Down Under this Summer/Winter!

Visiting DD and DSIL thanks to a great fare sale on VAustralia. The prolific Virgin group has started routes from the West Coast to the 3 major Aussie cities. Fare wars!

Flew from LAX to BNE (Brisbane) in 12.5 hrs. 4 movies, 2 meals and you’re there…..Had to give up my raw almonds at Customs, but roasted almonds would have been ok to bring in the country. Will remember that next time….. Just remember to declare on the form whatever you're bringing in so the Customs people will be nice to you.

Winter in Brisbane is 70-75 degrees during the day, 50s at night. One could get used to that!

Happened to arrive during the Ekka-the Exposition or the Royal Queensland Show. Think State Fair! We took the train right to the show grounds on Thursday, and joined the crowds going from pavilion to show barn. It is much like the livestock and agriculture shows in the States, with lots of food booths (similar food-mostly bad for you) and demos of all kinds. There is also judging of animals, skills, products, displays, etc. The main differences I found were the Showbag Hall, and the sheer number of entries displayed in arts, crafts, and food skills.

Showbags are promotional souvenir gift bags. They come in many sizes from $1 to $35, with corresponding quantities of items in them. Candy showbags are very popular, as are kids’ TV shows and pop culture icons. Perfume, makeup, and other companies also sold gift packs of products, at the higher dollar values….The majority of the Ekka daily newspaper is given over to listing the items in each show bag, and the Showbag hall is the biggest pavilion there. It was fascinating!

The weekend found us heading north to explore Fraser Island, the largest sand island in the world. The beaches are beautiful here, about 3.5 hours north of Brisbane. This is a national park and one needs permits for camping.

Driving is permitted on the beach, and there was a lot of traffic while we were there, especially on the southern end, close to the ferry barges.

We took a 4WD tour and spent the day zooming along sandy roads and beaches seeing a shipwreck, coloured sands, inland sub-tropical rainforests, and beautiful freshwater lakes.

We stayed in the small town of Rainbow Beach and had a good meal at the Rainbow Beach Hotel Restaurant. Upscale food ordered and picked up at the counter is an interesting restaurant concept. No tipping necessary!

Our stay at the Plantation Resort was very nice: we had a 2-bedroom apt. with balcony and rooftop terrace.

On the way back to Brisbane we stopped in at the Ginger Factory to see how ginger is grown and brought to market, and the Nut Factory-all about macadamias-the only naturally-occuring food in Australia that is commercially grown. This is where Hawaii got all its macademia plants.... Stay tuned for more adventures during my winter stay in Brisbane!

Alaska, Part 2

I know this is long in being posted, but wanted to get photos up with this post.

Our second week in Alaska was even more amazing than the first week! And we thought we had done a lot already! We drove up to Fairbanks and then went east to the end of the Chena Hot Springs Road. We stayed at the Chena Hot Springs Resort and went from cold (20 degrees in the Ice Museum) to hot (100 + degrees in the hot springs pool) in a day! The resort uses its geothermal springs to power the buildings, so that is very interesting. DH got in some fishing and moose sightings.



After a nice weekend (but rather quiet as our traveling companions had to head home slightly early due to a bad tooth), we headed back to Fairbanks to do some sightseeing: The Museum of the North at UAF, art galleries, and the headquarters for the Yukon Quest dog sled race. We also took the Riverboat Discovery paddle wheel cruise..... This is very touristy, but one gets to see a bush plane take off and land on the river, a dog-sled demonstration, and tour a replica of an Indian Village.
We also found a great B&B: the All Seasons Inn.

The next stop was 2 days at Denali National Park, where we kept hoping for a peek at the big peak: Denali, or Mt. McKinley, as it is called on the maps. We took the bus ride into the park that goes to mile 53: about an 8 hr round trip. We saw lots of wildlife, notably a wolf, several grizzlies, caribou, Dall sheep; some saw a lynx, but I missed that one.









We also watched the dog sled demo-those dogs love to run!

Stayed at the Denali Lakeview Inn in Healy, just north of the park. Comfortable rooms and great views of Lake Otto! Very restful with a lazy boy chair right in front of the window.

Good restaurants: The Perch, The Overlook.
Ok, but I wouldn't have to go back there: Panorama Pizza Pub
(I got carded here. I didn't find it flattering, just annoying. Pizza was pretty good, however.)



One night in Talkeetna-our last night in the Far North. Talkeetna was the model for the town in the show "Northern Exposure"-or so the story goes.
I had fun seeing the mix of shops and people. While I shopped, DH took a jet boat upriver to fish. He had fun catching salmon with a fly rod.

We went with Talkeetna Air Taxi on a flightseeing adventure.


We hoped to see the peak and land on a glacier. They even gave us glacier boots. Unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate so we had to fly below the clouds-too low to see the top of the mountain. It peeked out for just a second, but not really long enough to get a good photo.... And the clouds were covering our landing area, so we couldn't set feet on the glacier, either.


We used our last day to drive to Anchorage and see the Anchorage Museum of Art. It has a wonderful floor that tells the history of Alaska in life-sized dioramas and lots of photos and artifacts. The Alaska artists gallery was great, too.

One great tip: We bought an Alaska Tour Saver book for $99. We saved over $350 in tours and entry fees with the 2-for-1 coupons. Would definitely do that again.

Thanks soooooo much to Roberta and Don for helping us realize our Alaskan ambitions and thanks to new friend Hank for kind hospitality and travel tips. Also, to Trudy and Bob for going out of your way to help us out!

Hello From Alaska!

Hello from the Far North!

The Road Show has taken off for the 49^th state! Alaska is huge and wonderful! We started out in Anchorage, where we enjoyed some of the downtown area –especially Humpy’s for lunch and Artique for art-and stayed with a new friend who lives in the hills east of the city. The views are spectacular-far off and close up!

I saw a moose on my morning walk, which was quite exciting. She was checking me out, so I moved on rather quickly!

We then drove down the Seward Highway stopping at Girdwood (The Bake Shop and the Double Musky are must do’s here) and ended up in Miller’s Landing, a small community with a boat ramp, camping areas, and several B&B’s and homes, just south of the town of Seward on Resurrection Bay. Bald eagles are easily spotted, and we saw sea otters playing in the water just off the beach.

We stayed at our friend’s cabin on the bay, and once again my Camp Northland years stood me in good stead –the outhouse was just down the path through the trees….This cabin was really lovely!

Although with 19+hours of daylight, we didn’t need a flashlight in the wee hours (hah.)…..

Seward is the farthest north ice-free port in the US, so it was very important during WWII and for shipping. You can see the remnants of the army fortifications in various places around town and in the bay. Now it is a recreational area and cruise ship port, and a site for a maximum security prison if you don’t behave….It is also the terminus for the Alaska Railroad and the traditional start for the famous Iditarod sled dog race. It has a nice main street area and a slightly more commercial port area.

We ate at Thorn’s Showcase Lounge (go for the fried halibut chunks and bar ambience), The Breeze Restaurant for breakfast, got coffee at the Resurrect Art Gallery and Coffee House. Outside of town, on the road to Exit Glacier, we stopped in at The Salmon Bake (“Cheap food and lousy beer”) for halibut, salmon, and Alaska microbrews. It’s in a log cabin building and has some rustic atmosphere.

We took a boat ride through Kenai Fjords National Park, looking at the sea lions, humpback whales, puffins, even an orca who killed a porpoise just off the stern of our boat. We also saw Holgate Glacier from the water, and watched huge chunks calve into the sea.

DH and I took the Exit Glacier hike-through the pine and cottonwood forests up to the edge of the glacier. They won’t let people actually go up to the glacier and touch it any more, as someone did that and was killed when a piece fell off and hit her. The husband was telling her to “back up a little more” so he could get a better picture. Hmm.The winds coming off the glacier were quite strong and very cold. They are called “catabatic” winds.

We had to say goodbye to the cabin and head back to Anchorage.

We stayed one night and got on the road for Fairbanks and Chena Hot Springs. It was a long drive (400 mi.) through beautiful scenery: Mountains, forests, marshy bogs, farm land. We stopped at the Musk Ox farm to see those woolly creatures. We looked for Mt. McKinley, but it was hidden in the clouds. Only 30 % of people who come get to see it. We hope we beat the odds. Saw 2 moose on the roadways; We drove by Denali National Park and plan to go back there next week.

Made it through Fairbanks and on to Chena Hot Springs. The springs were discovered in 1905 and there have been camps here ever since. It is now a year-round full-service resort with lots of activities, and of course, the hot springs.

It has an ice museum that is very interesting-and cold! We're here another night and then on to Fairbanks, Denali, and Talkeetna before heading back to Anchorage and home. Hope to get some photos on Flikr soon.

Kayaking and Family Reunion

We've stayed pretty close to home lately, except for the Family Reunion, which is a little later in the post. We did our annual kayak race with our good friends early in June. This time we traveled west to Junction (where West Texas begins) to conquer the South Llano River. We stayed at a lovely purpose-built B&B called the South Llano River Lodge. They cater to those come to the area to enjoy the river-either fishing or kayaking. Our hosts, Walter and Susan, were quite welcoming and friendly, and we enjoyed the ranch setting.

We did about 5 miles on the river-we drove up to a park and put in the boats and floated down past our B&B to the first bridge. Along the way we saw a few tubers, and a couple of horses cooling off in the water.


Cows expecting lunch.

The water had a good current and few rapids. Some of us went back for more the next day, and some got to enjoy the fishing. We had dinner at the County Grill and Isaak's Restaurant. Both are BYOB and serve hearty portions. The County Grill had amazing chicken fried steak (according to those who ate it-I'm passing along their recs).
Isaak's had a mounted jackalope-always sad to see that another wild animal has become someone's trophy on a wall.
The weather was great and we had a lot of fun!

Then we traveled to the Windy City and points north for our first formal family reunion. I saw cousins I hadn't seen in many many years! (Let's just say the cousins are grown up and have kids that are older than they were when I last saw them!) I got to see college friends and go to the Chicago Botanic Gardens, which are amazing. It's a huge place, and each section flows to the next with carefully planned walkways and sightlines.

The rest of the weekend was spent at Geneva Lake, WI. We stayed at the George Williams College Campus, in Williams Bay, which is on the west end of the lake. It is a great place for a conference or reunion, as they have many housing options and meal plans. We had a private dining room for each of the 2 nights and even the cafeteria had excellent breakfast food! I heartily recommend this place! We took a boat ride on the lake and our driver/guide pointed out the beautiful summer homes of the rich and (sometimes) famous. We loved the s'mores around the campfire and the egg toss competition! The camaraderie was great and everyone got along-it was just so great to see the patriarchs and their families together again!This is not supposed to be a hyperlink to anything, and I dont know why it's writing it like this.
Geneva Lake is not that far from Chicago (about 60 miles) but it can take hours in the rush hour traffic-everyone rushing to their weekend places! We drove through farm land, horse country, small towns and lakeside communities with boats in every yard. We stopped at a Brat Stop, all things meaty and tubular. And lots of cheese, too.
DH and DS got caught up in stormy weather and almost didn't make the reunion. But hours on the phone with American Airlines got them 2 seats the next day and they made it in time for most of the fun.
We spent our last night back in the Chicago 'burb where I grew up, and had dinner with long-time friends and family. We drove past my elementary school and my old house. The house looked bigger and the yard looked smaller than I remembered. I remember being able to walk "uptown" and go to 31 Flavors (Baskin-Robbins) and get an ice cream cone for 12 cents. (2 scoops: 25 cents with tax). I didn't even recognize uptown any more. Ok. Enough of the geezer talk....
Safe travels to everyone this summer!
More from the Road Show later this month!

Calling all Camp Northland Girls!

Well, school's about over and summer's on the way!
To recapture your youth, you might want to check out the photos from the CN Reunion 07
and join the Yahoo group to reconnect with long-time friends! (Please note I didn't say "old" friends!)
Discussions are underway for a CN Reunion '10! More will be posted on the Yahoo site later in the summer-when it's good and hot and we're thinking of those Northland breezes!
Now where is my camp trunk and the laundry box??

Choo choo!

Ok that was a lame title, but it's before coffee, so it is what it is....
The Road Show has been sticking pretty close to home these days, enjoying trips to the Hill Country as often as possible.

Thanks to another silent auction, we got certificates to take a ride on the Hill Country Flyer. It's billed as the Austin Steam Train, but the steam engine is undergoing refurbishment, so there's only diesel-a 1960 Alco, for you train buffs. The engine pulls several different passenger cars from different eras, and the more you pay for your ticket, the higher the level of service and amenities.

We had the cheapest ticket, so we rode in the 1940's era parlor car with windows that opened and no AC. There was another excursion car with seats from the '50s or '60s (with AC) and lounge cars with AC and tables and snacks. There is a snack car on the train with sodas for a dollar and candy bars, etc.


We took the short ride, (3 hour tour) traveling from the depot in Cedar Park (just NW of Austin) to Bertram, home of the Oatmeal Festival, where there is a restored train station building but not much else. This trip is really called the Bertram Flyer.
The train stops long enough for people to have a quick look around, (and use the portapotty if necessary) and then it's back on the train to wait for the engine to detach from the front at reattach at the back.
The longer trip-the Hill Country Flyer-goes to the town of Burnet and takes about 5 hours. The train stops there long enough for people to have lunch on the square.

Luckily it was a beautiful day and not too hot. I was reminded of train trips to Grandma's house way back when. If you like trains and train rides, this is a fun day out. We'll go back when the steam engine is back on the rails!

Elaine's Sticky Date Pudding!

Below is the recipe for Elaine's Sticky Date Pudding all the way from Tasmania! As promised!
It is simply delicious and worth a go! Thanks, Elaine!

2 cups chopped pitted dates
1 ¾ c. water
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 heaped teaspoon powdered ginger
90 grams butter(6 TB.)
1 cup caster sugar (superfine sugar)
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups self raising flour
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves.
Preheat oven to 180C (=350 F)
Grease base of 23 cm cake pan.( 23 cm = 9.1 in)

1. Put dates in a pan with 1 3/4 cup of water, bring to the boil then remove from the heat.
2. Add the baking soda and ginger and leave to stand for 5 minutes. Coarsely mash with potato masher.
3. Cream together the butter, sugar and eggs, one at a time.
4. Fold in sifted flour and spice, add date mixture and stir until well combined. 5. Pour into cake pan and bake for 55 - 60 min. Cake will pull away from the edges of the pan and have a shiny appearance on top when done.
6. Cut into squares and serve with Caramel Sauce. (May need some vanilla ice cream as well on the side as this is quite rich!).

Caramel Sauce
150 grams butter (10 TB.)
1 cup soft brown sugar
1/3 cup of golden syrup (you can try substituting it with 2 parts light corn syrup and 1 part molasses if you can’t find this, but a lot of markets have it)
3/4 cup of cream
Put all the ingredients in a pan and stir over low heat until sugar has dissolved. Simmer uncovered, for three minutes. Serve caramel sauce warmed with pudding.

Back from the Outback

Ok-it's been over 2 weeks since our great Oz trip ended and no updates. Sorry about that. It was such a great trip and we covered so much territory! The jet lag took about a week to get over: one day to recover for each time zone crossed. We took 10 flights in 27 days and logged over 12, 000 miles. Qantas was a great airline to fly: on time, serving food on every flight (!), efficient and relatively comfortable.

Some interesting things about Australia that we experienced:
1. Taxis:in the big cities, one person getting into a taxi will get in the front seat with the driver.
2. Paying by credit card: Every cashier will look at the signature on the back of the credit card as it is signed. Each cashier will also ask how it is to be debited: debit or credit; signature or PIN. They are much more careful about checking signatures than in the states.
3. Coffee: Long Black, Short Black, Flat White. I never really got the hang of this. Short Black is espresso, served in the small cup; long black is espresson with water added, served in a larger cup. Flat White is milk added to coffee, as opposed to cappucino, which has the foamed milk added. (Correct me if I'm wrong, all the Aussie readers out there!)
4. Driving on the "wrong" side of the road is hard to get used to, especially if one is a passenger in the front seat.
5. Restaurants again: "entrees" are smaller portions than "mains", and if your table has a number on it, chances are you pay at the counter, telling the cashier your table number.
6.People are generally friendly in Australia, but I didn't find them more or less friendly than in most places in the United States.
If I think of more things, I'll add to the list.


Uluru at sunset



We loved all the variety in the climate and geography; also the habitats and ecology are extremely interesting.
The desert of Central Australia, the tropical rainforest of Northern Queensland, and the temperate rainforests of Tasmania are all
great places to go!











We got excited about seeing wildlife-Tasmania had the most variety of animals that we saw outside of zoos or animal parks.

Echidna-small anteater that looks like a porcupine

Bennett's Wallaby

The next post will have the delicious recipe for Elaine's Sticky Date Pudding with Caramel-Toffee Sauce!
Stay tuned!

Good-bye to Australia

Wearing the bugnet hat at Kata Tjuta/Uluru!

Packed up all the souvenirs and my suitcase still closes! Big question is the weight. Airlines are so picky these days.... We'll see what happens at the counter. I'm hoping for the best!
It's been a great trip! Have spent the last 3 days in the city of Brisbane (or "Brisvegas" as it's commonly referred to here). It's a relatively small central business district ("CBD") on a peninsula of the winding Brisbane River, surrounded by many small suburbs in the hills and valleys. The coast is about 5 miles away, and north and south of Brisbane are numerous beach communities: South is known as the Gold Coast (lots of high rise condos) and North is known as the Sunshine Coast- more rural and laid back.
We toured sites in the CBD, notably the Commisariat Stores Building, the only remaining convict-built building in Brisbane (built on the shore of the river in 1829), the Treasury Building (now housing the Treasury Casino, where I won $44), the Southbank cultural precinct. We rode the Brisbane Wheel, similar to the London Eye, but not as tall. We took the city ferry to sites along the river bank.
We spent a day at the Australia Zoo, made famous by the Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin. I got to feed an elephant (but didn't buy the photo), and we saw cassowaries, koalas, and the infamous saltwater crocs.
Will post more photos from home and add a few final thoughts!
Thanks so much to all our Australian hosts and new friends!

Looking forward to the flight home!

Into the Outback!

DD and I have had a wonderful trip to the Outback. We spent 2 days in Alice Springs (remember "A Town Like Alice"? book by Nevil Shute and then the miniseries? It doesn't look like that anymore!) The Alice is a bustling town of about 27,000 people spread in the valley between the MacDonnell Ranges. The Todd River runs through the town, but the river is usually dry. This is desert country, but was really greener and had lots more vegetation than I thought. We walked the Todd Mall (pedestrian shopping area) and climbed Anzac Hill-got a good lookout over the city and the red rocks. I bought some art by an Aboriginal artist. This is the place to learn about Aboriginal culture, as the further north you go, the more Aboriginal settlements there seem to be. Alice Springs is in the Northern Territory, which isn't a state of Australia, but a territory. It was a 3 hour plane ride from Melbourne and really in the middle of nowhere. A lot of tourists use this town as the waypoint on Outback adventures. Also, the famous train, the Ghan, stops here.

We were picked up by luxury motor coach on the third day for the 5 hour drive to Ayers Rock Resort and the famous Ayers Rock (now called Uluru). Talk about the middle of nowhere!~ We road for many miles without seeing a single sign of human habitation. Uluru the rock is visible from 40 miles away. It is a sandstone monolith, the largest in the world. We had a sunset tour of the rock, where we saw several geologic and sacred Aboriginal sites and then watched the sunlight change the colors of the rock as the sun set. We had an Aussie BBQ dinner where we sat out under the Southern Cross and ate kanagaroo, among other delicacies.

At 5 am the next day we were back on our coach with Tina, our local driver-guide for the sunrise tour and short walks. The climbing route on Uluru was closed, as the temps have been 100 degrees or higher every day. We saw more Aboriginal sites-ceremonial and dwelling- and got close to the huge walls of Uluru. Truly an amazing site.

Pictures will follow, but internet connection is pay-per-minute here. I also promise to expand on our experiences-Oz is a fascinating place!

One thing we haven't seen much of is wildlife-I expected to see some kangaroos while we were driving, but didn't. We did see a fascinating lizard called a thorny devil-spikier than a horned toad. And the bugs and FLIES are too numerous to mention. Most of the tourists wear fly nets as soon as the sun gets warm until dark. I'm so happy I bought my L.L.Bean Allagash hat with fly net attached.

On to Melbourne for a one-night layover as my trip was supposed to be ending here. I added on Brisbane at the last minute and couldn't change flights without huge penalties, so we will be in Brisbane next.

Have one min. left on my pay-per-play, so signing off!

Down Under-Week 2

We are now in Melbourne (Feb.17) and enjoying this cosmopolitan city. Today we went to Federation Square and the Australian Museum of the Moving Image, the Eureka Skydeck (observation tower 89 floors above the city), Old Melbourne Gaol and the Watch Tower Experience, and the Melbourne Museum. Whew! The weather is warm, but not horribly hot. We could see hazy smoke from the brushfires you've heard about when we were up on the observation deck.
Doug learns to play the digeridoo.

We spent 5 days in Cairns and Far North Queensland. Cairns is the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef, and we had a wonderful day on a snorkel trip to some amazing coral reefs. We drove north to Cape Tribulation, as far as you can go on paved road before the tropical rainforest takes over. The area is beautifully lush and green, with great mountains and lots of sugar cane farms. We are here in the heat of summer, which is the low season for the far north. Very hot and humid, and not a lot of air conditioning. We stayed at a wonderful B&B in Holloway's Beach, a truly beach-y community just north of Cairns proper. Away from the hustle and bustle of touristy Cairns, it was a nice retreat.They have IGA's here!
At this time of the year swimming isn't advised because of the deadly jellyfish (large and small) and the salt-water crocs. Towns have special netted areas for swimming, but even that can't keep all the bad creatures out.A Rainforest walk.

We have another day here in Melbourne and then some of us head home and some of us head for the outback!

Having a wonderful time!
More soon!

Hello from Tasmania!

We've spent a lovely 6 days in Tasmania, the southernmost state of Australia that's also an island! It's about the size of W. Virginia, with about 500, 000 people. Tasmania was one of early British convict prison centers, and we've seen a few of those ruins and historical sites.

We've been based in the capital city of Hobart, on a lovely harbor on the southeast coast. We saw the Australian Wooden Boat Festival and went to the weekly market. We drove to the top of Mt. Wellington for the most amazing views!
We've enjoyed the wonderful hospitality of the Beecheys! And had fabulous food, including homemade Sticky Date Pudding that was the BEST!

We also went to the wilderness of northwest Tas. to see Cradle Mountain National Park. The countryside is truly amazing, changing from farms and fields, sheep and cows, to mountains and temperate rainforests. Huge trees, ferns, moss and beautiful rivers and waterfalls. We've seen lots of Aussie wildlife including wombats, echidnas, wallabies, pademelons, even a Tasmanian Devil. I did a Tasmanian wine and cheese tasting and went to the Tasman Wool Centre.

We have one more day here and plan to see some more wildlife at the Bonorong Wildlife Park and perhaps a winery. (of course we've been enjoying Tasmanian and Aussie wines!).

Have posted a few photos on my Flickr page, which you can click through to on this blog. Will try to post more photos in a day or so. There are a lot!
Enjoying all the comments and emails, even if it's a few days before I can respond!

Hello from Down Under!

After 29 hours of travel, we made it to the other side of the world! The 14 hour flight from LA to Sydney wasn't too bad, despite cozy seats and airline food. I watched 4 movies-well, started watching each movie, but fell asleep before the end of each one. Advice we received was to stay awake for the first half of the trip, and then take a sleeping aid and sleep as much as possible on the second half of the trip. It worked pretty well!
Sydney has been great-very warm and slightly humid, but ocean breezes are welcome! We took a tour of the Sydney Opera House today. It's one of the most recognizable buildings in the world, but I didn't know it was really 2 large buildings, holding 5 separate venues: 3 smaller theaters for drama, a large concert hall and the opera hall. The facility holds 2500 events every year, so it's a busy place. We were able to see the symphony orchestra rehearsing for a performance in the concert hall and then watch the stage hands prepare the opera stage for the evening performance of Madama Butterfly. We also took a ferry to Manly Beach, got a look at the Pacific Ocean and watched surfers, went to a small aquarium and watched divers feeding sharks. We got to pet a baby saltwater croc! We've explored several neighborhoods and harbor areas, seen all kinds of boats.

Have to say thanks to DB#3 and family for helping us spend our long layover in LA. They took us to Redondo Beach to a great surfside restaurant, then on a tour of some of the beach towns and piers. Interesting real estate and and a view into the California lifestyle. We were really grateful for the break, especially when we had to spend time in the LAX International terminal at peak travel time (nighttime) with few services past security.

Of course, we've loved seeing our DD and her DH! Looking forward to seeing more family and more of Oz!
Will post photos in the next few days! On a pay-for-internet service here, so have to keep this brief!
Jet lag is taking over, so will close for now!

Pre-Flights Check-In

So, it was a long day getting everything ready to leave for Australia (or Oz, as some people call it!). I was pretty much packed by 7:00 pm. DH didn't start packing until 10pm.
No comment there...

Many odds and ends to tie up: bills to pay, fridge to empty, papers to organize, and pack, pack, pack! I'm worried our suitcases are overweight; we shifted some things around. I took out a big bag of Jolly Ranchers for DD-don't worry, I left one bag in...and a couple of shirts.
Am bringing some small gifts to our Aussie in-laws in Tasmania, couldn't leave those out!

Packing clothing for cool weather and hot weather, mostly casual. Thanks to my fashion advisors (you know who you are) for help with the shoe dilemma. Keeping it down to 3 packed, one wearing, although I will miss my Merrells for the duration.

I'm using packing cubes, which helps keep stuff organized. DH won't use them, he thinks they just take up more room. I would much rather have TSA handling the packing cubes than lots of individual garments, if you get my drift.... My new Eagle Creek Tarmac has compartments on the lid which will hold packing cubes or odds and ends. I think those will be very helpful.

In the photo you can see the compartments on the left with the zip covers rolled back. The right is the deep part of the suitcase with my cubes and toilet kit.

I'm also taking a shoulder bag and tote bag (both from ebags.com). Sorry, no pics on them as yet.
For reading material I'm going electronic: I downloaded 2 audiobooks to DH's Nano (Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri and Inkheart by Cornelia Funke) and am taking the Amazon Kindle onto which I've downloaded an audiobook (The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly) and an electronic book (The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult). These last 2 are for the Last Tuesday Book Club. We'll see how they work.....

I did make the rubber band clothesline suggested by my buddy TFOP! http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-a-Rubber-Band-Travel-Clothesline-for-Less-T/
I will post a photo when/if it gets used! My rubber bands are pretty small. It may not hold much!

Hope to post more photos and updates early next week. This time tomorrow, we'll be over the Pacific!

Inaugural trip for the Eagle Creek Tarmac!

The Road Show is enjoying a few days of R&R at Keystone, Colorado this weekend. DH is attending a conference and making a presentation, so we have some fun socializing as well! The weather is snowy but not too cold, which is nice.

Anyway, it is a good chance to try out the new luggage! I bought the Eagle Creek Tarmac 28 after a lot of research online and shopping in stores. It is easy to pack and holds a lot! Of course, it gets heavy when it is full! It pulls very easily and the inner pockets hold items well. Of course, I use the packing cubes (from Rick Steves and Eagle Creek) and this bag is designed for them.
It seemed to weather the first airplane flight and bus trip well, so I'm encouraged!

More updates on packing for Australia to come soon!

Going Down Under

We're very excited about the upcoming Australian Adventure Tour! Have been planning this for almost 6 months and now it's less than 2 weeks away! It's going to be a 19 day trip for DH and a 27 day trip for me.
Cities on the itinerary: Sydney, Hobart, Melbourne, Cairns, Alice Springs/Ayers Rock, Brisbane.
Australia is the size of the continental US and has the population of Texas.
A lot of open space!

I've been reading up in preparation. And watching movies!

Here is what I've read so far:

Fiction:(although a few are somewhat based on true events)
English Passengers by Matthew Kneale
Remembering Babylon by David Malouf
True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey
In the middle of: The Sound of One Hand Clapping by Richard Flanagan

Non-Fiction:
The Songlines by Bruce Chatwin
The Devil in Tim by Tim Bowden
In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson
The Floating Brothel by Sian Rees

I also have a Fodor's Exploring Australia and a AAA Essential Australia that I'm still skimming and will take with me.

One book that I read a long time ago is The Fatal Shore by Robert Hughes.

I've also watched several movies about Australia or set in Australia:
The Dish
Strictly Ballroom
The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant
Australia (the new one)
Muriel's Wedding
Rabbit-Proof Fence
Ned Kelly (with Heath Ledger)

Whew!
I'll post packing photos next week when I get that sorted out! What would you take for a 3+week trip?????? Feel free to send suggestions! Remember, 1 suitcase per person!

We used a travel company (About Australia) to help us plan and book this trip, and they've been very helpful. For such a long trip with so many stops, it seemed daunting to do it all ourselves. Of course, after this trip, we'll be experts!

More soon!

The Hill Country

The Road Show has been keeping pretty close to home lately, but still has found a few weekends for some of our favorite drives.

One thing I noticed is that many towns are sprucing up and hoping to capture an influx of tourists and 2nd-homers. In Llano, the Super S Foods has had a major makeover, with newly painted walls and rearranged cold cases.
The animal mounts are fewer and more tastefully displayed.

Unfortunately, some of our favorite small restaurants have closed, due to high gas prices over the summer and now the economy problems. (At least one place closed more because of the food than the gas prices, we think...) Anyway, if you know and like restaurants in the Hill Country, make the effort to patronize them! The owners will certainly appreciate it!

One new place we found is the Alamo Springs Cafe, outside of Fredericksburg. Huge burgers and a jalapeno-cheddar bun that is fab. I didn't eat the whole thing!




Enchanted Rock is also a great diversion. We felt the need for some exercise, so made the trip recently.

The Rock is a huge, pink granite exfoliation dome, that rises 425 feet above ground, 1825 feet above sea level, and covers 640 acres. It is one of the largest batholiths (underground rock formation uncovered by erosion) in the United States. It also goes up the 425 feet in about a half-mile. We got up pretty quickly and then had an adventure (at least for me) walking down the back side which was pretty steep.


Another fun thing to do during the holiday season is look at the Christmas lights. Most of the Hill Country towns decorate their court houses and have lighted walk-through displays. We saw the ones in Marble Falls and Llano. The invention of those lights in tubes has been great for these shaped displays.


We also made a run up to San Saba- The Pecan Capital of the World- and went to several pecan distributors. The best thing is tasting the varieties before buying! We always end up with 10+ pounds of nuts and freeze them until we use them.



Llano River. Late Afternoon. Fall 2008.

Signs of the Times

The first photo was taken in July.
The second photo was taken in October.
Things are crazy out there people!

Hill Country Yarn Crawl

Hill Country Yarn Crawl

I decided to participate in the 2nd Annual Hill Country Yarn Crawl, but not in any organized way. My knitting group (the Knit Knackers) didn’t have a plan to do it and I had a commitment on Saturday that precluded going with others (see below). So I wasn't sure if I could visit enough stores to compete for the Grand Prize but I tried anyway.

The Yarn Crawl is when yarn shops cooperate to offer discounts, freebies, drawings for gift certificates and a chance to win a $250 Grand Prize basket of goodies. This year there were 10 shops participating in 5 different towns around San Antonio and Austin. The event began on Thursday and ended on Sunday. For $10 I got a booklet with maps to all of the shops and a tote bag. To get in the drawing for the Grand Prize, you had to visit 7 of the 10 shops by Sunday.
At each shop I had to get a stamp on the back page of the booklet which I turned in at the last shop to be eligible for the grand prize.
Also each shop devised a “scavenger hunt” consisting of several questions specific to that shop. People who completed the scavenger hunt could then be entered into the prize drawing for the individual store ($25 gift certificate).
Here is the run-down of the shops I visited and the freebies I got at each:

San Antonio:
Yarnivore: Samples of scented fiber soaking soap.
The Yarn Barn: A ball of ribbon yarn and a pattern to make a sachet.

Boerne:
Ewe and Eye: A ball of Idena Kos yarn; very thin and sort of shiny. Made of viscose and polyester.
Rosewood Yarns: 3 small stitch markers made with glass beads.

Austin:

The Knitting Nest: Yarn and pattern for the Black Widow Headband, complete with a plastic spider. This is a newer shop on the south end of Austin.
Hill Country Weavers: A ball of organic cotton yarn and a pattern booklet of washcloths. This shop is the grandmother of all knitting shops-see below.
Gauge Knits: A coupon for one free open class. This is another new shop in Northwest Austin.

Fredericksburg:
Stonehill Spinning: A pack of safety pins

I did the San Antonio shops on Thursday, the Boerne shops on Friday, the Austin shops on Saturday (thanks to Maggie Magellan) and the Fredericksburg shop on Sunday. It would have been possible to do them in 2 days, I think, but it would have been a LOT of driving. I didn’t get to the 4th shop north west of Austin (but I’d been there before) and one in the town of Paige, abut 50 miles east of Austin (never been there, but it would be a fun trip, I think.)

More about Hill Country Weavers: It is in the hip part of Austin called SoCo, named for South Congress Ave. The next time TFOT visits, we’ll definitely go there. The shop is in an old Victorian house that is a rabbit warren of rooms, each one packed to the ceiling with yarns, threads, notions, books, you name it. I don’t know how they can keep track of their inventory. They’ve also taken over the house next door and opened a knitting room and a small café. I had a nice conversation with Trish, a yarn spinner and knitter from Oregon visiting Austin and conducting spinning workshops. She had beautiful yarns, inspired by the colors of the Pacific Northwest. I wanted to buy some of her yarn, but it was way out of my price range…..
The cupcake trailer, “Hey Cupcake”, was right across the street. This place has been featured on TV as one of the quirky food businesses and I would have succumbed and gotten a snack for the road, but they weren’t open yet- I was about 20 minutes too early.
Luckily or unluckily, depending on how you look at it. I decided I was lucky they weren’t open yet. Especially since I had stopped for lunch AND dessert at the Bear Moon Bakery in Boerne on Friday.

Saturday my time was limited as I had to be in Llano at 2:00 for the annual neighborhood homeowners association meeting, so I skipped the 4th shop in the suburbs north of Austin and made my way west. Made it just in time for the meeting. Drove about 175 miles in all.

In Llano, I enjoyed seeing a bald eagle flying over the river and the wild goats out for exercise.

Headed back south on Sunday, stopping in Fredericksburg at Stonehill Spinning. It’s a smallish shop but has lots of fiber arts and crafts. All in all, a great yarn crawl!

Electronics Woes 3

Well, another of my electronic accessories has gone missing. Actually, I've lost 2 bluetooth ear pieces-I'm sure they're in the car somewhere or lost in the black hole that is the house, but the latest device I've lost is my Creative Zen Microphoto. I believe I left it at the Mayan Princess in a cute little leather bag with my name on it.

By the time I'd looked everywhere for it, and called my friend and asked her to check her car, I knew it had been left in the condo. I finally got around to calling the condo-and anyway, shouldn't they have called me when they found the blue bag????

I talked to a girl at the front desk and described the bag to her. It was in their Lost and Found. I didn't ask her to look inside and see if my Creative Zen MicroPhoto and ear phones (with the neat earphone cord holder that trailerfulloftunes had given me), but I assumed if they had the bag, they had the Creative Zen Microphoto as well.

The girl at the front desk told me how to get in touch with Lonestar Overnight Delivery service and arrange for a pick-up. I had the package the next day! But no Creative Zen Microphoto inside nor headphones or cord holder. There was a small battery-operated fan in the bag, which I had also left in the condo. hmmm.

I'm glad to have my personalized leather bag back, but I'm going to miss my Creative Zen Microphoto. I had downloaded the first "Master and Commander" book and DH and I had been listening to it on our car trips. I also had a few nice playlists and about 400 songs. Not a lot in this iPod world, but I was content with my content.

This has not been a good year for me and my electronics.