I Miss You Sedona!

DAY 11:
This morning, while the birds were still sleeping,  we got up for one last meal out in our favorite town thus far.  Cafe Jose, where the locals eat, has a $4.99 Huevos Rancheros special that was to die for. After that we gassed up our rental car, dropped it off in the RV parking lot where it will be picked up, and broke down camp.  We were so sad to pack up as we didn't get to hike anywhere near enough trails.  Sedona, you are breathtakingly beautiful! We will come back to see you again!!!

Pippa travels on the sofa and now thinks its "her" spot!

We arrived at our Phoenix campground around 11:00 AM and we were looking forward to have a day or two to relax at "home."  We had been on the move so much that relaxing had not been high on the agenda. But first we were off to a Super Bowl party in the afternoon at Alvin and Miss Ellie's home in Mesa, a suburb of Phoenix.  We had a wonderful visit with our elderly friends and have made plans to meet one more time before we leave town.  While we were at Alvin's home I became increasingly concerned about Teddy's health.  His neck seemed to have swelled up considerably over the past few hours.  We ended up taking him to a 24 hour emergency vet where they had to reopen the drain holes, where the tubes had been removed.  This will
allow the release of the fluid buildup.  He was put on another round of antibiotics and pain meds.

DAY 12:

Our new campsite where we were planing to stay the duration of our Phoenix visit,  was nice enough with one exception.  It was right next to an airport and boy did we hear that.  It was hard to get any sleep, and the morning and afternoon were not any better.  It was so bad that we complained at the office;  they apologized and were willing to refund us our money without penalty for less than a 72 hour cancellation.  Apparently the airport has been crazy busy with private jets coming in due to the Super Bowl.

Giant cacti at the outlet stores.

Now we had to scramble to find a new place to stay that would be more agreeable. Within an hour we had broken down camp and were on the road again, this time in separate vehicles: the RV and our rental car for the week.  All this during rush hour, one behind the other, over freeways that had construction zones. This was just a tad bit intimidating without a copilot to rely on for directions.  Thank goodness for Apple MAPS app.!  We could not have done it without you.  We drove down to Spirit Mesa Resort, where there was just one dog-friendly space for us. Yay!  We were piloted to our site by an employee driving a golf cart.  He then guided us into our spot only to find that the construction that had been done the week before on that site had not settled and our RV tires were sinking as we were backing up.  We told them that this site would not do as our automatic levelers  would sink too.  To make a long story short, they did find us another spot that was actually much nicer and right next to a fenced doggie area!  It was 6:00 pm before we were settled and John and I were ravished.  Neither of us was up to starting the "fixing dinner  process," so we treated ourselves to yet another dinner out. Then we slept the night away.

DAY 13:
I started my day with doing two loads of laundry while John "gently sleeps," again. LOL  Our first order of business is to complete the registration process for which we had arrived too late the evening before. Then we were off to take the dogs and ourselves for a much needed walk.  When we got back we started meeting all sorts of doggies and their people.  I guess that is the beauty of being right next to the doggie potty area.

Breakfast and coffee on our patio.

There are folks here from all over, some that are here just for a week or two, and others that are here for months at a time.  They have pot-lucks for "all folks from Ohio," or "all folks from Alberta," or "all folks from Minnesota," etc.  We haven't heard of a pot-luck for folks from Oregon yet.  Maybe we'll have to host one! :)  Tonight we BBQ the chicken that was supposed to have been last night's dinner.  I was going to bake some dessert but John has this thing


about not using any of the propane appliances, so no dessert for us.  Tonight we poured over the pages of activities that are offered at the resort this week and we've decided to let ourselves be know in several of them over the next few days.  The Caldwell name will be remembered as true competitors or as fools who didn't know what they were doing.  Regardless, we'll have fun doing it.

Munds Wagon Trail

DAY 10:

View of Sedona in the Valley

After a steady rain the last couple of days, we were scheduled to have a break in the weather.  With this information, John and I decided to get a hike in first thing in the morning, before the sun rises over the canyon walls.  If we thought we liked the trail hike around Bell Rock and Courthouse Butte a few days ago, then this was ten times better!  Yes it was muddy, but hey, we're here only a few days.  It 's now or never???  The Munds Wagon Trail is a wilderness trail that zig zags across Oak Creek's dry river bed in numerous areas, except it wasn't dry today.  The creek was filled with running water creating waterfalls and areas that we had to traverse through.   Yes, we got wet but we had so much!!!  The dogs loved the trail too especially having drinking water available as needed.  We turned around after a 1 and 1/2 hour hike one way as we did not know for sure how long it would take to continue the trail all the way around one of the red rock mesas.  The hike back took a little less time probably because we did not stop to take as many pictures.

Forging through Oak Creek

Morning mist

When we got back to the rental car we had to clean the dogs before we could load them up.  Thank-goodness we had thought of brining a bucket with fresh water to put their paws in to clean them up a bit.  We also had plenty of doggie towels spread out on the back seat.  Then, when we got home, we took Da Boyz into the RV shower one at a time to clean them up completely.  Pippa, being a little taller, did not need a shower as her height kept her from dragging her belly in the red clay.  Only after we cleaned the pups did John and I get to shower.  Our red clay-coverd shoes are still sitting outside the RV waiting for their turn.  The washer and dryers at the camp do not permit shoes in the machines, and I understand why! We also found out that the marathon that was scheduled for today was cancelled due to the flooding of many sections of the trail.  Only the half marathon, the 10K and 5K were run.  Apparently this was a very unusual and sizable rainfall for this neck-of-the-woods.

Cathedral Rock

By 12:30 we were on our way to Jerome, a revived ghost town known for its copper mining the first half of the 20th century.  After WWII it was discovered by hippies who have claimed it and have turned it into an artisan town.  John enjoyed going through the museum while I walked the pups.  On our way back to Sedona we stopped  at the infamous Cathedral Rock to get a closer look.  It is supposed to have some beautiful trails around it as well but due to the rain we just didn't get to it.

Delayed Photos of the GC

DAY 8 continued:
I wrote yesterday's entry before we went to dinner with our new neighbors.  So let me just catch up quickly. We dined at the #1 Trip Advisor restaurant in Sedona: Casa Sedona and it was fantastic.  It is not your traditional Mexican food.  It is REFINED Mexican food at it's best!  I had a salad with fresh goat cheese and John had the Spinach/Fennel enchiladas with duck.  The prices were, to us, very high for Mexican food, but for Sedona they were fair.

DAY 9:  Rain, rain, go away.  Come back some other day!  The much needed rain in this region has kept us from going on the hikes we had so looked forward to taking with our pups.  Walking in red clay however, is just not fun.  Besides, it was rainy, misty, and cloudy so we would not have seem much anyway.  We took the opportunity instead to check out the local native artifact vendors that are along Hwy 89A, 365 days a year come rain, sleet, snow, blizzards, etc. We also visited some galleries displaying Navaho and Hopi woven rugs and jewelry.  If you want the real "quality" McCoy, you pay for it though!

                          We finally downloaded some of our Grand Canyon photos.  We've had trouble moving them in an orderly fashion however.   :(

John took this picture of me from an opposing cliff.

Center top corner is trail head down the canyon

Enlarge view of trail down.

  

View of the Colorado River

    

Javelins and the Grand Canyon

DAY 7:

A little statue in Sedona

The first order of business each morning is to take Teddy, Pippa, and Otis our for their "relieve walk."    I do this while John gently sleeps the morning way. LOL.  It has been a little more difficult to take them potty by myself since Teddy needs some extra care.  This morning Otis, as usual, was the first one out of the RV, but it was not as smooth as it usually is.  He darted off under the RV and started to bark wildly.  I had to reign him and settle him down before I could do anything else, but that was easier said than done.  We were surrounded by a herd of Javelins, a native small pig that roam freely in this part of the country.  At first I thought it was just six or seven, and then I saw the whole mob, probably two dozen of them.  I had to pick Otis up and get us both to safety as I had heard that Javelins can be nasty if feeling threatened. Once they were gone, I took the pups for their walk, fed them their breakfast, and proceeded with our day.

The magnificent Grand Canyon did not disappoint! We took our rental car for the two hour drive to see this natural beauty on Wednesday, as the weather was predicted to be clear.  We left our rig by 8:30 AM and got to our destination by 11:00ish.  After checking into the Visitor's Center we approached the canyon cliffs with great anticipation, but we were saddened that the whole canyon was filled with milky clouds.  You could only see the other side of the divide, and we were concerned that we may not get a full impression of the grandeur of this magnificent national park.   We proceeded to take our pups for a three hour walk along the south rim.  As the noontime hour came upon us, the clouds parted and we were able to soak in the beauty that the GC has to offer.  We  ventured out on some of the fenced cliffs to get a more impressive view of the canyon floor.  We did get a peek of the Colorado River between the steep canyon walls.  More pictures to follow.

Apple slices, nuts, and  bottled water sustained us for lunch.  Even the pups enjoyed some fruit.  There were many tour busses loaded with visitors from Japan.  Apparently we were a site to be seen as many of these visitors wanted to take a picture of us with our pups.  Pippa especially seemed to be of high interest.  We were amazed by the attire many of these Japanese people were wearing:  stilettos, dress pants & shoes, shirts and ties, etc.  You would have thought they were going out to a nice restaurant rather than a wonder of nature.  By 3:00 PM all five of us were tuckered out and we were more than happy to get in our little rental and head back to camp in Sedona.  Once we had arrived at our RV and changed our clothes, we headed out for our first dinner in a restaurant at The Golden Goose.

DAY 8:
Squealing during the wee hours of the morning brought to mind the Javelins I saw the previous day.  They were surrounding our RV again and I had to let our pups know that all was okay.  Today was a much needed day of rest.  No long car ride for this family!  Today we just want to stick around "home" and see a bit of the townsite Sedona.  We did take our pups on an hour walk up a dry creek-bed so that we would feel better about leaving them in the car while we window-shopped.  We met some of our neighbors and their dogs, sat on the patio while the dogs chewed on their toys in the doggie kennel, and I did some laundry.  It was nice to just relax.

Teddy and Otis napping outdoors

John and Pippa doing their thing.

So many trails choose from

DAY 6:
Today is our official first full day in Sedona and we couldn't wait to hit the trail, but before we could put on our hiking boots, we had to pick up our rental car.  By the time we were done with the car we realized we had to feed our hungry tummies.  Cafe Jose had been recommended as the place where the locals eat.  We enjoyed our 11:30AM breakfast. It is served all day, and then w went in search of the park pass we would need through-out our stay.  Because one of us is over 62 years, we got a life pass to all national parks for just $10.00.

We chose Bell Rock/Courthouse loop trail for our very first hike.  It was reported to take about two hours and we figured that's all we would have time for today as it was already 2:10 when we got to the trail head.  Bell Rock can also be climbed, but we figured we would just go around it especially since we had our pups with us.  The trail was very nicely maintained and clean (if red dirt is clean).  It was also well marked which is important as many other trails come and merge onto the loop we were taking.   The terrain changed from powdery red dirty, to red boulders, to rocky flats that looked like they have regular flash-floods come over them.  The biggest treat were all the rock formations that could be seen around each new bend.  The colors were the brightest when the sun was directly on the.

When we got back to the car, the dogs as well as the both of us downed some water, and then the pups were more than happy to sleep on the back seat on our way to town. One stop was a must for us.  We had been so consumed with all that we would need for our RV trip that we totally forgot to pack a day-pack to carry bottled water, snacks, 1st aid kit, etc.  We had to stop at a sporting-goods store to get that pack. We all need water on the trails.  We are now back at "home" and all three pups are out for the night.  I think John and I will turn in early as well as we have another big day planned for tomorrow.

We took a bunch more pictures but we're having trouble transferring them to the laptop.  The wifi at the campsite is not the greatest. :(

ARIZONA are you ready for us?

DAY 5:
3:15 AM.  Drowsy with sleep I hear noises followed by Otis and Pippa whining and panting heavily.  I wonder what is going on.  I make my way to the living room were I put on some clothes and shoes.  I am a chicken at heart so I'm not about to go outside without my protective Pippa, and Otis has to come too.  I hear it again and this time I realize that what I've heard: coyotes, and they are very close by.  Our neighbor's dog is going nuts and now Pippa and Otis are all excited as well.  The coyotes are howling followed by a sequence of yapping.  My pups take advantage of being outside and do their business before I drag them back in the RV in order to get some more sleep.  All this excitement happens while John and Teddy sleep through the whole ordeal.  There are definite benefits to being hard-of-hearing!

We have an appointment at 8:00 AM to have Teddy's drainage tubes removed from his neck.  While there we learn that the howling followed by yapping of the coyotes is indicative of them having killed a prey.  We are told that usually coyotes are hard to find during the day but that off-leash dogs who pick up on their scent and chase one, will undoubtably be lead towards the pack of coyotes and then attacked.  Good to know!  The appointment takes just minutes.  I explain that we have no need for other services but we are told that the tubing can only be removed after an examination.  Yea right!  After paying a $50.00 bill and walking back to our rig, I swear I hear howling and yapping coming from the clinic.  We've no doubt been easy prey.

As soon as we cross over into Arizona, the scenery seems to change. Everything is neater, cleaner somehow.  We stop in Kingman for a coffee and inquire if there is a place where we can get good fresh masa.  A few phone calls and we know where we'll need to stop on our way home.  :)  The scenery around here reminds us of central Oregon with its many pines.  It is beautiful.  We turn off I-40 and turn on to the I-17 and then Hwy 89A to Sedona.  It is the scenic route and boy was it ever gorgeous.  The road itself is a steep grade, dropping 2500 feet in about 10 miles with many hairpin turns and in sections very narrow.  It is like driving Hwy199 "narrows" for 10 miles while going down hill. The speed limit in this section ranged from 40 to 10 mph.  Many times we wished we could have stopped to take pictures but there were just no turn outs.  The good news is that tomorrow we get our rental car and we'll go exploring over the next 5 days.

The town of Sedona is so cute.  As we drove through, we noticed that it was crawling with Snowbirds.  We look forward to joining them in window-shoping tomorrow and the days to follow.  The town is said to be very dog-friendly and even has

a restaurant that "caters to our K-9 friends".  We love our campsite at the Rancho Sedona RV Park.  We are nestled in the trees that in the summer will provide much desired shade.  An Airstream pulled in next to us, and would you know it, Kees the owner is from The Netherlands.  He owns his Airstream and truck, keeps it parked in storage state-side, and then comes over for several months at a time throughout the year.  His significant other is Italian, and they met in Spain a few years back.  It is such a small world!  Cheers, Salud, Proost!

Needles, CA

DAY 4:
We left our campsite in Bakersfield this morning in the hunt for a nearby Walmart and Starbucks.  We had finished our case of water and were in desperate need of more, and we needed our morning cup-of-joe to get us over the Tehachapi Mountains. What should have taken 10 minutes to find turned into 40.  We had a good idea as to where this Walmart and Starbucks were supposed to be so we just headed down Hwy 99 until we could see it. The only problem was that the fog was soooo thick that you could barely see the car in-front of you, needless to say a Walmart that was on the opposite side of the road.  We ended pulling off the road and engaged the Apple Maps app.  We now knew which exit to take, followed the directions, got our necessities, and headed over the Hwy 58 to Barstow.  We were grateful that it was a quiet Sunday morning or the detours of the hunt could have been a lot longer.

Our rig has a standard gas gauge and a window that shows how many miles 'till empty.  This window has proven to be very accurate. It stated that we had 243 mile until empty.  Barstow was just under 170 miles down the road so we figured we were good to go!  And, I think we would have been fine!  However, climbing those steep mountains probably used more gas than the little "gas window" had accounted for so, rather than pushing through to get cheeper gas, we opted to be on the safe side and gas-up some 20 miles west of Barstow, the first gas station we had seen in over two hours.  Later we realized that we paid about 35 cents per gallon more at this lone station.  That is not too terrible for a car that takes 12 to 15 gallons, but our RV was thirsty.  It gulped 73 gallons!  Next time we venture across a desert we will have our tanks filled to the rim.

Today's drive from Bakersfield to Needles was pretty much all through the Mojave Desert.  It was beautiful how the color of the mountains change in places, but it was also very barren.  We cruised at 70 mph for much of the first half and saw many of the mountain ridges were covered with windmills. During the second half of the trip we found out for ourselves just how windy it can get there.  The wind kicked up forcing us to slow down so that we would not be blown off the road.  We arrived at the Palm River Resort (http://www.palmsriverresort.com) around 3:00 pm.  Teddy and Otis don't seem to mind the driving too much, but Pippa is not too sure of the whole RV thing.  She sits in the same spot and pretty much pants the whole time we are on the road.  She then reluctantly climbs in after having been outside for a while.  We hope that a few more days of this will get her to realize that this IS fun!

The Palm River Resort is on the Colorado River. After leveling the rig we took a nice stroll along the river's edge with Otis and Pippa before heading back to our home-on-wheels.  We talked to several people that are staying here, and many of them are true Snowbirds, staying from mid December until mid March each year.  There are also quite a few modular homes that "flying Snowbirds" use for their stay, as well as the used as vacation homes.   After dinner I settled down with my computer and John with an atlas, studying our route for tomorrow.

Ready, Set, Go! (Snow-birding Days 1-3)

WE ARE DOING IT!!!  We are finally trying the long-awaited RV mode of travel.  Sedona and Phoenix, AZ here we come!  We are looking forward to visiting friends and seeing natural wonders, including the Grand Canyon of course.  On Tuesday (1/20) we picked up our Newmar Bay Star from Guaranty RV in Eugene and drove it home to Brookings.  Mission completed!  We made it home very uneventfully and felt more confident each mile we got closer to home.  Once in Brookings we spent the next day loading all those items we felt necessary for a four week trip with our pups Teddy, Otis, and Pippa.  We were assisted by wonderful friends who are loaning us a portable BBQ, an outdoor rug, chairs, foldable dog fencing, etc, etc.  Did we think of everything? Oh yes, we have that electric heater that was a must according to Joop & Ine's RV experience.

DAY 1:
Bright and early on Thursday 1/23 we were ready to hit the road.  We had been warned about the difficulty of navigating Hwy 199 with an RV but we did not want to head down the coastal route. We figured that if we went through the "narrows" before the sun was up, we could use our emergency flashers to warn others, specifically semi trucks, that they were about to come upon novice motorhome drivers, and that they would possibly need to give us more than our share of the road to prevent complications.  LOL  Some healthy fear was definitely at work as we headed towards our first hurdle.    Truck traffic was pretty heavy for such early hours, but as we proceeded into the narrow stretch of the road, very slowly I might add, it was as though someone had waved a magic wand and made all traffic disappear.  We had the complete section of the "narrows" all to ourselves.

Our first stop was breakfast at The Teapot on Wheels, a new little restaurant we discovered just weeks before outside Gold Hill, that has great RV parking across the street.  After filling up on delicious food we were now ready to leave our own backyard.  In planning this trip we allowed for potty breaks for all five of us every couple of hours.  The one for this leg of the trip happened to fall just outside of Weed, CA.  Unfortunately we had our first "incident" there.  We had parked the RV, leashed our pups, and were walking to the doggie area when a lady with a male pit-bull broke lose from her grasp, knocked her down, and charged our dogs.  First Otis, who barked and yelped wildly, and then, without notice the pit-bull turned to Teddy,  grabbed him by the throat, and tossed him to and fro like a rag doll.  The owners and we alike attempted to loosen the dog off of Teddy.  John eventually succeeded, but not without Teddy having multiple puncture wounds in his neck.  Needless to say we had to take Teddy to the closest vet, where drainage tubes were inserted in the biggest holes, stitched up, and sent on our way.  We were grateful that the owners of the pit-bull were very sorry and did all they could to make things "right."  They followed us to the vet and they did pick up the $400.00 bill.

Needless to say, we got to our Redding destination later than expected.  Teddy was on my lap, still somewhat sedated.  When I got up I realized that Teddy had lost bladder control, wet through not only the towel he was laying on,  but my pants as well. Pff.  What a way to start the vacation!

On to the positive... the camp space that we were assigned in Redding was a "back in" space surrounded by trees, lamp post, and other RVs.  This was our first test.  Could we back this baby up without hitting anything?  YES WE CAN! It takes two to complete this task; John and I make a great team!

DAY 2:
The next morning we hit the road heading for Sacramento.  Rather than staying at an RV park we opted to park on the street in-front of Nolan and Anneliese's new home.  Thank goodness this was an uneventful day!  We spent the rest of the day visiting with our kids, walking Otis and Pippa (Teddy is to not walk much for a few days), eating at the Indo Cafe in oldtown Sacramento, and going to the movies.

DAY 3:
Another uneventful day, yay! We left Sacramento at 9:00 am, stopped for an hour coffee break around 11:00, and arrived in Bakersfield around 2:30pm. We chose to use CA Hwy 99 which is apparently under construction.  In many places the shoulders were "closed",  lanes were narrow, and truck traffic was heavy. This made driving the RV a bit more stressful as there were just inches between our mirrors and those of the semi trucks next to us.  We took Otis and Pippa for a nice long walk once we were settled in our camp site.  This was refreshing for all of us.  Dinner tonight... a salad with chicken that John had deboned before we left home.  Brrr. The evening is getting cold outside here in Bakersfield.  That heater is coming in handy already.  Better to use the electricity that comes with the hook-up fee than having to pay for propane fill-ups. Thanks Joop & Ine.

Teddy says that the view is nice from the driver's seat.

Traditions

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

At the Akin homestead they have this unusual tradition on Christmas morning. A can of silly string is given to each person, then once everyone is outside, "All is fair." Alliances that may were made around the breakfast table seem to quickly disappear as individuals turn on each other. Hoods were pulled off and shirts were grabed and silly string squirted down collars. The rain held off while we turned on each other.
After cleaning up the mess we made we came inside to open the abundance of presents that were waiting under the tree. Teddy and Otis really enjoyed their treats.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

Game Day

Yes,we have tickets to THE game of the year and here is a picture to prove it! Sadly we won't be occupying these seats. We have already promissed them to a friend.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

Teddy and Otis

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

Vampier Teddy!

Messy Job

In an attempt to cut back on expenses I decided to try making my own bird-seed block for my feathered friends. I found a recipe online that sounded like it might survive the torrential downpours of the Pacific Coast, and regardless, hold the seed together. It actually did not take long to make but it was MESSY. As per instructions, I put the block in the fridge to "set-up" overnight. This morning I took it out and tried to push the seed block out of the 2 lb coffee can of which I had opened both ends. I pushed and pushed to no avail. I guess I should have lined the can with wax paper or something like it. In the mean time, I've put the seed outside, in the can, in the hopes that the birds will be able to feed on it at least for a little while. When a dent has been make in it, I will try to cut the rest out and then try again.

OR....maybe I should try to make the block into large rectangles instead. I just thought of that. What a good idea!

DUCK FEVER

Yep! DUCK FEVER has hit the WHOLE country. And Yes, we are DUCK fans!!! Go DUCKS!!! I AM A DUCK and proud of it.

DOUBLE Sniff

Anneliese is sniffing because she has a runny nose. I am sniffing because my brand new Droid X is sick. Wednesday evening we were getting ready to leave for a friend's home. I had several things to do before we could leave. My arms were full as I approached my car with no way to open the doors, so I had to put some things down. Among those things was my new phone. I put it on the roof of my car as the garage floor was wet from all the rain we've had lately. When we FINALLY left, I was just a little bit miffed, and my mind was just on "getting out-a-here." I forgot about my phone! It wasn't until I heard the clunk-clunk when driving on the 101 that I realized what I had done.

We doubled back home were I thankfully was able to locate my Droid on line with the built in GPS system I had registered with. It still took a while to find it as by now it was dark. BUT, my new baby is sick and I had been taking such good care of it while waiting for my protective cover to arrive. My Droid is all beat up and the back of it is missing, but surprisingly it still works although it has some glitches.

Sniff, sniff! I am just sick at heart! It has taken me almost 3 days before being able to write about this. Morale of the story???? ...when you are even just a little upset, act...don't react.

Thanksgiving 2010

It was so wonderful to have our home filled with family and friends, and it was sooooo sad when everyone left.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

Peru Trip 2010

July 1st
John and I left home early this morning, dropped off Da Boys at a friend's home, and made it to SF in time to celebrate Anneliese's 25th birthday with a progressive dinner to some of the eateries on the 100 best places to eat in SF.
Please go to the Picasa link listed on my Blog for pictures of our trip!

July 2nd
We spent the day eating through SF again. In the evening we watched Nolan and Anneliese pack their things before heading to the airport.

July 3rd
After an absolutely wonderful trip with outstanding flight connections, we arrived in Lima in the late afternoon and we took a taxi to our accommodations. There were no restaurants within walking distance so we went to a local (nice) grocery store where we partook of all sorts of delicious items.

July 4th
We got up early in the morning to catch our flight from Lima to Cusco. As soon as the doors to the plain opened, we noticed the adjustment in our breathing. In the airport there were several station with oxygen tanks with masks for those needing assistance to the elevation. We were okay but took it easy the rest of the day as we explored Cusco.

July 5th
Today we took a tour of Cusco provided through Apus Peru that we had enlisted for this trip. Cusco was the previous Inca capital and today we were going to see some of the ruins on horseback. We went to many archaeological sites and ended up walking more than we had anticipated. By the end of the day, my legs were a little weak and bowed (from sitting on my horse.) When I got off at the last stop I landed wrong and did a job on my right knee. I feared that this might impact my ability to participate on the hikes in the coming weeks. Nolan ended up finding two knee braces for me which I wore (both of them) and I was able to enjoy the rest of our vacation, albeit it did slow me (us) down a bit. We found a wonderful Peruvian place to have some dinner and then John and I went back to our hotel while Nolan & Anneliese did some night exploration.

July 6th
Today we took a taxi to Pisac, a little town about an hour from Cusco. The main attraction: the fabulous market and more Inca ruins. We ate some delicious foods off the street vendors. The market was so great that we never did leave. I wonder if having to watch the World cup football game that was on TV had anything to do with it. We found a little bakery that had a TV and planted ourselves there for the duration of the game. Then it was back to Cusco. Thank goodness the taxi driver on the return trip was a little less aggressive. Boy are they crazy drivers there! John and I took it easy again in the evening and packed up for our departure the next day.

July 7th
We were picked up this morning by our guide from Apus Peru and we drove to Urubamba where we visited several sites from a Community Agricultural Project. We saw pottery being made, chocolate processed, bee hives robed of honey, and a Guinea pig (cuy) farm. Again we had to make time for another football game, this time at a local home where we were also served a three course lunch. At last we were taken to our next accommodation... Casa Calibri. The hosts, Barbara and Robert were awesome as was their place. The facility was beautifully landscaped and very comfortable. Nolan and Anneliese went back to the market place after settling in and ended up bringing us back an array of local goodies. Boy more food! We had already eaten some delicious treats with Barbara and Robert. So much for not overeating!

July 8th
This morning we got up early to join Robert so that he could showed us the coffee making process from husking the raw beans all the way to brewing us a delicious cappuccino. How awesome was that. Robert roasts his own beans in what may be called a primitive way as they can not always count on electrical power being available.
After another short trip to the market which by the way reminded me of Spain some 50 years ago, we took a taxi to our next destination: Ollantaytambo. We saw some of the most beautiful ruins there. Ollantaytambo is the only Inca city that is still inhabited. Ollantaytambo is significant in another way.... Anneliese and John actually ate Cuy today. Nolan and I were the only sane ones. Who eats these little pets?!! We also purchased some beautiful artworks before leaving the next day.

July 9th
The BIG awaited day! We met up with our guide Big Willie from Apus Peru this morning just before boarding the train towards Aguas Calientes. We had about an hour-and-a-half ride before being let off at kilometer 104, in the middle of nowhere. This was the beginning of our Machu Picchu, 6.7 mile, stair master trek! And what a trek it was. We saw beautiful flora as well as beautiful mountain and valley views. The higher we hiked the more the civilization below looked like miniatures. There were several ruins to visit before hitting the grand-finally, the most impressive being Winayhuay. The steps leading up to the Sun gate were very steep and with very high treads, apparently constructed in this way to increase the speed with which the Quechua people climbed them. Once we went through the Sun gate, Machu Picchu unfolded before us. Wow, what a site. We behaved like typical tourist and took many pictures. As nightfall was just around the corner, we took a shuttle bus down to town, Aguas Calientes, were we had dinner and spent the night in a hostel.

July 10th
The first set of buses to Machu Picchu left at 5:30 AM. We got up at 4:00AM to get in line with the hundreds of other tourist who wanted to be first! Big Willie gave us a new appreciation for the Inca civilization by giving us an awesome tour. By 10:00 AM there were literally 1000s of people at the site. We lost interest in staying as all one could see was tourist all over the place. We took the shuttle back to town were eventually we got back on the train to Ollantaytambo. We were grateful to arrive back at our hotel and shower and put on clean clothes.

July 11th
Taxi service... again, to just east of Urubamba. We stayed Aranwa, a swanky, westernized place. After at first being impressed with all it had to offer, we grew tired of it and got back in a taxi and visited another village and it's market. Nolan and Anneliese bought some dolls and we bought some artwork for Chelsey. Then it was time for the World Cup football finals. We found a local eatery with a TV and had a three-course-meal for under $2.00 amongst all the locals. When we got back to our accommodations Anneliese and I took advantage of the spa and had a massage while the guys played pool. Dinner followed and then to bed for a good night's rest.

July 12th
This morning we had to carefully decide what to take with us on our 3-day trek in the Andes. We packed our day packs and duffel bags, the latter to be caried on the pack horses. Our first stop of the day was at a market Calca to buy oranges and toys for the indigenous people. Our next stop was Lares where John and Anneliese took a dip in the hot springs. From there we went on foot to our fist camp site that was supposed to take about 3 to 4 hours. Since I was slowing our trek down due to my injured knee, I ended up riding the "emergency" horse so that we could get to our destination before it was totally dark. Boy, was it getting cold when that sun started to go down!!! Eventually we got to our campsite where a "tea time" was already set up for us. A while later we were invited into a local family's hut where they shared their dinner with us: boiled potatoes. Potatoes is their staple food and most families high up in the mountains eat just them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We were glad to be able to share our prepared dinner with this family in return. Nolan was even able to do a mini diagnosis of two family members who had hiked 4 hours one way to see a doctor only to find out that the doctor was not in. His help was much appreciated.

July 13th
After a hardy breakfast we hit the trail again. Today's trek would take us to a height of 16,000 feet. It was a slow and steady hike and very enjoyable. When we finally descended into the valley for our second night, we came across a woman weaving a scarf that Anneliese fell in love with. I think she would have bought it but we were told that it would take a few more days to finish. Disappointed we all continued down to our campsite where we were met by the school children for whom we had brought the oranges. It was fun handing those out and even more rewarding was knowing how much these children are in need of nutritious foods. Nolan played a little soccer with the children and went on another hike to a lake with Anneliese while John and I again rested our older bones for the afternoon. We shared our dinner with the school teachers and had a wonderful visit before going to bed. Both John and I were in much need of a good night's sleep. Unfortunately that was not to happen. I froze my little butt off, and I kept waiting for that sun to come up all night to warm me back up. Brrrrr.

July 14th
Finally I see some rays of light appearing. Brrrrr! We were greeted with a cup of coca tea to get us moving. And, as the sun appeared, it amazed us how quickly the temperatures rose. For the record... I am never sleeping in a tent in freezing temps again. Our tents were covered with frost and puddles were frozen solid around our tents. No sooner had we gotten up when the indigenous women started to arrive with their wears to sell. We were all surprised to see the scarf that Anneliese had fallen in love with, completely finished. Apparently the lady had stayed up all night to work on it. Needless to say, Anneliese was delighted and the sale was finalized. After breakfast we left on the last leg of our trip. What a beautiful scenery. Today's trek included a trail that had disappeared due to a mountain slide. It was a scary section and I was glad when we had all traversed that site safely. Lunch awaited us by the van that was to pick us up and take us back to civilization. It took us a couple of hours on the dirt and rain washed out roads to get us back to Ollantaytambo. From there we drove another two hours to get us back to Cusco. A warm shower and a clean, warm room never felt so good. After cleaning up we met our two guides and driver for a farewell dinner at what had become one of our favorite Peruvian eateries. Wow, what a vacation we've had.

July 15
Our last day in Cusco was spent going to the local market were we purchased chocolate and coffee to take home with us along with a bottle of Peruvian wine and Pisco. We ate at some of our favorite street vendors and bought some more artwork. We asked the hotel were we were staying to make us some of their delicious coca cookies to take home as well as some of their chocolate tortes. All of these they had ready for us the next morning.

July 16
The kitchen at the hotel accommodated us by providing us with breakfast extra early as our plane left too early to make it to breakfast during regular hours. Again, our actual flights were terrific. The only downer is having a 5 hour layover in Lima this time. We arrived in SF Int. Airport just before midnight and were waived through customs without a hitch.

July 17th
When arriving back at Nolan & Anneliese's apartment we took time to exchange the pictures we had taken as well as two music CD that we had purchase. We even said our goodbyes as we did not want to wake Nolan & Anneliese up should we want to leave before they were ready to get up. It was 2:30 AM before we put our heads on our pillows. John and I left SF at 8:00 AM this morning to head back home. We met Chelsey just north of Santa Rosa, who was on her way to a wedding, to say hello and to pick up Da Boys from her. Home sweet home around 7:00 PM. Ahhhhh my own bed. How sweet it is to be home again!

CHAMPS

We concluded out winter bowling league this week and we went out in high spirits. There were several categories of winners that were honored: Over-all points for the season, we came in 5th out of 20; Sweeper night (the last night’s score only) we came in fourth; and the most prestigious… League Champions: we took 1st!!!! Yes, you heard right, first. We had placed first in one of the quarters and the last night the four winning teams of each quarter rotated to play each other. The team with the highest average won. Thank you handicaps!

Are we hooked? Probably/Maybe. Winning the League Championship is probably not that uncommon for a rooky team. After all when you start with a really low average there is only one way to go…up! Once you are a better player it becomes harder and harder to improve your score. None the less it is great fun to play and I do want to play on another league next winter.

The WOW factor

Wow, the ocean swells are HUGE today. As we ate our dinner of leftovers in the dining room that John warmed up, I got to look out over the beautiful Pacific and was amazed by the action. If it weren’t because I’m still under the weather, I'd run to the beach to take a closer look. I’ll have to listen to the news when I’m done with this to see if there is a specific reason for the size of the swells. Maybe there was another earthquake somewhere.

My Turn

Not that I want one but it seems I have come down with the creepy crud every one at school has or has had. This week Chelsey was home with it as well. So, now it appears to be my turn. I’m at school today only because I had some things to take care off that I couldn’t delay such as a pizza party for my class with a Superman movie that they earned. I also have to help out with driving a school van to take a high school class on a field trip this afternoon. Besides, I had to come in to get my laptop so I decided to just stay in for the day. Hopefully this is short lived ‘cause I don’t make a very gracious sick person.

All the of this week it has been raining again so non of us have gotten in our hiking quota, and the outlook for the next few days isn't any better. Sigh! Maybe I should take advantage of this gloomy mess and get some more bowling practice in. Heaven knows all of us could use it. Last night we only bowled our average one of the three games. I wonder what that will do to our overall standing of being in third place?

It’s A Pan

It’s a flute. It’s a pan-flute! And, I keep hearing one.

Yep, John keeps opening new websites for yet more research on our prospective Peru trip this summer. And to entice you further, these sites are laced with the sweet music of this wonderful instrument. Their deep, raspy sound have long made them a favorite of mine.

We are slowly creating a list of all the items we will need to take on this trip. Some we will need to purchase soon and break in, as in our new hiking boots. Other items we may actually obtain once we get down there like a wool cap for the cold night on the Andes. The latter will double as a wonderful souvenir when we get back.

Back to the real world. At work I’m implementing a new program that I actually really like. The only down side is that there is sooooo much stuff to get out and put away each day, and I don’t like the idea of having to do all that over and over each year. Then I heard that I was going to be getting a Smart Board! I’ve only had one in-service in this device but already I love it. I have the software on my laptop and I’ve been playing around with it. I think I’ve found a way to put the whole program I’m implementing on SB! No more unnecessary stuff to get out and put away, and better: no pieces to loose! I’m so excited about this prospect that I’m actually enjoying the tech aspect of putting it all together. Better yet, I’ve been told that I may actually get paid to do it over the summer if I don’t finish it before then and, there is not way I can get it all done! I’ll be luck to get half of it done as I don’t even have all the software programs necessary to convert all the pdf files to jpegs.

Ah, Mondays. I am grateful that Mondays are early out days at school.