Surviving Slow Travel

Bluebird sitting atop beloved pet's grave marker

I believe I have endured enough road hazards to my work in my slow-travel, full-time-rv life during the last six weeks. I am ready for some smooth sailing for awhile. My son's other grandma died (my mom died 2 years ago) just before Easter. I posted on Facebook that I would be taking 2 weeks off to help the family with funeral arrangements and such. 

Quirky quail now populate the old homestead

As I geared up to get hard back to work, my computer crashed. So did my son's. Then, for 2 weeks at the Northern Arizona homestead, we had no internet or cell phone service. Luckily, the local library (7 miles away from the house, 20 minute drive each way) had their internet up and their computers working. This was good for quick email and Facebook checks, ordering new (used) computers from ebay, and having them sent to our next stop - my dad's. Not so good for keeping up with writing or posting blogs. Without a computer to get everything ready to post, it takes far longer than the librarians want a single patron to stay on the shared computers. Not to mention, I don't want my son playing computer games all that time...

Ginormous jack-rabbits forage in front of the old chicken coop

Out here in sunny, warm California (did I mention it is sooo nice to be out of the cold?) we spent our first week getting ready for my son John's wedding to his long-time sweetheart. Such a beautiful, wonderful time.

Now, having finished setting up, installing programs and testing our new computers, I can get back to work. I can't wait to tell all about the Alligator Farm in Colorado, finding community on the road, and our visit to some shrines in Chimayo, New Mexico. But first, some much needed California relaxation at the beach

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Salvage the Day - What to Do When a Trip Does Not Go As Planned

Salvage The Day - What To Do When A Trip Does Not Go As Planned

It began with warm, Southern California sunshine, smoothly moving freeways and hopes of a day spent soaking up healing rays, listening to the soothing sounds of waves lapping the beach and strolling through a little bit of Old Scandinavia just a few hours up the coast. That's not quite the way it played out.

First, we got started a bit later than planned. Normally, I try not to let this worry me, but I also misjudged the amount of time it would take to drive from Long Beach to Solvang. All was good, though, as the freeways were moving and we didn't have to sit in traffic. Still, by the time we got to Ventura, we were starving. Promenade Park looked like a nice place to stop for lunch on the beach. With the lunch-hour surfers competing for parking space, it became a matter of 'wait for someone to pull out and grab their spot quick'. This accomplished, I made sandwiches for the boy and his grandpa (and his mom) and we proceeded to enjoy watching the waves and sunning ourselves. A seagull, perched on a nearby rock, sensed an audience and spread his wings to demonstrate his take-off. Duly appreciated.

Refreshed, we turned inland for Solvang. Second mistake. The once quaint Danish Village of Solvang, is now just another shopping mall. At least in the winter. The worst part was that I had a nagging suspicion that I should have remembered this from another, similar trip two years ago, with my daughter. Note to self: begin a small trip log, noting places not to revisit, and destinations to return to. I probably would have done better to update my pictures and info on Santa Ines and La Purissima Missions instead, but the day was fading. After stretching our legs from one end of Solvang to the other and back again, we decided there was enough time left to visit the Ostrich Farm on the way back to the coast road.

Save! Our misadventures in Solvang were soon forgotten in the quirkiness of feeding the ostriches and emus at the Ostrich Farm. Watching their comical bird faces and gangly legs running around their pens provided us with some much needed belly laughs, though our stop there was less than an hour.

Our final destination before heading home had to be Anderson's Split Pea Soup Restaurant in Buellton. Not disappointing. Sure I could make a vat of split pea soup with ham bones and carrots and potatoes at home for about a buck, but the satisfaction of hearing my oldest son, when he called in the middle of our dinner, gasping "Anderson's Split Pea Soup in the bread bowl?! That is sooooo aaawesooome!!" was priceless. Day salvaged.

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Metro! Riding the Rails in SoCal

Olvera Street plaza, Los Angeles, CA

Forsaking Colorado's sub-zero temps, we've made our way to Southern California. We're so happy to leave the snow boots behind, we'll even forgive the few hours of cloud cover, which blocks the sun for part of each day. It is the rainy season here, after all. Even a few drops of rain won't put a damper on a day of train riding and Los Angeles is developing a pretty good metrolink system.

Yak and I love riding around on trains. L.A. county's Metrolink is now connecting with several other SoCal counties, all the way down to San Diego. We have long desired to take a day and ride the buses and trains. My first order of business was to visit the Metrolink website and print out a route map. We studied the best way to approach our adventure and decided to start at the nearest station, get a "TAP" card and load it with a day pass. That way we can reload and reuse the card whenever we are in town, which is several times a year. A day pass is the best deal for us, as it gives unlimited rides on all Metrolink rail and bus lines. Unfortunately, I didn't check the bus schedule. The car battery was dead and no one was home to help us jump start it, or drop us off at the train station, so we walked to the corner bus stop. The wait became too long and there was no bench, so we walked several blocks to the next bus stop. Here, we found, there were 2 buses to choose from. We took the first one - fortunately we chose well. It deposited us at our station and we purchased our "TAP" cards. 

Feeling very much like Harry Potter at the subway station with Mr. Weasley, we tapped our way onto the platform, where we joined several other folks waiting for the train. Once aboard, we decided to ride to the end of the line in Redondo Beach, but once there, found that the beach was farther than we wanted to walk. Since we hadn't studied or printed out any bus schedules, we chose to ride the train back to the airport and watch the planes for awhile. In theory, this was a great idea but in reality, tightened security makes it almost impossible to get a good view of the planes taking off and landing, unless you are a ticketed passenger.

hand painted tiles, clay floor tiles, vintage lighting at Union Station

We continued on the train and deciphered which stop would drop us closest to the bus for Union Station. Union Station is beautiful! Outside are several shady/sunny courtyards, with trees, flowers and seating. Inside are newsstands, restaurants, a bar and several other food vendors. Not to mention the vintage seating in the lobby, the colorful, painted tilework and clay tile floors. Very Angeleno. 

Calle Olvera

I had not taken Yak to Olvera Street, just across from Union Station, since he was a baby, so we had to go. He said it felt like we were in Old Mexico. Olvera Street is a story in itself, for another day, as I'm getting a bit long winded with the train adventure. This day, we enjoyed wandering through the market stalls, then stopping for a familiar Mexican ice cream from a vendor in the plaza. 

It was getting time to head back, so even though there are a number of interesting attractions within a short walk from Olvera Street, we made a beeline for Union Station, this time to take a real subway train back to our home station. We changed trains twice, as if we did it every day, before arriving at the station, where we waited for our bus to take us home. And waited. And waited. We finally walked the 2 miles to the house. At least it wasn't too cold or too dark. Or too far. We heartily agreed to check the bus schedule next time, or make sure the car was running so we could park it at the park & ride lot. Or bring our bikes and rent a bike locker.

Maybe next time we'll take the special express bus to Disneyland...

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A Catholic Traveling

Oatman burro gets friendly outside of town

It occurs to me that I have not mentioned about our plans to get back on the road. When I first started the Catholic Traveller blog and website, the plan was to travel frequently and visit missions, shrines and other holy places, take lots of pictures and video, and share impressions, recommendations and interesting facts. Then my children became interested in horses and - nuff said. That batch of children is now grown and on their own. Now comes an opportunity to lighten up again and travel full time with my trailer for awhile. We will be traveling slow and enjoying the journey.

The new home: 1975 MeToo; bumper to bumper inspection before starting renovation

While the coming year is planned for the Western U.S., there will also be a few weeks in Wyoming, with a possible trip to New York and North Carolina, depending on finances and family situations. We are renovating a 28 foot RV and a 14 foot travel trailer - if you are interested in that process, you can follow it on Mrs. D's Homestead, my other site, where we will also post more about full-time RV living, homeschooling on the road and minimalist, homestead-spirited living on the road.

Miner's "cabins", Calico Ghost Town, Yermo, CA

Catholic Traveller will continue to focus more on the places we visit and on our spiritual journey, as well as the challenges of finding Mass, confession and fellowship opportunities on the road.

Until next time, Happy Trails!

Halloween at Calico Ghost Town

On any day of the year, Calico Ghost Town, in Yermo, California (just outside of Barstow on Interstate 15) is, well, a ghost town.  On Halloween, all the skeletons come out of the closet and dance in the streets.  Residents and vendors alike enthusiastically decorate with creepy cloth, dusty curtains, skulls and other scary stuff, in anticipation of two wild weekends of  "Calico Ghost Haunt".  Apparently, campers at the adjacent campground also decorate, and the Ghost Haunt is supposed to include all kinds of family style Halloween activities, including the recently revived Ghost Tours.  We were unable to make it, as we were there the weekend before.

 In the 15 or so years since I last visited Calico, the town has added museums and attractions that weren't previously available.  Apparently being named California's Official Silver Rush Ghost Town has been good for Calico and for San Bernardino County Regional Parks, which operates it.

The Maggie Mine tour is a kick.  For $2 adults and $1.50 children over 5, we got to walk through one of the few stabilized mines anywhere.  Every room has a mining scene, depicting the daily operation of a silver mine.

Just below the Maggie, Chinatown lies in ruins.  One tiny stone hut is fitted with a cot, fireplace, and table to show the cramped quarters.  Nearby lies a ruin that must have been a multi-family dwelling.  We spent several minutes going in and out of all the rooms.

Another fun stop is the old schoolhouse, with desks
neatly lined up and slates at the ready.  That little building out back (can't see it in the picture) is the outhouse.  My son was appalled when I told him about the wooden seat and the newspaper TP.

 Other restored and/or rebuilt buildings include a blacksmith shop, firehouse, restaurant/hotel, saloon, post office/general store, newspaper office and several others.  Many of these house gift shops, including one with lots of brain teasers, and a couple real leather shops.

Outside the sheriff's office stands a jail cell and hangin' tree.






Though there are several gift and souvenir shops, my
favorite has to be the old time general store.  Complete with "unmentionables" hanging from the rafters, displays of bulk goods and old fashioned candies for sale.  We got a couple of stick candies, and the licorice flavored one tasted more like real licorice than most of what passes for that particular candy on today's market.  With many items of antique clothing and other household goods on display, the general store is part museum, part convenience store, with propane, canned goods and other camping supplies, and part souvenir shop.

Several other museums are in the works in various buildings.  Other attractions in the park include a railroad ride, Mystery Shack, Gold panning and the cemetery.  Admission to the park is $7 for adults and $4 for children.  Kids under 5 are free.  If you decide to camp at Calico, admission is included.

Calico hosts several events throughout the year, check the San Bernardino County Regional Parks website for info.

Bumped by Burros in Oatman, Arizona

It all started innocently enough.  Tired of the monotonous drive between Arizona and California along Interstate 40, I managed to talk my family into a detour to see the ghost town of Oatman, neatly tucked away on Old Route 66 between Kingman and Bullhead City. Indeed, it would add a few hours to the monotonous drive, but they would be entertaining hours, which would give us something interesting to think and talk about as we crossed the great Mojave. 

Just outside of Kingman, we exited I40 at Shinarump Dr.  Following the signs to Oatman Highway, we took in the sights as Old Route 66 led us away from civilization. My 9 year old son and I took turns guessing at locations from the movie "Cars". Sighting several old mine shafts, we discussed the possibilities of venturing out to do some gold prospecting of our own. Soon we were passing the Gold Road mine. (Link goes to a blog with some highlights about the mine.) The mine is officially closed, but every time we take this detour, we see at least a dozen vehicles parked there.

Oatman springs out of the landscape suddenly from this direction, so as soon as I saw the sign I slowed down. The highway goes right through the middle of town, and very likely, there will be some burros wandering the streets. Once a defunct mining town, reborn as a tourist attraction, Oatman boasts a charming Old West atmosphere with its false-front stores, board walks and daily "gun fights". Wild burros roam the streets freely, and have no hesitation about walking up to you and inspecting to see if you have any treats for them. Burro food is available in nearly all the shops. Clark Gable and Carole Lombard spent part of their honeymoon at the Oatman Hotel, (click link for some great reviews), their Honeymoon Suite is still a major attraction. Several ghosts are reported to haunt the town, but mostly we saw other tourists.

 Food is available at several restaurants and shops, and there are quite a few souvenir stands offering a variety of commercial and handmade items.  One vendor, Brenda, was set up in a covered wagon, offering cold drinks, kettle corn and her own self-published children's books and calendars featuring the Oatman burros. I have a soft spot for authors in general and self-published ones in particular, so I stopped to chat and ask a few questions.  As we talked, I kept getting bumped in the behind. I looked around me, but no one was close enough to be the guilty party. As I turned to scold my son, I found that the culprit was actually a jenny, looking for a handout! As our entire party burst into giggles at my expense (which I was more than happy to provide), I scratched the critter behind the ears, then shooed her away to pester someone else.

It was getting time for us to move along anyway. We cast last, longing glances at the hills, then got in the car and turned up the air conditioning. Oatman Highway to Bullhead City is a pleasant drive. From there, it's just about 20 minutes to Needles, California, where we pick up Interstate 40 again, to cross the desolate Mojave desert. Only now, we have a burro bumping adventure to relive, and a host of gold mining dreams and ghost stories to get us across to grandpa's house.