A More Hopefull Xmas?

 

Have a Noir Holidays

 

Moon Over Maui

 

From our recent Hawaii adventure...

Last Camping Trip of the Year

Beautiful Fall weather encouraged us explore the San Rafael before DST ends and the nights get even more colder.

First is the selfie with the magnificent monuments behind me.

 The following pics are of the area, with the cottonwoods in their autumn magnificence.  Not a hint of a cloud in the gorgeous blue sky for days...

The river level was quite low, so we were able to cross over and climb up on the ridges, giving us a perspective of the area.  The problem was getting down...  lots of steep drop-offs in the gullies.  And some interesting patterns found in the gullies.

Wandering around, I found an interesting man made structure, which I found protected a USGS marker.   Curious how they did this since getting there was quite difficult.

A little luxury was added to this trip.

A couple tips...  the breakfast burrito (all day) at Lamy's in Huntington.  Also the hot dog (grilled) at the Sinclair at the Price exit to Highway 10.  The cool local cops hang there too...  dig the vehicle...

Can't wait for Spring and another trip...  and another hot dog and burrito...

My Favorite Alfa

 Not a convertible, but the Zagato body work is fabulous!

National Day of Mourning

 Forget the Queen...  Fred Franzia, who developed Two Buck Chuck for Trader Joes, has died (on my birthday, no less).

https://qz.com/fred-franzia-two-buck-chuck-tricks-1849535917

https://www.npr.org/2022/09/15/1123070279/fred-franzia-two-buck-chuck-wine-bronco-dies

When asked how they can sell wine cheaper than a bottle of water, Fred Franzia famously retorted “They're overcharging for the water. Don’t you get it?"

https://www.terravenos.com/trellis/fred-franzia-charles-shaw-story

50's Architecture Is Still the Best

Merle's diner...  somewhere cool...

 

Another Family Reunion

 Just us and the kids up at Snowbird.  From the top of the tram:

Tully and Willis playing for Sunday brunch at Alta Lodge...

Bastille Day Family Reunion

Once again the Bastille Family gathered, on Bastille Day, this time to honor Nick Coppin Bastille who may not be with us much longer.  The family is much older (see picture) and, while significantly diminished as members pass away, the family also expands as new members are integrated into the Great Bastille Family Reunion.

Nick designated funds for food and drink for probably his last chance to "participate."  We are saddened by his imminent passing, but also wish him well on his next journey.

Getting the family together is still like herding cats, but here are most of them.  Others joined via Zoom.

And your illustrious host, for probably the last gathering at Rev. Willis Red Butt Gardens...

Foothills

 Just a nice pic from a foothill trail.  A great hike on a pleasant day.

The Great Euro Trip of 2022--Oddities

 There's all the usual tourist stuff to do in Europe, great cathedrals, wine tasting, ancient villages, and on and on.  But I always take time to wander around the side streets looking for the odd and unusual, and even a few WTF moments, whatever tweaks my weird perception of the world.  So here's a collection of photos of, well, I'll try to explain...

First up, wine...  a map of the Bordeaux wine region... 9000 wineries!!!

Then there was this winery...  the actual winery is on the right, but on the left is an unusual tasting room (the wineries can't advertise, so they create cool tasting rooms to attract visitors).  I guess there's a nice view from the top...

Some car shots...  one from Schiphol airport, a Citroen 2CV parked outside a cafe, a hot fast and furious (rice rocket?!?), and a future race driver practicing in the Zandvoort lounge.

An interesting sculpture in the center of Bordeaux...

Cool mud patterns (?!?)...

Strange poster in Blaye...

A cafe in Cadillac...

A cafe in Bordeaux (I can hear Fay Raye screaming!)...

And the European fascination with American cowboys and Indians and Hollywood at another cafe...

A couple political posters from the Basque region.  While the separaist movement has abated, there's still calls to return political prisoners to prisons closer to their families.

A mailbox (maybe) and a water spout...

A nice collection of beautiful wooden skateboards...

I love European window displays.  If the glass reflections weren't so bad, I'd have taken a million shots. Here are a couple that worked out reasonably well.  Cool dresses and flying babies (!)...

Gotta have a tiki bar...

Hey, it's gotta be French!

One of our hotel beds...  I was (not)!

Modern feminism...

Stairs behind a row of new shops...

A fine set of windows...

Fashion is big in Europe, at least for most people.  An exception (and is that Bernie Sanders trying to pick her up?)..

And a true WTF moment when I found this hair salon...

And finally, one of the most beautiful pieces I've ever seen, sort of a candy dish, but really a work of art...

That's it!  Now to save up for another trip.