Tag: 365 project

A good day on the lake.

The flooding that hit the Hill Country this month brought terrible destruction and loss of life, especially along the Guadalupe River.

The highland lakes’ series of dams were built to contain floodwaters for the lower Colorado River. They’ve been doing exactly that and now Lake Buchanan is 100% full. Lake Travis has risen to 90% full, up 38 feet in the last two weeks, only 6 feet short of full.

As someone who has spent a good part of the last 20 years on the lake that has experienced too many droughts, this brings me joy in the midst of the sadness from all the loss.

Today we went out to the lake to take it in. And it’s a beautiful thing. The docks are close to parking lot level now, which is certainly a treat. Next week the marina will move all the individual docks back to their respective locations.

Lake Travis st 675’
Schlep no more!

We went for a long sail on Nirvana with Kurt, Kevin, Gordon, and Scott. The wind was up and we had a really great day.

It’s nice to have our lake back, for however long it lasts.

Rewind.

Over the last year or so, I’ve had big gaps between posts. I’m not sure why. Maybe things have slowed down. Maybe I’ve gotten busier. Maybe I’m more introspective. Whatever the reason, I have wanted to get back into the habit of posting more frequently.

I hope my recent post about our Portugal trip broke the logjam.

While I’ve been going through photos, I’ve found a few that I’d like to share. Just for grins, I may mix in a few among future posts, even though they may be a few months old. Bear with me 🙂

Like this one that I took back in November! 🙂 Some friends of mine live in a beautiful part of Austin along the south side of the Colorado River. Sometimes we get together at their community’s park along the river for game day. This is a mosaic that adorns their community center. Isn’t it great?!

Portugal!

At the beginning of the year, Monte and I were invited to spend a week with my friends Irene and Joseph at their place in the Algarve region of Portugal. We took them up on their invitation and planned a two-week trip for June – one week in the Algarve in a quaint fishing village called Ferragudo, followed by a week for Monte and I to explore Porto and Lisbon together.

Ferragudo and the Algarve Region

Ferragudo was a wonderful place to visit. We walked along the beaches on the Arade River, and hiked the trails up into and along the cliffs that overlook the Atlantic Ocean. We took a boat trip out into the ocean that explored some of the caves and beaches along the coast. There are a number of companies that offer cave tours. I enjoyed our trip with BenagilExpress, and booked it ahead of time via TripAdvisor.

We hired a local named Luis who took us on a 4-hour boat trip up the Arade river to the historic town of Silves, which was the capital of the Kingdom of the Algarve back to the 13th century. We had time to explore Silves, tour the castle, explore the markets and cafes. Along the way, Luis told us all about the history of the region, and of the fishing and farming industries in the area. I recommend Luis and his tours, you can find a link to his website here.

We also explored Portimão, Praia da Rocha, and Alvor. We sampled the local fare: grilled sardines, bacalao, tapas, pastries, and many different flavors of gelatos. I saw some new birds, and found a geocache (of course!)

Irene and Joseph were wonderful hosts, and I hope to make my way back to Ferragudo again.

Porto

After goodbye hugs with Irene and Joseph we ubered to the Faro Airport for our flight to Porto.

I absolutely loved the place we stayed. It was an entire 1-bedroom apartment just a block away from the Avenida dos Aliados, and within walking distance from just about everything in Porto. If you are looking to book a place to stay in Porto, you should check out Almada 234.

It turns out that one of the days/nights we were there was Porto’s biggest festival of the year – the Festa de São João, celebrating their patron saint John the Baptist. And boy do they throw a party!

It’s a thing for everyone to bop virtually anyone that walks within arm’s reach on the head with plastic squeaky hammers for good luck. It’s also a thing to light candles inside paper lanterns and set them aloft. The sky was filled with lit lanterns throughout the city as far as you could see, all night long. It was truly a sight. They set fireworks off over the Douro River at midnight. Monte and I walked down with thousands of our friends to the cathedral that overlooks the river which turned out to be a great place to experience the spectacle.

We explored São Bento train station with its beautifully tiled lobby, the ancient Clerigos Tower, the Jardins do Palacio de Cristal, sampled the food and wine along the Ribiera (the Douro riverfront), we walked across the Luis I bridge, rode the Teleferico (cable car) down to the Gaia district full of Port wine houses and visited their tasting rooms. I truly enjoyed our time in Porto.

On the morning of our third day in Porto, we had a café com leite and a pastiche de nata, and then hopped on a train south to Lisbon.

Lisbon

We easily made our way to our hotel in Lisbon’s Baixa district via the metro from the Santa Apolonia Train station when we arrived in Lisbon. It was in a great, central location, just a couple of blocks from the Tagus river.

There are so many different places to explore in Lisbon. We picked a few among many. We spent a half-day in the historical maritime center of Belem. The Belem Tower dates from the 16th century. It was the last thing sailors saw when they set out to discover new trade routes, and, if they were lucky, was the first thing they saw when they arrived back home. Of course, we visited during one of the few times in the last 500 years that it was under renovation and covered with scaffolding, but it was still inspiring to see. There is a carved stone monument to the Portuguese-led Age of Exploration, the Padrão dos Descobrimentos (monument of Discoveries). We also toured the Maritime Museum which was worthwhile. We visited the grounds of Mosteiro dos Jerónimos, a monastery which was built in 1501 to celebrate Portuguese success on the sea. The monastery is the final resting place of Vasco de Gama, as well as several kings of Portugal.

We also visited the Museu Nacional do Azulejo (National Tile Museum), located in a beautiful former convent on the east side of Lisbon, and walked through the history of the decorative tiles that define Portuguese architecture and art.

In the evening, we walked through the central historic district of Lisbon, exploring stores and restaurants, and taking the Santa Justa elevator up from the Baixa district to the Bairro Alto neighborhood. At the top, we had great views over the city, as well as the ruins of the Igreja do Carmo, a church built in the 14th century that was damaged in the earthquake of 1755. The quake andthe fires and tsunami that followed killed about 20% of the residents and pretty much leveled Lisbon. The city we see today has essentially been rebuilt over much of the last 350 years.

We took the train from Rossio train station to Sintra for a day trip to explore the Pena Palace and the Moorish Castle (well, it’s more the walls of the former fortress). Being a top tourist destination, it was crowded, but I had pre-booked tickets and transportation for our visit to be the first of the day, so we arrived early and beat most of the crowds. The things I like the best were the sweeping views from the top of the Pena Palace out to the Atlantic Ocean to the east and the south, the walk through the wooded trails down to the Moorish Castle, and the train trip through the hills and back.

Back in Lisbon, we explored the Praça do Comercio, the Chiado district, Cais Sodre, and rode the Gloria Elevator (well, funicular, really) up to the terrace at the Miradouro de São Pedro de Alcântara, and enjoyed churros while taking in another sweeping view of Lisbon. And, of course, we enjoyed the local seafood for dinner.

At the close of a lovely trip, we packed up, bid adieu to Portugal, and flew home from Lisbon.

I’m already planning the next trip!

Good as new!

We have acquired about 3 dozen Tervis brand drinking glasses over the years. They’re not fancy, but they keep cold drinks cold, and hot drinks hot. They’re supposed to be indestructible, but over time we’ve had several crack open, some get little spider cracks that let moisture in where it’s not supposed to be, the artwork in some has become loose, and we’ve found that the newer ones often get cloudy.

Tervis has a lifetime warranty, so when we have 5 or 6 that need repair, I send them in. I sent the last batch in 5 months ago. But they just arrived bac in the mail. I was a little nervous because MY first and favorite tervis was in this batch – I’m always the sand dollar 🙂 And a couple were ones that we bought in the Bahamas and the BVI, hard to replace. Another was one of Monte’s first tervis. And, my lucky Seahawks Tervis!

They were able to reclaim the artwork from each of the broken ones and put them in brand new, crystal clear glasses.

Christmas in November! Thanks Tervis.

What the old ones looked like when I sent them in:

Beach bound.

We made a trip to Port Aransas this weekend for their wooden boat show. I always enjoy our time spent there. The weather was still pretty hot for the end of October. Shade was in short supply.

The historic Tarpon Inn is where we like to stay. No TV or clocks in the rooms. But it’s in the middle of everything.

The porch of the Tarpon Inn outside our room at sunrise.

We enjoyed fantastic meals at Tortuga Saltwater Grill and Venetian Hotplate, I highly recommend both. And thankfully found the best coffee shop in town at Barefoot Beans (they open at 6AM!).

We toured the UT Marine Science Center exhibits and outdoor wetlands displays.

We checked out the sand pumpkins on the beach.

This morning we spent a couple hours at the Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Center and saw over 30 species, including the American Flamingo that has become a local.

On the drive home today we stopped for BBQ at Smitty’s Market in Lockhart. The Subaru looked so tiny parked amongst the big Texas PickUps. 🙂

Back home now watching a sad Seahawks game unfold. Oh well. It was fun weekend nonetheless.

Looking up.

This week we were treated to some interesting happenings in the sky. There was extremely high solar activity due to some large flares and sun-things happening. We anchored out on a lovely, clear Thursday night and I captured some of the far away glow from the Northern Lights with my iPhone. The only thing I could see with my naked eye was a faint rosy glow to the north.

I was pleased that I could get some shots, even though we were way down in Texas.

Taken with a long exposure on the iphone

This week, a comet is gracing us with its faint presence. It is low on the horizon after sunset. I was finally able to spot it through binoculars and grabbed a less-than-stellar shot of it from my Olympus camera with a long exposure on a tripod.

Comet C/2023 A3

Hopefully, I’ll get another shot at it before it completely disappears.

While not NatGeo-worthy, I do enjoy the challenge of trying to capture a glimpse of these heavenly sights on camera.

All that jazz.

Monte and I finally made it to Parker Jazz Club this week. It was a fantastic show. We’ll definitely be back. Laura advises and works closely with the club and completely surprised us with a bottle of bubbles and a shout out from the stage. 💙

Thank you, Laura!!

You should all go whenever you are in Austin!! Link with info about the club and their calendar here.

A diamond of an island.

Monte and I just got home from visiting Lori & Mike and their new home in Maine. It is on an island a few miles offshore from Portland, Maine. Like all the other homes in the private community at Diamond Cove, theirs is a thoroughly modern restoration of a historic building from the former Fort McKinley Army Base. Fort McKinley began operating in the late 1800s, is now privately owned, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The island is amazing; beautiful, historic, full of woods, bike paths, beaches, and wildlife. How lucky they are to have found it.

Sunset on our first evening – a view of Fort Gorges in Casco Bay

We rode the ferry many times – walked and biked on several islands in Casco Bay – sampled brews and seafood in Portland and nearby towns – toured the Maine Maritime Museum in Bath, Maine – played a little cornhole – found a geocache – found an insane amount of sea glass at the beach – spied several shooting stars from the Perseid meteor shower – took a historic tour of the island – boarded a sunset cruise on a schooner in Casco bay – visited Portland Head Light. Monte and Mike even found time to complete a project in the well-equipped community woodshop on the island.

A view from the deck of Schooner Bagheera of Portland Schooner Company

Portland Head Lighthouse

I thoroughly enjoyed my time there. Laura also planned a visit at the same time between trips to visit her family and it was really great to spend some time with her, too.

A beauty.

I planted an American Beautyberry about 4 or 5 years ago. She’s doing great! 💜

Plum tickled.

Several years ago we planted a few new trees in the way back. One is a Mexican plum (link here). It has established itself in the face of drought and recent hard freezes. I was excited to see that this year it has fruit on it!

Mexican plum tree

Sewing sails.

This time, I’m sewing a different kind of sail. Ann is becoming a grandma soon, and Shelly is coordinating a crowd-sourced baby quilt for her future grandson. She’s handing out a couple dozen quilt squares to decorate.

Here’s mine. ⛵️💙 🚼 🙃

I can’t wait to see the finished quilt.

Birthday boy.

Last night we helped celebrate Kurt’s birthday. Happy birthday, sailor!

Classic Kurt 🙂

Things are picking up.

I’m happy to report that things are picking up in the travel department. Before COVID we happily welcomed regular visitors to Austin and made our share of trips. Four years later, it’s feeling a bit more normal. We took a trip to Denver in January. Noreen and David visited us this Spring. I did a girls’ trip to Santa Barbara. Monte made a guys’ trip to the BVI. We flew up to Seattle in June. Laura came for a visit at the beginning of July. Last week we finished a road trip to see family and National Parks in the midwest.

Monte and I took the Subaru on another road trip. 3000 miles. 8 days and 7 nights. 9 states (well 10 if you count passing through the corner of Oklahoma, Missouri, and Kansas – aka OKKAMO). Made my first-ever visit to a Great Lake. Earned 3 new geocache state badges. Visited four more National Parks, bringing my total to 30. Still lots more to see.

It is nice to reflect that this year alone we have had in-person visits with all of our siblings, most of our nieces and nephews, and even a few grandnieces and nephews. What a treat.

Gateway Arch NP was much more interesting than I expected. The construction of this monument was an engineering marvel at the time, and it is MUCH bigger than I imagined. We took the tour up to the top, and even the tram system was an interesting innovation to learn about. The view from the top was amazing. I was a tiny bit freaked out to look out the window and see both feet of the arch below us(!)

View from the top of the Gateway Arch. The muddy Mississippi River to the east is at the top of this pic.

Indiana Dunes NP was a lovely stop for about 4 hours. We tootled by the homes from the Chicago Worlds Fair in 1933 that have been moved to the lakeshore and are now privately owned and lived in. We scored an amazing parking spot by the beach. And we walked up and down the beach, which did have dunes, but lots of rounded rocks. I waded into Lake Michigan, another first.

The south shore of Lake Michigan. No sea glass was to be found.

Cuyahoga Valley NP was a highlight for me. It commemorates the Ohio and Erie Canal system, with locks, and a tow path for the mule-pulled canal boats. The canal was dug by hand in the early 1800s. It was fed with water from the nearby Cuyahoga River, and carried goods between the Ohio River and Lake Erie, putting Ohio on the map for commerce and transportation. The canal isn’t operating anymore. It was wiped out by floods in the early 1900s and eventually made obsolete by the railway built alongside it. But its footprint is clearly visible and the miles and miles of tow paths make for amazing walking and biking trails. The park is located between Cleveland and Akron and I expected it to be an urban park, but it is in the middle of beautiful forests and hills. It is spread out, so do your research beforehand to pick from the many spots you may want to visit.

We spent 2 half days there, starting at Boston Mills Visitor Center, then visited Brandywine Falls, and the Everett Covered Bridge, walked along the towpaths, stopped in Peninsula to check out the town and to visit Lock 29, and made a visit to the Canal Exploration Center, which helped us to understand the whole canal operation and its history. They have rebuilt a working lock there to demonstrate how they worked.

I’m envious of the people who have this park in their backyard. It’s a beautiful place to get out and explore. If I ever make it back, I’ll bring a bike. And take a ride on the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railway.

Brandywine Falls @ Cuyahoga Valley National Park

Everett Covered Bridge @ Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

A rebuilt, working lock at the Canal Exploration Center @ Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

Mammoth Cave NP. Having driven by this park probably a dozen times, it was time to make a visit. We took the Historical Tour – a 2-hour, 2-mile, guided tour that took us through the cave at numerous levels of its 400′ of depth. It is different from other caves I’ve visited – a “dry”cave – in that it doesn’t drip water from the surface. So, no stalagmites nor stalactites. Rather, the maze of caverns has been cut from adjacent rivers that flow through the cave. It was amazing to experience a tiny bit of its vastness.

A view inside Mammoth Cave along the Historical Tour.

On this trip, we stopped in Rising Sun to visit Gary & Judy, Mary & Megan, and Bryan, and in Gobbler’s Knob to visit Susanne, Lanny, and Mica. We spent an afternoon making peach jam, and brought some home!

It was a great trip, indeed. I have already drafted our national park road trip for next year!

Late night.

I worked an evening show last night at the Bass Concert Hall – The Decemberists. When I saw them on the schedule I signed up. I’m glad I did. Good show. But oh lordie did it get loud. I made it home before turning into a pumpkin by midnight.