license [plates] to photograph

post #464
       Long story -- Friday morning I planned to drive two hours west to Frankfort, Kentucky, the capital of our state.  At 10 a.m. I would get on a small boat for an hour's tour sponsored by the local Audubon group. We'd look for birds and wildlife in general AND learn more about the way the river fits into the landscape along with some history. Because I already had an appointment for that afternoon in nearby Lexington, I thought I could make it work, despite the challenges of getting there and finding the boat landing location. I had never been there before.
      OK, well, several things got in my way. I knocked my glasses off the bed just before leaving home, and a lens fell out and of course I couldn't see to fix it. But then I remembered the eye doctor in Morehead opens at 8 or 8:30, on my way, so I could take it to them to fix! And they did! But since I hadn't left home in a timely manner anyway, it was now going to be a close call to get there in time. I didn't put the location info into my phone in a timely manner either. And of course I had to visit the rest stop on the interstate, since we had been notified that there were no facilities on the boat!
        SO, as you can imagine, a little extra errand here, a little vagueness about the layout of Frankfort and the river there, and a short side trip to the parking lot of a bourbon distillery by mistake, I didn't get there in time. However, I am proud that I missed the departure by only 10 minutes at the most.  Even though I had really wanted to have been on the boat, by now I was mostly amazed to be where I had planned to go, with my camera in my car! 
        OK, making art makes for better self-esteem, so I had an idea of how to honor all the people who managed to get there in time.  I would take some photos of their license plates and bumper stickers -- knowing how interesting the folks might be who had been just a bit better about getting ready to go out on the river on this beautiful day. (Every plate is a Kentucky plate.)
        SO, here are the photos. I have to add that during my recent trip to northern California I had encountered more than a few people who had looked politely stricken when I would tell them I was from Kentucky. They didn't know whether to ask about my politics -- how could I be for Mitch McConnell -- or not.  On these cars are several stickers in support of Amy McGrath, who is running against McConnell... so I hope this reassures folks not in Kentucky that many of us are indeed trying our best to finish his Senate career. 

Anyway, here are my photos, and thanks for sticking with me through this shaggy dog story!!

THE EMPTY BOAT LANDING

Note: I don't show more than one plate of the same kind, AND my car is one of the plates..... Also, the University of Kentucky basketball team is called the Wildcats....

If only Google Map could tell me that the entrance to the boat landing is exactly opposite this unique row of multi colored buildings, I might have made it on board. I hope I get to meet some of these people some other time if I ever have a second chance to go out on the river with them.

 

sharing an adventure: Point Reyes National Seashore

post #463
           Sometimes adventures just simply happen, even when you are doing something else. I had one recently. It lasted for a single afternoon, but I literally went somewhere I had never been before. Now that I am back home I'm able to post some iPhone photos from that time. I know many people who look at this blog won't be able to visit there, so it's always a  happiness to share an opportunity I have been fortunate to have. 
           Thanks to Liz for suggesting we go there --  the day we chose was the one when the water in her neighborhood was closed down for repairs. All day! I also thank her for holding on to the back of my jacket when I briefly photographed the elephant seals. No fence, not safe, high cliffs, etc. I didn't want to forget I was taking a photo and shouldn't step forward, etc.  
            Oh, did I mention the wind yet? It was constant and very, very pushy.
        

at the beginning of the last part of the path

the fartherest tip of the land -- an area called Chimney Rock

looking south all the way to Antarctica!

the main wind-surviving tree

looking back to the way back

private beach and hideout for elephant seals -- hard for humans to get there to disturb them!

The ride out toward Chimney Rock features some cattle farms -- nothing fancy, hard workers:

A few other photos from the Bay Area of San Francisco, California:

two views of looking out my bedroom window at Liz's redwood tree....

my great nephew and niece (!!)

from the [moving] airport bus, after crossing the Golden Gate Bridge, on the way to Liz's house

 So, adventures are good but so is home.  I'm always grateful for friends and family. And fun.

Road trip, non-photos, part 2 of 2

post #388
       So let's take up this story in Springfield, Missouri, where my cousin Doug -- who looks just like his dad who was my mother's brother -- and his family live and share a house with his wife's mother, 3 cats and a dog. This was my first visit ever with him. We stayed there a short 24 hours, but we were busy -- Cathy and I toured the University they are connected to and the great Nature Center -- where I actually took a photo with my iPhone of a chart showing what poison ivy looks like along side plants that may think they look like poison ivy. I am no longer terrifically endangered by P.I., like I was as a child, but I do the magical thinking that the fact that I don't get P.I. any more must mean I haven't identified the plants correctly. So I now have the photo of that chart on my iPhone to carry with me. (If I have made adequate sense in this telling, it's a miracle.)
     At the house, we learned a lot from the family geneology Lois had been doing, and Doug shared his various ingenious uses of computers and speakers and devices. Awesome talent.  He says he has a t-shirt that reads "No, I won't come to your house and fix your computer." He was kind enough to answer a few questions I happened to have about my phone... and he took each of us for ride in his beloved "old car," Cathy was able to do a Walmart run with him, for something needed for her new phone, and later I got a quick tour of the neighborhood with him. I am going to show three photos that Lois took, of me stepping into the car, etc., having great fun and appreciating his patience with my "undignified" behavior. 

         That night we had a light supper and the night in Kansas City, Missouri, where Cathy's friend, Carol, joined us after arriving in town at 11 pm on the train.  Early the next morning we three drove to the Kansas City International Airport, which meant only a half hour for me in the back seat. Carol is a Union Organizer, and knows all the airports and all the tricks for mapping trips on her phone. I believe her call name must by "Never Lost." I was let off to take a plane from there in order to get back home.
          Please note that the only reason I took the plane was that there isn't any other option! Not to where I needed to go. Not even any buses. How sad. I used to love the occasional long bus ride, and I am a big fan of trains. 
          To make the rest of this story short enough, I will just add that my flight from KCI went to Charlotte, NC, very smoothly flying over Lexington, KY, where, as I wrote last week, my car was. I was supposed to catch a flight from Charlotte to Lexington, yet all of a sudden the word was that the Lexington airport was closed down and there would be no flights to there for 24 hours. So close was I to going, and now so far.
           I had no interest in staying in Charlotte, so I managed to figure out how to get on a flight that evening to Louisville. I had no idea what to do after that. Luckily I hadn't checked a bag. The supervisor at the American Airlines desk in L'ville, however, told me I had just missed their bus going to Lexington. But, even so, she managed to get me a paid taxi ride to get there! Weird but wonderful.      
          Along my way, then, to find the taxis, I had a conversation with two guys from Ecuador, one of whom spoke some English. It turned out they needed a ride to Lex. for the same reason I did, so I invited them to join me. It ended up working out even better than I expected. I was just trying to be American hospitable, but they helped me, too. Then, about 40 minutes into the hour and 15 minute drive, I found out the taxi driver spoke French and so do I. I think he was African, and his French was great. He was thrilled, as was I, since usually it's all Spanish. Then, for quite a while, we had three languages going as it got darker and darker out. I would tell the Ecuadorians how beautiful the horse country was on either side of the road we were on and it was too bad they couldn't see it. What could have been a travel stress-out turned into a lovely and very interesting experience! 
       That's enough to get the idea of things. I am glad to be home, and, in fact, I am just finishing this by sitting in a chair outside my house, watching the darkness increase. There are no bugs, and no wind and it's all very peaceful.  But for sure it's good to get out and have an adventure every now and then.