March 2020 – Exploring with Beth

A Downside of Full Time RV Living

It has been awhile since I wrote a blog post and thought I would give an update after being in Tucson for the last week. We left California on March 17 and started driving toward Tucson, taking several days. Our first stop was one of our favorite parks, Orange Grove RV located near Bakersfield. Unfortunately, it was past orange 🍊 picking season but the trees were loaded with sweet blossoms which were nice to see and smell. The park was busy when we arrived and we found out that a number of RVers were Canadians who were in a hurry to get back to their country due to the Coronavirus situation. They had been told that their travel insurance was running out and if they became ill in the U.S., their medical care would not be covered. The morning we left the park after a two night stay, the place was almost empty.

No oranges left, but blossoms galore on the many trees

Our second stop for two nights was near Parker, Arizona in the tiny town of Bouse which seemed a little more removed from all the virus uproar. This is an area popular with ATVers as there is miles of open BLM land and lots of dirt tracks to ride on. It was my first chance to take a walk in the desert, see my beloved saguaro cactus as well as other desert plant life and enjoy the fantastic cloud filled sky.

The cactus and ocotillo were not in bloom yet but there were plenty of brittle bush, a standout in the desert with their bright yellow flowers.

Upon arrival to Tucson we were happy to be back at Rincon Country West Resort, a place we stayed last March and April for five weeks. It is a huge park that normally has a multitude of clubs, activities, trips, shows and other amenities. We found out prior to arrival that all activities and clubs had been canceled indefinitely due to the virus. This is understandable in this situation as government recommendations are that people not gather in larger groups, maintain distance and concentrate on social isolation. What a difference a year makes.

Arriving a year ago I was busy trying to figure out what activities to participate in, field trips to sign up for and club meetings to check out. Since the library is closed, people cannot gather and work on puzzles together (or alone), a favorite activity of mine before. But all that aside, this is a park we can stay at for awhile and feel secure. Although we are hoping to continue traveling around the U.S. this year, we figure we won’t hit the road for a few months, perhaps longer if the situation around the country remains critical.

The main drag at Rincon – there are palm trees everywhere in this park

Self isolation could be difficult here though. This is a very friendly park where people are used to stopping to chat and gather together regularly on their park model decks or at their RV sites. Especially since people live in such close proximity to each other. But most residents seem to be working on keeping appropriate distance.

This brings me to explaining the title of this post – a downside of full time RV living. It hit me (and Mark too) shortly after arriving in Tucson how tired we were of living in our very small travel trailer. It works out okay as our home when we are on the road seeing all the different states, towns, cities and scenic areas. With new places to get out and explore, we didn’t have to spend that much time in the trailer and could focus on adventures we had found. But after spending four and a half months in one place while in Northern California and arriving to Tucson where we need to stay in the trailer as much as possible, it has become somewhat of an endurance test.

It looks like we might have some relief soon though. We had decided toward the end of last year that we would like to buy what is called a “park model” at Rincon West which is a smaller version of a mobile home. The majority of the sites here are park models used primarily by “snow birds” during the colder months, returning to their main homes in the spring. Our thought was to buy one that we could live in for about four months each year and then continue to travel and visit family in our trailer the rest of the year. It would give us a little bit of a home base and a chance to enjoy all the wonderful amenities of the park each year. We have found a park model we like and are working on finalizing the details. Hopefully in a few weeks we will move in and have a little more room to move about. I never thought that some day I would look at a park model as being “roomy.” Life is certainly a matter of perspective 😊.

For now we will continue to “hunker down” here in Tucson, make the best of our tiny space and see what the weeks ahead bring. We are hoping this finds our readers continuing to be healthy and managing okay in this time of crisis.

Birds and Blossoms: Two Gems in California’s Central Valley

Snow Geese in flight at Llano Seco Wildlife Refuge – February 2019

As I write this post, we are preparing to leave California tomorrow for Arizona with Tucson as our destination. We had originally hoped to get there several weeks earlier, but Mark’s dental appointments kept us longer. We now leave at a stressful time with all the life changes and uncertainty this country and of course the world is facing over the Coronavirus. We had hoped to travel to Southern California first to visit with our son/daughter-in-law and see some other relatives as well, but had to put that off for later when things are more stable. While in Tucson we will be staying at the same mega RV park (even the same space) as last year. We really liked the park a lot because they have an abundance of activities, clubs and events. In addition, we really enjoy the desert scenery. We are going to look into buying what is called a “park model” which is stationary and bigger than an RV but smaller than a mobile home. We could be “snow birds” and stay during the winter months and then continue to travel around the U.S. with our trailer when it warms up. We will see what awaits us when we reach Tucson, as the situation with this virus changes daily as new requirements are put into place.

Luke and Levi looking for birds on the boardwalk at Cosumnes River Preserve

In this post I thought I would share some thoughts and photos on two bright spots in California’s Central Valley. Hopefully this will give a bit of a break from all the virus news and bring some cheer to our readers. Since I have written a number of other posts about my interest in birding, it should not be a surprise that I have more to share today. Each November they come along the Pacific Flyway as wildlife refuges and wetlands fill with geese, ducks, shorebirds and sand hill cranes. Going out to see the birds was a winter ritual for me every year when we were living in California. On our recent stay we hit a few of our favorites to see how the birds were doing.

Levi tries on some antlers at the Cosumnes River Preserve Visitor Center

It is always fun to help the younger generation learn about birding and our two grandsons Luke and Levi seemed to enjoy a few trips to Cosumnes River Preserve near the town of Galt. We checked out the small visitor center and then took to the trail wandering through an oak forest and by wetlands before ending up at the largest marsh full of ducks and white fronted geese. Luke and Levi did great learning how to use the binoculars and identify some birds they had not seen before. They also diligently marked off our finds on a list.

We stayed for the sunset and to watch the sand hill cranes fly in, one of the most exciting birding sights. Unfortunately, I had left my long camera lens at home during our sunset visit, so missed getting a shot of them landing.

Shannon, Luke and Levi enjoying a rest on the boardwalk before sunset

One afternoon Mark and I headed south to the Merced Wildlife Refuge to drive the auto tour route. We saw a variety of shorebirds, ducks and the highlight – hundreds of snow geese blanketing the water. For us, this has been the best place in the Valley to see these geese.

Mark on the observation platform at Merced Wildlife Refuge

When the sun was setting they lifted from the water to a neighboring field for the night.

One of my favorite ducks is the Northern Pintail which was in great abundance when I visited Llano Seco Refuge near Chico with my parents the day after Christmas. We had also hoped to see snow geese as they are frequent visitors but on this day there were none around.

Northern Pintail – the most elegant duck

It almost never snows in the Central Valley, but there is a snow like quality here each February when thousands of almond trees burst into bloom. It is quite a sight driving the roads and seeing all these orchards of white. Blossom time was one of my favorite “seasons” when we used to live here. Sometimes when I was still working I would take my lunch break by driving the nearby country roads, pulling off at a good spot to admire the beautiful trees.

Miles and miles of orchards like this one fill the Valley with “snowy” blossoms

Almonds are one of the biggest crops in this part of California which still relies heavily on agriculture. Blue Diamond Almonds is a name most people recognize and they have a large plant here.

As I close, wishing all of you the best of health and stability in the weeks ahead! We will be thinking and praying for you as our world heals.

A Magical Day on Steep Ravine Trail and Dining in Sausalito

One of my favorite things to do when traveling is finding trails or pathways to walk or hike. I have a reason to believe my friend Arlene feels the same and together over the years we have done a variety of hiking and walking trips around California. We have hiked the high country of Yosemite National Park, enjoyed a number of San Francisco stairway walks and several years ago set ourselves the challenge of doing 10km walks created by the California Volkssport Association in each of California’s counties. Out of 58 counties, we were able to complete about 40 walks and along the way learned a lot about the history and attributes of this great state. The Steep Ravine hike was a trek Arlene introduced me to some years ago and while recently spending time back in Northern California, we decided to walk this trail again towards the end of January.

The Steep Ravine Trail is located in Mt. Tamalpais State Park, in a hilly area of Marin County north of San Francisco. As my title suggests, the walk is magical as it enters a lush redwood canyon amass with ferns and a rushing stream. We were fortunate to go at just the right time after the area had received some significant rainfall, meaning there would be water in the canyon. In addition, we had a sunny, fairly warm day so the conditions could not have been better.

Lots of little waterfalls along the Steep Ravine Trail

The narrow rocky trail descends (sometimes rather steeply) almost the entire way through the canyon with lots of steps to navigate. That meant of course a steep climb back up. But not for us as we had other plans in mind you will see later in this post.

I love hiking among redwoods, in a rainforest environment with moss covered trees and ferns dripping with water. Steep Ravine offered us all of that and it was a picture perfect walk. The bonus was all the little waterfalls along the way with the biggest next to the fun part: A ladder propped next to a rock for us to descend before continuing along the trail.

We had our only mishap of the hike when Arlene threw her walking sticks down before climbing the ladder. She had meant for them to hit the trail, but one of them splashed into the pool in front of the waterfall. While I contemplated whether to wade in and retrieve it, a “knight in shining armor” came to our rescue. A young man arrived who had better balance than us and bracing himself against a tree next to the pool, was able to grab it from the water.

It was easy to dawdle in this forest, taking in all the beauty and sounds of water burbling over rocks and logs. We crossed so many bridges I quickly lost count. When hiking I am always so grateful when bridges are securely in place and no fording or rock hopping is needed!

Our dawdling though meant that we might miss our plan to be at the town of Stinson Beach before 3:00. The Steep Ravine Trail leads out of the forest with expansive views to the ocean below. Even though we had been here before, we were still surprised once we got out to the open how far away it looked, so we needed to start power walking down the hillside. We also had one more lush green forest (this time oaks) to traverse before hitting the town.

Our goal was the bus stop with a 3:00 pickup and we got there with just a minute to spare. The whole walk down we were hoping the bus would be running late. It came right on time so luckily we were there because we did not want to walk back up the ravine. For just $2.00, the bus took us back up to the parking lot where we left our vehicle – what a great deal!

View from one corner of the Spinnaker Restaurant

Our next plan of action was driving to the little town of Sausalito and a great dining spot called the “Spinnaker.” Just eating here for the views is worth it because the restaurant sits right on San Francisco Bay with lots of windows on three sides. In addition, the food and service is very good. When we arrived we were treated to skyline views lit by beautiful late afternoon light.

Outside view of the City next to the restaurant

We dined on wonderfully prepared scallops while watching the sunset and lights come on in the City.

City view with part of the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge on the left

It was indeed a magical day in the San Francisco Bay Area. Thanks for checking in – next time a post on two California Central Valley treasures!

Exploring Stephen Foster Folk Culture State Park, Florida

🎶 🎹 Way down upon the Suwannee River, far far away 🎹 There’s where my heart is turning ever, there’s where the old folks stay 🎶. I grew up learning Stephen Foster songs and remember playing a few of them on the piano. Foster was a famous American composer who lived from 1826 – 1864. In his short life time, he wrote the music and words to over 200 songs including “Oh Susanna,” “Camptown Races,” “Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair,” “My Old Kentucky Home,” “Beautiful Dreamer,” and “Old Folks at Home,” which is also known as “Way Down Upon the Suwannee River.”

The Suwannee River is located at this state park which pays tribute to Stephen Foster and one of his most famous songs. One would think that a Florida state park dedicated to him would mean that Foster was a Florida native, resident or had been a regular visitor, but in traveling we have find out some things are not what they seem. Foster never visited Florida or even saw the Suwannee River. So the question is, why would he use it in a song?

Stephen Foster was born and lived outside of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. Since many of his songs had southern themes, I assumed that he was from the South, yet he never lived there. One day in 1851 while writing “Old Folks at Home,” he went to the office of his older brother named Morrison who worked at a cotton mill in Pittsburg. He asked him if he knew a good two syllable river name in the South that would fit in his song. His brother suggested two which Stephen rejected and they got down an atlas to look for another one. Morrison’s finger fell on the Suwannee River in Florida and Stephen knew he had found the right one. He changed the spelling to “Swanee” to better fit the verse. This once obscure river was soon to become famous around the world.

The Suwannee River begins in the Okefenokee Swamp in Georgia and meanders south through the Florida panhandle before emptying into the Gulf

In 1935, the Florida legislature designated “Old Folks at Home” the official state song. Due to concerns that the song romanticized slavery, some of the words were altered before it was adopted. In 1950 this state park was created to honor not only Stephen Foster, but also to promote folk culture. In 1953, the Florida Folk Festival was first held here and has continued each year on Memorial Day weekends with music and crafts. The park reports it is the longest running state folk festival in the nation.

Front entrance of the state park museum building

During our visit to Florida in February 2018, one of my favorite places to explore were the state parks. We visited a number of them located on the Gulf of Mexico, but this was the only one we visited in the far northern part of the state away from the Gulf. When I found out about this park and that it was “sort of” on our way to St. Augustine, I knew I wanted to visit and learn more about Stephen Foster. The park has exhibits and artifacts in a museum housed in a beautiful building with antebellum architecture built in 1948.

Inside, one of the major displays we found was made up of dioramas with scenes, moving figures and music inspired by Foster’s songs. Lots of work and painstaking detail went into them with 14 artists spending nearly two years creating the first eight. One person worked full time for nearly eight years. Everything was handmade especially for the diorama – for example the piano in “Jeanie” was hard carved from solid black walnut. The first rows of cotton in “Way Down” have hand formed stems, leaves and cotton bolls attached.

This song became the state song of Kentucky in 1928.

One of the most beautiful parts of the museum were the two large decorated rooms with rare and historic pianos. There is even a piano that Stephen Foster once played donated to the state park by a great-granddaughter.

The decorated Museum features historic pianos

Another piece of Foster furniture can also be found here. His niece, daughter of Stephen’s brother Morrison wrote a letter regarding how the song came about and the importance of the desk to the family: “This desk was always in our home and I can attest that on many occasions I have heard my father caution me and my brother never to let anything happen to this old desk for it was the one on which your uncle Stephen wrote the song Way Down Upon de Swanee Ribber.”

Stephen Foster’s note for “Old Folks at Home”

During his musical career, Stephen partnered with Christy’s Minstrels, a musical troupe who performed his songs. He sold the rights of his “Old Folks at Home” song to Christy for $15.00 and it became very successful and popular. Foster never received any credit for writing it until after his death. He was only 37 years old when he passed away from complications after a fall in New York City. When he died on January 13, 1864, he was almost penniless with a mere 38 cents found in his pocket.

Located in the park is a 97 bell carillon in a 200 foot tower that plays Stephen Foster songs throughout the day. It is considered the world’s largest tubular bell carillon. Well, songs usually play but unfortunately when we visited, the tower was needing renovation and all was silent 😔. Inside the building we did find other music to listen to. A park volunteer gave us our own private concert playing the dulcimer as well as the piano. Other exhibits regarding the carillon and Foster can be found here.

Since the park also supports folk art and culture, there is an area of small buildings devoted to artisans, called the “Craft Square.” We visited a few of them although some were closed up for the day.

We ended our day with an evening jam session held in a community room. This Friday night bluegrass jam was open to anyone who wanted to bring their instrument or just listen, which is what we did. Mark and I have always enjoyed these jam sessions during our travels and this one was enjoyable as well.

I think that is it for catching up on our Florida travels from two years ago. Until next time!

Exploring Wakulla Springs State Park and St. Marks Wildlife Refuge

The State of Florida boasts the largest number of fresh water springs in the United States as well as the world. In 2001, the Florida Geological Survey reported there were at least 700 springs. One is located at Wakulla Springs State Park and while staying in Tallahassee for several days, we made a trip to the park to see the largest and deepest freshwater springs in Florida and perhaps the world. The opening to the springs goes down 180 feet and the area is filled with sinkholes and submerged cave systems formed by dissolving limestone. The extensive cave system beneath the springs extends more than 32 miles and serves as a network of channels that supply the more than 250 million gallons of water per day that flows from the springs. The name “Wakulla” could be from the Timucuan Indian word for “spring of water” or “mysterious water.”

View from the diving platform of the park’s swimming area and boat dock in the distance

It has been two years since we explored Wakulla and I hadn’t taken the time to write about it until now. It has been nice to reminisce and check out the photos again. At the time, the main draws for me were the guided boat tours and the chance to see manatees, an animal we had never seen before. Located above the very large springs are a platform where we first viewed these creatures. Underwater their bodies looked like a long, shapeless blob. It was exciting to see several of them swimming around together.

Manatees gather at Wakulla in the winter months when they are searching for warmer water which stays 70 degrees here year around. Also known as “sea cows,” they are related to the elephant with grayish thick, leathery, wrinkled skin. They are propelled by huge powerful tails but are actually slow swimmers. They are heavyweights, weighing between 1,000 – 3,500 pounds!

That’s me in the orange shirt and hat waving

Bald Cypress trees along the Wakulla River

The ranger guided boat tour was a relaxing journey down the Wakulla River which is bordered by a swamp. We viewed majestic bald cypress trees, alligators and a variety of bird life like anhingas, white ibis and hooded mergansers. I thought it was interesting that the great egret in photo did not seem fearful to be hanging out right next to a very large alligator.

Hopefully a sleeping alligator and an alert egret?

Archaeological field work has been conducted here since 1850 when the first mastodon bones were discovered in the springs. More bones were found including a complete mastodon skeleton in 1930, now on display at the Museum of Florida History in Tallahassee. Since I like visiting state museums, I ventured there another day and saw the skeleton pictured below. As recent as January 2019, another mastodon skeleton was found covered in sediment eight feet below the Wakulla River.

Hollywood has also found the park to be appealing as a number of movies have been filmed here including a few Tarzan films like “Tarzan’s Secret Treasure” (1941) and the popular “Creature From the Black Lagoon” (1954). Most scenes from the “Black Lagoon” were filmed in California at the Universal Studios Backlot, but the underwater sequences were filmed at Wakulla. If you want to be amused check out You Tube of the cheesy “creature” swimming below the female star. I had never seen the flick, so got a kick out of watching a few of the watery scenes. Movie special effects have come a long way. Film crew from the movie “Airport 77” placed a 70-foot mockup of the 747 into the basin of the springs for the underwater sequences.

In 1937 a grand Spanish style lodge was constructed and continues to provide rooms and a restaurant. The interior has lots of special touches including a great deal of marble work with the world’s longest known marble bar (70 ft.) in the soda fountain/gift shop. The ceiling in the lobby is beautifully covered with decorative hand painting.

After our visit to Wakulla we drove down to St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge (1931) which is one of the oldest in the National Wildlife Refuge System. It was established to provide wintering habitat for migratory birds. It features coastal marshes, estuaries and is situated along the Gulf Coast of Northwest Florida.

Mark getting some shots with his long lens

Before our trip we were given a tip that a bald eagle nest with babies could be seen at the refuge (thanks to Anette) and we were able to locate it. Although it was far off, with our binoculars we could watch one eagle feeding a youngster while another parent sat in the treetop above the nest. Mark was able to catch the scene with his camera.

The other birding highlight was the large flock of Redheads. I hadn’t seen this duck in some years, so it was neat to see so many here.

St. Mark’s Lighthouse can also be found here. The present tower was built in 1842 and is still used today. When we visited, we found the tower and light keeper’s dwelling were being renovated.

We were treated to a great sunset at the refuge. I was very glad we arrived before the show!

Thanks for checking in – until next time!

Grand Buildings and Pirates in St. Augustine

View of Flagler College from across the street

I wanted to do one last post on St. Augustine because there are some pretty neat buildings I have not yet shared. St. Augustine is a lot about Spanish architecture and several buildings showcase this very well and definitely deserve a look. Perhaps the most well known is Flagler College, a place that would be great to attend just to be surrounded by such elegance. Built in 1887 by Henry Flagler the founder of Standard Oil, students live in a building designed to be an exclusive resort once known as the Ponce de Leon Hotel.

It became a private liberal arts college in 1968 and today students actually give architectural tours of the building which I joined one morning. We toured the courtyard, lobby, dining room and Flagler Room which was formerly called the Grand Parlor. Below is a photo of the lobby and rotunda which has fancy carved woodwork, a mosaic tile floor, murals and a domed ceiling.

The dining room was the most interesting as the design led me to feel I had been transported to Harry Potter’s Hogwarts School. The heavy looking wooden chairs were hand carved with cherubs. Supposedly the seats were originally padded with Spanish moss but chiggers would bite the dining guests (yikes 😳), so Flager had the chairs stuffed instead with horse hair. The high ceilinged walls are adorned with many murals, but the most remarkable sight are the 79 original Louis Tiffany windows. Tiffany was given the task of designing the interior spaces in the hotel.

Dining area with original Tiffany stained glass windows

The Flagler Room looked to me like a fancy ballroom with Austrian crystal chandeliers and a fire place with an original Thomas Edison clock inlaid into the largest piece of white onyx in the Western Hemisphere. Edison wired the hotel for electricity, one of the first buildings in the U.S. to have it. Hotel staff would turn the lights on and off in the rooms because guests were often afraid to flip the switches themselves.

Across the street from the College, Mr. Flagler designed another former hotel built in 1888 called the “Alcazar.” The building closed during the depression and in 1948 it was purchased by Otto Lightner, a Chicago magazine publisher who converted it into a museum for his large collection of fine art. The building also now houses city government offices. There is so much to see and do in St. Augustine that I didn’t get around to touring this museum, but I did spend some time walking around the inner courtyard of the magnificent building which once held the world’s largest indoor swimming pool, now dry.

When I visited it was the 498th birthday of St. Augustine’s founder Pedro Menendez de Avila, so a wreath of fresh flowers had been placed in front of his statue.

The courtyard of the former Alcazar Hotel

I did take a tour of another grand building called the Villa Zorayda Museum which was built in 1883 as a winter residence for Franklin Webster Smith. In his design, he replicated the architectural details of the Alhambra Palace in Granada, Spain. The subsequent owner opened the building as a museum in 1933 with a collection of many historic pieces of furniture, antiques and art collected by both owners from around the world. The most well known piece is the sacred cat rug which is reported to be over 2400 years old and made from the hairs of ancient cats that roamed the Nile River.

Unfortunately, photography was not allowed inside the museum which was a shame as the interior was beautifully designed and made me feel like I had stepped inside a moorish castle. The tour involved using an audio wand that explained all the different exhibits as I walked the two floors of the building.

Ahoy Matey! I visited the first pirate museum of our travels here in St. Augustine. Although it is not housed in a grand building like the three others above, it had interesting displays and information and is reported to have one of the largest collections of pirate artifacts in the world. Historically, pirates were alleged to have hung out in St. Augustine and the Castillo de San Marcos fort located across the street from the museum.

The museum has information about famous pirates and the laws and punishments against piracy. There is a replica gun deck of a pirate ship and a variety of artifacts including gold and silver bars, gold coins owned by the pirate Blackbeard, sunken treasure, weapons and personal effects like Captain Kidd’s family bible. There are also interactive exhibits and animatronic pirates. Below is a photo of an original Jolly Roger flag, one of only two remaining pirate flags in the world. Although it is called “jolly,” the flag actually was designed to strike terror in the hearts of people.

The museum features the only known authentic pirate treasure chest that is 400 years old and made of metal. It was owned by Thomas Tew who made an enormous fortune raiding ships in the Indian Ocean and Red Sea.

The treasure in the next photo is called the “Taj Mahal Sunken Treasure” as the son of the builder of this great mausoleum ordered these coins to be minted. Bound for the orient several hundred years ago, the ship was caught by a typhoon and sunk. The shipwreck was discovered in 1963 during an underwater movie scouting expedition and the coin clump removed.

I thought I would close with a photo of a quiet street in the old part of St. Augustine, a city that certainly captured my heart. In the next blog I journey back in time to our visit to Wakulla Springs State Park in Florida.