In ASIA

Well, it's happening ....

I'm travelling to the Philippines, Vietnam and Cambodia over the next three weeks.

I survived the flight on Philippines Airlines (more on that later) and I'm staying in a beautiful hotel in Manila. Tonight I'm flying to Saigon.

More updates later. This internet connection is kinda expensive!

Sunset over New Mexico

Who can resist a good sunset?

This photo was taken on the long road through New Mexico while travelling in the car.

If you don't have a digital camera that has a stabilizer then what in the hell are you waiting for?

Roadtrip back to Los Angeles

It was a long trip from Savannah, Georgia back to Los Angeles. It took about four days and I was very sick of (almost) endless highways, subway sandwiches and beat up gas station bathrooms.

Of course, I still found some time to be a tourist.

Tombstone is a tiny little town in the southeast corner of Arizona, just below Tucson. Billed as the town that is "too tough to die", it is the site of the famous gunfight at the O.K. Corral. This shoot out between the "good guys" (including Wyatt Earp) and the "bad guys" happened on October 26, 1881. Only three men were killed and the fight lasted a mere thirty seconds but the long arm of the law won and law was restored to this wild frontier town.

I arrived very early in the morning and the busiest place was The Longhorn restaurant which served up a mean cowboy breakfast. The menu gave a complete history of the building and I thought it was interesting to find out that the Longhorn was once a saloon called the Bucket of Blood.

Hmmm, appetizing.

There were various old western buildings which, unfortunately, I didn't have the time to explore.

Apparently they also recreate the gunfight which may just justify a trip back. I'm going to cheer for the baddies though. Just to shake things up.

The world's largest rosebush is also in this town but I didn't see this either.

Dusty wasn't into the tourist stuff. He slept a lot during the trip and enjoyed the Motel 6s immensely.

Okefenokee Swamp: new slideshow!!

The Okefenokee swamp is an incredible swamp in the southeast corner of Georgia. It covers almost 402,000 acres and is filled with cypress, pine, insect eating plants, gators, deer, bobcats and lots and lots of birds. At this time of year, there were also a few tourists.

For a very reasonable fee ($18 which included the park admission), I was able to take a canoe ride which lasted about four hours. It lasted this long because I wanted to stop every few feet and take photos which annoyed the hell out of my friend.

The results were worth it. In my humble opinion, of course.

Clink on the link below. It's a new slideshow and is titled Okefenokee, for lack of anything better.

Turn up the volume and right click after the slideshow has started to get a full screen if you want the full effect.

http://www.photodex.com/sharing/viewalbum.html?bm=51226

The VP debate

This is sooooo funny. Palin, you make it this easy.

Savannah Mortgage Company

This is a sight that is probably not in most Savannah tourist books.

A globe (not quite built to scale) advertises the Savannah Mortgage Company. I've passed it many times while driving on Abercorn street. I'm not sure if there is anything in it.

Could be just a big billboard.

And I'm not sure what a mortgage company has to do with a large globe anyway.

Another unsolved mystery of Savannah!

Mrs. Wilkes' Dining Room

One of the best places to eat in Savannah has got to be Mrs. Wilkes Dining Room. There is usually a line waiting outside but as one person who left the restaurant said, "it's worth the wait".

Located in the basement of one of the beautiful old houses on Jones street, Mrs. Wilkes' is like having a big family lunch at your grandmother's. You are seated at one of the large tables which seats ten people (it's communal eating style) and then the food arrives. Lots of it. The menu does change from day to day but when I was there I had a choice of all the southern food I wanted; fried chicken, meatloaf, black eyed peas, mac 'n cheese, mashed potatoes, stuffing, sweet potatoes, creamed corn, collard greens, baked beans, beef stew, corn bread, biscuits, okra and tomatoes, and turnip all washed down with as much sweet tea as I wanted!!

There was SO much food that the table was covered. Everyone passed the plates around and took their share. This was lunch. I can't imagine what would be served for dinner.

For dessert, everyone had a creamy banana pudding. Yum.

Like good little guests, we were asked to take all our plates over to the kitchen area when we were finished.

The cost was $16 not including tip.

Sadly, Mrs. Wilkes is no longer with us but her family continues to run the restaurant. This is Savannah so maybe she still watches to make sure everyone gets well fed.