After a few days in Vegas ( saw a couple of shows the best being Love, a Cirque Soleil to Beatles music), we flew home to see the kids and grandkids, relatives and friends. It was great to see how much the little ones had grown in just 7 weeks. Everyone is in school and doing well. Before we left Vegas, we toured the Hoover Dam. What an impressive piece of engineering. The tour into the dam was very informative. We drove over it with the RV as we left the area to head to the Grand Canyon. Last fall, we visited the North Rim so the South rim was a natural choice. ( the North Rim is closed this time of year for the winter). The Grand Canyon has spectacular scenery and wildlife. Our first view of the Canyon showed the end of the Bright Angel Trail that we took about 20 years ago with our children. We walked to the overlook of the river and back up in the same day. The kids have never forgotten how tough and fun it was. This time there was only an hour to jump down the trail and come back up. What beautiful sights from inside the canyon! Ledges, arches and petroglyphs were visible on the hike. A lecture by a NP ranger on the California condor was informative and exciting. We learned about the efforts to restore the population of the condor after only 22 remained in the world in the 80's. The program has been successful with about 60 living in the Grand Canyon now and 275 in California. We dreamt of seeing one but it was not to be. During the lecture, we were on the lookout for any to appear, Another reason to return to the GC. A family of Longhorn sheep were walking along the canyon walls that evening. Mom, Dad and baby walked and ran easily along the canyon walls often looking like they would go over the edge. We topped off the evening with a beautiful sunset which caused the canyon rocks to glow.
Our next stop was Canyon de Chelly NP in Arizona. On the way, we stopped along I40 to see the best preserved Meteor crater in the world. The vast floor of the crater has a circumference of 2.4 miles and is more than 550 feet deep. It is the NASA training site for the Apollo astronauts especially the Lunar Rover work because the site's surface is most similar to the moon. A guided hike to the edges and overhanging observation decks as well as a meteor rock that came from the collision 50,000 years ago. It astounded and amazed us!
We arrived later that day at the Canyon de Chelly in a remote section of eastern Arizona. We felt like we had driven to the end of the earth. The NP sits on an Navajo Indian reservation and the campground was within the NP and free to stay. The setting was beautiful with cottonwood tree leaves turning a blazing yellow. A full day jeep tour led by our Navajo guide, Arnelle, took us 40 miles out and back along the floor of the canyon. The open air jeep bounced and powered thru the sand at the bottom of the canyon to see the ruins. The red sandstone walls of the canyon jutted out and up at every angle. The Anasazi Indians had built their homes on the sides of the sandstone mountains and lived her from 800 AD to about 1300 A.D. The remains of their homes were visible today as well as pictographs and petroglyphs that were drawn at that time. The North route explored the Canyon del Muerto (Canyon of the dead) and we returned thru the South Canyon to see Canyon de Chelly. Our nine hour tour made us wonder how these people thrived. Currently about 25 Navajo families live in the canyon. Some of them offered their crafts for sale as well as their fry bread. Their horses and cows lined the dirt paths of the canyon.
On our way to Santa Fe, we stopped at the Acoma Pueblo to see the oldest continuously imhabited community in the US. Sitting on top of a mesa, the Acoma people live without the conveniences of running water or electricity or plumbing. Their pueblo consisted of many well kept homes, kivas, a church, and a cemetery. They referred to the burying of their dead as planting as they strongly believe in the afterlife. No pictures were allowed of the church or the cemetary and a permit was purchased to take pictures of the pueblo. Their society is a matriarchal one with the land being passed down through the mother to the youngest daughter. Many native artisans live in the pueblo who make unique and amazing pottery to sell to their visitors. After our tour, we walked down from the mesa on the stone stairs that the Acoma people used to go to the valley for water. We could not imagine navigating those crude stairs with a water jug perched on our head.
Arriving in Santa Fe, we visited the Cathedral, the Chapel with the miraculous wooden spiral staircase, the Georgia O'Keefe museum as well as the Capital building which housed over 600 pieces of art. What a spectacular display of New Mexican art in a beautiful round building. The square and many of its buildings were being renovated for the 400 year birthday of Santa Fe next year. We drove up to Taos on a beautiful road that hugs the Rio Grande river which is lined with cottonwood trees. In the early days, travelers would know that if you needed to find water, look for the cottonwood. Taos is a beautiful artist community that focuses on health and spiritual enlightenment. It was back in the 60's that young people from all over the country migrated to the Taos area to live in communes and harvest their own food. Most of them are gone or turned into B&Bs now. The Santa Fe area especially Taos deserves another visit in the future.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Los Angeles to Quartzite, AZ
Leaving the bay area, we travelled to a lightly visited National Park, actually a double NP, Sequoia and Kings Canyon. We felt like we had driven to the end of the earth. Very few cars or people were seen in our 2 days there. The 2 largest (not the tallest) trees in the world, General Sherman & General Grant were their names. General Sherman is the largest by volume and it continues to grow each year. It is estimated at 2200 years old. What a site. We felt like midgets gazing at these trees. Driving up the side of the mountain to enter the park was a thrill. You could see where you came from down below and looked up to see where the road would take us. We enjoyed hiking among the Sequoia trees and climbed the 400 steps up Moro rock. What spectacular 360 panoramic view of the mountain ranges in the distance from the top of the rock ! We were so excited to get to the top of a rock without doing rock climbing with all the danger and equiptment. Kings Canyon was a canyon deeper than the Grand Canyon but not as large. The view down into the canyon was breathtaking.
Our next stop was Los Angeles to see Allie (Marge's youngest daughter) in college at Azusa Pacific University and my cousin Marilyn who live in Woodland Hills just north of LA. We arrived at our campground in VanNuys without hitting the famous LA traffic jams on the freeway. What a blessing! The drive through the " grapevine" on I-10 outside LA was a long uphill climb. We quickly understood why they have a huge number of accidents on this road in the fog. A drive down to the ocean on the winding roads thru the hillsides showed beautiful homes hanging from the hillsides. We drove thru Malibu and Santa Monica before we stopped at Venice Beach Boardwalk. The boardwalk is colorfully adorned by beauties and beasts on bikes, skateboards, and rollorblades. Many unusual shops dotted the boardwalk. We passed the muscle beach where we saw a gym where Governor Arnold reportedly worked out. Surfers abounded in the waves and a beautiful sunset was enjoyed.
We met Allie for lunch and a tour of her apartment and campus. It's a small Christian college, Azusa Pacific University, with 2 campuses. After a delightful lunch, we viewed artwork by Jackson Pollack on campus. We wondered what made it art, as it looked like any 2 year old could accomplish the same. One campus had beautiful modern buildings while the other was much older. We loved seeing Allie in her element with other students calling out to her as we walked by. Allie must be the most popular girl on campus. She loves the fact that her professors know her by name as her classes have about 15-20 students. The next day she was going home to celebrate her 20th birthday.
The next day was spent with my cousing Marilyn and her family. What a delightful visit we had. Marilyn was originally from St. Charles Il and had gone to nursing school at Little Company near my home when I was about 10 years old. She and my mom were best buddies in those days. She moved from Il to Conn to California. She is a psychologist by trade and enjoys doing it part time. We enjoyed meeting her daughter Ann and her husband David and her son Jim and his wife Monica. Jim is a photographer and Geri had lots of questions for him. Ann has an internet business called Plush Puffs, a gourmet marshmellow that she manufactures and sells. They were served at the Emmy Awards last year. So if you have sweet tooth, go to plushpuffs.com and try them.
Driving out of LA was a breeze as we left early in the AM. We headed down to Joshua Tree NP for the day. We walked among the chollas and unusual plants trying not to touch them as they sting. The Joshua trees were unique in size and shape growing only 1/2 inch a year, They were named by the early Mormons as they thought they were reaching up to heaven. Huge boulders were visible in many parts of the park. Their unique shapes were so appropriately named such as Skull rock. Many of the hiking trails required some scrambling over the boulders. We met many young people at this NP as they love to go "bouldering". They carried a huge mat on their back that they used to cushion the fall they probably would take while climbing up the boulders. You've got to be young to be a true boulderer. The hikes featured an old dam and a small arch by Arches standards, Seeing a roadrunner and a jackrabbit told us we were truly in the desert. A beautiful park that combines the Mohave dessert with the Colorado desert.
Our next drive took us south along the Salton Sea, the third largest inland salt-water lake in the US. A stop at the Sonny Bono Natl Wildlife Refuse rewarded us with sightings of many of Geri's favorite water birds. White pelicans, great blue herons, eggrets and woodstorks as well as many birds and ducks were spotted. We continued our drive very close to the Mexican border ( we could see the fences) to Yuma and points north. Tonight we are camping on BLM land outside of Quartzite Arizona. Tomorrow we will head north to Las Vegas where we will try our luck for a few days before we fly home to Chicago to visit our children and grandchildren.
Our next stop was Los Angeles to see Allie (Marge's youngest daughter) in college at Azusa Pacific University and my cousin Marilyn who live in Woodland Hills just north of LA. We arrived at our campground in VanNuys without hitting the famous LA traffic jams on the freeway. What a blessing! The drive through the " grapevine" on I-10 outside LA was a long uphill climb. We quickly understood why they have a huge number of accidents on this road in the fog. A drive down to the ocean on the winding roads thru the hillsides showed beautiful homes hanging from the hillsides. We drove thru Malibu and Santa Monica before we stopped at Venice Beach Boardwalk. The boardwalk is colorfully adorned by beauties and beasts on bikes, skateboards, and rollorblades. Many unusual shops dotted the boardwalk. We passed the muscle beach where we saw a gym where Governor Arnold reportedly worked out. Surfers abounded in the waves and a beautiful sunset was enjoyed.
We met Allie for lunch and a tour of her apartment and campus. It's a small Christian college, Azusa Pacific University, with 2 campuses. After a delightful lunch, we viewed artwork by Jackson Pollack on campus. We wondered what made it art, as it looked like any 2 year old could accomplish the same. One campus had beautiful modern buildings while the other was much older. We loved seeing Allie in her element with other students calling out to her as we walked by. Allie must be the most popular girl on campus. She loves the fact that her professors know her by name as her classes have about 15-20 students. The next day she was going home to celebrate her 20th birthday.
The next day was spent with my cousing Marilyn and her family. What a delightful visit we had. Marilyn was originally from St. Charles Il and had gone to nursing school at Little Company near my home when I was about 10 years old. She and my mom were best buddies in those days. She moved from Il to Conn to California. She is a psychologist by trade and enjoys doing it part time. We enjoyed meeting her daughter Ann and her husband David and her son Jim and his wife Monica. Jim is a photographer and Geri had lots of questions for him. Ann has an internet business called Plush Puffs, a gourmet marshmellow that she manufactures and sells. They were served at the Emmy Awards last year. So if you have sweet tooth, go to plushpuffs.com and try them.
Driving out of LA was a breeze as we left early in the AM. We headed down to Joshua Tree NP for the day. We walked among the chollas and unusual plants trying not to touch them as they sting. The Joshua trees were unique in size and shape growing only 1/2 inch a year, They were named by the early Mormons as they thought they were reaching up to heaven. Huge boulders were visible in many parts of the park. Their unique shapes were so appropriately named such as Skull rock. Many of the hiking trails required some scrambling over the boulders. We met many young people at this NP as they love to go "bouldering". They carried a huge mat on their back that they used to cushion the fall they probably would take while climbing up the boulders. You've got to be young to be a true boulderer. The hikes featured an old dam and a small arch by Arches standards, Seeing a roadrunner and a jackrabbit told us we were truly in the desert. A beautiful park that combines the Mohave dessert with the Colorado desert.
Our next drive took us south along the Salton Sea, the third largest inland salt-water lake in the US. A stop at the Sonny Bono Natl Wildlife Refuse rewarded us with sightings of many of Geri's favorite water birds. White pelicans, great blue herons, eggrets and woodstorks as well as many birds and ducks were spotted. We continued our drive very close to the Mexican border ( we could see the fences) to Yuma and points north. Tonight we are camping on BLM land outside of Quartzite Arizona. Tomorrow we will head north to Las Vegas where we will try our luck for a few days before we fly home to Chicago to visit our children and grandchildren.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay area is the home of many of our relatives. We started our tour with a weekend visit to Meadow Vista where Jim's cousin Kim and her husband Ted had built a amazing new home near Kim's parents, Uncle Claus and Aunt Dorothy. The house is patterned after a Tuscan Villa with a wonderful view of the golf course below. Each room is a treasure. They are very gracious hosts and they love entertaining. It was like staying at a 5 star resort. Old times were discussed and laughed over. Kim and Ted hosted a BBQ for their family including cousin Stacey and her daughters, Jenai and Taryn as well as Uncle Claus and Aunt Dorothy. It was a scumptious feast topped off by Kim's homemade rhubarb pie. Kim drove us to Nevada City to see a real gold rush town. We enjoyed the farmers market and the quaint shops that lined the streets. We also visited an old gold mine with a fine display of rare and precious stones. Finally,Ted and Kim took us on a tour of their beautiful golf course which they have both mastered(?). It's landscape and design would make the course a challenge for any level of golfer. When we visit again, we'll bring our clubs and lots of balls. It was a very special weekend which we will fondly remember.
The rest of the week was spent riding BART into the city to do the tourist sites. A farmer's market started our day with Geri purchasing some of the finest produce since Nevada City as well as fresh walnuts. We enjoyed walking (downhill only ) in the city and stopped by Marge's office in the Embarquedero building. Quite the impressive office. We rode the cable cars from one end of the city to the other with stops at Lombard St, and the Wharf. Watching the cars drive down Lombard St. made us want to do it, so later in the week we did it. What a gorgeous street filled with flowers and curves. On the wharf, we stopped to taste and buy Bedouin sour dough bread. They also showed how it was made. What a delicious treat.
While in the city we had special times with Marge and her son Dan and daughter Lauren. A visit to Dan's apartment in the city was great. With Ansel Adams and one of his original photographs on the wall, it was hard to tell which was Dan's and which was Ansel's. Dan and Marge took us to one of their favorite restaurants in the city serving Asian- American Fusion cuisine. Each dish was cleverly presented and the food was unique. Another evening, we had dinner with Dave, Marge, and Lauren in Dublin. Dave was reliving their trip in an RV across the country when gasoline was only 39 cents a gallon. ( How old are they??) It was great to catch up on old family stories and RV travelling.
Lauren is a student at Cal in Berkley, so she took us on tour of the campus and her apartment. It was great to see the diversity of the student body, the architecture of the buildings , as well as the natural surroundings. Hearing Lauren's college stories brought back a few memories of our experiences. On Saturday, we attended the Cal- ASU game. It was a close game with lots of action. We enjoyed cheering Cal on to a win. Thanks Lauren for those Cal sweatshirts and those game tickets.
We spent another day driving from Half Moon Bay to the Marin headlands over the Golden Gate Bridge. What sights we saw along the ocean! Rugged rocks with endless beaches and crashing waves delighted our senses. Surfers were visible along the coast. Each beach gave us a different view and angle of the Golden Gate bridge. What an achitectural marvel.
The final highlight of the week was a sensational meal at Aqua, the restaurant where Dan performs his Sommolier duties. Dan invited us to dinner with Marge and we feasted for five hours. It's hard to imagine how one can dine for five hours but at Aqua it happens. Each course is served with impeccable elegance and beautiful presentation.
Dan carefully paired a different type of wine with each course. His choices of wines ranged from California wines to French and German wines. As he poured, he explained each wine's provenance to us novices. Geri's favorite was a Reisling from Germany, while Jim and Marge enjoyed them all.(Surprise) The food at Aqua is prepared by the chef and finished by the server at the table who explains the preparation and ingredients in each dish. The first course was caviar which told us this wouldn't be just any meal. Next our Tuna Tartare was combined at the table with quail egg yolk and a myriad of fresh herbs and spices. A gastronomic delight. The third course included raw oysters,crab and foie gras. Our next course was a delicious cheese souffle with porcini mushrooms.. Our fabulous entrees included ahi tuna, halibut, and scallops. The wonderful cheese course followed. Are we full yet? Dessert was an art to behold. Passion fruit souffle, a chocolate truffle and strawberry glacee were each presented so beautifully, it was tough to eat them. Dan served us our favorite dessert wine from Far Niente Winery. At the completion of the meal, we thanked Dan and the staff of Aqua for making it truly a dining experience of a lifetime.
To all our midwest relatives, this is what you can expect when you come to California.
The rest of the week was spent riding BART into the city to do the tourist sites. A farmer's market started our day with Geri purchasing some of the finest produce since Nevada City as well as fresh walnuts. We enjoyed walking (downhill only ) in the city and stopped by Marge's office in the Embarquedero building. Quite the impressive office. We rode the cable cars from one end of the city to the other with stops at Lombard St, and the Wharf. Watching the cars drive down Lombard St. made us want to do it, so later in the week we did it. What a gorgeous street filled with flowers and curves. On the wharf, we stopped to taste and buy Bedouin sour dough bread. They also showed how it was made. What a delicious treat.
While in the city we had special times with Marge and her son Dan and daughter Lauren. A visit to Dan's apartment in the city was great. With Ansel Adams and one of his original photographs on the wall, it was hard to tell which was Dan's and which was Ansel's. Dan and Marge took us to one of their favorite restaurants in the city serving Asian- American Fusion cuisine. Each dish was cleverly presented and the food was unique. Another evening, we had dinner with Dave, Marge, and Lauren in Dublin. Dave was reliving their trip in an RV across the country when gasoline was only 39 cents a gallon. ( How old are they??) It was great to catch up on old family stories and RV travelling.
Lauren is a student at Cal in Berkley, so she took us on tour of the campus and her apartment. It was great to see the diversity of the student body, the architecture of the buildings , as well as the natural surroundings. Hearing Lauren's college stories brought back a few memories of our experiences. On Saturday, we attended the Cal- ASU game. It was a close game with lots of action. We enjoyed cheering Cal on to a win. Thanks Lauren for those Cal sweatshirts and those game tickets.
We spent another day driving from Half Moon Bay to the Marin headlands over the Golden Gate Bridge. What sights we saw along the ocean! Rugged rocks with endless beaches and crashing waves delighted our senses. Surfers were visible along the coast. Each beach gave us a different view and angle of the Golden Gate bridge. What an achitectural marvel.
The final highlight of the week was a sensational meal at Aqua, the restaurant where Dan performs his Sommolier duties. Dan invited us to dinner with Marge and we feasted for five hours. It's hard to imagine how one can dine for five hours but at Aqua it happens. Each course is served with impeccable elegance and beautiful presentation.
Dan carefully paired a different type of wine with each course. His choices of wines ranged from California wines to French and German wines. As he poured, he explained each wine's provenance to us novices. Geri's favorite was a Reisling from Germany, while Jim and Marge enjoyed them all.(Surprise) The food at Aqua is prepared by the chef and finished by the server at the table who explains the preparation and ingredients in each dish. The first course was caviar which told us this wouldn't be just any meal. Next our Tuna Tartare was combined at the table with quail egg yolk and a myriad of fresh herbs and spices. A gastronomic delight. The third course included raw oysters,crab and foie gras. Our next course was a delicious cheese souffle with porcini mushrooms.. Our fabulous entrees included ahi tuna, halibut, and scallops. The wonderful cheese course followed. Are we full yet? Dessert was an art to behold. Passion fruit souffle, a chocolate truffle and strawberry glacee were each presented so beautifully, it was tough to eat them. Dan served us our favorite dessert wine from Far Niente Winery. At the completion of the meal, we thanked Dan and the staff of Aqua for making it truly a dining experience of a lifetime.
To all our midwest relatives, this is what you can expect when you come to California.
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