hello from raleigh: November 2006

From the plane

Merry Christmas Seagulls

They always put a christmas tree at the end of the fishing dock, and this day the seagulls were lined up on the railing. It looked so weird.

On the road again

After what seemed like a short weekend, I flew to NY Monday. I had just been there 2 weeks prior. I was afraid they would have snow while I am here, but I missed the snow storm. Barely. The weather was actually warmer there than in Portland. It was snowing in Portland when I left for the airport Monday morning. Portland is due for an ice storm tomorrow night… I sure do hope that I can get home. I think I don’t have to come back to NY until after New Year’s. January should be a traveling month for me. I have quite a few things going on at work. I really like traveling. It gets me out and about, and I always see new things… even if I have been there before.

Oh… and I think I am getting sick too.

Sunset

The hills were covered with low lying clouds that looked pink in the sunset.

Fire

The smoke was so bad I had to turn off the vents in the car. When I actually drove through it I could barely see.

It was beautiful

On the way home

Mt Shasta, with snow this time

Mt Shasta

There had been snow in the higher elevations while I was gone. And there had even been snow in Portland too. So when I went to San Diego, Mt Shasta was just dusted, but on the way home the snow was piled on.

Too much fun is too much fun

Sherman was ready to go home. I think he missed the other babies. Boy would he have some stories to tell them!

The trip home

I left early friday morning. I intended to get to San Fransisco and spend the night, and then go the rest of the way home saturday. I ended up getting to San Fransisco at 9:30 am. I would have stayed, but Heather had already left and was in Knoxville. So I went on thinking that I would just stop somewhere in northern california. After reaching the Oregon state line I decided I was so close I should just finish the drive. I know, I know... I'm a little crazy. I sure have become a good distance driver! The weather was pretty good the whole way. It started raining as I got closer to Portland. When I was about 50 miles from home... I got a speeding ticket. Whoops. I guess after driving 2700 miles in a week it was bound to happen. You guys know how I love to speed. You have to pay the piper eventually. I rolled into Portland about 7:30 pretty pooped.

It had been a great trip. I got to see Heather and her parents, and I got to meet Holly. I was great spending time with Bucky. I really enjoyed it. It was so nice to catch up with him!

"Weapons and Ammo illegal in Mexico"

I just find this sign funny.

The last US exit

We went right to the border. It was amazing how much of the pollution yoou could see. It really did look like a different country.

Cutie Bucky

Bucky had always wanted a miata, and he finally bought one. He has been having a blast with it. And boy is he sexy in it!!!

The Thanksgiving Dinner Gang

Bucky's Thanksgiving Cookies

Rufus is so sweet!

Best Thanksgiving Ever!

So Bucky and I got up, and I watched him make oatmeal chocolate chip cookies to bring to thanksgiving lunch. I had never really ever seen Bucky cook anything - so it was really funny. Bucky let me drive his convertible to lunch, and I was pretty lucky because he really wasn't sure how to get there so we drove around for awhile. We went to lunch at Bucky's friends' house. We had a strange mix of Asian, Greek, and traditional thanksgiving food. There were quite a few people there, and we had alot of fun. They were really nice! We stayed for a few hours eating yummy food, talking and laughing.

When Bucky and I left lunch we headed down to Tijuana. It was a quick trip. As we neared the border it kinda started to seem we were in a different world. I can't really explain it. We got to the last US exit and turned back. We then headed back to the condo for a post-turkey nap. Well in my case a post-sweet potato nap.

When we got up from our nap and went out to a fusion vegetarian restuarant. It was fabulous. Bucky and I shared a couple of dishes, and discussed what a nice thanksgiving it had been. It was really fun to spend thanksgiving with bucky.

Ocean Beach

Carlsbad Steamplant

Yes.. it is across the 101 from the ocean. It was spewing on my way up, but it had stopped by the time I made it back down to Carlsbad.

Welcome to Encinitas

Canoe Art

This was an exhibit at the modern art museum in La Jolla.

Well worn rock

The rock was so surreal loooking. It was hard imagining what it took to wear them away like that. Look at the little surfer!

Some of the fog is hanging on

The tide was really high

There were some cool houses up on the cliff looking over the ocean.

Seals!

They look like slugs.

Seal Beach

You can see the way the beach was enclosed to make the area safe for kids. Notice how there is a big wave crashing over the walkway. A few seconds later most of those people were soaked.

La Jolla

To the beach

Wednesday morning I slept in and hoped the fog would burn off by the time I got to the beach. It worked out pretty well. About 10:30 I headed out to La Jolla to the beach. By the time I got there the fog was clearing, and the sun was out. I bummed around in La Jolla and went down to the beach. I parked and walked the path along the ocean. It was beautiful! I walked down to seal beach. It is an area that used to be a kid's beach. They built a wall to keep the rough waves out, and provide a nice place for kids to play. Well the seals liked it so much they ran the kids out. So now it is known as seal beach, and often you can find a bunch of seals sunning themselves and swimming. Well that morning it was perfect for the seals and there were lots of them on the beach.

After walking up and down the beach in La Jolla, I headed up the 101 along the coast. I went up as far as I could. I hit the military area, and 101 stopped. As I went up the 101 I went through a bunch of likke towns. They were packed with surf shops and little stores and restaurants. As the day wore on, traffic got worse and worse. I headed back down to San Diego, sun burned some more from being in the sun all day.

I went by Balboa Park on the way back to the condo. Balboa Park was really neat. It has beautiful gardens, a bunch of museums and theatres, and the San Diego zoo. The architecture of the buildings was really cool. The park just looked really surreal with the buildings and vegetation. That night Bucky and I went to dinner, went a wine bar, and hung out. We had a really good time.