Make sure to double check your ballot

As this Miami Herald article indicates, there have been some problems with the voting machines. Just make sure to review your ballot before submitting so your are actually voting for the person you intended to. To do that you first must vote, which I urge you to do, early, on the 7th, absentee, whatever works, but please do your part.

Gratuitous Dirty Photos

Just before my last trip we took our pup to get his coat buzzed since it was so hot. Well shortly afterwards, we took him to Al Lopez dog park. It had rained pretty heavily the night before and after a bit of playing with the two other pooches there, Gideon discovered a mud puddle. In the time that we've had him he's never really gotten dirty before, so, he was in heaven.

Given the photo below, you might even say he was in Hog's Heaven:


It's a dirty job but someone's got to do it.

Just Say NO to Electrified Fences in Tampa

I heard at the OSHNA membership meeting that there was a proposal before City Council tonight regarding an amendment to allow electrified fences to be installed. I urge anyone in Tampa to contact their City Council person and express their opposition to this proposal. Seminole Heights residents, as well as those in other neighborhoods, have worked very hard to remove blighting structures such as barbed-wire fences, and this would be a enormous step backwards to neighborhood redevelopment and reduce quality of life where these fences would be installed. Not only would the proposal allow fences up to 10' tall, they require a perimeter fence around the electrified fence, so we get twice the eyesore. Despite mitigation efforts, they would also remain a safety hazard.
You may contact City Council either through the below website:
Tampa City Council
or phone them at:
(813) 274-8131
or fax to:
(813) 274-7076

1, 2 Freddy's Coming For You

9, 10 Freddy wants your PIN

Maybe its because of the Halloween season or perhaps it's because this was the one movie to truly give me nightmares when I was a teenager, but, when I drove up to the ATM at the GTE FCU on Florida near Busch, I would have sworn this was Freddy Kreuger staring back at me.....

Back In Time Again

I was sifting through some older photos on the hard drive and came across some that my fiance took after Frances hit when we were living in Vero Beach. We evacuated to Tampa for both Frances and Jeanne. We were renting in Vero while I was in flight school and the first storm occurred right about the time I was to solo. Here's what we saw when following the storm from Tampa.


Meanwhile the rention pond at the house in Riverview where we were staying was almost surfable:


That 3 hour drive to Vero after Labor Day took us about 5 hours with traffic and detours. We had no idea what to expect.
Along the way, scenes such as these were commonplace:

Turning down our street after this long drive we were met with this:


All in all our house fared very well, with no damage to the integrity of the structure, so no belongings were lost. Unlike many of our neighbors we dodged a bullet. Virtually our entire neighborhood and most of that part of Florida would have blue roofs for the next year.



I've lived in Florida almost my whole life and this was my first hurricane. All told we were without power for the month of September for 22 days from the two storms. My flight training was put on hold but my fiance was required to report to work most of that time. Availability of supplies and every day conveniences was limited. We drove to Tampa almost every day because of our limited options for lodging, food and gas. We were blessed, so my heart went out to those who were impacted even more than we were. I hope Tampa continues it's lucky streak, here's to another season almost done.(Althought the fat lady hasn't sang yet!)

Obnoxious Americans

I hate to make hasty judgements on a limited number of experiences, but I felt I had to say something about the kind of people that are representing us when they travel abroad.
This was my first trip to a non-English speaking country. I had taken 2 years of high school Spanish back in the late 80's and had not used it really since. Combine that with the fact that what I did learn was taught in a very very small rural high school, and, needless to say, my Spanish was a bit less than usable for most of my trip. With the patience of the locals and a little effort on my part, I was able to communicate most of the time. I have a new-found desire to reawaken those synapses and learn even more.
Loreto is a tourist destination, however it is not like Cabo or Cancun where one can speak exclusively English during their visit. That is, in my opinion, part of the attraction.
On with my observations. Most of the "Gringos" I encountered were from southern California or elsewhere. Too many dollars not enough sense if you get my meaning. They were snooty and rude, not so much to other gringos but to the locals. We had one lady come up to us while we were having lunch and ask if this was our first time here. When we responded yes, and how nice it was she proceeded to boast about her new home she was having built and made a juvenile taunt about how she was able to move here and we couldn't. We were total strangers and this is how she interacted with us. I assure you, I am not thin-skinned. This woman's behavior was atrocious. She exemplified the sort of Americans I encountered during my time in Baja. If this is the same sort of American visiting other parts of the world, it's no wonder people have such a low opinion of us. I understand our foreign policy hasn't won us any admirers either, but this sort of thing goes back well before GW came to power. Anyway, all I can say is, for those who travel abroad, you do represent all of us who come after you, please try to be on your best behavior.
Also understand that when you travel you may very well have to overcome prejudices based on previous travellers. We had one member of our party who has lived several years in Baja, and several others that were quite fluent in Spanish. The waiter made a comment while we were ordering that was insulting, not thinking that a group of gringos would even know what he said. He was flustered, and a bit embarassed when this person called him out.

Just remember a little courtesy and respect go a long way.

Back Home for Now

Well, we brought the plane cross country on Thursday and Friday. No opportunity to take any pictures because of the haze that stretched from Arizona to New Orleans. Plus, we wasted no time during the fuel stops for anything but the basics.
We flew across the gulf from the Delta to Tampa, and seeing those lights of St. Pete were a sight for sore eyes. It was good to be home.
Our house is getting the exterior painted as I type. Complete change of colors and we're pretty excited to see how it turns out. Cranberry red, white and baby blue to earth tones. My next trip is to Cape Cod in November. Not a whole lot to see up there, particularly since I'm gonna miss most of the fall colors. Maybe I can get some good shots of Tampa, or Halloween or something. Stay Tuned!

Sea of Cortez and the Loreto Coast

Parts of the coast look like God's coloring book.


So, as all good things must come to an end, last Wednesday was our last day on the survey. It was a survey of the islands just off the coast of Loreto. All the other flights took us west over the Pacific. All I can say is Wow! This coastline has beauty comparable only to Alaska. The islands rose right up out of the water. No trees, but plenty of cacti were on the islands, and in places
grew right down to the shoreline. It was almost like a caricature.


Cactus Coastline


Beautiful Cliffs


A pilot whale.

*As I Walked Out On the Streets of Loreto

Looking up at the Nuestra Senora de. Loreto Mission

The streets of Loreto:



Look at the size of the lizards around here:

It reminds me of the lizard painted on the side of the building in Downtown Tampa.

Inside the mission:



*From the Johhny Cash song: except he was singing about Laredo, not Loreto.

Who Let the Dogs Out?

Lots of street dogs in town:


I felt bad for them, however, they did have a nasty habit of chasing you when you jogged. Looks like this guy is heading for an ambush!

Best Breeze in Baja, Well, Loreto Anyway

Santa Lucia:

We were usually out to the airport before anything was open in town, but that meant more time in the afternoon. There weren't too many places that were air-conditioned so a finding somewhere with a good breeze was a treasure indeed. This little spot was on the waterfront with a great view. We only had a chance for breakfast a few times, but the sunrise there was spectacular. In the afternoon the sea breeze made the place almost as cool as air conditioning. I don't know what they did special, if anything, but the coffee was pretty tasty too. It might be that it was my first caffeine of the day at 2pm instead of my normal morning dose of the beautiful bean. The food was great there as well. In the two weeks we were in Loreto, we practically became regulars here at the Santa Lucia.

Santa Lucia Sunrise:


The view from in front of the restaurant:

Went to Baja, saw turtles, and all I got was a lousy t-shirt.

Well its a pretty cool t-shirt actually, and I got some great photos of a beautiful place. I hope I get to come back next year. I did only manage one picture of a turtle however, unfortunately while I often get the best view from up front, things whizz by below us too quickly to get pictures of the critters we're looking for. Oh well, we saw a lot of turtles. And, I saw my first Blue Whale. Now that was impressive! It was positively huge.

Here's my lowly one sea turtle photo, if you look closely, close one eye, hold your head slightly to the left, and do some shrooms you can see it's a turtle.

Surf's Up!

One of the guys we were flying with was pretty bummed because they paved the road going to San Juanico pictured below. He was a surfer and it used to be sort of a hidden spot that had a nice break without having to fight too much for a decent wave.
Now the developers are moving in and it's getting more and more crowded.


Waiting for a wave at 2nd Point.


Not a great break today, but not too bad either.


He said he was out here one time and some Pro's flew in on their float plane, got out surfed awhile and got back in the plane and flew off. It used to be that isolated, but the new road is bringing in retirees and weekend warriors by the droves. Everything changes I guess.

Not just another world down here, it's almost a different planet

Some of the scenery here looks almost Mars-like.