Two Bagels

LittleTravels -- July

2011-10-13T06:17:00.001-07:00

I arrived in Houston from Germany on the 4th of July -- seeing the end of the Georgetown fireworks from the highway as I drove home. I spent the 5th unpacking and packing.

Phil and I headed to the Georgia cabin on the 6th with a full car and the cats. The big rush was to get to the cabin to unload the cats and then make it to Atlanta for Chloe's 9th birthday. I took Chloe to gymnastics. While she was there, I went to look for a geocache in a neighborhood that had been on HGTV. When she was done then took the girls and their friends to Kroger to get a cake. Supper with friends at Harmony Restaurant. Back to Pine lake for cake and gifts. WE spent the night and returned to the cabin and the cats.

Gwyneth and the girls came up on the weekend and we headed for Chattanooga, stopping to see if we could spot Rob who was leading a rafting trip -- but we couldn't.

Our goal was a a Lunch Money concert. Gwyneth had made reservations for us to stay in a railroad car at the Chattanooga ChooChoo Hotel.

Gwyneth at her Choo Choo office!

The next day we headed out for Ruby Falls tour of the cave.

At the cabin Phil spent a lot of time sawing up the tree that fell during the spring storms. We both enjoyed hiking and looking for geocaches.

Toward the end of the month, I went to DC for an NSF panel, followed by my water aerobics conference -- Atlanta Mania, and Phil headed to Carver for family and the Old Home Day Bake.

Little Travels in 2011 Part II May - June

2011-07-12T12:47:00.000-07:00

Continuing to update my smaller trips in 2011, Phil and I returned from our New Zealand and Australia adventure on May 20. I was able to see Gwyneth, Rob and the girls for a few hours when they stopped at the start of their marathon road trip out west. I managed to stay in Texas until May 23 - 25 when I went to New York City for an NCWIT meeting which was held on the NYU campus. I shared a hotel room in Chelsea with Renee, my replacement as SIGCSE chair.

Jane and Barb with Washington Square Park in background

Then Phil and I went to visit Susannah and Luis in Palo Alto, California from June 16-20. Great fun, great weather and lots of good walks!

Luis, Duncan, Phil and Suze at Baylands

Little Travels in 2011 Part I January - March

2011-07-12T11:51:00.000-07:00

I realized that this is my travel blog, but I have omitted lots of the smaller trips that I have made so far this year. I thought I would recap them with a few pictures.

After our snowed in adventure at the cabin in January, the small trips began. The first one was the side trip on the way back to Texas to celebrate Gwyneth's birthday with her and her family in Pine Lake.

January 19
A little over 10 days later , I flew to New Orleans for an NSF sponsored meeting on new funding opportunities. Since Rob had a meeting in New Orleans that overlapped my meeting, Gwyneth and the girls drove from Georgia to spend time with both of us. We enjoyed a great meal at Green Goddess. Because of weather in both New Orleans and in Dallas, my flight home got cancelled and I spent an afternoon with my Atlanta family going to the Insectarium and with Gwyneth and the girls; and then out for an oyster po' boy at Mother's with Rob. (January 30-February 2)

At Green Goddess
Barely time to unpack and re-pack before my February 5-8 meeting of the ACM Ed Council in Miami, interesting discussions, good food, good friends and lovely weather.

Miami Beach February 7
Another trip to the airport came two days later, but it was Suze who traveled from California whom we picked up for a long weekend visit.

Suze and Phil at ABIA February10
February 22-28 Phil and I flew to Massachusetts to visit his sister Belle in Carver. We engaged in a lot of ice chopping and snow shoveling.

Ice chopping and wearing black and red in support of Christchurch Earthquake

On March 6 I flew to New York City for an ACM SGB meeting near Times Square. I arrived in a downpour and when I left the plane was delayed because it came from heavy snow in Vermont so I got home at 3 am on March 8.

Times Square in the rain

Later in the day on March I, I drove to Dallas for the SIGCSE Board meeting followed by the Symposium. I had a great room -- a suite, really. I even got to meet up with my Southwestern colleagues, since I never seem to be in Georgetown!

CS Department -- me, Sue Barbara A and Rick

t the close of the meeting, I drove on to Blue Ridge to oversee some plumbing repairs at the cabin and to go to Atlanta to attend a Ralph's World concert with Gwyneth and the girls (March 13-18 in Georgia)

Ralph Covert with Gwyneth, Chloe and Camille at Mall of Georgia

No more trips until April 16 when Phil and I headed to Australia. But we did have visits from our missionary friends, the Herrins (March 19-21), and a birthday/Capital 10,000 visit from Gwyneth and the girls (March 26-29) and from Suze and Luis (March 25-28).

Luis, Susannah and Chloe at a geocaching event at an Austin area ghost town

Post ITiCSE Day 4 Winningen to Darmstadt

2011-07-03T06:59:00.000-07:00

Click to see complete slideshow

We went down for another big breakfast – eggs, sausage, multigrain roll, muesli, yogurt and an orange. We walked to the train station to find the times – the hotel clerk was unbelievable unhelpful. We finally asked a villager if we could take our bikes on the train to Koblenz and they were free because it was the weekend.

We went back to the hotel and set off for a geocache at the site of witches’ executions in the 1600’s. We asked a local for directions to Hexenhugel and with no English he was much more help than the innkeeper. We walked on paths up through wonderful vineyards and great views. At the top there was even an airfield! We came to a woods path where we saw the Hexenhugel monument and Judy spotted the cache!

Back to the hotel, where we checked out and walked our bikes to a café where Judy had coffee and tried the local red wine. We walked our bikes to the train and took off for Koblenz.

Luckily Judy checked in at the staffed visitor center where she found out we had to take the earlier local train in order for our bikes to be allowed, so we didn’t get to tour Koblenz but hd a slice of pizza

The train ride to Mainz was almost too fast to follow Rick Steve’s commentary but it was fun to read about what we had ridden by. We took our bikes to the shop. While I was in the train station (ran into Dennis Bouvier and Raven) the bike guy came – perfect. We had some time to spend, so we had a coffee and a cherry strudel. The train to Darmstadt was 20 minutes late so we got to the hotel just at 5 when the reception opened!

We retrieved our bags from Stefanie’s room and checked email etc. in our own rooms which were the same ones we had been in before! We then headed into town for the festival which was unbelievable. So many rides, food and people – Wauseon homecoming times 50!

Judy and I ate at the Biergarten I had eaten at the previous Sunday. She order Frankfurter green sauce which turned out not to be a sausage but eggs – the name Frankfurter modified the sauce! I got another fish salad, and this time the fish was fried but good. We walked a good portion of the carnival but not all.

Back at the hotel we talked to Stefanie. We talked more before going to our rooms. I showered and went to bed about 11.

Post ITiCSE Day 3 Oberwesel to Winningen 60K

2011-07-02T06:41:00.000-07:00

Click to see Slideshow

We saw the boat signals Rick Steve’s book had talked about at the treacherous, narrow spots. The Loreley was a huge cliff near where boats frequently foundered. We were successful in finding a cache on the guardrail by the path which was next to the highway. Rheinfels castel over St. Goar , Katz and Maus castles on the other side.

The extraordinarily lovely village of Boppard caused us to stop for lunch. WE both had goulash soup – this time no veggies in it, followed by coffee and pastries. We really enjoyed sitting in the old town square.

We got spectacular view of the perfectly restored Marksburg castle and shortly after met a brigade of tourists on Segways.

On the entry to Koblenz I spotted a Coyote Ugly bar! The only woods we cycled through afforded me a impromptu WC. Judy dropped her sunglasses at our stop, however and when she went back to try to find them she couldn’t.

On ur approach to Koblenz we passed breweries but the parts of the city we cycled through were beautiful residential streets. We only rode a few blocks in the city center to the train station and then trying to make out way out to the Moselle valley, we got lost and a helpful lady gave us directions and yogurts with no English!

A detour on the bike path sent us crossing the reiver earlier than we planned and uphill into a a rather ugly suburban village but then onto a lovely path surrounded by individual garden plots.

The vineyards approaching Winnegen were superb and the Moselle was beautiful and much quieter than the busy Rhine.

We had a bit of trouble finding our hotel, the Adler, which was obviously recently redone by a decorator. There was lots of purple and gold and many interesting details.

We loved the village and ate in a covered garden across from the hotel. We tried two of the local white wines (Rieslings) and shared a huge pork dinner with a salad whose dressing was similar to thousand island but flavored with dill. Great! The potatoes were like “Ida Heise” potatoes.

We took a long walk after dinner and got back about 10:30 to check email on my iphone in the lobby wifi.

Post ItiCSE Day 2 Wiesbaden (Biebrich) to Oberwesel 50K

2011-07-01T05:31:00.000-07:00

Slide Show

We had a big breakfast and set off to search unsuccessfully for a cache on the castle grounds but we had a lovely ride wound the park. There was a sign that Wagner had written Der Meistersinger there.

We got to the next little town ( ?? ) and it began to pour so we stopped at an ice cream shop for coffee Aother cyclist, a helpful local, told us about the area. Out coffee done, the rain over, we set off again and stopped at a beautiful village – Elktville which was preparing for a festival celebrating its bubbly wines. Gutenberg had lived in the town which had a castle ruin and pretty gardens. The trail got rather badwith detours but we found a nice place to stop and have fruit and chese. WE got yelled at by a worker for going on a closed protion of the trail.

We came to Rudeshiem which was a complete tourist trap – many junky shops. There was a wine museum and the house where Carl Jung had lived. With difficulty we found the ferry to Bingen and took the auto one. We rode through a pretty garden – at its end a pair of prim ladies greeted us by holding up a sign retrieved from her purse indicating by a graphic that bike riding was not allowed in the park! We walked them to a tea shop where Judy ordered a pretzel and cream cheese (the pretzel part was a surprise.) While she used the WC, it began to pour and I quickly covered our stuff but as soon as she returned it stopped raining!

There was lots of boat traffic – barges each of which had the captain’s car on board – many carried coal; lots of tour boats; trains ran on both sides of the river ad vines grew along the hills, especially on the right bank. The land changed after Bingen, becoming a gorge. We stopped and walked our bikes though Bacharach whose castle is a youth hostel. Several pretty villages including the Pfalz Castle in the river at Kaub.

We were very tired when we got to Oberwesel and wandered up and down looking for our hotel which we had passed! It was a very modern boutique hotel and quite nice. We had a hard time figuring out the faucet in the bathroom – the water came out over the tap! We ate at the hotel and had a very friendly waitress. I ordered a salad with fish in it and noodles. The noodles were a big mistake as they were too rich and too plentiful. The salad was great. During dinner David Cassel and his family walked by – Boots was waiting for them at the train station. Oberwesel had a wall and a castle. The hotel had wifi only in the lobby so I checked mail.

Post ITiCSE Day 1 Darmstadt to Wiesbaden (Biebrich) 15K

2011-06-30T12:15:00.000-07:00

Slideshow

Leisurely breakfast at hotel Etap with Judy and then slow to check out. Took 10:15 train to Mainz. We easily found a bike rental place with great bikes. There was a big problem in that they wouldn’t be open on Sunday to return the bikes. Finally I asked the guy if we could return them to his house, His “boss” then volunteered to come into the shop at 3 pm on Sunday to get the bikes! I got his cell # just in case we got stuck and we were off after a few seat adjustments. We headed toward the city center and locked out bikes in a quaint square before setting off on foot. We found the Gutenberg Museum, checked its hours and headed off to the cathedral square for lunch. I had goulash soup – pieces of meat, carrots and potatoes in a spicy broth (Café Afterblatt).
Then I took off looking for an internet café to make my ACM call. The les-than-knowledgeable woman at the i sent me to a place that had been out of business for a couple of years. There was a church ruins and some good statues as well as friendly ladies in a tea shop who looked up a phone number for me. I first went to McDonald’s to use their internet but it was too hard so I just used my cell. It got too noisy, so I walked back near the Gutenberg Museum and sat amidst the flowers. The call lasted an hour and a half. During the call (I was on mute) Boots Cassel, her son David, daughter-in-law and granddaughters came by geocaching.

The second call was about 45 minutes.

Judy came back from her walk after viewing the Gutenburg museum and we looked for a cache (no luck) and had coffee in a fancier café on the same square.

We got on our bikes and headed for Wiesbaden across the Rhine bridge. We found our hotel (Am Schloss Biebrich) and checked in. It as a really nice old hotel – we locked out bikes out back and trekked to the 2nd (really 3rd) floor. The room overlooked the Rhine. Our hotel was near the gorgeous castle of the Schloss Bierbrich and its park. We went to a Mexican restaurant and I had guacamole and a tostado with white wine.

ITiCSE Day 3 Darmstadt

2011-06-29T12:08:00.000-07:00

Click to see Slide Show
Posed poster picture

The last day of the conference. Mark Guzdial was the keynote speaker and crammed a lot into a short time. He covered themes like media computation but also learning styles were proven not to exist and attitudes toward computing. After his talk I met with Mats Daniels and interviewed him for the oral history project. Quit an interesting story including the fact that his department gave him the entry fee for the 90K cross country race from Salarna to Morra as a PhD present!

After lunch I walked up to Margueritheholme which was an artist’s colony set up to include art deco homes for the artists, It rained lightly. Darmstadt was being transformed into a junky place as all kinds of carnival equipment was being moved in to prepare for an annual 5 day festival.

After the wrap up, I walked back to the hotel to get rid of my stuff which I had left with Judy Sheard while I had gone walking. We walked back to the hotel to change for the banquet, then back to the conference center to board busses for the banquet. I sat with Stefanie of the large suitcases – very intriguing person. Among other things she is a chiropractor!

The banquet was held in a castle ( ) between Darmstadt and Heidelberg. Along the way up to the castle there were many luxurious homes. The castle was above a small forest and we walked through a bit to get up to the castle. We were greeted by a trio of medieval musicians. The banquet hall had long tables where we were served bread with herb butter and jugs of water and wine. The first entertainment was a rather crude juggler who made fun of different nationalities, offending me and mostly other Americans by its insensitivity. We as we had come to expect were served lots of food beginning with cheese soup in bread, then turkey with fresh steamed veggies (good) and a bread pudding thing. Henry and I became the main entertainment as I was made queen of the realm and I knighted him, putting him in stocks and threatening to chop off his head, as scripted by the castle’s MC. To bed too late.

See Henry's pictures and script

ITiCSE Day 2 Darmstadt

2011-06-28T12:05:00.000-07:00

Day 2 Slideshow

Harder to get up. Still went to Starbucks for coffee and a croissant before the meeting. The first session was on introductory computing. I really enjoyed listening to Shriram Kristnamurti on his Scheme Web Bootstrap project for middle schoolers..

I went out looking for a geocache in a cool neighborhood that had a kiosk full of books for folks to donate, borrow and share on their own recognizance. It was an extraordinarily hot day. I went back to my room and caught up on a few things before coming back for the bus trip to Heidelberg.

In Heidelberg we were divided into groups. Our guide, Viktoria, was an ex-pat Brit and super. We walked through the old city and then took the funicular up to the castle. The building is being kept as a semi-ruin because according to the guide it is like the romanticists liked it.

Myles helped me identify a chaffinch singing from the top of a tree. Then Harriet and I broke off for a bit to find three geocaches.

Again the theme is that it was very hot. When she and I stopped for a drink the water I ordered came with ice. I was very excited!

Back in Darmstadt, I went to dinner at a potato restaurant?? where 14 of us caused the staff to haul tables outside. Judy Sheard and I shared a meal of schnitzel that was like a chicken cordon bleu. The restaurant gave us all potato liqueur afterwards but I gave mine away. Afterwards several accompanied me to look for a geocache near a church. I texted Harriet when I needed a clue, but found it before she wrote me back!

ITiCSE Day 1 Darmstadt, Germany

2011-06-27T23:52:00.000-07:00

Greeted some friends eating breakfast in the hotel lobby and then I walked along the main street so that I could pick up a cup of Starbucks and a croissant.

Sat with Mark Guzdial at the opening session on a project to attract middle schoolers to IT at Aachen (Go4IT!). Mary handed out the scavenger hunt materials and we had our poster immediately after the talk.

Lunch was a stand up affair but with very good food. After lunch Harriet, Boots and I went to town for postcards and stamps and to help me find the Ludwig geocache. I went to the hotel for a while. On the way back to the conference I located the Liberale Synagogue cache. Once more I headed back to the hotel for a conference call with the SGB-EC which lasted almost an hour and a half!

I headed back to the old town where I joined the conference steering committee for dinner at the Hotel / Restaurant Bockshaut. There was an incredible amount of food and all excellent!

ITiCSE getting there!

2011-06-26T03:46:00.000-07:00

Saturday June 25

I left the house at 9:50 to head to Houston for my plane. I got there in 3 hours 20 minutes exactly like google maps had said! The parking lot was nearly full and I had the Fast Park bus following me around as I searched for a covered spot. Glad there was no one else in the bus while the driver was doing that!

The plane was very full but KLM so service was good. I sat among some folks going on a mission trip to Kenya. I watched one movie and slept some.

Sunday July 26 In the air – Amsterdam - Darmstadt
There was no one around my 8 hour lay over in Amsterdam. However, Schiphol Airport is a great place – I found a comfy lounge areas with a series of different little “rooms” and actually slept comfortably.

There were lots of interesting shops to stroll through and I had lunch in a coffee shop complete with Delft teacups as booths! My plane to Frankfurt was late due to the commissioning of a new control tower at Frankfurt which didn’t work right, reducing flow into the airport.

When I got there, I rushed through the airport to find the bus for Darmstadt. Although I was a couple of minutes late, the bus was still there because it was so full. I had to stand in the aisle next to the driver until a woman moved her child onto her lap and let me sit with them. I had met the guy across the aisle from me at a meeting in Portland and he took my bag so even more people squeezed onto the overcrowded bus! Finally we were off.

It was quite hot in Darmstadt but we lugged out suitcases to the Etap hotel where we checked in and then hurried off to the conference reception. I missed registration but did chat with old friends and have some yucky apple wine. Several of us headed off into the old city for beer and German food at an outside beer garden. Finally back to the hotel to unpack.

Sydney - Home Day 23

2011-05-10T13:47:00.000-07:00

Day's Pictures

We were glad the flight wasn’t until one. We had breakfast and I packed. We then walked back to Chinatown to go to the Chinese Friendship Garden, but it wasn’t open yet – we could see enough to know it was beautiful. The shuttle picked us up right on time. At the airport we waited in the Qantas Business class lounge and had breakfast.

The plane was late loading because the TV system wasn’t working! Phil and I sat across the aisle from each other and watched a Reese Witherspoon movie – How Do you Know.

Passport control was fairly efficient but Customs made up for it by being abominable but not as bad as security! There were absolutely no signs directing people as to how to get to their connecting flights and no one to ask. Bummer for most travelers. At least I opted for the full body and didn’t get humiliated.

We spent some time in the Admirals Club before the flight. Flight home uneventful except that Air Force One was on the tarmac because of Obama’s fund raiser in Austin.

Sandy and Marv met us and we went to the viewing area off 71 to get a better look at the plane. The house looked great and we were welcomed with a rain shower. Phil picked up pizza at Paisano’s

Sydney Day 22

2011-05-09T13:12:00.000-07:00

Day's PiIctures
I woke up at 6:30 and made coffee and scouted out the lounge where I got cereal bowls to take to our room (out the fire door, down a floor and then reverse it to get back to the room).

Phil and I left the hotel to go touring. First we went to Chinatown and found a cache near the arch, but since it was so early we walked along George Street and across to Hyde Park where we looked at the Anzac Memorial, a statue of Capt Cook (who died in Ouwhyee), and across to the botanical gardens which were as lovely as I had hoped. I spotted some huge bats hanging in a tree and then more and more. We found a sign which told us they were called flying foxes and were killing the trees in the park. We talked to a groundsperson about it for a long time who told us that at high time there would be as many as 20,000 of them. We then walked to Mrs. Macquarie’s Point for a great view of the Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. There were tons of Chinese visitors taking pictures. Then we walked to the Opera House, looked in a few shops and ate sandwiches in Circle Quay. We got a $29 pass for ferries, trains and buses and hopped on the ferry to Manly. The wind was crazy strong but we walked down to the beach which was gorgeous. We also went in a few stores and I reaffirmed that I hate souvenir shopping.

The ride back to Sydney was rough – people got really splashed but I don’t think the waves were as high as when Dale and I went the time before.

We went to the Rocks and tried to go into the Susannah Place Museum but it was only by tour and we didn’t want to wait so we took another ferry back to Darling Harbour and walked back to the hotel, stopping for groceries at a three story Woolworths and then a bottle of wine. We ate dinner in the room. We went out to get money in the pouring rain and went to bed early.

Numurkah to Sydney Day 21

2011-05-08T12:48:00.000-07:00

Day's Pictures

Phil and I were up at 6, showered, packed and breakfasted. I checked mail before we went for another walk along the lake.

When we got back we had champagne and cheese and crackers before leaving for the train station. When we got to Albury we checked it out and then the four of us went for coffee at a bustling café in the town center. The train station was lovely. They dropped us off and we got on the train. On board we ordered boxed hot lunches – I had lamb curry and Phil had roast chicken.

The second load of people got on to the train at Wanga Wanga – two sets made our trip nearly unbearable. The woman behind us had a baby that either cried, plied with an electronic toy or walked up and down the aisle. We’ll never forget little “Lillian” – the other set was a father, his two kids and an uncle. The dad talked I the loudest voice ever and irritated most everyone on the train.

We thought it would be better when we got on the bus we were shuttled to at Goulburn, and for a bit it was – no noisy people. But then the bus went through a weigh station and we flunked. The driver spent forty five minutes unloading and reloading luggage. Finally he asked for 10 volunteers to come from the back of the bus and squat down in the aisle when they re-weighed the bus! Phil and I were among the volunteers. The bus finally was allowed to continue and we were about an hour late getting into Sydney..

They let us off at the railroad station and while I was in the bathroom a woman came up to Phil and accused him of laughing at her the whole trip. Since he had never seen her before and we hadn’t laughed at anyone, he was stunned!

We walked to the hotel (Hotel Pensione) which was uphill from the station on George Street – the opposite direction and class of the Mercure where I had stayed before. Our room was the size of a postage stamp, but clean and modern. Or view was of a walled in mechanicals area and an overhead billboard. But the room was incredibly quiet.

Numurkah VIC Day 20

2011-05-07T12:19:00.000-07:00

Days Pictures

Phil and I had breakfast and then Barrie and Joy got up. We left them with their breakfast and headed for a walk around the lake that was built by the resort builder. We saw lots of birds but didn’t have the binocs. However, the Victoria fauna app works great. We then went to Wunghnu (one ewe) to buy buffalo meat (what kind no one knows) and to look for a geocache under the bridge in the park across the street. Barrie actually spotted it.

We took the meat and milk back to the apartment and then headed off to time the route to the golf club where Barrie will be playing. It took about 45 minutes to get to Yarrawonga. The resort Joy thought she had booked was right across the street from the golf club. Oops.

Then we headed an hour east to Rutherglen, a large wine producing region where we stopped at the “i” for information about eating places. We had lunch at the Tuilieres Café which we thought was a complete lunch for $11.90 but turns out each course was $11.90! However, it was a beautiful spot outside in the sun and we enjoyed the “Turkish flatbread” pizza, my chicken fettuccini and Phil’s spaghetti carbonara. However, afterward I felt ill – way too rich. Joy and Barrie began wine tasting while we waited a long time for the bill – turns out we were to go inside to pay. While they finished tasting, we headed toward a path around a little lake but we couldn’t figure how to access it. We finally went through a bowls club where the old folks playing it stopped to ask us what we were doing. We asked if we could go through and got a good look at an Australian sport! The trail around the lake was nice with lots of wildlife, but we only went a bit before coming down and joining Joy and Barrie who picked us up.

Then we headed to another winery (Warrabilla --known for its Jurif wines which we later learned were petit sirahs. Phil tasted several but I only tried one.

We headed back to Numurkah and stopped for gas. I had volunteered to cook dinner and we had planned to go to the grocery. We got into the village at 5:10 and they had closed everything at 5! Joy bought a merlot and a sparkling chardonnay/pinot at a bottle shop and I got some potato chips and crackers and bacon.

I made a mix of boiled potato, onion, carrot, apple and bacon as veggie, caramelized onion gravy for the buffalo “fillets” and a salad. I made tzatziki to start. We drank a lot of wine and had little chocolates for dessert.

Clifton Springs to Numurkah VIC Day 19

2011-05-06T12:36:00.000-07:00

Days Pictures

We had completed packing to begin our trek to Sydney with a two day stop over near the Murray River in far north Victoria just on the New South Wales border. Before we left, Barrie took Phil and me to find geocaches in the Drysdale – Clifton Springs area which we did successfully. Our search took us to the former Kilgour winery where Joy used to help Anne, the then owner. We also took a ride by the olive grove that is owned by another of Joy’s friends.

We had a really good ride heading north. The day was quite nice. We had take away pasties (mine was vegetable, Phil’s mango chicken) in Bacchus Marsh. We stopped twice in Bendigo, first to look at an impressive cathedral where kids from a local private school were practicing for their founder’s day celebration and then on to the Bendigo Art Gallery. I loved the gallery which was partly in a very old building and part new. The pictures were displayed beautifully and there was a lot of 19th c. Australian art as well as specimens of European masters including impressionists.

The next stop was in Echuca, an old inland port on the Murray river which had a recreated village and views of the paddle boats and the river hung with eucalyptus trees. We got meat at a butchers there.

We got to the holiday time share community in the middle of no where at just dark. We had steak and veggies from the beautiful Australian grown food box Joy had picked up the day before. It included bok choy and green beans which we ate as the vegetable. She made really creamy mashed sweet/white potatoes in her Thermomix machine she had carted along. Lots of cheese and wine for dessert. Yum.

Clifton Springs -- Trip Ocean Road Day 18

2011-05-05T14:55:00.000-07:00

See the day's pictures.

We tried to get an early start but there were a few glitches. It was quite a grey day, so the sights weren’t as impressive as they could have been. The first stop was the golf course at Torquay for a quick look at the kangaroos who drive the golfers crazy. There weren’t as many as the previous time I was there, but still enough to impress Phil.

We had coffee at a nice beach café that wasn’t there when I was here before.

Our next detour was at Kennett River where a friend of Joy’s said that koala sighting was common. Indeed! We were really excited to see a lot of them nestles high in crooks of eucalyptus trees. One even woke from its 22 hours a day sleep to climb further up a tree and let me film him.

Our last destination was the Twelve Apostles of which there are only 8 left – large rock outcroppings that are impressive in and of themselves but made even more so by the wonderful vegetation along the cliff viewing paths. I claimed credit for a Geocaching earth cache there.

We got home past dark after a lovely ride through the inland countryside and Joy made a lovely risotto for our dinner.

Clifton Springs - Melbourne - Clifton Springs Day 17

2011-05-04T04:50:00.000-07:00

See the Day's Pictures

Phil and I had breakfast downstairs and went on a long neighborhood walk up the hill that overlooked the whole neighborhood and went past really elegant homes.

We left for Melbourne. Barrie left Joy and me out at Federation Square where we went to Chloe’s Restaurant noted for a classic nude painting that hangs on the bar wall. Annemieke Craig was there before us and we were joined by Catherine Lang and Judy Sheard. We enjoyed an excellent lunch from the complete lunch menu which had five items on it and each of ordered a different one! We had great conversations and ended up spending over two hours there. Joy and I rode the free tram which had a recorded spiel equal to the expensive tours most cities have.

Instead of going straight back we went to Port Lonsdale lighthouse and then into Queenscliff with gorgeous Victorian hotels and buildings.

Clifton Springs, VIC Day 16

2011-05-03T04:47:00.000-07:00

Link to Day's Pictures

Barrie did a wash and Phil and I went for a short walk. Barrie took Phil and I to Serendip, a nature reserve where we saw kangaroos, wallabies and lots of wonderful birds. We were the only people in the reserve.

Back home we had a traditional barbeque in their barbeque pavilion behind the house. The meal included sausage, beef, lamb and big pieces of wonderful veggies. There was ice cream and a cake for dessert as well as a Kilgour Cabernet and a 2009 pinot noir.

Latrobe - Launceston-Melbourne Clifton Springs Day 15

2011-05-02T03:19:00.000-07:00

Day's Pictures

Susannah’s first day at work at her new job.

I made an English breakfast for Phil and me – eggs, ham, tomato, cheese and toast. We then packed and went for a walk around the hotel grounds. We saw their cone of quiet (weird) and a lot of fairy wrens flitting among the eucalyptus trees.

Cone of Silence at the B&B

Sherwood B&B

Back at the hotel we joined Joy and Barrie and took off stopping first at a cheese factory.

Cow Art Statues at Ashgrove Cheese Plant

Then we stopped for tasting as at two wineries. At the first winery the guy was completely distracted and acted as though we weren’t there. I particularly liked a dessert wine and bought it. Tamar Ridge Botterytis Riesling At the next (the winery that made the 9 Island pinot I drank at the hotel in Hobart) we bought a pinot to save and an aged chardonnay.

From there we headed to the airport and got there plenty early. The plane to Melbourne was a prop jet but because it was Qantas they served a snack and free wine!

We were picked up by the parking people and headed back to Clifton Springs.

Hobart Tasmania- Strahan Tasmania Day 13

2011-04-30T18:17:00.000-07:00

We spent the entire morning at the Salmanca Market in Hobart. Phil and I ducked out a but to find a geocache in a lovely little park. All we bought was a ton of provisions for the trip.

Mead Seller

Geocaching

Knit Animal Caps at Salmanca Market

Picnic on the Road in Hamilton

On the road, our first stop was in the tiny town of Hamilton for gas and a picnic. Back into town for a coffee at a lovely café that had internet and when I looked up for a geocache the owner knew where it was. However, we never found it although it was just next to where we had our picnic.

The ride through the mountains was beautiful. We stopped for a look at a massive system of pipes taking water to a hydro plant and then headed toward Strahan.

Hydro Pant Pics

Our next break was in Queenstown, a depressed ex-mining town that had recently had a huge arson fire, making it even worse.

It wasn’t far down the mountain to Strahan where we checked into our very luxurious digs. We made lamb chops, salad and potatoes and drank a Lindeman’s chardonnay and a nice Tasmanian pinot noir.

See all today's pics

Clifton Springs, VIC - Hobart Tasmania Day 12

2011-04-29T17:50:00.000-07:00

Up fairly early again to pack and head back to Melbourne for the flight to Hobart. We parked at an off sight lot next to the “World’s Largest Lolly Store”. We had tons of time at the airport and got sandwiches to take for lunch and coffee before the flight. In Hobart Phil’s bag got singled out once again (and I have not been searched once so far this trip!!!) because the search dogs smelled our sandwiches in his pack.

We got the rental car after some time and headed off despite some wrong directions to the penal colony at Port Arthur. It was a lovely ride, and we left the men off while Joy and I headed to a little nearby town for groceries. The stores were quite lacking and especially so the local liquor store, depressing in

We stopped at a little state park, Stewart Bay Nature Reserve, to look for a geocache. We walked quite a ways to find a cache – I did the last rocky part alone, and was successful.

We were nearly a half hour late picking up Phil and Barrie, but no problem since we were able to get back to the good roads to Hobart before pitch dark.

When we got to the hotel, The St. Ives, Michael Sims had left his business card. I texted him and Joy cooked supper – a chicken salad that was gorgeous and delicious.

Michael came just as the Royal Wedding between the prince and Kate Middleton had started so we ended up sitting in Barrie and Joy’s room and chatting all evening with the festivities in the background. We learned lots about Michael’s family and his experiences both in and beyond Peekskill.

Christchurch - Clifton Springs Day 11

2011-04-28T17:19:00.000-07:00

We got up at 3am to go to the airport. The city streets were deserted. We actually saw only one car and two fire trucks all the way to the airport! We were certainly early. We had to go around a strange way after checking in effortlessly. We had coffee and then when we finally decided to go through security the lines for passport control were quite long. Turns out it was the first day the new Christchurch international terminal had been opened. Our plane was late taking off as a result. Once on the plane, Phil discovered that he had taken Alison’s street map with him by mistake. We ate the apples and chocolate eggs that were in our packs for breakfast.

It didn’t take us long to go through passport control, but the wait was both for our luggage and huge queues to go through the agriculture inspection. Joy and Barrie were waiting for us and it was a lovely day. Back at the house we unpacked and Barrie did a wah for us. We had salmon patties for lunch and then went to the National Wool Museum in Geelong to see the Jacquard look in action. It was broken when we got there, but “Michael” worked on it and after our tour with a particularly garrulous tour guide, we got to see it go.

Back at the house, we had a short nap and showers before going to eat at Alfio’s Italian Restaurant with the “retirees”, a group of 10 that Joy and Barrie have been eating out and tasting wines with for the last 19 years or so. I ate far too much and couldn’t get through my main which I shouldn’t have ordered!

Phil discovered he had lost his pajama bottoms somewhere between Christchurch and Australia – possibly when he was required to go through everything in his pack at Christchurch or his whole suitcase in Melbourne! Barrie lent him a set of bottoms for the duration. Shades of my lending Barrie my shorts in Russia to wear as a bathing suit!

Christchurch Day 10

2011-04-27T00:51:00.000-07:00

I made eggs and toast for Phil and me for breakfast. I worked more on the blog> Julia decided to take us out touring at 10:30 and we rode about seeing some of the damage and then down to the pier at New Briton. A marvelous library lay at its feet and one walks through the library to get to the pier.

The views were spectacular.

After spending some time enjoying the sounds of the surf and the view, we headed out to Scarborough at the South end of the harbour. Again massive rock slides and collapses. We had coffees at a lovely little café at the end of the beach before heading back into town. Julia let us out at the edge of North Hadley Park where we looked unsuccessfully for a cache near a hospital.

We had better luck walking further along the Avon River near the botanical gardens.

I directed us to the wrong bridge at first for finding the cache, but then succeeded. Several of the features in the park were roped off due to damage but on the whole the parks were lovely. Many of the cedars and redwoods were quite massive.

We had coffee and shared a sandwich in the café in the garden before walking back. We had to skirt the CBD and were faced at every turn with collapsed brick walls and destruction.

We walked past Alison's office at Christchurch Polytechnic and loved the sculpture out front.

Buildings bore either green signs indicating safety, yellow signs indicating owners only could go in or red signs which indicated the building was unsafe and would have to be demolished.

We got back to the flat just after Julia. I worked a bit more on the blog. I read my email to see that the vote against Schrum was 70 to 40 so it passed. Not good for SU. Julia and Phil went out for fish and chips and I made a salad which we ate for dinner. Phil went to bed ahead of me and I packed before going to sleep about 10:30. I woke up nearly hourly, but missed the 34 earthquake that Julia felt because she didn’t go to bed at all!

Dunedin - Christchurch Day 9

2011-04-26T00:39:00.000-07:00

Sam took his dad, John, Phil and me up to the Organ Pipes trail up Mt. Cargill where we looked for a geocache (Sam scrambled nd found it but we signed it, too) It was a very long up!

We went to lunch from there at the Otago Museum where many of the interactive displays were designed by Sam or his students. I had been there before and loved it even more this time.

We then went to the railroad station where we took the Naked Bus to Christchurch. If you book early enough the tickets are only $1 but I didn’t so they were about $20 each for a 250 mile trip! We got to see a lot of countryside. We had a bite to eat at a cafe in Temuka.

In Christchurch the center of town is in ruins, so the buses leave you off just outside the central zone. My friend Alison’s flat mate Julia met the bus and picked us up in Alison’s car to take us to their apartment. We stopped off at a super market and had a little ride around to see some of the damage. After she got us settled, Julia went to the pool to swim and we ate a bite. Just as we were eating a 4.1 after shock and another small one hit and really unnerved me. The rest of the night was uneventful, thank goodness.

Dunedin Day 8

2011-04-25T23:15:00.000-07:00

Phil awoke with a sore throat but agreed to go for a walk with me. It was absolutely gorgeous around Sam and Lesley’s home and we tried to find two geocaches with no luck at all. But we certainly had a good time!

When we got back, Sam, Lesley and Henry had returned from camping a Moreaki and took us to lunch at Orokonui Ecosanctuary.

What a fantastic place! The views were spectacular and the irony was that this massive site on top fo a mountain near Sam’s house, was the place that was having a fund raiser when I was here before and Sam and Lesley took me to the event in downtown Dunedin. Their pitch then did not do the reality justice!
Then we went to the train station where Phil and I joined an Elm Nature tour of the Otago Peninsula.

Although we did not get to see the albatross, we had a fabulous time seeing the rare Hooker’s Sea Lion, fur seals and golden eyed penguins really up close.

We went to dinner at a Turkish restaurant in downtown Dunedin before returning to Sawyer’s Bay.

Queenstown to Dunedin via Taeri Gorge Railroad Day 7 Easter

2011-04-24T22:52:00.000-07:00

I was up early and went to the top floor of the hotel to check email and enjoy the gorgeous view. Phil and I walked into town and found a geocache in the park and then enjoyed coffee on the waterfront before hearing back to join the tour to Dunedin via Track and Trail.
We began in a mini bus and in Cromwell changed to a slightly larger bus with much narrower seats. Not what we expected. We traveled through a lot of wine groing country and then areas which reminded me of Wyoming before be left off in the middle of a nowhere landscape that looked like Veedawoo. There were several groups of bicyclists there also and a lonely outhouse.

Finally the narrow gauge train the the Taiera Valley appeared and we boarded for the spectacular ride to Dunedin.

Greg Sawyer met us at the station and took us to their holiday rental house in St. Leonardis for a lovely Easter dinner with Cami, Addie and Matthew.

We were treated to a meal complete with hokey pokey ice cream and feijoas for dessert.

They brought us to Sam and Lesley’s in Sawyers Bay where we were greeted by Sam’s dad, John who regaled us with storied of his establishing schools in Cambodia.

Queenstown Milford Sound and Return Day 6

2011-04-23T15:22:00.000-07:00

We woke early but very refreshed and I made coffee with the filter thing I got at REI and the Starbucks I had brought. The bus for Milford Sound picked us up at the hotel – no double seats left but we ended up by sitting next to the guy from Texas we had met on the Rotorua trip.

The trip was a long one – our goal, Milford sound is probably only 50 km from here, but mountains are in the way, so we had to go 100 km south, 75 km west, then 125 km north! The ride itself was spectacular, at first along the Lake that Queenstown is on (Wakapitu), then across by Mossford (the red deer capital) and up through Te Anua which bordered a lake of the same name.

The fiord that we took a boat ride on, Milford Sound, was full of waterfalls due to the recent rain and spectacular.

Back at the hotel we rushed to the grocery for supplies and had a salad and hummus for dinner in our room.

Auckland to Queenstown Day 5

2011-04-22T15:06:00.000-07:00

Up early to shower and pack. Alison made hot cross buns for breakfast.

They took us to the airport on the way to pick up Noah and Satine and visit Alison’s dad. I could not believe security 00 they didn’t even check our ids! We easily got a shuttle to the hotel (the Copthorne Lakefront Resort) and checked in.

We walked downtown and wandered through the shops and by the waterfront.
We walked up to the place where the gondola took off as well as the kiwi park. Instead we chose to walk through the cemetery.

Then back downtown where we got me a cap to replace the UT hat I lost; then to a grocery for wine and food except we couldn’t buy wine on Good Friday so we went back to the hotel and used the wines in the mini bar. I did a quick wash of my clothes and then to bed at an embarrassingly early hour.

Auckland Day 4 TiriTiri

2011-04-21T14:49:00.000-07:00

Up early to go with Blair to Tiritiri Mutirangi Scientific Reserve – an hour and a half catamaran ride from Auckland Ferry Terminal to the island with a stop at Gulf Coast? Some dolphins swam along side the boat and we saw lots of blue penguins. When we docked at Gulf Harbour, we saw tons of white-faced terns.

At the reserve we were assigned a guide who was fantastic. She could identify all the plants and trees and helped us see 8 of the 12 special birds on the island on our long beautiful walk that took us from the beaches up through the forest and out to cleared land on top.

The first birds were a pair of NZ pigeons and a fantail near the potty who flew right near us. We saw incredibly old pohutokowa trees (the Christmas flower tree), a NZ bluebird, some brown quail, red crowned parakeets, lots of tuis with the white wattle, saddle backs, bell birds, whiteheads stitch birds, and at the top a welcome swallow, several takahe, English sparrows and a pokeko

I convinced Blair to take the bus back where Alison had set a beautiful table for she didn’t know how many guests. It was two – Nancy and Dave, ex-pat orchid growers who brought 3 long stems each with probably a dozen gorgeous orchids. We had a lovely meal of pork roast and winter veges (NZ spelling of veggies).

Auckland Day 3 Waitomo and Rotorua

2011-04-20T12:13:00.000-07:00

Up far too early to go to tour. At last minute I noticed that the url they had sent referred to the trip being Auckland to Rotorua and no return :-( However, when Tony let us out at the Intercity Bus terminal I noted that the receipt we had was correct and we would be dropped back in Auckland. Whew!

Out tour was on a huge shiny bus. While waiting, we met another tourist on the trip who was from Texas! The girl from GreatSights gave us each a rather yukky sweet roll – that was morning snack. The driver, named Layton was quite good.

We headed south through Hamilton to Rotorua. Tirau was a little town with incredible corrugated tin statues as advertising signs for businesses. The entrance to the Waitomo Gloworm caves was impressive and the caves alos. I learned more about the glowworms than before, I think. Upon exiting the cave the driver gave us our lunch in a brown paper bag! The drive to Rotorua was very pretty – again we went through Fitzgerald Glade. Our first stop in Rotorua was the Agridome where we went on a farm tour – to see an odd collection of animals which we could feed.

The dog rounding up the sheep wasn’t too good – but it was lots of fun to watch. The shearing was interesting and the carding demo a bust since the machine was broken. Then on to Te Puia for a Maori welcome ceremony – boisterous and good,

then a quick look at a kiwi in a kiwi house, and a short walk through the boiling mud pots and geyser area.

Back to the bus, another snack sandwich . We came back trough Matamata (Hobbiton). Tony met the coach and we got take away fish and chips and some wine to eat at home with Alison.

Auckland Day 2

2011-04-19T23:36:00.000-07:00

The two Burmese cats slept with us all night. We woke to a beautiful morning.

Phil and I showered and Tony made us tea before going to work. Phil and I went geocaching and birding on the beaches in front of the house. There was a film crew down the street making some kind of film about a garage sale-- lots of trucks and equipment.

We saw white faced herons and variable oystercatchers.

It took me a while to screw up my courage to take Alison’s car out on the highway. The hardest part was not the left side driving but backing out of the driveway and returning the car to the garage! We had an absolutely beautiful drive to Muriwai Beach where we took the long path out to view gannet colony. It could not have been a prettier day for the walk. I got me feet in the Tasman sea (but didn’t take my shoes off ). Phil and I shared a piece of fried fish (hoki) and a fried crab stick before heading back.

After a bit, we went back out for another geocaching adventure and walk through the neighborhoods.

Auckland Day 1

2011-04-18T23:19:00.000-07:00

Long trip. Tony met us at the airport even though we were late. It was blowing like crazy and raining and cold. Not exactly the weather we had expected. Back at Tony and Alison’s we unpacked a bit and as the weather clear some, we decided to venture out to the beach path at Pt. Chevalier . The weather held almost long enough but we got caught in a downpour and were soaked. Before venturing out again, we changed into dry clothes.

Tony dropped us off at the Auckland Museum on his way to work. The museum was quite crowded because of the school holiday, but we enjoyed the Maori exhibits, the children’s exhibits and the natural history ones. I was too tired to look at the ones about war, so we stopped to split a paninni before finding the Link bus to take us down to the Ferry Building. Much to our surprise, the Link bus gave us quite a tour around central Auckland (great view of the Sky Tower) before we got off. I sure have a better idea of the city that I had before. We wend to a shopping mall looking for a hoody for Phil (the only one he liked was $129 and he didn’t like it that much.) We found the bus back to Pt. Chevalier.

Tony heated the meal that Alison had prepared for us (schnitzel, potatoes, cauliflower and peas) and we had the pinot noir Phil and bought in Auckland. Phil went to bed and I worked on trip plans and talked to Tony and to Alison (on the phone).

Winter Travels

2011-04-04T09:51:00.001-07:00

Since I had the semester free from classes, it didn't matter much to Southwestern that I was out of town a lot, and I do mean a lot. The previous post covers the time Phil and I were marooned on our mountain cabin in North Georgia.

Birthday Pics
We got off the mountain in time to celebrate Gwyneth's birthday in Pine Lake, GA before heading back to Texas with the cats.

We even had snow in Texas -- it followed us, I guess.

I had enough time at home to host the SU ACM club's annual belated Christmas party where we had a white elephant and played computer-like board games!

I attended an NSF sponsored meeting on the new funding for computing education and broadening participation in computing in New Orleans. My meeting overlapped my son-in-law's so it gave another excuse for me to be with Gwyneth and the girls who drove in to meet me.

We had a great meal together in a little gem of a restaurant in the French Quarter -- the Green Goddess and I had an extra day in New Orleans with them because snow in Dallas caused my return flight to be canceled.

I was home long enough to wash my clothes and head to Miami for an ACM Education Council meeting. After the cold in Georgia and Texas, the balmy 80 degree Florida weather was fabulous! The meeting was good and I connected with friends from all over the world. I can't remember ever staying in Miami before and I enjoyed walking early in the morning along the waterways.
Susannah came home from California for a short visit and we greeted her at the airport with balloons!

Massachusetts Pics
For our next adventure, Phil and I went to Carver, Massachusetts, to help his sister with her annual brush burn. There was so much snow, we couldn't see much brush but we certainly saw and shoveled a lot of snow and ice! We did have some grand days to get out and enjoy the beauty of the Plymouth area. While we were there we showed solidarity with my friend from Christchurch New Zealand who survived the quake by wearing the NZ colors of black and red.

SIGCSE Pics

Back home for a couple of days before I drove first to Dallas for the annual SIGCSE meeting where I was surprised by an upgrade to a suite where I obviously had to through a little party. I added an interview with the winner of the outstanding computing educator award, Matthias Felleisen, to the Computing Educators Oral History project. I put up more pictures here than anyone wants to see unless you are looking for yourself in them!

Georgia Pics

From Dallas I drove straight through to our cabin in Blue Ridge, Georgia, to meet with a plumber about a leak we discovered just as we were going out the door for home in January. I had time for a quick overnight in Pine Lake to go with Gwyneth and the girls to see one of my favorite kindie performers, Ralph Covert of Ralph's World. Back to the cabin for a couple more days before heading back to Pine Lake and to home.

I actually stayed home for the rest of March but we had company beginning on Saturday after I returned on Friday. Our first visitors were missionary friends, the Herrins, whose daughter is attending Southwestern.

Barb's Birthday Pics

The next weekend was filled with family. Susannah and Luis came in from California and Gwyneth and Chloe came from Georgia to both celebrate my birthday and to take part in the Capitol 10,000 race. Luis says this is his 10th and the rest of us began running, walking or watching it in 1989 so it is definitely a family tradition.

Now that I have caught up with winter, spring travel will begin when Phil and I take off for New Zealand and Australia on the 16th of April!

Snowed-in January 2011

2011-01-15T04:35:00.000-08:00

The snow fell Sunday night, January 10, 2011. We have been nestled in our cabin at the top of a mountain in Blue Ridge, Georgia for 6 days now. The car is still covered in ice and snow.

But although time goes slowly we both agree that it has been very pleasant. I have worked on catching up with lots of oral history, SIGCSE, Hopper and other tasks on the computer. I have cooked a lot (we had laid in supplies for 10 days). We both have read, watched Netflix movies, and plain relaxed. The cats appear to love having our warm bodies to lie on.

But we have been outside and active as well. I used an old pair of Gwyneth's cross country skis until the sole came off the boot; we tried tubing on storage container lids (bad idea) and rafting tubes (good idea but way too fast for us!), and lots of walking.

What wonder there is in breaking trails in the snow on dense wooded trails or gingerly walking down icy roads!

Yesterday we received a call from the mail carrier (the 70-something wife of the man who built our cabin) that we had a package at the mailbox at the bottom of the mountain. We decided to walk to the nearest restaurant (2.5 miles away) and Phil insisted on carrying the package we retrieved all the way over the next mountain and down again to the restaurant! He with glee forced me to open it -- the computer engineer Barbie. I had earlier exclaimed when my dear colleague Suzanne had received one for Christmas that I was extremely jealous. Mind you, I hate Barbies and forbidden my children from ever owning one, but I had voted for Mattel to produce said Barbie and my name is Barbara, so it seemed necessary to have one!

I look at the weather forecast too often now. I look with longing at my daughter's blog posts about her family's idyll on Ft. Lauderdale's beaches. I think it is time for a thaw and for us to go back to civilization. Soon, I hope.

Denmark Day 3-- Aarhus for ICER Conference

2010-08-10T22:30:00.000-07:00

After breakfast at the hotel I met Sue and we walked to the conference taking a side trip to plant the travel bug in the cache. Once more interesting talks. This time I had my laptop (instead of the iphone which wouldn’t work at the venue because you needed two windows open). I was able to multi-task and get my email down from 406 to 76. Not bad for a mornings work. Another buffet lunch. At the afternoon break, I walked back to the hotel so I could find out how long it would take to get to the airport bus stop. I found that fairly easily after getting lost going back to the hotel! I hadn’t done the walk in that direction before. I took a quick tour inside the Domkirke and was delighted to hear an organist practicing wonderful music.

I decided to walk back to the conference via the botanical gardens and once again got a little lost.

I used the GPS but its compass didn’t seem to work. However, I did make it back for the pizza fabulous) and wine party. Back at the hotel I packed and then joined several folks at the outside café for conversation before going to bed.

View pics from all three days on Flickr

Denmark Day 2 -- Aarhus for ICER Conference

2010-08-09T22:30:00.000-07:00

I met up with several folks from the ICER conference at breakfast. Some decided to take a bus and I went with the walkers. The university was a little over a mile and a half away (much up hill) but we arrived in plenty of time. Registration yielded yet another backpack – very nice one. All the talks were really good as were the discussions. Lunch was a smorgasbord of typical Danish food and the coffee breaks had super pastries.

The excellent keynote by Moti Ben-Ari was later blogged by Mark Guzdial.

Sue Fitzgerald went with me after the meetings finished to try to find the Women in Science geocache on the Aarhus University campus (we had had no luck with a micro near the venue). I quite easily found the cache whose coordinates were a puzzle about mostly Danish women in science. I had forgotten to bring the travel bug, so it meant another trip for the next day.

I walked Sue back to her hotel (A Best Western called the Ritz) and met her roommate, Beth. Then Sue and I walked to my hotel and we were escorted by Michael Casperson’s daughter Christina and her boyfriend to the restaurant for the banquet. Again it was excellent food with a very entertaining owner.

I sat between Colleen Lewis and Leigh Ann Sudol acting as a buffer between Leigh Ann’s definition of a misconception and Colleen’s. Also talked with Orni Meerbaum-Salant, from the Technicon in Israel and her husband. Back to the hotel where I had an email from ACM about the SGB meeting in New York for which I had booked tickets to Chicago. Yuk!

Walked 17069 steps. View pics from all three days on Flickr

Denmark Day 1 -- Aarhus for ICER Conference

2010-08-08T22:30:00.000-07:00

The plane got to Billund on time and I had to wait around about an hour for the bus to Aarhus.. The bus ride from Billund to Aarhus, although in the rain much of the time was interesting. We drove through rolling wheat fields and old farms built with three buildings forming a courtyard. Lots of farmers were working to bring in their hay (Buchele bales, naturally). There were many windmills, but now of the modern, metal variety.

In Arhus I decided to take a taxi to the hotel. It drove all over (avoiding all the pedestrian streets) including a side trip past the harbor, The ride cost 100 kroner which seemed a lot since the two hour bus ride only cost 200 kroner. (There are about 6 kroner in a USD). The Cab-inn hotel was just as pictured – I had a tiny efficient room but it did over look a canal and cafes. I unpacked and turned on my GPS. Much to my surprise it beeped immediately upon finding satellites and looking for the closest cache.

Although it was right outside my window, I had to walk around the block to get to the canal where I spotted two college age kids who seemed to be looking for the cache. I asked them if they were and I soon joined their search. They were new to caching, so I was able to find the cache – one of the very tiny micro magnetic ones.

I then walked further down the canal and spotted Mark Guzdial and Mike Clancy and his wife Karen, so I joined them for a while. before heading off to the restaurant to join the doctoral consortium folks. I found it easily with the directions I had taken from google maps – including a pleasant walk on a pedestrian shopping street. I was the first one there. It was like a French bistro but with very old rough furniture.

Our table for 13 was made of planks, and the place was decorated with old bottles, etc. The food was fabulous and very French). The owner was entertaining -- he made steak tartar for the woman next to me and made crepe suzettes for the next table telling outlandish stories.

It was fairly expensive, though, and didn’t take credit cards. The owner said not to worry we could come back the next day or next week to settle! Instead several of us went to the ATM and got cash. All in all a lovely evening and good start.

View pics from all three days.

Turkey Day 16 Istanbul

2010-07-11T05:20:00.000-07:00

Suze didn’t appreciate our getting up at 7:30 (we didn’t hear the muezzin from the hotel which was remarkable given all the mosques in Istanbul!) The hotel breakfast was served on the enclosed top floor terrace, but since it was raining hard, the view was lost on us. The breakfast was substantial – the largest Suze had ever seen at a hotel!

We took a cab to the Blue Mosque. Phil argued with the driver about the rate, and the cabbie set the meter. However, he clearly added several kilometers by going too far on the Kennedy Boulevard and doubling back! We made our way to the mosque which closes at noon on Friday. It continued to rain as we waited in line. Taking off our shoes at the entrance without getting our socks wet was a challenge! We didn’t take a tour, but listened in on several around us that were given in English. Suze bought a 10 lira clear umbrella from one of the hawkers.

I wanted to find a geocache entitled the Blue Mosque which was supposedly close by, but we ended up in a rather bleak neighborhood and I couldn’t find it. Long trudge back to the Hagia Sophia. On the way we stopped at a shop and bought a bunch of little tapestry purses. The Hagia Sophia Museum cost 20 TL each and had almost nothing in it, though its history of being a Christian church converted to a mosque was extensive. It is undergoing massive restoration and needed it. I ran into Dick and Susan Brown from St. Olaf at the entrance and we chatted.

After the Museum we headed off looking for an ATM and a bite to eat. We stopped at a lovely café where Phil and Suze got mains – Phil had eggplant stuffed with chicken and smothered in yummy cheese and Suze had chicken, both with rice. I shared a bit of theirs and had tea. Suze also got a very rich chocolate baklava which she shared.

Then it was off to Topkapi which we couldn’t afford. I looked for another geocache there (and found it just as Susannah said I wasn’t very good at geocaching.) I took a travel bug and left and English coin. In order to get money, we trudged back to the Hagia Sophia museum where we found the row of ATMS just outside. Back to Topkapi where we headed for the treasury. Suze got bored with the crowded rooms. I loved the sultans’ clothes display, but the room was very hot. Phil and I were rewarded by seeing the Topkapi dagger and even Suze liked the Topkapi diamond. I wanted to see the harem rooms (an extra 15 lira each) so Suze went with me after we all had a soda. It was huge!

Then we set off walking to find the Grand Bazaar. On the way we saw a near collision of a tour bus and a tram that took a lot of maneuvering to untangle. We also walked through a cemetery for important sultans and pashas. The bazaar itself was noisy and full of pushy sales people. We bought a few things, including a nice pair of evil eye protector earrings for me.

On exiting the bazaar we tried to head for the spice bazaar. We wandered for a long time through a crowded shopping area where the locals shopped. Stores full of linens, long coats for religious women, scarves, cheap suits, shirts, underwear and frilly bride dresses --- no tourists. Phil’s sense of direction was good and we ended up in the spice bazaar which we liked much better than the Grand Bazaar. Again we bought a few things and headed for the Galata Bridge.

We walked under it past many restaurants all trying to convince us they had the best deal. We sat at one and all ordered fish meals. Because it threatened rain, and the sun was peaking through, the views on the Bosporus were stunning.

Phil forgot our hats and had to go back. We then made our way after a few false moves to buy jetons for the tram and funicular to go to the hotel. After we got to Taksim, Suze needed to shop so we hit a few stores including getting some snacks. Back to the room for a final pack and check of the internet and bed.

See more pics.

Turkey Day 15 Ephesus -- Istanbul

2010-07-08T20:27:00.000-07:00

Phil and I packed. I made a big breakfast with the eggs I had bought and found out they were almost all double yolked. While we were eating Susannah decided to not eat and instead swept the house with a handle-less broom!
Phil and I walked down to the Isa Bey mosque and were intrigued by huge variety of the prayer rugs. We looked at several of the shops and returned back to the villa where I took a last dip in the pool and had a glass of wine. Rob took the little girls to a water park – Fantasyland.

The driver came to take Suze, Phil and me to the airport. We were a little late, but he stopped for gas on the way out of town. He was the same driver we had when we came (and had forgotten in the confusion to tip him) so we gave him 20 TL and thanked him in Turkish when he let us out at the Izmir airport. We had never seen such a big smile!
Surprised to see the Turkcell ad in the airport featuring Google, many of whose apps are blocked

Our plane was over an hour late, but we made up time and were only about a half hour late getting into Istanbul. It was a very long walk to the metro and I got confused getting the tokens, but we made it. The train got more and more crowded as we headed in. We stayed at the same hotel the Buteras and Phil had stayed in on the way, the Eresin Taksim Best Western. Our room wasn’t ready when we got there, so I went across the street to get a 5 liter bottle of water. Internet in the lobby was free (Gwyneth had paid something like 30 TL a day for it) so we used it as well. The wait was well worth it. Nice big corner room on largely pedestrian streets.

We decided to explore and walked down the big shopping street that Phil had been on before.

I got tired and cranky on the way back as we looked for a place to eat. I did stop to get some milk for my morning coffee. Finally we decided to eat in the hotel. It was a good thing we stopped just then because it began to pour. We had several mezes before Phil got spicy kebabs and Suze got chicken. I ate a bit of theirs.

See more pics

Turkey Day 14 Kuşadası and Chloe's Birthday

2010-07-07T23:23:00.000-07:00

Chloe got up early and helped me bake cupcakes for her birthday. (Instruction video Dr. Oetker Princess Lillifee Muffin mix)

All of us but Gwyneth and Camille walked to town to pay the bill for the car and villa. We then went to the Ephesus Museum which was lovely. It consisted solely of artifacts from the local sites well laid out.

Then we went to lunch at Mehmet and Alibaba’s. It took forever, but was very good. Rob took the girls for a pre-lunch ice cream while we waited!

It was after 2 when all but Camille and Gwyneth set off looking for a geocache at the pirate castle in Kuşadası and a day at the beach. It was incredibly hot in Kuşadası and we didn’t find the cache. We had great views though. Getting out of the city was awful – we got crazy lost. We drove through two smaller resort towns before arriving at the Dillek Peninsula National Park that was our destination. Lonely Planet said the last beach was the nicest and least crowded, so we headed for it. The park is known for its scenery and lynx, wild boar and birds. Phil and I did see a wild boar! The beach was crowded but we got there just as most folks were leaving, so we got an umbrella and chaises. The beach was like the on at Nice – stony. The water was a beautiful blue.

When we tired of swimming (Chloe said she was “sea logged”) we headed back, stopping in Guzelcamli for groceries. I made quesadillas (the store had tortillas!) and pasta for supper. Suze made a big salad.

Chloe did birthday challenges a la Mindy. She jumped into the pool with her clothes on and sang happy birthday outside the villa and made noises like a chimpanzee! Gifts and cake and a pool party ended the day.

See more photos of the day

Turkey Day 13 Ephesus Sites

2010-07-06T23:14:00.000-07:00

Phil and I walked to town to find the larger grocery store (Tansas). We learned that the citadel overlooking the town has been closed for 5 years. Our first stop was the Kiwi Carpet Shop where we met Alison’s ex-husband and arranged for a driver to take us up to the Ephesus site later in the day when the tour busses would be gone. We wandered into a few gift shops looking for birthday gifts for Chloe. A particularly aggressive shoe shiner managed to polish one of my sandals before I escaped, looking slightly askew with one shiny sandal and one very dusty one! We did find the store eventually and bought a whole lot of heavy stuff, trudging back to the villa in the heat.

All of us except Chloe and Susannah walked to St. John’s Church. As soon as
Phil started taking pictures, he realized I had left his SD card in my computer so I hurried back to the house to retrieve it. Good thing we were only a few blocks away. In fact we were just across the street from the villa when we took some of the pictures, only we were about 50 feet above it and separated by the enclosing wall!

Suze bought Chloe a coin decorated skirt she wanted for her birthday (but Phil and I had bought the same thing earlier)! Oh, well, she can play with a friend.

When we all walked down to town (except Rob who brought the car), Mustafa showed Chloe carpets and served her “apple tea.” Another young man drove us and our van to the south entrance and left us off. We then toured the site which was so empty that I sang happy birthday to Chloe when she was in the small amphitheater and I was on the stage. There was no one else but us in it at the time! The ruins were definitely amazing – to think Paul had walked the same streets!

Our walk back to the villa was long – a little over two miles and the little girls did a great job of not complaining. The path followed an aqueduct so it was nicely shaded. We stopped at the Temple of Artemis where we were pestered by a little girl who wanted to sell us fake coins.

Back home I made pasta for supper which was a big hit.

See more photos.

Turkey Day 12 Pamukkale and Hierapolis

2010-07-05T23:01:00.000-07:00

I made a big breakfast of eggs for everyone which we ate outside on the picnic table.

We didn’t get a very early start but Rob drove us all 3 hours to Pamukkale and Hierapolis.

We got to walk in the travertine pools at Pamukkale, and then we scrambled among the wonderful ruins at Hierapolis (all one park).

Camille and Chloe by the Travertine Pools

Phil Scrambling on Ruins

For an exorbitant fee, Rob, Suze and the girls went swimming in the ancient thermal pools. The rest of us sat in a noisy outdoor area with lots of smokers. Later Gwyneth and I ate Gozlemer in a pretty place where we sat on low carpeted benches.

Camille accidently ordered a meat sandwich so I gave her the half of the Gozleme I didn’t eat in trade for hers. Gwyneth wanted to go to the Afrodisias temple. The route we chose was over mountain passes and we saw many different terrains. Beautiful. When we got there it was too late, so we just headed home, arriving about 10pm. I had wine, bread and cheese and went to bed.

All pics of the day

Turkey Day 11 Ephesus, Beach and Mary's House

2010-07-05T22:48:00.000-07:00

I was awakened by the muezzin at 4:15 right across the street – loud. After breakfast Rob drove us up the mountain to “Mary’s House” – the alleged place St. John brought

After a short tour of the house/chapel, there was a spring from which people filled bottles of water and Suze washed her hands and face. Just past the spring was a wall filled with little cloth prayer requests.

. We ate lunch at the Denizli Restaurant where we chose by pointing at foods in the kitchen. Suze and the little girls swam afterwards and I put my feet in the water.

Dinner was pick me up bread and cheese.

Slideshow of the day

Turkey Day 10 Ankara/Bilkent to Izmir/Ephesus

2010-07-04T06:57:00.000-07:00

We got up when the muezzin sang at 4:15 and I finished packing and re-packing. The van to pick us up was early and then went to the hotel to get two others.

Within Turkey you can’t have nail clippers or any size scissors, so I had to repack. The plane boarded early, so I didn’t have a chance to drink the coffee I had bought so I poured it into an empty water bottle. People on the plane had almost no carryon luggage. The baggage came at Izmir almost immediately. We waited about a half hour for Suze and the driver loaded our luggage and then came back with the minivan for her. She had unknowingly checked in with first class so her bag from Istanbul was marked “priority”.

The trip to Ephesus took about 50 minutes. Our villa is literally across the street from St. John’s church where St. John is reportedly buried. The villa is even lovelier than the pictures.

We had fruit and cheese that Alison (the rental agent) left for us and then Phil and Suze went for a little walk. When they got home, Phil got violently ill. Rob, Suze, Chloe and I headed to the weekly open market for food and to the pharmacy for over the counter Cipro for Phil. We had a super time. Rob and Chloe took the food home, and Suze and I bought some more staples like coke and chips before heading back to check on Phil. Soon, Gwyneth, Suze and I headed back to the market for photos.

I made pizza from fresh veggies, bread rounds and cheese. After dinner we walked behind the mosque across the street to watch a wedding reception.

Turkey Day 9 Cappadocia Balloon and Tour

2010-07-02T00:35:00.000-07:00

All of us but Phil got up very early to assemble for a hot air balloon trip at 4:45 am. The organizers took us to a place for coffee and tea and bill paying! The trip was just incredible. I have never done anything like it before. The scenery was phenomenal. One of the most remarkable things was that we landed right on top of the trailer used to transport the balloon back to storage. We were served champagne with cherry juice at the end.

Back to the hotel for breakfast and then we went to Goreme to see the churches at the open air museum.
http://www.goreme.com/goreme-open-air-museum.php

This included St. Barbara’s church. She was an Egyptian whose father had her killed for being a Christian. Then on to a carpet center where most of the group spent far too much for rugs, including me.
http://www.yukselcarpets.com

The on to lunch at Dede Effendi Restaurant where we ate outside. I had a local wine.

Our final stop was at a pottery place where we had a short lesson and then on to the over-priced pottery store. I bought a small tile for 10TL.

The bus ride back seemed interminable. I was really cranky packing. We went to bed and then heard a lot of fireworks.

Turkey Day 8 Cappadocia Tour

2010-07-01T12:26:00.000-07:00

The bus picking us up at the apartment was late – they had to wait for the woman from Spain. We hopped on and then went to the hotel to get the others. Turns out that we had to wait again – this time for a couple from Scandinavia. But we did get on our way, stopping twice for bathroom breaks. I had coffee with John in a lovely garden.

Our first tourist stop was outside Goreme for lunch in a cave house. Drinks were really expensive (3.50TL for a bottle of water). Afterwards, the bus backed up in order for us to get a geocache at Pasabaga.

We visited a town (Uchisar) with a remarkable citadel and a tree with eil eye decorations. Then we went to an underground city, Kaymakali, where the Christians had hidden out. Liz Adams got really sick in the cave. Joyce Little’s watch had stopped and lo and behold there was a man with a watch battery business run from a motorcycle at the entrance to the underground.

Our final stop for the evening was the hotel Burcu in Ortahisar. It had a lovely zero edge pool, but it was too late to swim. Camille stayed with Phil and me. Dinner was a very large buffet.
http://www.cappadociahotelstours.com/burcu-hotel.htm

Gwyneth, Rob and children went to see the Whirling Dervishes, but Phil and I went to bed.

Turkey Day 7 End of Conference

2010-06-30T00:25:00.000-07:00

Phil and I walked over to the hotel to hear Jane Prey give her talk on diversity. Afterwards I talked to Banu a bit, and then arranged a meeting with Amber, Tiffany and Susan Rodger. It was quite intense, but fun. I took a cab to the Bilkent Center where I got wine and chips at the Real grocery.

Later I went back to the apartment to explore the Bilkent campus with Phil. We got as far as the main plaza where there is a statue of the founder. Then we headed back by way of the campus market where we bought a 1.5 liter bottle of water for .55TL.

After returning to the apartment for a short while, we walked down toward the shopping center where I took a cab to the conference and Phil headed to go shopping for duct tape.

I went to the wrap up where Reyann and John thanked me and Henry for our service and gave us a small gift of a miniature covered platter similar to the one that the lamb was served in the night before. Henry and I drew for the wine door prize, one of which May Anne Egan won.

Guido gave a great presentation about Darmstadt, the venue for next year’s conference. Annemeike and Catherine had a small party in their room where they modeled the leather jackets they had purchased in Istanbul – they are going to share them, trading off each year!

The Buteras went to dinner at the home of someone they had known at Rice, while I went to the conference banquet.

The food was plentiful and was followed by entertainment. First there were folk dancers who showed off dancing of five regions complete with costume changes. There was also a very good female singer who was also a dentist! There was a lot of Turkish dancing in which almost all of the attendees participated. I got hot and exhausted participating! I tried to leave, but Reyann forced me to stay. Turns out there was a belly dancer who was really entertaining. I took a cab back to the apartment about 11:30.

Turkey Day 6 Day Tour and Banquet

2010-06-29T00:10:00.000-07:00

A special shuttle bus picked me up to go to the conference. The opening session was really good, The son of the founder of Bilkent welcomed us and the keynote was by an incredible woman who heads the Turkish version of the NSF.

I skipped the opening and sort of slept in, getting there about coffee break time. Phil and I grabbed out box lunches and went on the ITiCSE tour with the group. We went first to Ataturk’s Mausoleum, Antikbar. Then we went into Old Ankara and toured the oldest mosque in Ankara. We had to take off our shoes. On the way down from the mosque, Phil spotted the yarn shop where we went in and got yarn for Camille. (Although when we got back, it turns out the yarn said “Made in Turkey for Hobby Lobby!”) We had a short shopping break where Phil got a pocket knife which was made in the US! We went to the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations.

Then it was time to head to the conference committee banquet, though we had to wait for the folks from the other tour. The meal was at the citadel right where we had just returned from! The Washington Restaurant had a gorgeous view.

Turkey Day 5 Bilkent ITiCSE Official Opening

2010-06-28T23:38:00.000-07:00

I talked at length with Mats Daniels about future ITiCSE site selection and then went to lunch (stand-up).

Harriet and Boots had decided to take a cab to grab a geocache and I went along to the ODT Teknokent Museum.

Back at the conference, I went to the gender diversity session and then chaired one on laboratory tools. I was so sleepy I went to Alison and Tony’s room afterwards and took a nap before the reception. Lots of food. Finally returned on shuttle bus that had had 30 people in the morning and only 4 at night!

Turkey Day 4 Bilkent, Ankara, Turkey

2010-06-27T23:22:00.000-07:00

Phil walked me to the conference venue in a light rain; then he returned to the apartment for a day of adventures with the Buteras. I checked-in on the working groups and tried to meet up with Gwyneth and the others, but they had already left.

Atanas Radenski asked me if there were anyone going into the city so his wife could accompany her, so I said I was going to find a geocache and would be glad to go. We took the bus to Sıhhiye in Ankara and it left us off in a weird place – the exit ramp of the highway. A nice man, a Brit, from the conference showed us the way to find the park where the geocache was.

Ruomi helped me negotiate to buy a scarf from one of the stalls in the Sıhhiye Market we went to next to. Then we walked through Abdı Ipekçi Park and went the wrong way on Tuna Street ending up walking through an enclosed market building that had a big parking garage on top. We found ourselves in Kurtulus Park which is where I had hoped to find a geocache. We saw lots of bridal parties exiting a building labeled Çankaya. Then we stopped for lunch at a café where we ate the traditional pancakes, Gözlemeler. Ruomi’s mother-in-law in Bulgaria makes similar pancakes in the old style, so they had a conversation through the waiter acting as interpreter.

We walked back to the Tunus stop because we were afraid to find it near where we were left off.

Phil and the Buteras explored the old citadel and had the same pancakes at a café where the server gave them each a small geode as they left.

Turkey Day 3 Bilkent, Ankara Turkey

2010-06-26T23:17:00.000-07:00

I woke about 5. Phil and I had boiled eggs and toast from over the propane stove flame. We walked over to the conference venue by going uphill this time. I picked up my registration materials and true to my promise to him, came right back without chatting much. It was a gorgeous walk. But we tried the bus coming back. It was good and we saw a lot of the campus

The Buteras slept late – Gwyneth was the first up. We decided to check out the bus to town. We had to wait nearly 45 minutes – a bit long for Chloe. But the bus was a coach and worth the wait. It left us off at Tunis, but we didn’t know what that was. Turns out it was a street that parallels the main avenue, Ataturk. We got a map from the Midas hotel and found lunch at Simit Sarayı where we all had sandwiches.

We walked up Ataturk Boulevard and through the flower market before heading back to Tunus and the bus. I made grilled cheese sandwiches for our supper. Phil, Rob, Chloe and I went for a walk afterwards.

Turkey Day 2 -- On the rails and Bilkent (Ankara)

2010-06-25T22:00:00.000-07:00

We slept to the steady bump, bump of the train headed into the night. Phil and I woke fairly early. The scenery was beautiful – lots of farm land and then rocky hills.

Rob and the girls joined us for breakfast in the dining car. We tried both kinds of tea – Turkish tea (Çay Aroması) and regular tea (Çay). We also got one Turkish breakfast to share – egg, cheese, olives, and bread.

We were greeted at the train station in Ankara by a driver from the ITiCSE conference who took us to our apartment.

A kind gentleman carried my bag up the stairs to the third floor and we settled in. Our refrigerators were stocked with milk, bread, cheese, juice, olives and jams!

As is our usual traveling mode, we explored the area. We are a short downhill walk to a large shopping mall complete with Marks and Spencer as well as a huge grocery (Real), rather like a super Wal-Mart. We ran into Alison Young and Tony Clear who were also shopping, We bought a ton of food and us girls took a cab with the groceries back up the hill, while Phil and Rob walked. We had snacks and then rested a bit. Small catastrophe – I succeeded in opening a bottle of red wine without a corkscrew but sprayed myself and the kitchen with red wine, including the white painted wall and the grout behind the sink!

I walked down to the shopping area and took a cab to the conference venue, the Bilkent Hotel for the meeting of the working group leaders. This allowed me to scope out the area there. One of the Bilkent professors, an American named Lori, dropped me off at the shopping center where I picked up a couple of things, including a corkscrew!

I cooked dinner – tortellini with tomato sauce and salad. Camille had a slight fever, but Tylenol, juice and a nap revived her. We ate, and then turned in for the night.

See pictures

Turkey Trip Day 1 Berkely, California to Istanbul

2010-06-24T22:00:00.000-07:00

The plane from Chicago was two hours late landing, so I barely had time to get to my next plane to Istanbul. It took a while to go through security. And then it was way past time to board. I couldn't find a departures board until I went downstairs. Then I say that plane was delayed. I checked my email and then ran into Kate Sanders and Robert McCartney who were headed to Stockholm. We had a good conversation about SIGCSE. When I finally boarded my plane, it was more than an hour late. I sat right behind Monica Gill and Michael Kolling! Michael helped me with my bag at both ends of the trip which was lovely. I ate the lamb casserole and lunch and then slept the whole way.

Immigration was very frustrating. Monica and I needed visas, and didn’t know we had to go get them in a separate line until we had waited 15 minutes in the passport line. Getting the visa was just paying $20 and a person pasted the stamp in my passport. They didn’t even enter any info from my passport so the transaction probably took less than 5 seconds. Once again we had to stand in the long passport line.

Gwyneth, through a series of text message exchanges, convinced me to take the Metro to the tram to the ferry. Everything worked fine. I was able to get money from the ATM, and an attendant helped me get my tokens for the Metro and tram. My only confusion was in getting the correct train when I got off the Metro. But it was fun to ride the tram and see the sites of Istanbul. The train went right past Topkapi and the Blue Mosque. I crossed the bridge on the Golden Horn and got off immediately spying Phil’s robin’s egg blue shirt. I was very happy! Gwyneth had come with him and took my bag to where Rob and the girls were waiting. We just missed the ferry to Haydarpa which was a good thing because we were confused about the tokens for the ferry because they were different from the ones for the metro.

The girls wanted the top level on the ferry to the train station where the view looking back at the Europe side was super. I got my Bosporus cruise!

We ate dinner at the railroad station. The waiter was super nice and we chose a whole bunch of mezes (appetizers). Phil and Rob each had a grill main dish – Rob hat kofta (meatballs) and Phil had kebobs (lamb) but they both got lightly grilled tomatoes, onions and hot green peppers plus macaroni and French fries! Rob tried raki and Phil tasted his.

We found out sleeping car rooms without a hitch> The girls loved the bunks.

Winter Trips

2010-01-28T08:32:00.000-08:00

So many trips and so few posts! Catching up -- Christmas Day we converged on my brother in Steamboat Springs, CO.

From Christmas 2009

We were fortunate to house sit in a beautiful place, and then enjoyed tons of family time -- most dinners included about 24 relatives.

Elk (on way to Strawberry Park),geocaching,Chloe sledding,x-country(Jim, Keller, Marty, Rob),more sledding, Suze,Phil

We got home on the night of December 30 and at 5 am on December 31, I began the drive to the Georgia cabin for New Year's Eve with Gwyneth, Rob and the girls.

We had our standard brownie and champagne celebration with very sleepy people and then opened gifts the next day.

`We had a great day trip to North Carolina to the John Campbell Folk School and the Kelischek Musical Instrument Craft Shop.

A beautiful snow storm in the Southeast kept me in Georgia longer than I would have liked, but it was lovely to look at and fun to play in!

I finished my first week of classes at Southwestern and immediately boarded a plane for Atlanta where I was met by Gwyneth and the girls. We took off for a 7 hour drive to Myrtle Beach and a destination belated birthday party for Camille at MagiQuest. We had a beautiful hotel room on the ocean and a great time.

Plus I got to visit with my friends from Peekskill--Bill and Ellie, who now live in North Carolina near Myrtle Beach.

I am now preparing for a three day trip to Marina del Rey, California. Thankfully Phil holds down the fort and cares for the cats!

Tuba Christmas 2009

2009-12-05T15:25:00.000-08:00

Today marks the second Tuba Christmas that I participated in after not playing a baritone (well, it was a euphonium this time) for 40 years. I borrowed one from Southwestern and practiced in the breezeway between the garage and the house to minimize the noise for Phil and the neighbors!

I had my debut last Saturday (the Saturday after Thanksgiving) in Blue Ridge, GA where we had spent our 10th Thanksgiving since acquiring our mountain retreat cabin.

The weather was bitterly cold and windy in Texas compared with last week's warm and sunny weather in Georgia. Thanks to Phil, Susannah and Suze's Lhaso Apso, Duncan for coming to both concerts!

I checked my diary and see that we went to a Tuba Christmas on December 21, 1975 at Rockefeller Center. In looking this up I found December 12, 1975 quote from Gwyneth, who was in Montessori school, to Phil:
"On Monday I have dancing; Tuesday is cub scout meeting at Carolyn's; Wednesday I have singing; Thursday I have dancing; Friday Mommy comes; Saturday Emergency is on; and Sunday we take Mommy to the train.
Everybody doesn't have an exciting life like I have."

2009-11-1 Hong Kong to home

2009-11-02T12:05:00.000-08:00

We tried looking for the geocache we were unable to find but still couldn’t find the one by the ferry building. We got breakfast at the Starbucks in the cultural center and sat on the steps watching a Tai Chi class.

Then we walked along the Tsim Sha Tsui water front promenade which included a parade of Hong Kong movie star hand prints in the paving stones. We also walked through the 1881 shopping area which was an old marine police headquarter transformed into high end shops and restaurants.

We finished our packing and checked out of the hotel but stored our bags.

We tried to go gift shopping but were overwhelmed by too expensive stuff and men asking Phil if he wanted a tailor made suit. We gave up and took a taxi to the train station and were able to check into the airline at the train station before going to the airport. We didn’t have to lug our bags to the airport.

We spent the rest of our Hong Kong money at the airport and had lunch in the first class lounge. It was very nce.

The Cathay Pacific plane was wonderful. Out first class pods were decorated with fresh flowers. The food was unbelievable. The service was over the top. Phil and I were able to sit side by side in his seat with plenty of room. For dinner I sat in the chair in the front of his pod and they expanded the tray to make a rather large table which they covered with a linen cloth. First course caviar, then Caesar salad. I had veal and Phil had port. He had a cheese course and then dessert.

I let them make up my pod into a bed. Phil stayed in his pod and tried to watch a movie, but kept dozing. When I woke up it was 30 minutes before landing in San Francisco. We had to walk with our luggage a very long way before re-checking it. We had almost 4 hours to sit in the admiral’s club before taking off for LA. I got off the plane but Phil stayed on before it took off for Austin.

Another meal on the plane to Austin and when we landed our luggage was the first off. We got to the Fast Park bus and quickly to our ar. When we got home we discovered that the bus driver ahd given us the wrong bag. We called Fast Park and he said we could get ours right away or in the morning. There was nothing we needed and we were tired so we elected to wait.

Hong Kong

2009-11-01T11:56:00.000-08:00

We awoke rather early and asked at the desk for an ATM. There was one just across the street near where we had entered the hotel from the bus. Next to it was another Starbucks where we got coffee and an egg white sandwich for breakfast which we ate in our room.

We went out to find a geocache and figure out the ferries to Hong Kong. After finding the cache, we took the GPS back to our room and set off for Victoria Peak. We could ride the Star Ferry for free because we are senior citizens. On the Hong Kong side we walked around forever trying to find where to buy an “Octopus card” which allowed us to ride all the mass transit in Hong Kong once we loaded it with money. It was hot and we couldn’t understand the people very well, but eventually went to a mall where the train station was, and got our cards. Then back to near the ferry landing to get a bus to the Peak Tram which took us to the top of the mountain where there were tons of shops and a viewing place. I had read about a trail at the top. Our biggest problem was locating the i. It wasn’t marked, and we felt like idiots when we realized it was a tram car sitting in the middle of the plaza.

The nice people in the information tram told us how to find the trail and gave us a map. The paved path took us all around the mountain for fabulous views and interesting signs about the flora, fauna and history. Since it was a Sunday where were lots of people out for a stroll. It was quite hot when we got back to the cable car plaza. We ate lunch at MacDonalds with a fabulous view. Then we found some gourmet groceries at the shopping on the top of the mountain and got our favorite picnic food of bread, cheese and wine to go with the fruit that had been supplied in our hotel room.

After taking the Tram back down to the bus and then the ferry, we dropped our purchases in the room and headed up to yet another park and walked along the shopping street and into the Temple Street night market which was for the locals. We were amazed by all the stores selling expensive watches, purses and electronics.

Beijing to Hong Kong

2009-10-31T11:47:00.000-07:00

Phil packed while I futzed with the computer. Then I packed, and we had breakfast. We read and made sure we had all the info we needed before the trip. Shanliang rang the bell about 10 until 10 and we were off. Except he had left the change from the bill on the counter and had to go back. The driver even gave us a gift of a teapot.

We were surprised that there were no news shops in the departure area. Only expensive places where we managed to spend almost all of our Mainland China money.

Air China gave us lunch (pork rice) and an ice cream ball thing covered in a gummy sugar coating.

We got to the Hong Kong airport and couldn’t make the machine take our money for train tickets, so we stood in line and somehow got a ticket which was $20 HK cheaper than had we bought them at the machine. The train to free hotel express bus worked great.

I had trouble checking in because I did not have a voucher. The clerk had me go back in the office with her where I went through my email and printed our the message from Orbitz. It was not exactly what she wanted but it worked. Our room was an upgrade to a full harbor view. The hotel, the YMCA Salisbury, was under massive construction in its lobby area as was the surrounding street area. However, our room was perfect with a phenomenal view.

We unpacked and went across the street to the Cultural Center where we got Starbucks coffee and split a curry beef pie sandwich. We hurried to the waterfront for the Symphony of Lights show where the harbor side buildings in both Kowloon and Hong Kong had a light show orchestrated to music. It was really cool.

As it was Halloween, lots of people were dressed in costumes and people brought their kids to be photographed near a host of illuminated figures set up in the area to celebrate the East Asia games that will be in Hong Kong in December.

Temple of Heaven Beijing

2009-10-30T12:58:00.000-07:00

Our final touring day took us south east to the Temple of Heaven. The weather had turned cold and threatened rain, but we had a grand time watching all the people in the park. Groups of older adults were dancing for exercising, playing games with balls, singing with a band, playing dominoes and cards. We toured the temple and then looked for a geocache on the grounds. It was good I had re-looked this one up since it was moved just the day before!

Then we walked to King of Old Beijing noodle Restaurant but Shanliang didn’t know where it was, so we had to call the driver. Then we went to the Hong Qiao Pearl Market where Jane Prey had told us to go. We went to Sharon’s Store and bought pearl necklaces. Avoiding the persistent salespeople in the market while we waited to have the pearls strung and clasps put on was nerve wracking. We didn’t buy anything else, although we certainly should have. Since nothing was priced it ws too much work!

We decided not to do anything else. We think Shanliang was happy to have the day off. We did walk for wine and snacks and then had a light supper of beef and mushrooms with rice and broccoli for supper. Once again the only beverage was hot water.

Beijing (The Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square)

2009-10-29T12:49:00.000-07:00

Breakfast and the driver picked us up at nine to go to the Forbidden City. We came in from the north and all the signs assume you’ve come from the other way. However, we missed most of the crowds and it was absolutely peaceful and beautiful in the Empress' Gardens. Once again we found the virtual cache near the temple of enlightenment. We had to take a picture of a stone. I was astounded by how large the compound was. When we exit through the huge throngs of tour groups we were across the street from Tienanmen Square. We crossed under the highway and came up in the squire. There were two of the biggest TV’s I ever saw celebrating the 60th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China. We had our picture taken in front of the monument near Mao’s tomb as part of a geocache. There was a huge queue for te mausoleum but we didn’t want to wait. The square now is decorated with red pillars for each of the 50 some odd ethnic groups that make up China.

Then we were off to Wangfujing Street, a big shopping street, where we took pictures of each other sitting in a rickshaw as part of yet another cache. Then Shanliang took us to the “most famous” roasted duck restaurant, Quanjude, where we ate the 1,4803,657th duck they have served. The duck came with a certificate number!

Phil and I shared less than half the duck which was carved and then we made little burritos like wraps as we ate it. Shanliang ate the rest of the duck – probably ¾ of the wholoe thing!

Meanwhile back to the hotel. As if we hadn’t walked far enough, we set off for a geocache in a park about 1.3 miles away off Huangsi street. It was a gorgeous park , Liuyan Park, filled with willows. It cost us 1 yuan to get in and we found the hidden cache but there was a guy playing a video game right near us. Hope he didn’t see. It was dark on the way back and we walked on the side with lots of construction so we ended up in the street with the bicycles for much of the way. We stopped at the store for wine, snacks and Pepsi for Phil.

Beijing (excursion to Badaling and the Great Wall)

2009-10-28T12:45:00.000-07:00

Up early to go to the Great Wall. It was a little over an hour’s ride to Badaling. When we got there, it had clouded over and was very cold. Our driver thought we would want to take the cable car up, but we convinced Shanliang that we preferred to walk. I wanted Starbucks coffee, from the shop right by the wall. We also convinced him to go left when he preferred right, because the geocache said to go left. Turns out the crowd was much less to the left. The sun came out and it was a beautiful day. But the walk was STEEP! We couldn’t find the monument for the cache. They moved it for the Olympics and I misunderstood what had happened so Phil and Shanliang did a lot of dangerous bushwacking around the porta potties. On the way up we bought a pounded slate artwork of the wall from the artist. On the way down, Shanliang reimbursed us the amount of my visa and Phil bought himself a baseball cap and a t-shirt.

When we got back to Beijing, Shanliang wanted to take us out for roasted duck. Our timing was just wrong. We stopped at about 5 different places and the driver and Shanliang gave up and went to a hot pot place that was both fun and good. We boiled our food – thin sliced beef and mutton and veggies in broth. Phil and the driver had the spicy one and Shanliang and I had mild. Once again no dinner for us.

Beijing -- Peking University and Summer Palace

2009-10-27T12:52:00.000-07:00

Shanliang must have accompanied Rich to the airport very early. We had breakfast in the hotel – donut like sweet rolls, cucumber and sprout salad, sticky buns and warm real milk.

Then it was off to Peking University for my talk. Only two professors and one student came. A lot of money and work for that! I did meet a female prof who had to teach. One student, Mr. Wang, came as did the representative from i-Group who brought brochures about ACM. Despite the small gathering, I think the talk was a success.

Ming took us to observe a class on CS theory and then on a walking tour which included seeing the site of the 2008 Olympic table tennis games. We had lunch at the Peking University Hotel. It was very good. We had crunchy pork spareribs, duck, a whole fish and the assorted veggies. Afterwards we walked about the entire campus which was very park-like. I gathered it was the location of the old summer palace of the emperor.

Back to our hotel to change and then Shanliang and the driver took us to the Summer Palace. We walked up and up to get to the temple at the top. It is called Longevity Hill. The dirt that was dug to put in a lake made the hill.

We then scrambled to find a geocache hidden among rocks in the woods below. Phil spotted it and then let Shanliang find it, too.

We walked about the grounds and saw an old guy on an outcropping play an instrument while a girl sang with the accompanying loudspeaker. We walked up to a temple of a god with lots of arms and then took the covered long walk (Phil says there were 14,000 paintings on it) to another park gate where we were met by the driver.

Phil and I explored the area by walking toward a geocache and stopping a little supermarket where we bought a bottle of Great Wall wine. We had a drink of it with leftover airline snacks before dinner. We just had rice and soup for dinner because we were full from lunch.

Chengdu to Beijing

2009-10-26T13:02:00.000-07:00

We had to leave very early, being in the lobby at 7am. Ming and Shanliang accompanied Rich and us to the airport and took the same plane. We had breakfast at the airport. Shanliang ordered spaghetti and it was served with Tabasco and Kraft Parmesan. Rich ordered the Japanese dish. The rest of us just had coffee.

I worked a bit on the changes that Ming wanted me to make to my talk for her department at Peking University. On the plane, we were served a light meal – tuna and cucumber sandwich, I think.

The Beijing airport was beautiful. We were met by a driver who took us to our hotel. Boy was I wrong about it. It was not the Jinma but the GaoJiaoJinMa, a small hotel run for the Higher Education Press with few of the standard hotel amenities. The carpet had not been swept before our arrival so I found a maid and had her vacuum it.

At Shanliang and Ming’s suggestion, Phil and I stayed in our room while Shanliang took Rich to the Forbidden City and out for Peking Duck. Phil and I had dinner in the hotel restaurant.

Chengdu trip to Du Jiang Yan

2009-10-25T13:06:00.000-07:00

We had breakfast with the conference again. Shanliang called to say the van that was to take us to Du Jiang Yan had something wrong so we would leave later than planned. Rich LeBlanc, Phil and I joined Shanliang and our driver, a tiny man who clearly had no idea about the area. He had to ask passers-by for directions to even leave Chengdu. Because of the late start, it seems we wouldn’t get to see the pandas. I was disappointed by Rich didn’t really want to go see them.

When we got closer to Du Jiang Yan we saw more and more evidence of the earthquake that hit this area in 2008. We couldn’t follow the signs, and again the driver had to keep asking how to get to the historical site of an irrigation and flood control project that was build in 200 BCE. We parked in a muddy lot and walked to the site entrance and waited while Shanliang bought tickets for us. The site is a world heritage site and the gardens were quite lovely. I had made first experience with a toilet-paper-less non-western Chinese commode. We walked to the river walk where we could see evidence of the early construction. We had to cross a swinging suspension bridge that kids made worse than it was. I really felt wobbly when we got off. We walked the length of an island and then decided to take the path back on the opposite shore which involved a lot of climbing. However, we had great views and went to several small temples. The damage from the earthquake was quite evident.

At the end of the trail we came to the Temple of the TownGods which was full of 6 fanciful characters and had a holy water pool at the exit. We walked through the old town meet our driver. Shanliang said the restaurants near the river wouldn’t be “healthy” and thye would cheat the tourists, so we drove toward Chengdu and stopped at one that he thought would be ok. We had the ever present lazy Susan banquet and this time with a large steamer of rice. It was Sichuan after all and the food was very hot. The restaurant was filled with small parties in the rooms off the main eating area. In one the toasts were going fast and furious and a guy got roaring drunk. He could barely stand when we left. As we exited the restaurant we saw employees squatting down doing the dishes outside with a garden hose!

Leaving the town was exciting – since the roads had been destroyed and not all repaired we went in back streets and followed a cab to get out through muddy pavement-less alleys. Turns out is was a dead end. The cab was merely going for gas!

Long Zhang had requested that Rich and I meet with him and Ming at dinner to talk about cooperation with the conference and answer questions about curriculum with other educators. It was a buffet like the first night.

We began our packing to leave. Phil packed first so he could help me. This was very smooth.

Chengdu Conference -UFCFCS

2009-10-24T11:42:00.000-07:00

When we walk the circuitous route from the elevators to the conference venue we pass a delightful statue of a woman knitting, a boy playing a video game on a laptop and a man reading a paper. There was also one of a girl that reminded us of Chloe.

Breakfast was an interesting mix of foods. Our host ate corn on the cob with chopsticks!

We went to the conference opening where I sat in a fancy chair with my name in front of me. Phil sat behind me in the audience, We went for photos where the whole conference was photographed.

Then Rich Leblanc gave his presentation on CS2008 and I gave mine.

We went to the lunch for the speakers and dignitaries at an absolutely amazing tea room. The decoration was of old Sichuan and the food superb. This was our first introduction to the banquet toasts. The servers pour thimble sized glasses of wine and then someone makes a toast. This goes on and on. You don’t have to drink if you are not included in the toast.

After dinner we went to the old town of Chengdu and walked the "Wide Street" and the "Narrow Street". A young Chinese woman asked to have her photo taken with Rich and me in front of the Starbucks!

Hong Kong to Chengdu

2009-10-23T11:16:00.000-07:00

In the morning when Phil took a shower, he was surprised by the angle of the shower head and managed to soak yet another shirt! I ironed that one partially dry. It took us forever to re-pack and be on our way to the “real” China.

I thought Phil looked rather dashing in his new clothes for our trip to Chengdu. We had breakfast in the Hong Kong airport – eggs, ham, roll and coffee for about $3 US dollars each! I didn’t get wanded in security in Hong Kong, a rare occasion. But they sure do make us fill out a lot of forms.

I worked on note for my talk on the flight to Chengdu. We were the only American on board a full flight and Phil was the only bald man. They served lunch –some kind of fish rice, an English style tuna salad and unripe melon but good Chinese tea.

Going through immigration and customs in Chengdu was really fast. All the officials wore both masks and gloves to handle our documents. We got our bags and were met by Shanliang from the Chinese ministry of higher education press, who had come from Beijing about an hour before us but waited to escort us to the hotel. It was a long, ride into the center of town. As we got closer to the center the traffic was dizzying – bikes, motorized bikes, 3 wheeled cars, pedestrians and no clear indication of the rules of right of way. The hotel entrance is beautiful, as is the hotel (the California Garden Hotel), although slightly worn.

We didn’t really have time to unpack, although I couldn’t find my black slacks and tried to call the Novotel. It took several attempts to discover why my phone wouldn’t work. The international calling numbers are different. Instead of + followed by the country code as it had been for me all over the world including Hong Kong, the Chinese provider needs 00 then the country code, Bottom line was my slacks weren’t there, but I had left some medicine.

Shanliang and Ming (our host from Peking University) took Rich LeBlanc, Phil and me in two cabs to the Jin Sha Museum. It was a fabulous place. In 2003, a huge archaeological site was found here including artifacts from the Shang Dynasty about 1600 BC. They found piles of elephant tusks, gold, jade, all for ritual use indicating the site had been a temple through many eras. Then next door they had recreations of the site as it had looked, and actual relics artfully displayed.
Potted plants

I was fascinated by the potted plant displays only to discover them everywhere in public places in Chengdu.

Phil decided to use his bed as a dresser!

Georgetown to Hong Kong

2009-10-22T11:01:00.000-07:00

October 21 Georgetown – over the Pacific.

Up early and off to the airport for our 9:35 flight to DFW. First class doesn’t make much difference on that leg but what a difference on the next one!
At the DFW Admirals Club we had pre-flight mimosas even though it was slightly before noon.

The flight from DFW was on a 777 on which Phil and I had side-by-side “pods”. The chairs did everything – swiveled to a desk, reclined into a flat bed (mine broke and only went back so far), all kids of lights and gadgets. Truly fun.

We had champagne to start and then chose the Japanese food. Closer to landing we had yet another meal. I actually chose pizza—mediocre but Phil had a cold scallop salad.

In Tokyo we hung out in the Admiral’s club and I posted to Facebook. We certainly didn’t eat anything. Phil like the mock ups of food at the airport restaurant.

I slept well on the 4 hour flight to Hong Kong even though this time we were in business class and the seats didn’t recline all the way. I didn’t even wake up to see what the food or wine was.

We were really tired when we got to Hong Kong. Cleared immigration and customs and found where to get the shuttle to the hotel, Novotel Citygate. Our room was on the business class floor but the clerk was quick to point out that it didn’t include the amenities of that floor. When we began to unpack we were uset to find many of our items and both our bags soaking wet. It was raining when wpe left Dallas and the bags must have sat in puddles. We rigged up a clothes line and totally destroyed the ambiance of the elegant hotel room.

SIGCSE Board Meeting

2009-10-18T08:11:00.000-07:00

I looked at a map and organized the SIGCSE Board meeting that would involve the least amount of travel for the folks involved. We met in Newark, NJ, near the airport. Being thrifty, I also found an inexpensive hotel (not all were pleased with my choice).

We did have a good meeting, though and found time to eat some super food. I even got to watch a bit of the OU-Texas game during lunch.

Drought ending rain? Sept. 12, 2009

2009-09-12T14:51:00.000-07:00

It has been raining for the last couple of days. We were watching the UT-Wyoming football game. At the half we noticed that the river had reached flood stage.

Last night at the Cabin Summer 2009

2009-08-13T17:11:00.000-07:00

After Susannah's birthday we drove to the cabin after a weekend in Carver, Ma for Old Home Day. Phil has been at the cabin the whole time since, but I went to California from Sunday August 9 until the red eye on the 11th getting me to Gwyneth's on the 12th and then a 2 hour drive to the 12th. The weather is perfect and both of us and Suze's cats love it. We both enjoy hiking and geocaching.

France 2009 July 19 Vorey to Roissy

2009-07-20T01:13:00.000-07:00

I slept like a log. It was quite chilly and my little alcove was great. We had breakfast at the hotel. Service was less than perfect, and the milk was curdled, but it was a lovely setting and we enjoyed ourselves. We walked across the little bridge where there the weekly market selling everything from cheese, chicken, mattresses and crocs. Chloe and Camille both got Crocs which we discovered smelled so chemically that we all started getting sick. Quickly the crocs went into the trunk in a plastic bag.

The scenery all the way to the superhighway at Clermont was fantastic. Lots of perched fortresses (especially liked the view of Polignac, chateaux, and panoramic views.

The highway drive soon became quite monotonous and seemed to take forever, although there wasn't too much traffic. We figure there must be a restriction on semi trucks on Sundays – there were none! We had a picnic at a rest stop that had a bouncy tent.

We arrived at the airport with our rental car driving on a very empty gas tank which we filled before returning. We had tried to get gas earlier but they were out of gasole (diesel). Traffic through Paris wasn't awful.

The bus driver to the hotel didn't help us at all with out bags but we managed. We looked out our window and saw a lovely church, cemetery and park so we decided to walk to the town. There was a path with lots of flowers and posters about beautiful places in France. While Gwyneth watched the children play in a playground, I went to a convenience store and got wine, cheese and waffle chips. We had snacks in the room before Gwyneth took the kids to the pool. I repacked my bags for the flight and ordered room service for us all. When they got back from the pool (which was gorgeous – it had colored lights which cycled from green to purple and clear) Harry Potter I was on TV in French and we ate and watched. Gwyneth and I shared a risotto and the girls shared pasta.

France July 2009 July 18 Nice to Vorey

2009-07-18T23:59:00.000-07:00

Very long day for me – I woke up about 3:30 and got up at 4:30 to take Suze to the airport. It was very eerie to be out at that time; mostly kids who had been out all night. I left her off at the airport after she had checked that her flight was on the board, I tried to go home so I could park at the apartment, but got incredibly lost. I have no idea where I was. I even went down a one way street the wrong way.

Back at the apartment we finished packing and cleaning. I had know idea how to check out, so I called the management folks—got no one and finally called the owners in England. I went for the car and was easily able to park out front and load. Gwyneth sent me to the bakery for a last baguette for our lunch. We took off and drove a couple of hours before a windy lunch at a rest stop. Then the awful stop and go traffic started. It took us 6 hours to go about 125 kilometers. We bailed and crossed the Rhone River and went through the mountains to the hotel Gwyneth had reserved. Some of the route will be the Tour de France next week and the rest was thgou rugged mountains. Pine forests and rolling fields.

We stopped for gas at a local store and bought the Montelimar nougat and rustic bread.

The hotel Gwyneth booked is a gem at the confluence of the Loire and the Arzon Rivers. I took the girls for a walk and then they had a floating island meringue at the hotel cafe. The girls loved the room's massage chair. I loved the fact there were four beds, and I got one in a little alcove so it was like my own private room.

France 2009 July 17 Nice

2009-07-17T23:16:00.000-07:00

Suze and I went to Cimiez on the bus. It is the rich part of town, up on a hill. First we went to the Matisse Museum (free entrance) a villa on the grounds of the Roman ruins. There was a good Rodin/Matisse exhibit. Each had taught the other his craft. Then we walked down to the Chagall museum, This one cost big bucks (9.50 each). It was a grey day, so a good choice of things to do. We took the bus back. Suze and I had sandwiches at the apartment. I bought the wrong book for Gwyneth at the museum, but I did buy a book mark I liked – turns out it was the paper cut out that is on the exit wall of the museum.. Gwyneth and the girls went to see Harry Potter in English and Suze and I went souvenir shopping. We walked a lot and it was hot and frustrating.

Back at the apartment Suze and I went to the beach. The sun was out for quite a while and we swam and then lay on the stony beach. Some guys caught two jelly fish in the water. We decided not to go back in the water. Wonder why?

Gwyneth and the kids came back from the movie and their pizza lunch just as Suze and I got back from the beach.

Suze and I went out to eat in old town. Took us a while for me to find a restaurant I liked. We shared a Nicoise appetizer and a bream fish main course. The waiter talked me out of adding polenta to the mix.

I bought bubbly and Suze bought cookies at the gourmet chocolate shop to celebrate her birthday with everyone before packing.

France 2009 July 16 Side trip to Eze

2009-07-17T04:58:00.001-07:00

We all slept very late because our late return from Saint Tropez. Suze and I went to the market for fruit. When we got home we were ready for our bus trip. We carefully read the bus schedule and got to the bus station 20 minutes early for our venture to the perched village of Eze. However, the bus was 45 minutes late and the bus driver got out, locked the bus and walked away with his girlfriend. Another bus came about 15 minutes later, into a different, unannounced quai, so we were last on the bus. At least we all got seats and it was a gorgeous ride to the village.

We walked to the top and had a very leisurely lunch with lots of wine. Chloe loved her pesto pasta, shared with Gwyneth and Camille practiced using a spoon and fork to eat her tomato sauced pasta. I had an Italian salad and Suze had pizza. Suze and Gwyneth walked to the top through the cactus garden, but since I had been there before and it was very hot, I stayed behind while the girls had ice cream.

After we got home, I walked to the store and Suze took the girls to the beach. We all decided to go shopping late, but the stores were closed. Suze, Camille and I had dessert in the old town.

France 2009 July 15 Saint Tropez

2009-07-15T23:00:00.000-07:00

(Most of this is plagiarized from Gwyneth's blog.) We got going late in the morning. After a little breakfast, we headed to the car to drive to St. Tropez so Suze could see it. It took a couple of hours to get there by the highway. We found a nice parking lot in the center of town and got out to walk around. It was hot, hot and Gwyneth's leg was aching. We went down to the harbor where there were lots of great big yachts. A crowd was gathering for one big one that was docking. Some people there said it was the yacht of a famous designer that throws "products" to the crowds when he disembarks. We kept moving on, but it was hot, and there were more cars there than could fit. Some super fancy and others delivery and garbage trucks.

We walked back to the car to get the beach stuff and trekked down to the beach. We walked through the front door of a very opulent beach club, out onto the beach and then down to the beach to a sandy beach where the kids could play. We had some sodas at the little cafe (they were done serving lunch) and then the kids went swimming. I walked back to the car and moved it to the cafe from town, but the traffic was miserable. And it took us a very long time to get to Frejus, where we stopped at a Quick for dinner. The kids were thrilled. Gwyneth didn't like the hassle, especially of eating in the car!

From there, the drive was quite beautiful and there was very little traffic on the way. We went through the Esterel, Cannes and finally into Nice. At the apartment, we showered and fell into bed as it was quite late.

France 2009 Bastille Day in Nice

2009-07-14T23:59:00.000-07:00

I was out early geocaching. Found a cache on the Promenade about a mile and a half away. There was a lot of activity with workers setting up venues for the day's Bastille Day activities.

I stopped at a Patisserie on the way home for breakfast items. Everyone had eaten when I got back, but somehow the croissants and chocolate rolls disappeared anyway. Suze and I took the girls to the beach. It was crowded but not too bad. I was a little leery of the gypsy family who sat down a little to close to us, so we moved our stuff over.

Chloe had a meltdown after swimming over ice cream. Meanwhile we went to one of the few vendors left at the market for fruit and back to the apartment for lunch and Laurent's family wine we had bought in Vezelay. Suze and I took Camille to the viewpoint above the harbor. The walk to the elevator that we rode to the top was through the twisty streets of the old town; stairs back down and a walk through different old town streets.

Gwyneth met us outside the apartment to go to the parade which was just some military folks and a fireman's band and speeches. Boats came by for a salute as did some fighter jets overhead.

Back to the apartment for pizza, fruit and salad for most, and my choice of curried rabbit.

Traffic past the apartment was heavy with people heading to the beach. We went down for the fireworks which were super. The beach was packed with people and it was a mob getting back toward the apartment. We got snacks at a small store on the way back.

France 2009 July 13 Nice to Monaco and Back

2009-07-13T23:36:00.000-07:00

Chloe and I began the day going to a bakery, and a park.

When everyone was up and dressed we walked the few blocks to the bus station and took a local bus to Monaco. The bus (only 1 euro each) was very crowded and Gwyneth's knee really hurt -- not a good plan when she had to stand.

Crankiness prevailed so G and I took the girls to a little playground near the Grimaldi Palace while Suze scouted out the tour train ticket possibilities. The walk to the train was lovely -- it went through the cliff side botanical gardens. Suze, the little girls and I took a quick side trip into the cathedral where Grace Kelly married Prince Rainier and where they are both buried.

Cathedral

Trolley Tour
The trolley tour was pretty good -- you could choose among about 10 languages to listen to the commentary.

After the tour we found a little Italian restaurant and ate inside. It was very humid out, and cloudy so the AC was welcome. I had a mixed platter of appetizers, the little girls shared pasta Alfredo, G had basil pasta and Suze had a white pizza. Camille had a very fancy ice cream dessert. A nice bottle of wine and 130 euros later we took another bus back along the coast. The first bus was full and the next almost so, but everyone got to sit for most of the ride.

Suze and I took Chloe to the grocery. Snacks were the evening meal. Later Suze and I took the girls to the beach. All but Camille had ice cream (she got licks of ours). After a short while on the beach, Camille and I returned to the apartment and Suze and Chloe spent a long time on the beach watching fireworks and in line skaters and then the crowds in Place Massena. See all photos

France 2009 Nice July 12

2009-07-12T23:59:00.000-07:00

We went to the market, which turns out to be just down the street a few blocks near the beach. We got tons of olives, fruit and salad stuff as well as sunflowers for the apartment. I made lunch and then we went to the beach to sun and swim. The girls got violet flavored ice cream in colored cones before heading back.

At the beach
Soon it was time to get Suze at the airport. Her plane was late, but it was rather fun waiting!

My Girls!

She dragged her duffel bag from the parking garage to the apartment. We relaxed a bit with olives, cheese, bread and wine and then I cooked pasta for supper. We walked to the beach and up through the lively Place Massena.

France 2009 July 11 Uzes to Nice

2009-07-11T23:39:00.000-07:00

Up early this time. Stopped for breakfast in Nimes whose center was quite dismal, but there were some pleasant spots near the coliseum. Girls had hot chocolate and we had coffee, The coliseum there is used for bullfights now. We picked up a few groceries just in case we got to Nice too late.

Arena for Bullfighting in Nimes
We had intended to sight see in Arles, but got into horrendous market day traffic. It seemed as though everyone, including the perstitent window washer men, had to point out to use that our front license plate was about to fall off. A rivet had come out and every time we stopped I had tried to make it stay straight. After about 20 people pointed this out to me -- "Je sais, merci!" I sulled off on a side street in a quiet commercial area and G and I tried to fix it with dental floss. I gave up and ask a man who had come out of an auto retpair place to help me. He went back to the garage got the proper tool and fixed it! (The whole conversation was in French!). So now Arles is no long the town where Van Gogh lived, but the town where I got my license plate fixed!

Traffic from then to past Marseilles was like going to Cape Cod on a Saturday. Stop and go, wrecks, etc. The last part was much better until we got almost to the parking garage and we got in traffic so slow that it took uys an hour to get about 5 blocks. We did find the parking garage we had reserved thanks to G's fabulous navigation skills. It is about a .6 mile walk to the apartment, much on the Massena walking street.

The apartment is fabulous! Huge, modern and bright. We went out in search of groceries and then out to get the lay of the land. All of a suddenit was very noisy. A gay pride parade like the one we had seen in DC, went by the cross street just up from the apartment!

View from Apartment!

I heated a risotto dinner and made pizza for G and the girls. After lots of nice wine, I slept wonderfully.

France July 10 Chambery to Uzes

2009-07-10T22:44:00.000-07:00

Hotel Preverenches
We got a little later start than anticipated, but it was a cool, crisp morning.

It took us a long time to find a place for breakfast -- the typical French croissant and coffee for G and me and chocolate pastries for the girls.

Roman Theater at Orange
We never did see the snow capped alps because the clouds hung over the tops. The drive into Provence was pretty. We stopped in Orange to see a Roman coliseum that is still used for performances, and took the tour.

We ended up at Pont du Gard, a vast arched bridge where we had lunch and phoned hotels looking for a place to stay -- made a reservation at an expensive Best Western. The girls actually waded in the water while Gwyneth took photos up stream and I sat in the shade.

Pont du Gard
The Best Western Hotel was actually quite nice. The girls enjoyed the pool (and I also got in a bit). Gwyneth and I order wine poolside which was served with a dish a olives on the side. Then we ordered fries and hot chocolate for them and more wine for us. It was really nice!

Aftermath at Uzes

France 2009 Paris to Chambery

2009-07-09T14:50:00.000-07:00

I got up in the middle of the night to rehang the clothes that didn't get dried in the bathroom washer/drier combo machine. Then up early to finish my diary and start cleaning up. Made a pot of coffee, took a shower and got ready to go. Gwyneth did the final kitchen clean while I cleaned the fridge.

The elevator is being refurbished, so we had to lug everything down to the RC (level O) from our 5th floor apartment. The rental agent did carry my bag which made life better. Gwyneth and I had decided to walk from out apartment to Place d'Italie where the Hertz rental car place was because we could avoid lugging out bags up and down the Metro stairs. That worked quite well. We got the car with little problem.

Stopped for sandwiches at a rest area and had more French fries ( I know -- pommes frites) than imaginable. We stopped at Vezelay-- a town Laurent told Gwyneth about. It is a world heritage site and worth. It is where the reputed relic of Mary Magdelene are enshrined. We bought a bottle (expensive!) of Laurent's family wine and a local wine as well. The kids had knock off ice cream dots.

We stopped at two playgrounds along the highway as well before wandering the area near Chambery looking for a place to stay. One of the parks had playground equipment all designed to look like different varieties of mushrooms!

We ended up next to alps in a quite lovely hotel, Hotel Pervenches outside Chambery, which is near Grenoble and not far from Geneva Switzerland.a few miles from town and went back to town for pizza, wine and salad.

France 2009 Paris Day 7

2009-07-08T23:18:00.000-07:00

I definitely used my alarm clock to get up after the cruise night! Went for baguette again, and was one of the few to get to the conference on time! Keynote was a VP of the university. I made a little thank you speech at the hand off to the next conference session and spent a lot of time talking to folks about conference and Board details.

Lunch and then back to the apartment for a little rest. I packed most of my stuff. Gwyneth and the kids had gone out touring to Cluny among other sites. Her leg bothered her more today. A ton of planes -- I mean maybe forty flew by, some guarding bigger planes. No idea what it was about.

I took the girls to the Museum of Natural History across the street. Chloe had a meltdown in the gift shop and I had her call Gwyneth for guidance on what she could buy. (She got a stuffed bat) and Camille got a French animal card game. I took them for ice cream on the corner and went to the patisserie to get a treat for Gwyneth and to the grocery for a few supplies.

Gwyneth and I tried to do a wash and didn't quite understand, so we ended up with soaking wet clothes strung all over and the windows open on a cold night to try to dry them!

France 2009 Paris Day 6

2009-07-08T23:00:00.000-07:00

Chloe's birthday. (07-07) I went to the patisserie but it didn't open until 7:15 and it was only 7, so I walked to Rue Monge and bought both a baguette and a little chocolate meringue to serve as a cake. I d put the gifts with the cake on the table. Chloe wanted to open one, so she did before I left.

Sally Fincher was the opening keynote. Went to a couple of sessions and then lunch in the cafeteria. I had fish. Coffee on the patio which overlooks the Seine. Went to some talks and a panel then back to rest before the cruise.

Gwyneth and the girls came back from a busy day including the Le Jardin d'Acclimatation in Bois de Bologne and we had a quick little birthday party.

The buses arrived at the cruise area about 8:30 pm and we stood around until almost 10 before they even let us on the boat.

Food was good, and the views spectacular. The cruise finished about midnight and by the time I got back to the apartment via the Metro it was after 1 am. See all pictures here

France Day 5 Paris and ITiCSE Conference

2009-07-06T12:27:00.000-07:00

I was up early for the conference but Gwyneth got both girls up as well so they could get ready to go to Euro Disney which opens at 10 am. I got to my conference at about 8 after returning to the apartment about three times -- forgot my whatever including the umbrella since it was raining when I got outside.

The conference opening was in a room ill prepared for it being bright outside. The keynote was about a new take on Bloom's taxonomy and how the speaker used his own version of syllabus analysis to "prove" that computer science was at a higher level of cognitive processing than natural sciences and huge about higher than math. Hmmm.

Eric Roberts decided he wanted his interview now, so he came to the apartment and I interviewed him. I managed to record 2 hours and 20 minutes! An additional benefit of Eric's coming was that between us we figure out the trick to opening the three-way window in either direction.

Then we went to his hotel and got his wife Lauren to come along for lunch. We found a little Egyptian restaurant where we got falafel, a bean dish, hummus and tahini with salad and pita. It was quite good. We were the only customers in a restaurant complete with hookas.

Back to the conference for the last speakers of the day. I hurried out through the Jardin des Plantes to the store to get necessary supplies and dropped them off at the apartment before returning for the buffet reception of cold cuts and veggies. I left as the cheese course came out.

France Day 4 Paris

2009-07-05T12:47:00.000-07:00

I got up at sunrise (around 6 am) and the light was lovely. I processed pictures and email while I waited for the troops to arise. I went off to the ITiCSE venue and it was good to see there were no problems today but the entrance was weird because it was Sunday and the university was officially closed. Three entrances, three days, not bad!

Finally at about 11:30 we set off for a Camille day. She wanted to go to the coliseum and then the catacombs. The coliseum was a success -- taking us to a subway station quite close that we didn't know about plus its concomitant shopping and a wonderful pedestrian market on Rue Mouffard.

We took the metro -- two trains to Denfert-Rochambeau and found a lovely creperie for lunch. The place was a bit funky and the toilet seat was red with a polka dotted lid! Chloe didn't like the chevre on hers but everyone else was quite happy.

When we went to the catacombs entrance the lne was forever long and didn't move. After about 20 minutes we gave up and went back to the apartment for naps. I began to plan in earnest the walking tour I on the spur of the moment agreed to conduct for the conference attendees. Gwyneth the girls and I headed for the zoo across the street. I worked on my tour details and the others went around the zoo and came back for me. I did get to see the cape buffalo and a very interesting civet like animal, the binturong. The kids posed on the hippopotamus statue. They ftinished the zoo while I went off to lead my tour.

About 10+ people went. I showed them the Arenes du Lutece (the coliseum), the school from where the Jewish children were sent to the extermination camps, the place where Descartes lived, the Rue Mouffard shopping street, the burial place of Pascal at St. Etienne-du-Mont, the Pantheon, Luxembourg Gardens, Sorbonne, Cluny, Notre Dame (where I once again broke a Nikon camera beyond redemption), Hotel de Ville, Pascal's Tower, the Centre Pompidou (but the Stravinsky Fountain was in horrible repair, what a disappointment).

We all split up and I went back to the apartment where I made snacks, including the strawberry tarte I picked up at the patisserie I passed on the way home. Gwyneth and the kids watched TV while they prepared to go to Euro Disney tomorrow and I to my conference.

France Day 3 Paris

2009-07-04T22:37:00.000-07:00

I went to the venue to check on the procurement of printers for the working groups. With their addition and a few power strips, the folks were much happier.

I met my friends Harriet and Boots for a bit of geocaching and a visit to the newly remodeled L'Orangerie. Gwyneth and the girls had gone to La Viellete for serious playground time, and we met up with them for lunch in the Tuilieres at an Italian restaurant.

After lunch Gwyneth, the girls and I walked (forever) to the Eiffel Tower and then took the RER back to first a grocery store and then the apartment. WE were going to go out to Versailles for fireworks, but we were relieved to find the tickets sold out. We were too tired to go.

After a snack, Camille and I headed back to the grocery to get birthday gifts for Chloe who is quick to tell you that her birthday is in three days! I cooked a pizza. It was after midnight when we went to bed.

See more pictures

France 2009 Day 2 France Miniature

2009-07-03T21:54:00.000-07:00

I went out to a boulangerie and got a baguette for breakfast. Then I went to find the conference venue and see what problems there might be -- and there were quite a few!

On my return Gwyneth, the girls and I headed out by train (and bus) to France Miniature. It was a beautiful, sunny day. We walked through all the regions of France in three hours!

Quite a whirlwind. In the middle of the walk we stopped for the girls to enjoy some of the park's amusement rides. See the video of Chloe and Camille on the zip line and bumper car rides

We took trams from near La Defense on the west side of Paris to Porte d'Italie where we met Gwyneth's co-worker, Kathleen. We proceeded to a Tuscan restaurant that we had frequented on previous trips where they all ate. I left them and joined my SIGCSE colleagues, John and Reyyan. We walked for seemingly hours until we agreed on a restaurant. Began the meal with a kir and had a lovely veal dish.

See more pictures.

France Day 1 Arrival in Paris

2009-07-02T06:03:00.000-07:00

My plane was an hour late taking off from Chicago. This gave me a good bit of time to work on the oral history project. I had a good seat -- exit row aisle, so plenty of room and I could sleep. I got a free glass of wine (French Bordeaux) gratis because American Airlines was apologizing.

I didn't meet up with Gwyneth and the girls until 10:30 am when I was supposed have landed at 8:30. They landed at 7 am so they had quite a wait. Gwyneth had already purchased our tickets for the RER and Metro, so that was lovely. However, I managed to have two crises. When I was getting on the train at Charles DeGaulle Aeroport, I lost the $15 strap that I bought in Chicago to connect my bags. Then when I exited the turnstile to go to the Metro, I jammed my toenail on the bag, and my toe bled like crazy. I took off my sandal, wrapped my toe in tissue and put on socks and my Crocs. Thankfully Gwyneth was strong enough to carry both her bag and mine up the steps at the various train stations.

Our apartment is on the 5th floor -- there was an elevator (but no air conditioner). It is very hot (88 degrees). I was able to hook up my computer to the ethernet, but Gwyneth's MacAir can't use it and there doesn't seem to be wireless. She and the kids are ostensibly watching news on TV but they are all asleep.

The apartment really does overlook the Jardin des Plantes. In fact, the natural history museum is literally across the street.

View a slide show.

I tried to nap, but there was a lot of commotion outside -- a multitude of people from Comores were going to the mosque across the street from the apartment building. There was a memorial service for the people killed in an airplane crash. Gwyneth and the girls and I went out to see -- and ended up being swept up in the crowd and seeing Sarkozy's motorcade when he came to address the gathering.

We got some bread, cheese, wine and milk and had a snack before venturing out along the Seine where there were a lot of end of term parties.

Hiking in the Mountains -- Spring 2009 Bear Creek

2009-06-01T19:04:00.000-07:00

Today's walk in the woods involved a drive west of Ellijay, Georgia to a remote forest service road and campground. We combined directions from Tim Homan's Hiking Trails of North Georgia with bits from geocaching.com and a bike shop map.

We met no one on the 3.3 mile loop with a 300 foot altitude gain. We crossed the creek several times. There were lovely hemlocks and rushing water sounds as the trail followed the creek. The cache was near the Gennett Poplar, said to be the second largest tree in North Georgia, over 18 feet around and 100 feet tall. Local history according to the sign says that the landholders, the Gennett brothers saved the tree from logging during the Great Depression. Phil is totally dwarfed by the tree.

When the trail turned away from the creek, it went up to an old road bed in which these blue flowers were growing in the center and on the sides of the tire tracks.

For Phil, the only bad part of the trek was the final crossing of the creek to the car -- we had to take off our shoes.

Hiking in the Mountains -- Spring 2009 Cherohala Skyway

2009-05-31T04:30:00.000-07:00

One of the things Phil and I enjoy most about being at our cabin in North Georgia is being able to take walks in the woods. Since buying the cabin, I have dealt with problems that prevented my taking long walks -- first an arthritic hip that finally was replaced and then a pesky stress fracture in my foot that took nearly two years to heal. Now that I can walk comfortably again we are combining our hobbies of geocaching, bird watching and wildflower identification once again with physical conditioning.

Cherohala Skyway North Carolina to Tennessee, May 30

1. Spirit Ridge Accessible Trail .7 mi RT

Rhododendron Phil at Overlook

Teeth of the Lion

2. Huckleberry Knob -- Geocaching and Hike 2.61 miles

Phil heads off the end of the world

This trail, an old road, took us up 300 ft. to 5500 ft -- we were higher than Denver. Two lumberjacks in 1899 are remembered here on top where they froze after too much whiskey.

View from the top

3. Mud Gap Trialhead .7
We chose to walk a bit here because it included a little bit of the new addition to the Benton MacKaye Trail.

In keeping with our gruesome meanderings, we stopped at a memorial to a"an unknown man killed by the Kirkland Bushwackers."

Hiking in the Mountains -- Spring 2009 Bear Hair Gap Trail

2009-05-29T19:46:00.000-07:00

Another day that threatened rain, but Phil picked a trail that looked easy in Vogel Park south of Blairsville, GA. What was supposed to be a 3 mile hike turned out to be 5.2 from the car and about 700 feet change in elevation. I'll admit we took a short nature trail loop as well.

The views were fantastic from the overlook at the top where we had no trouble locating a geocache that had somewhat disguised coordinates. Coming down afforded some real challenges to balance that Chloe would have had not problem with. We had to cross the creek several times on logs.

Hiking in the Mountains -- Spring 2009 Big Cedar

2009-05-28T04:05:00.000-07:00

Trail head at Woody Gap in Suches, GA.

We used The Best of the Appalachian Trail Day Hikes book to find a 2 mile round trip hike on the AT from Woody Gap to Big Cedar Mountain, an elevation change of 600 feet. There were tons of flame azalea lining the route.

It threatened rain the whole while, but we did get some spectacular views from the top of Big Cedar.

We also met four through hikers 3 with Wizard of OZ names and Papa G, a CPA from Montana.

Baby Wrens

2009-05-06T11:18:00.001-07:00

Carolina Wren Babies in Hanging Basket on our back deck

Water Heater Disaster

2009-04-29T19:35:00.000-07:00

We are pretty much holed up in our bedroom or the porch given the noise from the fans and dehumidifiers that are being used to dry up the water from the water heater having broken in the attic on April 20th. The ServiceMaster technician says the tiles on the floor are still wet.

Earth Day 2009

2009-04-23T08:41:00.001-07:00

DSCN0573
Originally uploaded by owensbtx

Phil and I hiked along Coker Creek in Tennessee and saw amazing ladder-like waterfalls and wildflowers.See more pics

Painted Bunting

2009-04-17T15:12:00.001-07:00

Feeder visitor

At the Cabin

2009-03-19T14:49:00.000-07:00

We are enjoying Spring Break at the cabin. Yesterday we went looking for a geocache and drove over horrendous roads in the middle of the Cohutta Wilderness. We didn't find the cache we were seeking, but had some gorgeous 360 views.

Today we went in search of a geocache and a waterfall near where I had taken my granddaughters to visit a fish hatchery last week. We found the cache after a rather rough hike, but more importantly we found the real treasure (also the name of the cache), Little Rock Creek Falls.

2009-02-23T08:28:00.001-08:00

Ada Lovelace Day is March 24, 2009

A movement to promote female role models in technology is underfoot and you can help. But first some background, most of which I gleaned from Betty Toole's marvelous biography, Ada, The Enchantress of Numbers, Prophet of the Computer Age.

Most women in computing have probably heard Augusta Ada Lovelace, (or Ada Byron King, Countess of Lovelace) referred to as the world's first programmer. The more I learn about Ada's remarkable life the more I am impressed by her intellectual acumen. Augusta Ada was born 10 December1815, the only legitimate child of the poet Lord Byron and his wife, Anne Isabella (Annabella) Milbanke, Lady Byron. Ada's mother left Lord Byron in January of 1816 and received full custody of Ada as she was thereafter known. Ada never had a significant relationship with her famous father, but when Ada Lovelace died at age 36 she was buried next to him at her own request.

Lady Byron insisted that 5-year old Ada be tutored from dawn to dusk, hoping her daughter would be a mathematician or scientist, not a poet like her father. At age thirteen Ada suffered from measles and was confined to bed for three years, but her mother insisted that her rigorous mathematical education continue. Her mother made sure that Ada met the major inventors and scientists of the day. At age 17 she and her mother met with Charles Babbage. Both Ada and her mother were enthralled by his plans for the Difference Engine, a mechanical calculating machine, dubbed a “Thinking Machine” by Annabella.. She began then a lifelong correspondence with Babbage. She at that time began her correspondence with Mary Somerville, an influential mathematician and astronomer of the time. With her she discussed her ideas about Babbage's work as well. Through her lifetime she corresponded with other luminaries such as Michael Faraday and Augustus de Morgan.

In 1835 she married William, Lord King who in 1838 became the Earl of Lovelace and she the Countess of Lovelace. In 1839 the young countess had given birth to three children, Byron, Annabella and Ralph. She like many women of the aristocracy, maintained three homes, supervised many servants and found it difficult to pursue her many intellectual interests.

Her mathematical studies progressed and she offered to aid Babbage. In 1843 Babbage had given a series of lectures on his Analytical Engine in Turin, Italy. An Italian engineer wrote an article summarizing the technical aspects of the Analytical Engine. Ada translated the article and added notes of her own. Babbage was impressed with these notes in which she put the Analytical Engine into a broader context. She viewed the potential of the machine as a general purpose device that could move beyond the processing of numbers into the processing of any information that could be represented symbolically. It was Babbage who gave Ada the sobriquet “Enchantress of Numbers”

Ada Lovelace died in 1851 following a common medical treatment, bloodletting, which was performed in an attempt to cure the cancer from which she was suffering. One of her last non-family visitors was Charles Dickens! Ada referred to her quest for knowledge as “Poetical Science” and her life is a beacon for us all.

The programing language Ada was named for her, and its 1995 reference manual is titled 1815, the year of her birth.

There are lots of intriguing sources about her life, ideas and family available. In addition to Tolle's biography, you might enjoy Woolley's The Bride of Science: Romance, Reason, and Byron's Daughter. I strongly recommend the biographic film To Dream Tomorrow. I haven't seen Conceiving Ada but seems like an interesting fictional piece. I enjoyed, Haunted Summer, a film about the travels of Lord Byron with Percy and Mary Shelley after separating from Annabella and Ada. The lovely little book, Scientists Anonymous by Patricia Fara has a short biography of Ada Lovelace, suitable for younger readers. Fara also contributed to a biographical piece on Ada broadcast on BBC.

Now to action. Ada Lovelace Day

If you're a blogger and happy to write/video/podcast about one of your female technology heroes on 24th March 2009, please do join us in supporting the following fantastic initiative from Suw Charman-Anderson and sign-up to the Ada Lovelace Day Pledge:

I will publish a blog post on Tuesday 24th March about a woman in technology whom I admire but only if 1,000 other people will do the same. — Suw Charman-Anders

This entry will be reposted on the ACM-W blog with my permission.

Back at the Cabin

2009-02-02T11:58:00.000-08:00

After attending the inauguration(without tickets) and heading up to Massachusetts to visit Phil's sister, we returned today through a snowstorm in Tennessee. Since Gwyneth wouldn't believe we were in snow, I took this video at the cabin -- not as heavy as on I-75, but snow, nonetheless.

Since it sounds like rain -- here is a photo where it is sticking!