Our Lifestyle Adventures: Driving from the Phoenix Desert to the Evergreen State

around Page, Arizona

The distance is 1,421 miles; driving would take 22 hours. It was going to be another fun road trip for Bill and me, saving us plane fare and giving us the freedom to roam the land.  On the first day, we had a lunch meeting with a friend, Lealda Vi, in Sedona, Arizona, two and a half hours away from Phoenix.  She was with an Australian travel group doing a painting tour of US sights. They had just come from the Grand Canyon’s incredible scenes and were in Sedona to put on canvass its beautiful red rock formations. Then they would proceed to Taos Pueblo, Santa Fe, and Albuquerque in New Mexico.

lunch at L'Auberge at Sedona

In Sedona, they were booked at the lovely L’Auberge. The rooms were spread out in rustic cottages on one side of a flowing stream surrounded by verdant trees, thick bushes, and colorful flowers. A patio stretched out between the cottages and the stream, and our table was just beside the waters. We last met when we were both vacationing in Manila in 2009, so our lunch of the famous L’Auberge burger and Dungeness crab salad was peppered with stories of our experiences in our chosen craft. Both having come from the computer field, we had discovered that we had right brains, too!

Lake Powell in Arizona

At 3 pm, we resumed our drive. We reckoned that we would drive 8 hours the following day and 7 hours the last day, leaving us 5.5 hours left to drive that day. We would be arriving in Cedar City, Utah by 9 pm with a 30-minute stop. Later, we remembered that Utah is in Mountain Time Zone so that we would be arriving at 10 pm! But we wanted to punish ourselves. Besides, that was the first big city through the eastern edge of the Grand Canyon and the beautiful Lake Powell near Page, Arizona.

playmates at dusk near Zion National Park

When daylight receded, as we were passing through the southern part of Zion National Park, we were met with lots of deer crossing. We couldn’t help but stop several times to take pictures, so we reached Cedar City later than we had planned.  It was too bad that it took us quite a while before we found the Travelodge Motel (our GPS could not accept the address since the streets had just been renamed). Worse, the reception clerk was not the paragon of customer service suitable for a couple of tired souls.

at the northeastern tip of Oregon

But we had a good night’s rest. We love road trips especially when we go through the scenic routes like we did on the first day. But the second day was going to be a very boring drive through American freeways, north on I-15 and west on I-84 to Boise, Idaho. So our eight hours on the second day was a cinch, and we got to the Budget Inn in Boise with enough time to go to a good dinner at the New Star Chinese Restaurant. I had a huge bowl of Wonton Wor, and Bill had his own Chicken Noodle Soup.

Washington, the Evergreen State

The next day was going to be another 7-hour drive through American freeways, west on I-84, north on I-82, and then west on I-90. The difference is that, after the potato fields of Idaho, the mountains of Northeastern Oregon and the wine valleys of Eastern Washington, everything turned green. After all, we had reached the Evergreen State! How different it was from the Arizona desert. And we had reached it after only two and a half days, giving us the other great advantage of long drives. Sometimes it is the shift of the seasons; sometimes, like this time, it is the shift of the scenes.

Bill's former house in North Bend

Snoqualmie Falls

At the outskirts of Seattle, in North Bend we took the time to visit Bill’s last home in Washington. Set against the foothills of the Cascade Range, his home must have been very comfy but he traded it for the vagabond lifestyle to travel full-time in an RV with me. Just after this stop, we also took a detour to see the beautiful Snoqualmie Falls, which was just three miles away. I had not had the chance to see it in all of my three years in Seattle. The 268-foot high Falls was featured in the TV series, Twin Peaks. 

After three days and two nights on the road, we finally reached my daughter’s home in Kent, Washington. We would have some good family time and rest before the Official US Launch of my book, Carolina: Cruising to an American Dream, in a week. And Mt. Rainier, peeking at us, is such a welcome sight!

Mt. Rainier, peeking at us

WOW: Becoming an American, Part 1

This post will come in 2 parts.

Taos Pueblo, a thousand years old and a World Heritage Site

This is Part 1.When I voted in the last US presidential elections in 2012, I was completely amazed at the whole process. It was convenient but, most of all, it was trusted by the people, so unlike how it is in the Philippines. The fascination with America I was born with is definitely not misplaced! After 10 years here, as in the Nat King Cole song “Fascination”, that fascination has turned into love. I just love the public library system. Though not a federal system, each county, save a couple, freely opened its doors to us and gave us library cards even if we would only be in the area for a few weeks. It was almost like that in community centers nationwide where we were able to use facilities such as swimming pools, fitness centers, etc. Public buses and commuter trains ply an extensive network of roads and rails that makes travel easy and affordable.

Desert View of the Grand Canyon, at the East Rim

Montezuma Castle National Monument

The National Parks System that preserves the natural beauty of America for future generations to come has no equal in the world. Through Bill’s Senior Golden Pass which he bought for $10 (I now have one, too, since I turned 62), we have visited, for free, 29 of 49 National Parks. We have also been to 82 National Monuments and National Historical Sites and both national parkways: Blue Ridge and Natchez Trace. I have probably seen more of America’s geography than the average American could ever have (the average is 10 states, according to the US Travel Challenge), and much more than what reading about them could ever do!

West Point 

From the southernmost point in Key West, Florida, to the centermost in Belle Fourche, South Dakota, to almost the northernmost point in Fairbanks, Alaska, and from the easternmost in Bangor, Maine to the almost westernmost also in Fairbanks, Alaska, I traveled through the forty-nine continental United States of America with Bill. And we have both been to Hawaii, albeit at different times. Our wanderings have given us memories of picturesque pretty places that are not even part of the national parks service. Such memories will stay with us till we can no longer walk and are just able to reminisce.

Old North Chutch in Boston

I was lucky to have been awarded a 6-year (junior and senior high school) scholarship at the American School (now International School) in the Philippines in 1961. There I learned more of American history and missed the chance, actually, to learn about the history of my own country. But the story of America came alive as we traveled around the country. It became most intense when we got to the northeast where the colonies dared to fight for its independence from Britain, the southeast where deep division in the country raged In a Civil War not even a hundred years from its independence, and the southwest with its indigenous past well preserved interlaced with the influences of the Spanish colonization, just like the Philippines.

Independence Hall in Philadelphia, where the
Declaration of Independence and US Constitution were signed 

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We have been to thirty of the forty-four American Presidents’ homes, tombs, and/or presidential libraries and museums! We have also been to the homes of many famous men, heroes, characters larger than life, founders of enduring institutions, pioneers, and dutiful first ladies, who helped shape American history. And when I visited institutions like the US Congress, the Supreme Court, and the White House or the Independence Hall in Philadelphia, I felt a surge of patriotism I never felt before when I was just a tourist visiting these places.

Joe Louis's fist immortalized

We even came ‘face to face’ with cultural icons, religious leaders, examples of men who had their American dreams fulfilled, and even celebrities in the sports and entertainment worlds. My future as a fledgling writer was encouraged by visits to the homes/tombs of famous authors. We visited factories and/or headquarters of products made in America and noble institutions that serve the world, borne out of American excellence and innovation.  Some institutions are housed in world-renowned, unique, or historical architecture, some of them among the tallest, biggest, longest, etc. in the world. We even found unique museums and went to places where events I had only seen on TV are held. I began to take great pride.

Plymouth Rock, with the year 1620 inscribed

I also met the people of America and learned about American culture. Steeped in sixty years of an Asian upbringing, including several years in Seattle while I was teaching and baby-sitting huddled with my family, I was thrust into an almost totally white community of RVers. I met a handful of African-American, Hispanic and Asian-American couples. As a matter of fact, we met more Caucasian Europeans and Canadians. The Economist reports that visits to national parks have plateaued and they are beginning to court Asian-Americans to become part of the American outdoors. In other words, I did not see much of the real demographic of present-day America, much less what it will be in 2050 when Caucasians will be the minority!

with Ricky and Mega @ Martha's Vineyard

Freedom Tower in Miami

And so I missed the kind of camaraderie I left in the Philippines. There was not a lot of noise; there was, in fact, a lot of being alone. Caucasians are not as clannish as Filipinos so I increasingly felt isolated. There was even no continuity in the few friendships we built because we are all, after  brief encounter in a campground, far-flung from each other.America may no longer be a melting pot. Perhaps, when the first waves of immigration from Europe came, the lines between the Scots and the Irish and the British were more readily rendered porous, even when the Italians and Germans and Swedes came in a second wave. But when African-Americans were granted their freedom, Asian-Americans arrived, and Hispanics from Mexico and Cuba crossed the borders, the atmosphere changed. As a matter of fact, intermarriages for Caucasians are highest with Native Americans. The question, ‘Who is an American?’ was easier to answer before. There is now not one American look, one American voice, or one American dream for America has become a microcosm of the world.

WOW: Finishing Writing My Book

the yellow ones are obviously mine, pink and whites are my daughter Trisha's

toast of champagne at La Flora!

Valentines Day came and with it Bill. Actually, he arrived the day before together with a tall vase of yellow flowers. He was so happy to have had a meaningful one month with his son Jim in Boise, Idaho where he helped with the renovation of the office building they got as compensation for a real estate case they had won. Deejay and Trish had also reserved a table for us at La Flora, a Spanish restaurant at the University District in Seattle where we shared gambas, two kinds of paella and a bottle of rioja. Back at home we laughed till midnight watching Russell Peters while having pie and ice cream for dessert. Who else would take their parents with them on a Valentines date?

It was the longest separation in 4 ½ years of marriage. We were briefly apart for a couple of days two years ago and again for several days last year when I met up with Ann and Jingjing for a brief escape in Las Vegas. Since Bill and I married and started this RV cruising lifestyle, we had been together 24/7.  So, before he left, our pastoral counselor directed each of us to consider it a retreat  and to reflect, every single day we are apart, find meaning in a specific adventure of our 3 ½ year cruise, and recall how it was to be with the other.

The first days without Bill were hard. Compounding the situation was the change in medications Bill’s doctor gave me. I had decided to shift to him and consult him about my continuing breakouts of hives, acid reflux and heartburn. I like the MyChart system of electronic patient records of their MultiCare Clinic, something that would be practical given our constant travels.  I also tried to read the book Perfect Love, Imperfect Relationships, a book assignment from our pastoral counselor.

Trisha and Yeye joined me at the Zumba Party

Turning my attention to family, I was also able to get a handle on what was going on with Krishna, eldest daughter of Trisha, who had broken up with her long-time beau and is struggling to earn her keep while finishing her schooling at the Gene Juarez Beauty Academy.  She has reconciled with her parents Deejay and Trisha so she would come to the house whenever I cooked dinner, except for the time when her car broke down. Yeye, Trisha’s second daughter, usually slept with me. When Kenji joined us, it felt like a very cozy party in bed!

my Estrogen Club at the Zumba Party

One night my Estrogen Club joined a Zumba Party. Trisha and Yeye came with me. I must have strained a pelvic muscle. Worse, I stupidly followed it with four days of LA Fitness with Yeye. By the fourth day I could not move! Fortunately, Deejay knew how to handle such sore muscles and in just a few days I was able to function again.

Soon, the combination of my reflections and all the free time I had when the Trisha and Deejay left for work and Yeye and Kenji  were in school, I was able to complete the first draft of my book manuscript with the working title, Cruising to a Life Together, Becoming an American.

It is a 90,000-word book sectioned into 9 chapters 1) Changing Lifestyles, 2) Driving North to the Arctic Circle and South to Mexico, 3) Crossing the Gulf States to the Southeast, 4) Turning West Back to Seattle, 5) Going Back to Florida for the Winter, 6) Driving North from Florida to Maine, 7) Completing North America, 8) Transitioning to Stage 4, 9) Coming Together. And now I have talked to two publishing consultants, Archway Publishing of Simon and Schuster and Author!Author! of Penguin Books. Alternatively, I can look for a literary agent for the traditional publishing route.

 Meanwhile, the draft is being proofread and edited by Bill, the other main character of my creative nonfiction and travel memoir!

Washington DC...Making Me Tired and Sick! OLA

a different view of the US Capitol...in bloom with azaleas!

the reflecting pool in front of the Washington Monument
is undergoing repairs...

Not politically, that is, and only half-sick in fact! Bill and I spent 2 days at the nation’s capital but I apparently got so tired the first day that the next  day I had to stay at the RV, down with the proverbial hives again (lupus has been eliminated, further tests will be conducted to unravel this chronic condition!)  Thus, half of the story and photos here are Bill’s.  We both agree: a trip to the nation’s capital is an intellectual, political, and spiritual journey.

Day 1, Carol’s Day

the Smithsonian Castle

the Museum of Natural History

The intellectual part is always satisfied by a visit to the Smithsonian Institutes. This trip, however, we focused on the Smithsonian Castle, the headquarters of all the 19 museums, and the premier museum, the Museum of Natural History. The two face each other and, eerily, when you look to the right facing the Cathedral, you will see the Washington Monument and to the left is the Capitol Building.

the Coelacanth, ancient fish back from the dead in African waters

tentacles of the 36-ft preserved giant squid

Some of the new things we saw at the Museum are a replica of the Titanoboa, the world's largest-ever snake whose fossils were found in Colombia between 2007-2010, the Ocean’s View with a 36-ft. giant squid, the bones of giant whales, and the rare ancient fish, the Coelacanth, and the Egyptian mummies exhibit. But I also could not resist another visit to the Hope Diamond and all the other giant gems, secretly hoping that Bill would notice that my jewelry collection needs upgrading! The largest polished topaz in the world (my birthstone), the American Golden Topaz, is also one of the largest gems period. Hint! Hint!

the only thing Bill needs to get for me
the American Golden Topaz, almost 23,000 carats!

the White House on the right; its veggie garden on the left

Then we went right on to the political aspect of the trip with a visit to the Capitol Building, the Supreme Court, and the White House. For the first time, I am visiting the grand buildings where the seat of American governance resides…as a US citizen. Did I feel patriotic? Undoubtedly…this and a lot of other  changes that I am starting to feel and whisper to Bill…why and how I think I am becoming an American!

where Lincoln was assassinated...the Ford Theatre

our fave...the Lincoln Memorial!

The spiritual aspect comes from the inspiration that wells when one visits the few great men who led the birth and growth of this great United States of America.  First, we went to the Ford Theatre where Lincoln was assassinated and the house across the street where he was taken and died.  I was speechless at the Lincoln Memorial but I was also so tired and so disappointed. The cab driver said it rained the very first day of the Annual Cherry Blossoms Spring Festival and they were slowly going away the following days. Sigh.

and then she got tired...and the following day, sick...

the Basilica of the National Shrine of Immaculate Conception

Day 2, Bill’s Day                                                                                  
The following day, I woke up to another flare-up of hives (the days have turned too cold even for a spring day). So I asked Bill to go on with the visits scheduled for the day so that this post may be complete! And the nice guy that he is, he did!  The next two paragraphs then are courtesy of my co-photographer, traveling companion, now co-writer, and co-conspirator in all things big and small!

the Washington National Cathedral

‘The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception is one of the top ten Basilicas in the world.  Tour groups arrive throughout the day, admiring the sacred art as well as the magnificent architecture.  I visited the many side chapels, and the holy rooms below, many places to spend time in meditation and prayer.  The Washington National Cathedral, the sixth-largest in the world, also has a number of chapels and rooms for prayer. An observation tower on the 7th floor allows visitors a view of the area for miles around. The gothic style cathedral is also where Woodrow Wilson is buried.

the Jefferson Memorial

After these wonderful places of worship, I went on to the memorials we missed the day before. I am a big fan of Thomas Jefferson and was glad for the opportunity to visit it again. This time I found the area downstairs where more information about the man and his times are on display.  But I still found Jefferson’s masterpiece of a home in Monticello, Virginia to be more interesting. Finding a place to park to visit Grant’s memorial was challenging.  But the view was worth it, looking across the reflecting pool to the Memorial and then to the Capitol Building beyond.’

the Grant Memorial

I surely missed the pilgrimages of the second day…and Bill…whom I thank for writing half this post. I got instantly cured upon reaching the Hershey Campground in Pennsylvania, noticing the fine aroma all around!  But I also enjoyed the Greenbelt Park, a NPS campground in Maryland, which is just 12 miles from Washington DC. What a hidden gem. We will feature more of it in the next post on Baltimore!

the Titanoboa, world's largest ever snake