Cathedral Rocks & Pine Cone Drop New Year's Eve

Here's what you all have been waiting for...the Flagstaff New Years Pine Cone drop. If you don't have quicktime (if the movie won't show), email me and I'll send it to you in a different format.

Sedona Winter 2008

Where to begin? It's been a stunning week--the red rocks, hoodoos, rock art, pueblo ruins...I'll have some photos and movies to post when I get time. The weather has been absolutely perfect, thus no time to blog or work. Perfect.

Today we hiked up to Kachina woman hoodoo at Boynton Canyon. Then headed to Long Valley--hiked a good long way up the valley. It was so intriguing....hard to turn around. Found a lovely spot for lunch next to a dry creek. Near the end of the hike, decided to head off the main trail to climb up to some ancient habitation sites. That pretty much finished me off for the day. Between yesterday's mountain biking and today's hiking/climbing, I've exhausted myself physically. But I'm on vacation, I'm relaxed, and I'm getting some reading done, finished knitting a scarf...

Yesterday, besides mountain biking, we visited V - V (v bar v)--a petroglyph site on beaver creek. And, in a totally small world thing, the two volunteers had grown up in Independence and Lone Pine! Laurie and Bill--Laurie is Mark Felton's sister, Bill grew up in Lone Pine. It was their last day at V-V, going off to another volunteer opportunity. The petroglyphs were fantastic. Stay tuned for pics.

Past days also found us exploring ancient ruins such as Montezuma's castle, a cliff dwelling, Walnut Canyon cliff dwellings, and Wapatki pueblos. The main pueblo at Wapatki had a ball court, kivas, and a blowhole as a volcanic feature. It was a pretty special place.

Tomorrow, we'll do some more hiking/biking, then off to Flagstaff for a special New Year's dinner and gathering for the traditional pinecone drop from a downtown hotel. It's a spur of the moment thing, but how could we miss a pinecone drop? I'll get video...THEN, to the Grand Canyon and Bright Angel Lodge...

Bakeries of Portland

Despite the 10 miles or so per day that we walk in Portland when we visit, the strange thing is we never seem to lose any weight--could it be the bakery hopping? My good friend Jonelle keeps us informed of the latest and greatest. This time, it's a small, below ground French bakery, that makes its croissants from scratch. As you approach the 10th and Flanders Nuvrei Bakery, your nose lets you know you are steps away from nirvana. I had the almond croissant, simply melted in my mouth.

On Thanksgiving day, we walked a few miles from the Pearl up to Thurman and 23rd Place as a pilgrimage to St. Honore Patisserie and Boulangerie--it's open on Thanksgiving Day, with lines coming out the door. It's all yummy--we sat outside and enjoyed the pastries and dark roast coffee and the joggers and families coming in for the same thing--an incredible gustatory experience.

And on our way from the airport, bags and all, we stopped by The Pearl Bakery to get an apple mascarpone pastry. I depend on Jonelle to let us know each new, incredible place!

Portland OR Thanksgiving 08

Sitting here in my good friend Jonelle's condo in the Pearl, overlooking the red bridge, streetlights and the Willamette River...sipping Covey Run Chardonnay, gnoshing on Pearl Bakery baguette and Whole Foods cheese..

It was clear, cold, and sunny today, the day before Thanksgiving. What a treat--saw Mt. Hood in all its glory from the Japanese Gardens--multi colored leaves from the Japanese maples, etc., covering the ground, swimming in the streams and pools...just an incredibly yummy day.

AND, and, the Goodwill Store on 10th was incredible. They had a whole rack of new Chico's clothing for around $14.99 each. Holy cow. Good thing I just brought a small suitcase.

Looking forward to watching Season 2 West Wing (Jonelle has a great selection of my favorite show)--and what a treat to watch West Wing with wondrous anticipation of our new president instead of chagrin about our old. (If only we had someone like Jed Barlett turns into--wow, now we have someone even BETTER than Jed--you ain't seen nothin' yet!)

Hope springs eternal. It doesn't get much better than this (that's an H and I saying about just about everything in our lives. We truly have much to be thankful for).
Love you all.
Bets

Yosemite & Mono Lake

Took a few days to enjoy our incredible backyard. Camped at Sawmill Walk In Campground near the Hall Natural Area. The INTENTION was to just immerse ourselves right there, as it is an exquisite area with meandering streams, swimmable deep blue lakes--it is what I want MY heaven to look like. However, a little bit of the other place (hell) in the form of massive legions of mosquitoes sent us packing to places up a little higher. (Luckily we just purchased a screen house so we were able to cook, eat, change, etc. while thousands of our little friends perched awaiting our fleshy smorgasbord.)

So, kayaked at Ellery, Tioga, and Tenaya Lakes. Swam in the Tuolemne River (Lyell Fork near Tuolumne Lodge), immersed in the Tuolumne in some of our favorite spots near Pothole Dome (in a few weeks, the pools will be lusciously swimmable--total heaven). H brought along our edible manna as usual--we dined on chile verde, chicken/sundried tomatoes/mushrooms/balsamic pasta, lots of fresh fruit and veggies, wines, etc.

On our last day, a thunderstorm drove us from our plans to project ourselves from sheer granite towards the clouds (Tenaya Bowls), and we retreated back to the car, heading down towards home. As we drove along Hwy 120, the water at Mono Lake demanded we stop for one more kayak. It was slouching towards sunset and the water was so smooth it was almost surreal. Numerous pairs of osprey were nesting on the tufa, one circled over me, reminding me of the 250 yards they needed to feel safe...fantastic!

THEN, we detoured once more following a road east from Navy Beach towards an intriguing tufa tower. What a discovery! Ponds, birds (avocets and black-necked stilts,ducks, swallows, and seagulls, of course) and a lovely black sand beach. NOT. It looked like black sand, but was actually a carpet of millions of brine flies. These are my favorite flies because they don't bother humans, they just get out of the way and then go back to their business. In any case, all in all a great few days in our big, beautiful backyard.

I now get to work a few days while H prepares more food for our next local adventure--swimming holes around the Wawona area. Local vacations brought to you by our exorbitant gas prices--a great excuse to stay close to home!

Beach 08

Yes, that's right, I'm doing ANOTHER beach blog. Check out the slideshow--I only took a few photos, so if you want to send more, I can expand my show (sorry, some of you are missing from this one). Next year I'll take movies of "Mother Shark" and our awesome Rock Band.

Link to Vegetarian Chili (Cooking Light)