Sandhill Cranes and Home

We left Kearney this morning in light fog, but we could see lots of cranes in the fields. We must have seen 2000-3000 cranes! At first they were just in small flocks of a few to a few dozen. Then we saw some bigger flocks that must have been a hundred or more. Finally, near Grand Island, we saw one huge flock that easily was over a thousand cranes! It was pretty amazing. The news in Kearney was reporting last night that one Whooping Crane (only a few hundred exist) was seen in the area. If we do this trip again at this time of year, we'll have to plan to stay a day or two in Kearney to do some bird watching. The rest of the drive home was long, but the roads were decent and the traffic mostly light. We arrived home at about 6 pm. We had a great time on our trip, but it's nice to be home again. Now we get to start thinking about the upcoming sailing season.

Kearney, NE

Well, the drive today wasn't too bad, but we quit a little earlier than planned due to the weather. We had a mix of light rain, snow showers, sun, wind, etc. Sandhill cranes are migrating through the Platte River valley and we saw several large flocks of them grazing in the old corn fields. We stopped at a rest area just before Kearney and noticed some ice buildup on the antenna of the car next to us. That decided it! We got a motel room in Kearney. Tomorrow is supposed to be a little more of the same, but the road conditions look pretty OK according to the 511 sites online. We'll check again in the morning, but expect to push on after breakfast.

Denver

We arrived at Rick and Di's home in Denver late Friday afternoon. Since then we've been having a ball! They are such great hosts; we love staying with them. Friday night we all went out to dinner with their friends John and Deborah, who will be moving soon to New Orleans. They are both architects and John has started a new job there as project manager of a huge project to rebuild about 140 schools in the city. So they sold their beautiful home in Denver and will be moving in just a couple of weeks. They found a temporary rental in NO until they find a house to buy. Rick and Di will miss them a lot. Saturday was a free day for everyone. After a leisurely start, we did our own things. Lyn and Di went shopping for Lyn's summer wardrobe. It was a great success. Lou went for a 40-mile bike ride (big surprise!) and loved the trails in Denver. It's a great biking city. Rick tried to relax, but he had some of his work projects to check up on. He was also preparing an Indian curry dish for us for dinner. Rick loves to cook and is very good at it. The curry was very hot, but delicious, and we finished it all. Sunday started with Rick not feeling well, so he had to skip the brunch that he organized for Lyn's cousin Donna and her husband Jeff. The rest of us managed to pick up the slack and we had a great brunch and got caught up with Donna and Jeff. We also Skyped Joanie and Johann in San Francisco so we could all talk together. It was Donna's premier on Skype and she really enjoyed it. Later in the afternoon Rick was still resting and trying to get well. Lyn and Di went shopping again (this time for some new dishes for Di), and Lou went for a 30-mile ride. It was supposed to be a yucky day today, but it ended up being quite nice. Now we're trying to decide if we will leave tomorrow morning or stay for another day to wait for a good weather window. We'll check the weather sources again tonight and in the morning and then make the decision. We'll see...

Phoenix to Albuquerque

Our drive today was very scenic. As we neared Flagstaff the San Francisco Peaks reared into view. Also, there was snow on the ground, but luckily there was none on the highway. We turned east after Flagstaff and stopped at the Petrified Forest and Painted Desert National Park. We had a little picnic lunch there, although it was mostly prepared and eaten in the car due to the wind. All in all, it was a great driving day. Fairly stiff SW wind helped us most of the day.

Drivin' thru the desert

We left Encinitas a little after 9 am today. It was sad to leave since we enjoyed being there so much. But life goes on...

We took the scenic route to Phoenix, driving through Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. It was really a very interesting drive. First we had to cross a low (4000') range of mountains. In the mountains was an old mining town called Julian. We had heard of a great bakery in the area and we stopped at the Julian Cafe and Bakery. Lyn had apple pie a la mode and Lou had an apple muffin with butter. Wow, they were really good. Highly recommend this place for anyone traveling through. They have a real cowboy theme, right down to the water glasses looking like cowboy boots.

After coming down from the mountains, we entered the park. It was not as colorful as we had hoped. The octotillo were in bloom with a red flower at the end of the stalks. We also found a few cholla that had a small yellow flower, but that was about it. We had an enjoyable ride through the park.

Later we drove through the Imperial Sand Dunes. That was pretty neat, too. Finally we got to I-10 and the rest of the day was freeway driving to our hotel in Phoenix. Dinner at Applebee's tonight. Tomorrow we head for Albuquerque by way of Flagstaff.

Time to leave already?

Yesterday we went to Janey and Ade's home in San Diego. We had a pleasant late afternoon and evening with them - talking, cards, dinner, and more cards. It was a lot of fun. We had originally planned to go sea kayaking with them, but that never worked out due to weather, other committments, etc. Maybe next time...
We spent today finding all our stuff, doing laundry, packing, etc. We did make some time though for a last walk on the beach for Lyn and a last bike ride to Oceanside Harbor for Lou. I think we're going to miss this a lot! Anyway, we plan to leave tomorrow morning for home. We'll spend three days working our way to Rick and Di's home in Denver and stay with them for a couple days. After that it will be a two-day trip to home. All dependent on the weather, of course, but it looks good at the moment. Here we go!

Back to Encinitas

We had a pretty good time in LA. While we were there we ran into some celebrities at the dinner party.

We left LA mid-morning and are now back to our (rented) townhouse in Encinitas. A big storm is heading our way and it's already starting to rain. It's also very windy, 20-30 mph, and quite cool. The predicted highs for the next week are 60 or lower. We'll probably end up heading straight back without doing any camping. Hopefully we can still go through Denver to see Rick and Di.

NAF Convention / Venice Beach

Yesterday we drove to Los Angeles to attend the National Ataxia Foundation's annual meeting at the Airport Hilton Hotel. We've been having a very good time meeting people and promoting and selling Dave's memoir. (see www.bright-side-books.com) There are a lot of very nice people here. Most of them either have a form of Ataxia or are related to someone who has it, but we've met a number of individuals who are here to help, either in a medical profession or just because they care. It's a really good group.
I took some time this morning for a bike ride from the hotel to Venice Beach. The traffic really wasn't too bad and a lot of the ride was along the ocean and around Marina del Ray on a very nice boardwalk. Venice Beach is quite an interesting place. It's very funky and hippie-ish. Two stores next to each other: Botox on the Beach and a medical marijuana place. Lots of souvenir shops, head shops, food stands, and strange people. While Mission Beach in San Diego was kind of upscale, Venice Beach is not.
After the afternoon sessions at the conference, I took Lyn to see Venice Beach. We drove over and parked the car near the beach. Then we took a short walk so she could get the feel of the place. Afterwards, we had dinner at Tony P's Dock Grill at Marina del Ray. We had a window seat overlooking the boats in the harbor. Good food and atmosphere.

Too Busy to Post

Well, we had a great time with Joanie, Diane, and Rick. A lot of just hanging out together, but we also had some outings. Check out the visitor on the wine bottle at our dinner one night! We all went to San Diego on Sunday and took the trolley tour around the city. It's a good way to see things and get a feel for what's there. Followed it up with dinner at the Harbor House in Seaport Village. We also went out to Point Loma with Joanie on Monday and then dropped her at her convention function at the Hyatt. Lyn and I went out to Coronado for the sunset and dinner at Brigantine Seafood. Everyone is gone now, but we really had a great time with them. Hopefully we'll be able to stop to see Rick and Di in Denver on our way home.

Today we went to visit our friends Dick and Judy in Oceanside. Dick and I worked together for many years and we still get out biking together in the summer. They've been coming to CA in the winter for about 10 years now. They showed us around North Coast Village where they are staying and we had a late fish and chips lunch down by the harbor. It was really nice to catch up with what they've been doing. Their first grandchild, Jake, was born in early Feb. and they can't wait to get back to MN to see him again.

Girls, girls, girls! and Tsunami Watch

Yesterday we picked up Diane and Rick at the airport. They took us out to lunch at the Carlsbad Beach Grill for fish tacos, drinks, and yummy desserts! Joanie arrived by car just in time to see the sunset. We had a great evening catching up on family news and just joking around. It's good to be back together again. It's just too bad Johann couldn't come, but we'll Skype him later.

This morning we woke up to the news of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. The tsunami was headed for California, but it would not be very big here in San Diego. We went to the top of the stairs to join the other people looking for something to happen. There were surfers out in the ocean looking for the waves, too. Later in the day, the girls found some surfers on the beach to call their own. They looove his tattoos....

Harbor Tour

Today was one of the warmest days since we've been here (mid-70s) so we decided to do the San Diego Bay harbor tour. This was a two-hour tour and was quite interesting. I didn't know there were so many Navy ships stationed here. It was pretty cool seeing all the different types, but there were no aircraft carriers except the Midway, which is a museum.

We saw lots of sea lions in one place where they unload bait fish, I think. There must have been about a hundred of them lounging on some floating docks. I guess that keeps them off of people's boats, which is a problem in some places in California.

After the tour we walked around the harbor a bit. Here is Lyn looking just like the figurehead on HMS Surprise, which was used in the making of "Master and Commander" starring Russell Crowe. (You have to imagine the sword in her hand.)

We ended the day with a very nice sunset viewing near the beach.

The Saga Continues

Yesterday was kind of a gloomy day with clouds and drizzle, temps in the low 50s. We did some errands in the morning and our friends Janey and Ade, who live in San Diego, came to visit in the afternoon. We had some nice conversation and showed them around our place. We went out to dinner with them in the evening at the Carlsbad Beach Grill. Really good fish tacos!

Today we started out as usual. Lyn went for a long beach walk and I went for a long bike ride. Boy, it's nice to be able to get out and do those things.

In the afternoon we decided to go for a drive north to Dana Point. We visited the marina there; wow, what a lot of boats! Must be a couple thousand. We continued our drive up to Laguna Beach, where Lyn's sister Diane and her husband Rick used to live back in the 80s. Got back home right around sunset. Another nice day...

Lazy Sunday

This morning Lyn went for a walk on the beach and I went for a bike ride to San Marcos. After that we went to the farmers market to get one of those great sandwiches for our lunch. The rest of the day was reading and relaxing. Ahhhhh....

Beaches

Today was an absolutely beautiful day. Temps in the upper 70s and mostly clear skies. We drove down to La Jolla and meandered along the ocean. Lots of people out enjoying their Saturday. La Jolla is pretty cool with lots of rock cliffs. We saw some seals as well as people snorkeling. Later, we parked at the north end of Pacific Beach to watch all the kite boarders and wind surfers, which was really fun.

We got on the bikes and rode the boardwalk down to the heart of Pacific Beach to find some lunch. Then we continued south on the boardwalk all the way down to the end of Mission Beach. Wow, what a lot of people! Playing on the beach, surfing, biking, roller blading, skate boarding, partying, sunning, etc. It was great people watching. On the way back we stopped at the Pacific Bean coffee shop to share one of their Acai Bowls. It was acai flavored ice cream with granola, bananas, strawberries, and blueberries. Very tasty!

The last thing we did was drive up to Soledad Mountain for the great views. You can see practically all the way to Mexico and as far north as Dana Point. It was a bit hazy, but not too bad. Arrived back at out townhouse in time to see a really good sunset. Wow, it was a good day...

A Sad Day

When we were just arriving in San Diego last week we received the sad news that Haylee, the grand-daughter of our friends Janey and Ade, had passed away. She was only 14 months old and had a rare inherited disease. Her mom, Katie, is Janey and Ade's daughter. Her dad, Brett, is in the marines and had been in Afghanistan until just before Haylee died. Today we were pleased to be able to attend the memorial service at Miramar Air Base.

Day 15 - Just the two of us

Bob and Ilona left this morning, heading back to MN in their cool little RV. They'll probably take the south route to stay out of the cold and snow (at least until they hit MN!) So now Lyn and I are alone for a week until Jo, Di, and Rick arrive next Thursday.

We didn't do a lot today: read a bit, sat on the patio enjoying the sunshine, Lyn got a manicure. In the late afternoon Lou went for another bike ride. (Do the days all seem the same? The weather seems to be consistent.) This bike ride I went inland several miles, then looped north and then back to the ocean. Lots of hills! It was a mix of zooming down at 25-35 mph and struggling up at 5-9 mph. A little different than the rolling terrain along the ocean. It would have been nice if there wasn't so much traffic. At least I'll know the route next time. (Next time?)

Day 14 - Birding and Biking

Well, we had a nice leisurely morning, drinking coffee, catching up on email, and talking.

Lou did go for a bike ride after lunch. Started north of Oceanside in the middle of Camp Pendleton and rode north to San Clemente. It was a decent ride, but S.C. was a bit of a letdown. The roads were real steep to get down to the pier and there isn't really much there. Had a small snack from a convenience store and then climbed back up. The major part of the route was pretty flat between I-5 and the ocean. I arrived in San Clemente about the time school was getting out and there were lots of kids carrying surfboards to the beaches. I saw several riding skateboards with their surfboards under their arms. One was even talking on his cell phone at the same time!

Lyn, Bob, and Ilona went out together and did some hiking and birding in some of the nearby natural areas. Their highlight was a baby Anna's hummingbird! They also did the shopping for dinner and for Bob and Ilona's trip home.

We grilled burgers for dinner and had a nice evening chatting and watching the Horse Whisperer movie.

Days 12 and 13 - First Visitors

Our friends Bob and Ilona arrived yesterday. They are our friends from the Northern Lights Sailing Club in Minneapolis. They've actually been away from Mpls since Dec. 18 and spent most of that time in CA with a week in Hawaii. Now they're going to stay with us a few nights before starting the drive home. Ah....retirement....

We took our bikes into Encinitas and rode south along the coast for a bit. Then we came back here to have a nice pasta and salad dinner.

Today we took the Coaster train to the Old Town San Diego station. We had our bikes with us and rode from the station to Mission Beach and had a nice lunch at the beach. We saw a lot of water birds along the river (black-necked stilt, American avocet, cinnamon teal, great-blue heron, snowy egret, coots, green-winged teal, etc.) Very fun! Our ride back to the station was a bit hectic as the bike route map was not really detailed enough. In one place it showed two trails intersecting, but one of them was on a bridge 40' above us! We made it back in one piece, but it was a bit hairy at times. I think we'll skip biking tomorrow....