Then I started finding other pictures... and remembering other fun adventures and road trips... then my OCD kicked in.
I ended up with an absolute monster. My original Wanderlust post ended up with over 250 pics and covers many years of good memories. It makes me happy but it will give me a thumb cramp scrolling through it.
At this point it is ridiculously long, and I can not bring myself to add another new pic to it.
Especially after having to re-upload each of them due to the Photobucket debacle...
I have no idea why I initially loaded all my pics to photobucket and third-party-linked to them. I guess it was just because that was the old way of doing things when I would need to add a pic to forums, etc, and I didn't stop to think that I could just upload pics directly to blogger.
Then, with almost no warning, Photobucket went from being free to charging a confiscatory amount practically overnight.
I understand that the free business model was unsustainable in a world of ad blockers, etc, and I would have been OK with paying them a reasonable fee for the service... but they went with the "piss everyone in the world off at once" model.
It cost me dearly in time spent to fix my post... but what it DIDN'T cost me, (Dear Mr. Photobucket), was $399 a year. I would have gladly paid them 5 bucks a month to not have to redo all of that... but 400 bucks? Auto-billed once a year?
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| Eat a bag, Photobucket. Yours, Woodface. |
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS - August 3-6, 2017
- I had never been to Boston and it was time for a Carl trip... so...
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| Tea Party Museum with Skyline |
- walking down to the "Black Rose" for a dram of yellow spot whiskey. At this time, Green Spot (10 yr) was available back home, but Yellow Spot (12 yr) was hard to come by. Blue Spot (7 yr cask strength) and Red Spot (15 yr) are both back in circulation now. The Yellow Spot was very nice. More complex than the green, but still smooth. Then I had some buffalo chicken tenders and a Sam Adams Boston Lager. Because I was hungry and in a bar in Boston. It seemed like the right thing to do.
- Whale Watching. We decided at the last moment to take a Whale Watching trip from the New England Aquarium out to Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary.
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| Humpbacks.We also saw a couple of Minke Whales but they were much too fast to photograph. |
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| We were lucky to see some surface activity by one of the humpbacks. |
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| a young Ocean Sunfish (Mola Mola). An uncommon sight but a healthy one for the sanctuary. |
- a good lobster roll at the Granary Tavern before breaking for the day.
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- the next afternoon we headed out to walk a bit of the freedom trail after lunch at the beantown pub.
- Granary Burying Grounds. Where Samuel Adams, Paul Revere, and John Hancock are buried.
- the old state house. Where the Boston Massacre happened.
- We covered from the Boston Common down past Faneuil Hall, the Union Oyster house, and the Boston Public Market. We stopped for a drink at the Green Dragon Tavern but didnt venture much further. We didn't do the Old North Church, USS Constitution, or Bunker Hill. Maybe next time.
- Venturing down to the Whisky Priest for a dram and then down to the Barking Crab for a little dinner.
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| This is the Caol Ila 12. Way too peaty for my tastes. |
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - Oct 10-13 & 22-25, 2017
BEST MEMORIES
- a tour of Sterkfontein Caves
- the Maropeng Visitor Center.
- the Rhino and Lion Park.
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| Cape Mountain Zebras |
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| African Hunting Dogs |
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| a "White" Lion. (A Leucistic color phase of the Transvaal Lion. Most, like this one, are in captivity.) |
- relaxing at the Fairmount Lounge at the Genesis All-Suites, where we were staying. The Pizza Milano at "Phat Larry's Pizzeria".
- the blooming Jacaranda Trees. Native to Brazil and South America, they are classified as an invasive species these days in South Africa and may not be replanted. Furthermore, many are being attacked by a fungus presently and some are dying. But for now, they have been used to great effect in Johannesburg and Pretoria in particular.
KRUGER NATIONAL PARK, SOUTH AFRICA - Oct 14-17, 2017
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| Enjoying some "Three Nuns" in my second best Dunhill pencil shank billiard. |
The "big five" are what are (mistakenly) considered to be the five most dangerous animals in Africa. In truth, Hippos and Snakes each kill more people each year than all of these combined.. but they aren't as glamorous. Everyone wants to see "the big five" on a trip to the african bush. Four of those are fairly easy, depending on where you are. One of them is not, regardless of where you are.
ELEPHANT
RHINOCEROS
CAPE BUFFALO
LION
LEOPARD
Of all the "big five", the one you are most likely to NOT see is the leopard. They don't rely on cooperative hunting, like lions and wild dogs... or speed, like a cheetah, to catch their prey. They rely on not being seen.. and not being seen is what they do best. We would have been lucky to see one. We saw three.
Of course, that is just five of the 147 species of mammal, 530+ species of bird, and 118 species of reptiles that occur in the park. I wanted to hit the "big 5 checklist" just like any other first time visitor... but I was just as excited to see a new bird as I was to see an elephant.
CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA - Oct 18-21, 2017
BEST MEMORIES
- the tour of the cape
- The Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden
COSTA RICA - Oct 17-26, 2018
BEST MEMORIES
- a good meal in San Jose
- an added-at-the-last-minute day trip to La Paz Waterfall Gardens.
- a tour of Arenal Volcano.
- then a trip to Baldi Hot Springs for dinner before headed back to our hotel.
- a day trip up to the Caño Negro Wildlife Refuge for a boat trip up the Rio Frio, looking for birds and wildlife.
- early mornings walking the grounds of our hotel with my camera, stalking birds.
- the boat ride across the lake and the drive over to Monteverde and the Cloud Forest Reserve.
- Coffee tour at El Trapiche.
- A tour of the Monteverde Cloud Forest. I wasnt lucky enough to see a Resplendent Quetzal (I reeeeally hoped I would) But it was still a beautiful and magical place.
- a tour to the hanging bridges at Selvatura Park. We saw a number of "Hummingbird Gardens" (in CR... go hang up five feeders and you have a Hummingbird Garden... Hummingbirds are everywhere) ...but the feeders at Selvatura were exceptional. There were scores of hummingbirds at the feeders. The air was thick with them.
- talking Lex in to doing a night walk through the forest. We saw Kinkajou (Potos flavus), Hoffmann's Two-Toed sloth (Choloepus hoffmanni), Red Kneed Tarantulas (Megaphobema mesomelas), a couple of sleeping Blue-crowned Motmots (Momotus momota), Side-Striped Palm Pit-Viper (Bothriechis lateralis) and a few different frogs. It was a couple of hours well spent.
- a couple of days at Nammbú resort at Playa Carrillo on the pacific coast.
- Dolphin Watching Tour
LISBON & SINTRA, PORTUGAL - Oct 2 - 4, 2019
BEST MEMORIES
- Pastéis de nata and Ginjinha at the "Time Out" Market
- finding a neat speakeasy called "Foxtrot". To be honest, the Spanish bartenders we came across seemed to be a little bit limited in their ability to make many different cocktails correctly.. but they can manage a straight pour and they can CRUSH a G&T like nobody's business. But the atmosphere of the place is what we really dug.
- finding a beer bar just down the street from our AirBnB and doing a flight.
- a Day trip to Sintra. Including the Palácio Nacional de Sintra.
- ...Quinta da Regaleira
- a lunch of Bacalhau a Bras before grabbing a tuk tuk ride up to...
- ...the Castelo dos Mouros (Castle of the Moors)
- ... and the Palácio Nacional da Pena (Pena Palace)
- More sweet stuff at Pastéis de Belém... where the pastry first gained popularity in 1837.
- the Padrão dos Descobrimentos (the Monument of the Discoveries) and down the shore
- before taking a ferry back up the coast under the the Ponte 25 de Abril (25th of April Bridge) and past the Christ statue of Santuário de Cristo Rei in Almada.
- a walk over to see the Rua Cor-de-rosa (the Pink Street)
- discovering the sadly unavailable-in-most-of-the-US Tanqueray Flor de Sevilla when we ordered a G&T while looking for a Wi-Fi Hot Spot.
- Since we were in Portugal... I needed to try a "good" port wine. I did. (I still don't like dessert wines.)
MADRID (AGAIN), MÁLAGA, and NERJA, SPAIN - Sept 29 - Oct 1 & Oct 5 - 13, 2019
BEST MEMORIES
- a wonderful meal at Alcaravea in Madrid. We didn't have reservations but a last minute cancellation opened a table for us. Our server was the best.
- my early morning solo trips out to the Desembocadura del Guadalhorce Natural Park looking for the endangered white-headed duck (Oxyura leucocephala). I would Uber out before sunrise and take a long city buus ride back. The ducks, which are "ALWAYS" at a certain pond there, went AWOL for a month starting two days before we got to Malaga, so, like the Resplendant Quetzal in the Costa Rican cloud forest, I was skunked by the bird I most wanted to see. But I still enoyed the walks alone. Watching flights of Greater Flamingos fly in, pink and white against the blue sky, was, alone, worth the trip(s) out there. I have to get away from the crowds some. I only wish I had had my big camera.
- a self-guided tour through "La Manquita"... the Málaga Cathedral. She is called "The One-Armed Lady" because the south tower was never finished. What the money was spent on is in dispute.
- lunting through the Parque de Málaga with Joe (and Tiffany.)
- The Museo Automovilístico y de la Moda de Málaga (Malaga Automobile and Fashion Museum) located in an old Tobacco Factory. I am not a car guy and I am REALLY not a fashion guy... but there were a lot of nice cars there. Worthwhile.
- chocolate con churros at the Chocolatería San Ginés.
- This. All of this.
BEST MEMORIES
- Doing a little birding in the area with Carl.
- Carl serenading us with his didgeridoo as we sat around the fire pit. Then we cooked wings.
- Always good to see Irish Derek again
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| Cheetah |
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| Cheetah |
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| Impala |
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| Kudu |
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| Giraffe |
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| Zebra |
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| Hippopotamus |
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| Nile Crocodile |
THE LITTLE GUYS
I spent as much time looking for birds in between the game drives as anything else. I always claim I am not a "birder"... but I probably am... a bit.
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| Lilac-Breasted Roller |
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| Marico Sunbird |
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| Our driver/guide "Texan". |
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| Sunset courtesy of Lex's iphone |
BEST MEMORIES
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| Camp's Bay with the "Twelve Apostles" |
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| Hout Bay with "The Sentinel" |
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| The Cape of Good Hope |
- the African Penguin colony at Boulder's Beach
- Shark Diving out of Gansbaai.
Not EVERYTHING goes according to plan when we travel. Our original plan to cage dive with Great White Sharks was delayed a day because of bad seas... and also a lack of Great Whites. Normally the company we booked with has about a 90%+ success rate on chumming up some Great Whites, but it is thought that a couple of young killer whales from a transient pod had taken a liking to shark. So when the orcas showed up, the Great Whites disappeared. On our rescheduled day, there had been no sightings of Great Whites for more than a week... and there was about a four foot swell on top of that. Not bad on us, but hard on some.
There were around fifteen people on the boat, and many were deathly seasick after three hours of chumming. When the copper sharks, also known as "bronze whalers" showed up, the skipper asked us if any of us wanted to get in the cage anyway. One guy from Austria and I were game, so we suited up. Not what we were going for, but fun anyway... and we got half our money back for no whites showing.
The great white sharks showed back up the next day, BTW. C'est la vie.
Not EVERYTHING goes according to plan when we travel. Our original plan to cage dive with Great White Sharks was delayed a day because of bad seas... and also a lack of Great Whites. Normally the company we booked with has about a 90%+ success rate on chumming up some Great Whites, but it is thought that a couple of young killer whales from a transient pod had taken a liking to shark. So when the orcas showed up, the Great Whites disappeared. On our rescheduled day, there had been no sightings of Great Whites for more than a week... and there was about a four foot swell on top of that. Not bad on us, but hard on some.
There were around fifteen people on the boat, and many were deathly seasick after three hours of chumming. When the copper sharks, also known as "bronze whalers" showed up, the skipper asked us if any of us wanted to get in the cage anyway. One guy from Austria and I were game, so we suited up. Not what we were going for, but fun anyway... and we got half our money back for no whites showing.
The great white sharks showed back up the next day, BTW. C'est la vie.
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| Visibility was about 24" and we were being slammed around by waves... so pics were hard. Fun though. |
- Whale Watching out of Hermanus.
At this time of the year, the Southern Right Whales are on the calving grounds along the South African coast. We had seen some from the shark diving boat, but after discussing options and thinking about it.. we decided to go out whale watching the next day. I am glad we did.
At this time of the year, the Southern Right Whales are on the calving grounds along the South African coast. We had seen some from the shark diving boat, but after discussing options and thinking about it.. we decided to go out whale watching the next day. I am glad we did.
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| We didn't know a wine tasting was part of our whale watching trip. |
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| But... When in Rome... |
COSTA RICA - Oct 17-26, 2018
BEST MEMORIES
- a good meal in San Jose
- an added-at-the-last-minute day trip to La Paz Waterfall Gardens.
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| Blue Morpho - Morpho helenor marinita |
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| Rufous-Tailed Hummingbird (Amazilia tzacatl) |
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| Coppery-Headed Emerald (Elvira cupreiceps) Endemic to Costa Rica. |
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| Violet Sabrewing (Campylopterus hemileucurus) |
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| Red-Eyed Tree Frog - (Agalychnis callidryas) |
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| Templo falls |
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| Arenal Volcano |
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| Eyelash Viper (Bothriechis schlegelii) - Yellow phase |
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| Swim-up bar at Baldi Hot Springs near Arenal |
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| Leucistic Golden-Mantled Howler Monkey (Alouatta palliata palliata) |
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| Geoffroy's spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) feeding with White-Headed Capuchins (Cebus capucinus) |
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| Spectacled Caiman (Caiman crocodilus fuscus) |
- early mornings walking the grounds of our hotel with my camera, stalking birds.
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| Volcano Lodge and Springs |
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| Red-Legged Honeycreeper (Cyanerpes cyaneus) |
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| Blue-Gray Tanager (Thraupis episcopus) |
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| White-Nosed Coati (Nasua narica) |
- A tour of the Monteverde Cloud Forest. I wasnt lucky enough to see a Resplendent Quetzal (I reeeeally hoped I would) But it was still a beautiful and magical place.
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| Blue-Throated Toucanet (Aulacorhynchus caeruleogularis) |
- talking Lex in to doing a night walk through the forest. We saw Kinkajou (Potos flavus), Hoffmann's Two-Toed sloth (Choloepus hoffmanni), Red Kneed Tarantulas (Megaphobema mesomelas), a couple of sleeping Blue-crowned Motmots (Momotus momota), Side-Striped Palm Pit-Viper (Bothriechis lateralis) and a few different frogs. It was a couple of hours well spent.
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| Rufous-eyed Brook Tree Frog (Duellmanohyla rufioculis) |
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| Variegated Squirrel (Sciurus variegatoides) |
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| Orange-Chinned Parakeet (Brotogeris jugularis) |
LISBON & SINTRA, PORTUGAL - Oct 2 - 4, 2019
BEST MEMORIES
- Pastéis de nata and Ginjinha at the "Time Out" Market
- finding a neat speakeasy called "Foxtrot". To be honest, the Spanish bartenders we came across seemed to be a little bit limited in their ability to make many different cocktails correctly.. but they can manage a straight pour and they can CRUSH a G&T like nobody's business. But the atmosphere of the place is what we really dug.
- finding a beer bar just down the street from our AirBnB and doing a flight.
- a Day trip to Sintra. Including the Palácio Nacional de Sintra.
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| The Coat of Arms Room at the Palácio Nacional de Sintra. |
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| Palácio da Regaleira |
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| Initiation Well |
- ...the Castelo dos Mouros (Castle of the Moors)
- ... and the Palácio Nacional da Pena (Pena Palace)
- More sweet stuff at Pastéis de Belém... where the pastry first gained popularity in 1837.
- before taking a ferry back up the coast under the the Ponte 25 de Abril (25th of April Bridge) and past the Christ statue of Santuário de Cristo Rei in Almada.
- a walk over to see the Rua Cor-de-rosa (the Pink Street)
- discovering the sadly unavailable-in-most-of-the-US Tanqueray Flor de Sevilla when we ordered a G&T while looking for a Wi-Fi Hot Spot.
- Since we were in Portugal... I needed to try a "good" port wine. I did. (I still don't like dessert wines.)
MADRID (AGAIN), MÁLAGA, and NERJA, SPAIN - Sept 29 - Oct 1 & Oct 5 - 13, 2019
BEST MEMORIES
- a wonderful meal at Alcaravea in Madrid. We didn't have reservations but a last minute cancellation opened a table for us. Our server was the best.
- back in Málaga, lunch at El Pimpi... where I had the chestnut-fed Jamón from Alto Genal.
- a walk up Monte Gibralfaro in Málaga to the Castle to watch the Sunset.
- my early morning solo trips out to the Desembocadura del Guadalhorce Natural Park looking for the endangered white-headed duck (Oxyura leucocephala). I would Uber out before sunrise and take a long city buus ride back. The ducks, which are "ALWAYS" at a certain pond there, went AWOL for a month starting two days before we got to Malaga, so, like the Resplendant Quetzal in the Costa Rican cloud forest, I was skunked by the bird I most wanted to see. But I still enoyed the walks alone. Watching flights of Greater Flamingos fly in, pink and white against the blue sky, was, alone, worth the trip(s) out there. I have to get away from the crowds some. I only wish I had had my big camera.
- a self-guided tour through "La Manquita"... the Málaga Cathedral. She is called "The One-Armed Lady" because the south tower was never finished. What the money was spent on is in dispute.
- lunting through the Parque de Málaga with Joe (and Tiffany.)
- The Museo Automovilístico y de la Moda de Málaga (Malaga Automobile and Fashion Museum) located in an old Tobacco Factory. I am not a car guy and I am REALLY not a fashion guy... but there were a lot of nice cars there. Worthwhile.
- Lex and I peeled off and jumped a bus to Nerja for a day trip.
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| View from the Balcón de Europa |
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| View from the Balcón de Europa |
- the Cuevas de Nerja.
- Málaga Museo Interactivo de la Música
- a great tapas crawl on our last night in Málaga
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| Restaurante La Deriva |
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| Taberna Antigua Casa De Guardia |
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| La Farola de Orellana |
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| Caracoles en salsa at La Farola de Orellana |
- the train ride back to Madrid, where we met up with Ryan and Amanda and then hooked up with Maria for some tapas then G&Ts at Plaza de la Paja
- a beer at the packed La Coquette Blues Bar
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| Rockin' them Mississippi Marshalls |
- chocolate con churros at the Chocolatería San Ginés.
- Tapas at the Mercado San Miguel and Mesón del Champiñón
- the flamenco show at Casa Patas.
- a walk through El Retiro Park
- and Plaza Parterre
- to the Prado for a quick run through (too crowded and I had been twice)
- Looking for Cervantes grave
- finding a place to chill with Ryan before the final pub crawl with Maria.
- This. All of this.
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| the three amigos finish where it all started. |
CARL TURNS 50 - DURHAM, NC - FEB 25-28, 2021
BEST MEMORIES
- Doing a little birding in the area with Carl.
- Carl likes Indian food. I don't get it.
- No we did not mix Pappy Van Winkle in a coke. We didn't even open the bottle of that expensive stuff. We just wanted to take a moronic picture.
- Carl serenading us with his didgeridoo as we sat around the fire pit. Then we cooked wings.
- Always good to see Irish Derek again
Lotta years since the Art Institute days, wings in little five points, and the Plymouth Belvedere
LITTLE MAUMELLE WATER TRAIL - LITTLE ROCK, AR - May 28, 2022
BEST MEMORIES
- Kayaking the 8.2 mile long water trail with Natasha, (sans sunscreen for no good reason: resulting in severely sunburned legs.) The burns weren't a good memory. But sometimes a price has to be paid for really stupid choices.
- Fighting annoying gnats for five hours only to find out at the end I had a head net in the boat that I could have let Natasha use. The gnats weren't particularly a good memory either. But sometimes a price has to be paid for not knowing what you have.
It was still a great memory and it absolutely belongs on this list.
NORTHWEST ARKANSAS TRIP - June 23-25, 2023
BEST MEMORIES
- a trip to Bentonville, Fayetteville, and Rogers
- Heading down to the Bentonville Town Square. Checking out a bookstore and finding a performance of a bunch of teenage bands at a guitar shop/venue.
-Onyx Coffee Lab and the Farmer's market on the square in Bentonville.
BEST MEMORIES
- a trip to Bentonville, Fayetteville, and Rogers
- Stopping by Devil's Den State Park for a short hike.
-Onyx Coffee Lab and the Farmer's market on the square in Bentonville.
- Crystal Bridges Art Museum
- Borsht and shopping at the "European Gourmet of NWA". A little shop that offers Russian and other Eastern European Food that is not easily found. They also have a little cafe. A little taste of home for Natasha.
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