Phoenix - 8

January 20^th – January 26^th 2014

Very quiet and laid back week. J. worked five days (she picked up some overtime). The weather was pretty much the same, it does not change much – warm, sunny, blue sky. I guess another week that is close to normal life.

20 – work day

21 – work day (I felt sick both days)

22 – J went out for bunch of goofing and shopping (I still felt sick)

23 – we with out to the desert botanical garden with J.'s friend from the hospital. Nice and pleasant day. Way too many people there – no idea why. On the way back home we drove by Camelback Mountain and Piestawa Peak parks. Easy and relaxing day.

24 – 25 – 26 – work days (still feeling sick and tired: not much)

Phoenix - 7

January 13^th – January 19^th 2014

Our trip to Sand Diego is described below. The end of the trip is described in this post. Another great week in Arizona/California. We are going to Alaska – J. starts March 21^st 2014. It is going to be interesting driving adventure. Otherwise … enjoying our time in nice and warm Arizona.

Friday, January 17^th 2014

Saturday, January 18^th 2014

We were up relatively early. Pack up our stuff, load the car, get the coffee, check out from the motel. Another pretty morning in California. We were heading a bit out of the way to visit Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcala, if I remember correctly the first mission in California. We had time before it opened so we drove through neighborhoods. We intended to drive via Hillcrest (apparently busy and pretty area) and according to the map we did, but we did not see anything particularly interesting. Oh well …. Mission – as we learned in a tiny museum the building was pretty much destroyed and it had to be rebuilt. It was somewhat interesting and pretty, but … hard to say. We got on freeway and were heading north to the area of Carlsbad and Ocenside. We exited the freeway earlier and followed the coast – smaller communities – just fine. Two nice towns. Stores. Ocean. Beaches. Via scenic detour to Palm Springs. California is really experiencing serious drought. Too much driving … it was scenic and somewhat interesting but it was just going and going and going. Palm Springs area, green oasis in the desert. Incredibly long cluster of several towns. As much as California is dry those towns had green grass, trees and incredible landscaping – are they not part of the state? Cross all the towns and head up to Palm Spring Aerial Tramway. 4:30 up – interesting ride, 2500 to 8500 feet (roughly), great views, pretty cold and very different up there. 5:30 down and to the motel. Really tire.

On Saturday – just head home to Phoenix. Groceries. J. had to get ready for work. And all the monkey business. Life goes on.

San Diego - 4

Thursday, January 16^th 2014

(Aren't we just going bananas?)

Quiet and slow morning in San Diego, classy city in California. So far we have been really happy with the city and our experience. Some things were smaller and geared really heavily towards tourists so they were much quicker visits than anticipated (Old Town, Gas Lamp Quarter). Still, it is warm, sunny, clean, lively, and so pleasant (especially in winter). Drive north on I-5 (a bit busy) to visit a botanical garden (we have reciprocity from Phoenix Desert Garden). Parked. Walked around and enjoyed the site. Visible ocean. Bamboo forest. Fruits (lemons, citrus, bananas). We were walking through the grove of banana trees with bananas on them! All kinds of plants. Lizards. Waterfall. Garden for children. It was green. A lot of blooming plants. It was awesome. Down to the ocean. Beach. Lunch. Drive along the coast, some smaller towns, busy roads – nothing special (it is getting hard to impress us).

Torrey Pines State Reserve, http://www.torreypine.org/, hilly wilderness by the coast. We drove up hill and parked there. Many people was walking up along the road. There were some hiking loops so we walked to one of the view points. It was nice, there was ocean, hills, trees and brushes, but it was nothing really spectacular. Overrated. It happens quite often – there is something you really have to do or see and than ….. overrated. Very pleasant walk with nice views. Too many people. J. walked back on the beach and I went back to the car and drove down to the parking lot. Interstate drive to Ocean Beach. Another thing to do, their Antique district. We found main street, walked down to the beach. Way too many homeless and alternative type people. It was not so packed but it felt a bit like mix of LA skid row and Venice Beach. Three or four blocks of businesses. Even it was called antique district there were no antique stores on one side of the street. There were few on the other side. Other then that: overrated. It looked like the street was in transition from small town beach street to commercial tourist trap with almost no character. Hard to say. As I was waiting for J. in front of one of the stores I saw two hippie couples with big backpacks. As I saw them walking I saw something strange, the first couple had on the top of their backpacks cats. One backpack = one cat. Just sitting there and looking around. Oh well … Motel. J. went to wander around Old town and I had to do some school stuff. Another day in sunny California.

San Diego - 3

Wednesday, January 15^th 2014

Easy going morning. We had our coffee and leisurely left the motel. There was some traffic but it was not horrible. Warm, sunny, and blue sky. We went south and cross the bridge to Coronado Island. It is nice and tall bridge and it is visible from quite a distance. A day before I was telling J. about “removable highway divider” - innovative technology when the divider can be moved by up to two lanes by special vehicle. It is apparently relatively easy and cheap way to manage rush hour traffic – the divider is moved between morning and evening rush traffic. Funny thing, as we were crossing the bridge to Coronado we saw this sideways driving truck moving the divider. Really nice (= wealthy) neighborhoods. We drove to a small park that had a great view of downtown San Diego. Green grass. Big bay. Blooming roses. Incredible view of the city. It was like a small paradise. Sit, soak, and relax for a few moments. It was almost perfect. A bit of driving around but there were no unique or interesting shops so we ended up parking by the beach. Walked along, saw a guy building sandcastle (with bride and groom standing in front of it). Hotel del Coronado, impressive structure by the beach. Historic landmark. Their parking lot was charging 56 dollars for a day of parking (37 for guests). After this pleasant experience we drove south on Coronado “sand beach” - relatively narrow strip of land. There were some beaches and a lot of military establishments. We even saw three guys in uniforms riding bikes with helmets – it looked really funny. Otherwise kind of: not much. Imperial Beach: walk, pier, nice and peaceful. Through the town to interstate 5 and head north.

Twenty five mile or so. Nothing special, I guess. As we were exiting we saw pretty nice building – Mormon church. Birch Aquarium at Scripps. It was not very big but it was pretty nice and interesting. Sea horses. Bunch of strange and/or colorful fish. Sharks. Some climate change exhibits – I think it was missing some big dark banner saying “we may be doomed”. Some “toys” showing alternative sources of energy. Amazing view – Pacific ocean. It was actually really nice visit. More less down the road was area called La Jolla. Beach community, upscale shops, bad parking, and construction. At one point (close to giving up beach parking) we got lucky and found parking spot. Walked along the beach. People. Retirement community. Sea lions colony – there was a small walkway to view them. Happy and lazy animals. Sunny and breezy. Busy. After a longer while we walked back through the main street. Not very interesting. Mr. Soledad – mountain or big hill (I guess it depends …) in the area of La Jolla. Drive up, park, and wander around. There is big cross as a part of veteran's memorial. The mountain has some really impressive views of the area (pretty much 360 degrees). It was cooler and breezy there. Enjoyable though. As it was rush hour we avoided freeway (it was still pretty heavy traffic) and headed to the motel on side roads. Unfortunately close to our destination there was some serious accident, the road was closed and we were diverted onto the freeway anyway. Back in the motel. J. got a phone call and the hospital in Anchorage, Alaska made her a formal offer for a travel position starting March 21^st. WE ARE DRIVING TO ALASKA IN MARCH. And there is no travel agency. It is between the hospital and J. It is a great news. It will also be interesting to drive there with winter still ruling great white north, but we will see. To celebrate a bit, we walked to downtown and had Mexican dinner and J. had two margaritas. Great day.

San Diego - 2

Tuesday, January 14^th 2014

San Diego, California. Sunny. Blue sky. Slower and a bit cranky morning. We drove to the area of Embarcadero and Sea Port Village. Luckily not really busy area so “early” in the morning. Ocean – Big Bay. Unfortunately there was a lot of construction going on along Embarcadero and we saw that recommended pleasant and scenic walk along it will not happen. Too bad. Drive along the bay, missed turn and GasLamp Quarter. We returned to the bay and parked. Small park with a restaurant and fish market. Peaceful views of the bay, interesting cluster of statues to honor military personal and Bob Hope. Really close as well big statue of “kissing couple” after the end of the second war. It was really big statue. Next to us was the museum of USS Midway ship. Walked along the Embarcadero, Broadway Pier (later we learned it is cruise ship terminal). At the end: views and no people. We saw some kind of duck diving and hunting for fish and a lot of tiny fish swimming there. Blue sky, ocean, sun and pleasant temperature – really nice life. Quite a few people exercising in the park. Moved and parked in GasLamp Quarter. Parking was fine, there were parking meter (1.25 per hour). It was about 16 blocks of historic area. It was somewhat early and restaurants were just opening but unfortunately there was not much else – few shops but nothing else. The area was clean, nice, and lively but not as charming as portrayed. Still nice. It was relatively compact and easy to drive. We were heading to Balboa Park. Unfortunately the main road into the park was closed (work on bridge) so we had to take a detour and had a neighborhood tour (nice houses, green gardens, pretty streets). The park is huge and there are zoo, naval hospital, sports fields, and the quarter with museums and garden. The last was our aim. Parking was free and plentiful but not really close to our part of the park. Though we were lucky and parked almost next to the entrance to the park. Warm and sunny. We walked through several gardens, many of them blooming, and enjoy it tremendously. There was a bit of drawback – too many schoolchildren running and screaming. The buildings were very beautiful, ornate, and majestic. Palm canyon.

Cactus garden. Japanese garden with very large koi fish – apparently the oldest one known lived to be 226 years old. Across the road, there was a rose garden (not blooming) and really nice (another one) cactus garden. It was sad to see many agave and cacti with people's carvings. Damn people. Quick visit to artistic Spanish village. Looking down into the valley from the cactus garden, we could see so much brown and gray, apparently big part of South West is experiencing horrible drought. There was an incredible cold in North East. Texas had some snow and ice. New York is hitting 50s. Do we really think that there is no change in climate? Are we fools? Anyway, it is warm and sunny here. We drove to Cabrillo National Monument at Point Loma. It is federal land with sizable naval base. Military cemetery. Active light station. Other military monkey business – radio towers, fenced yards, buildings etc. Amazingly impressive views of ocean, bay, and the whole area around San Diego. Seeing that it is easy to see why San Diego is classy. Visitor center. Walk to the lighthouse (the original one built on the top of the hill). The whole area was incredible. There were also tide pools within the park. We checked the tide chart and arrived (probably mile down hill from the visitor center) properly at low tide. The cliff were probably the most amazing thing there – layer by layer of intriguingly carved rocks. We walked on rocks by the ocean and enjoy the view. There were bunch of people by the parking lot and tide pools but as we walked further it got emptier and more pleasant. It was nice. When we were done we left and drove to Pacific Beach. We were going to meet J.'s previous recruiter - she got us jobs in Stanford, Syracuse, and New York City. Traffic. Pacific Beach – quite busy, less parking. We had to park three blocks away from ocean and almost missed sunset. It was really nice. We still had an hour before our dinner so we walked along the beach and enjoy it. Many people running. A guy running and juggling three blue glowing balls. Many dogs. Dinner – it was great and interesting to meet a person J. was dealing with for almost a year. We had fun and really enjoyed it. Back at motel at 10:00 pm.

San Diego - 1

Monday, January 13^th 2014

We left Phoenix at 7:02 am. The sun was starting to come up and there was an accident on the freeway I-17 going down to the city. Slightly annoying way to leave the city but with the help of commuter lane it was not that bad. Over three hours of driving to get to Yuma, Arizona. Yuma territorial prison state park. It was on the edge of the town and next to Colorado river. We caught the tour that started just few minutes before we got there. It was a retired school teacher who was the guide – pretty funny and interesting guide. The prison closed around 1909, there was some other uses but later it was just abandoned. It was obviously cleaned up and somewhat restored but it was still relatively small and without the guided tour pretty boring. Downtown Yuma – or its shopping district – actually looked pretty nice (summer is probably different as Yuma is one of the hottest towns in the US). We walked around, looked in the used bookstore (nice but strange one). Many stores closed (Monday). Nice stop. Drove back to the interstate. We were in California. For a long time the drive was horribly boring as there was nothing around the road. Nothing. It was real desert. We saw for a moment the US – Mexican fence. The sand dunes were interesting and pretty but there was no real access and they were mainly open for ATV recreation (strange concept to me). About 44 miles from San Diego we drove into the mall near the interstate to stop by the California welcome center. The mall was next to Indian casino. Everything was green and blooming. Some stuff and maps for San Diego and back on the road. San Diego – green and nice – from the interstate. We went to the motel first (2.54 pm). J. is following some leads to secure our next (and last) assignment so she had to do me of that. We were also quite tired and reluctant to do anything big. She also ended up redoing whole application online and that took her over an hour. The sun was almost setting down when we left the motel and walked around the Old town that is almost across the street from the motel. It was not really busy – Monday night – but there were people wandering around, getting dinner, or shopping. It was a tourist trap but it was pretty nice and lively. The landscaping was gorgeous and it was so nice to see so many green and blooming plants. We were glad to call it for the day.

Phoenix - 6

January 6^th – January 12^th 2014

Actually ... almost … nothing.

Work days: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday.

Friday, J. had her haircut done (it is expensive, at least I do not need any haircuts). Some errands and practical monkey business.

Wednesday, we drove to Taliesin West, http://www.franklloydwright.org/about/TaliesinWestTours.html, which is just past Scottsdale, and used to be summer home of architect Wright. It was pretty expensive to take a tour but we thought that there was not so many summer homes of a famous architect. The guide (older retired lady) was pretty entertaining and had more than enough of interesting things to say. So it was very nice. There was not so much to see (grounds, storage facility, personal living room, bedroom, dinner theater). Apparently the foundation also operates as a college for architects (there are about 35 students) and they do live and learn on the grounds of Taliesin West during winter. There are also architects living there (Wright had bunch of young architects living there where he was alive and presented it as an apprentice program). As I said, there was a lot of interesting stuff to learn.

We are getting really close to the middle of our Phoenix assignment. So far it has been working out really well. J.'s job is good and she really likes it. We have good apartment as well. The weather is incredibly nice. There is plenty of places to visit and stuff to do around Phoenix. So … life is good. Also … time is flying. One funny (sort of interesting) thing, there is a grocery store Fry's in Scottsdale and they have two rows of covered parking and wine tasting section within the store. Oh well ...

Phoenix - 5

December 30^th 2013 – January 5^th 2014

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Monday. Tuesday. Wednesday. Work days. End of the year. Beginning of the year. Nothing special. Pleasant and consistent weather. Blue sky and sun. Surprisingly no noise connected to the celebration of New Year. Normal life.

Thursday. Day off. Same. Quiet and peaceful. Nothing special – bunch of monkey business. J. went out to do tome “fun” shopping – one third of the day – no comment.

Friday. We were up by 5:25 am. A lot of driving. A lot of fun. That was the plan. There was some traffic, it was dark, and greater Phoenix was surprisingly great. Over two and half hours to Organ Pipe National Monument. http://www.nps.gov/orpi/index.htm We drove and drove, the road number 85 was heading down to Mexico. The park, actually, is just few miles from Mexican border. The visitor's center, map, some information, some trinkets (postcards, poster, book) and the beginning of the fun. The park has campground but otherwise there is not much to it (unless people camp there and do some serious back country hiking or ATV). I guess there is also space for smuggling and other illegal activities. It was 21 miles (mostly dirt road) long loop to drive with few hiking trails. Again, there is no picture or text that would do a justice to the landscape that we saw. It was pretty incredible and breathtaking. Well worth it – it is quite far from anywhere (more less 120 miles from either Phoenix or Tucson).

Small number of other visitors – peaceful and enjoyable drive with many amazing views. Half way through we stopped and took a walk (hike) – we probably got lost a bit (the trail was following the wash but we lost the trail and walked in the wash for quite a while). Up the hill – not too bad – again impossible to describe the beauty of the land and its incredible magic. And again – so much different from what I would consider desert. …. driving …. so much driving …. Border patrol check point. Less exciting landscape – more less flat with some brush and few cacti. Few settlements – Arizona style sad. We were heading to Kitt Peak National Observatory. http://www.noao.edu/kpno/ Almost three thousand feet of elevation gain. It was pretty nice drive (12 miles). On the top we found some left over snow – it was really surprising and funny. Small visitor center and then walk around the complex. It was quite large. They apparently have the largest solar telescope in the world. We could not go inside (only on the tour, tours were over). It was still nice drive and incredible views from the top of the mountain. Drove down. Main road. Towards Tucson. Detour. Motel. Tired. Sleep.

Saturday. Who does not want to tour the copper mine Saturday morning? http://mineraldiscovery.com/ Morning coffee. No breakfast. Drive about 20 miles south to the copper mine. Wander around (nice garden, visitor center, bunch of trinkets) and wait for the tour. To our surprise there was about 20 people on the tour. Obviously we got some postcards, gifts, and other trinkets. Some introduction in the visitor center and then we got on the bus and drove closer to the mine. The driver was former paramedic (J. talked to him a bit longer on one of the stops). The guide – older lady – was former minister from Michigan – is not the world really small? One stop: to view the pit (two by three miles). The plant – some crushers and another phase called “bubbling”. Along the way those huge haul trucks. The company is owned by big Mexican conglomerate. Apparently (not part of the tour information) the starting hourly pay for entry manual job is about 17 dollars. The plant is unionized (even Arizona is right to work state). Also many members of the same family work in the mine. We did not get really close to the pit (into it) but it was still very interesting and informative tour. The leftover rock is piled up and long and high “tides” are created in the area. After the mine will be depleted the pit will be left as it is (big hole in the ground). On the way back to the visitor center we saw three wild mustangs grazing on the “tides”. I guess there are still mustangs living in the “desert” of Arizona. She also said that one summer one of the horses discovered push button to open the door of the visitor center and used to cool himself like that (clever horse). Getting of the bus we got small rock as a souvenir. Back to Tucson. Downtown – smaller park with maybe 30 homeless people. J. wanted some trinket in the store in the area – parked, found, closed. We went to some newer restaurant/bar nearby for a lunch. It was some type of modern Mexican-ish cuisine. As we were waiting for our food (breakfast/veggie tortas with potatoes) we saw a couple sit down and leave in a minute as they were confused by the menu (and I guess not what they expected). It was actually very good meal – and tortas were more less sandwiches. The drive across most of the town – two used book stores along the way. It looked like they are trying to rebuild the downtown area (slowly). Miniatures museum. http://www.theminitimemachine.org/ It was strange, interesting, and somewhat odd. Drove further east to visit two cactus nurseries. The first one was smaller – fine one, we bought one cactus and got another (value of 85 cents) free. The other nursery was bigger and had some incredible cacti – we spent way too much time there and left with couple of cacti, again. It was already 4:35 pm so we decided it was time to be done for a day and head home. Two hours and some change. Home.

Sunday. Lazy and quiet day. Sunny. Blue sky. Monkey business. We went to get a library card. We took a walk in the nearby Northern Mountain Park. Not much more otherwise. It is really great winter here.