The Eastern Sierras at Lone Pine CA

Last night we stayed in the Timberlake Motel in Lone Pine, CA. it was a long, 9 1/2 drive from Cottonwood, but I had reservations at the Timberline Motel, made when I thought we would be driving from Kingsman AZ. We got in about 6:30 pm, to find a small, eight room motel, an older motel nicely reconditioned and at a reasonable price. Lone Pine is a center for hikers, and also famous for being the setting for many movies, so its motels are priced fairly handsomely. We managed to find a good dinner (Seasons Restaurant) and a great breakfast at the small and popular Alabama Hills Bakery and Cafe.

I went on an early morning walk around the town, almost from edge to edge (that's roughly a six by eight block square), finding seven churches, one gated community, and a small rodeo grounds. 

The town of Lone Pine lies at the foot of an interesting geological formation of rocks that take unusual shapes, known as the Alabama Hills, with the eastern Sierras rising loftily behind. Here are a couple of pictures from my walk.

The view from the corner of S. Lone Pine and E. Post Road, where you can see our motels sign, and the ragged spires of the mountains behind.

Another view of the Sierras with the Alabama hills in the foreground.

A Visit to Cottonwood and Jerome

Our rearranged plans took a delightful turn when we discovered that a friend of Phil's, Al Paxia, was at home and able to have us stay overnight at his home in Cottonwood, AZ, just south of Sedona. I had only met Al briefly, so it was a nice opportunity to spend more time with him. A former techie at Boeing Computer Services, he lived on Vashon Island when Phil met him a few years ago, and went shooting with him several times. Al also built his own experimental plane, which unfortunately was undergoing its annual service inspection, or he would have flown us over the Grand Canyon.

Al is now living full time in Arizona, and we met his new girlfriend, Judy, whom we very much enjoyed. It was a lovely visit and I look forward to repeating it.

They took us up to the former mining town of Jerome, perched high up on the mountainside above Cottonwood, where we tasted (and bought) some Arizona wine, in a shop with a fantastic view ove the valley. No kidding--they are growing a number of wines here, and they weren't bad at all.

Here's a picture of Jerome, which doesn't really show how much it clings to the steep hillside. it's been revived as a sort of touristy hippie place, a bit like Bisbee in southern Arizona.

Introduction to Sedona

After our disappointment at not getting to see the Grand Canyon abated, we reconstructed our trip to go south through Flagstaff and Sedona, because I had never seen Sedona. We drove to Flgsatff for breakfast, not wanting to take another chance on the food at the Cameron Trading Post. We then went out to the Museum of Northern Arizona in Flagstaff, a great museum with lots of artifacts and crafts to trace the history of the Native American communities in the area--among them Hopi and Navajo.

After a couple of interesting hours there, we headed south on Highway 89A, where I was awed by the stunning rock formations along the highway north of Sedona, and then again right around Sedona itself. We didnt stop, but I would like to return to spend more time looking around. 

Here a three scenes in and around Sedona. All I can say is.....WOW!

Towering columnar rocks along Highway 89A.

The sun was in the wrong place but even the shadowed outlines of these rocks were impressive.

Finally,a quick shot out the car window at an intersection in Sedona, showing some of the spectacular rock formations close by.

Rock Houses

On Highway 89A, we came across a field of very large boulders next to the road, and on pulling off to look at them, discovered that some of them had had houses built around them. Apparently some years ago a woman had car trouble by these boulders and camped inside one of them while waiting to get help. She was so intrigued by them she bought the property and constructed a couple of "houses." Not an official park, because it is still private property, it is certainly an interesting sight. Here are a couple of the boulders, one with a lean-to built around it.

Some Navajo artists set up their crafts displays in the shade of this interesting boulder that looks like a mushroom.

The boulder is almost hidden by the lean-to wall around it, but forms the ceiling, and one of the sides.

Notice this boulder has a wall construction on its left side. Looking above it, you can see where the boulders come from.

Scenes on Highway 12 and 89A between Escalante and Cameron, AZ

Today we left Escalante and went west on Highway 12 to Highway 89, where we headed south, taking Highway 89 A at Kanab to take us to Cameron, AZ. Our original plan was to visit Grand Canyon tomorrow, and Cameron is located at the east entrance of Highway 84, which takes you to the south rim of the canyon. That plan has been foiled by the government shutdown, with all the national parks being closed. So we are forming alternate plans to go through Flagstaff and Sedona, on our way to Kingman AZ on Highway 40, where we have reservations tomorrow night.

Meantime we enjoyed some lovely scenery of varied hues along Highway 12 and 89. Here are pictures of various hues of sandstone, from white, to the red Vermillion Cliffs, to interesting shades of purplish grey.

The Party Ends

The California gang had a great time. They spent time each day exploring the countryside around Escalante, piling everyone into the 15 passenger van that Guy rented in Las Vegas to get them all here.  After lots of good meals and expeditions, we all had a great time. On Sunday morning, they loaded themselves and their luggage back into the van to return to Vegas and catch the plane back to San Jose. Here is the group (plus Howard and Phil) ready to load up for their departure from Escalante.

Escalante (and surrounds) Scenery

The scenery in and around Escalante never fails to amaze me, and I am always trying to capture some of its grandeur and stunning colors with my camera. Here are a couple of those attempts. The first photo is of the slick rock through which Highway 12 winds between Escalante and Boulder, Utah, 30 miles to the east. The dripping contours of this slick rock fascinate me. The second picture is of the valley just behind Howard's house, to the north. This is a scene I see several times a day as I walk from the Bell House, where we ate all our meals and gathered, to Howard's house. The final scene is of a tall slot canyon I noticed high up on the cliffs on the north side of that valley, often hidden to the eye but the light was just right late one afternoon for me to see it. You become very aware of light and shadows here, because the light changes the scenery so much.

Highway 12 twists through the slick rock

View to the north down the street by Howard's house

Slot canyon, hidden high up in the cliffs

Luc has a good time

Grandson Luc had a wonderful time exploring his new surroundings, meeting local dogs, horses, goats, cats, chickens and even some domesticated pigeons. Most of all he loves the many trucks that rolled by him or were parked by the streets. He enjoyed "playing" the electronic piano in Uncle Howard's house, with his sister Siren joining in.  He thought the small adobe houses in the Anasazi Museum in Boulder, Utah were just the right size and spent lots of time running in and out of them. And Grandma Kae's gloves were just the right thing to warm up his cold hands after a morning walk.

at the Anasazi Museum

Walking Tour of Old Escalante Homes

As part of the Arts Festival, we went on a walking tour of Escalante homes, learning about the Mormon layout of the town and the kinds of homes that were constructed. the tour was conducted by Larry Barnes, a friend and neighbor of Howard's and also his partner in ownership of one of the older mercantile buildings, The People's Exchange. Larry, his wife Louise, and Howard have been working on restoring the building, and this year got it into sufficient shape that the fair was able to put a quilt exhibition inside. Larry is a retired museum curator and has made himself a local expert on the towns buildings, and provided lots of interesting information about the different house styles and construction methods. Here are pictures of Larry starting the tour in front of the People's Exchange building, and then two of the houses that still have their original brick exposed (many of them have been covered over with various kinds of siding). 

The Gang in Escalante

The treat this year during our visit to Howard, Phil's brother, and the Escalante Canyons Arts Festival is that we have been joined by son Guy, his wife Joahnna, and our two grandchildren, along with Joahnnas parents and four of her aunts and uncles, none of we whom have been in the southwest (they all live in the Bay Area). Bless Howard, he has cornered enough beds to shove the into the bedrooms of his main house, plus using the living quarters available in the huge Bell house that he owns, that we have accommodations for all. Guy, Joahnna and the kids are at the Bell house, along with Howard, and his main house is serving as the senior center for this visit. The big kitchen and table are at the Bell house, so that's where all the cooking and eating takes place. The California gang arrived last night, after Howard and I spent the day cleaning up the Bell house, and we all settled into a happy dinner last evening. Here is Phil cooking his spaghetti sauce for our dinner, and the second picture shows the entire group around the long dining table. This gives you an idea of how Howard entertains 30 or so guests at Thanksgiving!

Red Cliffs Again

Leaving Ely on Tuesday morning, we drove further south, turning east at Panaca to head into Utah. we stopped at Cedar City for groceries, then headed east over Highway 14, where  enjoyed the aspens turning many colors of yellow and orange. Then as we headed up Highway 12, I finally grabbed my camera and took a couple of shots. Despite the fact that I have hundreds of pictures from my different trips through these mountains and canyons, they astound me anew each time I am here and I can't help taking some pictures. These are shot through the windshield of the moving car, so not great, but a reminder for all of you of the beautiful country we are in.

Charming B&B in Ely, Nevada

On Monday morning we headed south to Utah. Because we like to avoid driving through Salt Lake City, we usually drive through Nevada. From Hailey we just headed south, down the Eastern side of Nevada. There aren't many choices of where to stay--Ely is about it. In looking on the internet for a place that might be interesting, I tried for B&Bs in Ely. There's only one, so I decided to take a chance. a good decision. The "All Aboard Cafe and Inn" is so named because it sits two blocks away from the old railway station, once the center of life in Ely. Now there is a railroad museum there, and the inn is on a very quiet street, a nice bonus for a good nights sleep. It originally was a store, with a butcher shop along side, and rooms to let on the second story. Now the owners operate a restaurant out of the first floor and the B&B on the second floor. The rooms are cozy but ample sized, newly refurbished, with a toilet in each room (yeah!), Plus a balcony where you can enjoy a territorial view. Unfortunately the restaurant is not open on Monday nights, so we ate a very dull meal at the Prospector Inn. But our breakfast the next morning at the B&B was very good. We will make it a point to stop here again, hopefully on a night when the bistro they operate is open.

Here's a picture of the street with the B&B on the right (white and pale green trim) and the railroad station at the end of the street. The second picture is a closer shot of the B&B with its charming side yard--nice shady trees that make a nice place to sit in the hot sun.

Stop in Hailey, Idaho

On Saturday we drove from Pendleton to Hailey, Idaho (just south of Sun Valley) to stay with a friend, Tim Gardiner. Tim has a lovely country home near a river, with a creek (dry when we visited) running through his property. Above his garage he has built a lovely apartment, which is where we stayed. No problems with bathroom access here! 

Here is a picture of the living area of the apartment, and then a picture of Tim's house with the garage to left (the garage has the red doors) with the guest apartment on top. We had a great visit, with a breakfast at the Sun Valley Lodge one morning, and a tour of the hills that had burned recently, some of them just a few hundred yards from Tim's house. Thank you, Tim!

The Magnificent Shower We Never Got to Use

The Pendleton House B&B had one major drawback. It had only one bathroom to be shared by all the people staying in the rooms on the second floor. The night we stayed there four rooms were occupied by couples. We were looking forward to taking our showers in the morning in the unusual shower, but one thoughtless woman occupied the bathroom for 25 minutes, while several others of us were waiting anxiously to get in for our first relief after waking . She did not leave us enough time to have showers before our breakfast. We have decided that there will be no more bookings in a hotel or B&B with a shared bath, especially one shared by all the occupants.

Here is the shower experience that we missed.

Off Again-to Utah. A Charming B&B in Pendleton

We are off on our fall excursion to Escalante, for the Arts Festival that Phil's brother Howard helped start. Our first stop was in Pendleton, Oregon, where we stayed in this charming B&B. Here is the exterior, and then a shot of the expansive bathroom.

Tamarisk is Back Home

Our final stop is Anacortes, where Tamarisk is hauled out of the water for her dry storage berth. Here she is emerging from the water to take her place in the line of sailboats in our dry storage yard.

We stayed overnight on her in the yard last night, and today will do the final packing up and head home to Seattle. Overall another good cruise. We succeeded in staying away from all rocks and off all beaches, never "touching the putty" as sailors say. The weather in July and first half of August was great. The weather the last half of August and early September, not so good--rain nearly every day. It is raining today, with flood watch warnings north and south of Seattle. We will be glad to be back in our house, where it is a little easier to find things to do in the rain.

Holly B's Bakery Cinnamon Rolls

Another important stop each year is Fisherman Bay on Lopez Island. Here we often catch up with one of two sets of friends who have cabins there, Mark and Lou Damborg, and Fritz Levy and Nancy Taylor. this year the Damborgs were away but the Levy/Taylor's were there, so we had a great dinner with them. The other reason for e stop is to get our annual fix of the cinnamon rolls at Holly B's Bakery, which we did Wednesday morning before leaving. Here they are, with butter melting on top of the fresh from the oven rolls.

A Last Look at Parker Island

Parker Island, where our friends Herb and Karen Berry have a lovely cabin and stunning views from their deck, is one of our favorite stops. Here is a last look at Tamarisk at their dock at Parker.

Hot Tubbing on Wise Island

We finally made it across the Strait of Georgia, putting in a 12 hour day to get to Schooner Cove. T he predicted winds of 15-25 knots fortunately did not arrive, so the first half of the trip was quite benign. then winds of about 15 knots accompanied us for the last half of the journey, on our nose, of course, but the seas stayed calm enough for us to continue. The next day we headed through Dodd Narrows and into the Gulf Islands, glad to be back in protected waters. The weather was rainy, so we dumped our plan to anchor overnight in Clam Bay and spent another long day on the water to get to Parker Island, and a dock where we could get off the boat. 

We spent the three nights at Parker, two of them being entertained by our friends Jon Navaiux and Ann Kilkenny, who have a lovely cabin on nearby Wise Island. Included in their amenities was a hot tub, which we enjoyed on both days we visited. On our second visit, we were included in a Wise Island party hosted by their neighbors, with about forty people enjoying a spread of pot luck appetizers and a wonderful salmon dinner. My pictures below show us in the hot tub, and the party going on on the neighbors deck (that's Phil on the right hand corner of the deck).

Sunday we moved to Port Browning, on the easy side of North Pender island, and spent Labor Day being rocked by all the dinghies and speed boats racing back and forth from land to their boats. We have decided we won't return there on a holiday.

Monday we continued south to re-enter the United States and tied up to the docks at the Lopez Islander resort in Fisherman Bay, where we are now. We had a nice dinner last night with Fritz Levy and Nancy Taylor, who have a cabin here on Lopez. We are staying put another day, which so far is a rainy one, so that tomorrow morning we can enjoy our annual Holly B's Bakery cinnamon roll (her bakery is closed on Tuesdays). Then on to Anacortes, where we will haul the boat out on Thursday.

Tamarisk continues to tell us it is time to go home, with a succession of things that have broken in last few days. First the galley pump went out, necessitating a replacement. Then I discovered some screws missing in the hinges that hold the side wings on our propane camping stove. The next day I took out a large storage chest of screws and discovered a pin missing from one of its hinges. We are crossing our fingers that we can hold it all together for two more days!

I will probably have just a couple more posts to complete this cruise.

Nice view from the hot tub, eh?

The Wise Island party.

Stuck on Quadra Island

On our way south, two days ago we came into Rebecca Spit, a marine park near Heriot 

Bay near the south end of Quadra Island. We were positioning ourselves for the run across the Strait of Georgia, intending to go to Comox. The weather has intervened, and two days later we are still here. Both yesterday and today, the predicted winds were 15-25 knots in the Strait. The seas in the Strait can be particularly nasty--a short chop that has you doing more up and down than forward. We have also had rain since yesterday afternoon.

We stayed at anchor for two days, and today moved to a nearby marina to give ourselves a shower and the opportunity to walk to a restaurant for dinner out. The prediction for tomorrow is for light winds until the afternoon, and we are planning to go as far south as we can manage, putting in a 12 hour or more day if the conditions allow us. We hope to make it to schooner Cove, which is a little ways north of Nanaimo. From there we can pretty well get the rest of the way south with some islands to protect us most of the way, even if there is wind.

So here is a picture of a grey day at Rebecca Spit. The first picture is of the bay enclosed by the spit--a nicely protected anchorage when the wind is up. We were anchored down where the small sailboats are in the right of the picture. The second picture is of the docks at Taku Marina looking out at Rebecca spit and the bay. Tamarisk is hiding behind the two large power boats on the right. You can see h black forestay with the genoa wrapped around it.

Helga, Shoal Bay Dock Chowder Champion

Here is the chowder pot, along with Helga, supreme organizer of the dock chowder. It was just as delicious as it looks, and there was plenty to go around, and even to send home with us. 

We had our leftover portion for supper last night.

Dock Chowder at Shoal Bay

A three year old tradition was sustained last Friday when one of our boats organized a "dock chowder." Helga, the organizer, came prepared with some basics like chicken broth and tomatoes, plus some canned clams and sausage plus miscellaneous herbs. Other boats on the dock contributed what they had, like corn, mushrooms, potatoes. The fishermen in the group came up with crab, ling cod, rockfish and prawns. All this went into the pot. A couple other boats contributed fresh bread rolls and a salad. At 6pm we gathered to enjoy it--this year with the sky sprinkling rain drops. Not enough to dampen the enthusiasm. The crowning contribution was the boater who showed up with a bottle of gin and vermouth, along with olives and 10 martini glasses and offered to make Martine's for all who wanted them!

Here is a picture of the group on the dock, and then of the martini making.

Cordero Lodge

We stopped last night to stay at Cordero Lodge, a marina and restaurant with a few rental rooms that has been here quite a while under ownership of a German couple, who recently sold it. We are checking it out and like what we found. the menu used to be all German dishes, but now has onE German dish and other dishes to select from--much more to our liking. We had a nice scallop dinner and a delicious apple crumble for dessert. We also met a couple on an all aluminum power boat and had a great chat with them during and after dinner. That's the fun of marinas--meeting interesting people. The big surprise for we two women was finding that we both got our doctorates at Fielding Graduate University. The two men got along great after discovering they were both in the navy.

Here is a picture of the newly refreshed Cordero Lodge. We will come back again!

Another peaceful Johnstone Strait Run

The predictions for today were patches of fog, NW winds 10-20 knots and a current going with us in the morning. So we left the dock at 8 am in order to catch the tide just right, and g eat out on the Strait before the wind got too bad. Actually, we wanted some of the wind so we could get a sail in, having had the sail up only once so far. 

Wonderfully, when we woke in the morning, there was no fog (yeah! We spent several hours navigating in the fog yesterday, never fun). Also no wind, at all. And even though the current was going with us, there is a counter current in Johnstone that seems always to run north, so since we were headed south, it was against this counter current, and SLOW.

But, we are always glad to have a quiet passing in Johnstone Strait. Here are pictures of the water we saw in the Strait at the start of our trip down, and what it looked like at the south end of the Strait. You could see the reflections of the surrounding mountains and clouds in the water!

Approaching the Strait coming out of Port Harvey. You take a left turn on the far side of those little islands and there you are, in Johnstone Strait.

Down at the south end of the Strait, we turn up into Sutherland Channel and exit the Strait. Here's what the water looked like there. The little island to the right is Fanny Island, where the wind reports for Johnstone come from.

Dock Life at Jennis Bay

When we are in a marina, one of the enjoyments, especially for Mr. Social Phillip, is talking with people on the dock. Sometimes I join him in conversations, but often I am going about some of my tasks, like catching and cleaning crab. Here are pictures of each of us indulging in our respective dock sports.

Defensive measures

We are in mosquito territory and weather. Here is this years defense against them--several generous yards of mosquito netting draped over the entry to the aft cabin where we sleep. So far so good. The only mosquitoes we've had are the ones that got in before the net got put up. Sometimes the simple solution works!

Jennis Bay in Drury Sound

We are tied up at me docks of Jennis Bay, a relatively small marina in Drury Inlet. This is our northernmost stop for the year. It is one of the few marinas in the area that actually is attached to land, and the people who run the marina live on land. There are trails from here to a couple lakes, so people like it because they can walk (just watch out for the bears.)

This afternoon we had an impromptu pasta making lesson from Karen, aboard the Scoop, from Vancouver, who had just spent two weeks in Italy attending various culinary workshops. 

Here is a picture of the buildings and docks at Jennis Bay, along with a picture of Karen making pasta. I was able to process hr second batch of dough. The process is actually fairly simple, though I don't think I'll be running out to get a machine to help me make pasta anytime soon.