Back from Taiwan

Whew!  What a whirlwind trip!  Last Tuesday I was in Taiwan and by last Friday I was back in Albuquerque. 

Door-to-door it took 26 hours to make it from ABQ to TPE.  Thank the gods of airline upgrades, this was business class from San Fran to Taipei.  That more than makes up for the non-reclining seat in the ABQ-SFO leg (watch out in row 12 or higher of a CRJ-200).

We arrived late Monday night.  Tuesday morning, without missing a beat, we met with our Taiwanese colleagues and ventured out to Chinshan to view the proposed storage site.  

That evening our host took us into Keelung.  Since it was the end of Ghost Month, we hiked up a hill in the city center to a temple where preparations were underway for the Ghost Night festivities.  Here's a panorama stitched together with Hugin from 8 separate photos--it's a large temple and one can't back up far enough to get the entire thing in a single frame with a 35 mm lens.

The tables are loaded with hundreds of offerings to the ancestors.  We wouldn't want hungry ghosts causing problems in the year ahead. 

Afterwards our gracious host took us to a sumptuous seafood dinner--sashimi, steamed shrimp, spiny sea urchin roe, squid, hermit crabs, roast frogs, and much more.  Very tasty.

Stand by for more photos tomorrow as I catch up on all of last week's travel adventures.

Bound for Taipei

Well, after a summer spent at home, it's time to hit the road again.  This time we're heading to Taiwan to look at the Chen Shan #1 Dry Cask Spent Fuel Facility.

The question has occasionally come up, "what doe the well accoutred bear take with him on a trans-Pacific trip?"

Here's Schlepp while packing (click to enlarge).  The key to the letters is as follows:

A.  Snacks, very important, especially on a 20+ hour trip
B.  DOP kit
C.  Jura single malt Scotch, 3 oz max allowed in carry-on
D.  Shampoo and conditioner, ditto
E.  Schlepp himself, most important
F.  Tempurpedic pillow, since airlines are now reneging on creature comforts
G. Umbrella, it's typhoon season in Taiwan right now

There you have it, the basic survival kit for the traveling bear.  Not shown are headphones, mp3 player, book, camera, and miscellany kept in the under-the-seat bag.  For the entire trip, we only have to deal with this one wheeled carry-on and the much smaller shoulder bag.

Back from Sonoma

It may have been rainy and cool in California, but the wine and cheese did not disappoint.  Ingrid's Cabin at the Glenelly Inn was the perfect place to tuck in to local wine, cheese, sausage, and breads while a cheery fire crackled in the fireplace. 

A day-trip took us to Jack London's ranch, where his widow built a museum in a large cabin to commemorate his short but active and prolific life and writings. Despite fog and drizzle, it was great for a bear from the desert to get his fur wet. Fascinating history, too. Here I am on top of a banister carved in a South Seas style.

Other diversions included the redwoods in Armstrong Grove and the rather exciting one-lane, two-way road to Austin Creek.

The drive up the coast to Fort Ross and down the coast to Bodega Bay was beautiful. Although extremely curvy with few guard rails, it wasn't nearly as scary as Austin Creek. Plus the B&B outside of Guerneville was terrific.  Here I am just south of Fort Ross. 

 Next... my adventures at the UC Berkeley Botanical Garden. 

On the Road Again

Packing for the trip to California.  It's been a loooong time since I've been farther than White Rock.  Of course, emptying out the White Rock house, remodeling it, and getting it staged for sale has been a huge distraction since February.  Now that's done and it's time to relax a little. 

So it's off to Sonoma for a few days of wine and cheese.  Follow the adventure here and via Twitter--http://twitter.com/schlepp.  The rest of the Homefront Brigade (including newest member, Tinsel, from the MMNA garage sale) plus the three cats will hold down the house along with our house-sitter Sheila. 

Stay tuned for adventure!

The White Rock Adventure

Haven't been traveling much this winter and spring... except up to White Rock.  It's time to sell Gert and Henry's home of 40 years.  But first, we had to empty it out, then replace the kitchen cabinets, replace all the linoleum, redo both bathrooms, re-carpet the bedrooms, and stage the house for sale. 

Whew!  It's been a lot of work but the kitchen looks great. 

Along with all this, Ty has had a big oral surgery.  Luckily, he's been sharing his Haagen-Dazs ice cream shake with me.  Here I am on Henry's old desk in what once was the most cluttered room in the house--his office and computer room. 

Merry Christmas!

Schlepp went down to Old Town so that the Chilcotes, visiting from Seattle, could enjoy a New Mexico Christmas tradition:  thousands of luminarias. 

It was cold and a stiff north wind made for a chilly experience.  More than a few luminarias were blown out.  Here Schlepp is seated beneath the huge Christmas tree just off the main plaza. 

A Happy Christmas to all and a Joyous New Year!  

Traveling without Leaving Town

Went to the zoo this weekend with the folks. Beautiful weather and a great opportunity to get them out of the apartment. We managed to get through about 1/3 of the place in 2 hours of leisurely strolling.

As it happened in Victoria, we came across some small primates. I was hoping for lemurs, but those are in a different section. In the Tropical Americas Exhibit there were Golden Lion Tamarins (Leontopithecus rosalia). The little critters pretty much stayed at the far back of their cage. I don't blame them--they are critically endangered in their homeland of Brazil.

Then Schlepp, of course, got out and made friends. They were timid at first but soon, just like in Victoria, they were at the front of the cage, eager to find out what this strange new animal was. Perhaps they think he's another tamarin. Maybe he's just friendly and furry like they are.


Either way, a good time was had by all. We'll have to go back soon and see the lemurs.

A Quite Summer... Almost

Not much travel for a Travel Schlepp since May. Perhaps something will come up in Oct-Nov. But there's always time for adventure. Yesterday the furry one got to meet our resident salamander. Whether its a Suzi or a Steven Salamander, we don't yet know.

Here's a picture of our intrepid bear with his new tiger salamander friend in the Hidden Garden.

Schlepp Visits Oak Ridge

Its been a couple months since Travel Schlepp had any traveling to write about. This past week, though, he was in Oak Ridge, TN visiting Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Here we are inside the ORNL conference center. There we were instructing over a dozen students in the nuances of on-site inspection under the International Nuclear Safeguards Additional Protocol.




When we flew back to ABQ, we left from the nearby Knoxville airport. In the main hallway leading to the security checkpoint, there are beautiful waterfalls that fill the area with the sound of tumbling water. There's also a couple of Tennessee black bears soliciting donations for black bear habitat. Schlepp of course took some time to chat.

Albuquerque Fencing

No, this isn't about building a fence, which is what fencing usually refers to in NM. This is about Fencing--foil, saber, and epee. Nephew Peter is in town for the Junior Olympics, which this year is being held in, of all places, the fencing capital of the U.S., Albuquerque, NM. The tournament is this weekend and we'll be there on Sunday cheering Peter on.

Happy Birthday, Travel Schlepp!

Well... its been 10 years already--ten years since Karl opened a small box and found the furry one inside. And with that first trip to Vienna combined with his first digital camera, we've had 10 years of adventures together. Here's the very first photo of me: #61 taken on Jan. 22, 1999, in Hotel am Stephansplatz:.

We were working with the UNSCR 678 Action Team, the fellows who were keeping Saddam from getting the big, bad bomb. Nuclear disarmament inspections in Iraq had been halted, but Gary Dillon wisely realized that the pause was the time to bring the Action Team up to date with its information systems.

Debbie and I worked on their intranet, their inspection planning systems, and their analysis tools. We were probably just getting started with GIS, mostly by giving Martin a surplus copy of an old ArcInfo license.

Then it was off to Amsterdam. Here Karl and I lounge around the hotel room before going out and exploring the town. The next day it snowed and was icy everywhere. We took a train to The Hague, gave an ACE-IT demonstration at the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, took the train back to the the airport, and late in the evening caught our flight back to the States.

Since then its been trips from Ankara to Shannon, Mumbai to Cairo. Eventually, Karl would take over 7,000 photos on that old reliable Kodak. Even though its been retired, there have been over 7,000 photos taken on a second Kodak. The way things are going, the second 10 years will have even more trips to more exotic locations--gotta keep the bad guys from getting those big, bad bombs.

Schlepp Goes Cross-Country

Yesterday Schlepp and Karl got a break from elder care. Along with their friend Ric, they grabbed skis, snowshoes, and packs and went up to Sandia Crest for some winter fun.

Ric had never been on snowshoes before, so he was enlightened with the ease with which he could manuever in the crusty, icy, 4-day old snow. Just the week before, he was defeated in a hike up to the South Crest by two feet of snow.

As you can see, everyone enjoyed the trek up to the Kiwanis Hut. Alas, on the way down, one of Karl's 20-year old Karhu skis finally gave up the ghost, cracking just behind the 3-pin binding plate. Time for some no-wax skis.

BTW, Gert and Henry are doing well. Today the physical therapist took Gert down the hall a goodly distance and back, non-stop. The trip measured 95' one-way, more than far enough to get her to the dinning room down on the first floor. Tomorrow we'll try doing lunch downstairs as well as unpacking the last of the boxes.

Update on Telephone Service

Just a quick jot to say that phone service hasn't come online as expected. A technician is going to work on the problem tomorrow. Meanwhile, Gert and Henry's cell phone is the only way to call the new apartment.

Whew!

Got Gert and Henry into the new apartment and all is well. She's still moving kinda slow but can make it from the curbside all the way up to the 4th floor. Everyone is happy about the look-and-feel of the new place.

When we left they were having dinner with some neighbors from down the hall. Tomorrow Gert starts out with home P/T at the Woodmark--she doesn't have to go back to Health South for out-patient P/T.

I think I'm going to sleep for the next week.

The Big Day

Looks like we're going to survive the big move. Got Henry all packed up, Ty is coming down with some last minute items, and I'll be picking up Gert from Health South around 11:00. Should have them both over to the new apartment by new if all goes as scheduled. Of course all this is contingent on doctor's discharge orders and that moves at the speed of insurance paperwork.

More news later today....

Yet Another Sunday Update

Gert's doing well and expected to get "sprung" from Health South Rehab tomorrow. Gotta run now 'cuz we're frantically unpacking all the boxes that came down with the movers on Friday.

Hurry, hurry. Scurry, scurry.

The Great Geezer Migration

My good friend Paul McGoey has a remarkable way with words and has deemed this week "the Great Geezer Migration." On Friday morning three movers with a 23-foot van head up to White Rock. Lou and Ty meet them at 10:00 and they load furniture (carefully numbered and labelled) plus something like 19 boxes that have been packed since mid-November.

The movers blast down to Albuquerque and they unload into our pre-planned arrangement of furniture. With Gert still in rehab, we have Sat. and Sun. to "stage" the apartment for Gert's arrival. Whew!

I'm still amazed that on Friday the phone company will turn off good ol' 672-9164 up in White Rock where its been an active number for 39 years. New phone = 881-5146.

Meanwhile, the icy roads prevented an AM visit to Gert but Caro and Henry saw her in the late afternoon. She's doing very well.

Henry has quite an appetite these days. Ty and I cooked up sausages, baked apples, gourmet grits (cream and smoked Gouda), and biscuits--very much the Low Country cooking of the Carolinas. Afterwards Henry had the last couple bits of "spotted dog" bread that we baked on Sunday. Finally he had a bit of egg nog and a chocolate chip cookie from Millie's diner.

Yet Another Sunday Update

After a frantic day of Mom-care, driving up to White Rock, packing like crazy, and then driving back to ABQ, Sunday truly is a day of rest. We've got things as ready for the movers as we can.

Its a grey day with snow and rain showers earlier. The forecast promises much colder and snow tomorrow. At least the streets are passable right now. Keeping our fingers crossed for the movers next Friday.

Caro is up at Health South with Gert. After a so-so day Friday and yesterday, she is back on track with improved spirits. The doctor has her scheduled for discharge a week from tomorrow (12/22).

Right now Henry is playing the accordion in the next room and I've a rare chance to put the iPod with a microphone next to him. Earlier he finally got his chance to make pancakes, which traditionally are a Saturday breakfast.

Yesterday, during the hectic packing expedition, Kent and Ty did yeomen's service by taking care of Henry all day from 8 'til 8. They got Mom's collection of crosses up on the wall and Dad got to see the apartment for the first time after painting, shelving and lighting were installed.

Sunday Update

Gert is doing fine, comfortably settled in at Health South. She's met the physical therapist and the occupational therapist, nurses, and other staff. Serious rehab starts on Monday. Probably the only complaint would be less than stellar food.

Henry is staying in the guest bedroom and seems to do alright. This morning while I was putting together a crockpot pot roast, he and Caro had a long talk about family care giving, death and dying. He worries more about taxes and is already concerned about next April 15. We assure him that we'll get professional tax help for him.

Schlepp and his human, Karl, are glad to be back home after some really hectic packing in White Rock. Probably one more weekend trip should pull it together. Despite the broken hip, surgery, and rehab, people keep telling us that Gert will be ready to go to the new Woodmark assisted-living apartment on the 19th.

Getting Gert Going

Yesterday the Physical Therapist had Gert up into a chair for lunch. Then a little later, he got her into a walker and they went out into the hall, perhaps 30' or so. It was painful and tiring, but the leg can bear her weight. The hospital is getting Gert a cool 4-wheel walker, in purple, so she can get used to her own personal one instead of using the lenders that PT brings.

A social worker has set things up for discharge on Friday to Health South, a rehab facility in Albuquerque. Henry will come stay with us for awhile, using Frances' room with its new sofa bed. They expect that Gert will be out of rehab in about two weeks, just in time to move into Woodmark Assisted Living.

So despite the drama of the past few days, it looks like there will be little impact on the move out of White Rock. The main thing is that we have to get things packed up pretty well today.