STRAYCAT’S DOGGONE BLOG

Christmas Day: Visit to Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay

Christmas Day. Today, my family and I visited Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay. We hadn’t been there in a few years. Shark Reef is not just a ‘tourist trap’. It is accredited by the AZA (Association of Zoos and Aquariums) and is involved in numerous conservation efforts such as the clean up of Lake Mead and working to save local endangered species. There are a multitude of varieties of fish to see throughout the aquarium (more than 2000 animals and 100 different species). I will identify those that I can. The main reason for this visit was the addition of a Komodo Dragon exhibit.

Komodo Dragons are the largest reptile, and are an Endangered species. Only 3000 to 5000 are estimated to exist in the wild. They are not venomous, but 50 different types of bacteria inhabit their mouth, seven of which are deadly. Just their size will be enough to keep me at a distance. There is also a Water Monitor Lizard (above right), the second largest reptile.

Above left are what I think are Black Pacu, but I’m not certain. On the right are a pair of Blacktip Reef sharks and a Zebra Shark.

Above left is a Porcupine Puffer (cute huh). On the right is a shy Unicorn Tang, He/she turned away as I was taking the picture.

Above left are Blue Moon Angelfish. Above right is a Lionfish. They have nasty little spines on the tips of their fins which are poisonous.

Hiding in the center of the picture above left is a Malabar Grouper. Pretty good job of camouflage. In the picture above right are Moon Jellyfish. Jellyfish are not really fish at all. They are invertebrates that have no eyes, ears, or brains (not unlike most of todays Politicians). Unlike politicians, Jellyfish consist of 96% water. Politicians seem to consist of 96% of another substance (bovine excrement). Sorry about that, but I just couldn’t pass up such an obvious comparison.

Above left is a much better picture of a Blacktip Reef Shark. Above right is a Fiddler Ray.

Above left is a Starfish (duh). Above right is a Giant Pacific Octopus (again duh, except for the specific name).

Above left is a Green Sawfish. They are an Endangered Species because they are particularly vulnerable to being caught up in commercial fishing nets. Above right is a Sandtiger Shark. Looks like a Great White, but it’s not. They are a Threatened Species.

Last but not least is this lonely Tarpon. I can’t blame him for keeping to himself. It looks like someone tried to have him for lunch.

I enjoy coming here. I still want to get a pictures of the Golden Crocodile who always seems in hiding when I’m here, and the elusive Green Sea Turtles which are slow on land, but fast enough in the water to avoid my camera lens.
If you haven’t figured it out yet, click on the pictures above for a full size view.

Life Day 22419: Peregrination to Palo Alto

I found a few minutes to relax and get out of the kitchen, so I’ll try to bring you up to date on my travels since my last post. I’ll be doing it from memory, so I can’t guarantee total accuracy (they say that the memory is the second thing to go). You’ll be able to get the gist anyway. I’m currently in Palo Alto, CA visiting my brother and family for Thanksgiving.

I left off in Bishop,CA on the 18th, so that’s where I’ll begin again. I left Bishop about 1100 and drove to Sparks, NV. Along the way, I stopped to take these pictures. The first stop was a Rest Area about 60 miles north of Bishop on US-395.

My next stop was for some pictures of Mono Lake just north of Lee Vining.

After this stop, I decided it was time to go to work and finish this load. It seemed to take forever to get through Carson City and into Reno. There are too many traffic lights. They should really build a bypass freeway around all that mess. I arrived in Sparks about 1700 and did the drop hook delivery. I had to wait about 45 minutes for an empty trailer. It really didn’t matter because as it turned out, I was done for the day. DRAT!! Had I known that, I would have stopped a few more times for more pictures. I passed right by Topaz Lake, and some other “Kodak Moment” scenery, but didn’t stop because I was in a hurry to get to the customer. I settled in for the night at the Petro truck stop.

On the 19th, I accepted a load to Minnesota. Since I was trying to get to Vegas on the 24th, I was allowed to T-call the load at our terminal in Salt Lake City. I made the drive without incident. It was boring. The drive on I-80 between Reno and Salt Lake City is among the most desolate drives on on the entire Interstate highway system.

The 20th brought me a load to Saint George, UT, with a back-up load to Prewitt, NM. Since the Prewitt load wasn’t scheduled to deliver until Dec 1st, I was told to T-call it at our terminal in Albuquerque. After I made the St. George delivery at 2000, I was told to take my empty trailer to a customer in Cedar City, then bobtail to the customer in Hurricane, UT and pick up the Prewitt load. By the time all this was done, it was midnight, so I decided to call it a day (night).

I drove to Albuquerque on the 21st. It’s a nice drive, but not if you are loaded heavy like I was. I stopped in Jacob Lake, AZ and overpaid for Cheeseburger and Fries. It was pretty good though. I stopped again in Winslow, AZ before I got to Albuquerque about 2200.

On Saturday, the 22nd, I was told to deadhead to our terminal in Lathrop, CA. That’s over 1000 miles empty. Since the route would take me through Kingman, AZ anyway, I suggested that I just head to Vegas from there. I wanted to arrive there by the 24th anyway, and that wasn’t going to happen if I drove all the way to Lathrop first. The DM du jour made it happen. I left Albuquerque about 1030, and arrived in Vegas about 2100. Since I was going to be taking off for a week, I gave my empty trailer to another Swift driver who was desperately in need of one.

The 23rd and 24th were spent preparing for my trip. The MMM were groomed. My car was washed, fueled, and serviced all at the same place. That was convenient. I did a little sorting in my storage shed as well.

On the 25th, I left Vegas about 1130. The WWW was giving away free Apple pies to VIP’s so I waited until I got mine before I left. I had dinner at Bill Lee’s in Bakersfield, then drove on to Palo Alto, arriving about 2130. The traffic wasn’t too bad, but it was noticeably heavier than usual. Shortly after I arrived, we cut into that Apple pie. It was delicious. Then a brief chat, then off to bed.

The 26th was a busy day. I started of by doing my laundry. In between loads, I planned the menu for my stay, and made a shopping list. After the laundry was done, Donald and I went grocery shopping. The stores weren’t too awfully crowded. I made Chicken Fried Steak, Mashed Potatoes and Sour Cream Green Beans for dinner. It was well received.

Thanksgiving Day.  Click to the left, or scroll down to the next entry below for  todays activities.
 
Today, the 28th, I made Omelets for breakfast along with Fried Potatoes. Donald an I went shopping (ugh!!). I was looking for a particular type of bag called a “locker bag”. We went to the luggage store where I had previously purchased one, but they had changed hands (probably a few times) since then, and they had no idea what I was talking about so I gave up. Next stop was “wally world”. I needed some food storage containers and some dog food. Finding them was a breeze, but checking out was a bit more taxing. While I was there, Donald went to get eggs and bell peppers. The last stop was Safeway for biscuits. When we returned, I started dinner (Porcupine Meatballs in the slow cooker). Little else after that except “geeking” until dinner was ready. I went online and found the exact bag that I was looking for for $52.00 including shipping, so I bought it directly from their site.  The bag I bought from the luggage store previously had cost me about $90.00, and that was at least 5 years ago. I made some fresh Spinach to accompany the meatballs. This meal too was well received. Also, I finally got around to making the Cranberry Sauce as well. It’ll be good with what ever left-overs we have tomorrow for dinner. After dinner, yet more “geeking”. Now you are totally up to date.

Happy Thanksgiving

As is my want when I visit my brother here in Palo Alto, I have been busy all day cooking. I started off by making Deviled Eggs. They, along with stuffed celery (some w/ peanut butter and some w/ cheese), became breakfast. Next, I made 3 pies and a fruit salad. The pies were an Apple/Mincemeat, a Cranberry/Pear (which I gave the nickname of CranPeary) and a tart Apple. The fruit salad consisted of an apple, a pear, pineapple, pecans, almonds and mandarin oranges, marinated in Peach Liqueur. Just before serving, I drained the marinade added a couple of sliced bananas and stirred in some yogurt. Next it was time for the Turkey (breast). I marinated it overnight in Italian dressing (your favorite brand right out of the bottle will do nicely). Lou used her rotisserie (Ron Popiel’s “set it and forget it” type) to do the actual cooking. It only took 2½ hours to cook the 7½ lb turkey breast. I made the mashed potatoes and creamed peas with pearl onions while it was cooking. For a change, everything was ready at about the same time. We ate (too much) about 4:00 pm. All was delicious. The MMM enjoyed cleaning the plates and bowls. Later we all had Pie.

Con”GRAD”ulations Dawn

Congratulations to niece Dawn. She now has two Bachelor’s Degrees from San Jose State; one in History and the second Anthropology. Both are way over my head.
I managed time off to attend both ceremonies, on May 22nd and 24th, although I cut my arrival for the first ceremony (History) rather close. I arrived about an hour before it started. I met the family at the San Jose house because there wasn’t time enough to drive to Palo Alto then back to San Jose.


After the Ceremony, we all went out to dinner at the Palo Alto Grill. After dinner, we went to Don’s house. I crashed early, about 2130.

On Friday, made my delicious biscuits & gravy for breakfast, then Lou and I went grocery shopping for the weekend. A big BBQ was planned for Saturday after the Anthropology Graduation. When we returned, I began the prep-work for the BBQ. I “Tom Sawyered” a lot of the grunt work between Dawn, Courtney, and Dawn2. I made Porcupine Meatballs for dinner.

On Saturday, we cleaned out the refrigerator for breakfast. Memorial Day weekend is also when I celebrate the MMM’s birthday, so they also had a nice treat for breakfast.


They are 8 years old this year.
The Anthropology Graduation was at 1300 with snacks before. Don, Lou, Dawn, and I all arrived in one car. Courtney and Dawn2 met us there as did Lou’s Sister, one of her nieces and her family who drove up from Fresno. The actual Ceremony was mercifully short (a little more than an hour).

On the way back to the car, which was parked at their house in San Jose, I took some pictures of the Campus.

It is quite beautiful.
When we returned to Palo alto, I immediately fired up the grill, and about an hour later, we were eating. About 25 of Dawn’s neighbors, friends, former classmates, former teachers, and of course family showed up at the house. There was plenty for everyone to eat. I BBQ’d Pork Chops and Chicken Breasts which I marinated overnight in Zesty Italian Salad Dressing, my current favorite marinade. I also BBQ’d some Hamburgers and some Vegetable Kabobs. Lou had smoked some nice Salmon Fillets. For accompaniment, there was Potato Salad, Deviled Eggs, Green Salad, assorted chips and dips, and a relish tray (hence the prep work yesterday).

There were also 2 cakes. The Garden Gnome remained stoic despite all the hubbub.

A good time was had by all.

I left early the next day (Sunday) and drove back to Las Vegas.

Life Day 22161: Back From Bakersfield

Let me bring you up to date before I cover the Bakersfield trip.

After I returned from Chubbuck, ID, I picked up the Farmington, NM load and departed Corinne. The trip was uneventful weather-wise, but there were a lot of cloven hooved mammals grazing near the roadway, all of which I successfully avoided. I arrived about 0100, and was immediately unloaded. I then retired for the night. There is one advantage and one major disadvantage to delivering to this store. The disadvantage is that it is mostly 2 lane road all the way there, through a lot of small towns. The advantage is that there is a nice mall across the street, which has in it a Fudruckers. I made sure to enjoy a fat, juicy burger and fries before I left Farmington. I returned to Corinne on the 10^th. They didn’t have another load for me, so I was finished for the day. On the 11^th, I received 3 PrePlans. The first was a local with 3 stops (2 in west Valley City, and a back-haul in Salt Lake City). The second PrePlan was a load to Ammon, ID. The third PrePlan was my load to Las Vegas for the 12^th. The old adage, “the best laid plans of mice and men……..”, certainly applied today. The first 2 deliveries went off without a problem. The Salt Lake City back-haul threw a wrench into everything. When I checked in with Shipping, I was told that the load would not be ready until at least 1800. So much for the second PrePlan to Ammon, ID. I let the Planner know that there was no way to do both loads, so she pulled the second Plan off me. As it turned out, the load wasn’t ready until 2045, 7 ½ hours after I arrived. By the time I returned to Corinne, it was nearly 2200. I was done for the day, and really, really frustrated. The 12^th went well. I picked up the Vegas load at 0800, and was on the road shortly thereafter. I made the delivery right on time at 1700. Then it was off to the WWW. That pretty much catches you up on the mundane stuff.
Now, on with the “meat” of this post.
The 13^th was “get the LOJAK installed, and get the MMM groomed” day. First stop was the groomers at PetSmart at 0900. I dropped the MMM of, then drove clear across town to CarMax to have the LOJAK installed. While I was waiting for that, I walked across the street to the Hash House A-Go-Go. The food was excellent and the portions were huge, but they are “a bit too proud of their food” for my pocketbook. Just a standard Bacon and Eggs breakfast with Hot Tea ran me about $15.00, including tip. Someday, I’ll go back and try the Corned Beef Hash. Anyway, the car and the MMM were both ready about the time I returned to CarMax. After I drove all the way back across town and picked up the MMM, I returned to the WWW. It was still early, so I decided to head to Bakersfield today instead of leaving early in the AM. I made reservations at the Motel 6 near Aunt Helen’s house and departed Vegas about 1530 after running a few more errands. I arrived in Bakersfield a little before 2000. I met up with Don, Lou, Dawn and Aunt Helen at Marie Calendar’s for dinner. I was famished. I ordered Meat Loaf with Mashed Potatoes and Vegetables Du Jour. I also had a huge bowl of their Potato Cheese Soup. For desert, I had Lemon Cream Pie. Everyone else had Pie of one sort or another, as they had dined previously.
On Friday, we all met up again for breakfast at Carrows. Don and I both had the Double Bacon Benedict, Aunt Helen had Strawberry Crepes, and Lou and dawn split an order of Potato Pancakes. Shortly after we arrived back at Aunt Helen’s house, Aunt Mary, Maryjane, Mike, and Kerry arrived from their desert home(s).
Then it was off to Aunt Helen’s church for Uncle Doug’s Memorial/ Wake. I estimate that about 60 people showed up, about ¼ of which were family. The rest were friends from Uncle Doug’s work or his RV clubs or from the Church.



It was nice. Uncle Doug didn’t want a Memorial Service, so we only had one prayer at the beginning, then we got to socialize for the rest of the time. Maryjane made a 10-minute (or so) DVD of still photographs of Uncle Doug’s Life, (baby pictures through the present) which we watched at the Memorial. That was very thoughtful and was greatly appreciated by the family (and all who attended). It was well done. The Church Auxiliary provided a modest, but tasty, buffet.
A few of the Family went over to Aunt Helen’s house after the Memorial.


The MMM were glad to see us return. They had a good time in the back yard. Aster didn’t seem too glad to have them there though.



I had a nice, albeit, short visit with those family members who didn’t have prior commitments and could make it back to Aunt Helen’s.
Aunt Helen was heading to Pizmo Beach around 1700 with her son Jay and his family, so D, L, & D headed to the Walmart on CA-58 with their RV, and I gathered up the MMM and went back to my room. About 1900, D, L, & D came over to my room at Motel 6 and we returned to Marie Calendar’s for dinner (can’t get enough of that Potato Cheese Soup). I had Soup and a Dinner Salad with Thousand Island Dressing, Dawn and Lou each had Soup, and Donald had Shepard’s Pie. No one had room for desert.

Today, we met for breakfast at Carrow’s about 0745. After breakfast, we went our separate ways. I hit the road to Vegas, stopping briefly in Barstow for a quick MMM walk. I made it to the WWW about 1315. I’m pleased to note that my Cruiser averaged 27.8 MPG.