Back "home"

(started Saturday 11/28)

We've been back in the Bay Area for nearly 3 1/2 weeks now, minus a quick side trip to Willits (more on that later). We stayed in San Francisco for a couple of nights and in Cupertino for almost 2 weeks, and right now we're house- and cat-sitting for friends in San Carlos who are on vacation. WE HAVE THE HOUSE TO OURSELVES...it's so weird. We visited our friends who own Wild Hog Winery and our friends who make really good coffee. We went to two of the restaurants we used to go to several times a week - Kokila's Kitchen and Freedom Burrito - and they remembered us!

Unlike the rest of the trip, both of us know where we're going and how to get there when we get in the car. We don't have to look up vegetarian restaurants online or ask the people we're staying with if there's anything good in the area. We can walk into sessions easily, without wondering what the level of musicianship is or if anyone will talk to us. Most importantly, we have bunches and bunches of friends to see, to the point where today (Saturday) actually feels like a weekend because we only have plans for dinner instead of for most of the day. Our time here has been a blur of lunches, dinners, and coffees. We've retrieved guitars that were left with various people, listened to a couple of my former piano and fiddle students play, and visited the guitar class that William used to go to. A friend organized a small session for us in San Francisco, other friends hosted and joined us for William's birthday dinners (3 of them!), and another friend invited us over for Thanksgiving with just her and her daughter. We even spent a Friday night playing Rock Band - you only find out who your real friends are after you've belted out Queen and Talking Heads songs at them.

So...now what?

(continued on Monday evening, 11/30)

Today we spent hours in our storage unit, looking through boxes for books and clothes and whatnot that we wanted to ship or take with us. We mailed 4 boxes to General Delivery in Mt. Vernon and hopefully we will pick them up next Monday. We got two folding bicycles into the car - William's Brompton and my Dahon - as well as a suitcase and an extra guitar and some flutes. We are relatively optimistic that we made the correct decisions because we don't plan to come back here to get everything else until spring at the earliest...

Last night we went to the Irish music session at O'Flaherty's and got to see a few musicians that we hadn't seen yet. (Today I found out that all the famous people were at the Plough and Stars in San Francisco last night - sigh). We had Irish coffees and exchanged the usual sort of barbed banter that passes for humor among Irish musicians. There were compliments given and suggestions made and it almost felt like we had never left at all. But, on Wednesday, we will cram everything back in the car and head north, stopping for a night or two in Eugene and in Portland, OR and arriving in Mt. Vernon on Saturday.

I plan to keep this blog going - it is, after all, attached to our band website - and will be chronicling our search for normal things like a house, jobs, and really good coffee as well as anything musical that we get up to in the future. We do have another blog that should be maintained fairly regularly from now on; it's at http://wgdmcu.blogspot.com/ and is all about food and gardening. I have a post up there about the gardening workshop in Willits, with more on that to follow soon, and there's also a post about my recent adventure harvesting honey in our friend Charlotte's backyard in Cupertino.

If you've been reading along during our journey, please consider commenting on this post or sending us an email at castlerockmusic@gmail.com - we would love to hear from you!

Death Valley (part 2)

Sunset and moonrise at Furnace Creek.

Natural Bridge Canyon.

Golden Canyon.

Mosaic Canyon.

Death Valley (part 1)

Artist's Palette, near sunset.

Twenty Mule Team Canyon.

Zabriskie Point.

Badwater.

Joshua Tree National Park

Joshua trees next to our campsite at sunset.

Yucca.

Joshua tree trunks.

Near Skull Rock.

Of trees, rocks, and canyons

On Thursday, October 29, we returned to California after 4 months and 18 days of traveling through 34 other states and one Canadian province. It felt like the trip was over - we could no longer rely on our license plates to show other drivers that we weren't from around here, for one thing. At the California border, everyone has to stop to answer a few questions and show that they aren't importing dangerous fruit, and we had a difficult time answering the perfectly normal question, "Where did you come from?". Of course the trip isn't over; for one thing, all of our stuff is still in storage and we have no idea how long it's going to stay there. And, we don't have a house of our own yet. But returning to California was definitely a turning point.

We got to Joshua Tree National Park - after driving through Wonder Valley - around 3 or so and got everything set up, including the spiffy new queen-sized air mattress that fit perfectly in our tent. While we were setting up, the people next to us arrived and excitedly asked, "Are you here for the Phish concert?" Being the news-avoiding types that we are, we had absolutely no idea that this was happening and we were afraid that the campground would be completely full that night, but it wasn't too crowded and people were generally quiet. It was a little colder than we had expected that night - probably high 30s - but we were much warmer and more comfortable than at the Grand Canyon.

On Friday, William was still feeling a bit under the weather but we both wanted to go hiking, so we started out on the High View trail (the closest one to the campground). Joshua Tree is unusual among the parks we visited in that it's fairly close to civilization, especially at the west end of the park where we were. So, we went up, appreciating the mountains and desert around us, and arrived at the top to see a panoramic view of...the nearby towns and a nice layer of smog in the air. However, it was still worth the walk. That afternoon, after a fabulous lunch at The Natural Sister's Cafe, we went over to the visitor's center and then down to the Skull Rock trail, which has boulders as well as desert plants and looks like it should be in a completely different park. That was an excellent hike, although the discovery that the actual Skull Rock is right next to the road and we could have simply driven right up to it like everyone else did put a mild damper on things. We drove back to the campground the long way (which still only took us through about 5 % of the park) and stopped in Twentynine Palms for some firewood for the evening. That night there were many more people in the campground and we agreed that it was time to use our earplugs so we could actually get some sleep, which proved to be a very wise decision. When Phish started up - mind you, they were playing in Indio, about 20 miles away - we could hear every note and consequently didn't feel like we missed out on the concert at all...

Saturday, we got up early and got packed up and ready to leave fairly quickly. We gave in to the temptation of breakfast at Natural Sister's again, probably because they had vegetarian biscuits and gravy which is one of William's favorites. Our route to Death Valley took us back out through Wonder Valley and through the Mojave National Preserve (I just learned that we narrowly missed the town of Zzyzx) which is now yet another destination for a future trip. We got into Death Valley at around 2 or so but it was another 30 minutes before we got to Furnace Creek and our campground. We checked in...and found that the campsite we had reserved (based entirely on the map with no pictures or descriptions) was a narrow strip of gravel in full sun between two enormous RVs. So, we went back to the ranger at the entrance station and managed to negotiate a site in the walk-in area. We had our very own tree which more than made up for having to carry all of our stuff back and forth from the car, and we set up the tent directly underneath it so we had shade nearly all day. November in Death Valley means that the daytime temperatures only go up to 90 - so yes, it could have been worse, but we were pretty happy with our location. We went over to the visitor's center and the Furnace Creek Ranch, and decided to go over to Artist's Drive since we only had a couple hours before sunset. And, that night, we walked around looking at all the Halloween lights and decorations hanging on the RVs and then read for a while before going to bed - because, finally, it was warm!

Sunday, inevitably, I woke up feeling awful. William was still not at 100% either so we stumbled through making our oatmeal and coffee and tried to figure out what we were going to do. We settled on doing things that required more driving than walking and went over to Twenty Mule Team Canyon and Zabriskie Point in the morning. Of course, since we had our cameras, we ended up doing quite a bit of walking but I think that not doing an actual hike was a good idea. We had lunch and a bit of a nap at the campground, and then went down to Badwater in the afternoon. After that, we wandered around Furnace Creek for a bit, and, after using the free wi-fi to sneak in a bit of Internet, we noticed the booths set up for the Death Valley '49ers. Apparently, every year a large group of (mostly) elderly folks show up in early November to commemorate the pioneer spirit of the Americans who first traveled through Death Valley and gave it its name. And the best way to honor these brave adventurers is...to hang out in your RV when you are not attending the horseshoe tournament or the costumed pet parade. I don't understand people.

We both felt a bit better on Monday, and to celebrate we set off at the unprecedented hour of 8 am to check out Natural Bridge Canyon and Golden Canyon. We got slightly confused at the end of Golden Canyon and ended up not taking the correct fork, thereby missing the final rock formation, but it was still an interesting hike. Lunch was a picnic at Stovepipe Wells: we had a table by the general store all to ourselves except for the ravens who sat on the fence and glared at us the whole time we were eating. Then, we spent an hour or so in Mosaic Canyon, which was the most interesting and least populated hike we did and provided us with the information that the dominant type of rock there is Noonday dolomite - isn't that a great term? After the hike we went back to Stovepipe Wells and spent $4.00 each for our first shower in 4 days. Expensive...but unlimited hot water under those circumstances is priceless. That night, we tried the 49er Cafe at Furnace Creek Ranch - it was also expensive, but good. They had vegetarian options, beer from the Indian Wells Brewery, and date milkshakes for dessert; after several nights of basic propane-stove cooking, it was a feast.

Tuesday morning (Nov. 3rd), we packed up and prepared to return to civilization and the familiar territory of the Bay Area. Long-buried thoughts involving things like résumés and moving vans were starting to float through our heads...

The very kind people who have let us stay with them, part 3

John Priestley (and his lovely wife Mary Lee), Richmond, VA.

Richard and Sheila Winett, and Jeter, Blacksburg, VA.

Fiona Solkowski and Doug Becker, Indianapolis, IN.

Samir Mehta, University City (St. Louis), MO.

Pat Japenga and Sam Broyles, and the Dude, Jamestown, CO.

Nicolas Prade, Michael Duffy, Miriam Kaplan, and Michael Jones, who shared the condo with us in Pagosa Springs, CO.

Brad, Jen, and Rhiannon Boute, Mesa, AZ.

Phoenix Desert Botanical Garden

Organ pipe cactus

Old man cactus.

This one reminds me of a kaleidoscope

Teddy bear cholla.

Cacti usually bloom in spring, this was a nice surprise.

Aloe dorotheae, from Tanzania.

Lithops, also called living stones.

Palo verde: the trunk contains chlorophyll.

Close-up of the Boojum tree.

Back and forth

We got to Phoenix at around 3 on Sunday (October 25th), reveling in the thought that we wouldn't need to sleep in all of our clothes again in the near future, and met up with my college friends Brad and Jen at their house in Mesa. We got caught up after nearly 9 years since the last time I was there, I allowed myself to be persuaded to play Candyland with Brad and Rhiannon, their 5-year-old daughter, and there was dinner for everyone and margaritas for most of us. It was really a nice way to be welcomed back into civilization and we spent a very pleasant evening getting through all our piled-up emails and showing William old photos from college.

On Monday, we ran around almost all morning doing errands and stocking up for our next round of camping. Driving around the Mesa area was...tedious. It reminded us of California (especially Los Angeles) since it seems to take forever to get anywhere and, generally, every intersection looked exactly like the last one. The drivers on the highway weren't terribly polite, either. We had lunch at Serrano's (which I highly recommend) and made a few feeble attempts that afternoon to organize all the stuff that needed washing and/or repacking after the last round of camping, but it didn't go very far. That night, we ventured out to play tunes with someone we had never met, and here's how we got there: Pat (who we stayed with in early October) in Jamestown, CO knows Sharon in Tucson, AZ who knows Sven who lives in Phoenix. We contacted Sven, he had planned to have a few people over that night but as it turned out we were the only ones who could make it. Nevertheless, we had a wonderful time hanging out with him for a few hours.

On Tuesday...we made the decision to go back to Flagstaff for a couple of days. On the way out of Phoenix we stopped at the Desert Botanical Gardens, which caused me to spend several hours trying to figure out exactly how I would go about building a cactus garden in the Pacific Northwest. We got to Flagstaff around sunset and by the time we got to dinner (Flagstaff Brewing Company, of course - along with some fine beer, they have excellent black bean burgers) it was SNOWING. That was also the night that my computer's hard drive stopped working. Sigh...

Wednesday started with even more snow. And, William woke up with what was either an overly enthusiastic cold or a mild flu. I went out for a few hours: visited Starlight Books, which had a book on the photographer Imogen Cunningham, and tried out the coffee at Flagstaff Coffee Company, which features coffee from our old hangout Barefoot in Santa Clara, CA. I got lunch for both of us at Mountain Oasis and decided that I had had enough of the cold and snow for the day. We did both venture out that night for dinner at the appropriately named Little Thai Kitchen and then stopped by the outdoor store in the same shopping center, where we replaced our pecked-up water container and I finally got around to buying a hat like all the cool kids are wearing (it looks something like this - different colors though).

And, then it was Thursday. It stopped snowing, the sun came out, we found a queen-sized air mattress that fit the pump we had bought for the first mattress, and the weather forecast said that the lows in Joshua Tree National Park (the next stop) would only get down to the 40s. We set off into the Mojave desert for another 5 days of camping and realized that I-40 mostly parallels old Route 66 - yet another idea for a future road trip.

Grand Canyon

The classic view...

...and a different perspective.

Looking up at the last few switchbacks at the top of the Kaibab Trail.

When the immensity of the canyon got to be too much, we started looking at smaller things - like this rock and lichen on the Hermit Trail.

Colorado River, near Pima Point.

Ups and downs

Thursday morning (Oct. 22), we left Moab after breakfast and wi-fi at Eklecticafe and a stop at one of the many outdoor stores (sadly, I cannot remember which one but they have unlimited free water available to anyone who needs it, which is awesome). We bought two items: a twin-sized air mattress since William was having trouble with his hips from sleeping on the camping pad, and a 2.5 gallon collapsible water storage container. Remember these: they'll come up later. We also stopped at Moonflower Market for provisions for the next few days. On the way to the Grand Canyon we went through both Monument Valley and the Painted Desert - these are now on the list for more in-depth exploring on the next trip...

We got to the Grand Canyon about 4 or so and stopped at the first overlook along with everyone else. After Canyonlands, the crowds were a bit overwhelming, but we managed and got some nice views of the late afternoon sun over the canyon. We also stopped at the conveniently located bookstore and at the equally convenient small general store where we got some firewood and a few other things. We got set up and put dinner together and sat around the fire wondering if it was really going to be *that* cold at night. And - of course - it was. The temperature the first night got down to 23 degrees.

Now, here's where the aforementioned twin-sized air mattress comes in (you all saw this coming, right?). William was having hip problems but I wasn't; I was fine with one camping pad and if he had an air mattress, I could sleep on both pads and be even more comfortable. Also, the queen-sized mattress cost more and I wasn't absolutely certain that it would fit in our tent. So, I had (in more ways than one) made my own bed, and I was planning to lie in it...until about an hour after we went to bed and I couldn't sleep for shivering. It was COLD, and the sleeping bags and pads that were more than adequate at 40 degrees or so just didn't hold up at 23. Also, we have 2 bags that are zipped together and there are just more ways for the air to leak in that way. I may have actually been fine with one bag to myself, but that operation was far too complicated to attempt in the middle of the night. So I put on every layer of clothing possible (socks, woolen long underwear, jeans, shirt, sweater, jacket, and hat) and William and I curled up precariously on the just-barely-wide-enough mattress (it was fine until one of us wanted to turn over), and we survived the night. And the next night, and the next.

Friday morning, we lurched around until our legs started working again and then went for a walk over to the main plaza by the campground. There was the ubiquitous gift shop and a HUGE grocery store (also with gifts!) and deli, and a post office and bank too. We got a few things, again marveling at the difference between this canyon and the last one, and wandered over to the ranger station to get some ideas for our explorations. The ranger was very nice and suggested some hikes that were not going to be overly crowded. She also explained the enormous grocery store: there are 1200 houses for staff in that part of the park and it's simply too far to get to the next town on a regular basis. As we went in and out of the store over the next 2 days, we realized that the people there are in the bizarre position of living in a very small town where everyone knows everyone else but you hardly ever see the people you know because of all the tourists. It must be disorienting at times.

That afternoon, we took the shuttle bus (again, nothing like Canyonlands) over to Yaki Point and walked about 1.5 miles down the Kaibab Trail to Cedar Ridge. Lovely day, easy hike, lots of scenery etc. etc...until it was time to go back up. I thought I was in fairly good shape after the previous weeks but the return trip was awful and I had to stop and rest a lot more than I expected to. We saw a few people coming up from the bottom of the canyon with fully loaded backpacks from camping the night before and I really don't know how they managed it with the extra weight. After finally getting back to the top, we took the bus over to the visitor's center (again, there was a bookstore and gift shop) and pondered the names of all the different layers of rock in the canyon. That about exhausted our spirit of adventure for the day, and we headed back to the campsite planning on a hot dinner and a nice fire. And...remember the collapsible water container? The campground information leaflets mention that it is probably unwise to leave food out unless it's in a hard container because the ravens will do their best to steal it. We had put all the food away in the car but left the water container out - and the ravens, realizing that it held water, knocked it off the table and pecked a couple of holes in it to get a drink. So much for the nice new water jug. Not devastating, but supremely irritating all the same.

Saturday morning, we took the bus in the opposite direction and went over to Hermit's Rest. We went down the Hermit Trail a ways (but not too far) and enjoyed it very much, especially since there weren't many people around. After we came back up, we stopped at the (you guessed it!) gift shop and then walked over to Pima Point to catch the bus back to the campground. We had some lunch and sat around reading for a while and then we took a shower ($2.00 for 8 minutes)...boy did it feel good. Another night, another fire, and (since it was the weekend) this time we had neighbors serenading us with cell phone conversations and what I think might have been Mexican mariachi opera music. Is there such a thing? Google says 'yes'!

Sunday, we packed up early and headed south, feeling like intrepid explorers who had courageously braved the elements and survived the cold. We'd like to go back to the Grand Canyon but I think next time we'll try the North Rim (it closed on Oct. 15th) and be even more intrepid. We got to Flagstaff in time for lunch (Black Bean Burrito Bar) and then continued heading south - and down about 3000 feet - to Mesa (a suburb of Phoenix) where we were going to be staying with my college friends Brad and Jen. When we got out of the car at 2:30 or so, it was about 80 degrees outside and I thankfully decided that I could live with that for a few days.

Canyonlands: Wednesday

The piles of rocks are trail markers.

Canyonlands: Tuesday

The bat who spent the day sleeping on a wall at the visitor's center.

After the rain.

Arches: Monday