This fall we spent a long weekend in Moab, like we have practically
done since therapods pushed their toes into its scarlet mud. On this occasion,
my sister joined us, and the weather was ideal, which made the trip exactly
perfect.
Longbow Arch spans 60 feet.
Although November is one of our preferred months to visit
Moab, conditions can be unpredictable that time of year. Fortunately,
temperatures stayed in the sixties and skies remained sunny. Thank you, Gods of
Not-Quite Winter!
Longbow was impressive, and we only came across a handful of hikers on its trail.
How did we make use of all that delicious sunshine? First,
we hiked the 2.5 miles to Longbow Arch, a trail we had somehow never explored
or even heard of. Quite a few sights are packed into this short jaunt including
petroglyphs, dinosaur tracks, and the obvious arch.
When a sandstone slab crashed down from a cliff, dinosaur tracks created 150 million years ago were revealed.
The next day, we trekked two trails, Cowboy Jacuzzis and
Jeep Arch. Reaching the Cowboy Jacuzzis requires under a mile each way. Mill Creek
slows as it fills these rock bowls, and sunshine striking the stone heats the
water to bath temperatures… well, that’s what supposedly happens during warmer
times of the year. It was cooler than any bath I’d like to dip into when we
were there.
The Cowboy Jacuzzis can be accessed via a trail that starts in a residential area.
We visited Jeep Arch just a year ago, but since my sister
had never been, we were disposed to enjoy this hike again. It was just as spectacular
as the first time.
Although we had trekked to Jeep Arch recently, we were happy to tread that colorful path again.Does this remind you of a retro Boy Scouts magazine cover? If not, we failed.
Our last day, we hiked somewhere between six and seven miles on the Amasa Back Trail with an added spur to an overlook above the Colorado River and Poison Spider Mesa. Amasa Back is a peninsula formed by a U-bend in the Colorado River. Its trail climbs to its crown. Rising 1000 feet has its advantages. At first, we were disappointed that our perspective on countless fins and dramatic cliffs from above the Colorado was marred by State Route 279 and other mementos of humanity. However, in the end, we found the ORVs and other Vs making their way up Poison Spider Mesa to be extremely entertaining, especially the unjustifiably confident ones. Our prospect also revealed the numerous layers of plateaus expanding above State Route 279 invisible from its pavement. An unfamiliar look on such a well-known motorway was fascinating.
This monolith is one of the more interesting features along the hike to Jeep Arch.
What did we like about hiking Amasa Back? The vista from the
viewpoint was unique and, surprisingly, made more interesting by its manmade
touches. Also, we were able to appreciate this perspective in solitude. While the
path had plenty of bikers on it until we passed the HyMasa Trail, a single-track
used to access the Captain Ahab Trail, we didn’t see a single person the rest
of our journey. What didn’t we like? Amasa Back is a jeep trail, which means a
wider and more scuffed route.
Although Amasa Back is a jeep road, we didn’t see a single vehicle.We watched numerous vehicles attempt to surmount Poison Spider Mesa from our perch above the Colorado, many of them futilely.
It was great to share Moab with my sister and her hubby. Usually,
it’s just me and Jason hogging the splendor to ourselves. Sunshine and sisters pair
perfectly in the desert like cyanobacteria and lichens.
When you’ve taken a bunch of trips in quick succession, why
not take another? Traveling to the Northwest has become a bit of a yearly tradition
in my family, a ritual that continued this fall. This time, new members joined
us, and like scenic meth, after just one time they might be hooked.
The sun can be an infrequent sight in parts of Oregon, but we encountered it in all its coral splendor.
On this occasion, we stayed in Brookings, which is just over
the Oregon border from California. It’s home to over 6,000 people and many more
crabs. Brookings is in Oregon’s banana belt, a portion of the state’s coast
that experiences more sunshine and warmer temperatures than surrounding areas. Tropical
shores ahoy! We rented a beach house that could accommodate our large group, which
was situated on a cove pebbled with some of the most brightly colored beach
stones I’ve encountered.
The entrance to Oregon Caves is just an unassuming gap in the rocks.
We didn’t spend our first day walking on the shoreline
though but crawling into the ground. A portion of our group drove about two
hours inland to visit Oregon Caves National Monument. Oregon Caves was created
by acidic water trickling through marble. It is one of only a few marble caves
found in the United States. How often do you get to wander marble halls 220
feet inside a mountain? Yes, yes, I know subterranean marble chambers are old
news to you dwarfs; no need to brag. We did an hour and a half tour of the cave
that involved 500 stairs and 15,000 feet of passageways.
This double arch leads a double life, filling and emptying regularly.A different time of day, a different time of tide.
Since it was late in the fall, bats were starting to inhabit
the cave in preparation for hibernation. We came across a few of those small
and fluffy slumberers; they looked like snugglers not suckers.
The Ghost Room was the largest room we visited inside the
cave. Although it extended several impressive stories, my favorite chamber was
Paradise Lost with its flowstone drapery formations. It’s not often you find
paradise in a dark, drippy cavern.
Redwoods can live up to 2,000 years and reach over 350 feet.
After a day inside the Earth, we decided to get a view of its upper decks by exploring the redwoods. Redwoods can be found not just in Redwoods National Park but also a series of state parks along the coast co-operated by the National Park Service. We traveled to one of these, Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park. There, we walked through Stout Memorial Grove and the connecting loops of the Simpson Reed Grove and Peterson Memorial Trails. These are short paths, but we moved so slow while peeping into holes and examining bark that those hikes took us from about 11:00 AM to around 5:00 PM. I won’t reveal our total mileage or calculate our MPH; it would just be depressing. While not far from each other, the two groves appeared quite different. Any gaps in the redwoods at the Simpson/Peterson area are filled with undergrowth trees while the ground at Stout is only occupied by sparse ferns due to regular flooding. Those distinctions were a graphic reminder that even the loftiest trees are still just pieces of complex ecosystems.
Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park safeguards 10,000 acres of first-growth redwoods.The redwoods aren’t the only absorbing feature in their groves.
Our last day in Oregon, we took everything at a banana slug’s pace. A group of us walked to the beach to investigate a double sea arch as the tide was out and ended up exploring tidepools and rocks for an hour and a half. We saw a Dungeness crab, a purple shore crab, lots of hermit crabs, anemones, and something that looked like a sea cucumber.
Redwoods can grow the height of a 35-story skyscraper. That’s close to the size of the tallest building in Utah.
After our extended time on the shore, we went shopping at a
local antique store where we bought rings, military medals, and even a pipe… which
we did not use for smoking anything in Oregon. We finished off the day and trip
with a visit to Harris Beach State Park where mist turned Arch Rock and sandy
stretches into mysterious silhouettes and enigmatic strands.
Our rented house was nestled in a quiet cove strewn with a mix of rounded stones.
One advantage, and sometimes disadvantage, of traveling with
family is a shortage of dull moments. In between all our sightseeing activities,
we spent our evenings eating fish and playing poker. My dad gave the younger
kids an introduction to poker, which went fairly well. I wouldn’t set them
loose in Vegas though. Incidentally, for a small town, Brookings has some
excellent seafood establishments.
Fog couldn’t obscure the kids’ enthusiasm for sand and sea.Can you find Jason’s head?
Was Oregon’s banana belt all that a banana belt should be? We
experienced equal proportions of mist and sunshine; that’s pretty decent for a
coastline known for its foggy demeanor. Fruity vacations may be the way to go. I
hear Delta’s kumquat belt is amazing.
The Jane Austen Society of North America (JASNA) is the
largest literary group devoted to Jane Austen in the world with over 5,000
members. You didn’t know Janeites are nearly as common as Beliebers did you? Over
850 of those Janeites assembled in Williamsburg, Virginia, this year for JASNA’s
sold-out annual meeting. We were among them. Jane Austen history and colonial history?
That was an easy sell.
Colonial Williamsburg, for those not familiar with it, is a
living-history museum. It covers over 300 acres and includes more than 88
original 18th-century structures along with hundreds of replicas. There,
craftspeople practice trades like brickmaking, blacksmithing, gunsmithing,
tailoring, and wigmaking- working history to life. If that sounds like a lot to
experience in a week or even a month, you are quite perceptive.
The taverns in Williamsburg add a delectable element to history. This particular one was George Washington’s favorite.
Williamsburg was a bit overwhelming in other ways. We left
Salt Lake City at 56 degrees and arrived in Williamsburg at 96 degrees, a
record high for October. Even July typically isn’t that hot in Williamsburg. Standard
complaints aside, beyond the stifling plane ride we took from Atlanta to
Norfolk, I didn’t think the heat was that bad. The next day’s 92 degrees and nearly
100% humidity also felt less than horrible. Our palms got sweaty instantly
whenever we walked outside, but that was the only indication of the sticky
temperatures bombarding us. After visiting Las Vegas in the middle of summer
and Los Angeles during a 117-degree heatwave, Virginia’s steamy tantrum didn’t
impress.
The Capitol held Virginia’s House of Burgesses from 1705 to 1779 and burned down twice.
Between JASNA activities and Colonial Williamsburg sights,
our days were packed. Splitting our time between the two was a little tricky. The
first day, we learned some new steps at an English country dance class and then
ate dinner at Josiah Chowning’s Tavern. Next, we visited with President Thomas
Jefferson for an hour and went on a Lantern Trade Tour to see the shops of printers,
bookbinders, silversmiths, and milliners. Just typing that long stream of happenings makes me tired.
Like the other tradespeople in Colonial Williamsburg, the blacksmiths are real artisans not props.
The subsequent day started with a series of JASNA
presentations. We attended a keynote lecture featuring Jocelyn Harris and learned
about The Gothic Key to Northanger Abbey. Fascinating, right? We ate
dinner at Christiana Campbell’s Tavern with a group of our vintage friends to
the accompaniment of a Baroque guitar. Later that evening, we made it to a
glass armonica concert featuring Dean Shostak. Dean Shostak is one of only five
people in the world that know how to play the glass armonica. Never heard of the
glass armonica? Benjamin Franklin invented it in 1761 out of a bunch of glass
bowls. It became so popular composers like Mozart wrote pieces specifically for
it. Eventually, it fell out of favor in the first decades of the 1800s, which
may be why you have no idea what I’m talking about. We followed all of this
with Cry Witch, a reenactment of a witch trial that took place in Virginia in
the early 1700s. We got to vote on the verdict, and I chose guilty. After all, a
bad dream seems like perfectly sound evidence of witchcraft.
Most of the JASNA attendees were women over the age of 50. Jason was an alluring outlier.
Our third day, we wandered around Colonial Williamsburg,
attended a few lectures, and danced for hours at a ball. You know, the same
thing everyone does on Wednesdays.
After listening to one more lecture on Jane Austen and the Reformation
the next morning, we headed back into Colonial Williamsburg to get a tour of
the Capitol, Governor’s Palace, Raleigh Tavern, and numerous other structures. We
ate dinner at the King’s Arms Tavern by candlelight. It was quite tasty. As I
always say, the best kind of history is the sort you can eat.
Hundreds of JASNA attendees promenaded around Colonial Williamsburg led by two torchbearers.
We finished off the evening with a ghost tour that retold
some not-so-fact-based spectral legends like Lady Skipwith, Lucy Ludwell, and
the hauntings at the Peyton Randolph House. However, we discovered one tale regarding
George Wythe to be mostly true after a little post-tour research. George Wythe,
signer of the Declaration of Independence and mentor to Thomas Jefferson, was
probably poisoned by a nephew hoping to quicken his inheritance, though that
was never irrefutably proven. I guess some tall tales are surprisingly short. The
ghost tour was mostly lighthearted and fun with crackling leaves and a fall
breeze adding their ambiance embellishments. Those additions made the outing
feel like a scene from Hocus Pocus.
The Governor’s Palace is a recreation of a building used by both royal and post-colonial governors, including Thomas Jefferson.
Our last day in Virginia, we thought about going to Yorktown
or Jamestown but reconsidered since there was still much we hadn’t seen in
Williamsburg. At the Courthouse, we attended a mock court case. We returned to
the Peyton Randolph House for a tour, which was only marginally eerie during
the day. We visited the Magazine, George Wythe House, and Wetherburn’s Tavern. And
no, we didn’t encounter any irritated orbs complaining about arsenic off-notes
in the strawberries at the George Wythe House.
Cannons like these were used in the Revolutionary War.
Out of all of those activities and sights, which were our favorites?
While all were enthralling, we especially enjoyed Cry Witch, the JASNA ball, and
our tavern meals. Need I repeat myself about the best sort of history being the
kind you can eat?
Filling your suitcase with Regency attire takes commitment and Tetris skills.
Williamsburg and JASNA were a perfect combination, except
for the too-much-to-see-and-do part. My advice to those visiting Williamsburg? Wear
comfortable shoes, focus on a few highlights at a time, slow down to eat some
seafood at George’s favorite joint, and get a little nerdy with the history geeks.
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