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?