Just for interests sake, the Audio books I narrated 3 years ago have been downloaded as follows,
Penrod, By Booth Tarkington 6,152
Penrod and Sam By Booth Tarkington 3,759
Seventeen By Booth Tarkington 9,575
The Turmoil, (About ten chapters) By Booth Tarkington 3,104
The Clicking of Cuthbert By PG Wodehouse (2 Chapters) 64,435
Links to these are on the left column of the Blog....if one is interested They are free to download.
Tuesday 15 January 2013
And then we drove to Seattle
Sorry, it has been a week since I posted, or more. After we went to the Grand Canyon and the Meteorite crater, we drove down to Phoenix to go to church on Sunday. It was good to hear Pastor Iehl preach again. We took off a few minutes too early, as I found out later he was looking for me to go out to lunch. That is a pity, but he did disappear right after the service and I figured he had some important church business to attend to. When he introduced the visitors in the service he said I was one of the few people who could verify that he once had been thinner and had hair. The funny thing is I always thought he did have hair, so I went up to him during handshaking, and said he still had the same amount of hair, it was just....a different color now. As for the thinner part, it appears middle age spread falls on both the just and the unjust. He preached on the importance of being part of a local church. It was good to hear someone preach the truth of No Women Pastors and not apologise for it.
From Phoenix we drove to Las Vegas, stopping at Hoover Dam and walking out on the bypass bridge that was completed in 2010. It is approximately 900 feet over the Colorado River. Looking down gives you a tummy turn, but I have always loved high places with views.
If you look at the picture of the bridge above right, you can see a little sliver of the Colorado River...just in the lower right corner there is a black swatch. 900 feet down.
Hoover Dam is always impressive, when you consider the fact that it was built 80 years ago, with enough concrete to build a highway to New York from Los Angeles, with men hanging from ropes off the walls of Black Canyon with jack hammers smoothing out the canyon walls....Dangerous Much?
From there it was on to Las Vegas. We visited a couple of friends of my dad from when he worked at King County. He won some money at Blackjack and I lost a little on the slot machines. I am glad I don't gamble often, because it is kind of fun, and I can see how people could get addicted to it. Helen London and Lon Penton were his friends. Helen is a spry 88 years old who drives around in an enormous Chrysler Pacifica. We went to dinner at a Casino Buffet called Paseo Verde (Green Valley). Now the buffet was almost as impressive as Hoover Dam, if not quite as big. There was an Asian section, Mexican section, a salad bar, Carvery (roasts), a dessert bar that I didn't even approach, and an Italian Bar with more pizza than even Pizza Huts old lunch all you can eat deal had. I DID NOT leave the resaurant feeling like I would never eat again. I am kind of proud of myself, as I can be pretty rough on roast beef sometimes. I mean, I can eat a lot of it. Coz it's yummy. And theirs was prime rib I think. So I moderated.
We stayed for two nights in the Pyramid of the Luxor Hotel. It was the least expensive place we stayed. Of course all the Best Western Motels included a hot breakfast in the price of admission. Luxor didn't, but the Pyramid Cafe was very reasonably priced.
We ventured to another section of Vegas coz I wanted to look at some Pawnshops for some specific items. Once you get off the strip, it is no longer a pretty place. Just a dirty and fairly seedy desert town. In fact if it wasn't for gambling, I don't think it would even be there.
After Las Vegas, it was two twelve hour driving days to get back to my dad's place in Seattle. We stopped in Portland to visit my Iraq war veteran nephew Joel Gordon Moyer, of whom I am extremely proud, and who is now a student at Portland State University. That was pretty whirlwind, and we were back on the road to Seattle, where we arrived at about 8 pm. Molly was waiting for us, my sister Sara having dropped her off a couple hours earlier. (Molly is a ten year old Black Lab, who has grey hair around her muzzle now. She is the sweetest dog ever, after Jeeves, my Lab Border Collie cross who died in 2002) She barked at me. But I guess that is understandable when you only pop up once every four years. She has warmed up to me now and is now scratching at the door of the room I am in to get in.
I suppose that is enough for now. Hope all is well with all who read this. God Bless.
Jonathan
From Phoenix we drove to Las Vegas, stopping at Hoover Dam and walking out on the bypass bridge that was completed in 2010. It is approximately 900 feet over the Colorado River. Looking down gives you a tummy turn, but I have always loved high places with views.If you look at the picture of the bridge above right, you can see a little sliver of the Colorado River...just in the lower right corner there is a black swatch. 900 feet down.
Hoover Dam is always impressive, when you consider the fact that it was built 80 years ago, with enough concrete to build a highway to New York from Los Angeles, with men hanging from ropes off the walls of Black Canyon with jack hammers smoothing out the canyon walls....Dangerous Much?
From there it was on to Las Vegas. We visited a couple of friends of my dad from when he worked at King County. He won some money at Blackjack and I lost a little on the slot machines. I am glad I don't gamble often, because it is kind of fun, and I can see how people could get addicted to it. Helen London and Lon Penton were his friends. Helen is a spry 88 years old who drives around in an enormous Chrysler Pacifica. We went to dinner at a Casino Buffet called Paseo Verde (Green Valley). Now the buffet was almost as impressive as Hoover Dam, if not quite as big. There was an Asian section, Mexican section, a salad bar, Carvery (roasts), a dessert bar that I didn't even approach, and an Italian Bar with more pizza than even Pizza Huts old lunch all you can eat deal had. I DID NOT leave the resaurant feeling like I would never eat again. I am kind of proud of myself, as I can be pretty rough on roast beef sometimes. I mean, I can eat a lot of it. Coz it's yummy. And theirs was prime rib I think. So I moderated.
We stayed for two nights in the Pyramid of the Luxor Hotel. It was the least expensive place we stayed. Of course all the Best Western Motels included a hot breakfast in the price of admission. Luxor didn't, but the Pyramid Cafe was very reasonably priced.
We ventured to another section of Vegas coz I wanted to look at some Pawnshops for some specific items. Once you get off the strip, it is no longer a pretty place. Just a dirty and fairly seedy desert town. In fact if it wasn't for gambling, I don't think it would even be there.
After Las Vegas, it was two twelve hour driving days to get back to my dad's place in Seattle. We stopped in Portland to visit my Iraq war veteran nephew Joel Gordon Moyer, of whom I am extremely proud, and who is now a student at Portland State University. That was pretty whirlwind, and we were back on the road to Seattle, where we arrived at about 8 pm. Molly was waiting for us, my sister Sara having dropped her off a couple hours earlier. (Molly is a ten year old Black Lab, who has grey hair around her muzzle now. She is the sweetest dog ever, after Jeeves, my Lab Border Collie cross who died in 2002) She barked at me. But I guess that is understandable when you only pop up once every four years. She has warmed up to me now and is now scratching at the door of the room I am in to get in.
I suppose that is enough for now. Hope all is well with all who read this. God Bless.
Jonathan
Sunday 6 January 2013
The Grand Canyon
What does one say about the Canyon that is Grand? A camera is so inadequate to capture the awesome beauty that God has provided for humanity in the north of Arizona. We drove to the main visitor centre, and walked straight out to Mather point, which is everyone's traditional first look at the canyon. So what if I have been there three times before? It is still mind blowing and....breathtaking.
We then caught a shuttle bus that travels from viewpoint to viewpoint, allowing you to see things from different perspectives. At the Yavapai viewpoint, there is a geological museum. Completely disregarding the millions of years rubbish, I noticed that the names of the rock formations have been changed from when I was here in 1978. Back then they were named things like Angel's Landing, God's throne, etc. Now they are Isis' Temple, Buddha's temple, Cheop's pyramid. God has been banished from his own creation.
Oh well, it doesn't take away from the beauty. It is just disappointing.
So we went back to the car and drove 7 miles west to a place called Hermit's rest, where it turned out that God had not been completely banished. This plaque was mounted on a rock there.
Again, a camera was inadequate, but I took a few (dozen) photos anyway.
While wating for the shuttle bus, a resident of the park came by.
I never tire of astronomical viewing. This is the moon at about 11 AM over the canyon.
A lone Scrub Pine on an outcropping at Mather Point.
The Indian Watchtower.
From Hermit's Rest we drove back to the main centre, and then south to a place called Desert View, where there is a very old looking watchtower built. It was built by one of the native American tribes of the area, and affords views all the way back to the San Francisco Peaks north of Flagstaff, and well north and east towards Lee's Ferry, the start of the Grand Canyon and the Little Colorado Gorge. Of course you can see the Grand Canyon better.
From there we headed south to Flagstaff, where we had lunch at Arby's. I didn't frequent Arby's much as a kid. I think that might have been the fourth time in my life I have been to one. It was okay as fast food goes. Better than Maccas or Hungry Jack's (Burger King). I am looking forward to cooking something when I get back to Seattle with my dad.
East on I-40 from Flagstaff is the result of a collision of two of God's creations. One is the earth, and the other was a 150 tonne meteorite that left a 4000 foot diameter, 570 foot deep crater in the earth. Again, it was an awesome site, but the best photos to be had of that are for sale in the gift shop. I took some photos, but they were inadequate.
This was from the internet....credit to (http://maravilhas-naturais.webnode.pt/english/usa/meteor-crater-arizona/)
The photo below is from my camera. That is as much as I could get in one shot. I will try to stitch a few shots together when I get back to Perth.
From there it was back to Flagstaff and then
south to Phoenix, where I am now, ready to head for church at Maranatha Baptist Church, where Greg Iehl, the pastor of Faith Baptist Church in England where I attended from 86 to 90, is now pastoring. Haven't seen them since 1992, so really looking forward to that.
More tonight or tomorrow perhaps.
God Bless,
Jonathan
We then caught a shuttle bus that travels from viewpoint to viewpoint, allowing you to see things from different perspectives. At the Yavapai viewpoint, there is a geological museum. Completely disregarding the millions of years rubbish, I noticed that the names of the rock formations have been changed from when I was here in 1978. Back then they were named things like Angel's Landing, God's throne, etc. Now they are Isis' Temple, Buddha's temple, Cheop's pyramid. God has been banished from his own creation.
Oh well, it doesn't take away from the beauty. It is just disappointing.So we went back to the car and drove 7 miles west to a place called Hermit's rest, where it turned out that God had not been completely banished. This plaque was mounted on a rock there.
Again, a camera was inadequate, but I took a few (dozen) photos anyway.
While wating for the shuttle bus, a resident of the park came by.I never tire of astronomical viewing. This is the moon at about 11 AM over the canyon.
From Hermit's Rest we drove back to the main centre, and then south to a place called Desert View, where there is a very old looking watchtower built. It was built by one of the native American tribes of the area, and affords views all the way back to the San Francisco Peaks north of Flagstaff, and well north and east towards Lee's Ferry, the start of the Grand Canyon and the Little Colorado Gorge. Of course you can see the Grand Canyon better.
From there we headed south to Flagstaff, where we had lunch at Arby's. I didn't frequent Arby's much as a kid. I think that might have been the fourth time in my life I have been to one. It was okay as fast food goes. Better than Maccas or Hungry Jack's (Burger King). I am looking forward to cooking something when I get back to Seattle with my dad.
East on I-40 from Flagstaff is the result of a collision of two of God's creations. One is the earth, and the other was a 150 tonne meteorite that left a 4000 foot diameter, 570 foot deep crater in the earth. Again, it was an awesome site, but the best photos to be had of that are for sale in the gift shop. I took some photos, but they were inadequate.
The photo below is from my camera. That is as much as I could get in one shot. I will try to stitch a few shots together when I get back to Perth.
From there it was back to Flagstaff and then
south to Phoenix, where I am now, ready to head for church at Maranatha Baptist Church, where Greg Iehl, the pastor of Faith Baptist Church in England where I attended from 86 to 90, is now pastoring. Haven't seen them since 1992, so really looking forward to that.
More tonight or tomorrow perhaps.
God Bless,
Jonathan
Getting our kicks on Route 66
Friday Morning, the 5th of January, we awoke in Barstow to the tuneful whistling of freight trains as they headed east and west on the tracks opposite the motel we were in. I slept like a baby, awaking at 12, 2, and 4 am. I wasn't crying and wanting to be fed though so I guess it was okay. It was -11 C.
We headed east on I-40 to Ludlow, California, where we exited and joined old Route 66. we spent the majority of the day on the old highway. There are dozens of abandoned businesses along the mother road, overgrown with weeds and covered with rust, grafitti and boarded up doors and windows.
We crossed the border into Arizona at Needles, California, and headed up into the hills to an old mining town called Oatman. When the gold mines tapped out, the prospectors released their burros into the wild and they have survived. Now Oatman is a thriving tourist town based around the wild burros that have descended from the beasts of burden released by prospectors long forgotten. They come right down into town and you can feed them carrots or cubes of hay. It's pretty quaint and it keeps the locals in business. There were probably 150 to 200 visitors there, and the lady at the Popcorn stand where we got our feedbags says there are 13 burros that come into town, and hundreds live wild in the hills, foraging for their food.
From there we headed further into the hills, up a steep, winding grade with plenty of blind switchbacks and sheer drops to a pass that was literally a crack in the hillside and then down the other side with seemingly steeper hills and more switchbacks and sheer drops.
This section of route 66 was realigned in 1953, with a longer but MUCH safer route connecting Needles and Kingman, which is where we next found ourselves.
From Kingman we headed east on Rt 66 to Williams, Arizona, which is the gateway to the Grand Canyon. I tried to do a couple of geocaches, but it was getting dark, and I was only able to find Old Route 66, in the general store belonging to John. He was just closing up, but allowed me to sign the log and drop a couple of travel bugs that I picked up in Western Australia.
So we arrived in Williams at around 8 pm, and there was snow on the grass and in the forests, but the streets were bare and dry. and it was COLD.
We headed east on I-40 to Ludlow, California, where we exited and joined old Route 66. we spent the majority of the day on the old highway. There are dozens of abandoned businesses along the mother road, overgrown with weeds and covered with rust, grafitti and boarded up doors and windows.
We crossed the border into Arizona at Needles, California, and headed up into the hills to an old mining town called Oatman. When the gold mines tapped out, the prospectors released their burros into the wild and they have survived. Now Oatman is a thriving tourist town based around the wild burros that have descended from the beasts of burden released by prospectors long forgotten. They come right down into town and you can feed them carrots or cubes of hay. It's pretty quaint and it keeps the locals in business. There were probably 150 to 200 visitors there, and the lady at the Popcorn stand where we got our feedbags says there are 13 burros that come into town, and hundreds live wild in the hills, foraging for their food.
From there we headed further into the hills, up a steep, winding grade with plenty of blind switchbacks and sheer drops to a pass that was literally a crack in the hillside and then down the other side with seemingly steeper hills and more switchbacks and sheer drops.
This section of route 66 was realigned in 1953, with a longer but MUCH safer route connecting Needles and Kingman, which is where we next found ourselves.
From Kingman we headed east on Rt 66 to Williams, Arizona, which is the gateway to the Grand Canyon. I tried to do a couple of geocaches, but it was getting dark, and I was only able to find Old Route 66, in the general store belonging to John. He was just closing up, but allowed me to sign the log and drop a couple of travel bugs that I picked up in Western Australia.
So we arrived in Williams at around 8 pm, and there was snow on the grass and in the forests, but the streets were bare and dry. and it was COLD.
Friday 4 January 2013
Class of 1984 reunion...on a smallish scale
So tonight finds my dad and me in Barstow, California. We are staying in a motel on Route 66. Of course it isn't called that anymore, but it is the old Mother Road of Cars, Get your kicks, and Route 66 fame.
It has been a day of firsts for me. I ate my first ever In N Out burger today. It is streets ahead of anything McDonald's or Hungry Jack's puts out. And today is the first time I am aware of having driven on Route 66. (Whee!)
Tonight I had dinner with two old friends from High School, Craig Nystrom and Rick Efting. We had lots of laughs and reminiscing of good times and bad times at school. I haven't seen Rick since 1992 and Craig since 1984. It seemed like after a few minutes of warming up the conversation that we were just like old times, only with the 'wisdom' that comes from marriage, parenthood, and growing up to make us see things from a totally different Paradigm. We must have sat at the restaurant for three hours. We even had to sing happy birthday to Amber at a nearby table. Then we discovered that one of the other girls at the table had been Rick's student not too many years ago. Small world.
Short post tonight. Very tired and thinking I might get a good nights sleep tonight. More to come.
God Bless,
Jonathan
Left to right...Rick, Jonathan, Craig.
It has been a day of firsts for me. I ate my first ever In N Out burger today. It is streets ahead of anything McDonald's or Hungry Jack's puts out. And today is the first time I am aware of having driven on Route 66. (Whee!)
Tonight I had dinner with two old friends from High School, Craig Nystrom and Rick Efting. We had lots of laughs and reminiscing of good times and bad times at school. I haven't seen Rick since 1992 and Craig since 1984. It seemed like after a few minutes of warming up the conversation that we were just like old times, only with the 'wisdom' that comes from marriage, parenthood, and growing up to make us see things from a totally different Paradigm. We must have sat at the restaurant for three hours. We even had to sing happy birthday to Amber at a nearby table. Then we discovered that one of the other girls at the table had been Rick's student not too many years ago. Small world.
Short post tonight. Very tired and thinking I might get a good nights sleep tonight. More to come.
God Bless,
Jonathan
Thursday 3 January 2013
Arrived in San Francisco safely. Met my dad and my cousin Tom and his wife Pam and headed downtown to Pier 39 for lunch. Had Clam chowder in a bowl made from a big sourdough bread roll for lunch. To be honest, I think I could make better chowder at home, and the bread was not super fresh. It was nice to see Tom and Pam again.
If possible, Tom is a more obssesive Geocacher than I am. After lunch we wandered down the waterfront to find a cache there. Tom eventually located it, because he was just a little more tenacious at sticking his head into shrubbery in front of hundreds of people walking around than I was, but I did log my first find in the USA.
Then we said our goodbyes and headed back to the motel in South San Francisco. There it was on the side of the freeway. Missed the exit. Drove to the next exit, circulated through the airport again, back on US 101 north, missed the exit again. Took San Bruno exit. Headed west towards somewhere on I-380, took El Camino Real, turned the wrong way. Went around the block, back onto 101, and...................nearly missed the exit because even with his indicator on no one seemed to want to let my dad in. But we made it and checked in.
The flight from Dubai. We took off from this massive mecca of human indulgence and flew straight north. After crossing the Persian Gulf we made landfall at Bandar Abbass and flew straight North over Iran, Turkmenistan, the Aral Sea, Uzbekhistan, Kazakhstan and Russia. I fell asleep just about the time we hit the Aral Sea.
Iran. I wonder if there is a correlation between the physical geography of this place and the hearts of the people that live there? I honestly don't think I have seen a less inviting terrain anywhere - even the red centre of Australia has colour. Iran is just brown. I didn't see a single patch of green. Not one. I know desolation has beauty in its own right, but this was...well take a look at the photo above.
When I woke again it was dark as we were well into the Arctic circle. In my previous post I mentioned daylight all the way, well I forgot about the permanent night over the north pole during winter. By the time it got light again, we were well into Canada, and there was snow.
In fact the snow was unbroken until well into California. I saw the San Andreas fault, which is quite obvious from the air. And then like magic, the terrain was green again.
This is me on final approach to San Francisco. I thought this was a pretty cool photo.
God Bless,
Jonathan
If possible, Tom is a more obssesive Geocacher than I am. After lunch we wandered down the waterfront to find a cache there. Tom eventually located it, because he was just a little more tenacious at sticking his head into shrubbery in front of hundreds of people walking around than I was, but I did log my first find in the USA.
Then we said our goodbyes and headed back to the motel in South San Francisco. There it was on the side of the freeway. Missed the exit. Drove to the next exit, circulated through the airport again, back on US 101 north, missed the exit again. Took San Bruno exit. Headed west towards somewhere on I-380, took El Camino Real, turned the wrong way. Went around the block, back onto 101, and...................nearly missed the exit because even with his indicator on no one seemed to want to let my dad in. But we made it and checked in.
The flight from Dubai. We took off from this massive mecca of human indulgence and flew straight north. After crossing the Persian Gulf we made landfall at Bandar Abbass and flew straight North over Iran, Turkmenistan, the Aral Sea, Uzbekhistan, Kazakhstan and Russia. I fell asleep just about the time we hit the Aral Sea.
In fact the snow was unbroken until well into California. I saw the San Andreas fault, which is quite obvious from the air. And then like magic, the terrain was green again.
This is me on final approach to San Francisco. I thought this was a pretty cool photo.
God Bless,
Jonathan
Tuesday 20 November 2012
Road Tripping...
On January 1 I am flying to the USA to spend two weeks with my dad. I am looking forward to this greatly because it will involve several firsts for me.
First I am flying Emirates. So I have layovers in Dubai. On my way to the states it is short but coming back I have time to go visit the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building.
Secondly I am looking forward to eating at In 'n Out Burger for the first time ever.
Dad is meeting me in San Francisco and we are doing a road trip into Arizona. Ever since the movie "Cars" came along, I have had a fascination with all things Route 66. I have looked a thousands of Google images, read forums, and pored over maps of the Mother Road. We are going to drive the section of the route that remains in Arizona, and see some of the remnants of the old places along there.
We went to the Grand Canyon two times as a family when I was a kid. Both times were in late Summer and it was difficult to enjoy in the blazing heat. I have always wanted to visit there in Winter. So we are. It will be interesting to see the different ways the colours will be affected by the winter weather.
After that it is down to Phoenix, to visit some members of my mother's family, and to visit the church where Greg Iehl, my salvation pastor in England, is Pastoring. Really looking forward to that.
I really wanted to avoid Las Vegas. Of all the places I have ever been, it is the only place I can honestly say I hated. But that was 1992, and by all accounts they have cleaned thigs up. But my dad has an old work colleague tht lives there, so we will go visit them. I might hire a Harley Davidson for a day and do a desert ride, or we might take a Grand Canyon heicopter ride. After that it is back to Seattle for a week of visiting sisters, nieces, nephews and grand nieces and nephews, and a few old frends from school.
First I am flying Emirates. So I have layovers in Dubai. On my way to the states it is short but coming back I have time to go visit the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building.
Secondly I am looking forward to eating at In 'n Out Burger for the first time ever.
Dad is meeting me in San Francisco and we are doing a road trip into Arizona. Ever since the movie "Cars" came along, I have had a fascination with all things Route 66. I have looked a thousands of Google images, read forums, and pored over maps of the Mother Road. We are going to drive the section of the route that remains in Arizona, and see some of the remnants of the old places along there.
We went to the Grand Canyon two times as a family when I was a kid. Both times were in late Summer and it was difficult to enjoy in the blazing heat. I have always wanted to visit there in Winter. So we are. It will be interesting to see the different ways the colours will be affected by the winter weather.
After that it is down to Phoenix, to visit some members of my mother's family, and to visit the church where Greg Iehl, my salvation pastor in England, is Pastoring. Really looking forward to that.
I really wanted to avoid Las Vegas. Of all the places I have ever been, it is the only place I can honestly say I hated. But that was 1992, and by all accounts they have cleaned thigs up. But my dad has an old work colleague tht lives there, so we will go visit them. I might hire a Harley Davidson for a day and do a desert ride, or we might take a Grand Canyon heicopter ride. After that it is back to Seattle for a week of visiting sisters, nieces, nephews and grand nieces and nephews, and a few old frends from school.
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