J J
Adventures of J and J Joined: September 25th 2008
Logged in: October 15th 2011
Logged in: October 15th 2011
Travel Blog Posts
Badwater Basin
Day 4 Tonight my focus is on my shoes. The soles are gooey with gum that I managed to step in at the little town of Beatty, Nevada. The sides of my Nikes are encrusted with salt from Badwater basin and the insides are filled with sand acquired as I walked up and down the Mesquite Flat dunes. Badwater Basin is the lowest point in the western hemisphere and, of course, we had to walk out into it. It's a strange, but beautiful place. The salt crystal formations were quite interesting. We made a quick stop at Furnace Creek for lunch and to check out the stores and it was fun to see one of the books that son Dave had designed on sale at the general store. After a leisurely stop at the old Harmony ... read more
Joshua Trees
Day 3 On our first day in the park, a ranger at the visitor center had told us that the Racetrack Playa was closed due to mud. Today the ranger said it was open so we four decided that this was something we should see. It took us almost three hours to get there and 35 miles was on dirt road. We drove through pretty Joshua Tree forests and stopped at Teakettle Junction for photos. Racetrack Playa is a giant dry lake bed where rocks (some of them 700 pounds) have somehow made their way across the lake bed forming tracks as they move. We were fascinated with the various directions and distances these rocks have moved. Some seemed to have traveled in simple straight lines while others would make circular tracks, or run in a ... read more
New Bridge
Day 1 We left Prescott early in the morning and fought snow, rain, and sleet all the way to Kingman. Saw two semi trailer trucks and at least six cars in the ditch along the way. When we arrived at the Death Valley entrance it was sunny and warm and beautiful. Our first stop was at the Zabriskie Point overlook. A short uphill walk led us to a panoramic vista of beautiful vibrantly colored badlands. Traveling five miles further we arrived at the Furnace Creek Ranch, our home for the next four nights. Our room wasn't ready so we spent a couple of hours at the visitor center watching the slide show and seeing the exhibits and driving around the Furnace Creek area. Of course, we picked up a bird checklist. We checked out the beautiful ... read more
Photo 1
Didn't have to go far to see this. The Annual Hash House Harriers Red Dress Fun Run was last night and the 500 runners(?) went right past the beach house after a beer stop at the Mission Bay Woman's Club. (Why isn't it called Women's Club?) Hash House Harriers is a world wide "drinking club with a running problem" and they have several runs a week and has members of all ages. This Red Dress Run is probably their most popular event in San Diego. It looked like they were having a lot of fun, if we lived here I think we'd join this group. A lot of the runners stopped to talk to us, tried to recruit us, and were more than eager to pose. I didn't send this blog to very many people, but ... read more
The Best Restaurant in El Rosario
We just returned from another week long sea kayaking trip with the Mar y Adventuras located in La Paz, Baja CA Sur. This was Joe's fifth and my second Baja kayak trip with this company. This website describes this particular trip. http://www.kayakbaja.com/trips/baja.html Five years ago we went on their "Island Hopping" kayak trip, which focused a little more on seeing different cultural sites. Once again we opted to drive to Mexico and had no problems coming or going. Although we went through a total of 15 military checkpoints and our car was searched several times, the soldiers were always friendly and polite and that made the stops less annoying. We spent the first night in our favorite hotel in El Rosario, the second in Mulegé, and the third in La Paz where we stayed at the ... read more
Willow Creek Canyon
We began a 7 day houseboat trip on March 19 on Lake Powell in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. I was looking forward to this trip because the plans were to spend the majority of the time in the Escalante arm, an area of the lake I'd never seen. We camped the first night near the "Cookie Jar" formation in Padre Bay, then three nights in Willow Creek in Escalante, one night in Oak Canyon and the last night back in Padre Bay. We used a smaller motorboat for lots of side canyon exploring. We enjoyed beautiful weather with the exception of one windy cold night. On one particularly calm gorgeous night, we were in awe of the stars' reflections in the lake. The reflections were so vivid that we could easily pick out constellations in ... read more
Hearst Castle
March 10, 2009 Everybody else was up early, but I slept in until almost nine missing a good part of another sunny calm morning. We were all out in front of the flagpole at ten for our official tour of the Piedras Blancas area. Our guide was a retired college professor from Cambria and his specialty was soil, so he knew a lot about the flora of the area. For over two hours we were educated in lighthouse keeping, whale spotting, “first peoples” abalone middens, bobcat track finding, the gestation period of the elephant seals, exotic ice plant eradication, gardening in windy areas, shipwrecks, and more. After sandwiches in the house we were off to Hearst Castle, just a few miles away. When we arrived we called upon Shane, the manager of the IMAX Theater. Shane ... read more
Piedras Blancas
March 9, 2009 What fun to take our time drinking coffee and eating breakfast with good friends! We finally decided to get outside to take advantage of the CALM sunny morning. We climbed the lighthouse, and then ventured down to the ridge overlooking the elephant seals' hangout. And there we sat with the sun on our backs for at least an hour, our eyes glued to the scene below us. There were six giant papas weighing around 4000 pounds each, a few feminine-faced cows, and dozens of good-sized pups that had been weaned and left by their mothers. I was constantly switching between binoculars and camera, and finally gave up both to relax and simply bask in the privilege of being there. We fixed lunch for Jim and ourselves. Then three of us read books, watched ... read more
Big Sur
March 8, 2009 Carmel has to be one of the most charming towns in the country. I believe the shops and homes on the hilly tree-lined streets have jumped out of some fairy tale. We had breakfast with Frank and Gloria and Frank’s Fresno high school buddies at the popular Katy’s Place. Joe and I shared the Swedish pancakes (crepes filled with berries) and if we would be so lucky to live here, we’d become Katy’s regulars. We all went back to the beautiful house where the Fresno gang was staying for an hour, then Joe and I headed south down Highway 1. We’ve seen a lot of beautiful sights in the past few years, and the Big Sur area rivals them all. I’d been on this stretch a couple of times before, but today was ... read more
Farmers Market, Salinas
They don't call the Salinas River Valley the Salad Bowl of the World for no reason. I just had to touch and smell that dark brown soil for myself today. It seems just about anything will grow here and every inch of land is used for something. I was astonished to read that farmland here goes for $35,000 an acre, that's a bit of a difference than Kansas farmland. We've seen thousands of acres of strawberries, lettuce, grapes, cauliflower, beans, onions, artichokes, and there were many fields where we had no idea what was growing there. It was fitting that we started the day in the city of Salinas in Old Town at the Farmers' Market. This was different from the Farmers' Market in Ocean Beach because there were REAL farmers at this one. I bought ... read more
