Las Cruces, NM Oct 27 - 29 and 31st

   We arrived in Las Cruces at Jan's house in Las Cruces and we stayed for 5 nights. I am dividing the blog into two parts: highlights of our stay in Las Cruces and a separate one for our visit to Bosque del Apache Wildlife Reserve. later.)

    Highlights of Las Cruces:
  We had wonderful meals at Jan's house: green chile stew, mushroom quiche, a salmon recipe to which we all contributed with beets, red peppers, walnuts and a special sauce, fruit salads, egg dishes, and a spicy avocado appetizer, a specialty of Jan's. We also experimented with one of the new non-meat burgers which taste like hamburger and all of us pronounced it more than acceptable.
   We went to Sprouts Market every day but one. Mark got his much-wanted fresh dates and we also got ingredients to make various green chile dishes when we get home.
   We also had wonderful meals at restaurants. We ate at Josephina's in Mesilla where Jan had stuffed avocados, Mark had enchiladas, and Barbara had a New Mexican salad.
  We ate at The Shed in Las Cruces where we had eaten before, and it did not disappoint. Jan had breakfast enchiladas, Barbara had calabasitas (vegetables, green chiles - totally delicious) and Mark had delicious green chile enchiladas. We feel quite addicted to New Mexico's Hatch green chiles, which, surprisingly can vary greatly in their heat despite being the same type of chile.
   We also bought a ristra to take home - a braid of red chiles to dry. We will drive home with it and hope it survives. It should be ground into powder in about 2 weeks.
    We all did quite a lot of bird watching in Jan's garden. We saw two types of quail, lesser goldfinches, a rock wren, white-winged doves and Western Cardinals (they have another name that I will look up

      We spent a day in Mesilla which has very interesting history and is well worth a visit. (Add more)
      We went to the Zuhl Museum on the campus of NMSU. The Zuhls had a business around fossils and petrified wood which they cut and polished, and, in fact, perfected the art of cutting and polishing. After retiring, they created the Zuhl Museum where some of their best pieces are exhibited. It was enlightening and beautiful.
    But, mostly we visited, talked, laughed and talked some more. It will be sad to leave as we so enjoy Jan, but she's so far away.
 
   

 

Tucson, Saguaro N.P. October 26

Inn-and-Out Burger

  We drove about 450+ miles today, leaving San Diego around 7. We stopped for coffee at a Winchell's as a nod to our memories of Egypt, probably the last time we stopped at a Winchell's.
   It was a day of a huge variety of elevations, from sea level to 4000 feet and spectacular scenery. We went through a pass which was mountains made of huge rocks, no soil, no plants. (We did not take photos as we were driving.) We dropped into the desert flats and passed through the Imperial Valley which is irrigated.

Cactus Wren

   We were close to the border for most of the day and felt great sadness for the way migrants are being treated today and passed through one border checkpoint. The terrain is so inhospitable that it is hard to imagine people being desperate enough to risk the crossing.
    We decided to take the time to go to Saguaro National Park which was probably not too much more than a 20 mile detour, but, of course, longer in time because we had to leave the interstate.
     The park is starkly beautiful. We stopped at the Visitor Center and took a walk through a cactus garden which identified the various cacti. We saw a lovely Cactus Wren which Mark managed to photograph. We went through Gates Pass over the Red Rock Mountains and dropped into Tucson where we are staying at a Ramada. We were too tired to go into town for food, so visited the hot tub for our weary bones and then went to the hotel lobby and had some mediocre food.

La Jolla/San Diego, Oct 23-25

 October 23 - We left Venice Beach via Costco for gasoline and arrived in White Sands at La Jolla around 11:30. Frank Morral was there to greet us and we checked into a guest room, thanks to Frank and Linda. We can only stay one night because the guest rooms are all booked.
   We went to lunch with Frank and Linda. It was so lovely that we were able to sit outside. Later, Barbara joined them for their hour-long dog gathering in the early afternoon. It was nice to get to know some of their friends. (Ocho and Rojo are their dogs) At 4 o'clock we went to a gathering for Octoberfest outside their dining hall and then went into lunch. They have really good food where they live with lots of variety.

 October 24 - We met Frank and Linda at 7:30 for breakfast. We checked out of our room and met Frank and Linda for a program called "Great Decisions." People read essays, accompanied by a video, about major topics. The topic today was the State of the U.S. State Department. It included a history of the department and the way the Trump administration has denigrated and decimated it. Thought provoking.

White Sands from a beach walk

   Afterwards, we drove to University of California at San Diego where we met with Michael Maury who works there.  First, he gave us a tour of where he works. Michael got some acting work there a number of years ago, hired by the school to work with their medical students. For the last five years, he has worked there as an administrator. The facility is amazing. He took us to the state-of-the-art mock Operating Rooms where students are observed by two-way glass in their diagnostic skills, interaction with the 'patients' etc. He also showed us very sophisticated mannikins where doctors learn/practice lapraroscopic surgeries. And, he showed us a not-yet-opened futuristic Operating Room.

    Walking around with Michael, it is clear that he is well liked and appreciated. Then he took us for a tour of the center of campus - very impressive. We saw the Geisel Library and we got food at the Student Center and went outside on some shady steps and ate.

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Geisel Library

   Then we drove to the Best Western Hotel on Shelter Island where we will be for 2 nights. We went to the hot tub and relaxed for a bit and then we walked to the end of the island for the sunset.
October 25
  First, happy birthday to our NEW daughter-in-law, Maura, born on the same day as my dearest childhood friend, Kathy!
   Today we drove over to see Frank and Linda and joined them at White Sands for lunch. We also accompanied them to the Puppy Gathering that they attend most days. We sat in their apartment, chatted and solved world problems.
     We went back to our hotel and had a nice stay in the hot tub while we charged the Clarity at the Blink charging station across the way. (Our first use of Blink)

      We went out to eat at a very good Thai restaurant, Supannee on Shelter Island. It was fantastic. We had delicious summer rolls with shrimp to start the meal. Mark had Thai hot basil stir fry which was excellent and Barbara had lemongrass chicken, also very good. It was a real find.

Venice, California, October 19 - 22

 October 19 - We got up very early (5 a.m.) and were on the road shortly thereafter. (Almost 500 miles today) We had hoped to visit Cindy in Yorba Linda, but she is away visiting her "grands." So, we got to L.A. earlier than we had anticipated. We drove to Elaine Mongeon's house and we walked along the L.A. River bike path to Spoke Bicycle Cafe where Elaine and Mark had very good burgers and Barbara had a delicious salad. It is always great to meet up with the creative Elaine and hear about her latest projects.

Chris, Barbara, Mark, Elaine

   Then, Mark drove, through heavy traffic, to Flower Avenue in Venice, thanks to former student, Will Kinsella, where we settled into his lovely oasis of a house. (Will, an avid adventurer, has been traveling the Silk Road.)We walked to a nearby Whole Foods and ate a light dinner in the garden.
 October 20 -
 We woke up way too early today - 5 a.m. as we went to bed so early and our bodies and the time zones are not in synch yet. So, after a cup of coffee, we walked 2.25 miles down to the beach and back, stopping for a coffee at Groundworks at the end.
  We viewed Elaine's short on Huluween, Swiped to Death, and shared it in hopes that she wins their contest.
  We spent the afternoon reading in Will's front garden which was great. Elaine and Chris Kinsella came over in late afternoon and we had a nice long chat about wide-ranging subjects, including their various film projects, and then went out to dinner at an Indian restaurant which was delicious, but it was the company that made the day.

  October 21 - 
 Today we woke up early - again - sigh. We took another nice walk to the beach and back.
  Around 11:30 we drove into L.A. to the Central Library for an architecture tour, having both recently read The Library Book, a history of the 1986 burning of the library which we both enjoyed and which we read for Book Club. Elaine met us there which made it even more fun. And, it was a good tour. Then we walked to a good sushi restaurant and had 4 handrolls. Yum! En route back to the parking garage, we popped into The Last Bookstore, actually hoping for a copy of The Library Book, but they had sold out. They did crazy creative things with books.

   After returning to Venice, we went to Whole Foods and got some dinner.
   We are so relaxed and enjoying Will's house and neighborhood.
 October 22 

Barbara, Donick, Rachel, Mark - Warner Brothers at writing studio of A.P. Bio

    Another great day. We have not mentioned the weather yet....sunny, blue skies. Today was the hottest day - 94, I think.

    A.P. Bio, a comedy, we also got to see Donick Cary who, quite coincidentally, works on that show. (They did not know each other previously.) So, that was even more serendipity.

We had planned to meet Scott Anderson at Warner Brothers, but he was too busy. However, we had a wonderful meeting with Rachel Lind Palmer who we had thought we wouldn't be able to see. So, it was serendipity. When we went to her office where she works on
   Afterwards, we drove back to Venice and went to the organic up-scale grocery store, Erewhon, recommended by Elaine where we got some delicious salads and ate outside at their cafe. We relaxed the rest of the day in Will's peaceful front garden.
     What a wonderful stay in Venice. Will's house is homey and comfortable and we are so happy that we were able to stay here and also sad to be leaving.

Missoula to Parowon, Utah, Oct 17, 18

   Oct 17. Missoula to Pocatello.

   We left David and Maura, happy for their happiness, but sad to say goodbye to them. Maura had to go to work, but David had another day off.
    We drove about 5 1/2 hours to Pocatello, Idaho via I-90 and I-15. The day got warmer and sunnier and we stopped for a short hike off I-15 at Hell's Half Acre, a place where lava pushed up out of the ground long, long ago. It was nice to stretch our legs and to see juniper and sage and the crevasses of lava. We stayed at La Quinta and got some grocery store food for dinner.

Oct 18  Pocatello to Parowon

      We left Pocatello early and drove I-15, passing by the huge sprawl that is now Salt Lake City. The scenery changed as we drove, getting flatter and drier. We could see massive mountains in the distance. We only drive about 5 1/2 hours again. We had hoped to stay in St. George, but it was very booked, so we are about an hour north in a small town. (under 3,000 people.) But, it turned out to be a gem. We are at a little motel (Mountain View) run by a Chinese family. We ate lunch at Hamburger Patty's.

     Then, we set off to find the Parowan Gap, a gap about 10 miles out of town originally formed by an ancient river. First we stopped to see remains of dinosaurs. The dinosaur footprints were not overwhelming, but the scenery was. The dinosaurs were three-toed hadrosaurs and rather common in N. America. The footprints are now in the large chunks of sandstone boulders.
   We went a bit further through the Gap to a site of a huge gallery of ancient American petroglyphs. There are estimated to be 15,000 of them left over 1000s of years by Native Americans most part of what are now called the Fremont people, as they traversed the Gap to the Red Hills on yearly migrations. The most famous and complex glyph represents a lunar and solar calendar. It is too complicated to write about here but is very impressive. No wonder the site is sacred to Native Americans