Monday, May 30, 2016

To Phoenix and back (PDX-PHX-PDX) - Memorial Day 2016

Dropped the Jeep off at PDX flew to PHX for a Memorial Day weekend getaway to the Wigwam Resort

At the pool - it was a crowded party atmosphere with games and a DJ.  And it was a balmy 97 degrees....but a dry heat.  

Big bird bath 
A walk in the desert - a two mile walk in the heat to get dinner "off-resort"




Doves on a wall

Downtown Phoenix

Sunday, May 15, 2016

Salem, OR -to- St Augustine, FL

Driving a friend's car from OR to FL - an Audi convertible

Leaving the cloudy Pacific Northwest


Snow the first night at Rock Springs, WY





Finally the weather turned nice enough to put the top down



Crossing over into TN; it felt nice being back in the South

On the way to Cordele, GA, our last stop before we get to St Augustine


This is a real Titan I missile.  The Martin Marietta missile is 110' high and was the first multistage ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile) in the United States.  This missile was donated to the Cordele Rotary Club by the Federal Government.

Leaving Cordele, GA (the Watermelon Capital of the World) for FL

Transformers



Time for lunch to get in the golfing spirit.

Bill Murray's Caddy Shack Restaurant in St Augustine, FL






World Golf Hall of Fame

Spanish moss on the old trees of St Augustine




A lot of construction in St Augustine is with a unique sedimentary rock called Coquina

St Augustine is the oldest continuously occupied European-established settlement in the US.  It was founded on September 8, 1565 by Spanish admiral and Florida's first governor, Pedro Menandez de Aviles. 




The Castillo de San Marcos was the northernmost outpost of Spain's New World empire.  It is the oldest masonry fort and the best-preserved example of a Spanish colonial fortification in the continental US.





Hot-shot furnace 





fort pigeon











An old fixer-upper



The oldest wooded school in the US

We need these signs in Salem and Portland

An old well



The smallest hotel in St Augustine


The 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass


The clubhouse at TPC Sawgrass

The blimp





Last night in Florida at the airport Doubletree (pretty nice)


Yikes