The Great Whale Photo Search

Posted on February 2, 2017February 2, 2017 by Dusty Roads

I’m starting to get excited for my trip back to Maui. My timeshare called me. They tried to hook me up for a Luau and a special evening of wine and food put on by the executive chef. I said no to both. I’ve done enough Luau’s now that the thrill is gone. They are enjoyable but my mouth doesn’t hang open in wonder any more, not even for the fire dancers. As for a special culinary evening, I don’t drink and I’m not an adventurous eater. Probably the most exotic thing I like is escargot. Calamari? Not a fan, salmon? Nope. Even with dessert I prefer plain and simple. Flans and crème brulee? Not interested. I’ll take a dish of chocolate ice cream, a slice of apple pie or a strawberry shortcake. A foodie vacation would not interest me.

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What does interest me are animals. I’ve chased Elk all over from South Dakota

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(where I struck out) to Tennessee (where I finally caught up with them)

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So this trip to Maui is all about the whales and the posts on Facebook are really getting me in the right frame of mind. Just look at this photo taken by Anna Smith on a sunrise Whale Watch out of Lahaina. What an awesome shot!

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Then there is this one from the same place captured by naturalist Jackson Kowalski. Hats off to this photographer too.

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I want to capture my own version of this behavior. I’m ready. I can’t wait!

Slappy Cakes

Posted on November 23, 2016November 23, 2016 by Dusty Roads

One of the things I didn’t mention about our search for the resort was that what finally turned the tide was when one of the people I spoke with told me to turn at the corner where Slappy Cakes was located.

Now that might not have been such a significant suggestion except I’d just heard about Slappy Cakes from, of all people, my dentist! Yes, my dentist goes to Maui frequently. He said we HAD to go to Slappy Cakes but he wouldn’t tell me any more than that.

Of course that got me curious and with the miracle of the internet I quickly learned that Slappy Cakes was a breakfast venue specializing in pancakes. What makes it special is that you get to cook your pancakes yourself. Now this might not sound like fun but the way its done changes everything.

When I first told my sister about it she was less than enthusiastic (she didn’t think cooking her own breakfast was a fun way to spend the morning) but being the good sport she is, she gave in and agreed to give it a try. It wasn’t what she expected. In fact it turned into one of her favorite places for breakfast.

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Slappycakes is like the pancake version of a Japanese steak house. You have a heated grill in the middle of the table. You order the batter (we liked the buttermilk) and any add in’s. We were partial to the blueberries. Sandy thought they tasted like the wild blueberries we used to pick as kids.

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The waiter brings out the fixings and gives each person a spatula. slappy-cakes 3 minutes a side and you have yummy pancakes. Kids like it because they can get creative with the batter then eat their creations.

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The bacon was good too. Nice and crisp. We went back 2 more times before our visit was over.

3:30 am is sooo early!

Posted on July 11, 2016July 11, 2016 by Dusty Roads

Thursday morning it was time to rock and roll. Get out of bed, get moving. It was time to head to Marshfield MA where I would meet up with the Audubon Society for a tour of Maine’s Peatlands culminating in the PUFFINS of Machias Seal Island!

By 5 AM we were loaded into the Audubon van and headed to Ipswich River Sanctuary where we hooked up with another van. Altogether there were two leaders, Scott and Sue and 12 participants.

For the most part these are hard core Birders so I was about to be introduced to a whole new way of looking at birds. We were still on the road at lunchtime so when a Subway came up we pulled in and made the clerk’s day. The poor girl was faced with 14 hungry travelers and she was working all alone.

After lunch we all piled back into the vans and soon we were entering blueberry country. Our Birding stop was the Blueberry Barrens.

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The birders were looking for Upland Sandpiper, Vesper Sparrow, Savannah Sparrow to name just a few species.

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We traveled on another long dirt road. It made me think of the time Sandy and I got twisted around on an Indian Reservation. We called it the “Longest dirt road in the world”. This one was a close 2nd.

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The scenery was beautiful. The day had turned cool and damp and eventually it started to rain.

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We stopped to check out a marsh with a beaver dam. The birders used powerful spotting scopes and saw all kinds of birds.

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We finally arrived at our home away from home at about 5 pm. For the next 4 days we’d be staying at the Machias River Inn.

Dinner was at 6:30 at Helen’s Restaurant and then we wrapped up our day. We’d be up bright and early the next day. Breakfast was at 6 am!

Las Vegas by Time Share

Posted on March 19, 2016March 19, 2016 by Dusty Roads

When you own a time share they always want to give you updates. It’s a chance for them to try to sell you something more. A plain old update, no sale, is about 55 minutes and you get neat gifts for your time. Sometimes show tickets, sometimes amusement park tickets, it all depends on where you are and what attractions are in the area. I knew in advance that I would get a $100.00 Visa card to use toward a show so I agreed to “have breakfast on Diamond”.

Things didn’t go quite as I planned so suffice it to say I succumbed to an offer I couldn’t refuse. My 55 minutes was more like 5 hours but in the end I was happy and I have reached the level of membership that I was striving for. I will never have to do another purchase again! From now on it will be 55 minute updates.

We were given the VIP treatment from that point on and showered with candy and huge discounts on show tickets and dinners. We ate at Pampas one night. Our bill was $70.00 but we only had to pay $10.00! It’s nice to be a VIP (Gold level owner).

Heavy duty negotiations can really build up your appetite so as soon as we could break free we headed out for lunch. Since we were doing a lot of walking I had brought along a cane “just in case”. Sandy thought that sounded like a good idea as the walking was bothering her back so we headed for the CVS across the street.

One thing about Vegas …it gives new meaning to the phrase “can’t get there from here”. Most intersections won’t let you cross. You have to walk several blocks, cross a pedestrian bridge and then come back to where you wanted to be in the first place.

On the way to CVS we had to pass Bobby’s Burger Palace one of Bobby Flay’s Restaurants.

That was a good place to stop for lunch.

The burgers were excellent. I had a side of onion rings. All I can say is WOW and Bobby Flay is not one of my favorite Celebrity Chefs but now I know why he’s considered to be so good.

After lunch and cane shopping we walked the strip.

We visited the Hershey store, (Yum) chocolate.

And a chocolate Statue of Liberty.

We lingered in New York. Lady Liberty is reinforced Styrofoam.

Leo the MGM Lion on the other hand was hollow but real bronze. The statue weighs 50 tons, and at 45 feet (14 m) tall, on a 25-foot pedestal, is the largest bronze statue in the U.S.

The Comet Diner

Posted on February 27, 2016February 27, 2016 by Dusty Roads | 4 Comments

Last weekend was beautiful, almost T shirt weather. The sun was shining and what little snow was left was rapidly melting. Quite a change from the -10 weather of the previous weekend.

So with the sun in my eyes, my friend and her 2 children loaded up the car and headed out for an early spring adventure. It was a nice drive to the little town of Westford in northern Massachusetts. We got there at just about noon so before we went in search of our afternoon activity we decided we should have lunch.

We had just gotten off the highway and expected to see restaurants or fast food places where we could grab a quick bite. We saw one little strip mall with a Chinese restaurant and a Pizza Shop but then nothing. We drove through the little town center with its library and town hall but no restaurants. Finally we turned around and headed back.

Passing the highway we saw another little strip mall but unlike the first one there were a lot of cars in the lot. We slowed down and spotted Comets Diner.

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As we pulled in I saw saw several people heading into the diner. A good sign.

Inside was the wonderful 50’s decor with murals of sock hops and drive in speakers decorating the tables.

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We lucked out with the last booth, only tables or seats at the counter remained.

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Comfort food filled the menu. They even had deep fried chips, a homemade version of potato chips.

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The kids had a side of chili cheese fries that they seemed to love, at least there weren’t any left overs. Desserts consisted of ice cream or strawberry shortcake.

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It was a real traditional short cake too with one twist. There was a layer of vanilla ice cream. Nancy and I split one because they were huge but soooo good!

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