Preparation for France (oui)

Reservations have been made and the itinerary is complete for the trip to France with a short visit to Switzerland. 

Our trip with sister Sandy and her husband Len, sister Pam, daughter Gudrun starts in Nice on Monday September 11 (departing Dulles Sunday 9/10). 

After Nice we will drive to Avignon and stay four nights. 

Then we take the train through Lyon and Geneva to Lausanne on Lake Geneva. 

Three days later we’ll take the train to Paris for five nights, which will include side trips to Normandy and Giverny (Monet’s home). 

We’ll make daily reports. 

Devil's Punchbowl to start the year

 

We started 2012 with a stimulating hike at Devils Punchbowl Natural Area, a little-known Los Angeles County Park surrounded by Forest Service land.  This is a stunning display of geology with spectacular views around every turn.

300 foot deep Punchbowl from the Vista Point

We went with Ruth’s daughter Gudrun and her fiance Malcolm.

From the Punchbowl’s website:

Creek with mountain snow runoff

The most conspicuous features of the park are geological. The Punchbowl is a deep canyon cut by the runoff of large quantities of water from the higher San Gabriel Mountains occurring over a long period of time. These mountain peaks above the park are 8,000 feet in elevation while the Nature Center is located at 4,740 feet above sea level. The Punchbowl Canyon is 300 feet deep at the vista point. The peculiar uptilted rock formations to be seen in the entire area are layers of sedimentary rocks that were formed long ago by the depositing of loose material in horizontal layers by water. Later they were squeezed into their present steeply-tilted form by the continuing action of uplift along the Punchbowl and Pinyon Faults and pressures along the San Andreas Fault. The Punchbowl Fault is to the south of the rock formation while the Pinyon and San Andreas Faults are to the north.

And back to “sunny“ California (actually it was snowing in Wrightwood)

Snow on our deck (this is Southern California)

After our nice visit in Williams, AZ we headed for Tucson. There we spent two splendid days with Carole (Ruth’s sister) and husband Dick.  We had some great meals together and played Hand and Foot (good old fashioned card game) and made them look at our trip photos.  Ruth stopped to visit Mick and Lance, good friends from way back, with whom we may golf this summer in Minneapolis. Then we sorted things out and prepared for the last leg of our journey back to California, this time with two cars.

After an uneventful drive up Interstate 10 through Phoenix, west with our usual fueling (car and appetite) stop in lovely Quartzsite, a wave to Palm Springs, and the last segment up I-15 to the mountain road, we arrived in Wrightwood. It was snowing!  Remember this is just 90 minutes from the middle of Los Angeles.

But we were happy to be back and to be in one place for a while and the snow melted away the next day. 

We put 9060 miles on the Prius in 68 days and averaged 46 MPG with a fully loaded car.

We visited many good friends and family and met many others who became friends for the occasion.  It was everything we hoped it would be.

Our next adventure will be an entire summer in Minneapolis.

Cuba (no, the one in New Mexico) then to Arizona

Spring in the forest near Cuba, NM

Then we went to Cuba. New Mexico, that is.  It’s a small town on the high desert surrounded by mountains. We visited old friends Bill and Bonnie Leverton who moved there after leaving TV broadcasting careers in Arizona. They live in a unique round house on a beautiful piece of property at 7000 ft. elevation, and that night we had a delicious dinner at charming El Bruno’s Restaurant.  Bill and Bonnie gave us the tour including an attempted visit to a spectacular summit near town, which was stopped by heavy snow on the forest road. They continue to ply their craft, doing videos, incredible photography, and promotions for clients.  The visit was too short, but we were invited back and plan to make future visits.

Levertons and Kelleys

The trip down I-40 was one Ruth & Tom had taken separately many times before, and today it was routine, but very cool and windy. After a long day and a short stop in Flagstaff for provisions, we made it to Williams for dinner with good friends Kath and Brian James.

Bears, Buffalo and Elephant (Rocks)

Bears doing their thing

White buffalo munching at Bearizona

Although the weather had been cool and windy, it got very nice on Monday April 4, and we enjoyed the day.  First we visited Bearizona a unique, new visitor attraction in Williams. It’s billed as a “wildlife drive through park” with a variety of wild animals that the visitor can view very closely.  There’s a walk through part of the park also with other wildlife displays and the home of bear cubs. Although it is open, it is still being worked on, and it promises to be a first-class tourist attraction adding to the Grand Canyon Railway and historic downtown Williams to draw visitors year round. 

Woods, water, mountains-golf in Williams with the James

Then we played 18 holes on the wonderful Elephant Rocks Golf Course which was in surprisingly good condition right after the winter snow melt. It is at 7000 feet elevation so the ball is supposed to go farther, but on this course that often means “farther into the woods.”  It was a gorgeous day, so who cares about the score. We finished the day visiting other dear friends including Carol Delander and Bernie and Connie Hiemenz. 

Sensing the finish line, we headed to Tucson on Tuesday morning.

Wonderful Peaceful Santa Fe

Continuing our journey south on I-25 past Trinidad, CO (most interesting place we did not visit), through the colorful, arid plateaus of northern New Mexico, winding our way down and around the Sangre de Cristo (“Blood of Christ”) Mountains to beautiful Santa Fe, it seemed like we were viewing the opening vistas of an epic movie as the Brahms Symphony No. 4 streamed from our satellite radio.  

Shadows on El Farol

Who amongst us does not feel at peace in Santa Fe, with its soft Pueblo-influenced adobe structures, natural environment, visual arts everywhere?  It is love at first sight each visit.  We drove a very narrow, meandering, famous artsy Canyon Road with a red sun setting behind us to the oldest restaurant and cantina in Santa Fe, El Farol. As we parked it became that time of night when the sun sinks, small neon signs come into view, indoor settings are lit, and time seems to stop like an Edward Hopper painting.  After a brief pause to appreciate the mood we stormed the door and devoured tapas.

Breakfast at the St Francis's Table de Los Santos

Hotel St. Francis is where we stayed, a beautifully restored historic hotel near the plaza in the heart of the city.  Everything about it epitomizes Santa Fe, honors its cultural heritage.  

Children getting along in front of New Mexico Capitol building

The next morning, after a tasty southwest-style breakfast at Tabla de Los Santos in the hotel, we wandered the city visiting historic landmarks like the State Capitol (only round Capitol in the USA), Palace of the Governors, San Miguel Mission, Loretto Chapel.  We drifted in and out of galleries, viewed Native American art spread out on blankets, and spent a couple worthwhile hours in the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum.  Along with paintings were artifacts including Alfred Stieglitz’s fishing tackle box O’Keeffe used for her oil paint, palette knives, and drawing supplies, after he died.  

San Miguel-Oldest church in the U.S.-1625

From the Kansas Plains into the Colorado Mountains

Bedraggled after the arduous drive across the high plains of Kansas (see previous entry), we arrived in Northglenn, CO, a very nice suburb north of Denver, to visit transplanted Simi Valley friends.  You should see their beautiful home!  Not surprising since Ron is an artist and Judy has a flair for everything artistic including cooking and landscape architecture. 

Forget the Concert Hall supper in Hermann, Judy prepared the most delicious bratwurst supper ever!  It was also a great evening because Ron and Judy amused us with their great repositories of information and entertaining stories.  Later, conveniently a few houses around the corner, we visited their multi-talented daughter Jenny, her ambitious husband Paul, and their delightful sons James and Tristan thriving in what can best be summarized as a spectacular, showpiece home. 

Revived, the next morning we bid our dear friends adieu and drove south past the State Capitol in Denver to play a round of golf in Colorado Springs.  A stunning Pikes Peak (Tom - insert photo) was always in view as was the Air Force Academy with its famous 17-spired Cadet Chapel.   It was difficult to keep our eyes on the ball.

Golfing toward Pikes Peak and the Air Force Academy

That evening we yielded to bestial cravings and stopped at PF Changs for dinner -  specifically to enjoy our favorite dish, Ma Po Tofu, last enjoyed in Austin, TX.  In typical fashion we dined at the bar where we’ve always met interesting people.  This time was no exception.   A very fit middle-aged gentleman sat to our left and we got to asking each other how we arrived in Colorado Springs.  Our story was very short.  His took a little longer:  he came from Boston in his 20’s to do missionary work, became a fire fighter, and simultaneously opened a fireplace/stove store (but of course) which he, wife and two sons now operate only on-line without their store front. 

Hyatt Place was our residence for the rest of the night and we loved it.  It had everything two swashbuckling, avant-garde, HD-addicted NCAA sports nuts need:  space to spread out, a huge flat screen TV, memory foam bed, Wi-Fi internet, complimentary breakfast, and a Starbucks coffee bar.

Across the plains

Children visiting the state capitol in Jefferson MO

Since we arrived Hermann late in the day we went straight to once the oldest continuously operated tavern west of the Mississippi, the Concert Hall Barrel Bar Restaurant, for a real German meal.  Bratwurst mit sauerkraut, of course!   

The next day we  toured  the 19th century town, including a stop at Tin Mill Brewing Company, which uses fine German barley and hops, and Stonehill Winery, established in 1847 on a hilltop by the original German settlers who said the area resembled their beloved Rhine Valley  By the turn of the 20th century Stonehill was the 2nd largest wine producer in the US.  

Then we took off and as we have often done, drove many of the miles off the interstate, venturing along the winding Missouri River (along the Lewis & Clark Trail) through Jefferson City—our first capitol city of this two-day part of our trip. The road also followed the KATY Trail State Park, a long rails-to-trails biking and hiking trail.  The night was spent at the nicely renovated, historic Hotel Bothwell in Sedalia, Missouri.  Harry Truman was asked to run for congress at a meeting here.  

Kansas State Capitol at Topeka, undergoing renovation.

In the morning we drove around Kansas City and into the great plains of Kansas.
  
Tom knew the past director of tourism for Kansas and always thought what a tough job that would be.  But our drive through the state was fascinating including a stop at another state capitol, Topeka, and a night in the surprisingly vibrant town of Hays. 

Gella's Diner & lb Brewing Co.

We always thought of Kansas as a flat place to get through as fast as possible, but when viewed with a more relaxing “destination” viewpoint, the rolling hills and 360 degree vistas with fluffy clouds in the sky were quite striking.  Hays is a military, college, agriculture town with a mixture of the old and new.  We enjoyed a nice evening at Gella’s Diner and lb Brewing Company, a nicely renovated place in the historic downtown section of town. The strange name is explained here (hint: liquid bread).

Downtown Hays, like an Edward Hopper painting

The next morning on our way out of town we had coffee at Gutierrez Cocina Mexicana, a very popular restaurant, and we understood why after a nice visit with the owner who made and served our cappuccinos. We’ll have dinner there next time.  The remaining drive through western Kansas and eastern Colorado wasn’t as pretty—well, it was pretty flat.