AIRPORTS - JETPORTS - RIVERPORTS - SEAPORTS
welcome readers to another jumbo blog! your stalwart COTW (citizen of the world) finally had another globe-trotting adventure and has stories to tell and foreign lands to show! i saw family and friends and had a good old fashioned farewell tour of sorts. a bit of a blitzkrieg junket thru four states plus the Doha factor. man, 30 hours in transit on the way home was killer! not something i hope to repeat anytime soon, however the luxury of an exit row seat with legroom cannot be overstated. on both flights home! it pays to check in 3 hours in advance for international! even with 3 infants to my immediate left. thank you Bose noise-cancelling headphones!
DOHA RECAP
so Doha was definitely an interesting stop and i'm glad i saw it. not sure i'd do it again, but if the price is right i might. it's a learnable little city to get around but not much to do besides go shopping...not my top wheelhouse of interest as i'm not a shopper, or see 5 star hotels. sounds better. for shopping i'm an Amazon junky that likes buying techie gear, be it camera or computer. someone asked what my hobby was...i said all things Mac, after travel i suppose. i do love traveling and taking photos and posting on the blog! a sense of accomplishment on my side in sharing the world. i am grateful for the opportunity. not sure how i ended up in africa, let alone south africa, but so happy i took the path least chosen. no regrets whatsoever in leaving DTLA five years ago. i have only profited from my move with incredible adventures and have landed in my own version of paradise! and Doha and the middle east is always fascinating in how different it is. the culture, the wardrobe, the norms, the mores, the architecture, the weather, the workforce, the airports! i'd love to get to Beirut some day, the Paris of the Med! see Doha pics below!
DALLAS
my first leg was in dallas. my dear sister has a lake house on Possum Kingdom and my nieces and nephews from arizona were flying in for Labor Day weekend. we had manageable breezy weather on the lake and i had some lovely morning walks on the country road. i'm trying to get my 10,000 steps in per day for my Fitbit but mainly training for the Camino de Santiago a year from now! was great to see my family and catch up with everyones lives. got a new perspective in student loans, minimum wage, the restaurant business, and Texas Longhorn football! i didn't take many pics on this stop. i guess i needed a break. and sometimes i feel squeamish about putting my own family in my blog. don't know why, no solid reason, just privacy concerns i suppose. my sis gave me an assignment to take photos on my other stops for the annual family calendar so i had cause. and shot many more pics on the following stops! not so much of texas here.
TUCSON
the next stop was Coyote Crossing, my brother's abode at the end of a 3 mile dirt road in Sahuarita, Arizona. we had great 4-mile walks every morning, often leaving before the sun came up to beat the still-summer heat. man it gets hot in AZ! and stays hot! we had some monsoon rains which i love and it cooled things down a bit. and another nephew came down to visit with his son. great to see conrad as we had travelled a good part of the world together ourselves...like St. Barts, Kauai, and driving cross-country from Pennsylvania to Arizona delivering a friend's Bronco to LA. watched lots of football and slept a bit. saw my parents mausoleum perhaps for the last time as my brother and his lovely wife are moving to Cedar City, Utah. don't imagine i'll be back to southern arizona anytime soon. my brother gave me lots of old photos i had stored in his shed. time for me to deal with them. all good. and when i left i sensed some closure. don't know when i'll be back again. the highlight is always hearing my brother play his guitar around the camp fire and listen to old songs he has sung for years. it was a perfect night and we just fit it in.
PORTLAND
i have dear friends in portland i hadn't seen since 2011 when they threw a going away BBQ on my behalf! such amazing folks. we were fellow comrades during my Malibu Vineyard days and had spent untold hours together. a weekly hang at least in my malibu crib. often more than that. so it was good to see them. they've done very well for themselves and have an 8 acre farm outside portland off the I-5 freeway. horses, dogs, cats, a riding arena, a huge barn, and land, land, land. their old farmhouse was awesome and daniel is a designer so he had already done some nice touches to make the old farmhouse more livable. his office attached to the riding arena was awesome. he's doing well designing a chain of sandwich shops called Even Stevens. they're opening 250 stores in 3 years so d-pack is cranking! great to see him utilizing all his gifts! and his wife's consulting biz has soared. they are really killing it. so fun to see. we also saw anther old friend at a wine tasting they had arranged. michael is a dear friend and may show me Rome next year and Umbria after the camino saunter. we all had such a blast together. Portland is stunning. we did a river cruise at dusk and saw all the city lights and bridges. a perfect evening! i'm missing those two and their cute girls. i could handle oregon i think. portland has a lot of funk. and a very nice light rail system! a new criteria for me. (cape town has a nice bus system with state of the art busses!)
SALT LAKE CITY
next stop on the tour was salt lake city and my niece carrie and nephew joe. both have families not so far apart and i saw the whole klan. and carrie and i had the best time catching up over 2 days, including a pit stop at Redford's Sundance. we really miss one another and some one on one time was the perfect tonic. especially being chauffered around in her new giant Escalade. a very pimpy ride. i was there for 2 nights and then peace out. a perfect visit. and she gave me even more old memorabilia of mine that somehow ended up with her. lots of old print ads, clippings, and headshots. wow, quite nostalgic!
BACK TO DALLAS
flew back to dallas via san diego and even that had some closure aspects. i saw my old law school from the air, my old apt in mission bay, and the marina i sailed to La Paz from. lots of memories in san diego. 4 years worth. a surprise to fly through there and see it all again. and to see the pacific ocean on this trip. always a treat and not expected. then 48 hours in transit in dallas before flying home via Doha. one problem, in the middle of my stay i realized i had lost my passport! no bueno. my flight left friday night and without my papers i was toast. i strip-searched all my bags i had carefully packed with all my Amazon goodies and no luck. no passport. time was ticking away and we decided to dash out to DFW airport. lost and found closed at 18:00. we arrived at 17:50. it was there! wow, i hadn't felt that happy since i won my 3-year work visa here on appeal! i was so thrilled!!!!! passport sorted!!!!! plus my 30 allotted days to be in the States was expiring. i needed to catch my flight! full stop! and i did! a few pounds overweight and few dollars later, i was off, with exit rows on both flights! heaven!
DOHA LAYOVER
the only snag was my 9 hour layover in Doha whilst waiting for my Cape Town connection. ouch. that is a long time to kill. the hotel room was $257. the spa was $45. so, i spent about 3 hours in the spa until they kicked me out for sleeping. i had a hot tub, swam some lengths in the pool, and found a cozy place to crash. not allowed. fair enough. so, i got dressed and found an eatery and then got my 10,000 steps in. what a space-age jetport they have! uber modern! so gray and sleek and very Flash Gordon. felt like i walked 50 years in the future! it was pretty amazing! and opposed to most third world countries whose airports are rubbish due to corruption (exception Rwanda - Kigali airport is very nice), Qatar has invested a lot into its appearance. it is the future. i half expected to board a rocket ship. and that last flight on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner was a dream. found such a cool TV series...Bron or Broen, or The Bridge, a swedish/danish cop show. brilliant! then when my uber driver couldn't find me at cape town airport it was annoying as i was getting dizzy with sleep deprivation, but the second driver found me and i was away! figured i went 48 hours from my dallas couch to my own bed. brutal!
BACK IN THE MOTHER CITY
and then finally i was back in own flat. such a treat! same old view of table mountain and lions head, overlooking Parliament and the CBD. so cool! and i slept like a baby after stretching the day into night. but it's been like discovering a new city entirely. i finally bought a bus pass after threatening to for a year and yes! brilliant! more hands-free transpo to get to all the cool places and my favorite walks. i'm pretty serious on walking the Camino across spain next september. it's 500 miles or about 35 days with backpack and a walking stick. cannot wait. my first pilgrimage. some folks do it every year! they get hooked! i can believe it. it looks so amazing! and the books i'm reading on it are brilliant. especially I'M OFF THEN by a german comedian. loving that read! but cape town has more promise than ever for me and my weekend cottage in stanford is in escrow still. plus the noisy disco neighbors above me are moving 1 nov! beyond fantastic! so town and country are shaping up nicely. i'm feeling very expectant about this next season in my life. nothing really to base it on, just a new shot of faith. i was told to make room for new things to come and so i have. the latter days will greater than the former, and i had some pretty major former days! so i cannot wait to see what lies ahead! hope is a rare commodity for a washed up actor, but i feel hope. that new things are coming. that God is not done with me yet! let's see what shall come!
meanwhile i worked on a graduate level film with AFDA my first week back, playing a movie director from the 50s, on location in africa, exploiting his leading lady. playing the baddie. so much fun, and the mostly Norwegian film students could not be nicer. really had fun and always fun to be back on set working. i had a blast. and i started another Master Class. loving it! hard to get folks to sign up but we have 9 and we are proceeding. lots of fun to shape these amateurs into confident professionals. another positive aspect of my life! plus on a side note i'm finally getting some sound proof windows in my flat to replace the near 50 year old ones that are rusty and corroded and don't really seal! and i replaced the kitchen faucet. little upgrades that will make a huge difference living here in the heart of the city in an old flat that needs some love.
well, that's about it. time for some pics! i had a super trip and saw some favorite peeps and am glad to be home. this is home now. and i have closure in a new way from the USA. now if Home Affairs would only cooperate and issue my Permanent Residency permit on appeal! yes! then COTW is sorted!
photos are in random order, again, out of my control. enjoy!!!!!
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| early morning shuttle to doha airport. |
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| lots of skinny buildings in Doha due to the small lots/stands they build on. |
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| an Emerald city! |
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| Doha jetport! |
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| really future feeling. |
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| and giant scope. |
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| stunning lighting and wall treatments. |
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| one of the biggest video walls i'd ever seen. |
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| waiting at the gate to Dallas leg. |
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| smash cut to Coyote Crossing, arizona. there really are coyotes yelping at night. so eerie! |
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| nephew conrad and his son Josh. |
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| the men. my brother and 2 generations. lots of Morins! |
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| my brother Volney and his wife. great hosts! |
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| yup, In'N Out cups in the ford pickup console! animal style. |
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| monsoon season! |
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| these saguaro cacti only live in this part of the world. stunning. |
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| the 3 mile dirt road. scraped quarterly. |
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| my Snapseed filter really helps my pics! a big difference! try it! |
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| sundowner rain showers. |
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| the brothers Morin. |
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| the green valley church where my parents are interred. |
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| bye bye Maudy & Vol. i'm to be buried in whatever country i expire. do not fly my corpse, silly! |
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| when you fly a lot it actually does matter what country you are over. you can feel it. |
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| leaving tucson. |
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| love this airline. better than Southwest. more sincere. |
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| volcano Mt. St. Helens. and nearly hit Mt. Rainier it was so close! gotta love the Cascades! |
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| arriving Portland. |
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| speed boat on the Willamette river. what a sundowner! last day of summer. |
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| cap'n dan |
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| the irrepressible Hollie. |
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| lake oswego, as one does. |
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| pure oregon nature. daniel ran the grand canyon rim-to-rim-to-rim in 16 hours! |
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| the forest canopy was stunning! |
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| german newspaper advert after my commercial season last year. |
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| me and the Hollister |
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| dirt bikes. irresistible. |
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| paradise on the river. a perfect day. |
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| and she's a hot shot CEO of her own company. |
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| vintage lid. and a great wife! i love these two. buds forever. |
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| portland riverscape. balmy evening. |
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| me and hol. |
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| sydney's soccer game. much colder and wetter than it looks! we took shifts in the car to warm up! |
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| michael. sommelier and personal guide of Rome. plus a stellar catholic. a good friend. |
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| now this red is a special blah blah blah! |
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| looks like wine. pacific northwest style. |
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| nothing like a tasting! in any country! |
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| okay, couple of the year. matter settled. |
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| their fire circle gives me ideas for cottage set up. |
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| ye old farm house. |
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| every boat needs a shed for the winter. or a mega barn! |
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| portland bridgescape. |
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| funky eatery in town. killer margys! |
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| por que no, daniel? |
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| not sure what they do when it rains...all winter. |
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| loving the light rail to the portland airport! |
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| DT Portland. i shot a movie here back in the early 90's . Chrome Soldiers. more memory lane this trip. |
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| still historic buildings. good vibe. |
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| a nifty light rail system! a must! like jerusalem and now addis ababa. |
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| massive silos along the river. |
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| portland airport. nice java. onto salt lake. |
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| leaving portland! |
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| my great niece Leah. always a card. |
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| my own niece carrie. so much fun! |
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| we really miss each other. so great to see her! |
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| and my nephew Joe. he's 6'7"! |
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| chef john! we had so much food from his smoker! |
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| carrie in the kitchen. i think of her when i see rachel weisz. |
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| converted petrol station into an Even Stevens. borrowing the garage door idea for the cottage. |
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| menu board for "fast casual"...order yourself and self serve drinks. cuts down on the wait staff overhead. |
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| sundance institute chairlift. stunning. would love to be there in the winter and ski! |
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| me and Noah. he's a hoopster! |
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| noah's sister taylor is all state basketballer. she graduates this year. ivy league maybe?? |
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| snapseed. it does all the heavy lifting. average to stunning. |
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| heading to san diego! |
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| arriving san diego! |
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| lonely TSA agent. san diego departures. |
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| The Escalade. nice to be driven around, Shaq daddy style! |
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| the morin nose. joe does product design! |
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| back in Doha. |
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| the airport spa. killed a few hours. i will return. |
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| spaceport. |
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| you can buy a lottery ticket for this Lambo, you only pay sales tax in your country. but i already have the TT. pass. |
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| modern gym or jetport? walking the moving sidewalks was more fun to get my steps in! |
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| Bladerunner. but cleaner. |
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| auto-tint windows on the Dreamliner. |
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| finally arriving to Cape Town. exhausted but so relieved. |
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| production is back. a 7up commercial outside my building. just like DTLA. church on the square. |
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| Vilde my director and the norwegian student film crew. and an Arri Alexa! |
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| on location at Kersefontein Guest Farm. since 1770! 8 generations! |
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| yet another classic work station! |
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| emily adair. the young ingenue. watch for her! |
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| classic dutch architecture. 14,000 acres! not shabby! the owner such a solid guy! |
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| dirt bag 50's director. |
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| justin and emily. beyond sweet. period bliss. |
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| love working with the arri! |
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| the crew looks on working double as cast. |
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| hustling during golden hours. |
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| my own ZA version of PakaPaka. |
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| wind farm. |
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| African river. golden hours. leaving the farm. |
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| period Mitchell camera. sticks wrapped in wood sticky paper for authenticity. |
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| losing the stubble for a while. |
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| my African cabin. shot a scene in here. and slept off my jet lag. |
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| beautiful country. |
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| not a breath of air this day. |
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| graduate film crew. it was a joy. i wasn't their first pick, but hope i was the best pick. |
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| meanwhile back in portland on autopilot. |
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| me and maxine. on 8 acres. |
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| perino on tap. bellisimo! |
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| my new secret spot in cape town. think Geoffreys Malibu meets The Ivy in Bev Hills. |
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| and perfect weather season is upon us! |
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| king clip fish. think Chilean sea bass but not as buttery. |
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| shhhhhh. it's in Sea Point. |
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| ddm the bus rider. loving it. heading to camps bay via table mountain! |
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| cliff construction in Clifton. think monaco. |
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| the after-lunch crowd. sublime. chill zone. |
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| glen beach, camps bay. |
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| looking back at the 12 apostles! |
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| looking ahead to Clifton. posh! |
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| nice lines. clifton living! |
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| more Glens beach. the white house is for sale. that would be beyond. |
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| table for one, inside la perla. |
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| sea point pool, opposite la perla. a new summer hang for me for sure. via citi bus! |
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| sea point promenade, by the pool entrance. |
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| sea point feeling slightly art deco. |
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| COTW...going places. |
