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I don't remember them teaching this about Mexico in Geography class!
For us, going to different ports and places is a chance to learn something about the place we are. In St. Kitts we learned how batik fabric is made. In Holland we learned why the old houses have a small forward tilt to them. In Curacao we learned that if it's cooked well goat meat is pretty danged tasty. Unfortunately it seems that isn't the case for everyone.
For a whole lot of folks it seems a chain restaurant is the complete Mexico experience. C'mon in, the party just started! Eat some overpriced americanized "Mexican" dishes, drink way more than you really should and let the locals laugh at you being a fool.
I guess it's your time and you can experience it how you like. For us, learning something about our host country brings us some joy. Seeing how many jalapenos you can stuff in your mouth at one time evidently brings joy to others!
I should admit that we do use this chain restaurant when we visit places. They seem to have one in every port and for us they serve two purposes. The first is to give us a reference point on the port map we can use to plan our journeys, secondly it's a meeting place should we ever get separated for some reason or another.
It seems to be the way you do things now....
As the train was pulling out of the Grand Canyon Station I got a quick glimpse of these two folks hoping to get a shot that would show the world that sitting on train tracks was Instagram worthy and not cliché. Sorry to tell you that it's been done before, long before either of you were even a thought.
Kids today need to use their imagination more if they want to get the shot. Heck, when I was a kid we would have taken a picture on the tracks with the train coming at us full speed, counting on our friends to tell us to move when the train was about to run us over!
This was one of those "Oh heck, didn't see this till the last moment hope the camera settings work" kind of shot. Didn't work out too bad.
NIccy and I took a long weekend trip up to Williams Arizona to ride the Grand Canyon Railway. We\'ve always been fans of train trips and getting to see the big hole in the ground was a bonus!
If you\'ve never been to the Grand Canyon the train trip is a great way to see the place. You\'ve got a 2 1/2 hour trip each way on the train and about 3 1/2 hours for exploring at the Canyon, more than enough time to take in the sights. We took the advice of Jim Frazier and booked the Luxury Parlor car which offers plenty of luxurious seating and amenities (for Niccy) and an outside observation platform (for me).
The tails of Gladiator F/A-18C Hornets 300 and 302 sitting on the ground at Quonset Point prior to the Friday TACDEMO practice flight.
An InselAir MD-83 glides over Maho Beach on final for Runway 10 at St. Maarten's Princess Juliana Internationa.
These two guys knew the score and they knew HOW to score!.
Our first stop in Miguel Aleman was at the Escuela Primaria Juan N. Alvarez aka the local grade school. The people are very proud of this school which is for the children of the folks working at the banana factory.
As we got off the van everyone was given a plastic bag with some school supplies in it, along with some candy. The school supplies and candy are donated by the tour company, their way of giving back to the school for hosting our group. The school supplies are given to the teachers, the candy to the kids.
The kids put on a dance recital for us, after which they came and introduced themselves (in English). As a reward you gave the kid a piece of candy. Most the kids were a little shy but then there were The Hustlers.
These two knew what was going on and they were pretty much running from tourist to tourist looking for a score. I saw what they were doing and when the kid on the right hit me up and I asked him ¿dulces por favor? which means "candy please?"
I felt a little bad because his jaw dropped to the floor. He reached in his pocket, pulled out a sucker and handed it to me. I handed it back to him and said "Gracias mi amigo. Es una broma!" which means "Thank you my friend. It's just a joke!" The smile came back and he said "OK!" and ran off to find his next victim. Yeah, I did give him an extra piece and the kid on the left really did have green teeth from the candy.
In Puerto Chiapas Mexico we signed up to take a tour outside of the port area. We went to a place called Miguel Aleman
GOOGLE MAP COORDINATES:
14.558926371866079, -92.21688314383077
right down on the border of Mexico and Guatemala. Miguel Aleman is a company town but the people who live there own the company. Their main revenue stream comes from growing and packaging bananas for export.
It doesn't take Miss Cleo to see all the signs!
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miss_Cleo
MARK (noun)
The term “mark” originated from the carnival or fun fair. When dishonest game operators found someone they could entice to keep playing their rigged game, they would "mark" the player by patting their back with a hand that had chalk on it. Other carnies would then keep an eye out for rubes with chalk marks and try to entice them to play their games.
Although she didn't have a chalk mark on her back she did have all the signs of a mark. From her balloon hat down to her palm tree lanyard holding her Carnival boarding pass and yard long drink glass from Senor Frogs this lady was telling the world that I'm a tourist and I'll buy pretty much anything you stick in front of my face.
Now I would imagine she had a good time in Cabo San Lucas and probably went home to tell her friends about the best trip of her life and how she'd love to do it again.
I hope that's all that came of her trip and she made it home safely. My suggestion to you is if you should find yourself in Cabo San Lucas and find yourself looking like this you head back to the safety of the ship before something bad comes your way.
More in the tags + 2 in comments.
For this self portrait group, with new themes every week.
This week; "Mood". I chose; Tired.
This is also my bench Monday shot for this week. Yeah, 2 in 1!
VFA-106 Hornet 302 on the ramp at Quonset Point as part of the Navy East Coast Legacy Hornet TACDEMO team.
I could use some practice when it comes to plane shots!
Heritage Flight training out at Davis-Monthan AFB here in Tucson.
www.airforceheritageflight.org/about
The Air Force Heritage Flight Demo Team has been in town for a few days making some practice runs and getting ready for their 2024 season.
They've been buzzing the house all weekend so I decided to get out and (try to) get a couple of shots. Shooting planes really isn't my thing as you may know so any shots I did get weren't all that spectacular. Add pushing my lens out as far as it will go while trying to track a jet and you just have to accept what you get.
A plane silhouetted against the sky can be a bit boring and there just aren't many places where you can get a bit of background to go along with the planes to give them some sort of context.
If you're interested you can check out their website:
www.airforceheritageflight.org/about
to learn more about the foundation, their mission, planes, and pilots.
I've never used any of the presets on my camera (landscape, sports, evening, etc) and this might have been a good time to try them out. Looking back I probably should have used the "S" to set a quick speed and let the camera worry about the rest. Get the shot then look at the meta data after to learn what settings to use. Or maybe this is a fair use case for "artistic license"? Yeah, I meant for this to happen!
BTW, this is really the shot I'd like to get Explored!
Affectionately known as “USS Neversail,” the 233-foot-long USS Recruit is two-thirds the size of a Dealey-class destroyer escort. The Recruit was used to train millions of recruits at the Naval Training Center San Diego. It was completed in 1949 and renovated in 1982 to resemble a modern guided-missile frigate.
libertystation.com/events/centennial/uss-recruit
If you went through Navy basic training or you were stationed at NTC San Diego then you definitely saw ( and may have trained aboard) the USS Recruit.
I remember her well and I'm looking forward to visiting her again when we go back in August. The museum is only open on Saturday and Sunday from 12 PM - 4 PM so we missed her this time, needed to get headed back to the ranch.
Niccy and I packed up the family (Tater Tot and Mushi-Mushi) and headed out on our first RV adventure!
We took the RV on a short shakedown cruise over to San Diego, specifically Point Loma Naval Base.
There's a nice camping spot on the base, right on the water. No electric, no water, but since we're self contained it wasn't a problem We spent a couple of days doing absolutely nothing except watching the world pass us by. Exactly the kind of experience we were looking for.You don't realize how much you need downtime until you get some.
PS:
For those in the Show Your EXIF group you should note that the actual lens used is a Tamron AF 18-200mm F/3.5-6.3 Di-II VC All-in-One Zoom for Canon APS-C Digital SLR. For some crazy reason it always shows up as a Canon TS-E 90mm f/2.8, a lens I've never owned or used!
I guess some folks don't like the sun!
We found two very distinct groups of travelers on this cruise. The first were people from California, they're used to hanging out in the sun the year 'round and usually have a nice tan. The second were people from the Eastern / Northeastern part of the country who were making their escape from the Winter cold and drab of their home state, simple to spot because they sunburn easily. And then I saw this lady, laying out on the very sunny deck, completely covered from head to toe except for a small flash of ankle (very risque!).
Who can say what her motive was, maybe trying to bake herself a golden brown? Could it be she might have an allergy to the sun that makes her break out? Maybe she was on the antibiotic Cipro, which carries an explicit warning on it to avoid sunlight while taking it? Perhaps she's a traveler from Transylvania on a holiday?
I guess that's the nice thing about being on a cruise, you can do things the way you want to and not worry what others think since you'll probably never see them again.
BTW, the color in this shot is the STANDARD setting in the menus on the Canon EOS Rebel T7/2000. I'd never tried it before, my camera is usually set for a MONO jpg + RAW.
A Deadhead or Dead head is a fan of the American rock band the Grateful Dead. This is the modern day version.
If you're curious here's an interesting Wikipedia entry on the whole phenomenon:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deadhead
Part of the reason we left our tranqul settting at Fort Tuthill and moved to a better place. There was a huge cloud of "Smoke" that wafted it's way over the dividing line (fence) and invaded our space. Smelled like someone was burning a hippie!
BTW, please don't zoom in to the lady on the left and her legs. I'm not sure that even a medical professional could explain it!
Niccy and I just got back from a transatlantic cruise so I've finally got some shots to post!
Normally on a cruise you depart the port at 4-5 PM local time which means no night shots. This time we departed quite late which gave me the chance to get this night shot of the Rhapsody!
Ports, like cities take on a different look at night, the dark hides all the grittiness and let's the beautiful light shine through.
Don't trust the time in the EXIF, I didn't change it from my home time.
Am I trying to curry favor with the admin of
Absolutely!
On our RV trip to San Diego we had an opportunity to come across a flock (?) of pelicans just chilling in the bay. Now I think they might be called Mexican Brown Pelicans but I'm not sure since I'm not a birder. I'll defer to Jim or Keith when it comes to identification!
Niccy and I packed up the family (Tater Tot and Mushi-Mushi) and headed out on our first adventure!
We took the RV on a short shakedown cruise over to San Diego, specifically Point Loma Naval Base.
There's a nice camping spot on the base, right on the water. No electric, no water, but since we're self contained it wasn't a problem We spent a couple of days doing absolutely nothing except watching the world (and all the boats) pass us by. Exactly the kind of experience we were looking for.
PS:
For those in the Show Your EXIF group you should note that the actual lens used is a Tamron AF 18-200mm F/3.5-6.3 Di-II VC All-in-One Zoom for Canon APS-C Digital SLR. For some crazy reason it always shows up as a Canon TS-E 90mm f/2.8, a lens I've never owned or used. One thing I've noticed is this lens has a lot of vignette to it at a distance!
MSC Magnifica is a Musica-class cruise ship operated by MSC Cruises. Constructed by STX Europe in Saint-Nazaire, the ship was launched in January 2009, completed in January 2010, and entered service in March 2010.
MSC Magnifica was constructed by STX Europe in their shipyard at Saint-Nazaire, France. She was built at a cost of $547 million.
The vessel is 293.8 metres (963 ft 11 in) long, with a beam of 32.2 metres (105 ft 8 in). The 93,330-gross ton vessel can reach a maximum speed of 23 knots (43 km/h; 26 mph). MSC Magnifica has 1,259 cabins – 2,550 passengers can be carried at double occupancy, while 3,605 can be carried at full capacity. The ship has 1,027 crew. Thanks to Wikipedia for the above information:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MSC_Magnifica
The Magnifica was docked in Sint Maarten on our port side and was the first of the ships in port to leave. If you look you'll see that she's got her engines started and they're probably waiting for one of those last minute pier runners!
Big things come in small packages!
The BARBADOS II (IMO: 9229221) is a Tug and is sailing under the flag of Barbados. Her length overall (LOA) is 30.82 meters and her width is 10 meters.
The Barbados II in Bridgetown, out doing what she does best. We've been to Barbados several times so the Barbados II is like an old friend, and I look forward to seeing her again!
If you're on a cruise and happen to hit this port keep an eye out for her!
For those in the Show Your EXIF group you should note that the actual lens used is a Tamron AF 18-200mm F/3.5-6.3 Di-II VC All-in-One Zoom for Canon APS-C Digital SLR. It's a well known issue and for some crazy reason it always shows up as a Canon TS-E 90mm f/2.8, a lens I've never owned or used!