Cross-country Moving to North Carolina 2021

Spent the day exploring Los Alamos (and taking some time to just relax). The cool temperatures, rain, hail and thunderstorms did encourage this! Learning something about the history of the town was very interesting. The town basically started with a boys school. Native Americans and then homesteaders we're in the area prior to that, but that seems to be the start of the actual town. Then the government closed the school and told them all to leave, though letting them finish the term. That was the beginning of the Manhattan Project. Oppenheimer's house is still there. During that time, nobody here could tell anyone where they were. It was a completely closed community. Now, research continues in a number of areas including the human genome project, studying medical uses of radiation and a variety of other areas in addition to the weapons research. Then a trip to a spectacular overlook from the top of one of the mesas into the Rio Grande valley. We got there between hail and thun...

This area is beautiful--mesas, mountains and more. Excursion 1 was too Bandolier National Monument. More spectacular rocks and more ancient pueblo ruins, but in this case they were "cliff dwellers" using the caves in the cliffs as well as the more usual multi-story pueblo construction. We only climbed up to one of the caves (requiring a series of 4 ladders). The photo shows Henry starting up one of the ladders. The people who lived there farmed on top of the mesa--the three sisters (corn, squash and beans). Excursion 2 was too Santa Fe, where we visited both the Museum of International Folk Art and the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture. The Museum of International Folk Art was mostly an interesting hodgepodge of figures and other stuff from around the world, but not organized in a discernable pattern. The pieces were top quality, but the quantity was overwhelming. To me, the more interesting exhibit was about New Mexican folk music, including a number of home-made violins, ...

First stop was La Ventana Arch, one of the largest natural sandstone arches in New Mexico. Spectacular! I really like but rocks, and the colors are wonderful. Next stop was Coronado Historic Site. This was another site of ancient pueblo ruins. This one is located on the Rio Grande. Most impressive, though were the painted murals that were rescued and preserved from a kiva before it collapsed. Amazing to see these ancient paintings (no photos allowed of the murals so I can't show you anything). Next stop Jemez falls in the Jemez mountains. Nice walk through ponderosa pine forest, and the falls are nice.  Then to our friends Bob and Claudia, with whom we'll be staying the next couple days.

Museum day today. First the Turquoise Museum. We enjoyed the museum (tons of information about everything turquoise), including some of the clever ways Fake turquoise has been made over the years, some beautiful jewelry and other art and tons of turquoise (the real kind) showing off the amazing variety of colors. We probably spent as much time taking with the owner (who created the privately held museum) as we did looking at stuff. Then to the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center. First lunch. Their cafe is known for a modern take on traditional foods, though it seems lines between Indian food and New Mexican food aren't so clear. Anyway we had a feast with three kinds of stew (red, green and pozole), plus a Jemez enchilada, a salad with fried cactus and bread pudding. We're having more of it for dinner!  After lunch, a dance performance with some dancers from the Acoma pueblo. It was a "buffalo dance" though for this performance there was no buffalo--but there was an antelo...

Started the day finding a dentist to put Henry's crown back on. The dental floss apparently was too much for it. Got lucky and found a very nice dentist who apparently had a no-show so could take Henry right away and was only a couple miles from the motel. With teeth back in order, we headed to Petroglyph National Monument. As promised, petroglyphs we're pretty much everywhere. Somehow ancient graffiti is cool. Then went to the balloon museum. Interesting displays about the history of balloons from the very first flight to an ill-fated Arctic exploration to use of balloons in warfare (didn't know the Japanese bombed the US mainland with incindiary bombs sent by balloon--only one was successful, but quite a number got to the US. Fortunately, it was winter so the snow took care of all but the one!) to use of balloons in circus-type acts to modern weather balloons... And meanwhile Amanda got our house officially listed (we don't recognize it with it's fresh paint and t...

Another amazing day of pueblos and rocks. Started in Zuni, NM, the current "center" for the Zuni people. Got a wonderful, informative tour of the modern pueblo through the visitor's center. Or guide is both an archeologist and a shaman! The current pueblo is the 13th level, meaning is built on top of 12 prior villages. Then went to El Morro National Monument. More spectacular rocks. In places the trail was designated by two lines chipped out of the rock. There's also another ancient pueblo, partially reconstructed, on top of the cliff.

Another day for ancient pueblo ruins. Started with a guided tour of Casa Malpais. This was a huge pueblo, and had a rectangular kiva. There were also stones and petroglyphs aligned to the solstices (or so it appears). This pueblo was probably a trading center based on the location and the variety of artifacts found there. A small portion of it is excavated, with some restoration, but a lot of it is being left as is out of respect for the modern Hopi and Zuni who trace their ancestors to the site and believe their spirits are still there. Second excursion of the day was to the Sipe Wildlife Viewing Area. We didn't see any wildlife--just lots of scat--but beautiful scenery and another ancient pueblo. This one wasn't excavated at all. It was also much smaller, probably only 6-8 families lived there. It's not clear why either was abandoned, but likely draught forced then to leave.

First stop today was Besh-Ba-Gowah, an archeological site/partially reconstructed village inhabited by the Salado people between AD 1225 and AD 1400. The small museum at the site has some terrific artifacts discovered at the site--especially the pottery. Then beautiful drive through the mountains and the Salt River Canyon to our next stop. We got the distinct types of heist today: desert (with lots of venerable saguaro cactus), then mountain forests and rocks, then high plains.

Spent most of the day at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. It was wonderful. Only saw a few of the animals as most were sensibly sleeping somewhere cool (and out-of-sight), but many of the cactus were blooming. Gorgeous, but worrisome. The saguaro cactus doesn't usually bloom on its sides or with so many blooms clustered on top. There is concern that they are draught stressed and this extraordinary bloom is a species survival tactic.

Spent the morning catching up on important things like laundry. Then drove to the Amerind museum. Really nice museum--spectacular jewelry, baskets and pottery. Unfortunately, no photos allowed in the museum, but the view from where we had our picnic lunch was great.

Today was a travel day. It was interesting to watch the desert move from Colorado to Sonoran (saguaro cactus!), but the main excitement today was getting to Sara's house and get started on catching up. It's been to long!

First stop this morning was the garden of the Maturango Museum in Ridgecrest, CA. We'd been there since years ago to take their petroglyph hike (currently cancelled because of Covid), and wanted to revisit their wonderful garden and statues.  Then on to Joshua Tree National Park. Went on a number of short hikes to see different areas of the park. All were great. The rocks are really the main thing, though of course there were plenty of Joshua trees. In addition to the rocks, we really liked the cholla cactus "garden"--an area filled with cholla, many blooming. It was interesting to learn about differences in plants from the high desert (Mojave) and the low desert (Colorado).

First stop today was Bodie State State Historic Site--a goldrush era town that was ~8000 in it's heyday. The town is being preserved in a state of "arrested decay", meaning they're not restoring things but rather trying to preserve them as they were when the last residents left. Didn't see any ghosts but definitely interesting.  Next stop was the Alabama Hills, near Lone Pine. Spectacular rock formations! We took a short hike through some of the rocks, to the Mobius Arch.  Then on to Ridgecrest for the night.

Spent the day exploring Mono Lake. Beautiful and other-worldly, as expected. Also walked part of the rim trail of the Panum crater. These are the youngest mountains in North America. Panum is dormant, and luckily stayed that way during our hike. Also learned a bit about the water. Mono Lake is much smaller than it was because so much water was diverted to Los Angeles. There are some major efforts to restore the creeks that feed Mono Lake. No surprise-- huge benefits for the whole ecosystem. One of our hikes was to Lee Vining Creek, which is now a thriving riparian area.

Said goodbye to San Francisco this morning and headed east. Beautiful drive through Stanislaus National Forest, with stops for scenic overlooks and a short walk. Spectacular rock formations! Then over the Sunol Pass and to our motel home for visiting Mono Lake. The thunderstorm kindly waited for us to get our stuff in the room and finished in time for a super walk in the high desert to admire the mountains and the wildflowers before dinner. Everybody wearing masks and keeping their distance, so we feel very comfortable.

Spent the day with Sally, Susan, Brooke and Nobi! Wonderful walk on the beach at Pescadero State Beach and then across the street at Pescadero Marsh Natural Preserve. No whales, but beautiful. Then yummy lunch at Sam's Chowder House (spicy shrimp with pesto and feta and a smoked salmon salad). Then home for a nap and laundry, followed by a yummy dinner.

Left our home of the the last 32 years (now a shell, no longer our home) Friday afternoon and started the trip with a weekend in San Francisco. Staying with Sally: it's such a treat to have extended relaxed time with her and a few other friends. Leisurely day yesterday visiting the ferry building (we'd never been!), Saying bye-fornow to the bay, and generally recovering from the moving out process.