I must be dreaming

3/24-25/10
After visiting St. Lobos State Reserve in Big Sur I’m not sure there’s anything left to look forward to.  Surely there can be nothing more stunning! We spent a day there climbing on the rocks, exploring the tidal pools and being mesmerized by the crashing aqua waves. It really is the ‘greatest meeting of sea and land’ around.

We’re just leaving San Francisco and our 18th campground (I know, can you believe it?) headed for the land of redwoods.  San Francisco was wonderfully entertaining.  We spent 2 days in the city hanging out on or near the Fisherman’s Wharf – both days gorgeous weather-wise.  After driving around the city and visiting China Town, we made our way to the 1-block section of Lombard St. known as the “most crooked street in the world.” Driving down it as well as walking up gave us not only great exercise but an awesome view of the city below. What a neat place it would be to live. 

Yesterday we rented tandem bikes for the day and rode them along the bay and over the Golden Gate Bridge.  Standing there on the bridge looking out over the bay out to Alcatraz seemed somewhat surreal.  Sometimes I have to pinch myself to see if I’m really conscious!  San Francisco reminded me a lot of our time in New Orleans – mainly because of all the people and side-street acts going on around every corner.  One of my favorites was a group of 4-5 guys who, with heavy bass music in the background, sit at a small booth and paint Golden Gate Bridge scenes using spray paints on poster board.  They do them in about 6 minutes. It’s incredible to watch.  They sell them for $5.00 each (way too cheap in my opinion) so of course I bought one that we had watched come to life. 

As I type we’re driving through the hilly Sonoma and Napa Valley areas admiring all of the vineyards that seem to go on endlessly.  The vines are bear of fruit but are pruned and ready for new growth.  I’m sure the growers are thankful for the recent heavy rains here after three years of drought.  It should get things off to a great start.  Glass of vino anyone?  I’m looking forward to taste-testing some local vintages along the way. Hear that hubby?

Rocky Road

San Luis Obispo and Big Sur
We’ve had an amazing few days playing on the rocky coast; finding cool anemones and beautiful starfish (one more than a foot across). I never thought I’d like the jagged coast after being brought up on the smooth white shores of VA but I have to say I love it.

After leaving the LA area we continued up the coast via the Pacific Coastal Highway passing briefly through Santa Barbara which I’m sure I would have loved had I had time to be courted.  However, finding parking on one of the quaint little town streets for our Expedition with pop-up in tow apparently wasn’t in the cards.  For when, after circling several blocks, we finally found a spot, it turned out to have a 15-minute limit which barely gave us time to walk briskly around the block.  We seized the opportunity but that pretty much concluded our Santa Barbara adventure. 

We had better luck in San Luis Obispo, which immediately went to the top of my “where I’d like to live” list.  We camped in a wooded state campground nestled between the hillsides and the local botanical gardens -- a lovely college town and not far from the charming streets of “downtown” where we’d heard they host a “Farmers Market” every Thursday evening.  Coincidentally we were there on a Thursday (wink).  The market was well worth the planning.  The main street running through the town is blocked off for several blocks and vendors of every nature set up their booths while local shop proprietors move items onto the sidewalks and post signs for market specials.  Tables of fresh produce share the curbs with food vendors, realtors, political campaigners, and performing artists.  There’s something for everyone and it was apparent on this beautiful evening that nearly “everyone” was in attendance as the streets became quite crowded.

One of our favorite attractions was a narrow alley between two buildings.  The walls (and some of the windows) had been colorfully decorated with thousands upon thousands of pre-chewed wads of gum.  Joelle was the first to notice it and quickly announced “Mom, Mom, look!  It’s Bubblegum Alley!” as though she had been expecting to see that very thing.  As she and Kerby excitedly rushed down the alley she informed me that she was indeed familiar with such anomalies and had read about them in one of her National Geographic Kids Magazines.  While I’m not sure I agree with one passerby who replied to his friend’s obvious disgust, “I think it’s beautiful,” I have to admit it’s at least interesting to look at.

Continuing along the PCH the following day heading toward Big Sur, the coastal views got better and better - what an amazing shoreline!  The California coast really is breath-taking.  Like the Grand Canyon, you really can’t experience the grandeur anywhere near in pictures the way you can in person on a brilliantly sunny day.  It reminded me quite a bit of Ireland when Scott and I were there in 2000 – the rolling green hills, the jagged coastline and the crashing waves. Had I known the west coast had such beauty maybe we’d have foregone Ireland all together. We stopped briefly along the way to explore Hearst Castle at San Simeon.  While the visitor’s center offers tours for a mere $72 (for the 4 of us), we chose instead to view the massive architectural wonder, sitting on its 200+ acre hillside lot, from a distance and watched a movie explaining its origins and 90 year history.

A second more spontaneous roadside stop involved us getting reprimanded by the local park ranger and nearly getting ourselves a citation.  Driving along we spotted a large group of seals lying belly-up on the beach and couldn’t resist the opportunity to get a closer look.  Pulling over and following a path down to the seaside where some were frolicking in a tidal pool while others lounged lazily on the warm sand, we were able to walk right into the midst of them.  While we photographed them, sat only feet away on the sand from several and laughed at the funny antics and raspberry sounds they made, little did we realize that we were breaking the law.  After about 20 minutes a ranger yelled from his truck on the nearby Hwy 1 for us to “clear the area.”  Doing so immediately and walking back up the path from which we’d come, the ranger met us half way and gave us a long dissertation on the reasons why we shouldn’t be where we had just been and why he could give us a citation.  In the end we escaped ticket free but wearing the “look of shame.” 

At the end of the day, we’re settled once again in a lovely campground where we’re right next to the Big Sur River and encircled by Redwoods – more beauty – what can I say?  It just keeps getting better. 

Glitz and Glamour

Malibu Beach and Hollywood - as usual this post is outdated since I typed it a week ago and am only now actually posting it. . . but anyway, here's where we've been. . .

Days 74-76  3/14-3/16
Once again I’ve persuaded Scott to extend our stay in our current location.  I’m in heaven here (Los Angeles).  Blue skies and low 80’s, gentle breezes, waves crashing not far away, flowers and chirping birds all around – why would I want to leave?  Okay so gas is $3.19/gal., milk is $4.30/half gal and a bundle of 5 sticks of firewood is $5.00 . . . . the Starbucks still costs the same.

We did the Hollywood thing yesterday.  Seeing as how we couldn’t make it 5 paces without being approached by a Hollywood Tours representative shoving fliers at us, we stalled for a good deal and hopped aboard an open-top “bus” along with 6 other people for a 2 hour ride.  Zipping around in and out of traffic we briefly stopped at many of the rich and famous stars’ homes (Tom Cruise, Hallie Barry, Keanu Reeves, the late Michael Jackson, and Bob Barker to name a few) to get a glimpse through the gates, trees and shrubbery of the mansions in which these stars occasionally live.  We even saw a few paparazzi waiting in anticipation near some homes and we passed the condos where Brad Pitt stayed for a reported 4 months after his break with Jennifer.  A slow ride down Rodeo Dr. allowed us to get as close to some of the world’s best known designer shops as my wallet will ever allow and a drive going nearly straight up gave us a close up viewing of the famous HOLLYWOOD mountainside sign (which we were told is about to become surrounded by houses and condos if the city is unable to secure the property which was recently sold by the private owner for a mere 3.5 million to a private buyer who is now generously offering it to the city for only 20 million).  And of course we walked the star-lined sidewalks in search of our favorite names.  Kerby and Joelle enjoyed the bus ride but got little from the names being thrown around since none of them related to Miley Cyrus, Daniel Radcliff, or the Jonas Brothers.

As I write this I’m being frequently distracted . . . lizards running by my feet and doing push-ups on a nearby wall (not sure what that’s about), a hawk raiding a gold finch nest while being attacked by two crows, and a crow flying overhead with a large white tissue (or is that a flag of surrender?) in its beak. . . very distracting but I'm still loving it here in this Malibu campground.

Anyway, we finished the day off by heading out to Pasadena to join some friends, Jennifer and Josh, at their place where we enjoyed a big bowl of yummy “taco soup” - a family recipe - and caught up on the details of their young careers and upcoming wedding May 1st.  Josh, who currently works at Dream Works as an animator, but previously worked for the creators of Veggie Tales gave us an on screen demo of how he creates the magic.  It was quite cool.  He’s recently worked on the upcoming film “How to Train Your Dragon” and is currently working on a sequel series that sounds exciting (which I’d tell you about but, then I’d have to kill you so I won’t).  Jennifer, after graduating from Seminary and becoming ordained is working in a local church and anticipating future possibilities.  We had a great time with them.

Coast to Coast

 

 Kerby and Joelle exploring behind our campsite in Bonita

Days 70—73    Written 3/13/10
I loved the desert with its unique beauty and jagged mountains but I’d forgotten what joy warm sunshine and green valleys also bring.  It’s funny, coming into California after being in TX, NM and AZ all this time; it’s like crossing into another dimension.  The landscape is so different.

 San Diego looking from Point Loma Light House

We took a ride up the road to Point Loma Light House and Cabrillo National Monument (named after the Spanish explorer who is believed to be the first European to step foot on the west coast).

 Left to Right: Scott/Tank, Kerby/Bobby, Nan/Stanley and Joelle/Pawny

On Scott’s birthday, which happened to be yesterday, we went horseback riding in a rural area of San Diego at a nearby ranch.  For an hour we rode peacefully (the 4 of us and a guide) through the green fields.  It was a clear and sunny day in the 70’s - apparently the typical day in Bonita – not a bad place to hang out. After taking months of horseback riding lessons at home, Kerby and Joelle were thrilled to mount up and sit in the saddle once more.  It was great fun for all of us.

 Stuck in LA traffic. . .

Playing on the west coast (our campsite is right above Kerby and Joelle's heads in the top pic)

This afternoon I finally put my feet in the Pacific Ocean for the first time.  We arrived at Malibu Beach RV Park (right on the Pacific Coast Hwy) around 3:30 and, after setting up, wasted no time in getting down to the shore (which is just across the road and easily seen from our hillside campsite).  The water was much warmer than we anticipated.  Still too cold to swim (at least for me) but warm enough to wade in.  The kids were ecstatic to be at the beach (a family favorite). We spent the better part of an hour splashing around and enjoying the Malibu scenery then headed off for a fresh seafood dinner at a nearby beachside restaurant. 

We’re looking forward to a few more nice days here where we plan to take in some more sun and sea, catch up with one of Scott’s former students who’s about to be married and is eager for us to meet her future husband, and see the LA sites (if we can negotiate the traffic – it’s murder out here).

Mountains. . . . Desert. . . . Beach. . . I don’t know. . . I love them all!

Charting New Territories

 Kerby and Joelle Chart our Travels

Days 68- 69     Written 3/10/10
We awoke to about 50 degree temps and bright sunshine this morning. I’m looking out the back window of our camper at the beautiful, green, and lush rolling hills of San Diego, CA—quite a contrast to the barren grey flatness of the desert we’ve seen over the last 3 weeks. We arrived here (Sweetwater Regional State Park) after leaving LasVegas behind yesterday.  It felt like coming home after being cooped up in a hotel room for the last 6 nights. We were all really missing our PUP.  Funny, I thought on this trip we’d be begging for the conveniences of hotel rooms with their t.v.s and private baths, but we much prefer the cozy space, fresh air and the king-size beds of our camper.  We're glad to be "home" again.

Las Vegas was a wild and crazy (and kind of creepy) place.  But we had fun getting a small taste of the 'Sin City'.  We stayed at a "family friendly" hotel casino (as if there were such a thing in Vegas) called Circus Circus.  It had lots of kid friendly attractions (including some circus acts) that amused Kerby and Joelle. We didn’t leave any richer (I’m sure that’s a huge surprise to all of you).  We left a little poorer but not much – I am after all, with Scott.  How much do you think he’s going to let me gamble!?!  It was fun to at least sit at the slot machines and take a little risk.  I can see why people get jazzed from it – it’s a rush when you win (even when you’re already down); it gives you that little bit of hope that keeps you hooked.  I think Scott was afraid to leave me alone for too long (I can't imagine why).

The detour to Vegas afforded us the opportunity to travel over the Hoover Dam which we thought we were going to miss this go round.  There's a lot more too it than I thought there would be.  It's quite a feat of engineering and an amazing site.  I wish we'd have had time to get out and take a tour - I think it would have been quite educational and entertaining.

I don’t know if the economy is to blame or if this is normal San Diego lifestyle but, there are quite a few individuals/families living in the campground.  The CA park system regulations, like most, allow guests to stay for 21 consecutive days, requiring them to vacate for at least 7 days before returning.  It appears that some of these folks though have permanent shelters here, whether it be an RV, tent or pickup with a shell, it seems obvious that many of them haven’t moved in months.  I spoke to one such “resident” and she told me that they “had saved enough to either get a place or upgrade their camper (an S10 with a camper shell)” but, they weren’t sure which they wanted to do.  I guess living in the state park must not be too bad.  I have to admit that this particular park is pretty nice and with the temperate year round weather, if I had to live in a park, this one would at least make the top ten.

 

 Driving into Bonita (San Diego)

Birthdays and Big Ditches

Days 62-67  
Leaving Alamogordo we made a stop just down the road at the Three Rivers Petroglyphs site – an area where visitors can access over 20,000 petroglyphs (images scratched into the surface of rocks) created by Jornada Mogollon people between 900 AD and 1400 AD. 

It was also here that we spotted our first (and so far, last) Roadrunner.  He was quite entertaining as he teased the camp host's leashed dog.  We were told that the camp host often feeds the bird raw hamburger meat which explains why he was eager to approach us. What a unique member of the feathered family.

Albuquerque, being a big city, seemed like a logical destination for a birthday bonanza the next day – Kerby turning 10 and Joelle turning 9.  We celebrated in style from our camper.  The kids awoke early to balloons and other celebratory decorations and enjoyed chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast after which we spray-painted their hair in sparkling  orange and green giving them a festive birthday look. Leaving our campsite, the first stop was the Page One Bookstore (their choice – gotta love that!) where we killed a couple of hours and the kids picked out a few books to replace those they’d just finished.  We grabbed a quick bite to eat at Quiznos and then on to the next stop – Hinkle Family Fun Center.  This place was a gas – two big buildings offering everything from laser tag, go carts and mini-golf to arcade games, virtual computer games and bumper cars.  We did it all, running from one fun thing to another.  Afterwards we made a stop at the local Target where the kids spent the birthday money their grandmother had given them.  Thankfully they didn’t want huge toys that we’d likely not have room for in the camper but instead bought two DSi game cartridges (easy fit – the DSi is redeemed!), then it was off to Applebee’s for dinner.  We ended the day by watching the 5th Harry Potter movie (we’d just finished the book a few days earlier) and enjoyed some chocolate-dipped strawberries for dessert. All in all I think the kids had a great day and, as always, Scott and I had a blast too.  We all fell into bed exhausted and happy ready to move on down the road the next morning.

 

Laser Tag

 

 Joelle in the pod ready to play a virtual robot-blasting game and then doing the "happy dance" after her 3rd hole-in-one

 

  

  

 

Next stop – Williams, AZ and the Grand Canyon.  I won’t write much here since Scott did a great job summarizing this awesome experience on his blog (www.fixedmoments.blogspot.com), but this was certainly one of the highlights of the trip thus far.  The kids at this point are getting overloaded with “amazing” sites and while they thought the canyon was “cool” they certainly didn’t get the awesomeness of where they were.  I guess at age 45, after years of yearning to see this big ditch, being here is a little more impressive for me than for my 9 and 10 year old kids.


We’re staying in a local hotel for 4 nights due to the cold night temps up here – a little chillier than we wanted to battle.  Although having a private shower and a t.v. is nice we miss our little pop-up and are ready to get back to camping. There’s something to be said for only being a canvas’ thickness away from the open air – it feels like you’re so much more a part of the world.

Desert Oasis

Our map on the side of the camper -- getting more filled in every week.

Days 54-58 --  2/22-26/2010
We spent another few days making our way across the great state of Texas – moving on to Odessa where we’d already planned to hunker down in a hotel for one night to escape the unseasonably cold temps but, ended up staying for two nights due to 5 inches of snow that fell while we slept (our first thus far – snow that is, not sleep). 

Snow in Odessa, TX

On 2/24 we finally made our way to the other side of Texas and crossed into New Mexico.  The drive proved more interesting that I had anticipated.

 We all marveled at the busy “nodding donkeys” (oil pumps) that dotted the flat landscape in every direction.  We also admired the vast number of wind turbines to both sides of the highway as we continued west.  As we progressed further into the desert we became awestruck.  Never having been in the desert before, I was mesmerized by the sheer distance I could see looking in any one direction. 

 

Behind our campsite

 

The sunset in Lake Brantley State Park

We landed a campsite in Lake Brantley State Park’s Limestone Campground in Carlsbad, NM – a beautiful desert park built where a living sea once flourished.  The entire park sits atop 3,000 acres of limestone that was formed from the remains of sea life millions of years ago.  Though among the desert, the park boasts a 2,500 acre lake.  The sunset on the first night we were there was enough to make me fall in love with the west – colors that just can’t be captured by a camera (though we tried).  The kids enjoyed the landscape as well – running around between the prickly pear cacti and the other prickly flora down to the lakeside.  It really is beautiful in a way that I had not expected – presumably even more so in the spring months when the cacti are in bloom.  I wish we were going to be here to see it.

While there, as planned, we visited Carlsbad Caverns.  Walking over 800 feet down into a magical  underground world was like nothing else we’ve done.  It boggles the mind to walk among such majestic structures knowing that they were formed over 200 million years ago – kept a secret from the world until Jim White discovered them in the late 19th century and single-handedly put them ‘on the map.’

 

Entrance to the Caverns

 

Leaving the Park and the Caverns behind was hard to do. We could have explored much more but, we forged ahead toward Alamogordo, our next destination.  The drive took us up, over and through the Sacramento Mtns, up to 8,400 ft, where the snow base on the small ski slope there was of 62”. The town at the top of the mountains, Cloudcroft, is absolutely adorable and Scott and I have vowed to return there someday sans kids

Laid peacefully at the bottom of the Sacramento Mtns., with the San Andres Mtns. on the other side, lies the town of Alamogordo where we secured camping accommodations for four days and from which I write this blog.  My heart soars when I look around at the stark contrasts of the barren land against the dark jagged peaks that meet with the cerulean blue of the sky – it is unbelievably beautiful here. I think I could easily live here (of course I'm saying that in February when it's about 60 degrees and not 110).

  

Approaching White Sands National Monument

  

 Kerby making "snow angels" in the sand

A 4-mile hike across the white dunes

 

Yesterday we visited the White Sands National Monument just down the road. The 275 miles of white wonder is breathtakingly beautiful  We saw very few other people which made it seem even more special - like we had the world all to ourselves.  Not only is it beautiful but it's lots of fun too - who needs snow?!?