Amtrak Train Trip!

From Arizona to California on the "Southwest Chief"
Photos will follow...

Painting Art Outside in the Garden

I've painted a series of color images that stand outside the front of my house, I wanted to do something BIG ever since we did the 140X140 street painting at Copia in Napa so I started painting the big boards in my backyard.

This is the first one. I liked it, so I moved on:

This one is upside down, I'm not sure why I do that, but I do it all the time to look at them differently.

This one may not be finished yet. I think I'd like a circular light shape behind the plant, in front of the background, transparent. And then I painted this:

  I call it "Blue Turmoil" I have a fifth board to paint and will post it here. Thank you for looking!

On Blogging

Have you read a good blog post recently? Why not help another blogger out with traffic by giving a review and a link to their post? This will gain you good karma in the blogging world, and let readers know that you want to provide them with the best content, regardless of whether you were the one to produce it.

OK - This thought was courtesy of http://kikolani.com Thanks for sharing

Wi-Fi Hot Spots

Just this morning I was wondering where to meet my girlfriends where we could get a minute of free wireless access. Where to go? First thing to do was to search current hot spots in downtown Napa: http://jiwire.com - plug in your zip code and viola! They give you maps with pins or lists with websites. In planning our trip across country on a train, we'll have this in our favorites and I think it will really come in handy.

Also, I could register my own hot spot. If I signed up to register my service (if I activated my account) as paid wi-fi access, people would have the option to pay ME to use the internet while they were in my space. Just trying to think of ways for little dollars to find me. Also, jiwire has a free download that works with Skype.

travelling.grannie (my skype name)

Blogging the Train

Yes, we were thinking of taking a train across the USA and blogging it on the way, kinda like a Travel Channel for the Internet - YouTube style videos, GPS, etc. I'm on the test run, going from Napa Wine Train Station to the  Hanford/Lemoore Station on the San Joaquin Valley Train. It's nice! I have a great bus driver that doesn't mind talking to me all the way down to Martinez. 

Really helpful people and especially patient with old ladies like me. Now arriving in Antioch. Nice day, by the water. We have that bay breeze thing happening. I might have to move cars, there's an overwhelming smell of cheap men's cologne. Guys, when you ride public transportation with other people, PLEASE lighten up on the scents.

Orchards, grapevines, a lot of agriculture in this valley. This time of year, the corn is REALLY big, up past the windows in some places. Real estate by the tracks isn't always attractive. Only certain kinds of people can live by railroad tracks. That's why it makes sense to have agriculture by all that noise, but as you get closer to city centers, you look into where backyards go to die.

So I call this guy in Chicago, at the Amtrak media relations department and I asked permission to blog the train. He was so nice to me, even giving me his number and telling me to call if I need anything, sent me a letter of introduction in case anyone asked for it while I was underway and live blogging. Yep, we'll be blogging our way across the USA! I want to have maps, with pins online. What a way to go.

Fresno Station, WOW! I didn't realize how hot it was out here until I got off the train for a smoke. The train is cool, air conditioned, so menopausal old ladies can ride in comfort, gazing out on the hot fields. And before you know it, it's time to disembark. My trip just flew by. I have never encountered an unfriendly Amtrak employee, they're all just so nice that it must be a requirement. Even the passengers seem nicer than the general public, babies and children really love to ride the train.

And! For your viewing pleasure, we're going to have a train video on YouTube with footage from trip. Stay tuned, I'm also going to post more on the return trip. This is just a practice post for when we're REALLY bloggin the train.

Artichoke Flower & Antique Fire Truck

The trucks were outside the museum being washed when I caught engine number five in all it's glory. This truck is OLD, amazing that it still has the old black and yellow plates from back then, but I've never seen one with the official "E" on it! 

And then I have an artichoke flower, it's that season. I just liked the fuzzy purple hairs on it:

I was walking down the street in Napa one day...

when I had to stop. Several seconds went by before I realized exactly what this was. Several more had to pass as I overcame spontaneous hysterical laughter. There is was, mounted atop a lofty post. One photo just won't do.

Fish head on a post. This is the detour route by the Oxbow school and the fairgrounds, Third Street, the OTHER side of the wine train tracks. Two photos just wouldn't do. Let's get a close up.

I do believe it's a Salmon head, let's see, what does THAT pair with? This one is going into the library of never will happen again photos. Perhaps a buttery bacon fat Chardonnay?

I'm On A Roll

A blog roll that is and as a blogger, I just used all the golden key words in less than 12 words. I've been reading a lot of contemporary online marketing  tips from the pros, what works for them and what fails. For one thing, people want plain language, honestly original stuff, not cut and paste posts. A recent survey showed that the number one thing that people were looking for when they were shopping, overwhelmingly, friendly people. That doesn't seem like much to ask. So, I've decided to be a "Friendly Blogger" email me and see, answers are FREE! I just used another obvious golden keyword to drive traffic to this article, can you tell what it is?