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After we left Prescott we went back to California for a brief visit with Andy. He wanted to see a new exhibit at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco featuring Japanese tattoo art, so we went there with Andy and his friend, Heather. Tattoos were very common in Japan in past centuries and the artwork depicting them was spectacular. We ended the day with dinner at one of our favorite Oakland restaurants, Chop Bar. A few days later we celebrated our 45th wedding anniversary with lunch at Brix, one of our favorite Napa Valley restaurants. Brix has a large garden outside their patio and they harvest it regularly to provide fresh produce for the restaurant. Click on the first photo in each block to view the slideshow.

We left California and began the drive across country, taking our time to see some sights and stop to visit friends. We drove across Nevada and headed to Moab, Utah. There we took a twilight boat cruise on the Colorado River to view some of the beautiful red rock scenery. The next day we explored Arches National Park, with its striking red rocks and plentiful arches.

We spent a day in Mesa Verde National Park in southwestern Colorado, one of the best preserved Native American ruins in the US. Many spectacular ruins are visible along the cliffs in the park. Mesa Verde was inhabited from about 600 to 1300, after which most of the residents migrated to form the present-day pueblo communities in New Mexico.

We spent another day exploring the mountains north of Durango, Colorado, including the old mining towns of Silverton and Ouray. This area was a thriving silver mining region around the turn of the last century. Towns that once had thousands of people now have only a few hundred, and cater mostly to tourists. The mountain scenery is stunning.

After a week and a half on the road we reached our first destination, Albuquerque, New Mexico. We were there to house sit and cat sit for our friends, Norm and Emilee, while they ventured off to Europe for a few weeks. We had been there before so we were looking forward to seeing Mai-Mai and Rocio again. We had a mostly quiet and leisurely stay, enjoying walks along the Rio Grande most mornings, while it was still cool. We made a few local day trips, as well, including a day in Santa Fe for Carrie’s birthday. We also enjoyed the New Mexico State Fair and the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center in Albuquerque.

After we left Albuquerque we drove to Nashville, Tennessee, to visit our friend, Kashena. We hadn’t seen her in over six years so it was a treat to have brunch with her and catch up on things. While in Nashville we visited the Hermitage, Andrew Jackson’s home and estate. We toured his home and spent time in the adjacent museum to learn about his life and his influence on a young United States. We also took a drive through downtown Nashville, “Music City.”

We continued east to visit our friends Chris and Reed and to attend the annual World of Bluegrass, a week-long festival of bluegrass music always held in Raleigh, North Carolina. On the weekend Raleigh’s main street is closed down for about 12 blocks and bands perform on multiple outdoor stages. We also had the opportunity to tour the Plant Delights Nursery, a beautiful garden that is being donated to NC State University to be part of their arboretum. Finally, we got to see the finished Navajo rug which Chris and Reed had purchased partially completed off the loom when they visited us in Prescott!

After Raleigh we made the short drive to Charlottesville, Virginia, to visit our old friends Betty, Susie, and Michael. While there we toured the beautiful campus of the University of Virginia, founded by Thomas Jefferson 200 years ago. We also spent most of a day touring Monticello, Thomas Jefferson’s home and estate. We toured the home and gardens and learned a great deal about Jefferson’s years at Monticello and about the enslaved people who made the place run.

After Charlottesville we headed toward our next apartment in Maryland which would serve as our home base for exploring Washington, Baltimore, and Annapolis, the subject of a subsequent blog post. But first we made a stop at the Fredericksburg Battlefield in Virginia, the site of a major Civil War battle in December 1862. Lincoln was planning to emancipate the enslaved people on January 1 and he wanted a Union victory to pave the way. But the Confederate military strategy was superior and they drove back the Union forces. The Fredericksburg area was the site of several battles over the next two years, making it one of the most contested places in the Confederacy.

We spent a leisurely and mostly uneventful summer in Prescott, Arizona. Carrie volunteered at the Yavapai Humane Society, socializing the cats that are up for adoption. The cats spend their days in cages so it is good for them to have someone to take them out and play with them. Carrie loves cats so it was the perfect activity for her. In critter news closer to home, we had a family of four young skunks in our yard for a couple of weeks. They would come out at dusk and forage around in the backyard. They were cute and fun to watch but we kept our distance. Finally, our neighbor down the hill puts out food for the javelinas so it was fun watching them. They seem to be rather docile creatures, except when they begin fighting among themselves over food. Click on the first photo in each block to view the slideshow.

Walt came to visit for a week in July so we visited several of the local attractions. Tuzigoot National Monument is one of the best preserved Native American ruins in the region, inhabited around a thousand years ago. The nearby Verde River provided a consistent water supply as well as arable land in the river valley. Tuzigoot was one of many pueblo communities in the valley region. Today, visitors can walk among the ruins, situated on a hilltop with sweeping views of the river valley and the surrounding mountains.

The Smoki Museum is a small museum in Prescott, and it houses one of the most impressive collections of Southwestern Native American pots and baskets. We spent a couple of hours admiring the collection.

A new museum in Prescott honors the Granite Mountain Hotshots, a crew of 19 young firefighters who died tragically when a fast-moving wildfire overcame them on June 30, 2013. We visited this memorial museum with Walt. It has information about the fire itself as well as about each of the men who served on the crew. It is a sad tribute but we appreciated the opportunity to honor the men who died.

Our friends Chris and Reed came to visit for a weekend in early August, and the highlight of the weekend was a visit to the Navajo Festival at the Museum of Northern Arizona in Flagstaff. Many Navajo artists displayed their beautiful works for sale. Carrie bought a pair of silver earrings from a young silver artist named Sage, who was there with his grandfather. Sage is 21 years old and he has been learning metal work from his grandfather since he was a small boy. Sage is determined to pass the Navajo craft on to future generations. Chris and Reed purchased a Navajo rug that was still being woven by the artist, Vivian, who was demonstrating her skill at the museum. The rug will be finished in a couple of weeks and then will be shipped to Chris and Reed. Lunch was fry bread, lamb, and Navajo tacos from a food vendor set up outside. Yum!

We have been in Prescott, Arizona, for the past six weeks, enjoying the perfect summer weather in Arizona’s mile-high country. We have rented a fabulous little house in the hills just west of town. We can’t see any houses around us so we feel wonderfully isolated, yet we can be in the middle of town in about ten minutes. We bought a little bird feeder so we see lots of birds every day, along with chipmunks, lizards, deer, coyote, and even a family of four javelina that wanders nearby occasionally. On the downside, there is also a resident skunk, as well as a rat that lived in the house for a while (thanks to a rat trap she is no longer with us).

Prescott is an historic city, rather old by southwestern standards. It was formed in 1864 and served as Arizona’s territorial capital for a short while. The old downtown core is centered around the Yavapai County courthouse, and many of the buildings were built around 1900 or earlier. The western block of the courthouse square is called “Whiskey Row” because it consisted entirely of saloons back in Prescott’s rowdier days. Prescott is pronounced “Prezkit” for reasons probably known only to the locals. Click on the first photo in each block to view the slideshow.

We like to take a long walk almost every morning. Sometimes we like to walk in Prescott’s old residential neighborhoods. The old houses, many from the turn of the last century, remind us of our old neighborhood in Woodland. On other days we walk in the open areas beyond the edge of town. Prescott is a rather small city so it is easy to get out of town quickly.

Some friends came to visit so we did some touring of the area. On a day trip we began with a visit to Sedona, an artists’ colony situated in a beautiful red rock valley. We visited the Chapel of the Holy Cross, located on a hillside with a great view of Sedona. Then we headed up to Jerome for lunch and some exploring. Jerome was an old mining town built on the side of a hill. The mines closed almost a hundred years ago and now Jerome is principally an artists’ colony.

We took a day trip to Montezuma Castle National Monument, one of the best-preserved Native American ruins in the Southwest. It was inhabited around a thousand years ago but everyone left around 1300 for reasons that are not understood. You can’t go into the ruins but you can view them from the trail below. We took our binoculars for a better look.

On another day trip we went to Arcosanti, about halfway between Prescott and Phoenix. Arcosanti was started in the 1970s by architect Paolo Solari as an experimental urban community, designed to minimize environmental impact. It still exists as a learning center for architects and artists. Arcosanti still produces the bronze and clay wind chime bells that were a trademark of Solari’s design.

A highlight of a quick trip to Phoenix was a visit to the Heard Museum, housing arguably the world’s finest collection of Southwestern Native American art. Charlie especially enjoyed seeing a piece by noted Hopi potter Al Qoyawayma. Before becoming a professional artist Al was an engineer and he worked with Charlie on an air quality project in Arizona back in the 1980s.

Prescott is home to the world’s oldest rodeo, begun in 1888. The rodeo is held every day for a week, surrounding July 4th. We are not rodeo fans but we attended one evening just for fun. It was an interesting evening and it provided a glimpse into a fascinating subculture. The rodeo people travel around to these events year-round, living in RV’s (sometimes just tents) and bringing their horse trailers with them. During rodeo week the rodeo grounds, not far from our house, was transformed from an empty dirt lot to a campground full of both people and horses.

After we returned from Scotland we spent the month of April in Albuquerque, New Mexico, housesitting and catsitting for friends who were out of town. Carrie misses her cats so it was a pleasure to be around a couple of cats for a month. Mai-Mai is a very friendly little cat and she warmed up to us immediately, spending a lot of time sitting on Carrie’s lap. Rocio is more reserved but by the end of the month she allowed us to pet her a bit. Andy came to visit for a few days early in the month and we celebrated Charlie’s birthday together. Click on the first photo in each gallery to see the slide show.

One of Andy’s high school friends, Spring, moved to Albuquerque shortly after they graduated almost 20 years ago. We spent a day with Spring and her family and we all went up to Sandia Crest, at the top of the mountain just to the east of Albuquerque. It was cold on the mountain and there was still some snow on the ground. We ended the day at a local brewpub where we had good beer and Mexican food from a food truck.

We are all fans of the Breaking Bad TV show, which was filmed in Albuquerque. We took a three hour bus tour of many of the filming locations around town. Albuquerque has become an active center for on-location filming, due in part to tax incentives that the state has provided.

Petroglyph National Monument is on the west side of Albuquerque, about a 15 minute drive from our house. We made several visits to see the petroglyphs and to hike around the desert terrain. The monument consists of a large expanse of volcanic rock which was ideal for etching petroglyphs into the rock surface. Native Americans created the petroglyphs dating back many centuries. The Albuquerque suburbs are creeping into the area so it is fortunate that the National Park Service was able to preserve this land and protect the petroglyphs from destruction.

We took a day trip to Acoma Pueblo, an hour drive west of Albuquerque. The pueblo is built on the top of a mesa and it is the oldest continuously inhabited community in North America, dating back to 1150 A.D. The pueblo can be visited only by guided tours, so we took a 90 minute tour up to the top of the mesa to look around. Many aspects of the pueblo are as they have always been. For example, there is no electricity and no running water. But cars parked on the village roads show accommodations to 21st century life. Many of the residents make pottery and jewelry, and they had it on display throughout the pueblo for purchase. Each pueblo in New Mexico has a distinctive pottery style, and the Acoma style is especially beautiful, featuring a rusty brown color.

The Rio Grande runs through Albuquerque and we enjoyed daily walks through el bosque (the forest) that covers the extensive floodplain. Albuquerque has preserved most of el bosque as public parkland, partly for the residents’ enjoyment and partly because it occasionally floods and thus is unsuitable for houses. The people of Albuquerque use the parks a lot and so did we. The river was near its high springtime flow (in an especially wet year) so the water was high and some of the trails nearest the river were flooded. We saw lots of water birds on our walks, mostly geese and ducks.

We left Albuquerque with just enough time to drive back to Oakland for Mother’s Day with Andy. We began with brunch at Belcampo in Jack London Square. After we ate we walked around the farmers’ market for a while and then we drove up to Albany, a few miles north along the East Bay. Andy is a civil engineer and he has been working on a project to reconstruct the trail system on the Albany Bulb, a man-made peninsula that juts out into the bay. We walked along some of the trails and Andy showed us some of the ongoing construction. Seeing Andy’s accomplishments was a great treat for Mother’s Day.

We took several day trips to explore sights in the Edinburgh region. Scotland has an excellent rail system so it is possible to go almost anywhere by train and the trains are frequent, often several per hour.

We took one day trip to Linlithgow Palace, situated between Edinburgh and Glasgow. This old palace was the birthplace of Mary Queen of Scots in 1542. It was a favorite of royalty due to its beautiful setting above a lake and due to its central location between Edinburgh and Stirling Castles. Linlithgow Palace is now an abandoned ruin, not having been restored. Nevertheless, it was interesting to explore the remains of the old building and to imagine what it was like in its day.

On another day we took the train up the coast to Dundee, one of Scotland’s major cities and a major trading port for centuries. Our goal was to visit the new Victoria and Albert Museum, just opened about six months ago. We had hoped to visit the old V&A in London but we didn’t get around to it, so we wanted to be sure to see the new V&A in Dundee. It is housed in a striking new building on the riverfront, and the design of the building mimics the shape of a ship to honor Dundee’s shipping history. The V&A is devoted to design so it was interesting to see how Scottish design has influenced everything from fashion to architecture. We were especially surprised to learn that Dundee has long been a center of video game design, dating back to the early gaming days of the 1980s. An exhibit on video games is due to open in April but we were too early for that.

Another day trip took us to New Lanark, a restored 18th century cotton mill town on the River Clyde, upstream from Glasgow. The mill operated on water power from the Falls of Clyde, a set of waterfalls and cascades at this hilly location. The entire village has been restored as a World Heritage Site and no visible signs of modern conveniences are allowed, such as overhead electrical wires or satellite dishes. We toured all of the parts of the village, including the mill (which now spins wool), the workers’ housing, the company store, and the school for the children. The owner, Robert Owen, was very progressive and he treated his employees well (unusual at that time) so consequently his mill was very productive and it prospered for many years. During our visit, there was an interesting display of tapestries illustrating the stories of the Scottish diaspora. We especially liked those from Canada and the U.S. as we were familiar with many of the places and events displayed. Finally, there was a gift shop at New Lanark so we had to buy some yarn from the mill!

One day during the Edinburgh Yarn Festival Charlie set off on his own to explore Stirling Castle. This castle, dating from the 12th century, is in a strategic location overlooking what was, until the 1890s, the farthest downstream crossing of the River Forth, effectively separating the Highlands from the Lowlands of Scotland. Stirling Castle sits high on a volcanic crag much like Edinburgh Castle, but Stirling has a more bucolic (perhaps more authentic) feel because the area is still largely rural. The restoration of Stirling Castle is interesting in that the Great Hall has been painted its original gold color, used both to protect the stonework and to provide a magnificent tribute to the king and the royal family. Most of the old castles that we see today are now gray and drab, but in fact some buildings, statues, and fountains were brightly painted in their day.

A highlight of our stay in Edinburgh was the Edinburgh Yarn Festival, a four day event featuring some of the best wool in Europe and beyond. The festival has only existed for seven years but it has rapidly become one of the biggest yarn and knitting events in Europe. There were lots of vendors as well as informative displays, plus a huge room with tables for people to sit and knit and to compare fabrics and designs. The festival is held at the Edinburgh Corn Exchange, a century-old building that was actually used as a grain market at one time.

Carrie attended all four days whereas Charlie attended the first and last days. We also attended a “knit night” dinner a couple of nights at the Akva Swedish beer garden near the University of Edinburgh.

We wandered around Edinburgh on some days and explored some of the sights in this wonderful old city. One day we took the bus to the west side of the city and explored Donaldson’s School. Charlie had spied this ornate old building from the trolley and wondered what it was. After some research we discovered that it is the former Donaldson’s School for the Deaf, built in 1851. The school building was closed in 2003 and the school was moved to a newer building. The old building was put up for sale and it is now being renovated into luxury condominiums, ranging from a studio apartment option for £250,000 to a 3 bedroom apartment for £1,695,000. A new adjacent section has also been built, incorporating the crescent style that is common in Edinburgh’s established neighborhoods. These new condos range from £950,000 -​ £1,925,000. We went on a Sunday afternoon when the realtors were holding an open house, so we were able to get a glimpse of the new condos. (Click on the links in the paragraph to view the stunning model home interiors!)

On another day we walked around Princes Street Gardens, the site of the old lake below the castle and for the past two centuries repurposed as an urban public park. The main Edinburgh shopping district is adjacent on Princes Street, and it includes the famous old Jenners Department Store, established in 1838. Nearby we toured the Georgian House in Edinburgh’s New Town, an area that was developed beginning in the mid-18th century as a new residential neighborhood for the city’s wealthy. One of the finest old Georgian homes has been preserved and maintained in the style of that period. It was interesting to see the grandeur of the period and to learn about the strict protocols that governed social interactions among the wealthy. Everything from the style of dress to the food served at dinner parties had to live up to the exacting standards of the wealthy class.

On one nice spring day we visited the Royal Botanic Garden. Edinburgh has maintained this green urban park in its current location since 1820, moving at that time from a location near Holyrood Palace that had been in place since 1670. The garden hosts an impressive array of plant species, many of which were beginning to bloom for the springtime. We also saw a special exhibit of tapestries in one of the garden’s buildings.

We took a day trip north from Edinburgh to get a glimpse of the Scottish Highlands. Scotland’s topography is rather distinctly divided between the Highlands to the north and the Lowlands to the south. Most of the population lies in the Lowlands, with its accessible harbors and relatively flat land for farming. The Highlands region is more rural and features beautiful rugged terrain.

We began with a stop at Dunkeld, a small town at the gateway to the Highlands with a beautiful old cathedral. Nearby we stopped at The Hermitage, a National Forest park featuring spectacular Black Linn Falls on the River Braan. We had lunch in Pitlochry, the northernmost spot in our day. After lunch we stopped at Loch Tummel and Loch Tay, two of many beautiful lakes in the Highlands.

Our final stop of the day was the Dewar’s whisky distillery in Aberfeldy. We don’t know much about whisky so we thought it would be fun to take a distillery tour and learn a bit. The visit began with a taste of Scotch whisky, followed by a tour of the distillery. It was interesting to see this old facility and to get a glimpse into the history of whisky in Scotland and its importance to the Scottish culture.

Everyone who visits Edinburgh wants to see Edinburgh Castle and so did we. The castle sits high upon a volcanic crag overlooking the city. It has been there for hundreds of years and its elevated location at the top of steep cliffs provided a superb defensive position against attack. We spent several hours taking an audio tour of the castle.

The old city spread downhill from the castle. Today the road down from the castle is called the Royal Mile and it provides a number of interesting historic sites, including small alleyways that lead to secluded courtyards. The contemporary Royal Mile is also cluttered with schlocky tourist shops, so if you want to buy a knockoff kilt, a tartan scarf, or a box of fudge it’s the place to go. We strolled down the Royal Mile and had lunch at one of the pubs, The World’s End.

At the foot of the Royal Mile sits the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the principal residence of the Kings and Queens of Scots since the 16th century. The royal family often preferred spending time at bucolic Holyrood rather than at windy, crowded, and smelly Edinburgh Castle. Today, Holyrood serves as the home of Queen Elizabeth II when she visits Edinburgh, typically for a week in early summer each year. We toured this magnificent palace as well as the adjacent ruins of the old abbey.

Scotland has two major cities – Edinburgh and Glasgow. They are only about 45 miles apart, about an hour by train. The trains run several times an hour so it’s almost like catching the subway. We took a day trip to Glasgow to see what it’s like. Once we arrived we took a hop on/hop off bus tour so we could get an overview of the city in a couple of hours. Some of the photos below were taken through the rain-splattered bus window. Once our tour was complete the rain had stopped so we walked around downtown and had lunch in an Italian restaurant.

Edinburgh has a reputation as the political and cultural center of Scotland whereas Glasgow is considered the industrial hub. For many years Glasgow was considered gritty and dirty, the center for shipbuilding and other heavy industry. A century ago Glasgow had over a million people, twice the size of today. But in the mid-20th century much of the industry dried up. Today the riverfront is undergoing modern revitalization and many of the grand old buildings remain. Many of the older sections of the city have beautiful architecture.

The Glasgow accent is considered one of the most difficult Scottish accents to understand, and we experienced it first hand. While walking downtown we passed some British communists handing out literature. A nearby older Scottish woman waved her hand in disgust and began telling us that she wishes British politics would just go away. We could barely understand her. It was almost as though she was speaking a language other than English.

Glasgow and Edinburgh have a strong civic rivalry. It is said in Glasgow that the only good thing to ever come out of Edinburgh is the train to Glasgow.