A Great Christmasy Weekend

My nice weekend began when Kate came over Friday night and we exchanged gifts. Kate and I had set a gift limit this year. Are gifts to each other were largely in a round about way gifts to our selves. Kate has been bringing me to game nights through Meetup groups. We've learned several different card games, and so I had purchased her a couple of these. A game called Sequence and an Italian set of cards on which a game called Briscola is played. I also bought a blanket that Kate had wanted. Kate got me a great Ansel Adams calendar that I'll enjoy looking at all year. She also got a Christmas ornament for the tree. This has become a tradition for Kate. This year's ornament is a turtle that has a southwest theme to remind us of our trip to Arizona. Lastly she bought a 1000 piece puzzle that has a Christmas theme. It is a coca-cola ad showing an old general store in a snow scene. The idea is that we could frame it and use it as a Christmas decoration some day.

Saturday Kate headed off to do some errands, and I did laundry. She returned around 4:00 so we could travel to Maine for a tree trimming party at my parents. Kate was a bit leery because of the impending Blizzard that we'd get stranded, however knowing this never happens in New England, and also going on the forecast which said the storm would miss Maine and wouldn't start in Boston till 5:00 pm I convinced her (I think) that her worries were unfounded.

Kate however, has been my major support, especially recently, helping me cope with a litany of concerns that I've had. All of which are largely unfounded and some of which are on problems that are at least partially imagined or blown out of proportion. I don't know if it has been the holidays, the climate of our world, little things going wrong, some realization of the passage of time, or some combination of all of the above, but lately I've been sweating the small stuff, much more than usual. Tonight we were talking about goals for 2010 in the car. One goal that should be a priority for me is to work at not letting concerns and negative scenarios flood my mind, and to live life in the moment and enjoy it to the fullest.

But anyway, I'm getting distracted from the weekend.
We headed up 95 with Christmas carols on the radio and the heater on full blast. Upon arriving in Sabattus we were ecstatic. We were starving, both of us only having eaten light meals earlier in the day. My mother had cooked up a pot roast, and my Aunt Gigi had made brownies from scratch. We had Brownies Ala mode with some Giffords Vanilla Ice Cream for desert. We busily spent the night decorating the tree down in the den with a fire roaring in the fire place. My Dad switched back and forth from college football to National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (which never gets old). Wyoming was playing in the game and it was a nail biter.

Mom & Dad enjoyed explaining the history behind various Christmas ornaments to Kate as we placed them on the tree. There were the typical memories of past Christmases, cutting down trees, trees that fell over in the night, and sad tales of dropping Christmas ornaments. There were the recollections of the way my grandparents would decorate, and debates over tinsel vs. no tinsel. It was a great night at the end of a long day. I slept really well that evening upstairs on the couch. My mother is old fashioned and doesn't want unmarried Kate & I to sleep together in her house. I try my best to be a good son and humor her wishes, although I miss Kate's company, not to mention that she gets the fold out sofa bed down by the fire ;).

The next morning Dad had bought us some muffins for breakfast and Mom had prepared some coffee. After nourishing ourselves and washing up we headed back downstairs and gathered around the fire. Kate taught my Mom how to play Briscola as I watched, and my Dad lounged in the lazy-boy watching Anthony Bordain's No Reservations on the travel channel.

Before we knew it, 1:00 pm came around, and Kate and I had told my friend Eric Labelle that we'd be meeting him for lunch. He headed next door and had some coffee with Eric and his Mom & Dad. Joe, Eric's Dad showed us pictures of his retreat in the woods, a small rustic cabin which serves as the base for many a hiking or snowshoe expedition. I discussed my recent trips to Europe a bit and there was some brief discussion of various mutual acquaintances. After warming up we headed back out into the cold and decided upon Thai for lunch. We went to Pepper & Spice on Lisbon St. in Lewiston. The prices were great and the food was decent, not to mention that they gave us complimentary soup, and the rice comes with the dishes... which were already less money than what we were used to sans-rice.
After eating we tried getting a hold of another friend Jason Chaloux, however he was busy. We drove Eric back to his parent's house and then said our good byes to my Mom & Dad.

We drove back to Boston, again with the heater on full blast. I had to repeatedly wash the windshield once we got past Portland, as the roads were muddy from the recent snow. When we got to Brookline, Kate made me some hot chocolate and we discussed a short trip we'll be taking to New York City after Christmas, sort of a present to our selves. We'll largely be spending it in museums so we were looking over web sites of various places we might go.

Anyway, tomorrow it is back to work for a short few days, and then hopefully I can have a great Holiday break and keep any worries by the wayside for as long as I possibly can!

Arrrggghhh End the Insanity

From dental problems, to billing problems, viruses on my computer (for I think the first time in ten years or so...) and plumbing issues in my apartment, this month has been a doozy. OK it hasn't been all bad, but it just seems like there has been an extra level of stress over weird things that just normally don't happen, at least not at this frequency.

I'm looking for a lapse for a few months, that's all I ask.

AZ Friday

We woke up bright an early on our last day of exploration had a fine breakfast at the Denny's in Holbrook.

As I'm writing this I'm filled with the feeling of the day. It was a feeling of relaxation and satisfaction, and yet it was dabbled with a hint of sadness knowing that our time would soon be over. It was a beautiful trip and we couldn't have asked for a better time, from hanging out with Mandy & Ryan, sitting around the fire at night having smores, to our adventures on the roads of Northern Arizona. I've been so busy and preoccupied with the challenges of life as of late, that it already seems like ages ago.

We got on the road soon and drove to Walnut Canyon. Walnut Canyon National monument is a gorgeous National park, a stunning canyon speckled with pines and filled with the ancient ruins of the Anasazi, the ancestors of the Hopi. Beautiful trails bring you down into the canyon, and to the threshold of many pueblo dwellings built into the cliff face. It is essentially an abandoned ancient city dating to around 1100.

The weather was fantastic and we had fun walking down the steep stairs of the trail.

We had not come up with a concrete game plan for the day. Out of all of our days in Arizona, this was the closest we came to "winging it", although we did plan effectively as time passed. After spending a couple of hours at Walnut we made the spontaneous decision to go to Jerome. We had originally nixed the idea of going there because the guidebooks said the 15 mph speed limit was a tourist trap, however, Mandy and Ryan spoke highly of it so we decided to go after all. It was totally worth it, and my pictures totally don't do it justice. This town is hands down in the most extreme setting I've ever seen. It is pretty much braced up on the side of mountains, and it makes Berlin, New Hampshire or Deadwood, South Dakota look like flat lands. You'll get there and question if you even want to go 15 mph, that is how precarious the roads seem. Apparently the town was nearly completely abandoned in the 40s and 50s when the copper mines closed up. In the 60s artists moved in and turned the town into the happening gallery and restaurant speckled tourist attraction it is today. Our rental car below, I was particularly uneasy about the spot because of the cliff just beyond the front bumper. The emergency break was on, even though the space was fairly flat.Even today the town has a bit of a ghost-town feel.We really didn't capture the "vertical" nature of the town with the pictures that we took, which is a shame. Here we are goofing around on a pedestrian stairway connecting the different terraces that make up the levels of the town.

After perusing the town and some of the side streets we went into "The Mile High Grill" where we decided to get a light lunch. We made the smart decision to split a wrap and fries, and a bowl of beanless Texas style chili con queso. Description of wrap courtesy of the website:

Melissa’s Bleu Cheese Chicken Wrap ~ Strips of grilled chicken, bleu cheese, fresh spring mix, avocado, tomatoes wrapped in a flour tortilla. Served with mayo on the side.

Kate was interested in seeing "The Phippen Museum" which was located in nearby Prescott. This museum got good mention in the guidebooks and was described as a gallery to help preserve the art of the American West.

We were a bit unsure if we had enough time to go see the museum because we wanted to be back in El Mirage (near Phoenix) to see Mandy for 6:00 pm. We asked our bar tender/ waiter who said it would be doable if we took the scenic road which was another bonus. It was pretty hairy driving but totally worth it.

The museum was very interesting with many beautiful paintings and displays. The Grand Canyon was featured frequently and interpreted in many unique ways. The woman who was volunteering to collect admission was a pleasant retiree originally from Philadelphia and we both enjoyed talking to her.

Following the museum we quickly drove into Prescott which is a great town. It had a very classic feel with a city hall that looked like it was right out of "Hill Valley" in Back to the Future. Prescott appears to be home to several small colleges and the town center reflects that with many restaurants and bars. The buildings have a Victorian style and the gentle sloping hills it is built upon give it a very picturesque effect.

They were actually putting up Christmas decorations while we were there. I couldn't help but snap a photo.

One of Prescott's main drags.

We hurried out of Prescott and drove back towards Phoenix. On the way the sun was setting on the cacti and Kate busied herself trying to snap some photos from the car. When we returned to see Mandy (Ryan was visiting his family/ friends in North Carolina) we ordered some Chinese take out and had a nice relaxing evening.

The next morning we would be on our way after having some coffee with Mandy and saying our good byes. And thus concluded our time in the great Southwest.

I'll probably post some pictures that Kate took in a couple of days... to perhaps supplement some of my descriptions, or even jog my memory on things I forgot to mention.

I hope everyone has a good Monday. Just remember, 2 weeks of work till Holiday break.

AZ Thursday

Thursday morning we woke up bright eye-ed and bushy tailed. After having a nice breakfast at the motel's restaurant "Junction Restaurant" we headed to Canyon de Chelly. First on the itinerary was to hike down to the base of the canyon via the White House Ruins trail. It was a beautiful hike that took us along ledges, stairs carved in the cliff face, through a couple of tunnels and by the occasional cave or crevice in the canyon wall. Upon reaching the bottom of the canyon, the trail takes you along the edge of a dry stream bed until you come upon an impressive view of the "White House" pueblo. At the bottom of the canyon there were a couple of people selling their arts and crafts. Additionally some of the land at the base of the canyon is still occupied by the Navajo people. We walked by a farm and a hogan or two at the base. In the shadows of this canyon you occasionally could see some snow that was impervious to the suns rays. Despite the snow, we had a great day for the hike, and we were probably over dressed. I'm certain that it was probably 70 degrees Fahrenheit at a minimum.

Before leaving the Canyon we stopped at several scenic overlooks on the south rim. Almost everyone of them had placards guiding you to look for some pueblo ruins built within the edge of the cliff. Kate and I had a lot of fun looking through our binoculars to spot them all.

The above picture is Spider Rock. The Navajo legend says that the "Spider Woman" lives atop the rock where she keeps the bones of her victims. I think I'd rather encounter the web slinger in the red tights.

Looking up a canyon wall from part way down the White House Ruin trail.

If I had a day that I could give you

I'd give to you a day just like today

If I had a song that I could sing for you

I'd sing a song to make you feel this way

Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy

Sunshine in my eyes can make me cry

Sunshine on the water looks so lovely

Sunshine almost always makes me high

-John Denver

After bidding Canyon de Chelly goodbye, we had another long haul on the road. Before embarking on our journey I had the need for something to hold me over. We stopped at Burger King, and I split a BK slider meal with Kate. It seemed like a really good idea at the time, 6 tiny burgers and fries accompanied by a colossal soda. Where can you go wrong... am right? Well, lets just say the burgers were even well done by Burger King standards, and who ever made them decided to pile two burgers on one of the rows of two, leaving two roles with no meat and only condiments. The fries were tasty however, and regardless, it still filled us up for under 7 dollars, so how can I really complain?

The scenery was fantastic and the weather was beautiful and I had great company and tunes courtesy of my mp3 player. We stopped to listen to the local radio at times which was usually either Country, Christian rock, or Classic rock. I'm not sure I'd call some of the bad 80s hair metal they were playing "Classic" but you get the point. Below is an example of some of the scenery.Before we knew it we came to the turn off for the Petrified Forest National Park. Upon our arrival Kate was immediately pouring over some information we got from the visitor's center. We only had a few hours to spend there before the park closed, and we were trying to maximize our time. At one of the first stops we made in Petrified Forest National Park was at the Puerco Pueblo Trail where there were some pueblo ruins as well as quite a bit of drawings on rocks. My favorite was the one of the giant bird that appears to be holding a person in its mouth. I have no idea of the significance, and it probably represents something very sacred to the ancient people, but I can't help but see some weird humor in it. More drawings can be seen below on "Newspaper Rock" which apparently had the highest concentration of drawings of any place in the park. Kate and I were glad to have our binoculars to see things in better detail. A guide was at this stop of to help the tourists locate drawings and provide information and answers to questions.Some of our first Petrified log sitings in this valley.

These next few pictures are along the Crystal forest trail. We were literally running through this at times because the sun was beginning to set, and there was more that we wanted to see. We decided to cut this one short and head back to the car so we could get in a couple more attractions.

Unfortunately I don't have pictures of our last trail. Kate did take several however and I'll try and post some of the things that I missed along this trip in an ad on post at the end as soon as I get copies of the photos. We were really running short on the last trail, and I was concerned we would raise the Ranger's ire, but Kate kept insisting that we go on. We hiked out to the Agate house, which was spectacular to behold in the setting sun. It is a reconstructed pueblo made out of petrified wood.

After checking this out we raced back to a Visitor's center near by that has the "Giant Logs" trail out back of it. A large piece of petrified wood called "Old Faithful" can be seen there.

I kept commenting to Kate about the sweet smell in the air. It kind of reminded me of pipe tobacco. I think there was a forest or field fire off in the distance, and initially I thought this had to be the culprit.

When we left the park we came upon several Antelope in the road. Again, Kate got pictures of these.

Lastly, just past the exit of the park was a tacky pair of tourist trap stores, one on either side of the road like fast food rest stops on a highway. Rt. 66 style classics. I'm not sure this is the exact place, but "Stewarts" looks a lot like these locations, complete with dinosaurs as advertised. They were filled with various pieces of petrified wood and minerals for sale, alongside the usual silly tourist items. Kate went in and bought herself a couple of small souvenir petrified wood rocks. Later I realized that it was the petrified wood itself that has the sweet smell I mentioned earlier.

From here we headed into Holbrook where we had a room booked at a Days Inn. It was a great motel, complete with pool and spa which we took advantage of. Holbrook is a great town. It has that vintage 1950s/60s Americana nostalgia feel. Store fronts, old theaters, and pawn shops with neon lites, a motel where the cabins are shaped like tepees, and a scattering of greasy spoon diners. We ate at Joe and Aggie's cafe which I had actually researched ahead of time. This was probably one of my favorite places to eat during the trip. A tacky official Rt. 66 dive with orange vinyl seats and salsa in an old-school ketchup bottle on each table. The food was delicious, I had some tacos with the region's famous "green chili" on top. Afterwards Kate and I hit up a very old fashion Dairy Queen and split an ice cream. Another great day in the southwest came to pass.

AZ Wednesday

This was probably our longest day of driving. After a nice complimentary breakfast at the Hogan Restaurant in Tuba City, we headed out first to see dinosaur foot prints just outside of the city. The man who greeted us there and told us about the fossils in the red rock seemed like sort of a vagrant, however he directed us to the tracks and Kate snapped several photos, which unfortunately I do not have. From here We drove through the Hopi nation to the Hopi cultural center. It was a long scenic drive. Unsure on the exact rules of photography we did not stop to take many, if any pictures. The Hopi cultural center was very enjoyable with a lot of interesting history to read about. The grounds were speckled with dogs and people selling crafts. We probably took a hour or so to take in the museum before heading back onto the road. Chinle was our destination, and it would be a while before we arrived.

Upon arriving in Chinle we immediately noticed that this town was noticeable more rough around the edges than Tuba City. We found our motel, checked in and then decided to get a quick bite to eat before taking a little bit of Canyon de Chelly. We ended up eating at a "Church's Chicken" which is a chain out west that basically offers KFC fare with a bit less seasoning. Satisfied with a belly full of grease we continued to the park and drove to the Northern rim's scenic over looks. This canyon was very different than the "Grand Canyon", however it was spectacular because the walls are pretty much a straight drop down. Feeling especially mortal I found myself not quite as brave as I used to be. I'd watch with a bit of trepidation as Kate walked frighteningly close to the edge of the cliff. And gingerly inched out a couple of times, but never feeling the need to peer directly over. Luckily there were a few spots where the National Park Service had constructed some stone railings allowing me to safely peer into the depths. We spent a few minutes searching for a rabbit that we stumbled upon at one scenic over look, but had no luck in locating him. When the sun finally set we headed back into Chinle and relaxed a bit at the motel. They had a nice indoor pool and sauna, and so we took advantage of these for an hour or so. Afterward drove around the couple of main streets in Chinle, avoiding the horses and dogs that walked freely through town. We made the error of driving off into the desert at night, and we had a difficult time turning around. I know this sounds silly, but the speed limit is 65, it is a two lane road, flat, it was pitch black, and the only places to turn around were gravel roads that you could not see as they approached. Adding in the factor of enough cars to make maneuvers a little difficult made it quite intimidating. After heading 15 miles in the wrong direction we finally came upon a "town" called Many Farms where we turned around at a service station. Upon getting back to Chinle we picked up some burgers and fries at the A&W and headed back to the Best Western to chill out.

Ahhhhh scary 800 ft drop!!!!

AZ Tuesday

The Grand Canyon!

And here we were, mid way through our vacation at the visual splendor that is said to be life altering for some. We visited the frequently traveled to southern rim. We took the tour bus to the western portion of the overlooks where most of these early shots were taken. I found the tour bus to be a bit agonizing, filled with seniors, and catered to seniors. Nearly all of which were carrying "hiking sticks" even though the only hiking any of them did involved stepping on and off the buses with cameras around their necks sporting their bright white sneakers with black socks. I usually don't complain about that, I just found the bus drivers to be a bit slow witted which added to my irritation. One driver reprimanded me for standing too close to the door, calling me "son" and lecturing me that I didn't understand the dangers of buses, even though I tend to ride a few a week and am usually sandwiched against the door of a bus that is much more ill maintained than the one at the park. I actually thought he was talking to someone else and ignored him initially because I was well outside of the "caution" zone on the floor that people usually ignore. But no he was. And on another instance a driver called us out as city slickers who didn't understand the effect of elevation after he saw us running to the bus at one overlook to get it before he left. Like his fellow bus driver he also warned us of likely death due to such reckless behavior, and called us out as flat-lander city slickers. After our tour I was feeling very much the part and was looking forward to lunch at the visitors center.

It was nice to sit down, even though we hadn't really exerted ourselves. The National park cafeteria was not as good as I had remembered it being in Yellowstone. The staff was a bit disorganized. I had my heart set on a nice burger but after waiting over ten minutes at the grill for no one to show up, I settled on a rather mediocre bowl of chili and a salad. The food was a bit pricey too.... but who is complaining? Oh that's right, I am. To make our experience that much more enjoyable there was a political town hall occurring at the cafeteria with an awful country singer. He tried to sound like Cash but sang predictable rhyming tunes about Arizona and could only play one chord per song. I would have preferred that they were pumping in Britney Spears or something... and that is saying something. We had some smoothies for desert, and I was anxious to eat it outside for obvious reasons.

We had debated where we were going to hike. Initially we were going to try and go to Ooh Aah point, but with our agenda it seemed a little too ambitious. Instead we decided to go down the Bright Angel trail and play it by ear depending on what sort of progress we made.

Hiking in the canyon was awesome, and Kate and I both agreed that if we could do it again we would prioritize hiking and forgo the other "overlook" attractions. It really gave you a much better appreciation for the canyon, when from the side it is tough to really wrap your head around. At least for me it was. Before the trip I often joked with Kate that it was just a big ditch. And honestly early in the day I was totally imagining some giant back hoes should be down there somewhere. It really was tough to grasp that it was created by nature.

We shared the Bright Angel trail not only with other hikers but also the occasional mule. At times the manure was quite an obstacle.

After hiking to the second tunnel we turned back (about 0.75 mi), not really knowing how difficult it would be to go back up. I actually found hiking up a bit easier, probably because you can keep a steadier pace with less risk of falling down. We also wanted to be sure to have enough time to see the sunset.

For the last leg of our Grand Canyon trip we headed east. We stopped off at a couple more overlooks, and spotted some elk just outside of the Visitors center lot. One of the stops included more pueblo ruins which are always interesting. Desert View was our final canyon destination and is claimed to be the best place to watch the sunset by many. There is a great tower with a gift shop in it at the base. You can climb to the top for some spectacular views.
A bit blurry, this is inside one of the upper levels of the tower before ascending to the roof.
The canyon and sunset photos speak for themselves.

Upon leaving the park dusk was upon us and the wild life was especially active. At first a huge elk buck crossed the street and I paused so we could get a good look at it. About an hour later we were on our way through some steep terrain going east to Tuba City when I had to slam on the break and pull into the break down land in order to avoid hitting a flock of deer. The items we had in the back seats slammed into us and a box of hot tamales that Kate had in the console flew all over the car. The fool behind us didn't seem to "get" why I slammed my breaks on and kept going fish tailing through the deer and narrowly missing them. A bit shaken, I drove on with high beams and caution, but all we encountered were several rabbits that avoided us successfully.

Tuba city was a welcome site. It is a quiet town on the Hopi reservation. The hotel was very nice and had a native American motif throughout it. After settling in we had a great take out supper from "Pizza Edge" which was coincidentally where we stopped for directions when we first arrived in town. This place had some of the best bread sticks I've ever had. They were weaved together like a basket, and covered with garlic and Parmesan. Good stuff.

AZ Monday

Here is the photo journal of another very cool day in Arizona. The day began driving north on rt 89A out of Sedona through the red rocks. Kate and I stopped off at a couple of overlooks to take some pictures. Fire danger: It is Arizona, isn't it always high? The next few pictures were taken just prior to the last leg of the approach to Flagstaff. They are in an area near Oak Creek Canyon. Just prior to this I stop off I think I may have killed a squirrel with the car, which was a sad point to an otherwise nice day. After driving through Flagstaff quickly we drove to Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument which was very cool. In the first picture below you can see one of several volcanoes which erupted approximately 1000 years ago. We hiked up one of the peaks and this is the view from the top. The entire trail was like walking on black beach sand, and it was very steep. It was a short but tough hike, and the dust was easily inhaled which had me clearing my throat a few times. A nice couple visiting from New Hampshire was kind enough to snap our picture.Below you can see an old lava flow. Very cool.Following a couple of nice hikes in this park, and some impressive scenic overviews we exited this park. Our journey took us through some incredible expanses of mint green scrub brush juxtaposed on the reddish gray earth that comprised a rolling plateau. It was only several miles along the road and we entered yet another park called Wupatki National Monument. This was a series of pueblo dwellings set on yet more amazing landscape. Various guides were posted at each stop and were very informative. The most striking fact about these dwellings is that the Anasazi chose to live here in the absence of rivers or streams. The water that they had was collected run off, or transported from the distant valley. These dwellings are up to 1000 years old. This was probably one of our favorite attractions that we visited during the trip.

After leaving the park we headed back to Flagstaff, but our day was not yet over. We checked into our hotel and after some wrangling over our options decided to go to the Galaxy diner, a tacky Rt. 66 establishment where we had greasy food and an attentive teenage waitress. It was everything we were hoping for. I had meatloaf (the first meatloaf I've ever eaten.... weird eh?) and Kate had fried chicken with gravy. It hit the spot. We wandered around downtown Flagstaff which is a great college town with lots of character. We both really liked Flagstaff quite a bit, and as Kate suggested, maybe it was that something about the town just seems a little like home, it is familiar, comfortable. Kate has some pictures of the very old fashioned looking establishments which I'll post if she sends them my way.

To close out the evening Kate suggested the Lowell Observatory. This was a spectacular close to the evening. We drove minutes outside of downtown Flagstaff up a steep hill. Before we knew it we were snaking up a ledge in the car. We passed one stop off where you could see all of the grid of lights making up the city below. Several parked cars indicated that it was likely a favorite place to chill out, be it teenagers with raging hormones, or tourists coming back from the observatory. When we got to the observatory we watched a brief film in the visitors center and then headed out to look at several items through different telescopes. There was an air of excitement about the night. The air was crisp, chilly, and the sparsely lit grounds seemed to give everyone the impression that they were on an adventure. We looked at the moon, a couple of nebula, and Jupiter through the telescope. Prior to leaving we spent a little more time in the museum in the visitors center.

It was a little sad to face the end of such a great day, but it had been a very full day, and we were eager to get some rest.