How Is Oliver The Great Pyrenees Dog?

You may remember that we rescued Oliver from dire circumstances, near death even. The Vet said he had the single worst case of worms he had ever seen. Worse, he had contracted distemper.

Every friend we had tried to brace us for the fact that he would not make it. Distemper would kill him. We chose good medicine, lots of love, and a positive attitude.

Oliver pulled through it but without any significant teeth. Seems to be a side effect. Beats death.

He has a great attitude, is an attractive people loving dog, and with no teeth he can ply rough with no possibility of an accidental nip.

Check out the video of him getting weird playing bite Alan's hand!

P.S. - That's poor, jealous, and doesn't play well with others Trixi barking in the background. We love her too!

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Rocky Mountain 360 Degree Surrounded By Mountains

Surrounded By 12,000'+ Mountain Peaks
Awesome mountains surround us in a high valley between Gunnison and Leadville. Cool video!

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West Texas Wind Farms Under The Big Sky Near Amarillo

Windmills As Far As The Eye Can See
As we drove further north we spotted some giant windmills in the distance and detoured to see them up close. I didn't want to miss this sight. I hear they stand 2-- feet tall. Every day in Houston I would see large trucks hauling the vanes, one per truck, out of the city. They are so long the trucks need special escort.After a ten mile one way detour for a few pix I realized we were perilously close to being low on fuel, maybe a quarter tank.The ironic thing is that we squeaked into Sweetwater, Texas and fueled up but the 15 miles to Sweetwater and the 30 miles after were nothing but a panarama of windmills. No need to detour!They sell this energy through 'green' providers for those who like even higher electric bills!Hope to see you on the road!

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Burning My Work Shirts In A Symbolic Gesture

Goodbye Work And Home, Hello World!


In the backyard of a friend I made use of their burn pile and set five of my "work shirts" afire. Call it a symbolic gesture of cutting the bonds of wage slavery, a visual representation of, wisely or not so wisely, burning bridges.

Don't get me wrong, I worked for a good company and with good people, but let's face it, a bad day on an adventure of a lifetime is better than a good day at work. Well, usually!

I'm still trying to get the details and kinks worked out, so it looks like an early Sunday morning departure now. Stupid little details like finding five mini-blinds for the apartment. Trixi was torture on blinds and I can buy them for five bucks each or the apartment can do it for $30. That extra $125 will go far in India so it is worth it to get them done myself. Soon enough though I shall roll, I promise.

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Bats! 250,000 Mexican Freetail Bats Beneath A Houston, Texas Bridge! With Video!

250,000 BATS!Beneath the bridge on Waugh Street that crosses the Buffalo Bayou in Houston, Texas lives a large colony of Mexican Freetail bats. Each night at dusk, every night of the year, the bats stream from their home beneath the bridge and spread out over Houston to devour millions of mosquitoes and other bugs. With so many mosquitoes out at night I shudder to imagine the city without this and other colonies that exist in hidden nooks and crannies.

Here my family walks beneath
the bridge to the best viewing area on the west side of the bridge. You might want to walk over the bridge at dusk as the bats are becoming active and there is a good chance of getting droppings in your hair.

Bat guano, as the poop is called, coats the angled concrete beneath the bridge. The bats make a home in narrow expansion joints that exist in the concrete beneath the bridge, hiding above and behind the rusty reinforcing mesh. A safe home for one of Houston's best assets.Guano makes excellent fertilizer they say. Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico and other caves were mined for years to supply bat poop to farmenrs.

The bridge is easly accessed as it is just off of Allen Parkway, the same road that hosts the Art Car Parade. On this night there were two dozen people with wine, cheese, the kids, and blankets spread on the grass. The city even constructed an overlook platform for easy viewing, though most folks go down the Bayou's banks to get a closer view.As the sun sets Houston shows off a cotton candy colore sky.

Believe me it's hard to carch good bat pix with a 90 dollar camera. This shot shows them pretty well as frenetic blurs in the darkening sky. Folks stand on the bridge and watch though staring down into the darkness is not the best view.Watch this 90 second video for a better look at the swirl of bats. They all head west as if an invisible tunnel, a seemingly endless stream of black streaks in the sky. We left after a half-hour. There are only so many bats you can watch before you decide it may never end!

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Art Car Parade. Houston, Texas. May 9, 2009.

It's still a couple of months before the most likely starting date for my around the world trip but it seems I am already trying to live more like a traveler. Today Houston, Texas hosted the annual Art Car Parade, a huge three day extravaganza of folks taking their creativity out on their vehicles. It was a perfect day, a bit hot, and Lexi and I enjoyed the artistic labors of over 200 projects in the parade near downtown Houston.

Yes, it's the Batmobile, and I mean THE Batmobile! This is the actual car used in the movie, the one actor Michael Keaton sat in. The lady with the company that owns the car alluded to the fact that it gets the most ooohs and ahhhs but she said it "ain't nothing under that shell".

Yes, that's me next to the car wanting to be a superhero.


A classic type of art car with over-the-top ornate detail.

'Venus Hairse'A hearse filled with ladies dying for a good time.

The cars are always more amazing when you get in to see the details.

You would not want to be in front of this scary creation.

The Blues Brothers, and they actually were pretty darn good. Funy too.

This car was completely covered in mirror shards. Look close and you can see my white shirt and jeans, even my eye in one of the pieces. (By the way, note to travleling self, jeans... HUGE mistake in the heat!) The reflection of legs and red on the right would be my daughter Lexi.

Grand Marshall of the parade was Kinky Friedman, writer, recent Texas gubernatorial candidate. marketer of salsa and cigars, and all around unique human. He seemed to be wildly popular with the crowd and also to be having a good time himself.Kinky's car was decorated with steer horns, pistol door handles, and the inside was covered in silver dollars. Kinky, Texas style.

It's hard to tell from a photo but this creepy monster had animated head and mouth and snarled it's way through the parade.

In the past I had seen this car at Houston's Art Car Museum. One of those incredibly ornate art cars it is set apart by the huge and bizarre beast attached to the front end!

An evil easter bunny. And yes, this is just for you Charli in Cambridge, MA, we both know how you like bunnies.

The very portable porta-potty. Believe it or not this laid-back gent drove this crazy car all the way from Waco, Texas to Houston at 4 miles per hour!Enjoy the Crapper Mobile short video below.



Silly rabbit slippers come to life as art cars.Sorry Charli.

Yes, he did crow, often and loudly.

Small balls on springs bounced back and forth as the car moved but the coolest thing about this car is the strange shadow it casts.

These cars with hydraulic lifts almost seem like they are out of control. Very popular and very cool. Check out the short clip below.



Brass this, that, and everything else covered every square inch of this entry.

I am going on an expedition, how did they know? It's more of a peace of mind expedition though.

Some folks can't be bothered to get out of bed on parade day.

Red horses. I don't get it either, but I like it.

Houston has a few giant cockroaches but this is the only one that has a horn that plays that classic tune 'La Cucaracha'!

Cute dogs are popular art cars. This panting pup was one of several in the parpade.

Very dramatic, and titled the Onaminivanapeida.

Wow. Silly singing fish and harmonizing lobsters were totally animated, lit up, and incredibly, sang the most unlikely tune... Handel's 'Messiah'.Here are the vocalizing sea life on video as they passed.



Even the police patrooling the parade played along as they rode on their Art Horses!

TP! I may be looking and wishing for that in foreign lands.

Surprising to me as I thought it was all cars but there were walkers, skaters, and a wide variety of odd and unique bicycles.

High handlebars.

A chopper. There also was a woman on a bike with a cage around her. I tried to get the shot but she was fast! I hope my bike doesn't start to feel like a cage.

Tail plumage opens up on this peacock car just as on the real bird.

All of this took place on Allen Parkway (nice name, spelled wrong) which abuts Eleanor Tinsley Park, a wonderful strip of green in Houston stretched between the road and the Buffalo Bayou. (I'm from Louisiana and we say By-you. Here they say By-YO. What I am saying is that they say it WRONG!) Nice park though, great for skating, biking, and an incredible view of the Houston skyline.Thanks for stopping in. I will be posting more about my trip preparation, some snippets from e-mails I have been getting, and how the plans are firming up and coming together.Hope to see you somewhere out there on the road.
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