Portland Japanese Gardens December 13, 2010

When my brother said he wanted to go to the Japanese Gardens on his vacation in December, my response was "You want to go in winter!" After much convincing we made out plan. Happily, just days before we set off, Groupon.com was offering a two for one coupon. So rather than $9 each that was the total. Awesome!

Off to the gardens we went. After a windy ride in the hills we found the parking lot for the Portland Japanese Gardens. After parking we hiked up the trail to the entrance gate. No sooner did we go
through the gate than the rains came. Not daunted, off we went to explore.

Even in winter and in the rain it was quite scenic. I am not the type to sit and contemplate the landscape and the use of one element to represent another. Too quiet for my liking. However, observing those who are into that type of thing was interesting and Larry was totally in his element.









There was lots of color and textures that made the scenery quite interesting. There were plants that were even in bloom.




























And the rain added its fine touch and even made a leafless tree twinkle.




























Larry's observation of the this scene was that the rocks represented people and how the ripples represent the fact that we do not live in isolation and the ripples represent the affect we have on the lives of others, whether we recognize that or not. Deep!

HOT, HOT, HOT...

but I think I like it! Yesterday I got to thinking I could live here in Willcox, but then realized that lying on my back in the pool makes it easy
to feel like living anywhere.

Today was meeting at 10 for the English congregation. They have somewhere between 50 - 80 pubs (got conflicting reports). Willcox congo is one of color, some vanilla, some cinnamon and some chocolate. Old and middle and young. Lots of comments and semi-loud singing. And good territory, I'm told! I think I might be excited.

Went exploring this afternoon and got a little more excited while roaming around Sunsites, a town about 30+ miles southish of Willcox. Lots of places to ride and a golf course! This is Indian country and lots of different parks and monuments. The scenery here is just amazing!

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Oooo weee!

It be a bit hot here in Willcox, AZ! My morning started out with the sun breaking through the curtains in a blinding fashion at 5 am. Got to Bearizona at 8 am. Its a new drive through wild life park in Williams, AZ. They just opened a few weeks ago and are only on phase one of the construction. It's pretty small but the highlight is the 9 black bears and the two 5 month old bear sisters, Kona & Coco. Kona already has a major reputation as a terror! The staff were really friendly.

The drive was a lot more interesting today and I got to see cactus in bloom. The halo of flowers that top the saguras is pretty entertaining. There were also spots of bright pink (however speeding at 75 mph through twisting highway didn't allow me to stop and get a picture). Just outside of Willcox is an area that looks like the dribble sand castles I use to make as a kid.

The kingdom hall is a newer one it appears on the outside. Spanish and English. People don't have to worry about mowing lawns here and it does not appear that gardening is a particular popular pass time. It seems to be an old western town. Passed a store that advertised gun fights by the fully dressed caballeros lounging in the shade. (Sorry, didn't get a pic). And they have a store that has sales for people 49 and younger! This may be the place!

Magnifiscent!

I left the cool temps of my room in Las Vegas at 7:30 am and out into the already hot temps of the Nevada desert! They are expecting 106 tomorrow. Thankfully Arizona is about 15 degrees cooler. The drive was still a bit on the dull side (except for the car that was on fire), but even the desert has blossomed as you can see from the pics. After finding my motel, the Quality Inn Mountain Ranch about 5 miles east of Williams, AZ; my destination was the Grand Canyon. A 60 minute drive, a $25 park pass and a two hour drive in the park and all I's gots ta say is WOW!

Its like seeing an old movie that the background is actually a painted wall. It is surreal that there could be such a huge hole in the middle of nowhere and that water did all that (note to self: fix the leaky faucet outside). All kinds of accents as I passed people.

Back to the hotel, its older but has been nicely updated, very elegant. Tomorrow a drive through Bearizona, a wild life park, $11 entrance fee until 2011 and then off to Willcox. The temps are at 100, eek!

Aaaarrrrggghhh!

The trip from Susanville to Vegas is unbelievably boring! Very long straight stretches with just scrub brush. A few little towns break up the monotony wondering what people do in these little towns that are literally in the middle of nowhere. The mountains can be pretty interesting, the different colors are amazing. I have been searching for warmth and definately found it in Las Vegas at 100 degrees with a low of 78. The hotel I got is quite regal for a price of $41 bucks! I am finding that I am a bit addicted to electronics as I paid $12.99 in order to get internet access here so I could check email, book my next motel and do my blog : ).

On the way to Sun

June 2, 2010 proved to be a very wet travel day. My plan was to leave yesterday, but it just didn't happen. The majority of the day's travel was in rain. It wasn't until I was about 40 miles north of Susanville, CA that I found the sun! An uneventful travel day, thankfully. Tomorrow I travel as far as Las Vegas and Friday will be the Grand Canyon...I think.

Still Manzinillo...

Manzanillo is a port on the way to becoming a
bigger port. Lots of ships come in and out of the
bay and some stay for a couple of days. Wonder
what it must be like to be on a ship day in and
day out. I go stir-crazy in a condo in a matter
of hours.

There is a lot of sealife to be seen and watched out
for. Turns, pelicans, seagulls and some little white birds that attack the pelicans and are attacked by the turns. Then there are the dead fish that wash up in the surf. If you are not careful you can get stabbed by one of these little guys:

Cutest little faces! When I first saw a pile of these they looked like furry fish. Closer examination they are puffer fish. Though some cultures consider them a delicacy, the Mexicans don't and the birds don't seem to be interested in them either.

The architecture is pretty amazing and diverse. From your typical beach restaurants to clean modern lines.




And then there is the footprints in the
sand that seem to appear out of nowhere.

Walking on this beach takes a lot of effort. Recently the shoreline has changed and become very sloped. Usually where you would have hard sand to walk on it is just soft. To get the hard sand you have to walk very close to the incoming waves and often get very wet from a large powerful wave. The water going out is as forceful as the water coming in and often cause an explosion of water on meeting.





So, my purpose in coming to Manzanillo was to see if it was a good fit for moving here.
While there are plenty of nice places to rent at very affordable prices, it is large with a population of over 130,000. A bit too big for this small town girl. Although I keep vascillating between maybe coming for 6 months and then heading back to Oregon for 6 months. I am left feeling life this picture ---------------------->
grrr!