YOU CAN RELIVE FIRST-TIME THRILLS AS MANY TIMES AS YOU WANT!

New Year snow in Phoenix

Lady Brd Johnson once said: “When I no longer thrill to the first snow of the season, then I’ll know I am growing old.”

But I refuse to grow old and we don’t even have such a season in Phoenix where I live. So my husband and I were ecstatic when, at a New Year’s Eve Party somewhere north of Phoenix, snow suddenly fell! That was three years ago when I was just sixty-seven. Does that mean I am now too old to look for first-time thrills like that? It isn’t age that matters, not even the place. The only thing that matters is if you want to experience it again and again. In fact, I encounter such opportunities more frequently when I travel.  

Somebody once said, “If it excites you and scares you at the same time, then it probably means you should do it.” That’s exactly how I felt when we drove our RV over Dempster Highway to the Arctic Circle in Yukon, Canada. We actually passed up the first opportunity to do so from Fairbanks, Alaska on Dalton Highway which is even shorter and better. I had just waited all night for the Northern Lights to appear, all in futility. Extremely disappointed, I was itching for a different thrill that day.\

Tombstone Territorial Park, Yukon, Canada

Of course, my husband obliged. We left Dawson City, excited with the prospect of going as far north as we could but scared that our very old Class C motorhome would not withstand the rigors of the road. It was dirt gravel for hours. We forgot all those worries when we witnessed the unique fall spectacle, way up there. First, it was the trees and shrubs that increasingly grew shorter but continued to be bright red, orange, and gold. Then, in the alpine tundra around the Tombstone Territorial Park, it became an autumnal carpet of lichens and fungi that hugged the landscape. Finally, we had our triumphant scene, albeit shivering, in that quiet windy spot.

Just two months later I was also euphoric in accomplishing the one thing I had never been able to do throughout my childhood. We had traveled to visit my sister in Falls Church, Virginia. At the windy Virginia Beach, my husband encouraged and guided me to fly my first-ever kite. We were, however, so preoccupied that there is no photo taken of that moment. But, when we chanced upon the World Kite Museum at Long Beach, Washington, I felt more entitled to enjoy the place. Unfortunately,  however, I am still struggling to find ways to be able to ride a bike or to swim with ease.

West Edmonton Mall's World Water Park

Four years later, I was privileged enough to feel the thrill again at the World Waterpark inside the world’s fourth-largest shopping center, the West Edmonton Mall in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. There was an intermediate water slide called Corkscrew which has two completely enclosed slides that twist, turn and drop into a splash 1.2 m. pool. I only play in 3-feet-deep water, mind you. My encouraging husband promised he will be at the end of the big pipe, ready to rescue me from any mishap.

Corkscrew

That’s all I needed. As I cascaded down, I was deathly afraid, especially when it got so dark, I felt so alone, and I didn’t know if I will drown in the pool. But, when I came out of the pipe, my husband was right there, waiting for me. He immediately cuddled me in his arms, saying: “See how easy and fun it is?” I was all smiles and thanked him profusely for another trophy in my life. He was again my hero. Admittedly, he has been the key in my getting more first times; in fact, in also simply traveling more.

There have been many other firsts, and there will be more. However, as a certain Steven White once said: “If at first, you don’t succeed, then skydiving definitely isn’t for you.” I will, therefore, exclude skydiving from my pursuit of first-time-thrills until the day I die!

10 MYSTICAL PLACES IN THE US FOR SPIRITUAL ENERGY RENEWAL

Airport Mesa Overlook

map of 4 Vortex sites in Sedona

In Sedona, I attended a lecture entitled “Scientific Vortex Information.” The speaker was author Peter Sanders Jr., an MIT Honors graduate in Brain Science. After, I wanted to find out where in the US are the mystical places he talked about. The following is is a list of ten. The first four are right in Sedona, the second three we have been to are elsewhere, and the final three I have now added to our bucket list:

1. Cathedral Rock
2. Bell Rock
3. Airport Mesa
4. Boynton Canyon
5. Mt. Denali
6. Serpent Effigy Mound
7. Mt. Shasta
8. Lady's End Labyrinth
9. Ringing Rocks State Park
10. Mt. Kilauea

Mt. Denali

He defines a vortex as an area of high concentration of energy that can enhance prayer, meditation, and creative thinking. Both Sanders, who has lived in Sedona for 35 years, and Bob, our Pink Jeepney Tour guide, say that the area's spiritual heritage goes back thousands of years. It is believed that the Sinaguas, who lived around Sedona circa 500-1400 CE (as evidenced by the ruins that circle the city), regularly traveled to the red rocks for their rituals. In the 1960's, word spread around the US about this mystical place and Sedona has since become a major destination.

The word vortex comes from fluid dynamics. It’s a region in which the flow revolves around an axis like in stirred fluids, smoke rings, winds surrounding a tornado or dust devil, and whirlpools in the wake of a boat. Sanders classifies mystical vortices as either Upflow or Inflow, matching the topography and color of a place to the types of prayer or meditation one can seek from it.

Serpent Mound

Sedona's Cathedral Rock, Bell Rock, and Airport Mesa (headline photo) are mountains and mesas that give Upflows because they soar high. One is supposed to get a feeling of reaching up beyond the physical. Boynton Canyon, on the other hand, like canyons or valleys, are for Inflows. One is supposed to go inward to find healing from within. Furthermore, colors like red or energy, yellow for happiness, and orange, a combination of both, can increase oxygen supply to the brain to produce an invigorating effect. Sanders says Sedona, rich with red rocks, be they mountains or canyons, is blessed with eight mystical places, with the four as the most well-known.

Mt. Shasta

There are three we have previously visited although we didn't know they were considered mystical places at the time. Mt. Denali is the highest peak in North America and is believed to be the home of many spirits by Native Americans. Serpent Mound in Ohio is the largest known serpent effigy in the continent, symbolic of the large serpent with supernatural powers in Native American folklore.  In northern California, spectacular Mt. Shasta stands as the home of the Great Spirit for all Native Americans. When we visited these three places, we experienced highs but we attributed them to the usual feeling people get when they see majestic sites.

Lady's End Labyrinth

Ringing Rocks

To complete my list of ten mystical places, I have chosen the following and put them on our bucket list. Lady’s End Labyrinth is on a rocky mountainside, a few minutes from San Francisco, in a public park sitting right above the crashing waves of the mighty Pacific Ocean. We will try to go to this site in the first week of September when we are in the area.  Ringing Rocks State Park in Pennsylvania is a park filled with rocks, a third of which vibrate and ring when struck by an object. Last but not the least, Mt. Kilauea in Hawaii is a sacred place because it is home to Pele, the volcano goddess. We were supposed to see it this December but we canceled our trip due to the recent eruption and lava flows.

Mt. Kilauea

Sanders' first book bears the same title as his lecture which is held every Monday at Los Abrigados Resort & Spa. The public is charged $15 but it is free for Diamond Resort timeshare owners like us. He has written two others where he describes his free soul method to meditation. I bought one of them, Access Your Brain’s Joy Center, because I felt good when he showed us how we can free our limbic brains from worries and panics (which is totally me). Besides, Sedona is so near to where we live, just two hours away, that, if it is true, I can make frequent trips to her mystical places. Maybe I can even buy his other book, You Are Psychic. But, no, I don’t want to be that spiritually enlightened. I just want to travel to mystical places to get highs, maybe even renewing my spiritual energy.

10 RED ROCKS FOR OUR 10th ANNIVERSARY

Last week I wrote about an inner journey that was evoked by our week-long stay in Sedona. Now let me talk about the outer journey that inspired me to write it. 

There are so many outstanding red rock places in the US. We have been to twelve, listed below, but there are still a few more pending on our bucket list. This post is about the last on the list.

 1.  Little Grand Canyon in Hawaii

      2.  Painted Hills in Oregon

      3. Valley of Fire in Nevada
  4. Red Rock Canyon in Nevada
  5. Garden of the Gods in Colorado

      6.  Arches National Park in Utah 
  7. Canyonland National Park in Utah

      8. Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah

      9.  Monument Valley in Utah and Arizona

    10. Grand Canyon in Arizona     

    11. Painted  Desert in Arizona

    12. Sedona in Arizona     

     
 Sedona is a city in the northern Verde Valley region of Arizona. Its resident population is a little more than 10,000. But the sandstone formations that glow in brilliant orange and red, especially when illuminated by the rising or setting suns, attract hordes of tourists at all seasons. These red rocks form a spectacular backdrop for many activities including hiking, biking, and photography. And there is another attraction: heightened enlightenment at places which exhibit the so-called scientific vortex phenomenon.

the other six, from upper right, clockwise: Thunder Mountain, Castle Rock
Cathedral Rock, Steamboat Rock, Snoopy Rock, and Wilson Mountain

The city is just two hours away from where we live so we have visited the area three times. But they were short trips and we got to know only four of the famous red rocks: Cathedral Rock, Bell Rock, Slide Rock, and the Buttes of the Chapel of the Holy Cross (headline photo of last week's post). 

On the occasion of our 10^th anniversary last week, we decided to spend the whole week in Sedona. It was my mission to complete ten red rocks, one for each year of wedded bliss. See the collage of the six other red rocks we came to know on this trip.    
   
     But the week was not all a hunt for red rocks. We also celebrated our anniversary, of course. First was the lunch at the only creekside restaurant in Sedona, L'Auberge. It is right on Oak Creek at the Canyon of the same name. The second was the dinner at the Mariposa Latin-Inspired Grill. It has a patio with spectacular red rock views at sunset. Its interior is fabulous with over twenty unique crystal-embedded artwork worth thousands of dollars each. 

  
     Finally, we gifted ourselves with the popular Pink Jeepney Tour that we had seen plying around whenever we visited Sedona. It was fortunate that the regular driver/guide we were assigned to did not arrive. Bob, a senior guide who was sitting around for situations like this, got lucky and drove us. He told us all about how the unique geological landscape evolved, interjecting it with interesting info about the flora and fauna that inhabited the land.  The best part was the noteworthy Jeff Foxworthy "red neck" jokes that peppered his stories. There are several routes but we chose to go deep into the Coyote Canyons. 

There are more red rocks to explore. We plan to time another long trip during fall when it is not too hot and the colors of the trees and plants make the rocks look even more breathtaking. Bill is interested in hiking some trails not only among the rocks but also among the red canyons which we have just begun to discover. We also hope to experience the spiritual vortex phenomena at the enchanted places. We will share with you each special experience. Each will be further proof that Sedona is a blessed place.  

the trick photography c/o our guide with the Pink Jeep Tour that took us deep into Coyote Canyons

HEADLINE PHOTO: Bill trying to be awed by the spectacular view at Slide Rock and not by the bathing beauties right in front of him. Guess because I was around and it was our 10th anniversary!

Travel Mishaps Can Be Scary; How We Deal with them Makes Us Smarter

Mishaps are unfortunate accidents, pimples in the otherwise creamy complexion of an ordinary day. I’m not talking about those incidents when we fall ill but about simple occurrences that we could have easily prevented but didn’t. And because, as travelers, we are often in unfamiliar places, they seem to happen more when we are on the go. But it is what we do when we encounter them that matters more.

Early in our RVing career, we had to return to our home state for my citizenship interview with the CIS. We weren’t supposed to be in the north in November but we had to. We parked our RV at the Thunderbird RV and Camping Resort in Monroe, Washington. It is riverfront and there was some fishing to be had. But, all of a sudden, a snowstorm arrived and buried our RV in the snow. We got trapped and were forced to cancel our traditional Thanksgiving dinner and my birthday night out.  

trapped in the campground in Washington

We had very little propane left, our lone energy source for the heater and stove. So we confined ourselves to microwaveable meals.  Management could not risk their pipes freezing so we also were forced to scrimp on the little water we had left in the fresh water tank.  Fortunately, even with TV and Wifi available, we relished the unusual living arrangements and the opportunities it gave us for non-routine ways of interacting. The week became one of my husband being a good boy scout, venturing to walk through the snow for errands, and for me, simply to follow his instructions, for a welcome change!

Later, however, we had a scarier RV mishap. Driving down Interstate 71 from Cincinnati, Ohio to Louisville, Kentucky, the right front tire of the RV blew out. There were eight tires in all, two in front and six at the rear in two axles. It was such a loud noise, unfamiliar to my ears. I got scared. But Bill was able to steer our 20,000-pound rig off the road even if it was into a dangerous situation because we had very little space available right on the edge where the guard rails met the overpass ahead.

flat tire on I-71

But he remained calm and called Good Sam. He got the Rummikub game out and played a few games with me, even letting me win, while we waited inside the RV on that hot afternoon without air conditioning. After what seemed like a long time of playing, help arrived and the tire was replaced. The rescue truck accompanied us all the way to Louisville because he said a lot of our tires need changing. It was midnight when we arrived at their shop. We were tired but, as usual, my husband was that same old boy scout I had married!

And that is why, in Helsinki, I panicked when I thought I lost him.  After the failed hostel experiment in Oslo, we chose the Hotel Ava, very affordable because it was attached to a Hotel Management Institute that provided most of the staff. The only problem was it was twenty minutes away from the city center. We solved that with a Helsinki card that not only paid for all of the museums and cruises, but also for all the public transportation. We loved the hotel. It was as if we were going ‘home’ every day after our day tours.

Hotel Ava and Institute

When we had finished our packing on our last day, we walked around the neighborhood and found an old church, a nice neighborhood, and an antique shop of interest. The people were so warm that every time we looked at a map, someone would approach us and ask what we were looking for. You see the streets had double signs, in Finnish and Swedish! It was good everyone was eager to help. When we got back, we stashed our bags in the lobby, ready for the 3 pm public bus that would take us to the airport. Having more than thirty minutes left to wait, my husband went to look for the pharmacy that we saw just around the corner.

I waited, and waited, and waited. By 2:45 I was in panic mode. He had not come back. I berated the receptionist for not giving him a map. Then I cried. I imagined all sorts of things that could have happened to him.  At five minutes before 3, he sauntered in, a bit flustered. He quickly instructed me to follow him to the bus stop. I ran all the way, lugging my carry-on through the cobbled streets, unmindful if it gets damaged. He was calm, cool, and collected. Again, he showed me how to deal with mishaps.

waiting, waiting

They are just that, mishaps, not tragedies! And they teach us to be smarter!

HEADLINE PHOTO was taken when our old car stalled right in front of the Montreal City Hall, preventing many tourists from taking a good shot of the historical building!