Mox: O Canada

Yesterday we arrived in New Hampshire ("Live free or die"), via Vermont and a top slice of New York. For the prior four days we were in Ontario, mostly in the city of Ottawa. Traveling through the small towns and vast countryside of rural Ontario one has the impression that the good times perhaps rolled right out of town with the sawmills. Pretty much what I had expected - good folks working hard to make a living. 

Coming into Ottawa, however, was a treat. Perhaps due to the luxury of moving from a tent to a hotel room (thanks Hotwire and Anna); perhaps due to the change from poor rural to a relaxed but prosperous national capitol.

We took an impressive tour of the Parliament with its House (elected) and its Senate (appointed) and I could not stop comparing their system to the USA version with its presidential election madness. I understand the major difference in populations etc etc etc, but my, my, our system, with its inherent incivility and legally protected PACs, is not the best way for democracy to manifest. We can do better and we owe it to our red-white-blue hearts to seek out ways to improve it. 

The last night we were in Ottawa we viewed one of the greatest light/sound shows I have ever seen. The two photos above only hint at the show that was projected onto the Parliament building. For thirty minutes Pam, I, and a few hundred gathered on the lawn were held spellbound with a rapid fire surround-sound salute to the diversity, culture, history, and pride of Canada. I tried to imagine such a show being projected onto the side of the US Capitol or the White House but just couldn't do it. 

It reminded me that, although the USA is a great nation with a diversity unmatched, it is not the only country with liberty and justice and pride. As I celebrated with Canadians and visitors I found myself really celebrating the distance that we have come as a human species. Let us collectively vow to never take a step backwards and to help those who yearn for the securities and freedoms that we know are basic to human happiness. Thanks to all those who have come before us with Godly intentions and Godly actions. 

If you have the opportunity, put Ottawa on your bucket list as the show will continue during summers for four more years.

Surprises III

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 I am rushing through the Western tour.  I think once we got to San Diego and started hanging our with Summer and Drew, Megan and Kevin we were "at home" and we took less pictures and just chilled.  The water was much warmer in the Pacific than I expected as I hadn't been there in late summer for a long time.








We drove from San Diego to Las Vegas, I thing about 5 hours.  We went from 80b degrees to ea117 at Death Valley to around 100 degrees in Las Vegas.  We were at the south end of the strip.  We did a hotwire and stayed at the Luxor.  It was fine, but not the greatest.  We went to New York, New York and MGM also. We loved the piano bar in NY/NY.











 It was short, but fun.









I think the biggest surprise of the trip was
southern Utah.  I was thinking, "Okay, a straight shot from Las Vega to Denver"  a long trip, but we needed to get back to Iowa for a family wedding.  But wait, southern Utah was beautiful.
We were skirting the Grand Canyon and the canyonlands that we drove though were amazing.

On top of the natural beauty we had a storm system that was coming through so part of the sky was sunny and the other part was stormy.  The pictures do not do it justice, it is a place I would like to return to.  Of course, there are signs that say there is no gas (or anything else for the next 110 miles.)

 We got back to Denver in time for the New West Festival in Fort Collins.  We enjoyed it, but not as much as Ayla and Leo.

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Surprise II

 Salinas Valley California
This is the source of most of our vegetables and strawberries.  The produce was great here where it was picked ripe and sold in the stands along the road.  Avocados were 5 for a dollar, imagine that.

In the field outside Salinas were these larger than life figures depicting the workers in the field.  There were great and one had on an FFA jacket.  Great high school project.





Point Lobos State Reserve
From Salinas we took a couple of day trips along the coast.  One day we went to Monterey and then on to Carmel.  Late in the afternoon we drove into Point Lobos and were informed by at the ranger station that we were too late to enter the park as it was closing in less than an hour.
When we made a u-turn to leave he waved us down again and asked if we were really from Iowa (per our license plate.)  When we confirmed our Iowa roots, he let us go into the park, promising to be out by closing.  He also was from Iowa, an Iowa Stater.  To say the least, we did not have enough time to explore this fantastic park, but did enjoy what we saw.  These amazing rock/sand formations.  This is a must see and explore more fully next time.

Construction
We always marvel at how they make the highways along the cliffs and this day got to experience the precarious feat.  This is not the best photo of the narrow passage the workers had marked off going around the bend on a cliff on Highway 1.  They were on the other side of the right barrier building highway on the drop off side.

Great Pelicans
On the peir at Monterey.  They were great to watch, need I say more.  Oh yes, one more, thorns to the woman who picked one up and carried it around...to prove??

 Hearst Castle
Yes we actually stopped and paid to see it this time. We had stopped here 26 years ago but Mox just could not spring for the admission price for a car load. I thought I might be too overwhelmed by its grandiosity, but I must say it was too grandiose to overwhelm me.  It was more like a fantasy than something a person could actually own.
The inside was great with its art archives and furniture, but of course, my favorite part was the two pools.

The guides said at the end of the summer season they have a party there and get to swim.  I am thinking about this as my next job as I could hardly contain myself.

 Friends
We stopped in Los Angeles to visit Larry LaRose and his wife Nancy, daughters, Tessa and Meagan.  Larry was Mox's freshman college roommate at Iowa.  It was a brief one night visit, but it was like we had seen each other every year rather than 26 years ago!  It was amazing to me what kindred spirits the two of them are.

Their daughter's, twins, are studying at the University of Hawaii and were home for the summer where they work as ocean life guards.  We learned a lot about Hawaii and life guarding.

 Dozer
This 60 pound African Tortoise was one of their pets.  He roams the yard and keeps the grass mowed.

USS Iowa 
We had heard about the USS Iowa becoming a museum before we left Iowa.  Mox had also heard that anyone with an Iowa drivers license could get in free.  That is his kind of tourism place.  It was true we did get special Iowa treatment.

The walls of this battleship are 18" inches of steel.  Built in 1940 she served for over 50 years in WWII, the Korean Conflict, and the Cold War.  She was named the ship of presidents as she has been the host of many presidents.

The Iowa hosted President Franklin Delano Roosevelt across the Atlantic and Back in 1943 so he could attend a secret Joint Chiefs of Staff meeting with Winston Churchill, Joseph Stalin, and Chaing Kai-shek at the Tehran Conference.

It was a great sunny southern California day and while we still had our Iowa Drivers License we decided to enjoy the tour.

 SanDiego
One of the best surprises of our trip happened while I was in the produce department at Sprouts. Brooke was interviewing for a job in Estes Park and after three hours in we had almost given up on hearing from her.
When she called she announced that she not only interviewed, but was offered the job on the spot.  I was crying amongst the carrots.  People must have thought I had received bad news.
When we got home we celebrated Brooke's new job.

Del Mar Race Track
We met up with our niece Megan, Kevin, and Orrin at Del Mar.  We had gone for a beer festival which wasn't that great, but the track is historic and magnificent.  I had not really been to a horse race and the grandeur and excitement were great fun.
We never did get around to betting so we broke even on the day....except for the price of beer.

SURPRISE

It may be a surprise that I am blogging after a bit of a reprieve as we visit with our family in Grundy Center.  However the surprises that I am thinking of are those unexpected pleasures of our trip.

Ogallala, Nebraska
In my life time I am sure that I have passed by Ogallala around 75 times.  I have seen the sign for Lake McConaughy, but let's face it, there are many signs for attractions along I 80: The pioneer museum, the Great Archway in Kearny, the  Heartland Museum of Military Vehicles, Fort Cody Trading Post, and so on.  Let's face it, I was always in a hurry to get where I was going and I have never stopped when on the ribbon of interstates....until now.  If I would have known that there were white sand beaches in Ogallala, I would have stopped every time and taken a dip. These beaches are on the edge of the great sand dunes and are as wonderful as the white sand beaches of Florida.  They should put that on the sign out there by the interstate.  "Florida in Nebraska".  A great surprise.  (Maybe I will stop at the gateway arches next trip out.)

Bozeman, Montana

This was our first stop after leaving Denver.  We camped for two nights in a nice private campground.  Bozeman is a city of 37,000 +.  It is the home of Montana State University.  It was beautiful, nestled in the valley.  The downtown was vibrant with old businesses and restaurants.  It is not often we see a vibrant downtown anymore.  This picture is of the great springs spa.  We were lucky to hit the farmer's market with many types of booths, the best granola ever, and the symphony playing outside.  Bozeman has a great spirit.

 Coeur d' Alene, Idaho
I apologize to this city as the picture does not represent the beauty.  This was a surprise pass through town that we wish we would have known about and had the time to spend a day there.  Instead we were captured by it's beauty and had a picnic lunch by the lake.  The town itself was very picturesque with little cafes and businesses.  Next time Coeur d'Alene.






Pat and Jaynece Tekippe
We heard a week or so before we left on our trip that our brother and sister in law were going to be in Wenatchee, Wa.  So instead of going straight to Portland which we had planned we went to Washington.  Their daughter lives in Wenatchee/Levenworth Wa.  Here is a winery we stopped at between the two towns.  It is beautiful in this part of Wa. along the Columbia and Wenatchee Rivers.

Seattle 
O.K.  this wasn't really a surprise, everyone loves Seattle and the fish market.  The colors of the vegetables and flowers were great.  We met up with another friend, Peter Hoekstra, had dinner at the Pink Door, went to a jazz bar, and also bought a great chef's knife.  This is also the home of the Polish Pottery shop, and my confusion about Colorado, Iowa.

 Mount Rainier
The surprise here was that we saw it.  We came in to the park in the southwest corner and headed to the Paradise Visiting Center.  A rather new center in the park.  When my friend, Jeff, was trying to explain the park over the phone, I chose the Paradise option, because....who wouldn't.
Another friend of mine had been to the park earlier and had not seen the peak due to the cloud cover.  I was telling Mox about this and preparing for the same experience because the mountain is often covered in cloud, when we turn the curve and there she was.  This picture was taken through the windshield at that amazing moment.

Redwood National Park
I was 7 years old when I first went to California with my parents and my older brother in a brand new 1956 two toned blue Chevy Bel Aire.  My dad had just landed a "federal" job working for the US Postal Service.  It was post war and a time  of prosperity.  WWII in somewhat of a plot twist lead to tourism.  All the small town and farm guys and gals who went off to fight also learned how big the world was.  Anyway, when I was 7 we drove through a Redwood tree and I wanted to do it again.  The drive through trees are privately owned, so you have to pay a penance for the experience, but it was worth it to recreate my childhood.

The Golden Gate Bridge
Always majestic in my mind.  Another foggy day, but it might not really be San Francisco without the fog.  I had originally hoped to stay in the city a few days with my Aunt, but she was off to Michigan.  She is 91 so I will soon visit this city again.

Mox 4: The Little Guys

Although they don't look like it in this photo overlooking Monterey Bay, these are our "little guys". They are our proxie grandsons and are taking the Tour with us. They are appropriately named "Racecar (Mox)", "Bull (Keller)", and "Dumptruck) Leo". We will have to add another when we finally get to NYC and consult with Zevi. In the meantime, the Little Guys are helping us remember to keep an open mind on our travels and to especially try to see things through their young eyes.
We plan to post up more photos soon and you may see them sneak into some of them.
So far Dumptruck's favorite place has been a section of I-15 in Utah that was under construction. For  Racecar it was revving his engine at the Mazda Racetrack east of Carmel, CA. And for Bull - well, he was just glad to have missed the big Salinas Rodeo and seems pretty content to watch the occasional herds of western cattle  drift by his car window.

Mox 3: living under the cloud

When I was a young boy in northeast Iowa one beautiful crisp winter day I was visiting with my grandmother Anna just over the hill from our farm. It had just snowed the previous night and all was white and fresh and inviting. I recall grabbing a hand full of new snow and taking a delicious mouth full only to hear a rather sharp command from Grandma to "put that down". She went on to explain that the snow was likely contaminated with nuclear "fall out" as the Chinese were doing "tests" - a mere half-globe away. In some small way an innocent bubble was burst and no longer was new snow just new snow. Danger could present itself in any form, at any time.
So what does this have to do with our trip? We are now in the land of "milk 'n honey". The sun burns off the morning fog after a cool night and the waves lap gently at the miles of sandy shoreline. And yet we were reminded at dinner last night of the importance of knowing and adhering to the four S-words: Survive, Sustain, Secure, and Share. Back in Iowa, should a natural disaster strike, such as a tornado or a flood, we would most likely be just fine with two S-words - Survive and Share. That is small-town thinking. Here, where one walks on the ridge of the San Andreas fault line, it is a different story. Danger could present itself in any form, at any time. I wonder if Grandma would have liked to live in California.

Middle America's Civilization

We have reached civilization.  Not that we have been in the woods for long, but it is amazing how accustomed I had become to the conveniences of life prior to my homeless venture.  Sleeping in a tent has been comfortable, warm, and dry.  We have not had any inclement weather and we have only been a short walk to the bathrooms that have always had showers.  Mind you several were coin operated and the last one seemed to be $.25 for 10 seconds although it was advertised as 40 seconds.  I had only two quarters and it took at least 30 seconds for slightly warm water to rain down.

Complain, Complain.

It isn't that I am completely spoiled, for the first 3 or 4 years of my life we didn't have a bathroom in our house. In spite of that fact, we had a bath every Saturday night whether we needed it or not. My mom, a Nebraska farm girl who grew up during the depression, boiled the water on the stove and poured it into a tin bathtub that she had brought into the kitchen.  I was youngest so I got my bath first.  Then my mom would bathe in my water.  She would then change the water and the start the same process for my brother and my father.... thankful as I, that I didn't have little sisters.

The memories of my childhood reinforce my knowledge of how basic a person can live...how to make do.  They are also a reminder that tent camping with facilities is better than many people live.

When living with more basic elements, it also becomes apparent that no one cares what you look like.  So you go to the public bathroom dressed in leggings, athletic socks, slippers, night gown, shirt, down vest, or hair askew, fellow campers accept this as the norm.  You may look like a homeless person with several mixed matched layers while you are standing in  your outdoor kitchen cooking breakfast, but that is the norm. YOU ARE CAMPING!  ROUGHING IT!  The more surprising fact is that WE HAVE CHOSEN TO LIVE THIS WAY.  Again a reminder that many people living in this world have not chosen such a plight.  Without fault they have little means to clean themselves, wash their clothes, cook a good meal, have shelves to store things, a dresser, a closet, a refrigerator....you get the point.

Tonight we have reached civilization.  We have access to civilization as we baby boomers in middle America know it.  We are at my cousins house in Salinas California.  She is on vacation in Michigan.  Although we wish we could see her, it did dawn on me that we have not really had a house to ourselves since May 15th. We are sitting on the couch watching the Olympics.  We have running water, two bathrooms, a very big memory foam bed, running water, dishes, a refrigerator, a stove, running water, you get the idea.  A mansion in the midst of California.  Something we often take for granted ever day, until of course we tent camp.

We should go explore the coast tomorrow, but we might just stay in.