The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum Trip

Last stop on our way south. Tomorrow we will be sleeping in San Carlos and getting ready to morph back into our water-people selves.

We have been busy, busy, busy finishing up that “to do” list in San Diego and here, in Tucson and I think we have finally reached the end of it. Although...Rosie just posted on Facebook that she was eating those mini Hershey bars on night watch and now I’m thinking that sounds like a great idea so I think we’ll pick some up before we leave here!

In between all the shopping and visiting, we did manage to get in a day of just plain touristy fun by taking in the Sonora Desert Museum here. It is an amazing place and, even with my snake phobia, I enjoyed walking around on the pathways through all the cacti and succulents and getting a chance to see some of the flora and fauna close up. They have quite a few animal exhibits there and we took most in but as the day wore on (and got hotter) we decided to return again another time to see the Javelinas rather than walk another long and winding road to their enclosures.

First thing…right off the bat…of course…Chris had to take me to see the snakes-behind-glass. Eww. I HATE snakes!! I dutifully looked at them all and then decided that, in addition to the run-of-the-mill rattlers I now had to worry about walking under bushes where a vine snake might be waiting to drop onto me. Sheesh. Well, just when I thought we were done with the snakes, we walked around the corner and there was a woman HOLDING a snake. My cue to exit the building, which I did. Chris insisted it was “just” a King Snake but, again, I have no interest in getting close to slithery reptiles.

Once out of that building we ran into a docent who told us all about the cute little Kangaroo Rat she had in a cage and then another that had a tiny Raptor on her hand. From there we wandered through the desert and just about the time I’d start to get tired of seeing cactus and watching for rattlesnakes we’d come upon an animal enclosure. The Bighorn Sheep were very stinky but the head guy in charge posed and I got a perfect shot of him. The Mexican Wolves were beautiful and appeared to be very well fed. We saw a Bobcat foot hanging down from a crevasse but the kitty himself was apparently snoozing. I love the little Prairie Dogs. They are so cute and they chirp almost like a bird. The Ocelot and the Coatimundi were hiding but the Desert Tortoise was stretching and enjoying the hot sun.

There are so many different kinds of cacti I can’t believe it but I think my favorites are the Saguaro and the Cholla (aka Jumping) Cactus. The Desert Museum is right in the middle of the Saguaro National Park so the drive there gives you the opportunity to see lots of them. I was surprised to find out that there are also a number of different kinds of Agave plants...one real stunner is the Queen Victoria's Agave. I also didn't know that the Century Plant is an Agave that only blooms once (at about 15 years of age) and when the bloom dies the entire plant goes with it.

The Museum has two walk-in aviaries which were great fun…especially the one that is specifically for Hummingbirds. I must have taken 50 pictures but those little devils are so fast that I could only catch them when they were sitting still…which they actually do more often than I’d have thought. There was a Parrot in the general aviary that was just sitting in a tree muttering to himself the whole time we were there. I wonder if he was someone's pet at one time and now misses the conversation.

One of the very cool things they do is they have a Raptor Free Flight twice a day where they release several breeds of birds of prey and give a talk about each bird’s characteristics while the audience gets to see them hunting in the wild. Chris & I were watching from a viewing station on top of a small building and a Gray Hawk landed on the roof in front of us. It was a beautiful bird and just as I snapped a picture of it, it went tip toeing across the roof and the photo shows that. Whoo hoo!

As we walked past the River Otter enclosure we came upon a beautiful grouping of flowers that were alive with butterflies. I have no idea what species they were but they were all busy slurping up the nectar and didn't seem to mind having their pictures taken though, like the Hummingbirds, it was hard to catch them fully extended.

We went early and by 2:00 we were ready to head for lunch and a beer. Our old joints were beginning to talk pretty loudly to us. I do hope we get a chance to go back next year as there is still a lot to see. I recommend it if you are going through Tucson, but go in the morning before it gets cooking hot!

New Kid on the Block

Meet Abby…the newest member of our family! Yes. Chris finally relented and the transformation has been very interesting.

If you don’t already know, I spent almost 30 years of my “other life” (before sailing) raising and showing dogs. I began with Cocker Spaniels and gradually switched to Pugs. My daughter got into Italian Greyhounds and between the two of us we usually had somewhere around a half dozen 4-legged “kids” running around the house at any given time. During those years Amanda and I finished quite a few Champions and earned numerous obedience degrees with the dogs. Most of our spare time was spent grooming, training, raising puppies, driving to/from shows and exhibiting. It was all fun and we spent a lot of quality time together. Amanda still has a houseful of dogs but after my divorce, I began to develop new interests (skiing, travel, sailing and dating among others) and I gradually got out of the dog biz. I worked my way down to just two house pets but never thought I’d be without a dog. In 2005 the last of my homebred Pugs died and all I had left was one rescue Pug who was fun and good company. When I bought “Faith” in 2006 and moved aboard, the marina didn’t allow dogs so I had to find Louis a new home. Over the past 4 years it has been pretty nice not having to think about anyone but myself (and Chris) when making plans but still…I have had to get my tail wags and slobbery kisses from OPD’s (other people’s dogs.

During the past two years I have been sort of babbling about wanting to get a dog but Chris has consistently reminded me of the difficulties inherent in our lifestyle. Still…other people on boats have dogs and seem to manage OK. Being the ex-breeder that I am, I knew Pugs would have some trouble with the heat in Mexico (although I’ve met several who live on boats there and seem to be fine) so I began researching other breeds for compatibility. It looked like a Chihuahua or Papillion would fit the bill nicely and began the discussion. Chris never said “no” but he was always reminding me of the difficulties a dog would present.

I wasn’t seriously looking for a dog but every so often this summer I’d check out a breeder or rescue service. Oddly, Chris was regularly looking at and sharing photos of rescue Chihuahuas that were available! Clearly he was warming up to the idea.

When we were in Sutherlin (OR) I found “her”. A darling Chihuahua mix named “Chi Chi” who was in the shelter in Ashland. From her photos she looked like she had great attitude and we decided to stop and check her out, knowing full well that she would likely be going home with us. Well…not so much. “Chi Chi” was cute alright but she was much too afraid of everything. The staff warned that she’d been a stray and had taken 3 months to catch. They felt that if she was ever off lead she would bolt and I agreed. However, on our way in from the parking lot, we had met a darling pup who had just become available so we asked to see her. The staff brought her in and it was all over.

Abby couldn’t come home with us until she’d been spayed so we had two days to begin gathering all the necessary paraphernalia. Was I ever surprised when Chris said, "This (having to wait) is worse than Christmas!" Mr "a dog will be too much trouble" was sooo excited. When we picked her up at the vet’s office she was very quiet and, aside from a short visit with the “Rosebud” clan, she just wanted to sleep. The next day we began to see an occasional tail wag. It’s been all positive from there.

Abby has been with us for 9 days now and she’s a member of the family at this point. She is pretty, she has attitude and she’s very smart. She is pretty much housetrained at this point and will wake us up if she needs out at night. She has adjusted well to all the traveling (and we have been on the road over half the time she has lived with us) and doesn’t seem to be distressed when we start packing up to leave…probably because she knows the house will be there when we arrive. She has learned “sit” and “wait” and is working on “down” and Chris is beginning to work on tricks (oh boy). Next hurdle will be living on a boat.

Stay tuned!

Musing

What a beautiful trip south this has been so far. We’ve camped in old growth forest, where the only noise you hear is the soughing of the wind through the trees. We’ve stayed at the beach where we were 10 steps from toes in sand and crashing ocean waves. We’ve camped beside a pristine lake with rolling hills, glorious sunrises and sunsets and good friends close by. We’ve meandered through the redwoods imagining ourselves in movies with Ewoks and dinosaurs. I hated to leave the coast route that twists and turns through Oregon and California behind and head over to I-5 again but, alas, all good things must come to an end and our lazy, “no schedule” leg means it is now time to make some time.

Here is the big surprise. While the secondary (?) roads in California are in great shape (albeit narrow and twisty) the same can’t be said for I-5. After a day on that thoroughfare my insides feel as if they have been in a blender. It is clear that the infrastructure of this beautiful state (and, yes, a good deal of California is quite beautiful) is suffering severely from the current economic crisis. They are not unlike other states that are struggling to keep things going but the roads have clearly taken a big portion of the “hit” when the budget got cut.

Eureka was a big surprise to me. We’d stopped there on our way southbound in ’08 but with no ground transportation we couldn’t leave the marina so I don’t know what the town looked like at that time. What it looks like now is, basically, sad. It is easy to see that most of the businesses are hanging on by their fingertips as even the buildings look unkempt and neglected. This is an old town filled with beautiful old homes with lots of gingerbread and unique features but so many are in need of painting and maintenance. And then there is the large number of homeless people wandering the streets and going through dumpsters. It only takes one look to see that many have never been in this situation before. They look dazed and shell shocked and overwhelmed with hopelessness. If California is anything like Washington, the Social Services are also being cut and cut and cut so they probably aren’t getting much help from that program either. From the outside, Eureka seems to be sort of a microcosm of the problems that are happening all over country these days.

OK…I think this has gotten a little too melancholy so I will move along. I just can’t help but be thankful that we are able to live the life we do. Chris and I are by no means wealthy, and it costs us much more to live when we are in the States than when we are in Mexico, but we still have all the necessities of life. And we have our health. Too many of our friends and family are struggling with serious medical issues and all we can do is pray for them, hold them close in our hearts, and be thankful for what we have.

Only one of the reasons we keep on cruising:

http://www.sanluisobispo.com/2010/10/16/1330911/pismo-fatality-freeway-pedestrian.html

Life is so very short and none of us knows how much time we are allotted. Please take the time to do something that pleases you every day. Take a trip to a place you’ve always wanted to see…make cookies with a grandchild…call in sick and spend a day doing whatever you want…connect with an old friend…or just sit and watch a beautiful sunset. Life is a gift…use it wisely. And never forget to tell the people in your life you love them.

Crater Lake

We’ve been on a rather zig-zaggy course since we left Vancouver and, thus far, have only managed to cover about 160 miles since the 29^th because of the slow pace but its been heaven being able to just stop or take detours whenever we want without a deadline looming.

We arrived in Sutherlin on Thursday after a beautiful drive down a “new” back road. We saw tons of Elk and came close to running out of gas but what is life worth without a little excitement? After getting the trailer set up Chris & I met my daughter, Amanda, and her husband and boys for dinner. We had a nice visit but it was a weeknight and Amanda had been working 6-10’s of late so we made it an early night. It turned out that Anthony, my grandson, had no school on Friday so we decided to take him to Crater Lake the next day. The original plan was to drive up there after we’d left Sutherlin but this seemed like more fun. We are nothing if not flexible!

We picked Anthony up at 9:30 and were off. The drive to the top takes about 1-1/2 hours and Anthony kept us entertained with a running commentary about football. This is his year of playing and he is clearly having fun. He plays both offense and defense so is on the field throughout most of the games. Of late he’s been watching Sports Talk so he was able to bring us up to date on how all the teams are doing this year, which players have been traded to which teams and the whole lowdown. Mind you, Chris & I have little or no interest in football so we got a good education. Fortunately, Chris has some knowledge of the principle players and teams so he was able to keep up our side of the dialog.

The drive up to Crater Lake follows the North Umpqua River and meanders through farmland and forest in fairly equal parts. In a word, it is a gorgeous drive. This River is strewn with boulders and rapids abound so there are few places where one can imagine even a raft safely navigating. We saw no one fishing from boats but quite a few men in waders were readying their fly fishing gear for the day.

At about the 6500 ft level the trees became much sparser and we found ourselves driving through a moonlike terrain that is quite beautiful. This is the “Pumice Desert”. It consists of rolling hills that are covered with pale reddish colored pumice. A few clumps of trees stand here and there but, clearly, nothing much grows in pumice.

As we approached the first viewpoint, we passed a sign I couldn’t resist photographing. I have long been a fan of the Darwin Awards but this really brings it all home. The big red “DANGER”, followed by “Falling Will Cause Injury or Death Stay Back From Cliff Edges” says it all. It is hard to believe that people can be that stupid but, of course, some of them are.

Our first glimpse of the Lake nearly took our breath away. It is close to impossible to find words that adequately describe this gorgeous place so I will just leave it to the photos. I was stunned to learn that the Lake was first discovered by gold miners back in the 1800’s. I wonder if any of them fell over the edge?

There are no native fish in the Lake but over the years 6 different varieties have been introduced and two types (Rainbow Trout and Kokanee Salmon) still live in the cold water. Because they are not indigenous, fishing is encouraged and there are no limits. The only restriction is that no live bait may be used. Chris is an avid fisherman so before we left town he dug out his new pole and purchased some lures in anticipation of showing his new grandson the ropes. Turns out there is only one place you can actually get to the water and that entails a hike down a trail with a 700 ft elevation drop. As the brochure clearly states, coming back up is like climbing 65 flights of stairs. This is at an elevation of 7,000 ft where walking across a level parking lot can leave you panting like an asthmatic during haying season. Having done my share of skiing, I was pretty clear about what the hike and the climate would be like so I brought a book along. Thus armed I would be able to wuss out and sit in the car while “the boys” were off bonding. They never even contemplated that trail. Five minutes of standing in the viewing area with that cold breeze burrowing down inside their sweatshirts and they quickly decided a trip to the gift shop and lunch in the lodge was a better idea.

We had a great day and deposited Anthony safely home with plenty of time to back to the RV park and pay for another night. Next morning we were sitting at the 50 yard line watching 9/10 year olds playing football. I hadn’t been to a game since my kids were little and I’d forgotten how much fun it can be (when its not raining or snowing) to watch these intense young players. Anthony’s team won with a score of 7-0 and he and he and Amanda were both happy that we had stuck around to be there. Well…who wouldn’t? I think it is in the “Book of Rules for Grandmas and Grandpas”, isn’t it?

Travelin' On

It’s that time of year again and we have begun the annual southward migration back to the boat. I know she is patiently awaiting our arrival and anxious to get back into the water. We left Vancouver September 29^th and this year we are taking the scenic route. In addition to the numerous stops on the list to visit friends and relatives, there are some new places we’d like to see as well. Besides, the weather in Mexico is still pretty warm so we aren’t in a big hurry to get into that. Our first stop was Astoria, just because. We spent so much time there in ’08 waiting for the bar conditions to be conducive to crossing that it was like revisiting an old haunt. It was awfully nice, though, knowing that all we had to do was climb into the truck and drive instead of heading out into the cold, intimidating Pacific this time.

Driving the coast route is a wonderful choice in this part of the world. The scenery runs the gamut between deep forest and breathtaking ocean views. Coastal towns of grayed shake buildings that huddle together in small inlets, atop shifting sands or perched high up on sheer cliffs with waves crashing at the bottom are interspersed often enough that there is little chance of driving too fast and missing the view.

A few miles down the road, in Seaside, we stopped for a couple days to spend some time with our friends, Rod and Debo. We had a nice visit, did a little shopping and walked the spectacular beach that goes forever. In this area the powdery sand and row upon row of frothy breakers seem to go on forever. The day we arrived the tide was way out and we walked for what seemed like miles looking for a whole sand dollar to take home. Alas, between the number of people who scour the beach for treasures and the sea gulls who eat the animals inside, all we found were halves and pieces.

After two days in Seaside it was on to Pacific City…about 50 miles farther south…and a much different beach. This tiny place is off the well used path (hwy 101) but is worth taking the bumpy ride to get there. Again, the sand is soft and fine, but here the waves pound around a rocky outcropping and onto a somewhat sheltered beach area. Holding court in the middle of this area is Haystack Rock. Here is where dorymen have launched and landed their boats since 1927. There were no dories working while we were there so I purchased a CD and Chris & I were appropriately impressed with their daring as they row over and through huge breaking waves. It brought back a few memories of Astoria bar crossings caught on tape…scary! This beach is also a big favorite with surfers and it was fun to sit in the brewpub on the beach watching the breakers and the surfers while we enjoyed the excellent food and beer. The trailer was just a short walk across the street so no worries about driving.

Yesterday we continued the drive to Florence and in and it is such a beautiful drive along the coast road. The highway is mostly lined with beautiful evergreens but regularly opens to spectacular views of the Pacific and miles and miles of beautiful beaches.

Today we are in one of Oregon’s beautiful state parks, snuggled down in the trees, waiting for the coffee to finish perking and just beginning to move around a bit. This state has wonderful camping available (for RV’s as well as tent campers) in most of their parks and most have yurts and/or cabins for rent as well. The rates are quite reasonable nd thus far we have had little trouble finding a vacancy. Our biggest challenge thus far has been getting into some of the spaces as the roadways are quite narrow and the other campers tend to park their tow vehicles such that it is sometimes difficult to maneuver around them. I’m not quite sure why they do that as there is plenty of room to get them clear off the road but it seems to be their preference. It just makes it more exciting to get the trailer backed into the space. Fortunately, Chris is pretty darn good at that.

This park, the Jessie M Honeyman Park, is just outside Florence and practically across the street from Chris’ brother, Lee’s, home. It is lovely area in the forest with trails, a lake or two and the main attraction, the huge sand dunes just beyond the trees. October 1^st is the first day of the “Discovery Season” which means that the ATVer’s are allowed to drive their vehicles directly from the campground onto the dunes instead of having to take highway 101 around to another area. I couldn’t even guess how many of these sand buggies are here but at 7:52 am they were already starting them up and heading out for a day of play. Sand racing isn’t something I have a lot of interest in but those who do it (and that includes my son and his family) love it.

We’re off to visit Lee and Julie and see their pictures from Ireland & Scotland. Can’t wait!