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2021-08-14 – The Oregon Trail caravan … Day 17 – Traveling Fort Bridger, WY to Montpelier, ID

We spent just one night at Fort Bridger, and we move today to Montpelier, Idaho. This will be a three state day: Lunch in Wyoming, Dinner in Utah, and sleep in Idaho.

We began again with the ever-changing Wyoming landscape…

We are headed to the Fossil Butte National Monument.

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These bluffs are the shoreline of an ancient inland sea… The fossils we will be seeing are all sourced from here…

We proceeded to the Visitors Center

We were not the first to arrive…

Inside is a nice collection of fossils found nearby. There was also a good video showing how the fossils are found and extracted… Also, there was a man uncovering fossils as we watched…

We saw a crocodile…

A palm frond…

And a turtle…

We discovered that many rocks contain lots of Carbon…

In fact, note the Calcium Carbonate shown here; you will see mention of it later in this blog…

More views of the bluffs…

We headed out and shortly found a fuel stop and an opportunity for lunch…

More Wyoming landscape…

And then we entered Idaho!

We parked the Villa at the RV park, and headed over to the National Oregon/California Trail Center…

We had a guided tour of the exhibits depicting life on the trails, from getting prepared and buying provisions to actual travel down the trails…

There was an entire gallery of artworks prepared by a local husband and wife team…

We heard descriptions of the wagon, and contents (1,200 – 1,500 lbs. of food), and life on the trails…

We saw a typical supply store where anything you wanted could be purchased…

Then we heard some tall tails after we spent a few minutes inside a simulated wagon ride…

After the museum we headed south to Utah for dinner… We soon found ourselves on the shores of Bear Lake.

Bear Lake is a natural freshwater lake on the Idaho–Utah border. About 109 square miles in size, it is split about equally between the two states. The lake has been called the “Caribbean of the Rockies” for its unique turquoise-blue color, which is due to the refraction of calcium carbonate (limestone) deposits suspended in the lake. Limestone! I told you I would mention it again! Its water properties have led to the evolution of several unique species of fauna that occur only within the lake. Bear Lake is over 250,000 years old. It was formed by fault subsidence that continues today, slowly deepening the lake along the eastern side. In 1911 the majority of the flow of the Bear River was diverted into Bear Lake via Mud Lake and a canal from Stewart Dam, ending 11,000 years of separation between the lake and that river system.

Today the lake is a popular destination for tourists and sports enthusiasts, and the surrounding valley has gained a reputation for having high-quality raspberries.

Unfortunately, due to smoke from fires in Oregon, the air is very hazy, obscuring the mountains across the lake…

On our way to Bear lake we passed a marvelous Mormon Tabernacle in the town of Paris, ID.

We stopped for a little refreshment before dinner at Coopers, a restaurant at a golf course in Fish Haven, ID

At the appointer hour we arrived at the Bear Trapper, in Garden City, UT…

All the Airstreamers are here!

After dinner Lynda and I walked down to the shore of the lake.

Garden City is a vacation area tourist place, much like the coast of Maine, Cape Cod, and the Wisconsin Dells. Lots of ice cream and fast food places that are absolutely overrun with tourists out for a good time. The traffic was terrible…

Boaters are everywhere…

And late on a Saturday afternoon in August the line to bring your boat trailer in to take your boat out of the water was hours long…

We returned to the Villa in time to see the sun set into the smoke…

An enjoyable time was had by all…

August 19, 2021 0

2021-06-07 – Springtime in the Rockies caravan… Day 12 – Fruita, CO

Today we return to the Colorado National Monument to see more of its beauty…

On our way to the entrance we crossed the mighty Colorado River…

The Colorado River is the major river of the southwestern United States and northwest Mexico. Its headwaters are in Rocky Mountain National Park where La Poudre Pass Lake is its source. It flows southwest through the Colorado Plateau country of western Colorado, southeastern Utah and northwestern Arizona, where it flows through the Grand Canyon. It turns south near Las Vegas, Nevada, forming the Arizona–Nevada border in Lake Mead and the Arizona–California border a few miles below Davis Dam between Laughlin, Nevada and Needles, California, before entering Mexico in the Colorado Desert. Most of its waters are diverted into the Imperial Valley of Southern California. In Mexico its course forms the boundary between Sonora and Baja California before entering the Gulf of California.

We re-entered the Colorado National Monument.

On August 25, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed the “Organic Act” creating the National Park Service, a federal bureau in the Department of the Interior responsible for maintaining national parks and monuments that were then managed by the department. The National Park System has since expanded to 423 units (often referred to as parks), more than 150 related areas, and numerous programs that assist in conserving the nation’s natural and cultural heritage for the benefit of current and future generations.

The National Park Service manages all of the various “units” – Parks, Forests, Monuments, Historic Sites, Lakeshores, Recreation Areas, Scenic Trails, and several other designations. The first parks were Yellowstone (1872), Sequoia (1890), Yosemite (1890), Mt. Rainier (1899), Crater Lake (1902), Wind Cave (1903), Mesa Verde (1906), Glacier (1910), Rocky Mountain (1915). Colorado National Monument was established in 1911. The different desinations have to do with how they are created. National Parks are created by acts of Congress. National Monuments and most other designations are created by the President via Executive Order. Thirty States have National Parks; the States with the most parks are: California (9), Alaska (8), Utah (5), and Colorado (4).

We began our visit with a ranger talk in the picnic area where we had had dinner last night…

We learned about the geology of these magnificent cliffs and canyons, plus a little of the park history. The man behind the creation of the Colorado National Monument was John Otto, who settled in Grand Junction in the early 20th century. Otto was the first white man to explore the area.

Prior to Otto’s arrival, many area residents believed the canyons to be inaccessible to humans. Otto began building trails on the plateau and into the canyons. As word spread about his work, the Chamber of Commerce of Grand Junction sent a delegation to investigate. The delegation returned praising both Otto’s work and the scenic beauty of the wilderness area, and the local newspaper began lobbying to make it a National Park. A bill was introduced and carried by the local Representatives to the U.S. Congress and Senate but a Congressional slowdown in the final months threatened the process. To ensure protection of the canyons President William Howard Taft (who had visited the area) stepped in and used the highest powers available to him via the Antiquities Act and presidential proclamation to declare the canyons as a national monument

John Otto was hired as the first park ranger, drawing a salary of $1 per month. For the next 16 years, he continued building and maintaining trails while living in a tent in the park.

For many years during the Great Depression, the Civilian Conservation Corps. built roads, tunnels, trails, and other features of the park. The CCC left in 1941; the major Rim drive was completed in the 1950s.

Following the Ranger talk we visited the Visitor Center. I liked the fact that it is built from the native sandstone…

After we had seen a few exhibits in the Visitor Center we drove the Rim drive for 23 miles, all the way to Grand Junction. We saw 23 miles of rocks.

Here I liked the walls made from the natural sandstone… These walls are several hundred feet long, and they occur at many of the pull-outs along the Rim drive…

After we left the park we drove through Grand Junction again. We found truck fuel and DEF. Tomorrow we will return to Fruita for some final grocery shopping before we enter the wilderness of Dinosaur National Monument, Flaming Gorge Dam, and the Grand Tetons National Park…

It was 97 degrees again, but we have good, clean power, so both AC units are running in the Airstream… At 5:00 we took a walk around the lake in the park.

We also saw the Colorado River again, adjacent to the park…

Unfortunately, we walked out of the park and around the outside of the park, and finally had to go totally around the park and walk in the maim entrance…

After a short break we joined other caravaners for happy hours. We returned to the Villa, and an enjoyable time was had by all…,

June 9, 2021 0

2019-02-10 to 2019 02 15 – Crystal Cove State Park – Moro Campground

We escaped for a quick five days at Crystal Cove State Park. We were just here 10 days ago, but it is one of out favorite places…

We pulled out of Redlands at about 1:30 pm, arriving at the guard shack at 2:46 pm. They are VERY strict about the 3:00 pm check-in time, so I threw myself of the guard’s mercy, explaining, “I’m sorry we are early, but there wasn’t enough traffic…” He acquiesced and checked us in. By 4:00 we were set up and the rain began.

We were soon joined by two couples from our high school days, plus another Airstream couple who is camping with us. We enjoyed Happy Hours inside the Villa, as the rain rattled on the roof.

However, just before dinner we stepped outside to see the sunset:

After dark we returned inside for dinner and some great wine. As the hours passed by we enjoyed catching up and laughing about old times…

Monday morning dawned bright and sunny, with blue skies all around… The traditional walk along the beach happened despite the cool temperatures (42 degrees…):

The tunnel under Hwy 1 is both a beach access path and an outflow for rain run-off from the hills above. This was our first close-up glimpse of the surf line…

Phil and Steve braving the elements:

Low tide reveals many more rocks than usual:

Lynda on the rocks:

On our return walk atop the bluffs we pass by the historic Shake Shack:

(I could show these same photos every day because we take the same walk every day…)

Later in the day I walked out to the edge of the campground for some shots of the coastline:

And a nice view of the Villa…

The rest of the day was spent relaxing and puzzling; I watched an old movie and worked on planning our trip to Louisiana in March. Happy Hours arrived at 5:00 and we enjoyed a cozy evening in the Villa.

Tuesday morning started out much the same as Monday. The weather is gorgeous but frickin’ freezing – 42 degrees when we left to walk the beach at 8:30 am.

It’s always fun to see these small water fowl along the way…

Lots of rocks are exposed at low tide. Beyond is the historic zone of the 1930s era cottages; these cottages have been restored and are available for rent through ReserveCalifornia.com. It is virtually impossible to get a reservation…

The final 17 cottages are currently being restored. New foundations are installed on deep pilings, new infrastructure, roads, and utilities are being installed, steel frames are added to meet current building codes, and all the old materials, inside and out, are restored and reused to maintain the 1930s look. The restoration of the 17 cottages is costing $17,000,000 – you do the math…

Crystal Cove consists of 3.2 miles of beach and 2,400 acres of land, all donated by The Irvine Company to the State of California in 1999…

Wednesday morning started out much the same as Tuesday. Except the weather, while still gorgeous, has turned cloudy…

Rain is expected to start at noon and to continue for 5 days…

Along our walk back to the campground we pass by these houses (about 130 condos) on the hill above the Crystal Cove Shopping Center. These were done by my office, TCA Architects, Inc., almost 20 years ago. They appear to be holding up nicely…

The rest of the day we stayed cozy in the Villa, listening to the rain on the roof… Happy hours occurred.

At about midnight the rain started in earnest. It rained HARD for 12 straight hours, with bouts of very heavy wind. Being inside an aluminum tube, with plastic skylights, the noise was deafening!

Thursday morning we stayed in due to the rain. Happy Valentines Day! Finally a little after noon the fog/low clouds lifted and the rain slowed to a drizzle. We ventured outside:

The sea was angry, my friend…

The stream that becomes a two foot wide channel through the tunnel under the highway has become a torrent. The rangers closed the day-use area to keep people from being swept away if they tried to walk through the tunnel…

The surf continued to tear up the beach and sweeping the sand out to sea…

The evening of the 14th we enjoyed Happy Hours again, this time with special Valentines Day Cocktails: We each had a Boulevardier, served with caviar on a blini, and for dessert were chocolate truffles and more wine…

It was a good evening…

Friday morning was beautiful again. We couldn’t do our normal beach walk because the tunnel under the highway was still flooded, but we did a work around. The beach was a mess, loaded up with seaweed and kelp, but it was otherwise clean…

After the walk it was time to clean up and hitch up. We were back in Redlands by 2:30… We even saw some green fields and hills and orange groves in Redlands on our drive home…

Next week we go to San Clemente State Beach, and the week after that we have a club rally at Pechanga…

And an enjoyable time was had by all…

February 16, 2019 1

2018-12-31 – New Years Eve – Emerald Desert RV Resort, Palm Desert, CA

We are off to new adventures today! It’s been a busy Christmas Season and we are ready to head out to ring in the new year.

As a bit of a recap:

Christmas Eve was spent with extended family on my mother’s side… More than forty people – several cousins, more second cousins, and many more third cousins. We took the opportunity to get one photo of all of my mother’s direct descendants present:

Notice the boys’ feet… It must be something genetic… This is me at their age in 1954:

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Christmas day was spent with the grandchildren in Burbank:

Roisin was quite pleased with the art supplies she received…

After Christmas comes our son John’s birthday, celebrated, as usual, by several visits by friends and family to various fine dining establishments…

So today is New Year’s Eve, and we are heading to Palm Desert in The Villa. We checked into Emerald Desert RV Resort, and spent the afternoon getting in our walking time…

As I’ve reported in the past, Emerald Desert is a beautiful place and we always enjoy our time here. We watched some football, and at 5:00 pm we headed out to visit like minded friends for the evening.

We enjoyed hors d’ouevres that included shrimp cocktail, caviar, and various chips and dips. Dinner started with crab cakes (with Justin sauvignon blanc), Caesar salad (with Beringer Private Reserve Chardonnay), and roast lamb with a dried cherry sauce (with 2000 Ridge Montebello cabernet sauvignon). Dessert was a blackberry and raspberry pie. I found it particularly interesting, because I love the taste of boysenberry, which, as you know, is a cross between raspberry and blackberry. Thank you Mr. Boysen and Walter Knott…!

We rang in the new year with a special cocktail provided by our hosts, and an enjoyable time was had by all…

January 3, 2019 2

2018-11-09 – Paso Robles – Day 9

We awoke to a VERY cold morning. It was 48 degrees inside the Airstream, and well under 30 degrees outside. I turned on the furnace as soon as the sun was hitting the solar panels. When it was warm enough to get dressed I went out and fired up the generators; fireplace was lit, TV was showing the morning news, coffee was soon ready, and the avocado toast was delicious!

We took a walk in the vineyards and enjoyed the views. We were here in July and the vines were lush and green. Now they are lying fallow and turning various shades of brown…

We drove off about 11:00 am to visit a vineyard and winery recommended by friends. Again the drive was lovely…

We soon arrived at Nadeau Family Vintners…

And this happened!

Again we went to lunch in Paso Robles, this time at Park Avenue Grill…

After lunch we again walked around the town for a while, then we returned to Record.

I took a nap to make sure I could stay awake for the late evening festivities; at 6:30 we joined the other campers (there are about 25 RVs parked around the vineyards…) to watch the bbq pit get lit, grill some hot dogs, and share a bottle of wine that each camper contributed… Although it was cold, we did have a nice time meeting a few new people and just hanging out together. Finally we were too cold, so we returned to the Villa…

And an enjoyable time was had by all…

November 17, 2018 2

2018-09-29 – WBCCI 2018 Southwest Adventure Caravan – Day 42 – Gallup, New Mexico…

Another quiet day on the caravan. We began by visiting an Indian Trading post and learning about Pawn. Among the Indians, Pawn is nothing like the typical pawn shop where folks down on their luck borrow a few dollars on something semi-valuable that they own. For the Indians, Pawn is a combination bank and safe deposit box. Since there is little private ownership of land, and semi-communal living is common, there is no place secure for the Indians to store their valuables. So they bring them to the Pawn and Trading Post; the trading post will store the valuables and give a token “loan” to the owner. The owner then comes in every 2-3-4 months and pays a fee to keep the items in pawn. When they need their possession back, they pay back the “loan” and claim their goods.

This trading post has over 1,800 saddles in Pawn. I doubt there are even 1,800 horses in this part of the reservation… There are also guns, ceremonial head dresses and boots, lots of jewelry, and many other things the Indians deem valuable…

The saddles…

After listening to the Pawn explanation we saw an artist demonstrate his craft. He showed us how he sketches and etches his design (in this case a silver bracelet) into a piece of soft stone. This makes a mold, into which he pours the molten silver. Out comes the rough bracelet, which he then polishes and finishes into a fine piece of jewelry…

Most caravaners then proceeded to spend lots of money…

We returned to the Villa. We enjoyed a Saturday afternoon watching college football. While the internet service is terrible here in New Mexico, the satellite TV is great!

We had many Happy Hours with our Airstream neighbors, then watched football again well into the night…

And again we have a short day, so here I present Erin and George expressing their feelings about spending all day Saturday watching T-Ball…

And an enjoyable time was had by all…

October 6, 2018 0

2018-07-03 – WBCCI 2018 Wine Tasting Caravan – Day 2 – Russian River Valley

Today is our first day of tasting, and what a day it is! If you know anything about wine, you know that the Russian River Valley and the Sonoma Coast are synonymous with great Pinot Noir! Today we visited three great wineries and then had dinner in the “capitol” of Russian River Valley, Healdsburg.

Our first stop was at Williams Selyem Winery. Burt Williams and Ed Selyem started their winery in very simple circumstances in the 1980s and quickly amassed a cult following by producing outstanding wines that were in a style that goes great with, and enhances, food. When I first read about them, I tried to buy their wines, only to be told that they are sold exclusively to members of the wine allocation list; I was welcome to sign up on the waiting list to get on the allocation list!. Five years later, around 1995, I was “allocated” (allowed to buy) two bottles. Over the years my allocation has been increased, and now I cannot afford to buy all the wine they will let me. Burt and Ed retired many years ago, but their wines still retain their quality.

We began our tasting at their Tasting Salon:

They had a table set for us and a full line-up of wines to taste:

After a few wines were tasted, there was a brief tour of the facilities:

Then we moved outside to learn about the vineyards:

We returned inside the building, bought a few bottles, and moved on…

Next stop is MacRostie; someone told us this was a nice place and we agree; there was a beautiful building, a greeter with sparking wine to share, and a table set for us:

Wine was really good, service was great and leisurely, and the views are hard to top!

Finally we moved on to our final tasting for the day: Rochioli… the Rochioli family has been farming this land, growing grapes, and making great wine for over 80 years…

Again we were greeted, shown to a table under a bright orange umbrella, overlooking the vineyards below. Wines were presented, comments exchanged, and questions asked…

It was a grueling day. Now, all we needed was some dinner; we drove to the town of Healdsburg – dripping with wine country charm. We had some time to kill before dinner; some of our group looked for a place to have a beer, others shopped. I took a nap on a park bench…

Our dinner was at Bravas, a Spanish tapas/small plates place. We had a lovely table on the patio in the “back yard”. We shared many courses: toast with olive oil, garlic, and sea salt; Duck meatballs; Long cooked pork cheeks; Croquetas with creamy chicken, ham, and Gruyere cheese; Chicken thighs with candied garlic; Octopus with smoked paprika and olives… All this was accompanied by bottles of William Selyem and Rochioli wines…

And that concludes the first day of wine tasting. An enjoyable time was had by all…

July 11, 2018 0

2017-12-29 to 2018-01-02 New Years Weekend in Palm Desert

It’s been a long time since I have written our Blog, and there has been a lot of water over the bridge since you last heard from us. Over the next few Blogs I will try to get us caught up on how our year has been going…

We packed up the truck and picked up the Villa from its storage space and set out for Palm Desert. Emerald Desert RV Resort is one of our favorite places to camp and, this trip, it didn’t disappoint. We were assigned to a nice grassy site with a clean concrete pad. First order of the day was to get the Villa a bath – after sitting for a month with dry, dusty air and Santa Ana winds blowing it was filthy!Indian Wells RV Detailing told us they could wash the Villa the next day.

We spent a lot of time walking around the park, to get our daily exercises in…

We spent a lovely weekend with our friends, Doug and Lorraine Wilson, visiting most days in their condo in Palm Desert. We also met up with Rob, our favorite Palm Springs Realtor, for a quick lunch…

We even had time for a picture of ourselves!

It was a fun, relaxing weekend and a great way to begin the year – good friends, football, wine, and warm sunny weather – just what New Years Day is all about!

An enjoyable time was had by all…

June 22, 2018 0

2017-12-01 to 04 WBCCI South Coast Unit Holiday Party and Officer Installation, San Clemente…

It is our custom in the South Coast Unit to hold a Holiday Party and to install the new officers on the first Sunday of December. Several years ago we decided that it would be fun to camp near the event, so now we, along with a few others, spend the weekend at San Clemente State Beach, one of our favorite camping spots. The party and the installation are held nearby at the Clubhouse in Cypress Shores, adjacent to the State Park. Before the festivities began we went into the adjacent greenbelt and took a group picture:

We began the weekend by picking up The Villa at C&G in Bellflower, who had finally repaired the damage to the Airstream that occurred last May and June. It all looks great now!

We arrived at San Clemente and checked into our site. Our friend, Rob, was already there, and we were joined by the Bangerts later on in the afternoon. We spent the afternoon relaxing and reorganizing various things inside; we are still recovering from moving out after our long trip over the summer and we are readjusting as we go.

We did have some time to walk to overlook the beach and remember why we like this place. We have not been here since last April – I think that is the longest we have been away for many years…

(PS: the house in the background surrounded by trees is “Casa Pacifica”, President Nixon’s “Western White House”. When we were camping here while teenagers, and he was in residence, we would walk along the beach and chat with the Secret Service agents who blocked off the beach to prevent us from walking closer to the house. Several years later, when we bought our first house nearby in Laguna Niguel, our next door neighbor was a Secret Service agent who drove to San Clemente everyday to help guard the now-former president…)

Friday evening was the PAC12 football championship football game between Stanfurd and U$C, two of our favorite teams to root against; so we were OK with whichever team lost… (Stanfurd lost…)

Saturday morning we once again walked along the beach trail to the pier and had breakfast and coffee at Bear Coast Coffee. This is my favorite view from our sidewalk table:

Saturday was another lazy day of watching football; there were 4 games, all of which helped decide the final four teams who will play in the playoffs:

The last games were not over until well past my bedtime. It was a tough day, but someone had to do it.

However, tonight was a “super moon” I did step outside long enough to catch a shot over the Airstream:

Fortunately, Sunday was an easy day. We walked once more to Bear Coast Coffee, then I recovered from a busy Saturday:

Finally it was time for the big event: We got all dressed up and headed to the party:

We were able to see the sunset:

We returned to the Villa for a good night’s sleep; Monday we returned home and picked up our three grandchildren for a fun 4 day, 3 night sleepover, whilst their parents enjoy a quick vacation away…

And an enjoyable time was had by all…

December 8, 2017 1

Adventures in the Villa

Category

2021-08-14 – The Oregon Trail caravan … Day 17 – Traveling Fort Bridger, WY to Montpelier, ID

2021-06-07 – Springtime in the Rockies caravan… Day 12 – Fruita, CO

2019-02-10 to 2019 02 15 – Crystal Cove State Park – Moro Campground

2018-12-31 – New Years Eve – Emerald Desert RV Resort, Palm Desert, CA

2018-11-09 – Paso Robles – Day 9

2018-09-29 – WBCCI 2018 Southwest Adventure Caravan – Day 42 – Gallup, New Mexico…

2018-07-03 – WBCCI 2018 Wine Tasting Caravan – Day 2 – Russian River Valley

2017-12-29 to 2018-01-02 New Years Weekend in Palm Desert

2017-12-01 to 04 WBCCI South Coast Unit Holiday Party and Officer Installation, San Clemente…

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