Mission Concepcion

Posted on November 8, 2015November 8, 2015 by Dusty Roads

I have been so slow with my posts. I apologize. Between my post vacation cold and catching up at work, life seems to be conspiring to keep me from sharing my vacation. The most recent set back was my photo editing program which claims I’m out of memory. Sounds like I’m going to have to clean out the hard drive.

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But I managed to limp along and get some pictures of the 2nd mission we visited in San Antonio. This one is also still a working church but it is not fully restored.

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The church itself looks essentially as it did in the 1700’s but most of the colorful geometric designs that once covered it’s walls and ceiling have long faded away.

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There is ongoing work now to try to restore these frescoes and bring them back to their original glory.

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Fly the Friendly Skies with Delta? NOT!

Posted on October 28, 2015October 28, 2015 by Dusty Roads

On Monday 10/19 I drove off to a little town in upstate New York to meet up with my sister and traveling companion. Bright and early on Tuesday morning we headed to the airport for our date with Delta airlines. I fly quite often and for a long time Delta was my airline of choice but that is starting to change. Delta is being edged out by Southwest and on this trip I had a chance to really compare the 2 airlines. We were flying Delta to San Antonio and Southwest on our return from New Orleans.

Our flight was a two parter with a layover and change of planes in Detroit. I say that only because I’ve had the misfortune to witness first hand extreme rudeness from Delta attendants. One time the flight attendant lost her temper with an elderly couple who just wanted to sit together. She screamed and yelled at them and threatened to have them “removed from the airplane”.

Another time the attendant was upset over something unknown and threw the hand set to the intercom across the cabin. Whew! I sat very quietly all through that flight!

But I digress. I don’t go into these flights expecting a bad experience. In fact it has always surprised me when there’s an outburst like that. So back to our situation.

I paid extra for us to have more legroom on the 1st half of the trip from Albany to Detroit and I had specifically selected aisle seating. As we were getting ready to board Sandy mentioned that our seats had been changed. She’d been moved from an aisle to a window and so had I. To make it even worse I was in row 1 so there is no seat in front of me for my carry on. My carry on had to go in the overhead bin or get checked.

Since I had a laptop and about $2400 worth of camera equipment in my carry on you can imagine I did not want to be separated from my luggage. It was at that point that I realized that our “friendly” attendant was not a morning person. Maybe she hadn’t had her coffee yet because she was not fooling around. Of course she wouldn’t help me try to make it fit in the overhead either. You’d think if you have a customer that will pay extra for a seat upgrade that you’d treat them a little nicer but noooo, she just stood at the front of the plane telling me to get a move on because I was holding everyone up. I finally gave in and let her check the bag. (Against my better judgement, I might add.)

I told her if there was any damage I would hold Delta responsible to which she said I was out of luck because she had given me a verbal warning about checking a fragile item.

The laptop did not make it unscathed but the damage was minor and can be worked around. Thankfully the camera and lens were fine. I suppose I shouldn’t feel too bad. The poor trainee flight attendant was being growled at the whole flight. She was just one of those “not nice” people.

The 2nd half of the trip was uneventful. My carry on went into the overhead with no problem but it seems every trip on Delta there’s at least one unhappy flight attendant.

It was good to arrive in San Antonio and leave the unfriendly skies behind.

How about an Amtrak Vacation

Posted on October 27, 2015October 27, 2015 by Dusty Roads

My fall vacation finally got here. After a crazy spring, summer and even fall at work I was more than ready for some R & R.

This vacation was something a little different. It was billed as an Amtrak Rail Vacation but I have to admit we did a lot of flying too. So before I break things down into specific adventures let me give you an overview.

The trip name is Riverwalk to the French Quarter (Don’t worry, we’re not walking)

As you may have guessed by the title, this is San Antonio to New Orleans.

Our trip began in San Antonio Texas where day one was basically our first travel day arriving around 5:30 in San Antonio via Delta Airlines.

Day 2 was a Grand Tour of the city starting with the Alamo. It was a full day.

Day 3 was also in San Antonio but it was a free day where we could explore at our leisure.

It Rained!

Included in the package for San Antonio was 1 dinner voucher. (Hard Rock Cafe)

Day 4 was the train trip arriving in New Orleans around 10 pm. (They sure like their pharmacies in New Orleans)

Day 5 was in New Orleans starting with a 1/2 day tour of the city. The afternoon was ours to explore on our own.

Day 6 was also a free day but dinner was at the Court of the Two Sisters with a voucher.

Day 7 was our travel day back to New York this time with Southwest Airlines.

We arrived in Albany, NY at about 5:30 pm. I spent the night at my sister’s and drove back to Massachusetts in the morning. I really wasn’t ready for the vacation to end but my fuzzy little fur-babies were glad I was home.

So now that you have the general idea of what this vacation entailed I’ll get down to specifics in the next posts coming up soon.

Chasing Puffins Again

Posted on September 27, 2015September 27, 2015 by Dusty Roads

Some of you may remember that back in 2012 I went on a “Quest” to photograph those clowns of the sea, Puffins.

I went to Maine, joined a boat tour and headed off to Machias Seal Island. It was cold, the sea was rough and just about everyone on board (except me) got sea sick, but I did see Puffins. That trip showed me how hard getting that “Nat Geo” picture was going to be.

Those birds are small and the ocean is large and you can only get so close to an island with waves crashing against a rocky coast.

Then I went to Alaska in 2013. That trip promised Puffins, eagles, bear, moose , caribou, otters, sea lions and on and on. Our timing was a bit off and although we saw some of these animals whales didn’t breach for us, the bears were in the distance, just waking from hibernation, and there were no Puffins or otters.

Since then, wrapped up in a new job (career?) I’ve been really busy and not thinking about much wildlife photography. In spite of having a new camera and an awesome new lens, I haven’t been out roaming the woods much.

So now another opportunity has presented itself and I jumped at it. The Mass Audubon Society is planning a trip called Puffins and Peatlands in July 2016. As soon as I heard I called and made my reservation. This trip we are to actually to set foot on the island and there are blinds set up to allow close up photography. Be still my heart!

I’m really excited, then they sent me the itinerary. Oh Oh. I’ve been less than athletic since my fall off the airplane two years ago which started the downward spiral of health problems. Although I’m feeling much better these days my knees still hurt,my left hip is arthritic and my back still hurts occasionally.

Their first consideration. You must be able to walk on beaches and through spruce forest where exposed roots and rocks can provide difficult footing for 1/2 to 1 mile in length. I used to be able to do that but can I still? Some days walking to my car is a challenge.

But the 2nd consideration is the one that really strikes fear in my heart. “The landing onto Machias Seal Island can be difficult. Participates must be able to get in and out of a smaller boat. We may need to walk over rocks that are wet and slippery.” OH MY WORD! I nearly fell into the fake canal in Las Vegas getting in and out of the gondola. Will I be able to pull this off?

I remember when I quit smoking. I wanted to lean to scuba dive but no one would accept a smoker in the class so I quit. Cold turkey. I wanted to do something and I did what was necessary.

But how do I get my creaky, aching joints in shape? I’ve got 9 months. October – July.

I need some advice quickly!

There’s Something about a Classic Diner

Posted on August 30, 2015August 30, 2015 by Dusty Roads

The last time I caught up with my cousin Kathy it was at Lester’s Diner in Fort Lauderdale, FL. At the time I thought, such a fun atmosphere, just like something out of the 50’s. I didn’t give it much more thought after that.

Of course Johnny Rockets seems to have a huge following but it isn’t really a diner. It’s a fast food restaurant found in malls where it pretends to be a diner.

So when I saw an article in the AAA South Eastern Massachusetts magazine about diners in Massachusetts I decided to check one of them out.

I picked Dave’s Diner in Middleboro because it isn’t that far from me and convenience in an eating place is important. Who wants to drive for 2 hours for a 30 minute lunch? I’d say only food critics or reviewers.

So anyway on a nice, sunny Sunday afternoon I headed out to locate Dave’s. My neighbor told me to be prepared to find it very busy and she was right but even with a full parking lot, I was seated right away. I was given a choice of indoor or outdoor seating.

Outdoor was tempting as the outside seating season in Mass is short but it was pretty hot and humid so I stayed inside in the air conditioning.

The menus were on the table. There was an impressive list of specials clipped to the front. My waitress came right over to take my drink order while I waded through the menu. One thing that impressed me is that they had a section of smaller meals for people with a “smaller appetite”. That was in addition to a kid’s menu. I like that!

I had my eye out for a open faced turkey sandwich. I haven’t found a good one in Massachusetts in all the years I’ve lived here. Every time I visit my sister I insist that we have at least one meal at a restaurant called the Peppermill. They have the best open faced Turkey sandwich so I get my “fix” there.

But diner food should include an open faced sandwich and sure enough Dave’s had Grandma Elsie’s Hot Turkey Sandwich.

It was huge, way more food than I need for lunch but it looked great. I dug in and it was pretty tasty. Using Texas Toast for the bread was a great touch. My only complaint was that it needed more gravy. I’m sure they would have brought more if I’d asked but it was pretty clear that I wasn’t going to be able to finish everything so why waste more food.

Bottom line, the Peppermill’s open faced sandwich is still better than Dave’s but there is no shame in placing 2nd. And Dave’s is much closer than South Glens Falls, NY! The meal is more than enough food for an average size appetite and probably plenty for the big appetite too. I would recommend it and will be going back.

If you are looking for the Diner it’s right on RT 28 in Middleboro. The official address for GPS is 390 W. Grove St, Middleboro, MA 02346