January 2019 – Adventures of Roy and Laurie

January 31, 2019January 31, 2019

A New Way To See The Desert….The Razor ATV

For years we have wanted to check out the world of riding ATVs so now that we are in the desert of Southern California/Arizona we decided to give it a try. The folks at Steve’s ATV rental were awesome and honest. They had us wait a few days after a rain storm as the muddy sand would have made for a tougher ride. We listened but still found plenty of mud on our ride day. This was Laurie’s unofficial birthday present so she got to do much of the driving. The desert wildlife got quite an earful as we bounced across the sand dunes……”serioulsy….Oh shit….slow down a bit…..keep it in the desert….can I drive?”

Just as we pulled out of the rental lot Laurie got to spread her ATV wings. Notice how clean the ATV is at this point.

Sometimes the track was very easy to navigate but…..

Other times you just have to take IT when you come to a fork in the desert.

A couple of nice folks offered to take our picture at one of the watering holes in the desert where ATVers congregate. Getting a bit muddy at this point!

This meeting spot was near a geothermal anomaly called a “mud pot”. Not very interesting after touring Yellowstone earlier but the crowd was very entertaining.

This was not the only rig we saw waving a large American flag but this one was also waiving a huge Trump flag also. Not sure Mr. Trump has ever been in the desert?

As we started to bog down with mud we both figured it would be my turn to drive a bit.

Don’t think I look quite as cool as Laurie but alas…..

I did wait for Laurie after she took this picture. What beautiful scenery to ATV through.

This spot was called the “Pumpkin patch”. Laurie thinks she looks like an alien. What do you think?

The folks at Steve’s gave us an extra half hour to get even muddier. He just shook his head after he took our picture and surveyed the mud caked onto the vehicle.

January 27, 2019January 27, 2019

The Anza-Berrego Desert

After a nice time in the San Diego area we moved a bit east to a town near Julian, CA. We stayed at the Stagecoach Inn RV Park and took a few nice hikes in the desert State Park right across the street. There were a number of potential hikes in the area but we came to know them as “routes” and not hiking trails. There are no markings or signs, just geographic anomalies that one can focus on getting to or from.

The namesake of the RV park we enjoyed for a few days.

A jumble of boulders would soon give way to an open desert canyon

This was our first attempt at walking a trail when there is no trail to follow. We followed the geographic lay of the land and left ourselves some “bread crumbs” to make it back to our truck later.

This is what a route or trail looks like in the desert. Simply pick a destination and head to it.

We likened this rock to something right out of the comic strip BC back home in Broome County. We could not tell if it was smiling or not?

During our hike we found what are called pictographs. These were actually painted by natives many years ago but no one knows the exact dates. They all seemed to be on rock that was somewhat protected from the elements such as rain or blowing sand.

These pictographs were a bit less well preserved but there must be a story worth telling here.

These “holes” in many of the rocks were supposedly for grinding the agave roots before baking them in pit ovens. We could not imagine how long it took folks to hollow them out of solid rock.

Some discussion was had regarding what this rock looks like but the final consensus was a sperm whale coming up out of the water. Any thoughts?

As we are very near the San Andreas Fault we were silently hoping these rocks would not fall on us in the event of a tremor.

We had to walk the 1.5 miles uphill to see what was billed as the broken down estate of the late author Marshal South. He made an attempted run from society with his family back from 1930 to 1947. It was a very pretty spot indeed but we could not imagine battling the desert elements, especially in the summer!

This was what was left of what appears to be a cistern to collect rain water for the estate?

This rainbow we caught on “film” tells all how we feel our luck is going lately!

January 25, 2019January 25, 2019

Our Stay In Coronado

When we saw this sunset on our first evening we knew a bit of time in our chairs on the beach each night would be appropriate

It is now time to plan our return trip across the country so we can be in New Orleans for Mardi Gras.

We need to stay on a southern route as we head east. Our Bullet trailer will not do well with freezing temperatures. That one night in Utah back in early November has us nervous about frozen pipes. With almost 2 months to make it to New Orleans and Mardi Gras we should have lots of time to do some exploring down south.

Coronado is a town on an island that boasts a wonderful state beach called Silver Strand. The sites were a bit pricey but when you are set up right on the Pacific Ocean for a few days we will call it even.

The aircraft carier USS Midway was so big we could not get a picture of it from outside so we stole this one from Googleimages.

Laurie show the proper respect for our armed services.

Upon entering the ship we were awed by how large and expansive it is

Much of our time was spent on the bridge and surrounding areas.

Captain Laurie at the helm. We could not imagine what it would take to keep this huge ship on course and free from hitting any obstacles!

Here is what a ship’s captain gets to look forward to after a long day on the bridge.

Here are a few more pictures of the internal workings of the ship:

Our tandem bike waiting for its return ride home to Coronado after a great day in San Diego!

We took a nice bike ride to see the Midway. This included a short 15 minute ride on a ferry across the bay.

Nice five minute ferry ride into downtown San Diego.

This ride was a lot smoother than our Catalina Island ferry ride!

First stop: Kansas City BBQ! This place was made famous when it was part of the filming of the Tom Cruise movie Top Gun. Their food was excellent too!

Laurie had a pulled pork sandwich and I had the baby back ribs. Gotta love the size of those onion rings!

We did manage to check out a few hikes in between touristing and bike riding. We did get to have dinner with my brother Art at a nice spot on the water:

A Chart house restaurant with a great view of the water while eating dinner with Art.

We took an afternoon and summited Mount Miguel near San Diego. We still cannot believe we can do all this in shorts in January.

A view of San Diego from the summit of Mount Miguel. We enjoyed watching all the planes fly into the airport there.

We took a bit of time to find the right bird to photograph as the flamingos in the wildlife refuge area were a bit elusive.

So ends our last day on the Pacific Ocean. This shot was taken right from our camper door!

January 21, 2019January 21, 2019

A Fare Thee Well To Amy’s Family & Thousand Oaks

We have been using Amy and Eric’s backyard/driveway as our home away from home for almost 2 months now. After covering as many “bases” as possible in the Southern California area we are finally heading a bit further south and then east for the start of a new year. Before heading out we simply had to visit Evelyn, Nestor and Gaby for a meal of homemade pupusas. This is the national dish of El Salvador

Laurie, Roy, Eric, Amy, Malia, Gaby, Robert, Sophia, Jordan, Evelyn and Nestor

These are truly awesome delicacies! The cabbage slaw on the left had a bit of a zing to it and the pupusas are pockets of meat and vegetables in a homemade cornmeal bread pocket.

This is Gaby. She was a wonderful hostess. She gave us the walking tour of their beautiful estate inside and out. She loved the flower blooming right outside their door.

After dinner Nestor played the piano and Evelyn sang for us before we watched a movie to wrap up our evening.

The next day it was tough to say goodbye but the smoked sockeye salmon fresh from Collin’s in Alaska helped the mood a bit.

As we headed out Amy and Eric made sure we took a bit of their home with us. We dried the fresh mint, rosemary and thyme and enjoyed fresh lemons and limes from their trees on the side yard. Amy also threw in 2 containers of split peas soup and one of creamed spinach.

January 17, 2019January 17, 2019

Wrangell, Alaska: Home To Collin, Ethel, Zak And Mac The Dog.

We had met Collin and Ethel for a quick breakfast in Seattle in September before they had to head back to Wrangell. They were finishing up a long trip to drop Zak off at college in Salt Lake City so the visit needed to be brief. This time we got to spend about a week catching up with them. The last time we were in Wrangell was in 2013 when we were on our way to bicycle the Alaska Highway from Haines, Alaska to Bonner’s Ferry, Idaho.

This is the view of Wrangell from atop Mount Dewey. This hike was a short half mile but very nice with a good view at the top.

Collin and Mac The Dog showed us the way to the observation platform on Mt. Dewey. We would hike up to it at least once a day to work off some of the holiday calories.

As was the case on most days this time of year, Wrangell was shrouded in fog for a good part of the day. We did get a nice picture of these two trees embracing in the fog..

Rainbow falls was another wonderful hike through a thick rain forest. Southeast Alaska has a climate a bit like the Pacific Northwest. It had snowed a few inches over night and was raining and 35 for our hike to the falls.

Even though the sun poked through the clouds for a minute, there was no rainbow at Rainbow Falls today. This is the spot that Collin recently proposed to Ethel A magical spot it is.

Petroglyph Beach is a nice spot near town where one can find neat rock carvings assumed to be created hundreds, if not thousands of years ago. We loved the driftwood stump that was the backdrop for a picture here 5 years ago too.

The ravens of Wrangell are bigger than the crows back east. They have a much louder and distinctive caw too. He kept a close eye on us as we looked over the stone carvings on the beach.

A low flying cloud prevented us from seeing the snow covered mountains surrounding the island town. The cloud did make for a nice picture though.

Mac is not telling everyone my domino values is he?

Collin’s recent purchase of a fat tire bike works well for him. Lots of sand and snow to ride it through in the area. I did try it out so you never know…….

I had to give the new bike a try. Very different and very cool.

Time for a hike in the National Forest…..Well, the Island’s golf course is right in the middle of the forest.

There were no golfers on this PGA certified 9 hole course. Being New Year’s Day we had the place to ourselves.

This was a very nice view from one of the fairways.

Luckily we were dressed for the rain today. We did not see one umbrella on the island even though it is technically in the rain forest zone.

We found it interesting that this sign was necessary! Our guess is that there would be very little road maintenance from April 16 to October 14 also.

A nice totem pole outside the Post Office/Customs Building.

Collin got to serve me a New Year’s Eve celebratory beer as he was working his second job after slaving away in the CPA’s office all day.

We had to include a picture of this menu. We did not try the “catch of the day” but the burgers we had at J&W Fastfood were absolutely wonderful

Zak showed Collin and me how the game Crash Bandicoot is really played. We were mastering this game long before Zak was born but that did not stop him from kicking our butts.

I helped Collin assemble the Peloton cycle he ordered as a Christmas present for Ethel. Very cool machine.

Almost completed. Now the tech part with the monitors etc.

Ethel, trying out her new gift by riding a simulated ride with other cyclists all over the world.

A fun time was had at Zak’s Cafe for New Year’s Eve. We had great food and nice conversation. The cafe is owned by Ethel’s sister Katherine and her husband James. They did indeed name it after son Zak.

January 9, 2019January 16, 2019

Some Nice Family Time In Seattle For Christmas With Ray And Family

A wonderful Christmas visit with Ray, Juliana, Melanie and Brittney in their welcoming home.

Christmas time means cookie time! Made with love, Santa was one lucky guy this year!
Left–>Right: Juliana, Melanie, Brittney

Gotta love early mornings on Christmas when there are children in the house.

Melanie and Brittney thoroughly enjoyed the bean bag chairs sent by Uncle Brad!

Melanie has been practicing her violin and gave us a short recital.

Melanie is also a great guitar player on the side.

Brittney can tickle the ivory with the best of them!

The girls really wanted to go ice skating so…….

Brittney was the big winner when she spun the prize wheel outside the skating rink.

This was the happy picture before we all hit the ice.

The old folks wished they were as limber as Brittney.

Melanie is a natural. Daddy deserves credit for being a natural at teaching this tough skill.

Being a natural must run in the family as Brittney also had a great time circling the rink with Daddy.

A tree in the center of the ice … very appropriate for a skate on Christmas Eve.

Uno was a big hit as far as card games go. Next time we will have to play Dos.

Melanie finished her Diamond Art project of a butterfly shortly after opening it up!

Brittney seems to enjoy the Diamond Art craft we game her for Christmas.

January 7, 2019January 7, 2019

Laguna Beach and Thousand Oaks Are Such Wonderful Places To Be!

We have just come back from a wonderful trip to visit Ray and family in Seattle and Collin and family in Wrangell, Alaska. We took a pre-holiday vacation to the Laguna Beach area south of LA.

Not saying we wish we were back in Upstate NY!

We set up our Bullet at a very nice campspot in the Crystal Cove State Park campground. Sunsets were awesome each night and the sound of the surf kept us sleeping a bit longer than desired each morning.

Sunset was always a must see.from our campsite.

As it was Christmas time we added a few festive lights to the inside of the camper. So cozy!

We took 2 nice hikes and a wonderful bike ride while at the campground for 3 nights. We even tried the famous In-N-Out burger joint for the second time. We can only justify the calorie intake after a nice day of exercise. The first hike was way up into the hills above the campground area. Our hiking app recorded over 8 miles and 100 flights of stairs accomplished!

This pretty beach is located between Laguna and Newport Beaches.

We had lunch under this nice outcropping.

Our basic view during the return segment of our first hike.

This portion of the hike was incredibly steep. We later found out it was not an actual hiking trail at all.

Our second hike came along the shores of the Pacific in Laguna Beach proper. Although there were many estates that were off limits, the shoreline was open to the public and boy was it gorgeous.

On the way out we chose the path taken by many

Check out the surfer about to be sucked into a wave, spun around, and spit back out!

We have tried constantly to live by this mantra.

These “street signs” were strategically placed along our hike. You have to love the Southern California attitude!

On the way back to the truck we chose to try and walk the beach back. We almost made it by hopping over the waves here and there. We could not have done this at high tide.

I was able to go around this sea cave but Laurie crawled through it.

This little guy seemed to want to ask us why we were not on the hiking path where all the other folks hike?

Below are a few pictures from our lengthy and wonderful visit with Amy, Eric and family:

A view of Paradise Falls in Thousand Oaks It had just rained the night before so the falls they were a-flowin’

On the hike this day were Us, Amy and Eric and our nephew Jordan.

Early one Sunday morning we were awakened by the roar of motorcycles. It was time for Amy and Eric to show son Robert and girlfiriend Malia how to ride on the Pacific Coast Highway.