John & Anne Wiley

2013/06/17

Saint Augustine (2)

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Islander Adventure,Nature,People,Random — John @ 03:27

Revisiting my pix from our first Saint Augustine stop on our Islander Adventure, I’m reminded of the charming walk we had in the back streets of the tourist district.

0048 Back Streets

0048 Back Streets

Then we met up with our charming hosts for an evening of laughter and fascinating conversation.

0056 Fun Friends

0056 Fun Friends

The next day we saw the same back streets again, in the context of this little gem of a town.

0698 St. Augustine

0698 St. Augustine

Soon we were following yet another long barrier island, similar to those on the Gulf Coast yet uniquely Floridian.

0717 Nearing Daytona

0717 Nearing Daytona

Daytona Beach showed off its colorful seaside attractions and wall of tall hotels.

0730 Daytona Beach

0730 Daytona Beach

Before long we angled out away from the shoreline and began our long climb to gain altitude for the crossing to the Bahamas! It was so exciting for us to cruise the Freeport shoreline as we descended to that airport marking the third country we’ve explored in Tripp.

0806 Unknown Home

0806 Unknown Home

Unknown to us then was the fact that most of our week on the island would be based at the big curved hotel near the beach. Also a night in the hotel behind it on this side of the marina. Such great memories from that stay! Maybe I’ll find more pix to share in another post, before bringing you along on my review of the next leg of this Big Adventure.

2013/06/13

Blown

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Islander Adventure,Nature,People,Random — John @ 22:48

Flying out of New Orleans, one of the first things we noticed was the aftermath of hurricanes in general and Katrina in particular. Lots of missing homes.

0600 Missing Neighbors

0600 Missing Neighbors

Many of the driveways lead to empty foundations, some to new homes, and a few still to apparently damaged and abandoned buildings. The same sort of destruction was scattered all along the Gulf, including this large waterfront hotel complex near Biloxi.

0619 Checked Out

0619 Checked Out

The barrier islands show every sign of changing at the whim of wind and wave. In this pic you might also make out the tiny wake and canopy of a kite surfer near the lower middle.

0653 Wind, Wave, Sand

0653 Wind, Wave, Sand

We were blown too, while idling along at 115mph and clocking up to 190mph (getting 25mpg fuel economy) with our tailwind. That put us at about the same speed over the ground as this jet going the other direction into an airport to land.

0662 Slow Jet

0662 Slow Jet

Getting to St. Augustine ahead of schedule, we had time to wander the back streets and discover the slowed contrast of this relaxing little restaurant.

0677 St. A. Dining

0677 St. A. Dining

Even the main tourist walking strip is a quiet and calm contrast with New Orleans where we’d been in the morning.

0695 St. Augustine Walk

0695 St. Augustine Walk

2013/06/09

Yes N.O! (2)

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Islander Adventure,People,Random — John @ 20:32

Well, I enjoyed many smiles in the memories triggered just now going thru our pix from New Orleans again. I’m a little surprised at only choosing eight more pix to share from the 600 or so snapped during our five days there! Of course, if you’re like me and just can’t get enough of this delightful town you can always take another look at the earlier posts from there. Meanwhile, here’s another overview taken as we flew in.

0239 N.O. Arrival

0239 N.O. Arrival

Tho you can’t really make out details, one of our hotels was at the right edge on this side of the river. Frenchman’s district is on the left side of the river’s curve past downtown’s tall buildings. Bourbon St. is a few blocks to the left of that running from the tall buildings into the distance. Another pic of the waterfront shows some of the cool parks we explored there.

0256 Waterfront

0256 Waterfront

Some of the zoom shots I got as we approached showed places we saw later on the ground, like Lafayette Square.

0260 Lafayette Square

0260 Lafayette Square

Three days later I snapped this view of the sky we’d been in, from that street.

0006 From Lafayette Up

0006 From Lafayette Up

An especially enchanting day was the one I wrote up in the “Mystique” post, when we discovered the refined night music scene in the Frenchman’s district. Here are two more snaps of that evening.

1116 Down Bourbon

1116 Down Bourbon

After looking down Bourbon Street from Canal St., the trolley took us to the Frenchman’s scene.

1121 Frenchman's

1121 Frenchman’s

Still plenty of stimulation, but not the ever-entertaining deafening crazy drunk screaming zombie crush on the open air asylum of Bourbon St. The music here spans the New Orleans spectrum including the thumping beat everywhere on Bourbon Street, but expanding to embrace everything else. Even in daytime downtown you’ll find fascinating street scenes.

0018 Street Art

0018 Street Art

When I look at this, art is both inside and outside the frame. Looking back as we left the Lakefront airport the next day, New Orleans felt even more like an intriguing friend.

0595 Farewell Friend

0595 Farewell Friend

2013/06/08

Maps (Isl. Adventure)

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Islander Adventure,Random — John @ 07:00

Last night we downloaded the GPS tracks from the antique (5 year old) portable aviation unit we had on the Islander Adventure. Unlike in prior Adventures, this time I always remembered to turn it on before takeoff and to occasionally start new tracks so it didn’t fill up and stop recording. Here’s what the whole trip looks like.

Islander Adventure Track

Islander Adventure Track

If you click to see the largest version, there are some interesting details. For example the short detours in PA when we flew over my ancestral town, and over Punxsutawney. The biggest detour was from the GA coast to TN and then back to the SC coast for our fun visit with Nashville relatives. Another detour was when we flew back to NY from Quebec via Maine to avoid weather. In case you’re wondering about the different colors, they’re not related to anything in particular – just the days when I started a new track.

Big Bend Track

Big Bend Track

As you can see from the Big Bend track, after landing (several circles) we flew pretty much direct to the border (Rio Grande River) and mostly followed that on the way to San Antonio. That beautiful shot of the light on the river looking into Mexico is where we first joined the river as it cuts through the ridge (dark diagonal line). Even looking at this terrain map, the memories of magnificent views come flooding back!

Bahamas / Keys Track

Bahamas / Keys Track

Our flight over Abaco and back to Freeport in the Bahamas similarly represents a flood of views with a simple line on a map. As does the part of this track that shows us going down to Key West and back. So glad we finally did that real islander part of the Islander Adventure we’ve wanted so long to do! Of course, looking at each of these tracks also brings back memories of all we did on the ground (and in the water) along the way.

Grand Canyon Track

Grand Canyon Track

As you’ll see if you look at a map of the Grand Canyon, we didn’t really fly over it. As I described in that post (and illustrated with more pix in the post after), we instead flew over the Little Colorado Gorge and then near the Canyon’s South Rim on our way West toward Home.

Another thing that’s happening as I look at these tracks, is a niggle that’s growing into an urge. I’d love to go again some day! Hopefully at least to some of the nearer places like the Grand Canyon. So many delightful places to fly, so little money. 🙂

2013/06/06

To N.O. (2)

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Islander Adventure,Nature,People,Random — John @ 21:18

Flying to every U.S. state and Canadian province we’ve seen so many beautiful vistas and met so many wonderful people. But it’s been surprising to me not just how different our experiences are in each place, but how there’s a distinct “feel” to each region. After departing Galveston we flew along the barrier islands toward New Orleans, and it gave us a richer feeling for the lifestyle that the phenomenon named New Orleans emerges from.

0139 Life Line

0139 Life Line

The life along the seemingly endless line of sand between the open Gulf and miles of wetlands is a relaxed yet precarious one.

0176 Water Line

0176 Water Line

From the air it’s clear how close these homes are, not just to water’s edge, but to the high water line. A little storm surge, climate change, or even heavy rain can make a home into a small island. Yet the attraction is so strong that even after disaster strikes they rebuild. Often trying new methods of withstanding the water.

0178 New Design

0178 New Design

Many of the newer homes are based on a steel frame that might survive most storms, and able to tolerate a rush of water that will sweep away everything on the ground floor. A man once told me the quality he most aspires to achieve. “I want to be permeable, so that life can flow around and through me.” This sort of ease and flexibility seems to me a key element in the lifestyle of the Gulf Coast region. It was infusing our hearts as we approached the Big Easy.

0234 To New Orleans

0234 To New Orleans

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