Beth Schachtman – Page 2 – Tales From The Hive

With a really open mind and heart…and news of Tucson

“Are we really doing this?” has turned into “how do you do this?” How do you live in a place that is not your home, make it feel like you are at home, and learn enough about it to determine if you want it to be your home? This is different than being on vacation where we fill the days with interesting things to eat, to do and to see. We are living our lives but in different places, without a place to call home. As far I can tell, you do this with a really open mind and heart, a few important belongings, and constant research of the environment around you.

Here are some tips we have found helpful.

Bring along some pictures of family and friends to decorate wherever you stay.
A couple days before you arrive, or when you arrive someplace new, research at least one thing you want to do so you can start living your life immediately. For me, that is finding a yoga studio or gym, along with hiking spots. For Chris, it is finding bike routes and groups to bike with.
It is fun and helpful also to have a “project” or two to help explore the new place. In Tucson, project number 1 is an exploration of a bunch of different coffee roasters, and recently we have started to try as many breakfast restaurants as we can.
Pillows are important, as are comfortable beds. We decided to take our pillows along, and as a result, I actually sleep the first night in a new place.
If you intend to cook some of your meals versus having takeout or going out all the time, a few kitchen items are important; a couple of good knives, cutting board, French press pots and coffee grinder for us, commonly used spices, containers for leftovers, pot holders, garlic press, citrus squeezer, rubber gloves, and vegetable peeler. (Thanks to Susan S. for her thoughts on living away from home for several months at a time. I expanded what you told me a little and we are pretty happy that we did!)
You need way less clothes than you think especially if you are in the southwest. I did not want to feel like I was on vacation and living out of a suitcase, but have been putting away clothes for storage in Rochester since we got to Northern California.
Living and working remote can be a little isolating, so for us it is important to have a few activities outside of the house that we are passionate about (hiking and biking for us, museums and tourist attractions for others). Volunteer work can be a good way to get to know a community so if this was part of your old life, make it part of your new life.
We are mostly staying at houses and apartments found on Air B&B and VRBO. It is important to have a sense of humor about the places you stay. They are all different in some way from what you expect. Communicate positively about what you need to the hosts, and be realistic about what you can expect. We have learned that we may need to pay a little more to stay closer to the center of cities, but that this is worthwhile to us, because we want to be able to walk and bike short distances to where we want to go. If the place has been seriously oversold, consider moving to another place. Air B&B will work with you on getting refunds.
If you are used to purchasing some items online that you cannot easily find in stores, free Amazon delivery with Amazon Prime across the US may be something to invest in.
Talk to everyone you come into contact with. Find out what they like about their town, their life, and hit them up for tips on whatever you are interested in.
It is super helpful to have someone reliable as a forwarding address to get your mail (thank you, Annette). Pay all your bills online so you can get rid of as much mail as possible, but have someone who can forward your mail on a regular basis.

The Tucson landscape and architecture is so different from what we are used to that it takes some getting used to. The city is surrounded by four mountain ranges, the Tucsons, Rincons, Santa Catalinas and Santa Ritas. The city is relatively flat but wherever you look there are mountains. Many times, because of the intense light, they look 2 dimensional, as if someone has surrounded the city with very large beautifully painted poster boards.

It’s been a good whirlwind since we hit Tucson. The first weekend, we spent time with my college friends (one who lives here and one in from Alaska), and explored a great restaurant called Café Poco Cosa and went to a fundraiser for a non-profit called ICS. The second weekend, another college friend, from Portland, was in town and we explored the Tucson Festival of Books, a large festival where there are tons of lectures and readings, book signings, food stands, activities for kids, publisher and author booths. We heard Jeffrey Kruger, Time Magazine writer and the author of multiple books including Apollo 13, who also happened to go the same Baltimore high school as my friend. We ate roasted corn, tamales, and Frost Gelato. We also attended Scott Simon, author and host of NPR’s Saturday morning weekend edition’s talk. Scott Simon was definitely the highlight as he spoke about my hometown, his book about my favorite ball club, the Chicago Cubs, politics, relationships, gun control and a number of other topics. The weekend ended on Sunday night at Sidecar, a fabulous craft cocktail bar with house made ingredients.

That same weekend, Chris and I took our first hike in Tucson at Sabino Canyon National Recreation Area, to Seven Falls. This is considered “touristy” to the folks who live here, and heading back to the car felt a little like being on the trail version of a super highway, but this eight mile round trip hike ended at seven falls and pools of water where you could swim (too cold for me), that are there in the desert most of the year. We started out early which was nice because it was pretty quiet on the way there, and there was lots of time to see the views. There are a ton of different cacti, including the many saguaros (the ones that look like they have arms.) Sometimes the way they were all lined up in a row, it looked like we were hiking past a saguaro cactus farm.

We both got big hats. The sun is so strong!

On the way back, there were a lot of hikers. At times, Chris and I felt like we were an advertisement for others being able to make it to the end. (Imagining the other much younger hikers looking at us and saying to themselves “well if they can make it, no problem for us!) I saw my first roadrunner about a mile from the end of the trail, which was very exciting, and a tiny, tiny cactus covered with flowers.

Arizona Fishhook Cactus, about 4 inches high

Since we have been here, we have also seen a coyote on the bike path (which headed away from us as soon as it saw us), and several other roadrunners and birds. I have yet to see a javelina, a wild pig like creature that sometimes is even seen in neighborhoods near downtown Tucson.

Our hike last weekend was to Romero Pools in the Santa Catalina State Park. This area was home to Hohokam Indians from 500-1050 AD, and has a rich history of ranching after that time. On a Sunday afternoon, we did a self-guided biking tour of public art in and around downtown Tucson.

Blooms we saw on our way to Romero Pools (the largest one is called Fairy Duster and is very popular with hummingbirds)

We saw this great house while on our art tour.

Some of the amazing murals and one sculpture that can be found in and around downtown Tucson.

We have discovered such a great bakery that we keep going back. It is called Barrio Bread, and is a local bakery whose baker works with local farmers to grow ancient grains. Sidecar, a craft cocktail bar, is another place we have gone to multiple times. During our breakfast exploration project, we have visited Frank’s and Francisco’s (where we sat at the counter for “breakfast and a show” and where their motto is “elegant dining elsewhere”), the Bizbee Breakfast Club, where I had what seems to be a Tucson original, blueberry granola pancakes, 5 Points Market and Restaurant, and Eclectic Café. For coffee, we have purchased beans at Ombre, Raging Sage, Cartel Coffee, Exo, and Shot in the Dark. So far my favorite is Raging Sage, but I still miss my JamaicaMeCrazy decaf beans from Canaltown in Rochester!

Mid-day at the Oasis

It has been 2 hectic weeks since we left Redding. Since we left, we have explored Joshua Tree National Park, stayed at the Space Age Lodge, moved into a new casita, visited with three of my college friends (!!), had a couple of very good Mexican food meals, biked on the Loop trail, eaten sorbet at Frost Gellato, eaten roasted corn and attended 2 author talks at the Tucson Festival of Books, done yoga, worked, seen two coyotes and three roadrunners (beep beep), had an amazing cocktail at the SideCar, bought bread at the Barrio Bakery, and coffee at Ombre Roasters and Raging Sage Café, and hiked to Seven Falls at Sabino Canyon. On Friday, it will be two weeks since we arrived in Tucson. But I will talk about Tucson in another post.

We left Redding a day early. We got up that morning and Chris was really twitchy, and I was ready to leave as well. After canceling my afternoon meeting and packing up in about an hour and a half, we said goodbye to the ‘rents (our landlords in Redding), and got on the road. Joshua Tree was a long drive but a logical place to stop so we could be in Tucson easily from there. We planned to camp at Cottonwood Spring Campground on the southern border. We got there around 11 pm, put up our tent in the moonlight with a headlamp, rolled out our mats and sleeping bags, and went to sleep. All was well for a while, but in a couple of hours, I started to notice that I was cold. I already had warm clothing on, but the thermostat dove lower than we anticipated, so I was up at about 4 am, unable to fall back asleep. I moved my mat and bag closer to Chris and snuggled in, thinking that would help. No deal. Finally he noticed and kind of enveloped me partially within his bag as well, so I was able to stay in the tent until about 6. At that point we gave in, and decided to pack up and get ready to hike. I knew I was not spending another night camping in the same conditions.

We hiked 8 miles through two palm oases (plural of oasis) in beautiful sun, but windy weather. In the desert, the landscape changes so much from place to place, so the morning was full of pointing out desert landscape objects. The hike turned around after reaching Lost Palms Oasis, where there are more fan palms than any other place in Joshua Tree. When I knew we were headed to an oasis, I thought there may be visible water, but that was not the case. When the ancient Native Americans lived here, they did have spring water. On the trail, we passed a rock that had a depression hollowed out from these ancients grinding corn on the rock. We got back to our car shortly after noon, and decided to go on a hunt for Joshua trees, which Chris had never seen. Then we found out that there are no Joshua trees in the southern part of the park, which is part of a different desert. So we drove north, and I had some momentary excitement as we passed Fried Liver Wash (because I liked the sound of the name.) The real excitement came when we went around a bend and a coyote was trotting down the road. We found our Joshua tree, and headed south and out of the park to Chiriaco Summit Coffee, where we had coffee and french fries, and plotted our next steps.

The depression on the left in the rock is from natives using the stone to grind flour.

We looked at staying overnight in Phoenix, and when that did not work out, found the Space Age Lodge in Gila Bend, Arizona. Hoping against all odds that Gila Bend would have gila monsters, we arrived at our hotel by 8 pm and skipped dinner because of the approximately 15 cups of Trader Joe’s popcorn we ate in the car. I crashed pretty quick so it was morning before we could explore the Space Age Lodge.

I made an alien friend in the gift shop!

I am happy to say that although the Space Age Lodge was not really a notable landmark, my love of kitsch took over when I saw the murals, signs, and building design. With all kinds of images of space travel everywhere, an older motel had been purchased by Best Western and newly renovated, so we had a clean comfortable place to sleep after our camping debacle.

All the interesting or flowering stuff we saw in Joshua Tree.

As we drove from there to Tucson, we saw crops in the desert and palm tree farms. We also passed the Boot Barn, which we have seen in several towns in the West. Because we have seen them so many times, I thought it deserved a visit. Chris disagreed saying “you are more of a ‘stomp on it’ versus a ‘hee haw’ type of girl.” True that!

Life is full of exquisite diversions.

I got a card from an old friend today. This is the front of it.

I am absorbing for the first time the fact that that my husband of almost 25 years has the magnificent skill of pivoting from the big picture plan when necessary, whereas I am really great at staying the course while I painstakingly work out the fine points and details. This is a very good combination for us as we move forward for more stimulating, exhilarating and meaningful lives, but these different approaches can seem at odds to each other along the way. This card summed that up and reminded me of the journey! Thanks friend.

“If you like the outdoors…” This is what everyone we’ve met here says about Redding, almost as an apology. If you like the outdoors, Redding is a great place to live. And many of the people we have met either used to live, or currently live, out of town on a hill or along the river and have land to spare. It is a beautiful place with incredible views.

We are living in the bottom apartment of a beautiful home. Because the home is built into a hill, our apartment has windows and a patio. Right now I am writing with my back to the kitchen window and basking in the sun. From the patio, I can see the mountains including Lassen Peak. From the wall of windows in the yoga studio at the local Y, in any twisting pose, I see the mountains as well.

As far as we can tell, Redding is full of people who like the outdoors. Chris went biking with the Shasta Wheelman on our third day here. One of guys in the group told me about an informal group that hikes every Wednesday morning, and I have joined them 3 Wednesdays in a row. If every muscle in my body did not hurt, we would have joined them at the annual President’s Day pie hike; you hike 4 miles and in the middle, get to eat pie! On our second day here, we hiked in Lassen Volcanic National Park, which is about 1½ hours away. 2 weekends later, we tried to hike at Mount Shasta, where it was snowing (white out conditions), so we opted out and hiked at Castle Crags instead (5.6 miles, 2200 elevation gain, shockingly beautiful).

Mt. Shasta trailhead where we declined to hike in white out conditions.

Along the way to Castle Dome at Castle Crags. The same day, 20 minutes away, sunshine!

So exciting that we crossed the Pacific Crest Trail.

My hiking group is mainly older people who are all super energetic. An 82 year old ex-military man who is probably the fastest hiker, the sharpest thinker, and bikes 3 times a week to boot. There are a number of women who taught school, a land planner who worked for the state and a numbers of counties, a historian, and a man who works for the Redding Parks and Recreation department. Many have lived in others places, mostly Southern California. Two grew up in New York state. Many are ex-mountain bikers. Everyone has aches and pains, but there is little conversation about that. Most volunteer somewhere and seem to travel a bit to keep life stimulating. Wendy does volunteer work at the hospital where after a while she took over the information desk portion of the volunteer organization at the hospital. They know all the trails, much of the history, a lot of neat places to visit, a lot about native plants and trees, and history of some of the structures and mines we encounter on our hikes. They have formed a little lovely community of those who like to be outside. Many are retired, many are widowed, and they have each others’ backs. Finding out about a new place gets way easier when you talk in depth to the people that live there!

From top left clockwise: Indian paintbrush, toyon, hound’s tongue, and Manzanita (with amazing red/purplish bark)

Hiking to Camden House with the hiking group

Hiking past an old mine (in the background) and the stamp mill used for the gold extraction.

The downtown is different than what I normally expect. There are shops and restaurants that are isolated on various streets, rather than all grouped together. It it is difficult to see what is here. At some point, a downtown pedestrian mall was created, but it failed and is deserted with few businesses. Turtle Bay Exploration Park and the Sundial Bridge are close to downtown but difficult to get to by bike or walking. At Turtle Bay, there is a museum there with a lovely outdoor café overlooking the river, an arboretum and botanical gardens, and a number of exhibits. The arboretum and botanical gardens are focusing on reclamation of the natural environment and include a pond with otters and beavers. On any beautiful day, there are always people, but on Saturday, it was extremely busy.

If you know where to go, there are hidden treasures. Woody’s Brewery is downtown, has tons of great burgers, homemade garlic tater tots, and a grapefruit tree with ripe fruits in the parking lot. The first time I was there with the hiking group, there was a young man in the tree picking for a woman on the ground. He picked another bag for one of the women in my group when she asked! We also found another restaurant called Moonstone Bistro with fresh food, interesting cocktails, and great service.

The local Y where I work out most days is small but well-utilized. There are a large number of classes and they are all well attended. I take yoga, pilates and when it is cooler than 60 degrees, spinning.

Our time here ends soon and we leave for a couple of months of desert, spring wild flowers, warmer temperatures and even more time outside.

“I’ve always depended on the kindness of strangers!”

On a Friday afternoon, we traveled south to Chico. It is a University of California town in the agricultural Central Valley, and has a great reputation for lower housing costs, biking, the ability to walk many places, a “reasonable” downtown (right next to the university), a great farmer’s market, lots of arts and cultural activities, and is close to the mountains and coast. As an almost-teenage boy and future salesman/real estate agent told us in the farmer’s market, you can surf in the morning and ski in the afternoon!

We went to Friday night services at a local synagogue because this adventure is not only about weather, but also about finding community. My Temple Sinai community in Rochester was an important place for me. Temple Beth Israel in Chico is a small temple (Beth Israel – 80 family units, 75% time rabbi), was founded in 1915, disbanded in the 30’s, then began again sometime in the 1950’s. The service brought about 20-25 people of all ages, and was led by the rabbi, a student cantor, and a teenage boy practicing for his bar mitzvah. We were warmly welcomed by at least 10 individuals who came over to greet us. They all shared their thoughts and facts about temple and Chico, and answered our questions about the community. We met a terrific woman who went out of her way to spend extra time with us as we grilled her about neighborhoods and what it was like to live there. Another small world moment was that she had grown up on the south side of Chicago, while I was on the north side, and had lived there for several years as an adult as well. Her husband was a dedicated bicyclist, so he and Chris had a ton to talk about. We even met Steve who told us he would run into us at the farmer’s market on Saturday morning, and we did. We did not know that he is a local music producer, bringing national and international acts to the Paradise Performing Arts Center, a 750 seat venue close to Chico, and would be handing out flyers all morning for his next production – Dion Warwick..

Saturday morning we went to the fabulous farmer’s market. High points were the tamale stand, beautiful and (often) organic produce and nuts for sale, the fresh bread stands, the tamale stand, the kindness and friendliness of strangers, and did I mention the tamale stand? I love tamales and these were amazingly fresh. You could get chicken, chicken with cheese, pork or pineapple. Any guesses on mine – of course, pineapple mixed with raisins. It was the first time ever I have had a sweet tamale, and for breakfast, it was the best. We were at a stand that sold herbs and nuts, attracted to it by the sign that said “Herbs grown in Paradise” (which makes me grin each time I think of it.) The woman who ran the stand and farmed the nuts found out we were visiting, and handed us a clamshell of special red walnuts as a gift. Then she and her friend told us all about Chico and Paradise and invited us to hear music out at a local venue. (By the way, these are the best walnuts I have ever tasted!)

Saturday morning Farmer’s Market in downtown Chico.

After the market, we headed to Bidwell Park and rode our bikes about 10 miles through this very large city park, and through the California Park neighborhood. We had already driven through the Avenues, Amber Grove, Downtown, West Side, the Barber, and continued our neighborhood car survey in Doe Mill.

Pink stucco Bidwell Mansion. In the city park, home of John Bidwell, teacher, miner, and founder of Chico.

The creek that goes through Bidwell Park gets dammed up into a huge public swimming pool. Kind of like the pool at Stoneybrook State Park near Rochester, but about 5 times larger!

Then it was time for lunch, so we went to the Sierra Nevada taproom and restaurant. Sierra Nevada started in Chico in the garage of Ken Grossman, who still owns the company. They do all different kind of tours (which we did not take), but looked through their gallery and self-guided tour area. And then as we often do, took seats at the bar in order to avoid a 30 minute wait for a table. That always works for us because with just 2, you can still have a conversation. We had a lot of conversations that day but not much with each other! The man on my right worked for Sierra Nevada and was there on his day off with his wife. The guy on Chris’ left was a regular. They both helped me pick out beers for my flight, told us about Chico, and told us great stories about the company. I loved best a Gose style beer (Otra Vez) because it only had a 5% International Bitter Units (IBU), lowest on the menu. My learnings of the day were that Sierra Nevada makes very hoppy beers, and what I like and call “girly” beers are the ones that are low in the IBUs (and to be frank, what an IBU is). And as we paid for our lunch, we found that my neighbor that worked at Sierra Nevada picked up the tab for my flight!

A view of the bar at Sierra Nevada above, and a display of the some of the 800 beers they make!

Our bar neighbors also told us about Hooker Oaks rum distillery. So I started with beer and then went on to taste pineapple rum, apple pie rum (visualize sipping on a cold night in front of the fire), and plain rum. The distillery owners are contractors who now distill rum as well. In addition to the tasting, I had a very good peach fizz cocktail with pineapple rum, peach nectar and a little bit of 7Up. The distillery tour, where we saw the process of making rum, was very interesting and fun as well. (And thanks as always to my partner in crime, and always designated driver Chris!)

After this action packed and fun filled 24 hours in Chico, we visited a bakery café again (The Upper Crust Bakery) where we both had cookies to fortify us for our drive back to Redding.

You know you are in California when…

someone apologized for their road rage

In our visits and travels so far, people have been really nice, friendly and super helpful. But as we were loading the car to leave Grass Valley, we witnessed an incident of road rage on the street corner. One car cut off another and then a young-ish man was leaning out his car window screaming and cursing. As the other car drove away, the young man rode past me, leaned out his window, and said “Sorry.” Only in California!

Before leaving Grass Valley, we took a last look at all the old mining equipment. Grass Valley was a gold mining town, and appears to going through some kind of revival with many building renovations. I now know what hydraulic mining is, and in fact saw a hydraulic 21 inch gate valve that was used at “You Bet-Red Dog Diggin” (had to work that name in here somehow).

We also found Caroline’s Coffee, biked some, tasted wine at Luccelli’s (small boutique winery – outstanding), took at trip to nearby Nevada City, and saw “The Post” at a cool old theater downtown. Our rental is a block from Main Street so the car has only been pulled out twice in four days (I even walked to Safeway for groceries.) As part of my community research, I spoke to the president of the local temple here. She was amazingly friendly and had a bunch of great community information.

Chris started biking outside again because the weather has been in the 60’s in the afternoons. He starts work very early and then knocks off in time to have 1½ hours of daylight. I have started practicing yoga almost every day like I had been planning, and like in Moab, did a class at a local yoga studio.

There is an old hotel right downtown that is now the Bret Harte Retirement Inn. I was considering it for my next home because it has a great stained glass window. When I saw the stained glass window, I had all kinds of fantasies about Salomy Jane being either an famous gunslinger, outlaw, or madame. But Bret Harte was a famous writer who wrote the screen play to a 1914 western called Salomy Jane. Disappointing!

The nice but disappointing Salomy Jane’s window.

Nevada City was similar to Grass Valley although seems a bit more built up and possibly wealthier. It also has its history embedded with mining. One of our nieces spent about a year there about three years ago, and when we texted her that we were there, she sent us a great tip. She suggested we visit the South Yuba River about 8 miles away so went there for a small hike and to see the sunset. Gorgeous!

Downtown Nevada City has a lovely hodge-podge of mainly old buildings, some going back to the mid 1800’s. We even found a couple of art deco buildings, including the court house, which has a new section, but then a white shining, towering old section. There are restaurants and bars, winery tasting rooms, antiques, ice cream and chocolate shops, bakeries, cafes, yoga and pilates studios, and a great number of wellness businesses.

The beginning of the super moon over Nevada City

We made it to Redding, California where we will be until February 28th. As you can see below, we have made our apartment more homey with a couple of pictures and holiday cards. Every day we have been outside as it unusually warm here, and should stay that way for at least 10 more days. On Friday, we biked, then spent Saturday at Lassen National Park (60 degrees with melting snow), and biked again today (me 18 miles and Chris 40 miles). Everyone is concerned about the lack of snow in the mountains, because the snow then melts and provides enough water for the summer. Evidently last year at this time, there was 10 feet of snow in Lassen. There couldn’t have been more than 12 inches so far this year.

And Chris first ride — A view of the Sundial Bridge in Redding.

Views from Lassen Volcanic National Park

The new week will start tomorrow and I will be back to living the real life (working a few hours at least, yoga, getting the car washed, doing laundry, doing research on places to live, etc.)

Are we really doing this?

The start of our adventure!

After a combined total of 55 years in Rochester, we sold our house, a third of our belongings, and literally stuffed the rest in a storage unit and hit the road in search of a milder climate.

Storage Unit photo — Our storage unit – this 3X3 foot space at the door is the only space left!

Photo of the Hive — This is our car, or what we call “The Hive”

For two months Beth has been crying, reminiscing, and saying goodbye to all the people in our communities all the while eagerly anticipating the move! Since then, we have spent three weeks with very giving and hospitable relatives in the mid-west with absolutely freezing temperatures. (Is the universe telling us we will always be somewhere cold, or that we are doing the right thing?) This was followed by a week in Moab, Utah before heading to Northern California and really starting the hard work of finding a new home.

So now you are asking why Moab? Relatively random and definitely not part of our long term community search, mostly because it is very small and isolated. It looked like we could be outdoors and possibly visit a couple of national parks. The landscape is incredibly beautiful and dramatic! It is all about the light here; different every moment but striking at all times. Every time you turn a corner, the difference is overwhelming. The landscape is as dramatic as some teenagers. In the desert, you hike through layers of rocks of different colors, then red rocks with black areas (called desert varnish) that seem painted on with some drips, then it opens up to red sand, red rocks, scrubby trees and cacti. Then you turn a corner and all you see are what looks like tan sand hills like enormous sand castles, but it is solid rock.

Our first hike was a spontaneous find after looking at petroglyphs outside town on some very high cliffs – including people that looked like paper doll cutouts, people with shields, and many animals (including one large black bear).

Photo of petroglyphs — Most amazing petroglyphs I have ever seen!

We had noticed a trailhead for mountain bikes called Poison Spider, stopped there and saw a hiking trail at the same spot. So we decided to hike to an arch called Longbow Arch. It was about 38 degrees at the time but with the sun shining; it felt like it was in the 40’s. Chris was kind of skeptical about heading off the main trail a little bit to see the dinosaur tracks but agreed to do it, and then we come to a rock in front of us about 5 feet off the ground that has footprints of a dinosaur in the rock! The incredible footprints were slightly bigger than my hand.

dinosaur footprints — Dinosaur footprints in rock

Whenever we walk out of our cozy suite (possibly built for uranium miners or engineers in the 50’s), we see the mountains and hills and mesas everywhere. Right now they are red and green and tan, and parts are dusted with white snow. Nothing is blooming right now but you can see dry flowers and juniper berries on the cacti, bushes and trees.

Our one bedroom suite is in a building with three others. Ours is Suite M, with O, A and B in a line next to us. The fenced hot tub is outside in the back and felt wonderful late yesterday afternoon as we watched the clouds on the horizon turn from apricot to peach to pink to gray as the sun set. The town has a main street that goes through it with 4 or 5 lanes, most closed off now for construction. Main Street is a hodgepodge of shops, markets, hotels, etc. The streets are extremely wide with parking spaces everywhere. I thought these wide streets were because this small town fills with tourists in the summer but it is because Brigham Young believed that towns and cities should be designed so that the farmer could turn around his teams of 18 oxen, horses, and carriages around. It is easy to imagine this place during the summer with huge crowds, cars everywhere, traffic inching forward or stopped altogether, with all the stores, restaurants and bars open. We are pretty happy with no crowds. Chris was able to take this week as vacation so our pace is pretty slow.

View from the Rim Trail at Dead Horse Point State ParkOn the second day, we hiked at Dead Horse Point State Park, an area that legend says was where cowboys in the early 1800’s drove a herd of feral horses. There is a spit of land that you walk to over a narrow land bridge. Evidently these cowboys fenced off the land bridge, took the horses they wanted and left the rest to die. Very grim. But the magnificent vertical stone walls lead down to canyons carved by water and ice. Again there are rocks of all colors with the Colorado River at the bottom. It looked a little like a photo our daughter took of Horseshoe Bend in the Grand Canyon. On our 4 mile hike along the desert rim of a huge canyon, the temperature was 36 degrees but it felt like it was in the 40’s.

views from hiking — Views from the Rim Trail at Dead Horse Point State Park

We also spent a couple of peaceful days in Arches National Park hiking to various arches.

hiking trail — On the way to Sandstone Arch (above) and our lunch spot at Delicate Arch (below)

On the way to Sandstone Arch (above) and our lunch spot at Delicate Arch (below)

Hills of stone that resemble sand castles

Broken Arch – Two bumping dinosaur heads?

More petrogylphs on the way to Delicate Arch

Our last day in Moab was spent in Canyonlands where we saw the sun rise through Mesa Arch and hiked to a kiva (ancient ceremonial structure) on False Kiva Trail.

Golden morning hour – Chris on the side of Mesa Arch

An ancient Anasazi ceremonial structure or Kiva

Panorama view from the kiva – looking into deep canyons

Our time in Moab was a little cooler than we like but the sun allowed us to get outside every day for more than a couple hours! We left for Grass Valley, CA on Sunday, and go to Redding, CA on February 1^st.

We miss you, friends and family, and hope you are all thriving! A funny story for all you parents out there; on January 24^th, in the early morning, there was an earthquake centered near Kodiak, Alaska. One of our daughters is currently working outside Girdwood, Alaska. Poor Chris woke up at 4 am, and looked at the news and saw a 6.4 magnitude earthquake that might trigger a tsunami. He immediately began searching for more, and shared with me when I woke up momentarily a few minutes later. So then there were two! Chris texted Ilana who of course was sleeping, but the two of us were googling like crazy, pulling up maps, warnings, determining distances between the quake and our daughter, between the coast and our daughter, etc. Chris went to sleep at some point, and I was up until the tsunami warning was taken down. Some things never change no matter where you are!

(Credit for the post heading goes to my dear friend Lisa at Paychex.)