Greetings!
Perhaps you remember us, the
BusRoads Duo who used to send you periodic updates on our travels. Well, we
still think about you but most of our energy lately has been devoted to
projects around the new little house we bought in Southern Oregon. This past summer
was spent watching trained professionals build us a new garage in which to
store our RV when we are off the road (and for Herb-the-VW-bus when we are
roaming.) Photos at the bottom of this posting will help fill you in. Now we
have resumed our snow bird/Native flute concert schedule and are writing you
from Tucson, Arizona, a comfortable and familiar winter home we have visited
for the past dozen years. We hope your winter home is keeping you cozy and
happy as the sun creeps gradually back into our hemisphere. Happy reading, and
drop us a note with the latest in your life if you are so inclined! ~
Brian and Andi
Wish You Were Here
Screenshot: Transit to the museum
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| Screenshot: Coming to a neighborhood near you |
There is practically no end of things to do and see in the Los Angeles area, yet we would like to highlight something we experienced a couple of weeks ago. Housed at the California Science Center is the retired space shuttle Endeavour, the orbiter built as a replacement for the tragic Challenger. It takes its name (and the British spelling) from the ship which Captain James Cook sailed on his first voyage in 1768-71. This space shuttle made its first flight in 1992 and the last in 2011, making Endeavour the fifth and final shuttle built. The lead up to viewing the actual craft includes replicas of early flying machines, videos of shuttle launches, a reconstruction of the mission control room, a chance to touch actual shuttle tires, tips on living in space (including more than you want to know about using the potty), and an amazing time-lapse film about the trip this beast had to make in September of 2012 on the lanes, bridges and boulevards of LA in order to reach its new downtown home. When you are fully educated and can stand the suspense no longer, you enter the separate hangar which contains Endeavour. Our first word (and that of all around us) was, "Wow!" You think you are prepared for it to be big, but its sheer size dangling over your head still impresses you. Also impressive is its track record: 25 missions, nearly 300 days in space and close to 5,000 orbits of Earth. The crew worked on the Hubble Space telescope, performed science experiments, serviced the International Space Station, and worked with satellites. An impressive series of plaques chronicling the history of shuttle flights lines the walls of the building, but you keep looking above your head to admire the craft that launches like a rocket and lands like an airplane.
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| Endeavour in its new home |
Life on the Road
Folks have asked if we intend
to keep traveling now that we bought a house and the answer is, yes, for as
long as it is feasible. Leaving behind an actual home in town as opposed to
leaving our rural Washington property is still new for us, though. There are
many considerations when planning to be gone for months at a time, ranging from
yard care and home security to utility bills and library books. Most of our
fellow RVers have already figured out how to tackle these issues, and we can
now appreciate what they go through. In an attempt to simplify the process, our
answer has been to create a pre-departure checklist of 34 items, divided into
the categories of yard, house, vehicles and personal. "Suspend garbage
pickup – check! Secure upstairs windows – check!" This plus a packing list
of 65 necessities (binoculars, shade hats, check book, cork screw) gives us
partial peace of mind; the rest comes from a posse of family, friends,
neighbors, and the local police department who have all stepped up to keep an
eye on the Happy House while we're away. A giant THANK YOU to each of you who
helps make it possible for us to continue our BusRoads adventures!
Coffee Chat
Many well-known popular
musicians of the 60s and 70s found inspiration (and each other) in a canyon
north of Hollywood called Laurel Canyon. We're talking about the likes of Janis
Joplin, the Mamas and the Papas, Frank Zappa, Jim Morrison, Crosby, Stills and
Nash, James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, and Carole King. Between Christmas and New
Year's Eve, we paid homage to this musical mecca by driving the length of
Laurel Canyon Boulevard, from West Hollywood to Studio City. We absorbed the
inspiration over coffee in the sunshine and someday you may hear our latest
song – "Laurel Canyon Hideaway."
Did You Know?
The shuttle orbiter Endeavour
is about 122 feet long, roughly the same length as James Cook's wooden sailing
ship for which it is named. We take our hats off to the brave voyagers who willing climbed aboard either vessel to explore the
outer reaches of their known worlds.
Photo Collage:
Anatomy of a New Garage
