My secret weapon

Thursday, 24 August 2023

First Day in Denver

A long 24+ hours traveling to get to Denver, through Houston, but it is good to get here, even after the special treatment we received at Houston Airport due to the drug dog reacting to Dan. One hour of pat-downs and swabs of all of our luggage later, they decided to let us into the country!

My brother met us at Denver Airport and it is a relief to get into bed at 12am and get some sort of sleep.

This mural we encountered on a morning walk with Izzy, my brother's dog.

Day One Highlights:

After a walk around some historical areas of the Denver neighbourhood with Izzy the dog, we ventured out into the heat to visit Lucille's for some brunch. This is a Creole cafe line which opened in 1980 and I have been to all three of the Denver, Boulder and Longmont establishments, so it is a favourite haunt.

My brother has always taken me to Denver Botanical Gardens whenever I visit and it is always just lovely - one of our favourite places to unwind and enjoy the plants.

It was hot today (35 degrees C ) and we didn't linger too long out in the sun but enjoyed the coolness of the inside exhibitions.

Highlights of the gardens are always the Nymphaea (water lilies) but the bonus today was an exhibition of Ansel Adam’s work. We had escaped the midday heat into his exhibition at the gardens.

Ansel Adams 1902-1984

What a magic photographer! Yosemite and other mountainous or wild landscapes (some examples of his work at this link) captured beautifully in black and white. Google him! You'll be amazed by the crisp lines in the photographs of the American wilderness.

Truly remarkable, especially using the cameras of the day.

The day came to an end with some of my brother's infamous drink-making skills and food prepared by lovely Nita.

Monday, 21 August 2023

Climate Change Guilts

It seems every man and his dog are leaving NZ right now, heading for overseas holidays in the wake of Covid restrictions. New Zealand is a nation of air travelers mainly because of our distance from so many other nations.

So how does everyone reconcile their travels with climate change imperatives? The guilt I feel is obviously not enough to stop me flying off in search of family and warmer climes because here I go again. But I do feel guilty. A friend told me recently we really need to stop doing this because there will be no quality future for our grandchildren and I see her point.

It is difficult in this age when many of our family live overseas but even if I had no family overseas I would be still sorely tempted to travel to warmth mid-winter. At least I am not producing methane (well maybe minimally) and nitrous oxide during the flight, and carbon dioxide production can be mitigated by the plants I grow.

I'm putting my head in the sand. What do you all think?

Saturday, 19 August 2023

Timed entry to Mesa Verde

I've always thought that USA National Parks are much better looked after and serviced compared to NZ and I'm guessing it is because they charge to enter. The charges are small but help keep the services supported and are well worth paying if you are visiting. There will be people who disagree with this policy but I really think it would be worth doing here in NZ. Your thoughts are welcome! I think we should support the upkeep of our national parks beyond the paltry sums that the DOC are given to run these irreplaceable treasures.

Today I purchased a timed entry to Mesa Verde National Park which is available to book two weeks before we arrive. I will also need a Southern Utah National Parks Entrance ticket - but the $55 annual fee is well worth it in my opinion. What happens elsewhere in the world? I am not really a seasoned worldwide traveler and would be interested to know if this happens worldwide. I have visited a few USA parks and reserves now and they are so well supported, making the visits very enjoyable. Yosemite, Yellowstone, Teton, Mount Rushmore and so on - so well resourced!

Wednesday, 16 August 2023

One week to go!

The final week of countdown has begun. It is just 7 days until we leave Auckland, heading for Houston with the (meantime) end destination of Denver in our sights. We have about 2 weeks on the mainland of USA and will finish off with a celebratory week in Hawaii before heading home again. Far too short of course but needs must!

Firstly our planned trip in Colorado, USA, is easy to see in this map. We plan a stay in Denver followed by a round trip through Colorado and Utah, back to Denver. It is the first time that I have visited Utah. In previous trips we have traveled south to New Mexico and North to Wyoming and beyond, so Westward it is, this time!

The expected temperatures make my heart sing although my niece tells me that there have been thunderstorms in the evenings which is easy to understand as heat forces the water into the atmosphere. Next Wednesday's high of 35 degrees in Denver will have dropped by the time we arrive late evening but 20 will still be a welcome change from our frosty mornings and snowstorms passing through the central North Island here in New Zealand. When summer moves into fall, the temperatures may drop a little but as a lover of hot weather, I am not bothered as I anticipate the warmth. Maybe I will be in a week or two!

I have been using a Vacation Countdown app developed by Kulana Media to remind me of the days to go until we leave on an AirNZ flight to Houston. Last time I went to Houston was on a flight that I won from AirNZ (thank you again to them!) and we traveled on to Louisiana and New Orleans. It was a real treat!

I won the return flights for two by using Twitter to highlight Air New Zealand's two new destinations - Houston and Buenos Aires. Flights to Buenos Aires have not resumed since Covid but luckily, the Houston destination has resumed, and from Houston, Air New Zealand was able to provide the final part of our journey through their Star Alliance partnership with United Airlines. UA run a direct flight to Denver which will make the trip straightforward for us.

The first leg to Houston is scheduled to take 13 hours and 45 minutes, so I have put in a bid for a skycouch upgrade. My husband has also put in a bid using our airpoints. We haven't ever been upgraded before so it would be very exciting to be successful. I will let you know how we go!

Onwards and upwards!

Saturday, 9 July 2016

Day 2 June 12th

I knew this was going to be a big day. There was a long trip down the Pacific Coastal Highway planned and also Dan wanted to see the Aquarium at Monterey. I had often wanted to visit Monterey but for a different reason. Many years ago, while studying the logging industry, I found out that this is where New Zealand's first commercial pine trees had been imported from and because of the similar latitude to NZ, they had been very well adapted for life here in NZ. I also had read a bit of Steinbeck in my day and knew that Monterey was the home of Cannery Row.

So we quickly were on the road and past Carmel on the Sea where Arnold S. is from and out to Monterey. It was pretty brown in California and this due to the droughts they had been having.Monterey was a place like no other. Really retained the history of the area in the environment and it made me want to read Cannery Row (and the Grapes of Wrath etc) all over again. We walked past the Pacific Biological Laboratories bulding, which was a plain wooden block structure and I sneaked back down past the building where Doc was based, taking a few snaps. Dan walked down behind the buildings with me and I felt very emotional again, connecting with places (even in fiction) from my past. It was warm, I was on holiday and very relaxed suddenly.

But time did not stand still and we were off in the car down the Pacific Coast Highway. Heaps of photo opportunities along here and so many people just wanting to drive and tune out of city living. (Or thats what I imagined.)

It was late when we arrived for dinner at ......... and much later (after 12pm) when we checked into our Santa Barbara motel - home for the next three nights. I was tired but happy.

2016 USA Trip Saturday 11th June

We left Auckland just a little late on June 11th. 12 hours of sitting torture with swollen ankles at the end. But I did survive the flight with a little help from my sleeping tablet. Which made a nice change from my usual nervousness (fear of flying) keeping me awake. Thank you Mr Chemist in Taupo. San Francisco was warm. We were conscious of the fact that we were a little late and that Tom and Janet would have arrived fromWisconsin before us instead of the planned "just after" so we hurried to the rental car depot via the blue train (a bit of a mission getting up to it with luggage via the elevators.) San Fran Airport does need to work on this - people arriving with heavy suitcases need easy access to the train. There were long waiting lines at the lifts.

However, once onboard the train, everything went well and with my phone I was able to track down Tom and Janet.

It really was quite emotional to see them again. Well, I was feeling emotional anyway after mum's funeral the day before. So a bit of a cry and then all sorted and into the lovely big Kia.

Tom capably drove us down to Salinas where we checked into a hotel

Ours was room 410. After a quick freshen up, we went to a Thai restaurant for a meal before settling down for the night. Here are some of our meals. First rate Thai and then some nice icecream for free!