Glacier National Park Road Trip - Day 04

Everything seemed bright and shiny clean as we left Lakeview at 7:45 am. There was quite a nice rain last night. Linda and Fannie got to see a little lightening while out walking at 9:30 pm. You'd never guess what Lakeview's claim to fame is: the hangliding capitol of the world (due to its unique thermals). And it is nicknamed Tall Man since it is the tallest town in Oregon at 4,800 feet. That explains all the drawings we saw yesterday of tall slouching guys.

We were mostly on Oregon's Outback National Scenic Byway today. There was hardly any traffic and lots of variety in the landscape going back and forth between forested areas and high desert with lots of sagebrush. At 10 am we stopped at the Summer Lake Wildlife Area off highway 31. It is a joint project of Ducks Unlimited and the Oregon Fish and Game Department. We saw trumpeter swans, ducks (and other shore birds), grackles, blackbirds, ground squirrels, mosquitoes, yellow jackets, cat tails and some unidentified spacey looking purple plants.

This is the "spacey looking" purple plant. Note the

bee about to land and go after the nectar.

Linda was taking an up close photo of the purple bloom and noticed that it had an aroma a lot like lilacs, The unpaved road was good but bumpy and went in a loop past various water areas. The old buzzards and Fannie had the place to themselves (from a human and canine standpoint) and felt like the experience was worth a little extra time and a few bumps.

One tiny town on the Oregon Outback National Scenic Highway has a Mosquito Festival in late July. So if you love mosquitoes just head to Paisley, Oregon. Their Chamber of Commerce must have quite a sense of humor!

As lunchtime rolled around we came to the turnoff for Fort Rock. It is a six-mile drive to the east off of State Highway 31. Fort Rock is a 325 foot high crescent-shaped remains of an ancient volcano and is now a state park. The unique formation stands in stark contrast to the high desert that surrounds it. As we pulled into the small picnic area we were very close to the base of one side of the volcano's remains. John had a turkey sandwich, chips, diet root beer and a salty sweet peanut bar. Linda had some of her leftover pastie from The Dinner Bell and some nutty clusters. As we left the park, John paused to photo a very small and old-looking cemetery that was right next to the park. Many graves seemed to be very well decorated with flags for July 4th which is tomorrow. We also paused for photos at the Fort Rock Homestead Village which consists of pioneer cabins, a church and a doctor's office.

The Scenic Byway continued as we turned onto Highway 97 going northeast and lasted until we reached Bend, Oregon and the typical congestion of a 76,000 population city. After 18 more miles of traffic we reached Redmond and our 2nd floor suite at a very nice Motel 6. Fannie Mae was not a fan of her elevator ride so will thereafter be taking the stairs.

Linda is still on songs in her uke book that start with C; therefore, our Song o' the Day is “Cabaret” by John Kander (1966). The fourth verse and the chorus seem very appropriate to adults of all ages, especially seniors: “Start by admitting from cradle to tomb, it isn't that long a stay. Life is a cabaret old chum, come to the cabaret. (And the chorus) Come taste the wine, come hear the band, come blow the horn, start celebrating, right this way your table's waiting . . .”

We took our desk clerk's recommendation for dinner and found a table waiting for us at Madeline's Grill, almost right across the street. Madeline's serves primarily Mexican cuisine, with some plain old American dishes as well. John had chicken fajitas and Linda had a garden fiesta burrito. There was no wine to taste and no mariachi band to hear but John was ready to celebrate when he looked at the check and noticed that there was no sales tax. Way to go, Oregon! Between that and not pumping your own gas, life is a caberet!

After dinner we made a short stop at Safeway to get ice for the cooler and at a Arco gas station (about 15 cents under everyone else, but cash/debit card only). For 15 cents per gallon, John decided he would go debit.

The photo gallery for today contains 34 images and can be viewed by clicking here.

Happy trails!

Glacier National Park Road Trip - Day 03

We left Red Bluff CA at 7:27 am and headed north to Oregon. The temperature was already 83 so it looks as if they are in for another very hot day. Our first stop was 3 exits north on I-5 to grab a coffee from Starbucks.

Between Redding and Burney on State Highway 299 John spotted Buzzard Roost Road so naturally the Two Old Buzzards had to check it out.  

 



Out in the middle of nowhere, John first spotted this

road on our Garmin GPS system, then we actually

came upon it and explored a little

We saw a sign at a Red Barn convenience store along the highway in Adin, CA that said “Hotter than the Devil's Shorts”. Neither one of us had ever heard that expression before.

As we passed through Adin, CA we came

upon this sign in front of a "we sell

pretty much everything" store

 

We stopped right at 12 noon in Alturas, CA to find a community park. John had Linda go into a Quizno's to inquire. The teen employee said there were no parks. However, as we drove towards the Chamber of Commerce to inquire further, Linda spotted a very nice park right off Main Street. There were even shaded picnic tables. Lunch was turkey sandwich, boiled egg, cheese stick, tato chips, Dr. Pepper and V8. Most satisfying!

There was very little traffic and lots of beautiful scenery. It varied from mountains and forest to flat fields with various crops in progress. Linda occasionally (her word....John would use "often") serenaded John and Fannie Mae on her ukelele and is now on the songs starting with the letter C. Her Jumpin' Jim Daily Ukelele is alphabetical starting with “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” and going all the way to “Zip A Dee Doo Dah”. The Song o' the Day for today is an oldie but goodie: “The Best Things in Life Are Free” from 1927 by BG DeSilva, Lew Brown and Ray Henderson. Here's the words so you can see if you agree: “The moon belongs to everyone, the best things in life are free. The stars belong to everyone, they gleam there for you and me. The flowers in spring, the robins that sing, the sunbeams that shine, they're yours and they're mine. And love can come to everyone, the best things in life are free”. Or, as someone else once opined, “The best things in life aren't things!”

We crossed into Oregon at around 2:45 pm and by 3:00 had found a very nice Interstate 8 Motel in Lakeview, Oregon. Lakeview is on the north end of Moose Lake. From all appearances coming up from the south, Moose Lake is pretty dry. Tonight we rest at about 4,700 feet....ten times more elevated than last night!

Linda often describes our home as being in Northern California but since it has taken us from Sunday to Tuesday to get to Oregon she now realizes that the Bay Area south of San Francisco, San Jose would be a more accurate description. Whatever, it was a very good day of what we sometimes call our NO RESERVATIONS Road Trip. On all previous road trips since 2009, we have made reservations for all our lodging. This time we decided to pay homage to Anthony Bourdain and be more casual about our itinerary. We do have reservations for our time in Glacier but, other than that, NO RESERVATIONS!

Scavenger Hunt News: We made photos of two, possibly three, items on our hunt list. It was a good day. 

We had dinner at The Dinner Bell, recommended by the motel manager, and it was excellent. Linda got coleslaw and a pastie which was a flaky crust filled with beef, carrots, potatoes and rutabagas. She has leftovers for her lunch tomorrow. John got hamburger steak with mushroom gravy, corn and bread.

A neon sign is one item on our photo scavenger hunt. Our plan was go to downtown Lakeview to the Alger Theater and take a picture of their neon marquee after dark. Alas, it wasn't lit up! And, on top of that, it started to rain!

It'll be interesting to see what tomorrow's drive to Prineville, OR holds in store for the Two Old Buzzards.

The photo gallery for Day 03 contains 38 photos and can be viewed by clicking here.

Happy trails!

Glacier National Park Road Trip - Day 02

After breakfast in our Motel 6 Suite  (John had his Honey Nut Cheerios and Linda had part of her RBTT....Raw Bits Twang Twang) we were on our way to Lassen Volcanic National Park by 7:30. Fannie Mae opted to lounge around here since dogs are not allowed on the trails. She mentioned that she might go for a dip in the pool while were gone. Linda finished her RBTTs on the way to the park.

With perfect timing the Two Old Buzzards were in the park and at the visitor's station at 8:50 so they had just enough to peruse the outside info before the friendly park rangers opened up at 9 am. After watching a great 15-minute film about the geologic history of Lassen, we stamped our Passport, got a pin and bookmark for Linda and were on our way to the Sulphur Works. It was a smelly hydrothermal experience with a fumarole (steam vent) and a symphony of bubbling mudpots. There were lots of mule's ears in bloom around the Sulphur Works. Next the buzzards were off to find the trail head for Bumpass Hell. It was a 3-mile round trip going up to a viewpoint of several former volcanoes. That includes a total of over 1,000 feet of elevation change. The trail was through lots of forested areas and there was still quite a bit of snow on the ground in places. The trail was warm in the sunny areas and cool in the snowy and shady areas so, all in all, it was a perfect hiking experience. Bumpass Hell is at an elevation of over 8,700 feet. We made it back to Wilma right at 12 and had a lunch of cheese sticks, fiber bars and grapes before leaving for a 30-mile drive through the park. By the time we left, we could have sold our parking spot in Bumpass Hell.

Yes, it is July 1 and there is still plenty of snow to be

seen in Lassen Volcanic NP

We stopped often on the Bumpass Hell trail to

sit on a cool rock in the shade

The last major eruption in the park was almost 100 years ago and lasted for about 3 years. Mount Lassen Peak is the highest point in the park at over 10,200 feet. It is one of many active dormant, or extinct volcanoes found around the Pacific Ocean in what is called a Ring of Fire. The Ring is a seismic zone where edges of plates that form the Earth's crust grind against each other and one plate sinks down. Lassen Peak formed 27,000 years ago as a volcanic vent on the northern flank of another volcano (Brokeoff) and is one of the world's largest plug dome volcanoes. The highest point we reached on the park road was 8500 feet where the temperature was a pleasant 72 degrees.

We left the park from a different entrance and had a pleasant drive home. The choice of today's Song o' the Day was easy: Ring of Fire by June Cash and Merle Kilgore (1962). And, yes, it is one of the 365 songs in Jumpin' Jim's Daily Ukelele book. John seemed disappointed that there were only two verses. (John says his mama raised him to be polite).

When we arrived back in Red Bluff at 2:22 the temperature was 113, a far cry from 72 less than two hours and 8,000 feet earlier. Neither of their keys would work to unlock the door. Could the codes have melted off? John trudged to the office avoiding the hot, sticky melted asphalt, for re-keying. Fannie Mae welcomed the Two Old Buzzards with much enthusiasm. She said it had been too hot for a swim so she just stayed in and watched cat videos on YouTube.

Tomorrow is a relatively short drive of 244 miles up to Lakeview, Oregon. Wilma is gassed up and rarin' to go. We'll get up around 7'ish, have some breakfast in the room, load up and head out.

The photo gallery for Day 02 contains 52 photos and can be viewed by clicking here.

Happy Trails!

Glacier National Park Road Trip - Day 01

The Two Old Buzzards (John and Linda) got off to a great start today on the beginning of their 2013 Road Trip to Glacier National Park. Along with their trusty schnauzer companion Fannie Mae, they pulled out of the Buzzard's Roost at 7:08 am on a day that promised to be another scorcher in the heat wave that parts of California have been experiencing. Yesterday it got to 104 degrees in Morgan Hill which is unusual. And we don't even have air conditioning. Definitely time to get outta Dodge Hill.

After a delicious breakfast at The Daily Bagel Cafe it was photo time for the start of an added element to this Road Trip – a photo scavenger hunt sponsored by the San Jose Mercury News. The three members of Team Buzzardbait were officially photographed in the Tennant Station parking lot.

Heading off on our Glarier Road Trip and are prepared to

enter the Mercury News Photo Scavenger Hunt! Team

Buzzardbait has a great chance!

 

Buzzard Number One is especially excited about another added element to this Road Trip. Buzzard Number Two suggested that she bring her ukelele. In various past Road Trips there has been a funny sign of the day, a travel quote of the day and  a quirky business of the day. On this trip we will be having SONG OF THE DAY, starting off with (naturally) On the Road Again by that good ole dope smokin', goat roapin', tax dodgin' Texas boy Willie Nelson. And yes, Linda did play it on her ukelele, just to make it official. It just happened to be in the Jumpin' Jim Ukelele Songbook that her AAUkeW Group uses.

 

We were on the freeway until we got off I-5 at 10:15 in Woodland for a rest stop and a Starbuck's skinny mocha. After that we were able to mostly stay on the back roads for the rest of the day. We saw fields and fields of sunflowers, lots of groves of walnuts, rice paddies and various close-to-the-ground veggie crops. It was a good reminder of how much of our country's food is produced in California's central valley.

 

Right at the stroke of 12 noon we pulled over under a large oak tree in Grimes, CA and enjoyed a pleasant tailgate lunch of rice cakes, nectarines, V8, Diet Dr. Pepper and a salty sweet bar. We were back on the road by 12:22.

 

We reached today's destination – Red Bluff, CA – by 2:40 and checked into our luxurious suite at Motel 6. A quite descriptive phrase would be “Out of the frying pan and into the fire”. The temperature in Red Bluff was 109 degrees and is expected to reach 114 the day after tomorrow. Thank goodness Wilma (our Honda Odyssey van) and our Motel 6 room both have excellent air conditioners.

 

Our "new" Garmin 3590 GPS unit is on its first road trip, though we've had it for several months. Besides lifetime map updates and traffic, you can get apps for it. We already had the Weather app. Today, John bought the Gas Price App ($9.95 for a year). Found gas within 1.5 miles at $3.76. Most stations nearby are $3.81 to $3.99. We are thinking this app will pay for itself just on this road trip.

We ate dinner at an Applebee's for the first time in many years and were both very pleased with our choices. Linda had shrimp, veggies and rice. John had sirloin steak with garlic herb shrimp, potatoes and veggies. Only 490 calories!

After dinner Linda and Fannie Mae found enough shade to have a nice walk.

 

We have decided to spend two nights in Red Bluff to give us more time to spend at Lassen National Park. Tomorrow morning, Linda and John are off to the park. We want to go on a three mile round trip trail (Bumpass Hell Trail) so Fannie Mae gets to stay in the cool room while we are gone for a few hours.

The photo gallery for Day 01 contains 24 photos and can be viewed by clicking here.



Advanced Planning, Waaayyy Advanced!

OK, first we'll just assume that we'll both still be alive in the spring of 2014. Don't see why not as we both avoid risky behavior....except maybe for riding our bicycles.

This, of course, follows our road trip that we will take in the summer of 2013 to Glacier National Park. But, planning these trips is a big part of the fun and enjoyment they bring.

Back in April of 1973, a couple of months after Jay was born...yep, forty years ago.... Linda and John took a week long trip to Big Bend National Park. History lesson: you had to keep your film in an ice chest to keep it cool so it wouldn't go bad. We still remember what an incredible and unique place it is and we want to go back. Having researched the best times for photographing wild flowers, we are planning to go in mid-April of 2014. It's a grueling 2-day drive from Morgan Hill, or a moderate 4-day drive. We haven't decided which we'll do. And, we don't have to decide.

When we were there 40 years ago, we stopped in Terlingua, Texas....home of the famous Terlingua Chili Cookoff. Our stop there was to take pictures at the old Terlingua Cemetary. At that time, Terlingua was pretty much a ghost town. Now there are motels there (many are pet friendly) as well as 17 restaurants. That's where we'll establish our "headquarters". Terlingua is about 30 miles from the park. The plan is for 7 full days (8 nights) in the park.

Being a road trip, Big Bend isn't the only place we'll visit. So far we're also including Carlsbad Caverns National Park, Guadalupe Mountains National Park and the Monohans Sand Dunes.

Oh, and in the very near term, we will be paying a visit to the Pinnacles National Park (was a National Monument until January 10, 2013). We'll post something here afterward and put up a link to a photo gallery.

For any of you who are interested in these places, here are some links to the National Park Service....
Big Bend National Park
Guadalupe Mountain National Park
Carlsbad Caverns National Park
Pinnacles National Park

New Idria Day Trip

The two old buzzards were getting a bit of cabin fever and decided to take a "mini" road trip, otherwise known as a "day trip". We have this Sunset book called "Backroads of California" that is divided up into areas of the state. One of these areas is around Hollister and the Pinnacles National Park. Yes, the Pinnacles is no longer just a National Monument. It became the 59th national park on January 10, 2013.

We decided to take in Tres Pinos, Paicines, Panoche, Mercey Hot Springs, New Idria and the New Idria Mine (a state historic landmark) and take some photos.

Up early and left home at 6:00a.m. Linda, John and Fannie Mae piled into Wilma and headed off. John had done some research on the internet and found that a popular breakfast place in Hollister was the Cozy Cup Cafe. He diligently plugged their address into our Garmin 3590 navigation device. We no longer use Wilma's GPS system. It is/was DVD based and the DVD player became faulty. Minimum repair cost is around $250. The brand new Garmin 3590 with lifetime map and traffic updates was not much more. The other nice thing about the Garmin is that you can enter map coordinates to offbeat locations. Example: John found the intersection of Panoche Road and New Idria Road by searching on Google Earth. Then he just put the cursor over the road intersection and entered the displayed coordinates into the Garmin and save the location. Now, the Garmin can tell you how to navigate to that intersection. Perfect!

We set the Garmin to take us to the Cozy Cup Cafe in Hollister. Thought we were being observant when it said "Destination is on the right". Didn't see the Cozy Cup Cafe. We did see a bail bond business. Figured they had closed. So we used the Garmin to search for other American restaurants in Hollister and found Jerry's of Hollister. It's a Denny's / Cindy's looking place. Stephanie greeted us and was also our server. She was good at her job. And, she should have been as she has been at Jerry's of Hollister for 22 years!

Next stop was the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Tres Pinos. It's a pretty little church which was built in 1892 as a Catholic parish. It was unable to sustain full time clergy and became a mission. Then, in 1935, the church regained it's parish status. We have several photos taken at the church in the photo gallery. You can learn more about this historic church by clicking here.

We went a few miles east on Quien Sabe Road out of Tres Pinos. Saw some sheep and cattle on the hillsides and took some "farmland" photos. Decided that road would not lead us anyplace spectacular, so turned around and went back to Tres Pinos, then on to Paicines .

There is a cute little general store in Paicines and a Post Office behind the store. Stopped for restroom break there and to pick up a few snacks for the next leg of our journey. From Hwy 25 (Airline Hwy) in Paicines, to the New Idria mine is 54 miles of two-lane road. We figured we'd be in the boondocks at lunch time.

This is a beautiful time of year to take photos of farms, ranches and the beautiful rolling green hills. The trees are still bare, making it a stark contrast. One of the intersections John had programmed was that of Panoche Road with Little Panoche Road which is where you turn off to get to Mercey Hot Springs. About 1/2 mile before the intersection, we came across the Panoche Inn. We must have been in Panoche, CA! It was still early so we didn't have reason to go inside. Figured we'd check out their menu on our way back from the mine. We've a few shots of the Panoche Inn in the photo gallery and you can learn more about it by clicking here.

Just 1/2 further down Panoche Rd is Little Panoche Rd and a sign to Mercey Hot Springs....only 8 miles away. Off we went. After a while, there were quite a few potholes in the road. We made it through and found Mercey Hot Springs. Unfortunately, to gain access to the facility (and anything worth photographing) you must be a "registered guest". We weren't going to be "registered guests" and had not interest in today's special Yoga massage. So, we took a shot of an old dilapidated house that is being restored, and the facility sign. Headed back to Panoche Rd and on to the mine. You can learn more about Mercey Hot Springs by clicking here.

Eight miles back to Panoche Road, then headed east. Our Garmin had been programmed to find the New Idria Mine and so took us to, of all places, New Idria Road. There were lots of interesting things along the way. One was stopping at the entrance to the Griswold Hills Recreation Area. This is a Bureau of Land Management area and is open to hunting and target shooting. John had already been aware of the Griswold Hills as he had researched local BLM lands for the purpose of finding a place to do some target shooting. At the entrance to the Griswold Hills there was a parking and rest area with a restroom (ok, an outhouse)...but it was clean! Sadly, some not-so-nice folks had shot up the signs and even shot holes in the map (which is in a glass front case). There are pictures of this in the photo gallery. Linda saw and photographed some of her favorite flora, tumbleweeds! To learn more about the BLM's Griswold Hills, click here.

Continuing on New Idria Road we stopped at several places to take photos. One was an old adobe building. Behind the building was a creek flowing with bright orange, opaque liquid. This seems to be run off from up at the mine. Anyway, you probably shouldn't drink it! There is a photo of this creek in the gallery.

Shortly afterward, we came across a sign cautioning us to drive slow as there were dogs and children around. Soon, this crazy barking dog appeared. He wasn't interested in chasing the car, he was determined that the car would chase him. He took the lead. It took some quick work and the horn to get him behind us so we could proceed.

Next was a sign that San Benito County did not maintain the road past the sign and you were entering at your own risk. OK, how bad can it be. It can be pretty bad! The good news is that there was always a way to avoid "high centering". You just had to judiciously pick your path. Oh, we only passed one or two farm trucks since leaving the Panoche Inn. And, no cell phone service. Finally, we arrived at the "outskirst" of New Idria. There were some old buildings on the left. We explored them and then drove up through the old town (which burned in 2010) and shot photos. The New Idria photos are in today's gallery and you can learn more about New Idria and the mine by clicking here.

The only way out and back to civilization was the way we came. So, back we went. One our way in, we had noticed some cattle pens with barbed wire fencing which had been supplemented with some tall, thin, vertical branches. Almost making a "privy" fence. There are a couple of photos of the fence in the gallery.

We were too hungry for just sandwiches as it was getting on to about 2;00p.m. So, we went back to Jerry's of Hollister for a late lunch. Stephanie was still there but was off duty and having lunch with here little daughter. Linda got the senior chef salad and John had the regular Cobb salad. Both were good.

It was a really enjoyable day. We sent out a notice inviting one person (we only had one extra seat) from the Morgan Hill Photography Club to join us. Unfortunately, we didn't send out the invite until the day prior. So, no takers.

To view the 80 photos in today's gallery, just click here.