NORTH CAROLINA: DURHAM

 October 2022

In the summer of 2022, our son moved from Utah to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, to take a job as a risk assessment arborist for a tree company. I wanted to be able to visualize where he was living, so in October of that year I planned a trip to visit him. Bob couldn't go with me, so I went by myself. I flew into the Raleigh-Durham International Airport, a small- to mid-sized airport that was not too crowded and easy to navigate.

Our son had to work, so I spent the day seeing the sites with his girlfriend as tour guide, which was nice as I knew nothing of the area.

Our first stop was Bennett Place in Durham, the site of the final surrender of a major Confederate army in the Civil War -- General Johnston's surrender to General Sherman -- on April 26, 1865, which was about 2 ½ weeks after Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox. This was news to me! I thought it was all over after Appomattox.

An interesting fact is that Lincoln's assassination occurred on April 15, two days before the first day of negotiations here, but was reported to the generals on that first day, April 17. News traveled more slowly back then.

JAMAICA: OCHO RIOS AND DUNN'S RIVER FALLS AND KONOKO FALLS

 February 18, 2023

Ocho Rios (Spanish for "eight rivers") is a town on the north Jamaican coast. Many believe Christopher Columbus first set foot in Jamaica just outside the city.

Our hotel in Ocho Rios was a once grand multi-building complex, but it is now in a bit of a dilapidated state. Our room had no hot water, no AC, no wifi, and a cockroach on the bed.

However, they had a great sign on the office wall.

We were worn out by heat, humidity, and walking, and in spite of all the hotel issues, we just needed sleep.

The next morning we were in no rush to get started. Chad was snorkeling, and we had a plan to meet at 11:00, so we drove down to the Ocho Rios Craft Market. It was about the junkiest tourist trap we've ever seen, not even meriting a photo. Nothing was original. It all looked like it was made in China. There were multiple stalls, all selling the same items, and every vendor claimed to have made the items in his/her booth. We decided we needed breakfast instead of shopping.

Definitely not a breakfast spot:

NEW YORK: LETCHWORTH STATE PARK

July 27, 2021

When we travel in the United States, I am always surprised by how many truly incredible places there are that I have never heard of. I know our country is vast in comparison to many countries of the world (we are the fourth largest geographically, or the third if you count our overseas territories), so why should I be surprised? And yet it happens all the time.

We hit two such spots in a row on this trip, Letchworth State Park and Watkins Glen. I'll start with Letchworth State Park, located between the Alleghany foothills and the Finger Lakes region of Upstate New York and known as the Grand Canyon of the East. (Note: We also traveled to the "Grand Canyon of Texas" earlier in the year, Palo Duro State Park.) I was surprised to learn that Letchworth State Park is "America's #1 State Park," at least according to a public poll. Why hadn't I ever heard of it?

Of course, it took about two seconds for these two to find a ginormous puffball, the first of many great fungi discoveries.

Letchworth State Park is famous for its series of three falls, creatively named Upper Falls, Middle Falls, and Lower Falls.

The park is named after American businessman and humanitarian William Pryor Letchworth (1823-1910), who in 1859 purchased a large tract of land around the gorge created by the Genesee River. In 1906 he bequeathed what had become a 1000-acre estate to New York State. It was eventually joined to other lands to form the current 14,427-acre state park.

TEXAS, AUSTIN: A HAILSTORM AND McKINNEY STATE PARK

 March 25, 2021

On Thursday morning at about 4:15 AM I awoke to some loud banging that I thought was Bob trying to open the window.  When I asked him what he was doing, he said he was watching an incredible hailstorm. He had woken up thinking I was trying to get something out of my suitcase. It sounded like rocks were hitting the hotel. Bob said that when he first looked out the window, the ground was covered with white balls of ice. By the time I pulled myself out of bed to look, it had already melted and a good-sized river was rushing down the road. I checked out the weather app on my phone and saw the following:

Later, we saw photos of the quarter-sized hail:

TEXAS: SAN ANGELO STATE PARK AND SAN ANGELO CONCHO RIVER WALK

 March 22, 2021

Bob wanted to get up early (definitely earlier than I wanted to get up) to visit the I-20 Wildlife Preserve. I decided to sleep in and let him go by himself, and I was glad I did because when he got there, the park was closed and he had to turn around and come back.

We ended up getting on the road at about 9:30, heading southeast towards San Angelo, a distances of about 112 miles. One of the things that makes a driving trip like this one so much fun is that running into quirky things is almost inevitable 

For example, we saw this huge metal thing being towed down the road that looked like an airplane wing. Bob figured out that it was a blade of a electricity-generating windmill. I read that the blades of a turbine windmill are 120 feet long. I can't imagine turning the corner with one of these in tow.

The signs in the fields were pretty quirky.

And how about the totem pole made of antlers? Pretty quirky, right?

TEXAS PANHANDLE: PALO DURO CANYON PART II, THE STATE PARK

March 21, 2021

I took a picture of this quote when we visited the Panhandle Plains Historical Museum because I am a Georgia O'Keeffe fan. 

When I got home and ran across it in my photos, I Googled "Georgia O'Keeffe Palo Duro Canyon" and found out that the artist I had always associated with New Mexico and New York actually taught art in the public schools in  Amarillo, Texas, from 1912 to 1914. In 1916 she became the chair of the art department of West Texas State Normal College (now West Texas A&M University) in Canyon, Texas, where the Panhandle Museum (and this quote) is located. It was during the next year and a half in Texas that her art evolved towards abstraction, particularly her landscapes.

She painted 51 watercolors during this time, many of them abstract expressionist landscapes of Palo Duro Canyon, a place she often visited for inspiration. She called the canyon "a slit in nothingness," but another time she wrote that "the plains' . . . feeling of bigness just carries me away." And of a hike in the canyon she said, "I was very small and very puny and helpless, and all around was so big and impossible."

Canyon with Crows (1917) from here

L: Alfred Stieglitz's photo of Georgia O'Keeffe in front of her charcoal drawing of Palo Duro Canyon
R: No 15 Special (1916-1917), painting of the canyon

Here are two versions of O'Keeffe's Light Coming on the Plains (1917), painted during her time in Canyon.

TEXAS PANHANDLE: CAPROCK CANYONS STATE PARK AND FINE DINING IN AMARILLO

March 19, 2021 

Not far from Palo Duro Canyon is another state park, Caprock Canyons, which was established in 1982. It is 15,314 acres, just 1,088 acres smaller than the 16,402 acres of Palo Duro State Park.

One of this canyon's claims to fame is that it is the home of part of the state's official bison herd. At one time, the Texas plains were covered with bison, but by 1888 there were fewer than 1,000 bison in the entire state. Some individuals and groups undertook extensive conservation efforts, and eventually the Texas State Bison Herd (yes, that is their formal name) grew to a half-million head.  

In 1996, 32 bison were moved to Caprock Canyons State Park, and the herd now numbers 150. Not a bad growth rate for 25 years. I wish my stock portfolio did as well. By comparison, however, there is a herd of 3,000 bison in Yellowstone Park.

Right off the bat, we were introduced to our first bison.

Visitors' Center

Oops, I had already broken the rules.

As soon as we left the visitors' center parking lot, we ran into the grazing part of the herd, figuratively speaking. Apparently they didn't read the rule about staying far away from US.

THREE SUMMITS: #3, BLACK MESA IN OKLAHOMA, CAPULIN VOLCANO, AND SUGARITE CANYON

 October 18, 2020

We had one more highpoint to summit on this trip: Black Mesa, the highest point in Oklahoma. One of the interesting thing about this highpoint is that Black Mesa actually extends into Colorado and New Mexico, and the highpoint in both of those other states is higher than the highpoint in Oklahoma (but is not the highpoint in those states).

We left our hotel at about 7:00 AM and drove an hour to the trailhead. When we began our hike just after 8:00, it was only 36° F.  I wrote in my notes that I was wearing 2 pairs of pants, a long-sleeved shirt, a Columbia zip jacket, a down jacket, and Bob's gloves. (Thanks, dear.)

The round trip hike was 8.4 miles, and when we got back to the car at 11:30, it was 39°.  It was cold, but we kept up a quick pace and it wasn't too bad--until we got to the mesa itself.

Just before the gate is this granite bench honoring Jean Trousdale, "Highpointers Foundation Director, Founder of the Club Mercantile, Clinical Psychologist, Mother, Grandmother, Friend." The photo of her with her dog is captioned, "Enjoy the view and have a good hike!"  She looks like someone I would have liked to know.

CALIFORNIA: FROM THE REDWOODS TO THE SEQUOIAS

 August 9-10, 2020

After a few days in Redwood National and State Parks, our plan was to spend the night in Fortuna and then head south to Sequoia National Park. 

On our way to our hotel, we stopped for dinner in Eureka, the seat of Humboldt County. With a population of about 27,000, it is a tiny town by California standards, but a metropolis by Humboldt County standards.

I've always associated Eureka with the Gold Rush ("Eureka" = "I have found it!" = the California State motto), but the city really grew during the late 19th century when the lumber industry exploded. Hundreds of ornate Victorian homes were built during this period, and many have not only survived, but have been reborn through restoration.

The most famous of the houses is the Carson Mansion, a QueenAnne-style Victorian home built in 1886 for William Carson, one of California's first lumber barons. It is supposedly the most-photographed Victorian home in America. It has over 16,000 square feet on three floors. These days it is occupied by a private club.

CALFORNIA: REDWOODS NATIONAL AND STATE PARKS, Day 2 Part 2, Tall Trees Trail

August 9, 2020

Like an expensive restaurant, the Tall Trees Trail requires advance reservations. Only 50 people are allowed on the 4-mile round-trip trail each day. Fortunately, we were three of those people. It is listed as a moderate to strenuous trail with 600 feet of elevation change. This grove has some of the tallest trees on earth, primarily redwoods and Douglas fir.

Entering these forests is like stepping into another world.

Pictures just don't capture the size of the trees, the stillness of the air, and the primeval atmosphere.

CALIFORNIA: REDWOODS NATIONAL AND STATE PARKS, Day 1

 August 8, 2020

After a good night's sleep, we left Redding and drove northwest towards the coast, passing through small towns like Willow Creek (population about 1,500), where we stopped for gas and had our first couple of sightings of Bigfoot. Northern California is obsessed with Bigfoot.

A little further on we made another stop for a bathroom break. I love the tacky decor.

The amazing thing was that just behind that gas station was a huge field of blackberries that were just becoming ripe. There were no signs telling us to keep out or to leave the berries alone, and I must confess that we ate a few--not many, but a few. They were delicious.

The name "Redwood National and State Parks" is a little confusing. Abbreviated as RNSP, it is a complex of one national and three state parks on the northern California coast, together comprising 139,000 acres. The state parks were established in the 1920s, and the national park was established in 1968. 

Our first stop was at the Trillium Falls Trail in one of the state parks (Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park).