Feb 13^th.

We left Quartzsite yesterday, in somewhat of a hurry. Strange how days and days can go by, similar days I mean, and then your lives change on a dime. After receiving word from our old job at Costanoa KOA, that they are undecided about hiring until April, we were fortunate to find another workamping position in the town of Carmel. We accepted immediately and here we are en route for Santa   Cruz or rather Carmel, which is only an hour’s drive south from Santa Cruz.

We are camping at one of our old campsites in theMojave Desertfor tonight and it is quite cold. Huge billowing dark clouds have closed in all around us giving us a fine show of formidable strength and power but only a mere few drops of precious rain. All show but no, dare I say, substance?

We are both ready for a change. Five months of living in the desert of being in a world of brown, beige, black, light brown, dark brown, tans. We are so ready, so excited to lay our eyes on the soft greens of lush coastal vegetation.  We are so ready to be in a softer world. The ocean calls and calls and we are happy to return to the her waters  once again.

Leaving our campsite in Quartzsite was a bit of a wrench for me. I know that at some point I will be thinking of this spot and my aimless wanderings in the desert. I now know what draws me here time and time again. It is the vastness, silence and endless expansiveness of this terrain.  It points and resonates to that same state within me, that I am only just starting to connect with.

So, home we go. Another new phase lies ahead of us. It is still so amazing to change directions so quickly and alter our reality at a moment’s notice. It will be  wonderful to be near Gerry’s mom who has just turned 90! I think it is time for us to be more supportive to her and being so close to her will make it a lot easier. Also I am missing our son and friends.

Time to return.

As we awoke from our last day in the desert world, nature had shown up again in all her beautiful splendour. A white  terrain lay at our feet, as we opened the door. Yes, indeed there was a lot of substance, cold and wet and the clouds still billowed in furious form all around. I take back all my words from yesterday and apologize profusely. We know who is in charge here and it is not us! Beautiful, white snow had settled during the night and cloaked the desert floor in a silent shroud of white ice.

What a way to leave …

in awe…

of beauty,

spaciousness.

authenticity

and simplicity.

It is this lack of ego that I wish to carry within me. How do I  take this vast spaciousness back to a world of distraction, detail and much complex form and consumerism.   How to bring spaciousness and freedom into everything I do. This is a state of beingness that I want to hold onto, but as soon as I try to attach myself to it,  it disappears.  I am sure there are a lot of articulate people who can verbalize so much better than I as to what I mean.  I know, here is a quote that I think we all know well.

“ to be in the world but not of it”

I think that is right. I think that is close to what I mean and then add in all that spaciousness, expansiveness and freedom. That should do it.

I think I’ll have one of those, put that on the bill to go!

Thank – you , thank – you so much.

Carmel Valley,CA

15^th Feb to 15^th March 2012

Well here we are in our new home, at a Saddle Mountain RV park inCarmelValley. We were greeted by Maren the camphost, who immediately made us feel warm and welcomed. It is a relatively small RV park with 25 rv spaces and 25 tent campsites. There are beautiful views from the beautiful pool deck and the deck outside the office. The RV park is situated on the slopes of a hill so it overlooks the valley. The RV camp spots are pretty small and once again we have to acclimate from the wide desert to a smaller world. It was a challenge last year and so it is again. There are a lot of long term campers here and so in fact there is a feeling of community and good energy.

The office, ( my new job)  where all the reservations and so forth are made is actually really nice. Training took place over a few days and here we are doing the do and exploring this area. It was a shock to come back to a more wintry place. I had forgotten that trees lose their leaves and that despite the “green” look it is still winter here. Perhaps that accounts for us both getting whopping colds!

We got to see our son Tyson, Cara his girlfriend, dear puppy dog Kedo and of course Gerry’s mom. We have only made 1 or 2 trips toSanta   Cruzand still haven’t seen everyone except our dear friends Julie and Rena.

So here we are and I knew it, just knew it … yes I miss the desert….. but here we are and after sinking into a 3 day depression, I am starting to emerge. It is challenging for me and  I am pushing myself to leave this small park and go on hikes to keep my feet in the natural world which is so comforting to me, my true home among the trees and the many plants, I recognise so many of them and they feel like old friends, as they reveal themselves one by  one. There is poisonous hemlock all leafy starting to rise from a long dormant sleep. There is the first frothy fennel and yarrow leaves too. I see the jagged leaves of wild nettle,  careful I want to avoid them, next to them is the antidote yellow dock and how could I forget the famous poison oak just starting to leaf next to the distinctive Mugwort, its antidote and of course Plantain looking so green and healthy. It is really so fun to see these plants again. California Poppy is perking up everywhere, sending out good cheer and brightening up this green world, so too are the purple flowered Lupine and the smell of Ceonothus in bloom fills the air and reminds me how good it is to be here.

The waves are crashing on the shore and the the wild movement of waves and  suspended white spray makes me quite dizzy. It is a desert liquefied and on the move. The lines have become blurry and once again there are wide horizons and a feeling of endlessness. I have found a liquid desert. I remember now that the ocean is my other home,  The oceanic home of beaches, cliffs and beauty. It is all here at my fingertips, I just have to get into the car and drive to it.

I know this is a good place for us. It is close to Gerry’s mom and that is very important right now. He can easily drive over there every day and check on her. She is a very fine lady and just turned 90!!! I doubt very much that I personally will see that age. Just amazing!

Carmelis quite the rich town. It is not impossible to be rubbing shoulders with the rich and famous here. Clint Eastwood has his inn and restaurant down the road, Doris Day her hotel for folks and dogs, it is like a miniHollywoodincluding the famousPebbleBeachgolf course and all the multi million dollar homes that stud this valley and shoreline.

We are close toMontereyand the incredible aquarium, fisherman’s wharf and the whale watching boats that can take you out into the bay to sight for the grey whales that are heading fromMexicotoAlaska, as well as humpbacks and maybe Orcas and dolphins. Just down the road isBig Sur, a strip of  mountains that meet the ocean. Every year after the rains there are  landslides and bridge devastations. This area reminds me so much of Chapman’s Peak drive inCapetown,South Africa.  Just gorgeous, breathtaking views of a vast green, blue, topaz and azure oceanic waters that pound this coast or lie snoozing and nuzzling against the rocks.  The fog comes and goes, softening the mountain contours or falling into the valleys. You never know if it is going to be warm or cold if you will see great views or if the world of oceanic magic will be hidden for your entire journey. Either way it is always an experience to enjoy, traveling down this coastline. For the first time Gerry and I saw 2 huge Condor birds sitting on top of a faraway tree. They are the largest birds ever. As one spread its wings, we just gasped. I’m not sure how many feet is the wingspan but from where I was sitting, it looked endless.

Maren has been introducing me to some of the hikes in theBig Surarea and they have been absolutely pristine. There are a number of streams that cascade down from the hills heading for the ocean and numerous hikes that meander inland or down to the beaches. So there is a lot to explore.

It is a busy place, though, lots of people want to be here and so many live here. So I have to learn to share.

Drats!

The Rock Capital Of The World

We have just spent 2 hours in an RV line waiting to dump the black tank, that’s our poop tank! The RVS have filled up this land from north to south and east to west, and now everything we do involves a line and a wait. Quartzsite has changed from the sleepy town ofDecemberto a crazy, hectic town filled with people who are either selling something or buying something. The land is literally filled with all sizes of RVS, from the huge and monstrous to truck campers, to vans to tents. It really seems like a carnival or a circus has come to the town ofQuartzsiteand they have erected small and large tents for all the hundreds and hundreds of vendors. The rest of the area surrounding the town in all directions is like an enormous RV park teeming with thousands of RVS.

Yet the campsite we discovered on Dec 18^th 2011, our arrival date still maintains its own peace and serenity, perched on the edge of the desert. We are on the southern section of the Bureau of Land management desert and in that section we are one of the few campers on the very end of the southern sector. I hope that makes sense. After leavingDeath Valley, it felt right to send down some roots and stay put for a while.

One aspect of my relationship with Gerry, is that we seem to be on the same page when it comes to our traveling plans and where we want to go. It seems that we both felt the same way about being here for the next month. In fact such were our rooting needs  that we went to town to purchase a bucket, rake and gloves!  Armed with our new  tools we set about gardening the rocks all around our RV. This rock gardening activity, sometimes known as “hardscape” is commonplace in snowbirds yards. We organized the endless supply of rocks into piles and made borders with them. Whoever was here before us had started the process and we simply continued it. By the time we were done we had a driveway, 2 driveway posts, garden plots marked out and surrounding the indigenous weed of creosote, smaller trail heads going out into the desert and a new fire pit in front of the RV. This venture of ours took a few days. There were so many rocks to move, an abundance of rocks, including the beautiful white quartz stones that lie around this land. Our nearest neighbors are 100 yards or so away and it is very private. Our front view is open and wide and includes the desert and hills and numerous trees like the Ironwood,( a very slow growing tree) and the Palo Verde tree. We are perched on a little hill and looking out 20 yards or so from us, is a large Ironwood tree. Looking at that tree, I told Gerry, it would be great to use the white quartz stones and build a beautiful medicine wheel around or near the tree. Going down to inspect the area, I noticed something white on the ground on the other side of the tree. I ducked under the branches and stood literally with my mouth open! There partially exposed under the desert dirt and dried brush, was a large ring of white stones and as I walked around it a medicine wheel revealed itself to me. It was already there defined with only white quartz stone, just what I was going to make. You know how it is when these things happen, it really is a moment of suspended time and a feeling of an unseen world making its presence felt. I felt that a huge gift from the universe had just been given to me. (well it was a few days just past my birthday!!!)

Before clean upAfter clean upAfter clean up

(Even Gerry was amazed by this)

The next day I returned and it only took a couple of hours to remove the dead brush, brush away some dirt and add a few more rocks to reveal a shining white medicine wheel. I moved right in that day and from the center of my new safe and sacred space I watched the sun go down. Now I felt right at home. There is nothing like a medicine wheel to ground and root you and to create a special space to meditate, read and write.

Gerry started again to fix and improve the RV, and every other day we would head into town and wander from vendor to vendor, admiring and trying not to spend money on all the things we felt we needed, but didn’t really need.

We had acquired a new bike, so I could cycle into town and do some classes, like Zumba dance, Western line dancing and jewelry making. Well that was the plan except there wasn’t enough people to make a jewelry class, so I substituted a meditation class instead and then had to drop the western line dance and that’s what happens when you plan too much, it all goes out the window and then I guess you’re doing what you are supposed to do??? Something like that?

From December through January, the town started expanding slowly, but then there would be spurts of growth that occurred overnight, until one day you look at each other with big eyes and realize that there really isn’t any more parking in town and it is taking so much longer to drive anywhere, plus there is a steady stream of RVS coming from all directions looking for campsites. Our new town home was to be shared with thousands of other people fromCanadaand all over theUSA. The attraction was the huge displays of gems, crystals and rock, raw and polished and made into beautiful jewelry. Plus hundreds of other vendors selling a large variety of merchandise including socks, honey, flags, kitchen utensils, carpets, rugs, bags, T shirts, quilts, books, this that and the other. In fact we were now in the middle of a huge on going swapmeet, that kept changing every 2 weeks or so. The heavily impacted time is in the middle of January.

Too , too much.

We would take small sections of vendors at a time and within a couple of hours we would be exhausted at looking at everything and head home to our very, very peaceful campsite to recuperate.

And somehow time was moving and flowing, even though the desert seemed the same unending, silent, sparse even bleak in places. Yet here and there a stately saguaro would draw your eye and lead your gaze upwards to a serene blue sky that stretched endlessly above you. It is always the bigger picture in the desert, nothing confining, nothing restrictive. This landscape is always so much bigger than your itty, bitty life.

I was well aware that I was merely tolerated.

There are many ATV trails up and around these hills and I found myself hiking on different ones every other day or so. I always took my cell phone in case I would have to call Gerry and say… I am lost, please find me… or I cannot move because my butt is raw after sliding down a steep incline… or…. I am plain tired and  need to take a nap … or…

But none of the above ever happened, and I still take my cell, and my water bottle, just in case.

Lately I have taken to using my ipod and turning up the music, to mask the silence of the desert. There are just those days when you want to block out the silence or ones inane senseless mind chatter. I have taken to tuning into my mother landAfrica. I understand a word here and there but the rhythmic sounds ofAfricahave spoken to me as I wander through the desert. I found some petroglyphs on a small cliff wall and as Africa sang in my ears, I swayed and moved my hips, lifted my knees and arms, dancing back and forth, circling around my hiking stick this way and that, admiring the rock picture forms and weaving them in with the music blending the Ancients and  Africa and feeling them come together in some form of recognition and bonding.

( I don’t think anyone saw me).

Jan 22^nd.

After a night of strong winds I headed out on one of the trails again. All the dirt trails had been wiped clean by the wind, and I was able to follow a coyote spoor across the hills up and down, it began to feel like I had a little companion who would disappear and then reappear time and time again. Then the loud ATVS appeared and so did my invisible companion.

Jan 24th

I am missing water. Not drinking water, moving, flowing water. I am missing the water that flows through sparkling, streams and rivers.  I am missing the sounds of water swishing and slushing against the rocks, or tumbling and cascading down falls. Any body of water as long as it moves and flows. Just thinking and visualizing the ocean seems overwhelmingly powerful  and immense right now. Another world. A fluid world. I am thirsty for a more fluid, softer world.

Gerry takes such good care of us. It is he who monitors our water situation and goes every 5 days to fill our 50 gallon water bag. The bag has a pump to pump it into our holding tanks and then we can shower again.  We empty the black water at the dump station every 2 and a half weeks or so. It’s at times like these that our whole camp is packed up again, just leaving the mat and chairs as we return with empty tanks. He never complains about this, doing these ongoing utilities tasks. Anything that goes wrong he is there to take care of it.

I am so fortunate.

Vicky and Tom are in Quartzsite, and are on their way to visit us. Wow, we now know 3 couples in Quartzsite and a South African popped by yesterday, after seeing our flying South African flag.  We had a great time talking about all our favourite foods, places, the changes inSouth   Africaand so forth. We sent him to the Flag Man of Quartzsite, Stan who is also South African, to purchase a flag. Such is life here in the desert surrounded by a carnival. We were going to leave this Tuesday but we have decided to stay for another week or so. We can do this, you know, we are snowbirds and can fly whichever way we want. Dare I say I am a little attached to our little home perched on the desert with our own Medicine Wheel.

Jan 30^th.

Today I stepped off the ATV trail and as I stepped onto the sparsely covered black desert rocks I noticed a tiny flash of purple. Could this be true, I got down close to the ground and yes a tiny spindly green plant poked its head above the stones and proudly elevated its beautiful, purple petals to the world.

A flower!!!!

In the desert.

It must be spring!!

That same day I saw two butterflies dart around the RV.

It must be early spring!

Tom and Vicky have left to find work, and Gerry and I wonder more and more these days what the future holds for us. As yet, nothing definite for us for this spring/summer/fall work in theSanta Cruzarea.

Our journey toDeath ValleyNational Park, Ca took us through the Joshua Tree National Park. I love all these national parks. You always know there is something so pristine and special ahead of you.

Joshua tree  was a brief visit, enough for a hike and a quick explore and then onto Death Valley nat Park,  to prepare ourselves for the arrival of my son, Tyson, his girlfriend, Cara from Gilroy, ca, his dog, Kedo and also my brother Rico from Vancouver, Canada. I was just so excited and happy to have them share a part of our trip. Rico and I share the same interests in terms of hiking, plants, and nature and I was so looking forward to sharing this desert world, that Gerry and I so enjoy, with him. Tyson, well I just couldn’t wait to hug him and I was also looking forward to getting to know Cara better. We arrived a couple of days before them to find the right campsite, you know the one close to the bathroom and one big enough so a tent could be erected and of course as good a view as possible and …..

Well we did, and we really got into sweeping up stones, re building a fire pit, and so forth…couldn’t wait, just couldn’t wait to see my family.

Here are some pictures of us and our time together. We were so blessed with sunny days and warm nights, no rain, no snow except on the nearby peaks, so lucky. The humor was great, Kedo, was a good dog and Rico always lends a hand with food prepping, I just love that!!!! Thank you Rico, we had a great time.

RicoTyson & Cara

Dinner time Rico & Gerryhiking in Golden canyon

yip thats us

Kedo Doggy!!!!Ready to Hike?Ready to Hike?

Sorry folks, I have had to update this program and there are all sorts of quirky things happening. Lotsa of rewriting and so forth and to be honest I cannot read it through anymore. pulling out my hair and quite bald. Put in hours and hours on this blog.

Katherine Landing, AZ on Lake Mead

Nov 4^th  - 9^th Nov

Katherine Landing

clear waters

I felt ripped from my beloved red rock, from the soaring  canyon walls, the rich red earth, the tall mesas and buttes, the pure  ruggedness of a wild land. This was the wilderness that I had been searching  for, for such a long time and now after 6 weeks of immersion, it was to a  large extent, over. I felt heart heavy and
achy, I wished I had done more, experienced more, appreciated more of this   intense land, where cliff and canyon walls loom 1000 feet, 2000 feet above you
and the colors change and deepen with the varying light  intensity. There were times I just wanted to
merge with this landscape, to run my fingers through this warm, harsh, red, warm, earth and press myself to its silent, ancient core.

It is such a harsh  land with extreme temperatures and not an easy place to live at all. I know I could not suffer the summers or the winters here but  I could visit in the softer fall and spring    months. 

So beautiful, so utterly raw and powerful there is no other  place that calls me as strongly. 

There is beauty everywhere, and I don’t want to be the  spoilt, unappreciative one.

 I am so, so fortunate  to have had a taste of this Southern Utah land, but  right now I feel that nothing can quite measure up to it and that the highlight
of our journey is over.  I hope desperately that I am wrong. For now, I simply must ache and hope that I can return another time. My life is indeed richer and  deeper for having been there.

 Our first night at Katherine Landing is serenaded with rain  dripping on the roof of the RV and unfortunately through the RV and onto the  bed! Fortunately it is on Gerry’s side and I know he will be motivated tomorrow  to find the leak. Oh, there is another leak in the kitchen, as well. I think we  are receiving tonight the annual precipitation for this area! I guess it is  snowing in Flagstaff and perhaps it  was a good idea after all to leave Lees Ferry! I haven’t yet told that to  Gerry.

Katherine Landing is right on the border of Arizona  and California, again on the Colorado  River or rather on Lake Mead. We have been  here before and it is very pleasant. In many ways it feels like we have  returned from the wild and are now back in urban civilization. We are parked  next to fellow RVers and we hear the sound of generators starting up in the evenings. We have a pleasant campsite, with a pleasant, if a  somewhat distant view of desert hills. There are a couple of pleasant hikes
nearby and a pleasant town down the road. It is … pleasant and I feel like I  have returned to suburbia. One good thing is that we are with  fellow snowbirds. These are full time RV people like ourselves who are heading  south to escape the cold northern winters. Some will stay here because this is  a warm pleasant place to be and others will continue to head into southern Arizona.  This is territory that is familiar to us because we have been here before. Familiarity  has a way of giving one a sense of security and comfort, of a sort. We are  hoping to meet my brother, son and his girlfriend in Death Valley, Ca in    December, so we have 5 weeks to travel or stay somewhere before then. We decided  to head south into Arizona and  maybe California for that time  and then come up north to Death Valley. We are in the
throes of planning. In the meantime things continue to fall apart. Our outside  chairs are now held together with twine and today there is a very pronounced
tear in the seat.                                                                                                                                                                

velcro keeps it all together - downright pathetic!

Duck taped seat - this is quite sad velcro keeps it all together - downright pathetic!

Twine to hold arm - just tragic

It has become a personal challenge to keep our chairs functional until we can find ones we really like. It has become a little edgy as to what is going to come first, new chairs or the total collapse of the old ones which we love dearly!

Our window blind is no longer functioning  and I am constantly running around to check   that there are no more leaks in the cupboards and so forth.  All is good, we are just back to a different    reality. Perhaps tomorrow I will do some serious ( no smiles) house cleaning.

Quartzsite, AZ   11^th November – 19 th November  2011

Sunset in Quartzsite,AZ

We had intended to camp in Parker, a town on the Colorado  River, but .. it looked so crowded with fellow RVers, that we kept  on going and landed up in Quartzsite. Another place we had visited last year.  The town was gearing up to host the annual pilgrimage of RVERS from all over  the USA and  abroad. Every day we were there we saw an increase in RVs and an increase in  the vendor population. I felt again my despondency in returning to another  familiar place after Southern Utah, but as the days went  by, the desert hills and terrain, started growing on me again. At Quartzsite we   are once again on the northern growing edge of those stately Saguaros. Here and  there we saw a few Saguaros scattered around. The redwoods of the desert, Once  again we saw the Palo Verde trees, those trees that have a green bark and tiny  leaves. There are the Ironwood trees, so very slow growing and everywhere  clamoring for attention are the green creosote bushes. Slowly I recognized my  old friends. My head and heart had been so lost to Southern Utah,  that it took a little time and effort to raise my eyes and see these old  friends again.                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

the fuzzy but painful cholla

Saguaro at duskthe dominant plant the creosote

One wonderful thing about the BLM land around  the town of Quartzsite  is that it seems quite endless. There is so much room for RVs and to find a
spot to yourself and have so much space around you with those yellow, orange  sunsets at night and a huge sky during the day. Quartzsite has its own
attractions and one of them is the silence of the desert and a sense of peace  that prevails this land. The town too has its own qualities. It is easy to have
access to different workshops and activities, it is a town of retirees, geared
for the RV folk and the snowbirds. For $180 you can camp on the BLM land from
Sept 15^th to April 15^th, that is 7 months! No electric of
course but access to a dumping station and a water fill up.   

Gerry said he was physically tired of watching me manually crank  in and out our livingroom RV extension. Anyway, he was determined to continue  our stint at fixing everything, and Quartzsite was the best place to try fixing  our suspected broken motor. I encouraged him with this line of thinking. Very  fortunately for us, Bill and Judy live here in Quartzsite. We had met Bill and Judy at our Costanoa workamping  place,
Bill is an amazing mechanical genius and he was willing to give us a hand with  our troubled motor. We finally got our diagnoses. No power in the motor!  This was absolutely proven and now we could
get a new one or a rebuilt one or another one or something. Gerry and I got so  hopeful and excited about fixing this darn thing that we started doing our  little finger exercises  to be able to
touch the switch again that would automatically eject our RV extension out and  then in when needed. Yahoo!!!! I will not bore you with the details of all of  this, suffice to say that within a couple of days, one more thing was finally  fixed. Thank – you BILL!!!! And JUDY!!!!!!!

 OOOPS once again our roof was leaking, no problem we are in  Quartzsite the RV haven and heaven, and Gerry was back on the roof, Mr Fixer  Upper. What would I do without him? I started to make him some pretty good
dinners, after all I wasn’t much use in helping out, it is the least I can  do!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We attended one of the town’s community fundraiser dinners.  I mention it here for a couple of reasons. Paul Weiner owns the town’s local  bookstore and is quite famous as a nudist. Pop around to the bookstore if you
don’t believe me.

Many, many years ago his daughter sadly past away and Paul created a public garden in her memory for the town. My understanding is that over the years Paul has done a tremendous amount for this town, and its people love him. He can be seen biking down the town street clothed in his G thong string? when he enters a store out comes a long shirt and in he trots. This community dinner was a fundraiser for Cecelia’s garden. To my surprise, Paul showed up in a 3 piece brown suit, and on his feet he wore brown socks and flip flops. ( these are my kind of people, I told Gerry) .He turned out to be a fantastic, once professional,  boogie woogie  pianist, regaling us with hilarious stories of his past whilst strumming along with lyrics. What a loveable character. The rest of the night there was a small band and some retiree folk danced away on the floor. Later it was pointed out to me that on the walls were several signs….”DANCE AT YOUR OWN RISK”. I guess being elderly and dancing can have dire consequences in these parts.

Just making sure you are all awake!

Yuma and Mitrie Lake 20 th November – 26^th November 2011

Canoeing on the lakeWe decided to keep going south toYumaand the Mexican town ofAlgodones. What I mean to say is that it was time to visit the dentist and how I dreaded doing so. The idea was to get it over and done with. I had a few teeth that needed attention and I had waited a year to return to Algodones the town of cheap dentistry. I was determined to find a good dentist.In the meantime our campsite was atMitrieLakeagain. A spot we had liked very much, and fortunately we liked it again. Our campsite was on the water’s edge and this time we unloaded our inflatable canoe and were able to spend some time paddling around on this beautiful lake.All the while my anxiety was building to get my teeth done. I swear I need therapy on dentist and teeth. Armed with 2 dentist referrals, we hopped over the border and entered the bright town of Algodones. Walking down an alley looking for these dentists, a salesman approached us and before I knew what I had agreed to, I am such a sucker, I was in a dental chair with a young woman peering into my mouth. She proposed I needed 4 to 5 crowns and a root canal. I was a little shocked, that many? My confidence in her ebbed. Really a root canal? I told her that I would have to be really sure about having a root canal done. No problema, a root canal specialist could be summoned and yes he is on his way. At one point I had 6 people peering into my mouth including the outdoor salesman for this dental office. The newly arrived Root Canal Specialist proceeded to give an impromptu lesson on root canals to all 6 involved participants and Spanish literally flew around the room, humming across my body back and forth. A few tests were conducted and then the verdict was delivered. My 2 back teeth needed crowns and the bottom lower tooth needed a root canal and a filling. I decided to come to life and suggested 2 extractions instead of crowns. I have my reasons and won’t bore you with them. All in all $500 and throw in a teeth clean why don’t you. The deal was struck and the root canal began. Although the specialist was very professional and I had confidence in him, not once did we really connect and I lay there like a lump of non native flesh, while my woman dentist, an assistant and the specialist kept up a running conversation, they could have been discussing politics, the latest TV show, gossip, whos who in town, jail sentences, drugs, I don’t know what, but I think no more teeth conversation. I really felt that I was fully in a 3rd world country and after having my mouth open for 2 hours, trying to figure out if these people were real dentists or not, trying to decipher what they were talking about, hoping I had made the right choices and feeling saliva drool down my cheeks and into my clothes ( I just hate that!), I literally gave up and sagged into the chair exhausted. Do what you want, but just get it done!!!!!!! I had intended to have everything done at once but after this episode I decided to return the next day for the extractions. Algodones, is such a cheerful town full of beautiful merchandise and happy folk, but we were very focused on getting Gerry’s diabetic medicines and my dental needs done that we were in and out of there in a couple of days. This is the only way we can afford to do this, by going to Mexico. We are not alone in this as the town is just full of Americans and Canadians doing the same thing.So we retired to the scenic lake whilst I nursed my sore, swollen mouth and as Thanksgiving came around, I changed my brand of yogurt from strawberry to blueberry. Poor Gerry!

Borrago Springs, Ca 27^th November -  8^th December 2011

We were awed by the solitude this place can offer and the depth of silence. Our campsite was just the way we like it, a wonderful view, silent and far from other RVers.  In the morning at6.30 amI can lift my head from my pillow and see the sun rise above the hills, a bright glowing ball then in the afternoon it  pours into the livingroom windows  before it finally sinks behind the dark hills beyond the town. As soon as the sun sets, the cool air is pronounced and we usually close down the hatches and get the heater going.

Stumbling out of bed, grabbing a cup of tea, and sitting outside in the morning sun is the best way to start the day. It feels as if the desert silence is a huge quiet balm of energy that settles around you, lulling you and before you know it you have sunk into a timeless place and space. Even if I can hear the traffic from time to time, there is this consistent underlying sound that hums and permeates every aspect of this land. It seems to form a container, holding energy so that what lives here can sustain itself. Everything that is alive here, is alive by harnessing energy in an intelligent way. There is no unnecessary squandering or wasting of valuable resources. This harsh, arid, desert land energy feels very strong and powerful and eternal.  The internal mind chatter can get to be very loud here against this silent backdrop. Once that diminishes, and it does from time to time, there is a deep sense of peace. Even if it is fleeting, it is there, and it is offered again and again.

 Does it take you changing your energy, relaxing, slowing down to match that offered by the desert, so that there is a mutual harmonious merging and resonation?

I  don’t know,

 but it feels good when it happens.

There is the visitor center and state campground just north of the town, and it was here that we were able to hike with Vicky and Tom, a couple we had befriended at Costanoa, and who are currently working at an RV campground 25 miles near Borrego Springs. The 4 of us did a lovely 3 mile hike toPalmCanyon. Back in the canyon is a true oasis of water and palm trees! We were told to watch out for Desert Bighorn Sheep, which we did, but never saw until we returned, and there they were a small herd, among the rocks but close to the trail. We heard a clash of horns, as a couple of rams butted each other, it is fall and time to fight for the favor of the ladies!

Desert Horn Sheep

We all felt extremely fortunate to have seen these animals, who are protected by this park. Their habitat over the years has been drastically affected and has created a serious decline in their population. They blend in so perfectly into this environment, I am sure they were nearby when we first started our hike but unless they show themselves to you, they are very hard to see.

Gerry, Vickie, Tom Yay water in the desert@

I love seeing Palm Trees in the desert

 Every morning and sometimes in the evening we could hear coyotes yipping in the distance. Well, we were visited by the coyotes.  Gerry found MY Teva sandals several feet from the RV one early morning. They had chewed off the straps. I was devastated. This had never happened before. I made sure to bring my flip flops in that night, but would you believe it they too were gone. This leaves me with one pair of hiking shoes! I then found out that the name of the hills to the west of us is called “CoyoteMountains”

We decided to find the local thrift store in town to find some sandals and would you believe it, it is called the Coyote thrift store”. What’s going on? Tyson, my son sent me via email a photo of an animal that had been picked up by motion sensors and photographed in a wild area inGilroy, Ca. One guess as to what it is, yes coyote!

Enough of this coyote stuff, as I thought this, Gerry called me to watch a coyote walk past our RV, he turned his head and definitely, gave us a good eyeful, probably looking for more shoes!!

Whenever Coyote shows up in my world, I am on the alert for something to go wrong, something not going according to plan or some kind of message and with all this strong coyote energy going on, it felt like I was being nudged awake. There was something I was not paying attention to, something I was not seeing and I felt Coyote was trying to show it to me with their prankster type of energy. Yes I took all of this very personally, after all why my shoes and not someone else’ like…. Ummmm Gerry’s?

So what is it? I need to figure this out before my “newly purchased flip flops” disappear too.

One of my realizations is that one can feel beauty, peace, joy and love in ones heart without being in the most beautiful place on earth. I have to admit that I really only felt this way when surrounded by all that beauty inUtah. Since then it had been hard to recapture those feelings again, to that depth. So this is what I was faced with, right now. To find all this juicy stuff within myself, anywhere and at anytime. There is always beauty to be found in any situation, any place, any person, one just needs to be open to it, because it always exist in us first. Something like that.

Wake up Orian.

We were fortunate to spend another day, exploring and hiking with Vicky and Tom before leaving. Thanks guys, we wish you all the best at your new RV workamping park and we hope to see you along the road again!

Palm tree frond

Now we are on the road north through JoshuaNational Park, theMojave Desertand onto Tecopa and Death Valley.

The magnificent Colorado River

Lee’s Ferry, AZ 

1^st Nov – 3^rd Nov 2011 

The place I wanted to spend time at is Lees Ferry. It is actually not very far from Page as the crow flies but due to the Colorado canyon and the terrain we have to follow a longer route. We had visited Lees Ferry once before, on our first trip north to what I refer to as our summer trip, but it was a brief visit and all I remember was feeling excited at seeing the incredibly red Vermillion Cliffs.

Vermillion Cliffs Monument

On our arrival I was once again gripped by such a feeling of excitement. I really cannot explain why. There is one campground here which is situated above the Colorado River as it flows by before entering the Grand Canyon. This area has a lot of history, as this was the only area in 500 miles where people could cross the Colorado River. There was an actual ferry system operated by Lee to enable people to trade and travel across the flowing waters.

Of course we picked the campsite that was right on the very edge of the hill, so we had an extensive view of the river with an incredible backdrop of orange, red and maroon  colored cliffs. Once again we were back on the river. This time the river was a deep green and flowing steadily towards the Grand Canyon.

The first night we were there a very strong evening wind blew hard and furiously for a number of hours. I cringed as the RV shuddered with every blast. The temperature had dropped quite substantially as well. It did eventually stop after Gerry had been outside numerous times to re-erect the TV dish and weigh it down with 2 gallon jugs of water tied up with some twine. Meanwhile I huddled in side, I just hate the winds when living in an RV! I know I am a wimp.

Getting cold for Gerry

  The next couple of days we did a little hiking and sight seeing along the river, visiting the place where the ferry had been set up and also Lonely Dell the home of this Mormon family. I thought I had plenty of time to do more extensive hiking but we had a couple of pretty cold days and then we heard that a snow storm was on its way and would be dumping 6 inches of snow in Flagstaff, a city south of us and one which we needed to go through when exiting this area. Well, I didn’t want to leave, but Gerry is the driver and he was making it very clear that he was not comfortable staying when snow was on the way.

So it felt an abrupt departure to leave the red rock country, a heart wrenching on my part.  Once again I asked Gerry to promise me that we would return some day!

You are all my witness, he said yes!

Our new waterfilled location

 Where are we? Utah, Arizona? Once again we are back on the border of Utah and Arizona. I am reluctant to leave Utah but running out of fall time and heading into winter time here. The days have decided to return to the nice fall days of 60 to 70 degree temperatures but the nights are more on the cool side if not cold side. I feel that Gerry is ready to head south but I am holding on to this border tightly. There is still so much to see. There are days when I feel so excited to get up and out of bed. There is a lightness of being I am experiencing that feels new to me and I want to hold onto it tightly. I am happy, happy, happy. I love this land, this light, this earth, it fills me up, inspires me, I am constantly grabbing my camera, aiming, shooting, I just cannot stop. I want to capture the warmth of all this red rock, or the light as it reflects off the water, or…. 

A soft world of pink delight!

Page is at the southern end of the Glen Canyon area. It is a town that has sprung up to house and support all the people who worked on constructing the dam that finally tamed and harnessed the waters of the mighty Colorado River. In the 1950’s it was constructed and it changed forever the wild waters of the Colorado in the enormous Glen Canyon area. The lake that formed behind the dam filled these canyons up, flooding them and destroying ancient ruins, petroglyphs, the ecosystems and  the beautiful and numerous rugged canyons, that Powell discovered when he traveled down the Colorado on a river raft. The lake is named after this explorer but I have a funny feeling he would not have approved of this dam. However the lake is beautiful too as it laps against the huge concrete dam walls. The pressure must be simply enormous on the concrete. As RVers , always conscious about our weight,( that is the RV weight, people!!!),we know that 1 gallon of water weighs 8 pounds! In 500 years from now we were told that Glen Canyon would be filled with silt. Right now water fills up all of the 96 canyons, wiping away an amazing history and incredible beauty, gone forever. There is a total of 9 dams on the Colorado River and this is the first one.

The Glen Canyon Dam

The newly released waters of the Colorado river

We found a campsite along the shores of this lake at Lone Rock. In fact we got up close and personable, parking our RV about 20 feet from the shore line on hard sand. It looked hard, will it stay hard? It was something that always nagged at me, looking at that sand day after day, and seeing our truck tire marks penetrating into the lower softer layers. Will we be able to leave??

Never mind it is beautiful here, so big open and the world is so full of water, tons and tons of it. We ended up doing a tour of the Glen Canyon Dam and it was fascinating. Half of this water is for Utah,  New Mexico and Colorado and the other half is for Arizona, S.California, S. Nevada, and even some for Mexico. By the time it enters the Gulf of California there is nothing left of the Colorado River. Drained, used up, every drop accounted for and every drop spent, all that is left of this mighty river is a dry river bed.  For some reason this strikes me as sad. After such a long and heroic journey, all that work of  carving and creating all those incredible canyons, including the Grand Canyon, where all those millions of assorted people  flock, year after year to admire and gasp with awe, that at the end of its journey there is nothing left. At least some of this river’s waters should ultimately and finally trickle into the arms of the ocean and be carried away. At least a “work well done” or something to that effect!

Into the Antelope Canyon by kayak

here we go into pure delight!

We spent a day renting kayaks and exploring a canyon called Antelope Canyon. I think after 3 hours of paddling in our double kayak, we finally slipped into a decent rhythm and flowed along, but then the trip was almost over! This particular canyon we explored, leads into a slot canyon, at some point, that is incredibly beautiful. We were able to get to the end but the end was smothered in debris and we didn’t want to go any further and turned back. It was a beautiful, clear, sunny day and the water was like sheer glass. No one else was out and about, so very quiet and still, (It was a Sunday!). Returning through the canyon was absolutely mesmerizing as the canyon walls were reflecting into the water and the colors were incredible. It felt as if there was a merging of real and unreal, solid and liquid, and the lines became very blurry, until it became quite trippy,and trancelike. I sat in the front and took photos and it was an amazing experience. I hope you enjoy these photos as much as I enjoyed taking them. 

water becomes a sheet of reflected glass

Reflections of light

Light Designs

Light strikes

Light bounces

Abstract Light Art

Doubling Light images

Light Realities

Shimmering Rocks Of Light

Light separates

The next day I wanted to actually walk through Antelope Canyon from the top. This can be done with a Navajo guide and some dollars. Gerry opted out of this little adventure, so I joined a small group and we descended through a slit in the ground into a world of soft beauty.

Descending through a slit in the ground

Illumined rock walls and crevices underground

The trail through the slot canyon is very, very narrow, and  in some places there is just a mere slither of exposed sky above you.

Looking up at the sky when exposed.

A rock waterfall

The sandy trail through the slot canyon

However the soft reflected light illumines the rock walls that dance and weave about you, in beautiful soft contours and colors. It is like seeing liquid rock flowing above and around you in swirls and wavy movements.

Swirling and moving patterns of rock

We descended a number of different ladders into the bowls of the earth and wandered along leisurely taking photo after photo. Our guide was very patient helping all of us to get good photos. The best time is in the mornings, 8 to 11am and in the afternoons 2 to 4pm.The afternoon light brings out different colors than the morning light. The canyon has taken the lives of 11 people who were trapped down here in a flash flood. For several years these canyons were closed to the public, but now they are open again and every one keeps an eye on the weather!!

A blurry me, disappearing into the rock

Another cascading rock waterfall

A labyrinth of light

No end to liquid rock delight

Purple rock? or Light?

The prospect of rain in the forecast got us moving again and the morning came when we nervously hauled ourselves and our RV along the sand, up the hill and towards the paved road. We were both extremely relieved to have made it out of there without any need for additional help!!!

Colorado River

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As the days went by, Gerry noticed that the Colorado was becoming a green river. The fine, brown silt that it had been carrying after the last rainfall, had settled and now the water was clearer and reflecting the narrow green band of bank side vegetation that marks the site of all waterways in the desert. I had noticed too that the river was not running as high, more and more rocks were now being exposed.

I have so enjoyed my time sitting  at the river. The spot closest to the campsite is an exposed rock, next to a rapid and the sound of the cascading water is so loud it shuts out all other sounds until it feels as if it is pulsating through my body.

It is so easy to pass out into a mindless state of beingness and all sense of time recedes. Only as the sun climbs above the canyon walls and takes ownership of the blue sky do I concede defeat and retreat into the shade next to the RV.

We did a day trip to the Island in the sky and Dead Horse Point State Park.

Island in The Sky

As we stood 1000 or more feet above the canyons we could see the shining  path of the Colorado River snaking along, carving its way through eons of years and digging deeper through tons of earth material, creating this wonderful land beneath us. What incredible wide expansive views, so difficult to capture even with a photograph, but we keep on trying

Dead Horse State Park

Hovenweep National Monument, UT and Mesa Verde, Co

20^th Oct – 24 th Oct 2011

On a little hike

When we left Moab on a fine Thursday morning, the main street was lit up with golden, glowing fall trees. It seemed as if overnight the trees had all decided to change color at once! As we drove over the miles heading south we kept catching our breath at all the yellow leafed trees that were sparking up the Utah world. We were heading south, not that far, to Hovenweep National monument. I was already missing my red canyon walls, as they disappeared and were replaced by open plains of grayish, green sagebrush.

 The campsite at Hovenweep was pretty nice and we had no problem getting a site. Immediately we felt that quiet, peaceful feeling of being in the desert. The name “Hovenweep” is a Ute/Paiute word which means “deserted valley”.  Here on the sides of this canyon and also on the rim, you can see the old architecture of the ancient people, the ancestral Puebloens, who lived here in the 1200 to 1300 A.D. period.

It is so amazing to see these ruins. Round, square and D – shaped towers are grouped at canyon heads, where rain water cascades down the walls into the valley below. The masonry is quite astounding. Considering the lack of tools at that time, and with the mere use of rock, earth and water, they built 2 to 3 story homes. They were farmers able to use and harness the water, by building check dams for growing corn, squash, beans and supporting 100 to 150 people in this one village. They farmed on the mesa and also built terraces on the canyon walls. They were  obviously successful for a time until 1300 when they all left. I think they must have been a very structured and organized society, with definite roles and tasks. Working together as a group they probably had to be to make it work. Gerry and I took our time hiking from one tower building to another along the rim of this smallish canyon. 

The next day we woke up at dawn and under a dark sky headed out on a day trip across the state border into Colorado. There is something about being on the road before the sun comes up and being part of the night and day transition, watching the subtle change of colors as the sky gets lighter and lighter. Its like a woman in labor, a slow transition but when the sun does peek above the horizon the birthing is quick and powerful and suddenly the day has begun and everything is illuminated in strong, golden strokes of light. 

“A new day, what a gift, even without caffeine, let me appreciate this gift of a day.” 

Mesa Verde was our destination, which means “Green Table”. It is a huge mesa that rises up above the flat land around the town of Cortez, population 9000. Thank goodness we had left our RV behind because we simply could not have made it up that steep, windy road to the top. We were both berating ourselves for not bringing more clothes. Every foot we rose up, so too did the temperature drop. The surrounding land and its details disappeared as we emerged onto this huge mesa and made our way along several more miles before reaching a closed visitor’s center. We went further along to the museum and it was only then that we caught up with all the touristy buses and foreign folk. Aha. 

Well if we thought Hovenweep was pretty amazing, Mesa Verde got the prize, as far as size, quality and quantity of housing structures. It would appear that at first the ancient ones had made pithouses on the mesa which was more exposed to the elements, and then had built dwellings under the lip of canyon walls, where there was more protection from the wind and rain. In summer it would be more cooler under the eves of the cliffs and in winter the oblique rays of  the sun would warm up the dwellings. 

I think I will just leave you with a number of photos to show you what I mean as a picture can replace a 1000 words. It was just so impressive and mind blowing. At first I have to confess I was a little bored and I don’t know out of sorts, but as the day went on I got more caught up in this ancient world and truly I admire anyone who can live in this hostile environment and not only survive but thrive here.

Mesa Verde

The Cave Dwellers!

Bluff, UT

24^th Oct – 25^th Oct 2011 

We are definitely heading south now towards the Arizona border. We stopped for a couple of days in Bluff, which is on the San Juan River. A number of river rafters take off from here and travel south towards Mexican Hat and beyond. We watched a couple of kayakers paddle away, loaded with gear and I couldn’t help feeling a little envious. One of these days, one of these days, perhaps…if our budget would allow us to ….. 

We had finally entered the golden world of Cottonwood trees in the fall. Our campsite was in the middle of a grove of beautiful yellow, golden leafed trees and there is something so uplifting and magical sitting amongst all this yellow. I thought I would dress up all in yellow and have Gerry find me. In the afternoon as the sun set it lit up all the leaves in a golden haze of light. I would dash out with my camera and snap away, but I just couldn’t do justice to all this brilliant light I was trying to capture. However I kept trying, as it gave me so much pleasure to peer through my view finder and isolate golden leaves in a single frame. My favorite image was to see a green hill with one golden tree ablaze on it.

Cottonwood Trees aglow

The next day we had some weather moving in accompanied by the loud orchestra of drums and the flash of tambourines. Despite all the drama and build up there really wasn’t a lot of rain. More like a temper tantrum, I suppose. 

A storm abrewing on the San Juan River

Bluff was once a Mormon settlement and there is a very interesting museum and actual settlement still intact here. We were surprised to hear of how 250 Mormons, men, women and children struggled to come across the desert and down the huge canyons that comprise the current Grand Staircase Escalante, in their wagons from upper Utah. There was no road or trail that they followed. They had no idea as to what lay ahead. They eventually came to a halt at the edge of a rim. Two thousand feet below was the Colorado River. They descended this incredible canyon wall, by hammering and blasting a notch called the hole in the rock, sometimes using a rope to lower things, people down.  Then they forded the river and had to climb up the other side and on they went until they founded the town of Bluff. It was hard to imagine this as we had already seen the ruggedness of this area. Ultimately their intention was colonization and conversion of the Indian people. 

 No comment on that aspect.

 The next morning found us on the road again and within a few miles the country changed back to my beloved red rock. The scenic vistas poured out beyond us into huge buttes and mesas and we were once again enthralled by the beauty and grandeur surrounding us. Huge, thick grey clouds hovered above the ground and the light kept shifting and changing. One minute the sun would pierce through the clouds and shine a spotlight on a hill, or mesa and then as we aimed our cameras it would be obliterated in shadow. I would be on one side of the road aiming and shooting and Gerry would be on the other side, like 2 cowboys, standing back to back covering a saloon bar with our pistols out and smoking. 

Solidified Art

Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park 

26^th Oct

Monument Valley

If we thought this area was beautiful, nothing prepared us for Monument Valley. It was breathtaking. Tall spires, buttes and mesas filled the landscape in all their rich earthy red and brown tones. They rose from the flat earth and towered hundreds of feet above us., each form separate from the other, giving you time to look at one and then move onto the next. This was Navajo Tribal land and only certain areas are permissible to travel on and view.

The campground here was on a mesa and probably the most primitive campsite and toughest terrain yet. When we told the Navajo Ranger we were heading there, she seemed very doubtful and shook her head. We soon found out why. Large potholes and rocks dotted the sandy road and we literally inched along. Huge grey clouds billowed across and the wind was strong and icy. But….. the view… isn’t it always about location???

What a location!

We crept to the edge of the mesa and parked our big white, obnoxious, out of place vehicle right on that tip overlooking a huge valley and making direct eye contact with one of the most dynamic buttes and spires yet. We were the only ones there. No other Rvs, vans, trailers, tents, just us. “Is this the right place? ” It was so cold and the wind was so strong that we had difficulty setting up. I would try and dodge behind the RV’s tires for some wind relief and Gerry was just wonderful doing most of the outside work in that freezing air. We are still hand jacking out one of our extensions, (broken motor) and it was my turn, but he sent me inside. For once no arguments from me! 

We were a little concerned about rain and getting out of this raw, primitive campsite in tact, so we opted to do our sightseeing there and then and leave in the morning. There is a 17 mile drive for high clearance vehicles, or you can pay and go on a guided tour. We opted to take a slow jaunt in our pick up and it was absolutely thrilling and lovely to drive through all this powerful, red beauty. The colors and light kept changing rapidly, as the sun and clouds did their “peep and boo” games with each other, but we were patient and hopefully got some good photos. 

I know it is hard to grow and have a sustainable living on land like this, that is so arid  and dry, so exposed to all the harsh elements but gosh it is just so incredibly beautiful. Can you just live on beauty and nothing else? 

In the morning there was new snow on Navajo Mountain, 10,000 foot, and it was time to inch our way out, around the pot holes, over the rocks, along the hard red dirt and back onto our never ending road of travel and delight. It is hard to imagine that we would ever see anything as beautiful as this Monument Valley! This has got to be the cherry of all cherries that would grace the top of a cake? Ice cream? Pina colado? Strawberry daiquiri?

You know what I mean, all this beauty is just too much, its blowing my mind, I don’t want it to end…..ever.. this is my world and I love it!

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Thank – you until we meet again!

Costanoa Koa  Santa Cruz, CA

15^th April to 15^th September 2011

Our warm send off from Costanoa, KOA , (Santa Cruz, Ca) by our fellow workampers carried us away on a cloud of good wishes, promises of  continued friendships, and mutual heartfelt feelings. Hugs and waves of goodbyes sent us down highway one on the beginning of a new adventure to Southern Utah.

Gerry and I have been workampers for 5 months at Costanoa and it was certainly a very interesting and intensive learning experience for both of us.  From the 15 th April until our last work day on the 15^th September 2011, we had lived and worked at this high end resort on the most pristine coastline in California.

Gerry at work!

While I battled it out learning the new, (new to me), KOA, reservation software, and made reservations from the kiosk, Gerry hefted heavy bags of garbage in the campground, cleaned tables, campground sites and kept a clean ship with fellow workamper, Tom. We lived and worked here and made friends with so many different folks. These 5 months were rich in workamper bonding, and it will be these workampers we will always remember when we think of Costanoa.

Tom, Robby,me,Vickie,Betty,Gary

Our timely arrival in April seemed to herald a series of changes that started early on in our new workamping careers. It appeared that the owners were not happy with the campground maintenance and over the next several months proceeded to clean house. It was as if we all experienced a mini earthquake every few weeks as mangers and employees came and went. We bonded and then these bonds were severed as heads were chopped and people left one after another. No matter how nonchalant we appeared it always shook us up and we often felt we were next. It was wildly confusing and demoralizing at times, and then also very humorous and somehow we stayed through it all and made it all the way until September. We will always remember understanding Mary, the teacher, who helped us clarify the campground rules, Frances who doubled us over in irreverent mirth, Vickie, who was the heart of campground hospitality,  and hardworking Tom who together with Gerry made an awesome team ( I thought), Generous Betty and Gary who will hold down the fort , no one gets by Betty, Robby the most fabulous horse wrangler, and so many others. 

Our horseriding down with Robby ( the famous and beat horse wrangler!)

 We tried to keep count of all the people that came and went and gave up counting after reaching 20!  Most of the time we worked there, we worked without a manager, and so we came up with our own work schedule that seemed to work really well for all of us and hashed things out when needed. I think we did extremely well and gelled together to run a great campground team!!!! YAY Campground Costanoa!!!

Our goodbye night, going wild in the campground!!

Mary with baby feral kitty Lucy.

So very cute!

What a summer and through it all I harvested my herbs from up and down the coast and also from the summit. Over the months the oil infused herbs were ready to filter and decant for the next year. We tried to see our friends and family members as much as possible on our 2 days off. Gerry’s mom was moving into a new elderly assisted living center in Monterey which turned out to be a mini 5 star club med. ( I am serious!). I tried to see Tyson, my son every week, regardless of his feelings and we did a dog training class together with his dog, Kedo. ( I love you Kedo!).  I have to say there was a lot to juggle and somewhere along the way I put my back out twice within a week, which added on an additional activity of attending an excellent chiropractor once a week for a couple of months!  We also moved the contents of my paid storage shed to Tyson’s house, thank – you Tyson so we could save some money for our trip. Then we had the good fortune of meeting and spending dinner times with Cara , Tyson’s girlfriend and getting to know her!  Now that both Tyson and Gerry’ mom are happy in their full lives it seemed a good time for us to get back on the open road, armed with a few extra dollars and explore  Southern Utah’s National Parks.

So that is it 5 months of living on 1 page!

Beautiful Coastline!

Zion National Park

24^th Sept – 28^th Sept 2011  

As soon as we hit the road , I felt the shift take place within. The open sky, the black ribbon road of endlessness and a feeling of light expansiveness engulfed me. I did not feel sad at leaving our hometown this time, nor friends or family. Somehow, some where it came to me that when you love someone or something it can never be lost. All you do is place it inside your heart and allow it to fill you up. So I was taking everyone with me on my trip and hoping to have a joyful experience.

Mercey Hot Springs tubs

What a way to start our trip

Our goal was Southern Utah  and we retraced our steps to some of our favorite places like Mercey Hot Springs and  Lone Pine  We had to adjust to extremely hot temperatures, well into the nineties, if not higher and this was accompanied by nose bleeds  and fatigue. Sometimes that heat just settles on you like a big hot blanket and the eyelids just droop.

We arrived in Zion National Park on one of these hot days, a little after 1.30 pm and were so fortunate to get the last campsite spot. The downfall was that it was a handicapped site and we would need to find another site the next day. We were up at 6.30 a.m. to secure another site the following morning and only then were we able to fully relax and enjoy the beauty of Zion. For me Zion was the way Sedona, AZ should have been if it wasn’t for the built up condos and homes, the commercialism and so forth. This was like a Sedona in all its pure beauty and awe inspiring towering red peaks.

Evening light glows on the mt walls

Even the roads are red!

The canyon floor of Zion is flanked by towering sandstone compressed through time,  that blaze a deep red ember at sunset and dawn. The Virgin River has carved this entire landscape through the millennia and created a dream of towers, monoliths, peaks and valleys. People bathe in the cool waters of this river and so did Gerry and I. It reduced our body temperatures and made the hot afternoons tolerable. This was the beginning of fall but for us not having experienced a summer in foggy, coastal Santa Cruz, this was our summer! 

Zion Nat Park

Zion offers its visitors an endless stream of free shuttles that transport you up and down the canyon floor. This created a lack of traffic congestion and seemed to give rise to a feeling of mellowness and relaxation, as people meandered up and down Zion quite effortlessly. Somehow by relieving people of the responsibility of fighting for parking spaces and clogging up the road arteries, they could relax and go with the flow. Anyway that is how it appeared to me. There is this beautiful green lawn outside the lodge which is about halfway up the canyon where people congregate for lunch. In the middle of this lawn is this massive, elderly cottonwood tree, its graceful branches curve upwards and out throwing a huge mantel of shade, darkening the lawn.  It is here that we are all able to gratefully rest, a brief respite from the heat of the day. It is so wonderful to see so many people relaxing, sprawled out on the lawn, so quiet and peaceful. The grass feels cool, luscious to the skin and I like so many others seem loathe to leave this spot.

The clear Virgin River

Leaving Zion we traveled through a mile long tunnel that has been blasted through these cliff walls, what an engineering marvel that is and then we were off to meet with friends at Capitol Reef National Park.

Capitol Reef National Park, UT 

29^th Sept – 2^nd Oct 2011

The  drive north to Capitol Reef was very pleasant and we chose a road that we felt was the least steep. Our truck is a little underpowered pulling our 30 foot fifth wheel and we are always conscious of this fact. We had an excellent mountain driving map book that lists all the steeply graded roads and Gerry was constantly checking this. Anyway the trip was mellow and uneventful and then suddenly we were again amongst the red mesas and towering peaks that always feels so incredible and dramatic.

Capitol Reef Nat Park

After many cell phone calls between us and our friends Jerry and Evelyn from Aptos, CA, we were able to intersect at Capitol Reef National Park. Jerry and Evelyn, had taken a month off to be on the road. They were 3 weeks into their trip and starting south when we were just starting north. Again we had to take a campsite outside the park and then enter early in the morning to get a site. This is a very competitive undertaking, to get a national park campsite!  It usually involves Gerry and I zapping through looking for a good campsite, me springing out and claiming one, whilst he does another drive by. This time I was able to secure 2 next to each other one for our friends, as well.

Evelyn & Jerry paying us a visit!

Capitol Reef is beautiful. It is like an oasis in a desert. The Fremont River, very red, brown in color flows through this old Mormon settlement. It has several fruit orchards left over from the Mormons and  they are maintained by the park services. You can grab a ladder and pick as many as you want. I think it’s a $1 a pound. Evelyn and Jerry have a motor home and so on the second day we all piled into Gerry’s truck to explore more of Capitol Reef. Let me be specific, Gerry’s truck has only one front seat, so it meant 4 people squished together sharing 3 seatbelts! So there we are Evelyn and I sandwiched between the 2 Gerry’s, or is it Jerry’s?.We were constantly stopping to take pictures, undoing seatbelts and doing them up again in a certain order, so 4 people could spill out, take snaps and then pile back in again. We were getting into a rhythm, you know, Gerry buckles up first, I lean back, Evelyn leans forward , I hand the seatbelt to her, Jerry buckles us up, he reaches for his seatbelt and leans sideways towards Evelyn and I lean towards Gerry so Jerry can close the door and then we are off. We stop and go through the process again… you get the picture??? It worked, that’s the main thing and we are still friends!!! I think? 

Thanks for the pic Evelyn!

Because I like it

There is a beautiful scenic drive that eventually ends at a canyon. From the canyon you can take a dirt road and as long as there is no chance of flash floods you can venture down some of these canyons. The colors of these sandstone walls are a variety of warm tones of reds, oranges, yellows quite hard to describe how the light shifts and changes their hues and tones as the day progresses. It really grows on you these magnificent cliff, canyon walls, this entire landscape that is just so much bigger than you or your puny thoughts.

Capitol Reef

At one point Evelyn and I got out to walk and photograph while the men drove. The temperature was perfect and we just kept snapping away.

Our great diiner!

Our photo shoot stroll through the canyon(Evelyn)

It is rare for Gerry and I to have friends while traveling and this was such a wonderful opportunity to share this adventure with Evelyn and Jerry, to socialize and really enjoy time together in such a beautiful place. We were quite sad to say good bye and depart a couple of days later.

 Until we meet again!!!

Safe travels Evelyn and Jerry.

 Canyonlands, Ut 

2^nd Oct – 6^th 2011

I love it!

Trying to get into National Parks and finding a campsite is starting to get to me. Why are there so many people doing what we are doing? On arriving at Needles, Canyonland we had to spend the night at a neighboring campground and then once again get up at dawn and head into the National Park. We actually got my bike down from the rack so I could bike up and down the road to secure a vacated site as soon as one arose. It was quite intense and stressful and of course when we suddenly had 4sites to choose from, that made it worse not better!

Shelter cave and petroglyphs

Red rock everywhere

Anyway we are here now and our campsite and view is just all we could have wished for. We are under a big sky and in front of us are the red colored mesas, and needle like cliffs, buttes; I just don’t know all the necessary terms to describe all the different sandstone formations. They are all beautiful!

I think I would like to hunker down for a few days and settle into being rather than doing. I would like to get into my rhythm of meditating, writing, walking and slowing down again. I had missed this when working for 5 months and this I have found is important to my wellbeing and emotional balance. In other words I am a much better person, this way!

Gerry and I have had a tough time with high temperatures and now big billowing, white, clouds are scurrying across the landscape and there are mutterings of a possibility of snow within the next 2 days! Surely this is crazy talk! It is only the beginning of fall; I really refuse to believe this. 

Storm approaching

Today the wind has picked up and it is whistling through our RV, the sky is very overcast and the wind rises and falls, just like the ebb and flow of the ocean. This entire land that we are sitting on was once covered by ocean and you can see this movement of water like ripples over the now compressed sandstones. You can see swirls of sand as if you were at the beach, strange shapes, and patterns, frozen in time as if a camera had snapped that particular pattern, freezing it into place. It is very remarkable to realize how ancient this land is that has emerged, 300 million years old! All the elements are fully present here, air, fire, water and earth, each so very powerful molding and shaping, eroding and reforming this land. It is hard for me to express and find the words to describe what I see and feel.

“This land appeals and satisfies me like no other.

It draws me, excites me, fills me with awe,

Renders me speechless,

 but above all,

I feel this opening and deepening within me, with little bubbles of pure joy percolating throughout my being, catching me by surprise.”

Gerry’s truck is sounding a little sick. There is a thumping sound and a little screech. We are trying not to be too concerned as we are pretty far from the nearest mechanic or town. The weather is cooling down and we expect something coming through here soon. I’m not sure if that something is just rain or snow! We have debated driving the truck up to Moab and leaving the RV here and getting it checked out. We both decided to sleep on it. In the morning we agreed not to separate truck from RV and not to make a separate trip, we would wait and leave with everything in tow. The noise dissipated and we were relieved.

Temperatures plummeted and I was constantly on the alert for snow. We woke up on a Thursday morning to rain and decided on a moments notice to make this a driving day to Moab. It was only when we left the park that we noticed the surrounding mountains were covered in white, oh my it really did snow, but it is only early October!!!

Moab UT and Arches National Park 

6^th Oct – 20^th Oct 2011

As I look out the back window of our RV I see the rippling movements and swirls of a river in motion. Not just any river, mind you, this is the famous Colorado River that is flowing through our backyard. The noise of this rapid fills the RV and it feels as if we are a part of the river, flowing away. We have found the all time best campsite here just a few miles outside Moab. We have the closest campsite to this huge desert river and we are both in heaven. We are fronted and backed by huge canyon walls of red rock and next to the river there is a slither of road that meanders through this area, this is highway 128 and we are camped at Big Bend, BLM land, $6 a night for the elderly… thank – you very much!!!

The Colorado river, our campsite

We are also delighted to find that Moab boasts a Ford Dealership and Service Dept and in a few days we will submit the truck for a medical, I mean mechanical inspection. Moab is a busy little tourist town filled with … restaurants!!! I think you can have a full range of ethnic choices and of course my favorite Burger King! Ok, Ok I’m joking. The young folk really flock to this town, bikers, hikers, rafters, rock climbers, all the healthy, athletic young folk, who we hopefully once were and think we still are. Just outside Moab is the Arches National Park which boasts, I don’t know how many, natural rock arches. The one and only campsite in the park is on a reservation system from April through October and I am quite relieved that I don’t have to hassle for another campsite. On highway 128 there are numerous BLM campsites along the Colorado River and they are all full too. Did I mention we have the best campsite, it is number 6! Across from us is a huge canyon wall which is the southern border of the national park. Yesterday I watched a great Heron perch on a rock and with an effortless bob of its head nabbed a fairly large fish. It must have been large for him too because he seemed to have problems with gulping it down, almost losing it twice. I was quite relieved when he finally lined it up just so, and down it went. Well done.

Even though there is snow on El Sal Mountain, the temperatures have been great. We are in the 70’s and there are so many hikes to choose from. One morning I hiked alone on a trail near here called the Negro Bill Canyon Trail, a 4 mile roundtrip hike that followed a perennial stream to view a rock bridge, I think the 6 th largest in the world? It was one of those beautiful mornings when the sun backlights all the leaves into a golden glow and the flowers are bright with reflected light. I had stepped into a true Garden of Eden. The creek rambled along throwing sparks of light into the air and the natural world just shimmered with bright energy. The stream curved its way between the red canyon walls and the warm earth colors were etched against the luscious plant greens. I had to stop and take photos, time and time again, catching my breath at the purity of it all.

I am so happy.

Negro Bill Canyon

The rock bridge in the distance

I arrived at the rock bridge which was a chunk of rock that extended in one piece across a small stream connecting 2 rock cliffs. I had just missed a group of guys repelling themselves down the cliff face from the bridge. In 5 minutes they had cleared out and there I was alone with the rock bridge and alone in the canyon, all to myself. What a beautiful day.

The Morning Glory Rock bridge

Well it worked out that our truck got sicker before it got better. One early morning as I stepped out of a hair salon, I saw water spewing out from the engine onto the road. Gerry slowly drove to the Ford place and as we got out we saw a cable hanging from the engine. Thank goodness they made room for us and repaired the water pump, pulley, added coolant and so forth. We still have more repairs to do and will return another day for those. Thank goodness we worked so hard in Santa Cruz to pay for all this!

Gerry kept saying that I needed to go back to work, ………..apparently that was a joke! 

A bad joke.

I think I might have a nightmare over that joke!

This land is so yang and masculine, hard edges, dry, parched earth, hot bright sun that even when it is cool, shines with a relentless intensity. I admire all the folk that live here throughout the year, who have the ability to live in this harsh, arid world of tremendous extremes. Right now I am looking at my skin and it is looking remarkably like the cracked, dry earth I see all around me. All moisture is sucked out of every pore a relentless dryness, only here near the river is there some softness of greens, some yielding of energy a touch of the feminine, the yin energy. It is very welcomed. However there is something so appealing about this harsh, desolate land that has its features carved, and sculptured by such artistic hands like the wind, water and heat over time. All 3 have worked their magic chiseling away for millions of years to create a landscape of such breathtaking and unique beauty, shaping the earth into buttes, spires, mesas, monoliths, fans, creating windows, arches and it is just endless in all its variety. It is certainly growing on me and I am dragging my feet, wanting to stay longer, longer, longer….

Looking up at an arch

Talking to you

When I think back to May 1^st and starting out for the first time, we faced so many unknowns. Some of the unknowns involved leaving my son to fare as an independent young man for the first time, another one was how would  Gerry and I get along in such a small space on a daily basis? Would we be able to agree or compromise on the important stuff, like where to go? Would we get bored?  How would we do on such a tight budget?   The list went on.

 Why were we doing this? Remind me. Why did we leave our stable existence, friends, family, community, work, home  and head into this unknown? This big question mark.

For me life had become pretty heavy, full of responsibilities, a burden if you will, time had become very structured and predictable and was just speeding by and I felt like a hamster going round a wheel, trying desperately to get out of debt. I had so many things going on that needed my focus and attention that I was very spread out. I really wanted to experience unlimited time. Time that had no structure, that was open and free. I wanted to experience what it would be like to eliminate as many responsibilities as I could, and experience that for the first time in many decades. What would that be like? I also wanted to experience the natural world in all its different colors, shapes and  forms from mountains and rivers to deserts and canyons, to vast expanses of terrain and everything in-between.

Above all, I wanted to deeply experience beauty and peace.

So it was necessary to make a big change and to take a risk.

I know many people envied us and what we were doing, but in many ways it was difficult out here too. I would say that most of this year has involved major processing and releasing. In many ways it felt like I was dying and different aspects of my past would revisit me as well as different people and relationships. Sometimes I would say to Gerry, “Guess who popped up today?” It was an ongoing saga and involved constant inner work. It felt like I was releasing many of my attachments to roles I had played in life,  releasing  my identification to work and my performance in the outer world. I don’t know yet to what depth I have released all of this, time will tell. None the less it was not easy, and in many instances especially painful. After all who or what are you when you release all these attachments, roles and ideas of yourself?

The outer world we experienced was everything I had hoped for, it is beautiful, unique, awe inspiring, grand and bigger than life. It is moving and deep, sustaining, and nurturing, powerful in its ability to touch you emotionally and yet … it was difficult to find places where you could be utterly alone,  where you could find a pristine piece of mother earth. I know that if I could hike 10 miles a day, I would be able to find those places, hopefully, but hiking a couple of miles still left me in areas where man’s impact is still so obvious in the form of litter and pollution. It is everywhere, these big feet we leave all over the earth, in the water and in the sky. It is difficult to find a quiet place devoid of humans, noise and pollution. I was quite desperately seeking solitude, peace and beauty that is limitless and eternal. It is a sad state of affairs that the natural world has difficulty offering this to us now. It has saddened and disappointed me immensely that it has become so hard to find. I have always looked to nature for nourishment, nurturing, rejuvenation and renewal. It has been that one force in my life that has helped me to heal and balance The natural world has always been my haven since I was a little child. I guess the closest I came to finding what I was searching for was in the Gilla Wilderness, hence when we left there  I truly felt a deep loss. The other memories I have are of the Grand Teton when after some rain we saw these incredible grey mountains and lakes in the morning light. It was utterly pristine and just swept you away with its glorious, fresh, still, beauty.

The good news, for me anyway, is that I have been able to find all these qualities, these qualities of balance, serenity, peace and beauty that I have been searching for on our trip, in my own heart. There does exist a place within that is limitless, free, where nothing can diminish you, or hurt you. It is the most authentic, real and magical part of my existence that in the past I could only find in nature, now I feel it so much more tangibly in myself. This is where I can return to again and again where life has true meaning and relevance. I just need to remind myself for it is easy to get lost, distracted and caught up in the outer busy world and before you know it you are going around the hamster wheel, again.

All the other unknows that we started out with have in many ways been resolved. I feel so much lighter now, happier too. We have found that it is best not to plan too far ahead, that life can be lived on a day to day basis, that it is OK to let life unfold and when it does it has a way of taking care of all the questions you have. Things do get solved if we let go and trust.  It is when we have expectations and attachments that we run into problems.

 I also think that Gerry and I are returning as a stronger couple than when we first left a year ago.

                                                   (I hope he agrees).

                        So we return to Santa Cruz to work for the summer.

                           Who knows where we will be or go in the fall.

                                                 Only life will tell.

                             Do you know where you will be in the fall?

                                                 Thanks for reading

here we are!

Mojave Desert

 We returned to the Mojave desert where we had started out from 5 to 6 months ago and it felt like a completion of our southern trip into the desert world that we had been exploring and enjoying for the past fall and winter.  We were returning to Santa Cruz, Ca to work for the next 4 months and I felt a reluctance to leave these beautiful desert landscapes. I think my feelings were also tinged with some anxiety regarding our new work positions and the adjustment into the old society of work, structure, rules and regulations.

The Mojave Desert was just starting to bloom and reveal its hidden beauty. Yellow spring flowers were starting to coat the sandy, stony floors and now and again a burst of crimson red would catch my eye and draw me closer to the Indian Paintbrush. It looked so fresh and newly formed etched against the desert earth tones. I just kept catching my breath every time I saw this beautiful plant.

Indian Paintbrush

Gerry and I did some hiking through the “hole in the wall” where you ascend or descend, depending on the direction you were hiking, through these interesting rock formations. There are metal rings that are bolted into the rock to assist you and it is really fun to move through these rocks and cliffs.

Our time here flew bye very quickly and as we departed at dawn on Wednesday the 13^th April, we caught a glimpse of coyote running across the road in front of us. I didn’t say anything to Gerry about “trickster energy” and neither did he, but I should have guessed that something was afoot. The wind that morning was extremely strong, well over 50 miles an hour and it was a head wind to boot, we were making what seemed to be slow progress.  We had started to plan our day and figure out what time we would arrive in King’s City, when Gerry saw a shadow move next to the truck. Looking in the rearview mirror he saw one of our solar panels flip over and hang over the RV roof. As you know you can’t just put on the brakes and pull over, and so we coasted down the road for a while hoping the solar panel would stay put until we could pull over.

So there we were on the side of the road trying not to be blown over by the wind or hit by the passing traffic, as we figured out what to do with our very precious solar panel. We have 3 on the roof and one was in serious jeopardy.  Gerry was trying to figure out how to get on the roof as both our bikes are strapped to the ladder at the back. Darn coyote, here we are on our home run and now we had trouble on our hands. With a bit of gymnastic ability, ( not one of Gerry’s strongpoint), he was able to get by the bikes and up the ladder. It appeared that all the solar panels were wobbly and not strongly attached to the roof. The one solar was upside down but held on by wires. So while Gerry dealt with detaching it from the wires, I held onto the ladder and peered over the roof offering moral support but NO advice. While both of us were engrossed in our respective passive and active activities God spoke to me from above in a huge metallic voice and asked if we needed help! I almost fell off the ladder in fright but managed to keep one hand on the ladder. (I learned that from sailing many years ago when I came over to the USA from South Africa on a gaff rig. Always have one hand on the boat, you can do what you like with the other!)  I tried to peer above me and then to the side and then finally behind me to find the God source. Well it was behind me in the form of a Highway Patrol car. A young, clean looking cop sat in his warm car and as I approached him after nearly falling off the ladder, I put my hands in my pocket. Yikes, since my son is now in  law enforcement, I quickly pulled them out fearful that I would get taysed  ??? cannot spell, and fall writhing to the ground. Ok long story short, God offered to help but I turned him down. End of story. 

So now we were back on the road transporting 2 wobbly solar panels on the roof and one solar panel wrapped up, nice and cozy on our bed! 

We thought we would be in King City at 2pm, but we were still driving at 6pm that day. I just don’t know how that time warp happened it just did. From Mojave to King City it took us over 12 hours… I just cannot explain it.

  Speak to coyote! 

Goodbye Mojave!