Saturday, December 31, 2016

Odds and ends from this trip

Five pics that didn't seem to fit in any of the other posts...

A gemstone store in Holbrook, AZ. The tacky dinosaurs are a perpetual favorite with yours truly.
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One of the bestestest street names in America.
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Phunnee headlight accessories somewhere in Arizona.
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Old County Inn, situated along Highway 87 in Pine, AZ. It served up one of the best meals I've ever had and the service was really good. There were something like 5 or 6 tables inside, plus a few chairs by the counter. Small, but cozy and not least yummy!
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Crazy clouds on the way to California.
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Quote of the Day

"...and this gray spirit yearning in desire
To follow knowledge like a sinking star,
Beyond the utmost bound of human thought."
- Alfred Tennyson, from "Ulysses"

Friday, December 30, 2016

The Salton Sea

Friday was largely spent driving around the Salton Sea, a saltwater lake in California. The scenery around that lake looks like something out of a post-apocalyptic nightmare and the few traces of human habitation does nothing to alter that impression.

If I had to choose one word to describe the sea and its surroundings, that word would be "bleak".
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"Lowest bar in the Western Hemisphere" refers to height below sea level, not to the ceiling...
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The inside was covered with money from all manner of countries.
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Ominous.
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Rain and sunlight along the route up into the mountains.
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It was quite purdy up there.
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Quote of the Day

I have a dream... that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
- Martin Luther King Jr.

Thursday, December 29, 2016

Quote of the Day

All tragedies are finished by death; all comedies are ended by a marriage.
- Lord Byron

Sedona

Wednesday and part of Thursday was spent in the much hyped community of Sedona. Now, I got some heat from Albie and Court for my lack of enthusiasm about the place, but let me stress that I thought the scenery was both nice and pretty. I just failed to see the incredible hype, since I could easily come up with literally a hundred places in the US that are much, much nicer.

We were staying at a place on top of a hill overlooking Sedona. Unbeknownst to me, this was a place that Albie had dreamt about staying at for years and I was declared a genius upon arrival. That status lasted about ten minutes, when I failed to become euphoric at this sight.
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Thursday morning, we went on a tour of the surroundings. It was quite interesting and the scenery was purdy.
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We saw several deer.
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This cabin was now uninhabited, but had once housed a family.
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More purdy scenery.
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The area offers wide vistas, as does so much of the western US.
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Some rocks outside Sedona.
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Naturally, I was skeptical of Sedona.
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Wednesday, December 28, 2016

Quote of the Day

A free press can of course be good or bad, but, most certainly, without freedom it will never be anything but bad. . . . Freedom is nothing else but a chance to be better, whereas enslavement is a certainty of the worse.
- Albert Camus

Tuesday, December 27, 2016

Touring the Canyon de Chelly

Today, we've gone down into the Canyon de Chelly (where I spent a happy day in 2015) with a Native injun American guide. Moi and mah San Diego crew, Albie and Court were all very happy with the whole Chinle experience, from our splendid hotel (The Thunderbird Lodge) to the guided tour. We were told many stories of the Navajo people, their history and the geology and culture of the Canyon and its people (appx. 40 families still eke out a living down there). As far as I could tell, no major organs were shaken loose during the very bumpy ride; I'm pretty sure a few "wheeeee"'s even escaped my lips.

Ancient pictograms.
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The somewhat famous "White House" of the canyon.
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From afar.
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We took appx. a gazillion pics of this beautiful wild horse. She's purdy, ain't she?
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There were several small groups of them moving around the canyon floor.
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Sheer cliff wall.
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More purdy chemtrails condensation trails.
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Tons of commercials have reportedly been shot around Spider Rock.
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The canyon branches off several times. I watched this particular valley wistfully back in 2015.
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Naturally, I was skeptical of Spider Rock.
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Quote of the Day

One should never put on one's best trousers to go out to battle for freedom and truth.
- Henrik Ibsen

Monday, December 26, 2016

The road to Canyon de Chelly

Mah latest trip to the US started off with three nights in LA & San Diego before driving to Phoenix yesterday. Today, I've traveled through the Petrified Forest National Park and the Painted Desert to the small Navajo Nation town of Chinle. We traveled through the Tonto and the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests, which at this particular day was all dressed in a purdy, wintry gown. Behold:

The arid landscape just northeast of Phoenix.
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Further up in elevation, it was all winter.
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The sun was out.
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I took several pics of this airplane and its marvelous chemtrail condensation trail.
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The painted desert offers vast views.
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The remains of a tree trunk makes a bridge.
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Naturally, I was skeptical of the Petrified Forest and the Painted Desert.
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Quote of the Day

We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies, and competitive values. For a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people.
- John F. Kennedy

Sunday, December 25, 2016

Quote of the Day

Ignorance is the soil in which belief in miracles grows.
- Robert G. Ingersoll

Saturday, December 24, 2016

Quote of the Day

Christmas is the season when people run out of money before they run out of friends.
- Larry Wilde

Friday, December 23, 2016

Quote of the Day

In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men the great difficulty lies in this: You must first enable the government to control the governed, and in the next place, oblige it to control itself.
- Alexander Hamilton

Thursday, December 22, 2016

Quote of the Day

Tip the world over on its side and everything loose will land in Los Angeles.
- Frank Lloyd Wright

Wednesday, December 21, 2016

Quote of the Day

I know not which lives more unnatural lives, obeying husbands, or commanding wives.
- Benjamin Franklin

Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Quote of the Day

The two most common elements in the universe are hydrogen and stupidity.
- Harlan Ellison

Monday, December 19, 2016

Quote of the Day

Democracy is government by the uneducated.
- G.K. Chesterton

Sunday, December 18, 2016

Quote of the Day

Every form of addiction is bad, no matter whether the narcotic be alcohol or morphine or idealism.
- Carl Jung

Saturday, December 17, 2016

Quote of the Day

A society that puts equality ahead of freedom will end up with neither equality nor freedom.
- Milton Friedman

Friday, December 16, 2016

Quote of the Day

In marriage, a man becomes slack and selfish, and undergoes a fatty degeneration of his moral being.
- Robert Louis Stevenson

Thursday, December 15, 2016

Quote of the Day

How do you tell a Communist? Well, it’s someone who reads Marx and Lenin. And how do you tell an anti-communist? It’s someone who understands Marx and Lenin.
- Ronald Reagan

Wednesday, December 14, 2016

Quote of the Day

I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure.
- Clarence Darrow

Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Quote of the Day

One day our descendants will think it incredible that we paid so much attention to things like the amount of melanin in our skin or the shape of our eyes or our gender instead of the unique identities of each of us as complex human beings.
- Franklin Thomas

Monday, December 12, 2016

Quote of the Day

I think that's how Chicago got started. A bunch of people in New York said, 'Gee, I'm enjoying the crime and the poverty, but it just isn't cold enough. Let's go west.
- Richard Jeni

Sunday, December 11, 2016

Quote of the Day

A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defense of custom. But tumult soon subsides. Time makes more converts than reason.
- Thomas Paine

Saturday, December 10, 2016

Quote of the Day

No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.
- John Donne

Friday, December 9, 2016

Quote of the Day

Vote early and vote often.
- Al Capone

Thursday, December 8, 2016

Quote of the Day

A wise man hears one word and understands two.
- Yiddish Proverb

Wednesday, December 7, 2016

Quote of the Day

Our language has wisely sensed the two sides of being alone. It has created the word loneliness to express the pain of being alone. And it has created the word solitude to express the glory of being alone.
- Paul Johannes Tillich

Tuesday, December 6, 2016

Quote of the Day

To be 70 years young is sometimes far more cheerful and hopeful than to be 40 years old.
- Oliver Wendell Holmes

Monday, December 5, 2016

Quote of the Day

Inveniam viam aut faciam
[I will either find a way or make one]
- Hannibal

Sunday, December 4, 2016

Quote of the Day

How happy is he born and taught,
That serveth not another's will;
Whose armour is his honest thought,
And simple truth his utmost skill!
- Henry Wotton

Saturday, December 3, 2016

Quote of the Day

If you want a high performance woman, I can go from zero to bitch in less than 2.1 seconds.
- Krystal Ann Kraus

Friday, December 2, 2016

Final post from Scotland: Huntingtower Castle

My last touristy destination was Huntingtower Castle. The castle was previously named Ruthven, after the Clan of the same name which held it until the year 1600, when the Earl and his brother were implicated in a plot against James VI and executed. For good measure, the name was banned in Scotland and their descendants banned from ever holding office or title again. Although the castle is much smaller than it once was, it is a handsome structure and when you walk about inside, you can see some glimpses of old grandeur.

From the back.
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Lovely decorations on the ceiling.
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The top floor was the Lord's private chambers. It had a cozy looking fireplace.
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It also had this. Not a crapper, but a secret compartment for valuables and possibly documents.
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This, on the other hand, is a crapper.
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The little holes in the walls is where they put the wooden beams that carried the weight of the floors.
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Nice views from the roof.
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Next day, at the airport in Dyce. Naturally, I was skeptical of leaving Scotland.
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Quote of the Day

The surest way to corrupt a youth is to teach him to hold in higher regard those who think alike than those who think differently.
- Friedrich Nietzsche

Thursday, December 1, 2016

Road B934

After Castle Campbell I took the slow road north, towards Aberdeen. For part of the journey I was on road B934, which meanders lazily through a couple of small towns and hamlets, up and down hills and through some nice woodlands. A very quiet and pleasant drive and at one point I was presented with quite a good view of the area. So I took some pics:

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Quote of the Day

Gedenke zu leben
[Remember to live]
- Goethe

Return to Castle Campbell

Since I was in the area, I just HAD to go and see Castle Campbell again. It was early October, so the roses and their lovely fragrance had all withered away, but the ruins and the views were as marvelous as ever. As always, feast yer eyes!

The outer wall of the once great hall.
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Some bits are in ruins, some bits are still quite nice.
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The keep, which is probably the oldest part of the castle, is still standing. I didn't climb it this time.
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The view from the upper level of the gardens is one of the best in all of Scotland.
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The cozy little stream on the east side of the castle. A family with two young daughters were playing merrily in the cold water as I walked by.
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The big tree outside the castle entrance is one of the nicest I've yet had the great fortune of seeing. Ye Gods, I love trees.
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Is that a face in the wood?
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