The Badlands

Last night we stayed in the small town of Wall. We walked this morning from one end of town to the other, and then side to side and had trouble getting 30 minutes in. But the good part of bring in Wall for the night occurred this morning, when we were able go drive due south and enter the Badlands National Park. It was a different version of the spectacular erosion scenes in Utah, with subtle colors ranging from pale yellow to lavendar to grey. We were able to get the early so had some nice light to take photos, though by the time we left the park at 9 am the light was already bright enough to make the shadows disappear.

After the Badlands, the terrain flattened out into gently undulating hills and then flatter terrain as we drove east in south Dakota. Our only other notable stop was the Corn Palace in Mitchell. I'm serious--but can't load two pictures. But I'll share later. The facade of the corn palace has a number of murals reconstructed each year from different colored corn cobs.

This evening we are at our destination in Omaha, Nebraska. I think we've managed to drive about halfway across the country to get here! The weather was great today-- warmer, and sunshine. Tomorrow we explore Omaha and tomorrow evening the Berkshire Hathaway events begin with a reception. Last year there were about 35,000 people here. I can't quite fathom attending a reception with that many people, but I'll let you know how it goes.

Meantime, you can enjoy this nice picture of the Badlands Park.

We're speeding along!

We've been on the road for two and a half days now, and are one day away from Omaha. We left Seattle on Monday afternoon, after dropping Guy's wife's parents (Joe & Millet Rivera, our guests for the weekend) at the airport about 1:30. It was a slow trip across Snoqualmie Pass due to road work, a delay of one and a half hours. We also had rain with a little snow mixed in. We were two tired puppies rolling into Spokane at 7:30 that night. We ate in the hotel bar and retired. Tuesday was another long day, going across Idaho and then Montana, mostly with dry roads but with occasional snow showers. We got to Billings about 7:15 pm--another long day on the road. We stayed in a B&B in downtown, close walking distance to a good restaurant, and providing us with a good breakfast this morning. But two and half long days on the road made me think that perhaps flying to Omaha would have been a better idea.

Today was more scenic and a shorter day so I got my driving spirits back. The drive from Billings down by the Blackhorn Mountains in southeast Montana and northeast Wyoming was quite beautiful. Our intended destination was Rapid City, but we detoured on the way there go go by Mount Rushmore. Unfortunately it was raining as we approached the mountain, so we decided not to stop, but managed to get a quick view of the mountain as we circled around the parking lot. So here's a quick shot captured as we drove by.

Rather than stay in Rapid City, we elected to continue on another hour to Wall, South Dakota,
home of the famous Wall Drug Store. Now that we're here, we're not sure how it managed to become famous. But it will be quiet tonight, and we'll have a slightly shorter drive tomorrow--all good.

More to come as we encounter our adventures in Omaha!

Purchasing an iPad--final steps

At about 8:30 am the store manager came out to let us know what he actually has today. The first picture shows him running through the list. He has only about half the models (I don't think anything came in in white), and only a few of the models he did get. There are probably about 40 people now, and more keep coming. Fortunately, in the list of what he has is the one I want. Since I'm the 4th in line, I should be able to get it. I am feeling pretty good.

The second picture is shortly before 9 am, when the manager comes back out and admits us one by one, going down the line, each with a salesperson to accompany us to the back of the store. When I get there and ask for the iPad I want, the cheerful young lady says she doesn't have any. She only has the models that are 3G and work with either Verizon or AT&T - and I don't want those models. I insist that the manager said he had what I wanted. She looks through her pile of iPads and reaffirms that she doesn't have one.

Crushed, I am leaving the store but I spot the manager. I ask him what happened--why did he say he had the model when they don't have it. He is very surprised, confirms my spot in line, and disappears into the back of the store. Wonder of wonders, in a few minutes he emerges with MY iPad in hand. They do have one after all! He apologizes for the error, and I quickly make good my purchase, adding a little camera convertor that will allow me to transfer pictures from my camera to the iPad, and the cheapest cover they have. A little over $600 later I am out the door with my prize.

Now I am having fun trying to learn how to use it. So far I have successfully sent an email, done a post to my blog (which next time will have the text with it) and done a Skype call to Guy. That's a lot for one day!

It looks like this little machine will be a great travel companion. It will allow me to check email, finances and get internet information when I have wireless access. I will be able to load my travel pictures that I want to post to my blog, and get those to the blog. It will also serve as an electronic reader for both purchased and library books. I will be exploring those functions next week. And finally it will allow me to do a Skype call to the family. Yippee! I'm a happy girl.

Purchasing an iPad & posting to your blog with one

Some of you will get double messages. Today I successfully bought an iPad and this afternoon have been testing how to post to my blog using it. It can be done--the pictures I posted appeared, but it looks like I have to enter the text ABOVE the picture, not below. I'll do that next time. Meantime, I wanted to share this morning's adventure.

Step 1 Buying an iPad.
The word is that they run out of the few iPads they get each day VERY early. So step one is to bundle yourself up to keep warm and hit the store early. I got up at 5:30 am, fixed myself some food to take with me, and was over at the University Village Apple Store shortly after 6 am. No problem parking!!

The first picture is when I first arrived. Four chairs, the 4th one being mine. The other people are hiding out in their cars or over at Starbucks--I don't know where. I am prepared with a chair, pillow, blanket, water, food, and a book. The store opens at 9 am.

In the second picture, at about 6:45 am, some of the chair occupants have shown up and the line is filling out to my right (they are behind me in line). We are a friendly group, with lots of advice to share about apps and how to use all kinds of products. The man next to me is on his second trip from Bainbridge Island, where he has to take a ferry to get here. He got here about 7 am yesterday and they ran out of product two people in front of him. So he's come an hour earlier today.

The shipment that comes each day (or doesn't come some days) is limited, with a few of the 18 different models of iPad, usually not all the colors or all the memory sizes. Yesterday they did not have any iPads with wireless function, something both my neighbor and I want. The man in the front of the line came at 3 am to be sure he could get what he wanted, if it was available.

Here's the picture that was missing

Sorry folks. I am trying to figure out how to post to the blog via an email. The picture worked for my son Guy, but it obviously didn't work for me. Just to not disappoint, here's the picture I was trying to send.

Spring in Madrona Park, Seattle

I am testing a new procedure, to post to my blog through an email. This is a picture of a pond in the park below our house in Seattle, with Lake Washington in the background. In between the rain, we have actually had a few lovely days this spring!