A New State

May 29, 2013

Up and at ‘em this morning, working on our blog and me on the book I’m editing. My deadline is approaching in a few days so I’m trying to make some serious progress on it. Motel 6 doesn’t offer a free breakfast, so we get our juice and cereal from the van (and the 99 cent store bananas) and make our own in the room.

We don’t get on the road until about 11 am (the motel cleaning staff are practically shooing us out the door as Jack tries to insert one more photo in the blog). The dust storm is still going on, with a very light brown haze obscuring the horizon. As we drive east, the landscape looks more and more moonlike. With the exception of a few low scrubby bushes, you could think you WERE on the moon!

Driving on the moon?

As we approach the state of Nevada, the dust has dissipated. We suddenly see a bunch of billboards and buildings, all just over the state line—it’s casinos, hotels, and billboards advertising casinos. It goes from a deserted moonscape to Las Vegas in one fell swoop as we drive across the line into Nevada. Actually we still drive through some stretches of moonscape before we get to Las Vegas proper, but the drive into the city is punctuated by various little towns who are trying to do their own Las Vegas thing, just on a smaller scale.

 

Tinsel Town, here we come.

 

 

Good thing Carol is driving and not Jack.

 

Las Vegas outdoing Rome.

 

Vegas has something for everyone. Now available on facebook.

We don’t see a way around Las Vegas; I don’t think they want anyone to drive nearby without seeing and being tempted by the casinos, so we take photos of the skyline and various casino buildings, which are always changing. There’s a crash on the interstate, so we sit in stop and go 10-lane traffic for a while. One of the curses of cities…

 

Stop and go traffic. Could be Los Angeles, Branson, or Las Vegas. Nice places to spend a holiday.

Heading out of Vegas, the scenery begins to change—it becomes much more scenic, with more subtle pastel colors and more dramatic mountains, and more plant life. This looks like the American West of our movies and TV westerns. Wide open spaces and dramatic, faraway views. About 5 pm, Jack and I look at our options for camping and spot a fairly sizable town about 45 miles away that has a couple of RV campgrounds, Mesquite, NV. It’s right on the border of Arizona. (We will revisit Arizona briefly, as we drive through a tiny corner of it and then into Utah.) When we arrive, it’s obviously a casino-based town, but much more manageable than Vegas. We have a tasty supper at Peggy Sue’s Diner (Jack finally gets his hot turkey sandwich and mashed potatoes that he’s been looking for). 

 

Mashed potatoes, turkey, and gravy, here I come.

We drive around town a little and finally settle on a fairly empty RV campground, right by a casino of course. In fact, I have to go into the casino to register for the campground.

(I can’t resist spending a few minutes in the casino and end up winning $3.30 for my $1.00 investment into one of the video gambling machines. I like to quit while I’m ahead. Jack is not tempted.)

I stay up working on my book editing and then we both go to bed. Nice and quiet here, surprisingly. I guess everyone is in the casinos…

Where we are:

Bird species count: Vermilion flycatcher, turkey vulture, Bell’s vireo, *golden-fronted woodpecker, Say’s phoebe, northern cardinal, greater roadrunner, house finch, common raven, *northern rough-winged swallow, *summer tanager, *prothonotary warbler, *yellow-breasted chat, *yellow-rumped warbler, northern mockingbird, mourning dove, cliff swallow, Mexican jay, black-headed grosbeak, black-chinned  hummingbird, Wilson’s warbler, *Scott’s oriole, chipping sparrow, house sparrow, lesser goldfinch, black-crested titmouse, acorn woodpecker, scrub jay, *western kingbird, white-winged dove, *canyon towhee, *Grace’s warbler, *zone-tailed hawk, *curve-billed thrasher, Bullock’s oriole, Gambel’s quail, great horned owl, black-throated sparrow, *cactus wren, ladder-backed woodpecker, white-crowned sparrow, brownheaded cowbird, Brewer’s blackbird, *pyrrhuloxia, hooded oriole, verdin, crow, Anna’s hummingbird, dark-eyed junco, white-throated swift, Steller’s jay, mallard, common egret, brown pelican, western bluebird, loggerhead shrike

State count: 12 [Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Nevada]

       

Odometer count:

Surber, VA: 107,435

Mesquite, NV: 113,235

Accommodations avg cost: 53 nts, avg $11.33/night

(Our average nightly cost is now so low because of our wonderful friends putting us up for so long in San Diego! I’m not counting the accommodations cost of Jack’s and my “vacations from our vacation” since they were handled separately and each of us still mooched off of friends while the other was off vacationing.)

Paying Our Respects to President Reagan

May 28, 2013

We said our grateful farewells to Lynne and Marc in the morning and started driving east. Many thanks to them for their generous hospitality while we were in the San Diego area, not to mention all of Lynne’s great planning for our special trip to Palm Springs and Desert Hot Springs!

I’ve wanted to see President Reagan’s Presidential Library in Simi Valley for years, but this is the first time that our driving schedule has worked out. Simi Valley is a suburb north of Los Angeles, and the Library and Museum is on a beautiful site high on a ridge overlooking the valley. But it means braving Los Angeles traffic—one of our most feared and disliked things!

This traffic is at a standstill. No accident, it's just typical stop and go LA traffic on this 10-lane highway

 First, a stop at the 99¢ Store to stock up on a few things for the trip. This is Marc’s favorite store and he took Jack there while Lynne and I were off doing our spa stuff in Palm Springs. Where else can you get 3 bags of “stuff” for $10?!!

The drive up to Los Angeles isn’t too bad until we get past Camp Pendleton, the huge Marine base in San Diego County, but then it gets heavier, even though it’s after official rush hour. We make one stop for gas and a snack, and arrive in Simi Valley about 1:45 pm. The view is magnificent from the Library grounds and Jack takes some photos. 

We get senior tickets for $12 each and begin the tour. There’s lots to see here. The Museum takes you on a winding walk through President Reagan’s life and times, with archival film, artifacts such as the blue pinstripe suit that had to be cut off him after the assassination attempt (still has blood on it), and wonderful reproductions and interactive displays. 

The fullscale reproduction of the Oval Office with all of Reagan’s western art and décor is a real highlight. Also the actual Air Force One plane that was used for 7 presidents including President Reagan is housed dramatically in a giant indoor “hangar” that doubles as a meeting room. Click here for a panoramic view. Reagan’s sense of humor and big heart really comes through in the tour.

Riding with President Reagan.

Outside, we view a 9-foot piece of the real Berlin wall, that is bleak gray concrete on one side, and has a colorful graffiti butterfly and the word “Freedom” painted on the other side.

We pay our respects at President Reagan’s grave, which has a commanding view of the valley below. An inspiring visit, that has renewed and refreshed our great respect for President Reagan. We’re glad we took the time to see it.

President Reagan burial site.

Good question.

 It’s almost 5 pm when we’re ready to leave, so we know traffic will be much worse, and it is. But we bite the bullet and get through it. (Jack drives the whole way with me doing the white-knuckle navigating—thanks, Jack!) He did a good job—I only yelled at him 2 or 3 times. We finally make our way up Cajon Pass, a high mountain pass that takes us out of the “big city” suburbs and into an actual wilderness area with a few smaller towns. We decide to spend the night at a Motel 6 listed in Jack’s book that he picked up in Mammoth Lakes when he and Bud stayed at one—the Motel 6 in Victorville says  it has new, modern rooms so we pick that one. Very bare bones but clean and cheap accommodations--almost Scandinavian. The wind is blowing pretty hard up here and it has picked up a lot of dust so that the air is dark and hazy—a sort of dust storm, I guess.

Eerie duststorm sunset with wind generators in background.

 We work until 11 pm or so and then hit the sack. Tomorrow, we head for Utah…

Where we are: 

Bird species count: Vermilion flycatcher, turkey vulture, Bell’s vireo, *golden-fronted woodpecker, Say’s phoebe, northern cardinal, greater roadrunner, house finch, common raven, *northern rough-winged swallow, *summer tanager, *prothonotary warbler, *yellow-breasted chat, *yellow-rumped warbler, northern mockingbird, mourning dove, cliff swallow, Mexican jay, black-headed grosbeak, black-chinned  hummingbird, Wilson’s warbler, *Scott’s oriole, chipping sparrow, house sparrow, lesser goldfinch, black-crested titmouse, acorn woodpecker, scrub jay, *western kingbird, white-winged dove, *canyon towhee, *Grace’s warbler, *zone-tailed hawk, *curve-billed thrasher, Bullock’s oriole, Gambel’s quail, great horned owl, black-throated sparrow, *cactus wren, ladder-backed woodpecker, white-crowned sparrow, brownheaded cowbird, Brewer’s blackbird, *pyrrhuloxia, hooded oriole, verdin, crow, Anna’s hummingbird, dark-eyed junco, white-throated swift, Steller’s jay, mallard, common egret, brown pelican, western bluebird, loggerhead shrike

State count: 11 [Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California]  
       

Odometer count:

Surber, VA: 107,435

Victorville, CA: 112,961

Jack Gets the Bum’s Rush

May 25-27, 2013

Sunday and Monday

This is our last day in Oceanside for this trip; we’re moving  back down the coast to Solana Beach, to spend a couple of nights again with Marc and Lynne. Yesterday we all took a beach walk and Jack made some panoramic shots with his new iPad app—love the photos, almost like being there! Click here for panoramic view of Oceanside Beach.

This morning Cindy, Tom, Jack and I walk down to the 101 Café, one of our old Oceanside hangouts. This diner has been there for a LONG time, and it’s always been a favorite for breakfast. The surfers love it. Still good!

After breakfast, Jack and I spend a couple of hours reorganizing and packing the RoadTrek. It tends to get a little messy after weeks on the road. We say our goodbyes to Cindy and Tom and depart about 11 am. We first take a little detour so Jack can see the condo where we used to live, and then we notice that the interstate is very backed up, I guess because of the holiday weekend. We decide to drive down the Coast Highway instead; it’s slower but much more scenic and doesn’t look as congested. Good decision—it’s a beautiful drive, with lots of great people-watching and beach views. The surfers are out in full force this weekend. Each little ocean town has its own flavor, some funky, some elegant and artsy.

Lynne and Marc are up in Los Angeles attending a family wedding and won’t be back until late afternoon/early evening. It’s a beautiful day so, after eating a snack, we take a walk down to San Elijo Lagoon, on a trail that’s right next to Lynne and Marc’s house. This is a good birdwatching spot, so we take the binoculars. We do see quite a few birds on the walk, but either we can’t get a good enough view for identification or they are birds we’ve seen already on the trip. We do see another black-headed grosbeak, a striking bird we saw for the first time in Texas, and close to the end of the walk we see a loggerhead shrike, which is a new one for our list! Shrikes are interesting in that they sometimes impale their prey (insects, lizards, etc.) on a thorn or barbed wire. Yuk.

Lynne and Marc return about 6:30 pm so we visit for a bit with them. Sounds like they had a nice time in LA with family members. (They went to a Dodgers game today.) In the evening I work on my book project and Jack watches a movie on his iPad.

Monday morning Lynne and I get up and take a walk on the beach, this time with another friend Frank from her walking group. He’s a retired physician, in his 80s, and still getting around well—he’s an entertaining character! (Unfortunately no photos…)

Marc has purchased online tickets for us all to see the new Star Trek movie at 11:15 am this morning (we’re all Star Trek fans from way back). Lynne tells us that this theater is one where you can order off a menu and eat regular food while watching the movie, so we’re going to have lunch at the theater. Sounds very “California”!  We go in, not knowing what to expect, but I asked Jack to bring his iPad so he can photo-document the event for our blog. He takes a pic of us entering the movie area. Marc couldn’t get us seats together, so Jack and I sit together on one side of the theater and Marc and Lynne are together on the other side.

 

Entering the movie theater

The seats are EXTREMELY comfortable and they recline completely! They also vibrate when an explosion happens in the movie! 

 

Carol relaxing (with  3D glasses) while Jack takes a forbidden photo.

The waiter comes by right away to take our order from the menu and we order popcorn (of course), sushi (California roll, of course), sweet potato fries, and some edamame. The food comes promptly and we start munching. Jack takes a couple of photos to document for our blog, and then a person comes to tell him that he can’t use any recording device during the movie. He says OK, closes the iPad and we focus on eating, as we watch the previews onscreen. Then in a couple of minutes, a young man, identifying himself as a manager, come to Jack’s seat and says that since Jack has a recording device, he has to ask him to hand it over during the movie. Jack refuses to relinquish his beloved iPad and decides to leave instead. I’m sitting there surrounded by all this food and the movie is starting, and Jack has walked out! I’m in a quandary, but I decide to extricate myself from the food (not an easy process) and follow him out to see what’s going on.

Jack is nowhere to be seen but I talk to a manager in the lobby and he says that Jack decided to leave the theater. I told him we were from Virginia and didn’t know any better. He was apologetic and said they’re required by law to request to hold any recording device that they become aware of. (I’m sure plenty of other people here have their smartphones and other recording devices but were not taking blog photos blatantly like us yokels…) I couldn’t see Jack from the lobby and decided to go back and eat lunch and watch the movie; I figured he could amuse himself in the surrounding mall with his iPad for the duration, which is in fact what he did. (Actually I think he took a nap in the sun.)

Strange experience, but the movie was great. I don’t think having real food works that well in a movie, however, although I loved the seating.

Back at Lynne and Marc’s, I worked most of the rest of the afternoon and evening, while Jack took another nap and played on his iPad. We went out for Mexican at a very authentic restaurant in Solana Beach, Tony’s Jacal—good food and fun! Back at home, we all watched another old Star Trek movie, The Wrath of Khan, to remind ourselves about the character Khan, who was featured prominently in the new movie. Then to bed; have to pack and depart San Diego tomorrow!

Bird species count: Vermilion flycatcher, turkey vulture, Bell’s vireo, *golden-fronted woodpecker, Say’s phoebe, northern cardinal, greater roadrunner, house finch, common raven, *northern rough-winged swallow, *summer tanager, *prothonotary warbler, *yellow-breasted chat, *yellow-rumped warbler, northern mockingbird, mourning dove, cliff swallow, Mexican jay, black-headed grosbeak, black-chinned  hummingbird, Wilson’s warbler, *Scott’s oriole, chipping sparrow, house sparrow, lesser goldfinch, black-crested titmouse, acorn woodpecker, scrub jay, *western kingbird, white-winged dove, *canyon towhee, *Grace’s warbler, *zone-tailed hawk, *curve-billed thrasher, Bullock’s oriole, Gambel’s quail, great horned owl, black-throated sparrow, *cactus wren, ladder-backed woodpecker, white-crowned sparrow, brownheaded cowbird, Brewer’s blackbird, *pyrrhuloxia, hooded oriole, verdin, crow, Anna’s hummingbird, dark-eyed junco, white-throated swift, Steller’s jay, mallard, common egret, brown pelican, western bluebird, loggerhead shrike

State count: 11 [Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California]