Better Late...

Than Never

So, one thing some of you may not know, I hate writing. So this blog is both fun to create and hell to do on a regular basis. Did you also know that I want to write a novel... ya, that will not happen.

Here we are on the last day of July 2013. I retired 16 months ago and have been having a great time.
Took trips to Southern California, Canada, and the east coast of Australia... all in 2012 as reported in previous posts here. 2013 has not seen many trips. 2 Short overnight trips within 100 miles have been the only travel.

We did visit Moffett Field with the Northern California Chapter of the Explorers Club and had a private viewing and lecture about the Solar Impulse. (PDF)

 A few days later we were up early to watch it start it's cross country journey.

More pics can be found in my Picasa album.

That's all for now, next major update will be in December mid 2014.

Last of 2012

The end of 2012 was great...

The last 2 weeks of November were spent on my way to and in Australia. It took 2 days to get there. We left San Francisco the evening of the 18th and arrived in Sydney the morning of the 20th. That dateline sure messes up ones head. Then a short layover (2 hours) and we flew to Brisbane. Because I didn't want to drive on the left side of the road immediately after a 2 day flight, we stayed overnight in Brisbane. The following day (21st) we packed up the rental car and drove north to Gundiah QLD 4650. This took about 2.5 hours over motorways and other wide Australian roads at speed up to 120 km/h (75 mph).

Along the way the only wild life besides cows and horses
was the Australian White Ibis

We stayed in the Gundiah area until the 24th visiting my friend Shawn and his family. I taught Shawn to be a flight instructor and introduced him to his wife Sandy many years ago. We had many adventures during the visit, including our first encounter with Roos and a Giant Robber Fly.

We also learned a bunch about CASA (Australian FAA) and highway speed limits...

 (Shawn has personal experience with both) 

Following that part of the trip we returned to Brisbane and stayed over night again. Dinner was at an amazing restaurant overlooking all of Brisbane.  See my Picasa album for all of the first week pics.

 The 25th we returned to Sydney and started the week Google Earth Moderator Camp.

We did so many things over the week in Sydney that unless you were there, it would take an entire book to cover the days and days of fun and excitement.

Go to my Picasa albums to see Sydney photos.

Returning to California on Dec. 1st, we arrived before we left Sydney. Again that dateline messed with my mind. The entire month of December was spent in the holiday rush of presents and friends.

See you all next year!

 (I guess 12/21/12 wasn't what it was cracked up to be.)