Musings From Paradise

Perfect weather was predicted and delivered and we’ve earned our first gin and tonic of the vacation. Clear and in the mid-sixties, we thumbed a ride to the Weeping Pool shuttle stop and, looking up, took about 20 seconds to select the longer hike to Observation Point, a mere 2,150 ft. vertical ascent over 4 miles. But hey, that’s no more than hiking up from the lodge to the Mt.
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It was cold and windy when we entered Zion National Park via the East entrance from Kanab, Utah. I got carded using my National Park Senior Pass by the young ranger at the entrance kiosk, and as we proceeded through we were struck by the sheer grandeur of the magnificent Checkerboard Mesa. There was a recent dusting of snow on top and we rubber-necked all the way down the Mount Zion Carmel Highway to our desired camping spot in the “South” campground (which is really north of the only other campground in Zion canyon, the “Watchman”).
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The drive on Hwy 89 from Sunset Crater to Page, AZ, is an eye-opener. Pretty much a straight shot, both the eastern and western horizons featured magnificently eroded red cliffs. The wide valley between is the home of several native American tribes, and a local public radio station hosted an interesting call-in show discussing the current drought. Everywhere we looked was at one time sculpted by water, yet none was visible.
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Pushing north from Tucson, our adventure had us overnighting at the Bonita Campground outside the Sunset Crater National Monument. Just north of Flagstaff, the Bonita was indeed beautiful, as its name suggests. The only problem was it doesn’t open until May. After a long day’s drive, we were understandably disappointed until learning from the Monument ranger that camping on the other side of Highway 89 (a mere ½ mile away) was permitted year round.
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With Anza-Borrego behind us and Tucson still down the road, we explored a new-to-us wildlife area near Yuma, Arizona. It turned out that most of the wildlife were hibernating in rows of boxy white RVs with noisy generators powering the essential air-conditioning. But I digress.

Getting to Squaw Lake, our overnight camping destination, was a snap (and, as is often the case, it was only when leaving that we discovered where we’ll camp next time).
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These are a sampling of “found art” displayed at the Tucson, Arizona, home/studio of artist Phil Miller. For more information about his work, visit philipmiller.us.

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Winter driving in Oregon can be extremely dangerous. Every time we head up Dead Indian Memorial Road from Ashland to one of our favorite cross-country skiing trails, I’m reminded of the time when going up was considerably easier than descending—particularly since the decent in my trusty ol’ Ford was out of control.

On that March evening in Klamath Falls, it was cold, there was still some sunlight due to the clocks having “sprung forward,” and there wasn’t any snow in town.
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The Anza-Borrego Desert State Park is located a couple hours east of Escondido, California. This expansive natural playground extends thousands of acres in all directions from Borrego Springs, a struggling community that hosts the park’s visitor’s center, ranger station, and markets for campers and its few residents.

We arrived on a Thursday afternoon after having first lunched with Sooney’s long-time family friend, Joan Peachman, and then having a couple beers and laughs with my long-time friend Bill Michalsky.
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WriteSite was developed by Nick Viani, a middle school teacher whose language arts program was profoundly affected by his training at the Bay Area Writing Project in the early 80′s. With the arrival of technology, initially word processors and, more recently, the Internet, there was a natural segue into what is now the 3rd version of the highly professional WriteSite. While emphatically NOT a writing program, WriteSite embraces and supports Oregon’s instructional writing standards in a secure, password-protected online communicating environment.
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