A Full-time Life

Small town, big city, and two countries

We were away for 18 days on this trip.  Seven of those were sailing days -- spent entirely on the boat.  At-sea days are what you make of them and it's easy to find things to do -- more activities than we needed actually.  For us, there were no bad days on board -- and some of them were spectacular.   

We can say the same thing about shore excursion days as well.   Or any days at all  for that matter.   Every day can't be spectacular.  But on this trip, almost every day  came fairly close.  Every shore visit was to a new place, often one we'd never heard of before booking the voyage.  And every day brought a learning experience.    We count our blessings.

 

 

 Our next port-of-call was the one day we were slightly disappointed with.  But it wasn't a bad day either.  We were in a new place and it gave us the opportunity to  learn more about the Patagonian region of Argentina.  Puerto Madryn is a fishing port, settled in the mid-19th century when the Argentine government, like Chile's, encouraged European immigration to this remote region.    The first settlers to arrive were  Welsh immigrants.  Settlers from Spain and Italy soon followed, but the heritage of the original Welsh settlers lives on.  

Our shore excursion was a drive-through tour of Puerto Madryn and then on to  the village of Gaiman, where descendants  of the original Welsh families still keep their traditions alive.  It was a hot day for a bus ride along  a not-very-scenic road.

 

 

We had tea and biscuits (sweets) in Gaiman and listened to Welsh folk music.  We were sorry not to have more time in the village as we had time for only a very short  guided walk around the town.   A lot of this excursion was taken up by the bus ride to and from the village.

 

In the afternoon, we took a shuttle bus from the dock into the town of Puerto Madryn where we braved the heat and did a little walking around on our own.    This is the Jupiter at the dock shown in the first picture, taken from the  bus stop across the beach.  It was pleasant to watch local families  enjoying the warm summer day at the beach and it had me wishing to dip my toes into the water as well.   In retrospect, we  should have foregone the bus tour and chosen to spend more time on our own.   

A couple of at-sea days later, we  woke up to an entirely new country  at a very  interesting port of call.

We  were docked at Montevideo, Uruguay.  This, the Capital City of the country, is situated on the north shore of the Río de la Plata, the arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates the south coast of Uruguay from the north coast of Argentina.   

Looking out our window in the morning as the ship came in to the dock, we could see what looked like a ship graveyard as well as a thriving commercial port and then the skyscrapers of the city.   

Though we never did find out about the abandoned ships, we did quickly realize just how big the city is.  The Capital of Uruguay, Montevideo has a population of  over a million -- one-third of the country's population resides within its city limits.   Montevideo is said to have one of the highest qualities of life of any Latin American city and it felt to us like a thriving city.  If anything from the brief time we spent there, it seemed more European than anything else.  
 

 

We were comfortable exploring City streets on our own.   Modern skyscrapers co-exist with  historic art deco and neo-classical architecture.  Remnants of the old walled city still exist in some places.

 

 

There was a street art exhibit going on in the old part of downtown, along with some probably unauthorized graffiti.   We window shopped and even sampled a little of the local cuisine.  

 

Teatro Solis is the country's major theater.  Opened in 1865, the building was designed by Italian architect Carlos Zucchi and named after the first European explorer to land in what is now Uruguay.   It served as a hub for society in those days.  According to Wikipedia:

The motivation behind constructing a theatre was to have a worthy place where one could be seen socializing and flaunt one's social and political influence. The necessity behind constructing a theatre in Montevideo was the need to elevate one's social and political status through civil associations that had a cultural, scientific, and commercial nature. Therefore, the new theatre would offer a platform for socializing among the societal elite.

A renovation project was completed in 2004.    I wish we could have attended a performance in this historic theater! 

 

 

We would have two more sea days following our time in Uruguay and then we'd be back in Argentina for the last two days of our trip.  We appreciated the chance to see another country  --   one we did not expect to visit when we decided on this itinerary.   It was also, for me at least, a good geography lesson. Before this,  I honestly wouldn't have been able to place Uruguay on a map.  (I'd at least be able to get close now!)

 

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MOSAIC MONDAY;   THROUGH MY LENS; TUESDAY TREASURES;  MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;   THANKFUL THURSDAY; and  SKYWATCH FRIDAY;    

 

 

 

 

Port Stanley Falkland Islands

After a couple of days on the ocean (the first of which was sailing around Cape Horn), the  Juniper  anchored off shore.

 

  Tenders transferred passengers from the ship to Port Stanley, Falkland Islands.

 

 

 

Geographically, it's Argentina, but it felt like England.  (Albeit, a very nice spring-like day for January in England)>

 

 

Of course, The Falkland Islands is (still) a British Territory and it feels like one.  Top row is Christ Church Anglican Cathedral built in the 1800s, the British Flag at the Port,  and the iconic red phone booth.  In the lower row, the flag flies near a government building, one of the many English gardens we passed on a walk around town, and the Royal Post Office.    We also passed several typical British pubs and tea shops  (no pictures of the last two)

But first ...

Before we walked around town, we boarded a local tour bus near the port.  It took us to Gypsy Cove, a scenic park on Pembroke Peninsula, about  4 miles from the Port.  This beautiful coastal park is home to several colonies of Penguins.

 

 

It was a beautiful day to be outdoors.  I spotted  penguins  on the beach, but too far from the top of a hill.  This beach was off limits for walking (as it should be for the penguins safety).    A few had waddled up closer to the path.  Here are some of my favorites:

 

 

After our morning at Gypsy Cove, the bus transported us back to the Port.  We spent the afternoon walking around on the town of Stanley on a self-guided tour.  

A military plane flying over the Port is a reminder of the 1982 Falklands War  -- and why the Island is still a British Territory.   The Royal Air Force Base is on the other side of the island.  Some of our fellow passengers on the ship opted to take a tour  focused on the history of the war, instead of focusing on nature and wildlife.      We have long ago come to terms with not being able to do everything of interest, no matter where we go on a tour.   Or when traveling on our own for that matter.  We are grateful to see and learn what we can.  

 

This arch, made from the jawbones of two blue whales, was built in 1933 to commemorate a century of continuous British administration of the Islands.    It is one entrance to the grounds of the Anglican Cathedral.

 

 

Our walk took us to the National Museum of the Falkland Islands, which had well-done rooms showing early history of the Island and British Isles settlement (many descendants of early settlers still make it their home).  There are displays dedicated to the Falklands War and more.   We could easily have spent much more time there, but it was time to walk back to the port as we didn't want to miss the last tender trip back to the ship.

 

It was a great day.   Besides all that we saw -- and more Penguins! -- we talked to friendly locals and learned a little bit about what it was like to live on this somewhat remote Island.   The Falkland Islands was never a place I dreamed of seeing, certainly wasn't on my travel wish list, but as often happens it was one of the most interesting places we've visited.   I'd recommend it to anyone.

 

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End of the Earth -- and Beyond

We had arrived at the end of the earth... Ushuaia Argentina the southernmost city in the world.  Surrounded by Andes mountain slopes and located on the Beagle Channel, it is the closest city to the South Pole and as such the departing place for most Antarctic expeditions.  We saw many expedition vehicles and supply stores around the town.      On the day we were there, a cold strong wind was blowing --  it definitely had the feeling of a remote outpost.   I was in awe of the explorers preparing to experience even harsher conditions.

 

The above picture is NOT where our ship was -- that dock was the City Pier in Ushuaia.  Sadly, I neglected to take pictures of anything in the town or at the city dock.  This picture and the collage below are  from Tierra del Fuego National Park, where we spent most of the day.   

The Park is located on  Tierra del Fuego (the Land of Fire) island, part of a region composed of  many  islands in both Chile and Argentina as well as Andean Mountain peaks, plains, forests, lakes and glaciers. 

We got a taste of the beauty of the area as we walked around the Lake with views of the surrounding mountains and took a short hike on a sheltered woodsy path.  The bottom panel of the entrance sign points out how far South we were.

We were "at-sea" again the following day, but once again it was one that gave us scenic views and interesting history:   

We sailed around Cape Horn.     

Cape Horn is a rocky headland on Hornos Island, part of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago that belongs to Chile.   The Pacific and Atlantic Oceans meet here on the southern tip of South America.    The northern boundary of the Drake Passage, it was a major milestone  on the route where sailing ships carried trade around the world.  

 

It was a hazardous passage back then, owing to strong winds, large waves, strong currents and icebergs.  These hazards can and do still exist and it was a rainy stormy day out there. While we kept a hand out for support just in case, we didn't feel any real turbulence.     I was happy to view the scenery through our window as we listened to commentary from the ship's Captain.  In retrospect, of course I wish there'd been a little better light for these souvenir photographs.    

We even got a glimpse of  Faro Cabo de Hornos -- the Cape Horn Lighthouse.  Nearby there is a monument to the sailors who have perished rounding the horn, but we were unable to spot it.      This lighthouse is the responsibility of the Chilean Navy.  Because of its remote location, the Navy assigns the position to a married officer with family.  The lighthouse is home to them for a period of (if I remember correctly) two years before the position is rotated.

 

Needless to say, ships today are much safer than they were in Drake's day.  Still Viking rewarded everyone aboard with a certificate showing we had made the (not-so-dangerous) passage.  It would make a cute page in a travel scrapbook  but I took a picture  because this is my only scrapbook these days.    

Grateful for these two fascinating days -- we visited the end of the earth, set foot in a new-to-us-country, rounded Cape Horn.  And we learned so much ... and that is the best part of travel.

 (Still blogging about our winter trip and this post is a little over the halfway point.  The passage around the Horn happened on December 31 and we celebrated New Years Eve on board ship that evening.    In real life we've been home for over two months.  It was quite a long vacation trip, but not as long as it seems here in blogland.)

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

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Magdalena Island Chile

The day after the scenic glacier sailing,  the ship docked at the historic town of Punta Arenas on the Brunswick Peninsula.

 

 

Punta Arenas was founded as a Chilean penal colony in 1848, then later was a supply town and port for mariners crossing the Strait of Magellan to take part in Chile's goldrush.  It continued as one of Chile's most important port cities  until the opening of the Panama Canal.   However, we only had one day at this port, so everything we learned about the town itself we learned  only from the on-board briefings the evening before. 

We chose a different excursion instead    -- we went to see Penguins.

 

 

Early in the morning, we boarded a large catamaran right in front of where our ship was docked.  It took about an hour to get to Magdalena Island, which is only accessible by boat.  For us, not having to get on a tour bus was a bonus.  (We like boating.)   The picture above is from a window on the catamaran as we approached the  island.   

 

We learned that these penguins never want to be the first one to enter the water.  That's why they stand in groups at the shore's edge.  They won't enter as a group, but wait for just one penguin  to dive in-- if he or she seems OK, the rest will go in together.  

 

 

When we got off the catamaran, we walked over a shoe-sanitizer.   Everyone has to stay  on the roped off trails -- the pictures are zoomed, but we could clearly see the burrows and watch the family interactions.  We were able to get about four feet from some of the burrows.  There were hundreds, maybe thousands,  of burrows.

 

 

 It is estimated that over 60,000 Magellanic Penguin couples make this island their home.  The penguin babies were at different stages -- some so tiny we could barely see them at the bottom of the burrow.  I couldn't get pictures of those.  

 

 

The whole 782 square mile island is a Penguin Reserve officially named Monumento National Los Pinguinos.  A naturalist on the catamaran told us that the penguins used to be the only bird on the island, but then some gulls moved in and thrived.  He said that it was a worry but might have turned out to be  good thing for the penguins because birds of prey tend to like the eggs of the gulls better than those of the penguins.     

 

Skua -- a bird of prey 

 

 Here are some gull babies who survived.  They apparently use shallower burrows than the penguins.  And it was baby-raising season for them too.  We see gulls everywhere we go, but it isn't often that you see baby ones.  I think these are Kelp Gulls.

 

 So so cute!  

We learned that the penguin parents take turns watching the babies while the other parent goes after dinner.

 

I followed the walking path to the highest point of the Island, the location of an historical Lighthouse.  It was built in 1902 and is still casts a guiding light on this part of the Strait of Magellan.  Although it is now fully automated, the former keeper's home is now an interpretive center for the Penguin Preserve.  

 

It was a rush to get back down, because our time on the Island was drawing to a close and I certainly didn't want to miss the boat.   Really, there was no choice but to hurry because the wind had come up while we walked and it felt a little bit like I was being blown down the hill.

 

 

We said good-bye to the penguins, who really do seem curious about their visitors.  

 

NOT MY Photograph -- Borrowed Internet Image

I did not take a picture of our Catamaran, but this picture borrowed from the Trip Advisor website is what it looked like. 

The windy day continued and wow did we get our rough-sea experience on the trip back.  We'd had a good place to sit on the top deck on the way to the island that morning, so we headed to the stairs (really more of a ladder) again this time.   But first I needed to make a quick stop at the rest room on the lower deck.     Of course there was a line (when does that not happen?) and the catamaran started off while I was still waiting.  No worries, we had been able to move about on our trip over.  But not this time.  As it turned out, I stayed right there on Deck One until we got to our ship dock over an hour later.  It was really rough!   One of the staff on board fell as he tried to help people find seats, but he wasn't seriously hurt.  All of us still in the lineup to the toilets were sliding around and hanging on to walls and each other.  Thankfully, I did make it in and out of the facility in one piece and a staff member carefully escorted me  to a  booth, where I could laugh about the experience and where the bobbing boat didn't feel nearly as scary.  

 

Just one more penguin picture from earlier in the day

 When we  "reunited" Bill said he hadn't even missed me, but I forgave him.  (Actually, I knew that a staff member had  gone up the ladder during a brief lull to report that everyone was safe on the deck below.)    In retrospect,  the rough trip just added to the story of this great day.    

That night while we slept, our ship  left charming Chile --the next day we would be in Argentina. 

 

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MOSAIC MONDAY;   NATURE NOTES;  THROUGH MY LENS; TUESDAY TREASURES;  MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;  SIGNS SIGNS; THANKFUL THURSDAY;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY; and  SATURDAY CRITTERS  

 

Scenic Sailing - Amalia Glacier

We've been at home at the Canal Cottage for  nearly two months now but I am determined to complete our winter travel adventure on the blog before starting anything else.   

Day 6 of our trip was such a magical day I'm tempted to just show the pictures because no words can express the awe.

 

For that matter, my pictures don't really capture the grandeur either.   You have to imagine seeing the fjords and ice floes completely lining the horizon  as we sailed for miles.  The picture above was taken from our balcony very  early in the morning.  We knew we'd be sailing past the Amalia Glacier but we didn't think about how we'd wake up feeling as if we were right there in the ice fields.  (Admittedly while safe and  warm in our cozy stateroom .)   

 

The massive Amalia Glacier is slowly eroding the slopes of Mount Reclus, a volcano located directly behind it.  The ice floe arrived here millions of years ago from the heights of the Andes Mountains.  

 

As massive as what we saw seemed to us, this glacier is just a small part of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field, one of the world's largest continuous ice fields.  During the Ice Age, this sheet of ice covered the entirety of southern Chile.

 

 

Grateful that 'The Planner" (Bill)  had chosen a room  on the port side of the ship for this perfect view, we watched daybreak from the balcony window and then hurried to the ship's World Cafe (a buffet restaurant)  so that we could get a window table on the same side of the ship.  Because  you can't miss breakfast (if you are like me at any rate). 

 

The morning awesomeness continued as we ate.   (Our table was not only on the good side but was also  close to the door to the walk-around track which is located on that deck of the ship.    I went outside several times to take a picture in the open air.   But not for long -- although it was early summer in Chile, it was cold and windy -- not outdoor weather at all.

I am never bored on at-sea days, but usually on those days the view is the open ocean.   Ocean-gazing is relaxing for a while in a Zen-like way and there are always other things to do on the boat. (For me, that usually means reading a good book when I tire of the view, but there are many activities available.)   But for almost all of this day it was actually hard to tear our eyes away from the stunning views.  

 

Later on it turned out to be a good day for sky-watching as well.

 

Amalia Glacier is part of Bernardo O'Higgins National Park.  The Park is named for Chile's first head-of-state who had been the leader of the revolution that freed Chile from Spanish rule.  His ancestry was Basque-Spanish and (surprise) Irish.  Learning about him explained why on the days before we had seen streets called O'Higgins, something we had thought rather incongruous at the time.   But it's just like most cities in the USA have a Washington Street.

 

The National Park itself is huge and apparently not very developed for tourism.  It is only accessible by helicopter or boat.  That would be quite the adventure; we were happy to have had this safer and easier view of part of it.  Before we left the glaciers and fjords behind, the Captain stopped the ship quite close to the glacier and everybody watched while  four brave crew members took a skiff out to the glacier.   

They brought back large chunks of ice which were used for special pre-dinner cocktails served in the lounge while we  listened to the ship's piano/violin duo.   We enjoyed a later than usual dinner in one of the ship's specialty restaurants for a perfect ending to a lovely day.  

 

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

MOSAIC MONDAY;  NATURE NOTES;  THROUGH MY LENS; TUESDAY TREASURES;  MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;   THANKFUL THURSDAY; and  SKYWATCH FRIDAY;    

 

 

Puerto Varas, Northern Pategonia

The next day our home-away-from-home was docked at Puerto Montt, which is the major city in  Chile's Northern Patagonia province.

 

Mount Osorno seen over Llanquihue Lake 

The history of this area was interesting -- and surprising -- to learn.  In the mid-1850s,  the Chilean government wanted to develop this then remote region which had a climate suitable for farming as well as  many many acres of undeveloped land.     They made a plan to sponsor the immigration of people from Germany,  people who were interested in farming and eventual land ownership.  The plan worked and the region thrived.   In 1912 a railroad line was built to link Puerto Montt to Santiago which boosted the economy even further.  

In the morning we took a tour bus past some of those still-thriving farms and orchards to the village of Puerto Varas, located on  Lake Llanquihue.  This large and lovely lake seems to  be guarded by snow-capped volcanoes. The major one is shown in the first picture in this post.  

Although this wasn't primarily a birding trip, I 'm always happy when it happens accidentally:

 

So  as we walked along the Lake it was fun to come upon an evergreen tree with three or four of these birds hanging out in the branches.  I  think these were Black-faced Ibis (based on research after the fact).

 

It is apparently a fairly common bird in Chile, but of course our first time, not so common at all.   We had time to do a bit of exploring along the Lake as well as walking in the charming village.

 

Puerto Varas is known as Chile's "City of Roses".   While it was still rather early in the  summer  here in the Southern Hemisphere,  we  saw a lot of beautiful summer flowers.     This little village felt familiar the minute we stepped foot in it.  Probably because of the  strong Germanic influence in the architecture and, I think, in the general appearance of the carefully tended parks and private yards.   But every once in a while on our travels we have visited a place that feels, for no particular reason, as if  it could have been home in another life -- almost a feeling of deja vu.     (It's never a City with a major tourist destination  -- apparently even if I really believed in  past lives, I can't imagine myself having lived in a castle...)  

 

   

Everything wasn't carefully manicured -- and we enjoyed those parts of the area at least as much.  

The following two days were on-board "sailing" days.  Below is the Pacific Ocean and blue sky from our deck on the next morning and that was pretty much the view for that whole day from any window on the ship.

But it gave us a chance to take part in some of the ship activities (besides sleeping well and eating delicious food, which happened every day no matter how we'd spent the rest of our time).  We kept busy and then the next day on board there was such magnificent scenery that any shore excursion paled in comparison.    That day is future post in itself.

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Valparaiso Chile

It's wonderful what a good night's sleep can do.  After a long and tiring trip from Oregon, we  woke up on our first full morning aboard ship happy to be here and looking forward to the rest of the journey.

Valparaiso morning on our first full day on board

 (Zoomed-in shot from our room)

The ship was docked overnight at Valparaiso, which is known as the gateway to Santiago, Chile's capital.   (And of course since it's also the harbor for the city it is quite  a good choice for docking a boat.)    As a gateway, however, the town is a little far away, since it is located about 80 miles away from Santiago.  Therefore, still a little travel-weary, we were happy we had passed  on the chance to see more of the capital city -- an 8-hour land tour which would  have included being driven back over the same route we'd taken the day before to get to the ship from the airport. 

 

View of the Jupiter (our ship) from one of the many hills of Valparaiso

We opted instead to explore more of Valparaiso which would also give us time for much needed relaxation on board.   Because the Harbor is located right in the center of town, it was a quick trip from the ship.  The Harbor is well-known for its location in the heart of the city.

 

Plaza Sotomayor

The Plaza is  practically next door to the harbor.   This side of it  houses the headquarters of the Chilean Navy (Armada de Chile).  

 

It really is a very hilly city. 

We saw some of the interesting barrios as well as some lovely views of the harbor from the hilltops (where I didn't take picture).    

 

Ascensor El Peral

We took this funicular railway to the top of one of the hills.  El Peral was built in 1902 and is one of sixteen remaining funiculars in the city-- there used to be at least 30. The remaining ones have been declared Chilean National Monuments.  

Fonck Museum

We visited this museum which is housed in an impressive mansion that used to belong to a wealthy Valparaiso family.  It is now a municipal property.  We especially enjoyed the history and artifacts from  Easter Island, a part of Chile sadly not included on our itinerary (just possibly because the Island is 3000 miles away from Santiago!)    We couldn't take pictures inside but were happy to see all we did.

And we were happy to be in Chile and looked forward to the rest of the journey.  

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Footnote:  One thing about travel is that you have more places you know and remember well, so that when disaster hits there, it has even more meaning to us.  We've had that happen before to places where we've stayed and sadly I'm sure it will happen again.  But this time it happened almost right away.  We'd only been back home a few days when the town of Valparaiso was hit by devastating wildfires that ripped through the country's Pacific Coast.   Over 120 people were killed and more are missing.  Tens of thousands lost homes which were destroyed by flames.   This year, the record summer droughts and high temperatures throughout the continent of South America created conditions ripe  for forest fires.   

I  won't discuss climate change any further because that's not the purpose of this blog which I try to keep a happy place.  But the reality of what happened  later affects our memories of this lovely town and that can't be ignored. 

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Ocean to Ocean

We are at home for the season here at the Canal Cottage.   It was a long trip from Oregon, but not as long as you'd think based on the date of  the last post here on Full Time Life.     I've missed my blogging friends and am happy to be "back home" here in Blogland as well as in real life, here at our winter spot on the canal.

It was a longer-than-usual trip this time, as we traveled not only from coast to coast, but even from Ocean to Ocean.  We flew from home in Oregon to South America and then by boat clear around Cape Horn on the way to our winter spot in the sun.   What an amazing world it is.  I'm so grateful that we were able to see this part of it!

We flew to Santiago Chile where we traveled by bus to the port of Valparaiso.  Here we boarded the Jupiter, a Viking Ocean Cruise vessel.  This post is only an overview of the highlights.  (The pictures are not in chronological order.)   

The beautiful view in the picture above is the Pacific Ocean as we traveled through the Chilean Fjords.  This was  the early morning view from our stateroom on an at-sea day.   

On another day at sea, we traveled past the Patagonian Glaciers -- more glaciers than we could count.  This is one of them.   We watched from our stateroom deck window and from the dining and public deck areas on the same side of the ship.  It was a beautiful moving panorama.

Grandeur is the best word I can think to describe much of the scenery we saw  on this trip.   And grandeur is hard to  capture with a camera.  All my pictures are really just a tiny taste of the awe inspiring scenic beauty.

 

 

The ship rounded Cape Horn on New Year's Eve day.    The peak of this archipelago marks the point where the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans converge and it's well known for rough seas.  It was raining  but the seas were calm.   This was good news for many,  but at least one person I know very well  (!) was actually  hoping for a bit more rocking sea adventure as we "sailed" the passage.  Calm or rough, it was an exceptional way to mark  the end of another interesting year.

 

We saw Penguins!  Up close and natural.

From the dock at Punta Arenas Chile, we traveled by  catamaran to Magdalena Island.  This view is as we approached the island dock.  We were able to get closer after we disembarked by walking along  carefully marked paths. 

This cruise was a nice mixture of time spent out in nature, sea days with that stunning scenery and shipboard activities of our choice, and  some tours in big cities and small town port towns when the ship was docked for a day or two.  A few of those land sights are in the collage below:  

 

Valparaiso Harbor Chile; Montevideo Uruguay; Puerto Varas Chile

Port Stanley Falkland Islands (note the British Flag); Buenos Aires Argentina (The "Pink Palace"); Puerto Madryn Argentina

And here are a couple more penguins who waddled up as we walked along the beach in the Falkland Islands.   

That's it for this week.  But there will be more details and more pictures  -- we learned so much on this trip that we want to remember.  Pictures from winter here in the sun to come too I hope and maybe even some that  I  never did post from our time at home in Oregon.    Thank you to everyone who visits and especially to those who expressed concern about the long gap.  And thanks to the hosts of these sharing opportunities:  

SATURDAY CRITTERS; MOSAIC MONDAY;   NATURE NOTES; THROUGH MY LENS; TUESDAY TREASURES;  MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;   THANKFUL THURSDAY;  and SKYWATCH FRIDAY      

Last of our European Trip

This is the last post about our June trip to the Czech Republic and cities in what used to be East Germany.  We are grateful for the time spent with our grandchildren in Prague and for learning so much about living in both Czech and Germany now and in earlier times, especially during the time when they were part of the USSR.   In Germany, we enjoyed the comforts of our Viking River Boats (even though we didn't spend much time actually boating).   

On our last full day in Wittenberg, we spent a morning at the Garden Kingdom of Worlitz .

Garden Kingdom of Worlitz, Wittenberg 

After a trip to England during the "Age of Enlightenment" (18th Century) Prince Leopold began construction of his Garden Kingdom.  He brought the concept of the formal English Garden to Continental Europe.   Today the Gardens include  Gondola rides on the River that winds through the park and  18th-century castle-like buildings to visit.  This World Heritage Site is a beautiful park and a lovely place for a quiet walk and it does have historical significance, but in some ways it felt like "just another tourist attraction" because it didn't seem to really teach us much about the country we were actually visiting.    

 

 

Every time our tour bus left  the ship while we were docked in Wittenberg, we passed this apartment building on a nearby corner.  And every single time this sweet lady would be leaning out of her window and waving to us.  Sometimes  her husband (I assume) would be at the other window.  Our bus driver/tour guide said that she  always came to her window when the tour buses passed.  He said  she had lived in the same apartment for almost half a century.    I finally remembered to have my camera ready for her on our last day.  

So she's really saying goodbye to us in this picture, because it was on the day we left Wittenberg and the Viking ship for good.   

 

 

Our tour included two nights in Berlin.  (This hotel stay was a planned part of the Viking tour and was not due to low water levels.)  So the above picture was the view from our Viking Bus as we reached the City Center near the very modern and well-run hotel where we would stay.

 

Brandenburg Gate

We like to visit really big metropolitan cities occasionally.  We lived in London for three months once ... we loved Prague earlier on this same trip ...but oh my gosh Berlin was so huge and so crowded.   

 

Historical Museum

Of course, a day and a half isn't long enough to get to know anyplace, especially a huge city.  But we did get an overview and saw things we had never thought we'd see in person. 
 

Because of the crowds, it was actually impossible to get pictures of some of what we did see or even to get close to some things.    (There were massive crushes of people around Checkpoint Charlie for example).

 

Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial and Church

We had a bit of an overview from our Viking tour guide as we arrived and then we walked around the Hotel neighborhood  after settling in.  The next day we took a Hop On-Hop Off tour on our own.  Those tours are great as overviews when you are short on time (and on energy by this time on our trip.)  

 

So this Berlin post is pretty much just an Instagram-type photo rollout.  I don't like Instagram nearly as well as blogging, because there's usually no story with the travel pictures.  And I like the stories!    

Victory Column (Prussian War, 1866)

We weren't in Berlin long enough to have much of a story.   But we're  happy we were able to visit and learn a little -- and glad to have the memories and the pictures.  

  Moabit Neighborhood, Berlin

I don't have pictures of the last day of our European trip, but it was definitely exciting in its own way as we navigated the huge Berlin Railroad station for a long day's  trip to Munich.  We flew home to Oregon from Munich (with an unplanned overnight layover in Detroit due to an airport delay) and some wait time in Seattle.    I'll just say that both in the railway depot and the Munich airport we wished we'd paid more attention and/or remembered more of the German classes we took so long ago in high school but we figured it all out and made all our connections on time.  

 

Oregon sky from above the clouds

It was a great trip, but that first glimpse of home is always wonderful!

 

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

MOSAIC MONDAY;  THROUGH MY LENS; TUESDAY TREASURES;  MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;  THANKFUL THURSDAY;  and SKYWATCH FRIDAY;     

Mountain Drive

In the backyard now there are more leaves on the ground than in the trees.  They make a pretty carpet.  Nowadays we aren't responsible for lawn care and in addition we've had mostly dry Fall weather.  Those two things make it easy for us  to admire the beauty without worrying about what needs to be done before the fallen leaves get wet and sloppy.

 

 I've read  that it's better for the environment and the birds to leave the leaves alone or to mulch them  in place.  We didn't know about that back in our former life when we had a yard and gardens.   Unfortunately, if this year is like past Autumns since we've lived in this apartment complex,  the lawn maintenance crew here doesn't know it yet.  And worse they will use noisy leaf-blowers.    At least, the City of Eugene will pick up the bagged leaves and make them into mulch available to the gardening public.  So there's that good thing.

Last week we took a mountain drive up the Old McKenzie Pass. It's a good day-trip  this time of year for the Autumn color and because Winter snow will close it.   

 

Bill loves driving curvy mountain roads.  I like riding along.   This is a good paved highway, but there are sharp curves and I wouldn't want to pull our trailer on it.   Years ago, when driving this road, we were stuck a traffic jam because a truck driver had jackknifed his long flatbed tractor/trailer rig on a curve.  We were coming down the hill, and had a few cars behind us.  We decided not to try backing up the hill to find a place to turn around, and instead  to wait for the totally blocked road to be cleared. It took quite a while, involving large recovery trucks being summoned from towns both above and below the accident.  I think a tree or two had to be removed before the problem was solved.  The truck driver had  passed flashing lights and signs warning that his 50 foot plus length was not allowed!

Whether you love navigating curves or not, there are beautiful mountain views as payback for the effort:

 

Three Sisters Mountain

Besides mountain viewing and leaf-peeping, we wanted to see how much damage there was in these hills from the summer wildfires.   It  wasn't quite as bad a fire season this past summer,  but still thousands of acres of forest land were burned and there were some evacuations in mountain communities and campgrounds.   Annual wildfires are a frightening fact of life now.  

 

 

Some ghost forests (dry burned trees) and blackened trunks along the McKenzie Pass.  

Back at home this past week, we've had some rain but interspersed with beautiful blue sky days that make it easier to appreciate the rainy ones.  Later in the season, when it starts to rain and drizzle day after day and the sky stays gray, that's when I have to remind myself often that we need the rain.  

 

 

Grateful for beautiful blue sky October days, but still hopeful for a good rainy season here because that means needed snow in the mountains east of us.   

 

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

MOSAIC MONDAY;   NATURE NOTES; SIGNS SIGNS;  THROUGH MY LENS; MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;   THANKFUL THURSDAY;  and SKYWATCH FRIDAY;    

Wittenberg

Going back in time to June 20, our first night on the Viking Astrid, our (now) floating Hotel.

 

View from our room on the Astrid, docked near Wittenberg on the Elbe River during a perioid of low water.  Normally, the river's level would reach the middle point of the post on the right.     (See this post).    

 

Low water blues?

The picture above  was taken quite late in the evening (for me anyway).   It was the first day of summer and the longest day of the year.  On the ship, it was German night and we'd enjoyed a good, but heavy,  welcome aboard dinner.    After the road trip from Meissen, unpacking and  organizing our new room, the big meal, the evening's entertainment and the staff's review of tomorrow's activities  some  quiet time on our stateroom deck was welcome.  We enjoyed the last of the daylight.  The river view was lovely, even if we weren't moving along on it.

 

The next morning tour bus  transported us into the city of Wittenberg where we had some time on our own to stroll  through the historic city.  We then met our guide for a  tour of the Museum in the Martin Luther House.  The famous theologian lived here in the early 1500s; it is where he founded the Protestant Reformation.

Wittenberg Castle Church Door where Luther may have hung his 95 Theses document.  Historians have  differing views.

Other than the most basic of facts about the Reformation, we didn't know a lot about Martin Luther.  And I had never really thought about wanting to learn more about his life since we didn't grow up in that faith.  But I paid  attention and took a lot of pictures because of relatives and friends who  did.   And it was far more interesting than I had thought it would be.   

 

Among  his other writings, Luther translated the Holy Bible  into German while living in this house in Wittenberg.

Lectern in the part of the home that was used for Church services.  

 

The pictures above are of  Luther and his wife Kathe (about whom I had never heard).  Their union was important in the Reformation because it set a precedent for marriage and family life in the clergy.   

 

Like all good tour guides, ours had a way of bringing history to life with knowledge, respect and a dash of humor.   She told us that Kathe was the practical woman behind the reformation, keeping the family afloat so her husband  could carry on  his work without thinking about the problems of everyday life.    She said "I think Luther's quote under their portraits above means that he appreciated her."    (It translates as: "I would not want to exchange my Kathe for France nor for Venice to boot." )  

This mosaic panel in the rectory depicts the ten commandments 

After our tour  we enjoyed a pleasant lunch on our own in a local restaurant before returning to the ship.    We were always happy with the quality of the meals on Viking, but it is also fun to eat where the locals eat.  We enjoyed both the food and the people watching. 

We learned something new, we ate good food, we got just enough of a walk in nice weather --all good parts of travel (and of life, really).  It was a good day.

 

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

MOSAIC MONDAY;  THROUGH MY LENS;  TUESDAY TREASURES;   MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;  SIGNS SIGNS;    THANKFUL THURSDAY ; and SKYWATCH FRIDAY. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Autumn in Eugene

For various reasons, I've been slow documenting the  trips we've taken this summer.  This makes the blog seem as if we've been traveling for the whole time and that isn't really at all true.   As we always have done, we've   been enjoying our Oregon home most of the time.  

And our Eugene neighborhood has been particularly beautiful this month.

 

 

For awhile,  it looked like we wouldn't have any real Autumn color.  Summer was so hot and dry.  Late in  September, leaves on some of the trees in our neighborhood were turning dry and brown and falling before they showed any color at all. 

 

 

 

 That was sad, but now that at least some of the trees are showing off their Autumn glory, even the dry leaves on the ground are fun to see.  The crunchy noise as my feet shuffle along the sidewalk makes me feel like a kid again.  (But it is a good thing there are no big piles of leaves to jump in -- don't think I could perform that Fall ritual any more.)  

 

 

We don't have a whole lot of red color here.  Orange and glowing yellows are more prevalent.  Some late summer flowers are still putting on a good show.    And in every season here there is always green.

 

 

"I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers."

Lucy Maude Montgomery - Anne of Green Gables.

 

 

So am I.  Grateful and happy to be here.

 

 

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

MOSAIC MONDAY;   NATURE NOTES;  THROUGH MY LENS;  MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;   THANKFUL THURSDAY;  and SKYWATCH FRIDAY 

 

Sibling Road Trip - Bellevue Washington

We finished out the camping season last month by enjoying some more travel with the tiny trailer.  I'm calling this one the Sibling Road-Trip because we went from home  here in Oregon to the Seattle area (Washington State) for a great visit with my sister and brother-in-law and then across Washington into Northern Idaho for the same  with Bill's brother and sister-in-law at their floating cabin on Lake Chatcolet.    We enjoyed great catch-up times at both destinations and, as always, enjoyed the journey as well.

Here's a picture taken from our doorstep on our first night's stop:     

Mount Rainier, late afternoon in late September

This is why we like staying in our own home-away-from home.  You don't often get a view like this from a motel room.   

We met up with our family the next day.  It was a great catch-up time, enjoying good conversation and reminiscing, good meals, and exploring the area.     One day the four of us visited the Bellevue Botanical Gardens.   Below are pictures from a  beautiful bridge walkway built across a ravine in the 55-acre park.  

 

As the sign says, it's a taste of the wild side in the middle of the city.     

 

 

The whole park is  one of those places that always seem sort of magical to me because of being so close to a major metropolitan area, while feeling  as if you're miles away.  An easily accessible outdoor getaway for city-dwellers  -- and tourists as well.

October and November are Dahlia season in the Pacific Northwest  and the "tamer" area of the park had a beautifully groomed garden featuring these show-stoppers:

 

Who could fail to be cheered by these beautiful flowers.

 

 

Every variety and every color so photogenic.

      

 

 

We saw a few  deer as we wandered around the park and always enjoy these sightings . But the above sign (and chewed up hosta leaves) reminded me of why some gardeners aren't  happy to see them.     Obviously, this park wasn't going to stop the deer from snacking.     I'm sure the sign is to explain to the public that the plant damage isn't because the gardeners are neglecting their work.

 

 

The bees loved this flowering bush.  Plantings in the gardens were all those that would do well in Western Washington's  climate.      

We had a great couple of days, over all too soon, before we got back on the road.  I'll share some pictures from the other side of the State of Washington and neighboring Idaho in another post.  

 

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

MOSAIC MONDAY;   NATURE NOTES;  THROUGH MY LENS;  MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; SIGNS SIGNS;  THANKFUL THURSDAY;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY;  and  SATURDAY CRITTERS    

The Port of Newport

The Port of Newport owns and manages Newport Marina for fishing fleets and pleasure boats just as you would expect of a Port District. 

Port of Newport Marina

They also have two RV parks and we were lucky to snag a last-minute reservation at the older of the two.  It's a very popular destination during the summer months and no wonder.   The RV facilities are well managed, clean and close to most of the good things Newport offers.   

 

NOAA headquarters, Newport

One of the most interesting tenants of  the Port District is The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Marine Operations Center - Pacific (NOAA MOC-P) .

It was quite a big deal for this port when it was awarded this lease back in 2008.  The other  finalists in the competitive bidding process were much larger cities, including Seattle Washington.      From all appearances  it seems the Port of Newport is up to the task.

 

 We often read about the important oceanic research and discoveries by NOAA marine scientists.   But it was interesting to see job postings for some of the many support people necessary to run the research ships.   Those workers also have to sign up for lengthy  sea voyages as these research ships travel the entire Pacific Ocean.   

We saw one ship pull into port and some of the crew disembark and head for the headquarters building with their suitcases.   I think there might be lodging for them there.  Thankful there are scientists and support staff to do this important work.

The Port also leases land to several commercial businesses.  The Rogue Brewing Company was one we patronized and enjoyed.  It was very easy walking distance from where we stayed. 

 

It's a fun place to eat located within a working  Brewery.  You enter through a silo doorway into the actual brewery and honestly do have to follow a maze to get to the upstairs pub tables where you have a nice view of the water while  enjoying dinner.      

  (In back of the brewery)

Here's a sunset picture from Newport Beach.  It was taken by our daughter-in-law who visited Newport the week after we did.

 

Sunset at Newport Beach

 We had taken the Florence-to-Coast Route from home to Newport but to make a circle we went inland further north when our visit was over.

I've always wanted to go to Boston, but we left Highway 20 quite a few miles before we reached it*.  (US Highway 20 begins here in Newport and eventually  goes all the way across the country to Boston.)  *Newport is less than 100 miles from Eugene.

 

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

MOSAIC MONDAY;   NATURE NOTES;  THROUGH MY LENS; SIGNS SIGNS; MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;    THANKFUL THURSDAY;  and SKYWATCH FRIDAY 

 

 

A few days in Newport

We spent another few days on the Oregon Coast last week.  This time we drove North on the Coast Highway to the busy port city of Newport.  The c0ast route between Florence and Newport is beautiful.  There are good views of the Pacific the whole way and   numerous places to pull off for a longer look.

  

 

Newport is one of the larger and busier coastal towns in Oregon.  Besides beautiful ocean and bay views and a busy fishing port, it is the home of NOAA's Pacific Fleet and of the Mark Hatfield Marine Science Center  (Oregon State University's oceanic research facility).  We packed a lot into our three-night midweek getaway.  Here's some of it.

 

 

This iconic arch Bridge spans Yaquina Bay on the south side of the city.  It opened in 1936 and is one of eleven major bridges along the Coast Highway designed and built during the same era.

 

 

Our first morning we drove to Cobble Beach hoping to do some tide pool exploration, but we missed low tide.  (I sleep really well whenever we're at the Coast and the morning low tide happened before I wanted to open my eyes.  Sleep seemed more important.)  But a day with a view of the ocean  and a walk along the shore is never wasted.

 

Two not very good pictures but from the beach.   By zooming way in, I could see a whole lot of pelicans on one of the rock ridges and a  colony of common murres on a couple of others.   

 

None of the birds were accommodating enough to fly in for a close-up shot.   On the next day on the Bayfront, we got a nice close-up view of another sea creature:   

 

You can get up close and almost personal here with a whole bunch of California Sea Lions.  The picture above is a jetty  across from a dock where even more of them hang out.  There are hundreds of them between the two places.

 

 

It's hard to get a picture of one single animal no matter how you focus. They really like to hang out together.

Really really close together.

We spent some time the next day at the Hatfield Marine Science Center visitor center.   I got to take some good pictures of  tidepools there -- probably much better than I could have gotten exploring the pools at the beach.

 

 

 

 

There was a whole lot to see and learn at the Center.  Along with other Newport activities I have enough for a whole other post.  Sometime soon because this one is already quite long enough.

Here's an evening view of the same bridge in the top photo.  This one is from the RV Park where we stayed:

 

 

End of another perfect day.     

 

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

MOSAIC MONDAY;   NATURE NOTES; THROUGH MY LENS; TUESDAY TREASURES;   MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;   THANKFUL THURSDAY;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY;  and  SATURDAY CRITTERS    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

River Elbe Cruise Part 2 (after Prague)

In blogland (as opposed to real life here in Oregon) we are time-traveling back to June. 

After our days spent on our own in the Czech Republic,  the Viking River Cruise we had scheduled began with a  night's stay in the Prague Hilton Hotel and an evening tour in Prague (this post).   The next morning, we embarked by Viking bus  to Bad Schandau in the Saxon area of Germany.  Our ship was docked there on the River Elbe. 

We crossed the border into Germany less than an hour and a half after our bus departed from the hotel.      

Bastei National Park  -- above the Elbe in Germany's Sandstone Mountains.

 Before we reached our ship, we had about three hours to spend on an excursion stop at Bastei National Park.    We found good walking paths and some lovely viewpoints of the river valley from the top of the trail and admired the craggy rock formations  formed by water erosion over a million years ago.   

 

Bad Schandeau -- across from where our room was on the Beyla

In the afternoon, we boarded the River Ship Beyla.  The picture above was the view across the Elbe from our stateroom -- I never did find out exactly what this building was, but it certainly made us feel as if we lived temporarily in a very interesting neighborhood.   While we slept that night, our ship traveled along the Elbe to dock near Dresden where we awoke the next morning.

Not my photo -- from Viking Website

We spent all of that day walking around Dresden and I am sad to say I have no pictures to show because my camera ran out of battery while we were there (I'm pretty sure the pictures I took before I realized I was out of juice were the best ones I've ever taken).  I can't even find a picture  in the public domain which looks anything like what we saw. 

It was here in Dresden where the tragic events of WWII were most evident.    This beautiful city was nearly  totally destroyed during WWII -- over 25,000 people were killed in one day of allied bombing raids.  Almost beyond comprehension.  The museum complex and Halls at the Center of the City (where we spent most of our time) are still being restored.  This is partly because following  the war, when East Germany was absorbed into the USSR, those in charge definitely did not think  architecture and history were worth remembering or restoring.  In other parts of Dresden and all of the other cities we saw in the former east Germany, there are blocks of Soviet era housing and office complexes still standing.  I'll just say they are not photo-worthy.   

Zwinger Museum area Dresden (Not my photo, from Wikipedia)

 Here in the heart of Dresden, there was construction equipment working as we walked but also much of the re-created Baroque architecture, statues and so forth are completed so it is possible to imagine what it used to be.   

(Viking Photo, Elbe River ship)

Sadly, during the ship debriefing the night before, we had learned that the water  level on the Elbe was so low that  water travel between Dresden and Wittenberg (which was to be our next port of call) had been cancelled by River authorities, so our ship would not be able to proceed.  Viking has plans in place for this eventuality  however.   There is an identical Viking river ship which takes the exact same route only from the  other end of the cruise.  So at the point where water traffic was stopped, there would be a passenger exchange.   Both ships are configured exactly alike.  The night before, we packed the little bit we'd already unpacked on our one night aboard and put our suitcases in the hall.  Had a lovely meal in the ship's dining room, charged the camera, slept well and embarked after breakfast the next morning on a road trip instead of on the water.

 Our tour stop that day was in the town of Meissen.

 

Meissen Porcelain Factory

On arrival, we were met by tour guides for the Meissen Porcelain Factory and Museum where we had demonstrations of the steps  that go into the fine craftsmanship of these beautiful pieces.    

 

In the Museum, we admired  some of the more exclusive custom creations.   I had to tear myself away from admiring the birds. The picture shows only a portion of  this installation.   

View from our state room on the Astrild

When we arrived at our port in Wittenberg we found our luggage waiting on board the River Ship Astrild in what was exactly the same stateroom and location we'd had on  the other ship -- it was a little surreal but all well handled by Viking.  For the rest of our time on this "cruise,"  our stateroom and the entire ship really became a floating hotel as it remained in this dock and we traveled by bus and motor coach to the remaining destinations.

  

It's possible to see from these last two pictures how low the Elbe was -- the water is supposed to be at least up to the green and white pole you can see on this point of land.    It was disappointing not to enjoy cruising on this beautiful river, but we understood  that a boat could not possibly travel on this low water.  Also of course while understanding that it was not under Viking's control, it was fairly obvious to us that the company knew about the problem with the water level well in advance of our arrival for our river cruise.  We were still were able to enjoy all of the amenities of the ship. Viking does do an excellent job of that.  We were able to visit all of the ports of call and take the daily excursions, but did not get the river trip we were anticipating.

It is important, I think, to be flexible anytime in traveling, whether on our own or with others -- it's not always possible to plan for every eventuality. 

We know we are fortunate to be able to do what we do and I don't take any of that for granted. 

 

Sharing these first three tour stops with the following link-ups.  Thank you to the hosts.

MOSAIC MONDAY;   THROUGH MY LENS; TUESDAY TREASURES; MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;   THANKFUL THURSDAY;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY;  and  SATURDAY CRITTERS    

Summer before it sizzled

Eugene Oregon is seriously HOT  right now.  We are also under a hazardous air quality alert because of a  wildfire in the eastern sections of Lane County, so I'm posting some memories from the earlier and prettier part of the season.       

Just like for almost everywhere these days, extreme heat and wildfire are both pretty much normal now for at least part of our summer months.   The current fires are not a danger to us here in the City, except for the smoke and air inversion.    We can only offer hope for the people affected by the flames.  For our own health, we stay indoors as much as possible.  Instead of any new day trips,  one of us is planning for the future and the other is documenting the past.   As usual,  I'm the memory person and Bill is the planner, but we do work together on both.   

All of the pictures in this post are very recent memories.  I'm still working on some posts from our June trip.  The ones directly below are from our son-in-law and daughter's yard back in July:

 

The butterfly was quite cooperative taking its time at each nectar stop.  I'm usually not that lucky with these flighty beauties.

 

 

The pictures below are even more recent -- from our trip to the Coast earlier this month.  (We probably should have stayed there -- it is always cooler at the Ocean!)  To be perfectly honest, even without the heat and smoke we would probably be staying close to home right now anyway.  We actually do a lot of that -- I just don't often blog about it.

 

 

This is Simpson Beach at Shore Acres State Park.  The  eerie tree trunk in the center picture is along the path leading from the beach to the "tamer" part of the Park.

 

 

At the end of one of the forested paths from the beach viewpoint, you arrive at this small gate.  On the other side, in just a few yards, you are in the middle of the precisely landscaped gardens of Shore Acres.   The entire park, including the beach, forest, lawns and gardens, was once the estate of  the Simpson lumber baron family.  Heirs donated the property to the State for public use.

 

 

We were kind of between flowering seasons at the Gardens, but there is always beautiful color and the Japanese-style garden and pond are so calm and restful.    We visit Shore Acres almost every summer -- one of my favorite State Parks.  I like the combination of wild and tame.

 

Store front mural, Bandon Oregon

I am grateful  for the memories  and enjoy planning for future ones.  But this week I'm especially grateful for   not-so-simple things that don't get blogged about -- the shade trees around our home that keep the outside temperature a little lower than the official reading and  the air conditioner and air purifier that continue to keep it comfortable indoors.  

LINKING THIS WEEK (and next) to these sharing opportunities:  

THANKFUL THURSDAY;   SKYWATCH FRIDAY;   SATURDAY CRITTERS ; MOSAIC MONDAY;  NATURE NOTES;  THROUGH MY LENS;  and MY CORNER OF THE WORLD      

Present at the Oregon Coast ...

(... or a present of the Oregon Coast. ) 

I've been blogging about our June trip to far-away shores and still have more  to remember about that vacation, but this week is all about the present -- or at least a little closer to it. 

 

 

Yes, it's  the beautiful Oregon Coast -- we just got home from a perfect week at the Pacific Ocean.   It really was a gift (another meaning of the word 'present').

 

(not either of us on the kayak)

We camped in the tiny trailer, staying for three nights in Florence (Oregon) and then moving south to Coos Bay.  By doing day-trips from these two locations, we easily explored the stretch of Ocean Beaches and charming coastal towns between Yachats (north of Florence) to Bandon (south of Coos Bay). 

For context, Florence is only about 60 miles west of Eugene, where we live.  At the Coast, the distance along US 101 (the Coast Highway) from Yachats to Bandon is  less than 100 miles.  A lot to see not too far from home.  We are grateful for that.  

 

The sea lions and rocky beaches above are at Simpson Reef, south of Coos Bay.

 

Bandon Lighthouse 

The weather was pretty much perfect every day -- blue sky and not too hot.    Those kind of days are always a blessing -- but especially nowadays.   (The wind does blow -- it is the Coast after all.) 

Oysters!  

Top left is the Umpqua Triangle Oyster Farm south of Winchester Bay.  On the right two views of an oyster shell mound at Clausan's  near North Bend, where we like to go to enjoy a fresh seafood dinner right from the source! The picnic tables are empty because it was too windy to eat outdoors on that day --  thankfully they've recently added a few indoor tables.  Then, on the way home yesterday, we stopped at the Fisherman's Seafood Market in Coos Bay  to bring home a taste or two of the ocean (sign at lower left).  

 

 

 I really do like everything about the Oregon Coast.  Even this seaweed-coated rock under a bridge boardwalk in Bandon made me smile.

   Rocky Coast line near Bandon

A calm day  on the Pacific Ocean 

 

Sharing these gifts from the Oregon Coast with the following:  

MOSAIC MONDAY;   NATURE NOTES;   MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;  TUESDAY TREASURES; THANKFUL THURSDAY;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY; and SATURDAY CRITTERS

Thank you to the hosts.

Museum, Library, and a couple more towers

In the interest of trying to finish blogging about our June travel before the rest of the summer is over, I am combining three places we visited in Prague.  They each deserve more time and space, but there's lots of good sites at everyone's fingertips for further information.   I've been doing a lot of that kind of research these days to refresh my memory.

The Czech National Museum was  within easy walking distance of our Prague apartment.    It's located near  the top of Wenceslas Square, the main gathering/shopping area in the City.

Main entrance Hall

We spent most of a day in just one wing of the the main (Historical) building but also visited the New Building next to it.  The buildings are connected by a tunnel.   

The stunning main building is a major landmark for the city.  It was built between 1885 and 1891.  The main building underwent a major renovation between 2011 and 2019 and was even completely closed part of that time.  (It had been damaged during the war and again when the city metro tunnels were being built.)  During those years, exhibits were either stored or moved into the "New Building" next door which had been purchased both for that purpose and to eventually add exhibition space.  I'm glad we visited after the big move and reopening had taken place. In the main building the exhibits we visited were on Czech history -- ancient treasures.   No pictures included -- the ones I could take did not turn out well enough to bother.  

 

 Cupola from entryway

The exhibits in the newer building were where we learned more about recent history (during our lifetime).  There was an excellent photo and light display showing what it was like to be in Prague at the time of the Velvet Revolution in 1989.    This is when massive demonstrations (hundred of thousands of people at times) helped to force the end of the Communist regime in  Czech and Slovakia.  Some  major gatherings took place right here on Wenceslas Square in front of the Museum buildings.  A fitting place to learn about this incredibly important piece of history. It was after this time that the  former Czechoslovakia, which had been part of  the USSR, became two republics:  The Czech Republic and the Slovakian Republic.  This display was impossible to capture with my camera, but the contribution to our understanding will not be forgotten. 

 There are more stunning views of Prague from the top floor of the Main Building.  

On another day during our stay we took the Metro (underground) to Prague Old Town.   The famed medieval astronomical clock of Prague is attached to the Old Town Hall. 

 

It was first installed in 1410 and is the oldest astronomical clock still in operation.  The figures surrounding the clock are the apostles and other Catholic saints and a skeleton representing death (he shows up pretty clearly to the top right of the clock.)  The apostles and the skeleton do a very quick parade around the dial on the hour.  I forgive them for being quick about it, because they are probably tired of working that hard after all these years. 

 

The astronomical dial represents the position of the sun and moon.   HERE is a link to the Wikipedia page with more about the mechanism, history, and legends surrounding the clock. 

I think it was on the same day that we also visited  the different kind of tower below: 

    Idiom by Matej Kren

This art installation in the foyer of the Prague Public Library  includes hundreds of books stacked in a cylindrical tower.  Mirrors at the top and bottom give the tower the illusion of infinity. There's a tiny window that lets you look in and imagine what it would like to drown in an infinity of books.  The question  is whether that is a book-lovers dream or nightmare.  

Of course, I have family pictures from every single place we went with our grands, but those  from the children's section of this library  (bel0w) may well be my all-time favorites:  

 

It's never too early to introduce a child to the love of reading.  We all love libraries and I was so glad our  three "guides" took us to this one.  

 

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

MOSAIC MONDAY;    THROUGH MY LENS;   TUESDAY TREASURES;  MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;   THANKFUL THURSDAY;  and SKYWATCH FRIDAY   

Visit to Prague Castle

Prague Castle is actually a 1900 foot long series of courtyards, churches, and palaces covering 750,000 square feet.  Buildings include the seat of government of the  Czech Republic.

 

Our trolley stop took us to a short walk leading to the Northern entrance. We could see the impressive Cathedral spires as we walked along.   The first courtyard we entered is  where the offices of the President of the Republic are located.  Palace Guards in full uniform are stationed at the entrance.    The fountain marks the center of  this Courtyard.   

A passageway leads to another Courtyard where the impressive St Vitus Cathedral is located.

 

 

This Gothic Cathedral is the Czech national church.  A church has existed on this spot since AD 920.  

 

 Rose Window, St Vitus Cathedral

 

Restoration work still in progress.

 

 

Third Courtyard, Prague Castle -- Statue of St George (replica of 13th Century original).

 

 

We exited the complex by taking  the New Castle Staircase -- it's long, with many steps, but there  are wide landings with lots of stopping places -- viewpoints and even a place where we could stop for a cold drink at a table.  There are wonderful views of Prague along the staircase.    

 

Prague from the New Castle Staircase

The Staircase takes you from the Castle complex to downtown Prague.  We stopped at a small sculpture park for a quiet rest.

In town we found a good place to eat and just wandered a bit before heading home.    Although Prague Castle is a major tourist destination it hadn't feel anywhere near as busy and crowded as  downtown.   

I'm really a small-town person at heart, so am always a bit in awe of the crowds and hustle and bustle in major cities.

 

But I'm always happy to to visit because you don't get to visit  Castles (among many other treasures) in small towns.   Grateful for all we saw and learned.

 

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

MOSAIC MONDAY;  THROUGH MY LENS;  TUESDAY TREASURES; MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; THANKFUL THURSDAY; and  SKYWATCH FRIDAY;     

 

River Elbe cruise, Part 1

We spent more days in beautiful Prague than all of the rest of our trip put together and we loved every minute of it.   Below is the apartment building where we stayed  (top row) and, in the lower row, a view from the side street next to the building.

 

Our grandchildren were staying in a small hotel on the other side of the river, but Prague's excellent public transportation made it easy for us to meet for our days of touring.      I'm still sorting and labeling Prague pictures and I will blog again later about all that we saw and learned during the week we lived in that apartment.  

But today I'm skipping forward to the part of our trip scheduled with Viking River Cruise line. We were still in Prague for a couple of days, but as scheduled  we moved to the Prague Hilton (below) for two nights.

 

That evening, the Viking tour was a trip by bus through some beautiful  countryside to an old barn/restaurant near the village of Cicovice:

 

We were served a typical Czech family-style dinner of farm-raised food and Czech wine and beer.   We  were entertained with a village gala featuring dancers, musicians and a singer performing traditional music.  We enjoyed both food and entertainment.  

The next morning, on our own, we visited Petrin Hill, one attraction we had not seen already.  We skipped the scheduled city walking tour  because we'd already experienced most of it with our family.    (Our grandchildren had gone home to Germany on the same day we left  our Prague apartment.)   Our guidebooks  said that the views from the Hill are some of the most spectacular in the city.  I think they were right.

At the top of the hill, there's a tower replica of the Eiffel Tower at one-fifth of the height.  We were not quite up to climbing the 400 steps, so we paid for an elevator ride.  Just that ride was adventure of a sort because (ridiculously)  I'm a little bit phobic about elevators.  The creaky old elevator car to the top of the tower held only three people plus an operator.  I told myself  if the lady operator wasn't afraid to ride the elevator all day, then I shouldn't be either.   

 

We rode the Funicular to the bottom of the hill.  As with all public transportation in the City, the funicular railroad was free to  senior citizens.  We ended up in a part of the city I think is called Lesser Town Square, where we enjoyed a good dinner before returning to our Hotel for the night.

 

Grounds around the tower

In real life, this was our last day in Prague.  The next day we traveled with Viking by motor coach to Bad Schandau on the River Elbe where the Viking River Ship Beyla was waiting for us to board.   However, here in Blogland,  we'll be traveling back to more about beautiful Prague as well as to further stops along the River Elbe.

 

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

 

MOSAIC MONDAY;  THROUGH MY LENS; TUESDAY TREASURES; MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;   THANKFUL THURSDAY;  and SKYWATCH FRIDAY;   

 

 

Home -- with memories

We're back in Oregon and happy to be home.    We took pretty much  the exact  opposite of a short-cut to get here and had a wonderful time doing it.    

 

Coming in for the landing

 I'm still sorting pictures and trying to "unjumble" all the information flying around in my head.   We learned so much -- now I just have to figure out how to put it in writing so that it will still make sense when we look at it in the future.     While I work on  all that,  here are a few sample views from the beautiful city of Prague, Czech Republic where we spent a little over a week:  

 

 

The best part of Prague was having our own very special guides to the City --  Miss Olivia, our youngest great-grandchild and her parents, our grandchildren (grandson and his wife): 

 

 

We were so grateful that "the kids" had time to spend with us and we marveled at how adaptable and happy the baby was.   Jacob and Maya  are quite familiar with Prague.  (And   one of the family of three speaks the language fluently -- I'm sure pretty soon it will be two or even all three.)  With their help, we navigated the city like locals .. almost!

 

Prague Castle on the horizon

There's so much more from Prague that I want to remember and after our time there we joined a Viking Cruise during which we visited several cities in Germany (the former East Germany) culminating in a couple of days in Berlin and I want to  document that too eventually!   Meanwhile,  we are happy to be home and looking forward to enjoying summer days here in Oregon.  

 

Glad to be back to blogging again too.  LINKING THIS post to the following sharing opportunities with thanks to the hosts:

MOSAIC MONDAY;  THROUGH MY LENS;  TUESDAY TREASURES; MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;   THANKFUL THURSDAY;  and SKYWATCH FRIDAY    

 

 

 

Fly Away Home

 

Yes, it's time to close things down here on the Canal and head back to Oregon.   So FullTime-Life is on a planned blog break for the rest of  June.  We're taking the long way home and doing some traveling,  but as is the norm most years lately, we'll be home in July.  With pictures I hope.

 

 

We leave the Canal Cottage in good shape and with fingers crossed that it will still be the same next season.    In spite of all the hard work, it hasn't been a bad season.  We enjoyed some good getaways and are grateful for all accomplishments.  (Although I hope we never have to repeat what it took to get to this point.)  

 

 

Hope everybody enjoys the beginning of the new season wherever you are.  

 

Comments for THIS post are closed.  

Potpourri ...

... Otherwise known as almost the end-of-the-season catch-all.

 

 

We had a lot of busy days here at the Canal Cottage this season and most of those days were filled with repair and renovation projects.   So there weren't a whole lot of photo opportunities in the neighborhood, but the morning skies almost always deliver, no matter what the rest of the day brings.

 

 

I kept up with the doings of our local Eagles again this season.  Just like  hundreds of other people locally and thousands all over the world because of the web-cam.   There wasn't time this year to spend hours waiting for the perfect picture, but we pass the Eagle pasture almost every time we leave the cottage, so one day earlier this month we made a quick stop.    

 

At the Eagle Pasture, 2023

It was quite a year for these neighbors.  Just a few days after I wrote about the two new eaglets back in  January  the matriarch Harriet  flew off  in pursuit of intruders.  Sadly, she never returned.   Besides mourning the mother eagle many have watched for years, there was fear  for the eaglets who, at that stage, were still totally dependent on their parents for food and all care.  Usually the pair of adult eagles alternate hunting for food and protecting the eaglets on the nest.   So it was amazing to see the male Eagle completely assume their care and feeding and to see the eaglets remain safe in the nest while he was out hunting for food to bring back to  them.  Both eaglets grew successfully to fledge and, as of this date, one has flown away to begin its new life.  The other remains in the pasture area, well past the nestlings usual departure time.   It is taking care of itself while the male parent has left the area the way that the adults normally do every year after their offspring leave the nest.     Eagle watchers  can but await the next season.     

 

We did manage one more mid-week getaway earlier this month. 

We didn't go to Cuba  (and I'm pretty sure if we did they'd spell their capital  city  with just one "n").  This Havanna (Cafe) is in  Everglades City  near where we stayed.  The food is good and there's a really pretty garden area with outdoor tables.   

 

 

This is a  Royal Poinciana tree in a neglected village yard  in the Everglades.  It's all gnarly and unpruned and un-cared for and some jungly palmetto plants have entwined themselves around it.    But it's still so bright and cheerful even in neglect.  Everything grows in this climate. 

 

We almost had to get out of town this year to give Bill a little respite!      He enjoys having projects but rest and recreation is important too.   I'm beyond grateful that he was able to accomplish so much.  The Canal Cottage is now actually better than back to pre-hurricane status.    Quite a few of the other small homes in our resort are still awaiting repairs because people haven't yet been able to get on the  busy schedules for the appropriate repair persons.

 

 

Sometimes on a morning walk, I remember to look down instead of up at the beautiful sky!

 

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

MOSAIC MONDAY;   NATURE NOTES; THROUGH MY LENS; MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; SIGNS SIGNS;  THANKFUL THURSDAY;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY;  and  SATURDAY CRITTERS    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wakodahatchee Wildlife

This post is a wrap-up of our walks at Wakodahatchee Wetlands earlier this month and it's very picture heavy, because I just couldn't put my camera down.  There was so much  that I want to remember.

 

 

Wakodahatchee Wetlands is located at Delray Beach near Fort Lauderdale.  We had no idea on this beautiful blue sky day that this area would experience three days of heavy rain and severe flooding starting the day after we were there.  

 

 Florida Wood Storks -- adult and a nest full of young ones.

I can't find any information about whether the floods affected this wetlands.  I hope all the families who live there are still OK.  I suspect the birds knew how to manage.

 

Great Egret on a nest

We tried to decide if there was a baby in that Egret's nest or if that was just a stray feather.  Hoped a closer look at the pictures would show more, but still not sure.

We spent a longer time watching the birds in the series below, trying to decide what they were and what exactly they were doing.  

 

Any guesses?  (I do know the answer now, but it took us a while.)

They were very noisy and very engaged with each other.  At first we weren't even sure what kind of birds they were, but then a large black bird swooped into the picture and cleared things up.  Apparently these two were just a couple of hungry teenagers killing time waiting for dinner to arrive.  We recognized the adult  Anhinga immediately as we see them often here in Florida.    Dad flew right to the young ones and opened his beak wide:

 

 

He wasn't  much larger than his two nearly grown and very hungry offspring.   I didn't know this while we watched this behavior but read later that the parents feed new babies by dropping regurgitated food into their mouths.  It doesn't take long for the babies to learn where the food comes from and by the time they are as big as these two birds, they just reach right down  into the parent bird's mouth for the food.  That's what's going on in the picture above.   (I love learning first hand about bird behavior.  But maybe I should have added a "slightly gross" warning about the above photo for those of you learning it second hand.)  

 

 

Later, we saw a different adult with younger babies.  (This one's a female because she has a brown head and neck.)  Mom looks less frazzled than the dad in the other picture.  And the babies are cuter at this stage.  Although it doesn't demonstrate as much about their behavior,  it's probably a more suitable family portrait for sharing.  

 

Common Gallinule

We watched a whole family of these birds, also known as Moorhens, but they were hard to photograph in the vegetation where they like to forage.

 

 

Stork Spa!  Their wings are much cleaner and the black and white contrast is more noticeable than when they're in their nest.   (Click on the photo to admire their pretty feathers.)  

 The photo below is from a different place and a different time (but still from Florida).  I just wanted to end with a sunset.

 

Grateful for all we see and all we learn.

 

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

SATURDAY CRITTERS ;  RATHER B' BIRDING; NATURE NOTES; THROUGH MY LENS; MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; WILD BIRD Wednesday;  THANKFUL THURSDAY;  and SKYWATCH FRIDAY     

Fort Lauderdale Escape

We spent a few days over Easter weekend in Fort Lauderdale -- a perfect place for a Holiday escape.  

 

Florida wood stork -- adult and juveniles 

Friday and Saturday were beautiful days.  We walked all the lovely boardwalk trails at Wakodahatchee Wetlands, took a lot of pictures, explored the metro area and enjoyed some good meals.

 

Wakodahatchee Wetlands - Saturday April 8

We had reservations downtown for Sunday brunch and then headed to Hugh Taylor Birch State Park, a pretty green space and beach that's pretty much right in the center of the City.  The weather was still fine,  but by mid-afternoon (as we were walking of course) the rain started so we headed off to our "home away from home."  By the time we got across town the rain was coming down in heavy sheets. 

 

Green Iguana

We had planned to come home on Monday anyway, so it really didn't feel like our get-away had been shortened by the weather. 

 

Whistling Ducks

 As we drove Monday, it rained until we left the greater Fort Lauderdale area behind,  but the rest of the trip back to Fort Myers was all sunshine and blue sky.    (And that's still what we have here, at least for now.)

 

Great Blue Heron

In Fort Lauderdale however, on Wednesday the storm that we had seen just the beginning of  turned into what is being called a thousand-year-storm.  The rain there just didn't stop.  The area got over 25 inches of rain in that one day and it continued.    HERE  is a link that talks about the perfect storm conditions, in case you haven't already seen enough about this awful flood on the news.  It's  deja vu to see pictures of the damages the rain caused that city -- some of the flooded homes looking very much like those damaged here in Fort Myers after last Fall's hurricane.

 

 

I'm glad we had decided to come home on Monday!!   We had thought we were escaping to Fort Lauderdale, but we can't help feeling as if we escaped from it -- getting away just in time.  And we are grateful.  

 

THANK YOU to the hosts of these sharing opportunities where we're linking this week:

MOSAIC MONDAY;   NATURE NOTES; THROUGH MY LENS; MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;  WILD BIRD Wednesday; THANKFUL THURSDAY;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY;   SATURDAY CRITTERS;  and RATHER B' BIRDING

 

 

Birds, trees and other delights

 

Sharing the water's bounty, Everglades

We spent most of our recent getaway in the different areas of Everglades National Park, but one day we drove from our campground in Homestead to Key Largo, the start of the Florida Keys.  It's less than an hour's drive but a whole different world.

We'd sort of planned on just a look-around drive and an early dinner, but then we passed a sign for this State Park we'd never even heard of, so we stopped.   Marked nature trails sounded good, so we  paid the small self-service entry fee and set off.   

 

OK -- so we didn't want to bushwhack through unmarked wilderness,  but the "trail" above was  too tame  for us!  It was  very odd, like walking down the middle of the highway.   But we persisted and eventually found some side trails that were more fun.  

When we finished our walk we read the signs at the entrance more carefully and learned that the paved part of the walk is leftover from the early 1970s, back when the property was privately owned and slated for a large condo development.    The developers had big ideas, but failed to get financial backing (fortunately).   I'm glad they didn't get too far on their development before giving up.

Anna Dagny Johnson, for whom the park is named, was a lawyer and environmentalist who spearheaded the campaign to get the State to purchase the property.  It has been a State Park since 1982.    

 

 Both along the main trail (the street) and the side trails, occasional signage told us the names of some of the unfamiliar trees.    We learned that the park includes one of the largest tracts of tropical hardwoods in this country.  It was an interesting walk and the cool shade  more than welcome on this hot March day.   The Coquina wall is probably also left over from the planned development but it fit into the natural area.  

 

 

 We took a closer look at the wall and found that a lot of the stones  contained sea fossils.    This shows that some of the history in this park is a few centuries more ancient than the successful campaign to thwart over-development.   

The following pictures are from the Everglades part of this trip:

 

More shore birds and wading birds getting along together.

 

Birds-eye view of a smallish alligator.  

And back at  the campground where we stayed near Homestead, some more feathered friends:

 

Peacocks roamed freely through the old RV Park where we stayed and one evening we counted at least ten!  A few of them wandered over to check us out on the afternoon we checked into the park and then we'd see them every evening when we returned to our camp site.  We never saw them in the mornings.  They're loud and probably kind of messy, but it was a delight to watch them strut their stuff as if they owned the place.   (Who knows, maybe they did.  It was only the manager who checked us in for them.)   We definitely didn't eat on the picnic table however. 

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

MOSAIC MONDAY;   NATURE NOTES; THROUGH MY LENS; MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;  WILD BIRD Wednesday;  SIGNS SIGNS;  THANKFUL THURSDAY;  SATURDAY CRITTERS and RATHER B' BIRDING  

Two walks in the Everglades

I didn't know that we'd be driving on mountain roads when we left to spend a few days in the Everglades .  But this is what we saw at Rock Creek in Everglades National Park:

 

 Only in Florida

Here's a mountain pass that's definitely climbable without worrying about a lack of oxygen.  Only in flat-land Florida would three feet even count as elevation.  I'm not even sure people can count that low in some states.   

There's a short interpretive walkway at Rock Reef, but we didn't take it -- we were heading to Pa-hay-okee Trail where we walked on a boardwalk trail: 

 

Pa-hay-okee Trail, Everglades National Park

Pa-hay-okee is a Calusa word for "Grassy Waters".  There's an observation platform along the trail where hikers can view the Everglades Wilderness as it appeared to early inhabitants.    Calusa and Miccosakee peoples adapted to living in these rivers of grass.  A few early pioneer settlers settled here as well.  

 

This from a sign along the Pa-hay-okee trail is a great reminder.  We are grateful for The Wilderness Act and the wild places it protects.  I'm so happy that these exist.  I'm also thankful for walks like this one that allow us this glimpse at what is left of the real Florida.

 

 

We drove on to Flamingo Campground at the southern tip of the Everglades.  A  little more water and a few more birds.  We had three days of lovely weather while we were on this trip -- and missed at least one day of heavy downpour back home at the Canal Cottage.  Perfect timing for a perfect get-away.

 

Flamingo Campground area, Everglades National Park 

 

"Florida"  Cardinal

One of my favorite Southern birds practically hopped on my shoe as we were walking back to the car from taking the above pictures.   We couldn't decide if he wasn't afraid because he didn't see enough people to know better or if people feed the birds.  It was a very quiet area while we were there anyway. 

On the way back to the campground where we were staying we passed these beauties in a bit of water just off the roadside.   Roseate Spoonbills are always a treat to see.   What a great day -- and we still had more "vacation from our vacation" days to come.  

 

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

 

MOSAIC MONDAY;   NATURE NOTES; THROUGH MY LENS; MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; WILD BIRD Wednesday;  SIGNS SIGNS;  THANKFUL THURSDAY;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY;  SATURDAY CRITTERS and RATHER B' BIRDING

 

 

 

Ordinary weeks on the Canal

Nature walks have   taken a back-seat the last couple of weeks as we work on the Canal Cottage.   We now have air-conditioning, a new washer/dryer and a rebuilt laundry area.  All wonderful additions to the good life here on the Canal.   I'm thankful for ordinary days.    

 

 

The bird of the week is this cranky-looking Burrowing Owl.  It was an errand day for us in Cape Coral, with a little owl-hunting thrown in as long as we were over there.   The Cape (as we locals call our neighboring City)  is home to quite a few colonies of these diurnal owls.    It was a windy day, not exactly pleasant outside,  and we didn't see many birds.    I imagined that this adult owl just needed to step outside for some fresh air.  The babies have hatched and it might be a little crowded and noisy in that underground burrow.  

 

Sunrise is the color of the week. 

 I snapped a bunch of morning walk pictures with my brand-new IPhone.    The camera feature now is so much better than on the phone I had to replace.       But for years, we have been downloading all our photos to Picasa, which is now an   out-dated editing program.  It   didn't  work at all well with the new phone.    Oh no, I think I'm going to have to learn something new.     And I'm sure it will be better.    And probably someday I will be glad that I learned it.  Probably.

 The  background for the collage above is cropped from one of those sunrise pictures -- the color itself is NOT edited.    

(Older photos -- not this year)

How much do I love that morning color?    Enough to paint the Canal Cottage walls  in shades of it.   (And apparently enough to wear sometimes while I'm living here.)  I think the paint cans called our colors "apricot" or "peach" or something like that, but to me it's definitely "Florida Sunrise."     

My friend Kathy texted the picture below.  It's from a couple of weeks ago when the four of us visited Bonita Wonder Gardens.  Afterwards, we enjoyed an early dinner at Coconut Jack's, an old favorite water-front restaurant.

 

   

The restaurant had only recently reopened after completing hurricane repairs.   The signs behind us show the high-water marks reached during 2017's Hurricane Irma,  and -- way above our heads -- where it reached during Ian last September.   The restaurant looked about the same as we remembered from previous years -- they did an amazing restoration job.  And our table view  of the now calm water was as lovely as ever.   

It's so good that things are getting back to normal at home and in the area.  Grateful is the word of the week (and of the season, really).

Thank you to the hosts of these sharing opportunities where I will try to link this post.  (We are on the way to a camping trip destination for a few days of rest and relaxation.)

MOSAIC MONDAY;   NATURE NOTES; THROUGH MY LENS; MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; SIGNS SIGNS;  THANKFUL THURSDAY;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY;  SATURDAY CRITTERS   and RATHER B' BIRDING 

 

Wonder Gardens

Last week we went with neighbor-friends to visit the Everglades Wonder Gardens. 

It's a combination Zoological Park/Botanical Gardens in the center of the town of Bonita Springs, less than an hour from us.  A local attraction, but one we'd never visited. 

 

We had a lovely day out.  But sadly I somehow managed to delete all but the first few pictures I took while we were there.   I wonder how I did that?

 The Wonder Gardens began in 1936 as a Florida roadside attraction and it featured the requisite local reptiles and some exotics.   Over the years, it fell into disrepair and  the City was poised to purchase the property and turn it into a parking lot.   Citizens raised an alarm and in 2013 the property was purchased by a local photographer/conservationist with an eye to saving and improving the historical attraction.   It is now run in combination with the City as a non-profit. 

 

 

We spent quite a while  watching the flamingos -- and those were almost the only pictures not to disappear into outer space.  They were my favorites, but I am sorry not to have photo memories of the other birds and the beautiful landscaping.   We saw many beautiful places before we even owned a digital camera and we haven't forgotten those.  So I am trying to remember that these memories will also be enough.  (I'm still mad at myself though.)

 

 

 One of the volunteer guides told us that the flamingos are "geriatric birds" which seems appropriate for Florida.  There are a lot of us geriatrics here.  They may be traced back to the original iteration of the Wonder Gardens.

 

 

All of the birds and animals at this park are here because for one reason or another they are not able to be released back into the wild.  There were tortoises like the ones I showed a couple of weeks ago at that other old Florida roadside attraction and many parrots and lorikeets -- pets that could no longer be cared for.  There was a sign suggesting it might be best not to buy these  but to visit them here or at similar facilities. 

Here are some sky scenes from even closer to home:

Mornings on the Canal

Thankful for the memories we are creating.  With or without pictures.

One more thing to mention about the Wonder Gardens.    Bonita Springs was heavily damaged by Hurricane Ian back in September.  A volunteer told us how the animals and birds were taken care of  during the storm (some at the homes of staff and volunteers).    Also notable is what a wonderful job they have done in restoring the gardens and plantings.   Having seen some of the aftermath of the storm, it is easy for us to imagine the state that this park  was in.

 

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

MOSAIC MONDAY;   NATURE NOTES; THROUGH MY LENS; MY CORNER OF THE WORLD;   THANKFUL THURSDAY;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY;  and  SATURDAY CRITTERS    

 

Felts Audubon Preserve, Palmetto

We spent a few days last week grown-up camping in  the Palmetto-Bradenton area.  (We slept in our own bed in the Road-trek camper van and let other people cook dinner for us. )

Felts Audubon Preserve is in Palmetto.   Other Audubon Preserves we've visited have an Information Center and well-marked trails, boardwalks and so forth.  And they always have great birding opportunities.   This one definitely had the birds, but it was also less developed.  That was OK though because it was also far less crowded than we've come to expect during the "high season" in Florida.

 

 

Bill looking for the lost trail

We started off on a dirt trail along a creek where we saw a few nice turtles and some butterflies, but then the trail suddenly ended.  It had been a long time since we'd enjoyed bushwhacking our way on a hike.   (I'm not kidding about enjoying -- we did used to like that when we were younger,  but un-improved areas in the Pacific Northwest are quite different from here in Florida.)  

 

 

This vine was entangled in overgrowth all along that non-trail .  I don't know my wildflower IDs at all, but I can tell you that this one smelled wonderful.      In the interest of complete honesty and to show that we're not completely crazy, we did turn around shortly after I took that bushwhacking picture and retraced our way along the turtle trail.  

Back in civilization, we spotted female and male cardinals.  Always favorites  --  these guys don't live in the Pacific Northwest, so we never saw them until we traveled south in our RV years.   They aren't exactly common for me yet, in that we don't see them around where we live here in SW Florida, but we do most times we go to a birding spot.  I never get tired of seeing them.

Then we found the trail to the birding blind which we'd read that Felts Preserve had. And I was a happy birder:

 

Painted Bunting

 

 I am grateful to the Audubon people here at Felts for keeping the bird feeders filled so that we could see and photograph these gorgeous birds.  It would be fun to spot a painted bunting on its own without the help of feeders, but we've never been in the right place at the right time.   Seeing them here was great enough!  

 

 

It's a good thing we were there when we were because according to the Audubon Society's website, painted buntings  start to migrate North again in March.   

 

Here's a closer view of the little blue bird that was sharing the feeder bounty.  I would have thought it was a female bunting, but all my books  show her as a greenish bird.  There was nobody else at the bird blind but  us -- which was good in most ways, except I could have used an expert volunteer.  

 

SunRise on the Canal

 This is a closer-to-home picture -- but it is from February a year ago.  We're looking EAST early in the morning, standing at the dock at the end of our block.   That dock was destroyed during Ian, but the park is in the process of rebuilding it.  (You can still stand at the end of the street and look across the Canal, but to watch the sun rise you have to get up earlier than I've been doing this year.  Not the Hurricane's fault!)

 

Thank you to the hosts of  these sharing opportunities

MOSAIC MONDAY;   NATURE NOTES;   THROUGH MY LENS;  MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; WILD BIRD Wednesday;  THANKFUL THURSDAY;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY;   SATURDAY CRITTERS   and RATHER B' BIRDING 

Day Trip of the Week

 

 

Starting out with the return portion of our week-day drive last week.   It's big sugar country east of us and coming home we drove past miles of cane fields.  They look pretty at this stage, blowing in the light breeze.  Sometimes in that area (and even at the Canal Cottage), you can smell sugar in the air --they still burn off the leaves before cutting the cane.

 

 

You can't always go to the Keys or the Beach to admire the beautiful Florida sunset -- but  it's a pretty good show even driving along the freeway at the right time of the evening.

 Now I'll share some pictures from the "Old Florida" attraction we visited earlier in the day.

 

Sulcata Tortoise

 Sulcata Tortoises are unique looking, smart and friendly and for this reason people often think they would make good pets.   But they can weigh up to 200 pounds, they poop a lot, and they can dig through practically anything.    The rescue portion of the facility  gets a lot of "adopt my pet" requests from people who can't manage them any more.

 

 

 Peacock

These exotic birds need a lot of room  and can be very destructive and noisy.   They roamed freely around the facility -- and this one made quite a commotion when it flew right over our heads into the trees..

 

 

Galapagos Tortoise

Galapagos tortoises are one of the longest-lived land animals, living an average of 100 years. 

I have been secretive so far about the name of the place we visited for a reason.    Seems like many readers really, really don't like alligators --   and I wanted everybody to have some pictures to look at before the very name of the place scared them off.      Yes, we went to Gatorama in Palmdale  --  a place we hadn't visited for years.   Here is a link to that post which tells more about this old Florida roadside attraction.  (It was here before Disney World in other words.)   I didn't actually take too many pictures of the animals in question, because we see them pretty often in the wild.  

 

 

The place has evolved from a kind of cheesy reptile roadside attraction to a facility that actually cares for animals although there are still elements of the former.    It's  a rescue facility, an alligator farm (raising animals for meat),  and a kind of reptile zoo.      They also educate the public about the reptiles that are housed here and about co-existing with alligators which live everywhere in this State.   Kind of a mixture of the good, the beautiful, and the ugly actually.

 

 

Grandpa is the oldest alligator in captivity.  Brought here in the late 1950s, he was already a full-grown mature bull alligator and has sired many  generations.  He's a favorite of everybody who works with him and who sees him.   The sign goes on:

"This species, scientists say, is more than 150 million years old, managing to avoid extinction 65 million years ago when their prehistoric contemporaries the dinosaurs died off."   

That sentence explains pretty well why I think these animals are fascinating rather than repulsive.  They trigger my imagination!   Thankful to be alive now and standing near animals that easily could have been alive in prehistoric times.  (But not too near of course!)   

 

LINKING to the following sharing opportunities, with thanks to the hosts:

MOSAIC MONDAY;  NATURE NOTES;  THROUGH MY LENS; MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; SIGNS SIGNS; THANKFUL THURSDAY;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY;  and  SATURDAY CRITTERS    

 

 

 

Good days in the neighborhood

 Mornings are beautiful here in the neighborhood.  Here's a look at one recent  walk around our (RV) Park:  

 

 

The sky changes rapidly most mornings.  The pictures above are all from the walk of less than an hour.  Sunrise is around 7 a.m.  

 

 

Good news last week was the re-opening of Caloosahatchee Creeks Preserve, the preserve next door to our resort.  It had been closed for removal of fallen trees and limbs and other hazards caused by Hurricane Ian.     This was the last of the Conservation 20/20 Preserves to re-open in this county.   The picture above is along the nature trail that leads from here to the entrance to the Preserve.

 

 

The trail itself is kind of a no-man's land between here and the preserve; I'm not sure whose responsibility it is -- of course there wasn't much reason to keep it maintained when the park itself was closed.  The grass-covered trail was quite damp on the misty morning I walked it and besides it was time for breakfast, so I turned around when I reached the Preserve (lower left picture above).  I'm really happy to know this neighborhood walk option is again available for future mornings.   

 Ugly picture below but it announces more post-Ian news:

 

 Yes, here at the Canal Cottage, we have all our ducts in a row.  (And we're an equal-opportunity family in the bad dad-joke department.)   Bill has been spending his days lately in the crawl space under the house   (with occasional breaks for meals).  He's replacing ducts destroyed by the hurricane.  And while he is at it, improving the lay-out so that everything will work better.   (We're not quite an equal-opportunity family when it comes to doing the actual work.  My only contribution was to stomp on the boxes for the recycling bin.)

Installers will be here tomorrow (Monday) to spray new foam insulation .   We're working our way back to normal!

Below is a picture of some real ducks in a row (now I wonder what made me think of this  picture from last year):

 

 Wetlands in our park (not a very good row)

"To get your ducks in a row" is an idiomatic (and somewhat cliched) phrase meaning  to ensure all of the small details or elements are accounted for and in their proper positions before embarking on a new project.   So it is actually quite appropriate for the project Bill just completed, since it had to be perfect before the next steps could happen.     I was curious about the origin of the phrase and learned that there are a whole bunch of different versions.  Here's one link (of many).   

Below are some pictures from an evening walk step out onto porch.   We have had some beautiful evenings lately and I'm happy that the days are starting to get a little longer.

 

(Almost) Full Snow Moon, Saturday February 4

Because of it's current position in its orbit, February's full moon will appear as the smallest one of the year.  It's called a "micro moon,"  the opposite of a Super Moon.  

Morning, noon, and night, we are thankful to be here.

 

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

MOSAIC MONDAY;  THROUGH MY LENS; MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; SIGNS SIGNS; THANKFUL THURSDAY;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY; and SATURDAY CRITTERS    

Saturday Special

 

We took yesterday off -- a rare thing on a weekend.    The weekend part is rare only because we usually choose to go places on weekdays,  leaving Saturday and Sunday for people who work the rest of the week  (as we used to once upon a time).  But the day off part (on any day of the week) is a little more rare this year than usual for reasons I've already mentioned probably too many times.  

 

Ann Olesky Park, Collier County Florida

So of course since this is Southwest Florida during the snowbird season, we were not alone in our getaway plans. September's devastating hurricane didn't seem to stop snowbirds from coming to this area for the warmer Winter.   Although we try to pretend otherwise after all these years of wintering here, we are  included in that number so we can't complain (too much).    Saturday traffic was seriously heavy and the lots at our original destinations, Corkscrew Sanctuary and CREW Environmental Area, were nearly full. 

     

 

We wanted to avoid the crowds, but we didn't give up.  First of all, we found wildlife along the canals on the way to Corkscrew.   After driving along that Canal we headed to Lake Trafford, another place where we always see birds.

 

 

The collage above shows how the area along the Canal near Corkscrew would appear to people in the cars that hurry by intent on getting to the "official" wildlife areas.  There are several spots along the road to pull off and the shoulders along the road are wide.  All it takes is a little time to look and focus and you will see wildlife.    Mostly birds, but also take a closer look at the top left photo above.   Or below:

 

 

Keeping a close eye on the passer-by (me),  our first alligator of this season was about six feet away as I walked along that shoulder.

 

Six feet away and about six feet long.

This is the closest I've ever accidentally come to an alligator (as far as I know anyway).   It was a  good reminder to look down as well as up.

Lake Trafford 

Ann Olesky Park on Lake Trafford was next on our itinerary and it was far less crowded.  The people who were there were mostly families fishing.  It was a beautiful day -- slightly overcast which made it perfect for walking and watching.    It was 70 to 75 degrees F, only a bit cooler than normal this month -- our cold spell seems to be over.  And of course that last sentence goes far to explain  why there are so many people here this time of year. 

  

 

Lake Trafford is more noted as a fishing place than a birding destination and the people we see there always seem to be locals.  And we always see birds.  Not as many this time as we have seen, but enough to make me happy!

 

 

Though we'll try to make the next outing on a less popular day of the week, we were happy with our Saturday.  We saw some good birds (and other interesting creatures).  And we were grateful just to be relaxing outdoors on a beautiful day.   It was a good one.

 

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

MOSAIC MONDAY; NATURE NOTES;  THROUGH MY LENS; MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; WILD BIRD Wednesday; THANKFUL THURSDAY;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY;   SATURDAY CRITTERS   and  RATHER B' BIRDING

Rebuilding -- in nature and at home

 

We stayed close to home last week because we're busy rebuilding our own nest.  But one day we  stopped to visit our Eagle neighbors at theirs.  (We were on the way to the big-box home improvement store, as nobody will be surprised to hear.) 

 

Hurricane Ian completely wiped out their nest but the intrepid pair returned safe and sound, rebuilt in the same tree, and continued on with their lives.  A hopeful metaphor for the Fort Myers area, as the billboard above indicates.   Their two chicks hatched the first week of the year, on January 4 and 7 and seem to be  doing well.   

 

The top picture in this mosaic with the black border is this year's nest -- the lower two are from January 2022 -- a year ago and before the hurricane.

It was a lucky break last year to be there when Harriet (or maybe her partner) popped their head out of the nest -- most of the time one parent will be away hunting for the next meal and the other will be tending the hatchlings down in the nest bowl.  

 The new nest is much smaller  -- the pair will continue to add to it when they can this year and hopefully in years following.  The one that blew down was huge, the product of sixteen years of remodeling and adding on.  Harriet and Ozzie, her original partner, built that one in 2006.   

 

 

Here are pictures of the Eagle pasture on a cold but sunny day.   The people (strangers to us) are two of several photographers who spend hours waiting for eagle action and the perfect picture.    Nothing much was visible while we were there  -- and it really was cold (for here, I know).    At this stage of the eagle's lives,  no matter what the temperature is outside, it's really better to watch the action on the Eagle webcams because they can see down into the nest.     (Link)

 

The pasture is home to other creatures as well as the Eagle pair.   The horse greeted that photographer like an old friend, as I'm sure he is by now.  (This is the first time I've seen horses with blankets here in  usually subtropical Southwest Florida.  (Did I mention  cold? ) 

And finally, here are a couple of pictures taken earlier this month from our back porch:

 

 

 January 6 full moon (Wolf Moon)

 

The moon rises early here now -- about 6:30, so even early to bed people can get a few pictures.  I always like how it seems to be peeking through the tropical plants.  The next picture is an absolutely terrible one -- the product of  a shaky-handed photographer in too much of a hurry:

 

 

But as I started to push delete (as I do with about half of the pictures I take) I was struck by the accidental shape. I know people who collect  hearts in nature and I've found rocks and leaves and shells myself without really trying too hard.  But this is the first time I've added a heart-shaped moon.   

Here's wishing everyone a continued joyful New Year full of growth and love.   

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

MOSAIC MONDAY; NATURE NOTES;  THROUGH MY LENS;  MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; WILD BIRD Wednesday; SIGNS SIGNS; THANKFUL THURSDAY; SKYWATCH FRIDAY; SATURDAY CRITTERS and RATHER B' BIRDING  

All About the Birds

All about the birds today -- and our get-away to go see them.   We actually took a few days off from our restoration work at the end of last month.    It was a lovely time, made even lovelier because it had turned cold (for here) and heat on chilly mornings comes from the same presently non-existent source as air conditioning on hot days.  (We lost our heat pump/air conditioner and all the duct work as well as under the floor insulation because of  Hurricane Ian. ) 

 

Brown Pelican -- Chokoloskee Bay, Everglades  

 

We went to the Everglades/Big Cypress where it was beautiful and as birdy as ever  ... and the camper van was snug and warm whether we were driving or camping.  It was a wonderful birding trip.    If anything, we spotted even more than usual for this time of year.  Apparently the hurricane didn't  affect the birds much.  (That's an entirely unscientific observation -- I hope it is correct.)

 

Big Cypress National Preserve

The sign is a sign of good things happening.   The National Park Service is currently in the process of restoring many acres of land.    They are turning the Everglades back into the river of grass it is meant to be.  And the wetlands the restoration creates are definitely for the birds.   And birders.   

The other pictures in the mosaic really only go a little way toward showing the sheer number  of birds we could see all at once. 

 

Snowy Egret (yellow slippers)

I tried  several times to count but kept losing track.     It was more fun to try for pictures of the individual birds, although sometimes it was hard to focus because there were so many places to look.

 

?

Everyone will understand why I related to  the following from the National Park Service facebook page:

 

Me: “I’m an expert at identifying birds.”

Friend: “OK, what about those ones flying over there?”

Me: “Yep, they're all birds.

 

Whoever does the NPS page has a great sense of humor, but provides good (serious) information too.   The page is well worth checking out often.   Here's a link:  National Park Service

 

 

So yes, as usual IDs were not easy for me.    But whether I know their names or not, observing the birds is the important thing.  The wildlife, the water, the nature -- that's really why we keep coming to Florida.   

 

Tri-Colored Heron ? Night Heron?

 

 White Ibis

Playing a game of peek-a-boo maybe?

 

Great Blue Heron 

It didn't matter whether you looked in the marshes, in the water, or up in the Cypress trees, birds were everywhere.

 

?

We stayed at Midway Campground in Everglades National Park but most of the birds we saw were on loop roads in Big Cypress National Preserve -- the two Parks adjoin.  

 

Little Blue Heron

We enjoyed our little break from reality.    Our cottage and our snowbird neighborhood are almost back to normal (pre-Ian).  But it's still a bit of a construction zone around here so we are reminded daily of the damages that storm caused.  But it was not nearly as bad for us as for much of the Fort Myers area. 

We drove a different route on our way home coming back along along the recently reopened road through Fort Myers Beach, the area that was most devastated.  So very sad still.   A full three months after the storm there is very little recognizable about this seaside town.    

 

Wood Stork

 

It was quite a contrast -- from the  beauty of the Everglades area which seemed unchanged to the beach which may never be the same.   We were glad to get away from it all but glad to be home too especially with the reminder of how fortunate we really were.  

 

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

MOSAIC MONDAY; NATURE NOTES;  THROUGH MY LENS; MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; WILD BIRD Wednesday;  SIGNS SIGNS; THANKFUL THURSDAY;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY;  SATURDAY CRITTERS   and  RATHER B' BIRDING

 

 

Christmas Memories

We're making a different kind of memories this Christmas Season here at the Canal Cottage -- not necessarily photo-worthy ones, but certainly days we will remember!

Meanwhile, here are some memories from the not-too-distant past -- Holiday getaways from other Christmases spent in Florida.

Christmas, at least by our advanced age,  is surely the most nostalgic time of the year.   Our photo albums at home in Oregon are filled with older Christmas memories.  (In the days when snapshots were more carefully rationed because the film had to be developed, family Holidays were when everybody's camera came out.)  Although I never actually get around to it,  every year I think about  scanning those  old pictures and making a real Christmas memory post (it would be very long!).   

 

 

I hope everybody is staying warm, cozy, and well during this crazy winter storm season.   We have had cooler than normal temperatures for here in SW Florida -- and that is actually a very good thing for us.  It's better working weather and perfect without needing an air-conditioner.  

 

 

The Christmas pictures are from  a trip a few years ago to Mt Dora -- a sweet town in Central Florida that really goes all out on decorations.  Pictures in the collage below are from a New Year's Holiday spent at the beach.  Sadly, the resort where we stayed that year is gone because of the hurricane.   Many of our favorite places are reopening though and we hope and expect that we'll get caught up enough to visit some of them later this season.  

 

 

Comments on this post are closed for the Holidays. 

and for catch-up time 

MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

 

 

 

 

Our Canal Cottage update

Just one pretty picture from the road before we get down to business:

 

Most of the time this blog is my happy place and I don't have to work hard at all to find the joy.    There's lots of blog-worthy life going on.  And a review of past posts is always a good reminder to practice gratitude. But of course the blog also serves a second purpose as a journal of our "Full-Time Life."  And today, that journal needs to record more about Hurricane Ian and the effect it had on the RV resort where we have our winter home.  (As a review, the Category 4 hurricane happened here in Florida in late September when we were at home in Oregon.  Water in our Canal surged several feet above the sea-wall and caused much damage.)

The picture above is the view we had from our porch on November 20, the day we arrived back at Upriver.  That's what's left of the two houses directly across the Canal from ours. The yellow one is probably going to be removed also.

So yes, we are in our winter home now and doing fine.  But many of our neighbors along our Canal were not so fortunate.  Almost all the damage in our neighborhood was  from the water surge rather than wind.  Here in Florida, most homes do not carry water damage insurance.  About a third of the homes along the Canal were total losses, including our dear next-door neighbor's home.  

Ruined park model next door to us -- You can see the roof line of ours through the arm of the excavator.

Below is the now-empty lot right next door to us.  The yellow house (next door but one to us)will be renovated but is now completely stripped to the studs because it had water damage inside.  

 

 

Our house sits higher off the ground than either of these did -- we had water damage underneath (in the storage area/crawl space)  but nothing inside.    I wrote last week about all the work our newly-retired son Geoff did for us when he came from Colorado before we were able to get here.  Below is the first picture he sent  when he arrived, only a few days after the mandatory evacuation order had been lifted:  

 

Like most winter-residents, we put  hurricane shutters on all the windows when we leave Florida every year and then take them down when we get here for the season.  They  served their purpose this time.

Most of that debris on our side yard  washed in from elsewhere.  But the surge also soaked our under-the-house  insulation,  ruined a lot of stored items from our own "basement", and (most expensively) ruined the air-conditioner and its duct-work .  Thanks to Geoff all of the debris was gone by the time we got here.  Bill is doing a lot of the work  on  renovation of the damage himself.   He is replacing plumbing drains, fastening water lines and wiring because most were knocked loose, and eventually will need to replace all the skirting.  We will have to have all the insulation replaced as well as the ducting and the air-conditioner itself.  

    (Old snapshots of inside -- all the same today except for no fresh flowers right now)

Because the crawl space got opened up and all of the wet insulation pulled out, there was no damage inside our "Canal Cottage" -- it is the same as ever.  The floors need a good scrubbing by now and the windows need to be washed, but I don't think I can get away with blaming Ian entirely for that.  

Old (better) times on the Canal   (about ten years ago)

So "we" have a lot of work to do, a whole lot to be grateful for, and much to look forward to.    We will return to the usual blog programming soon! 

  #

LINKS:   THROUGH MY LENS; MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; and SKYWATCH FRIDAY

 

It's good to be back again ...

.... both  at the Canal Cottage in real life and posting all about it here  in blogland. 

Our calm and peaceful Oregon backyard, early October

(around the time we were learning about the hurricane damage to our winter home in Florida)  

Thank you to everybody who reached out with good wishes as we found out about  the mess that Hurricane Ian left behind here in SW Florida.  The rest of the pictures today are postcards I could have sent  while we were on our  cross-country roadtrip to get here.

Mt. Shasta California 

There were so many trucks on the road -- it is hard to believe there's a shortage of anything anywhere!  

 

Sidewinder Grade -- Just past Oatman Arizona on Route 66

That's our car/camper in the background

Because of the hurricane, we left Oregon about a month before we'd originally planned and we drove and camped across the country in our Roadtrek van.     

 

Oatman Arizona -- wild burros come into town a couple of times a day to be fed and admired.

(Here's one of many reference sites for more information).

It was even more fun to spot the donkeys who chose to stay up in the hills:

We've never enjoyed drive-till-you-drop road trips.  We do enjoy the journey, even when we're anxious to reach our destination.    

Just a few people, some of whom you might recognize, doing what you do in Winslow Arizona.

(More information here  -- and many other places)

We drove 3,775 miles in just over three weeks.  Because there had already been a snowstorm in Colorado, we sadly missed visiting our family there.  We especially missed thanking them in person, because our son was able to spend some time at  the Canal Cottage as soon as people were allowed back into our neighborhood after the mandatory evacuation (well before we even left Oregon).    He did a lot of the necessary cleanup and hard preliminary work  to save our house from most mold and water damage.   We are beyond grateful.  (I'll share some more information and  pictures  in a later post.) 

 

 

Window Shot -- the roads were mostly flat -- the scenery sometimes more interesting.

Instead of  our preferred route through the mountain west, we took the flatter route -- from our Oregon home, we stayed at least overnight in California, Arizona, New Mexico, a small portion of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and home to Florida.   

 

Sunset from our campsite somewhere along the way. 

This is one reason why we like a camping road trip.-- you seldom see sunsets  from a freeway motel room.

We are in our winter home now and doing fine, although it will still take a little while and a lot of work to whip the Canal Cottage back into the shape it was in before the hurricane.   Many people were not as fortunate -- we count our blessings.     

 

Linking (with thanks) to the following:

MOSAIC MONDAY; NATURE NOTES;  THROUGH MY LENS; MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; SIGNS SIGNS; THANKFUL THURSDAY;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY;  and SATURDAY CRITTERS  

In-between

 

We can't quite decide here in Eugene whether it is Autumn or late Summer.   

 

Stella de Oro Daylily

Colorful flowers are still blooming in the neighborhood ...

 

But the squirrels are busy gathering as many acorns as they can.

 

Skies are smoky some days ...

 

And bright blue on others.

 

 It's a beautiful time to be in Eugene and we're always grateful to be here, and especially this year.   But we are personally feeling very in-between seasons too.  It's hard to enjoy beautiful Eugene when we're worried about our winter home in storm-damaged Fort Myers.

So we're thinking we'll spend a shorter time here this year than we'd originally planned.  We know there will  be  lots of work to do at the Canal Cottage.   And oh so much in the area that we will miss.  The pictures in the Mosaic below are memories of   happier years at Ding Darling Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island and  Six Mile Cypress Slough.  Both are among the many nature areas that are closed because of hurricane damage.    

 We remain hopeful -- and, no matter what,  grateful for the memories.

 

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

 

 MOSAIC MONDAY;  NATURE NOTES;  THROUGH MY LENS; MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; THANKFUL THURSDAY;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY;  FRIDAY  BLISS;  and SATURDAY CRITTERS    

 

 

  

Meanwhile in Oregon ...

Here at home in Oregon, the sun is shining, temperatures are still late summer-like and flowers are still blooming.  

But my head has been in Florida thinking about the after-effects of Hurricane Ian.    

So many people in the Fort Myers area where our winter home is lost everything.   We are incredibly fortunate that our winter home is still standing and did not sustain wind or water damage inside. 

We know this now because our son, who lives in Colorado, was able to drive to Fort Myers to assess the damage, take pictures,  and do the awful job of outside cleanup.   We are so grateful.   

 

So Geoff is camping out in our Florida house -- there is no electricity but the water has been turned back on (with boil drinking water warnings).   No air conditioner either and in Florida this time of year that really is a necessity.   I am sure  he is not sleeping very well.

The hurricane left all manner of debris  around the cottage (and the whole neighborhood).   Some of that is from the storage area under the house (basement crawl space) but much of it is from other places  -- it could have blown in from other houses in the resort or the Canal could have washed it in from who knows where.  It's very sad -- and a lot of cleanup work.    

 

Nobody who lives in our resort was injured, not  even the people who are permanent residents. But there was a lot of damage from the terrible winds and from water surge from the Canal and River.  Our next door neighbor's home was just about totaled,  They will not be returning and we will miss them.     We do still plan to return later -- but it won't be the same.     

 

 

Meanwhile though, as we plan for our return to a changed Florida, we continue to enjoy this  beautiful Pacific Northwest Autumn.  And we never forget to be grateful.

 

 

The Dahlias are from a garden at our Lane County (Oregon) Fairgrounds.   When we stopped to take pictures I talked to a garden-club volunteer who was cutting flowers.  She told me that September was their prime blooming month and that I should put the Club's annual Dahlia Show on my calendar for next year.  I will try to remember.

Blue Sky - Oregon October

 

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

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What happened last month?

Happy October!

Oregon October 2022

 What in the world happened to September?      I missed a couple of weeks here in blog land for no particular reason --  we were busy with appointments and family.  And we read books and watched TV and ate good meals and went for walks in places that I've already blogged about a million times.   So not-exactly-boring....just nothing much that seemed blog worthy.  And then of course there was this past week ...

Please note:  (This may be a confusing post because the pictures are all from last week here in Oregon, even though all the rest of the words are about Florida.)  

Oregon -- October 2022

We spent a lot of time last week watching Hurricane Ian destroy much of the area where our winter home is located.    I prefer not-exactly-boring any time.    Our winter home is all the way across the country but we mostly watched local Fort Myers TV while sitting here in our Oregon living room.  It gave us a slightly better picture than national news.

 

McDowell Park, Linn County Oregon October 1,  2022

We have been notified that our Florida Canal Cottage is still standing, but don't really have detailed news about its condition yet.  The problem will probably be  storm surge damage (water, mold etc.).   There is still no electricity or water for the houses along the canal.  Neighbors who live in our resort year-round were under evacuation orders and have been told not to return yet.  (The majority of the residents are snow-birds like us.)  

 

Majestic Falls, McDowell Park

No matter what we learn, we are  fortunate to be where we are (and to have another place  -- out of  the hurricane zone -- to call home).  As everyone knows by now, many people in the Fort Myers area were not so lucky.   

Majestic Falls

Many homes and businesses in Fort Myers and Fort Myers Beach were destroyed.   The beach front as we knew it   is pretty much gone.  Two of our favorite places to visit when we're living in Florida, Sanibel Island and Matlacha on Pine Island, have also suffered devastating damage.  From what we've seen, it is hard to imagine  exactly how they will ever be the same. 

McDowell Park

So right now it's a waiting game.  Waiting to hear from Florida, waiting to see when we will go back to Florida, waiting to see what the damages are, waiting to see what we can or should do about it all.  But while we're waiting we are here and safe and Autumn is a beautiful season here in Oregon.  

 

 

 

 

End of September Eugene Oregon 2022  

 However, right now at the beginning of October it still feels like late summer here in Eugene.  It hasn't been cold enough to add much color and in fact most trees in our neighborhood are still fully-leaved and green.   No doubt  we'll  still be here to get pictures when they turn.  

 

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Ankeny Wildlife Refuge

We have been under a smoke advisory  here in our part of the Valley and by Friday I had reached the point where I just needed to get outside.    The smoky  conditions here are because of the Cedar Creek wildfire which is burning east of us.  Oakridge, a town in our county about 45 miles away has been evacuated and the highway to it is closed.   

Hoping to get out from under the smoke, we headed to the Ankeny National Wildlife Refuge around 55 miles   North of us.  

 

     

We are not in  danger here in Eugene and staying indoors because of the smoke drift is a small sacrifice, but it did  really feel  good to see some blue sky.

 

Pintail Marsh

And seeing wildlife is always a bonus.     We stopped to walk around at the  Pintail Marsh Trail and overlook.  

 

There were lots of birds, but they were pretty far away from shore.   It was also hot and quite windy.  It's not good to even think about wind during fire season.   

 

 

In fact, there were windy conditions here at home also and the day after our drive, utility companies in our county shut down power in rural areas as a safety precaution.  

 

 When we left the wildlife refuge, we drove to the village of Buena Vista where we took this small ferry a distance of 720 feet across the Willamette River.    Ferry service has existed here since 1852.  Back then this connection provided  settlers a much easier way to cross the river.    Nowadays, there are other ways to get from Marion to Polk County, with not too much more effort.  But for the $3.00 crossing fee, this electrically-operated modern version was much more fun than driving.  

 

We watched this Osprey nest while we waited for the ferry to cross back to where we were the first (and only) car in line to board.  Actually, I barely had time to get out of the car and snap a couple of pictures.   

 

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

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September Days

 Country Road - Benton County Oregon

We took a backroad drive one day last week with no particular destination.  We're still having hot summer days and  walks have been limited  so it was good to get outside.   There's some smoke in our valley from fires in the hills up the Willamette River  (not dangerously close to us).  Summer means fire season here in the west -- more than ever nowadays.

 

 Pied-Billed Grebe

Like magic, our unplanned destination turned out to be the Finley Wildlife Refuge.  (But really because the person driving the car knew where he was going all along.)   We arrived in early afternoon, not the optimal time for birding, but we saw a few in the Marsh.  

 

 Great Egret

That's a fish at the Egret's feet.   He must have already eaten his fill.

 

 

 It's good to see green especially at the end of  a summer that's been hot and dry in most of our area.  

September is my month to feel nostalgic.   Probably because our life revolved around the school year for so long, it really seems more like a New Year to me this month than does January.   So with nostalgia in mind, this week's collage is  a look-back at early September days from a few past years:  

 

 

The top two photos are from roadtrips in 2019 -- Fall color in Portland Oregon and the hawk at Arcata Marsh California.   2021 and 22 were the Covid years -- we did some self-isolated camping  during that time, but we were home in Oregon in September of both years.  I photographed the bushtits in our daughter's yard  in 2020; it  was a new bird for me (I had ID help from  wonderful  bloggers  when I first posted about them).  The other two photos in the bottom row are from our grandson's backyard at a family gathering last year. The center photo is California Redwoods in the mist -- another road trip to the state south of us in September 2018.

And back to the present (well, last week anyway):

 

Just a beautiful blue sky with  a few fluffy clouds for interest -- on the way home from our  weekday drive  last week.   September really does start a new year for our older great-grands and their parents (several of the grandchildren teach as well as parenting)  and for our daughter and son-in-law who are helping out with their not-old-enough-for-school grandbabies.   For us, there's really no regular schedule to keep, but it still feels like new.  

September mornings still can make me feel this way!

Links this week with thanks:

 

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More from the South (Oregon) Coast

Same ocean, same trip as last week.... but we didn't spend quite all the weekend gazing at the beautiful Pacific.

 

 

 (A lot of it though -- and who could blame us?)

 

Shore Acres State Park is where I took most of the ocean view pictures last week (and the one above).  We also walked through the acres of gardens at this park.  We were kind of between seasons for flowers, but there were still a few perfect ones (either early Fall blooms or late summer ones still hanging on.) 

 

 

This is one of our favorite places to visit on the Coast and I've written about it before.  (You can Click right here for a link to a post I wrote a few years ago that gives more information on the history of this park.  

 

 

Just a couple more from the Gardens.  

 

 

And next for a complete change of pace, the more industrial side of Coos Bay, the seaside town where we stayed:  

 

 

 The ship is in port to load wood chips that will probably go to Japan.   Coos Bay used to be strictly a lumber and shipping town.  It still has those things,  but tourism is probably catching up as a major source of income for the area.   When we first moved to Oregon, there were really no places in the city to enjoy nature.  It was always interesting to see the action at a busy working port.   But since people go to the Coast to walk along the beach or gaze at the Ocean,  Coos Bay was just a drive-through place.  They've been working on it lately and there are many more places now to do the things most tourists want to do.

Everybody also wants to eat, drink and shop of course and the area has added  several of those places:

 

This is not the fancy birthday dinner.

 We had a lovely dinner in a  "fine restaurant" the first night -- the above pictures are not from that night. 

I don't usually take pictures of what we eat, but couldn't resist this interesting ambience.  And the food was delicious too.  The pictures are from Claussen's, a commercial  Oyster Farm.  It  has a small deli serving the crop they grow, plus a small menu selection.  We shared a plate of oysters on the half-shell,  along with Caesar Salads and Oregon wine.  All while sitting outside, practically on the piles of discarded oyster shells.  Our meal couldn't have tasted better.   

 

A view of one of the Coastal Lakes -- along the  Highway as we drove home.   Beginning to end, it was a beautiful blue-sky weekend.  

 

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It's Been Verified

Yes it is absolutely true -- the Pacific Ocean is still there.  We can personally verify it since we just returned from a lovely weekend getaway  to Oregon's South Coast.  There was sunshine!  

We stayed in Coos Bay -- at a Hotel!  The first hotel stay in how ever many centuries it has been since Covid restrictions began.  Really, we visited the ocean several times during those years, because we could use our camper trailer and not worry about other people.  

 

 

I love camping, but of course it is a treat not to have to pack food or make up our bed.  This was a birthday trip -- we are both August Leos.  But thanks to the Travel Planner the trip happened on my actual B-Day.   I'm lucky.  And grateful.

 

The Oregon Coast is special because of the way trees and greenery grow right down to the sand.   The above pictures are from Shore Acres State Park.

 

 

Weird and wonderful rock formations on the beach at Shore Acres.  They look like a giant's playground.

 

Driving from Shore Acres to Simpson Reef.  The fawn crossed  in front of us -- his mother followed .

 

Simpson Reef is home to about a thousand sea lions -- give or take a few hundred.  That dark line at the edge of the sand is solid sea lions.  Sadly, my good camera ran out of juice before I got pictures.  They were too far away for my little one.  (But I certainly was glad to have it.)  The next picture is from an earlier trip (and the bigger camera).  But it is from the same place.

 

Shore Acres and Simpson Reef are two of our favorite spots on the Oregon Coast.  Although I really can't think of any place along "our" Coast  that does not meet that qualification!  

 

Linking this week to the following.  Thanks to the hosts:

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River Walk, August

What is as rare as a perfect day ... in August!  

 

 

We had a couple of 75 degree afternoons last week.  Even a walk along a city sidewalk looked good.   But it's even better when that street leads to the River Path . 

 

 

 It's hard to realize walking along the river that I'm actually only a few blocks away from home.    We've been busy with appointments and routine so I feel lucky to be close to this nearby-nature getaway.  Especially on a perfect August day.  

 

 I'm seeing more dragonflies than birds these days.  Guess I need to work on my identification skills.

 

 

 Here are a few more.  They love the River too.

 

Perfection found in a tiny wildflower.

 

Linking to the following with thanks to the hosts.

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Day trip to Florence

Last week we drove to the Coast,  just for a day trip.  It's only about 60 miles from home to Florence and from there just a few miles either North or South until you (usually) get a good view of the Pacific.   Here's the bridge over the Siuslaw River at Florence.  

 

Our plan was to get a coffee in Old Town Florence and then drive North until we  made sure the Ocean was still there.  

   

 

The coffee shop has a lovely little patio and  a great view of the Bridge. Then just a few steps away, there's a viewpoint where we watched some harbor seals but didn't get a good picture.  We checked out the Purple Martin apartment complex and that population seemed to be thriving.    Can you see two  of them in the picture? 

 

 

Next we drove North and almost as soon as we left the city limits of Florence we hit fairly heavy fog!  We were almost disappointed in our quest to actually see the Pacific for the first time this year.  (The umpteen-millionth in our lifetime but it never gets old).  I've never seen the turnouts along this stretch as empty.  No  cars and no photographers.  We  did get a  glimpse or two of the ocean, but always on a curve where it was impossible to pull over.   The picture below is one from last year -- same stretch of the highway, better viewing day.

 

 

But after all these years and in spite of  our annual "checking out the Ocean"  tradition, we actually know that it will still be there when we come back -- sooner this time!  

 

 

The fog was really a surprise because  it was a beautiful day in Florence.  Lovely walking weather (cooler than at home in Eugene, which was a good thing.)    When we could turn around we headed back to the blue sky and spent some time walking around Old Town Florence.   There are fun little shops and windows to browse and summer flowers always seem to bloom more brightly in the cooler coastal weather.   

 

 

Great restaurants too, but I didn't get a picture of the delicious early dinner we enjoyed .  We didn't have to look as hard for ours as this pretty Great Egret did.  

 

 

It was a good day.  There's never a bad one on a visit to the Oregon Coast.   

 

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xx

We're having a heat wave

We have been living under a heat dome lately.  So hot!   But it is supposed to be moderating a bit this week.   I took the screen shot below from Thursday's local paper:

The line under the icons reads:   Thursday Sunny and Hot;  Friday Very Hot; Saturday Very Hot; Sunday Colder; Monday a shower......

Temperatures over 100 are definitely not summer normal here in western Oregon (or at least they haven't been up until the last couple of years. ) But I laughed at the five-day outlook when I noticed that under the icon for Sunday it says "Colder" (with a temperature range of 89/62).   I don't think that's quite the right way to describe a day where the high is expected to be 89!  (I'm writing this on Sunday morning and it is more pleasant outside than it has been, but I'm not wearing winter clothes just yet thank you.)

Because of the heat, we didn't get outside to play much at all last week.   We've spent some quality time with our Oregon family and loved it, but somehow the camera never remembers to come out of hiding on those days. 

 

Geoff's picture from their Colorado backyard

So this week I'm blogging a a few Oregon pictures from earlier this month and interspersing those with some lovely (and cooling) pictures from our Colorado family.  Colorado is our "third State."    

 

Lisa's picture from Colorado

Above is Lisa's picture of Geoff with Max the big white dog on an early summer hike.  Morning or evening, Colorado skies are beautiful.   

The pictures in the next mosaic are mine from a week ago Saturday before it got so hot here:

 

 

Just some random people showing some of the ways to enjoy the beautiful South Willamette River Trail   (and on that river as viewed from the trail).  Walking, kayaking, bicycling, walking with the dogs, tending plots in the two community gardens along the path, fishing, and just chilling in the park and along the water's edge.  The trail offers something for everyone on a perfect summer's day.   I'm pretty sure we'll have more good days before summer's end.     

 

Green Heron

This is also my picture but from three years ago.  A couple of weeks ago  I showed a distant shot of another green heron and then I remembered this old picture.  It's the best one I think I've ever taken of this particular species of heron even though we see them often both here and in Florida.  Like the more recent picture, this one was also seen at the Delta Ponds and also in July.  

 

 

We've been watching this big apartment complex going up along one of the streets on our way to the River paths.   It's interesting to watch the progress.   At this stage, the buildings didn't look like they were ever going to be finished, but now they look more like people will be able to live in them someday soon.   The already finished building is, I think, going to be the office.

And here's one more Colorado picture:

Geoff's picture

And it's another one taken from their deck.  They have magical views from their new home.  

 

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

   NATURE NOTES;  TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS;  THROUGH MY LENS; MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; SIGNS SIGNS; SKYWATCH FRIDAY;  FRIDAY  BLISS;  and SATURDAY CRITTERS    

 

ROSES, 2022

 

 

We should have visited the Owen Rose Garden last month because June is the height of the season for these beautiful flowers.   But even in mid-July  and with all the hot days we've had, there were still some perfect blossoms on view last week.

 

The gardens are well cared for and beautifully designed -- a peaceful place.  It's not  far from where we live here in Eugene.  Just  a tiny bit out of hot-day walking range to get there.

 

So I drove a couple of miles to park at Valley River Center, our area's primary shopping mall.  From there it's a short  walk across a pedestrian bridge  to the South Bank Trail (on the Willamette River).

 

 Then the walk to the Gardens is less than a mile along the trail.  The pictures in the collage above were taken from the bridge.        

 

Eugene has a great trail system.   Most of my walks along the river are from our house -- no driving.    I love  being able to "go outside to play" with no driving (or very little) even though we live in a metropolitan area.  

 

The Cherry Tree in the mosaic below has been growing in this spot from  the mid-1800s.  It's on the edge of the rose gardens.   Because it lies within the original land claim of Eugene Skinner, the founder of our fair city,  it is believed that it was planted by Skinner himself. 

 

Whoever dug the hole, the tree is beautiful and I'm thankful for the arborists  and volunteers who work hard  to keep this living bit of history in prime condition.

 

LINKING this week to the following sharing opportunities:  Thanks to the hosts.

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