You Don’t Always Get What You Want…

..but sometimes, you just might find, you get what you need.

And apparently today we needed a slower, cooler, somewhat mistier pace. Sixties and drizzle beats 20 and snow, so we made the best of it.

This is the beach we were lured to…

 

Yummmmm, right??  And this is the beach we got…

 

Moody and nowhere nearly as sexy.  But, this is the beach we were happy we avoided…

 

Apparently that’s out hotel, there on the far end…..freaky.

So we enjoyed the cloudy day and used it as an excuse to eat and drink lunch three times.  If anyone asks, yes, you can eat crab cakes three times in one day.

What else do you do an a drizzly day (that you can blog about!)…museums, of course.  Today we picked The Man and the Sea, all about the history of diving….save yourselves the 5 bucks folks, the pix attached say it all.  Although they can’t really replicate the invasively musty smell of old dried out wet dive equipment and bad dioramas.  Here’s a clip of a pirate diorama showing the pirates trying to learn to pump water into a wooden box and use it for salvaging wrecks on the bottom. Yes it showed the diving bell thing on the bottom with some sand and little fake dubloons, but I was captivated by this creepy little faux pirate.

 

And what says diving better than a 1-foot square metal diving helmet from the dark ages?  This thinks was so small and claustrophobic looking I nearly hyperventilated taking the picture.  Imagine having this thing over your head…underwater…..with a tube pumping water in so you could breathe!!  Oh lord, just kill me now!!

 

Steve nearly had to give me CPR in this place.  

There were way too many “fake divers in dive suits” lurking around every corner.  Steve used to be a diver.  And he’s a little claustrophobic in today-life.  From looking at all these suits and the tanks and helmets, I can see why.  Thank heaven I didn’t meet him in one of these….

 

Yeah, I know…the pic is a little fuzzy…I was about to pass out and couldn’t focus.

As we headed for the gift shop (what self respecting venue doesn’t give you a shopportunity at the end!?) and exit, I saw a tank with a fish…of course it was the cousin of the flesh-eating pirhana (no way I’m going in the ocean now!) so I had to grab a photo.  The tank was black dark and my camera only has an internal flash. So if you look to the right of  the crazy woman in the green jacket, you’ll see a white highlight and silhouette – the highlight is the face/mouth and the rest is its body…..spinning, spinning, fainting, passing out…..bonk.

Steve got a nice t-shirt and I got the hell out of there.  Best $5 I spent all day.  (That was SARCASM!)

We wandered around.  Took some phone calls.  Caught the sunset.  Then great dinner at Bonefish Grille…salmon and beet salad was perfect and we ended with dark chocolate creme brulee….so don’t be surprised if I’m up at 3 am blogging about my dreams!!!

We decided, the best one-liner of the day was when we were walking down the street and saw a young girl drinking a bottle of Smart Water.  Steve looked at her.  Then her boyfriend.  And said, “Her Smart Water isn’t working for her.”

Good night blog junkies. Until tomorrow and wherever that takes us…

 

Seldom Lost…But Frequently Off Course

First I have to admit that I love a good road trip, obviously.  A comfie car filled with 600 pounds of your essential travel gear (snack bag, cooler, expensive Taylor guitar, inexpensive ukulele, kayak paddles and PFDs, sandbrella, two cameras, two iPhones, two iPads, one Mac Book Pro, fifteen chargers, two suitcases the size of my 10 year old granddaughter…you get the idea).  Some tunes.  A vague idea of your destination.  And best of all…the ultimate navigation tool.  That’s Steve.  He is, hands-down, the best!  The night before he always researches our options for the next day – hotel, dining, attractions and directions.  The iPhone GPS (what we call her depends on how lost we are) is his friend. And so far….she’s never lead us down the wrong path.  Oh, don’t get me wrong, we don’t always listen to her…thus the title of today’s post!

Take for example the simple route of getting from Birmingham, AL to Panama City Beach, FL…where we decided to stay last night.  For some crazy reason all the good roads just stop on the northwest side of Birmingham. Or at least that’s what the GPS showed.  For the next 4 1/2 hours we toured the back country of Alabama at roughly 55 mph!  It was beautiful in a pine-tree-lined-run-down-house-trucks-in-the-yard-two-lane-drive-thru-the-middle-of-town kind of way.  More than once we were CERTAIN she was directing us incorrectly and we tried to divert from the path, only to have her FREAK OUT and go through a re-routing spasm.  So, here’s a rough idea of our travel path from Birmingham, notice all the fun state highway numbers, it was like number soup.  Step #14 was my personal favorite.

Birmingham, AL

	1. Head northwest on 24th St N toward 5th Ave N
		0.3 mi
	2. Turn left onto Reverend Abraham Woods Jr Boulevard
		0.3 mi
	3. Turn right at the 3rd cross street ontoRichard Arrington Jr Blvd N
		492 ft
	4. Take the 1st left toward I-20 W/I-59 S
		0.2 mi
	5. Continue straight onto I-20 W/I-59 S
		0.6 mi
	6. Take exit 124A on the left to merge onto I-65 S toward Montgomery
		96.7 mi
	7. Take exit 164 for US-31 S
		0.2 mi
	8. Turn left onto AL-3 S/US-31/Mobile Hwy Continue to follow AL-3 S/US-31
		15.1 mi
	9. Slight left onto AL-97 S/W Hickory Grove Rd Continue to follow AL-97 S
		9.1 mi
	10. Continue onto AL-9 S/State Rte 9 S/US-331 S/Montgomery Hwy Continue to follow AL-9 S/State Rte 9 S/US-331 S
		19.3 mi
	11. Turn right onto US-331 S/Forest Ave Continue to follow US-331 S
		34.3 mi
	12. Turn left onto AL-52 E/State 52 E
		17.2 mi
	13. Turn right onto AL-87 S/Johnson St Continue to follow AL-87 S Entering Florida
		9.4 mi
	14. Continue onto Hwy 81 S/FL-81 S/Rte 81 S/State 81 S/State Hwy 81 S/State Rte 81 S/Samson Hwy Continue to follow Hwy 81 S/FL-81 S/Rte 81 S/State 81 S/State Hwy 81 S/State Rte 81 S
		39.5 mi
	15. Continue onto FL-20 E
		5.6 mi
	16. Turn right onto FL-79 S/Dog Track Rd Continue to follow FL-79 S
		15.5 mi
	17. Turn left onto Panama City Beach Pkwy
		3.6 mi
	18. Turn right onto Clara Ave
		0.5 mi
	19. Turn left onto Hutchison Blvd/Middle Beach Rd
		2.6 mi
	20. Turn right onto Front Beach Rd
		0.3 mi
	21. Turn left onto S Thomas Dr
		459 ft

Panama City Beach, FL

Of course finding the Holiday Inn Resort was a challenge once we arrived because we got the address wrong!  But all ended well and we found a great place for dinner – my second black-eyed peas of the trip.  And even though we arrived in total darkness, as we suspected, there was a beautiful, cloudy, blue-grey ocean right outside the door this morning.

 

We truly had a sublime New Year’s Day 2014, hoping that the old’s wives tale about “what you’re doing on New Year’s Day is what you’ll be doing all year long” is true…travel, fun, new places (some of them off the beaten path), adventures and being with the people most important to you.  I’m a believer in omens and signs – so I’m banking on the fact that the majestic BALD EAGLE I saw sitting high atop a tree by a big body of water outside Tupelo, MS means we’re on the right path.

 

Hopefully tomorrow’s post will have pix of fun and sun and other groovy stuff to make all those of you sitting in snow and 20 degrees J E A L O U S!

 

Til then…be happy!

New Years Eve Day…What To Do?

5:30 am.  The covers are warm, the cat is snoring.  Suddenly, Steve sits straight up and says, “I’m cold.  Let’s go to Florida today!” SAY WHAT??!!  So by 6:44 am we’d packed the car, the cooler, the kayak paddles, strapped the bikes on the back of the SUV, loaded up on coffee, and were on the highway.  Seriously.

We barely had time to call Gus to come house sit with his Dobermans, but he was up and said, “Cool.”  Think he’s bringing his girlfriend Barbara again this time.  That woman has a spine of steel!  Last time she smashed a mouse in the house with a frying pan.  And wrangled a snake out of the living room that Maxine had obviously dragged in.  (NOTE to self, maybe we need to call an exterminator!)

It was a beautiful day for a drive and we spent a great deal of the trip discussing the difference between CONTROL and DISCIPLINE.  Steve felt they were similar and the application was dependent upon attitude and instance.  I felt control was a negative and discipline a positive.  Discuss among yourselves.

We made it to Memphis by noon.  Had lunch at BB Kings on Beale Street and got our grooooove on while we listened to a great blues band – but then again, aren’t they all great when you’re here. Also got in my NYE black-eyed peas as a cajun-style hummus with deep-fried pita triangles. This is an obsession with me, you have to eat black-eyed peas on NYE, my momma always did it.  I completely forgot them about 2 or 3 years ago and was really upset about it.  Too late to hit the stores, I resigned myself to the fact I’d skrewed up my commitment to my little momma.  Steve yelled from the media room, “Hey, come here, I have a surprise for you.”  I moped through the dining room and he was turning the TV up as I walked in.  There on TV…will.i.am, Fergie and…the BLACK-EYED PEAS.  He’s saved the day for me!  Yet another reason he is the BEST boyfriend ever.  Period.

A tour of the Gibson Guitar factory rounded out our afternoon.  The smell of sawdust and all that beautiful wood…soon to make beautiful music all over the world.

Kicking back now with a bottle of Italian Prosecco and trying to decide if we’re venturing back out in the C O L D, or eating cheese and crackers in the room.

Wishing everyone a very safe night tonight and warm wishes for the best possible 2014 – whatever that means in your lives.

Stay tuned…we’ll be posting daily for the nest few days, pictures too, as we venture on down to the “FLA-KEYS” as I call them.

Be well my invisible friends.

 

The Last Leg…

Dinner at the Range Cafe in Albuquerque on Saturday night was great, as was the good night’s sleep at the Fairfield.  (Although I have to interject here that Fairfield is OLDSCHOOL because Hampton Inn is kicking their a&&.  Our Hilton/Hampton stays were far superior, and I must say a little less $$$ than the Fairfield on the last night.  Better rooms.  Better beds.  Better bathrooms.  And better free breakfast.)

When we heard the alarm go off at 4:30am MST Sunday morning the only thing that kept us from hitting snoozzzzze was the reminder of a 13-hour drive.  So I stole yogurt from the kitchen, filled our coffee cups with lukewarm coffee (Steve really wanted SBUX but it was a couple miles away), loaded the car and off we went into the pitch darkness looking for yet another interstate access.

But the astronomy gods were smiling down on us and we got to see the ISON comet for about 30 minutes until the sun came up.  It was literally right in front of us, driving east, directly above I-40.  It was this big smeary bright swath in an otherwise dark early morning sky.  Thanks to the big guys for that one.

Driving through the scrubby golden sand covered flatlands dotted with scrub-brush and jagged rock outcroppings gave both of us visions of cowboys 150 years ago loping along on their ponies, headed for the next town.  Or preparing to rob one of the many passing trains.  We imagined their conversations, the creaking of their saddles and the bad food around the night’s campfire.  We could see circles of tattered covered wagons pulling into circles at the end of a long day to be thankful for safe travels and wonder about the future “pushing west” held for them.

Trading drivers frequently was a good idea.  It brought us back to reality and gave me a change to shoot more old Route 66 buildings.  We hadn’t really thought about it on the front end, but alot of the trip gave us views of what once was the “Mother Road.”  Old billboards, abandoned buildings and cars were sprinkled along our path.  While taking photos at 80mph from a moving vehicle surrounded by other moving vehicles isn’t optimum, I got some great pix of the old buildings.

 

This old church might have been my favorite.  With it’s new front door, new roof and metal smoke vent it’s obviously still being used today.

 

 

The winds blows right through this old house, scattering its secrets and memories across the desert.  It looks like a movie set.

Albuquerque became Santa Rosa, became Tucumcari, became Amarillo became OKC, Tulsa, Joplin and home.  By 8:00pm we were drinking a glass of wine, toasting a wonderful adventure, watching TV and calming the cat (who did kill a mouse in our absence, but missed the little snake that the house watcher found in the living room…could have done without that note!).

17 days.  4400 miles and change (1900 of them in the last 3 days, I tried to figure it out in hours but those time zones made the math too hard!).  A bazillion gallons of gas.  5 states.  3 times zones each way.  A dozen different highways.  7 different hotel rooms.  Several mountain ranges.  Two terrible car wrecks on the highway.  A thousand box cars.  Two Cali kids who love and care for each other.  Two grandkids we can never see enough of.  Two grand dogs (one is 126!). A really smelly car.  Two bikes still on the back of the SUV. 

And at the end of it, I still love my traveling buddy and think he’d say the same.  Although we will never attempt to find a hotel in Frazier Park, CA at night with me navigating on the cell phone!

Thanks for reading my blog…whomever you were.

Stay tuned…..a Key West / Key Largo road trip is next….

Ever Wonder Where the Trains Are?

Well, I’m here to tell you…they’re stretched out on the flatlands in CA, AZ and NM.    We drove 700 miles today and saw countless trains slowly pulling cars lined up as far as the eye could see.  Most had a couple BNSF engines on each end and easily a hundred cars.  Many of the cars we could see had colorful tags on them.  

 

The advantage of a long drive across three states is that the topography changes all the time.  We left the grapevines and farming land of Barstow and the Joaquin Valley and headed into the mountains on the east side of California.  There were times when we just kept saying, “Oh my god, look at that…” The foothills were so softly sculpted and covered in a lush blonde grass that the highlights and shadows created the most amazing contrasts.  And they were so close to the sides of the highway that it made us dizzy to look at them. Some of the most amazing scenery we saw.

Nearing Flagstaff we could see the remains of the big snow that forced us to skip Hwy 40 a week ago and head south to PHX on the way to Sacto.  It was soooo foggy today in the Flag that we honestly couldn’t see anything but the pine trees on the sides of the highway for about 45 miles.  The fog had an odd pink glow to it from the sun.  After that, snow covered mountain peaks in the distance.

 

Getting down into the desert near Gallup we saw a lot of old Route 66 signs and abandoned buildings.

 

Thank heaven for the 10-disk Pirate History book on tape I snagged from the library for the trip.  We got through 7 of them today and I know WAY more about pirates than I did before.  You know, there were much more civil than the British Navy and the privateers sanctioned by the royalty.  Given the choice I would have been the scullery wench for a pirate before a naval general.  Tomorrow we have 800 miles and only 3 more disks…..eeeeeek, what will we do?!

Great dinner at The Range Cafe in Albuquerque.  5:30 tomorrow a.m. and we head for the barn……

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Headed for the barn

When we go for a really long bike ride and we reach the “halfway”point and turn toward the car, Steve says mimi is “heading for the barn.”  That’s what happened today. As much as it breaks my heart to leave the kids and Calif, we are “headed for the barn.” We should be home Sunday night.

We left Guinevere’s about 10:15…with a $57 ticket for parking on the sidewalk to load the bikes.

Dear City of Rancho Cordova.  We have truly enjoyed our stay here.  We had a truly great time.  We spent an assload of money.  Please do not expect a check for $57 for parking in front of our daughter’s house.  We have seen your policecop car parked in front of your house down the street EVERY freaking time we’ve passed.  When did you venture out to write this ticket?  Was it YOUR wife that had to dip off the sidewalk with her baby stroller and Great Dane to avoid me loading our bikes? Sincerely, the Eif’s

Heading out on the 99 South was very ag going through the Joaquin valley.  But driving up through the mountains out of the valley and toward Barstow were amazing.  The most beautifully contoured combinations of green, cold, sky blue and scrubbrush I’ve ever seen.

Anyone out there remember Death Valley Days on TV in the 60’s?  We drove through Boron, passing Twenty Mule Team Road and Borax Drive…remember Ronald Reagan and Twenty Mule Team Borax!?

Barstow came as a welcome stop about 5:30.  We did some dinner and plan to retire early and be on the road in the morning by 5:30.  Twelve hours to Santa Rosa NM should get us home by late Sunday night.  A little dinner and wine at Chili’s with come conversation with a truck driver at the bar.  We spent our “Black Friday” on the road and having dinner…right next to the BIGGEST Tanger Outlet mall I’ve ever seen!

Who’s The Turkey Now…

Steve set a high standard for the Turkey Day Holiday, starting back in September.  We were ABSOLUTELY NOT going to shop with anyone who made their people work on Thanksgiving Day. People should be home with their families.  And that’s the way it was to be.  Staples, you’re out.  Best Buy, no way. Target, sorry. So this morning around 9 we headed out to G’s for the day.  And then…he realized he needed a Starbucks!  Surely they would be open this morning, right?, I mean people NEED their coffee.  It’s like the police or the hospital being open, right??!!

Standards lowered.  Caffeine jones fulfilled.

We grabbed the kids and headed over to the American River for a nice bike ride in the sunshine and beautiful weather. Gwen and Steve were waaaayyyy ahead of Chris and I because we stopped for a photo op on the trail…

 

After 9 miles (give or take and some STINKY dead salmon in the river) we decided for Mexican at lunch instead of Indian…

 

And, yes, we were the only people in the place!  We went back to the house where the kids decided to bathe and shave Sam the 126 year old poodle.  Sam was totally calm through the whole thing even though the back yard was full of what should have been dinner…

 

There must have been 40 of them outside the fence.  Apparently they knew we’d had Mexican for lunch and would not be interested in them.  We bagged up the dog hair, popped some sandwiches in the oven, reheated the leftover chicken soup, made Reese’s peanut butter cup cookie from a box mix (Oh my very gawd they were amazing!).  And we called it dinner and Turkey Day.

The sun set over the airfield in the back yard after papa kicked my young but at horseshoes.  And we called it a successful trip.  Tomorrow we head home via Barstow, Flagstaff and points east….

Children’s Charms, Smoke Alarms, and Christmas Tree Farms

Hey, that all rhymed…completely by accident.

When you’re only around for a few days every decade you just go with the flow of what the kiddos want to do. Bike rides, video games with shooting, video games with chickens, video games with princesses riding sharks, swimming, screaming and running and chasing each other!  Dinner has included some pretty articulate conversations for a 10 and 8 year old  They pretty much keep up with the big kids.  They are totally charming and have captured our hearts once again.  We just want all four of the little critters in one place at the same time.  Santa…can you work that out?

Apparently when you melt 6 boxes of metallic crayons with a heat gun and hair dryer you’re bound to set off the smoke alarm…at least a couple times.  So we unplugged all the smoke alarms until we were finished.  The final result…

 

I think it’s fantastic…it’s G’s and she won’t let me have it because the canvas has been in her garage for ages and she says it’s part of the family.  Mine was a smaller one with lots of red and not worthy of showing next to this crazy big masterpiece.  Anyone want to come to my studio and melt crayons when I get back!?

Yesterday was a slower pace and we drove up to Placerville (rhymes with class, not ace) to walk around, take some pictures and chill.

 

Chris got a bag full of taffy. Guinevere got watermelon gummies, I got a concrete meditating lion and papa got sore knees! =(

 

Handsome, am I right?

 

Always in trouble!

 

 

 

Posing for pix.

We “snaked” our way through all of Placerville and drove up to Apple Orchard Valley where all the Christmas tree farms were (does that make sense to you?). Saw lots of cars with trees on them. 

 

I refused to get out of the car because G told me this place is home to more rattlesnakes than anywhere in the world! (Maybe she exaggerated by who cares!)  Apparently they have Rattlesnake Bite Kits (turniquet, phone, kiss-your-ass goodbye note…) on the sides of the streets and paths all over town…just in case!  WTH!?  The whole area is built on granite and that seems to be their preferred domicile material! ICK to the 10th power!!

 

We ended the day with upscale bar food and headed back down to the valley so the kids could go pick up their Christmas present from us.  Nothing says “love you” at the holidays like replacing an SUV tire that had a bolt the size of a golf ball in it. 

Being on this trip has made my heart…

Today the big decision is Mexican or Indian food for Thanksgiving dinner?

Wherever you are today remember to be thankful for who you have in your life more than what kind of deals you’ll get later. We weren’t necessarily here first, but we certainly have made our mark.

Til later…gobble gobble.

 

 

 

And then there were kids…

…and boy, were they active!  We’re not accustomed to this much happening all at the same time.  We try to keep up with them, but at some point the tubes on our oxygen tanks will only reach so far!  Oh, you think I’m kidding!?

We started the day about 8 with a bike ride in the ‘hood.  Bella and I “finished” before Steve and Connor.  They could have gone a lot farther if I hadn’t had to call Steve and have them come back to the house.  I broke the key off in the door lock trying to get back in the house.  Wasn’t expecting that 2-hour repair detour.

A swim in the hotel pool was cut short when the kids couldn’t breathe because there was so much chorine in the pool.  When I got back from the supermarket (a 45 minute exercise in trying to drive from memory!) the kids were beating the socks off Papa at poker.  This humiliation, after Connor (who’s 10) “dominated” (his word) Papa at chess yesterday.

Some screaming.  Some hitting each other.  Some forced separation.  Some really bad lunch.  And hey, we were back home.  New lock, new keys – easy peasy.  The kiddos each spent an enjoyable hour reading in their rooms while I started dinner and Steve tried to tune a couple guitars.

Dinner of bloody chicken and hard potatoes.  I’m such a great cook!  At least the cookies and Klinkerbrick wine were a hit.

And then it was now…a little hot herbal tea in the room…and we’ll be in a coma by 8:30…which my body still thinks is 11:30!

 

Caution. First Paragraph contains “FOUL” language

Thank you Bakersfield for a lovely Hampton Inn and a good night’s sleep.  However, when I went out this morning to load the car and hang the bikes on the back all i could smell in your cool morning air was shit.  Yes, that’s what I said. No, I’m not talking poop, poo-poo, stinky, poopie, potty, #2, dukie…this was the aroma of pure unadulterated eye-watering barnyard crap!! I honestly looked down at my shoes to see if I’d stepped in some dog poop.  But no, it was just the smell of the oil fields in the air.  Holy cow…how do these people do it??

Ok, let’s hit the road, please, get out of town, gotta leave.  Whew.

The drive up California 99 North was really great.  There were wine “trees” and fruit trees everywhere. Miles and miles and miles of agriculture.  What a lush and fertile valley. There were also a lot of vacant railcars parked along the side of the highway.  They had the most amazing “tags”on the sides of them.  Crazy colors and words and designs.  Stunning art really.  And only as high on the railcars as a person could reach.  Sorry no pix…80mph and 3 lanes!

We were only 360 miles from Sacramento and decided to just drive straight thru.  After the third Starbux and 2nd gas fill up we needed food.  Chef Steve set up the lunch buffet in the passenger’s seat.  Using the top of the cooler, he set his lap with chicken salad, spicy hummus, baby carrots, squirt cheese (yes, we still have some left), Waverly wafers and green olives. OMG it was the best lunch ever!  We ate for about 50 miles down the road.  Until we ran into a terrible traffic block on the highway which meant we creeped for about 30 minutes.  It turned out to be a horrible truck accident.  I won’t describe what we saw out of respect for whomever was in the truck.

With the help of “Gypsy” the GPS voice we found a shortcut to Sacto that saved us miles.  At long last…the reason we had driven 2260 miles in the past 9 days…

 

Now the fun begins.  If you’ve got kids, hug them today and tell them you love them.  If THEY have kids, love them all you can and show them they are more important than the moon and the stars.