I'm Sorry

Looks like I have fallen down on the job. I never finished the Australia trip posts and completely skipped almost two years worth of traveling. Ugh!

So it is now Spring of 2020. I'm sure everyone knows what is going on now. That's right. We are in the midst of the Coronavirus infestation. We have been hunkered down for almost a week with all of our activities shutdown. People have been heading home, especially the Canadians. We have been told to avoid crowds and maintain personal separation of at least 6 feet. The beaches have been closed here in Sarasota. All of the restaurants and entertainment have closed. Our league bowling season ended early when the local bowling alley closed. Our synagogue has stopped having services but they are streaming services on Shabbat over the internet.

The things you missed while I was not posting were:

1. Cruise from Australia to Seattle, WA. It was a great trip but kind of long by the end. More than three weeks but stops in Fiji, Hawaii, and some other islands. 
2. Our time staying in Portland with our Grandkids.
3. A trip to Glacier National Park. It was Geoff's second time there and Ellyn's first time.
4. Time with our other Grandchildren in Boston.
5. The entire 2018/19 season at Sun-N-Fun.
6. A trip to Israel in June 2019 with our synagogue.
7. More time with our grandchildren on both coasts as well as in the middle of the country at the Mall of America. They came to meet us to celebrate Geoff's 70th birthday.
8. A one week cruise to Alaska with shipmates of Geoff's from the Navy. It was short and sweet.
9. And finally, another season at Sun-N-Fun that was cut short by this virus thing.

So, even with the virus going on, we are doing some things. We bought a new car to use here in Florida. It is a 2020 Mazda and has lots of safety features. We are also getting our RV upgraded with new flooring and window shades. With the virus, we are not sure what will happen this Summer. We of course were going to go see our Grandkids again but now we are not sure if that will come to be. We might be stuck in Florida for the entire Summer. Unknown at this time.

Thanks for catching up. I'll try to be better when stuff starts happening again.

Us with our new wheels. Technically, Ellyn's car.

Catching Up After Being Down-Under

OK, we know everyone has been waiting to see where we are next. It turned out to be very hard to keep our blog kept up while in Australia. Since we did not take a computer with us, just our phones and tablets, making updates became a challenge. I was able to make the previous post this way but, when I started on the next one, I decided this would have to wait.

So, the last post ended with us getting ready to meet up with our Australia tour in Melbourne. We arrived in Melbourne a day early so we got to learn our way around the city a little before our tour guide got there. A nice thing that they did not have in Sydney was a tram system. Sydney is building one and it caused a lot of the city to be dug up with construction sites but, the trams in Melbourne were nice to have. We had never really figured out the bus and train system in Sydney and we had to walk a lot to get to the trains, most of which was up hill. In Melbourne, not only did we have access to the trams right outside our hotel. but they are free within the central business district. Where we had to purchase a card to use the transportation in Sydney, we could get anywhere with in the main business district, which included the Queen Victoria Market. The market has a large retail vendor area, produce, meat, and many food vendors. We went there and bought Geoff a $5 Melbourne shirt, his first of many souvenir shirts for this trip.

Ellyn went to the Royal Exhibition Building for an AQS quilt show. There she met up with a couple of the women who were also scheduled to be on our cruise, which Ellyn found out has a who bunch of sewers on it. She had fun and Geoff headed back to the hotel early.

Finally, we met up with our tour and began guided site seeing in Australia. Our first stop was the site of the first jail in Melbourne, the Melbourne Gaol (a funny spelling but still pronounced “jail”). A grim and dark place, as I imagine most jails were. This is the ONLY way we want to experience one.

Then we took our second trip to the Queen Victoria Market in as many days and this time we ate lunch there and had our first “L&D” session. Our guide, Maree, challenged us nearly every day to do “learning and discovery” in our off time. We sat near some people with two little boys that were very close in age to our Oregon Grandsons, Oliver and Martin. It was fun interacting with their kids and seeing Australia from their point of view.

Our next day in Melbourne was a free day with no specific tours scheduled. We did a little self-guided touring around the downtown area and met up with our friends, Ken and Martha, to take a boat tour of the Yarra River. From here you could take in much of the architecture of Melbourne.

In the evening, we went to St. Kilda on the coast at sunset for dinner and then walked out on the pier to where the Fairy Penguins nest. There we could observe them under very subdued lighting, being careful not to disturb them or use any flash lighting. Pictures were very hard to get.

Next, our first group flight from Melbourne to Adelaide.Although we still have to be conscience of our baggage weight, we don’t have to bother with booking transportation to the airport or booking the flight, we just show up and the guide handles everything. Also, Australian commercial aviation security is a bit less stringent than in the states. We do not have to remove our shoes and we can take liquids through security. The flight from Melbourne to Adelaide is one of the shortest of our trip, only a little over an hour, hardly enough to enjoy a movie. But the weather is good and the flight is on time.

On arrival, our luggage is put into a small trailer attached to a tour bus and we head out on a tour of Adelaide and the surrounding towns. Our bus driver is very good at describing the area and we head up into the hill country to the Cleland Wildlife Park. There we enjoy another perk of guided touring, lunch is included and served as a buffet. Then we have a few hours to go out and tour the park. They have large open areas with kangaroos and wallabies and enclosed aviaries of the native birds. There are koalas too but they are mostly napping in the middle of the day.

When we left the animal park, the driver told us to watch the trees on the way back down to Adelaide for wild koalas sleeping. We did see a few of them. It is quite something for an American to see them in the wild, much as I suppose it might be a surprise for an Australian to see a squirrel.

This adventure continues in the next post.

Making Tracks

A lot has happened in the past two weeks. We have driven our RV over 3800 miles to the left coast and parked it in Gig Harbor, WA. Two American Airlines flights, 20 hours, and over 8000 miles later, we are in Sydney, AU, a land down under, and exhausted.

After checking in at the hotel, we have a mission. Although we got spotty sleep on the flight, we cannot allow ourselves to crash. The jet lag has to be defeated so we started exploring the Woolloomooloo district where we are staying.

We got maps from the bell desk and went looking for the water. It looked only about a ten minute walk away. Fifteen minutes later, we realize we went the wrong way. Oh well, we got to see the ANZAC Memorial, a revered

ANZAC Memorial

place here, and found a grocery store very close to our hotel where we got some needed supplies.

Finally, about 10pm Sydney time, about 44 hours since we woke up in our RV to start this adventure, it is time to crash. After a good eight hour sleep, we are refreshed and the jet lag seems to have dissipated. We have gotten Ellyn's cell phone onto the local phone system, with internet data to last us for the next three weeks, and we have gotten a pair of Opal cards to let us use the public transportation system.

Good to go, we plan a walking and train ride to the water front. Sydney Harbor is amazing! There is the bridge, the opera house, and lots of boats! There is a cruise ship tied up where ours will probably be in three weeks. Next, we got on a ferry and headed out to the zoo. The Taronga Zoo has many of the Australian animals we hope to eventually see in the wild on our tour. They also have many of the African

A Zoo with a View

animals you expect to see in a large zoo. We did a lot of walking and it is very hilly there but it was good to get back in shape a bit after all the sitting we did in the RV for those two weeks crossing the US.

Now we have one day to get our luggage sorted out before we fly to Melbourne to start the tour. It is still about 17 days until our cruise sets out, and we've got a lot more to see here in a land down under.

On the Road Yet Again

Ok, an early launch out onto the road for us this year. The short story is, we are off on a 40th Anniversary adventure so we left Sun-N-Fun before the end of the season (something we have never done before). We are driving the RV to Washington state, where we will put it into storage and then fly to Australia for a 3 week tour of the country. Then we will get on a cruise ship for a three week cruise back to Seattle Washington. When we return to the USA in the middle of May, we will get back into our RV, spend a month with our Grandkids in Oregon and then take a few weeks crossing the USA (again!) and visit the rest of our Grandkids in Boston. Our plan is to be back in Florida by Labor Day. Our third circumnavigation of the USA in the last three years. Woo! 2019 might be a less ambitious year but who knows.

Update - 3/23/2018: In Anaheim, CA now and after 8 days of traveling, we have covered 2674 miles by RV. From here, we head north.

Home Again Again

Our 2017 Summer trip has now come to a close. We returned to our home of record in Sarasota, Florida on October 20th, by coincidence the same day that we returned from our 2016 trip last year. We left the Portland, Oregon area on October 9th after a morning spent with our oldest Grandson, Oliver. We checked out of the campground we had spent 6 weeks parked in and drove the RV to his house. It was Columbus Day and his daycare was closed but his parents had to work and his brother, Martin’s daycare was open. So we got to invite Oliver into our RV for the morning to hangout with us. We played some games and watched some of his favorite TV shows that Ellyn had recorded on our DVR for him.

Later in the morning came the big adventure. We started up the RV and drove it to a shopping mall nearby where we had sometime playing in the kids’ play area there and then went to a book store. After buying Oliver and Marty each a book, we went to lunch and then back to the RV for the ride back to Oliver’s house. We think he had a lot of fun riding in the RV. At one point Oliver asked “how do you make an RV?”. It would be fun one day when he is older to take him to Elkhart, Indiana and show him one of the production lines.

So after this late, but worth it, start from Portland, we drove about 4 hours to south east Oregon for the night. The next two days  were spent driving across Idaho and Nevada and into New Mexico to Santa Fe. We had never been to Santa Fe before and we had planned a three night lay over to see the area and to go to the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta one day. We had been to the Fiesta in 2009 but Geoff had always wanted to go back again. Right after we got to Santa Fe, we found out that Sandy and Carl Greenbaum, two friends we had seen in the Grand Tetons the year before, were also there. We met up with them one day to visit an Audubon sanctuary and to hang out in downtown Santa Fe. It was a lot of fun and we dropped a bundle shopping.

The next day was a long one. We got up at 4am, caught the train at 5am for Albuquerque, got to the Balloon Fiesta grounds a little after 6am just in time to see the “Dawn Patrol” balloons lift off. About 7am, the Mass Ascension began inflating and for the next 2 hours we watched lots and lots of balloons take to the skies. The weather was perfect with no clouds and virtually no wind. Many of the balloons went up, hung over the grounds for an hour, and then landed back in the field. It was quite amazing.

After Santa Fe, we headed East on I-40 through Oklahoma. In Tulsa, we stopped to see the Woody Guthrie Center, which was wonderful. His music came right out of the Depression Era and is well know to both of us. The story of his life is told in great segments depicted by his experiences and his many notes and sketches. We also took in a Jewish Art Museum that had many pieces of antiquity and historic artifacts. Finally, there was a Cherokee Museum marking the end of the “Trail of Tears” which moved many Native Americans from their lands in the East to Oklahoma.

After Oklahoma, we made our way through Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama before returning to our home state of Florida. In all, our path crossed 33 states in the 5 months we were away and covered nearly 10,000 miles. We saw lots of family and friends along our route and saw a lot of amazing sites. Our stay at home will be a relatively short one of less than 5 months. Then we will be off on a new adventure. Watch this space for more.

Hurricane Irma

Spending our Summer on the road has been a bit of a blessing in more ways than one in 2017. Besides seeing the eclipse and our children and grandchildren, it took us out of the path of the most destructive hurricane to hit Florida in more than two decades. When Hurricane Irma started developing in the Caribbean Ocean, it looked to be targeting our home state of Florida. However, we were more than 2000 miles away in Oregon at the time. This was fortunate as it took us and our motorhome out of its path. But our other home, in the Sarasota resort of Sun N Fun, was not so lucky. This created somewhat of a stressful situation for us for several days this past week.

The early models showed Irma skirting Cuba and then turning right up the middle of Florida. As it got closer, the predictions were for a direct hit on Miami and then proceeding up the east coast of the state. There was still some uncertainty, as there always is for these storms, but despite the exact track, the storm was far larger than the width of Florida so, it did not really matter too much which way it went, it was going to affect both coasts in some way.

We kept tabs on its progress and, as it drew nearer we kept telling ourselves that the house there and its contents were just “things” that could be replaced. Our growing concern however was for our larger community. Sun N Fun has been our winter playground now for nine years and we have many friends there and in other parts of the state. Also, Sarasota has become our real home and we were fearful for the damage that may be done that would affect our lifestyle once we returned. If we had to live out of the motorhome while our house was replaced, so be it, but the damage to our resort or the city could put a real damper on our enjoyment of the coming season and beyond.

We even got our family involved in that Ellyn spent some time one afternoon explaining the storm and our concern to our grandson, Oliver. We watched and waited and the stress grew to where we were doing nothing else but following the storm’s track. We realized on the Friday before it hit that we had not followed a news story so closely since “9-11” and, ironically, it looked like the storm would pass over Sarasota on the anniversary of that date.

As the storm made landfall in Cuba, it looked more and more as if it would move significantly west and, rather than hitting Miami, would hit Naples on the west coast and then travel right up that coast striking Sarasota directly. Our stress increased. The next day it passed over the Florida Keys and turned to the north. As predicted, it made landfall again in Naples, Florida, and the predicted track continued up the coast. However, over the remainder of that day, the eye of the storm seemed to be heading almost directly north and inland. The predictions still had it turning west toward Tampa but the eye continued its northward path, more toward the center of the state.

By the evening, it was clear that, unless something changed drastically, the most powerful part of the storm, which by then had reduced in intensity from the category 4 storm it was when it crossed Naples, to the category 1 storm it was by the time it was almost directly east of Sarasota, then we would be spared the majority of its wrath. It was still a very large storm so it was clear there would be some damage from it and it continued to pound both coasts of Florida with rain and “storm surge” flooding, but it appeared our strongest fears may not come true.

By Monday morning, the storm had passed and people started coming out to assess the damage and clean up. Facebook became our communication tool with the people in Florida. Through one of the pages there, we started seeing pictures. The first showed the entrance into the park, which was flooded with a couple of feet of water. Access to the interior of the park was restricted but from outside it was apparent that the outer fence had taken some significant damage. As photos and video started appearing, it was obvious that most of the units had been unscathed by the storm. There were three or four that were damaged, mostly to the “Florida Rooms” or lanais that are somewhat more flimsy than the homes themselves. There was also a few trees down and it was not obvious from the pictures how much damage they had done.

By Wednesday, the park was open for people to come in and check on specific units. One of our friends in the area drove there and did a “walk around” of the house with us on FaceTime. This gave us some reassurance that there was nothing major wrong with our house and that we did not have to rush back to do any cleanup. The biggest thing is that we did not completely clean out the refrigerator and power was out for several days, so one of the first things we will have to do will be to completely clear it out and clean it before we can bring in the things we have left in the RV fridge.

So all and all, it appears Sarasota and Sun N Fun dodged a bullet with this storm. Of course other parts of Florida were not so lucky and the Keys were particularly devastated, as well as several Caribbean islands. Hurricane Irma was a killer and we are glad it is gone. It will be a long time before it is forgotten, however.

The Event of a Lifetime

Seven months ago, Ellyn made our reservation in Glenrock, WY at the Platte River Campground. At that time, she had checked with several campgrounds in the Casper, WY area and everything was full. Platte River was parking people in an open field with no services and still had room available. This was very fortuitous for us. It was probably the best of all places for us to be for the Great American Eclipse. We arrived on site on August 17th, quite early for the eclipse on the 21st, and just about the first camper to arrive in the field. There was one RV way down toward the river and another near a house to the west, who actually had service hook ups, but we were all by ourselves initially. Over the next few days, RVs, campers, and tenters moved in. By the time eclipse day arrived, there were an estimated 500 campsites, and probably more than 1000 people were ready for the event of a generation, for many, of a lifetime.

The view from atop our RV looking toward the Platte River.

Eclipse morning, the RV parking area.

Eclipse morning, the camping area towards the river.

By arriving early, we had lots of time for exploring the area and enjoying the little town of Glenrock. We quickly found out where the town got its name. This was a spot along the Oregon, California, and Mormon trails where people forded the river. Not too far from the campground is a large rock just off the road know as the “Rock in the Glen”. There are names and dates carved into the rock in many places form the people who came through the area on their way west. Geoff climbed up near the top of the rock and realized this would be a great place to view the eclipse. The rolling hills across the river would be covered by the moons shadow and you could probably get a great video of it rolling in and out.

We also got to know the town a little bit and the very friendly people in it. They seemed really happy to see the massive influx of people and the business it was bringing in. They had some local events set up for the weekend approaching the eclipse as well. There was a Prairie Days event in the town park and a Quilt and Art Show in the local Recreation Center. We took in these two events briefly and enjoyed them. We saw a recreation of the Pony Express and a fashion show of period dress for women in the 1800s.

Geoff had signed up in March for a project headed up by UC Berkeley and Google to enlist amateur photographers across the entire path of the eclipse to send them their photographs during totality. Then they would put them together into a single video showing the whole 90 minutes of totality. There had been video conference calls and Google Group for discussion of various aspects of the project and ideas on how to photograph the eclipse. Geoff had been very active in this project for many months and had worked hard on making sure he would be able to get good pictures and also be able to enjoy the eclipse itself. One of the key organizers of the project was i Casper, WY about 20 minutes away from Glenrock. She called for a meet-up on Friday before the eclipse in a bar in Casper. We went and had a great time talking with her and the other photographers who showed up. There were about 12 of us there and a Google video crew showed up and took video of us in our discussions. They ended up paying for the food we ate at the bar and the bar must have thought this was great publicity for them because they paid for our drinks.

So the day finally arrived, after many months of planning and many miles of travel. It was time to perform. Geoff was up before dawn and had all his equipment set up with more than two hours to go. There was not a cloud in the sky and the temperature was supposed to be in the low 70s at the start of the eclipse (first contact or C1 to the “umbraphiles”). The cosmos waits for no one so, right on schedule, the moon began covering the sun. Over the next hour, the sun slowly disappeared and the light became noticeably dimmer and the air cooler. Geoff had a timer running to give him alerts at key points during the eclipse. He did have some problems with the program on his computer that was running the cameras, but he discovered what was happening and had things working smoothly by the time totality occurred.

Finally, the sun was totally covered and the moon’s shadow enveloped us. A whoop went up from the crowd and cameras were clicking like crazy in every direction. The sun’s corona was bright in the sky over our heads and a twilight glow lit up the horizon in every direction. There was so much to see and so little time to see it. We can barely remember now what we were seeing. Suddenly Geoff’s timer indicated that it was time to look away from the sun and put your eclipse glasses back on. The solar disk started to peek out from behind the moon again and the landscape lit up again.

Again, it became a waiting game, this time until final contact (C4) at around 1:15 PM, about 3 hours after it started. Geoff’s cameras continued recording the fading eclipse phases until finally the inverter connected to the battery running all of the electronics stopped. At this point, Geoff disconnected his cameras and started reviewing what had been recorded. He was not disappointed. He started showing his results to people around him and they loved it. Over the next few days, he continued handling these pictures and uploaded all of his totality images to the servers for the Megamovie Project. Here is a sample of the images he captured.