We arrived in the Grand Canyon area at 10PM. We found a motel about 50 miles south of the canyon's southern rim. In the morning we got up early, grabbed coffee, spilled it on ourselves, and drove an hour to the park.
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The maps we received showed paved paths along 5 miles of the rim - allowing dogs the whole way. Instead of walking or hiking, we laced up our midwestern rollerblades and hit the path at 8am. The literature reads that there is nothing quite like the Grand Canyon, however, Larson and Faircloth report that there is NOTHING LIKE ROLLERBLADING the Grand Canyon. While not an extreme sport, one must take care to check break pads and make sure they still have life left in them. The hills along the rim are handicapped (rollerblade) accessible, but there are still hazards such as narrow paths and sand/gravel. Jane's pads held up pretty well to the strenuous running.
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We made it to the "east village" and rollerbladed into a crowd of people that were gawking at a huge elk resting on the grass. One look at Jane and this elk got off its rear wide-eyed. The park ranger yelled at us, "the dog is spooking the elk, get him out of here!" We tried our best to not look like clueless tourists, "NO DUH - and it's a she!" We had to measure our own internal fear factor. Was the elk really scared of Jane? Did Jane care? (no) Did the elk scare us? Would we have continued along this trail and been chased off the cliff edge by a elk? We don't know, and we didn't care to find out. Thank you park official, you made it easy. We went around the building and continued on the other side.
One striking thing about the Grand Canyon is people's renewed sense of appreciation for large things - like dogs. Marcy couldn't rollerblade 100' without some well-dressed Italian couple saying, "Oho, whatio breedio?" Great Dane! "Ohhhhh *pet pet pet*" The novelty of our transportation system wore off quickly when confronted by 200 foreigners with SLR cameras. I was amazed at how much of the Grand Canyon I remembered from a family vacation when I was 9. (This time, it didn't rain, so the French women kept their shirts on.)
Next stop Moab. Just like between Reno and Vegas, and Vegas and Grand Canyon, there's little culture (or bathrooms) between the Grand Canyon and Moab.
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On the way out of the Canyon area we stopped at a native american jewelry and jerky stand. It was 11am and the store was just opening - providing us with the opportunity to purchase small 4oz bags of barcoded buffalo meat for $15. We mixed the jerky with a cache of chocolate we had hidden under our seat. Smart folks we are.
Later, we drove into a small town for diesel and was amazed at the multitude of families walking down the highway in want of a car. By late afternoon we were hungry again and one of us yelled, "OH, SONIC!" (I'll let you guess who.) Caylan ordered a fried chicken on ciabata, medium fry and a COOL OCEAN BREEZE WATER thing - the advertising mentioned coconut (and Caylan LOVES coconut) but the drink came out as a bright blue concoction of gatorade and sprite. Terrible. Marcy ordered a cherry limeade and a hot dog. Pleasing. We waited outside (that's the whole point, right?) and gawked at the stray dogs wandering around the worn out city-like-countryside. Every female dog had a hanging pregnant belly and every male dog had a missing ear. We didn't let Jane out of the car. We didn't want Jane to even sniff what these things were stepping in.
The rest of the trip to Moab was us taking turns driving and waking the other out of slumber as we passed interesting (or not so interesting) rock formations.
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As we entered Moab city limits, Caylan took note of a brewery in town. Per usual, we Yelped our food options. We settled on a sushi place and spent $30 to walk out half-hungry. The food was good, but the food was sushi, and we needed a few more calories to make up for our worn out driving arms and accelerator legs. We drove back to the brewery and low and behold they were having a PARTY. However, we were not invited. The bouncer made some allusion to paying a cover to be let in. We turned our heads like dogs listening to the radio and asked, "what in the world is happening tonight and how do we drink beer?" After berating the bouncer, he let us in the brewery for $5 each. We achieved "wrist band" status donning weary traveler costumes. At this point, Caylan thinks Moab is the best place on earth: awesome scenery, every car in the lot with a mountain bike rack, great food co-op, bike shops, and a large brewery (oh, and sushi). But this is where the story takes a bitter turn, because Moab, after all, is in Utah. And Utah, folks, is the home of some of the most conservative liquor laws in the country. Nothing more alcoholic than 3.2% can be poured from the beer taps. This is a death blow. Moab - the end… kind of. They can still brew "full strength" beer and bottle it in cans - so you just buy a can and call yourself satiated. Our wrist bands gained us access to a buffet of epic proportions: ribs, cheese balls, pasta, artichoke dip, hummus, club sandwiches, (no cookies)!
When we returned to the hotel, we jumped in the outdoor hot tub and I did laundry. The rest of Moab will be in the next post.
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The maps we received showed paved paths along 5 miles of the rim - allowing dogs the whole way. Instead of walking or hiking, we laced up our midwestern rollerblades and hit the path at 8am. The literature reads that there is nothing quite like the Grand Canyon, however, Larson and Faircloth report that there is NOTHING LIKE ROLLERBLADING the Grand Canyon. While not an extreme sport, one must take care to check break pads and make sure they still have life left in them. The hills along the rim are handicapped (rollerblade) accessible, but there are still hazards such as narrow paths and sand/gravel. Jane's pads held up pretty well to the strenuous running.
.jpg)
We made it to the "east village" and rollerbladed into a crowd of people that were gawking at a huge elk resting on the grass. One look at Jane and this elk got off its rear wide-eyed. The park ranger yelled at us, "the dog is spooking the elk, get him out of here!" We tried our best to not look like clueless tourists, "NO DUH - and it's a she!" We had to measure our own internal fear factor. Was the elk really scared of Jane? Did Jane care? (no) Did the elk scare us? Would we have continued along this trail and been chased off the cliff edge by a elk? We don't know, and we didn't care to find out. Thank you park official, you made it easy. We went around the building and continued on the other side.
One striking thing about the Grand Canyon is people's renewed sense of appreciation for large things - like dogs. Marcy couldn't rollerblade 100' without some well-dressed Italian couple saying, "Oho, whatio breedio?" Great Dane! "Ohhhhh *pet pet pet*" The novelty of our transportation system wore off quickly when confronted by 200 foreigners with SLR cameras. I was amazed at how much of the Grand Canyon I remembered from a family vacation when I was 9. (This time, it didn't rain, so the French women kept their shirts on.)
Next stop Moab. Just like between Reno and Vegas, and Vegas and Grand Canyon, there's little culture (or bathrooms) between the Grand Canyon and Moab.
.jpg)
On the way out of the Canyon area we stopped at a native american jewelry and jerky stand. It was 11am and the store was just opening - providing us with the opportunity to purchase small 4oz bags of barcoded buffalo meat for $15. We mixed the jerky with a cache of chocolate we had hidden under our seat. Smart folks we are.
Later, we drove into a small town for diesel and was amazed at the multitude of families walking down the highway in want of a car. By late afternoon we were hungry again and one of us yelled, "OH, SONIC!" (I'll let you guess who.) Caylan ordered a fried chicken on ciabata, medium fry and a COOL OCEAN BREEZE WATER thing - the advertising mentioned coconut (and Caylan LOVES coconut) but the drink came out as a bright blue concoction of gatorade and sprite. Terrible. Marcy ordered a cherry limeade and a hot dog. Pleasing. We waited outside (that's the whole point, right?) and gawked at the stray dogs wandering around the worn out city-like-countryside. Every female dog had a hanging pregnant belly and every male dog had a missing ear. We didn't let Jane out of the car. We didn't want Jane to even sniff what these things were stepping in.
The rest of the trip to Moab was us taking turns driving and waking the other out of slumber as we passed interesting (or not so interesting) rock formations.
.jpg)
As we entered Moab city limits, Caylan took note of a brewery in town. Per usual, we Yelped our food options. We settled on a sushi place and spent $30 to walk out half-hungry. The food was good, but the food was sushi, and we needed a few more calories to make up for our worn out driving arms and accelerator legs. We drove back to the brewery and low and behold they were having a PARTY. However, we were not invited. The bouncer made some allusion to paying a cover to be let in. We turned our heads like dogs listening to the radio and asked, "what in the world is happening tonight and how do we drink beer?" After berating the bouncer, he let us in the brewery for $5 each. We achieved "wrist band" status donning weary traveler costumes. At this point, Caylan thinks Moab is the best place on earth: awesome scenery, every car in the lot with a mountain bike rack, great food co-op, bike shops, and a large brewery (oh, and sushi). But this is where the story takes a bitter turn, because Moab, after all, is in Utah. And Utah, folks, is the home of some of the most conservative liquor laws in the country. Nothing more alcoholic than 3.2% can be poured from the beer taps. This is a death blow. Moab - the end… kind of. They can still brew "full strength" beer and bottle it in cans - so you just buy a can and call yourself satiated. Our wrist bands gained us access to a buffet of epic proportions: ribs, cheese balls, pasta, artichoke dip, hummus, club sandwiches, (no cookies)!
When we returned to the hotel, we jumped in the outdoor hot tub and I did laundry. The rest of Moab will be in the next post.
Vegas (almost) - Hoover Dam (barely)
0 Comments Published by Mt. Marcy on Sunday, October 28, 2012 at 11:11 PM.
We left Reno Friday morning with the goal of making it to the Grand Canyon. Besides Reno and Las Vegas, Nevada is desolate and absent of vegetation. We arrived in Vegas at 4 pm. Caylan has never been and I wanted to drive down the strip with him. Once the traffic came to a halt, I realized that a Vegas detour was really bad idea for a Friday afternoon. We eventually turned around and got back on (a) road. The problem was, we got on the wrong road. SO, we turned around again and finally got going in the right direction.
While reading memorabilia at the restaurant, I learned that Boulder City used to be the home of what is now the Hoover Dam. It used to be called the Boulder City Dam. The city has never gotten over the change. Caylan thought that the brewery was one of the worst examples of a brewery owned by an aging “cool” guy - the walls an unfortunate mix of road signs and ironic bumper stickers. (I found the memorabilia interesting. Not sure what that says about me).
Looking at a map, Caylan said we could see the Hoover Dam without stopping at the dam’s park. But the high walls of the bridge blocked our view. After Vegas, we were used to U-turns, so we took the next exit and drove back to the park’s gates. Since we look like terrorists in our white station wagon, we were asked to pull over so that authorities to search our car. The guard saw Jane and immediately forgot that he was searching our car. He once owned a 200 pound harlequin Great Dane, so he pet Jane, and after a cursory check, let us in. (pictures to come).
Just as we got to the entrance of the dam itself a sign said no dogs. We turned around and put Jane in the car. We approached the gate a second time and a guard closed it for the night. Caylan was aghast. Fortunately, we were able to see it well from the parking lot. Nevada was a huge pain in the rear (view mirror).
Thursday morning we drove to Reno, NV through snow-covered mountain passes. The roads were clear, but the tree limbs were white. We went to lunch in Reno at In N Out Burger. The fast food joint has been around since the 1940s, but the burgers are par for the fast food course. Caylan continues his search for the perfect shoe at Sierra Trading Post and DSW. While Caylan shopped, Jane tried on Halloween costumes at PetSmart. She was embarrassed that the XXL gnome costume was too small.
While Caylan visited a client, I crawled in the back of the wagon and napped with Jane. I fit right in with the Reno vagabonds. Jacob recommended we stay at a hotel casino, but none allow dogs. One hotel hung up as Caylan was describing that our Great Dane was petite. We finally found a hotel that allowed dogs under forty pounds. We confidently signed our lives away on the hotel pet form, went back to the car, and told Jane to suck it in. She’s only 100 pounds and everyone knows that a 40 pound dog can do just as much damage as a 150 pound dog. Caylan threatened to start a petition on change.org to make hotels change the pet weight limit.
Once Reno’s flashing marquee lights came on, we went out. We ate at a cheap Vietnamese place. Caylan is adventurous, but tonight he ordered something he couldn’t stomach - salted plum soda. We sat at the bar and noted all the health code violations. We got what we paid for.
Walking along the strip with one dollar in hand, we hit the casinos. First we went to the Nugget. It was smoky and depressing. The first slot machine we sat at we won $8.75! We cashed out and took our winnings to Harrah’s.
We played a few different slot machines and eventually put all our money on one with a mermaid theme. Caylan’s mother, Linda, liked mermaids, so we were hoping for some luck. We walked away empty handed.
The next morning we went back to the food coop to grab breakfast and snacks for a 12 hour drive through Nevada. The cashier asked me how I liked Reno. I am generally a poor liar, plus it was early. After a solid 30 seconds of silence I said, “we, uh, kinda like it.” Caylan was mortified that I couldn’t lie and say how much we liked it. The truth is we loved their store and the community they built - but the city itself was a pretty crummy fit for our tourist needs - sadly, dog unfriendly.
Tuesday was a lazy morning in Sacramento. Our only mission was to cook dinner for Jacob, Amy, and Amy's parents who were also visiting the newlyweds. As we walked Jane around Jacob's neighborhood, we finalized our menu: spinach and arugula salad, bruschetta with herbs from the backyard, and creamy wild rice tomato soup.
We explored Sacramento. We tried on shoes at Nordstrom Rack, gave therapy to a crazy barking dog at the park, hiked along the Sacramento River, looked unsuccessfully for a butcher that had raw dog bones, ate pizza and burritos at a local coffee shop, and went grocery shopping at the local food cooperative. California’s heirloom tomatoes were still in season and the co-op sold wild rice from Minnesota.
By the time we got back to Jacob and Amy's home, Amy's parents (Lynn and Barry) had arrived. I took Jane for a run / rollerblade and Caylan started prep work in the kitchen. Lynn removed stems from herbs, Jacob fried sage in butter, Amy set the table, and Barry who is quite the sommelier went shopping. Dinner is best when it’s a team effort.
Barry and Lynn chose two red wines. With each course we voted to see which wine tasted best. One of the funnier moments was when Barry insisted that we one glass for each wine so that we can taste them side by side. Since Jacob and Amy had just moved, they couldn’t find a few of the “correct” glasses, so a few of us had to taste a cabernet in a pinot noir glass. Tragic! I wish I could remember the name of the wines… borolo something.
Near the end of the night, when the laughs settled down, we decided to go eat breakfast together. We ate at “Orphan,” a breakfast house the next morning.
During breakfast, Barry and Lynn announced that they were going to visit vineyards in the Shenandoah Valley, a 45 minute drive from Sacramento. Caylan, Jacob, and Amy had to work, but guess who didn’t? Hehe. At first we thought the trip was a bust, because the first two vineyards only open on weekends, but we finally lucked out. Our first visit was Young’s Vineyard. Unlike the big Napa vineyards, they let us try more wines and we didn’t have to pay to taste. I liked Young’s Zinfandel and Sangiovese.
Our second stop was Brey’s Vineyard. We had an inkling that the wines there would be different since their logo is a drunken farmer on a tractor, throwing back a bottle of wine. The wines were not fabulous, but I did get to see the workers crushing the grapes with a rake-like tool. They invited us to take our shoes off and start stomping. Not wanting purple feet for a month, we declined.
I learned of the keywords/topics to broach to get special treatment from sommeliers. I’m not sure I learned enough to be dangerous, but I had fun. As we described what food would taste best with each wine we made ourselves hungry.
We went to Villa Toscana Winery for lunch and shared a pizza and tri-tip sandwich. It must be owned by an attorney, because these signs were all over. After lunch it was time for a siesta, so we headed back to Sacremento.
As we drove up to the house, Amy, Jacob and Caylan were walking to happy-hour since they had all worked so hard. I jumped out of the car and went with them. Caylan was in heaven. The pub had a handful of Belgian-style beers (these beers often taste spicy bubblegum).
Dinner was at Grange in downtown Sacramento. Grange boasts that its food comes from local farmers and artisans. We shared a la family style. We ordered wine and house-made alcoholic sodas. Caylan has brewed many kinds of soda and the menu at Grange gave him more ideas. I fully support all soda-making.
We started dinner with five cheeses, mussels, and smoked salmon. For dinner folks had butternut squash, Amish chicken, vegan chickpea croquettes, and pork chops. The climax of the meal came at dessert. Not only did we share butterscotch pudding, a milk chocolate peanut butter bar and persimmon pudding, but we tasted “one hundred years” of port. In other words, we shared a glasses of 10, 20, 30, and 40 year old port. I love port! Barry stated the rules of the game: we had to try them in order and then go around and share our thoughts and vote for our favorite. The 30 was my least favorite, and I narrowed it down to two: 20 and the 40. The 40 won. When would I ever have another one? Lynn liked the 10; Jacob agreed with me; Amy went with the 20; and because no one had chosen it, Caylan chose the 30 (he’s good at being the odd one). Come to think of it, Barry never voted! It was an evening to remember. The Fletchers love good food and are very generous. They made Caylan and I feel welcome and part of their family.
During the night, I took advantage of (wait for it…) my last hours of having easy access to a washing machine.
Amy’s parents departed on Thursday morning, along with us, so Amy got up early and cooked eggs and hash browns. After our breakfast, Jane went on a big run and Jacob went on a sales call. Caylan and I left for Reno around 9 am.
We had a lazy morning in rainy Sacramento. I started laundry, finished my stuff, but none of Caylan's laundry. By 11 am we knew that if we wanted to make it to San Francisco we had to leave pronto. Caylan left wearing flip flops, swim trunks, and his orange down jacket. How fashion forward! Our mission in San Fran became "Caylan pants and shoe shopping." We bee-lined it to the historically queer, Castro District. Hayyyy!
We shared a tofu burrito and walked the streets looking for appropriate clothing. The shops are mostly dog friendly . . . gay men love Jane! One man in particular runs up and pets Jane and says, "ohh so sweet!" and walks away. We walk across the street and 5 minutes later, the same guy comes up and asks to pet Jane. Sure, we say. He pets for a moment and then says, "oh, is this the same dog from across the street?" Yes, we say. He claims, "OH MAN, I'M HALLUCINATING." Such is life.
Caylan and I have both visited San Fran in the past, but Caylan had never been down Lombard Street (the curvy one). This is him rolling his eyes *-*
We drove down the street and I hopped out of the car (at Caylan's request) to snap a photo of Jane hanging her head out the window. So, imagine me jumping out the car door half way down the street, running down the stairs next to the road, and Caylan coming to a jerky halt every half turn. Once the (primarily asian) pedestrian tourists saw me running down the road as uno-paparazzi - taking pictures of Jane, they followed suit. *snap snap snap* THERE SHE GOES!
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After leaving San Fran we visited a dog park in Berkeley. We tried watching the presidential debate at a bar there, too, but with the SF Giants playing and scoring often (9-0 + yawn), it was dang near impossible to focus on (or hear) the debate. We opted to finish listening to the debate on the radio on our way back to Sacramento.
For those that are curious (haaay!) - Caylan settled on Levi 513 corduroys and steel gray blundstone boot (which have not been purchased just yet because he turned down a dealer in Portland). Long story.
We shared a tofu burrito and walked the streets looking for appropriate clothing. The shops are mostly dog friendly . . . gay men love Jane! One man in particular runs up and pets Jane and says, "ohh so sweet!" and walks away. We walk across the street and 5 minutes later, the same guy comes up and asks to pet Jane. Sure, we say. He pets for a moment and then says, "oh, is this the same dog from across the street?" Yes, we say. He claims, "OH MAN, I'M HALLUCINATING." Such is life.
Caylan and I have both visited San Fran in the past, but Caylan had never been down Lombard Street (the curvy one). This is him rolling his eyes *-*
We drove down the street and I hopped out of the car (at Caylan's request) to snap a photo of Jane hanging her head out the window. So, imagine me jumping out the car door half way down the street, running down the stairs next to the road, and Caylan coming to a jerky halt every half turn. Once the (primarily asian) pedestrian tourists saw me running down the road as uno-paparazzi - taking pictures of Jane, they followed suit. *snap snap snap* THERE SHE GOES!
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After leaving San Fran we visited a dog park in Berkeley. We tried watching the presidential debate at a bar there, too, but with the SF Giants playing and scoring often (9-0 + yawn), it was dang near impossible to focus on (or hear) the debate. We opted to finish listening to the debate on the radio on our way back to Sacramento.
For those that are curious (haaay!) - Caylan settled on Levi 513 corduroys and steel gray blundstone boot (which have not been purchased just yet because he turned down a dealer in Portland). Long story.
Sunday morning Caylan and I sniffed out great coffee and headed to Cakebread Cellers in Napa Valley. A quick backstory: this summer Caylan purchased a vintage wine from Cakebread Cellers with the understanding that when I found out the bar exam results that we would celebrate - if I passed, we'd drink the fine wine in glasses; if I failed, we'd drink it straight from the bottle. I passed, so glasses it was!
Saturday we made reservations for a tasting of Cakebread's reserve wines. We started sipping at 11 am and whew, it tasted like magic. The wines were incredibly complex - everything they could/should be. I was afraid we ruined our palette - and I was right.
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The entire highway was one giant wine store. Beaulieu Vineyard was down the road. We tried their premium wines. Although I have enjoyed their wines in the past, after Cakebread, it was hard turn back.
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On a recommendation we dined at Bouchon in Yountville for lunch and devoured a $25 ham and cheese sandwich featured a fried egg.
We left Napa with a cheese buzz and headed to the happiest place on earth - the Jelly Belly factory. More backstory: 10 years ago the Faircloths took a family vacation to Northern California and Jelly Belly was, I'm proud/ashamed to admit, the highlight for my dad and I. After sharing this experience with Caylan - I'm happy to report he loved it, too. With Caylan's credit card in hand, I stocked up on five bags of Belly Flops (buy three, get two free). Muahhaha. What's a belly flop? Jelly Belly has strict quality standards and the beans that aren't proper get packaged and sold as flops. The funnier they look the better they taste. Heaven! We (mostly Caylan, 'cause he is a sucker for new things) tried their nasty flavors, like - dog food, rotten egg, booger, skunk, tabasco, and pencil shavings.
Then off to Sacramento to home base at Amy and Jacob's. Since a good dog is a tired dog, we went to the dog park. Jane romped with a german shepherd and border collie.
We're responsible dog owners, which means that when Jane goes to the bathroom, we pick it up. But when there's no trashcan, we fasten it to our car window and "drive dirty."
Pardon the segue...
Amy made lasagna for dinner. It was so good to eat a home cooked meal.
Jelly Flops for dessert.
Tomorrow we're headed to San Francisco.
Saturday we made reservations for a tasting of Cakebread's reserve wines. We started sipping at 11 am and whew, it tasted like magic. The wines were incredibly complex - everything they could/should be. I was afraid we ruined our palette - and I was right.
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The entire highway was one giant wine store. Beaulieu Vineyard was down the road. We tried their premium wines. Although I have enjoyed their wines in the past, after Cakebread, it was hard turn back.
-1.jpg)
On a recommendation we dined at Bouchon in Yountville for lunch and devoured a $25 ham and cheese sandwich featured a fried egg.
We left Napa with a cheese buzz and headed to the happiest place on earth - the Jelly Belly factory. More backstory: 10 years ago the Faircloths took a family vacation to Northern California and Jelly Belly was, I'm proud/ashamed to admit, the highlight for my dad and I. After sharing this experience with Caylan - I'm happy to report he loved it, too. With Caylan's credit card in hand, I stocked up on five bags of Belly Flops (buy three, get two free). Muahhaha. What's a belly flop? Jelly Belly has strict quality standards and the beans that aren't proper get packaged and sold as flops. The funnier they look the better they taste. Heaven! We (mostly Caylan, 'cause he is a sucker for new things) tried their nasty flavors, like - dog food, rotten egg, booger, skunk, tabasco, and pencil shavings.
Then off to Sacramento to home base at Amy and Jacob's. Since a good dog is a tired dog, we went to the dog park. Jane romped with a german shepherd and border collie.
We're responsible dog owners, which means that when Jane goes to the bathroom, we pick it up. But when there's no trashcan, we fasten it to our car window and "drive dirty."
Pardon the segue...
Amy made lasagna for dinner. It was so good to eat a home cooked meal.
Jelly Flops for dessert.
Tomorrow we're headed to San Francisco.
The next few days are personal days. We spent Friday night in Crescent City, CA. Saturday we made our way 300 miles south to Santa Rosa. Along our route to Santa Rosa, we explored the California redwoods and giant sequoias in state and national parks.
Jane continues to be the best dog in the world. She is a true family member and this trip wouldn’t be as fun without her. She hikes like a champ and loves making new friends. She’s always eager to get back in the car for a ride. Great Danes are known to be couch potatoes, but since she loves the car so, we like to say she is a backseat potato. When we go into a restaurant, she patiently waits for us in the car. When we drive, she often rests her heavy head on our shoulders, not to miss a beat.
We hiked several forest trails, climbed over driftwood on the oceans, and stopped at every historical marker, vantage site, and point of interest sign. Sometime after stop five, I realized that I’ve become my dear mother.
Here are a few highlights and tidbits from our redwood adventure:
- We came up with a new phrase: “bat” means “big a** tree.”
- We saw dozens of different types of mushrooms.
- The fir trees next to the ocean create an important barrier against salt in the ocean breezes. If the fir trees were not there, the redwoods couldn’t survive
- The redwoods are the tall ones, the giant sequoias are the really giant ones
- Redwoods were around back in the time of dinosaurs. The grow to be 2000 years. The sequoias grow to be 3500 years.
- We saw 20 elk in a field. Jane recognized and respected the size difference.
- While noting to each other the large size of a particular banana slug was, Jane came over and unbeknownst to her stepped on it.
Jane continues to be the best dog in the world. She is a true family member and this trip wouldn’t be as fun without her. She hikes like a champ and loves making new friends. She’s always eager to get back in the car for a ride. Great Danes are known to be couch potatoes, but since she loves the car so, we like to say she is a backseat potato. When we go into a restaurant, she patiently waits for us in the car. When we drive, she often rests her heavy head on our shoulders, not to miss a beat.
We spent Saturday night in Santa Rosa.
Happy birthday to Lauren and Tim's sweet little one, Jackson Robert! Born October 16 at 5:48 am. Jack is named after his great grandfathers.
Since I am out west and on pacific time, even though Lauren was very clear that we would not be getting early morning texts, I did. I loved it. Caylan heard the phone buzz, woke me and said, Lauren had Jack! It was the best news ever. I haven't stopped smiling. It's amazing what new life does to us. Lauren says Jack has her hair, since Tim was born bald.
These pictures were taken in the hospital
Since I am out west and on pacific time, even though Lauren was very clear that we would not be getting early morning texts, I did. I loved it. Caylan heard the phone buzz, woke me and said, Lauren had Jack! It was the best news ever. I haven't stopped smiling. It's amazing what new life does to us. Lauren says Jack has her hair, since Tim was born bald.
These pictures were taken in the hospital
This post is a long time coming. My brother married Amy on September 15 in Denver. I have gotten to know Amy over the past year. She is a loving woman who knows what she wants. She has a twin brother, too. I thought it was sweet of her to ask me to be a bridesmaid. Amy went to journalism school at Northwestern and got her masters there, too. She now owns her own PR business.
My parents hosted the rehearsal dinner at a rooftop bar in downtown Denver. We could see the mountains while we drank margaritas and ate mexican that was catered by a local food cart chef.
The wedding was at 5:30 the next day.
The reception was at the Denver Art Museum. The Faircloths danced our booties off.
My parents hosted the rehearsal dinner at a rooftop bar in downtown Denver. We could see the mountains while we drank margaritas and ate mexican that was catered by a local food cart chef.
The wedding was at 5:30 the next day.
The reception was at the Denver Art Museum. The Faircloths danced our booties off.
We spent Wednesday night in Newport, OR. The next morning walked down to the beach for a morning run and too many lunges. Jane is a big fan of the beach.
Before leaving Newport we stopped at the food coop. We drove down HWY 101, which follows the Oregon coastline, to another coop in Florence. On our way we pulled over at a Devil's Churn, where the waves have cut through the rock, carving a stream. The Oregon coast is wild and beautiful -a must see indeed.
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We drove up to the highest point on the Oregon Coast.
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We stopped at the Oregon Dunes National Park.
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Then we drove to Eugene, which is more in the middle of the state. Our friend, Dan, who we visited in Bellingham had done his internship at OU in Eugene and told us the hotspots to visit. We ate pumpkin gnocchi and a squash and radish salad with jalapeño vinaigrette at the Party Cart . Then we had ice cream at the Red Wagon - pop 'n fresh (sweet corn with chocolate caramel ice cream) and smoked salt caramel ice cream. We topped off the meal with aged pu-erh tea (post fermented tea leaves from the early '90s). Caylan says it was the best $50 he has spent in a parking lot.
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We went for a post dinner hike up Spencer's Butte. It was a steep hike through trees that belonged in the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. We made it up for sunset.
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It rains a lot up here, so we stopped at Wal-Mart and wisely purchased Rain-x and new wipers. Our plan was to make it to Coos Bay for the night, but we ended up stopping short in a Reedsport when we saw a potential client (a small natural food store).
It was raining when we woke this morning. We went to the natural market and they are definite potential client, under new ownership, and were looking for a new point of sale system. Bingo!
On our way to Coos Bay we stopped at another park that had sand dunes. It was raining but we went on a nice, but wet, hike to sand dunes that made me think we were in Saudi Arabia. Jane wasn't a fan of the rain, but she runs like a cheetah through the dunes.
We were drenched and muddy by the end of the hike.
Caylan has a client meeting this afternoon in Coos Bay and then we'll head down to the California state line, to the land of redwoods, wine, my brother, and new sister-in-law.
Before leaving Newport we stopped at the food coop. We drove down HWY 101, which follows the Oregon coastline, to another coop in Florence. On our way we pulled over at a Devil's Churn, where the waves have cut through the rock, carving a stream. The Oregon coast is wild and beautiful -a must see indeed.
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We drove up to the highest point on the Oregon Coast.
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We stopped at the Oregon Dunes National Park.
.jpg)
Then we drove to Eugene, which is more in the middle of the state. Our friend, Dan, who we visited in Bellingham had done his internship at OU in Eugene and told us the hotspots to visit. We ate pumpkin gnocchi and a squash and radish salad with jalapeño vinaigrette at the Party Cart . Then we had ice cream at the Red Wagon - pop 'n fresh (sweet corn with chocolate caramel ice cream) and smoked salt caramel ice cream. We topped off the meal with aged pu-erh tea (post fermented tea leaves from the early '90s). Caylan says it was the best $50 he has spent in a parking lot.
+Caylan+Van+Larson.jpg)
We went for a post dinner hike up Spencer's Butte. It was a steep hike through trees that belonged in the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. We made it up for sunset.
.jpg)
-1.jpg)
-3.jpg)
.jpg)
It rains a lot up here, so we stopped at Wal-Mart and wisely purchased Rain-x and new wipers. Our plan was to make it to Coos Bay for the night, but we ended up stopping short in a Reedsport when we saw a potential client (a small natural food store).
It was raining when we woke this morning. We went to the natural market and they are definite potential client, under new ownership, and were looking for a new point of sale system. Bingo!
On our way to Coos Bay we stopped at another park that had sand dunes. It was raining but we went on a nice, but wet, hike to sand dunes that made me think we were in Saudi Arabia. Jane wasn't a fan of the rain, but she runs like a cheetah through the dunes.
We were drenched and muddy by the end of the hike.
Caylan has a client meeting this afternoon in Coos Bay and then we'll head down to the California state line, to the land of redwoods, wine, my brother, and new sister-in-law.
