Moose, Mooses or Mice?

Thursday morning, August 8th, quickly eating breakfast before going off to work. A movement caught my eye and it was a moose by the clothesline. I dashed off to grab my camera and then had to walk to the front of the house to follow the moose. Took a couple of pictures and then took a movie of the big beast. check out the video.








We have had our share of wild animals here at the acreage this year. Porcupine ate the bark all around an ornamental crab tree and I think it is dead. Deer are munching the fresh vegetables in the garden and so had to put up some fencing to keep them out.(Those are our veggies. Of course, the boys wouldn't have complained about losing the beets, just the peas.) Three weeks ago, Jannose spotted two skunks in the back yard sauntering past the deck. We have seen them a few times since then, walking in the back yard. As long as we don't surprise them, we'll be fine. But, Jannose has spent some time reading up about them.

Also, the hummingbirds have been at the feeder. Check out this picture.




And the other birds munching at our Bird and Breakfast.


Add that to the robins and their nest outside the front door.



So, that's what retired folks do, eh?

Three Gorges Dam

In Chongquing, we visited a display which presented information on the Three Gorges Dam. This was to help prepare us for our cruise on the Yangtze River. There were some very nice pictures and a mural but we weren't allowed to take pictures of them. The structure on the far right of the model is the elevator which will move ships from one side of the dam to the other in less than an hour. The five locks will take over three hours. We were told by our guides that there is no charge for this service.(only in a communist society) The dam will provide 5% of China's elecrical power when finished by November 2008.


This display was very informative. You can see the locks and the difference in elevations. Note the wonderful park areas here. One thing I noticed in China was that there were a great number of planted trees everywhere. The designs here are very reminiscent of the gardens at Chenonceaux or Versailles.

The view of the locks from the front of our cruise ship.

We were able to walk around the area of the dam. Note the cutouts on the bricks on the left. This is a little waterfall design. Of course, in November, when the water level will rise to its uppermost, this area will be all under water. The water level will rise to two or three meters from the top of the dam.



The water bubbles out of the top and then flows down to the base of the observation tower.


The water level will rise to cover these flower beds.


This work crew is taking apart the original area at the dam site.


The locks at the dam. Again, note the grass and the designs.

Look closely and you can see a ship on its way up to the next lock.

There was a very nice, quiet park near the Dam Display. It was nice to walk here and be away from all the crowds.

Yangtze River Cruise

We have taken two cruises on the oceans. This was to be our first river cruise. I got a DVD from Viking Cruises on the Yangtze River. Our tour company used a river cruise and our ship was called the President Cruises No. 6. It definitely was not like the Viking boat or our Holland America Cruise to Alaska. Here is our ship below. I included another picture of the company called Dragon Cruises. Their ship was decked out like a dragon, although it did look a bit more modern than ours.







One of our stops was the Ghost City of Fengdu. We got off the ship and climbed all these stairs and then took a small minibus ride to the entrance to the city. Some people could take a chair lift to the top or you could walk the stairs. We walked. (Well, we had already walked on the Great Wall--this was a piece of cake.




There was a pagoda at the top of the climb. The city was quite interesting.




We watched one of the citizens of this area move the rock on top from down below. It was almost impossible to move it without knowing the proper method of rolling it around and using the centrifugal force to get it on top.

All along the Yangtze River, we saw farmland like this. Land is used whenever possible. Of course, these farms have been set up because of the forced movement of the citizens to make way for the Three Gorges Dam.


Caskets are placed in these caves on the side of the mountains.



We saw many, many bridges along the trip. There are 65 bridges now built with 50+ in various stages of being built. There are plans for another 73. This will ensure that the citizens are able to travel through the countryside after the dam is finished.


Here is a group photo of the 19 who braved the President Cruises No. 6 Yangtze River Cruise. We saw some great scenery and got to see the dam. Will post those pictures next.