Summer Vacation

[DavidS]

But you should be able to see France across the straights of Dover, yes?

Yes, on a very clear day, not one with a newspaper headline stating, "FOG IN CHANNEL, CONTINENT CUT OFF".

[jamiebk]

But you should be able to see France across the straights of Dover, yes?

Yes, on a very clear day, not one with a newspaper headline stating, "FOG IN CHANNEL, CONTINENT CUT OFF".

And Sarah Palin can see Russia from Alaska....

[Shapley]

Symphonic Voyages

Now, that's a vacation!

[Haggis@wk]

For those of you who are incredibly bored here's a chance to be even more bored. Our England, August 2009 photos are finally posted on line. While I hope you might gaze upon a few, I really urge you to look at the American Cemetery and Memorial. I've been going there since the late 70's and I still get choked up every time I visit the chapel.

[Shapley]

Very Impressive. I didn't have time to view all the galleries. Later, Perhaps.

The Cemetery is very sobering. Excellent photos.

[Shapley]

For those of you without facebook, here I am at Juyonguan, China, before climbing the Great Wall:



And here I am at the top of it, 1600 steps later:



The girl was not part of our group, but she was pretty, so we asked her to join us in the photo...

Here's the view, looking back down the wall towards Juyonguan:

[Trumpetmaster]

GREAT Pictures!

[Shapley]

GREAT Pictures!

Of course, it's the GREAT wall...

[monkeymd2b]

Jealous! I would love to go somewhere out of the US...I've never left the US. Though I had a patient a few wks ago come in to see me for a pre-travel visit. She was going to Hawaii and her exact words to me were "since I'm going somewhere foreign I figured I better make sure I have all my shots updated." This girl was younger than me so I'm sure she learned that Hawaii has been a state since before she was conceived. So trying very hard to not make her feel stupid, I gently informed her that Hawaii, being a US state very much like Oregon, did not have any special shots needed to be safe though I did tell her to stay out of the Ala Wai Canal unless she wanted to get a flesh eating bacteria. So there, according to her, I grew up somewhere "foreign." That counts, right?

This year our summer plans include a quick trip to New Orleans in 2 wks for a friend's wedding, camping for my birthday (hopefully my father in law will be feeling better in time for that trip), and then hopefully at least one weekend backpacking somewhere in the beautiful Oregon woods - because there's nothing I love better than feeding the mosquitos of the Oregon woods! That's just like donating blood, right? LOL! Then we've got to plan our 1st anniversary retreat. I'm thinking of going to the Tree house B&B in Southern Oregon. It's supposed to be like Swiss Family Robinson - one of my favorite movies from childhood. That's the nice thing about getting married on a friday, you're guaranteed to have your 1st anniversary land on a weekend day!

[Schmeelkie]

Have a friend from DC and her family visiting the week after 4th of July - taking them to Niagara Falls - which we haven't been to since Pumpkin was about 2 (pre-Bella), so the kids really haven't seen it before. Old hat for me, but the kids should enjoy.
Then 20th HS reunion in mid-July - don't have to travel, but all the old 'best' friends and their families will be here that weekend - so should be great fun. Between us about 7 kids between the ages of 3-8!
Then the BIG trip - since hubby turned 40 and it was our 10th anniversary this May - decided to do something big - going on an Alaska cruise - really just making it up the coast aways - but really looking forward to it! Planning on some nature hikes, whale watching, and a little time to ourselves as the kids are entertained by cruise folks. Not quite 'out of the country' as hubby first wanted, but I figure a cruise will be easier on the kids than say, driving around Italy and changing hotels each night. Save that for when they're bigger.

That's all in July - may visit parents while they're camping a weekend in August and still mulling if we'll be up to a trip to MA to see relatives in August. Thinking we might put off until Columbus Day weekend in October...

[piqaboo]

Gonna drag the 'toid and the 'tenor to La Brea TarPits one day this summer. I'm already saving the worn-out sneakers.
(doesnt matter how careful one is there, the tar comes where the tar will come, and that's often just underfoot).

Great Wall pix, Shap!

[Shapley]

Here's a few more photos from China. These are from the Haikou, in the Hainan Province.

Old Haikou. This part of the city has been preserved. It reminds me of Hong Kong and Kowloon when I was there twenty-something years ago:





New Haikou. This is a new apartment complex, convention center, hotel, and marina complex under construction. It is adjacent to Green Park, a large park and beach in the city.

[Shapley]

The Temple of the Five Officials. The five officials, Li Deyu, Li Gang, Zhao Ding, Li Guang and Hu Quan, were banished to Hainan during the Tang and Song Dynasties, where they established schools. The Temple was built during the Ming Dynasty, and was been expanded and renovated several times during the Qing Dynasty.

Inside the New Hall:


The entrance to the original temple complex. The lady with the parasol is my guide and interpreter, Efi:


The original complex:

[Shapley]

The Tomb of Hai Rui.

[Trumpetmaster]

awesome!

one photo of old haikou looks like the old business district in manhattan....

[Shapley]

The Crown Resort Spa Hotel. This is a beach hotel about fifteen minutes from the city center.

[Shapley]

Hainan Park, Haikou.

The park was filled with people. They come here to dance, perform yoga, practice martial arts, sing, play Ping Pong, or just laze around.

[Shapley]

Back to Beijing. This is a traditional style building located behind the Sheraton Great Wall Hotel, where I stayed:



And the Ming Tombs:

[Shapley]

The construction in the 'New Haikou' photo was typical of that seen all over the city, and all over Beijing, as well. As one fellow traveler noted: Once they have a set of blueprints, they'll build the same building twenty times. I found it fascinating that you could see six or eight identical buildings being built at the same locale, each apparently in the exact same stage of completion.

Not all buildings were duplicated, mind you. There are unique structures built and being built, usually for specific functions. For common purposes such as offices and apartments, it makes economy sense to replicate one successuful plan over and over. It saves on engineering fees, spares the builders from having to learn new techniques and, presumably, reduces permit hassles.

We do the same in America, although we usually add cosmetic changes to the exterior of similar structures to give each a unique appearance, though it may be structurally identical to his neighbors. The Chinese, apparently, carry no pretensions about such things.

[Shapley]

Houses in the traditional style are still built in the countryside. Brick homes with clay-tile roofs and high perimeter walls were common in the rural villages. New homes could be seen going up in the old style along the route from Beijing to Juyonguan. Unfortunately, my photos of them did not turn out well, being taken through the window of a moving bus.