All posts by Angie

My life is powered by Diet Coke. I spend big chunks of time traveling, crafting and reading. I’m a former litigation attorney, I’ve been a Weight Watchers leader, and I sometimes teach sex education classes at my church. But mostly, I love getting lost in whatever story I’m writing.

Southern US--Spring 2014, United States

New Orleans–Day 1

April 2, 2014 Angie Leave a comment

1,950 miles traveled

Today we drove from Webster, Texas, to New Orleans. We arrived late in the afternoon and checked in to the B&B—which is beautiful, by the way. If anyone is planning a visit to New Orleans, I recommend Maisson Perrier. They were very kind to us and put us in our own little cottage in the back yard which is named the Abby Cottage. We took it as a good sign.

For dinner, we met Les and Gail Levinson, friends of Bob’s from his residency days at Hershey Medical Center. It was wonderful to meet them (for me) and to catch up on old times (for Bob). We really, really enjoyed the evening. Thanks, Les and Gail!

Southern US--Spring 2014, United States

Houston Gallery

Gallery April 1, 2014 Angie

Here’s our selfie on the tram waiting for our tour.

I thought it was fun that cows were grazing between the buildings.

Each mission creates its own badge. They’re displayed in the command center, among other places, but here are the badges for all the missions that trained at this training facility.

These are components for the International Space Station. They’re big enough for a person to move through.

I liked this guy. He looks like a toddler on his first snow day.

This is the command center used from 1965 to the mid 90s. When it was decommissioned, it was restored back to its 1965 condition. It’s an historic landmark now.

More of the ISS modules.

This round thing is one of the Soyuz modules that take three people at a time to the Space Station. You can see how big it is by comparing it to the table on the platform beside it, or even the stairs. It’s a tight squeeze.

This is the proposed Mars capsule. It’s the size of a SUV on the inside. Just enough room for 4 astronauts to sit for the months-long journey to Mars. Obviously, that’s not going to work too well.

Some of the small robots they’ve developed to do all kinds of tasks in space and on other worlds.

Shower in space.

It was April Fool’s Day, so the cafeteria at the museum served purple potatoes with pink gravy. It wasn’t great, but we were starving.

The rocket engines are enormous.

Southern US--Spring 2014, United States

Houston, Texas

April 1, 2014 Angie Leave a comment

April Fool’s Day! 1600 miles traveled so far.

We’re space and science nuts. Ask Abby—I think we dragged her to a kids’ science museum in almost every major city we ever visited. So we got really excited about visiting the Johnson Space Center and we weren’t disappointed.

We started with the tram tour; it was kind of like the backlot tour at Universal Studios. Only this tour took us to the mission control room where the famous words “Houston, we have a problem” were heard. We also stopped at the training facility. There we saw life-sized replicas of all the modules currently in space. There’s even a full-sized replica of the International Space Station (ISS) which is the size of football field. The training facility is where US astronauts, and others from around the world, train and practice on the equipment they’ll be dealing with in space. Pictures of everything are here.

Some interesting facts: The US has had an astronaut in space on the ISS continuously since 2001. We often have three or more. The ISS is home to six people at a time. It’s manned by US astronauts, Russian cosmonauts, Japanese astronauts from JAXA, and various others, including Canadians and Europeans.

The Space Shuttles are no longer operational, so all the astronauts get to the ISS in Russian Soyuz space capsules. They’re tiny and only fit three people — barely. I have a picture of one in the photos. The ISS orbits the Earth at 17,500 m.p.h. and sees a sunrise or a sunset every 45 minutes. Astronauts stay on the ISS for six months at a time before they rotate home. Several have been to the ISS four or more times. They spend two hours exercising every day to keep their muscles from withering and their bones from decalcifying. They spend 10 hours a day conducting science experiments. Much of the science might be considered basic (like how a match burns) but in zero gravity, all the rules are changed and things happen differently.
In the next 2-3 years, NASA expects to contract with private space firms to deliver astronauts and supplies to the ISS, instead of relying completely on the Russians. When an unmanned supply ship arrives (currently being launched by the Russians, the Japanese and one independent space operation so far) the astronauts unload it and then fill it back up with all their trash. They undock it and let it drift away. Eventually it burns up (along with all the trash) when it enters the Earth’s atmosphere. They expect the ISS to be operational until at least 2027.

If you want a good novel about NASA, espionage, murder and mayhem, read Dan Brown’s Deception Point. I thought a lot about that book while we toured the Johnson Space Center.

Tomorrow: New Orleans!!

Southern US--Spring 2014, United States

San Antonio Gallery

Gallery March 31, 2014 Angie

The River Walk

City Scenes

This is the place where the bones of the heroes of the Alamo rest. It’s inside the vestibule of the Catholic Church in the next picture.

The River Walk, again.

The Alamo

This tree was HUGE, and CRAZY. Many of its branches rest on the ground, on the roofs of nearby buildings, and on the wall surrounding the Alamo.

This cactus is enormous.

More of the crazy tree.

More River Walk

We took a boat tour and I’d recommend it. In the picture above, you can see one of the boats we took.

People have to fall into the water all the time. With twists and turns in the path like this, and the AMPLE drinking establishments along the way, people must fall in often. Luckily its only a few feet deep.

This building was made to look one dimensional from this angle. It’s a hospital.

More of the River Walk

The trees were full of these egret/heron-like birds. They were pretty big and very busy building nests.

This was so interesting. It’s a fig tree growing out of a wall. It doesn’t have a trunk or roots. It isn’t growing through the wall, it actually sprouted in the wall.

The Missions

What’s interesting about the missions is they are all working Catholic Parishes, except for the Alamo. In one, they had an active daycare. Keep in mind, these buildings were built in the 1700s!

Whenever we visit a National Park, I always get stamps for my “passport.”

Chick’N!

Southern US--Spring 2014, United States

San Antonio, Texas

March 31, 2014 Angie Leave a comment

1400 miles so far.

We’ve had a nice couple of days in San Antonio—and we have the sore feet to prove it. On Sunday, we walked along the River Walk and found some ice cream for dinner. On Monday, we saw the Governor’s Palace, the Alamo and a bunch more of the River Walk. Then we spent the afternoon exploring the other missions. It’s kind of amazing to think what it must have been like in the 1750s when the Franciscan monks walked to the area from their base in Mexico. At the time, the Indians were being killed by northern Indian tribes and they were dying of diseases brought to the area by Europeans. To live in the relative safety of the missions, they had be baptized and they were required to learn a European trade and adopt European habits. I can’t imagine what it was like for them to leave their life styles, their religion, their language and their culture behind. I’ve put some of our pictures of the day here.

I have to tell you about dinner. We ended up at a vegetarian cafe, which is very unusual for us. We wanted to try something new. Our waitress was adorable and so helpful. Because Bob often orders chicken parmesan when we go out, he got the Chik-N parm and I had the eggplant parm. Bob said it wasn’t bad and that if he didn’t know, he would probably think he was eating chicken. : ) Maybe I’ll go back again when I’m in San Antonio for the Romance Writers’ convention in July. Tera and Alison, are you game?

Two things to note about the drive through Texas. 1. The speed limit in Texas is 80 m.p.m. (Thank you!). 2. Especially in the western part of the state, the highway runs along the Mexican border. We were stopped at one station (kind of like the fruit check when you enter CA on I 15) to check for illegal aliens. It was a little weird.

Off Again!, Southern US--Spring 2014, United States

Southern United States–Spring 2014

March 29, 2014 Angie Leave a comment

We have a really big trip planned for the Spring of 2014. We are going to explore the South for the first time, as well as the Eastern Seaboard. One of the highlights for me will be Abby’s sorority pinning. When I joined Gamma Phi Beta all those years ago, I never dreamed that my sister, my niece, and now my daughter, would join me in the sisterhood. I’m a very proud mama!

The first month of our travels will be vacationing — sight-seeing, exploring, learning about new places, stuff like that. Most of the second month will be visiting family and friends, catching up, and playing with grandkids.

Check back every now and then and see what we’ve been up to. If you want to contact us, you can send an email to me at ashiroff@me.com.

Proposed itinerary:
San Antonio, New Orleans, the Florida Keys, Central Florida (including Harry Potter World!), Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Boston (for Abby’s pinning!), New York, Philadelphia, back to Boston (to move Abby out of the dorms), New Jersey, Kansas City, Minneapolis, Wichita, home!

Update in May, 2014

Now that our trip is complete, here are some of the statistics I tried to keep. I’ll try to be better in the future, but keeping track of this stuff over a couple months of traveling is easier said than done!

Miles Traveled: 5,250

Tolls paid: Who knows? $30 before we got to Virginia, after that, our EZ Pass is automatic. I know the GW Bridge alone was $13! Everything in the Northeast is a toll road and it’s not unusual to spend more than $100 on tolls during one of our trips.

Gas bill: (about) $900

States we’ve been to: NV, AZ, NM, TX, LA, MS, AL, FL, GA, SC, NC, TN, VA, MD, DE, NJ, CT

What books we’ve listened to: 1. Taken in Death by JD Robb; 2. Concealed in Death by JD Robb; 3. Fortune’s Pawn by Rachel Back; 4. Honor’s Knight by Rachel Bach; 5. The Witness by Nora Roberts.

Southern US--Spring 2014, United States

Day 1

March 29, 2014 Angie Leave a comment

800 miles today.
We drove from Las Vegas to Las Cruces, NM. It was a VERY long day — about 12 hours of driving. We stupidly relied on our Magellan instead of looking at a map so we ended up taking the longer route through Flagstaff.

The one perk was the Chick Fil A in Flagstaff where we ate lunch. I don’t know what it is about waffle fries and Chick Fil A sauce, but I’m addicted.

Once we realized the Magellan (aka Maggie) was being ridiculous, we adjusted course. She immediately protested with “Uturn. In. Three. Hundred. Seventy. Two. Miles.” You know how that stilted voice is. We just turned her off.

One of the perks of the drive was all the blooming trees in Phoenix. They were gorgeous. I especially loved the red bougainvillea and the bright yellow Palo Verde Trees.

I really love Palo Verde Trees. They’re willowy and interesting when they’re not blooming, and breathtaking when they are blooming.

Oh, and if you can tell me what this picture is, I’d appreciate it. It was quite a distance away and it kept reflecting the sun. It wasn’t moving, it just hung there. It wasn’t a cloud. It looks like a white balloon shaped like one of those fish crackers.

New Mexico--Spring 2012, United States

Bandera Volcano and Ice Cave

April 19, 2012 Angie Leave a comment

What a fun place to visit! It’s an area owned by the same family for several generations and they are battling with the National Park Service for control of the site. I can see why the Park Service wants it, it is a treasure.

The first thing we noticed when we drove into the parking lot was the dead dog stretched out in the middle of the parking lot. It was a shocking and upsetting thing to see. It was also weird because ours was the only car in the lot. We weren’t sure if the site was open or if there was something wrong. With the dog, we wondered if this was the beginning of a horror movie.

Bob swerved so he wouldn’t hit the dog and it raised its head and yawned at us. What a relief! No horror movie–just a supremely lazy dog. After we parked, I approached the dog carefully to see if it was ok. When I was about 10 feet away, she rolled onto her back and presented her belly for a good scratch. As soon as I started scratching, she sighed deeply, flopped her head back down and didn’t move again. She was a riot! Apparently she is the owners pet and she takes it upon herself to patrol the grounds at night and keep all wildlife away. During the day, she is comatose.

Anyway, after a chat with the owners, we learned about their battle with the National Park Service. The land has been in their family for generations. They’ve always operated it as a tourist attraction. Now they’re struggling to keep it in the face of much pressure from the National Park Service which wants to take over the operation. We also discovered we were a little early in the season for tourists. We had the place to ourselves!

We headed up the path to the Bandera Volcano. The whole area was covered in rough volcanic rock and the path was black from crushed lava rock. The trail circled up the outside of the volcano until it reached the side where the the cone had collapsed and the lava flowed out. It was a very windy day and the path was steep–probably the most strenuous thing we’ve done on this trip so far–but it was worth seeing. I’ve never been inside a volcano before. It was black and barren. Hardly anything grew inside. Eerie and other worldly.

After lots of pictures (and a mad dash by Bob to retrieve my new Solar Observatory hat when the wind blew it off), we returned to the little store and began the journey down the other path to the ice cave. Even in the middle of a burning New Mexico summer, the 20 foot thick ice sheet in this cave never melts. The cave is actually a collapsed lave tube where water naturally collected. Because of the prevailing winds, the shape of the cave, and the insulating properties of the lava, the cave never gets above 31 degrees, no matter how hot it is only 20 feet away. We had to walk down an old wooden staircase to see the ice cave and that was an adventure in itself. Of course, my healing calves weren’t happy, but what’s a vacation without sore legs?

You can see all our pictures here.

New Mexico--Spring 2012, United States

Bandera Volcano and Ice Cave Photos

Gallery April 19, 2012 Angie

This was another favorite of mine. Its quirky, but interesting. The trails are very well done and I just really liked it. Of course, the dog snoozing in the parking lot was a kick. I can definitely see why the Park Service wants to take over this site.

New Mexico--Spring 2012, United States

Acoma Pueblo

April 18, 2012 Angie Leave a comment

Acoma Pueblo is a very interesting place. In the picture above, it’s hard to see the village, but it is sitting on top of the bluff. It is inhabited by the Acoma people (pronounced Á-cō-ma). In fact, the peublo has been continuously inhabited for about 1,500 years, making it the oldest city in the United States. It even survived sieges by the Spanish in the 1500’s.

The Pueblo rises 350 feet above the desert floor and there wasn’t a road to the top until the 1960’s. Before that, only 5 staircases (and I use that term lightly) accessed the top. These stairs are so completely hidden from view (probably because they barely exist) that the Spanish never found them when they layed siege to the Peueblo. Interestingly, they (and many other Indian tribes in the area) are matrilineal, with the youngest daughter in the family inheriting the family’s house on the Pueblo.

The only way to see Sky City (another name for the Acoma Pueblo), is by guided tour. On the tour we were assaulted by little bugs (that luckily didn’t bite) that just wanted to land on us and hang on. I’m not sure what they were, but they were about 1/4 inch long and very tanacious. Whenever we would pause in the tour for the guide to point something out, Bob and I felt like monkeys picking nits off each other. It was ridiculous! The guide has lived on the Pueblo his entire life and he said he’s never seen the bugs before. Maybe they are the result of the really mild winter.

Only about 15 families currently live on the Pueblo. There is no electricity or plumbing on the Pueblo so we saw many Port-A-Potties and outhouses. Many more families routinely use their homes on the Pueblo during ceremonies and other special occasions. Many occupy their homes during the day but have homes elsewhere for the night.

Pottery is a big thing for them and they have many very talented potters. We saw some incredibly decorated pottery that took quite an artist to create. Traditionally, the pottery from this area is white with black, intricate markings. Fragments of this pottery have been found as far away as Maine. The trade routes of the ancient indians were quite extensive. On the Pueblo, they have found macaw feathers from South America and shells from the coast of Baja. This is true throughout the region.

At the end of the tour, the guide offered to let us walk down one of the ancient staircases, or we could drive back down with him. Bob and I decided to walk. The guide explained that the stairs had been “improved” for use by the public, but that the stairs were much like they have been for over a thousand years. Before the 1960’s, this particular staircase was the only route for anything the Indians needed in the Pueblo. Everything had to be hand carried up and down the stairs The guide warned that it was a quick 3 second descent should we fall.

Oh, My, Goodness, the “stair” was GROSSLY overexaggerated. It was barely more than a suggestion in the rock. It was quite a challenge and gave us a whole new appreciation for how agile the peole who lived her must have been. If you ever visit Acoma Pueblo, don’t miss the chance to go down those steps, but be warned! Bob and I were the first of our group to go down and we were followed by a family from Paris. The mom and dad were very slow and the kids got ahead of them so we ended up helping the two kids down. Of course, the boy (about 10 years old) LOVED it! It was quite an adventure (and thank God Bob could speak enough French to communicte with them!) Then again, the tone of voice used by a parent to convey danger and caution is universally understood.

Take a look at all our photos here.

The Shiroffs' Travels

All posts by Angie

New Orleans–Day 1

Houston Gallery

Houston, Texas

San Antonio Gallery

San Antonio, Texas

Southern United States–Spring 2014

Update in May, 2014

Day 1

Bandera Volcano and Ice Cave

Bandera Volcano and Ice Cave Photos

Acoma Pueblo

Exploring the World