Trip to Mexico

Mexico City
Carmen Reyes and Rodolfo Sanchez are old friends from Grad School days more than 30 years ago. We have witnessed our families growing up and we have happily hosted them back in Vancouver a number of times and 2 years ago Kay visited them in Mexico City.

Now it is my turn to accept their standing invitation and come to Mexico City. Carmen sent me a primer on Mexican history and Kay got "Spanish for Dummies" on DVD for me to listen to in the car. Good enough for a few basics.
The Flight
Our first impression of Mexican culture was the incredibly friendly and gentlemanly reception we received at the ticket counter - happy to inform us that on our direct Mexicana flight we had a free meal and free drinks. When we boarded it was raining in Vancouver and the flight was about one third full. We learned later that this was largely due to Canada's radically restrictive Visa requirements for all Mexican travelers to Canada. Carmen, a professional with a PhD who travels to Canada for conferences and to visit universities here told us about her ordeal in obtaining a Visa just to visit Canada.
We had an uneventful flight and I practiced my Spanish on the stewardesses blurting out "gracias" whenever I could - as well as "por favor". I boned up on Mexican history all the way down and realized that like salt and cod, corn was one of those critical commodities that empires were built upon. Mexican culture is quite different from our culture, not so much because of the Spanish influence but because of the integration of what is the dominant culture - the native Indian. Our North American Indians have not been integrated into the society the way they are in Mexico. First, the native Indians in Mexico numbered in the multi-millions at the time of Cortez and dominated in terms of sheer number. But it is also the case that the developed and centralized Aztec (Mexicas really) and Mayan cultures featured so prominently and were so established. This in contrast to the scattered nomadic bands that existed in Canada. Not the same numbers nor the same cultural development. Intermarriage and mixing was and is the norm in Mexico right from the beginning, not isolation and reservation systems.
Arrival
A Mexican woman who lives in North Vancouver befriended us and helped us navigate to the baggage area and to customs - giving us tips on how to fill out the forms etc. Mexican customs has a kind of lottery where each person presses a button as they approach customs. If a light above the button turns Green, you are free to go, if it turns Red you are subjected to a baggage search. We got the "Green" light and were met immediately by Carmen and Rodolfo.
Rodolfo drove through heavy traffic and the first thing I noticed was, like in Greece, no signaling, motorcycles whizzing up between cars and travelling at high speed in very narrow lanes. We drove straight into a traffic jam. We were at a dead stop for about 20 minutes and finally Carmen asked a passing pedestrian what the problem was. "...muerte.." Apparently there had just been a shooting and the police had shut down the road. A few minutes later we were waved through the crime scene which had about 20 police hovering about and we were on our way.
We turned off the freeway after about 15 minutes into the streets of Mexico - tree lined and very close. There are few open green spaces as buildings and houses are built right up against the street. Homes are walled courtyards with large wooden doors and bars on the windows. This is the European or Arabic style that we remembered from Greece and Turkey. Homes are very private and the bustle, noise and traffic of the streets are in a separate world. Driving takes place either on wide boulevards or on very narrow, one-way residential streets - with no noticeable adjustment in speed.
We arrived safe and sound into Carmen and Rodolfo's gated complex and entered into their beautiful oasis - calm, warm and filled with art, books and classic furniture. We had a sandwich as Carmen laid out for us an ambitious plan to visit museums and archeological sites so we fell into bed about 11PM (losing 2 hours) quite excited.

HOT Days in Portland

Urban Life and Lazy Days

Free coffee and breakfast with the New York Times delivered to the hotel room - what a luxury and indulgence for a weekday! Kay was busy heading off to workshops all week and at times I brought up breakfast and coffee to the room so she could sleep in a bit before rushing off. Then...the day to myself.

We learned quickly not to turn on the TV. Trying to find interesting, intelligent commentary and news was impossible - it is all attack and counterattack about deficits, health care, the economy and .... Barack Obama's birth certificate? CLICK "OFF".
Instead, 2 hours of calmly reading the New York Times at my leisure. Never once did I get out of the hotel before 10:30 AM. I loved it.
It was hard to be ambitious when the temperatures outside were reaching 106F by late afternoon. It really did take your energy away and biking was not practical in the heat. I should have been up and out exploring the city early in the day but the temptation of lounging and reading in a large, luxurious hotel lobby chair having a 3rd cup of coffee was just too great.

A few day trips of note:

Art Museum and Oregon Museum of History
One entire day was spent working through the Oregon History Museum and the Portland Art Museum. Both were located in the center of downtown in a park-like setting of trees and a broad boulevard. The description of the local native cultures and the development of the state's industry was very similar to BC's - I suppose this is no surprise: lumber, orchards and farming in the interior, salmon canneries, mining - all played an vital part in the early days. One major difference was the settlement pattern - the Oregon Trail.
The Art Museum had one half of one floor devoted to MC Escher, the artist who specialized in geometrical designs, and three dimensional slights of hand. It was fascinating to see his development from a young artist to the exotic one we are more familiar with. According to his biography, he visited Spain at an early age and was deeply influence by the designs and symmetry of mosiacs in the Alhambra in Grenada, Spain. One etching in particular - done later in his life - was called Day and Night. One side "Day", a country town is portrayed in sunlight and as you move to the left white birds change into blackbirds and the town shifts to a night scene. There are also all of the staircases that disappear, and even on close inspection it is difficult to understand how he does it.

Japanese Gardens and Rose Garden in Washington Park

In 5 minutes a free public transit tram took me into a tunnel 250 feet below Washington Park where I stepped onto a large elevator that whisked me to the surface in an exhilarating ride. I emerged thinking I was going to walk to all of the venues in the park but discovered that my map was not drawn to scale and that the venues I wanted to see were about 3- 4 miles from the Visitor Center and I had a 30 minute walk to get to that. It was blistering hot and this was not going to be pleasant, however, I discovered at the Visitor's Center that shuttles ran every 15 minutes around the Park. No problem. While I waited I surveyed the city below.
The Japanese Gardens are among the largest in North America. Cooling pools and waterfalls, calming Zen Gardens with lines drawn in the sand and immaculately manicured lawns, hedges, bushes and shrubs were laid out in an Oriental maze. It was beautiful. I will never have a Japanese Garden.
The ponds had large multi-coloured Koi lounging in the shady spots. A guide said that the winter had been uncharacteristically cold last year reducing 48 Koi to just under 20. I was tempted to buy a wind chime or a wind sock but thinking about the state of my garden changed my mind - no serenity there - they would be totally out of place! I stayed for about an hour and half taking photos with my large lens film camera.

Across the street was the Rose Garden - the largest I had ever seen. No entry fee, it was literally acres of rose bushes. Results of the latest annual rose competition were posted and there was every conceivable variety - Hybrid Tea, Rugosa, Grandiflora, ... - colour and shape. There really has to be a secret. When I looked at these roses I didn't see anything special about the soil, and there was no complicated irrigation system. Why then do mine die off every year!!? I have become downright despondent and superstitious about my gardening efforts.
I took a few Macro closeup shots on my large film camera and not many digital shots. There was little shade here, and an hour was plenty of time for me to admire these most beautiful of flowers. One in particular that I enjoyed, and an award winner in the competition is the one above on the left called "Chris Evert" - after the Tennis Player - large heads, georgeous scent and orange-pink-yellow petals. I would love to have one of those! I took the shuttle and tram home in 30 minutes to air conditioning and a cold beer - Mirror Pond - great Oregon beer.

Portland Market
At lunch between museum visits, I came upon the Portland market. Mainly a fruit and vegetable market with a few food stands during the week, it expands into an extravaganza of artisan's and food stands on the weekend. Kay and I spent a good part of Sunday afternoon stocking up for Christmas.

Powell's Bookstore


Powell's bookstore in Portland is famous for its selection and quantity of every kind of book. On the shelf they will have new, used, hardcover and paperback of the same title at different prices and in different conditions. On my first visit I spent an hour and half and had penetrated 20 feet past the front door. Sunday night - they are open 9 - 11 364 days a year - Kay and I disappeared into its endless stacks after agreeing on a meeting place 2 hours later. Christmas and birthday presents...
Riverwalk Cafe's

Sunday afternoon we explored the riverwalk/ride path along the river. Portland had decided many years ago to remove a freeway that ran along the river - The Williamette - and develop it into a park. This development was just one aspect of a policy of public development and investment in the city that has resulted in making downtown Portland an incredible place to visit. The development was not without controversy as we discovered when we watched a PBS show about the public debates. Not everyone living in Portland was in favour, but we loved it.
See the Video.

Meandering thru Downtown Portland

Day 10 & 11 - Arrive Portland

Free breakfast and paper, comfortable surroundings and a laundromat right across the hall to deal with a mountain of camping clothes meant we didn't get out of our hotel until close to noon. Such simple pleasures we take for granted - I think this is one of the great benefits of camping - you appreciate your comforts of home.

We enjoyed a long bike ride on the Bear Creek Bikeway next to Ashland before finding the Interstate 5 for the 6 hour drive to Portland. The bikeway wound its way along the creek through irrigated orchards. It was very hot by noon and we were glad to get out of the sun.

The drive from Ashland on the border with California to Portland at Oregon's northern border with Washington was really quite scenic for a major freeway. The highway winds its way through mountain passes, takes major climbs and dips steeply down into fertile valleys, and slowly but surely the country became a little greener and wetter as we moved north. The steep hills meant that one lane of the freeway was jammed with semi-trailers chugging up under the load - a continuous stream of North American commerce.

We have booked a night at an relatively inexpensive resort just outside Portland for Sunday night - McMenamin's-Edgefield. It is only $60 a night. It is a converted home for the destitute! In the 1920's Multnomah County (Portland) built an institution for the homeless with a supporting farm where families and single men and women could live and work the land at an effort toward self-sufficiency. A pretty progressive idea for the 1920's - in fact for 2009! It closed in the 1980's and was purchased and renovated by the McMenamin brothers who own Brew Pubs all throughout Washington State and Oregon. However, the building was NOT air conditioned and we had to setup the fan immediately in front of our balcony window where we had a great view of the grounds.

We soaked in the hot pool as the sun set and then explored the grounds on Monday morning.

The site is 74 acres of gardens, orchards, vineyards, a 12 hole golf course, picnic areas, a distillery and a variety of pubs. We could not find bottled water anywhere - an incentive to buy cold beer or wine probably.



The Hot Pools

Vineyards

Orchards

Pear in a Bottle

The beginnings of Pear Brandy

Herb Garden
Why is it other gardens look so straight forward and easy to do!






After a visit to the gift shop to stock up on some of the local wine and a few gifts we made the short drive into Portland and find our home for the next week - The Mark Spencer Hotel.
Our room had glorious air conditioning - outside the heat was oppressive, reaching 106F - a near record in Portland. With a kitchenette we could load up on cheeses, wine, fruit and sliced meats. Kay got organized for the start of her music conference - UUMN - by locating the conference hotel, picking up her package and planning the week. We stayed in a watched TV for the first time in over a week and luxuriated in the AC.

Day 9 - Ashland

It was hot! We kept the AC in the car on full blast. Route 199 was a beautiful, a freshly paved, wide 2-lane highway winding through river valleys and mountain passes. We were back into Oregon before lunch and it looked a lot like the Okanogan - very dry, some grazing cattle, a few trees.
We stopped for lunch at a state park and found a meandering stream where Kay could soak her feet. Gas prices were much lower in Oregon, by about 30 cents a gallon - taxes. I filled up and we found a kiosk where I ordered a double shot espresso vanilla shake - Wow was that good - just what I needed for the next 2 hours of driving.


Ashland is at the very southern end of Oregon, quite an out of the way place to be hosting a Shakespearean festival. It is NOT easy to get to. The Oregon Shakespeare Festival is quite a bit larger than Vancouver's Bard on the Beach. It has been in operation since the late 60's and has 3 large theatres. We had tickets to see Henry VIII in the open air theatre - modeled after the Globe theatre and constructed as a permanent Tudor design.
When we arrived in Ashland we found our pre-booked accommodation La Quinta - nothing fancy, but looking like a palace to us - and then headed into town to reconnoiter. Ashland is a quaint little town tucked into a river valley, surrounded by trees and looking very prosperous. Downtown is dominated by the 3 threatres high on a hill, surrounded by a shady grassy park, boutiques, restaurants and shops. I went to the information center while Kay lay down and napped in the shade. After a week camping we were ready for a bit of luxury and I strolled the narrow paths around the River exploring the market, and looking for the perfect restaurant. This means for Kay - excellent ethnic food, romantic setting, great service, and cheap. Hmm. I will settle for 3 out of 4 and after agonizing over menus, found the perfect spot - Thai Pepper Restaurant - Thai food, next to the River, outside and what seemed to be very friendly staff. We decided to splurge and call it our Anniversary (Aug 11) Dinner. I booked early to give us time to eat and get to the play at 7:30 - we rushed back to the hotel for a hot tub, swim, shower and change into the few good clothes we had. Such luxury!

The Spot - Outdoors in the Shade by the River










The Drinks - Martinis & Chilled Gewurtztraminer



The Meal -Bill - Indonesian Rack of Lamb, Kay - Coconut Curry








Henry VIII for Shakespeare fans is NOT one of his best. Henry himself is a ponderous part, supposedly wrestling with his conscience and still in love with Katherine - apparently written so as not to offend James I of England at the time it was written - so much of the play was slow moving. In addition, the actor portraying Henry was tall, thin and had a squeaky voice (Henry VIII?). BUT more than making up for the lack of action was the part of Queen Katherine - Henry's first Queen - a woman scorned - ladies take note - if you want a truly great example of a defiant, sharp witted, literate and spirited woman of Shakespeare this was it. Whenever she was on stage we were ... well... awake and riveted. The actress was Spanish and wow what a performance. It had been a long hot day, lots of driving, and a great bottle of wine, so who could blame either of us for drifting off under the stars towards the end of Act II.
On this hot, dry, clear night we hurried back to our air conditioned hotel and it was "lights out"!

Day 9 - Calfornia Mountains

Decamping is down to an art now and we have a big breakfast - the last of the eggs and bacon -, are packed and on the road early again. Kay has discovered wheatless pancake mix that she discovered in Olympia and it is delicious - Pamela's Pancake Mix. It is made with rice flour and we swear to buy more before we head home to Vancouver.
It is hot. We are driving through the Scenic 199 in Northern California. It is dry, Okanogan like country as we follow the Smith River valley.


We stop early at a nature walk that is advertised on the highway and discover a grove of very odd plants. According to the information boards the mineral content of this part of the Smith River contains elements unfriendly to most plants. The river occasionally floods this area, creating a swamp-like environment inhospitable to all plants except those that have adapted.

We are guided to the swamp and find an insect eating Pitcher Plants which has a large head to attract insects, then drowns them and digests them for nutrients. There are very few nutrients in the swamp. Watch a Video.

Further on down the highway we discover a "Beach Access" point to the river and it looks so inviting that we join another family for very refreshing swim in the clear pool near the sandy access point. It is frigid, but with my goggles on I can see clear to the bottom, and I float with the curious small trout and salmon that come to inspect the strange white bodied creature creating a large shadow on the bottom. Swimming upstream into the current is difficult, but I find shallow water and over turn a few stones looking for crayfish - but no luck. Kay stays on shore in the blistering heat. I am now ready to drive for the next 4 hours to Ashland.

Day 8 - California or Bust!

Two Christmas's ago I read a biography of Einstein's youth Einstein in Love: A Scientific Romance . In it the author says that Einstein at a very early age displayed the knack of solving 3 dimensional problems very quickly. I wonder whether he ever tried camping in a Mazda 3.

We are determined to get on the road even earlier this Friday morning, so we packed up the kitchen the night before, were up at 6AM, coffee and cereal for breakfast - miracle - we are decamped, packed and on the road by 8AM! It is another glorious sunny day. We have a lot of highway driving today - Newport to Brookings, Oregon - probably 6 hours driving. Our plan is to camp near Brookings overnight and then take a loop through California - Crescent City, the northern Redwood forest, and scenic 199 through the Cascade mountains to Medford, Oregon before finally arriving in Ashland, the home of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival by Saturday night. We have tickets to see Henry VIII.




The coast highway has breath taking views and we have not gone far before we have to stop at the Devil's Punch Bowl, an area where the ocean has carved out a deep, cavernous inlet in the rock next to a beach surrounded by potholed rock out croppings. Wonderful tidepools and star fish gazing. We have to explore.













We carefully pick our way through the rocks to find orange starfish and bright green sea anemones. The surf pounds the black volcanic rock and it is hard to stay dry.




By 2PM we have made it to Brookings on the very southern border of Oregon. NO LUCK with the campsite at a beautiful beachside State park though - you must reserve and they are already FULL. This is now a bit of an emergency situation as it is a Friday and after 4PM chances are slim for finding another good campsite. We are directed to the Redwood Forest in California.
In a bit of a panic, we race to the Calfornia border and find that it looks like the Canadian border - it is the fruit patrol! Do we have any fruits or vegetables? Tomatoes are OK but NOT the cherries we bought and certainly not the lime for our G&T's! As a long line forms behind us - the Canadian car - I have to get out, open the trunk, dig into the cooler and forfeit the offending items.
We make it to the Jedediah Smith State Park a Redwood forest campground by 3PM and it looks absolutely gorgeous (4 stars). The park is named after Jedediah Smith, an early explorer, fur trader of legend and history. NO ROOM. OMG. They recommend campsites down the road 20 miles more or we can cut back 5 miles to a County campsite (a 2 star type of campsite).

We are worried about getting anything now, cut back and find a beautiful site, on a beach under a Redwood next to a salmon spawning stream called Smith River. It is a great location, though the bathrooms are less than clean and camped next to us is a family from Crescent City that could be cast in the Gerry Springer Show - we are not there 5 minutes before the mother, in need of some dental work, asks if she can use my cell phone to call her mother.






However, we are won over by the site and pitch our tent. It has really heated up now, so I decide to go for swim in the stream, Huck Finn style. It is refreshing and exhilarating to swim against the current and then float down to the deep blue pool under the rock.

After setting up the tent, we drive off to find the largest trees in the world the Giant Redwood - correct name, Giant Sequoia - grove. The winding, narrow paved highway gives way to a winding, narrow gravel road following the Smith River and we enter the majestic temple of the Redwoods just as the sun is low and the light is a rich gold filtering through the trees. It is awe inspiring to think that some of these trees were seedlings at the time of the Trojan War and centuries old by the time of Pericles and the Golden Age of Greece.
We have a delicious Mexican dinner of tortilla soup and enchiladas in Crescent City in a dark, cold and oppressive blanket of fog which we leave behind as we drive back into the mountains and a beautiful hot sunset in our river valley.

Day 7 - Newport

There is something about getting up with the sun and having that first cup of coffee in the fresh air that only true campers appreciate. I noticed a few other campers up and sitting outside reading with a coffee serenaded by the chorus of noisy crows. We had a beautiful campsite and though close to the beach again, it was very dry and sunny in the morning. Big full pancake breakfast (major Husband Points) before heading off into Newport and beach exploration, for the day. Kay phoned Scott and Linda's daughter, newly married and now pregnant, who lives close by and we arranged to meet for coffee late morning.
Newport is a mix of new commercialized town center, old fishing port in Yaquina Bay and old beach houses along the ocean. We discovered some fabulous older hotels right on the beach where you could get a room with a balcony and fireplace overlooking the beach - and we decided to come back - during the stormy season even better! We explored the ocean beach and discovered a Vietnam Memorial for 24 local young men who had died in the war. A flutist was playing inside a glassed viewing area while we read the memorial inscriptions. Mixed in with the ocean breeze and sound of the surf it was unexpectedly poignant.
We met Shawnee and Roger at the local library and they lead us to a quaint local coffee house where we sat outside and introduced ourselves. We had a wonderful conversation and learned that Shawnee was due in 6 weeks, Roger teaches biology at a local college after working for Oregon State Parks for 10 years. He is an avid fly fisherman and misses his former north west Oregon fishing spots. He recommended I read the book The River Why. They were great fun to meet and talk to.
We had a tailgate lunch at the Yaguina Bay Lighthouse, explored the dark, stoney beach and marvelled at the seals, cormorants, common murres and a lone pelican. The shorebirds were in tightly packed colonies on rock outcroppings and wedged into crevices all around the cliff face.
We stopped at a local Roque Beer Brewery on our way home and sampled 4 types of beer in a wild west type setting on location. Then home for a halibut barbecue and early bed! Whoopie!