| |
 |
 |
 |
|
| |
Capitol Times in Washington,D.C.
by Lee Juillerat
|
|
|
|
| |
My week in D.C. was a sense of homecoming. It was less than two miles from my third floor East
Capitol Street NE apartment to the Washington Navy Yard, my duty station as a Navy journalist. For several months I volunteered off-hours at a California Congressman's office and, even better, as an usher
at Washington Senators baseball games. No pay, but saw the games for free.
|
Welcome to the Florida Keys...the only Caribbean islands you can drive to. And once there? Scuba diving, stand up paddleboard (SUP) yoga, luscious seafood, fishing, jet packing (a la James Bond). Of course, also, just lying around, soaking up the sun. There's still more than a hint of quaint and cute...overall a great place to visit.
|
The Cuesta Grade is wild mountain country, with deer near the tracks and unusual rock formations. After the train traverses the Horseshoe Bend at the bottom of the grade, Cal Poly comes next. Offering agricultural and animal husbandry courses, the large college property has room for pigs, cattle, and horses which we pass right near the tracks.
|
|
| |
 |
 |
Image courtesy of www.panda.org.cn
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
The varied attractions of Balboa
Park include 17 museums, many performing arts venues, lovely garden trails and the San Diego Zoo.
The zoo merited a full day visit to its 100 acres filled with
more than 650 animal speces. Pioneered by its zoological society, the
open-air, cageless exhibits have led to the zoo's world-class ranking.
A real highlight was the polar bear viewing. Our thoroughly enjoyable
and educational day passed too quickly in the warm springtime sun.
|
A dour farmer, wearing overalls and a jacket and clutching a pitchfork, poses rigidly next to a pinch-faced, apron-clad woman who gazes sideways into the distance. Behind them is seen a modest white farmhouse whose second floor window has a pointed arch. Unlikely subjects for what is now one of the most recognized paintings in the world, but this tourist attraction is what Grant Wood’s American Gothic has become since he painted it in 1930 for a competition at the Art Institute of Chicago. |
Who doesn’t love the giant panda with its black and white coat, big black eyes and cuddly, adorable demeanor? This bear is one of the most precious and treasured in the animal kingdom. Lynn Rosen takes us on an adventure to the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in interior China near Tibet for an up close and personal peek at this well-known Chinese celebrity.
|
|
| |
 |
|
 |
|
| |
Spring in Hawaii By Larry Turner
|
California Skiing on the 4th of July
by Steve Giordano |
Southeast Asia Sampler
by Brad Hathaway |
|
| |
Honolulu and Waikiki are awash with blooming flowers and trees in Spring. No matter where you go, you'll delight in what you see and smell. The Royal Hawaiian Hotel is a must stroll. Most flowers and scrubs bloom throughout the year because of Honolulu's year round summer weather. However some are spring-only such as the jacaranda. Year round bloomers include hibiscus, bird of paradise, bougainvillea, plumeria and anthurium. |
Squaw Valley is considering staying open all summer for one continuous season from 2016-2018. While you're thinking about the implications of that, consider going to the Squaw Valley Freedom Fest this year on the 4th of
July weekend, July 1-4, 2017. You can celebrate summer skiing and the 4th of July with a four-day music and ski festival.
|
Landfall in the Philippines was a sunlit delight. We opted to skip downtown tours of Manilla. Instead, we traveled south to the Laguna area where we visited Villa Escudero Plantation, which presented both the tackiest and the most enjoyable offerings of our time in the Philippines. Tacky...the pink-painted museum which housed an odd and oddly curated collection of religious paraphernalia. Enjoyable...lunch at tables anchored in mid-stream below the waterfall of the plantation's hydroelectric plant. |
|
| |
|
|
| |
Who we are: For brief bios on the writers who form this Pacific Northwest collective, please click here. |
|
|
|
|
