As our camp host position in AZ wound down, and my eyes were healing from cataract surgery, Mike and I had many discussions about where we would go for the summer. When we left MI last September, we were pretty sure we’d return to Michigan for a seasonal spot in Fremont. Now, after spending nearly 6 months in one general location, we had a hard time thinking about being stationary for another long period of time. We also felt that there were other things that the kids should experience while we were still in the West.

We sat down with the kids and asked them what things they wanted to see/do/experience. Surfing lessons topped their list (we took care of that one last week). A visit with Grandparents and meeting more traveling families (we did) also made their lists. Mike and I shared with the kids that we’d like to attend a conference-type thing with them—something to challenge them to see a bigger picture of the world.

Last weekend we did attend a conference-type thing: Tedx at UCSD. The topic: Innovation & Tradition. The speakers and their topics were all quite interesting.

I’ve misplaced my event booklet, but Storybird offered to share her’s with me. Here are some of the key words storybird wrote down in her book (and my comments).

• Curiosity (as in, we all seem to have lost our sense of it and we need to find it again)
• “I shake the colored person’s hand before you.” (A white woman’s world view changed when an African man said this about her)
• Incredible research going into new cancer therapies!
• The idea that, in the not too distant future, each person’s nutritional needs could be taken care of by food printed out on a 3D printer
• Science is a story.
• Biology can be funny—PhD turns from lab work to comedy
• Design by analog, by drawing upon their physical traditions
• Khan Academy lite
• Very interesting (tattoo electronics for neurological monitoring)
• Rarely is the first idea the best one. Failure > Innovation > Success
• On demand drug delivery research, with a side effect useful in liposuction procedures
• Using green algae to study gene function
• Scientists are normal people. Science is storytelling.
• Text messaging and email are a kind of code.
• Digital health (I so would have liked for this speaker to be a little more specific in her definition of digital health, because I liked where she was going with her talk)
• Can games save lives? Vaccines can. Tracking vaccines like travel bugs in geocaching
• E.D.A.R., Starlight, Starbright, First Star.org, Aspire (All organizations this speaker has helped start and participates in today—the kids were really interested in his work)

In addition to all of the information and “stories” we heard from the above speakers, we had the privilege of hearing Keynote speaker, Guy Kawasaki. His talk was titled “Twelve Things I Learned from Steve Jobs.” Storybird took notes and captured all of his points. I’m going to put them in here for our personal benefit.

1. “Experts” are clueless.
2. Customers cannot tell yu what they want/need.
3. The action is on the next curve.
4. Biggest challenges beget the biggest goals.
5. Use big graphics and big fonts.
6. Changing your mind is a sign of intelligence.
7. Value is not equal to price.
8. “A” players hire “A” players.
9. Real CEOs demo.
10. Real entrepreneurs ship.
11. Marketing = Unique value.
12. BONUS: Some things need to be believed to be seen.

It was a very full day, and I think we all took something away from the event. I’m looking forward to another Tedx event that we’ll all be attending in September (all of our entries were accepted): Tedx Macatawa (in Holland).

Tedx UCSD

Event booklet and a much needed cuppa

Anticipating the first speaker

Beautiful day for a picnic (boxed) lunch

What do you do in southern California? You go surfing, of course!

We’d listened to too many Beach Boys songs to not try surfing. I must admit, I was slightly nervous. What if I hit my head on the board, knocked myself out, and drowned? Ok, maybe I wasn’t worried about that. Maybe. But I was excited.

We got there early. Since Boyink, Storybird, and I were the only ones signed up for that one time, we pretty much started when we got there. It took me almost 5 minutes to get the wetsuit on. They are really, really tight! I thought I had lost circulation a short time after putting it on. After we had suited up, we walked down to the beach. Our instructor, Richie, walked us through all the steps needed to get from paddling to standing. It seemed like the instructions took forever. We finally hit the water. I was the first one out. Richie got us started with the waves, so no need to launch ourselves. He launched me, and I actually stood and rode my first wave. It was incredible.

The other two didn’t get so lucky. Storybird couldn’t seem to be able to stand at all. It took a while, but she finally got up. Boyink took a couple tries, and he was riding the waves himself. We kept surfing until we were exhausted. Storybird almost fell asleep on her feet on the way back to the truck.

I absolutely loved surfing. I almost wonder if I’m a southern Californian by heart. I am coming back here again to surf, no matter who’s with me. I can’t wait to hit the waves again.

Editors note: We attended the Eli Howard Surf School at San Elijo State Beach and paid $65 each / $195 total for a two-hour lesson. We stayed at the nearby Del-Mar fairgrounds since the state parks were expensive and booked.

Storybird's up!

We went to the Eli Howard Surf School at the San Elijo State Park

The storybook surfer's life living in an Airstream

Who needs a building to have a living room?

Artistic shot

Wetsuits take forever!

Lessons

The Stance

Ready to hit the water

Ready?

Riding the Wave

Still upright!

Coasting it in

Surfing

Surfing

Surfing

Surfing

Storybird re-enters the water to try again

Storybird lauched

Finally!

Happy with her success

After surfing

Rinsing off

Rinsing off

Even longer to take off

This entry also has a video which can be viewed at Boyinks4Adventure.com | Our Travels | Surfin’ Safari ]]> California 2013-05-17T16:35:12+00:00 http://boyinks4adventure.com/our-travels/meeting-the-trips-take-21/ http://boyinks4adventure.com/our-travels/meeting-the-trips-take-21/#When:16:23:18Z

We met the Trips the first time in Usery Mountain Regional Park where we camp hosted for a long time. After that first meeting, we have been wanting to get together with them again. Finally, we have.

We met up at Cabrillo National Monument. Harrison and Gary walked together, sometimes behind our group, sometimes in front, but never in the middle, I noticed. I walked in the middle with Kimberly and Becka, the two girls, beside the moms and my dad. At some point, we made our way through so we could walk three abreast on the path and not bump shoulders with our moms.

We entered a lighthouse, where Kimberly immediately lifted her camera and started snapping pictures of anything that came into focus. Everyone took turns climbing the curly-q steps. A couple of us would be on the ground level, another of us would be on the second level, two of us would be trying to get through the grate at the top of the stairs, while the people in our group not stationary were dancing up and down the steps.

Harrison, Gary, and I were the last kids out of the lighthouse. Harrison was at the top of the stairs, beside me, and Gary was looking up at us from the bottom.
“I’m going to throw my hat down!” said Harrison, taking off his Tiger’s hat.

“I’ll catch it,” replied Gary, holding out his hands from below.

The hat flew down, and Gary caught it. Harrison was already descending the steps, but I was still at the top.

“Throw it back up!” I shouted down to Gary. He tossed the cap, and I touched it, but didn’t grab it. Harrison, from the middle level, made a daring reach over and snatched his hat, and then put it safely back where it belonged - on his head.

We explored down by the ocean. I awed the girls by skipping rocks over the water, and then tossed round rocks to Harrison and Gary, who were each trying to throw farther than the other. Harrison, with his left field arm, always won.

Us teens peered into the tide pools that were still left, even though the tide was in. Harrison and I got ‘kissed’ by the anemone when we brushed our fingers against the plants in the tide pools. Gary was on a search from crabs, his all-time favorite find. He also found a sea snail, which he held in his hand for Kimberly to snap a picture of.

Done with this section of the ocean, our parents tailed us as we ran down the path. I walked with the girls, but kept an eye on the boys, in case they found something interesting that I might want to join their explorations in. Sure enough, they did. I followed Harrison as Harrison followed Gary down a man-made path. Everyone else chose to watch as we slid down a ledge and found more tide pools. There were a lot of crabs for Gary to satisfy himself with. Harrison and I stood and laughed as he tried to catch them without getting clawed.

We went to Hodad’s for lunch. We crossed a certain BACON St. to get there. Hmmmm…. bacon…... BACON….. bacon….. where was I? Hodad’s! Oh yes! While waiting for our food (which included BACON I will add. No, conscious, you may not go off into a swirling void, dreaming about a certain kind of meat. You’re supposed to be helping me write a post here!) I taught Becka and Kimberly Blink, a game I hadn’t had enough time to teach them the first time we met. They are the fastest players of anybody I have ever taught, of which I was glad, because winning over and over and over gets boring after a little while. Then we got our bac - no, they were just burgers, just burgers with a pleasant taste I will not care to describe the cause of here.

We moseyed out of Hodad’s. Harrison tried taking a picture of _ _ _ _ _ St., but wasn’t tall enough, so Gary took it for him. Then we raced down to a different section of the public beach to get our feet wet. Upon returning back, we happened to notice that our time together was about up.

“Why can’t we play together at the park?” we asked the grown-ups, pleading with perfect puppy-dog eyes. Our imitations worked, and we followed the Trips to the park that was across from their campground. Harrison scrabbled to get the frisbee from underneath his seat, so we could play with the Trips. Although they weren’t as good as Harrison and I were used to, having played with only each other for a couple years, we scratched out a game of Ultimate Frisbee. Harrison’s team always won, with him being so good and so tall and so jumpy. Which means I always lost, because we decided it wouldn’t be fair to have both of us on the same team. But it was a really fun and laughable time, which is good, because that was what we aimed for.

Back at the cars, while the grown-ups quickly finished up their bits of talk, Harrison played his newest song, ‘Leaving Tomorrow’ for the Trips, who politely clapped at the end.

And perhaps another day, at another time, we can see and play with them again.

Getting Reacquainted

Posing for the camera

Checking out the view

San Diego

Cabrillo National Monument

Lighthouse window

Lighthouse lamp

Lighthouse

Pacific Ocean

Tidepooling, though the tide was in

Moms chatting

Storybird balancing on and skipping rocks

Cabrillo Monument seaside

Walking along the seaside

Cabrillo Monument seaside

Cabrillo Monument seaside

Family trucksters

Cheese(burgers)

Look at the size of that burger

B-A-C-O-N

Hodad's

Recently we were invited to join several other full-time traveling families for an evening of meeting and eating. Since our home-base was an hour away, we decided to leave early and make a couple of stops along the way. One of those stops was at the Kit Carson Park in Escondido to check out this Roadside America attraction.

Queen Califia’s Magical Circle is one of the last works of French artist Niki de Saint Phalle. The garden is named after Calafia, the fictional warrier queen of the mythical island of California.

As we approached the Magical Circle, we could see the tops of the brightly tiled sculptures; but, we couldn’t get to them before walking through a black/white/mirrored maze. The maze felt like a doorway between reality and magic. (We read later that Phalle’s intent for the maze was just that.)

The interior sculpture garden was beautiful. Such color and detail. Hopefully our photos give you a glimpse of this artist’s creative work.

Mike caught in the maze

Queen Calfia's Magical Circle

Leaving the real world behind, entering the gateway to magic

A glimpse of Queen Califia riding an eagle

Look at the detail

Lips just asking for a smooch

Queen Califia riding into battle

Queen Califia

Maze - dead end

Love the color

Detail

Eye think you're beautiful

Deep blue

Harrison engulfed in a nightly display

MsBoyink checking out the blue base of a sculpture

I look good with these blues

Detail

Design

Family Portrait

My Mother’s Mother

She’s my mother’s mother
She only had sisters, not one brother
And when my mother had a little girl
My mother’s mother gave her a whirl

My mother’s mother makes root beer floats
And the ice cream bobs up top like a little boat
My mother’s mother sends Christmas across seven states
My mother’s mother uses colored bowls and pretty colored plates

My mother’s mother trusts entirely in the Lord
And gives him all the glory she can afford
My mother’s mother inspires my heart
To do the same and never part

My mother’s mother has always loved me
My mother’s mother always will be
A woman vastly unlike any other
A woman who is, namely, my very own Grandmother.

What My Grandpa Taught Me

My Grandpa taught me the things
That would help me get through life
He told me over and over to learn every day
Whether the days were good or full of strife

He would take us to the museum
To help along his dream for me
He would let us explore for hours
Or at least until time for tea

My Grandpa made the best popcorn
For every movie and occasionally a game
I love him so much and it strikes me
Nobody’s popcorn’s the same.

Grandma and Grandpa A visiting in San Diego

It was something the entire family had been looking forward to for weeks, ever since we learned about it while still in Arizona. Grandma and Grandpa “A” were flying out to San Diego to visit us!

The park we chose was Pio Pico, a Thousand Trails park east of San Diego. Because of the location, we had as close to zero phone coverage we could without actually hitting zero. Luckily, they had good wifi available for a fair price. It had everything - pools, mini golf, even a youth clubhouse - but it wasn’t our favorite park. But it had location and the Thousand Trails discount, so it worked.

Grandma and Grandpa rented a cabin. We got a spot. It was a bit of a walk, but who cares? We could use the exercise. A week of card games, talking, movies, and just plain catching up followed. When you haven’t seen someone for months, there’s a lot to catch up on.

From Tuesday to Thursday, we vegged at the trailer/cabin, talking. Friday morning and early afternoon followed that same pattern, but the evening was special. While still in Arizona, I had bought grandpa and I tickets to San Diego Padres baseball game. At one of the nicest parks in the MLB. In the all-you-can-eat section. We got there at the time the gates opened, 5 PM, two hours before gametime. I wish I could say I caught a home run ball during batting practice, but that would be lying. It was a close game, with triples, outs at the plate, home runs, and an almost catch on one of those. The Padres fans were happy - final score, Padres 7, Diamondbacks 6. We were happy for a great game and plenty of food.

Saturday was the final full day of Grandma and Grandpa’s visit. We decided we were going to tour the Olympic training center. Free tours and sports? Sign me up! This center is where all the outdoor summer Olympic fields/courses are held. An employee brought us around the center, explaining the courses. I must note, there was no golf training area there - which tells me how much the consider golf an Olympic sport. For the water sports, they rent an entire lake next to the center 5 days a week. They had control, but nobody was training the day we went. The only activity that day were girl’s volleyball tryouts.

After our tour, we brought Grandma and Grandpa to their first In ‘n’ Out. Grandpa had been dying to get to one while in the west - and any excuse for In ‘n’ Out is a good one for me. After many pictures, we finished our meal and drove home.

Sunday was departure day for them. We had family brunch at McDonalds after failing to get in at IHop. We finished up our visit, and said goodbye on one of the more fun weeks of 2013.

The Chula Vista Olympic Training Facility

Signs going in

Watching the promo video

This is the only purpose-built Olympic Training Facility

Flowers at the Training Center

Flowers at the Training Center

A sign.

The Field Hockey and a BMX Track

Yea, we didn't have them

Some of the sports held here

Softball is out as a sport but they are keeping the field in case

Another BMX track-this one a replica of the London Track.

Not impressed

Not impressed

Grandpa A and his first In-n-Out Burger

Harrison and Grandpa Eat

Harrison, Storybird and the Grands

This one was all me. No one else was really excited about going here but I made them come anyway.

Back on our first-year of traveling we visited Cape Flattery, the NW corner of the USA. You can go more north, but not be as far west. You can go more west, but not be as far north.

Border Field State Park is a bit like that at the Southern End of the Pacific Coast. You can go more south, but not be as far west. Or you can go more West, but not be as far South.

But in researching this point, it sounded…unusual. Terms like “little-visited” came up. Or “desolate”. Or “depressing”.

All of which peaked my interest even more. How is it that a few miles of precious Pacific coastline becomes “little-visited”?

Let’s start with the ownership of land in this area.  The State Park is actually completely ensconced in the Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve. This Reserve is one of 28 around the USA, and even after reading about it I’m not quite sure who owns the land. Everyone from the US, to the State of California, to the US Fish and Wildlife Service, to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, to the International Boundary and Water Commission, to the County of San Diego, to the local cities of San Diego and Tijuana have a hand in managing this particular chunk of real estate.

Which might explain why the park is borderline unusable (pun intentional).

Case in point - last year the park put out a great press release about some new picnic facilities. Here’s the money quote from that press release:

“We’re really excited to offer this setting for the public’s enjoyment,” says Clay Phillips, District Superintendent for the San Diego Coast District of State Parks. “While flooding keeps vehicles out of here for about 6 months each year, we’re thrilled that now, during the peak summer months, the public has easy access to what is now one of the best picnic sites along the southern California coastline.

Yes, that’s right. New picnic facilities in a park that is unreachable due to a flooded road for half of the year. Oh, I don’t know, maybe FIX THE ROAD FIRST?

Moving on.

Since the road was flooded in order to reach the SW corner of the park we parked in a gravel parking lot and entered next to the “locked” gate (three padlocks but all hooked to a threaded link?). We walked past a newer but deserted-looking entrance station which I guess gets used when the road isn’t flooded.  Some rangers drove past and said the road was flooded so take the beach path and then added “be sure not to touch the water where it’s flooded). That puzzled us until the sign by the beach came into view - it’s contaminated by sewage. Soooo…all the importance of this land and all the kings men involved on an advisory committee and…

Moving on.

We used the beach trail. It’s an easy flat walk about a mile long. While the park website boasts about the number of birding species here I think we maybe saw two birds total until we reached the actual beach front. But, there were the flowers. Hundreds of very bright differently colored flowers made the walk to the back enjoyable. They drew your attention away from the multiple helicopters and border patrol vehicles just about every which way you look.

Once on the beach it was another good half mile to the corner where the fence is.

There was a Border Patrol truck on the beach, so I figured we might as well check in as we walked past - so I asked just how close to the fence we could get before making him nervous.  “5 yards or so” was the answer.

We continued up to about that range and stopped to take the obligatory picture and just take in the scene.

The video attached drives the points home as well, but on the Mexico side of the border the space is all about entertainment and vacationing. There’s a bull-fighting ring, hotels, people on the beachfront, mariachi bands, and photograph takers.

On our side there was us and the Border Patrol dude. We’re all about protecting….whatever it is, while the Mexican people are all about enjoying the space.

The other feature of this space is Friendship Park commemorated in 1971 by Pat Nixon as a place where families could meet, talk, and touch “through the fence” regardless of nationality.

So how’s that friendship holding out?  After being cleaved down the middle with a new fence, and after being entirely closed for a period of time in 2009 and with threats of “permanent bans on visting” the park is (begrudgingly) open from 10-2 on Saturdays and Sundays, limited to 10 people at a time, limited to 30 minutes, and you can no longer touch through the fence.

If this is how we treat our friends I don’t want to see how we treat our enemies.

We didn’t walk up to the park, but (even though we were there on a weekday) saw people coming through the fence followed by people in military-ish or park officer uniforms. Then while making our long walk out we came across people walking out that hadn’t been on the beach or path with us.  Strange all the way around.

It was a nice walk on a nice day, and was an interesting spot to be sure. If you want some beach time to yourself (or you and your horse), this might be a place for you. But Border Field State Park sure doesn’t leave you wanting to wave a USA flag around.

Border Field State Park Entrance

That's a bullfighting arena in the distance

Flowers from the walk

Gorgeous Color!

More color

The Tijuana River Estuary

Tijuana, Mexico in the Distance

Walking the road to the beach

More flowers from the path

Finally we reach the beachhead

Oh yes, there is that.

View to the south.

Making our way

Horses are allowed on this beach

Some of these birds are protected. We still chased them.

Pacific Ocean Scene

Yours truly in the SW corner of the USA

View looking north.

Storybird and her target

There were a few beach finds

Sun starting to set as we head back

A lone buckhorn cactus

More flowers

More flowers

And yet..more flowers

No less than 3 padlocks..and a threaded link.

This entry also has a video which can be viewed at Boyinks4Adventure.com | Our Travels | Border Field State Park ]]> California 2013-05-08T20:41:33+00:00 http://boyinks4adventure.com/our-travels/escape-from-suburbia-a-year-later/ http://boyinks4adventure.com/our-travels/escape-from-suburbia-a-year-later/#When:03:17:56Z

One year ago today we dodged incoming contractors hired by the buyer of our house, moving the last things out while they came in with toolboxes and ladders to install up-to-code smoke detectors and replace a back window to ready it as a rental. We pulled the truck across the street into our neighbor / friends driveway, re-installed our bike rack, loaded up bikes, and then asked one of the contractors to move his van so we could hitch up.

As we pulled out we looked back and it felt very right. The house was no longer our home.

This past year has gone by so quickly - much quicker than our initial year on the road. So much of it’s a blur that it’s easy to forget just what we’ve done since making that transition.

So, I thought I would make a list. In no particular order, since selling the house we:

• Became completely debt free!.
• Were featured on the front page of our local newspaper.
• Drove a NASCAR Race car.
• Piloted a Houseboat on the Mississippi River.
• Backtracked 2 hours to help at a book launch party for authors we had never met.
• Bought a wooden baseball bat from a pig-farming pharmicist making them on the side.
• Swam under a waterfall in TX.
• Danced in an Indian Pow-wow.
• Gave a Presentation on the Sonoran Desert at a Campground.
• Went Kayaking in Arizona for a day with a total stranger.
• Took an Archery Class.
• Ate birthday cake at White Sands National Park.
• Saw the bats in Austin, Texas
• Fed Alpacas & held a baby alpaca (Cria).
• Saw the Tigers clinch the AL Division while in Kansas City.
• Went to a Makers Faire in Detroit.
• Rode horses in the Great Smoky Mountains
• Worked for a county campground in Mesa, AZ
• Spent our first Christmas away from family.
• Saw prairie dog babies peeking out of their hole at a desert museum.
• Hiked through the desert at night in a rain storm.
• Hiked through the desert under a full moon.
• Played frisbee on the Pacific Ocean.
• Ate Prickly Pear Gelato
• Saw Brian Setzer and Jim Cullum in concert.
• Met about dozen other traveling families and non-traditional couples.
• Met a number of peers and online friends in their hometowns.

Not bad!

On the short list while we are in Southern California: surfing lessons and a rental convertible to go beach cruising in. First up is reconnecting with some family again!

The adventure continues

From Arizona to California
Such a change in sight
One a foot above sea level
The other at least a thousand in height

From towering green saguaros
To the home of palm trees
From the heat of the sun
To a cool, ocean-front breeze

From a dry, dusty climate
To a humid, grassy place
From a smile and shining eyes
To a longing look on my face

I will miss my coyotes and cactus
I knew in Arizona
But maybe I can love
This change in California.

Storybird tests the Pacific waters

Clash of the Titans

From fossil-fodder to fossil fuels

Going over the Gila Mountains on I-8

Green. See that? Green.

Moon over Mission Bay

An unreadable sign

A well-lit bikepath bridge

Different modes of transportation

Surf City, here we come

Before leaving Arizona, we had one more stop to make. We had been told by many people that the Sonoran Desert Museum, in Tucson, was a must-see. We decided to set up a little ways out of Tucson at Picacho Peak State Park, since Catalina State Park was booked for the weekend. The campground was quite quiet and the internet was speedy fast.

We visited the Sonoran Desert Museum on Friday. It was a great place—lovely cactus blooms, animals( mammals, fish, reptiles, arachnids, and more), and great winding paths. We chose to not take the “real” camera and just focus on enjoying the day (of course, a few i-phone photos didn’t detract from the experience). And it was an enjoyable day—except that we were unable to find the javelinas (I have never seen a live one). The baby prairie dogs almost made up for it, though.

Friday night we met one of Mike’s business peers and her family for dinner. It was a delicious meal and we enjoyed the visit very much. Thanks for agreeing to meet with us Rebecca.

Our original plan was to leave Picacho Peak on Sunday. We decided that, after the busyness of our final days in Mesa, we needed a day of rest. And, so, on Sunday, we stayed put and rested. On Monday morning we were revived and ready to head westward.

The Adventuremobile ready to leave AZ

Spotted this flying over us - any idea of vintage?

Nature at work

Sometimes just textures catch my eye

Creosote bush blooming

MsBoyink and her new short do

Boyink in outdoor sun mode

Trains in the distance feel like a toy

Saguaro Flower spotted

This one is full of buds

When the real animal is hiding, Mom takes on the role

Storytortoise

Everyone wants to be a tortoise

Blooms at the Sonoran Desert Museum

Blooms at the Sonoran Desert Museum

Blooms at the Sonoran Desert Museum

Mike's favorite - Flowering ocotillo

Sonoran Desert Museum