Happy Friday, everybody!
On The Road – Auntie Anne – Literally – my backyard
Sometimes, all this politics stuff makes you tight and so you cry out, and then jackals and Nature come through!
The year after my husband died, I bought a house. It turned out to be exactly right for oughme, but at the time, I was not in a good place and was vaguely unhappy about the house I bought.
The backyard was very overgrown and I knew it was going to be a lot of work. Well, as it turns out, the house I bought was owned by the former president of our neighborhood garden club, and she had planted many gorgeous azaleas and other wonderful plants.
I spent many hours over the next few years bringing her gardens back to life. Here are some pictures from her gardens.
Azaleas across the back of the yard.
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On The Road – ?BillinGlendaleCA – Snow Day!
Good morning everyone,
We’re once again blessed, thanks as always to Bill!
This was supposed to run last month and now finally is here. I’ve got more great stuff lined up, but please consider submitting. It runs out quick!
Most folk don’t associate Los Angeles with snow, but Southern California does get snow in the high elevations of it’s mountains during winter. Boxing Day in 2019 brought a wet and cold storm from the Gulf of Alaska to the southland with snow reaching the 2500 foot level. What made a mess of the mountain passes for travelers between LA and the Central Valley and the high desert afforded amazing views of the city with a backdrop of snow covered mountains. So after taking sunrise pictures from Griffith Observatory, I fired up the Prius again and headed to Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area in the Baldwin Hills for some picture of the city and the mountains.
Interesting bit of trivia…it snows in Los Angeles every year. While the average elevation of the City of Los Angeles is under 1000 feet, the elevation in the city ranges from Sea Level to just over 5,000 feet at the summit of Mt. Lukens north of Glendale.
The skyscrapers of downtown LA in the foreground of the snowy San Gabriel Mountians. Mt. Wilson is on the left, Mt. San Antonio is just to the right of downtown and Cucamunga Peak is to the right.
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On The Road – something fabulous – September in Lucca
Just after Labor Day I was lucky enough to go on a trip to Lucca with side diversions to Pisa, Montecarlo (the Italian one), Volterra, and in and out via Milan. Traveled with my two oldest friends in the world and a spot-assist from my brother, who is an interpreter: A very helpful thing to have in a family, I highly recommend it! So the trip was all one could want: Fun, restful, delicious, entertaining and beautiful, with only a slight edge of grumpiness to keep things lively.
Oh, and being separated from my suitcase for the first five days! But that’s a story for another day…
Inspirational flooring in Milan airport.
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On The Road – Albatrossity – Bartlesville OK
And we’re back – good morning everyone!
Around the first of the year in 2020 we traveled with some friends (who are both architects) to Bartlesville Oklahoma. That may not sound like much of a tourist destination to your jaded elites on the left and right coasts, but it is worth a visit for the history and the architecture aspects. We stayed in the H.C. Price Tower, which is an arts center, and which also contains several hotel rooms and a great restaurant. The Price Tower is Frank Lloyd Wright’s tallest structure and only skyscraper, although at 19 stories, it also doesn’t really fit that description in most people’s minds. H.C. Price was an oil pipeline and construction magnate (as well as an aficionado of mid-century modern architecture), and his corporate offices were housed in the tower, dubbed the Prairie Skyscraper, after it was built in 1956. Wright compared it to “the tree that escaped the crowded forest”, and its unique cantilevered design is a marvel of both beauty and engineering. And you can stay there, IN a Frank Lloyd Wright building, which is an experience all in itself. See https://www.pricetower.org for more details.
Other attractions in the area include Woolaroc, formerly the ranch of Frank Phillips (Phillips Petroleum originated in Bartlesville), and the Phillips home, which you can tour and get an idea of how it was to be obscenely wealthy in the early 20th century in a place well away from either coast. Phillips was interested in Native American artifacts and art, and Wollaroc has a great museum and gallery devoted to those themes, as well as hiking trails, and a large collection of bison, elk and exotic deer and antelope.
The Price Tower on a crisp winter day
On The Road – Albatrossity – Bartlesville OKPost + Comments (39)
On The Road
Good morning everyone,
I’m temporarily putting OTR on hiatus through next week, returning February 9. I’ve got a lot going on right now and don’t have spare mental CPU cycles, and I’m sorry about that!
Also, too, we’re running low on submissions, so please consider sharing your world. One side-effect of the new site is that the focus has shifted to more “travel pics” and while, yes, that’s part of it, OTR is also about seeing YOUR world. It may seem humdrum, everyday stuff to you but for for so many of us, your views, insights, stories, and humor enrich all of us.
As an example, I’m planning to take some pictures of a local cemetery or two. One is more scenic, one more poignant and tugs at my soul. More on that soon, but that’s just an example of me sharing something I find notable or moving in my local milieu.
On that note, with my schedule and upcoming birthday, I’m putting OTR on hiatus until February 9. Going though all this impeachment craziness, I’d prefer to keep running this for my and all our sanity, but I’m pulling myself too thin and this is a simple thing to put aside temporarily.
Don’t forget – please submit submit submit! We’re very low on stored submissions!
Have a great day, and days, we shall re-convene soon.
On The Road – kmeyerthelurker – Lisbon, Portugal
Good morning, everyone,
Sorry this didn’t run yesterday, I apparently missed the “make Public” button. Grr
Today we’re off to faraway lands…
Very long time lurker here, starting around 2007. The spouse & I visit Europe every off-season because its more affordable. This year is Portugal, with a brief stop later in Morocco.
On The Road – kmeyerthelurker – Lisbon, PortugalPost + Comments (16)