Arizona to Albuquerque

I left Santa Barbara on Saturday and drove to Cave Creek, Arizona to spend a few days with my brother Bill and sister in-law Karen. I am always so peaceful at their house in the desert. The views from the house are spectacular and it is soooo quiet.

I brought the first cold snap to the desert. It was chilly during the day and downright cold (and very windy) at night. All the better to see the desert sky. It’s always clear, but with the wind blowing the stars were almost impossibly bright.

I also got to spend some time with my niece and great-nephew. That’s always cool and unfortunately never quite long enough.

Brother Bill took the time to make sure I had enough music to get me to Norfolk. He burned about 350 songs to disc for me. He sent me on my way with some fabulous music; classical, country, blues, oldies (like The Platters and Tommy Edwards) to Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young and Rodney Carrington. Hot damn!

I left Arizona this morning. I love driving down the Carefree Highway. It’s so poetic.

My first stop this morning was Montezuma Castle.

The Sinagua (without water) Indians built a five-story, 20 room cliff dwelling in a recess 100 feet above the valley floor. Apparently early settlers assumed that it was Aztec in origin and gave it the name Montezuma Castle. There is a large creek (year-round) which provided water for farming and probably fish. Mongo and I took a little hike around the park and then headed north to Sedona.

Sedona is such an amazing place. http://www.visitsedona.com/ The geography is unlike anything I’ve ever seen elsewhere. I didn’t stop in town this time but drove through, marveled at the brilliance of the mountains and reconnected with Highway 17 heading toward Flagstaff. I love the high desert as I get closer to Flagstaff. The combination of desert flora with evergreens are the most beautiful combination. I could live in Flagstaff.

The countryside between Flagstaff and Albuquerque, New Mexico you can keep. I have never been through this desert in the fall and it is definitely greener, but in general all the small towns look very poor and brown. I’m thinking that a lot of it is Indian reservation. I say that because there are a jillion casinos on that stretch of interstate 40.

It was beautiful watching the full moon come up over the top of the mountain range. I tried to get a picture of it on my cell phone but I don’t think it came out. I’ll have to check again tomorrow. Tonight I am staying in Albuquerque. Mongo is snoring quietly next to me as I type this.

When I left Arizona this morning, Karen told me to stop for a “Lotaburger” while in the Albuquerque area. As luck would have it there is one right next to the motel. Mmmmm, pretty good Karen. http://www.lotaburger.com/

Off to Oklahoma City tomorrow. Weather report is for rain.

Santa Barbara

My time is Santa Barbara was great. I got to spend a couple of days with two of my favorite ladies.

I stayed with Rebecca and am pleased to announce that Mongo and Cheeto pretty much ignored each other. Except for trying to steal the cat food, Mongo was a perfect gentleman.

Rebecca and Ruthie and I went to Brophy Brothers for lunch one day. Brophy’s is an absolute “must do” when I am in Santa Barbara. I used to go there frequently – almost weekly – when I lived in Santa Barbara. Brophy’s used to be a little hole in the wall restaurant at the harbor. It’s gotten much more “yuppie”, but then so has ALL of Santa Barbara. Anyway, I had my favorite bowl of chowder, salad, the best sourdough bread and a glass of wine. Yummmm…

After lunch we walked along the breakwater and saw John Cleese of Monty Python fame. It’s rare to go to Santa Barbara and not see someone famous. The town is crawling with those Hollywood types. Hehe…

The next day I made soup for Ruthie and taught her the basics of knitting.

Just got a call from her today and she said her stitches are getting more even. Woohooo. And she said she could never learn!

I love Rebecca and was so happy to spend time with her. She is a part of my heart.

Across the Nation

10/14/08 – Tuesday

Well, I really should have started this when I left Redding, but no….
Let me recap –

Driving away from my father’s house last Tuesday was strange. I always see things through different eyes when I arrive someplace for the first time or when I leave. The street looked cleaner, the sky more blue. There was still snow from the season’s first rainfall on both Shasta and Lassen. It is hard to drive away from the view of those two mountains, but drive away I did. The next difficult moment was crossing the Sacramento River – each time, in fact – as I am so in love with that River. I have never crossed it – the Cypress Street Bridge, the Sundial Bridge, or even when it meanders back and forth under I-5 – that I didn’t think about how beautiful it is. That’s one thing about me. I seldom take nature for granted. Then there are my friends. I miss them already. I do have my pup to keep me company. Mongo is such a good traveler.