Can March be here already?

Parked here on the south Texas coast for the last month, we have had the luxury of smelling the sea air, hearing the sounds of the waves, and experiencing a much different weather style than most of the population here in the USA. As I read again about further snow storms and frigid cold temperatures, I gaze about our environment, listening to the heater come on and off and realize just how fortunate we are to be here, even if it is cold and blistery outside. Oh we have our own set of turmoils, but they pall in comparison. We aren't shut down because of impassable roads, although the drive across the bridge in 40+mph winds can be dicey. Our landscape is white, but white with sand not snow. We don't shovel it and we don't slip in but we do bundle up in it, but to a lesser level, as the winds off the water along with the temperatures in the 40's can be biting. And these very same winds are actually able to rock our solidly built RV. How odd that feels. Somehow, however, it doesn't seem to be at all comparable. The fog accompanies all of this which gives an eerie cast to everything but it does not compare to the brightness of the moon shining on shimmering white snow in the dark of the night. Yes, each has it's ups and positives and each has it's downs and negatives, but the real test is, can we live in today wherever we are to the best of our ability?

 fog rolling in

 Danny with his new b/day toy

We will be staying here in the area until after Spring Break as we are bringing the two younger grands down to visit the last half of Spring Break. Sure hope that the weather breaks a little for them. If it doesn't they will be playing baseball/softball in the COLD and then beaching it in the COOL of spring rather than the heat normally found at this time of year. We have quite a few things that we can do with them, but not put up a tent for them to sty in. Reservations were hard to come by and we got one at a beach but the RV parking is not where you can also put up a tent. 

After this we are rather at loose ends without plans. Where we end up is anyone's guess.

February was our birthday/anniversary/Valentine's Day celebration month. Rather than try and get everything on the appropriate day we started celebrating the month of February early in our life together. We had gotten rather lax in the last few years as we were always somewhere else: Peace Corps mostly. This year was different. We took a weekend trip down to Port Aransas to see if we wanted to spend the month on the coast. Danny was looking to give me "a beach experience". I love the beach but not to the point where I am on the beach for the whole day. What I really like is the sounds and the smells associated with the beach. On the way down we stopped and did some shopping in Houston, well Sugarland actually. My how that place has grown. It is now a huge complex of high end establishments. In the end it was actually difficult to keep the actual dates straight. in order to recognize the days as they occurred. What a challenge that was, but a good one. 

Now we are into March and with it comes to mind "beware the Ides of March". Just what does this mean? According to online sources the Ides of March is actually MArch 15 on the Julian calendar. It is the day when Julius Caesar was assassinated and was also a religious celebration day. In the ancient Roman calendar, March was the beginning of the new year and the significance of the "Ides of March" is that it was the first full moon of the new year, and as such, the date was not always on the same day. So how does this relate to the phrase being on my mind at different intervals? The phrase is associated with a sense of foreboding - do I have that? If so, then about what? I have no idea but when I started to look it up I was actually looking for an idea for a rug much for March. Oh well, that's the way things turn in the real world and I have learned something new.

Heading to Canada

We have spent the last week in E Texas in San Augustine in the RV, after an interesting and pleasant visit with the grands and Jamie. Families have challenging times and this just happens to be one of them. My heart goes out to them, but as an outsider, I can only be available to listen and be supportive. Taking sides simply can not be done, as much as one would like to.

Tomorrow, after putting the RV into the shop for routine maintenance, we will leave for Dallas and then on to Edmonton on Sunday. Visiting for 4 days with my parents will be interesting due to the frigid cold. Don't think we will be getting out much so will have to take some crafts to do and reading books. Also won't rent a car, relying on "shank's ponies"and taxis for getting out and about.

Back on home turf

We arrived back in the USA on the 8th after an overnight stop-over in London Heathrow Airport. We stayed in a hotel only 1.5kms from the airport but we discovered that was "as the crow flies". We made a complete trip around the whole airport to get to it on a public bus. Fun but as it was dark, a little nerve-wracking trying to identify our hotel and bus stop. As it turns out, the bus actually stops at all the hotels along the strip, either right in front or by going up to the door. You buy a round trip ticket the getting back the next day. And by did it cost - reminded us of our trip and costs when we came with Brooke. Still, it was certainly a good way to break the travel and then leave in the morning and arrive in the afternoon.

It didn't take us but a few days to get back into the swing of things and to the coach. We were ready to get back in her and back into a normal sort of lifestyle for us. First a visit with the grands, son and DIL. It sure was good to visit with them all again.

We even got to visit with the oldest, Zach, as he didn't return to university until the next day. it is amazing to see my little grandson now a man and a 6'4" one at that carrying on adult conversations.

We have to get the coach roadworthy before we head out so decided to go to Canada to visit mom & dad while it is in the shop. We were again lucky that our friend was able to take us to the airport again. Thanks Cathie.

Spain, we are here ... #1

We discovered that for basically the same price as a ticket back to Dal, we could fly first to Span and then on to Dallas, via London. So that is what we did. We left for Spain with a plan of renting an apartment in Valencia for 6 weeks, visiting with our friends from PC who live there. Out arrival took us first through Barcelona with another train ride to Valencia - this time a fast train. What a difference.

 Arriving in Valencia we went immediately to our newly acquired temporary apartment with a fabulous view overlooking the City Hall and plaza of the historical part of town. 
We will be here a little over 6 weeks, which will allow us to do some touring around the area, visiting with friends, and experiencing the Christmas/New Year season a different way. Synopsing our stay, we ...
~ attended free concerts of all genres, our favourite being the symphonic bands of Valencia. They are comprised of woods and percussion, and perhaps an occasional viola and bass. There are 650+ bands in the provence of Valencia, 450+ music schools, and music is mandated as a compulsary course in the school system.

 lining up for free tickets

 the concert hall, presenting a band this night of over 70 members and shared with the youth band of over 90 members, with some overlapping.

 concerts in the plazas and public places

~ we rode the tour bus and trams to visit different places in town, including the beach on the Medeterranean 

~ rode the buses with friends, one trip taking us through the rice fields only 6 miles outside of Valencia

~rode trains near and far, with and without friends, even making new friends

 Tom & JoAnn

 Gary & Peg (my favorite pix of them)

~celebrated Christmas in a far different culture than ours. They do not have Santa or a facsimile, they have the 3 Kings and they celebrate on January 6th rather than the 25th. 

 "Can you believe they put this ridiculous hat on  my head?"

 The majority of the lights were fund in the main park in front of City Hall.

 A small Christmas tree is better than none at all. Besides, this one will last all year round - a nice touch to leave our hostess.

We all brought a little bit of home and shared with new friends from Portugal and China. 

~got a taste of the upcoming March Fallas festival, visited places of culture and art,

This group had their own band accompanying them, right onto the public bus.

 This actually represents the hairdo that is seen when dressed in the costumes above.

~ and so much more. We ended our trip to Spain with a weeklong narrow gauge train tour across the top of Spain, going from France all the way along the coast to the Atlantic Ocean. Read about that in the next posting.

Jan 1, 2014 Happy New Year

Wishing each and everyone a happy, healthy and prosperous new year. 

May 2014 be all that you wish for and more.

Dec 24 ...

Christmas in Valencia, Spain. Traditional American dinner tomorrow with friends here ... yummmmm

Danny & I wish all our family and friends a very Merry Christmas and a prosperous, fulfilling 2014.

Our 2013 yearly letter ...

 click here  

Christmas in Valencia, SP

Quito at last ...

It took another long bus ride, but we finally made it into Quito, the final destination on this leg of our journey. Arriving at the bus station, we were very surprised to find that it was extremely new and extremely far from town, both the heritage old town and the new town where we were staying. Taxi it was and at a pretty hefty price for Ecuador.

Although we only had a couple of days here, we did have a couple of things that we really wanted to see and do: the teleférico and the Center of the Earth. As well, we wanted to discover the "life of the party" part of town. There were supposed to be lots of good restaurants in the area as well.

The TelefériQo, a gondola-type lift that takes one up to the side of Pinchincha Volcano overlooking Quito, is one of the highest of it's kind in the world. Starting at 10,226 feet, it takes you to up to 12,945 feet (you can imagine our trying to walk up this) sumitting at Cruz Loma, which is definitely still not the top. From the end of the lift, you then hike up to the peak of the mountain which stands at 15,413/15.696 feet, depending on which peak.

The Guagua peak is an active volcano last erupting in 1999 (on the Western slope, while Quito is below the Eastern slope). This volcano is part of the Volcano Avenue, a line of 14 very high peaks/volcanoes along the spine of Ecuador, many of which can be seen far off in the distance on a clear day.

The day we went up was cloudy, very windy and misting. From the gondola, the view of the city was a little misty but for the most part clearly visible. At the top, walking was slow going in order to not become breathless but the views fantastic. Touted as a full tourist attraction, we were a little disappointed to find most of the stores and kiosks closed and the restaurant not really a restaurant but rather a vending machine type cafeteria.

As we had brought a taxi up to the gondola and no taxis stayed waiting, when we got to the bottom, we had two options available to us: Wait in line for a taxi to bring some one up or walk down and try and find public transportation. Opting for the walk down, we eventually got to a bus stop sign. Enquiring of a guard, yes in deed the buses came up but who knows where exactly they went. Luckily for us, a taxi came up and discharged his clients and we were able to flag him down.

The next day being the day before our departure, we took public transportation,

costing a whole 12 cents each, out to the Middle of the World. A true Disneyland, a la Ecuador style. No rides, lots of restaurants and even more tourist shops offering the usual objects. The center of our reason for being there was the obelisk marking the true "middle", latitude 0'0'0".  The point was calculated and found by the Frenchman Charles Marie de la Condamine in 1735. Here we straddled the equator,  one foot in the northern hemisphere and one in the southern; saw a unique sundial showing the seasons as well as the time; and took the pre-requisite photos. And yet, one discovers that the true "middle" is actually a short distance to the north, running through someone's private establishment. 

In the main building at the bottom or start, which ever way that you look at it, there was an art display showing active production of the hummingbird statues that we had seen in other communities.

 We enquired and found out that it was not a competition but rather a public beautification service, with time and effort donated by various local artists. The artist that we received this information from is actually scheduled to have showing in Austin in the early months of 2017. The ideas being presented were all a matter of interpretation and, as usual, some attracted and some had no call at all to me. All in all only a short visit was necessary to "see and do it all".

In between our site-seeing we also explored Quito, starting out with our usual double decker bus tour.

 On this we saw from afar,  to close-up;

 the colorful;  the fanciful; 

 and the interpretive.

 In exploring the cathedral,

we were able to go up into the bowels of the roof buttresses, something never done before.

 Imagine walking across a catwalk above the ceiling of the cathedral. 

 Designed somewhat along the lines of Notre Dame, but finished just in time for the Pope's visit in 1985 over 100 years later, it was dizzying experience. 

Exploring the restaurant area we came across a true Mexican restaurant, TexMex that is.

Taking a chance, we ended up with a very tasty meal and pleasant conversation with a lady traveling solo.

The next day we headed to Spain, the next leg of our journey for the fall of 2013 ...