NOAH

What was I thinking? Seeing this overlong and ponderously righteous movie was like being back in religion class at St. Simon Grammar School.

Noah played fiercely by Russell Crowe was a real prick having convinced himself that he had received messages and a mandate direct from god (though that name is never used in the movie; instead The Creator is used.) that all of humankind was evil and the only innocents were animals. His job was to herd all the animals onto a boat (the ark) so they could be saved when the "creator" started a flood. After this job was done by Noah helped by his family (the adopted daughter was Emma Watson from the Harry Potter series and she was pretty good; the wife was Jennifer Connelly who acted her usual vapid martyr role; slowly caressing the cheeks of her husband and sons and smiling or crying a lot.), then they would die out with no children being born and i guess the world would spring back to life populated by a lot of reindeer and polluted by piles of dog shit.

However, the adopted daughter who supposedly was barren had that condition reversed by Noah's grandfather, Methuselah (Anthony Hopkins) so Noah let it be known that this was NOT part of the creator's plan so he would kill the babies if they were girls and naturally they were girls - twins.

There was no tension in the movie because you knew Noah would build the ark and that there was going to be a lot of water and the ark would be filled with animals and they would make it to land safely and Noah would not kill the babies. I guess at the last minute when Noah had the knife poised over them; the creator said "oh never mind; just fuckin' with ya".

Another thing that bothered me about the movie was the insertion of video game like battles between sci-fi terminator like stone monsters; also there was an endless battle between the king of the land who wanted to be on that ark  and Noah who shined in all his judgmental splendor proclaiming the unworthiness of this king and undeserving of a boat ticket.

I rated it a 4 and Bill gave it a 5.

JIM 'N NICK'S COMMUNITY BAR-B-Q - SMYRNA, GEORGIA

Smyrna is a suburb of Atlanta and where we are staying for 6 nights; gloriously settled in; a respite from a different motel per night; a temporary nesting. I like the breakfast buffet bars in motels (quality inn so far is our favorite; and everyone has biscuits and gravy) and the small lotions and soaps (the brand used in Big Bend was the best; an aloe and jojoba combo which smelled wonderful.) but i'm not fond of the moving in and out of the truck (which has developed a leak inside the canopy towards the cab end) or noisy arguing motel room neighbors. I think i'll get a pr. of earplugs because when we make our way from the Michigan and Chicago area back to Portland, we will be staying in a lot of motels. But that's not till July.

Anyway, we ate at this bar-b-q place which is close to the airbnb place we are renting and it was THE BEST baby back ribs we have ever had. The place was crowded and noisy but the service was fast and friendly. We shared half a rack and our 2 sides were potato salad and baked beans (unfortunately, they were out of the vegetable of the day which was green beans). The meat was so tender and literally fell off the bone and it was the only time i could completely clean that rib off and lay it back on my plate gleaming and shiny and devoid of any meat.

The beans were spicy and the potato salad good. They also bring to the table a basket of their famous cheese biscuits; oh mi god. full of butter and cheese and softness and everything else that is good. i didn't even need butter to put on them which is highly unusual.

tonight we are eating in - spaghetti and a salad. Its raining which is how we found out that the canopy is still leaking. We did a major duct tape job in Arkansas but obviously it wasn't adequate.

Ah, the perils of the road.

10+ VISIT WITH BOB AND MOIREA IN HOT SPRINGS, ARKANSAS

 In Garvan Gardens with Bob. It was a lovely sunny day with a cool breeze. The smell from these hyacinths was incredible. There were fields and fields of daffodils and jonquils plus the camelia bushes were all blooming. The tulips were just starting to open. It made my heart happy to see so many spring bulbs which i haven't seen since moving to the desert.

 Peacock in the gardens

this was the trail we did. All the trees were bare though there were a few tiny wildflowers.

Moirea unfortunately was sick throughout our stay however we still got a lot of visiting and talking time in and on Sunday she made a delicious crockpot pork dinner with fantastic bi-color corn on the cob which is one of my all time favorite vegetables.

Lots of laughs and family tales and funny stories from bob and bill's childhood and school days. The house is very comfortable and has a big deck looking out onto Lake Hamilton.

BIG BEND NATIONAL PARK - TEXAS

 At the end of the Lost Mine Trail; the supreme hike in the park. The switchbacks were remarkable; some of them cut through the granite on the side of the cliff.

 this is the view from the top

 On the ridge leading up to the top which was the definitive end as it plunged thousands of feet down to the Chisos Basin.

 at the top was henry and his dad and henry 'tested' continuously with admonitions from his dad continuously; "don't drop the jerky", "don't go so close to the edge", "don't disturb the people eating lunch" and then the final one "don't throw down that water canteen cuz i won't be able to catch it". well, Henry did of course so the water container fell and fell and fell and the dad tried to catch it and lost his balance and there was a silent rage (well, almost silent rage) response and the dad just walked off and left Henry who sulked and clambered on rocks and annoyed other dads. Quite a scene.

 This was our second hike and the day started out really cold and windy with no sun.

 However, we went all the way down to the Rio Grande and on a trail into Santa Elena Canyon.

 eventually we got sun and the wind died down and it was lovely. Nice to see all that green. this picture was taken close to our lunch spot.

End of the line as the cliffs came right down to the water. There were quite a few kayaks in the water and one canoe. On the other side of the river is Mexico.

RANDOM MUSINGS FROM ON THE ROAD

I went through a real emotional time during the last several weeks. I felt "homeless" and adrift; like i really didn't belong anyplace; i had nowhere to return to; unconnectedness. Cried more than i have in the previous 15 years. That seems to have left now.

I am slowly getting used to checking into new motel rooms and homes (whether its airbnb or a one night stop on the way to a longer stay destination). I'm certainly getting faster putting all my stuff away (books, writing tools, "beauty" and health aids, clothes, coffee fixin's, etc.) though the amount of stuff hasn't decreased yet.

When we were in Big Bend National Park, there was a lady at least my age who was eating an ice cream cone and i was telling her how delicious it looked and how i was waiting for after our first hike before i was going to get one because then i would "deserve" a cone. She said "at my age, i don't need an excuse". and that statement really hit home.

So now that is our mantra: I don't need an excuse!

I even wore white socks with sandals out in public. now alicia wouldn't be seen with me in that garb but we're not in Charlotte yet.

OH and the other thing that i'm becoming aware of is that i get nervous without some plans. during all our discussions about this trip, we wanted to make sure we left spans of time without reservations and without a destination; wandering times. To do or go somewhere that struck our fancy at the moment.

Weeeeeeellllllllll, that ain't workin'. We are not museum people or historical places or zoo folk or organized bus tour go-er's. so both of us like to be in big towns for libraries and book stores and lots of restaurant choices and movie theaters OR a place with lots of hiking opportunities.

So letting our journey be spontaneous and waking up in the morning and saying "where will we go today? where do you want to explore?" (in fact, just typing that is making me anxious) is not for us.

KATHIE AND GREG IN LAS CRUCES, NM

 We took a great hike with kathie and greg in the Tortugas - around A mountain. As you can see the weather was lovely.

Staying with my sister and her husband was a great rest. We were fed royally; awesome egg dish for the morning in addition to homemade cinnamon buns and ham scones. And that was just ONE meal.

 We saw the movie Non-stop which was pretty exciting and the Mexican train game resulted in a tie between the Aspell's and the Lennes's aka the Kingwoods.

And i got to look through the cooking magazines Kathie gets and i left with about 25 recipes for future meals.

thanks Kathie and Greg for a fantastic visit.

SEDONA HIKES

 amazingly we did ALL new trails in Sedona. we have been here so many times and have hiked so many trails that we didn't think there were any "untested" ones. But we found 'em.

 this picture was taken at our lunch spot after climbing up lots of slickrock ledges and up to a pass. We accidentally discovered this trail as we were wandering around Red Rocks State Park.

PINE CREEK CANYON - RED ROCKS AREA - LAS VEGAS, NEVADA

 This was our last hike in vegas and we continued to be pleasantly surprised at how great the hikes were, especially the ones we did in Valley of Fire. This hike was in the  Red Rocks Conservation area and we amazingly found parking at the trailhead. This is a busy busy place.

There were rock climbers on the huge cliff behind Bill. we have a really good telescope and were able to see them pretty clearly.

The trail drops down into the wash and then up Pine Creek Canyon until you get to a towering monolith called Mescalito and you can explore to the right or left of it down the side canyons. We went left; lots of boulder hopping and scrambling but we got to some lovely areas and the creek was running and there were waterfalls.

Afterwards we ate one of the best Italian meals EVER at Roma's restaurant. The bread was fantastic; a crisp crust and airy light inside. It was so good bill had 2 pieces and he usually only has a bite of one of my multiple slices!! Then we shared a Caesar salad and brachiola. The beef was very tender and the sauce was extraordinary. The rolls were stuffed with herbed bread and pine nuts and raisins.

Now these last 2 days are just deciding what stuff will go back in storage (now that the weather is warming up and its March) and starting to pack for our next leg of this wonderful journey. Sedona here we come!

THE HOBBIT IN DESPERATION

We hadn't seen a movie in 3 weeks and the day was turning out to be chilly and rainy and windy; an overall vegas gloom. So we saw the latest Hobbit movie which wasn't too bad. I'm a Harry Potter fan and have never had any interest in seeing the hobbitters prance around or the lord of the rings trilogy or is that the same thing?

but then again i've never been in Vegas before when its rainy and when the bore monster is starting to awaken.

The movie was 2 hours and 40 minutes. After what seemed like an interminable dragon fight i finally got up and roamed the halls and by the time i got back to my seat, it was in its last throes of a set-up for the next hobbit film hobble. but prior to my unknown end of the cinematic inning escape, it was quite entertaining. The story was about a group of little people trying to reclaim their homeland.

I am very much ready to move on. Since we are not situated close to the restaurants, bookstores, libraries, etc. that we like to frequent, getting out on the town is always a major undertaking. and Vegas itself is getting old. Wanna see new sights and sounds and people and areas. But that will have to wait as our next stop is Sedona to hike and we've been there probably 8 times. Slowly slowly we are heading east though and in 6 weeks we'll be with alicia!!!!!!!!