John & Anne Wiley

2011/04/23

Rainy Pitt Day

Filed under: Happiness,Has Photos,MeriTimes Adventure,People,Random — John @ 05:06

Friday was a lovely gray drizzle day, perfect for exploring Pittsburgh. We had a deluxe tour guided by local history buffs Louise and Suzie that started with a scenic drive to U.Pitt.

7274 U. Pitt

7274 U. Pitt

Since the Heinz chapel across the street was open, we went in for a look at the remarkable stained glass and neo-gothic architecture.

7276 Heinz

7276 Heinz

Back in U.P. we toured many of the national classrooms, each adopted by a nationality that had designed and furnished the interior in the theme of their country. My favorites were the Sweden room because it smelled faintly of reindeer, and the festive Hungarian room that made me feel like doing an ethnic dance. We were lucky to visit on a holiday, because only a few of the rooms had classes in session. The whole campus has the air of Hogwarts mingled with a gothic cathedral, as you can see from this small slice of the columnar common room.

7302 Church of Learning

7302 Church of Learning

Next was lunch at the Frick Museum, followed by a tour of the main house. No photos were allowed inside or I’d treat you to a snap of a massive servant enunciator panel that strongly evokes Upstairs Downstairs. We saw one in the kitchen and another in Mrs. Frick’s bathroom where she could track all comings and goings in the elegant mansion.

7306 Frick Mans

7306 Frick Mans

Then we drove across a bridge and up Mount Washington for this view of the skyline shrouded in mist and rain.

7336 Rainy Pittsburgh Skyline

7336 Rainy Pittsburgh Skyline

It was a grand day with great people, and the perfect way to begin some days without flying. We have no internet, and since I’m posting this from my Droid X phone it’s probably full of typos. Oh well. 🙂

2011/04/22

In Penn Inn

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,MeriTimes Adventure,Random — John @ 00:35

We’re tired.

We’re happy.

We’re enjoying the idea of a rainy day in Pittsburgh. Cool when we arrived at the airport, and the flight from Land ‘o Lincoln was fast with winds ahead of the storm pushing us along in clear air.

Approaching the city we were fascinated by the tall plume of a power plant, so as we passed nearly overhead I snapped this. For us it evokes the memory of the tall plume but for you it probably just looks like a puff of steam atop the stack.

7271 Old Energy

7271 Old Energy

It all looks so “last millennium” and leaves a gray pall hanging over entire states, so during the flight I got to dreaming about what our country will look like when we finally move on to clean energy.

Well, we’ll probably post more interesting stuff later, but haven’t looked at today’s harvest yet so maybe nothing else came out. 🙂

2011/04/21

Abe & Ob

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,MeriTimes Adventure,People,Random — John @ 04:27

We hoped to reach Dayton tonight, but ended up in Springfield, IL. We were talking over a delicious meal at Maldaner’s a couple of blocks from our modest room. On the tenth floor of the President Abraham Lincoln Hotel (very nice, but of course not at all expensive as it sounds or broke aviators would stay elsewhere), with this view from our room.

7225 Old & New

7225 Old & New

On the left, new Capitol building and old on the right. We walked past both after dinner, and imagined Abe & Ob(ama) at the old one in particular.

We had a magical first stop in Decatur, AR and maybe Anne will tell you about it. Then we flew over to Joplin, MO for a look so as to complete our glimpse of the Route 66 hotspots (I chose one of the old hotels in the aerially nondescript town as the place where the song was written). When we passed St. Louis it overwhelmed both of us with what an inviting city it is.

7193 Meet Me In St. Louis

7193 Meet Me In St. Louis

We talked several times during our flyby, about landing for the night to explore a bit. Storms are coming though, and we’d like to be in PA when they arrive to ground us for a few days. So tomorrow if weather and whimsy permit we’ll arrive in PA. Dayton still beckons too, so we’ll see.

2011/04/20

Mighty Pretty

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,MeriTimes Adventure,Nature,People,Random,SB Region — John @ 03:24

We got to singing songs as we bumped along leaving TX this afternoon. First as we crossed the state line into OK we were singing the one from the musical. Then nearing our home for the night we switched to Route 66 inspired by the line, “Oklahoma City looks mighty pretty…”

7073 OK City

7073 OK City

We really wanted to get a hotel in the city, but they’re all booked due to a game so we got a great deal near the Will Rogers airport. I wanted to land at Wiley Post so this blog could have a Wiley post with that name, but they were much more expensive for both parking and feeding Tripp. We spoke with several OKC natives who assured us this is the best place to live on earth, and factors cited were the night life and the low cost of living. They tempted us with descriptions of several enticing places downtown that got us even more excited about going. Then we got settled into the room, and decided to ask ATC if they’ll allow us a flight over the city when we leave tomorrow. 🙂

We’d been less tempted to go into town during our brief stop in Amarillo, which of course is also named in the song. Due to approaching weather I doubt we’ll stop in Joplin, MO or St. Louis but we’ve been in all the other towns named so maybe someday we’ll return to complete the set by at least visiting all their airports.

7048 Amarillo, TX

7048 Amarillo, TX

Almost forgot, I got this fun pic of Tripp “looking up at” a C-130 Hercules that was practicing approaches and landings while we were there. I’ve also put a cool jet pic taken at the airport on the Photo Page.

7051 Envy or Concern?

7051 Envy or Concern?

The day began of course in Albuquerque, with a slight detour to have our first closer aerial look at the Sandia Mountains.

7025 Sandia Mtns.

7025 Sandia Mtns.

Maybe I’m not Albuquerque enough, but to me the mountains around SB are more interesting up close. This range does greatly augment sunsets, shining in the afterglow over the city. There’s a tram ride people take to the top that I’m sure would be fabulous for people who don’t fly, but between Tripp and SB as you can see I’m quite a snob even though we’re only impoverished, pretend late-comer Santa Barbarians and low-budget aviators (we know several genuine SB natives with cars that cost several times what Tripp did and use several times more gas per mile). Am I sounding defensive? 🙂

2011/04/19

Old Town

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,MeriTimes Adventure,Nature,People,Random — John @ 17:03

We’re gearing up to head East, possibly to OK City. Meanwhile I wanted to take a minute to share some pix of the Acoma Pueblo, reputed to be the longest continually occupied settlement in North America. Enchanting place from above, below in the wash, or on the mesa top.

6980 Acoma Pueblo

6980 Acoma Pueblo

Readers of this blog will recall my rock fixation. I seem to have a deep and enduring fascination with the natural and sometimes augmented shapes of rock formations, and the area around Acoma is thick with them.

6956 Old Stones

6956 Old Stones

With people living here for millennia, imagine the stories these stones could tell. To my eye that looks like a meal grinding hole at the right edge, and we saw many of those. There are also several mini Monument Valley type spires, with this being the largest we saw.

6958 Ancient Spire

6958 Ancient Spire

I’ll probably put a pic or two on the Photo Page whenever we have some time, but I hope you enjoy these tiny impressions of the magical place we soared coming into Albuquerque. We’re rested up from a great visit with friends, and are now heading for the airport.

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