This is the third Blue Moon I have documented on my blog.
The first one was in 2009
The second one was in 2012.
At the time I posted in 2012, I mentioned that the next one was July 31, 2015 and here I am, still blogging.
Will she make it to the next one, which will occur on January 2, 2018?
Only the future knows.
Here it is. The definitive list of states my Husband and I traveled through in our 2 week vacation.
I had no idea, until I put it all together, that we visited so many states this time around.
None of these states were new to me, but my Husband filled in 5 more states on his map. He is up to 46 States. I have 47 at this time, though Kentucky is iffy. I remember being there for a few hours in 1979, but I have no proof of that in my trip diary. :-(
We saw lots of things that we did not see our last time through the area traveled by the Sunset Limited. Being we were traveling the exact same track, the difference in time of day, definitely helped make the trip much more interesting to us.
Having 2 different Amtrak cars, also made a difference. The East Coast equipment must be just 1 level (due to bridges) and so the height was better in the Roomette. It also had a bathroom and sink there. That was kind of funky, in my humble opinion. You had to kick out the other partner, when you wanted some privacy. The sink I loved having around. It tilted up out of the way, when not in use and you could do things like brush your teeth there, without having to go to the restroom.
Our Roomette on the Sunset Limited was on the upper level of the car. We are very used to that location and it was steps to the dining car.
Amtrak is a great way to travel and both of us agree on that.
There we were, enjoying our first day in New Orleans.
I finish our laundry and off we go to explore the city. In the elevator is a sign telling us not to use the water...at all.
What the heck was this all about?
Well, it ends up that there are two things going on. An amoeba problem, over on the east side, which you can read about HERE.
The other one concerned a pumping plant that had a power surge knock it out of commission and they were worried that the water supply was contaminated, though not by amoebas. You can read about that story, HERE.
The continuing problems with the New Orleans water supply, can totally be laid at the feet of Katrina.
10 years ago, the areas that flooded in that hurricane, were places like the Lower 9th Ward. To this day, many of the houses have not been rebuilt and so there is less call for the water that the city provides. In order to keep things chlorinated, since chlorine dissipates over time, they pump some of the water somewhere. Maybe right into the Mississippi River, for all I know.
We had issues in both restaurants we visited and we passed a CVS Pharmacy that had a huge line inside it. Many of the customers were purchasing bottled water, so that they could return to their hotel and brush their teeth and such. Our Amtrak train had to wait until San Antonio, to refill the tanks with water. They did not want to touch New Orleans water and I don't blame them.
This situation reminds me of a song written by John Oates (of Hall & Oates). He saw the houses that were not being rebuilt and yet life was going on just fine in the French Quarter. He remarked that it was so unfair and sad. I had those same feelings and leave you today with the words to Ghost Town.
Ghost Town
there's a hard dark scar in the sky above
there's a storm cloud coming gonna bring a flood
you take what's left and you leave the rest behind
words and pictures float away with memories of a better day
ain't no one living in this house of love
gotta fight the waves try to rise above
pray my faith will keep me hanging on
maybe help is on the way in the distance
I hear the zyedgo playing
love lost and it can't be found I'm living in a ghost town
not a sympathetic soul around see the water rising ...
wind and rain keeps drivin' me down
I'm living in a ghost town
I lost everything now I walk alone
through the streets I know can't take me home
but when the rain is gone I know the sun's gonna rise again
and the mornings' gonna come when the water's gone
and the zydegos' playing...
Here is a version of Ghost Town, performed by Hall & Oats on "Live from Daryl's House".
The Photo is not of a cemetery in NOLA, it is one in a town to the west. I thought it appropriate, since I did not get photos of the Lower 9th Ward.
We are home at last.
Our cat is so happy she just keeps watching me, to make sure I don't leave her again.
How did the the return trip go?
Well, I am pretty sure I will go into it in more detail, as the photos are uploaded into my home computer. For now, here is the Cliff Notes version.
NYC to New Orleans:
Fast to start. Change of equipment at Washington, DC and then a slower speed the remainder of the journey.
Bad weather in Alabama, made us actually stop and wait it out.
Lots of trees and so not too much to see, off in the distance. No Spanish Moss, which was incredibly disappointing to this former East Coast girl.
Got to New Orleans an hour late.
New Orleans to Los Angeles
Behind the entire way, but amazingly ahead by the end.
Made our connection to the Metrolink, with absolutely no problem.
Spanish Moss!!!!!
We saw many locations, that we missed the first time we took the train. That is because we were going east to west this time around.
I have now seen downtown Houston.
I did not gain any states...but my husband did.
Glad to be home.
My Water Post For Today.
Yes, it is the mighty Mississippi river, making its way to the Delta. The only steamship that plies the waters down here in NOLA, is the Natchez Riverboat.
While we were walking on the river walk, it was docked and playing songs. A very cheery thing to do and it made the oppressive heat a little easier to bear.
The river, was magnificent. So very different than the day almost 10 years ago, when it went up and over the levy and flooded part of the city.
I hope you enjoy.
41 years ago, my parents took us to the French Quarter of New Orleans.
All I remember were the bugs, riding on the street cars and The St. Louis Cathedral in the French Quarter.
Well on Friday, I revisited the cathedral and in honor of the people who brought me there the first time, I lit a candle for each of them and said a prayer.
I am glad that after all these years, I got a second chance to see this city.
Thanks Mom and Dad, for the first chance.
Our New Orleans day began around 10AM, when we finished our load of laundry.
It was hot and humid and 90ish. Adding to the madness, we have a water crisis, with amoeba. We are not supposed to drink, bathe, wash stuff, nothing.
It is a pain and of course, the businesses we were dealing with, had different ideas of what dealing with it means.
Our late late lunch, early dinner was at The Crazy Lobster. We had a shrimp and crab bowl and it was OK, but not spectacular. Though their banana cheesecake was worth the price of admission. Their beer was good, too. It was a local beer called Abita. The price was a bit high, but that was because we got the fresh seafood. Otherwise, it wasn't too bad at all.
Back to our room around 4PM and then after a nap and rest, we ventured out again around 8PM, to find a little something to eat before bed. We stumbled upon this tiny place (pictured above) called Jimmy J's Cafe and it was just superb. I had biscuits and gravy and my Husband had some outrageously delicious pineapple rum raisin french toast. The service took forever, but the bartender took off the price of our drinks, to compensate.
The chef was stolen from Emeril and he lives up to the hype. He is an excellent cook! Prices were inexpensive, too. Win!
Now, back to Amtrak food...sigh
I mentioned to my Brother-in-Law that I had a few photos on my new iPad, but I had no idea how to get them over to this blog.
We all discussed, but we didn't come up with a way. After I had a bit of time in our hotel, I realized that I could share the photo with myself, via email. So that is what I have been doing for the past 2 days.
This photo was the first one I ever took with my iPad and it is one of my favorites. You can see the quality of the photo, compared to my cell phone camera.
I did nothing to this photo, it is straight out of the iPad.
Missing my girl. :-)
Yes, it is time once again, for us to leave the East Coast and make our way, slowly over to the West.
We will be traveling on Amtrak, through the South, New Orleans for a day and a half and then over to LA once more.
WiFi will be spotty, so I have a few posts for you to see, but nothing until we reach New Orleans, on Thursday evening.
See you then.
I met up with a friend from college on our final evening in NYC. Since we were in the heart of Koreatown, he suggested Korean BBQ.
We both agreed and so he did the leg work on the Internet and came up with a place that was just across 5th Avenue, from us.
It was a new place and it had great reviews. A long line outside, accompanied the newness. We were told that it would only be a couple of minutes, for our party of 3 and so we decided to try it.
They were good on their estimate and we were seated at a table with a fire in the center. Our waiter poured some egg batter into an area of the stove and we were off.
The other side of the stove had a corn and cheese mixture, which was good. The egg cooked and we ate that as we ate the other ingredients on the table. Salad, tofu, fish of some sort, kimchi, onions. There was also a spicy soup served. It was all good.
Then came 3 kinds of beef, that were cooked on the stove.
Beef Brisket first, then Beef Short Ribs and finally marinated Beef Short Ribs.
All were excellent.
Good food and a good time. Unfortunately I don't have the name, since the sign seems to be in Korean.
Update: Thanks to my eating companion, I now have a name. Kang Ho Dong Baekjeong.
We have a rooftop bar on our hotel and so I decided to check out the view up there, last night.
It was right before sunset of a hot and muggy day.
Lots of clouds to give the photos some interest.
The first one is (obviously) the Empire State Building.
It is just a block away from our hotel and dominates the area of Midtown that we are situated in.
This second photo highlights the water towers that sit on top of many of the buildings in New York City.
I always remember James Taylor singing "Up On The Roof" and thinking about how you would see those very towers, when you went.
The building is in Korean area of NYC and though we have a small room, it is right there by just about everything.
A win for us.
My Water Post For Today.
Yesterday we spent part of the day traveling on Long Island Sound. That is the body of water between Long Island and Connecticut.
The Ferry ride takes 1 hour and 20 minutes, to make the journey and it is quite beautiful.
This photo is taken from the boat, just as we docked at Orient Point (on the North Shore).
A very beautiful area on a very wonderful day.
I hope you enjoy.
My oldest nephew got married yesterday and we were invited to the ceremony in Massachusetts. He grew up in Marshfield (a suburb of Boston) and they had the ceremony at their home parish. The reception was down in Plymouth, at the hotel that we were all staying at.
This made it super convenient for the family to freshen up, rest a little and then enjoy the reception and not worry about traveling. I am not a drinker, but it made me feel better anyway, especially for the younger generation.
The wedding was beautiful and after the ceremony, they walked out to a trolley, that drove them and their wedding party to a photo op (I assume) and then to the reception. I managed to catch a photo of them and posted it on social media. It is doing well, hit wise. :-)
The reception was wonderful, but the music was a bit loud. The food was good and the cake was excellent. It was from a German Bakery called Konditor Meister and the cake was beyond excellent. You can see some of their custom cake work, at their website (click the link on their name).
My family were all so happy we were able to attend and even my son had a good time. Now he flies back to LA and we continue our vacation.
Our best to our newest member of the family.
We chose to make the journey from Long Island to Plymouth, via driving and then via ferry and then back to driving. What that entailed was us driving all the way to the far end of Long Island at Orient Point, taking a ferry across Long Island Sound and then driving from New London Connecticut, to Plymouth MA.
I had not been on the ferry for decades and due to my sister, we had to wait for a later ferry that could accommodate her, with a parking spot by the elevator. We had to wait outside for an hour extra, but it was worth it, when we got the first spot right next to the elevator. WIN!
We bought Subway sandwiches to take with us for lunch and that worked out well. Though I want to state for the record that the prices were not too bad, on the ferry.
It is a very pleasant 1 hour and 20 minute ride and I highly recommend it. Check it out HERE.
The wedding of my nephew is tomorrow. Photos will, of course, follow.
How is the vacation coming along?
On Wednesday we had a lunch BBQ with my youngest brother, which was a wonderful time.
Later in the afternoon, we met with a growing up friend and her mother. Lots of memories brought up and of course, catching up.
Yesterday it was more catching up with another friend from the old neighborhood.
We have been meeting at this same diner, every time I manage to get to Long Island. This time was just a little different. We met for a late lunch, early dinner and had a relaxing time catching up. The food was wonderful and a good time was had by all. (photo taken in the diner)
Tomorrow, 5 of us drive out onto the end of the Island and take a ferry to Connecticut. We will be attending our nephew's wedding. It should be an interesting adventure and (of course) water photos will be taken.
I check in with my son last night.
I don't expect much, it's just him and the cat.
Uh, Mom, Makenna was trying to eat my silicon that I put on my computer holder.
ACK! I think. Not knowing anything at all about silicon and if it is toxic to cats.
It happened yesterday, he informs me. OK, I calm down a little bit.
Then he says...She tried to bite into the silicon caulking tube, too. She didn't get through, there are tooth marks, but no puncture marks.
I am now totally upset, though my son says he put the things out of her reach...uh, yeah, good idea son.
I look up stuff on the web and of course I am totally freaking out and really wish I could see her...but I will have to trust my son to be watching her for me.
It never ends, this being a mother.
There was a big article in the Daily Mail online paper on Monday. Showing off the new Scientology Media Center.
Normally this kind of thing would not bother me, too much.
Unfortunately for me, this location is the place that I spent 30 years of my life working.
KCET sold our 5 acre lot to the Church of Scientology, back in 2011 and they moved in on April 13, 2012. I will never forget that day.
Though it has depressed me over the years, it has not been operational, so it looked like an empty relic. Now, it looks as though that is changing.
I wrote a post just before we left Sunset, which you can see HERE. It shows our Master Control, the day before we shut it down.
This other post shows 8 different places I called home, within those 5 acres, that Scientology now owns. You can see them, HERE.
Depressed beyond belief about it all.
I am currently winging my way over to the East Coast and so I will probably be incommunicado for a bit. In the meantime, look who is front and center, on this day. :-)
Pluto, my favorite planet (or so it seems to my brother-in-law), will be getting its close up, when New Horizons finally gets over to the 9th planet in our solar system (ignore Neil deGrasse Tyson's words about it being a dwarf planet) ;-)
I am so excited, waiting for the photos. It is just amazing to me. We are reaching out to Pluto and Charon (its moon).
You can check things out, HERE or over on Twitter with Neil, HERE.
By the way, the very creative photo, showing off the heart shape on the surface of Pluto, was made by NASA.
Go Pluto!
My Water Post For Today.
Back in 2010 we spent a few days in Chicago. One of the things we did while we were there, was take the Architectural Tour (highly recommended, by the way).
At one point, we went under not one, but two bridges at the same time. I was curious and looked into where we were in the tour and any identifying marks.
Obviously, the word Congress (on the far right) gave me a starting point and I later found out that these are the bridges that bring the Congress Expressway over the river and under the white Post Office building, you see behind the bridges. If you care, you are looking toward the east.
From what I learned, it also ends on the other side of the post office and becomes Congress Street, in The Loop.
Pretty cool seeing those bridges up in the air, due to the many sail boats on their annual migration from their winter homes on docks on the river, to Lake Michigan, where they will dock for the summer months.
It has been 35 years, since I said my vows to my now Husband. Today is the day. I still find that so hard to believe.
It was a wild and wacky year. First off, I got married in July (note that my only other choice was December and I refused to add onto an already hectic holiday season). Then, my sister got married in November of that same year. My poor Mom and Dad, both daughters at the same time. :-)
Here we are, all those years later, still together.
This is what we looked like, all those years ago. We got married in the South Bay area, which actually made our get away to LAX, just a little easier.
We went to Las Vegas for exactly 3 days (it was all the time I could get off). Had a wonderful time in the extremely HOT weather. Whose idea was it to get married in July? lol
We had 10 wonderful years together and then along came our son.
I think my Husband has had 3 different lives, at least. He and our friends from Phoenix were best friends, long before I ever came on the scene. They spent their 30's together.
When I moved out west, things had changed for him. His friends had moved to Phoenix, to be near family and already had their first child. He was ready for a life of his own...and then I came along.
It has been a good marriage, never perfect, but worth fighting for.
Thanks babe and of course, I love you more.
Tuesday was the day. Our van pool was told that the van was at the end of its commuting life. It was 5 years old.
We all laughed at that, but we could understand the reasoning behind the early retirement. They don't want commuters dealing with vehicles that break down, often.
So with a heavy heart, we gave this wonderful van (pictured above) back to Metro and they delivered a new van. New van smell and all.
You would think that we would all be happy.
Well, to say the least, it is a 9 person van and ours was a 10 person van. I didn't think that made much of a difference, but it does.
We are now cramped into a much smaller space. Letting me off at my workplace, moves at least 3 people, since I am in the back row.
We hit our heads all the time, on the lower roof and there is less aisle space.
Oh and I think we pay about $15 dollars more for this one, since we lost a rider.
Otherwise, all is well and we hopefully will get better gas mileage in this one.
Posted in The Signal (our local paper) last night. We have absolutely no idea why this happened. More to come, obviously.
Reporter: Jim Holt
Two Valencia High School teachers who ran the Junior ROTC program at the school for more than a decade have been pulled from the program by the U.S. Air Force for allegedly filing paperwork late.
The two are now out of a job.
Capt. Ed Colley and Master Sgt. Fred Malcomb, who have taught at the school for 20 years and 11 years, respectively, are no longer employed by the William S. Hart Union High School District, spokesman Dave Caldwell said Thursday.
The district’s Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps, known as the CA-782 AFJROTC program, is expected to continue at Valencia High School, Caldwell said.
The ROTC program is open to students enrolled at Valencia, West Ranch and Saugus high schools through a contract signed by the district and the Air Force to share its costs. Its curriculum explores civilian, industrial and military aspects of aerospace science along with military discipline.
Military officials notified Valencia High School officials on April 22, 2014, that the ROTC instructors had been placed on probation for failing to file military documents.
“I have sent personal requests to your instructors on March 7, 2014, and April 11, 2014, to provide the required documents to maintain accountability of your unit’s Automated Data Processing Equipment,” reads a letter from the director of Air Force Junior ROTC to the principal at Valencia High School.
The letter closes with: “If the instructors fail to bring the ADPE account within compliance by April 30, 2014, we will initiate decertification actions for both instructors.”
On May 18, 2015, Colley received a letter from the military saying he was decertified “for unsatisfactory instructor performance.”
Colley argues, however, he filed the paperwork on time and is now frustrated that he has not been given a chance to defend himself.
“The implications of this are very, very troubling,” he said Thursday.
“I’ve exhausted all my appeals,” he said. “I don’t understand it. I plan on filing lawsuits to regain our positions.”
The Air Force requires ROTC appointees to file three pieces of “suspense” paperwork every year related to the handling of computers, Colley said.
He said he received a letter from the military stating he failed to file one of those documents on time.
“We’ve had no opportunity to defend ourselves,” he said, adding that he put his concerns over decertification in writing.
In a letter dated May 19, 2015, to the headquarters of Air Force Junior ROTC, Colley wrote in part:
“I sincerely appreciate your helping me to better understand the director’s decision to decertify me and my (non commissioned officer). ... I absolutely do not believe that either you or MSgt Malcomb lack integrity in any way, but it is possible that either one of you may not recall this event correctly.”
I have been seeing recipes for hummus, on P. Allen Smith's show and on Facebook. Since I had a bag of chick peas, I decided to cook them up and then use some of them, to make hummus.
Since mine were dry, I found this recipe using the dried chick peas.
My major complaint, I did not measure 2 cups of dried peas. So I did my best to estimate and this caused my hummus to be a bit strong on garlic. Darn!
You can see the original recipe, with yummy photos, HERE.
Hummus
Ingredients
2 cups dry chick peas
2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
water
juice of half of a lemon
3 tbsp tahini
2-3 garlic cloves
½ cup water (or more if needed)
⅓ cup olive oil
1 tbsp ground cumin
pita bread, crackers, etc.
Instructions
Place the dry chick peas in a large bowl or pot and fill with water so that the water is at least an inch or two above the peas. Let them soak overnight in the fridge.
Drain the chick peas. Place them in a pot and fill with new water, the salt and baking soda.
Bring the chick peas to a boil. Once the water is boiling, lower the heat so that it is a low boil. Cook the chick peas for an hour. They should soften so they can easily be smushed with your fingers.
Drain the chick peas and let them cool until they come to room temperature.
Using a food processor, pulse the chick peas, lemon, garlic cloves and tahini. While the food processor is running, slowly pour in the water. Check the texture and thickness of the hummus. If needed, add more water to desired consistency.
When serving, scoop into a bowl and drizzle olive oil and sprinkle cumin on top of the hummus.
Serve with pita bread, crackers, or veggies.
I have had this tree in my backyard for around 25 years and in all this time, it has been pretty manageable.
About 5 years ago was the last time we managed to trim off the old palm fronds, with the help of our painter's ladder.
So since then it has been a ticking time bomb, in the way of the money, to take the thing down.
I had hoped I could have paid off my student loans before having to deal with it, but a week ago Saturday, I saw that it is finally producing seeds.
That is it, it has to go and now!
I am still pulling little palm trees from the side of my yard and that tree was removed 13 years ago!
When we got the estimate last week, the cost was a few hundred dollars less than I expected it to be, so that is a good thing.
By the way, Today is the day.
Let's hope it goes well.
The top photo is the top of the tree and the bottom is, of course the base of the tree.
It is too large to get a photo of the entire thing. Maybe 25 feet in the air, is my best guess.
My Water Post For Today.
Being that it is time for summer vacations, I have a lovely photo taken by my friend, Suzanne.
She took a trip to Scotland and in her travels in the area, she visited The Loch Ness.
The photo was taken from the grounds of Urquhart Castle, which is a fortress from Medieval times. The ruins still survive today, ever vigilant and waiting to catch a glimpse of the monster, I am sure.
It is such a serene place.
I hope you enjoy.
Thankfully, minus this small problem, things seemed pretty quiet here in Saugus.
Right after dinner, my Husband and I were sitting and watching the news and all of a sudden, the sound of a chopper interrupted us.
When the third one came by, almost one on top of another, we knew something was up and it was very local.
So I ran for my camera and so did my Husband and we stood outside watching what was going on.
From what my Husband heard, it was a small fire set off by roman candles. We had been hearing things going off for about an hour, so this did not surprise me.
When the dozer pulled up to our intersection, I was shocked, since there were 3 choppers in the air. None of which were water dropping, by the way.
So I am not sure what resources were being utilized to put out the fire, but no complaints, the fire department was right on it.
We heard that they expected full containment by 8PM, right at sunset.
The broadcaster got a pretty good video on the situation, if you want to take 2 minutes to watch it. It is uploaded onto Youtube, HERE.
I was happy at my film skills. :-)
Happy 4th of July to my fellow American's.
As you can see, I finally found the two ribbons that I used to have hanging on my poles. Remember last year, I had lost them. Well, the devil was finished playing with them and they magically appeared in my coat closet. Yay team!
My grass, on the other hand, is looking more sad every day.
Nothing I can do about that. It is summer and they have cut our watering down to 2 days a week. Yikes!
Well, onward we go, enjoying this three day weekend and just getting ourselves together for our vacation.
Hope your 4th is a happy one.
I have read ...by Ken Levine, from back in the days of the Writer's Strike, in 2008. It's a daily part of my morning routine.
On his July 2nd entry, he wrote an ode to radio and that reminded me of a long ago blog entry of his. I decided to track it down via his search engine and share it with all of you.
As a broadcaster, this post (from a behind the scenes standpoint) just made my day.
Please read it...and enjoy.
I took this photo after visiting the Golden Road Brewery last week.
Before I even drove over to the location, I saw that I would have to drive over the Doran St. railroad crossing. When I commuted via Metrolink every day, I knew how potentially dangerous this crossing is. I found an article written last year, that speaks of some of the problems of that crossing.
As a matter of fact, when I went to Golden Road, I parked right at the propane business that they mention in the article! ACK!
Many trucks filled with things to recycle and as a matter of fact, many homeless wheeling their shopping carts with cans and bottles to be recycled, cross that street daily.
Never an easy crossing. Add in the overhead Ventura Freeway and it is definitely a recipe for disaster.
From what this article says, there are potential plans in the works.
I hope they do something to get rid of this particular crossing...since my son rides every day.
Why did these song lyrics come to my mind, when I saw this on my wall at work? (Lyrics are courtesy of The Eagles)
But the Greeks don't want no freaks.
The Greeks don't want no freaks
Just put a little smile on them rosy
cheeks,
'Cause the Greeks don't want no freaks.
I just found it incredibly interesting, that a studio rental changed our call letters to something vaguely Greek.
You just never know what you will find, at work these days. :-)
