Wednesday, February 11, 2009
My Little Stonehenge ..... In Provo Canyon
I got to be home for a while! Woohoo! On the way up Provo Canyon to Sundance.
It was wonderful to be home for a while! I attended some fun ward activities and my buddies who are the ward activities planners asked me to be their photographer. It was quite fun. I won't post those photos for the sake of privacy. Coming up....Apache Junction, Arizona (in the Phoenix valley), San Francisco, December in Hawaii... I will post another clip of hawaii for now....so my brothers can see the big wave surfers on the North Shore of Oahu. Love you guys! (my brothers...not the surfers).
Back Home in Provo
Spring, this little guy hung out in my tree all day.
I think this is Springville...on the way to ProvoAfter a time in Tehachapi, we came home to Utah for a few weeks before Richard went on the road again. Whenever I see my mountain range, I feel in awe, and at home. I love Provo! It's beautiful here. It was so great to be back in our ward here and see our friends and family! It just feels so good to home when you're on the road a lot!
We drove up to Park City, and had dinner with my brothers. We went shooting on the west side of Utah Lake with some friends We got to shoot some really cool 45s and an AK47, and an Israeli Assault Rifle. We love to be among our friends at home, and fortunately for us we travel on the road with friends, too.
Tehachapi, California elevation 5500
Alas, back to So Cal, but not by the beach. We left Isleton in January and headed south on the 5 for Tehachapi, California where my old roommate Bonni is from. I'd heard cool things about it, and I got to see if they are true. Yes. We arrived in Tehachapi blanketed by the previous night's snow storm. It seemed as if we might as well have been arriving back in Provo, Utah where our home is. It was beautiful! Boo hadn't seen the snow in a while, and went a little crazy for it when we let him out of the truck! I think he thought we were home in Utah.
We made our home in Indian Hills Ranch which is about 5500 feet high. That's approx. 1000 feet higher than Provo. Tehachapi is a very spread out high mountain valley. It is up in the mountain range between Lancaster and Bakersfield. The downside, there is not a Target or Wal Mart, only a KMart. It definitely has a smalltown feel. Boo and I went hiking up the hills, and it was a little difficult to breath at that altitude.
Almost every house has dogs in their yard. I gather that Tehachapians are a dog loving people. We saw deer and elk quite a bit. People were very friendly at church, and I even met some people who grew up with Bonni. It was cool to see the famous train that makes a 360 degree loop. Richard took me to the Apple Shed for a romantic Valentines Dinner. I guess that’s where the old train station was pretty interesting story… http://www.appleshedonline.com/aboutus/
We made our home in Indian Hills Ranch which is about 5500 feet high. That's approx. 1000 feet higher than Provo. Tehachapi is a very spread out high mountain valley. It is up in the mountain range between Lancaster and Bakersfield. The downside, there is not a Target or Wal Mart, only a KMart. It definitely has a smalltown feel. Boo and I went hiking up the hills, and it was a little difficult to breath at that altitude.
Almost every house has dogs in their yard. I gather that Tehachapians are a dog loving people. We saw deer and elk quite a bit. People were very friendly at church, and I even met some people who grew up with Bonni. It was cool to see the famous train that makes a 360 degree loop. Richard took me to the Apple Shed for a romantic Valentines Dinner. I guess that’s where the old train station was pretty interesting story… http://www.appleshedonline.com/aboutus/
Tehachapi is a charming, beautiful town! Richard and I both felt at home there, and entertained the possibility of moving there someday. However, neither of us are enticed by California's politics or the current economic situation there. I think we'll keep our home in Utah!
Isleton, California on the Sacramento Delta
So we finally make it to Isleton. This place is a trip! We stayed on the Sacramento Delta (Sacramento River) across the bridge from Rio Vista. This is largely an agricultural town, but the loop on the Delta where we stayed is where tons of people congregate spring-fall to vacation on the river. It is a few miles long with many resorts along the levy road. Some people live there, and some even live on their boats.
The Delta is very resorty – which I kinda liked. It was a little like being on vacation year round, just with less people (and more rain). Also, it reminded me of the vacation spot that Baby’s family went to in the movie Dirty Dancing with Patrick Swayze.
The only thing I didn’t like, is that we lived below the levy (so below the river) and we had a lot of rain, and lost power for 3 days. Our cool neighbor Kevin hooked us up to his generator so we didn’t have to suffer too long. What a kind guy (Also Richard’s boss). There was some flooding, and I didn’t like the feeling that we may be stuck if the river overflowed or the levy broke, because there was no other way out, accept that skinny levy road.
I attended a lunch group with the ladies from church at the country club, and it was a blast getting to know them for the short time we were there. We ran into some old friends in Lodi, met some new friends (shout out), and had some good times. I give a shout out to them and say, “Hey, wassup?” If I’ve said it once, then I’ve said it a thousand times… this world is a small place. I really have seen the six degrees of separation.
My brother was with us for our first few weeks in Isleton. We’d already viewed the entire first several seasons of Grey’s Anatomy when he visited me in Utah – he’s the one who got me hooked on Grey’s, so we had to find other things to do in the middle of nowhere. We took lots of photos and played ping pong in the clubhouse while doing our laundry. He is wack at ping pong…why didn’t I know this before? Hmm. Thanks Bro for staking out with us.
We drove to Stockton and Lodi for shopping and movies. Richard worked across another bridge in Antioch (towards Concord) at the power plant. Richard took my brother and I to The Lighthouse, a cool fancy restaurant on the Delta, for my birthday. I had the best salmon dish (with green olives)…yum! Thanks Honey. We also got to see the lighted boat parade which runs every Christmas. The Isletonaires dress up their boats as Christmas icons, like a Halloween costume party for boats. I have to say the docks are pretty wobbly with a tripod and camera pack.
When we took my brother to the airport in Sacramento, Richard and I got to go to Old Town in Sacramento. While that is a really cool place, never eat at an all you can eat pasta/pizza buffet if it cost less than $10/person. We made that mistake (because a guy was passing out coupons. HELLO! First clue! Besides, there are plenty of cute bistros and restaurants in Old Town.
The Delta is very resorty – which I kinda liked. It was a little like being on vacation year round, just with less people (and more rain). Also, it reminded me of the vacation spot that Baby’s family went to in the movie Dirty Dancing with Patrick Swayze.
The only thing I didn’t like, is that we lived below the levy (so below the river) and we had a lot of rain, and lost power for 3 days. Our cool neighbor Kevin hooked us up to his generator so we didn’t have to suffer too long. What a kind guy (Also Richard’s boss). There was some flooding, and I didn’t like the feeling that we may be stuck if the river overflowed or the levy broke, because there was no other way out, accept that skinny levy road.
I attended a lunch group with the ladies from church at the country club, and it was a blast getting to know them for the short time we were there. We ran into some old friends in Lodi, met some new friends (shout out), and had some good times. I give a shout out to them and say, “Hey, wassup?” If I’ve said it once, then I’ve said it a thousand times… this world is a small place. I really have seen the six degrees of separation.
My brother was with us for our first few weeks in Isleton. We’d already viewed the entire first several seasons of Grey’s Anatomy when he visited me in Utah – he’s the one who got me hooked on Grey’s, so we had to find other things to do in the middle of nowhere. We took lots of photos and played ping pong in the clubhouse while doing our laundry. He is wack at ping pong…why didn’t I know this before? Hmm. Thanks Bro for staking out with us.
We drove to Stockton and Lodi for shopping and movies. Richard worked across another bridge in Antioch (towards Concord) at the power plant. Richard took my brother and I to The Lighthouse, a cool fancy restaurant on the Delta, for my birthday. I had the best salmon dish (with green olives)…yum! Thanks Honey. We also got to see the lighted boat parade which runs every Christmas. The Isletonaires dress up their boats as Christmas icons, like a Halloween costume party for boats. I have to say the docks are pretty wobbly with a tripod and camera pack.
When we took my brother to the airport in Sacramento, Richard and I got to go to Old Town in Sacramento. While that is a really cool place, never eat at an all you can eat pasta/pizza buffet if it cost less than $10/person. We made that mistake (because a guy was passing out coupons. HELLO! First clue! Besides, there are plenty of cute bistros and restaurants in Old Town.
From Gig Harbor, WA to No Cal
Point Defiance Park
Space needle from our sail boat
From Metolius we went to Gig Harbor, Washington across the Narrows bridge from Tacoma. Richard drove to Tacoma for work everyday, but I’m glad we lived in Gig Harbor. Although I swear the taxes were higher there than even California, Washington is a beautiful state with lots to do and more plush green than you can find anywhere else (accept Hawaii). Gig Harbor has it’s own charm.
While in Gig Harbor, we explored a town by Tacoma called Renton. We drove the 5 Mile Drive, discovered Point Defiance Park and the lookout above the Puget Sound where we saw our Tacoma Narrows Bridge in the photo above. That 5 Mile Drive is Gorgeous! Wow! Talk about plush, green forest...and right by the water. Just breathtaking.
I picked up my brother from the SeaTac Airport the day before Thanksgiving, and took him atop the Space Needle. I really wanted to take him to the Experience Music Project, but it was closed….he would have loved it! He came out to make the drive down the Oregon Coast with us, because he’s always wanted to see it, too, and after seeing photos of our vacation there, he decided he didn’t want to miss it. He also wanted to go through the Redwood Forest with us.
So we packed up Thanksgiving Day and moved to Isleton, California. On our drive we traveled down the Oregon Coast and staid the night in picturesque Crescent City, California. http://www.crescentcity.org/
We hung out at the beach in Brookings, Oregon just across the border. http://www.brookingsor.com/
This area looks a lot like Bandon Beach in Oregon with all the rock formations like in the movie Goonies. Check out Bandon by the sea @ http://www.el.com/to/bandon/ and awesome place to vacation if you get the chance.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
The Oregon Coast
While we were living in Metolius, we were able to travel to the Oregon Coast for Labor Day weekend, another dream come true.
Ok, so I grew up by the SoCal Coast, and I've been to beaches all over Florida, and I have never seen such beautiful beaches as we saw on the Oregon Coast! Just Gorgeous.
We stayed in Newport, Oregon then traveled down the coast to Bandon, Oregon. We got to go to a classic car show in the parking lot of the Newport Aquarium (awesome aquarium!) Richard had to push me in a wheel chair the whole day because of a foot injury - that was fun. Especially fun was walking on a cain on the beach ....not real easy. Overall, our trip was fabulous and we can't wait to return.
Ok, so I grew up by the SoCal Coast, and I've been to beaches all over Florida, and I have never seen such beautiful beaches as we saw on the Oregon Coast! Just Gorgeous.
We stayed in Newport, Oregon then traveled down the coast to Bandon, Oregon. We got to go to a classic car show in the parking lot of the Newport Aquarium (awesome aquarium!) Richard had to push me in a wheel chair the whole day because of a foot injury - that was fun. Especially fun was walking on a cain on the beach ....not real easy. Overall, our trip was fabulous and we can't wait to return.
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