Category: Travel

Island Revealed

As I said, one of you was very close, but we are not on the island of Hawaii, only in the state of …

And this is our view from the lanai.

This is the plantation where we had Sunday brunch.

This is near Spouting Horn.

This is the view from the hotel lobby.

And I took the back road (I always find the back roads) to Lihu’e and saw some incredible views.

My internet is very slow and unreliable, and I refuse to pay the $15.50 a day the hotel charges, so photos only as is possible.

Thanks for playing along with me, and I hope to be able to continue posting while I am gone. I am checking in with Big Sur events and weather, and am sorry it has been cold, windy and rainy there this week, but I have sure been enjoying the sun and warmth! Aloha!

Hint #2

It is an island … and it is in the Pacific … and one of you is very close, but not quite accurate.

These are all over the island, as well as wild chickens.

And this was at the Plantation where we had Sunday Brunch. Tomorrow, I reveal my whereabouts.

Road Closure at County Line Update

Charlie Hench, Cal-Trans engineer, called this morning and informed me that the drilling one mile north of Ragged Point is going slower than anticipated. Closure will continue from 8 pm – 5 am tonight and Thursday. No drilling will occur Friday and Saturday night, then closures will be reinstated for Sunday, December 13 at 8:00 pm through 5;00 am, and continue on that schedule until Friday, December 18th at 5:00 am.

The Big Sur Chamber of Commerce has asked me to make sure that readers understand ALL businesses in Big Sur continue to remain open, if traveling from the north during closure hours, with the exception of Ragged Point, which will only be accessible from the south. And remember, closures do not happen on Friday or Saturday night.

I send out important information like this via a Big Sur email list I created just for that purpose. If you would like to be included on that list, please send an email to me at kwnovoa@mac.com Another way to receive it directly is to simply sign up for an email subscription to my blog posts. The link to do that is at the bottom of the side panel to the right.

Change of Pace

There’s always a rainbow somewhere. Last week, I woke in Riverside for oral argument. There were incredible photo ops right outside my window, and I will share a few tonight. Tomorrow, I will get back to keeping track of the La Brea Fire, but tonight, I’d like to “mix it up” a bit to share the beauty I witnessed.

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Tile Factory

Tile Factory, originally uploaded by wind_dancer.

This is part of the kiln operation in Fes, Morocco. I fell in love with the natural light. It helped to have some bright colors.

A photo to satisfy the visual side, until my camera arrives. I can still take photos, but I cannot tell you how frustrating, and “iffy” the whole process is.

Medina Cat

Medina Cat, originally uploaded by wind_dancer.

Another Moroccan photograph for your viewing pleasure. I’ve always liked these dark and mysterious b&w photos, with a subject in the light, here a cat. Note the two children way in the back, barely visible.

In a dark alley of the Fes Medina, a cat shines in the light. This Medina is the oldest in Morocco, built in 808. A Medina is the old, walled-in part of a city, present in most of the Moroccan towns.

Memorial Day weekend is passed, and the summer season is in full swing. I found someone had come up after dark, and left shortly after dawn, after camping right smack in front of my gate, building a fire ring in the middle of the road. I guess they were too lazy to clear their own area off the road.

Library, Casablanca Mosque

Library, Casablanca Mosque, originally uploaded by wind_dancer.

While I am sure it is not a “slow” day in Big Sur, I am staying home, resting up from my vacation and doing some catching up on the thousands of emails, a stack of mail, and sundry other things.

I woke at 3 am without a clue as to where I was. Comes from never staying in one place more than 3 days, and many places for only 1 or 2 days. It took me almost 15 minutes of laying in the pitch black, before I realized I was no longer in Greece!

Our first day in Casablanca, we visited the tallest Mosque in Morocco. The Moroccan art & architecture is a study in symmetry. It is a beautiful country, which I was blessed to see many parts of.

As one can imagine, I have tons and tons of photos to sift through. The bad news is, I dropped my D90 in Santorini, Greece — on concrete. I could only take photos manually, and even then had trouble with focus and exposure.

Leavin’ on a jet plane …

… don’t know when I’ll be back again. But I’ll be a year older when I do~!~

Tomorrow I leave for SF, and Friday, this will be me, again. This one Rose took last year when we headed to the Amazon.

dsc_6056The same intrepid travelers … different destinations. I am lucky to have Rose in my life, as a friend and as a traveling partner, and Vilia (whose mom lent us her condo in Athens), and all my friends who support my mental health … or lack thereof. Thank you, ladies. You know who you are!

BigSurKate goes exotic

    

Cottage Flowers, originally uploaded by wind_dancer.

Fire season will start in no time, and this blog could become very active for the summer. (If I am lucky, it won’t.) Come July, I will have been blogging for one year, almost every day, sometimes many times a day. It is time for a short break.

While I can, before the fire season starts, I am taking a vacation — the exotic locales of Morocco and Greece. I leave in a few days, and will be back Memorial Day weekend. I haven’t decided if I will take my laptop, or not, so unsure if I will be blogging. 

Look for a Big Sur update on Memorial Day weekend, when I’ll be stopping in our little village to meet friends on my way home. In the meantime, may you have a glorious May. (BTW, Dakota update below — #714.)