just as if we were over 3,000 miles away instead of 20!    But at least we can do that. 

It's good to be home.

 

Linking this week to the following -- thank you to the hosts:

 

MOSAIC MONDAY;   ALL SEASONS;  THROUGH MY LENS;   OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY;  TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS;  SAY CHEESE;  MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; SIGNS SIGNS; THANKFUL THURSDAY;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY; and FRIDAY  BLISS;   

HOME

We arrived home safely early Saturday afternoon.   The rest of the tiny-trailer-trip went well.  We were careful and feel well and are now self-isolating in our town-house-type apartment, which feels quite large after the trip.  

Internet's not hooked up at home yet, so this will be short as I'm eating up data minutes using the phone as a hot-spot.

 

 

 

We had this view on the last night of our trip.  It is only a little over an hour from home on the McKenzie River, but we didn't want to arrive on Friday evening all tired out from too much traveling.    Especially because we had to unload the trailer at home before taking it empty out to the "storage space" our son-in-law and daughter kindly let us have at the back of their place in the country.   

It was good to see them as we unloaded -- and to talk to them at a safe distance with our masks on.   (Well, it would of course have been nicer to have been able to hug them hello, but under the circumstances I am grateful for what we got.)   

Now we'll keep busy for a few days sorting out all the stuff we unloaded -- and doing laundry.  Wow does that pile up in a couple of weeks!  

I look forward to having time to catch up with blogging soon and don't expect to be bored at all staying home - - at least for a while. 

 

LINKING to:  

  OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY  and  MY CORNER OF THE WORLD   

The Journey Home

The long long shakedown cruise with the short short trailer is proceeding without any problems that really matter (we forgot a few things, but we improvise).

 

Social distancing for sure ...  I haven’t spoken to anyone in person (besides Bill) since we left the Canal Cottage.   He wears mask and gloves when getting fuel.  We haven’t needed anything else (yet)

We’ve been able to walk around at RV parks without even seeng anyone else.  Most registrations have been handled by phone.  If not, Bill masks up.  

Some of the slow-to-accept-reality States are “shutting down”  behind us as we go .... Florida, Georgia, Arkansas and Missouri all just as we left (heard on local radio as we drove).   We are in Nebraska tonight.  

We are traveling faster than we ever have, but still not overdoing.  We reminisce as we drive past places we enjoyed years ago —  back in the days when we full-time RVed .  We are happy this time just to be getting home.

 

Comments are closed for this post.

 

 

HOPE and GRATITUDE

 

We have decided to head for home (in Oregon) a couple of months early, practicing social distancing while on the road.    It's actually hard to know what the best thing to do is under the current circumstances -- but when we weighed the options, this is what came out on top.   So we've been getting ready to close up the Canal Cottage -- a routine we go through every season, but usually not this early and usually not working this quickly.   Obviously, none of the pictures in this post are new.    

 

 

The sign is on a back-road in Big Cypress National Wildlife area.  We did NOT turn around then and I hope we will not wish we had on this trip.     Usually just keeping on works out pretty well for us.   

 

These Spring Flowers are blooming in yards here in the Florida resort where we spend the Winter/Spring season.  The pictures are from another year, but the same flowers (even the same potted plant) are blooming right now.     Spring is different here, but we enjoy it.  Most snowbirds go home  in late March or early April.  We enjoy the people, but also (in better years) the quiet after they leave.   We'll miss that, but it will be good to be closer to family after this trip.  I'm grateful we are able to travel between states.

 

 

These were  two neighborhood baby eagles a couple of years ago.   Actually, I guess, teenage eagles by this stage -- shortly after I took this pictures, they flew the nest never to return.   This year, the adult pair lost their first hatch and they now are incubating a second pair of eggs.    If the first hatch had been successful, the young ones would be flying away right now.  This pair has never had a second hatch before and like approximately a million other people worldwide, I'll be watching the webcam and hoping for success.  

 

 

We usually do some Florida exploring in April and May.  These are some of the birds we've seen on those trips in other years and were looking forward to seeing next month.    I'm quite sure the lack of audience won't bother the birds one bit .  Still,  I hope we get to be among their fans again -- in person --  next year.

 

Sunset over the wetlands that border our neighborhood 

 We'll be practicing  social distancing while on the road with our new (and very small)  travel trailer.    I hope to be able to keep in touch with other bloggers as we travel.   It is comforting in the midst of all this to touch base.   And to see the beauty that still exists in nature no matter what.  And to read about  how everybody is dealing with the social isolation and all the changes.   Reading your blogs makes everything more "real" than the news stories. 

(not my picture, not our trailer)

 

 I'm grateful that we have a relatively safe way to cover the distance  between here and Oregon (3,184 miles).  And, as always, I'm beyond grateful to "the travel planner" for making it possible.)  

 

And I'll really be grateful if that planner and I are still speaking to  each other by the time we get the Canal Cottage closed up and hit the road!   (We're definitely not practicing social distancing from each other right now as we work together  in two small spaces! ) 

***

 

THANK YOU to all bloggers for keeping in touch with posts and comments -- and as always thank you to the hosts of the following sharing opportunities (which I hope to be able to link to on the appropriate days):

 

MOSAIC MONDAY;   ALL SEASONS; THROUGH MY LENS;   OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY;  TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS;    SAY CHEESE;  MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; WILD BIRD Wednesday;  SIGNS SIGNS; THANKFUL THURSDAY;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY;   FRIDAY  BLISS;    SATURDAY CRITTERS;  and RATHER B' BIRDING

 

 

KEEPING IN TOUCH ...

... in the time of Corona Virus

 

The first day of Spring in this hemisphere happened last week -- but it was kind of overshadowed by all that other news.   I hope everybody was able to go outside for at least a breath of fresh air.  

 

 

We are using technology to keep in touch during the isolation  -- but for us that really isn't all that different than ever, since we are so far away from family.     Just that it is even more important these days.    

The Blue Jay pictures above are mine -- taken near home (the Florida one) on the first day of Spring.    The rest of the pictures were texted to me from further away  ---   also on the first day of Spring.   I'm grateful that all of our families are well and able to go outside and breath some fresh air.    

The first two below are from Oregon:

 

A Rhododendron  blossom from our daughter and son-in-law's yard.

(in Oregon)

We didn't venture far from home last week.   Nature parks and beaches (and restaurants) are closed here.   We kept busy  -- working on the Canal Cottage project and spending some time assessing our various traveling options in light of the current situation. (Traveling back to our home in Oregon -- nothing more exotic than that needless to say.)

 

 

Cyndi and Jeff's beautiful Black Walnut Tree and the Spring garden under it 

 

The next picture came from our son in Colorado.  Their back yard (taken on, may I remind you, the first day of spring).  It's definitely an outlier among the blue skies and spring flowers:

 

 

 

Colorado people are strong and healthy and happy in all kinds of weather though (aren't they?) --   and anyway, by now, it's highly possible that the snow has melted and the sun is shining.    

My sister sent the next picture from a walk in the park near her Seattle home.    Our oldest son who lives in that corner of Washington State also texted that he  spent the weekend working in their yard.   

 

  

Perfect Spring Days in the Pacific Northwest!  (except for the you-know-what).       As the old song said "The bluest skies you've ever seen are in Seattle" --  it should have added "when it's not raining."    (That is also true for our corner of Oregon .)    

 

(from Oregon) 

Don't forget to keep in touch with those you love. 

And go outside to play as often and as long as you can.

Thank you to our family for essentially writing this post. It would have been a boring blog with just one picture of a Blue Jay.   

 

Linking to the following:  Thank you hosts!!!! 

MOSAIC MONDAY;   ALL SEASONS; THROUGH MY LENS;   OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY;  TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS;  SAY CHEESE;  MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; WILD BIRD Wednesday;  THANKFUL THURSDAY;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY;  FRIDAY  BLISS;  SATURDAY CRITTERS;  and RATHER B' BIRDING 

BURROWING OWLS OF CAPE CORAL 2020

 

Like probably just about everybody else in the world, especially those in our age demographic, we spent a lot of time last week trying to make sense of the corona virus news and thinking about our options.   And touching base with everybody we love.     As always, in good times or not-so-good, being outside improves my mood.  (And it's an approved activity as long as it's done only in small groups.))

 

 

 

Our neighbor friends told us they had never seen any of Cape Coral's burrowing owls, so we took them on a photo safari around the Cape's maze of streets and canals to some of our favorite places to find these adorable ground-nesters.

 

 

 

Burrowing owls are diurnal -- that is that unlike most owl species they are out and about in the daytime.   It's a little bit early in the season -- by the end of April or May, we will see whole families out by the burrows.   Here's a LINK to one of my posts from another year that provides more information.

 

 

 

We need a little color too -- so from the archives here are some typical Florida Spring flowers.   Gardens are  showier and more flamboyant here in the subtropics than what we remember (fondly) from our gardening days in Oregon.    Oddly, I found these in the same photo file as some owls from a few years ago -- I was searching to see what month it was when I got wonderful pictures of the owl babies.  (It was May).  And sorting my photo files  is obviously something I need to do (and maybe I will  --  if we end up being quarantined and I get seriously bored.)

 

 

Beautiful Florida sky -- this one is also from the archives.

 

I'm grateful this week for weather that allows us get outside -- and I'm especially grateful for cell phones and texting -- technology that allows us to stay in close and instant touch even though we're far away from family.

 

 Sweet Dreams!

May we all sleep as easily and well as this little guy.

 

 

Linking this week to the following:

MOSAIC MONDAY;   ALL SEASONS;  THROUGH MY LENS;   OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY;   SAY CHEESE;  MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; WILD BIRD Wednesday;  THANKFUL THURSDAY;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY;  FRIDAY  BLISS;    SATURDAY CRITTERS;  and RATHER B' BIRDING

 

THANK YOU to all of the hosts!  

 

 

 

 

 

TARPON BAY and LOCAL EAGLES

Drove to Sanibel Island one day this week  -- battling heavy in-season traffic all the way!  Everybody wants to go to the beach.  We forget that fact at least once a year.   This time, we also forgot that the wildlife drive in Ding Darling Wildlife Refuge is closed on Friday.   (We go to the Island to see birds, not to lie around on the beach).   

 

 

Royal Tern

 

So our outing plans took a small "tern" and we hopped on one of the Refuge's pontoon boats for a Tarpon Bay nature cruise.  

 

 

The Tarpon Bay Estuary is also part of the Wildlife Refuge -- we boated past several Rookery Islands (where the birds looked like white flowers from the distance -- that's all the closer the boat got, for the safety of the boat and even more important for the welfare of the birds.)   The Mangrove trees are important for so many reasons.  They provide habitat for wildlife and a natural barrier against wind and storms for animals and people on land.   

 

 

 

Brown Pelican

While the Royal Tern  claimed Mile Marker 15, Post #21 belonged to this napping Brown Pelican.  We saw other terns, gulls, cormorants, egrets, ospreys,  and pelicans on  posts and on the edges of the water --- it was a windy day though and with the motion of the boat (and shaky hands on the photographer) , pictures were hard to come by.

 

 

I took the above picture on the causeway  as we headed off the Island toward home.  Note the blowing palm tree at the bottom ... it was a a good day for the wind-surfers!   

We're fortunate to have a variety of natural places that are easy to get to for day trips.   Some are even closer -- on another  day at home last week,  I stopped at the Eagle Pasture on the way to do errands:

 

 

 I saw at least 50 Cattle Egrets, plenty of small birds, and several very pretty horses.  And only a tiny glimpse of an Eagle's head peeking out of the nest.  (The nest tree is the skinny slash pine in the center picture (center of the center picture).   No Eagle pictures this time, but as always, it is a nice little nature stop on a day otherwise dedicated to mundane activities.  The pasture is right across the street from a supermarket shopping center and on the way to just about every other place we have to go to routinely.  

The pictures below are from the archives.  Two years ago I had much better photographer's luck with these neighbors.

Our Eagle nest -- 2018

And our pair of Eagles had better luck also that year, successfully raising a pair of Eaglets.   The lower three pictures are that year's  "babies"  -- just ready to fledge and (in the center) actually flying away for the first time.    

This year, sadly,  only one of the pair's eggs hatched and that baby died from what  was later discovered to be from ingesting rat poison. Adult Bald Eagles will take both living and dead prey -- fish, birds, small mammals).   Now,  at about the time their nestlings would usually be fledging, the pair are incubating a second hatch -- two more eggs.   This is very late for this climate, so it remains to be seen what happens.    There is a very active webcam site for this pair, so you can watch the progress  from wherever you live!  There are a lot of ads on the site, but the camera angles are good and there are links to several informative sites.    Just google Southwest Florida Eagle cam.    It's a good and easy way to learn about these iconic birds.

 

LINKING this week to the following sharing opportunities.  Thank you to all of the hosts:

 

 

MOSAIC MONDAY;   ALL SEASONS; THROUGH MY LENS;   OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY;  TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS;  SAY CHEESE;  MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;  WILD BIRD Wednesday;  SIGNS SIGNS;  THANKFUL THURSDAY;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY;  FRIDAY  BLISS;  SATURDAY CRITTERS;  and RATHER B' BIRDING

 

HARNS MARSH

 

 

Little Blue Heron

 

We went to Harns Marsh Nature Preserve one day last week.  It's a good place to walk but definitely not to do  the"Forest Bathing" that I mentioned in last week's post.   Harns is flat land that the County has reclaimed for flood control.   It is marshy during the rainy season, but here in SW Florida, that is during the summer.   Trails this time of year are easily accessible.  

 

 

 

 A Snowy Egret (Yellow Slippers) waited patiently for a fish to show up.  The middle picture is the same Little Blue as above, not zoomed or cropped.  And showing the odd place it perched -- nowhere near the water.    The bird is perched on some of the flood control equipment.        

 

Great Egret

 

A Great Egret amidst blooming Bidens Alba.    We didn't see as many birds at Harns as we have on previous visits.   Last time, we watched Limpkins eating their meals of apple snails (pretty much their entire diet).  The pictures below are from that visit.

 

Limpkins

All we saw this time was empty snail shells (like in the middle picture).    So we know the Limpkins had been there, but on this day they were somewhere else.

 

 

 

 Bald Eagles

 

These two are also from our last visit to the Marsh -- these are not the ones that live down the street from us who have their own webcam.  It's been a bit sad at that nest this year and so I haven't stopped by to take pictures.   (Update in a future post I hope.)

 

 

 

 

It was a pretty day for a walk even if we didn't see a great many birds.   I definitely think the concept of "Forest Bathing" should be re-titled to something that includes Marshes, Sloughs, River Banks, and Deserts.   The important thing is to get outside and enjoy nature. 

 I'm grateful to be able to do exactly that wherever we are.

 

LINKING this week to the following sharing opportunities.  Thank you to the hosts.

 

MOSAIC MONDAY;   ALL SEASONS; THROUGH MY LENS;   OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY; SAY CHEESE;  MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; WILD BIRD Wednesday;  THANKFUL THURSDAY;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY;  FRIDAY  BLISS;    SATURDAY CRITTERS;  and RATHER B' BIRDING

OUTSIDE AGAIN -- on land and water

  

 

Morning at the Caloosahatchie Nature Preserve. 

  This County Park is next door to the snowbird resort where we live here in Florida.  This majestic Live Oak tree marks the start of a walking path  through the Preserve.     Live Oaks are fairly common in this part of the country  --  its  acorns are great food for wildlife.  

 

 

 I have read a little recently about "Forest Bathing", the concept of immersing yourself in quiet natural surroundings.   I agree that a walk in nature brings calm and joy.   It's a different kind of forest here in SW Florida -- foliage is low and except for the few Live Oaks on the edge of this preserve, the trees are thin and sparse compared to the forests of the Pacific Northwest.    But it is green and quiet.   (And certainly  warmer here this time of year.)   So it works for me.

 

 

 Mocking Bird

 

Although this mockingbird posed beautifully along the path, on this walk I heard many more songbirds than I saw -- and certainly more than I could photograph. Some I didn't even try to take pictures of were the dozens and dozens of robins I saw and heard in a clearing.      Robins are extremely common where we're from in Oregon, but those were the first ones I'd seen here in Fort Myers.  It's migration time  -- I guess they were headed back "up North."  

 

 

 Even though I've walked the paths in this preserve many times, there is always something new to see.  Like those robins or these interesting fungi growing on a fallen tree along the pathway.      In past seasons, I walked here more often because the park could be accessed from the back of our resort via a short path.  This year, apparently for security reasons, the gateway to the path has been locked off.   This makes it pretty far to walk to the park from home and would mean a walk along the busy street in front of the resort.   So now we have to drive to the visitor parking area like everybody else, which is kind of a bummer after years of feeling like the Preserve was part of our own  backyard.   But it is still close enough to do often.

On another day last week, we took part in the Boat Club's February outing and lunch.   It was nice to get out on the River again.

 

 

The picture above is our Canal, taken from the back of our boat just as we got out into the Caloosahatchie.   Our Boat hasn't gotten a whole lot of use yet this season -- either because of stormy weather, projects keeping the Captain busy, or being sick.  Or all of the above.   It was a lovely day for this event and nice to get back outside.  

 

 

 

The next day was stormy again -- heavy wind and some rain.  We were lucky that Thursday, the scheduled date  for the boating event,  was such a good one!   It's nice weather again this weekend.  We are thankful for that and looking forward to more playing outside -- on land or water  -- in the weeks to come.

 

Linking this week to the following sharing opportunities:

Thank you to all of the hosts.

MOSAIC MONDAY;   ALL SEASONS;  THROUGH MY LENS;   OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY;   SAY CHEESE;  MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;   THANKFUL THURSDAY;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY; FRIDAY  BLISS;   and   SATURDAY CRITTERS 

THE JOY OF ORDINARY DAYS

 

Skies are blue, the sun is shining, and my cold is gone!  

 

 

Sky view from our front yard Sunday morning.

 A bit of "off" time is a good reminder to be grateful for  the joys of every-day life.   

 

 

 Lots of Vitamin C at the local Farm Market.  No wonder I feel better!    All of these crops are growing here right now.  Hard to remember sometimes that  it is still Winter.   

 

 

Bill's about a week behind me in getting over that summer Winter cold, so we didn't go far from home at all last week.   I stopped by Butterfly Garden on my way to the Farm Market.  Lots of butterflies, but it was too late in the day (too warm) to get good photographs. They were too flitty -- you have to go before it warms up to get them when they're sitting still.  

 

 

All of these flowers are good food for the butterflies.    Most are native plants for this area.  

 

 

Dune Sunflower

 

The demonstration garden is meant to encourage people to plant to provide habitat for butterflies and bees.  It's a part of Manatee Park on the Orange River.  Manatees gather here when the weather is cooler, because the river water here is warmed by output from the nearby power plant.

 

 

 

Blanket Flower

This time of year, the Manatees are out in the Rivers at least during the day.   The water there is warm enough for them now.   

 

 

Blue Mist Flower

I try  to learn the names of  wildflowers, but I have a long ways to go.

 

Orange River at Manatee Park

Our River water is coffee or tea colored.  This is from the mangroves, which are an important part of the ecological system.

 

 

February's snow moon -- certainly mis-named for this part of the country.  The pictures are from our porch.  I was still under-the-weather the week the moon was full and that was about as far as I got.   I was happy to have the view and the warmth then, but am even more grateful to be well for it!  

 

 

Linking this week to the following:

THANK YOU to all of the hosts!!  

MOSAIC MONDAY;   ALL SEASONS; MACRO MONDAY ;  THROUGH MY LENS;   OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY;  SAY CHEESE;  MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;  THANKFUL THURSDAY;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY; and FRIDAY  BLISS   

THE WEEK THAT WAS ...

It was one of those weeks --  full of the petty little annoyances that seem to come in bunches (my mother always said things come in threes.)   However we word it, I hope we are finished with that run for  little while.    Here's an old but happy picture that cheers me up just by looking at it:   

 

Butterfly Park, Fort Myers, from the archives
(taken in January a couple of years ago)

It would have been a great week to go for a nice long walk or two, but one of the annoyances was a bad head cold.   That coupled with windy and changeable weather kept me indoors.  I was going to post  all archived photos this week (as the one above is).  But this morning we got a taste of early Spring in a text from our daughter.  She said I could share the joy.

 

Oregon morning

I haven't been waking up nearly as early as I used to -- whether here in Florida or when we were in Oregon.   So this Oregon sunrise from Cyndi was a real gift.    

 

 

The first crocus in Cyndi and Jeff's backyard.   We don't see early Spring flowers (or really any typical Spring flowers) here in subtropical SW Florida.  

 

 I do miss the flowers.  But the frequent chilly, rainy February days, not so much.

 

Violets

 

Their violets are remnants from  years ago when our "kids" first bought their home in the country and we too still lived "full-time" in Oregon.  Bill and I  cut our own firewood back then and after one expedition wild violet plants came home on some of our logs.   Cyndi and Jeff were happy to get new plants then (as you do when you buy a home on five acres where the yard had been completely neglected by the previous owner.)  We transplanted the violets, gave them several bunches and planted some in our own flower beds too.  Before long, parts of both our lawns were more violet than grass.   

I'm glad I had those colorful Spring pictures to share because below are the archived ones I was going to share -- pretty much the only color in them is a fluke of photography.  Both mosaics are from last summer's trip to Washington State.

 

 

These pictures are from the Dismal Nitch rest stop near Astoria.     All three are straight out of the camera with no editing (except to put them in the mosaic of course).  I almost always take too many pictures of everything and once in a great while, my camera puts some of them into different shades.  I honestly have no idea how it happens,  but this one time I didn't throw the fakes away, because it was kind of interesting to see some color instead of ... well ... the true dismal gray.  

 

The Lewis and Clark expedition was stuck here in November 1805 by a perfect storm.   

We stop at Dismal Nitch Safety Rest Area whenever we drive that route.   It is always windy and cold, even in the summer.  That and the excerpts from the 1805 expedition journals  make you grateful for warm clothes and transportation fast enough to mean you will never have to spend a week camping out in that kind of weather.

Thank you to Cyndi for all of the cheer from Oregon!  And for the memories.   Grateful for my archives too.  And grateful that the small glitches were solved by Bill before he caught my cold.  (I'm better and sorry that I generously shared the germs.)  

Thank you also to the hosts of the following sharing opportunities:

MOSAIC MONDAY;   ALL SEASONS; THROUGH MY LENS;   OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY;  TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS;  SAY CHEESE;  MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; SIGNS SIGNS; THANKFUL THURSDAY;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY; FRIDAY  BLISS; and SATURDAY CRITTERS

LASSEN NATIONAL PARK

On our Autumn roadtrip we spent a full day in California's Lassen Volcanic National Park with a short stop on our way  at nearby Burney Falls State Park.  

 

Burney Falls State Park (California)

The Fall colors at the State park were beautiful and Burney Falls itself is spectacular.   We had the Roadtrek Camper Van and had planned to spend the night there, but the Park was absolutely deserted, with all camping areas roped off.   The visitor center was closed.   We never did find out why -- mid-October seemed early for the season to be over.    We had a little walk around the area, took lots of pictures and then found an unexceptional motel near the National Park.  

 

 One of the informational signs at Burney Falls.  I've always loved waterfalls but at seeing this sign realized I had never even given a thought to how they are formed.  Science and Geography were not my best subjects in school. They say it is good for aging brains to learn new things -- and that is easier to do when you missed a lot of learning earlier in life.

 

 Summit Lake, Mt Lassen National Park

This view looks calm and peaceful, but Lassen Park is an active volcanic site and is home to all four types of volcano -- plug dome, cinder cone, shield, and stratovolcano.  Scientists continually monitor the area, especially since Mount Saint Helens (also part of the Cascade Mountain chain) blew up in 1980.   The National Park Service has developed an emergency plan to protect the public in case an eruption threatens.

 

Bumpass Hell Trail and  Sulfur Works

 

Hydrothermal sulfur mud pots boil along the trails in the park.   In appearance (and "aroma") they  rival those in the more well known Yellowstone National Park.   Lassen is one of the least visited National Parks -- it gets around 500,000 visitors annually, compared to Yellowstone's over 4 million.   

 

Rocks "painted"  by sulfur and other deposits 

 

Brokeoff Mountain (Mt Tehama)

 

Brokeoff  Mountain was an active stratovolcano around 400,000 years ago.  It would have been 11,000 feet high.   After the volcano stopped erupting the mountain slowly eroded and crumbled.   These are remnants.  Volcanic activity in the area shifted toward the present Mt Lassen.

 

 

 We are honored to have visited 41 of the 60 National Parks in the US and are grateful to the dedicated people who work for the NP Service.  I can only hope that these parks (and other natural wonders here in this country)  will still exist by the time our great-grandchildren are old enough to visit them.

 

LINKING THIS WEEK to the following sharing opportunities, with thanks to all of the hosts:

 

MOSAIC MONDAY;   ALL SEASONS; THROUGH MY LENS;   OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY;  TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS;  SAY CHEESE;  MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; SIGNS SIGNS;   THANKFUL THURSDAY;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY; and FRIDAY  BLISS;   

 

 

FLORIDA WINTER

 

Six-Mile Cypress Slough Preserve, Fort Myers

 

It was a beautiful day for walking Friday at Six-Mile Cypress Preserve.      Birds were a little scarce, but I had fun chasing woodpeckers around their trees (with my camera, from a good distance).  I saw red-bellies (the one above)  and downies.   Also lots of warblers flitting about including a very nice sighting of a black-and-white (but no pictures), and a hawk or two.  

So, yes, Friday was a good walking day -- but it was cold (for Florida) earlier last week.  How cold was it, you ask?  It was so cold ....  

 

Obviously not my picture.  I (virtually) clipped it from a website

 

.... that the Iguanas fell out of the trees.    Iguanas become cold-stunned when the temperature drops into near-freezing.  Their breathing slows and they enter a state of torpor which causes them to lose muscle control.  They live in trees and when that happens to them, they fall.    People are reminded not to pick them up or move them  -- they are not dead and when it warms up, they'll be off and running -- well, moving anyway.)

 

This is an original -- from my Florida archives --an  Agama lizard, not an Iguana

But it wasn't really quite that cold here -- we live in NW Florida  and although we woke up to temperatures in the low 40s on a couple of days, it never actually got down to freezing here on the Canal.    Still a little chilly in the mornings, but the sun warms things up during the day.  I don't think our lizards had much to complain about.  Neither did we.

 

Wood Duck Pond, Six-Mile

 

Like all reptiles, alligators don't generate their own heat.  When it gets below 70 (F)  they've already slowed down and stopped feeding.  In really cold weather, they will burrow into a den in the bank and go  dormant until it warms up.  They can even live under ice while in a dormant state (according to Google -- I've never seen an alligator where there was ice.  And don't want to.)

 

 

Wood Duck Pond

 

The Alligator on Wood Duck Pond was sharing the same log with other critters -- quite a group of turtles and an Anahinga drying its wings at the other end.  (It was just a little above 70 degrees -- all critters were safe!)

 

 

Brown Anole at Six-Mile

 

It's rather reptile-heavy around the blog today, isn't it?  Apologies to those who think they're a little creepy.  Personally  I find them  fascinating in all their prehistoric glory.  But I wouldn't get real close to the larger ones.     This brown anole is definitely not one of the large variety.

Through the magic of a zoom lens, it's possible to get better pictures -- but it can also distort  our perception of size.  This guy is very tiny -- about the size of my little finger.    That Alligator above was around eight feet long.       The Agama Lizard in my archival shot was probably around a foot.

 

Cypress Knees in the Slough

 

There was a lot of water in the slough -- and that's a good thing.   The Cypress Knee families were happy.  (They look to me like hobbit people.)

 

 

Six-Mile is one of my favorite places.   It's part of the reason we have been happy to come back for all these years -- the natural beauty of this State (so green) is not what people who have never been here usually think of when they think of Florida.    We certainly learned quickly that the Pacific Northwest doesn't have an exclusive corner on emerald green nature.  

 

The same patch of sky -- looking down and looking up.

 

LINKING this week to the following sharing opportunities:  Thank you to all of the hosts.

MOSAIC MONDAY;   ALL SEASONS; THROUGH MY LENS;   OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY;  TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS;  SAY CHEESE;  MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; SIGNS SIGNS; THANKFUL THURSDAY  ; WANDERING CAMERA;   SKYWATCH FRIDAY; FRIDAY  BLISS;  SATURDAY CRITTERS;  and RATHER B' BIRDING

 

WORK and (mostly) PLAY (now and then)

 

 

Except for the first two rows, this week's pictures are all from last Summer and Fall.  But like the best second meals from the same day of cooking, it's not just leftovers served because there's nothing else, but rather "planned-overs."  In this case,  good experiences that we really want to remember.

Here are the new servings:

It was a beautiful day for the January Boat Club lunch.  Above, the Captain is bringing our boat in to the dock in front of the restaurant for a passenger pickup.  Bill's piloting and our friend is ready to help.    I'm always happy to cede  first-mate duties to someone more experienced -- and we enjoyed the company during the "voyage."    The spouses formerly known as first-mates were waiting at the dock.  It had been a  long walk to the place where we'd tied up during lunch and we were happy for the water-taxi service.

But below is what that Captain was busy with for most of the week ....

 

... which explains why there were few new experiences to blog about.   "We" are putting in a second bathroom  at one end of the Florida Room that we added a few years ago.  It's in  a very small space planned for this purpose -- but finishing it requires not only  skill but also  acrobatic ability (neither of them mine, although sometimes I stop blogging and go hold something or fetch something as requested.)   The addition of this bath and then renovation of the existing one are the last parts of the remodeling project begun when we bought the "Canal Cottage."   

Now onward -- or backward -- to last season when we were in Oregon.

 

Late November 

The picture above is a view of the Willamette River from one of the walking paths we can access easily from our apartment.   Autumn is  beautiful in Eugene and we are happy with our location where we have the ability to walk these natural surroundings as often as we wish.  

 

Early November
Birds and a Bat!  

 

All of the above critters were seen on the same day as I walked through residential areas on the way to the river.  There were dozens of robins on the grass behind our apartment complex -- perhaps a migration stopover (although Eugene seldom gets too cold for them -- maybe this was their final stop).  There are always ducks -- but the center picture was a big surprise.  It was taken behind our apartment complex, an area where the sun had not yet reached, on the same walk where I photographed some of the many  robins.   I have to admit that I didn't realize I'd taken a picture of a Bat until we downloaded the pictures -- what a surprise that was.

 

 

Burney Falls, California

October

 

Burney Falls was the first California stop on our October Road Trip.  We were in the area to visit  Lassen Volcanic National Park -- which is another "planned-over" for a future post.

 

September

 

This is Parker, our daughter and son-in-law's dog.     He is half McNabb Terrier and half Mastiff.  This big puppy thinks he's hiding behind that tree.     There's a family tabby cat as well and one of my photo goals is to get a good picture of Parker and Chloe playing together.  They really do like each other -- and the great part of it is that the two have almost the exact same coloring.   Some day I'll get that perfect picture.

 

August

Swallows migrated through our area in August -- I caught a few of them in a very rare moment resting moment.   

 

 

 Auto-correct is one of my pet peeves,  so I had to laugh at this sign seen in a coffee shop somewhere on our summer travels.   This is dedicated to every blog friend who has ever wondered what the heck it was I meant to say when I didn't catch an error in a comment before I hit "send".    We won't even talk about text messages.

 

October -- Mt Lassen area 

Beautiful blue skies from our Autumn Road Trip -- and at the lower row corners, what I can fairly confidently say is the only snow we'll see this season.         

Thankful for memories this week and for the new ones we're making -- of both work and play  -- today, last season,  and always!     

 

LINKING this week to the following:  Thank you to all of the generous hosts. 

MOSAIC MONDAY;   ALL SEASONS;  THROUGH MY LENS;   OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY;  TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS;  SAY CHEESE;  MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;  WILD BIRD Wednesday; SIGNS SIGNS; THANKFUL THURSDAY;   SKYWATCH FRIDAY; FRIDAY  BLISS;  SATURDAY CRITTERS;  and RATHER B' BIRDING

 

HOLE IN THE HEAD ...

....  and other follow-up from Bodega Bay. 

 

California -- The Golden State

 

 

Pictures above are from somewhere on the road between Bodega Bay and Arcata Marsh, during our October road-trip to California (from our home in Oregon).

 

Hole in the Head, Bodega Bay

Before the arrival of Europeans, the  Bodega Bay Headlands was home to Miwok Indians -- there was fresh spring water, sea water, and abundant land and sea life.  Early settlers followed for the same reasons.    In the late 1950s,  PG&E (Utility Company) bought land from a local rancher and planned to turn the area into the nation's first commercially viable nuclear power plant.    This would have destroyed the habitat and local residents and other concerned citizens mounted a campaign to halt the  construction.   It dragged through legal channels until it was stopped for good in 1964 -- the environmental destruction alone should have been enough, but the fact that the Headlands lies on the San Andreas Fault was actually the deciding factor.   

The Hole in the Head is   a 90 by 120 foot deep hole dug by PG&E during the initial construction phrase.  The "hole"  is constantly refilled by the fresh springs that drew Native Americans and early settlers  to the area.  It provides safe habitat for a variety of birds and wildlife.  (Information from signage at the headlands, with some of my own thoughts inserted.)

 

 

I posted about Bodega Bay earlier HERE --  (only a few weeks ago -- I'm still way behind in blogging) .  Above is another picture of some of the Marbled Godwits that we saw .  Thank you to the generous birders who verified my identification in their comments.  Your help was  much appreciated.  

 

Possibly descendants of  early movie stars?

 

A few comments on the earlier post mentioned that famous movie filmed in this charming little town.  For entirely different reasons, I appreciated those comments as well.     I knew a little  about "The Birds" and there were are still a few signs and reminders of it around the town, but we'd  never seen the movie.  (It was released in 1963 -- by  November of that year, we had four children under the age of six.   Movies were  low on our list of things to do.)  Too bad we didn't have streaming services available back then (although I'm sure I'd have fallen asleep in front of the TV just as well with it!).  We did use that modern service to watch it just recently -- it was definitely dated and only the opening scene looked much like the Bodega Bay we saw.  It was fun to watch though  ---   and I still love all kinds of birds.    

 

 

This sign is along Highway 1 just outside of Bodega Bay.  The Chanslor family owns a big ranch and this wetlands area.  The sign on this fence said that hiking was allowed with permission and that minors must be accompanied by an adult at all times.   Seemed like the prickly  tangle of weeds would do a good job of keeping anyone young or old out of this protected area.   But we walked along the edge in front of the fence and soon came to a great photo stop where we could actually see the water.

 

 

I think, but am not sure, that the water is Salmon Creek.   There was the largest flock of Mallards here that I've ever seen.  These are just a small part of them.  It's an extremely common duck but it was interesting to see so many of them together.  And they are handsome! 

 

Grateful ...

 

 ... that we were able to travel to this fascinating area and for all that we learned.   Thankful for the people who saved the Bodega Headlands.   

And thank you for visiting and especially for your comments.   And, as always, thank you to the hosts of the following sharing opportunities.    

MOSAIC MONDAY;   ALL SEASONS; THROUGH MY LENS;   OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY;  TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS;   SAY CHEESE;  MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;  WILD BIRD Wednesday; SIGNS SIGNS; THANKFUL THURSDAY;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY; FRIDAY  BLISS; SATURDAY CRITTERS;  and RATHER B' BIRDING

 

OUR DECEMBER IN FLORIDA

 

This is a collection of our December activities, not including the un-photographed ones involved in getting the Canal Cottage livable again (we arrived here on the 5th of the month) and not necessarily in order.        

 

Anastasia State Park, St Augustine 

 

The beach was lovely, but chilly -- that warning flag was blowing like crazy.

 

 

Ollie's Pond,  Port Charlotte

 

It looked like the Black-bellied whistling ducks  were admiring the beautiful pink spoonbill who had somehow appeared in their midst.   The whole walk around the pond, we saw only the one Roseate Spoonbill.  And dozens of the ducks.

 

 

Holiday sparkle in St Augustine.  The whole city was beautifully decorated, but all in sparkly white lights which didn't photograph too well (by me at least).  The colored ornaments were in a restaurant.... the palmettos outside the window added a definite Florida touch!  

 

 

Peace River Wildlife Center

We visited the Wildlife Rehab Center in Punta Gorda on our way back from Port Charlotte, but the Great Egret was wild and could have been photographed anywhere.   It makes me smile when we see wild birds in rehabilitation places.  I always wonder if they are there to visit friends.

 

Ollie's Pond

 

A few more of the whistling ducks, a ground dove,  white ibis -- and I think the bird hiding in the reeds is a common gallinule.   We dashed up the freeway to Port Charlotte early in the month because the kind of sunglasses I needed were on sale there.   Somehow, I lost mine between Oregon and here (unless they are still on the table in our Oregon apartment ... it was zero dark thirty when we left there!!)   

We had a lot to do at home at that point, so I was surprised and more than happy when Bill (the person who did not lose his sunglasses)  suggested a couple of bird-y stops on our way home -- and I'm happy to have good sunglasses too, needless to say.     

 

 

Upriver Sky

 

We've had some rain and cool-ish days, but there is sun in between -- and warmth.  (And even cool-ish isn't really very).  

 

New Year's Eve Sparkle, downtown Fort Myers

 

With our good boating buddies from the resort, we spent three nights at the Fort Myers Yacht Basin (the city marina).  A good  time was had by all. 

 

December is always a busy month for us -- as it is for just about everybody.   Nowadays, it's  a different kind of busy than it was over half-a-century ago when we played Santa -- or even thirty years ago more or less when we hosted Santa-believing grandchildren (and their parents, and aunts and uncles) for part of their holidays.   We're thankful for all of those good memories, but also more than grateful to be here to enjoy this stage of life.  

Happy New Year!

 

Linking this week to the following sharing opportunities, with thanks to the hosts:

 

MOSAIC MONDAY;  NATURE NOTES;  ALL SEASONS; THROUGH MY LENS;   OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY;  TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS; TUESDAY TREASURES;  SAY CHEESE;  MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;  WILD BIRD Wednesday;  THANKFUL THURSDAY;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY;  FRIDAY  BLISS;   SATURDAY CRITTERS;  and RATHER B' BIRDING

 

 

WARM HOLIDAY WISHES

 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from our Florida Canal Cottage.

(This post is a re-run, but the sentiments and the pictures have not gone out-of-date.)

 

 

 

Wishing you a Joyful Holiday Season ...

 

 

...  And light even when the days are dark.

 

 

Celebrate the Season, wherever you may be...

 

 

... and be thankful at the end of each beautiful day.

 

##

 

 THANK you for visiting!  

Taking a Holiday Break to catch up ... Another post in a couple of weeks.   

Comments for this post are closed.

 

 

Wishing you a Joyful Holiday Season ...

 

 

...  And light even when the days are dark.

 

 

Celebrate the Season, wherever you may be...

 

 

... and be thankful at the end of each beautiful day.

 

##

 

 THANK you for visiting!  

BODEGA BAY, CALIFORNIA

Bodega Bay, mid-October

We're alive and well and enjoying real life in Florida.   But still living in the past here in Blogland.    These pictures are all from a roadtrip we took back in mid-October.  

 

 

Our destination was a new-to-us coastal area -- Bodega Bay in Sonoma County, California.    We traveled from our Oregon home in our RoadTrek RV (camper van).     We'd only been back home for a few days when that part of Northern California was devastated by wildfires  and power outages.    I've not been able to find much on-line about what happened in the coastal town of Bodega Bay, but we hope that it was not severely damaged.  

 

 

  I hope the birds in the picture above are (mostly) Marbled Godwits.  But I could be wrong (and any corrections are more than welcome)  .... in any case it was great happening upon an evening feeding frenzy of these busy shorebirds as we headed back to our RV Park after a day exploring  Bodega Head.

 

 

Same general area, but all by itself -- this little guy was able to find a quiet dining spot away from the company of bigger birds.

 

 

Some color on the hillsides above the Bay.  There were so many great viewpoints.    I'm always thankful to spend time exploring nature and this really was a beautiful spot.    

 

 

 

One of the above is not like the others.

.

 

Bodega Head

On the other hand, each of these is pretty much exactly like all the others.

 

Another person watching the activity on this offshore rookery told me these were Brandt's Cormorants.  As always, I depend upon the kindness of strangers (and blog friends) for birding help.  Cormorants are not my favorite bird and they're not very photogenic, but a rookery is always interesting.  (The inset is highly cropped --   I used it to compare with my bird book description -- Brandt's looks right to me, but again .... ) 

 

This could be any seaside town in Florida, but it really was taken in Bodega Bay California.

  Can't go to the Coast without enjoying the Pelicans (and it doesn't matter which coast we're on).  

 

This was a great roadtrip -- we learned a lot about the area and I do have other pictures and information for a later post.  But since our posts have been a bit lacking in birds this whole past summer and fall, I'm making up for that shortage this week.   

 

 

 

We drove a lot of interesting roads on this trip.  

This picture also shows the dry conditions that prevailed prior to those terrible fires   -- California needs rain.  

 

Thankful to the hosts of the following sharing opportunities (and to everyone who visits and especially those who comment):

MOSAIC MONDAY;   ALL SEASONS;  THROUGH MY LENS;   OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY;  TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS; SAY CHEESE; WILD BIRD Wednesday     MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;  SIGNS SIGNS;  THANKFUL THURSDAY;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY;  FRIDAY  BLISS;   SATURDAY CRITTERS;  and RATHER B' BIRDING

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FLOREGON

Last week was transition time between the two states we currently call home -- we flew across the country from Oregon to Florida.

 

Sunrise across from the Canal Cottage, Fort Myers

So we've been here at the Canal Cottage in Fort Myers since Thursday -- and "at the Canal Cottage"  means exactly that.  Unless you count the obligatory trip to the grocery store to stock up our bare cupboards, we've been at home digging out.   But the weather is lovely here and our trip  was uneventful, with no weather delays.  We are  most grateful, since flying can definitely be iffy this time of year.   (Our first stop after we left Eugene was at San Francisco, with another transfer at Newark NJ before arriving at Southwest Florida Regional Airport here.)  We'd had our fingers crossed for no snowstorms and we were lucky.  

The rest of this post is from the archives --   I started to post these pictures last August after we took a day-trip to the (Pacific) Coast when we were in Oregon, but other posts from other trips superseded this one.   

 

 

Pacific Coast between Yachats and Waldport

We always like to check that the Pacific Ocean is still there when we get back to Oregon.  The Ocean seemed to do very well while we were away -- and probably did not miss us nearly as much as we missed it.

 

Oregon Central Coast  -- along Highway 101

Before stopping at the viewpoints pictured above, we took a short walk just North of Florence (Oregon of course) at the Darlingtonia Wayside.

 

 

The sign below pretty much explains everything about this interesting plant.  I think they look like a congregation of miniature dinosaurs.

 

 

The white moth in the picture below was smart enough to land on the wild aster instead of on the Darlingtonia, but since the plants looked quite healthy, I assume that many insects were not so lucky.

 

 

Thankful for the natural beauty of our home State of Oregon!   I  miss it when we're gone, but look forward to enjoying the natural beauty of Florida (where I'm also grateful for sunshine and warmth during the winter months).   

 

LINKING to the following sharing opportunities.  Thank you to the hosts.

 

NATURE NOTES;   ALL SEASONS;  MACRO MONDAY ;   MOSAIC MONDAY; TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS;   THROUGH MY LENS;  OUR WORLD on Tuesday;  SAY CHEESE;    MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;  SIGNS SIGNS;  THANKFUL THURSDAY;   SKYWATCH FRIDAY;   FRIDAY  BLISS and SATURDAY CRITTERS 

MY VIRTUAL WALLET SNAPSHOTS

 

Some proud great-grandmother’s bragging about a most important part of our Oregon season! 

I would normally spread family get-together posts over the months we're here, but this year I was determined to document our early summer trip while I still remembered a little of what we learned.     Of course, I could never forget family, even without pictures.  But it is so much fun to have them!   

 

This picture taken by their mother -- our granddaughter 

These three -- our oldest great-grandsons -- live in Eugene now.

 Luckily for us! 

 

Random snapshots from Thanksgiving.  

 

With an almost 10-month old, there was no lack of Thanksgiving Day entertainment.

 

 Top left:  The boys' Aunt (expecting our fifth great-grands0n this winter!); and their Dad (our grandson-in-law).  Top right:  Our daughter -- The proud Grandma.

Lower left:  Grandpa  (our son-in-law) giving the baby's mom a break (that's our granddaughter!).  Lower right:  Our son-in-law and our oldest grandson (sadly with his back turned) doing kitchen duty-- he is the father-to-be.  

I wish I were better about taking people pictures.   At least it would have been nice to have gotten each family unit together .. or even better a group shot!     But at least this is better than when we visited the other branches of our family  -- I didn't even get a single picture of people on any of those visits*** -- too busy catching up to remember that I owned a camera.

 

Same baby -- a month earlier

 

He usually sees us at his own home or even oftener at his grandparents -- and didn't quite know what to make of visiting the GGs at our apartment home.     Especially when Great-Grandpa entertained him by putting on a matching stocking cap.  

 

Big brother -- in September

 

This one is in middle-school now -- and big enough to help his grandma and grandpa with Saturday yard work at their home out in the country.   

 

Same baby -- way back in August

We were celebrating big zero August birthdays -- Great Grandpa turned 80 and the middle great-grandson turned 10!   

 

 

*** Here is an update with pictures added later -- this is our oldest grandson and his wife -- and their puppy -- and even better our great-grandson who is expected in April.  I took these on the Sunday after Thanksgiving when we all went back to our daughter and son-in-law's for leftovers!  

 

It is a joy to watch the family grow and change  (it's certainly more immediately obvious when the person doing the growing is under the age of one-year.)     We are grateful to be a part of our great-grandchildrens' lives.  

 

 

 LINKING this week to the following: 

MOSAIC MONDAY;   ALL SEASONS;   THROUGH MY LENS;   OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY;   SAY CHEESE;  MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;   THANKFUL THURSDAY; and  FRIDAY  BLISS.

Thank you to the hosts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

AMSTERDAM

It's Thanksgiving Week here in the US and we have so much to be thankful for  -- we had so many good days here in Oregon this summer and fall -- and took lots of pictures.  But our trip to Europe  has consumed almost every one of our blog posts lately.  When we got "re-Oregonized" back in July, I thought it was a joke  when I said I'd probably be blogging about our 'grand tour' until it was time for us to go back to our Florida winter home.  But here we are in real life getting close to that departure  and yet  in blog-land we're still on our early-summer European trip.    (And I'll definitely still be blogging about Oregon after we get back to Florida!)

 

Amsterdam has over 1200 bridges and 165 canals.  

But the end is in sight.    This post is about Amsterdam -- and Amsterdam was the last stop on our European tour. 

The City started around a dam in the Amstel River -- all of the land around the river was originally marshy, but it was made liveable by draining the swamp and building the canal system.

 

 

 

We saw this banner or sign everywhere in ordinary shops and stores -- at first, we thought  Amsterdam was capitalizing on its reputation as somewhat of an  "adult" (X-rated)  city*.   (A little frighteningly for us at the time,  the banner even hung on the window of our hotel.)   

But fortunately, we learned  that this banner is actually Amsterdam's historic coat of arms -- the white crosses on the black background represent St. Andrew's Cross (because he was a fisherman and in the 1500s, Amsterdam was a fishing village).  Or, in another version, the crosses stood for  the three perils that the City once faced -- flood, fire, and plague.   I  like either of those versions better than what we first thought.      

*And yes, we did walk through that part of town and no I did not take any pictures.  And now we can say we've been there.    (We actually felt completely safe everywhere in the City.)

 

 

Everyone knows that we are drawn to water and boats and so of course Amsterdam was right up our alley canal.  We saw all kinds of  tour boats (we took one) and many personal pleasure boats, but the most fascinating to us was the many many live-aboard houseboats docked right along busy downtown streets .   Some were beautifully kept, some nearly derelict.   These boats are not cheap lodging.  The  sign in the window of the center boat  says "For Sale by Sotheby's."   That firm does not deal in low-rent housing!    Our canal boat tour guide somewhat satisfied our curiosity about how space rental and maintenance concerns were handled.    I think we may have been the first people who asked that kind of question.  

 

Dutch architecture.   

 The tall narrow houses were built because they used to be taxed by width.   Some homes along the River were built on stilts because of the sandy soil.  They've settled over the years and now appear to be leaning forward.  

Koninkluk Paleis  (The Royal Palace)

 

 

Views of Zuiderkerk (South Church) from the Staalstraat Bridge

Part of the reason I blog is to clarify the memories.     I used to imagine  (when I started blogging)  that someday, when we got too old to travel and explore, we could sit in our rocking chairs and read about what "adventures" we'd had.    I'm grateful that  (as of today anyway)  neither of us has yet reached that point.    Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

  

LINKING this week to the following, with thanks to the hosts: 

 

MOSAIC MONDAY;   ALL SEASONS; THROUGH MY LENS;   OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY;  TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS; TUESDAY TREASURES;  SAY CHEESE;  MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;  SIGNS SIGNS;  THANKFUL THURSDAY;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY; and  FRIDAY  BLISS; and WANDERING CAMERA

 

 

 

 

LUXEMBOURG CITY

 

Musee de la Banque

 

It was green!  That's the first thing I remember about Luxembourg City, the Capital of the country by the same name.  (And we needed a taste of nature at that point in the journey.)   Our hotel (booked just a few days before our arrival, rather than months in advance as the earlier three stays had been) was not in mid-town, but it was a very nice place to stay and we were able to use the excellent city bus system to get where we wanted to go.   

 

View from inside the tunnel.  

 

 From the bus stop in the center of the city we walked across a bridge and down steps and through tunnels to arrive at  Parks de Petrusse -- a lovely green park under the old ramparts originally built to protect the city.

 

Bock Casemates

 

A fortified castle on the Bock promontory built in 963 was the beginning of the city of Luxembourg.  Ring walls (called casemates) were added in the 15th Century which eventually turned the city into a well-defended center.  The fortified city could shelter thousands of people.    Today 17 kilometers of tunnels remain, on  different levels with staircases inside the rock face. 

 

View of the City from the walkway.

 

 We walked down the stairs and miles of paths down below  -- loving the quiet and and green -- there was water and bird song.  The Park is one of those magical places that seem like you are miles away from civilization but really you are in the middle of the City.   

Happily, there was even an elevator on the lowest level of the park, which we rode back up to street level.  It had begun to rain a little and the elevator (magically?) opened right next door to a tavern    A great place to wait out the rainstorm. 

 

 

Adolphe Bridge

This beautifully restored iconic bridge has great views from the walkway on top and is great to look at from below.

 

Underground art gallery at AM Tunnel

The artists:  Till Aydin; Anna Ney; Sophie Hoffmann

 One of the tunnels houses an Underground Art Gallery.     The exhibit we saw was  of photo collages.    I confess, the display had me immediately thinking of linking to Mosaic Monday.  So this is a mosaic of mosaics!!  

 

Palais Grand Ducal

 

We had only a day and a half to spend in Luxembourg -- it was a rather long rail journey  from here to Amsterdam (our next and final stop), but a lovely one through more beautiful green countryside.    There was no English translation on this train though, so we had a couple of fun adventures on the way -- apparently at one point the train was diverted due to construction and the transfer point we had on our ticket was changed.   Along with one other passenger we stayed on the train because the sign was different from what our ticket said.  Eventually a gentleman from the train came in waving his arms and we finally got it through our thick heads that we had to go somewhere and get on another train.  

 

 

 This would be funnier snapshots if they actually showed either of us racing to the correct platform lugging our suitcases up and down escalators  and asking anyone who looked like they might speak English if we were going the right way.  (People were helpful -- and obviously we did make our connecting train.)

 

 

 

This one is a view of the Luxembourg countryside from the train window as we began our journey to Amsterdam (before the mix-up, but the whole journey was quite lovely and the slight hiccup gave us something we are still laughing about).    We are glad we spent some time in this pleasant green country! 

 

LINKING this week to the following, with thanks to the hosts:

MOSAIC MONDAY;  ALL SEASONS; THROUGH MY LENS;   OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY;  TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS; TUESDAY TREASURES;  SAY CHEESE;  MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;   THANKFUL THURSDAY;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY; and  FRIDAY  BLISS; 

 

 

GHENT BELGIUM

 

 

Even if I didn't have pictures to remind me, one thing I would always remember about Ghent is how absolutely stunning this city is by night.  

 

St Nicholas Church

 

It is a great city in broad daylight as well of course and we enjoyed the old town and visited as many of the historical places as we could.

 

Ghent, St Michael's Bridge 

It's a very walkable City -- our lodging was about two blocks from this main Canal Street.     There are several colleges and Universities here and that always makes for a vibrant City.   

 

Ghent by Night

I took so many pictures; the city was magical by night.   And so we were not surprised to learn after the fact that the Ghent Light Plan has received international acclaim.   It was designed to provide environmentally-conscious lighting while at the same time displaying the city at its best.

 

St Bavo's Cathedral

 

We visited St Bavo's which is home to a 15th -Century painting called The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb (no inside pictures.)  The Cathedral altarpiece is by Jan Van Eyck and is considered  his masterpiece.   There are numerous other paintings and sculptures as well and four organs.     As part of the tour, we listened to a talk about the altarpiece.  It is hard to imagine parishioners attending regular Sunday services here -- because during the tour, it seemed more like a fine Art Museum than a Church.                                   

 

 

 

 

It was a busy city, but we had the feeling that most of the people enjoying the pleasant days were local -- (except for all of us on the Cathedral tour. )

 

Gravensteen Castle

This 11th Century building in the Center of town has been a Castle, a prison, and a torture chamber.  Kids were using the grounds for picnics and playgrounds and sunbathing during the days we were there!  

 

 

Except for the  night before our flight back to the States, our stay in Ghent was the last place where  "The Travel Planner" had booked lodging before we left for our River Cruise.  Between our last night here and that final night,  we had four days  left to  play!    Why not, we thought,  see the last of the three countries of Benelux?  So,  from our room in Bruges,  Bill booked a hotel room in Luxembourg City for  a couple of nights and then  a couple more in downtown Amsterdam, since we had seen really nothing of that City except for the ship dock.   

We had loved Belgium  and almost hated to leave -- but looked forward to the next and last two chapters of our journey! 

 

 

 

LINKING this week to the following sharing opportunities.  Thank you to the hosts.

 

MOSAIC MONDAY;  THROUGH MY LENS;   OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY;  TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS;  TUESDAY TREASURES;  SAY CHEESE;  MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;   THANKFUL THURSDAY;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY; and  FRIDAY  BLISS; 

BRUGES, BELGIUM

We were impressed with the train we took from Amsterdam -- our first inter-country train ride.  (Thankful for the European Union... it must have been so much more difficult when you had to show your passport at every border.)   We had to transfer at least once, maybe twice.  But all announcements were made in at least three languages (including English) and there was an electronic reader in each car, also in  each language.  So it was a piece of cake to get to our  next destination -- beautiful Bruges Belgium.

 

 

Bruges is the capital of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish region of Belgium.  We loved seeing those beautiful buildings -- and  (to nobody's surprise) we loved the Canals. 

 

Grote Markt (Market Square)

Bruges has one of the best preserved medieval areas in Europe as most of its architecture from that period is still intact. 

 

Church of Our Lady

 

We took a (self-guided) tour of the Church of Our Lady, a beautiful stone Church that took two centuries (from the 13th to the 15th) to build.  At present it is undergoing a restoration, nearly completed, but some of its art treasures are not available for public viewing (they have been moved for safety or are covered with dust protectors).   

 

 

We came with no expectations, so we were happy with what we did see.  Each aisle of the large church has small altars with paintings and woodcarvings and there are the usual crypts of royalty.

The picture on the lower left is part of a 14th or 15th Century mural which was discovered under many layers of paint during the restoration..   The panels showed better in person than they did in my photos .. we could make out details.  I found the process for saving these works of art to be fascinating.  The sign in my photo below explains that process and interprets the representations. 

 

Enlarged photo of sign explaining medieval paintings being restored

I'm happy that there are experts who know how to save these treasures.

 

Bruges City Hall

 

One evening while we were wandering about admiring more of the medieval architecture, we saw people entering the courtyard underneath the famous Bell Tower -- and we let ourselves be carried along with the crowd.

 

Thirteenth-Century  Belfry of Bruges and Carillon which was added in the 16th.

 

We  had stumbled upon a free carillon concert -- just on time for good seats.    We learned that the City still employs a full-time person to play the 47-bell instrument, which dates from the sixteenth century.   University music students were also taking part in this evening's event,  a mix of light classical and pop standards.   

 

 

Here is a night view of the Church of Our Lady as seen on our way back to our home-away-from-home after the concert.

What a beautiful evening!  

 

Night or day, Bruges was a beautiful City and we were happy that we were able to spend some time there.   We could easily have spent longer, but there were other places to go!   On the third afternoon of our stay we took another train to another city in Belgium... which is another post.  

 

Linking this week to the following sharing opportunities.  With thanks to all of the hosts.

 

MOSAIC MONDAY;  THROUGH MY LENS;   OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY;  TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS; TUESDAY TREASURES;  SAY CHEESE;  MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; SIGNS SIGNS; THANKFUL THURSDAY;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY; and  FRIDAY  BLISS; 

 

KINDERDIJK AND (on-our-own again) in HAARLEM

We arrived at Kinderdijk (The Netherlands) in mid-afternoon on the last full day of our River Cruise.  This charming town is a living historical museum with  19 still-functioning windmills.  It is the only place in the world with so many windmills so close together. 

 

 

 Built in the 18th Century, the Kinderdjik windmills harnessed the power of wind to reclaim land from the sea, making it possible to cultivate and settle the area as well as to prevent flooding.  All 19 remain in working order today.   The area has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  We enjoyed a short talk about the history of the area  and a guided tour of the windmills including a re-creation of the original living quarters inside one that is open to the public.   (People do live in some of these windmills -- the original structure and function must be maintained.)   

 

 

That night was our final one on the Viking Skirnr -- the  boat docked at Amsterdam at 4 the next morning.   The ship's staff handled final disembarking  with great efficiency.    Because we were staying in The Netherlands, we were the among final group to disembark.  We had time for the on-board breakfast buffet and coffee... and time to wonder how we would adjust to not being able to count on breakfast and coffee automatically appearing every morning as soon as we were ready for it! 

 

 

Haarlem, The Netherlands

We were called when our Taxi was ready at the dock; our luggage was brought out by the staff.  And -- just like that -- we were on our own in The Netherlands!  I'd say 'back to the real world' except we were in a whole new and beautiful country -- not at all our usual world!   Off we went to Haarlem where "we" (meaning the travel planner of the family, not me) had booked an Air B&B.    

 

Top left:  the street marker is on the corner of Scheepmakersdijk,  where our  Haarlem "home" was located.  Upper right and lower left pictures are outside and inside the B&B.  Center picture is the city gate, a remainder of the wall that once surrounded the city.  Lower right is a neighborhood  Canal.  

Back at home before the trip we'd actually thought of Haarlem as a suburb of Amsterdam and had pictured ourselves taking the train into the big city several times during the days we had booked at our B&B.   But, to our delight, we found Haarlem to be a perfect city on its own.  We fell in love with it -- and had no wish to leave during the time we had booked.

 

 

We walked the canals and narrow streets every day,  found the neighborhood shops and cafes delightful, enjoyed people watching,  and  explored every nook and cranny we could.  We felt comfortable just living on our own (for a change at this point).  Even making morning coffee is a small  adventure in a new place.  (Especially coming right after time on a cruise.)

 

 

This is just a little hand-made sign that someone had put in their apartment window -- but  I liked the sentiment (even if it is not quite grammatically correct).     The City was full of life, busy without being frenetic.   A perfect place to re-adjust to real life after the somewhat un-real existence on the cruise ship.

 On that same street there was an office for "Expat Services" so I assume that's the reason for the English sign.  Almost everyone we met spoke excellent English, but most signs here were in Dutch (as of course they should be). 

 

 

   We loved the open air cafes, whether they were downtown or along the canals.   And of course we enjoyed looking at water and boats.  

 

 

 

We read that there are at least two bicycles for every person in The Netherlands.  Above are some of them -- parked at the Haarlaam Train Depot.  We've heard and read that some pedestrians are intimidated by bicycle riders.  We didn't have any problems either here or later in Amsterdam (we did go back to spend a few days there at the end of our time in Europe).  

  

 

In fact, we found it charming that everyone rode them!  Especially the families, such as  the moms, dads, mom-to-be, and even grandparents!    (All snapped while we ourselves were   sitting at  outdoor cafes watching people and trying not to feel lazy.) 

 

 

Our  days in Haarlaam went by too quickly! On the morning of the fourth day, we schlepped our suitcases a few blocks from our little apartment to that train station (unlike getting off the ship -- here in the real world, there were no porters to carry our luggage).  Here we hopped on the "local" back to Amsterdam, where we caught a longer-distance train to the next country we would be fortunate to visit.  

 

Linking to the following sharing opportunities with thanks to all of the hosts:

MOSAIC MONDAY;  THROUGH MY LENS;   OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY;  TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS; TUESDAY TREASURES;  SAY CHEESE;  MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; SIGNS SIGNS;  THANKFUL THURSDAY;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY; and  FRIDAY  BLISS; 

 

OCTOBER!

 

 

I don't care how many pumpkin-flavored lattes are being sold at Starbucks this month -- to me the wonderful month of October is all about Fall color  .....

 

 

... And  apples.   October is definitely all about the apple harvest!   They are plentiful, ripe, and bursting with fresh-picked flavor.

 

 

 

 

 This  wheelbarrowful  on our favorite back-porch (at our daughter's and son-in-law's)  was just waiting for us to help ourselves.  We barely made a dent in the bounty -- and the trees (in the collage above) were still full and getting fuller.   

 

 

The reds and  golds of the season are everywhere -- even an ancient and long-abandoned lawn chair echoed the color scheme of the month!

 

Grateful for the beauty of everyday.

 

Linking this week the the following:  Thank you to all of the hosts.

NATURE NOTES;  MOSAIC MONDAY;  THROUGH MY LENS;   OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY;  COUNTRYSCAPES;

TUESDAY TREASURES; SAY CHEESE;  MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;   THANKFUL THURSDAY;  

SKYWATCH FRIDAY; and   FRIDAY  BLISS.

 

PROST! We visit KOLN (COLOGNE)

 

The Skirnr arrived at Koln at 9 in the morning, having left Koblenz at 3 A.M., according to our in-room daily newsletter.  We didn't notice the departure -- by this time in the journey (only a couple days from its end) we were quite used to the motions of the boat.  

We opened our balcony door to watch the landing and saw a Festival Beer Garden set up right across the sidewalk from our room.   People were already having fun (at just 9 in the morning) -- or maybe it was "still having fun"  from the night before, who knows?  

 

 

 

The top two pictures above show how our boat was docked here.  The rather steep gangplank that we walked to get in and out shows on the left.   The lower picture is the beer garden, taken from our balcony.     This docking point was great, because we were able to walk on that sidewalk right into the center of town.  (I think a few passengers might have gotten sidetracked on the way in, right there across the 'street'.  

 

 

We were looking forward to a nice long day in Koln.  After breakfast on board, we headed into town -- which was already hopping by that time in the morning.  We saw a coffee shop called Oma Jan's in the same building as Papa Joe's Bier Salon.  It was a little early to patronize Papa, but we enjoyed a pastry and coffee at Oma's.   (Those happen to be two German words I understand very well, as I've known a few couples whose grandchildren called them Oma and Papa.)        As it turned out, we would visit Papa Joe's later in the day.  

 

 

 

It was pleasant to stroll around the old town watching people .... we stumbled on a wedding right at the busiest corner of the pedestrian mall.   The happy couple had quite a few uninvited guests.   Everyone was waiting until the white "doves" were released.   Someone told me that a man has a business renting out these homing pigeons for events.  

 

 

 

I don't know the significance of the top statue but the bottom (uh, lower?) center gargoyle is said to be mooning a statue that is across the river -- that one is sticking its tongue out.   In addition to being a happening town, it seems Cologne seemed  a bit of an irreverent one. 

 

 

Irreverent in spite of the fact that the twin spires of the 14th-Century Gothic Cathedral dominate  the City skyline.     The Cathedral is one of the few buildings in the City that was spared allied bombs during WWII.    The City is quite a mix of old and new, with ancient Roman ruins right next to modern buildings.  

 

 

 

Ornate and imposing, the Cathedral also has beautiful stained-glass windows, which down't show well at all in this picture. There is a 500+ step tower which leads to a viewing platform (we did not climb it).    It holds an impressive  sarcophagus which is said to contain bones of the Magi (the three Kings who visited Baby Jesus).    

After viewing the Cathedral, we wandered back to the boat   for lunch (which we didn't really need) and a nap, which we did.  It was a  pre-emptive rest, because we had chosen to take an optional evening tour to explore Cologne's food and beer culture -- and we did want to start out wide awake!

 

Cologne is famous for its Kolsch beer.  By law, real Kolsch can only be produced here.  As we walked back to town, our knowledgeable tour guide (a young woman) provided very interesting history of Cologne's signature beer and explained that we would visit four authentic  German brauhauses.  Our first stop was Papa Joe's , the one we'd looked at when we walked around that morning.   As we enjoyed our first glass of Kolsch, we admired the hand-carved and life-sized  mechanical band.   Papa's is a jazz club, but the only music we heard was when the  "band" played traditional German songs.   It was probably too early in the evening.

 

At the second stop, we enjoyed our Kolsch along with a traditional four-course German dinner.  Waiters carried  multiple glasses   in  one hand, while at the same time scooping up empties with the other.     We learned the special way to toast each other with the special Kolsch glasses.  "Prost" is the German word -- as we would say "cheers."  (You clink the bottom of the glasses, while looking each other in the eye -- otherwise it is bad luck.)

 

Beer Mat (coaster) 

 

Kolsch glasses are small, but we learned that they would be refilled  unless you remember to put the beer mat over it.  That is how you signal you've had enough.   Our (I guess unlimited) beer and food was pre-paid since we were on a tour, but normally, the waiter would make a hash-mark on the beer mat for each refill and that is how they know how to charge the drinker.    

 

Prost!  

There were two more tour stops -- at the last one, our guide told us the Brauhaus had been built on the site of Roman ruins --  there were  actually plexi-glass windows in a few places on the floor where you could see bones on the ground below.    I didn't really want  to think about that too much by that point.

 

(This picture has nothing to do with beer.)

Our group  had gotten gradually smaller as  the tour progressed, but we stayed until the end, arriving back at the ship around 10 p.m.  .... The boat left port at 10:30.    The picture above is shortly after we left, motoring past some of the  bright lights of  a more modern part of Cologne..

 

 

 We sat on our deck enjoying the still warm evening as we said Auf Wiedersehen to Koln  ...  and to Germany.  The next morning, the Skirnr would dock in the Netherlands, the fourth country we would see while on this cruise.

 

 

 

 

We had fun in Koln, but as we reflected, we were most grateful for all we had learned at every stop in Germany.  We enjoyed the country so much... perhaps more than I had thought we would.  I really knew so very little about it, even though both of us can trace part of our ancestry to that country.   

 

Linking this week to the following, with thanks to the hosts.  

 

ALL SEASONS;    MOSAIC MONDAY; TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS; THROUGH MY LENS;   OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY;  

TUESDAY TREASURES; SAY CHEESE;  MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; SIGNS SIGNS;   THANKFUL THURSDAY;  

SKYWATCH FRIDAY; and   FRIDAY  BLISS; 

 

 

 

 

 

CASTLES AND DUNGEONS AND WINE, OH MY

The next couple of days of our cruise were like a fairy-tale!    We had castles and towers and dungeons and beautiful views  ....   and lots of good wine!  (Okay, it was an adult fairy-tale.)

 

Morning view from the boat, Day 11

We woke to another beautiful day on the Rhine River.  Our port of call was Wertheim, the smallest of all the places we'd visited in Germany, but one with as much history as any of the larger cities. 

 

 

It was an important city because of its  strategic location at the  confluence of the Main and Tauber Rivers.  The City's royalty built  the Castle (middle picture above)  in the 12th Century, but it was captured and destroyed in the Thirty Years' War.  The ruins are still impressive.    It looks down upon the medieval town center and newer homes along the river banks.  

 

Wertheim also  has its own Leaning Tower.  (Can you imagine Rapunzel in the window up there?)  The noticeable lean is due to 800 years of flooding -- a hazard of the town's location on the river banks.  Markers on the tower and on many other old buildings show just how high the water has risen over the centuries.  (And as we all know from recent years, rising water levels and flooding still continue across Europe.)     

The tower was built in the 13th Century as a lookout, but it also served as a prison for drunkards and "quarrelsome wenches."   Food and water were lowered down to the prisoners who were kept in complete darkness until their release.  (Can you imagine anyone down there in the dungeon?)    

(Amateur photographer's disclaimer here:    I often need to straighten pictures with my editing tool and  I am honestly not sure if the lean on the tower picture is  the real angle or if part of it is due to my shaky camera hand.  I do remember that the lean was quite obvious to the naked eye.)  

 

From the boat -- Day 13

It was a short day in Wertheim -- we were back on the boat by noon and the Skirnr departed shortly after for the next stop.  Some of the more energetic passengers had taken an optional bicycle tour of the city and surrounding hills -- the boat stopped briefly along the way to pick them up.  

 Every single day of this cruise there were interesting sights from the boat  as we traveled, but the next day, which was almost all on the water,  was the most spectacular of all.   These pictures are just a few of the castles and some of the surrounding beautiful scenery that we saw  along this part of the Middle Rhine River.

 

 

We went back and forth between our stateroom balcony and the outside lounge upstairs, where we could see both sides of the river ... trying not to miss a thing.   The views were spectacular wherever we looked.    The program director of the cruise was in the lounge to give us some of the history of the castles we passed.    (Way too much   to include here -- there are many links  to Castles on the Rhine for more information.)  This area would be a wonderful land tour -- some of the castles are open to the public.   (Sigh.  So many beautiful places .....)

 

 

We arrived at Koblenz, the next port of call,  around 4,  and quickly boarded a bus for an excursion through part of the surrounding Moselle wine country.  Grape vines grew everywhere -- on steep terraces, on hillsides,  in front of castles, on railroad right-of-way, and in spaces between more ordinary homes.  We ended up at a small country winery, where we enjoyed hearing from the owner about this wine making region  and his family's long history making wine.   And of course we enjoyed an excellent  tasting experience before heading back to the boat for a 7 p.m. dinner, featuring (as usual) good food and (more) local wines.   

 

 

A beautiful ending to the fairy-tale.

 

 

Linking this week to the following:  Thank you to all of the hosts.

 

ALL SEASONS;    MOSAIC MONDAY; TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS; THROUGH MY LENS;   OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY;  COUNTRY SCAPES;  TUESDAY TREASURES; SAY CHEESE;  MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; THANKFUL THURSDAY;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY; and   FRIDAY  BLISS; 

 

TRANSITION SEASON

 

It's just beginning to feel like Autumn here in Eugene.

 

 

These colors showed early last week on a short walk from our home to the Willamette River.  That day was warm -- shirt-sleeve weather; screen-door breezes when we got home.     But yesterday we had to turn on heat.    Summer is now officially over!  

 

Washington Park, Portland

Last weekend, we traveled to Portland for a short getaway in the big city.   We hadn't really seen much Fall color here at home by that time.  Portland was a little ahead.     I like watching the seasons change!   Summer to Fall is really the only big change we see these days, because we don't notice a whole lot of difference while we're in Florida.  

 

 

Washington Park, in Portland, is home to the Portland Zoo, the Japanese Garden, an arboretum, acres of hiking and walking trails, and a beautiful rose garden (Portland is known as the City of Roses).  Although so late in the season, the blooms still put on a beautiful show for us. 

 

 

We traveled to Portland via Amtrak and stayed downtown, where we walked (a lot).   We  used the City's excellent public transportation system to get to the Park. It was surprising to us that there were so few people on the square (living room?) downtown.  Especially compared to those where we hung out on our Europe trip  (or even more recently in Seattle.) 

 

 

 Grateful to be here for all the changes that make life so interesting.

 

Thank you to the hosts of the following sites where this post is linked:

 ALL SEASONS;    MOSAIC MONDAY; TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS;

THROUGH MY LENS;   OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY;  

TUESDAY TREASURES; SAY CHEESE;  MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; 

SIGNS SIGNS;   THANKFUL THURSDAY;  

SKYWATCH FRIDAY; and   FRIDAY  BLISS; 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WURZBERG (on the MAIN RIVER)

 

Marienburg Fortress

on the Left Bank of the Main River

 Wurzburg is located  on two banks of the Main River in the Franconia region of Germany.    We had the above view from near where the boat was docked.   Franconia is known for its wine and Wurzburg is  home to Germany's oldest and largest vineyard.  (That is a different vineyard in the picture above --  the city is surrounded by them.)        This 13th-Century Fortress  was originally a Celtic fort and then was expanded into a  Baroque residence of bishops .                                                              

 

Two sides of the same sculpture

Our ship-board guide said Wurzburg's pedestrian zone had the best shopping in the region.  We didn't really shop, but did enjoy seeing this  sculpture by Mia Weiss.    That is two views of the same sign -- from each side.   (I'm sorry I didn't measure my steps better; obviously I was closer to the Love side.)    Here's what I found out about it by searching the net:

Since May 2019, several LOVE HATE sculptures by Mia Florentine Weiss have been travelling as ambassadors through various cities in Germany and Europe in support of democracy and humanism in order to strengthen the European idea according to the maxim MAKE LOVE NOT HATE!

The LOVE HATE ambigram by Mia Florentine Weiss, a larger-than-life-sized sculpture in public space, in its mirror-image reading, confronts the extremes of human emotions with each other and animates the viewer to question his or her own point of view by changing his or her perspective.    The mobile LOVE HATE sculpture by Mia Florentine Weiss was to be integrated into a cultural event as a highlight at the respective locations. With the participation in the art action #LOVEUROPE every city commits itself to love for Europe according to the maxim MAKE LOVE NOT HATE!

   

 

Bishop's Residence on the Right Bank of the Main 

 

The Wurzburg Bishops' Residenz  (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) is on the other side of the River from the  Fortress.  (Those Prince-Bishops owned a lot of real estate in Germany.)    This one is massive (I was unable to get a picture of the entire structure).    It is a monument to the ways the royalty used their power (and enormous wealth.)    The palace was built between 1720 and 1744.   

No pictures were allowed  inside sadly.... we even had to check our bags at this palace.   The inside was breath-taking.  We remember the famous grand staircase with  the largest ceiling fresco in the world (it is called "The Four Continents -- all the artist knew about at the time).  From the Staircase, we entered the Imperial Hall which had marble and gold decorations and more frescoes by the Venetian painter Tiepolo .  (Disclaimer:  I remember his work, but certainly had to research for his name.)   

There were also beautiful formal gardens and we enjoyed strolling  around the grounds.

 

Kappele Baroque Masterpiece Church

Just a couple more "ordinary" churches photographed in passing .... I couldn't even begin to  show every photo-worthy structure in this City.

 

Neumunster Collegiate Church

 

We had a nice long day in Wurzburg, plus the boat was conveniently docked within walking distance of downtown.   This made it an ideal location for us to fill a regular prescription that Bill needed.  Finding out how to do that was an adventure in itself.   From the helpful local pharmacist we learned the location of a walk-in clinic where he could visit a Dr and (hopefully) get the necessary local prescription.  ... And it worked! 

  

 

High-school German (from oh, so many years ago) gave us the basic gist of this sign:   "Dear Patients:  We don't necessarily see patients in the order in which they enter.  Thank you for your understanding."     But Bill was seen quite promptly and while waiting we visited with local people -- this definitely wasn't a tourist place!   In fact, they really had no way of dealing with people who weren't on the national insurance -- they had no way to accept credit cards and no change.  We ended up paying almost nothing -- and the office manager smiled and was more than pleasant all through the transaction.   We went back to the same Pharmacy and the prescriptions were ready promptly.

Routine errands, made interesting by virtue of our being in another country.  We were impressed by  -- and grateful for -- the efficiency and caring of the staff at the clinic and the pharmacy.  And interested in comparing both to our country.

 

 

It was a beautiful walk along the river back to the Viking Ship Skirnr, our home-away-from-home for this trip. We made it in plenty of time for departure to the next stop.

 

 

 

Linking this week to the following:  Thank you to all of the hosts:

 ALL SEASONS;    MOSAIC MONDAY; TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS;

THROUGH MY LENS;   OUR WORLD ON TUESDAY;   COUNTRY SCAPES;  

TUESDAY TREASURES; SAY CHEESE;  MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; 

SIGNS SIGNS;   THANKFUL THURSDAY;  

SKYWATCH FRIDAY; and   FRIDAY  BLISS; 

BEAUTIFUL BAMBERG

Bamberg really was the prettiest town!   

Founded in 902, the many historical churches and  homes mean it still looks like a medieval city.   It's almost like the whole town is an historic work of art.

  

Alte Rathaus (old City Hall)

In the 14th Century, the citizens of Bamberg wanted to build a city hall that served both sides of the town, which is divided by the Regnitz River.    Their solution was to build a bridge across the river and place the Rathaus (town hall) on a man-made island in the middle.  

 

 

Baroque and rococo touches were added to the building in 1746.  The pictures above are the same building -- this part of it is slightly visible in the very first picture  in this post -- on the left corner from the half-timbered part of the building.   From this location, there are beautiful city and river views.  

 

 

It  is probably no surprise to anyone that most of my pictures include river views.  

 

 

Lots of water and boats.  Bamberg has been called "Little Venice".       

 

Heller Haus

 This building  was the birthplace of Joseph Heller, a historian and art collector.  I really don't have much more information about him, but the building is so pretty.  It looks like it is made out of Wedgewood pottery -- or sugar icing!    The statue on the end of the bridge in front  of it is  Queen (and Saint)  Cunigunde, the wife of one of the Holy Roman Emperors and a patron of Bamberg.     

 

 

Another mystery  -- this three-dimensional sculpture  is on a wall on the Mager Building in the old town.  I don't know the significance, but was fascinated by it.

 

Original Schlenkeria Smoked Beer. 

There has to be something silly about every stop -- in Bamberg for us it was trying this strongly smoke-flavored beer at the historic brewery tavern that is its birthplace.    I'll just say that 'trying' was the operative word (for both of us).   Definitely not 'finishing'.  

 

 

These pictures are from our balcony, shortly after we re-boarded the Skirnr.   This was the most bird life we'd seen from the boat.    There were geese, ducks and ducklings,  and several swan families.    It was the perfect ending  to this beautiful day.

 

 

Linking to the following this week with thanks to the generous hosts:

  ALL SEASONS;    MOSAIC MONDAY;  THROUGH MY LENS;  OUR WORLD on Tuesday;  TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS;   TUESDAY TREASURES ;  SAY CHEESE;     MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;  THANKFUL THURSDAY;   SKYWATCH FRIDAY;   FRIDAY  BLISS;   and   SATURDAY CRITTERS    

 

NATURAL WONDERS -- closer to home

 

Cape Flattery

It's time for some more recent travel pictures  -- and definitely time for some pictures of our beautiful natural world.  Toward the end of last month, we went on a ten-day road trip to Washington State.   The next two shots are from the new Point Defiance Aquarium in Tacoma.

 

 

These are straight from the camera shots -- the jellyfish tanks had the best lighting ever.  

 

 

The jellies were almost hypnotic!   

 

Seattle  Spheres 

 

The Spheres are workplaces for Amazon employees in downtown Seattle.  Seattle's a pretty amazing city anyway, but it is jaw-dropping to come upon these spheres in the middle of it!    (Read about them here.)

 

After great visits with family in Tacoma and Seattle (and as usual for me, too few people pictures) we  drove North to the very tip end of the Olympic Peninsula.   

 

 

These pictures aren't in any particular order  -- just a little taste of what we saw along the way.

 

 

Bill got to indulge in his love of mountain driving on the way to the Makah Reservation at the tip of the Peninsula.     I  got to enjoy a hike through the forest  (on a sometimes iffy board walk).  Beautiful forest views along the way and of Cape Flattery once I reached the top.  

 

 

Roses and hollyhocks -- and hollyhocks and roses!

 

On our way home again, just a little way into Oregon, we stayed at an RV Park in Netarts.  It really was a pretty place  -- with gardens to wander through, the ocean across the street -- and (important to those of us who do old-people camping) a very easy drive to good restaurants.

 

    These lazy elephant seals just across the street from our spot were quiet neighbors. 

 

Olympic National Park

 

Grateful to visit with family -- for the interesting places they showed us  (and this post was just a tiny taste  of those)  -- and for the beautiful natural places we saw when we took the long way home.

 

Linking this week to the following:  Thank you to all of the hosts.

 

SATURDAY CRITTERS;  NATURE NOTES;   ALL SEASONS;    MOSAIC MONDAY; MACRO MONDAY   TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS; THROUGH MY LENS;  OUR WORLD on Tuesday;  COUNTRY SCAPES;     TUESDAY TREASURES ;  SAY CHEESE;    MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;  THANKFUL THURSDAY;   SKYWATCH FRIDAY; and  FRIDAY  BLISS;      

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NUREMBERG (Day 9)

Our tour  guidebook said that our visit to Nuremberg would be a complex and intriguing excursion.     I can't think of a better way to describe this beautiful city.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

 

  Nuremberg -- old and new 

 

World War II reminders were everywhere on this trip but nowhere more so than here.  That's what we expected to see and learn more about.    Prior to and during WWII, Nuremberg was the site of the huge parade grounds where Nazi rallies and military drills  were held.    Recently, after much debate, a decision was made to preserve  these grounds as a reminder of the country's dark past.  (The grandstands are deteriorating badly and the debate was whether to demolish or repair.)  

 

 

On the day we visited, part of the infamous site  was being used as a temporary campground -- if I understood correctly, many visitors were in town to attend a rock concert.  I'm not sure what to think about that  use, but maybe happy vibes are good.      On the lower left is one of several picture the tour guide showed us as our bus passed the parade grounds.        On the right is my picture of the same grounds.    It was easy to imagine the real and terrible events taking place as we viewed both pictures.    

Our tour guide was excellent --   respectful and knowledgeable.  We did not walk around at this stop, but stopped several times for pictures and  presentations.    

 

 

Imperial Palace

  I was so sure that this tour would be all about World War II that the rest of what we saw and learned surprised me.  The part I did not expect started at the top of Castle Hill, where our the walking tour began.       This is the Imperial Palace, a symbol of the City.    During the Middle Ages, every Holy Roman Emperor  stayed here at some time.   Nuremberg was a walled city with this safe fortress at the center.

Much later in time, the Palace also served an important purpose.    Shortly after  WWII began, an art storage depot was established in the ancient cellars under the Castle.  In this way, the City's most important art treasures survived the heavy air raids intact.  

 

 

 

Although air raids destroyed most of the medieval city walls, around three miles of them with original gateways and watchtowers still remain.                                          

 

 

From the top of the hill we walked toward the City's Old Town.  We had a short guided orientation ending in the Town Center....

 

 

Der Schone Brunen

(The Beautiful Fountain)

.... at this ornate Gothic fountain  which dominates Market Square.  The Fountain is an early 20th Century  replica of the original  built in the 1300s.  It depicts figures from the Holy Roman Empire and the Church. 

We then had some time to explore on our own.   

 

 

We did some window-shopping in the Market Square.     Nuremberg was once known as the toy-making capital of Europe -- mostly hand-carved wooden toys (although my photo obviously shows softer toys).     

It has always been well-known for its famous Lebkuchen — a cookie made with ground almonds and nine spices.  And delicious.  (Okay, it was more than window-shopping at Wicklein Lebkuchen Workshop, where they've been baking since 1613.)  

We  were told that it is a Nuremberg tradition to serve three German sausages in one bun.  The price seemed reasonable enough if sausages are your thing.  

 

The guide had told us to be back at the Beautiful Fountain  when it was time to head back to the bus.  It was a great meeting place --  Nobody could forget or miss this spot!     The top middle picture is somebody trying to reach the lucky ring.      Tradition says  your wish  will be granted if you turn that certain ring three times.  Our guide said it used to be gold, but because of all the touching and pushing and pulling it has been replaced several times.

 Back on the bus (and back to the 20th Century)  we stopped at the Palace of Justice, where the Nuremberg War Crime Trials took place in 1945 and 1946.

Palace of Justice, Nuremberg  

 

We joined our guide  in hoping that peace and justice prevail in this world and that we do not forget history. 

 

Linking this week to the following, with thanks to all of the hosts:  

  ALL SEASONS;    MOSAIC MONDAY;  TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS; THROUGH MY LENS;  OUR WORLD on Tuesday;     TUESDAY TREASURES ; SAY CHEESE;    SIGNS SIGNS;    MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;  THANKFUL THURSDAY;   SKYWATCH FRIDAY;   FRIDAY  BLISS; 

 

 

 

MUNICH (day 8)

Just after breakfast  the Skirnr docked  briefly at Straubing where guests could board buses for one of two tours -- to the City of Munich (the capital of the German State of Bavaria) or to Regensburg. 

 

 

We had not known before our trip that Munich would be an option, but because we'd heard a lot about it from fellow-snowbirds whose summer (and real) home is there,  we jumped at the chance to visit.        

 

BMW Welt website photo

It was rather a long bus ride into Munich.  On the way, our bus made a stop at BMW Welt -- a gigantic (and ultra-modern) showroom and car museum near the plant where this car is manufactured.  It was more interesting  than most "pit-stops" (and we had almost an hour for  the usual necessities and then to look around).   But I should have asked Bill to take pictures;  I was a little overwhelmed by all the cars and lights and noise and modernity when I had just gotten used to seeing only historical buildings.  So I  didn't take even one picture.  This one is from their website.

 

                                           

City of Munich   

 

Once we got to Munich, most of the walking part of the guided tour was spent on Marienplatz  (Our Lady's Square).  It has been Munich's City Center since 1158.   Both the new and old city halls are on the square ... as well as the famous Munich Glockenspiel Clock Tower.

 

 

 

The Glockenspiel is  quite wonderful in a three-ring circus kind of way.    I got photographer's neck looking up at the action (in the green window in the picture  on the right. .. The other pictures are zoomed and cropped.)   Built in 1908, the tower chimes twice daily at 11 and noon.  When it chimes, life-size figures re-enact two 16th Century stories.  The top half depicts the marriage of Duke Wilhelm -- the action includes a joust with visiting knights.  (Bavaria wins, of course.)    Meanwhile, the lower stage depicts the Cooper's Dance --  there is a myth that there was a plague in 1517 and this dance somehow halted its progress....    When the show is over, the golden rooster in the top cupola crows signifying the end.  

 

 

There were a lot of people in  downtown Munich!   Not for the first time, nor for the last, we marveled at the modern stores in the very old buildings.  Not that I expect all the buildings in these cities to be turned into museums, but just amazed that the buildings have survived through so much and are still being used.  

 

Our tour included a delicious (and huge) traditional Bavarian dinner at the Ratskeller Restuarant, also on Marianplatz.   And after that we pretty much dozed on the evening bus ride back to the boat.

It really was quite a lot of time on the bus and, in hindsight, maybe we should have stayed with our original plan and visited  Regensburg, which was closer to the dock point and would have given us more time to explore.   There are so many historical places in and near Munich  that we didn't have time to visit.   But on the other hand, we are glad to have seen even a little bit of this beautiful and historic City and it will be fun to tell our friends that we at least were able to get a quick overview of their hometown.  

 

So many things of interest, so little time ... but we're always conscious of how fortunate we are to have seen as much as we have! 

While we were away that day, the Skirnr had made its way along the river and we rejoined it at Kelheim just before it set sail for the next stop.   They were also still serving dinner on board -- but for some strange reason, that option was not quite as interesting as it usually was.

 

 

LINKING to the following, with thanks to all of the hosts:  ALL SEASONS;  MOSAIC MONDAY;  THROUGH MY LENS;  OUR WORLD on Tuesday;  TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS;      TUESDAY TREASURES ;  SAY CHEESE;   MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;  SIGNS SIGNS; THANKFUL THURSDAY;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY;   FRIDAY  BLISS;   

 

 

 

 

 

OREGON INTERLUDE

In Blog-land, we've been re-living our June trip to Europe  and it isn't over yet.  But in real life we've been at home in Oregon since the first of July -- and it's great to be here.   So this is a little break between Weeks One and  Two of our trip  -- we need to catch up just a tiny bit on wonders that are closer to home.

 

Alsea Falls

 

 

Alsea Falls is a favorite place -- we stopped  for a walk there after a trip to the Oregon coast last month. And were surprised and happy to see this much water at the falls in July.

 

 

 

Flowers collected on walks around our our daughter and son-in-laws country home and on the Willamette River paths near our home here in Oregon.

 

 

There are a few newcomers in that same backyard!   ....

 

 

Oregon Blues!

 

In that same backyard again!  I  picked that colander full of blueberries without moving more than 5 steps.   In July, those bushes were loaded.  The growth has eased off by now --  but their freezer is full and we have been invited to help ourselves as needed.    Those  plums are just coming on.  Blackberries are uninvited guests, but they are good to eat anyway.  (And of course we no longer  have to cut these invasive plants  back every year.   Many homeowners in this part of Oregon fight them constantly.  But in the meantime, everybody picks and eats them.)  

 

 Oregon Scrub Jay

 

Scrub Jays are seen often  in western Oregon -- almost as common as crows and just as noisy.   The funny thing is that in Florida, there is a Scrub Jay that is rather rare.  I can't tell any difference -- to me they look exactly alike!  But I've never been able to get  a good picture of one in Florida -- that is one of my goals for next season there!  

 

 

And here is the ultimate Oregon Blue!  The Pacific Ocean near Waldport on a beautiful July day.  It was a day-trip for us -- we just went to make sure the Ocean was still there.

 

LINKING this week to the following sharing opportunities.  Thank you to the hosts! 

SATURDAY CRITTERS; RATHER B' BIRDING ;  NATURE NOTES;   ALL SEASONS;    MOSAIC MONDAY;  THROUGH MY LENS;  OUR WORLD on Tuesday;   COUNTRY SCAPES; TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS; SAY CHEESE;  WILD BIRD Wednesday;   MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;  THANKFUL THURSDAY;   SKYWATCH FRIDAY; and   FRIDAY  BLISS;      

 

 

PASSAU, GERMANY

 

Morning view from our deck, Day 7

It was exciting to wake up knowing that we would dock in another country -- Germany.    It seemed almost impossible that less than a week ago we were still  in Florida (and still finishing last-minute, closing-up-the-cottage-for-the-season-chores.)   What a week!

The Skirnir docked at Lindau, at 9 that morning.  By a quarter after nine, we were on a bus headed to the City of Passau and a guided walking tour.     (The Viking crew handled tour arrangements efficiently at all our stops, but I was especially amazed at this one because the buses were on the road so quickly after the boat docked.) 

    

Veste Oberhausen

Our tour guide did a good job summarizing the history as we walked through old town  and directing us to points of interest.  

Passau was founded by the Celts more than 2,000 years ago.  In addition to its location at the border between the two countries, it is also strategically  located at the confluence of three important rivers:  the Inin, Ilz, and the Danube.     

The Oberhausen is a fortress founded in 1219.   Situated on the Germany-Austria border it overlooks the City of  Passau .      (click the blue links for more information.)

 

After the guided walking tour, we had   time to explore the City on our own.   Some people visited the famous glass museum or other attractions, some shopped... 

... but our choice was to do as we often do in a new place  .... pretend we’re not tourists* and stroll around as if we were out for a daily walk.  We enjoyed the narrow streets and alleys, seeing a few 'real people'  -- and imagining what it would be like to live in this old, beautiful, and important city.  

*except for the camera

 

I loved seeing the little girls playing a game on their front porch -- totally unconcerned with passersby (quietly)  marveling at their neighborhood.    I think the sign above their  doorway (top left photo is a closer view) says that it was once the home of a butcher (flefchharker), but I'd be glad of any corrections.

That's a lot of pictures of cobblestones, but I wanted to highlight (and remember) what we were walking on during much of our trip.  (Maybe I should have said  'hobbled'  instead of 'walked.'  Bill was glad he had taken the day before to rest.)   We both agreed that it was all worth it though.  The  stones on that one particular street were marked in red paint to show different routes. 

 

 

We kept an eye on the clock as we explored because we had  tickets to attend an organ concert at this beautiful church -- St Stephen's Cathedral -- before it was time to return to the ship.     

 

What a sensory experience to listen to this beautiful instrument  as we marveled at the glorious baroque interior at the Cathedral.

 

Shuttle buses back to our boat had been available all afternoon and after the concert we wended our way back to the pickup spot.  It had been a lovely day and a perfect introduction to the third country of our tour.   

 

ALL SEASONS;    MOSAIC MONDAY;  TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS; THROUGH MY LENS;  OUR WORLD on Tuesday;  SAY CHEESE;    TUESDAY TREASURES ;   MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;  THANKFUL THURSDAY;   SKYWATCH FRIDAY; and  FRIDAY  BLISS

 

WELCOME TO MELK

While we slept, the Skirnr traveled along the Danube from Vienna --   we woke and breakfasted to views of the beautiful Wachau Valley.

 

The City of Durnstein on the Wachau Valley Riverbank

The Wachau is an important wine-grape growing region; we saw farmlands and  cities, charming villages, castles, and cathedrals close to the shore and glimpsed ruined castles on the hilltops.    Our port-of-call for the day was the city of Melk, at the Valley's base.  It is located at the confluence of the Danube and Melk Rivers.

Watching the Skirnr's arrival was a different experience this time.  We were glad we were up and awake to watch this adventure.  Melk wasn't a big city dock --the boat pulled into the shore out in the middle of (what seemed like) nowhere:

 

 

There was only a short "T" dock, and the boat had to be tied to bollards on the bank.  In the picture above, one deckhand tosses a weighted rope to another man who is standing on the rocky bank below (you can just see him on the left between the rails).  The rope missed him (or he missed the rope) a couple of times before he caught it....

 

... First, the guy on the ground had tried to catch the line as he stood on the safer grassy bank (left picture)  but that didn't work and he had to scramble down those loose rocks.  We held our breaths for him!   Fortunately, he did  catch it and tie us off  without injury to person or boat  (maybe it  was because a certain someone was there to supervise the efforts?)   
  

 

The excursion destination for the day was the 900-year old Benedictine Abbey which overlooks the town of Melk from its hilltop location.  There wasn't anyplace to park near where the boat was docked, so we had a walk through a woodsy area to the bus that would take us there.   

 

 

This is the Abbey as seen from the parking area.    This was kind of a throw-away zoomed-in shot as we boarded the bus, because of course I thought I'd get a better one when we arrived.  (There was some kind of white tent in the corner of the parking lot that I couldn't get away from.)   However, when we arrived at the top, the huge Abbey so dominated the entire hilltop it was impossible to get far enough away for a picture of the whole building.   

 

 

We weren't quite at the top of the hill yet at the end of the short bus ride.  We still had to climb this  elegant staircase to get to the Abbey.  Translated (so I'm told) the words  on  the  steps read   "Melk Abbey" and then  'Listen  and You  Will    Arrive".   That quote is part  of  the  Benedictine  Rule.  

 

 

I  guess it is another way of saying  quiet your mind and you will eventually understand.   Or maybe just shut up and pay attention (it was and still is a teaching abbey after all.)  

 

 

 The grounds are beautiful and the views of the city from the hill top are amazing.   We were divided into small groups inside and the tour guide was excellent.    Here is the article from Wiki which gives the history  -- reading isn't as much fun as it was hearing it from the guide, but  is more interesting than it would be if I tried to repeat what we learned.

We  saw the  awe-inspiring library, which includes priceless medieval manuscripts.   There were ornate sculptures and beautiful frescoes  throughout the building, and a chastibule that contains relics of Saints.   One of the chapels had an amazing  tromp'l'oil  painting on the ceiling that made the flat surface appear to be a dome.   

Sadly, we were asked not to take pictures inside and I obeyed that request.  Although it appeared that not everyone did ... I think cell phones are making that a difficult rule to enforce. 

 

 

 Here are a few close-up examples of at least parts of the building's Baroque architecture.  And an interesting factoid (not personally verified by me) -- the Abbey has 365 windows, one for each day of the year.  Melk Abbey was founded in 1089 and it has been in use as an Abbey for that whole time.  The Abbey building of today was built over a period of years in the mid-1700s.  

 

 

We had been told that while we were on the tour, the Skirnr would leave its  tie-down in Melk and that we would meet the boat at a different location.  That morning Bill had elected to stay on board the boat and forego the Abbey tour.  Perhaps because he wanted to continue supervise those deckhands -- or perhaps because he had walked miles and miles on cobblestones on the previous four days and his bad foot needed a rest.

In any case, it felt a bit surreal to board the bus at the foot of that staircase and be driven through new and different territory (a lot further than the short ride getting to the Abbey).  I certainly hoped  we'd meet the boat (and my traveling companion) as planned ...

 

 

... and was happy when we did exactly that!    The top row are views from the bus window as it traveled from the Abbey to the port at the city of Ybbs.  We didn't see anything of that town except the dock, but I just loved the name and don't want to forget it, hence the pictures of the sign.     

And there's the Skirnr pulling in to pick us up.   My bus did beat the boat by a few minutes, which was excellent timing, because it was fun to watch it motor along the river from outside!  

As soon as everyone was on board,  the Skirnr departed for its journey to  a new port of call.   On the following day we would awaken in Germany, the next country we would be privileged to visit.

 

Linking this week to the following sharing opportunities.   Thank you to all of the hosts.

ALL SEASONS;    MOSAIC MONDAY;  THROUGH MY LENS; TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS;  TUESDAY TREASURES  ;  OUR WORLD on Tuesday;  SAY CHEESE;     MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;  SIGNS SIGNS; THANKFUL THURSDAY;   SKYWATCH FRIDAY;  and FRIDAY  BLISS;   

 

 

VIENNA (part 2)

 

We met Jacob and Maya  after breakfast on the second day that the river boat was docked in Vienna.   Our fellow Viking passengers were preparing to board the usual tour buses for their day's events, but we were excited to meet our grandchildren for more of our own special time on this second day in the City.  (Vienna Part One is here). 

 

Statue of Empress Maria Theresa in front of Natural History Museum

We visited Maria Theresien Platz.  A monument to the Empress is the center point of the huge plaza which includes two almost identical  buildings that house the Vienna Museum of Natural History and the Art Museum.  There are also four fountains, other sculptures, and lovely landscaping.    Our 'guides' told us that at Christmas the whole plaza is transformed into a world-famous Christmas Market -- it sounded amazing!

 

 

The Empress Maria Theresa governed Austria from 1740 to 1780.   What I remembered was that she was the last of the Hapsburg line of rulers of the Austrian empire, that she led major educational reforms, and that she was the ruler in actuality rather than (as would have been expected at the time) ceding complete rule to her husband Francis,who was a royal in his own right from another line ....  And I remembered that she had 16 children!  I went to Wiki to check my memory, which was not wrong (but certainly not complete) -- she definitely deserves to be commemorated.   Here is the link to the wikipedia page.

 This World Heritage monument is huge!  The entire monument is over 60 feet in height; her statue alone is 19 feet. At the corners are statues of four of her Generals on horseback and carvings of other notables are around the bottom of the monument.   

The upper left and lower right pictures in the collage are two of the corners of  the Museum of Natural History.   They were meant to represent the  continents as they were imagined at the time ... the one on the top left is America. 

  

 

 

We got around the City  underground  -- on the subway/tube ..... our private guides were experts on the system (and the language!)   We had fun pretending like we were locals rather than tourists on a bus.   This picture is where we're exiting the Schonbrunn Station to return to the City Center. 

 

 

These pictures are of the grounds at the Schonbrunn Palace. ( (There is a picture of the Palace on the previous post.)   It was hard to get pictures of the buildings without a lot of people -- we were in Vienna on Ascension Thursday,  a Holiday for schools and many businesses were closed.  We certainly weren't the only ones who were enjoying this beautiful place.   

The center photo is (the top of ) The Gloriette which was built in 1775 during the reign of  the same Empress Maria Theresa and Joseph.      It was meant as a place for the royals and visitors to take in the views.  Now it is open to the public .. the Gloriette Cafe is housed on the lower level.   

 

 

Many elaborate sculptures and garden buildings grace the  grounds of the Schonbrunn, which was once the summer residence of the Hapsburg royalty.  It is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

 

 

Even with our private guides and a one-on-one tour, our one evening plus one full day gave us time for only an overview of the wonders of Vienna.  But we loved every moment of it -- and we learned so much.  What great memories!  

 

 

We are grateful to have had such a special time with our grandchildren in this beautiful city.   At the end of our day, Jacob and Maya went to board a train to Slovakia, where they would visit her family before flying to Finland  (where they now live).  We headed back to the Skirnir in time for its departure to the next port of call -- Melk, Austria.  

 

 

Linking to the following: 

ALL SEASONS;    MOSAIC MONDAY;  OUR WORLD on Tuesday; TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS;  TUESDAY TREASURES  ;  SAY CHEESE;   MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;  THANKFUL THURSDAY;   FRIDAY  BLISS;  and SKYWATCH FRIDAY.  

Thank you to all of the hosts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

LEAVING BUDAPEST; SEEING SLOVAKIA; ARRIVING VIENNA

 

Bratislava Castle (Slovakia) as seen from the boat.

 Our river ship departed Budapest at 5:45 p.m. Tuesday and would arrive in Vienna at about the same time the next evening, making Wednesday one of the longer days spent aboard the boat. 

We were looking forward to seeing  Slovakia, the next country we'd pass by.  That's where  our granddaughter-in-law Maya is from -- we would be getting together with  her and Jacob when we reached Vienna.    We'd pass through one of our first locks just before we arrived at that part of the river. 

 

Our ship was waiting to lock through

We didn’t dock in Slovakia, but at the top of the lock,   I was able to reach out from our deck and touch the ground.    (I'm not totally sure the boat was actually passing Slovakia at the exact moment we exited the lock,  but I really really want to believe that at least I've 'set hand' in that country.)

 

Slovakia from the Deck -- and requisite emergency drill

 

We boated past Bratislava, the country's capital city and more of the Slovakian countryside --  we saw the castle shown in the top photo and other castles as well, old stone fortresses, and scenic river shores.   So, whether I actually touched land there or not, we did definitely see and admire this part of Slovakia, if only from the middle of the Danube.

Wednesday was  the requisite safety meeting on the top deck. We had to learn where to go in case of emergency and how to put on our life vest (some people actually did have trouble).  It was funny to see every person on board wearing their  "Mae Wests" while many of them continued to take pictures of the beautiful scenery.   It's really hard to take your eyes off  it.

The day on board went by quickly --besides the safety drill,  there were program talks and of course breakfast and lunch on board -- and always that scenery!   The boat docked in Vienna as scheduled and we disembarked as soon as possible to meet our grandchildren. 

 

 

We caught up with their busy life  over a scenic walk, dinner and dessert -- Sacher Torte in one of the city's classical coffeehouses.  According to what we learned on board about Vienna's cafe society, coffeehouses  have been a tradition in Vienna since 1683.  They wouldn't have been considered complete without red velvet seating and magnificent chandeliers.   Since most people lived in small crowded apartments, coffeehouses were considered to be second living rooms, where people could linger over coffee and conversation.    That last part seemed to still be true today.   At least it certainly was for us!  

 

Schonbrunn Palace -- the next day 

 

The ship would be in port the whole next day ...  and Jacob and Maya had a hotel room just down the street.    I'll show more of what these talented  (brilliant and good-looking)* guides to Vienna showed us in the next post. 

*  I'm a grandmother -- what can I say?

 

LINKING this week to the following, with thanks to all of the hosts:

ALL SEASONS;    MOSAIC MONDAY;  THROUGH MY LENS; TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS; OUR WORLD on Tuesday;  SAY CHEESE;   TUESDAY TREASURES ; MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;  THANKFUL THURSDAY;   SKYWATCH FRIDAY;  and  FRIDAY  BLISS

 

 

 

 

 

 

WILDLIFE BREAK

 

Taking a little  break  from our Grand Tour 

with pictures from familiar places.

(See the previous two posts for the first two chapters of our trip.)

 

 

 

 This Green Heron was perched in a bare tree at the Delta Ponds near our Eugene apartment.   It was just a short neighborhood walk during the first week we were home.  Not really even looking for birds but very glad I had taken the little camera anyway.  Nice welcome back to the neighborhood.

 

 

 

The week before that we were in Colorado with our son and daughter-in-law, our Colorado family.  Toward the end of our stay,  more-or-less recovered from jet lag and travel weariness,  we spent a day with them in one of our favorite places --  Rocky Mountain National Park.  As always, we had a great time with Geoff and Lisa -- and as always on our Colorado visits we saw beautiful scenery and wildlife.

 

 

The Moose (Mooses?  Meese?) were having a lovely splash in what was really just a large puddle.  (The background photo shows what it looked like from where we stood -- without our binoculars or zoom lens.)

 

LINKING to    WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY ,  NATURE NOTES;  SATURDAY CRITTERS, and RATHER B' BIRDING .  Thank you to the hosts.

 

 

ON BOARD IN BUDAPEST

Budapest Hungary was the first  City on our river cruise vacation.

We cleared customs  at Brussels Airport and then transferred to Belgium Airlines for the final hop to Budapest.    Viking had arranged a car to transfer us to our River boat, the Viking  Skirnir.    It seemed like it had taken a long time from Fort Myers  -- we transferred at Newark before crossing the ocean to Belgium and we were a bit jet-lagged.

But  we arrived at the boat mid-afternoon  Sunday and had the rest of the day to get organized, check out the boat (eat and relax)    -- and  even take a short guided walk in the fresh air.    

 

Chain Bridge (between Buda and Pest) 

 On our brief walk that first day, we saw with our own eyes  that the Danube River divides the two parts of this great  city -- Buda and Pest.  The Boat would be docked here all of the next day and until evening the day after that, so we knew we'd have more time for sightseeing in this beautiful City. 

 

The Skirnr docked in Budapest near the Bridge

(Not a great picture of the boat, but it shows how close we were to the Bridge and town.   Great location for walks -- but in this picture buses like the one at the left were lined up ready to take passengers on the panoramic tour of the  city - the one we took on the second day .)

Back on board that first evening, there was a welcome talk , with a brief overview of what to expect on the voyage.  We would be traveling along three different rivers -- the Danube, the Mine, and the Rhine.   The reason these rivers are relatively easy to navigate is because of the lock system.   Locks work by raising and lowering boats between stretches of water of different levels.  This system  makes a river more easily navigable or allows a canal to take a more direct line across a country that is not level.   

We would be locking through the first of these very soon after the ship set off the next day.

This chart from an on-board book in our cabin  (also sent to us as an E-Book) identifies the twelve  locks through which our ship would pass between Budapest and Passau Germany.   The gray bar represents the elevation at which the ships enter the lock, the red bar the height the ship would rise or lower while in the lock.   In all, during the entire journey on the three rivers our ship would navigate through 68 locks.

 

 

Parliament Buildings on the Danube

The picture above and those following are from the  bus and walking tour we took on the second full day.  This overview tour was included without additional cost -- a feature that was  available at each city where  we docked.   Optional excursions at a cost were also available instead or in addition, depending on the length of each stop.    

Castle Hill

 We walked through narrow streets and shops in Old Town -- many of the buildings dated from medieval times. We visited the Castle Districts and Matthias Church .  We were pleased with the historical overview our guide painlessly provided.  And also that we were given  some time to explore on our own as well.

 

View as the ship left Budapest

This beautiful City was a  grand start to our "Grand European Tour."   

 

LINKING this week to the following, with thanks to the hosts.

MOSAIC MONDAY;  THROUGH MY LENS; TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS; OUR WORLD on Tuesday;  SAY CHEESE;   TUESDAY TREASURES;  MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;  THANKFUL THURSDAY;   SKYWATCH FRIDAY;  and FRIDAY  BLISS;   

 

 

 

HOME AGAIN --- with memories!

 

Traveling from the Florida Canal Cottage to Oregon was a bit different this year.  It was an amazing 'detour.'  We're home now and  still sorting out our memories ... and our pictures from the trip.     To get started while I finish that project, here are just a few favorites.  There will be more later.  

 

Budapest

We were on a Viking River Cruise for 15 days -- boarding the boat in Budapest.  The boat docked in a different port almost every day -- we visited twelve cities in four different countries, traveling along three rivers to Amsterdam where we disembarked.     

 

Bill in Ghent 

 

After that, we stayed (all on our own) for two weeks -- spending more time in the Netherlands and adding the countries of Belgium and Luxembourg.  We had a wonderful time -- the whole trip was a triumph for the travel planner (who is pictured above, in Belgium).  

 

With Jacob and Maya at Schonbrunn Palace and also enjoying Sacher Torte in old-town Vienna

Hopping backwards to our time  on the Viking  -- we enjoyed and learned from every one of those twelve stops ... sometimes we went on the   tours the ship offered and sometimes we went out on our own.   The very best guided tour of all though was our own private one during our two-day stop in Vienna.  Here we were met by Jacob and Maya, our European grandson and granddaughter (in-law), who flew to meet us.  It was  wonderful to see them and without doubt we had the best possible tour guides in the world, as Vienna is a familiar city to them. 

 

Castles and colorful villages on the Rhine

One of the best parts of a river cruise is that there are wonderful sights to see almost every minute of daylight.  These rivers aren't wide and the views from our balcony or on the top deck were  amazing.   The pictures in the above collage were taken from the boat on one day's travel --  between Wertheim and Koblenz Germany.

 

Wachau Valley 

 

Every morning of the whole trip, I woke up amazed ... the  boat, the cities, the food, the scenery all really were the stuff of dreams.    But I think even more than anything the  charming views out the window of our room enhanced the dreamlike quality.

This post barely touches the seventeen cities in six countries that we visited, not to mention the scenic points between!   Needless to say, there will be more!   ...   it was a wonderful trip and it is also wonderful to be home!  

 

Back in the USA - Colorado

To get here, we flew from Amsterdam to Colorado where we spent a week with our son and daughter-in-law --mostly decompressing, for which we are enormously grateful.  Then home to Oregon, where our daughter and son-in-law kindly retrieved us from the airport.     Because I always include a picture of the first mountain sighting when we return from low-land Florida -- and since we our trip was about the low  countries of Europe -- Colorado once again has the honors!   The picture is from a walk on the greenbelt near where our family lives.  

 

LINKING this time to:   ALL SEASONS;  OUR WORLD on Tuesday; TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS ; TUESDAY  TREASURES ; SAY CHEESE;   MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;  THANKFUL THURSDAY;   SKYWATCH FRIDAY;   FRIDAY  BLISS   

 

Thank you to all of the hosts.

 

 

 

 

 

FLYING AWAY

 

We're flying away for a while.

 

 

 It's hard to flap your wings and blog at the same time, so .... FullTime-Life will be on vacation for around a month.

 

Thank you for visiting!  See you all when we're grounded again.   Comments (for this post only) are closed.

BABCOCK RANCH TOUR

 

It's getting close to time to leave the Canal Cottage for the season.   So Saturday morning I probably should have been scrubbing stoves or cleaning  refrigerators or one of the million other last-minute things that have to be done to get ready.   But instead I went to Babcock Ranch.

 

 

About eighty percent (0ver 90,000 acres) of this  huge historical ranch is preserved as open space, nature reserves, and agricultural use.  It is owned by the State of Florida and Lee County.    (Part of the ranch was sold to a developer and contains the new planned development city of Babcock Ranch that I have blogged about before.)         We toured several habitats -- open lands, farmland, swamps, and lots of watery spaces.  

 

Barred Owl

Every habitat had its unique plant and animal life.  The above  in one of the swampy areas was my favorite sighting.  The barred owl was a first-time bird for me!   He (or she) was calling its mate -- I wish I'd taken a video to share that distinctive sound.  

 

Great Blue Heron 

 

Some of the (too) many feral hogs and one of  the (few) Florida cracker cows that make their home on the Ranch.   This now-rare breed of cattle was brought here by the Conquistadors.  They are hardy and well-adapted to the Florida climate.   The ranch is still a cattle operation, but according to the tour guide modern methods allow them to raise more familiar breeds nowadays.   (I assume  -- for better or worse -- that means fatter ones.)   They will still breed and raise a few of the Cracker Cows because of the historical value.

Feral hogs cause many problems to farms and parks and they are trapped or hunted.  (They were brought to Florida by DeSoto in 1539; they adapted well, and breed rapidly.  It is estimated there are currently over 500,000 in the State.)

 

 

Snowy Egret

 

 Soft-shelled Turtle

 

Osceola Turkeys 

Limpkin

 

More alligators than I've ever seen in one place -- one area was called Alligator Ridge and I counted over 15 in the water there. 

 

 

This smiling guy soon slithered  into the culvert and the pond. 

 

 

More pictures of the Barred Owl --

just because he was my favorite.

 

Thank you to the hosts of each of the following sharing opportunities, where I'm linking this week:    

NATURE NOTES; TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS;   ALL SEASONS;    MOSAIC MONDAY;  THROUGH MY LENS;  OUR WORLD on Tuesday;  SAY CHEESE;  WILD BIRD Wednesday;   MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;  THANKFUL THURSDAY;   SKYWATCH FRIDAY;   FRIDAY  BLISS;   SATURDAY CRITTERS;  and RATHER B' BIRDING  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MAGIC ON THE PLANET

 

 

 It is the wet and warm season in Southwest Florida.   Very wet and very warm on an afternoon walk at Six Mile Cypress Preserve last week.

 

 

 The magic of water was much in evidence. 

(And not a lot else.  It was too wet and hot for most birds and most people.)

 

 

So for another kind of magic,  in honor of the day this is being posted, from the archives here are pictures of some of Nature's Mothers:

 

Burrowing Owl Family, Cape Coral Florida

 

 

Wood Stork Family, Wakodahatchee Wetlands, Fort Lauderdale

 

Great Blue Heron feeding baby, Wakodahatchee

 

Eagle Pasture, North Fort Myers 

And from "our very own" Eagle Nest down the street, the beautiful Harriet and two of her eaglets.

 

 

 

And finally:   Florida sky, water, and birding magic, from our  March trip to Ten Thousand Islands.   

 

 

 

 

LINKING to the following sharing opportunities:  Thank you to all of the hosts.

 

 NATURE NOTES;   ALL SEASONS;    MOSAIC MONDAY;  THROUGH MY LENS;  OUR WORLD on Tuesday;  SAY CHEESE;  WILD BIRD Wednesday;   MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;   SIGNS SIGNS; THANKFUL THURSDAY;   SKYWATCH FRIDAY;   FRIDAY  BLISS;   SATURDAY CRITTERS;  and RATHER B' BIRDING  

 

 

SAME BUT ALWAYS SOMETHING DIFFERENT

 It's quiet around home these days as nearly all of our fellow snowbird neighbors have flown North.   It's a good time to get things done.  With friends gone and activities over for the season, there aren't as many tempting interruptions.   And traffic outside of the resort where we live is so much lighter it's faster to get places and faster to accomplish whatever it was that you wanted to do.   The standard joke in this area, where much of the winter population are 'senior citizens,' is that the lines at the pharmacy counter are much shorter when the winter season ends.    

 

Our "street corner" ... the Canal going out to the Caloosahatchie River

We are snowbirds too of course, but our season is slightly different from most others.   This time of year, we pretend we live here year-round.   At my dental checkup the other day, the hygienist said how nice it was "now that they're gone" she has cut 20 minutes off of her commute time.  I just smiled.

 

 

I snapped these flowers and the panorama shot above with my I-phone.  I'm trying to become more familiar with what my smart phone can do.

 

Red-Bellied Woodpecker (top three and lower center).    Northern Flicker, lower left and right.

I don't think I'll ever be able to take pictures of birds with the phone though.   I have enough trouble with the small camera I almost always carry.   This collage shows the Red-bellied Woodpecker that I saw on the ground under a live-oak tree (top three pictures and center bottom)  and two pictures of a Northern (red-shafted) Flicker that I took on the same day.  

I am used to  the red-bellied on trees or poles;  this season for the first time I've seen several foraging on the ground.  I often see Flickers on the ground.  At first glance, their markings are a little bit alike, but it's easy to see the difference when you compare the two.  The Flicker is a larger bird also.  

 

Hibiscis

 

Warning:  The snake phobic may wish to avert eyes while scrolling past the next collage.

 

 

Across the streets from the Canal, homes in our resort back on to wetlands areas that are tropical- jungle-like.   An RVer who stayed awhile had either a whimsical or an evil sense of humor.   They transformed a strangler fig behind  their space into a pretty good replica of a Burmese Python.    It will be interesting to see whether the resort management leaves their artistic endeavors for another season.  That space is for temporary visitors; someone else might not appreciate the view!   

Further warning:  One of these pictures  is not like the others.   The one in the lower left picture is a real (but no longer living) Burmese Python.  Someone had rather unkindly laid it out on a railing at a wildlife viewing spot near the Everglades. (That picture is from last February).    It was a good thing that somebody killed it because these snakes are  invasive and create serious problems in this part of Florida.  I just wished I hadn't almost put my hand on it.

Back to the pretty stuff:

 

 

Skies this week have been interesting.   It continues to rain hard at least for a short while almost every day (usually with lightning).   But  there are also always times when we can go outside.    It never rains all day long.    

The  picture below is from way earlier in the season.  It was forgotten on my phone and found when my practice photo at the top of this post (and about a million others I threw away) were downloaded.   

 

Pink Shell  Beach,  January 2019

An oldie but a goodie!

LINKING this week to the following:  Thank you to all of the hosts.

 

NATURE NOTES;   ALL SEASONS;    MOSAIC MONDAY;  MACRO MONDAY , THROUGH MY LENS;  OUR WORLD on Tuesday;  SAY CHEESE;  WILD BIRD Wednesday;   MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;  THANKFUL THURSDAY;   SKYWATCH FRIDAY;   FRIDAY  BLISS;   SATURDAY CRITTERS;  and RATHER B' BIRDING  

 

THE WEEK THAT WAS

In the middle of another "cottage improvement" project, so we stayed close to home  this week.   The weather was perfect -- sunshine and warm (but not too warm).    We are grateful.  

 

Another week, another owl ....

because Saturday errands are fun when they include a stop to look at Burrowing Owls.

 

Willets (maybe); Pelicans, and Roseate Spoonbills

On Easter Sunday we enjoyed dinner with friends followed by a drive  through Ding Darling Wildlife Refuge.    Above are some of the birds we spotted.    Too bright and sunny for good pictures, but never too sunny for good memories.   I hadn't realized before that Roseate Spoonbills sometimes stand on just one leg -- like the flamingos some people mistake them for.   

 

Deep Lagoon Restaurant, Fort Myers

The  biggest shrimp in the world garnished our Easter cocktails.    (A fact that pleased some of us more than others!).  We all loved the food that followed and the water view as well as the lovely drive after dinner.

 

 

This Sunday morning we stayed even closer to home.    Squirrels and Red-bellied Woodpeckers were feasting on acorns under the live oak trees at Caloosahatchie Creeks Preserve next door.  The white flower is Bidens Alba, more commonly known as beggar tick or butterfly needles.  It's blooming all over this time of year.  We think of it as a weed, but it is edible and thought to have healing properties.  Here's part of what Wiki tells us:  

Bidens means two- toothed, describing the two projections found at the top of the seeds, and alba refers to the white ray florets.^[2] This plant is found in tropical and subtropical regions of North America, Asia, South America, and Africa,^[3] situated in gardens, road sides, farm fields and disturbed sites.^[4] B. alba is an annual or short-lived perennial, which is considered a weed in the United States.[2] However, B. alba leaves are edible and can be used as medicinal remedies.^[1]

Just think of the errands we wouldn't have to run if only we could skip the trip to the drugstore and just boil up a mess of leaves from the park next door.  (But that sounds like a lot of work ... and besides that,  those errands give us such a good excuse to stop by the owl burrows again.) 

 

LINKING THIS WEEK to the following sharing opportunities:

NATURE NOTES;   ALL SEASONS;    MOSAIC MONDAY;  THROUGH MY LENS;  OUR WORLD on Tuesday;  SAY CHEESE;  WILD BIRD Wednesday;   MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;  THANKFUL THURSDAY;   FRIDAY  BLISS;   SATURDAY CRITTERS;  and RATHER B' BIRDING  

Thank you to all of the hosts!! 

 

 

 

EASTER WEEK near home

 

Frangipani

Happy Easter  from Southwest Florida ....

 

Thursday morning and Thursday night -- from the Screen Porch

 

.... where it feels more like a warm and sunny Fourth of July.

 

Friday from the Screen Porch 

... unless it's pouring down rain.

 

Actually even when it is raining, it feels more like a (very) wet Fourth of July than mid-April.    The hard wind and heavy rain came the day after Thursday's perfect day.     We're used to rain in Oregon, but this was a downpour with lightning and thunder!   Our language needs more words for rain.    

It could have been  much worse, but our portion of Florida was spared this time from the worst of that storm.  North of here -- from Central Florida and up  -- many people were not so fortunate.      

 

Eastern Bluebird

The sun is out again now -- on Saturday morning -- and it is another beautiful warm Summer  Spring Day in SW Florida.    I saw the bluebird of happiness on a morning walk earlier in the week, and I hope she is an omen for the rest of our season here.   

 And from an errand-running day (last Wednesday) a "detour" (the complete opposite of a short-cut),  this dose of super- cute :
 

Burrowing Owls

Using the car as a blind, we took these pictures at two of Cape Coral's famous and protected owl burrows.  This is my favorite owl by far, because these guys keep the same kind of hours we do.  (Unlike most owls, they are not nocturnal).    No baby pictures this time -- these adults were guarding the family homesteads while the little ones stayed below.  ... Maybe another errand day will take us on another "short-cut" at a time when the kids come out to play.  

 

LINKING this week to the following sharing opportunities:   Thank you to all of the hosts.

 

 NATURE NOTES;   ALL SEASONS;    MOSAIC MONDAY;  THROUGH MY LENS;  OUR WORLD on Tuesday;  SAY CHEESE;  WILD BIRD Wednesday;   MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;  THANKFUL THURSDAY;   SKYWATCH FRIDAY;   FRIDAY  BLISS;   SATURDAY CRITTERS;  and RATHER B' BIRDING  

 

 

 

 

 

 

A WALK AROUND THE NEIGHBORHOOD

 

 

Here's the sun  rising over East Drive  (taken from our street across the Canal  just as I started a morning walk this week.)  Sunrise was at 7:02 a.m., so at least on this day, I did meet my hot-weather goal of getting up and about earlier in the morning. 

 

 

A friend who lives on another block in the Resort grows these orchids.  She has left for the season, but the orchids will live and probably thrive on their own all summer, which is the rainy season here.  

 

 

Quite a few of our fellow snow-birds will buy outdoor potted plants for their yards while they are here during the season.  They're not usually able to take them back "up North" with them, so these neighbors who live here all year will be happy to give them a good home!   

 

 

 

 

The street where the orchids and the sign are ends at a nature trail that leads to the County Nature Preserve next door to the resort.   This sign at the Park's entrance reminds hikers and walkers that the summer season has begun.  (We've had a few good rainstorms already, but the trails are fine -- at least the ones where I walked.)

 

Top left:  Red-Bellied Woodpecker, Center:  Pileated Wooodpecker;  the other three are Red-headed Woodpeckers.

I'm always hunting woodpeckers when I walk this time of year.   I've said before (too many times) that here in SW Florida we don't notice much seasonal change between late Winter and early Spring.   It's hot and the usual Spring flowers don't grow here.   But the birds know.  There are more birds  in the neighborhood and lots of the usual Spring bird activity going on.    

 

 

Here's one more sunrise picture from a few minutes later than the first one.   Just trying to remind myself to get up early more often.  That sun was bright and hot by ten in the morning.  But it's raining (and flooding) in the Pacific Northwest and we're grateful to be here where the rainstorms never last all day and the sunshine almost always does.   

 

 

 

 

LINKING this week to the following:  Thank you to all of the hosts.   

 NATURE NOTES;   ALL SEASONS;    MOSAIC MONDAY;  THROUGH MY LENS;  OUR WORLD on Tuesday;  SAY CHEESE;  WILD BIRD Wednesday;   MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;   SIGNS SIGNS;   THANKFUL THURSDAY;   SKYWATCH FRIDAY;   FRIDAY  BLISS;   SATURDAY CRITTERS;  and RATHER B' BIRDING  

 

 

 

 

MANATEE PARK 2019

 

Spring flowers, Southwest Florida

 

Close to home nature this week.   We've been busy with end-of-the-season activities here in the RV resort.  (We will be here until the end of May, but most of our snowbird friends will be gone by mid-April. )  I walked Saturday at Manatee Park which is about a 10 minute drive from home.   

 

 

The flowers, the butterfly, and the ground dove below were in the Butterfly Garden at the Park.  The plants are all native to this area.

 

 Ground Dove

 

Manatee 

 

Yes, I was at   Manatee Park, but I actually didn't expect to see any at this time of year. This one was a surprise.   Because the water at this park is warmed by a nearby power plant, these big gentle creatures hang out here in the "cold" weather.    December and January are the best months to see them.  By this time of year, the water in the Caloosahatchie River is warmer and the manatees have mostly disbursed out in the wider waters  (we even glimpse them in our canal occasionally).  There's not much for them to eat in the water at this park, so they usually just stay there until the river warms up.

Manatees are aquatic mammals whose closest relative is the elephant.  They are vegetarians, subsisting on water plants.  It's really hard to get a good picture of them, because they don't emerge from the water much.  Just occasionally to take a quick breath (and to eat green stuff where there is any).  

 

 

The Peace Pillar was erected to honor  Manatee Park volunteers .   I like the message so much and always walk this path when I'm here.  This is a collage I lifted from a previous year's post.  

 

 

There weren't many people at the Park (in the Winter, it gets really busy) but there was another kind of noise (and another interesting thing to observe).  A crew was replacing the  roof on the Chickee Hut, a well-recognized  feature of the park.  It's a replica of the kind of huts the Seminole Indians used.  It has a a raised floor, open sides and a thatched roof made from palm fronds.   One of the workers told me that the roof needed to be re-thatched every six or seven years.  This year they are also repairing the inside and the wooden part of the structure.

 

 

 

 This picture (also copied from a previous post) shows what the hut looks like in its finished state.  I don't know why I did it in black and white back then (and I couldn't find the original.)

 

 

I drove a few miles down the road to Hickey Creek Park to walk a little more.   I was the only person walking the trails here and I enjoyed the peace and the blue skies.  I'd gotten too late a start though and the heat and humidity kept it to a short walk (and there were no birds or animals about at all -- they were too smart to be out in the mid-day sun).   I need to start getting around earlier this time of year.

 

 

LINKING this week to the following sharing opportunities.  Thank you to all of the hosts:

 

NATURE NOTES;   ALL SEASONS;    MOSAIC MONDAY;  THROUGH MY LENS; TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS; OUR WORLD on Tuesday;  SAY CHEESE;  WILD BIRD Wednesday;   MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;   SIGNS SIGNS;   THANKFUL THURSDAY;   SKYWATCH FRIDAY;   FRIDAY  BLISS;   SATURDAY CRITTERS;  and RATHER B' BIRDING