Running from the Fire-Into the Arizona Frying Pan! (#31)

There's gonna' be some trouble around here! - Tombstone, AZ

Miller Fire-SE Arizona

On the first leg of our Vegas Loop trip in 2011 we entered Arizona on I-10 from New Mexico.  We stopped at the first rest area to pick up tourist information and a map, but only found a few kiosks.

What we did see to the south was smoke and it turned out to be the first of several progressively worse fires until the Sierra Vista fire which chased us to the Phoenix area a day ahead of schedule.

Next stop was a visit to Tombstone.  We got off of I-10 at Benson and missed our left turn to head south on Arizona 80.  It was a stroke of good luck because we saw the Old Benson Ice Cream Stop sign and stopped for one of their 44 different soft serve flavors!  I had the black cherry and we were off again. Before we ventured to downtown Tombstone we stopped for a little shopping, a nice antique shop and a jeweler next door who had a super collection of fire agates. As we headed to the tourist info office downtown we watched the rumblings of the Earp brothers and Doc Holliday as they tempted the crowd to watch them finish the gunfight at the OK Corral. We then picked up a historic walking tour map and headed down Main Street.  This is a tourist trap town, but we LOVED it! We visited several shops and went into the old Crystal Palace and Big Nose Kate's Saloon to have a beer and sarsaparilla. Phil went downstairs in Big Nose Kate's to buy a souvenir t-shirt and enjoyed learning the history of "The Swamper" before we hit the road to our first Arizona campsite.

Big Nose Kate's - Tombstone

June is one of the hottest months this far south in the USA and without air conditioning camping can get quite uncomfortable. Our strategy was to camp at elevations above 5000 ft, which was a great plan...as long as the places weren't on fire.

Sky Island Scenic Byway

 We headed west on AZ 82 toward Lakeview Campground located at 5400 ft in the Sierra Vista district of the Coronado National Forest. Anticipating one of 65 scenic campsites, we turned off the main road onto one of the National Forest designated scenic drive toward the beautiful Huachuca Mountains. About 7 miles into the drive a barricade in the middle of the road stopped us...Road Closed Due to Fire. I checked my laptop for National Forest updates and another campground in the vicinity. According to the website, Lakeview was indeed closed. then I looked for a backup plan. The Santa Catalina Recreation Area northeast of Tucson wasn't showing any closures and there were six campgrounds above 5000 elevation on the 27 mile Sky Island Scenic Byway. We climbed into the mountains through a hillside of blooming Saguaro cactus as the sun began its journey into the horizon. After six miles we saw the first of the campgrounds-barricaded. I checked the website again...no postings stating it was closed. We continued on and each time, each campground was barricaded. We arrived at Summerhaven and stopped in at the trading post where they informed us the campgrounds were closed due to fires, even though we had seen no signs of smoke north of I-10. Now what were we going to do?

Mt. Lemmon Ski Area - Summerhaven

Back on the laptop (and nearing 8:30pm) I found another campground on the west side of Tucson, this time I called. The recording for Tucson Mountain Park said the gate to the Gilbert Ray Campground closed at 10pm; we had to race to get there, but got there with five minutes to spare. Tucson Mountains Park is not really in the mountains, so we woke up early and decided to retrace our route to one of the tourist stops we missed even though Saguaro National Park West adjoined this park.

Mission San Xavier del Bac-White Dove of the Desert just might be the most beautiful non-secular buildings. Completed in 1797, they boast it's the oldest extant European constructed
building in Arizona. We spent the morning here and joined one of the docent led tours before heading back into Tucson for lunch.

San Xavier Interior

The 11 beer sampler

To get my microbrewery fix in Arizona we picked the Barrio Brewing Company where I had their colossal 11 beer sampler. Both beer and food were very good especially the happy hour appetizer of Pretzel Pillows with Nuclear Mustard dipping sauce. Barrio is located in an industrial area next to the railroad tracks so listen for the train crossing guard bells which of the railroad track gates, which signal Barrio Rail Pints are $3.25! We didn't know what to do, the fires had pushed us a day ahead of schedule and did not want to go back to the heat of the previous nights campground.
I called my friend near Phoenix and she graciously invited to come a day early.

We went back through the Tucson Mountain Park to Saguaro National Park West. Shortly after entering the National Park, we turned off the main park road onto the narrow and disserted Cactus Forest Drive. This one-way road lacked traffic road making it easy to stop and watch the birds who made their home in these majestic cactus pincushions. It was late afternoon as we turned north toward Phoenix and time to jump out of the frying pan. the fires finished with the blessing and the best two days in Arizona, catching up and spending time with old cherished friends.

Enchanted in New Mexico (#32)

Emory Pass - Gila National Forest

I have passed through New Mexico several times, but never really lingered.  My last visit I decided next time we would return to really explore this diverse state. In June we spent two weeks making a loop from Austin  to Las Vegas, Nevada and spent several amazing days here. We were truly enchanted and hope we will get the opportunity to return soon.

We entered New Mexico briefly the first day of our trip to visit Carlsbad Caverns National Park in the southwest corner of the state. Considered one of the largest cave systems in the world, most of it has not been invaded by man and only a small fraction is open to the general public . We arrived at the park early and took a 9.5 Walnut Canyon Scenic Loop that was anything but scenic.  We also attempted to take one of the trails along the loop for a view of the canyon, but after more than one ascending mile and 100º temperature, we gave up and returned to our air conditioned vehicle (what in the world was I thinking?)

Self Guided Walking Tour

We love underground exploration, so we chose to add the 1.5 hour ranger-guided Kings Palace Tour to our general admission ticket that allowed us to descend more than 800 feet via the elevator to the underground lunchroom and rest area. Ranger guided tour tickets can be prepurchased on line (highly recommended), nothing worse than to get here and wait or find them sold out. However, as a word of caution, we reserved the last tour (3pm) on Saturday and ended up with 50 other people! I think they may have allowed more people because it was the last of the day-I recommend calling to check about their policy.  We arrived at the visitor center with what I thought was plenty of time to take the 1 mile self guided Big Room Tour, but with all the stopping, oohing and ahhing it took us every bit of the 1.5 hours they recommended. This incredible cave is not the most beautiful we have ever visited, but it harbors the entire range of formations found in caves and here they are of colossal size.

After a short wander back into west Texas we entered New Mexico again just north of El Paso. One of my new goals is to visit a microbrewery in every state I visit, so our New Mexico stop was Las Cruces (of Billy the Kid fame), for a sampler at High Desert Brewing Company.  I loved the presentation of the four samples in little mugs and loved the American Pale Ale so much that it called for a pint. Hubby enjoyed their homemade root beer. We followed the recommendation of my fellow Yelpers and ordered a couple appetizers to hold us over till we found a place to camp for the night. We chose the "small" nacho with ground beef and beer battered mushrooms. When they arrived they were HUGE-so we called them dinner. The nachos in particular were heaped on what looked like at least a 10 inch pizza tin and the mushrooms filled a burger basket.

We headed north up I-25 and found a wonderful campsite along the Rio Grande River at Caballo State Park in their Riverside Campground.  The next morning we turned west onto State Highway 152 toward Gila Cliffs National Monument following sections of two outstanding New Mexico's Scenic Byways: Geronimo Trail and Trail of the Mountain Spirits.

Downtown Hillsboro

We spent the morning exploring two great old mining (semi) ghost towns-Hillsboro and Kingston. Hillsboro had a super cute and colorful downtown district and on the hill overlooking town we discover the Miller House- an 1898 Victorian cottage constructed of black slag block made from smelter waste. As we drove into Kingston, it was hard to believe this was once a bustling boom town in the late 1800s that had 23 saloons, a brewery and three newspapers. That was until we saw the beautiful old Percha Bank (1884)-now a museum it is one of only a small handful of surviving buildings. As we left town we caught sight of the Kingston Cemetery and stopped. As we walked around a very stark cemetery we happened upon Congressional Medal of Honor recipient James McNally, who served for more than 30 year in the mid 1800s.

Kingston Cemetery

Shortly after leaving Kingston we climbed into the beautiful Black Range and stopped at the not-to-be missed Emory Pass Vista Overlook. The Gila National Forest was a land of incredibly tall pines and one scenic vista after another. We turned northwesterly onto State Highway 35 and made our way to Gila Cliffs National Monument.  This is one place where the 20 minute video at the Visitor Center is a great place to begin your visit.  We could not do the entire one mile loop due to recent fires, but we were able to go into the dwellings and back out the same way.  The 175 ft climb up into the dwellings was relatively easy considering we were at 5,700 ft elevation. We were also surprised at how relatively few people were in the park. A guide stationed in the dwellings gave us and another couple a great tour and when I commented about how difficult it must have been to raise children, he took us over and showed us an area they theorized was a nursery. There was plenty of free camping in the park proper (Upper & Lower Scorpion), but we opted to head back south on State Highway 15 towards Pinos Altos where we found the incredible Cherry Creek Campground (no fee!).

Gila Cliff Dwelling National Monument

Greenstone banding - Aztec Ruins

We headed for Arizona the next day, but we would return one week later to the northwest corner traveling south from Durango, Colorado. Luckily, I spotted Aztec Ruins National Monument on the map. Located between Mesa Verde to the north and Chaco Canyon on the south, the ruins here are what is left of the three story building with more than 500 room ancestral Pueblo people from 1000 to 1200. This complex possesses some unique architectural details such as a double band of greenstone, T-shaped doorways and windows placed in corners at wall junctions.  There is also a rare tri-wall structure built of three concentric walls with 22 rooms encircling a kiva.

Rio de las Vacas Campground

We continued southeasterly on US 550 to Cuba, and turned east onto State Highway 126-the northern leg of the Jemez Mountain Trail National Scenic Byway-just one of 26 New Mexico Scenic Byways. Shortly before the pavement ended across the mountain pass we found our favorite campsite of the trip at Rio de las Vacas in the Santa Fe National Forest. Soaring pines, paved level parking spots, clean restrooms and super friendly camp host at the bargain rate of $10 a night. At 8300 ft elevation this lofty campsite chased me into my sleeping bag in the middle of the night, but otherwise slept like a baby.

**Warning Soapbox Rant** I have a beef with the US Forest Service-they do not make it easy to find campgrounds on their website.  I can totally understand that they cannot afford to supply everyone with a paper map, but US Forest Campgrounds were super easy  to find on their website a decade ago. Now you have to know the National Forest for that area, then delve deeper in a time consuming search without knowing quite where they are when a decade ago I just clicked campgrounds on a map along the route I knew I was going to take. It seems they intentionally took maps off the website to force us into purchasing them...at an average of $10 per map, it gets to be rather pricey.

Grazing Elk-Valles Cadera

The next morning we headed east across the mountain pass after inquiring how drivable it was with our camp host and was told that we would "probably" make it.  And a slow go it was, but so incredibly beautiful that made us happy we have bravely chosen this route. Shortly after joining State Highway 4 on the eastern side of the mountains, we stopped a Valles Cadera National Preserve where we watched more than one hundred elk grazing in the ancient collapsed caldera. A little further on I took a short 1.5 round-trip trail to Jemez Falls before reaching Bandelier National Monument.

Main Loop Trail-Bandelier

An absolute gem of the National Park Service system, Bandelier National Monument was one of my favorite stops on this trip. This is not a "drive-thru" park by any means.  With only 3 miles of paved road and 70 miles of trails, this park is best experienced on foot. It is also very easy to have a great experience by merely spending most of one day. The best thing about this particular park is you really can imagine what life here was like one thousand years ago. We "borrowed" a guide from the front desk in the beautiful CCC built Visitor Center from 1936 and exited through the back door to the short 1.2 mile Main Loop trail.  Strategically placed concrete and  wooden stairways help you explore the places (nooks and crannies) where the ancestral Pueblo people lived their everyday lives. Make sure to take plenty of water so you can add the one-mile round-trip Alcove House trail. The Alcove House trail requires you to climb a series of wooden ladders (some up to 30 feet) to experience the ceremonial cave. So worth the effort!

**Unfortunately on June 26, 2011, the day after we were here, they were forced to close a part than all of the National Monument. The Las Conchas Fire, which began just west of the park burned well over 140,000 acres (including more than 50% of Bandelier).** 

Santa Ninos Chapel-Chimayo

Our last New Mexico destination was the Enchanted Circle. Several friends who had been to this lovely area all recommended one restaurant in particular-Ranchero de Chimayo located on The High Road to Taos Scenic Byway. The quaint town of Chimayo was impossible to resist before heading to the restaurant. We stopped at El Santuario de Chimayo (1856) and the Shrine of Santa Niño de Atocha,  Unfortunately, we had not planned very well, we had eaten a late lunch and it was too early for dinner when we arrived at the Ranchero, so we enjoyed the their delicious salsa and chips, the specialty house drink made with Jose Cuervo Gold Tequila, Chambord and Apple Cider served in a cinnamon sugared rim glass with an apple slice and split the dessert of the day-Leche de Dulce Cheesecake.We still needed to find a campground tonight and found little information on my smartphone (see my USFS rant).

Taos Junction Campground

Just outside Bandelier, we encountered more fires. We stopped at the White Rock Tourist Information Center and asked for camping recommendations near Taos. The very nice and super helpful lady made calls to make sure campgrounds she was going to suggest were open. She suggested Orilla Verde Recreation Area along the Rio Grande Gorge-a popular rafting area-after we visited Chimayo. We were not impressed with the campsites when we arrived here, but it was turning dusk and now we were getting hungry.  There were several campgrounds along the river and we settled on Tao Junction, the last one in the string.  There are two things I would have done different next time. First we should have headed due north along the Gorge to the high bridge and turned east toward Taos instead to driving back to State Highway 68 the way we went.  Second, I would have timed my camp stays to spend the night at Bandelier or in the Sante Fe National Forest (which was on fire), then head to areas above Taos in the Carson National Forest where we could have camped at up 9300 ft elevation. 

I have a confession...we were ready to head home.  It was a Corn Dance day when we got to Taos Pueblo, and then there was a laundry list of fees: $10 each to enter, $6 for each camera, $6 each cell phone-no pictures allowed of the actual corn dance, but there was still a fee for taking pictures-outside of course, not inside (some of this a completely understand, like inside churches). I certainly did not mind paying an entry fee and paying for one camera fee and leaving one in the car, but cell phones-really?  What did they think I was going to do, blaze  through the Pueblo, camera in one hand, cell in the other snapping pictures at the speed of light?  But wait, this was corn dance day and you cannot take pictures of them dancing. To top it off I was warned by friends, prior to leaving Austin, if they caught you breaking policy they would confiscate your camera and not return it. NO THANKS, lets keep going around the Enchanted Circle and head to Home Sweet Home in Texas. 

Old City Hall-Las Vegas, NM

We do want to come back this way, mostly it was near the end of a long journey. We did three quarters of the Enchanted Circle than headed south on State Highway 434 past Angel Fire, which looked to be a very nice ski area with a green trail from the very top. In Mora we made a left on State Highway 518. We were not going to stop an-y-where, but then there was Las Vegas again! Las Vegas, New Mexico that it :) How fitting, we just had to stop and I am so glad we did. Inhabited since 8000 BC, this charming town has nearly 900 structures listed on the National Register of Historic Places dating back to the mid 1800s.  We visited several different historic districts around town including the downtown plaza and the railroad district with the beautiful train depot and Hotel Castenega next door-one of the Harvey House gems. Stop at the train depot and pick up one of the Historic Las Vegas brochures, before venturing around town.

Visiting Las Vegas, New Mexico redeemed the final leg of our journey...I so want to return here, but the day is over...Texas here we come!

One Month - Five Texas Breweries (#44)

Three friends at Shiner

The American Craft Brewing industry is finding a foothold here in Texas...and I couldn't be more thrilled!  Hopefully legislation will follow that makes doing business here in Texas a little easier for them.  A girl can only hope...and write to her local legislators to support reform like HB660.  But on with the tour!

Thirsty Planet Tap Room

Austin has recently been honored with several new brewing venues.  I welcome them all with open arms! In February Phil and I made our second visit to Thirsty Planet Brewing, located off 290 just west of the Oak Hill Y on Circle Drive.  Thirsty has a couple "anchor" beers like Thirsty Goat, Yellow Amadillo and my favorite, Buckethead IPA. In addition, they brew small specialty batches.  Brian and his wife are great additions to our brewing community here and we are glad they picked Austin to open their venue.  Besides brewing good beer, they are warm, welcoming and community minded.  Some of their beers give a portion of the profits to causes such as the Amadillo (local cancer research/support) and the small batch Silverback Ale (for gorillas of course!) that we sampled during our visit. Phil who rarely embibes beer enjoyed the small batch Ginger Beer.

Thirsty has been offering two tours on Saturday, one late morning and one early afternoon.  You can order and print tickets on line (recommended).  When you arrive you can buy the $7 pint glass and get bigger and better tastes.  The pub style tasting room has a wonderful atmosphere and the staff have been very friendly both visits.  It amazes me that they are so willing to "talk shop" with the home brewers in the group.  I do not doubt they will be successful here and hope they continue to stay grounded.

The next Saturday was the Grand Opening of Jester King Craft Brewing on Fitzhugh Rd; practically next door neighbor to Thirsty Planet.  Jester King seems to be fashioning themselves as a Dogfish Head type of venue.  The facility is very nice with an open air "barn" next to the brewery. The party started out great, they had food vendors, great entertainment, tours and several tasty brews to sample.  An hour into the event, a very cool, slightly ratty car club showed up. They had a super selection of darker beer styles and I really liked the Commercial Suicide (oak not whiskey barrel).  It was a lot of fun and I enjoyed a tour, but less than three hours into the party, the drink lines went on forever and when people drink too much they often won't wait their turn...sadly it was time to leave.

Next weekend it was off to Houston to celebrate my very dear friend Heather's birthday. Now living in Minnesota, she flew home to Houston so we could help her usher in the big 4-0!  Phil and I planned to pick her up at the airport and head to Saint Arnold, but we had to venture there alone.

Saint Arnold recently relocated from their original industrial strip complex to a huge facility in a refurbished old warehouse just north of downtown and I-10. Houston traffic, even on the weekend is never fun and parking for the facility took some patience too. They profess to be Texas' Oldest Craft Brewery and amazingly they have a small staff of less than 30 who do it all.  Tours are free, but if you want to sample the beer it is $7. For your money they provide you with a very nice 8oz tasting glass and three wooden tokens for samples. They open at 11am and when we arrived about 11:30am the huge beer hall was jam packed (the website had warned us) and super LOUD. Did all these people come here to tour?

Saint Arnold Beer Hall

People brought in their personal larger sized Saint Arnold barware and bartenders often poured a bit more then the 8oz promised. Root Beer was free...and delicious. I questioned if all these people were using it as a cheap place to drink? At 11:30, we could not find two seats. I was rather surprised to see how many people had brought kids and babies (and even though I was raised in Las Vegas I do not consider it a family friendly venue either). Many people brought lunch/pizza/munchies/chess/cards as the website had suggested.  I wish we would have too, but there was no place to sit but on the floor anyway.

I have not been a big fan of Saint Arnold beer and I hoped somehow visiting the source would be different. Their best chance to impress me was their Stout, it lacked any complexity. I took the noon tour as my wonderful husband escaped to the van for a nap. The young women leading the tour did a fabulous job and all the staff members were super friendly. I was thrilled to see the brewmaster tossing hops into the batch of IPA and having my picture taken next to the tie-dye Rolls Royce, they were absolutely the highlights here.

My kinda ride

See those beautiful kettles

My friend Heather lived in Texas most of her life and had never visited the Spoetzl Brewery in Shiner, Texas! I learned of this terrible oversight shortly after she relocated to Minnesota and insisted we journey to Texas Beer Mecca for a tour on one of her upcoming visits. So what better way to spend a day of her birthday week visiting the place "every drop of Shiner Beer is made"? They have a really nice tasting room and an extensive gift shop.  Tours are free and come with three wooden tokens good for small tastes (I think it was about a six oz plastic glass).  My one complaint was they do not allow pictures.  The area around Shiner is a wonderful place to visit and we topped off the day visiting some of the area's beautiful Painted Churches.

When I moved from Michigan in November 2005 I had to leave behind my beloved Bell's Porter. Shortly thereafter Shiner Bock became my "go to" beer.  Shiner Bock is Texas beer...hands down. Bock is Spoetzl's primary beer.  I also enjoy their 97 Bohemian Black Lager and a couple of their small batches-Alt and Kosmos Reserve.  Unfortunately the small batches can only be acquired by buying a "Family Reunion" 6-pack which also includes one each of Bock, Blonde, Black and Hefeweizen.  They will switch out the Alt with something else down the line.  I asked during our visit and they are just small batches and have no future plans to market them in 6-packs. The variety pack is their marketing gimmick, so check the 6 beers before you buy, I have encountered 6-packs that were switched out and the Kosmos has always one of the missing.  They also produce a numbered anniversary beer coinciding with the number of years they have been brewing.  This year is number 102, a double wheat, I did not care for, but I loved the (97) Black and it was so popular they made it a regular.


Twenty nine days after Thirsty Planet, I stopped at Freetail Brewing on the northside of San Antonio on a Sunday evening.  I had been at an event for most of the day and was looking forward to a relaxing dinner and samples of the dark beers I had read about on their website. I like to sit at the bar, especially when I am alone like this time. Staff let me sit, apologized, then forgot me again without beer! Did she think I wouldn't notice the guy that walked up and got immediate service when I waited...and waited...and waited??

I ordered a beer sampler and was really looking forward to trying some of their dark small batches. They were out of three I wanted to try including the Lucinda Obscura (the black IPA) that I specifically wanted to taste. Maybe they should pay more attention to their website content. The Ancho Oscuro was flat and I do not like chili beer.  Of the five I tried the brown hbb660 was tolerable.

The food was terrible too. The Rueben panini was awful. They used a fake tasteless corned beef, perfectly round, like Oscar Mayer DeliFresh. The fruit salad they gave me was several days old and on the verge of spoiling. Price: $9, come on! There aren't many beers or breweries that I haven't liked, but this one rose right to the top. Bad service, short beer supply, awful food=I won't be returning!

Three out of five breweries were great, and the "not-so-great" two made the three great ones even better.  I may be a little bit of a beer snob, but hey, life is too short not to drink good beer. What I really need is to plan a hike to the top of Enchanted Rock so I can visit my very first Texas brewery-Fredericksburg Brewing Company for the umpteenth time ;)

Cheers!!

50/50 Hawaii (#49)

The big day I aspired to starting back in 1994 happened this past...November 9, 2009. It was the day I turned 50 years young...the day I became eligible to the National Register of Historic Places as long as I still had integrity. It was the day I had raced to see all 50 of our beautiful United States (plus DC). It was the most glorious of all my 50 birthdays...it was the day I spent in the 50th state, a day in paradise on the island of Kauai!

This vacation started several days before when Phil & I hopped from Austin to Houston and then boarded another plane for 8 1/2 hours to arrive in Honolulu to visit my 49th state. My first birthday present was picking up my midlife crisis car-a Mustang convertible. I could not wait to get her out on the open road! This V-8 beauty was just begging to have her peddle buried into the floor, but it had been a long day. We did a quick dinner and beer sampler at Kona Brewing Company before heading to our hotel. Tomorrow would be a day of one of my many firsts in this beautiful state...a day of snorkeling.

Hanauma Bay is a snorkeling paradise located 20 minutes east of our Waikiki hotel. It is home to the beautiful triggerfish-Hawaii's unofficial state fish and officially the longest Hawaiian word...humuhumunukunukuapua'a. We arrived early in the morning and viewed the mandatory film; a preventative strike to keep us from walking along and causing irreparable harm to this incredible reef and home to over 150 turtles, fishes and invertabrate animals. We began our adventure in Keyhole Lagoon as suggested by one of the many helpful volunteers after I confessed I had never been snorkeling before. After lots of laughs trying to master the flippers we headed into the water were the hours passed way to quickly. The amount and color of the marine life was truly amazing, many looked blacklight flourescent and few cared that we had invaded their habitat.

We had a full day of tourist activities the next day starting with a Pearl Harbor and Honolulu City Tour. Before the boat took us out to the USS Arizona Memorial we watched a very sensitive and moving movie account of the events that led up the fateful attack on December 7, 1941. From that point on I had a lump in my throat and shed a few tears (for all the braves soldiers who have served for our freedom). As we moved from the front to the back of the memorial I started to read some of the more than 1000 names on the back wall memorializing the men entombed under my feet. As we looked over the side, two drops of oil surfaced and spread across the water and I imagined as the movie account had said that these were the ships tears. Back at the Visitor Center we had the wonderful opportunity to visit with Pearl Harbor Survivor Pharmacist's Mate 2nd Class Sterling Cale, who had just gotten off night duty and ran back to help when the bombing began. He was also in charge of removing bodies from the USS Arizona. Sgt Cale just retired in 2005 after 57 years of government service and immediately started volunteering at the Visitor Center...amazing! While our visit here was relatively short one, it will be forever one of my most moving experiences.

We left the USS Arizona Memorial and headed to the National Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl with its numerous notable persons including Ellison Onizuka, one of the ill-fated astronauts aboard the Challeger. This beautiful cemetery also has incredible views of Waikiki with a Diamond Head backdrop. We then headed to historic downtown Honolulu past historic districts and many buildings belonging to the government...then and now. Our day was far from over.

A trip to Hawaii would not be complete without attending a good old fashion luau...we choose Germain's which included a very entertaining bus ride west of the city to the beachside location. Our escort Georgie filled us in about the traditions, foods and various Hawaiian word we would encounter at the evenings festivities. She was great at giving us the low down on how to make the most of our experience and she even got up on stage and helped entertainment. When the time came to send a lady from each table to go up on stage and learn the hula, I screamed it was my birthday and ran up on stage! As it turned out not one other lady had wanted to go, but I hadn't given them a choice either. On the bus trip home Georgie gave three beautiful and fragrant plumeria leis to those who answered Hawaiian trivia questions and Phil knew the official longest Hawaiian word for the unofficial Hawaiian state fish. What a great wrapup for an incredible day!

For our last full day on Oahu we got up before sunrise to go out to Diamond Head State Monument and hike to the top. The strenuous 0.8 mile trail to the top was build as part of the island's defense system 100 years ago. The trail includes switchbacks, a tunnel and several sets of stairs including a very steep set of 99 that empties successful hikers into the second level of an old bunker and ultimate rewarding views of Diamondhead Lighthouse, the crater and the Waikiki coastline.


We purchased 3-day Go Oahu cards from Costco for $119 each before we ventured to Hawaii. I was able to book the luau and tours using this handy card. My one do over for this trip would be- not to not purchase them. We booked our time solid the first two day but on the third and last day of the card they canceled our catamaran lunch cruise and we then waited almost an hour for an outrigger canoe ride which never happened. As it turned out we did not get the value we could of...or should have gotten. Fortunately by purchasing the card at Costco we had saved $30 each; if I had paid $149 I would have been very unhappy. We did end up just relaxing the rest of the day, seeing the beach at Waikiki and driving to the north shore.

Early the next morning we left the hustle bustle of Oahu for peaceful laid back Kauai, a short 21 minute ride on Hawaiian Airlines featuring impeccable service. We were taken to Dollar rental kiosk by bus though the confirmation stated in-terminal. I was then subjected to one of the nastiest clerks who thought intimidating me into purchasing needless additional insurance was going to be successful. She stated that I should buy the "loss of use" insurance because in the event of an accident they would likely charge my credit card for each day they lost use of the car up to 21 days! Unlike the wonderful customer experience we had with Advantage on Oahu...Dollar on Kauai was torturous. No matter...this nasty woman was not going to ruin my time in PARADISE.

We stopped at the Oki Diner for a delicious lunch and headed to our hotel. They allowed us to check in early and we headed off to the north shore and the end of the road at Ke'e Beach. Little did we know we would flirt with disaster...would I see my 50th birthday tomorrow???

Our first stop was Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge with its spectacular 1913 lighthouse complete with its original Fresnel lens. On our journey to the lighthouse proper we stopped to "borrow" a pair of binoculars to view the abundant wildlife. We had arrived just in time to join the elated staff celebrating the season's first sighting of an Albatross. The birds were fresh from arrival from Alaska, who would spend winter in this paradise. The hillside was littered with the white dots of Red-Footed Boobies and we observed the nesting grounds of Shearwaters. There was much talk of the first sightings of humpback whales who also winter here, but alas we were not lucky to see any this trip.

It was on to the end of the road, we stopped just past Princeville at the Hanalei Valley Overlook with great views of taro fields with a spectacular mountain backdrop. We continues down the road as it dropped into the valley and a series of one lane bridges encouraging us to "yield to oncoming traffic." In the town of Hanalei we stopped at the oldest church on the island. The beautiful Wai'oli Hui'ia Church was completed in 1912. The mountain background displayed a profusion of waterfalls threading from top to bottom. What a romantic place to get married!

We finished our drive at Ke'e Beach on the north shore and part of the incredible Napali Coastline. After a photo op in a tangle of tree roots at Ke'e Beach and a stop at the Waikanaloa (Blue Room) Wet Cave we returned to Princeville in search of Kauai's only blue diamond letterbox at Queen's Bath. it was getting late and we thought we would have enough time to venture straight down the trail, retrieve the box and head back to Hanalei for dinner at one of the quaint eateries in the little downtown hamlet...we couldn't have been more wrong.

While the box planter warned of the slippery nature of the trail, they said they took their children and carried a ten month old...were we in the same place I ask? The red clay trail with a wet skiff of moisture provided optimum challenge as we navigated or slid down a path perched precariously close to a craggy black lava edge. Had we lost our footing, we could have plunged into a small canyon about twenty feet below. We got down to what was described as the "washing machine" just in time to watch the sun drop into the horizon in a matter of seconds...and then it was dark and time to head back up the trail...no flashlight either. My heart was beating like a triphammer and I heard Phil start to swear...the next thing I think I saw was Phil's broken flipflops whipping past my head and into the washing machine. I questioned wheter I would see my 50th birthday the next day. We made it back to the trailhead parking lot, the lone car, but we were alive. No dinner in Hanalei tonight, no letterbox. We went back to our hotel room, got cleaned up and headed into Kapaa to Pizzetta's for an amazing pizza and their very tasty signature beer "Rooster Brew" by the Keoki Brewing Company.

The big day would finally arrive, and yes of course I did live to celebrate my most glorious of all birthdays! It started with the Big Kahuna one hour morning flight around the island of Kauai with AirVentures. I conquered my fear of flying in small airplanes a few short minutes after takeoff. We flew with two other couples; one from Pittsburg and the other from northwestern Florida. The route looped around the entire island, pasting through the lush Waimea Canyon, up along the dramatic Napali Coast, past several waterfalls including the one used in the opener of the old Fantasy Island TV show and my most favorite part-flying over the 1913 Kilauea Point Lighthouse we had visited the day before.

Shortly after landing we were standing alongside Wailua Falls which we had just flown over less than an hour before. We needed to check in for our Holo Holo catamaran cruise at the Port Allen Marina by 2pm. It was only about a third the way around this fairly tiny island and we had a little over two hours. That was just enough time to visit Keoki Coffee; the largest coffee plantation in the US and do a little letterboxing in an old abandoned cemetery filled with Buddhas and stones with Asian script. Abandoned and overgrown the cemetery stones were still incredible.

The cruise was a 3 1/2 hour cruise along the Napali coast in a supercharged catamaran. we were on board with about thirty other people and the boat could have accommodated 49 so it was perfect for manuevering around. Pru & Tim, the Florida couple from our morning airplane ride were also aboard and we discovered they had lived near Austin for several years before returning to her home state. The gang sang "Happy Birthday" to me and I graciously thanked them for joining my party. An open bar and excellent Asian dinner rounded out the romantic sunset wind down topped off with a champagne toast. We disembarked the boat just after 6pm, but I was not ready to finish this party, so it was off to the Waimea Brewing Company for a little beer sampler for dessert. They had great beer label t-shirts sporting their logo "The Last Beer Before Tomorrow." Waimea Brewing is the westernmost microbrewery in the US and to the left of this island is the International Date Line (tomorrow). This had been a birthday like no other and tomorrow was my last day in paradise.

We check out of our room at the crack of dawn and headed to the west side of the island again to drive the Waimea Valley. Waimea in Hawaiian means Red Earth and it reminded Phil and I of a lush slightly miniturized Grand Canyon. Teh road climbed quickly fro the town of Waimea and followed along a high ridge for about 15 miles. The end of the road offered a dramatic view overlooking a deep craggy valley. We had seen this island by air, sea and land. Making our way back to Lihue Airport we stopped at Lappert's Ice Cream for a scoop of their goumet ice cream. I had Tutu's Anniversary a combination of coconut ice cream and passionfruit and raspberry sorbets, it was out of this world. We still had a little time to sightsee, so we headed south to Poipu to see the Spouting Horn blow hole and the Tunnel of Trees drive north of Koloa. Our plane to Honolulu was at 8pm so we had time to stop for one of our most awesome dinners at the Garden Island BBQ. Recommended by a local it was a tremendous value at $15 for two...we could not believe our eyes when the bill came. We left Kauai in stormy weather, and I felt like crying too. From Honolulu our plane left for Salt Lake City and flew overnight and by 1pm the next day we were back in Austin, Texas...older, wiser and a little more relaxed. I may have missed getting Alaska and finishing my original 1994 goal, but it was only by one state. Maybe I can find the time before 50 officially escapes me on November 9, 2010??? Regardless, I have had the great fortune to explore this beautiful country... and there is still so much more to see and do.

Aloha Y'all!

South Dakota (#40) - Great Faces, Great Places

This was my second visit to this beautiful state and the west side is (in my book) hands down...the best side! My first visit was in 2000 with my mom and two sons. Phil stayed home and paid for the trip while the four of us took mom back to Vegas for a visit. That trip we went via all the National Parks we could fit in on a one month trip there and back. While that trip is most cherished and memorable, I have the digital pictures from this trip and it was close to being just as awesome...only this time I was alone...and enjoying some much needed me time.

My trips primary purpose was to get to North Dakota, but I was not about to miss another opportunity to visit the Black Hills area. I entered the state from Nebraska following US385 on the west side of the state. Just before I turned to continue on to Hot Springs I saw a sign for a microbrewery in Rapid City so I decided that was my destination for the evening and I was going to stay in a motel to boot. Hot Springs on the south end of the Black Hills would have been another good choice to stop and take advantage of the springs and numerous spas up on the bluffs...next time. The nineteenth century town had an amazing amount of its original limestone architecture. I stopped momentarily before heading off to Mount Rushmore via Custer State Park.

Custer State Park is undoubtedly one of the great wildlife viewing parks I have had the pleasure of visiting. Within a few miles of entering the park I saw: bison, prairie dogs, coyote, elk, mule deer, antelope and mountain goats...oh and a few black squirrels too. I went into animal overload and took about a third of all the pictures I took the whole trip. I went past the beautiful State Game Lodge and just before leaving the park I happened upon the spot where Austin & Jacob (then 10 & 7) fed the "wild burros." it was there that a lovely women went around sticking carrots in the hands of all the kids who were stopped there. To this day that "wild burro" incident is one of the boys most favorite vacation moments...even though we broke the law!

Snaking my way up 16A to the Peter Norbeck Overlook from south to north is the better route choice. Going this direction allows a surprise first peek of presidents as you drive into one of the three tunnels along this stretch of road. Mount Rushmore is perfectly framed within the tunnel and I wondered just how they figured it so precisely. I reached the overlook and this time had the place all to myself. I also savored the lack of traffic on this last day of April, because it allowed me to just stop virtually anywhere and take pictures, including the interesting pig tail bridges.

I reached Mount Rushmore at 5pm and they had quit taking the $10 parking fee at the gate for lack of patrons!! I walked through the Avenue of Flags and found both Michigan and Texas flags. On to the observation area, except this time I was no alone. It appeared I was amongst several Amish people, until they asked me to take there picture, I decided they must be Mennonite. I asked them to reciprocate by taking my picture and they shared they were from Alberta, Canada and wanted their picture taken with my presidents. I told them to return in a couple years to see Obama added to the end. Not thinking I was that funny they nearly rolled on the ground with laughter. I spent way too much money in their, oh so neat, gift shop and headed for Rapid City.

Beer was calling my name! I quickly secured a motel room and headed straight to the Firehouse Brewing Company. This microbrewery is located in a beautifully refurbished two story firehouse from the early twentieth century. This was my dream at the end of grad school - renovate a historic building and start a microbrewery - I was like a pig in mud! My bartender informed me they ambitiously brewed more than 30 varieties of beer, but usually had 5 offerings available so I ordered up my usual sampler.

The building was used as a firehouse until 1991 when it underwent a stunning renovation to a restaurant. They had even hung some of the original antique fire fighting equipment from the ceiling. One of particular interest was the hand pump water tank were three people stood on each side as the pumpers worked to expel water from the tank. My Yellowfin Tuna was masterfully cooked and both Porter and Stout were super yummy. It was the perfect end to a perfect day.

CHEERS!