Here’s my thing I forgot to tell you before. Somewhere in New Mexico there was a volcano 10,000 years ago that erupted and spewed lava all over the place. This is relatively recent in the overall scheme of things. I noticed as I was humming along down the road that the rocks had turned from red to pure black. Upon further viewing of large outcrops I could determine that the rocks were definitely lava stone. And then I saw a sign advertising “Ice Caves/Banderos Volcano” - that confirmed my suspicions. Petrified wood - some of them are absolutely stunning - one of those small pieces would look fantastic in my garden. However, I don’t want to go to prison for taking one. I’m sorry you will have to wait for some time to get any more ... read more

Before I forget (because I forgot yesterday or the day before, I don’t know) I saw a tree that had mistletoe growing in it. The only reason I know it was mistletoe is because my cousins Heather & Richard in Kentucky showed them to me when I was there. It is a parasite on deciduous trees where is draws water and nutrients. The bare tree looks like someone decorated it for Christmas with dark green tufts dispersed among the branches. I like to think of it as Druid Decorations. As I finished up in Oklahoma and entered the top north piece of Texas, that punishing wind finally diminished and the driving was a little easier. Coming into Texas, the land changed significantly which leads me to wonder if they drew up state lines based on changes ... read more

This is a catch up blog for two days. Yesterday I stayed at Shakamak State Park somewhere in the wilds of Indiana with no wifi. After a 10 hour drive yesterday, we arrived at Shakamak in the rain at about 4:30. It was a long tedious drive and took longer than expected because I felt the need to stop every 2-3 hours to reassure Malika and encourage her to eat, use the litter and have a drink and a cuddle for a few minutes. She has found a hiding spot by the back door under the bed and runs for it as soon as the van moves. But once we stop she is out and exploring and was actually playing with her toys last night. I never realized how much time she is up in the ... read more

Sitting in Nadi Airport at 11 am, our flight was supposed to leave at 1:00, then changed to 2:00, now it’s 3:00 pm. May never make it home. We may miss the Auckland connection which means we would definitely miss tbe Vancouver connection to Toronto. Have to sit looking at all the duty free - so tempting but I don’t need any of it. Well we didn’t miss our Auckland connection and we are waiting in Vancouver to get on the flight back to Toronto any minute now. If all goes well I will make it back to Tillsonburg.... read more

It is extremely humid this morning after the rain yesterday. And our room air conditioner decided to quit working so I guess it’s time to hit the pool again. We have two boat trips booked this afternoon. At 12:30 we go on the glass bottom boat to see the coral reef and then at 2:30 we go on a longer trip. Back from the glass bottom boat over the coral beds. It looks like a lot of the coral is dead but there is still some pretty blue and green tree looking coral (fire coral according to the boat captain). I didn’t add any pictures of the coral through the glass bottom because it just didn’t pick up very clearly. We didn’t go out to the big reef that surrounds the island where the waves hit ... read more