Author: donhall930

Decision, decisions, decisions…..

                        Sometimes I wonder if the quandaries served up by the making of, or the lack thereof, those conclusions or resolutions (hopefully arrived at after careful consideration) prove themselves worth their final outcome.

                        I am quite sure that this will be the case, but this exercise is becoming a test in itself of this process as we are “Low Clearance” overpass high in said accumulated issues (?).

           “What in the name all that’s confusing are you talking about Donny?”

            Hmmm…. Yes, I can see where you may need an explanation of the current dilemma that sparked that diminutive diatribe.

                        Last year, as you may recall, we were down at the tip of South America for Christmas. This is their ‘summer’ down there and we were enjoying yet an additional ‘Longest Day of the Year’ on December 21^st and the accompanying nice, balmy temperatures whilst aboard the Majestic Princess as she sailed the complete circumference of South America.

                        Nice.

                        But to be honest, we did miss being at home with everyone at Christmas. Facetiming and gloating about those balmy breezes gets you just so far in feeling good…..until you close that call and wish you were home.

                        So! This year, come the proverbial ‘Hell or High Water’ we made sure that we would be back in the old neighborhood for all the right reasons. Getting there was the issue, and the “Decisions” that subsequently followed were the bane of our collective existences (so far) but the rewards of this trek will more than suffice for the efforts. I will let my friend Billy Shakespeare take it for a minute….

                To drive, or not to drive, that is the question:

Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer

The slings and arrows of outrageous road rages

Or to use credit cards against a sea of airline tickets

And by opposing this decision, end them. To drive—to sleep,

On the road, in a now frozen motorhome

No more? Nay, and by a sleep to say we end

The heartache and the thousand natural shocks that

Come from deteriorating roadways!

That question is heir to: ’tis a consummation

Devoutly to be wished. To Fly?, to sleep.

To sleep, perchance to dream—ay, there’s the rub:

For in that sleep of at least an Aisle Seat, what dreams may come!

To grunt and sweat under a weary life of dubious automotive electrical systems.

But that the dread of something after death,

(the death of a bank of RV batteries)

The undiscovered auto parts store, from whose bourn

No traveler returns, except the lucky one with the correct tools and parts…. It puzzles the will,

And makes us rather bear those ills we have

Than fly to others that we know of?

Thus conscience doth make cowards of us all,

And thus the native hue of resolution

Is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of that dubious thought,

“We should have bought the stinkin’ tickets and be done with it!”

And enterprises of great soul and freezing moments

Spent astride a calamitous auto tow-bar device.

With this regard their currents turn awry

And possibly, lose the name of action.

Action???!!!

We’ve had plenty of action and we’re only two days into this foray!

             No heat coming from the dashboard system.

             Having to run the generator almost full time in order to keep the little ceramic heaters going that are pointed at us up front.

             Worrying about the 90 gallons of water that travels with us, never mind the ‘other’ tanks of a dubious nature that need periodic emptying!

             And we still have the next month or so to spend in the Northern Climes of the USA while we visit with friends and loved ones.

                      For the most part, actually, the WHOLE part, motorhomes, etc. are not equipped for extended cold weather running. The walls are about an inch thick, the systems are barely weather resistant, never mind proof!

All of this was carefully considered, debated, talked about, and harangued over before we made that decision to drive.

We based our final decision on the Law of Averages.

   Ha! That Law went out our proverbial frosted windows after the second night on the road when it dropped to 12 degrees (nope, I just checked again… it is now 9 degrees) in Tennessee!

             Now, this is mid-December, we’re still in ‘Autumn’ not mid-January or February!

Mr. ‘Law of Averages’ took a powder, and I think he booked out on this year’s South America cruise!

                      Today we will stop in Appomattox, Virgina to spend a day or so with Paula’s son Brain and his wife April. They just finished a brand spankin’ new house that they nicely considered us travelers and had a ‘full hook-up’ parking space installed! We may never leave! At least this will give me a place (besides a Walmart Parking lot) to check the offending batteries and probably procure some new ones. We will need maybe the full four. These are the guys that let us run electrical items (of a not huge nature) like lights, TV, microwave without running the generator, until they power down and need recharging. Our current ones are feeling the effects of our frequency of using them and have given up.

                      Or so it seems. Only a Test will tell, and my Official Tester is officially on the fritz, otherwise we would have already surmised this before we left. Ha! famous ‘Last Words’.

                      To be fair, there were other factors taken into account in order to come to our present predicament, ahh, I mean scenario.

   We would have had to rent a car for about a month, and those days of the $29.99 a-day-rentals are far behind us, never mind finding a place to sleep at this time of the year! Just ask Joseph and Mary! We did have several offers of homes to frequent while we were here but as the plaque over the pilot and co-pilot’s seats in the Motorhome says…. ‘There’s No Place Like Home!’

                                And that is exactly why we’re on our way!

                      God willin’ an’ the creek don’t rise……

And the temps don’t fall….

          And the batteries behave….

                   And …….

You will all need to put your Thinking Caps on and remember back a few years to a Post from Mason City, Iowa (Archives: April 2021) that had to do with Frank Lloyd Wright. Now I know that all of you have heard of this famous architect, and I am sure that most of you would be able to identify his most iconic designs, further, I hope that some of you will bear with me here and learn a little more about one of his favorite places on the planet and luckily for us, it is right here in the Phoenix area.

A little background is in order here, a perspective if you will, for understanding FLW only comes with knowing about his passion for his craft and the tenets that he prescribed to when putting pencil to paper, ultimately arriving at an incredible apex of a design that was at the same time unique, and/but totally identifiable as one of his.

One of our side trips while we are out here brought to Taliesin West. (pronounced Tally-es-inn) Taliesin (East) is FLW’s home/studio in Wisconsin where he resided in the early to mid-1900’s. Taliesin West was conceived in 1927 when FLW was out here working as a consultant on the Arizona Biltmore Hotel in the then sleepy (but rapidly developing) town of Phoenix. FLW had started a ‘school’ of sorts for budding architects. He called it the ‘Fellowship’ and these architects stayed with FLW both up in Wisconsin and then later down in Phoenix where thy all aided in the design and construction of a camp which eventually became Taliesin West. For obvious reasons, wintering in this area was far more preferable than in Wisconsin and summering up there was obviously the reverse. FLW originally set up Taliesin as the aforementioned ‘camp’ which meant that his designs and buildings were meant to be ‘struck’ during the summer when they went back North. Hence the original roofs were made of canvas, which he liked and there were no windows per se, as no glass was incorporated in the original designs. FLW loved the way that the natural light came down through the canvas and provided a slightly tinted, diffused lighting source for the workspaces occupied by himself and his ‘Fellowship’.

We need to know and just basically understand FLW’s Four Principles of Architecture, no worries, they are simple in both concept and incorporation….

            The Destruction of the Box  – Open Concept (wouldn’t Chip, Joanna, and the Property Brother’s be pleased!)

            The Nature of the Site – fully integrate the building with its surroundings as not to ‘compete’ with said placement.

            The Nature of the Materials – if possible, use the building materials that present themselves from the site. In addition, this rock, timber, wood, stone, concrete, etc. should be used honestly, revealing their inherent qualities rather than being disguised, creating a sense of authenticity and connection to nature.

            Designing for Democracy – FLW believed everyone deserved beautiful living environments, aiming to provide affordable, well-designed homes that offered shelter and a higher quality of life. 

            The time spent here at Taliesin West was a highly social affair, tea was served daily for everyone as they gathered together in one of the dedicated areas/’rooms’ and as the ‘Fellowship’ grew in numbers, the areas used for meetings, lectures, and even movie nights, grew in proportion to those new needs. But…… each one was carefully designed with both purpose and aesthetic design in mind.

            I’m going to end the ‘Lecture’ here and move on to some photos that will hopefully illustrate some of his design parameters and techniques. As much as I am a fan and admirer of Frank Lloyd Wright, to be honest, if it weren’t for the Guided Audio Tour, I would have missed out on a lot of translating his designs into obvious observations. Luckily while we were there we picked up from the Bookstore, a very comprehensive guide to all of his projects around both the USA and the World, so in about, say, another thirty years or so, I should be a Master FLW World Guide.

Operators are standing by so please start booking your FLW Tours with me ASAP as I am quite sure that they will fill up quickly!

I know that this is confusing, but yes, we are in Phoenix.

Hey Donny, we just read your last Post, and you were in Vermont! It was like yesterday! How’d ya do that?

            Well, the answer is quite simple, I didn’t finish that Vermont Post until I was already down here and there were only three days between me landing back in Houston and then the two of us taking off from the same three days later.

            Oh. Ok…..that ‘spains it.

Now that we have that settled, yes, we are in delightfully nice and sunny Southern Arizona visiting Steve and Phillis who we were supposed to visit in Montana (along with a bunch of other folks along the way) this past September when our usual Far Western Foray was severely truncated as we needed to get back to Texas more sooner than later for raisons mèdicales. We are the proud consumers of services of Doctor’s Unlimited because we have full access to the Phine Physicians of both Texas and New Jersey! And Medicare is accepted no matter where we go!

So we are down here for a few days with Steve and Phillis, just catching up. But have no fear…..I do have a few tid-bits for you!

First, I thought that I had informed you all that I have a nifty new lens for my camera, but looking back over the past few Posts I see that I have neglected to inform you of this Highly Significant Procuration! It is a Canon 100/400 Zoom with Image Stabilization, and it is the variation that is at the top of their quality tier. I obviously don’t need this for regular landscape pic’s, but it sure has been a boost to some long-distance critter pic’s that you will soon see! Having the Iceland/Svalbard trip coming up in July, with the extremely good possibility of some good Polar Bear and Walrus sightings…… well, hopefully it can make the difference between a fuzzy “Is that a smear on my lens?” photo and a “Holy Smokes! I can see the reflections of those screaming tourists in his eyes!” photos.

            We (the collective we) shall see.

Until then, here are the fruits of the past few days.

Another Adventure of Measurable Proportions was our experience with WAYMO. This is one of those driverless/taxi/Uber type vehicles that you summon with an app.

This spooky thing arrives at your doorstep, invites you into its lair, locks the door and cackles evilly as you pull away at breakneck speeds and it doesn’t even wait for you to put your seatbelt on as it takes corners on almost two wheels because it needs to get you to your destination in order to quickly eject you from its innards so that it can zoom away in a cloud of dust and smoke in order to arrive to where it gets to trap its next victim.

Well….. something like that….. except no high speeds, no adverse cornering, and no cackling, just nice music playing that she asks you what you’d like to listen to while she navigates the crowded city streets in perfect safety, anticipating every move several steps ahead its initiation.

In other words…. Boring.

If you are looking for an exciting transit of a metropolitan area do not take a driverless vehicle. For an adventurous ride may I suggest a jaunt in a good ol’ Yellow Cab on the streets of NYC! Now we’re talkin’!

“Hey! I’m walkin’ here!”

(WHERE?)

My most favoritest thing is when we travel and stumble on something especially unique….. and I get to share it with all of you. My only trepidation in these moments is that I do not fully convey the uniqueness of my discovery to all of you, and you end up scratching your collective heads in wonderment saying to yourselves, “So….what’s so special here Mr. Traveling Troubadour?”

Please read on and hopefully I am not deficient in my aspirations of said conveying!

First, the obligatory Back Story!

I took a brief trip last week up to Manchester-by-the-Sea to visit with my son Donny and his family. A nice, direct flight from Houston dropped me at Boston’s Logan Airport a little over three hours later. A short taxi ride brought me to Donny’s office in downtown Boston where we met. I hitched a ride to MBTS with him on his ride home.

            We spent a few days there until Wednesday when we gathered the ‘Exited from School for Thanksgiving’ kids and drove three hours north to their ski-house in Vermont for the remainder of the Holiday.

            Vermont is one of those places that revels in its own identity and guards said personality with the fervor of an Olympic Skier trying to eke out another 100^th of a second in order to win. Skiing in Vermont borders on a religion and while the neighboring New England states all have excellent ski areas, you have to admit that when someone mentions Vermont, the first thing that comes to mind is skiing, or maybe Maple Syrup if your thoughts travel there at Breakfast Time!

            Skiing is what brought Donny and Hilary to Vermont in the first place and to the ‘once-was-so-but-now-not-so’ sleepy little village of Stowe in particular. Donny worked at the Ski Area while Hilary was employed by the von Trapp family. Yes…. that von Trapp family…. The one with the world-renowned Lodge where the Sound of Music is the benchmark by which all other movies are judged and judging by the decades of throngs of admirers of that movie, their take on that is not that far off!

            The secret to understanding Vermont is to get away from the Resorts and their masses. Now to be fair, if you are going there to ski, then being slope-side is the epitome of convenience ….. you are smack-dab in the middle of all of the action, and it can get crazy! But if you want to experience Vermont then you need to snake your way around the back roads and chance upon little hamlets and towns, of which, thankfully, there is a plethora of.

            The folks in Vermont may be a tad laid back, but they are not fools….. they do realize that there are those who travel to their state for this back-country charm and experience. That’s why you won’t find any billboards in the state and why some towns even limit the kind of signage allowed. (Think wooden, carved and painted, signage being preferred) There is absolutely nothing garish about this State and that’s the way they want it.

            It was on one of these sojourns into the wilds that we came upon the little town of Johnson. Johnson started back in the mid-1700’s as a town decreed by Royal Charter by King George III. Along came the Revolution, Mr. William Samuel Johnson attended all, and was particularly effective in, all of the Constitutional Conventions, and all four Founding Congress’s. He was particularly sympathetic to some issues having to do with Vermont, so when it was all said and done, they named a town after him! So ever since 1785, this hamlet has been known as Johnson.

            ‘So Donny, that’s it? All of this hoopla for a little town in Vermont?’

            No! No! It’s what’s in Johnson that is so special! And this one is coming up on almost 200 years old….. same business, same location, and in reality, the same family at the beginning and now! Started in 1816 and officially founded in 1842, Johnson Woolen Mills is the pride and joy of its namesake town and with excellent reason.

            You don’t get to hang around that long unless you are good. One turn around the Sales Floor located just below the loft where all of the sewing machines and patterns are used, will convince you that these are goods that can be the benchmark for everyone else’s products. I always thought that Pendleton was the standard by which all of the others was measured, and it is good stuff, but….. check out the label…. Hmmm, where is this made? Oh, I see…. Vietnam. Ok, that in itself does not mean that it is inferior to anyone else’s product, it’s just that it means that it’s not made here, in our very own USA. To be fair, Pendleton’s blankets are still domestically made, but practically everything else is imported.

            Now, by contrast and comparison, Johnson Woolen Mills products are all made right there in Vermont using domestic wool and if you go upstairs on a weekday, you will find good ol’ Aunt Mabel sitting behind her sewing machine assembling what are considered the “Best Woolen Trousers in the World.” The remainder of the employees are busy creating the rest of Johnson Woolen Mill’s assemblage of apparel.

            When we arrived in the store that morning, we were enthusiastically greeted by Alexalee who was behind the counter. The kids scattered, each in search of the treasures that would soon be theirs. I did a brief circuit of the store, looked at what was offered, saw that each item had a label stitched onto it proudly proclaiming its Vermont pedigree and assemblage. Now I’m all in! Scurrying back to the front of the store, I confronted Alexalee.

                        “Are all of these items made here in Vermont?”

                                    “Yup.”

                        “Do you have a factory somewhere?”

                                    “Yup.”

                        “Where is it located?”

                                    “Upstairs.”

                        “Up there”? (an incredulous me pointing to the ceiling.)

                        “All this stuff” ???!!!

                                    “Yup.”

            It was then that Alexalee’s smile broadened even more than when she first greeted us. She could tell that she had one hooked, and giving me just enough line to further our conversation, she proceeded to reel me in with each of her following sketches and descriptions of the way it is, and more importantly, the way it was. I learned how many of her past relatives worked at the Mill and how important this enterprise is for the town, not just for employment, but for the collective self-esteem that is quite evident.

            I asked a little more about the History and Alexalee toured me around the store and explained the historic photos that adorned the walls. She then handed me a several-pages long copy of the local Historical Society’s missive on the Mill. Flipping through it I realized that this was exactly what I needed! Asking if there were copies of it available, Alexalee announced, “Sure! We have a copier!” And just like that I had my very own definitive work on the History of Johnson Woolen Mills.

            I had been searching for something to write a Post about, as I was Traveling, but writing about “I went to Vermont, and it was snowing”  was obviously not good enough. I am hoping 😊 that this short tale fills the bill and is interesting enough!

            I guess what really hit me was that this is a family-owned-and-operated business. For those of you that have known me since the Chatterbox days you know how important family run businesses are to me and I am envious (in a good way!) and in total admiration of any that have endured longer than we did…. and this one is coming up on 200 years, which places it as one of the oldest companies in the country that are still operating as it was founded, and by essentially the same organization.

            I will not go through the entire progression and iterations of Johnson Woolen Mills, but I want you to remember just one name for now… Simeon Lyman. In 1816 Mr. Lyman was granted (sold?) the rights to construct a mill on this site. And so it began as there were quite a lot of sheep in Vermont back then that were just begging to be shorn and turned into sturdy, quality made, warm clothing!

            Probably the best way to describe the lineage of the Johnson Woolen Mill is to compare it to another, totally unrelated, type of entity….. the cool ‘50s type singing group that is still touring, maybe like the Duprees or maybe the Ames Brothers. Now we all know that the original members of those groups are not singing today. What has evolved over the years is that over time, one of the members dropped out and was replaced by oh, say the nephew of another member. This goes on until the next older member passes, and his place is taken by another “new” person. As you can see, this morphing of these members, and the progression that entails, keeps the group as authentic as they can be because there is always a connection that can be traced back through the lineage to the origin of the group. It’s kind of the same with the Johnson Woolen Mill…. as the business moved along, sons and other relatives took the places of their forebears, (one lasted 118 years!) formed new partnerships which brought new blood to the enterprise and so on, until we come to today. The present co-owners and co-operators of the Mill are the Richards family and Erin Desautels.

            When you peruse the aisles of the sales floor and stop to examine, and actually feel, the items for sale there, you can appreciate both the quality of the fabric and the sturdiness of the ‘construction’ of these items. That’s what you get when you purchase an item made by a person who’s livelihood and reputation depends on how much skill and care they weave into the item that is on the table directly in front of them.

Thankfully, (for all of you that cannot zoom up to Johnson, Vermont) they have a very modern on-line presence at johnsonwoolenmills.com, a treat that I am quite sure that the originators never even dreamt of!

Now remember when I asked you not to forget the name of the guy way back in the day, from 1816, Simeon Lyman?  Well, Mr. Lyman is the Great-great-great-great grandfather of none other than Erin Desautels, one of the present owners.

                        In my mind, it just doesn’t get any better than that!

Our Critter Sitting stint in Durango is almost over, Travis and Lorelyn come home later tonight, reports and photos from the Balkans seem to indicate that they had a great time. Meanwhile here in Durango, the Critters are all safe (it’s a coyote eat anything world out here!) and we have had a respite from that Texas heat. We have had Bluebird Skies for the entirety of our tenure here which makes doing our Projects a lot nicer. If you recall, I asked Lorelyn and Travis to come up with a list of “chores” for us to do while they were away. Coming off of the Texas Chore List (and successfully losing a few pounds) we did not want to regress so when we arrived the List was waiting! We added a few things of our own and hopefully these will be met with Approval when the Wayward Proprietors of Tomboy Farm regain their foothold on USA soil.

            I was able to take a few pics almost on a daily basis, some nice ones with my new 100/400 telephoto. Probably the best way to proceed is to just show you the pics and explain the scenes so here they come!

Well, that’s it for now. In a few days we’ll be back in Texas, and it won’t be long until the Vietnam/Cambodia trip fills our ‘thoughts of preparations’ routine!

Oh, and by the way, we’ve added another trip for next year so you all will have to make sure that you’ve accrued enough vacation time! we are going on a family cruise with Paula’s kids to Alaska via Princess (of course!) slated for the second week in August. Get ready for glacier and maritime critter pics!

Yes, it’s been a while since I’ve posted anything. We are down here in Texas doing chores around the ranch. Lots of maintenance items needed catching up and some new projects started. It’s been crazy hot here ever since we arrived back in early September….. every day has been 90+ degrees, which makes all of these chore-related activities somewhat difficult, but weight reducing at the same time!

            But we are in for a huge temp change almost overnight! The temps will plummet, and the lows will be in the 30’s and the highs barely getting to 60! We will not be experiencing any Polar Vortex attributions or even Atmospheric River overflows… because we will be in Durango Colorado for about three weeks Critter Sitting while Lorelyn and Travis go on vacation. Hence our dramatic Weather Reversals!

            I am sure that there will be some items worthy of a Post when we get there, in the meantime I have procured a new lens and am experimenting with some astrophotography which should be exquisite out there at 6300 feet of elevation and crystal clear, no ambient light pollution, dark skies. We shall see….. and so will you if the results are satisfactory!

Here are some recent pics with the new lens for your visual enjoyment!

On to Durango!

For TONS more information and to find out details, go to www.NJAirshow.com The Annual Show is usually held in June. This one was added because of some inclement weather this past June.

So….. as I last reported to you, we drove back to Texas.

            And then I did some chores there and got back on a plane and went back to New Jersey!

???!!!

            Yup! Back I went to volunteer for a few days at the NJ Airshow which is held annually at the Greenwood Lake Airport in West Milford, NJ. You all saw a photo of my grandson Andy’s toolbox at the Airport in my last Post, well, that’s how I got involved with this show.

            Mind you now, I did not have to be dragged back there kicking and screaming…… as Airshow’s are some of my favorite events on the planet! If you go back to the beginning of this Blog, October 25th of 2020, you will find one of my original Posts entitled “What You Don’t Know Is….” that has an Aviation slant to it. This will explain most of my affinizations on this topic. Throw in a chance to work with Andy and you’ve got the rest of my story!

WARNING!

This Post has only to do with Aviation and Airshows, this one in particular!

I’m really hoping that fact does not scare you away! I promise that there are some apropos anecdotes, some really cool photos,

and the chance to gain valuable insight into the ways and means of airshows and their performers…. just in case that category comes up when you finally get selected to be on Jeopardy!  ………..

“I’ll take ‘Airshows for $800’ please, Ken.”

Seen in this photo, this small control surface is usually found at the rear of the plane, not in front as it is seen here, and therefore has a different name.

“Pick me Ken! Pick me!”

First you will need to ring in Mr. Hall, you know the rules.

                        “Right you are Ken ol’ boy!”    (DING!)

                        Ahh, yes….Don, go ahead…

                        “What is a canard!”

                        Correct for $800!

                        “By the way Ken did you …..”

            “Ahh, Mr. Hall we don’t have time for any extended extrapolations here…”

            “Yes Ken, but this is fascinating and will only take a minute! Did you know that this particular design was actually the first one used in early aviation!!!???”

            Actually Don, I did know that as I am very intelligent, but now that you’ve piqued their interest (sigh) and interrupted the flow and pacing of this tightly and timely controlled television show, why don’t you now go ahead and enlighten the folks in our studio and our viewers at home about this, as you have already said, “fascinating subject”.

            “Hey! Thanks Ken!”

            Mr. Hall can you please step back behind your podium? This is not a classroom!

            “Oops! Sorry about that Ken! Back behind I go! Now folks, if you take a look at this photo that I happen to have in my phone of the Wright Brothers’ plane, you will notice that this particular control surface that we are referring to is right here, up front!

Now let’s look very quickly as Ken is getting really agitated, at this next photo that I happen to have, and you will see where this control surface has migrated to….. all the way back to the tail where it is called a “horizontal stabilizer” which holds the “elevators” which control the pitch of the aircraft and point the nose either up or down when actuated!

In the photo that was first shown, that featured yellow plane is called a Long E-Z, and was designed by the aviation genius Burt Rutan, who also deigned that plane (the Rutan Voyager) that flew around the world non-stop in 1986. And that’s just a small part of it! If we…..”

            No! No! No! That’s enough Mr. Hall! You’ve hijacked this Program for long enough! We will now break for a word from one of our sponsors, ahh.… oh no…. Rutan Enterprises???!!! That’s it! I’m outa here!!!

            “Bye Ken! See ya next time on Jeopardy!”

            Ok, well that little yellow plane was just one of the aerobatic acts that were featured this past weekend at the NJ Airshow. This particular airshow is rather unique in that it also incorporates a ‘Night Show” where we see the airplanes zoom through the dark skies spewing incendiaries all over the place…. A veritable fireworks aeronautic as it were. Add in a really cool Drone Story/Show and firebombs that light up the entire airport with billowing fireballs made by igniting gallons of gasoline. Fireworks? You want fireworks? How about a show that puts the Macy’s 4^th of July Show to shame (and that’s not taking anything away from the fine organizations annual NYC show!)

            A regular Airshow usually starts around 1:00 PM and goes until late afternoon as those types of acts need daylight to be appreciated. The folks at Greenwood Lake Airport have assembled a treasure trove of talented routines that start in the daylight, move on through the twilight, and finish with the proverbial BANG! (or BOOM!) when the skies are pitch black.

            I have never seen anything quite like it!!!

Most Airshows offer a variety of seating options. At Greenwood Lake, there are basically three, General Admission, this is where you bring your own folding chairs, maybe a big blanket, and ‘stake your claim’ in the appropriate area. Next is a Reserved Seating option called Front Line. Here you have a Reserved Seat up front, no need to worry about dragging chairs or claiming spots. And finally, there is the VIP Flight Line Experience. This is in its own enclosed area complete with a reserved table (with white linen tablecloth!), private, air conditioned, very clean, no /or short lines, bathrooms, free bottled water, and a private restaurant/grill where you can purchase good vittles right inside your own compound. In addition, you are given a Very Prestigious VIP Area Pass that hangs around your neck that grants you full back and forth entries and exits so that you can go out into the Vendor Area and you can procure the Fried Oreos(!) and other essentials!

The VIP area is where I put my time in, and I can assure you that our goal is to have you have the best possible time while you are there! Think of us as your own personal concierges, there isn’t much that we can’t facilitate except maybe a flight in the big biplane that’s sitting right in front of you! We can, however, introduce you to the fine group of instructors that can arrange for just an “Introductory Flight” that will put you in control of your own Cessna 182 for a gorgeous flight up and around West Milford and beautiful Greenwood Lake!

Here are some interesting tid-bits that bring a sobering aspect to the business side of this business. Every one of the performers gets paid whether they perform or not. Translation: If it rains and the show is cancelled or the weather is miserable enough to keep the crowds away, the Teams get paid anyway. They also still get free lodging, free rental cars, free food, free fuel (both while performing and in transit) in other words, when an act is booked, it is an all-expense guarantee of being paid. Now this is understandable on the Performer’s part…. why would you book a place and not get paid, as they could have booked at a different place where the weather was good enough to fly and they would get paid. In this business, the onus is on the Operator who cannot hope enough for decent weather! This is why a jam-packed show is quite essential to the continuing operation of any airshow!

But let’s start at the beginning, with the Performers, the Pilots and /or their support Team, etc. To say that these are a talented bunch of folks would be a huge understatement as what they do, and how well they do it, simply defies an ordinary explanation. Some novice airshow attendees will ask, “When do they start the air tricks in their planes?” An innocent enough question, they just want to know when the show starts. But the term “tricks” can leave anyone in the know bristling with an inner rage (?) as these aerial maneuvers are anything but “tricks”. There is no ‘sleight of hand’ going on, no ‘magic wands’, no ‘illusionary tactics’, just pure skill and daring (albeit a ‘safe’ daring) enhanced by thousands of hours of practice and technological improvements that sometimes find their way into general aviation!

            Quite often these Performers are commercial airline pilots that do this as a side business or hobby, and this fact is usually conveyed to the spectators by the Airshow Announcer when they introduce and speak about the current performer that is airborne at that time. I have heard more than once a comment coming from an uninformed spectator watching a series of loops, snap rolls, inverted passes, and they say, “I wouldn’t want them as my pilot!” Au contraire my good novice skywatcher….. that person flying is exactly who you would want as your pilot as they have those thousands of hours of experience in recovering from situations that they probably will never find themselves in, but a little extra practice exiting a “situation” never hurts! (As an aside, commercial airline pilots routinely undergo vigorous training in highly sophisticated simulators where their “instructor/proctor” throws them into almost impossible scenarios (Bird strike/main bus fuse failure/ landing gear failure/ and a meteorological micro-burst all at the same time!)

            On top of being skillful, they are all downright friendly and love to walk the Flight Line, before, but especially after their routines. Here they meet you, the Face in the Crowd, and they stop for photos, will sign just about anything, and will have a genuine conversation with you especially if you are a young person! Go get the grandkids, ask any one of the Show Volunteers where the best spot to meet the pilots is and you will become a hero to your grandkid as you were the facilitator of that meeting! And you may get some goosebumps yourself!

            Attending an Airshow requires some forethought and information. Let’s face it, if your weather is grand, the crowds should be also. I can assure you that every aspect of your Airshow Experience is thought through and then thought through again before every show. Getting you in and out as expeditiously as possible is paramount to your experience and the Operators are keenly aware of this. Having said all that, you are responsible for some of this, as you must bring with you some intelligence and patience. This is not like exiting your local Shop Rite parking lot as everyone wants to get out of there, usually at the same time, which, because we are human, is actually impossible to do. So why fight it?

Some of that forethought, especially if you’ve got little Attendees in your care with you, will go a long way. My advice is to hang back a bit, go to the vendors, get dinner, hang around where they roll the planes in and out, ask questions about them, watch some of them take off (some do not spend the night) and if you are at a show that allows “Fly-Ins” you can sit and watch hundreds of just regular Cessna’s, Piper’s, Mooney’s, Taylor Craft, and a myriad of others take off and return to their home bases. When this is done, you amble over to your car and (probably) have a “muchly more betterer” 😊 exit experience while at the same time, an absolute full day of Aviation Enjoyment….. especially that kid, either the one that you brought with you, or the one that is still inside you……. I promise.

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Some More Random Photos

I hope that you enjoyed these few extra pics!

As you can see from the above, we are presently on our way back to Texas. After a lot of debate and logistical finagling we came to the conclusion that heading back there instead of taking the much more scenic and desirable route through Minnesota, Montana, and Colorado was not the best route, in more ways than one. Unfortunately, this decision has left in its wake a few disappointed folks, namely the ones that we were to visit along the way, but no one was more disappointed than we were!

               Short backstory.

               Paula has spinal ‘issues’ that result in nerve anomalies in her feet.

 Solution: Spinal injections.

Moderate results.

Investigations, inconclusive.

Ultimately an MRI

What!!!??

No….. that’s a different issue!

Results: severed ‘anterior tibialis tendon’, time of malady and circumstances unknown.

Probable surgery. Wait.

Oops! Surgery not recommended.

Go West! She was commanded by the Doc. Get PT!

So that’s what we are doing. Add in some other logistical glitches and we came up with the fact that yes, we could wrap ourselves in a Trip of Highways of Circumference, but ultimately it all would have been too rushed. We decided to visit the affected folks later in the year at a more leisurely and quality-based pace.

Next stop, Homebase – Brenham, Texas.

End of Short Backstory!

This past summer had many an item mixed into it, a lot of the time was spent with family and friends, most of which were gladly repeated from experiences in the past. I hesitate to re-report said experiences because as wonderful as they were on that shared family level, there was not enough new material to ply you, the average reader with! And trying to keep up with the actual name of this Blog…. Muchadoaboutnothing-dp.com, I will not tire you with repetitious details. I’ll just leave it at, just like you all, we revel in being with friends and family every year enjoying traditional experiences through shared times!

Having stated that, there were some highlights that do deserve a nod in the ‘fresh’ category and some bragging on family updates!

Graduations, Recitals, etc. were some of the main reasons that we headed back East as early as we did…. three of note here….

Aubrey (Paula) is now in Chatham High School ready to add her swimming prowess to their perennially championship team. Aubrey has been swimming competitively now for about seven years and is constantly improving her best times and leaving her contemporaries in her wake!

Down the shore in New Jersey, we had the opportunity to watch Aubrey (14) swim 1500 meters (the old mile) in the open ocean at an event in Belmar where she bested about 600 other swimmers of ages all above her to come in around 200^th out of 800! And this was her first ‘open water’ meet ever!

Madeline (Don) is a Freshman at Ramapo College where she hopes to exit in five years with a Masters with a nod towards a Counseling career. One of her favorite things about Ramapo is their daily (?) bus to NYC. Maddie has more than 100 Playbills in her Broadway Shows I Have Seen collection!

And Andrew (Don) graduated at the top of his class from Aviation Institute of Maintenance in Teterboro, N.J. with his A&P (Airframe and Powerplant) firmly in his grasp. He is currently employed at the Greenwood Lake Airport in northern New Jersey where he is gaining valuable experience.

We were able to have a very nice maritime excursion out in the ocean outside Manchester-by-the-Sea with my son Donny and his family on their 32-foot sailboat, Selkie. When they moved up there from Cambridge about four years ago the kids started sailing lessons, their parents followed suit and now the kids are all involved competitively in sailing.  It was a great experience for us to watch the kids, Adelaide and Eleanor (13) and Augustus (15), handle a complex sailboat like they were pros!

Eleanor and Adelaide also traveled to Savannah, Georgia to compete on the 1500-meter Relay at the Junior Olympic Trials where they attained an All-America status! The only questionable part of this was someone’s decision to schedule these events in Savannah, Georgia in August where the daytime temps regularly top 100 degrees. Several competitors needed medical attention, and they ended up running some events at crazy late/early hours in order to avoid the heat. We all know the solution to this issue, it’s too bad the organizers did not!

On the Travel Front, you all saw the Posts from the Rhine River and London trip, which could not have been better. I highly recommend that Rhine River trip from either Basel to Amsterdam or the reverse, either one is fabulous.

But maybe I’m saving the Best for Last and it’s totally local! We had the opportunity to ‘tour’ New York City and I say that with all seriousness! How crazy is it that for a thousand years we’ve lived in the shadows of the skyscrapers of NYC, and it took a request from friends of ours that we met on the World Cruise to actually get this experience!

            (Another) little back story here is definitely in order.

            We met Sandi and Steve, residents of Palm Springs, California and Vancouver, Washington on the World Cruise three years ago. You know them from Posts here about Mt. Hood, Palm Springs, Big Bear Lake, Astoria, Oregon, and several others as we have kept in contact with them and visited them, in those other locales. Well, it seems that even with all of their travels, they’ve never visited NYC! Lo and behold, along comes another ‘World Cruise’ that they took from Sydney, Australia, disembarking in NYC this past August. We agreed last Spring (in Palm Springs) that we would hang around long enough to “show them around “as we obviously knew it better than they did.

I was bound and determined to give them a good experience as they had outdone themselves when we visited them on the West Coast in Palm Springs and Vancouver. You all know our affinity for Tours By Locals by now so with ‘tongue in cheek’ I started a company called Tours by Strangers and proceeded to plan a several-day itinerary for them.

They arrived in NYC on a Wednesday where they walked around Rockefeller Center and St. Patrick’s. We met them early Thursday morning at their hotel which we were also checked into. Off we went to the West Side of Manhattan to embark on the famous Circle Line that would take us all around Manhattan. The highlights were the Statue of Liberty, lower Manhattan with the Freedom Tower, and the Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Williamsburg bridges that span the East River. That evening was dinner at Carmine’s and then off to see Wicked at the Gershwin Theater. Wicked never fails to impress and Sandi and Steve have obviously never seen a show on Broadway, but they have seen the travel-productions of shows when they came to the Portland, Oregon area. Luckily Wicked was not one of those so they had a First-First Experience!

A walk though Times Square at night on our way back to the hotel capped off a good first day. The second day (Friday) I arranged for an all-day tour of the City by Gary from Tours By Locals and he may be the best tour guide we’ve ever had, and you all know how good our past ones have been! There wasn’t much that we missed on this tour which brought us down into the subway system as this is by far the best way to get around. That evening was dinner at Gallagher’s one of the most long-lived and iconically authentic New York Streak Houses there are. It was obviously superb!

The next morning (Saturday) I procured tickets to the top of the Empire State Building. I opted for the ‘Express Service’ which allows you to skip all of the lines and get straight to the top. This is probably double the price, but well worth it! On top of that there is a new ‘Early Admittance’ ticket (yes, that’s even more $$$! But this day was worth the extra expense!) that gets you in a full half-hour before the general public. Throw that on top of the ‘Express Service’ and we found ourselves THE ONLY ONES ON THE OBSERVATION DECK of the Empire State Building! We had the entire place to ourselves, the weather acted as if it was in on this from the beginning, we could see as far as we possibly could and spent the most amount of time that I’ve ever spent up there where we enjoyed showing Steve and Sandi the sights from all four sides.

By the time we exited it was time to catch a cab back to Times Square where we had a brunch of sorts at Junior’s (you know, those piled high pastrami and corned beef sandwiches, etc.) and then it was time for Paula and me to skedaddle. Steve and Sandi left the City on Monday, heading back to Portland.

This is the part that really aggravated Paula’s ankle-issues, her leg looked like an elephant’s after walking (about 7 miles!) all over. A few hurried doctor’s visits brought us to almost hanging around for a surgery that we thought was imminent but was ultimately contra-indicated so here we are on our way back to Texas.

I started this entry a few days ago, worked on it while Paula was driving (she’s a much better driver than me!) and we entered Texas last evening and are at the first Rest Stop on I-10, the Texas Welcome Center, where we spent the night. It’s about 4:30 AM, the place is as quiet as a truck stop on an Interstate can be, and we still have 200 miles to go before we get to Brenham! That’s the distance from Port Jervis N.Y. to Cape May, N.J…… I still can’t get over how huge this place is!

If you’ve stayed with me this long on this Post, then you get to have the exclusive first-look at where you will be traveling with us this upcoming Travel Season which starts in January!

Here we go:

            January into February will be Vietnam from top to bottom, a side trip into the hills to spend time with local folks and then at the end we will spend some more time in Cambodia with Ankor Wat an obvious highlight!

            April into May will be the Baltic Capitals with a nice pre-trip to Poland. Both of these (Vietnam and the Baltic’s) will be new ventures for us using Overseas Adventure Travel (O.A.T.) which is the company that Harold and Sherry (World Cruise friends/ Florida, who will be with us) use all the time. They are land-based tours, not necessarily cruises.

            Then in July/August we will fly to Reykjavik where we board the Viking Neptune for a fourteen-day cruise around Iceland with Carol and Glenn (Paula’s cousin / Ortley Beach) then on to Svalbard (Spitsbergen) close to the North Pole and way above the Arctic Circle! Then on to the coast of Norway for a few ports, eventually we disembark at Bergen and fly home.

            So, as usual, make sure that your passports are up to date (mine just came back from the forgers) and that you pack the appropriate clothing needed to go from hot steamy Vietnam to cold and icy Svalbard!

            It should be an exciting season!

Random pics from NYC for your perusal……

Hope you enjoyed these!

                Had I done my homework and investigated just a tad further, I would have discovered that my favorite place in this area, was in fact, closed on Wednesdays. Yes, Windsor Castle the oldest and largest occupied castle in the world, closes on Wednesdays. To top that, this week only, it was also closed on Tuesday, so even if I had realized what was going on, I could not have switched our Tuesday and Wednesday. I would have had to dive headlong into Monday, by rushing Paula out of town by rail and insert Windsor into the Monday slot!

But it would have been worth it!

Now, we just have to come back!

Yes, a trip to Windsor alone is worth the flight across the Pond.

                        But we decided to go to Windsor anyway as the journey is a small adventure in itself. Any time that you engage mass transit in a foreign country it becomes part of that adventure until it becomes routine.

                        For this one we need to get to Paddington Station (yes, that Paddington, as in Paddington Bear) which involves several Underground Lines with numerous connections. Once at Paddington we stood with the rest of humanity staring up at the large Track Sign and waited for our train to Slough to become listed. That was when we could find out which Track and Platform it was coming in on. You can tell how many people will be on your train by the amount of movement that is made after each new train appears on the Board and then observe how many people react to it and flee to the Platform just listed. We had about seven folks move in unison when Platform 11 was listed for the train to Slough. We disembarked at Slough and that train went on to points afar, as we waited again for the next train to Windsor. This train had its own track as all it does all day is run back and forth to Windsor which is about an eight-minute journey.

                        It’s been about 25 years since I’ve done this trip and there have been a few changes, the most notable is the Windsor Station itself. No longer a sleepy little countryside train station, Windsor has grown into a small regional Destination Shopping Plaza, utilizing some of the old frameworks of the venerable old Station. With the Castle closed for the day, the visitors that were there were obviously not really tourists, but rather locals out for the day having lunch and shopping. The area surrounding Windsor has grown significantly in the past twenty -five years.

                        I can’t say that the Castle has changed much since then. Old stonework doesn’t seem to morph that much (unless you are Cologne Cathedral!) and since the place was closed for the day, we could not see anything except some exterior shots. Most importantly, any interior views would be those of the State Apartments which were consumed in that fire back in 1992. I have had the opportunity to tour these rooms both before and after the fire and I can report that the casual observer would never be able to discern the difference between that Before and After.

                        I think that we could all agree that, to us with a Representative Democracy, that the goings on of a Constitutional Monarchy are a bit different, if not downright strange. Maybe someday I’ll do a Post about it as it is fascinating! But here’ a factoid about the Monarchy or Crown as it’s called.

                        The Monarch (King or Queen) is the owner of Windsor Castle and many, many other assets (including Dutchies, but those are a whole another entity!) but only while they are in that position. These assets are really the property of The Crown Estate, a Statutory Corporation established in 1961 by a…… statute!

                        Confused?

                        You betcha!

All of these ‘assets’ are held and managed by this Corporation in the name of the Sovereign, not the Government, or the people, but they are managed in a way that is fiscally aware of its responsibilities to both the government and the people. That, my friends, is a waaay oversimplification of this relationship, but it does help explain why there was some consternation (besides the obvious) when the Fire occurred. Queen Elizabeth II struggled with the fact that she was the Owner du jour, and that the Government could not be held responsible for the costs associated with the rebuilding process. So several compromises were struck, The Queen (who does have a significant amount of ‘old’ money) paid for part of it, she agreed to have Buckingham Palace open up to the public for the first time and that revenue went towards that rebuild, and lastly she agreed to pay ‘income taxes’ (again, for the first time) which went towards  the rebuild. In any event (and thankfully!) the re-build of Windsor Castle was an amalgam of the best architects and craftsmen from around the world, attempting to re-do what the fire had un-done. The Notre Dame blaze is the most recent example of world artisans coming together in order to keep things as historically accurate as possible while tweaking details for more modern times and in a way that may help thwart future fire issues.

                        But all of this will need to be observed from within at another time. Windsor Castle is definitely worth another trip to Britain! Meanwhile we walked around Windsor itself. An obviously older village, it comes with its share of historic buildings and cobbled streets and is intrinsically entwined with the Castle next door.

                        The day was gorgeous and the walks around town both short and uneventful, except that I could not get us lunch reservations at the Sir Thomas Wren Hotel  (he’s the guy that designed St, Paul’s and a host of other famous buildings back in the mid-1600’s) which is right on the Thames and has several billion swans. They were not accepting reservations from non-hotel residents for that day. No worries, as our Primary Goal was to find Paula an authentic British Scone complete with Clotted Cream and Marvelous Jam. Thankfully we received directions from the King who directed us to a shoppe that had some nifty bakery-type items along with traditional sandwiches.

                        Speaking of the King, we almost had a Royal Sighting as he was in Residence at Windsor that day. As we were walking up to one of the entrances, we happened upon a gaggle of photographers waiting patiently(?) Inquiring as to their location we were informed that the King was readying himself for departure as his Royal Standard was dispatched and in its place the Union Jack was unfurled. This can mean only one thing and that is that the Royal is leaving the premises. We waited a decent amount of time because we were quite certain that the moment we left, the King would appear. Well, we waited long enough, and we could hear that Scone screaming from that Bakery Shoppe, so we hastened along, chancing upon an old church situated just outside the walls of the Castle.

                        The Windsor Parish Church of St. John the Baptist has been around since almost the beginning as there are records of its presence here from the mid 1100’s. The Royals used it for worship until 1475 when St George’s Chapel was built within the Castle walls. St John the Baptist reserves a special relationship with the Castle which is always in support of it and its congregation. It is open to the public and has several noteworthy attributes which are illustrated  here.

                        Almost ‘King Sightings’ and ‘Definite Scone Sightings’ make for an exciting day in Windsor, so with all of that behind us we retraced our way back to the multiple trains, Undergrounds, and strolls in order to get home.

                        Tomorrow will be our departure for the Colonies so time to get packed and figure out which ones of our luggage will be sacrificed to the Baggage Gods in exchange for a safe journey. Dinner was had at the local, totally cred, British Pub, the Friend at Hand.

                        Fatigued we were after that Marathon Monday, so a Plan of Moderation was put into effect for Tuesday. We decided to take the HOHO (Hop On/Hop Off) Double Decker bus around town. We chose the loop that would show us the most sights, some of which we had seen the day before. First we had to get to the stop that best suited our needs, which was Piccadilly Circus, which I am positive that you have all at least heard of. I remember when I first heard of it I envisioned it to be exactly what it said….. a Circus. Little did I know that the term, circus, come from old Mr. Bruchalski’s favorite subject….. Latin, and it means circle or a larger open circular area. I guess that’s where circuses were first held? (And they have a ring?) Anyway, when you think of this section of London, think Times Square, NYC. Both have theaters, multiple roads intersecting, large graphic gaudy signage, and peeps, lots and lots of peeps.

       Well Donny, what about the Piccadilly part? That just sounds like a silly name!

                        I’m glad you asked that Mr. Etymologist!

                        It comes from the word for a type of collar that was popular in the 16^th century (think Sir Francis Drake or Billy Shakespeare) and the guy who made a ton of them (piccadills) lived nearby. He did so well that he built a house and called it Piccadilly Hall. (Now you have another word for Connections!)

                        When we exited the Piccadilly Station up onto the streets where we did in fact encounter tons of those peeps because we were still in a Rush Hour(s) sort of situation. Waited we did for the Big Red Bus and were greeted rather grumpily by the driver, which to be honest had a souring effect on the morning. We jammed the new sanitized earphones into our ears and listened to the running commentary while seeing what we could from up top. Our plan was to run the entire route and then circle back to where we wanted to get off. More later.

                        Traffic being what it is in London, using this mode of transportation is not the most efficient, and that quickly became apparent. London’s streets are laid out according to the way that one may drive a herd of cats. It is absolutely fascinating to examine a map of London. It immediately brings you back to those Roman and Medieval times when paths were the custom, which eventually turned into regular throughfares, and then official roads.  One-way alleyways connecting larger lanes and roads are the norm. Now try and install some needed traffic lights and then try to make sense of their sequencing! Those cats are looking a bit easier in comparison!

                        Trafalgar Square with Admiral Nelson’s Column in the middle came into view, past Whitehall’s government and military buildings, down towards the Thames and Parliament with the tower that holds that big clock and the bell named Big Ben, across the Thames, the London Eye on the left , over through Elephant and Castle (yes, that is the name of that section of town) past where Shakespeare’s The Globe Theatre was/is located (reconstructed) and the back across the Thames via the Tower Bridge and then back up towards Westminster. It was at that point we decided to press our Ejection Seat buttons and exit forthwith near Parliament, Big Ben, and Westminster Cathedral. The Cathedral was really our goal, but we did not know what condition the Line of Admission was going to be in.

                        Ta Da!!! Yes!!! We were fortunate to find that there was no line to gain entry. To be certain, there were folks all round us, but not crazy busy! Complementary headsets were provided and obviously added to the depth of knowledge during our visit.

                        To visit the Abbey is to visit the history of England herself. This is where all of the Monarchs have been coronated, and this is where a great many of people that are importantly interwoven in the tapestry of that history are immortalized and buried. The Tower, Westminster Abbey, and Windsor Castle are, in my opinion, essential visits to understand everything in context. This site has had a version of an Abbey since the Benedictines were installed here in the 900’s by King Edgar. He (and his) preceded William the Conqueror, who was coronated here in 1066. The present church uses the same foundation and floors as its predecessor. The current building dates from the 1100/1200’s and was started by King Edward the Confessor as a fit burial place for himself. He obviously succeeded

 On with our visit.

                        The route is circuitous as you may imagine. It brings you past small side chapels, important graves and memorials, into little side chambers that hold worship space or tombs, down in front through the nave, choir, and both north and south transepts. The route is on the main floor only, nothing up or down. There is the famous Poet’s Corner where the Big Guy, Mr. Chaucer is interred. The other Big Guy has a memorial there, but he is buried in his hometown of Stratford-upon-Avon. You do know who I am speaking of.

                        There is the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior here also. It is the only Tomb on the floor that you may not walk on.

                        Here is a partial list of some of the notable folks that can be found interred within:

            17 former Kings and Queens including Mary, Queen of Scots and her feuding sister Queen Elizabeth I,

            Sir Issac Newton, Charles Darwin, and Stephen Hawking

            Chaucer, Dickens, and Kipling

            Churchill, Attlee, and Chamberlain

            Fredric Handel and Lawrence Olivier

This Cathedral was also the site of Diana’s wedding and her funeral.

            By the by, the admission charge is for Tourons only as this is a working church and there is never a charge for Worship Services or to attend the Evensong practices and presentations. We left the Abbey in time for a nice lunch between there and Buckingham Palace. The Palace is rather unimposing as Palaces go, there is nothing on it that resembles a castle, but then it was only constructed in the 1800’s and thus adheres to that style. It is rather large as we could view it from the outside. It was not open to the public that day and is only open during the summer rush from early July to late September. We missed it by two days!

                        The afternoon was wearing on, so we ambled across St James Park and Green Park heading for Green Park Station, which is on one of our favorite’s, the Piccadilly Line. This would bring us down to Leicester Square on Charing Cross Road (mentioned yesterday?) and then the short stroll to Cecil Court, my favorite street in the world. This lane has been closed to traffic since the late 1890’s which means that it has probably never been open to traffic! Cecil Court began back in the mid 1600’s and has had several iterations since. The current one, starting the 1930’s, has been one of rare and used books, maps, manuscripts, etc. Since I was here last, there seems to be a few antique dealers making inroads into this book sellers’ realm. I showed Paula some of my favorite shops and then we headed back Underground and popped up in Russell Square, our Home Station. Tomorrow is Windsor Castle!