A Good Run

Sarasota, Florida

We'll be here six months until March 31. In April I'd like to fly to London and then take fast trains, ferries and planes to Ireland, Paris, Rome and Istanbul. Maybe we'll do New England and Eastern Canada this next summer?

Our last six months were pretty much ok. We spent the first month of our vacation in Spain and then drove the RV around the US for five months though New Orleans, Abbeville, Las Cruces, Silver City, Mono Lake, Death Valley, Yosemite, Las Vegas, the High Sierras, the Redwoods, the Oregon Coast, Hell's Canyon, Winslow Arizon, Jackson Hole and other pretty places.
We did some whitewater rafting and I caught tasty fish in Oregon.
The Sun and Fun RV park is fairly dead right now. We find it hard to get a doubles match of tennis going in the morning or evening before it gets too hot.

Sometimes we play round robin two on one side and one on the other. In a pinch, Mrs. Phred and I can play singles.
They are refinishing the pool here. It should be ready by November 1st. Meanwhile, the hot tubs are functional but the tiki bar doesn't open before 4 PM.

Granada: The Alhambra

Granada, Spain

If you go to Granada, have a meal at the El Huerto de Juan Ranas restaurant. It is located on a cliff overlooking the Alhambra. We got the recommendation from Mrs. Phred's sister (a world traveler).



You can also see the snow-capped Sierra Nevada mountains from your table.





Our son sees this picture and writes to say that he thinks I've lost a few pounds. It's an old joke. I say, "Really?" and he says "Turn around and you'll find them."



We have lunch at the Garden (Jardin) restaurant under some grape vines at the Alhambra. There are long lines to buy tickets and they announce that they are sold out. This disappoints many who have driven hours to see the Alhambra. Fortunately, I followed Mrs. Phred's sister's advice and bought my tickets online months ago. They whisk me to the head of the line and my tickets pop out of a machine in seconds.





The Alhambra has extensive gardens.









The Alhambra itself is a curious place. It seems to be built with modest materials such as stucco and timber. There are Arabic inscriptions everywhere on the stucco and intricate carvings on the wood. I check it off of places to see before I die. The wine in the gardens was good and I enjoyed photographing a sunbeam passing though a glass of Mrs. Phred's red wine.



On the bus ride back we passed some superb graffiti at high speed. Because of the camera problems, I could only snap one shot, but I like it.