On to DC

My pretties: Cousin Rhonda and my Sister, Dolores

Early Friday morning, Dolores, my cousin Rhonda and I were in a taxi, driving along the Hudson River, headed for Penn Station. The station was full to the max with harried and hurried travelers. Dolores, a pro at traversing the distance between NYC and Baltimore, kept an eye on Rhonda and I so we didn't wind up on the tracks or on some train headed for parts unknown.

Our Amtrak ride was only about 3.5 hours long, and with loads of scenery flashing past my window, the time passed quickly.

Uh... a view out the train window in... New Jersey?

Well, OK, the scenery I enjoyed most was the nice big animal murals

Once in the Baltimore Amtrak station, my nephew Kirk - Dolores' son - picked us up. It's always a party seeing Kirk, he's got such a fun spirit about him. He had no sooner packed us into his family van then Rhonda put forward a request to see a museum she'd heard about - a wax museum of famous African Americans.Kirk agreed and soon we were headed into an old stone building that looked like an ancient white brick firehouse.



To me the museum had the air of a long ago side show. The exhibits were of great interest and my favorite was of Matthew Henson, the arctic explorer, though probably because his exhibit featured an enormous stuffed polar bear.

Personages from the Civil Rights era

African-American Writers and 18th Century historical figures

We enjoyed our quick tour of the museum which was both interesting, and in some spots deeply disturbing in its depictions of scarier aspects of Black history. We were delighted when one of the museum's representatives took the time to talk with us and tell us facts about the exhibits. We were all impressed and stunned to find out each wax figure costs in excess of $40 thousand dollars!

Following our wax museum tour of the , we headed off to Kirk's house. There we greeted Nicole, Kirk's better half, & I quickly condensed my luggage down to one weekender tote. Quickly we were off again, headed for Chevy Chase Maryland where Dolores, Rhonda and I had a lovely 2 room suite at the Hilton.

View of HUMONGOUS interior of the Hilton
with rooms, shops and offices galore

We were at the Hilton for a unique event - the first ever Reunion of the Carter Family Girl Cousins. The even was months in the planning by my cousins Yvonne and Donna.

It wasn't long before all the girl cousins were together in Yvonne's suite for our initial meet and greet. I was pleased to see my cousins Yvonne, Donna, Wanda, Carol and her daughter Ideaa. After our intial meet and greet we headed off to the Hilton's complementary cocktail hour for some libation. Then, with the edge off our appetites we headed for dinner at the Cheesecake Factory for dinner.  There we met up with Cousin Jackie, her husband, and little son and daughter. 

Waiting for our table at the Restaurant; Yvonne, Wanda, Dolores, Carol and Jackie

Donna, Yvonne, Ideaa and Dolores

Wanda with her niece & nephew cuties -  photo by Ideaa Brown

I can say we all enjoyed our dinner, no one left the table hungry I can tell you! Well, it was a wildly active and fun day, but with more to follow tomorrow. It seemed far later than it actually was when all my beloved cousins and I headed back home or to our hotel suites to get some must needed rest.

New York, New York!

Late yesterday afternoon, I sat enthralled. My forehead pressed against a jet window, staring at the most amazing view of New York City I've ever seen. If you're wondering where the photos of that sight are, there are none - at least none taken by me. We'd been told to turn off our phones and that was the only camera I had handy. GAK! I resolved to myself I'd have to hold the memory in my mind's eye for once. I watched as we all slowly coasted up along the southern tip of Manhattan. The whole of the city I was born in, looked like an exhibit in Legoland; completely unreal. The setting sun was low in the sky and gave all the skyscrapers an unreal golden glow. I momentarily freaked as the jet skipped over the Bronx and kept heading north. For one weird moment I wondered if I'd gotten on the wrong jet and was headed for Bangor Maine or something. But eventually the jet turned south and we landed at La Guardia.

I got to my sister Dolores' house in Manhattan safe and sound, via a shuttle. Must say, my sister is looking her usual beautiful self. This morning - Thursday - Dolores and I were picked up and driven to the Bronx where we visited with my big brother Juan.
 

My Sibs, Dolores and Juan

Back in the day, before Juan's medical turnaround,  most visits we would get into scrapes for one stupid reason or another. It's funny now how that fractious part of our relationship is over and done forever. Now when we get together I only remember all the reasons I've loved him. It is like it was only yesterday my big brother would take me to Coney Island or the Bronx Zoo when I was little and he was my total hero.

This visit was kind of fun because Dolores did not tell Juan I was going to visit, so I was a bit of a surprise for his birthday which is this Saturday. Around the time Dolores and I took our leave of Juan, Gloria, Juan's wife, came by with clothing and such for Juan. She drove Dolores and myself back to Dolores's apartment on 145th street.

Dolores and Gloria

Bernice - eighty-eight and still pretty in pink

Late afternoon, Dolores and I took a taxi over to visit my Godmother Bernice. She doesn't live more than a few miles from Dolores's place. I was tickled to see Bernice and a little bummed to hear she'd had a fall mishap and a bit of surgery. Now mind you - there is no grass growing under my Godmother (there is loads growing under me!). She walks or takes the bus or subway everywhere she goes. And she goes! She has lots of activities including tutoring at a local elementary school twice a week. If I took a page from her book I'd be in good shape, I can tell you. As Bernice told Dolores and I about her hip adventure it didn't take long to tell it hasn't got the better of her. No one in bad shape can possibly have that  lively a glint in their eyes.

Our visit with Bernice was only an hour or so, and then Dolores and I headed back home. There, Dolores, Gloria and I ended the day with a take-away Chinese and Japanese dinner and more than a little excitement for tomorrow's trip. Dolores, my cousin Rhonda and I are heading down to Washington DC for a glorious weekend meet up with our Girlie Cousins!

In Search of bOObys!

Early morning on the Marin County coastline

 Twenty-thirteen has been a great year for vagrant birds, that is, little lost birdies that wind up where they do not normally visit. This year's lost vagrants were - Boobys! Sure, most years you can find a Brown Booby or two somewhere along the California shores, but this was a bumper crop year for Boobies; Masked Boobys, Brown Booby showed up, and an unexpected surprise, a Booby that hasn't graced California since the 1979s: the Blue-footed Booby. The odd invasion began in September, and so far this fall the Blue-foots showed up in at least a dozen coastal spots, and even some inland lakes.

Well, I wanted to see my lifer Blue-footed, and originally planed to haul down to Salton Sea where for a while some fifty Blue-foots were loafing about. But before I a chance to go down there the Booby number dropped to only one or two. Rats! This week, a Booby (actually two as of today) showed up in Marin County, which is as far north as the Blue-foots seem to want to travel. So, all enthused, I meet up with Birder Buddy Don and early yesterday morning we drove north, just south of Point Reyes National Seashore. 

Around 9AM, Don and I arrived at a little pull out, on Highway 1, north of San Francisco in Marin County by the big briny. There were already several birders, peering through their spotting scopes, all pointed at a big white rock 

Gull Rock, just off HWY 1, Marin County, CA

"Is the Blue-footed Booby still here?", we asked, and heard the happy answer: "Yes."!



Up went the spotting scope and sure enough, way down below on the big white rock, a mile from shore, there it was. The black specks on the rock below are mostly cormorants and Brown Pelicans.









 So what... you want a closer look?  OK, OK. I managed a so-so series of shots of the little guy, taking pictures with my iPhone camera, through the eye piece of my spotting scope.

Yay! A lifer Blue-footed Booby for
all the happy birders, including me.

The Booby is the brownish bird with the snowy white breast. It looks sort of like a penguin. 

If you're disappointed you can't see its blue feet, you'd be out of luck even if it was on the near side of the rock. This bird, likely a first or second year juvenile has grayish feet, which will be bright blue when it grows up.


Here's another Booby's tootsies; as bright a blue as you can get. Look kind of cold, don't they?


Some of the Boobies that 'invaded' California are adults and have blue feet. I could have seen those blue toes if I'd gotten to the Salton Sea fast enough, but there you go.

Aside from the Booby, there was also a Northern Gannet, which is a kind of Booby-ish bird, being white with a similarly silly Booby head of pale yellow. The bird had been present earlier, but took off from Gull rock at least an hour before we arrived. That was a bummer as it would have been a lifer for Don. As we watched the Booby and it's buddy Cormorants and Brown Pelicans, birders came and went in a steady stream. I'll bet 100 birders dropped by to gaze at the feathered migrant in the course of the day.

A few birders enjoying themselves some 'bOOby',
in broad daylight, in front of God & everybody.

When at last we'd had a good enough look at the Booby, Don and I headed north to Point Reyes. We stopped for lunch in the tiny town of Point Reyes Station for lunch as the Station House Cafe.

The Station House Cafe's 'Wild Mushroom Sandwich'

I wouldn't have mentioned this at all, but for the treat I had there - a Wild Mushroom Sandwich. It was a thick slice of bread, coated with a creamy local cheese and wild mushrooms, all topped with spinach in a bacon vinaigrette dressing with a big ole fried egg plopped on top for heaven's sake! Weird and quite tasty. The 'spinach' was some sort of exotic greenery I've never had before. Cool. Don had a salmon burger which he assured me was yummy.


After the nice lunch, we headed into Point Reyes National Seashore. The birding was plenty satisfying. We watched a Ferruginous Hawk on the ground, try to nick the food of a larger Red-tailed Hawk. The Red-tail wasn't having it, and chased the Ferruginous away. I got a bad shot of the Ferruginous as it flew away. If it could have held its tail between its legs, it would have.

Ferruginous Hawk

This photo, shot post haste, identified the bird as a genuine Ferruginous Hawk, but otherwise the photo is horrid. As a matter of unfortunate fact, all the pix I took with my canon yesterday were godawful. I used a self-chosen setting that was horribly, horribly off, and all my photos were dismally under exposed. I shot pics of the over abundance of Mule Deer and of a herd of great-antlered Bull elk, and every last shot was pathetic. Pity me - I am not cut from the same bolt of cloth as Ansel Adams. 

Among the many Point Reyes Seashore sites was a little cove we stopped at. We looked down and discovered a sandy beach, full of lolling Northern Elephant seals. They looked like beached balloons

Looking down on the Elephant Seal Beach, where some 50 or 60 seals sun and snooze

The Seals were so far off, I only got some digiscoped shots that aren't terrific. However, as my coniving self would have it, I have photos of Elephant Seals I took a couple of years ago but didn't get around to posting. What do you say I show those photos and we can all pretend I just took them? Ok! 

I photographed all these Elephant Seals along the coast of Big Sur

I love how they come in several different colors, from black velvet to silver

Buds

Not buds! There were several bulls duking it out in the surf

I swear, I was up on a low, cliff about a story high when I got all of these shots.

So all in all, it was a nice day of roaming Point Reyes and that's a treat any time, even if one doesn't score a pretty cool new lifer bird.