Yes we are in Los Angeles, Burbank to be exact. beautiful weather, scenery and my adorable 20 month old niece Lucy.
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Greetings from Burbank
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Hiking and dining inTucson.
perfect weather for a hike at Catalina state park in oro valley where we did the challenging Romero pools trail, 2.2 miles each way and lots of rocks, mountains, glorious views.
We ate a much deserved early dinner (we missed lunch, while out on the trail for 4 hours). I had very good carne seca at rosa’s and good pizza the night before at skordatos.
Filed under hiking, Tucson, Uncategorized
Coronado cafe, Biltmore Hotel – Phoenix
finally got a chance to see a little more of Phoenix after many years of whizzing past the city to Tucson (and occasionally Scottsdale). we were in the area around the Heard Museum, driving down straight flat residential roads lined with way tall Palm trees, past lovely old stucco bungalows and Spanish mini villas. we had an excellent lunch at the funky Coronado Cafe, which oozed low key charm and served a fabulous crabcake(the owner proudly revealed her Baltimore roots). also excellent key lime pie and fres lemonade. we did a quick drive through the Roosevelt arts district which had some promising looking galleries and boutiques and along 7th street and the Coronado historic district.
Also visited the famous Biltmore hotel, with frank Lloyd wright-like architecture, lovely gardens and a way cool pool.
Filed under Des Moines, Phoenix, Uncategorized
Long day at union station…trying to get train from Chicago to Milwaukee
My amtrak train from Chicago to Milwaukee has been delayed 2.5 hours so far. Mechanical problems. hope snow here and there doesn’t further complicate matters. I may have to buy some Girl Scout cookies from the traveling sales kids for lunch. Argh
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Cozy cafe chain not so bad for breakfast at least…
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As fate would have it, I happened to eat for the first time at a Cozy Cafe in the Des Moines area (the original one, in Clive) one day before the DM Register pretty much panned it . The breakfast I had was pass-able. The service was very good (it was quiet on a cold Wednesday morning) and I was surprised by the hip cheerful decor.
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A plug for my aunt’s book of Antarctica photographs!
This from the Wall Street Journal:
Most travelers will never visit Antarctica—and even if they do, they likely won’t see it in this way. Artist Diane Tuft traveled there in 2012 on a National Science Foundation grant to document the effects of ozone depletion on Antarctica’s light. Her gorgeous results are collected in the new book “Gondwana: Images of an Ancient Land.” This is the natural world abstracted—snow sculpted by the wind, folding upon itself; shapes that might be boulders or grains of sediment, depending on where the photographer stood. Though they may feel fresh, many of Ms. Tuft’s shots capture eons-old formations, such as jewel-like air bubbles that were frozen into a lake thousands of years ago. $95, assouline.com
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Oklahoma joes thumbs up
We are breezing down two lane highway 156 towards Ellsworth Kansas on ChristMas eve. Nary another car or soul in sight. The fields are snowy, the sky is a sunless white-grey, the temperature is up to 25, who hoo! Better than the frigid sunny 9 degree weather that greeted us this morning in the icy parking lot of the Baymont Inn in Lawrence (where I slept fitfully on a too soft mattress.)
Oklahoma Joe’s BBQ was indeed in a gas station in Kansas City, Ks, which added to its street cred and quirky charm. (Pix below) The ribs and brisket were, as reported, excellent. On a Mpnday night, the line to order at the counter was long but moved fairly quickly and everyone was in a cheerful, pre-holiday mood. The ribs were meaty and moist, well seasoned, good sauce on the sweet side, akin to Gates. Also had good sides …spicy coleslaw, beans with chunks of beef in them, seasoned fries. We will be back!
This morning we had an excellent breakfast at Milton’s in Lawrence, stopped to get some goodies at the bakery Wheatfield’s (surprisingly delicious rugelah, a rustic rosemary bread, pecan raisin bread) then hit interstate 70 west. man this road is empty (although behind us somewhere are our kids in another car). This annual road trip to Wright, Kansas, this time of year, always feels like we are driving to the end of the earth.
The sky has just turned hazy and we are not sure if there is fog or blowing snow ahead.
Filed under DINING, Kansas, Kansas City, Kansas misc, Uncategorized
Snowy drive on I 80 through Illinois
so far we have seen two cars in the ditch along Interstate 80 heading east through Illinois from Iowa but the roads aren’t that bad and we have seen several plows. very foggy and wintery scene. wish I was in the country Peru rather than Peru Illinois.
Filed under Illinois, interstates, Uncategorized
Obligatory movie star sighting already accomplished and not yet in NYC
CAught sight of Naomi watts, Lieb Schreiber and their two tow headed boys looking about as harried as we did this morning in the Newark airport. Keeping it real! Our direct flight from Des Moines went without a hitch. For some reason, d and I were given “TSA preselect” status so we jumped the queue at security, didn’t even have to take off our shoes or take out our liquids. Woohoo. I am usually the person randomly selected for a pat down so nice change. So far so good traveling on thanksgiving day.
Filed under New York City, Uncategorized
Malibu, Topanga Canyon, glorious
It was about 80 degrees and sunny midday in Malibu where we had a perfect lunch at Malibu Seafood, a unassuming little shack on the side of busy Highway 101 overlooking The beach and Ocean. We had crispy fish and chips, grilled mahi mahi and soaked up the scene. fortune lay we arrived at 11:30 and got in and out quickly, placing our order then eating at an outdoor picnic table, feeling very lucky to suddenly have some Californians in the family to lure me back to Los Angeles after, um, at least 25 years. We drove about 10 miles north to a hidden gem of a beach my cousin Scott, who lives here, recommended that’s such a hidden gem I am reluctant to reveal its name. Okay, it’s Las Pescatores.
There was only one other car in the small dirt parking lot and when we walked through some brush we found below us a brilliant ocean cove with soft white sand, a few jagged boulders in a glistening Ocean and no one but us and way in the distance, a fisherman on some rocks. Odd that this year has found me unexpectedly on coastlines I haven’t visited in decades, Cape Cod last month and now Southern California. the beach today was more rugged, almost masculine compared to the Provincetown beaches, white rather than tan sand, jagged mountains rather than soft grassy dunes, wind whipped trees and lush vegetation rather than grasses and low bushes.
we drove back to the valley through Topanga Canyon which had the same hippie vibe I remembered from the 1980s. We stopped at a classic Topanga haunt, cafe mimosa. Perfect outing.
Filed under California, Los Angeles, Uncategorized
TakeBetsywithyou 