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Published: October 20th 2008
Days 4 and 5
Laughlin, NV is a gambling town perched on the edge of the Colorado River. Not loving Harrah’s in Tunica, we decided to try a smaller hotel so we checked in to the Colorado Belle. We do not recommend it, dive city, cute from the outside as a big ole paddlewheeler but ewwwwe. The room was only $45 and worth every penny of it…..
As Kathy says, we are spoiled. She did come up off of a Jackson for the automated slots (I swear everything is computer…only takes paper or credit card……I’m thinking this is a ploy to keep your money….these gamblin’ folks are smart) We did find out about one of the casinos that takes quarters but by that time we were too fed up to bother. The bellman was not loving getting his tip in quarters but we gotta get rid of them before Kathy damages her shoulder permanently.
We have a long day to put in but will spend the night in Palo Alto where Kathy’s sister lives. I used to go there when I worked for Calibrate, it is where Stanford is. I am looking forward to meeting Kathy’s family and being back there. I remember it as having a great gallery.
We are in the middle of the desert as we leave this morning, day 5 of our trip. We are only a short distance from Las Vegas as we head toward California.
There is sporadic internet service on the road so we were grateful to pick up wireless at IHOP at breakfast. Another thing we were grateful for was the eyecandy of six fireman eating next to us, I mean hunks. We thought about getting our picture made with them, but we were just too tired, we didn’t have any fires to put out.
We are changing our route because of time. Kathy is disappointed she is not going to get to show me the Sierra Nevada mountain range on the pass going through Yosemite. We will just have to come back out here, y’all better sign up for it now. It would be so much fun to bring a van full and share this beautiful land we live in.
There is a huge cotton farm here…on the outskirts of Laughlin, I mean huge, they are baling cotton. ….so surpising to see that out here for someone from Georgia. These are by far the largest cotton fields that I have ever seen.
I can’t even venture a guess as to how many miles we can see as we head out……so much sky with mountains on the horizon. It is also stunning to see a big river rushing through the desert here. An educational fact from Kathy, aka quarter woman, Los Angeles gets all of its water from the Colorado River (isn’t that right Bob?).
The ground now is truly desert like……sand and sparce vegetation, we have not spotted a cactus yet though only yucca plants. There are railroad tracks and the trains are very long and we see them often. We crisscross Route 66 often.
On day five of our trip we do what I call hard driving, the sparse desert and then we begin our climb into majestic mountains, it begins turning greener, some trees, and these huge wind turbines that look like a glimpse into the future. They are placed closely together and are huge, there are hundreds of them, and it is truly a sight to behold. We did try to take some pictures of them from the moving car, hopefully someone we run into can help us post these. We have driven through Edwards Air force base where the space shuttles land. It is easy to see why they land here, so much uninterrupted space.
Next we go through valleys of farmland, huge dairy farms, strawberry fields, vineyards, and the biggest feed lot ever, there were cows for 5 miles or more, no fields, just feed for them.
Another magnificent mountain range and we are driving in scenery that looks like the California I am familiar with. Our destination is spending the night with Kathy’s sister Dody and her husband, Bill somewhere in the Palo Alto area. We reach Dody and Bill’s after only a few wrong stops. As I write I find that words come to me that I don’t use in daily life….majestic….enchanting…..awe-inspiring…… Dody and Bill’s home is one of these words, enchanting, a grey cottage with a white picket fence, sitting in the middle of the most enchanting garden, and they are enchanting people….warm, intelligent, and we sit down to a homecooked dinner which is a big deal at this point in time. We bring in the Mexican Train Dominos game thinking we can really take advantage of the newbies. However, Dody comes in first and Bill second, so much for our winning theory. Thanks Dody and Bill for sharing your enchanting home with us, it was such a treat! We will be with Dody again on Tuesday as she comes to be with Kathy’s and her brother Wayne for his surgery.
We head out early on Day 5 so we can avoid the crowds at the famous Half Moon Bay Pumpkin, Art, and Wine Festival. Another amazingly beautiful drive over a mountain and winding down into a valley where Half Moon Bay lies.The most perfect day, no humidity, 60’s and the bluest sky, just perfect in anybody’s book. I have got to pause now and emphasize these people are serious about pumpkins, they have huge “you pick em” farms like we have blueberry and strawberry fields back in Georgia.. The fields are numerous and the stands along the way are beautifully decorated hay bales stacked high with pumpkins placed just so…..really inviting displays we need to use at the local farmers market back home. And we’re also thinking the Washington Market Days festival should incorporate a Halloween costume contest for our children. One of the things we loved about the Half Moon Bay festival was all the people, adults as well as children, dressed up, not spooky but colorful and cute with a large assortment of folks in great hats to honor the season. At the pumpkin themed festival, there are the world’s largest pumpkins, an unbelievable pumpkin carver, music, food, and the main thing we came for…..art.
Kathy and I were moved to tears by Ugandan artist, Lungala Rubadiri, whose paintings revealed stories of the human experience of family and how all peoples share these stories. He has been discovered by Will Smith and now lives in LA, however, we are hoping he will come to Washington for our art festival to be featured as he brings his amazing gift and talent to touch the hearts of our town. www.nzalamba-artworks.com
We discussed that he was truly our gift that day and made the whole trip more than worthwhile.
We leave Half Moon Bay looking toward Santa Cruz which is having an “open artist’s studio” tour and we are not disappointed. Many of these talented people have fixed up space in an area of town that is used for car repair and parts, old quanset huts and medal buildings that have been divided into their work spaces. Each of them has refreshments, beautiful flowers, and fantastic art to welcome us into their studios. I was sampling the goodies, thinking Kathy wouldn’t notice but oh no….she starts giving me heck about it few hours later.
We eat a lunch of fish tacos and bloody marys at Johnny’s Harborside Restaurant and Bar……our favorite waitress so far, Julia, and the best bloody mary maker, Pat the bartender. We highly recommend making a brunch stop if you are anywhere close
A shout out to Joe Tomasello the dock worker who recommended this place as he was working on the dock and also gave us great directions to Monterey..
Wish we could linger here but we are rather anxious to get to Monterrey and meet Kathy’s brother Wayne and his fiancée Tess. Now we are on Highway 1 which allows us our first glimpse of the Pacific. This is truly the most beautiful drive so far, rich farmland on one side of the road, the blue Pacific breaking fiercely over the rocks that are so unfamiliar to those of us used to the Atlantic. I LOVE it out here….there are no words to describe this coast except magnificently, awesomely, incredibly, breathtakingly beautiful. Kathy is longing to be on the back of Bob’s motorcycle on this road they have traveled often before. Kathy has now decided that my navigational skills are even worse than my driving skills so I am guiding Pearl as she takes us around
Hairpin turns and dangerously close steep drop offs (understatement here). She is a little sharp and bossy with her directions and I asked her if she does this with Bob (now my hero for driving with her all these years…..is this why he has her on motorcycles?) and she says his standard reply to her is “Sweetie, take it easy” this has also become my mantra. As I am in Bob’s position with Tommy some, I feel like this phrase is much softer than my impulse to yell obsenities so I will try this when I return with him.
We arrive in Monterey County, which has been described as “the greatest meeting of land and sea”. We are inclined to agree.
We are going to pause right here…..and say……we will insert some random facts occasionally…fact 1…..they have got some super toilets out here in California….I’m talking forceful and quick and loud…..it is a little startling if you aren’t used to them……Dody even said you can get tax benefits by purchasing them…..the one at this hotel is the macdaddy….trigger happy….loud…and forceful….I about jumped out of my skin the first time I used it….I am sorta in a hurry these days when I need to go I need to go… I made it in time, sat down barely turned around to flush and the loudest whoosh you have ever heard …...good lord I thought it was going to pull my ample bottom down down down........
Ok, We are in here at the best boutique hotel, we have met Wayne and Tess and have been treated to an unbelievable fine dining experience last night….Kathy has gone to the surgeon with Wayne this morning and I am going to stop this entry for the day….there is so much more I want to elaborate on and I will do that on our next blog entry….just suffice it to say that this is a wonderful place to be in with wonderful people and I feel truly blessed…..I have had so many gifts each day and I will attempt to list them soon…..before closing I would like to give a “shout out” to:
Cindy Bounds for your email response
Ruth Taylor for calling
Nobie for keeping us updated on what is going on around there
Jerry for just being you, when we told you we had gotten lost..your response…”hadn’t y’all got a map?” we cracked up
Polly for your diligent work on the WWAF to keep things moving…love you
Amy Beth Trey and Tommy for staying in touch….traveling mercies, Tommy, as you fly out here to San Fransisco for the company meeting…
Kathy Lindsey…hope you are feeling lots better..
I must say we expected more praise and response for our blog..in fact we expect to be picked up to do this professionally…..so friends and family …..don’t hesitate to let “Pearl’s Girls” know you love them and what a fabulous job we are doing taking you on this journey with us because you are in our hearts all the way….
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Bob
non-member comment
Too much fun
You two are just having too much fun. Smiles all around. My thoughts are with Wayns. Call when it's over. Adios.