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hi_van We are collecting informations for a shared Sightseeing in British Columbia. Do you know special points of interest poi GermanBC
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Day 19 (10/14)
Spent a leisurely morning in Santa Fe - breakfast at Pasqual's which
was super good!!! I had a breakfast quesadilla which I've never
actually seen before, but thought it was delicious. Walked around a
bit more, than headed off on a scenic drive to Taos.
plaza a bit, and then had lunch at Graham's ("yuppie eclectic
southwestern" is how Aba describes it - they did have a falafel tamale
pie). Best dessert of the trip!!! I stuck to soup and salad (both
good) to save room for molten chocolate cake with chocolate and
raspberry sauce. YUM!! (although weakest part was the raspberry
sauce which couldn't hold a candle to Papa Haydn). Stopped at Taos Pueblo as well. Pretty cool to see all the building
structures, but both Aba and I were pretty turned off by the attitude
there - after the $5 "camera fee" (in addition to an entry fee), we
were chased down by the tour guide for not tipping her when we tried
to leave halfway through ("the tour is not free - it's by gratuity"
anyone see the contradiction here?). We then kept moving on towards Durango, CO, passing over a bridge
crossing a massive canyon (Rio Grande running through below), which
had an incredible view. The majority of the rest of the drive was
again via scenic backroads, which were beautiful (especially the
latter part of the section between Taos and Pagosa Springs). Aside
from the picture at the Pueblo, all the pictures are shots from along
the drive (including the lovely "historic marker" haha). We also
drove through Pagosa Springs, and didn't have time to stop, but Aba is
already planning his return trip to the area, and is determined to
stop by there next time.
Day 16 (10/11)
Back to the Renaissance Festival for the morning (after a quick
Shipley donuts stop)! We saw the last few areas we hadn’t gotten to
the day before. It was raining most of the day, though, so the
covered attractions had more of an appeal... highlights today:
- Printing press demo
- Polish food!
- Bawdy jokes/songs from a female duo (Iris & Rose?) Also, Aba had ANOTHER turkey leg! He's a turkey leg all-star.
Definitely the best food at the fair (and most appropriate) but I was
all turkey legged out after yesterday's... haha After the fair we got back in the car and headed to Aunt Kelly's in
Dallas. Grandma was staying there too so we got to see her on the
road! And Chrissy and her kids were hanging out, which was pretty
cool - I hadn't seen them in long enough that if I'd met the kids
before they certainly weren't going to remember it. Had some catch-up
time and a bomb turkey(!) & bean soup for dinner.
Day 15 (10/10)
The Renaissance Festival!!!
OK there were some hilarious costumes (including a centaur!). Theylooked great! And I was super jealous that I didn’t have an excessive
costume. But anyways, some highlights from the day: - SHOPPING!!! It was super expensive but they had so much
cool stuff – I spent most of the day looking through all the booths,
and trying on the crazy hats/costumes
- My first Scottish egg
- Saw Aba's old booth (and his neighbors who were still
working there! The hat people...)
- Saw a falconry show (birds of prey but complete with
costumed performers)
- An organ-type instrument that played bells of various
sizes. I have no clue what it was but it was so cool AND he played
Carol of the Bells! (my favorite)
- A jousting match between four knights
- Turkey leg and beer!!!! (Note the "before and after" pictures)
- Fireworks at dusk! Accompanied by a crazy bagpipe/drummer
band that was the best group I heard at the festival – really enjoyed
them. PS. We had a surprise when we got back in the room – a cat! We heard
meowing and found it under the bed against the wall. I’m guessing it
snuck in while they were cleaning the room, but it took a good 5
minutes to coax that cat out of the room.
Day 10 (10/5)
Had a leisurely morning – bought some food at the whole foods store and had a breakfast of stuff we bought there and our own stores. We backtracked a little (something I am morally opposed to doing on a road trip, but we needed to make an exception here!) to go to the McDonald Observatory, realizing at the last minute that we needed to be there by 11 to make the solar viewing (it was 10:45 when we left), but when we showed up 10 minutes late they let us in anyways. Very cool tour, although my attention span tops out at around 2 hours, so at 1:15 on the dot I stopped listening and just waited for him to show us the biggest telescope, after which I let Aba pester him with questions while I wandered around looking at the pictures in the entry room.
After that: driving! I ended up taking a 2 hour nap after the observatory, so I guess I missed some of the scenery (an “elephant rock!”), but woke up for the drive along the Rio Grande from Presidio to the park. I included a picture of our first view of the rio grande! And a picture of the car thermometor - it actually got up to 103 but I didn't have the energy to keep taking pictures as it rose...
Checked in to a hotel in Terlingua, on the West side of the park: the Big Bend Resort and RV Park: that was the name on the new sign they were just putting up – the old sign said “Big Bend Motor Inn.” The guy at the front desk made a poor impression very quickly: I’ve never met a more bland person who was less willing to help or be friendly, and when Aba tried to ask him about his favorite restaurants he turned defensive as if Aba had accused him of only eating at one restaurant. I came to the conclusion that he was a robot. Aba said he warmed up later on, but I still like my theory.
We tried to drive into the park that night, but everything shuts down at 6 (it was just after), and we wanted to get ourselves some maps before wandering around. So, instead, we headed back, cleaned up, ate, and relaxed in the hotel for a bit.
There are 3 restaurants in Terlingua. Two tex-mex places, and a bar/restaurant (the only one serving alcohol) called La Quiva (sp?). We heard decent things about the bar, and Aba scoped it out, saying it looked pretty interesting, but, although it sounded the most promising of the three, I elected to save it for the next night when I (hopefully) wouldn’t be so tired, and we went to the tex-mex place across the street: The Chili Pepper. “Mediocre and priced accordingly” was Aba’s review. I had chicken fajita which was I was more than happy with. However before our food showed up, the guys behind us received theirs and the sight of the taco plate was uninspiring: I could’ve gotten the same thing for $2 on a Tuesday night at the Jolly Roger (and, for a little more money, something better at Taco Bell), so I was nervous to say the least, but ours was pretty good!
Day 9 (10/4)
OK tonight we are staying at the most wonderful little place i've ever seen it is SO CUTE! We were driving through Fort Davis, TX and looking for a place in the dark and drive up to this sketchy looking roadside motel with neon green lights and despite the fact that i wanted to just drive away, my dad decided to just check it out (good for him!!) and - who would've thought - we stumbled on a gem! When you go back behind the roadside building it is a very nice place with beautiful grounds and lovely rooms.
They have normal rooms and also "camp rooms" which are sort of hostel-ish in that you share a bathroom, but also they don't have a real door - it's a screen! (with a curtain for privacy) And since we ran into the first real rain on our trip it sounds beautiful from the camp room (where we decided to stay)! There are also some great deck chairs out in front of the rooms under walkway roof, where everyone staying at the motel seems to be relaxing, mingling and enjoying the rain. A great atmosphere, and a place that really just has a kind of charm to it, a personality.
The hotel also manages a whole foods store next door - my dad and i went and looked through the window and guess what! They sell Bob's Red Mill stuff there!!! In Texas!!!! Bob's Red Mill is the local Oregon "natural foods" mill that I buy my bread at.
So to backtrack now to the rest of the day:
We had breakfast at the hotel diner (less than exciting), and hit the road. Stopped in Roswell briefly for some groceries and gas, but kept moving.
We stopped at Carlsbad Caverns and they were incredible!!! There are two main attractions to the park: the enormous underground caverns themselves, and the hundreds of thousands of Mexican Free-tail bats that live their in the summer and come flying out all at once at dusk. Unfortunately we didn't get to see the bats (we're so behind in getting to Houston by Friday that we couldn't stay an extra night in Carlsbad and had to move on by the afternoon), but we did get to spend an hour down in the caverns, and - as short as it was - it was awe-inspiring. It only takes a minute to be impressed by the size and formation of the caves, and the more you see the more wild it gets. I put up some pictures from the caverns, but they just don't do it justice. Easily one of the best stops so far!
We also drove through Guadalupe Mountains National Park, and tried to stop just to get some information but the center was closed already. The park apparently does not have any roads through it, but has a lot of hiking trails.
We'd had a sandwich lunch at the caverns and then, stopping for gas along the way, picked up some real road food: chicken and jojos at the gas station right before getting on I-10. Not anything exciting but hit the spot!
After Carlsbad we drove down Hwy 118 through Texas and it was beautiful country (although the most scenic part of the ride was right as it was getting dark and I assume it continued that way until we stopped, so we missed some good scenery coming in at night). En route we saw what we then thought was a wild boar, but have since decided it was probably a Javelina (a new animal for me! I learned about them at Big Bend - they resemble pigs but are apparently not the same - they don't have a tail among other differences. They're also called Peccaries). We also saw quite a few deer (and almost hit a raccoon). Got to Fort Davis and stayed in the cutest motel I've seen! (See above...)
Day 7 (10/2)
Got ready for 2 days of intense driving! We're on a sprint now to get to Carlsbad Caverns by Sunday! I forgot we have a deadline for next weekend... we're at the Texas Renaissance Fair next Saturday.
Breakfast at a cute bakery in Bishop: Erick Schat's Bakkery. Great pastries, but Aba says "not up to Ken's standard though" (for reference: Ken's Artisan Bakery is a dynamite bakery in Portland, and Aba is a regular for breakfast there). That was the verdict anyways until he had some of their bread - he was blown away, although I was less impressed (good... but i like the donuts!)
Drove through Death Valley - mostly for the drive, with a couple stops to take in the views. Very cool, but I think the most impressive aspect of the park was the incredible landscape, and I can't say I'd rush back to take the park in leisurely. Although I do wish we'd been able to see Scotty's Castle - that sounded interesting. Grabbed a burger at the main Visitor Center site (Furnace something?) which was surprisingly good. Great fries and slaw (I'm taking Aba's word on that - coleslaw is gross no matter what it looks like if you ask me) too.
After Death Valley started the real trucking, and drove straight through Vegas and into Arizona. We did a quick stop to check out the Hoover Dam - they're building a new freeway there and the foundation they have in place so far looks amazing.
Once we were on a straightaway without as much to look at (read: Interstate 40), we put some David Sedaris on - learned a little about his affair with Mike Tyson, and just drove.
We stopped in Kingman for a steak. Kudos to the Southwest for being able to put on a decent steak wherever you go! Kingman Co. Steakhouse - weren't expecting too much but had a pretty tasty piece of meat and some less exciting ribs.
We're back on the road now and almost to Flagstaff! Went through a super smoky section where a controlled burn was in place and that looked so wild with the smoky hills lit up red in the night. I wish I could've gotten a picture, but that's just not the sort of thing you can capture with a point-and-shoot camera out a car window...
A new passion ~ Poi (Fire Spinning)
I went to a fire spinning party in So. Cal. and was blown away by the beauty, skill and thrilling audacity of all the spinners. For the uninitiated here's a link to one of the major poi sites w/ some great videos. The fire gets spun with ropes that have burners at their ends, hula hoops, long fire sticks and more.
Here's the link to my little poi slideshow shot unskillfully but nevertheless I love the slow speed fire images even though you can't see the performers.(Next time...).
The teaser:
Skateparks de Catalunya
13 punts d'interés (Cliqueu aquí per anar al mapa)
Per baixar els punts cal aquest Bookmarklet.
Un cop baixats els punt amb el Bookmarklet, es poden convertir a un format compatible amb molts GPS, amb aquestes eines.
Icona per GPS: Cliqueu al requadre de la dreta a sobre del mapa.
TomTom: Cal que la icona i l'arxiu ov2 tinguin el mateix nom.
