Last Sunday I headed to New Orleans for a conference. I booked the early flight out of Phoenix so I could arrive by 2:30, have a chance to unpack, and then catch the conference's bus to
LIGO for a tour. However, after circling Houston for hours, making a detour to
Hobby Airport to refuel, and then sitting on the runway forever, I didn't arrive in New Orleans until 8:00 PM. It was cold, raining, and I was tired!
It rained all day on Monday, but it didn't really matter because I was busy all day and evening with the conference. On Tuesday it finally stopped raining. By the time the conference ended for the day, it was warm and sunny outside. I decided to go to the
Audubon Insectarium, which was a block from my hotel.
Even though it had a big sign in front and a butterfly mosaic on the sidewalk, I walked right past it.
A few blocks later, I knew I had gone too far and stopped at an information booth for directions. They told me to go back the way I came and that I couldn't miss it. Uh, yeah, I could. And did! Good thing I'm not on the
Amazing Race. I would be on the team that stares right at the cluebox and runs in circles missing it. I eventually found it, but couldn't go in because it was closed.
The group I was with was going to see
Hurricane on the Bayou at the IMAX theater that evening, so I decided to head to the
Aquarium of the Americas to kill time before the movie started. I arrived just after the last ticket could be sold, so wasn't allowed in there either.
I killed time checking out the metal sculptures surrounding the aquarium,
watching people's reactions to the automated dinosaur that was being promoted for the zoo,
watching the ferry come and go on the river,
listening to the dixieland tunes coming from the tourist paddle boats,
and just hanging out and watching the river.
Later that night, a St. Patrick's Day parade went right past my hotel.
In addition to the bagpipes,
there were a few floats, and they were throwing beads! BEADS!!!!!!
Hey Mister! Throw me some St. Patty's Day beads!
Immediately after the conference ended on Wednesday, I hurried to the airport only to find that my flight was delayed. And delayed again in Houston. It was after midnight when I finally arrived back home.
While in Rochester, we took the short drive to Letchworth State Park to see waterfalls, instead of fighting the crowds at Niagra Falls. The park bills itself as the Grand Canyon of the East, and I was mightily disappointed when I saw this view. My first question was "where's the canyon?"
We watched a couple rafters head down the river (tiny blue spot coming around the bend) but they got out right before they hit a small set of rapids.
cicada
I was not disappointed with this waterfall!
Middle falls
One rainbow
Double rainbow
Middle and lower falls
Atlas moth 
I wasn't interested in the oysters, but the lobster seemed like a great deal at $15.50 per plate.
We had one afternoon off to explore the area, so a group of us drove up the coast to visit the 
To get to the river to see the middens, we had to walk through a nice little meadow.
Along the way, there were plenty of wildflowers
After leaving the middens, we headed to 
White Belugas
It had been really windy, as all the snow was angled on the west side of objects. The west sides of street signs were totally covered.
When I arrived on the NAU campus at 8 am, there was still a pretty good blanket of snow on the ground
and the San Francisco Peaks had a nice dusting.
By the time I left at 12:30, most of the snow had melted, although it was still cold and windy.
Or did the lumberjack clear the snow?
Dairy farm outside of Vicksburg
Proof that Hope exists.
Dire warning not to pass Hope
Remember.... you were warned not to pass.
