Tahoe Ho!

The first vacation of my life was at Lake Tahoe. I was born in Sacramento, CA. Practically my whole family has a love affair with Tahoe. During my high school years we had a cabin a few miles from the lake and my mom would spend the entire summer there with various family members visiting off and on (I am the youngest of seven siblings and there were always numerous nieces and nephews coming along).

Since Mary had not really experienced Lake Tahoe, I was anxious to share it with her. We stayed on the Nevada side at Zephyr Cove campground. The campground is very nice and fairly large. Our site, however, was right along the highway and quite noisy. It was okay though, since we didn’t hang around the campsite much.

The weather was clear and cool, but actually felt quite warm in the sunshine. Mary and I enjoyed hiking the Pacific Crest trail both north and south from Hwy 50. Hiking among the huge granite slabs with blue sky and blue water is breathtaking (especially at 8,000 ft elevation). I actually took the first hike of my life at Tahoe. The hike is a steep one-mile up granite slabs from Emerald Bay to Eagle Lake. At the age of sixteen my high school girlfriend and I started out with our picnic lunch and “Mickey Mouse” thermos. We never made it to Eagle Lake. Somehow, we lost the trail and got stuck on some very large boulders that are much easier to climb up than down. We turned back after “Mickey” fell off a boulder and got shattered to pieces. I finally made it to Eagle Lake almost 40 years later with Mary.

I always remember the Tahoe area as smelling especially “piney”. I finally found out why. I had always assumed that most of the pines were Ponderosas, but Mary discovered that the vast majority are Jeffrey pines. These pines are especially aromatic and if you stick your nose near the bark you can smell the aroma of butterscotch or vanilla. Neither of us had heard of Jeffrey pines before. As it turns out, Jeffreys are only prevalent in the High Sierras and are dominant over Ponderosas at higher elevations.

Tahoe is an interesting combination of exceptional natural beauty, tacky development, smoky noisy casinos, the clearest water I have ever seen in a large lake, broad open spaces, beautiful houses and bad traffic. The different communities around the lake each have their own character. Some are boating oriented, others snow skiing, the Stateline areas have the casinos, and there are a whole lot of small national forest campgrounds and beaches all around the lake. Except for the few large casinos most of the lodging options are small family owned motels and resorts with a few of the larger chain motels scattered about. Unfortunately the water is quite cold even in the height of summer, but boating, water skiing, sailing and beach going is very popular, and because the lake is so large (22 miles by 12 miles) it is never crowded on the water.

My sisters Margie, Cheryl and Tammy, and my brother Tim joined us for a few days. It was great to see them, and to relive some of the old Tahoe memories and stories. Margie’s daughter Christie and grandkids also joined us for an afternoon.

Mary and I bade farewell to Tahoe on September 20^th which also happens to be our anniversary. We weren’t sure how far we could drive, but our goal was to be in a place with some good restaurants for our anniversary dinner. Luckily, we were able to make it all the way to Bend, OR. Jack and Nancy had recommended the Pines Tavern Restaurant and we were finally able to eat there. The food was really good and they even gave us free Crème Brule!

This trip made us realize the wonderful natural and manmade diversity that California has to offer, and on a large scale too. Mary and I have both lived in California before and we don’t really want to live there again, but we do think it would be great to spend the better part of a year exploring the full-range of California, enjoying summer in the mountains, winter in the desert and spring or fall on the coast or in the vineyards. No other state has every climate and habitat like California does.

We got home on September 21^st and now it is time to prepare for fall and winter. We are scheduling an open house for the weekend of October 22-23 as a last-ditch effort to sell the house before winter sets in. We are having a contest to see if I can win the lottery before we sell the house. Right now it looks neck and neck.

The road to Yosemite

Bob and I left our campsite at Mt. Lassen, uncharacteristically early so that we might have time to investigate Mono Lake after we arrived at our next campsite in the small town of Lee Vining, outside of Yosemite. It was a lovely day and the traffic was light that early, but between Reno and Carson City we had a blowout on the freeway. Fortunately it was a tire on the RV and we had a decent shoulder to pull off on. It took two hours for the tow truck to arrive and change the tire. We were unable to find a new one in Carson City on a Sunday, so we got a spot in a local RV park and had to wait until the tire stores opened on Monday morning.

On the way through Reno, before the tire POP, we had commented on a billboard that said that Kenny Loggins was in concert for that night ONLY. What a great way to spend the evening instead of being distressed about the tire and our delay. So we got tickets and went to the show, which was FANTASTIC!! Kenny, now 63, still has a perfect voice and tons of energy. He moved around the stage and the audience and did many old favorites. I once had tickets to see Kenny in San Francisco in 1986, but instead of going to the concert, I went to Yosemite with a friend from England. Now here I was on my way to Yosemite, and instead I went to see Kenny Loggins. Weird? Yes, but so exciting and serendipitous.

On Monday we got a new tire and landed at the RV park with enough time to visit Mono Lake. It’s quite an interesting place! Very salty water filled with brine shrimp and alkali flies. I did not enjoy the flies, but did see some interesting birds. Many migratory birds stop here to feed on the shrimp and flies during their long trip between the arctic and South America, and many California gulls from the coast nest here. The lake also has fantastic formations called tufas that build underwater where fresh water springs enter the salt water

Yosemite is truly spectacular. Tioga Pass is 9,945 feet and many of the upper park roads are above 8,000. We did some steep hikes at elevations up to and over10,000 feet and it is really tough for us sea-level folks. The Tuolumne meadows area is spectacular and filled with granite domes and steep cliffs. Bob and I loved the hike up Lembert Dome and we spent a few hours on the joint John Muir and Pacific Crest Trail where we came upon two deer who were eating mushrooms and were reluctant to leave their feast because two humans had entered the area.

Bob and I spent one day in upper Yosemite and one day in the valley. I have to admit that we didn’t like the valley as much. We hiked to Bridalveil Falls, Yosemite Falls and Vernal Falls, all of which were flowing like crazy. This is unusual in the fall, but we did have thunder and lightening storms yesterday. On our way into the park this morning we actually encountered snow on the road. There were lots of people in the valley and it was interesting to see that many were from Europe. We ran into a large group from the Czech Republic and several from the UK.

Next time we come to Yosemite, I think we’ll skip the valley and spend all of our time in Tuolumne Meadows and the upper park. We barely scratched the surface there.

Mt. Lassen - 10,457 feet

I had visited Mt. Lassen Volcanic National Park in 1990 and had always wanted to return here. This was Bob’s first visit to this amazing and diverse park. We love it here!

Hiking is high on the agenda for this entire trip and there are so many wonderful and varied hikes. We started with the Lassen Peak trail, but after 1.3 miles the trail was closed for repairs. The views were superb but we were at about 9,500 feet and a strong cold wind was threatening to blow us off our feet. A nice ranger guarding the gate took our photo. We’ll have to come back and do the whole trip to the top another time.

We also ventured into Bumpass Hell, an area of bubbling mud pots, steam vents, fumaroles and boiling ponds, replete with the smell of sulphur. The hiss and thunder of the steam vents was quite erie. These thermal features are constantly changing and a reminder of how active this whole area still is. Mt. Lassen had major eruptions in 1914 and 1915, but it has been quiet since 1921.

At the higher elevations we encountered snowfields along the road and trails. Often we had to slog over these patches of snow even though it was hot and most of the trail was very dry and dusty. We did find several lush green meadows and fields of prolific wild flowers. Yes, “spring” has finally arrived here at Lassen in mid-September.

Lassen National Park is one of the few places on earth that has four types of volcanoes: composite, plug dome, cinder and shield. Around these various volcanic mountains are lakes, streams and forests of pine, fir and manzanita. We didn’t see much in the way of wildlife.

The most challenging and interesting hike at Lassen was Cinder Cone. The trail went almost straight up and was comprised of soft sand and cinder pebbles. But it was worth the climb! We had spectacular views of Mt. Lassen and were able to walk down into the cone. All around we could see the lava that flowed out from the bottom and also the painted sands that formed when hot cinders landed on them.

A ranger suggested we go into Redding and see the Sundial bridge, so one evening we did just that. They had a rib cook-off and free concert in the park nearby and we enjoyed wandering around. After dark we walked the pedestrian only bridge which spans the Sacramento river. My how it has grown since that gusher coming out of the park in Mt. Shasta! The bridge has a frosted glass deck that is lit from beneath and it is quite beautiful at night.

There are so many trails still unexplored here that I’m sure we will come back again. And we need to make the trek all the way to the top on that trail that was closed for repairs.

Mt. Shasta - 14,165 feet

Bob and I decided to take one last road trip this summer before the cold weather sets in. We missed the California mountains on our big journey since it was winter on our way south in January 2010 and also on way home in April 2011, so this is our chance to visit those sites.

Our first stop was Mt. Shasta in northern California. We have both visited this area in the past, but this was our first time here together. Shasta is a mystical, magical mountain and draws spiritual seekers from all over the globe. We heard many foreign languages on the trails and even saw a group of monks and nuns at the highest parking lot.

This was such a late spring/summer in the west that we hadn’t been able to do any hiking in Washington until a few weeks ago when we did get to Mt. St. Helens and also to Mt. Rainier. Now we are at another volcano in the long chain that runs down the west. It was fabulous to get out on the trail to South Gate Meadow, which is high up on Mt. Shasta at about 9,000 feet. From the trail we could see Mt. Lassen in the distance and the coast range. We also visited Panther Meadow a little lower on the mountain. We are trying to adjust to the altitude, the heat and the dryness – all new concepts for us.

Right in the town of Mt. Shasta, is a city park where you will find water pouring out of the side of the hill. Locals come and fill their containers here with this precious clear water that has taken 50 years to filter through the mountain before gushing into a stream. This is the headwaters of the Sacramento river and we filled every empty container we had with this delicious water.

We also visited with Catherine who was on our dolphin trip this year. She owns a fantastic store in town called Soul Connections. If you find yourself in Mt. Shasta, don’t miss this amazing collection of books, gifts, musical instruments, clothes, etc. It’s right on the main street.

Bob and I also drove out to McCloud falls and hiked from the lower to the middle falls. It was lovely along the water and we enjoyed the respite from the high elevation of the mountain. Later that day we hiked at Castle Lake where Bob got to do a little swimming. This area reminded us very much of the Sierras.

We spent three nights here in Shasta and found the energy of the mountain to be very grounding and calming. I actually felt sleepy a lot. I was also drawn to look for Sasquatch on every trail and twist and turn in the mountain roads, but no luck – this time.

Central Oregon & Washington

We really didn’t get to explore or experience central Oregon or Washington on our epic journey, but we were able to hit some of the highlights this August.

Estacada, Oregon

Mary’s brother Tom lives about an hour outside Portland in the cascade foothills near the small hamlet of Estacada. Tom and his wife Janice have a large spread with lots of animals and wonderful views of the surrounding mountains.

We had a nice visit with Tom and Janice, their great dogs, the horses, the pig, the turkeys, the peacocks, the emu, the chickens, the llamas, the zebu, and of course the cats. We just stayed one night and had a great breakfast of fresh eggs in the morning. Thanks, Tom and Janice!

Detroit Lake and Breitenbush Hot Springs, Oregon

Next stop was Detroit Lake State Park, a pretty large lake and a nice campground with full hook-up sites. We spent an afternoon at the lake and I got to add Detroit Lake to my list of swimming holes. But, the big attraction here is to go to Breitenbush Hot Springs. Our 5^th wheel is a bit too big for the Breitenbush campground. Breitenbush is a Hot Springs Retreat Center run by residents of the adjoining intentional community. They host countless retreats and seminars throughout the year, but you can also just visit on your own, or even just for the day.

Mary and I got a day pass and lunch. They serve three vegetarian meals per day and the food is great. The real draw is the hot springs. There are three stone pools set along a hillside path with the farthest one being the hottest and also a place of silence. At the bottom of the hill is a series of smaller round concrete hot tubs that also vary in temperature. In addition there is a cold dunk tub that can be quite exhilarating! The water is extremely clear and pure and has no sulfur odor. They also have a steam hut. All the hot springs facilities are clothing optional and most people (but not all) partake of the pools in the nude. The clientele ranges from young families to old geezers and everything in-between. It is a fun and interesting place.

Bend, Oregon

We thoroughly enjoyed the hospitality of Jack and Nancy Smith (my aunt and uncle on Deb’s side). They have a very nice house on 13 beautifully manicured acres just north of Bend. We parked our 5^th wheel there as a base for exploring Bend, and we got to spend some time with Jack and Nancy. We connected with Mary’s friends Candace and Ed and Harry and Anne. We hiked Todd Lake and Smith Rocks State Park, and toured the High Desert Museum and surrounding area. Bend really has grown (85,000 pop.) into a great little city. The setting on the eastern edge of the Cascade Mountains seems almost perfect. It has excellent access to lakes and mountain hiking and skiing but with the sun and warmth of the high desert. Neither Mary nor I had been to Bend for over fifteen years and both of us were very impressed. The area is definitely a must see if you love summer or winter.

Leavenworth and Cashmere, Washington

My niece Laura (on Deb’s side) was getting married in Cashmere on August 21, 2011. Laura had asked me to officiate the ceremony, making this my second wedding service in two years. The occasion brought most all of the Hall side of the family together for the first time since Deb’s memorial service. We staged a surprise 60^th wedding anniversary celebration for Bill and Audry and we shared some fun times in the “Bavarian” town of Leavenworth Washington. The wedding ceremony went well, Laura was a beautiful bride, and the weather was very warm and sunny.

Road Trip Recap

Mary and I left Olympia on January 2, 2010 and returned home on April 15, 2011. It was quite a trip. We covered 44 states and put almost 50,000 miles on the truck (we estimate about 25,000 on the 5^th wheel).

Here are some observations:

• The infrastructure stimulus money has vastly improved many thousands of miles of local, state and federal highways. We ran into road projects everywhere.
• Northeast & New England roads are in the worst shape. The highways and surface streets were bumpy, rutted and full of potholes.
• Asphalt is usually a smoother ride than concrete.
• Turkey vultures and blue herons are everywhere (much to our surprise).
• Raccoons are the most prolific road kill in all areas of the country. We did see many species though including a bear and a cougar.
• Florida has the most specialized license plates – about 100.
• There is a lot of empty land everywhere!
• Bob likes wandering more than Mary.
• There is a lot of potential in this country for wind energy.
• Highest speed limit – 80 mph – west Texas I-10.
• Canadian customs will take away your 22 rifle.
• US Customs will take away your grapefruit.
• There are wild bears in Florida.
• Cougar warning signs are in most wilderness areas throughout the country, but the only one we saw was dead on I-10 in the California desert.
• Best Burger chain – Five Guys.
• Bridgeport CA (Hwy 395) had the country’s highest priced fuel ($5.39 diesel in April 2011).
• Safeway is our favorite large grocery chain.
• All “City Limit” signs should include population and elevation.
• All deserts and most mountains used to be sea floors.
• The desert really does feel like the ocean when you consider the wide open spaces and immensity of the landscape.
• The large monolithic rock formations of the desert are like the whales of the ocean.
• It is less scary going up than coming down.
• A lot of trees seem to be having trouble and are dying.
• The air, water bodies and landscapes are generally cleaner now than 30 years ago.
• American architecture is better now than 40 or 50 years ago.
• Old towns are usually more interesting than new towns.
• Some places haven’t changed in 40-50 years.
• The recent economic strife is visually evident almost everywhere.
• Waffle House is fun to say, but is not a good place to eat.
• There are still ashtrays at every table in some Kentucky restaurants.
• Retail workers in western states seem happier and have a better customer service attitude than most other places.
• It can be very difficult to nearly impossible to find a good latte in the vast majority of North America.
• The quality of your RV park and space matters at least as much as where it is.
• No matter where you are, or what you have, there is always something better, and there is always something crappier.
• There is no place in the USA that is dark enough to see all the stars.
• People are usually less scary than they look (they’d have to be).
• Outdoor tiki bars are a lot less fun when the temperature is below 50 degrees.
• Sailing really is more interesting than motoring.
• With a decent guide book and the internet it is often quite easy to know more than the locals.
• We missed our hairdresser and chiropractors more than we could have imagined.
• The more time you spend in one place, the less you remember what you did.
• Almost everyplace has an “historic downtown”.
• The eastern mountains may not be tall, but they are certainly steep and rocky!
• Boats and horses appear to be the most under utilized but well taken care of assets in America.
• Monthly expenses to travel the country in an RV are about the same as living in a house in one place.
• RV parks range in price from $25-$125 per night, but average around $40.
• The size of our rig made it comfortable for us to live in it for over a year, but limited the places we could stay, especially in state or federal parks.
• Many people told us it was their dream too, to travel the country for a year.
• Political campaign ads on TV are nasty in all states.
• There are very few places with good weather in the winter.

What’s Next?

Our trip made us realize that what we had missed spending the last 21-36 years in the Pacific Northwest was sunshine, hot weather and warm, clear water. We really appreciate Puget Sound, the forests, lush vegetation, and of course, our beautiful mountains.

Our journey allowed us to discover the wonderful beauty and clarity in the desolation of the desert, and to savor the freedom and pleasure of leaving for the day and not having to make sure you have a coat nearby. We thoroughly enjoyed the day-after-day sensuality of feeling the sun and warm breezes, and realizing that it can be warm even after the sun goes down.

Upon arriving home we spruced up the house and it is now for sale: http://www.nwwf.com/search/detail.cfm?cou=Thurston&ln=233896

We are not absolutely sure where we will end up, but we are thinking Southwest Florida, somewhere between Clearwater and Ft Meyers, most likely the Sarasota area and maybe even Longboat Key. The specific attraction of Southwest Florida is the accessibility of the salt water and the boating and sailing possibilities. Florida also provides easy access to the Caribbean. What Florida does not have is topography. There are NO mountains (or hills) and the hiking is mostly limited to nature trails in parks and wildlife refuges (at least in southern Florida). Beachcombing will have to replace hiking, biking will also be a good option, and we will have to make it a priority to get on (and into) the ocean often.

The fifth wheel will still be in the picture to help us escape from Hurricanes or possibly the humid heat of late summer. The road trip showed us that there are a thousand places in North America to explore warmly in summer, but there are only a few nice and warm winter escapes.

We love Puget Sound, but we are ready for a new chapter, and we are confident that friends and family will visit often, and that we will be able to help them explore new areas of the country.

The photos are Mary at a NW beach and Bob in SW Florida. Where do you want to be?

Home again

The drive from Reno through the east side of the Sierras was wonderful. We found ourselves in Ponderosa Pine forests and broad meadows with gorgeous views of snowy peaks. Bob and I even got to see Mt. Lassen for a brief time. At higher elevations, the snow was still along the side of the road, but the road surface stayed clear and dry the whole way. Mt. Shasta was also out in all her glory.

As we crossed over the Siskiyou Summit into Oregon, it started to rain. Ah, the Pacific Northwest – looking and feeling just as it did 16 months ago. Everything was green, cold and very soggy. We spent a night at an RV park along I-5 in Oakland, OR, and headed for home in the morning. It was cold and still raining with very low cloud cover when we left, so the mountains were all hidden from us. No glimpses of Hood, St. Helens or Rainier. Boo Hoo.

When we arrived home, we found that our house sitter had been able to move out and there were clean sheets on the bed, so we didn’t have to stay out in Harriet as we had expected. It was chilly in the house, but so good to see Franny and Lester, my cats.

Poor Lester is in kidney failure and down to 7 pounds from his previous 16. We are glad to be here and spend some time with him before he goes.

Right now we are busy doing yard work, cleaning up the house and trying to settle back into the old homestead. There is so much to do! And the weather is so cold! It’s like February here instead of April.

We’ll sit down and do a recap blog in the next few weeks. Many blessings to you and we hope that you are having a wonderful spring.

Eastern Sierras and Reno

If you ever have the chance to drive Hwy 395 from Reno to LA take it.

The road is good, and the scenery is great anytime of year. The Sierras from the east is a beautiful dramatic steep wall of granite. The high desert runs right to the base of forest topped granite walls. The area has also remained largely undeveloped and looks just like it did on the opening credits of “Then Came Bronson”.

We made a quick overnight stop at Keough Hot Springs before attempting the higher passes between Bishop and Reno. They have a few camping spots and the water in the large pools was very warm, but it could have been a little hotter for Mary. They did have a neat hot water spray over the main pool that was like a warm heavy rain.

In Bishop we stopped at the famous Schatt’s Bakery and loaded up on fresh bread and other goodies. After Bishop the road rises up to over 8000 feet and the snowy peaks were fantastic. We also drove through areas were the snow came right down to the road. The visitor center at Mono Lake was closed, but we spent a little time looking at the lake and enjoying the view.

It was a lot of fun visiting with my sister Margie and her family in Reno. My brother Tim from Auburn, CA even made a trip over the pass to visit with everyone for a couple of days. We stayed in the RV park at the Grand Sierra Resort and Casino and we were delighted to see that they were hosting a dog show this week. The RV next to us had five giant mastiffs and two boston terriers, and there were dogs walking around everywhere.

We had planned to leave Reno today, but due to snow and high winds in the passes, we stayed for one more day. The front brought the temps down and it is pretty cold, in the low 40s mid-day. The weather should be better tomorrow for our drive through the Sierras to Oregon.

Family in Camarillo, CA

Once we got through Banning Pass with all the windmills, it was kind of nostalgic for me (Bob) to drive through the LA basin. I grew up in Thousand Oaks, which is about 50 miles north of downtown LA, and about 15 miles northwest of the edge of the LA basin. From San Bernardino to Woodland Hills it’s just one huge metropolis with nearly identical municipalities following one after the other. The same stores, the same restaurants, the same bland architecture, and the same bumpy concrete freeways. Yet, there were some highlights. Pasadena at the foot of the San Gabriel Mountains is a green, well-treed Victorian oasis amid the urban sprawl, and it IS fun to see the famous vestiges of Hollywood wiz by as you drive down the freeway.

Once out of the San Fernando Valley, and into the Conejo Valley where Thousand Oaks is, it was amazing to still be able see the same undeveloped hills and trails where I rode motorcycles as a teenager. Spring is the best time in Southern California, especially, if they have had some rain and wind. The hills are green and the sky is clear. Southern California mountains are really beautiful when they aren’t all brown and obscured by the summertime haze and pollution.

North of Thousand Oaks, Hwy 101 drops down onto the coastal plain in Camarillo. This area was almost 100% agriculture in the 1960’s. It has seen a lot of development, but there is still a surprisingly large amount of agriculture still in operation. In the few days we were here, they were harvesting, celery, cabbage, broccoli and strawberries. And, everyone seems to have orange, lemon and avocado trees in their backyards.

We were here to visit my sister and nephew. My nephew’s fiancé recently passed away, and we wanted to spend some quiet time with them. It was good to just be with them for a while and offer some support. We all went out to Lake Casitas near Ojai for a picnic on the boat, but it was too cold and windy to go out on the water.

We’ll be heading home via Reno to visit my oldest sister and her two daughters that live in the area. We missed them last winter because of bad weather. We were going to take our time and stop in Bend, Oregon and visit Breitenbush Hot Springs, but Mary’s 18 year-old cat Lester is experiencing kidney failure and we will head right home after a couple of days in Reno.

Borrego Springs - again

This is the third time Bob and I visited Borrego Springs on this trip, and it is the only place with that distinction. There is something so sweet and funny about this little town in the desert that we keep coming back. The weather was warm and sunny and although the wild flowers were past their peak, we still saw lots of things in bloom. We even managed to find an early agave bloom that stood about 12 feet tall.

We hiked up Palm Canyon like we did on our first trip here and once again found the beehive in the rock wall. There were way more bees now than last year. We also saw 5 Peninsular Big Horn Sheep hanging out on top of the ridge for the few hours we were in the canyon.

We had some interesting neighbors at the Palm Canyon Resort. A group from Oshkosh Industries (not the overalls) was here to test the prototype vehicles that will be replacing the HumVee for the Army. These four door units seemed very stout with high ground clearance, heavy armor and small strong windows. We managed to get few pictures while they were parked.

A new treat for us was the trip over the hill, through Anza Borrego State Park to the mountain town of Julian. The hills in the mountains were covered in yellow flowers, blooming yuccas and blue flowering shrubs. We spent a few hours walking around town and had lunch at the famous Julian Pie Company. It WAS the best fruit pie of our whole adventure. (I’d still give the chocolate pecan pie in Dorr County, Wisconsin the blue ribbon for all pies.) It was quite cool up in Julian, around 58 compared to 82 down in the valley where we were camped.

We planned to bike around Borrego on our last day to enjoy the cactus blooms and nice flat roads, however a big storm was predicted with high winds and gusts to 75 mph, with zero visibility. That caused us to get up early, buy a few bags of delicious grapefruit at the local stand and head for the hills. We made it through the pass north of Palm Springs with only moderate wind as we hit the road for Camarillo, CA to visit Bob’s sister and his nephew.

Sedona

Sedona is a very unique and wonderful place that Bob and I just adore! Driving in you are greeted by red and white rock walls and spires, and with each mile the vistas change and expand. It is a dynamic and ever changing view.

We were anxious to see how we felt about Sedona after our winter in Florida. We still love it! So this makes our decision about where to relocate even harder. I had hoped that we would not be as enthralled as we have been in the past, but no such luck.

The thing we love the most about Sedona is the hiking trails. They are everywhere and this time we experienced a host of new ones. We were very surprised by the West Fork Trail that runs through a thick pine forest along a branch of Oak Creek. As we climbed to over 5,000 feet we ran into pockets of snow along the path, which was quite odd when the temps in town were in the low 80s. We had many water crossings on this hike that were really challenging, but we made it back with dry feet.

Bob is not a big fan of snakes and is always on alert in areas where snakes live. In our year on the road, we had only seen two snakes and neither of them were poisonous, but this week we encountered a three-foot long rattlesnake on the trail. So Bob finally got to experience a wild and deadly snake, that didn’t even rattle at us. He just slowly moved to the side of the trail. I got a few pictures before we turned around and let him have that path.

The weather here was perfect, sunny with blue skies and daytime highs in the upper 70s and low 80s. We saw the hottest days of 2011 so far.

Besides enjoying the many restaurants here, we made some new friends. We were able to meet and spend some time with Linda, from Dolphin Heart World. We also reconnected with a lovely couple we met at Lake Powell last year. They said they lived in Sedona and might be interested in moving to the northwest. We said we live in the northwest and might be interested in moving to Sedona. They have a fantastic estate here in Sedona, and have put heir home on the market. It’s definitely out of our price range, so no swap in the making.

Bob and I did spend an afternoon looking at homes with a realtor. The prices have really come down in the last two years, but we didn’t find one that we couldn’t live without. We still have some thinking to do about the Sarasota versus Sedona decision. It’s funny how we can be so attracted to such different places.

Jerry

About a year ago, Bob and I bought a little beavertail cactus in Borrego Springs, that we named Jerry. We had fallen in love with this species and their gorgeous fuchsia blossoms. Jerry has traveled with us for the past year, enduring cold and rainy times, days locked up in the 5^th wheel, and even a week in the truck bed while we were on our sailing adventure. At times we wondered if the little guy would survive all the climates and change that we put him through.

Not only did Jerry survive, but about a month ago, he started sprouting a new arm! Then another little bud started near his base. These two buds were growing daily.

When we drove down to So Padre Island, we left Jer on our picnic table in the sun. We felt he would be safe there, but when we returned, we found that someone had been nibbling on his new appendages. I was heartsick. Poor Jerry! All of his growth energy is now being directed to healing, so the buds have stopped growing.

Bob and I felt very bad for the little guy, but he seems to be OK. Next week we’ll be in his hometown of Borrego for a few days and we hope that gives him renewed strength. And we hope to again see some large stands of blooming beavertail cactus.