Special Bulletin: Hawaiian Moose Ediiton

You would think that this would be easy. You want to go to Iceland you get on Iceland Air, you want to go to Britain, you get on British Air, you want to go to America, you get on American, you want to go to Hawaii, you get on Hawaiian Air. Easy. But not for the driver. Nope. We are going to Hawaii on, are you ready, ALASKAN AIR. It is a good thing that geography is one of my most underrated skills. I slipped into the Pilots Special Compartment and explained the situation and he was willing to take us where we were planning to go. I mean I told him I only had Hawaiian shirts. Not Alaska. I would have driven but I forgot my Captain’s hat so I just had to make suggestions and corrections. He was most appreciative and suggested I might want to go back and help the Trolly Pushers.

Anyway I have studied hard about tropical islands and watched the documentary about them called Gilligan’s Island. It was a mystery to me why they didn’t go to the airport. But anyhow I am prepared. Since I got us in the right direction. I mean, the big lump of Alaska is off the coast of Mexico and Hawaii is between Florida and Texas. Good thing I worked on this.

Anxious to meet Mary Ann.

They knew where we were going. Great send off with music even.

Its All Relative (part one)

I would like to introduce you to T. J. Hileman. He was a well known photographer of the West, particularly Glacier National Park and Native Americans. There is a bit of confusion about exactly where in the family tree he is located due to things common to old records like similar names and differing dates. He likely is a sibling to my fourth generation grandfather and named after his grandfather. But suffice it to see him about 4 generations back. He was born in 1882 and moved west in 1911, to Kalispell, Montana after completing studies at Effingham School of Photography in Chicago. He opened a studio there and this photograph is of his studio or at least one of them, I do not know if he had more than one location over the years but this one would have been about the time he was photographing Glacier for the Northern Pacific Railroad. I love the logo he created and this same stylized format of Hileman is found on his prints as well.

It is striking to think of him shooting images using a huge format camera and pack horses while I roll up in air conditioned comfort walk a few hundred feet or a short trail and take lots of images it the time it would take for him to unlimber his large wooden tripod. But we share an interest in the photographs of our National Parks.

Hawaii Bound

Cadillac and his two friends are winging their way to Hawaii tonight. Adventure awaits. They are all decked out in Hawaiian shirts and some of them are enjoying tropical beverages already, like guava juice. Which one is Cadillac you ask, shame on you. Everyone knows about the Pink Cadillac. Please note the first female Moose to join the is center stage. How do you tell the difference? Lipstick!

Deep

Well into the depths of Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky. The largest cave in the world and still they do not know where the end of the cave might be located.

Provision

Through a Window

This mid to late 18th century house in Maryland has five of the original panes of glass. Imagine what people for about 300 years have viewed through the glass. Snow falls, crops growing, soldiers marching past or a guest about to dismount a house, Traveling merchants, knife sharpeners, teachers and the local preacher would likely all be first seen through the wavy glass.

Two Lane Touring FOUR Announcements

Anxious to get Oliver back on the road again traveling West.

Southwest Trip Rescheduled - last winter we were stymied by the melt down of the electric system in the trailer. We had to end our travels, return the trailer to the factory and leave it for six weeks while it was repaired. We have since taken four trips: one to Cape Hatteras, one to Kentucky and Tennessee, a wonderful wedding in Florida and one to Pennsylvania. The problem seems to be resolved. We did have a glitch with the read out of the solar system and inverter but got that repaired locally. So we are planning to leave late January for Florida, spend five or six weeks mostly at state parks with a couple times at Disney (I do travel with Cindy after all) and then head west. The Harman’s will be joining us for a bit of the Florida stay and the first part of the western swing through Texas. We have targeted 35 new National Park units in eight states. I will have a lot more details later this year but the planning is well underway. Right now we have 57 separate camp sites with more to come.

Planning so far, lots of blanks to fill in plus back to NC.

Hawaii On Tap - We leave for Hawaii, a long delayed trip, on Tuesday night. We fly to Seattle and then leave in the morning for Oahu. We will be on three islands and visit 6 or 7 National Park Units. There are seven on the islands but one is closed and may not reopen for years but an eighth is set to open soon and I am hoping to get on the grounds. We have packed a lot of additional plans over our 16 days. Photos will be posted on TLT starting on Friday the 16th or maybe even the 15th. This will be our 50th state.

Lots of pins to turn from Red to Yellow. Note Hawaii is not really in the Gulf of Mexico, Cadillac!

Return of the Moose - Cadillac is back. That is good news for many and less good news for me. So, where has he been? It is a difficult story and I am sure he will share some of it as we travel but in short he has been away but not where he said. He left us this March shortly after the Texas issues and said he needed a break. He explained that he was heading to Tibet to reflect on life in a mountain monastery. If you know C you will be skeptical of that plan. First issue is Tibet is a long way for a geographically challenged Moose. And the second is that he has not been quiet for more than 11 minutes at a time. Ever. It may have been his plan but it is not what happened. He was really just mad because he wanted full control over the blog and a driver’s license. So he went off to sulk not reflect and he ended up in Toledo and not the one in Spain. A concerned citizen saw him and was worried so he posted to MooseStuff.com a very specialized social media site about the haggard moose he found in town. We were contacted by one of his old girlfriends and so went off to Toledo where we found him strung out on pastries living in an alley behind Dunkin Donuts. He was in sad shape. So we sent him to a Bakery DeTox Center & Nail Spa where he has been for the last four months. He came back home two weeks ago and is on track to go to Hawaii with us. That is scary but it is even more frightening to leave him on his own. He has agreed to scale back his excesses. We’ll see.

Cadillac is in a Hawaiian mood with his new shirt, shades and a pineapple beverage topped with fruit.

Posting Changes - The last note concerns the TLT post. Don’t panic you will still get an image a day — sighs of relief wash across the US, Canada and the world. What will change is that there will usually be more than one post. Restaurants will be in separate posts but in the main post stream. And there may be more travel story apart from the photo spot. Not sure but maybe. Also, I did agree to give Cadillac a bit of space, shudder.

Swift

The water of the Youghiogheny River flows fast through the Gorge at Ohiopyle. This area, famous as well for two of Frank Lloyd Wright’s masterpieces, is a beautiful part of the Laurel Highlands in Southwestern Pennsylvania. Rusty Harman, his daughter Angie, and I biked along the bridge where I took this shot in the summer of 2013. The trail we traveled was 180 miles between Pittsburgh and Cumberland, MD. Over 20 miles of the trail. Great Allegheny Passage, was through Ohiopyle State Park. Great trip. It was fun this summer when we camped here to spend more time enjoying the park.

The kayaker is leading a group of rafters through some rapids.

S'more

I know you have all been anxious for me to show you “some more” of my carving projects, so here is a tasty little treat. This fellow is about two inches square and was a lot of fun to carve. I will have some additional carving along with an announcement on Friday. Stay tuned to TLT.

Theodore Roosevelt Island (NPS #318 Two Lane Touring)

This heavily wooded island in the Potomac River is a wonderful memorial to a President, Theodore Roosevelt, who did more than most to preserve and promote the National Park System in the US. The island is reached by a pedestrian bridge off one of the parking lots along the George Washington Parkway just a short distance from the LBJ Grove we posted last week. The island’s central feature is a plaza dominated by Teddy’s statue and encircled by a raised water feature that was dry when we visited. There are several trails including one that circles the island and crosses some swampy ground.

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Labor Day

While it is good to celebrate the kind of labor that builds, fixes, plans, writes, practices, meets, buys, guards and codes, here’s to a day that only includes labor that brings you joy & satisfaction.

Compassion

Flight 93

This is a view of the museum and Visitor Center from near the impact zone. This is a superior memorial and well worth the effort to see it in person.

Formula VEE Competitors

Abby, who I wrote about earlier, was not the only woman driver, there were several, These two campaign across the country in Formula VEE, a VW engine based open wheel series. They were quite fast on the track, especially Emily in her distinctive Bumble Bee VEE!. Enjoyed meeting and talking to both of them in the paddock. Emily also motored around in a vintage pink Vespa. Cool.

Emily

Lauren

The Bumble Bee VEE at speed

Automotive Art

This hood ornament is from a 1931 Lincoln Model K 202A, Sport Phaeton. It is found in the Frick Museum Car and Carriage Shed and was purchased by Frick’s widow who bought this new the year she died at the estate. This sprinting greyhound is part of the radiator cap - sometimes called a Murphy cap. It was designed at the request of Edsel Ford in 1927 and used on the Lincolns for four years. Then as an option on a deluxe version Ford for one or two years. The depression ended its run. They were lost wax castings and there are many “fake” ones on the market. The real ones are much more accurate sculptures, note the ribs, and have spaces between the tail. This is from the era where cars were much more than appliances and the amazement people felt driving a hundred miles in a day was hard to believe. It was an exuberant time.

Another View

We are looking back from the flight path of Flight 93 as it descended. One of the small details of the monument is that the concrete walls of the Memorial are impressed with the bark pattern of the hickory trees that we still standing near where the impact of the plane occurred.

LBJ Memorial Grove (NPS #317 -Two Lane Touring)

File the under the “really” category. That there exists a monument to Johnson and, just for one example, none for John Adams, is baffling. LBJ was a character, an adapt politician, a gruff and profane man who became president unexpectedly and did such a job he lasted one term, but there is in DC a memorial to him. Appropriately it is not in the main stream of DC nor is it an imposing edifice. There is a small marina and park along the George Washington Parkway near the Pentagon that honors Lady Bird Johnson - the marina and LBJ - small grove of trees with a stone. Not a statue and not even a plaque to tell you about the stone. The best thing about the grove is the view of DC from the lone picnic table. Doing all the parks brings serendipitous finds and, occasionally, some you wonder who thought this was a good idea.

That is the Old Post Office peeking out from the most well-known of DC’s monuments.

A Neat New Place

The city of Raleigh just opened the Wooten Meadow Park a short distance from my house. There are four small ponds, lots of greens and flowers, a large open grass space and a wooded area behind and between some housing. Still it has promise as a wildflower and birding spot. We shall watch.

Just missing a frog or an emergent prince.

Colonial WIlliamsburg Bee Hive

Behind the Street

A lot of people travel to Colonial Williamsburg, buy their ticket and tour the main streets and open buildings. If you have time, or make some if you don’t, go behind the buildings on any of the streets and wonder among the garden paths. You will find flower, herb and formal gardens, small spaces to sit, nice views, architectural gems and cool(ish) green spaces. Follow an alley or walkway off the street tp discover CW.