Last Easter

Our last Easter in Ridgecrest! Of course, it's also been our last Valentine's Day, last Christmas, last Halloween, etc. But somehow Easter seems more significant because we only have a month left until the move.

At Christmas time I wrote about how it wasn't always much fun being the parent during major holidays (or for that matter, ever, but let's not go there). Easter, I would say, does not fall into that category. It's fun to be parents on Easter. First of all, it's not a very difficult holiday. I don't cook a fancy Easter dinner at home anymore -- we go out to eat! All we do for Easter is (1) dye hard-boiled eggs, and (2) hide baskets of candy and eggs around the house and yard for the kids to find. Nothing to it, especially since I reuse the baskets and stuffed animals and plastic eggs year after year. And it's fun to hide the eggs and it's fun to watch the kids look for them.

Though having to put on shoes before we go outside to hunt (because of the stupid goatshead stickers all over the yard) is not enjoyable. I have to remember that in Boulder it was probably too cold today to go outside barefoot!

After the initial finds (which were many -- we hid plastic eggs all over the house), Rocket Boy sneaked out and hid the hard-boiled eggs in the backyard, so then we had a second hunt. Great fun for all, though there was much discussion between the twins as to how a rabbit had (a) gotten into the house in the first place, and (b) managed to put eggs in places like the microwave and the butter compartment of the fridge. Belief in the Easter Bunny must not last very long, I'm thinking.

Then we went to visit an older couple we've known slightly for years (they're in a group we're in), who had invited us to come by on Easter. It took us almost an hour to find the house, WAY out in the boonies, but it was worth the effort -- a modest home, but a really fun desert garden, a potter's studio, an old swingset, interesting objects and art everywhere. On one wall we noticed a great bumper sticker: Friends don't let friends vote Republican. As they were showing us around I had a revelation: these people could have been our friends! They'd been friendly from the beginning, but an actual invitation had never been issued, just vague urgings along the lines of "you must come and see us sometime." Which we'd never followed up on, because the twins were so difficult, and we were sure no one REALLY wanted to have us come over (and destroy their home). Damn, I thought, as we walked around with them. These people really like us. These people could have been surrogate grandparents to the twins. These people could have been our friends.

So that was a bit overwhelming. And they were so disappointed when we reminded them we were leaving in a month. Damn.

Then we drove to Olancha and had a late lunch at the Ranch House Cafe. Baby A wouldn't even order anything, much less eat. Too many jelly beans. Oh dear, I knew I shouldn't have bought that second bag. Baby B did better, drank a glass of milk and ate one-fourth of a hot dog. Oh, and some of my salad. Oh, and Baby A did eat some olives from my salad. And some meringue from my pie. But that was all.

It was supposed to be cloudy and windy today -- it was windy, but the clouds in the sky were the white, puffy kind. Just gorgeous. The Eastern Sierra in general was spectacular today. The way it will always be in my dreams.

Weekend jaunts

A quick post, since Easter is almost here (and yes, the Easter Bunny has already come to our house, with many many jelly beans).

Friday was a day off for the boos and Dad (due to Good Friday and Flex Friday, respectively), so we went to Edwards Air Force Base to the museums there, which were not open the last time we tried. You can't get on that base without at least one person in your party having what Rocket Boy calls a "cack" card (I don't even know how to spell it), so I'm sure that'll be our last visit there.

Part of Edwards is actually NASA, and the NASA museum is very small, but they do have an extensive gift shop, plus a nice place to eat lunch. We bought some little things (emphasis on little, remember we're moving in a month) and ate lunch. We also looked at the planes they have on display outside, such as this lifting body.

Then we drove over to the Air Force part of the base and went to their museum, which is much bigger (though still not very big). It has some very attractive displays...

I liked this wall of aircraft, as did Baby A.

But pretty soon the boys got tired of it all and we drove back to Ridgecrest and dyed eggs -- and I don't have any photos of that activity because it's VERY MESSY. I brought the camera out and everything, but almost immediately my hands were covered with dye and that was the end of that.

Today (Saturday, that is) we decided to go for a hike. In the morning the boos were being JUST AWFUL, so we took them to the park... I know that sounds like we're rewarding them for being awful, but we really all needed to get out of the house.

Then we went home for lunch, which they wouldn't eat, and after lunch they continued to be awful, running away down the street when I told them not to leave our property, making messes with water in the bathroom and the backyard, taking all the blankets and pillows off their bed and piling them in the hallway, and laughing every time I scolded them. We thought maybe some of the naughtiness had to do with Easter coming, and some of it might be nervousness about the upcoming move, which we keep discussing the logistics of, and some of it I don't know... maybe just spring, the sap running in the veins and all that?

Finally we packed up and drove to Short Canyon, which is quite nearby, just past the intersection of Highways 14 and 395. The road from the highway is rough and hard to follow, and the first part of the trail is steep. But once you get over the hump you're in a delightful place.

It was very dry and there were very few wildflowers, but we did see some. It might be a bit early, though this is clearly not going to be a good year. We saw Indian paintbrush, thistle, apricot mallow...

and I think this is Brittlebush:

After 30 or 40 minutes I decided to turn back. Baby B wanted to go with me, but Baby A wanted to keep hiking with Dad. So I handed over the camera and later was rewarded with shots like this one:

which I was glad I had not experienced in person!

Baby B and I had to wait for the others for over an hour, but we had water and snacks, and it wasn't a terribly hot day, so we coped.

Once we were all reunited, we drove back to the highway and continued up 395 to Pearsonville Park, where we had a barbecue (veggie burgers, marinated vegetables on skewers, chips, olives, hard-boiled eggs).

I can't tell you how much better behaved and generally more pleasant to be around the twins were in both these settings (canyon and park). I think little kids are meant to be out in nature, not cooped up in houses and small yards. Ours certainly respond to it with joy.

The Long Goodbye

We're very conscious that the goodbyes have started. We have FIVE weekends left in Ridgecrest (after this one). What do we want to do, where do we want to go, while there's still time? At least one, possibly two of those weekends we'll go to Los Angeles to say goodbye to family and friends there. The last weekend we probably won't go much of anywhere, we'll just be packing.  One weekend includes Easter. One is the Ridgecrest Wildflower Festival. There's just no time left. It's hard to comprehend.

Rocket Boy and I keep asking each other: what do you want to do? What do you want to see one last time? Yesterday we decided to go to the Desert Tortoise Natural Area near California City. We've gone there a couple times each year we've been here. Yesterday may have been our last visit -- ever? What are the chances we would go there again if we came back here on a visit? Questions like that one make me shiver.

It was a lovely day for a visit -- warm, but not hot, and not windy. Unfortunately, the DTNA looks as though it didn't get any rain at all this year. We went on the Plant Loop Trail first, and Rocket Boy had the idea of photographing the plants that have numbers next to them and saving our copy of the trail brochure, so that we could study and finally memorize the names of important desert shrubs. (Why we need to do this now, when we are leaving the desert, is not clear.) It didn't occur to us that this early in the season, especially with no rain, the plants would look very much alike. Here's Baby A with a creosote bush (the only bush we ALWAYS recognize):

Here's a cheesebush, the only plants that were showing much green:

This is an Anderson's thornbush:

 

This is a burrobush:

 
And here are the twins with a paperbag bush:

You get the idea. Dry spiky bush after dry spiky bush. I don't think we're going to learn much from studying these photos.

From the choice of photos you may be assuming that we did not see any tortoises on this trip... and you would be right, although the naturalist said someone saw one the day before on the Animal Loop Trail. Rocket Boy sneaked off the trails and with his GPS located the spots where he found tortoises last year, but no dice. No tortoises, that is. Well, it is early. Our own backyard tortoise is just barely up.

We had a bit of excitement on the trip, because the twins ran ahead of us on the plant trail and then back down the main trail to the kiosk area. "I'll go get them," Rocket Boy said. "You go on ahead." So I started down the animal trail. After a bit, Rocket Boy caught up to me -- with Baby B. Baby A had wanted to stay by the car. "You mean he's all by himself?" I asked. "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?"

You have to understand, though -- this is a big flat open space with hardly any people in it. The nice friendly naturalist was near the parking lot. It was very UNLIKELY that anything would happen to Baby A, despite being separated from his family and only five years old. But it was very LIKELY that he would suddenly start freaking out. And by this time we were halfway along the animal trail, a long way from the car. I hurried Baby B as much as I could, but it was still probably 15-20 minutes before we met up with Baby A again. He was walking toward us on the main trail, holding the hand of an older woman who we'd seen on the trail earlier. "He got scared and was running in the opposite direction from the trails," she explained, as they neared us. "I was afraid he might meet up with a Mojave Green (rattlesnake) or just get lost, so I went and got him."

"Thank you very much," I said to the woman, about eleven times, as Baby A's hand was transferred to mine. There were many other things I wanted to say, such as, "I'm not usually this bad of a mother," and "It was all my husband's fault," but I supposed she wouldn't believe me.

"You know, we can't ever do that (i.e., leave one of them all alone in a wild place) in Colorado, because of the mountain lions," I said to Rocket Boy, as we drove away. And he agreed.

Today we had the "what do you want to see one last time?" conversation again, and after much debate ended up going to the Kern River Preserve, where we have only been a few times and always meant to go more often.

It's not a long drive, a little less than an hour, and on the way there we stopped at the Onyx Store, which I had always wanted to stop at. Nothing special, but they had an interesting collection of used cookbooks for sale, plus lots of unusual candies and snacks. We bought some snacks and headed on to the preserve. At the preserve we had a small snack-picnic and then visited the Visitor Center (above), which was unstaffed but open.

The preserve was pretty deserted, but we did meet some people who were visiting from Portland, Oregon, and gave them advice on where to camp in the area. Afterwards, Rocket Boy said to me, "I don't suppose we could fit a camping trip into one of our last weekends," and I said, "No, I don't think so."

Then we went for a hike... well, more of a stroll, really. But it was a trail, so maybe that counts as a hike.

When we came here a couple of years ago, the boos were too small to walk very far, and we ended up turning back after maybe a quarter of a mile -- if that. This time we did the whole main trail, and were tempted to take one or the other of the two trails branching off from it too. Nobody ran far away from anybody, perhaps chastened by the experience of the day before. Lovely day -- warm but not hot, not windy. It seemed very quiet in the preserve, not even many birds. I suppose it's still a bit early in the season.

"I wish we'd come here more often," Rocket Boy said, and I agreed. But the time for that is over now. The Kern River Preserve will belong to its other visitors and we'll have nice places to go in Colorado.

Hiking near Trona

A group that Rocket Boy belongs to had planned a day hike in the hills near Trona for Saturday, so we decided to go along. Of course, the group was meeting at 7:30 am, and we live half an hour away. At 7 am on a Saturday we... aren't up yet, to say the least.

Long story short, we got there somewhat late, as in hours late. But we figured we'd meet up with the group eventually.

We took the Trona Road past Trona. About a quarter mile past the turnoff to the golf course we turned at this sign,

and headed up that little wiggly white line of a road into the hills. We were headed toward Great Falls, where they used to get water for the Trona plant.

After some looking around we found an open area with some parked cars, and Great Falls itself, so we figured the trail was somewhere near there. Fortunately we also found a nice woman who had stayed behind, and she was able to point us in the direction of the trail. She told us that it was too much for her now, but in the old days it would take her about 40 minutes to get to the top, after which it gets easier.

Here we are, ready to start hiking.

And here we are on the only part of the trail that looked like a trail.

Most of the trail was just a rocky path, so narrow that we could barely squeeze past the cacti. In some cases we couldn't even do that. Baby B put his hand on a cactus at one point and I had to tweeze the spines out. Later that night we discovered that Baby A had spines in his hand too, that he hadn't told us about. Cactus spines are a real pain to get out of little hands.

When the hike was over, I looked back up the hill at the trail and couldn't see it. It just disappeared into the side of the hill.

On and on it went, on and on we climbed.

Finally, after almost exactly 40 minutes, we reached the top, and went over, and then it did get easier. We walked a ways further without seeing anyone. Of course, the rest of the group was hours ahead of us. But supposedly they were going to stop somewhere and dig for crystals. Rocket Boy decided that the best plan was to leave me and the kids in a sheltered area, since we were tired, and then he would go look for the rest of the group.

This is where he left us.

It was OK. There was a shaded area where we could crouch against the rocks and eat the snacks we'd brought. And there were little areas nearby to explore, with lots of wildflowers just getting started. This little carpet of flowers will probably be beautiful in a week or two:

But he was gone a long time. Over an hour. And that gave me plenty of time to think about something really creepy that I had recently read, about a group of German tourists who got lost in Death Valley in 1996 and whose remains were finally tracked down in 2009. It's here if you'd like to be totally creeped out too: http://www.otherhand.org/home-page/search-and-rescue/the-hunt-for-the-death-valley-germans/

Now granted, we were about 45 minutes from our car, which was about 15 minutes from the Trona Road. And a bunch of other people were on the trail too. And it's March, not July, and we were in the Searles Valley, not Death Valley, etc., etc., etc. We were not in danger. But we were in the desert and it felt really remote, and I could not stop thinking about the German mother and what she must have felt, dying in the desert with her four-year-old son. Seriously disturbing.

So when Rocket Boy returned I was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Fortunately, he didn't want to stay much longer. He had found the other folks and they were ready to pack up and go, not having found many crystals. We packed up too and headed back down the trail, which was even harder to go down than it had been to go up. Rocket Boy was very sweet and patient with me, letting me hold on to the back of his pack as we crawled down the trail (the twins ran on ahead). "It's like old times," he said cheerfully.

Here we're looking down from the trail to where the cars are parked, and if you look closely you can see a little spot of blue and green about halfway down which is the twins (they ran on ahead).

When we finally made it down, we drove back to Trona and had a late lunch/dinner at Esparza's.

And then we drove back to Ridgecrest where we found a very happy surprise: our other tortoise was sticking his nose out of his burrow for the first time this year. I pulled him all the way out and kissed him, which I'm sure he didn't appreciate, and then put him down next to some little green weeds growing in his pen. He was not ready to eat anything yet, too sleepy. But he was very much alive.

Life in the desert. Gotta love it.

It's a Small, Small, Small, Small World

We are back, as of yesterday, from our big birthday trip to Disneyland, courtesy of Aunt Nonny. And what a trip it was. Last Sunday, the day after their birthday, we (Rocket Boy stayed home to have a little peace and quiet) drove 160 miles from Ridgecrest to the Disneyland Hotel. We gave my car to valet parking and went to check in.

Nonny and I both remember the Disneyland Hotel from our extreme youth. NOT that we ever stayed in it, of course. Our parents took us to Disneyland twice, in 1967 and 1969, but we stayed in lesser hotels. Still, the Disneyland Hotel sticks in our memories because there was an elevated, enclosed walkway leading from the hotel to the Monorail. Being able to take a walkway from one's hotel to the Monorail seemed like heaven to us.

It's all different now, of course. No more elevated walkway to the Monorail. But it's still a nice hotel. It consists of three large buildings, referred to as "towers," around a huge swimming pool complex. We stayed in the Adventure Tower.

The Adventure Tower had SIX elevators, much to Baby B's astonishment and joy. Four hotel guest elevators and two service elevators. He was in heaven. Nonny had a small room on the 9th floor with a view of the pools, and we had a larger room on the 4th floor facing Downtown Disney. The room was large and comfortable, outstanding for sharing with the kids.

One of my favorite things was that wall panel behind the beds. The "fireworks" in the picture lit up when you flipped a switch, making a great nightlight. I also liked the tiny reading spotlights on the far side of each bed. I could turn my light on and not bother the twins.

The first thing we did after checking in was to go swimming. And honestly, the kids probably would have been happy to spend the whole vacation in the pools. They loved them, especially the Monorail Water Slide.

But we were there to see Disneyland, so after an hour in the water we dried off, got dressed, and ate a quick dinner at the restaurant by the pool. Then it was off to Disneyland, via the Monorail. The twins found the Monorail very exciting. When we got off, they raced off toward the exit, and Baby A managed to bang into either the gate or the railing -- we were never sure -- resulting in a nasty cut under his eye. So our first stop in Disneyland was a bathroom, then a gift shop where Nonny bought the boys Buzz Lightyear Star Command Blasters, and then the First Aid station.

We got a lot of attention at the First Aid station. The nurses cleaned the cut and put a bandaid on it, which Baby A immediately removed. Meanwhile, both boys kept shooting off their Buzz Lightyear Star Command Blasters. Then the nurses told us we really ought to go to Urgent Care or the hospital and have some glue put on the cut. I thought of my car, tucked away in valet parking. "Could we walk to Urgent Care?" I asked, but no. Fortunately Nonny is a nurse too, and she didn't think the cut needed any glue

After all that drama, we had ice cream and waited for the fireworks to begin. The fireworks were spectacular! And we soon learned that they are spectacular every night! (We watched them from our hotel room the next two nights.)

Both Monday and Tuesday we had a room service breakfast and then headed for the park. By early afternoon each day the boys were wiped out, so we returned to the hotel and rested, and then went in the pools. On Monday after swimming both boys fell asleep in the room watching TV, so Nonny went to Disneyland by herself in the evening. On Tuesday I managed to get them to go back to the park for dinner and the parade.

Both boys enjoyed every ride they went on. Baby A's favorite ride was Pirates of the Caribbean. Baby B's favorite ride was It's A Small World.

We also enjoyed the Spinning Teacups.

On our first night I spotted this rocket ride and we finally rode it on Tuesday morning.

I found it terrifying and spent the whole 90 seconds or whatever it took wishing that it would end. I just don't like fast rides. Boos were not fazed by it, however.

Soon it was time to go on It's A Small World again.

The longest line we waited in was for the Storybook Canal Boats.

A close second was the Buzz Lightyear ride.

Unless I'm forgetting something, I think this was my 5th trip to Disneyland. There were the two visits when I was a kid. More recently, Rocket Boy and I stopped off at Disneyland on our honeymoon, ten years ago. We just went in the park for an evening, were horrified by the crowds, and went on (I think) one ride. $50 apiece for one ride. This is why RB didn't want to come along this time.

But Nonny and I went to Disneyland together at least one other time, when we were in our 20s. She was about to start nursing school at UCLA and I drove down from the Bay Area to see her. The Disneyland part of the visit was not very successful. She wanted to go on scary fast rides like Space Mountain. (I kept my eyes closed the entire time, praying it would end.) I wanted to go on silly rides like Mr. Toad's Wild Ride (which she hated). We both remember her saying to me, angrily, "This is the happiest place in the world!" For us, at that moment, it wasn't.

I knew this visit would be different. For one thing, we've learned our lesson: we don't like to do the same things at Disneyland! But more importantly, this visit was for the twins. Nonny had some things she wanted to do in the park, and she went off and did them by herself (Space Mountain, Splash Mountain). My favorite ride in the park is the Haunted Mansion, so I did that by myself. But the rest of the time we focused on making sure the twins had a good experience.

Thus, the main things I did at Disneyland, this visit, were (1) go to the bathroom (I think we must have gone to every one in the park); and (2) ride It's A Small World.

Tuesday evening we had dinner at the Mexican restaurant in Frontierland. Boos did not want to eat bean and cheese burritos, so a woman working there suggested I run over to the Coke place on Main Street and bring back some hot dogs for them, which I did. I loved the fact that none of the restaurants in the park are in competition with each other. And they have such good food! I had delicious vegetarian sandwiches both Monday and Tuesday for lunch, and fish tacos Tuesday night.

After dinner we ate popcorn by the lake and watched the big ship go by.

Pretty soon it was time to go on It's A Small World again.

But you know, it's OK. Baby B just loved that ride, and Baby A enjoyed it too. They've been singing the song around the house ever since we got home, except they don't sing it right. They just sing "It's A Small World After All" over and over again at the top of their lungs.

Finally it was time for our last trip on the Monorail...

...and that was it for Disneyland -- our 3-day passes had expired. Never even got near California Adventure, though Nonny went by herself Monday night.

But the next morning we had one more treat -- breakfast at Goofy's Kitchen. It's a buffet, and that's a little complicated when you're Baby A and have to be cajoled to eat ANYTHING for breakfast. I think he had two bites of a piece of pizza and some juice. But Baby B ate two pieces of pizza and a Mickey Mouse waffle, and they were pleased to receive birthday cupcakes and badges.

We were also visited by numerous "characters," most of whom frightened the boos. All around us, families were having their picture taken with Captain Hook and Goofy and a princess, while we cowered in our seats. Baby B did interact just a little bit with this nice baboon, who I think is called Rafiki, so that was fun.

After breakfast we packed up, Nonny caught the shuttle to the airport, and we drove back to Ridgecrest to see Dad and reunite with all the joys of dentist appointments and moving plans. I think I like the Magic Kingdom better!

Happy Birthday

And it truly was a happy birthday, even though things worked out rather strangely. We had planned a party at John's Pizza and invited 17 of their little friends from daycare/preschool: their entire class plus four special friends from the other class. Lots of other people were having parties there today too, but the 11-12:30 slot was still available, so we took that one.

After picking up the cake at the grocery store at 10, we arrived at John's around 10:45. We discovered that they don't even open until 11.

Another little boy waited with us. Turned out he was a guest at the other party scheduled for the same time as ours.

They let us in a few minutes early and we found our tables all ready for us.

We had another table besides the one you can see here. We didn't even use this table at all, just the other one. The tables in the back were for the other party. That party actually had some guests. For the first 40 minutes of our time slot, we had no guests at all. So we played air hockey...

and rode on the little car and the little horse...

and FINALLY one little boy guest showed up, followed by two little girl guests. I never was so happy to see anyone in my life as that first guest and his mom. We had hoped that some other kids would come, even though they hadn't RSVP-ed, but no one else did. Three out of 17. So weird.

We had to hurry up and have the party, because they were going to kick us out promptly at 12:30. We had ordered three pizzas (cheese, pepperoni, and veggie) and pitchers of lemonade, iced tea, and water. There was rather a lot of everything left over. The cake didn't taste very good, but it was certainly impressive.

All that cake for five little children, one of whom was allergic to it. The mom told me about the allergy, but I didn't put two and two together, so I didn't bring a different dessert for her. Fortunately our waitress found her some cherry cobbler.

And then we opened presents, and boos loved everything they got -- Legos and cars.

The other children and their parents decided to stay a little longer to play in the game room, but Baby A and Baby B wanted to go home and play with their new toys. So we did that. And had leftover pizza for dinner.

And then, after dinner, it was time to drive out to the Inyokern Airport to pick up Aunt Nonny, and was that ever a thrill for the boos. And tomorrow Nonny and I are taking the boos to Disneyland. So it's all good, all fun.

But three out of 17. It just blows my mind. Thank goodness the kids are too young to understand or care.