Your Mileage May Vary » Photos

Road Report: Dusty!

Shaula — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:30:58 +0000

Strong winds and a lot of dust as we drove west on Route 66 through Arizona towards Winona and Flagstaff this week.

View from Highway 66 westbound through Arizona

Makes me glad we’re not on a motorcycle this time. Or a horse.

Beer by the Yard

Neil — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 09:13:05 +0000

The English may have the occasional yard-of-ale, but St. Paul has worked out the innovation of ale-the-occasional-yard. We saw these barflies pedaling their lagers on the street, and instantly thought of a couple of our shall-remain-nameless friends.

Mmmm . . . beer and exercise...

Handled correctly, it could solve the driving-home problem, the beer-requires-exercise problem, the same-old-bar problem, and a host of others. Simultaneously. Brilliant!!!

A Side of Elk

Neil — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 20:32:21 +0000

Apologies for the erroneous posts, those who received them. For those who didn’t–and by way of explanation–I modified some code in the back end of the blog, and our web host moved to a new update-engine, so I moved the blog into it. Somewhere along the line, it published a post that it shouldn’t have, and then republished a post from last year, allowing the Coburg Cow to escape again. Here’s an apology photo.

Some Elk on the Side (click for larger)

To continue the “horned animals” theme, it’s a picture we took of a herd of Elk on a railroad siding on the side of a hill, just outside of Medora, North Dakota. At least, I think they’re elk. I’m from white-tail country: if they’re big ferrets, or anything, let me know.

Live from New Mexico

Shaula — Mon, 18 May 2009 16:38:47 +0000

View from historic Route 66, westbound from Santa Rosa to Albuquerque

We have finally arrived in Albuquerque. We are here a few months and several thousand miles later than we expected—and we couldn’t be happier.

Details to follow. (As soon as we catch our breath!)

Picture taken with Neil’s RIM BlackBerry 8330 camera phone, May 17, 2009.

Map of where this picture was taken: Santa Rosa to Albuquerque

Wild Plants of Virginia (updated)

Shaula — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 20:34:35 +0000

We have seen some beautiful plants on this trip, mostly trees and flowers that neither of us grew up around.

Can you help us identify them?

These vibrant red leaves belong to a some kind of plant that climbs up the trees. When the leaves catch the sunlight their colour is amazing.

These tiny flowers of the palest blue vary from the size of a dime to a quarter. (Next time I’ll try to remember to put something in the picture to indicate the scale.)

We took these pictures yesterday (October 5) at the entrance to the Virginia Natural Bridge Caverns just off Highway 11 on the way from Staunton to Roanoke.

Any guesses as to what they are?

Update
Many thanks to our commenter Amy who identified the first plant as Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) and the flowers as white wood asters (Eurybia divaricata). Click on the links for more information on both plants from the US Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Convservation Service Plants Database.

Separating Church & State

Shaula — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 23:00:44 +0000

“New Englanders are serious about the separation of church and state. That’s why they keep their churches in cages.”

—Neil,
pointing out the Main St church above
as part of his spontaneous Nashua, New Hampshire travelogue
August 16, 2008

Razor in Candy

Neil — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 03:15:11 +0000

Razor in Candy: when Halloween urban myths are commoditized

This vending machine in the hallway of the Red Roof Inn in Brattleboro, Vermont, seemed to embody the legends of Halloweens past.

Unembattled in Brattleboro

Neil — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 19:46:16 +0000

After our two-part misadventures at our last stop (see: Knackered in Nashua, and Lathered in Nashua), we have landed happily in a nice(ish) hotel in Brattleboro, Vermont.

That is not to say that the universe has changed. We are still us. You could tell which room was ours, from all the way down the hall.

It’s the only one with that number sign on it.

We are now happily installed in Chez Slim Shady. The room is nice (the single odd room sign is the only abberation we’ve found in the whole building), the staff are friendly, and Brattleboro is pretty funky.

We are staying in a Red Roof Inn with convention rooms, so the outfit is geared a little more towards business travelers than the typical low-budget, “no-tell motels” we’ve been trying to stay in.¹

We’ve already found a sharp little cafe over the river, and a range of other local restaurants that look pretty nice. The downtown square is a few blocks in either direction, and the weather is beautiful, sunny and below 80 the rest of our stay.

We’ve decided to stay a week. Stay tuned for pictures of beautiful Brattleboro!

“No-tell motel” is our friend Janet’s favorite phrase for our stops, and she’s terrified that we are hopping from one to another. Truth be told, we’ve only stayed in one place where Shaula has been afraid to take off her shoes. So far.

Catch of the Day (Yum!)

Shaula — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 13:00:28 +0000

Crab trap full of crazy star fish, Captain Bill’s boat, off the coast of the Haida Gwaii

[If you think this is creepy, click on the picture for a larger version!]

Picture taken by my dad, Ron Evans, on Neil and Dad’s fishing trip, July 17, 2007

Sturbridge Massachusetts: 48 States Postcard Project

Shaula — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 16:41:43 +0000

Sturbridge Massachusetts is the source for our first postcard to our nephews in our 48 States Postcard Project.

The cards depict the Sturbridge Publick House Historic Inn and Country Motor Lodge where we are staying right now. The Inn, founded by Colonel Ebenzer Crafts, is over 235 years old. Famous guests of the Inn include General Lafayette and his son, George Washington Lafayette, in 1824.

We are in the Country Lodge on top of the hill, shown up in the top right corner of the picture. That means we’re in a spacious motel room, decorated in an early colonial country style, with colonial print wallpaper, colonial furniture, and best of all two double beds joined by a writing desk that doubles as a bedside table with a slanted top that things roll off of at random times in the night. There’s also a bake shop, a gift shop, and two restaurants here, too. In the morning, we have a complimentary breakfast of fresh pastries, coffee and tea in Ebenezer’s Tavern downstairs (provided I wake up early enough). Neil seemed pretty happy with the the cinnamon buns yesterday. With rainy weather in the 60′s during the day and down to the low 50′s at night, we’re looking forward to trying the hot apple cider, too.

We’re also looking forward to buying some stamps so we can pop these postcards in the mail to T. and B. Hopefully today.

One state down, 47 to go!