Coq au Vin - Finished

Coq au Vin, originally uploaded by ParsecTraveller.

Here's the completed coq au vin, with pearl onions, mushrooms, and little pieces of bacon. The chicken became unbelievably tender, and so did the pearl onions. Coq au vin is fairly easy to make, and a great dish for a cold winter night.

Scenic Cycling: National Seashore, Cape Cod

Cycling on Cape Cod is a remarkable experience. Earlier I wrote that we had been looking forward to the Cape Cod Rail Trail. We have now been on it twice, but to tell the truth it is not my favourite place to cycle on the Cape. Don't get me wrong: It is a nice, long trail through attractive wooded areas with relatively few interruptions. It is a great resource. But the special thing about Cape Cod is its abundance of coastland: the open ocean and bay views, the coves, the miles of saltwater marshes and sand dunes. The rail trail bypasses all of that, and so I feel that cycling on it does not capture the essence of the area. For a real "wow" experience, I recommend cycling along the National Seashore - a 40-mile stretch of coastal nature reserve with breathtaking views. You will have to cycle on the road with motor vehicles, but the route is very bike-friendly.

If you are hesitant to share long stretches of the road with cars, you can arrive to the National Seashore via the Rail Trail (pdf map here). Towards the very end of the trail in Wellfleet, turn right on Marconi Beach Road (above two photos) and this will take you right to the dunes. This road is spacious, virtually free of traffic, and breathtakingly scenic. It ends at Marconi Beach and the Marconi Station Observation area.

At the end of Marconi Beach Road is this beautiful landscape of sand dunes, tall grasses and miniature trees - on a hill overlooking the ocean.

Lucy and Rodney, our vintage Raleighs, found the area very romantic. Here they are enjoying the view of the dunes.

And here they are gazing at the ocean.

The Co-Habitant joins them in Thoreau-like meditation.

Here is Lucy Threespeed on her own, posing in front of the Marconi Station exhibit. Guglielmo Marconi is commonly credited with having invented the radio, and the Marconi Station in Wellfleet MA is the site of the first successfully completed transatlantic wireless communication between the U.S. and England in 1903.

There are many beautiful sites to photograph, but we were too busy cycling. These photos should give you an idea of the area's natural beauty.

Exhausted but pleased, Lucy and Rodney look forward to their next visit to this unique and wonderful place.

Interlude...

Saturday, September 17th - - After leaving Yellowstone National Park I traveled toward the small town in southwest Montana where I stayed for most of July last year. It looks much different here now than it did then – the “hills” are mostly brown providing quite a contrast between the lush, green areas that are irrigated or those along the rivers, which are lined with trees. The weather has been rather nice with lots of sunshine but the skies have mostly been the “hazy-white” variety, which isn't conducive to obtaining “pretty” pictures of the scenery.





I've been here almost two weeks and have been taking advantage of the time to “catch up” on blog reading and writing, a little research (very little), and going through the pictures I've taken this year. Much of my time has been consumed/absorbed with work on the netbook. So much so that I feel like I've been sucked into the vortex of the computer, which is a never-ending cycle!



As mentioned in a previous post, I've been looking for a new camera and hadn't had much luck with finding one in stock. The stores had the ones I was interested in on display but didn't have them available to purchase. I finally gave up going to a “brick and mortar” store and bought one online! I went with the Nikon P500. The other camera that I was looking at was the Canon SX30. They both have similar features but the Nikon just “felt good” in my hands. It arrived a little over a week ago and I've been having some fun playing with it and learning some of its features. It will take some practice to get used to what it can do; it's amazing to me what all they've packed into this thing!



After the camera arrived and it took five hours to charge the battery in the camera, I realized I would need another battery and an external charger. Those were ordered and arrived here on Tuesday. It still takes about 2 ½ hours to charge a battery but that is better than 5 in the camera!



One of the things that I really wish came with the camera is a printed manual, but nowadays that is not likely to happen. The pdf manual comes on a CD and it's easy to find what you are looking for, but it's just a little difficult to look things up when you are “out in the field” using the camera!



So far, I'm quite happy with the camera.

Hodge Podge

Pink Peony.



Yellow ?



Mauve Rose.



Petunias.



Temple Square Gardens – Tuesday, June 7th

What a Way to End the Day!

Sunday, January 15th – A heavy blanket of gray clouds covered the western Arizona sky all day long. As I was returning to the campground the sun appeared beneath the layer of clouds and quickly dropped behind the mountain range. While driving, I was watching the sky change dramatically - all of a sudden it was as if the sky was on fire! There was no safe place to pull off the road but luckily there was a “scenic view” area a short distance away. I was afraid I would miss the photo op but Mother Nature was good to me, this time!



The “normal” view of the camera just wasn't giving me what I wanted. I was able to get off one panoramic shot before the scene changed completely. This photo has been cropped to about half of that panoramic image, and you just “have” to double-click on it to view the bigger picture! Really.

Wordless Wednesday - A Hoosier Farm

Washington Township, Noble County, Indiana. August 1983. Digitized ...
Sepia Toned Infrared Photograph.
Copyright © 1983/.. by Rebeckah R. Wiseman.

What’s inside Zeus mini supermart?

Last August Dutchman and I went to Zakynthos Island in Greece for a week and a half. It’s our yearly summer beach holiday so basically this is a relaxing we-will-not-be-doing-a-lot holiday.

Our accommodations were all-inclusive which I think we would not do again in the near future. Hotel food is not as enjoyable as dining outside, as well as this type of accommodation does not really help the locals.

Anyway, let’s check what’s inside Zeus mini supermarket in Laganas. We went to these little Greek stores regularly to buy water, chips and other nibbles. They are basically mini hypermarts that serves the tourists on holiday. Locals do not buy here.

Zeus in Greek mythology is the king of gods and men.

Mythos lager beer.

Lays, Greek style, in olive oil naturally.

The incumbent president of the Philippines is called NoyNoy (his nickname).

Greek sweet delicacies: Baklava and Kantaifi.

Ouzo flavoured loukoumi with the famous secluded beach spot of Zakynthos on the foto, Navagio and the Caretta-Caretta endangered sea turtle.

The Greeks and the Turks, who are neighbours and who also have a tumultuous relationship with each other historically, share the same food, as well as delicacies.