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.

Wheeling to Hermann (Part 2)

First winning car at about 74 MPH. They are shown in order at the Speedway Museum

A colorful look at about 30 years of winners. The 2010 winner averaged 161 MPH.(pole speed 227 MPH) Indianapolis became a testing ground for many auto innovations like the rear view mirror.

A colorful sculpture at the Indianapolis Museum of Art

From Cincinnati, it’s only a couple hours to the Indiana capitol. Near Indianapolis (pronounced locally as In-din-AP-lis) we had a wonderful stay with Tom’s cousin Chris and Ike in Carmel (CAR-mel). The first highlight was an evening at The Rathskeller—dinner and music by PolkaBoy.

Yes PolkaBoy. If we told you the place was mobbed with mostly young people (not your normal 70+ polka crowd) you might say "not much going on in Indianapolis, eh?" But actually this is a great band with a strong sound only partially connected with polka, and very popular in the area. We sang along with “Beer Barrel Polka” and “That’s Amore” among many others in a wide-ranging repertoire, all with lots of brass and accordion.

A slow lap. The Indianapolis Speedway was our first Saturday stop and of course we did a lap on the track. OK, it was in a tour bus at about 15 MPH, but we started up at the brick starting line to the call of “Drivers Start Your Engines!” The museum has a great display of every winning car in the order of their wins. After Indy we changed gears to spend a couple hours meandering through the very nice Indianapolis Museum of Art.

Through Illinois, quickly. Chris & Ike’s daughter Sarah, and friend Kyle joined us for breakfast Sunday and saw us off for our continuing journey west. We spent some time in Terre Haute and Indiana State University (strolling on Larry Bird Avenue), then on across Illinois, skirting St Louis and ending up in historic Herman on the Missouri River.

Hermann, Missouri, was settled by Germans from Pennsylvania as a totally German town to preserve traditions and language, and named after the legendary warrior Hermann, said to have saved old Germania. Ruth’s mother Audrey spent some her younger years here. It’s now a town with 75 B&Bs, 20 restaurants, and dozens of wineries. We stayed in a practical B&B, the Harbour Haus Inn, with the most friendly, accommodating host anywhere, Frank.

Hermann Past and Present

An historic house in historic Hermann--many have been renovated like this one. Some are B&Bs now.

Town of Hermann on the Missouri River (Ruth's grandfather worked on the railroad, seen at the bottom of the bluff)

Wheeling to Herman (part 1)

One room school in Prosperity, West Virginia

Driving from D.C. and heading west, we followed I-74 through the western arm of Maryland, and then we chose to go “off-interstate” through very hilly, pretty West Virginia countryside.  We were struck by a throwback one-room school house along the way in Prosperity.

Wheeling West Virginia was delightful.  It’s a historic town on the Ohio River with a mining, manufacturing and river transport background.  We discovered the quirky Later Alligator Café right on the edge of the Old Marketplace, which is now an arts and crafts center through the oldest commercial district.  Later Alligator specializes in crepes, interestingly, and has many other dishes.  Our dinners of the sandwiches "Not Mush Room in Here" and "Deja Vu" (and house specialty tomato basil soup topped with puff pastry) and our lunch the next day were delicious.  Ruth took time to research Hofmeister family history at the county courthouse and historical society.

Later Alligator Cafe in Wheeling based their decor on local history, primarily Wheeling Steel a major influence on the city's past.

Granville Ohio is a pretty town that looks much like it probably did 100 years ago.  Houses and buildings are well maintained and it is set in rolling countryside about 30 miles from Columbus. We really enjoyed visiting Ruth’s friends Sue and Gary McKaig from mid-1960s days in Los Angeles days.  From there we again drove off-interstate, through rolling farmland and small towns including Bloomington, Ohio, on our way to Cincinnati.

Cincinnati is built on seven hills (actually more) along the Ohio River and those geographic factors define the historic city.  We visited Mariemont just outside Cincinnati, where Tom’s father grew up; we walked around central Cincinnati and its famous Fountain Square; and spent some time in the Contemporary Arts Center; then the Cincinnati Art Museum, a world class institution in this city that has appreciated the arts since the city's founding in 1788.

Cezanne "Still Life with Bread and Eggs"; Picasso "Still Life with Glass and Lemon"; Juan Gris "Still Life wiht Violin and Sheet Music"--Cincinnati

Unmuseum - one floor of the Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati

Cincinnati skyline from our hotel. Macy's (Federated Stores), Proctor & Gamble, Kroger and many international companies are headquartered here.

Family, food and flutes in D.C.

Over the past several years we’ve visited the DC area due to either Tom’s business events or to see Ruth’s daughter Gudrun and Aunt Ruth (photo left), and took in many museums and monuments. This visit was mostly about family.

Spa Time. Gudrun took a day off to spend with her mom at Spa World located in Centreville, VA. Affordable and close they basked the day away in dry saunas, steam rooms, hydro jet pools, stretching, simply relaxing without interruptions: precious time, indeed! That evening was capped off by 6 of us having dinner together in Alexandria: Ruth, Tom, Gudrun, Malcolm (Gudrun’s boyfriend), Annmarie (Ruth’s ex-student and friend from Simi) plus Alexis (Gudrun’s childhood friend from Simi). Annmarie (everything she says is funny) kept us in stitches as did Alexis. Alexis delivered an hysterical monologue about her ongoing attempt to register at George Mason University where along with Moorpark High School in CA they have repeatedly lost, or misplaced or misinterpreted her transcripts, but led her to believe everything was in place, pulled the plug, and re-charged her application fees. We hope she gets accepted then finds time to go to Spa World.

Fish at Brasserie Beck

Dining at Brasserie Beck: Tom, Malcolm, friend Leonor, Gudrun, Ruth

DC Dining. Gudrun and Malcolm shared their favorite dining places in the DC area: Brasserie Beck (great tasting Belgian beer and Belgian food); Adega Wine Cellars and Café (well-priced good California wines, varietal menu) in Silver Springs, MD; and the very best, the Furgol residence where Malcolm’s parents hosted a fabulous salmon dinner. Conversation flowed easily as we parents got to know each other for the first time. No better way than over fine food and a delicious white wine.

Butterfly. Aunt Ruth deserves much more space than she’ll get here, but suffice it to know that she is the all time haute patron of DC culture. She treated us, plus Malcolm and Gudrun to an early supper at her place, then the India Festival display showcasing India arts, followed by the grand event, “Madame Butterfly” Opera, both at the Kennedy Center. “Butterfly” was exceptional! With a beautiful orchestra, compelling voices, and subtitles to guide us through a dramatic story, we were hooked!

Kennedy Center between acts of Madame Butterfly

American Art. Our other foray into high culture was the American Art Museum special exhibit: “To Make a World: George Ault in 1940’s America”. Simply click on his name to know why this show caught our eye.

New York, New York

Ruth in Central Park

March 16-18 It was the first nice day of the almost-spring season in NYC. Millions of New Yorkers and tourists (you can usually tell the difference) were out and about enjoying it.

We arrived at Penn Station after a 4 hour bus ride on DC2NY and walked to the home of Tom’s brother Dave and Alex Kelley on the upper West Side. Then we walked some more, spotted our favorite grocery store, Zabars on Broadway, and bought supplies for our first night’s dinner and family visit.

Zabar's, an incredible NY Grocery

On St Patrick’s day we browsed our favorite sections at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, then spent hours on 5th Ave at the incredible St Patrick’s Day parade. We never knew that so many bagpipes existed in the world! There must have been hundreds of groups with full bagpipe bands that we saw in a couple hours watching the big parade. Our vantage point was between 62nd and 79th on Fifth Avenue.

Pissarro and T Kelley at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art

To finish the celebration we enjoyed a fun, relaxing evening with Dave and Alex at the best table in PJ Clarkes on Broadway across the street from Lincoln Center. Alas, we had to leave Friday, Dave's happy birthday, and walked 3 miles back to Penn Station to board the noon express bus to D.C.

Parade is coming up Fifth Avenue

Pipers in Place (a few of the thousands)

Happy parade watchers

Irish Freedom, a theme

Really happy parade watchers

Big green glasses

Kelleys at PJ Clarke's on St Pat's Day

PJ Clarkes, across from Lincoln Center, next morning

Snow, Rivers, Radio Waves

Potomac River South Branch, in Pocahontas County, but not one of the eight rivers that start here

It was a scenic drive through West Virginia, up and down mountains, through tiny villages, alongside fast-moving streams and rivers. We stopped at two magnificent places, both of which took our breath away.
• Snowshoe Mountain Ski Resort Village (4,848' elevation, temp 37 F): With our shoulders scrunched, hands folded into armpits, we were way under-dressed as skiers/snowboarders whizzed by in their neon outfits. After photo-taking we ducked into a crowded Starbucks. More here.

Ruth under-dressed on the mountain top

• Not far from Snowshoe is The National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Green Bank, with its Robert C Byrd Green Bank radio telescope (100m diameter dish) set in a valley of 13,000 square miles defined as the National Radio Quiet Zone. Unlike optical telescopes set on mountaintops to avoid light pollution, radio telescopes require protection from outside technological interference. Radio telescopes are used to study radio emissions from stars, galaxies, and other objects in space. Want to know how they work? Discoveries made by the GBT? Read about the youngest stellar corpse and other amazing findings!

It’s been a long time since either of us studied science or thought about radio waves, which travel at the speed of light and require no “medium” as sound waves do. Like children we got completely engrossed with the informative, interactive exhibits in the Science Center. If you are ever in eastern WV this is a must-see! Or when in Australia you can visit the related Parkes Observatory radio telescope, which was famously used during the Apollo missions (or just re-watch Apollo 11).

There are many churches in WV, but this is not one of them. It's the Robert Byrd Telescope at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory

After a long day we happily arrived at the apartment of Ruth’s wonderful daughter Gudrun in Takoma Park, MD in time for a delicious, home-cooked dinner. Her handsome boyfriend Malcolm provided a quart of rich tasting Ommegang Abbey Ale (apparently the monks did more than copy text…).

Next we’ll be in NYC with Tom’s brother David and wife Alex to do some justice to St. Pat’s Day and reminisce about the auld sod. If you see us on TV wobbling in the Parade you’ll know we did.

On to Pocahontas

Cedar Tavern at the Mill Creek Cafe

Mill Creek at Goshen VA

Old Clark Inn, Marlinton, WV

Later Sat. March 12.  Leaving Lexington we had about an hour of light left as we drove through the mountains. Hunger overtook us at dusk in Goshen, Virginia, and luckily we found the Mill Creek Café.  The crowd was gathering for live blue grass music and we ordered a pizza and a beer while we waited. But we were told we had to get the beer next door at the connected “Cedar Tavern”  (it was family time in the cafe). So while we waited for what turned out to be a delicious pizza, we got to know owner T. Alexander Moore and his son Alex, who bought the place three years ago and were trying to make a go of it.  We recommend a stop here on your next trip to the land of Goshen.

With pizza on laps, we finished our trip in the dark to Marlington, West Virginia, and the Old Clark Inn & Travelers Hostel.  For a small town there was a lot going on there and surrounding Pocahontas County, "nature's mountain playground" including outdoor activities like biking, hiking, camping, kayaking, and skiing.  Our innkeepers Nelson and Andrea went out of their way to give us many helpful suggestions for our next day’s adventures.