A post with a dinosaur

Wednesday, October 6th I went out to NYC to visit the sister. Since she had to work, I amused myself on Thursday and Friday.

Thursday, I went to the American Museum of Natural History and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

I got up and rode the train into the city with the sister and then she ditched me at Grand Central (j/k after giving me very detailed and accurate instructions, I would have to be extremely moronic to get lost) so she could go to work while I took the subway to Central Park west. 

Nature

There is a delight in the hardy life of the open.

There are no words that can tell the hidden spirit of the wilderness, that can reveal its mystery, its melancholy and its charm.

The nation behaves well if it treats the natural resources as assets which it must turn over to the next generation increased; and not impaired in value.

Conservation means development as much as it does protection.
~Theodore Roosevelt (Roosevelt Memorial rotunda)

 While waiting for the museum to open, I sat on a bench on the grounds and people-watched while having some coffee & a scone.

The above photo is the statue of Theodore Roosevelt that stands at the entrance of the museum. 

To the right is a photo of a mosquito 75 times it's actual size.

Manhood

A man's usefulness depends upon his living up to his ideals insofar as he can.

It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed.

All daring and courage, all iron endurance of misfortune-make for a finer, nobler type of manhood.

Only those are fit to live who do not fear to die and none are fit to die who have shrunk from the joy of life and the duty of life.
~ Theodore Roosevelt (Roosevelt Memorial rotunda)

This tree was started growing in 550 A.D. and was cut down in 1891. I can't remember where the tree was growing but I do know it was somewhere in the United States.

My favorite part of the museum was the animal dioramas.  They were amazing!

And I couldn't leave without a photo of some dinosaur bones...

Youth

I want to see you game, boys, I want to see you brave and manly, and I also want to see you gentle and tender.
Be practical as well as generous in your ideals. Keep your eyes on the stars and keep your feet on the ground.
Courage, hard work, self-mastery, and intelligent effort are all essential to successful life.
Character, in the long run, is the decisive factor in the life of an individual and of nations alike.
~Theodore Roosevelt (Roosevelt Memorial rotunda)

I was very impressed with Theodore Roosevelt. So impressed in fact that I purchased a biography on him at a bookstore on Friday. 

Day 9

On day 9 we stopped here. It was a free stop with a gigantic cross -- you can see it miles away. There are sculpture from the life of Christ. Also a very nice bookstore and gift shop.

We drove a long time this day -- all the way through Oklahoma and into Kansas.  We stayed at a motel in Salinas, KS, ate at Red Lobster, and went swimming in the pool.

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Day 8

On day 8 we drove to the Four Corners -- this is the only place in the United States where the corners of four states converge. The land is owned by Native Americans and surrounded by reservation.


My self-portrait . . .


The monument that we saw is not the original survey -- it has been redone several times. The photo below is from the south looking north. (I have know idea who the woman is in the photo.) :-)

We were at the Four Corners about noon -- there were Native Americans selling crafts and jewelry all around the monument and there was even a live band! It was quite a nice stop.

There really isn't much to see in this area but the beauty of the landscape.

Shiprock, NM:



We drove through Albuquerque, NM. There was an accident on the Interstate so we sat downtown in traffic for about an hour -- this was the only time I have ever read while in the driver seat!

We camped outside of Amarillo, TX this evening.

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Day 7: Hoover Dam

My quick tips for visiting Hoover Dam:

If you are looking to save some money at Hoover Dam:

*Park at the top of the hill on the Arizona side of the dam. Parking is free there but you do have to walk a ways. To the dam is easy -- downhill -- but at the end of the day you have to walk back up.

*The main museum is fairly inexpensive, is interesting and has great interactive exhibits for kids and adults.

*Mom and I didn't take the either of the two longer tours of the power house & the guided dam tour. Both are added expenses and involve a lot of walking & and more time than we were willing to devote to this attraction.


The photo above was taken from the observation deck available with museum admission. But there are other photo opportunities along the dam that do not require any expense.

One of the things I found most interesting about the dam was the construction. If you look in the above photo you can see sections -- each of these are individually poured sections of concrete. It was poured in section and allowed to dry. Because of the inherent properties of concrete, if the dam was completely poured it would take 125 years to cure.


These are the intake towers -- they take water into the power plant to create the energy. One of the other interesting things I learned was that the Hoover Dam powers much of the western United States. It was really amazing to me how far the power was distributed.

This photo is part the monument erected across the road from the visiter center. I love the art deco!

Day 6 La-la & Vegas

We woke up to haze on Day 6. After checking out of the motel in San Diego, CA, we drove up the coast towards Los Angeles.

We took I-5 and Highway 1 which are both along the coast line.

We were heading to Hawthorne, CA -- a suburb of Los Angeles. This is one of the places that mom grew up.

They didn't live on a base here so I got to see the house she lived in, the schools she attended, and even the building Grampy worked at.

After Los Angeles, we started heading east again. We crossed California and reached Los Vegas, NV around 5 pm.

This is a photo of "The Strip" as we came in from the south.

Very, very flat. Very, very dry.

We stayed at the Orleans -- not on "The Strip." (Our room looked exactly like the room on the homepage of the website--except it had two queens instead of a king and I think the coverlet on the bed was maroon.)

We ate at a TGI Fridays in the hotel and went to the movie Julie & Julia (excellent movie!) at the 18 screen theater, also in the hotel.

The hotel was humongous -- over 1,800 rooms. at least 20 stories tall. The decor was French inspired by New Orleans.


Las Vegas is really a unique place. I have had my fill. Enough said.



These are photos of "The Strip" from the north -- out our hotel room windows.




Mom's pictures were better but . . .

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Day 5: Spanish Village Art Center & Museum of Natural History

After we spent half the day at the zoo, we walked to the Spanish Village Art Center. There were close to 40 artists there--glass blowers, painters, and any variety of artisans.

We continued on to the Natural History Museum and viewed the Body Worlds Exhibition. This is an exhibit of the human body that has been traveling around the world. It was truly fascinating -- I learned quite a bit about the human body.

The basic premise is that bodies of people who have left their bodies to research and education after their deaths go through process called plastination.

After the plastination process the bodies have been arranged into exhibits that display the awesome creation that is the human body.

The exhibit in San Diego also had a focus on the brain. We watched a film "The Human Body: Pushing the Limits - Brain Power." This is an excellent documentary on the brain and how it function.

I have to say I walked away from this museum with a greater appreciation for our amazing bodies!

Despite being tired after a full day of walking, we stopped at Mission Bay.


We went back to the motel and had supper at a great little Mexican restaurant next door. We ate outside and finished off the meal with churros.

Day 5: San Diego Zoo

The morning we went to the zoo was beautiful -- sunny and mild. We got to the zoo a little before 10 am. The first thing we saw were the flamingoes.



My favorite: the polar bears . . .

We were lucky and got to see the panda active; pandas are usually either sleeping or eating. The Panda enclosure was bizarre. Because pandas are easily frightened, it was the quietest area of the zoo. Everyone spoke in hushed tones.


The giraffes . . .


This little guy visited us while we had lunch.

Our last stop at the zoo was to see the koalas.

Day 5

We spent day 5 in San Diego. We went to the zoo, the Spanish Village Art Center, and the Museum of Natural History. There were so many other attractions in the Balboa Park area but we didn't have time for them all and we were dead tired by the end of the day.

We finished off the evening by walking along Mission Bay and eating at a great little Mexican restaurant that was right next door to our motel.

I will have photos of Day 5 up tomorrow. (I am too lazy to put them up tonight!) :-D

Day 4

Day 4 was a driving day. We drove from Picacho Peak in Arizona to San Diego, CA.

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Highlights:

• We stopped for lunch at Yuma, AZ.

• It was very, very HOT!

• There were gigantic dairy farms along the interstate. It was bizarre to be surrounded by desert and all of a sudden there would be a huge field of the greenest hay -- everything was irrigated there.
  
  
• We drove close enough to the Mexico border to see border fence.

We found a motel in San Diego and that evening we went to Encinitas to visit my mom's aunt & uncle.

Day 3: Part 2

(I have finally caught up with my life after vacation . . . I think . . .)

White Sands formed when crystals break down into white grains of sand. The crystals form when gypsum-saturated rains pour over the Tularosa Basin. There is no river outlet and as the rain evaporates the crystals are formed.

Mom and I watched an interesting film at the visitor's center situated at the entrance of the monument. (See more information here.)


The dunes are constantly moving sometimes up to 30 feet per year. One of the regional plants that I found most interesting was the soaptree yucca. It is a fast growing plant (but sometimes it can't even outgrow the dunes). It's roots are on the basin floor and grows up through the dunes. As the dune moves on the stem collapses on itself until the yucca dies.

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Day 3: Part 1

After spending a pleasant evening with friends in El Paso, TX and a delicious breakfast at IHOP, we headed to up to Alamogordo, NM. Mom lived on the Air Force Base there but we were unable to get on it due to security.

We then headed over to White Sands.




It had rained the night before so the sand was slightly damp.


My self portrait. :-)


I thought this looked like a frozen lake & ice fishing huts -- what can I say I have lived in the upper Midwest my entire life! BTW - that is our car at the bottom of the sand dune.



Mom at the top of the sand dune.

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Day 2: Cloudcroft, NM

One of the purposes of this road trip out west was to visit some of the homes that mom lived in when she was a child. Grampy was in the Air Force so my mom's family moved around a lot.

When they first moved to New Mexico they lived in a cottage at Cloudcroft, NM. As the name implies, Cloudcroft is up in the mountains and as we drove up the mountains it started pouring. It poured so hard I had to pull over because I couldn't see far enough ahead of the car to drive safely.

This is the the view while we waited for the rain to abate.



The tunnel we drove through to get up to Cloudcroft.



The view on the way back down.



Posing in the rain . . .

There was so much water these waterfalls formed along the roadside.

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I'm home!

We actually arrived home last night. I spent the day doing laundry, making lists, and pulling my mind away from its vacation mindset.

My plan for the next couple days is to recount our vacation. So here goes . . . Day 1.

Honestly, Day 1 was mostly driving. We did stop just outside of Oklahoma City (on Route 66) at Pops.

Pops is a gas station, gift shop, diner and ultimate "soda ranch." They have delicious chili burgers.


And over 500 soda flavors . . . I had a Nehi Peach. It was YUMMY!


We picked up a six pack of a variety of flavors to bring home with us.

After supper, we traveled on to Canute, Oklahoma (just outside of Elk City) and camped at a KOA.

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Just a taste

I'm on vacation . . . but here's a taste . . .