Travels with Wiwaxia

Farewell to Seoul: fireworks and fast food

2011-07-02T17:03:00.001-07:00

On our last day in Seoul, we visited the National Museum to view the greatest treasures of Korea. The museum is massive, accommodating thousands of visitors and featuring multiple buildings, each with different cultural collections. Here is the entrance with a glass atrium for welcoming and orienting visitors to other parts of the complex.

This large pagoda was disassembled and restored within the multistoried historical hall. Visitors can view it from different floors and see details that were not originally accessible in situ.

This musuem is beautiful with plenty of resting places so people are really encouraged to contemplate the art and the history. Here is another view of the galleries in the historical building. There are sculptures, architectural details and paintings, some intimate portraits and other massive temple works

There are many amazing works of Silla and other ancient societies not in Gyeongju, along with more modern works which we didn't even see. This pillar is representative of many temple monumemts, featuring the turtle pedestal and a dragon capital. These were freestanding, left in memory of important community individuals.

As we left, we heard loud booming and found a fireworks display taking place over the Han River. What a finish to our trip! These were beautiful and some skyrockets were unlike any I had ever seen.

We arrived at Incheon International Airport early and found our plane home was late. Exploring the airport, we found a food court with Korean favorites and this seeming satirical poster advising travelers about American food. We stuck with bibimbap.

Also in the airport shopping mall, there was a procession of actors in Chosun dynasty costumes to represent the crown prince, his consort and entourage. Like Disneyland or Universal Studios, the actors posed so visitors could take their pictures. Looks like our favorite dramas, eh?

Here in Incheon airport is a bookstore, craft making space and shop. While waiting for your air transportation connection, you can learn about Korean craft approaches by doing. We were impressed by the practical knowledge people had of art and art tradtions world wide and especially about Korean traditions before departure home.

Seoul Rocks

2011-07-01T07:12:00.000-07:00

As I post, a giant free concert is taking place in Seoul Plaza, 27 floors below our room overlooking the construction of the new city hall. Our hotel is now part of the light show for the concert. The new city hall here is under construction, and we have heard construction everywhere we've traveled here. Even the hotel is remodeling. We had a very special day here, full of accomplishment with relative ease. A visit to the national Tourist Office helped us locate some priorities, including a place to buy maps, information about Han river cruises, where palaces are and how to get to the subway. The young man who assisted us spoke English very well, both understanding and accent, and was extremely helpful, even offering his subway pass. I acquired some topographic maps, at Kyopo Bookstore in the subway level (like a large University Bookstore), including one of Daegu area and another of the south coast, including Tongyong and Namhae. In addition, I got a couple of maps of mountains, one of Jirisan (Mt. Jiri) and another Tyvek map of several mountains including Seoraksan. I hope I can work on them in ways that do justice to the geology of Korea. It's very odd to me that there is endless granite for building, in the palaces and temples, in the great etched markers that appear everywhere, but there is no apparent volcanism, except on Jeju Island, no earthquakes. There is definitely sedimentary rock here, as evident from the dinosaur footprint fossils we saw in Goseng, but we understand so little about geology that we can't grasp the presence of granite, an igneous rock.
Second, we ate a lunch of temple food. This was a hope, but I wasn't following it actively today. After the bookstore, we obtained subway passes and put extra money on them (pretty much the same process as in any city with mass transit and computerized ticketing, except the passes are purchased in convenience stores, another way Korea is like Italy). We went to Insa-dong and while looking for a tofu reataurant recommended by the tourist information staffer, we found a sign, "Sanchon, Temple Cooking." I had read about and seen on KBS this cuisine, based on wild and simply cultivated foods, vegetarian, and hoped to try it. This is a famous temple food restaurant, one which was reviewed even by the New York Times. For 22K won (about $22) each, we dined well, and the food was beautifully presented. Check out Sanchon on line: there is some sense of its aesthetic and the devotion which goes into all they do. It was cool in the restaurant; so we took our time in the heat of the day.
Strolling past the shops, we headed toward Changdeokgung (palace), site of many dramas we watch. Jim found this image of Brahms at a pub along the way. The palace is beautiful and quite impressive: easy to imagine the scholars of (probably) the Sarim faction lining up before the towering throne hall [image at top] to protest some government action. We lingered near the Crown Prince's study, a building up on columns, similar to the Confusian academy study hall we had seen near Daegu. There was an apricot tree and we rested in its shade.
Returning to Insadong, I purchased a box of brushes for a certain young scholar we know, and, at Myung Sin Dang, had a seal made while we waited, in the cool shop. A number of famous visitors have found their way here, and the artist is a very skilled designer: she wrote my name in Korean (as my teacher had) and designed and carved the seal which has a rabbit carved on top. I gave her my card and she seemed pleased. I like it very much, and hope it will grace the new map pieces I make. I saw apricots in the street for sale, and taking it positively since its tree had provided shade, purchased them from a woman more intent on the video drama on her phone than on fruit sales. She didn't tell me the name but showed me the heroine. I smiled and indicated I like dramas too.
It is very hot here. We really ducked the heat in the south coast, with temperatures overnight hovering around 20C, and with the rain and breezes. When we returned to Daegu Thursday, it was 31C and it's not quite that hot in Seoul, but it is exhausting because it is dryer, actually, than that wet weather can be. This morning, I finally had enough coffee at breakfast and was able to dry my hair sufficiently to have the first not bad hair day since I arrived. We greatly enjoyed the KTX between Daegu and Seoul, and hope the President can get us started on high speed rail asap, for it is very convenient to have it.

Tongyong and Goseong: Admiral Yi and Mountains in the Sea

2011-06-30T19:04:00.000-07:00

This post will be edited later and pictures will be added.
Oh Jeong Sook who studied in Indiana at South Bend Museum of art school and the University of South Bend is our host for four nights, beginning June 26 evening. She has a small American style house she had built adjacent to her home and above her ceramics studio (gas and electric kilns!) overlooking a small harbor in the south sea. Despite the left over winds and drizzle of Maeuri which has caused so much flooding in China, it is peaceful and quiet here. We sleep in a room on the main floor with beautiful wood cases to display her work, compact fluorescent lighting, and I’m writing from the loft which is a handsome tea room and display area for her ceramics. We arrived and she served us tea; then we went to the grocery store in Goseong and got a quick tour of the local scene: spa and good dining are in the area. Like everywhere else, there are vegetable gardens, but apparently in nearby Geoje there are some stunning Mediterranean inspired landscapes including some fantastic topiary work. Even if the storm prevents us getting on a boat, we should be able to enjoy the rocky island coast environment for there are numerous bridges to everywhere.

We went to the grocery store, Top Mart, which is a smallish supermarket, and I learned the long eel like fish in the markets are from Jeju. Here is the way the meat counter was arranged. We bought fruit and vegetables, organic eggs and makkoli, the rice brewed drink popular here. The three of us shared the makkoli, some tomatoes and almonds as an evening snack, and we slept very well.

Bulguksa, the big temple complex of ancient Shilla near Gyeongju was very impressive. Only a small portion remains of its one multi-acred grounds and buildings. We didn’t make it to Seokguram, and I’m sorry for it is the main attraction. However, the rain and Jim’s infirmity on Saturday made hiking there (3 km) impossible with our schedule. It will have to wait another time. The guardians at Bulguksa are also impressive and the spacious couryards indicate a grace not found at the other temples we’ve encountered. Hardly anyone was there the (Sun)day we went, probably because of the rain. We were drenched, and left to go to Tongyeong after a Chinese lunch near where we snacked with our art friends earlier in the week.

Tongyeong is a moderately sized city with the distinction of large fishing industry and its historical link to Yi Soonshin, the brilliant naval commander of the Imjin War in the late 16th century. We had seen a lengthy drama, but had previously learned about him in reading Korean history. In the past 150 or so years, he has symbolized national enthusiasm for defense: now many sculptures dot the south coast where he was most active. For years Japanese adventurers had raided the south coast, especially for food (the area is a cornucopia of rice and vegetables as well as fish) and ceramics, not taking only the products, but the makers of the craft as well in order to establish their own workshops. Art historians have told me that what makes Japanese ceramics special is the technology and traditions of Korea which they inherited. So here in Yi Soonshin Park, with its beautifully terraced gardens is a massive sculpture of the Admiral overlooking the harbor in Tongyeong. (Hint: it’s three times the size of Leif Ericson in Ballard)

Also in downtown Tongyeong are two recently build replicas of the kind of ships Admiral Yi built and used in the Imjin war. One is the kind of Korean warship, equipped with large cannon and numerous oars for manueverability. The other is the famous “Turtle Ship” or Geobuksan, which is a heavily modified warship for offensive strategies. Its top deck is not actually a deck, but a metal shield with spikes to repel both fire and boarding attacks. The massive dragon like head is meant to intimidate and originally cannon shot came from it, greatly intimidating the enemy. Below decks were oars and stern specially designed for great manuevers, and each size had state of the art cannon, much larger than enemy cannon. We could tour the turtle ship and there were child sized uniforms for kids to try on, replicas of the officers’ clothing as well as interpretive signs. We searched for lunch among the numerous kim bap and doughnut shops, finally settling on a side street and seafood soup which was packed with clams and mussels, delicious. then we drove out to Geoje in search of gardens and the Haegeumgang, a beautiful scenic drive.

Exhausted from all these activities, we spent Tuesday recuperating, Alice sleeoing most of the day, painting, going to the bath house with Jung Sook and enjoying a fine supper at an unnamed restaurant which Jung Sook had recommended. It was very relaxing and restorative; again we slept well. Today we explored Goseng with Jung Sook, taking in the dinosaur expo where real Seismosaurus tracks, along with other fossilized impressions were excavated and removed during road construction. There was a frightening (to Alice) film in 3-D with sensuround, including puffs of air and a very serious young interpreter of both dinosaur information and Yi Shinsoon, who also commemorated here for another important battle. There is a shrine with his portrait, this massive helmut, another Geobuksan. Jung Sook’s friend, the director of the center, very courteously arranged the tour and guide for us. Then we drove around Namhae and to German town. Namhae is very beautiful and the islands that dot the bays and inlets are like mountains in the sea. This is a beautiful and charming area.

We ended the day with a fabulous dinner prepared by Jung Sook’s friend, an artist currently working in interior design living with her husband, who is self-taught in English (impressively so) and her young son. They gathered a group of friends who were also working on their English; so we chatted aimably as we dined on the Jeju fish (tail fish it is called, and it is excellent, prepared with mild red pepper sauce and potatoes), two jun: mushroom and shrimp with squid, rice with beans, pork, kimchee (also very delicious). It was also not too salty, for which I was thankful. We sipped some fruit liquor from North Korea and another brew (very expensive, said our host) probably 80 proof with ginseng, also tasty with dinner, then enjoyed almonds, walnuts, macadamia nuts and dried persimmon with Chinese tea after dinner.

Daegu Art Museum, farewell, automobile excursion

2011-06-24T16:10:00.000-07:00

Daegu Art Museum is newly opened on May 26 of this year: many of our hosts had not visited it yet, but Kim Yeonguk had attended the opening. We learned she had studied with Park Sa__ in Seoul. I love his work that was in the museum, and, interestingly, one of his Ecriture series is in the Hyundai hotel in which we are staying (below). This opening exhibition featured mostly Korean minimalist artists. There is a special gallery for work involving the natural world and one wall is really a massive window to the landscape. Richard Long's work, employing stones collected in Korea was exhibited in this gallery during our visit. On the edge of town, near the sports stadium, it sits in foothills, surprising since building and farming seem to take place in the river plains, and the mountains are full of trees. Madeleine had remarked on this phenomena and it's difficult to overlook. The art museum is a beautiful building with polished granite ( the dominant stone in Korea) and glass and metal reflecting some traditional Korean building iconography.

Farewell to Ryu Seesook and Kim Yeonguk. Dynamos of organization and gracious hospitality, they drove us everywhere or arranged for drivers. Seesook helped me de-install Una Kim's work, and served us a wonderful last lunch with the artists from Russia. Kim Yeonguk arranged for us to stay in the Hyundai Hotel (luxury resort) at Bomun Lake at a wonderful price with all comforts. I am writing from the 10th floor in a spacious room with decent wifi and large bath, overlooking a glass pyramid.
Seesook has arranged a stay for us near Tongyeong along the south coast.

Jim and I got up early, took a taxi to Dongdaegu train station (the KTX high speed train runs through this station) to get a rented car. Instead of directing us to Avis or Hertz, Korail now has its own car rental and at a rate ($65/day for midsize with navigation and insurance) much more favorable than what we saw in guidebooks (of course gasoline is more expensive here, but we don't have as far to drive to see things). Our plan is to drive to Gyeongju and Tongyeong and any place we want along the south coast, in search of Admiral Yi Soonshin. We are driving a Hyundai Avante, sporty with ok mileage and navigation in Korean only. I'm looking at maps in English and Korean (most tourist maps are printed in at least those two languages) to determine the Hangul version of where we want to go: then we can read the signs: I found Kyungbook University on the nav system this way. The nav systems here are characteristic of much 21st Century Korean design: beautiful and easy to understand visually, using pastels and white instead of bright colors and black as we do in the US. Some in taxis have three dimensions, making me feel I'm in Grand Theft Auto or Godzilla Attacks Seattle. The one in our car is elegant and a dotted blue line always directs the destination as the crow flies.

Great evening in Gwangju

2011-06-22T17:41:00.000-07:00

Our visit to Gwangju began with a 3 + hour bus ride through the mountains. There were a number of (highway? or high speed train) construction zones which restricted lane access: Madeline had deplored the raucus tendency of the drivers to weave and pass in two lane areas, but I think I would have passed trucks in the same areas and being in the bus exaggerated the drama of what was rather ordinary mountain driving to me. While there is building going on everywhere, it is interesting that so much precious farming land is being sacrificed to massive road projects. Jim and I had hoped to find out about some of the progressive tendencies in Gwangju, but we were in for pleasant surprises.
The exhibition was hosted at the Gwangju Branch of the Korean Fine Arts Association Gallery. This organization recently elected the first woman to be its president or chairman, Jung Soon Yi. We met her and her daughter, Kay An, a ceramacist who’d studied in London and whose work was represented in the exhibition by some very fine porcelain. She spoke with us at length and translated for us. Jung Soon Yi welcomed us formally in the exhibition and said she was going to do her utmost to promote women artists in Gwangju. We were the recipients of her hospitality at the hotel for both room and breakfast. There was also Lee Jung Yong, Dean of Fine Arts at Honam University in Gwangju. He spoke about the importance of women artists in creating resolution to the conflicted poltical situation and finding a path to peace. There is a delicious consciousness of the context in which artists work here in Gwangju.
Artists were friendly and serious artworkers. I spoke with a couple of artists, including Byung Kyung Sup, whose work includes “dots” referring to stitchery. I like this work and I appreciate her seriousness. Also we spoke with Kee Young Sook, whose son, Han translated for the speakers and helped us understand as we walked through town. Young Sook was very helpful and her work is very flat and poster-like: I like it. Han had attended De Pauw University in Chicago, studying art and art history. The young people are amazing.

When we arrived in Gwanjgu, we were met by several association members, including Ko Jeong-hui, who had hosted Madeline over 10 years ago, and was grieved to learn of her passing. We chatted with her at an auto repair shop’s office room while waiting for the air conditioning repair of Lee Hye-kyung’s car: It was very hot, hotter than the weather had been, and vital we have a cool car since we were 7 jammed into an SUV. Service was available, fast and efficient Jim found a brochure in the shop of the Chairman car, whch we have seen around and about. This is the top of the line, but of which car company we still don’t know--the brochure, which emphasized the grandiose and CEO quality of the name, seemed to avoid reference to the maker, only the model. Han told us it was made by one of the big Korean manufacturers, but didn’t know which. It is a paean to conspicuous luxury and the Horatio Alger sense of upward mobility which pervades some aspects of life here.

When I get near a scanner, I’ll post the card images of Noh Jung-Suk who works in conceptual ways: installation of books, changes color, the spiral is a motif from ancient petroglyphs, and the book form is the residue of their disappearance in the digital age. Her work is clever and was exhibited in Gwangju City Museum, in 2006, which we didn’t see, but which is an active venue. Gwangju is also building a huge arts complex to include performing arts: it was near the “arts street” area where there were art supply shops, galleries and antique dealers (latter minimal). Also beautifully made and graphically exciting is the embossed recycled paper relief sculpture and engraved work of Ryu Hyn Ja. Artists I didn’t meet but whose work I like include Moon In-joung (woodcut), Oh Hye-kyung (fiber), Cho Eun-gyeung (cast paper).

We ate a great bibimbap dinner (my favorite) nearby. Gwangju is said (by its inhabitants) to be the best in Korea for food. It certainly could be called, at least in a couple of ways, the Bologna of Korea respecting food and politics. We met Deok Jim Cho, a journalist (!) with Moodeungilbo, a Gwangju newspaper and chatted with her a great deal. I got an earful and I’m so thankful. She shared much about recent history and issues in Gwangju, pointing out the construction mentioned above, and joined the group at a music cafe, the name of which translates to “Rich with Snow, or a lot of snow,” a poetic title. It is owned by a famous Gwangju musician, Jung Yong Joo, who performed for us and we have his cd. He and another singer performed passionate songs about Korea, its land and their love of democracy. Some were ballads, some more traditional, some original and some decidedly up tempo. The place really rocked, and two of the Russian artists danced on the bar top, later joined by the exuberant Jung Yong Joo, who ended up shirtless; everybody was stomping and shouting. Jim learned about drinking “the bomb” a concoction of beer and soju (tamer than it sounds due to the glass size and amount of libation involved; Soju’s alcohol content is like fortified wine, and lower than typical distilled spirits).

The amazing Dr. Park Nam Hee wasn’t done for the night, locating a karaoke bar a block away for us to entertain ourselves in for the rest of the evening. Anna and Channa, our Moscow friends, rendered the Rolling Stones’ Satisfaction and an ABBA song with great spirit, but the stars were Dr. Park and Lee Hye-kyung who were very spirited with their Korean pop songs, done with great style.

Next morning, we awoke to breakfast in the dining room with this beautiful view of the city. The hotel, like many here in Korea, maintains an active wedding business and all of the meat is carefully sourced in prominent posters. One of the issues in Korea with the fair trade agreement with US is the access to Korean markets of US industrially produced beef, which truly is a waste of an animal’s life with all the antibiotics, hormones and dangerous feed. People are healthy here eating safer meat in smaller amounts. I don’t want to eat it; it’s unpopular in Europe: why should Koreans have to eat it? We also read about efforts to form a joint North-South Korean youth orchestra under the direction of famed conductor Charles Dutoit, as a cultural bridge.

We met with artists again and headed off to The memorial to the May 18 Democratic Uprising. This cemetary and complex is an education center “for democracy, liberty and justice,” about 14 acres in Unjeong-dong, Buk-gu (North district) of Gwangju. The memorial tower and photographic memorial house involve ritual and art meant to inspire strong feelings surrounding the massacre and repression during the uprising in 1980. There are also films and learning opportunties for children. It is worth visiting and returning to.

Off we went to the garden of a 16th C courtier who retired to the area and built his home and garden there. He had been the tutor to the King’s children and was a student/follower of Jo Jung An, who was not a character but a presence in Dae Jang Geum. Fans will remember that when the heroine is sentenced to slavery in Jeju, the incident provides political cover for the goal of eliminating Jo. The gardener’s after his teacher’s death, sought refuge in the garden, and it is a thoughtful, splendid environment. We toured with a poet who explained, in English, the garden and its Confuscian structures. There is much to learn here.
We enjoyed a beautiful and artful lunch at the garden and gallery of a photographer and his wife, a singer, who runs a terrific "fusion" contemporary restaurant adjacent the gallery, via the poet who introduced them. We were allowed to take the bamboo cups in which the rice was cooked. SeeSook said that is her favorite, and I'm afraid it was mine, too, but the initial soup with crunchy rice, mussels and vegetables was excellent. (I had two helpings.)

Finally, we stopped at Hainsa, the famous temple complex with the Tripitaka, carved wooden printing blocks containing Buddhist scriptures. We actually could peek in to see them, and I have a souvenir of printing from it. Quite a climb and much confusion, but Ryu SeeSook and other Daegu women figured out all our transport woes like magic! I have never met such awesome administrators on their home turf.

Pohang, Kyungpoo and a song fest

2011-06-20T05:58:00.000-07:00

We drove to Geongju yesterday and briefly toured the museum here: Jim and I plan to return; so I’ll cover it later. Having not eaten breakfast, and with the ride I was rather dehydrated and car sick, unable to access my meds since we rode with Younguk who’d left to deliver the art to the gallery. I got some juice and rallied, but still feel somewhat off the next day. We ate at a tourists’ buffet in Gyeongju with this classical Joseon roof (coated in neon for night no doubt). This included vegetables, algae, red rice (like brown) and fruit, for It is beautiful and cooler here than in Daegu; rain is expected later in the week. We were also surprised to find spaghetti and marinara sauce, as well as Chinese and Japanese dishes.

I’m learning a bit about driving behaviors: people talk about crazy drivers here, but I think these may manifest in large cities such as Seoul and Busan: while there are some aggressive or quirky drivers, it is nothing compared to the ineptness of those on the East US coast, nor the hostility and speeding aggression of San Francisco Bay Area drivers. There is a kind of flow, and people assert themselves or wait. U turns are essential because of road layout and have their own rules (don’t do them in the middle of the intersection but before). Sometimes there are horns, but not with the frequency of NYC. Sometimes there is a lot of traffic, especially at rush hour. However, this must come in waves, since many people work long hours and appear to be done at different times. We saw auto repair shops open at 10 pm at night. Daegu definitely does not roll up the sidewalks early. Highways have tolls and frontage areas to access gas and snacks, light shopping. Ok, it's not UK, with everything tightly orderly. However, Korean roads and cars are the same orientation as in US. We'll see how I do when I drive.

The nav system in Yeonguk’s car has, like everything we’ve encountered in Korea, elegant and very understandable design. I hope versions for rental cars come in English because the one she had is both sophisticated and easy to understand. I would be hard pressed to get through her destination menu in Korean: there were many menus and choices. Jim says the voice of the narrator sounds almost conspiratorial, so smooth, almost a whisper, but very clear enunciation.

Although we stayed at the University guest house at in Daegu, there is another here on the coast where many of the women in Dr. Park’s circle had stayed during their student days. It is surrounded by small fields tended by hand, and the farmers were coming to work before 6am this morning. Most appear to be elders. They are growing a variety of sweet corn, not available as street food (which we were informed is usually from China), but is very specially appealing to people here. Also appearing is a range of vegetables such as lettuce, onions, peppers (long and not hot), eggplant and of course tomatoes which grow well in this hot, moist climate. Tomatoes appear to be very popular: cherry tomatoes appear at every table, and at our favorite student cafe near the gallery, a blend of ice and fruit choices is banana or tomato. These tomatoes are flavorful without being sweet and are vine ripened without being watery. The produce we’ve had here has been consistently high quality and extremely fresh. Here’s a small dog we encountered: this kind of little white dog seems popular, our having seen several specimens in these suburban settings, and in dramas.

We stopped at Homigot, on the "East Sea", between Korea and Japan, where these large hand sculptures (about 10 years old) and some tourist activities such as the lighthouse museum draw weekend crowds with music and children’s activities. There are numerous lighthouses along this coast, not massive, but maintained, not seeming in use at present. In contrast to the muddy, shallow waters on the west side of Korea, the water here is deep--the Pacific Ocean. A large shipping channel was apparent from the large number of cargo ships passing by, and fishing boats, small jetties in every town, showed .

Pohang is an industrial city, famous to us before we came here because of the major iron and steel factories, seen here along the river. Younguk was a little cynical at the the new coat of green paint on a prominent part of the Posco factory asserting its commitment to the environment. Posco dominates the city, making it almost a company town. However, our dinner included locally caught octopus (muno) provided by Dr. Park’s friends who are managers of the industry here. We enjoyed Korean berry wine and Russian vodka (seemingly omnipresent as the Russian women are not charged for baggage weight nor size) as well as beer, and we're getting the hang of pouring for others (two handed is the polite way), instead of just passing the liquor. We traded songs, and Dr. Park’s student, Mr. Park, included a protest song, very beautifully sung. Dr. Park and Younguk have lovely voices and sang a couple of pop songs with gestural routines as well. Jim wouldn’t sing his own song, despite enthusiastic calls when it was evident we could sing. (“Where have all the flowers gone” and “Over the Rainbow”--were we too sad?) Dr. Park queried about our groups meeting again: we agreed to try in three years, all three groups, and the Russian women promised to respond within the month about whether they would be able to host such a gathering in Moscow. I wish we had resources for this in Seattle.

Here's a view of a street we could take to the beach from Kyungpook University's Learning Center where we stayed.

In the morning, we stopped at an educational enhancement training center where young teens come to learn traditional character building and team building activities. I think some of the reasons Dr. Park is so effective an organizer include her strong community contacts and her approach to team building as an educator. We got to shoot arrows, and after a couple of quivers, I hit the target! Here's Jim at it.

Today we saw the Tomb of the Heavenly Horse in Gyeongju and understood better because we'd seen the artifacts the previous day in the National Museum in the city. The tombs are park-like and the area is filled with trees. Maintenance crews were cutting the grasses on the tumulae. It was really quite pleasant. Some good information can be found on http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/index.kto

We also visited Gallery ROW, where the second exhibition is taking place. Unfortunately, we had little time to examine it, but I have a great card from the exhibition, featuring my work, and my favorite work in the gallery storage was the owner's--without me knowing until I was ready to leave. There were numerous art supply and framing shops as well as galleries in this area: we hope to return this weekend and explore more.

Our hosts are feeding us well and we are enjoying such thoughtful and considerate care. Everyone we have met attempts to help or offer advice and we are getting amazing support from frequent fruit access to hotel bargaining on our behalf. We truly feel special.

Donghwasa Temple in Palgong-San Provincial Park

2011-06-18T07:06:00.000-07:00

Enjoying iced coffee and waiting to depart on our morning expedition, we were greeted by Dr. Park's Art Department colleagues who shared with us the work of design students. We discovered this feminist role reversal of classic advice for women: here men were advised not to dominate conversations, not expect women to take their collect phone calls and dress better, among other advice.
This temple complex, currently maintained and including an active monastery as well as a lay community, is located on Palgong-San (Mt. Palgong), a beautiful mountain, which is offered views all the way from the early road up along the stream. We walked up the road to the complex, and received the services of a guide, translation courtesy of Ryu Seesook who had driven us to the park. We learned this was the site of numerous strategy sessions and meetings of administrators and rulers during invasions, notably during the Imjin War in the late 16th C. Built in 493 CE, it has been rebuilt 8 times. A powerful site, the makkukiko's tap can be heard far down the mountain during chanting. The complex contains a number of buildings and halls, including one for the spirit of the mountain, pictured by an elder man and a tiger, there to protect the mountain. The guardians of the four directions are at the gate and there are soundmakers for living things in the four elements: earth or underground(bell), air (clouds), water (fish), and the drum for creatures living on the earth's surface. A large fountain provides mountain spring water. We learned that the imagery for the buildings as trees comes from the columns or pillars as massive tree trunks, painted reddish like the pine trees surrounding the temple, and the roof lines being painted in green and blue, like the leaves. The phoenix is the dominant image of the temple and there are many skilled images of the phoenix and her eggs. We wrote a wish on a tile, to donate to the upkeep. These will be integrated into the roofs as needed.

We enjoyed a potluck picnic by our hosts the Daegu artists, which included many jun and water kimchi, some small French style sandwiches and fresh fruit. Our host, a friend of Dr. Park's runs a small preschool nearby in the area, which we sould call suburbia. However, there are constant agricultural activities from rice fields to vegetable plots and even this amazing sculpture installation of figures made of straw. It was a very pleasant visit to the country.

Inheung estate, Seomoon Market and a hospital tour

2011-06-17T06:40:00.000-07:00

Gorgeous grounds and buildings, immaculately maintained, Inheung estate is an early 19th century upper class estate complete with Confucian school. The surrounding fields had been set up around the river, with stone walls obviously very old. The clan which still owns the place and lives there traces its origins all the way back to a courtier of King Sejong (developer of Korean Hangul writing) who became famous for smuggling cotton seeds from China and establishing that crop independent of Chinese control. This was in a beautiful setting outside the city of Daegu with views of forested mountains. It was good to get out of the urban core and see some of the countryside, and we strolled through the small town (village?) to a small restaurant where, as is typical in Korean restaurants that serve traditional Korean food, we ate from low tables, sitting on the floor. A dog which was a dead ringer for one in a Korean drama we watched recently was chained near the entrance, and we had amazing cold noodle food (broth was served iced!) and jun with greens dominating the body of the cake.

Back into the city we had a tour of Seomoon market, which to Jim showed elements of cargo heaven, but also gave us a better view of the less affluent--lots of contemporary clothes and lovely made to order work. Later, we had a tour of Bae Sung Psychiatric Hospital, a facility where patients stay a long time, but look healthy and well cared for. It seems a combination of what we would call a state mental hospital and a shorter stay facility with a psychiatric ER. Dr. Byung Jo Kang took us around and his wife, Shim Jung Ae showed us her studio, her art work and made us delicious food. We had rice wine and ate an amazing meal of banchan, bulgogi and melons (which proliferate around Daegu!).

Kyongpook National University, Daegu, Korea

2011-06-15T18:39:00.000-07:00

Staying on campus a few nights after landing in Incheon and taking the bus, instead of KTX. Still adjusting, but coffee is courteously made available by the incredibly efficient staff of Seungsegnim Park Nam Hee. Alice gave her talk yesterday and today we toured the campus museum. Here is a view of the university art gallery space where the exhibition opens today: gallery talks will take place, and Alice will speak on works she brought from Seattle by Barbara Bruch and Dionne Haroutunian. This exhibition is dedicated to the memory of Madeline Meza Janovec, our colleague, friend and sister who died earlier this year. Madeline was the connecting link between the Pacific Northwest and Daegu: she, Ryu Seesook and Dr. Park organized and traveled back and forth, inviting others to join them in travel and exhibition opportunities. Here are some pictures of campus including a water lily pond surrounding a staff building where we ate a delicious lunch, The gate at one entrance, plenty of cconstruction possibilities here (will be edited.)

Springtime in Vancouver

2010-04-17T09:29:00.000-07:00

A warm sunny day in Vancouver yesterday: the warmest this year so far (even warmer than those melting snow days of the Olympics) was a quick get away from Seattle. Still tired from all the art installing (not completely done--need to finish the "catalogue" and make more permanent labels) while Jim attended a conference, Alice enjoyed an imaginative lunch at Cafe Medina in Crosstown neighborhood. Shepherd's pie with lemongrass, carrots, chicken and sugar snap peas had a touch of chile, not overly salty. Furthermore, it retained warmth even through Alice's slow eating pace. A brightly seasoned and exquisitely fresh watercress salad with Belgian endive, olives and yam chips evinced the same creative sensibility. Although the shepherd's pie came with julienne daikon and carrot in peanut dressing, as a traveler, Alice needed those leafy greens. The espresso was delicious-- a beautiful crema floating on top. Service was friendly, informed and respectful. Also, impressive that children were definitely welcome: they serve waffles, and on Friday at 1:30pm it was a completely popular place. They have squeezed in more tables than evidenced by the picture on the site, and there is counter seating. Also easy parking across the street. Seriously considering cooking class (school is adjacent) next trip north. Understanding the chef is Belgian born and trained, not surprised the food is so good. The head of Jim's department when in residency was Belgian, and he always said the weather there actually fulfills the reputation of Seattle, but the cuisine was the best in the world. Now we can enjoy that promise in Vancouver.
The photo is from the women's washroom wall: a quotation from musician Tanya Stephens about peace.
Probably not coincidentally, we viewed Michael Lin's installation on the outside of the Vancouver Art: Gallery. Alice loves pattern and decoration and Lin's hand painted Modest Veil, Georgia Street Installation is gorgeous. Lin, born in Taiwan also maintains residence in Brussels.

Autumn color along the Mountain Loop Highway

2009-10-25T17:04:00.000-07:00

Jim and I thought to drive up the Skagit yesterday to see the colorful deciduous trees in their glory since rain was expected for the next three days. By the time we were ready, after getting up late and doing those Saturday must do errands, however, it was time to rethink and I consulted the map to consider a loop through Darrington. After living in Seattle for over 20 years, we finally took this day trip Jim had been told to check out in residency.
The route we took coursed through Granite Falls, past Pilchuck, and along the Mountain Loop Highway, stopping to photograph a stand of trees in the sunlight for the 350 ppm campaign and moving on to the Big 4. This is a large mountain with pinnacles and massive formations. A very picturesque and perfect place for a picnic with kids, there was once a luxury inn the present meadow. Between 1921 and 1949 the a gas powered train brought visitors to the Big Four Inn; sadly, it burned in 1949 and there was no interest in replacing it. There is a wetland boardwalk hike and ice caves in the area.
Further along, the road turns to excellently graded gravel at the blocked turn off to the ghost town of Monte Cristo, center of gold and silver mining, now accessible on foot. Easy to navigate, the road has little elevation variation as it follows the river. The colors along the stream were enhanced by the alternating blue sky and fog among the trees. From the previous day's rains, there was a tremendous amount of water filling cascading waterfalls and the rivers. The map we had showed paving in the middle of two courses of gravel, each about 8 miles (~13km). We drove along these, not really measuring but noticing the increasing length of the gravel road. We never did find a paved road between the areas marked on the map, and there were a number of forest roads leading off this local highway 20.
We continued to Darrington and checked data for a place to dine in Arlington, settling on Bistro San Martin. The kitchen is very talented and skilled. Really enjoyed special pork tenderloin and flat iron steak, and their special pour wine to sample 3 different Washington state wines was a good value for me who doesn't drink much. Sauces were flavorful, not overly salty nor rich. Vegetables steamed and lightly dressed. Edamame risotto was intriguing and a good foil for the tenderloin's sauce, but the addition of cheese (not always de rigeur but often expected) made it too rich. Chanterelle soup not distinguished: creamy and flavored with brandy or sherry, so mushrooms didn't come through as much as other cooks' soups can. No vegetarian options on the menu, but indicated they would cook especially for you. On a menu like this, in western Washington, I was surprised to see no provenance on the menu, and they featured [gasp!] Chilean sea bass. Also, including raspberries and blueberries in the vanilla mousse cake dessert in October didn't suggest local. (The cake and mousse were delicious, if a shade too sweet.) But what they do, they do very well. We didn't try the bread which was served with olive oil and herbs. If I were a regular, and we later consulted with our Arlington friends who are, I would try the duck and veggie options. Also atmosphere was warm, genial without being overly familiar, and not obscure. Our friends say it's considered the romantic place in town.

Micellaneous Food Posts

2009-10-13T12:44:00.000-07:00

In an effort to clear out paper notes from my desk, some from long ago, here are some food notes, most recent first:
dinner at Navarre on September 8, 2009 on our way back from Tamara and Eric's Wedding
Warm potato salad
Stuffed patty pan squash
Porcini with corn salad (not the green, but a salad with yellow corn)
Ken's bread with grassy olive oil (Robin was surprised)
Salami Plate
Braised greens
Potato pancakes
Trout baked in parchment
Steamed clams
Italian/Spanish cheese
Anjou: red wine
Walnut pie with chocolate
coffee
I'm a big fan of this restaurant, first recommended to me by Fritzi Cohen of the Moby Dick Hotel in Nahcotta

farther back in time:
July 12, 2006 dessert at Flying Fish (in Seattle)
wonton wrappers in a long roll stick with fig-cherry (probably dried) fruit filling, fried, dusted lightly with powdered sugar + dipping sauces (not sweet): raspberry/blueberry, chocolate and caramel. This was an amazing dessert: tall in flavor, but not sweet, despite ingredients. Fruit parts were flavorful, the way the fruit rolls are at Chocolate Arts in Vancouver.

A Pyramid and Return to Seattle

2009-08-15T22:09:00.000-07:00

Summerhill Winery with its pyramid wine home, lovely view of the lake and sunset, and delicious food.

Field, Emerald Lake

2009-08-07T10:30:00.000-07:00

heading out

Walcott2009 Day Three Books and wiwaxia!

2009-08-07T10:22:00.000-07:00

Place holding for reports on great day three:
More on eyes by two Chinese women scientists with great presentations! Hallucegenia eyes and connection to arthropoda!

New discoveries by JB Caron team in Stanley Glacier area, including "tulip" animal.
Fascinating geologic ideas about underwater mud volcanoes by local (metro Calgary, etc.) geologists and decay chemistry by scientists from Ohio.

Books signed by our favorite scientists.
Special wiwaxia reproduction aquired.

Walcott 2009 day two

2009-08-05T22:13:00.000-07:00

I can see I'm going to have to write a little tonight and post more later in the trip. These scientists go all day, even more than College Art, although they don't put the avant garde at 8:30 pm. We found the blogger from Nature: she is Nicola Jones, journalist, adjunct professor at UBC school of journalism and blogs here

Saving space here, I'm just going to mention the wonderfully inspiring keynote talks by Douglas Erwin and Nicholas Butterfield. Erwin, whom we have been reading in articles provided by Nicole Killebrew, one of our naturalist supervisors at the Seattle Aquarium, seems to be pulling together some ideas across the field regarding development, ecosystem engineering and niche construction.

Butterfield, who may have been easier for me to understand since he spoke after dinner, is interested in broad views of fossils, especially their microstructure to synthesize resolutions to taxonomic issues. We had absolutely no idea that wiwaxia was controversial. It's everywhere (that's comforting): almost no middle Cambrian shale which doesn't have it. Apparently wiwaxia is not a polychaete worm, nor a mollusk. Previously Desmond Collins showed a "frolicking" wiwaxia, and Butterfield had some really breathtaking images of wiwaxia and other fossils, many prepared to show their microstructure.

Walcott 2009 day one!

2009-08-04T20:25:00.000-07:00

It is so good to be surrounded by sensible people and rainy weather!

Two disclaimers: first this conference is really well organized. Jean-Bernard Caron of the department of Paleobiology at the Royal Ontario Museum and his staff did a terrific job organizing this with frequent emails, and an impressive, yet thrifty abstract volume with schedule, etc. There is also a beautifully produced "field trip companion volume", and we received copies, too. The Banff Centre really has excellent accomodations; the food is good and plenty; the coffee is very good and there is plenty at the Max Bell building where the presentations take place. It's kind of like an upscale college experience; Jim and I have a deliciously comfortable king sized bed. Second, we're really glad to be at a conference where we don't have to be "working." We're just fans of these people who seem careful about taking care of their junior faculty and graduate students.

The very first talk was given by Desmond Collins, also of ROM, about the discovery of the Burgess Shale in 2009 by Charles Walcott of the Smithsonian Institution. We are familiar with this story, but he had great historical photos, including Governor Burgess of the NW Territories (the government of the site at the time). Desmond Collins has led scientists and students up to the Walcott quarry for years and the hike is a major accomplishment for the enthusiast. The history continued with J. Stewart Hollingsworth discussing Walcott's insights on the Esmerelda Basin in Nevada and California, where he had hunted fossils before his Rocky Mountain adventure was so successful. The trilobites he'd found in Nevada are apparently similar to the ones in Siberia. David Bruton of the University of Oslo shared photos and connection to Harry Whittington having joined in the 1967 exhibition to the Burgess Shale. This began Whittington's fossil collecting for Canada since Walcott had removed his collections to Washington DC. David Bruton also relayed greetings from Professor Whittington who remains in England (he's 93!).

The very energetic and enthusiastic Keynyn Brysse of Princeton explained contemporary ideas about phyla and cladistic systemization. Before I get myself into confusion because her explanation as an historian of ideas was very clear, I will quote from her abstract: "Decisions about how to classify Burgess Shale organisms are not mere disputes over stamp collecting, but instead reflect such critical biological issues as how to define a phylum, and whether all animal species belong in this most fundamental of taxonomic groups." She also suggests that the controversies between naming and classification, and contingency and convergence reveal how scientists think about evolution. She had very cool graphics which I realized sadly were not reproduced in my iPhone tweets and cited a couple of references I plan to look for. She must be a wonderful teacher. Jim and I need to study up on the new nomenclature of "crown" and "stem" groups.

Jim and I were, we admit, expecting that much of this conference would really be over our heads. However, we were also able to follow the discussion Alison Olcott Marshall, of the University of Kansas on the use of new non-invasive spectroscopy techniques to analyse the biopolymer walls of microfossils known as acritarchs. Are they embryos or animals? Maybe microalgae? Dinoflagellates? Her clear presentation was a good introduction to us of some of the issues in Protereozoic fossil study. Most early lifeforms are assumed to be benthic, bottom dwellers, and it is during the Cambrian that animals start floating around inthe water column. The acritarchs might be a move from benthic to pelagic. Her working group expresses enthusiasm about these techniques for further study of preservation of the fossils.

Frank Corsetti of USC expressed interest in environmental considerations of fossil microorganisms of the Doushantuo formation (China). There's a connection between fossil retention of 10% of the world's phosphate resources and the fact that nowadays that sulfide oxygenating bacteria concentrate and rapidly release phosphate.

Our curiosity was piqued by the presentation by Guy Narbonne of Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario of the "best preserved Ediacaran fossils in the world." These are rangeomorphs, found in Spaniard's Bay in Newfoundland. Professor Narbonne said these fossils are by the beach, in a beautiful spot, with B& B's nearby. However, they are also receiving UNESCO World Heritage designation, so we will have to look at them from a distance. The photos are beautiful: rangeomorphs ahave fractal like structures and seem to build up frond like structures. He spoke longer later in the day in a keynote, further expanding on these beautiful and intriguing lifeforms.

There was also a scientist from Russia we'd met briefly at breakfast. Ekaterina A. Serezhnikova of the Paleontological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences made an elegant digital presentation of the attachments Ediacaran biota make to the sea floor. She documented finds from Ediacaran deposits in the White Sea area of Russia. These attachments support the benthic location for these fossils.

If I review all my notes now, I'll be up all night. We definitely came away from the talks today understanding that Stephen Jay Gould opened up the world of invertebrate paleontology to the rest of us at the risk of making the Cambrian model of contingent evolution. Too much the myth of individual consciousness, I think! Scientists today work to find pre-Cambrian evidence of evolution and convergence so that the Burgess Shale is less singular and fits into models of richness, complexity and the fascination in the nexus of ecology and evolution.

At dinner, we met Marianne Collins whose illustrations, whether pen and ink or color, grace many texts accompanying these discussions and, we think, had shown some at the Tyrrell Museum when we went there both times with Robin. I asked her about her palette, which is very colorful and almost psychedelic, and she replied that she began when the Royal Ontario Museum wanted murals appropriate to a general audience, including children. As a scuba diver, she wanted to remain loyal to underwater limited vision, but didn't want everything to look like Bermuda, either. So she uses green and contrasting colors to distinguish the animals. She thinks others caught on later. You can sort of get an idea via this link; I'll try to update if I can http://www.rom.on.ca/exhibitions/nhistory/nhhighlights.php

Also, it was announced that a blogger from Nature was posting. I haven't found the link yet.

Marble canyon hike and Walcott 2009 reception

2009-08-04T19:46:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post as we will add more photos and commentary from our hike later.

We arrived in Banff Sunday night and after checking in and fussing had a very beautiful dinner in the Centre dining hall. This was a high end special in the Three Ravens Restaurant, on the same floor as Vistas hall and open to the views of the mountains. It's 360 glass, and lovely even when there's atmosphere surrounding in the form of clouds. It was very hot and we ran the fan all night.

Unlike other conference goers, we didn't arrange to go on any conference hikes. We had already done the Mt. Stephen one, and just are not up to doing the one to the Walcott quarry, though it is the trip of a lifetime. Instead, we had arranged with Joel Hagen who runs Great Divide Interpretation [http://www.greatdivide.ca/] to take a short hike with little elevation so Alice could get used to the heights in the Rockies. That thankfully didn't end up being the problem: there was too much sun because we hiked in a part of the Kootenay (koo' tun ee) Forest that had burned in 2003. We had heard about this fire because it was actually several fires which joined and burned hot over an extremely large area. Driving from Cranbrook to Banff, we viewed the devastation from the road and were shocked by the immensity of the burn. However, our hike helped us understand the fire ecology and we were impressed that it was more than 5 years ago that the fire had occurred.

We had taken a hike with Joel in 2002 when we were here before with Robin. Alice had already sprained her ankle and had indifferent physical therapy; so limited hiking was our goal. And a few years before, in 1999, we had taken the Mt. Stephen hike to the trilobite site, Ogygopsis bed; so doing contemporary natural history was also welcome. Joel was a great guide and we were spoiled at having him all to ourselves. This time we learned about the succession of plants following the fire and the geology of the limestone (not really marble) canyon.

The sun was really too much for Alice despite covering, hat and tons of sunblock and water. However, after a nap, we went to the reception/icebreaker at the Whyte museum where there was a terrific small exhibition of artifacts surrounding Walcott's discovery. Notably there wasn't anything from the Smithsonian, where Walcott took his hoard of fossils. His panoramic photographs of the mountains were lovely, and it's always great to see the mountains, even though we had just seen them.

We decided to get supper and go to bed early; so had a comfortable Japanese meal at Suginoya: beautiful sushi with that gorgeous Japanese pearly rice and a noodle broth bowl with preserved wild vegetables. Not sure whether it was wild mustards, but it could have been dandelions: they just pick what's around. Also pickled radish, plum and a delicious cabbage pickle. Seems as if Banff has more chain eating (the Keg and Tony Roma's) than we remember. Early to bed in anticipation of 8:30 plenary!

Nelson and Kootenay Lake

2009-08-02T09:58:00.000-07:00

Alice likes the stone buildings in Nelson: art school and Selkirk College. Nelson was once a big railroad town.

On Saturday, in the Seattle-like heat of Nelson, after packing up and having lunch at the historic Hume Hotel, we visited the town museum. This beautifully air conditioned facility, in one of the many historic buildings, had some interesting historical photographs and objects, and psychelic oil paintings of various older houses in the town, definitely in the tradition of the Canadian Group of Seven. More iced coffee at Oso Negro, where Alice added food reviews of Nelson to Odaria on Twitter, a last visit to the Otter book store, and we were ready to head east. One last stop was to a BC liquor store to buy a bottle of Havana Club rum, unavailable in the US and said to be far superior to the contemporary productions of Bacardi.

We drove along the West Arm of Kootenay Lake for about a half hour, heading to the ferry dock for the ride across the huge and beautiful lake, naturally occurring and miles and miles long, and seemingly as wide as Puget Sound, as the ride took about as long as from Edmonds to Kingston. We thought it more beautiful than Lake Tahoe, in an area not so dry and surrounded by mountains and evergreen trees. The intense heat had moderated, and afternoon clouds, which later led to another spectacular thunder and lightning storm, shielded us from the sun, so we could fully enjoy the views from the little car ferry. Picture: Riding on the MV Balfour.

Once across, we stopped in the small community of Crawford Bay, which has an outstanding array of craftspeople, especially broom makers and a blacksmith. We bought a find hand broom attached to an iron handle for Wanda, and learned that the broom makers, whose workshop was closed for the day, had made brooms for various movies, as well as the Canadian publisher of Harry Potter books.
http://www.northwovenbroom.com/
The road trailed south along the east shore of the Lake for miles, with many gorgeous views, and we began to spot peaks from the higher Rocky Mountains to the east as we headed for Cranbrook, where we slept well but didn't see much other than the thunderstorm, the fast-food lined strip along the highway, and the vast parking area of our Best Western motel.

Travel along the Crow's Nest Highway

2009-07-31T08:26:00.000-07:00

As indicated in yesterday's tweet, we began our day in Hope, BC with excellent coffee and tuna sandwiches at the Blue Moose Cafe. We had stayed in Hope the first time we went to Banff in 1993. Robin was 5 and we camped along the way, but our first stop, in Hope, allowed him to play at this playground and park which seems to be undergoing a huge reconstruction, including a number of these shellacked cute-ish wild animal sculptures. We really appreciated the kid friendliness of civic parks in BC, and the kindness of the children who played in them. Hope is the location of the confluence of the Coquihalla and Fraser Rivers.

Jim is dwarfed by the greatness of Lordco, proving the hierarchical nature of the great chain of being through its godlike divine power. LORDCO is a fond and humorous memento of the first trip to Banff , which actually was a trip to Drumheller and the Tyrrell Museum there. Our motivation for that trip was vertebrate fossils in the form of the dinosaurs found in the Drumheller Valley: rich in fossil fuel, the area proved to be replete with Cretaceous creatures. The Royal Tyrrell Museum is about an hour and a half from Calgary, and to our minds is the British Museum of Dinosaurs. We've been there twice with Robin, but since this trip focuses on invertebrate fauna, we're only going as far as Banff.

Before we left, I dropped some artwork off to be scanned for the Medieval Women's Choir cd, Laude Novella, that will come out this fall. In consultation with our director and friend Margriet Tindemans told me her sister is coming to visit from Holland next week and after a few days will take her family on a road trip to California. Like the tourists now shown in this picture of the "Dutch Star," they will rent and drive a massive motor home. Margriet says her sister does not own a vehicle at home and rarely drives, but will assume the driving of this monstrosity. I had no idea, but there is an entire industry, clear from the special model identification on this van, of making these excursion vehicles available to Dutch tourists in North America. I think Margriet's sister was going to rent hers in Bellingham or Snohomish county, but she told me there's a huge company in Vancouver since it's popular to drive around western Canada, too. Got to say I wondered about these large vehicles, since when I was at the North Cascades Park residency, they were widening the roads for accessibility to rv camping sites to accomodate them. Wow! the 21st century.

We drove along highway 3 in southern British Columbia through provincial parks, First Nations reservations and finally, near Osoyoos, great orchards of stone fruits such as cherries, apricots and peaches. I had thought most of these were north of here, around Penticton, Kelowna and Vernon, but signs in the town of Cawston indicated that it had more organic farmers, or orchards, than anywhere in Canada. Very beautiful area, but I wondered since it's all irrigated whether they are having trouble with mineral build up as they do in California's central valley, which has become quite toxic (selenium? not sure). We did see a large reservoir/pond which had evaporated leaving telltale salts. We need to consult with these orchardists about good food to be had, since we didn't find any in Osoyoos.

Just outside Hope and before reaching the Okanagan Valley, we drove through Manning Provincial Park, a very beautiful part of the North Cascades, and we saw the far upper Skagit River flowing southward toward Hozemeen and Ross Lake in the US National Park. We identified the valley through which the Skagit flowed north into the Fraser River before geologic events changed its course to southward a million years ago. Highway 3 is aptly named the Crowsnest Highway, due to many great high vistas, and the indicator sign has a cool looking crow on a nest behind the number 3.

On the other side of Osoyoos are interesting towns linked with water: rivers mostly and some lakes. Immigration of Russian pacifists, Doukhobors, in the early 20th century is still seen in towns like Grand Forks--lots of places advertising borscht here and in Castlegar, and many Russian names seen on timber companies and orchards.

On our first night in Nelson, we had dinner and outside were street musicians playing Django Reinhardt style music very well: guitar, harmonica, violin and bass. We picked up their CD and strolled back to our hotel; many restored historic buildings here from a hundred years ago, and a setting on an arm of the huge Kootenay Lake below forested mountains. After we got into bed, there was an amazing thunderstorm, with huge and for a while almost continuous flashes of lightning. All the lights went out, apparently all over town for almost two hours. This was not the first such storm we've seen in the North Cascades over the past 6 days! Summer in the mountains surely brings spectacular weather, and it is finally cooling down as we prepare to explore Nelson on this Friday morning.

An Unexpected Party

2009-07-30T09:27:00.000-07:00

Sitting at painting work, contemplating the continuing heat wave and the forecasting possible temperature increase, nearly a week before our anticipated departure, I received a phone call from Moria Peters: she and Steve were coming to the Pacific Northwest and could spend a few days with us before we went to Banff. What a treat! As you can note from March 2008, we visited them at their home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where the legend of Albuquerque Jim began. So we chilled as best we could, starting with faux tropical feast and cocktails Saturday (July 25). On Sunday, after a necessary stop in Shilshole at Marination Mobile, the Korean/Hawaiian taco truck in Seattle, we drove up the Skagit River to North Cascades National Park.

It was extremely warm, and we took the Cascade River Road toward the Chelan trailhead. We passed highway cone with a letter sized sign in Marblemount, ignoring it. However, we also noticed a number of US Forest Service trucks and other green vehicles coming down the mountains, and wondered whether a Sunday work party indicated urgency. Near the end of the road, but not as far as the trailhead, the gate was closed. Steve spoke with a hiker and we all quizzed her: the night before they had sustained a dramatic thunderstorm with buckets of rain. Well, the Cascade River Road washed out between our gate and the trailhead, stranding the vehicles of those weekend hikers. She said it was thrilling, but their vehicle was at this stop, and they were headed home, unlike those who awaited road repair. Having lived up in the park during the fall of 2006 (I blogged in Live Journal, odaraia), we experienced this during the fall storms, usually much more dramatic in eroding the mountains and hillsides, and culminating in a serious washout of highway 20 in November. Jim missed work then when he couldn't return to Seattle for a couple of days.

So we drove down the river road and east on highway 20 up to the Lake Ross overlook to view Mt. Hozemeen, always breathtaking to see Canada up the gorge. While there, we felt, heard and saw the drama of the mountain lightning storm. The bolts were coming out of the clouds and striking the peaks: we saw two strike Pyramid Peak and the first was followed by the telltale smoke of a forest fire.

By way of nostalgia, we went by Camp Tender, where I stayed in the park, and to see the vista from the visitor's center. The view of the Picket Range look familiar? Also, I've included Moria's clouds. The alpen glow and sunset reflections were deeply dramatic.

Yesterday, we left home around 7 pm, after record heat in Seattle above 103 degrees F (never in recorded history). Hard to pack and get organized in the heat, we moved so slowly that our drive in Sedro Woolley and north on highway 9 was in twilight/dark. However, we again viewed a lightning storm, this time more dramatic with quinacridone gold bursts of brilliant branches dispersed to the brewing clouds against the dark sky.
We arrived in Hope, BC, and are preparing for the next leg of our journey to Nelson, BC.
For information on North Cascades national park:
http://www.nps.gov/noca/

Portland and upcoming peregrinations

2009-03-28T09:00:00.000-07:00

This year is filling with travel, not all with the car, which is repaired, but now has its navigation system compromised. Alice takes Wiwaxia to Portland next week for the exhibition, Cultural Sensibilities IV at the Littman Gallery at Portland State University, [April 3-29] with a week of feasts and activities with women artists from Korea and Portland. This image is of the work Alice will show, "O Rubor Sanguinis: Tu Flos Es," 1996, also the cover of the Medieval Women's Choir's first cd of music by Hildegard von Bingen.
Robin leaves for Egypt on April 7, and will return to Olympia in mid May after a month there and two weeks in Jordan.
Then there's a possible trip to DC in June for a conference for Jim and some patriotic gushing if Alice goes, too.
Our most significantly fun trip will be to Banff in August for a 100th anniversary conference celebrating the discovery of the Burgess Shale. For the uninitiated, this extraordinary fossil site, discovered in 1909 by Charles D. Walcott, director of the Smithsonian, contains exquisitely preserved soft bodied invertebrate animals, including wiwaxia corrugata. This conference will be attended by students and renowned invertebrate paleontologists. The Burgess Shale is near Field, British Columbia, not far from Banff. If we are fortunate, we may travel to Jaspar as well.
Alice's brother Paul's daughter Tamara is preparing nuptials for September 5 in Glen Ellen, California, known for Jack London's home and more recently Napa wine country. It will be hot, but family reunions have their charm.
We are still pending information on Albuquerque Jim's appearance at reunion in San Mateo this year.

Wiwaxia in the shop

2009-03-05T13:05:00.000-08:00

I could see it coming: at 80th and Dayton going east on my way to feldenkreis and yoga, I thought "here's a good situation asking for an accident." Less than a minute later, I was hit from behind in a three car pile up. Wiwaxia is now in Arne's on Greenwood: not as damaged as the Prius squeezed between it and the jeep that hit us. Gravity was part of it. I'm ok. Bad things have happened on my birthday before. Completing any part of my March to do list is affected by my current part time job of dealing with insurance and car rental.

Restoration in San Jose and East Bay Blues

2008-11-18T07:01:00.000-08:00

While the timing of this trip was to view the exhibition from the national museum of Afghanistan that is currently at the Asian American Art Museum in San Francisco, Alice had an outstanding obligation to San Jose State: do some simple restoration at the student health center's women healers mural. So we got up on Monday, joined by Kathy Glassley who lives in San Leandro and was the documentor of the mural as it was painted to spend the day in beautiful San Jose. It is still a beautiful city. Touch up was pretty minimal for something that has been in an institutional setting for almost 30 years. Kathy has agreed to go back in a month to seal it. I'm hoping that the newer paint will not cause problems on top of the old. Kathy assisted in cleaning some of the surface as there was dust and the occasional coffee spill.
We had a perfect lunch at La Victoria Taqueria, near the campus (I warned Jim not to eat on campus!) and headed back to San Leandro where Alice viewed Kathy's studio/craft/music room and talked about Kathy's antique jewelry collection. We had met up with Kathy's husband Ray, also known by Alice since community college and sds days, spending the evening most agreeably laughing about kids, families, work and the political situation, dining later at Vo's vietnamese restaurant on Parrott Ave. While not Tamarind Tree or Green Leaf, it does serve fresh food, including green papaya salad. There is a predominance of prawn dishes (Alice avoids arthropods), so there were things we didn't try on the menu. We expect to see Kathy on Wednesday, going to Golden Gate Park to see the new Academy of Sciences, the old one a place of fond childhood memories for both of us.

Mendocino twilight and a day at the beach

2008-11-17T08:15:00.000-08:00

Few pictures in this missive today; we drove 101 south through the Avenue of the Giants, stopping for chai and a break in Garberville (isn't Garberville a town in Pynchon's Vineland by another name?). How can I get a residency in this town? It sure looks as affluent as one might assume given the dominant hemp related industry here. We decided there wasn't enough time to enjoy going down 1 to Mendocino (the town); so took the inland route and checked Trip Advisor for restaurants in Ukiah.

Driving through the California oak hills at twilight, we couldn't tell whether the oaks were affected by what we had heard about blight. Crusing with Silk Road music and Pearl Jam, we arrived in Ukiah around 6. We had read about Patrona in Trip Ad. [see the review we wrote] and got the last table available just by walking in. Isis of the table was surely with us. The food was carefully made and well presented, service appropriate and sensible. We had no wine due to driving, but they pride themselves on their locally stocked cellar. More than made up for a dismal lunch. We also checked in with Robin. Thousands marched in Seattle from Capitol Hill to Westlake Center (downtown shopping center) to protest the unfairness of Proposition 8 in California.

We arrived in San Leandro and checked in close to 11, buzzed on coffee, channel surfing and scanning google and al jazeera for news. It's very quiet at this inn, despite proximity to the airport and being in the middle of the Bay Area because the rooms are so effectively soundproofed. And Oakland airport is not super busy; so when it's not travel time, with the deck door open over the marina, the sound of birds and water is very relaxing.

We left for El Granada to visit friends Marguerite and Ray, whom Jim has known since childhood. Another childhood friend, Ron Federighi, had died earlier this year, while living and working in Thailand and in the absence of any family organized memorial (probably postponed due to complicated transportation issues), Jim and Ray spent time in their own grief visiting Ron's old house in Moss Beach and the marine reserve there. We were not the only ones in sunny nearly 80 degree weather who wanted to go to the beach on Sunday. The sign on highway 92 once we crossed the Hayward/San Mateo bridge indicated it would take 72 minutes to get to Half Moon Bay. It was slow going, but we have Air conditioning. Alice channeled her mom in thinking she was safe to come to California in November, could avoid the heat, as Eleanor had said when visiting us in December 1991 or 2 during that crazy blizzard that shut the city down and left kids stranded along hilly bus routes, "there's a reason I left Connecticut: the snow. I'm not coming back to Seattle again this time of year." Well, guess I'll have to fly or train it in the winter if I want to avoid the problematic Siskyous, because November is now off the list of acceptible months for visiting the golden state.

We walked along the absolutely packed beaches from Marguerite's and Ray's house to Sam's, a very popular fish place, advertising its food as from sustainable fisheries, but everything was flown in from far away: ahi, lobster, etc. Guess there's no more sustainable fishery in the fishing village of Princeton, site of our memorial lunch after a visit to Pescadero beach after my father died in 1982. All those stories are now shriveled in the sun and walked over by extreme surfers, picnic goers and the madness of crowds. But it was great to see Marguerite and Ray, admire Ray's growing car collection and discuss San Francisco eating options with Marguerite. We are trying to encourage Ray to join the Albuquerque Jim table at the 40th high school reunion. He is stubborn, but we have optimism in Marguerite's winks and smiles. The sunset, too, was stunning, although I'm sure the colors were improved by the smog everywhere.

On our way back to San Leandro, we had dinner with raconteurs and bon vivants Jim Chanteloup and the fabulous Cookie Wong, serious musicians. They took us to Divino (second night in a row for Italian, but it was real Italian [review also in Trip Advisor]) and we discussed friends, politics, the economy and family. Jim C is also a long time friend of Jim's, and Cookie, formerly of San Francisco, is now the toast of the peninsula: they put a band together to play for Bob and Nancy's wedding in Belmont in 1995?, and it was terrific.

Trip to the Land of Red Wood

2008-11-16T08:51:00.000-08:00

Left home later than we wanted on Wednesday; Alice sick with a cold and slow. Dinner in Olympia with Robin who was full of a film by a former Evergreen student about ethnic status issues among Israelis: whether sephardic (lower) or ashkenazi (middle) or ashkenazi Israelis who aren’t religious (highest status). He found it fascscinating. Great to see him. He’s looking well.

On through the night to Eugene and stayed at our port in a storm, the New Oregon, across the street from U of O. Alice had stayed here in 1989 with Robin when the Volvo’s fuel system crashed. It was very comfortable and always is a first choice in travel along this corridor for convenience and cost. The Willamette is right outside, making the hotel quiet as well as convenient to the river walk past the university’s experimental and organic gardens.

Alice slept during the early part of our drive from Eugene south. In Grant's Pass, we missed Summer Jo's restaurant (seasonal title was a tipoff), but found good food in a downtown strip mall at Blondie's Bistro, a nicely done big space with Italian specialties, sandwiches, salads. This was lunch, but it looks like a good nighttime place. Drove from Grants Pass, OR along pretty autumn rivers with maple and oak? not sure, but getting into redwood country once in California, traveling along the Smith River.

Fog set in before Jedediah Smith Park, where big redwoods grow. We found out later that we could have taken an alternative route through some of the largest redwood groves, but still saw some big trees and hints of groves. In any event, a blanket of fog set in from the 101 junction above Crescent City, which lasted through to our destination at Requa.

We bought gas in Crescent City, pumped by a nice man, my age or older. Not a new machine for credit cards; most folks doing cash. I said it won’t take as much as a full tank; my husband worries we’ll run out, but not with Wiwaxia’s engine. He said, “he must drive a truck", and laughed. I said because it runs right through and he grinned yes. Stopped in the Safeway, hemming and hawing over a bottle of wine. Only WA wine was St. Michele; so got Cotes Du Rhone to eat with picnic supper from Provisions once in Requa. Jim's prejudice, based on Kenneth Rexroth and other 20th century reports, that Crescent City was hostile to outsiders, did not play out, although Zagat would find little of interest here. It is a very pretty location, and we found a large number of California Sea Lions in the harbor.

Arrived in fog at Requa Inn to a lovely room, and friendly host Dave. Used the downstairs tv with dvd to watch Dae Jang Geum after our supper.
11.14
Awoke early to shower and dawn in sw facing windows overlooking the last bend in the Klamath River. The town of Klamath is Yurok land, Yuroks speaking an Algonquin-based language, unique among California Indians according to one book. The literature around the parks and from rangers indicated that Yuroks are active in seeking to remove four hydro dams from the upper Klamath. Toxins have accumulated at dangerously high levels. It's hard to tell whether it’s toxins or diverting water or both causing demise of salmon fishery in Klamath. People know about it here.

We drove toward the mouth of the river, up from our inn to a cliff lookout. There was a ranger with two volunteer naturalists set up to watch for whales, complete with interpretive kits and spyglasses. No whales, but plenty of pelicans, cormorants, a merlin and a log being pulled out to sea at a brisk pace, showing the power of local currents and riptides. We spent about an hour there and learned some lore. A splendid day, great for us all to be outside in the sun (even Alice, though I did have my hat!) after the weeks and weeks of rain. Some poems:

Pelican glides over sea.
After three weeks’ rain,
Klamath’s poison’s diluted.

Sun shafts on red trees through ferns,
nurse log wicks water,
titrates scarce salmon carcass.

Planets peek through fog sunset;
mushroom swells in rain.
Dawn announces Klamath’s mouth.

On the advice of the ranger, we took an old coast route on the south of the Klamath mouth. The washed out bridge has two mossy bear sculptures left with a placque about the destruction of the Yurok village by the flooding (log damage). Some of the road is paved, other is well graded gravel. We stopped to enjoy the sun, Alice somewhat limited with the cold.

Here's a photo of sunset at a beach south of Crescent City, Jim sitting on a picnic table, the tide going out to a minus.

On Friday afternoon, in Redwood National Park and Prairie Creek Redwoods state park. Saw a lot of Roosevelt elk, good bookstore at Prairie Creek visitors center, knowledgeable ranger at Kuchel visitor's center in the Nat'l Park. That center is at a very broad and beautiful beach, at the confluence of the storied Redwood Creek.

After surprisingly good Mexican lunch at Hacienda in Orick, got rejuvenation and wonder at Lady Bird Johnson grove, an area of ancient redwood forest which also was one of the longest walks Alice has been able to take in some time. We hadn't been here in 20 years, but it seems unchanged. The afternoon light shafted through the trees, leaving magical-looking places of light in the forest.

The warm, clear sunny weather continued on this usually overcast coast through to the weekend, and after leaving our very pleasant room at the Requa Inn, closing that day for the season, we drove south to Eureka. This is along a very beautiful part of the redwood coast with enormous lagoons and beautiful views of the ocean. Headed to Jim's great-grandparents' house, where he had often visited as a child. His grandmother Grace was born there in 1907, and Jim's mother lived there for several years up to the age of twelve. The house has had an addition, the barn was fixed and altered, but the house was well taken care of, and we got some pictures. Also saw a number of demonstrators leaving a rally about Proposition 8, the initiative that banned gay marriage. We should have taken Alice's advice and found lunch in Arcata--bad pub food at Lost Coast Brewery in Eureka should be avoided (there be hippogryphs). Made some reclamation or restitution at Eureka Natural Foods Store (not the coop), which also had very good coffee, and headed south.

Nahcotta and the Confluence Project

2008-11-10T19:20:00.000-08:00

Jim and I spent a few days at the end of the summer on the Long Beach penninsula. Our cat Little Jane was declining, and leaving her with our veterinarian was a welcome break for Alice, who was spending time in feline intensive care. We enjoyed our stay at the Moby Dick Hotel, where we enjoyed some absolutely delicious meals, prepared fresh from the garden and with devotion. Here's a sunrise view through the window screen from our room, overlooking the yoga/meeting yurt. Sadly, there were no oysters, the beds having strangely and coincidentally reduced in spawn since spraying for spartina began in Willapa Bay. Our host, Fritzi Cohen, is working to eliminate this spraying. We are especially confused because our work at the Aquarium has led us to believe that characterizing the invasiveness of spartina in Washington state is overrated.
We were also fortunate to have beautiful weather for our trip to part of the Confluence Project by Maya Lin. I did some rubbing of some of the concrete etched text, a prayer by the Salish.

New Mexico update

2008-07-03T10:37:00.000-07:00

So glad we didn't have to do this, yet someone else did. Our local travel bookstore has featured this on their site about "nuclear tourism." We haven't read it, but definitely want to know about the phenomenon.

http://www.wideworldtravels.com/NASApp/store/Product?s=showproduct&isbn=9781596913783

Vista House, mistaken identity and the road home

2008-04-06T23:41:00.000-07:00

dateline: Seattle
We awoke in Hood River to a beautifully sunny and sparkling morning, our room this time overlooking the Columbia River. Moving slowly, we planned our route home for the day, contemplating some peeps at the Columbia Gorge waterfalls and spectacular views. Originally, we had hoped this part of the trip would include visits to acquaintances in eastern Washington, but, as academics, they were busy with beginning of the quarter activities. Our alternative was to visit a part of the northwest we had never seen.

Windsurfing, winetasting and tourism notwithstanding, the Gorge is a beautiful place which for the past ninety years at least has attracted visitors both internationally and locally. Many folks in Portland recreate at the Gorge for weekend camping, hotel stays, retreats or even choosing suburban life. [at left, view from Vista House] We saw, in addition to vineyards, other evidence of truck farming and market gardening, presumably supplying the groceries and farmers' markets of Portland and Vancouver WA.

Multnomah Falls [right] where we enjoyed a
tasty lunch of sandwiches at Multnomah Falls Lodge built in 1925 is part of the glaciated gorge area where, toward the end of a recent ice age, the Columbia River dramatically cut through the basalt, but the smaller streams drop into the river from high perches in the rocks. After lunch, we headed back to the parking lot where a man mistook Jim for his back home "buddy," Bob Somebody; this visitor was later seen again at Vista House. From here, we passed several other waterfalls full of early spring runoff. The road above the gorge was carved out nearly a hundred years ago for the benefit of daytripping Portlanders.

Vista House
This is the famous viewpoint high above the gorge which is seen in many photos. It's a charming place, beautifully designed and over 90 years old, and has been restored. [Check out the link:
http://www.vistahouse.com/ ]
I saw the Illinoisian again who mistook me for his hometown bud, but given my shock at this and typical reticence, did not try to kindle up a new pal--I felt like Oscar Levant being accosted in an elevator. I'm used to thinking of rural folks in Illinois as ethnic German, but this reminded me that in parts of IL near the Mississippi, across from Missouri, culture is very much southern. After nearly 20 years living in the Northwest, seeing the gorge was much overdue! [below right is Vista House itself from the Women's Forum Overlook]

Alice finally prepared some mailings to post. Usually, one of the alternative tourist activities she enjoys is to go to the post office, whether to mail post cards, complete some art business, or mail packages home or to friends. Completing the packaging at the hotel in the morning, she was on the hunt for a colorful, scenic post office along the Columbia; finally she went default with Wiwaxia's navigation system for both fuel and post office. Late in the day, we ran into traffic in Troutdale, where the post office had a long line on Thursday afternoon. [Left, Latourelle Falls, filled with lichen and moss]

Ending as we had begun, we had dinner with Robin, whose adventures in Prescott (pronounced: press-cut) included pick up trucks, hiking and the purchase of a duster--he'd been looking for something like this for more than a year. It was his first close encounter with cowboy culture.
Robin ran afoul of the Phoenix airport security and missed his plane to Seattle. The resulting rescheduling involved a flight to Oakland, which was delayed. Then, when he missed the connection to Seattle after being directed to the wrong gate, we contacted his Uncle John who picked Robin up, entertained him to a big Mexican dinner and roused him at 5am (!!) to get him to the next connecting flight to Seattle. Robin was able to get back to Olympia in time for a college friend's birthday party.

We arrived home close to midnight. Little Jane was very anxious and very skinny, but seemed relieved to see us. Her appetite is picking up. Serif was slow but pleased to see us. It was good to come home to a clean, "ordnung'' house.

We would like to thank the following people for making our journey possible:
Our gracious hosts, Lara Candland and Christian Asplund, Sarah Teofanov and Tory Larsen, Moria and Steve Peters; all the hotel staff who secured our reservations, adjusted discrepancies and cleaned our rooms and linen; the staff at the wonderful restaurants, including the thoughtful procurement by chefs, prep and clean up workers, and the servers, especially those with interesting and amusing attitudes; national park staff; our guide in Monument Valley; and our housesitters, Tom and Jamie. Most of the photos in our blog were taken on an iPhone; others were taken in high resolution on a Sony Mavica, then formatted in Photoshop for the web. Some were provided by our friends. Finally, we owe thanks to the makers, who work and reside in Japan, of our car, Wiwaxia, which ran beautifully and generally averaged above 40 mpg, cruising at approximately 500 mi per tankful. We will post our music playlist in the comments sections over the next few days.

Escalante, renegades and back to the northwest in Boise

2008-04-03T11:45:00.000-07:00

dateline: Hood River
Leaving the Grand Canyon, we faced our longest day's drive, which took us in and out of Arizona and Utah, all the way to Provo. We took highway 89 and drove to Cameron, stopping for one last look at the canyon. [Photo to the left is of the storm we saw on Sunday.] In Cameron, we stopped at a supermarket and saw a truck with a very calm and cute poolie type dog sitting in the passenger seat. In sparkle contact paper was stuck above the door, "Moses." On the driver's side, the same paper revealed, "Red." Passing through more Navajo country, we took the low road twice to avoid mountainous roads and recent snows. This meant bypassing the northern part of the Kaibab Natl Forest, where the squirrels are, and also skipping a drive through Zion National Park. However, we saw a lot of beautiful country, with many striking rock formations, and had a good look at what is left of Glen Canyon after the dam was built. Apparently, parts of that storied canyon are reappearing due to the protracted drought in the southwest. What we saw was as unique in its way as the Grand Canyon.

Stopping in Page (AZ) for freshly made sandwiches and coffee at Bean's Gourmet Coffee House on Navajo Drive in a shopping center, we met the proprietor, a nice AA lady, then proceeded along the Arizona-Utah border. [Right, see a view near Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument.] This route not only took us through the Kaibab Paiute Indian Reservation, back and forth across the state lines, but also through communities where polygamy is still practiced by renegade "Mormons". This practice seems far from the early welfare state vision of community from the early settlers, but more of a personal cult practice which sexually abuses and economically exploits teenage women. Lara told us to look for compounds and buildings which were in a state of incompletion (to avoid paying taxes), and Christian identified border towns such as Fredonia as places where these practices persist. (The Marx brothers would find this name ironic.) Prairie Dog Pottery in Fredonia bore the sign, "not made in China." Hurricane bills itself as "a gateway to the parks," but La Verkin takes the cake: a sign self described, " voted out of UN 2001, voted out of US 2006." Other signs in town complained about paying taxes; but there were a few properties which looked very prosperous, in a contractor's dream kind of way. Most of the town was rather modest.

At last, fueled by more sauropod gas in Kanab, which serves travelers both to Zion and the Grand Canyon with sporting goods, natural foods stores and espresso, we reached the interstate, and as night came on, drove quickly through a good part of Utah to Provo. We passed the town of Fillmore, in Millard County, where in the early 1850's, the territorial capital was established, and part of a proposed large Moorish building was put up as a statehouse. US president Millard Fillmore had been an early supporter for Utah (Deseret) statehood, but his failure to win a second term halted that effort. Nevertheless, he is remembered fondly in Utah. --Guess the legislative chamber was the first "Fillmore Auditorium!"
Next morning, we met up with Christian for breakfast at our hotel and chatted for a couple of hours, dropping him off at the university pool midday swim, therapeutic for his back. It had snowed in Utah on Sunday, just as it had in the canyon, but much more heavily. It was cold, and the snow put a stop to spring (and the pollen). Then, coffee at the Provo Juice and Java [to the left], and headed north past the Great Salt Lake. We stopped to get sandwiches in Salt Lake City, and ate them at a rest stop near Ogden. Jim felt tired all day, so Alice drove most of the time across Idaho, along the Snake River. [Here's a shot of some device used to assist planes for navigation, similar to the one on Sarah's and Tory's mesa.] We headed directly for dinner at Cafe de Paris in downtown Boise, one of several places recommended by Lara's sister, and definitely gave satisfaction, with food carefully and deliciously prepared. Especially interesting was the vegetable accompaniment to our dinner, a mixture of beets and mushrooms--very tasty and creative. We enjoyed breakfast at another recommended place, Goldie's, which was the kind of cafe we had hoped to find all over the southwest, but didn't until this point. Here, we had REAL Idaho red potatoes, creamy and delicious, not the frozen stuff we had encountered 8 years ago in Pocatello. We knew we were back in the northwest!

Here's a relief sculpture in downtown Boise, depicting the Snake River. It's not possible to see, but there is neon at night within the riparian zone. Driving from Boise, we ran into some major construction between Boise and Nampa. This area is growing, one of three areas in Idaho growing (the other two are Twin Falls and Coeur d'Alene). We didn't run into any politicians, neither Larry Craig nor his [Democratic? Green?] replacement. We continued to Baker City where we found Charley's ice cream shoppe which served Blue Bunny ice cream!! Its merits are that it doesn't have those wood fiber additives: it's not so eggy and has fruit in it. Alice liked it, even if it's not organic. We took a short (10 miles loop) detour to the National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center. It was really quite well done and had a terrific chronology. Alice had been reading a history of early US banking issues, especially surrounding the relationship between counterfeiting and capitalism. The date, 1837, a time of financial depression, marked the beginning of the move west as many folks were destitute. This date was highlighted in both the book and the Center's chronology. Here's a picture of the life sized wagon models on a short trail from the parking lot.
Next: Columbia River gorge and home!

2008-04-01T09:59:00.000-07:00

dateline: Provo

The Grand Canyon--what a sublime place, and I mean this in the Kant/Schopenhauer/Lyotard traditions. [check out sublime in the Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sublime_%28philosophy%29#German_Philosophy] Of course many of these places to experience the sublime are also at high altitudes and the lack of oxygen may contribute to the feeling of fear and overwhelming presence of nature (fortunately the nature part is very grounding). Alice felt that oxygen stations should be available as a park amenity, or at least in the bars. As any of you who have been at the rim of the Grand Canyon know, this experience cannot be captured in pictures. It is also an amazing eco system, with wide variations between the high rim and the bottom of the canyon, where 90 degree temperatures occur in March, and scorpions and rattlesnakes abound.

We were very fortunate on Sunday (March 30) to experience the atmospheric display of the canyon's weather system. As we left our hotel and picked up espresso at the multipurpose cafe/bookstore/viewflights shop, the agent told us all scenic flights were cancelled that afternoon, as the Park Service regularly does on windy days. We had lunch at El Tovar (see below) and decided to try a brief nature walk from Yavapai point where the park geology staff long ago decided that was the most revealing view. When we arrived, smallish snowflakes were fluttering past our hats as we walked to the glassed in observation station. There we learned from a ranger with a telescope that the walk was cancelled due to the weather: precipitation was beginning to fall in the canyon. We soon saw this was an understatement.

The rangers said there was no warning about this particular weather phenomenon, but at the same time, such storms do take place spontaneously. Jim took a photo as best he could of the remaining sunlight canyon, and then the snow flurries came along with the wind. This station is very solidly made, but these were pretty strong winds, and the building responded with vibrations. There came a point where the canyon was barely visible for all the snow/blizzard surrounding us. It was beautiful. Not long afterward the sun came out, and while there were clouds and shafts of light around, you would not know it snowed except to look at the few flakey remnants on the ground.

Since the nature walk was canceled, we hoped the ranger would still provide some information about natural history or at least ecology, but we only heard some commentary on the weather and apologies. In Moab, fortunately, I had obtained A Naturalist's Guide to Canyon Country, which does not actually cover the Grand Canyon. However, it's a good introduction to the subject. and since there is no comparable work for GC, I recommend it. (The author now lives in Seattle, what can I say?) We decided to stay for the evening ranger talk at 7:30 which was to be about the human history in the park, having snacks at the Yavapai lodge (where you can get accomodations with little lead time). I will only comment that this food is not as good as what we used to get on the ferries and the value ratio is greater than the "fine dining options."

The evening ranger, Mike, imparted a good deal of information in his canned talk about how to behave in the park. As with the staff in the North Cascades, management is clearly having to cope with the stresses brought on by the 5 million yearly visitors. There were very large rv's and the campsites ($30 per night) required rigorous maintenance. Many visitor areas are only accessible via walking or the numerous every 15 minutes shuttles (natural gas powered, but not hybrid). As in many national parks, these are part of a park and ride system. At the west edge of this system, beginning this week, construction crews will widen the roads for these shuttles. They are currently closed to all traffic but small buses. (Here's a view from inside the bus, looking at the Grand Canyon engine [in canyon camouflage] which goes twice daily to Williams. You can stay in Williams and take the train north to the canyon for a three and a half hour visit.) We found the shuttle drivers, personable, informative and very patient. For example, a large family with 5 very young children needed to load one disabled child and two strollers, one of which was a twin stroller. The driver explained protocol to the (very strong) young father, lowering the lift on the bus for the girl's walker, and cleared the front area of abled folks to make way for the family. The family itself was impressive in that the parents had clearly collected the kids and were returning to their campsite before kid exhaustion had set it (they were all very well behaved and the eldest, probably not more than 11, helped with everything).

The evening ranger told us briefly about the local original inhabitants of the area and their ideas, especially the Hopi about the origins of the people being in the canyon but that they should only use it for ceremony. I like to think that our pilgrimages and contemplations of the sublime are related to this concept, if interpreted by our commercialized culture.

A little backtracking about accomodations and history. We breezed in after our experience of Monument Valley and arrived, breathlessly, at our hotel in Tusayen. We weren't too disappointed we were unable to book a room within the park when we later learned that reservations can often be unavailable as far as 23 months in advance. (It's even more difficult to book than the Ross Lake Resort!) The dinner was ok, but like most places in the southwest, the most reliably prepared meal was... steak and potatoes. Salads were ok and the vegetables, simply prepared were fresh. I think it worth mentioning that most of the meals we had in the area were relatively low on salt, which I found helpful not only personally but as a healthy general approach to high altitude dining. For some real venting about food at the Grand Canyon, check out Trip Advisor. We didn't need to write. [Needless to say, we expected it to be as disappointing as the usual restaurant fare which can get away with business close to amazing scenery.]

On Saturday, we briefly visited the Lookout and Kolb studios (Lookout was closed). The Kolb brothers were photographers who built a beautiful studio with a downstairs gallery. Classes are also offered there as is displayed a collection of works (all strangely enough landscape paintings) by artists in residence to the park. [Here's a dome car on the GC train, right.]

We enjoyed a good dinner at the El Tovar lodge, which Ranger Mike informed us was inspired by a "Norwegian hunting lodge," complete with mooseheads, despite the moose being nowhere near the park. During dinner, we mused on the omnipresence of the kokopelli image, how its commercialisation obscures its meaning. The ethnobotanist Gary Nabhan had in the 1980's enthusiastically suggested it as a symbol of the trickster nature of wildness in native seed strains, then reversed and almost apologetically noted this hic et ubique infection of necklaces, t shsirts, etc. For us, anthropology has been a way for those of us reared in the Western tradition to understand, even if not very well, other cultures. For others, photography is this "in," even if imperialist in its "male gaze," often because people don't have any other way of understanding. Jim also noted that Gustav Mahler was alive when the El Tovar was built.

Jim: Kaibabs and Albuquerque Jim do not feel the effects of altitude at this level; they generally cavort on the North Rim, where the elevation is significantly higher. Mahler aside, how does one explain the absence of moose in the Grand Canyon NP? It seems obvious to me they were chased out by hordes of fierce kaibabs long ago, even before the advent of modern anabolic steroid supplements. Kaibabs are also most likely responsible for the failure of the Spanish Conquistadores to subdue this area, and present a plausible reason to explain the mysterious movements of the old Pueblo people (Anasazi) at various times. However, Jim did sleep late most mornings, since he was on vacation hassling people.

Aside from communing with the native squirrel population, Albuquerque Jim exercised forbearance at the park. Many boorish and disrespectful people escaped harm or humiliation due to his distraction with the strength and power of this unique land, which affected him deeply and led to a mood of tolerance and affection toward his fellow humans. Those who safely visited this area recently should ponder this, and feel gratitude.

The coffee there was good: strong, and better than the espresso in Tusayan. We were not able to sample the elusive cream of polenta soup, but did enjoy cream of asparagus and onion soups. The duck dinner was also delicious and perfectly cooked. Salads in this area, as in others, seem to sport cheese spontaneously.

We saw the Saturday March 29 headline issue of the Arizona Daily Sun, from Flagstaff, in a newsstand when getting espresso: “Uranium’s toxic legacy looms large.” Looks like Dick Cheney’s Energy Task Force is on the move again, taking advantage of political distractions and folks’ dissatisfactions at the pump. The above the fold photo features Lawrence Stevens, of the Grand Canyon Wildlands Council, speaking at Flagstaff City Hall. Next to him is Kris Hefton, ceo of VANE Minerals, US, LLC. The uranium mining industry is proposing opening new mines in the Kaibab National Forest south of the Grand Canyon. Tusayan, a couple of miles south of the GCPark entrance, where we are staying, is in this area. In addition, five companies want to mine uranium reserves, estimated at 500 million pounds or more, and Texas based Uranium Resources Inc. wants to reopen a mill. A geologist formerly with USGS and International Atomic Enegry Agency, Karen Wenrich, says, “The industry has come a long way...This is nothing like the mines on the Navajo Nation.” As you may know, mines were left to contaminate when the mining companies went bankrupt. Navajo people have sustained this mess with more than 1000 abandoned mines and mills on their land, poisoning local people. [Don't know whether the Navajo Nation qualifies as a superfund site.] There were 200 folks at the council meeting and most were opposed to the mining. Three environmental groups have sued to overturn Forest Service approval. The Navajos are, not surprisingly, skeptical at best. “It is unconscionable that anyone would allow uranium mining to be restarted anywhere while we are still suffering,” Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley Jr. said. “I cannot believe the industry is going to come in and mine uranium and then clean up. I cannot believe that.” Here’s a link for more information http://azdailysun.com/articles/2008/03/29/news/20080329_front_page_5.txt There is also information from an article reprinted in the Sun from the Washington Post about the Navajo land issues around uranium mining. We will keep our eyes on this one.

Monument Valley and dinosaur tracks

2008-03-29T15:09:00.000-07:00

dateline: Grand Canyon
After lunch in Farmington on Wednesday, we set off for Monument Valley, driving down the long way from the north on Highway 163. We drove west through Navajo lands, passing the San Juan River and "Shiprock," so called by 19th (?) century missionaries. I wondered about this nomination because how many desert folks ever see a ship. It really looks like a magical floating fortress, especially in the heat of the day with the mirage in air, sort of like Laputa in Miyazaki's film of the same name (aka in English, Castle in the Sky). More below about this place.

From "Shiprock," which is also a town, we continued along 64 W to Teec Nos Pos. We passed Beclabito Dome of red rock and a stunning panoramic view of mountains and desert with little vegetation visible. Is this where uranium mining happened? It looked like the desolation of Smaug (ref the Hobbit). We stopped briefly in Redmesa and found orange sherbet pushups made in Louisiana by "Blue Bunny" company. More dairy than most sherbets and certainly than sorbet, but very refreshing. At the stop was a letter posted and dated March 12 from the Regional Health center (a large beautiful new complex which we saw just before coming to the stop and which seems to serve the four corners area) warning about an outbreak of meningitis. Redmesa environment reveals red earth both pale and deep with terra vert plants, both pale and deep also

As the afternoon shadows lengthened, we came by Mexican Hat, a famous rock formation, and on down to the increasingly stunning views of this storied valley. Driving into the main part of the valley, which is a Navajo tribal park, at about 5pm, we thought we'd have to come back the next day. However, the Navajo tour guide service offered us a 2-hour sunset tour of the valley, and we gladly accepted. They were very quick on the uptake, and joked with us about a plant in our car which Sarah had given us, asking if we were going to smoke it. Their somewhat grizzled humor reminded us of our experience with crab salesmen in La Push, driving around town selling freshly cooked crab from the back of a pickup, and raucously telling us to eat it with "Indian sauce" i.e., butter. Beer was in evidence there, but signs all over the Navajo reservation indicated that by federal law, alcohol was forbidden, including restaurants.

We set off in a jeep Wrangler with our guide Tito, who was very knowledgeable about the Navajo coming from northerly Athabascan peoples, had visited British Columbia for a conference, and knew much about Salish and other tribes. He provided a perspective beyond the "missionary names" given to many of the formations in the valley, as he expertly maneuvered the little jeep through washes, joking about a place where someone had gotten stuck yesterday while going right through it. Alice was so grateful Tito drove because he went carefully and slowly, avoiding the jerking movements which propel motion sickenss. He told us about the Navajo names and stories in the valley, which is a sacred place for his people. With him, we were able to travel well beyond the posted limits for visitors, and we saw many beautiful and imposing places as the sun set. Tito is a first Gulf War veteran, and he provided a very different viewpoint about current events, telling us that Navajo believe the gods have given up on us, and are awaiting a next renewal of the world. He described Navajo as liking to live far apart from one another, in contrast to the ancient Pueblos of places like Chaco and modern people living in cities, where too close proximity led to many troubles. He connected this to the Navajo's long ago decision to leave the more temperate northwest and live in the more arid and less hospitable southwest. He joked that "somebody had to leave". He pointed out a large hotel being built right in the valley by middle eastern interests, expressing a good deal of cynicism and disapproval. He also pointed out a place where years ago a B-52 had crashed, filling the valley with feds and leading to a change in flight routes in that area. He seemed doubtful about the reality of native sovreignity when the US military could overrun their home, or when the elders, who are women, agreed to the hotel development. Tito told us that the most frequent visitors these days are Europeans, and other folks from around the world, but not so many US visitors. We ran into Germans from Hamburg during this tour, visitors from Asia, and heard a good bit of French spoken at Gouldings.

NB: Tito also told us the story of the "Shiprock," which was actually a leftover place from previous world destructions by the gods. A giant dragon was devouring everything and an eagle (or a person on an eagle) was able to maneuver onto the dragon's back and attack a vulnerable spot (sounds similar to the Korean film Dragon Wars, eh?).

After an excellent dinner (we ordered steak) including fry bread at Gouldings, a hotel and restaurant next to the valley operated by the Navajo, we stayed overnight in Kayenta, coming back in the morning for a second look. There, Alice found a pretty silver and stones bracelet made by a Zuni jeweler, and we bought a pot made by a local Navajo artist. The women who worked in the shop were not very busy at this time and were patient with our questions and decision making.

After lunch, again at Gouldings and seeing some of those highly embellished elder women with their embroidered clothing and squash blossom jewels, we took the road south and west through Tuba City, through the very northern part of the Hopi reservation. We stopped at a place where an Indian man showed us a number of T. Rex and hadrosaur footprints which had been discovered in the 1940's. A lot of them had been removed to museums, but enough remained to show tracks as well as an example of a very sharp toenail. Our friend Barbara had told us about this place, so we kept a sharp lookout as we approached Highway 89. The signs now are freshly painted. From there, we turned more directly west and began to see evidence of canyons carved by the Colorado River. Stopping for our first real view of the magnificent Grand Canyon at Grandview, we encountered a French-speaking tourist who for some reason was interested in photographing our Wiwaxia license plate; we have still to encounter anyone who identifies the obscure reference of that name. Seeing the canyon during the sunset shadows was truly magnificent--I (Jim) was blown away by the sheer size and extent of the formations.

The Farm, Chaco Canyon and farewell to New Mexico

2008-03-29T11:07:00.000-07:00

dateline: Grand Canyon
Some of this is out of chronological order because we were busy living instead of writing, and the photos took a very long time to download from the camera. [Some photos are taken from my iPhone and others, the ones which took so long, are from our Sony digital camera.] We also want to thank everyone who's visiting the site and commenting or emailing us with comments. It's fun to have the connection to home.

Kaibabs not withstanding, here is the only jackalope we have seen on the trip. I guess they've moved to South America. It was situated on the corner of a large furniture and decorative arts shopping area in Santa Fe, not far from our hotel. Postcards have also been scarce (in Farmington, only Walmart carried them; sadly we didn't visit there). After another delicious breakfast at Chocolate Maven, whose staff also packed sandwiches for our supper, we left Santa Fe in caravan with Moria, Crystal and Wink to El Guique. On the way we drove through San Juan Pueblo, native land, and a very pretty town in the river washes. That afternoon Steve conveniently was working at the Seeds of Change farm and Moria showed us around. It is the most well organized and beautiful farm I have ever seen. There are no livestock, but the fruit trees were well maintained, the irrigation system organized [right], fields plowed, the greenhouses tidy and the offices/ seed area [above right] professionally managed. The farm is an old one in the Rio Grande valley and has terrific water rights. Still, it is arid farming in the high desert, and the nights are still too cold for seedlings to be outside yet. Alice found Santa Fe to be challenging because of the elevation and the hotel room stimulated allergies. So, with sunblock, hats, medicine, plenty of clothing coverage and staying in the car, caution prevailed and all was well. Moria also showed us some petroglyphs up the road from the farm, probably from Pueblo people. As in Chaco, spiral patterns were frequent. Do spirals mean water is here?

Saying goodbye with promises to converge on San Mateo in a year, we drove north to Abiquiu and turned toward Farmington at the dam (earlier picture). This, too, was beautiful juniper/pinyon forest land and we drove by the road to Chaco Canyon where we had visited on Sunday, March 23 with Sarah and Tory. We felt we had a good experience of the beautiful landscape of northern New Mexico.

We arrived back at Farmington on Wednesday night, where Sarah and Tory graciously put us up for one last night--we had another good conversation, this time with the addition of their friend Simon, born in Albuquerque, and whose Chavez family has roots in New Mexico going back hundreds of years. He still manages their historic family farm south of Albuquerque, as well as working as an industrial safety educator.

So here are some impressions of Chaco Canyon taken by Jim. The first is a view of Pueblo Bonito, the largest of the complexes in this canyon. The second is the largest kiva with Sarah and Tory on the rim to give you an idea of the monumental scale of these buildings. Finally below left is Alice's favorite, Jim's shooting through the doorways at Pueblo Bonita. A midday day visit at this time of year without cloud cover is very sunny and reminded Alice of being at UC Irvine, where she never went outside between 10am and 2pm. We had been warned about possible cold temperatures, but there was nothing remotely like that this day.

Sarah and both Torys, younger and elder, were unfailingly good humored, humorous, thoughtful and very hospitable. Here is a charming photo of the Teofanov/Larsen duo standing before their front door, designed by Sarah [photo credit from T/L archive]. It meant a lot to reconnect with them, and we hope to see them in Seattle before long.

Seeds of Change, Mrs. Bobbs's garden and Albuquerque Jim

2008-03-28T22:28:00.000-07:00

Dateline: Grand Canyon, Friday 3/28

Our Tuesday morning in Santa Fe dawned early, but as usual we did not, to have a delicious breakfast at Chocolate Maven, a bakery/restaurant we found using TripAdvisor. During the noon hour, we met Steve at his workplace, Seeds of Change [right], where he coordinates seed growers and works on product development. He seems in his element, and showed us around, with the high point being the darkened seed room, which contained a ton of potential energy. Steve continues his quest to help feed the world's people in a healthy, delicious and sustainable way.
We then met up with Moria, Cryssy and Wink in the downtown of Pueblo Santa Fe, for lunch at Pasqual's [left]. This satisfied our desire to experience southwestern food at its source, in a town that was established five hundred years ago.
We made up a fun party in a dining room festooned with Chagallesque murals in a very Santa Fe style, chiles and other items that hung from the ceiling. Nothing extravagant, but very playful, and the food was terrific--mole negra, red and green chiles, prepared expertly and very fresh: enchiladas with even vegetarian fillings! Wink took Steve back to work, and the rest of us proceeded to Moria's client's garden, where Moria is head gardener for a large and traditional Santa Fe house and grounds owned by the charming Mrs. Bobbs [Alice and Moria right].

We learned that the house, in the genuine adobe style, was built in 1939. Thick walls, beautiful wood for the windows, doors and ceilings of boards supported by logs. Very distinctively styled, with a Steinway grand piano and many unique books written in the southwest over the past hundred years or so: Mrs. Bobbs had owned a bookstore, and responded to our deep interest in these rare volumes. [The Garden library above]. Moria was apologetic about the garden, still some ways from spring opulence, but it was beautifully laid out and filled with clever hardscape, much of it created by local artists. Some flowers such as crocuses were already blooming, and we were glad to discover the garden model railway [above] and a very large labyrinth [left]. The staff will be placing the labyrinth's tiles out soon, stored over the winter to avoid freezing. A new shipment of roses had arrived, and the three gardeners were busy with pruning and preparations. Sensitive to the very large garden's history, Moria adds her own distinctive artistic vision and practical knowledge of garden planning and execution, including xeriscape. The large property, located in the old, nearly downtown part of Santa Fe cleverly has wells and two lots in the municipal accounts so that staff can water 6 days a week instead of only three. Santa Fe, of course, has water rationing. [Fractal spiral with labyrinth at right.]
Later, we experienced Santa Fe rush hour traffic, as we navigated around an unfamiliar city with the car's usually reliable nav system, collecting a quiche, vegetables and other things for our second dinner at Steve's and Moria's, en famille with Cryssy and Wink. We saw many beautiful images of Mrs. B's gardens at different times of the year, when the various plantings are at their peaks. Dinner was a collaborative effort, with trips outside to see the river, garden, and the improvised potting shed that will someday be a more established greenhouse.

While Moria was showing Alice slides of a recent trip to Costa Rica, others were up to no useful purpose in the dining room, with much laughter of the sort that kept getting to the next (lowest) level. Beginning with a wacky plot to ride down the road to experience the toughness of dive bars in New Mexico's largest city, while anticipating our 40th high school reuinion next year, we began to riff on the building of a new legend, Albuquerque Jim. The rhythm of this phrase led to song expressing the hair-raising fearfulness of this icon of power and mystery, and the tale got to be very tall indeed, tall enough for all of us to confront our classmates of long ago without fear of embarassment. [Crystal and Wink, above, anticipate the next ridiculous plot.]

Much about the sidekick bull kaibabs, steroid fortified, and tied up with the origin story in a mysterious way. Kaibabs are a subspecies of Abert's squirrel, found only on the north rim of the Grand Canyon, for whom the Kaibab National Forest is named. These are gracile creatures with white tufted tails, but in our lexicon they took on a menacing mien. We traced the evolution of Albuquerque Jim with glee, from an invertebrate to humanoid via the intercession of the great bull kaibab and his similarly huge and fearful fellows, who pulled Jim's stagecoach. The legend will likely grow, including the amazing appearance of the now-legendary secondary sex characteristics. Crystal wondered whether Paul Bunyan got his start this way. Late into the night, we could not stop laughing. [Steve, Moria and Cryssy admit it's hopeless.]

Jicarilla Apache lands, Chama Valley and a masterpiece

2008-03-26T22:09:00.000-07:00

We left Sarah's and Tory's house on Monday after yet another delicious breakfast including eggs. We visited Sarah's studio and saw many series not seen before, paintings and beaded sculpture, most affectingly including a series about boats. She had done both a sun boat and a moon boat, but the latter was astounding. Clearly a masterpiece! Here's a picture of the fabulous Sarah Teofanov in her kitchen.
After filling our tank at the sign of the sauropod, we drove east through Jicarilla Apache reservation lands, stopping in briefly in Dulce (duls). It's beautiful country with junipers and this time of year, snow on the north sides of hills or outcroppings, very near the Colorado border. The earth there is deep purple--a gorgeous color with the depth of yellow ochre as compliment. Then we crossed the continental divide into the beautiful Chama Valley, site for recreation and horse ranches. Further along, we passed Ghost Ranch where OKeefe worked part of the year on paintings inspired by the surrounding landscape. Here's a picture of the land from Abiquiu Dam looking north east. We ate at the Abiquiu Inn--disappointing, but everyone said we ordered the wrong things. See comments on Trip advisor.

So we pulled into Santa Fe at dusk, checked into our hotel on Cerrillos, and headed to Moria and Steve's where we found we hadn't missed an Easter ham (Beeler's no less!) because old friends Crystal and Wink had just arrived before we did. Moria also served succulent parsnips from their garden, tossed with the most delicious kumquats which C & W brought from their tree in Pasadena. What a feast! Lots of laughing and good cheer. Daughter Natasha was there on break from Mills College in Oakland, California.
Moria and Steve live in a cohousing development which began about 10 years ago. One final home is still being built. The homes have an adobe style architecture and are located near a river wash. They were amazed that WIWAXIA's navigation could find their house #9 in the complex. Of course, we were amazed at the route through the wash (not the only one), but we cheated in a way, looking for California plates knowing Crys and Wink were there. (The secret's out!). Moria shared an amazing fact: the goats they keep there are descendents from Sam Karp's original Saanen herd, from the very farm, Tetridge Dairy, where Alice lived in 1976 and where Jim, visiting the farm on break from UCLA, confused a steer with a goat ("that's the biggest goat I've ever seen"). The owner had lived in Santa Cruz and obtained them after moving to Santa Fe. There are also chickens, dogs and cats. Here's Moria in her living room with some of her paintings on the wall above her. After showing off the video of Robin's graduation speech, Moria, Alice and Tasha watched Dae Jang Geum (also known as The Jewel in the Palace), the episode about the heroine going to Un Ang Temple (I never get sick of it, and it's a very persuasive buddhist story about the importance of cooking with devotion). [More to follow about Santa Fe in the next post.]
Side note about Tetridge Dairy: named after Sam and Janie's cat, Tet, the patriarch of the (was it nine or ten or more?) cat clan at the farm, Tetridge Dairy refers to the Tet offensive which you may recall was the Vietnamese Lunar New Year strategy to go all out against the US military in 1968. Robin wrote a paper about Ursula Le Guin's The Word for World is Forest as a response to the Tet offensive. Tet was a very tough and large tabby.

Hesperus, postcard snow and vehicle names

2008-03-23T16:48:00.000-07:00

dateline: Farmington
So we realized not everyone knows that wiwaxia is the name of our car: it has a license plate with its name, and here is Jim posing with the clean car in Sarah's and Tory's driveway. You can see how warm it is here by Jim's modeling his shirt in the sun. The car is doing well, resting here as are we for Tory's been taking us on outings in his (company) truck, a comfortable ride. On Saturday, we went back to Hesperus, north of Farmington and enjoyed a delicious lunch at the Kennebec cafe & bakery (I put a review on Trip Advisor), then went to Durango, definitely a trendy place with Disneyland character in its narrow gauge railroad. The class divide which seems to accompany the border between Colorado and New Mexico in this area is quite noticeable, even at first glance. We picked up provisions: a very delicious free range chicken, vegetables for Korean cooking Saturday night dinner, and four bottles of rum. Not just any rum, either. Jim will explain below. Now, part of the significance of Hesperus is its relationship to our Volvo's license plate, Hespera, the car currently being driven by Robin. We chose the name among several referring to the Amazons' colonies. Hesperus is also the name of the evening star. You can see the landscape, as Jane Austen would say, is meaning to have spring again. Everywhere around here is just on the verge of bursting into leaf and bloom. We left Seattle past that stage (and no, I hadn't planted my peas yet). But four corners area (of which Hesperus and Farmington are part) is filled with fields which will grow (presumably short season) beans as the soil warms and nights don't overchill. On the way back from Durango, we drove through Aztec where is located some ruins of ancient Pueblo construction (we saw one of the unexcavated mounds from the road). The entire area including Mesa Verde and Chaco Canyon contains many ruins from an urban society active between 850 and perhaps as late as 1400 CE. Tory's employer maintains its offices in Aztec, and when he's not out in the field, Tory's at the office, about twelve miles from his house. His commute is about 20 minutes through a pretty residential area with cottonwoods and juniper dominating the mesas and the Animas River. Sarah and Tory have been the most generous hosts: asking for both our slide talks last night (Tory brought home a digital projector from work). Their eldest son, August, is away from home during our stay, but the younger son, also Tory, is here working on projects for his studies at the college. We saw his paintings last evening, and he has quite a painterly stroke, good sense of composition.

We have spoken with Robin, and he is flying tomorrow to Phoenix to visit Gregory Smart, longtime TOPS fellow student and church school pal who is studying at Prescott College in Arizona. We don't expect to connect up with him as it is unlikely they will go to the Grand Canyon and he will stay only until Friday; however, it is coincidental that we have friends in the southwest. It sure is another interesting coincidence that New Mexico governor Bill Richardson is in the news over his endorsement of Senator Obama. I like that he's got the beard now that he's not running for prez, making him look less fake.

Here are some photos Tory (the elder) took of the Pyrenees dog and the accompanying sheep which invaded their property recently. No shepherd available, and the sheep eating everything in sight. Forget any fencing by the Bureau of Land Management.

Jim: We found four bottles of Beachbum Berry-approved rum in Durango yesterday (Saturday), one a 151 proof Demarara from Guyana which is a famous "floater" and an essential flavoring for many genuine faux tropical drinks, and another golden rum. I dropped a bottle on several adjacent bottles of gin in one of the liquor stores--not the big Liquor World, but a smaller wine shop where we understand the proprietor is arrogant and has bad breath. Fortunately, nothing broke, but I did attract the attention of the owner's wife, who latterly kept a close eye on me. We hope to find one or two more rums in Santa Fe or Arizona, and return with a critical mass for my planned birthday Tiki party in May. This is not to mention some very fine dark Venezuelan rum of Tory's we were able to sample back at the ranch. Moab featured a western supper with a scheduled 7pm gunfight, but I felt that Durango had even more potential as a cowboy showplace, despite its superior airs.

Today, we rose (relatively) early and set out for Chaco Canyon, locale of the largest pre-Columbian edifices north of Mexico City. These have a very spiritual quality and purpose, and the various places are aligned according to solstices and also lunar cycles of substantial length. The largest, Pueblo Bonita, contains over 400 "apartments", of several stories, and is as huge as the Roman Coliseum. It is now thought that these were not dwellings, but rather gathering places, and the many petroglyphs, often spirals, as well as abstract figures, are fascinating. Numerous kivas exist now as below-ground spaces once covered, one of which I nearly fell into, to the chagrin of our hosts. We'll post some pictures soon--an incredible place, full of mystery.

Back in Farmington, we witnessed another beautiful New Mexican sunset, and after dinner, Tory got out the Celestron telescope. The moon rose late tonight, so stars were very bright and visible in the cloudless sky. We saw rings and moons of Saturn in clear detail, as well as the pleiades. I saw a shooting star across the field of the telescope, then another while gazing unassisted. We are having a great visit with Sarah and Tory, and will be off tomorrow for central New Mexico--Santa Fe and hopefully, Los Alamos, where nuclear mysteries will be revealed (or not).

Mesas and mining

2008-03-22T06:45:00.000-07:00

dateline: Farmington
from Alice: I awoke this morning in twilight, just before the sun came over the roof of the house. The wide sky here is dominated by the greater light during the day, even when cloud covered, and the lunar lit landscape at night offers still greater view of starlight than we ever see in the wet coast sky. We came back from downtown supper with Sarah, her husband, Tory and their youngest son, Tory, to such a night sky and paused to ponder the turning of the winter constellations and the appearance of Mars. Then we walked the labyrinth, a beautiful one Tory made for Sarah from the local stones, located ingeniously near the chicken house. The chickens had gone to bed when we'd come back, but earlier (see photo) were huddled near the fence as I walked up, waiting for me. Sarah gathered nine eggs yesterday--beautiful eggs of brown and green, reflecting the different breeds. Some have gorgeous iridescent feathers and many of you will recognize their varieties. (Of course, these eggs are delicious!)
Coming from Moab, on Sarah's suggestion, we took a route after Cortez that drove through Hesperus, Redmesa and La Plata (one of the three rivers around here which form geographic reference). We plan to return to Hesperus today, and I'm glad because the route is beautiful. Folks seem to denigrate Farmington's landscape, but it is very interesting, with its own beauty, and it's understandable that ancient people settled around here because there is water from the rivers and biomass created by the juniper/pinon ecology. There is no denying the resource extraction on an industrial scale: large reservoirs of natural gas and petroleum are tapped, and the national pest, Halliburton is here (and hiring!). Of course, this also means there are dinosaur fossils around. In the Moab rock shop, I found some petrified wood beads and of course there were a variety of fossil beads as well.
Regarding biomass, Sarah works hard to create it from the local urban setting, collecting coffee grounds and compost and building her tilth. It's a subtle growth compared with her gardens in Seattle and Montclair. At this point I want to reference, for Lara, because I think I forgot to mention it, although she may know it, Barbara Kingsolver's book about eating locally. Sarah found it very inspiring, as many have at home. We toured with Sarah in the morning on her route: aluminum recycling, coffee collection, and a drive by the San Juan Community College, a lovely school with great promise. There is a technical school there, and nursing students. It is perfect for what is clearly a growing community, and I truly hope its promise includes solar energy research and training, for this area is even richer in solar and wind resources than conventional fossil based energy.
Regarding the energy consumption scene: Tory took us on a tour of the house as soon as we arrived on Thursday night, revealing the secrets both of pride and contractor irritation that those of us who hire them endure. The house's hot water comes from passive solar system and the tank is completely insulated--keeping the water very hot for a long time. There is also a beautiful covered patio, really almost an atrium, facing south, which they plan to glass in for year round use. Tory told us about the dimensions of the living/dining room matching the floor plan of the king's chamber of the great pyramid at Giza [not Tutankhamen's tomb--correction], but the contractor balked at making it as high. I sympathized about the windows issue: I like the clerestory brick windows (one of their best uses) as opposed to the conventional north view window which can leak in the winter due to relentless storms (remember my studio window and its drainage to the floor below?), but Tory says even these bricks leak. He and Sarah had wanted no windows at all. Inside, the desert plants are everywhere and Sarah promises cuttings for me to take home to experiment with. I think the plants do help increase the moisture in the house. The family has worked to cut propane use, up this winter with all the snow and cold weather. As many of you know, especially the Seattle folks, passive solar clothes drying (aka the clothes line) helps immensely, and it was a real pleasure to hang our laundry on the drying racks and line: everything dried so quickly compared to home. No time for mold or mildew!
Just listened to Barack Obama's recent speech via New York Times. This business over the United Church of Christ puzzles me because it is the church both Jim and I grew up in and it is a liberal one, if Christian. Of course its liberalism may make it a target. Also, I cannot help but comment on the arrests around the country during the antiwar protests on Wednesday: interesting so many arrested at Diane Feinstein's offices and the others at the IRS. Choosing these as strategic sites interests me. Very cool.

Jim: I commented on the views from Crouch Mesa, where we are staying. The sunrise picture above was taken from the tower we are staying in, attached to the main house by a breezeway. The house is beautiful, thoughtfully planned and executed, and we are surrounded by Sarah's art, and Sarah and Tory's art collection. We were greeted by friends and a delicious southwestern dinner of brisket and accompaniments on our arrival. Sarah and Tory's son Tory has also been very generous, sharing his droll perspective, while preparing a delicious lunch for us yesterday while we watched the Robert Redford narrated DVD about Chaco Canyon, where we are headed tomorrow.
We are learning a lot about the life, history and landscape of northern New Mexico from Sarah and Tory, augmented by Tory's humorous outlook--he is a keen observer of people and institutions, with an amicable view of human nature which however does not ignore cynicism. Sarah has been enthusiastic about showing us around town, pointing out things such as the unique highway shrines people construct to remember those killed in traffic accidents--the one we saw yesterday (Alice is attaching a picture) was thoughtful and touching.
I cannot however ignore a sovereign aspect of our drive once we entered Colorado and New Mexico, which is the amazing volume of road kill, especially skunks and deer. We keep thinking about road kill stew and wondering, "where are the Clampetts?", though we did not have to ask the question, "what would Jed do?" We are eagerly waiting for our first view of a roadrunner, hopefully chased by a coyote.

Utah Lake, Post Provo and Moab: on the trail of the outlaws

2008-03-20T21:25:00.000-07:00

dateline: Farmington

Alice writes: Utah Lake is in real trouble. Some of you may be familiar with Chip Lord's Canaries on the Rim, referred to me by the late Jo Hansen, the San Francisco environmentalist artist. Lord lived in western Utah and became a local environmental/political activist. Lara told me about June sucker fish and how this indigenous species is endangered due to sportfish stocking and pollution. So here's a link to her friend's site and a photo of the lake.

http://junesuckernation.blogspot.com/

Lara's Aunt Bonnie's florist shop in Provo--beautiful flowers and very cool clothes, too. The house is 106 years old and in beautifully cared for condition.

In honor of our travels, here's a poem written by Christian's father, the late Thomas Asplund


LOOKING AT A UTAH ROAD MAP

It is pinched now, like any epic brought to line and page.
Pressed like flowers n a book is the land.  The stingy pines,
The dry mountains, the creeks, the desperate sage
Are marks and scratches in a map with interstates and highway signs.
One-quarter inch equals each mile of blessed Zion wide—
Of love and hate between sons and brothers; of hope and dread;
Of charity and sin, trusting time's vast capacity to hide
In ink and ledgers; waiting there for the anxious pilgrim to read
The secret signs and markings—the promises of a promised land
  Vernal, Fairview, Pleasant Grove.
  Richfield, Fruitland, Bountiful;
  Eden, Garland, Sunnyside.
And hear hidden music to soothe hurt hope
  Tooele, Payson, Kamas;
  Manti, Parowan.
There, too, the tales of will and power told by men
Who chose to mark the map
  Heber, Murray, Hyrum, Hinckley.
  Woodruff and Brigham City.
But somewhere near the edge of myths, reminders
Small of second sons and lost prayers still linger
  Sandy, Thistle and Hurricane, Sulphurdale, Salina
  Faust and Thermo.  Muddy Creek and Dirty Devil.

 --C. Thomas Asplund

Lon's (barbecue place) where Eva, Lara and Christian's eldest daughter works. So Lara had her honors seminar students over: they are writing about food; naturally they had to make some. This was one delicious potluck: Lara made tacos and guacamole; I made more Korean pancakes, but there was gnocci with cream/tomato sauce, Polish soup, asian dumplings, spring rolls, lots of labor intensive hand made food. The little boy, Moses, (he's 3) who gets up in the morning calling in the sweetest voice imaginable, "Mommy, get me out [of the crib]" had gone to bed, but I got to hang out with Lula (who's 10) and Cecily (who's 5, I think). Cecily played with polly pockets and checked me out, but Lula asked me to show her how to make folded paper cranes. She's really patient and careful--we were using tiny sheets of paper. Then they were ok with watching Korean drama. The little girls and I watched Dae Jang Geum, the historical fiction/ drama about the real woman doctor to the 15th century Korean king.

I chose the part of the story when Suh Jang Geum is a girl, just goes into the palace to go to school and learns to cook and how she gets in trouble, sometimes with the other girls. Lula and Cecily were right there with me on it, though I did read the subtitles to them. Lula was in Seattle as a small child and I remember clearly what a happy kid she was, so cheerful about doing anything her much older sisters were doing.

We left Wednesday morning, hoping to evade a snow storm coming to Provo and drove through Soldier pass to get to Moab. This is clearly a railroad route (see picture), and once past the summit, Alice felt so much better--must have been getting away from the pollen. This still continues and it's a great feeling. In Moab we had a terrific meal (see odaraia's review of the Desert Bistro on Trip Advisor) of antelope, elk tamale and mushroom risotto, and I picked up a book I'd long been interested in, Paul Shepard's Coming Home to the Pleistocene. There is a lot of red rock around Moab, and I hope what I collected can be ground into pigment--it's a beautiful color (hence, colorado) if not transparent.

Jim: On Tuesday night, Christian and I cruised Provo, riding high up the mountainside to a popular outlook with the whole Utah Valley below us--a beautiful night view to complement that of our morning hike. Then, down to the valley below for ribs and brisket at Lon's and watching Eva at work. Always good conversation with Christian, on music, history, much else--he is a friend I have missed a lot since he moved from Seattle. It was good to make friends with the younger children, too, and to spend time with Lara.
On Wednesday, we took the back road over the Wasatch Mountains through Price, a favorite route of outlaws, on down to Moab, where Butch Cassidy and the Wild Bunch had a Robbers' Roost hideout. The striking landscape, along with knowing that uranium was heavily mined in this area after WWII, brought to mind the 1950's-era sci-fi movies with radioactive creatures growing to monstrous size crawling over ridges and mesas to terrorize the populace, which I had watched with such penetrating interest.

Moab was jammed with jeepers, come for the annual off-road booster extravaganza. A grand sight of the American West, though kind of duded up. We saw at least one amazingly large arch in the red rock, and passed through legendary canyonlands into Colorado, where an Officer Davis gave Alice a "courtesy warning" for exceeding the speed limit. It is now a keepsake from the trip. We had a brief look at Mesa Verde National Park, but pushed on, turning south just shy of Durango.
The afternoon skylines in New Mexico reminded me of DH Lawrence's time here, with very long vistas and pastels. We found our way to Sarah and Tory's beautiful home atop a mesa, with views in every direction, including Angel Peak and Ship Rock--clearly visible from 20 miles away. Even with the full moon rising at sunset, stars were all over. In overcast and lit up Seattle, we neglect the heavens. This is Indian Country, and we look forward to exploring.
After a delicious meal of brisket which had marinated for two days, it was so to bed, with the certainty that we are closer than ever before to a free-range tarantula.

Provocations

2008-03-18T12:32:00.000-07:00

Jim: After circling around Temple Square in Salt Lake City, seeing the monumental original temple and the Tabernacle, where last trip here we saw and heard the famous and very accomplished MT Choir, we ran down the road 50 miles to Provo. Yesterday, our friend Christian took me on to the campus here, where we saw his office and the art musem, and also some of the oldest buildings, which were beautiful. I learned more about the history that pertains to my father's ancestors, and saw the present-day approach here to preserving history. It appears that while a part of the historic buildings and other tangible relics is preserved, they are often gutted and then rebuilt in a manner that seems to me to be over-cleaned up and revisionist, despite a reverence and respect for the history here since 1847.

The small Pioneer Museum in a Provo city park, which we saw during our last visit, keeps history in a more tangible and unfiltered way, with numerous objects and exhibits which are unrestored, including handwritten personal testaments from the 19th century which I found fascinating. There are examples of the pushcarts that my forebears and many other emigrants used to cross the prairies and mountains when they lacked draft animals. This was history close up and very personal, and evoked those earlier days not only in the strongest possible terms, but in a way that for me drew a much more palpable and realistic connection between past and present.

Today, Christian and I hiked a little way into the steep Wasatch mountains which are on the east side of town, and dominate the landscape. We overlooked the Utah Valley, especially the large and environmentally challenged Utah Lake (not the salt one), and the mountains to the west. Clear at first, it then started to snow. We are hoping to explore the lakeshore later today. One trail we walked on extends along the mountainsides for many miles, all the way to Salt Lake city and also to the south.

On campus, I saw a photographic exhibit of a dismantled WWII era steel mill, Geneva Steel, on the shore of Utah Lake. This was built by the US government in 1942 to provide steel for west coast shipyards, while being protected from air attack, and operated until a few years ago. This reminded me that in Idaho two days ago, we passed Minidoka, the concentration camp for the most suspect Japanese Americans during that time. Sheds some light for me on the current paranoid fears being constantly fanned about terrorism and "Islamic extremism", and the proximate danger that Bush and his people constantly raise in order to promote their repression and worldwide torture and lawlessness.

Falls, buffalo on the walls and big sky

2008-03-17T22:04:00.000-07:00

dateline Provo

Sunshine streams into the east facing workroom of Lara and Christian’s home here. There is a long library table and family members do computer work and other projects here: Lara’s poetry applications, one child’s bead stringing, someone’s Apple laptop. Provo is situated right next to the mountains and you can see them from this window, only one other housing ridge between us. We are uphill from BYU where Christian is at work teaching music. Lara has taken all the children to school and is on spring break from her teaching duties at UofU. The house, Lara says 3000 square feet, is big on communal space but short on private space, hence the large workroom (former dining room). It is so beautiful here. We just arrived last night, spent time talking late into the night.

Lara and Alice went grocery shopping, visiting on the way, Lara's Aunt Bonnie's flower and gift shop, Flower Basket Boutique. It's in a beautiful house originally built in 1902. Then we went to Chao's to buy Asian veggies and groceries for Alice to cook Korean inspired food. We picked up organic eggses from Clifford Family farm [left] (multi colored as are the hens) and then went to a large warehouse grocery [below] with storage mentality amped up with the rise in food prices. Lara said the LDS church is closing down a number of its fields to grow surplus, presumably looking to get out of the business of social network safety net as quickly as the US federal government. However, anxious individuals can gather their own year's supply at this grocery where we bought enough supplies for tonight and tomorrow.

For dinner, Alice cooks brown rice pancake with mung bean sprouts and green oninon; pork in grape juice with garlic; portabello mushrooms; tofu with ginger, green onions and tamari and spinach with sesame dressing. Lara made apple crisp, and we had dinner with the family, including Eva (Lara and Christian's eldest daughter now awaiting college admissions results) who arrived after work and Bonnie who arrived after belly dancing class. Lara's brother David and his daughters joined us for dessert after their day on the slopes at Sundance.

Driving through eastern Washington and Idaho, we’ve noticed the emphasis on power generation, whether wind turbines or electricity generating dams on the rivers: these engines dominate the landscape even more than grain storage for livestock. It’s exciting to see the turbines, but there was not much wind while we were passing through.

We stopped in Twin Falls and saw the canyon of the Snake River.
Lake Bonneville, the bigger ancestor of Salt Lake, flooded this area about 15,000 years ago. Twin Falls, so named because of the pair of cataracts that once poured over these rocks was formed by that flood.
Shoshone (show-shown) Falls is the more beautiful part of the access.
In 1935 Idaho Power began construction on the original dams and power plant at the Twin Falls. A second dam, the arch dam is 780 feel long. It was built in 1975 along with the non-overflow dam and powerhouse.
Had a terrific lunch at the Buffalo Cafe (see Alice's comment on Google maps). The landscape offered vistas, cattle with their calves and snow draped mountains as we sped towards Utah. Traffic was very light until we neared Ogden: then massive construction projects to widen (presumably) interstate 15 and 84 confluence.

On the road and away

2008-03-15T23:18:00.000-07:00

dateline, Boise Idaho
Hi to all our friends and family,

Jim is trying to accomplish temperal/spacial reconciliation because we seem to have lost two hours in two weeks--first because we had daylight savings time and now because we're on mountain time.

We finally got on the road after finishing up our work and had supper with Robin in Olympia at Vic's Pizza. Vic's is earlier in the space/time continuum: Jim remarked that he felt he had gone back in time 25 years: vegetarian pizzas with whole wheat flour, wir sind studenten, etc. Alice doesn't like pizza, but Robin's favorite, spinach and tomato, which also had cheese was ok. Robin took all the tomatoes off his before eating. Vic's is ok. Robin is ok, too, and told us his new joke.
We stayed last night in Hood River and awoke to the Columbia River at breakfast, sunny and warm. [photo from Hood River looking east.]
Driving along the river, we watched the weather change to rain showers. Wind turbines appeared in southern Washington. We stopped in Pendleton (the Woollen Mill) to look for a blanket designed by Lillian Pitt, but they don't keep everything in stock all the time. We will check again on the way back.
Between Pendleton and La Grande, Oregon are the Blue Mountains. We ran into snow there, quite a lot, sticking to the road. In Baker City, residents told us we were past the worst part. Now we're in Boise. There are no laws here. Thank goodness we have chicken tortelloni and broccoli from home.

Jim: The Columbia gorge was impressive--sights similar to photos of 19th century fish weirs in the same locations, and Big River, listening to Leontyne Price in Porgy and Bess. Smooth riding until we left Pendleton, then ran into a quasi-blizzard in the Blue Mountains. This made us gunshy about further mountains coming up, so we rocketed straight through La Grange and Baker City, riders of the storm, and stopped only for gas at the sign of the sauropod, with nary a nod to the famous Haines Steakhouse (catch you on the way back?), or the restaurant with the model train going round the dining room. Once we made it over the last high pass, it was smooth again all the way across the Snake River to Idaho. We backtracked a short distance to Ontario, OR to grab a quick supper, then into the Land of Larry Craig
where speed limits hardly exist, all the way to Boise.