Living Desert

I can walk again, which is a great feeling.  Sometimes you don’t know how good you’ve got it until it’s gone, and I definitely was not appreciative enough of being able to move my lower body without excruciating pain.  Lesson learned. 

The Grand Canyon was 110% worth the hobbling around.  In fact, if I had to rank my travel experiences so far I would say Super Weird Spa #1 and Grand Canyon #2.   I will be going back to both, no question about it.

I'm currently at the San Diego airport and have a good 36 hours of travel in front of me.  That might be an exaggeration, but I’ve been away from work long enough that my quantification skills are rusty.  

There is a reason for such a long period of travelling, but it is kind of disappointing.  Essentially, I will do just about anything for frequent flier miles (including allowing myself to be employed).  With a balance of 3,000 miles on my round the world ticket left…I had to fly them.  I left this planning to the very last minute and, between the severe restrictions on RTW tickets and the number of miles, my options were seriously limited. That’s when my smart sister came in for assistance – she is a much better planner than I am, and it’s not just because she’s an accountant.  It is because I have no talent for planning.

Accountants know their rules and so Betsy immediately consulted my astrological map to determine where I should go.  To our dismay, she discovered that the #1 spot for my cosmic soul to be at peace is Pakistan, and I couldn’t get there with only 3,000 miles.  This was a real let down. 

There were several other really bad options and it became clear that although the planets are aligned for 2011 to be the year of Christy Mommsen, I apparently drew the short straw when it comes to livable geographies.  And when I say I drew a short straw, I mean that the only good spot for me to be at peace within my mile limit was Cleveland. 

Thankfully, my positive and optimistic sister was able to take a step back and summarize the situation with “you need to go East” which is very true.  According to my map, there are few places in the world more detrimental to my well being than Southern California  (Side note:  The prospect of spending an entire day waiting in So CA airports today makes me slightly uneasy.  My Venus and Jupiter are barking!  And don't get me started about Uranus.)

So I’m going to Miami and the Everglades.  I tried Charlotte and Raleigh-Durham but no dice.  It was my only option, and not a particularly convenient one with a series of flights from San Diego to LAX to Detroit to Miami.   But I am now officially in the running for Diamond status in 2011, and what could be more important than that?

I know you think this is the end of the story, when it has only just begun.  In fact, none of this has anything to do with the point of my tale today, which is about the Anza-Borrego desert. 

The Anza-Borrego National Park is the largest state park in the US of A.  It has like 500 miles of hiking trails and I think my father has finished 80% of them (give or take 36 miles).   It is the best desert hiking in the US and probably the world (I made that up).  So with that in our back yard, the Grand Canyon was only the beginning of the hiking we did this week.  Thankfully this meant we did not have to go golfing.  Instead, my dad took us on several great hikes (some better than others, but I’ll get to that).  


The first hike was with my favorite cousin Katy and her family which was super fun.  Here are some highlights from the visit:

  

Downhill was the best part.

Katy, me and my dad.  I think everyone reading this blog has either heard stories about Cousin Katy or met her.  And it is her birthday today!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATTTYYYYYYY!!!!!!  We always have fun and this was no exception.  Was a treat to be able to see her and her entire fam for TG!

Katy and Nathan having a laugh.

Sophia and Katy seriously engaged in coloring.

Then we got to go for a Family Fun Hike in Palm Canyon which is one of the most famous hikes in the park.  This was a neat one because it felt just like the 7 hour Grand Canyon hike, when in reality it was 3 miles round trip and we only gained about 500 feet.  And it took like 2 hours.  Sometimes family fun hikes are like that.  I will say that my nephew Nathan and niece Sophia were serious troopers and did a great job.  Auntie Chris was just a little ornery that day and it was Southern California’s fault.

My Mom and Dad waiting for us to catch up.  They did this for approximately 1 hour and 55 minutes.

Our fearless leaders!  They were total troopers and really enjoyed the hike.

I kind of wanted my dad to carry me over this part too.

We saw loads of big horn sheep which is really unusual (Borrego means big horn sheep in some other language).  Their eyes are yellow like crocodile eyes!

The final hike was really cool and also not what I would define as a hike.  Personally, I call activities where you have to pull yourself up with your arms a ‘climb’ and not a ‘hike’ but this is where the JW Mommsen definition of hiking and mine don’t match up.  It was a really fun climb though with some great views.

I'm wondering how I'm going to make it up there.

But I made it!

Pretty view from the top.

The Anza-Borrego park is really amazing and if you like hiking, a great stop.  Plus the sun shines all the time.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention a very special re-discovery I made while with my family.  It’s called 70’s music and I love it.  My sister and I have always had a soft spot for Hall and Oates and I am not ashamed to say that we even went to a concert as adults.   But I have a new found love of Donna Summers, Kenny Loggins and even Stevie Wonder.  Should anyone want my parent’s hot list of 70’s favorites, please let me know.   No party is complete without it.

I’m not sure what I’m going to do now to get myself through a whole day in Southern CA airports.  Let's just hope I avoid any and all astrological disasters.