Big Star

It is Big Star time and Marilyn is participating with the song Lower Your Standards by Neal Glandstone. Big Star is a show where the residences of RCB lip-sync to records of various “stars”. Neal is not as big star as most of the other presentations like Beach Boys and Ray Charles but the song was enjoyed by the crowd. Part of the reason I’m sure was Wayne that played the part of the drunken man on the cruise ship that the ladies were singing about. He came out with his beer, Playboy magazine, cigar, and straw hat and entertained the crowd with all the bad habits of a man mentioned in the song.
Big Star Night is always a big thing at RCB and the people enjoy it. I worked the lights and helped with the sound. It was Marilyn’s third year of participating in the show.

Tennis

Well the tennis tournament has started and Marilyn and I have not gotten off to the best start. But after the past three years of having some success I guess our time has come to watch the winners. I had good first round match in the men’s doubles but we lost in three sets. No excuses they just beat us. Marilyn had a little more trouble in her first round women’s doubles. The interesting thing is that our friends Ed and Pauline on the opposing teams. So now both of us are in the consolation round that happens this next week.
AS for the singles I got to play the top player in the park for my opening match. He plays at about a 4.5 or 5.0 level and I am about a 3.0 so there was never much doubt on the outcome only the time it would take. I am proud to say that I did get some points in almost every game and had some good shots. It is just that he would return them even better. It only took 30 minutes to loose 6-0 6-0 but was fun and a good experience. More consolation play there next week.
After beating Marilyn and her partner Anne, Pauline and Norma went on to win the women’s championship so Marilyn shouldn’t feel too bad. When you lose to the best it makes it easier to take.

Potato Feed

We are now into the full season of activities and it seems each one involves food in some way. We had the Potato Feed which is a private party given by two couples we have the privilege to know. It starts with a tournament of Table Tennis and Holley Board and ends with a baked potato with all the trimmings, salad and desert.
We made it past the first round of the tournament in both games but failed to reach the semi-finals. Since neither of the games are something we play often, I guess we should be happy. The host couples provide the potatoes, prizes, and other necessary preparations for a successful party and each of the guests bring a topping, salad, or desert in addition to their drink of choice.

Nova Scotia Night

Each year we have our Nova Scotia Night that is a lobster feed and fun. That includes chowder and wine to go with the entertainment. There are many people that make a party for 100 people work and I can’t mention them all. The one that must be mentioned is Laurie Mcclare. He is the organizer and puts it all together.
Both Pauline and I have had the opportunity to sing the last three year. We don’t sing together but are part of the entertainment. This year I sang The Last Farwell for the second time. I think it is always a crowd favorite. Of course you can’t have a song fest without Ruth at the piano. After it was all done she played while we sang along.
It seems many of our gatherings at RCB are based on food and this is just one more. They are pot-lucks, western barbecues and other gatherings that involve food and drink.

Palm Canyon

We visited the Palm Canyon which is part of the Indian Canyons of the Coachella Valley.
Centuries ago the ancestors of the Agu Caliente Cahuilla Indians settled in this area. The valleys provided abundant water for the animals and crops the Indians grew. With all the faults in the area water percolates to the surface to create an palm jungle next to the desert cactus.
Palm Canyon is one of three valleys with developed trails and other facilities for tourists or locals that want to hike in the area. The Palm Canyon is fifteen miles long and has numerous Washingtonia filifera (California Fan Palm) along the small stream. This palm is unique. It is the only palm native to western United States and is the largest palm in North America. It is the most cold tolerant palm in the world and the dead fronds remain attached to the trunk throughout its hundred-year lifespan. The skirt of fronds makes the palm trees very susceptible to fire. When lighting strikes a tree it will explode sending flaming leaves in all directions, however more fires are caused by human than lighting. In 1980 two small boys playing with matches started a fire that burned some 60,000 acres. The fire does not kill the palm tree because the only the skirt and green crowns are destroyed. The outer part of the tree will be charred but the palms are monocots which means the sensitive vascular tissue is strewn the moist trunk and not confined to the thin outer layer like most trees. So within a short time the palm have their green crowns with a black trunk. There are over 2,000 palms in this one valley.
We only hiked about two miles from the trading post and then back to and area below the trading post to have a picnic by the stream under the palm trees. The trading post sells all the wonderful things you would expect at a tourist area but the most interesting was the five hummingbird feeder they had place in what once was the information booth. At time five hummingbirds would all be feeding at one time at one of the feeders. This provided a real challenge for me to attempt to get a good picture. I took at least fifty pictures of the hummingbird and did manage to get a few good pictures.

Hot Air

For the second year the Balloon Festival held in Indio was a bust. Many of the larger balloons didn’t fly because of the wind and then nobody even unpacked their balloon the next day because of the threat of rain and a few drops falling. There is not an easy way to dry out your balloon before you put it away if it gets wet and nobody likes a wet balloon.
I did get to walk the 300 yards from our resort to the place they launch and got to see many of the balloons even if they didn’t fly. It is always a letdown to see them inflate the balloon and then take it down without leaving the ground. Many of the balloons that did fly did not go far and stayed very close to the ground.
More pictures can be seen at my Flickr Account.

Salton Sea

Well we are now settled in our Indio home and getting a chance to enjoy some of the reasons we come here. First of course is the weather. It is 60-70 and sunny during the day and only a little wind. We both have been playing tennis and I have been walking most moringins. Marilyn has joined the putter group again this year and enjoys meeting a different group of people from the tennis crowd.
We had our first opportunity to take a trip out of the part last Sunday to the Salton Sea. We just made a short trip to the North Shore area and the State Recreation Area. But did get to see a number of birds and it was good to get out.
Of course the sea gulls were the most abundant but we also say ducks, pelicans, stilts, and my favorite the white-feathered snowy egret. We did not take the time to really get the great photographs of the birds but did enjoy the walk around the shore.
We also took a drive to visit the Dos Palmos Preserve Oasis. We ad never been to a true oasis before and it was interesting. We met one young man leaving the area as we were going in and he said he had seen a cyote but we didn’t see one. It is interesting to see an area that always has water in the middle of the dry desert. The thick growth of palm trees created a dark covered pathway that we walked through the loop trail.
Just the first of many short day trips we hope to take this year to expand our enjoyment of the Coachella Valley.

Hana

I haven’t driven to Hana for a number of years. Each year we are in Maui, I think maybe we should do it but it seems we never get around to doing it. Of course there is all the discussion about should you do it or just take a tour. Well we did do the tour about seven years ago and with that you get the whole loop through the dirt/lava road that the rental car says DON”T drive. We also stopped and the little church that has the cemetery where Lindbergh is buried. It is a nice little old church but I don’t have a reason to visit the grave so don’t need to do that again.

Well this year we did it. I got the CD just to act as a guide but the main thing is start early and don’t be in a hurry. I pulled over often for those people that were interested in the destination and not the journey. Of course I wanted to take a lot of pictures so that required many stops. One of our stops was the Keanae Arboretum for a walk through the trees and flowers. The eucalyptus tree may be one of the most fun for the beautiful multi-colored trunk but there are many flowers and plants that make it a nice relaxing walk. The Royal Poinciana or Flame tree also is great to see and photograph.

There are many other spots along the way to stop and take pictures and two small villages that are probably nicer to see from the lookout than in town. Also the locals are not to happy with a lot of tourists going through their property. We did stop at one old church Kaulanapueo established in 1853. It has a very nice grounds and church. Very similar to the church in Makena established in 1832 that we have visited before and did again this year..

We packed our lunch and had it a park just before Hana. It might have been nicer to wait the short time and have it at the harbor in Hana. We didn’t visit anything but the harbor in Hana but I did take a picture from the harbor of the old Hawaiian village at the cultural center. It was during this time we had just a little rain but for the most part it was a great day.

We did stop at one park close to Hana where Marilyn took a rest and I walked around taking pictures. It had a nice black sand beach and many mongooses. I thin each bush and each rock wall had its share. They were introduced to control the rat population but now are killing the shore birds by eating there eggs.

We continued on past Hana to a waterfall but did not go as far as the Seven Pools. There could be some good pictures there but was ready to head back.

Lazy days

The stormy weather has not made for good snorkeling so we have been relaxing and doing other things. We took the drive up the mountain. We didn't go all the way to the top of Haleakala but did walk through Hosmer Grove. I was looking for birds but all we saw were the two Nene geese at the sign for Haleakala. You could hear a lot of birds but they were well hid in the trees.
We also took a walk along the beach front hotels in Wailea-Makena. There are some nice beachs and hotels. Lots of birds and beautiful flowers along the walk. We go up into the Fairmont Hotel to see what it is like. It is very nice but I am not sure that is my way to see Hawaii to say nothing of the cost.
We also took the time to go to Lahaina for dinner at Kimo's. That is one thing we always like to do. They have fresh fish prepared in several ways and then of course you have to have Hula Pie.
We continue to lose at tennis

Rain in Hawaii

Well it is Sunday and we have finished our first week in Maui. We have had some great snorkeling, played tennis and lost, well we won the second time, and I have taken a lot of pictures. We are in the middle of a rain storm that may last until Tuesday so we have a forced break.
I have been processing pictures and one thing I discovered as I was working on the Halloween pictures was the one of the picture of a nicely dressed couples that I took looked liked Kelsey Grammer. Then to my surprise in the paper it said that he and his wife were at the celebration. He was one of the families that had to evacuate their home in California because of the fires. We meet another couple when we were picking up our car said they came to Maui because they had to evacuate their home. I guess that if you have to leave your home you might as well come to Maui for a week or two.
We will have to wait until the rain ends in a day or two to enjoy a drive around the island. One thing the rain did was produce a great sunset this evening. It didn't rain all day be off and on with little sun. I got my morning walk before the rain. Yesterday we took some of the pictures I took of Fergie and his birds to him as he was reading on the beach.

Halloween in Maui

Since we started come to Maui during Halloween the last three years we have made the trip to Lahaina for the big celebration. They say 30,000 people show up so I will take there word. It starts at 2:30 in the afternoon when they shut down Front Street. They have waited until later in previous years but had problems getting all the parked cars off the street before the kids parade at 4:30. It stop about midnight, I don't know the exact time we never stay that long.
Costumes are of all kinds. I would say that the smaller costumes see to show up as it gets later. We made our appearance in the Raggedy Ann and Andy we wore the last two years. Our picture was taken many times so I am sure it is out there somewhere besides the picture I post. The kids parade at 4:30 is very informal once the band, fire truck, and dignitaries make the trip it never really stops. People are parading up and down Front street all night to see and be seen.
We got dinner from one of the stands under the banyan tree and spend the evening walking a sitting on the sidelines like the thousands of others. About 7:30 a light rain started so we decided to call it an day so any mini costumes will not be in my pictures. I only showed you the front view of the Naked Chef so you will never know if he had anything on under that apron.

Snorkeling

I would have to say that one of my favorite things to do whenever I visit Maui is to go snorkeling. My first attempt over twenty years ago was not a good experience but I stuck with it and now I can't wait to get in the water and see what fish will present itself today. There is such a variety of colorful fish in the waters around Maui that I always enjoy myself.
Of course now I have added the additional task of trying to take pictures. The additional problem with picture taking is the fish do not pose and as the water stirs up the sand and other junk on the ocean floor each speck interferes with that perfect shot. The use of Photoshop provides many tools to save some of the pictures but I have taken over 500 pictures and probably only have about 20 that are much to talk about.
One of the problems I have is lighting and the deeper the water the greater the problem. Of course I always want the light coming from behind me so would the fish please move over and then stop while I take a picture. It is impossible to use the viewfinder or view screen to see what is in the frame so I just point and shoot. I find that I tend to aim high and the fish is at the bottom of the picture.
I think our trip to Ahihi fish preserve Tuesday provided the best shooting for many different fish and clear water.

Hawaii 1

Well we are settling into the Hawaiian routine. One surprise for us was the wait for our compact car. There was a long line of people waiting for their car at Alamo. Well they had a long line of convertibles that nobody had rented them so the lady outside said I can upgrade you to a convertible for free and about five of us took her up on the deal. So we are now driving a mustang convertible for the two weeks. Is is warm but has been getting windy in the afternoon and we had to up the top up coming back from Lahaina because of the wind.
I have been out snorkeling twice but really didn't get to much for pictures. The water is rough enough that the pictures are not sharp but I did see a big turtle that lives across the street on Sunday. Of course when Marilyn when out with my on Monday we didn't find it. I have also been taking my four mile walk each morning and taking some pictures of flowers and birds.
Sunday we took a drive up to Lahaina to see the keiki hula show. It was a much younger group that we often see. They also had a young boy that had just recently won a hula competition for his group.
While walking the beach across the street from our resort we saw a man out feeding the birds. He says he does it about every day and the birds seem to know him. If he is just sitting reading they will come up looking for food.

Fall in Corvallis

Fall in Oregon can be very cool and wet but it is also very beautiful. The trees and shrubs turn wonderful reds and yellows and the clouds create colorful sunrises and sunsets. It seems the spiders have also come out to build their webs in the trees and shrubs. I have been trying to capture some of this color in my photographs. It is not easy to get just the picture you want. It seems the light, color, and focus never seem to come together on the same picture.
I have been able to get a few pictures that show some of the beauty that it seems only the eye can see and fully appreciate the full beauty. It is a short time and you really get a mix of weather and color that will soon pass. We now head to Maui and all of this will chance.

Stevie's Birthday

Well Stevie is now ten years old. We went to Portland last Sunday to celebrate her birthday. Marilyn bought a cake and we were off to meet Stevie, Joanna, Lance, and Brooke. The first order of business was for Grandma to take Stevie to ToysR Us shopping. Stevie selected the game “20 Questions”, a large art set of pencils, crayons and other necessary supplies, construction paper, a granddaughter bracelet, and a subscription to “Ranger Rick” magazine.
Then it was off to Chuck E. Cheese’s for pizza, soda, and games. I guarded the table while Marilyn took pictures, and the others used their tokens to play games and win tickets for prizes. It was not the best pizza and definitely not a quiet place but the girls love it.
Once the tokens were gone and the pizza eaten it was back to the house for cake and ice cream. I think a good time was had by all and it was good to see everyone again.

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.

The Mammoth Site

While Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse, and Devils Tower all provided some opportunity to learn a little about the site and people represented, for the most part they were photo opportunities and a chance to see something I had wanted to see in person. The visit to The Mammoth Site in Hot Springs, SD was different and part of a continuing educational dig into the ice age.
We went to Hot Springs on the morning of the day we visited Crazy Horse. It was a nice drive through the grasslands and we saw prairie dogs and bison along the way. The actual site started as a housing development for Hot Springs in 1974 when the person leveling the property to start construction noticed he had uncovered a tusk and as they say the rest is history. The developer agreed to sell the land to a group to develop the site. One requirement that he placed on the development was that no bones where to leave the site. This means that anyone wanting to study the bones must come to Hot Springs.
The have build a building over this onetime sinkhole that contains at least 55 Mammoths and many other animals that were trapped 26,000 years ago. You tour through the dig that they estimate will last a least 60 more years and see many bones still resting where they were discovered. In addition they have a display area and windows that allow you to look in at the work being done in the lab. This was an unexpected site that I was very glad we took the time to visit. However, Marilyn says we will not be part of the volunteer group that comes in the spring to help with the dig.

Mt. Rushmore - Crazy Horse

Our Bed and Breakfast provided an excellent location to visit the various sites around Custer, SD. Since both Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse Memorial had evening shows including a light show we decided to reach the memorials in the afternoon and spend time there until the night shows. Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate for a successful visit to either site.
On our way to Mount Rushmore we drove through Custer State Park along Needles Highway. It was a slow drive with a narrow winding road with great views. The Eye of the Needle was one of two one-way tunnels along the road. We meet a bus along the road and I don’t think I could fit it through the tunnels. It was slow but a lot of places to stop and enjoy the views since I was not getting to look at the views while I was driving. The road also took us past the Black Hills Playhouse. It had closed the day before so there was just people around packing up and moving out.
Before stopping at the memorial we visited the Gutzon Borglum museum. As we arrived at Mount Rushmore we were greeted by a mass of people and rain. We grabbed our umbrellas and headed for a view of the famous memorial to Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt, and Lincoln. We did get some breaks in the rain and in fact once we started the Ranger Walk below the faces it stopped raining making for a pleasant walk and good pictures. A number of the mountains goats roam the area along with chipmunks and even a tortoise. After the Ranger Walk about the presidents we listened to a talk on how the monument was carved and visited the museum about the construction. We waited around for the night show honoring the presidents and veterans and the big lighting of the presidents faces. We got to enjoy a very nice sunset and as the lights were turned on all the clouds the added to the sunset hid the faces and all we saw was beautifully lit fog.
Like Mt. Rushmore the Crazy Horse Memorial is mostly a photo op of a carved mountain but the plan for Crazy Horse Memorial is so large you wonder if it ever will be completed. The sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski is larger than life person that started a project that is now continued by seven of his ten children and his wife. Mt. Rushmore would fit on the forehead of Crazy Horse and only the face is done at this time. There is a large display of Native American artifacts and other things to see. You can even ride a van up to the arm right under the face for only $125. No, we didn’t do that. We did not have to put up with rain on this visit be it was much colder than it was the night before a Mr. Rushmore and the wind made watching the excellent laser show a freezing experience. I did sit through the show and got some pictures but once we got back to the Bed and Breakfast Marilyn ran a tub full of hot water and we both took a turn warming up in the hot water.