Prehistoric Taggers

Native Americans lived in the Petrified Forest area back in the 12th-14th centuries. As elsewhere, they carved cool petroglyphs in the desert varnish found on many rocks. I guess folks have always been into that. For best results, blow this picture up to full screen size.

Stratification Sensation

I just liked the layered look of these badlands in Petrified Forest NP. There's a trail that winds thru this area, but as mentioned in the next post

down, I was too wussy to brave the wind and cold. Save it for next time.

Badlands of the Painted Desert

In addition to the trees, Petrified Forest NP contains badlands eroded by millions of years of wind, rain, and freezing temperatures into fantastic shapes with gaudy colors. The wind was certainly at work today...temp in the 40s, wind in the 30s. There are numerous hiking trails in the park, but it was just too cold and windy to do much. We California sloats aren't used to that weather! Our Alaskan brethren would think nothing of it, but the Cali sloats are a little wussy, I'm afraid.

There's not much water here, but when it does flow, it leaves its mark.

Really old logs!

In Petrified Forest NP you see old logs lying all over the place. From a distance, they look like ordinary wood, but in reality they're rocks that are over 200 million years old.

The bottom line is that this was a lush forest back in the Triassic era, when the earliest dinosaurs hung out. The trees fell in wet areas where they were covered with sand and mud with a silica content, and the silica gradually replaced the wood in the petrification process. I don't remember exactly how it works, but of course Wikipedia can supply the details. Or better yet, visit the park!

In some cases such as the photo of the individual tree, you can still see the rings quite clearly.

Gettin' your kicks...in a wigwam?

This is the famous Wigwam Motel on old route 66, in Holbrook Az. The vintage cars parked outside the wigwams don't appear to be operational, and I don't know if you can still stay in the wigwams or not...should have asked, I guess. There is a more modern motel in the back. As for myself, I stayed at a comfy Best Western just a few yards away.

Painted Desert Redux

Here's another cool shot of the Painted Desert. Like the Grand Canyon, the colors change with every change of the light. A good place to just set and contemplate, except that the day was cold and wind.

The Painted Desert

The Painted Desert in Petrified Forest NP is aptly named. The badlands of the desert are artfully and brightly colored, and clouds or a low sun set off the hues and make the landscape a palette of modern art.

Santa Fe

Stayed in Santa Fe last night and roamed around a bit this morning. Santa Fe is one of those distinctive cities like San Francisco or Charleston...if you were plunked down in the middle of it without knowing any landmarks, you would know you were in Santa Fe. Everything is done in the Spanish Mission architectural style, from old, historic buildings to shopping malls to new homes. The colors are warm earth tones...it's a comfy spot.

This is the Palace of the Governors. It's been a functioning building since 1610...pretty old for the new world. It's a museum today. The Palace is across the street from the Plaza, a nice place to hang out and watch the city go by. It's rather quiet now...few tourons. The Palace is home to many Native American vendors who sell stuff. Don't know how long they've been there. They were there 20 years ago...maybe 200.

Cadillac Ranch

This is Stanley Marsh's Cadillac Ranch! It's a countercultural American icon.

The Ranch consists of ten Cadillacs from the late 50s/early 60s vintage half buried in the west Texas prairie just west of Amarillo, tilted toward the east with the submerged fronts of the cars pointed toward the west...toward LA, the land of dreams...both realized and broken. Stanley Marsh is a local boy in Amarillo, a helium millionaire, who is recognized as being somewhat eccentric and down to earth. When I visited here in the 1980s, I noticed that his name, address, and phone number were right there in the Amarillo phone book...very unusual for such a prominent citizen.

The cars are getting up there in years, and a suggestion to Stanley might be to replace them with new Cadillacs...he can afford it. The Ranch is a dynamic exhibit...some years ago the cars had to be exhumed and reburied a few miles west of their original location due to encroaching urban development...there is a shiny new large mall just a couple miles east of this place. So it's logical that the cars could be replaced.

Such an offbeat locale is right up the Lizard's alley, and he enjoyed his visit to the Cadillac Ranch.

LBJ's Crib

This is the house where LBJ lived as a boy, from age 5 until he was married about 20 years later. It's in Johnson City in the Hill Country. I toured the house with a nice lady who was reading a thick book about LBJ when I arrived. It was a regularly scheduled tour but I was the only one there, so we discussed him in some depth. LBJ came from my parents' generation...he was born in 1908, my folks in '11 and '18, so it was very impressive that his mother was a college graduate. His father was not, but educated himself and served several terms in the Texas lege, and one of his grandparents was also in politics. LBJ was immersed in the bidness from an early age...by the time he was a teenager he was accompanying his dad to the lege. For his time and place, he had a fairly comfortable upbringing...his house was one of the first around to have a crystal radio and a bathtub, though it didn't have indoor plumbing or electricity, but he came of age in the depression and had some hard times. My tour guide opined that this was a factor in his later pursuit of education legislation, rural electrification, civil rights, and other social developments. Like many ranchers, who need to keep their land productive to keep it profitable, LBJ was also environmentally conscious, and presided over environmental legislation to enhance clean air and water. Medicare was developed during his presidency.

LBJ's domestic successes have been overshadowed and his legacy has of course been tarnished considerably by the Vietnam War, which was the first war the US indisputably lost, and divided the nation on his watch. Sound familiar? The bottom line is that Americans, no matter what their political persuasion is, don't like fighting wars where lives and money are expended with no positive result. Who does?

On the banks of the Pedernales

I spent today loafing around in the Texas Hill Country, west of Austin. I did some fine slotation along the Pedernales River, just downstream from LBJ's old place. I dozed for awhile on some rocks by the river, and later near here, on a sandy beach by the water. This is in Pedernales Falls State Park, and in warmer weather there are many people here swimming, but this day (Monday, upper 60s) there were only a few folks around so it was very peaceful. I haven't done enough sloating on this trip...will have to make up for that when I get home.

Ah, home...you know, when you live in Monterey you live in a famous place. The lady who took me thru LBJ's boyhood home today has lived there. She went to San Jose State. A woman at the front desk of the motel where I'm staying in Fredericksburg tonight is going to San Francisco and Carmel this coming Friday...not for the first time...and she's stoked. I was giving her some tips on where to go. Last year when I went to Australia, the first person I talked to in depth, a woman running a coffee house, had lived in Monterey. It's world famous!

Capitol Dome

This is a picture of the top of the Texas state capitol dome. I thought the design was cool. As
I have remarked many times before, the two distinctive states in the US, that are almost separate countries, are Texas and California. Texans take pride in their state identity. Even the concrete in freeway overpasses has lone star designs imprinted in it. Texas and California are vast empires unto theselves.

I know I'm getting farther west. Hardees has changed back to Carls Jr. Wells Fargo is here. Also Conoco and Diamond Shamrock. No Yuengling, alas...but I reckon I'll pick up some Shiner tomorrow.

Texas Lege

These pix may be of particular interest to Molly Ivins fans. You know who you are! She frequently writes about the Texas Legislature, which she simply calls the Texas Lege, with a variety of emotions ranging from disgust to affection. Well, here are the chambers of the Texas Lege! Here's where the shenanigans that Molly outlines take place. The room with more desks and chairs is the House of Representatives, and the one that's less crowded is the Senate...I believe there are only 31 Senators, compared to 150 Representatives.

Texas State Capitol

Here's the Texas state capitol in Austin, fronted by a statue of a Texas Ranger atop his trusty steed. The capitol dates from 1888, and is about 300 feet high. The building is beautifully done, both inside and out. There are many ornate Victorian trimmings in the capitol, either the original architecture or accurately restored.

Domestic Terrorism

This is the bell tower at the University of Texas at Austin. It's a prominent landmark on campus and indeed in the city. Young, even middle aged folks probably just think it's a pretty building, but us old sloats still remember an incident that took place here forty years ago...it was major national news in the papers and Life magazine. There was a bloke named Charles Whitman involved. Charlie was an exemplary youth...he was an altar boy and an Eagle scout. He joined the Marines. But he had some family issues, and he had a wild streak, and by the age of 25, in 1966, he also had a cancerous brain tumor (he didn't know it) and he realized his reasoning was messed up, causing him to be really, really mad at times.
Well, one day (Aug 1 1966) he finally lost it totally. He murdered his mother and wife, and then he went up to the top of this tower with a whole lot of gear, including an arsenal, and started shooting. By the time the cops killed him, he had whacked 15 people and injured 31 more. Read the Wikipedia article on him...it's rather remarkable. He knew there was something badly wrong...he wrote a suicide note and requested that an autopsy be done on him to determine what the problem was (that's when his tumor was discovered), and he willed any money from his estate to mental health research, hopefully to prevent actions like the ones he was going to undertake. Yet he still did all this stuff! Boggles the mind.

Big D

Here's a shot coming into Dallas on I-30. Didn't stop this time, but I visited in 1994 and highly recommend The Sixth Floor, a museum about the JFK assassination located in the very building where the deed was done, the former Texas School Book Depository overlooking Dealy Plaza. It's very interesting and presents a comprehensive view about the events of that day, both documented and conjectured. Stand on the grassy knoll, and you can see that, whether there was a conspiracy or not, it's an ideal ambush spot for a motorcade passing by.

Bubba's Library

Passing thru Little Rock today, I realized I had an opportunity to visit the William Jefferson Clinton Presidential Library, so I did. Normally it would cost $10 to get in which I was prepared to pay, but today is the second anniversary of the library, and everyone got in free!
The library details Bubba's presidency year by year, with narratives, documents, and videos for each year from 1993 thru 2000. His accomplishments, and also his problems, are presented in detail. Monica is by no means ignored but is not given obsessive coverage. You can look thru looseleaf binders with his schedule for each day of his presidency spelled out to the minute, or in the case of his morning jog, tba. Not an easy job...lots of 12 hour days.
Needless to say, the narratives at the library are mostly positive, and there are a few discrepancies. For example, Clinton is credited with facilitating the establishment of democracy in Haiti in the early 1990s. In reality, democracy has worked about as well in Haiti as it has in Iraq. Other accomplishments of Bill have been reversed since he left office...the budget surplus is a glaring example. But all in all, personally I preferred Bubba's 8 years in office to the 6 since then.

Attention Lance Fans!

Hey Andersons, and Matt too! Check this out! Lance is obviously a friend of Bubba, and left some of his threads and an old bike at Bubba 's library. Blow the pic up for more details.

Bubba's Ride

Here's one of Bubba's presidential limos, on exhibit at his library in Little Rock.

Meriweather Lewis' Grave

Earlier in the trip at Monticello I bought a biography of Meriweather Lewis, of Lewis and Clark fame. It was an interesting book, chronicling the 1804-06 expedition in detail. Lewis was an exceptional commander and leader, but he appears to have been subject to periods of depression, for which there was little or no treatment in those days. After the expedition he had a series of political and financial reversals, culminating here on the Natchez Trace in 1809. Lewis was attempting to deliver his journals of the expedition to the east for publication...over three years after the end of the expedition...when he apparently suffered one of his bouts of depression, lost it, and killed himself. This is his grave in Tennessee. It was more significant for me since I had recently read his biography.
The Natchez Trace is a National Scenic highway running from Natchez, Ms to Nashville. Based on old Indian trails, it was a major artery of transportation and commerce for the frontier west of the US in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. By the 1830s it was superseded by steamboats, and shortly thereafter, railroads.

Lizard goes native

Lizard has taken to the hillbilly lifestyle. Here he is, hangin' out on a swing on the front porch of my rental cabin, wearing a flop hat, chillin'. Actually, from what I've observed, the main difference between hillbillies and city dwellers is that the hillbillies listen to country and bluegrass on their Ipods instead of rock and hip hop. This was a fine cabin...a cozy one bedroom place with two (!) hot tubs...one inside and one outside.

La Jolla it ain't

This farmhouse was occupied until about the time the Great Smokies NP was established in 1934. Amazingly, a farming family raised nine (9) children in this little two room house! It's high in the hills, by a rushing stream, where there is little flat land and zillions of rocks. Build a house, clear land, build a road...deal with the rocks. Hot in summer with snakes and thunderstorms...cold in winter with snow and ice. Mud periodically throughout. Talk about a rough life! They had 72 acres. 30 were planted in corn, the rest were left in timber which was cut as needed. But they survived. I reckon we modern middle class blokes are spoilt rotten.

Yum Yum!

This is one of the fermenting vats where JD is made. From here it goes into the filtering process, where it drips thru a 10 foot high cylinder of charcoal which gives it its distinctive flavor. Needless to say, the aromas both in the fermenting and charcoal rooms are verrry nice.

Jack's demise

I toured the Jack Daniel's distillery today. Somewhat of a pilgrimage, since I've enjoyed the product for about 30 years. Though it's a very large operation, all the hooch is still made at the original distillery, though once made, the barrels are stored at many warehouses in the vicinity. JD himself died at 61. This safe was the culprit. It seems that one day in 1905, Jack couldn't get the safe to open...it's in what was then the main office. So he kicked it in disgust. Broke his toe, which got infected. That led to gangrene, and it gradually got worse and worse...eventually the kicking leg (left) was amputated and six years after the incident, in 1911, he died of blood poisoning from the injury. So if you get into such a situation, just mutter an epithet and leave it at that, I reckon.

Autumn icefall

I drove the Blue Ridge Parkway on a November morning after a cold front. It's been fairly wet in the area, and water trickling over rocks on a north facing slope created this fine icefall. Winter is coming on.

Waterfalls and old growth hardwoods

For the east, the Smokies are fairly substantial. The highest mountains are up to 6600 feet, and on the Blue Ridge Parkway the road itself reaches an elevation of 6053 feet, high enough so that you feel the altitude when hiking. The NP hosts one of the most diverse ecosystems in the world, courtesy of the Ice Age. At that time, many plant species moved south ahead of the advancing glaciers into the Smokies, which were not glaciated. When the climate warmed, the cold weather plants moved uphill, and still survive in the Smokies, while warmer weather vegetation thrives at lower elevations. You get oak trees in the valleys, and balsam firs on the Appalachian crest.

The Smokies were logged in the early part of the twentieth century, but by the time the park was established in 1934 there was still a lot of old growth left, and if you hike a few miles into the backcountry you find very large old trees such as the ones in the picture. By the way, the waterfall is Laurel Falls, a popular destination for day hikers.

Hangin' in the Smokies

For the first time, I visited Great Smoky Mountains NP, spending three days in the area. It's beautiful and, this time of year, peaceful...in summer, it might be another story as the park is the most visited in the nation, drawing about 9 million visitors a year. But in November, after the leaves have mostly dropped from the trees, it's much less crowded. And, it's clearer. I visited the park after a cold front, and the famous haze...actually mostly pollution from upstream...was almost totally absent for the first two days. The result was sweeping vistas, both in the park and from the Blue Ridge Parkway just to the southeast.

Greenville

I'm staying with old friends in Greenville, SC, a city of about 55,000 in a county with around 400,000. It's a fine small city that is really on the ball with civic development. The downtown is nicely landscaped, with a fine park centered on the Reedy River and its falls that run right through the middle of town. It's an excellent place to picnic, dine at sidewalk cafes, or just hang out in the sun by the water. One of these pictures shows a curving pedestrian bridge over the river, connecting both banks with a graceful arc supported by suspension cables located entirely on the downstream side of the bridge.
There is a batch of fine new architecture in Greenville, including a state of the art minor league ballpark, a concert hall, and several office buildings and condos. Several older buildings have also been restored. It's a great example of development that is friendly to both business and people.
Greenville has been very successful in attracting high end businesses. BMW has an assembly plant here, and Michelin has located its North American headquarters in the city. The basic scenario is strong growth in high paying jobs, and considerable development, but in a planned manner that leaves a lot of open space that is being used wisely. And you can still buy a massive house for the price of a one bedroom condo in Monterey!

More leaves!

This picture was taken Nov 10 at a rest area near Macon, Georgia. The leaves here are gorgeous...a month and a half after they peaked in northern New England. So you have to put up with more pictures of fine fall color. None in Florida, but from central Georgia north to Greenville the leaves are still in fine form.

Kaboom!

Three things that are much more common in the south than on the west coast are churches, strip joints, and fireworks stores. Wonder how much crossover there is among the patrons of the three?

Hora Feliz at the Gulf

Happy hour on my last afternoon in Florida on the ocean. I've been in the state for two weeks and have gotten used to it. 80 degrees every day...some days dry, like today, some days humid...turn on the fans and drink a little more beer. Before heading home, I wish to pay tribute to the faithful Lizard, who has accompanied me all this way, and the trusty Esky, pictured here on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico, a long way from the Woolworths supermarket in Gosford, NSW, Australia, where I purchased it just over a year ago. The Esky is supporting the Lizard; a tinnie of Yuengling, the superb PA beer brewed since 1829; and a tumbler of Makers Mark, a fine Kentucky whisky. All this was savored whilst reading about the Democratic election victory in USA today as the sun lowered in the west and waves from the Gulf lapped gently on the shore. A thoroughly pleasant late afternoon!

Whelk alive!

Here's a look at a live whelk shell. The critter inside...the artist who has crafted this fine shell...is not neglectful of his own security. Notice that he has attached a shiny trap door to his body with which he can shut out the outside world. This is called an operculum which I reckon is Latin to keep outta my face, or something like that. This shell is about 6-7 inches long, but since it's still live, it's kapu to keep it...so after photographing it I threw it back.

Sunrise over the Gulf

Here's the sunrise from my resort at Sanibel. The sun is coming up over the Gulf; you can see some high rise buildings over around Naples on the mainland, but highrises are kapu on Sanibel. It's a fairly peaceful place though by no means undeveloped. It was only about 60 degrees at sunrise today...in November the sub in subtropical is beginning to be felt. No problem!

Hangin' at Sanibel

Not too much to report. I'm loafing at a suite at a resort in Sanibel, with a peek at the adjacent Gulf, chilling out. Today I took about a 15 mile bike ride (flat, but into a headwind for the first half) to Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge. Here I found this posse of white ibis hangin' out, grooming, soaking up the sun, chillin'.





Sanibel was whacked by hurricane Charley in '04 and Wilma in 05. The buildings appear to have all been repaired since then, but you can still see the effects on some of the island's trees, like the ones in the photo. I stayed here once before, about 10-12 years ago at the Caribe Beach Resort. Then, it was nestled in a forest of large trees. Now, all the trees around it are small, most likely a result of the hurricanes.

End of the Road

Well, here we are at the southernmost point in the continental USA, in Key West. A popular touron spot as you can see. This completes the second part of my trip. The first leg was eastward to Maine, where I reached my farthest northeast point at Acadia NP. Now I've advanced all the way down the east coast as far as I can go, to Key West. Tomorrow I will start heading for home! This process will take awhile; I won't be back in Monterey until about the first of December. Then, it'll be time to start planning another trip!

Driving at sea

This is the old seven mile bridge on US 1 in the Keys. This bridge was closed in 1982 and a new wider one was opened just to the left, out of the picture. This is the longest bridge in the Keys. (actually 6.8 miles on my odometer). The overseas highway started out as a railroad, built by a south Florida tycoon named Henry Flagler in the early 20th century. The original bridge was completed in 1912 and had railroad tracks on it. The railroad was wiped out in the infamous cat 5 Labor Day hurricane of 1935, still the strongest on record in the US with a barometric pressure of 26.35 inches! By that time of course automobiles were beginning to overshadow trains, so when the route was rebuilt it was done as a highway. There have been no trains in the Keys since 1935.

Nearing the End of the Road

I am now on the Overseas Highway, nearing the southern end of US 1, heading for Key West. On this trip, I traveled quite a bit of highway 1 in Maine, near its northern US terminus. Now I'm almost at its southern end. But the two ends are different...up north, you can cross into Canada and just keep going. In the Keys, you're at a dead end. You have driven as far as you can drive.
The road goes over many bridges, hopping from key to key. At times, it's almost like you're driving at sea. By the way, blow up the pic and check out the massive concrete power poles to the right of the road. Obviously, they're built to withstand the frequent hurricanes that menace this region. The spectre of these storms hangs over the keys, similar to earthquakes in relation to California.

An Alpine pass in Florida?

Blow this picture up to see the inscription...it doesn't look like the sign has had any maintenance since I first saw it about 20 years ago. At the time I was living in Colorado, and the idea of a "pass" 3 feet above sea level was quite amusing. It still is. The passes in Cali aren't quite as high as the ones in Colorado but Tioga Pass in Yosemite is still 9942 feet higher than Rock Reef!

Flashy SoBe

Here the Old Sloat has parked his flippers in South Beach, the ultrachic 'hood on Ocean Boulevard in Miami Beach. This is an interesting area, and the restored Art Deco buildings are fabulous. However, it must be noted that the large majority of people here are younger, slimmer, richer, and hipper than the Old Sloat. The few who do not meet all four characteristics do qualify on the last two.

Peaceful coexistence

To really get an idea of what this picture is about, blow it up. Notice how close the great blue heron and the alligator are to each other. The gator is basking, studiously ignoring the heron, turning its back to the bird. Actually the heron has its back to the gator, too. Do you suppose the critters are communicating with each other?
Perhaps the gator has let the heron know he's full, he really prefers fish to herons, and if the bird don't aggravate him, he'll leave it alone. Or maybe they're identifying with each other as fellow predators...after all, they both eat fish. In that case, who gets first dibs on the first fish to come along? Actually, I have noticed this kind of juxtaposition several times in the Everglades. Quite interesting.

Gators rule!

These pictures were taken on the Anhinga trail in Everglades National Park. This is a great place to see wildlife...birds and alligators abound. I took some great video of a swimming gator...he uses his tail as the main means of propulsion, waving it back and forth...rather gracefully, at that. The behavior of the gator...sluggish on land, graceful in the water...is downright sloatlike!
The gators seem to enjoy each others company at times, as the foursome pictured together indicate...maybe they were just back from their Sunday morning golf game. The grinning gator is obviously celebrating Florida's victory over Vanderbilt the previous day. It was a narrow win and I don't think the Gators beat the spread, so this particular gator probably did not have a wager on the game.