Traveling with the Retirees
We seem to have Maine to ourselves. Well us and about 20% of the National Association of Retirees. September in Maine is beautiful as you can see. Pretty much wherever we go people are friendly. People say hello and smile.
We had to drive around a lot today to find the nice places. Since Maine is literally thousands upon thousands of inlets from the sea, its not like you can drive up the coast.
We spent a long time just driving around not ever finding the places we were looking for. But we did find beautiful places and eventually found Rockport and Camden which are two picture perfect harbors right on the sea.
Even the dogs here just relax
Tu found some Apples on the ground. But she really wants to steal them from people’s trees so she didn’t eat them.
Peak a Boo
And we found Lobster!
We found a beautiful harbor called Rockport
And Tu did illegal things that could have gotten us in big trouble
We spent the afternoon walking around the beautiful harbor and just watching nature
And we at Clam Chowder for Dinner
And fresh clams steamed
Autumn in Maine
Tu and I are taking a trip to coastal Maine and Vermont. I arrived a day early from my business trip, got the rental car and explored a bit. It is surprisingly warm here and sunny but not surprisingly beautiful as well.
I expect we will see our share of Lighthouses. I love lighthouses.
This was on the side of a restaurant downtown Portland, I liked it.
This guy was painting this mural by himself
Lobster traps stacked outside a factory. You can buy lobster rolls everywhere here.
A beautiful seaside home. Imagine the view they have everyday.
Some boys selling clams at the shack in Kinnecut Maine
Above the lighthouse, fog rolls in slowly
A beautiful harborside town. Quaint shops and restaurants to walk by slowly.
The colors of autumn are starting to come out.
American Cyclist in Amsterdam
I had an extra free day in Holland before returning back to America, so I called my old friend – Pete Jordon- to see if he wanted to get together.
On the first day of college, I broke out my Gibson Electric Guitar and Peavy Amp and I turned the volume up to 10 and I was rocking out playing some Van Halen songs. This metal-head looking guy poked his head in the room and said, “Can I Join You?”.
Well that guy turned out to be the first guy I ever met at St Mary’s and we were life long friends that shared an interest in rock and roll and music.
Pete’s an Accomplished Author and Cycling Expert
Fast forward years later. Pete now lives in Amsterdam. Has written 2 major books and is considered one of the foremost experts in biking in Amsterdam. He published this book last year – In the City of Bikes. He travels around the world now speaking about cycling in Amsterdam.
Pete text me before I arrived by train and told me to meet him by the Piano in the central hall of the train station. I was surprised when 15 minutes after I arrived, he came strolling up with two bikes. One for me. And one for him. Pete was going to take me on a biking exploration through Amsterdam. Imagine my luck!
Pete took me wooshing down streets without a care. At first I was very afraid because I thought I would fall off the bike, or even hit a car. But something is very nice about Amsterdam, it is really a very bike friendly city. Bikes essentially have the right away over cars, over people, over everything. In Amsterdam, bikes are at the top of the pecking order. I have never experienced anything like it. It was like going back in time to another era.
Amsterdam is a Beautiful City
So Pete and I spent the whole afternoon together, talking, riding, going through parks, getting lunch, getting ice cream, visiting outdoor museums and fairs.
The whole city was beautiful as winded are way through it. It was flat so pedaling was effortless but we covered many miles in a short period of time.
It was getting late and I needed get back to my hotel so Pete took me back to the train station. When we arrived there were thousands of bikes up front. Pete parked our bikes and headed me over the train.
I was so thankful that I got the time to spend with Pete. Here I was on the other side of the world, riding bikes with an old friend and catching up on all the funny stories. I live a good life I must say.
Cheese and Danish
I am in Holland for the week and took some pictures around the city I am staying in – The Hague. This country loves Milk and Cheese and Bikes.
This guy likes cheese. He is a spy.
Emergency truck on the canals in Delft
Biker going past a church. He is not going to church. He is going to smoke marijuana instead.
Pretty flowers next to the train station
This cheese smelled good. (not)
This was a nunnery. The nuns will serve you coffee.
A little boy rides his bike past pictures of windmills.
Little John Didn’t Want to Burn the Place Down
Patricio had a little fiesta last Saturday at his El Rancho and as typical it was a real man festival with a campfire and steaks as big as Texas. Little John was the youngest little guy there so naturally he stole the show.
Here he is trying to party poop and blow out the campfire just as Patrick started it. Little John is not too great at blowing out campfires though. But he really tries which is what is important
And after he got tuckered out we put a hat on him and told him to pose for the camera – which he did.
And finally when we had all had enough it was time for steak. And guess who really, really loves steak?
The Daily Grind
Trying to take good photos is a little bit like riding on a roller coaster. Sometimes you go up a roller coaster and its quite boring and sometimes you go down the roller coaster and its exciting.
Yesterday, was one of those trudge up the roller coaster to try to take a good photograph. Tu and I, as we do drove around San Diego looking for interesting things. I found some good places. I took some good photographs of odd things in the seedy neighborhoods and along the San Diego docks.
When we got home. I had heard that there were going to be some brilliant fireworks that would be shooting off at 9 pm along the waterfront in San Diego. As part of the Summer Pops series in San Diego they light off fireworks when the concerts end, and since this was labor day weekend they were going to have a really nice show.
So we headed in the car and went to Centennial Park in Coronado. It was a very nice night and surprisingly we had the beach almost to ourselves. But we were an hour early so Tu sat on the blanket while I played around trying to get the composition just right so when the fireworks went off, I could just snap away.
As I was playing with the camera, I managed to delete all of the good pictures that I had taken earlier in the day. I cursed myself. You can never get those back. So here I was at 9pm with nothing to show for the days work (well it wasn’t really work, we had fun).
Well, I finally got the picture composition right after screwing everything up and took some fair pictures of the city against the still of the night. Since I already have this picture from multiple other trips, I decided to turn it black and white.
A boring black and white shot of San Diego
Then the fireworks started. But they started not even close to where I had my camera setup on the Tripod. So I had to move the camera about and in the process missed about half of the fireworks. Then when I did get it setup, the camera was positioned too low and the pictures were coming out blurry.
Then the fireworks ended. So after all day. I really had nothing to show for it. That’s ok though. Tu had salvaged the affair by FaceTiming the firework show to all her nieces and nephews in Vietnam. They were screaming with delight watching the fireworks 6,000 miles away. Now that made it all worth it. Time for her to share something, a part of her life with her family.
Well the Daily Grind can sometimes give you the best moments of all. This is Tu waiting on the blanket, FaceTiming her nieces as I fumble with my camera deleting good pictures and replacing them with bad ones.
