Succulents and More™

I just received the following information from my buddy Sean at Mad Man Bamboo and Bamboo Geek and would like to pass it on to all my readers in Northern California: My name is Sean and I am the blogger behind the bamboo-obsessed blog Bamboo Geek which I have written since 2007. I also own Mad Man Bamboo Nursery in Rocklin. As a garden geek that loves his plant sales, I find that the Sacramento area has a few good ones, but they are far and few. So, taking matters in my own hands, I am partnering with Jennifer Kahl, who owns The Secret Garden in Elk Grove to organize a Autumn Garden Faire and Plant Sale. Our focus is to feature small niche and unique plant growers and local crafters and create a nice event that plant geeks like me and many others in the Sacramento area crave. The event is free to the public and will be held on Saturday, September 15, 2012 from 9 am to 3 pm at The Secret Garden located at 8450 West Stockton Boulevard, Elk Grove, CA 95758 . Jennifer and I would bo...

Here is an index to all of my posts from our Southwest trip this summer. This will make it easier to access a specific post.

This is the last post from our two-week trip through the Southwest. It’s short because we tried to get home as quickly as possible—and frankly, there isn’t much to see in eastern and central Nevada, at least not along the I-80 corridor. We left Moab, UT after a great breakfast at Eklecticafé . Highly recommended for tasty and more wholesome fare than what many restaurants offer. We stopped briefly at the Arches National Park visitor center so my kids could get their National Park Passports stamped and I snapped one last photo of red rock country: Last photo taken in Arches National Park. Yes, the sky really was that blue. Usually I look forward to returning home from vacation, but this time I didn’t want to leave. Writing this, I really do feel a bit depressed.

After our rafting adventure on the Colorado River we didn’t have much time left to visit the national parks near Moab— Arches and Canyonlands —as well as Dead Horse Point State Park which offers fantastic views of the Colorado River (and was the location of the unforgettable final scene in Thelma & Louise , one of my all-time favorite movies). We decided to do a short tour of Arches National Park since it’s the closest to Moab and it was already past 6pm when we set out. It was actually drizzling when we left Moab and the cloud cover looked to be fairly dense. However, by 7pm the clouds began to break up and pretty soon the sky looked quite dramatic.    

My original idea for the day had been to visit Arches and Canyonlands National Park right outside of Moab. But I realized that my family wasn’t as enthused as I was about visiting yet another couple of parks dedicated to rocks so I suggested we go rafting on the Colorado River instead. It took zero arm-twisting to convince them. Fortunately, we found an outfitter that still had four openings on such short notice.  

Today we visited Mesa Verde National Park located in far southwestern Colorado. There are more than 4,400 archeological sites and over 600 cliff dwellings in the park—more than anywhere else in the country. To recognize the uniqueness of Mesa Verde, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) made Mesa Verde a World Heritage Site in 1978. After you enter the park, the road starts to climb until you reach Park Point Overlook at 8,572 ft. Even after walking a relatively short distance to the fire lookout at the top, I noticed how thin the air was. Park Point Overlook (8,572 ft.) We had tickets for the 11:00 am tour of Cliff Palace, the largest and best known cliff dwelling in Mesa Verde. We had been warned that due to road construction the drive from Cortez where we spent the night could take an hour and a half, but it being Sunday there was no road work and light traffic so we arrived way early. This gave us a extra time to admire Cliff Palace ...

The first stop of the day before leaving Window Rock was to see the rock formation for which the capital of the Navajo Nation is named. I was astounded by how perfectly round the opening in the rock was; I expected more of an arch. In the Navajo language it is called “Tségháhoodzání,” which means “rock with hole through it.” Window Rock in the capital of the Navajo Nation Speaking of the Navajo language (called “Diné bizaad” in Navajo), it is still spoken by 120,000 people. In fact, during our stay in the Navajo Nation I overheard quite a few people speaking to each other in Navajo. There is also an all-Navajo AM radio station, KTNN, which we listened to yesterday our our way to Canyon de Chelly . They even played country music in Navajo. The Navajo language played a central role during World War II. Navajos were recruited by the U.S. Marine Corps to create a Navajo code to be used in the Pacific theater. Thanks to their efforts, the U.S. was able to take Iwo Jima and other isl...

On my first grand tour of the Southwest, 19 years ago, I visited a place so magical that it has occupied an almost mythical place in my memories ever since. Today we went back, and I’m happy to report that the reality more than matched my recollections. Tunnel Overlook, our first glimpse of Canyon de Chelly This place is Canyon de Chelly National Monument in the far northeastern corner of Arizona. It is located in the Navajo Nation , a semi-autonomous territory which encompasses 27,000 square miles (larger than the state of West Virginia and approximately the size of Ireland). Most of the Navajo Nation is in northern Arizona but it spills across state lines into New Mexico and Utah. 26-mile Canyon de Chelly (pronounced “d’SHAY”) consists of the main canyon as well as several side canyons, including Canyon de Muerto and Monument Canyon. It has been inhabited for almost 5,000 years. The canyon floor is still dotted with small farms where Navajos grow alfalfa, corn and other crop...

Today destination was Acoma Pueblo , about an hour west of Albuquerque. The Acoma people (pronounced “ACK-uh-mah”) have lived in this area since the early 9th century. Also known as “Sky City,” Acoma Pueblo is located on top of an isolated 365 ft. mesa that provided perfection protection for its inhabitants. Until the 20th century, the only access was via a steep footpath; now a paved road allows automobile access to residents and the small vans used for tours. View of Acoma Pueblo from the Sky City Cultural Center

Today was all about visiting historic churches and buildings in northern New Mexico. In the morning we took the High Road to Taos which crosses the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and winds through a number of small Spanish villages. Our first stop was in Chimayó whose main attraction is the Santuario, a Catholic church often called the “Lourdes of America” because it attracts scores of faithful who believe in its healing properties. Check out this Wikipedia article for the whole (hi)story. Santuario de Chimayó