A side trip home - to 3/4/26

I'm not sure where I heard about it or perhaps I read something in a magazine, e.g., AARP, but since we were already "in the neighborhood," why not stop by?  I'm referring to Trona Pinnacles, a "unique geological feature" located about 170 miles north of Desert Hot Springs and 28 miles east of Ridgecrest in the Mojave Desert.  While we've been all around this area, we'd never been to Trona or Ridgecrest.  Because it's BLM land, dispersed camping is allowed and I thought it would be grand to camp below one of those tufa spires.

We found it easily.  At the entry, a sign read that the 5-mile-long dirt/gravel road is generally accessible to passenger vehicles (if you're willing to drive on a washboard), but after a rain, the road may be impassable, even to four-wheel drive vehicles.  Rain had fallen two weeks earlier; we figured we were safe. 

With Smartie in tow, Tergel started down what used to be a dirt road, transformed into a dried mud (like cement) track, with deep, irregular ruts.  We made it possibly a quarter mile before crying Uncle!  Then we had to turn around and make our way back toward the entrance.  Truly, that was an awful experience for Tergel, Smartie and us.  Nearer the entrance we found level ground and, since camping was allowed, we decided to stay where we were.  Too bad we were still five miles away from the pinnacles.  And we said, ain't no way we're walking that far!  Well, at least we could see them.  

Tergel sits all by herself with the pinnacles in the distance and train cars parked on a siding.  (Can you see her?) We'd taken Smartie for a spin so we could check out the ghost town of Trona.  Not much to see there.  The town is still functioning, but only barely.  A huge chemical complex closed down years ago, and we all know what happens then.  A new outfit is pulling sodium and potassium minerals out of Searles dry lake, but Trona is floundering.

This train was moving toward Trona (at a snail's pace),

going to pick up some raw material?  Flashy cars.

We went for a walk to the siding with the rail cars,

looking, examining, supposing ....

Toward dusk, I climbed a ridge behind Tergel and found a treasure trove of wildflowers.  The bottom two are Brown-eyed Primrose and Desert Five-Spot.

I took this picture of the pinnacles from atop the ridge.  Isn't it fantastic?  I'm glad we stopped here even if we couldn't get any closer.

In 2016, the BLM designated Trona Pinnacles as part of the California Desert National Conservation Lands due to the area’s significant scientific and ecological values; this means that the area will be managed to protect those values and will be permanently protected from development.  Good.  (They could work on that road, however!)

This pic is from Wiki.  As you see, people were closer to the spires.

There's Tergel/Smartie (and my shadow where I stood on the ridge).  Being camped here was extra-special, and with no one else around the silence was pervasive and so welcome.  Aside from the pinnacles, the area isn't particularly scenic, but we appreciated both the vastness and the tiny wildflowers at our feet.  I didn't fret that we couldn't camp at the base of a monolith tufa, nope.  Just happy.  Period.

And the sky!  We saw the breath-taking full moon rise above yonder mountain -- what a sight!  We didn't expect this which made it even better.  For sure, we wouldn't see many stars nor the Milky Way, not with the super bright moon filling the sky.  Alone as we were, there wasn't any need to close our windshield curtains.  We watched the moon climb in the sky.  I got up once in the night to look around, and it was like daylight out there.  So quiet.

The next morning was cool and sunny, blue skies all 'round.  Whoa, I looked out our dinette window and saw this black smoke.  We didn't hear anything, but China Lake Naval Weapons Station is beyond the hills.  The smoke continued and spread eastward in the sky.  It looked like a plane had crashed, but, like I said, we heard nothing.  Just about the time you think you're alone in the world, bang, a reminder you're not.

We left the site after breakfast, heading for Tehachapi (the -ugh- wind tunnel) and eventually I-5.  It didn't take us long to reach Hwy 58, the road to Tehachapi.  Meanwhile, we were treated to mountains and flats blanketed with blooms, the yellow you see on the peak above.

And here!

Yellows and purples and masses of white,

but hard to get a great photo at 60mph!

I'd also hoped to stop at Red Rock Canyon, but the entrance came upon us too quickly and we missed the turn in.  Nowhere to turn around!  Well, okay, two for two: we came, we saw, we almost conquered!

From the road, the place looked stupendous.  Maybe next time.

We moved on, with a headwind in our face, through Tehachapi, down to Bakersfield and on to the Baker Museum in Coalinga, a Harvest Host site we used a couple of years ago.  After a delicious meal at Los Reyes Mexican Grill, we enjoyed a peaceful night at the museum.  No dinosaurs disturbed us.  We shared our site with one other camper, a lady from Oregon named Eileen.  Always lovely to meet fellow travelers, especially when they become friends!

On toward home the next morning, we endured a vicious headwind, the kind where you feel like you may as well simply pour gasoline straight onto the road. ** sigh **.  We made it home late Thursday afternoon in one piece, glad to see the homestead still standing, having sustained no damage from the snowstorm.  

Five weeks away, loved it all.

Morocco! Sunday 10/24/21

 

This really is a dream, the two of us being in Morocco -- on the African continent -- in Casablanca!  Right off the bat, I can tell you that their traditions and culture are completely unfamiliar to us as westerners; as in, a total turnabout from our smooth and comfortable lives in the US.  And I know we are going to be in for the ride of our life!  Holy cannoli, yes! 

As I entered our hotel restaurant in Casablanca for breakfast Sunday morning, my eyes barely open, I was stunned by brilliance!  Senegalese ladies dressed to the nines in colorful clothes or costumes -- wow!  I didn't want to offend, so this was a surreptitious photo that doesn't show the entire crew of ladies.  In fact, I've taken a number of off-the-cuff photos so as to not be in-someone's-face.  Can you spot the American toward the right?  Hi Jimmy.  Unfortunately for me and Jimmy and Bernice and Ibby, those ladies were hungry and left hardly a shred of food.

This one floored me.  Don't drink the bidet water.

The Saturday evening traffic from the airport was insane, roads choked with drivers jockeying for position.  Our taxi driver suggested that we "turn right as you exit your hotel" Sunday morning, and we'd find the weekly market.  We were game.  Oh gosh.  First we were aghast at the garbage on the streets, the unsafe and broken sidewalks, and cats.  Cats everywhere.  Kittens, too.  OK, we can deal with it.  We turned right and had our eyeballs opened some more.

Olives of every description, plus more.

Meat sellers.

And fish.  Geez.  Big ones, little ones, many kinds lined up like soldiers.  This lady offered me a sea urchin, which I declined.

This guy was sliced open after the picture, blood all over the place.  We tiptoed around the grossest parts of the floor and continued on.  I tried to avoid getting in anyone's way because these fishmongers were all business, setting up and getting ready for their day.  

We moved on to fruits and veggies.

Aw, it was fun.  A couple of facts for you here:  Arabic and Berber are the official Moroccan languages and none of us speaks either.  The country is a monarchy, with a king:  King Mohamed VI, who most seem to like.  They also have a parliament whose 500+ members are elected every five years.  Rabat is the capital and second largest city, and the four of us (Bernice and Ibby, Jimmy and I) had first-class tickets to take us there on the 1:30pm train.

Not much doing on a Sunday morning in Casablanca.  We were leaving the market for our hotel, and then the short, couple of blocks, taxi drive to the train station.

We made it on the train (always little challenges) and kind of enjoyed the roughly one hour ride.  The train follows the coast, north from Casablanca to Rabat.  You know trains don't take you through McMansion backyards, so you get to see some seedy areas along with the decent ones.  The complex above is next to a cemetery.

Kind of rundown here.

We did pass by quite a bit of farmland.

Every town has a mosque with a minaret (the tall building, center to left).  Muslims are called to prayer five times a day, and most minarets have broadcast speakers so all can hear the call.  We have heard the calls ....

We four checked into our ONOMO Rabat Terminus Hotel, ready to begin our next Road Scholar journey which will take us throughout Morocco for over two weeks, ending November 8th. We're really excited about the whole program. Speaking of mosques, Jimmy and I decided to go exploring after we were checked in, and walked toward a nearby tall minaret and the mosque entrance.

 

Oops.  Only Muslims can enter.

OK to take a picture, tho.

And maybe one more.  Well, that's our first day in Morocco.  Full of new and interesting experiences.  Stay turned for a whole lot more!

Still birthdayin'! To 11/19/19

Nannie and Bubba didn't just fly to California for one day ... we had four clear days with them, oh goodie!  Friday and Saturday were taken up with preparing and partying, which left Sunday and Monday free.  They flew home to Baton Rouge on Tuesday, Nov 19th.  Meanwhile, we tried to pack as much as we could into these shortened November days.

Our sweet two-and-a-half-year-old grandgirl, Everly Rose, spent Saturday night with us in Nevada City.  She partied so hard on Saturday that she slept 12 solid hours and didn't wake up till 8:45 Sunday morning.  When she appeared at her bedroom door, saying, "Gramma," she was greeted by four smiling adults, rather than just two, all of whom turned around to look at her, and all replying, "good morning!"  She was surprised, but grinned.  Life is that much more fun when she's around.

We brought in four balloons from our front-yard banner (see previous post) which she loved -- those things were all over the ceilings.  The entire morning was entertaining.  Nannie and I took her to the playground at Pioneer Park for a while, and in the afternoon, we met Matt in Auburn to return her, 'cause she had pre-school on Monday.

Gang's all here, including the weatherman on KCRA news,

(TV reflection in the window)!

On Monday, we visited Old Sac (Sacramento), which Nannie and Bubba hadn't seen.  It's kind of a tedious drive getting there, but we enjoyed touring around the riverfront historic district, with its Gold Rush-era buildings, cobblestone streets, and horse-drawn carriages.  Lunch at Rio City Cafe was very enjoyable, sitting outside overlooking the Sacramento River.   Quite pleasant and good food.  Mostly we strolled and looked.  Below are pics from our ramblings.

Bubba and Jimmy -- Santa Fe all the way!

Whoa, getting an early start for the Christmas holiday!

I like the Old meets New juxtaposition.

Sacramento's iconic 1935 vertical lift Tower Bridge.  It wasn't always painted gold.  In 2001, residents who lived within 35 mi of the capital voted on a new color scheme. Their choices were all-gold; green, gold and silver; or burgundy, silver and gold. The winning choice was all gold, and it was repainted in 2002.  In the pic above, it looks gold-green, but it's a tough one to photograph, especially if you're aiming into the sun!  I think it's an attractive structure.

When we left Old Sac, we made a beeline for Matt and Jen's in (nearby, kinda) Fair Oaks, where the family could meet up one more time.  We brought (banner) balloons with us, always a hit, as you see above!  This and the header pic were taken Monday evening.  Our time together was precious, and it made everyone happy.

Home again to party leftovers and a movie on Netflix called "Peanut Butter Falcon."  If you get a chance, check it out ... it's very different and so worth seeing.  Nannie and Bubba began packing .... 

Tuesday morning, we had a final Sapo game in the driveway before the long hop to Sacramento's airport.  Who won?  We all won.  Altogether this was a wonderful, short but sweet, 75th happy birthday visit, and Jimmy and I feel like the luckiest people in this country!  It's been grand!  But our birthdayin' ain't over yet.  We're still partying (at least till my official birthday this coming Saturday)!

Plitvice Lakes, Saturday, 9/14/19

We packed it up last night and pulled out of dynamic Zagreb early this morning ... and were on the road around 8am, traveling overland (that means:  By bus) to Plitvice Lakes National Park.  It wasn't a long drive -- 64 miles -- and we'd arrive approx 9:30.  Everyone was eager to see this park, we'd heard so much about it.

The park was already streaming with groups of tourists.  We'd be walking on narrow, clumsy boardwalks, with people strung out in a long line, so Mario "deputized" Jimmy (he's wearing an OAT DEPUTY tag).  Mario would lead the front and Jimmy would bring up the rear, so no one would get left behind!  Goodness, so many people crowding the walkways!

This map may not help you much, except to give you the general scheme of the lake system -- 16 named and several smaller unnamed lakes, cascading one into the next.  These lakes have been divided into Upper and Lower Lakes, and I can state right now that I wish we'd had two or three days (not hours) to explore this roughly 116 square mile park.  There's miles of hiking trails to range over.  The water is an exquisite turquoise.  

Profuse waterfalls and cascades are an extraordinary sight!

Without going into bunches of detail (and the area involves lots of detail) the lakes are part of the Dinarides karst region, one of the most impressive karst landscapes in the world.  (Jimmy and I used to live in Florida, where karst/limestone is prevalent.)  The formation of these lakes was made possible with the building of the tufa (or travertine) barriers, and the lake system is believed to have been formed 12,000 to 15,000 years ago.  Enough technical info.  Basically, the entire lake complex is outstandingly beautiful.

Water cascades (or escapes) over the tufa (travertine) natural dams, throughout the greenery between the lakes.  Such an amazing sight ... and sound!

An elevated boardwalk allowed us to walk from one side of a lake to the other, and we could watch the clear, clear water splashing from lake to lake below our feet.  

Hidden in the flowers and leaves is a good-sized, noisy cascade.

I'm standing in front of the highest waterfall in the park, altho you see only a fraction. The Large (Great) Waterfall (Veliki Slap in Croatian) is 256' high situated at the end of Lower Lakes. Considered the most beautiful waterfall, it's also the highest in the whole of Croatia. What is unique about this waterfall (in comparison with the others in the Park) is that, while the other Plitvice waterfalls are formed by the spilling of waters from lake to lake, Veliki Slap was actually formed by the Plitvica Potok River.  Falling water is tumbling from the cliffs all around me.

Plitvice is alive with flora and fauna.  Above left is a Gray (Mountain) Wagtail, and next to it is Brown Trout easily seen in water as clear as what flows from our kitchen tap, a lady Mallard swims with fishies, and a Cyclamen (one of many) I saw growing on the hillside.  I know there's much more to see.

You can see people on a boardwalk on the opposite side of the lake.

Just beautiful.

I wish you could've heard it, too. 

Milanovac Waterfalls and Cascades.

Click on any photo to enlarge,

and use your back arrow to return to this post.

We hitched a ride on a boat like the one above to a dock that was closer to where our bus had to park  (think: North 40), and then we got our aerobic exercise hiking uphill to get to that bus!  My gosh, I could liken this park to any national park in the US -- it's a natural wonder.  I'm glad we were able to visit, and I'd recommend this to anyone.  Be nice to have a couple of uncrowded days ... but I will always carry magical memories of Plitvice Lakes.

Lunch was nothing special at a local restaurant that catered to large groups and there were at least three BIG groups.  After that, we were back on the bus, heading for the coast.

Yay, the coast!  The seaside town of Opatija, to be exact, in the Kvarner Gulf ... and not that far from Slovenia or Italy!

Almost off the formidable, yet impressive two-lane highway winding down from the hills and back to the water!  Oh boy!

On the way to Opatija:  Looking at the longer, graceful span of the Krk bridge in the distance, connecting mainland Croatia to the Island of Krk.  Built of reinforced concrete, it's among the longest arches of any construction.

And this is the view from our hotel window!  We're on the fourth floor of the Hotel Agava, with a window that really does open to the sea.  While leaning on the windowsill shortly after checking in, Jimmy and I watched a wedding procession parade down the street with accordions serenading the couple.  How cool is that?  The air is redolent of the sea.  We're going to like it here.

Before dinner, Mario took the group for a walk-about of Opatija to see what the town has to offer.  It was a lovely evening for a stroll.

The Maiden with the Seagull has a history behind it, as you may guess.  Read it here, if you're interested.  Our stroll led us to our restaurant for dinner -- the Bistro Yacht Club, where we had a waterside table with a view ... and a most excellent fish dinner.  Afterward, we walked the short distance to our hotel.  

And watched the full moon rise over the Kvarner Gulf.

Nice, very nice.

WHAT A DAY!!