LBJ Museum, Texas Natural History Museum -- Dave's Parents Visit Austin (March & April 2006) -- Part One

Dave’s Parents Visit Austin (The Visitation – Day One, 30 March 2006)

            My parents were due to arrive circa 11.15 on the morning of 30 March.  I was going to drive to airport to greet them, and lead them (in their rental) back to the hotel (the same place where they had stayed when they visited back in Spring 2003).  I was pulling in the airport parking garage seeking a parking space circa 10.40 when my phone rang.  Seems the flight was very good, and Mum and Dad had arrived early and were already at the airport.  I’d expected to wait a few minutes or the flight to be a little late (thus brought the Ipod), but hadn’t expected it to be at all early.

The rental vehicle was a brown Jeep Liberty, which I kept in my rear vehicle mirror going up 183 back to the hotel.  Mum and Dad aren’t use to driving in Austin traffic, so I went slower than my normal 70 to make sure they kept up.  Once they were checked in to the hotel (and changed to lighter-weight clothes for the warmer weather), there was lunch at Boston Market.  I use to eat lunch frequently at the one in Saratoga when I’d meet Pete during the day years ago, and it was good.  This was not all that great as far as I was concerned, so I’m in no hurry to go back any time soon.  My gravy was basically brown-colored water, and I didn’t even get the addictive piece of corn bread that Boston Market (then Boston Chicken) did so well.

The plan was to stay around the Austin area today (as Mum and Dad had been up since pretty early in the morning), so the first stop was the LBJ Museum.  It took a little longer for me to find the museum as it was now being resurfaced and covered in scaffolding.  That meant I looked right at it and didn’t even see it.  I’d been to part of the museum before (when they had an exhibit on the music of the 70s), so this time it was nice to actually get to wander through the entire thing.  The replica of the Oval Office on the 10th floor was interesting, especially the huge phone that was on the President’s desk (which could probably do less than the four-line phone that most standard phone-monkeys have on their desks).

When we were walking across to the museum, Dad was glad to say that he finally got to step foot on UT-Austin, after having watched them win the Rose Bowl this year.  Going past the stadium you could see how high the “nose-bleed” seats really were, and at the angle they were at surprised you that no one every fell out when leaning forward.  I commented they were the “freshmen seats.”

After the LBJ Museum, we went across the UT campus to the Texas Natural History Museum (which I’d only been to once, during that week when I was a “visitor” to Austin).  I still enjoyed the paleontology portion in the basement the most, and Mum commented that Rob would certainly enjoy this.  Mum and Dad enjoyed the museum as well, but not going up and down the stairs.  I’m not use to looking for elevators because I like the extra exercise.

The plan was then to go down to the Capitol building because Mum wanted to look at the Ten Commandments statue, but since it was now 17.00 rush hour was in full swing, so we changed gears.  We decided to the hotel, relax, and then go for dinner.  Dave took Mum and Dad through UT, then up Guadalupe (aka “The Drag”), and worked our way back to the hotel.  It was not my intention to sit in rush hour traffic, but unfortunately it couldn’t be helped.  In my tour-guide way, I pointed out how we could tell we were on the streets that were part of the college because the street signs were orange, instead of the normal green.

Returning to the hotel, we went across the street to Sam’s Boat for a drink.  This was a place that Aunt Sue wanted to stop over at when everyone was down back in Spring 2003, but never got a chance to (probably because it was too packed).  As there are a couple hotels as well as the UT Business Campus (called “M.C.C.” for some reason I don’t know) nearby, it was logical that the place is packed with loud young people.  Since it was a nice partially overcast and warm afternoon, and I wanted to wait out rush hour a little more, it made since to go over (as it wasn’t very full of those loud young people).  Mum stated that she would have to mention to Sue that they finally got to have a drink at the place where she wanted to go.

Once rush hour had thinned out, they went to my abode where the parents got to meet Stoopid.  Mum referred to Stoopid as, the “grand-dog”.  Stoopid was pretty calm for the evening, but got hyped up when he saw the red light on Mum’s camera.  Stoopid is use to having the laser pointer or flashlight to make a little light on the ground that he would chase around.  After dinner, we all adjourned back to the hotel to take advantage of the pool for a relaxing evening.  I went home a little later and didn’t sleep much because of all the Dr. Pepper that was going through my veins.

### 30 ###

Challenger Space Memorial, and Phoenix Capitol Building (Arizona Trip -- August 2008, Day Seven)

DAY SEVEN:  Thursday, 21 August 2008

Day’s Starting Pedometer Mileage:  843.

I knew this would be somewhat of a short day.  I flight leaves at 7.35 pm, and thanks to all the fricking regulations, figure an hour or so to go through check-in (if it’s good), add perhaps about 30 minutes to return the rental car and take the shuttle bus back to the airport.  And with the rush-hour traffic to deal with, meant I wanted to be at the airport at 5 pm or even 4.30.  I would rather be a little early and loiter in the airport, than be late and rushing through check-in wondering if I was going to get to my plane in time.

Once I had breakfast, Doug dropped Sierra off at school and he went on to work.  I spent an hour or so chatting with Deana and showing her the pictures I had taken.  Doug likes things brief and too the point, Deana wants all the description you can give.  About 10 am I worked my way over to nearby Peoria to the Challenger Space Memorial.  It took about 30 minutes for a tour, and I wandered around the grounds a bit taking pictures.  The place wasn’t very big, and there were rooms for “hands-on” learning, but they weren’t open on the tour as this place also was a training facility.  The mural at the center of the building was really cool, as it wrapped around almost 360 degrees, and was painted by a 70 year old man zipping around on scaffolding.  All I could think of was DiVinci painting the Sistine Chapel.

While the main purpose of the center was to commemorate the 1986 Challenger Disaster, it did also have plaques for the Apollo 1 crew that died in the launch pad fire in 1967, and the 2003 Columbia Disaster.  Much of the memorial aspect of the center focused on Christa McAuliffe.  Ok, while her family was one of the major organizers on having this center put together, there were six other astronauts on Challenger that deserve as much recognition.  Space travel is a dangerous business, accidents will happen, and astronauts will die.  Let’s at least each astronaut who gave their lives in the exploration of space the remembrance they deserve.  Let’s not just focus on one because she was the “common person.”  All astronauts are common people, except they just get to go boldly where no one has gone before.

Once done there, I followed directions Doug had given me to lead to this sandwich shop that he knew about.  It was called Miracle Mile Deli.  It was about noon time, so the place was pretty packed, but the line moved quickly.  I had a nice thick roast beast sandwich with a thick bowl of chicken noodle soup.  Doug could spend as much time as necessary at lunch, so we took our time as we ate and chatted.  Once I again I thanked Doug for putting me up for the night, and gave him and open invite for him and Deana to come out to Austin.  As I had already put my bags in the car because I hadn’t known exactly where I was going to end up in my travels around Phoenix today, and it made it easier than back-tracking from wherever to Doug’s house and fighting my way to the airport.

Doug had mentioned an exhibit about the Phoenix Mars Lander being at a museum downtown the previous night.  And as it seemed fairly close to the airport, it made sense to check that out.  Having looked around the area rather quickly, I didn’t see anything that immediately jumped out at me (but I’m sure there were things I would like, and I’ll just find those on the next trip).  I figured the museum would fill my time nicely before my departing flight.

The museum was attached to the Capitol building, and it was just a matter of following the 101 around the western side of the city, and then taking I-10 right into the heart of the city.  The western edge of Phoenix had a lot of warehouses and distribution centers.  Even from the below-street level freeway there wasn’t much to see.  I was hoping to see a sign for a place nearby for a decent bite to eat so I wouldn’t be forced to eat food in the airport.

Driving on I-10 into the heart of Phoenix was like driving through the hood.  If it wasn’t the low-rent district, then it was an area that wasn’t well-maintained.  I saw one or two stop-and-robs on the way that I did not want to stop at.  And the only food that you could get at a stop-and-rob was not the quality of food I wanted to eat before being on a plane ride.  Oh, well, I wasn’t too hungry yet.

There were a few one-way streets in downtown Phoenix, and it was a little confusing when trying to find the parking lot for the Capitol building.  I could see it, I just couldn’t figure out how to get into it.  I pulled into one parking lot nearby figuring I could stop and get my bearings.  The lot turned out to be government employees only, and each spot had a name and number on it.  A security guard in the lot started heading up to me.  Her concerned expression turned cheerful when my asking for directions just showed I was a stupid tourist, not a potential security threat.  She told me how to navigate through the maze of streets to get to the parking lot entrance.

Once I was parked, I worked my way into the museum.  The museum covered many aspects of the state.  It had information on the Phoenix Mars Lander and its mission, even though the Lander itself had been removed from the exhibit two weeks ago (to go to another exhibit somewhere else).  There was information about Indian basket-weavers, the dams that provided hydro-power and irrigation water to the state, the copper mines, the Buffalo Soldiers, the Navajo Code Talkers, and wildlife and fauna of the various parts of the state.  The exhibit I liked the best was about the USS Arizona.  There was a scale model, pictures of the ship (before and during the Pearl Harbor attack), and there was a piece of the damaged hull that was on display.   I found that pretty interesting, as I thought the entire ship was still sitting underwater in Hawaii.

While there were many exhibits, it was a small museum and it took a lot shorter than I had expected to go thru everything.  I wandered through a section of the museum that brought me to the Capitol building proper.  Once the security guard told me there were only offices beyond this point (which had a metal detector), I saw no reason to go that way.  I ended up standing there for about a half-hour talking gaming to the guard (who was a big Marvel Super Heroes fan), and he mentioned some underground tunnels that he had heard of in western Phoenix.  Apparently in case of bad weather and/or Indian attack, these tunnels had been constructed in the late 1800s to tap into a natural spring to provide water for anything that was stabled down there.  As the tunnels were privately owned, according to the guard, they were now used for private storage and not in any shape for visitors.  The guard seemed rather miffed that something historical was not in the position to be shared by all.

Leaving the museum, I wandered about the grounds a bit looking at the statues and monuments.  I took pictures of the Viet Nam memorial and the Code Talkers memorial.  There were a number of other interesting things, like a replica of the Liberty Bell, but I only stopped briefly at each one.  It was like 110 degrees, and I didn’t want to get all hot and sweaty before my flight.  It was interesting that while out in the sun (which my sunburn wasn’t enjoying), you felt every degree of the 110 temperature, but I could take a step or two sideways into the shade and immediately be cool.  I now know first-hand what the term “dry heat” means, as there was no humidity to make it sticky.  There was a rather neat cactus I took a shot of that looked like an upturned octopus (which a slew of other arms) that was probably about twelve feet high.  There was a decent-sized rock sitting next to it that you could clearly see the copper in it.  As the pyramid was safely packed away in my bags, I didn’t have anything handy to use as a size reference.

It was getting nearer to the time I needed to work my way to the airport, and wanted to get there ahead of any potential rush hour traffic.  I went back out I-10 to the 101 and followed that to where I-17 branches off from that, and went right back into the bus depot.  The rental car was turned in, and you realize what a “great deal” you had for the weekly rate isn’t that great of a deal once taxes and other surcharges are dropped on.  If the rental car companies are going to screw you over with all these charges, at least they could by me dinner first.  I was able to get the camera out to take pictures of the mountains around Phoenix before hopping on the bus that would take me back to the airport terminal.  There wouldn’t be any other chance to take shots after this point.

The bus dropped me off at the airport, and I was still a little early.  The television monitor on the bus had mentioned there was a small museum inside the airport itself, so that would be another target to do once I got through security check-point.  I also had the notebook that I was hand-writing this journal in my carry-on, figuring I would work on parts of that in the terminal and on the plane ride.  It was starting to get busy, so I headed towards the security check-point.  I passed a number of nice, sit-down restaurants of the local variety that beckoned to me, and I would just catch those on the other side of “customs.”  It didn’t take too long to go through the security check-point, mainly because I wear the proper shoes that I can slip on and off.  I’m still amazed at the number of people who get up to the baggage screening machines, and then realize they have to unlace their shoes and take them off.

Once through the check-point, I saw that the number of eating establishments near the actually far fewer than there was on the outside.  I stayed near my boarding gate and was checking around, but the only “local” restaurants that had any seating were all filled with loud people having cocktails before their flights.  I wandered around a bit from one gate area to another, as my feet were feeling a bit better than they had before.  I turned around so I wouldn’t get too far away from where I was suppose to be, and had to make the decision to actually eat something.  I ended up having a chicken sandwich at Wendy’s, the only place I ate the entire week that was someplace I could eat at home.  Fast food is not great food, but it’s filling food.

I found a place to sit down after eating (as I stood at a counter), and worked on some of this journal.  I knew it was going to me midnight when I arrived in Austin, so while I liked the idea of having the rum and Dr. Pepper at 32,000 feet, I didn’t want the caffeine to keep me up.  The plane was on time, and the flight was smooth, and I got caught up on many pages in the journal, but the flight home just seemed a lot longer than the flight out.  I don’t know if I was just anxious to get home at the point, but I was a little antsy on the flight home.  I was sitting in the fourth or fifth row, so I was about the twelfth one off the plane.

Arizona was great.  I didn’t get to hit everything I wanted to do, but that’s not surprising.  I had my base of operations in Flagstaff, and didn’t do a lot on the city of Flagstaff itself.  I want to go back and explore Flagstaff fully, and spend some more time seeing what Phoenix has to offer.  More importantly, I want to go back to Sedona so I can do more of the hiking trails I didn’t do this trip.

Ever since those old Roadrunner cartoons and Ansell Adams pictures, I have been drawn to the Arizona desert.  My three favorite terrains are forested mountains, tropical beaches, and rocky desert.  I was able to experience two of those terrains this week.  I will return to Arizona, and I would like to do that every other year.  When the return trip happens, expect more entries in this journal.

## 30 ##

Lowell Observatory (Arizona Trip -- August 2008, Day Six)

DAY SIX:  Wednesday, 20 August 2008

Day’s Starting Pedometer Mileage:  840.

I planned on sleeping in a little today to catch up on what sleep I had missed, and to spend part of the day in Flagstaff.  I also considered taking Doug Snow up on his offer of spending the night in Phoenix at his home.  I couldn’t get a hold of him the previous night, but was able to do so this morning.  Had all the arrangements worked out, and Doug said to contact him when I was arriving in Phoenix so he could give me specific directions if needed.  This was the first morning I ate the continental breakfast at the hotel.  It was a bowl of Frosted Flakes, a banana, and a bottle of Naked Juice (fruit smoothie) that I had on ice from the evening before.  I still hurt a bit from yesterday’s hike, but a lot less than what it had been.

Since normal check-out time was 11 am, and it was about 8.30, I went to the front desk and told them I needed to check-out early.  I had packed most of my shit the night before, and the remainder before breakfast, and had already carried all my stuff to the car.  Since it was before the check-out deadline, I wasn’t charged for the next day.  I left the hotel to hit some points in Flagstaff (which I really hadn’t done all trip).  Having seen the construction that was going on in the southbound lane of I-17 when I came back from Sedona last night, I knew that would add time to my journey.  And not being too familiar with how the rush-hour traffic in Phoenix could be, I also didn’t want to be caught in that.

I would make one target stop in Flagstaff, and my other planned destination (the Museum of Northern Arizona) would just have to wait for a later trip.  I arrived at Lowell Observatory, one of the main things I wanted to see in Flagstaff.  Lowell Observatory sits another thousand feet above Flagstaff on the aptly-named Mars Hill.  Lowell figured the elevation over the area would be a great location to build his dream, as Flagstaff was a small mining town then.  Once everything was shipped in from the East Coast, then it was hauled up to the top of Mars Hill by mule train.  In addition to the observatory, Lowell built a home for himself up there too.

Inside the visitor’s center, I watched a presentation about how stars are found in the sky with a version of latitude and longitude called “right ascension” and “declination.”  It was stuff I remember from my Astronomy class, but I also remember how Lee told me when she visited McDonnell Observatory (in west Texas) the presentation about that was god-awful boring.  The presentation I received was done in a way that was much more interesting.  My guide also showed the group how to view the sun through a telescope using a filter (and would’ve seen sunspots, if there had been any).  The tour also included the library (which had articles about Pluto’s discovery was made, and the history of the Observatory itself).

The library also had some ballot boxes where visitors could vote on what they “considered” Pluto.  You could mark a piece of paper as to whether you thought Pluto should regain it’s “planet” status, retain it’s current “dwarf planet” designation, or be known as something else entirely.  Being this was Lowell’s place, the “planet” box had more votes than anything else.  I cast my vote for “other,” as I thought it should be called a KPO (Kupier Belt Object) until we actually send out a probe to see it’s more than just the frozen iceball we think it is.

Near the library was a crypt where Percival Lowell is buried.  Keeping in mind the group was at an elevation of over 7,000 feet, the tour guide kept her pace a little slower, but I still was the only one who could keep up with her without heavy breathing.  She did notice that, comment that I’m obviously used to the mountains, and asked where I was from.  After I told her Texas, she replied with a friendly grin “Not originally.”

  

We went into the building where the Clark Telescope was, which weighed 7 tons.  This was the telescope which discovered Pluto.  I got to play with the controls to move the rotunda around, and another guy got to see how easy it was to move the actual telescope (pretty easy from the way it was designed and attached to a gimble).  Over on the side of the building was some scaffolding with a wooden easy chair on it.  It was explained that’s where Lowell sat when he looked through the telescope.  That was the extent of the tour, and we were free to wander the grounds.

I did do the Plutowalk, which had a representation of the relative distances of the planets, and also took a few shots over-looking Flagstaff.

With it now being noon, I hopped on I-17 and headed towards Phoenix.  I passed some of the back ways into Sedona, and also got some decent pictures from the car as I cruised along.  I had an idea that I would stop again at Montezuma’s Well to wash my feet again, but I had too much sun at this point and too much walking.  To get to the Well would require some backtracking on roads going in an opposite direction that I wanted to go, and I just wanted to get to Phoenix before the lack of sleep caught up with me.

I passed Rock Springs where I had first pulled off the road to take pictures on the way up, and was on my second bottle of my pink crack to get me through the drive.  Once I arrived in Phoenix, it wasn’t that far to the suburb of Glendale (northwest of Phoenix) to where Doug and Deana lived.  I hadn’t seen Doug in like twenty years, and have never met Deana before (although had seen one picture).  Deana’s parents were over working on something with her, so Doug and I sat in the front den, and he asked about the various bits of my trip.  I was then able to officially meet Deana when her parents left, and went with Doug to pick up their daughter Sierra from her after-school.  Sierra is in Kindergarten, and her brother Andrew was just born back in July.

We devoured pizza and wings for dinner, at least Doug and I had the wings.  It sounded like home hearing the discussions of who wanting what on their pizza, and pretty much everyone getting their own pie.  Doug had commented that when he first came to Phoenix over a decade or so ago, there was no decent place to get wings.  That had changed not too long ago when a place opened that did true Buffalo-style wings.  Doug and I each demolished a dozen in true barbarian fashion.  I also showed Doug the trip pictures, did some other chit chat, and then retired for the evening to try to get some sleep.  The pain in my feet was less, so I was able to drop off.  Before that had happened, I had planned my attack for the next day.

### 30 ###

Six Hikes in Sedona (Arizona Trip -- August 2008, Day Five)

DAY FIVE:  Tuesday, 19 August 2008

Day’s Starting Pedometer Mileage:  827.

Picture the alarm clock from the “Tick” cartoon again, but I woke up before it (again).  I had it set for 4.30 am, but I woke up at 4.15.  A half-hour to get ready, and off I went.  It was a day or two past full moon, so it was still pretty bright, but I drove with my high-beams on to make sure I saw any critters looooong before I was near them.  Didn’t see any this time.

It was still pretty pitch black as I drove down 89A through Oak Creek Canyon.  By the fact I had already driven down it in the full daylight (and knew the drop-off that would await me should I take a corner too fast), it was pretty easy.  Still, I want to take that section of 89A, complete with elevation changes, but minus the drop-offs, and put that on a performance track.  20 mph for that turn, my ass!  I’m sure I could still make it doing 40, especially if I was driving Argent (the Jetta) or even Bete Noire (the Sunfire I had before).

I stopped at the bridge just north of Sedona and took a couple of shots just to get some contrast to what I had done the previous day.  It still wasn’t light yet.  My plan today was to venture to the furthest place out first, and then work my way back so I could avoid criss-crossing town and dealing with the traffic.

First was Bell Rock.  It was light by the time I got there, but the sun hadn’t come up yet.  While I simply wanted to hike around Bell Rock, the trail got confusing after a bit.  At one point I was starting to ascend Bell Rock in the opposite direction (the way I had just come), and at another point I was closer to Courthouse Rock than I was Bell Rock.  I figured I would just do the Courthouse Loop then.  A little longer than I had planned, but for me it’s no sweat.  In a little bit, the trail had a completely different name (like Lhara, or something like that), and I was going away from Courthouse Rock towards something else entirely.  I figured the distance I walked would’ve equaled to one time around Bell Rock, so I back-tracked to the car.  First one done.

Now as a quick aside here, when I hike trails in Austin, I hike every pathway I find until I have hiked everything on that trail, and then I move on to the next one.  But in Austin, I have every weekend to work on the trails (or at least, whenever I want).  I only had one more planned day in Sedona, and I wanted to do as many trails as possible.  I knew I wasn’t going to properly complete them all, I don’t think I could’ve done that if I had just spent the entire time in Sedona hiking (which I thing will be Dave’s next trip to Arizona).  So I went for quantity.

Second was Cathedral Rock.  It was a short distance down from Bell Rock, and the sun was over the mountains now.  The first thing I noticed at Cathedral Rock was a machine that would’ve dispensed Red Rock Passes (if it wasn’t out of order).  That would’ve been a handy piece of information to have yesterday, and that was all I thought about it.  There were two twenty-something guys that were a little bit before me, tossing rocks all over the sides of the trail, talking loudly, and such.  It didn’t seem like they were respecting the rock, unlike the ladies with their dogs I saw back at Bell Rock.

I started to go around Cathedral Rock, perhaps I got an eighth of the way, and decided I would just ascend it (as the trail had presented itself).  The trail markers were piles of rocks in a barrel-shaped chicken-wire frame, so you couldn’t mistake them for a natural formation.  The trail-heads also referred to them as “cairns.”  My inner Garou smiled at the reference, and wondered which side would control the nodes of Quintessence in Sedona.  Would it be Tradition Mages (like the Dreamspeakers or Verbena), or any of the Garou tribes (except Bone Gnawers, as there were no gangsta’s present).  Even though Upper Sedona is tourist-based, it’s not the type of city that would attract the Technocracy.

I ascended up about half-way that I could, as the trail got a little steep and a bit more vertical for me.  I sat for a bit and drank in the beauty (even though the I was hearing laughing after the sound of rocks being tossed about), and then worked my way back down.  I met a local couple at the base, who go up here about once a week, and when asked where I could get breakfast nearby, directed me to a place in Oak Creek Village (just south of Sedona).

So what it was back past Bell Rock, the tip sounded good.  Arriving in Oak Creek Village, it was smaller than Sedona (at least what I saw of it).  This was more what I had pictured when Lee first described Sedona to me; a small, basically rural town.  I located my destination, the Desert Flour.

The young girl behind the counter that greeted me oozed perkiness, which was very refreshing.  I got a cinnamon bagel with egg, cheese, and tomato, and washed it down with a large chocolate milk.  Ms. Perky asked if I knew what all the military officers were doing in town, and pointed those out who had their noses in their laptops (as opposed to the locals just reading the paper).  Maybe she asked me because she thought I was one of the military guys (must be the hair cut), but I told her I was just here to climb some rocks.

Next target was Mystic Trail.  That wasn’t even on any maps I had seen for Sedona, and Frommer’s guide (which didn’t have it on their map either) had it as a footnote of someplace that was rarely visited and not well-marked.  I like the places that are not well-visited.  There was a little pull-off a ways before you got to the Chapel of the Holy Cross, which has no restrooms (as the sign on the porta-potties said out in front of their gate).  Also signs next to the porta-potties said “Parking for 15 minutes maximum.”  That also struck me funny in my twisted humor.

I parked at Mystic Trail, took a picture of a bird that I didn’t know (as the only other ones I saw in Sedona were doves, and it wasn’t one of those), and hiked a quarter of the way in when I realized I didn’t have my Red Rock Pass out and displayed in the car.  Since it was so out-of-the-way, I figured the chances of being towed were slim, but I was determined to have no bad experiences today.  [Later learned the bird was a quail.]

I hauled ass back to the car, and pretty much burned up a large chunk of the calories that were suppose to hold me to lunch.  I had no issues, and fished the Red Rock Pass out of the cubby-hole where I had put it (to keep it from blowing out the window, as it was not humid at all, so I was driving with the windows down).  I would later have the Red Rock Pass sticking out of a cubby-hole on the top of the dash, so I in my mentally-retarded state wouldn’t forget again.

That potential issue avoided, I returned to the hike of Mystic Trail, which was right in front of Elephant Rock.  Notice I didn’t say “in the shadow of,” because there wasn’t any shade.  To keep myself cool, the shirt was off, and it was a very pleasant, fairly easy hike.  I was really able to get into the “groove” that I like, where my mind goes and wanders while enjoying the scenery.  Mystic Trail ends at another trailhead at the end of a cul-de-sac in a residential area, so I turned around and went back the way I came.

I met no other humans on Mystic Trail, and that was great.  At about the half-way point (across from a small rock I had taken a picture of the pyramid with on my way in) there was a table-sized reddish rock with some white portions on it (that made the letter “C” from where I was looking).  It looked inviting, so I pulled out the pyramid to sit on the rock with my back to sun to meditate a bit.  My ass fit perfectly in the small depression the formed the middle of the “C,” so it was very comfy.  I soaked up some good rays.  It was very nice sitting there, but I don’t think I soaked up any vortex energy there.  I had some good energy feelings at the Meteor Crater, and in the morning at the Grand Canyon (especially at Moran Point), but I’m not sure if I tapped into any energy in Sedona.  Once I sat long enough, I resumed the hike, and back to the car.

On the way down Route 179 from Mystic Trail was a sculpture gallery that I wanted to take a picture of the outside yesterday, but construction trucks were blocking the entrance.  Today they were only partially blocking the entrance, so I was able to pull into Exposures Gallery, and take a picture of the eagle sculpture out front.

Next I arrived at Airport Vortex, also known as Outlook Point.  There was limited parking, but I was easily able to find a space.  While there was one or two trails that would take me to points nearby, I went right for the top.  It was only about 150 yards up as the crow flies (so let’s say 200 when walked, due to turns in the trail).  There was an excellent view from the top, and that was not counting the two sun-bathers up there (who were originally from Lubbock, but now were full-time residents).

I informed the sun-bathers that I wanted to take a 360 degree shot, and asked if they could please move for the short period I was taking the shot (and then they could go back to their space), unless they wanted to be in the shots.  They stayed behind me for most of the shots, but ended up being in the last of the panoramic shots anyway.  The tree that I had used as my twelve o’clock position, which was what the sun-bathers were sitting next too, had been re-occupied by them when I had by back to it.  I didn’t see any sense of asking them to move again, so they ended up in the shot when I ended on the tree that I started on.

I meditated at the top for a bit, focusing on my pyramid for a bit, enjoying the views, and then it was time for lunch.  The recommendations from the sun-bathers were all pricy dinner places, nothing I was quite ready for.  And before you ask, no there were no invites buried in there (none that I noticed), and I would’ve not taken them up on it anyway.  I already had a place in mind for lunch; I just wanted to see what other tips I could get.

I arrived at Coffeepot House, a place where breakfast is served all day (and you could get 101 different omelets).  I sat out in the back patio, and enjoyed that my waitress just didn’t get me a glass of ice water, but left an entire jug on the table.  I finished that, I was so thirsty.  The rule at this place was when you place your order, you give the letter(s) of the menu.  With 101 variations, you had double-letter combinations.  I kept it simple and got sandwich “M,” which was a chicken breast.  This was a very nice place, and the painted décor inside was also nice (even though I didn’t spend a lot of time inside).

Now when sitting at restaurants, you don’t purposely try to listen to other people’s conversations, but you overhear snatches of things.  One table had a guessing game going on between a father and a couple of elementary school age boys who were trying to come up with all the Greek Gods’ names (and they were doing a good job of it, too).  It was nice to hear a literary game.  At another table these older people were talking about their “shows” and describing how they were similar to stuff done by Fireside Theatre.  I know Fireside Theatre from listening to Dr. Demento.  Sounding like this was a skit-oriented group, I did ask them if they did any shows in Austin.  This was the male-version of the “Vagina Monologues,” called “Abandoned Minds,” and they had no current plans to come to Austin.  Still, it was a nice chat.

After refilling my bottled water at a local stop-and-rob, I headed past where Chimney Rock was, and went to a trail called Dry Creek.  It wasn’t as much of a trail, more of a 4x4 road with no shade whatsoever.  I walked in about a mile or so to a turnaround/vantage point, where I met a couple who had been doing the 4x4 trail.  They said by car to go to the end of the trail was over an hour, and the view of the valley didn’t change much from here.  With that I decided I did pretty well on the trail, wasn’t going to walk without shade for miles without a change in scenery, and headed back out.

Now I know I wasn’t doing every bit of every trail like I would back at home.  At home I have any number of weekends to concentrate on one trail at a time, and walked every part of it until I’ve covered everything.  Here I had limited, and wanted to get in as many trails as possible.  I decided I would just have to come back to finish the trails I touched today on another trip out here.  I wanted to get a couple more trails under my belt.  I had already done my primary target trails that I really wanted to do (Bell Rock, Cathedral Rock, and Mystic Trail), and Outlook Point (aka Airport Vortex) was a bonus.  Everything else was just gravy.  I wanted to do Boynton Canyon (where there was a vortex) and Long Canyon before they day (and my energy) ran out.

I arrived at Boynton Canyon, and noted from the map at the trailhead that it was 2.5 miles one way, certainly the longest hike I would do all day.  Mystic Trail was roughly 2.5 miles round trip (counting the portion I had to go over again).  I figured at the end of the trip into Boynton Canyon when I would try to meditate at the vortex, I would be able to rest and recharge some energy.  I saw a note for a far, far shorter trail called something like Vesta, which would be one of the trails I did at a later time.  I figured out at the end of the day that it was the trail that would’ve taken me to the vortex.

There’s a resort snuggled around the first part of the Boynton Canyon trail, and once I got past that I hooked up with two couple who were going at a good pace.  Both couples were snowbirds from Ohio who had their vacation homes in Sedona, although only one of the couples had actually done this hike before.  The other couple only had a single bottle of water to share between them, and we had to wait every now and then for them to catch up.  The first part of the hike was around the resort, the second part was thru some shady woods, and the last part was ascending the mountain that formed the Canyon.  I got close to the top of the mountain, meditated on the pyramid a bit, and when I heard thunder, figured it was time to start working my way out.  The others continued on towards the top.  I had a good pace going in, and I was starting to feel it now.  My pace out was slower, with a little bit of pain from the left foot.  There were dark clouds gathering, and I was determined to be off the trail by the time that storm hit.  It was pretty clear that Long Canyon would not be hiked this trip.

I knew I had some major blisters going once I got back to the car, and had finished off my water.  The storm hadn’t hit yet, but the sky was pretty dark, and the thunder rumbles were loud.  It looked like it might just be passing by, but I still made the right choice to come out when I did, considering how much I hobbled on the last third of the hike out.  The hiking boots came off, but I wasn’t going to peel the socks off until I got back to the hotel.  I put on my right shoe just so I could drive easier.  I thought about amputating the left foot.  >grin<

I considered just driving up to Long Canyon just to say I saw it, but even that was not going to happen.  I needed to refill with energy, and that was the priority.  I still needed to drive back to Flagstaff, and then I could collapse, die, and regenerate a new body.  Leaving the area of Boynton Canyon, I stopped at a Walgreens (the first place I came to that I could get a quick beverage and stuff for foot care), chugged a Gatorade in the parking lot, and a Fuze on the way back to Flagstaff.  On the way out of Sedona, I was finally able to see the corner store Lee had mentioned where one allegedly could obtain a Red Rock Pass.  All other times I had been through here, with the way trucks were parked, I couldn’t see the store, just a separate small café.  Plus all the other times in the morning the place had been closed.  Still, something to file away for the next trip.

Having returned to the hotel, I finally (for the first time all week) was able to swim in the pool.  I don’t know if it was because it had just rained, or I was just feeling the affects of my sunburn, but, but I froze in the water.  I swam for five minutes, and then went back to my room where I drew a hot bath and soaked in the tub to ease my aching joints.

Each night I had been trying a local restaurant in Flagstaff to eat at, but since I was having difficulty walking, I didn’t want to go too far.  I could’ve ordered food, but I didn’t have any beverages (except the ice that was melting in the buckets which I used to fill my water bottles in the morning).  I ended up going across the street to a place called Sizzlers.  No, of course I didn’t walk.  I barely could.  I drove across the street.  Sizzlers was a steakhouse similar to Ponderosa or Ground Round, where you stand in line to order your steak, get a tray for the all-you-can-eat salad bar, and a waiter brings your steak to your table when it’s ready.  The waiter would also refill your beverage for you, which for me was just water.  I needed some protein to replace when I had used up today, and there’s not better way to do that than meat.  I ordered a small steak and a chicken breast, and hobbled over to salad bar to fill my plate, and hobbled to a booth to sit in.  It wasn’t great food, but it was food.

I made the attempt at trying to sleep that night, but I think the pain and the energy from the Gatorade and the Fuze kept me up.  It took an hour or so before I fell asleep.  During the night (after I had been asleep for about two hours) the Band-Aid that had been used to cover the blister on the left heel came loose, stuck to the bed sheet, and when I moved, ripped it part way off my heel.  Needless to say, the pain associated with that woke me up.  After readjusting it, I had to put my sock over my foot so it wouldn’t happen again.  I hate sleeping with socks on.

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