King's Cross Station

Harry Potter Alert! We went to King's Cross Station today and it was filled with muggles,

as Molly Weasley said! We saw the sign that said Platforms 9-11 to the left...so left we went and found a huge line outside. There was a smaller line for Platform 9 3/4...filled with folks waiting to have their picture taken with any color Hogwarts scarf they wanted.

There are a few problems with this picture...see the wand---if you are a wizard, you cannot show your wand when there are muggles around...also, the Platform number only exists AFTER you cross the barrier, not before. But since we are muggles this will have to do.

We've been reading about King's Cross in the Harry Potter saga since the books came out. It was great fun to see the "real" thing! It's also amazing to think how much a set of 7 books have captured the imaginaton of so many people. 

The Life and Times of Silky the Travel Bear

Meet Silky...he's a travel bear. When we "hit the road," Silky comes with us. Today Silky (and by extension, us) landed in London. It's his first visit to England because the last time we were here, we did not have this little bear. He's been around the world, on ships, river boats, planes and trains. He's been to Antarctica and Australia, Montenegro and Malaysia, the Red Sea and the Blue Danube and a lot of other places in between, but he's never been to Jolly Old England. He is pretty well known on several large cruise ships too!  Tomorrow he might get a ride on a double decker bus as we explore a little bit of London before we leave for Switzerland by way of the channel tunnel. He has another new adventure to dream about. Now all you have to do is think about what travel bears dream about??

79 Years Pretty

Meet a 1936 Ford "Humpback." Isn't she cute? She's been modified a little bit, as she has a 350 Chevrolet engine and air conditioning (no less) as well some neat flames and fancy pinstriping.

The body is shiny as is the V8 "logo" on the nose.

Pleaser note that Ford still uses the same blue Ford emblem  today...as here it is on my 2015 truck.

I wonder how many brands use the same emblem for over 80 years?

Longmire

There's a television program by that name set in Absaroka country, Wyoming. The Absaroka county sheriff is Walt Longmire. Longmire, as portrayed on the TV series as the modern Marlboro man...he looks the part, except he does not smoke (that's what makes him "modern")...he's craggy and rugged, wears a cowboy hat and a leather jacket well, and he solves crime with alacrity. 

You can imagine my surprise when I see this bumper sticker!

As an aside, Wyoming does not have an Absaroka county. I've been looking at the program for 3 seasons now (season 4 will start later this year) and I've tried to locate where the program is filmed because nothing seemed right. So I went online and discovered the series is not filmed in WY...it's filmed in New Mexico of all places. There's a good reason why the locations are not "right." Given all of the above, if there was such a county, and if there was such a person, I'd vote for him.

PS. Tne Absarokas are a mountain range near Yellowstone, and it's pronounced Ab-sor-kas, but the folks on the program do not know that, so they say "Ab-sa-ro-ka" which is not quite right to "us locals."

Summer Flowers

I love wildflowers and this year I have a pretty good crop growing in my yard. 

Queen Anne's Lace blooms for quite awhile...

Asters ...  i first noticed the asters on June 30. Asters are called "the last flower of summer" and an old wife's tale says there are only 6 more weeks of summer after the asters appear. I hope the old wives are wrong this year, as they appeared at the end of June.

This is one of my favorite flowers. I call it a Black Eyed Susan, They are always welcome in the garden because they are bright and cheerful looking.

The lupines are just about over. Many are going to seed. A lupine seed looks like a small peapod.

And then there's the sneeze factor. I'm not sure if this is acacia or saxifrage or something in between. I do know that it's a sneezy flower when distrubed. I just take pictures and try not to make the polllen blow around.

I mustn't forget the "weeds" in the garden too. This is a dried salsify gone to seed and just about gone away. We have a lot of salsify in different stages of devolution in the garden.

and one more....

They start out as a pretty yellow flower...then they develop a huge puff ball like a dandelion on steroids, then the puffball starts to blow away before it dries up leaving a hulk behind.

Morning Rain

Nothing more need be said!

It's Not a Jeep

At first blush, we thought this was a Jeep...but upon closer inspection it's not. In fact it's an Austrian attempt at an American Jeep. 

It was made by the Steyr-Puch company in Austria between 1970 and 1999. I think it's called a Pinzgauer. It was used for military transport. 2 people can fit in the cab, and another 8 can ride in the back. 

It's made to go over rugged terrain, much like a Jeep. How it ended up in Jackson WY is anyone's guess

A Georgia Peach

MOn my morning walk I spotted an OLD RV hiding in the trees.

After searching the 'net, I discovered it is a 1947 Spartan Manor that has been restored. The original Spartan did not come with a roof mounted air conditioning unit. It did sport a streamlined design that was enhanced by the aircraft aluminum body. Notice the front windows with their rakish slant and don't forget the round port hole in the door.

The tail lights were small, but orginally this was not designed as a travel trailer but as a small apartment that you could own for under $3000. As part of the original equipment, 68 years ago, you could have an electric refrigerator or an ice box; a gas stove or an oil stove, and for $90 more, you could have "good" carpeting and a pad in the bedroom. The living room had an included "good" quality carpet and pad.

It had 2 doors, one on the passenger side, and one of the driver's side. It's rare to find 2 doors in a newer RV, and it's even rarer to find the doors on opposite sides. While old RVs are fun to look at, I'm afraid, I like newer units better. Still this one has some charm. According to an ad I found online  for this trailer, it had all the "modern" conveniences that were needed by a newlywed couple starting their life together. 

If you want to find out more about this trailer, search for Spartan travel trailers of Tulsa, OK. You will see how this trailer helped shape an industry that is still going strong.

PS: I called this Georgia Peach because it has a Georgia license plate on it!

Sweet Sixteen

I just finished the 16th blanket for the year. For a while there I was making a blanket every 11 days...then came this pattern. I started the blanket and ripped it apart seven times. I would work several rows and determine something about it was wrong, tear it out and start all over again. Since It looks like my typical zigzag pattern, I knew it should not be difficult but it was. The problem was the  placement of the raised lines and getting the "shell" to look right. I read the pattern and I looked at the sample picture online (http://stitcheryprojects.com/files/shellandpost.jpg) and finally it clicked. The blanket is large, it will cover a double bed. It's really cozy and warm. I hope a teen in need will like it. I'll start number 17 tonight. 

What is it 2?

Look at the clues:

It has big exhaust pipes.

It uses diesel fuel and diesel exhaust fluid.

It is a 4x4.

It has a 6.7 Liter Power Stroke engine that burns B20 diesel. BTW...that's huge!

You should have a pretty good idea by now...any guesses?

That's the model ... and F-350 Super Duty Lariat.

That's a side view

And, this is the front. We just became the proud owners of a new 2015 Ford F-350 Super Duty Lariat diesel pick up truck. 

I'll share some more features tomorrow after I find out how to work all the electronic bells and whistles. Our last truck was the equivalent 2006 F-350. The differences are amazing! 

In case you are wondering, we named the truck Vin Diesel.

Old "Cars"

You know how I like old cars...well here is an OLD carriage. I think it had 2 to 4 horsepower depending on the number of horses you could put in front of it. Of course it's a truck too, as you can never be without a good truck to haul stuff. It was a convertible ...or should I just it's "topless."

Notice the springs under the seat...I don't think they would cushion the passenger or the driver from the bumps and ruts in the road. While the "wheels" are bright red, they definitely are not rubberized or  treaded. I don't think it had very good suspension either. We've come a long way baby in the last 120 years.

Where's the Baby

Remember a pink teddy bear blanket I made back in April (FYI--Blanket 10)...well...here's the baby the blanket belongs too. She was born 11 days ago. 

As it stands right now, her toys are bigger than she is. 

Low Clouds

This morning we had a low line of clouds bisecting the mountains. We don't see this very often, so I recorded it for my blog. 

Happy Birthday America

Yesterday we attended the 239th Birthday celebration for our great country. There were venues large and small all over the country...we went to the one in Idaho Falls. 

Lots of really nice fireworks. The fireworks display in Idaho Falls is touted as the "Best in the a West." This year was right among the best I've ever seen. 

Live to Ride--Ride to Live

In case you did not know it, that's Harley-Davidson talking. That's what it says over the eagle logo

on the handlebars.

Yesterday I saw an old Harley that was duded up something fierce. At first I thought it was an interesting paint job...a really intricate pattern of purple and white.

Then upon closer inspection, I realized the motif was skulls and flames. Not exactly a warm fuzzy message...but this is a Harley afterall. It's "bad boy" from the get go.

And, here's the bike. Chrome, leather and purple paint make it what it is. Live to Ride...Ride to Live.

What is it?

It's green---screaming lime green as a matter of fact--with a black matte hood

It has a readily identifiable fuel tank...probably because it is thirsty...

The tail end looks like this

So, now you know it's made by Dodge. SRT stands for Street Racing Team.

This is a Hellcat. No ordindary kitten here.

When you put all the pieces together you have a Dodge Hellcat SRT in subLime. This puppy probably goes very fast!

Landing in Jackson

In western Wyoming we have a pretty little airport set in a spectacular valley. The valley is called Jackson Hole. Back in the early 1800s, the mountain men gave the area it's name, as they felt they were in a pit or hole surrounded by towering mountains. Today planes land in that "hole" and most folks have no idea how the place got it's strange name. (Including the people in Oslo--they told me there's no such place as Jackson Hole and had a heck of a time issuing us our boarding passes--but that's another story.)

As we were making our descent into "The Hole" we saw a tiny zigzag silver line that was the Snake 

River wandering down the valley. When you are on the ground, you just don't see all the meanders the Snake has. 

The Snake empties into Jackson Lake and the Tetons soar in the background. Here we saw our first glimpse of Mt. Moran. 

The distinctive "skillet glacier" draping over the mountain tells us we are almost home. 

The sun shines on Mt. Moran (12,605 ft.) and the whole Teton Range glows a yellowish pink. Next comes The Grand Teton at 13,775 feet. 

We will be landing soon. It's always good to come home. There are not many airports set in a National Park, or have a mountain so closeby.