The Schramm Journey

Balboa Park

2012-02-02T12:08:00.001-06:00

If everything goes according to plan, we will be moving to Bakersfield, California Monday. Yesterday was our last time to attend the Prime Time luncheon at First Lutheran of Northridge. It is hard to believe that during our two months here we have met such wonderful friends at this church. So many expressed their unwillingness to let us go, and we feel the same way about leaving them. That is the biggest problem with the free wheeling life style which we have adopted! At the luncheon we met another retired couple who have done something even more radical with their lives. Dr.Dennis and Paula Lofstrum put their retirement plans aside and started a medical center in Tanzania, Africa. They have formed International Health Partners with the Victoria Diocese of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania. They spoke at the luncheon of the progress they have made in the ten years since they built their first clinic. Paula talked about all the wonderful people around the world who have aided them with their service and money, which has made possible many healing miracles for Africans. Now she and her husband are traveling around the states telling their story to anyone who is willing to listen and open up their wallets. Hmmm, I guess if our travels here in the states get too boring, there is always the possibility of John and I traveling to Tanzania and doing some volunteer work! After the luncheon we headed to Balboa Park to work off our meal.

We walked around the lake twice, observing the activities of the people and birds around the lake. Many snowy egrets were around the lake, as well as the occasional solitary great blue heron.

Speaking of egrets, we have also learned to look up to find them.

We also saw some trumpeter swans. This is a good time of the year for sighting migratory birds here in California. The black spots in the lake are coots, a type of marsh bird. Some of the birds in the lake are also cormorants. The latter are easy to identify as they swim partially submerged.

Ventura County

2012-01-29T18:54:00.000-06:00

Our day Friday began at the Channel Islands Visitor Center in Ventura. John had read that there was a good park movie there on the Channel Islands. It was not in our plans to go to the islands that day as it involves a boat ride to get over to the islands. A trip there would take up much of the day. I sure do have hope some day to travel over there, however! The islands and their encircling waters are home to plants and animals found nowhere else in the world. The visitor's center has a native plant garden where we could see some of those plants.

The above picture it that of a giant coreopsis. I thought my eyes were fooling me at first; those sunflowers should be blooming on the ground, not coming out of a tree trunk! The plant was at one time beaten back by grazing animals on the Channel Islands, but now that five of the eight California Channel Islands became part of our national park system (in 1980), it is blossoming abundantly. The park is one of the least visited of all the national parks because it is not easy to get to. The movie which we saw at the center, "A Treasure in the Sea", stressed the islands' feeling of solitude and richness of biologic diversity. After the movie we climbed a tower in the visitor center to view Anacapa and Santa Cruz Islands, the two Channel Islands closest to the California shore. Anacapa is 15 miles away and Santa Cruz is 21. The latter island has the highest peaks of all the islands. It also has the largest and deepest sea cave in the world.

We were encouraged by a park ranger to check out a beach north of the city of Ventura where harbor seals where staying during the winter months. Before heading out of town, however, we first visited Saint Buenaventura Mission. It was the last mission started by Father Junipero Serra in 1782. The gardens of the mission are quite beautiful, as you can see in the picture below.

Carpinteria Bluffs Nature Preserve is where we found the harbor seals. In a couple of week they will be having their babies. Currently the beach is a protected birthing habitat for the seals during the winter months.We could only look down on the seals from a bluff above them. Two high schools students were there also, it was their community service project to watch the beach for the afternoon in order to ensure that no one disturbed the seals. A docent, who later joined us, commented that if the seals feel in any way threatened on that portion of the beach they would choose another area for their pupping. While we were there we also noticed many pelicans and other shore birds hanging out with the seals. We later did find some tide pools in the preserve which were not close to the seals. The only aquatic life we found in those pools were sea anemones. We took the longer way home through the Santa Ynez Mountains, which afforded us some very stunning mountain vistas. I continue to marvel at the natural beauty of California! A view of the seals can be seen below, in their lounging positions they do look like large rocks.

Hollywood Forever

2012-01-28T21:47:00.000-06:00

Forget about the many Hollywood celebrities buried in this cemetery, I just loved watching the peacocks stroll among the tombstones! This is one of Los Angeles's oldest memorial parks, founded in 1899. Originally part of it was a dedicated Jewish burial ground. Upon first entering this cemetery the only grave sites we saw were the ones of Jewish families. We were told by another couple wandering the grounds that if we wanted to view the graves of the Hollywood stars, directors and producers buried here, we had to purchase a map of the grave sites for $5.00 at a nearby florist shop. We had just finished our tour of Paramount Studio and walked over to the cemetery from there (the cemetery is adjacent to the studios, on the backside of them) and it was well past our lunch time. The sun was also high in the sky and it did not appeal to us to wander around in an area were there was little shade. Certainly all the celebrity graves would not be located in one area, so there was a lot of territory to cover if we did not purchase a map. We took a few minutes to wander around the memorial park without a map and found one celebrity tombstone.

Remember Mel Blanc? He was "the man of 1000 voices". He once admitted that it really was 850 voices. Mel Blanc was a voice actor and comedian, creating the voices of such cartoon characters as Bugs Bunny, Yosemite Sam, Tweedy Bird, and many others. Also buried in this cemetery are Rudolph Valentino, Cecil B. DeMille, Peter Lorre, Douglas Fairbanks, and many others. Contrary to popular opinion, Jayne Mansfield is not buried here but back in Pennsylvania. Her fan club put a cenotaph for her in this memorial park, complete with an inaccurate birth date on the gravestone. She never wanted her age to be known.

Paramount Studios

2012-01-26T21:49:00.149-06:00

The above picture is that of Bronson's Gate, the main entrance to the studios. The gate was named after a street which once ran in front of the studios. We took a tour of Paramount today and, according to our guide Stacy, the gate was not named after Charles Bronson. It was the other way around, he took his acting name from the gate's moniker. Paramount Pictures has a logo of a mountain surrounded by 21 stars. The mountain is located in Utah, the stars are for the original 21 stars at Paramount. The studio was named after Paramount Apartments which were around in 1914 when the studio was started- someone just liked the name. And in the picture below is a running list of what talk shows, and television series are currently being shot on the lots.

Well, that is barely readable, so I will list a few: Dr.Phil, The Doctors, glee, Happy Endings, and Community. The later two sets are presently live- meaning that they are in use and set up for shootings, no pictures can be taken by us on the tour. For Happy Endings we toured the bar where many of the scenes are shot, and also the apartments of the characters. That was fascinating to see; how a setting is decorated so close to reality, when actually most of it is an illusion. Equally interesting was the set for Community where we toured the dean's office, library and cafeteria (the story takes place in a community college). Also intriguing were the street scenes outside of the studios. Our guide pointed out to us how scenes can be set up to show any typical street in the world. I never realized that Chicago's fire hydrants look different than New York's fire hydrants. While we were there a street scene was being shot for Happy Endings. The building which is currently being used as a bar for that show is sitting on a corner where a scene for Breakfast at Tiffany's was once shot.

Stacy had a lot to show us in this little section of Paramount (note the above picture). She played on her iPad a scene from the Brady Bunch, which took place below the tree. In another corner of this area is where Paramount has their day care building. Lucile Ball was one of the first mom actresses to insist on having her children near her while she was at work. And speaking of her, the door at the far end of the building (with the awning above it) was her dressing room. Audrey Hepburn used it before she did. Our tour took about two hours and the time flew. It was all quite interesting, so totally another world. My last picture to share with you is that of Forest Gump's bench. I believe now that John and I have seen three out of the four which were made for the movie. The other two we saw are located in Savannah, Georgia.

Venice Beach

2012-01-23T18:40:00.000-06:00

This beach, located south of Santa Monica Beach, is primarily most known for its Ocean Front Walk. We were there late Saturday afternoon. It was quite a cool breezy day so we probably did not see all the activity that is usually along the board walk. Despite the cool day many homeless people were hanging out there wrapped up in their blankets. A few had small tents. Some were selling stuff like small plastic skulls painted in garish colors. One young man offered two jokes for a dollar. And then there were about 6 shops where salesmen outside of the buildings claimed that "the doctor is in". If we had anything from cancer to insomnia we supposedly could be examined and approved for a marijuana use. Occasionally we could smell the drug in the air as we walked along the board walk. In the picture below is one of the medical shops- "evaluations" mean medical examinations. There are also shops for body piercings and tattoos. Quite a colorful beach front area. Not surprisingly, Venice Beach has served as a back drop for movies and some television series.

Venice Beach is known for its muscle builders who work out on the beach. Los Angeles parks department has an outdoor gym on the beach with body building equipment. Had it been a warmer day I am sure we would have seen those athletes in action. A variety of entertainers were around playing on drums and guitars. One young lady was twirling around with a hula hoop under a park sculpture. It was getting dark by the time we noticed her.

Venice Beach is also popular for its wall art. Permission from the city is required to do this public art.

We ended our afternoon on the beach at a small restaurant which offered Mediterranean food. The food was delicious and the service was awesome. There seems to be no shortage of good eating places in the area. We took is one last look at the beach before leaving. Unlike Santa Monica beach, this one has a rocky shoreline.

Franklin Canyon Ranch

2012-01-22T16:32:00.000-06:00

While hiking through this park I made the comment to John that Hollywood does not have to travel far when producing movies. There are plenty of natural settings around the immediate area which afford the perfect scenery for many movies, especially westerns. I found out later, from a park brochure, that Franklin Canyon has been an active filming location since the 1930s and still is today. It Happened One Night, The Silence of the Lambs, the Andy Griffith Show, and more were filmed in this park. There are several hiking trails within the canyon, we chose one which took us to the top. It was a bit steep and sort of a challenge, but we kept going thinking we would stop before reaching the top. There were quite a few other hikers besides us out on the same trail enjoying the warm day There were also plenty of birds and wildflowers to enjoy along the way. I was even surprised to hear the song of the whip-poor will, which is not a common bird out west.

At the top of the canyon we had a beautiful view of Beverly Hills, which has an occasional mansion tucked away in its hills. There are plenty of beautiful areas around Los Angeles to build a home with such a view.The big question is whether one wants to take the chance of living with forest fires or mud slides.

We took Mulholland Drive out of the park. Along this road there is a scenic overlook for Universal Studios, which is the very tall building in the foreground of the picture below.

Along Mulholland Drive we also stopped at an overlook for the Hollywood Bowl, and from there we were also able to see the Hollywood sign far off in the hills. It was at this place where we found some interesting information on Los Angeles. The town began as one pueblo- it lacked a good harbor, coal, iron, timber or water, all necessary items to start a town. Eventually it was oranges, oil, movies and tourism that spurred its economic growth. By the 20th century railroads were built, the harbor was dredged and water piped in.

This and That

2012-01-21T13:43:00.000-06:00

I have received several inquiries recently regarding how our aged cat is doing. Amazingly he is still alive and relatively healthy. A lot of his fur is turning white and he sleeps a lot. He has come to find a very sunny window in our home where he now spends his morning sleeping. So one of my first tasks every morning is to make that spot available, and to lift the shades on that window the minute the sun comes streaming in. Below is a picture of the first morning when we found KC at that spot. He was waiting patiently for me to raise the shade, but I do think even if I did not let the sun come in, he would continue to sit there. He does dumb stuff like that, like looking at a wall with his back to us.

In a posting before Christmas I mentioned a movie which we saw being produced when we were on Hollywood Boulevard one Friday evening. Recently I saw a piece in the Los Angeles Times on that movie. The movie, "The Gangster Squad", is a Warner Bros. action drama based on a series of the newspaper's articles on Los Angeles' crime element in the 1940s. The cast includes Josh Brolin, Sean Penn, Ryan Gosling, Nick Nolte, among others. The film is set to open October 19. I hope we remember to see the movie as we had been fortunate in watching one of its' scenes in the making. For people in Los Angeles this probably is no big deal as movies are being shot all over this town rather frequently.

San Fernando Valley Historical Landmarks

2012-01-20T13:03:00.000-06:00

Our game plan yesterday was to complete our tour of the historical sites of the valley. There is not much left of the Shadow Ranch which was active during the 1880s, presently a small portion of it is park. The ranch home is now a preschool and much of the grounds have been turned into sports fields. However, the fine grove of eucalyptus trees, said to have been the first ones in the valley brought over from Australia, are still standing. We detected their odor immediately when we walked toward them. In San Diego we stayed at a park surrounded by those trees, so we recognize that smell very easily. It is not a great smell, but not all that bad either.

Our next stop was Orcutt Ranch Horticultural Center. It has nearly 100 of the oldest live oak trees in the valley. While walking on the nature trail we found one of them with a marker stating its age as 700 years old. The knars on its trunk as well as its height is quite impressive! It looks every bit its age.

While walking on the trail the distinctive call of a bird caught our attention, I researched that bird later and it may have been an oak titmouse. In that same area I espied a woodpecker. We also saw two blue jays chasing each other around a tree. It was a short nature trail but there was a lot to see. The Orcutt Ranch was built in the 1920s. W.Orcutt and his wife designed it with styles and symbols of the American Southwest. There is an inclusion of the Native American swastika above the door lintels. On that wall is also a series of pictures depicting two cocks fighting, a sport which is popular in Mexico.

As we were heading to our last spot of the day, a homestead acre and pioneer home, we drove on Woolsey Canyon Road which overlooks the San Fernando Valley. What a great view we had on that drive!

Plants and Birds of San Fernanado Valley

2012-01-19T21:42:00.000-06:00

When touring the Andres Pico ranch grounds on Monday we saw a century plant which had just finished flowering. I think that I need to show the century plant first, and then the stalk which grew out of it.

The stalk is in the background of the picture above. The century plant grows slowly, and it received its name from the idea that it takes 100 years to flower. That is not quite correct; how long it takes to flower depends on the richness of the soil, climate conditions and the vigor of the plant. The volunteer at the ranch said she has enjoyed watching that plant this past year; seeing the stem come out of the plant , grow rather quickly, leaf out and produce white blossoms. Now the stalk is dead and needs to be chopped down. The stalk is what caught our attention, it must be at least 35 feet in height. Had not our guide pointed it out, we just would have thought of it as a tree and not connected it with the century plant at all.

Also at the ranch we saw a flowering jade plant, a rather common sight here in the Los Angeles area.

Camellia and Magnolia trees are also in bloom, and today I saw a white iris, as well as jonquils. I think spring is starting around here, but it is hard to tell because some trees are dropping their leaves. Whatever season it is, it is just great being outside. And surprisingly we can always find a bit of nature right in the middle of the city! Yesterday, while biking through Sepulveda Recreation Area, we came upon one egret and several varieties of heron. There is another area of the park that has been set aside as a wildlife refuge, which we have visited, and only may see one egret in that area. What a surprise yesterday to see so many herons hanging out at a creek in the park, so close to a area heavily populated by people and traffic. While standing and watching a white egret and blue heron (pictured below) we heard a flapping of wings and two green herons flew out from the trees above us. We have never seen that many in one place, or that close to us.

Andres Pico Adobe

2012-01-17T22:37:00.000-06:00

This is the second oldest adobe home in the Los Angeles area. It started as a one-room, single-story about 1834. The home was built by the Indians of what was then the ex-San Fernando Mission. Sometime between 1846 and 1860 the land around the house was owned by Andres Pico, the last Mexican governor of California. He chose, however, to live in the convent of the mission. His brother lived in the house at the time and added the dining room and present library. That same man, Pio Pico, passed the land on to his adopted children and at that time the adobe was modernized by adding a second floor. Other improvements were added to the house to produce an up-to-date Victorian residence of the mode of 1873. The building has undergone about 4 restorations since then. On Monday we took a guided tour of the home. We had been encouraged to visit the adobe by a friend we met at First Lutheran. She volunteers at the historic home.

This is a corner of the living room. All the furnishings are of the Victorian era. Behind the chair on the right is an Edison cylinder phonograph. The house has many antiques, from dolls to quilts to vintage clothing and branding irons. John asked if movie studios use the clothing and he was told that not only is the clothing used, but also movies have been made in the home, as Zorro. This home is a very important piece of the San Fernando Valley history. On the grounds of the Pico Adobe is the Lankershim Reading Room, which is one of the last remaining vestiges of the Lankershim Ranch. That ranch once covered the southern half of the valley. The Reading Room was built in 1904 and, before residing at the Pico Adobe, it was used for a time as a research library at Roy Rogers' Canyon Chapel in Topanga Canyon. It is an octagon-shaped building made of redwood in the Folk-Victorian Style. What we found most fascinating about it are the sash pocket windows which slide down into seven panels of the building. When they are all down the building has a gazebo look to it. Today it serves as a mini-museum and contains artifacts pertinent to the valley's history.

Downtown Los Angeles

2012-01-16T23:27:00.000-06:00

Saturday we took the metro train downtown, which is also what we did two years ago when we were in Los Angeles. This time, however, we did not spend any time looking at the historic buildings in the Old Plaza area. We instead took more time strolling through the Mexican-style market place, on Olvera street. Even though we had no serious shopping in mind, it still was fun to visit the craft booths and vendors of traditional Mexican wares. Plenty of food booths and restaurants are also available in the market place. We stopped to listen to Mexican music provided by one of the eating places. It was fun just taking in all the sights, sounds, and smells of the marketplace.

From there we walked over to Chinatown. The main street there is Gin Ling Way, which was named after a famous street in old Beijing. The name means "Street of Golden Treasures". And there are treasures to be found there, one shopping plaza has a long row of jewelry stores! The town is currently quite decorated. We came to find out the the Chinese New Year will be January 23. We were wished "Happy New Year" many times. I also learned that it will be the year of the dragon.

And this time we had Chinese music for our listening pleasure.. The man pictured below stopped playing on his two stringed violin to explain the instrument to us. It is called an Erhu. Unfortunately, with his broken English we could not understand most of what he said. However, he was a very sweet guy and after we placed a dollar in his donation pot, he gave us a bamboo backscratcher.

I have not yet become bored with Los Angeles. It seems that we can drive or walk anywhere and find something fascinating to view. Returning to Union Station to catch our train that afternoon we noticed a large room in the station being readied for a banquet. We learned that a fashion show for charity was to take place in a few hours.. While we stood there a model came out to practice her walk across the stage.

Nethercutt Music Collection

2012-01-15T22:39:00.000-06:00

After a brief introduction to the first floor of the Nethercutt Museum our tour guide allowed us to wander around on our own for a brief time. Our free time was to last until the end of George Gershwin's Rhapsody In Blue. The music came from the player piano located on the landing above the floor. Near the piano is a Tiffany clock encased in a walnut cabinet. Its chimes rang out on the hour.

One of the first music boxes we saw on the next floor had five small dancers twirling to the music. It is typical of the "station music boxes" placed in railway stations and other places of business to entertain travelers during the railway boom of the late 1800s. This one was made in Switzerland in 1895.

The next floor of the museum had orchestrions. They were made only in Europe and are mechanical devices able to produce the sound of a full orchestra. One in the Nethercutt collection has a 20 piece orchestra. It can be seen in the background of the picture below.

The Mighty Wurlitzer, in the foreground of the picture above, is the third largest in the world. During the years of silent movies it was used in theaters to produce different sound effects. We were told that this organ had an option of 537 different sounds; everything from the sound of thunder to galloping hoofs, to a door bell ringing or a steam engine chugging away from a train station. We were told that it was not an easy task for the musician at the organ. He had to watch the screen, provide certain sounds at the appropriate times and perform for all the shows which may be shown on the screen in one day! A variety of those sounds were produced for us by our tour guide. He also played a couple of songs for us on the organ. While the organ was playing doors opened to reveal two rooms which contain 5,000 organ pipes. We fully enjoyed our two days at the Nethercutt Museum, and there is no admission price!

Nethercutt Car Collection

2012-01-13T21:58:00.001-06:00

We returned to see the second building of the Nethercutt Collection. In the first building, which we toured Tuesday, there are 150 cars which the family restored. There is a total of 250 cars in the collection so we saw a few more today besides many musical devices. Our toured guide stressed that it is all "functional fine art". The music boxes play, the cars can be driven and the musical watches keep accurate time. This posting will have a focus again on the cars, I promise that the next posting will feature other items in the Nethercutt collection! The car showroom we toured today is a bit fancier than the one we toured Tuesday. It was designed to look like a showroom of the 1920s and 30s. There is quite a bit of blaze to the room with the bright lights overhead, and the reflections in the mirrors of the gleaming cars.

The first car pictured here is another one produced in St.Louis Missouri (I featured the other one in my posting two days ago). In the first years of car manufacturing there were over 4,000 car companies. So it probably is no surprise that I found another car company which used to be in St.Louis. The 1930 Ruxton, pictured below, was made by New Era Motors. It was advertised as an "Art Deco Front Drive Automobile". It was a sensation when introduced but that lasted only one year, after 200 of them were produced. Internal company strife and poor funding killed the Ruxton, according to the information provided by the museum.

The other car which I want to show here is is a 1932 Maybach. The informational sign posted near it says that it was "the very peak of German automotive refinement". The story as to how the Nethercutt family received this car is an interesting one. Apparently it was smuggled out of East Germany under a load of cabbages (this was at the time when the Berlin Wall was in existence). It probably did not look this good back then!

It is hard to believe that many of the cars in this collection were once rust buckets before being restored. Once restored they are kept in mint condition. They are dusted daily, also waxed and detailed every 150 days, according to the curator. Just before leaving today we returned to the first building and were fortunate to be able to witness a corvette getting waxed and detailed. That was fascinating to watch!

Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine

2012-01-13T13:37:00.000-06:00

This is a 10-acre meditation garden that includes a spring-fed picturesque lake. In the 1940s Twentieth Century Fox had their studios here and built an authentic reproduction of a 16th-century Dutch Windmill.

The Self Realization Fellowship church worshiped in that building until a new temple was built. The new temple is a domed octagonal building crowned with a golden lotus. It sits high on a hill overlooking the lake to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. The founder of the church was Parmahansa Yogananda, who came from India in the 1920s. Students of the church learn through Self-Realization studies how to balance their lives with meditation. However, the garden is a shrine to each of the five principal religions of the world. At the Court of Religions (where there is a monument to each of those religions) one can gaze upon a nearby hillside to see a life-size statue of Christ. Yogananda felt that the goal of every faith is the same- direct experience of God.

On the grounds is also the Gandhi World Peace Memorial. Here a brass coffer containing a portion of Mahatma Gandhi's ashes was enshrined in a stone sarcophagus at the dedication of the Lake Shrine in 1950.

It is quite the spot for reflection and prayer. A path goes around the lake and along that path there are many small private areas where one may sit quietly and meditate. Flowers abound everywhere and their fragrance permeates the air. Birds also seem to enjoy the gardens, it all certainly gave me a sense of being in paradise!

Life in Van Nuys

2012-01-12T13:27:00.005-06:00

This San Fernando Valley suburb is where we have now been parked for a month. Our plans are to remain here for yet another month and then we will start heading east. Some recreational vehicle parks which we have been in are primarily populated with older citizens like John and I. This place has a variety of people including families with small children. The owner told us he has traveling nurses staying here, actors, construction workers as well as people living here while under-going cancer therapy. Our neighbor is a Los Angeles water works employee. He has his young daughter and a teen age son living with him. Except for a couple of motorcycles in the park and a small airport nearby, things are generally fairly quiet around us. While walking the streets in the neighborhoods around here I have been fascinated with the plethora of shopping carts hanging around. This is just one of those places in the Los Angeles area where certain people reside who are apt to readily use them, primarily I am speaking of the homeless. Oh, there is also the older person who uses them to take their groceries home or the young mother who loads her kids in them. But for the homeless a Food for Less or Home Depot cart is a necessary part of their existence. They need a cart to carry their blankets or sleeping bags or just all the stuff they daily accumulate. At least I thought those items would be important until I saw the cart pictured below. Someone felt it necessary to leave it behind. The first day it was over-flowing with stuff: a technical school graduation diploma, an unopened single serving box of cereal, a bar of soap (still in its wrapping), towels, underwear and many plastic bags. No, I did not rummage in the cart, I am only mentioning the items I saw sitting at the top. In the following days I watched as the cart slowly got relieved of its burden until only a few junky items remained. The cart still sits by its lonesome self at the side of the road. It seems that it does not qualify for the cart retrieval service. Yes, only Los Angeles would probably need a company like that. We watched one day as a truck came by and loaded up shopping carts around the perimeter of a shopping plaza. Leave it to John to ask him what he was doing! He thought the carts were going in for repair.

I can't leave you with the impression that we live in a questionable neighborhood. Check out this picture of a wall covered with bougainvillea. It is located at a trailer park next to us. Some of the homes around here are pretty run down, but there is usually beautiful foliage in the front yard.

Nethercutt Museum

2012-01-11T12:12:00.001-06:00

Driving off Highway 405 toward the Nethercutt Museum we passed a large Merle Norman Cosmetic plant. At that time we did not realize there was a connection between Merle Norman and the museum. In 1923 J.B.Nethercutt went to live with his aunt Merle Nethercutt Norman. He later joined her in the family cosmetic business. In 1956 J.B. and his wife started collecting and restoring antique cars. Over the years they collected many different cars from classics to hot rods. The car, in which the lady is seated in the picture above, is one of those restored cars. It was one of the most expensive Packards sold in 1934. The shiny red car with the license plate of "Hussy" is one of over a 100 restored cars showcased in the museum. The next car which caught my eye was the 1928 Diana, manufactured by the Moon Car Company located in St.Louis, Missouri. It is described as a "The Light Straight 8/Sedan Deluxe". In Roman mythology Diana is a goddess of the moon. Appropriately the company thought one of their cars should be called a Diana. The goddess with her bow and arrow is a hood ornament on the car. I found a couple other cars in the museum also made by the Moon Car Company.

We were surprised to find a restored 1938 Pierce-Arrow Travelodge in the museum. A sign near it describes it as the ultimate in travel comfort; complete with a gas heater, beds for four, ice box, and a bathroom. The museum had done a great job in restoring it, considering that its last use was as a chicken coop! Attached to it is a Pierce-Arrow Limousine. Hard to believe that about 76 years ago it was possible to travel in such style!

The museum also has a rather extensive collection of car headlights, carburetors, horns, spark plugs and hood ornaments. It was of interest to me that the swastika was a mascot, or hood ornament, before Adolf Hitler started using it as a symbol for his evil empire. For many ancient cultures, even our Native Americans, it was a symbol for good luck, health and happiness. The rest of the Nethercutt Collection, which also includes a variety of musical devices, is located in another building which we plan on visiting Friday.

Mission San Fernando

2012-01-10T13:33:00.000-06:00

By now we have visited quite a few of the Catholic missions along the coast of California. This mission is the seventeenth in that chain, it was started in 1787. The current church, pictured above, is an exact replica of the original edifice erected between 1804 and 1806. On the grounds of the mission are the graves of Bob Hope and his wife Delores. In 2003, the year he died, they had been married 69 years. John's first question, after he bought our admission tickets to the mission, was : "why is Bob Hope's grave here?" To which the clerk curtly replied: "his wife put him here". I laughed at that, John certainly got his comeuppance for his inquisitive questions! John asked a different staff worker the same question later and the story we got then was that when Delores asked Bob where he wanted to be buried his reply was: "surprise me".

In back of the graves, under the alcove, is a beautiful statuary created by Anna Hyatt Huntington. The bronze reproduction is titled "Holy Family Resting- Flight into Egypt". Mary, Joseph and even the donkey certainly give off the impression that their trip was a bit difficult!

The burial plot of the Hopes is located in a small section of the rather extensive gardens of the mission. The mission has kept a lot of its land over the years despite its location in such a large metropolitan area as Los Angeles. In 1819 it had 121,542 acres. Through the years it has kept the church, convent, cemetery, workshops, and the foreman's house. And it has added a museum and the Archival Center for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. The convent itself is a very impressive adobe building of two stories. Completed in 1822 its famous corridor has twenty-one Roman arches and the original iron grilles.

Across the street from the mission is the Mission Mortuary and Memory Garden. The gardens here are as equally beautiful as we found them at the mission. It is hard to believe that all this quiet beauty is located between two busy highways. The connecting street between those highways runs right pass the mission.

Norton Simon Museum Revisited

2012-01-09T20:56:00.000-06:00

The last time we were at this art museum the weather was rainy and cold. Consequently at that time I did not take any pictures. The outside entrance to this museum has a sculpture by August Rodin called "The Burghers of Calais", which is pictured above. We did not have any plans to return to this art gallery in Pasadena. However, Pastor Hanson at Life House church, in his sermon Sunday, referred to a painting of Joseph which he had seen there. He commented that usually in nativity scenes Joseph, the father of Jesus, is often depicted in the shadows or not at all.. We easily found the painting in the museum among its collection of early Baroque paintings. The 17th century painting done by the artist Baciccio shows Joseph, by himself, holding Jesus very reverently with a total look of awe on his face. As Pastor Hanson saw it, it is as if he is viewing his son with joy in recognition of the fact that he is holding his Savior. The painting is very appropriate for the Epiphany season. There was another artist I looked for while at the museum. I recently read a historical fiction novel, With Violets, by Elizabeth Robards on the artist Edouard Manet. He was an Impressionist painter of the late 19th century. I found several of his paintings in the gallery, including a painting which he did of his wife. Interestingly enough, she looks to be quite prettier than Robard's description of her in the book! Since we had already visited the museum two years ago, we visited the sculpture garden first. The small pond in the middle of the garden adds a lot to it its beauty as it reflects the trees and sculptures surrounding it.

The garden is replete with a large variety of plants. A number of the trees were gifted to the museum by the naturalist John Muir. Pictured below is a foxtail agave plant.

San Gabriel Mountains

2012-01-06T17:59:00.000-06:00

Yesterday we hit a record high of 86 degrees here in Los Angeles. The weather stations here call that a "heat wave". It did not bother John and I because were up in the mountains northeast of the city.

The ski areas were not in operation; there was snow on the ground but not enough for skiing. Ordinarily most of the roads up the mountain would be closed this time of the year. But only after we passed the 5,000 elevation mark did we get stopped by a gate across the road. We pulled off the road there and found a hiking trail. A sign at the beginning of the trail noted that we were in the Pleasant View Ridge Wilderness. The trail was a bit treacherous because of snow and ice on it. We had to be careful in those areas because one slip could easily send us tumbling down the mountainside. Despite that, it was a beautiful walk.

Trail signs warned us of black bear in the area. We did not see them but did see a black chipmunk and a western gray squirrel. I did some research after we got home and there actually is a black chipmunk. According to Ken Burton, a wild life expert, they can be seen "with some frequency but are not common". The gray squirrel has a very long and bushy tail (that tail especially caught my attention). My research on that critter indicated that those squirrels can be found in forests on elevations of 2,000 feet or above. Another animal in the area is bighorn sheep, which we also saw. We were just returning to our car when I glanced up the rocky slope across from the parking lot and espied some movement. Soon about seven sheep came into full view. Unfortunately they were too far up for me to get a picture of them. It was sunset about the time we headed down the mountain. Still John wanted to take a short side trip up Mount Wilson because he had heard about an observatory there. After driving up a very steep winding road to get there it was closed. It was still worth the trip to look down at Los Angeles from that mountain top.

Rose Bowl Parade, 2012

2012-01-03T13:17:00.000-06:00

Yesterday was our second visit to the Rose Bowl Parade. Two years ago we purchased bleacher seats and a parking pass beforehand. This year we decided to join the masses and take a metro train to Pasadena. Unfortunately our timing was a bit off. Even though we started our trip at about 6AM, we still got into the main crush of people when we arrived at the parade site a little before 8AM. Consequently our viewing area was several rows back from the curb, and it was standing room only! However, we did see all of the parade and even got in a few good pictures. The float pictured below belonged to Trader Joe's. It was a fanciful wagon used to convey the parade's "Just Imagine..." theme. A fishing pole moved up and down, tennis rackets waved back and forth. The puff of smoke in the back of the wagon came from ketchup bottles which boomed and emitted smoke. Roses, mum and gladiolas decorated the lower parts of the wagon.

The second float I have pictured here was done by the Shriners Hospitals for Children. The plane on that float goes up and down. The theme is "Soaring for Kids"

The last one I want to show here has the theme of organ donation, "...One More Day". Faces of people who have donated their organs are on the clock's face.

Our son Mike picked us up in Pasadena after the parade and we went out to lunch with him. When we arrived back at the metro station John and I acknowledged to each other that we were not ready to go home. It was sunny day and the perfect place to go would be the beach. We gathered up our suntan lotion, beach blanket and took the metro to Long Beach. That was an hour long trip, but we needed some time to just sit. Once we got to the beach we laid out on our blanket. While John slept I watched shore birds pecking in the sand along the shore line. Even a pelican entertained me while he made several dives into the water for fish. While I was watching he managed to snag one. We left the beach when the sun started setting.

Simi Valley

2012-01-01T21:57:00.000-06:00

We liked the beauty of the Simi Valley when we were there a few days ago and, as there were other places for us to visit in that area, we returned there yesterday. Our first stop was to see John's cousin and his wife in the town of Moorland. After that we toured California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks. It was easy to find the chapel as it is the tallest building on the campus. The chapel, built in 1990, has a 75 foot spire which is topped with a 7 foot cross. It is quite a modern edifice. We were fortunate that the doors were open and we were able to tour the sanctuary, which we found to be quiet simple in design.

The campus has a beautiful setting in the valley with a ridge of mountains off in the distance behind it. Wildwood Park, located in those mountains, is where we stopped next. We had heard that the canyon is quite beautiful and has one rather large waterfall.

The hiking paths in the canyon are rather challenging with some very steep slopes. But I, probably more so than John, was determined to see Paradise Falls. The sun overhead was quite warm but the air was cool in the lower levels of the canyon. We were hiking along a river trail when we eventually heard the sound of falling water. Soon we saw a series of small waterfalls which cascaded down the rocky slopes of the canyon into a 30 foot drop of thundering water. No question about it, it was worth the hike into the canyon.

By the time we hiked out of the park the sun was setting. We were still determined to take the scenic trip through Simi Valley to the coastal town of Ventura. We ended up having our New Years Eve supper at a seafood restaurant on the Ventura pier. It was a wonderful way to spend our last day of 2011.

Forest Lawn Memorial Park - Glendale, California

2011-12-30T19:55:00.001-06:00

There are nine cemeteries managed by the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Association. The one most visited by tourists is the park located in Glendale. In 1917 its founder, Dr.Hubert Eaton, wrote of his vision for how a cemetery should be built. He thought that cemeteries were "unsightly and depressing stone yards". The dream he had is written in his poem "The Builders Creed". It is written on a couple of the buildings in the park.

Sorry if you were hoping to read the creed, I was more taken with the statuary in front of it. Essentially what Dr. Eaton said in the poem was that the memorial park of his dreams was to be filled with "towering trees, singing birds, sweeping lawns, splashing fountains, beautiful statuary, noble memorial architecture with interiors full of light and color, and redolent of the world's history and romances". He wanted no upright markers on the graves, only flat markers level with the ground. The grave pictured below is one of the more colorful ones decorated for the holiday season. Statuary or benches can be bought and placed by the markers.

One of our stops in the park was at the Memorial Terrace which houses a stained glass re-creation of Leonardo da Vinci's "Last Supper". We also visited the Hall of the Crucifixion-Resurrection where there is one of the world's largest religious paintings by Jan Styka. The crucifixtion picture is 45 by 195 foot, and was intended to be on display for the 1904 world's fair in St.Louis. However, there was no building large enough for it at the fair. Forty years later Dr. Eaton built an auditorium for it. In the same auditorium he also placed a large painting of the resurrection. Both are accompanied by dramatic narration and music. Below is a picture of the church which is a part of the auditorium. The church is a replica of a cathedral which he saw in Orvieto, Italy. There are several other churches in the garden which also are exact replicas of famous churches.

Some of the inspiration is the park is more of a patriotic nature. There is a Court of Freedom section in the park which has a large mosaic of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Our last stop was at the Forest Lawn Museum which displays rare biblical coins, statuary and paintings. It also has 11th-to15th- century cathedral stained glass. I must say it was a most unusual cemetery visit for us!

Ronald Reagan Presidential Museum

2011-12-28T13:30:00.001-06:00

While driving up a mountain to the museum yesterday we noticed many cars parked alongside the road. To our surprise we soon discovered that it was the over-flow parking for the museum. Had we known that Reagan's museum was so popular we certainly would not have chosen a holiday week to tour it! But then we would not have had the opportunity to see the Christmas tree display which is in the museum now. Each tree depicts an entire decade of American history from the 1770s to the present and features defining moments of each. Below is the tree for the decade from 1950-60, which recalls the polio epidemic and Dr.Seuss.

We spent a almost a good four hours in the museum. Ronald Reagan's life is explored in 24 fascinating galleries. It was the best history lesson I could have ever gotten concerning our 40th president and his accomplishments. In learning about Reagan's early years it was easy for me to see to see how circumstances in his personal life took him on the path to the White House. In his high school years he was president of his drama class, and in his college years and beyond he continued to shine as a great leader and speaker. He became known as The Great Communicator. Pictured below is the file he kept through out his life of famous quotations. He always had a few of the file cards in his briefcase should he ever need them.

Equally amazing to me was to see Reagan's five volume set of handwritten personal diaries, and to read excerpts from them. I could see some parallels with his experiences as president with what is happening today. Reagan had his issues also with tax reform and, like Obama, he had to deal with a legislature not of his party. His nemesis was Tip O'Neill as Obama's is John Boehner. In frustration he once said: " Look, enough of this". "Lets work for a change that will help the people." He kept a couple of small signs on his desk which
defined him as a person who learned to negotiate. As a great negotiator one of his crowning achievements while in office was the tearing down of the Berlin wall. He had a great friendship with the Soviet leader Gorbachev which also helped to end five decades of the Cold War and the proliferation of nuclear weapons.

The museum has a beautiful setting in the Simi Valley of California. It sits atop a mountain and has sweeping views of the mountains surrounding it and of the valley below. Unfortunately I had become so engrossed in touring the museum that I did not get a picture of the amazing panorama outside until the sun was setting.

Christmas 2011 in Los Angeles

2011-12-26T21:43:00.002-06:00

The above picture has to be one of the most unusual outdoor home Christmas decorations I have ever seen. The flower in the foreground is a white rose. John and I have an expression which we often say to each other while driving around Los Angeles: "it can only happen in this town". We started our Christmas day attending services at First Lutheran Church in Northridge (aka Life House). During the sermon Pastor Dana Hanson commented that we are only "a wood shaving away" from being like God. According to the Bible we are made a bit lower than the angels. About that time a scraggly haired bearded man wandered into the church noisily and sat down. He did not stay very long but soon wandered back outside to sit until the church served a dinner for the community at 2PM. John and I helped with that dinner, it was the first time we had ever participated in assisting with a meal of that nature. Fortunately the church has been giving the dinner for many years so for a few of us newbies it was easy to fit in and be helpful. As the people filed in for the dinner I thought about the pastor's sermon. Many of the people were quite unkempt and dirty. Some were obviously mental disturbed and/or retarded. A few were on crutches or in wheelchairs. There was also a blind man and a man with one arm. All my brothers and sisters, like me, created in the image of God. Many nervously clutched all the possessions they owned in plastic bags, or carried suitcases. One man agreed to put his bag on a chair when I promised to watch it while he stood in line for the food. And they ate voraciously, piling their plates high and returning for second and thirds. Little food was wasted. We sent many out the door later with take-out boxes of food. They said that they had friends and family to whom they wanted to bring food. During the course of the afternoon I found some of the women guests in the bathroom washing themselves. A lady commented to me that she was so thankful for warm water and soap. I found all of the people very appreciative. We served about 80 men, women and a few children. We not only gave them food but socks, blankets and toiletry items. After it was all over I felt good thinking that perhaps a small number of homeless people in Los Angeles that night were going to have full tummies and warm bodies. We had a great Christmas day and spending time that evening with our son Mike added a special bonus to our day!

Japanese Garden, Los Angeles

2011-12-23T14:43:00.000-06:00

The exquisite flower pictured above I found growing near our home last week. I was surprised to see that it was the flower of a cactus plant. Speaking of flowers, I recently read that the poinsettia plant was brought to the states from Mexico by Joel Poinsett, the first U.S. ambassador to Mexico. He found it growing as a weed on Mexican roadsides. It later became a favorite Christmas decoration and eventually was named after him. The shrubs blooming at this time of the year in the Japanese Garden are azalea, rhododendron, and camellia.

The Japanese Garden is located about five miles from where we are parked here in the San Frenando Valley. Strangely enough, it is on the grounds of the Tillman Water Reclamation Plant. All of the water used in the garden is from reclaimed waste water. Part of the water plant is pictured below.

Dr. Koichi Kawana was the garden's creator. In his lifetime he designed more than a dozen major Japanese gardens in the United States, including the one in St. Louis which is the largest of all of the gardens. In designing Suiho-en (the Japanese name for the garden) Dr. Kawana balanced the positive and negative forces,Yin and Yang, with a blend of traditional Japanese garden design and modern Western architecture. He was an architect as well as an artist and designed the contemporary water plant administration building located in the garden. His visionary goal was to teach visitors to the garden about the need for water recycling and reuse. We enjoyed walking around the lakes in the garden. Large groups of coots were busy feeding on the grass at the water's edge, and a lone white egret waded in one of the lakes searching for small fish to eat. The tea house of the garden can be seen in the background of the picture below.

John Turns Seventy

2011-12-22T18:36:00.006-06:00

This posting is my 600th, hard to believe. Also impossible to believe is that my husband turned 70 yesterday. As many people our age are wont to say: "where have the years gone?" We were thankful to have at least one of our children with us for John's big day. Our son Michael did a great job in helping to make it special for him. We wanted to do Disneyland but at this time of the year it is probably not the best place to be because of long lines. Mike instead obtained tickets for us to see a taping of the Tonight Show, which was John's second choice for his birthday. We did end up standing in line to get into the show for over an hour, but at least that was the only line we had to deal with. It was quite interesting to watch a talk show being produced. I counted at one time about 13 people surrounding the stage and Jay Leno. There were the usual camera men, and producers as well as the security detail. During the commercial breaks cameras are moved, cue cards are reviewed, and Leno's face gets powdered. Numerous pages were everywhere keeping the audience in line and encouraging us to applause and cheer on cue. One of Leno's special guests for the show last night was Thomas H. Church, the actor from the current movie now showing in theaters We Bought A Zoo. He brought to the show one of the animals used in the movie, some kind of a shaggy furred creature which looked a bit like an anteater. Another guest was the turtle man Ernie Brown Jr. from the television show Animal Planet. He showed off a few different turtles, including a most fascinating snapping turtle. Singer Johnny Mathis concluded the show singing a Christmas medley of songs. Speaking of age, he is now 76. His voice still has the warm mellow sound which I always enjoyed listening to. If you watched the Tonight Show last evening you pretty much saw everything I mentioned here. The show was produced at 4 in the afternoon. After the show Mike treated us to supper at Prosecco Trattoria in Toluca Lake. We had a wonderful meal, good service and John had a big slice of bread pudding for his birthday cake (a dessert specialty of the restaurant).

Topanga State Park

2011-12-18T17:27:00.001-06:00

The majority of Los Angeles citizens probably have no idea how fortunate they are in having this park within their city limits. In fact, it is the world's largest wilderness within the boundaries of a major city. We took Topanga Canyon Road into the park. On the way we stopped at Top of Topanga Overlook. From this spot we had a wonderful view of the city with the Santa Monica Mountains off in the distance. While standing there a ruby-throated hummingbird caught our attention as he hovered over a bush covered with red flowers.

We drove into to the state park where we noticed signs indicating that parking in the park would cost ten dollars. Consequently we did as everyone else was doing and parked on the road outside of the park. We talked to a park ranger about the fee when we entered the park. He commented that since so many people were trying to avoid the fee by parking outside of the park, state officials were considering placing no parking signs on the road where we had parked. John and I did feel guilty later that we had not paid the fee. We thoroughly enjoyed the hiking trails of the park (covered about 5 miles of the 36 ) and spent the majority of our day there. We took a couple of the trails which meandered over sunny grasslands and through heavily shaded forests of live oak. Frequently the trails opened up to spectacular vistas of the Pacific Ocean.

When I took the above picture the sky was quite overcast. We felt a few sprinkles of rain off and on until late afternoon when the sun finally came out. We attempted the trail up to Eagle Rock, one of the highest points in the park. However we had to turn back when we realized that it was further away than we realized. On the way up to that rock we encountered quite a few other interesting geological formations. The canyons in the park have earthquake faults, as well as volcanic formations and old sea beds with marine fossils.

One last picture I have here is that of a manzanita tree branch. I stopped to admire the tree because of its smooth red bark and small white blossoms. Bees were swarming the tree. At times like that I have to stop and seriously think about what season of the year I am in! I certainly am not in the midwest in December.

Palisades Park, Santa Monica

2011-12-16T13:40:00.000-06:00

Before I write about our visit to Santa Monica on Tuesday, I must deal with Albert Pujols who left our beloved Cardinals. He just joined the Los Angeles Angels who offered him a 10-year, $254-million deal. It did seem so strange to see him on television out here accepting the Angel's sport shirt. The Los Angeles Times noted that it is a big costly gamble on him since he has been in "decline for two seasons". But the Angeles General Manager J. Dipoto noted: " if we call a decline going from super human to just great" ( he did not finish the thought, but I think I get his point).. he went on to say: "I don't think we have seen the last great days of Albert Pujols". So there you have it, straight from Los Angeles regarding the Cardinal's ex-great hitter. Another great brouhaha making the papers out here is a controversy regarding Christmas displays in Palisades Park. Tuesday was a cool day, due to a front coming through Monday which brought rain.The wind blowing off the ocean on Santa Monica Pier was a bit brisk so walked from there to Paliasdes Park. It is more of an overlook park as the bluffs there hang over Topanga Canyon.

As we walked through the park we came upon several life size nativity scenes and we noticed that those three scenes did not completely tell the Christmas story. What we saw next after those displays is pictured below.

What followed the above sign were further displays from the American Atheists espousing separation of church and state as well as quotations from our nation's founders. Thomas Jefferson is quoted as saying that all religions are founded upon myths and fables. The next day, after we had visited the park, we found an article in the Los Angeles Times giving us the full story on the displays. For 6 decades churches of Santa Monica displayed the Christmas story on 14 plots in the park. A protest was raised and park officials decided to use a lottery system to dole out the spots in that prime location. The churches won 3 lots and other groups won 18. Some of the 18 spots stand empty, the others seem to be all promoted by the American Atheists. Interestingly enough, one of the nativity scenes is sponsored by the Sana Monica Police Association.

Hollywood on a Friday Evening

2011-12-10T15:14:00.000-06:00

It may have seemed to our readers that we have vanished from the face of the earth. This past week we moved our home to Van Nuys, California. This is an area northwest of Los Angeles. Shortly after our arrival we got busy getting Christmas letters and packages mailed out. Last evening we decided to venture over to Hollywood boulevard where Improv Olympic West Theater is located. Mike had a show there last night which we wanted to see. We saw several other shows besides his, all lasting about 30 minutes. It is stand up comedy, improvised as the show progresses. I suppose it is the training ground for many actors and actresses, allowing them to feel comfortable speaking and acting on stage. Mike says he is just having fun with it.

Before the show we walked along Hollywood boulevard. And I am not sure that it is the place to be on a Friday evening in the Christmas season. In the area we walked through there is a large Christmas display by the Church of Scientology. The sign above Santa in the picture below declares that it is Ron Hubbard's Winter Wonderland. And above a large decorated tree nearby Santa is posted a quote from Hubbard which asserts that peace on earth will come when people trust each other.

Part of Hollywood Boulevard was blocked off last evening for a movie shooting. For the scene cars from the 1920s were on the set as well as a trolley. Actors dressed as gangsters strolled around and large lights shone above the street. Suddenly there was a sound of shots being fired, all a part of the scene being played out.

A man standing near us, who was holding some type of have you found Jesus poster, commented to us: "crazy isn't this, especially after the shooting earlier today". A for real shooting happened in Hollywood Friday morning when a lone man stood out in the street and started shooting randomly at cars passing by. As we headed back to the theater we passed another real life scene going on, a man was being handcuffed and taken into police custody. What a surreal evening we had in tinsel town, very far removed from the life we had known back home in St.Louis.

San Diego's Balboa Park

2011-12-06T10:38:00.000-06:00

This park is not only home to the famous San Diego Zoo (which we saw two years ago), but it is the location of 15 major museums, several performing art venues, gardens and many other cultural attractions. It reminded us of our Forest Park back home in St.Louis, but it has quite a bit more to see within its borders. Balboa Park is the result of a legacy of two Expositions. The 1915-16 Panama-California Exposition commemorated the opening of the Panama Canal. The park's famous El Prado pedestrian walkway features highly ornamented Spanish-Renaissance styled buildings constructed for this Exposition. The Casa del Prado and Theater is pictured below. Currently the Nutcracker is being performed there.

The 1935-36 California Pacific International Exposition, held to boost the local economy during the depression, added more cultural buildings, structures and landscaping. Those buildings had more of the southwestern architecture. We did not take the time to tour the museums of the park, that we will save for another time. We were quite satisfied just strolling around this area taking in the stunning architecture and beautiful gardens. Pictured below is the botanical building, it was built in 1915.

The lath structured building is located at the end of two reflecting ponds. Inside the building are many tropical plants. Currently it is all decked out for Christmas with numerous poinsettia plants.

Lastly I want to show a part of the 200 foot California Tower, a famous San Diego landmark. It has a 100 bell carillon that chimes every 15 minutes. Adding also to our listening enjoyment were also a few street buskers playing a variety of musical offerings.

USS Midway

2011-12-05T12:23:00.000-06:00

The size of this aircraft carrier is amazing. The start of our tour here started in the hanger below this deck. Three airplanes on that level can easily be moved on elevators to the top in a matter of minutes. This ship is one of the major tourist attractions in San Diego. An employee commented to John that attendance was a bit down the day we were there, only about 1500 people came in compared to the usual 2,000. Touring this ship was like looking at a small city. It can take care of the needs of 4500 crew members- feeding them, providing medical and dental care, and laundry, to mention a few of the services offered in this ship. Below is a picture of the chapel. The current chapel was constructed just before the Vietnam War.

The ship was active from 1945-1992. It served our country during three wars; WW11, the Vietnam War and Desert Storm. In 1975 it lead the evacuation of 3,073 refugees out of Saigon. It was the flagship of Persian Gulf air operations. Below is a picture of one a couple rooms where air strikes were planned and executed in the liberation of Kuwait in 1991. It is next to the radio room in the cpatain's bridge of the ship.

At several locations in the ship docents are available to explain its certain features. They are navy veterans, the one pictured below did not serve on the Midway but on another ship, a destroyer. He did a very good job of explaining the features of the four engine rooms. John and several other men peppered him with questions.

It took John and I about 4 hours to complete the tour, and I am sure we did not see everything.. The ship has 18 decks, many stairs up and down those decks, and countless tunnels to pass through. In the hospital and clinic area we learned that the most common type of injury needing medical attention were head injuries. That came as no surprise to us! We also learned that the average age of a crew member was 19 years. While touring the ship I could not help but think of the many women and men who serve, and still are serving, on this ship and others similar to it.

Tijuana, Mexico- Part Two

2011-12-03T21:08:00.000-06:00

When we first boarded the bus to Tijuana, Juan asked where we were all from. When John and I mentioned St.Louis he said that he knew all about our famous arch and that Tijuana has one also. He added that the one here, however, is for decorative purposes only and is used to mark the business district. It can be seen in the background of the picture above. The business district has 40 small shops in a 10 block area. Our guide prepared us before we got off the bus. He pointed out shops where to find the best silver, leather, and liquor. He also warned us about eating at certain dining establishments. Most importantly, he gave us tips on how to handle the persistent sales people and bargain with them. John and I felt a lot more comfortable this week shopping in Mexico. We also spent some time looking at the historic Jai Alai stadium. This sport is not being practiced anymore in Tijuana, it stopped in 1995. The sport involves tossing a ball with a large mitt. A player holding his mitt can be seen in the picture below. This statue stands in front of the stadium.

We also stepped into the oldest Catholic cathedral in Tijuana, Guadalupe De Este Iglesia. Pictured below is the statue of St. Peter. He has a tongue of fire on his head. I thought it quite an unusual statue.

We also walked past the historic Caesar's restaurant (1927), home of the legendary Caesar's salad. It turned out to be a full day. We were told it would take a total of 6 hours, but we found out later that it would take 8 or nine hours depending on how long our border crossing would take. Tijuana is the world's largest border crossing. To get back into America we had to get off the bus and stand in line to show our passports and declare our possessions to customs guards. Juan had learned that at the crossing where we had entered Mexico earlier in the day the pedestrian wait was three hours so he drove us to another crossing where we only had to stand in line one hour. For that one reason alone I probably would not return. I had seen everything Tijuana had to offer and that was enough for me. Thanks to Juan we did have a very entertaining and informative day.

Tijuana, Mexico- Part One

2011-12-02T23:13:00.001-06:00

We had a much better time in Mexico today compared to last week when we visited Algodones. This time we took a Gray Line tour to Tiajuana. Our driver and guide, Juan, proved to be a fountain of information about anything and everything in regard to Mexico. He was born in Mexico and had spent his childhood there. He explained the two different meanings of the word Tijuana. In Spanish it means "Aunt Jane"- the Native Indians pronounce the name a bit different and claim that in their language it means "men of the river". After we crossed the border into Mexico we drove through a hilly countryside. Juan said that in this area there are 26 canyons many of which have had tunnels dug into them by Mexicans trying to enter the United States illegally. He told us stories of how he also tried to enter the United States when he was a young boy but always got caught. Finally at the age of 23 years he entered the United States legally after a lengthy application process, and eventually became a citizen. It was sobering for us to look out at the steel fence which divides San Diego from Mexico, also to see the tall lights and cameras which sit on the American side.

Parts of the wooden fence on the Mexican side are rather rundown. Juan pointed out to us holes in the Mexican border fence where, in the past, it was the only place where families could meet up with loved ones who lived in America. Also on a portion of the Mexican fence were white crosses. Juan said they represent the 6,000 Mexicans who died attempting to cross into America illegally. Our first stop before entering Tijuana was at a plaza overlooking the ocean. This is where the fences between the two countries end. America's fence extends 1900 miles from Brownsville, Texas and stops here at the sea.. Some Mexicans have tried crossing into America by boat, many of them have been unsuccessful doing that. Juan discussed why so many Mexicans want to enter America. He pointed out that Mexico has a 60% poverty rate, minimum wage is $6.50 a day. However, unemployment is below 4 per cent, there is plenty of factory work available. Electronics is Tijuana's biggest industry. I need to clarify here that all the information given regarding Tijuana in this posting I obtained from what Juan shared with us during the course of the day.

Most of our day was spent in the shopping district of Tijuana. However, while John and I walked those streets we were able to see the heavily populated hillsides where a majority of the town's people live. The city is the fourth largest in Mexico and has around 4 million people.

La Jolla

2011-12-01T23:20:00.000-06:00

When I walked around the park where we are currently located I realized that we are sitting in a canyon, Rose Canyon to be exact. We are totally surrounded by hills.

By the time we got out the door and started touring today it was well into the afternoon. About all we had time for was a quick drive up the coast north of San Diego to La Jolla, "Jewel of the Pacific". It is popular for its sandstone cliffs and coves. Our first stop at one of its beaches found us in quite a crowded area, it was even difficult to find a parking space. A young man in the truck in front of us was stripping down in the back of his truck and donning on a wet suit (he did attempt to cover himself with a blanket while he was doing so). When we saw that guy a few minutes later he was diving into the water with his surf board. It was a cool breezy day with overcast skies but many others were also in the water enjoying the high waves of the ocean.
Our next stop was at a place along the coastal road where John just was curious to look at the beach just because he could not see it from the road. I chose to stay into the warm car until John insisted I had to see what was on the beach. It was quite fortunate we did stop because there we saw harbor seals.

Further up from that area both cormorants and seals were hanging out together on the cliffs. What a great sight! Here the seals were quite active and noisy. I think they were trying to claim their piece of the rock.

At that same stop we saw another group of cliffs, some with large caves in them which had been carved out by the ocean's waves. Sitting on a ledge of those cliffs was a flock of pelicans.

It certainly ended up being a very serendipitous afternoon with many surprises. We concluded our day by walking through the beautiful La Jolla shopping district where we found a wonderful restaurant (good food with reasonable prices), something which also was not in our plans for the day!

San Diego Bay

2011-12-01T15:41:00.001-06:00

We arrived in San Diego on Tuesday. Our drive here from Yuma proved quite interesting. We traveled from flat desert land to rocky hillsides barren of little plant life. We then started climbing over mountains dotted with lush green foliage. Driving into San Diego we finally got glimpses of the Pacific Ocean. Yesterday, Wednesday, we spent on San Diego Bay. When we were here two years ago we had little interest in touring the Maritime Museum on the bay. Currently at the museum has a special exhibit "Cook, Melville,and Gauguin, Three Voyages to Paradise". That was my incentive now to tour the museum. John spent the larger part of his day exploring the ships of the museum while I spent my time looking at the special exhibit. That exhibit is placed in two areas of the museum; on the steam ferryboat the Berkeley and on the HMS Surprise (a replica of a late 18th century Royal Navy frigate, she was used in the production of the movie Master and Commander). Below is a picture of the Berkeley.

Captain James Cook made his first South Pacific voyage in 1768. At that time he estimated the population of Tahiti to be about 200,000. On his second and third voyages to the islands he had along official expedition artists. Some of their art work is with the special exhibit in the museum. Cook's visit to the islands brought to Europe a vision of the Pacific Islands as an earthly paradise. Unfortunately the arrival of the Europeans brought disease, death and a collapse of the cultural values of the island people. By 1810 their population dropped to less than 8,000. Two subsequent visitors to Tahiti, Melville and Gauguin, witnessed and recorded in different media their experiences in the island paradise. The exhibit also has original work and artifacts associated with those men. I discovered that Gauguin not only did oils, but also watercolors, carvings and sculptures. As the curator of the museum, Marcus DeChevireux put it so aptly, "Melville captured its exploitation and Gauguin painted its eulogy". It is a wonderful exhibit which will be leaving San Diego on January 1. While at the harbor we also took a cruise of the bay in a 1914 pilot boat. Our guide on that tour had a lot of information on the history of the bay and its ships to share with us. When the first explorers came to this harbor it was mainly a marshland and required a lot of dredging to make it a safe harbor for ships to enter. Below is a picture of the shoreline looking toward San Diego.It was overcast and a bit cool on the bay.

Painted Desert Trail

2011-11-30T10:55:00.001-06:00

Our first stop yesterday was at the Imperial Date Gardens. I just wanted to see an orchard of date palms. Unfortunately the dates have just been harvested, all we saw were a few dried ones on the ground. The orchard is pictured below, a field of lettuce is in the foreground. We also visited the Imperial Date store to purchase some fresh dates and try a date shake. That was not bad, but their date bread was even better!

Before we headed out on the Painted Desert Trail in the wildlife refuge we stopped at the visitor's center first and spoke with the ranger there. She warned us to watch out for "donkey do-do" as there are a large number of burros in the refuge. Miners who came to the area in the 1800s brought donkeys to carry their gear. When a miner died his burro often wandered into the desert and adapted to its harsh conditions. Unfortunately we did not see any burros, but did see many of their trails and droppings. Looking at those many clues of their presence we were quite surprised that we did not even see one burro.

We were pleasantly surprised with the Painted Dessert Trail. It certainly was not the flat dessert terrain we had expected. It took us through dried riverbeds and around large rocky mounds. We even found a large hoodoo. At its base we could see how it was created by water eroding around it from several directions. Many years ago volcanic eruptions created the landscape we saw in the refuge. The mounds are multicolored due to the presence of minerals. Iron creates a rusty color while copper appears green. John thought that perhaps the white mounds were piles of volcanic ash. I just know that it was beautiful to see.

After hiking the Painted Desert Trail we drove our car to several other scenic areas in the park which overlook the Colorado River. We drove over rocky roads, which probably only a four- wheel drive should travel on, to get to those areas. However, the view was worth it. It was like a palette of paint had been splashed over the land. There was the bright blue sky and the river with its yellow- leaved cottonwood trees. Off in the distance were the purple and dark blue mountains. Filling out the scene were the multicolored rocky mounds. Some of the mounds at the river's overlook had streaks of red. In the distance we also saw hills colored with the bluish-green hues of copper. Unfortunately the picture below does not even come close to depicting the landscape and sky as we saw them.

Yuma Territorial Prison State Park

2011-11-29T09:43:00.001-06:00

The above picture shows the entrance to the prison which we toured Sunday. It is the last remaining original adobe structure of the 1875 structure. I was fascinated by the fact that the entrance to the prison was called the Sally Port. I could not help but wonder if that was a derivation of our expression "sally forth". But an interpretive sign claimed it came from the Spanish "salir por la puerta", "to go out the door". If you saw the movie 3:10 to Yuma starring Russell Crowe you may have seen this prison. When it was built in 1875 it sat on a hill out in the dessert. The prison was used until 1909. After that time it functioned as a high school for Yuma, and during the Depression homeless people lived there. In 1923 one-third of the prison was demolished to make way for a railroad bridge. Pictured below is one of the original watch towers, it was built over the prison's water supply.

In the museum of the prison we found many interesting stories concerning its history. One time during an attempted prison break the warden's wife, Madora Ingalls, grabbed a Gatling gun from one of the dead guards and stopped the prisoners from escaping. The prison over its 33 years of existence held a total of 3,000 criminals, 29 of them being women. The prisoners were there for everything from forgery to murder. Some of them were Mexican Revolutionaries as well as Native Americans. One man proved to be quite handy in sewing lace products- his story reminded me of the bird man of Alcatraz! Other prisoners carved items from shell and onyx, and some prisoners made fine items from braided horse hair. Those artifacts are displayed in the museum. On our tour of the prison we saw one of the original cell blocks as well as the Dark Cell. The latter provided solitary confinement for incorrigible prisoners. It was dug out of a hillside and its stone walls reminded me of a mine shaft. One prisoner spent over a hundred days in this cell. Story has it that he was a model prisoner after his time spent in there.

Palm Canyon Trail

2011-11-28T09:42:00.000-06:00

We decided that we did not want to be around any shopping malls on Black Friday, so the best place to be would be a remote area northeast of Yuma. In fact, Palm Canyon is so remote we had to drive over ten miles of gravel road to get there. It is believed that the only native palm trees in Arizona are tucked away in the narrow, rugged canyons on the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge. The trees are California Fan Palms. They are probably the descendants of palms growing in this region during the last periods of North American glaciation.

I apologize for the picture, the palms can be better seen if the picture is enlarged. It was so awesome to see them, even if we were still a distance from them. We saw the larger grove of palms in the canyon, about less than a hundred. We did try to get closer, but the trail got rougher as we headed up toward them. Large rocks and steep sections impeded our progress toward them. Cactus with thorny spines grabbed at my pants. We had to eventually call it quits and head back down.

Before closing here I would like to mention our trip to Mexico on Saturday. We drove to the town of Algodones in Baja California. We were bombarded by store merchants immediately after we crossed the border. Salesmen on the sidewalks asked us many times if we needed a root canal or teeth cleaning- dentists are plentiful just across the border. I was also informed by a couple of young men that my shoes were in dire need of a polishing, which they were after hiking on a dusty trail the day before. I did part with some money to get them shined up. Wow, after a good polishing they looked better than they looked when they were new! It was a bit over whelming to see so much merchandise- from jewelry, leather goods, to blankets and baskets. Perhaps if we had not been badgered so much, we would have purchased a few more items. We eventually gave up on shopping and went to lunch before heading back home. So much for avoiding Black Friday! We have been to Mexico before, and every town across the border seems the same.

Historical Yuma, Arizona

2011-11-24T20:54:00.001-06:00

My wish is that all our readers had a blessed Thanksgiving. Our Thanksgiving started last evening at Faith Lutheran church in Yuma, which held an ecumenical service. Today our park (where we are now sitting) had a turkey dinner for all the residents. Earlier today John and I took a walk through the older part of Yuma. The Colorado River runs through the town, and provides the border between Arizona and California. The river once was made up of a lot of marshland and quicksand. In the past it was possible to cross the river at only one point where it was narrow and had large granite outcroppings. That crossing point is what is now Yuma. In 1915 the Ocean to Ocean Bridge was built, our nation's first transcontinental highway. It is the only point where the Colorado River may be crossed for 1300 miles along the river.

John and I walked across the bridge to where the Quechan Indian Reservation is located. Right after the bridge is St. Thomas Indian Mission, which was built in 1922. A priest of the mission was killed there in 1781. The Native Indians had become angry with the presence of the Spanish settlers and their broken promises to the natives. They revolted and killed many of the Europeans, including the priests. The mission was burned down and later rebuilt. Over the ensuing years the Native Indians lost a lot of their original land and now live on a small reservation around the mission.

Driving further into the reservation we saw large lettuce fields. The Yuma area is famous for its large winter harvest of lettuce, as well as other produce. In the fields surrounding where we are currently parked there are citrus and date orchards. Sunkist as well as Dole have plants in Yuma. Damming the Colorado River has made Yuma into the large agricultural area which it has become today. It is strange to see large green fields with water standing in them next to barren desert land.

Our last day in Tucson, Arizona

2011-11-21T09:40:00.000-06:00

The above picture shows where we have been parked in the past week. It has been wonderful here where there is a beautiful community hall, library, and an outside heated pool. While floating on my back in the pool I can observe the very noisy woodpeckers who hang out in the trees above the pool. I imagine they are either the gila woodpeckers, or the gilded flicker. The latter one especially likes to hang out in saguaros. Yesterday, Sunday, we attended church at Mount Zion Lutheran church. The church several years ago only had a small number of elderly members in attendance. Then suddenly the city of Tucson spilled out into the hillsides, and the church grew with many young families. I like worshiping where I can look out at mountains.

I apologize for the poor picture, there was a lot of light spilling into the sanctuary. In the middle of his sermon the pastor requested that the air conditioning be turned on! It was a wonderful service, celebrating Christ the King, with special music provided by trumpet and clarinet players, as well as the choir. In the afternoon we toured Reid Zoo, located near the downtown area. It is a small zoo which features the animals, birds and reptiles of Asia, South America, and Africa. I took a few pictures of the animals, the best of which was that of a blue crowned pigeon. He was not a good-tempered bird, as he flew at everyone who approached him.

Reid Park is next to the zoo, it has a fishing lake and sports field where the Colorado Rockies holds spring training. We also enjoyed a rose garden which is located in the park. Today we are moving further west.

Mirror Lab and Biosphere 2 Tours

2011-11-20T09:53:00.000-06:00

Arizona University is the institution we have to thank for both the mirror lab and Biosphere 2. I could have passed on the mirror lab but John was adamant about us seeing it. He certainly understood all the technology connected with mirror and telescopes than I did! The lab is located under the football stadium of the university. Our tour gave us a behind the scenes look at the optical technology and the processes which are needed to make giant telescope mirrors. The mirrors in the lab are currently being made for an observatory in Chile. We saw the large oven in which one mirror is currently being heated and spin casted. In another room we saw two more mirrors sitting in their molds, one of which has undergone grinding and polishing. About as much as I got out of the tour is that the process is slow and exact, also very costly. One of the mirrors we saw has a price tag of 30 million dollars. Which leads me to Biosphere 2 (our earth is Biosphere 1). The existence of that giant greenhouse was made possible through the largess of a wealthy Texan. He laid out 50 million for that research lab which lies outside of Tucson. It sits on a rather large campus.

Construction of the greenhouse began in 1984. After construction 5 natural biomes were created in it, complete with 1,000 species and animals (the animals are now gone). The 8 Biospherians (four men and 4 women) who lived in it from 1991-92 were sealed inside and had to harvest and prepare their own food with products grown from the various biomes. From the dining area of their living quarters we could look out over the tropical rain forest.

On our tour of the biosphere we passed through air locked doors from one biome into another. Pictured below is the ocean area. We also saw desert and marsh sections designed after various parts of the world.

Our tour also took us beneath the structure where miles of wiring, pipes and tubes make up a "technosphere" which recreates earth's recycling functions. From there we stepped into what can best be described as the lungs of the greenhouse. The domed building pictured below allows for air pressure to be equalized in Biosphere 2. Between the greenhouse and that building are research labs and living quarters, all connected.

Research in the greenhouse has continued since the first experiments in the early years of Biosphere 2. Last month construction was started for a landscape evolution observatory. There will be three huge sloped watersheds filled with soil and environmentally controlled. Research here will address how water, energy, and carbon moves through different landscapes, and how biological systems modify those landscapes. Hopefully it will shed some light on how future climate scenarios affect our physical world.

Asarco Copper Mine Tour

2011-11-18T13:05:00.002-06:00

Copper and cactus are part of the landscaping outside of the Asarco Mineral Discovery Center where we began our tour of the mine. The mine is south of Tucson, on the San Xavier Reservation. When Asarco discovered the copper located here in 1955, it was required that they receive mining rights from the Tohono O'Odham Indians. Royalties have since then been paid to the Indians for their portion of the monthly throughput. Asarco also pays rental on lands used for waste dumping, tailings disposal and water wells. The mining of copper involves a series of steps from drilling and blasting to milling, smelting and refining. For our tour of the mine we first boarded a bus which took us to the open mine pit which covers approximately 2,000 acres of land. Piles of tailings surround the pit. The company has a policy of vegetating the tailings dams.

It is quite a large hole. Our guide informed us that it will take about 23 years to retrieve all the copper out of this pit. Blasting of parts of the mine are done daily at 4PM. From the pit we rode over to the south mill. Here we saw large haul trucks empty rock into chutes and down into the mill where the first process of crushing the ore begins. Processing of the ore to extract the copper content is through a milling and concentrating operation. Inside this mill we saw the large containers where the ore is put through gyrating crushers and sag mills. In the sag mills ore is processed further using high carbon steel grinding balls. There is also a double deck vibrating screen which sizes down the ore to less than 2". I am probably simplifying the process way too much, it is very involved. Just before leaving the mill we saw large tanks where a chemical reaction is used to leach the copper out of the rock. Pine oil, lime and water is added and the resulting mix is a bubbling slurry, as pictured below.

After that we walked outside of the mill where there are three large settling ponds. The first pond, pictured below, contains the copper which has been extracted through the milling process. After the water is removed it is transported to a smelter in Hayden, Arizona and then to a refinery in Texas. The mill processes 24,000 tons of ore daily.

Historic Tucson

2011-11-16T21:41:00.000-06:00

We were surprised that the oldest historic district of Tucson, El Presido, is not all that large. There is one block of artisan shops which are located in some old buildings. Markings on the sidewalks around this area indicate where the old city wall use to be. While strolling through the area we found the La Casa Cordova house, which is one of the oldest structures to be found in Tucson. Its front two rooms were built in 1854, the back rooms in 1879.

Actually the homes in this area are much more colorful than that building and very reminiscent of the buildings which we saw years ago during a trip to Mexico. Many of them are transformed adobe homes.

From this older part of town we walked to the downtown area, and soon in the distance we saw the Pima County Courthouse and the skyline of Tucson. Palm trees and desert land make up the landscape of Tucson.

Near the courthouse is the El Militar Plaza. During the Mexican occupation (1821-1854) it was the location where soldiers performed their drills. A memorial statue on the plaza honors the Mormon 101st Army Battalion which stopped at the plaza in 1846 and traded with the residents of Tucson for much needed provisions. The story is an interesting one, and a piece of American history new to me. The Mormons had suffered harsh persecution in Council Bluffs Iowa so they appealed to President Polk for federal assistance to leave that town. War was just being declared then with Mexico and our government needed an army unit to go west immediately. Mormon men, a total of 474, enlisted in Council Bluffs. Officers leading them numbered twenty-two, also 37 women and 53 children joined them. Their goal was San Diego, but the majority of the women and children only made it to Colorado where they joined another group and headed to Utah. From that original group 350 men and 4 women made it to San Diego.

Arizona Sonora Desert Museum

2011-11-16T11:03:00.000-06:00

This museum is located in Tucson, where we are now parked. The picture above was taken from the museum's vista ramada looking out over the Aver Valley. Off in the distance are the Tucson Mountains. The park is a zoo as welI as a natural history museum and botanical garden, all in one place. I believe that today we learned everything that could possibly be known about the plant and animal species of the Sonora Desert region- an area encompassing parts of Arizona and California and four Mexican states. The museum has done an excellent job in recreating a variety of biospheres for the animals. We saw river otters swimming in the riparian corridor, beavers sleeping in their dens, rattlesnakes tucked under rock ledges, and prairie dogs burrowing in their desert grassland. There is a 1/2-mile loop desert walk where we saw javelina foraging for food as well as one coyote who was laying out on a rock enjoying the sun.

There is also a very realistic man-made cave set up as an earth science center. A wide variety of cactus, plants and trees can be found in the three gardens of the park. There is a desert and cactus garden, also a pollination garden. Hummingbirds, bees and butterflies were everywhere. Blow is a Costa's Hummingbird.

For our return trip home we drove over Gates Pass road which took us through Tuscon Park, a very scenic drive. Saguaro cactuses fill the mountainsides almost up to their peaks.

Wilcox, Arizona

2011-11-14T09:38:00.001-06:00

In the previous postings I have focused somewhat on the Native Americans who once roamed the hills of Arizona and New Mexico. Wilcox is a town of cowboys, past and present. The statue above is that of Rex Allen (1920-1999). He was born in Wilcox and raised on a ranch north of town. After high school he found fame in radio, movies and television. In a railroad park of Wilcox lies his ashes and horse, along with his statue. This town was, from the 1880s to the late 1930s, one of the country's major cattle shipping centers. Another big influence on the town was the railroad. The central business district, comprising of mercantile companies, banks and saloons, developed on the blocks facing the station. The railroad brought in supplies to several Army posts during the Indian wars, as well as to ranchers who were settling in the area. Today many of the buildings from that era are still around in this town. Pictured below is the Norton-Morgan General Store. The adobe structure has remained on the same location since 1880.

It was in the Headquarters Saloon (now a gift store) where Wyatt Earp's brother was shot to death in 1900. And, while wandering this historic district, John and I came to the old hardware store of the town, which is now the Chiricahua Regional Museum. Looking into the windows of the museum we saw several musicians. Their music drew us into the museum. That was an interesting experience, touring a museum while listening to live music! While in the museum an elderly man with a very weathered face and wearing a cowboy hat approached me. He looked like he had just come into town on his horse (I was almost right on that, he is a local rancher, owning about 400 sections of land just outside of town). He was quite anxious to show me around the museum and tell me about the town. It was from him that we learned where in the area to find the sandhill cranes which migrate in by the thousands every November and feed in the local grain fields. We did look for them while heading home. It would have been a bit of a drive over gravel roads to see them up close, but it was still impressive to see large flocks of them flying overhead and hear their trumpeting loud calls which filled the air. We did see one by the side of the road, not sure why he was hanging out by himself.

Cochise Stronghold

2011-11-12T22:40:00.000-06:00

This canyon is located in the Dragoon Mountains and is another part of Coronado National Forest. I believe I was last here about 40 years ago with my parents. All I remember is trying to hike one of the trails and that I did not get too far. It was in the summertime and the temperature was around 100 degrees Fahrenheit.Today the weather was a bit cooler than that and we enjoyed taking the Cochise trail into the canyon for several miles. Odd rock formations dot the canyon, and my imagination ran wild thinking of the Chiricahua Apache under the leadership of their famous leader Cochise hiding behind those rocks and scouring the flatlands for the approaching cavalry.

For awhile they were successful hiding out in this canyon and fighting off the cavalry during the mid 1800s, but eventually the American army won out. Cochise and his tribe were then given a reservation in this area from 1872 until his death in 1876. We also took a self-guided nature trail into the canyon. Along this trail interpretive signs point out the plants of the desert, some of which once sustained the Native Indians. The prickly pear cactus pictured below is surrounded by a wait-a-minute bush, aptly given that name by hikers who get caught in its curved spines. I gingerly touched those thorns, and they are certainly sharp!

Chiricahua National Monument

2011-11-12T09:57:00.000-06:00

Our plans were to move on to Tucson. However, we decided that we wanted to see more of the unusual beauty of the Chiricahua Mountains, so instead moved to Wilcox, Arizona. Cave Creek Canyon, as well as the Chiricahua National Monument, are all located within the Coronado National Forest- which covers 1.78 million acres in southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico. Our goal was to drive the scenic canyon road through the park today. Unfortunately that was not to be as a forest fire happened in the canyon last June. The road is still closed because repairs of the guard rails are not completed as yet. We were informed, however, that we could park in a campground near the road closure and walk to some of the rock formations. We first had a picnic lunch in the campground. While eating lunch we were treated to the sight of several acorn woodpeckers as well as the Mexican jay. By the way, I am not all that well informed on the different kinds of birds out there, quite often when we get into a park I first check at the visitor's center for a listing of the local birds. Today being that well informed certainly paid off! Now back to the rock formations...as the rocks in my previous posting, the formations in this park are volcanic bedrock. And,
as the rocks in Cave Creek Canyon, layers of them here have been uplifted, shattered and cracked over millions of years. Erosion by wind and water has also influenced the sculpting of the walls of the canyon.
Below is a picture of what is called the organ pipe formations, the first set of rocks which we saw.

It was a short walk to that part of the canyon so we continued further up the road. Big boulders are also on the ground as well as hanging precariously over the road.

The formations are generally in the shape of columns or pinnacles, and many, as shown above and below, are balancing. They certainly gave me cause to wonder about how long they have been hanging, and at what point or when will they fall? Such thoughts crossed my mind when a small shower of stones came off the hillside as we walked by! Irregardless, it was a fascinating, beautiful walk that we had in the canyon.

Chiricahua Mountains

2011-11-10T09:56:00.001-06:00

In a previous posting I mentioned that our next stop would be in Arizona. I was wrong, we are still in New Mexico- northern part of its bootheel. Yesterday we drove, in our Fit, southwest into Arizona, the destination of which was not clear in my mind. We drove what seemed like for hours, first passing by fields of cotton and then milo. After that came the desert, with miles of sand and scrub surrounding us. I fell asleep, and when I woke up I happened to see the name of a road as we passed by it: "Faranuf". It gave me an idea. I said, "John, we have gone far enough". We passed by the Chiricahua Desert Museum, John asked if I wanted to stop there. It did not sound all that interesting to me, so we drove into a small town which had a smattering of homes, boarded up stores and an old mission. No bathroom facilities. Suddenly stopping at the museum sounded like a great idea! We drove back to the museum and paid a small admission price. It had beautiful bathroom facilities and a great museum/art gallery. In the museum is a display of 18 live rattlesnakes. As I stood in front of one of their cages, I heard the unmistakable sound of a rattler. In front of me was a prairie rattlesnake, eying me and shaking his tail. His little black forked tongue waved in and out of his mouth. He totally fascinated me, fortunately there was a glass wall between us. The museum has an interesting desert garden outside with the sculpture of a rattlesnake tail at the entrance.

From the museum we drove into Cave Creek Canyon in the Chiricahua Mountains. Suddenly we had left flat desert land and were surrounded by beautiful forests of cottonwood and sycamore trees.

Years ago volcanic eruptions left the area covered with white-hot ash which fused and cooled into layers of rock which now make up the walls of the canyon. Forces of erosion sculpted the rocks into a wide variety of rock formations. Every bend in the road, on our drive through the canyon, afforded us a different stunning vista of towering rocks and trees. I wished that our home was with us so we could spend the night in this area.

We got out of the car and took a hike into the woods of the canyon to see one particular vista. Many birds were flitting about and I also heard the activities of woodpecker. I was able to spot him with my binoculars, it was a hairy woodpecker. Speaking of birds, on our way home I saw a road with the name of "Wandervogel". That certainly is John and I, wandering birds! And many times our wanderings bring pleasant surprises!

A Fine Sunday in Tor C

2011-11-07T09:42:00.001-06:00

How quick;ly John and I have become like the locals in calling the town of Truth or Consequences by the name of T or C! My guess is that will become the town's third name, or else it may go back to Hot Springs. Our Sunday yesterday started at St.Paul's Episcopal church. It is not often that John and I come into a church and feel so completely at home. Almost all of the members made sure to greet us and encouraged us to stay for the fellowship hour. And. by reading the bulletin, I quickly sensed that this is a church that does well with taking care of the strangers in their midst. The have a community food pantry and provide a meal for the neighborhood once a month. And this is not a large church, maybe about 40 were in attendance for the worship service. During fellowship hour, which amounted to a meal and just not coffee being served, we had an opportunity to speak with the Priest-in-charge, Rev. Tommy Means. He is serving the church part-time as he is now retired. His last ministry was on a Wyoming Native American reservation where he served the Shoshone and Arapaho tribes for ten years. In the afternoon John and I hiked up Turtleback Mountain. It is a strenuous 3-1/2 mile hike to the peak, but we just hiked about 1/2 of that. I can not help but marvel at how well John is doing after his heart attack. The picture above is looking out over T or C from our highest point. The picture below looks off toward Elephant Butte Lake. We are moving on today into Arizona.

Elephant Lake Butte

2011-11-06T20:29:00.000-06:00

John and I were not sure at first which hump sticking out of the lake was the "butte", but maybe the one above does look like an elephant head. It is an ancient volcanic cone which arises out of the lake. The lake is New Mexico's largest and most popular lake. Presently the water level is down. As I mentioned in the last posting, there are several dams along the Rio Grande in this area. The dam at Elephant Lake was the first attempt to control the river. It was built in 1916.

On Friday we drove over to the Percha Dam site, which is now a dry river bed. It was amazing to us that we could hike across the river. We were at first alarmed about the river being so dry, but then remembered that at present the dams are holding the Rio Grande back so that it can flow elsewhere.

We also hiked around Caballo Dam State Park, as we had been told it was a good place to see birds. We saw eagles and osprey, a couple blue heron and that was about it. As usual, we more heard them than saw any we could identify. We did come upon a herd of mule deer, about 20 of them. And we also saw, what was very unusual, a few cattle munching grass in the playground of the park's campground. There is free range for cattle in most of New Mexico. We have learned to watch for them on the roads.

Truth or Consequences, New Mexico

2011-11-05T20:35:00.000-05:00

This town's first name, before 1950, was Hot Springs. The downtown area sits over a huge pool of 110-degree Fahrenheit mineral water which come to the surface at the Rio Grande River and through wells and pools. The site of the first springs, Geronimo's Springs, was a neutral territory for Southwestern Tribes and cowboys to relax and heal. In more recent years that first historic site has been changed into an artist-created fountain with mosaics depicting the history and mountains of Sierra County.

Bathhouses grew up around the springs in the early 20th century. We toured one of them Friday, which was the Riverbend Springs. This spring is set in riverside pools with mountain views. It has three private pools and five public pools. Day fees or hourly soaks are available. There are also cottages and rooms for overnight guests. The manager of Riverbend, who gave us our tour, pointed out that at present the Rio Grande is not flowing. Dams in the local area prevent it from flowing from November to March so that the river's waters may be equally shared with Colorado and Texas. One of the pools of the spa is pictured below.

Truth or Consequences has always been known as America's most affordable spa town. However, some of the popularity for its curative springs decreased when the town's name was changed. In 1949 the town entered a contest hosted by the radio show "Truth or Consequences". The show was looking for a town that would change its name to the name of the show. If that town won, Ralph Edwards, the show's host, promised that the 10th anniversary show would broadcast from the chosen city. Hot Springs was chosen, but first the town needed to vote on the name change. In March of 1950 the residents voted on the decision. The final results showed that 1,294 people were in favor of the name change while only 295 were opposed. On April 1of 1950 the first Truth or Consequences Fiesta was staged and the show was broadcast over NBC to the entire United States. The agreement was only for a year, but the fiesta continued to be held yearly. Mr. Edwards returned yearly for the fiesta over the following years, from 1950 to 2000. Next to Geronimo's Springs is the town's museum which has the story of the name change, as well as information and memorabilia on the annual Fiesta. The museum represents the history of the town, and Sierra County from prehistoric times to present day. There is also an extensive display of Native American artifacts.

Rio Grande Nature Center State Park

2011-11-03T11:50:00.001-05:00

On Tuesday, besides visiting Petroglyph National Monument, we also took a short hike through the Rio Grande State Park. The Rio Grande River starts in southwestern Colorado, flows through central New Mexico, into Texas and ends at the Gulf of Mexico. Sadly, because of heavy use of water in the big cities and irrigation of vast farmlands, its discharge into the sea is now a fifth less of its historic output ( according to Wikipedia). We learned, while visiting the visitor's center of the Rio Grande State Park, that the cottonwoods in the park are not reproducing because of low water levels. That is unfortunate because we especially enjoyed the riverside trail which took us through the cottonwood forest. The large old cottonwoods trees are absolutely beautiful right now with their yellow foliage.

It was good to see the river again, which was the major reason why we wanted to stop at the park.

While at the park we had our picnic lunch. Two roadrunners entertained us with their antics while we ate, it was also good to see that bird again. The park was filled with the noises of those birds, as well as many others, while we were there. Yesterday we moved out of Albuquerque, following the river's course to Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. Fortunately we missed the hard freeze which Albuquerque had last night. It got cold here last night, not below freezing,however. Today the sun is shinning and there is no snow on the ground. Just maybe we are out of the clutches of old man winter.

Petroglyph National Monument

2011-11-02T19:54:00.000-05:00

Many years ago a series of volcanic eruptions began to create Albuquerque's 17-mile long West Mesa escarpment. Lava flowed around the hills and higher ground to create natural canyons along the edge of the escarpment. Today, within Petroglyph National Monument, there are several canyons where petroglyphs are present and also an extinct volcanic area where the park's important geology can be explored. Archeologists believe that Ancestral Puebloans made most of the 20,000 images pecked in stone which can be found inside the park. Rinconada Canyon was the area we chose yesterday in which to explore the petroglyphs. In that canyon it is estimated that there are 1,200 petroglyphs. We walked along a desert path in the canyon which, as you can see in the picture below, has high walls composed of volcanic rock.

It was fortunate that we stopped at the visitor's center first. There we talked with the park ranger as well as received written information on the petroglyphs. It is estimated by archeologists that the petroglyphs are 400 to 700 years old. Pueblo elders believe they are as old as time. They also believe that the images choose when and to whom they reveal themselves. At the beginning of our walk through the canyon we had to search fairly diligently to find the petroglyphs. However, by the time we had walked to the end of the canyon, the images became more numerous and not difficult to find. The images included human-like figures, geometric designs, and animal figures. In the petroglyph below several deer are feeding or drinking water from a brook.

Among the petroglyphs we saw a variety of crosses. It is believed that the outlined cross is an authentic American Indian petroglyph that symbolizes the 4 cardinal directions. The non-outlined Christian-style cross and crucifixes may have been by Hispanic sheepherders in the 1700s and 1800s and closely resemble Latin crosses. It was interesting for me to consider all the different people and cultures who have passed this way over the years. John found a rock with the date 1819 scratched on it.

I took many pictures of the petroglyphs which we found. We cooperated with other people around us who were also searching for them, sharing our findings with each other. It was interesting that one of us may interpret an image entirely different from what someone else would understand of it. The last petroglyph which I want to show here depicts a face on the corner of a boulder. It is thought that perhaps the image is looking in looking in two directions because he is guarding a sacred location.

Sandia Mountains of New Mexico

2011-11-02T11:26:00.000-05:00

In Spanish Sandia means watermelon. The mountains were given their name by Spanish explorers because of the pink cast of the granite cliffs at sunset. On Monday we took the tram up the west face of the escarpment. It was a 15 minute ascent of 10,678 feet. During that ride we had a great view of 4 different life zones which were pointed out to us by the tram guide. On the desert floor there are pinon and juniper trees, in the canyons we saw ponderosa pine followed by mixed conifer, and at the top were spruce and fir trees. Our guide said that in her many rides over the slope of the mountain she has seen mule deer and bobcats. Last week someone else saw a black bear at the peak. On the ride up I was able to get a picture of another tram on its way down as it passed us. During the winter the tram is used to transport skiers to the top.

Also on the way up our guide pointed out the site of the Kiwanis Cabin, constructed by the CCC in 1936. It happens frequently that the weather changes suddenly at the peak, so the cabin was built for hikers who may suddenly need to get inside and away from the elements. In the picture below the cabin can not be seen, but it sits at the end of the highest peak. Little did John and I realized that later we would be hiking to it!

When we arrived at the top it was 39degrees Fahrenheit. Fortunately we were prepared with hats and gloves. The scenic mountain vistas made up for any discomfort we may have felt. Spread out below us was the desert floor with the city of Albuquerque off in the distance.

We did not want to take the tram down immediately after arriving, and the trails leading off from the tram station beckoned to us. We decided to take the trail to the stone cabin. The hike turned out to be a bit more strenuous than anticipated, but we still enjoyed ourselves. We had to navigate small rocks on our path as well as some mud, snow and ice. Only wildlife we saw was a pocket gopher who was too busy digging a tunnel to pay any attention to us. Below is a picture of the scenery which awaited us at the stone cabin.

We returned home immediately after coming off the mountain. Costumed children were out by then on the streets to collect their goodies. We are now sitting in a mobile home park so there are young families around us. About 20 children knocked on our door for candy, more that we ever had when we lived in St.Louis!

Acoma Pueblo of New Mexico

2011-11-01T10:36:00.001-05:00

This pueblo is also called "Sky City". It sits on a mesa 370 feet above the desert floor. For 2000 years it has served as the physical and spiritual homeland for the Acoma people. Many of them live in the Sky City, but on a part-time basis. We were told by our guide Limbert that only 15-20 families live there full time now. It is a matriarchal society so the homes are owned by females who pass them on to their youngest daughter. There is no electricity or fresh water in the village. Two cisterns in the village,which catch rain water, were pointed out to us on the tour. That water is used for cleaning and building purposes.The cistern pictured below is the largest one in the village. This was the place where for many years women of the village washed the clothes of their families.

The homes of the village vary, some having one story and others may have either two three. Over the years it has been necessary to rebuild them so that much of the original parts of the homes are now on the interior. The original homes were designed to make it difficult for enemies to enter. Outside of the kiva, or ceremony building, ladders are still placed today for entrance through the roof of the building. According to the Pueblo Indian belief the horizontal piece on one of the ladders symbolizes a cloud- the ladders have pointed ends which can pierce the clouds and hopefully create rain.

In the village we also saw a couple of outdoor ovens which the women use to bake their bread. The village also has a place of stone benches where leaders of the village have their meetings to discuss tribal affairs.

For many years there was only a rugged foot path up the mesa to this village. In 1920 Henry Fonda made a movie here, Nobody knows my Name, and a road was constructed up to the village. When we had completed our tour of the village Limbert gave us the choice of either taking the foot path down or again riding the bus. All of us on the tour opted for the walk down. It was a rather steep and rugged trail!

Pueblos of New Mexico

2011-11-01T09:26:00.000-05:00

On Saturday we visited Indian Pueblo Cultural Center. This museum depicts the history and culture of New Mexico's 19 Pueblos. While there we were able to observe an traditional American Indian dance. It is a dance honoring deer. Winter is coming soon and prayers go up that the deer may survive the winter.The dancer in the middle, with antlers on his head and holding two sticks which gives him four legs, represents the deer. The other dancers hold in their hands corn and turkey feathers. It is also a harvest dance.

We toured the Acoma Pueblo on Sunday. The following information on the dwellers of the pueblos I obtained from the Pueblo Museum as well as from our tour guide in the pueblo village of Acoma. The Native American village is one of the oldest continuously occupied sites in our country. Evidence dates it from 1150. Until the Spanish arrived in 1540 all the Native Indian villages had their own religion which permeated every aspect of their life. The Spanish with their Catholic faith did not try to understand what the natives believed and persecuted their religious leaders. The ceremonial buildings were destroyed and churches were built over those sites by native slave labor. Below is a picture of Acoma's Catholic church, San. Esteban. It has massive walls and a very high timbered ceiling. Native Indian symbols of creation can be found on the walls and on a buffalo skin on the ceiling. Figures of saints adorn the altar. The church can be seen in the background of the picture below.We were allowed inside of the church, but no picture taking is allowed.

During the Pueblo Rebellion of 1680 the Catholic priests were placed on donkeys and crowns of thorns were placed on their heads. They were subsequently killed. On priest escaped and later was able to report what had happened. In the ensuing years elements of the Catholic faith were incorporated in pueblo life. Catholic services are held three times a year; in Acoma it is on Christmas, Easter and San Esteban's feast day (September 2). I will have more on our tour of Acoma in the next posting. Below is picture of a sculpture found in the Indian Pueblo museum which is entitled "Unfolding Blessings". The Pueblo Indians of New Mexico look on their land and everything springing from it, plant and animal, as sacred and something to be cherished. They are very proud of the fact that, despite the invasion of Spain, Mexico, and the United States, they have at least been able to hold onto some of their tribal land and villages.

Historic Santa Fe

2011-10-31T11:16:00.000-05:00

The above picture was taken in the town's square. For four centuries the square has served as the center of town in many aspects- culturally, socially and politically. Around this central area, in the 1600s, the Spanish built their homes, officer's quarters and barracks. Still standing today is the Governors Palace. It is the oldest continuously occupied public building in the United States. This long low adobe building has been the seat of government for the vice royalty of New Spain, as well as the colonial government building for Mexico. The territorial government of the United States also used it, as well as Native Americans for a brief time after the Pueblo Rebellion of 1680. What a lot of history this building has seen, and the museum which resides in it now has exhibits which reflect the complex history of New Mexico and its many diverse cultures. Below is a picture of that building. On its porch Native American artisans gather to sell their wares.

There are numerous little shops, and art galleries around the town square. We wanted to tour Georgia O'Keeffe's art museum but it was getting late in the day. Our last stop of the day, New Mexico's capitol building, more than made up for missing that museum. The Capitol Art Foundation has made possible the placement of 600 artworks in the interior public spaces of the state capitol. The collection includes paintings, photography, sculpture, textiles, ceramic and glass works as well as furniture. Over 570 New Mexico artists are represented. This is one capitol building not to pass up. Below is a picture of the entrance to the building.

The facade of the building gives the impression that the building is square, but it is round, similar to other capitols. It has a rotunda in the center which is inlaid with a turquoise and bass mosaic of New Mexico's Great Seal. The skylight represents an Indian basket weave.

Historic Churches of old Santa Fe

2011-10-29T12:01:00.000-05:00

Santa Fe is about 40 miles northeast of Albuquerque. We felt that there was a lot to be seen in the capitol city so we made the trip yesterday. Our entire day was pretty much spent walking around the older section of Santa Fe, which we found to be somewhat similar to old Albuquerque's town square,although much bigger. In that section there are historic buildings and museums, among which include several Catholic churches. Santa Fe is sometimes called the Royal City of the Holy Faith, translated into Spanish it is referred to as La Villa Real de la Santa Fe de San Francisco de Assisi. I will first start here with San Miguel Mission, the oldest church in the United States. At the time of its construction the old Santa Fe trail passed in front of it. It was built in 1610, when the town was founded. Part of the structure was damaged during the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, but it was rebuilt after the Spanish reconquest in 1692.

The Cathedral Basilica of St.Francis of Assisi is also in the older section of town. The congregation was established also in 1610, but the building itself has been rebuilt a couple of times. I really liked the baptismal fountain and pool which located in the center of the nave. The font is located on an axis between the church doors and the altar to remind us of our baptismal journey. The pool is cruciform in shape.

It was through the initiative of Archbishop Lamy in 1875 that the cathedral was expanded from a simple adobe building into the large stone structure which it is today. He is buried in a crypt below the cathedral floor. His name has become famous by the book Death Comes to the Archbishop written by Willa Cather in 1926. The last church I want to mention here, the Loretto Chapel, has a circular staircase which is a marvel of beauty and construction. The top of the staircase rests against the loft at the top and on the floor at the bottom where its entire weight seems to be supported. It has no center support and has 33 steps and makes two complete 360 degree turns. It has been the subject of a book and movie.

Albuquerque, New Mexico

2011-10-28T11:34:00.001-05:00

The above picture is of the main street of Raton, New Mexico, a few hours before their first major snowfall. The day before, Tuesday, we had left Denver about 12 hours before the first snowfall of the season had arrived there. We drove from Denver southwest into New Mexico over the Raton Pass, and about two days later that pass was covered with snow and ice. Wednesday morning we had some light snow showers in Raton and fortunately drove out of there before the heavier snow storm arrived. We made it to Albuquerque Wednesday afternoon where, most fortunately, we only encountered rain. Albuquerque lies in a big valley between the Sandia Mountains and sweeping plateau country. Yesterday, Thursday, we toured the old town of Albuquerque which in the late 1600s was the heart of the business district. St.Felipe Catholic church dominates the town square there, the parish had its beginnings in 1706. The building has been reconstructed several times. We toured the church, and was surprised to find that it is quite small inside

There were many little shops around the town square, however many Native Americans had their wares on display outside of the shops. Most of of the items on sale were turquoise jewelry

In the Turquoise Museum, located near old town, we learned that many Native Americans purchase the semi-precious gem from China to make their turquoise jewelry. It is cheaper to buy turquoise from that country as the labor needed to mine it is less expensive. Another nugget of information we learned about the gem is that word turquoise means "of Turkish origin". During the middle ages Europeans who bought the gem from Turkish traders thought that the gem came from Turkey, but in reality the traders had obtained it from Persia. The rest of our afternoon in old Albuquerque was spent in the Turquoise Museum, where there are samples of that gem from around the world, in its raw state as well as a finished product.

Denver Botanical Gardens

2011-10-24T13:09:00.000-05:00

This garden is one of the top-ranked botanical gardens in the nation. Fortunately for us winter has not done its damage there yet. Many of the plants are at the end of their blooming, but we still found some awesome beauty in the garden when we toured it Friday. We had only a couple of hours to see the gardens before we were due at a bridal shop for our daughter Melissa's first appointment of the week-end. She had flown in early Friday morning to spend the week-end with us and her cousin Heather. I was surprised to discover at the gardens that there is an autumn crocus. That plant is pictured below, it caught my attention as it looked so pretty nestled among the lamb's ears foliage.

Denver Botanical Gardens currently is displaying the work of modernist Allan Houser, called Native Roots. It features Native American plants and peoples. Pictured below is a sculpture which has the title of Morning Prayer. Around the figure are prairie grasses, of which a beautiful variety of them can be found in the garden.

As I mentioned in an earlier posting, the autumn colors here in Denver have been stunning. Below is a picture of that beauty in the botanical gardens. The warm sunny day also added to our enjoyment of the garden.

While in Denver I have also found a lot of joy in just seeing the Rockies off in the distance. I searched for a place where I could get a picture of their snow-capped peaks plus some autumnal beauty. Yesterday, after church, I finally found just the location in a park. Tomorrow night snow is in the forecast for Denver. We do plan to head south tomorrow morning, well ahead of winter's first blast of cold and snow.

Lariat Loop Scenic Byway, Colorado

2011-10-22T11:00:00.000-05:00

We are now parked just outside of Denver in Englewood. And I am very happy that a hard frost has not hit this area yet. Fall foliage is seldom seen this late in the year here in Colorado. Oaks and aspen leaves are just turning, primarily we are seeing trees which are a brilliant yellow in color. Those trees can be seen in the picture below, that picture was taken just outside of Coors Brewery, which we toured Thursday.

Coors Brewery is in Golden, Colorado on the Lariat Loop highway. The scenic highway is described as "40 miles of western adventure". Our first stop along this drive was at Red Rocks Park and Amphitheater. The red rocks are towering 400 feet sandstone formations. The rocks provide the best musical acoustics in the world, musical groups started performing there in the late 19th century. Locals say that actually it was used earlier than that by the Ute Indians for their dances. In the 1940s the Civil Conservation Corps built an actual theater among the rocks. From the highest level of this amphitheater we had a good 200 mile panoramic view of Denver. The park is in an area where the Great Plains meet the foothills of the Rockies.

Sadly most people only know of the park as a place for concerts. It is also 868 acres of park land where many wild animals roam, including mule deer which we saw casually roaming around the parking lots of the theater. Many years ago dinosaurs also roamed here, Dinosaur Ridge was our next stop. At the Ridge we took a guided tour to see the fossilized bones and tracks of those ancient animals. In the picture below is one of the fossilized dinosaur's tracks, pointed out to us by our very knowledgeable guide.

Three hundred plus dinosaur tracks and a dinosaur bone quarry are on the ridge, all representing five different time periods in the Age of Dinosaurs. Our day on the Lariat Loop ended at Lookout Mountain where Buffalo Bill's museum and grave is located. After seeing those places we headed back to the city so we could listen in on a rehearsal of the Broke Bridge Band, in which our niece Heather performs with her singing and fiddle. The band plays some awesome bluegrass music! It was a perfect ending to our very long day.

Goodland, Kansas

2011-10-17T11:29:00.002-05:00

We are now parked outside of Goodland, Kansas. Its biggest claim to fame is that, as of 2002, it is the place of a 24 foot by 32 foot reproduction of Van Gogh's Sunflowers, created by a Canadian born Cameron Cross. The reproduction stands on an 80 foot high easel. The artist has plans to place reproductions of Van Gogh's seven different sunflower paintings on the seven continents; so far he has placed one in Canada, Australia, and now in Kansas. Kansas was chosen for the site because of its large sunflower fields.

Coincidentially, I just finished reading Sunflowers by Sheramy Bundrick. It is a fictional story of the last two years of Van Gogh's life as seen through the eyes of a young prostitute. The book has many references to the artist's sunflower paintings ( they were a favorite of his mistress Rachel, according to the story line), so I was thrilled to see one of those reproductions here in Kansas. Pardon me now if I jump to another subject entirely. Yesterday John and I had the wonderful experience of attending Goodland United Methodist church. The call to worship for the service adapted a quote from Steve Jobs: "Out time is limited, so lets not waste it living someone else's life... don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice...Let us have the courage to follow our heart and intuition.God is at work beyond all our imagination". Pastor Dustin Petz pointed out in his sermon that Goodland Methodist needs to find a way to reach out to the younger people of Sherman County. The average age of the surrounding community is 35 years, while that of the congregation is 54 years of age. It was the first time John and I had seen a pastor whip out an iPhone to read from the Bible. That was a very good object lesson to demonstrate the point of his sermon!

Monument Rocks

2011-10-15T08:46:00.000-05:00

These rock formations are about 20 miles southeast of the town of Oakley. Just before turning off the dirt road, which leads to the formations, we stopped at an old restored stone building. A sign by the road said it was the Keystone Gallery, an art gallery/fossil museum. I grumbled a bit about making the stop, as I just wanted to see Monument Rocks. It turned out to be a very informative stop, however! Barbara Bonner, who owns the museum with her husband Chuck, greeted us warmly and was very eager to share with us their stories of fossil hunting in the surrounding area. The land having the fossils covers two counties of Kansas. We saw some of their collection of fossilized ancient fish which they have found over the twenty some years they have had their museum. Chuck's primary occupation is painting and his work is also displayed in the museum. Barbara and I also discovered that we both have sons, of of the same age, out on the west coast and in the gaming industry. Despite that rather long stop we did make it out to the rock formations. The wind-carved and water-eroded limestone towers average about 70 feet in height. The site can be described best as a many layered ancient Cretaceous seabed sitting on a semi-arid plain.

Weathering has exposed many marine and reptilian fossils in these rocks. While walking around the formations I could find many small rocks on the ground with clam shells embedded in them. We also visited the Fick Museum in Oakley on Friday where some more marine fossils are on display. Paleontologists have been able to remove large pieces of rock with the skeleton of the ancient marine creatures still embedded in them.It is quite an involved process to remove the fossilized limestone and then to mount it for study and display. On exhibit in the museum is xiphactinus audax, which is figured to have been about 16 feet long. He is similar to modern day Tarpon . The fish was collected and prepared by paleontologist George Sternborg.

Also on display in the museum are 11,000 shark teeth, as well as many other fossil artifacts. Vi Fick, wife of the paleontologist Ernest Fick, created a lot of fossil folkart using such materials as fish vertebrae and oyster shells. Indian artifacts are also on display on the museum. Native Americans used the fossils to make jewelry as the crinoid necklace pictured below. Crinoids are marine invertebrates as sea lilies and feather stars.

It was quite a fascinating museum with a wide variety of local memorabilia and artwork. I will close off this posting with one more picture of the Monument Rocks.

Oakley, Kansas

2011-10-14T10:39:00.000-05:00

The town of Oakley is not named after Annie Oakley, the cowgirl sharpshooter turned entertainer. She joined Bill Cody's Wild West Show in about 1886. Before Wild Bill Cody started his Wild West show he was a military scout working out of Fort Hayes, Kansas. In 1886 he and his partner Nate Salsbury loaded up their Wild West Show on the S.S.Nebraska and headed for England. They took quite a menagerie with them; 18 buffalo, a small herd of longhorn cattle, 200 horses and 12 elk. The show toured Europe for 10 years. Annie Oakley, the star of the show, was with them from 1885-1902. My posting today is not only about cowboys, but also of Native Americans. Our second stop of the day yesterday was at Battle Canyon.

The site of this Native Indian battle is advertised as the place where the last officer was killed in military action in Kansas. There is ever so much more to the story which speaks to a desperate situation that led to this battle. In 1878 a group of Northern Cheyenne chose to leave their reservation in Oklahoma because of the lack of food and malaria which was depleting their people in large numbers. The Cheyenne, which included 94 warriors, 120 women and 141 children, escaped the reservation. In that group was a squaw of General Custer and their son. The Native Indians were chased by the military to a canyon in Kansas. Here the Cheyenne women and children hid in the natural cave at the end of this dog-leg canyon, now know as Battle Canyon. A battle ensued until darkness fell and the soldiers retreated to re-group. The Cheyenne escaped in the middle of the night, leaving their pack horses laden with supplies and their lodge fires still burning. About one half of them did reach their northern destination, the other half were eventually captured.

Our Last Day in Lindsborg

2011-10-12T08:35:00.000-05:00

Our plan was to leave this area on Monday. However, we recently learned that our daughter Melissa will be in Denver later this month and consequently we now are in no rush to get there. We do have a concern about the weather as it is getting cooler even out here in Kansas. Hopefully the snow will hold off for awhile yet in Denver! We also felt that there is a lot more in the town of Lindsborg to explore. Our first stop today was about one mile outside of the town at the Hoglund Dugout. In 1868 a young couple from Sweden, Gustaf and Maria Hoglund, created their first home in a 6ft.x12 ft. pit. During their first summer they used their wagon as a roof. It was hard for me to comprehend living in that small of a space with no windows!

In Lindsborg, after wandering through many of its fine small shops, we walked over to the Red Barn Studio. From 1945-1991 it was the home and studio of Lester Rhymer. When he married his wife Ramona her parents gave them several buildings, two of which were a livery stable and a wash house. He combined them into one rather large rambling building, adding a breezeway in the process. With extensive decorative touches he ended up with one awesome building.

Rhymer's house and studio proved to be a very intriguing place to tour. It is filled with his paintings, original prints, sculptures, ceramics, jewelry and furniture. Every year for Christmas he made his wife elaborate wooden toys with operating parts, they also are on display in the home. He also worked with fabric, even making a quilt. He usually worked only with recycled materials, finding them in the town dump or at auction sales. He twisted and crimped aluminum scrap to make decorative art objects. Below is a picture of the courtyard of the Rhymer home which shows some of his woodcarvings. The artist also created the ceramic tile on the brick wall which depicts the sun, a common theme in a lot of his artwork.

After touring Rhymer's art studio we walked the Valkommen Trail, a paved walking path around Lindsborg with historical markers. At the site of the water and power plant there is an interpretive sign explaining how charges for electricity and water were calculated during the early part of the twentieth century. The customer was charged by the light bulb; one dollar for two light bulbs monthly. Water cost six dollars for one faucet, and one dollar was charged for every additional faucet. Annual charge for a bathtub was three dollars.

Smoky Hill River Valley of Kansas

2011-10-10T08:28:00.002-05:00

The Swedish festival of Lindsborg ended Saturday, but yesterday we were treated to more of the culture at Bethany Lutheran during the Sunday services. A children's choir, with the children in their Swedish garb, sang "Children of the Heavenly Father" in Swedish. It is wonderful that the town and its people still holds onto its heritage after 140 years! The town of Lindsborg was settled by Lutheran Swedish immigrants in 1868. By 1881 the citizens had started up Bethany College. On Saturday we stopped at the college and its campus church, Messiah Lutheran (daughter church of Bethany). Messiah has five sets of beautiful stained glass windows designed by Eldon B. Swensson, a church member. Below is a picture of one of them which has the title "Messiah's Path of Light". In the picture are Bethany's steeples as well as the Bethany College dove.

The first immigrants of Lindsborg settled in the fertile river valley of the Smokey River, pictured below. We took in the beautiful autumnal view of this valley and its surrounding wheat fields at Coronado Heights. In the 1930s the Works Progress Administration built a castle on this hill to serve as a picnic area and park. In the 1950s a professor from Bethany College found Spanish chain mail a few miles southwest of the park and hence the park was renamed Coronado Heights. It is thought that perhaps the legendary explorer, Francisco Vasquez de Coronado passed through the Kansas Smoky Valley in the 1541.

Lindsborg, Kansas

2011-10-09T19:22:00.001-05:00

It was a wet day yesterday, with continuing winds of up to 30 miles an hour. We still managed to have a great day in the town of Lindsborg. We knew there was a festival going on in the town, but we did not know the particulars. As it happened, we were most fortunate to attend the town's biennial Hyllningsfest. This festival, which honors the first Swedish pioneers of the town, has been occurring every odd year since 1941. During the year of Hyllningsfest the local schoolchildren learn Swedish dances in their general music classes. These performances, as well as other musical offerings, were a part of the festival which we enjoyed yesterday.

The teen dancers were accompanied by fiddle players. One of the girls played a nyckelharpa, a Swedish musical instrument. I found out later that it is a "keyed fiddle". In the picture of the musicians below the girl with the nyckelharpa is at the end, on the right.

Everything Swedish was a part of the festival; besides the musical presentations there were also arts and crafts and Swedish foods. While wandering through the festival we also got in a tour of the town. We had read somewhere that the town has 47 works of art in the form of sculptures, wind vanes, murals, iron works and tiles. Counted in that number are 29 wild Dalas. It is perhaps Sweden's best-known icon, a bluntly-rounded, tail-free horse which had been first whittled out of wood. It is a symbol of identity and welcome.

We stopped at Bethany Lutheran church as it is one of the historic buildings of Lindsborg. Too our pleasant surprise we happened to arrive when an organ concert was being performed, which we listened to for a short while. In that church another fiberglass Dala greeted us. I will have more on Lindsborg in my next posting.

Abilene, Kansas

2011-10-08T09:44:00.000-05:00

On Tuesday my husband John was released by his doctor to travel once again. By Wednesday we were on the road again, heading west to California. We are now parked outside of Salina, Kansas and have experienced the strong winds of the plains. Yesterday we drove to Abilene to tour the Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum. The campus has been built around the childhood home of Dwight D. Eisenhower. That house seemed to small for a family of six boys! It was built in 1898 and Ida, Dwight's mother, lived in it until 1946. It has since then been preserved as a museum.

The presidential museum displays an awesome piece of American history. In Eisenhower's lifetime America had seen rapid technological changes, from the invention of the automobile and jets to the arrival of the space age. It took us a good four hours to tour the museum and I could not begin to cover all the information we learned in this one posting. However, I will share with you some Eisenhower trivia. Eisenhower's family was Mennonite, his mom was not too happy when he entered West Point. The day that this five-star general orchestrated the most decisive battle of WW ll on June 6,1944, his only son John graduated from West Point. Unfortunately his dad could not be there. It was during Eisenhower's presidential term that the motto of the United States became "In God we trust". The words "One nation under God" was added to the Pledge of Allegiance during Eisenhower's first term. Eisenhower was the first president to have a Chief of Staff, and also was the first to have televised press conferences. Below is a picture of his statue located on the campus.

On our way home later that day we drove to Rock City. Who would have known that such geological wonders can be found in Kansas? In this park are about 200 sandstone concretions.

We are still parked in Missouri

2011-09-27T12:15:00.000-05:00

Originally I had written that we would only spend three weeks in Missouri. As it turned out, that was not to be. John had heart issues which required emergency placement of stents and a brief hospitalization. He is better now and very anxious to hit the road again! However, we do need to stay another week for him to visit his doctor one last time. Thanks be to God that John is on the mend and that we happened to be near our doctors, family and friends when this all occurred last week! Another blessing came our way Saturday when daughter Melissa called and announced her engagement to Spencer. We are thankful that he is joining our family! Their wedding will happen about a year from now. We also had another surprise last week when our son Daniel flew in to visit us after he had received the news of John's illness. I was thankful to have his support, especially now that John needs encouragement to take on a new life style after his heart attack. A low-fat diet is now very important! On Monday we all decided to venture out and drive to the Riverlands Migratory Bird Sanctuary in Illinois. In the sanctuary we mainly saw herons, egrets and many swallows swooping and diving over the waters. We had hoped see either eagles or pelicans, unfortunately it is too early in the season for them. From the wetlands we drove over to Confluence Point State Park, one of the most significant places in our nation. It is where two of our greatest rivers, the Mississippi and the Missouri, flow together. They both were essential in the western expansion of the United States.

Most of our day was spent driving along the "green corridor" of conserved open spaces along the Mississippi River from St.Charles to Alton. We also stopped at one heritage location where there is a reproduction of the winter camp of Lewis and Clark (1804). Our day ended at the Chain of Rocks Canal. Many barges come through this canal but none could be seen while we were there.

As John and I always discover, it does not take much touring around to kill a day. By late afternoon we needed to head toward the airport for Daniel to catch his flight back to Washington D.C.

370 Lakeside Park, St.Peters

2011-09-13T10:45:00.000-05:00

This is the area where we are currently located. It is Mississippi River bottom land which was farm land until the flood of 1993. A few soybean plants, lying in orderly rows, can be still seen struggling to survive along the lake's edge. High levees surround this park; soil was dug up from the farm land to create the levees, and consequently a 140-acre lake was formed. It has been newly stocked with fish. In this park is also many acres of protected wetland, as shown in the picture above. While biking around Lakeside Park I have seen egrets and herons sitting in the water, also deer in the forests. Canadian geese and killdeer are in an abundance here. During my morning bike rides I have made the acquaintance of another biker, Ed Prouhet (he is the youngest son of the Prouhet farm family from Bridgeton). He starts biking earlier than I do and consequently has wildlife sightings to report to me, as raccoons and bald eagles. We had more of a citified life when we came to St.Louis in previous trips here and stayed at the recreational vehicle park in St.Charles. I must say that I do not miss having easy access to stores as much as I thought I would! Below is a picture of one of the metal sculptures found through out the park. It has been fun exploring the many trails which wind around the lake and wetlands.

The only unfortunate part with living so far from St.Louis is that we do have a distance to go to attend events in the city. One trip which we made into the city was to hear the St.Louis Symphony kick off their season with a concert on Art Hill in Forest Park. Fireworks after the concert made it a perfect evening. Sunday we had only to drive as far as St.Charles to hear the Mahnken Brass Quintet. Susan Slaughter, past principal trumpet for the St.Louis Symphony, was part of that ensemble and it was a joy to hear her again. She also played the trumpet for some of the songs performed by the Community Gospel Choir. It all was first rate entertainment, and only for the price of a donation to the BackStoppers. The BackStoppers are a local organization which provides needed support and financial assistance to the families of local and county firefighters, and police officers who have lost their lives while in the line of duty. It has been great to be back in St.Louis again; not only is it wonderful to be in a city where we know our way around, but it is also a place where there is plenty of things to do. We have also been quite fortunate in the past week to meet up with friends from both Beautiful Savior and Holy Cross Lutheran churches at various social functions. Our plan is to stay here another two weeks and then head west to California.

Japanese Festival, St.Louis, Missouri

2011-09-06T10:01:00.000-05:00

We arrived in St.Louis last Friday, and plan to stay here for three weeks. It was hard to take the triple digit temperatures on Friday and Saturday, especially when we thought back to the cool temperatures we had up north in the past two months. Fortunately a cool front moved in Sunday. It was a great day to visit the Missouri Botanical Garden and the Japanese Festival. The festival was explained in Friday's Post Dispatch. According to the article the organizer of the festival, Ed Shimamoto, started up the festival about 35 years ago. He and his family had been in an internment camp in 1944 in Arkansas. When the war ended he and his family and others traveled to St.Louis for work. Shimamoto is quoted in the article that the Japanese Festival was conceived "as our thanks to St.Louis for being so welcoming". The festival is now one of the largest and oldest in the nation. It is a celebration of Japanese food, music, art, gardening, and martial arts. There is something for everyone to see and do over the three days it is held. Our visit started in the Ridgway Visitor Center where we toured displays of Bonsai and Ikebana. Ikebana is the Japanese art of flower arranging, using flowers and other natural materials. Below is an example of Ikebana. Origami cranes decorate the wall next to the display. Bamboo for the flower arrangement came from the garden.

From the visitor's center of the garden we headed over to the Japanese Garden to observe Bon Odori, which is the summer festival dancing. As we came into that area of the garden we saw the Koinobori, or koi windsock display. Japanese revere the carp for their endurance when swimming in strong currents.

The Buddhist festival of Odon celebrates the return of the spirits of the dead to Earth. This ritual has evolved into bon odori, a dance that marks the end of summer. The dancers wear colorful kimonos and sandals.

In the picture above the dancers are waving fans, which are a prop for the particular dance which they are performing. There is a taiko drum on the elevated stage above the dancers, it is used to set the beat. In the evening we were treated to a taiko concert. Years ago Japanese drums were beaten to fool invading armies into believing a formidable opposition was on the march. The sound is thus quite loud and the movement of the drummers as they beat the drums looks something akin to martial arts. Some of the songs, however, were less traditional with modern music and dance. A bamboo flute sometimes was also played with the drums. It was quite an unusual musical experience for John and I! There is much, much more to the Japanese festival which I have not covered here. We hope to come back another year and give ourselves more time to take everything in. It certainly is a total cultural immersion into everything Japanese.

Olbrich Botanical Gardens

2011-09-01T08:32:00.000-05:00

These gardens lie on the shores of Lake Monoma in Madison. On its 16 acres are numerous specialty gardens, the most recent of which is the Thai Pavilion and Garden. That garden is a gift from the Thai government and the alumni of the Thai Chapter of the University of Wisconsin. It is the only one in the continental United States. The pavilion was built in Thailand and shipped in pieces to Madison. Artisans from Thailand flew in on Sept.11, 20001 to supervise its construction. They were on the last plane allowed to fly into Chicago on that fateful day. The pavilion is decorated in gold leaf and in its motif are three distinct features; a serpent, the lotus flower and the seal of the government of Thailand. A bridge connects the Thai Garden to the larger garden. The bridge and walkway represent the body of the snake. Symbols are prevalent in Thai culture and are woven into their belief of Buddhism.

The pavilion is the only one outside of Thailand to have a garden surrounding it. The garden entrance has many large-leafed plants and bright-flowered plants hardy enough for the Midwest winters. A small pond with blooming lily pads also adds to the serene feeling of a Thai-styled garden. Water is important to Thailand because of its implications for good health and prosperity.

One of the specialty gardens featured carnivorous plants, as the pitcher plant. I have a close-up shot here of the pitchers which the plants uses to capture its meal. I found the plant quite fascinating!

An interpretive sign nearby said that carnivorous plants grow in soil that is low in nitrogen. In order to make up for that deficiency they "eat" nitrogen-rich insects. We ended our tour of the garden in the 50 story conservatory. It is a tropical ecosystem which reminded me a lot of the one at Shaw's Garden in St.Louis. However this one has free-flying birds as colorful canaries, doves, quail, and waxbills. Apparently the birds serve a useful purpose in that they eat some of the "bad bugs" which attack the plants in the conservatory. Our final stop of the day was at the Madison zoo. The zoo is only a couple of blocks from Adam and Kjerstin's home, they also have Lake Wingra on the other side of their home. I think they have a lot to look forward to in their new city, Madison seems like a wonderful town to us! Unfortunately we have to move on. Today we are driving further south toward our home town of St.Louis.

Madison, Wisconsin

2011-08-31T09:49:00.000-05:00

John and I have never been in Madison before so we decided to make that our next destination before leaving Wisconsin. Also, our nephew Adam's wife Kjerstin, recently moved there to begin graduate studies at the University of Wisconsin and we wanted to visit with her. Madison turned out to be a very pleasant surprise; we had a very enjoyable day in the capitol city yesterday, despite the cool wet weather. Within or just outside of the city limits are four lakes. The city center, where we spent our time yesterday, is on an isthmus between two of those lakes; Lake Mendota and Monona. The eight-block-wide isthmus is dominated by the Monona Community and Convention Center and the state Capitol. The convention center is where we took our first guided tour, after we first had lunch at its rooftop garden cafe. From this garden we had a great view of the lake, city, and state capitol building. Below is a picture of the entrance to the center.

Frank Loyd Wright began his plans for the convention center in 1930. He did not complete the design until a few week before his death in 1959. Wright considered the state Capitol in his design. He wanted the color, forms, and symmetry to echo that of the capitol which had been built from 1906-1917. After 60 years of debate the construction of the center began in 1994 and the building opened its doors in 1997. Below is a picture of the Grand Terrace which opens to a majestic and expansive view of Lake Monona.

The interior was designed by Wright's apprentice, Tony Puttam. It has all of Wright's architectural ideas and hallmarks which can be seen in the carpeting and custom designed furniture. According to our guide, Wright's design for indirect lighting came from the form of the hollyhock flower. The state Capitol is just down the street from the convention center. We were fortunate to also get a guided tour of that building.

The capital dome is topped by a gilded bronze statue, "Wisconsin". She has a badger on her head. The badger theme is continued within the capitol. Outside of the governor's office is a statue of the famous Wisconsin animal. People walking past him rub his nose for good luck.

The Wisconsin state capitol was built in 1917 at a cost of $7.25 million. The interior features forty-three varieties of stone from around the world. Its dome is the only capitol dome to be made from granite. The interior also features decorative murals, glass mosaics, hand carved furniture and massive columns of marble. It has to be one of the prettiest state capitols which we have ever toured. We ended our afternoon walking around State Street Mall, a tree-lined shopping district with small import shops and craft studios.

Plover, Wisconsin

2011-08-29T16:31:00.001-05:00

We decided to stop at Plover on our way south because that is the home of our niece Rachel and her husband Ben. We had a busy but enjoyable weekend with them. On Saturday we biked a small part of the Green Circle Trail. The trail encircles Stevens Point, a town adjacent to Plover. We started out on the River Pines section, and from there took the Westside Loop which gave us views of the Wisconsin River, and downtown Stevens Point. We also rode past old paper mills and large wetlands.

We took time off from our ride to view a Civil War encampment at Buckolt and Pfiffner Parks. We also strolled around the downtown area of Stevens Point after first checking out the farmer' market. The market had a interestingly diverse group of sellers from the Hmong and Amish communities. I have obtained quite a large amount of produce in the past week, which has kept me busy pickling beets, baking zucchini bread and saucing up rhubarb. I consequently dared not look at any of the produce in the market (well, I did sample some ground cherries which were a bit too strange for my liking). Anyway, it was the flowers in the market which caught my eye. There were some very beautiful flower arrangements on display.

We attended a bluegrass festival Saturday evening, appropriately called Bluegrass in the Pines. Sloppy Joes, an excellent bluegrass band which played at our son's wedding, was scheduled to play at 11PM. Unfortunately that was a bit too late for us as we had a bit of a distance to drive to return to Plover.

Sunday morning we attended Good Shepherd Lutheran where Ben is associate pastor. We have been attending quite a few traditional services lately so their praise service was an enjoyable and different worship experience. I found the altar of Good Shepherd to be quite beautiful with a simple stained glass window above it. The window can be popped out and changed for the different liturgical seasons.

Sunday afternoon found us back on the Green Circle Trail. This time we hiked on foot through Schmeeckle Reserve, a nature reserve on the UW-Stevens Point campus. Our last stop of the day was at Steven Point Sculpture Park. One interesting sculture there was La Casa del Carbonero, an artistic piece described by its creator as "inspired by a traditional Chilean charcoal maker's structure..combines a form from my homeland and more contemporary industrial elements ...the viewer is invited to sit inside and ponder". Ben did try it out to see if it could possibly help him with his sermon notes. Today we are moving on to Madison Wisconsin.

Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin

2011-08-25T22:49:00.000-05:00

On Wednesday we left Duluth and headed back to Wisconsin. As we entered the town of Chippewa Falls we saw the Chippewa Bottling Company. The success of that company, as well as other locally made beverage companies, has supposedly been due to the purity of the ground water. The Chippewa Bottling Company was founded in 1880 by Thaddeus Pound, grandfather of the poet Ezra Pound. Another beverage company in this town is the Leinenkugel's Brewery, founded in 1867. Five generations of the Leinenkugel family have kept the small-town brewery going, it is the seventh oldest working brewery in the nation. We toured that place this morning, after which we were treated to samples of some of the brewery's products. Below is a picture of one of the brewing rooms with its copper topped brew kettle.

We learned something interesting while touring the brewery's museum. The expression "Give me a shot" was what cowboys said when they wanted a drink. They usually had no cash on them so they traded a bullet for a drink. After the brewery tour we drove over to Irvine Park. The park has 364 acres and contains a zoo with native animals. It has a large forested area complete with many hiking trails and also includes Glen Loch Dam, pictured below. We rode on our bikes to explore the park, and from there we headed to the downtown area.

For a small town Chippewa Falls has a very thriving downtown. Mason Shoe Company got its start there in 1906 and now has a big outlet store in the business district. While in town we also found a wonderful farmer's market. The town was named one of the top ten small towns in America by Time Magazine and, after being in the area for just a brief time, it was easy for us to understand why it is such a great little town.

Our Weekend in Duluth

2011-08-21T21:28:00.000-05:00

Duluth's farmer's market was our first stop of the day on Saturday. I was curious as to what the local produce was at this time of the year here in the north country. There was a fair representation of most of the usual vegetables, including corn. Tomatoes have not done well because of the cool wet summer. Most of our time at the market was taken up talking to a farmer about the wild rice of Minnesota. We had seen rice plants in a pond on our trip along the north shore and were curious as to how it was cultivated. The man we talked to seemed very pleased that we were interested and enlightened us on the whole process. He had been harvesting the grain on his reservation since he was nine years of age. Over time he has made his own tools for processing the rice as augers and roasting ovens to remove the hulls. He also has a special type of broom to sweep the seed into his boat during harvest. And to keep the level of the water high for the rice plants he has to regularly go out and destroy beaver dams. He stressed that wild rice is really a form of grass. His final product has a price of $10.00 a pound, I certainly have a better understanding now of why it is so expensive! After the market we drove over to the Glensheen mansion on the historic Congdon estate.

The picture of the mansion above is of the side of the house which faces Lake Superior. Chester Congdon, and his wife Clara, had it built in 1909 to model an English country estate. The 39-room mansion is typical of the opulent 19th century homes which we toured in Galveston, Texas. We enjoyed our tour of this home as it still has its original furnishings, artwork and family treasures. The gardens of this estate are maintained by the University of Minnesota, and currently quite resplendent in their summer beauty.

Today, Sunday, we drove to the home of Paul and Luella Boseovski which lies south of Duluth. Luella is the mother of our brother-in-law Cal. We had heard so much of her over the years and were the recipients of many of her delicious jams. She also makes quilts and does a variety of other needlework. Besides gardening, Paul keeps busy with woodworking. They prepared a lunch for us and gave us a tour of their rather large garden. We spent a wonderful afternoon with them and left loaded up with fresh vegetables.

Minnesota's North Shore

2011-08-20T22:08:00.004-05:00

One trip we certainly wanted to take while staying in Duluth was the drive north along the shoreline of Lake Superior to the border of Canada. Along this route are eight state parks. In these parks, and in other locations along this route, are numerous rivers, falls and gorges. Our first stop was Gooseberry Falls. Gooseberry River is one of 20 major Minnesota rivers which can be found on the north shore drive. Gooseberry Falls is a series of falls tucked into the woodlands and lying between the river of its name and Lake Superior.

It was tempting to stay at these beautiful falls and explore them completely, but we had other falls to see. Our next stop was Split Rock State Park. In November of 1905 a big storm came up on Lake Superior with 65-mile-per-hour winds and 30-foot waves crashing along the cliffs of the lake. Numerous ships capsized or ran into the rocky cliffs that night, which prompted our government to authorize the building of a lighthouse at Split Rock. We took a guided tour of the lighthouse as well as the surrounding buildings.

Our next stop was Caribou Falls and from there we drove to Cross Falls.There was no hiking to those falls as they are at a handy wayside rest. It seemed to be a popular swimming spot.

As we kept driving further north we started seeing less of towns and more forested areas and resorts. To get to Cascade Falls a strenuous hike was required, but it was fun discovering each cascading stream of water as we walked through the woods and over the river loop. Our final stop was at Grand Portage State Park. This is called "the walking place" by Native Americans because here it was necessary to hike nine miles inland from Lake Superior to their winter camps. The falls here were the most awesome of all we had seen during the day. And from this point we could gaze over the river into Canada. By now we had driven close to 150 miles. We were tired and ready to head home. Before doing that we stopped at the Grand Portage Lodge and Casino for an excellent fish supper. The lodge is on a Native American reservation.

Duluth, Minnesota

2011-08-19T08:21:00.001-05:00

This is probably a first for us, parking our home on a wharf! We are now located on a 7-mile peninsula called Minnesota Point. From our windows we can see the Aerial Lift Bridge which connects the peninsula with the mainland. The bridge spans the entire canal entrance to Duluth Harbor. Duluth is an major inland port and important grain center. We have enjoyed watching the bridge go up as ships, big and small, have passed under it. From our home we often hear the alarm sound which warns drivers and pedestrians that the bridge is going up.

From where we are parked we can walk to many of the sights of the harbor. On our first night here we walked around Canal Park. The area encompasses the ship canal, bridge, waterfront, shops, lodging and restaurants. Near the harbor there is even a Lake Superior Maritime Museum, which John took some time to walk through. Yesterday morning we walked over to Holiday Center via the skywalk. Duluth has 3.5 miles of enclosed skywalks which connect some 135 shops and businesses. After taking a short break back home we then headed out on our bikes along the Duluth Lakewalk to the Leif Erickson Park. The side-by-side boardwalk and paved biking path run from the ship canal to 60th Avenue East. The sun felt quite hot, but the lake breeze kept us feeling comfortably cool. Many people were out along the lake front, including some swimmers who were brave enough to be in the cold water. We took a short detour off the Lakewalk to see the rose gardens at the park.

Returning home on the trail we could look up from the harbor and get a good view of the skyline of Duluth.

Flora and Fauna of the Upper Peninsula

2011-08-17T21:39:00.001-05:00

The above picture is pretty much representative of the wildflowers for northern Michigan at the end of its summer. The forest's floors which we have seen have been covered primarily with a variety of moss, ferns and mushrooms. I did find one very unusual mushroom, which I at first thought was a bloody tissue. My second thought was that someone dripped blood on the mushroom. But no, I found other white mushrooms with the same streak of red!. That was a first sighting of particular variety of mushroom for me.

John pointed out to me that there is no underbrush in the woods as in Missouri because of the short season of summer. In the river hills the ground is particularly bare and tree roots are exposed. It is hard to imagine now, but it gets quite cold here during the winter and there can be lot of snow on the ground. That snow, when it melts, certainly creates a good deal of erosion along the river bluffs. We were disappointed that we did not see any moose during our time in northern Michigan, only lots of deer. Upper Michigan is also supposed to have 85% of all the black bears in Michigan. We did not see them either. However, we had two interesting encounters with birds. One afternoon we found a young evening grosbeak on our steps. He let me take a picture of him and then flew off. He seemed like a very young bird for this being so late into summer.

Yesterday morning a variety of birds created quite a bit of racket near our home. In all of that din I noticed some bird sounds I had not heard before. Not long after that I happened to glance out of our kitchen window and saw a pileated woodpecker pecking away at a big hole located on the bottom of a nearby tree. I apologize for the blurry picture, he was moving rather rapidly around the tree. Today we have moved west to Duluth, Minnesota. It is on the far western edge of Lake Superior.

Jackie Gordon Lehto

2011-08-16T13:49:00.001-05:00

This posting is going to be quite different than all of my previous ones. At Iron Mountain we had seen in a local paper an article which noted that a woman, Jackie Lehto, was traveling across the Upper Peninsula on her bike to raise funds for domestic abuse. To our pleasant surprise on Saturday evening, while attending services at Sharon Lutheran in Bessemer, we learned that Jackie was speaking at the church Monday evening. We made it a point, then, to get back from our hiking at the Porcupines State Park in order to hear her speak. She had a horrifying story to tell of suffering abuse at the hands of her father during her childhood, as well as domestic abuse from two of her ex-husbands during her adult life. It was with the aid of many counselors, several spiritual advisers, as well as one hospitalization, that she finally received the help she so badly needed. She was then able to climb out of the resulting recurrent bouts of sadness and depression brought on by the abuse. In her message she also gave a powerful testimony to the grace and love of God. She has learned in her faith journey that God is always with her and frees her to move from sadness to hope. This is her second trip to get her story out. In 2004 she biked a total of 2000 miles. This year her goal was 800 miles in 18 days. She chose the number 18 because it is by the age of 18 years that one in three girls, as well as one in seven boys, are abused. In my lifetime there have been two women whom I knew to have been abused. Hopefully now I have better insight into helping such women should the opportunity arise again. I also am now more aware and appreciative of the important role domestic abuse shelters play in the lives of these women. Fortunately Jackie's story ends well. Besides being happily married, she is now a proud mother and grandmother, as well as a successful home economics teacher for special needs children.

Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park

2011-08-16T12:57:00.000-05:00

Our original plan was just to enter this park to hike the falls of the Presque Isle River, but as usual those plans changed. We had seen Lake of the Clouds before but, after entering the park, realized that we did want to see the lake again. It is one good viewing spot of the Porcupines Mountains, and Lake of the Clouds is nestled in those mountains. The lake, which is only 15 feet deep, is "so sheltered and hemmed by the surrounding mountains that winds bare ruffle its surface" (so noted by a geologist in 1851).

The Porcupine Mountains State Park is the largest of Michigan's state parks. It is 32 miles from Lake of the Clouds to the Presque Isle River falls. The drive is through some very beautiful forests of virgin maple and hemlock. The water falls all have native American names. Hiking along the river we saw the Manabezha, Manido, and Nawadaha falls, as well numerous other smaller falls. We noticed that in some places, as the Black River, the water is an orange color to a deep amber. Both rivers have a large amount of tannins and other plant sources which give them that coloring. Our last view of the river on our hike was the most awesome. Here the river flows through a deep gorge and falls over large boulders. Over the years it has cut deeply into the rock formations, and created large bowls commonly known as potholes.

The sight of the falls at this point was well worth the arduous hike over a trail that was pretty much up and down over the river cliffs. Steps which went over those cliffs were often the roots of trees, as pictured below.

Copper Peak and the Black River Falls

2011-08-16T09:33:00.000-05:00

Yesterday turned out to be quite a physically exhausting day. We climbed another ski jump and hiked to several falls. The ski jump is at Copper Peak hill. It is the tallest flying ski jump in the world. Yes, I did say that the last ski jump we climbed was the highest. But that was not a flying ski jump. This one we needed to take a chair lift to the crest of the hill and then a 18-story elevator, after which we had to climb a series of steps before reaching the very top. From the top we could see 100 miles across Lake Superior to the Minnesota, Canadian border.What a view from that height!

The ski jump has not been operational since 1994. They are currently making physical improvements on it, including the construction of ponds which will collect water needed for the snow machines. The weather sometimes warms up during the winter months and melts the snow on the hill. There are only about 100 jumpers in the world qualified to use this jump, hopefully it will be ready for them in a few years. The rest of our day Sunday was spent exploring the falls along the Black River. Interestingly enough, some of the trails along the river connect to the North Country Trail, a hiking path from New York to North Dakota. We hiked to Conglomerate Falls as well as the Potoawatomi Falls, which was all of about 4 miles. We then drove to Sandstone Falls, where John commented that all of these falls are geological wonders. Over the years retreating glaciers left behind large boulders of rock, some of which are composed of conglomerate (a variety of different rocks cemented together). During that time rivers of water flowing over those rocks created the river gorges and falls which we saw along the Black River. At Sandstone Falls we could especially see how the forces of nature interacted to create different layers of rock. Conglomerate rock at Sandstone Falls lies on top of layers of sandstone. The Blackstone River crashes wildly down, around and over the large rock formations. In some places it has scoured out large potholes.

Getting down to Sandstone Falls required traversing many steps. To give ourselves a break before hiking to the next falls (Rainbow Falls) we drove over to Black River Harbor, where the river flows into Lake Superior.

After hiking over to Rainbow Falls we stopped for the town picnic at Bessemer, Michigan. Never before did a burger, beer and an ear of corn taste so good! A local band, Marty's Goldenaires, provided the music.

Pine Mountain Ski Jump

2011-08-13T16:07:00.000-05:00

The "King of Hills" is a 123.5-meter ski slide, the world's highest artificial ski jump. The tour book also said "Free Viewing". I am not sure what it meant by the last statement, but John and I thought that it meant free viewing from the top so we climbed up that ski jump. Just kidding, actually I am not sure what possessed us to climb that jump! Coming down was a bit tricky because of the steep slope. I soon learned that it was best not to look down! It was a bigger thrill for me, once I was back on the solid ground, to find a young deer staring at me from out of the woods. Below is a view of the town from a hill over Millie's Mine, a favorite bat viewing area.. In the distance is the Menominee mountain range.

We are leaving this area today, heading further west out of the Upper Peninsula into Minnesota. Before leaving this area I want to mention a few other places we visited while in Iron Mountain. The town has several interesting museums. One of them is the Cornish Pumping Engine and Mining Museum. An old, very large pumping engine, which weights 160 tons and is 154 feet tall, is the focal point of that museum. It was steam driven and used to pump out the water of several mines in the area. It began operation in 1893, and was replaced in 1914 by an electric powered pump. In another building of that same museum is a restored WW11 military glider. The Ford Company Plant in the nearby town of Kingsford produced 4,190 of them between 1942 and 1945 for combat operations. That was an interesting piece of history for me as I knew nothing of the existence of those gliders. The gliders had to be towed by larger powered aircraft to the landing zone by a long nylon cord.
In our tour of the town we also stopped to see the old historic Immaculate Conception Church. It was built in 1903 by Irish immigrant miners who wanted a Catholic church which looked like their parish churches in Italy.

Iron Mountain, Michigan

2011-08-11T20:10:00.002-05:00

No, you did not read the above title wrong, we are back in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. John felt that he wanted to see the western side of the peninsula and I am glad we did return. It is a place of spectacular and unspoiled natural beauty. Shortly after crossing the Michigan state line from Wisconsin, on Tuesday, we stopped at a roadside rest stop. To our pleasant surprise we had arrived at one of our country's prettiest roadside parks called Fumee Falls.

That same day we parked our home just outside the town of Iron Mountain. The next day, Wednesday, we took a guided tour of the Iron Mountain Iron Mine. Our guide took us in a rail car into the mine and over 2,600 feet of drifts and tunnels. The mine opened in the late 1800s and by 1945, when it closed, 22,500,000 tons of ire ore had been hauled out of it. Its miners earned 7 cents a day, and the miners who worked with the dynamite received 15 cents a day. It was hard for me to imagine that kind of dangerous life!

Later that same day John and I hiked along the Menominee River at Piers Gorge. Here the river plummets down a 10-foot waterfall and flows wildly between canyon walls. Its huge waves make it an ideal river for white water rafting. We were able to watch one raft go through the strongest of the rapids. John had the camera but for some reason missed snapping a picture of the raft. The picture he did get was of a young woman falling out of it. Fortunately she was able to swim to shore and then joined us on the trail. Further down the river the raft was waiting for her.

Our final stop for the day was at Norway Spring, located at the edge of the town of the same name. In 1902 a 1094-foot hole was drilled in search of iron ore. The drilled hole created an artesian well which is still flowing abundantly today. We met a man at the spring who was filling up a couple of jugs of the water. He said that he comes from Marquette, Michigan every two weeks to stock up on the water for his personal use.

Door County, Wisconsin

2011-08-08T13:06:00.000-05:00

We are leaving this peninsula tomorrow with some sadness. Not only is it a beautiful place but it is also now filled with wonderful memories for John and I. Over the past two weeks we have pretty much traveled over the 75-mile-long peninsula. At its northern tip we took a ferry over to Washington Island. On another day we visited the lighthouses at Baileys Harbor and Cana Island. In the town of Sturgeon Bay we walked around the historic district which is currently decorated with many colorful sturgeon.

Also in Sturgeon Bay we found the Door County Museum which has on exhibit many items belonging to its pioneers. In the museum we learned a lot about the peninsula and its history for about the past 150 years. The first cherry orchards were planted in 1862. Below is one of the cherry exhibits located in the museum.

I must say that for me this is the best time to visit Door County, just because I love cherries. While here I have eaten cherry doughnuts, cherry brats, cherry peanut brittle, and cherry pie. I have even stocked up on the fruit before driving from the county. One other food popular in Door County is fish. At the Door County Museum there is a display explaining the ever-popular fish boil. The first one was done in Door County in 1962. One meal for our family reunion was a fish boil at the Log Den restaurant. We learned from the cook there that originally the fish for a fish boil was trout, which is an oily fish. When that fish is boiled in water it leaves an oily scum floating at the top of the water. To avoid dragging the carrots, onions, potatoes and fish up through that oil scum a large fire is created. The water heats up rapidly then and the oily layer boils out of the pot. The fish used in the current fish boils is whitefish, so technically that fierce fire is not needed. After giving us that piece information, the cook tossed some lighter fluid on the fire and we watched our pot of food become engulfed in flames. It all made for a great plate of food, which was finished off with a piece of cherry pie.

Before closing here I want to mention one very scenic spot on the peninsula, which is Cave Point County Park. The waters of Lake Michigan and Green Bay have carved the peninsula's rocky shoreline into caves, arches and cliffs. Below is a picture of the caves along the water at the county park.

Dan and Amanda's Wedding

2011-08-07T16:11:00.001-05:00

The past two weeks have passed very quickly. Our son's wedding and the family reunion which followed have taken up a lot of our time. The last family member, our son Michael, left early this morning. Time now is my friend and I can get a posting done. I will first start out saying that the wedding went well and was an awesome event. Prior to the event it was a crazy and hectic time and I did wonder how it was all going to come together. But Dan and Amanda did know what they were doing and had it well organized. The second day we were in Door County John and I checked out the Woodwalk Gallery where the event was to take place and we could easily understand why the wedding couple choose the site. It is an old barn which has been turned into an art gallery. The wedding was to be outside, in front of the corn crib.

Family and the wedding party helped to decorate the wedding reception area (pictured above) the morning of the event. Amanda and her mother had sewn and put together all the table settings. They had made cloth love birds and flowers. You can well imagine our dismay when, about an hour before the wedding was to begin, the sky became dark and a torrential rain came down. A strong wind blew everything off the tables. We had been informed that there was zero chance of rain. What was equally amazing was how everyone, once the storm had ebbed, cleaned up the mess and quickly transformed the inside of the gallery into a wedding chapel. The table linens and love birds were hung up to create a backdrop for the altar. Chairs were dried off and brought inside. Meanwhile the perspective bride and groom were strolling around with big grins on their faces. Nothing seemed to upset them and that was good. The storm actually was good for our daughter Melissa who had been icing cupcakes for the wedding cake up until about one hour before the wedding. She had moved her icing process to our motor home; below is a picture of my sister Julia doing a stint of icing. Someone made the comment that it takes a village to make a wedding. We found that to be quite true for Dan and Amanda's wedding!

Melissa was able to get dressed, drive to the gallery, and set up the wedding cake before she had to pick up her flute and play the wedding march. Below is a picture of her(after the ceremony) with her work of art.

After the ceremony the sun shone again and pictures were taken outside. The reception was lots of fun with plenty of food, mint julep and wine. We had a great evening of dancing with music provided by the Sloppy Joes. I can't leave this posting now without a picture of the happy couple!

Egg Harbor

2011-07-28T13:38:00.000-05:00

We came into Door County on Tuesday from the upper peninsula of Michigan. We had been here before, but I seemed to have forgotten the beauty of this area. We drove right up through the middle of the peninsula, where there are many cherry orchards ( now heavily loaded with the fruit), vineyards, and fields of corn, peas, and wheat. When we checked into our campground the park's host informed us that we may pick blueberries and raspberries in the campground, as well as the sweat peas in the nearby field. What a wonderful time of the year to be here! The weather averages in the mid eighties during the day, and becomes quite cool as the sun come down. Yesterday, Wednesday, it was cloudy with some misting and by late afternoon a heavy fog rolled in. That is probably all the wet weather we will have for awhile. Door County is one of the driest counties in Wisconsin because Green Bay in not large enough to cause "lake effect" precipitation. We have already taken some time to drive into the little village of Egg Harbor.

The cool, damp weather had driven many of the tourists into the little shops of the village yesterday. Because of that it probably was not a good day to purchase the cherries, wine and cheese which we needed for the coming wedding festivities this week-end. For some of you who may not know our family, we are here in Egg Harbor because of our son's wedding and a family reunion which will start the day after the wedding. Lots of good times ahead, and a wonderful opportunity to catch up with friends and family. Maybe after things slow up a bit I will be able to write more on Door County. We are off now to pick up son Michael in Green Bay. Daniel and Amanda (groom and bride-to-be) have a stop to make at the courthouse this morning, we will have a chance to see them before leaving for Green Bay.

Escanaba, Michigan

2011-07-25T10:14:00.000-05:00

We had a wonderful day in yesterday in Escanaba. It started with Sunday services at Immanuel Lutheran Church. The pastor, Judy Kincaid, gave an inspiring sermon on the kingdom of God, as explained by
Christ in his parables (Matthew 13). As she said; the kingdom of God is as close as my next breath, it is as powerful as one man dying for many. After the service we stayed for fellowship hour. The members of the church were very friendly and eager to talk with us about Escanaba. Apparently the winters are not as bad as we had thought, one lady described Escanaba as being the tropics of the upper penninsula- not much snow falls during the winter. The area was once a timber and fishing area. That changed in the 1800s with the mining of iron ore. Escanaba's deep harbor and close proximity to Michigan's mountain ranges made it an ideal location to ship out iron ore. That era ended in the 1950s. Today Escanaba is not doing as well economically and a local resident lamented that their children cannot find jobs, consequently they are moving from the town. Any tourist coming to this town should certainly eat at the Swedish Pantry Restaurant, which is where we went for lunch. What a charming place, the walls are filled with chiming and singing clocks going off at all times. We tried a Swedish sampler plate, complete with Swedish meatballs, potato sausage, and rutabaga. All of it was quite tasty! After lunch we walked around the Sand Point Lighthouse and the historical complex around it. Below is a picture of the harbor located at the mouth of the Escanaba River on Little Bay de Noc.

The Escanaba River has been was immortalized by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in 1855 in his "Song of Hiawatha". He described the river as the "rushing Esconaba". We drove out to Pioneer Trail Park to walk along its banks. The river can be seen below, in the background is a paper mill belching out its white smoke.

Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse

2011-07-23T17:55:00.001-05:00

For about 400 years the upper lakes (Lake Huron and Lake Michigan) have seen a lot of boat traffic; from canoes to large ships and tankers. The lakes have also swallowed up many of those vessels, there is no accurate record, but it is estimated that 10,000 boats have gone under. Harsh, rapidly changing weather, shoals, narrow channels, and icebergs have generally been the cause of those accidents. There have been 10 lighthouses built to aid the ships in traversing the upper lakes. The lighthouse pictured below was built in 1892.

Mackinaw Bridge was completed in 1958 (it took three years to build and the lives of five men). John, being the engineer that he is, was quite fascinated with the bridge. He took pictures of it during the day, at sunset, and at dusk. We climbed the steps up to the tower of the lighthouse and took this view of the bridge. John then went to a museum and a movie which showed how the bridge was built. I chose instead to check out the shops of Mackinaw city. The bridge, beside its lights, has other navigational aids which have enabled many of the lighthouses of the the upper lakes ( as the Point Lighthouse) to become inactive.

John and I walked to the lake shore at our campground last evening to view the bridge at dusk.

Today we have traveled on to the upper peninsula and now are parked at Escanaba, Michigan. The campground was having a corn roast, as well as a concert by The Remnants Chorus (a local barber shop quartet group). The food was plenteous and good, the singers were great. We sat with a Michigan hunter who regaled us with his deer stories. Also a bit of a chill in the air. What a pleasant way to end our day!

Natural History of Mackinac Island

2011-07-22T21:40:00.000-05:00

The above picture was taken on Lake Shore Boulevard (M-185). The road is eight miles in circumference around Mackinaw Island, and is the only state road where cars are banned! The picturesque route took us past Arch Rock. John and I just could not pass up climbing the 700 foot elevation to see it!

I learned a new word while touring this island, and it is"brecciated". The rock formations on the island are brecciated, or composed of sharp-angled limestone fragments cemented in a fine matrix. The interpretive sign near the Arch Rock explained that at one time a solid mass arose 100 feet above the lake. Over many years the lake water dissolved the softer rock in the middle of the mass and the center of the formation crumbled, leaving a brecciated limestone arch. After lunch we traveled off the main road and took a path which went inland to Skull Cave, thought to be the oldest geological formation on the island.

Story has it that a fur trader in 1763 hid from Native Indians in this cave and found many human bones on the floor of the cave. It was a sacred Native American burial ground. Traveling back on the main road again we found Devil's Kitchen, another gouged-out breccia formation that eroded at a time when the lake levels where higher. That formation is pictured below. We also took a side trip to see another formation called Sugar Loaf.

Mackinac Island

2011-07-22T12:05:00.001-05:00

We had an absolutely wonderful day on the island yesterday. Fortunately the weather cooled down, the sun was hot but the breeze off the lake was pleasantly cool. To get to the island we had to board a ferry from Mackinaw city. It was necessary also to bring our bicycles with us as cars have been banned from the island since 1898. The picture below is that of a usual street scene on the island, horses and carriages are a common sight as well as a variety of bicycles. It is a bicyclist's paradise, but pedestrians and horses do have the right of way. Sometimes we had to do a bit of weaving around on the roads to avoid the horse excrement!

Arriving, then, by ferry boat we entered Haldimand Bay. Many of the island's popular sites, as Fort Mackinac, Grand Hotel, and the village's business district are in the immediate area surrounding the bay.

The harbor picture above was taken from Fort Mackinac. At the fort, in the soldier's barracks, there is a wonderful exhibit covering the history of the island and fort. The island is centrally located as the crossroads of the upper Great Lakes. An important fur industry sprang up here in the 19th century. Trappers brought their furs here and from this island the furs were shipped to the east coast. The first land battle of the war of 1812 happened on this island, at which time American soldiers tried to recapture Fort Mackinac from the British but were defeated.The fort was closed in 1895, but since then it has been restored and it is now open to the public. Live programs go on during the summer there with costumed historic interpreters.

Another important part of this island's history has been the tourist industry. The showplace of the Great Lakes, Grand Hotel was built in1887 to accommodate the late 19th-century influx of summer visitors. It has become such a popular spot that now only its patrons can enter the building- a small fee is charged for other who wish to tour it. We were fortunate to take at least one picture of the hotel, it is pictured below. While we were standing in front of it it we were approached by a hotel employee and informed that bikes were not allowed in front of the building! Anyway, the best part of our time on the island was spent biking along the lake shore and seeing some of the natural wonders of the island. More on that in my next posting.

Lake Huron

2011-07-20T19:40:00.000-05:00

We are now parked near the shore of Lake Huron, in Mackinac city. In the distance is Mackinac Bridge. We plan to take a ferry to Mackinac Island tomorrow. The heat wave that currently covers the mid-section of the states does extend this far- heat advisories have been issued. I took a dip in the lake shortly after we arrived here, and the lake water is very pleasantly cool. John and I went on a bike ride last evening over the Pere Marquette Rail-Trail from Clare to Farwell and, even though it was early evening, we did get a bit over-heated. Still, that part of the trail is quite beautiful with an abundance of wildflowers at this time of the year and the discomfort of feeling a bit warm was worth it! Before I close here I would like to write about a man I met last Saturday at the laundromat. His name is Larry the Cane Maker, a title which he is quite proud of. He first caught my attention because of his appearance, a rather short man with long scraggly hair and an equally long sparse red beard. He had a porkpie hat on, which he wore backwards. He was clad in a back vest and pants which were adorned with silver and turquoise. He had a bit of a limp and walked with a cane which was as ostentatious as the clothes he wore. It also was adorned with silver bling, and an antler served for the handle of the cane. Larry informed me that he had 40 other unusual canes in his camper which he also had made (I later learned that the small old rusted camper is the home of this man and his dog - he has no money to travel very far in the camper because his only income is a disability check). Larry went back to his camper and brought out a beautifully finished cane, which he called his pirate's cane. It was a very unique cane complete with a skull and gems which lit up when Larry pushed on them. He informed John and I that the cane could be smoked and the smoke would come out of the skull. On the lower end of the cane was a bowl for the tobacco. John thought it was a work of art, and could be sold for a fair amount of money. Larry acted surprised to hear that and indicated that he had not given much thought to selling any of his canes. He also would not give John any clue as to how he made the pirate cane because that was his "proprietary secret". Larry shared a lot with me regarding his personal life which I found quite interesting. John and I in our travels often encounter similar people who are living hand to mouth; we often wonder what brings them to live the way they do. After meeting Larry I have come to a new appreciation of his ilk.

39th Dulcimer Funfest in Michigan

2011-07-17T08:18:00.001-05:00

If you love music this was the place to be this past week from Thursday through Saturday. We probably would not have even known about it had it not been for our sister-in-law Mary Jo. She plays the auto harp and hammer dulcimer and attended workshops sessions featuring those instruments at the festival. That is Mary Jo ( in the foreground of the picture below), she is good form for the dulcimer workshop.

The festival was on the fairgrounds in Evart Michigan. Many of the workshops took place in the swine, rabbit, poultry and livestock sheds. Fortunately there were no lingering smells from the animals.

As you may note in the picture above, it was not just dulcimers featured at the festival. We sat in on a jam session with ukuleles, and another one featuring harps.What was fun about the festival was that spontaneous jam sessions were always happening during the course of the day.. A variety of music could be heard any where and any time. Even in the picnic/dining areas people would gather together and pull out their guitars, harmonicas, fiddles and banjos. We also sat in on some workshops. We did not know what a psaltery was, so we sat in on a workshop which gave beginning instructions on how to play the bowed psaltery. Instruments were provided by the instructor in that class. The picture below is that of a young girl who is interested in learning to play the psaltery just because her aunt plays it.

Another unusual, certainly not a common instrument, which we saw demonstrated was the hurdy-grudy. I thought that it was just a matter of cranking a wheel to get the sound out. But I discovered that there are different kinds of the instrument, especially in France and Germany. The one demonstrated to us also has a keyboard which has to be played in addition to the wheel being turned (that part of the instrument looks like an accordion). We also heard a musical saw being played by none other than Abe Lincoln!

.He can produce a variety of beautiful music on that saw, which we found out later when played his recordings at home. Abe Lincoln is impersonated by Gerald Bestsrom, and he is the closest look-alike of Lincoln I have ever seen! He played the part of our sixteenth president in the recent movie The Conspirator.
John, my brother Wayne, and I did participate in one workshop where we learned the rudiments of singing in harmony. After one hour the class could produce some beautiful choral music. Our day ended with an evening program given by a variety of musicians, most impressive of which was music by the Original Dulcimer Players Club of Michigan. There were 180 of them who played their hammer dulcimers in concert on the stadium field.

Chippewa Nature Trail

2011-07-16T10:33:00.000-05:00

This nature center is located in Midland, Michigan at the confluence of several rivers which eventually flow into Lake Huron. We enjoyed our hike here along the Chippewa River Trail, but we did wander off it at a several points to see several other places of interest. There is a replica of a log cabin and school house from the 1870s at the site of what had once been a homestead farm. The original well, some lilac bushes and many apple trees are all that is left now from that old homestead. The garden is pictured below. Wildflowers are in abundance at this time of the year. This area is used a lot for local day camps.

It was at the Peepers Pond that we found a lot of wildlife activity. A blue heron arose from the water as we approached the area. We also espied a kingfisher sitting on a branch over the water. The presence of the green frog could be heard by its single noted sound (aptly described,as I later found out, as a loose banjo string). Turtles were out sunning themselves on logs in the pond.

A photo of the pond is in the picture above. All the white dots are the pond lilies. We had to move fast and get away from this area because of the presence of many mosquitoes. Back along the Chippewa Trail we just barely caught a glimpse of a pileated woodpecker as he flew away from us. We also chanced upon a lone deer peering at us from behind a thicket of trees. We found a lot of wildlife around the bird feeding area at the visitor's center. We saw a couple more different kinds of woodpeckers, pine grosbeak, goldfinch and nuthatches. On the ground below the feeders there were numerous black and brownish-red squirrels, chipmunks and rabbits. Those critters all scattered as soon as the wild turkey came on the scene. It was interesting to get such a close viewing of wild turkey, I never realized that the male has a long breast tuft.