NEW YORK CITY & NIECE HEATHER November 13-16, 2017

It wasn't long ago that I added New York City to the top of our destination list for a very special reason. We'd visited NYC several times already but now a chance to reconnect with our niece, Heather Jane, was our main motivation. Finally on this trip we made it happen on a Monday evening.  What a joy to see our beautiful and talented Heather after so many years. We met at a small cafe in Brooklyn, La Cigogne, where her fiancé Sam was already waiting when we arrived. We sat for a couple of hours in their favorite restaurants just talking, talking, talking!! It's amazing how instantly comfortable it was to be with her again, though we hadn't seen each other since she was in her teens. She's been working as a landscape architect in NYC for several years and lives in Brooklyn. We would be returning to NYC in a week for another two nights and have another day with Heather and Sam, love that!!!  

 Visiting the 9-11 Memorial and Museum on Tuesday morning was a very moving and emotional experience, reliving that morning through the exhibition. We'd taken the subway from our AirBnB apartment with the easy and direct J-line. As we walked towards the area this beautiful cross caught my eye.  The story of its creation is one I will always want to remember, so I write it, paraphrased, here in my memory journal. The cross was formed from the steel girders of the previously standing twin towers, as a symbol of hope.  The Malibu sculptor who crafted the hollow cross was raised in New Jersey. As it traveled from California to NYC the artist, Jon Krawczyk, encouraged people to put notes and symbols of loss inside. That hole was sealed with a piece of the fallen World Trade Center. When it rains, rust from the piece of metal will drip down the cross, simulating a bleeding heart. The base of the cross includes metal book with 35 pages listing the names of all the 9/11 victims. The names were etched so rubbings can be taken by visitors.  The inscription on the memorial book of names is:

The cross is the symbol of hope. It speaks of life's journey and of life's limitless potential.

For the innocent, whose lives were taken from them, this cross stands as a memorial.

For the courageous, who faced death so others might live, the cross stands as a tribute.

For all of us, walking the streets today, this cross reflects who we are

and who we may choose to become.  

After that beginning of our experience at Ground Zero, we walked to the next striking structure, the Oculus.  This is the new transit hub at the rebuilt World Trade Center and is a train station, plaza and shopping mall, opened in 2016.

Another block and we turned towards the memorial itself, a forest of trees with two square pools in the center where the Twin Towers stood.

After walking around them both and reading the names written along each ledge we visited the Museum where we slowly walked down into the foundation of the towers, where the Last Column stands in the center and several adjacent areas displaying different items from that day. Such sadness.

After about two and a half hours we left the memorial and took the subway uptown to have lunch with Heather at this darling Greek restaurant.

Later, we wandered around the neighborhoods for a while but since days are short and sunset seems to be about 4:30 we headed back to our cute apartment for the evening. No need for dinner as a late lunch took care of that.

Wednesday we returned to Manhattan to visit the gorgeous Frick Collection Art Museum, housed in the original Fifth Avenue residence of collector, Henry Clay Frick. It's a lovely experience walking through the rooms to see masterpieces by Rembrandt, Vermeer, Gainsborough and so many others. This beautiful interior garden was not original to the home, a very peaceful place to enjoy.

One of my favorites...

The exterior view of the Frick, one of New York City's few remaining Gilded Age mansions. What a perfect way to spend a day in New York. We followed our visit there with lunch at a small Italian cafe nearby; delicious, cozy and crowded but also a reminder of how expensive it is to live in this city!

We'd had a wonderful three days in New York; time to be with Heather, seeing the city again after many years and a stay in a beautiful apartment.  Next on our agenda, a flight from JFK Thursday afternoon for a ten day tour of Croatia and Slovenia. 

CAPE COD WEEK 2 November 7-12, 2017

As the picture shows, our weather began to change when November came along. But since we live so much of our year in warmer climates, a crisp day with gray clouds is often a refreshing change, just as long as it doesn't last too long. One afternoon we took Miska with us for a visit to the Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge just to check it out. Turned out to be a wonderful two hours walking the beach and through paths along the marsh lands which Miska loved, as did we. With a good flight of stairs down to the beach it was easily accessible for us. 

On our drive up to the Cape Cod National Seashore we stopped at this darling French Cafe, PB Bistro.  The food was wonderful and they had a campfire going outside with Adirondack chairs all set out. Fabulous pastries to take home too.

We took a second day to make the trip all the way to Provincetown and this time we had lunch at the bistro before going on up to visit the most northern tip of the Cape Cod National Seashore. A really chilly wind was blowing off the sea so it was a short beach walk then into the car and the drive into P'town.The town streets are so very narrow that most are one way which helps a lot. With the end of season definitely showing, we wandered a bit, but there wasn't much going on so we turned south again with a couple of stops before getting back to Chatham.

 We stopped to see the Highland Light at Truro, MA. A full golf course, The Highlands Links, surrounds the property today.What a beautiful place to play a round of golf!

Most of our days were spent just enjoying the beauty of Chatham, its beaches and darling town. Walking Miska on the Chatham beach became our favorite things to do each day.  With our sadness of not having Foster with us, being able to walk her was great exercise for us in such beautiful places. 

Miska and Obi

were a blast to watch as they played together. Though Miska is a large Samoyed, Obi lets her know she he's had enough, we called it their wrestling time.  So fun to watch!

My most favorite photo of these two weeks has to be the morning we got up early enough for sunrise and after walking to one end of the beach, we sat down on a rock to watch and so did Miska, giving us this beautiful photo.

Just a little local design work on the beach

and some natural design along the water

One afternoon we were just turning into the driveway when we both noticed a coyote cross the road just two houses down.  We parked and then walked on down and there stood two very healthy looking coyotes, before they scampered off into the preserve behind the houses. With that siting we knew we couldn't let Miska and Obi in the back yard like we often did. Poor babies, I'm sure they missed this relaxing part of their day for a while.

I loved this sign in front of a darling yarn and used book shop.

Our home in Chatham

Obi in his most comfortable position.

 beautiful sky even in its darkness.

Oh, and this is a sandwich I tried in Sandwich, MA... lobster knuckles, not quite sure what that is but it was tasty.

A view of the very wide Cape Cod Canal looking towards the north entrance of Sandwich. It's only seven miles long but connects Cape Cod Bay in the north to Buzzards Bay in the south, and used by some pretty large vessels.

On our way back home we took the scenic Route 6A which just meanders east-west through many villages. A sign for pies caught my eye as we drove past Crow Farm, had to turn around and go in for a wonderful homemade berry pie! The best pie crust I've had in a very long time.  The other choice was a Pilgrim Pie filled with apples and cranberries, next time.

Another favorite beach walk was at Harding's Beach.  Again, we were one of only a few morning walkers there.

The lighthouse is no longer in use but still beautiful.  As we were walking back we noticed what appeared to be a very large dog frolicking in the water not far from a sand bar, but it was leaping in an unusual way; turns out it was a deer! After a few more leaps it ran off into the dunes and grasses.

A most wonderful small independent movie theater in town is the Chatham Orpheum.  What a delightful place to go! Not only did they have wonderful films showing, but this painted wall greets you as you enter.  It is also a darling small cafe and bar. Such fun to go early for a film and enjoy a glass of wine or a cappuccino which can also be taken into the theater.

Here's a little of its history...The original theater opened in 1916 during the days of silent films, and continued operating until 1987. In 2011 a local grass roots group began to raise funds needed to buy the original building and bring movies back to Chatham. I'm so glad they did! With donations from 2,500 individuals and foundations plus two government grants the building was purchased in 2012 and in eight months the building was transformed into the cinema we enjoyed.  While here we saw, Victoria and Abdul , Murder on the Orient Express, and Jane. Sadly it was sold out the morning we went to see an art film about Michaelangelo. Obviously, the theater is well loved buy the locals!

Our last big adventure before leaving the Cape was a ferry ride and day on Martha's Vineyard.  Fantastic blue skies, temps in the 20s and Miska with us all day. Perfect in every way, even meeting former Secretary of State, John Kerry in the coffee bar.

We walked a couple of beaches, drove to lighthouses and visited the Polly Hill Arboretum gardens on the island. A fantastic day!

Sure wish there had been a roaring fire going in this outdoor garden. It was SO cold that Saturday morning, temps had dropped to 26 degrees and so much colder than we are used to!

This view looks towards the Gay Head Lighthouse

Edgartown Harbor Light

Bundled but very happy

We just fell in love with this dog, such an easy traveler!

Sunset back near Hyannis

A stop for snack at this great Irish Pub

We'll miss this amazing area, but how lucky we were to spend our time here. I'm thrilled we are doing our Trusted Housesitter adventures.  Penny returned in the early morning hours of November 12th and we shared a visit over coffee before leaving this beautiful area for a day in Boston; a visit to Boston College and its McMullen Art Museum then a flight to NYC the following morning.

MEETING BABY MAX @ GRAND CANYON October 16-24, 2017

Leaving Santa Fe we had a pretty drive on I-40 to Winslow, AZ and a one night stay at Homolovi State Park.  We used the afternoon for basic things, laundry and groceries with a beautiful desert sunset ending our day. 

 From Winslow it's a straight drive into Flagstaff where we picked up a few more things at Safeway before the last drive up the the Canyon and our first time meeting little Max Coyote Campbell! This beautiful, little six week old great nephew belongs to our niece, Mandy, and her husband, Mike. We were so excited to see her and baby Max.

I couldn't have been happier holding him for the first time. Such a joy!

After feeding Max, she wrapped him all up and we took a walk to the rim before the sunset, with Max sleeping all the way over and back. I had fun cooking dinners while we were there and tried some new vegetarian recipes for M and M. Really pretty tasty and once they'd get Max to sleep we'd have dinner and then say good night. Both Mike and Mandy were still in the early days of little sleep and frequents feedings so they were both exhausted!

For me, the most favorite time of day at the GC is to be up early enough to watch the sun rise over the east ridges of the canyon.  It was pretty chilly at 6 am but there's something inspiring seeing a new day begin with the silence of early morning. I wasn't alone on the rim, but there is a quietness that everyone seems to keep as the sun brightens the crevices of the canyon walls and the beauty wakens.

We are also very fortunate that we can park the RV at a friend's home just a block away from Mandy and Mike. Dave and Judi Beckerleg have just the perfect space for us to stay, and we are so grateful to hook up our water and electric lines to their home and set up our house. Judi was taking an online class so we didn't get to see her much, but it's always a gift to stay there and be able to just walk down to see the baby. 

The second morning we played with Max at the house then went to sit out at the El Tovar porch for a little lunch. Max just ate and slept, ate and slept...as he's supposed to do. Such a wonderful hour or so looking out at the expanse of the canyon while visiting and catching up with Mandy on life as a new mom. Max even had a visit with us in the RV, though I don't think he noticed. 

Something we hadn't planned, was spending Thursday morning at the Grand Canyon Clinic trying to find out why Paul was having such severe pain in his upper legs. After a test or two with nothing unusual showing up, the doctor diagnosed it as dehydration; I never realized it could so affect this part of his body.  We stopped at the market on our way back and he began a steady intake of Gatorade to try to restore his body's fluids. Though the doctor said it would take 3-4 days before he'd feel better, it actually took almost two weeks before the pain was gone. So, instead of leaving on Friday we stayed one more day to be sure he was strong enough to drive the RV to Sedona. Trying to keep Paul inactive isn't easy but the pain was enough to make him slow down and rest, and the best thing was we had one more day with Mandy and Max!

Saturday morning was beautiful, sadly we said good by to MMM and packed up the RV,  getting a goodbye from some of the local elk.

It was a lovely drive from the canyon to Sedona, and all went well, though that descent through the mountains always makes me nervous. Plus I was pretty worried about Paul. We did fine, and camped at our favorite little campground, Page Springs RV Resort.  I wouldn't really call this much of a "resort" but it's  a small private campground right along Oak Creek 10 miles south of Sedona near Cornville. We had a perfect spot again with a beautiful view.  

This time we couldn't do much hiking at all, Paul's legs just weren't strong enough so we put the top down on the car and took some beautiful rides and I did the driving; no matter how you view them the red rocks are beyond beautiful!
Mandy had told us we should have a sunset drink at the lovely Enchantment Resort, and we did! Amazing views, but the sunset came so quickly. Next time we'll go before 4:00 and enjoy it all once more.

Loved the reflection in this photo of Paul.

A couple more days at our campsite and it was time to move down to Phoenix.  The hard part was that the temps in Phoenix were close to 100 degrees while we and a perfect 80, we delayed that last drive as long as we could.

We had a big adventure ahead of us, with plans to be out of the RV for two months as we did house/pet sitting on the east coast and Mexico. So, our days were absorbed with packing and closing up the RV; cleaning out the frig and being sure everything was ready to store it until the first of the year. So happy we did all that work in Sedona, by the time we got to Phoenix mid day Wednesday, it was definitely too hot to do much of anything but check in with the storage area, get an Uber ride to the airport and step onto a plane bound for Boston and step into some new experiences.