Pine Mountain News
December is half over and with it 2009 is fast drawing to a close. Here at the ranch things are on a normal schedule for this time of year. The Christmas lights are up and we have had a couple of small snows.
The vegetables are doing well in the greenhouse and the wind and water turbines and solar panels are performing well.
The wood shop is busy again after a slow year and the people and animals are well fed. What more could anyone want.
Poem of the week
Wine.taste in McMinnvilleTravel Story of the Week
by emily d stine
The cool Pacific air ruffles through my hair
as we race out of Portland & into Oregon wine
country. Windows cracked and music blaring,
the little black Audi climbs through bridges and
interstate exchanges & shuffles out of the mini.city.
The landscape grows quiet, dead as we drive,
gnarled knots in thin trees sprouting from the sides.
Onward to McMinnville, enter vineyard at the back.
Tour underside of a wine glass, fermenting wine vats.
Forward to the front, after the wine work is done,
and into the tasting room, where all the tourists run.
Step outside, alongside an oaky-tasting Chardonnay,
& I’m delightfully disheveled in the setting sun’s rays.
One more sip, the flavors swirling inside my mouth,
and I swirl myself inside, set my glass by the fire for warmth.
St Augustine Florida
After roaming around Mexico for about a week we decided to head east once more.We kept going until we reached Florida. Our first stop was the town of Milton we bought gas then went to Santa Rosa island on the Gulf of Mexico.
We saw a couple of shrimp boats heading out. We spent a couple hours on Santa Rosa then we were back on the road. We kept going until we reached the Atlantic ocean.
One of the first things you notice about Florida is the interstate is a lighter shade of gray. This is from the crushed shell in the concrete. We checked out the beach and the Atlantic ocean then headed south on I - 95 and stopped at St Augustine.
St Augustine was founded in 1565 and is the oldest seaport in the continental United States. Originally founded by the Spanish, St Augustine became a British possession along with the rest of Florida in 1763. In 1821 Florida became part of the United States. Florida became a state in 1845.
One of the cities famous landmarks is the fortress Castillo de San Marcos and it is now a national monument run by the park service.
Other old landmarks include the Ponce de Leone Hotel,
the Saint Augustine lighthouse, and parts of Flagler college. The city celebrated it's 400th birthday in 1965. The city was a leader in the civil rights movement of the 1960's.
St Augustine is served by one major highway I - 95 and has an airport with 5 runways. The airport became a private airport in 2008 when Skybus ceased operations.
Visiting the historical section of St Augustine is like a journey back in time to colonial America. the Spanish architecture gives it an old world European feel.
Pine Mountain Evening
It is evening once more at the Pine Mountain ranch. Dinner is over and we are relaxing in the family room by a warm fire. Laurel and Grace are playing scrabble and I am reading my Discover magazine. Tonight I am enjoying Irish Cream from http://www.coffeefool.com. This American roast coffee with the Irish Cream taste goes well with the chocolate cream pie that we had for desert.
Grace won the scrabble game once more and now my coffee and pie are finished. It is time for bed. See you all next week.
resources
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Augustine,_Florida
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