more sightseeing

I'm getting a little behind on my daily stories given the outside time being spent looking at property here in Queen Creek.  So I'll make this a short one so I can get back to making calls regarding a pool.

We spent Thursday at the Desert Botanical Gardens and the Heard Museum.  The former gives you more desert scenery than you can handle in one day - especially if you're in need of a test after the fact to show what you've learned.  I now know the difference between a barrel cactus and a prickly pear, that the former isn't so aggressive as the latter, which seems to reach out and grab anyone walking by.  At least that's what the yard guy just told me a bit ago.

Generally speaking it's a unique and beautiful sight, adding to the full scenery.  Look at the sky in the photo above - the beautiful blue seen often, though not today because it's cloudy.

We went into the butterfly exhibit and were surrounded by butterflies.  They control the entry and exit to be sure no butterflies escape.  The still photos are not the best because it's hard to focus on a moving object, but the videos give you an idea of how many are there.  And there were LOTS of people and children observing.

The Heard Museum is all about the southwestern Indian, especially their art, which is impressive.  On one wall there is a family tree dating back to the original artist, born in the late 1800s, and four or five generations of pottery artists who are direct descendants.  She has some awesome pottery, which is slightly functional but mostly art for sale.  She toured around the country putting on demonstrations for several years selling the pottery, so she was a marketer.

Here is the full day's slideshow -

seeing more sights in Arizona

Olive Mill Restaurant (and farm actually) is located about a mile from where we're staying, and their
reputation as a unique place draws a whole lot of people.  We were late in getting there, maybe 1:30 PM, and the parking lot was pretty full of people, most eating lunch, but many just buying Extra Virgin Olive Oil and a variety of other olive presentations.

The shelves are stacked with numerous EVOO options, although the bottom shelf was empty, probably because old folks don't like bending down that far.  Our lunch was delicious, and Lonna wants to replicate their garlic balsamic dressing so she can have it at home.  I enjoyed a HopKey IPA and then we checked out all their retail goods.

Great Clips was a  half-mile away and since we were both ready for a clipping, I checked their website and found the wait time was "0" minutes.  Well, Lonna got in right away but I had a short wait, but no matter, we got what we came for.  You'll notice the finished product on the left looks pretty much the same as the model haircut on the right, and both parties seem happy about it.

So then it was on to a neighborhood we had read about - where we discovered the view to be very nice.  Imagine stepping out your front door every day and being able to see that mountain not too far away.

The back yard features a similar view from poolside.  We don't have that in our rental, but oh well.  It's not worth 15 grand.

our turnaround in Payson

I don't have my own photo of the Buffalo Bar and Grill so I stole this one off their Facebook page.

It was four in the afternoon and we weren't really looking for something to eat so much as a chance to rest up a bit before returning to STV. So we just ordered jalapeno poppers that were a bit hotter than we'd like.

Payson is elev. 5,000 so it's considerably cooler.  In fact the temp was about 64 degrees when we were there compared to about 80 back in the Phoenix area, so it would seem to be a place that many folks would escape to in the summer.  The area is scenic, and being higher in the mountains has a number of pine and cedar trees as an alternative to all the cactus we've seen earlier this day.

We remarked frequently on this drive as to the unique scenery, and how it changes as the sun changes and the drive goes on.  The cactus tend to grow on the sun side of the hill, and the mountains range in color to a subtle red towards the end of the day.  Some mountains show the striated levels and then we round a bend and the mountains seem composed of large round boulders sitting atop each other.  The closer we got to Payson the more green we saw on the hillsides, and as we returned to Phoenix it turned to sand.

A friend advises you really want to be here in the summer to determine if you really like it, when the temps are continually over 100 and eggs fry on the sidewalk.  But like Lonna says, there are 5 million people who haven't been scared away from the area.  Making a decision about living here would involve a lot of pro's, and con's are up to the individual.

We were struck by this mountain range along the Bush Highway north of Mesa.  It shows some of the spike appearance of the Tetons with color of the Arizona range.  We pulled off the road and snapped this out of the car window.

With all the photos I have taken I have found it difficult to capture the view that you see realtime.  This one is no different.  Click the photo to view a full-screen image.

We're not done seeing all there is to see and know we won't get to it this year.  We've already booked a 6 week visit next February/March and we're hopeful it won't be as cool as it was this year.  We've been struck by the friendliness of the people we've met, both tourists and locals.  At Tonto National Monument we basically walked the last half to the cliff caves with a couple from Moscow, ID, and enjoyed the visit along the way.  Even the check-outs at Walmart speak to you in conversation, and the servers at various restaurants seem to care about who you are.  Unless they're super busy, and that's fine.

"Where are you from?" is a common question, asked because most people came from somewhere, and we often run into tourists or folks who have moved here - from North Dakota, Ohio, Idaho, Minnesota.  That seems to strike a common bond immediately with people, and the homeowners quickly go into the story of how/when they made their purchase.  One fellow from OH that we met on our walk still owns a farm back there which he is hoping will have oil wells on it when he gets home.  We know he bought his 1640 sq ft home here for $89,000, has 3 daughters, one divorced, none of whom can afford to fly out here (he may use some oil money, huh?), his firs wife died of cancer in 2003 and he married his current wife in 2009 although she had been chasing him all through school 50 years ago and he says he wasn't aware of that.

Sometimes the stories get long.  But he's made a couple of good referrals for us, has given us insights on the home maintenance process, and certainly enjoys visiting.  He drives a Harley, set up a shop in his garage with all kinds of tools, and shows he is a man who uses his hands.  Bottom line for Roger is that he has lived a pretty good life and now enjoys where he is.  Nothing wrong with that.

direct from Gila County, AZ

We had a terrific day bumbling around from San Tan Valley to Globe (lunch at Chola's - Navajo tacos), the Tonto National Monument, the Roosevelt Dam, and on to Payson.  On the way to Globe we stopped to view some scenerey and got attacked by a fellow from Jamestown, ND, who couldn't share enough information, mostly that getting too close to the edge of the mountain was very upsetting to him.  When he left we shot this video, which gives you an idea of the beautiful area.

Then we went on to Tonto National Monument, where I found a couple of weary travelers as I panned around the valley.

We may be falling in love with Arizona.  In full screen. To view all of today's photos, click this link.  You can view as a slideshow but it will skip by the videos, which are all noted by the "play" button like you see on the above.

San Tan Flat

Trying to choose a place to eat dinner we read about San Tan Flat, a pretty unique restaurant off Hunt Highway.  Lonna had the flat steak and it was pretty good, but I had a half rack and it was OK at best.  More food than we could eat at one sitting so some of it came home with us.



The decor and ambiance makes the place.  Look at all the "stuff" on the walls of the interior, and the outdoor seating that works well to attract a biker crowd.

One of the reviews I read mentioned some of the clientelle looked "a little rough," which would be true if you're talking blue hairs.  There were a lot of them wandering through, and some of the men with them were riding the bikes out front.  It's a favorite activity to be zipping around on your Harley.

We left after eating and made our way through a residential district, then turned back to Hunt Highway.  On the way back we were treated to this view of the mountains behind the San Tan Flat -

Ten days later we owned a home in AZ.

the modern farm

For our lunch break yesterday we rolled down Rittenhouse Road to the Schnepf Farms, an extraordinary farm that includes organic farming, retail operation, and family entertainment.  Their website gives the story of the birth and development of the farm itself as well as the history of Queen Creek.  Originally the area was called Rittenhouse, but in the 60s Mr. Schnepf, the original, and a couple others realized how Mesa and other communities were stretching out, and to preserve the area, they established a community that was named Queen Creek.

It was a good time to be there if you wanted to avoid crowds, which should arrvive at Easter, advertised on their website as Egg-Citement.  And when they host the Peach Blossom festival I'm sure they will have a load of folks coming in as well.

We're talking about going back for their weekend breakfast buffet - or order an omelette off the menu.  And we did buy some of their casa grande salsa, and a bottle of something else.  All guaranteed to be good, I'm sure.

For $1.50 you can grab a basket and go pick your own veggies.  We saw one family doing just that - at least the mother was.  They have rows and rows of whatever you want, all irrigated, all very healthy.

A model train (maybe 1/5 scale) circles the grounds at about 2 mph so we didn't ride it, but it looks appealing to seniors and children.  The people were really nice - too nice, probably, because they talked me into a sample of their chocolate. It was delicious.  And with no prompting, we purchased a caramel roll, the last one in the tray, and it disappeared this morning.  It had to go - it's not acceptable on Lonna's new diet.

this must be worthy

How can you not appreciate the ingenuity, creativity, the wastefulness of it all?

UW Marching Band

On Wednesday the news from the Hudson Patch (online news and messaging) was that the Wisconsin Marching Band would be stopping at the Kozy Korner again.  For the first time ever, I knew for sure when they would be in town - and I'm in Arizona!  Fortunately the Patch took some video.  Click here to view it.  (I had to remove it from the post itself because every time the page was opened the music started playing!)

Since I have never been there I can only assume it's kind of a blast, though more enjoyable later in the day, perhaps at cocktail time and not 9 in the morning when this video was taken.  Bryan Godtland told me one time that he was there when they played and "It's really loud!"  I suppose.

pretty scary stuff

When we were on South Mountain we talked with a young couple about things to see in Phoenix.  He was heading off on a bike and she walked after him, after telling us about Heritage Square downtown.  Finding the square and parking was not difficult, but we made the mistake of deciding we would start with Heard Museum and started walking there until we realized it was a half-mile away.  So we doubled back and went into the Science Museum.

It's the typical science museum and maybe more, with lots of hands-on stuff for kids, so there were plenty of them there, being loud and having fun.  We wanted to time the afternoon so we'd finish by having pizza at the Pizzeria Bianco, an Italian restaurant the couple on South Mountain had recommended.  So after viewing a number of exhibits, we chose to delay our departure at the IMAX theater by watching the movie about polar bears, glaciers, seals, and the disappearing Arctic Ice.  It was our first-ever 3D movie, for either of us, and we thought we looked pretty cool with these scary glasses on.

Yeah, that's us, and the theater was dark but for some reason the flash wouldn't go off.  Probably enhances the value.  We were both impressed when the movie's opening credits broke like ice shards and looked to be flying at or through us.  Fortunately we escaped unharmed, though I might have tweaked something when I dodged.

There's also a museum on the square and other restaurants, but we were on a mission for pizza.

We ended our tour at Bianco with the Wise Guy pizza, no sauces, wood-roasted onions, mozzarella cheese, and fennel sausage.  Delicious.  The building looked to have true historic value but their website doesn't say anything about it, only describing the food and bar.  Nonetheless it was all delicious, but probably not the type delivered by a guy on a motorcycle.  We just kind of wished we had eaten outside.

South Mountain, AZ

Today we took a good look at the Arizona Geology by touring South Mountain, the largest municipal park in the US, purchased by philanthropists years ago, then laid out by the National Park Service with the original buildings set up by the Civilian Conservation Corps.

It's kind of an interesting birth - established by wealth, but developed by the federal government, another example of the role of government when there is no vested interest on the part of corporate America to build a public domain.  We took several pictures, like this one, that shows the geology - with the city of Phoenix in the background.

There were other locations where there were far more cactus, and this lacked the elevation since we were only two miles into the park.

According to our friend Jack Kensler, who referred us to the park in the first place, all the mountains in the area were created by lava eruption, and we were beginning to see them on every horizon.  At left is a sample.  It occurred to me as I looked around that it must have taken YEARS for all the rocks to cool down.  Thank goodness it was a billion years ago. These boulders were only a small part of the accumulation.

At the top a stone building presumably built by the CCC stands as a shelter from which more photos could be taken.
It looks sort of like an adobe hut, cool inside and the source of a scenic view.

Far off in the distance you can see downtown Phoenix and all the high rises.

In the center of this photo, in the downtown area, you will notice two white arches separating another building, the baseball stadium where the Arizona Diamondbacks play.


I pulled out my phone and looked the stadium up on Trip Advisor because I knew it would tell me how far away the building is located.

From where we stood, the stadium is 6.99 miles to the north, as the crow flies.  Not that we planned to fly there, but, you know . . .

From here we followed the road to a couple more locations, ending at the Gila River overview where, to our surprise, a fellow was about to take off on a paraglider.  I whipped out my camera but  failed to record his takeoff or flight because in the bright sunlight I couldn't see the Start Recording button, until it was too late.  Lonna started talking to their "pilot" before we left and found for $250 I could enjoy a tandem flight.  Their website, Fly High Paragliding, had a video of a tandem.  Scroll to the bottom of the page to view it..

Paragliding may be a challenge for another day.  Lonna said maybe next year . . .

The Gila River lies far below the south side of the mountain and presents a different view.  The housing developments here have seemingly just begun.  All the photos are on the trip album - click here.

Effigy Mounds National Park - September, 1968

Visiting with the Kenslers yesterday we recalled the trip we took to Effigy Mounds one Sunday in 1968.  I suppose we packed a picnic lunch, but Jack reminded me that we drover to Prairie du Chien, across the river, where we bought a bottle of wine, and we bought cheese somewhere, also according to Jack.  Seems to me we also visited Villa Louis in Prairie du Chien, although in those days it wasn't so much a finished tourist attraction as it is today.

At the Mounds we walked a long way into the trail with Jeff, Vic, and Marni, leaving Lonna and Pat behind with Jana, who was only about 18 months at this point.  When we reached the far outpost Jack did his Lewis & Clark pose, one hand behind the back, the other shading his eyes as he leaned forward, viewing the horizon.  Typical Jack. Apparently I don't have that picture anymore, but did get several of the group enjoying the view.  If I'm not mistaken, at this point you can see 3 states - Iowa, Wisconsin, and Illinois.

The camera was a 35mm using slides that I converted to digital a couple years ago.  Without auto-focus or light meter, and having to guess at the correct speed and f-stop, they have become discolored and grainy in the conversion but the memories are still there.

For the full album click this link.  Click the Slideshow button for a full-screen view of each.

a visit with old friends

When we moved to LaPorte, Jack Kensler was the junior high principal and we got to know each other a little bit until they moved to Independence when Jack got hired there in 68 or 69.  On New Year's Eve 1970 (pretty sure that was the year), I behaved myself pretty well for some reason, so on New Year's Day 1971 I had the pleasure of a morning after with no, shall we say, ill feelings.

This particular New Year's Day was in fact a beautiful day, sun shining, moderately warm, no snow as I recall, and I was standing on the back steps behind the garage when Lonna came out to say Jack and Pat had invited us over for the day.  Since Independence was only about 30 miles away, we went over and enjoyed the day/afternoon socializing, watching football on the tube, and quaffing a few brews.

Over the next couple of years it became a standard for us to do this at one home or the other until we moved out of LaPorte.  Then, 25 years ago, Jack and Pat moved to Glendale when he took an administrative position in Phoenix, and we just plain lost touch.


That's too bad because Jack was always a guy to socialize with about practically any topic, and he had a side to him that was altogether enjoyable to be around.  For example, at a party one time he noted one of his teachers wearing a tie, so he said he would cut it off - if he just had a pair of scissors.  Since the party was at our place and I knew where the kitchen scissors were, the next you knew the tie was lying on the floor, the teacher was very red-faced, and everyone was roaring with laughter.

Jack has a side of Cliff Klaven in him, although it's not because he's a know-it-all smarty but because he does know SO much.  Today, for example, he was talking about the Louis L'Amour and Zane Grey books, all from Arizona locations, and the movies filmed on the desert sands over near California, The Flight of the Phoenix and Lawrence of Arabia.  He just knows all this stuff . . .

Son Billy lives nearby so we were pleased to see him when he came over.  If you look closely at the photo you will notice the grapefruit in the tree behind him.  We also enjoyed fresh-squeezed orange juice for breakfast, from the orange tree somewhere on his right.  Bill is in sales, of home/commercial security systems, and is much a chip off the old block.  Jeff, the oldest. also lives in Glendale,  and Vic now lives in Miami/Dade, where he teaches history and coaches baseball.

I watched the Ice Bowl (Packers/Cowboys) with Jack at their home in LaPorte, on New Year's Eve 1967.  We were both convinced Boyd Dowler, handsome fellow that he was, would become a television announcer . . . until he was interviewed and we realized he was best suited for silent films.

It's just one of those amazing things that you can "lose" people, but pick up the conversation 40 years later like you'd never gone away.  I'm sorry I forgot to snap a photo of Jack and Pat - and tomorrow will add the photos from our day with the Kenslers at Effigy Mounds National Park back in '68 or so.  Seems like every day we ever shared with the Kenslers was a day to remember.

in the heat, slow down

The temps the last couple of days has been in the 90s, but very comfortable so long as you're not out walking across the desert.  So instead we've focused on Barnes & Noble, Walmart, Dick's Sporting Goods, and other such fabulous places.

Today we went out for a morning walk and took a new route south of here.  Along the way we saw a sign for a Yard Sale, which was actually going on in several yards.  As we walked from one to another we came upon this fellow who was working on his '52 Chev.

He was pleased to talk about it, in every detail.  Most of the car is original but he is adding some touches to it, I think including a hydraulic booster system, a new radiator, a new heater, and various other pieces.  The paint LOOKS original but is a variation of the original color he showed us underneath the trunk door.

He knew a fellow who owned a dozen antiquers that he would drive in some type of business, a different one every day, and he found this one on eBay for a pretty good price.  I don't know how many miles it has on it but the interior is in terrific shape.  

Outside of the car - the unique thing about the walking we have done is the navigation we can get from the smart phone.  Originally I took it along to be sure we'd be able t find our way home, and it's been quite valuable in helping to plot out the walk.  And in this case - to take a photo of something unique.  The first new car Dad ever bought was a '53 Chev. I thought it was the livin' end.

Casa Grande Ruins National Monument

About 15 miles from our location in Coolidge, AZ, a "village" of sorts stands in monument to the Hohokam Indians, who several hundred years ago discovered how to tame the desert with irrigation.  Until natural disasters and the diseases of Spanish invaders essentially caused them to disappear.

Today we paid a visit to one location within the larger community, a site outlined by walls they had created, including a "great house" that apparently was pretty much like a city hall.  Our docent remarked as to the unfortunate loss of much of the archaeological items taken by visitors until the location was protected 100 years ago, but the fortunate survival of as much as there is.  His name was Steve Webber, and he retired from his work as a litigation attorney in Detroit and now serves here.

The "cane" in his hand is a wood root from a Saguaro cactus, used as a walking cane, pointer, or an instrument to prod those not paying attention, in his words.  You can see the Casa Grande behind him.  It was named by the first missionary to see it, back in 1694.  Read more about it by clicking this link.  You will also notice rounded walls behind him; originally they were seven feet high, but have disintegrated from weather and lack of maintenance over the years.

So much of how this area was used is unknown, and much is hypothesized - about the possibility it is a meeting hall, used for grain storage, used to view the canals they had built (by hand), and other hypotheses.

The view here is the East Wall, and the West Wall, in far better condition, is shown further below.

The holes top left and right are designed to pair with other holes and thus mark the summer solstice and moon orbits.  As surprising as that is, Webber pointed out that without television or radio to guide people, the sun, moon, and stars were what they watched, and used to predict seasons and weather.

Oh, yeah, we also stopped at Walmart.

As always, all the photos from this trip are available in an album accessible by clicking this link.

"Home" at last

Things to  notice here: the pool, the bright sun, the "grass" and the patio behind the house.  We're finally in San Tan Valley and ready for 3 weeks of relaxation, out of the bad weather going on at home.

This week the temps will run in the 70s and up, so our timing is excellent.  There is a Walmart a mile away, Target 5 miles away, and plenty of places to eat.  We'll take a couple days to a) shop for groceries and b) recover from the 1800 miles or so that we've driven since last Wednesday.

The pool, by the way . . . the water is too cool for swimming or lounging in it, though there is a cover in the garage we could flop on it.  Since it's supposed to be 90 degrees on Thursday, it could warm quickly.

the cold war revisited

The lone remaining (of 50-some) Titan Missile Silo site is near Green Valley, south of Tucson.  They offer a 30-minute tour during which you learn much about the political confrontations leading to the Cold War, then a walk into the silo to view the last Titan.

This lady is standing in the control room just in front of the desk where the commander would launch a missile if necessary.  Manned by only a half-dozen soldiers, they would not have known whether it was safe to emerge after a launch because there was no communication with the outside world, apparently.  We found that from the time the order was received to launch it took but 58 seconds to go through the checklist and get the missile out of the silo.  Here it is from above:

The color is influenced by the acrylic cap over the missile, the sun behind us, etc.  And not the place you want to be standing during a launch.  Here it is from the inside of the silo:

I'd forgotten or didn't realize how chilling the cold war was.  It was Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) as coined by Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, I believe, terminology that meant that neither side really wanted to start a war because it meant death to all.  During the early Reagan administration a pact with Russia led to all of our silos but this one being blown up and filled with concrete.  The remaining missiles were used for launching satellites, the Gemini program in particular.

Inside the silo the security includes "hardened" doors and barriers that cannot be blown up from the outside.  One of the doors we went through, a foot thick and probably 10' x 10' weighed 6,000 pounds, with 1/4" clearance on the floor that would be a problem if the door were sagging, but it never will.

an old church on an Indian reservation

We thought we were simply going to be viewing an old Catholic church dating to the 1600's but were stopped in the road to pay $3 to park - for a Pow Wow.  So we figure we got double our money.  The church is in a state of disrepair but they held 3 services on this Sunday and at least the last two were packed with standing room only.

It's quite a sight, and once again you can feel the food being smoked over open fires at the numerous vendor stands in front of the church and behind it where the Pow Wow was being held.  Having never attended such an event I found it to be fascinating.  The color of the regalia, the workmanship in their outfits, and the pride of the performers were all memorable.  Although I recorded some of the dances they warned repeatedly about not doing so - and at the last not publishing them, so I will honor that.  Still, you are able to see how beautiful the costuming in a still photo.

They also asked that we not take photos from within the arena, and getting a photo from the stands was difficult when you're shooting over people - with an auto-focus that couldn't figure out what to focus on.  The activity all points to the far side of the arena so you're seeing the backs of several participants who were in the Grand March.  Still, you get the idea.  We chose not to sample the Fryed bread; just looking at the obese people told us we didn't need it, plus we had an awesome omelette at the Godtlands that morning.

I found this photo online - professional, comprehensive view:

visiting the Godtlands

We arrived at the Godtlands later than anticipated, but enjoyed a couple of evenings here.  The first big event (after touring their home and backyard) was to be called by a neighbor who reported Javelinas were walking through the dry run behind the homes.  Bryan was amazed, saying he had been living in this home for three years before ever seeing any of these weird creatures, and we had been there less than an hour . . .

Everyone ran to the fence around the yard, a value when javelinas are around since they root like pigs and could easily get under a normal fence and would find themselves very much at home under a slab floor. We saw probably 6 or 8 of them, the normal family unit.  The link above will tell you they're not very dangerous, particularly with very bad eyesight, but will defend themselves with canine-like tusks.

They're every bit as ugly as these photos indicate, looking like the pig family, but they're not.  Bryan has his "ode" to the javelina in a pair of sculptures in the back yard.

The rest of the yard is pebble-based with numerous desert plants including a couple Saguaros, all planted by him.

In the northwest corner of their back yard he has a nice grouping of plants - and a custom-built chair for viewing the wildlife out in the gully.  It  is fitted directly onto the fence and is removed easily if necessary.

The steer head is western regalia for sure.  We should all have one.

Lonna asked for the name of the special sauce he was using in salads so we took this photo to keep it handy.

Bryan has lost another 30 pounds and walks 3 or 4 hours daily all through the neighborhood.  Before leaving on Monday we ate at Mama's Kitchen, a local kitchen (with terrific food) that he has been known to walk to.  It's probably 5 miles from their home.

Other places he announced to be 57, 58, or 62 walking minutes from home.  And he eats WELL.

the white sands of New Mexico

When you're in the south it is good to sample pit BBQ somewhere, and we did last night at a place called Can't Stop Smoking in Alamagordo.  This is terrific but not very healthy meat, but when you only enjoy it once in a while you can get by with it.  Actually we got turned around somewhere around Las Cruces as we left Alamagordo and drove by a big smoker parked alongside the road at a gas station, smells and tastes so loud it was hard to keep driving.

Anyway, the big part of the day was a couple hours spent in the White Sands National Monument, 275 square miles of white gypsum sand, just like you see here.

We were standing pretty much at the base of the 60-foot dunes, about 80 yards or so from the road that snakes through the park, which is itself the monument.  The mountains all around have gypsum in the stones and soil, and the snow melt carries it into the basin.  When the water disappears, which it will do in a desert, it leaves only the gypsum in flakes the size of corn flakes.  Then the spring winds blow across the flakes, gradually tumbling them into smaller and smaller pieces.

The gypsum sand gets blown uphill, but not really into the air, and when it reaches the top of a dune it tumbles down the far side, an ongoing process that means the dunes will literally move up to 30-32 feet per year in some locations.  Plants that get in the way have to adapt.  Yucca plants do so by extending their core stem, which causes them to die when the sand moves past because the plant cannot support itself.  Another plant grows atop its own stand created by its roots and some hardened gypsum.  Animals will find shelter inside because it will be 30 degrees warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer.

Listen to the wind in this video:

Driving through the park is pretty much like driving around at home in the wintertime when there is a storm going on - the sand is constantly blowing onto the highway, to the point that the Monument has a crew that will probably be plowing the sand daily during the windy season.  Just a beautiful geological formation developed somewhere in the last 4,000 to 7,000 years.  Geologically speaking that's like yesterday, according to the film we watched.  Thank goodness for folks like Teddy Roosevelt who had enough sense to protect these natural wonders.

what you find in the desert

Today was strictly a matter of driving - from Amarillo, TX, to Alamagordo, NM by way of Highway 54.  We were kind of surprised along the way to see all the dessert, the tumbleweed, and then happened upon these two dudes who identified themselves as a high school chemistry teacher and his star pupil.

Apparently there are a lot of outlaws out here in the desert so they were equipped with a pistol - and a baseball bat, but were very friendly to us.  Mr. White, on the right, says he's concerned about his pension being destroyed by mismanagement so he's also considering a sideline business.  He also said those were not miner caps they were wearing.  Whatever.

Big Tex Steak House - good food, some entertainment

Ongoing photos from this trip are available online by clicking here.  But this event is worth extra mention.  We left OK City and landed in Amarillo, another one of my targets because it is the home of the Big Tex Steak House, not long ago featured by Bill Geist on a CBS show, perhaps Sunday Morning.  He told of the 72-ounce FREE STEAK - if you eat the whole thing.

Sure enough, we got there in time to see a guy try to do it - but he failed.  First off, take a gander at the restaurant floor as shown in this video -

Yes, it's a big room - and you will see when I pan to the right what looks like a scoreboard clock, with 60:00 shown 6 times - once for each chair at the table set up at the front of the room.  In essence, it is their form of "customer entertainment" for which they pay only the cost of a steak that may or may not be eaten, thus certifying their unique business proposition in the minds of all others who are there eating.  And the food, by the way, is quite good, we found.

Not long after I shot that video this fellow shows up.  He told me he's never done this before but he's been driving by the place for 30 years, back and forth to Iowa, and decided that tonight was his night, and he sat down.

In the picture you can see the salad, potatoes, bun, and enormous steak that he has to eat in order to get it all free.  We're maybe 5 minutes into it here, and his appetite is still strong.  For now.

Yes, we're at the end of things here - salad gone, roll is still sitting there but you can't see it, and the meat left on his plate is more than a single person should eat.  It looked like the same volume that the two of us ate and we had plenty.

Notice also he's inside 10 minutes left on his hour - the clock in the background, which you previously saw had 60:00 posted for six fools to try this.

With about five minutes to go the head chef came over to talk to him, then announced to the whole group that he had failed and we should give him a round of applause, which we did.  Our server told us that she's never seen anybody eat the whole thing - and they normally have at least one person try it every day.  What terrific publicity!

Oklahoma City National Memorial

When I learned about this memorial site I decided it would be good to visit on the way to AZ, and it was.  Their website gave some background and testimonials online led me to believe it could be quite the visit - and it was.

The reflecting pool, only an inch deep, runs the length of the block of the old 5th Street where the terrorist parked his Ryder truck and ran.  The approximate location should be just about straight ahead in this photo. The field with the empty chairs is the exact footprint of the building that was bombed.  There are nine rows of chairs on the field, each to commemorate a life lost.

The Museum itself is located in the west end of the former Journal Record Building.  The walk-through will take you directly through the path of the events, from a recording of the actual blast from a water commission committee meeting, into the chaos that directly followed, the rescue and recovery efforts that were put into place, and the dismantling and demolition of the building by construction experts.  It memorializes all who died, survived, rescued, recovered, dismantled and demolished.  An over-riding sense throughout is the hope  and future-view that the museum was intended to create.

rest stops - the new architecture

I only have one photo to share of a Rest Stop visit, but we have seen several.  This is the one mentioned in a prior post - a railroad/covered wagon tribute.  The snow disappeared by the time we got to . . . Kansas?

pushing forward

Today was simply a matter of driving 500 miles, with nothing viewed at all, except a couple of rest stops along the way.  We have a picture of Lonna at an Iowa rest stop near Ames that we'll put in once the Android does the instant upload.  The sky behind her is a beautiful blue, and the rest stop itself is a monument to progress in the Interstate Highway System.  It's extremely clean, and each seems to memorialize one aspect or another of the area.  This one is a salute to covered bridges in southern Iowa, although our photo is taken next to a pillar reflecting the railroad industry, which by itself is quite a story. We assume the pillar probably lights up nicely at night, but at noon you lose the effect.

We're in Topeka, KS, tonight, where we finally found a Super 8 that's quite nice.  Getting here was a trick because it meant doing an exit from the Kansas Turnpike and going in circles until this place popped up.  The turnpike doesn't allow you to look ahead to see four or five nice hotels grouped together, from which you can choose the best.  But this Super 8 is pretty decent.

The Rest Stop photo should upload by tomorrow.  In the meantime, here's a rooftop photo from home, taken just before we left.  Yesterday I scraped snow from much of the roof in hopes that there won't be so much snow melt damage.  Hopefully the snow will ALL be gone when we return and the overhang isn't destroyed by the ice.   Click the photo for a larger view.  Pretty sky, huh?

Follow the bouncing ball to AZ -

View 2013 Trip to AZ in a larger map

into every life, a little snow will fall

The snow that should have been on the ground yesterday morning didn't arrive until last night, so I was thinking we'd be able to leave by noon today to begin the trip.  Now the snow continues to fall at the moment and roof removal may be on the afternoon agenda.  I took close to a foot off the roof on one side, and see it's more than that on the patio side.  I doubt our landlord in San Tan Valley is struggling with that this morning.

It's pretty, but if we'd been in Oklahoma City . . .

vacation interruptus

We knew Lonna's brother was having some unusual health problems but assumed all would be OK.  Until we holed up in Osceola, IA, on our first night and got a call from her niece, who reported he's having cardio-pulmonary problems.

Not know what will happen next, we decided to return to the home base rather than push on into unknown territory. It wouldn't be real easy to make flight decisions over a 2,000-mile trip, especially when our clothing was oriented for the warmth of AZ, not Seattle.

So we're back home awaiting the next snowstorm - and better news from the West Coast.

Day One - on to Osceola

At last we're on the way, now that the meds arrived (a day late) and I was able to pick up a Disabled Parking permit.  No use for it yet, but I am betting it will come in handy.

We stopped to see Dad first.  He had fallen again this week and was "resting" when we arrived, which means he hadn't yet dressed for the day.  So the aides got him rolling and not long after Kathy came we went in to see him.  He's pretty quiet normally, which means he's thinking of zingers he an throw out.  For example, when we talked about visiting National parks for free as seniors, after a bit he said he thought I needed some "flour" for my hair.  Which I read to mean "flower" and I couldn't understand at all.  But he thought it was funny.

We left just after noon.   His handshake is firm and we look forward to seeing him again in April.  We had "Meals on Wheels" for lunch, courtesy of the President of the Northwood organization, that is, Ann Johnson.  Afterwards we marked the occasion - and began plotting the first annual reunion of Project McNamara.

Ann had squash with ham and mozzarella cheese, coleslaw, cinnamon apples, and terrific lemon cream pie for dessert.  We wished Dale well as he is undergoing tests at Mayo, but his humor was good!

Tonight - a light dinner.  I suppose.  We'll be watching the Hawks against Indiana, a tough battle, but who knows.  Tomorrow possibly Abilene, KS, or some other exotic location.