Coming To The End

We've come to the end of our winter break.  We arrived at Carol and Dick' s on Sunay night, but tomorrow we leave for home.

The past four days have been a lot of fun we got to see the new house as it's being built, as well as some of the other cottages in the community.

The desert is very different from what we see in our backyard.

One day we went to Jerome, Arizona.  It's a quaint western mining town sitting on the,side of a mountain.  Fantastically beautiful drive.

Yesterday we went to Prescott, Arizona.  It's a nice town with some cool shops around a town square.  We had lunch at The Palace on Whisky Row.  It was,so much fun, with lots of pictures of Wyatt Earp and his brothers.  

Today we took a train to the Grand Canyon.  What fun!  

The Cataract Creek Gang busted out of jail and robbed the train.  But luckily the Marshall caught them.

Now we're headed home tomorrow.  Sad to leave everyone and these fun places but it will be great to get home. 

Bad Blogger

I haven't been very good about letting you know what we've been doing.  Well, you haven't missed much.  What we've been busy with is trying to feel better and get healthy.  Our friends, Jan and Linus were sick when we got to California and it took a while for them to feel up for company.  Then Sean and Amy got sick with upper respiratory infections.  This past weekend I had a stomach bug.  Virus, or bad shrimp?  I'm leaning toward a couple of dubious shrimp at the sushi restaurant.  At least it seems we're all on the road to recovery now.  Thank goodness.

We have been spending some time with Jan and Linus.  Shopping one day in Brentwood and wine tasting in Livermore.  Anything more ambitious has been cancelled due to illness but we're having fun anyway.

Last weekend we went to Napa for a little wine tasting.  Went to one of our favorites, V. Sattui.  Now, this is pretty typical for this trip, so you'll understand we were not the least bit surprised when the electricity went out while we were tasting.  Thank goodness I downloaded the flashlight app on my phone.

We over there in the dark!

After wine tasting we ate at a great little drive in, Gott's Roadside Diner.

Yesterday we did part of the San Francisco 49 Mile Drive.  It was very busy, but kind of fun to drive around the city.  It was hard to take pictures but I got these from the car windows.

San Francisco Skyline

Dragon Gate Entrance to Chinatown

We've been dog-sitting with our grandpuppy, Lewis.  

Awww!

Sean and Amy left on Saturday for New,York to attend a memorial service for Amy's grandmother.  They landed in Detroit but the connecting flights to New York were cancelled due to weather.  Unfortunately they missed the memorial and,spent Valentine's weekend in Detroit, without luggage most of the time.  I know they'll be glad to get home tonight.  And I know Lewis will be happy to see them.

Got The Meat Sweats!

We went into the city (San Francisco) today.  Rode the BART with Amy and John and I got off at the Embarcadero stop while she went in to work.  We walked a few blocks down to the Ferry Market Building.

After coffee at Blue Bottle, we met Sean.  He had been helping on the phones at the KQED Public Radio pledge drive.  A tour of the market took us to the booth for 4505 Burgers and BBQ.  This is the company that Amy works for.

When we were done at the market we met Amy at the 4505 Burgers and BBQ restaurant.  We had The Presidential platter.  This was featured as the best BBQ party platter on the tv show "Best. Ever." on the Food Network.  You wouldn't believe the brisket!  Melts in your mouth. Needless to say, we had plenty of leftovers.

And the meat sweats!

Into The Woods

Sorry that I've been gone for a while.  We've just been relaxing and enjoying the weather.  It's warm, in the low 70s and sunny.  Perfect for the hot tub.

Yesterday we went to Muir Woods, just north of San Francisco.  It's so quiet and peaceful.  And beautiful.  Giant redwoods tower over you.

Or engulf you.

From there we drove to Sausalito intending to have dinner at Scoma's. But, as is typical for us, they're closed on Tuesday.  We "made do" with another seafood restaurant.  It was wonderful sitting there enjoying dinner looking across the bay at the city.

We're Here!

We made it to Hayward, California at about 5pm yesterday.  We had stopped and had a nice lunch with friends in Paso Robles, California.  Of course, we did find a little traffic around San Jose.

Now we can relax with Sean and Amy and do some sightseeing in and around San Francisco.
I might not post every day but I will when we have been somewhere or seen something fun.

"The Trouble with Tribbles"

Today we are in Paso Robles, California.  Our drive from Flagstaff, Arizona was beautiful.  I am such a pushover for any mountain.  Then as we get into the area around Paso Robles these fantastic green hills and mountains appear.  

Does anyone remember the Star Trek episode "The Trouble with Tribbles?"  If you do you might understand my concern when I saw fields full of them along our drive.  

TRIBBLES!

Tonight we will be in Hayward, California with Sean and Amy.  Can't wait!

Oh Nuts!

We've made it to Flagstaff, Arizona.  I had forgotten how much I love the southwest.  I love the buttes and mesas, the red rock, the colors of mountains, the canyons, all of it.
We started out today at White Sands National Monument outside of Alamagordo, New Mexico.  What a spectacular site.  275 square miles of white gypsum sand.

The sand dunes are much higher than they appear in this photo. The white that is visible is actually snow.
Next we headed north to Pistachioland.  We stopped at a pistachio farm and bought some nuts.  How could we not when we were at the home of the world's largest pistachio?

On our drive through New Mexico we also passed the lava fields.

I still have a hard time imagining a volcano in New Mexico.  But then, I know nothing about geology.

Stalactites, Stalagmites and Columns, Oh My!

Oh wow!  Today we went to Carlsbad Caverns National Park.  We did the shortest and easiest tour but even that is totally amazing!  If you've never been there put it on your bucket list.  And if you're a senior you can get a Senior Park Pass for a one time fee and get into all national parks free.
The caverns are huge, a little humid, cool and a little dark.  We descended 750 feet, 75 stories, by elevator underground.  Sounds scary but it wasn't.  The formations are spectacular.
Here are some pictures, but they don't do it justice.

From the park we headed north.  We drove through the Sacramento Mountains to Alamagordo, New Mexico.  Pardon the windshield schmutz on my vehicular photography.  

Tomorrow we're planning on visiting the Space Museum and White Sands National Monument.  This is the part of the road trip I love, seeing the natural wonders of our country.

They'd Better Be Chocolate Chip!

It's Monday evening and we are in Carlsbad, New Mexico.  The drive from Abilene was different than anywhere we've been so far.  Mostly mesquite trees, cactus and brush.  We weren't on the interstate so we were surrounded by fields.  Cotton fields and oil fields.  The air smelled of oil for many miles as we drove and there was cotton piled along the side of the road looking like snow at home.

As we got closer to Carlsbad the scenery changed and we are seeing more hills and mesas.  I think we're getting into the Enchanted part of New Mexico now. 

I can tell you one thing, though.  Don't stay in Carlsbad.  We paid twice as much for a room at Holiday Inn Express here as we have anywhere else.  When we asked why the rate was so high we were told it's pretty much the standard here because of the oil field and nuclear waste disposal site that are here.  Apparently the people who come here for those purposes will pay that price so I guess we all have to.  You can bet we went directly to the pool and hot tub.  We're going to get all the perks we can. 

I'm off to get our complimentary cookies now. 

Where Can A Guy Get A Good Steak Around Here?

For anyone who has already read yesterday's post I want to apologize and beg for a do over.  I was really tired and didn't do a very good job.  I've updated it now, so it's a bit better.  Sorry.

It was an easy drive this morning from Ardmore, Oklahoma to Fort Worth, Texas.  We stopped in Arlington, a suburb of Fort Worth, and spent a few hours visiting with relatives.
On the way we went by the Texas Motor Speedway where the NASCAR races are run.

From Fort Worth we headed west to Abilene, Texas where we are spending the night.  It finally looks like what I think Texas should look like.  There were long horned cattle grazing along the road and lots and lots of prickly pear cactus.
So, here we are in Abilene thinking we'll have a nice Texas beef steak for supper.  We asked at hotel desk for a recommendation of a local steakhouse.  After a  little confusion and difficulty finding it, we were disappointed to find they were closed for their employee Christmas party.  Really?  You might think this is a rare occurrence but you'd be wrong.  It happens to us a couple of times every trip.  We hear about, or read about a place only to find it's out of business, closed for remodeling or some other circumstance.
Thank goodness Sonic is always open!

The Land of Drinking Birds

Tonight we are in Ardmore, Oklahoma.  We're only about 30 miles from Texas and we're planning on getting to Dallas-Fort Worth and visit relatives tomorrow.
The drive today took us through Missouri, Kansas, and Oklahoma.  Not a bad drive, blue sky and bright sunshine, temp about 65.
Not much to see since we opted to pass up The National Wrestling Museum, the site of the Super Hero Fest and the Toy and Action Figure Museum.  I was really disappointed to miss the wrestling museum.
There was some interesting scenery, though.  Oils wells are everywhere, even in between industrial businesses along the interstate.  I mean like in the parking lot!
Now I don't know about anyone else but I think oil wells look like those drinking bird toys.

                                                    Drinking Bird

                                                          Oil Well

 Maybe it's just me.

Caught In The Webb

Our first day on the road has gotten us to Cameron, Missouri.  We had to delay our start and actually got on the road at about 1:30 pm and stopped for the night after about 5 hours.  There wasn't much in the line of scenery so we kept ourselves amused listening to the radio.
So, has anyone found Radio Classics on Sirius XM?  It's one of our "go-tos" on the road.  If you're not familiar with the channel, it plays a lot of the old-time radio programs.  You know, BT....Before Television.  Jack Benny, Burns and Allen, Our Miss Brooks, Johnny Dollar, and many, many more.
Today we listened to "Pat Novak For Hire" with Jack Webb.  Those of you who are my age will remember him as Sergeant Joe Friday in Dragnet. But BT he was Pat Novak on the radio.  In this show he has some really great lines.  Here are just a couple of them.

     " He slid down like an old sock on a bony leg."

     " It's like washing your kid's face and realizing he was ugly before."

     " You couldn't strike oil in a filling station."

So, we got caught in the Webb today.  It's always good for a chuckle in the car.
And who knows what we'll hear tomorrow.  Maybe with a little luck Fibber McGee and Molly!

California, Here We Come!

Tomorrow we're heading out on our next adventure.  We'll go south to Oklahoma and Texas and then west to California.  Can't wait to see Sean and Amy and Lewis.  We'll also visit with Jan and Linus, Carol and Dick,  my friends Peggy and Linden and John's aunt Ann.

Stay tuned for posts from the road.  We're hoping to see some new sights and have some new experiences.  And of course, have some fun along the way.