8th Annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally Mayor’s Ride

Anuenki — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 22:24:42 +0000

The Mayor of Sturgis sponsors an escorted motorcycle “ride” each year at the Sturgis Rally. Holly and I decided to pay the $150 registration fee and follow along. It turned out to be an adventure in riding especially since the police had every single intersection blocked off for our benefit for the entire duration of the 110 mile ride. Needless to say we caused roadblocks everywhere we went but we never had to stop at a single red light or stop sign for the entire parade. That was not necessarily a good thing as our butts got awfully sore after 4 hours in the saddle.

Mayor of Sturgis - 2010 Ride for Charity

Sturgis Legends Rally 2010

Anuenki — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 20:30:04 +0000

Holly and I rode our Honda ST1300 to the 2010 Sturgis motorcycle rally. We had visited Sturgis South Dakota in 2008 but this year was epic as they estimated over 500,000 motorcycles were going to show up along with over 830,000 riders and passengers.

Click on the image below to see all the photos from Day One

70th Anniversary Sturgis Motorcycle Rally 2010

Last time we stayed at Spearfish Canyon but this time we decided to stay in Rapid City so we could be closer to a variety of restaurants and happenings.

2010 Sturgis Motorcycle Rally Rapid City

A Wedding in Winnipeg

Anuenki — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 22:22:40 +0000

Holly’s best friend’s daughter got married this weeked and we had the luck to be home to attend. I will write more later but I can safely say Holly and I enjoyed the entire event.

Laura and Sean's Summer Wedding

X-country Ride to the Duluth Minnesota Airshow

Anuenki — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 22:22:49 +0000

We were looking for an excuse to take a weekend motorcycle ride down to the States so I searched for an airshow we could attend. As it turns out there was one happening in Duluth and it looked inviting. We decided to take two days to get there and two days back making it a five day adventure. We left Friday to Bimiji taking the less travelled Highway 59 South. The Canadian/American border was quiet and we got to the Hampton Inn in Bimiji in plenty of time to relax and go out for a leasierly dinner. Ironically Holly decided to have Canadian Walley although where we come from in Canada this particular fish is called Pickeral.

We arrived early on Saturday to get a chance to walk around the Duluth Harbour area and do some sightseeing.

2010 07 Bemidji - Duluth - Akeley Minnesota

The acutal airshow turned out to be fantastic. We got into the special tent where they served drinks and food and we had a front row view of the events. The best part was the ToraToraTora display where 5 pilots flew Mitsubisi Zeros into and around the special effects wall of fire.

2010 07 Duluth Airshow

Castle in the Mist - Sintra Portugal

Anuenki — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 20:00:46 +0000

UNESCO proclaimed the Sintra Hills near Lisbon Portugal, where the 9th Century Moorish Castle, the 19th Century Palace of Pena and the Park of Pena are located, as the first Cultural Landscape World Heritage site listed in Europe. The Moorish Castle was built in and around the 9th century and was taken over when the Moors were run out of Portugal during the Second Crusade in 1147. My volunteer tour guide Ryan, an American living and working in Portugal, and I walked up the steep pathway to the top watchtower while the early morning mist and cold winds were still chilling to the bone.

From Moorish Castle and Palace of Pena Portugal

This was no wall of China but it was still impressive considering it was most likely built using levers, pulleys and ropes on this steep hill side. Most of the renovations, however, are from the Portuguese Romantic period when King Ferdinand rebuilt this castle along with the nearby Palace of Pena seen in the mist on an adjacent hill top.

From Moorish Castle and Palace of Pena Portugal

After sitting on lee wind side of the highest tower, on the bench that Ferdinand loved to sit and reflect and paint, we headed down to the Palace of Pena entrance where we caught a bus up to the palace. A South African couple, who were touring Portugal in an attempt to stay out of SA during the World Cup, came along with us. I never got their names but they ended up in my pictures anyway.

From Moorish Castle and Palace of Pena Portugal

Despite being so high up on a mountain overlooking the country side, it was still used as a summer residence for the Portuguese royal family. The most amazing thing about the castle, however, was that everything that they owned and used on a daily basis was still in the castle room for room.

Manuel II of Portugal was deposed by a military coup, later known as the 5 October 1910 revolution, resulting in the establishment of the Portuguese First Republic. Queen Amélie left Portugal with the rest of the royal family and went into exile. She lived most of her remaining life in France. During World War II she was offered to return to Portugal by the Portuguese government, but she declined the offer. She visited Portugal the last time in 1945.

Queen Amelie spent her last night in Portugal in her bedroom of this castle and left the next day leaving all her worldly possessions behind. The newly formed republic had the good sense to actually preserve the castle and royal possessions for posterity. The number of ornate and intricately crafted items, such as French silverware, tropical wood furniture, marble and jade tables, ivory Jesus figures, Chinese porcelain jars and basins, and crystal chandeliers showed an obsession with collecting “things” and a dread for empty spaces. Amelie’s mother of pearl backed horse hair brushes were placed on her ebony desk in her dressing room as if she had just brushed her hair after breakfast in 1910 and left to visit her cousin for the afternoon. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take pictures of the interior although Wikipedia has some images published.

One of the most detailed carvings or depictions was the “Green Man” statue attached to one arched entrance. I have never seen one so large or complete as this full bodied green man who sported fish fins for feet and has a tree trunk growing out of his back. It is a strange figure to have to look up to everyday in your summer cottage.

From Moorish Castle and Palace of Pena Portugal

Moorish Castle and Palace of Pena Portugal

For the full size images please click on the link above to visit my Travelographer web site.

Visit to Estoril, Cascais, and Lisboa Portugal

Anuenki — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 20:00:32 +0000

Portugal is one of those European countries that have been crisscrossed by marauding tribes, armies, nations and crusaders since the beginning of civilization. A short list would comprise of the Celtics, Germanics, Phoenicians, Greeks, Carthaginians, Romans, Suebics, Visigoths, Moorish, Norwegians, Spanish and of course Napoleon and his French armies. Lisbon, or Lisboa, was the center of attention for these visitors and in numerous attempts to defend the fertile peninsula the reigning “king of the castle” built fortified walls, ramparts, towers and eventually a full scale castle on the highest hill overlooking the city. The African Moors won and maintained their dominance of Lisbon until the Second Crusade when the English Crusaders joined forces with King Afonso Henriques to take the fortification in 1147 opening the door for Alfonso’s family bloodline to establish the Kingdom of Portugal.

In the 14th Century the castle was dedicated to Saint George to commemorate the marriage between the Portuguese King John 1 and an English princess. Apparently both the Portuguese and the English loved the dragon slaying warrior saint and the castle is affectionately known as the Castle of Sao Jorge.

The latest invaders, however, are the tourists and I joined the unruly mob of grandmothers and Japanese as we siege the bus that took us to the front entrance. Here we demanded our tickets which the hapless long haired teenager relinquished for a small price of €2.80 and we proceeded to take the castle by storm.

From Estoril, Cascais and Lisboa Portugal June 2010

You can see here one of our natural leaders trying to determine the best trajectory for blasting the surrounding city with a loose cannon.

I managed to get some decent images as I wandered the city but a few came off rather blurry as my anti-vibration feature of my Sony camera decided to go into permanent vibration mode.

Estoril, Cascais and Lisboa Portugal June 2010

For viewing the full size images in my Travelographer site click on the image above.

Lola’s Traditional Wedding

Anuenki — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 14:21:27 +0000

It’s not often I get invited to an almost but not quite royal wedding. When I arrived in my black SUV at the entrance to the Camelot inspired event tent the traditional Yoruba band struck up a lively beat on their wooden drums. Then as I stepped out into the sunshine the lovely young girls dropped to their knees in awe and audulation. I was dumbstruck with the attention I was getting until someone tapped me on the shoulder and said, “Excuse me sir, the Governor is behind you. Can you step out of the way and let him by?”

From Lola's Traditional Wedding

I will let the rest of the pictures do the talking.

Lola's Traditional Wedding

CHC 2010 Safety Summit Vancouver

Anuenki — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 20:00:00 +0000

I had the wonderful opportunity to attend the 2010 CHC Safety and Quality Summit. I think this was the biggest event ever and the most well attended. I certainly enjoyed this years presentations as safety management finally seems to be getting better understood.

After the official summit had come to an end, Holly and I went to Sydney to visit with Viking Air. One of the highlights of our trip was the Beaver flight from Coal Harbour to Pat Bay on Vancouver Island with Saltspring Air. The flight was fun and professional - the way flying ought to be. This type of flying is a far cry from the crazyness that comes with international airport security. We didn’t get to see the new Twin Otter as it was doing trial flights in Calgary but we got the grand tour of the productions facilities in Sydney.

From Vancouver CHC Safety Summit