Old Sol

I am sorry to continue mentioning the weather day after day, but the present situation seems very special. Usually Canadian Thanksgiving weekend is cold and often rainy. Today it seemed like August rather than October.

We didn't do much special. Standard Saturdays start out with grocery shopping and today was no exception. We stayed pretty much around but enjoyed all the brightness. It's getting on toward evening now, so the temperature is falling but the windows were open all day.

My awareness of the emotional effects of sunshine has grown. Perhaps it was the abrupt adjustment arriving in Vancouver, Canada 16 years ago, after an equal time in the Middle East.

I love sun whether in jungle or desert. The winter fix will start in just three weeks and continue into March during our time in Sri Lanka, Burma, and Southeast Asia. Of course, the tropics rely on sun as an engine for their growth and diversity. On the other hand, the latter, is highlighted in a video clip below. This was our very first trip with the HD video camera when we flew into Phoenix, travelled up to the Grand Canyon, and then headed east along parts of Route 66 to Palm Springs, CA in a rental car. This one-minute segment was taken during a day trip through Joshua Tree National Park.

Happy Birthday!

If I were near Palm Springs, California today, I'd drive to Joshua Tree National Park. I discovered that admission is free at the moment as a celebration of the park's 75th anniversary. It's about 95F degrees there now. That'd be nice as it has struggled to reach 65F here.


Here's a picture of Joshua trees from a trip to the US Southwest in 2008.
I sometimes fail to consider how I learn things nowadays. I learned the fact about the national park from Twitter. As well as keeping up on some local tweets, I am following my own collection of news and information sources. In this case, Palm Springs Tourism tweeted the fact and accompanying web link.

Even before the Internet, I used to wonder why I couldn't order a custom-made newspaper. If I weren't particularly interested in buying something that day, it seemed wasteful that all the classified advertisements had to be printed up for me. Don't let the editor of your local newspaper (if you still are lucky enough to have one) know that most of the publication's pages end up lining the bottom of a bird cage unread. Twitter and RSS feeds have really meant that I get my own news and information now. Thank you, Internet.

Day 1 - Jet News

Phoenix airport taken nearly a year ago during a trip to Mexico.

This blog entry is on autopilot. In fact, we should be in the air right now somewhere over the Grand Canyon. I set this to publish at about the time of our decent into Phoenix. Once on the ground, we will have to wait about an hour for the US Airways flight to San Jose, Costa Rica.

I hope to keep fairly the blog fairly up-to-date until our trip is finished at the end of the month. My netbook is in a flap on my carry-on. OMG. Why did I decide to leave my phone at home? I'm sure I must be missing it by now. Damn, I won't even be able to check in on Foursquare!

Choosing Where to Live

Maybe it's because I have had the opportunity to do a lot of travelling, but I have a number of places where I feel I 'fit'. I know that I like a place when I start thinking about what it would be like to live there. That feeling is different from just wanting to visit again; it means actually considering what steps might required to make a move.

Of course, I am already living in one of those places. I feel very 'at home' in Metro-Vancouver. In addition, I could picture living in Sri Lanka because of the numerous visits around the entire island. Other places I'd consider, although I'm not not actively pursuing, are Budapest, Halifax NS, Puerto Vallarta, or various places on the Mediterranean.

I was reminded of another 'connection' today with this video. We sort of drove through unplanned on road trip in Arizona. Perhaps it was old cowboy movies or a true spiritual connection but it felt like a place I'd not mind staying. This video must have been produced by its chamber of commerce. It was noticeably didactic reminding me of old Shell films we used to see in school. Still I watched the whole half hour.


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Before Dawn Today

I was up early even though it is the weekend. It was dark when I got up and since it'd been raining almost non-stop for the last week, I was thinking about the desert. Folks on the east coast may think of Florida in the winter but now that I'm accustomed to the west, I think of either the Pacific coast of Mexico or the southwestern US. I flipped on the computer and found myself juggling between real estate sites and Google Maps. That makes for a powerful combination. How on earth did people used to contemplate buying real estate in a distant city before the Internet?

We're not really single-family dwelling type people. So, I was researching to see if there are any condo buildings near Phoenix's new light rail system. The horrible thing about that city is how one can drive through miles and miles of suburban neighbourhoods. I can't imagine living far from a city center or transit.

It seems as if real estate prices there are continuing to fall. That does make it possible for those with modest means to consider entering the market. How about a sixth-floor apartment in the center of Phoenix for under $100,000?


After about an hour, a brilliant sun rose from behind Mt. Baker. The sky was devoid of clouds. I stopped thinking about escaping to the sun as it lit up this apartment.

Straight Routes and Square Roots

It's rather late to include the photo above as it was taken nearly two months ago. I'm sitting in the center of a section of Route 66 in Arizona. (Earlier this year, I posted a similar photo when sitting on the main highway between Taif and Jeddah Saudi Arabia in the 1980's.)

I want to tell you what prompted me to add this photo today. I've been catching up on old Futurama episodes. I had copies of the first three years of the animated show but I was missing the final year. I got two discs via zip.ca and found a few episodes which I missed when they were being broadcast in 2002. Anyway, while researching information on the series on Wikipedia I saw mention of an episode from the previous year called Parasites Lost in which a reference appears. I went back to take a look. The writers of this show were brilliant. In a space scene where spaceships are jockeying for position on a crowded strech of space, a road sign reads "√ 66". Get it?

That show always seemed a perfect half hour of entertainment. I wasn't even aware that two full-length, straight-to-DVD movies have come out since the show's cancellation. I watched Futurama: Bender's Big Score (2007) and am now waiting for the The Beast with a Billion Backs (2008) which was released on June 24th.

If Katey Sagal is ever in the neighbourhood I hope she'll drop in for a drink.

Last Week in Photos

I made the DVD right off the bat. It's taken me a bit longer to upload some photos of last week's trip to Flickr. You are welcome to take a look at the slide show which contains 77 images. They are arranged in the order in which they happened. So it starts off boarding a plane in Bellingham WA and finishes in Scottsdale, AZ the morning before our flight back. Depending on the time of day, the photos may be a little slow to load. Just click below in order to start the show.

Desert Southwest Slide Show

More Ways to Mash Up

I'm still a reluctant masher-upper. I fear when I post something here that links to another site. What happens if their site goes down? What happens if the whole shebang goes the way of the dinosaurs?

I was happy with Flickr the way it was. I didn't want it to turn into a You Tube. However, they seem to be using a different paradigm. A user can add clips of up to 90 seconds only. Rather than being a production, it might simply be thought of as a photograph that moves.



I added a few regular photos from last week's trip to the Grand Canyon. I had to see how easy it is to use and whether this video option holds any promise. Maybe it'll positively affect the materials I can offer at my eJournal and images in the future. The quality is adequate but even this 12-second clip took a long time to upload.

Come. Take Some of Ours.

It was so nice yesterday that I continued to wear shorts as I had done the whole week in Arizona.

Today, right on cue, it started raining. I think it always rains over our thee-day Victoria Day weekends. I always feel sorry for families who choose to go camping. Well, at least the weather was excellent on Saturday and Sunday. If those outdoors folks waited for today, they packed up in the rain though.

I don't often blog about the weather; however, it is an integral part of one's existence. This was especially made obvious on our recent trip. So many people live in the Soutwest Desert. Large mountain ranges rob the land east of them of needed rain. People, however, enjoy living in places where the sun aways shines. Farmers also look for the same locations. So, cities have developed where neither man nor beast has any right to live. Rivers can be harnessed for the production of electricity to cool enormous volumnes of inside air, and they can be diverted to quench the thirst of both crops and cities.

Rental Car Mileage: 1491 Miles!

I'm feeling the way that many people feel after vacation about getting back to their comfortable familiar bed. The object of my affection is my home PC, however. Everything seems much brighter, not to mention speedier, on this computer.

We got up early enough to drive around in the rental car before our 2:35 flight. We saw where the new LRT will soon open in downtown Phoenix. Then, we leisurely headed to Scottsdale's Old Town. We're not souvenir buyers on short trips, but I almost considered a cactus travelling pack. All the goodies for a little cactus garden including the dirt, bowl, and token item were included. I bought neither that nor cowboy boots.

Allegiant Air departed a few minutes ahead of schedule as they shoehorned in all the elderly, handicapped, and old ladies travelling with cats. Actually, as we bought our own cookies, and bottled water things were fine. Who needs flight attendants nowadays, anyway? Oh, most airports have refrigerated drinking fountains in the departure areas, so clever folks just bring an empty bottle through security and fill it while at the gate. My other travel hint involves taking your oldest underwear on a trip. Then after wearing them, they can be easily tossed in the garbage. This gives you a slightly lighter load on the way home.

Bellingham Airport was a breeze. I'm happy that Allegiant Air is now adding flights to San Diego and San Francisco. If one books early, there are bargains to be had.

Car parking for the few hours over the week came to $55. That's not bad considering we sometimes take a $40 taxi to YVR during off-transit hours. We had to wait about 35 minutes at the Peace Arch to get through the border. That's not too bad, but I wouldn't have thought there'd be so many heading back to Canada on the first day of our three-day weekend. The US citizen's aren't off for three days until next weekend.

We must have brought some of the Phoenix weather with us. The balcony door is wide open. The days before we left we still had the gas fireplace running.

Ah, now that I see this computer works well, I'm looking forward to testing the bed.

In the Place Arisen from the Ashes

Can the week be nearly over so soon? We're in Phoenix in a cheap downtown hotel. Today, we did spend a lot of time in the car. We left Palm Springs at about 9:15 in the morning. It's 265 miles away. As I only drove between 70 and 75 mph, it took a long time. Somehow, the Ford Focus achieved that comfortable floating speed at about 72 mph. You know what I mean, it's the speed where it doesn't feel like one is pushing it at all. It's the speed where the highway just disappears beneath the hood, hopefully in time to something on the radio.



Before leaving New Westminster, we had made tentative plans to stop and see some parents of friends. In fact Jim and Nancy were once my bosses during the days I worked summers in NH after college. A few years ago, the Beckers stopped by to visit us when they were up in British Columbia, so we wanted to see them out in the city of Surprise, AZ. They were available at about 2:00 PM. We were passing the exit on the way to Phoenix but were a little early. I thought it'd be smarter to drive into downtown and get a hotel early. Then, we could pop back to see 'em.

Well, this area looks like one city on Google Earth, but it's enormous. We finally checked into this hotel at about 3:00 and gave a call. My cell phone doesn't provide free roaming here. We got some new directions and found out that they are about 45 minutes from here. A majority of the trip was backtracking.

It was definitely worth it. It was nice to visit and they had thrown together dinner. We ate outside on the patio type enclosure at the back of their lovely home. The whole valley is similar housing. It's really a whole different way of life than we are used to.

We drove back and just walked around the downtown area near all the bank buildings. Not much is going on on a Friday evening but we don't feel like going out to look for crowds. Interstate 10 was crowded enough. I guess this city is now the fourth largest in the United States after the big three of New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago.

More Than Just Deserts

I've just enough time to jot out a quick entry. We were up and out quite early this morning. We went past all the wind turbine power farm out to the east entrance of the Joshua Tree National Park. As I generally drive only 25 miles for a round-trip commute to work, travelling more than that just to start the trip seemed like a lot. We leisurely drove through the park stopping at all the information plaques along the way. I like Joshua trees. The park contains two different desserts each with differing plants and animals. I can appreciate the beauty of deserts and the amazingly hard job its residents have just to survive. I don't think I'd want to live in one though. This being said, I guess my 15 years of overseas work was predominately in them. It took about 2.5 hours just to get through the park down to the Cottonwood exit on I-10.



It was then another 22 miles back to Palm Springs. We took Highway 111 through the valley on the way back. A lot of people call this home. I must remember to look up the population here.

Tonight is the Villagefest. It occurs on every Thursday evening except during the summers. Downtown streets are closed off and vendors come and people listen to music and eat. The Palm Springs Art Museum is open for free for four hours tonight. We might even end up at the downtown Spa Casino to see what they have for a buffet rather than slot machines.

I cannot believe the week is nearly over! We will be on the road tomorrow returning to Phoenix for one night. Our flight back to Bellingham is on Saturday afternoon.

Mid-90's Fahrenheit

It's in the mid-90's. I'm sorry that I cannot give that in Celsius, as I have weak mental math calculation skills. I'd not need to work with such big numbers in Vancouver, anyhow. Whatever, dude. It's nice sitting here in the shade by one of the pools and occasionally running in for a dip. Drying off is very cooling.



Earlier today, we went up the Palm Springs Tramway. The temperature at the top of the mountain required jackets. The cars rotate, so one can have two 360 degree views on the way up or down. At the top, we hiked a little trail through an alpine meadow and even made a snowball. It's hard to believe we could see the area of the valley where I'm now baking.

Tomorrow we might head into Joshua Tree National Park. We'll see as it comes.

California, Here We Came

I'm a little later in getting an entry in today, but we are in a different state. In fact, I'm writing beside the pool at a resort in Palm Springs, CA.

Yesterday we certainly did the Grand Canyon. We went up to the East Gate entrance and stopped at all the points on our way to the Visitors' Center. Then we parked along the road and walked the rim from there to the resorts. It must have been at least four miles. We hadn't planned for lunch and eventually hopped on one of the shuttles to get back to our car. On the way we stopped at the market area at around 4:00 for sandwiches. So, we were in the park from 11:30 to 4:30.

After leaving by the south entrance, we connected and headed east on I-40. For most of the way through Arizona, it's possible to travel on old Route 66. We did for about a twenty mile section. Eventually, when it met back up with I-40, I decided to cover ground even faster. A steady 65 mph was possible on the old road as there were nearly no cars. Still, the limit on the Arizon part of the Interstate is 75 mph and so it was comfortable at 80 mph!

We made it to Kingman, AZ by about 7:30 and found an EconoLodge. It was easy as all prices were listed outside because of the competition. We also found a Chinese Buffet rather than just eating noodles in the room.



We were on the road by 8:15 this morning. I wanted to drive another section of Route 66 to the California border. It was quite an amazing experience out in the desert without another car to be seen. We saw no wild burros near the town of Oatman. Once in California we heading south on highway 95, then to 62. I chose that road as it was a bit scarey out there in middle of nowhere. We stopped for bit out on the edge of the Mohave and when we went to leave, the car seemingly was stuck in the soft shoulder. I hadn't seen a car in a half hour and envisioned being stranded for a while. I put a chunk of tar under the tire and we sped away. For this reason alone when the branch for 177 was visiable, I steered that way. I longed for the comfort of I-10.

Anyway, I'm here by the pool and the world seems perfect.

Good Mornin' Flagstaff

What a nice place to start a new week. Yesterday, we took the scenic drive here through Sedona. That's a nice little place. You know every time I leave the neighbourhood, I always find places which I think deserve a vacation home or at this point a place to retire for a half year per year. We continued along the Oak Creek Valley. The hairpin turns weren't tiring in the little Ford Focus. We saw the J on the mountain town of Jerome, then into Flagstaff.

After eating in a huge Chinese buffet we checked into a hotel and moved the bags in from the car. Then, we drove east on I-40 just to find the Meteor Crater. That is a 4000-foot, big hole from a 150 ft. rock from outer space! It happened more than 50,000 years ago, so it pre-dates even pop star Madonna.

We're off today to see the Grand Canyon. We plan to go up to the east entrance and then exit from the southern route. We'll then head west on I-40 and bits of old Route 66.

Only tomorrow knows in which town we'll end up staying.

Up in Prescott

Yesterday's flight and car rental was flawless. We decided to head up I-17 towards the Grand Canyon. It got dark realitively early compared to what we're used to though. At around 9:00 we found the Heritage House Motel in Prescott, AZ. We're heading out leisurely towards Sedona and eventually Flagstaff. We'll decided what to do from there later today.

Phoenix Bound

It's official. We're heading south for the week.

Open Roads Beckon

Today was a transition. After eating breakfast I started correcting the final examinations which my students took yesterday. I finished up at around noon. I was then able to turn in the course marks, failure reports, and attendance online. How wonderful that is!

After that, I had the whole afternoon to start thinking about getting stuff into a bag. We're off tomorrow morning on the first part of our a short, week long journey to a little of the southwest desert. First, we put things into the truck and head for the closest border. Although we don't depart from the Bellingham airport until 3:00 in the afternoon, we want to go early. Crossing the border in this day and age can take up to an hour even during non-rush parts of the day. I am seriously considering picking up a new camcorder as the model I want is around $200 cheaper in the US. We also might be able to fill up on food at the Old Country Buffet so we won't be hungry when we land in Phoenix, Arizona at around 6:00 pm. The rental car should be waiting at the Mesa airport. We'll jump in it and head towards the Grand Canyon that evening. I don't know how far north we'll get before deciding to get a room. It doesn't really matter as we'll be on vacation. I am so looking forward to a one-week, road-trip. On the highway, it's very easy to play it by ear. ' Gotta burn up some gas while there's still some to consume.

Live from the Grand Canyon

Come back to this entry on the 11th of the month. In just five short days, we should be looking into the abyss firsthand but hopefully not head first. If we see the webcam, we'll wave ...



Here's a tiny, saved example, in case you venture here when it's night.

Can You Dig It?

I have always been rather interested in maps and globes. Therefore, I simply love the computerized equivalent called Google Earth. What an amazing resource! I know, I've blogged about it in the past. Yet, the interface continues to improve and the addition of layers and 3-dimensional buildings and objects makes the experience better and better.

I don't know why I don't run into more people who are as enthusiastic as I am. I can check real places around the globe I've been. For example, after mentioning Yemen in an entry here the other day, I wondered about a military camp where I once worked. Jay and I met after I arrived at the Taif Army Ordinance Corp and School in Taif, Saudi Arabia. I located the area: 21 19' 08" N 40 26' 07" E. Obviously a lot of things will have changed since 1985/87!

I am probably more likely to use Google Earth when researching upcoming vacations. Being able to zoom right in on a specific address can be useful when checking for hotels or attractions. It seems great to see areas before visiting them. It's no longer necessary to physically be at a place in person to get the lay of the land. Which road shall we take to the southern rim of the Grand Canyon next month? I'm checking right now in another window, in fact.