Floating

I have found a small piece of bliss...
Nearby at the Lafayette Reservoir, there are great little floating piers equipped with picnic tables. On a particularly stressful day, I found myself laying on top of one of those tables, floating and bobbing away, relaxing and finding my center. It was the nearest thing I've found to being out on a boat.

What relaxes you?

Carquinez Strait Regional Shoreline

More California exploration...

 The cool, abandoned railway station

I've blogged before about Benicia State park. Well, I finally found my way to the State park opposite it, across the bay. It's called Carquinez Strait Regional Shoreline and boasts miles of hiking trails, a great old abandoned brick railway station, a park (or two) and a pier for fishing. Fun place!

The drive out to the place is a fun one. Long, winding, curvy, narrow roads and green rolling hills.

Faraway Fantasy Friday: Scotty's Castle

I am constantly on the lookout for new places to visit. I peruse Lonely Planet, Art of NonConformity and Nomadic Matt all the time! (Among others.)

Another great source for travel inspiration is bbc.co.uk. Scroll to the bottom of their homepage for a travel section. There are usually great resources listed there. Recently I read a feature called "Best 'Middle of Nowhere' Places." (found here) and was alerted to a California gem called Scotty's Castle.

Scotty's Castle is located way out of the way in Death Valley. It would take me 9 hours to drive there (and that's the only option for arriving there). Talk about "Middle of Nowhere!"

Pretty cool huh?

So the history of the place goes something like this: There was a guy named Death Valley Scotty. Well, that wasn't really his name, but it's what everyone called him. In the 20's he began selling stakes in his Gold mine in Death Valley, proclaiming far and near that there was gold in them thar hills!

Well. He lied.

And one of his investors began to suspect his shenanigans and set out for to see the mine himself. I'm not sure what ensued, but it ended with the investor and Scotty forming a fast friendship and the investor building a giant "vacation home" in Death Valley, Scotty's Castle.


Death Valley Scotty lived in the Castle year-round and told everyone that he built it from the profits from his gold mine. Sneaky little buzzard, wasn't he?


In any case, I want to go. There are tours of the castle offered year-round, for those of us who deign to drive that far out of the way to see it. It's a beautiful throwback to the heyday of the 1920's and 30's: The days of newspaper fortunes like those of the Vanderbilts and William Randolf Hearst.

Where do you want to be today?

Once a Shippie...

So Princess Cruises (one of my Alma Mater) is doing something REALLY cool.

They've got a ship in dry dock.

That's not what's cool. That's pretty normal. You see, ships go into dry dock every few years for major renovations, updates, hull painting, etc. (Just to keep them feeling fresh and with the times.)

Princess Cruises is broadcasting daily video updates of the Grand Princess' current dry dock. Each day you can see a new clip containing some very cool footage of the dry dock diary. I'm kind of in love with this feature.

Dry docks are a TON of work. Sometimes if minor repairs or issues need to be fixed a short dry dock will be scheduled. During those periods, contracted crew members will actually stay onboard and help as needed. The sucky thing about that is that during dry dock, ship functions are reduced basically to life support. Water and power are not run all of the time. There is no Air Conditioning. So imagine being stuck in the belly of a giant ship with no windows and no AC in the Bahamas... yah, HOT. I've heard tales of crew members dragging their mattresses up to the top decks at night to sleep. Ya do whatcha gotta do, right? Support staff on shorter contracts are usually scheduled around dry docks, so Cruise Directors, Cruise Staff, Youth Staff and other entertainers will go home (on vacation)  for a few weeks and then join a different ship. After dry docks generally a large number of new staff will join the ship. It's a time of huge transition, not only for the ship itself, but for everyone running it.

The Grand Princess is undergoing a MAJOR renovation. The atrium is being gutted and updated, turned into a "Piazza" to resemble more current ship design trends. (Grand Princess is around ten years old now, which is middle age for a cruise ship... this renovation is kind of like a mid-life crisis.)

General Atrium design before:

Atrium now:

 What will it look like when it's finished, I wonder?

I worked on Grand's two sister ships: Golden and Star, which are the same design as Grand. The three ships feature the night club at the back end of the ship, on a structure that looks a bit like a spoiler. The result is a really unique night club, super high above the ship. The downsides to this structure are: 1. The nightclub is kind of scary. I was never comfortable spending a lot of time up there, I always felt like the night club was going to take off and detatch from the ship. 2. The ship is hugely fuel inefficient. A spoiler on a ship is a huge drag and costs Princess $$$$$$$ extra in gas money (as compared to other ships). On the bright side, I loved the spoiler, even though it was scary. Okay. Mostly, I liked the big long plank-like walkway up to the spoiler. (There were flat escalators to ride up and down on and also you could bypass the walkway and take the elevator.) On really rough days at sea one could run from the top of the walkway down, jump with a wave and catch a good amount of air. *Ahem* I'm not saying I've done it... but, it's really, realllllly fun.


Well, the spoiler is going to be leaving Grand Princess. It will be lopped off. It will be replaced with a new, built up structure that is much more gas efficient.

The Skywalk (minus some windows on top... during de-construction) and Skywalker's night club (The "Spoiler")

 The Skywalk Interior

Here's what Grand looked like before dry dock:

To view Princess' ongoing video diaries of Grand Princess' dry dock progress, click here:

http://www.princess.com/granddrydock/index.html


Enjoy!

Nat The Fat Rat and Travel Nightmares

I'm a big fan of The Rat. As in NatTheFatRat. Found here:http://www.natthefatrat.com/

She's funny and that's all there is to it.
Plus we've got some things in common.

(And some things not-so-in-common. )

Like she was banished to the wasteland of Idaho at one time. So was I. (She grew to love it, I guess.  I never did.)

She longed to have a fat gurgly baby for years and years before finally having one this past year. (I never did and still don't...) I long (sometimes) to have a cute, non-gurgly husband. (But then again sometimes I say to myself: Christy, You've got a pretty da*&ed good life. Don't F it up by marrying the wrong guy. And then it's all good.)

Nat the Fat Rat has adventures. All the time. Adventures living in New York City. Adventures exploring the city. Adventures riding the subway. Adventures visiting family in Wilsonville, Oregon. I (don't live in NYC) have adventures (only most of the time) live in a suburb of San Francisco and have adventures riding (not the subway) BART. Adventures traveling the world (take that, Rat). Adventures visiting MY family in Wilsonville, Oregon.

Seriously, small world, eh?

So I think we must have known each other in some life. Am I saying we were besties? Meh. Probably not. We don't have that much in common (aside from everything aforementioned), though that doesn't stop me from reading all about our not-commonalities. (I'm not into fashion or lipstick or false eyelashes and I don't have a kid...). I wait for her posts with bated breath.

And well, 
the long preamble to this post is leading up to THIS point: Nat had a horrible, awful, no good, very bad travel experience flying United lately (Haven't we all?).

And it's inspired me to tell you about my favorite horrible travel experience. (Isn't that an oxymoron?)

 -----

Once upon a time (Or in Italian: C'era una volta... don't you just love that?) I transferred from one University to another. (Actually I did that three times... yah.)

But I had three months to kill between semesters. So I needed a job. It was winter. I'd spent the previous summer working my second summer contract on Cruise ships and thought - what the heck, I'll see if they've got anything open now.

Turns out, they did. Less than a week later I boarded a plane in Spokane (I was staying with my parents in the area) bound for SLC, then on to LAX.

All was well for about ten minutes. And then we sat on the Tarmac. Forever. When we finally landed in SLC an hour late I had just enough time to run and catch my flight to LAX. And I made it... but my ginormous suitcase packed for three months at sea didn't. (Back then you could pack up to 80lbs per suitcase and were allowed two free checked bags! FYI.)

Conundrum. Because I had to get to my ship in the next two hours and sail away with it. I filed a claim with the airline baggage rep, who asked where they could deliver the suitcase when it made it to LAX....

And that's where the fun started.
"Um, you can't. I'm going to work on a Cruise ship and we'll be at sea for the next 14 days."

The airline rep just looked at me, his general disinterest turned quickly into horror and panic. He filed a claim and then I gave him all sorts of important information. The phone numbers for the cruise line port agents. The ship's schedule, where and when and for how long my ship would be at each port... etc. And then I had to leave.

When I got to the ship, I checked in with the crew office, did all of the official contractual stuff, got my Ship ID and then explained to the Crew officer what had happened with my bag, gave him the contact number for the airline, my claim numbers, etc. (I must say that when Crew Offices on cruise ships are good [and they're not always], they really know how to take care of business.) The Crew Officer immediately got on the sat phone and began making calls for me, while I reported for work. I was paged back to the office a few hours later and told that my bag would meet me at our first stop in Acapulco, Mexico.

Meanwhile, I had only the promise of monetary compensation for expenses (from the airline), and the clothes on my back (which wasn't too much of a problem as I was issued uniforms to work in) and had just been thrown into the swimming pool as a "welcome onboard" joke. Then I went immediately to my cabin to hand wash and dry (with a hairdryer) my only pair of undies, socks and bra for the first of many times that cruise and then rush back to work...

I zoomed around the ship in my off  time those first two days trying to gather necessities: a formal dress for formal night (from the ship's shops), basic makeup, socks,  shampoo, conditioner... The guy who had my cabin before me (Luke, the DJ who I was replacing for that one cruise while he was on vacation) had left some t-shirts and basketball shorts, which I commandeered as workout clothing. (He wanted them back when he got back to the ship a few weeks later, but I wouldn't give them up...) Other crew mates lent me things, And I even met some amazing passengers who sent me some their own clothing. (Seriously. What great people.)

It all worked out.

Except for the fact that that the first cruise of that contract was the WORST time of my life. (Not having my suitcase wasn't even a big deal compared to the job.)

Seriously.

Normally on ships I worked as youth staff, but for this contract I was to spend the first cruise as Cruise Staff (Specifically as DJ, which I'd been promised by the home office I wouldn't have to do. The Cruise Director had other ideas.) Then, after that I would switch over to work with the youth because the normal DJ would return from vacation.

I. HATED. WORKING. CRUISE STAFF. Hated it. With every fiber of my being. It didn't agree with me. Every day was a huge challenge. (Word even got around to my Dutch (now ex) boyfriend all the way in Holland that I was not a happy camper. He emailed me to tell me to cheer up. Ships are a small world and Officers are THE WORST gossips you'll EVER meet. LOL.)

Working with adults on a ship is SOOOOO hard compared to working with kids. They're whiny and demanding and ridiculous. Also, the Cruise Director was a complete dillweed. I'd known him on another contract, and he'd constantly made advances to me, which I refused.

This contract he flat out sexually harassed me and made my life miserable. I was assigned EVERY extra duty possible, never given enough time to put activities away between assignments, purposefully not told about mandatory meetings and then accused of being late or not present.  Later on in the cruise, when we reached ports of call, I was given IPMs (In-port manning, meaning I had to stay on the ship and be on-call for anything that might arise) as often as possible. (along with the guy I became fast friends with, who the Cruise Director decided he hated... so sorry Dale!)

The staying on the ship part was especially excruciating because I needed to go ashore to get some clothes and personal items!!! Ugh.

Oh... back to the suitcase. Acapulco came and went. No suitcase.
Huatulco, Cabo San Lucas, Guatemala, Costa Rica... No suitcase.

It wasn't until nearly three weeks into the cruise (on our way back to San Diego, the home port) when we made an unscheduled, emergency stop back in Acapulco (to medically disembark a passenger who'd had a stroke) that I got a phone call at 5am. The gangway officer had my suitcase and I should come and get it.

Acapulco. It was there the entire time! I gleefully threw on one of the commandeered t-shirts, a ship logo'd zip up sweat shirt from the ship shop and ran down to the gangway, picked up my suitcase, went back to my room, opened the suitcase and... pow!

Half my stuff was missing. The new formal dress my aunt had purchased for me. Some of my clothes. My favorite perfume, jewelry, shoes, etc. The vandals had skipped trying to break the luggage lock and just slit open the back of my suitcase and grabbed stuff.

The upside was that I still had two formal dresses, coordinating shoes, jewelry, under clothing and enough casual clothing to make it for the rest of my contract. PHEW.

And I did make it. The hardest part, as I mentioned, was making it through the first cruise. After that I rolled into the Youth staff position, working with one of my favorite people and life became MUCH easier. Not as great as normal ship life (the Cruise Director was still trying to make my life miserable because I wouldn't sleep with him.) but ever so much more tolerable than before.

I disembarked that ship a week or two after Thanksgiving. And you know, the crazy times weren't over. I had a feeling that the only way to end the bad streak was to make it home. And that was spot on. My flight out of San Diego was canceled and I stayed the night in the city. The next day I flew into Portland, Oregon, where one by one, flights to Spokane were canceled ALL. DAY. LONG. At 6pm I finally boarded a flight, flew the hour + to Spokane and then the plane turned around and flew all the way back to Portland because something froze and they couldn't un-freeze it (Spokane was covered in snow, Portland wasn't) and couldn't land.

So, 8pm, back in Portland once again. Yah. I hate that airport to this day and avoid it at all costs. At that point I have ZERO confidence in that little partner airline (after all, the bulk of cancellations that day, and the turnaround were due to mechanical issues... wouldn't you have problems with that?). I asked them to refund that portion of my ticket price so I could rent a car and drive the four hour drive to Spokane. I managed to get a reasonably good deal on an awful car (Ford Mustang - front wheel drive... and I was headed to snow country!) and I headed up and over the mountain passes for home. (I only spun out once on an off-ramp, luckily.)

About halfway there, headed through a foggy, narrow portion of road I was pulled over and given a $150 ticket for speeding. The thing is that I wasn't speeding anywhere near as fast as the officer said I was. I was speeding, I'll fess up to that, but not horrifically. Oregonian cops are jerks. True story.

At that point I'd been traveling (via airports, planes and cars) for two days. I was exhausted and traumatized. I found a local supermarket and curled up in the front seat of the blasted Mustang to sleep for a few hours, then I finished the drive and made it home without any other complications (thankfully!).

And then it was over. I'd finally made it to base. PHEW.

The end.


NB: That trip is where I learned to pack toiletries, makeup and a change of undies in my carry on. And that knowledge has served me well over the years!


Oh and did I ever tell you about the time I flew from Salt Lake to Anchorage via MINNESOTA? Yah. That was my favorite... *rolls eyes.*

Faraway Fantasy Friday: ANYWHERE BUT HERE!

Three weeks from today I'll be on my way to Grandma's farm. To say I'm chomping at the bit a bit would be the understatement of the year.

It's been more than FIVE MONTHS since I've been on an airplane.

Five months of only exploring Northern California.
Don't get me wrong, I love to do that, but I died a little bit inside from lack of travel variety.

It's been for good reason: I pulled back on my travel budget to pay off my car, which I did last month.

Boo-yah car payments! 

And now I'm just trying to put a bit of money back into my drained bank account before I commence with my normal rate of travel. It's definitely been a bit maddening, not traveling, because I'm hooked. Seriously hooked. But it was well worth it to actually pay off a car. (I usually sell them before I finish paying them off... this was a self-imposed trial of longevity and staying power for me).

And now... now I think of the immense possibilities! Two international trips per year? Or maybe taking off for a month or two at a time? The South Pacific? The whole of Italy? Spain, Mallorca, Cyprus, Israel, Portugal, Macchu Pichu? Akkkk...

I'm just torturing myself now, I think.

In three weeks I'll be visiting my adorable Gram. And that's a great place to start up this year's adventures.


Where do you want to be today?

Reservoirs

 Did you know that NorCal has a ton of reservoirs? I mean, really, a ton of them. All over the place. And they make for fantastic hiking. A few of them, like Lafayette and Chabot, to name two, even have all sorts of great ammenities/attractions like paddle boats and canoes for rent. Others have paved walking/running trails and some are chalk-full of basic hiking trails. Those are my faves. The bigger, more well-known reservoirs (like Lafayette and Chabot) are open to the public all day long. The lesser known ones are accessible with a permit, meaning you call up the water board (in this case EBMUD) and get a permit from them to hike/backpack out in the wilderness. That way they're expecting you and they can control who has access to our water supply. Sounds good to me, except sometimes when I pass a place that requires a permit I sometimes want to just go in and hike anyway. But I've definitely seen police patrols checking out those reservoirs, so I don't. Because I don't want to go to jail or get fined.

Out for one of my long country drives, I discovered a new hiking place: Briones regional park. On one side of the road is a reservoir, on the other, a regional park. Briones boasts a fun/unique amenity: an archery range. I was kind of excited about that, even though I haven't shot a bow and arrow since Jr. High (random, huh? My GHETTO Jr. High had archery... though I'm pretty sure the equipment was just there because it was leftover from the 50's).

All in all, Briones, like most of Norcal boasts some pretty spectacular hiking. It was MUDDY the day I went (which I normally love, but was not wearing the right shoes for when I visited) and the cows were out and fairly aggressive. So if you go, take a big walking stick or a well-behaved dog.

 Wild Turkeys Struttin' their stuff

The sun breaking through the storm

Faraway Fantasy Friday: Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay

Today I'm daydreaming about a tiny Island in the Bahamas. I have no idea what it's called (my best guess would be one of the Coco Cays), in any case, it was the first Caribbean island I ever stepped foot on.

My Grandmother took my on my first cruise when I was twenty. It was a dinky little cruise on an OLD ship, but I had nothing to compare it to in my memory banks and loved it! I spent three days tossing back and forth on the unstabilized boat, having the time of my life. Our one port of call was Nassau, Bahamas. From there, I joined a shore excursion and headed over to a tiny little island for an afternoon on a tropical isle. It was fabulous! I left my Grandparents at the rotunda, eating the buffet-style lunch provided and went snorkeling, then found a hammock and stretched out beneath two palm trees over white sands, listening to the gentle waves lap up beside me. A wander around the shoreline brought a treasure of new experiences: The feel of sugar sand stuck to my fingers and toes; the smell of the salty, sweet Caribbean air; the feeling of utter relaxation sinking into every fiber of my being. Magic. It was love at first step.

Today that's where I'm dreaming of being.

Where do you want to be today?

It's Kind of Amazing...

...What you find when you aren't even looking.

And by that, I mean this:

Lar Reiu Park.

In lil' old Walnut Creek.

I know!
I'd never heard of it either. 
But there I was, fresh off a hike in the hills near my house and I decided to explore the area that I've lived in for the past four years a bit more. Exploring this area has never let me down. It's so fun!

Well, so I found this park. Lar Reiu. It was donated to the city in 2007 and turned into a park after the woman who owned the 10 acres it sits on passed away.

There's a big house, I mean really big. It's got a freaking windmill! And a separate tool house. And a green house. And there are even bee boxes and remnants of other great old farmerly things. The house is surrounded by a big fence and locked up. It's so sad! I wonder about that place. It's in the first stages of dilapidation. It's still in great shape... but it won't be for long. I wish I could move in and caretake the place. Unless it's haunted. Because I just don't go for that sort of thing. But seriously. If the city wants to give me free rent and all the construction supplies I can manage, I'll gladly move in and keep up the place. Do you hear me, Walnut Creek? I mean it. The place is amazing.

Before I even found the house I meandered across the "park" paths, frolicking around in the tall grasses and dreaming of all of the adventures I could have had there as a kid... imagining pirate adventures and forts and dinosaurs and princesses. What fun to grow up there! Then I found the house and I truly reverted to being a kid. The explorer in me wanted to see it all so badly! It's just so cool!

So here it is, at least a couple of pictures. Go ahead, daydream a little about breaking in and checking it out, I fully support that daydream. I'll even come along.

Conference... in General.

This weekend was a big weekend for us Mormon-types.

General Conference.
If you aren't familiar with General Conference, it's a Conference. It's big. We attend it twice per year. It happens in Salt Lake city in a giant place we call the Conference Center and is broadcast worldwide in many languages.

When I was a kid, before the internet was available, my family would drive out to our regional building (Stake Center) in Napa and watch the Satellite broadcasts there. Two two-hour sessions on Saturday and two on Sunday. And the Men attend an extra two-hour session Saturday evening called Priesthood session. (Women have their own entirely separate conference called Women's conference a few weeks earlier, because you know how Women like to get together and do stuff... well, not me, but women in general.)

Nowadays I can roll out of bed, switch on my computer and get back under the covers while watching conference, all snuggled up and happy with a bowl of cereal. It's fabulous, I tell ya.

So what happens during these conferences, you wonder?

Well, if you're that curious, check it out - you can watch the sessions online, download text transcripts or audio anytime here:

http://lds.org/general-conference/when-conference-materials-will-be-available?lang=eng

Isnt' that amazing?

Conference weekends are wonderful. They are edifying and uplifting and give us direction and encouragement for our lives. Because trying to pattern our lives after our Savior's is at times a difficult and discouraging.

One thing I loved about this conference was the inclusion by our Prophet, President Thomas S. Monson of talking about the Rome, Italy Temple that we are building. It is a monumental thing to be building a temple in Rome, the beating heart of Catholicism, and my favorite city on earth.

For more information on why we Mormons build temples, click here:


http://lds.org/church/temples/why-we-build-temples?lang=eng


So, conference is over now. It's Monday and I'm renewed. I have much to be grateful for, much to be happy about and much to work on in my life.

My travel goal after this Conference is to go to Rome for the dedication of the Temple when it is finished. We'll see if I can make it happen, but I hope to!

Bucket List: Machu Picchu

Happy April Fool's Day. This post is not a hoax. Though I'm sure if you're looking for a good one, Google's got one on their site.

So.

Have you been to Peru?

Have you trekked the Inca Trail?

Have you seen Machu Picchu?

This week my wanderlust is in full swing. Because this time of year I'm normally out traveling. And this year... I'm not! AKKKKKK!!! (Going a bit stir crazy right now.)

So of course, this overactive wild-hair has got me looking into new trips. This week I'm thinking about hiking in Peru to see the gorgeous Machu Picchu. I mean, doesn't that sound fabulous?

I've found a number of great ways to do it.

REI offers this amazing trip:


10-day lodge Trek
http://www.rei.com/adventures/trips/latin/mpl.html

You hike from lodge to lodge, about 8 miles per day, and are rewarded each evening with things like hot tubs, massages and wifi internet (ALL extreme luxuries while traveling, believe you me!)

Or if you want something more basic (and affordable), GAP Adventures offers this Seven-day Inca Trail hiking tour:

http://www.gapadventures.com/trips/the-inca-trail/SPIT/2011/

Tour Description:
One of our most popular trips in the region for those looking to combine the cultural highlights of the Sacred Valley with the challenge of one of the world’s best known hikes. The four-day Inca Trail trek will reward you with a stunning combination of the region’s ruins, mountainscapes and cloud forests. Because we run our own treks, we can ensure the fair treatment of our porters and the quality of food and equipment so that you’re free to enjoy the beauty of the region.

You'll hike the same (roughly) 8 miles per day and camp each night along the trail with what experienced hikers have called "masses of 500 other campers."

---
NB:
These hikes along the Inca trail are not for the faint of heart! Or the out-of-shape! (Which, I admit, I am.) You've got to be in SERIOUS fit condition to take on Inca Trail. Read the trip reviews. They'll tell all.


So if you can't manage that trek, I'd suggest something like this tour, offered by GAP:

Amazon Riverboat Adventure and The Inca Sacred Empire

http://www.gapadventures.com/trips/amazon-riverboat-adventure-and-the-inca-sacred-empire/PFIIA/2011/

Trip Description:
From the heights of the Andes to the Amazon, experience Peru's diverse landscape, culture and cuisine in one comprehensive adventure. Float through the heartland of the Amazon aboard a riverboat while exploring the Ucayali and Marañon rivers. In the company of an Amazon Reserve Naturalist guide, board small motorized skiffs for excursions that will bring you face to face with the Amazon’s wildlife—and two full days of exploration at Pacaya Samiria Reserve will put you in the thick of the action. From the Amazon, ascend to the Andes and explore ruins and delight in views of the Sacred Valley from your coach as you travel by rail to Machu Picchu. This is adventure in style!


I'm not gonna lie. This last option really tickles my fancy. The boat travel, seeing the Amazon, Still getting to see Machu Picchu and Inca civilization ruins. Not spending ten WHOLE days just hiking. (I backpacked quite a bit in my younger years - from experience, I personally like about three days of proper hiking/backpacking. Then I want a shower, a hot one, and some home-comforts.)

This trip is Super Appealing. Which I find odd. Because I haven't had a big desire to see much of South America. Well, until now, I guess. Perhaps I'm broadening my horizons.

How about them apples?