Expo Park?

SDSpivey
Tower of the Sun

This morning I went to Expo Park, no, not that one again. This was Expo ’70.

The park is now just the remnants of the expo, the buildings have long been removed, just engraved stones tell what pavilion used to be there, for such a short time.

Now, there are large open expanses where kids can run and play. There are some more recent additions, such as “the Beast”, a rope suspension obstacle course. Unfortunately, it was closed when I was there, but there was an outing of young kids, running and screaming and just having fun. They look cute wearing their matching colored caps. White caps were at the field next to the Beast. I also saw red, lavender, and green in other areas. I don’t know if this was a special day or just a semi-regular occurrence.

As I walked around the park, I saw many trees and plants that we also have in Florida, azaleas are rampant here. I suspect that many of the ornamental plants we have originally came from Japan and east Asia. There was a hill that was sectioned off, which I presume is allotted to different individuals to plant whatever flowers they wanted. Perhaps it was some sort of flower gardening club.

Next to the path, I spotted a snake, just sunning itself. I had to do a search and yes, Japan has poisonous snakes. Luckily, this didn’t look like one, but I kept my distance anyway.

I saw a strange mesa with a circle of rocks, the only thing I found to explain it was a small engraved stone that said “Hawaii”. This still makes no sense, as Hawaii is not circular, nor was it a country in 1970. It wasn’t even near the USA pavilion site.

I found a monument showing where the East Germany pavilion was located. Strange to find something for a country that doesn’t exist anymore. There are many stone plaques on the ground showing where each county’s pavilion was, but who cares? They are gone now.

A group of school kids heading out to the park

I found an observation tower, so I decided to go up, just to see the area a bit better. At the top, I couldn’t really see much, as the trees have had 5 decades of growth. There was a walkway extending off into the trees, so I followed it. It lead to other towers and more walkways, until a much taller tower at the end.

Apparently, this was a one-way trek and I happened to pick the correct place to start. Had I started at the other end, a “do not enter” sign would have stopped me and I would have presumed it was unsafe to proceed. It was indeed looking a bit rundown, having only the bare maintenance in its long life. In the middle, I had to cross a very wobbly rope suspension that was definitely past its prime. It had several signs from COVID times, so regular maintenance probably is not high priority.

One of the other few items that still remain is the “Tower of the Sun”, a tall statue of the Expo’s mascot. I really do not understand why this is something they wanted to keep, much less build in the first part, it is rather ugly, in my opinion.

To get to the park, I got onto the brown Sakaisuji line, indicated by “K”. WTF does that stand for?

My first train, I realize is going to the wrong branch of the line, there are 4 terminal stations. So I get off and wait for the right one. I was to exit at Yamada station, which is one of the few places I could read and understand the meaning of. Yamada (山田) comes from “yama” meaning mountain (which you’ll hear sometimes when referring to Mount Fuji, as Fuji-yama.) and “da” meaning field. So Yamada means “mountain field”, also a very common family name. “Mr. Ninja Warrior” is named Yamada.

I made the choice to get the metro day pass, so I could get on and off wherever all on one ticket. But on exiting, I got an error and the arms closed in front of me. An attendant directed me to the “fare adjustment” machine, where I had to pay an extra 240 yen.

The stations north of one of a river are marked as HK for Hanku line, so maybe that is where the K came from. I guess Hankyu line is not part of Osaka Metro, even though it is the same train cars.

I exited through a different gate than where I entered the park, this one leading to the Osaka monorail. I quickly held up my metro card and asked about monorail access. Nope, can’t use it. So I walked back to Yamada station. A long walk, as I was nearly on the other side of the park.

After spending a day at the Expo 2025 and another at Osaka castle, I seem to have gotten a sunburn on my head. I guess cutting all my hair off wasn’t the best idea. As I exited Yamada station, there was a shopping center attached. I found a clothes shop and found a cheap hat. It wouldn’t help the burn I have, but will stop additional damage.

After finding the station, I headed back to the room. All this walking is really causing a lot of pain in my shoulder, for some reason.

I saw signs at the park about Expo ’70, but I started to wonder, was this a generic expo, or was it a World’s Fair expo? Wikipedia to the rescue!

Yes, it was the location of the 1970 World’s Fair, but wasn’t the only other in Osaka. There was another in 1990, only this was a “horticultural” expo, one of the in-betweener fairs. This location was nearby my room, maybe 3/4 mile away, but I’m tired and sore, so I took the metro. After all, I do have a day pass, so I might as well use it.

As I understand it, and I’m no expert here, the horticultural expos have fewer pavilions and more gardens. In a sort of “who can have the best looking yard in the neighborhood” competition.

Many of the garden spaces remain, but very likely not the same plants as 35 years ago.

This park is very popular with dog walkers. I even found a small hill where a bunch of tiny dogs were running around loose, play fighting. A small black dog started walking towards me, so I knelt down and it then ran to me for a bit of petting. This instigated a chain reaction, causing more to come over.

All the dogs here had on “outfits” which I wonder if this is a cultural thing or just a way to easily spot your dog vs other similar ones.

There were all sorts of dogs being walked through the many pathways. I saw many “shiba inu”, being one of the few native dogs to Japan.

Osaka Castle

SDSpivey

Today I went to Osaka Castle, a medieval fortress built pre-1600 and served as a base for the Shogun.

The castle sits on top of 20m or about 60 feet of compacted soil, raising the grounds to be higher than the surrounding area, for better defense. The fact they did this over 400 years ago, manually, is very impressive.

The area is surrounded by a wide moat and high stone walls. Although this seems to me not very difficult to climb, as there are large gaps between the stones that you could place a hand or foot. This is likely not how it was originally, being more tight fit, but I have no way of knowing.

The interior of the castle has undergone much change, turning it into a museum. There are 2 central stairways, one up, one down, leading to each of the eight (yes, eight) floors to reach the top balcony area. The balcony would have been a safe place to be in an attack, you could easily stand there firing your arrows at the enemy on the other side of the moat, while being out of reach of theirs.

It was much smaller than expected. The balcony area was only 20-25 feet square, most being interior space. One could feel claustrophobic even standing outside.

For some reason, they don’t allow photos on certain floors. Perhaps the documents can be damaged by flashes, but then why not allow for passive cameras. It was not difficult to wait for the guy to come around and tut-tut at someone taking pictures, then wait for him to pass by and get a photo anyway.

The grounds have lost their smaller buildings, now just a courtyard for tourists, but have many trees for much needed shade. They are quite picturesque, and I enjoyed sitting and just looking at the scenery. (Of course, this could be that I am too tired to do anything but sit.)

There is also another museum on the grounds, being for miniatures. Items range from small cars and trains to cartoon and anime characters. I could not find out if these were actually used in any TV or movies.

A token was include with entry to use on one of their many toy dispensers (which are ubiquitous across Japan). They dispense a ball about 4 inches across, with some trinket inside, but you don’t even get to keep the ball, there is a basket to “recycle” them. I saw nothing I was interested in more than keeping the coin, so I did.

Food and parks

SDSpivey

After re-awakening, I took a shower/bath.

There is a faucet that fills the tub and a shower head, but it is handheld. It has a wall mount, but it wouldn’t be pointing in the right direction. So I sat in the tub and lathered up. There is shampoo, conditioner, and liquid soap here, so I didn’t have to buy any.

After a few minutes, I decided to put in the drain plug. The tub filled quite fast, although the tub was small, it was tall, so I was able to submerge.

The water was nearly perfect in temperature, from faucet and shower head, which is a hard thing to accomplish.

I had sent a message to the host asking about the WiFi. Apparently there was supposed to be directions on a paper on the kitchen table, but there wasn’t

I did a quick search for restaurants, but decided just to walk around until I found one. I went into a small restaurant and closed my eyes and pointed to the menu. If you don’t know what to order, then random is just as good and any.

I got a bowl of rice topped with cabbage and a very thin cut of meat (bacon???) and a side of miso soup and some sort of greens.

The greens didn’t taste good, but the rest did, and I got full before finishing.

I wandered a bit, aimlessly, until I found a small park. I sat in the shade and watched the kids play.

There were the usual items; swings, slide, monkey bars, etc.. But they also had a sort of moon-shaped hill, that had wall-climbing handholds and the inside part was a large slide.

There are a lot of parks around and I just roam from one to another. In one, I sat under an arboretum and watched the huge bumble bees flit around the flowers.

Before heading back, I remembered to find a shop to get a fanny pack. As I walked, I found a Makita store.

It smelled of machine oil, it was wonderful. But I did manage to not buy anything. How would I get it home anyway?

After a few more misses, I got the idea to search for a purse store. Luckily one was nearby.

It was a general purpose clothing store, but did have a large assortment of purses, and I found a fanny pack that was simple and cheap enough. More important, I could put my iPad in there and stop carrying it.

I also realized something, while I can count out the change I need, it can be a pain if I don’t know if I have enough to start with. The smallest bill is ¥1000, so it is easy to end up with a lot of change. I realized that since most stores have a machine for you to pay with coin, cash, or credit card, you don’t hand the money to the clerk, I can just insert the change I have, then insert cash, and the register will just spit out the minimum change.

Cheating, yes, but I don’t care.

The problem being, the metro machines don’t accept ¥1 and ¥5 coins, so I have to try to rid myself of them at regular stores.

More foolishness

SDSpivey

I woke up around 3am. I browsed around the room a bit, took my first dump since Georgia. The toilet has a heated seat, and fortunately, there was toilet paper.

I understand the need in many places to use bidets as the plumbing is not good enough to move paper through, but I don’t want to have to sit there while air is blown on my backside to dry.

Morning view of Osaka and Yodo River

I don’t think I will use it, but I did bring my Amazon Fire, so I could watch some TV or movies if I wanted, but there is no TV. I thought there was supposed to be, so I will check the listing.

There is nothing anywhere I can see that says what the WiFi is, and there are a dozen signals I am detecting, so I have to use my precious mobile data.

The listing doesn’t say there is a TV, so I must have imagined it.

I also notice, that I had searched for places with 2 beds and 2 bedrooms, but I only have 1 bed. Apparently, since I am only paying for one person, I shouldn’t need the other bed, so that room is locked off.

Even if I didn’t need the bed, I still would want it so I can lay out my suitcase, instead of having it on the floor.

Being bored and hungry, I start looking for an all night market. The closest I can find is an hour’s walk away. Oh, what the hell, I got nothing else to do.

It is cool inside the room so I put on my jacket, but it doesn’t take me very long to remove it. Great, now I have to carry it as well as my iPad. I suddenly realized as I was pulling into Atlanta airport, that I hadn’t brought my fanny pack.

Fanny packs are ridiculous looking, but they are super convenient.

I had to cross over the Yodo river, the bridge being really high above the water. They must have ships coming through. Maybe though, it is just because the river banks are so far apart.

As expected, very few people were out at that time of night. Other than a road crew repainting one of the roads near my room, I might not have seen anyone for 40 minutes.

Following the directions, I made it to the store, and it was open. I would have been really angry otherwise.

It wasn’t very large, barely larger than many convenience stores back home.

I ended up selecting a bunch (4) of bananas, a box of grapes, and some sort of apple drink. I can’t read it, but the label has too many ingredients to just be juice.

One thing I had forgotten, Japanese stores don’t give out bags, normally. So I used my jacket to wrap up my purchases, tying the arms together.

I made another mistake, I had opened the apple drink and drank some, so as I walk, it splashes back and forth. Although I would have been more upset had I waited until getting back and then finding out I had carried it all that way for something that tasted bad.

The Japanese brag about how much they recycle, but they also waste a lot. The bananas were wrapped in a cellophane bag, despite not needing one.

The grapes also were wrapped, but that makes more sense, as grapes don’t have an outer coating that we remove before eating. You wouldn’t want random people touching your grapes before you eat them.

Along the way, my wrist was beginning to hurt from the awkward carrying of the stuff. I had the idea to call an Uber, but after waiting for 15 minutes, I still had not been connected with one, so I canceled and kept on walking.

In China, there are lots of Lawson stores, which are branded just like 7-11 stores are. In Osaka, I see Lawson’s, but they are more blue and greenish-blue logos. There are also 7-11 stores here too, maybe that’s why there is a difference.

The also have some restaurant chain called MacuDonarudo’s. It looks familiar, but can’t place why.

As I was arriving, dawn was breaking, so a good time to go back to bed. 🙂

Misfortunes going to Osaka

SDSpivey

After landing at Dulles, I rushed off to the next gate. Once there, I had to get into my baggage to get out my charger. As I do, I hear the call for my boarding group. I grabbed my cable and AC adapter, then got on board.

Which didn’t matter, because this flight didn’t have any outlets.

I had a solid gold seat, well, my seat number was 24K. In the middle of the plane, but no one right behind me, as the toilet was there. It was a window seat, which I don’t like. I prefer the aisle seat, as once the seat-belt light goes off, I can stand up immediately and grab my bag out of the overhead.

The food wasn’t bad, but they had the same hard bun and frozen butter, which cannot be spread. They gave us actual metal utensils, but I chose to use the chopsticks, just for fun.

Someone kept dropping things, or at least I heard a loud thump every now and then. I will choose to believe it wasn’t the plane falling apart.

Once in Tokyo, I head downstairs to the train. There was a ticket counter, with a man that spoke good enough English, that was able to sell me the ¥330 ticket. No problem there, except they didn’t accept cash, so I had to use my credit card for $2.33, ridiculous.

My map showed only 2 stops to Shinagawa station, but there were many more. Haneda airport is stop KK-15, and Shinagawa is KK-01, so 13 unnecessary stops. There seems to be an express, but I wasn’t on that one.

We get to KK-11, and then the train starts moving backwards. WTF?

Only we are not going back towards the airport, we are now going up in station numbers KK-20, KK-21… That is not the way I need to go, so at one stop, I get off and circle around to the platform going the other way. There is a sign showing direction to Shinagawa, so I get on that one. Again, not the express, only now I have even more stops to wait through, including a few that were a couple of minutes long.

At Shinagawa, I find the ticket counter for the Shinkansen, the bullet train. After waiting at least 20 minutes, a young lady comes to me and offers to show me how to use the ticket machines. Easy, peasey, no hassle at all, it even took cash.

Unfortunately, all that was left were middle seats, I ended up at 1B, so I got to stare at the wall for a few hours.

I really wanted a separate seat, as by now I wasn’t as daisy fresh as I had been. Running to terminals will do that.

The bullet trains are a bit disappointing, even though we’re going really fast, it is too smooth. It doesn’t feel like we’re going fast.

My iPad has a program that acts as a speedometer, but only in km/h and only goes up to 240 km/h, about 150 mph. We pegged it to the max. I have read that they get up to 200 mph, but can’t confirm that mine did.

Once in Osaka, I had to transfer over to the metro. I went ahead and was able to use the machine to get a ticket all the way to my destination.

There were 2 transfers I had to do, both down very long corridors. At one, I was mistaken about where I was, and got off 1 stop too soon. No big deal, just wait for the next one. But while waiting the train going the other way stops and I hear the message that that train is not accepting any passengers, it is going out of service. It was just before 9pm, and I didn’t know when the metro stopped. Oh crap, I might not get there on time. Fortunately, I was able to get to the correct station.

The host was going to be waiting at the room at 9pm, I was supposed to be there about then, but due to my stupidity, I didn’t arrive until 9:30. I was late.

She was standing at the main door, and I was able to remember the name. She didn’t know English apparently.

She lead me up to the 4th floor and proceeded to show me the unlock code, 6 digits, which I quickly lost track. Luckily, she also included that in a message on AirBnB. The door doesn’t lock itself, so I am just leaving it unlocked.

I took a quick look around and then went to bed.

I had wanted to walk around and find some food, but I didn’t think much would be open that late, plus I was worn out.

Helene and Milton

SDSpivey

Hurricanes Helene and Milton hit us recently.

Helene was not really powerful in our area, being on the north side where the wind was coming across the state.

There was a oak tree blown over. We have never had any significant sized branches lost before, but because of the highway widening project, the state has removed 4 businesses from near the house and every single tree on those properties. We have no wind buffer anymore.

The damage.

The large oak in the front yard, next to the Georges’ house was uprooted and fell over. Fortunately, it only hit the corner of the portico roof. The only real damage was the crappy wall that Bob had built, it was already wobbly and I should have pushed it over before the neighbors had moved in. It was directly in front of my RV, but it went the other way, phew.

I had noticed it late that night, because it was blocking most of the light from their front light. I went out first thing once the sun was up and began cutting away some of the smaller branches away from the walkway.

The next day, I was at Tru-value rental first thing and reserved their 50′ man-lift. They won’t let me tow with my car (insurance reasons) so I went home and reserved a truck from Enterprise, then went to their office to wait for them to open.

After sitting outside quite a while, I get a phone call. The agent says they have no trucks available, despite the website saying they do and the fact I can see several sitting there. I call others in the area and only one has a truck, but when I ask to verify it has a tow hitch, he states they never allow towing with their vehicles, even though I specifically have rented a truck there before with the precise purpose of towing.

After giving up, I went back out to Tru-value to cancel the man-lift, but I find out they can deliver it for another $125, which is cheaper than the truck rental was going to be anyway. I had it rented for Saturday with Sunday included.

Saturday went smoothly, but since I had used my car to reposition the lift and I was parked in the road, I moved it at the end of the day. Sunday morning I placed it back, but could not get it to “level”, every time I tried to use the controls to lift or move the basket, the siren would blare. Not a sound I want. I tried multiple times, over 5 hours, repositioning it, lifting and retrying to get it even. Every time, the bubbles were showing level, front-to-back and side-to-side. WTF!

They are closed on Sundays, so there was no one I could even call. Monday I was able to get someone on the phone. Turns out, there is a small sensor wheel on the bottom of each of the outriggers that has to be fully extended, otherwise the machine won’t work. One of the sensor wheels was cocked just a bit and was hitting the side of its slot and wouldn’t extend out. I wasted an entire day because of that. I later had to pay for another day (and delivery), without them even giving me a discount.

All that I could do myself.

I spent 6 days cutting branches and piling them up, using the man-lift to get the majority.

Unfortunately, the man-lift could not reach everything (there were branches that were in the way of the basket), and I was left with the main trunk and one branch poking into the ground, which supported the trunk. If I tried to cut that branch, not only would it absolutely pinch the chain saw bar, but it would also fall right on top of me, there was nowhere to run once it started to come down.

I had to call for actual tree guys to come to “finish” it. One company came out and gave me an estimate of $11,000, which was higher than the estimate I had gotten a few years ago to remove the entire tree (before the roof was redone). I did get one to do it for $350, but their skid steer did tear up some of the grass. It will grow back eventually.

My pole saw started sparking internally, so i bought a new one. After dissection, one of the brushes was “frozen” and wouldn’t make good contact any more. Normally the spring pushes the graphite brushes against the rotor, but this one was stuck in place. Oh well, I bought it at Harbor Freight, so what can you expect.

All in, I spent almost $3,000, not counting the money lost from not working.

 

Milton is only a week later. Hurray!

While there was no significant problem with the wind or rain, we did loose power for nearly 72 hours. The power flicked a bunch that evening, but around 10:30 it just went out.

After a few minutes, I could tell it wasn’t going to come back on, so i shut down my computer and web-server and their UPS’s, and having nothing else to do in the dark, so we went to bed.

The next morning, I was worried about another tree that I would have to deal with, but nothing was wrong. I was surprised and relieved.

The neighbors brought out a generator and proceeded to run it for many days and nights. Right outside my window.

I ran an extension cord from the RV to keep the fridge and freezer cold. But I ended up disposing of most of the fridge anyway.

Unlike some people, I have little in the freezer anyway, so little loss there. Before going to the store to refill the freezer, I did do a defrost and cleaned it well. Have to do it sometime, so might as well when there isn’t much to shove into the fridge overnight.

I did not run the generator all the time (unlike the neighbors), after I had turned it on Friday morning, I heard a load screeching coming from it. Either I have a loose belt or my generator’s water pump is froze up. At $300 per hour, I really hope it is the first. Either way, I can’t get my hands or tools in there to do anything myself.

We had power by Friday afternoon, but I still could not go to work as the gas was in short supply in the area. Good, more lost income. I did not work for 18 days, over half the month.

I was able to go to Gainesville for the UK game, it was Homecoming, so I did make a bit of money, but not enough to cover all I have already charged up.

 

I still have a huge pile of debris from the oak tree, too much for the city to collect for free. I want to rent a chipper, but it is $400/day plus delivery, so i will have to wait. Maybe the city will get tired of the pile and give me a break and take it away. Fat chance.

Eclipse

SDSpivey

Mom and I went to Mexico to see the eclipse.

We flew out on Saturday, to Monterrey, in the state of Nuevo Leon. It must not get a lot of traffic, as the airport only had one baggage carousel.

We had a car rented, so we went to the rental area. The attendant took our info and led us outside to get a van to the pickup area. While we waited, three pickup trucks go by, nothing unusual about that, except they had flashing red and blue lights and masked guards in the back along with a mounted gun. Crap, where have I decide to come?

I go into the rental building and the lady taking care of me doesn’t know any English, of course. She asks a few questions via Google Translate, but spends a lot of time tapping on the screen. She then has me “sign” the screen and runs my credit card. She takes me outside to the car, a Yaris. It is white (thankfully in that sun) and I immediately notice the lack of the metal portion of the gas tank cover and a large dent on the trunk.

There are also “streaks” in the trunk from luggage wheels. She documents everything and then Mom and I load up and leave.

I have the address for the hotel, but Waze gives me some bad directions. For example, it might say I need to turn left in 3.2 miles, so I get into the left lane, but as I get close, it suddenly changes to take an exit on the right. I would have no way to cross 3 or 4 lanes in such a short distance, much less doing it safely. I would have to continue on, and make a U-turn as soon as I could. I don’t know if this is common, but they do have many “retourno” lanes marked. I later tried Google maps, but got similar results.

After checking in to the hotel, we went out to get snacks and some water for mom’s CPAP. We ate out and then crashed out, it was only 8, but that’s 10pm back home and it was a long day.

We headed out fairly early the next morning. It was 3½ hours to Torrèon, in the next state over, Coahuila.

The drive was mostly uneventful, the town of Saltillo is near Monterrey, but there is almost nothing after that. We were mostly about a mile or so from a mountain range on each side of us, and just cacti and scrub bushes on a flat sandy ground between.

There were ruins of adobe buildings every so often. We stopped near one so mom could get a smoke, and I went behind to wee.

Occasionally, we’d come upon a small village. By small, I mean less than 10 buildings, total. Calling them villages is an exaggeration, but I have no word for anything smaller. The buildings also were better than the old adobes. At least one was obviously just pallets attached together to make walls and a tarp as a roof. There is very little rain, so that should be enough.

Most villages would have huge speed bumps to make you slow down. They were not so tall that the car would scrape the bottom, but they were not easy on the shocks (or our bodies). I’d have to go over at about 5km/h, otherwise it was too much. A few had local police ready to ticket anyone who didn’t obey. With the speed bumps, how could anyone speed? I couldn’t even get near the posted limit.

The car did not start out with a full tank, so I did have to stop. I think all stations are “full” service, I didn’t see any that you would be able to operate yourself. No different that New Jersey, in that respect.

It came to about 800 pesos, around $45, so no different than filling my car would have been. I was able to pay him directly, but mom had gone inside to buy stuff. Only I had all the cash, so I still had to go in as well.

I used the translator on my ipad to ask the service agent about checking the air in the tires, but he said something and shook his head no. That was another problem with the car, when I picked it up, the “check tire” light on the dash was on. I had done a check, by pressing on each tire, all seemed to feel the same. Crossing the desert with a low tire light is not fun.

We managed to get to the AirBnB in Torrèon a few hours early, so we started looking for lunch. I found a nearby place that had a sign advertising “street food” I ordered 2 of the “regular solos,” which apparently was just a cone of fries with sauce. They had no seating, so we sat in the car to eat. In the plaza, there was a Little Caesar’s with drive through line literally around the building. There was also an agua fresca stand (water with fruit), a cinema with all American movies, and another police truck with gun mount.

There is a securiy gate at the AirBnB, but it was open all weekend, fortunately, bandits take Saturday and Sunday off, so we were safe.

We went for some breakfast food, since we had a kitchen and a fridge. Honey Cheerios do not taste anything like Honey-nut Cheerios. Perhaps because they are made by General Mills, here, but by Nestlé in Mexico. The orange juice was good, but a little bitter.

First thing Monday morning, I made a bunch of peanut butter and apple marmalade (which had small chunks of apple) sandwiches to take to the eclipse. I wanted to eat something local, but I knew that there would be a lot of people there and I didn’t know if many places would even be open. The peanut butter was unusually smooth, no risk of tearing your bread.

Nazas, in Durango state, is a small town. There was a group of police at the start of town (of course) and some locals handing out flyers listing various events that were going on. The flyer also had phone numbers at the bottom that we could call and someone would translate for us, for free. I know that no one here would do that.

I had a spot picked out north of town, down a small dirt road. It looked good on aerial view, but Google had no street view, so I didn’t know if I’d have been able to pull off safely. There could have been a fence or a “curb” where road graders had dug down.

We decided to try out the local’s event. Following signs down a very dusty road, we wound back to a small park next to Rio Nazas, a modest, but fast moving river.

There were lines drawn out onto the ground for campsites, which many had taken advantage of. They had a section filled with various food vendors as well as the obligatory trinket hawkers.

They played music from speakers on a raised stage, that they also “narrated” the eclipse from. From what I listened to, it was all American music. So much for “local culture.”

The sand was super fine, like confectioner’s sugar. This must be what walking on the moon feels like. Unfortunately, it was too easy to kick up and my shoes were quickly nasty looking.

Someone offered mom their chair in the shade. I then noticed really tall grass nearby, it was wild corn growing beside the river. No ears dang it. On the ride back, I did notice some occasional bunches of corn near the highway. It must fall out of trucks.

I briefly spoke with a Japanese man from near Tokyo, who came all the way just to photograph the eclipse. I suppose that’s no crazier than the two of us going.

The eclipse at that location was about 4:28 of totality, the longest along the entire path, hence our reason for being there. It really didn’t feel like it was that long. There was just one bright spot (a Baily’s bead) near the lower right.

In 2017, I saw mini eclipses on the ground, because of the thousands of gaps between the leaves, acting as camera obscuras. I saw the same this time, but the trees were mostly long needled, so the effect wasn’t as pronounced. Also the kids I pointed it out to, either didn’t care or didn’t understand.

After the end of totality, most people were leaving. There was more to see of the eclipse, but most don’t care. There were other events going on, including live music and a canoe race down the river.

Obligatory “staring at the sun” photo.

We waited, but still managed to get stuck in the traffic.

I didn’t see anything on the route out of town, so good thing we had sandwiches.

After getting back to the room, we washed the dust off and then went out to eat.

One of mom’s patients told her about a statue of Jesus, the largest in North America. I found it on the map and figured it would be better to go there first before the restaurant. Once we arrived, there was a small walkway going up the side of the mountain. Hell no, neither of us was going to climb a mountain on foot. So we skipped it.

While sitting at the restaurant, on the 2nd floor, I am looking around at the scenery and spot something atop another mountain. I pull out the iPad map and it was the statue we had been looking for. I have no idea what the first place was, it was 30 minutes away, so definitely not the same. I couldn’t find it on the map again, either.

I had a “Hawaiian” burger, 2 beef patties with small ham cubes and chunks of pineapple. I don’t understand why people want to make tall burgers, if it is larger than my mouth, it is too big. It did taste great and had a wooden skewer holding it together, which I poked myself with several times as I ate.

There was a park next door, with carnival rides and such, so we browsed it briefly, before going to see the statue.

It was about 20 minutes away, so as I’m driving up, it is getting dark, the first time we’ve stayed up long enough to see it. The parking area is only partway up the mountain, so we would still have to climb. Again, no.

Strangely, with the majority of Mexicans being Catholic, I only saw a small number of churches, maybe 4 total. There were small shrines along the roadways, however. Even 20 miles from any building, there one would be. Who was visiting or maintaining these?

All the fun was over, we had to drive back to Monterrey to fly home. If there is one thing more boring than driving through a desert, it has to be driving the same road again.

I had originally decided to drive along the freeway, partly to see the local sites and stop if desired, and partly because I didn’t want to pay a toll and then have the rental company charge me again.

Well, there really were no local sites to see, and the toll was about 22 bucks, so I was going to risk a small double charge.

The freeway mostly travels between the mountains, on the level ground. The toll road travels mostly parallel, but does go through more passes. At one point, we are going uphill. There seems to be a half lane on each side. I see a couple of semis, without trailers, riding along this half lane. I presumed it was so I could see past them if I was to pass. Nope, it was because 2 trucks, with trailers were basically riding across the center line, passing others on their side. Geez.

I notice some electronic signs, something about migration of monarch butterflies. I saw a few pale yellow butterflies, but I think monarchs are orange.

I really wish I had a camera on the front of the car with a screen that had live translations. Too many signs I have no idea what they meant. I am certain I broke a law or two, simply because I didn’t know better.

Some of the multi-lane roads had different speed limits for each lane, like 60-50-40 km/hr, with them painted on the roadway, but most were worn away or faded.

On the way to the airport, I see a couple of men trying to chop the flower stalk of a yucca or agave plant in the median. I had presumed they didn’t want the more than 20 ft tall stalk to fall into the road, or that they didn’t want the plant to spend energy on reproduction. But shortly after getting home, a video was posted that compared asparagus and agave plants. Perhaps they were going to eat it.

Russians love…

SDSpivey

Some of the things I noticed repeatedly that it seems the Russian people must love are:

Red:

They have red on the flag, but also white and blue. Why don’t they care about those colors?

There are red store signs, red outfits, red trains, red everything.

The primary color of Aeroflot and Rossiya airlines both is red, the stewardesses have red uniforms. Although, I did notice the last flight I had, they had more of an orange-red shoes, but maybe the light was messing with my eyes.

This may seem to be a simple leftover from the Soviet days, after all the Soviet flag was primarily red, but I think it could have gone back all the way to the beginning. Rus may have originally meant “red.”

War memorials:

Just about everywhere I went, there would be an included WWII memorial to the soldiers. Nearly every park, no matter how small, would have at least a statue or plaque somewhere.

Parks:

Okay, everyone likes them, but they have so many. One park will abut another park.

They might just have the median of a road with grass, trees, and benches. Barely wider than having another lane.

Cobblestones:

Many streets and some sidewalks were made of cobblestones. Considering that they are just bricks that are made to be rounded on top, and could just as easily be flat, this seems ridiculous. Flat bricks would be so much easier to walk or drive on.

Big lips:

I saw hundreds of women everyday that have had lip injections. I thought this was just an American problem.

Not just to have some definition or get a bit plumper, but full on fish lips.

So gross.

Western styles:

I heard American pop and country music being played on radios and in stores. Not once did I hear any Russian singing, although I did hear some Arabic.

The restaurants are mostly American and European foods (if you exclude the kebab and schwarma stands). KFC and Burger King are rampant, as well as Coke and Fanta.

Shoes, clothing, and handbags are American and European brands. Interestingly, almost every brand is using the original Latin characters, not the Cyrillic that they are able to read. I’m not certain I saw any shirts with Cyrillic, other than work shirts. All “tourist”shirts were English, primarily American city names, New York, Boston, Los Angeles, Dallas, or they were Disney merchandise. You know darn well they never went to any of those places, possibly don’t even know where the city is.

Reflections: Shops and street hawkers

SDSpivey

I would have to say about 1 in 6 stores in this place is a vape shop. Jesus, there are a lot of them. There is no way they can have a profit with the number of competitors. There is no way they make enough money to pay for the electricity for the garish LED lights, that each has.

On one strip of seven shops, three were vapes and one was a taбak (tobacco).

That’s another one, tobacco sellers. I’m not just talking about the taбak shops, but there are guys selling cartons of various brands, including Marlboro, all over. Even one guy who parks right in front of my hostel and props up his display, every day.

Surprisingly, I don’t see that many people smoking or vaping, in Saint Petersburg. Perhaps it is strongly discouraged in public areas.

On the other hand, wherever I go, at least one trash can is smoldering because of someone dropped a cigarette in there.

Other overly common stores: bra and panties, cellphone cases, shoes, designer clothes, socks, pharmacies, and fruit and vegetable stands.

Russia must be full of sick people, every block has a pharmacy. Looking through the window, I can see that everything is locked away. You’ll have to pay before you get your stuff.

There must be more cellphone cases in Russia than cellphones.

Haven’t you ever been walking down the road and thought, “Hey, I wish there was a way I could buy socks right here, instead of going all the way into a store.” In Saint Petersburg, you can buy socks right on the sidewalk. So convenient.

Just like Shanghai, every vegetable stand has the same items, placed the same way. It must be their version of franchising.

I did find the clothing version of Akihabara, right in my backyard. Seriously, it is in the alley behind my hostel.

There are hundreds of stalls, across acres, selling every single type of garment you can think of. Google says Apraksin Yard is centuries old, I can believe that. It has dirt roads, not that they were always dirt. The paving has been crushed and worn away.

You can tell the authenticity of the product by the names, like Lago blocks and Mimecraft toys, or Nike shoes with the swoosh going the other way.

Many of the product boxes are sun faded, so you know they are in high demand.

I suppose most of the products are real, it must be cheaper to send via train on land than a ship across the ocean, plus adding on the US tariffs, which is just another tax on the American people.

Around town, you’ll find the occasional beggar, but some will have something to sell. I saw several old women selling bandages. Yes, you could buy individual bandages, as if you just cut yourself and had that need right now. At least they’re doing something that might be useful.

I don’t begrudge the musicians or singers that are trying to make a living off their talent, but I can’t stand the beggars.

In Moscow, there is a man laying by the door all day, every day. He will never find work or food laying there. If he’s really hungry, there are plenty of pigeons. Not something I would do, but given no other choice…

 

Returning home

SDSpivey

I awoke on Wednesday morning, about 8am, that would be 1am at home. I quickly showered and dressed, loaded the remaining items and left.

My checkout was easy, I had asked the day before, just leave. They don’t issue any keys, so nothing to return. They collect the money at check in, so nothing left to pay.

A quick metro to the train station and walk out to the platform. I realize that the platform was brand new, the tracks had the granite stone holding everything in place, but there was still a gap between the tracks where you can see the dirt. Also, the rock isn’t covered in brake dust yet and no trash was present.

Russians have very few benches, for some reason, so I stand and wait. Not long, the train pulls up and I enter.

The AeroExpress was just as long as before, slow. I had done a Google map test, it was faster to drive a car to the airport, than to take this train, even though the train doesn’t have red lights. It would have also been faster to take the metro to the end of Line #2 and then the airport bus. But since I had already paid, and I have no car here, this is the route I must make.

Besides, I have many hours prior to boarding, so I really am in no hurry.

SVO artwork

We arrive at the SVO airport platform and must enter a security checkpoint. Just a quick x-ray and metal detector. Apparently normal at Russian airports.

I enter the large “common” area. There is a extremely large wall display of the upcoming flights. When I say extremely, I mean it. It must have been 50 feet tall and 300 feet long.

Despite the size, my flight was still not showing. I was that much early.

After browsing around a bit, checking all the restaurants, I see my flight listed, but check in isn’t for another 4 hours. I told you I was early.

I decided on a “bar” that had a clearly posted menu, with English. The prices were reasonable. I ordered a pork hamburger and fries, 840₽. I handed her 850₽, she gave me 10₽ in change, but it was all 1₽ coins.

The pork was good, but had no sauce. The fries were a bit soggy and had no salt. I see no salt anywhere and the clerk had disappeared. This is breakfast, so I eat anyway.

I was going to order a salad, not only for nutrition, but to use the all of the last of my coins. I already know that probably no exchange in the world will take coins, the bastards. But the food is lackluster and I don’t see her any where, so screw it.

Finally, check in time arrived. It was a quick and painless process. I enter the door for customs, nothing to declare. The guard asked me if I had more than $10k equivalent, I denied, I’m not rich after all. He allows me to pass.

Another door and security checkpoint. Again, simple, put everything on the conveyor and walk through metal detector. No shoe removal, no electronics separation, no BS, no problems. TSA PreCheck is easy, but not as easy as going through Russian checkpoints (but there are a lot more of them).

Last door, then passport check. The officer asked for my continuation documentation, I handed over my flight printout from Orbitz, not really proof, but accepted. Passed.

I then have to walk down the hall to the end, because of course my gate is all the way down there. Every store in this area is “duty free.” There is Beluga caviar, wines, perfumes, hand bags, expensive electronics, etc. All the duty free shops accepted rubles or Euros, I guess in case you had already exchanged your money.

I see a PS5 for €699, about $750. But after a quick check of Amazon, I could buy one for only $500. No savings, no thanks.

I verify the display at the gate is right, then sit at a seat with power. And wait. I still have over five hours until boarding.

I pull out my iPad and watch some TV episodes. (After I arrived home I find I watched 14 hours of video, probably about 17-18 if there had been commercials, just from sitting at airports.)

At some point a plane docked and unloaded at the gate, good my plane is here. Later I see a mechanic covering the engine cowls, odd if they are going to be leaving soon.

Flight is at 9:15pm, boarding is about 8:50, so I watch one last video that will end at 8:30. That will ensure I can go ahead and hit the toilet and re-fill my water. But as I finish the episode and stow everything back in my bag, I notice the gate has gotten much emptier. I recheck the display, the next flight is showing, not mine. I then have to go down the hall to find a master display, they’ve changed my gate to the other end of the hall. Seems oddly familiar, as if this happened recently.

The hall is quite long, maybe 200 yards and I had to go down an escalator. arriving at the new gate, they were boarding.

This was the first time anyone had ever separated my boarding pass. I had just been wondering why the boarding passes have a perforation, if no one ever separates. Well I guess some do.

Stepping passed and walking down the small hallway, we all step out side, another bus to the plane. Geez, does no one in Russia get to step directly in or out of a plane to the terminal?

My approximate flight path.

I had looked at my flights recent paths. I see it stays well away from the Ukraine border. Originally I was going to take Turkish Air from Moscow all the way home, but I had Aeroflot credits so I opted to use them for this flight.

There is no way Ukraine would fire upon a Turkish airliner, but I didn’t think about how I wasn’t going to be in a Turkish plane for this flight. I didn’t think about it, until now. Oh crap.

Needless to say, I did not die in a fiery explosion. We landed smoothly and parked at the gate in Istanbul.

I am on an international flight and leaving on another international fight, not entering the country proper, just the customs territory, no security needed.

Oh, things are not that simple.

I had to walk down about a mile to change terminals.

I had to check in with Lufthansa to get my next boarding pass. Then passport control and security. WHY?????

I had just exited a plane and had no access to check baggage. What could I possibly have done to require a new check of my stuff?

While at the gate, I see that I haven’t worn my coat since I arrived in Russia, so I jam it into my suitcase. I also determine that I don’t want my backpack at my feet. My foot had gone numb on the latest flight, the bag took all the space, so I couldn’t move.

You are supposed to place the case in the overhead bin and your personal item is to go under the seat. Nope, I immediately placed both in the overhead. If I need something, I can get it later after takeoff.

Oh, so much better.

I have a one hour, fifty five minute layover at Frankfurt, great. If things ran smoothly.

We load onto the plane and the plane pulls out from the gate, but then captain makes an announcement that Frankfurt airport has a landing strip closed for repairs, so we have a tight window to land. OK, sounds simple. We had to sit 37 minutes waiting for the right time to leave. Why didn’t they just have everyone wait in the terminal? Why sit there burning fuel for no reason?

I did crash out before we took off though.

I realize there is a bad side to using foreign airliners, the safety briefing is in the native language and then again in English, twice the boredom.

The landing and take off in Frankfurt is at the same terminal and both flights are on Lufthansa, maybe this will be easy.

Nope, arrivals and departures are on different levels and to access the other you must go through security.

Because of the change of gate at SVO, I didn’t get a chance to refill the bottle of water. At security, I still had the bottle, which was confiscated and disposed of. No problem, I have another bottle. I can just fill it at Frankfurt.

Because of the take off delay and security, (and another gate change) I arrived after they started boarding. I am way back, but I was able to get both bags stowed. The doors closed very shortly after I sat. So close to being left behind.

Okay, I have a 10 hour flight, no water and I didn’t get to go to the toilet. Great.

Plus side, I had no neighbor, so I could stretch out a little more and I had double pillow and blankets. I had tried laying down, but the seats have just enough contour, that they have a hump as you lay across two. No good. I could move over and stretch my legs into my seat’s leg area though.

I did sleep a bit, but not enough.

The meal was quite good, but small. I’m glad I ate at SVO.

An hour before landing, I need to go, but I’ve never used an airplane toilet. I don’t really want to, it doesn’t seem like something to yearn for, but if I am delayed, I might not get the van to Warner Robins.

We land at ATL. Hurray!

Goodbye Russia, hello real toilet paper.

Even though I am in the section of passport control exclusively for US citizens and permanent residents, there seems to be several people who are not.

The officer at passport control asks where I’m coming from, I answer and he gives me a quizzical look.

“Is this the best time to be visiting Russia?” he asks, like he’s my mother. I explain the need to go now versus loosing my flight credits and my visa expiring soon. He returns my passport and welcomes me home.

I’m not out of the woods yet, I have to find the shuttle to domestic terminal, so I can get the van back to Warner Robins. My email from the transport company stated, “A quick 10 minute ride.” BS, it was over 25 minutes, but I arrived at the van right on time.

I spoke briefly to the lady next to me, who was also on my flight. She lives in Frankfurt and has family in Warner Robins. Coincidence.

I get to Ari’s house, but when I try to put my bags in the car it is locked. Everyone knows I never lock my car. I go in to get the key and press the unlock button, nothing. I get closer and retry, still nothing. Ari says she had just moved the car a few days ago to mow, but now I have nothing.

A jump start attempt latter, still nothing. The battery is on the trunk and I can’t open the trunk without power. But an internet search later, I find out there is a key slot on the trunk, completely filled in with grunge, I had seen it before, but thought it was nothing.

We are able to jump directly on the battery, but as I run around the neighborhood charging the battery, I notice a little bit of a thump. Checking the tires, I see one has exposed steel. It is almost 8pm, very few places are open. The one I check, is open, but is booked with appointments.

I am able to buy a new battery, just in case, and they loan me tools to change it. Cool.

I decide, I have a spare, if it does go flat, then I can fix it then. Didn’t blow out, so no problem.

It is a long way home, we arrive right at 1am. I arose at 1am on Wednesday, it is now Friday. I’ve spent 48 hours on a plane, in a terminal, or in a car. I’m really to go party!

By “party” I of course mean sleep.

I grab my phone and iPad out of the car, but leave everything else, it can wait.

I do a quick check of the house, all seems normal. I go to bed and fall asleep almost right away. I haven’t done that in years.