Vacations Blog

Easy riding on the Hiawatha Bike Trail

First thing they do each morning is clear out the bears.

Because you really don’t want to meet a bear while you’re biking through one of the dark mountain tunnels of the Hiawatha Bike Trail in North Idaho.

The Hiawatha is the ultimate family bike trail in the United States.  According to me, anyway.  The trail winds along 17 miles of abandoned railbed, through nine tunnels, across seven high trestles, and among some of the most stunning mountain scenery you can imagine.

One of many tunnels on the Hiawatha Bike Trail

You start your adventure about two miles off Interstate 90, right across the Idaho-Montana border.  After parking your car and paying a trail use fee, you’re immediately faced with a black hole in the side of the mountain.  It’s the 1.7-mile Taft Tunnel, the longest and darkest of the many tunnels you’ll experience on the trail.

This is where you’d better have some good flashlights strapped to your bike.  We rode through the Taft Tunnel with one good light and several weak ones.  My son took the strong light and the lead, and we followed a tiny flashing red light clipped to his backpack.  It didn’t take long for me to start hallucinating as I followed that bouncing little light into the pitch black.  In the cool, quiet center of the mountain, you start to feel like you’re cycling off into space.  And you miss the spot, about halfway through, when you cross from Montana into Idaho.

Eventually, as the tunnel curves, you see a little white dot of sunlight on the other side, and you exit the tunnel to find a lovely little waterfall and creek.  Here’s where the scenery begins as you start your descent of 1000 feet over the course of 15 more miles on a compact dirt and gravel trail.  With a 2% grade, it’s an easy ride for everyone, regardless of experience and skill.  My son easily did it at the age of 7.

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We spent most of the recent Memorial Day weekend in the city of Davis, CA, attending the 23^rd Annual Davis World Cup Soccer Tournament, in which my son’s under-12 team was participating.

(davisworldcup.org)

In addition to plentiful fresh air and sunshine, it gave me the opportunity to do a little al fresco blogging, courtesy of my office laptop and a borrowed air card. Never having blogged al fresco before, I found it both invigorating and refreshing.  All I needed was a nice tall cocktail. Unfortunately there were no cocktail waitresses to be found at Sandy Motley Fields, so I had to settle for water and Diet Coke®.  Alas.

The City of Davis website describes Davis as a “university-oriented city with a progressive, vigorous community noted for its small-town style, energy conservation, environmental programs, parks, preservation of trees, red double-decker London buses, bicycles, and the quality of its educational institutions.”

Personally, I’ve always been a fan of college towns, and Davis is a good one.  Located 70-miles Northeast of San Francisco, and 11-miles West of Sacramento, Davis is home to UC Davis, one of the nation’s top universities.  

Like most college towns, Davis boasts its share of great bars and restaurants. On Sunday we lunched at The Graduate (affectionately known as “The Grad”), which is about as college town oriented as you can get. The Grad offers 55 different beers – 50 of them on tap – so you’ll be hard-pressed not to find something to quench your thirst. They also offer a Monday – Friday All-Day-Happy Hour, from 11:00 AM to 8:00 PM, when all beers, well drinks, ½ liter Long Islands and Smirnoff Cocktails are just $2.79. Oh, and a free Nacho Bar. SCORE!(Wikipedia)

But we were there on a Sunday, so we didn’t score any of that. I did enjoy a ¾ pound Ultimate Burger and fries. It was quite tasty but in hindsight I think my man-sized hunger would have been happier with the ½ pounder. Lisa had the BLT, which came on a Sciambra Sweet Baguette.  I think she enjoyed it. Hold on a second….yes, she did…

The boy, a hot dog freak, had the hot dog, and the girl joined me in bovine delight. Our friends, KC and Jenny went the pizza route, ordering (I think) the Chicken Club Pizza – Grilled chicken breast-bacon-tomatoes (cooked)-green onions & ranch sauce. I managed to abscond with a slice and it was delicious, a nice change from your basic pepperoni with red sauce.

(davisgrad.com)

The Grad offers dozens of TV’s for all your sporting event needs, in addition to pool tables and various video games. In other words, feel free to bring the kids; just get them out before the Spicy Salsa Tuesday.

After lunch we were back at the fields for game #4. A win would have put us into the semi-finals and required us to be back for an 8:00 AM game on Monday. As such, we came prepared for the possibility of spending the night. We didn’t win so we didn’t stay, but had we stayed Davis offers numerous accommodations from which to choose.

(Hotelscombined.com)

One such accommodation is The Aggie Inn (and I’m a sucker for any place with the word “Inn” in it). Located adjacent to the university, it offers “an elegant combination of tastefully decorated rooms and quaint, secluded two-room Cottage Suites.”

Perhaps we’ll have an opportunity to stay there during the Davis World Cup Soccer Tournament 2010. 

Aggie Inn
245 1st Street
Davis, CA 95616
Tel: 530.756.0352
Fax: 530.753.5738
Reservations: 530.756.0352
info@aggieinn.com

10am, I leave from Berlin.

9am the next day, I’m picked up at the Miami airport by a friend who doesn’t even let me stop for breakfast.

There was something better than an overpriced coffee waiting.

A day off of the coast in Key West.

We went fishing for all sorts of stuff, but didn’t catch much. What we did catch, we immediately ate – making it the freshest sushi you could ever have. A little Red Snapper, some soy and wasabi and you have yourself lunch. We only caught enough for a nibble, but we had the foresight to bring beer, so no one complained.

Then, we went shark-fishing. With a kite. Hard to explain, but basically, you throw out a big kite from the back of the boat. Then, you string a few fish on a fishing line, which is attached to the kite line. You let out enough line so that the fish barely touches the water, flailing. Making noise. Which drives the sharks nuts. Supposedly.  At least we jumped each time a swell came over thinking ’surely’.

It was just big water.

We drank more and passed the thousands of lobster pots along the way home. A month earlier, a drunken local had told me he’d ‘take me out raiding some pots’ and I took him seriously. I asked our Capt. how easy it was to do.

He looked at me the way the fish must have been looking at our bait.

‘You’ll get shot’.

‘Ha ha – oh yeah?’

‘I’m serious.’

‘You’re joking’.

‘I’m not’.

‘Shot?’

‘Yes. Absolutely. And the FWC wouldn’t even bat an eye’.

‘Shot.’

‘Yes.’

…I didn’t ask any more after that, but thought it extreme. I mean, c’mon – he’s a fisherman. They’re known for their colorful embellishments.

A few hours later, while sitting outside sipping on a Key West, our ‘lobster guy’ drove up and said hi, placing his margarita next to his beer in his cup-holders.

‘I’ve shot 3 boats so far with my flare gun, setting them on fire’.

‘Really?’

‘Really’.

‘What about real guns?’

‘Oh sure, the usual thing people do is take a shotgun out and hit their boat right at the water line’.

‘This is normal’.

‘Yup’.

The things you learn living in an RV park.

(photo – Wm Crovo)

The first weekend in May was the 2009 Annual Clayton Art & Wine festival; the 14^thyear for this local crowd-pleaser.

As is typical with these events, the weather is great in the days preceding, but on the scheduled weekend, in roll the rain clouds.

If there’s one thing I hate, it’s Art and Rain. I don’t like my art soggy. Wine and rain I can handle, however this time around I opted for the Beer and Art. Which brings up a question; why is it that we never see “Beer and Art” festivals?  Beer drinkers can appreciate art as much as those sommelier types. Well I could I suppose, if I knew what actually constitutes “art.”

Every festival involving “art” puts me into a state of confusion. I’ve discovered that, try as I might, I just don’t understand art. Be it a nude woman fashioned from wrought iron, or a life-size likeness of Paris Hilton made of rabbit droppings, what is it that that constitutes something as “art”? Why is it that some things are considered “works of art” while others are works of crap? 

I’ll tell you the difference; if someone is willing to pay for it, it can be called art. If no one is willing to pay for it, it’s crap.

But of course that’s why booze is always served at these festivals. Promoters know that after John and Jane Public down a couple of pints, or a carafe of some local hooch, that wine rack made of papier-mâchéd toilet paper rolls is suddenly going to look a whole lot more appealing.

My but I’ve digressed.

So the rain had pretty much subsided by Sunday, so the boy and I took a couple of hours late in the afternoon to check things out. Ten dollars granted me a commemorative pint glass and one (1) beer ticket. Wow. Fortunately, being a local, I “know” people, and more importantly they know me. And by “know” I mean that they gave me free beer.

I’m not much of a shopper but I love walking around these types of festivals. They’re a great place to people watch, take the dog for a walk, and frankly just get a little fresh air and exercise. Free beer doesn’t hurt either. There are plenty of food vendors offering everything from chicken teriyaki to bratwurst and burgers. The boy opted for the fried calamari. He’s got class. If you’ve got young ones there’s a very over-priced kiddie area, with a rock-climbing wall, a few bounce structures and some games. You’re better off taking them over to The Grove Park and letting them play for free.

Incorporated in 1964, Clayton is “nestled at the bucolic base of picturesque Mt. Diablo.” A community of just over 10,000 residents, Clayton has retained its small town charm while managing to become something of a destination city. Its old-West downtown boasts many great little eateries, including Skipolini’s Pizza, a local favorite since 1974 and the workplace of a certain blogger circa 1982. There’s also Ed’s Mudville Grill, a sports bar serving great pub grub, Ed’s more upscale steak joint Moresi’s Chophouse and a nice little Italian restaurant, La Viranda Café.  You’ll also find the Cup O’ Jo coffee house, and of course the famous/ infamous, Clayton Club.

(Photo – Pete Laurence)

The only thing missing from Clayton is a nice Bed & Breakfast. Seems it would go nicely with the small town’s “bucolic” atmosphere. But then I’ve never been much of a fan of the B&B, preferring to enjoy my B&B in private. At most B&B’s there’s always some chatterbox who wants to tell you their life story over coffee and a scone.

Sorry, I’ve digressed again. But a B&B really would be a nice touch and something Clayton should seriously consider.  If you do happen to attend this event and need a place to crash, there’s always the Holiday Inn Express just up the road. Or you can have my couch. I’ll  even make you breakfast and tell you my life story.                           (photo – Clayton Historical Society)

In any event, at next year’s Art & Wine festival  I’m planning  to display my “Rocks Reclining with Pigment and Adhesive” sculptures. And, as much as they may appear to just be rocks glued together and spray painted, once some drunken art lover hands me some scrilla, they will magically transform into “works of art;” may you be that art lover.

My husband and I spent a wonderful, leisurely afternoon yesterday at the Desert Botanical Gardens in Phoenix, Arizona. Despite the 90 degree heat, we managed to stay comfortable among the shady lanes, blessed with a lovely breeze and a cool glass of lemonade.

We were happy to discover that our visit coincided with two extremely popular exhibitions currently on display in the Gardens. One was the Butterfly Pavilion, which runs annually from March through May, and which keeps us coming back every year. It adds an extra $3 to our general admission (we’re not Garden members, otherwise it would be free), but it’s always worth it.

The pavilion is accessed through an “airlock” so none of the inhabitants can escape. With a gentle warning from the administrators we were instructed not to touch any of the butterflies, but to allow them to come and go as they pleased (and sometimes they were “pleased” to land on us).

The other exhibition currently on display throughout the park is the collection of Chihuly Glass Sculptures. This exhibit has been present in the Gardens since November 22, 2008, and runs through May 31st, 2009. They truly add a unique and beautiful element to the lovely features of the Gardens.

The use of such vibrant colors against the desert landscape was truly dramatic.

There was another fine example of exquisite glass artwork around every corner.

The Gardens are lovely at any time of year, though they truly shine in the spring months when all the desert plants are blooming.

The Desert Botanical Gardens are part of a park complex that includes the Phoenix Zoo and Papago Park. Admission for non-members is $15.00 for adults, $5.00 for children under twelve, and $7.50 for students aged 13-18. Self-guided audio tours are available for an additional $3, and special exhibits and events (such as the extremely popular Spring Jazz in the Garden concert series) may also be an additional charge.

Whether you’re looking to create a unique family memory, or you want to spend a day in solitude and quiet contemplation, or you wish for a romantic outing to share with a loved one, the Desert Botanical Gardens are an excellent choice to wile away a sunny afternoon.

If you’re planning a trip, check out flights to Phoenix.

Geothermal paradise of Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone is the crown jewel of our National Park System.  It was the first of its kind, and remains the most unique and diverse wilderness experience that you will find in this country.

It’s also an extremely cool place for kids.

But with almost 3500 square miles of lakes, geysers, canyons, and hot springs, there’s too much to see in one short stay.  So, after three visits to Yellowstone, and consultation with my own children, I have compiled the following list of park sights and activities that will make your family trip an especially memorable one.

Ten Cool Things For Kids (and Grown-Ups) in Yellowstone National Park

1.  Dragon’s Mouth Spring

Dragon's Mouth Spring

How can you resist telling your kids that a dragon lives in a cave near a mud volcano?  It doesn’t take much imagination to think that this cavern, with its growls and thumps, and spitting steam, might just hold a real dragon.

2.  Fishing Cone

Fishing Cone Geyser at Yellowstone Lake

It’s probably just a tall tale, but the story goes that the early trappers and explorers would catch fish in Yellowstone Lake, swing them directly into the Fishing Cone geyser just off shore, and have a meal of boiled fish in just minutes.  “Hook and cook,” they called it.  Like the dragon cave, another cool sight that will fire up the imagination.

3.  Old Faithful Inn

Old Faithful Inn

What kid won’t love the largest log hotel in the world?  Just walk inside the 100-year-old Inn’s lobby, with its four stories of lodgepole pine balconies and 500-ton stone fireplace, and your kids might just want to sit for awhile.  Preferably in one of the many handmade wood rocking chairs.  Better yet, stay in one of the Inn’s rooms.  Prices are reasonable, and the food in the dining room is first-class.

4.  Fountain Paint Pots

Fountain Paint Pots

This is what I remember best from my own childhood memories of Yellowstone.  The short half-mile trail is the perfect primer for the various thermal features you’ll see throughout the park.  It’s a little bit of everything, with numerous geysers, bubbling mud pots, hot springs, and steaming fumaroles.  With all that activity in a small space, it’s kind of watching a three-ring circus.

Buffalo Warning

5.  Dangerous Animals

Your kids might not be impressed by the thousands of bison that roam all over the park until they see the signs warning that these animals weigh up to 2000 pounds, run over 30mph, and think nothing of skewering a camera-toting tourist on the end of its horns.  They can be extremely dangerous.  Same goes for the grizzly bears, wolves, moose, elk, and badgers.  But worry mostly about the bison (sometimes called buffalo), because they will be all around you.

6.  Junior Ranger Program

The Junior Ranger program at Yellowstone is one of the coolest of all the National Parks.  It gets the kids involved in all sorts of activities involving wildlife, ecology, geology, hiking, and education.  If they complete the program, kids get an official Junior Ranger patch.  Best of all, they learn something while having fun.

7.  Stagecoach Rides

From Roosevelt Lodge in the northern part of Yellowstone, you can take a trip to the past with a rattling, bumpy ride on an old west stagecoach, just as visitors did back at the turn of the century.  The ride lasts an hour and is quite reasonably priced at $8 for kids, $10 for adults.  A nice way to soak up the scenery.

8.  Upper Geyser Basin

Geyser watching

You want geysers?  This is where you’ll have your fill of them, as the basin contains over 150 geysers.  That’s the highest concentration of geysers in the world.  Walking through this alien landscape makes you feel like the Earth’s crust could burst open in a cataclysmic hydrothermal explosion at any moment, totally ruining your dinner reservations at the nearby Old Faithful Inn Dining Room later that night.  But seriously, this is the best place for you and your kids to see geysers going off right and left.  Many of them, such as Castle Geyser, Grand Geyser, and Riverside Geyser are highly predictable, so you can figure when and where you need to be for the show.

9.  Grand Prismatic Spring

Grand Prismatic Spring

Not everything in Yellowstone bubbles, growls, and erupts.  Grand Prismatic Spring is simply a gigantic pool of steaming water.  In fact, it’s the largest hot springs in the United States.  You have to see it for the beautiful colors, from deep blue to orange to green to red, produced by different species of bacteria living in the water.  It makes for an interesting biology lesson for everyone.

10.  Old Faithful

Old Faithful Geyser

You know this would be on the list.  How could it not be?  It’s the most popular feature in Yellowstone, and is the park’s defining symbol.  The area around Old Faithful is crowded, commercial, and noisy, but it’s still very cool.  The geyser usually erupts on a predictable schedule, roughly every 90 minutes.  Up to 8,000 gallons of scalding hot water shoots upwards of 185 feet while busloads of tourists “ooh” and “ahh.”  On our last visit to the park, my kids and I made a game of running to watch Old Faithful go off.  Staying in the nearby Inn made that easy for us, and we ended up viewing eight eruptions during our weekend at Yellowstone.

Photos courtesy of the National Park Service

When the Hostas finally, after a long and cold Winter, start pushing the warming earth, that’s when I usually come out of the cave.  It’s like my very own Bat Signal.  Only it’s not trouble that calls the Great Bear out of his hibernation.

It’s water.

Kentucky, as is it written in A Canoeing & Kayaking Guide to Kentucky, can boast more moving water than any other state in the Nation.  Save for Alaska.  Now, I can’t, with accuracy, say that the afore mentioned statistic is true or not.  And to be quite honest, I’m far too lazy to do the research.  Maybe lazy is not the right word. Hmmmmmm.  Motivation.  That’s it.  I lack motivation for the research of such statistics.

At any rate, after loading the Necky kayak and fully caffinating myself, I pointed my Volvo west.  Destination?  Frankfort, Kentucky and the Elkhorn Creek.

At the put in.

What’s that you say?  You don’t have your own boat or even gear?  No worries.  My friends at Canoe Kentucky have everything you need.  Canoes, Kayaks, PFD (personal flotation device – otherwise known as Life Vests) and paddles.  Those fine gentlemen, for a modest fee, will even pick you up and schlep you back to your car.  If you are uneasy about the water all together, a guided trip can be arranged.

From towering Palisades, to rolling farmland, from class II – III whitewater to fine Smallmouth bass and bluegill fishing in deep, cool pools, Elkhorn Creek has it all.  The creek will meander about some of the prettiest country around and if you’re lucky, you’ll fall out and go for an unexpected swim.  Who doesn’t like surprises?  That being said, it’s best to leave you’re cell phones and other “damaged by water” items in your car.  No need for GPS.  The creek will take you where you need to go.

Merrily Down the Stream

Like camping?  Try the Elkhorn Campground. If that isn’t your cuppa, there are a number of fine Hotel/Motel establishment just a few miles west.  I’ll just say, the Elkhorn Campground is smack on the edge of the Elkhorn Creek and having a river/creek sing you to sleep is just about better than anything.  Save for free beer and money.

I’d like to tell you that there is a cute little Mom and Pop in the immediate vicinity that serves Kobe beef and cold beer in 50 gallon buckets, but much like my date with the very pretty French princess from Braveheart, it’s a dream.  But fear not, Downtown Frankfort has a variety of eateries that are sure to please.

So what are you waiting for?  It’s getting warm.  Why not take an un-chlorinated swim?

It’s better for your hair.

All photos by C.A. Downs III

So in addition to last Saturday’s excursion to Rock City, we also managed to pull off a day trip on Sunday with a visit to Brannan Island State Park.

We’d had a couple of days of hot weather and the kids were pestering us to go swimming. Since we’re not even through April yet, all the public swimming pools in our area have yet to open, so we decided to make the drive out to Brannan Island to see what was what.

What was it you ask? A bit of a dump, that’s what.

Located on the Delta, just off Highway 160, northeast of Antioch, my only prior experience with this park had been as a patron of the parking lot near the boat launch. Back in the day my girlfriend (now my wife) would invite me out on her family’s boat for a day of water skiing and beaching, however the “beach” we would utilize would basically be a deserted stretch of sand somewhere out amongst the sloughs. I’d never taken advantage of Brannan Island’s public beach and swim area.

Save yourself the time and trouble because this beach has very little to offer. We ended up at what is called the Seven Mile Slough picnic area, which the State Recreation Area website describes as follows:

“Seven Mile Slough picnic area includes picnic tables, barbecues and drinking water. New restroom facilities were completed late in 1997 and include flush toilets and outdoor cold showers. Seven Mile Slough’s swim beach has lifeguards from Memorial Day through Labor Day. Ample parking is close to the beach.”

The “beach” is basically a small strip of muddy sand along the picnic area, and a little further down a trail there’s a muddy sandbar. And the water is muddy. The beach near the picnic area was pretty crowded (a side-effect of free access), so we stalked down the trail toward the mud-bar where we staked out a small  patch of sand that backed up to some vegetation and threw down our largest towel. The kids didn’t seem to mind much and figured they may as well swim since we’d come all that way. I, on the other hand, had no intention of going in the water and immediately began eating the sandwich I’d brought because I didn’t figure on staying any longer than I had to.

I tolerated it for a good 45 minutes, but when the “sagging pants” crowd and the colorful language (from elementary school age kids no less) became too much, we packed it up and got the hell out of there.  If you really want more information you can check out the website.

The trip was not a total bust, however because we drove a little further down Hwy 160 and crossed the bridge into Rio Vista in search of Sandy Beach Park.  

Sandy Beach County Park is located in the city of Rio Vista, a rather small, somewhat weather-beaten but not without its charms, Delta city, made famous back in 1985 when wayward Humpback whale, Humphrey, turned up in the local waters.

Sandy Beach offers more or less the same amenities as Brannan Island; picnic areas, camping, boating, etc, but the environment is much nicer, or at least appeared to be on that particular Sunday afternoon. A word about camping; as camping is not everybody’s “thing”,  if you find yourself in need of accommodations in the Rio Vista area, I’d recommend checking out the Ryde Hotel, located in Grand Island, a short jaunt from  Rio Vista. I’ve never stayed there, but I did attend a bachelor party there many years ago and folks tell me I had a great time.

Anyway, based on the five minutes we spent looking around Sandy Park Beach (the girl at the gate was kind enough to let us check it out sans entry fee) it looked like a nice little place, one I’d consider making the drive back to visit one day. And I’d blow right past Brannan Island on my way.