This past week, a Milwaukee toddler fatally shot his mother after finding a handgun in the back seat of the car they were riding in. The case drew a lot of national attention given the unusual circumstances: Little kids rarely kill people, intentionally or not. But this type of thing happens more often than you…
We’ve been home for a few weeks now, and, after getting caught up on household chores and reconnecting with friends and family, it was my intention to write one or two more blog posts to complete our latest journey.
But last week I’d decided to spend a day sorting through the huge box of photos and memorabilia to see if I could downsize a little more. In so doing, I came across a very old photo of some people that I’m sure could be the grandparents that I never knew. I scanned it, along with many others so that I could look at it more closely later.
Then, after I got into bed, I got thinking about it, and wondering who these people could be. I had some ideas, but needed to check out some dates on the Family Tree. So, instead of getting to travel writing in the morning, I logged into Ancestry.ca and looked for clues to solve the mystery. Most of my ideas were eliminated by date discrepancies, but while searching some people, I discovered other hints for other family members, and then I was gone. To me, researching family history is like a big jigsaw puzzle. Once I find one piece, I can’t stop. I’m drawn to find more. Before I knew it, three hours had passed and I hadn’t even started to write! But I have no regrets. Genealogy is just another one of my passions. I actually created another blog about it a few years ago, but then posted only twice, and never made it known.
I took a break to make some lunch, and as I worked, I thought of the long To-do list that I always have running through my mind:
Write travel blog posts
Update/improve my website, monetize it perhaps
Write memoirs
Research family
Edit photos
Make photo books
Develop new blog: Unfolding Our Past
Then I asked myself, “Why do I put these burdens upon myself?” What difference will it make if I do none of them? I don’t expect to earn a living from any of them, because technically I’m retired. So why can’t I just relax and enjoyment retirement? But then, what does retirement mean? It should mean having the freedom to do whatever you want, right? For some, that might mean reading a book, watching TV, playing games or doing nothing at all, but for others, like me, it means having the time to pursue passions that keep the mind and body active, that give pleasure. That’s why I want to do these things, and more.
What does retirement mean to you? Do artists ever retire?
With our days here dwindling quickly, we went on one last adventure before starting the task of sorting and packing to get ready for our trip back to Ontario. Saturday morning we packed a lunch, and struck out in the car, top down, towards Oracle and Biosphere 2.
An hour later, we stopped for a stretch at a little park that displayed a memorial to Tom Mix, a famous movie cowboy who died in a car accident at the spot in 1940, too long ago for me to know anything about him, but his interesting story was posted.
It was lunch time when we arrived at Biosphere 2, so we sat outside on one of the stone benches and enjoyed our lunch while soaking up the sunny atmosphere. Then we went inside to wait for the tour to begin.
Biosphere 2 contains 5 biomes, including a 900,000-gallon salt water ocean, a rain forest, a desert, agricultural areas and a human habitat, all within the 7,200,000-cubic-foot sealed glass and space-frame structure.
A Little History
Biosphere 2 was a Space Biospheres Venture project that began in 1984 with the purchase of the property near Oracle Arizona that had previously been the site of a conference centre for Motorola, and then the University of Arizona. Two years later an iconic facility was constructed with $150 million in funding from Texas oil magnate Edward Bass. It was designed as an airtight replica of Earth’s environment (Biosphere 1).
Some of the early designers and managers were interested in space travel and the possibility of colonizing the Moon or Mars. With the hope of learning what problems would arise from living in a closed system, in 1991 a colony of eight people were sealed inside Biosphere 2 for two years. Six months later another crew of seven entered Biosphere 2, but after a number of physical and social problems developed these experiments were suspended in 1994.
In the years following, the facility was managed by Decisions Investment Corporation and Columbia University until 2007 when CDO Ranching and Development bought it. The University of Arizona assumed management, and was then gifted the facility in 2011. It has been a state-of-the art research laboratory for students of science ever since, with tourism providing some extra funding.
After a five-minute video that highlighted some of the things we would see, our tour began. I can’t remember the tour guide’s name because he was not a memorable soul and brought no life to the tour. It seemed like he didn’t have enough to tell us and was always checking his watch and then saying, “So I’ll give you a minute or two to stand here and look around” as if he was killing time. That was disappointing.
We saw banana and eucalyptus trees in the rainforest, and a little experiment in progress that some school children had set up. It was a several-tiered vegetable garden that was being nourished with the run-off water from a Koi fish pond at the top level. We walked through the mangrove marsh and the desert.
There are two “lungs”, white domes that are variable air-volume control devices. Our guide took us through a tunnel, into the South Lung and explained a little bit about how it works.
Inside the “lung”
I think with a more enthusiastic guide, the hour and a half long tour would have been very interesting, but as it was, we were glad when it was over.
Then we were allowed to do self-guided tours of the Ocean from below, through a windowed tunnel, but some sections were under repair or construction, so there really wasn’t much to see. We decided to skip the self-guided tour of the Upper Habitat, where the crews had lived in 1991 to 1994, since we’d been given views of it in the video, and we were ready to continue on to Globe for dinner.
Although the history of the Biosphere 2 is interesting, I felt that today it would be far more enticing to spend some time there as a science student or researcher, living in one of the adobe apartments and making use of the facility for experiments and further knowledge. Summer programs are offered to young students as well.
To learn more about Biosphere2 check out these websites:
http://www.desertusa.com/desert-arizona/bios2.html#ixzz44HTcoxGj
As many times as we’ve driven up to and around Superstition Mountain, we’d not taken a trip on the Steamboat that we often saw when we skirted Canyon Lake so this year we decided this would be one of the highlights when Jim’s daughter Karen was here. Two old friends and two new friends joined us.
After lunch at Tortilla Flat, we drove back down the road to the Dolly Steamboat Boarding Area and waited in line to pick up our boarding passes. We’d reserved our spots online a week or more earlier, which was a good thing because tickets were sold out.
The day was perfect. We were too far back in the line to get seats on the upper deck, but there were plenty of opportunities to duck outside to the open bow and stern decks to capture some of the natural wonders hiding in the 1300 foot cliffs around us. The captain, using a PA system, let us know where to look for things he knew would be of particular interest.
Long-horn Sheep roaming the cliffs
Bald Eagle Nest – some were lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the eagle
J. S. Bach gave us a performance (with the help of the captain and PA system)
Because spring has come early to the area this year, we saw a whole new version of Superstition Mountain. Instead of the various shades of browns, grays and reddish rocks that were in all our previous photos, this time there were the yellows and reds and greens of the flowering trees and cacti, and mosses and lichens. Everything was in bloom!
We also managed to find views without hydro wires, after the cruise was done and we were on our way back down to Apache Junction.
Wishing Everyone a Happy Easter!
Our time in Arizona is quickly slipping away and we, like many others here, are trying to pack our last few weeks with as much as we can. On Monday some of our neighbours invited us to join them on a trip to the Boyce Thompson Arboretum, near Superior, Arizona. We had never heard of it, but it was one item on their Bucket List, so we accepted.
Tuesday morning, we were up early and headed out Hwy 60 for the one hour drive. It was a perfect day for a hike through this intriguing botanical garden — sunny, but cool enough for a light jacket. We arrived perhaps a little earlier than necessary since the guided tour didn’t begin until 11:00, but we strolled along some of the smaller trails, and then bought some snacks in the gift shop while we waited.
The first stop on the tour was the Smith Interpretive Center, which was built in 1925 of locally quarried stone, and is on the National Register of Historic Places. The building served as the original visitor’s center until the present one was built, and has two greenhouses attached to either side, one housing cacti from around the world, and the other showcasing succulent plants from other plant families.
Taking the tour was the way to go. Jim, our guide, was a wealth of knowledge concerning the history of the park and the plants that were there.
The hike lasted nearly two hours and took us through the Hummingbird & Butterfly Garden, and Heritage Rose Garden, home to a large selection of Heritage roses. Unfortunately we were just a few weeks too early to see these in full bloom.
We saw many beds of native and southern European herb plantings divided into specific use areas: culinary, medicinals, cosmetics, insect repellents, etc. The Wing Memorial Herb Garden is said to contain any type of herb or spice that one could want. Jim also pointed out the trees from which myrrh and carob beans come.
At the Cactus & Succulents Garden, Jim told us some interesting facts about the Saguaro Cactus. It is a protected species that cannot be destroyed under any circumstances, even when roads are being built. That is why we have often seen rows of them, their roots wrapped, sitting alongside of highways that are being expanded. They have been dug up and will be transplanted to a new location. The Saguaro also has very long roots, extending for five feet or more just eighteen inches below the ground. Jim had samples of honey made from Prickly Pear Cactus, and syrup made from Agave Cactus, which he passed around with plastic spoons for us to try. Yummy!
Saguaro Cactus
We stopped at Ayer Lake, a man-made reservoir that supplies the arboretum with irrigation water, and is home to several different species of migratory waterfowl.
Ayres Lake
From the high trail along Queen Creek Canyon we had magnificent views of Magma Ridge and the historic Picketpost Mansion, former home of Colonel William Boyce Thompson, which is perched on volcanic cliffs overlooking his namesake Arboretum.
The Australian Desert Exhibit and Walkabout Trail transported us to a different type of desert life.
It would be great to be able to return later in the spring when more plants are in full bloom, but our welcome here would be overstayed.
The Canadian Snowbird Association (CSA) is a 100,000 member national not-for-profit advocacy organization. It is dedicated to actively defending and improving the rights and privileges of Canadian travellers.
Each winter CSA executives travel to popular locations where Canadian Snowbirds escape the harsh winters of their home provinces, to connect with them, and to bring them up-to-date with what CSA has accomplished and its on-going projects. The month of February, in Arizona, has been declared Canada Month. What better time to present a Snowbird Extravaganza, which not only provides CSA information, but free entertainment, and vendor displays.
On Monday we made the short trip to the Mesa Convention Centre to attend this, our first, Extravaganza.
We were a little later getting to the Centre than we’d planned, and the parking lots were already filling up. When we arrived inside it was apparent that if we wanted to get a seat in the designated “theatre” area we needed to grab them quickly. We discovered, however, that most of the chairs were occupied with the plastic welcome bags given out at the door. The seats were being saved by people who wanted to insure they had a seat, but still wander around the vendor booths while waiting for the show to begin. We managed to snag two chairs in the very back corner, up against the curtain that acted as a partition. While many people had to stand in the outside aisles, leaning against the walls, most of the “saved” seats remained empty until the last few minutes before the show started.
After the Welcome and a briefing from the Canadian Snowbird Association, the entertainment began with the kilted, guitar playing tenor from Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Tom Leadbeater. He kept us clapping, smiling and singing along to the many old familiar songs of the region. He was followed by Irish-born comedian, Sean Emery, who travels across the US, spreading laughter with his jokes, sarcasm and oddball juggling stunts. Unfortunately, from where we sat it was difficult to see some of the stunts, even on the screen that was provided. The final performer of the morning was multi-award winning Country Music Artist, Michelle Wright. Sadly, the volume of chatter coming from behind us drowned out her beautiful voice. We decided to find our way to the food venue before the rush. Outside the theatre we could hear her much better.
On the outdoor patio we enjoyed the warm sun, and ate our purchased sandwiches before the long lines began to form. We didn’t linger to listen again to Tom Leadbeater, who was setting up on the outdoor stage. We let some others have our seats.
Back inside we checked out the vendors of vacation spots, miracle pain treatments, Las Vegas entertainment and Casinos. We picked up information brochures from CSA and the Canadian Consulate before heading back into the theatre in search of seats for the afternoon show. Again, the plastic bags occupied the majority of seats that were otherwise empty, but we found two empty ones much closer to the stage than before. While we sat waiting, a ruckus started in the row behind us. It seemed that a couple had come back from lunch and expected to get the same seats they’d occupied all morning, but another couple, not seeing any indication that the seats were saved, had taken them over. An argument ensued. The new occupants refused to leave, and the other fellow left in disgust after throwing out the comment, “Damn Canadians!” I looked around in shock. Why on earth was this man, with an obvious dislike for Canadians, attending a show that was provided and sponsored entirely by Canadians, with the majority of the entertainers hailing from Canada and the majority of attendees as well? The only explanation I could think of was that it was all free, and anyone was welcome.
The afternoon entertainment began with two senior singer/guitar players who claimed to be “the first openly grey performers to appear on stage.” By the time Bowser and Blue left the stage forty-five minutes later, my jaws ached from so much laughter. Their political comments, presented through musical parodies, were brilliantly hilarious. But the laughter didn’t end there.
Next on the stage was Jimmy Flynn, dressed in his plaid flannel shirt, overalls, rubber boots and a bright yellow Newfoundland fisherman hat. He kept us in stitches for another half hour with his “Newfie” style stories about family and friends and life in a fishing village in Eastern Canada.
The show ended with the beautiful tenor voice of a long-time favourite of many Canadians, John McDermott.
If laughter and music are the best medicines, we should be good for at least the rest of the season!
I haven’t had much to blog about lately, but I was impressed with this post from Uncle Spikes Adventures, so with his permission I am sharing it with you. You can read more interesting posts from him at unclespikes.wordpress.com
It’s funny how film and history are forever intertwined, and that we don’t seem to learn from either. Charlie Chaplin, the star of the silent film, delivered an amazing speech in the 1940 classic “The Great Dictator”, which, sadly, is still just as relevant today, some 66 years later.
With such hatred still seemingly saturating our world, and so much power still wielded by so few who do anything to remain in that position, from killing to inciting others to do so, and war-mongering, corruption, and numerous other despicable acts. Looking back, dear Mister Chaplin, who always made us laugh, delivered (ok, so it was on film) one of the greatest ever speeches.
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#BloggersUniteForPeace
Today my post is about another side of my writing. If you check out the other tabs on this site, you’ll see that I’ve done more than just travel blogging, but not so much lately. Now I’m excited to share this news with you.
This past summer I won a competition, at WomensMemoirs.com.
My story is one of the 81 winning stories that have been published in a two-volume anthology series entitled TALES OF OUR LIVES (Fork in the Road and Reflection Pond.) Mine, Seeking a Diagnosis, is in TALES OF OUR LIVES: REFLECTION POND*. Each volume is available on Amazon in Kindle e-book format, but you don’t need to have an e-reader or tablet to get them. When you click on the link to purchase the books, you will find an option to download the free Kindle App for either your PC or MAC.
Beginning today, January 8 at 8 am (PST), and over the next few days, there will be special discount pricing for some countries, including the US, so if you are interested in grabbing a copy, today and tomorrow might get you a deal! Unfortunately Amazon doesn’t allow these discounts in Canada, but even if you can’t get the special pricing, the full list price is quite reasonable–$5.22 in CA.)
Below are links to the books for Canada and the US. If you would like the links for other countries, let me know and I’ll get them for you.
Seasons of Our Lives: Fork in the Road (Canada) amzn.to/1SyPM5q
*Seasons of Our Lives: Reflection Pond (Canada) amzn.to/1mEVE0s
Seasons of Our Lives: Fork in the Road (US) amzn.to/20VYNJq
*Seasons of Our Lives: Reflection Pond (US)amzn.to/1MQGKdk
For the writer within you, the editor has included the introduction to her new writing methodology (Writing Alchemy). If you’re thinking of writing about your life or the lives of others in your family, then you’ll want to read that chapter. She also begins each section with a series of prompts that will help you to think about your own life stories — stories you may want to share with your family. These two writing tools help make these volumes even more than a good read. You get 81 powerful stories and 98 prompts.
And after you’ve read the stories (all 81 intriguing ones if you can), I hope you’ll feel inspired to post a comment, and write a review on Amazon. I, and my co-authors would all appreciate it.
I just got word that Tales of Our Lives is already an award winning anthology, New England Book Festival, Honourable Mention!
Click on the tab Writing/Books to see other books, and Awards and Reviews.
We thought we had a good internet solution with our T-Mobile hot spot, and for the first few weeks it was. But we soon ran out of data when we started sharing pictures and looking at videos. It became impossibly slow so I had to give up on trying to post on my blog. Now we are hooked up with Century Link and hoping that it will continue to serve us well.
Contrary to the impression we have given of always having warm sunny weather here, today is rainy and cold. In fact yesterday morning it was colder here than it was back home in Ontario! So it’s a good day to catch up on all the things that have been keeping us busy the last few weeks.
When I was talking to my sister at Christmas time last year, she thought we would have been home already. I told her we wouldn’t be “home” until the middle of April. She said, ”Aren’t you bored?”
I replied, “If you get bored down here, it’s your own fault!” Here are some reasons why:
Besides enjoying good food and music and dancing on the patio with our many friends at Mesa Regal, we’ve enjoyed a Thanksgiving feast with our American friends;
We celebrated the birthday of one of those friends, with an evening at the Mormon Tabernacle Christmas display;
We’ve spent a good part of a day touring area roads on the motorcycle, with other Mesa Regal enthusiasts;
We’ve played pickle ball and bocce ball, and for three days last week cheered on good friends who were in the Pickle Ball Tournament, held right here at Mesa Regal RV Resort.
Jim makes a good shot at Bocce Ball
Patti and Mark Earned a Silver Medal
We participated in the Tree Lighting Ceremony and caroling on the west-end patio;
We rounded out the last week with a ride on the light rail train to Tempe with two of our neighbours for dinner, followed by a stroll to the Salt River to watch the annual Lighted Boat Parade and Fireworks on Saturday evening,
And a drive to Glendale on Sunday with friends and neighbours to view these marvelous Sand Sculptures that were still being finished off near the end of the three-day competition.
So, no, we are never bored down here. But we might be when we return to our Ontario home!
If you missed the opportunity to get a free self-guided walking tour app for a city you’d like to visit, be sure to scroll to the bottom of my San Francisco blog and follow the directions.
After San Francisco we didn’t stay in any one spot for more than a night, but we did have some more interesting adventures, and the pain in my hip diminished enough for me to enjoy them.
We continued south on always-adventurous Hwy 1, around the curves, often hanging on the edge of the cliffs, and catching some amazing views.
Tunnel on the side of a cliff
At a spot when the the road was at beach level, we came across an observation parking lot where we stopped to watch hundreds of elephant seals fighting for mates and soaking up the rays.
Fascinating to watch
After a certain point we left all cities behind, and even the towns became further and further apart. Our plans to stop earlier that day were squashed. The two small RV/Campgrounds that we saw both had “Full” signs on them, so we had to keep going. Jim thought we might stop close to the Hearst Castle and take the tour, but by the time we finally found a spot to park for the night, at Hearst San Simeon National Park we were both tired. The thought of climbing many, many more stairs that the Castle brochure told us about sealed our decision to just keep on trucking the next morning.
We made it a short day. We needed time to do laundry and then relax. At noon we checked into Pismo Coast Village RV Resort, probably the nicest resort that we’d encountered the whole trip. We put our laundry in and crossed a courtyard to the Grill where we enjoyed the best homemade clam chowder we’ve ever had, while enjoying the warm sun on the patio.
When the laundry was done and put away, we walked through Pismo State Beach Park next door, and then into the Monarch Butterfly Grove to view clusters of our own National Butterfly, hanging from the branches of Eucalyptus trees – more Monarchs than we’d ever seen at one time back home.
Monarch Butterflies
After taking the many photos, trying to get the perfect shot, we walked over the sand dunes to the beach and almost got lost trying to find the path that led back to our RV Resort!
Pismo Beach
Pismo Beach Sunset
The sun was setting when we got back, and we’d worked up an appetite, so we found ourselves back at the Grill once more. Again we enjoyed some of that delicious chowder, and shared a seafood platter for dinner.
Seafood Platter
I almost hated to leave the next day, it was so nice there. By the time we’d unhooked and picked up the trailer from the storage lot across the street, and stopped at a Mexican Flea Market a half-hour down the highway, it was past lunch time. The scallops and shrimp leftover from the night before warded off our hunger for another hour until we drove off the highway into Los Alamos to see what we could find. We found a quaint little town with a terrific little diner, The Bell Street Farm Eatery, where we chose the Special of the Day – a very thick BLT made with local lean slab bacon, local tomatoes and lettuce, drizzled with pesto and olive oil, on fresh baked bread. Yumm!
Bell Street Farm Eatery
Best BLT ever!
We drove on through Santa Barbara and got onto the Pacific Coastal Highway at Ventura to spend the evening and night with hundreds of other RVers camped along the wall beside the beach. It’s dry camping, but costs only $28.00 a night, limit of five full days (24hrs. each).
8 miles of RVs along Pacific Coast Hwy Beach
We ate our dinner outside, watching the sunset and listening to the waves, which are very calming until you try to sleep. Then they sound like very high winds of a storm and you expect the motor home to be rocking and rolling. That and the sound of traffic on the highway and the trains going along the track between the highway and us (yes, again!) made sleep rather difficult, but there is always a trade-off.
At least most of the trains were quieter Amtrak
At the end of the next day we were more than ready to be settled in one place for the next few months!
When we left Ventura we’d intended to continue along the ocean on Hwy 1, but somehow missed a turn and ended up on 101. At Thousand Oaks we pulled off in search of coffee and could find none, but after consulting a map Jim found a road that would take us back to Hwy 1. I was a little concerned because the map also showed a mountain range, but for the first part we were on a wide city street. Then the city street turned right, and our road kept going straight. Well, straight isn’t exactly correct. The first hundred feet were straight, and then we encountered more turns and steep hills than all of the others we’d been on before! The bends were so sharp that we took up the whole road to make them, and there was no way to see or be seen around them! I think I held my breath with each one, expecting another vehicle to come barreling around and into us. There were some spectacular vistas, and some huge homes on gated properties high up on the mountains that I thought could have been owned by some movie stars. I doubted that they’d have too much trouble with tourists finding them up there!
This sign was at the end. Jim didn’t tell me, though, that he’d seen the same sign at the beginning!
The GPS told us the road, Mulholland Hwy, was only ten miles long, but it took us an hour to get over it, and it gave the engine and brakes quite a workout.
It did take us back to Pacific Coast Highway though, and we were soon at Malibu Beach, hungry and tired. We parked beside the public beach expecting to have some lunch and that long awaited coffee at the café we saw there. It was closed. That’s when we started to learn that this part of California isn’t very RV friendly. We drove on, looking for any sort of restaurant along the highway that had enough parking space for us. Before long we were in downtown Malibou Beach and Jim was determined to find a parking space near the beach. There was a nearly empty parking lot, but it was gated and the fee to park an RV was $32.00 even though we wanted to stay only a couple of hours. We drove up and down some rather narrow streets for probably an hour looking for any kind of parking. One parking lot attendant saw us stop and offered us space (not even sure if we could have gotten into it) for $40.00.
That was enough of taking the Coastal Highway. We got back onto Hwy 101. We drove through the main street of Marina del Rey and Torrance, and could still not find a place to park anywhere near a restaurant. They all had trees too close to the street for us to park. Finally, at El Segundo we got parked and had lunch. We saved the second half of our subs in case we needed them for dinner later. The fridge was pretty empty.
We’d had enough “adventure” for the day so we started looking for RV or camping sites or even a Walmart somewhere near Long Beach. We could find only two listed in any of our resources (Next Exit, The Good Sam RV Guide, and the GPS). I called the Good Sam one first and was informed that they don’t allow enclosed (cargo) trailers in the park, and they had no suggestions as to where we could put ours if we unhooked it! Not the usual helpful response from a Good Sam rep. The other park was actually a small Mobile Home Park that had room for a few RVs, but none that we could begin to squeeze into. On we went, leaving 101 and taking Hwy. 91 to I-5.When we reached Anaheim we found a Walmart that didn’t allow overnight parking, but we bought some groceries anyway and secured a spot at a Good Sam Park just a few blocks from Disneyland. We didn’t go to Disneyland, but we could watch the fireworks from our site that night and rested.
The next day we just drove. We passed through San Diego without even stopping. At 4:30 we set up in an RV-friendly Walmart, had an early dinner and crashed. By 4:00 pm the next day (October 28) we were “home” at our site in Mesa Regal RV Resort, Mesa Arizona, after taking a short side-trip to Los Algodones Mexico to see if “Monica” (the sweet puppy we met last winter) was still there. She wasn’t.
Mind Traveler 