Getting Star-struck

Saturday, Oct. 22

The night skies here in the high desert are often awe-inspiring.  It has been perfectly clear all week, and with little moonlight the stars are putting on an amazing show.  One need only look overhead for a great view of the Milky Way.  Saturday night, I went to a "star party" at the Red Rock Ranger Station just down the road.  The local astronomy club (AstroVerde) had telescopes set up, aimed at various objects in the sky.  I went from one telescope to the next and these star gazers were happy to share their knowledge and enthusiasm.  Had WOW views of star clusters, several nebulae, Cassiopeia, Andromeda galaxy and the planet Neptune!  My favorites of the night were Jupiter - with 4 moons visible, and the Pleiades (a/k/a Seven Sisters).  Also saw several shooting stars.  Can you say "amazing!"

Not a great pic - taken with my phone in the fading light - 

but shows where the telescopes were set up at the ranger station.

Sunday, October 23

Sunday morning's hike was into Woods Canyon - the main trail can be accessed from an "unofficial" trail behind our house.  It winds across Wild Horse Mesa before turning into the Canyon and following Dry Beaver Creek.  I love the way the trail winds and rolls through this beautiful area.  There were lots of birds around, including flycatchers, bushtits (I can hear you laughing, Peggy!), finches and a Northern Harrier.  Some sort of furry mammal ran across the trail ahead of me, but I did not get a good look.  A marmot?  Lots of animal tracks and scat (deer, elk, javelina) but no other sightings.  :(

A favorite spot along the trail

I can't see Russia from the house, but I can see Bell Rock!

Getting Wow-ed at West Fork

Friday, October 21

I try to hike this trail at least once every visit, and it never disappoints.  Regardless of season, despite the crowds (mostly on the way back - I start out as early as possible), this 6.4 mile round trip is a feast for the senses.  Anyone who comes to visit will be dragged here and forced to endure towering Ponderosa Pines, dramatic canyon walls, meandering Oak Creek, wildflowers galore, a chorus of birdsong...don't say I didn't warn you!

Just one of endless glorious spots along the trail

Ditto

My kind of Golden Arches              

Mother Nature's "red carpet"

I helped this Wooly Bear (and several of his kin) across

the trail so they wouldn't get smushed. 

I saw a few other people doing the same thing - go Wooly Bears, go!

Yes, the sky looks like this every day!

Getting Some Kind of Award

Two loooonnnngggg days in a bumpy truck - 15.5 hours the first day, 14+ hours the second day.  Pulling a trailer loaded with 4 motorcycles and an assortment of worldly possessions.  Does that qualify for some kind of award?  It seems much longer and is much more boring to be the passenger instead of the driver.  I give Ken credit for doing a great job of driving that rig - I did not believe we could make it in two days.  Good weather did help, as did fewer road construction areas than I've seen in the past.  However, the major jam outside of Oklahoma City on Sunday night was about as bad as it gets.




The rig makes it to the house - there goes the neighborhood!





                             The bikes arrive unscathed

Tuesday morning, it was wonderful to see the clear blue AZ sky, breathe in the crisp, fresh air - and devour pastries from Desert Flour Bakery.  The trailer got unloaded, I managed some time at the pool, we had a brief hike in Jack's Canyon, and topped off the day with Pizza Picazzo.  Food is definitely becoming a theme here.

And continuing with that theme...this morning included breakfast at Mesa Grill - the brand new restaurant atop Airport Mesa.  Wow!  Major windows allow views of the surrounding red rocks, tour planes and helicopters coming and going.  And the whole wheat pancakes...yum!  We enjoyed our meal with friends Richard and Kathleen.  Afterwards, the guys headed off to do guy stuff, Kathleen went home (perhaps to work on her new book due out soon?), and I hiked the Airport Mesa loop.  Always a great hike, 360 degree views of the area, lots of wildflowers still in bloom.  Fresh javelina scat on the trail, but no other sign of the beasts.  If I have to hike around their scat, the least they could do is let me get a look at them.

The sun lights up an Ocotillo taking on

autumn shades

M - I - C,   K - E - Y...

Asters bloom against a

Beavertail Cactus backdrop

This evening, attended a wonderful program on owls presented by the Keep Sedona Beautiful organization.  It was a packed house and a fun, informative presentation.  Three owls were brought in by a rescue/rehab group in the Phoenix area - such fun to see them up close!

Banshee the Barn Owl (love that name!)

Olivia, the Great Horned Owl

My favorite - Shorty, the Burrowing Owl. 

Had never before seen a live one, and it is now

my mission to see one in the wild!

Not much to report so far on birds along the trails.  White crowned sparrows, one red tailed hawk, one quail racing across the road, and some cute juniper titmice (titmouses?) at the feeder this afternoon.  Hearing hummingbird chatter, but so far have not seen any at the feeder.

Getting Back to the Midwest

Sept. 13-14, 2011

Never did see an MD welcome sign...so this will have to do.

Never saw a bear, either.  :(

Missed the official sign; saw this one done in rocks at the

rest stop.

Oh look - RAIN!  As though I hadn't seen

enough on this trip!

After my visit to Arlington National Cemetery on Tuesday, it was time to head west.  Getting out of DC was the hardest part of the drive.  Yeesh.  Two lanes that split to 4 that split to 6, round-a-bouts, traffic going in every direction at warp speed.  And me, caught in the middle.  Of course, I missed my exit for I-495 and ended up, uh, where?  Too far south out of my way, which resulted in getting caught in a construction jam once I got back on track.  I made a brief stop at Antietam Battlefield and Cemetery - very interesting, and sad bit of Civil War history.  Closer to home on Wednesday, I also got in a major construction jam on I-65 just north of Indianapolis.  At least I knew the back roads there and although it was slow going, I found my way to Rt. 47N.

It was a hectic trip, many one-night stays (no, that does not say one-night stands) and unfamiliar roads. 

The stats:  13 days, 19 states (counting some more than once as I went in/out/in): 

Illinois to Missouri to Arkansas to Tennessee to Mississippi to Alabama to Georgia to South Carolina to North Carolina to Virginia to Maryland to Virginia to Washington, DC to Virginia to Maryland to West Virginia to Pennsylvania to Ohio to Indiana to Illinois!

Total miles:  3,225

New states not previously visited:  VA, MD, DC (yes, I know it's not really a state) WV, PA

Worst traffic - tie between Atlanta, GA and Washington, DC

Worst weather - Mississippi

Best weather - VA and DC

Best food - Bertucci's in Alexandria, VA (artichoke pizza - yum!)  And hushpuppies at Etta's in Chincoteague!

Best drink - Chincoteague Bay Breeze (coconut rum, cranberry and pineapple juice - yum2)

Best sightseeing - DC of course

Best for birdnerding - Chincoteague, VA

Worst for mosquitoes - Chincoteague, VA

Worst hotel - Quality Inn, Meridian, MS

Best drive - nature:  Cumberland, MD to Morgantown, WV.  Rolling green hills, mountains, Eastern Continental Divide - beautiful!

Best drive - manmade:  Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel

Best graffiti - seen on boxes at an OH rest stop:

Best exit sign - Ohio seemed really glad that I was leaving

Best audio book on the road - "The Prince of Frogtown" by Rick Bragg

Best gas price - $3.29/gal in Mississippi.  Even DC has cheaper gas than IL!

Best thing about being back in IL - getting out of the car.  And OTIS!!!

Getting Serious

Tuesday, Sept 13

There was no point in attempting to leave DC during rush hour, so I headed out to see Arlington National Cemetery.  Here I go, looking for adjectives again.  Moving?  Serene?  Heartbreaking?

In every direction, row upon row of graves.  Most simple headstones, others more elaborate.  Row upon row.  Tree-lined lanes, gently rolling hillsides, row upon row.  Upon row...

Happened to be at the Tomb of the Unknowns when the changing of the guard took place.  An amazingly precise and solemn ceremony.  This is done every 30 minutes in summer and every hour in winter.  A new wreath was put in place, adding to the ceremony and including the playing of "Taps."

        

Seeing JFK's grave and the eternal flame were "a must," and I was impressed with the simplicity of the graves of both Robert and Edward Kennedy.  Simple white stone, plain white cross.

I did not know that wives and children of some service members were also buried in Arlington.  The cemetery is running out of burial space.  And the wars go on.  Row upon row...

In another case of being in the right place at the right time, there was also a ceremony at which the "Patriot Flag" was displayed.  This huge American flag was flown in 50 states in 50 days to honor the victims and heroes of 9/11.  The flag was attached to the ladder of an Arlington, VA fire truck and raised high above the grounds just down the hill from the Tomb of the Unknowns.  The flags of all 50 states were in place, and even tho I missed whatever speeches took place, I did have a chance to see the beautiful sight of this flag waving in the breeze.

Getting to see DC

Monday, Sept. 12

A beautiful morning in the nation's capitol and after a brief Metro ride in the wrong direction, I was on my way to take in as much as possible.  Overwhelmed?  Blown away?  Awestruck?  My vocabulary does not seem to contain any adjective that would adequately describe all that I saw.  I knew I would not have enough time to really do the museums or anything else in much detail, so I concentrated on the monuments and memorials.  I did take a brief look inside the Museum of the American Indian - the architecture (inside and out) of that place is breathtaking.

If you have not been to DC, I highly recommend it!  Fast and efficient train system (despite aforementioned misdirection - completely  my fault), and so many things to do and see.  I doubt I'll ever have the chance to return and am grateful for the time spent there.  Photos and videos cannot do justice to the sights and certainly can't convey the emotional impact.

The White House:  Did not appear as big in person as expected; quite beautiful; wish I'd been able to get more close-up views than sticking my nose and camera through the fence.

Do I look like a tourist?  Leslie asked if I could see into the windows with my binoculars.  I could not, but I did get a good look at the sniper on the roof!



The Washington Monument:  interior is closed due to damage from the recent earthquake.  It can be seen from many locations in the Federal Triangle, so I have pictures of it from almost every angle.  I'll just include this one:

Looking through the columns of the Jefferson Memorial

and across the Tidal Basin

World War II Memorial:  A great history lesson just by walking around and reading the inscriptions...

This wall contains over 4000 stars, and each one represents

 100 killed/missing soldiers from World War II. 

Korean War Memorial:  Haunting.  I could just feel their misery...

Vietnam Memorial:  stark, devastating - so many names...

 Jefferson Memorial

 Lincoln Memorial          

That cool "reflecting pool?"  Under construction!

 



The newly opened memorial honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  This particular place was more goosebump-inducing than any.  Perhaps because it is so contemporary?  In my lifetime as opposed to all that stuff learned in long-ago history classes?  A simple, elegant design.  Dr. King faces the Tidal Basin and a 450' granite wall is carved with quotes from speeches.

I'm including this shot to show the scale of the statue...

In the background/left, you can see the two stones through which you pass to enter the memorial.  These are called the "Mountain of Despair."  The section holding Dr. King's figure is called the "Stone of Hope."

Elegant architecture of the Museum of the American Indian

U.S. Capitol

All of the above were seen in one day.  I hope to figure out how many miles I walked - my sore legs were a small price to pay for this experience.

Getting off the Island

Sunday, Sept. 11

I was not in a hurry to leave Chincoteague, but had been warned about traffic heading toward DC.  After one last, brief look at a couple of ponies in the marsh, it was time to head north.

                              Those two specks are ponies

Despite driving into/out of the state of Maryland several times, I never did see a "welcome" sign.  They need to do something about that.  Or perhaps they don't care if you show up...had to settle for a pic approaching the Bay Bridge.

The traffic approaching and on the bridge was not terrible - but then...

I could never do this on a regular basis!  I was very happy to arrive in Alexandria and spend a relaxing evening far from cars!