Driving to London

.........London Bridge that is.

Mom and I just spent 17 total hours and 1112 miles since yesterday at 2:20pm going back and forth to Arizona for a special event. We have done this a few times to various places, the longest being to Phoenix and back when we were first married (most seem to be to Arizona, dunno why). I have a question for the Department of Transportaion, "Why is there no freeway from Vegas to Phoenix? Say, down US93/95? I mean I saw people passing on a two lane last night that scared even me and made Mom say, "Oh!" and grab the handle above the door. She would then call into question that persons ability to form a cogent thought, forcefully.

People are getting more nuts on the road. I like to drive and have worked to become better at it, though Mom thinks my mind wanders when I am checking the speedometer or changing the the temperature in the car. I do admit on long trips I fiddle with my iPod too much to get it to send songs to my radio.

Note to all car manufacturers, iPod docks should be standard equipment! Pay Apple the royalties and be done!

By the way, the London Bridge was interesting, if not actually what I thought it might be. Most of us think of the Tower Bridge as the London Bridge, but that is far from the truth. London Bridge is old and therefore pretty simple. Just a low bridge over the Colorado River with some stonework at either end. We should have walked it, but I had to be back to teach a special lesson on Family History on Sunday and so we left. Might come back, though. It was very nice.



Some guy came up to me and tried to sell me a timeshare in the hotel. It was weird because he had no teeth and was not dressed as a salesperson. Just started asking me questions. Made my skin crawl.

My eyes are burning, and I am tired so will sign off for now. Hopefully I will start writing here more. It's a goal of mine next year to post here and on our family history wiki. Maybe post the same thing in both places or maybe a story based on the other writing, I don't know. I just want to make it interesting. Both my children and my wife are better writers than me, so I need the practice just to keep up.

Dad

Chile Party

We did have one team party in Chile at a restaurant/showplace called Bali Hai. This is due to the culture of the Rapanui from Easter Island which is a part of Chile. We had a great time dancing to the national music of Chile and with the Rapanui dancers (who looked a lot like Tahitian dancers)


The first part of the video is from Vina Del Mar looking at Valparaiso across the bay. Very pretty and a nice creme brulee' at the restaurant I am sitting in. I still haven't gotten the video to do well on my camera. Next time I will take a real camera and real video.

The Sculpture of Chile

It seems that in Chile they have a penchant for odd sculpture made out of concrete. In front of every building in the office park where I work a couple of times a year there are these odd chunks of concrete and metal with one water feature thrown in. One was pretty cool, it looks like a businessman with his briefcase and umbrella braving the elements. "Neither wind nor rain nor snow nor dark of night will keep him from his money!"

Others bring to mind an early version of a wheel (sizing is a little off), some alien trees growing, a child's toy or missing automotive part and my favorite, in front of our building, sandbags made out of concrete draped over a pole. Like I said, odd....

Chile itself is great, like No. California used to be but with more Spanish spoken. Now there is a lot of Spanish still in California, but there is a lot of Hindi and Chinese as well. Not so in Chile. Driving in Chile is also an experience. Like a perpetual game of chicken. You poke your nose in and see who wins. There are many cars with various injuries, usually to the front fenders, due to these automotive jousts. I managed 2 weeks without incident except for having to relearn driving a stick with a bad clutch (the clutch smelled a little the first day due to burning).

The ocean is about 90 minutes away or about 150 km. Beautiful bay and nice clean beaches. Water is cold though because of the Humboldt Current from Antarctica. I ate at a little hotel overlooking the water. It was wonderful and the creme brulee' was awesome.

Food in Chile is very fresh with lots of fruits and vegatables. I liked eating there very much. Seafood is the best meat with sea bass at the top. They do like their butter with fish, though. Most everything is poached in butter.

It's a long trip there but I look forward to going back in a couple of months. Then I won't go for a long stretch, gotta play with the grandkids!

Back From Chile

Chile was very nice. It's a lot like the East Bay area or even Napa Valley area of Northern California. Santiago is about 150 km or an hour and a half by car from the ocean. I spent two weeks there and like it a lot. I got back this morning and have had about 3 hours of sleep in the last 24 so I will post more, maybe tomorrow with some pictures.