Pride of Maui

Posted on February 18, 2017February 18, 2017 by Dusty Roads | 2 Comments

The Pride of Maui was my afternoon whale watch. I was surprised to find that I was really tired even before we headed out. This fun in the sun can really knock the wind out of your sails!

The morning whale watch had returned around 11 am so I had plenty of time to get a snack. I didn’t want to eat too much because this trip included lunch and a snorkel stop.

Maalaea Harbor

The way I felt as I waited for the Pride of Maui to return from their morning excursion I was seriously doubting I was going to go snorkeling. Still I had my bathing suit on so I figured I could make that decision when the time came.

The “Pride” was another catamaran but much larger than the one we were on for the morning trip. Reef safe sunscreen was being passed around. It was really thick and everyone was coated in white. It reminded me of the zinc oxide ointment the life guards used to put on their noses when I was a kid.

Finally the ship was in, the morning tour unloaded and we began to move up the gangway.

Although this was billed as a whale watch, and we certainly saw whales, it felt as if the emphasis was on the snorkeling part of the trip.

We stopped at a place along the shore that the crew referred to Coral Gardens. It wasn’t that far south of the lookout. I spotted the tunnel on Rt 30. We were given our gear and instructions. There was 1 hour set aside for the snorkel part of the trip. While everyone was in the water the crew fired up grills and began cooking hot dogs, hamburgers and grilled chicken. Quite a feast considering it was all done on the boat.

I did decide to go snorkeling. I thought the cold water might perk me up. I’m glad I did too. I saw a tiny little, yellow pipefish and while I was watching it a brown blob that I thought was a stone started to move. It was a tiny little octopus! It was really fun watching that little guy and I followed him for a good portion of my snorkel time. The parrot fish and yellow butterfly fish that we always saw around were everywhere but that octopus was the high point for me.

Back on board we were just casting off after the nice lunch when we were surrounded by a pod of spinner dolphins. What a great way to wrap up our day.

By the way, this was a 3 hour tour. Remember Gilligan’s Island? They went on a 3 hour tour too but we came back!

What a View from The Space Needle

Posted on July 16, 2013July 16, 2013 by Dusty Roads

Time to explore the Space Needle. I skipped the souvenir shop on the ground floor and followed the signs around and up a ramp where I purchased a ticket. It’s a 1 use ticket so once you go up don’t plan to come back down until you’re done. If you do you’ll have to buy another ticket at $21.00 per ticket that can get a little pricey.

The revolving SkyCity restaurant is 500 ft up the Space Needle and was only the 2nd revolving restaurant in the world. The restaurant makes a 360 degree revolution about once every hour. I didn’t eat there. I expect it is expensive and even with reservations people were waiting on the upper deck.

As I waited in line for the elevator I had the opportunity to get a souvenir photo. No one else was going to take my picture so why not?

The elevators hold 25 people at a time. Once we were loaded the attendant welcomed everyone to the Space Needle and told us to “look quick” because we had 43 seconds to see the sights before we reached the Observation Deck at 520 Ft.

The center part of the observation deck is enclosed and they have snack bars and drink bars located around the center core. Tables are placed around the circumference so you can look out over the city as you snack or sip your drinks.

Step down about 5 steps and go out a door and you are outside with only a railing and some glass panels to separate you from the drop to the ground. The outside track doesn’t move. You have to walk around it to see the different areas of the city. I didn’t realize it but the door I chose to use brought me right out to the view of Mount Rainier. Once again my mouth was hanging open.

Mount Rainier was so “there”, “in your face” , I don’t know how to describe it. After chasing the elusive Mount McKinley all of last week, to step out and see this awesome mountain right in front of me just took my breath away.

Mount McKinley is taller than Mount Rainier but Mount Rainier is closer so it looks larger and, forgive me for saying this, more impressive. (at least to me). I’m really glad I had a chance to see Mount Rainier so soon after Mount McKinley as my impressions were so fresh in my mind.

I may not be in Alaska but sunset in Washington State was pretty late too right around 9:30. I didn’t want to stick around that late this time and since I planned to come back to see Chihuly Gardens I decided to head back to the hotel. I needed to be back at the office at 8am and jet lag was definitely confusing my body clock.

The View from the 14th Floor

Posted on July 14, 2013July 14, 2013 by Dusty Roads

Nobody told me Seattle was so “hilly”. I mean the J. P. Beaumont books talked about hills in some places but from what I could see Seattle is all hills! Right from the bay on up. From my hotel to work it was only 5 blocks but 4 of them were uphill! If I lived here full time I’d never have a weight problem.

When I arrived at the office I was directed to the 14th floor where they had a continental breakfast spread out over a huge counter. Hmmm what did I say about weight? If breakfast was any indication of how they planned to feed us then I need to walk many more blocks uphill!

But the view! Oh My! I would never get anything done if I had that view to distract me. It was beautiful.

The morning was a series of get acquainted exercises then we took a break so they could set up lunch. It was as tremendous as breakfast. Never ending food. The folks who work in this office said it isn’t just because they had us there, they do this kind of thing all the time.

The afternoon was more speeches and introductions to the corporate culture. It’s a very young company. I think I was the oldest person in the room. There were one or two other “mature” people but I still had them beat by at least a decade. I know that there is a little thing called age discrimination but it’s really tough to prove so I feel very honored to have made it past that age barrier. With all the young blood you can imagine what the energy was like.

We wrapped up the first day at about 4 pm. I walked back to my hotel and retrieved my camera. I was going to get some sight-seeing in and the thing I most wanted to see was the Space Needle.

I walked about 4 blocks to Downtown Seattle where I picked up the Mono Rail. The Mono rail runs from Downtown Seattle to the Seattle Center and The Space Needle and back again and that’s it. No other stops.

Mystery Monday

Posted on April 22, 2013April 22, 2013 by Dusty Roads

Any guesses where this is? I thought I’d try something other than buildings. Here’s a hint…it’s still New England. Guesses, comments and observations welcome! 🙂

One or Maybe Two Final Comments on this Maine Visit

Posted on September 7, 2012September 7, 2012 by Dusty Roads

Rise and Shine it ‘s time to check out and get on the road home but I can’t help feeling like it wasn’t quite complete. I got a decent picture of Pemaquid Light but not the one “in my head”. One more try…

I checked out giving a call to the Hardy Boats as I pulled out of the parking lot. They said they were fogged in and to call them around 11:00 for an update. Since that gave me a couple of hours to kill I headed north to Maine Wildlife Park.

It’s not too big. I walked most of it in a little over an hour but you do get great views of native wild animals.

The park takes in orphaned or injured animals that would not survive if left in the wild.

There were raptors like eagles, a red fox, coyote, deer…some of the cutest fawns you’d ever hope to see, bears and turtles, bobcats and cougars.

I was following one of the game trails. A sign thanked the Kittery Trading Post for the use of the fake animals. I’d just seen one of them. At a pond was a Great Blue Heron. Now I’ve taken enough pictures of them that I knew something wasn’t quite right, still it was a good enough imitation that I had to look really closely. And yes, it wasn’t moving but live herons can stand still for hours when they are listening for fish and frogs.

Walking along the path I was thinking that the noise I was making would scare away any wildlife. The path was gravel and no matter how hard I tried I was “crunching” . Out of the corner of my eye I spotted what looked like a moose. I chalked it up to another fake put along the trail as decoration so I was not ready when I turned the corner and came face to antler with a cow and bull. The bull had a full rack of antlers, still in velvet.. The cow drifted away but that bull just stared me down. I grabbed for my camera.

I just had time to get off the one shot before a family with two young children came around the corner. The kids were having a great time whooping and hollering and that was when Mr. Moose had enough and slipped silently back into the woods. It’s amazing how such a large animal can be so quiet.

Leaving the Park I was thrilled with my visit but it was time to check in with Hardy Boats. They said they were going out but that they were going to delay until 12:30. That was good. I could take a leisurely ride over.

When I arrived I again parked up on the hill and walked down to the dock. The closer I came to the water the foggier it got. I bought my ticket and chatted with the attendant. She told me of a spot where I could drive that might let me get the picture I wanted if I couldn’t get it from he boat. Her father is part of the search and rescue team in New Harbor and he is out to Pemaquid almost daily rescuing people who fall on the rocks. That made me glad that I’d chosen to be conservative yesterday.

I settled down to wait. A family came down to fish from the dock so it was fun watching the action.

About noon the boat pulled in.

The fog was still really thick so it wasn’t too surprising when they canceled the cruise.

My ticket price refunded, I took a quick run over to the spot I’d just been told about. The fog was so thick I couldn’t see the lighthouse at all. Disappointed I headed back to the south. Amazing how just a few miles inland the fog was gone , the sun was shining and the sky was blue.

Lunch time found me passing a bunch of interesting looking shops known as Heritage Village. If I had more time I would have loved to explore them all but for now I’d settle for lunch at the Lighthouse Restaurant.

It just seemed fitting somehow. A fish sandwich was plenty. It was very tasty and I would eat there again. I must say I haven’t had a bad meal at all while in Maine. Lunch out of the way it was back on the road.

There was just one more thing I had to do before I left the Pine Tree State.

I had to meet Lenny the 1700 lb. chocolate Moose and his companions, the dark chocolate black bears.

Lenny resides at Len Libby Chocolates just south of Portland in Scarborough, ME. It’s definitely worth a stop. A full size chocolate moose is almost as rare as the real life kind! To the best of my knowledge Lenny is the only one of his kind.

But even if Lenny wasn’t there, the homemade candy is awesome. They also have ice cream. They have a candy that makes me think more of a caramel but they call it Len Libby Taffy. They were giving free samples when I was there. Soooo good.

So, my friends, that about wraps up my Portland trip. I didn’t get THE Pemaquid picture of my dreams and I didn’t have time to visit York’s Wild Kingdom but I would not have missed the Maine Wildlife Park for the world. It was a great visit. I saw a real Moose and got some great pictures of Nubble light decked out for Christmas in July. I have a feeling I’ll be going back to Maine again.