Decaying Rural Southwest

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

Yesterday, I was writing about the American Prairie Reserve and the ranchers who are opposed to the idea of preserving a wide swath of the Great Plains for the native grasses and animals that once populated these lands, and yet, most of what might have been here during a time of prosperity has disappeared. What you find in the rural middle of America and the Southwest is decay. Cities are really where everything is happening now and about the only place to find work.

The idea of a renaissance in which high-paying jobs return to the middle of America is a pipe dream where the infrastructure to support tech workers is sorely missing. Add to the complicated situation that in many small towns, the locals do not want outsiders moving in and telling them how to do things, though they do appreciate visitors stopping by to spend money on hotels, food, and gas to support the few businesses that are hanging on. There are many small towns scattered across America that would be ideal for well-paid workers who can operate remotely to take up residence, but the dearth of grocery stores, immediacy of Amazon deliveries, and forward-thinking by the locals make this a daunting challenge.

Sure, wind and solar power installations are promising industries in these empty lands, but once constructed, they operate mostly autonomously, so there is no long-term win to this possibility. Then there are those small towns that flip the need for blue-collar jobs on its head as the very wealthy adopt locations they find appealing. Just consider Jackson Hole, Wyoming; Telluride, Colorado; and Sun Valley, Idaho; these small towns only thrive due to the exclusivity brought on by the profound wealth that was able to squeeze out the non-rich residents. Labor is then relegated to nearby towns where those lower-paid workers must commute to the only jobs that allow them to stay near the area they may have grown up in.

Sure, there’s a tremendous amount of pride among the people who survive on these hardscrabble lands, and they’d pay a hell of a personal price to try to integrate into some of our bigger cities but without growing populations and new industries or workers establishing themselves in these thousands of far-flung towns, what are the odds of their survival?

Over the years, we’ve driven through some beautiful old places that visually are incredibly enticing, but the majority of their storefronts have been shuttered long ago. The slow decay which ushers in the sadness of a place leaves bitter anger in its wake. I don’t mean to imply that only grumpy people remain as we meet some wonderful people along the way. But, after enough time out here in small cafes and gas stations and poking around ruins, closed businesses, and other curiosities, it’s bound to happen that you eavesdrop on anger or are confronted by someone who doesn’t have time for someone interested in things they don’t want you to be interested in.

Then, on the other hand, there’s the wildlife that, aside from often being afraid of people as they seem to sense our murderous intent, just go about their lives making the best of whatever is in front of them. If you don’t believe they see through us, just watch them when other species are around. I’ve seen rabbits hanging out with birds, deer grazing near donkeys, prairie dogs chilling with hawks, and they all just get along. Okay, I’m joking about that last one, as prairie dogs will tear those hawks some new b-holes in a second.

Another dirt road, but not the one I thought I wanted. While it will get us where we’re going, the passage of time lets me forget how Caroline and I got to the same destination 15 years earlier. No matter, as it’s beautiful out this way.

As Jessica and I drove through Canadian, Texas, and I recounted Caroline’s and my July 4th, 2006 celebration of Independence Day with a parade, rodeo, small fair, and fireworks, I mentioned that we’d stayed at the ranch house featured in the Tom Hanks film Cast Away. Asking if Jess was curious to see it and that it was nearby, we meandered out the dirt roads that brought us here.

The old house that still looked pristine six years after Cast Away was released is now showing some serious wear. We learned from the Arrington family back then about the problems with ranching in this region due to depleting groundwater and drought, so there are those issues of needing the capital to support life out this way. Some months ago, I wrote to Mike and Debbie (the Arringtons) about the possibility of renting the property again but was informed that the bed and breakfast side of the ranch was no longer available.

One-thousand thirty-eight miles ago, we turned south and had already spoken with a few people who were lamenting the drought conditions and grasshopper infestation. Well, we are in Texas now, and true to form, things are bigger out here. The grasshopper on the right was already bigger than the ones we saw jumping away from the car when we had stopped for photos in North and South Dakota. The grasshopper on the left could have been saddled and ridden off into the sunset; it was close to being reclassified as a monster.

Tiptoeing On The Ocean Of Storms is the name of the sculpture of astronaut Alan L. Bean, who was the 4th person to walk on the moon. This monument to a favorite son of Wheeler, Texas, stands in front of the local historical museum. Even the road out front (U.S. Route 83) has been renamed in honor of Captain Bean.

The anger I spoke of earlier is not hidden; it is in plain sight, and the juxtaposition of the assault rifle with the church that is reflected in the window speaks to the fundamental zealotry that has festered in these corners of America. Sadly, or maybe fortunately, this will all disappear as these towns continue their decay into irrelevance.

These two photos of the rifle and this absolutely empty main street play testament to my supposition that towns such as Shamrock, Texas, pictured here and a broad array of others up and down the middle of America will continue their fade-out. I find this tragic as it speaks volumes to the type of mentality that populates these remote corners where people are inflexible, under-educated, and often afraid of change though they’d likely challenge my gross characterization, possibly even with a weapon, thus proving the above.

Back in the day, at the height of Shamrock’s population, the town had nearly 3,800 citizens, but today, that’s about half of what it was. Old U.S. Route 66 intersected with U.S. Route 83 as people passed through the crossroads of America right here, but that time is over, and discovery and exploration are relics from a different age.

After 1,125 miles (1,810 kilometers) on the 83 South, we turned west on Texas Highway 256. We peeled off 20 miles early before reaching Childress, Texas, as we tried to shave some driving time off the day.

Why did the javelina cross the road? Don’t answer, as it didn’t end well. A few feet away from this lifeless creature was the truck driver’s license plate that was torn from the vehicle, so if the person who lost Texas plate number AK5 6815 ever looks for that number, here’s the animal your truck took out.

Welcome to Lesley, Texas, a great place for people looking to photograph the spreading decline of America and a horrible reminder of what it once was to the handful of people who might still live in the area.

I don’t think this recliner has seen use in many a year though the birds seem to enjoy pooping on the left corner of it when they’re not taking aim at the walls.

The first thing my daughter noticed here was the 1970s plastic cup holder over the sink. I think she wanted it. Come to think about it, she might have snagged it because while she went upstairs to explore that area, I ventured outside, but not before…

…I admired the toilet with an open lid that I could only imagine what was in it. You see, I was afraid to step into this room because I couldn’t be certain how much floor damage might have occurred from water, and my curiosity to peer into a potentially shit-filled bowl was lower than my sense of preservation that wanted to remain in the light.

Speaking of remaining in the light and sketchy floors, the neighboring house met all the criteria of being a place I wasn’t going to step into, and while you probably can’t see it over on the left at the lower corner of the window is a small part of a hive of bees. Below that is the larger part of the hive that is peeking out of the dark hole and is moving along the lower wall. I was looking at 1000s of these chill bees that, fortunately for me, were not disturbed by my presence.

Look at my horse. My horse is amazing. Give it a lick, Ooh, it tastes just like raisins.

Dimmitt, Texas is not a misspelling, as I was reassured that a Dimwitt would only be found in the mirror. Had we arrived an hour earlier, we could have eaten here, so it goes.

What is it about grain silos that are such interesting architectural structures? Maybe it’s the repeating megalithic brutalist forms they take? Or maybe it’s their demonstration of historical significance and the lingering echoes of the steam trains pulling through to collect the wheat or barley for hauling across America? Whatever it is, I know that when I see these silos off in the distance, there’s a likelihood I’ll be stopping to snap a photo or two of them.

Getting closer to home as our trip is winding down fast.

Before we’re even 50 feet into New Mexico, we get to encounter our first abandoned building, an old motel. This dilapidated place rests in decay in the small town of Texico, New Mexico. I think the founders of this town were being cute when they married Texas to Mexico. This motel used to be known as the Cross Roads Motel, and from the state of the sign out front, I’d have to guess it hasn’t been deserted for all that long.

The empty toilet paper roll is right across from the toilet that had been used fairly recently; I hope the person knew before they started their business that there’d be nothing to wipe with. Just as I’m writing that I realized that the shower curtain is still there, so in an emergency, I guess it could be used to clean the old b-hole.

Yeso, New Mexico is a big Nogo these days.

Here we are in the Mesa Hotel, which was a museum at one time after the demise of the building’s use as a lodging stop. Though the faded paint is difficult to read, you can still make out that rooms used to cost from 75 cents to one dollar.

It seems that Yeso came into being as a train stop, and when trains transitioned from coal and steam power to diesel, the need for the station that existed here was no more. So began the decline of another outpost in the frontier.

Looking for details regarding Yeso after getting home, I learned that there’s still a single resident living here in town. Her name is Deborah Dawson, and I can only wish we’d met her. I suppose if she made herself known to everyone who stops to look around she’d be a full-time tour guide for the curious.

Like hotel rooms that used to go for a dollar, it’s been many years since a tobacco seller supplied businesses with sponsored signage announcing their opening and closing hours. That business now belongs to Visa/Mastercard it seems.

Maybe you are wondering if there are any viable towns remaining on the route we’ve taken, and the answer would be a resounding yes. While not one of them feels like a place to find success or even a future, they do exist. From Minot and Bismarck, North Dakota; Pierre, South Dakota; and North Platte, Nebraska, there are those places that appear to be holding on, but in over 1,000 miles, those were about it.

Another 50 miles west, and we pull into Encino, New Mexico. Do you see a trend?

And then the real treasure is found just off the road on a small spur where nearly a dozen vehicles are pulled over. Under one of these giant turbine blades, a few people sat just finishing up dinner. We learned that these loads travel pretty quickly, but how long they can be on the road in one day is limited. At approximately 200 feet long from the nose of the semi to the tip of the blade behind them, these are some seriously long loads. One of the guys demonstrates how flexible these fiberglass creations are and allows us to reach up and touch them. For something that weighs more than 10,000 pounds each, they sure are easy to move.

Another day with a ton of miles accumulating behind us, but we still have a good amount of time before we reach the end of today’s road.

I, for one, can never get enough of spectacular sunsets, and this one being filtered through the heavy smoke from the California fire allows us to look at the sun with our naked eye. Not good for the environment, but it sure plays pretty with the aesthetic.

The sign is the worst for wear, and COVID has created the situation that our old favorite stop in Socorro is now closed Monday and Tuesday in addition to closing at 9:00 or 10:00 p.m. depending on staffing, but lucky for us, we arrived on a Sunday night before they locked the doors. The El Camino Family Restaurant has served us countless times on our journeys into and across the region. Our motel tonight was just short of being a nightmare, but when everything else is costing $159 and up, what should one expect for $67? Tomorrow is the beginning of the end.

Out Finding The Road

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

Here we are in the San Juan Mountains, heading towards Telluride. This should have been one of the more beautiful drives in America, with mist rising off the forest and streams, wildflowers, bursts of summer growth, and soaring mountains, but the path through it all is a utility not intended as a corridor of exploration and appreciation. There are just not enough pullouts to stop and enjoy the glorious views. Couple this road with the aggressive nature of those in a hurry to get to their destination as they’ve grown so accustomed to the sights that the scenery means nothing to them, and I’m left feeling that we are on a road to nowhere.

Signs used to be limited to pointing towards directions and upcoming conveniences such as hotels, food, and restrooms, but nowadays, we also must contend with a politicized thoroughfare where perpetual campaign slogans are seen every so many miles instead of being able to enjoy the birds and trees. This long drive that should have led into the wonderful becomes a maneuver through the psycho-consumptive mental illness that is modern America.

My love affair with the grand wide open spaces I was so fond of on previous visits is being crowded out by the anger of a populace that is growing disenfranchised and their mantras affirming their disillusionment. The vistas still rise majestically, but I can’t help but feel that the morass of stupidity is accumulating like molasses around the ankles of those who wish to move freely.

Pullouts are few and far between. Picnic benches are non-existent. The speed limit is 60, with most drivers pressing 70. I try to mosey along, barely maintaining 40; I am the hazard. It’s summer here at the end of July, and while the temperature is a pleasant 53 degrees before 9:00 this morning, my opportunity to listen to the silence between bursts from the songbirds with rushing water below is limited. Massive pickup trucks with a single occupant, windows rolled up tight, occasionally with bass thumping from a quarter-mile away scream past, letting me know that we are in different universes. Nature is no longer here for poets, writers, composers, hikers, and explorers; it is either a financial resource or an impediment to arriving at a destination where money is to be found.

Moving through Telluride but not stopping for more than a photo at the end of the road, I’m struck by the contrast of those walking and riding by and the Goethe’s walk along the Lahn River to the Rhein River. Goethe walked for three days to cover the 70 miles, and after his arrival back in Frankfurt, he wrote a book that led to a new era in literature. Today, people have to have the right LuluLemon tights, the best namebrand shoes, $10,000 carbon fiber bikes, kitted-out Jeeps with all the popular accouterments, and water bottles that speak to their brand loyalty. They do not move; they present.

Walking, hiking, or biking without style and the display of conspicuous consumption is for the commoner. Being mentally present for the sake of doing something of any particular meaning is passe when Instagram pages are waiting to be filled, and likes are accumulated for simply going to the place everyone believes holds a kind of cache not found in places not branded as “hip.” And what is going to lend that air of importance to a location besides the beautiful setting? It is the expensive nature that can be brought to the destination to maintain exclusiveness. Why should the poor experience “our” beautiful places when they can go to their local lake?

There’s a conundrum here as I fully understand what places like Daytona Beach, Myrtle Beach, and Atlantic City attract concerning tourism and how the exclusive natures of Jackson Hole, Telluride, and Sun Valley maintain their dignified airs. The real problem is a lament I’ve shared here far too often: America cultivates a vast underclass so that at any given time, it has massive reserves of expendable bodies to fight whatever conflict it wants to enter. As long as America’s lower and middle classes have lakes, sectioned-off segments of the coast, and places like Branson, Missouri, that are referred to as “Family Vacation Destinations,” this divide will continue to exist. I’m comparing this to Europe, where in places such as Vienna, all the economic classes of Europe mingle with the cultural attractions on offer.

Damn, this is a line of writing that I’ve grown tired of, but here I am in western Colorado, being confronted with the American reality that the haves and have-nots should remain as far apart as possible, and this makes me seriously uncomfortable.

I am on vacation with my daughter, and I can’t let go of the built-in, inherently unfair structural elements that define this country. I resent that we no longer want to do better and build a solid society but instead are cozy with our ugly mediocrity, bias, racism, and classism.

Just as I gaze out on the profound nature all around me and want to be lost in the moment within the environment, I cannot shut off the hostility pulsing through this country.

And then I realize that part of my problem for experiencing anxiety today is that I’m catching glimpses of the conditions that are leading to the re-masking of America due to the pandemic going out of control again. As the Delta variant of COVID has been ravaging corners of America, especially the unvaccinated, I’m watching people go about as though nothing is wrong. I feel like it’s the end of February 2020 all over again, where Caroline and I had already stocked up on masks, sanitizer, and food while the majority of the population seemed to think nothing much at all was going to happen.

Had you given me an all-expenses-paid vacation to Anywhere, Earth, last February or March, I would have turned it down, but here in Colorado, on our way to points north and then southeast, it’s business as usual. While my daughter and I are among the vaccinated, it’s obvious that at least half of everyone out here is not, while social distancing is nonexistent. Hopefully, when we finally start in on some hikes, we’ll find some solitude where the pandemic can, for a few days, be put out of my head.

The rainbow should be the perfect metaphor for what lies ahead, as the darkness of stupidity can’t loom over my head forever. True, I’m not out of the woods yet, and I can’t say that I’ll be able to escape the malignancy overcoming the landscape of the United States.

Here we are, America. We’ve lost our way, and our dreams no longer exist. The corpse just continues to wither away, and remnants of what was once an elegant creature are left by the side of the road, unseen by those on their way to suffering the same fate. We are now redefining our flag with various colors or trying to live with archaic symbols of an age long gone. We are pledging allegiance not to an idea but to a man some would like to be seen as all-powerful. This is the empire and body politic in decay. Sadly, I can no longer glide over the landscape without smelling the putrid stench of the rot.

Will the clouds dump their cleansing waters of enlightenment and clear our minds of the rampant hatred, or are we doomed to live in perpetual night?

Well, the sun sets over this day, too, and maybe tomorrow, the glimmers of something new will rise with our nearby star, but I will not hold my breath as while I may wake to witness beauty another day, as long as I’m within these borders I’m afraid the storm of our mediocrity will continue to rain down.

Day 9 – A Day With Jutta In Frankfurt

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

In the campaign to persuade Germans to wear masks, there is an ad campaign that asks questions such as the one above, “Do you want to visit foreign countries again?” And the answer is, “Then you must wear a mask.” Another does the same regarding going out to clubs where DJ Ata asks you to wear your mask and get COVID under control. In the last weeks, as Germany gradually opens up, there are benefits that come with constant testing or being vaccinated because people can shop in stores in which they are otherwise not allowed, and they get to sit down outside at restaurants. Once infection numbers go down, more of those restrictions will go away, but the government has them now in place to help manage behaviors. This is important as Germans have a much more limited supply of vaccines compared to America, so vaccinations are moving a bit slow. Should Germany get to a point where there are people who want to avoid the vaccine due to some kooky conspiracy theater, all they need do is lower the acceptable number of new infections and restrict people from entering anything other than the grocery store without negative test results or vaccine. From what I’ve heard, no one really likes the swab up the nose.

Seventy pounds is what my eyes measure of Spargel (white asparagus), and it’s in this photo as it’s my second Wednesday in Germany and over where my mother-in-law used to live; it’s one of the two weekly, open-air markets on Bergerstrasse.

As I’m here measuring things, I feel it’s time for an update regarding my personal statistics. Over the previous eight days, I’ve walked 74 miles, climbed 168 floors, and written 23,000 words about my time in Frankfurt as well as my visits to Wiesbaden, Marburg, and Gelnhausen. The regimen I’ve set for myself has become a little taxing with trying to have an adequate number of photos that I feel best represent the activities of my waking wandering hours. This, combined with my desire to not fall behind in writing about these impressions, which are now averaging nearly 3,000 words a day, makes for some sacrificing of adequate sleep. While I don’t want to fall down from exhaustion, I also want to use my time to the best of my ability so this opportunity is fully recognized.

It took Jutta and me a good while to finally leave her room because I was sharing some of the photos of my time in Germany so far. There’s a lot of reminiscing that goes on as my mother-in-law loves basking in her fondest memories and taking special note of how surprised she’s been that she and I should get along so amazingly well. More than once, she’s conveyed the nervousness she had when we used to embark on our mother-in-law/son-in-law road trips that saw us exploring some corner of the western U.S. without her daughter. Today I smiled with her that this was exactly what we’re doing again today, only this time on a smaller scale. Just around the corner from Römer and across the street from the Main River is where Jutta lives now, so the walk to our destination is not a long one.

We are going for lunch at Zum Standesämtchen for some traditional Frankfurt food. With a table in the shade, Jutta comments on how long it’s been since she last ate here. She and I both forgot that her reading glasses were in my bag, so I ended up reading the menu to her. I didn’t get far as I started with the special, and by the time I got to the fourth item, she had her heart set on ordering the white asparagus (Spargel) with boiled ham and boiled salted potatoes, but it was the asparagus that is the star of this entree. Seeing how I’m stuck in the creature of habit mode right now, it was back to Schnitzel with grüne Sosse. Our meal would not have been complete without a starter of Handkäse mit Musik (hand cheese service with a relish made from onion, cumin seed, oil, and vinegar). And then there was the matter of my mother-in-law and her love affair with a cold Coke; she had two with her sumptuous meal, almost a full liter’s worth, which, as it went in, would have to get out.

In this photo above, I can see Jutta across all the years I’ve known her. Even here in her 86th year, I can sense the little girl yearning to have fun behind those eyes. How do I offer her enough hugs and my time to let her know how much she means to me?

There was no chance I was going to let Jutta try navigating a steep spiral staircase to the basement at Zum Standesämtchen to use the facility, I’m here to spend fun time with her, not recovery time from a broken anything. So I needed to find a nearby facility that could accommodate her; I was in luck with a coffee shop just across the way.

While not a scorching day like in Phoenix, Arizona, it’s still a hot and humid afternoon here. I asked Jutta to push her walker over to this old drinking fountain so she could splash some cold water on her arms and face. As I expected, she daintily splashed water on her arms and almost managed to get eight or nine drops on her face. I remedied this with a good handful splashed on her face and another handful down the back of her shirt. Was this mean? Not if you judged by her laughter.

Back across the square, it was time for dessert and coffee, and just in time to join us was Jutta’s granddaughter Katharina (not to be confused with Caroline). I point this out as Jutta often calls Katharina by her aunt’s name (and vice versa). The three of us all found our favorite treat and chatted for an hour before walking Jutta back to Lebenshaus, her assisted living facility. From there, Katharina and I headed over to the river for a walk along its banks.

Can there ever be enough musicians playing for the public? I don’t believe so, as I think we are lucky to have so many people dispersed across a city practicing their craft while maybe also collecting a few Euros for doing so. When I first encountered buskers (street musicians), I thought it was a form of begging, and maybe sometimes it is, but I now tend to believe that it’s simply musicians wanting a good reason to keep their craft alive and well. The box or plate for offering donations is simply there because there are those of us who want to share our appreciation for the serenade.

Along this walk next to the Main, Katharina and I talked of Jutta, Caroline, horses, photography, and life at university. We also had to stop from time to time for her to play Pokemon; I suppose this is the situation with many people her age nowadays.

My treasures were found in real life among the shadows, spots of diffused sunlight, the sound of birds, and light shimmering off the surface of the river. Then there’s one of my all-time favorite sounds, the ring of bicycle bells. New to the soundtrack of Frankfurt are the scooters, but what is missing is the sound that accompanies throngs of tourists who are using taxis, shooting photos, and tour guides trying to corral their charges. But I wasn’t here to indulge my senses for these aesthetic charms; I was out here to share a moment with my niece.

Our walk east terminated at an Indian restaurant where we could sit down and have something cold to drink. It wasn’t long before Katharina would have to head to a train stop for her hour-long trip back to Darmstadt, where she was studying. Lokalbahnhof was the nearest station, about a kilometer or so away. Ten minutes after we arrived, she was gone, and I returned to walking along the Main.

Here I am, moving into the golden hour at nearly 8:00 p.m. While this building isn’t all that interesting, it takes on a much more impressive appearance as its red bricks glow against a deep blue sky, sporting clouds that begin to look like the wings of this tower.

You’ve probably noticed by now that I enjoy using the sun and its reflection to push the exposure time to levels that allow the image I capture to begin moving into silhouette territory or emphasize the golden quality of sunlight as I underexpose a photo for dramatic effect, such as in the next image. The building on the right is the European Central Bank.

I’m becoming addicted to the energy that is Frankfurt. With COVID quickly losing its grip on the city and the weather turning nice, people are outside celebrating life. There is no aggression or underlying tension. The passion for enjoying the day is vibrant while the pandemic is temporarily pushed aside.

On my walk home I passed a dozen people dancing at Römer while Colombian music blared to their enthusiastic flair with dresses flying. This was all in the cause of bringing awareness to rising violence in Colombia. I can’t say I know of the issue, but it was great to see their passion pulling people in.

From the river to Zeil over to Konstablerwache and then Bornheim Mitte, as the sun set over Frankfurt and it edged closer to 10:00 p.m., there were still thousands of people on the streets drinking, eating pizza, meeting with friends, and this was all happening on a Wednesday night. Sometimes, I just love Frankfurt.

Saturday Winding Down

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

We beat the Saturday breakfast crowd by heading over to Lily’s Coffee House at 7:30. We had slept in, which meant there wasn’t a walk along a dramatic coast or into a mysterious forest before eating either. The entire process we typically rely on during these travels is all akimbo as we have forsaken the rising sun in order to lazily get moving when the light of the day or the tension of bladders finally pulls us out of slumber.

Sitting at Lily’s with the locals, easily understood by the conversations, we spent two hours sipping our coffee after finishing our first meal of the day. What remained the same out of our habits was Caroline pulling out her knitting and me the computer to write about the previous day. Now, with the absolute necessities out of the way, we drove back to our measly motel of mostly meh (and convenient parking) for a walk along the Moonstone Beach Boardwalk.

Walking, walking, and more walking…discussing how we are likely entering the phase of the trip in which we panic and take photos of every single thing we see to capture all the important details. This was followed by a conversation about the quality of the images we take, and when I say “we take,” I mean that I feel unable to take photos alone as nicely as I can when Caroline is by my side. I’m certain I’ve written about this before, but we have a new take on the subject, and that is when we are together, the images when viewed at some future date, have shared memories embedded in them. When I’m off taking photos on my own, we don’t share what the experience was, and only I was taking inspiration from what I was seeing. Out here on the coast, or anywhere for that matter, when we are together, our experience is laden with love, and so it must be the lingering memory of these special moments that seeps into the images and reappears when we gaze upon them years into our futures.

Allow me to introduce you to Dipsacus Greenstein, joining the likes of great conductors Leopold Stokowski and Herbert von Karajan and currently conducting the Cambrian Coast Ensemble, bringing the roar of the ocean, the subtle breezes of offshore cool winds, and the waving plant life into full orchestration for us visitors’ enjoyment. We offered a standing ovation for the incredible piece we were enjoying. The second number performed for all those present was Teasel’s Dream; you should have been there.

We’ve passed through Cambria a number of times and, for some reason or other failed to ever visit this stretch of ocean. Maybe it was our enthusiasm to reach Big Sur or Monterey or the thought that had we headed down Moonstone Beach Drive; we would be in some wealthy enclave with views of the ocean thwarted by mansions along the shore. It turns out that the majority of the beach here is wide open, and about a mile of boardwalk above the cliffside offers everyone an easy path along the shore.

Icicle, you sickle, we all suckle for ice cycle! So that was goofy, but that’s what came to mind before I learned that these succulents are now called ice plants. When I was a kid growing up in Southern California, we called them icicle plants. Speaking about growing up and not being totally effective in that endeavor, when I learned the Latin name of this plant, I chuckled. It’s Delosperma, and yeah, there’s a part of me that’s that childish.

And no, I didn’t post this photo to indulge my inner idiot. Caroline loves the green-to-red transitions on these beautiful plants that populate so much of the California Coast, and so it’s here to bring us back.

Finally, she took off her shoes to walk along the ocean, and after about 30 feet of nice soft sand, we were walking on gravel that wasn’t as nice or as soft, but she was committed and endured a million ticklish and moments of painful pebbles that made up this section of beach.

Indulge me with my broken record, but once again, I have to wonder out loud: why are two of only a few people out in this spectacular landscape? By midday, I’ll struggle to take photos of the environment without people obscuring the view, but right now, we are essentially alone on a beach in Cambria.

The Monterey cypress tree is named as such as it’s native to the area between Carmel and the Monterey Bay of the California Central Coast. These trees down here and farther south in the San Luis Obispo area are transplants and help control soil erosion. They are well suited to high winds, but the number one reason, in my view, that they are here is found in their aesthetic value.

Can you sense my grabbing at more images than I should be posting? I often wonder how many will be enough when, some years down the road we no longer live near enough the places we currently love to visit. Or maybe our state of health precludes us from ever returning. And so I’ll continue pushing up what will hopefully be an adequate number to bring smiles to our old faces about those days we stood here holding hands, pinching ourselves at how lucky we were to be somewhere so beautiful.

Dear humanity, please continue your obsession with watching and listening to streaming life instead of being out here polluting the outside world with your inanity. Instagram is your friend, your mentor, and your god. You, as an average mortal, only require your drive-thru Taco Bell and more stickers from your favorite coffee shops. Experience is well over-rated. Can you sense the loneliness of visiting such a forsaken place without others to affirm how amazing you are to yourself?

Continued from above. The water leaps out of the ocean due to boredom, as there are no otters, dolphins, whales, penguins, giant sea turtles, or polar bears that might otherwise make this place cute. Nobody of any particular note ever comes here to showcase anything of value. Bands don’t play out here, there are no Buffalo Wild Wings for over 100 miles in any direction, and you’ll notice we don’t shoot selfies out here as it’s embarrassing to have fallen into such a void. So, in closing, you will serve the rest of humanity well by telling others to veer away from the California Central Coast. Thank you to the victims of being tricked into visiting this area.

We now return to our regularly scheduled program already in progress.

Pink, white, and yellow flowers framing a wooden boardwalk with a blue sky and the sea in the distance are part of a well-balanced diet that feeds the soul and staves off premature old age. Holistic dietary requirements depend on age, physical activity level, and happiness goals. Only consume under the supervision of love and know your limits.

Why, oh why, have I given myself such a steep ladder to climb so close to the end of this vacation? Worse still, I’m writing this five days after we were here, and I’ve already shared so many impressions on the previous posts that I feel that I’m not really adding anything new other than the sights of what we saw.

Finally, we are about to transition to something else…

…but not all that far away. We are across the street from the boardwalk for some lunch at the Moonstone Beach Bar & Grill. Should you consider visiting, please heed our warning; it is not cheap here along the coast. As a matter of fact, it’s downright expensive. Our room a few doors down from here was $191.25 a night, and a lunch of 1 beer and iced tea, calamari appetizer, three oysters on the half shell, an avocado bacon cheeseburger, fries (they are separate), a vegetarian sandwich, and a dessert of a scoop of vanilla ice cream topped off with hot berry compote came in at a hair over $100 including tip. Now add about $35 for breakfast and $150 for dinner, and without any shopping or other drinks/snacks the price of a day out here is quickly surpassing $500.

I’m reminded of the days when we avoided these pricey enclaves and instead headed to Seaside north of Monterey to find the cheapest motel we could (we did that here in Cambria for this stay, too), and we’d kind of choke on the idea of paying $79.95 not including tax for the night. Nature’s Valley Oats ‘n Honey granola bars were our breakfast, turkey sandwiches made from ingredients in an ice chest and backseat were our lunch, and just as often our dinner, too. But when we got tired of the cold meals, we splurged and hit Burger King.

After lunch, we headed into the quaint old shopping area around Cambria’s Main Street, off Highway 1. After driving by those other years, it was time to check out just what is here. Of course, the coolest things we found exceed our comfort zone of what we are willing to spend on such treasures, but these redwood objects pushed a few buttons. (Never mind that we have no space in our apartment for any of these things.) Lucky for us, you can only shop here by appointment, and we had to satisfy our curiosity by looking through the windows.

This is the Squibb House Bed & Breakfast, and while not across the street from the ocean, it is in the wonderful Main Street area at a fairly reasonable price of between $195 and $225 a night.

This was an essential stop in town and our second time here at the Ball & Skein yarn store. Caroline lost a needle required to knit my socks, so why not buy more needles and other stuff while we’re here, supporting the local economy?

Then it was back over to Lily’s Coffee House for a second time today, taking a coffee break to knit and spin yarns. Caroline is doing the knitting while I’m responsible for the stories. Part of the winding down is not wandering more than two miles away from our motel. There’s no special meaning behind this total slowdown other than maximizing relative laziness.

It’s a cool 64 degrees (18 Celsius) with a calm breeze under clear blue skies. Other than it being perfect out here, there’s not a lot to report. But I do have a lot left to write about yesterday, so I’m turning my attention to that page.

After some temporary leisure-induced writer’s block, I was able to open the spigot of words and sat for nearly two hours with my cold coffee, which had been boiling hot, to hammer out another thousand or so words, thus completing the tale that was yesterday’s adventure.

On our way to the other side of town that we were supposed to explore too, I caught sight of this object out of the corner of my eye and had to make a quick U-turn to verify that I had seen what I thought I had. Wow, this is the Fresnel lens from the Piedras Blancas Lighthouse (now Light Station) that we had walked out to yesterday. I had bet Caroline when we were out there that I believed there had been a lighthouse atop the tower in the past, but she was disbelieving. I was right.

We didn’t make it to the other side of the shopping area as it was getting late, and we were wanting to walk the other half of the boardwalk we hadn’t explored yet. So we’ll postpone the remaining window shopping and browsing in that part of town to a subsequent visit. I’m hoping it is obvious to most people that you are looking at a closeup of the Fresnel lens.

This is where we would spend the next two hours as we walked into the sunset on our last full day on the coast. It also turns out to have been a photo I stared at for two hours as I tried to kick-start what I wanted to write for the remainder of this blog post. I’m sitting in a coffee shop four days after our return from this adventure and my difficulties are being compounded by the fact that it’s also the fourth day of a fast, so the thinking circuits move with the speed of cold molasses.

From above, so below. In the previous photo, we were just above this cliff that can be seen left of center, but Caroline wanted to walk along the water’s edge instead of on the boardwalk, so we headed down. It turned out that we were already at the end of the boardwalk anyway.

This recurrent theme of me focusing on the low sun to set my exposure in order to shoot something in silhouette is an old favorite of mine. It also helps in yanking down the reflective brilliance of blinding white light coming off the ocean, creating a warm ambiance that makes the already molten sea appear even more metallic. The sense of the late day also feels amplified, and to me, this type of image is a kind of exclamation point signaling that we’ve reached that perfect moment in the golden hour.

We are at Moonstone Beach, and while these rocks look a bit like Swiss cheese that might come from the moon, these are not what the beach is named for. Little white speckled gem-looking rocks are scattered across the stretch of beach here in Cambria.

These are happy people wearing the faces of gratitude for all that we get to do and for the privilege of being with each other to share these experiences.

This is sad kelp on its way to desiccation as it has been dislodged from its grip on the ocean floor for this journey onto land. While we can appreciate our encounter with the still fresh, fly-free, and shiny sea plant, I can only imagine the turmoil it must be suffering as it realizes it has no ability to bring itself back to its watery home.

On the other hand, there’s this beautiful creature already well versed in navigating the land who I’m fairly certain will bring herself back to the car where I’ll be able to return her to our desiccated desert-dwelling hundreds of miles from here that we call home.

But hey, isn’t home where the heart is? If it is, that’s Caroline sitting out on the bench while I soar overhead, trying to poop on her.

Yeah, I had to go there on that last bit of writing just so after Caroline reads it while proofreading the entry, I can hear her over at her desk ask me, “Really? You seriously wrote that you see yourself pooping on me?” You can rest assured I will laugh my ass off, and then years down the road, after this is long forgotten, we’ll both laugh at the folly of youth…even though we are already approaching old age.

And with that, the sun set and we peeled away from the golden ocean as we finished winding down another amazing vacation.

End of Remote Self-Isolation is Near

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

Sunrise in Trinidad, California

Why haven’t we ever been to Patricks Point near Trinidad, California, before? Having been to the Redwoods National Park and some of the nearby State Parks that also feature redwood trees, I must admit that I might have taken it for granted that we’d seen what was worth seeing. That is until today. Of course, there’s the blight that is Eureka, which in reality is quite beautiful in its own right, but the drug problems afflicting that community create a homeless problem and, in turn, a crime problem that has tainted the area in my eyes. Even at our lodging for the night, we were warned about leaving anything in our car if we were to visit Patricks Point State Park up the street as our host knew people whose cars had been broken into and even her own car had been robbed. With our out-of-state license plates, she felt, we’d likely be targeted. Keep in mind that we are 4 miles north of Trinidad proper and 30 miles from Eureka; such are the problems with California’s current unemployment and homeless situation.

Update summer 2024: I wrote here that this was our first visit. Well, I was wrong, and all I needed to do was check my own blog. In 2024, looking for other information for our visit this summer, I saw that we drove at least part of Patricks Point Road, starting in Trinidad and traveling north.

Sunrise in Trinidad, California

We’re at the end of Stagecoach Road and about to turn left in order to return to Highway 101 so we can begin in earnest our drive into Southern California for our last night out on the road. Instead of taking that turn, Caroline asked for one more detour to the right.

Sunrise in Trinidad, California

This was where she wanted me to go, more or less. Actually, there was a lighthouse shown to be in the area. Well, that lighthouse is about 15 feet tall and hardly qualifies as a legitimate safety beacon for passing ships as it’s more a decorative building hiding behind a hill. We are now endeared to the area though, and make a point of putting it on the mental list of places to return to.

Richardson Grove State Park in Garberville, California

In an age where public toilets are a rare commodity due to the pandemic, these redwoods will suffice in bearing witness to our need to release the waters from within.

Northern California on the 101 Highway

And then we drove and drove and then drove some more. We drove all day with very few breaks for photos, especially once we entered the Bay Area via Oakland on the 580 before hitting Interstate 5, where we’d have to pass the bovine fattening factory zone some call Cowschwitz.

Sunset on Utica Ave in Kings County, California

The interstate was slow due to holiday traffic, for although California authorities asked Californians not to travel over Thanksgiving, it was obvious that very few heeded that warning. Our excuse for being out here is that we live in Arizona with a Republican Governor who is toeing the line for the President and doesn’t give a shit about life, and we are too stupid to think for ourselves, so we threw out the little caution that eeked into our brains and went on this here Remote Self-Isolation Vacation because we are selfish and self-absorbed, well just like Californians really.

Off the major highway, we found ourselves on a farm road that grew smaller and smaller until Google had us on a dirt road for a short stretch. If an alien spaceship had hovered over us after dark in this vast black plain of nothingness, we’d not have been surprised. Finding Highway 99, we were soon in Bakersfield, and before we knew it, we were pulling into our hotel in Tehachapi. Tomorrow we go home.

Edit: Nearly out of Bakersfield, we got off Highway 58 on Oswell Street, heading to Ben Paca Mexican Grill. I wanted some Mexican food, and as far as joints near the freeway were concerned, this one came as highly rated as one might hope. The Hot Cheetos Burrito for about $10 caught my eye as I’d never heard of such a thing. Should we pass through again, we’ll be getting another one of those!

Exit Ahead

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

Heavy, gray clouds obscure the bright blue sky above, but it’s a better view than we were experiencing the first hour of driving south when all was black. Our first photographic pullout is the Winema Lake Viewpoint in Neskowin. When the roads are wet, narrow, and winding, and the sky is dark, the path feels precarious and is only made more so by those who race up behind us, familiar with its contours and obviously annoyed at the person impeding their move forward. I’d like to claim that we were driving slowly to savor our dwindling time out here on the coast, but it was dark, and in any case, we intended to leave in the dark as we’d covered this part of the coast yesterday. Now it’s time to really slow down and take things in, even if the people behind me are shaking their fists in a futile effort to get me to step on the gas.

Dreams awaken soon with our first pitstop at a discreet corner, where we find this sign leading us to a part of a trail we’ve not hiked yet. I’m posting this as a hopeful reminder that while we’ve hiked the other end of the trail at Cascade Head, we’ve not walked this 3.7-mile (6 km) rainforest trail. Something new already for next time.

I must admit a bias while on Highway 101 driving north or south: what is on the west side of the car holds the most interest for me. On the west side of the car, the giant Pacific Ocean is to be found. On the east side of the car are more homes, businesses, forests, lakes, rivers, and boring stuff. Well, until Caroline spots this sign for the Darlingtonia Wayside. First of all, a wayside is nothing like a State Park and is certainly 1,000 miles away from being something similar to a National Park; it is a lowly wayside. Except, this wayside is a spectacular one because it has an enchanting forest trail over to this Darlingtona thing it is pulling our attention into…even if it is on the east side of the road.

Witness the cobra lily, aka the Darlingtonia. Then, like a cobra striking its victim, engaging in further research on my quest to learn more about this plant, I find that the location has a new designation not yet reflected in the signage of the wayside. It is now all grown up and has become the Darlingtonia State Natural Site. I stand corrected about the meek value of this place and am in awe of the mighty Darlingtonia plant.

I think I heard them murmuring, “Nom nom nom” as we stood on the platform overlooking them: they are meat-eaters. Maybe they eat insects, maybe they eat flesh? I asked Caroline to climb over the banister for a closer look and see if they had a nice scent, but she refused. Maybe she knew what evil might lurk in my cold heart?

This is familiar, yet not, and that’s because we are not looking at the boat dock that I’ve photographed dozens of times already. We are looking north on the Umpqua River in Gardiner.

During this late fall Oregon road trip, we learned early on about the pleasures of our seat warmers. Having them in Arizona seemed like a weird indulgence when we bought the car back in December 2018, and last year’s trip up here was had when we were still flying places so our own car wasn’t present. This brings me to another luxury we eschewed in our old Prius: the maps on the dash screen. This time around, we’ve grown somewhat accustomed to looking at the maps instead of purely relying on our phones and this has proven to have great utility. By zooming in on the map so that it moves along with our driving, we are able to spot small side roads that don’t appear in a wider overview of the route. Seeing those small roads approach, we can move around on the map to see if there’s a connection to our highway further ahead or if we’ll have to turn around. This road pictured is called Wildwood Drive and winds its way along the 101 for about 2 miles. It’s a beautiful little path in the woods south of Reedsport.

The next small road led to Saunders Lake and brought us to a fork in the road that, while a dead end, we decided to drive in any way just to see what was out along it. Houses and cabins were about it.

And this old train track that’s grown over and rusting.

Arriving in North Bend, we are now 188 miles (302 km) south of where we woke this morning and more than halfway down the state of Oregon.

A few minutes later, we seamlessly merge into Coos Bay, the largest city along the coast with a population of 16,415 (I think I shared this last year, too), but we are not sticking around long. The yarn store Caroline wanted to visit is closed, though it’s supposed to be open, and then on the way out of town, she spots a burger spot that she says we’ve enjoyed before. Lunch was had at the Shake N Burger, and sure enough, upon getting home, Google’s timeline showed me that we last visited the place on November 25, 2019. I may not share it a lot here, but Caroline’s memory is impeccable; it’s a trap where nothing escapes, except where she just set something down a few minutes before.

Bandon has one of the greatest rocky coastlines in all of Oregon. It’s no wonder that this place has taken on a kind of luxury vibe akin to Cannon Beach, 231 miles north.

Sure, we’d like to live here in retirement, but you’d have to be a millionaire these days to put roots down in Bandon. In November, the average sale price of a home in this area was $422,000, which, with utilities, insurance, and maintenance, is going to cost about $2,100 a month, while rents are not that much lower. Fortunately for those wealthy enough to call this place home, they have a workforce of nearly 30,000 in the area just north from which they can pull in labor.

Horseback rides at sunset among the monoliths are one of the amenities of life on this corner of the southern end of the coast. I shouldn’t be too whistful as at least Bandon hasn’t turned into the famous 17-mile Drive in Carmel By The Sea that charges people for the right to pass through.

The tide is seriously low today, offering us a great look at rocks we’ve not been able to see before.

More evidence of our mad-dash race to collect more experiences here on our last day on the coast.

By now you should see the attraction of what has drawn so many people to Bandon. Besides the cold, blustery days of winter, there’s the issue of heavy fog in the summer, but by and large, the coast of Oregon is our dream climate. It’s probably a good thing we’ll not be making this home as it can forever remain the fairy tale place where, for a week or two a year, everything is perfect.

I’m pretty certain we’ve seen this witch’s claw of rock before, but I can’t be certain. Maybe part of it broke off in between visits and it is only now this shape? Out of curiosity, I searched Lightroom for all photos that have been tagged “Oregon,” though I can’t be sure I’ve done the best job tagging them, and I see that I have 19,623 images to look through to make an accurate determination if this has already been seen. Well, today, it is one more detail to throw in the grab bag of blogged-about memories, hoping that it might be part of the magic key so that when I look at these images again in some years, the whole picture of where we’ve been and what we’ve done will all snap into focus.

Or maybe it’ll be this reminder from Port Orford, only 62 miles from the exit from Oregon, that will produce the sigh of satisfaction that during our time here, we succeeded in seeing all the major sights during all weather conditions and variations in lighting. There’s a thought of hanging out until sunset right here, but that’s an hour away, which leaves enough time to drive another 35 miles south to capture the sun dipping below the horizon at Meyers Creek Beach near Gold Beach, where our vacation of Remote Self-Isolation began 16 days ago.

The shark tooth towers over the sand. This prehistoric fossil of an ancient predator remains as a reminder of the giants that once ruled the earth.

Denial is a powerful tool for remaining delusional about reality. I look at the two people in this selfie, and I know that one is approaching 60 years old and the other in her mid-50s, but I can’t help but know that their inner children are still looking out, albeit with some sense of maturity and a small amount of knowledge. Someday, we’ll likely feel old and tired; it seems to be the way of people, although there are those who just up and die, forever content that they were living with vigor until they never woke again. By the way, I know I’m an irrational romantic and that life and death are a lot messier than I choose to see them, but with time short for all things indulgent, I believe I can allow myself the opportunities when they arise to seize perfection and go with it.

As we were walking around the base of the shark tooth and the surf pulled way out, Caroline was able to pass between it and another large rock jutting out of the sand. In the golden radiance of our setting sun, her silhouette walking through the temporary passage struck me as one of those moments of perfection where I can see her in a light that will frame her in just this way but once in my lifetime. While this is true regarding every photo I’ve ever taken of her, this adds to those treasured images of her riding the bow of a dory in the Grand Canyon, camping in the wilds of the Yukon, snowshoeing in Yellowstone, and smiling at me in her jammies while knitting a pair of socks for me late one night in a yurt just up the coast.

While the low tide is great for us who find it endearing to walk amongst the sea life that should be underwater, these barnacles might be looking forward to the return of their natural environment that has temporarily disappeared. I try imagining what it would be like if, on occasion, the air was pulled off the earth for a few hours, and we’d have to hold our breath and wait for its return. Come to think about it, I already feel this way about far too many people’s intelligence, it was pulled away and is yet to return.

Linger to see it all. Walk around to capture every angle. The view from one location is not the same as from another.

This small crack consumed the sun. We can attest to the truth of this as we were on hand to witness it fall in. How it will find its way back to us tomorrow is one of life’s mysteries. Without the benefit of our nearby star, we drove south to California finding shelter along the sea, but our hearts still walk in dreams along the beaches of Oregon.