Walked the beach and saw baby sea turtles struggling. Also, so a sea snake wiggling its way back to sea. Unfortunately, also so a few dead puffer fish. These were all firsts.
Had delicious home cooked and restaurant food (though we had one rather not-good restaurant meal). Met new and old friends.
Finally got to play in the Pacific Ocean!
You will notice in the video that I am obsessed with the birds flying by Pam's condo. 😊
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| View from Bud's backyard. |
For my birthday we went to a new (6 months) restaurant, Ash and Vine. It is housed in a bungalow on La Plaza. The food and service were special.
Our first hiking adventure was to Anza-Borrega State Park, California's largest state park and about 1 1/2 hrs south of Palm Springs. The park is west of the Salton Sea.
Our destination was Maidenhair Falls Trail which starts at Hellhole Canyon Trailhead. We had like 3 different map apps which all had different trailhead locations. So you know, the trailhead is just out of the town of Borrego Springs (it isn't 3 miles out or 6 miles out).
Before you get to Borrego Springs, the drive takes you through the Badlands which is reminiscent of the South Dakota Badlands and worth the photo-op.
The trail to Maidenhair Falls is well marked for the most part until you get closer to the falls then you end up scrambling over boulders and around cacti but nothing too strenuous. But the "falls" -- oh boy. With all the recent rains, I was hoping for water falls though the name gives away the supposed real attraction - maidenhair ferns. There wasn't much of either - water or ferns. 😆In fact, you have to nearly crawl under overbrush to get to the cliff face (and Bud opted not to).
The hike to the "falls" and back is 5 miles or so. We enjoyed perfect temps and I am always amazed that there are oases with palm and deciduous trees. It was also very green for being in a desert.
On the return drive to Palm Springs, we saw a hot air balloon that really looked like it was going to land on the highway or possibly a parking lot. For the longest time it was just stationary in the sky and not very high up. As we got closer, the igniters were turned on to try to get some elevation but didn't seem to work. No idea where it finally landed.
For another birthday dinner, we went to The Purple Room, a supposed rat pack hangout. It was very old school, very entertaining, and very Palm Spring.
On my departure day, we went to the popular Murray Canyon on the Agua Caliente Reservation. The palm trees are crazy tall. We took the Victor Loop that goes up above the canyon for dramatic views of Palm Springs and the surrounding mountains. Along this trail, we did encounter a big horn sheep.
It was rainier and stormier than usual but not so much that it interfered with our adventures. I got in two runs and Jenny swam every morning except one.
Bud did two dives. I joined on one of the dives to snorkel. It was fun to watch the divers from up above and I got to see a Spotted Eagle Ray AND a nurse shark....that is my first shark!
This year we also so a very large sea turtle right at the hotel and a very bizarre fish called a Flying Gurnard!
We ate at the usual restaurants - Guido's, Casa Denis, the beautiful Mision, and Palmera. We tried a new spot, Ohana, which is known for deep dish pizza and peanut butter tequila!
Jenny and I snorkeled A LOT! The video of our underwater adventures is here (warning it is 20 minutes long but very relaxing).
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| Sea Turtle |
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| Flying Gurnard |
The condo is north of the huge metropolitan center of Mazatlán and directly on the beach (Pacific Ocean).
We did a lot of shopping 😳 And if you know me, I'm not one for shopping. It was Thanksgiving week so there was grocery shopping - we were to bring sweet potatoes to the meal, and decor shopping for the condo - very long walls in need of art or something. We went to several decor and Mexican art shops.
One highlight for me was the day I saw whales far out in the ocean. While staring out at the ocean, I saw some disturbance in the water. I grabbed the binoculars and was very, very lucky to catch a whale tail, aka fluke! It was very far out but definitely a fluke. It looked like maybe 3 whales all together as they swam even further away.
I loved watching the birds fly by. The condo is on the 15th floor of a 16-story building. Often, the birds would soar right at the balcony level.
Here again is the link to the video.
The super full beaver moon did not disappoint. There were some clouds but they only added to the effect. The "beaver" designation is from indigenous people describing this season's full moon used by beavers to finalize their lodges for the winter.
On Thursday we hiked the Daniels Lake Trail from Clearwater Lodge to enter the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. We made it to the BWCA after all!
The trail starts off very wet and marshy but becomes clear and dry and arrives at Daniels Lake in about 2 miles. We saw LOTS of moose tracks but no moose ☹️
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| Daniels Lake |
We went into Grand Marais on Friday for some shopping and lunch. All this time, Maggie enjoyed exploring the cabin and its famous "catwalk."
Dave, a Gust Lake neighbor, introduced a very friendly fox to us before he left for the winter.
We all enjoyed the wood-burning stove (which kept the cabin very cozy). We ate well, played cards, and read books. It was a lovely break from the city.
We drove up to Detroit Lakes on Sunday. It was grey and rainy.
The camping portion of the trip was at a HipCamp site called Tumbleweed Base Camp just outside of Detroit Lakes and adjacent to Detroit Mountain Recreation Area.
To get our bearings, we drove into Detroit Lakes to check out the first of Danish recycling artist Thomas Dambo's trolls, Alexa's Elixir, in downtown next to the lake.
Full disclosure, I cheated by looking up the location of all the trolls. If you want to follow the clues to discover each troll, don't worry, I won't divulge where each one is.
Tumblweed Base Camp has a nice setup (we really appreciated having a heater in the tent) but wasn't conducive to making our own meals, so we ate dinner in town. We did fix breakfast Monday morning before heading out on our biking adventure.
Monday was a beautiful day for biking. After purchasing a pair of gloves (Bud) and bike shorts (Jeff), we got started around 10:00am.
We started back at Alexa and used GPS to get around. It was fun to cycle then walk around each park where each troll was located. A kind of surprising find was that this part of Minnesota had rolling hills and even a ski hill (mountain??).
I had mapped out riding to each troll. The farthest we had to go was about 10 miles to Frazee. We were on dedicated bike paths most of the time (big shout out to "rails to trails").
Thank goodness for The Monarch Coffee House in Frazee. They were open on Monday and serving a hearty lunch.
We saw lots of swans...an unexpected and delightful surprise. The fall colors were nice but not dramatic. The art park, Ortenstone Gardens and Sculpture Park, is a fantastic addition. Be sure to go behind Barefoot Frida to be amazed.
We made it to all the trolls by bike except the last one. It was getting late and it turned out the last troll was near our campsite. The timing was perfect as we got to see the setting sun from the highest point in the area. We ended up biking over 26 miles.
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| Tumblewood Base Camp teepee |
We took a scenic route back to Minneapolis. Click here to watch the trip video.
Noel Coward's Fallen Angels at American Players Theatre. Rain showers but we were kept dry by the back row overhang. Magical bubbles at curtain call.
Drive home through Wisconsin and then along Mississippi River.
