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Redwood forest where God lives…

May 26, 2012 //
3

Entering His sanctuary

As they say, “a picture is worth a thousand words”, I’ll let this beautifully preserved part of the Jedediah Smith do all the talking for me. It truly is where God lives.

Burl is caused by a fungus which causes abnormal growths to form. They’re amazing as you will see.

Gaining some perspective…

it’s all about perspective, isn’t it?

And your little dog, too!

Perspective

and more…

Precious – posing…see! she is trained! LOL

I have a picture of my niece, Mandy, standing on this exact same stump from 15 years ago!

Faces in the redwood burl. What do you see?

Faces. Lions, tigers and bears? Oh no! Turtle? Oh yes!

or trolls?

or octopi?

or ME & Montana! Surprise! Nice guy from Tennesse took this!

Burl heaven!

See Ava? She’s up a tree!

Ava – close up

Same path we all took 15 years ago!

more perspective w/ Montana as we walk down the path

more faces in the burl…look closely toward the left

and the grand finale

Right after taking this picture, Montana and I continued down the path as I remembered there being a beautiful meadow just a little further down. But, as we walked on, Montana started getting jittery and wasn’t showing a whole lot of interest in going further. I heard some stomping or heavy walking which gave my heart a start. You’re in complete silence so every noise is magnified. I stopped and waited to hear more. Montana turned to go back toward the truck but quickly looked over her shoulder in a nervous, quick jerk. “Hmmmm, I said. We’re in Sasquatch country…don’t wanna be his woman! What say we get outta’ here post-haste?”

Back safely in the truck, I remembered seeing where an elk had pawed the ground so it probably was notifying me I was getting a little too close to the meadow. If you were raised in the city, don’t go to the forest without someone who knows what to look for and listen to in order to be safe.

Now that my camera is all charged up again, I’ll go check out more of the area as recommended by Rod this morning here at the KOA. So much redwood history…so little time!

I want to give a shout out to the KOA owner Joan Fallon fo Crescent City Redwoods KOA. She booked my stay here the other day and took care of me putting me right next to the restrooms in a pull through site. I was pleasantly surprised to find this KOA site to be very small and homey and not crammed packed with pavement and people. I was also impressed by the video they had playing this morning during breakfast which told about the redwood forest history and eco system. By the way, there is NO pavement in this KOA but there IS a redwood grove where the tent section is! The personnel here are so friendly and helpful plus they make a mean pancake breakfast (all you can eat for $3.50 which includes coffee) which charged me right up for the day! They’re at 4241 Hwy. 101 North, Crescent City, CA.

Now off to see the Crescent City Lighthouse!

Like I say, “It’s Motel 6 or KOA for me!”

Happy Trails!

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Categories Baby Boomer, northwest, travel, United States

Petaluma to Bodega Bay to Crescent City via PCH

May 26, 2012 //
2

Pacific Coast Highway (PCH a/k/a Hwy. 1) at its best is just above Bodega Bay all the way up to where it meets Hwy. 101. WOWSER! But first let me tell you about this little Mom & Pop restaurant in Petaluma. Last night, I was hungry and cold (still had my Vegas clothes on) and didn’t want to hike around late at night so I found a place that would deliver to my fav place to stay, Motel 6. It was called the Round Table and, as always, I ask THEM what is their special. When they told me it was a garlic sauce pizza with vegis and meat I had to know more. Tomatoes, green onions, cheese, sausage and mushrooms on pizza dough. Hmmm. He said it was simple but really very good. Well, don’t ya’ know you always go for what THEY say is their best item even if you never eat pizza but have driven a bazillion miles, are cold, tired and hungry! It was delicious! I saved the other half to heat up in the microwave tonight and it was still very good after riding in the car eight hours being thrown around in the box all that time on switchback roads!

Wait. I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s get back to how beautiful the drive was just outside of Petaluma on the way to Bodega Bay…so quaint and pastoral…happy cows everywhere!

Beautiful countryside just outside of Petaluma on the way to Bodega Bay via Hwy. 116.

Get a feel of the road here. Pastures on both sides of the road. See those happy cows on the left?

Gorgeous, lush pastures

Great road!

Then, when I thought I was already livin’ the dream, I came into Bodega Bay where the Bay meets the Pacific Ocean. Dreamland. Pure Dreamland.

Bodega Bay is a cute little village community.

Bodega Bay

Bodega Bay meets the Pacific Ocean!

Now the trip triples in delight as I drive up Hwy. 1 along the coast with the Pacific Ocean crashing against huge boulders stranded a million years ago from volcanic eruptions and held captive by the unrelenting force of this powerful body of water.

Wind surfers! Wind must have been 30-40 MPH!

Small rocks probably broken off from the boulders

Pacific Ocean Majesty

Views just kept getting better!

…and better

And then the road turns inland…

…where past generations established their boundaries by planting trees along the road. Each of the villages had trees planted along the roadway. Quaint. Homey.

The vegetation was so lush and full of so many varieties of green and more wildflowers of every color!

So many rivers that feed all this vegetation to cross as they stretch toward the ocean. (left the side mirror in for effect!)

stretching toward the ocean

The road turns inland again for a hair-raising switchback road from hell where Montana and I both got queasy from the turns even going only 10 to 20 MPH which the sign said was only 22 miles but I think it was for 122 miles! And, right when I didn’t think I could stand another turn in the road…there they were! My first grove of redwoods! I cried. Ava was supposed to see these trees with me.

And then….there they are!

They aren’t as pretty or as big as the ones I’m going to re-visit tomorrow after a 15 year absence but they were redwoods and God knows I’m a tree hugger from way back and these particular trees talk to my heart like no other.

I just love the texture and color of new growth on young, healthy evergreens. There was a bunch of it to see, too!

Well, guess that’s it for today’s Great Adventure.

Happy Trails!

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Categories Baby Boomer, northwest, travel, United States

South Lake Tahoe, CA feels like SW Colorado!

May 24, 2012 //
2

Ava and I drove through SW Colorado after her adventure at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon where she met Donna Brown when Ava hurt her knee and couldn’t climb back out of the canyon. Ava and I both both fell in love with SW Colorado.

As I drove up into the South Lake Tahoe area, I was reminded of SW Colorado. But it was when I actually got into the quaint little city wrapped lovingly with a river, meadows and beautiful snow-capped mountains that really took me back to last summer camping with Ava. Although it’s a busy little city, it still manages to keep its small town atmosphere where neighbors chat happily with a stranger needing directions. Dana and her two little ones walked with Montana and me to find Lake Tahoe. She told me she’d grown up here and came back to raise her children here and lived in the same neighborhood as she did when she was young. Says volumes to me.

South Lake Tahoe from bike trail where Montana was frantic trying to bark at each and every bike. I got quite a workout trying to keep her from freaking out the cyclists!

Montana waiting for her next victim on the bike trail!

Truckee River flows through the town

Snow capped mountains hug this wonderful, clean city.

Beautiful!

The coolest tribute to this area is how you won’t get any styrofoam for take-out and how you’ll see many VW buses of vary styles and years. Never saw this many outside of the State of Oregon! Does that mean they’re moving back to California? LOL

VW bus of yesteryear!

The original VW bus! Is that a gypsy wagon I see? Only in California!

A wonderful surprise was when Montana and I walked to the bank earlier today was finding a great Mom & Pop Mediterranean and Greek restaurant called Artemis  located at 2229 Lake Tahoe Blvd., Ste A, South Lake Tahoe, CA 96150 (www.ArtemisMediterraneanGrill.com).

I’m a bit of a Gyro meat snob as I’ve had the best at the now closed Shipfeifer’s which used to be located on Peachtree Road near Brookwood Station in my hometown of Atlanta. It was the absolute best Mediterranean restaurant in Georgia and I haven’t found another one of equal quality…until today. Too bad I had to drive all the way to California to find it!  Funny thing is that if I’d blinked, I would have missed it but I was hungry, looking for a place to sit outside (because I had Montana) and needed  something tasty. Interestingly enough, when Dana and I were walking later this afternoon, I mentioned this restaurant to her. Much to my surprise, she said it was her favorite in town!

As I had no room for all my lunch or to try their home-made desserts, I got a paper to-go box for my leftovers and for my Baklava. As I’m a Baklava snob as well, I just couldn’t resist getting it. After all, I’m on a quest and have to have things to write about, right? Well, let me tell you that their Baklava not only was the largest I’d ever been served but it was the BEST I EVER HAD!  It was fresh (as they advertised), not dripping in syrup but lightly dribbled with quality honey, the pastry was light and flakey and the filling absolute pleasure! It was so big I was sure I’d save half of it to go with my morning coffee. That did NOT happen. I found myself licking the cardboard container!

I was going to try to save this post until I’d seen Emerald Bay as I hear it’s an amazing view. Oh well, you’ll just have to wait for it like I do! I’ll go by there on my way to Petaluma, CA near the Pacific Coast. I’ll stay in a Motel 6 there before camping four days in the redwood forest where God lives.

Happy trails!

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Categories Baby Boomer, life adventures, southwest, southwest, travel

Tonapah to South Lake Tahoe…back roads, of course!

May 23, 2012 //
21

Numa (Ava’s husband) and I decided to head for Tonopah, NV where my son, Carl, used to have a gold mine. My dad owned quite a chunk of land there and every year Mom and Dad would take Carl out west for him to work his mine. I’d tried to find my son’s old gold mine before but ran out of road and time. This time, Numa and I were going to find it and we almost did! All we needed was a 4-wheel drive to get to it!

We stayed in my pop-up camper over night. The last thing Numa said before he fell asleep was that he hoped the winds didn’t pick up. Well, talk about foreshadowing! I thought we were going to end up in Kansas in those early morning hours! We did a little more exploring to find a ghost town called Belmont. When I looked at the lady’s map, it sure looked simple enough to me. No need to write anything down or get more details, right? WRONG! We did have fun driving too fast over a crazy road to that DOESN’T go to the ghost town of Belmont giving me screams! He thought it was funny flying through the air leaving my heart in my throat and Montana throwing up in the back seat! The road really wasn’t that bad but I get butterflies going over little knolls too fast and he, a person who loves a good thrill, thought this was a cake walk! It was awesome!

I left Tuesday morning, taking the back roads, of course. What an amazing drive! It was just what my broken heart needed to see. Some of this country’s beauty to help me through today. It was two months ago today that my girl, Ava, took her life.

I got momentarily excited seeing how diverse our country’s landscape is and how quickly it changes from alien lands to canyon lands to river basins to lush, fertile farm lands. These next few pictures show you some of that diversity I saw in a few short hours yesterday.

Alien lands north of Tonopah, NV. Large fields of sand butting up to craggy mountains. Surreal.

As I got past this alien land, I got into a more remarkable area called Walker Lake. Talk about strange! A HUGE lake in the middle of no where with crumbling rocky mountains all around and no greenery!

Walker Lake just on the other side of Alien Lands!

Walker Lake with a touch of green!

Walker River Canyon just north of Walker Lake, NV

Walker River Canyon, NV

Walker River Canyon, NV

orange lichen growing on the side of this rock wall of Walker River Canyon made the whol rock look orange in the late afternoon hours. Pretty darn cool.

Mom kept telling me about raging fires in Arizona and I reminded her that I wasn’t going that way at all. Lo and behold as I come out of Walker River Canyon, I see fire in the distance and think, “Boy, am I glad I’m not headed for there!” Boy, was I ever wrong! My back road took me right past it! They closed the road and I begged the officer to let me go through so I could get to South Lake Tahoe for my prepaid Motel 6 room for the night! (Motel 6 rocks). Thank goodness they let me through but here’s a close-up of the fire with a touch of truck window thrown in for the heck of it!

What started out as a 1400 acre fire turned (at last I heard) into over 4000 acres maybe more. It was near Smith, NV

More fire near Smith, NV. I’d never seen anything like this before. It was a little frightening.

Cleared the fire and went through a little town called Wellington, NV. Cute!

Wellington School House 1898. Cool little town.

I made it from Tonopah, NV to South Lake Tahoe, CA in about four hours taking the road less travelled. Lots of little towns and beautiful countryside. Just what a soul needs.

Today, I’ll stay over to rest and catch my breath from the last two months before continuing on to the redwood forest where God lives. See, I’d been telling my daughter, Ava, about this place for fifteen years and this year she was going camping with me to finally see it. The local funeral director, Jeff who is now and forever my best friend, sent me a small urn with some of Ava’s ashes to me while I was tending to her final affairs in Las Vegas so she could come with me on this trip. Thank you Jeff. Your Mom-n-Pop operation sure has been there for me, first with Carl and now with Ava. You made a terrible and alien experience into a simple feat. You arranged everything from Atlanta so I wouldn’t have to worry about the arrangements after I told you how simple I wanted it all to be and my timeframe. Donahoo-Lewis Funeral Directors in East Point, GA were remarkable, loving and efficient.

I plan on writing more about my daughter as I move along this journey. She wrote of herself as being a “revolutionary woman” and that she was. More to come.

Happy trails!
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Categories southwest, travel

Sautee, Georgia back roads

July 10, 2011 //
0

As promised, Sautee, Georgia was my next Georgia back roads stop. I do have my favorites as I’m so not a shopper. Actually, I hate shopping but what I do like is seeing other artists with their talents displayed in a store with price tags on them.

Art, you see, comes in all shapes, sizes, styles, languages, media and methods. Music is an art that holds very few choices of notes but an endless supply of combinations,genre, rhythms, intensity, chaos, synergy, synchronization and style. As does sculpting, painting, carving, turning, throwing and turbulence.

For the size of the area, the junction of  a T-bone, back road intersection of two little known highways (255 and 17), it never ceases to amaze me, lo’ these last 10 years or more, how it holds jewels of art.

Old Sautee Store is the backbone of this small but growing community of stores.

Old Sautee Store, Sautee, GA

Old Sautee Store, established 1872 (www.oldsauteestore.com), has the absolute best Farmer Cheese on the planet. Farmer Cheese is a mild, tasty white cheese that’s fabulous with grapes, apples, crackers and wine. Yum. It also has some handsome Grog to be served with their ginger cookies, of course.

Shelves stocked with items from yesteryear.

When you walk into the front door, you’re reminded instantly of Little House on the Prairie or The Waltons. This general store was at a critical juncture for all who needed dry goods or tinctures in the late 1800’s living in this ancient Native American community. Old Sautee Store holds authentic treasures of the past with shelves stocked with products from days of old. It’s the charms of yesterday that beckon you to delve deeper into this quaint store.

Outside again, you are invited to have a snack or a delicious lunch inside the Deli inside Old Sautee Market which brings to mind an era of grass-covered roofs of the old country.

Old Sautee Market (and Deli)

Shapiro’s always promises a display of some of the finest artisans’ (local and not) wares of both the unique and challenging varieties. From delicate, unique hand-crafted jewelry to a huge moose sculpture made from wheel hubs and steel, this shop is one of my all time favorites. It’s always a surprise when you go inside!

Shapiro's at Sautee, GA

A peek inside Shapiro's.

My next stop is always to see my friends at Prairie Trails (706-878-8284). Fred Tinsley is always engaging and knowledgeable in the fine arts of Native American cultures. He is deeply steeped in their art, history and lives as he travels around to various reservations to collect only the finest items for sale in his shop.

Prairie Trails at Sautee, GA

As you can see, there is not only a fine display of Native jewelry but also music, weaponry, Kachinas, pottery, knives, drums, leather goods and other paraphernalia.

Fred Tinsley, proprieter

Next stop in this little area, all within easy walking distance from each other, is Sweetfield Mountain Company to meet Judy Hancock (706-878-3555).

Sweetfield Mountain Company, Sautee, GA

At Sweetfield, they have an eclectic variety of clothing, leather accessories, jewelry and home decor featuring favorites from Brighton and Pendleton as well as from local artists.

Judy at Sweetfield Mountain Merchandise in Sautee, GA

After leaving Sautee, my favorite easy and most breath-taking hike is just down the road a bit on my way home. It’s a little known place called Minnehaha Falls in the Seed Lake area of Rabun County.

Minnehaha Falls, Rabun County, GA

Full view of Minnehaha Falls

Now, it was time to get back to the cabin and crank up for the first day of our annual family reunion.

Happy Trails!

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Categories Baby Boomer, life adventures, southeast, travel, United States

Flaming Gorge, Utah in Ashley National Forest

July 1, 2011 //
2

This part of my trip is just too good to skip over so I’m dedicating this post just to the beauty and wonderment of Flaming Gorge, Utah located in Ashley National Forest. I was so excited that I took this 14 photo sequence of my journey into the park and going back out. These photos have not been published in this blog before. I hope these images sends to you what I felt as I drove into this wonderland… awe, respect, quiet, wonderment, excitement, joy and about a million other emotions. Enjoy the journey.

#7 of 14 in sequence

#8

#9

#10

#11

#12

#13

and, last but not least, #14:

#14

You can visit other photos taken that day of Sheep Creek, the cabin I stayed in and other great views in my earlier post named “From Wyoming into the arms of Utah” published 5/17/11.

Happy Memories!

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Categories Baby Boomer, Baby Boomer, camping, camping with pets, dining, life adventures, northwest, southwest, travel, United States, west, woman camping alone

Georgia on my mind

June 24, 2011 //
0

It’s been strange trying to settle back into a life of not traveling! Instead of  planning  my next camping stop or hiking place, I’m doing loads and loads of  laundry,  pulling weeds (as Mother Nature is very possessive), cutting grass,  cleaning the  house and so forth. During all this labor intensive service to my  home, I’ve been  pondering my real love of Georgia. So, it will be Georgia’s  back  roads and flea  markets that I write about this summer.

This has really been my first day “back” where I’ve had time to think or drive  around since returning with my daughter on Monday. I’ve run back and forth  from  Atlanta delivering her and helping Mom and now, at last, I’ve got a couple  of days  to gather my thoughts and see some of my favorite spots that I truly  missed while  on my journey.

My home is about 12 miles south of Clayton, Georgia which is located in the  northeastern most corner of Georgia in Rabun County. Highway 441/23 runs  through the center of town bisected by Highway 76. If you continue north on  Hwy. 441, you’ll go through Clayton, Mountain City, Dillard and end up  heading toward Franklin, North Carolina. If you turn left  onto Hwy. 76  heading west, you’ll be going toward Blairsville over one of the  prettiest  highways in Georgia. If you turn right heading east onto Hwy. 76 ,  you’ll end up  in South Carolina in about 20 minutes.

It takes me one hour to get to I-285 and I-85 in Atlanta and another 30 minutes  to run the I-285 gauntlet to Mom’s house in Sandy Springs. It sounds further  away than it really is. Totally doable in a day but best when savored. I’m only  hitting MY favorite spots. There are so many shops to explore and so little time!

Driving north on Hwy. 441 is my favorite thing to do early on Saturdays until all  the venues close at the end of the “season” (winter). There are so  many shiny  objects to satisfy that A.D.D. itch I get.  My A.D.D. itch happens to be pet  friendly indoor and outdoor flea markets.  There are so  many friendly people to  visit with and interesting collections for  sale.

I also like driving north on Hwy. 441 as there is a creamery just across the  North Carolina state line that has the best ice cream on the planet because the  milk is from happy cows. Usually, milk products upset my stomach, therefore, I  don’t eat it much at all. This is my coming home treat. I get a half scoop of  Pralines & Cream and a half scoop of Espresso Fudge on a waffle cone and I’m  good for another couple of months.

Spring Ridge Creamery in Otto, NC

“Farm Fresh Dairy Products from Spring Ridge Creamery

Whole Milk, Butter Milk, and Chocolate Milk

Eggs fresh from the Farm, Hand dipped Ice Cream and a variety of Cheeses

Egg Nog available during the Holiday Season

dairy products,milk,eggs,cheese,ice cream

Just 1.5 miles north of the Georgia border on hwy. 441 in Otto, North Carolina

2 miles north of Dillard, Georgia

11856 Georgia Rd. (Hwy 441) Otto, NC— Phone: 828-369-2958

Jim Moore, Proprietor

Email: jmmooresr@msn.com“

(Copied from: inthesmokymountains.com/springridgecreamery)

You can sit outside overlooking this river, pasture and the "happy cows" just beyond the river and the trees.

On the way to the creamery, I go to Osage Produce in Mountain City (just north  of Clayton) on the right as well. Their fields are right beside the facility and  fresh produce is being delivered straight from the local farmers as I pick through  peaches, cabbages the size of a giant’s head, tomatoes of all varieties, honey  (their own) and fresh-baked breads. It can be tough turning left from it on  Saturdays as it can get quite congested but so worth it. (www.dillardgeorgia.com/osage-farms)

Osage Produce near Dillard, GA

On the way back south, I hit my two favorite flea markets. The first one on the way home is in Mountain City called Rabun Flea Market. It’s several (at least 5) covered but not enclosed long sheds with booths of everything from herbs to plants to jewelry to used tools to cool junk. They are only open on Saturday and Sunday but a great place to walk with Montana.

Rabun Flea Market in Mountain City, GA

Some of the open sheds at Rabun Flea Market

After a walk through this facility chatting with locals and venders, I get back on Hwy. 441 south toward my next favorite flea market in the area, Georgia Mountain Market.

Georgia Mountain Market inside flea market in Clayton GA

Montana loves to shop here. Everyone who knows her runs up to get sugar!

One of Montana's special friends who always has loving treats for her.

One of my newer dear friends, Lynn Scholl has a booth inside Georgia Mountain  Market where she sells “Bodacious Vintage Jewelry”. She has a display of my  own One-of-a-kind  earrings…from a friend available for purchase.  (lynnscholl@mindspring.com). Her booth is the first one you see when you  walk into the main door. Tell her “a Friend” sent you!

Lynn Scholl has plenty of "Bodacious Vintage Jewelry" (including my one-of-a-kind earrings) to sell to you!

Another one of my favorite places to stop and visit in Georgia Mountain Market  is with Janice Grant of Turning Creek. Her specialty is “natural handmade  soap”. (turningcreek@aol.com). It was a pleasure getting to know her better  today and finding out that her husband, Bob, is a beekeeper. She also sells his  “Raw Mountain Honey”. I see from his card that he also makes hand turned  wood. Check him out at Turning Creek Artisans (rivercg@aol.com).

Janice Grant at Georgia Mountain Market selling handmade soap & raw local honey.

To give you a "feel" of the place. It's huge!

We still had more errands to run and the rain was pouring buckets so off we  went to get our day done and write this little ditty.

Next adventure? Sautee, a little known eclectic shopping corner not far from home.

Happy Trails!

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Categories Baby Boomer, Baby Boomer, southeast, travel, United States, writing

Roanoke, VA

June 21, 2011 //
0

We’ve had the best time in this sleepy little mountain town visiting friends and getting to know the quaint town of about 150,000 they call home. Roanoke Virginia is a mixture of mountains, valleys, old buildings and houses with some new blood.

Yesterday, we had breakfast at Thelma’s Chicken & Waffles (www.thelmaschickenandwaffles.biz 540-343-8888) in downtown Roanoke. Not only was the food amazing but the lady who served us made the whole experience that much more wonderful. The sparkle in her eyes and the smile on her face framed her fabulous energy. The cost was reasonable. Because it was Sunday morning, the place was packed and we ended up being there longer than planned but it was all good.

Issac’s Mediterranean Restaurant (theisaacsrestaurant.com) is one of the best of its kind. I haven’t had better Gyro… ever. The meat was fresh,tender, tasty and juicy. The sautéed kale was the best as was the Vegi Plate. Big recommendation.

Next, we stopped at Local Roots (localrootscafe.com) to try their Cherry-Tini martini-type drink made with fresh squeezed cherry juice, vodka and other good stuff.

The last stop was to see “Midnight in Paris”. The theater reminded me of a mini-Fox Theater in Atlanta. Nice atmosphere and a not-t00-complicated movie with great company.

We headed home via the Blue Ridge Mountains down I-81. The lush vegetation was a pleasant relief to all the vast arid areas I’d just been in for the last month. My daughter and I felt like our skin was sucking up all the moisture in the air like a fish gasping for oxygen when it’s outta’ water.

Blue Ridge Mountains I-81

GREEN!

Then you get into North Carolina and the Blue Ridge Mountains come alive!

North Carolina Blue Ridge View

North Carolina

As my home is nestled in northeast Georgia between North and South Carolina, I’m a little partial to the North Carolina Blue Ridge Mountain views. Just sayin’!

Happy Trails!

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Categories Baby Boomer, dining, southeast, travel, United States, woman camping alone

It’s Friday so it must be

June 18, 2011 //
1

We’ve had the hammer down these last few days trying to finish up our trip to  Atlanta as Ava has music to learn before leaving for Austria, people to see at  home  and I’ve got 6 weeks of accumulated mail to dig through and grass to cut.  I’ll be  glad to be back home but I’m already planning my next trip.

As for this one, last night was scary. We were outside of Memphis by about 70  miles when we noticed quite a “light show” going on. The more east we went,  the  worse the lightning got; I’d never seen cloud to cloud lightning before and  this was  scary stuff. Strangest part of it was the lightening skipped across the  sky like a stone across water… barely hitting briefly down before showing up a  little farther down an imaginary horizontal line. THAT’s what convince me we needed to take action.

Ava, feeling the same way, whipped out her IPhone and went on Weather.com  while I tuned into a  local radio station to see how bad the weather was ahead.  After all, we were still in Arkansas and they’re known for tornadoes and hail.

That horrible ehhhhh ehhhhh alert was coming out of the radio at the same time  Ava found hail and storm warnings on her phone. That was it. The radio told us  to find shelter immediately! I’d remembered there was a Motel 6 in Brinkley,  Arkansas just west of Memphis from my 2009 trip. Ava pulled it up on Google  map and we got there without difficulty. We checked in and went to bed  unscathed. That was a close one.

This morning we drove to Knoxville to visit family and tomorrow we head for  Roanoke to visit a friend and then we head for ATL. Whew! 10,000 in 6 weeks.  I’m ready to go again.

I’m hoping to upgrade to a more unpredictable weather friendly structure to replace the pop-up by summers end and explore western half of Colorado.

In the meantime, Happy Trails to you until we meet again.

Ready for action - 5/13/2011

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Categories Baby Boomer, camping, camping with pets, southwest, southwest, travel, United States, west, woman camping alone, writing

Santa Fe morning and I-40 afternoons

June 16, 2011 //
0

Ann (part owner of the Thai restaurant where we ate last night, Thai Cafe) had  invited Ava and me to her private 3 year anniversary celebration at Thai Cafe  today from 9:30 to 11:3o. After we broke camp, we drove into town where I  dropped Ava off and went to look for a parking space large enough for Silver (my  truck) with a pop-up attached. Good luck!

This is Old Santa Fe Trail (also Route 66 in some parts)

First of all let me say this about that. There is very little parking in Old Santa Fe,  the streets are very narrow and parking scarce.  It’s like New Orleans that way.  Finding street parking is because the “parking  Gods” are with you or there’s bad  weather! I understand they’re building parking  decks but that doesn’t  accommodate tourists in RV’s or with any kind of  truck/camper setup.

I proceeded to drive around and around. The good news is that Ava and I had  walked most of the area of Old Town that I was in the night before looking for  just the right place to eat (she won’t eat Mexican and I won’t eat Indian so we  settled on Thai). Fortuitously, I ended up at the Visitors Center where I found an  area marked “RV parking only”. Silver plus the pop-up certainly qualified as an  “RV” so I parked there while I went into the Visitors Center to tell them what I  was doing and why.

The woman at the Visitors Center put so many red markings of unsatisfactory  places of where to go on  the Old Town  map that I was totally confused by the  time I was leaving that I  pulled the “I’m a  writer” card. I told her I was going to  write about the parking  issue in my next  blog. She told me I could keep my car  where it was for a couple  of hours. So there it is; but there’s more!

I also told the woman at the Visitors Center that I was glad to have experienced  “dog friendly” merchants in Old Town the night before. She indicated the “dog  friendly” part didn’t extend to any other facilities. Great. Now I realize that I  won’t be able to take experience the two places I came to see: Georgia O’Keefe  Museum or San Miguel  because Ava was busy and I had nowhere to leave  Montana. Oh well. I’ll just have to come back when everyone else is at home (like the middle of the night) and when it’s not 100 degrees (like October) so I can leave Montana in the car and do it all.

San Miguel from the outside :={

They were repairing San Miguel with adobe bricks to match the ones used in  1610.

adobe bricks

Another church I’ll come back to see is Loretto Chapel.

Loretto Chapel

There are at least a million little shops in the old area of Santa Fe selling  traditional southwestern items for exorbitant prices.

Lots of shops selling everything southwestern

and…

rugs, baskets, turquoise jewelry, silver bracelets, etc.

None of the goods for sale were anything I could possibly afford. A young man  who was selling his art in one of the squares encouraged me to come look closer  at his paintings. I said, “Thank you but I can’t afford any of it.” His retort was,  “I haven’t told you any prices.” To which I replied, “When you’re on Social  Security and Congress only voted themselves a raise and not you, and you’re  2000 miles from home, you can’t afford it no matter how much it is.” True dat!

Because Ava needs to get to Atlanta, we decided to skip Albuquerque. Mostly, it  was me because I was going to have to come back to Santa Fe when the weather  gets cooler (a lot cooler) to see what I missed. I’ll enjoy Albuquerque then. And,  as for Ava, she’ll come back on her own as she’s in love with Santa Fe.

San Miguel from the outside :={

So much for the Santa Fe part and now for the I-40 afternoon!

The first part of my trip was cold, snowy and windy until I got right outside of  Las Vegas. Then, it was just windy for about two weeks until right before I left.  Then it got baking hot with only some wind. When I was in Utah and Colorado,  the weather was kinda’ hot during the day but nice and crisp at night.

That’s all gone now that we’ve left the mountainous regions and headed south  for Santa Fe. There? It was HOT! Thank goodness there was enough of a cool  breeze last night to keep the temperature in the pop-up fairly nice. I think that’s  over. I think the Vegas weather pattern is following me 2000 miles to home.  Mom said it was 91 degrees in Atlanta today.

We made it to Amarillo, Texas to camp for the night and it’s HOT! We’re going to do the Trucker Dew routine tomorrow to get as close Memphis as possible without killing each other. Trucker Dew, you ask? Well, you must be a newby. Last year when I was driving back from Vegas, I got hyped up on Mountain Dew and only ate Slim Jims with a side of cheese and drove for 36 hours to get home. I stopped only at truck stops to nap for a few hours before hitting the Dew again. That’s what I call pedal to the metal, trucker style.

Object of the game is to get to Maryville, Tennessee by early Friday afternoon to see my sister and her family and get into cooler weather!

Happy Trails!

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Categories Baby Boomer, camping, camping with pets, southwest, southwest, travel, United States, west, woman camping alone
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