Postcards from the Trail

There is something mesmerizing about this video. I've watched it several times. Sometimes I just watch the sun move across the planets. Other times, I look for specific flights that I have taken to far off places like Patagonia, South Africa, Australia. Then other times, I'm just amazed at the number of flights that take place each day. It is a little frightening when you realize the amount of pollution and the wide movement of people that happens each day.

The video was created by the Zurich School of Applied Sciences. You can find high quality Windows Media and Quicktime videos on the school website. According to Wired Magazine:

While the map may look complex, Dr. Karl Rege tells us he and his team found it surprisingly simple to assemble using data readily available on the internet.

"We used a commercial website called FlightStats to gather global flight and schedule information," he says. "So there was no need to contact the different airlines."

The team mined FlightStats for the departure and arrival times of every commercial flight in the world, then plugged it all into a computer to assemble their simulation. For the sake of simplicity, they assumed every plane traveled at the same speed and every flight took the most direct route to its destination. Then every flight was assigned a position on a Miller cylindrical projection, which is similar to a Mercator Projection but doesn't distort the poles so much.

Slow Travel GTG - Paso Robles 2008 (Click here for fullsize picture)

It is time for the 3rd Annual SlowBowl Get Together. It is organized by Shannon and takes place in Paso Robles. I'm flying down on Friday and I'll drive from San Jose to Paso. The weather is supposed to be great - maybe even 70 degrees! If it is nice I hope to drive down Hwy 1.

Deborah has some great pictures of last year GTG on her blog. I'm going to shamelessly follow her lead and post of few more pictures of last year GTG.

Looking over scrapbooks and dreaming of future trips

Friday night card game

Happy couple

Great food

Good Times

Your Travel Profile:

You Are Very Well Traveled in the Midwestern United States (75%) You Are Very Well Traveled in New Zealand (67%) You Are Very Well Traveled in the Western United States (63%) You Are Somewhat Well Traveled in Southern Europe (40%) You Are Somewhat Well Traveled in Australia (38%) You Are Somewhat Well Traveled in Western Europe (29%) You Are Somewhat Well Traveled in the Northeastern United States (29%) You Are Somewhat Well Traveled in Africa (25%) You Are Somewhat Well Traveled in the United Kingdom (25%) You Are Somewhat Well Traveled in the Southern United States (23%) You Are Mostly Untraveled in Canada (20%) You Are Mostly Untraveled in Latin America (13%) You Are Mostly Untraveled in Asia (4%) You Are Untraveled in Eastern Europe (0%) You Are Untraveled in Scandinavia (0%) You Are Untraveled in the Middle East (0%)

I found this on Girosoli's blog. I thought it was pretty interesting. I'm sorry about some of the questions on Asia. I've been to Singapore and heading to Borneo. But neither would help my score. Bummer.

I also can't believe I'm so well traveled in the mid-west. It only comes because of travel for work - not for pleasure. Interesting poll.

Highway 2 to Spokane

Rocky shores, volcanoes, inland marine waterways, desert, rain forests and a mighty river - Washington state has it all. I am still amazed at the different diverse regions. The spine of the volcanic Cascade range separates the state into two very distinct sections.

Crossing the Cascade passes and dropping into Eastern Washington, you enter a different world. This is the land of distant horizons and long lonely stretches of road. The Columbia Basin is dry but fertile desert surrounds the mighty Columbia River - the 4th largest river in North America. The Snake from Idaho and Kootaney from British Columbia Canada feed into the Columbia and are included in this basin.

This is also the area of deep canyons, long coulees, volcanic basalt and rocky dry falls. This is the result of an ice age flood. An ice dam near the Idaho/Montana border near Missoula during the ice age created a large glacial lake from the Clark River coming off the Rockies. The dam held back over 500 cubic miles of water - as much as both Lake Erie and Lake Ontario combined. It is theorized that the dam broke and the water poured in a matter of 2-3 days over what is now Eastern Washington carving coulees and leaving behind fertile but arid soil. It is awe inspiring to cross the bottom of one of the hot dry coulees and realize the power of water.

The climate is also very different. The Cascades form a rain barrier creating dry barren scrub land east of the mountains similar to the Great Basin area of Nevada. But unlike Nevada, there is a major source of water - the Columbia River. The Columbia Basin Project irrigates the Basin farms with water. Potatoes are the major crop along with corn, alfalfa, and peas.

I love taking a road trip east through this classic western land. My favorite road is Highway 2. It parallels the Great Northern Railway I wrote about earlier, traveling east from Everett to Spokane and beyond. The road passes through small towns along the western foothills before climbing up to Stevens Pass at 4,000ft. At the crest of the pass, the clouds and mist disappear as you drop down into Tumwater canyon and the kitchey Bavarian themed town of Leavenworth. The evergreen trees disappear and sun burnt hills scrubby hills appear and are shortly to replaced by lush apple orchards around Wenatchee and the Columbia River. Green fingers of orchards climb up the microclimate valleys along the Columbia.

The highway crosses the river and travels along the riverbank for a couple of miles before turning east again to climb to the plateau covered with golden fields of wheat and a sky filled with fluffy clouds. The road seems to stretch forever before it suddenly drops into Moses Coulee and the Dry Falls region. Grand Coulee is just around the bend. The road continues east through farm land and small towns. The terrain changes and you start to see solitary pines and rocky crops - the distant foothills of the Rocky Mountains. Spokane is not far away.

Here are a few pictures of region and drive - More tomorrow.

Steptoe Butte Vista

South of Spokane is an area of broad rolling hills and prairies called the Palouse. The area was settled in the 1880 when experiments in dryland farming were successful. By the beginning of the 1900's, all of the land was converted into wheat fields. Today wheat is the major crop along with barley, peas and lentils.

Much of the area remains the same as it was in the early 1900's. Highway 27 curves and rolls through the hills and ravines. It is the main street of many of the small historic towns located about 12 miles about - the distance between rail stops.

It is also a photographer's dream. The hills curve and roll with interesting lines and patterns. In June, the fields are green with new growth and brown from newly plowed fields. In August, huge combines machines cut across the rolling fields as the farmers rush to harvest their crops. In July, the hills are brilliant emerald green as they ripen in the summer sun.

We headed south out of Spokane and turned towards Waverly. Sugar beet was the major crop early in the 1900's but today it is known more for its busy grain elevators. Next town was Latah with its lovely old homes. Tekoa was my favorite. It felt like the quintessential small town with its restored Empire theater, 1909 city hall and mural-faced library. It also has a great train trestle evidence of the influence of the railroad.

Steptoe Butte was our destination. This ancient rock butte rises 1,600ft above the green, tan and brown fields. The road to the top curls around the butte to the top where you have a 360 degree vista. It feels like you are eye level with the clouds.

A quick stop at the local farmers truck stop for a cold drink and a salty snack and then we were on our way back to Spokane. We did a quick detour to one more small town, Rosalia. You pass a multiple arch concrete railroad trestle on the way into town - looking similar to a roman aqueduct. The town is sleepy in the warm afternoon sun. It is also the site of the Steptoe Memorial commemorating the 1858 battle between the U.S. Army and local Indian warriors. The Army lost the battle and retreated.

Waverly Grain Elevators

Road and Rolling Hills

Old Barn and Stripped Hills

Tekoa City Hall and Library

Empire Theater - Tekoa

Patchwork fields scattered below Steptoe Butte

We're heading to Hawaii. Woohoo. I'm so glad to be planning a trip.

It happened so fast. It was just last weekend that I decided on a whim to check and see what the airfare was to Hawaii in early December. I suspect I probably got an email from Alaska or saw some alert. I pulled up Kayak and surprise! Airfare was just around $325 RT to Honolulu. Wow!

Next I pulled up VRBO to see what was available. I started looking at the low cost rentals and came across this studio on the windward side of Oahu. Okay... it is on the rainy 'rain forest' side but we like the jungle. I spoke with the owner on Wednesday and we had a great conversation. The owner also had another studio available on the North Shore in a former nursery but we decided to go with this studio. Hopefully it won't be too rainy. If it is - we'll see some great waterfalls - and we can drive to a sunnier location.

I'm excited. We have never been to Oahu and it will be fun to explore a new island. We're hoping it will be less expensive on Oahu than Maui. I've already found a couple of gardens to explore along with some hikes.