UMTravels

In an incredibly busy work week for my consulting business, but the trip to the Tri-Cities had been planned for months.

Brought two laptops so I could keep up with the work.

We picked a smoky week to travel with the top down…

We stopped in Cle Elem for gas and a BQ Pulled Pork:

Needed more BBQ sauce, but not bad for a chain. Even stopped in at a sausage company – which if we have time, we’ll stop at on the way home. No way to keep sausage from rotting in a black car in the heat of Eastern Washington.

Sadly, the Telephone Museum across the street wasn’t open either. Off through the smoke, to Kennewick we go!

Saw this sign at a rest stop….

Guess they are trying to stop “Trucker Bombs”. But the ragtop looks good…even in the smoke.

Made it to Kennewick and got checked into the Days Inn.

Rache went out for beer, he came back with a cocktail glass for me (I’d bitched about the paper cups in the room)!

And I got the “workstation” set up…

Since I write reviews for Trip Advisor, decided to use them to find us a spot – Barley’s BrewHub:

I had the special – which was a DAMNED FINE Rueben:

Rache had a burger and rings (rings GOOD):

Not a full bar, so I’m ordering off the cider menu:

I tried the Huckleberry and the Cider Green Apple. OK – but not a Manhattan.

Rache sensibly went out for breakfast – I went for the in-house cold biscuits and gravy, and got another hour of work in before we need to check out and head out to the real reason for this road trip:

Yep, that’s the visitor center for one of the three branches of the Manhattan Project National Park, the others are in Los Alamos, NM, and Oak Ridge, TN.

We board a HUGE bus for the six people on the tour – the early tour (8:30am) was worthy of the big bus. Ours had a lot of “smoke related” cancellations. The tour starts with a 12-minute film, which I saw most of after having to step out for a client call. I turned in the project — think 7ft tall by 10ft tradeshow backdrop and more artwork for the case that turns into a podium. This is the bottom 1/3 of the backdrop…

But back to the tour – it’s 30-45 minutes on the bus to the Hanford Nuclear Reactor B site. We get more information on the bus:

Some (including me) would say that I’ve never met a geeky tour I didn’t want to take. Guilty.

If it wasn’t so smoky, you could see more of the complex. In the distance, you can see Reactor D (twice the size of B), which has been cocooned (in concrete):

And other various sites:

But back to Reactor B (there is no A, no C, no E) and the tour:

The face of the reactor…

And a early robot used to pull fuel rods:

The control panel for the reactor:

The picture below shows the inspection plates removed. The Russians come once a year to inspect this reactor as part of the Nuclear Proliferation Treaty.

You can’t run a reactor without lots of water…but really, the it probably just a boondoggle by the inspectors to get a trip to The States. And below, the backup water supply to shut the reactor safely without power:

And more pictures!

And the intercom system. Uncle Markie wants!

And a final look at the core of 1500+ rods:

Outside is the one of the trains used to move nuclear materials (including waste) around the site. When they were constructing this place, there were 45,000 workers on site. WOW.

Another 45 minutes back to the visitor’s center, which is in a complex where there are three breweries, a winery, and a distillery. Guess which one we did first! Solar Spirits:

After the tasting (four tiny pours out of the six they make), I took two of the cups out to the trunk and poured some of my hooch – which got a favorable nod from the mater distiller, who then gave us a private tour.

And because Rache is a craft beer fan, we stopped at Shrub Steppes Smokehouse Brewery. Rache enjoyed the beer, we both found the BBQ a little on the dry side – we both had the meat platter.

After our early dinner, it was back in the car for the three hour twenty five minute return trip, using the 4-lane route which is mileage-wise longer, and probably 30 minutes quicker.

Home by 9PM!

[223.2]

Yep, that means its Fall Mileage Run time!

Out on the red-eye to Dallas, back on the morning flight.

But things are never simple – I had a client email this morning for a job. It wasn’t until we were on the conference call that the original job was moved to a slightly less hot burner, because they needed a trade show designed and to the printer THIS WEEK. And it’s Tuesday afternoon.

Got the Podium designed and sent off for proof of concept for their booth before I headed to the airport for red-eye flight to Dallas.

Lounge Number One: Alaska Lounge between C & D Concourses at Sea-Tac:

Lounge Number Two: The newest Alaska Lounge at the end of C Concourse:

Lounge Number Three: The interim Alaska Lounge at the North Concourse:

From the lounges I grabbed some of the individual chocolates they have out in candy bowls – these are for the flight attendants on my flights. When I board, it’s my little gift to them – and usually results in extra drinks (it did this time) and a free DigiPlayer Entertainment System. It did. Didn’t even get bumped up to Premium (let alone First Class), so it was a nice perk.

Completely packed flight – at least I was in the Exit Row that reclines – and the cute guy next to me slept the whole flight – me, I might have gotten a half-hour nap.

Lounge Number Four: The Admirals Club at Dallas/Ft. Worth:

Sadly, I thought I had to rush back to the gate for my return flight. Grabbed half a bagel (since I’m upgraded to first on the way home) and some newspapers, got back on the inter-terminal train, only to find this:

When asked, it was “we are waiting for crew.” Meaning that I needed to stick around the boarding gate since they could show up at any time. Odd, there were NO TEXT MESSAGES to my phone about the delay. Alaska is usually on top of that.

At least there are interesting shops in this terminal.

And what a GREAT idea – putting an actual convenience store in an airport!

After we finally boarded, I learned the truth of our delay – Crew Time-Out. They had arrived two hours late the night before and they couldn’t legally report for duty until the new departure time, meaning I could have stayed in the lounge for another hour and a half rather than my initial 15 minute visit. Yes, I’m annoyed by the ground staff at DFW which reminded me of American Airlines front-facing staff (lame). Yes, I will be writing them a little note.

With my tight schedule this week of work and play, those two hours would have been nice to have back.

But, like I said earlier, at least I’m sitting up front on the way home – and I have flown with this particular flight attendant before – total “old-school”. Cranberry & Vodka means one of the minis in the drink with the cranberry, and two on the side with an extra small glass of cran.

Got home at 11am rather than 9am – and went straight to bed for two hours, worked an hour went to my dentist in Redmond for an hour of nitrous (and teeth cleaning), then it was back to work until 2am working on the initial draft of the Trade Show Backdrop. OY!

It’s going to be a LOOOOOOONG week.

[224.4]

Many of you know my aversion to hospitals – and my one week in town has me visiting TWO friends in the hospital and or in-patient rehab for long periods of time.

My long-time friend and travel-buddy Bliss fell off a 22-foot ladder, found by his neighbor at his Hood Canal cabin, MedEvac’d from the beach by float plane (no place to land a helicopter). Coma for a week and a half. He won’t even be able to put any weight on his left leg until the 9^th of October. Cracked pelvis, 3 broken ribs, screwed up left wrist. It’s going to be awhile before he is back at home, longer to get back to teaching. Lots of Physical and Occupational Therapy. Oddly enough, he’s in a Kosher care center, his room has a beautiful view of Lake Washington, and he’s 15 minutes door-to-door from my house (closer than his apartment!).

One visit — it was Physical Therapy time (which is a couple of times a day).

When I was there last – he was finally in own clothes.

As for Dwight, another long-term friend and occasional travel-buddy, after a week plus, he is still in the hospital with a quarter of his bowels missing (which, by the way is VERY serious). Downside for me visiting (which I did last Friday) is that he’s in Olympia, an hour away.

Lots of tubes and hoses – at least today, he got the nose tube out.

What is sobering is that these guys are 4- and 8-years my junior. Oy!

Please keep them in your thoughts.

[221.4] Not really happy with that.

Apparently, I can’t really stay at home, but we all new that.    

Booked a couple of nights at the WorldMark Birch Bay, next to the WorldMark Blaine (which I like better, it’s smaller).

Packed up the ragtop, headed out for lunch with my buddy Seth, who works at the Nuclear Reactor Machine Shop at UW (technically, it the Center for Experimental Nuclear Physics and Astrophysics (CENPA)). Went out for a nice lunch at a local chain of three restaurants, Ba Bar.

Seth’s combo Pho bowl thingee….

And my duck breast, which the ever-skinny Seth helped me finish…

After lunch, I actually found one of the four free spots near UW Surplus, which is only open on Tuesdays from 12-5. I once bought a station wagon there!

Didn’t find anything that made me want to stand in line to pay – and headed off north to the condo.

Not a bad unit, one-bedroom, handicapped.

Guess I’ll have for find some company for the shower!

And I have to say, that I spent a lot of time in this position….

The views were scenic…

And made some nice meals…

Had some fun with an old friend (seven years now). Packed up, came home.

Just a couple of nights across the street from the water.

[223.1]

Today is a driving tour day…have to be out of the condo at noon, plane leaves at 10pm. Went back to the meadery, and finally there was no crowd. Sampled five that they had on offer…none of them tasty enough to bring back to Onyx, who makes mead in Berkeley.

Headed up the North Coast.

And some great reuse of TEU’s (Twenty Foot Equivalent Units) for stores in a village of little houses:

Kept driving, further and further north, over a dozen one lane bridges, and fording a creek, before I gave up and turned around, and headed back to Hanalie for lunch at Bouchans. Just wanted a little something to tide me over (well, and a cocktail). Cheese burger is was (not the Kobe Gourmet):

And some views on the way back to Kapaa…

Where I explored some falls outside Kapaa (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%27Opaeka%27a_Falls)…

And the river park below the falls:

Once past Kapaa, investigated options for gasoline before I return the car, and tried to find a bar that we went to back in 1990 – The Club Jetty, it was so run down at that point the sign said lub Jetty. Didn’t find it – and some research yielded that it was it was destroyed in a hurricane in 1992.

There is a great history of the club and the harbor here: http://imagesofoldhawaii.com/club-jetty/ Seems that it was a hangout for the likes of John Wayne and Lee Marvin at one time.

But, I did find a Princess Cruise Line pulling out…

Here is my driving tour of Kauai today:

I was on the road so long today, I actually put the top up for a couple of the mid-day hours – I was baking!

A quick stop (they were closing) at the Salvation Army – picked up a small duffle bag to hold all the SPAM (there are 17 varieties, many hard to find on the mainland) and shirts I’d bought, got some gas, headed to the airport to check-in when they opened. Three days a week, Alaska runs an evening flight to/from Kaui, so the ticket counter opens in the morning for the early flight, closes, opens again a 7pm for the evening flight.

Although I’m in First Class on the return, red-eye flights generally don’t have much in the way of food. So, it’s off to the sit-down restaurant in the airport, where you can get a “real” drink:

They were out of the kalua pork sliders, so I opted for the kalua pork nachos…

We loaded the plane early, after I’d had a lovely conversation with a fellow traveler, hopefully he’ll show up at the wine shop!

This is the look on Uncle Markie’s face when he discovers two pre-5 children in rows 1 and 2 (when he is in row 1).

Thankfully, they crashed out early, it being a red-eye, leaving me time to not sleep, play solitaire, and drink.

This would be the “food” on the flight, in addition to the nuts.

It was about a five-and-a-half-hour flight. I got maybe an hour of sleep, got home at 7:15, set the alarm, and went to bed, only to get up at 9:30am, to open up the shop at 11 and work a full shift.

Maybe I should have taken Sunday off, as well as Saturday.

Live and learn.

[? ? ?]

No particular plan for today. Tried visiting the meadery across the road, but each time I went there were like 15 people crammed into a small apace – maybe tomorrow.

My walk also discovered this small place – aloha Hawaii!

And this great decal on one of the cars in the parking lot…

Through people who are in my life still from my Microsoft days, I tracked down the condo complex that I stayed at in 1990 – to my memory, it was four women and myself in a 1-bedroom condo. Turns out it was TWO DOORS DOWN from where I’m staying!

Went into Lihue (again), hit another thrift store (Humane Society), found another shirt (Quick Silver embroidered – $4), and another Tommy Bahama ($6) at the Hospital Thrift Store.

The two items on the right of today’s haul are two three-packs of Brita Water Filter knockoffs at 50% off, from the Safeway across from the condo, which REALLY needs more checkers:

I’d seen these the day before, and finally found them again in the store:

They were surprisingly good! I actually managed to save some to take home for Jonathan.

It was a lazy evening for me, just laying around in the heat.

[? ? ?]

Another morning of up early – so VERY odd. Well, early for me. Nine.

Another morning of an “odd” breakfast. Today it was Ahi Poké. Yep, raw fish for breakfast.

First stop of the day was Vicki’s Fabric in “downtown” Kapaa – well, old-town Kapaa. Got some 50% off fabric:

Not what I was expecting, got four yards for less than $20. More than enough for a shirt or whatever. Saw some other Japanese/Hawaiian prints that were interesting, not enough to pull the trigger.

Where I parked to get the fabric store really tells you about the “rental car culture” of the island – it’s rag tops and Jeeps – rag top in my case. Mine is in the middle with the top down:

If you notice that cloud to the left – I should have put up the top. I got back to a wet car after 15 minutes of shopping.

Next stop was a little train ride:

This is the Kilohana Plantation railroad – a narrow gauge track on 108 acres of demonstration fields of various plants.

They actually have three of these small diesel locomotives. The one pulling this train, one in the shed for rehabilitation and this one:

Looks like they need to put same gravel down on those new tracks! Some detail shots:

Off we go!

And soon, we get to stop and fed the pigs, asses, cocks, and goats.

Located on the same grounds is The Koloa Rum Company:

Where I signed up for the 2pm rum tasting, where we mixed our own Mai Tai’s:

Along with several other samples, finishing with a little rum cake!

And there is a house to tour, which also has a restaurant (I’d like to try their Ruben).

On the way back to the condo, another fabric store (nothing I wanted to pay retail for), but there was a great old theatre across the road…

Got back to the condo, took a nap, took a picture of a flower….

And made dinner:

Yep, recycled last night’s dinner!

Another rough day in Paradise. OK – it’s nice, but it isn’t paradise to me. Nice to visit – wouldn’t want to live here.

[? ? ?]

As anyone who travels with me knows that I’m not an “early to bed, early to rise” kinda guy – but that was the case last night.

My admission is that my “breakfast” was the last half of last night’s Double Quarter Pounder – I’d ordered the Quarter Pounder Deluxe because it had more salad on it, but took what I got – and got two meals out of it.

Before I go further – let me show you where I’m staying, which would be the WorldMark Kapaa Shores on Kauai. The view:

The interior, already messy!

Today’s mission is hitting a couple of thrift stores, and stocking up the condo. Found two thrift stores in the Kauai town of Kapaa where I’m staying.

It took a little looking to find the first since I looked it up on the web and didn’t bother to actually use the GPS on my phone…but what a score it was!

I was happy to give them my money – even happier when they said that if I gave a donation of $1, I’d get 50% off on everything!

Five shirts later (including TWO Tommy Bahama) I was out the door for $32 and some change. WOW.

Next up was one that was actually closed, but found another one just back up the road next to where I had lunch.

I got the “shrimp tacos”, which oddly, came with chips and salsa (which I took home) at The Shrimp Station…

The tacos (good, but messy) are hiding under the chips.

Don’t know the name of the thrift store – but picked up another TWO Tommy Bahama shirts, including an EMBROIDERED one for $9 each. I was so excited by all the shirts (which is what I came for), that I forgot to check for cargo shorts that don’t come below my knees.

Here are some shots of the shirts:

Embroidered on the upper left. Bottom two are going to people who better fit the size… and the whole stash!

Yep, got another couple of “Cocktail Hawaiians”! Here is a closeup of the embroidered one:

The embroidery would make its original cost in the $200+ range (not bad for $9). Downside, it’s thin fabric, and is a small amount of fraying around the upper lettering. I’ll still take it!

Here are a couple of shots of the “ride” that Dollar gave me instead of the Corolla:

Hit Safeway for groceries for the condo, once again hitting the bargain sections….

And who would have thought Finish Butter would be the cheapest “real” butter when you don’t need a pound:

After all the shopping, I grabbed some more shots of the grounds of the condo…

And this charming plate on a tree:

And then there was dinner….

But then, there is the computer setup to keep in touch.

And a sunset.

Life isn’t too shabby.

[? ? ?]

The plan was to just hang out for a couple of days travelling solo – and then it sort of started to become a different trip, with more photo ops…so much for one post for the trip!

Got to the airport WAY early – but it was a free ride. A buddy who is not parked in my front yard is flying to Iceland and Greenland for work, so they paid for the Uber.

And the Alaska Lounge is now serving Yakima Valley’s Travari Rosé Bubbles – no need for me to order bubbles with a splash of cranberry.

Worked out well for both of us – free ride for me, free access to the lounge for Whitaker.

Here is a shot of the new lounge at the end of the C Concourse, directly above my gate of C9.

I even had enough time to call T-Mobile and change my plan to their new “Old Far Two-line Plan”….

Which has a nice view of the tarmac, even a 747-400 freighter with a livery that reminds me of a Red Bull can.

A bit of chaos at the gate – totally full flight, TONS of small children, oddly, no wheelchairs.

But I’m in seat 1D (but swapped reluctantly to 1F so a family could sit together) and they even gave me Kid’s Wings…high quality metal with two pin holders…

As we were queued up to take off, saw one of the Amazon Prime Air 767’s takeoff!

Drinks, then hot nuts, then the salad course (Icelandair, you could learn something from Alaska and their service up front):

Then the main:

Then dessert:

Then a Mai Tai that was mostly vodka (at my request, because the mix they use is WAY too sweet):

Arrived fifteen minutes early, got my luggage, got to Dollar to pick up my Toyota Corolla (or similar mid-size car), only to discover this is what they gave me the keys to!

Off to bed, it’s been a long day, and I’m settled into the condo for the next four nights.

[221.2]

Managed to score some additional nights in lovely Whistler this August – one might in Creekside (where we spent two nights in two different rooms last trip), and three nights at Cascade Lodge, where we parked the last trip.

Lunch stop just after the border in Cloverdale. Boston Pizza was the choice – last time I was here was with CaddyDaddy when he was alive:

Steak strip French Dip, tasty, as was the salad…

You might have heard that there are wildfires burning in British Columbia – the smoke getting as far as Seattle and beyond. Here is the first example of the smoke. First photo is from previous drive up:

This photo is from the trip’s drive up:

I’ll post later about pictures of the mountain valleys, earlier in the summer, later in the summer.

Shopped for our veg and eggs in Squamish (cheaper than Whistler, and we brought all our protein) and some wine – but the grocery store in this hippy/hiking/biking/snowboarding/skiing town has a dispenser for growlers of Kombucha:

About our first night’s lodging, I love the BBQ and room size at Creekside, HATE the stairs. No way to avoid them, and we were on the first floor which is actually the basement floor, reception is on three. And it was the first night, so coolers, all the food, drink had to go down (and back up) lots of stairs.

That said, it was a nice place…

Living room above, second bedroom below…

And the SECOND bath:

And we had a nice meal….

In the morning, we repacked and headed to Whistler Village.

And up to the mountain we go!

Here is Mags playing with his tools!

I contrast these photos to late July’s photos of what the air was like:

And back to the present…

Talked Mags into appetizers and drinks at Christine’s – which wasn’t open my last two trips up this summer:

Great time around the mountain… one day we went to Pemberton, and a museum!

Our adventure done, back to the condo, with me going up the hill for lunch, and a wine flight:

And when we leave Whistler – it ramps up for Red Bull’s Crankworx. They are already assembling the video platforms.

No wonder rooms are tight for the next week!

Up to the top, across the Peak-2-Peak, and back into the welcoming arms of Dan, the bartender.

Who after he poured by BC VQA tasting flight….

Arranged for a little “amuse bouche”:

That is a lovely slice of paté on that crostini courtesy of Chef. Soon to be followed by the Vietnamese Pork Burger….

As you can see, the rosé vanished quickly.

Look at these photos – serious smoke in the air. Once again, my hiking has been thwarted.

Compared to late June….

Crazy wild difference.

Tonight’s dinner was leftovers, cleaning out the fridge – then out of the house a little after ten in the morning with a stop at the mining museum (too cheap to actually buy a ticket):

So, in the parking lot of the museum, there was this beautiful car camping hack – a 4″ black pipe mounted to the roof rack with a fill nozzle and a spigot to attach a shower to. In the sun, the black tube heats the water, and you get at least a warm shower in the afternoon. Brilliant!

Got into Vancouver around 1PM and Mags dropped me at Steamworks Brewery to meet up with Solus+. Got there early – ordered a Manhattan. What else!

And with Solus+…

And we both had the same meal – seafood chowder in a sourdough bowl with a small Caesar:

Wonderful meal, but it’s off to the train station to catch the 5:30pm to Seattle…didn’t know they had a Nexus line! I was business, so I would have gotten the same expedited service, but it’s nice to know:

Being the first one in line, the lady (turned out to be the Business Car attendant) gave me the best seat on the run – 1A, window, wheelchair blocked 1B.

Some nice views on the way home, and more than a few drinks….

Sadly, the train was running 45 minutes late into Seattle, AND I arrive at the station in the middle of a Mariners baseball game letting out. Total chaos. How far do I have to walk before I find a Lyft/Uber with non-premium pricing!

Made it home, made it to bed, for tomorrow, it’s off to work.

[221.0]

Three cheers to my dear friend Anne for the opportunity to see the “hard to get tickets” exhibit at the Seattle Art Museum: Yayoi Kusama – Infinity Mirrors.

Anne was already a member of the Seattle Art Museum (as I was, years ago), and LOTS of people are joining JUST to get tickets for members nights which they have added twice a week due to demand.

Today was a work day for me…in theory until 5pm, but there is always the last minute, “oh shit, they close in five minutes”, of our customers (and we love them). Tonight, is was two last minute customers (one who bought a miscellaneous case of wine, the other, the $10 white we were sampling) engaged in a political discussion about our recent mayoral election, and how it would shake out. One is a political pundit, the other works for a business journal – and it was a seriously interesting take on current affairs. If people are buying (or even chatting), our doors are open. We are Merchants, after all.

Was a tad late getting out of the shop, but got downtown, circled a bit, found “princess” parking across from the museum and half a block from my favorite (but expensive) restaurant downtown, The Brooklyn.

I got there 20 minutes before the end of happy hour and I ordered like a madman. Happy Hour $7 Manhattan (Evan Williams was the Bourbon), and mini-crab cakes, followed by a half dozen Daybob Bay oysters:

And I had another half dozen oysters and another Manhattan before Anne showed up. I’d preordered a Manhattan and crab cakes for her since she would arrive shortly after happy hour ended (6PM). And, apparently, in 45 minutes I can drop $80 at happy hour prices.

But this evening is really about the art – Anne and I in front of the Seattle Art Museum!

Those are the legs of “The Hammering Man” to the left of us.

Anne grabbed four tickets, so we MUST have a group shot!

So, about the exhibit…timed tickets. Smaller numbers for member nights, but still lots of people.

Seven installations, most of which you get 20 or 30 SECONDS to immerse yourself (and two other people) in. You are shown in, your time, the door opens back up and you leave, to stand in line another 15+ minutes for the next installation room.

Lots of static art scattered between the installation rooms….

And then, there are the rooms… Phall’s Field, which reminded me of an Alice in Wonderland trip:

And remember – 20-30 seconds in the room, and then a lineup for the next…

Next up is Anne (and mine’s) favorite – Aftermath of Obliteration of Eternity, which I realized there was a video mode on my phone:

We popped out of the LARGE line to go see Dots Obsession…

And rejoined the line ten people behind Anne’s friends who didn’t bug out, to see Infinity Mirrored Room – All The Eternal Love I Have For The Pumpkin, which no photography is allowed and only two people (and a security guard) are allowed in for their 20 seconds. This is a shot from the brochure – so SOMEBODY had to be in there photographing!

Next up were a couple of porthole exhibits with much shorter lines. First up, Love Forever:

If you look close, you can see me in the mirror image.

And the cousin to Dots Obsession, The Macrocosm Within – Portal View:

This will give you a feel of that chunk of the gallery space:

Then, to the final room – The Obliteration Room where you were given a sheet of stickers to apply at random. I zeroed in on the Princess Phone.

Can you find the Princess Phone in this photo?

Fun exhibit – wish the rest of the museum was open for this after-hours event – but there is interesting art in the lobby…

I begged off of more cocktails and food with the gang to come home (safely), make dinner, pack, and post.

For, tomorrow is another adventure.

[[221.2]

Today marks the anniversary of my first post – July 30^th, 2006. Ten years’ worth of posts.

The first post was short (https://blog.unclemarkie.com/2006/07/30/seattle/). I’d come in from my house on Lopez Island in the San Juans to stay overnight at the apartment I shared with the now deceased Swanda. I was headed to my first ever trip to China, to meet up with The Colonels who I’d met a year or so earlier on the cruise from Lisbon to Antarctica.

Sadly, it looks like most of the pictures have vanished from the early posts. I believe that I had them on a cloud service started by people I knew at Microsoft, which was eventually sold to Nokia and shut down. I have the archives, and someday when I’m old and grey I’ll go back and update the posts.

One of the things I remembered about that trip was that airfare was only $100 extra, and there was no single supplement on the Yangtze River Cruise, Xian Warriors, Beijing tour. Once I was there, we all realized why it was so cheap. Not the hotels, which were 5-star luxury, or the boat (also luxe), it was that it was like 110 and muggy. Think several changes of clothes a day. Still had a GREAT time.

This might be the first post in years without any photos.

Here’s to the next ten years.

[? ? ?]

An old 737-700 on the flight to Oakland – no outlets, no extra legroom for rows 7-12 (I was in row 6 which does have extra leg room since its bulkhead) and a completely packed flight.

Got my one free cocktail and nursed it – and they gave me the fancy chocolate too!

So, old plane, and no boarding bridge – the infamous Gate 12A/B/C/D:

Thankfully, it was a sunny day. It’s a miserable way to board a plane.

The boys were there to meet me at the airport – and thankfully provide me with a breakfast sandwich. I’m starting to rely on those snack boxes in Premium Class!

With my early departure, it was nap time for Uncle Markie…

But, as always, the food at the Lunetta/Onyx palace is marvelous….

And this was leftovers! I’d eat it again and again.

Having dropped off a case of wine, it was time to go to BevMo and fill my suitcase:

Wished I’d brought the new credit card to put that on that I need $3K in spending in the next couple of months. Still, WAY cheaper than Seattle.

Got a bunch of work done during the day, just in time for another FABULOUS at-home meal – from scratch (well beyond my skill set).

I am soooo lucky!

And the WINE!

I’ve dated guys that weren’t around when that wine was made – well, probably not, but close.

I’ve got a late flight out of SFO, and Lunetta kindly gave me a ride to the BART station at Ashby. Since I’m flying Virgin America, I don’t have lounge access even though I’m a Board Room member, seems to not extend to Virgin flights. Thankfully I’ve got a pass for the United Club one terminal (through security) over.

Creamy Chicken Corn Chowder, a little salad, a cocktail, some newspapers….life is good.

Nice club – only been open a couple of years.

And they even have one of those snazzy Coke Mix Your Own Blend dispensers…

Spent a couple of hours there before heading back to Terminal Two where my Virgin America flight is leaving from. To get to the gate, walked past an Admirals Club – odd that they won’t accept my Virgin ticket, just Alaska ones but by this point I was just a few minutes from boarding.

Terminal Two has (at the moment) an interesting display of old typewriters, including a couple of Japanese ones:

Actually booked a First Class ticket since it was only $160 – and they ARE comfortable seats:

And a nice amount of legroom:

For some reason I didn’t get a picture of the “Protein Platter” – other choice was a Thai Chicken Salad – and after that, they brought around a tray of Dean and Deluca treats.

Life isn’t bad.

Didn’t get home until almost midnight, luckily I don’t work this Friday.

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Had to get up early today (another reason for sleeping in yesterday). 6am alarm as I wanted to be out of the house by 8am for the long drive from Richmond to Nashville.

Here was our route this week:

We did a little drive through for our breakfast after a piece of toast with The Colonels but pretty much drove straight though. I looked at the mileage on the rental car receipt —666 miles. Guess that makes it the Devil’s Handiwork.

Got checked in a walked over to a different terminal to get us into The Admirals Club so we could eat and drink free food and booze. Pretty comfortable:

Badly lit picture, sadly.

The return flight was less full than our incoming, both Rache and I had the seat next to us open, and being in Premium Class, the booze was flowing.

Makes me glad I didn’t drive to the airport. Much safer to grab and Lyft home.

Sadly, Rache has stuff going on in the morning so out the door he goes for his four-hour drive home.

Me, I’ll get to sleep in tomorrow as work isn’t until 1:30pm.

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Oh, the joys of sleeping in. And sleep in, I did. Made it to 10am. Rache had advised The Colonels to not worry about me, that I’d gladly eat leftover biscuits and gravy. Luckily, the gravy was simmering when I padded downstairs in my bathrobe for coffee.

No picture, sadly – but MY they were tasty!

What I did get were some exterior shots of The Colonels Southern Hospitality base they call, Frog Hallow:

After I’d showered and shaved, we were off to today’s distillery, about 45 minutes from The Colonels in the town of Danville. Wilderness Trail Distillery is the name, and once again, showed up at 15 after for an “on the hour” tour. We went off and explored the countryside a bit before returning. Even found a little tobacco growing (sadly, not “wacky tobaccy”:

Back at the distillery:

Loved their sink stand in the bathroom – of course, I would have had it open up, in the form of a cabinet. No room in my current house for it.

Here are some shots from out tour – starting with the lab, which is unusual in that it was the original beginning of the distillery – they made under contract lots of yeast for various distilleries, troubleshot other people’s yeast problems – and now offer master distilling courses. Cart before the horse, as it was. For Wilderness Trail, they use a “sweet mash” process where is where all new yeast is used in the batch, as opposed to a “sour mash” process that holds back a portion of the previous run.

It all starts with the grain:

And then the cooking in the mash and still room:

That’s a lot of creamed corn!

All of the corn in their product (minimum 51%) comes from fields less than 30 miles away.

This is their centrical force proof safe where I had a sample of the 132-proof white dog:

And here is their bottle line – defiantly low-tech.

They are due to release their first bourbon this December – having aged it four years – that’s how young this distillery is. Th current releases are a dark rum (local sorghum) aged in old Four Roses barrels. They will switch to their own used barrels starting in December when they bottle their first Bourbon.

The tour and tasting was $7 (free for active/retired military/police/fire) and included a free shot glass.

One the way back to The Colonels, we stopped for an afternoon snack – and something else Rache had heard of, but never tried:

Yep, a rolling White Castle food truck. Makes me wonder if the pad they are working on is going to be the new home of a White Castle Burger stand.

Or other stop was a return to a Liquor Barn because I’d seen an Old-Fashioned glass with a retro Indiana postcard image on it at the store in Lexington.

I didn’t see any on the shelf in glassware, but I must have had a puzzled look as staff came up to help. She found a pair in a gift basket, which she gladly cut open to sell us just the glasses. GREAT customer service! And yes, they did have 32 Craft Beers on tap – I barely got Rache out of there since you could buy and try.

Before long we were back in our temporary home, each of us taking quick naps since The Colonels had invited neighbors over for dinner. At this point, I let Rache take over since neither of us have pictures, and he is more eloquent than I, and I’ve included his observations of yesterday’s visit to Barb as well:

Besides bird-dogging booze, Markie also included some visits of people he has known through his extensive travels. Barbara recently moved to a new (to her) home in Lexington. Even tho’ she was in the middle of a kitchen remodel, Barbara took time to greet Markie and me. Those two had a chance to catch up while I slowly made friends with Barbara’s dog Petey. It took a while form to feel comfortable with us, but he finally did. That pooch is full of personality.

And we ended up spending two nights with Eric and Kate. They are retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonels and are just full of Southern hospitality. The first night, Kate made a southern dinner of fried pork chops, green beans, fresh black-eyed peas, summer squash, and some stuff I’m forgetting. It was all delicious. We finished the night sitting outside and observing the fireflies. 

The next night, after Markie’s and my visit to Wilderness Trail, our hosts invited some neighbors to a lovely dinner party. I gotta tell you, this evening was like a festive scene out of Steel Magnolias. Kate outdid herself with putting together a lovely spread for nine of us that culminated with a stunning key lime cheese cake that she made. It was all just over the top amazing. 

Kate and Eric were incredibly gracious hosts and comfortable to be with. Friday morning felt like saying adieu to longtime friends. And I’m now Facebook friends with the neighbors.

I had worried that Rache wouldn’t have a good time – but I think I can put that to rest!

Eventually we headed to bed, as an early alarm was going off for me (another reason to sleep in yesterday!).

Tomorrow we are headed home, many things unseen, a reason for another visit.

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Once again, I’m out of bed before I’d like. The hazards of planning a trip with multiple sites to visit each day.

Rache went for his usual morning saunter, and then had the leftover ribs from last night. I stayed in bed and then had my ribs and mac cheese. Pretty good breakfast. The Microtel advertised a continental breakfast, but, they too, had a vat of gravy – sadly, not enough biscuits to go around.

First stop today is the Buffalo Trace Distillery which produces more bourbon than anyone else, under about thirty brands. Pappy Van Winkel, Buffalo Trace, Sazerac are a few – think they have Blanton and Weller as well. If you click on the link it will take you to a list of their brands. This place is HUGE:

And they let you wander around before/after the tour (which is FREE!).

As usual, tours are on-the-hour, and we show up 45 minutes before – just long enough to have missed a tour. At least we got to wander.

Our tour guide is a retired Boeing employee from Cle Elum – he was amused that a couple of Washingtonians were on the tour:

Off we go to one of the aging warehouses. Unlike Maker’s Mark (and many other distilleries), Buffalo Trace doesn’t rotate its barrels from the bottom to the top – they just use whiskies from various levels in various brands.

Next up was the building that they hand bottle all the Blanton’s Whiskey:

Everything is done by hand; filling, labeling, wax sealing, bagging, and boxing.

But, what we are really waiting for it the tasting at the end of the tour. We had two choices between four samples. I ignored the vodka and the white dog (unaged whiskey) and went straight to the Buffalo Trace and the Eagle Rare.

The poor kid at the end of the bar was Italian, and didn’t turn 21 until next month – he got root beer, which they also make. Like I said, I went for the whiskey!

It even came with “dessert” which was a Bourbon Crème, that had it not been free, I wouldn’t have tried – but it was good – especially with the bourbon laced candy they were handing out. Unlike Bailey’s, it’s real cream and needs to be refrigerated after opening.

Sadly, they wouldn’t let me into this room with their most expensive products:

We needed a little lunch snack, and since it was National Hot Dog Day, we swung through a Sonic Drive-In since they were doing dollar dogs. Sorry – no pictures of us chowing down on cheap dogs.

After Buffalo Trace we were off to Woodford Reserve. Rache and I had been drinking Woodford Reserve on the flight out and I wanted to show him the distillery, but more important, the drive to get there which is through gorgeous horse country.

Yep, those are million-dollar HORSE BARNS; heated floors, the works.

We got to Woodford – of course, 15 after the hour. We opted to not take the $14.00 tour (or $8.00 for just the tasting), took a couple of pictures, browed the gift shop and left. These will give you an idea of the place:

And one of the barrel-aging houses nearby:

Next up was a cocktail visit with Barb – my travel agent for Princess Cruises. Out of kindness (and laziness), no photos of her “new to her” home since it’s in the middle of moving in and a kitchen renovation. She has a dog, Petey, cute as heck, that, of course, Rache instantly bonded with.

The is the part of the trip where all my friends come into play – and our next stop is at The Colonels, who last I saw in Santa Fe last November.

Don’t we look all comfy!

No need to haul the luggage upstairs – make the stair climber do it.

And speaking of comfy – look at our bedroom. Thanks Colonels!

The evening meal was one of southern hospitality — fried pork chops, green beans, fresh black-eyed peas, summer squash, and some stuff I’m forgetting. Needless to say, we slept well.

One more full day of exploring, tomorrow.

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As is usual when I travel with Rache, he is up and out in the morning while I sleep in – though today, not as late as I’d like. Rache went to a Waffle House nearby, I opted for the free breakfast at the hotel. Nothing like biscuits and gravy to start the day!

Our first stop in Bowling Green, Kentucky is at the site of the “real” Bowling Green Massacre (if you don’t know what I’m talking about, CLICK HERE). The fake one was a Trump spokesperson’s talk of radicalized US Iraqi’s plot on Bowling Green. In a humorous twist of irony, click on this link: https://www.bowlinggreenmassacrefund.com/ — which if you go to donate, you are taken to the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) site to make a donation.

A massacre DID occur in Bowling Green – when a sink hole opened under the National Corvette Museum and swallowed nine pristine Corvettes – so our first stop is to the museum.

Lots of pretty cars….

And a few crumpled ones that the museum decided not to restore…

And here is the site of the massacre….

The yellow line is the cave outline, the red, the sinkhole line.

And you can even pick up your new custom ordered Corvette at the museum. The factory is on the other side of the freeway – sadly, factory tours are cancelled until 2019:

That was a fun couple of hours! And if you needed air for your tires, the Michelin Man was stationed in the parking lot:

In hindsight, I wish we pocked our head into the classic car sales lot next door:

Next, we headed to the Corsair Distillery in downtown Bowling Green – but the tour wasn’t for almost an hour so we opted for the Historic Railpark and Train Museum that we passed on our way into town:

Luckily, we tagged along with a tour that had started a couple of minutes earlier…

We got a tour of the engine:

The mail car:

The dining car:

There was also a sleeper car:

And the President’s Car (president of the L&N railroad):

Along with getting to see from the outside several other cars awaiting restoration, including a hospital car:

And what they call “The Jim Crow” car which was divided into Whites Only and Blacks Only seating:

The caboose is refurbished, and rented out for birthday parties and the like:

After the tour, we walked through the museum proper:

Once again, we are off schedule for doing the Corsair Distillery tour, and I need food! Biscuits and gravy only last so long. Hello Gerard’s Tavern:

Yeah! A full bar! Sadly, the bartender is the manager who said, “I’m the guy that hires the bartenders and I don’t put one on for lunch service.” But it wasn’t bad – the Old Fashioned that I have in DancingBear’s honor.

And the food was great – I had the fried chicken sliders, the right amount of food for me:

We were still early for the Corsair Distillery tour, so we poked around:

Turns out, we got a personal tour – as we were the only two on it:

These are the two still they use for their vodka and gin like spirits. All the bourbon production has moved to Nashville now that craft distilleries are OK in the city.

This is the mash bill for making their gin…

And warehouse storage:

And high-tech bottling line. All the labels are hand applied:

Fun tour, but now it’s time to head to Louisville…and sadly, a two-hour backup because of a big rig rollover…

Tonight, we are the Microtel Hotel on the edge of Louisville, Kentucky. Oddly, no photos. Not as nice as the Baymont, but it still had a mini-fridge in the room.

I DID get photos of our dinner at Mark’s Feed Store – a BBQ place:

Rache and I both got the same thing – the 6-rib basket. Comes with two sides. Sadly, we could have shared one order. We maybe could have skipped the fried pickles – but I always have to try them:

And the 6-rib meals…

Because we were first time customers they kicked in two slices of buttermilk pie (a little sweet for me) and a bottle of their mustard-based sauce. Too bad they didn’t have a full bar!

Back to the room and our usual routine. Rache in bed early, UncleMarkie watching TV into the night.

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Well, it’s early Monday morning and Rache and I are headed to Nashville (though not staying there).

I got the luck of the draw with one of the only three seats vacant next to me:

Rache was less lucky:

But we were in Premium Class on Alaska, so that means free cocktails (and a little snack box):

Landed a little early and it was off to pick up our rental car, or shall I say, mommy-van:

It was a buck more expensive than the compact, and much easier on old men’s tushies.

Nothing special about our Baymont Inn & Suites room in Bowling Green – about an hour up the road from Nashville in Kentucky:

And we stocked up on supplies at the local Liquor Barn before checking in…

Couple of cocktails and it was off to dinner at Pub by Novo up the road a bit, across the freeway:

Hot, but not hot enough to not eat/drink outside. A Manhattan for me, a local craft IPA for Rache:

Followed by the fish tacos for me, and a wedge salad and an order of buffalo wings (not shown) for Rache:

Back at the hotel, Rache was asleep long before I, but he actually sleeps better with the TV on which worked for me.

Tomorrow, our sightseeing begins!

[220.8]

Shuttle showed up a few minutes early, but it was still an hour + to the airport. Smooth check-in, duty free, currency exchange – leaving with $130+ dollars in my wallet from cashing in Icelandic and Danish Kroners.

Lots of Iceland-made booze in the duty free:

And a last Iceland Hotdog should I need it:

Before you know it, I’m back in the lounge…

Eating a couple of rounds of food….

I anyone wondered about WOW, the OTHER Icelandic airline, they are definitely BIG here:

Boarded and moved to a window seat before we took off – more room to spread out on the empty seat next to me…

This would be the weather we are taxiing through….

I left the above uncropped to really get the feel for it.

Once in the air, the food starts rolling in….

That’s lamb shank on the bottom, rack of lamb on the top. Life is hard up front.

SADLY – I have NO photos from my time in Minneapolis, which is too bad, because it included a ride from the airport, a lovely home meal with old friends, drinking, cigars, and a nap before heading back to the airport. It was too short a visit. 7pm on the curb to 5:30am back to the curb.

Hungover, I report back to the airport and a crazy security situation – thank goodness for TSApre, but even that was convoluted:

No lounge here – well, there was a United Club, which I have a pass (or two) for, but wasn’t there early enough to make it worth using one. Instead, I opted for a quick donut to tide me over until the flight.

Lots of good looking restaurants at the airport:

But, it is definitely EARLY in the morning…

Back on Alaska Airlines, I’m back in my favorite seat (1C), and enjoying a nice breakfast meal:

And by 10:30 in the morning, I’m in one of my favorite places….

I had a nice long nap, for tomorrow I work.

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I did a little exploring after I got checked in since the sun was out, so, this is the church just steps away from the hotel:

Love the stringy clouds behind it. Just a couple of shots exploring the city…

And then I got an email from my buddy JoeLin – it is his last night in town, dad’s in bed, he has a car. “Come for duty-free drinks!” And he did:

Much cheaper to hang out in the hotel chatting and drinking. Had we gone out for drinks, beers are $10 and cocktails $20, and they only have four liquor stores in the entire city.

Of course, it also meant I was up really late as well.

I got up for breakfast, and since it was raining (what a difference a day makes), I went back to bed. By the time I got up, it was down to an annoying drizzle.

Here is the church today:

My goal today was to find the hot dog stand that Bill Clinton made famous (and recommended by JoeLin) and to grab stuff for dinner.

In retrospect, maybe I should have ordered two – but I was off to the Bonus Discount Food store for dinner supplies:

Got some more city shots on the way back to the hotel…

Yes, they are everywhere and I saw a lot of locals making purchases…

Which brings us to the topic of food, and how bloody expensive it is to eat out in Reykjavik. Here are a couple of menus. If it says 1,000 Icelandic Kroners, just knock the last two zeros off for a USD price.

Yep, $12 beers, $19 for Irish Coffee

Hence, why this is my dinner tonight:

I think I pointed out in previous posts that it stays light really late in Iceland…and that means even churches stay open into the evening (until 9:30pm) which meant I got to stick my head inside the one near the hotel

Sadly, tomorrow at noon they are having an organ recital – but that’s when I need to be at the airport.

Bye, bye, Iceland.

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