Bailey Arboretum

California has the redwoods and Sequoias, but the Bailey Arboretum in Lattingtown, NY has the Dawn redwoods - their rare Chinese cousin. Not only that, they have the champion - the largest known specimen, by girth, in the world.

Scudder's Pond

driving through foliage

 

grackles

Grackles, starlings, whatever they are - they are numerous and impressive.

Sea Cliff in the fall

rooftop

Sometimes, after waiting patiently for half a century, you get to set foot on the rooftop of a building that you told yourself, at a young age, you would one day set foot on.

foliage of New York

 

 

Hudson River sunset

 

From the train, of course...

Utica station

 The train station in Utica, NY, the way it looks in the 21st century.
 

Chicago Union Station

Chicago Union Station is looking really good lately - the historic architecture is being maintained and amenities for travelers are increasing. The Great Hall seen here is probably the closest thing to the old New York Penn Station that I will ever experience. But unlike the New York stations, Chicago's never gets that busy, making for a far more pleasant experience.



Kansas City

For what it's worth, this is what the 21st century skyline of Kansas City looks like from the train.

the other Las Vegas

I captured this gem out the window as we were pulling out of Las Vegas, NM. Built in 1898, the Castaneda Hotel was the original Harvey House. In the early days of the western railroad, the Harvey Houses were a hospitality chain that provided travelers with food, lodging and entertainment. Plans are underway to renovate the landmark.

north of Albuquerque

After Albuquerque the train heads north, paralleling the Sandia Mountains (above) and then going deeper into the Rockies where I saw this very interesting building (below), about which I know nothing.

prairies of New Mexico

Some nice views of the New Mexico prairie from the train. These pictures were taken prior to arriving in Albuquerque. Needless to say we covered many miles of this kind of landscape.

Albuquerque station

Albuquerque, NM has a decent, midsize train station. A unique feature are the vendors on the platform selling Indian blankets, jewelry and other gifts. In the winter having a blanket on the train makes sense, so I bought one at a very reasonable price.

grass tree

A grass tree (Xanthorrhoea) - native to Australia - is not something I see every day, so when I saw this one at Lotusland, it got my attention. I intended to post this earlier, but didn't have the name.

Halloween 2016

Halloween 2016 was characterized by a certain amount of curry and candy and curry-colored shirts and masks and napkins and candy wrappers. Guess you had to be there.

Arroyo Verde Park

The main attraction of Arroyo Verde Park are some insanely steep trails. As an enthusiast of insanely steep trails, I didn't mind. Looking back, you could just see the ocean in the distance.

Ojai letterbox revisited

This was a new experience: revisiting a letterbox that we found over four years ago. It was a good memory exercise - seeing which details our memories preserved, and which ones were altered. We almost gave up trying to find it - letterboxes do get lost, removed or relocated - but there it was in all of its four-and-a-half-year-old glory. 

King Yellowman

Sometimes, without expecting it, you see King Yellowman perform for a second time in your lifetime. The first time I was in college; some 30 years later I am astonished to see an unstoppable cancer survivor, courageously weird as ever, losing his voice but still full of his famous stage moves. Yellowman has long been a fixture of my psyche, singing in my head since I first heard him in the early 80's. This show was at Discovery in Ventura.

Ventura Harbor part 2

A boat entering Ventura Harbor the way it was intended to. Meanwhile the islands appear in relatively sharp relief, despite all the clouds. One notices early on - there are clear days when the islands are invisible, and cloudy days when they are fully in focus.