jacquesturtle

A few miscellaneous photos

2008-10-01T06:16:37Z

Hi everybody!

Here are a few odd shots that don't show me traveling all that much, but which didn't fit anywhere else.

First, here I am in Olympia, Washington, inside the state capitol building.

Here I am meeting a distant relative, this is Elephants Gerald, the famous jazz singer.

One day I found a fellow travel turtle! It was very exciting, even if I didn't get the chance to talk to him. I wish him well on his travels.

Finally, when I'm not traveling, I live in Seattle. Here is my home town.

~Jacques the Travel Turtle

Graduation

2008-06-07T22:04:00Z

Hello Everybody!

I know it's been a while since I've written, I'm hoping to get better with that.

Last year I traveled to Forest Groove, Oregon for the graduation of

rafe's sister. Here I am hangin' out with her. :)

-Jacquest the Travel Turtle.

Hanging out in my town, Seattle

2008-03-23T07:59:59Z

Hello everybody,

Here are a few pictures of me hanging out in Seattle, near the public library downtown. I've also included my "fashion shot," the one I'm using as my LJ icon. When these pictures were taken I was taking a break from traveling. I have a few more of me around Seattle coming up too. Enjoy!

-Jacques the Travel Turtle

Back to Pella

2008-02-20T03:47:48Z

Hello all!

Earlier this evening R1 wrote, "Poor Jacques. I'm sure Sioux Falls is a nice place to visit, but having to be stuck there for a WHOLE MONTH with some ladies you don't even know, and during January and February, of all times. You really should go back to Pella."

I agree. Here I am back in Pella, where I spent some time exploring downtown.

Pella is proud of its Dutch heritag, and every year they celebrate Tulip Time. This is a large structure in the park in the middle of downtown that says "Tulip Time" on it. According to www.pellatuliptime.com , this is called the Tulip Toren. "Designed by a Pella architect, inspired by the biblical description of King Solomon's temple. The Netherlands flag colors flutter above two soaring 65-foot pylons."

Beneath the Tulip Time Tower is the park in the center of town. Many of the business that line the park have a Dutch-like facade.

Pella also has it's share of windmills. The first two pictures are of the non-functioning windmill that sits over the Pella tourist information booth.

In this second picture I'm hard to spot. Click on the image to make it larger (and then one more time for full size) and you should be able to see me. :)

This last image is of a functioning windmill, and is quite large. Note the other buildings with a Dutch architecture exterior as well.

And that was it for pella. I headed back to Seattle after a few days.

Yay!

-Jacques the Travel Turtle

The falls of the Big Sioux River, with apologies to bq

2008-01-16T06:30:29Z

Hello all,

Here I am at the falls on the Big Sioux River in Sioux Falls, SD, with some South Dakotan women.

Next week: back to Pella, IA

~Jacques the Travel Turtle

Iowa and South Dakota

2007-12-20T06:14:27Z

Hello all,

In April of 2007 I traveled to Iowa and South Dakota. It was a sad reason that I went there, which I won't go in to, but I made the best of it and tried to see some of the those two states. I flew into Des Moines, and then went to Pella, where it snowed while I was there:

Later I went to Sioux Falls, SD. This is about half way there, at a rest stop close to where I-29 and I-80 meet. In the far far distance you can see Nebraska

-Jacques the Travel Turtle

Washington State Capitol Building in Olympia

2007-11-25T02:19:19Z

Hi Everybody!

Early this year in the spring I went to the capitol of Washington, Olympia. I spent some time looking at the capitol building there and enjoying the nice spring weather. All the trees were in full bloom, and it was beautiful, although the pollen was a little intoxicating for a small little turtle like me. :)

-Jacques the Travel Turtle

Fort Casey Part 2

2007-11-14T04:47:23Z

Hello all!

Here are the rest of the shots from my trip to Fort Casey. Here's the beach:

And then spent a few happy hours playing on the guns and concrete bunkers

-Jacques the Travel Turtle

Next week: The capitol building at Olympia, Washington.

Fort Casey, Whidbey Island

2007-11-11T06:52:12Z

Hi Everybody!

Last year I went to Fort Casey on Whidbey Island. I played Settlers of Catan,

and then hung out at the large house that I stayed in while visiting.

It was kind of wet and rainy that weekend, but it's often wet and rainy in this part of the world, so you just make do and enjoy what you can. I had a great weekend, it was filled with friends, great food and drink, and lots of joy. I consider myself to be a very fortunate turtle.

- Jacques the Travel Turtle

Portland and Partying

2007-10-30T00:29:55Z

Hi Everybody!

Earlier this year I went to Portland, Oregon, and got some good reading in at Powell's books.

While I was getting my picture taken, one of the staff came over and said, "you're not supposed to take pictures in here." I said, "Oh, sorry," and was ready to leave when she said, "Well, you can as long as it's taking pictures of people, not the store." I said, "That's kind of what we're doing," and she relented and said it was okay. I guess the rules that she had to follow didn't make distinctions between people and travel turtles.

After the bookstore, I went and enjoyed a nice meal and some drinks.

Next week: Hanging out at Fort Casey on Whidbey Island!

-Jacques the Travel Turtle

Abu Dhabi, Part 3 of 3

2007-10-07T01:25:14Z

Hello all,

Even though I was only able to spend one day in Dubai, I had a great time. Here are the last of my pictures from my trip to the United Arab Emirates.

Here I am in front of the world's tallest hotel, the Burj al Arab. The part sticking out at the top on the left side of the picture is a restaurant suspended many feet above the Persian Gulf (although you don't call it that when in an Arab state). The part sticking out on the right side of the building is a helicopter pad. next time I go back to Dubai, I hope to get inside the hotel instead of just posing in front of it. :)

After the day in Dubai, I returned to Abu Dhabi and caught a flight out at 1am. My next two pictures are in the Amsterdam airport, once again getting into trouble with wooden shoes and rolls of Gouda cheese.

And then it was back to Seattle.

I had the opportunity to move to Abu Dhabi, but ended up deciding against it this time around. Who knows, maybe in the future I'll be somewhere else interesting in the world.

Next week: My trip to Portland, Oregon. (that is, unless I meet some new friends before then. New friends get priority posting. :)

-Jacques the Travel Turtle

PS. For those interested in the technical details, there is a hotel in Pyongyang, North Korea which is taller than the Burj al Arab, but construction on it has stopped, and only completed buildings are counted.

Wow! More new friends!

2007-09-27T02:04:47Z

Hi everybody!

This last weekend I was happy to do even more traveling! I went to San Jose, California for the weekend, and met some new people. I love meeting new people. :)

This is Emily, she lives in San Jose, we're standing in front of a large egg made out of circuit boards, which I don't entirely understand. The art was in Palo Alto, near the pizza place we ate lunch at. Emily has a friend named Go.

I also met two people who were visiting from Sacramento. This is Andrew and Shay, and they are going to get married next month. Congratulations to Andrew and Shay! I met them in a bowling alley.

Okay, next weekend I'll get back to the final Abu Dhabi post, I promise. :)

-Jacques the Travel Turtle

New Friends!

2007-09-16T06:05:01Z

Hello everyone!

Two weeks ago I made a trip to Canada, and met a wonderful family. This is Steve, his wife Kate, and their three children Lucas, Christian, and Anthony on the back porch behind their home.

Steve and family live in Surrey, B.C. Steve wants to spend a day walking from one side of Surrey to the other, which I will join him for if he does. Kate, amony many other things, drives a bus, and the three kids are all learning how to juggle, with various rates of success.

Yay! I love meeting new people!

-Jacques the Travel Turtle

PS. Next week I'll return to part 3 of the Abu Dhabi trip.

Abu Dhabi, Part 2 or 3

2007-08-31T21:25:23Z

Hello all,

After I left Amsterdam, I had a 9 or so hour flight to Abu Dhabi, during which time I flew directly over Baghdad. That was eerie, and many of those of us who were awake on the plane went over to the windows to look out. From the air at night, it seemed like any other city. Lots of lights.

Anyway, I arrived in Abu Dhabi safely, and after a few days of recovering, I went for a walk around the city. Here I am on the waterfront, the Persian Gulf is in the background (although they don't call it the Persian Gulf in many of the Arab nations there, it's usually just referred to as "The Gulf.")

On the way back to my hotel, I stopped in a hookah store. I didn't buy anything though, but I had fun looking.

After being in Abu Dhabi for 3 days, I was able to take a day trip to Dubai. Here I am in the old section of Dubai, among the wind towers. Wind towers are a sort of natural air conditioning, they pick up even the slightest breeze and cool the rooms beneath them very efficiently.

And that's it for this week. Next week: The Burj Al Arab Hotel, and returning to Seattle.

-Jacques the Travel Turtle

Abu Dhabi, part 1 of 3

2007-08-11T20:50:13Z

Good morning!

I have been off on a few adventures lately and that is why I haven't been posting each weekend like I normally do. Eventually I'll get caught up with my posts to the current day, and then I may not post even as frequently as each weekend, as it's hard to have a new adventure that often.

In the mean time though, hello to new people who have recently become my friends (waves vigorously), and here are some pictures of my trip to Abu Dhabi last year.

In 2006 I went to Abu Dhabi and Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates. It was a long trip, about 9 hours to Amsterdam, and another 10 or so to Abu Dhabi. Here I am taking a break and studying the map of the Amsterdam airport over a cup of coffee and a breakfast pastry. I don't really read Dutch, but it was still possible to figure out the general layout.

After having breakfast, I found myself getting into trouble by sneaking into the airport shops and trying on wooden shoes. I stopped when I realized these same shops were selling small stuffed animals that looked remarkably similar to me, and got nervous that one of the salespeople was going to claim that they owned me.

The airport also had a small museum for travelers, I got the impression that the country has so much fine art that they can stick some in the airport and not even bother charging admission. Here I am enjoying some lovely paintings.

Next week: Arrival in Abu Dhabi.

-Jacques the Travel Turtle

Hayes from Seattle, WA

2007-08-01T05:30:31Z

Hello Everyone!

This is Hayes, who I met this weekend while relaxing at a lake in Eastern Washington. Hayes and her husband slept on the beach, and in the middle of the night woke up to see people fishing with a bow and arrow. A large fish was caught very close to them, but was thrown back.

-Jacques the Travel Turtle

San Francisco - Part 2 of 2

2007-07-15T06:09:55Z

Hi Everybody!

Here is the second half of my trip to San Francisco. As you can tell, I spent a lot more time at the Oracle conference.

Later, in the evening, I wen to Yerba Buena island and looked out over the bay at the skyline.

I also found a strange statue. I think it was supposed to represent the splintering of an individual personality brought on by the stress of the modern day work environment, or maybe the artist's glasses were broken, it's hard to tell.

Finally, I got one last chance to see the golden gate bridge. Even though had a wonderful vantage point during the sunset, it was quite windy there. At one point the wind picked me up and blew me off the wooden post and nearly over the cliff. Fortunately I was rescued quickly, and then I didn't go on top of the post any more after that. It was quite frightening, and I'm glad I wasn't lost over the edge, because I wouldn't be here to tell travel stories if I had been. Whew. :)

-Jacques the Travel Turtle

San Francisco - Part 1 of 2

2007-07-02T02:59:01Z

Hey Everybody!

In 2006 I got to go to the very cool city of San Francisco. I had a really great time there, even if I did have to attend the Oracle conference some. Of course, it was neat to see so many well known landmarks and meet many people as well. Here are a few pictures from the trip. :)

Here I am hanging out in a tree at the Palace of Fine Arts. The architecture was beautiful, but the trees were quite nice too. Turtles don't often climb trees, but I make the occasional exception.

Here's the famous "postcard row" of San Francisco houses. When people see this picture, they often start talking about some television show, but I haven't seen it. Anyone know what it is?

Here I am downtown next to the Trans-America tower. I found a nicely situated parking meter as my vantage point.

And of course, I had to go to Chinatown.

And finally, the first of a few pictures of me actually attending the Oracle conference

That's it for me for now. Have a great weekend!

-Jacques the Travel Turtle

Lisa, Vancouver, WA

2007-06-22T06:43:39Z

Hi everybody!

I addition to traveling, I also like to meet people. This is Lisa from Vancouver, WA, in the small woods behind her house. She likes the fact that the woods are there, her son will have a wonderful place to play when he grows older. At some point she plans on making a trail from her back yard down to the small creek that runs through the woods.

-Jacques the Travel Turtle

Australia Part 6

2007-06-19T05:54:43Z

Day 15

The next day we got up and went zorbing. Zorbs are giant human-sized plastic hamster balls. Once again, this was something that Rafe and Clare did, I stayed safely hidden and watched the proceedings. After that we drove up the NE Coast, and watched some surfers play in ocean. Here I am near Mt. Maunganui.

After bumming around on the coast, we traveled across the southern part of the Coromandel peninsula. Part way across Rafe and Clare and I went into a bookstore, and I got really involved in reading a good book, and almost lost Rafe and Clare. Fortunately they realized that we were missing each other before too long and they came back and got me. I had started to make some friends, but I was glad to see them again. If they hadn't remembered to come back for me, this would be the end of the story for me, and while I have to admit that retiring in New Zealand is a very attractive proposition, Rafe and Clare would have been heartbroken.

But all was good and fine (until later Clare thought she may have also left her passport in the same bookstore, which fortunately turned out not the be the case), and we continued across the peninsula. About halfway to Thames we stopped at the remains of a mining operation, and did a little exploring.

Day 16

The next day was mostly a travel day, we had initially thouht we'd do some more exploring of the Coromandel, but we slept in instead. Later in the morning, we drove to Auckland, caught a flight back to Sydney, and checked into the same hostel in Sydney that we had been staying in earlier.

Day 17:

Today it rained, but we headed out to Manly beach, walked around the Surrey Hills neighborhood, and in general just relaxed.

Day 18:

Today was our last day in Sydney. Rafe and Clare climbed the Sydney harbor bridge, which I really wanted to do too, but nothing was allowed on the bridge, and that included cameras and travel turtles. That night we caught a redeye to Honolulu. This picture of me is in the Circular Quay train station in Sydney, taking the last train I've ridden on in Australia back to the hostel.

Day 19:

Today was technically the same day as the day before because of crossing the international date line. We arrived in Honolulu in hot and muggy weather. Clare had been not been feeling well, and had caught the cold that Rafe had several days earlier. Everyone was exhausted from the plane trip, jet lag, and hot weather. We rested.

Day 20:

Snorkeling in Shark's Cove! Hooray! Well, Clare and Rafe went anyway. They say they saw a relative of mine, a huge sea turtle. I stayed home and watched the sunset over Waikiki beach.

Day 21:

The last day of the great Australia - New Zealand - Hawaii trip. We sleft in way way late, vaguely wandered around the island, caught a flight to L.A., and then to Seattle, and then slept the sleep of a happy but exhausted travel turtle.

The End.

-Jacques

Australia Part 5

2007-06-09T08:19:27Z

Day 7

As I mentioned earlier, on Day 7 we traveled from Alice Springs to Cairns, which is on the north east coast of Australia. Before we did we wandered around Alice Springs one last time, and stopped in at a reptile center. I didn't see any relatives there, but there were plenty of snakes, skinks, lizards, and a very large but very sleepy crocodile. We didn't do much after getting to Cairns, which was warm and humid, and cloudy most of the time we were there.

Day 8

Today was spent entirely on a day-long snorkeling and diving trip out to the Great Barrier Reef. I stayed in the boat and watched Clare and Rafe snorkel, my fur doesn't react all that well to salt water. It rained off and on that day, which I watched from the comfort and safety of the inside of the boat.

Day 9

The next day was spent driving to Magnetic Island, which took most of the day. We stopped to see an interesting waterfall, and an old Spanish style castle that had been built in the late 1800's. Clare was pretty interested in the castle, and may have more to say about it here in a bit. We also saw the damage from cyclone Larry which had gone through that area a few months previous. Many trees had been stripped of foliage, and a great number of downed banana plants. In Townsville we caught a ferry to Magnetic Island, caught a bus to the youth hostel, got checked in, and spent the night playing trivia against groups of teenage backpackers. Rafe and Clare joined two people, a young girl and her mother, and did well enough to win free ice cream cones.

Day 10

It continued to rain off and on; the next day was spent hiking around Magnetic Island, looking at Koalas, holding small snakes and crocodiles in a zoo, and heading back to Townsville, where we checked in to a scary backpackers hostel. The ceiling fan looked like it was about to come loose and made a disturbing sound whenever it was on anything other than the lowest setting.

Day 11

The next day was also mostly spent traveling, we flew back to Sydney, and then immediately boarded a flight for Auckland, New Zealand. The youth hostel in Auckland was very nice, it had huge windows and lots of natural light, and was located within easy walking distance of the downtown and waterfront.

Day 12

Day 12 consisted of walking around downtown Auckland and catching a ferry over to Waiheke island. The island was nice, even if Rafe and Clare did experience a bit of stress from getting a bit turned around while following the tramping trail around the island. All was well though when they found their way back to the ferry, and the ride back into Auckland happened during a beautiful sunset.

Day 13

The next day we rented a car and started driving around the north island of New Zealand. The rental car had a huge sticker in in that said "Keep Left!" I don't know if we got that car specifically because we were Americans and drive on the other side of the road than the Kiwis do, but it was funny nonetheless. Eventually we got to Waitomo Caves, and spent a good 2 hours in them, seeing many rock formations, and glow worms, which are the larval form of insects that glow green in the pitch black of the cave. That night we stayed in Rotorua, went swimming in a pool heated by hot springs, and got a hostel that had a small deck.

Day 14

On day 14 we explored Rotorua and the surrounding areas. We started off with a huge breakfast, then went to the hot springs and geysers.

Later in the day we took a gondola up the mountain and from there could see all of the town of Rotorua and Lake Rotorua as well.

Finally, that night for dinner we went to a traditional Hangi, which is a Maori tradition. There were performances of lummi sticks, poi swinging, and an eerie but fascinating singing style. Our day in Rotorua was full, eventful, and fun. We all slept well that night.

-Jacques

Australia Part 4

2007-06-04T06:30:33Z

Hello all,

Here's some more about Australia.

Day 5:

The next morning I rode in a car from Uluru to Alice Springs. It was a long drive, with very little in between those two places. About half way there was a T intersection where we turned left. A few road houses and many dead kangaroos along the side of the road competed with long road trains for scenery.

Day 6:

We had hoped to be in Alice Springs for the camel races they hold once a year, but the guidebook that we had used to schedule this had been off by a week that year. Instead of seeing camel races we went to a desert park, watched a Birds of Prey show, and that night went to a didgeridoo concert. Rafe got picked out of the crowd to play the didg on stage, and he looked like he had a lot of fun. Here's me trying to play a didg that was probably too big for me:

Day 7:

Before flying out to Cairns, We spent the morning and early afternoon walking around Alice Springs, Here I am at the top of a small park in Alice Springs:

Later that day we had lunch at a Sunday sidewalk market. there were a lot of vendors selling Australia themed stuff. I tried on a leather outback hat, but it, like the didgeridoo, was too big for little me.

-Jacques

Australia, Part 3

2007-05-25T23:54:54Z

Hi Everybody!

  Here's the next installment of my Australia trip.

Day 3:

The next part of my trip to Australia was a trip out to Uluru and Ayers Rock. Uluru is in the middle of the Outback, essentially desert. The plane flew over miles and miles and miles of pretty empty land, and landed in the afternoon. There's really only one place to stay there, it's a single resort and as a result is pretty expensive. The days were hot and the nights were cold, but because I was so far away from any cities the night sky was amazing.

Day 4:

The next morning I rode around in a car and got much closer to Ayers Rock, and hiked around Kata Tjuga, or The Olgas. That evening we did a very nice dinner called the Sounds of Silence, which involved champagne at sunset, kangaroo steaks, and live didgeridoo music. Rafe and Clare met an Australian guy who got funnier the more he drank. His plan was to photoshop a picture of a Coca-cola machine on top of Ayers Rock and try to convince people that there really was one there.  There isn't of course, the area is considered sacred by the aboriginals who live there. Climbing to the top of the rock is discouraged, and at the base of the rock there is large sign. Two-thirds of the sign talks about discouraging climbing the rock, the remaining one-third says, "but, if you're going to do it, this is what you need to know," and then gives safety tips. We didn't climb it.

-Jacques

Australia Part 2

2007-05-19T03:12:36Z

Hi everyone!

here are a few more pictures from Sydney, including two more of me at the opera house (don't worry, those are the last two of me and the opera house), and one from on top of the Sydney Tower, where I watched the sunset over the harbor.

-Jacques

Australia, Part 1

2007-05-12T18:27:35Z

Hello Everybody!

I see that I have made a few friends recently, which is very exciting! Thanks to everyone, it's good to see you all on LJ.

Today I'm going to start talking about the first trip that I took that I got some good pictures of myself. The trip was to Australia and New Zealand last year in July (2006). It was a great trip,  lasted for about 3 weeks,  oh and yeah, I stopped in Hawaii for a few days on the way back home.

  Australia was a wonderful place.  Here are some notes from my time there.

About to leave Seattle

Day 1: I flew through Los Angeles and then to Sydney. The transition through LA wasn't fast enough, so the luggage that I was riding in got delayed to a different flight. Rafe and Clare were in Sydney a full hour before I was, but the line to get through customs was so long that it didn't matter. When I finally showed up,  I was very happy to see them. It's a very long flight from Los Angeles to Sydney. That first day we walked around trying to adjust to the time difference, and at night watched the city lights come up as the sun went down.

The Sydney Harbor Bridge

Day 2:  I spent most of the day walking around parts of Sydney today, enjoying the cool air. It rained for part of the day, so I spent some time doing inside things. I went on a tour of the famous Sydney Opera House, and went up the Sydney Tower, which is a very large space-needle like affair.

And me at the Opera House. You might have to look closely in the second picture.

-Jacques