We Are Off - Across America!

Ghost Towns, Dust Devils, and Mirages

Friday, May 10, 2013 - We Leave California

We got up early, finished the necessary chores to close down the house...and drove the truck down with the last haul of last minute stuff to load aboard R Trailblazer.  By the time everything was stowed, the truck hooked to the fifth wheel, and we were rolling out of town it was 11:30 a.m. on Friday morning.  

Captain Russ at the Helm

35 miles an hour up hill...are you kidding?

Since we already live in the mountains, we started to climb up hill immediately...very slowly. at a whopping 35 miles an hour.....faster than a boat.....but this was going to be a long trip.

We passed over Donner Summit and dropped down into Nevada through Carson City and a short visit to see my Aunt Irene and her new home in South Carson, Nevada.   She has a lovely place which her daughters worked tirelessly to paint and fix up.  I hope she has many wonderful years in this home.  We enjoyed a nice visit then continued on our way back across into California  to the outskirts of Bodie. 

Bodie is a Ghost Town and a California state park.  My cousin Denise, Aunt Irene's middle daughter, works in the museum there.

Russ and I can't count the number of times we have headed down 395 on our way to either Vegas or Mammoth Ski Area and never stopped here before.  Of course we were always traveling in the winter and the area is closed during that time of the year.  Nevertheless, a visit to Bodie has long been on our list of places to visit, and this is the perfect time of year.  Everything is still green, skies are blue, snow still caps the mountains, and the clouds are amazing.

With R Trailblazer following closely behind us, we turned off the main road and started the climb up to Bodie.  Denise told us that the first 10 miles were paved and that we could find a nice pull out to park for the night on BLM land, 6 or 7 miles up the road.  From there we needed to disconnect as the last 8 miles was unpaved and really not suitable for a trailer.  

We dropped anchor (forward feet) on the high plateau and proceeded to enjoy a peaceful night in the high desert.....no anchor alarm or rolling seas.  But was there a squall coming? 

 Looked like it, but it didn't come our way.  We drifted off to sleep and woke to a fabulous morning.  

Saturday, May 11, 2013

The view from our galley window was breathtaking as we looked at the backside of the Sierra Mountains of South Lake Tahoe.

After breakfast, we disconnected R Trailblazer from the truck, and climbed the last 4 miles of paved road then headed the last segment on a bumpy dirt road to Bodie.

Up

R Trailblazer - So Many Places to See.  This is a Great First Stop

Bodie is nestled in a little valley. 

Once a booming gold mining town in 1880, the town took a hit during a stock market crash in 1881.    Major investors in Bodie pulled their funds, and the town dwindled.  It limped along until World War II when gold mining was not a high priority and was banned.  The mines closed and without this source of income, the people just up and left.

Walking through Bodie and peeking in the windows is eerie.

 The sudden disappearance of the people leaving their possessions behind gives the town its ghostly appearance.  It's vacant, but intact enough to let the imagination visualize how it might have once been.  

We enjoyed our morning with a little visit to the museum and visit with Denise before we headed back down the hill and continued on our way south out of California and into Nevada toward Las Vegas.

We reconnected R Trailblazer and continued down the mountain toward Las Vegas.  As we descended the mountain, our views of Mono Lake were surreal.  This inland lake is drying and is a beautiful blue against the snow capped mountains.  

Russ and I traveled all day through the Nevada desert marveling at the sage brush, dust devils, and mirages.  

Mirage...Looks like water on the roadway...Nope dry as a bone.

We bypassed hot and dry RV parks in Tonapah and continued to a town called Goldfield.  The RV park had basically closed, blown away, but there was a town park (big dirt lot)  with toilets that permitted overnight parking.....and so we did.  Turned out to be a good choice.

Sunday, May 12, 2013 - Mother's Day

Today is both a sad and happy day for me.  This is the first Mother's Day where I will not be seeing or talking with my own Mom.  I miss her and my morning is misty.  On the other hand, I am excited that we are on our way to see our daughter and I will get to spend Mother's Day with one of my children.  Just as we pull up to Abby and Neal's home in Las Vegas, our son Garyn calls so we have a three way conversation with both of our children wishing me Mother's Day at the same time.  Joy.  We will be in Las Vegas for a week, before moving on....where?  Not sure yet.  But we have a week to figure it out.

All is well with the Worrall Travel R's

Hello America! - Our New Land Yacht

Tuesday, April 30, 2013 Spring and Summer in North America

After nearly 4 years of cruising in the Pacific Ocean from San Francisco to Australia, the Worrall Travel R's are changing gears for a few months to do some land cruising on terra firm.

We know that for some of you who have been following our sea adventures, land cruising will seem a bit boring; for us too we fear.  But we are excited about taking to the road for a while.  I just bought a new Canon EOS Rebel T4i and am looking forward to capturing some great photos.  If you are inclined to do so, we invite you to continue following the blog.

We also purchased a new land yacht, 2007 Trailblazer 5th wheel,  and will be heading out of California next week to re-examine our own continent of North America.

Our tentative "sail" Trailblazing plan, is to leave California and head south into  Nevada, visiting the historic Ghost Town of Bodie, and then through Death Valley to Las Vegas to visit our daughter Abby and her husband Neal,

After that we will go wherever the trail leads, irrespective of the wind direction or sea state, until we get to the east coast of the US.  We will however continue to watch the weather for tornadoes and coastal hurricanes.    Once in Vermont where our son Garyn and his wife Jessica live, we will head north to Nova Scotia and back to California across the northern US and Canada back to Colfax by Fall of 2013, hopefully in time for the America Cup finals in San Francisco Bay.

If you are among the dozens of traveling acquaintances and friends we have made and think we will be coming through your neck of the woods or would like us to come your way, let us know.  We'd love to see you if we can manage it. You can email us @ our gmail acccount: WorrallTravelRs.

Winter and Spring of 2014

We are working on the bucket list.  Family health and finances permitting, our next three tentative adventures after our land cruising will be Antarctica (flying and adventure cruising), China, and Russia (via the trans China train) followed by a road trip from Finland (camper van) through Eastern Europe to Turkey.

Want to join us more than vicariously?  If you think you too would like to do this type of traveling, contact us and perhaps we can link up on an adventure.  Some of these adventures we will be organizing independently or contracting with a tour agency.

Thank you and our best regards to all of you who have followed us and cheered us on through our sailing adventures.  Who knows we could find ourselves on the water again.  The Med is still calling us as are those canal boats in France.  Cheers!

All is Well with the Worrall Travel R's

On our way home!

We are in Tokyo at airport, just about to board American Airlines 170 to LAX at 4:30 p.m. Mar 27. We will arrive today in LAX, Mar 27 about 10:30 am. We are going back in time. Travel East is so strange. Have a rental car waiting for us at Sacramento. Sooo, looking forward to sleeping in our own bed tonight! Hope to see all of you who are stateside in the near future.

All is Well with the Weary Worrall Travel Rs

Tiger's Nest

Saturday and Sunday, March 23-24, 2013

Day 7 and 8

Intrepid Itinerary:
Our trek to the Taktshang Monastery is a big highlight. The hike up to the viewing point on day 7 takes about one hour approx and the monastery that clings to the cliff face is awe-inspiring. Known as the 'Tiger's Nest Monastery', Taktsang is a sacred pilgrimage site where, legend has it, the great Tantric mystic, Padmasambhava, flew on the back of a tigress and brought the teachings of the Buddhist Dharma to Bhutan. The Monastery clings to a cliff soaring 900 metres above the valley floor. Taktsang was destroyed in a fire in 1998 but restoration works are now almost complete.

Day 7.

The iconic image of the Tiger's Nest Monastery was our draw to Bhutan. And on our trip, the best was saved for last. We started our upward trek from about the 8,000 ft elevation. Tiger's Nest is at 10,000 feet, and the tea house viewing is half way in between. Once the elevation of the teahouse is achieved, trekkers descend into a waterfall valley, cross over the river and re-ascend 1400 steps up to the monastery. Two thousand feet doesn't seem that much of a climb, but at this elevation it is.

The ascent is challenging in that it very steep and the air is thin and cold. Just a few feet forward, and I could feel my heart racing and the need to breathe more deeply and to cover my nose and mouth with a scarf to heat up my intake. We had a beautiful clear and crisp morning for our trek. I had prepared by wearing five layers of top clothing. Within 15 minutes of our cold start, I peeled off the top two layers, and unbuttoned the third, discarding ear warmers, gloves and neck scarf. I envied the people who were taking the equine taxi up the hill. I enjoy walking, but steep switch backs are not my favorite.

It took us about 1.5 hours to reach the viewing point. We had some refreshments and then could decide to stay here or continue on, first by climbing higher, then descending into a waterfall gorge and then backup to the monastery 1400 steps. Russ, my climb-every-mountain guy, chose to go ahead. I too might have considered the rest of the trek, but was informed by our guide, that the inside of the monastery was basically the same as all the others we had seen, and no cameras are allowed inside. Plus I am not on a pilgrimage with religious drive. Okay, I had enough excuses. I was content to stay at the tea house and enjoy the view from the opposite cliff. The sun was pleasantly warm, and a litter of frolicking healthy puppies kept me amused rolling around at my feet.

Russ returned about two hours later triumphant, in good shape, and had a few additional photos. Tiger's Nest is a beautiful monastery built on a cliff. Difficult to hike to with no roads, one can only imagine how difficult it was to build, the first time in the 7th century and within less r20 years ago after the first one burnt down.

In addition to viewing the monastery, we found one geocache at the tea house, and registered a "find" as well as a "did not find". Russ tried to get to the Lion Cave Tiger's Nest geocache, but our guide would not allow him to go up the steep stair path to the meditation cave, even though we assured him in advance that we did not want to enter the cave or disturb any meditations. The guides here keep a pretty tight rein on tourists. It is a confining feeling and one of the aspects of visiting Bhutan one must contend with.

Day 8 - Festival in Paro

Our visit to Bhutan and the festival was coincidental. Many tourists from around the world had come specifically for the festival, which is a time for the Bhutanese to celebrate and reconnect with the religious stories of their religion through traditional dancing. This year a new Warrior dance was introduced to honor those who fought in 2003 to help root out muslim tribes from India who were hiding out in the southern jungles of Bhutan.. Our guide grumbled that the people are traditional and that they don't like new non-religious things being introduced. The minute of silence for the warriors was completely ignored by everyone except the tourists who were being respectful guests.

The dancing was interesting and colorful, but a little slow and repetitive. Local spectators sitting in the mid-day sun without hats (considered disrespectful on Dzong grounds) didn't seem particularly riveted to the dancing. They tried to shelter the suns rays by wearing scarves or shawls over their heads. Our guide told us not to wear hats. He said if we saw others wearing hats, it would probably be okay, but if were approached by the Buddhist community police and asked to take off our hats, we were not to tell them who our guide was. He keeps a tight rein on his charges and is responsible for their misbehavior.

We saw few local people wearing hats, but most of the tourists wore some sort of hat and the police didn't seem particularly interested in enforcing the no hat dress code. Russ respectfully did not wear a hat. Instead he looked even less respectful wearing his long sleeve shirt over his head. I finally ditched the scarf and put on a visor leaving my head uncovered.

The performers were wearing hats. The jesters had long penises on their hats that they would playfully smack people. What is considered respectful and disrespectful here is confusing. There are many dichotomies in Bhutan. The Buddhist won't kill animals, but don't mind eating them. All of their butchered meat is imported. The Buddhists are peaceful and seek a peaceful way of life, but all the boys including some of the young monks on festival day seemed to be toting play guns and shooting one another. Boys with water pistols were shooting everyone. It was so warm, no one complained.

There was much visiting going on, and there was no applause or show of appreciation for the performers. I suppose in some respects it would be like applauding the choir at church.  It was interesting just watching the Bhutanese festival goers dressed in their finest for the festival, sitting in family groups and enjoying picnic lunches. They come armed with thermal pots of already cooked rice, vegetables and meat, and dig in with their hands. The royal dignitaries including the the queen mother sat in a shaded box area. I saw tea and coffee being served. There are no public restrooms or porta potties brought in for the spectators. If you have to go, you have to walk back to town or find a bush. There are no places to wash your hands either. Sanitation is not a high priority apparently.

The traditional parts of Bhutan are charming, but the growth of tourism and exposure to the world through visitors and internet is creating growing pains. The king wants to encourage tourism but keep the traditions. Finding a balance will be difficult.

Already the infrastructure of trash collection and sewage handling is not keeping up. The Bhutanese themselves are the worst offenders. Rural people who have lived remote, simple lives in the hills and have always used nature for toiletting, wash their hands in a stream, spitting red betel juice in the dirt, and tossing away bio degradable things on the ground, have moved into towns to seek tourist related jobs in guest houses, retail establishments, restaurants, etc.. Without knowing how to live in close confinement with others in a town, they continue to toilet outside, spit betel juice everywhere on sidewalks, and steps inside and outside of buildings, drop trash bio-dergradeable or not, everywhere. We have seen a lot of this in he South Pacific islands as well. You can take the boy out of the village, but not the village out of the boy.

Day 9-10 Travel Days Home to America via Bangkok, Tokyo, and Los Angeles.

We'll catch up with photos and some reflective pieces on the blog when we return, but until our next travel adventure, I'm giving myself and the blog a rest.

All is well with the Worrall Travel R's

It was a dark and stormy night...

Thursday and Friday, March 21and 22, 2013

Day 5 Gangte

 

We make the beautiful drive to Gangte (approx. 2-3 hrs) and visit the extensive 450-year-old Gangte Goemba. We also take the opportunity to explore the Phobjikha Valley region on a nature walk (approx 2 hours).

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The road to Gangte is basically a one lane road that winds and soars to a 10,000 foot pass.  Much of it is under widening construction and strewn with rubble from construction and landslides.  The inside cliffs were steep and the outside cliffs even steeper.  It was just better to trust our driver and not pay attention to how close our wheels were to the crumbling cliffs especially when making wide turns on the outside edges, wheels inches from the side and on collsion course with any oncoming vehicles.

We stopped for lunch in a little restaurant just before the summit.  There was a a consignment table at the restaurant for local handcrafts by yak farmers and villagers.  As we climbed higher in the mountains, it was getting colder and colder.  The increasing chill factor prompted my purchase of brightly colored Yathe yak wool jacket woven and made by a local.  Of course I didn't really need an excuse because I loved the jacket, but it is so special to buy it here.  I immediately wrapped my self in the jacket.

A few miles further up the road, we stopped at a 450 year old monastary. An old Bhutanese woman approached me pointing at the jacket with a grin and a gleam in her eye. I don't know what she was saying, but I think it was something like "I recognize this jacket..it was made from the back of my yak."

Later in the day, we took a lovely trek down the sides of a high mountain valley, studded with towering pines.  It felt very much like Sierra Valley.  The sky was darkening with clouds and the wind was blowing them down from the crests..  We passed through farm lands where people were hand chopping trees and milling beams and planks by hand.  There are only oxen plow trails to many of these mountainside farms, and the cows definitely have the right away.  

We arrived at the rustic guest house where we would spend  the night only minutes before the clouds opened up with a crash of thunder and a freezing sleet.  We were the only group here.  The guesthouse is only a few years old, but is quite rustic with only a wood burning stove in the dining room for heat.  We gathered around the stove and warmed ourselves with tea and coffee, and sweet biscuits.  The staff were very sweet and accommodating.

Our rooms were small, modest, and very cold. The little heater, single pane windows and lack of weather stripping did little to lessen  the chill.  When the electricity flickered off, those of us who were in our rooms getting settled, grabbed our books, ipads and kindles and returned to the dining room circling the stove.  We spent the late afternoon and early evening reading, eating, and chatting by candlelight as the storm continued.  The scene reminded me of Little House on the Prairie where the Ingalls family huddled around the stove in a blizzard.  

We talked with our guide about the beauty of the valley.  Our guide said he thought it would be a good idea to have mountain bike trails for tourists.  Bhutan is working hard to attract not only trekking tourists, but those who might have other recreational ideas.  We suggested the mountain bike trails could also be used for cross country skiing.  Yes, he thought that sounded good, but the roads are not very passable and treacherous during wintry snow season and the summer monsoon season.

When we were ready to retire, we were each given a hot water bottle filled from the kettle on the wood stove to warm up our beds.  Once we were in bed with our thermals, hot water bottles, and stacks of blankets, we didn't feel the chill at all.  It could rain or snow all night.  As I drifted to sleep though,  I couldn't stop myself from thinking that we would be back tracking down the same road we had snaked our way up, and what that might be like with snow and mud.  

Day 6 Paro

When we awoke, neither of us wanted to get out of our cozy bed nest, but we did.  The electricity had come  on during the night and our little heater had taken some of the chill out of the room.  The pine trees on the surrounding mountain sides were powdered with fresh snow.  We hurriedly dressed and went outside and down to the dining room where the wood stove was fired up and fresh pots of tea and coffee sat steaming away on top.  By 8:30, we had eaten an excellent breakfast of toast, fried eggs, fried potatoes (potatoes are the primary crop in this valley)' and lady finger bananas, and were on the road back to Paro where we had come from on our first day  in Bhutan.

It's a long slow trip, and the road is not as bad as I feared it would be, but is certainly still a challenged for our driver as he  negotiates the steep, sharp, mud slick roads in a long wheel based bus.  Everyone has been pretty quiet today, as we have each purposely either looked at the scenery or turned our back and avoided looking at the road and the rubbly steep cliffs looming up and down on either side of us.  The road is dry and untouched by rain and sleet in some places while other places are muddy and puddly.  It's been cloudy  and showery off and on throughout the day.

As we approach Paro the sun is peaking out a bit.  Tomorrow, we hike to Tiger's Nest Monastery. 

All is well with the Worrall Travel R's

Gross National Happiness Day

Punakah, Day 4

Today, March 20, 2013 - Gross National Happiness Day

It is the first day of spring and rather than the GNP, the Bhutanese have a GNH, Gross National Happiness Day.  Apparently, security from fear, security from want, and security from indignities is measured at 75%.  The people trust one another and have great faith in their benevolent monarchial democracy.

Here is our itinerary for today.

After breakfast on day 4 we take a picnic lunch and set off to visit the Khamsum Yueling Temple, north of Punakha. We walk for an hour through a beautiful pastoral setting to reach this hillside temple. This is also a lovely opportunity for some farmhouse visits and to have our lunch by the riverside. After lunch we visit Punakha Dzong (fortress), built in 1637 by Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal. This building was the second of Bhutan's dzongs and its creation was foretold by Guru Rimpoche. We explore the site and discover the story behind the tri-partitioned stairs.

 

Even today the monks of the central clergy, led by the Je Khanpo, still migrate from Thimphu to spend the six coldest months of the year at Punakha. The city is built at the confluence of the Mo Chhu (Mother River) and the Po Chhu (Father River) and is fertile enough to provide farmers with two rice crops a year.

We have had a lovely day trekking through the countryside and up the mountain to the Khamsum Yueling Temple.  It was a challenging uphill hike.  Can't say I am looking forward to the trekking part of the Tiger's Nest Monastary as it is even longer and more difficult.  This was some good practice.

The Punakha Dzong is beautifully impressive.  We loved it.  The town of Punakha looks as if iwe were in Switzerland or Austria.

All is Well with The Worrall Travel R's

Phallic Symbols

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Days 3 Punakha

 

 We drive from Thimphu to Punakha (approx. 3-4 hrs). After passing through the Honsho checkpoint, the road climbs up through maple and blue pine forests to the Dochu La Pass (3,100 m). Here, if the sky is clear, we catch spectacular views of the Bhutan Himalayas. According to Bhutanese myths, the area around the pass is holy and inhabited by a variety of spirits.

 

As we begin our descent from the pass, we can note the change in vegetation. Maples and pines give way to rhododendrons, cypress, hemlock and fir. Also prominent is the daphne, related to our laurel and used for paper-making. We will make stops along the way and stroll into the forests to identify the many regional plants.

 

Towards the evening we will visit the legendary Chimi Lhakhang, also known as the 'temple of the divine madman', after the Lama Drukpa Kunley who introduced a new way of Buddhist practice during his era and is associated with the phallic symbols used on Bhutanese houses as talismans.

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We checked out of our hotel at 10:00 a.m. and drove up the mountainside where a giant sitting Buddha (present sitting position) is being constructed., After three years it looks close to completion and is already attracting the devout and prayer flags.  It is one of the largest in the world.  To give you an idea of it's size, Russ is in the foreground of one of the photos we took and  he appears to be the size of one of the statue's fingernails.  On the inside of the big Buddha there will be 125,000 nested Buddhas.  It is clear enough here to catch some glimpses of snow capped mountains.

On Bhutan's single road from Thimpuh to Punakha, our small bus snaked up the mountains from 7,000 feet to 10,000 feet.  The road is narrow, windy, and being widened, so much of it is under construction, bumpy and dusty.  There is evidence of rock slides and there is regular seismic activity here.  

At the top of the pass where a Buddhist temple and 108 choetens - stupas, have been constructed.  The day is a bit overcast so we cannot see the mountain peaks of the Himalayas.  Nevertheless, the views are beautiful and serene.

Men and their penises - Roz's Rant!

We descend into a valley where we trek from one hillside across the valley and up the other side to the temple of the divine madman.  Bhutan's Buddhism has been influenced by By Lama Drukpa Kunley in the 14th century who believed he could subdue evil female demons with his penis..really a way to rationaliezeto womanize.  His legend continues and now phallic symbols adorn houses to keep evil spirits out.  

It is always amazing to me how men around the world have historically justified their sexual drive and uncontrolled passions to possess, subdue, and control women as a religious practice, then flaunt their appendages as bigger than life and divine.  While we are amused by some of the arts and handicrafts, I find this cultural message, that is still  a part of Bhutan today, disturbing. The alters have sculptures of this madman monk subduing the woman who is in the form of a demon.  

We are learning and listening to the stories and legends and wondering how the culture today incorporates all of this in their religious psyches.

All is Well with the Worrall Travel R's