Upstaged!

It's not often this happens, but sometimes it does all the same. It stemmed as a result of last weekend's riding. Saturday wasn't really the issue here -- just a pleasant cruise through Tallebudgera Valley to warm up a little. And warm up it did! But more on that later. The wildflower season is apparently still in force out there.



I had been supposed to lead an O'Reilly's ride on Sunday, but received no enquiries about it. And I'm not sure this was a bad thing -- especially after last week's debacle. Oh yeah, I took another call about that one on Friday (almost a week after the ride had actually happened), this time from someone who didn't even have a bike! "But the rainforest part sounded so beautiful". Geez, no wonder Rowan got sick of running a cycle-touring business if this is what some people are like!

However, Sunday I felt like a ride along the Northern NSW coast, with a few gutsy hills around Mullumbimby thrown in to keep me company.







Yes, it was a beautiful day. I could have taken several more photos if I'd had the mind to do it (maybe next time). However, a couple of things weren't quite as planned. Firstly, the feed I had in Mullumbimby was a little too good. I now know all about over-eating on a ride such as this one! My stomach did plenty of grumbling, before I was able to burn some of it off on the Burringbar Range.
Then there was that headwind that sprung up. All the way back to the coast, and at times it was brutal! Still, it's not a challenge unless there's actually some doubt about whether you're capable of it. I think the heat was worse than the wind. Such a ride would have been owned three months ago, but now that the humidity's here, it's causing problems. I'd like to say I'll adjust to it, but I won't hold my breath for that one!

The final tally for the day was 222.5km, with 1882 metres of climbing. As I said, I'd been feeling pretty good about such a ride in the conditions, but I was brutally upstaged by Rowan (a friend of mine from Hobart), who decided to do a 300km ride -- and this only three days after dislocating a shoulder in a fall! Sometimes I just have to bow to the guts and determination of others -- maybe I'll have a crack at a 300 in the near future.

Inflatable kayak = fun overglorified floatie

I'll never forget my half-joking/half-serious reaction when my brother told me that he bought an inflatable kayak:
"So, did it come with an inflatable paddle?"
The concept of an inflatable kayak seemed weird to me. After all, in all my trips to the Boundary Waters, nobody ever broached the idea of inflatable canoe. Would you be able to steer an inflatable kayak? How would it hold up against the normal nicks and bumps with rocks and tree branches that are bound to happen? Can a normal-sized adult even fit into it?
Needless to say, I was skeptical that the floatie/kayak was functional. My brother kept telling me stories of how he kayaked down stretches of the Mississippi with it and brought it up the Boundary Waters, but stories only go so far in reassuring someone that something works. Infomercials might tell me that a juicer/blender/can opener "works," but I'm still not buying it.
So for the last two summers, my brother borrowed me his kayak to try it out for myself. It came with a carrying case (about the size of a large luggage bag, see second photo) an air pump and a legitimate kayak paddle (he told me he found the paddle, I didn't ask questions).

So far, I've tried it out on the Minnesota River and at Hiniker Pond in the Mankato Area. Contrary to my skepticism, it is definitely functional and gives you all the fun and exercise a normal kayak would. It's fairly easy to turn and navigate, inflates/deflates in less than 10 minutes and compresses down small enough where I can store it in my apartment and haul it in the back of my car. It's also considerably more durable than I thought it'd be (the boat landing at Land of Memories didn't even scuff the bottom of it). On top of that, the price is right (in my case, free).
That's not to say the inflatable kayak isn't without drawbacks. For one thing, it doesn't hold up well against strong currents (navigating up the Minnesota River was next to impossible). Also, like most floaties, it is more affected by wind than one would like. Because of the weight/balance difference from a regular kayak, it also doesn't roll over smoothly (meaning you would have to eject yourself from it like a canoe if it happened to tip). Aside from that, it's tedious to dry out.
However, considering the price difference and practicality of it (I'm not even sure where I'd fit an actual kayak in my living room. On top of my entertainment center perhaps?), the inflatable kayak works for me. And on a hot mid-July day, I could think of a lot worse ways to cool off than cruising around Hiniker in an overglorified floatie.

It's Still Autumn in Austin

Even though the Brugmansia went from still-in-bloom last Thursday afternoon

To crisped and frostbitten by Monday afternoon
Even though the Blue Butterfly Flower Clerodendrum is also crispy brown today

Even though the Loquat is no longer blooming and the hoped-for fruit may have been hit with cold and we'll have another year of no loquat fruit
Even though we're now using the big comforter instead of the light blankets, and the berries on the Burford Holly are a wintery-Christmasy red .

Even though the cannas that backed up the Julia Child rose are no longer green as in this photo from last Thursday
...it still feels like autumn to me.
After all, that Julia Child rose is still blooming and holding onto her foliage (in answer to Jean, the bloom is good, but she does get blackspot and has fewer leaves than she should)

After all, the temperatures are in the sixties and the leaves are falling and swirling around the patio, needing to be swept so we can use the barbecue,
After all, it took a long time to rake and sweep this pile, go over it with the mulching mower and empty the bag over and over into the wire leaf enclosure

After all, there seems to be an endless supply of unfallen leaves that will need raking - even if the projected cold front arrives
After all, the pomegranate tree is still glowing golden in the Secret Garden

After all, the pink rose near the Brugmansia is still blooming

And a rather dimwitted Monarch thought there was still time to raise a new generation
(Renee - as you wrote in your Statesman blog, this is not a good idea, is it!)

Oops - someone should get out the ladder and cut those pods of moonflower vine seeds to save for next spring

But the ladder is already in the living room, surrounded by ornaments and decorations boxes, placed next to the Christmas tree so I can reach the top branches.
Being organized for Christmas gets complicated where December acts like autumn.

Gekkos Are Fun

No, that’s not a typo in the title of this blog post.  Why?  Because the Gekkos I’m referring to are not the ones you find in the wild.  Scratch that.  You might find them in the wild, but it is more likely that you’ll encounter them on paved paths!

Our Gekkos are not to be confused with Gecko, the famed actor of advertisements.

We’ve been looking at wheels to add variety to our ‘active retirement’ days.  No matter which brand or what kind of bike I tried, I didn’t feel comfortable on any of them.  I am not talking about the comfort of the seats.  I just didn’t feel safe enough to ride them for any distance.  Let alone when I might find myself on a bike path along a busy road.

Enter into the scene — the Gekko trike!  I immediately fell in love with these fun wheels.  Our initial plan was to buy a trike for me and a bike for Mui.  But then he made the mistake of test driving a Gekko.  The rest is history and we now have his-and-her wheels to go triking (is that a word?).

We picked up our trikes yesterday.  The adjustments to custom fit them took about three hours.  No surprise, I guess; the shaft on mine had to be sawed-off several inches and reassembled so I could reach the pedals :-)

Plans to go triking at Bull Run this morning didn’t work out as expected, but we did get to take our wheels out for a spin at the nearby county government complex in the afternoon to test the gears and get familiar with our trikes in general.

Here’s an 11-second video that shows me in action!

More on the trikes will be coming soon.

P.S.  For those wondering how on earth we’ll be transporting the Gekkos — they fold and fit into the trunk of the toad!

Catching Up on New Orleans

Aviation arbor Famcamp — NAS JRB New Orleans — Belle Chasse, Louisiana
Temps: Lo 44F / Hi 63F (7C / 17C)

I’m no dummy!

Much as I would like to do my usual “journal” posts for the blog, it hasn’t taken me long to conclude that’s not going to be possible while we’re in NOLA. Even with taking several days off from sightseeing, I’m not going to be able to catch up before we start our next round of sightseeing ... unless I do quick summaries for the days past. Mind you; quick doesn’t necessarily mean short!

So be it! I can’t stress over blogging or it will no longer be fun. And if it’s not fun, what’s the point of writing a blog?

This trip to NOLA has turned into an “overview” trip anyway, and I’ll have another opportunity sometime during our travels for a more in-depth visit over a much longer period of time. Now that makes me feel much better ;-)

Mui’s out with his sister, who joined us on Monday. They’re out shopping before Işıl’s presentation at the Sheraton this evening. Retail therapy is not my thing, so I’m enjoying a quiet day at home today.

My reward for staying home — a hawk that briefly perched on a nearby tree.
[thanks Judy, for further id’ing this bird as a young Cooper’s hawk.]

Today was also the day to get a haircut before we leave NOLA Monday morning. I don’t normally blog about grooming appointments … but look what I found at the barbershop/beauty salon here on base!

Mural painted by Michelle Levine in ; looking towards the barbershop, which shares space with the beauty salon (to the left of the mural).

My last couple of posts brought the blog up to Thursday, 21 March. Continuing on from there …

Both days were forecasted to be overcast, with light rain gaining strength and possibly turning into thunderstorms on Saturday. The storms passed to our north, but we did get some sprinkles with occasional showers — just enough to keep the dust and pollen down. Our main project during these two days was to spiff up our home and make it guest-ready. And that’s all we really did … aside from catching up on some reading.

I didn’t take any photos these two days;
here’s an Iris from the Besthoff Sculpture Garden instead (post here).

With sunshine and temps reaching 75F (24C) forecasted, we were surprised to have the day start out overcast, gloomy, and windy. So, rather than the early start we had planned, we lazed around until the sun broke through around 8:30a. And then we were off mural-hunting.

The weekend rate at the Algiers Point parking lot goes up from $5 to $10. So, today we took the car across the river by way of the Crescent City Connection (no toll presently due to a pending lawsuit brought by the locals who want the bridge crossing to be free). Since the CBD (Central Business District) is dead on weekends, we found a reasonably inexpensive parking lot on Carondelet Street for $10/day. The lot proved to be centrally located to the murals I had marked up on the map, and was walking distance to the Garden District as well.

Mural or graffiti?
[located on the wall of a building in the rear of the parking lot]

We wandered through many-a-neighborhood on the outskirts of the Garden District. Some were rather run-down, but in many of them, improvement efforts were underway. People were welcoming towards two obviously-out-of-place roamers, often greeting us with a smile and a how-are-you. No photos — except for murals. Yes … I am saving them for a future “mural” post, but I will share one with you.

French Market Greetings — by Will Smith Jr — is one of the painted streetcar sculptures
for the “A Streetcar Named Inspire,” project (undertaken by the Young Leadership Council).

(I would have gone searching for these “murals,” but they have been auctioned off and most are no longer where the map I found says they should be.)

By the time we found ourselves in the Garden District it was close to 1:00p. Hungry, we stopped by Commander’s Palace. Alas, they could not seat us until after 2:00p. Or maybe that was their excuse because our attire was too casual. We’ll never know.

Moving on, we opted to dine at Coquette, a short walk down the road. It too was busy, but the hostess was able to seat us at the bar, which was perfectly OK since the menu was the same.

Frankly, we liked this place better because it was more casual than Commander’s. And the food was quite good, too.

The menu offered brunch, as well as a selection of small plates and entrees. Mui decided on the three course brunch … selecting the salad, catfish, and chocolate tart, with a side of peanut butter sorbet. I ordered the butternut squash cavatelli from the small plates menu. It was perfectly sized, thus leaving me with plenty of tummy-room to order my own á la carte dessert — chocolate éclairs.

Left: Mui’s catfish, and chocolate tart with a small scoop of peanut butter sorbet.
Right: My butternut squash cavatelli with shiitake mushrooms and maple syrup;
and, of course, the yummy chocolate éclairs.

After lunch, we walked around the Garden District for a bit before hopping on the St Charles Streetcar. Initially, we wanted to travel to the end of the line, but those plans didn’t work out since there was work being done on the line past the Loyola University stop. So, we ended up getting off there, crossing the rails, and getting back on the next car going in the direction of Canal Street.

The New Orleans & Carrollton RR Co. began passenger train service on September 26, 1835. Steam-powered trains and mule-drawn cars transported New Orlenians between Canal and Carrollton, via St Charles Avenue. Improved technology led to the development of electric traction streetcars. The St Charles Line was the first electrified route, opening on February 1, 1893. By 1900, the single line had grown to 28 lines, running over 178 miles. New Orleans' first and last streetcar route, the St Charles Avenue Line, is the world's oldest operating streetcar line.

By this time, the wind had gained strength and the feels-like temperature was quite chilly. We were prepared. Getting off the streetcar at the Poydras Street stop, we quick-stepped it to the car for our jackets and then continued with our plans, which included photographing a few more murals and a Wyland Whaling Wall.

Painted by invitation, there are 100 of these walls; the one in NOLA is #69. The foundation’s website describes this mural campaign as: “one of the largest art-in-public-places projects in history, spanning five continents, 13 countries, and 79 cities around the globe.” I’ve seen and photographed several of these walls around the US, so I was especially happy to find this one. I find it interesting that the murals decorate a wall that usually overlooks a parking lot — I read somewhere that this is by design.

Featuring life-size blue whales, this Wyland Whaling Wall is on the side
of the parking structure at the Hilton Riverside.

From here, we wandered back to Canal Street and hopped on a streetcar heading to the cemeteries. It turns out our timing was bad. Both St Louis Cemetery #1 and #2 were locked, and we had to be satisfied with a peek through the bars of the wrought iron gates.

St Louis Cemetery #2 (left) and #1.

By the time we got back to the heart of the French Quarter, our feet were telling us that our 10-mile (16 km) wander around NOLA was enough; and our tummies were telling us it was time for food. Easier said than done on a Sunday. Many of the restaurants we’d marked on the map were either closed; or, on closer inspection, the menu offered little for a picky eater (that would be me). Others couldn’t seat us for a while.

In the end, we returned to the Crescent City Brewhouse, where we ate lunch our first day in town. I ordered the same Brewhouse BLT (with fried basil leaves and fresh mozzarella), but Mui decided to have the grilled grouper this time. Since we had enjoyed dessert at lunch, there was no sweet ending to this meal ;-)

Grilled Grouper on Flatbread: Fresh gulf grouper on house-made naan bread;
served with avocado, tomato, carrot, pablano pepper, cabbage, cucumber and
cilantro, dressed with a mango mayo; sweet potato fries on the side.

By the time we were finished with dinner, it was time to drive to the airport to pick up Mui’s sister. Too bad we didn’t dally in town for a little while longer. We’d parked the car and were walking to the cross-bridge to the terminal when Mui’s phone rang … it was his sister calling to say that she had missed her connecting flight and would not be arriving until the next morning! So, back to the car we went and drove home to the Phaeton!

Brrrr! What a change in temperature … a 20+ degree drop to a high of only 56F (13C) today. With a stiff breeze to boot.

Tracking Işıl’s flight to make sure it had taken off, we left the house around 9:00a to pick her up from the airport. Her flight was on time, and soon hugs and kisses were being exchanged.

Dropping her off at the hotel to get settled in, we drove to a parking lot at Canal and Marais streets ($2/day from 9:00a to midnight; $5 for overnight). Hopping on the Canal Streetcar for the trip back to her hotel, we then collected Işıl and headed over to the French Quarter for lunch.

Some — you know who you are ;-) — will find it odd that we decided to eat at Bubba Gump’s when there are so many great restaurants in NOLA to choose from. However, the movie Forrest Gump holds a special place in Işıl’s heart, so it was the perfect place on this occasion. The food wasn’t half bad; and I think she got a kick out of the trivia quiz and the photo ops.

Counter clockwise from top left: shrimp shack pasta (me);
New Orleans shrimp (Mui); shrimp scampi (Işıl).

There’s the famous “box of chocolates.”

Nearly 36 hours of traveling, and catnapping at O’Hare overnight, had worn Işıl out. So we bagged plans for a walking tour of the French Quarter. Instead, we went inside the St Louis Cathedral, or more properly — the Cathedral-Basilica of St Louis, King of France. While the siblings took a load off on one of the pews and quietly chatted, I wandered around and took some photographs of what the brochure describes as “the oldest Catholic Cathedral in the United States.”

The current cathedral is the third church built on the site. Completed in 1794, it
replaced the permanent church that was built in 1727 and destroyed in a fire in 1788.
The first place of worship on this site was built in 1718.

The mural above the altar depicts King Louis IX announcing the 7th crusade;
the statues are (from L to R): Hope, faith, and Charity.

The mural in the center of the ceiling depicts Jesus telling Peter, “Feed my Sheep.”
It is surrounded by four evangelists and ten apostles (minus Peter and Judas).
Bottom left photo shows the organ and clock at the opposite end of the nave from the altar.

Three of the ten stained glass windows depicting scenes from the life of King Louis IX.
L to r: his marriage, coronation, and illness and death.

(For larger pictures click here for a series of photos in my online gallery.)

Our meandering stroll through the French Quarter was periodically broken up with periods of rest. First at Café Du Monde — for coffee and beignets, of course; and later at Pat O’Brien’s, where, in deference to Işıl’s allergy to all things containing alcohol, we quenched our thirst with a couple of virgin cocktails.

Mui opts for the colorful Sunset; Işıl orders the Eye of the Hurricane.

And on that note, we walked Işıl to her hotel; hopped on the streetcar to go pick up our car; and headed home to rest up.

Another cold day! What happened to spring?

This was the requisite “shopping for gifts to take back to Turkey” day. Not my thing, so I begged off and stayed home. After helping Işıl help the US economy, Mui brought her to the Phaeton for a light lunch … Caesar salad topped with grilled shrimp (which we had picked up from the Westwego Fish Market), followed by key lime pie (store bought, I’m afraid). We took photos with Işıl’s camera, so I have none to share in this post.

The afternoon saw Mui and his sister back in the stores, while I continued to recharge my batteries, which were drained from the hub-bub of the past few days in NOLA. A quiet evening at our respective accommodations wrapped up the day.

… and finally … back to Wednesday, 27 March

Işıl is a professor of English linguistics (emphasis on sociolinguistics) at Anadolu University in Eskişehir, Turkey. The purpose of her visit to NOLA — other than spending time with us, of course — is to speak at a symposium. Today was the day.

This blog would be incomplete without “Satchmo;” the statue is near the Algiers Point Ferry Terminal.

Mui joined Işıl in the city with plans to attend her presentation. As it turns out, the presentation was moved to the late evening, so he’s back home. But his trip into town wasn’t for naught. They dropped by the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park and caught a free jazz/blues concert. Performing again was Richard Scott, whom we had the pleasure of listening to last week.

And that catches me up … whew! Tomorrow starts a 3-day run of sightseeing — some in town; others out of town for a much needed change of pace.

The Bridge is Open!

It was a beautiful day for the bridge opening - Sunny, clear, light breeze and in the 70s. Starting at 9am, wrist bands were distributed as a lottery to see who gets to be the first person to cross the bridge. The crowd started arriving just after 11am. The opening festival started at noon.
You can see my photos of the festival here:
Bridge Opens!
Watch for helmet-cam video of my first ride over the bridge. (It was a crowded crossing).

Morning Glory With Dew

A Grandpa Ott covered in dew.