R. Doug Wicker's Blog, page 132

Three Days in Madrid — Day One

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Edificio Menses, Plaza de Canalejas

Some of you who follow this blog may wonder if Ursula and I ever make friends with our fellow cruise travelers. Yes. We do. And we frequently plan together to join up on future trips, as well. Our trip beginning toward the end of October, 2016, was one such planned joint excursion with people we have traveled with before, and are planning to travel together again later next year.

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Edificio Metrópolis

The particular couple with whom we met up in Madrid are Do...

Fun Food Friday—Sparky’s World Famous Burgers, BBQ, and Shakes

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Sparky’s Burgers, BBQ, and Shakes

Sparky’s Burgers, BBQ, and Shakes really is rapidly becoming world famous, so that’s not hype you see above the entryway and the long line waiting to get inside. And while Sparky may be famous for their award-winning green chile cheeseburger, it’s the barbecue that keeps Ursula and me returning even though Sparky’s is 160 miles round trip! And if you thought the outside decor was on the kitschy side, wait until you step indoors:

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Sparky’s souvenirs

Sparky’s ha...

Hatch Valley Road Trip—More fall foliage and Sparky’s

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Fall tree

The Hatch Valley holds exquisite scenery any time of year, but there’s just something about fall colors here along the banks of the Rio Grande in the midst of chile fields, cattle ranches, and horse farms. Unfortunately, invasive salt cedar has infiltrated here, but even salt cedar affords some great color this time of year.

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Hatch Valley salt cedar

However, we’re in a rush to get to lunch, so I’ll spare the words and post a few more scenic shots for a moment:

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Hatch Valley

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Hatch Vall...

Hatch Valley Road Trip—Clint Eastwood was hanged near here

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Along the Rio Grande

One of our favorite weekend day trips is along the back roads between El Paso and Hatch, New Mexico. It’s scenic. It’s historic. It’s delicious. Deliciously spicy, that is. Hatch is home of the world famous Hatch chile. And what is Hatch’s green chile good for? Glad you asked. A while back I posted my chile rellano recipe using poblano chiles, but Hatch green really makes that recipe shine. And let’s not forget that modern culinary miracle, the green chile cheeseburgers....

Fun Photo Friday — Another spectacular El Paso sunset

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El Paso sunset — 11/4/2017

We love the views from our home here in El Paso. As you can see from this backyard view, we face out over the Mesilla Valley to the left, and the Franklin Mountains form our backyard view to the right. Frequently we are treated to some very spectacular sunsets.

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El Paso sunset — 11/4/2017

All the pictures you see today are pretty much untouched except for some mild tweaking of contrast, however on one photograph I upped the saturation level ever so slightly. This is...

A Tale of Two Berettas — 92FS and 92FS “Reverse Two-Tone”

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Standard Beretta 92FS (top); uncommon 92FS “Reverse Two-Tone”

The Beretta 92 family of handgus  is a design that until recently I hadn’t much interest. It’s big, bulky, and heavy, and there are smaller, lighter high-capacity pistols out there — the exceptional Walther P99 comes readily to mind (for a review of the P99c AS compact see: When Fashion Goes Macho—Walther P99c AS in 9mm). And while Beretta would love for you to believe they invented that locking block system that keeps the barrel p...

Interesting Collectables: “Old” 1st issue Ruger Bearcats

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Rare unmodified Ruger “Alpha Cat” Bearcat

Until recently the Ruger Bearcat wasn’t even on my radar, as the new production models are pricey (MSRP $639 blued; $689 stainless) and older models seldom come up in the market. So, when the above pictured Bearcat showed up at my favorite local gun store (Collector’s Gun Exchange) for what looked to be a relatively so-so price, I took a chance. The only reason I did was because this particular example had not been modified with the Ruger transfer blo...

Fun Photo Friday — Quito Hop-on/Hop-off Favorites 2

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Streetlights

This series on Ecuador began nearly five months ago, and the images presented during that series are but a fraction of the many taken during our ten days there. My first photos of Ecuador were taken in Guayaquil on February 14, 2016. The last shots were taken in Quito on February 23. In between we saw a cocoa plantation, walked the streets of Cuenca, stayed at the beautiful La Andaluza resort, traveled to Alausí and took the Devil’s Nose train, journeyed deep into the Amazon Rive...

Ecuador — Quito, Hop-on/Hop-off Part 4

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Quito Tour Bus sights

In this final Ecuador series on Quito we’ve discussed some of the many things to see and do in this city of nearly 2,700,000 people. So, beginning last week and continuing through this week I’m letting some images do the talking. These images are some of the many shots taken from our Hop-on/Hop-off tour aboard the red double-deckers of the Quito Tour Bus company. Of course, the favorite photos will be reserved for Fun Photo Friday.

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Quito Tour Bus sights

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Quito Tour Bus si...

Ecuador — Quito, Hop-on/Hop-off Part 3

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Quito Tour Bus sights

In this final Ecuador series on Quito we’ve discussed some of the many things to see and do in this city of nearly 2,700,000 people. So, beginning last week and continuing through this week I’m letting some images do the talking. These images are some of the many shots taken from our Hop-on/Hop-off tour aboard the red double-deckers of the Quito Tour Bus company. Of course, the favorite photos will be reserved for Fun Photo Friday.

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Quito Tour Bus sights

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Quito Tour Bus si...