“Do this, don’t do that, can’t you read the sign?”
If you recognize these lines, you probably grew up when I did, or you are an amazing music fan. (And if you don’t, go listen to it on the Internet!) Some of us grew up when signs were taking over, and now we just don’t really notice them. But when we started moving around, we noticed they were unique.
This first set might not be so different but since protest signs are important to me, I have to show you the best of them.
These are from some different protests that I attended.
This one is “duh.”
There was quite a lot of hiking signs that we had never seen before. Some of them really surprised me because I thought everyone knew about these!
I may have hiked and camped too much in my life so I know all the safety rules, but who is stupid enough to feed bears or other wildlife?Another one that seemed kind of self-explanatory. I guess rattlesnakes need to be protected. I still have not seen one, but Chris has seen two while biking. They just hang out on The Loop, the Tucson bike path. He is thrilled each time. I am super okay not ever seeing one. This one was SURPRISING! We found it near the Grand Canyon. Another Grand Canyon sign. Again, I have never seen this sign ( and probbly won’t anywhere else!)One of my favorites!!Lots of venomous creature signs!
Some were just really funny. This first one is real! In New Mexico, and near Los Alamos, there were many of them!
My favorite sign in the world!
This one is not real but made me smile and want to buy it for so many people I know.
And here is another one that is not real, but I may need it in my front yard.
Here is one I got from someone else, but also laughed at it.
I will leave you with two signs seen as part of our breakfast project. The breakfast project is about finding the best breakfast places in Tucson. We have probably tried somewhere between 10-15 so far, and only 1 was just okay. But these had the best signs.
And Bobo’s has great coffee and amazing pancakes even though it is kind of a greasy diner. Another greasy ish diner that has amazing pancakes.
Ciao all! Good friends and new digs is the next to come!
Starting with a view of the sunrise and Navy Pier!
As we’ve travelled around the USA, I’ve always found it interesting how the names of places reflect their history.
We left Chicago at the end of December on our way to Tucson, where we have decided to live, for a little while at least. We left the Windy City much later than planned due to some unexpected aggravations.
“The Bean” – A famous sculpture downtown. We had never seen these amazing reflections at night. Beth’s happiest time in Chicago. At a family Chanukah party with many family members including 3 adorable kids.The Windy City in December
The first complication was the car deciding that, since we were leaving on a big trip, it needed its oil changed. Our van is very modern and will tell you when it needs its oil changed, but it’s not on a regular schedule. In that way it’s a bit like a toddler that knows they need to go to the bathroom and announces it at the last second, causing their parents to spring into frenzied action. “I need to go now!” “I need my oil changed now!” Although we’ve been taking the car out on a fairly regular basis, it decided that since we didn’t have any spare time that day, it needed its oil changed.
Complication number two was a failure of the apartment building to do what they said they were going to do. Namely, allow us to move out easily by programming the freight elevator for us and opening the loading dock doors. We had scheduled the freight elevator for that morning, but there was no freight elevator to be had. No problem, we’ll take the elevator with a back door and get to the car that way. Oops, nope, the loading dock doors are closed.
Taking matters into my own hands, I parked on the front sidewalk and proceeded to bring our stuff down from the 59th floor and stuff it into the car. As I was stuffing my second load into the car, a security guard walked up and told me that I couldn’t park there, on the sidewalk, in front of the building. After informing her on the lack of elevator and the closed loading dock doors, I challenged her to find a solution for me. Challenge accepted, she strode off as I moved the car to the alley and the rest of the packing went smoothly. Thank you security guard!
Now several hours behind schedule, we stopped and gave the “Hive” (our blog’s namesake) the oil change it craved, and headed down to St. Louis where we spent the night. Due to the long day, we ordered dinner from The Olive Garden, where we never eat, and had a good nights sleep. Coincidentally our daughter in Alaska and her boyfriend celebrated their anniversary by going to The Olive Garden in Anchorage the exact, same, night! Family togetherness when you’re spread all over a continent. I’ll take what I can.
Store window in Chicago
The next morning, we headed out on a long drive to Dallas, TX, our next stop. As I was sipping my morning coffee and driving, we passed Pomme de Terre Lake! There is also a Pomme de Terre stream that feeds that lake. We were surrounded by all these “Pommes” of “de Terre”!
So what exactly is a “Pomme de Terre”? Quickly utilizing my knowledge of Latin, I knew “Terre” meant “Earth”, as in “Terra Firma”, and “Terraforming”. But what the heck is a Pomme? It sounds very pretentious by itself and more-so when you round your mouth while saying it and slightly lowering your voice. Pomme. Yep, it’s French.
Beth translated this to English and accurately reported it as “Apple of the Earth”. Except she was wrong. Putting my knowledge of French to work, I knew it was actually a potato! Those weird and whacky French had been to the middle of Eastern Missouri and named something “Potato.” Why? I don’t know. I’m just happy that I was able to put my two words of Latin and one French vegetable to their fullest use by solving this riddle. Fortunately there weren’t more French or Latin words to translate the rest of the trip, or I’d have been in trouble.
So why Potato Lake and Potato stream? It turns out the lake is artificial and named after the stream a wandering Frenchman decided looked like a potato. Or maybe he thought it was good for growing potatoes? Or maybe he was hungry for potatoes? We may never know.
That’s what’s so cool about traveling! You never know what you will find. In this case, a food cultivated for centuries in the Andes was brought over to Europe. It was declared an Apple of the Earth by the awed Frenchmen, who then crossed back over the Atlantic to North America. And then, while wandering around the middle of the continent with potatoes on their mind, came across this stream in the middle of nowhere and named it after the food they were craving. Viola! We have a Pomme de Terre stream! And because of that stream and the Army Core of Engineers, we have Pomme de Terre Lake! And I love french fries!
Don’t they look good?
Sorry, I might have gone too far in the previous paragraph and done a disservice to French people everywhere. We (that is, us English speakers in North America) should consider the “apple of my eye” saying. If you are not familiar with this term, I can tell you that it’s not a medical condition and it’s not contagious. When someone is the apple of your eye it means that you love them, maybe even exclusively. Instead of lacking words, perhaps the French were so enamored with the potato that they named it Pomme de Terre to express their passionate love of this apple-like thing that came from the earth. The French, passion, and love – it’s a thing.
El Paso map
Does anyone know how Dallas got its name? It makes no sense to me. El Paso makes total sense; it means The Pass in Spanish. How about Tucson? Again, it makes no sense. Outside of Dallas, we stayed with a dear friend and her husband in Grapevine, Texas. Grapevine got it’s name due to its location on the appropriately-named Grape Vine Prairie near Grape Vine Springs, both names in homage to the wild grapes that grew in the area.
The sidewalk judges in Grapevine.
Our friends in Grapevine!
And how do you pronounce Tucson? It’s pronounced like the bird with a big colored beak selling round hoops of breakfast cereal, the Toucan. Too-can. Too-son. Maybe a Conquistador with a soft Barcelona lisp was trying to name it after the bird? As with Potato stream, we may never know.
I actually have no idea how most places got their names. However, some are easy, such as “New York”, “New Jersey”, “New Brunswick”; named by homesick Englishmen, obviously. Yet others are plainly from the Indians (how confused were those original explorers to name them Indians?). Names such as “Detroit”, “Ontario”, “Dupont”, “Winnebego” are all Indian names. Others are fun to say; Walla Walla, Washington and Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, for example – even if I don’t know where they come from. And now that Beth had read this, and added how Grapevine got its name (a question she asked when we were there), she is going to find out how all these places got their names!
Catalina Mountains at sunset. Taken near “Metal Arts Village”
So, now we’re in Tucson for the foreseeable future and enjoying sunshine and warmer weather. I am ignoring that one morning when Anchorage (known as a good place to park your boat), Alaska was warmer than Tucson by a whole degree Fahrenheit. More news to come soon about life in Tucson!
Anchorage is warmer than Tucson! How did this happen?
Totally off topic here, but when Ilana was in kindergarten, she learned this song called Albuquerque Turkey. Chris still remembers most of the words and here they are for you! (If I had to listen to it while we were there, its worth sharing!)
“Albuquerque is a turkey, and so feathered and so fine.
And he wobbles and gobbles and he is absolutely mine.
He’s the best pet that you can get, better than a dog or cat.
He’s my Albuquerque turkey and I am awfully proud of that.
Now my Albuquerque turkey is so happy in his bed,
Because for our Thanksgiving dinner, we’llhave egg fu young instead.”
Well we did not find any turkeys in Albuquerque (ABQ) and much to Chris’ dismay, we did not see rattlesnakes there either. He is fascinated by snakes whereas they give me the creeps. So of course, going back to the parking lot while hiking alone near Sedona, there is an eight foot snake making its way directly in front of me. And on the Bosque bike trail in ABQ, I almost ran over a six foot snake lying there. Even once when we were together, I saw a sidewinder snake and he did not! What is up with snakes? Are they like cats, where they are most interested in the people that are allergic to them?
Other than snakes, we saw lots of rabbits, lizards,and roadrunner with a lizard in mouth. Another off topic question:why do I like lizards but not snakes?
So back to the main topic…
Chilis are big here!
We spent 2 1/2 weeks in Albuquerque. The first 3 ish days, we spent with Ilana and Josh, who were on their way to Alaska. So wonderful to see our younger daughter, and get to know the her “bois.” We did not do very much except soak it in!! We were staying in a house very close to Old Town ABQ, and spent time walking around, eating and drinking, as well as looking at native art, and ABQ decals.
Salinas Mission
Ilana at Salinas Mission
Being in ABQ was a little fateful. On the day we got here, I got a Facebook request from a friend who I have not seen or contacted in over 20 years. When I looked at her profile, I noticed she lived in ABQ. So I messaged her to let her know that we were in ABQ until the end of May. It turned out her daughter was possibly going to spend 2 months in Buffalo, and she was contacting me because she remembered that I lived in Rochester. So very coincidental that she contacted me on the exact day we go in town! We were able to get in touch, and spend some quality tine with Wendy and her husband Joel. Wendy looks and acts exactly as I remember her and it was easy to renew our friendship. Joel is delightful, and loves to ride bikes as well, so both Chris and I got to ride with him.
We also had a visitor while in ABQ. An old family friend from Yonkers where Chris grew up was riding his bicycle from New York city to San Francisco, and stopped to take a rest day with us in ABQ. It was really fun to spend some time and hear about his grand adventure.
ABQ is on the Rio Grande, and has this very complicated system of irrigation ditches that provide water both to farmers and to home owners around the city. It is an amazingly complex system, part of a network of 1200 miles of ditches and aquecias. Many of these predate the 1600’s and were used by native people, where others were built by Spanish settlers in the 1600’s and 1700’s. So water rights are a big thing if you are a home owner and want to have a garden. You pay $20-30 per year, and in return, every couple of weeks, you have to be there when the water comes down the ditch to reroute it into your yard. People take time off their jobs on a regular basis to do this. There is even a job called a ditch rider who is in charge of figuring out how much water needs to be let into the various ditches for those who use the water. The ditch rider is not a guy on a horse with a big hat (which was my assumption), but is an irrigation system operator, who goes around in a pick up truck. If you do not pay your water “tax”, or you do not use your water, you can lose water rights.
The city is at 5000 feet, and close to the east are the Sandia Mountains. Sandia means watermelon .We did get a chance to see them turn purple ish as the sun set At the Level 5 bar at Hotel Chaco, so we could understand why they are called the watermelon mountains. Much of the city is in the river valley. It is pretty low key, easy to get around, and seems like pretty easy living.
Mountains looking kind of pink/purple like watermelon
Sunset from the rooftop bat at Hotel Chaco
The second weekend we were there, there was a yoga festival on Saturday, and a century ride in Sante Fe on Sunday. So I spent much of the day doing yoga at the Railyards. It was an amazing and different experience, being with people who are passionate about yoga, doing 4 or 5 classes with teachers who have different styles, and being absorbed in the world of yoga. I hope I get the chance to do this kind of thing again or maybe even attend a week long yoga retreat. The Railyards is an old and somewhat dilapidated building with railroad tracks going through it. Although from my perspective, it would be really great to renovate it, it gets used for a farmers market on Sundays, as a place for bands to plays,and various other events.
The Railyards, sit of the yoga festival
Before the class began. There were probably 100 people taking this class with a very well known teacher based in Phoenix.
We got up at 5 a.m. on Sunday to drive to Sante Fe so Chris could ride in the Sante Fe Century, 100 miles, over 5000 feet elevation change, with anywhere from 12-18 mile per hour winds. It was pretty challenging for him but he really had a great time. While he was out riding, I drank coffee, published a blog post, took a long walk along a hiking/biking trail, and went to the New Mexico Museum of Art. Then I hightailed it back to the century finish line to see him come over the line. Sante Fe is a beautiful and magical place, but after we fed Chris lots of food, we drove back to ABQ.
All smiles before starting the Century ride.
On my walk in Sante Fe
A lovely small art museum on the main square in Sante Fe.
An interior shot of the art museum which is located in one of the older buildings in Sante Fe.
An art show on the streets of Sante Fe. There is art everywhere in this city!
He is still smiling at the end!
There were tons of other interesting things to do in Albuquerque. We did not get to all but I will tell you more about them next time.
While in Sedona, we went for a balloon ride. I have wanted to do this for a long while and finally justified the expense to myself. Our younger daughter rode in a balloon when she was 13 because her grandfather got her a balloon ride gift. Here I am at 60, letting myself do it.
You get to see the sun rise from the balloon!
It is a full morning experience, where you get picked up at 5:15 am, ride out to the launch site, watch the balloon and basket get unloaded and filled, ride for 90 ish minutes, land, then have breakfast (champagne, OJ, apple fritters and fruit.) Then the balloons get deflated and put away, everything gets loaded again, and we get dropped off at our car.
Filling up the ballon with the basket on the side still.
The ballon is mostly full.
The ride was remarkable. We floated above the buttes, mesas and red rocks with amazing views in all directions. We saw the sun rise. We saw the top of some of the mesas we hiked up. There are other balloons flying. Mostly it is silent except when the burner is turned on. It felt magical enough that I could do this every day and not get tired of it (hence the new career direction.) Our pilot was probably in his early 70’s and had been flying for over 20 years. He was a fountain of ballooning knowledge and shared freely. The balloons launch from a specific spot but where you land is due to winds that day, so there are chase vehicles.
One of the many views from up high in the sky!
Typically other balloons fly at the same time because they all fly when the weather and winds are best.
This is what you see when you look up (when the burner is on.) This is why they tell you to wear a hat!
The fancy table for the after ballooning breakfast. These are the apple fritter and fruit plates.
I am looking pretty happy. It is because of the ride, not at all due to the mimosa!
While in this area we hiked to Cathedral Rock, Brims Mesa, Devil’s Bridge , Bell Rock and did the Courtyard Butte loop. You can hike around in the desert and stay on relatively flat trails, or you can hike up various mesas and buttes. They were all gorgeous. Cathedral Rock, Brim’s Mesa and Bell Rock had the added pleasure of astounding views from the top. We did so much hiking that I had to ask for an afternoon off from my husband after 3 or 4 days!
Looking up at Cathedral Rock.
Looking back while hiking/scrambling up Cathedral Rock. In the middle you see a basket cairn. I had never seen a cairn like this before Sedona. So organized and sturdy!
I liked this tree!
As far as you can go on Brim’s Mesa.
Devil’s Bridge was so special because you not only hike to a natural rock bridge/arch, but you can walk on top of it and across it when you get there (it is about 5 feet wide at a minimum). When we first arrived, there was a yogi doing downward facing dog. He then attempted a head stand but kind of changed his mind in the middle. There is also an amazing view if you hike to the bottom of the arch and walk through it. You see the arch and the landscape behind it.
On top of Devil’s bridge (about 5 feet across).
You can also hike beneath the arch and get a visual looking through it. Most people did not do this but we were really happy we did.
My obsession to visit every national park, monument, recreation area, etc. led us to our next stop on the way to Albuquerque. We have an annual national park pass and have definitely gotten the best deal in town with it. For most, it costs $80 annually, and to get into a park, monument or recreation area usually costs between $10-20. We were surprised to notice how many of these parks there are!
The Petrified Forest National Park is in a desert painted with lots of colors, and strewn with petrified wood. Petrified wood ranges from white to gold to reds to purples, and looks like stone. There is even a natural bridge made from a giant tree that was under water for many years before it appeared again.
First views of the Painted Desert.
It looks like this has been cut up but the petrification process actually did this.
A range of petrified colors
A bridge created by a petrified tree
We have been in Albuquerque for about 2 weeks and got to spend the first few days with Ilana and her boyfriend, Josh. I even got pfankuchen (a special treat – german roll up pancakes by Chris) for breakfast on Mother’s Day before they left for their adventures in Alaska.
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.
Panorama view of the desert.
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.
First view of Lost Palms Oasis
Happy couple with palms
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!
Sounds very strange when you think of it, “Traffic Calming”. It’s as if traffic is a toddler having a tantrum, or a cobra that needs soothing. Today I’m happy to announce that phrase has been officially added to my repertoire (just before my trick of using Google to look up how to spell ‘repertoire’). However, a more accurate phrase would be: “Piss off the driver by slowing them down and making sure they really want to be there because that’s where they live”.
Given the reputation of traffic in California, it seems that there is a need for more traffic calming. But so far, mostly it’s all been the same calming techniques used elsewhere. Zebra crosswalks, traffic lights, stop signs, more signs, more designs painted on the roads, etc. Or so I thought.
On our visit to Sacramento I was delighted to discover that California has a vast portfolio of traffic calming techniques, in the form of pavement modifications, that I was unaware of. These are “bumps”, “lumps”, “undulations”, and “tables”, along with the regular assortment of “raised crossings”, “striped bumps”, and others that are in the neighborhoods we visited. Where have you been all this time?
My absolute favorites are the undulations, as the following picture illustrates.
These make it to the top of the list not only because of their name, but because jellyfish also undulate. This makes it necessary to extend and undulate ones’ arms as you travel over the undulations. Extra points for undulating your head and body (safely of course) while traversing. These were such a hit that Beth had to tell me to stop doing that. After a few more times, I ceased undulating on the undulations and just smiled as we bumped along up and down.
Next come the lumps.
These are interesting since they are almost the same as the bumps, not quite table-like, and looking like someone got bored with dropping asphalt in neat rows. This is because they are three mounds stretched across the road, left to right, with dips for tires between the mounds. I was tempted to straddle the middle hump so that we had a smooth ride, but was worried that I would bottom out the car. Speed lumps, I address you when I say “job well done”!
Next in line are the speed humps.
These are as we know and hate them. They do their job here and everywhere else, for everyone, unless you have a truck with raised suspension and can just cruise over these babies. That’s probably why undulations were created.
Last in line of these new pacifications come tables and raised crossings.
Why is there only one picture you ask? I’m glad you asked. Just as with striped or safety speed bumps and plain-Jane speed bumps, raised crossings are the same as tables with some eyelash liner applied. This has the effect of calming down traffic and placing pedestrians in a raised location where they silhouette against the horizon allowing the slowed drivers to easily see them before taking careful aim and gunning their truck engines to catch some air (not really). Actually, it’s a clever combination of two different tasks in one design. (My apologies to all the Jane’s out there – I didn’t make up that expression.)
While calling these new techniques “vast” is probably overstating it a bit, I’m keeping it. Learning new things is so worth the effort.
Bonus Round: While looking up information for this post, I found out that you can order your own speed bumps and signs! Not only that, but these things are called “vertical displacement measures”!
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.
The Castle Dome – almost there!
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 tater tots at Woody’s
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.
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.
Our storage unit – this 3X3 foot space at the door is the only space left!
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).
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 in rock
My partner in crime
Our first arch ever!
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 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.
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
Double Arch
North window in the setting sun
Dinner at Moab Brewery
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.
Sunrise at Mesa Arch
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 1st.
We miss you, friends and family, and hope you are all thriving! A funny story for all you parents out there; on January 24th, 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.)
