Sunday, May 26, 2013

National Cemetery Mt. Scott Portland, OR

Memorial Weekend at a National Cemetery located on Mt. Scott in Portland, OR. A little flag is placed on every, yes every, Veteran's gravesite. Cemetery is large and the waving flags spill over the hills. It is an awesome sight. Here are some pictures of just a small portion of the cemetery.

Friday, May 24, 2013

Going off blog for awhile. I will be available with email so give me a "shout".

Sunday, May 5, 2013

Cathedral Hills Trail - Grants Pass


Beautiful flowers but poison oak everywhere off the trail.

Rose Tu and her baby Lily at Portland Zoo

We took the lightrail to the Portland Zoo to see the newest baby elephant, Lily. Lily was trying to learn by imitating mom and she just couldn't quite get it right yet. Mom was busily eating twigs from a branch by holding the branch with her foot and then using her trunk to break the twig loose. Lily tried to do same by grabbing a twig with her trunk and shaking it back and forth, but the branch wasn't held down and the whole branch waved about. Lily knew she was supposed to do something with her foot and we could see her lifting and waving her foot trying to figure out its purpose while her trunk grabbed the twig. Mom, Rose Tu, would use her trunk to sweep debris (straw and edible leaves) into a pile and then pick up the pile with her trunk. The straw would fall away and she could eat the remaining leaves. Here are some pictures showing Lily with her mom Rose Tu. One of the pictures shows Lily nursing.

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Vista House n Latourell Falls Columbia Gorge

We took an Easter drive to the Columbia Gorge to see the Vista House and drive the Scenic Hwy to Latourell Falls. We stopped for a picnic and walked a trail to the base of the falls. It was a busy day with other tourists enjoying sunshine and a lazy Sunday.

A Spring Day in Portland

Magnolias and other pretty flowers blooming around the neighborhood.

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Just a short update to let you know where I am. Am in Oregon for a family medical emergency. You can reach me with email.

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Baja and Whales slideshow

Friends from Tucson organize trips to Baja for about 16 other friends. They spend time petting baby whales, going to see cave paintings, snorkeling, and just general sightseeing and hiking. They always have wonderful food experiences included in their trip. I have been given permission to let you see one of the slideshows from this year and just a few weeks ago. Enjoy!
For best viewing, click on "Slideshow" once you get to the webpage. You may need to do a copy and paste of the URL into your browser.
http://tinyurl.com/abhff4v

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Whale Shark Sculpture on Malecon


The improvements to the Malecon are almost finshed after 2 years. There is now a sculpture of a Whale Shark down by the marina. The Malecon looks prettier than before and now there are places to sit in the shade along the water.

Thursday, February 28, 2013

Pilon de Lolita


Pilon de Lolita aka The Pointy Mountain. A friend said to me recently, "I have been reading your blog and what you call "The Pointy Mountain" is really named Pilon de Lolita". I knew that. Once. Forgot. The name and its story long gone in my mind. Now I have a name and a story to go with it. The story goes: there were sisters living and gardening at the base of the mountain. When the Baja lands were divided and ownership designated for each of the sisters, one sister said: "where is my pilon?" One of the definitions for pilon is: a gratuity given by tradesmen to customers settling their accounts. Or as explained to me, it is like getting 13 instead of 12 for a dozen. The sister was asked: "what do you want for your pilon?" and..........she said: "that mountain!" She was given the mountain as her "little bit extra". Thus, the name: Pilon de Lolita. End of story.

Monday, February 25, 2013

Harleys, harleys and more harleys. Saturday night was Fiesta in Juarez Plaza (the town square) for the motorcyclists who arrived in town. Four bands scheduled to play, food vendors and tables in the plaza, motorcycles parked in rows and shoulder to shoulder people ready to party into the night. Looked like a much-needed boost for Loreto's economy. The night before and all day Saturday was an Art Show at one of the hotels. Sunday evening was a Red Carpet party here at Loreto Shores to watch the Academy Awards. Several people had fun dressing in gowns and wearing Bling to "walk the carpet". Wind. Wind and more wind. Today is a blustery day and the sea is rough and white-cappy. Hope to meet friends from Tuczon tonight. Have been doing a lot of reading and staying out of the strong winds and blowing dust.

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

While at Santispac, I drove out to Ray's place to see if the restaurant was open again after the big Fall storm. Yes, it is open he is adding a sunday brunch to the thursday, friday, saturday schedule. On the way back there was this big bull standing in the road trying to get back to his pasture. The third picture shows a young man jumping the fence to come up behind the bull and chase it home. Ray's Restaurant is located in the agrigultural flood plain 2 miles west of the ice house at Mulege. Once you figure out where to turn off the main highway to get to the ice house, take a left turn and just follow the signs. Ray has managed to put enough signs to make his place easy to find. On each corner where you might question which way to go he has a sign with an arrow. The restaurant is 2 miles on a sand/dirt road and takes you past farms with fields of vegetables and, of course, some cows too.

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Valentine's week at Santispac

Fast Eddie and the Slow Learners were the featured band on Valentine's night at Lupe's (formerly known as Ana's) restaurant/bar at Santispac Beach. I went up to the beach Feb 10 and returned to Loreto yesterday. Lupe's served dinner to a packed house for Valentine's night followed by dancing to the live band. The band began slow and easy with guitars, percussion, harmonica and vocals progressing to faster music early on. As usual, these are oldies songs from the 50's - 80's. I went for dessert, listened a bit and headed back to my little home on the shore. Santispac is dry camping, but there are amenities. Two beach restaurants, outhouses, showers for a fee, fresh water (non-potable), venders selling souvenirs, fish, scallops, lobster, vegetables, empanadas and tamales. There is even a weekly laundry pickup and delivery and an ice cream truck. The beaches are filled mostly with Canadians. Not as many Americans on the roads. The general feeling is they are afraid to come down to Mexico because of the bad news being reported. Those of us here in Southern Baja do not have that fear and do not see a reason to stay away from the southern Baja state. Parts of the Mainland Mexico..........yes. Back to Santispac............there are other popular beaches along the Bay of Concepcion and basically the same: Burro, Coco, Coyote, Perla, Requeson are some of them. We have our favorites and tend to go back to a beach with familiar friends. Some people stay a few days or a week or so like me and others are situated for months with solar power and solar heated showers. The new palapa Santispac Restaurant specializes in Mexican seafood and had quite good food. Lupe's has both Mexican and gringo food...some good...other just so-so. Each restaurant has a bar so you can get a beverage of choice. I took some pictures this time of the beach and will post those. My first picture shows my camping spot on the shore. I was able to get one of the palapas and used my tarps to make a wind break. The second picture shows the Santispac Seafood palapa restaurant and the little two door white building in the distance is an outhouse. There are barrels of water and empty jugs to use for flushing in the outhouse. Someone keeps the barrels filled and cleans the facility with bleach daily. The third picture shows a few campers on the SW portion of the beach. Several people have begun their journey north and the beach was becoming empty. In a few weeks, during Easter Break, the beach will be packed (I have yet to see this) with tents 4 deep and 4-5000 campers and carnival rides. The remaining pictures show an orange substance that washed up on shore Sunday morning. Monday morning it was gone from this beach, but I saw it along the shore at Coyote and Requeson. I stuck my hand into the orange substance, pulled it out and there were what looked liked teeny tiny tiny translucent eggs on my hand. the orange substance dripped off. The final picture shows hands coated with these "eggs". Do any of you know what it is? Perhaps roe and sperm from some critter? Just talked with Marine Biologist here at Loreto Shores and what he has seen from a distance looks similar to a Cyano Bacteria he has seen in the open ocean. He said if it is a Cyano Bacteria, what I saw that looked like "eggs" would be clumping of the bacteria. The bacteria is microscopic and as it clumps together it becomes visible to the human eye.

Friday, February 8, 2013

Sunrise this morning during a 6:30am walk with other women here at the park. They are fast power walkers and we walked for an hour. As the weather warms, they will probably begin earlier. It was a fine walk and nice to part of a socialable group. The sun is rising over Carmen Island.

Thursday, February 7, 2013

Two postings for today from visit to San Javier. This one has pictures taken on the return drive down the mountain. Cows on the road. They were trotting to get out of our way. A picture of the backside of the "pointy" mountain I see from Loreto. Look closely and you can see the road at the base of the mountain with a car for scale. The last picture shows the Sea of Cortez and Loreto in the distance with the road winding down the mountain
I went back up to San Javier today with some friends here at the RV park. The road is paved all the way to the misson now, tho there are still some washout and one-lane spots from storm damage last Fall. Here are some pictures taken at San Javier. A photo of the centuries-old olive tree and father of all the olive trees there. A couple showing one of the gardens with young shoots of what looks to be garlic or onion. A pretty flower and a picture of the river dam to provide water for irrigation. The community has been irrigating and growing vegies for centuries also.

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Have had an invasion of crickets the past month. So far, have not had any in my van, but they are in houses, the shower/bathroom and on the ground. What do crickets eat? Should I be worried about a cricket invasion? I have another bicycle. The one I brought down was stolen over the summer and friends found a good buy for me. It is an old British 3 speed and works just fine. I'll store it in a friend's garage when I leave. He will put it up on the wall out of his way and it will be safe there. Heading up to San Javier tomorrow with a couple from Anacortes. They have not been and I love that journey. Not much else to report, just day to day living. Have made progress on another weaving project that has been milling around in my mind for a long time. Yesterday, did a first conceptual drawing to get it out of my head and onto paper. I'll need to make a trip to Alberta to speak with my thigh-spinner to discuss how to make the yarn I need. I have had some talks with her, discussed and dismissed ideas and now will see if she wants to make the warp I need or if I need to do it myself. The cold winds are gone.

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Photo paddling kayak. That is Loreto along the shore and the Sierra de Gigante mountains in the background. You can see the "pointy" mountain that is a landmark west of Loreto.

Saturday, January 26, 2013

Kayak paddling today. Went with a friend here in the RV park. He has two kayaks and I was able to use one. It was my first time paddling any distance in a single rather than double kayak. We left from Loreto Shores and paddled north past town keeping close to shore. I had not paddled since Octoboer 2011 so figured 4 hours would probably be plenty for me. We paddled for two hours, beached, stretched, snacked and then came back. It was fun and I was tired, a bit sore and hungry. Showered, fixed a sandwich and napped. After napping, dressed for town and went to a book signing and reading by author Bruce Berger: Oasis in Stone and others. It was an enjoyable event with dinner after at Bruno's (good pizza, pasta, and salads). I had a chicken salad with fresh strawberries, craisins and pecans. Will post any pictures I get from today at a later time.

Monday, January 21, 2013

Setting sun as seen along the highway. Here are a couple pictures taken with an iPhone while in a car riding south from Loreto. Would like to hear which one is your favorite.