some things I missed

Ahoy,

In September, it was coastal clean-up day. It's a nation wide, maybe world wide event? I managed to wrangle A into volunteering with me. Luckily, the Ballona Creek entrance is near us - so we were able to roll out of bed and walk to our site. It was fun to do something right in our neighborhood. We collected over 300 cigarette butts. I witnessed a dad with his sons chatting about sports while they cleaned, lots of families. That's the dream! I would like to one day have a family of little liberals to volunteer for coastal cleanup day. That would be delightful. And A can talk about sports to them, because we all know I'm not interested.

Camping season started with a trip up to Morro Bay. Many folks regard summer as camping season, but summers here are too hot and crowded for my taste. We had stopped through the area before on our way to or from places, and stayed in a hotel once. This time we relished in our site by the water. Each morning the mist would roll out leaving our tent drippy. We picked up oysters from the shop to grill at our campsite. In conclusion, it is still a lot more worthwhile to buy them already grilled. The campsite allows trailers and hook-ups. We were appalled when we first arrived and we could only hear the hum of all the vehicles around us. Fortunately, everyone was prompt in observing the posted quiet hours.

A's folks met us for a day. Kudos to them for making a day trip out of it! We did some touristy stuff stopping at the museums and reading informational placards, going on a hike or two. It was a really good day to be outside. We always go to the same place for oysters and other accoutrements. Tognazinni's is no frills, great outdoor seating on the water, with live music. It's further from the other throngs of tourists. I don't think we'll ever go anywhere else. 

We had some back to back camping reservations in October. And we ended up going with the same group of people. Great group of friends. We went to Joshua Tree one weekend. It was about time because A and I had never been. Our campsite was spacious, but especially because our neighbors never showed up. This turned out to be more of a climbing trip. S brought a bunch of her gear to teach us how to crack climb. I did my best to avoid using the cracks, much to her dismay. We ended up staying at the crag. Honestly it was too hot in the sun for me to have fun on a hike. The weather was really so nice. It was perfect. I was apprehensive about the desert. It's kind of my nightmare. But the weather turned out really great. We went on a hike on our way out the second day. And stopped at mama's lu on the way home. We returned to 100 degree weather in LA. We were better off in the desert.

The following weekend we had reservations for Yosemite. The site was incredibly luxurious in that it was giant. Our neighbors were so far. It was quiet and uncrowded; I would book that site again. This was originally intended to be a climbing trip with some other friends. And A went with them to climb, but I was able to get on a hike with another group in Tuolumne Meadows. After some runaround trying to figure out if the road was open, we were finally on our way. The hike was snow covered the whole way. It was gorgeous. It was also treacherous because none of us had proper shoes to plod in the snow without getting wet. We all had wet shoes by the end. It was well worth it. The lake at the end was such a nice site for lunch. A says I would have been so displeased if I had stayed with the boys to climb. We left for home first thing the next day with our hearts full. I was so delighted with the weather. We stopped at Bravo Farms for BBQ and to visit the alpaca, sheepies, chickens, etc. It's a great stop for the whole family.

best,
jt

NOLA

Ahoy,

There are not a lot of things more thrilling is discovering a place for the first time. The RRS went to New Orleans for work, and I got to tag along. He requested a hotel in the French Quarter so that I could freely explore. Their work is somewhere in Mississippi, but a little less than an hour's drive away. He only this time realized it is in Mississippi; he thought it was in New Orleans for a while.

My airplane landed early so I was able to catch the bus to get to our hotel. The bus driver was very nice and gave me very specific instructions for how to get to my hotel. The hotel we stayed at had this social hour thing to provide snacks and drinks every night. We developed a routine of getting to the hotel, drinking and eating before going out for dinner. I usually arrived between 5-6 after a day of exploring, and A and his co-worker arrived between 6-7.

My first day I spent walking around the French Quarter inquiring about ghost stories and admiring architecture. I went on tours of the 1814 House, Herman-Grimma House and Beauregard-Keyes House. I went to all the visitor centers, in addition to a police station. The city has so much history. It is so different there. NOLA was French then Spanish and French owned again before being purchased by the US, and it is still very evident the European influence. The architecture is so unique and interesting. My obsession with shotgun houses led me wandering into the adjacent Faubourg Marigny neighborhood. The density of Victorian architecture is also easy to admire. That neighborhood is little more residential, but also industrial further along the waterfront into Crescent Park. River access is not as much of a highlight as I've seen in other cities; much of it is not open for public viewing.

My second day, I got on the streetcar to City Park. I realized the streetcar is not something you rely on if you are in a hurry. I wasn't, so it was really a great experience for me. City Park is about 1300 acres, which is ginormous. I only saw a small part of it. I walked over to the art museum. I don't like art museums, so I walked through the sculpture garden instead. I made my way over to the oak meadow. City Park has the nation's largest and oldest oak grove, some of the trees might be 600 years old. They are quite magnificent. Park attendants were dressing the trees up for the holidays. I spent some time in the Botanic Gardens. On my way out I admired the dueling tree, where folks used to duel and settle disagreements back in the day. Back on the streetcar, I took it all the way to the end of the line to take the ferry across the river to Algiers. Algiers is the only portion of land across the river that is still considered New Orleans. It was pretty quiet and sleepy over there, but again I wandered around looking for shotgun houses.

With my final full day, I walked to the Garden District, and later took the streetcar back. NOLA has the nation's oldest fully functional streetcar system. This neighborhood is known for it's giant Victorian houses. It was developed after the Louisiana Purchase for the affluent Anglo-Americans that were moving there from up north. Opulence and luxury would be great ways to describe this neighborhood. I made my way back towards the French Quarter to explore Louis Armstrong Park and Treme.

We stopped at Cafe du Monde at least 3 times. I really do think they are better than the ones at Disneyland; I think they must fry at a different temperature. We got oysters most nights and got to try mostly everything iconically cajun/creole. And we definitely drank more than we would on a typical week. Service was great, and everybody was generally really nice. The tourists age demographic was mostly older and no very diverse, which was surprising.

New Orleans is a much better version of Vegas in some respects, maybe the spirit of debauchery was what Vegas was trying to capture. NOLA has much more depth and history and meaning behind everything. Even mardi-gras traditions seem to have significance in a way Vegas partying never will. Bourbon Street, although incredibly popular, is probably the worst face that New Orleans wears. There is so much more to the city beyond that street. New Orleans has so much culture and history and is such a unique part of America. I learned a lot of things about a new place- which was really satisfying as an explorer. A was at work all the days, so he didn't really get to venture away from the French Quarter during our nightly jaunts out for dinner. So maybe one day, we will have to return for me to be his tour guide!

trouncingly ebullient,
jt