Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Goldi’s last hoorah and Goldi has landed…


As I write now, quite a lot has happened these past few months since the start of the New Year.  Our daily routine has changed considerably from on-the-road tasks of securing food, water, and a camp spot each night, to preparing meals in a full-size kitchen, getting water from a faucet on demand (hot too!), “flushing” the toilet, and turning up the thermostat.  We lay our heads each night in the same spot and in a big queen bed.  I make breakfast and Graham goes off to work.  Yes, work!  Can you believe it!?  Well…neither can we.  We’re still in a mixed state of shock, gratitude, ease, and unease. 
But….before I give you the scoop on our current status, we’d like to share some tales of the past couple months and Goldi’s last hoorah!

We enjoyed real family and friend time over the holidays with opportunities to visit with almost all of our family over the course of a few days.  We celebrated and shared Christmas at the Fisher’s home in Aptos at the glorious Mangel’s House (Claus Spreckles mansion).  This is always a treat as Ron, Tim, and Nick graciously invite us all to stay in the big house where we cook and eat scrumptious foods prepared by the accomplished lady chefs of the family (Mom and Pilar) inspired by the late lady of the house Jackie.  Over the past few years my parents have been joining the festivities making for a truly special time where both sides of our families come together building on old traditions and beginning a new.  Some of our favorite foods on the holiday table include prime rib, Yorkshire pudding, and English trifle.
Chefs extraordinaire

The girls

Christmas feast

Over the next couple days Graham and I traveled with my folks to Fair Oaks where we visited with the Schmidt/Guzman clans.  This year was no exception to the traditional gathering where cousins, aunts, and uncles share stories and catch up on the latest with little munchkins running all around under foot.  This year there were many munchkins now walking and talking with news of more on the way.  This day is often my birthday.  I couldn’t think of any other better way to spend it - always surrounded by a great family.  The next day we got to visit the Folsom Zoo (not to be mistaken for the prison) with many of the kids.  It was sooo cool!  If you’re ever in the area, check it out.  They house many native animals and some non-natives as well.  The animals there are mostly what you would find throughout California, with the exception of the tigers, thank goodness.  All of the animals are in captivity after being rescued from various situations.  We really enjoyed the opportunity to see mountain lions and bob cats up close!

Cousins

Aunts and Uncles
My cousin Julie kindly gave Graham and I a ride to Sonoma County where we then hitched a ride back to Santa Cruz from our good friend, Dr. Reverend Mike Slezak.  Mike shared the woes of his family holiday gathering where 2/3 of their family had the flu, explaining the nature of Graham’s bout with sickness the prior week.  Over the next week couple days we house sat for Jim and Candace, where I then promptly got the flu.  Nice to be in a house and glad they weren’t home!

After mending we headed for Mt. Madonna County Park, east of Watsonville, to gather with friends in a 10-person yurt to ring in the New Year.  This was a fantastic celebration complete with amazing gourmet wild mushroom meals, mushroom hunting and hiking along old logging roads through redwood groves, games, costumes, and a visit to see the albino deer.  Quite a time!  


Phil and Camille in style

Elk and oyster mushrooms for breakfast

After New Year's we were northbound to visit Steve in San Jose, Jeff and Pilar in San Francisco, and Sonoma County friends.  We had a great few days in San Francisco enjoying good company and awesome food (best Indian food ever at Shalimar).  We celebrated our birthdays at Espetus Churrascaria - a Brazillian Steakhouse with an endless supply of the most extensive selection of perfectly prepared meats and interesting sides.  We tried our best to counter all the good food with some nice long walks.  In Sonoma county we connected with John and Chris.  They showed us their awesome garden space, and the work they’ve been doing on their new property including a bee keeping venture.  We met Brian, Anna, and little Zachary at Salmon Creek beach, and were amazed to see how much Zachary had grown.  Our time with them was sweet in their Santa Rosa cozy home and garden.  On the way toward Quincy, we stopped and had a nice visit with Jeff, Sara, and Carson in Sacramento.  Again we were blown away by Carson growing and turning into an awesome little guy.

Enjoying Frozen yogurt with Jeff, Pilar, and Steve
Biking toward the Golden Gate






Goldi near Goat Rock along the Sonoma Coast
Anna and Zachary in the garden




Fun in the sun with Bryan, Anna, and Zachary at Salmon Creek Beach
Jeff and Carson
In mid-January we spent a couple weeks at my folks place re-grouping and job hunting.  As our one year trip anniversary was fast approaching, we began feeling anxious about job prospects upon landing and decided we best take some time to start looking and making contacts.  Thinking all along that we were going to land in the Quincy area and try our best to find work there, hopefully at least seasonal work, we called around and met with Forest Service and other agency folks.  After a week or so, from what we could tell, the prospects were looking grim.  Given the state of the federal budget, we received word that there would likely be little seasonal opportunity in the area let alone longer-term more permanent work.  This was big blow to our grand plan!  After networking with other non-Forest Service folks in the area, things were looking slim all the way around.  It seemed clear we would need to broaden our search.  Just as Graham began to look more regionally, a position popped up for a Geoarechaeologist at a firm, Pacific Legacy.  The job description they posted was a perfect match for his resume, so he figured he would toss his hat into the ring.  He had worked for them as a technician years before and still new many of the people working at the company.  Within hours, Graham received a phone call requesting he come in for an interview.  I wish I had that kind of response!

To make a long story short, the interview went fantastically well and led to a great offer he couldn’t refuse.  The offer arrived the day of our one-year trip anniversary!  What incredibly great fortune!  While this cut our trip a little short (we were secretly hoping to head for the desert southwest until April) we began making arrangements to land.  This new job allowed Graham to choose an office location from among their three California offices – Berkeley, Lancaster, and El Dorado Hills.  We selected the El Dorado Hills location but knowing that El Dorado Hills folks wouldn’t like “our kind” we decided to settle up “the hill” in Placerville – much more our style.  Following a recommendation from Blake, we quickly found a place to rent in Placerville and then escaped for one last hoorah in Goldi to the desert….for two weeks.

Shamefully we found ourselves lamenting the fact that we only had two weeks to spend on this leg of the journey, realizing of course how too soon we would be chomping at the bit to get a two week vacation to go to the desert!  This time frame really helped us to focus on the few places we really wanted to see and because of this we spent more time in fewer places.  It was nice.

We embarked on this last venture in true savoring spirit even more so as our hearts were weighed heavily with the recent passing of our radiant Anna Keck-Tomasso.  We had just returned from her memorial in Santa Cruz.  Anna was Anthony’s wife and partner for the last 20 years.  Anthony is Graham’s foster dad.  They were both very instrumental in our wedding ceremony and have provided great love and support to us both.  Her memorial was inspiring, heavy, and beautiful.  After Anna’s passing Anthony shared with us his thoughts.  “Pack it in!” he said.  We carried those sentiments with us on the last leg and will forever. 

We hopped on Highway 95 southbound with a camp in mind just outside of Tonopah at the … hot springs.  The next day we were through Las Vegas and freshly stocked to meet up with our buddy Neil outside of Quartzsite at the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge.  Graham had spent a considerable amount of time on the La Posa Plain nearby, always gazing up at the Kofa Range yearning to someday check it out.  This was our chance.  Neil was completely prepared and excited to spend a couple days hiking the wilds of this range.  His contagious adventurous enthusiasm carried us through the next couple days as we explored palm laden canyons and hiked to the high point in the range – Signal Peak.  The Sonoran desert vegetation was approaching spring conditions with new growth evident and early bloomers in full swing.  This range was so visually stunning and intriguing.  What a landscape!  Can’t wait to return!  The car camping was easy and delightfully warm.  We enjoyed meals and the sharing of tales over the couple days before parting ways…us back to the North toward the Grand Canyon and Neil to New Mexico.

Sonora Desert Vegetation
Checking out some cool Tinajas
California Fan Palms in Kofa National Wildlife Refuge
Neil in his glory
Mount Doom?
Glorious day atop Signal Peak in Kofa
Camp spot looking toward signal peak on nice desert pavement
Checking out the massive geodes in Quartzsite, AZ

After a quick afternoon checking out the RV and flea-market culture in Quartzsite we were on the road headed through Presocott and then Jerome, AZ.  We briefly checked out Prescott mostly using the opportunity to check email and re-supply.  The weather was cold and we decided to keep moving though it did seem like a great town.  Jerome was quite a scene.  Perched almost vertically on the slopes leading down to the Verde River are many historic buildings that once supported a bustling mining town – now tourist destination.  We drove across the river valley and onto Sedona where sunset light made the rock formations pop.  The drive up the Oak Creek Canyon was really picturesque and we again made a brief stop in Flagstaff before settling in for the night near Sunset Crater and Wupatiki National Monuments. 
We spent half the following day visiting the two monuments.  Reminiscent of the Cascades, the Sunset Crater cinder cone rises among stunted conifers with a full display of volcanic orange, red, and black hues.  Further down the loop road we explored two of the five pueblo complexes that comprise Wupatki National Monument.  During the 1100s people began gathering and building Wupatki Pueblo, the largest pueblo, that at one time housed nearly 100 residents.  Over hundreds of years Wupatki served as a major cultural crossroads and was home to many groups of people.  This visit was a great opportunity to learn about the Ancestral Puebloans that inhabited the area and to get to walk in and amongst the pueblo structures.  The color and height of the walls and the complexity of the pueblos where fascinating.


Wupatki

Wupatki Peublo

After looping back down south to Flagstaff we took Highway 180 northwest toward the south rim of the Grand Canyon and Grand Canyon village.  The highway traverses much of the Colorado Plateau and passes through the continent’s largest contiguous tract of Ponderosa Pine.  After driving several hours, the rim really sneaks up on you.  Suddenly there you are standing on the edge of the mighty Colorado!

For a couple days we explored the south rim enjoying the opportunity to drive our own vehicle (thanks to early-season timing) to Hermits’ Rest and other view points.  We tried our best to capture good light at sunset and over breakfast at sunrise the following morning.  What a treat!  Graham was truly impressed seeing the canyon for the first time, and I too for the second time.  Great memories of a desert southwest spring break college road trip flooded my mind.  


Goldi on the rim at sunrise

On our second day we joined many other hikers to brave the icy, slippery start on the descent of the South Kaibab trail to Skeleton Point.  It was awesome to get an up close and personal look at the various strata making it through the Kaibab, Toroweap, Coconino Sandstone, Hermit, and Supai Group Formations.  A condor soared over head on occasion.

Hiking down the South Kaibab Trail

On our way out of the park along the south rim heading east we stopped at the Desert View Watchtower for one last peak.  This structure was designed, along with Hermits Rest, the Bright Angel Lodge, and others within the park, by American Architect Mary Colter in the early 20th century.  I have never seen anything quite like this.  Inspired by the architecture of the Ancestral Puebloans, this structure built from native materials blends right into its environment – a work of art!

Mary Colter's Desert View Watchtower


As the day came to a close we tried our best to travel as near to Kanab as we could for the next day’s attempt at securing a permit for “The Wave” formation.  This meant traveling through a good chunk of the Navajo Reservation and over Glen Canyon Dam in the dark unfortunately.  We’ll be back someday on a pilgrimage to visit Rainbow Arch.  My great-great grandfather, William Boone Douglas, in 1909 was leading a Government Land Office Survey party that at the time became the first group of white folks to see Rainbow Arch.

With no such luck in the permit lottery to see The Wave, the BLM Grand Staircase Escalante Staff suggested some alternate hikes in the area.  The next couple days we spent exploring the narrows and slot canyons of the Wire Pass and Buckskin Gulch trails in the Paria River area of the Arizona Strip.  Amazing!  That’s all we can say.  Hope the photos will give you a sense of what we experienced there – layer upon layer of smooth red, pink, and white sandstone slowly sculpted by water and weathering over millennia.  Some sections were so narrow our shoulders would not pass through without turning our bodies.  

Toadstools formations near the Paria River
Wire Pass
Petroglyphs
Buckskin Gulch
Views from Buckskin Gulch
Camp site near Wire Pass trailhead

From here we headed for Bryce Canyon National Park trying to beat the next snow storm on its way.  We succeeded and at least got a great view from the rim at sunset along the Scenic Drive with sights of Thor’s Hammer, Bryce Amphitheatre, and Natural Bridge.  This Hoodoo-laden landscape was one of our favorites on the trip perhaps because it was a little easier to wrap our heads around the scale of the area and the colors where out of this world.  As the wind whipped and the snow fell we hunkered down for the night and decided to spend much of the next day at the beautiful Best Western in Bryce Canyon.  We had heard word you could pay for a hot shower there.  We discovered that the shower included access to the pool and hot tub.  They also had Wifi and laundry facilities.  We were in heaven for a day as the temperatures plummeted and the snow continued to fall.  The best $3 bucks spent on the whole trip!  And perhaps the best shower of our lives!

Snowy Bryce


Our next destination was Zion National Park.  We drove in from the East where snow blanketed everything around.  It was cold, windy and snowy and kind of hard to get a sense of the awesome landscape around us.  The bookstore was enjoyable and we again spent time online at the library waiting for the storm to pass.  We crashed in a nice little dispersed BLM camping spot right off the road and hiked a short distance up a wash.  The following morning the weather looked clear and we decided to go for the Angel’s Landing hike.  Several friends had recommended it.  After completing the Scenic Drive up the North Fork of the Virgin River and checking out the mouth of The Narrows and Weeping Rock we set off on the hike which was surprisingly paved all the way up Walter’s Wiggles to the Scout Overlook.  Given the icy and snowy conditions at the overlook we decided not to proceed to Angles Landing, as did most everyone else, with the exception of a small group of fearless teenagers whom we later saw made it to the top.  Our thought was…save it for next time.  But we were rewarded with impressive views and met a nice couple also traveling in a Westfalia throughout the desert southwest.  

Snowy Zion
Weeping Rock
View from Scout Overlook
Hiking Walter's Wiggles - the path to Angel's Landing
Goldi in Zion
Nice views as the weather cleared
From here we were headed back to the homeland of Nevada and onto Death Valley to warm up for a couple days before the trips end.  On the way we made a stop in Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge to check out the Devil’s Hole Pupfish.  Unbeknown to us, you can’t actually see the pupfish and in fact, their hole is safeguarded by an impressive security compound.  It was fascinating to see this in such a remote location.  The springs were also an amazing sight – so clear and beautiful and producing a great deal of 80-degree (illegal for swimming) water that then forms two small lakes in the middle of southern Nevada!  We would love to return to kayak, bird watch, and peruse the visitor’s center someday.  There is some great dispersed camping nearby.

Devi's Hole Compound
Devil's Hole Security
Ash Meadows
Spring at Ash Meadows

We landed that night at the funky Beatty Hot Springs campground where we delighted in fairly hot quick shower.  The next morning we secured a key for one of the three super rustic soaking rooms.  We had been there last about six years prior and remembered the same very nice Paiute guy that runs the place.  Nice hot soaking water!

Off to Death Valley we hopped over Daylight Pass and down to venture north on Scotty’s Castle Road and then up the ever so washboarded Death Valley Road all the way to Eureka Dunes.  We were in luck this day, as the graders were in full swing making for smooth sailing at least half the way.  As we dropped into Eureka Valley and turned off on the Dunes Road, the massive dunes came into view.  Truly impressive.  We spent two days here basking in the sun, clamoring up and down the dunes trying to get them to sing to us.  Along one particular edge, we dialed in the slope and aspect and were serenaded by the booming dune effect for at least a minute as a zillion grains cascaded down the slope until eventually finding their settled state.

Camp site in Eureka Valley
Scaling Eureka Dunes
Atop the Dunes
The descent
Savoring the sun in camp

We also ventured across to the west side of Eureka Valley were a small valley finger has been collection point for another dune field.  This hike had been on Graham’s list for a long time.  We drove as far as we could and hike the rest of the way to the dune field.  The desert pavement was spectacular as were the artifacts and ventifacts (for the geo geeks - stone shaped, faceted, or polished by wind driven sand).  We had the day to ourselves out there – it was magical.

Hiking to the dunes in the western finger of Eureka Valley
Ventifacts

Graham always on the lookout

As we continued north toward home, we stopped at a couple of the old usual hot springs along the way – Keough, Little Hot Creek, and Travertine, climbed at little in the Gorge near Bishop and shared a great happy hour celebratory meal at Whiskey Creek in Mammoth – we were back.
What an adventure this has been…

We’ve been working to unpack Goldi this week and give her the TLC she needs after such a journey – our noble steed.  I think she’ll be happy to be parked in our nice garage.  But stocked with a few boxes of macaroni and cheese always prepared for next adventure!

Thank you to all of you that were kind enough to put up with us along the way – put up with dirty us and our dirty laundry.  Thanks for letting us share some stories with you and for sharing little snapshots of your lives with us.  What a blast it has been!

Come visit us at our new digs in Placerville!
Love to you all,
K&G&Goldi    

Snow at our new Placerville digs