"Sunset Western Garden Book"

Sorry but these pictures are not in chronological order. That is too difficult for me to figure out!

 Workers at Hoover Dam had to hang off the side of the canyon in order to use a jack hammer. Me underneath with my shorn hair! The fantastic new bridge is in the background. It was built for security reasons to divert traffic off the top of the dam.

 Black flowers, still to be researched in my new book.

 Along 17 miles drive on Monterey Peninsula.

 Glass sculpted ceiling with flower arrangement in foreground at the Bellagio. The ceiling is called the "Fiori di Como" by famed glass sculptor Dan Chihuly.

 Another work by Chihuly at the Bellagio.

 A sculpture by Richard MacDonald on permanent display at the gallery in the Bellagio.

 Floor tiles made of Murano glass with layers of glass and gold leaf. Laid on the floor of the indoor swimming pool at the Hearst Castle. 

 More glass tiles designed by the architect of the Hearst Castle and made in San Francisco by skilled glass artists from Italy. Hearst used a woman architect named Julia Morgan for all the work at San Simeon and numerous other projects. These tiles are covering the walls of the indoor swimming pool. 

 The Coast Willows at our campground at San Simeon State Park.

 The breeze doesn't stop on the Monterey Peninsula especially here at Pebble Beach Golf Course. How do you hit the ball straight against this wind?

 "The Lone Cypress" located along the 17 MIle Drive. what I call, Motif # 2.

 A form of Hens and chicks I think. Research forthcoming!

 One location on the 17 Mile Drive has a surf that wells up, caused by offshore underwater rock formations.

More turbulence along 17 MIle Drive.

   It is surprising what little things can do for you. All of the vegetation is different here and it has been driving me nuts because I don’t know what I am looking at. The RV repair man at San Simeon told me to look for a copy of the Sunset Western Garden Book. What are the chances, but on walking along the Cannery section of Monterey we found a used book shop and the book. Now I am in seventh heaven because I can look everything up.

   We have done so much since my last post, plus I have been bad and just posted the odd picture on Facebook. We left Kanab for the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. It is only 11 miles across from the North Rim but over a 200 mile drive to get around. We enjoyed the South Rim so much better than the North Rim. We wish we had gone to Bryce instead of the North Rim as the distance from Kanab was the same. Live and learn. 

   The Grand Canyon to Vegas drive was over 250 miles and took all day but the desert scenery was fascinating. We both are missing a true color GREEN. The road wound around and climbed mountains and we marveled at the fence lines along both sides of the highway. I want a penny for every fence post out west here!

   In Vegas we stayed at a casino that had an RV park attached. It was 5 miles from the strip but cheap and interesting. On the way there we stopped at the Hoover Dam. The RV parking was 3.5 miles roundtrip to walk down to see the dam up close, if that is possible. In Vegas, Tony wanted to see the Mob Museum which is housed in the original courthouse used in one of the many Kefauver Hearings into organized crime. The mob finally got me on the steps coming out. I had been hiding out in the witness protection program.
   We drove the strip. One weird place; filled midweek with so many people, cars and more people and cars. But if you go off the strip one block it is dead. My son got us tickets to see Cirque de Soleil’s “O” and we needed to pick up the tix at “will call”, so the day of the performance we headed downtown around noon and planned to spend the day and night there. I needed to hit the Apple Store in the Caesar’s Palace Forum Shoppes and luckily the Palace is next to the Bellagio where the “O” theater is located. The forum is lit in such a way that it changes the time of day, anywhere from sunrise to dusk. More Weird. 

   “O” was a technical marvel with 150 back stage people to make everything work correctly. The stage was basically a huge 20 ft deep water tank. But the level was changed constantly by using hydraulics and platforms. Under the water were Scuba divers and air stations for the synchronized swimming performers and everybody else that landed in the water from flying trapezes to flying horses, to acrobats shot off catapults. My son’s company supplies the lights to the show so Chris has been back stage to see all the details. Even the way they flew the curtain off the stage in the opening was dramatic. Truly an amazing presentation of artistry and technology. After the show we drove the strip for Tony to gad at the lights!

   Ah, then the long drive over the Mojave desert to Bakersfield. We were lucky and the temperatures were moderate but there were some hills to climb. However, when we hit Bakersfield the temperature hit 95 in our trailer. We found the perfect tree to park next to at Wally Mart. That lasted until bedtime, when the van itinerants who parked on the other side of the tree, started in making a raucus. We moved next door to Lowes. Temps had been in the 60’s at the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas because of the elevation, so it was quite a shock to deal with 95 degree temps and no hookups. We are so cheap to stay at Wally Marts, we get what we deserve I guess! 

   Gas in California is averaging $4.25. We have already used 22 fill ups since our trip started!

   We got out of Bakersfield in record time and so enjoyed the drive over the coastal highlands to Cambria, located north of San Luis Obispo. We finally hit the Coastal Route 1 and headed north for a few miles to the San Simeon Creek State Park. The trees in the park were huge and amazing with branches that swept along the ground and then upward with multi trunks. Turns out they were a variety of willow. The Hearst Castle is nearby and built around some native Coast Live Oak. Pretty "over the top" place, but worth a tour. Our campground, I am convinced, had some mystical psychedelic powers, as our battery went dead and our phone batteries went dead and our awning was stuck in the out position. There is a way to retract the awning but I couldn’t get to the awning manual on line until we got out of the crazy place. I guess the Moonstones from Moonstone Beach nearby added some mysterious forces. We finally had a repairman come and help us out and we were able to get on the road after 2 PM for a 99 mile hairpin turn drive to Monterey. The area is called The Big Sur and is stunning scenery around every bend.  

   Unfortunately for Tony, the roadway is very narrow and it was a challenge to maneuver our 46 ft combined length. Finding safe places to pull off to ooogle at things was difficult and unnerving. Several locations banned RV’s. It has always been a dream of mine to drive that coast so it was a special time, with us finally pulling into an interesting RV lot at the County Fairgrounds in Monterey at 6:30 PM. Tomorrow the Artichoke Festival starts here so we have to be on our way. Had artichokes for lunch to pay homage to the mighty ‘choke.

   In a shop after lunch on Cannery Row near Fisherman’s wharf in Monterey, I saw a picture of “The Lone Cypress.” It is the equivalent of “Motif # 1” located in Rockport, MA. This tree is probably the most photographed tree on the West Coast as the red lobster shanty in Rockport is for the east coast. I googled “The Lone Cypress” and it turns out it is viewable from what is known as 17 Mile Drive. It is an absolutely stunning roadway along the coast of the exclusive and gated community of Pebble Beach. The miserly buggers charge $10 to make the drive but I guess it was worth it. The residents of Pebble Beach have mansions along the coast and above the Golf Course, the likes of which you have never seen! The temperature in Monterey averages 63 degrees in the daytime  and there is a very hot sun but a very chilly breeze so it makes the climate seem very bracing. I pitty anyone who trys to play Pebble Beech as it is built in sand dunes and every green has many sand traps strategically located.

   Tomorrow sees us back on Route 1 going up to a campground in Pacifica. Pacifica is as close to San Fran as we could get for an RV. They have a BART stop nearby so that we don’t have to take the truck into San Fran. After three nights there we are altering our trip and bypassing the Coast Route 1 for 2 days because we were advised that it is nearly impossible to drive with our kind of rig. We’ll head inland to 101 (and wine country) and head north until we rejoin Route 1 to see the Redwoods on the border with Oregon. I didn’t make reservations in any of the state parks in Oregon or Washington but have found that I need to do it, as the tourists are out by the droves and places are booked solid.

   Tonight I am looking forward to a wonderful perusal of my Sunset Western Garden Book. I finally might get a handle on the trees and plants we have been seeing and photographing. For instance our last campground had an unusual variety of willow and our Fairground campsite has the most enormous Monterey Oaks.