Xmas @ the Dunbar's - thank you for the presents

Boxing day outing to see "A Christmas Carol" - thanks Joce!

Xmas afternoon - just in time for "The Queen" - at Dad's home

I shared my xmas lunch (sausages and bread I am afraid) with this cheeky little robin - A34, Tidbury services

"What do you want to eat - Indian? Mexican? Chinese? Japanese?"
"No uggh!" (pulls face)
"Have you ever eaten Japanese food?"
"No it is awful!" (face pull gets more extreme)
"How about noodles?"
"OK"
so we went to Wagamama - Matthew is still not quite sure about it - the food looks a bit strange...

Chopsticks: "I liked the ones I actually used the best - because they actually helped you"

Everything but the greens "I have tried salad before - it is not that nice"

Success - Almost!: Matthew says "Wagamama's? That was excellent that place was, it was really good"

Emily Evans... Mr Rembrandt watch out!

 

Miriam's Last Day - almost 6 years

Jed Davies

A dark and crisp night - visited Chester, Kevi, Fliss & Jed

The Bridge from Widnes

My favourite bridge - taken from Catalyst Museum 

Only in America

250 delegates forego lunch to attend "Physics for Motion Control" - ALL the slides were JUST equations - ACE!

View from room 1638

The convention centre where I did my presentation (twice (with a cold (and a headache)))

Renaissance Grand Saint Louis - Room Service

Renaissance Grand Saint Louis - a really very very nice hotel - efficient and friendly and knowledgable - and the Chicken Soup had at least 6oz of shredded meat in it. If you have to suffer a bad cold - then this is a good place to be

4 Williams..

Trip to Automation Fair, St Louis

I don't think that I'll be flying AA for a while - flight part technically very efficient - on time and so on BUT international travel was unpleasant experience and cabin staff entirely not together - for example - lost track of time and were still serving food when we started descent and racing up and down aisle with carts collecting empties - after seatbelt sign came on and we were on final approach... and none of the staff at ORD would lend me a pen to fill in my departure card! So few staff at checkin I had to wait over an hour - even though I was hand luggage only and it took just seconds to process me - fume!

First ever British Radio Orienteering Championships (IARU style ARDF) - I won!

Goodbye to Sitka...

They said - "when you are in the hills - make a lot of noise - best to sing loudly - then the bears know you are there and can wander away - unless of course they are really hungry...". After 8 hours walking I had exhausted my knowledge of carols, hymns and folk songs and had switched to marches (Col Bogey, Great Escape...) - the gentleman pictured was "just trying out his new rifle" - sitting in the cab of his truck, up a closed off forest road, not in deer hunting season at all, in the middle of nowhere, and blowing on his deer call. Only to hear the strains of the Dam Busters march coming back loud and clear and some crazy limey comes jogging round the corner - arms outstretched in bomber position... at least I got a lift back to civilisation

The commander of the US 9th Army (Alaska) could not make it - urgent business in Hawaii - so he sent is deputy and his chaplain (right - from Alabama and not at all enjoying the weather)

Re-enactment of the Transfer of Alaska from Imperial Russia to the US (it was hard to make a profit when you had to ship the otter furs all the way back to Moscow). The dignatory read out the date of accession for each state - all 50 - and for each one a shot was fired - it took a long time and it was very cold, very wet and very windy...

Alaska Day - The whole town was on parade and even a miltary flypast

A hearty meal at the Russian Orthodox Cathedral - Sitka, "Did you like the Salmon Pie? - My grandmother made the Salmon Pie!"

View into the hinterland north from Sitka - Baranof Island - 85 miles from North to South - 15 miles of road - all in Sitka, 8000 population - all in Sitka - if you head north from Sitka you will pass no settlements, no roads and almost no trails until you run out of island...

Boardwalk - Sitka, Alaska - saw no one all day, no marks of recent human passage - just bear footprints - BIG bear footprints.

The 9th Army band, down from Anchorage for the Alaska Day Ceremonies - Modern Jazz - not so hot, but the Glenn Miller tribute - Brilliant!

They breed them tough up here - Surfing - Northern Pacific, Alaska, it has just stopped snowing, it is late October...

Sitka - 5th largest city in the Alaska - population 8000!

When in Seattle...

Imperial Pines @ Mt St Helens - click on the picture and enlarge - makes my eyes go wonky

I went all the way to Sitka, Alaska - why - because of this little tree - the Sitka Spruce - the favourite of British Agro-forestry - fast growing and very very spiky to run through...

The tiny white dot is Mount Hood - excellent!

The Oregon Trail - or a little part of it at least

Click this link to hear the sound of 3 army chinooks playing over crater lake - stange, really strange (well if you have a decent separation between your left and right speakers that is - otherwise it sounds rather dull)

From the east rim of Crater Lake - you can see 100 miles and it is all trees...

Crater lake again (no it is not what you think - is a water level gauge

This is my first view of Crater Lake - magic

Every morning - two "wraps" for lunch - Subway - only fast food place in the US you can always get healthy food with green bits, even

Autumn colours at Mt St Helens

Mount St Helen's - according to the park ranger "Like, totally gnarly day, you lucked out - it's been rain and fog all month"