Off again on another adventure

In a week we will depart for another  road across the United States.This time we will be joined by some new electronic devices including a GPS named "Miss Direction," Jim's new Kindle (yet unnamed),  and perhaps a new phone, "Miss Dial," and new tablet, "Miss Guided."  We will also be taking our e-television by using the DISH ANYWHERE app so Jim can watch his football games.  So we will be electronically armed, but not dangerous as we do not plan to text or watch football while driving, although we could.

We originally planned to go to Iowa - Boston - Florida - Texas and back.  That is, until we actually looked at a map and discovered the number of miles and states between Iowa and Boston.  So we may not make it to Boston.  We'll see.

We aren't planning the trip in detail.  We'll just point the car towards the next major stop and let "Miss Direction" take us.  We'll be leaving next Tuesday if you want to come along.

Days 18 - 20: Santa Rosa

The air at the junction had a distinctive aroma -- reminding us of our days near Greeley, Colorado. Soon after heading out north on I-5 we confirmed our suspicions as we passed this huge feed lot that went on for acres and acres. Since the junction where we stopped did not have a name on the map, we dubbed it "Feed Lot Junction."

Soon we started seeing fruit/nut orchards with flowering trees and boxes of bee hives stacked along the last row. Definitely a food-producing valley. Soon we passed the California aqueduct again that snakes through the rolling hills and provides life to this agricultural area.

We took a route to Santa Rosa through Vallejo -- hoping to avoid most of the Bay-area traffic. I noticed a sign announcing that the Bay Bridge (connecting Oakland to SF) would be closed this weekend. That should be interesting. We ran into some traffic, but by the time we got to Vallejo we were back on pleasant country roads.

Teresa was using the GPS and it kept saying we were "off road." She kept taking it out, wiping it off, and putting it back in hoping to get it to recognize where we were. Finally when we got to highway 101, it woke up and we were "on road" again. But when we exited at Santa Rosa, it told us to get back on highway 101. We drove around for a while -- "off road" again. Finally, when Teresa took the CD out she noticed that it was the one for Arizona -- not California. Once we put the correct one in, we were back in business. Don't know why the Arizona CD recognizes highway 101 in California--but that is one of the mysteries of technology.

We made it to our anut's house and had a great visit with her. In the evening we all went over to our cousin's house. Next day we visited and caught up with everybody, drank some California wine and went out to eat at a great local restaurant. Stayed another night and headed out to Redding this morning.

We made a stop at the Olive Pit in Corning for lunch (olive burger) and treats to take home, then landed in Lake California again for a short visit with Conrad. Tomorrow we will head back home (for Teresa) to Bend. It has certainly been a great trip.

Day 17: Lake Havasu to I-5

Long Day. We had breakfast at the TravelLodge. This was a very pleasant place to stay. Teresa talked to the owner's wife who had her baby with her and was keeping the breakfast area stocked. Evidently, the hotel was run down when they bought it, but they fixed it up and got some very positive reviews on some travel sites and now are quite busy. We really liked Lake Havasu City -- a very nice place.

We changed time zones as we crossed the Colorado River into California. As we passed through the Sacramento Mountains (2,770 ft.), we said goodbye to the Sonoran Desert and the distinctive saguaro and hello to the Mojave Desert and the distinctive Joshua Trees that were replacing the saguaro in the landscape. Different name, still in a desert. Sandy, dry, brown ... We stopped for gas ( $4.59/gal !) and I noticed a number of Route 66 souvenirs for sale. We kept seeing signs for Historic Route 66 along the way weaving in and out across the interstate. As our map stated, "Historic Route 66 passed through this area along various alignments."

We returned to the Mojave National Preserve -- this time from the south. We saw the Kelso sand dunes, stopped for a train at the Kelso station, turned off onto a dirt road to cross over to the "Hole-in-the-Wall" camping area, were passed on the dirt road by 12 dirt bikes, ran into some cattle (not literally), passed by a ranch, got back onto a paved road at the Hole-in-the-Wall Visitor Center, and took a trail to see some petroglyphs.

Teresa got to show off her forest-road driving skills and I learned what "washboarding" means (visualize driving over one). The guide at the visitor center told us about the trail. She said that the petroglyphs were small and easy to miss, but showed us on the trail map where to look. I said to Teresa, "I'm sure they are marked." She said, " What part of 'small and easy to miss' don't you understand?" She was right, but we found them. There was a hiker in front of us taking pictures and that helped. The trail continued on taking about an hour and ending in a literal rock climb -- using metal rings that were embedded into the rocks to climb on. We turned around at the petroglyphs.

At this point the sightseeing portion of our trip is over. Now it is about getting home and visiting relatives in Santa Rosa and Redding. So we drove... and drove. The desert went on and on and we were low on gas. We reached Kramer's Junction just in time. No palm trees, but this was a real oasis in the desert. Two roads intersect and there is a light -- with a left turn lane/light even -- and 4 gas stations, a truck service place, mini mart, local restaurant, a Burger King, and souvenir stands and shops. We gassed up and had our usual 3:00 "lunch/dinner."

Somewhat refreshed we drove on. Encountered dark clouds as a front moved through, but missed the rain. We finally came out of the desert into the valley and headed north. We cut across from highway 99 to I-5 and enjoyed the sunset view at Wasco (they have a rose festival there in September). Then we drove up I-5 and stopped at Kettleman City.

But the motel had a sign in front that said, "Internet service is temporarily unavailable." Well we couldn't have that and as we debated whether to go to the Motel across the street, the clerk told us there was another exit with motels 20 minutes up the road. He said the one across the street was overpriced. So off we went and here we are at the junction of I-5 an highway 198. It will make our drive to Santa Rosa that much shorter tomorrow, but it was a long, long day.

Day16: Tucson to Lake Havasu City

We packed up and left about 9 am. Traveling north on I-10 we noticed that we were no longer in the metric zone. Mile posts were "mile" posts again. Soon we passed the distinctive Picaho Peak again. The Police were out in force today. We saw at least three patrol cars. When we got just south of Casa Grande we turned west onto I-8 to bypass Phoenix. The landscape was flat and sandy with occasional scrub bushes. No suguaro -- it must be too dry or the altitude to low for them. We passed a number of signs warning of blowing dust. This is the Sonoran Desert at it's best.

As we got nearer to Table-Top Mountain, the saguaro appeared again foresting the hills. At Gila Bend we headed north to connect with I-10 well west of Phoenix. Gila Bend ( population: 1980; elevation: 735) was founded by our old friend Father Kino in 1851. The green fields which looked strangely out of place in the desert and the whiff of stockyard smell confirmed that the area is a farming and stock raising community today.

We reached Io-10 and turned west again playing leap frog with the numerous trucks on the freeway until we reached Quartzsite. Quartzsite (elevation: 876) has a summer population of 3,354, but in the winter that swells to nearly a million. And from the looks of it they all come in their RV's. In January and February the area hosts 8 major gem and mineral shows. We looked around, but all we saw were RV's everywhere it was literally an RV city.

We headed north toward Parker, but about 3 miles out of town we encountered a road block directing us onto an unnamed road to the right. This turned out to be a very scenic detour to Bouse which is a smaller RV city. This area is a playground for off-road vehicles (saw lots of dune buggies and such), motorcycles, and RV'ers. At Bouse we turned left and headed back towards Parker. We found some places to eat at Parker, and had lunch. We passed an RV casino on the way out of town.

Lake Havasu is 45 miles long, 3 miles at its widest point, along the Colorado River. Parker Dam holds back the water to create the lake. It produces electricity, but like Lake Powell, it's major goal is water storage. The lake supplies water to Arizona and Los Angeles. We stopped at the Parker Dam. It's not as dramatic as the dam at Lake Powell, hut it does the job.

We drove along the lake up to Lake Havasu City, half-way up the lake. This city is famous for the London Bridge. The city bought the bridge in 1968. The original bridge was built in 1831, a multi-arch bridge over the Thames River. In 1968 the bridge began to sink into the river and the British put it up for sale. The bridge was carefully dismantled, stone by stone, and brought over from London. where it was reconstructed over a man-made inlet of the Colorado River.

The London Bridge is the second most popular tourist destination (after the Grand Canyon) in Arizona. The town (elevation: 482) has a population of 41,,935 and is a great place for all types of water recreation. The bridge area is bustling with activity. Lots of tour boats and a marina, restaurants, hotels, etc. Unlike our visits to Zion and Grand Canyon, it is high tourist season here now. We were lucky that the TravelLodge had a last minute cancellation right before we came in. We even have a lake view -- over the road and some buildings-- but we can see the water.

We checked in and rested for a while before going back to the bridge area to take pictures, enjoy the sunset, and find a place to eat. We walked across the bridge and discovered the Havelina Cantina. We were seated on the patio with a great view of the bridge and enjoyed Margaritas and munchies as we watched the sun set. It was a great end for the day.

Tomorrow we head into California.

Day 15: Gem Show

Teresa heard an ad on the news for the Gem show at the Convention Center (CC) starting today. So we thought we would try again. This time there were people everywhere. We parked in our previous parking area and hiked the four blocks to the CC. Good thing because traffic was lined up around the block to get into the CC. We followed the folks inside and got in line. We soon noticed that everyone in line seemed to have tickets, so Teresa went to buy tickets and pick up a map while I saved our place. It wasn't 10 am yet and already the line was snaking around the hall. At 10 am a loud speaker announced that the 58th annual Tucson Gem Show was open to the public. I felt like clapping.

It took us a while to get to the actual entrance where they stamped our hand and then we were in. The scope of this event is hard to describe -- it is huge and almost overwhelming. Soon after we got in, the loud speaker announced the arrival of the Governor of Arizona and the Mayor of Tucson. We had noticed quite a police presence in the center of the main area -- I'm sure they are being very careful after what happened in Tucson last year. The Governor and Mayor gave short speeches and then were taken for a tour of the event. We stayed far away form that action and pleasantly strolled through the exhibits, casing the joint. The strategy we have developed is to go through all the booths first, marking the ones we want to come back to on the map. About 15 minutes after the Governor's speech, the loud speaker came on again and announced that the Arizona Sales Tax was 9 percent. Making sure we knew the state intended to take its share of the profits.

I had noticed at the previous Gem Show venues the presence of pedestrian speed bumps (by nearly tripping over one). They had them here as well. So like hiking on the rocks, I learned to watch my feet. They had raffles for free prizes each hour. You had go to the pink balloon station each hour to enter the next one. This kept us moving back and forth, but we didn't win anything. The show was fascinating and educational. Most vendors were glad to share information on their stones with us. They had stations where you select your stone and they would make it into a pendent, earrings, or ring for you right on the spot, a wide variety of jewelry designers, as well as those who dealt in the raw materials.

I found out my favorite vendor (from previous day) was here and they have a store in WA, close to home. I bought some larimar from another vendor. You con only find larimar on one island in the Dominican Republic. We looked at some Australian stones that were rare. The vendor said the American's did not recognize the stone as valuable for a number of years. Meanwhile, the Russians did and imported as much as they could to the extent that there is little left in Australia. The vendor said someone had seen his wares the other day and said he had seen it before. The Australian asked him where. He said that the steps to the Kremlin were lined with it.

The other day we visited the American Indian Jewelry Exhibit. It was in a motel some distance from the main exhibits, and it wasn't marked on all the maps which seemed strange. There were about 15 native artisans there. Indian culture attributes many qualities to certain stones and symbols that you find in their jewelry. While there we overheard one of the folks telling a customer that amethysts protect the wearer from drunkenness. Since amethyst is also my birthstone, I was pleased to find an amethyst pendant.

We decided that this was the best day to attend the event after another loudspeaker announcement let us know that tomorrow 400 high school students would be visiting the show. After that the only two days left would be on the weekend. And we got first pick of the litter, so to speak.

We left the show around 4pm and headed home to rest before going out to dinner with our host, Lee. Most of the streets of Tucson are in a nice grid except for this downtown area which we call the "traffic vortex." It is easy to get caught in it and not get out as we discovered the other day. But today we escaped the vortex. The other difficulties related to finding your way around Tucson are the fact that I-10 cuts a 45 degree angle through the city and the fact that there is a large air force base in the southeastern part of the city that cuts of many of the otherwise through streets. But we are getting to know our way around the city. Tucson is a very nice city.

We went to a restaurant called Pinnacle Peak that is part of a wild west village with shops, rides, a train and wild west shows every hour. We enjoyed the show and then went for dinner. I looked around and saw a multitude of ties posted on the walls and rafters. Lee informed us that if you wore a tie into the restaurant, they would cut it off. Sure enough each tie had a little card with it stating the former owner’s name and date of posting. The wait staff were all dressed as cowboys and the food was ranch style, steak and beans. We had a great time.

Home to pack up. We leave Tucson tomorrow for the journey back home.

Day 14: Tubac and Tumacaori

We headed out to the Arts and Crafts Fair in Tumac. Shortly after we turned south onto I-19, we saw the exit for Mission San Xavier. The mission is a National Historic Landmark and was founded as a Catholic mission by Father Eusebio Kino in 1692. Father Kino was the priest who inspired DeGracia when he created his Mission in the Sun that we visited on Monday. Construction of the current church began in 1783.

This mission is the oldest intact European structure in Arizona. The church's interior is filled with marvelous original statuary and mural paintings. The inside is breathtaking. There are arches, murals on the rounded ceiling and intricate wood carvings and paintings on the walls.

It is still an active church with the mission of ministering to the religious needs of its parishioners. It is located on the Tohono O'odham Indian Reservation. The O'odham tribe had sent sent a messenger to ask Father Kino to come and teach them modern agricultural techniques used by the Spanish. He obliged and also taught them Christianity and Spanish.

You can see on the church wall and in other places the "symbol of the People." This is sometimes called the "man in the maze." The man at the top symbolizes birth (of man, family, or tribe). As the figure goes through the maze, he encounters many turns representing changes. As he progresses deeper, he acquires strength, knowledge, and understanding. Near the end of the maze, he repents, cleanses, and reflects back on wisdom gained. The dark center at the end of the maze represents death and eternal life.

No one knows where the symbol came from but it was also found near Phoenix at the Casa Grande National Monument. We also saw a symbol that was very similar to this in the petroglyphs at the V-Bar=V Ranch last week. Strangely enough, Ancient coins discovered near the Isle of Crete in the Mediterranean stamped with the same symbol.

After touring the grounds and hiking around the hill adjoining the mission, we got back on the road to Tubac. Our directions said to get off at exit 34. We were at exit 80 and noticed that we were making very good time -- even for a speed limit of 75. Then we noticed that the signs were stating distances in kilometers. Fortunately the "mile posts" were actually "kilometer posts" or we would have really been confused.

As we got off at exit 34 we were greeted by police cars and a number of folks in neon vests directing us to parking and collecting $6.00. We parked and walked the short distance to Tubac Road and encountered "occupy Tubac." There were craft tents lining every street and alley. There were horse-pulled trollies, golf cart=pulled trollies and even a bicycle=pulled cart for two. And there were all the permanent craft stores that Tubac is known for. We had a great time looking at all the wonderful wares and artwork. We found some treasures for ourselves and gifts for folks back home. We went around the circuit once to scope it out, then went for a tour of the Tubac Presidio State Historic Park.

Persidio means fort and was used to protect the inhabitants from outsiders -- usually the Apaches. Tubac was occupied, then abandoned several times. In the 50's it was found by artists and became an arts and craft center. This festival is the 53rd annual one. Tubac has evolved over the years into a great destination for quality southwest arts and crafts.

About 3:00 we went to Shelby's Bistro for Lunch/Dinner. Then we headed south a few miles on the local road to Tumacacori National Historical Park. The site contains the physical remains of the mission church San Jose Tumacacori and associated cemetery, mortuary chapel, lime kiln, and a reconstructed native O’odham home. We went on the self-guided tour. The bell tower of the church was never finished. You can see how the building was constructed with brick and then covered in adobe mud. The white adobe of the main church was treated with lime.

We headed home on I-19 and soon encountered a border patrol stop. There was a "work dog" sniffing all the cars and everyone had to stop. The officer took one look at us and waved us on. We passed the exit for The Titan Missile Historical National Monument and decided to pass that one up. As we headed home and noticed it was sunset time so stopped at the Mission San Xavier again to take some pictures.

Tomorrow we are off to the Gem Show again at the Convention Center.

Day 13: Tucson

We took off this morning for the Gem Show at the Convention Center -- the biggest show around. We managed to get good parking at the Simpson Street Parking area and walked the 5 or so blocks to the Convention Center. We got suspicious when we noticed that there were no cars in the main parking area and no hoards of people milling around. We walked up and opened the door and found that nothing was going on -- despite a large sign for the show that was displayed out front. Feeling rejected again we thought that we had missed it -- the events around town have different start and end dates.

We figured while we were downtown, we would go see the Presidio. We followed a sign for the Visitor's Center to get more information. On the way we discovered a sign listing dates for the Convention Show -- Feb. 9 - 12. Looks like we were just two days early. The Visitor Center folks confirmed that the show would open on Thursday and gave us some useful information on the Presidio and Tubac.

We followed the Presidio Trail. This trail is marked by a turquoise line running along the sidewalk -- like the red line marking the "Freedom Trail" in Boston. However, Tucson is a little more casual about their line. We found it went under planters, trash bins, closed off outside seating areas, etc. To further confuse us, the Presidio Trail map was oriented so west was at top, but we managed.

We saw the Pima County Courthouse which has a beautiful tile dome. We passed the restored northeast corner of the Presidio San Agustin del Tucson. Similar in function, but not appearance to Ft. Vancouver, the Presidio has shorter adobe walls. We strolled through the Old Town Artisans which is an old building filled with small art and craft shops with a courtyard of outside coffee and food restaurants.

After passing by the bus plaza, we got to the old restored railroad station that still serves Amtrak and also houses a nice restaurant and art gallery. It was at this railroad station that Wyatt Earp shot Frank Stillwell in the old west. They had an old steam engine out back that a volunteer guide took us through I now understand why there are all hose water towers at railroad stations.

We passed the St. Augustine Cathedral, Spanish Colonial Style church with a magnificent sandstone facade. And ended up back at the colorful Visitor's Center area with lots of gift shops and coffee shops. We had lunch at a Mexican Restaurant recommended by Teresa's friend. It was colorful and great cuisine. We decided to try lunch instead of dinner and had no trouble getting in. As we left Teresa noticed that there were heaters and benches all along the front of the restaurant. We figured they must have quite a line at dinner.

We decided to go to Saguaro National Part (East) to see the cacti and perhaps catch a good view of the sunset. We drove the circle route, took a number of short hikes and pictures and ended up back at the Visitor's center about 5:30. However, the Visitor's center closed at 5. I think I might be getting a complex about this...

We waited in the picnic area out front and staked out a good view site for the upcoming sunset. Just as sunset started, I noticed a Park Service truck idling on the road. Then I heard him close a gate over the road. I dashed back to the car and found Teresa to tell her they were closing. I took one quick photo and off we went. The ranger waved at us as we left. Now I am getting a complex.

Tomorrow we are off to Tubac.