A day in Boston

Wow, this was fun, and way more relaxing than the "hell bent for whatever" mad dash on the freeways through and under the big City the day before (on our way to Plymouth and then Fall River).  Today, wisely, we decided to park our big Chevy diesel pickup at the closest transit station to our RV Park (i.e Newburyport) and take the commuter train into Boston.   It was a fairly scenic 1 hour trip through various coastal towns like Ipswich, Beverly, Salem, and (my favorite town name) Swampscot before arriving at North Station, Boston, which also happens to abut the "Garden", as in Boston Garden, home to the basketball Celtics and hockey Bruins.

We had prepaid for a Trolley Tour of Boston and rode it through it's entire hour and a half loop before getting off at one central stop and exploring more on foot.

In both the trolley and on foot, we enjoyed viewing and learning about many historic places, buildings, and tales about old time revolutionary leaders, like Samuel Adams and John Hancock, two signers of the Declaration of Independence; and Paul Revere, of midnight ride fame.  Turns out all three of these gentlemen are buried in the "Old Burying Grounds" right in the smack dab middle of Boston.

We lunched in the Bell in Hand Tavern, established in 1795 and billed as the oldest tavern in the Country., This is a picture of the the little triangular nook where Elaine and I sat during our lunch (my entree was, not surprisingly, a seafood platter... I'm like in "hog... or, more appropriately... seafood heaven" here as I absolutely love all sorts of seafood).

 Walked by buildings 2+ centuries old and enjoyed the Boston Commons, a large grassy park with ponds, play and relaxation areas, again right in the middle of town.  We will definitely come back here at some point in our "busy" retirement days to explore more as this is a fascinating and historic town.  The fact that we were unable to tour Fenway Park on this day, due to a "Food Event" at the old ballpark, was only a minor disappointment.

One stop we did make late in the afternoon was at the Cheers Tavern very close to Boston Commons.  This was where they filmed the exterior shots for the long-running hit TV series of the same name.  Thing is, as we learned, the actual basement bar we went to is NOT where they filmed the interior scenes.  That occurred, according to our trolley guide, at a studio "prop" in Los Angeles.  But it was still fun to stop at the Bar and have a glass of wine.

Those of you who are old enough must surely remember the cast of characters, including Sam Malone, waitresses Carla and Diane, Cliff, Norm, and Frazier (yes, that Frazier, who would eventually star in his own long-running TV show).  The theme (song?) of that show said something about Cheers being the place where "everyone knows your name"

Turns out that catchy phrase was somewhat eerily close to the truth that afternoon as a couple women, also tourists by the looks of the town maps they were holding, sat down at the bar near us.  Elaine thought one of the women looked familiar; and soon enough we learned that, indeed, the two women were from Oregon, and the one woman, Ann, was indeed the person Elaine remembered from the UO.  Elaine first met Ann, who retired years ago, when she (Elaine) started at the UO some 34 years ago.  Small world it is indeed!

It (the World) became even smaller when we returned to the "Garden/Train Station" later in the afternoon and had a chance run-in with an older couple who had just come off a train from Maine and were trying to get to the outside curb to hail a cab.  I'm saying "trying" because the gentleman was almost crippled... dealing with recent knee replacement surgery on one knee... and, as he eventually explained to me, the other knee had just about given out on him.  So he was struggling just to get out of the station while pulling his travel bag, with his wife nearby but unable to offer much physical help.  On Elaine's urging, I went over and helped him and his wife get to the curb where they could get a cab; and enroute (a  "very slow" journey over some 50 yards) I discovered they, too, were from Oregon (Grants Pass).  We didn't "know their name", but then again maybe we did.  Hey, Cheers to all!  ("Carla, where's my beer for crying out loud!")

Historical Doings in New England

Today (Sat, Sep 28th) we headed South, first down the Massachusetts Coast, passing right through Boston, an adrenaline spike all of it's own, even on a weekend.  We roared down the freeway at maybe 10-15 mph over the posted speed limit... just to keep up with local traffic... spied the Boston skyline just long enough to concentrate on the upcoming tunnel, which basically dropped us under downtown for 2-3 miles.  We ultimately emerged on the other (south) side, and proceeded on toward Plymouth, the original landing point of the Pilgrims in 1620.  Finally we had a chance to catch our breath, and to park and explore this ancient town. The Plymouth "Rock" itself was hardly worth pausing for, a big boulder sitting inside a roofed enclosure.  Other parts of the town were more noteworthy, the old town square where the pilgrims lived on their arrival in the New World, the ancient burying ground where they went after they died, etc.
 
From Plymouth we drove to Fall River, which was a step back in time to my Portuguese ancestry on my father's side of the family tree. Not to bore you with too many details, BUT, in the late 1800's a bunch of folks from the Azores Island, off of mainland Portugal, where my ancestors came from, left those islands.  Many headed to Hawaii, where my ancestors landed; others went to the Eastern USA Coast. And while Portuguese communities grew up in Hawaii in the late 1800's, similar communities grew up on the Eastern Seaboard, particularly Fall River and nearby locales.

When we visited Fall River today, it was like turning back the clock and re-visiting European Portugal/Azores.  We walked into a neighborhood food market named "Chaves", and the language of choice there was decidedly Portuguese. And the people.. yes.. 90% Portuguese in appearance.  One shopper, looking at a pastry display, turned and jabbered at me in (I think) Portuguese. I merely shrugged; I mean I have some rudimentary knowledge of basic Portuguese phrases; but nothing like understanding what probably was something like, "where the h___ are the malasadas?"  We bought some stuff, namely a red pepper paste called Massa de Pimento that we'd enjoyed in the Azores during our 2008 visit there, but hadn't been able to locate anywhere else in the states, until now; and some malasadas and sweet bread, and a couple links of Chourico from the meat deli dept.

Then we  headed up the hill toward an Azorean restaurant called Maresqueiros.  This was another special treat, a cheerful waitress who switched seamlessly between Portuguese and English (the latter in our case) and many wonderful dishes to consider.  We ordered up dinner-sized servings; mine was an appetizer (shared with Elaine)  of Queijo Fresco (White cheese) with the aforementioned Massa de Pimento (red pepper sauce) and bread, plus Chorico Flambe (flaming sausage served to the table), followed by Mariscada, a shellfish stew served with rice.

Muito Bem! (very good)

 All were, indeed,  delicious and much more than one person could handle at one sitting; thus leftover lunch and/or dinner for the next day was created.



.   Queijo Fresco with Massa de Pimento

 Chorico flambe'

Mariscada (shellfish stew with rice)

Masachusetts Family History Search Begins

Left Maine Thursday, Sep 26th and weaved our way down US Hwy 1 on the way to our next RV Park in Salisbury, Mass.  Here, between Acadia National Park and Portland Oregon, we found the quaint Maine seaside towns we'd been expecting, but not really seeing, all along.  Highlight was Camden, a picturesque town set on a bay with busy fishing harbor, white-washed stately homes, and very nice "old town".  This was a good wrap-up to our Maine adventure for sure.

The drive down to NE Massachusetts was a relatively short drive in terms of RV Cross Country Travel. We left around 7 and arrived before noon at Beach Rose RV Park just a mile or so off Salisbury Beach on the Atlantic Ocean.  Weather was beautiful, blue skies, temps in the 60's, and remained so today.  And we've already done a lot of searching for ancient ancestors in the day and a half (as I write this) we've been in Massachusetts.  My direct ancestor, John Emery, some "gazillionth" great grandfather on my Mother's side, arrived in the Colonies in 1635, and was one of the founding fathers of Newbury, Mass., very near Salisbury, where we are presently staying.  John Emery is the earliest known settler in the Americas in my family tree, his arrival following just 15 years after the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock, further south down the coast from Newbury. Today we looked at the town square sitting on land deeded to my ancestor nearly 500 years ago.... and we had to dodge a constant stream of cars to do so; seems as if this ancient settlement sits, today, right next to a busy coastal highway (US Hwy 1A, an offshoot of Hwy 1).

Also, Elaine discovered today, from her own family history search, that one of her ancestors happened to be be in Newbury at about the same time as my John Emery, and it appears the two men, who more than likely knew each other (there weren't many folks back then in the Colonies), may well be buried in the same little cemetery in old town Newbury. Go figure!

Tomorrow it's off to Fall River, a town south of Boston that has a big Portuguese population; that's the other (Ventura) side of my family tree.  Will likely run into some "cousins" I never knew down there; but mostly looking... not for cousins.... but good Portuguese food.

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Back in the US of A!

Monday, Sep 16, we re-entered the United States, at Niagara Falls, and stayed in the area two nights; it could have been longer!  First day we explored on our own after checking into the KOA on Grand Island, NY, just a few short miles from Niagara Falls.  Then next day (Tuesday), we signed up for a guided tour of Niagara Falls, which took us, by bus, foot and boat all over, around, and under the falls, an unforgettable experience.

  We took off, on a Wednesday morning, across New York and into lower Vermont, taking maybe 30 minutes to traverse the entirety of this small New England state West to East, over-nighting on the Eastern Vermont border.  The towns here in Vermont were quaint and cute, what you'd think of as prototypical New England towns.

Next day we headed across New Hampshire into, soon enough, Southern Maine, and then headed up the Maine turnpike to our Easternmost terminus in Ellsworth Maine near Acadia National Park, arriving Thursday, Sep 19th.  We have settled in here, exploring much of "DownEast Maine", as the locals call it.  Big thing here is LOBSTER, and main menu items are either Lobster Roll or Whole Lobster.  On Tuesday, Sep 24th, we both finally sampled the Whole Lobster at a little dining place called Trenton Bridge Lobster Pound (that's what they call these places, maybe because they scalp you for the privilege by charging by the pound... a lot of it heavy claws and body armor... for the live lobster cooked to serve at your plate).

 To my way of thinking it was quite good; but then again I'm kind of a sucker for seafood, and most particularly shellfish; for instance the steamed mussels and clams were equally good.

In any event, we've enjoyed the week long stay here, including a day trip up to New Brunswick, Canada for lunch in a nice little town on the waterfront called St. Andrews; but there's nothing extraordinary about the Maine Coast; and it certainly, to my view, doesn't hold up to the visual grandeur of the Oregon Coast.  Soon (Thursday, Sep 26), we will be off to Massachusetts on the next leg of our Cross-Continental tour.

Maine or Bust, pt. III, the Ontario experience!

We learned a lot during our 3 night, 2 1/2 day trek across the southern part of Ontario and along the Northern edge of the Great Lakes (Superior and Huron); namely Ontario is a big, honking Province (as are most Canadian provinces); and it's largely remote and sparsely populated, particularly in the Western regions.  The view was scenic enough, forested hills, numerous ponds, and small lakes on our left, Superior and, later, Huron, on our right (but NO MOOSE!).  But there were stretches on the two lane main highway traversing the province (there are no 4 lane freeways in this part of that province) where we were the only vehicle on the road within a two or three mile segment.  We didn't mind the lack of traffic, necessarily; but it was a little bit unsettling, particularly given the fact that our Verizon cell phone coverage stopped at the Canadian border; and, like, what do you without a cell phone?  And who or what do you call in an emergency (does 911 work?)?

Anyhow, we survived and enjoyed the scenery along the way for the most part. We spent our first night in Ontario at Thunder Bay in a nice KOA RV Park; second night destination was Sault St. Marie some 450 miles further East.  It took us over 12 hours to get from one point to the other because, 3/4 of the way along we were held up by a flaming truck wreck along the two lane main highway ahead of us.  We waited four hours, thinking at some point we might just camp out in our trailer along the highway for the night; but finally the highway cleared and we drove on to Sault St. Marie, arriving after dark at an even nicer KOA park we would have loved to enjoy more; but for the long delay.  Next day was another trek to Barrie, Ontario, just north of Toronto.  Toward the end we were back in 4 lane freeway/expressway land, but the KOA park near Barrie was in a very rural setting. We were almost back in the good old USA, though Ontario, itself, was a quite peaceful interlude.  And one other thing stood out for us on this long trip across Ontario; that is we saw little if any roadside trash the whole way.  Maybe the USA can learn from this, maybe not!

Maine or Bust! - Part II

We somewhat reluctantly pulled away from Rapid City, while promising ourselves we'd be back to explore this area more thoroughly at some point in the future,  and began our Eastward trek in earnest; first day was a nearly 400 mile haul straight East on I90 through the southern part of South Dakota to Sioux Falls. Somewhat surprisingly, to me at least, the landscape along the way was not as barren as, say, the wastelands of West Texas; but still not exactly the most stimulating drive we'd ever been on.

We had just an overnight in Sioux Falls, as we would all the way until a slightly longer stay-over in Niagara Falls a week or so later; and were soon off to, heading straight North now, Fargo, North Dakota.  I had pre-conceived notions about this city, based mostly on the scenes from one of my favorite cult films of the same name ("Yah, you betcha that dead body is frozen stiff, Ey?"); but really we saw little of Fargo itself, basically taking a right turn at the East edge of town and heading into Minnesota. Off the freeway now, we wound our way North and East into the "lake country" of this big state, taking a side trip into Itasca State Park, containing the headwaters of the Mississippi River, before arriving at our next night stay-over in nearby Bemidji.  The side-trip to the Mississipi headwaters was well worth it; here you could walk over this soon-to-be mighty river on a log bridge. 

 

 

It was amazing, really, to imagine this placid little stream developing, on its meandering course, into the wide, mighty river that would ultimately empty into the Gulf of Mexico near New Orleans.  Bemidji, quiet little town that it is in Northern Minnesota, is the first town through which the Mississipi flows; and it flows North from Lake Itasca in the aforementioned State Park of the same name, if you can believe it, to reach Bemidji, before turning South for it's long trek to the Gulf. 

From Bemidji the next morning we shot up on a Northeasterly route toward Ontario, Canada.  All along the way we were apparently in "Moose Country"... the numerous road signs reminded us of such... but no sightings in Minnesota or any of the other areas to follow (so far).  We crossed the border at International Falls, Minnesota/Ontario, the border crossing, itself, a rather odd zig-zagging journey along and over railroad tracks and industrial sites on the US side, over the international bridge ($10 American for a 100 yard crossing on this toll bridge!) to more of the same on the Canadian side.  We pulled up to the only Canadian customs window open at the time, through a slot barely wide enough to squeeze our truck and trailer, greeted there by a very friendly, and probably bored, customs agent, who passed us through in short order, and we  were off into the vast wilds of Ontario.  This was on Friday, the 13th of September, and surprisingly nothing really bizarre or bad happened to us on this day.

Maine or Bust, part 1!

Took off from Colorado for Maine and the East Coast on Sunday, Sep 8th, reluctantly peeling ourselves away from 2 month old Grandson, Jonah, and his parents too, of course, for our long-planned trek to the East Coast.  First stop, after a 400+ mile drive mostly North the first day, was Rapid City, South Dakota. But, before arriving there, we toured, if you can call it that, the "lovely" outback of Eastern Wyoming.  Highlight, or rather low-light, there was a slight misstep in a forgettable dusty Wyoming town which left us at the dead-end of a Motel parking lot, and with no choice but to back up the old 5th wheeler about100 yards to get turned around and back on our way.  Don't ask how I got it into this predicament in the first place; but suffice to say that you don't make any traffic move while towing a 34 foot "apartment on wheels" behind your pickup without thoroughly considering the consequences, most especially "escape routes" with said "apartment" once you turn off a road.  In this case I did not do so; and I am also, despite nearly 3 years experience towing the "apartment", not that great of a "backer".  But we managed to creep our way back through a crowded motel parking lot without scraping a single fender with either trailer or truck; and (not so) very quickly were back on the road.

The KOA in Rapid City was a nice surprise, very conveniently located and reasonably quiet.  That first day in camp we watched a severe thunderstorm developing to the West and heading pretty much our way amidst reports of golf ball sized hail, strong winds and heavy rains. By the way, the "Weather Channel" app, a free one, on IPhone, is great for travelers like us.  Anyhow, and thankfully, while the heavy rains did temporarily make our gravel and dirt RV site a mud-hole, the hail missed us, and we did not get blown over by the strong winds. And it got much better from there on during our 3 night, 2 day stay in Rapid City.

First stop our next full day in the Rapid City area was the "world famous" Wall Drug Store 50 miles East down the freeway.  After visiting this two block long "mini-mall" enclosed within a rustic rough-timbered country building, my overall impression was that it was a "world famous tourist trap";  I likely won't go back anytime soon.  But nearby, just south of Wall, were the South Dakota Badlands, a National Park; and it exceeded my expectations in every way, a stunning display of rocky outcrops and canyons that you can drive right through.

Next day was spent just to the South and West of Rapid City in Custer State Park and at Mt. Rushmore.  The State Park was billed as containing one of the largest herds of wild buffalo anywhere as I recall, something like 1300 of the hairy beasts; we saw exactly 2! But it was only a small disappointment, as the drive into, through and out of the park was simply spectacular, narrow, serpentine roads up through the timbered hills, with views along the way of nearby hills, including Mt. Rushmore monument.  Rushmore followed, and was just as impressive up close as it was from the highway into and out of Custer State Park; all in all our Dakota visit (to South Dakota at least) was very enjoyable.

ColoradoWrap-up

Our last two weeks in Colorado were packed with special visits/events as we tried to finish our mini-bucket list of things to do before leaving this beautiful state and beginning our travel to the East Coast on Sep 8, 2013.  In the course of these two weeks, we:

1.  took a two day tour of Rocky Mountain National Park. This was a very scenic and enjoyable circular trip beginning at Granby, CO the first night, where, among other things, we watched a rumbling thunderstorm rattle across the landscape as we relaxed in a timeshare condo; and then, the next day, climbed up to a 12,000 foot pass through the Park, enjoying spectacular mountain and mountain valley vistas.
2.  Took in two Colorado Rockies baseball games... well I did at least, Elaine opted to stay with grandson Jonah both times as I went to a Sunday afternoon game against Cincinnatti with Sara and Drew and then, a few days later, attended a game against the LA Dodgers with long-time fantasy baseball buddy, Greg Fishwick, who just happened to be in town and just happened to have an extra ticket to that night's game.
3. Drove through the Rocky Mountain Arsenal Wildlife Preserve (twice) just NE of downtown Denver.  There is a buffalo herd there, though we only briefly glimpsed the herd in the distant prairie and saw only one "photo-op" buffalo up close and personal... actually on the road right in front of us.  Did see a number of deer, including 2 big Muley Bucks, and a whole village of prairie dogs during our first visit to the preserve.
4.  And, of course, always at the forefront during our time in Colorado was new grandson, Jonah, and his parents, our daughter, Sara Blass and our son-in-law, Drew Blass. We will always treasure these two plus months we were able to spend with them, welcoming Jonah into this world and watching him grow and develop over his first two months.

We checked out of Colorado on Sunday, Sep. 8th, headed first for Rapid City, South Dakota.

Reflections on Colorado, 8/25/13

Sunday, August 25, 2013

Reflections on our Denver Area Stay

As we approach the last two weeks of our long layover in the greater Denver area (scheduled to hitch up and head East on Sunday, Sept 8), I have several observations:

1.       Colorado is a beautiful area IF you get into the mountains looming just to the West of Denver; but quite ordinary once you reach the flats (plains) that stretch all the way from Denver east to Kansas and beyond and the urban sprawl of a large city such as Denver itself.  Truthfully, unlike past visits to Sara and Drew, we have not yet even driven into Downtown Denver; closest we got was a hospital run on the east edge of downtown when baby Jonah arrived on the 4^th of July; and the downtown areas, parts of it at least, are quite attractive; but the surrounding suburbs, with a few exceptions, are not memorable.

2.        The exceptions, in my view are Golden, where we, as of  August 20, began our second stay in a lovely, if expensive, RV Park named Dakota Ridge; Boulder to a certain extent, though it’s busier and more grid-locked traffic-wise than I’d imagined before visiting there; and Louisville, a suburb of Boulder,where Sara and Drew and, now, Jonah, live, a typical small-town USA setting, if decidedly re-invented as an upscale “yuppie” hangout with sidewalk café’s, street fairs, famers markets, etc.    Fort Collins, in northern Colorado, close to Loveland, where we stayed from late July through mid-August,  is another very nice town; a college town  (Colorado State) with a very lively and revitalized “old town”.

3.       Speaking of which,  several places, Golden, Loveland, Louisville, Boulder for example, have regular Weekend/Farmer markets during the summer;  Boulder’s is biggest but interesting, Loveland and Louisville are smaller and just about right; Golden’s is on a paved/concrete slab with little shade but a decent setting otherwise on the banks of Clear Creek, which runs right through town.  We’ve enjoyed various weekend outings to all.  However, none can compare to the ambiance, and food choices, at Eugene’s own Saturday and Farmers’ Markets.  We’ll ignore, for the moment, the little matter of human excrement recently creating problems in the downtown park blocks (we keep up with local news through the RG online edition).

4.       The Denver area has lots of Summer Afternoon thunderstorms. During our first couple weeks in Golden in July, it seems like we had almost nightly rumblings up in the sky, which would often start out bright blue in the AM, but with thunderclouds inevitably building and darkening and eventually developing into cracking and booming thunderstorms, some with torrential rain showers.  During our (so far) 7 weeks in Colorado, as a matter of fact, we have been in a cracking thunderstorm in the Golden RV Park, one particularly loud crack of lightning striking the park clubhouse and taking out the WiFi system for a couple days (the horrible sacrifices we have to make sometimes having no immediate internet connection). 

Then, a few weeks later, in early August, we were up in Loveland, north of the Denver area and found ourselves surrounded by very dark and ominous looking skies, finding out soon enough that the whole area was under what they call a “tornado watch” that soon enough developed into a “tornado warning”, I guess a little bit more serious situation than a mere “watch”.  Anyhow, the most severe storm system seemed to be just to the north and east of us ( “Dorothy, I think we’re almost in KANSAS!”); and we, probably because we didn’t know any better OR the nearest semblance of a “tornado shelter” would have been a rickety wood laundry facility in the RV park, stubbornly held tight in our little apartment on wheels (the 5^th wheel trailer)  until the worst of the storm passed on to, well, the plains of Eastern Colorado, Kansas and Nebraska.

Then just yesterday as I write this, on a trip down to Colorado and Pikes Peak (more on that later), we observed as we motored through a cute little town called Manitou Springs set in a cute little river canyon, that the town was under a “flash flood” warning due to violent thunderstorms developing in the area.  We motored on through in Sara’s Outback (the “State Car of Colorado” according to our daughter… and here I always considered it the National Car of Eugene!), me at the wheel wondering if Subarus made good boats, then headed up the freeway toward Denver  70 miles away.  There we found some of the violent storm systems, jagged bolts of lightning flashing down on the dark, clouded horizon ahead of us, hail piled several inches thick along the freeway from a storm that had just passed a bit before we got there, hydroplaning on standing water at 60 mph as we approached the Southern Denver suburb of Littleton; and all in all a not very relaxing cruise home.  We discovered later that a flash flood actually had roared through the little town of Manitou Springs after we’d headed home, nearly overflowing the banks of the little creek/river flowing through town. 

And today, back in our RV park in Golden, we have more rumblings overhead, but so far our sacred WiFi remains intact (ie no direct lightning strikes). Such fun!

5.       Despite being in frequent contact with Daughter, Grandson and Son-in-Law during our (now) 7 week stay in Colorado, and being on “grandparent call” most days, we have, on a few occasions,  headed up into the mountains to enjoy the spectacular natural splendor of the Rockies.  Early on, Elaine and I drove up to Vail and spent the day there riding the ski area gondolas up high on the now snow-free ski slopes for stunning mountain vistas and high altitude dining (10,000+ feet in elevation) at the top of one gondola run.  Then a few weeks later, Sara, Jonah and Elaine and I took a two night trip to Aspen, which included climbing 12,000 foot high Independence Pass enroute, and, of course, more spectacular Rocky Mountain Splendor. 

 As a special treat, while in Aspen, I discovered that the town had erected a sanctuary along a beautiful little creek that ran through town for its late celebrated citizen (one of many celebrity types who have since called Aspen home I believe), John Henry Deutschendorf, aka John Denver.  John also happens, or rather happened, to be a Second cousin (on my mother’s side, she and John’s Dad were first cousins).  So, although I’d never met this “cuz” personally, though I’d been to one of his concerts in Eugene long ago, it was particularly interesting and moving to see this natural sanctuary dedicated to Mr. Denver.   On the same theme, I “google-mapped” John’s palatial home in the Aspen foothills during our stay, and on the last day in town we set on up into the hills to view it.  Irony was we got turned back a half mile from the 8,000 square foot house (John was in the 1% at the top of my extended family wealth-wise, probably a sole member of that family club) by a gated entrance guard house.  In “googling” further later, I discovered that John Denver himself, my OWN CUZ for crying out loud, had been instrumental in establishing the “gated community” as one of its early residents; not because he was a snobbish celebrity necessarily (well maybe that had something to do with it), but, as the “google” story went, more because he wanted to protect the privacy of his neighbors; and his home had become a tourist magnet.  So his very own blood kin got turned back that day without a fight… oh well!

Then just a few days ago, last Thursday (Aug22), Sara, Jonah, Elaine and I drove down to Colorado Springs, home of the Air Force Academy and  close neighbor to the  flash flood mecca, Manitou Springs, and Pikes Peak, a 14,100 foot high massive, stone crag with a road winding right up to the summit.  Naturally we headed right up Pikes Peak, me at the wheel with increasingly clammy hands gripping the steering wheel as we ascended through timber line to the open rocky cliffs, with most of the switch-backing  road not having any guardrails.   I do not do heights very well, especially ones with steep cliffs dropping off from the road and no guard-rails; but I plugged along, while hugging the middle stripe of the road whenever possible; until little Jonah, at about 13,000 plus feet and a mere 1 ½ miles from the summit (on a 19 mile summit road), started to mildly complain about the rarefied air.  So, with Elaine first suggesting it, and Sara agreeing it was best, I gratefully  and carefully turned the vehicle around and we headed back down just short of the summit.  Despite not “summiting”, the views at 13,000, the highest I’ve ever been when not smoking good… I mean not flying in an airplane… were spectacular.

And so were the views, spectacular that is, down at a more modest 6,000 feet back in Colorado Springs when we drove into a city park called Garden of the Gods.  This park had stunning red rock formations interspersed with craggy granite spires, on top of one, we discovered, stood a couple big horn sheep lording over their domain.

6.        Other treats/oddities, etc.

LPGA Solheim Cup a week ago – for those not tuned into Ladies’ Professional Golf, this is a biennial team competition between USA and Europe, switching venues between Europe and the USA each time.  This time it was held in Parker, Colorado, just south of Denver, and Drew, our son-in-law, was assistant tournament director (he works for the LPGA).  Being in charge of a tournament like this is a tremendous undertaking involving over a year of prep work to get crowd control, vendors, player accommodations, course set-up, all prepared prior to the big event.  Suffice to say that in the week leading up to the tournament and during the tournament itself we rarely saw Drew, he was so busy.  But we benefitted from his association by being special guests of the LPGA, which got us privileges like standing right next to the first tee while the players teed off each day.   It was really quite an exciting moment, or rather moments, to be there within mere yards of top current professionals as well as living legends in the sport.  On the last day, Sunday a week ago, there was Nancy Lopez, one of the greatest US women golfers of all time, now retired, standing at the front of the first tee bleachers leading cheers for the USA.  The European supporters were smaller in number, but no less enthusiastic; and the fact that the USA got their butts whipped in the team competition did little to detract from the overall atmosphere in my view.

Denver area has signs all over about watching for wildlife crossing the roads, some right in the urban areas.  We have seen relatively few wildlife actually, considering how much open space and mountains we have driven through, but have had a few interesting sightings nevertheless:

A. A Coyote strolling down a paved sidewalk in a city park in one of the Denver suburbs

B. Buffalo in a field along the freeway (and they weren’t beefers being raised for slaughter) on one of our trips up into the Rockies.

C.  The aforementioned Big Horn Sheep lording over their Rock Fortress down in Valley of the Gods in Colorado Springs.

D. Four big Muley Bucks trying to work their way onto one of the putting greens during the Solheim Cup.  A player’s caddy shooed them away from the green. 

E.  And finally, a small herd of Antelope moving across the grassy hills adjacent to the golf course where the tournament was held.

BUT the biggest treat of all, hands down, has been the privilege of spending the first two months of his life with our precious grandson, Jonah.  He is truly a delight, and we will miss the little guy when we leave here in two weeks.  Okay, we’ll miss his Mom and Dad some too; but Jonah has been a special treat.  

That’s about all for now.   For those of you who don’t already know, and/or who haven’t already been “friended”, I was convinced (cajoled? nagged?)

by several co-workers who shall remain nameless, but whose initials are FL, DH, and TMH,  before I left EWEB to open a Facebook account once I sailed off into retirement.  It took me awhile to get around to it; but, with Sara’s help, I am now on Facebook in case anybody wants to check in that way. I can be found by searching for Pat (not Patrick) Ventura from Eugene.  I plan to put regular posts out there on Facebook as we travel Eastward in a couple weeks, aiming for Maine by mid-September, but will also keep a log on a computer word document as well for non-Facebookers and will gladly share what any of you would like or can tolerate.

Ate’ logo

Pat   8/25/13

From email to EWEB folks 7/18/13

Email to EWEB folks 7/18/13

Hi folks... Some of you I've been corresponding with regularly, either thru email or text (ie those for whom I have cell numbers); but for those of you I've recently added, particularly, I'd like to to bring you up to date on goings on since Elaine and I retired at end of June and almost immediately shipped out to to the greater Denver, Colorado area. 

After a mostly non-eventful 2 1/2 day journey, well, except for 1. the great olive oil caper in Burns, OR; 2. surviving as well the slowest McDonalds on the face of the Earth, also in Burns; and 3. spending our 2nd night on the road in the ugliest KOA park in the world in some forgettable place in SW Wyoming (details on all 3 available on request)... we arrived in Colorado on the 1st of July, eager to setup in our new "gypsy" life in our 5th wheel trailer, and especially eager to welcome first grandchild, Jonah Patrick Blass, into the outer world. 

Jonah was due on the 6th, but decided to be a 4th of July baby, which meant newly christened Grandpa and Grandma, were forced into early action, first babysitting the other "Blass Boys", Cockapoo Juneau, and Labradoodle Rocky, Wednesday night as Sara went into labor and she and Drew hung out at the hospital, and also Thursday nite after Jonah's arrival.  Before that second night snuggling with the boys, with both dogs parked on our our guest bed at Sara and Drew's the whole night craving affection, Jonah arrived of course at 2:25 in the afternoon on Thursday the 4th of July.  We got to the hospital in downtown Denver around 9 AM and waited along with a handful of other grandparents for the big word...  And our reward for being such dutiful grandparents was several precious hours with Sara, her husband Drew and Jonah before we returned to the affectionate other "boys" Thursday nite, skipping (and too tired for) any fireworks..  The rest of that weekend was a whirlwind, with little time to ourselves as newly retired folks, but we didn't mind.

Going on into the next week, Jonah's first on the "outside", we settled into a pattern of visiting the kids, or having them visit us about every other day, and trying in between to explore Colorado... We are parked (our first gypsy camp) for now in a lovely RV park in Golden, Colorado, home of Coors Beer, though I disdain the stuff as being below my "beer snobbery" quotient.  Jonah is starting to be more alert between the normal routine of eat, burp (or that other thing), sleep, and repeat.  Yesterday I held him for some time over at Sara and Drew's house (stealing him away from his accustomed shoulder, that would be Grandma Elaine's), and he just laid there in my arms giving me this wondering look... I think his eyes are gradually starting to focus a bit more every day... as if to say, "who is this old guy?"  and "why can't I have my grandma back?"

Anyhow, it's been good, and truth be told I haven't missed the EWEB work at all, though I do miss my good friends there, and those who have already left (Liz/Michelle) all of you included, of course.  I've attached 3 pics featuring our grandson, in order a professional pic taken on his second day in the world, with grandma and grandpa, another professional pic taken when he was a week old, and lastly, a decidedly non-professional pic showing Jonah, at nearly two weeks, perched on his second favorite shoulder (Grandma's)..

And, oh yeah... Might add that we finally got some time today (17th) to do some exploring of the beautiful Rocky Mountains that have literally been looming at our doorstep these past few weeks, spending the day in Vail, Colorado, only an hour and a half drive straight up from our RV Park..

Hope you all are doing well, and pardon for the repeat info, pics, for those who may have already seen/read some of this.

Heading out on retirement to Colorado to await the birth of our Grandson, Jonah

Travel log from June 29 to July 1, 2013 - our 2 night, 3 day trek to Colorado post-retirement

Saturday 6/29/13 – 450 miles Eugene (Deerwood) to Meridian-Boise KOA, Meridian Idaho – Start 5:30 – Arrival about 3:45 Mountain Time – ET 9 ¼ hours –

Had a relatively routine and lovely drive over the Santiam Pass on a very warm and sunny Oregon day.   Things went a little awry by Burns, when Lanie opened the trailer and found the area near the steps, vinyl floor and wall, covered with olive oil from a bottle that had pushed through a cabinet door and banged into the wall as the cap fell off.  That was quite a messy clean-up for her while I was stuck in the slowest McDonald’s on earth waiting for fries and drinks (est wait time 20 minutes, yes 20 fricking minutes!).  We spent about 45-50 minutes in Burns on both clean-up and the slow McDonalds before heading off again.  Only other setback time-wise was a detour on the edge of Vale due to a smoking wreck involving some kinds of big vehicles.  Somehow we still arrived in Boise area about when we figured we would.  The KOA there was off the freeway far enough to be relatively quiet, but our spot was short and generally the park was pretty cramped with RV’s and vehicles.  Did not put out the big slides, ate leftover Thai food, and went to bed early.  It was baking in Boise area, temp. 100+ when we arrived and sticky through the night, though the A/C helped some.

Sunday 6/30 -  about 480 miles Meridian Idaho to Rock Springs/Green River KOA, Wyoming – Start 6:00 – Arrival around 2:15 – ET 8 ¼ hours

We made good time on the freeways in Idaho, Utah and Wyoming, leaving the ”great olive oil spill” and “slowest McDonalds on earth” on Saturday for the “ugliest KOA on Earth” on this day, a gravel parking lot sitting behind, I think, an oil or gas refinery with big storage tanks.  Somewhat ironically, from our trailer site you can see a big freeway sign that reads “Fireworks Next Exit”.   We’re hoping nobody gets the lame idea of setting off fireworks next to the storage tanks.  With nothing to do and little to see except gray hills with no trees on them, this second day of our post-retirement trip is filled with excitement (right!).  But tomorrow we have Colorado and the Kids to look forward to.

Monday 7/1 – about 350 miles Green River, WY to Louisville, CO – Start 5:50 AM – Arrival around 11:30 AM – ET 5 ¾ hours

We got to Colorado a whole lot faster than we initially expected, thanks to wide open Wyoming freeways with 75 posted speeds, light traffic until we reached the greater Denver area, and a general desire to be there before grandson Jonah arrived.   SW Wyoming was forgettable, drab and dreary; but it got better in a high, long pass between Laramie and Cheyenne in SE Wyoming.  We saw, in that stretch, beautiful sweeping vistas of high pastures among picturesque rock formations, several animals grazing that we guessed were antelopes, plus a small group of elk grazing in the pastures surrounding the freeway. 

Dropped in on Sara and Drew  a little after 11 AM, soon went to lunch in downtown Louisville, then headed out mid-afternoon to Dakota Ridge RV Park in Golden, Colorado. Set up there Monday afternoon thinking this really felt like our first “real day of retirement”, as in we got up on a Monday morning and had nothing else to do but travel on our own personal agenda.  Looking forward to spending a couple months here, welcoming grandson, Jonah, to the world, hanging with the Colorado family, enjoying the Colorado outdoors and amenities, and generally enjoying not having to go to work every morning.