Southern California

Headed to Orange County, CA. September 26, 2009. We stayed at Worldmark Indio by Wyndham in Indio, California. . . about 15 to 20 minutes west of Palm Springs and a bit more laid back. It's a very beautiful area, dessert surrounded by mountains. The property itself is VERY nice.

And apparently late September is a great time of year to visit. It's just before the "season" begins and it can be very hot. Actually, it was very hot when we first arrived. September 27th was 112 -- but without the humidity we have at home -- it didn't seem THAT hot.

Picture shows the view from our balcony. The other picure is the resort and it's pool area.

Day Two. Due to the heat, we decided that we would head to higher elevations; by going up the Palm Springs Tramway. We took the 10:30 am up - leaving from the station at 2436' elevation and going up to 8400' elevation.

The tram car revolves as it makes the trek up -- a weird sensation but it allows for a 360 degree view. Unless of course, the folks to your left keep backing up to stay in their same location by the open window!

Some pictures of the tramway car and the tramway are below.

Don't Try This At Home!

A stark contrast to Lincoln Forest. But it was still scenery and quite different from Virginia.

It kept Glenn busy!

Unfortunately, whenever Glenn is in any new territory, he tends to drive like this. Lucky for us -- there weren't many other vehicles on the road.

New Mexico - Las Cruces to Carlsbad

We drove through Alamagordo and then headed east up into the mountains. Even at the beginning of the climb into the higher elevations we could see White Sands glistening below.

The S Trestle - we originally thought it was part of the log flume but then saw photos that showed rail in this area.

The first observatory we visited required driving up from 3600 elevation to 9200 elevation. The drive went through the Lincoln National Forest and the Sacramento Mountains.

A gorgeous, sunny day, light wind and awesome views!

A dirt road took us on a "shortcut" in the direction we wanted to head; which was out of the mountains and heading east towards Artesia.

We interrupt Ireland post to blog about New Mexico!

Since it has been at least a month since we returned from Ireland I decided that I would continue pictures and information about Ireland on wildbluetravel.net. By mid next week there will be a page devoted to Ireland with more pictures posted there.

I am in New Mexico for a short 4-night trip with husband, Glenn. With only 4 nights, 5 days it is hard to see it all -- but we decided on a short tour to south-eastern New Mexico. As we fly roundtrip Alburquerque, we will get to see a bit of the state as we drive.

To begin with -- as this is a "budget" trip -- we decided to go with an economy car. Not a good choice! We have decided that, at our age, we are beyond economy. I guess we are just used to power locks, power windows, cruise control, a trunk that opens with a latch in addition to a key, a grab bar above the doors, and self-cancelling turn signals to mention a few limitations.

The drive out of Alburquerque went smoothly -- we were out of town within 5 minutes and cruising down Interstate 25...and drove down to Las Cruces.

I've always heard about this town: Truth or Consequences. We were going to stop but were starting to feel the effect of getting up at 3:30 to catch the 6:00 am flight to NM.

Shortly before we got to Las Cruces we decided to get off Interstate 25 and take the local highway the last few miles. We went by acres of plantations of large trees, which we later discovered were pecan trees. New Mexico is the largest pecan producing state.

Early morning heading out of Las Cruces towards Alamagordo which would take us across the White Sands Missle Range and through a border patrol inspection station. I guess we didn't look suspicious as they asked if we were enjoying NM and waved us through!

Of course, we had to stop at White Sands National Monument; which we did for several hours. We were there early so hardly any other people. A sort of other world experience!

The picnic shelters really looked like something out of the future...especially against the sand.

We did have a lot of fun walking around on the dunes and then running down them -- I was barefoot -- sand was soft as powder although a "mite cold".

We headed through and over the mountains taking a slight detour to see not one, but two observatories. The detour entailed a few hours, a dirt road, and beautiful scenery. Needless to say, we didn't make it to Carlsbad Caverns today. Tomorrow I'll post pictures from our trip through the mountains. James, you remember our infamous Schnebly road detour?

Irish Jaunt - Day 5 - Visit to a working farm

We dropped into Rathbaun Farm and met a family as they carried out their everyday chores. The farmer, Finton, explained that their main export was lamb -- with most of the lamb going to France.

The farm converted to organic about five years ago and the transition was not easy. We witnessed the sheep dog retrieve some sheep. He was an old dog, about 14 years old but he still performed his job well.

Afternoon tea and scones was served to everyone and we all had the opportunity to visit the thatch house. As we were leaving, Finton brought his two mares to visit. As it was springtime, the mares were pregnant and there were baby lambs all over!

Make a Smilebox photobook

Irish Jaunt - Day 5 "The Cliffs of Moher"

I decided it might be easier to try to incorporate a "photobook" to help me complete this blog with pictures about a recent trip to Ireland. The photobook below should have many more beautiful photos in it -- but truth be told -- I think I was so busy looking at the scenery; I simple forgot to take more pictures.

So forgive the "sign" pictures. . .but we did have a lot of fun with Irish signage. More on that later.

Make a Smilebox photobook

Irish Jaunt Day 5 - Continued

This is a continuation posting of a trip to Ireland this past March.

On day 5 of our tour we crossed the Shannon estuary by ferry and entered County Clare.

A gas power plant on one side. . .

and a coal-fired power plant on the other side.

Plus pretty scenery!

Some of the roadside castles we passed along the way to the Cliffs of Moher

Next stop: the Cliffs of Moher.