Hiking Sabino Canyon

What a small world: Virginia, our hiking guide yesterday, had lived in Augsburg, our home town for nine years, working at the rec center of one of our military posts in town. We lived closeby at the time and always listened/watched AFN network. We went to the PX to get „Sports Illustrated“, comics and chewing gum, had our pulls to get into „Gym # 1“ for basketball games and were there on July 4th for BBQ and fireworks. Good memories...

Yesterday's ranch dinner consisted of a „Cowboy BBQ“, open-air with entertainment, steaks, burgers, chicken etc. and all the sides. At this occasion we met again with this very handsome, talented country music singer, Joe Barr, who we got to know last year at Apache Spirit Ranch closeby Tombstone. Then he was playing in front of 4 guests, two of them being us, now in front of more than 100. Also, we met with a couple from Tucson (the BBQ was open to the public) and had good conversation at the table. Actually it’s been the only people we talked to at the ranch. Pretty "special" guests there, rather snobbish and not very talkative. Happens rarely with Americans otherwise.

This morning - at just about 70 deg. F (20 C) and clouds - we were undecided about a „breakfast ride“ but after we had seen the large groups (up to 15) and the modus operandi we skipped the thought. It would just have meant to sit on a horse on "autopilot", riding in line, „butt-to-nose“. Instead, we had a hearty breakfast from the buffet at the ranch restaurant and departed afterwards. We stopped by at the Saguaro National Park East’s Visitor Center, but didn't spend much time there. Decided instead to go for a hike in Sabino Canyon, just about 15 min. away.


Sabino Canyon is kind of a "playground" for the Tucson city dwellers, and very crowded on weekends. After we'd found parking, we took the tourist tram up the Canyon and hiked the 5,5 mi. (9 km) back, pretty narrow, steep and rocky trails, which offered great views. Since it was not hot at all, it was a piece of cake for us. Not too many people around up on the trails - most either took the tram back or just walked on the paved road. It took us a little over two hours, but it was a beautiful hike through the canyon, where still a couple of water pools were left despite of the drought the whole state is currently suffering from. There were reports about a mountain lion having been seen recently in the canyon, but we just saw gorgeously blooming cacti.



At 3:30 pm we checked in our hotel in Tucson, a „historic" hotel, meaning: rooms as big as our dining room (tiny), no TV, just a shower, and, strategic planning was necessary in regard to the storing of our luggage. Departed a little later again to return our rental car at Tucson Airport. Got a 50-min. „neighborhood tour“ for $ 1,50 by public bus through the (mostly mexican) southern Tucson neighborhoods (the wealthier people seem to live to the north).
For a beer and a bite to eat afterwards we went to „World of Beer“, just across our hotel, the Congress Hotel. Did you ever have to form to sign at a hotel, saying that it’s prohibited to bring alcohol into your room? Pretended reason: there is a bar and a club on premises. Hmmmm, what were we supposed to do with our provisions for the train…???
Somehow I have hurt my right ankle on the hike, didn't even notice, but it's swollen now and needed an ice bag. Glad to get some rest on the train from tomorrow morning (monday) till wednesday ... though there is no internet on the train... How the heck will we survive the train trip?

Tomorrow morning at around 7 am we plan to bring our large luggage to the AMTRAK station across the street to check it in, then back to the hotel to grab our „hand“ luggage which we will take with us on the train. Inbetween, we will have a cup of coffee, hoping that the train will be on time: 8:15 am - departure for Chicago.

Giddy Up and Go!

We left Scottsdale yesterday in the morning southbound, with a stop at the Phoenix Tanger Outlets. On the way it got more „dusty“, sand devils dancing on the horizon, scenery became somehow more „mexican“, at least that was our feeling. Tucson ist just about 70 mi. away from the mexican border (Nogales) and mostly exists because of and around Arizona University. After a short two hour drive we arrived to Tanque Verde Ranch to the west of the city, nestled in the foothills of the Rincon Mountains, bordered by Saguaro National Park East.

The "Tanque Verde" Ranch is named for the "green pool" and seasonal river that already the Indians used as a source of water.  In 1868 the land was purchased by a Mexican by name Emilio Carrillo, from 1908 on Jim Converse owned the ranch and began inviting eastern „dudes“ (city dwellers) to participate in everyday ranch activities. In 1957, Brownie Cote took over, expanded and his son Bob Cote is the owner today and is proud of the mix of western dude ranch and luxury resort with a broad spectrum of activities. Bob is still servig pancake breakfast to the participants of the weekly Old Homestead Breakfast Ride.

We checked in and got a nice adobe-style cottage, spacious and with a patio where the fantastic view compensated for the lack of a TV set. We explored the property: there is a spa, tennis court, ball fields, hiking and biking centers, pools, a bar called Dog House Saloon, and the restaurant serves more than just cowboy food, which we noticed at dinner.


The ranch is huge in every respect: about 160 horses standing in different corrals, allegedly 600 head of cattle up in the mountains, 70 „rooms“ and up to 250 guests. The guests are more likely wearing tennis shoes and baseball caps than cowboy boots and hats - sort of a strange clientèle of somehow loaded city dwellers, many young families, many from the northern part of the U.S. and many repeat visitors. One night all inclusive starts at about $ 600, so figure out yourself about the kind of guests!

We had registered for a desert hike into Saguaro NP this morning (still cool then), cacti are just about to bloom and it was a good hike through the Saguaro forest. Afterwards we first watched different kids’ and horsemanship programs and, after lunch, retired to the cottage to get work done.

Frank L. Wright in the desert

Not much to report from Scottsdale. Just getting some welcome rest and sun. We are having a wonderful time in our friends "villa", sitting at the pool, working some, relaxing some, doing some sightseeing. Yesterday we drove into Old Scottsdale, where mostly elder couples and baseball fans (spring training is taking place in Scottsdale right now) are on the streets and frequenting the amazing number of jewelery (and souvenir) stores.

The last two evenings we went for hikes with our friends L. and S. into the desert landscape of McDowell Mountains. When we started on the first day we enjoyed a dramatic view when a sandstorm was building up over Phoenix (which somehow dissolved later). We hiked until it got dark and learned a lot about the specific desert vegetation – cholla, saguaros and barrel cacti, jojoba, ocotillo, mesquite and palo verde... - what a landscape! Cooked dinner together with our friends in the evening – one day mexican, one day italian - and had good conversation.

Today we had a tour arranged at closeby Taliesin West, one of the buildings of famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959) in the middle of the Sonoran desert. This structure, started in 1937, was his personal winter home, studio, and architectural campus. Still today students are living and studying on the grounds. Though it was his field of experimentation it also became a masterpiece of his craftsmanship and geniality, among other influences inspired by japanese architecture and arts and by the Arts & Crafts movement. He "invented" organic archictecture and became the leader of the Prairie School of Architecture. But, like Picasso, he was multi-talented, and also designed furniture, textiles, dishes etc., even his own suits!

Desert, sun and a good life

Some people really live in paradise … like our friends here in Scottsdale: a beautiful home, a pool, oranges and grapefruit trees with fruits in abundance around the house, a purling fountain, chirping birds, hummingbirds zipping by, sun and heat, quiet and peaceful. What else could we wish, especially after our strenuous days in L.A. with all this horrible traffic, with a packed itinerary and a lot of noise at night in the hotels?

Yesterday in the morning we left early, at only 58 deg F (14° C), clouds and gray skies in L.A. It got even worse on our drive out of town: a mixture of smog and fog caused poor visibility. It took us about 1,5 hours to get out of town, though traffic was at least flowing, no jams. We remembered our first experience on L.A.'s streets in the early 1990s, when we took the car pool lane and suddenly ended up somewhere in the suburbs because a wall made it impossible to get back on a regular lane. Car pool lanes are made for commuters (two and more passengers in a car), have less exits and are sometimes isolated. We didn’t know that at the time ...

Then the San Bernardino Mountains - partly snow-capped - showed up and and huge windmill parks came in view, the sun was out and temps climbed considerably. What a different feeling! We stopped for breakfast in Palm Springs and immediately noticed the slower pace and the colorful and artsy atmosphere.

This city in the middle of the desert, surrounded by mountains, and populated by the rich and famous (aka Hollywood people), by snowbirds (people from Canada and the North who spend the winter here), predominantly elder and gay couples. Our visit brought back memories to previous stays in P.S. and one of the very best hotels we had to date.

Continued on Interstate 10 through the Sonoran Desert, driving 70 (CA) or 75 (AZ) mph (110/120 km/h).Lots of police around, checking speed. Stopping only twice at rest areas and at a gas station we drove the 400 miles (640 km) in good time. Traffic in Phoenix was not too bad and we arrived at our friends’ home in Scottsdale before 5 pm. Enjoyed sitting at the pool at 80+ deg. F with a glass of wine in hands and a cuban dinner afterwards. What a life!

Today is our lazy laundry/barbershop/catch-up-with-work day... Lateron we'll go for a hike.

California Cowboys and Arts in Abundance

Gene Autry started out as a B Western actor but gained fame as a singing cowboy on the radio, in movies, and on TV in the 1930s. Though in reality he never was the most handsome, toughest man in the business (he was a minister’s son), he played the honest, brave, and true cowboy very credibly.
"The Autry" in Griffith Park (close to the Zoo and the famous Hollywood Sign) is dedicated to the American West, to indians, pioneers, first settlers and cowboys, authentic cowboy life and Hollywood cowboys, connecting the past and the present in an ingenious way. Autry had established the museum in 1988, it shows paintings, sculptures, costumes, firearms, saddles, horse tack, tools, carriages and other objects. Part of the museum is a great Native American Art collection and right now there was an interesting exhibition about indian beadwork going on.


The Autry was our first pre-arranged stop this morning, fortuntely we had enough time to explore on our own after an overview tour with the PR director. On to Pasadena then, a city of its own with about 140.000 people. Historic buildings, charming, quaint „old world flair“, shops, boutiques, coffee shops, bistros and a nice farmers market, where we bought provisions for dinner.

The city is famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and the Tournament of Roses Parade, but, in addition, Pasadena has quite a bit to offer regarding culture: it is home to the Norton Simon Museum of Art, the Gamble House by Greene & Greene, the Huntington Gardens & Library - which we all visited in the last couple of years. This time the Pacific Asia Museum and the nearby Art Museum were on our itinerary – both small and worth being seen, but more for „specialists“ or people with a lot of time.

From Pasadena we continued to Central L.A. and LACMA, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the largest, most comprehensive and oldest art museum in L.A. Founded as a museum in 1961 it consists of several buildings and is one of these „global“ museums with modern/european/asian/decorative/latin-american/greek-roman/photographic etc. departments where you could spend days and get lost.

Fantastic additions are two new buildings by Renzo Piano and "The Urban Light" sculpture by Chris Burden at the entrance. This artwork became sort of the new symbol for the museum which is the centerpiece of Wilshire Blvd. and the "Museum Row" including the George C. Page Museum and La Brea Tar Pits (bubbling tar pits with fossils), the Petersen Automotive Museum, and a newly planned Movie Museum. Wilshire is also renowned for its colorful mixture of gourmet food trucks rowing up along the street.

If we wouldn’t have been so tired we probably would have stayed longer (there was a colorful Iranian New Year's celebration with music, parade, food vendors etc. going on on the LACMA grounds), but after a short overview tour and after having checked out the changing exhibitions, we left. Wished, we would have had a hotel closer to downtown, but so we had still to drive over 30 minutes. Back at the hotel at 6 pm, but too cool to still dip into the pool. Instead we took a hot bath and had dinner before starting to work and pack. Amounts of luggage are starting to get frightening ... how the heck do we get all this stuff over to Germany without paying a fortune?

Glitz & Glimmer in Hollywood

When we left our hotel in Venice Beach this morning (parking alone was $ 70!!!) - it's been cloudy again, at only 60 deg. F (is that supposed to be southern californian weather?). We drove to the Fairfax Farmers Market, established in 1934 and called "the original farmers market". There are still a couple of authentic market boothes left - like a butcher, a fish monger, veggie/fruit stalls and some bakeries - but there is also a growing number of rather fancy delis and eating places and souvenir/speciality shops.

We had a quick breakfast on the market before we departed to check out Sunset Boulevard. The problem in L.A. is, that you can't just park your car and walk and explore. It's much more about exactly knowing where you want to go, park there and hop in the car again to reach the next point. Also, parking is not always easy and public and museum's parking lots often charge up to a $ 10 flat rate for parking.

Driving through West Hollywood and passing the MOCA Pacific Design Center on Melrose Ave., planned by architect Cesar Pelli, we parked close to Hollywood Blvd. (even for free!!!) and walked up and down the street (one of the few exceptions!), on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, stopping at Hollywood & Highland Center (a shopping/entertainment mall with the Dolby Theatre, home to the Academy Awards), the famous Roosevelt Hotel (where the Oscars were awarded in the past), at the Egyptian and at the Chinese Theater, where prints of hands and feets of stars are fascinating people in a strange way.



After about an hour we we've had our fill of glitz & glimmer, kitsch & hype. We had been offered about a hundred of tours, restaurant specials and sales, and continued to the Hollywood Forever Cemetery Hollywood (even there you drive and don't walk). Since 1899 it is the final resting place to many of Hollywood’s founders and stars, e.g. Johnny Ramone, Jayne Mansfield, Rudolph Valentino, Douglas Fairbanks. Paramount Studios was built on the back half of the original cemetery and the studio is still in operation today.

Silver Lake is the setting of the song "From Silver Lake" by Jackson Browne; Walt Disney built his first large studio here and a few blocks away was the studio of Tom Mix. The neighborhood, being built around a city water reservoir, is known for different reasons: for its stylish boutiques, coffee shops and restaurants, as a center of the alternative and indie rock scene and as one of "the city's hippest neighborhoods" with popular bars, night clubs and pubs. There was a flea/arts/farmers' market going on - a lot of retro/hippie clothing and accessoires being sold besides fruit, veggies, flowers and deli items.

The Sportsmen's Lodge - our current hotel in Studio City in the San Fernando Valley, close to Universal Studios - is legendary for having hosted guests like Katherine Hepburn, John Wayne or Clark Gable. The hotel pre-dates the film-industry but soon found itself at the center. As the Hollywood film industry grew, so did the popularity of the Lodge. Even we felt a bit like celebrities today when we treated ourselves to a lazy (half) afternoon in the sun, at the swimming pool ...

„Life in the Fast Lane“

We spent more time on L.A.’s freeways today than inside museums. Drove "only" about 60 mi in total, but spent an annoying amount of time on the roads. Don’t understand how the Los Angelinos can handle all the commuting every day. Many crazy drivers, in addition, switching lanes (often 8 to 10) unexpectedly, stopping abruptly or ignoring lights, potholes and construction sites. L.A. is one of the worst cities to drive, but fortunately I had a good navigator by my side and therefore we succeeded to be on time all day long. We’ve been on a very tight schedule, arranged by the cultural department of the L.A. Tourism: five museums in different neighborhoods or towns, miles apart from each other. Started at 8:30 am and came back at 6 pm. It's been cloudy in the morning and not very warm all day.

Our first stop was the Watts Towers in Watts (South L.A.). 17 vernacular structures were built by Simon Rodia, an italian immigrant, in the center of a black neighborhood from 1921-1955. He erected Nuestro Pueblo (Our Town) all alone, all by hand, using steel rods wrapped in wire mesh and coated with cement. Embedded are shards of ceramics, bottles, tiles, shells, porcellan, glass, mirrors etc.

The Watts Towers Arts Center is adjacent and they not only organize art exhibitions but also do a great job in educating, assisting, fostering people in the neighborhood. Art and music events and workshops, a community garden and much more makes it an ambitious project. Since Watts is noted for the 1965 Watts Riots, the neighborhood still struggles with its reputation, though it’s nowadays no more, no less criminal than other neighborhoods.

On to the Natural History Museum in Exposition Park, where they are proud of a new instructive exhibition gallery called „Becoming Los Angeles“. Walking (!) over to the California Science Center we admired the size of an original Space Shuttle Endeavour which the museum is hosting since 2012.

After a quick lunch at Nick & Stef’s Steakhouse in Downtown L.A. - excellent steaks! - with Mike from LA Tourism we got a hardhat tour on the nearby construction site of the new Broad Museum which is supposed to open in 2015. It’s across the street from the fabulous Disney Concert Hall from Frank Gehry.

The museum, designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro, will be home to the huge collection of Eli and Edythe Broad – among the most prominent holdings of postwar and contemporary art worldwide. Looking forward to see it once it’s accomplished.

On to Culver City, in heavy friday afternoon traffic, to The Wende Museum & Archive of the Cold War, a not too easy to sell sight. The Wende Museum preserves the cultural artifacts and personal histories of Cold War-era Eastern Europe and Soviet Union and tries to put it in an artistic-modern, global context. Founder and Director Justin Jampol gave us an enthusiastic tour through his spectacular collection and we drove over to the site of the new museum (just „across the street“, meaning just a couple of miles away). It’s supposed to open end of this year in conjunction with the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Beaches, Boobs and Muscles

What a different world, again... Somehow we liked the Oregon coast better than the californian part... Right now we are sitting on our hotel balcony with ocean view in Venice Beach, called "Muscle Beach", first of all because Arnold Schwarzenegger started his carreer as a bodybuilder here.

The name of the town came from a strange tobacco milionaire by name Abbot Kinney who dreamt of a a beach resort similar to Venice, a "Venice of America", in 1905 and started to built channels. Nowadays the main attraction is the waterfront with kitschy, shabby huts rowing up along the promenade, selling cheap souvenirs, sunglasses and swimwear; there are street performers and bums, druggies and skaters, young people living in the park, a top-notch skater park and other playgrounds, bars and restaurants - all populated by a very colorful, crazy group of people, mostly Californians. You'll have to get used to this lifestyle...




This morning we drove down the coast from SLO on Hwy. 101 - through a large wine growing region - to Santa Barbara. Since we were listening hard and noticed a strange noise at the left front wheel of our tiny little car we decided to drive to the Santa Barbara Airport to exchange it. The manager checked it out himself, approved our concerns and - after about an hour - we had a new, bigger car, a nice Hyundai with just the right trunk for our luggage. Before that, we really looked like "traveling tramps" with the back seats turned down and luggage piles covered by a blanket.

Checked out Santa Barbara then, quaint and very pittoresque, but also pretty touristic with many shops, restaurants etc. Many spanish-style buildings in downtown, but flagship is the Mission Santa Barbara, known as "the Queen of the Missions," founded in 1786. The Spanish period ended in 1822 with the Mexican War, which terminated 300 years of colonial rule. Then the mexicans took over for 24 years, before becoming american.

Drove further down the coast - slog progress because of two-lane-traffic. Perhaps many drivers were admiring Malibu's gorgeous mansions along the road...? Wondering who's living there... Arrived to our Hotel Erwin in Venice Beach at 5 pm, got a nice top-floor room, checked out the rooftop lounge, went for a walk along the promenade and the beach

and, eventually, had dinner on the balcony. For a change we enjoyed bread, hummus and cheese with fresh delicious avocado, mango and oranges plus ABC chardonnay from Santa Barbara.