Hallo all!
Thanks for all the posts: I've read them but won't reply to everything. Had a busy day, including buying plants to put in my tubs for winter colour, cleaning bathrooms, making phone calls, doing laundry and turning mattresses, going for our 'flu jabs, and cooking a stew! Tired now.....
Hope you're enjoying having your son to stay, Heather.
Annette- was the Euro Tunnel the same tunnel used in the excellent TV series "The Tunnel"? They ended up using the actual tunnel during the series at the suggestion of the authorities. They had to do a lot of the shooting at odd hours. I loved the series and was sad when it was ended. Highly recommended viewing.
Annette: Your photos are glorious! What a special, enchanting place. I would love to see the southwest. Thanks so much for posting. I enjoyed all the pics! (It's amazing that people don't steal all the petrified tree segments. Maybe I'm just cynical.)
Safe journey and have a good trip to Oregon!
Hello to all.
Evening all:
PatO: Sounds like you might be going through the Panama Canal; if so, it's apparently fascinating.
Heather: How long are the Danes staying?
Lindybird: COngrats on such a productive day.
bjane: Yes, same tunnel. I read about how they filmed the series there. I was a bit nonplussed by the ending (spoiler alert!); I thought there would have been more evidence of an explosion
OG: Can't imagine you're having much fun, but am thinking about you - and EE and J - and hoping things are improving..... Take care!
This is the last batch of photos from the trip. It's the Grand Canyon (surprise!). No photos can do justice to this place. A storm was over part of the Canyon and at times the cloud and rain was so low that it obscured the North Rim (on average it's 1.5 miles across and 1,000 ft higher than the South Rim).
This was our first view. I haven't made the pix as small as the previous shots so you can see what detail there is.
That's my niece's finger pointing to the clay-colored Colorado River, way, way down at the bottom of t he Canyon. You can't always see it from the rim because it winds its way around the multiple layers of eroded rock . It's amazing to think that water created this spectacular formation. Apparently, the water can be the chocolaty color or clear green, depending on the weather miles upriver.
That's not the river at the bottom of this area; it's a hiking trail and goes all the way out to the edge of the plateau before it disappears from view. I don't know if it ends there or goes even deeper. I had my whale counting binocs and you could see people on the trail. That wooded area halfway along is a rest area. You too can hike this trail from your armchair, thanks to Google Earth! You really have to be in fantastic shape and/or very young to make the trip.
Amazing to see the geologic history displayed for all to see.....
This is the worst photo in the world of a condor (one of many!) flying overhead (I had to up the Contrast)
The road en route to Flagstaff at the end of the day and the mountain that sits behind the city. My niece was fascinated by the clouds over the last two days of this part of the trip, which were flattened on the underside..
That's it!
We're off to Oregon tomorrow. Take care all.
Annette - Yes, the Panama Canal is on the itinerary, which was changed. Originally we would have been going through at night, but we were not able to visit Panama City so now we go through the canal in daylight and visit Guatemala instead. I wonder whether this will be changed het again with the disruption happening in that area at the moment?
Those photographs of the Grand Canyon are spectacular. What a way to start my day! Thank you. Have a good trip to Oregon.
Have a good day, everyone. Hope OG is feeling better and that the consultation comes up with something positive.
Good Morning. I think it's dry here, but it's only just getting light.
Thanks for all your stunning photos, Annette. I have enjoyed them hugely. What a wonderful visit your niece had. I hope you have a successful trip to Oregon.
Thinking of OG and EE, and hoping the medics can help.
Amazing place, ANNETTE. I was half asleep when looking at your pics this morning and read the captions in the wrong order. So, where was the condor ?! I enlarged the photo, and was very puzzled until I'd had another sip of coffee.... Enjoy Oregon!
The Danes are here for three days and then leave on 1st November, with me tagging along. I'll spend three days in Denmark and then fly back from Esbjerg ( Jutland) to Aberdeen.
Talking about bridges - it would be impossible to travel Denmark without using bridges over water. Jutland, Funen (Fyn) and Zealand are all the component parts of Denmark but separated in each case by water. There is also a bridge from Denmark (Copenhagen) to Sweden (Malmo). I heard on World Service last night that gun runners use that bridge :-( Seems that Malmo has quite a problem with gun crime. They go to Belgium to buy weapons and drive back up through Denmark and into Sweden. Sweden is no longer the peaceful place that it used to be. Well, some parts, anyway. I'm not going to spell it out but it is quite a recent problem.
My son and eldest daughter are off visiting distilleries today. Can't remember which ones but down the A9 and they will lunch in Rothes. This evening, supper here together with some friends - and a whisky tasting afterwards. I'll not partake,hate the taste of it.
Morning all: Thank heaven sprinklers went off on schedule this morning. I futzed with the controls at some point and it's very confusing to reprogram.
PatO: I don't imagine that they'd need to change the itinerary. Puerto Quetzal is the main stop for cruises in Guatemala and I don't see any current alerts for that area on the US Travel Advisory list. I know that some West Coast cruises are now stopping in Santa Barbara (using those little boats to get onshore) rather than some West Coast Mexican ports due to increased crime in the larger ports. No matter where you are though, it's always good to keep your wits about you.... Speaking of the Canal, there's a fascinating book by David McCullough called The Path Between the Seas, about the building of the Panama Canal. He does a great job of writing engagingly about huge projects like that.
Heather: Our Oregon host is talking about taking us wine-tasting - well that'll take care of afternoon naps, which could extend into evening given that OH and I don't drink at all during the day (unless there's some event requiring champagne!) I'd be happy to just go for walks along the river and plop down and read somewhere green with trees. I'm taking Fear: Trump in the White House by Bob Woodward, which is hardly soothing, so am taking Apollo 13 (the book the movie was based on), which won't be so alarming in that we all know it had a happy ending. Have just finished reading Apollo 8 (the first flight to go around the dark side of the moon).
Oh yes, we're supposed to be heading north today, so had better zoom off for shower, etc. Best thoughts to OG!
Annette- Yes, I also was stunned at the ending. I kept thinking that all would be revealed as a grand deception to catch him. Not so.