Welcome to Easter Island

Here is the view from your room:

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Here is the restaurant at your hotel. You will have an unobstructed view of the Pacific ocean and the sunset-pinked clouds just might write your name if you have a short one like “Nia.”

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Walk a bit up the road and find directions:

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Keep going:

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and find this:

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Walk a bit in the opposite direction:

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and you can bank here:

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dine here:

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and shop here:

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This will be your guide. His name is Christian, he is half Chilean and half Rapanui. He is an historian and will tell you secrets not in the books about Easter Island:

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He’ll take you places like this ahu (ancient Rapanui platform that holds the moai (statues)), which is very near the hotel:

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and he’ll take you to the opposite side of the island where, if you look closely, you’ll see these are more than just mossy rocks:

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or a chunk of red lava (pukaos, topknot carved from red scoria):

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Drive to the top of a hill and see fluorescent pools in a caldera: Peru and Easter Island 696

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See most of the island from atop this hill:

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Observe this hill:

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And prepare for rain. California’s spring is Easter Island’s winter:

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Take a walk in the park… Rancho San Antonio, Cupertino, California

Note: All tree closeups I owe to sethsnap.com for teaching me to see  “tree art.”  http://sethsnap.com/2013/02/16/tree-art-of-halls-creek/

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Bridge over quiet waters
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Light storm
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Variety of life
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Pull up a stump and stay awhile
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Tree frame
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Tree cathedral

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Follow me
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What a tangled web we weave
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A distant, tranquil spot among the oaks
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Texture
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Silicon Valley

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Hiking

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San Francisco Bay
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Way home beckons
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Joy
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Peace
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Shadow of the observer

Angkor… what?

First viewing of Angkor Wat.

Angkor Wat

Mind cannot categorize. Stops. Out of mind experience.

First viewing of Angkor Thom:

Angkor Thom 2

Eeeert. Mind stops, again.

Angkor Thom 1

By now, mind is swallowed whole, by man’s creation, inverse of jungle reclaiming man’s creation:

Ta Prohm
Ta Prohm

28 (food) reasons to love Manhattan

Trip dates: 9/15 – 10/13/12

Pushkin Brasserie (near Museum of Modern Art),

D

Add to Pushkin Brasserie ambiance this and a spiked cappuccino and you’ll recover from exhausting museum going:

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Share these from Crumbs Bake Shop:

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Blackbottom cheesecake cupcake

(upper west side, 97th/Columbus.)

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Grasshopper (mint chocolate chip) to die for

“Wine-dark in a shallow lemon sea, pelted with capers, the curl of octopus ($16) looked messy and primeval, as if just plucked from the deep. It is the dish that a Greek restaurant lives or dies by, simple yet exacting. Tenderness should be victory enough. But the octopus at Boukiés had gone a step beyond, the flesh undoing itself, achieving a texture, at its core, close to nectar.” Ligaya Mishan, New York Times 9/21/12

Looked scary, tasted heavenly:

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Boukies (pronounced Boo KAY is) in Greenwich Village

For less money and a different though not lesser pleasure, a hot pretzel in Central Park:   Day4 Hot Pretzel

Do you love cheese? There’s a name for that.

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Cheese shop in Greenwich Village

Day 6 GV Cheese store

A choice of Schmears (upper west side, Broadway):Day 7 Shmear 2 Day 7 Shmear 3 Day 7 Shmear 4

Oyster bar in Grand Central Station:

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Spinach and kasha knishes from Yonah Shimmel’s Knishery on East Houston Street (lower east side):

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Pastrami and corned beef sandwiches at Katz’s Deli (near Yonah’s, lower east side):

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Tiny cupcake:

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Sugary Sweet Sunshine Bakery

Cappuccino in Tribeca:

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Comfort food at The Eatery after a show (The Phantom of the Opera).

Days 16 012 sesame seed crackers
Sesame seed crackers and champagne
Days 16 018 sweet italian sausage risotto croquettes
Sweet italian sausage risotto croquettes
Days 16 019 grilled camembert
Grilled camembert
Days 16 021 meat loaf ravioli mac and jack
Meat loaf, ravioli and “Mac and Jack” (macaroni and cheese with grilled onions on top)

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Elevation of a bagel:Days 16 Lisas bagel

Peruvian cuisine on the upper west side at Flor De Mayo (Broadway around 98th):

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Beef stew in a cilantro sauce with potatoes
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Roasted chicken and plaintains
Flor de Mayo
Aji Gallina Chicken with eggs on a bed of lettuce

Simple repast at The Boathouse (Central Park):Days 20 21 050 A Days 20 21 052 A Days 20 21 053 A

Achilles… toe? 8th day skiing, Squaw Valley

Arrive at 11 AM, park in furthest lot from the lifts:

Getting ready... say goodbye to dog

Temps cold enough to allow snow to act as sign board:

No

Parking

First run, trees on Red Dog. Pep talk to self: It’s okay to be afraid as long as you keep your hands forward.

Tree run

Second run, Siberia. Must pause for photos.

View from Top of Siberia

Top of Siberia

Too cold! Head to Solitude. Ahhh…

Solitude

Solitude

Time for lunch! Greek salad plus tasty brown ale at Fireside Pizza:

Lunch

Back to Solitude for final runs.

Solitude to Headwall Solitude 3

Take transport lift over terrain park. Observe fun being had.

Fun was had by all

Mountain Run, what the crowded parking lot looks like on the slopes:

What the crowded parking looks like on the slopes

Achilles’ weak point was his heal. For me, it’s my toe after too many days pounding bumps:

Scrunched toe

But, no complaints. Don’t want to flunk retirement.

Looks sweet but bites: skiing Alpine Meadows today

Alpine Meadows, California. 9:30 AM, temp around 22 F, 7 inches fresh snow.

Skiing on these (love my lady Samurais):

Big Girls

Just enough snow to cover icy bumps and make The Face look tasty:

The Face

The trees in the D chutes under the chair really were tasty, no shark bumps:

Trees D Chutes

Followed by lower 3 Sisters:

Early morning 3 Sisters

Bumps beneath on 3 Sisters were okay.

It was a tad chilly at the top in the morning:

Frosty morning

The highly variable weather turned to this after lunch:

Snowy chairlift

Weather change

It turned so dark they had to turn on the lights!

Darkness

The best part of the day: seeing the Alpine Meadows Adaptive Ski school in action:

Adaptive skiing