Other Places – Page 2

West Coast College Tour – Los Angeles to Santa Barbara

Los Angeles to Santa Barbara sounds like a West Coast sort of trip and there are colleges to visit on both ends. Sunday morning took us to the campus of the University of California – Los Angeles. Cool, I have wanted to visit since I was thinking about college. Since we were already expecting to be on our own, we found parking and began wandering around. UCLA is bigger than ASU and much bigger than Fort Lewis.

Royce Hall

Stairs at UCLA Campus

Royce Hall Fountain

Inverted Reflection in the Royce Hall Colonade

Reflection in the Royce Hall Colonade

After UCLA we took a little trip over to Pepperdine in Malibu. We didn’t really tour the campus, but we did drive around the loop and

they have a beautiful campus with an amazing view of the ocean. Visiting Pepperdine set us up nicely for visiting the Getty Villa. Dee and the girls liked it better than I did and I rather liked it. I was probably still in a testy mood from negotiating that parking lot that Californians call Highway 1 or the Pacific Coast Highway. I should have learned then that Highway 1 would let you down.

Avoiding Highway 1 near Los Angeles was on my mind heading for Santa Barbara.We went into the hills from Malibu until we could join US101. Santa Barbara is a beach town too so it’s impossible to stay away from ‘The One’ altogether, but we were in good shape because

we were further from Los Angeles. We actually had a place to stay in Carpenteria, the city east of Santa Barbara. The hotels we stayed at were mostly just nice, but I liked this one particularly well since it had an enclosed courtyard and a balcony that we enjoyed while drinking our morning coffee. That’s jumping the gun though, on Sunday evening we dumped our bags in our rooms and took the girls to the beach in Carpenteria. We took Linden Avenue until it ended in a parking lot and walked a few yards to the sand. The girls looked left and right and said goodbye so Dee and I were on our own. We hollered that they should call us when they were hungry and we went to The Palms for dinner. It’s a bit unusual in that you cook your own meat. We were almost done when the girls called, so by the time they walked the couple blocks from the beach, we were ready to go across the street to the grocery store . Chris was tired of ‘Gringo Food’ (whatever that is) and wanted to make some Guacamole dip for dinner for herself and Katy. It was more than Avocado. I had a taste the next morning and this gringo would happily call it food!

West Coast College Tour – Tempe to Los Angeles

The adventure of the West Coast College Tour was still very strong when we woke up in Tempe, even though we had yet to actually reach the coast. That would happen at the end of the day. We had checked with the Admissions Department and asked what we might be able to do to learn about the University on a Saturday and were told that there were no tours, but that ‘someone will be here.’ “Everybody knew that anybody could. Somebody should, but nobody

Image of two teenage girls in a tree — Shade in Tempe

did.” Is that how that goes?

It was Saturday, the only reason I hang on to it at all was the promise that someone would be available. Our prospective students were disappointed more by the heat than the lack of excitement over their visit and we found our self guided tour of the campus brief but interesting.

Image of Gammage Memorial Auditorium on Tempe Campus of Arizona State University — Gammage Memorial Auditorium

From the Admissions Building you can see the Gammage – the last public commission of Frank Lloyd Wright. We walked around the Auditorium and climbed a tree or two. We found a stand of grapefruit trees planted to obscure the power transformer for the auditorium. There were fruit on the ground and fruit hanging on the trees. I reached out to touch one of the hanging fruit and it dropped into my hand so I tasted it. I promise that if all grapefruit tasted that bitter, grapefruit would only ever have been appreciated by the Borgias. It probably wasn’t ripe. ASU apparently has a tradition of treating students and staff from produce grown on campus.

The college tour stop was served its purpose. The girls agreed that they didn’t need to see anymore of ASU on the grounds that they couldn’t detect any humidity, it had to be the heat! We stopped by the college bookstore to buy proof of our visit and were on our way to Los Angeles. We kept it simple by staying on I-10 until we were in the City of Angels and then we were on any number of 3 digit divided highways.

Image of Saguaro Cactus — Saguaro Cactus – or – Shade in Quartzite

We had a couple interesting things happen on the road. We went through a Burger King drive through for lunch in Quartzite, AZ (I-10 just east of California border) because we thought it would be quick. Unfortunately the police had made a traffic stop and the driver must have been known to the staff of the restaurant because they were more interested in watching the policeman issue a ticket than in filling our order. We were able to watch due process happen as well. It also gave us the opportunity to admire the saguaro cactus that was the closest thing to a tree that we had seen in miles.

image of San Gorgonio Pass Wind Farm — San Gorgonio Pass Wind Farm

The other thing that stuck in my memory of that drive was the wind farm that was on both sides of the highway. about halfway between the California border and Los Angeles. I don’t suppose I’d like it if it were in my backyard, but it was pretty cool to see all those white blades spinning in the wind.

Second image of the San Gorgonio Pass Wind Farm — Wind Farm2

For the first time on our trip we arrived at our destination before dark. We wanted to visit UCLA on Sunday morning. Saturday evening was open. Our hotel was in Manhattan Beach so we went to find the ocean.

It was wonderful to smell the salt air; to see crowds of people walking and talking. having spent hours seeing people whose goal, like ours, was to drive to their destination as quickly as possible it was tremendous see people just getting their feet wet. It was great to do things that had to do with the ocean.

Chris, Katy and Dee

“This is the Ocean!”

“It’s wet!”

Manhattan Beach Peir toward the shore

Ships at Sea

We were at the beach so we thought it would be good to eat right here. We found the Manhattan Beach Post. We don’t usually eat at

Image of Duck Prosciutto at Manhattan Beach Post — Duck Prosciutto

places that are so impressed with themselves, but it was fun and the fact that it was packed made it very high energy. One thing on the menu was Duck Prosciutto which confused me, I thought Prosciutto was dried ham. It was delicious. I once heard Prosciutto described as what happened to bacon when it went to heaven — that has to be a bizarre concept if you eat kosher. Probably doesn’t do much to make the pig feel better either.

West Coast College Tour – Durango to Tempe

Before we headed to the West Coast, and Tempe, we had to justify stopping in Durango. Fort Lewis College was the attraction. It proved to be well worth the stop. We finally got to bed about 2:30am on June 19th and had a scheduled campus visit at 9:30am on the 20th. That appointment was very hard to keep. Not only was it hard to get out of bed,

we had a hard time finding where we were supposed to go. It might be a personal problem because it happened at almost every campus. Either that or the directions are written by people who go there every day and don’t notice the inconsistency of the names they use for places and the names of those places on campus maps and buildings. I prefer the second interpretation.

The campus seemed warm and welcoming, and in a beautiful place, and the folks talking to us made a compelling case for applying to Fort Lewis College.

While the the prospective college students pondered, the superfluous parents, Dee and I, went looking for coffee to soften the blow of the short night. We found Durango Joe’s and passed an hour and a half coaxing ourselves into the day. We asked the kind folks at the East College Drive location where to eat lunch and they enthusiastically recommended that we try Zia’s Tacaria. They must have recommended it to everyone in town cuz it was busy.

One thing that every man fears is his wife saying, “The car is making a funny noise.” We pulled into the second tire shop in two days and asked how they did at supporting guys who couldn’t hear the noise. Big shout out to the guys at the tire shop for finding that noise and making it go away. They laughed at me and showed me the little broken plastic part that was responsible. They made the low air pressure warning light go out too! Two issues, both related to yesterday’s flat tire. We paid the man and hopped back on US-160 and got on the road to Tempe, Az.

Oddly, we don’t have many pictures of the drive from Durango to Phoenix and Tempe. Or maybe it’s not so odd; nothing waved and said, “Look at me, Look at me!” The landscape is forbiddingly dry and while it has a stark beauty all its own, it doesn’t lend itself to snapshots. We ran out of daylight in Flagstaff during dinner and once again reached our destination in the dark. We consoled ourselves with the knowledge that we were going to bed on the same day we got up.

West Coast College Tour – Denver to Durango

June 18 – Denver to Durango

Late start.
Flat tire.

Ever seen a more auspicious beginning to a vacation?

We had planned to leave Denver around 3pm and drive US285 through South Park to US160 with a little corner cutting on Colorado 112 from Center to Del Norte. Instead, when we actually headed out of town around 6pm, Google said that, with rush hour, I-25 south past Pueblo to Walsenburg and then west on US160 would save us an hour. Hope that was true, but we’d have been on Wolf Creek Pass after dark either way and I’m sure the pass is more fun in the daytime. Just sayin’.

Hanalei Bay

In the afternoon, we drove west out of Princeville back to Hanalei Bay where we had eaten the night before. The bay is a beautiful half circle with lots and lots of sandy beach.

We first saw the river and then visited the Hanalei Bay Beach Park and walked away from the river, past the pier to the catamarans and back. Denver seemed to be vary far away and that made us smile.

Catamaran tied up in Hanalei River

Stand-up paddleboarders on Hanalei River

Hanalei Bay Pier

Hanalei Bay Surfers

He’s almost up

Small catamarans beached at Hanalei Bay

Dee smiling because… Aloha

Being full of adventure and curiosity, we hopped back in the car and drove away from Hanalei Bay and Princeville to another beautiful beach. Lumahai Beach isn’t considered safe for swimming. It’s been seen by millions in the movie South Pacific.

Lumahai Beach was the same as Hanalei but different. It boasted the same ocean and the beach was made of the same almost too brilliant sand. There was no pier and there were no catamarans. There was a living tree almost destroyed by fire with a hole clear through the trunk. The tree made the biggest impression on me.

Tremendous parking under the trees

Still going

Taro Fields in Hanalei Valley from Princeville Overlook

It was time for our first official Kauai vacation nap. We retraced our steps and just at the top of the hill that separates Princeville from Hanalei Bay and sea level, we stopped at an overlook that shows taro fields in Hanalei Valley.

Princeville, Hawaii – Queen’s Bath

Queen’s Bath is a bit of ocean front in Princeville where the waves have carved bowls out of the old lava. During high tide the water fills those bowls and during low tide those bowls of water are pools for swimmers – human and non-human. Because we could walk to the path down to Queen’s Bath, that was the first place we visited on Kauai.

Since we are from Colorado where it is perfectly natural for things not to grow, we still can’t get over the lavish greenery and squandered beauty of blooming flowers everywhere. It was a visual feast and we gorged ourselves!

The path was wet from the most recent rain, and quite slippery. Sometimes Dee had to hold my hand so I wouldn’t be scared. Another thing that kept surprising drylanders like us was the amount of water that was being thrown away; in Colorado, we would sue!

Steep Path to Queen’s Bath

Random Water Fall

Path to Queens Bath

And on That Note ... — And on That Note …

At the base of the path – or may-be the beginning of the shoreline – there is a sobering sign cautioning visitors that we could actually die. We read the sign, thought about it, and went toward the water anyway, because we are responsible adults. We were glad we did.

We saw sea turtles. They were probably doing serious things like trying to eat enough to survive in an area where their natural predators were less concentrated, but from where I stood, they were just cool to watch.

There were some small swimmers and fliers in little pools. There were some adventurous human folks in the biggest bath. A couple canoes with outriggers went by making me think that would be fun, but as I watched, I realized that they had the energy and stamina of much younger people. Shoot! They were much younger people. I decided that watching the various activities was excitement enough.

Princeville, Hawaii

You wake up early your first day in Hawaii - the full moon is a bonus — You wake up early your first day in Hawaii – the full moon is a bonus

image of Dee sleeping — Dee is good at lots of things

Getting up early in Princeville is easy when you go to bed early in Princeville. At least, that’s what I thought. Dee, may-be not so much. I even woke up before the chickens, but that was beginners luck.

Chicken with apparent Spanish ancestors.

This chicken looked at me like I was the intruder

Waking up early and watching everything wake up proved to be the perfect way for me to start our first day in Kauai.

View from Master Bedroom

Stairs to Master Bedroom Balcony

Kauai, Hawaii

We flew to Kauai, Hawaii.

Why?

Well, because the Trans-Pacific Highway is not a thing and the Great Canoes of the Hawaiian Islands were never committed to a port of call in California. Once we got past thinking we had options, we locked on to the Airport in the town of Lihue.

We had reserved a place in Princeville and had printed out – and left behind – the very nice confirmation letter sent to us by the owner. No problem, we figured we’d review the details (like the address and the lockbox combination) on line as we got close, so we chatted with the car rental people about all sorts of things like: what they thought every visitor to Kauai absolutely must see and do. We should have been asking for the best way to access the internet without a local account. The car folks did their thing with the map and off we went to Princeville.

You know how you can scarcely move from one building to the next in some parts of the country without having to dodge a “Free WiFi”

House in Princeville — Here’s where we stayed. Here is the car that got us there.

sign? It’s not like that in Kauai. We reached the home we were renting , but we couldn’t remember the lockbox combination to save our lives so, we did what everyone does when they’re in that situation – we went to dinner!

Image of Bouchon's Hanalei Grill from the website — Happy Hour for Us

Yes, it was a little early. Yes we told ourselves “It’s five o’clock somewhere.” “Yes,” they told us, “unless you are a local subscriber, WiFi is a problem.” Then we asked, “Do you guys do Happy Hour?”

After a little comfort food in the form of sushi and a beer in front of an open window looking over a valley that has probably been lush green since creation, we realised that we could call the folks in Denver that put us on to the place and they might be able to help us over our first vacation bump. For no good reason that I’ve ever come up with, that worked!

Armed with the combination, (and well fed) we forced the lockbox to surrender the key and we were in. Inside, there was WiFi. There were beds. Life was good again. I was so happy I took one of the Coconuts from the yard and put it on the table on the deck for a centerpiece. Not realizing how we would feel about them by the end of our week, we admired the chickens roaming the yard. We went to bed early.

Deck Area Outside Living Room / Kitchen

Living Room / Kitchen

Rifle Falls – Vacation Ends

Rifle Falls State Park was our last camping destination. The bad thing about vacations is that you have to go home. Well, may-be that’s just a bad thing about short vacations, but if it is, then we’ve never been on a long vacation. Heading home means your vacation is over and we were in heading home mode.

After overnighting at Flaming Gorge, we had to drop south to Vernal, Utah before heading east and once we got into Colorado there were all sorts of little roads we had to take before we made our way to Rifle. I think you could say that we wended, we wended our way to Rifle, CO. The falls are really pretty, the state park staff was very friendly and we decided that this was the nicest campsite of the trip.

Carts for tents, bags and food

An empty campsite

Just below the falls

Our Campsite

From the side

Through the falls

The cliff underneath the falls

Rifle Falls one more time

Flaming Gorge

The Flaming Gorge sprawls across the Wyoming-Utah border and is primarily a place for land locked water lovers to soak up a little hydro-therapy. After a few days in Yellowstone National Park it was time to head home. We headed home by going south to the Gorge. The bad thing about road trips is that occasionally, you have to spend hours on the road. About six hours driving, I think, between Bridge Bay in Yellowstone and Buckboard Marina in Flaming Gorge. (Add looking at the Grand Teton National Park, a late lunch in Jackson, and some road construction and I’m no longer puzzled about why we cooked dinner in the dark.) Oops, I jumped ahead…

We slowly worked our way out of the south gate of Yellowstone Park which put us, almost immediately, into Grand Teton National Park. Colter Bay is well worth the stop. We saw another amazing lake, spectacular mountain peaks and a perfectly wonderful town, called Jackson on the southern end. We broke for lunch in Jackson (oh, I said that). Then, a couple hours of lonely, high, dry plains until we hit the I-80 town of Green River. If you go straight south of there you hit a reservoir caused by damming the Green River in the Flaming Gorge which is very pretty on the southern end. We spent the night at a place called Buckboard Marina. There were showers at the campground! Hot showers! We walked!