Leaving Seattle Snow, Greeting Manila Sun OLA

Cathay Pacific's Boeing 777 at SFO International Airport

Finally on February 22 after a day of sleet we left Seattle with a forecast of below freezing temperatures and snow for the next 10 days! We are so lucky because we were still given the chance to enjoy sunny, warm, tropical days, as we had intended for winter! At the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Bill relaxed as he settled down with a glorious Starbucks non-fat no-whip mocha grande (and his emails) while I had my good old large Calm (chamomile) tea and this blog.

Bill relaxing at SEATAC Int'l Airport

That night we landed in San Francisco for a quick layover. My sister, Cherry was so gracious, as usual, with an adobo dinner waiting for us. The next day she got up early to make a big breakfast before her daughter Zan brought us to the airport for our noon flight to Hong Kong and Manila.  It was sad to leave their cute African turtle, Jethro! At the airport the giant Cathay Pacific B777 jumbo jet jumped through the huge windows at us. Then I realized that the tension that gripped us for 6 months, with all the delays around the citizenship test and interview (especially in the cold weather to which we are no longer accustomed), was completely gone!  

Jethro, an African turtle in SFO

The Changi International Airport in Hong Kong has totally changed from the days when I spent half of the month working there (the other half in Manila). It is now one of the most completely modern airports in the world. And what I loooooved best about it before, duty-free shopping is still unbeatable.  We did not buy anything but looking at all the fancy stores (at every wing and every corner of the airport of perhaps the shopping capital of the world) while waiting for your flight is a feeling to die for!

Cherry and Zan and me in SFO

Around midnight of February 24, on the eve of the 25th anniversary of the peaceful EDSA revolution that toppled the Marcos dictatorship (shades of the successful Egyptian revolution), our plane approached the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.  This is where the protest moment began, when Ninoy Aquino, father of current President Noynoy Aquino and husband of the post revolution president Corazon Aquino, was gunned down on the tarmac upon arrival from exile in the US.

The International Airport in HK

Funny, but I still felt I had come back ‘home’, after 7 years in America.  The mix of emotions was expected. I was arriving in Manila for the first time as an American citizen but I was also secretly hoping that sometime during the next three months I would be able to establish a dual citizenship. Aside from truly feeling the dual nature of my allegiance, a Filipino returnee (Balikbayan) has advantages like bestowing Bill the same status and one-year stay in the country without the need for a visa.  

Bill having breakfast at Prince Plaza 2

April, my only daughter still remaining in Manila who works as a project manager at HP Philippines, picked us up and brought us post-haste to the Prince Plaza 2 Condominium where for a privileged rate of only $15 a day we will be staying at the 22^nd floor in the comfort of a suite of our friend and father-in-law of my eldest daughter Patricia, Tavy Aberion. The condo is in the busy, plush, and trendy Greenbelt Park and Mall, right in the heart of the Philippines’ financial district, Makati.

But, after a grueling 20-hour airport-to-airport flight a slew of 6 movies (127 hours, Life As We Know It, Morning Glory, Experiment, Due Date, and Never Let Me Go), we dropped to what we thought would be a looooong restful sleep. But the brightness of the next morning and the busy-ness of the streets down below woke us up earlier than we had expected. And the sun is beckoning us to the massive shopping malls around the megalopolis of 16 cities such as the Mall of Asia, 3^rd largest in the world! Watch for my post next week!   

Exploring the Southwest, Part 2

We were supposed to proceed to Nogales in Arizona for our Mexican extravaganza (and a scheduled family reunion in Mazatlan) but we decided to first visit the only living sibling of my late mother in San Diego. On the way we found GEMS: a desert recreational area in Ocotillo Wells, the apple town of Julian, and Ramona Canyon RV Resort in California and the Casa Grande Ruins, the Saguaro National Park, and Tombstone in Arizona on the way back east.  Then we decided to join Thousand Trails. 

 First we chanced upon a huge ATV rally with ‘toys for the big boys’ jam packed in a desert made colorful by the event. The Ocotillo Wells State Vehicular Recreation Area is more than 80,000 acres of magnificent desert open for off-highway exploration and recreation.  The northwestern boundary connects with the half-million acre Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, open to highway-legal vehicles. Asking Bill if this is one thing he would like to do, he said, ‘No, that’s not my sort of thing.’

Then we happily stumbled upon Julian, an unincorporated community east of San Diego, population: 1,621. Although Julian's picturesque setting attracts tourists, recreationalists and antique lovers, the town is most famous for its apple crop. The variety grown locally is considered less sweet than most traditional types, but pies and cider made from the fruit have garnered great popularity for nearly 100 years. And we were there at the heart of the Apple Festival! So, we lined up for some great apple pie!

Local shops can keep you for hours (my fave sweater I got there for only $8!). But what we cannot forget is the Old Julian Cemetery where we found the only parking space left.  As we were about to leave, Bill accidentally hooked the rear bumper onto the arch post at the gate.  But along came Daniel Lewis, secretary for the cemetery’s association. He literally and single-handedly extricated Star (and us) from the dilemma.  His book, Last Known Address, about the cemetery’s history, is now a prized possession.

At nightfall we arrived at the Ramona Canyon RV Resort.  And In the chilly October night, we treated ourselves to an outdoor steaming spa.  The next morning, after a horseshoe battle fought and won by Bill, we went to the karaoke event at the Clubhouse and, of course, I poured my heart out in several songs! The next day, as we were about to leave, several of us got together for a farewell potluck and our hook into the RV cruising lifestyle was forever sealed!

We never did go around San Diego. We visited Tia Juana, the only living sibling of my mother, almost 90, her devoted son Polly, Ate Tesing, her daughter, and Kuya Ute, her husband. It is always nice to visit family but we had to go to Menifee where we were to sign up for a 3-year Thousand Trails membership. It was like graduating from the daily search for the best deal in campgrounds.  Now we can plan better ahead, have more choices, and be finally at Phase 2 of the RV Cruising Lifestyle! 

Back to the journey to Nogales, our first stop was Casa Grande Ruins in Coolidge, Arizona. The national monument was constructed by the ancient people of the Hohokam period, who farmed the Gila Valley in the early 13th century. "Casa Grande" is Spanish for "big house" referring to the remains of a four story structure that has managed to survive the extreme weather conditions for about seven centuries. It now has a distinctive modern, thereby controversial, roof covering built in 1932 for protection.

On the way to our campground in St. David, Arizona, we drove through the Saguaro National Park. The two sections of the park conserve fine tracts of the Sonoran Desert where the saguaro cactus thrives.  The St. David RV Resort is beautiful with its own lake and pool and there was a crafts sale and other activities.  But what we liked the most was the short trip to Tombstone, a former silver-mining boomtown most remembered for being the site of the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral.

The most famous graveyard of the Old West is Boot Hill where various victims of violence and disease in Tombstone's early years, including those from the O.K. Corral gunfight were buried. Saloon ladies on Allen Street in which the gunfight occurred in 1881 is also preserved. Bill found his sexy lady (with my permission!). However, since much of this street fight occurred in Tombstone's Fremont Street, daily reenactments are also viewable! So I also found my Wyatt Earp!

According to Guinness, the world's largest rosebush was planted in Tombstone in 1885 and still flourishes today. This Lady Banksia rose now covers 8,000 sq ft of the roof on an inn, and has a 12 ft circumference trunk. Unfortunately, the rose bush was not in bloom when we were there. No wonder Tombstone receives approximately 450,000 tourist visitors each year and is a National Heritage Site.  Gems abound wherever we go but our 2009 Thanksgiving Holiday beckons!

 So off we headed for Nogales, what we believe is the better point of entry to sunny Mexico!

Exploring the Southwest

From the bustling metropolis of Los Angeles, we reached the city of Palm Springs where ''snowbirders' were already congregating for the winter. Located in the Coachella Valley desert region, it is sheltered by the San Bernardinos to the north, the Santa Rosas to the south, the San Jacintos to the west and the Little San Bernardinos to the east. This unique geography gives the city its hot, dry climate, with 354 days of sunshine and only 5.23 inches of annual rainfall. The coolest days in winter are in the lower 70s °F and the nights fall to the lower 40s °F. No wonder.

The City of Palm Springs' best-known mayor was Sonny Bono and though celebrities still make it a place of regular retreat, many others like Palm Desert and Rancho Mirage have also become as popular. Bill and I were treated to our first deluxe campground with hot tubs, pools, recreation rooms and lots of activities. Towering date palm trees dwarfed our little Star. On a Saturday potluck dinner and disco night, we found our first buddies on the road. So we decided to buy into this lifestyle and bought into the Thousand Trails+ system with over 300 in North America!

This is a place to come back to...in fact, maybe even settle in later!. The world's largest rotating aerial tramcars in the Aerial Tramway, climbs to more than 8,000 feet, with a 30 degree decline in temperature, a 360 degree view of the valley, and a top-notch restaurant at the top, a most welcome treat in summer! The Palm Springs Follies stage-show features performers that are over the age of 55 (I knew can still be a star!). Every Thursday evening downtown is transformed into a Village Fest on famous Palm Canyon Drive. Vino 'scootered' us through streets named after Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope, and the like!

And only a few miles east is Joshua Tree National Park, named for the Joshua tree forests native to the area. Covering a land area of 789,745 acres the park is, in fact, two deserts, each a separate ecosystem supporting diverse life, both vastly different from life we know!. The higher, drier, and slightly cooler Mojave Desert is home to the Joshua tree (the biggest one we found stood at 50 ft!) and hills of bare rock, formed a million years ago, of quartz monzonite, a very rough type of granite (because there is no snow or ice to polish it like in Yosemite), are very popular with rock climbers. 
 

Below 3,000 feet, the Colorado Desert features habitats of such dense cactus that form natural gardens. The California Fan Palm, only native to the state, occurs naturally in five spectacular oases in the park, areas where water occurs naturally year round, supporting many forms of wildlife. The southern lookout point at Keys View offers breathtaking views of the Coachella Valley and Salton Sea. We dry-camped at one of the nine park campgrounds. Unlike Palm Springs though, this is definitely not one that we will consider to settle in, but it was exhilarating at dusk and specially at dawn.

South of the park is the Salton Sea, a saline rift lake located directly on the San Andreas Fault. Like Death Valley, it is below sea level, at 226 ft. The sea is fed by three rivers, as well as toxic pesticide laced agricultural runoff drainage systems and creeks from nearby farms..Covering about 376 sqmi, it is the largest in California. But it should really be called the Dying Sea. It was certainly sad to see multitudes of dead fish on the expanse of beaches. In just two weeks, we had moved from a city of upscale living, to lonely desert life, to a sea of death. 
 

The Salton Sea was created in 1905, when heavy rainfall and snowmelt caused the Colorado River to swell. The resulting flood poured down the canals and breached a dike. Over a period of two years two newly created rivers sporadically carried the entire volume of the Colorado River into the Salton Sink. This basin was formed for 3 million years as the Colorado River built its delta in southwestern US, creating a massive dam, excluding the area. Depending on the balance between inflow and evaporative loss, the Sink has long been alternately a fresh water lake and a dry desert basin, 
 

The Southern Pacific Railroad attempted to stop the flooding but the effort was not fast enough and a massive waterfall was created. It rose to a height of 80 feet before the breach was finally stopped. As the basin filled, the town of Salton, a Railroad siding and some Indian land were submerged. The sudden influx of water and the lack of drainage resulted in the Salton Sea of today. But by the 1925s, the Salton Sea developed into a tourist attraction, because of its water recreation and the waterfowl that flock to the area.

Called a "crown jewel of avian biodiversity”, over 400 species have been documented. The Sea even supports 30% of the remaining population of the American white pelican and is a major resting stop on the Pacific Flyway. With relatively high inflow salinity and lack of an outlet, the Sea's salinity has increased by approximately 1% per year. Currently, at 44 parts per 1000, it is saltier than the Pacific! Many species of fish are no longer able to reproduce or survive in the Sea as the runoffs have resulted in elevated bacterial levels and large algal blooms, major food sources for migrating and wading birds!

The Salton Sea is definitely not a place for us to settle in but we thought, 'It was good to be able to see the miracle that, unfortunately, will probably not last.'. This segment of our cruising lifestyle was truly learning about different conditions that support life!' And that is what traveling is all about!

Next Stops: Julian, Ramona, and San Diego, California plus Casa Grande, St. David, and Arizona

Driving Down the West Coast: Solvang, Santa Barbara, Malibu, and LA

Once the euphoria of Big Sur and the colony of elephant seals subsided, we drove along the looooong California coast to savor its famous beaches! First, the magical town of Solvang, then upscale Santa Barbara, on to sunny Malibu, and then, finally, we turned into cosmopolitan Los Angeles.

One of our friends told us not to miss Solvang, the little Dutch America. So we went and found just what she described...a town with windmills on top of buildings, the museum dedicated to Hans Christian Andersen, lots of specialty outlets such as the Olive House, and little wine shops with joyful staff, great free food, and good jazz.

Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the US West Coast is Santa Barbara, lying between the steeply-rising Sta. Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean. Santa Barbara's climate is often described as mediterranean, and the city is sometimes referred to as the "American Riviera."

Our campground, however, a little way off the coastal city into the wilderness areas of Los Padres, beyond Santa Ynez. Huge oak trees that dwarfed our Star and three other RVs were the only ones in the vast acreage! When we went into town, we took Star because I could not ride Vino for longer than 15 minutes. So, we had to pay double parking fees!

I thought the shopping on State Street, the trendy main street of the city, can beat Rodeo Drive. And the Mission at Santa Barbara was truly one of the first (founded 1716). The wharf also looked so coooool! The following day we transferred to a state park along the coast just past the city and nestled quietly into the night with a beautiful California sunset to begin it.

And, soon after our start the following day, came 17 miles of scenic coastal drive on famous Malibu Beach. The beach homes are huge, some dramatically hanging off cliffs and some artistically jutting over the water. Then there was Malibu Pier, the historic landmark adjacent to Surfrider Beach, known for its three-point break that offers rides of 300 yards or more. And, even in that chilly October afternoon, the surfers were there!

Finally, we reached Los Angeles with its coral trees lining its boulevards. And how could we miss Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills, the Scientology Center, the Kodak Theater, and the Grauman's Chinese Theater which opened in May 1927 with its red carpet and cement walk filled with signatures and palm prints of stars like Olivia de Havilland and Donald Duck?

Bill got to have his photo taken with Marilyn Monroe while I felt like I was another star on the Walk of Fame, a series of sidewalks on about 15 block segments of Hollywood Blvd. and 3 on Vine St., a permanent monument to great achievements in the entertainment industry. More than 2,400 stars are embedded at 6-foot intervals over a combined 1.7 miles.

Later, we dropped by Universal Studios and then took our own photo version of the Hollywood sign on the Hill! Despite all our excitement, the city did not make it to our select list of where we will settle after our RV cruising lifestyle is over. We couldn't afford it! So, we proceeded to our next stops: San Diego, Julian, and Ramona in southern California.

Driving Down the West Coast: Big Sur and San Simeon

Big Sur is the sparsely populated region through which Highway 1 runs on California’s coastline that has the Sta. Lucia Mountains rising sharply out of the Pacific Ocean! As we left Monterrey Bay, Carmel, and Pebble Beach, one stunning scene after another held our breath. It was even more incredible that we found a campground (we had no reservation) of the National Forest Service right there between the mountains and the deep blue sea! The section of Highway 1 running through Big Sur is widely considered as one of the most scenic driving routes in the United States, if not the world.

Big Sur's Cone Peak is the highest coastal mountain in the contiguous 48 states, ascending nearly a mile above sea level, only three miles from the ocean. The northern end of Big Sur is about 120 miles south of San Francisco and the southern end is approximately 245 miles northwest of Los Angeles. Only about 1000 inhabitants, descendants of the original settler and rancher families, artists and other creative types, along with wealthy home-owners from the worlds of entertainment and commerce live there.

There are small clusters of gas stations, restaurants, and motels which are called "towns": Big Sur, in the Big Sur River valley, Lucia, near Limekiln State park, and Gorda, on the southern coast. The economy is almost completely based on tourism. Much of the land along the coast is privately owned or has been donated to the state park system. The mountainous terrain, environmentally conscious residents, and lack of property for development have kept Big Sur unspoiled, retaining an isolated frontier mystique.

The land use restrictions that preserve Big Sur's natural beauty also mean that tourist accommodations are limited, often expensive, and fill up quickly during the busy summer season. There are fewer than 300 hotel rooms on the entire 90 mile stretch between San Simeon and Carmel, only three gas stations, and no chain hotels, supermarkets, or fast-food outlets. The lodging options are rustic cabins, motels, and campgrounds, or costly, exclusive five-star resorts, with little in between. We found the Kirk Creek Campground of the National Forest Service for only $10 a night (Bill holds a Golden Passport)!

It was the perfect place! We hiked to a small beach below through some trails along the ridge. The beaches of Big Sur are unsuitable for swimming, however, because of unpredictable currents and frigid temperatures. Other notable points are The Bixby Creek Bridge and nine state parks, one of which has one of the few waterfalls on the Pacific Coast that plunges directly into the ocean (although visitors are not allowed on the beach itself to preserve the natural habitat). And a photo of Bill on a chair carved out of a tree perched on a ridge is a priceless treasure!

Most of the 3 million tourists each year never leave Highway 1, because the mountain range is one of the largest roadless areas near a coast in the contiguous United States. The highway winds along the western flank of the mountains mostly within sight of the Pacific Ocean, varying from near sea level up to a thousand-foot sheer drop to the water and as such, gazing at the views while driving is inadvisable. During a looooong stretch, I nervously held on to my seat as the RV (Star) is much higher than a car. Every five minutes or so I pleaded with Bill to slow down as he drove at 10 mph!

When we reached the end I heaved a big sigh of relief!!!!! But I never expected the big reward waiting for us at the town of San Simeon…thousands of mostly immovable huge animals lying on the beach! It is the largest elephant seal rookery on the West Coast, located just south of the 105-foot 10½-inch Piedras Blancas Lighthouse. Elephant seals are large oceangoing seals. Its two species were both hunted to the brink of extinction by the end of the nineteenth century, but numbers have since recovered and the northern species have chosen the Pacific coast of the US, Canada, and Mexico for mating.

Elephant seals take their name from the large proboscis of the adult males which resembles an elephant’s trunk. They produce extraordinarily loud roaring noises during the mating season. They also act as ‘rebreathers’ since they are filled with cavities designed to reabsorb moisture from the animals' exhalations. This is necessary when the male seals rarely leave the beach to feed and therefore must conserve body moisture during mating season. Bulls reach a length of 16 ft. and a weight of 6,000 lb.

What a reward! Next: Santa Barbara and Los Angeles!