2004 Tour home

After taking more (Photos of Mojave), we started off for Death Valley, and ended up, instead, at the Mitchell Caverns, about 1/2 hour before the one daily tour at 1:30. The mystery and magic of going inside a mountain and seeing these formations-well, mesmerizing. There was a moment when the guide turned off the lights and we all got to experience the total darkness and quiet.

Like everything else in the desert, these caverns were mostly dry. Two caverns had been connected with a man-made tunnel and the second cavern was wetter than the first. They had had to install a door to insure the increased airflow didn't dry them both too much.

It is thought that 15-20 feet of extremely fine dust forms the floor of these very old caverns. We were warned not to touch anything both because of the dust-not good to breathe in, and because the oil in our hands would actually eat away at the delicate formations. (Photos of Mitchell Caverns)

From the caverns, we drove north and out of Mojave, across Rt. 40 and into Death Valley, north to Tecopa Hot Springs, where we found an RV Park with actual "baths". However, there was something about the general funkiness of the place which didn't inspire confidence in the hygiene.

We listened to THE SIMPLE TRUTH, a who-dun-it on tape, until we were practically catatonic and it was 2:30am!

March 25

Even with the late night, we got an early start (for us that is around 9:30am), but not until we had finished the book on tape-a real spell-binder which involved several staff members from the U.S. Supreme Court and a senator gone bad.

We stopped in Shoshone at the Museum , which was also the Chamber of Commerce office for Death Valley. It was a quaint place with a rough display of wooly mammouth bones and some other local artifacts, rocks and photos of early citizens. The woman there handed me a map of Death Valley and circled a few key things to see. (Photos of Shoshone Museum)

Rob is working on two different stories, one serious and one a parody. At an amazing roadside stop with a view of rippled mountains, we were brainstorming about what sort of vat a super hero might have fallen into with what resulting powers. Some possibilities: radio-active waste, Tequila, used chewing gum...all ideas welcome. The powers?

In just driving through Death valley, we were awed by the variety of mountain formations and their colors. (Photos of DV Landscapes) No wonder people love to come here!

We decided to head towards Scotty's Castle, towards the north, and stopped on the way at a ranch with a store. We picked up lunch, water, some books and munchies and several borax balls, interesting for their fiber optic qualities. Ulexite or Borax is a local product. (I don't usually talk about every little place we stop, but in Death Valley finding anything like a store is such a contrast to the desert.)

We arrived at Scotty's Castle right before the 4pm tour, which we took. The guide was a park ranger dressed in 1939 clothes who spoke as though Scotty and the Johnsons were still living there. Mr. Johnson was an insurance executive, a business man with health problems, conned by Scotty, who was a cowboy, and a wild scoundrel, to build a castle in the Arizona desert. The two were the consumate odd couple, but obviously had quite a mutual admiration and a symbiotic relationship. When the depression took out the Johnson's insurance business, they turned the "Castle" into a getaway spot. (Photos of Scotty's Castle).

In the bookstore, I found a book, with pictures, about the two men, their women and the story of Scotty's Castle and a book about the Bennetts and Arcans, the people who are thought to have named the valley. They are buried in Santa Cruz, CA, but in the 1849 gold rush, were stranded here without water or food for 21 days! So much for the short cut...

On the way to the closest campsite, the sun did miraculous things with the clouds and mountains (Photos of DV Sunset).

Life in the desert is really different from what we are used to. "Dry" has a new meaning. Everytime I walk outside, I feel like the air is sucking moisture. At the ranch, I had gotten the largest possible raspberry iced tea-it must have been a quart at least! I drank the whole thing in about 15 minutes and still wasn't rushing to the "head".

On the plus side, Lucky's ear infection has cleared up for the first time in his life and my lung condition is lots better-no more pain and only occasional phlem. Every night has been cool and the days have cooled considerably from the heat wave of several days ago.

March 26

In the morning, we headed out for Rhyolite, a ghost town we had heard about. The best part was a little house made of bottles, another example of American eccentric ingenuity. "Clint", the caretaker, who was sitting on a rocker in the front yard, claimed that the bottle count was 50,000! I thought it was odd that you couldn't see through the walls, but the builder had plastered the inside. (Photos OF BOTTLE HOUSE)

We also saw ruins of the old bank, what appeared to be a retail center and the old jail-not much to share.

On the way to Las Vegas, we passed a sign to Area 51 (known for its UFO/E.T. connections), but decided not to stop. We finally got to Vegas and met my old friend Carole Nagy. She took us both out to dinner at this great Italian ristorante-Nana B's-very slow to start with, but worth the wait. (For you Vashon folks, Carole used to work at Vashon Travel.)

March 27

This was our day to walk THE STRIP, which, Robin pointed out, must be called that for all the stripper promo cards being handed out. We started at the MGM Grand, where there were two lionesses behind glass (Photos of Lions). Of course, the main event was gambling. The lions were just part of the stuff around the edge.(Photos of MGM)

(written by both of us) Next, we came upon the M&M store-the height of American silly kitsch. These cheap American icons have become cartoon characters which are all over shirts, mugs, pens, plates-the standard merchandizing paraphenalia- and toy slot machines which dispense the product instead of coins.

We went to the free 3-D show, called "I Lost my 'M' in Vegas", where the seats shook, the visuals were in your face and the "professor", a young woman in a white coat, who's skin reflected the overconsumption of the product, presented the reality and then was seemingly absorbed by it. Not our favorite experience on the strip. We got a couple free bags of M&Ms for being there. (Jaded by Disney??)

The hit of the afternoon was Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum, where you could photograph yourself with "the Stars". Some part of me always wanted to cosy up with the Duke, Sean Connery and even Bette Midler. It was fun matching their moods and positions while we photographed each other. Some were more real than others. Sean Connery was downright disappointing while Nicolas Cage was practically alive.

American Idol's staff invited us to perform a karaoke piece. Marnie sang "Till There Was You" and got some great canned response from the two wax hosts, Simon Cowell and Ryan Searcrest. Rob did a Weird Al piece, "Like a Surgeon" and got a different positive canned response. Our photos were taken and because the price was ridiculous, we relied on our own camera to record the event. (Photos of America Idols)

Next we engaged in pseudo basketball with Shaq and Rob imitated Happy Gillmore with Tiger. Of the four presidents displayed, Bush looked the least realistic. We posed in some unflattering expressions of our discontent and downright dislike of the man, but the results were not suitable for sharing.

Whoopi looked like she was about to start jivin'. Bush and JFK must have been quick studies. George Washington and Princess Diana were back from the dead and when we saw Liberace, complete with his mirrored piano and all bright suit, we almost expected that weird voice to start up. (Photos of Wax Museum).

The Strip was rife with every image of what is grand: All of New York City in a large block, Paris, complete with the Tour Eiffel, Roman parthenons with ornate bas reliefs and statues, one of the largest fountains in the world, real lions and tigers, Venice, Italy, complete with water, gondolas and suitable bridges to go under-all as fronts for what was going on inside: slots, black jack, roulette and God only knows what other ways to spend money on your luck. (Photos of the Strip)

Rob was almost desperate to have Mom gamble for him. We put it off till the next morning.

Exhausted after hours on our feet, we walked, ran and took a slow bus back to the Tropicana for the shuttle back to the Oasis RV Park. We had walked nearly 2 miles up Strip! Ouch!!

March 28

Having had quite enough of Vegas, we planned to head for the Grand Canyon.

OK, so the gambling thing. We dedicated $5 to the slots in the lobby of the RV Park. We kept "winning" just enough to keep going for a while. No one bothered that Rob wasn't 21. Good cheap entertainment and Rob's appetite was satiated. His wallet had gotten lost the day before, so that was that!

We pushed off for the canyon about 1pm and went over the Hoover Dam. Security went through our RV, with less than a finetooth comb, but still wanted to see here and there. No big deal. All the tourist stuff was getting a redo and we had a long drive ahead, so we drove across, got a few photos and went on. (Photos of Hoover Dam).

It was a much longer drive than I thought and we were both nearly desperate for a book on tape to keep us going. Williams appeared to be one of the victims of the local Wal-Mart, which we are boycotting, but it was the only place we could find that had books. Even their choices were less than vast (doesn't anyone here read?), but we found 5-6 cheap recordings which included a western and PAY CHECK (now a movie).

We got in around 10pm and ate leftovers. Arizona is in Mountain time, so it was really 9 our time. At 6900 feet, it felt like winter!

March 29

The Grand Canyon deserves its name. The earth energy here is deep and clear-so welcome after Vegas. Photos of Grand Canyon speak for themselves.

As we were walking along the canyon rim path, Rob wanted to look over the edge and as my legs got that hollow feeling, we had quite a tassle about it. Finally, he said he would do it on his tummy. He zipped up his jacket to protect his shirt and inched forward and then back again.

A few moments later on the path, I asked if he wanted to do that again and he said "No, once was enough." Good!

Our feet were still complaining from all that walking on the Strip. Rob went back on the Blue Bus to rest while I pushed myself through a bit of further exploration. I wanted to see the Hopi House, but it turned out to be nothing more than a shop. However, the building was interesting. A woman architect had designed it after the Hopi architecture in the 1920s and it stood pretty much the same today, with its horizontal stones and short doorways. It has a cozy feel to it.

We thought a shorter mule excursion would be fun, but there was a huge waiting list and a requirement that we be there at 6am! (Ya, right..)

Rob tried making salsa from a new cookbook we'd acquired, but wasn't pleased with the results. I suggested adding salt and garlic and a little more oregano, but I'm afraid the hot house tomatoes were to blame.

As part of our study of the presidents, we listened to a CD of presidential speeches after dinner. It surpised me how interested Rob was in this. He wanted to hear the whole thing through. The bare bones of historical context were provided by George Stephanopolus in between.

We have prepared a sheet to fill out on each president as a beginning to knowing each man's challenges, personality and historical context. A likely project will be a radio talk show featuring several of them together. We plan to visit all the main libraries and museums as we travel. Unfortunately, we missed Reagan's. I think it would have been an interesting contrast to Nixon's. We are still looking for the right balance of formal projects and just sightseeing and experiencing the country.

March 30

We drove to Flagstaff, past the strip malls and fast food joints, to the older downtown. We were looking for a Starbucks for their hotspot and finally went online with the cel to find one.

Meantime, we decided to explore that quaint downtown, went into a used book store and found a copy of the HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE UNIVERSE and a cassette of indian stories. Then, we had lunch at Charly's, a restaurant in an old hotel.

After a small snack at Starbucks, to justify our existance there while online, we drove to Sedona along the scenic Rt. 89A, with its hairpin turns and extraordinary red mountains and Oak Creek peeking through here and there. Lo Lo Mai RV Resort was about 12 miles south of Sedona, further down Oak Creek, which is flowing, but according to the "night guard", would't be much longer. "It is fed by the snow up in Flagstaff and the warm weather has been melting it", he said.

He was an upbeat man in his 60s, I'd guess, who claimed that people came here for a night and stayed a week. I had said we'd be here 1-3 nights. I wanted to leave my options open. We were able to find a place by the creek with lovely shade trees.

I was hankering for a swim in the pool and spa and finally talked Rob into coming with me. We had a great time going back and forth between the two for better part of an hour in the mostly dark. We had the place to ourselves and on the way back, Rob said, "Let's promise to use the pool whenever we have one, ok?" (We had stayed at several places where it was too chilly.)

It is a challenge to get enough exercise when traveling. We were wearing out our feet, but not getting enough upper-body workout. Swimming felt great! I answered that I would consider this.

I made pesto for dinner and we read MY ISHMAEL until bed. The section we read was about the educational system and how it is truly successful in its aims to keep kids busy and out of the work force, by not giving them too much to outclass those already working. I had to disagree in one important way. Kids ought to be encouraged to keep their creativity alive. Instead of being crammed with a lot of useless facts. AND, education ought to bring important skills and processes alive. Projects which allow a kid to find his own voice are important. Add to that self discipline and different ways of seeing things and thinking. If you wait till kids are 18, it will be too late. (I speak from my experience as a designer and design educator.)

March 31

After a morning of working on the Tlog for last week, we went to town and started looking for jeep tours. We signed up for an April 1 jeep tour (oh, dear, what did we do??) and went on a completely different humvee adventure today.

The 7'-wide vehicle is based on a military vehicle, but has an amazing suspension which gives you a relatively smooth ride over extreme terrain, which we went over like a tiger. The retail for the wheels: $151K. Tires: $500 each!

Rob will tell about this: There were two seats in the front, one for the driver(obviously) and one for a passenger. Then there were four behind them, two of which were elevated and then in the open back, there were three seats, all of which were taken when we got there, but when we stopped half way, two of the people in the back wanted to move to the front, so I got to sit in the back, which was very fun, but also very dusty.

The road was extremely rocky and at one point we needed to go up on two wheels. Sitting in the middle was less dusty and less bumpy, but we couldn't see as well. Everything was very red with green cacti all over the place. We saw a hawk in a tree and Mom saw a jack rabbit!

By the time we got back, it was a relief just to be able to breathe. All the dust had settled in my hair and had made my complexion about three shades darker. When I poured water over my head, it looked like streaks of tan were coming off. All and all, it was a lot of fun and I got to see and hear about some amazing wildlife, including the Texas "two step" (green rattler), which is so deadly that if you get bitten, you'll be two steps away from the final curtain(no encore). -Robbit and Costello (Photos of Sedona Humvee Trip)

2004 Tour Home