Nuremberg

Our day trip to Nuremberg was beautiful, overwhelming, and enjoyable. Since it was fall the color was great and everywhere you looked the fall colors were outstanding.
Since about three hours of our time was spent and the former Nazi Party Rally Grounds, the amount of information and remains of the building that were never completed after 1939 left us tired just from standing and listening. The Documentation Centre opened in 1994 provides an excellent source of information about the Nazi Party and the plans for these rally grounds that cover eleven square kilometers. We listened to the audio guide for about two and a half hours and were still not through the complete exhibit. But we quickly went through the rest of the exhibit and walked around the uncompleted Congress Hall. It was a nice day and it would have been a beautiful walk around the Dutzendteich lake but time did not allow and some food seemed necessary so we caught the bus back to the center of town.
Once we were at the Hauptmarkt we found the Bratwursthausle and a nice table outside to enjoy our lunch of bratwurst and beer. We then wondered up to the Castle but it was too late to take a tour so wondered the grounds and enjoyed the garden.
Our walk back to the train station was a pleasant time of enjoying the sights and doing a little shopping. We left tired but with many things that still need to be visited.

Paluang Indigo Home

The Royal Family in Thailand has a huge influence on the people of Thailand and is greatly loved by the people. The present King became king when he was only 19 years old and has reigned for over 60 years. He as no political power but works very hard to improve the life of the people of Thailand.
The Queen is very active in visiting, promoting, and helping the women of the villages to develop cottage industry to help raise the standard of living for the rural people. We visited one such place, the Paluang Indigo Home in Thunghong Phrae. This family as received recognition from the Queen for there work and proudly displays pictures with members of the royal family. Here cotton is printed with wax designs using block prints. The material is then dyed using dye from the indigo plant. The finished product is used for many things including a shirt I got, tablecloths, and bags.
As you can see in the picture of Marilyn making her print, we got an opportunity to make a small print using some small wire patterns, which they dyed for us and we got the next morning. To make their designs they use larger wooden blocks with more designs in each block than the simple wire frame we used. Some of the block designs are shown in the picture. In my picture I am wearing the shirt that I bought at the Paluang Indigo Home.

Elephant Trek

There are always activities that you look forward to doing when you look over the itinerary for a trip. The elephant trek was one of the things we were anticipating on this trip. We had done an elephant ride on your trip to Africa but still it sounded interesting.
It was really much more than a ride. The elephants are very import in Thailand for many reasons. In the past they were a big part of the logging of teak lumber. Now that the logging as decreased many of the elephants were unemployed. The tourist trade has been just what they needed. It is easier work and earns their food. Of course you must remember that elephants only work until noon. After that it is too hot and they need to rest and enjoy life.
We started with the ride up and down hill and through the river. Of course all the elephants knew just where a number of stations had been established with people selling banana and sugar cane. We had a nice ride but going down hill was the hardest to keep in the seat and keep my camera from hitting a restraining bar. There was no place to put your feet so you couldn’t just that to help you hold your position.
After the ride there was ample time to interact with the elephants. The younger elephants that were in training were there to ride and feed for a small tip. They would take the tip from you and give to the trainer. They also went to the river to play and spray water at the people watching.
They then game a program of some of the activities they had learned in their training. There was soccer, basketball, and logging along with other demonstrations on skill and strength. The big finish was three of the elephants painting a picture as we watched.

PAIN and Thai Massage

Today I will write about my only bad experience on the Thailand trip, the Thai Massage. It might be because of my size and the fact that I am on blood thinner but this experience is still haunting me.
Since I am on a blood thinner, when I bump my leg I get a small bump from blood building up under the skin. Well I have a few on my leg and the lady giving the massage took them as muscle cramps and applied an oil and tried to work them out. This was very painful and in the end I had to take the leg away from her.
The second pain I am not sure what happen or if the pain is a cracked rib, as I assume. I have had cracked ribs before so am aware of the pain and know there is not much you can do but take painkillers. I did not see a doctor but the pain on the bottom left rib started during her working on my back and still hurts today. It is better and I know that some of the yard work I am doing is not the best for it but I will recover. Maybe she felt the bigger they are the harder you have to push. It was defiantly a deep muscle massage and maybe just TOO deep.
All that said, it was only one experience that I would not recommend of the many outstanding things we did on the trip.

Home Again

We are back from our OAT trip to Cambodia and Thailand. It was a good trip and I hope to add some notes about the trip each day for a few days. I have over 2000 photographs to edit and process, yard work that needs to be done, and a few other things to do so it will take awhile.
The weather was good and we only had rain on parts of a few days. The storm that hit Myanmar did not cause damage in northern Thailand but did give some rain. The trip provide and great many experiences in food, travel, culture, and sites that are difficult to show in pictures or explain in word but I will try.
It was a good trip and very nice people. Our leader Lin was knowledgeable and funny and it was great traveling with her. Our group started with 14 but one woman tore ligaments in her ankle and had to return home early in the trip. Her sister that was traveling with her went with her to assist in the travel.
I will continue to add some pictures to my flickr account as I get some processed.

High Desert Museum

We made our yearly visit to the High Desert Museum and got to see a lot of the exhibits. It is into the winter so there was no “Birds of Prey” show and we didn't take the time to visit the Native American's Exhibit
The big show of the day was at the Desertarium. Lizards, snakes, tortoise, scorpions, and gila monster were out under the heat lamps. They had a short presentation and there was even an opportunity to pet the snake or submit a name for the two new gila monsters. The Birds of Prey are usually my favorite but it is now the winter season so all we saw were the birds in their cage and the wire mesh made pictures difficult.
The homestead exhibit had two sheep and a lady acting as the homesteader and telling you about the life in the little cabin. The steam sawmill is nice but I have never been there the days they have it running. I think it is only like four times a year but all the the lumber used in building the barn comes from the mill. The 1 to 12 scale model of a sawmill is interesting. It took the man 25 years to build and is a very nice job. They say the steam engine even works. I will have to take their word on that.
The river otter talk was just that. The 12 year old male was not going to get up from his nap for a few fish. They had a second female until last March when she died of old age. Both the lynx and the bobcat were also taking there nap all day long.
We did go through the Spirit of the West Gallery that has a number of very nice life size dioramas and also visited a gallery with a large glass exhibit and video.
Several places had bird feeders and benches that provided an opportunity to watch the bird and squirrels feeding.

Eagle Crest

We have settled in at Eagle Crest Resort for the week. It is cool but looks like it should be a good week with little rain. The trees have started to change so there are some spots of color among the pine trees. There was a touch of snow on the pass as we came over but don't think there will be much more this week. I did put in the chains in just in case.
Sunday we took a walk down by the river and through the residential area. Once we reached the hotel, I continued on for the longer walk by the river while Marilyn headed straight back to the condo. Didn't see many animals on the walk. There was the large flock of geese that live on the lake and golf course behind the hotel that are always there with a few ducks. I don't think they ever fly more than 100 yards. I am sure there are many golfers that wish roast goose was served more often at the local restaurant. I did see some other ducks and geese along the river that do fly and would fit into a different group that the ducks and geese by the lake.
When I returned to the condo Marilyn told me about all the birds and deer that had come by to pay a visit. In fact five deer seem to just live around the condo. Marilyn called them the security force for the area. There were three smaller deer and their two mothers in the group. The doe would come up to eat crackers from the people next door.
We played a game of tennis in the afternoon and then I went to get some additional pictures of the area in the late afternoon light. We will be playing tennis and visiting the area on days with little rain.

Chattanooga

You can’t visit Chattanooga without visiting the Chattanooga Choo Choo. Well sorry it isn’t a train, it is a motel. Well there is a train there but it never moves. You can sleep or eat in a train car but that is about it. The lobby is the old train station so it is nice but we didn’t take a ride on the Chattanooga Choo Choo.
The views around Chattanooga are great and we did enjoy all of the views of the river and hills but one of our big days was a trip to the Aquarium. It is located in the river front area and part of the development they are doing. Also by the river is a wonderful park and we even took a ride on the carousel.
We spent a good part of the day visiting the aquarium and all the animals. I even got a few good pictures to share. The sea horse exhibit was fun and I really enjoyed the butterfly exhibit. The fresh water exhibit was nicely done and where we spent most of the time because it was new to us. It is all in a small footprint because the exhibit is really displayed in a vertical fashion. You take an escalator up to the top and wind your way down through all the displays.

We also saw a model home from the 60-70's that never really caught on. It is now for sale and you can buy it if you want.

The Journey not the Destination

Well we are home and I will cover the first two days of the trip home. Usually we only take two days to come home but decided to detour through the wine and redwood country of northern California. I had hoped to make a relaxing trip out of the journey home and for the most part we were successful.
The first day was the normal long day of fast driving. The only real problem we had was the rest stop we have always used to eat lunch and take a break was closed. That meant we had to backtrack about ten miles to the four corners truck stop that we have also used in the past. Since I had cooked up some of the leftover chicken breast for our lunch that day we ended up eating in the parking lot and not the Subway in the truck stop. It was a nice day so wasn’t too bad.
We didn’t know the area we planed to stop so were just guessing of a good place. Fairfield seemed like a large city on the map and was just before Napa and so we thought that would be a good place. We got off the freeway and tried to find a motel all we found was a Motel 6. It didn’t look too bad so we stopped for the night. As we drove on the next morning through Napa and Sonoma both looked like better places to stop. I will file that away for next time. It would only be about an hour more driving.
The next day it was slow down, stop to take pictures and enjoy the journey. It was early in the day as we drove through the wine country so no stops to taste the wine but did enjoy the wineries along the way. We did stop at one small shop and ended up buying a tablecloth that I am assured is just what we need for the deck. And it was 50% off, so you couldn’t go wrong.
The focus for the day was the redwoods. I had never been though them so wanted to enjoy it all. We started on the drive called Avenue of the Giants and got as far as the Visitor Center. Just past the Visitor Center there had been a slide and the road was closed. So we made a stop and the center and one other selected grove for a half-mile loop walk. It was great the large trees both standing and others that had fallen. The size was such that a picture does not really show what the eye can see. On the walk we also saw a number of blooming wildflowers, including the trillium.
We made the stop at Crescent City in northern California for the night. Better that the night before but still some bad choices. More on that to follow.