San Francisco

We drove up Highway 101 from LA to San Francisco, through the remains of the fires that had raged the entire time we were in LA. It was so smokey that we couldn't see the sun set over the Pacific and you could smell the smoke everywhere. We drove through the area that was burned north of LA and where the students at a private religious school huddled in the gym while the fire destroyed several dorms and faculty housing.

Anita is walking, talking a blue streak and is generally a really sweet grandchild. We met her nanny, who speaks Spanish with her, and Jason, the other child she cares for. Anita understands the Spanish completely, though she won't speak it. While Alice and Jens worked, Bob and I took various excursions. Bob played disc golf, we visited Berkeley, we rode the ferry from Oakland to San Francisco and walked through the rehabbed Ferry building which is now filled with upscale food stores. Jens gave us a tour of downtown Oakland and all the urban renewal projects he has been a part of. Mayor Jerry Brown wanted to create housing and move 10,000 people into downtown to revitalize it. That has generally worked, though the condo frenzy has resulted in overbuilding and rental of apartments instead of sale of condos. Along with housing, big new buildings have also been constructed. Among them is another Catholic Cathedral on the edge of Lake Merrick. It is very modern; made of alabaster on the outside and wood wings/panels on the inside. The image of Christ is created by holes drilled through steel and the light that comes through them. It also is a very striking building. Both these modern cathedrals are partly funded by the sale of spaces in the mausoleum below them.

While Bob played the disc golf course in Golden Gate Park, I took a walking tour of China Town. I had been wanting to do this for years. It was really interesting. There were six of us; 80 year old newly weds from Phoenix, a land use planner from Portland, a young man doing his PhD on the sociology of the language used by candidates and politicians related to "green" and "renewable" energy and his dad. The women who guided us grew up in China Town. The Chinese came over during the Gold Rush and then worked on the railroads. Shortly after their arrival, immigration laws prohibited any more Chinese from coming in so the male:female ratio was 27:1. Until 1952 Chinese could not own property and were concentrated in China Town. This pagoda was actually the first telephone exchange in China Town. The operators knew everyone in China Town and you didn't need to know the phone number. If the person didn't have a phone they would send one of their children to deliver the message.

We also stopped in an upscale tea shop where we tasted wonderful tea and saw how it should be brewed (the leaves are quickly soaked in hot water and then drained and then new water is added to steep; only a small quantity is brewed at any time and the leaves can be steeped multiple times while small cups of tea are sipped). The prices were amazing too (up to $380/pound), though a pound of tea will last most of a year. We stopped at a fortune cookie manufacturer (at the request of the elderly couple).

This was a temple to the goddess who is the counterpart of Buddha. The fruits are offerings.

This is an example of a tong, or family fraternal organization similar to the Italian mafia. We finished with a lunch (delicious but not very adventurous).

In addition to visiting Alice and Jens, we went out to dinner with a bronzesmith that Bob met in Guatemala and his new Polish wife who is a painter. He showed us his workshop which is certified green even though it is a manufacturing facility. He makes wonderful things for very high-end clients. We also looked for Markus' passports which he thought he had left in Berkeley (we didn't find them).

On Thursday November 20 we headed up I-5 towards Ashland and a quick visit to the Elizabeth Robinson B&B. We really wanted to get home, but spent a lovely time with Elizabeth who treated us royally (chocolates on the pillows). We arrived home Friday mid-afternoon.

It was a great adventure. The United States is beautiful (even states I never would have thought of as being beautiful). People are wonderful, particularly when you can spend enough time with them to talk and really get to know them. I don't think we will ever again travel for 6 months at a time unless we are living abroad, but there are many places we want to go back to and explore further. In reality we didn't camp that much because we were visiting family and friends and staying in their homes. As a result, I came home with a lot of the food I had left with. We discovered that we could live with very few things, though I am glad to have more variety in my clothes. The space in the house is wonderful, though there are a lot of things that need to be done.

Thanks to all who hosted us along the way.

Ethan Kelly Robinson

Ethan had never been in the Pacific Ocean. Here he is investigating the water, which was a little cold for his liking and where the waves scared him a bit. He's wearing an Obama T-shirt given to him by Sabrina and which eventually got wet as he fell down in the sand.

Bob carrying Ethan.

Max loves the adult-size swings on the beach in Venice. Here he is and Bob is swinging with Ethan. A good time was had by all. Max has to swing high enough to make the swing snap at the top.

A second new experience for Ethan; the merry-go-round. After returning from Venice Beach we went out to eat in Culver City, sitting in a sidewalk restaurant that specialized in salads.

By this time we were getting the bit in our teeth and were heading home.

Joshua Tree National Park

We left the Fountain of Youth and drove towards Joshua Tree National Park's south entrance. On the way we drove through this wonderful dry canyon landscape. Since Joshua Tree prohibited dogs on the trails, we stopped along the way to hike into a canyon designated for off-road travel. It was hot, but in the shade with the breeze it was comfortable. At least Darwin and I got a chance to walk.








Joshua Tree National Park from the south entrance doesn't have any Joshua trees. They occur only in a narrow ecological niche. In the northern half of the park, they were all over, along with other cacti. We drove off into a picnic area, almost getting stuck and not being able to turn around because of where people had parked. We only had time to drive through. There were huge numbers of Joshua Trees, spread across the landscape. In Joshua Tree (town), we stopped to see if we could find an old DOJ friend who now operates an outfitting store. We stopped at a likely candidate, which wasn't the right store, but the owner knew where Gary and Celeste's store was. We walked around the corner and spent 45 minutes chatting with Celeste. They sell rock-climbing gear and also do repair of outdoor equipment. In addition, they repair/modify gear for the military (the stuff provided to the soldiers is terrible and they modify it). Gary works as a rock climbing guide. Celeste does some legal work for various environmental organizations and just passed the California bar. As we headed towards Sierra Madre, where Jens' (our son-in-law) mother lives, we passed through the biggest wind farm I have ever seen. In contrast to all the other windfarms we saw on this trip, the turbines were closer together and in lines instead of being staggered. It was located in a pass where the wind apparently really blows, though it wasn't blowing when we went through.

Ingrid lives in Sierra Madre, up against the mountains of LA. She was a wonderful hostess, showing me around Sierra Madre and taking us by Metro into downtown LA to see the Old Town, the Disney Hall (designed by Frank Geary) and the Catholic Cathedral. The Cathedral is very modern. It doesn't look like a church from the outside at all. Inside, there are chapels around the main church with themes like children and abused women. The church is filled with computer-generated tapestries of Catholic saints from all traditions. It's a very interesting space.

One day we spent with Kirin, Sabrina, Max, Ng and Ethan, who all live within 1/2 mile of each other in Culver City. We went over to Kirin and Sabrina's for brunch, but their stove had just died so we satisfied ourselves with granola, fruit and baked goods. Ethan is 13 months old, walks and is generally really cheerful. Here he is playing piano with Kirin. Kirin works designing movie previews and trailers. Sabrina works on financing housing for the developmentally disabled in California, paid for by a tax on millionaires. Ng has just started her first job with Kaiser as a physical medicine doctor. Max works for a company doing computer work. It was great to see them all doing so well and happy.

We drove to Venice beach and walked up the Boardwalk. We also saw the canals of Venice Beach. Kirin and Sabrina had just bought a new 250 cc Vespa motorcycle, so Kirin led the way on that. Bob took a swim (his last in 2008). The street performers were great, including these two guys who juggled and did acrobatics.

Tucson

While Bob played disc golf I visited the DeGrazia Museum in the sun. This man worked in a variety of mediums - clay, paint, mosaic and he designed his own house. The house was lovely; very organic and made out of adobe with wonderful floors and stone benches. The exterior had a wonderful collection of cacti and some interesting scuptures. The art generally left me cold. He was very successful painting numerous Indian images with faces that reminded me of those cheap pictures that were popular about a decade ago with very large eyes. His abstract work was considerably more interesting. He also built the above Sanctuary to the Virgin of Guadelupe and, like many such churches, it instantly attracts people who place pictures and other momentos around her image. I also spent time in the museum on the campus of the University of Arizona which was devoted to explaining the differences between the 11 different tribes that inhabit Arizona by examination of their baskets, weaving, jewelry, etc.

One day we went hiking in Madera Canyon in the Santa Rita Mountains. Only about 15 miles from Green Valley, the environment is very different. There are trees and water. We decided to hike up to a mine which was described as a short, but strenuous hike. They weren't kidding. The trail went straight up the mountain with no switchbacks and after struggling along for a while with no indication we were going to get to a view point and worried about my ability to get down, we turned around. The first photo is of the flat desert outside Madera Canyon towards Green Valley; the second is of the mountain range.

We had been hearing a clicking, whining sound in the Volvo and took it in to be checked. It turns out that our angle gear, which distributes power from the transmission to the all wheel drive, was grinding itself up. In the process the dealer also discovered that the radiator had a leak and the exhaust manifold gasket was leaking. Sigh..... The stress of pulling Snoopy for 20,000 miles up and down the mountains had taken its toll. We spent a whole day in the Volvo dealer in Tucson getting it fixed. The good news was the dealer had a very nice waiting area with snacks, drinks and free wi-fi and we could bring Darwin in with us. We spent the time reading, blogging, embroidering, etc. This little surprise cost us almost $4,000 and delayed us for a day. We had moved Snoopy to an RV park in Tucson on Monday night and spent 2 days there.

The next day we headed off towards LA. On the way we stopped at Pictograph National Monument. After driving through about 15 miles of agribusiness (huge cotton fields and dairy farms in the desert, all irrigated), we got to this pile of rocks about 300' in diameter, covered in pictographs. Apparently this was a sacred place and Indians for years had stopped and left their mark. Various settlers also carved their names in the rocks.

We continued on towards the Salton Sea with a stop in Dateland, AZ for the best date milkshakes. I've never had one before, but they are absolutely yummy. The Salton Sea is dropping due to over irrigation, causing fish kills. We stayed in our second over-55 RV park where the guard at the gate came from Salem, OR. This park, almost 900 spaces, was called the Fountain of Youth because of the natural hot springs found when the railroad was being built. It had the most amazing variety of activities. We soaked in the pool and hot tubs and Bob played water volleyball. The view over the Salton Sea and the mountains behind it, the sunset and the clear sky were wonderful. I can't ever picture myself spending six months in one of these Snowbird parks, but they are certainly nice for a few nights.

Cacti

The morning after the election in Flagstaff it was 14 degrees. We spent another day (Bob and Darwin playing disc golf - Flagstaff had been the site of the World Disc Golf Competition and I visiting the Northern Arizona Museum). The museum was fabulous. It included two rooms on the geology of Northern Arizona, including the dinosaurs. An unknown flying dinosaur was discovered in shale beds by an archaeologist at the museum. It was a flying dinosaur which fell into the water. Other rooms were devoted to basketry, weaving, jewelry and katsina dolls. The differences between the tribes' in these areas were described.

The next morning we headed off towards Tucson where Bob's cousin Sally and partner Paul live. We took two days getting there, searching for a lower (i.e. warmer) campsite. We found one on the Apache Indian reservation north of Globe. This is copper country (symbolized by the star in the center of Arizona's flag). The open pit operations are huge. We arrived in Green Valley and stayed at our first over 55 Snowbird RV park. They have lots of amenities; pools, hot tubs, rec centers, etc. Green Valley is supposedly one of the most popular places to retire.

We ate dinner each night with Sally and Paul and Sally's daughter Cecily who was helping to care for her mother as she recovered from a fall which broke a vertibrae and her elbow. During the day we would go off and do different things. Bob played disc golf on two courses.

We went to the Sonoran Desert Museum where Bob waited in the car with Darwin since dogs weren't allowed in and it is a crime to leave your dog unattended in a car, even if it isn't blazing hot. The grounds of the museum are amazing; filled with cacti, animals, minerals and other exhibits. I learned a lot about the saguaro cactus. The above photo is of the skeleton of a saguaro.

Saguaros grow very slowly. They will not put out any branches until they are about 70 years old. The cactus has a folded surface so that it can expand when it rains. It consists of about 90% water and can weigh up to 10 tons. The roots spread out in a circle with a radius equal to the cactus' height. The holes visible in the above photo are made by two types of birds which nest in the saguaro. The cactus creates a wall, called a boot, around the bird's nest.

Barrel cacti, of which this is an example, come in numerous varieties. They generally lean towards the south, so that is a rough indicator of direction.

This cactus just attracted me because of its color and shape. The museum had raptors, javalinas, coyotes, snakes and lizards. Even in October it was filled with people.