HAPPY 4TH FROM MOUNT VERNON

Wow! There are a lot of patriotic folk who were inspired to visit 1st president's home today. It is truly inspiring the see the thoughtful and elegant design of the estate, but waiting in line for over an hour in summer heat was a test of my patriotic fervor.

Leaving tomorrow for Santa Barbara

I'll be away starting tomorrow until Monday for Santa Barbara. I'm lucky enough to have a friend who lives in a gorgeous little cottage up there, so I'm looking forward to a couple of quiet days of beach combing, window shopping and hot tubbing. We're also going to see Anita Diamant speak at UCSB (free!) and take a walking tour of Lotusland. All in all a nice mixture of distractions and relaxation.

I'm Back and Kicking

Well more like walking actually. I'm back from vacation and chastened by the reality that I spend too, too much time blogging. Even on my trip to the Glacier National Park with my husband to celebrate thirty years of marriage, I blogged. Check it out at Glacier Googles. Anyway, in reviewing my use of time, I've come to the conclusion that I need to limit my posts to one or two a day and DEFINITELY spend less time looking for photos.

So, this blog may very well become my glorified favorites list. Ah well so be it. It was gratifying to see a Start Walking walk being held in Missoula, MT when I was there. Missoula is a very walkable, bikable town with a lovely river running through the heart of downtown and loads of bike lanes. The more I walk the more I love it. Is there any way I can earn money doing it? I'm thinking of signing up with Woman's Day online walking log.

Oh, did I mention that my laptop went kaput right in the middle of my vacation. It's been held hostage for a week at Certified Techs (433-3100), but they promise I can pick it up tomorrow.

Gone on Vacation

Flying out East on Jet Blue in a couple of hours, and I'll be gone until August 18. I'll post some pictures if I find an open computer, but if not, see you in a couple of weeks.

Gone to the Beach

BEACHIFIED!

That Darned Mouse

AARP Bulletin had an interesting feature that listed the most popular tourist attractions in each state based on the annual number of visitors. Disneyland won out in California with 14,721,000 visitors. Other eight digit attractions areDisney World in Florida, Boston's Faneuil Hall, Minnesota's Mall of America (the winner with 40 million), the Las Vegas Strip, Times Square, Myrtle Beach, Seattle's Pike Place Market. The only one I have questions about is North Carolina's Blue Ridge Parkway with 10,943,831 visitors compared to Virginia's Blue Ridge Parkway with 5,365,474 visitors. More than twice as popular? I don't think so.

Someday Sedona

One of these fine days, I'm going to get myself to beautiful Sedona--maybe set up a prefab house there. Here's a few websites that will come in handy for planning the trip. Montezuma Castle National Monument is an ancient 20 room dwelling built high on a limestone cliff. Eleven miles away, Montezuma Well forms a clear blue mirror oasis from a limestone sinkhole. Oak Creek Canyon is a scenic drive with hiking trails and camping nearby. Slide Rock State Park is a historic apple farm with a natural water shute so popular that the parking lot often fills up in summer. Grasshopper Point is a cliffside swimming hole in Coconino National Forest.

Summer temperatures hover around the 80s with thunderstorms at Sunset Crater Volcano, which has a Lava Flow Trail. You can actually walk around the Wupatki Pueblo, built 800 years ago in the midst of a desert wasteland, and there's a blowhole where cold air comes up from the ground. Wildflowers of the high desert are showcased at the Arboretum of Flagstaff. Nearby in the Coconino National Forest, the Around the Peaks Loop has great mountain views. From U.S. 89, take Forest Road 418 west, then head west on Forest Road 151, and south on U.S. 180.

Amtrak's Southwest Chief costs about $60 from Los Angeles to Flagstaff. From Flagstaff, take Interstate 17 to State 89A. Then, follow 89A through Oak Creek Canyon to State 179 and back to Interstate 17 to Phoenix.

I Can Dream, Can't I?

Ahh, summer's here and my feet are itching to wander. Since I have no visible means of income at the moment, my thoughts stray to Home Exchange, where you can join for as little at $50 and set up a home swap between you and some other bold vagabonds who want to forego the cost of lodging and car rentals and possibly augment their vacation with the comforts of home. There's also HomeAway, where property owners, usually homes or condos, rent their places for rates below the average hotel (no bed taxes). There's also a new one out there called Fractional Exchange for trading vacation homes, condos, fractional homes (is this different from a timeshare?) and residence club shares. In case you haven't heard of fractional homes (I hadn't until two days ago) the ownership is shared by a small, set number of people whereas timeshares are often owned by a larger corporation and include lots of redtape to buy sell. Redweek lists timeshares for sale, rent or exchange. With all these choices, it starts to become work just taking a vacation.

More Pedal Power

Here's a nifty website to use when planning a vacation. Rent a Bike Now is a directory of places to rent bikes around the country with a few out of the US too. You enter a state and then cities are listed to choose from. Next a list of rental places comes up with types, sizes and even brands of bicycles with corresponding rates. The actual address of the store doesn't come up until you've paid a deposit, but with a name and the price information, you could soon track them down. I've often wanted to get a bike to tool around a lakefront or park but been to lazy to wade through the Google swamp to find a local bike rental (or just had my connection hijacked, like right now). This looks like a perfect one stop spot to locate some temporary wheels.

Also in Sunset this month, Pedal Bike Tours out of Portland offers 9 different regularly scheduled tours of the area plus other one-time-only tours designed for special events. For instance, the Coffee Crawl goes to 3 different coffee roasts and lasts about 3 hours. They also offer a guided trip up the Columbia Gorge and a cruise through historic neighborhoods. Prices range from $50 to $100. Okay, who will step up and start a Long Beach bike tour?

Step Lively Californians

Walkabout California got a great write up in the July Sunset Magazine. A father and daughter have devised 2 to 4 day hikes that cover scenic areas in Northern California and conveniently end each evening at a comfortable inn. I'm not sure how posh the lodgings are. Each of the 5 hikes listed (Marin coast, Mendocino coast, Monterey Bay area, Mount Lassen, and crossing Sierra Nevada) cost $4.99 apiece to get full details. I'm definitely intrigued and will start lobbying some of my hiking buddies to see if we can put together a trip. There's also a great resource page with books and links to other walking inn-to-inn groups. Makes me wonder if there are some good excursions in the L.A.area.