My Town Monday: places to visit in New Mexico

We are well and truly back from our spontaneous whirlwind roadtrip from San Diego to Oklahoma. Whew, but that was a lot of behind-the-wheel time! Twenty hours each way! Still, we had lots of fun, and there's something very bonding about being stuck in a car for hours on end with three other family members.

Here's a shot of New Mexico from the car. A bit of a blur! I took quite a liking to this state and found several places I'd like to go back to visit.

For example, I'd like to spend some time in the ghost town of Shakespeare, New Mexico.

And I'd like to go stargazing in Gila, New Mexico.

I'd also like to revisit Carlsbad Caverns.

I leave you with a photo of a cup with a worthwhile message. I had my coffee in this cup at the breakfast buffet at our hotel in Deming, New Mexico.

Sorry for the late post. But I have a touch of the flu today, which I've been treating with long naps and ibuprofen. Hopefully, I will be back to my normal, energetic self tomorrow.


For links to more My Town Monday posts, please pop over to to the official My Town Monday blog.

My Town Monday: Oceanside Pier

At feet, 1954 feet, this is our longest wooden pier on the west coast. The Oceanside Pier is open 24 hours and offers a great stroll with views of the beach and surfers. In case you need to know, restrooms are located at the Pier's halfway mark. There's a nice little restaurant (Ruby's Diner, 760-433-7829) at the end.



The Oceanside Pier is located in.....Oceanside, CA (sometimes life is not full of surprises!). Oceanside is a North County community located 35 miles north of San Diego. It's fairly close to Legoland and the Wild Animal Park and Mission San Luis Rey.

You do not need a fishing license to cast off from the pier. The general consensus is that live bait works best, especially anchovies. Some fish you might catch: mackerel, croaker, halibut, sand bass and guitarfish. I gather it depends on where you stand on the Pier and what you use as bait.


A couple of things to watch out for:
1. There can be friction between surfers and fishermen. The old territorial thing.
2. Throw back undersized white sea bass. You want to be nice and give them a chance to grow up. Also, it's illegal to keep them, and there's a fine.


For more info about the Pier, call 760-722-1534. Oh, and an interesting book: Pier Fishing in California



Next Monday, I will be posting about a different fun pier that's NOT in San Diego because....I won't be in San Diego. How's that for a little cloak and dagger?

Please surf over (corny, but it kinda works!) to Travis Erwin's blog. He's our Fearless Leader for My Town Mondays. Along with his own MTM post, he'll have a list of participants.


Sources:
http://www.pierfishing.com/resources/?id=piers:oceanside_pier
http://www.sandiegocoastlife.com/attractions/san-diego-coast/piers-oceanside.html
http://www.beachcalifornia.com/oceansi1.html
www.nctimes.com/articles/2006/10/12/news/coastal/4_01_2710_11_06.txt

My Town Monday: Mr. Sandman

Aerial view of cul de sac

There is a little public street that runs off Silver Strand Blvd and leads to the beach close to the Hotel del Coronado. Avenida del Sol. There are a couple of reasons to be aware of this street.

First, it's a cul-de-sac that offers free parking with great beach access.

Second, you're likely to see sand art by our very own Coronado Sandman.

Yes, yes, that's some at the top of this post! With a broom and a dust pan and sand trekked off the beach to the street, Alberto Avilla AKA the Coronado Sandman creates. He claims his inspiration comes from an angel who speaks to him. If you catch him at work, don't hesitate to say hi. He's friendly and chatty. He dresses in a cap and old suit. He doesn't have a lot of teeth left, but he loves to design "sand formations" which is what he calls his art. He has received a few citations based on complaints by citizens.

Look for his art on the cul de sac and on the sidewalk leading to the Hotel del. Cars drives over it. People walk on it. The sand pictures are quite long lasting, though.

If you happen to visit the area on a day without art (or if you don't have plans to visit San Diego), you can keep an eye on the Coronado webcam. http://coronadowebcam.com/

Last week, Child #4 and I were meandering along Avenida del Sol, admiring the sand art. But I'd forgotten my camera.

Luckily, my psychic niece (who occasionally comments on this blog) still had the photos she'd taken on her last trip out to visit us. And she emailed them to me. Thanks, Stef! Here they are for your viewing pleasure!










Here's the man himself!

You can friend him on myspace.

And on facebook










Please pop over to Travis Erwin's blog. He's our Fearless Leader for My Town Mondays. Along with his own MTM post, he'll have a list of participants.



sources:
http://www.ecoronado.com/profiles/blogs/local-spotlight-the-coronado
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bundabergtim/1824355694/
http://www.eaglenewsca.com/articles/2008/07/10/news/news02.txt

My Town Monday: Palm Springs, CA

I was away yet again this weekend. I know, I know, it's becoming a disease; I fly the coop every Friday. Anyway, this weekend saw me, Child #3 and Child #4 in Palm Springs, CA for a swim meet.

I love Palm Springs, this desert city of about 43,000 people (depending on the time of year) that's surrounded on three sides by mountains. Palm Springs is about 130 miles northeast of San Diego. Almost every day is sunny. And many days are windy. Sonny Bono has been the most famous mayor.

There's quite a bit to do in Palm Springs. I didn't do any of it on this trip because I was pretty much trapped at the pool watching my darling children lunge off starting blocks and swim their little hearts out. All joking aside, this was Child #4's first big swim meet and she was awesome with her pink goggles and turquoise flip-flops. Plus, she really poured on the steam, her skinny eight-year-old arms and legs working overtime. A brave little girl, she even swam the butterfly!

Back to the topic at hand. A very popular attraction is the aerial tramway which zooms you up to the top of San Jacinto Peak (the highest spot in the San Jacinto Mountains which is the 3rd highest mountain range in the state) in about nine minutes. There's the botanical gardens and cactarium and shopping, golf, hiking, yummy eateries. How about some spa time? Personally, I'm up for the whole Head to Toe Indulge. Also, you can take a tour of a windmill farm.Palm Springs is windy. The winds blow west to east in the morning and east to west in the afternoon. There's enough wind that the windmill farm powers Palm Springs and then some. For about $65, you can take a three-hour coach ride to visit the San Andreas Fault. Then again, there's plain old R&R around the pool, with or without libations.

All of this is entertaining and exciting and enticing. Some of it I've done and some is still on my to-do list.

But here's what I REALLY want to do in Palm Springs...



The International Film Festival. Sigh. Unfortunately, I can never figure out a way to escape for a week in January. Despite the fact that I'd be an excellent Palm Springs International Film Festival blogger. I love artsy films. I'd write up all manner of reviews. Plus LA is only about 100 miles away. So, you know there'd be scads of famous actors milling about. I look so nice and normal and non-paparazzi, that I'd be a super successful star stalker (who doesn't skimp on alliteration!).

DH has zero interest in non-Bruce Willis-type movies and even less interest in star gazing. So, some of you people will have to join me instead. Maybe when my kids are a little older?

Now pop on over to to Travis Erwin's blog. He's our Fearless Leader for My Town Mondays. He'll have a MTM post up himself plus a list of links to other Mondayers. And, unlike myself, they'll all have posted in a timely fashion!

And if I haven't visited your blog recently, it's only because I'm way way over-extended. Not a lack of love. Not at all.

Sources: Palm Springs Bureau of Tourism, Wikipedia, Southpoint Travel Guide, Palm Springs Int'l Film Festival

My Town Monday: San Diego whale watching

Every year, about 26,000 gray whales migrate 10,000 miles from the arctic seas (Bering and Chukchi Seas) to the lagoons of Baja California. And guess which coastline these incredibly large mammals swim along? You got it! They pass by San Diego from the end of December until March. You can see them as they travel southbound from the feeding grounds or on their way back north after mating or calving. Mothers and calves hang close to the shore.

Gray whales usually travel in pods of two or three. They're pretty slow swimmers (about 6 miles per hour). They dive about 100 feet down for three to five minutes, then surface to blow. Gray whales grow to about 46 feet long (females are slightly longer. Ha!), 36 tons and live to the ripe old age of 55 years.

I don't know why, but I always like to know the length of gestation in various animals. So.....it's 12-13 months for the gray whale. Yikes. At birth, the calf weighs about 1200 pounds and is around 15 feet. More yikes. And the mother produces mile that's 53% fat. To put it all in perspective, human milk is 2% fat.

Courtship and mating usually takes place in the warm lagoons of Baja California, Mexico. It's very complicated and often involves more than three whales of mixed sexes! That's all I can say. This is not that type of blog!

Gray whales can be spotted from land, especially from Torrey Pines State Beach and Cabrillo National Monument on Point Loma. However, I generally encourage my visitors to shell out for a whale watching excursion. Not because I'm ready for a break from my hostess duties (although sometimes... Ha! Now everyone who has visited us (and there have been a gazillion of you!) is head-scratching and wondering if she/he was a pesky guest!! Hint: just bring a BIG gift)

Back to whale watching...It's super exciting to see these animals from a boat. Excursions cost $25-30 (adult) and last 2-3 hours. Here are some (maybe even all) the companies who will take you out (in alpha order, so I don't hurt anyone's feelings or get sued or whatever):

H&M Landing

Scripps Aquarium

Hornblower

And if you're adventurous to the max, you can kayak out to the whales ($55-$65) with Hike Bike Kayak San Diego

Do I personally go whale watching?

Capital N. Capital O.

I pratically get seasick in the bathtub. I survived one really horrendous two-hour bout of seasickness on a whale watching excurision. Never. Ever. Again. Ever. That said, I've never had a visitor get sick.



Please visit Travis Erwin, the guy who spearheads My Town Mondays. He'll have a list of links to other Mondayers.

You did notice and are duly appreciative that I avoided all tacky jokes dealing with such expressions as "a whale of a time."



Sources: http://sandiego.about.com/cs/familyfun/a/whale_watch.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gray_Whale
http://www.acsonline.org/factpack/graywhl.htm

MyTown Monday: Rural Oklahoma

(photo credit YPN--see Psychic Niece, I did credit you!)

This My Town Monday post comes to you all the way from rural Oklahoma where Child #4 and I are hanging with DH's side of the family. Then, on Thursday, I'll be on a panel with four other Class of 2k8ers at EncycloMedia in Oklahoma City ("the City" as they say here). Yikes! So not thinking about that right now. So not getting nervous yet.

Anyway, today I visited Mark, one of DH's best buds from high school. From waaay back when. And this friend and his wife have their very own meat processing business, out here in the country off Highway 270. This is Mark, holding up a steer's tail, which, when boiled, makes great oxtail soup.

Mondays and Thursdays are killing days. I took this photo of a bull yesterday, on Sunday. You can do the math from there. WEIRD TRIVIA: If you're ever planning to have a bull butchered, make sure it happens before he hooks up with a heifer or...the meat will taste funky. Either that or have your bull castrated at birth.

The animal comes in from the pen outside to this pen inside where it's shot in the head. The side of this pen lifts up and the body is rolled out, then strung up by its hind legs way up high on hooks. A barrel is placed under the body to catch the blood. MORE WEIRD TRIVIA: Some people ask the butcher to reserve a jar of blood, which, after it gels, they slice up for fish bait. (Sorry, no pic of the hook system; they weren't descended enough from the ceiling.)

Then the animal us unhooked and laid out on this rack for skinning.

Then, it's back up on the hooks to finish the skinning and take out the insides.

The meat cures in the freezer for a couple of weeks.

The meat is cut into steaks, roasts and ground. A steer (a castrated bull) with a live weight of 1200 pounds dresses out to a bunch of meat packets weighiing about 700 pounds. WEIRD TRIVIA: What we call tri tip in California, they call brisket here.

Here's a bunch of packaged meat in a freezer, waiting to be picked up.



I know there's a gross element to all this, but, honestly, even as a totally citified girl, I found this entire visit fascinating. And not just because I'm a sucker for weird trivia. No, it's because this guy figured out what was missing in his community, filled the void and is making a pretty decent living at it.

And isn't that what it's all about? Finding out where you fit in in life?

Please visit Travis Erwin, the guy who spearheads My Town Mondays. He'll have a list of links to other Mondayers.

My Town Monday: Del Mar Fair

First off, thanks to everyone who participated in last Thursday's Summer Recipe Round-Up. The recipes look scrumptious!

My Town Monday is devoted today to the Del Mar Fair. Which I guess is really the San Diego County Fair, but because it's located at the Del Mar Fairgrounds, many call it the Del Mar Fair.

Tidbits about our fair:

The Fair runs for 21 days, ending the weekend of July 4th. The Fair was born in 1880. In the 1930s, racetrack betting was used to help fund the Fair. That tradition continues today. During WWII, the Fairgrounds were used to train and house military personnel. And parts for the B17 Flying Fortress Bomber were manufactured here. In 1958, Raquel Tejada, a local woman was crowned Fairest of the Fair. She later changed her name to....RAQUEL WELCH!

More Fair Trivia:

Over 1,154,868 people visited the Fair this year. I stood in line with many of them.

All 41 kids who were lost at the Fair were reunited with their families. I managed to keep track of all my kids, even the Ever-Wandering-Always-Goes-Missing Child #3. I am deeply grateful to Verizon.

Several pairs of prescription glasses remain unclaimed. Hmmm....It would obviously be wise to get a back-up pair of glasses before I go to Canada this summer. Who's to say my one pair won't topple off the CN Tower or jump overboard from the ferry to Centre Island or slip off my nose and get smashed to smithereens on the subway tracks?

Some pictures from our Fair visit last week:

Naturally, a trip to the Fair is not complete without a trip down Cholesterol Lane. Yes, we tried deep-fried twinkies. We now have a shelf-life of 25 years.



I have a child up at the top. Negligent parenting?



Slightly more responsible parenting.



A big fat honking slab of fudge. A very photographed guy.



Little Miss Piggy who, the day following our visit, went to market via the livestock auction. No doubt she's arriving soon to our grocery store's meat section.



The San Diego County Fair. Ahhh. A good time was had by all.

Info for this post came from: http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2008/07/06/news/coastal/del_mar/ze7abf476c44c9c6d8825747e0081f4a5.txt,http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2008/07/01/news/coastal/del_mar/zd9862d68375062d68825747a000d764a.txt,http://www.sdfair.com/fair/index.php?fuseaction=fair.home

Thank you Travis Erwin for organizing My Town Monday. Please check out Travis's site for a post on some interesting Texas Panhandle flora and fauna trivia AND for the link to the other My Town Mondayers.

My Town Monday: Grunion Runs

It's summer. It's dark. It's late. The tide is high. You're on a San Diego beach with that someone special. A wave rolls in. It leaves. The sand is covered with thousands of squirming silvery fish.

It's time for....GRUNION HUNTING!

Grunion are slender fish, 5-6 inches long with a blue-green back and silver sides and belly. Grunion is an anglicized version of the Spanish word for grunter. Apparently, these fish squeak while spawning.

Anyway, grunion have pretty predictable sex lives. As in, scientists can figure out a year in advance when these fish will show up to spawn on Southern California shores. Between March and September, they (the grunions, not the scientists!) exit the water twice a month to deposit their eggs in the moist sand.

And while these fish are stranded and waiting for the the next wave to sweep them back out to sea, enter you, a Fearless Grunion Hunter. You can scoop up the fish with your bare hands and tote them home for a fry. Clean and scale the fish, then dredge (how's that for a cooking term?!) them in a mixture of flour + corn meal, then pop them into hot oil for deep-frying. A warning: grunion are bony.

All that said, I don't think I'll be munching on any grunion. I suspect I'm more of a GRUNION GREETER. (more on this below)

These San Diego beaches definitely have grunion runs: Del Mar, La Jolla, Mission Beach and the Coronado Strand.

If you're over 16 years old, you need a fishing license. You can't use any equipment, only your bare hands. And no digging holes. That's cheating. There's no limit to the amount of fish you can grab, but it's unlawful to waste fish.

Here's a list of times and dates for 2008 grunion runs. These times are for Cabrillo Beach at the LA Harbor; San Diego beaches are 5 minutes earlier.

Here are a few hints: Bring a flashlight and some sort of bag to carry your catch. Wear a warm jacket. The best runs are usually on the 2nd and 3rd nights. The 2nd hour of each night is usually better. The grunions' peak spawning season is April and May. And there's no grunion hunting during these months.

You can write for a current schedule: GRUNION, California Department of Fish and Game, Marine Region, 4665 Lampson Ave. Suite C, Los Alamitos, CA 90720

In looking up info for this post, I noticed Scripps Aquarium is organizing a run (not that you have to go as part of an organized group) for June 4 at 9:30 PM - 11:30 PM.

I think I'd make an excellent GRUNION GREETER. These are people who are in charge of watching a small stretch of beach, then reporting on the habits of the grunion. Grunion greeters encourage "catch and release" or plain old observation.

Ya gotta love SoCal! So many fun things to do!

Happy Memorial Day to all!

My Town Monday comes to us via Travis Erwin. Thanks, Travis! Click on his site to read his post about Amarillo, TX. AND to find links to the other participants.

(Info from: http://sandiego.about.com/od/outdoorrecreation/a/grunions.htm
http://entertainment.signonsandiego.com/events/grunion-run-birch-aquarium-scripps/
http://arachnid.pepperdine.edu/grunion/ggproject.htm)