Tag Archives: Holiday Motel

The Carson Loop, Day 7: Brushing Off Gnats

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Posted by on in Assistance, collaborating, Community, distraction issues, Family, impediments, Personal goals, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

October 21, 2022, Carson City- The truck with a “Black” flag slowed as it passed and the visibly angry passenger screamed out the window: “Get out of this town!” The truck kept on going, and so did I, walking to Ming’s Chinese Restaurant and Sushi Bar. I got my combination fried rice and egg rolls, enjoyed a few cups of hot jasmine tea, and remembered old times in Phoenix, Saugus and other places with good Chinese cuisine. I most often opted for fried rice of some kind, or buckwheat noodles. Tonight, carrying leftovers, I walked back to the motel. The gnats in the truck had been brushed off, and I had no further trouble from anyone.

The day as a whole was uneventful. Breakfast at Holiday Motel was cereal, muffin and yogurt, with “of-course, coffee”. I left Winnemucca around 11:30, then stopped for lunch at Lovelock’s Cowpoke Cafe, where a bustling lone server took my order, wiped tables and delivered soft drink orders to three tables-almost in one fell swoop. He was soon joined by three women, one of whom helped for more than ten minutes. I’m not sure what the other two ended up doing, but the food was good and the people all seemed happy.

I settled into America’s Best Value Inn, called my extended family here in Carson and made tentative plans for the next three days. Visits to a nice new home of one branch of the clan, a devotional and a birthday party will be on tap. The best news: Aram has completed his Chief Petty Officer training, for the Navy Reserve and will receive his rank tomorrow. I have a hard-working family, all around, so the various successes don’t surprise me at all.

The Road to 65, Mile 203: Evergreen Crossings, Day 1: Anacortes

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Posted by on in Hiking and Nature, Social, Travel

June 19, 2015, Anacortes- The ferry brought me in to Bellingham, right on schedule.  Taking my sick camera to a Best Buy, in nearby Burlington, for shipment off to a fix-it shop, was my first priority.  While waiting for the store to open, I got some coffee and a muffin, and saw the horror we had missed, whilst aboard ship:  The Charleston Massacre.  I was numb, for a few minutes, then throw-the-book-at-him angry, that this should continue to happen, in the middle of 2015- the midmost heart of the second decade of the 21st Century.  Thought then took over- I had just been in a fairly isolated environment, with little interaction with anyone, for nearly two days.  There were, however, people of all “racial” groups aboard, and the crew was well-blended.  This reflects the Alaska of 2015, which ought to, in turn, reflect the America of this same year.  Yet, hearts don’t change.  People hold on to the most quotidian of symbols- a gun, an outmoded flag, as if these guarantee some sort of shield from a malevolent external force.  Perhaps, in a way, they do.  Does that mean, however, that these symbols may be used as malevolent forces of their own- and against people who have been NOTHING BUT LOVING to the individual who now attacks them?

I had to carry on, though, and did, choosing the comforting and picturesque ferry port of Anacortes, as a place to settle for one day, and just walk about, after a comforting nap at Holiday Motel.  It’s run by two of the nicest hoteliers I have encountered in the “lower 48”, though I have to say that, how I perceive people is usually how they end up being.

Anacortes has an old church, which is now for sale. Other denominations seem to be thriving, but not this Congregationalist parish.  Perhaps it moved over to the west side of town.

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I wandered around the east harbour, where there is a skate park, a yacht club and several container vessels.  East Anacortes seems to be the more industrial part of town.

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Street art seems to be everywhere, these days, and Anacortes has its fair share.  There is a Music Festival coming here soon.

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I visited the Performing Arts Center’s grounds, after hours, and was overjoyed to see its name.

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The venue is to be very active, tomorrow.  I will, however, be in Victoria, BC, for a National Aboriginal Canadians Day festival.  Still, this is another very comforting thing about this little port.

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Hearts come in all shapes and sizes.

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They can also be complex.

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I wonder if Juliet, or Rapunzel, would favour such a balcony ?

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Perhaps, if her suitor were to proffer such a mix of flowers as this.

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Wandering, reluctantly, away from Hearts of Anacortes, I found a gem of a different sort.  The city includes a waterfront park, at the north harbour. The wharves are largely given over to disuse, and are therefore welcoming to some cormorants.

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Could this pass for a dog, or an alligator?  Driftwood does inspire flights of fancy.

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Spying a fossil shell was a treat.

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It appears Nature has her own pictographs.902

There were a few other intrepid souls out, enjoying this special park.  It is a good mark for a community, when it takes the best of what is placed in its midst.  If I ever felt the need to leave Prescott, for another base, Anacortes would be on my short list.

The Road to 65, Mile 25: Truth, Consequences and Delayed Gratification

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Posted by on in Hiking and Nature, Travel

December 23, 2014, Lordsburg-  When I was a very young child, about 4 or 5, my maternal grandmother would occasionally babysit us, so both our parents could work.  Grama would sometimes have the radio broadcasting something about truth or consequences.  I could barely say the second name, but I knew what truth meant, and figured consequences were some kind of lies.

In March, 1950, shortly after i would have been conceived, the game show host Ralph Edwards, celebrating ten years of his successful radio show, “Truth or Consequences”, took an idea from a couple of staff members- to name an American town after the show.  The town selected was Hot Springs, New Mexico, which had the advantage of already being a prime tourist destination, due to its eponymous mineral baths and nearby Elephant Butte Lake, a man-made reservoir of the Rio Grande.  On April 1, Mr. Edwards, his wife and several crew members went to Hot Springs, for the official renaming, and the City of Truth or Consequences, “TRC”, was born.

I spent Monday night and Tuesday morning, enjoying the hospitality and vibrant civic spirit of this remarkable little community.  Here are some scenes from the Hot Springs Historic District and Geronimo Springs Historical Museum, Sierra County’s place of record.  The painted water tower and some brightly coloured homes reminded me of Bisbee, AZ.

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The San Andres Mountains rise to the southeast.SAM_3439 Quirky shops and eateries are scattered throughout the town.SAM_3447 Geronimo Springs Museum is a well-ordered and delightful place in which to learn of west central New Mexico.SAM_3441 A display of coloured glass and ceramic greets the visitor, outside.SAM_3443 So, too, does a log cabin.

SAM_3442 SAM_3465 Inside the museum are many features of paleontology, anthropology, local culture and history.  I started with Pleistocene relics, a mammoth skull, and one of a mastodon.

SAM_3455SAM_3456 Going backwards in time, here is a Devonian coral.SAM_3459 Next, are some fern fossils.

SAM_3460 This is the tale of a chair, brought from the original Sierra County Courthouse, in nearby Hillsboro.  The two towns disputed which would be county seat, and the State of New Mexico ruled in favour of Hot Springs.SAM_3463 The historical exhibits showed portraits of Geronimo, Don Juan de Onate, and cowboy author Eugene Rhodes.  This local hero outshines them all, in my opinion.SAM_3468 I left “TRC” a bit later than I had planned, but some serendipity is worth delayed gratification elsewhere.  I would end up putting off a visit to Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument and a walk around Silver City, but along the way to that area, I encountered several little gems.

Hillsboro, the aforementioned rival, was mostly closed up for the holidays.

SAM_3470  Not far up the road is Percha Creek, with a truss bridge and adjacent walkway/overlook.

SAM_3479 Emory Pass, at 8230 feet, is the highest point along this exquisite highway.  Here, I encountered a writer from Martha’s Vineyard, who is looking to relocate to warmer climes.  I gave him a few possible sites to explore, in that regard.  Emory was definitely not one of them- but it is a place of splendour.

SAM_3485 I stopped for lunch at La Tienda del Sol, in San Lorenzo, before visiting the Mimbres Ranger Station, which confirmed my suspicions about Gila Cliff Dwellings closing at 4 PM.  This delightful little place was full into the holiday spirit, as was Sunset Grill, in TRC, last night and this morning.

SAM_3487 I headed to Silver City, in the end, spent a short time at Fort Bayard National Cemetery, then continued down to Lordsburg.  The dusty desert town has its own gems, among them the comfortable and inexpensive Holiday Motel (NOT “Inn”) and Kranberry’s Family Restaurant, open for lunch and dinner.  I was treated like royalty in both places.  Days like this will bring me back to this area in the Spring, and then we’ll see about Gila Cliff Dwellings and vicinity.