November 15th: On to Flagstaff Arizona to visit Tom

 I've been putting the date I post a blog in the titles. Actually, I decided I should put the date when the events I describe occurred. Especially given how far behind I am.

Linda's three brothers, Warren, Pat and Dick joined me for a trip to visit Linda's 4th brother Tom. He lives in Flagstaff Arizona. On the way we stopped at a favorite seafood restaurant, Pappadeuax Seafood Kitchen. The seafood is New Orleans style and wonderful.

Dick, Warren and Pat at Pappadeuax Restaurant

When we arrived Monday we found Tom waiting for us. He has dialysis on MWF so he was a little tired but in good spirits. Our plan was to make an early Thanksgiving dinner Tuesday.

We arrived to find Tom waiting for us

The Turkey dinner was excellent. Pat was the head chef and did a great job. I didn't get a picture of the turkey which is a shame. Nor did I get a good picture of Medge's "Turkey veggie tray." It looked like a turkey and was fun with lots of great veggies.

Took Tom to Lake Mary. Beautiful day.

Tom had dialysis Wednesday so we decided to do some exploring. I found an interesting place to visit called the Lava River Cave. We were surprised to learn that a volcanic eruption left a lava tube outside Flagstaff.

The drive took much longer than expected. The last 20 minutes or so were on a rough gravel road. When we arrived, there was no one there. There was a covered shelter with information but no park rangers. Seemed strange but there were signs directing us to the Lava River Cave entrance.

After a short walk we came to the entrance. Again, no one there, Just a big hole in the ground with informative signs. If you read the signs you'll learn that in order to hike the cave we needed to be well prepared, which we were not! I took a picture of the signs which were very interesting.

We were able to go into the entrance to the cave. It was very rugged. I climbed over rocks and boulders to get close to where the trail entered the actual cave. Given I didn't have three flashlights, nor warm enough clothes, nor waterproof hiking boots, I quickly decided to go no further.

This is the nondescript entrance. Pat
 and Dick were trying to determine if this was it. It was.

The entrance

This was as far as I could go safely

Very cute squirrel

This place seemed almost surreal. Why wasn't anyone around. This Lava Cave looks really cool. I'd love to return with the appropriate gear. The Lava River Cave

After our trip to the Lava Cave, we stopped in Flagstaff at a brewery for lunch. It was a fun place. The picture gives you an impression of the artwork and decor. The food was very good as well as the local beers.

December 14th: Palm Desert with Rahns

 It's no wonder I didn't get a blog done in October and November. As I look back at the calendar, I was very busy! I still have COVID, unfortunately, but catching up on the blog gives me something to do. Plus it's fun to look back at the last couple months.

I was invited once again to join the Rahns at Palm Desert. Their time share is wonderful and its a great place for hiking and restaurants. We knew we would need some good planning. The forecast was for 102 degrees. We were up and out early, plus drove up into the mountains for our hike where it was cooler.

I really enjoy the drive up and over the mountains to get to Palm Desert.

View from the mountaintop,
 Palm Desert below

The drive into Palm Springs

View from my balcony

There is a huge pool complex. Not a lot of people braved the heat later in the day. But Craig did a good job of securing umbrellas for us to sit under. After exercising in the very nice fitness area, we sat outside, read our books and had lunch delivered to us!

As usual, Craig researched a nice hike and a visit to Pioneer Village. The terrain had more vegetation than below in the desert. Part of the time we were in the shade.

Here is a collection of pictures that speak for themselves. I included a lot of pictures because the terrain is quite varied and interesting.

One of many cliff walls

Karen and Craig

Hurricane damage

Hurricane damage

After our hike we rode into the Joshua Tree National Park region. The Joshua trees are unique as well as the other plants and trees growing at this altitude. Click on Photos. Joshua Trees

We were on our way to Pioneer Village. I had never heard of it and didn't know what to expect. We planned to go there for lunch and also to look around.

Of course lunch came first. The 

Rustic Old West motif Restaurant

Stage and dance floor

The place was quite large with a live band dance floor for use in the evenings. 

After lunch we toured the town. We learned that Roy Rogers, Dale Evans and others decided to build a western movie site in Arizona, close to Hollywood. The building were not fronts. They were actual buildings with people living and working there. They still have their own post office.

They showed videos of cowboys racing through town on horses. Who knew. We were told many movies were shot here, sometimes two at the same time on opposite sides of the street. Here are some good historical pictures. Can you identify the cowboys and cowgirls in the pictures?

Here's a list of movies filmed at Pioneer Town

On my last day we rode into Palm Desert to a very good Mexican Restaurant. We checked out some art at museum that displayed artwork from local artists. There was a lot of really nice art works.

On our way back to our time share we passed several expansive wind and solar farms.

December11th: Back Home to Encinitas and Trip To Catalina Island

 

I returned to my Encinitas home and was pleased to be back. I added my trophy for catching the smallest fish to my nautical wall. It's the small fish basket by the yellow AGLCA burgee. It will be a good reminder of fun times on Lake Temagami. 

Sunrise from my balcony

The view from my balcony is still beautiful. The Norfolk pine is huge!

I retrieved my plants from Karen Rahn who took excellent care of them for the 5 months I was gone.

Rattlesnake plant daytime

Rattlesnake plant at night

I rescued this rattlesnake plant from my daughter Rebecca. Actually all my indoor plants are rescues from Rebecca! I could tell her to stop buying plants, but then I wouldn't get any more cool plants. 

The rattlesnake plant in really fun. During the day the leaves flatten out. But then as it gets dark the leaves stand straight up. Then back as soon as morning arrives.

I also enjoy Rebecca's Teardrop plant. I think it's pretty unique and I can see why she bought it.

Karen plant-sat this for me also. She is a truly wonderful friend. After I dropped it off she called to tell me there were tiny bugs all over it. Yikes! I said to do whatever necessary. She got rid of the bugs and the plant looked better than ever when I picked it up. I didn't even get in trouble for bringing bugs into her house! Well, not too much anyway!.

And then there are the succulents I rescued 3 years ago. Karen told me how to rescue them and I was successful. I envisioned two foot tall succulents by now. Karen kept saying they are not supposed to be big! But still, 3 years and this is it! I think at some point she said something like, "They're not trees!"

Here's a picture from 3 years ago. 

Rebecca's succulents 2021

Rebecca's succulent s today

But now I marvel that these little devils just exist, assuming I don't over water them. At first I thought. "More water and they'll grow faster." Karen told me "No". I learned what happens when you do that. 

Not pretty. I tried to bring it back but I don't think even Karen could have saved it.

I wanted to check out the San Elijo Lagoon to see how it had changed. I love walking there. Given the time of year there weren't a lot of water birds but there were a few. And there were actually some Fall colors. 

I saw several Snowy Egrets. 

Snowy Egret taking
 off, yellow feet

I was able to get a picture of one taking flight. Its yellow feet were quite visible. The egrets wiggle their yellow toes to attract dinner

I needed some exercise and the beach walk and Swami stairs are a great way to get it. I never fail to appreciate what a beautiful place is on my doorstep. Here are a few pictures.

Low tide so tidal pools

Look closely for the Swami stairs,
 great view and exercise

Because it was low tide I could get this picture of a little fish and a nice anemone in a tidal pool.

Sunset from the Swami stairs

Sunset from the beach

I had set a goal for getting more involved in Encinitas and establishing an increased social network. Rebecca suggested I check out Meetup. She assured me it wasn't a dating service, just people who wanted to do fun things with others close to their age. It was a good suggestion. I joined a hiking group that scheduled a 6 mile Bridge Walk through San Diego. Didn't seem like San Diego was hiking terrain but why not? It turned out great, nice people and a very interesting history of San Diego.

We walked past  a yard where the resident had sculpted an Easter Island Head out of his bushes. This was clearly an artist area.

I especially appreciated these iron sculptures. They were just in the person's yard.

Included on the walk were several murals in downtown San Diego.

Link to the Bridge Walk

In addition to MeetUp, I checked out the AARP activities. There was a Guided Mural Walk in Oceanside just 20 minutes away. Oceanside is a nice Beach front city so I signed up. It was better than I expected. Fun people and a lot of information about Oceanside in addition to the murals.

This mural is a cut glass mosaic

High school students completed this mural
under the direction of their art teacher

I learned that the City along with the Arts Council worked together with artists on the medium for the murals and a special coating designed to withstand graffiti. I'm happy to say I saw no graffiti.

 My friend Fran asked me if I would like to captain her boat to her yacht club's trip to Catalina. Fran is learning to drive it but is not ready to solo yet. She did not need to twist my arm. I had been helping Fran with some maintenance issues after the boat having sat for several years. Fran's husband passed away about the same time as Linda so between COVID and not wanting to run the boat herself, it sat for a while. I could certainly relate to that. Fran joined me for a month in Canada on Guppy and she is happily enjoying the boat once again.

Brenda, Steve and Fran

Fran's friend Brenda, also a boater, joined us for the outing.

Buffalo milk

We had to try the Avalon specialty, a Buffalo milk cocktail. There are buffalo on the island left from a movie shot long ago. But there is no actual buffalo milk in the drink, but lots of whipped cream

The yacht club members are a fun group. We enjoyed good restaurants, interesting bars, and beautiful weather. There was a dinghy breakfast gathering at one of the boats which offered Mimosas and Bloody Mary's. All of the boats spent the weekend on mooring balls in Avalon Harbor, Catalina.

There was no shortage of tasty treats. Fran and Brenda had us well stocked. Brenda made a great sausage roll and deviled eggs. Fran brought fruit.

Dinghy fishing outside
Avalon Harbor

Fran loves her dinghy and we both love to fish so we gave it a try twice. It was a beautiful day the first time but no catching.

The second day we were pretty far away when a fog bank rolled in. It was fun to watch it, almost like a science fiction movie like The Crawling Eye. We got back to the harbor just as it was closing in.

Night time is very pretty at Avalon. Its a very popular tourist area.

History of Catalina Island

Pictures of Catalina Island