Portland ME and surrounding areas

I went to Portland ME for a few days for a conference for work. The conference was great. I wish I could say the same for the weather. It was cold and raining (or at least drizzling) the entire time I was there. This is a shot of the waterfront of Portland, just outside J's oyster bar.I wasn't interested in the oysters, but the lobster seemed like a great deal at $15.50 per plate.

Playing with my food before cracking it open.
We had one afternoon off to explore the area, so a group of us drove up the coast to visit the shell middens near Damariscotta.

To get to the river to see the middens, we had to walk through a nice little meadow.

Along the way, there were plenty of wildflowers

along with interesting looking fungi. There were also mosquitoes. Lots of mosquitoes. And they were hungry!

After leaving the middens, we headed to Pemaquid Point to see the lighthouse and the interesting rock ledges. The weather was foggy and misty while we were there, with a few scattered sprinkles.

After the lighthouse closed, we headed to Shaw's Wharf to grab some dinner.

Fresh lobster!!

Finally, the last stop of the day was at LL Bean.

I found it very strange that they had a bunch of dead animals in the children's section.

The manager didn't see the amusement in it, and booted me out of the store.

Chihuly in the desert

The Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix had a Dale Chihuly display of glass artwork this spring. Below are a sample of pictures. More pictures are available here. Desert Wildflower Towers

The Sun
White Belugas

Blue Fiddleheads

Tiger Lilies

Squero di San Trovaso Chandelier

Chiostro di Sant'Apollonia Chandelier

Blue and Purple Boat

Blue Reeds

Red Reeds and Black Saguaros

Float Boat

Scorpion Tales and Bamboo

Mexican Hat and Horn Tower.

Spring Snowstorm in Flagstaff

I'm glad I checked the weather before heading up to Flagstaff on Saturday morning. It was below freezing with a chance of snow.

As I approached, I started to see a light dusting of snow from the previous night.

And then there was more snow.

It had been really windy, as all the snow was angled on the west side of objects. The west sides of street signs were totally covered.

When I arrived on the NAU campus at 8 am, there was still a pretty good blanket of snow on the ground
and the San Francisco Peaks had a nice dusting.
By the time I left at 12:30, most of the snow had melted, although it was still cold and windy.

Or did the lumberjack clear the snow?

Luck of the Irish?

Last Sunday I headed to New Orleans for a conference. I booked the early flight out of Phoenix so I could arrive by 2:30, have a chance to unpack, and then catch the conference's bus to LIGO for a tour. However, after circling Houston for hours, making a detour to Hobby Airport to refuel, and then sitting on the runway forever, I didn't arrive in New Orleans until 8:00 PM. It was cold, raining, and I was tired!

It rained all day on Monday, but it didn't really matter because I was busy all day and evening with the conference. On Tuesday it finally stopped raining. By the time the conference ended for the day, it was warm and sunny outside. I decided to go to the Audubon Insectarium, which was a block from my hotel.
Even though it had a big sign in front and a butterfly mosaic on the sidewalk, I walked right past it.

A few blocks later, I knew I had gone too far and stopped at an information booth for directions. They told me to go back the way I came and that I couldn't miss it. Uh, yeah, I could. And did! Good thing I'm not on the Amazing Race. I would be on the team that stares right at the cluebox and runs in circles missing it. I eventually found it, but couldn't go in because it was closed.

The group I was with was going to see Hurricane on the Bayou at the IMAX theater that evening, so I decided to head to the Aquarium of the Americas to kill time before the movie started. I arrived just after the last ticket could be sold, so wasn't allowed in there either.

I killed time checking out the metal sculptures surrounding the aquarium,

watching people's reactions to the automated dinosaur that was being promoted for the zoo,
watching the ferry come and go on the river,
listening to the dixieland tunes coming from the tourist paddle boats,

and just hanging out and watching the river.
Later that night, a St. Patrick's Day parade went right past my hotel.
In addition to the bagpipes,

there were a few floats, and they were throwing beads! BEADS!!!!!!
Hey Mister! Throw me some St. Patty's Day beads!

Immediately after the conference ended on Wednesday, I hurried to the airport only to find that my flight was delayed. And delayed again in Houston. It was after midnight when I finally arrived back home.