goin' with the a-go-gos

i think we did things in september...

2011-12-10T22:28:00.001-08:00

we did, but we didn't really go-go anywhere...

except the apple farm

and

our new apartment.

Los Angeles still has...

2011-08-24T18:37:00.000-07:00

some purdy nifty eye candy. Sometimes I miss that gritty city (specifically for the grit but mostly for our friends). Today, tomorrow or this weekend, maybe you can grab yourself a camera of sorts and walk around yer fair city. We would love to see what you see.

follow your piers...

2011-08-14T20:45:00.000-07:00

It's summer here in a-go-go-land and we have been busy working and unpacking (new digs!) with visits to the ocean in between. Someday, this space will have more posts, we promise.

Why I ave been so busy

2011-07-27T07:23:00.000-07:00

I have been so silly busy with a new job and a new place to live and this and that. The result has been no posts for months. For anyone who is still wondering and waiting for more here is a link to the bolg for my new place of employment, iFixit, and my first post there. I hope it will be the first of many... and I hope I can talk them into letting me post some less technical things.

Until we get our mess in order the posts here will continue to be rather thin, but we'll be back at it soon... I hope.

a year ago today: june 19

2011-06-19T20:11:00.000-07:00

was spent in NYC with the ever fabulous ms. j. there was subway riding, mermaid gawking, ice cream eatin' and a great walkabout.

a year ago today: june 17

2011-06-17T17:59:00.000-07:00

mister a-go-go and i found ourselves lunching in Philadelphia. we picked a cheesecake place that was highly recommended by the road food duo and we're sorry to say it was pretty un-inspiring. driving in Philly was also a bit chaotic but the sites were nifty and the industrial peeks made the camera happy.

we crossed over into Maryland at some point just for fun and then we crossed the Delaware where i of course imagined that famous bit of American history.

the day ended with an overnight in New Jersey. next stop a lovely weekend with a lovely friend and an excursion into NYC for the infamous mermaid parade!

click here for a breakdown of the BIG road trip!

Buchon Trail Revisited, Diablo Canyon, Power, and Six Billion Bears

2011-05-27T10:34:00.000-07:00

The two little domes just right of center are the reactor buildings.

A while back we took a hike on the Buchon Trail which offers a view the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant. Most folks living in the San Luis Obispo area are aware of the power plant, and more than a few work for Pacific Gas and Electric some at the plant itself. The power plant is on a rather secluded patch of coast line and it is hidden from view unless you work there or take time for the hike. Being out of sight it's easy to forget about. At the time of our hike the earthquake and tsunami in Japan and the resulting radiation leaks at Fukushima were all in the future. None the less seeing the Diablo Canyon power plant made me think about how close we live to it. I've wondered about the domes of nuclear power plants since I was a kid. When we would drive past San Onofre I'd stare out the car window at the off-white globes until they disappeared over a slight rise in the freeway. When we'd visit my Aunt and Uncle in Atascadero I would imagine I could squint and see the Diablo Canyon plant from highway 101 where it darts inland just south of Avila Beach. I knew it was there and had seen pictures of the red brown domes but I never laid eyes on it.

Since the earthquake in Japan I have toyed with writing something about our local reactor. A brief internet search brings up many articles and gobs of angry comments regarding Diablo Canyon from both sides. There's the shut-it-down-now-it's-too-dangerous camp and there's the we-need-the-electricity-and-jobs camp. Before the earthquake the plant was already facing an uncertain future. Pacific Gas and Electric was applying to renew the plant's licence to operate for the next twenty years, and the debate was already heated. In the aftermath of the Japan's earthquake even more divisive attention has been heaped on Diablo Canyon. The safety of the plant's location has been in question since before it was built and each new fault discovered and each temblor in the local hills renews the issue. I can't add much to the debate over the new license and I won't try to add links to any articles as it would necessitate showing some kind of bias in what articles to choose. If you are interested I am sure you will have an easy time finding lots of articles on your own.

The opinions of seismologists working for Pacific Gas and Electric versus those outside the company will likely never agree. Predicting the volatility of any fault line is a difficult game. Nuclear disasters are still a rare thing and our history with the atomic stuff is still rather short. How much risk we are taking with any nuclear power plant I'm afraid will only be accurately judged in hindsight... but by then the mess is made and what's the point of judging. Keeping the plant operating seems to come down to how bad do we need the electricity and can we live with the worst if it arrives.

I'm in no position to figure that one out. It'll suck pretty bad for me and my neighbors if the worst arrives, but it isn't driving me to move away. As part of the emergency warning system for the power plant the air raid sirens around town are tested regularly. Hearing the tests is chilling, but again it isn't driving me to move away. Having electricity without burning anything is swell, but then there's all that nasty spent fuel that will far out live me. Nope, I have no answer.

Then a thing occurs to me. It's the same thing that comes to mind when ever I'm in a worrying mood. We fuss over nuclear power, oil, pollution, critters disappearing, illegal immigration, water rights, pesticides..... but one thing doesn't seem to have much voice. Population. There really are so damn many of us, and more and more of us want to have a car and electric lights. Can't say I blame anyone, it seems only right that anyone should be allowed to pursue these things. I suppose nuclear power along with every other form of power will have to be in play if everyone here is going to get to have some toys.

With population too I'm in no position to figure and point. I can't claim that we'd necessarily be better off if the population of the planet was cut in half... or a third... or less. And how does one go about arguing who stays and who goes. Whoo boy... that leads down a dark hole, don't it?

Are we stuck with this? It kinda looks like we really don't need a nuclear war to wipe us out. Steady population growth will do the job... either through pestilence, shortage of water, or famine... slow and easy compared to nuclear disaster. Population growth scares me more than most things, and even with out our eating habits and toys we would eventually be a problem for ourselves. Heck, six billion bears would wreck the place about as fast as six billion people. It's getting close to seven billion by the way.

Ok, gotta go out and smell the flowers now. Sorry for the bummer folks. Just had to get it out.

the lost hard drive

2011-05-13T20:29:00.000-07:00

my long lost Shenandoah drinking buddy

For anyone who was following our Big Trip of 2010 you may remember the hard drive crash in Rhode Island. We had to have a new drive installed in the laptop but the old drive took a mess of travel photos with it. mrs. a-go-go had uploaded some things to Flickr and a few things made it into blog posts but most of the photos from North Carolina to New York were in jeopardy. The folks who put in the new drive told us they could not recover what was on the drive and gave us the name of a company in California that might be able to retrieve something... for a price. Not having the dough or the time to deal with it, the old hard drive lived in a drawer with the hope that one day it could be resurrected.

Well folks, now I have a job at a little company, iFixit, that sells parts for apple laptops (among other things) and publishes free guides for the adventurous electronic device mechanic in the rest of us. Over the last two months or so working at iFixit I have learned a great deal about tinkering with computers. This gave me the confidence to see if I could get anything out of the old hard drive. Turns out it was no sweat! The directory on the old drive was a mess but I had no difficulty at all transferring the lost photos off the old drive. Hmmm... those nincompoops who put in the new drive didn't try very hard at all.

So here's to being bold and adventurous in travel and in electronics. And now, a short selection of the missing part of the Big Trip:

Pisgah Covered Bridge, North Carolina

a wee water fall, Hanging Rock, North Carolina

fireflies! woo woo!

in Virginia a bit East of Shenandoah National Park

estuary on the Chesapeake

c'mon mr. Lincoln, jump!

so many D.C. museums yer head'll cave in

magic outsider art in Baltimore

people who died of smallpox in Philly

Coney Island mermaids

Washington Square, Manhattan, dance revolution

hail hail

flying over the Hudson on foot

more leaping in the cemetery

That's all folks. Thank you, Kingston, New York.

beyond the moutain of gold

2011-05-07T08:00:00.000-07:00

Buchon Trail, 2/3/2011

We made this hike way back in February, but I never found the time to write a little about it. Pacific Gas & Electric owns a large patch of coast on either side of the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant but there are two trails along the bluffs that PG&E will let you hike if you follow the rules. Buchon Trail begins where Montaña de Oro State Park ends and makes its way about three miles along the bluffs.

The trail has little change in elevation and is not very strenuous but there are slippery bits if you're not sure of foot. The California Poppies and other wild flowers like this patch of coast so you may get a colorful show if you go in the spring. The craggy coast is spectacular and you may see some marine mammals foraging in the kelp. Coast birds of all sorts are a sure bet and maybe a pirate or two hiding in the little coves. Beware of the ground squirrels... cute little disease vectors. There are several places along the hike that provide a bench to rest your heels and be still for a while so plan on some extra time to dawdle.

The trail end takes you within sight of the Nuclear plant so the PG&E folks are not kidding about the rules and reservations for this hike. Trust me you are being watched the whole way. The folks at the entrance station know who is on the trail and what they are up to. Stay on the trail, don't even think of climbing the bluffs, there are porta-potties about two miles in so don't pee on the trail, and don't drop any litter. Behave yourself and PG&E will be very friendly... goof around out there and they will either come get you and escort you out or they will take you aside as you leave and kindly ask you not to come back for at least six months.

To get to the trail head take Los Osos Valley Road West from highway 101 just south of San Luis Obispo. This will turn into Pecho Valley Road when you get to the little town of Los Osos. Take Pecho Valley Road all the way to its dead end in Montaño de Oro State Park (no entrance fee). The road ends at a locked gate with a sign posting the trail hours and if it is open that day (rain? don't bother, they won't let you in). Park in the gravel lot and walk through the small pedestrian gate and down the paved road. This will take you to the entrance station where they will check you in and review the rules with you. There are more porta-potties here. Make use of them, it's a good walk to the next ones. The hike is free too but if you are going on a weekend or a nice summer day I do suggest using the reservation form for the trail and start out early. Depending on the season the trail closes at 4 or 5pm. If you arrive too late and the PG&E folks don't think you can make it out and back by closing they won't let you in.

We all get to hike this bit of coast as long as we stay in PG&E's good graces so be courteous. Plan ahead and this is a great hike on the far side of the mountain of gold.

having a job

2011-04-23T19:21:00.000-07:00

Goodness I have been short on posting for a long while. It's official, mr. a-go-go has a job. I have had it for about a month now and I hope that will explain my delinquency in posting. The only adventure I have to report is my purchase of a little telescope (that's the nephew a-go-go looking for "caves" on Bishop's Peak) as a I-have-a-job-at-last! gift. Getting in some amateur astronomy has been on my do-it-before-I-die list for a while. I have not had the chance to take the thing out to a really dark place yet but we have had fun looking at the crescent moon, a wobbly glimpse of Saturn, and some foggy peeps at the Orion Nebula. The sky here is a whole lot better than LA for looking at the night sky but there are still plenty of sodium vapor street lights spoiling things.

Maybe when I get settled into this new job I'll be able to settle my mind and scribble out some new posts. Until then... anyone who is still paying attention here.... well, I thank you for your patience.

singing sands

2011-03-09T20:57:00.000-08:00

Kelso Dunes, Mojave National Preserve, 3/5/2011

Boy howdy, with all my time eaten up by a new job, cold weather keeping us indoors, and all the birthday and anniversary activities the a-go-gos posts have been few and far between. With all that going on I did squeeze in a day trip to the Mojave National Preserve with some old pals. It was a four hour drive one way making for a long day of driving. We did visit other parts of the preserve, namely abandoned houses in Cima, the forest of Joshua Trees that gives Joshua Tree National Park a run for its prickly trees, and the cinder cones and lava flows of the North-West side of the preserve; but the highlight of the trip was a hike in the Kelso Dunes.

The dunes are one of only thirty sand dune sites known for their singing sands. The phenomenon is sometimes described as booming or thrumming and is apparently the result of the particular qualities of the sand grains at this site. Under particular wind conditions the steady cascade of sand scooting down the leeward side of the dunes develops an audible oscillation. On our visit we were not lucky enough to hear the sound of the sand as produced by the wind but our footsteps along the ridges dislodged smaller cascades on the dune faces. These cascades gave us a small taste of the thrumming. We could briefly hear the sound and feel the vibrations in our feet buried in the sand. I would describe it as similar to a distant prop airplane sputtering. It must be something else to hear the dunes on the occasions when the wind makes the whole dune complex vibrate.

We managed to arrive at the dunes at 9am on a mild day. To see the dunes in the best light get there near to sun rise or sun set. We were a bit late for the best light but we had a nice mild temperature for our walk. It goes without saying that in the summer this would be a poor choice for an afternoon hike, and in the winter the early morning and late afternoon is likely to be quite cold. Spring and Fall offer the best temperatures but the overnight winds typical of the in between seasons can make overnight camping in a tent a bit trying.

Our hike took about three hours including a nice snack break on one of the peaks of sand. Even on a cool day this is no hike for the timid. The sand really eats up your energy and the high slopes of the big dunes are surprisingly steep. Take your time and don't give up. With plenty of rest stops on the slope you can make it to the top of the world. After seeing the top the slide back down in a cascade of sand is well worth the hard work and a welcome reward in spite of the buckets of sand you'll be pouring out of your shoes and pockets... and nether regions. Take lots of water. The desert air will dry you out like cat turds in the litter box.

Wanna go? The dunes are south of the Kelso Depot (where you'll find the visitor center, and a lunch counter) on Kelbaker Road. The distances are longer than they look in this wide open place so fill up your gas tank before you get into the preserve. Kelbaker Road winds North-South between interstate 15 at Baker, CA to interstate 40. The whole big 'ol preserve fills much of the space East of Barstow, CA and West of the Nevada boarder. It's a whole lot of lonely out there.

The preserve offers much more than the dunes. mrs. a-go-go posted some photos of our first visit to the Mojave National Preserve in 2009. Take more than a day if you can, and stay overnight to catch the best morning and afternoon light. Now I just need to get some time off from my new job for another trip to the singing sands.

A Sunday drive and mini rant to Oprah Winfrey...

2011-02-08T14:46:00.000-08:00

This past Sunday, mr. a-go-go & I joined a new friend for a photo day. It being Superbowl Sunday and all we thought we'd take advantage of the empty roads and hightail it out of town.

The central coast seems to have forgotten about winter. The skies were a crazy, crystal blue and everything looked lushy lush. We left early, coffee and chai in hand (Thank You Adrianna!) and drove, drove, drove north to Hwy 46. Our first stop was the James Dean Memorial in Cholame. The scenery was epic; green rolling hills that looked like velvet, gangly old oak trees waving their branches about...even the meadow larks and woodpeckers were out partying in the sun. Our only other company was the odd speeding motorcycle or tiny-tinny sport scar. I think I know what attracted the young James to drive all willy-nilly. Though I think the 41 offers more of a roller coaster atmosphere with it's curvy curves and close together up and down hills.

The Memorial was created in 1977 by Seita Ohnishi. It is minimal and all metal shiny with quotes from famous author's that were purported to be favorites of the young James Dean. The memorial itself resides next to the Jack Ranch Cafe, a tiny diner known for it's burgers and baked goods. We were there a bit too early for baked goods however it was not at all too early for pie. While the apple pie was a tiny bit too sweet for me, though still tasty, the coffee was fabulous. As we were leaving I noticed they had homemade cinnamon rolls. I should have tried one of those instead.

It was not even 9am so we continued on our way keeping eyes a-peeled for nifty photo ops. From rolling hills, rusty gates and abandoned buildings in salmon pink we were not disappointed.

If you ever find yourself on the central coast, take a drive and arm yourself with water, snacks and a camera. You never know what you might find, it's a lovely place to be even if Oprah had to go and ruin it all for us.**

**No offense Ms. Winfrey, we a-go-gos admire and support your efforts in service but we are hard-working, honest folks trying to remain near family and SLO is already too expensive not to mention there are very little jobs out there here. All we wish for is a chance to be near family and live our own little lives in a place we can call home where we can putter about and grow our own food to our heart's content. Unfortunately we're finding we're too "over qualified" for all the low paying jobs and too old for the not-so low paying jobs. The chamber of commerce has been inundated with requests for information on our fair city and we fear that by the time we find work and save what we can real estate will be even more stupid than it is. There has been a jump in rentals of $50 to $100 more per rental than there was before the show aired. Coincidence? Perhaps, but we'd really like a chance. Just a little chance? Sigh.

don't lose yer underpants!

2011-02-07T09:26:00.000-08:00

2/5 Salmon Creek Falls

Jeepers, I haven't bee keeping up with the posts. Looking for work has kept me away from the keyboard but not away from the hikes. This weekend we made a visit to Salmon Creek Falls at the southern end of Big Sur. It's a pretty place but a very popular stop for a short hike on the Highway One drive. The quantity of traffic has taken its toll since the last time any of us visited. The drawing above was spotted on a guard rail post at the turnout for the trail head. It made us laugh but it sums up how I felt about all litter and tree carving graffiti. I like graffiti with a sense of humor and creativity placed on man made objects like this cartoon, but the tree carving makes me all frowny.

Here I am with hat hair, blood shot eyes, and some sour feelings about all the trash. I hauled out pounds of plastic water bottles, cigarette packages, cans, broken glass, broken sun glasses, and juice bags. C'mon folks, we don't have to be this lame. Take your crap with you or don't bring it in the first place. The falls clearly have become a favorite place to get busy too. There were torn condom packages and, yes, a grubby weenie wrapper from some one's tryst... classy. Do use a condom, but don't leave the nasty thing behind when you drive away. The lost item that took the cake was a lacy blue dainty hung on a fence post along the trail. My nephew gleefully took the opportunity to holler, "Who's panties are those? Who lost their panties?!" happy to have the chance to yell a word that makes him giggle. I still call 'em underpants regardless of how little they cover.

Even with the detritus of too many jerks, the falls and the creek are really pretty and worth visiting. A week day will have less traffic if you have one free. We spotted this Iris growing in the brambles along the trail.

Beware of the many tracks that have been worn into the canyon leading up toward the head of the falls. They are not maintained trails and they lead every which way into heaps of Poison Oak and crumbling slopes of wet leaves and scree. The walk to the falls from the turn out is quite short but there are many muddy slippery parts, not the easiest for those who are not sure of foot. The turn out and trail head is 3.7 miles north of Ragged Point on the Pacific Coast Highway.

If you go, please don't leave anything behind, and if you have a little gumption, take a garbage bag with you and help me haul out some of the junk that all the knuckleheads have dropped.

up the hills and in the trees

2011-01-22T09:07:00.000-08:00

1/15 Morro Bay State Park and checking in on the Monarchs

It was a blustery day and mrs. a-go-go was afearin' for her allergies with all dust and pollen kicked into the air. She did what she could to keep most of the particles at bay with a bandanna but it drew all sorts of peculiar looks from the bikers on the trail.

Having never poked around the trails East of South Bay Boulevard in Morro Bay State Park this cool winter day seemed like a good time to start. This state park covers a large area between the town of Morro Bay and Los Osos/Baywood Park. It extends East into the hills and includes most of the sandspit enclosing the bay. South Bay Boulevard heads almost due north from Los Osos Valley Road in Los Osos and drives right up the middle of the park area. There are at least two places to park off the East side of the road that have trail head access. We were looking to explore the hills so we took the first gravel paved turnout North of Turri Road. This put us right at the start of Park Ridge Road. There is a gate and enough space to park a few cars next to a trail head sign and information board. That rock lump, by the way, is curiously named Tiki Rock.

Our walk took us up to the peak of an unnamed hill. We followed Park Ridge Road most of the way with a few excursions left and right investigating where the unnamed tracks went. Most of the trails into the hills are reasonably well labeled and a small map on the information board gave us some idea where we were headed on Park Ridge Road. This is a popular area with the mountain bikers and that traffic has created some traces that wander off in unnamed directions, but most of the coast scrub here is low and you are unlikely to get disoriented. Bring some layers. It can get windy cold and damp any time of year. We didn't go though we were tempted to follow further on the trails heading every which way. I'd like to have a good topo trail map along if were going to wander more so I'd have some idea where we'd end up. The views over the bay and the small grass filled valleys between the hills are pretty and there are flower and mushroom surprises if you look for them.

It's a good place for a short hike uphill to get your feet warm even if you only take a hour or so.

After our walk in the hills we took the opportunity to check in on the monarch butterflies in the near by Monarch Grove.

There are quite a few places on the California coast where the monarch butterflies can be seen hanging around from about October to February. One of the larger ones near us is in the Pismo Beach area but Morro Bay has its own grove at the end of the aptly named Monarch Lane. From Los Osos Valley Road going East through the town of Los Osos, just past where the road jogs left and the name changes to Pecho Valley Road, take a right turn on Monarch Lane. At the end of the lane there is a sign and a trail head leading into the eucalyptus trees. We saw a few butterflies darting here and there and there were a few clumps high in the trees but I have seem far more on other visits. Maybe most of the butterflies had moved on or its possible this is a bad year for the monarchs but I have heard that the numbers of these butterflies in the groves have been steadily decreasing. The coastal California eucalyptus groves are just one stop in the multi generation migrations of these critters. Housing developments and other losses of habitat here and all along the monarch's path have had quite an impact on the number of butterflies that make the journey.

The path through the trees will take you out to the sandspit and the sand dunes if you have itchy feet and want to continue your own migration. Hopefully the shortage of butterflies on our visit was due to most of them having itchy feet. Perhaps most of them had moved on early this year and there will be better years to come. We'll come check in again soon.

and it was a bit longer this time

2011-01-11T09:29:00.000-08:00

1/9/2011 Los Osos to the Morro Bay sandspit

The day was bright and clear, but the chill of the wind kept us wrapped up. In the previous post we visited the long sand spit that encloses Morro Bay. This time, with more time and no threat of rain we could explore further into the dunes and along the beach. The cold wind was our constant companion except when we hid behind a dune for a lunch break.

More plovers were out for the day dashing around at the edge of the surf joined by a few godwits and curlews stabbing at the wet sand. Large parts of the inland dunes are roped off to reduce human traffic in the snowy plovers' nesting areas. If you go I hope you'll heed the signs asking people to keep out of these areas. In addition, it's worth noting at the trail head the warning signs posted about the possibility of stumbling onto unexploded munitions from the 1940s. For a few years around the second world war the sand spit area was used for military training exercises. Left over mortar rounds and small rockets could be buried in the sand, so beware of digging around any rusted metal objects you stumble on.

Outside the stretches closed to make room for plovers' eggs the dunes offer huge open areas of lunar emptiness punctuated by tall hummocks topped by scraggly dune plants.

The slopes of sand were too much for the boy a-go-go to pass up and he made good use of his toboggan. The dunes drift in the wind and make the kind of ripples one expects in a desert scene, but many patches of sand were remarkably firm. I suppose this is due to the constant damp of ocean dew. Wet sticky sand was everywhere just an inch below the surface.

Scattered in the lumps of blowing sand we spotted lots of things slowly bleaching in the sun. We didn't see and munitions but there were plenty of bleached bones of small birds and other critters. We carried back to the parking area two bags full of plastic trash and there are plenty of scattered bits of broken bottles slowly being softened into sea glass. There were few other people out on the spit with us but the place a certainly has seen lots of human activity.

There are shanties built of driftwood and other debris here and there among the dunes, and the bits of charred firewood make it clear that people have camp outs now and then. Officially this is a no camping area but I can see why it's so irresistible. we didn't make the trek all the way to the mouth of the bay so there may be another update to this post sometime. It's five miles one way from the parking area to the end. Someday we'll make it a whole day and an even longer walk.

long walk will be longer next time

2011-01-07T12:01:00.000-08:00

12/22 Los Osos to the Moro Bay sandspit

The rain has been giving us some cabin fever so every time there is a break we run out for a short bit of outside time. The rain letup on the afternoon of the 22nd and a walk on the sandspit outside Morro Bay sounded like a good idea. The sandspit offers a long beach walk with usually few people, and the farther you walk the fewer still.

Los Osos Valley Road becomes Pecho Valley Road in the town of Los Osos and will take you into Montaña de Oro State Park. Past the park entrance .8 miles turn right on Sandspit Road and there is a small parking area and a well marked trail down through the dunes. Once on the beach you can walk Northish toward Morro Rock all the way to the opening of the bay. It's about 5 miles one way so you can make this a long walk if you are up for it.

We didn't have the energy or the daylight to go the distance that day. The clouds made for an early twilight and we were on our way home by 4:30. It's a marvelous place. You may be lucky enough to see a phalanx of shy Plovers running in the surf and if you dig in the sand you'll turn up some of the biggest sand crabs ever.

Get ready for a long walk and we'll see you there when the weather gives us a long break.

hey guess what? more mushrooms!

2011-01-02T08:34:00.000-08:00

Fiscalini Ranch, Cambria, CA 12/30

The red capped Amanita muscaria rears its head.
You guessed it. We made a visit to the Fiscalini Ranch Preserve mentioned in the previous post and the mushrooms were still at it. We'll have to go for another visit on the heels of a rain in the spring because many of the crazy fungi that we saw were well passed their prime. None the less, I had to write a little about the red speckled devil pictured above.
It's Amanita muscaria also called the Fly Agaric or the Fly Amanita, and it can be a whopper! We saw it just emerging, as in the top photo, still covered with the white speckles of its veil; and we saw it flattened into its later state as a broad polished bronze platter. The last one below really was the size of a small platter and gleamed in the sun like metal.
I had seen pictures of this monster but never in person. Its red and white speckled cap has been the model for countless mushroom cartoons, but I had no idea about its history. This seductive devil is poisonous and hallucinogenic and a short bit of research turns up all sorts idiot adventures. You can pick the thing up and poke it but don't fool with eating, nibbling, or licking it unless you are willing to risk some gut wrenching pain. The effects are unpredictable from person to person, and can vary wildly by region, season, and even by individual mushroom. But wait there's more! The fly part of the name comes from the use of the mushroom to attract and stupefy flies. Didn't even know a fly could be stupefied. And, get this, the mushroom can concentrate vanadium from the soil! Vanadium, by the way, is a rare metallic element that is valued as an ingredient in steel alloys... stick THAT in your pipe and smoke it.

Maybe this is going to turn into a mushroom blog some day... The more looking and reading I do the more fascinating these devils are.

go wild in the country

2010-12-31T10:15:00.000-08:00

Cambria and Los Osos 12/23 and 12/26

No snakes (at least not this time of year) in the grass but the mushroom show is absolutely free.Are you a nut for fruiting bodies? Do you subscribe to the Cornell University Mushroom blog? (I highly recommend it by the way. Even if you are not a fungus kook the writing is really good.) Does Mycology ring your bell? Then the California central coast after a good rain will make you swoon. Fungi is a ubiquitous presence all over the world, and a true aficionado will know where and when to find the little caps poking up, but the show near Cambria, CA is like seeing the lights in Times Square... any fool can stumble on to it and stand and gawk.A cool windy clear day arrived after a week of soaking rain so we took the opportunity to get out and visit Moonstone Beach. The beach part of our day was detailed in the previous post and I hinted at our mushroom surprise later that day. Though we have made excursions following previous a wet spells specifically to see fungi, we had not been thinking about mushrooms that morning so the show surprised us.All around the public restrooms at one end of Moonstone Beach is a small area wooded with a variety of trees and a thick mat of fallen needles and leaves. The wild colors and assortment of sizes in the mushroom show in this small area kept us busy for at least an hour of gawking.Another favorite mushroom gawking zone near Cambria is the Fiscalini Ranch. It has much more than mushrooms to offer but in the right season apparently the place goes nuts with fruiting bodies. We have not visited yet so I can't give my personal review but Fiscalini Ranch is at the top of our list.When the mushrooms show their heads lots of critters come out to dine including the local mycophagists. Now, I'm too much of a beginner to have any confidence about eating wild mushrooms and I don't recommend you eat 'em without some heavy research and maybe a knowledgeable friend, but there are those who come out after a good rain to find their dinner. So, for the sake of critter and people alike please be kind to the mushrooms you see. Check that itch to kick the white rubbery thing or to mash that orange trumpet. There are critters big and small who would prefer to have some of them on their plate without your footprints on the caps.On our walks we have often seen the telltale trowel marks of the foraging mycophage that arrived before we could rouse ourselves for the morning.A few days (and a bit more rain) after our surprise in Cambria we took a walk specifically for the fungus. This time we visited Los Osos Oaks Park. This ramble through oak trees big and small offered lots of mushroom variety too, and we had a good two hours of muddy shoes to prove it.
The trails in Los Osos Oaks can be confusing and unmarked tracks lead off into the bushes. If you go pay attention, wear a whistle in case you wander off, and maybe bring a compass to help point the direction to the parking area (take note that Los Osos Valley Road is the North edge of the park area).Some of the best stuff comes out of rot, and by the way some of 'em smell good too. There are a few that smell like maple syrup, no foolin'. So go wild and stick yer nose in for a whiff.

oh yeah, and for some nifty time lapse viewing of mushrooms click here.

the search for nephrite and jadeite

2010-12-26T08:38:00.001-08:00

Moonstone Beach 12/23

A solid week of rain dashed our hopes of seeing the lunar eclipse on the 20th but a break in the heavy rain on the 23rd gave us a chance to get outside. We decided it was time for a visit to Cambria, California and Moonstone Beach. Here are some reviews of the beach and other folks' impressions. Now, if you live in a place that is having cold nasty weather this time of year and are feeling envy just hold on a second. Yes, there are fantastically beautiful days like the one pictured above that come along in winter but you have to take note that those are the only days everyone runs outside to take pictures. The recent wet is nothing compared to freezing rain and snow but don't get the idea that everyday looks so blue. And if you come to visit in the summer, HA! the central coast will likely be socked in with a thick cold fog. These fantastic clear (but chilly with wind) days are often in the middle of winter when the marine layer has been blown away by a storm, and indeed the next day was gray and drizzly again.
So, we took our shot at the pebbles while the getting was good. If you want to go pebble hunting or tide pool gazing be sure to check the tide forecast. Arriving at the beach and finding no beach can be disappointing and tides here can be high enough to completely obscure the pebbly sand and tide pool rocks. I took a look and found that high tide was to occur at 11:40ish in the am and would crest at +6 feet. Gads! good thing I checked. Arriving in the morning we'd be out of luck. Instead we waited until after lunch and had an ever expanding beach to play on, but we'd miss out on the very wide low tide beach that makes for the best pebbling and tide pool gazing.
So, what's all this business about pebbles? you say. Well, Moonstone beach is so called for the jumble of marvelous hard bits of stone tumbled on the shore. The majority are chert, a fine grained sedimentary silica rich stone that is hard enough to resist being pulverised right away in the surf. It comes in an array of colors and makes for dazzling pebble picking. Just a few minutes spent looking near your toes will turn up treasure.
According to the name of the beach there are moonstones to be found. I'm not enough of a geologist or gemologist to know if I have ever seen a moonstone but I hear tell that tossed in with all the chert there are many bits of quartz, nephrite, and rare bits of jadeite. These last two are the source of jade gemstones. Beware, you may be bitten by the jade bug and go ape for the green bits, however I think the melange of colors in the chert (much of which is green too) is more interesting. The pretty green stones are very abundant here but few have the translucent quality that most expect of gemstones. I know that true nephrite is harder than chert and jadeite is harder still so a simple beginners' test if you insist on finding jade is to try scratching the stone with steel. A dull pocket knife will do (it'll be dull soon enough grinding it on hard stones). Bring a loop or other magnifying glass and look at your scratches. If that green stone you've got is cold on your cheek, has some nice sparkly translucence, and when you look close the scratch is actually bits of steel ground off onto the stone then there's a good chance you have some jade. To be absolutely certain you have to get technical and measure the stones specific gravity. Not hard to do if you have a good graduated cylinder and a chemist's balance scale, but all that is beyond me.
I just like lookin' at 'em, and if I end up taking one home it's usually one with wild mottled colors. I'm just not ready to catch the jade bug.

What's the source of all these pretty rocks? Well, the polishing in the surf helps, but all the hard bits of stone come from the Franciscan Assemblage. A geological leftover, predating the San Andreas fault, that is mashed up all along the California central coast. Another favorite pebble spot is Jade Cove in Big Sur. I have not visited this one so I can't vouch for it but I suppose the name is promising. Geologists think that much of this coastal stuff is sedimentary material from the Pacific Ocean floor that was scraped up and packed onto a coast that was at that time riding over a subduction zone. For more on this and other Southern and Central California geology tidbits I highly recommend Geology Underfoot in Southern California.The same day we had another surprise payoff from the week long drenching, a wild mushroom show, but that will have to wait for the next post.

copper moon

2010-12-19T09:42:00.000-08:00

For all you moon gazers out there, be alert, the full moon will turn a deep copper color Monday night as it passes into the Earth's shadow for a total lunar eclipse visible in North America. We're not much as astronomy photographers so forgive the little Pic Shaws cartoon above. There are gobs of pictures of the freaky red moon all over the internet. Just do an image search for "lunar eclipse".

This total eclipse will occur the night of the 20th and the early morning of the 21st. The particular time will depend on your location and I am uncertain of all the places where the show will be visible so do some research. For the west coast of North America the moon will be in shadow from about 10:30pm to about 1:30am with total eclipse beginning about 11:40pm. You'll have to do some research and find your local time for the event. Unfortunately it looks like we in Central California will be out of luck. We are in the middle of a long steady rain and the cloud cover is likely to be total Monday night. Piffle. I'll still go out to take a look. Maybe we'll get lucky and there will be a break in the clouds. The forecasts have been wrong before.

Do go out and take a look if you have never seen a lunar eclipse. The red brown color of the moon in Earth's shadow is weird enough to make me understand how people used to take it as an omen of terrible things afoot. The peculiar color of Earth's shadow on the moon is caused by a small bit of sunlight refracted through Earth's atmosphere and scattered into the Umbra, as astronomers call the shadow area. The Griffith Observatory web page has a good short explanation of the phenomenon.

If you live in North America and you have the luck of a clear sky on the evening of the 20th don't miss the show. It'll take just a few minutes of your time to peek outside before you go to bed and you'll remember the sight for the rest of your life.

gifts under paper garlands

2010-12-15T08:23:00.000-08:00

Olvera Street and El Pueblo de los Angeles

Still looking for gifts in Los Angeles? Just a few walkable blocks from Chinatown is Olvera Street, the crowded market of El Pueblo de los Angeles.

This pedestrian street crowded with shops, restaurants, and merchant stalls loaded with wild bursts of color and hung with paper (and plastic) garlands is all that Los Angeles has of its old town center. It may be touristy and pricier that finding this stuff in Mexico but we still love it.

The festivals for Dia de los Muertos get crazy crowded and all the kids get their faces painted with a skull's grimace.

There's never a shortage of Luchador masks in every design imaginable.

The shops overflow with colorful stuff from inexpensive trinkets to elaborately embroidered dresses. From December 16th to the 24th Olvera Street hosts Las Posadas, with processions beginning in the evening at the Avila Adobe and piñata bashings for the kids. Details and directions can be found at the links above. Don't miss Olvera Street. Even if you aren't looking to shop, the colors and swirls of people will give you a holiday kick in the pants.

gifts under red lanterns

2010-12-10T07:53:00.000-08:00

11/21 Chinatown, Los Angeles

If you live in the Los Angeles area and are still on the hunt for gifts, don't forget about Chinatown. During a short visit to LA just before Thanksgiving and in need of a few more little-somethings we took a turn under the red lanterns.The range of possible gifts in the tightly packed shops include the cheesy/fun and the special/expensive. Take the time to visit the markets that at first glance appears to offer only food items. Often these markets have the best unusual gifts hiding in the back.If you see this Lady Fish Paste sign turn around and go up the escalator past the mirrored wall. This will take you to a swell market filled with some marvelous ceramics and a wall of glass apothecary jars full of the most pricey loose teas I have ever witnessed.It was a bright cold morning but the clouds put up a good backdrop for the lanterns and the wild ornate buildings.

If you are unfamiliar with Chinatown in Los Angeles the main drag is along N. Broadway and N. Hill Street just a bit Northeast of downtown. If you are driving South on the 110 freeway take the Hill Street exit. It will drop you right into the thick of it. Finding free parking can be a bear on any day of the week but there are many lots that typically charge $5 or less for the day. Even better, skip the parking and take the Gold Line train to the Chinatown stop. It's a short walk to the shops. And by the way, Phillipe's is in the same neighborhood in case you haven't tried their horseradish mustard.If you don't make it for holiday shopping, don't fret, you can still make the 112th Annual Golden Dragon Parade for Chinese New Year on February 5th, 2011.

**If you are up for some bipedal adventuring, historic Olvera Street can be traveled to on foot in a little less than ten minutes. Stay tuned for an a-go-go take on the pueblo. If you can, make plans to visit next week in time for Las Posadas

li'l trees and estuary views

2010-11-10T08:13:00.000-08:00

10/24 The Elfin Forest

A little before Halloween we took time to explore a short boardwalk hike through the Elfin Forest near Los Osos, California. This part of Moro Bay State Park is named for the stands of Pygmy Oaks that make it such an unusual place. Moro Bay and Los Osos are often bathed in fog and the damp encourages shaggy drapes of moss on the branches of the small trees adding to the fairy tale appearance.
To find the Elfin Forest take Los Osos Valley Road West from Highway 101 just south of San Luis Obispo. Just as the road enters the town of Los Osos make a right on South Bay Boulevard. At the intersection you'll start seeing signs directing the way to the trail head. Follow S. Bay Blvd. about 1.4 miles and turn left on Santa Ysabel Avenue. The first right is 17th street and at the end of the block is the trail head. A short path through the dunes will take you to the board walk, a less than 1 mile loop with short side paths to overlooks on the bay and estuary.
The board walk winds down through coast scrub brush where you'll see and hear lots of bird action if you make the hike in morning or late afternoon. We heard more birds than we could see and the sun was already high enough to end the morning bird party. The lower part of the board walk on the bay side of the dune (everything is growing on sand here) gets into the thick of the mini oaks. Somewhere in the middle of the loop there is a side path into Rose's Grove, a good place to sit under the little trees with benches provided.
If you are after a longer walk, the area around Los Osos, Moro Bay, and Montaña do Oro State Park offer a whole mess of hiking trails. If you bring a canine pal, don't forget the leash, they are required in the state parks. From the overlooks on the board walk there are good views of the bay and the estuary, a popular stopover for all sorts of migrating shore birds, so bring your binoculars if it's that avian-travel-time of year. As I mentioned the area is often socked in with fog particularly in the mornings and much of the summer, so the view of the bay may not be this clear.
The board walk is considered to be wheelchair friendly (though the first bit through the sand could be a challenge) so this is a good choice for anyone with less mobility or stamina, but if you're a 20 mile a day walker don't pass this up just because it's short. The Elfin Forest and the bay offers anyone a pleasant walk.

**hi there, mrs. a-go-go here, i just wanted to point out that mr. a-go-go forgot the part about the harmonica playing serenade. if yer lucky, when you pull up you may catch an awesome visual of a man in an orange hat accompanying a singing seagull with his harmonica. for reals yo!

not goin' far at all

2010-11-06T07:09:00.000-07:00

With the continuing struggle to find some reliable income there just hasn't been much time to explore lately. However, I have to say if you're in the San Luis Obispo neighborhood on a Thursday don't miss the downtown framers market. We attended for the Halloween costume contest on October 28th but the farmers market happens on Thursday evenings nearly year round. It includes free live music and lots of dining options, not to mention the produce stands and all the regular shops are open too.

Sorry I don't have more fabulous travel tales this week folks, but we'll be a-go-goin' soon.

hard monsters

2010-10-27T08:00:00.000-07:00

Monster Park in San Gabriel, California
One of the peculiar places filled with concrete critters in Southern California that we have returned to visit nearly as often as the Cabazon Dinosaurs is Monster Park in San Gabriel. The place's official name is Vincent Lugo Park but that shouldn't stop you calling it what you like after seeing the menagerie.
There's a big octopus, an undulating sea monster, a pink whale, a huge (sea?) snail, a sinking ship, and more. The snail and the whale have steel slides built in but the others are concrete painted with what is intended to be a slick surface. The dragon slide, for instance, has a slope that wiggles from side to side. Super cool, but the slickness is a little lacking and one must work a bit to get down the slide. That's all well and good as all the rough surfaces make these play structures a bit lacking in the eyes of safety watchdogs and a fast ride down the serpent's back could make for some ugly rash.
I suppose that lack of safety features is part of why this nifty little artwork was threatened with demolition until fairly recently. Fortunately a group of San Gabriel residents fought hard to save the work of Benjamin Dominguez, the man who's vision and hands built the monsters in the 1960s. Volunteers have been working to keep the monsters brightly painted and to clean up the occasional graffiti.
mrs. a-go-go did a little color selection on this one. The rocks and lighthouse actually have more color detail than what is shown.

The park is close to the San Gabriel Mission if you are looking for a tidbit of history, or just packing a picnic and having lunch with the critters makes a nice afternoon. Bring some well worn pants if you wish to ride the serpents, and get ready to scoot!

the bluffs in Fall

2010-10-20T08:00:00.000-07:00

10/15 Montaña de Oro State Park

Just south of Morro Bay and Los Osos on the central coast is Montaña de Oro State Park with lots of hiking and mountain biking options. Rain was in the forecast for Sunday so we took our opportunity to get out for a hike on Saturday morning knowing that we'd be in for cool and gray skies. Pecho Valley Road, shown above winding between Monterrey Pines and eucalyptus trees, took us all the way to the south end of the park where the road ends at a locked gate. From here we could hike inland on a trail following Coon Creek or out to the bluffs. We chose the later.Our whole hike was probably less than 3 miles out and back but we spent alot of time tracing the deep cuts in the shore line. The bluffs pretty thoroughly exclude anyone making their way to the water's edge here. A thick layer of jumbled and upended sedimentary rock makes a cliff of at least 30 feet along the bluffs. This is topped with a more recent layer of rather loose crumbly erosion debris from the hills above the bluffs. That crumbly layer would daunt any adventurous bluff scrambler, and it's good to have some small beaches that people don't frequent. It keeps the local sea birds and aquatic mammals happy. I highly recommend heeding the posted warnings and keeping a little distance from the edge, and don't attempt to find your way down to the tempting small coves.
Still, there are many places to get a good look over the edge. We spent at least an hour watching the waves wash up the inlets to scramble the small rocks and heaps of kelp. The hard sedimentary rock juts out from under the soft top layer in many places forming shelves with tide pools. We spotted several Black Oystercatchers, sea birds with bright red beaks, poking around in the exposed puddles looking for lunch.
mrs. a go-go didn't have her long lens on the camera so we are short on zoom pictures of the action. There are lots of small sea cliff caves and funky small arches of rock. All good places for pirates to wash up.In spite of the gray day Montaña de Oro was having a smidge of Spring in the Fall.The poppies were making a show here and there among all the olive green coast scrub. Montaña de Oro is covered by gobs of trails headed in every direction and Morro Bay offers even more to the North. It will take lots of visits for us to explore them all.

If you go and are up for a burger lunch after your walk, don't miss Sylvester's in Los Osos. They make 'em sloppy with all sorts of tasty toppings. An excellent no nonsense lunch.

sandhill surprise

2010-10-13T08:00:00.000-07:00

October 2007, Whitewater Draw, Southeast Arizona

Speaking of migrations, seeing all those tarantulas on the move last week reminded me of another epic journey we were lucky to witness several years ago. After visiting Bisbee, Arizona we wandered in the Sulfur Springs Valley just a bit further East. There we stumbled upon Whitewater Draw Wildlife Area and its seasonal wetland.
The wetland is a stopover point for many migrating birds making their way along the dry valleys. Among the most spectacular mass visitors are the Sandhill Cranes. We found our selves at Whitewater Draw a bit late in the morning and we didn't expect to see a bonanza of birds as most activity typically happens in the cool mornings and evenings. Boy, were we surpised when shortly after making our way to the short boardwalk the Cranes started to arrive from the North in wave after noisy wave. Here's mrs. a-go-go's short sound bite of the squadrons arriving:

Crazy luck! The short fuzzy video doesn't do it justice. The sky was quite clear and we could see far to the north the narrow bands of more birds following in the wakes of those already partying in the shallow water. Surprisingly a few groups of birds decided to start the next leg of the journey within the hour or so that we were there. More were still arriving from the North while small groups began to wade away from the mob and take off for the South, chattering and squawking the whole way.

In addition we had a fleeting glimpse of the Vermilion Flycatcher. Now I'm no birdwatching expert, but I hear tell that the little fellow is rather elusive on most birders lists.
The photo really didn't catch the color. When he flew it really was a vermilion flash.

If you're a bird nut and you are traveling this part of Arizona in the Fall or Spring, don't miss Whitewater Draw. It may take a bit of dead reckoning to find it. Some of the lonely straight roads in the valley are poorly signed and we took a route requiring some dirt road. So, do a bit of map research before you go, and bring plenty of water.

get out of the road!

2010-10-07T11:50:00.000-07:00

Tarantulas make their move in Santa Barbara County
WARNING, if you're an arachnophobe you should look away and close your browser now. This post contains photos and video of some of the largest spiders in North America out looking for love. We think they are adorable and harmless, but we're keenly aware that we are weirdos that way and some folks will be revolted by what follows. So, if spiders make your skin crawl stop here, look away, and go get some ice cream or something soothing. For the rest of you critter loving dorks, read on...

Last October driving on a back road near Santa Maria, California mrs. a-go-go noticed what looked like a large spider on the shoulder of the road. Then there was another. The third was making its way down the middle of the lane. I swerved to avoid squashing it, and mrs. a-go-go hollered out, "I was right! they're tarantulas! Stop! Pictures! Aaah!".Camera in hand we chased that one down the center stripe; he was fast and didn't wait around for a photo op. That day we saw a few more on our way (and more than a few singing cows) and it prompted mrs. a-go-go to do a little research on the local tarantula habits. Finding that late September and early October is the season to see the big fuzzy (looking) fellas on the back roads we determined to go out for another look.Now, I am no expert on this subject and can't go into great detail about spider sightings or tarantula behavior but I understand it's the males that are out seeking a mate. We found a few references to this being a tarantula migration to ancestral breading grounds, but after thinking about it I'm not convinced that's what a spider specialist would call it. I'll apply Occam's razor and remain skeptical about there being some special place they migrate to. It's my hunch that in the areas with good tarantula habitat the males are just out looking for love, not all headed in one direction, but it's a swell myth anyhow. I hear tell that the males are out and about this time of year all over Southwestern North America.
Our drive along Foxen Canyon Road between Los Olivos and Santa Maria turned up quite a few sightings and we had to pull over and act like crazy people many times along the way. We'd run out in the road, capture a few portraits, and then encourage the poor victim of wanderlust back into the weeds. Two of the wayfarers were reluctant to leave the road. Maybe they like the warm pavement and the lack of obstacles. I coaxed these lubbers onto branched sticks and airlifted to the roadside brush. If you're into it and are going to try to pick one up on a twig use one that can take the weight. These are some heavy spiders, carry them very low to the ground. If they fall you may just maim the hapless bugger. The ones we coaxed off the pavement may likely find there way back into the road anyhow, but we couldn't watch them waiting for a treaded death.The range of colors was surprising. Some were quite auburn, others were grey, and one was near jet black. Some were sluggish and seemed that they had had enough, others were quick and skittish. One wheeled around so fast when I noodged him with a blade of grass that mrs. a-go-go jumped and caught her breath.

I did my best to get a "Giant Spider! Evacuate the city!"

This red shaded one did his best to look big and tough waving his spinnerets when I brushed with a blade of grass.

The quick and the dead... This resourceful guy was working over the squashed body of a rival near the center of the road as we approached. By the time we were out of the car he had gathered some bits, I suppose for a meal, and was on his way into the brush. You can see what's left of the other spider just off center at the top of the frame.

The increase in auto traffic on this back road due to all the small wineries springing up with their wine tasting rooms must be putting a dent in the tarantula population. We did not see too many squashed fuzzy bodies and the cars and trucks that passed when we were chasing spiders all seemed to be reasonably courteous and steered to avoid unnecessary death. Still, Foxen Canyon Road could use some tarantula crossing signs to encourage people to continue being courteous.

If you want to seek out a first hand big spider encounter now is the season. I don't suggest handling the tarantulas. I understand they are not very dangerous for their bite, but some folks could have a deadly allergic reaction to the venom. In addition their bite is rather painful, and some have special "hairs" (they really don't have hair quite like you and me) that can be really irritating to your skin and eyes. It's even worse if you inhale them. So, keep a little distance and encourage them off the road with a blade of grass. I did lift two off the road with a reasonably thick well branched twig. Again, if you try this, keep it really close to the ground. They are heavy enough to be mashed a bit by falling too far.

I'm certain there are other places beyond the back roads of Santa Barabara County where the fuzzy fellows are on the move, just do a little research on Flickr. Find the big spider pics and look for the location and date. A week ago we drove the same road on a warm afternoon and made no sightings. Our first encounter last year was on a cool overcast day before 11am and we spotted 5 tarantulas. This encounter was on another cool overcast day with some sprinkles of rain and we saw at least 10 big spiders. Don't know enough yet to suggest a particular time of day but cloudy and cool seems to be promising. Do drive slow, these are big spiders but they are still hard to spot unless they are right out on the pavement, and you wouldn't want to add to the casualties. Go! Tarantulas, Go!

For the curious here's more tarantula goodies:
American Tarantula Society
The Corsegold Tarantula Festival North of Fresno on Hwy 41 seems to be happening this year Oct. 30th even though they seem slow to update the web page.
a bit about Tarantulas at Mt. Diablo State Park
Gadzooks! it's the The Tarantula's Burrow
And brief tarantula facts from The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum

a short walk in the San Gabriels

2010-09-29T06:49:00.001-07:00

Monrovia Canyon Park

Back in August during a visit with friends in Glendale, CA we had an afternoon that called out for a hike. The Station fire last year burned most of our favorite short hikes in the West end of the San Gabriel Mountains and Angeles Crest Highway remains closed until further notice. I have not seen it in person but I hear tell the heat of the fire vaporized all the guard rails, signs, and some of the asphalt.

Monrovia Canyon Park is far enough East to be out of the burn area and it offered one of the few San Gabriel foothill hikes within a short drive of Glendale that was still open.

There is a per car fee of $5 and maps available at the entrance to the park. The map will guide you to one of several parking areas depending on what trail or picnic area you wish to visit. With kids in tow we chose the short 3/4 mile walk to Monrovia Fall(s). This is a popular trail with dog walkers so expect company particularly on pleasant weekend afternoons. The trail winds up the canyon crossing the creek several times. Some tip-toe rock balancing is required to cross the water but the rest of the trail is well maintained and an easy grade.

There's the magic adventure bag, the ever present companion. Restroom facilities are available near the parking area but none up the trail so don't forget your pee style ladies.

At the end of the trail you'll find at least a smidgen of a waterfall even in the summer. If you make the trek after a good rain (yes, they come once in a while in LA) the waterfall will be more impressive and the creek crossings more harrowing. Beware, if you hike on a day that threatens imminent rainfall, the canyons of the San Gabriel Mountains are notorious for flash floods and debris flows of mud, rocks, and trees.

All said, we had a pleasant short hike that kept the kids busy enough poking in the water. After a lunch snack near the small waterfall we headed back downstream. If you go, keep an eye out for the peculiar glazed ceramic trail markers.

We never figured what the numbers indicated. Maybe you can sleuth it out.

trailing bob jones

2010-09-23T07:53:00.000-07:00

Sorry folks, this is about an easy hike/bike trail near San Luis Obispo, CA named for a central coast conservation activist not the evangelist namesake of Bob Jones University.

If you live near or are visiting San Luis Obispo here's an excellent choice for a nice walk or an easy bike ride. The a-go-gos and most of the family were looking for a bike ride that everyone could manage including the nephew a-go-go who's legs are still short. The Bob Jones City to Sea Trail fit the bill nicely. Here are directions and a map. and for the curious here's some tidbits about the man and the eventual plan for the trail. For now the trail is only 1.5 miles but some day it will connect the city of San Luis Obispo with Avila Beach.

If you want to make the short journey on a weekend it's a good idea to arrive early. The parking area is small and will likely fill by 10am on nice weekend mornings. We set out at 8:30 when the typical summer coastal fog was still drifting over the hills. That kept us nice and cool until about 11am on our way back.

The trail winds along San Luis Obispo Creek though it isn't visible much of the way. We've made this short trek before and are still fascinated by the stalled development pictured above (this is a picture from a year ago on a day with no fog). The steel columns look like something out of a Time Machine film set. Much of the canyon is developed and the trail skirts some condo clusters, a Buddhist temple, and a golf course but it is still a pretty ride.

On our way to Avila we passed several joggers and dog walkers. By the time we were headed back the trail was quite a dog party and people were neglecting the "keep right" policy causing a little chaos. After about 3/4 mile the trail comes in view of the creek and joins Blue Heron Drive. This is an active road shared with auto traffic though the speed limit is 20mph and the drivers were all very courteous and patient with the pedestrians and bikes.

After leaving Blue Heron Drive the trail meanders through the golf greens, crosses the creek on a small truss bridge, and ends at a pedestrian crossing of Avila Beach Drive. If you wish you can continue on Avila Beach Drive. It skirts the bay and dead ends at the pier on the West side. The sea lions are often hanging around barking and growling at each other and there's the Olde Port Inn at the end of the pier.

We chose to continue on San Miguel Street which leads to Avila's beach front walkway. Lining Front Street there are several places to get a cup of coffee, a dab of ice cream, or a sandwich.

We locked up the bikes (One thing missing here is bike racks. There are a couple here and there but most people seem to use the railing along the walkway.) and took a walk out to the end of Avila Pier (this one's on the East side of the bay). The fog was still with us so our photos are mostly of things fading to white, but mrs. a-go-go got some excellent shots of dew spangled spider webs.
The pier was just long enough and the fog just thick enough that we seemed to be taking a bridge to nowhere. Looking back from the far end the shore faded into a faint horizon.
Morning fog and cool temperatures is the norm for a summer day at Avila, but any time of year is a good time to visit. Often the best beach days here are in the Fall and Spring, so put that bike on the rack and go. For those with more muscles and more ambition the ride from San Luis Obispo to Avila can be made on the asphalt even though the future dream of the City to Sea Trail is incomplete. It's only about 10 miles. C'mon you can do it.

mo' betta mummies

2010-09-16T07:56:00.000-07:00

California Science Center and Mummies of the World

In August we had a visit to Los Angeles, our old stomping grounds, and took in Mummies of the World, a temporary special exhibit at the California Science Center. We were joined by the sister a-go-go and the nephew a-go-go. For hours, directions, and admission info do check on the links above but here's a few tips gleaned from our visit...
The web site is unfortunately being vague about the closing date for the show. They say it ends in the Fall some time. Yes, but WHEN? If you want to see the show while it's in Los Angeles be sure to check and double check the web site to be certain that the exhibit is still running. As of today, I can't seem to find a closing date anywhere. Admission to the California Science Center is normally free, but this is a special show so the tickets are a little pricey. The standard adult admission is $21.50 (if you buy them online). mrs. a-go-go did some internet digging and found a special coupon offer that let us buy adult tickets at the box office for $16. Sorry I don't have a link for that coupon, it was a limited time thing and seems to have dried up. Next is parking. It is possible to find parking in the neighborhood around Exposition Park but your time is likely to be limited to a few hours. The parking lot for the museums is normally $8 per car but the fee is sometimes more if there is a big event. If you use the museum lot beware that the entrance to the parking garage is a hard right immediately passed the parking attendant. If you miss it you have to circle the park again to get back.
Shew! OK, on to the exhibit. Sorry, photography is not allowed in the show, so I'm a bit short on images here. We went on a Friday morning near opening time and the crowd was not too bad. With the exhibit nearing the end of its run things could be heating up and the crowds thicker, particularly on the weekends. There were a few waits to get close to some cases but not enough to get frustrating. The collection of mummies and the wealth of didactic material for the show is marvelous and there was a reasonable amount of space around most of the displays, but the display heights are not designed with kids in mind. If you go with the young'uns be ready to do some lifting so they can get a better look. The show begins with a collection of mummified animals. This provided a good illustration of a key point of the show, that there are natural mummies and then there are the standard mummies that we all think of right away, all those carefully prepared bodies wrapped in linen and some housed in an ornate sarcophagus. The mummified animals provided a good illustration of how common mummification is without the intervention of human handiwork. These naturally mummified animals all died in conditions where their bodies dried quickly enough to thwart the decay of skin and some fleshy bits. There was a house cat that had dried up in a drafty crawl space under a house, and a hyena that had dried on the savanna after being partly scavenged by big critters. These examples were all missing their hair and most of the internal bits had been consumed by the usual rabble of small scavenging critters, but the skins were generally intact and wizened. The leathery dry and hairless skins were shrunken and stretched over the ribs and pelvic bones, and the faces were all contorted into startled grimaces.

So these are natural mummies, I get it, lets move on to the Egyptian stuff. I wanna see some golden masks, and dried up bandages!... Ah, not so fast. There is actually very little of that sort of thing in this show, and if it is what you are after you will be disappointed. There is one Egyptian mummy of a wealthy individual complete with a decorated sarcophagus and bandage wrapped body with crossed arms, but the bulk of the show is not focused on this sort of thing. At the beginning of the Egyptian section there was another collection of mummified animals, these having been purposely mummified by the Egyptians to serve as companions to the people mummies. There were lots of cats, a cayman, and a snake among the menagerie all wrapped up in lumpy bundles and a few that had been decorated to look like the animal in life. These gave a good counterpoint to the naturally mummified animals that we had just seen driving home the difference between a natural mummy and one that had been prepared carefully for burial.

The rest of the show is divided by the parts of the world where the mummies were found, and most of these examples are actually classified as natural mummies, even when they were purposefully buried. For example, one of the collections is a group of Europeans who were interred in a crypt that just happened to be cold and drafty enough to thoroughly preserve the bodies. I suppose that in most cases the bodies would decay to little more than bones with the help of rats, maggots, and bacteria but with all the water sucked out of 'em right away they became these unintended oddities with weird toothy grins. This is the sort of thing that I can see leading to legends of the undead and vampires. Apparently some of these natural mummies became tourist attractions for a while in their European crypts.

There were natural mummies from South America, who may have intentionally been buried high in the Andes where people knew they would dry out, but they are still considered natural, and bog bodies with black tanned leather skins and spongy rubbery black bones. There were fantastic interactive digital displays that exhibited three dimensional imaging of selected mummy's interior. There were late Hellenistic Egyptian mummies that had been entirely stripped of their bandages. And more....

All in all a good show, and worth the trouble, but I am glad we found the discounted tickets.
Later, we did some mummy making of our own with the nephew a-go-go.

The California Science Center has a whole lotta stuff to offer beyond their temporary shows like Mummies of the World. In the last year a large new wing of permanent exhibits was opened and admission to all of this part of the museum is free.
This new wing is mostly filled with the Ecosystems galleries. These are divided into zones including the Rot Room (HA! I have one of those at home.) and the big aquarium tank pictured above. After our date with the mummies we didn't have time to explore all the new stuff so we will be back for more soon.
If you're in LA and have a day to spend watching jellyfish swim and making sequins shimmer don't miss the Science Center. It'll keep you busy all day even without the mess of mummies.

bounce it off your satellite

2010-09-11T08:23:00.000-07:00

GPS vs. MaPS

Finding one's way on the road has changed dramatically. GPS devices and internet offerings like MapQuest and Google Maps threaten to put the old paper map books out to pasture, and maybe I'll never have to ask people on the street for directions ever again.

Yeah, maybe not. All the new fangled stuff certainly helped us on our trip but we couldn't have made it with out the trusty Michelin North America road map book, our collection of ancient technology folded paper AAA maps, and a few scribbled out hand drawn maps.

A friend and former neighbor loaned us her Garmin GPS unit for the trip. It came with the caveat that it was far from infallible. It had been known to send the driver down unmarked dirt roads or show the vehicle gliding over blue digital lakes. After listening to the now common female electronic voice repeat, "Recalculating." quite a few times we knew the GPS needed a nick name. By our second week into the trip the name that stuck was LaFonduh. Not that she really had anything in common with the character in Napoleon Dynamite, but she did arrive from out of town one day like a blind date and changed our lives in unpredictable ways. She couldn't stick around after the Big Trip, and she is on her way back home now.

LaFonduh gave us quite a few bum steers and many confusing or potentially dangerous directions, but she did none the less make many fine contributions to our travels. After all the recalculating and comical electronic mispronunciations we think it would be worth investing in a LaFonduh of our very own for our next big outing. She gave us helpful estimates of arrival times, she provided detail maps and local directions in places where our paper maps came up short, and she was indispensable in tracking down specific addresses in far away towns. We used ATM machines quite often on our trip and finding a local one was always an adventure. Our bank's website provided locations of ATMs where we could supposedly make fee free transactions and we'd hand the addresses over to LaFonduh. Now, some of the information given by the bank was honestly way off target and we ended up in some strange parts of towns looking for Federal Credit Unions or local banks, but a few times the fault was clearly LaFonduh's leading us to streets lacking signage, sidewalks, or pavement in search of a Brigadoon ATM. All said and done though, LaFonduh was a good addition to the crew and a boon to the trip.

I have heard rumblings about the GPS system being in disrepair and with lack of funds for new satellites it may become a bit more unreliable and less accurate some time in the not too distant future. For those of you unfamiliar with the nuts and bolts of GPS, the little talking screens are dependant on the radio signals from a constellation of geosynchronous orbiting satellites to calculate the position of the individual hand held device to within a few feet. Apparently the satellites have an expected service life and the original plan called for launching new satellites on a specific schedule to take the place of the aging ones. Well, economics and budgets being what they are the schedule has had many postponements. The good news is that most of the satellites have been outperforming their expected life span and there are still a few spares in the system to keep up the minimum number for global coverage. On the bad side it seems that we in the technologically advanced world have been getting more and more dependant on the GPS system, and it could start showing cracks leaving us staring at little boxes that repeat, "lost satellite reception." while the little digital car wobbles on a big green trapezoid.

For finding the local hot dog place in Northwest Connecticut where we had no local maps (it was closed when we got there, rats!) LaFonduh was indispensable, but we were never without our Michelin map book. We kept it at the ready when ever we were driving. It kept us on track and did an excellent job as the authority that could confirm or reject LaFonduh's directions. The book made our daily planning easier and provided a good place to draw the pink line tracing our route, plus it never ran out of batteries or lost satellite reception. It gave excellent advice on scenic routes and made finding back road alternates to the interstates (that LaFonduh worked feverishly to steer us away from) much easier.

GPS is swell but map reading, using a compass, and planning where we are going is becoming a lost art. Those muscles are atrophying way to quick. One of mrs. a-go-gos favorite anecdotes concerns being asked for directions one day in Los Angeles. She was hailed in a parking lot by a driver in a shiny white BMW who was lost and in a hurry. He was asking for directions to an intersection of two major streets and muttered about a meeting for which he was late and worried. While he fussed, mrs. a-go-go did her best to point him in the right direction and offered to retrieve our Thomas Guide map book to find which intersection he ment. Then, frustrated, he said, "Never mind, I've got it on my GPS." and sped off. As the dust cleared mrs. a-go-go shook her head. He was clearly going in the wrong direction and would be late for his "meeting." (Hmm... guy in a new BMW needs to meet someone at an intersection at 11 am.) The intersection he was seeking happened to be on two streets that wind very far across LA and intersect at least three times in places very far apart. Hope that guy wasn't meeting with someone who would fit him with cement overshoes. Oh well, he should have looked things up on a map ahead of time.

The shrivelling art of reading maps is a cryin' shame. I'm sure some of us will keep it alive until all the batteries die, at least I hope we will. I'm no stellar navigator and have never owned a sextant (though I've always been fascinated by them), but I can still use a compass and make a good guess where I am on a decent map, and I can find Polaris if the city lights are far enough away.

On our visit to the Montreal Museum of Archaeology and History we saw an exhibit about Rapa Nui that included this example, below, of the maps that the Polynesian navigators made to record the location and/or direction of other islands across hundreds if not thousands of miles of open ocean. I'm still boggled by the thought that these folks could cross such spaces with little to guide them other than the stars and the wave patterns reflected from distant islands.

it's in the bag

2010-09-08T08:19:00.000-07:00

the adventure bag, don't go walkin' without it .

You may have spotted this red and grey bag riding on my back in many of mrs. a-go-gos photos on the trail. Yes folks, that is the veritable Adventure Bag in all its glory. We do our best to keep this bag stocked and ready for the trail whether it's in the trunk or in the closet at home. It makes life easy when we have a spontaneous need to get out for a day hike or when an unexpected state park pops up where the road leaps over the next hill.

The adventure bag keeps us hydrated, supplied with snacks, soothes boo-boos and insect bites, and helps keep mrs. a-go-gos pants up when she has to pee in the woods. So what's in the magical bag of tricks?

Here's the standard stuff that lives in the bag:
*small flashlight (maglite)
*pocket knife (Get one with a knife that is at least 2 inches. The more gizmos on your knife the better but my favorite has a three inch blade, can opener, bottle opener/flat blade screwdriver, and an awl[you'd be surprised how many holes I have had to poke through things with this.] It doesn't have to be a Victorinox but if it's a cheapie make sure the blade won't fold on you when you need it.)
*a compass (learn to use one folks)
*2 whistles (we wear these when out walking, never know when you need to make a loud noise)
*one pen and one pencil (the old wood style) and a small note book
*a few wet wipes (hate the packaging but every little once in a while we need 'em)
*a couple of used plastic bags for picking up trail trash
*a small magnifying glass (we have a 2 inch all plastic one for tiny things on the map and for seeing bugs and splinters)
*a tiny sewing kit (the kind that some motels still provide, but all you need is a good needle and some thread)
*matches (something water proof, I have a little sealed metal cylinder with about twelve strike anywhere matches)
*two bandannas (for all sorts of things, when it's hot get it wet and tie it on your neck, napkin, bandage, mask for cold wind [no joke, this got me through the day up on top of Mt. San Antonio last year], and to tie up your hair when it gets all sweaty and ick.
*small bottle of hand sanitizer
*a small emergency water filter (we have one of the straw types that you can sip through)
*a space blanket
*lip balm
*sunscreen
*first aid kit (moleskin for hot spots [remember to put it on before you get a blister], small tweezers, a mess of band aids, some small antiseptic packets, some hydrocortizone for bites and itches, one of those bite sticks like biteMD, and some pain pills whatever is your favorite)
*two nylon windbreakers (these are compact and are great to throw on as a wind shell, but do bring some other warm layer too, we like to have a synthetic fleece something or other)
*durable snacks (gum, nuts, fruit leather, or granola bars)
*some TP and/or a pack of tissues
*last but not least, a pee-style for the ladies and some sort of zip lock bag to keep it in.

Before we step out on the trail we add full water bottles, lunch, a map if we are going far, the cell phone, and the gorilla pod (a compact tripod, mrs. a-go-go keeps the camera on her shoulder) and we are on our way. Don't forget that extra warm layer or a sun shirt, and do wear your hat and sun glasses.

Put a bag together. It'll yell, "Go on! walk up that hill!" the next time you see an inviting meadow.

just the facts ma'am

2010-09-05T08:00:00.000-07:00

The Big Trip is over but there will be more to come. If anything, seeing all these places and meeting all these new friends has produced an appetite for more. The list of places we missed is far longer that what we did see, and we have a growing list of places to visit again. It will be a while before we have the time and budget for another long trip, meanwhile lets see how we did. If you don't care for figures and budgets this post is not for you, but if you wish to know the dirty details, read on.
After checking over the map and all the notes in our log book here are the facts:

time on the road: 12 weeks and 3 three days, or 87 days total

Rodney's odometer: 11,673 miles, an average of about 134 miles/day

the dough: $6,156 total, $495/week average, $71/day average

the gas: $988 for approximately 330 gallons and an average of 34 mpg. (not bad for a 1999 Rav4 that is only supposed to get 28 mpg.)

two oil changes on the road: $123.78 (that was all Rodney needed on the trip, but we invested about $150 for parts pluss some sweat equity for preventative maintenance before starting down the road)

18 nights in motels: $1,262, average $70/night

13 nights camping out: $190, average $15/night

56 nights on the hospitality of friends (and family): $0, but this should be a negative number, because we received so much more than just places to sleep. This would have been a very different trip if not for the generosity of so many people.

How does all this compare to the original plan? Surprisingly well. After putting pins in our map for all the places we wanted to visit, and more importantly, for all the people we wanted to visit we made a rough itinerary and made a guess at what we would spend. We figured on a minimum of 10 weeks on the road, a budget between $5,000 and $7,000, and a distance of about 10,000 miles. Our actual average spending of $495/week miraculously hit the target dead center. Until we were home and I had added things up I had no idea that we had stayed so close to the plan.

We tried to plan our destinations so that the drive times were four hours or less per day. For most of the trip that was true but we did have some marathons. The first was the stretch from Marfa to Austin, Texas. That was about eight hours. There were others but none compared to our last stretch home when we had simply had enough and wanted to be home. That last day of 14.5 hours of driving in a 16 hour day took the cake.

I had imagined that we would spend more time camping out, but with threatening weather and the pain in the neck of breaking camp after one night (in most cases) we just didn't have the energy on too many evenings and we'd settle for a motel. Those of you who have been reading along since the beginning may remember our Transit Connect dream. It's a small commercial van from Ford that I thought would make a swell tiny camper. If that had come true we would have spent more time in camp sites. Having a ready made bed makes things much easier than setting up a tent for the night.

I have to say again that no such trip in this budget would ever have been possible without the generosity of our many hosts. We slept on couches, air mattresses and floors, we were well fed, and well entertained, and we managed several loads of laundry along the way. Our impressions of the many places we visited were richly flavored by the people who took us in and showed us their stomping grounds. We can not thank them enough. In addition, we were buoyed by the generous support and gifts of many others who helped us make our way down the road.
The pink line on the map has brought us back to California, but the rest of that open space is calling. Maybe we can get our hands on a Transit Connect some day soon and make the long loop of the Southwest. Heck, we could spend a year in New Mexico alone... Hmm, I need a job first, at least for a while.

Home At Last

2010-09-04T08:59:00.000-07:00

California 8/5
we returned home from our trip to this lovely package from some favorite people. who could have asked for a better return. now what?

one last driving marathon

2010-09-03T08:18:00.000-07:00

8/4 Portland to Home

Up early, packed up, and in the car by 7am. Why is the last day of any road trip always a long long drive? We were suffering from serious travel fatigue in our last week on the road so I suppose doing the last leg in one go was inevitable. We had thoughts of trying to visit one more friend in Santa Cruz on our way south or possibly stopping for the Underground Gardens in Fresno, but the thought of one more night in a motel just filled us with dread. So... 14 hours of driving in one day? No sweat. The last three months had me well prepared for the task.
There is little to say about the drive. It was just long, and in fact I remember very little of it. With the end traveling in sight very little mattered other than staying awake all the way home. Shasta greeted us South of the California border and threw us into the Central Valley. I think lunch was had in the car while driving and other than stopping for gas and a few leg stretches our only pit stop was dinner at Denny's in Red Bluff.
We slogged our way through traffic West of the bay area and hopped on the 101 near San Jose. As night fell some low clouds and fog turned up on the road ahead. It made me think of all the unknowns coming for us at the end of the road; no jobs, no home, no real plan. Oh well, we had chosen to take this grand tour knowing what we would have to give up. Now we'd just have to dig in and get to work.

As the headlights came on we figured that if fatigue set in and threatened to send us into the ditch, a stop for the night would be OK, but that never happened. This marathon went very smoothly and we made it home by 11pm.
Here we are in the morning after our 16 hour day. Unloading Rodney and sorting the pile would just be the first step on the next journey.

portland a-go-gos

2010-09-02T07:31:00.000-07:00

Oregon 8/2-8/3
well folks, this is truly the last leg of our crazy journey. we rolled into portland like mr.a-go-go wrote ready to see some favorite people yet so so so ready to be home. it was as if the travel fatigue fairy walloped up on our noggins, we were that eager to be home but first we would visit.sadly, as it was summer, these lovely people were on their very own road trip so we were unable to squeeze each other and make a mad dash for the booth. luckily for us though, we were mere moments away from visiting with these lovely people as they were getting ready to journey out themselves. phew! talk about timing! we may have had only a day and a half but it was oh-so-nice to hug and squeeze and chat, chat, chat away. it was so lovely to play catch up and see how the young miss had grown.there was crafty talk, catch up talk, errand running, taco truck snacking, home cooked meal enjoying and some major scone scarfing. susan and family eventually squeezed out the door for their own adventure leaving us another night in their lovely home (with our very own jar of home made jam).we took the day s l o w l y. laundry was finished, photos were uploaded, books were read and banh mi was sought out. we wondered if we would camp on the way down. would we take this route or that route. would we see friends here or there or would we take the plunge and drive straight through? this was the end of our trip...the end of our trip! it felt at once exciting, thrilling and completely without luster. darn that trip fatigue fairy. even as we slooped into the guest bed all made up with vintage bedding we still hadn't figured it out. the morning would see us through and so we slept.

an oregon beach day

2010-09-01T07:53:00.000-07:00

Oregon Coast 8/1
we woke up bright eyed and ready for something. we need to explore for a few hours before Susan and family would be home for us to visit with back at their casa. we decided a beach day would be a good thing as last time we came to oregon we never got to see the coast so after loading up Rodney we were off!

we took the time for the scenic route and bypassed the big highway. while it may have added almost an hour to our drive it was worth as there were berries involved.and yes, we picked some. how could we not? we even picked up a few blackberries. i think blueberry picking may be one of our most favorite things on this trip. after all we are now old pros at it. mr. a-go-g is now looking at bushes to see if we can grow some at "home".we drove for what seemed like forever, past sleepy towns, a coastal train and the Tillamook Cheese Factory! eventually, hunger ruled and we pulled into a spot high above the sands below and trekked down for a seaside lunch and mayhaps even a nap.the weather was perfect. not too cold, not too hot and the beach was perfectly populated. we enjoyed ourselves immensely. eventually we packed up and made the wee trek back to the car to explore the rest of what the coast had to offer.we had hoped to make it to Astoria but found we lacked time in that department so instead we took a peek at the road food book to see if there was anything nearby. there was, so we turned onto a popular street that took us through the even more popular town of Seaside. the spot we were fixin' to find was gone but there was enough to see and a parking spot right in front of us.serendipity! we pulled in and wandered checking out the carousel and the candy store. eschewing the really, really good fudge, we settled for a scoop each and licked it all up before it melted. now, finally, it was time to head to our portland home.

big river, lots'a falls, and lots'a people

2010-08-30T08:00:00.000-07:00

7/31 from the fossil beds to Beaverton, Oregon

Heading north from the John Day Fossil Beds area on highway 97 we passed through vast wheat fields with two white peaks of the Cascades on the horizon. We stopped for a few minutes to stretch and listen to the dry rush of wind through the heads of grain, then the road dropped into the Columbia Gorge. We met the river East of The Dalles where the gorge has been partly filled with a wide dam bound lake. It wasn't until we drove West some distance before the gorge turned into the green coated dripping wet valley that we remembered from our first visit to Portland.
We took some time to visit some of the fantastic waterfalls that drop from the basalt cliffs of the gorge. We hiked a bit of a trail passing close enough to a cascade to soak our clothes to the skin with a heavy blasts of mist. I can not recall the name of the one we visited but there are several to choose from along the Historic Columbia River Highway.
Our drive brought us to the gorge on a weekend in the summer and it's a very popular place. Don't let the photo above fool you, the trail was full of damp hikers. We waited for a rare opportunity to take this picture of the bridge in front of the falls. If you want to hike these popular trails in the summer do start out early as the parking gets a bit crazy particularly at Multnomah Falls. The loop trail that climbs the cliffs above Multnomah and some of the smaller falls is well worth braving the small parking lots.
Further along, the highway climbs high above the river to the Vista House. The web is littered with fine photos of the view from this place and it was a bit overcast by the time we were there, so I will stick with the pretty picture above. This was taken on the stairs to the upper floor. The colored glass was casting some swell light that day. From here we drove into Portland to seek out a room for the night. We were a little ahead of schedule and our hosts in Portland would not be expecting us yet. The best deal for the night turned up in Beaverton where we could flop down on the beds and take a break from the long day of driving.

where the fossils sleep

2010-08-28T08:00:00.000-07:00

7/30 and 7/31 John Day Fossil Beds National Monument

Travel fatigue, hot weather, and the feeling that we were running out of time and money kept us from taking time to linger in the places we saw after Jefferson City, MO. Still, we managed to scope out several places where we would like to return on future trips. These places are closer to our end of the continent a more leisurely return trip won't be too difficult, and maybe by then we'll have our Transit Connect to make camping out a more simple proposition. One of the spots on the map that I really wanted to check out for future reference was the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument. There are three parts of this monument with short hiking trails and a visitor center but the area of the fossil beds them selves is enormous covering much of northern central Oregon and then some. The area has a long history of sedimentary geology interspersed with volcanic activity including basaltic lava flows and layers of ash fall. All this history and the erosion action of the John Day River (and a mess of tributaries) has created one of the richest and most continuous fossil records in the world. It presents a library of fossilised critters, plants, insects, and more spanning from 6 million to 54 million years ago. That makes it a nearly complete record of the Tertiary Period.
The visitor center is a must see for any aspiring fossilised bone sleuth. The displays will keep 'em busy for hours. The fine grain of the stone resulting from the ancient ash falls in the area has preserved some astonishing things, and the samples of leaves, seeds, and other plant materials preserved in a layer known as "the nut beds" (I just love that title) all look like they fell off the trees yesterday. The sound track playing inside the museum area is a little nutty. It is intended to offer the background noises of an ancient forest that once stood here. I was delighted, but the quantity of grunting and rustling of bushes makes the place sound like all 50 million years of critters had been herded into one little clearing in the forest.
The folks at the visitor center had a small map of campgrounds in the area so we decided to give it a go. I can't quite recommend any of the sites we visited, but they will do in a pinch. Unfortunately many of the camping facilities this part of Oregon to the north of the visitor center are not getting the maintenance they need. There were sites right along the river and some were popular and quite full even if they seemed barren. One of the pit toilet shacks we saw had the standard bullet holes in it. We did not visit it but the area to the south the John Day River might be a better bet. We did at last find one camp ground that was neither deserted nor full to over flowing. The tent sites were a bit too sloped and weedy but we were ready to take what we could get. The camp host visited in the morning and he was nice enough but the place is in need of some animal proof trash receptacles and even more in need of some pit toilet repair.

After an OK night (including an hour in the car while some thunder rolled through) and some hot chocolate in the morning, it was off to see the other parts of the fossil beds. On the way we couldn't help stop at a small hill top cemetery just outside the town of Fossil on highway 218.
Had to do some jumping.
The second part of the Fossil Beds Monument had more of the spectacular weathered rocks and some short hiking trails into the hills.
Exploring more of this layer cake of mineralized bones will have to wait for another trip with more time and another season when the days allow for some longer hikes. With a long way to go down the Columbia Gorge by the evening, it was time to head north into the wide wheat fields south of The Dalles. So long nut beds.

leapin' lava tubes

2010-08-26T08:00:00.000-07:00

7/29 Craters of the Moon

The night before was spent in a motel in Idaho Falls. The notion of camping out had been nixed by the threatening clouds and the severe thunder storm warnings on the radio, but staying in a motel makes getting out for the morning quick and easy. No ground cover to dry out, no tent to roll up, and that fresh showered feeling just can't be beat.

We passed through Arco, Idaho on the way to Craters of the Moon National Monument. The town offers some swell small town charm on the main drag and just out side of town we passed this achingly worn abandoned house. Arco's claim to fame is being the first town electrified with power from a nuclear reactor. The first experimental nuclear breeder reactor in the U.S. was activated here in 1951 but it was a second reactor a few years later that lit up the town. A bit further to the West out of town one can visit that reactor site and see all sorts of didactic exhibits. Apparently this reactor had the world's first partial melt down too. That's nothing to sniff at.

Another bit down the road (we happened to be traveling part of the historic Goodale Cuttoff of the Oregon Trail) we arrived at Craters of the Moon National Monument. A truly surreal place and sooo hard to photograph.
Folks on the Oregon Trail had to use the few land marks and cinder cones that stick up in this unearthly place to skirt these lava beds either to the north (that's the cutoff I mentioned) or to the south on the main trail. Trying to cross any of this black rumpled blanket with a wagon would be nuts'o. We explored what we could before the heat of the day could turn the black landscape into an inferno. There are paved paths provided to reduce the erosion caused by foot traffic and lots of signs discouraging folks from climbing on the rare splatter cones. All the Hawaiian terms for the forms of lava rock are used in the educational materials about the geology here. It made me think that the National Monument staff might benefit by invoking the protection of Pele and her curse to help out with protecting this special place. Mess with Pele's stuff and she will put something real bad on your plate.

There are big lava tubes here too. Some of them are quite easy to explore and have steel stairs at the entrance. Others require spelunking gear and some experience. The one tube we visited was a favorite of the local pigeons these days (not too many but enough to dabble plenty of guano here and there). The temperature down in the holes was pleasant too, even as the air outside heated up to the high nineties. It was easy to see why these places were once favored by the Shoshone (and maybe the pigeons of yore as well).
The visitor center featured a relief map of the broad Snake River valley designed to highlight the volcanic history of the area. The big valley is primarily the result of a long series of caldera eruptions that blasted out huge quantities of materials. The Craters of the Moon area is a less violent lava flow that released some of the left over heat and magma from one of these ancient explosions. In addition I learned that the Yellowstone area is the remnant of the most recent of these calderas. The geothermal activity there is just a faint hint of the energy released when the caldera blew it's top.

Once again the heat of the day had us beat and we spent the second half of the day driving to a motel just outside of Boise where we took a nap. The rest, a shower, and a bed for the night would at least make the next day's trek to the John Day Fossil Beds easier.

playing in our own private idaho

2010-08-24T09:42:00.000-07:00

upon entering Idaho, we found ourselves surrounded by fields and fields of grassy and wheaty things. there were clouds all around (and we do LOVE us some clouds) and suddenly, the sun peeped through and i hollered pull over so mr. a-go-go did.there was something wonderful and quirky and magical about the light so i snapped away. i don't know if you can see it here but it was lovely. so lovely in fact that we pulled out our masks (the bunnies, not the bernies)...and then we jumped.and jumped.and jumped some more.

these are the moments in the trip that make me smile. well, make me smile just a little bit more.

early gysers and grand peeks

2010-08-22T08:00:00.000-07:00

7/28 Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, and the Snake River

The morning went by in a slow manner and we packed up camp quite lazily. The day called for a drive to Cody in which we were to (hopefully) procure not-too-expensive lodgings before we hightailed it up to Yellowstone.

Hopeful, schmopeful, we got one of the last rooms in a swanky safari themed hotel complete with cuddly stuffed lion on the bed. Crazy. We simmered down on the crankiness and went to bed early so we could be up and out before the sun. It would take about two hours to get to the park and we wanted to see pretty not people.Even up as early as we are there were still all sorts of cars zipping here and there both TO and IN the park. We still took our time and moseyed about. We stopped for thermal vents, pretty flowers, a bison and a moose! We stood still and listened to bees and birds. I even used my pstyle on the side of the road and waved at a passing truck.Eventually we made our way to the visitor's center and the ever famous Old Faithful geyser. We lucked out and arrived about twenty minutes before the next "show". Old Faithful did not disappoint but we enjoyed the crowd's reaction a wee bit more than the geyser itself. Show over, we hitched up the cameras and adventure bag and took a walk along the path in search of other geysers and chromatic pools.While there were (was?) a good number of other people about, arriving when we did saved us from major traffic and people blues. While our fellow early risers camped out by Grand geyser, mr. a-go-go and I took a somewhat empty path and wandered for another mile or so. While traipsing across a wooden bridge, we stopped to watch the swallows and swifts. mr. a-go-go suddenly noticed the gaping open mouths of baby birdies peeking out from a knothole in one of the bridge's posts. I snuck in for a closer look and even caught a tiny bit on video. Like I mentioned before, we definitely lean towards being birding dorks.As luck would have it, we managed to hit Grotto not too long after it "erupted" and gazed upon it for about half an hour checking out its blurts and fizzes and shoots and steam. Grotto may be the oldest active geyser in the park, while Old Faithful can be quite showy and predictable, we think we enjoyed Grotto a bit more as it had a lot of character and grumbled about in a lackadaisical way. You can't really time it though but if you get it "just" right yer in for a treat! After we had our fill, we wandered back through passing Grand (which STILL had not blown), more people and the chromatic pools. Tired and weary we decided to pile back into Rodney to continue through the park.Upon seeing the number of cars all about, we decided to pass on exploring the rest of the park and continued on out to the south side of the park towards Shoshone. It was a good decision for us a-go-gos once we saw the long, long line of cars waiting to enter on our way out. We motored on out with a stop here and there to admire the Tetons, fuel up poor Rodney (and pick up more cheetos), and continue on to Idaho.

big horn time travel and the search for not-too-expensive lodgings

2010-08-20T08:00:00.000-07:00

7/27 Devil's Tower to Cody, Wyoming

It's pretty fantastic, isn't it? Truth be told, we didn't get any closer. The view from our tent was pretty spectacular and we were well...fast approaching laziness. So fast in fact that we fell asleep before the sunset thus missing the campground's outdoor screening of Close Encounters of the Third Kind. I know, but we were very very tired.
mr. a-go-go woke up before i did (this is mrs. a-go-go writing here). Way, way before, and he managed to grab the camera and take that picture up there of sunrise on the tower. The color is unreal, I wish he woke me up for it. He also got a quick sound bite of the mad gang of nuthatches in the tree over our tent. They were chattering up a comical storm and yes, we tend to lean towards geeky bird watching and listening.

After a bite of breakfast and packing up we struck out west once more on I-90. A few stops were in order. First we had to slow down, creep to a halt, and get out of the car very slowly to watch three pronghorn, the first time either of us had seen them in person. We were far enough down the road that they made a few alarm grunts (or honks or whatever you want to call the funny sound they make) but didn't spook right away. They bounded away when we tried to slowly walk closer, so our pictures are not worth mentioning.Later, waves of wind in the grass prompted us to stop for some barb wire and another short film.

Leaving I-90 on highway 14 we climbed up into the Big Horn National Forest and back through time. At least according to the roadside signs that highlighted the name and age of each strata of geology the road cut exposed.I recognised some of the names from didactic displays about the geology of the Grand Canyon. It's remarkable how far some of the sedimentary geology of North America reaches. The layers of rock here have been turned up on a steep angle so in spite of the feeling that we were driving up through the layers the road cut was actually exposing ever older formations as we drove West. This must be a favorite place for geology students. On the far side of these mountains the landscape dried out and the plats thinned. The rest of the drive to Cody, Wyoming was right out of a serial western. We knew Yellowstone would be a very popular place this time of year and figured our best bet was another early morning. Onward to Cody it was where we were hopeful to find a not-too-expensive bed to rest our heads.

all sorts of south dakota and wyoming

2010-08-19T08:00:00.000-07:00

7/26 Badlands, Black Hills, Mount Rushmore, and Devil's Tower

We were up just before the sun and hurried out of Wall, South Dakota to see Badlands National Park at dawn. We had a real payoff for getting out of bed early.
There was a cool morning breeze, puffy clouds dribbled just enough moisture for a rainbow, the sun was still below the horizon and the full moon was still up. We couldn't get enough of the sights and sounds of the morning.
mrs. a-go-go clicked the shutter madly in every direction while the early light held up but we couldn't really catch it. Remembering that we had not used the old Powershot's short video capabilities for a long time I did my best to make some short recordings.

Still a measlely substitute for the real thing but it caught a brief glimpse.

Once the sun was up high enough to tear down the shadows and the heat of the day was on us it was time to head east to Rapid City and Mount Rushmore. The Black Hills of South Dakota are a beautiful place even without the attractions of Wind Cave National Park, the Crazy Horse Memorial, and Mount Rushmore, but with all this extra stuff the area attracts a mess of visitors in the summer. We knew it would be crowded and braced ourselves for traffic. Getting to Mount Rushmore wasn't all that rough, but we were a little put off by the $10 parking fee even if you have a National Park Annual Pass. At the beginning of our trip we invested in a pass and it has been well worth it, but if you have never purchased one before you may be disappointed by how few things it actually covers. Rushmore is indeed part of the National Park system but the excuse given for the fee (and it not being covered by the pass) was that parking is handled by a concession. Hmm. But hey, you can come back all year in the same vehicle for free. Wait a minute,... that's a three day drive,... oh well.
Parking took a bit of a wait but the crowd wasn't crazy before 10am. By the time we were on the way out the crowd had thickened, so arrive early if you visit in the summer. I think seeing the nutty sculpture near dawn in rapidly changing light would have been more thrilling. Our visit was fun and I'm glad we stopped but we probably won't be back. One visit feels like enough to ponder the crazy dream of Doane Robinson and the work of Gutzon Borglum (and a whole mess of other folks). The rubble pile below the sculpted chins is daunting and pondering the effort that went into making it did more for me than the sculpture itself. I highly recommend the museum displays about the monument that are housed just behind the amplitheater.
These display some working models and explain the methods used by the sculptors. In addition the models show just how ambitious the original plan was. Washington was intended to have a complete torso, gadzooks.

I had hoped that we could camp in or near the Black Hills and spend another day seeing the other sights (and maybe get in that dawn visit with Washington and his pals), but after leaving Mount Rushmore we found much of the camping was geared for RVs. I'm sure there were more appealing places over the next hill (the map was littered with little green tents) but our stamina was weak. If we come back to the Black Hills it will likely be for Crazy Horse and Wind Cave rather than to find parking again at Rushmore.

Next on the map was Devil's Tower, the big columns of phonolite porphyry (HA!) and the model I made out of cheese at lunch time beckoned.
But seriously folks, after our day's trek through this landscape and finding a place to camp near the base of this tower I understand why these places were held sacred by the people who used to live here.

the palace of corn and more superb clouds

2010-08-17T08:00:00.000-07:00

7/25 from Iowa to Wall, South Dakota

This little fungus met mrs. a-go-go's camera first thing in the morning. Within seconds of this photo op it digested itself into weeping purple-black liquid. Some fungi just don't like the limelight.
The 25th was a Sunday and Sunday mornings on Blue Lake near Onawa, Iowa is time for amplified morning services. Across the lake from our Koa camp site was a Catholic youth camp and they sounded reveille at six over a booming loud speaker, "Buenos días niños!" The voice went right to it quoting scripture in Spanish to the kids struggling out of bed. No matter, I was up with the dawn and mrs. a-go-go had been driven from sleep by the bright morning sun. On the heels of the youth camp another group kitty-corner across the lake started whooping it up by six-thirty. Not to be out done, they had the band plugged into amps. and the people were raising spirits clapping to the hymns until their hands hurt.
Nebraska was so close we just couldn't help ourselves. A short hop over a one dollar toll bridge and we set foot in one more state. Then we headed due North and jogged just a bit East to Sioux City, Iowa. From there we had a long stretch on I-29 and I-90 to Wall south Dakota where we would stay the night. Fortunately we had lots of puffy little clouds to entertain us and one stop to make along the way...
The place to stop on I-90? Why, the Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota, where else?! No one can pass this up. How could they? It's utterly irresistible. In the Corn Palace glory days of the past the building was covered on all sides with mosaics of dried corn cobs and husks (they have pictures to prove it), but in modern times the building is a large multi use space and just one large wall, the facade on the main boulevard has the corn mosaic.
It's still impressive and silly. Inside, the front hall is filled with the permanent Corn Palace history displays, but the main part of the interior is a large space that functions at different times as basketball stadium, a theater for movies or stage productions, and (when we were there) a great big Corm Palace gift-shop/emporium. Corn Palace themed everything was on offer.
The quantity of people needing a photo of the corn murals was impressive.
After Mitchell the road rolled on through what some folks would describe as boring. Perish the thought. These folks are just are not looking. The cloud shadows rolling over green and tan fields and the bails dotting the horizon made us stop several times to marvel.

I-90 carried us right to Wall, South Dakota where we had to check out Wall Drug after reading ALL the billboards along the highway. Kitschy fun for all. Don't miss it if you are headed to the Badlands, folks.

box o' cookies and barbecue on buns

2010-08-15T08:00:00.000-07:00

7/24 from Jefferson City to Kansas City to Onawa, Iowa

Our visit to Jefferson City was short but sweet. After breakfast and a session of jump photos with our Missouri hosts we had to make our way to Iowa by nightfall. Our first stop on the way was Kansas City where had to hit Murray's Ice Cream and Cookies.
We had not found lunch yet so Ice Cream would have to wait but a box of cookies would keep until after lunch (but we had to have at least a sample on the way... the snickerdoodles were tasty chewy and the ginger cookie was gooey with icing.)
Before we could dig into the rest of the cookies it was time for barbecue. Now I hope folks won't take issue with our choice for Kansas City barbecue, I know it is a subject that may raise tremendous differences of opinion. We took a shot in the dark and hit what seemed to be a very popular place for lunch, Gates Bar-B-Q. We were hustled through the line and on the advice of the staff we had the beef brisket sandwiches. Tasty, a little sweet, a little spice, and quite tender. All around a fine lunch. Gates provides big 'ol pump style vats of three kinds of sauce so you can make your sandwich as sloppy and as spicy as you like (and have a bit to dip yer fries). Mmmm.
Again, I'm sure there are many other barbecue places in Kansas City and I'm sure many of them would be recommended over Gates by this or that person but It seems we hit at least a good medium based on the boisterous crowd that joined us for lunch.
Our bellies full and our lips tingling with spice (and a few more cookies from the Murray's box) we headed north to Onawa, Iowa. There we found the Blue Lake Koa campground. This was our first camp out in some time. Our stint in the north east was spent mostly visiting generous people who provided us with a place to sleep. We had not pitched the tent since Jefferson National Forrest in Virginia. The day was hot but the evening next to the lake was cool and breezy. The jet skies on the lake were a bit annoying but the breeze kept the mosquitoes down and the Koa gave us a chance to do laundry. All around a pleasant stay.

murals murals murals!

2010-08-14T08:00:00.000-07:00

7/24 Jefferson City and the Sate Capitol (but first, an introduction of sorts)

after many many years, i (mrs. a-go-go) finally, finally got to meet Clara, one of my favorite nervousness pals. Clara is an amazingly funny, witty and kooky artist. she can sew, stitch, quilt and art up just about anything. i bug her all the time to make me her fabulous flower pins that it then almost keep instead of giving them as gifts like i intended. she does tie dye that is above and beyond what you would expect of tie dye and she has an eye for vintage decor that makes me swoon.Being a gal who was born and raised in Jeff City (as the locals called it) she thought it would be a nifty idea for us to take a wander through the capitol building. we had heard from a few people, articles and blogs that the murals there were quite interesting, so we agreed. donning hats and sunscreen we wandered out into the shiny bright sun to become one with the ever present humidity. at least, we did our best as clara taxi-d us across town to see the sites.the capitol building was built in 1917 and is open to the public. for reals, you can waltz right in a and check out the various displays that detail the history of the are during the civil war. there are dioramas, old uniforms and slave narratives set up for you to investigate and study.if you stand in the center of the main hall and look up you will see an amazing (and enormous) chandelier (that replaced an older one in 2006 when THAT one chose to be one with gravity and freed itself from the ceiling to greet the floor with a clanging and somewhat shattering kiss). you will also see the next two stories of the building and with a smidge and a peek of the murals that cover the walls all about.we trekked up stairs to checkout the murals in search for the ones that MOVE. or rather, they shift. there were three that we found. there may be more, i don't know. the murals are everywhere and we trekked up another floor to see even more. some were even painted by N.C. Wyeth.more than the paintings, clara and i became entranced with the wall mounted yearbook of offices and positions held from 1945 to the present. we made up our own game of where's waldo in search of female and african american representatives.after that we checked out the bronzed busts all over the pace discussing whether or not Walt Disney deserved one as he only lived in Missouri for a short childhood stint and why were most all the women presented performers (save for Laura Ingalls Wilder)?we spent quite a time in the building and were pleasantly surprised to find it so interesting. outside, we were somewhat blinded by the afternoon sun so only snapped a pic or two of the statues that flanked the building. it was bright, it was hot and we were hungry! yay for falafel and ice cream!

ozarkland!

2010-08-13T08:00:00.000-07:00

7/22 Warrenton to Jefferson City, MO
(as told to you by mrs. a-go-go)

back in California, we liked to take mini day trips out to the Devil's Punchbowl and then wander the craziness that is Charlie Brown's. so when we began to see sign after sign after sign advertising Ozarkland, we figured it would be worth a stop.hmmmm. it was and it wasn't while Ozarkland did indeed reek of a kitschy tourist attraction, it was less kitsch more uh...? row after row of personalized made-in-china shot glasses, pocket knives & keychains made for a sorry Hollywood type of store. there was the usual fudge and candy counter which is always a good thing but the many rows of porcelain dolls (CREEPY!) and neon colored flying monkeys just made me sadder than sad. to be fair, though, Charlie Brown's carries much of the same ilk but manages to rise above (if only a smatter) due to old time sodas, candies and toys.Ozarkland did however carry crazy cute flocked plastic donkeys with wee plastic barrels upon their backs for yer salt & pepper needs and at $3 a pop one would have been a fabulous investment in kitsch but i just couldn't bring myself to do it. and now it mocks me. darn me and my donkey like.so, if yer driving down highways 70 or 54 near kingdom city drop in for a looksie. i think there is more than one location so don't fret if yer not going down those highways, just keep a lookout for the sign and prepare yourself for a kingdom of not-so-kitschy kitsch.

puffy clouds, a big storm, and not seeing the City Museum

2010-08-12T08:00:00.000-07:00

7/21 from Chicago to Warrenton, MO

Ever have one of those days when everything starts out all sunny with puffy li'l clouds and then...? Ah, we had one of those. We had a marvelous visit to Chicago and it was time to make our way to Jefferson City, Missouri for our next visit. It would be a long drive and mrs. a-go-go really wanted to see the City Museum of St. Louis. It was on the way and would give us a good place to stop for the night. The sky put on a real show of layer after layer of puffy white clouds as we crossed Illinois.
We sighted the arch at last and made out way to the motel where we'd rest for the night and make our way to the museum in the morning. Dark clouds were gathering to the West but we knew the storm should pass by morning.

The motel turned out to be a dud. The roofed over courtyard and pool made for a damp sticky wait at the registration desk. The clerk offered us what she called the last room available for a higher price than we expected. Ak. We took the room betting on the wi-fi service and a chance to upload some photos. Hmmm, maybe it wasn't such a hot idea to carpet these balconies where all the room air conditioners were struggling to pump more hot air into the center court and dribbled condensation on the squishy sounding carpeting.

After a few attempts at getting on-line it was clear the promised wi-fi was not going to work. That made the room price not so worth it. After some haggling at the front desk (where the clerk first tried to say we could not have a refund... that we should just log onto someone else's wi-fi. "There are lots of them in the area. I use them all the time!" says the clerk, deadpan.... that we could only have 10% back... ) we eventually got our refund and moved on. Boy, the motels that night were hopping. Everyone seemed to be booked up, and the rain was coming down. It was time to look for lodging at the next town down the road and give up on seeing the City Museum. Perhaps it was for the best. As lighting flashed we listened for the storm warnings on the radio. No tornadoes or anything severe, but there was a brief mention of the City Museum being struck. Never heard more of the story but perhaps the damage would have closed the museum anyhow. We hoped that the institution was not in flames and moved on.
Down the road came lonely Warrenton and in it the tattered Colonial Motel. It would do and the price was right. The storm had moved East as we drove West leaving us with a pretty evening sky. Eh, not such a bad day after all.

looks like 8 is the magic number!

2010-08-10T19:12:00.000-07:00

which means Renai is our pstyle winner! i hope you like pink!

Renai said...

I have wanted one forever! I have peed in many exciting places, and have also peed on my feet and pants many times due to this! I cannot even IMAGINE how great it would be to be able to pee while camping, while hiking, while road tripping where the next rest stop is 60 miles away, and while walking home from a night out without having to pop a squat and risk exposing my bum and lady parts to who knows what!

Renai, you have thirty days to gimme yer contact info otherwise i do another drawing! so hurry on up, don't miss out! and i used random.org for the number but have no idea how to get the little widgety thing here on the blog but that's how it was done. for those of you who did not win the last pstyle (drats), please consider a visit to krista's cups as they are quite affordable and even cheaper if you get six at a time (like getting one for free)! so go in with a group of friends and know that you will be safe from peeing in unsavory places. heehee!

cultural heritage vs. agua fresca

2010-08-10T08:00:00.000-07:00

7/20 Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture, Chicago

mrs. a-go-go has a lump of Lithuania in her genes. Grandma came from a Lithuanian community in Rockford Illinois. Part of the plan for the big trip was to see what cultural and/or genealogical information we could find while in Illinois. After a bit of research we located a Catholic church in Rockford offering family records of the community, but the jackpot seemed to be in Chicago at the Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture. Their web site noted a genealogy archive that was open by appointment for research and a collection of museum displays. When we arrived in Chicago we realized that we had neglected to bring the birth records for mrs. a-go-go's family, nuts! The web site was enticing none the less so we decide to go have a look. We figured we could enquire in person about the genealogy resources and maybe it would be worth a return visit in the future.

Hmm. We found the Museum in a not so swell part of town and began to wonder what we were in for. Inside we found a long poorly lit hallway filled with collections of photographs and some historical documents on display.

The hodgepodge was interesting but not well organised and we couldn't locate anyone to ask about the library. There seemed to be a gift shop with the lights off and there were stairs leading to unrelated offices on the second floor. We perused the displays of native dress on large dolls, Lithuanian Second World War veterans, and letters between recent immigrants and family in the old country. There was a suggested admission fee but nowhere to deposit it. Perplexed, we returned to the street. Oh well, we should have called ahead. Maybe if they knew we were coming there would have been someone to meet us and excitedly show us around. It was a large building and we can only dream of what was housed in the rest of that first floor.

The afternoon was saved by a shop just a few doors down selling paletas in every color and flavor and aguas frescas. It was another hot day and the cold fruit drinks called out to us. We chose a strawberry and a pineapple whip. Aguas frescas are a blend of cold water (sometimes ice), whole fruit (or sometimes a grain like rice in horchata), and sugar and maybe some other flavoring or spice like cinnamon. Good stuff on a hot day. The beverages made our visit to this far side of Chicago much more satisfying even if they were out of the tamarindo.

books and booth

2010-08-09T08:00:00.000-07:00

7/19 Quimby's
after our trek to the french market, we hopped a train and traveled to wicker park where we dawdled a bit here and a bit there. we had planned to hit the Intuit but forgot about that whole Museums-being-closed-on-Mondays bit. so off we went in search of some good reads and a photobooth.

it's a good thing there is such a place as Quimby's. Quimby's a small neighborhood bookstore that packs a little wallop with its selection of funky fiction, zines and art books. they even carry a smidge of children's titles so there is something for everyone (especially for us a-go-gos).if only we had a bigger budget and um...room in the car, we would have picked up a read or two in this happy tiny space. their selection is pure Quimby's, a mix of this and array of that and perhaps even a few things you might want to be sure yer ready for before you crack that spine. instead, we opted for a photobooth strip or two as that was more in our budget and it takes up very little room.yup, you read that right. Quimby's not only carries books and zines and magazines it has an old school photobooth that mostly functions AND a box of props to make yer strip that much more spunky.

we opted for no props as i had my good friend Thuy with me and it was the first time i got her in the booth, whoo-hoo! so we plopped ourselves down. came up with a plan and fed our money to the booth-monster.out popped a strip that was so delightful, we all three crammed ourselves in for another round.yay for indie bookstores, booths and good friends!

**Quimby's also has a blog and Thuy is one of the nifty folk behind The Chicago Underground Library. check it out their blog here. it's pretty cool.

folk art at the intuit

2010-08-07T11:28:00.000-07:00

if only we had more time and moolah we would have planned an outsider art road trip along with everything else. in chicago we hit up the Intuit Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art.if you haven't noticed yet, we a-go-gos are BIG fans of outsider art. at the Intuit we got to see, up close and personal, the wonderful drawings of Charles Steffen. Steffen had a most unique talent for the human form that is at once cartoonish and delightfully sincere. even with his one eyed people, i found myself entranced.the back room of the center features and exhibit on Peter Anton who i found to be joyfully colorful and quirky. while i enjoyed Steffen's drawings a bit more, i enjoyed Anton's story more and was happy to see the many scrapbooks that Anton kept to document his life on display. there was also a nifty shelf full of video tapes that he decorated with an assortment of materials. another delightful outsider artist to add to my list to research. to learn more about Peter Anton, sign up for the email list at almostthere.com.last up was a peak into the Henry Darger room, an attempt at recreating what Darger's apartment may have looked like using many of his personal objects and items. Darger is another outsider worth taking a look at. i recommend a viewing of In the Realms of the Unreal to get a better idea of what he was about.the Intuit may be a tiny space but it uses its space wisely and is full of color and a gift shop! if yer ever in Chicago, don't miss it.

i wish i could photograph your home

2010-08-05T13:15:00.000-07:00

one of my favorite things on this trip is taking pictures in the many wonderful places we have been invited to. i love finding those everyday moments of light and color that make a home just that much happier. in chicago we stayed with an old beloved friend of mine and i have to say, the place was eye candy for me (and my macarons).it may have been a row house up many flights of stairs and there may have been a mad squirrel and heat wave but still, it was fantastic.

oui like it

2010-08-04T13:28:00.000-07:00

did you know there is a french market in chicago? we had a hankering for some banh mi as it had been awhile so our friend thuy whisked away on two trains to visit the french market.after walking through and taking in all the stalls...cheese! pastires! fruit! macarons! we decided to fill our famished stomachs before any further adventuring.after some delicious (and somewhat pr-cier than we're used to) sandwiches we hit up the little glass case around the corner for some itty bitty rainbow colored macarons...which i promptly did NOT eat but took them back to our chicago headquarters for a photoshoot of course!

we interrupt this program for yet another girlie giveaway!

2010-08-03T17:37:00.000-07:00

hola ladies! i've got another fantastic pstyle up for grabs so all ya gotta do is give us yer best excuse for WHY you NEED a PSTYLE. and if yer not sure what it is i am talking about, clickity click here to read about the first giveaway and my story.

and if yer not feeling up for the whole clickety click read along and i'll share with you the thumbnail version. a pstyle is a handy dandy gadget that lets us ladies pee standing up! i'm so not kidding, it is awesome and easy to use (with a little practice) and completely non-icky. i have now used my pstyle in california, arizona, south carolina, north carolina, virginia, arkansas, south dakota, wyoming, idaho and oregon. phew! at least i'm well hydrated. it saves me from squatting in poison ivy, sitting on scary pit toilet seats and having to hold it till i burst. i have peed behind trees, in flower fields, next to the car and on the side of the highway. i have gotten so smooth in using it that i'm a bit brazen really...mr. a-go-go even snapped some pics...albeit from far away but i'm telling you it works. thank you to Krista of krista's cups for graciously providing me with a few to give away. if you are a road tripper, camper or hiker, the pstyle just may save yer bladder (and yer sanity)!

so comment away and tell me why you NEED one and i'll pull a name from a magic hat! make sure you tell me how to reach you. if, after thirty days of the name pull i still have not heard from you, i will pull another name, okee doke? you have until august 10, 2010 to add yer comment. winners will be announced on wednesday, august 11, 2010.

chicago a-go-go

2010-08-02T13:00:00.000-07:00

there is just too darn much to look at in this city. too muchh. even though it was stoopid with hot and wicked with the mugginess i itched, itched, itched to get out and photograph the city. and i did but not nearly as much as i wanted to as time was limited but lookie, lookie...such niftiness!

hot! wet! ants!

2010-07-31T08:00:00.000-07:00

7/18 Chicago's Millennium Park and the big insect puppets

After a long visit with the stuff at the Chicago Art Institute we needed some place to eat our late lunch. Outside it was supper hot and sticky so it came as no surprise that the fountain at Millennium Park was full of people getting soaked. We sat near enough to the fountain to benefit from the cooling spray of the water cascade and gobbled our snack. I was impressed to see a big public fountain where people are not forbidden to get in, in fact they are encouraged to get wet. The insurance implications are astounding. The result is delightful. Watching the action around the big glass block towers is a treat and the squeals of the kids waiting for the big projected heads to squirt water is even better

Just up a few steps from the fountain is this big shiny thing.

It has an official name but out hosts said that most folks call it the jelly bean. It's big. And shiny. People crowd around it all day looking at the crazy reflection of the world. Nifty.

We were delighted to find out that we were right on time for a performance by the Catalan street theater company Sarruga. They put on a show of giant ants, a praying mantis, and a black spider in the park near the jelly bean. The puppeteers peddled their contraptions around through clouds of theatrical smoke and loud electronic music.

The heat and the noise eventually drove us underground back to the train that brought us into the city center, but the big bugs won't stay. They were only in town for a short visit.

trains overhead and art till you drop

2010-07-29T08:00:00.000-07:00

7/18 Chicago and the Art Institute

Chicago! I really liked our visit and hope for another chance to ride the L someday. A big part of what I liked about the city was the CTA, Chicago Transit Authority. I found the public transit in Chicago to be easy to understand and navigate. Far more simple than D.C. and a bargain to boot. I got by just fine with the New York City system when I visited there for the first time ten years ago but it cost me a couple of days of confusion. Maybe that experience was a booster for me but we were on our way on the Chicago trains with no trouble at all.

If you are planning a visit to Chicago I highly recommend using the trains and buses. The three day pass is available for $14 at gobs of locations in the city. We bought ours at one of the "Currency Exchange" shops that are a plague of locusts on the city. The pass will get you on any train or buss for 72 hours after the first use. Some of the places that sell the passes will have free maps too that will give you the basics of the system. Our hosts lived a short block away from a blue line stop so we had no trouble getting started. The trains will get you within a short walk of most attractions in the city. For places a little further from the stops hop on the bus. Have no fear, I found the buses really easy to use too. Most of Chicago is laid out on a grid and almost any bus you catch will go for a long way in a cardinal direction. This makes it super easy to move North, South, East, or West by quadrant. With the pass you don't have to fret about transfers or missing a stop. You can always get back on going the other way.

We spent several hours at the Art Institute next door to Millennium Park in the lake side of downtown Chicago. The Institute is one of those museums that is full chock-a-block with art. Too much to see in a day but don't miss it if you are an art fan and do your best to crawl through every floor.

From modern to classical the Art Institute is rather encyclopedic and has fine examples of all sorts o' art so have a look at the web site for highlights.

One of the special things that we were specifically seeking was the Thorne Rooms.

This collection is downstairs and has a gallery all to itself. Mrs. James Ward Thorne had some money at her disposal and she commissioned a group of gifted craftspeople and artists to fabricate these miniature set pieces based on her study of the history of architecture and design. Many of the rooms are examples of fabulous accommodations in wealthy households of Europe and America of the 18th and 19th century, but there were a few set in the 1930s (very modern) and a couple couple of examples set in the southwest U.S. After seeing room after room (with a few odd looking sculpted cats too) it begins to feel odd. How were these displayed in the Thorne's house, I had to wonder. Did anybody ever get to play house in there? Eh, it was probably more like an adult child with their massive HO scale train layout in the basement (but then maybe not, since those get some millage on the trains at least). Anyhow, it's not to be overlooked if you visit this swell museum. The art will drive you on from gallery to gallery even if your guts are aching for lunch.

of chickens and things

2010-07-27T15:15:00.000-07:00

we loved visiting our friends on their farm in michigan. there was homemade bread, cake, cornbread and yogurt. we ate whipped butter with homemade jam on cracked wheat bread EVERY day.there was the jiffy tour and the chicken broil and a fairy door adventure.we picked blueberries and saw baby deer and got to see photos from a three month journey that happened a long time ago.there was fun and laughter. good eats and new skills attempted. there was also the meeting of the butterfly quilts and a wee bit of tree climbing thrown in.but i have to admit that even with so many cool things, the best part was meeting the chickens.

urban fairies?

2010-07-25T13:32:00.000-07:00

who knew? it seems that with all the building that has been going on in our great big world, there are a lot of fairies out there losing their forest homes and some of them have become city folk...**you can read more about this phenomenon here and here...

**the play dough seems to be an offering from a young group of girls. it seems they are not aware that fairies do NOT eat play dough...duh. the cool part is that there is a fairy theater but the tickets weren't spooled so we could get one and there is a shop as well though i am not sure what kind of fairy sells pennies and happy meal toys. i think ander and zaza can help the fairy awarenss a little...perhaps?

a hometown chicken broil and a tornado warning.

2010-07-24T14:30:00.000-07:00

july 15
a few hours after the nifty jiffy tour, we headed out to Manchester for their annual chicken broil. this would be their 57th broil and they planned on selling a LOT of dinners.the sky looked like rain so the line for take-out was ridiculously long. and from the looks of it, these folk took their chicken broil very seriously. people had wagons, boxes and laundry baskets at the ready to carry their boxed dinners home.we traveled the length of the take out line to the entrance to the field to see what we were in for and got lucky. there was a less than ten minute wait to eat our chicken dinners on the field.yellow tickets in hand. we shuffled along and each got half a chicken, two radishes, one pat of butter, one roll, a hefty helping of (awesome) cole slaw, a bag of chips and a beverage.the numerous picnic tables appeared to be all full up but we found an empty swath and parked ourselves down for a good old traditional meal. everything was quite tasty and i was thoroughly enjoying the cloud coverage that came rolling in as it had been stupid hot and sunshiny-shiny.that is until the cloggers' music suddenly stopped and the silence was filled with the blast of an air-raid siren. with a sinking feeling in my heart i asked what it was and my host nonchalantly answered that it was a tornado siren and then she went back to her chicken. when i asked if it was for real, her son shrugged and said well...since it wasn't such and such day it must be a real one and suddenly a gust of wind rushed past lifting up paper plates and shaking napkins all over the place.

we a-go-gos are west coast folk and while we roll easily with the shaking in our quake happy town, the twisty-twirly winds of a tornado freaked us out. at least, i can say it freaks ME out. and so i checked my host for cues again and she seemed completely at ease and told me it would just blow past and not to worry. her son determined that he would NOT leave until he finished his cole slaw and little P decided it was time to go home. i attempted to finish off a bit more of my dinner but then another gust boogied on past knocking things over all crazy-like. large numbers of folk stood up and started trekking back to their cars, some gnawing on their dinners, some slugging back their beverages as they power walked themselves off the field. at about this time, the sky grew. very VERY. dark. as in doom. as in, holy heck, is that sky black AND green? the wind picked up enough that we all stood up and i impressed upon the lovely lynn that i was completely FREAKING out and she again reassured me and we made our way back to the car. as we were walking, i was surprised to see people still arriving and getting into the long, long take out line. with an arched eyebrow and a shrug, lynn said it must be a really good broil. the moment we got to the car, big fat drops began to drip on top of us and we drove back to town hoping the sounds and sights event would still happen. it didn't. the rain came but nothing fierce and the wind blustered about but in a lazy kind of way so we headed home and i was relieved that not one funnel cloud came into my view...until i fell asleep and dreamt of many many twisters coming to get me. i am SUCH the west coaster.

keep yer hair out of the jiffy

2010-07-23T08:00:00.000-07:00

7/15 The Jiffy factory tour, Chelsea, Michigan

Our first full day visiting Chelsea we signed up for the factory tour at the Chelsea Milling Company's Jiffy factory. This facility has been mixing the dry ingredients for millions of pancakes and corn bread muffins and packing them in white boxes with recipes on the sides for many decades. I am no expert on their distribution but if you visit just about any supermarket in the U.S. you will likely find at least Jiffy's most popular corn bread muffin mix on the shelves.

But that ain't all you can whip up with Jiffy mixes. Oh no, there are cookies and pie crust and pizza dough too, 22 varieties of mix magic. Add to all that the free recipe book handed out on the tour (and available on the Jiffy website for free) and the possibilities could fill a mess of bake sales.

The tour begins in a small auditorium where the tourees are treated to an old school slide show with live narration (a delight that no new fangled multi-media presentation could match). we were all given cookies (yes, they were made from a Jiffy mix special recipe) a beverage (tang style "juice", coffee, or water) and... awesome hair nets.... to keep if we wished! You, bet I wished.

We were offered all sorts of stuff to buy; T-shirts with lots of puns on the word "Muffin", cases of assorted Jiffy mixes, and lots of individual mixes in quantity at a discount from what you find in stores.

The tour began and we were admonished to not take photos inside the factory. Sorry folks, no pic of the little boxes scooting on their conveyor belts, but I have to agree with the policy. With all the noise inside the very busy factory it would be easy for someone with their eye stuck to the back of a camera to get under the wheel of a forklift or have a sleeve catch in a packing machine. All those little boxes packed with bits of photographer would defiantly be rejects.

If you go, be sure to sign up ahead of time (the phone number to call is on the website) and you will certainly be joined by a group of school kids eager to see the mad crazy action of paper and cardboard folded by mechanical hands become li'l boxes full of baking magic.

tourist traps in the mist

2010-07-21T08:00:00.000-07:00

7/14 Driving to Chelsea, MI by way of Niagara

We had a full day of driving to get our next destination back in the U.S.A. but Niagara was close enough to our route that we thought we should make the detour. Large scale landscapes are always a challenge to capture with the camera but I think mrs. a-go-go would agree that this one is a particularly tough nut to crack. This is compounded by the piles of hotels and casinos surrounding the river banks.

Approaching Niagara from the Canada side, we had been warned, would be an over load of tourist madness. Too true. I had done some internet research the day before trying to find and easy place to stop close to the falls where we could stop for a bit and satisfy our need to lay eyes on this fabled romantic spot. That seems to be a tall order. There is very little information other than how to book a room at a hotel or where to gamble or where to take the kids for dinner. On a satellite map I spotted what looked like a public park right on the bluff above the falls, perfect.

No so fast, buster... the roads near the falls are more confusing than you might think and we made many wrong turns. There are very few signs other than the ones leading you to the various attractions; "travel BEHIND the falls!" "best odds here!" "helicopter rides!" We found a place to park were it looked like we could walk to the falls and set out on foot.

This turned out to be OK but not what we were after. The path led us to a casino/hotel that had a view of the falls but from some distance. We could see the park I had located earlier on the map just down a steep slope from where we stood. There had to be a way to get there. On our way to the car a couple from Germany with kids stopped us to ask if this was the way to the falls. They were in the same pickle as us. They just wanted to stop by, see the falls and move on. We told them what we had been able to see and wished them luck as they walked to the casino.

There were lots of pretty flowers along the path as we walked back through the mist that teased us from below.

With a little more effort we found our way to the park on the cliff but it was mobbed with people. Not surprising at all but the parking was $20. Gadz. Too rich for our budget. mrs. a-go-go leaped from the car like a green beret on a mission and I steered Rodney to circle back allowing enough time for her to get the photos she wanted. I picked her up on the return trip and we got out'a town. Shoo!

Niagra is really impressive and worth a stop but I don't know what to suggest to those of you wish to make it a quick stop. The tourist megalopolis doesn't make it easy.

It was along day of driving and after making our way through customs at the border and on to Chelsea, Michigan it was time for dinner and a rest. Our hosts in Michigan were ready and made our wish come true.

AGO a-go-go and a very colorful walk

2010-07-20T09:00:00.000-07:00

7/13
we spent our second day in Toronto simply hanging out. the boys hit a trail for a wee bit of a hike (longer than i would care to go) while us girls decided to make skirts. actually it was a skirt lesson and i learned how to stitch one up lickety split complete with zipper and biase tape waistband. yes, i know. i now rock...at skirtmaking at least. so day two was nice and lazy with good times, good tunes, a movie and nifty eats.day three, we donned our fancy-pants new skirts, loaded up the adventure bag, grabbed the cameras and headed back to Toronto for a visit to the Art Gallery of Ontario and a wander through Chinatown to Kensington Market.the AGO is pretty nifty. the building itself is a spifferiffic design by Frank Gehry and emulates the lines of an enormous boat with wood the color of amber. it even smells pretty inside. the drama & desire exhibit was surprisingly interesting and pretty. i am not exactly a theater girl but enjoyed the show and the collection of paintings which included some Degas and Toulouse-Lautrec. after many hours in the air conditioned museum with a pause here and there for photo ops and beverage breaks, we made our way outside into the sun for a walk to Kensington Market in search of lunch.chinatown in toronto is full of color as most chinatwons are. i think i snapped dozens and dozens of pictures and thought how lucky i was to be somewhere so colorful and then..then my friends we turned a corner near kensington market and i discovered an entirely NEW rainbow of color. talk about happy photo ops. i snapped left, right, up down and all around. it reminded me of venice beach, california what with the vintage shops and incense everywhere.as we got nearer to our food options we were delighted to find a gluten-free cafe and as our awesome hosts were gluten-free we waltzed right in and chow downed on some super tasty crepes. and i mean scarfity-scarfed. good stuff.we wandered a tad bit more but turned back when mr. a-go-go's ankle got the best of him. seems he twisted it or something the day before and was aching in a big way. so we turned ourselves down a new street and headed back to the car.i thought for sure montreal would be the end all, be all for me in canada but it turns out that i quite like toronto as well and am looking forward to planning many more visits to our friends to the north (and northeast) of us. thank you again my most fabulous of hosts, we had a fantabulous time and were sad, sad, sad to return to the states....that is until we hit this lady's place and were greeted with fresh picked blueberries, little red hen bread, homemade chocolate poundcake, raspberry jam and cracked wheat goodness...oh my!

t-t-t-t-time for toronto

2010-07-19T08:00:00.001-07:00

7/10 & 7/11we arrived in toronto after a very long drive on a very long stretch of highway. we did not take the pretty route but the sky was blue and the clouds were puffy and rodney, thankfully, is air conditioned.our hosts provided us with excellent beverages, eats and vintage togged beds. after a crash for the night, we were up and on our way for a visit to sunday antique market, art exhibit and tour of a wee portion of the very large Toronto.we walked around the flea checking out vintage aprons, dishes and sunglasses and then moseyed our way to the art festival after a beverage stop where i sugared up on an iced cinnamon latte (thank you stacey for the giftcard)!i got to meet a most scrumdillyumptious ceramicist/potter and wished wished wished we had space (and cash) for trinkets. we walked and checked out the art until the temps grew warmer and we (um, i) were positively tired from the heat. it was time for a mall break and some french fries...or, if you were us, a serving of poutine as our montreal host really, really wanted for us to try it and so we did. and we liked it.stepping back outside we were surprised to find the sky darker than dark and so we decided we should probably head back to the car. we had a bit of a walk ahead of us. we detoured through yonge-dundas square where crowds and crowds were gathered in front of various pubs to catch the final game of the world cup.soon enough, big fat drops began to fall with a flash and a clap. yikes! luckily we weren't too far and so we made it just in time and drove a long way to home for a home cooked dinner and a round of mojito floats. so far, toronto is the awesome!

museum of archaeology and history, and jean-talon market

2010-07-18T08:00:00.002-07:00

7/9 Montreal

Our one full day in Montreal and the forecast predicted heavy rain with peels of thunder. Not to worry, we planned activities with a roof over our heads. First stop was the Montreal Museum of Archaeology and History where an exhibit about Rapa Nui (formerly called Easter Island) and its art and culture is showing until November 14th. The installation includes plenty of information about the familiar Moai statues and their carving but more interesting are the less well known sculptures in wood, many smaller stone sculptures, and all the historical and cultural background gathered in this exhibit.

There are many examples of the smaller more intricate artwork of the Rapanui; two headed figures, birdmen, and anthropomorphised paddles. A black and white film clip documentary of a Belgian expedition struggling to haul a stone sculpture from Rapa Nui aboard their ship was on view in a small theater. The timeline of the changing beliefs and practices of the Rapanui filled in many of the questions about what happened to the islands' inhabitants and how the population was decimated by the 1860s. The many didactic panels and well arranged labels filled the exhibit with a wealth of fascinating details. If you are in Montreal anytime before November 14th I highly recommend seeing this installation, but it's not the only reason to visit.

The main permanent exhibit at the Archaeology and History Museum is down stairs, below street level. In fact it extends beyond the walls of the museum under the adjacent street. Here the layers of Montreal's history are revealed like an active archaeological dig extending back six centuries through colonial history and into the charcoal hearths left by the Native Americans along the riverbank.
The open and well labeled excavations include the stone foundations of an 18th century building, a 17th century catholic cemetery, what is left of the Little Saint-Pierre River vaulted with stone and turned into a collector sewer, and the site of the marketplace where digital ghosts of colonial Montreal will stop for conversation. Wall cases display artifacts uncovered in the excavation from clay pipes and gambling dice, to stone and iron arrow points. One case gathered glass and ceramic vessels in layers from an unidentified 17th century ceramic shards to a 20th century hourglass coke bottle. In the floor of one gallery I was treated to a satisfying dose of diorama-o-rama. Here in consecutive miniatures, the buried history of this small patch of Montreal is recreated from a summer fishing and trading village, to colonial outpost, to stockade, market town, and city. Just can't get enough of dioramas.

Upstairs in another wing of the museum we found a contemporary exhibit about the lives and histories of current Montreal residents. There were interviews with recent immigrants and people with families extending into Montreal's past. All spoke of why they or their ancestors came and what keeps them in Montreal. There was a collection of children's artwork about the city and one child's painting had been reproduced as a large free standing sculpture of the city scape. Our host's kids had a ball with this one, peeking through all the tiny windows. A bank of computer consoles offer the chance to search Montreal's population records for your family name and possible ancestors.

While at the museum the rain and wind raged on but it let up just as we emerged giving us a chance to make our way to our next stop, the Jean-Talon Market for a late lunch. I hope I have the name correct as I didn't think to write it down when we were there. I'm certain their are other markets in the city but this seemed to be a favorite of many people. The rain did little to deter the shopping crowd. I hear tell that it gets truly crowded here on weekends, but it was far from slow on our visit. The summer produce had the stalls overflowing with color and the brick and mortar shops facing the central plaza offered even more colors and scents.

In Los Angeles you're in a well stocked market if they offer three varieties of cured sausage. Here we found no less than 15 varieties all color coded. We wandered the aisles and refueled with fried calamari, middle eastern sandwiches, and some hot beverages to ward off the damp.

Our last stop for the day was to sample the creamy treat offered at Gibeau Orange Julep. The giant orange can't be missed if you get within a few kilometers. The whipped orange juice drink (with pulp, mind you) is sold by the cup or you can ask for a large bottle to take home. Think liquid form of an orange 50-50 bar with real orange juice and cream. Shlurrrp.

Well, our tour of Montreal was a whirlwind and too short, but the best part, as with most of our stops, was the visiting with our hosts. We were treated to delightful home cooked meals and a real welcoming hospitality. If you visit I hope you will be as fortunate to have a resident of this city show you the highlights, but even if you are on your own Montreal can't fail to delight.

rue saint paul and the river

2010-07-17T08:00:00.001-07:00

7/8 Montreal

By evening we made it to Montreal and after wading through some rush hour traffic we met our host, Zenzhetty. After an early dinner we had a nice walking tour along rue Saint Paul, where the older buildings have all been snazzed up and filled with shops and restaurants. The streets were busy and folks were out in their dress up clothes for hot weather. Short slinky dresses and wobbly spike heels seemed to be the thing. Our host clued us in that the crowd was just getting started and people would be out until close to dawn. The weekend nights would be even busier. Montreal makes the most of summer nights.

The evening air was still hot and heavy so we took a turn and walked the river front where we hoped to find some cooler air. An impressively large and anvil shaped storm cloud cracked and flashed in the distance south of the Saint Lawrence River. We didn't feel a drop of rain in the city that evening as the orange lightning flashes lit up the last of the sunset sky and the city lights glittered on the river.

Cirque du Soleil had their big top on one of the Quays along the river near the boardwalk and a temporary photography exhibition. Montreal has implemented an excellent public bicycle system called Bixi. There are racks of these bikes all over the city and anyone can pay to use the bikes and return then to any other rack. They even have built in flashing red LED lights for night visibility. Some of the Bixi racks fill up more than others in popular destinations and we observed one of the trucks that regularly redistribute the bikes. I wish we had more time in the city (and a bit cooler weather) as I was itching to try out a Bixi. There were riders everywhere and Montreal accommodates bikes well. If only Los Angeles (where weather will keep you off your bike only 2 or 3 days a year) would make half the effort Montreal does it could be a two wheel paradise.
Our walk passed a temporary public art project, a cathedral, shops, cafes, and several museums. All were humming with activity. Too bad we aren't night owl a-go-gos. By the time things were really starting at midnight we had passed out in bed. If you have a taste for long summer nights out with cultural flair and Barcelona or Paris are too far to go, Montreal will fill the order with style to spare.

long live Canada

2010-07-16T08:26:00.000-07:00

Things sometimes get out of chronological order on this blog and I apologize for the confusion. Sometimes we get so excited about one thing that we skip something else and have to go back. In addition, these posts are always written and scheduled at least a few days after we are in a particular place.

Anyhow, as I write this we are on our last full day in Canada. A week has been much too short and we knew that when we planned all this. We have had only an appetizer taste of Canada and we know we will be back for more.

So, why am I writing this ahead of the posts about the specific places we visited in Canada? Well, I just have a head full of things about the whole week and they need a place of their own, so here's my hindsight preamble to the Canada posts:

Long live Canada. I love so many things about my U.S.A... and then there's the wad of things that make me worry and frown. It's a mixed bag. Please, don't get the idea that I think I'm well versed in all things Canada and capable of characterizing the whole country, but Canada is swell. The same but very different. People here have their troubles, political fights, and awkward moments and all the shades of society that come with a big place with lots of people. The cities have traffic and the farmland is green.

But.

It's different. I'm going to sound like a dope here, because I can't quite put words to what I am thinking. Canada (and the Canadians that have been our hosts, granted, a tiny sample) see and do things from a different angle. There's some Europe here, some Asia, some Africa, and some South America like the mixed nuts in the U.S... BUT... still it's different. Can't figure out quite how to describe it in a meaningful way. At least stating that in a vague sort of way gets me to the thing I really want to tell everybody:

Thank goodness there is a Canada and Mexico (and Guatemala, Belize, Honduras...) so that manifest destiny didn't eat the whole continent. When I was a kid I was fascinated by maps and geography has always been a strong suit for me. I recall looking at a map of North America and wondering about the long horizontal line between most of Canada and the U.S. What happens when you cross that line? When I learned that Canadians speak English and French it brought home to my new little brain that the language I spoke came from another country and it introduced me to the big wad of colonial history.

So, Canada... North Americans that speak English (and French) like me (not so much the French... I learned Spanish living in Southern California) but they are not part of the U.S.?! My new little brain reeled. Over the years I've always been a bit delighted when I hear of Canada NOT going along with everything dictated by the U.S. I like that there is someone to say, "yeah, maybe that's not such a hot idea." Canada says it to London sometimes too.

OK, let me repeat, I still like the U.S. and don't want to live anywhere else, but I wish we weren't such excellent fodder for all the "Oh you self-absorbed Americans" jokes. Canada doesn't hate us (though I'm sure there are a few Canadians who do) but I think Canada just wishes we'd pay just a little more attention and not assume so much. This Superpower business and the 20th century I know has blinded the U.S. to so much detail in the world, but with all the paranoia about "The New World Order" and some kind of world government taking over we should glorify the differences and see all the facets of where we disagree.

So... Long live Canada and all the other wildly different places and people in the world. Any where you go, the troubles are all the same. We need all the points of view to see the way through.

snappers in Stowe, Smuggler's Gap, and crossing the border

2010-07-15T08:00:00.000-07:00

7/8 Arlington, Mass. to Montreal

Boy, some days on the highway you just don't get a chance to stop for "Welcome to (insert state here)" signs. We missed a sign for both New Hampshire and Vermont. For some state line crossings we have taken the time to get on a back road where the welcome sign is usually easier to stop for, but for this leg of the journey we just didn't have the time to spare. We stayed an extra day in Arlington, Mass. and had an all day drive to Montreal.

We did take the time for a lunch of New England style hot dogs at Stowe Dogs (in Stowe, Vermont naturally). For those of you who haven't had one and are curious, hot dogs New England style seems to be mostly about the bun (there may well be a New Englander or two who will correct me). The buns are a nice soft, slightly sweet with an amber tanned top. Imagine a standard bun baked shoulder to shoulder with its neighbors so that each bun has an almost square cross section and two long sides that have no crust. These are sliced down the middle of the brown top and grilled/toasted on the two long sides. This adds a grilled cheese sandwich (or grilled panini) kind of toasty crunchy (sometimes buttery) thing to the completed hot dog. The buns also seem to be a bit smaller and matched to the size of the dog. A bit less bun per dog ratio. At Stowe Dogs we had the snappers with natural casing. Very tasty on their own, but I went for my personal favorite toppings, spicy mustard and some sauerkraut. Nyom nyom nyom.

After Stowe Vermont we drove through Smuggler's Gap. In the winter this is a ski area, but after passing under the ski lift cables we passed through the gap's summer cool green coat.

Just a bit north of Smuggler's Gap interstate 89 carried us to the international border. There must be more traffic here sometimes but the road was eerily empty. To add to the peculiar atmosphere all the road signs were covered with black plastic. We got a bit spooked and wondered if there had been some horrible international incident and we were naively heading for a closed border. At last we saw the customs plaza and a few cars waiting to cross into Canada. We showed our passport cards* answered a few questions and the Canadian official wished us a pleasant trip (after shaking his head at hearing that we had indeed driven all the way from California). I asked him, "Say, how do we get to Montreal, anyhow?" He chuckled and said, "That-a-way."

*So, if you're a citizen of the U.S. and you are planning to drive (or bicycle or walk) to Canada or Mexico absolutely do not forget to apply for and obtain a passport of some form, well in advance. These days you must have a passport or you will be turned back. The Canadians and the Mexicans really don't want you stuck in their country and they know that the U.S. officials will not let you go home with out a passport. The standard Passport book will do the trick BUT there is a cheaper option these days if you are going to drive (or bicycle or walk) to either Canada or Mexico. The new Passport Card costs less and will fit anywhere a credit card will, so you can keep it in your wallet. For more info see the Passport site. You will still need a birth certificate, and some small photos, and a fee, but get your act together and do it early. It takes at least a month by mail.

more good times in old mass...

2010-07-14T08:25:00.000-07:00

july 6 & 7

the original plan was to hit Canada right after Massachusetts but an opportunity came to visit with my best friend from way way back in the eighties. we're talking junior high folks! and so, with much schmunking and emailing we managed to squeeze in a byway visit that was originally one day but became two because how do you not do that when you see someone you adore to pieces?

we didn't plan for much, just some quality time hanging out, talking, and looking at old yearbooks. i cannot explain how easy and comforting it was to see someone who was so important to me and who holds pocketfuls of moments that i thought i forgot about. i am so so so happy we headed her way!

but of course we did do a little something...

middle of the trip

2010-07-13T08:00:00.000-07:00

So it's July 5th as I write this and not exactly the middle of the trip, more like the middle plus a couple of weeks, but I've been thinking of doing a post like this for a while. We're in Hatfield, Massachusetts right now and had a nice Fourth of July with a barbecue, corn on the cob and a fireworks show at U. Mass. in Amherst.

Rodney's trip meter has turned past 6,000 miles. I glanced at a map last week thinking about the next leg of the trip as we head to Canada and start West to the Great Lakes and then the northern plains. We are about as far from home as we will get on this trip and the distance is a bit overwhelming. The map browsing included looking over the $$ diary to see how the finances are holding out, and things look good even with some surprise expenses. The lap top hard drive took a dump, a few too expensive motel rooms, and after getting punctures in two air mattresses... some new closed cell foam pads (not to mention meds for mrs. a-go-go). After Chicago our route is rather open and we have to decide when we get there if it's time to run for home or take our time with some national parks and the pacific northwest. Won't know for sure until we get there but it looks like we'll have some time and $$ to spare. From the get go we've had a vague goal of getting home in mid August... six more weeks to go for a total of 14. Yep, we're two weeks past the middle. The actual middle slipped by me about when we crossed from New Jersey to New York. The trip meter will keep rolling higher but our distance from home will get smaller from here on.

So what have we done? what have we gained?

This is only the second trip I've ever taken that has kept me traveling for more than two or three weeks. I suppose any trip this long will eventually make the traveler wonder what they are up to. Why did we do all this, and when can we go home?

It's been exhausting and thrilling all at once. Traveling is hard work and I've really appreciated the chances we've had along the way to nap. We've seen places, towns, cities, parks that I probably would never have planned to visit except on a trip like this. The desert, the forest, the mountains, but our route has been determined more by the people we wished to visit than the places. In so many cases what we saw was second to who we saw.

We left Los Angeles kind of weary of many things in our life and in need of something silly to make things new or to give them a new shine. I think this silly trip has accomplished that (maybe frivolous is the word, I quit the best paying job I've had in the middle of an economic mess and it has been suggested more than a few times that this is foolish... fiddlesticks I say). We knew we'd miss lots of people and familiar places back home but the trip has put a fine point on the missing. We knew the country was huge and that we'd sampled so little of it; the trip has put a VERY fine point on that (is the trip making me eager to travel more or wish for home more? couldn't say). We knew we had to make a leap to find what we want to do with the next 40 years and the trip has put a real polish on that need (more than anything the trip has made me itch to make things... art, cartoons, musical instruments... anything!).

I turned 41 while out here on the continent. Last year the door closed on the possibility of us having children (that is, not to put too fine a point on it, any children that might come out of mrs. a-go-go) and it was part of our excuse for being frivolous. We both have lost relatives in recent years, and life is clearly way too short. We really felt that it was now or never for a trip like this and, heck, why the hell not.

As we head west we dread finding some way to make enough money to keep our heads above water while doing something creative and some place to live that we can afford. Unfortunately, for our finances, we are both sick with the need to be creative. Eh... we'll find something. We won't likely ever be wealthy and we may never own a house, but it's high time we do what we want and spend as much time as we can with the people we love.

Hey, look it's the Big Rock Candy Mountains, right over there!

good times in new england

2010-07-12T09:57:00.000-07:00

we've spent the better part of six days hanging out with mama a and family. many many ears of fresh corn have been consumed, fireworks were watched, bikes were ridden, blocks were built with and museums were traveled to. we're going to miss you all and yer lovely town, thank you for an amazing week. it has been a highlight that will linger on for a long time. *mwah*

a fresh dose of massachusetts and more berry picking

2010-07-11T08:13:00.000-07:00

and some delightfully good company...when my allergies were crazy scary and i was wheezing more than breathing, mr. a-go-go asked me if i wanted to go home and while i did wish for a bed of my own and the comforts i had known there was no way i would go home early before getting to see my old l.a. friends who moved to massachusetts four or so years ago. it had been a long time and i missed them and couldn't wait to meet the wee ones.we made our way to their tiny town after picking up the newly driven powerbook (daisy) and drove through a wee bit of rush hour traffic hunting and searching for a welcome to sign that we never saw. drats!since we arrived in the evening we plopped right down for bed in our borrowed room and looked forward to the next day. the next morning i got to meet the boys and we took a walk around the neighborhood to pick up a dozen farm fresh eggs...like, super fresh! after some running around and chatting we hopped into our respective autos and headed out for some blueberry picking. it was pie time! mama a made the pie and it was delicious as everything she does is amazing and simple. she's pretty nifty with a paintbrush as well and if yer into childrens books you may recognize her marks. love her style, love it!