Family

Becca and Ken Came To Visit

Last week our daughter, Becca, and her boyfriend, Ken came to visit. They arrived late on Saturday night. On Sunday after breakfast, we all drove up to Cape Royal, my favorite place here at the North Rim. The sun was shining down, and we were having a great time.

The view from Cape Royal is awesome, in my opinion one of the best viewpoints at the Grand Canyon. It is where I take anyone who comes to visit, also, it is were I send visitors to the park who ask me where they should go.

So, this was the first time we have met Becca’s guy. He is very nice, very thoughtful, very intelligent, and it is obvious to me that she is in love with him, and that he is in love with her. I really like him. But, Fabgrandpa is one of those guys who seems to find fault with anyone who comes courting his daughters. His actions sort of reminded me of a gorilla beating his fists on his chest to claim his territory, and made an otherwise lovely visit a little tense. I wish he could just be happy that she has found someone who loves her and makes her happy. Why do men act like that? (to my family members who read this, please don’t say anything to him, it will only make it worse. Just let me vent here, ok?)

Yes, FabGrandpa loves her, too.

Here I am with Ken. He is an avid photographer, and takes some really gorgeous shots. He has a really nice camera that I am jealous of.

There’s Becca, waaayyyy over there near the edge on the right hand side of the cliff, between two bushes. If you click to enlarge the photo, you’ll see she is waving to me.

We walked all the little trails at Cape Royal. I think we spent a couple of hours up there.

Before coming home, we hiked down to Cliff Springs. FabGrandpa and I hiked there last year, and I really wanted Becca and Ken to see it. There is a spring there, that drips out of the side of the cliffs. Indians used to get water there for their crops when they grew corn, squash, and beans up here years ago.

A maidenhair fern growing out of the rocks at Cliff Springs.

This is one of my favorite photos from their visit. We were resting under the cliffs, waiting for the rain to go away. Becca was sitting there taking in the view.

This was the storm coming in . There was lightening and thunder going on, which I don’t really like, but we were safe enough where we were sitting.

When we got back from our trip to Cape Royal and the Cliff Springs, Becca and Ken were going to take us all out to the lodge for dinner, but we couldn’t get a reservation. We made dinner at home, and made a reservation for the next night. On Monday, it was my last day off, so I stayed home and rested. Becca and Ken went back up to Cape Royal and hiked out to Green Lake, which is a tiny lake about 100 yards off the road. It is gorgeous and not many people see it because they don’t know it’s there.

The lodge has massive exposed beams and huge chandiliers. There are huge windows on the canyon side so if you are lucky enough to get a table there you can have your dinner with a great view. We didn’t get a window table, though. I had prime rib, which came with asparagus and a baked potato. It was excellent. Thanks Ken and Becca! I really appreciated that!

I had to work the rest of the time they were here, so they went hiking on several trails for the rest of the time they were here. They hiked out to Widforss Point, to Cape Final, and to Bright Angel Point a couple of times. I am glad they went out there and saw as much of the area as they could.

Ilex, their 12 year old dog, came with them. She relaxed in the trailer most of the day. She is a very good dog.

All too soon it was time for them to leave for home. I was working at the entrance station when they left. They stopped and walked over to say goodbye, and even though I had a line waiting to get in, I took the time to hug them both tight. The next guy I waited on commented about my eyes leaking as they drove away.

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Tomorrow Is My Birthday

Karen · 11 Comments

and my friend, Gaelyn, of Geogypsy, sent me this birthday card:

She took that picture when we went on our tour of Yarnell, AZ and The Castle there. Isn’t it great to have such good friends?

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One More Thing From Our Visit With Geogypsy

Karen · 5 Comments

A while back, Gaelyn wrote about getting a deal on a pair of cut glass earrings. I admired them when she posted a picture of them on her blog.

When we were up there visiting last week, she gave them to me. I have to say, I adore them. They are clip ons, perfect for me because my ears aren’t pierced. My maternal grandmother was from Austria, so I like to think that maybe someone I am related to had a hand in making them, and somehow they made their way to me after all these years.

You just never know. Thank you so much, Gaelyn!

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A Visit To Geogypsy, Part II

Karen · 7 Comments

After we went to the Shrine of St. Joseph, Gaelyn said she wanted us to see another place called Noah’s Ark. It is on the same road as the shrine. Of course we said “OK”.

At first glance it looks like just a pile of rocks, but there is more to it than that. This is a place of modern day ruins, remnants of a castle that Alessio Carrarro, an Italian immigrant who had made his fortune in sheet metal in San Francisco, started building in the 1950’s to entice his wife to come to Arizona to life. She wanted no part of living here, but he believed that if he could build a beautiful castle for her, that she would change her mind. Carrarro was the same guy who designed and built the Tovrea Castle in Phoenix.

It is amazing to think about building those stone walls and mixing all that cement on the steep cliffs, working around the large boulders there. He must have been one determined man.

When we got to the property and parked the truck, no one else was around. I asked Gaelyn if we would get in trouble if we climbed up to the castle, as we were on private property. She said she had been up there before, so up we went. Soon, the owner, Doug Campblin, joined us on the trail. That in itself was the second amazing thing about this place. He said he encourages visitors to Noah’s Ark, because it was too unique not to share. He acted like a tour guide and gave us lots of history about the place. He was certainly a very gracious host.

Here’s Gaelyn in the doorway of the castle.

Some of the window sashes and the door facings are still there.

This was really a castle, see that turret up there?

Me and FabGrandpa in front of the “octopus”.

FabGrandpa surveying his kingdom.

There is our truck waaaayyyyy down there! yes, we really did climb all the way up. (and my legs hurt like heck the next day!)

A view from the top. These rocks are balanced precariously above the houses below.

The elephant. The reason the place is called Noah’s Ark, is that there are a lot of large boulders that look like animals here. Someone long ago painted their names on them so you’d be sure to see them.

The bear. He’s looking down on the town of Yarnell.

Another view of the castle.

If you ever get to Yarnell, it is well worth the effort and time to visit Noah’s Ark. Yarnell is on Highwy 89 between Wickenburg and Prescott, Arizona. And if you get to meet Doug, tell him FabGrandma sent you.

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A Visit To Geogypsy, Part I

Karen · 5 Comments

FabGrandpa had an appointment at the Veteran’s Adminisiration Medical Center in Prescott for his yearly physical and bloodwork. Yarnell, where our friend Gaelyn lives, is about half way between where we live and where we were going, so we drove up there the day before his appointment and spent the night.

Before I get into the story of our visit, I will take a moment here to say that everything checked out ok for the Fab guy–his TSH for his thyroid was very good, his blood pressure was good so still no need for blood pressure meds (Dr. Singh, his endocrinologist in Atlanta, told me last year his bp was “borderline” and told me not feed him so much sausage, so we have cut down on it a lot!), no sign of that pesky cancer AT ALL. The did make an appoinment with an optamologist for them to look at his eye, because he has been having some trouble with it, but we think it is because of all the dust in the air out here in the desert. He had the same problem with in Texas. I’ll update on that after we see that doc on Thursday.

Ok, where was I? Oh yeah:

The road to Yarnell goes right over that mountain:

At times, it looks like you are going to drive off into the sky:

The two directions of the road go on different paths, with the southbound down the mountain lanes on the upper road, and the northbound up the mountain lanes on the lower road.

This is looking out the window on the passenger side, at the road where we have been. I am glad I don’t get car sick:

At the top of the mountain is Yarnell. It is like a littel paradise in the middle of Arizona. After seeing it I can understand why Gaelyn wants to live here in the winter months, even if they get snow from time to time. It is gorgeus. This is the yard between Gaelyn’s 5th wheel and Berta’s house:

This is the “Little House” where FabGrandpa and I spent the night. It was cozy and very comfortable. Thanks Gaelyn! and Thanks Berta! We really enjoyed our stay, our visit, and the company. We felt so special!

Gaelyn took us on the Grand Tour of Yarnell. This is the yard of one of their neighbors. He has lots of metal sculpture animals there.

One local attraction is the Shrine of St. Joseph. It has several statues of Jesus set amongst the huge rocks. It is a place for quiet meditation. Lots of people visit it.

There are several stone paths and stairways here that you can climb. Or you can just sit in the garden on a bench.

But, the best was yet to come! Check in tomorrow for Noah’s Ark….

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Vacation IV: The Last Day

Karen · 5 Comments

On the last day of our vacation, we headed over to the Tijuana Estuary National Wildlife Refuge. It is the slough, or wetlands, formed where the Tijuana River flows into the Pacific Ocean. The Tijuana River is the border between California and Mexico.

When FabGrandpa was a kid, he and his brothers and friends would go there hunting for bait for fishing off the pier. It wasn’t a park then. He said they learned where they could gently step their feet up and down, to make shrimp like creatures come up out of the mud. Those things, according to him, were the best bait around. They would also swim across the river to the Mexico side to body surf because the waves were better there.

Now there is a fence there, so you can’t get to the other side. At the refuge, there are trails, and picnic area. The place is run by a co-operative of the National Park Service, the Fish and Wildlife Service, and California State Parks department. We couldn’t go very far on the day we were there because there had been some damage to the roads and trails from a storm, but we did enjoy some fabulous views from the visitor center area.

All the flowers growing here are native to the area. The little white ones smelled sooo good!

Because of the variable wetness of the area due to the tides and scarce rain, there is quite a mix of vegetation.

After we left the estuary, we decided to drive over to Mission Valley to go to Best Buy. FabGrandpa has been wanting to buy the game Left for Dead, and they didn’t have it at the National City store. They told us there were 20 copies of it at the other store. I wish I had taken some pictures of that area! Where I-8 goes through Mission Valley, the bridges are awesome! They are so high off the ground it is amazing. But, I am not a very good passenger when we are going fast in lots of traffic. I was so busy watching the traffic that I didn’t have time to get the photos.

Since we were already on I-8, when we left the store, we kept going west on I-8 until we got to the end, and wound up driving through downtown San Diego. It is really a very lovely city. I did get a shot of one of the highway bridges there. I guess I am just weird that I like bridges.

Here is a shot of the downtown San Diego skyline as seen across the harbor. I love the contrast of all the boats against the tall buildings.

We saw Border Patrol EVERYWHERE! They seemed to be more of them than San Diego police cars. When we were on California 94, we passed one almost every mile.

Another picture of downtown San Diego. I just love this one because of the palm trees.

Every time we come to San Diego, we have to drive over the Coronado Bridge.

It is one of the longest, tallest bridges I have ever been on. This next picture is the view from the top of the bridge:

Looking back:

Looking ahead:

We drove through Coronado and past the Silver Strand State Park, and back into Imperial Beach. We ate a late lunch at El Tapatio, where I had shrimp that was stuffed with crab, wrapped with bacon, and baked. Very good!

This was the last sunset of the vacation. I hope we get to go back next year.

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Vacation III: Uncle Jr., Mexico and The Pier

Karen · 4 Comments

The first order of business on Wednesday was to drive through the streets of Imperial Beach, going past the places where FabGrandpa lived and played. This picture shows the entrance to the trailer park where he lived for several years with his parents and brothers. If you look closely, you may see The Wing sticking up there on the hill. The official name for it is the John J. Montgomery Memorial Park.

We went by Mar Vista High School, Emory Elementary School, the drive-in theater that has a flea market during the day. The water tank where there used to be a grove of eucalyptus trees, and past the place where he used to hide in a fig tree and eat until he was sticky all over. It was great to see him so happy that he could see this place again, and that so many of the places were still recognizable to him.

We also went by to visit Uncle Junior, as he is called by everyone in the family. He has lived here since 1979. His wife, Terry, died last year so he is living there alone now. He told us he is trying to get things in order so he can sell the house and move back to Georgia. He’s looking pretty good for 82 years old. We had a nice visit with him, then left on our way to Mexico, less than 10 miles away.

We parked at a lot on the U.S. side of the border, and walked across the bridge to Tijuana. It was a pretty long walk compared to other places where I have crossed into Mexico. There were lots of people walking over that day. In the picture below are cars at the border stop going into Mexico:

After we crossed the bridge, and went through that revolving gate, we stopped to take my picture with this cow statue. Just because I thought it was pretty. There was also an information booth here where we were able to find directions to the places we wanted to go.

We didn’t stay very long–we only wanted to go and get my prescription for metformin ($6.00 for 100 tablets, for my diabetes type II), some amoxicillian ($7.00 for 100 capsules, we like to keep some on hand) and a couple of Z-packs($6.00 each). I know when I get an ear infection that is the only thing that will knock it out. We also got a 5th of Herra Dura Reposado Tequila. It was $32 in Mexico, and unaffordable here. That 5th will last me 2 years.

Then we walked back over the bridge, showed our passport cards, and went home. Easy peasy, and no gunshots were heard. All the cars in the picture below are people entering the United States through Tijuana. There are armed border agents down there inspecting the cars and checking passports and other documents. It looked like a pretty long wait.

We got back to the inn just around lunch time. FabGrandpa was wanting to walk over to the pier, which was good news to me because he hadn’t wanted to do anything until that day. So we walked over there, and went to the Tin Fish Restaurant at the end of the pier for lunch.

He had a fried fish and shrimp combo, I ordered grilled shrimp. I could eat shrimp every day, and I did while I was on vacation. It was really good, and the atmosphere on the pier was excellent.

Yep, here I am in my signature orange traveling shirt. It is not the same one I usually wear, I have three, but still, it IS orange.

These guys were out there surfing every day, from morning til sunset. Mostly they just sat on their surfboards waiting for ‘the wave’, but when they did get a good wave they rode it all the way in.

This picture shows just how close to Mexico we were. If you click on the picture to make it larger, you will see that the top arrow is pointing to the bullring in Tijuana, and bottom one is pointing to the end of Seacoast Boulevard in Imperial Beach.

After lunch we walked back over to the inn, and just relaxed on the deck for the afternoon. This sea bird just sat there posing for me.

More of the beautiful flowers. These were actually growing on the sand dune below the deck of the inn, and climbed over the railing.

Another one by the pool. I don’t know the names of these but they are gorgeous.

And again, the sun sets on the Pacific Ocean, bringing us the end of another day.

The lights on the pier seen from the deck outside our room:

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I Had A totally Fabulous Post Planned But Then Things Went To Shit…

Karen · 11 Comments

So I was planning to write all about our vacation every night but then… We got to the inn, which I still love so much, but they do not have wireless internet, AND my Verizon Wireless card does not get a signal in the room here. AND my cellphone says I am roaming–In MEXICO!!! Which I am not because I am still in California.

Then, on top of that, FabGrandpa is sick–he has been making good use of the bathroom here at the inn. Throwing up, and, yeah, that other end stuff, too. I know if he doesn’t make it there the motel maid is sooooo going to be doing the clean-up. He is hoping that it is only a 24 hour virus bug and that he will be better tomorrow. And I am hoping like crazy that is something he ate so I won’t get sick next.

So, since I have to walk two blocks down to the internet cafe to get online, and they are charging a heft $3.00 PER HOUR, I won’t be posting vacation blogs until we get home. For now, though, since I already paid the $3.00 to get online, here are some pictures from the trip yesterday, and the beach:

Harvesting Broccoki in Yuma, Arizona