Into The Wild

Camelback Mtn -- 2-2-11

2011-03-06T10:03:00.000-08:00

The famed Echo Canyon Trail. This is probably the most popular hike in the Valley and has a very small parking lot. The best times to come are very early in the morning (6 am) on the weekends or during the middle part of the day during the week. It was a chilly day that only got into the 40's and was very windy, so that cut down on the amount of hikers quite a bit.

This is a very strenuous hike that climbs 1300 ft in just a bit over a mile. But the payoff is worth it with a 360 degree view of the Valley at the top. This is not a trail for casual hikers.

Apparently, we missed Phoenix Suns' player Steve Nash hiking the mountain by just about an hour or so.

Cataract Lake

2008-09-16T21:36:00.000-07:00

Normally we meet the folks at Kaibab Lake near Williams each summer, but their campground was full. Within a few miles of Kaibab is Cataract Lake, so we decided to make our first trip there. We caught plenty of fish, had great weather, and overall had a very nice time.

Busy Day

2008-09-06T23:50:00.000-07:00

Started off with the great Arizona Museum of Natural History (generally called the Mesa Southwest Museum):

They have a lot of fossils and interactive exhibits and is inexpensive.

Walking around the museum for a couple of hours makes one hungry, so up next on our itinerary was the famous Iowa Cafe in Mesa. We'd heard about it but had never been there. It was started over 20 years ago by a transplanted Iowan and offers midwestern comfort food and decor that reminds other transplants of home. No wussy health food here. Be prepared to leave any diets at the door. The pork tenderloin was very good. I had it with eggs and home fries. The wife had a tenderloin sandwich.

That was going to be the end of the day, but the ringing of the doorbell at home told us differently. One of our neighbors has season tickets for Arizona State University football. He couldn't go to today's game against Stanford and asked if we'd be interested. Only two tickets, so it was decided that Alex and I would go. His first college football game and it didn't disappoint. ASU won 41-17.

A Bachelor Once More ...

2008-07-16T15:08:00.000-07:00

The wife and kid have abandoned me for a week, visiting family in Iowa. Due to us not being rich, and me being self-employed, we couldn't quite swing me going back too.

Some pics from the beginning of their trip, albeit from my wife's crappy cel phone camera:

Alex evidently got to pilot the plane:

... but chose to read the safety procedures after getting in the air. Be afraid.

Numb3rs

2008-05-05T22:18:00.001-07:00

Thanks to my wife's uncle Marty (set decorator for the TV show Numb3rs), we were able to watch a few scenes being filmed in downtown LA on Sunday.

Here's star Rob Morrow between takes:

After the shoot wrapped, the F/X guy gave us a personal tour of the cars involved and explained how the effects were done.

They gave us this call sheet, some of the gun shells and the hard glue plugs that were actually used to break the glass (in lieu of real bullets).

Director Alex hard at work. What a prima donna!

All in all, a pretty sweet day. We even got to eat with the cast and crew. I don't really watch Numb3rs, but we'll have to check out this episode when it airs. It's set to air Friday May 16th on CBS.

California '08 - Day 2

2008-05-03T23:36:00.001-07:00

Long Beach, California

The previously mentioned, Acres of Books:

The Pike at Long Beach, a shopping and entertainment area. My mom spent several years of her childhood in Long Beach and Pike's is about the only area that is similar to how it was then. The aquarium and the Queen Mary were not yet around.

The Queen Mary:

And Shoreline Village, where I had a bite to eat at Gitana's

California '08 - Day 1

2008-05-03T08:56:00.000-07:00

Manhattan Beach on Friday

Glendale Family Bike Ride

2008-04-13T11:37:00.000-07:00

Alex and Michelle at the Glendale Family Bike Ride, which focused on alternative energy and recycling.

Opening Day

2008-04-08T23:45:00.000-07:00

Monday was the home opener for the Diamondbacks. They won -- yay!! And we had a good time. Here's proof:

Obviously Alex does well with the ladies because of his awesome fashion sense.

The little one even made it up on the D-backs ginormous new HD scoreboard in centerfield (I circled him in the picture). I would have gotten a better picture but I didn't have any warning.

Hockey

2008-01-10T20:32:00.000-08:00

We've had the chance to take in a few hockey games lately. Good seats for the first couple of games. Upper deck, mid-court, first couple of rows:

Alex's eyes fixed on the game, but his body huddled next to me because of the chill of the arena:

But due to the largesse of one of my clients, the tickets I had for one game were even better. 3rd from the glass, just a couple feet from the Coyote penalty box:

The blue circle shows where those seats are (as viewed from the seats I had up above):

Not too shabby.

Manhattan Beach

2007-10-21T00:33:00.000-07:00

Rounding out our California trip was a stay at Michelle's aunt and uncle in Manhattan Beach. We purposely didn't plan too much so that we could take in the beach:

go for a bike ride up to Marina del Rey:

And a little shopping and eating at The Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica, that I had talked about last year on our visit there.

What was interesting about this time was that I bought the coolest action figure ever at a toy store called the Puzzle Zoo:

'Nuff said. I will be the envy of all the nerd kids on my block. Worship me. I almost bought this following set just for the reaction that I would get from Scott. It's basically all his favorite people: Lenin, Che Guevara, Malcolm X, Ghandi, Mao Zedung. Sorry, Scott, no Von Mises action figures.

Farmer's Market

2007-10-21T00:16:00.000-07:00

Our California adventures continued on Friday with a visit to The Farmer's Market. It's been around since the 30's and is a popular place to see Hollywood types shopping or eating lunch. We had pretty slim pickin's when we were there on Friday, just a couple of D-List actors - that curly-haired guy from The Bob Newhart Show, the unfortunately named Peter Bonerz (I'm sure he wasn't picked on as a kid):

and "The Mechanic" from Fight Club, Holt McCallany (also on the show Heroes), most memorable to me for the line:

MECHANIC --- "In death, a member of Project Mayhem has a name."

JACK --- "No -- !"

MECHANIC --- "His name is Robert Paulson."

But we had a nice lunch, jambalaya from The Gumbo Pot and a decadent brownie from local favorite Dupars.

Disneyland

2007-10-21T00:01:00.000-07:00

Our California trip started out with a visit to Disneyland:

This was the first time that we actually stayed at a hotel near Disneyland. We stayed the night before and after. It made it very nice as we could walk to Disneyland and didn't have to rush.

We had a blast, had great weather and Alex was able to go on a lot of rides that he was too young to go on 3 years ago. Favorites of Alex included Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, an interactive ride:

and Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage, a ride where you actually get in subs.

After a full day, just by accident, Michelle came upon a sandwich, the Monte Cristo, that we'd never had before at a little diner next to our hotel. It's ham, turkey and swiss on bread dipped in egg batter, deep fried and then covered with preserves. Obviously it's a heart attack on a plate and doesn't sound like it would be good but it's fantastic. It's origins are sketchy but the sandwich appears to have been popularized in LA and specifically at Disneyland.

Mormon Trail

2007-09-29T17:22:00.000-07:00

Outstanding 5 mile hike on South Mountain. Lots of up and down and great scenery including heiroglyphs:

... outstanding views of the Valley, including downtown:

More pics on Alex's blog.

What We've Been Up To

2007-06-16T22:53:00.000-07:00

I'm a little behind on posting pics from our excursions. So, here goes:

March 23rd - Phoenix Art Museum. One of my favorite artists at this museum is Philip C. Curtis. He resided in Arizona for quite awhile and actually was one of the founders of the Phoenix Art Museum. His paintings are distinctly surreal (as are Alex's):

March 25th - Our best friends' E & J's daughter's baptism:

... and Luke Days - The Air Force base's annual show of force. A bit rah-rah for me but I'm an airplane nut and they put on a pretty good show:

April 15th - Alex with a devlish look at the Glendale Jazz & Blues festival downtown:

May 8th - Diamondbacks/Phillies baseball game. Alex and his friend Adrianna are meeting Baxter, the Dbacks mascot:

May 13th - Camping with the folks at Kaibab Lake near Williams:

That's Alex and my dad in the boat.

Also in Williams is the Grand Canyon Railway. While we were there, they had a special event, Day Out With Thomas, where they got to meet several of the Thomas the Train characters and went on a 25 minute ride on a train made to look like Thomas the Train:

May 22nd - Alex's kindergarten Awards Ceremony:

He's a smart kid and a bit of a teacher's pet. I guess they don't fall far from the tree.

June 3rd - And finally, Kids Faire out at University of Phoenix Stadium:

We got to meet a lot of characters and see performances by Barney and Strawberry Shortcake (yay). Well, at least Alex liked it.

Palm Springs

2007-04-23T22:19:00.001-07:00

We took a short (very short) trip to Palm Springs, which is a 4 hour drive from Phoenix. Michelle's cousin Holly had a timeshare there and Michelle's mom and sister were visiting for a week from Iowa. So, it would have been pretty dumb of us not to have made the short drive out. Plus, we got the added bonus of it being gorgeous there.

Alex hamming it up with Aunt Jill and cousin Holly, respectively.

Holly's condo was literally right next to the mountain. Breathtaking views.

I'm not sure which of these things is cheesier -- the fact that Sonny Bono was ever a mayor and congressman -- the fact they made a statue of him -- or the fact that I took this cheesy picture of my family in front of it. You be the judge.

Happy 6th Birthday Alex!

2007-03-03T20:21:00.000-08:00

Fun on the slide - with and without Mom

Cake and toys

Fountain Hills Great Fair

2007-03-03T19:26:00.000-08:00

Checking out some local artists at the Fountain Hills Great Fair:

Spring Training

2007-03-03T18:39:00.000-08:00

Spring training started this week and I played hookie Friday afternoon to take the little man to a game between the Padres and Mariners:

Don't know what the score was. Didn't really matter. A nice day, cheap $6 lawn seats, a beer, and a hot dog with your son. Doesn't get much better than that.

"People ask me what I do in winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring." -- Rogers Hornsby

Glendale Chocolate Affaire

2007-02-03T23:58:00.000-08:00

Alex and his friend Ashlynn (one of our neighbors) at the 12th Annual Glendale Chocolate Affaire:

We look forward to this every year.

Here's a video of the kids dancing without a care in the world:

Cards 27 - Seahawks 21

2006-12-10T17:21:00.000-08:00

Thanks to my good friend Boo for the sweet tickets (24th row at about the 30 yd line) to today's Cards/Seahawks game. And the Cards even decided to show up and play well. It was my first game in the new stadium.

Glendale Glitters

2006-11-25T22:12:00.000-08:00

Friday night was kick-off to "Arizona's largest holiday light display", Glendale Glitters. It's only a few miles from our house, so we went to take a look. It was a bit crowded but Alex had a good time ... and got a new hat:

More pics:

Arizona State Fair

2006-11-04T16:08:00.000-08:00

Friday was our more-or-less yearly trek to the Arizona State Fair. Some of the highlights:

You can't make this stuff up -- Mouth Rushmore ... as cows ... carved in butter. Only at a State Fair would you get these kind of gems.

Keeping on the cow theme, my son is trying to milk a plastic cow. I didn't have the heart to tell him it wasn't real. City kids these days ... sheesh.

Yes, that is a look of sheer terror on my son's face while going down the slide.

Give me liberty or give me this silly foam crown.

Demolition Derby baby! That's white trash gold! Here's a video of a bit of it. It's a little over 1 MB, so don't try it unless you have broadband. Here's also a vid overview of the fairgrounds from our viewpoint in the stands watching the derby.

Demolition Derby

Fairgrounds
You are at a fair, so you have to have deep-fried something. This year, it was deep-fried cheesecake and a chile relleno corndog ... or as I like to call it, "heart attack on a stick". Yummy.

To try and counteract the redneck swerve we got on Friday night, we went to the Litchfield Park Festival of the Arts on Saturday. This was a mostly foofy art crowd but it was a nice day and we saw some pretty cool paintings that we couldn't afford and ate at a cool local Mexican restaurant, Old Pueblo. They had great fish tacos and chile rellenos.

Arizona Mining and Mineral Museum

2006-10-28T15:54:00.000-07:00

It was Fall Family Day at the Arizona Mining and Mineral Museum. This is a once a year event with free admission, many interactive exhibits just for the kids and a lot of friendly volunteers. This was my first visit to the museum and I was impressed. I was a bit of an amateur rockhound growing up and Alex has inherited the love of rocks. He had a great time and brought home a lot of stuff.

While I'm not thrilled that it's a bit congratulatory of the joys of strip mining by companies like ASARCO, the museum is really more about rocks than mining. They have a very nice collection of many rare and valuable rocks and minerals.

Wrapped up the day with lunch at the Original Hamburger Works at 15th Ave and Thomas in Phoenix. Great non-chain restaurant with grilled burgers made to order at a reasonable price. You add your own fixings. I tried something I hadn't had before today ... a grilled chicken breast with a wheat bun and hot sauce. Yum.

T-bird Park - PHX - Oct 15-21 '06

2006-10-22T11:06:00.000-07:00

Thunderbird Park in the north valley. Just north of 59th Ave. and 101 Loop.

When I saw that 2nd cloud picture, I couldn't help thinking about Mordor (Lord of the Rings):

California -- Day 3 (final day) .... crap!

2006-10-09T23:33:00.000-07:00

Again, it's all about the grub. Started off the day great at the famous Uncle Bill's Pancake House, a local legend for 50 years. We hit this spot every time we come out. Though it's usually packed and there is a wait, we're always able to get right in as Michelle's aunt has some pull having lived in Manhattan Beach for a long time. She even has her picture on the wall in the restaurant. I had eggs with mild green chiles and cream cheese and also the obligatory pancakes. Nice.

After breakfast, we walked down to the beach and went on to the pier. Though a bit overcast, it was still a gorgeous day.

Notice the t-shirt. "It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong." -- Voltaire. Even on vacation, I'm trying to stick it to the man. But wait, I'm on vacation and spending money. Maybe, I'm the man. (sigh). At least I tried. We did not eat at any chain restaurants in LA. All the food places I linked to in the blog are long-established and locally owned. And the Manhattan Beach Old Hometown Fair raised money for local charities. It's tough to try and watch where your money goes and still have fun on vacation. But it can be done. The thing is, if you seek out the small local places, you get better food and a better experience anyway.

But, alas, our stay here was done and it was back on the road and back to the grind in Phoenix. Don't think we'll have the time or the money to get out of town for awhile. But I'm going to try and write about some local hikes and some local dining establishments over the next month or so.

California -- Day 2

2006-10-08T22:46:00.000-07:00

We started the day off with exercise at Sand Dune Park, a favorite spot for many professional athletes due to it's 100 ft. high sand dune.

Next was the Manhattan Beach Old Hometown Fair for food, games, music and checking out local artists. It was packed and a lot of fun. After a nice walk home:

and a rest:

(don't ask about the Easter bucket ... I have no logical explanation why he has it or why he sleeps with it)

It was time for dinner at Catalini's Salerno Beach Restaurant in Playa del Rey, a favorite of Michelle's uncle Marty. I had the Gnocci Salerno which was fantastic and absolutely loaded with carbs that I'm going to be working off for the next month. That's OK ... it was worth it.

We're heading back home tomorrow morning (Monday) but not until we catch breakfast and go check out the pier and the ocean.

Going Back to Cali ...

2006-10-07T23:36:00.000-07:00

We're on the road for a short vacation (3 days) at Michelle's aunt in Manhattan Beach, CA. Here's an accounting of our exploits so far:

Dropped Duchess (our pug) off at my folks' in Kingman and then proceeded on to Barstow, CA to stay for the night (Friday). That way we don't suprise Michelle's aunt in the middle of the night. Barstow is basically just another armpit-of-existence stop in the middle of nowhere similar to Needles and Blythe ... places that you only stop in to stay or eat. You honestly wonder how people live there, but, oh well. The stay at the Red Roof Inn was actually pleasant, clean, quiet and inexpensive. And the breakfast Saturday morning at the nearby truck stop was delish.

Brings to mind cross-country vacations of my youth. I don't think there was a truck stop between Iowa and Oregon that we didn't hit at least once. Couldn't help thinking that I might get lynched with my Amnesty International t-shirt and earrings but the people were actually very nice.

Before getting to Manhattan Beach on Saturday, we went to a place that I've been meaning to go to for years and a place that I know Alex would enjoy immensely -- The La Brea Tar Pits and the Page Museum. Like any boy of his age, he's a huge dinosaur nerd. Before all you eggheads start correcting me and telling me that they didn't discover any dinosaurs at the La Brea Tar Pits, let me say that you are correct. It was mammals and birds ranging from 12,000 to 40,000 years old that were discovered there (millions of years after the extinction of dinosaurs). The point is, 5 years olds barely know the difference. They just think it is cool to see old bones and saber-tooth cats. And they'd be correct. From the website: " ... The Page Museum is located at the Rancho La Brea Tar Pits in the heart of Los Angeles. Rancho La Brea is one of the world’s most famous fossil localities, recognized for having the largest and most diverse assemblage of extinct Ice Age plants and animals in the world. Visitors can learn about Los Angeles as it was between 10,000 and 40,000 years ago, during the last Ice Age, when animals such as saber-toothed cats and mammoths roamed the Los Angeles Basin. Through windows at the Page Museum Laboratory, visitors can watch bones being cleaned and repaired. Outside the Museum, in Hancock Park, life-size replicas of several extinct mammals are featured."

Finally we arrive at Manhattan Beach after wading through traffic heading to the USC-Washington football game and the Dodgers-Mets playoff game. Saturday evening we went to dinner at the Broadway Deli on The Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica. The food was good. The weather was gorgeous. And the people were pretty entertaining, ranging from breakdancers to flamenco guitarists to evangelists all in the course of a few blocks.

More pics and comments tomorrow. We're hitting the Manhattan Beach Old Hometown Fair.

Flagstaff - 9-30-06

2006-10-01T08:24:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you plan an excursion and you just get unbelievably lucky and everything not only meets your expectations but exceeds them. Our trip this Saturday up to Flagstaff was one of those trips.

The wife's mom and niece were in town visiting and we wanted to take a day trip somewhere to get out of the heat. It had been awhile since we'd been to Flagstaff, so we planned a trip up there. It's only a 2 hour drive. Getting out about 8:00 am, we first headed to Sunset Crater. This is a volcano that erupted about 900 years ago and many of the results of that eruption are still visible. Most notably the lava beds. We've been here before but the time before, we were rushed and didn't get to take the longer trails. The contrast between the barren fields of lava and the colorful trees and foliage of the Flagstaff area is absolutely stunning.

Here is a shot of the cinder cone of the volcano itself and a shot of Alex in the middle of one of the lava beds:

Here is the family (sans moi ... consider yourself lucky) descending some stairs into a lava bed. The second photo is of Michelle and Alex in a fumarole. This is a vent where gases escaped from the lava.

Further into the same National Park is the Wupatki National Monument. These are abandone ruins from approximately 800 years ago. Many local Indian tribes consider this sacred ground. Bordering on the lava beds to the south and descending into the land that becomes the Grand Canyon to the north, the ruins not only have a historical significance but they look beautiful against the backdrop of those surroundings.

Trekking to just the other side of Flagstaff, we arrived at Arizona Snowbowl in midafternoon. They keep it open year round for things other than skiing, such as hiking and events. But one of the best times to come is in the fall as the aspen trees' leaves are changing colors. Aspens have the distinct white bark and their leaves turn bright yellow, orange and red.

What I didn't know about the Snowbowl is that they ran their Scenic Skyride in the offseason. I only discovered that the night before when I was doing a little research and planning for our trip. The Skyride was an absolute blast and the kids loved it. It is a bit scary (even for adults) but well worth it. You climb from 9,500 feet to 11,500. I'm pretty sure that is is the highest point (not in an airplane) that I've ever been. The views from the tram and the top are breathtaking. And the temperature difference from where we'd started that day, Phoenix (about 100) to Sunset Crater (probably about 80) to the lodge (high 60's) to the top of the mountain (mid 50's) is drastic.

And the perfect day was capped off with a perfect meal at the Downtown Diner in Flagstaff, including homemade caramel apple pie. Yum.