Travelogue, Part the Second

Fun times on the beach.

The Google Blogger software is eating this post worse than the food we were consuming in mass quantities on our just completed trip. I don't even remember what my intro was, other than to say that we spent several days in Yachats, Oregon, and then drove back to Oakland to fly home. We got the Cliff's Notes tour of San Francisco, including lunch at the Wharf. Here is what remains of my post, I know not where the rest went. . .

Friends we were traveling with were expert "foodies," so the eating was a large part of the trip. We ate in great restaurants, and had one incredible home-cooked meal. The six of us have been travel buddies many times in the past, so it was quite an interesting adventure to visit two of them, now ensconced in a tourist destination of their own, separate and apart from Las Vegas.

Homemade grilled peaches with prosciutto!

It will not be possible to encapsulate the trip, its pleasures and its warm memories in this post. Particularly not in the waning hours before returning to work on Tuesday morning. Let it suffice to say that a great time was had by all. And though we spent a small fortune between us, we are now eagerly starting travel funds to do it all again!

The "Gone Fishin'" banner will remain until Tuesday evening, to allow me until then to recharge and start blogging again. Until then, as you were!

See you soon. And thanks to my friends for a wonderful experience.

See what I mean about the diet?

American Airlines Files for Bankruptcy

Image from source, Washington Post

You know what I don't like about this? I mean beside the fact that I have a friend that works for American. It's that the headline sounds like all of the nation's airlines filed for bankruptcy. American Airlines as in all American airlines. And I always wondered if that isn't why terrorists chose AA and United. Both sound like the country's airline industry. And don't forget, when we had anthrax attacks, one of the targets was American Media. Makes you think, right?

Anyway, having United in the family, and seeing how they came out of the hole, maybe AA can as well. Here's hoping.

[Excerpt]


American Airlines parent files for bankruptcy

Saddled with an aging fleet of aircraft and high labor costs, the parent company of American Airlines filed for bankruptcy Tuesday, seeking protection from creditors while it restructures its operations. . .

Read more at: Washington Post

Back to Ohio: Travel Day

Today, after a half-day of work, I'll go home, wrap up the packing, and get all set for the airport. We leave in the early evening, but won't arrive in Columbus until after midnight. That means that it is highly unlikely I'll do any blogging today. But you might--if you're lucky--catch an appearance by Stupid Monkey Planet. He'll be dropping in from time to time while I'm away. In the meantime, here's something amusing. . .

 This is from last Friday's Real Time with Bill Maher, and it's pretty great.

Science is Cool: New Stonehenge Excavation

UPDATE 04/28/08: This post is attracting an awful lot of hits. Can somebody give me a hint as to why? Is it just the Google link to the image? Thanks!

I've had the opportunity to visit most of the United States, but have only ventured out of the country on a few occasions. Like most people, I've been to Canada and Mexico, and also took a cruise to several Caribbean islands. The only other country I've traveled to was England, and it was easily my favorite trip.

Virtually all of my ancestry is English, or other parts of the United Kingdom. England had a strong sense of "home" to me. It might make a nice alternative to the USA should we be saddled with another Republican administration. But that's not the point of this post.

While in England, I had the chance to visit Stonehenge. As the child of archaeologists, it was a "must see" for me, and I'll never forget the experience. It's just so weird that it's just sitting there by the highway, mostly undisturbed for all of these years. But there is much we don't know about the structure, so archaeologists are once again going to do a little digging.

[Excerpt]

Archaeologists start Stonehenge dig

Some of England's most sacred soil was disturbed Monday for the first time in more than four decades as archaeologists worked to solve the enduring riddle of Stonehenge: When and why was the prehistoric monument built?

The excavation project, set to last until April 11, is designed to unearth materials that can be used to establish a firm date for when the first mysterious set of bluestones was put in place at Stonehenge, one of Britain's best known and least understood landmarks. . .

Read more at: Raw Story