Eating our way across the South.

by

Boiled CrayfishCrayfish EtouffeeExperiencing the food of a region one is visiting is a very important part of the overall travel experience for me.  When traveling, well known chain restaurants have always been off of the list.  In my opinion, if one wishes to eat the same meat and potatoes or fast food eaten when at home, stay home!   Soooo, at each town we visit in the South, we are eating that which the area is well known for, including sampling the local beers.  BBQ in Texas, hush puppies, black-eyed peas, collard and turnip greens in Vicksburg, Mississippi.  Boiled crayfish and oyster po-boy sandwich in Biloxi.  Fresh grouper and raw oysters in the Gulf of Mexico, crayfish etouffee in Breaux Bridges, Louisiana.  While my wife is less adventuresome than me, she is eating food one cannot easily get in the southwest and chain restaurants.  This etouffee pictured was more fussy than the standard, but still good.

The photos were taken with an IPhone.

Oak Alley Plantation

by

I have seen photos of this iconic Louisiana plantation located a short drive west of New Orleans for years and am happy I finally made the visit.  It was raining off and on all day.  There were still many tour groups getting in the way of my photography.  Tour groups would finally step inside only to quickly reappear on the second floor balcony.  When all the tour groups were finally hidden, more tourists would start lining up for the next tour and exploring the area.  I was, however,  able to stitch five photos together for one large panorama photograph that can be printed 24 inches by 96 inches, wow!  These can be seen in the Flowers, Plants and Trees Gallery, Fl46 & Fl47.

Oak Alley Umbrella
Continue reading →

Sombody’s Neighbors

by

Traveling through Texas we came across this unique home in a small town.  While it was certainly well maintained, I was wondering what their neighbors think.  View the slideshow of the front yard taken with the IPhone.

Luckenbach, Texas…. Waylon, Willie and the boys

by

IMG_1031Luckenbach, TexasLuckenbach, Texas is about 20 miles outside the German heritage town of Fredericksburg.  I doubt Luckenbach would exist at all if not for the 1977 song by Waylon Jennings.  It is obviously strictly for tourists, but we found a fun movie set prop type town with good beer and free live music.  One could get their picture taken sitting on top of Tumbleweed, the longhorn steer.  I only brought the IPhone here, so the 2 second shutter delay caused me to miss a movie of the crowing rooster.  Bummer.  It was fun to visit this popularly named town after hearing the song for so many years.

You Moooove Me

by
Being Nosy

Being Nosy

Driving down the road south of Tucumcari, New Mexico I saw several cows on the porch of the house you see here in the background.  Thinking cows on the porch of a house would make an interesting photo, I stopped.  Cows never pay any attention to the many passing cars, which are the norm and happen all day long.  However, if a car stops they immediately become interested in you and likely are hoping for some food.  It was very evident the original photo vision was not going to work, so this photo is the result.  It seemed to me that one cow was elected the spokesperson as all the others were too shy to come forward.  This photo is so clear, the ear tags of the cows in the background can be read as well as seeing each hair in the cow’s snotty nose.  However, I doubt this is going on anybody’s living room wall anytime soon…..Unless Kelly sees this and really likes it…..

Plastic Trash Bags….

by

trash-20140321-_ALL0553Can anyone please remind me of the reason that the city of Santa Fe, New Mexico recently banned plastic trash bags?  Ohhh, now I remember….

I generally am not in favor of the government passing laws to protect us from ourselves or getting too many regulations, but as we travel across the country it is surprising and very disappointing how very many trash bags are stuck to weeds, posts and residential fences.  Here we have lots of bags in nearly all the front yards of a neighborhood.  To me it is almost like we were allowed to have them for a while to see how we would handle the responsibility and we have failed miserably.  Therefore, the government is now taking them away from us.  I ‘get it’ that there are many alternative uses of these bags.  They are reused for many very valuable purposes.  While we travel, we have lots of these bags in the back of the truck.  But as often happens and as happened to us in school, a few bad apples spoil it for the rest.  Take these polluting bags away now and their remains will still be around for many years, flapping in the wind.  It is not just in the States, it was much worse in Mexico.  Hey people, clean up your trash bags or the government may ban them in your area……

Wind Turbine Blade Speed

by
Texas Wind Turbines

Texas Wind Turbines

OK all of you inquiring minds and sons and daughters of physicists and engineers…. A mind wonders while driving down the road and I started to think about the wind turbines we have seen in China and across the USA.  In Palm Springs one can see an evolution in the designs as there are at least three different types of blades on the windy hillsides.
Continue reading →

Home Free Travel, Things I Miss Most

by
Truck Packed up leaving Chicago

Truck Packed up leaving Chicago

Many, if not most, working people would likely jump at the chance to travel where and when they wanted, especially those now sitting in a cubicle with no view and a day of deadlines and meetings.  I did not always plan to travel in retirement, but that is our current plan.  I am no expert yet, as we have not yet started our first big solo trip to Europe and we have only been home free since September 2013.  However, there are certain inconveniences with a life on the road you may want to figure into your dreams or plans.
Continue reading →

New Mexico Red or Green Chile

by

Green Chile StewPasoleIt is said the major question in New Mexico is “… red or green?”  This is in reference to your chile preference.  There are plenty of articles discussing this question.  To avoid this critical decision, one can order their chile ‘Christmas’ which is half and half.  There are two New Mexican dishes one can order and avoid the question, green chile stew (never red) and posole which is always made with red in the restaurants.   Please note I am aware these are not fine art photographs and may have been taken after a couple beers, but I think you get the idea.  There is, in my opinion, a large difference between southern New Mexico and northern New Mexico food.   We think it is easier to find good New Mexican food in northern New Mexico like Santa Fe and Taos area.  The important concept to grasp is to eat where and what the locals eat.  Stay away from the chains when traveling and experiment with the food with an open mind.

Trash, Trash and more trash…..

by

Mexican trashMexican Trash 2Something we noticed in both China and Mexico was an apparent misunderstanding of trash.  In both Mexico and in China we saw paid workers sweeping up leaves in the street (China) and sweeping leaves on our patio (Mexico) then diligently placing these natural leaves in a nearby trash receptacle.  Also, in both instances you could count on seeing a large pile of real trash very nearby being ignored.  Neither country has yet developed a noticeable regard for the environment and keeping it clean.  If one wanted to, I am 100 percent confident a similar trash pile could be found in the States.  However, one difference is that it is not at all unusual to see government paid workers in the States walking along a highway cleaning it up.  Also, sections of highway are auctioned off in a joint venture between the paying public or corporations and the government for clean up.  Kramer on Seinfeld bought such a section of highway and carried the cleanliness a bit too far.   I clearly do not understand the many hurdles these poorer countries are facing and I have no solution for this situation.  As a new world traveler, I am only pointing this out as something I noticed.  Both countries’ citizens were interested in us and helpful in every way, that is just harder to capture by the camera.