At about 9:30 p.m., Petaluma firefighters responded to a structure fire at the Downtown River Apartments located at 35 E. Washington St., police said.

The fire occurred inside an apartment at an 81-unit equal housing opportunity complex run by Eden Housing.

Fire crews contacted police to assist in the investigation.

According to the police investigation, the apartment fire occurred while the 15-year-old Petaluma boy attempted to heat the dried marijuana to extract oil for the production of hash.

A small fire was ignited inside the apartment and the juvenile suffered burns to his face and arm, police said.

He was transported to the Petaluma Valley Hospital for treatment of his burns, according to police.

The boy was issued a citation to appear in juvenile court for manufacturing hash oil, police said.

The apartment had minor fire damage and significant water damage, according to police.

(Copyright 2013 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

Bobby Brackins, Royalty, Furious, Tino Cochino, The Juxtones, Authentic

8:00 PM – 11:30 PM
Doors: 7:30 PM

All Ages

The Phoenix Theater
201 Washington St
Petaluma, CA

http://www.ticketfly.com/

I rarely do brunch, but when I do I like to feel fancy. Tea Room Cafe is a perfect example of an environment that can make you feel fancy at 10:30 in the morning while simply having eggs and coffee. If you are unaware, Tea Room Cafe is a brunch restaurant located in downtown Petaluma, which is approximately 45 minutes north of San Francisco. My friends are huge fans of this place, but unfortunately I have been unable to attend with them every time they have gone. Commonly, I am not free on the mornings they go. However, one morning I finally had a time slot to go and I was very pleased I did.

Right away as you enter, you receive a comforting small town feel in the environment. In my opinion, the decor in the restaurant was simple yet able to still give a calming vibe.

When coming inside, the customers are requested to order their food first at the register before seating. This place is very popular so when we arrived the line was pretty long. In fact, the line came all the way to the doorway. The tables were also all taken and there were a few people standing around waiting for soon-to-be-available-tables. This made me feel worried at first, but my friends told me customers usually come and go pretty quickly. Thankfully, they were right because we were able to find an open table outside within five minutes after ordering.

The good thing about this place is their menu is written in huge letters at the front of the register. Since I had to wait in line for about 10 minutes, I was able to plan and figure out what I wanted easily before hitting the register.

As mentioned earlier, I like to feel fancy when I go out for brunch. Therefore, I ordered my first ever mimosa as my complimentary drink to my dish.

The drink was good and I was able to taste the champagne inside easily. However, the only issue I had with it was how small the drink was. I have never ordered a mimosa before so I have no clue how big these drinks usually are, but I was still hoping for more. Regardless, it is still a tasty drink.

As for my meal, I ordered their Blackstone Eggs Benedict, which came with tomato; applewood smoked bacon; and roasted red tomatoes. This was a very good dish. The eggs were cooked well, the hollandaise sauce was very flavorful, and the bacon was crispy to my delight. However, the highlight of this dish was surprisingly their roasted red tomatoes. For some reason, I couldn’t stop eating these sides in the beginning. I kept eating one after the other non-stop without touching my eggs Benedict. In fact, I ate all of them and some of my friends before giving the main dish a touch. The roasted red tomatoes were very good especially when mixing with the hollandaise sauce. The texture and flavor combination was very difficult to put down. In reality, the eggs Benedict is still something to recommend, but if you are able to get the roasted red tomatoes as a side I highly recommend it. If I had to make a comparison, those potatoes were basically like potato chips to me. Once you have one, you can’t stop until your friend yells at you to share with the others. Therefore, get these!

Overall, I liked my experience at Tea Room Cafe. The environment was very comforting and the food were surprisingly good as well. I, highly, recommend to come in a group. It will allow you to share dishes and try their other meals… or steal your friend’s roasted red potatoes.

Later Days…

316 Western Ave
Petaluma, CA 94952

Mon-Fri 7:30 am – 3 pm

Sat-Sun 8 am – 2 pm

CLICK ME! I AM THEIR WEB SITE! I LIKE MAKING DRAKE FEEL FANCY!

After our overnight stop in Phoenix, we continued down to Mesa, where we stayed with Jodi’s parents on Sunday night. The difference in temperature between Flagstaff and Mesa was amazing. Monday morning, we drove Paul and Erica to the airport and said a tearful goodbye as they flew to the East Coast (and later on to the U.K. and Wales).

We drove on to California, and stayed with Chris’ sister Ruthmarie and her husband in Palm Springs Monday night (and picked more citrus). After a brief stop at a hot springs spa (the fourth on our trip) in Desert Hot Springs on Tuesday morning, we continued our way back home, driving I-10 to !-15 and then 395 up along the eastern Sierra. Mack started backfiring and the engine missing toward the end of our drive on Tuesday. We spent the night at Diaz Campground in Lone Pine, then continued north on 395 Wednesday, stopping at Erick Schatt Bakkery in Bishop (to but sheepherder’s and squaw bread) and the Mammoth Brewing Co. in Mammoth (for lunch). The views of the snow-capped eastern Sierra Nevada range were breathtaking.

Mack drove pretty smoothly on Wednesday, with Jodi taking the wheel for the first time for a one-hour stint from Topaz to Carson City, Nev., where we filled up with gas before driving up Spooner Summit on Highway 50 to Lake Tahoe and Truckee, where we would spend the night with Jodi’s brother Tory and his wife. Mack started backfiring like crazy up the grade and we were concerned, but he calmed down by the time we got to Truckee and he was mostly quiet as we drove down I-80 to Sacramento and on to Petaluma on Thursday.

The totals: 3,788 miles, 21 days, three states, six state parks, three national parks and one Indian reservation.

Officers responded to numerous calls reporting that a pedestrian had been hit in a crosswalk at Ely Boulevard South and East Washington Street at about 9 a.m., according to Petaluma police.

The victim, who is visually impaired, suffered moderate injuries and was taken to a hospital, police said.

The driver of a Nissan SUV, a 62-year-old Petaluma woman, stopped at the scene and cooperated with police.

Investigators believe the sun might have played a part in obscuring the driver’s vision while she made a legal left turn into the crosswalk, police said.

The incident remains under investigation. Anyone who might have witnessed the crash is asked to contact Petaluma police at (707) 778-4373.

(Copyright 2013 by CBS San Francisco and Bay City News Service. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed)

>> Click For Views Product Details & Image <<

Feature of Pfister F5314PAS Petaluma Double Handle Pull-Down Kitchen Faucet, Stainless Steel

• Certified AB1953 compliant on the market in CA and VT
• Pfister Petaluma kitchen faucet in Stainless Steel
• Ceramic disc valving forestalls leaks and noisy drips
• Anti-splash spray quantity regulate spray-head, allowing you to select your required water power within the palm of your hand
• 4-hole mounting with side spray

Mystic Theatre

California Roots Presents: The Road To May Concert Series with Katchafire
plus Maoli & Top Shelf and DJ Dinga (Casa Rasta)

Friday, Apr 26, 2013 8:30 PM PDT (8:00 PM Doors)
Mystic Theatre, Petaluma, CA
21 years and over

Tickets available:http://www.ticketweb.com

Smell: There are huge hops scent coming from this beer. The hop dominant the profile but other scent make there way through like lot citrus plus a little grassy and vegetable notes.

Taste: Hops is the first and main flavor. There are hints of citrus towards the end.

Mouthfeel: The carbonation Medium to high but not overly so. There’s a tartness that lingers for sure. There is a semi-coating of the mouth with this beer the is every so slightly velvety.

Overall: This brew packs a wallop at 8.2% ABV. So be sure not to pound these. This beer is more of a sip causally while you smoke a cigar. I personally didn’t enjoy it so much. It was just to hoppy for my liking. Though I don’t mind hoppy beers there has to be some complexity to them for me. This is more of a one trick pony. Although I know there are other flavor in this brew the hops just mask them. I’d give this beer a 6 out of 10.

The crash happened around 2:15 a.m. near San Antonio Road, just south of the Sonoma County line, CHP Officer Andrew Barclay said this morning.

The woman, a Sonoma County resident, was pronounced dead at the scene. Her name is being withheld until her next of kin has been contacted, Barclay said.

There were also three males in the truck, two in a rear seating area and one in the right front passenger seat, Barclay said.

The CHP is still trying to confirm their names, but they appear to be in their mid-20s to late 30s, Barclay said. None was carrying identification, he said.

One of the males was able to call 911, and said the truck left the highway somewhere between Petaluma and Novato, Barclay said.

The CHP, Marin County Sheriff’s Office and Novato Fire Protection District searched the area and found the green pickup truck in a deep ditch off the right shoulder, Barclay said.

The truck appears to have drifted toward the center divider, and the driver apparently overcorrected and steered hard to the right, causing the truck to go off the roadway and overturn, Barclay said.

It landed on its wheels 15 feet below the highway in a cattle-crossing area that runs under the highway, Barclay said.

No one was ejected from the truck, Barclay said. Alcohol is not believed to have played a role in the crash, he said.

The right front passenger and one of the rear passengers suffered major injuries. Both were taken to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, where they were listed in stable condition, Barclay said.

The other passenger suffered life-threatening injuries and was taken to Marin General Hospital, where he was listed in critical but stable condition, Barclay said.

The No. 2 northbound lane was closed until about 6:10 a.m. as emergency crews responded to the crash.

(Copyright 2013 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

This weekend was gorgeous out, so friends and I decided to get out of the city and head north to the Lagunitas Brewery - we weren’t the only ones with the idea. The place was alive with people, music, and, of course, plenty of beer! I have never been to a brewery before and I decided to get the pre fixe four beer sampler (you also have the option of customizing your own, which I did my second round). It was so fun figuring out what kind of beer I actually liked and being able to really taste difference between each one! There was also a small menu of sides, salads, and sandwiches to choose from, so you can just eat, drink, and be merry. I had the best time! What better way to spend the day with friends than drinking beer, enjoying the sunshine, and listening to a live band! This trip has definitely inspired me to get out of the city and explore new things around me!

Drink Responsibly!

All reports indicate that a storm is going to hit northern New Mexico this morning, so we hit the road at 9 a.m. to make sure that we can traverse the 20-mile dirt road out of Chaco Culture National Monument Park before it becomes too wet.
We get back on Interstate 40 and head toward Arizona, passing numerous kitschy billboards and roadside shops selling blankets, T-shirts and other souvenirs. In Holbrook, Ariz., we pass by the Wigwam Motel, a reminder of the days when Route 66 was America ‘s main travel route to the west.
We decide to go as far as Winslow, Ariz., and spend the night at Homolovi State Park, where more than 300 Ancestral Puebloan archaeological sites are preserved. We don’t go to see any of them, however, because it is so cold that we stay inside Mack as sleet comes down. Fortunately, we have an electrical hookup and can turn on the heater.
The next morning, we have a decision to make: Stay another night at Homolovi or try and drive through the snow to Prescott or Phoenix. Nearly a foot of snow has fallen at the 7,000-foot altitude of Flagstaff, but we learn that the storm has abated and the highway is clear. So we drive to Prescott, where at an altitude of 5,300 feet, there is no sign of snow on the ground.
This is the home of Prescott College, which I attended 1967-1970. I’ve been back a few times since, but this time I am struck by all of the retail development that has sprung up: Home Depot, Lowes, Wal-Mart, Target, Trader Joe’s and more. I later learn that the city has banned such development in the historic downtown core of the city, which maintains its charm and sports signs claiming to be “Everybody’s Hometown.” The town square and courthouse, the famous Whiskey Row and some businesses are virtually unchanged from my college days. Jodi and I treat ourselves to a stay at the historic St. Michael Hotel at the end of Whiskey Row.
Sunday morning, we rendezvous with Paul and Erica, who spent the night in Mack at a campground near Watson Lake, and we head down to Mesa to stay with Jodi’s parents before Paul and Erica catch a plane to the East Coast and Jodi and I return to California.

An example of such an opportunity … at the local yacht club one evening, Thom Butler, a dedicated V-Day Petaluma volunteer since 2009, attempted to initiate a conversation about The Vagina Monologues with another Petaluma resident.  Unfortunately, Thom was not only shoved (no matter who is involved, such physical violence is unnecessary) by the individual’s associate, but also referred to as a “Mangina” by the man he was speaking to, with the intent of being derogatory.

Up until now, many of us were unaware of this term’s existence.  While we very much liked the sound of it, we felt the definition didn’t do it justice.  That being the case, V-Day Petaluma has chosen to reclaim and redefine mangina.

 Mangina – an individual of the male species who embodies the spirit of equality and empowerment and assists in the effort to end violence against women and girls.

Thom, for your dedication to V-Day Petaluma and respect of all females, we have chosen you for our newly recognized 2013 MANGINA Award!

We wish to acknowledge and recognize Joe Manthey for bringing mangina to our attention, giving us the opportunity to raise it to a higher level.

If you blink you’ll miss this little gem, especially since it’s tucked down a side street, and is very much a tiny shop. Luckily, a sidewalk sign caught my eye so I decided to investigate. The inside of the Petaluma Pie Company is small, hot, and there are no frills. There were also barely any places to sit inside, let alone turn around when there are people in line. However, once you lay eyes on the pies in the display case and see their dazzling concoctions, you forget all about it.

They make a wide variety of unique pie combinations like pear ginger and cardamom, or the Elvis pie (peanut butter cream, bananas, and chocolate cream). However,they also stick with the classics like apple pie. What I especially love about this place is that they bake 5” individual pies, which are perfect for one person.

On my trip, I ordered the classic apple pie and my husband ordered the pear ginger and cardamom so we could try both. Although the interior lacked flare, the exterior patio certainly made up for it. Since the shop sits next to a beautiful common area/park, there were street performers and musicians giving seemingly private shows for us as we dined. The shaded canopy, colorful patio furniture, and eclectic pedestrians walking by only enhanced the experience even more so (especially since it sits next to a tattoo parlor).

Now for the pie. All I have to say is wow! I seriously scraped up every inch of my pie from the tin pie plate, and I had a few bites of my husband’s. Needless to say, I completely ruined my appetite for dinner, but it was well worth it. The crust was perfectly flaky, the apples skillfully flavored and rich in cinnamon, and the presentation was incredibly cute (see picture above).

We liked the Petaluma Pie Company so much that we went back the next day to try something different, also picking up a homemade bottle cap magnet for our refrigerator. I ordered the butterscotch cream pie and my husband got the peanut butter cream pie. They did not disappoint the second day either. Between the coffee and the sugar-induced pie buzz, I felt wonderful…

I can honestly say that this was the best pie I’ve ever tasted in California, and it was truly a delight sitting under the trees listening to jazz in downtown Petaluma. I can also honestly say that this is also the best dessert I’ve ever tasted in California (and I’m a native)!

My top pie recommendations: Apple and Butterscotch Cream Pie (with coffee).

More Info: Petaluma Pie Company

One of our last destinations is Chaco Culture National Historical Park, which has the densest and most exceptional concentration of pueblos in the American Southwest.
Located in the high desert of northern New Mexico, Chaco Culture is accessible only by driving 100 miles over two-lane roads and then a 20-mile unpaved dirt road into the park.
We were concerned about driving Mack over a dirt road of that distance, and with a storm coming in the next morning, we did our due diligence before deciding to go for it.
Our decision was a good one. We got in, viewed the ruins, camped overnight, and made it out before the storm came in.
Chaco Culture was the center of a thriving culture 1,000 years ago. The ruins show evidence of architecture on a grand scale. Using masonry techniques unique for their time, they built massive, multiple-story stone buildings with hundreds of rooms.
Researchers believe that Chaco was a special gathering place where many peoples and clans converged to share their ceremonies, traditions, and knowledge. It was central to the origins of several Navajo clans and ceremonies, yet it is also an enduring enigma for modern historians.

We agree that this was one of the two or three highlights of our trip.
Next: Cold weather and snow await as we return to Arizona.

Our tour of primitive, remote areas of New Mexico continues as we leave the Datil Well campground and drive toward El Morro National Monument. Along the way, we stop by the side of the road at a highway junction in Fence Lake, N.M., where a monument honors all of the people who passed this way over the centuries in search of a new life.
El Morro is a great sandstone promontory along an historic east-west trail with a pool of water at its base. The Zuni Indians, whose Puebloan ancestors lived here, call it Atsinna — “place of writing on the rock.” The Spaniards called it El Morro — the Headland. Anglo-Americans call it Inscription Rock.
Over the centuries, those who traveled this trail stopped to camp at the shaded oasis beneath these cliffs. They left ther carved evidence of their passage — symbols, names, dates and fragments of their stories on the rock.
For the second straight night, we are the only campers in the campground where we are staying. We build a bonfire and the next day hike to the top of El Morro — an experience that Chris finds challenging, given his fear of heights. But the four of us complete the 2-hour trek to the top of the trek, stopping to view the ancient dwellings and inscriptions.
We’ve been monitoring the weather, and the forecast is for a storm to hit northern New Mexico and Arizona on Saturday. We think we’ll have time to visit our next destination, Chaco Culture National Historical Park, and get out before the storm hits. The only potential problem is that we have to drive a 20-mile dirt road to get to the park. We ask the rangers at El Morro about going to Chaco Culture. The older ranger, Ralph, rolls his eyes. But we get a better sense from the two younger rangers, Jamie and Ben, that we won’t have a problem.

So, another piece has been published and is available to read online.  This is a short narrative essay titled “My Portrait In the Memorial.” It’s a story about an incident that traumatized my community while I was in junior high school.  I had a lot of issues writing this piece, and was even more conflicted when I began submitting it for publication.  But I believe that I was as honest as I could be (as if honesty is an excuse for publication), and I believe that it accurately reflects the ambiguities and ambivalences of unimaginable tragedy, so I hope that I acted reasonably here.  Feel free to contact me with feedback, positive or negative.  I’m always receptive.  This is a sad story but I hope that anybody who check it out might find something to take from it.

The story was accepted by Temenos Literary Journal.  Temenos is the Central Michigan University graduate literary journal, founded in 2000. The magazine has no philosophical or esthetic allegiances. They publish poetry, fiction, non-fiction, and art by new and established writers and artists.

The Greek word “temenos” refers both to the ancient Greek concept of sacred space and the Jungian ‘safe spot’ where one may bring the unconscious into the light of consciousness. Temenos’ mission is to bring to light works that are engaging, memorable, and fearless.

They accept submissions year round. Please see their submission guidelines for more information.

Read the story: http://www.temenosjournal.com/nonfiction/Leib.htm

Temenos homepage: http://www.temenosjournal.com/index.html

Temenos archives: http://www.temenosjournal.com/archive.html

We continue north on I-25 to Socorro, N.M. and then take two-lane Highway 60 east toward Datil, where we will spend the night in a BLM campground.
Along the way, we pass by the Very Large Array, an astronomical observatory that allows scientists to study cosmic objects such as the Sun, planets and galaxies by analyzing radio waves. The VLA consists of 27 huge dish-shaped antennaes that are connected together to form a single large radio telescope.
The Array, along the spacious Plain of St. Augustine, can be seen from miles away. We decide to take a detour off the highway to get a close-up look at the facility.
Turns out that actress Jodie Foster and the cast and crew of “Contact” came here for five days to film scenes for the movie, based on the book by Carl Sagan about contact with extra-terrestrial life.
We arrive at the Datil Well campground and we are the only campers that night. We take a 3-mile hike to Rocky Point, a scenic overlook.

As we leave southern Arizona and head to New Mexico, we notice some recurring themes: lots of roadside altars, numerous “dollar stores” and several U.S. Border Patrol checkpoints. “Is everyone in the vehicle an American citizen?” they ask. The checkpoints only stop northbound traffic, not southbound.
Heading north out of Bisbee, we notice a yellow roadside sign that reads, “Earth Fissures Possible.” Later, we see one that says, “Dust Storms May Exist.” Finally, “Zero Visibility Possible.”
We spent our last night in Arizona at Roper Lake campground near Safford. It has the first of several natural hot springs pools that we will encounter.
Before heading toward Silver City, N.M., I call Ken Keppeler and Jeanie McLerie of the group Bayou Seco. I tell them of my encounter with Mike Benevides at the Gu-Achi Trading Post and about my group Los Gu’achis. It turns out they know Barbara Arhon, the leader and fiddle player in Los Gu’achis, as well as Sonoma County fiddle player Gus Garelick. They are very gracious and and invite us to stay with them and play music the next time we come to Silver City.
Driving into New Mexico and toward Silver City, we cross the Continental Divide at 6,355 feet for the first time. There will be be about a dozen more crossings as we zig-zag through New Mexico.
Silver City has an eclectic downtown of restaurants, galleries, bars, coffeehouses and a retro movie theater, but it also has a high number of vacant storefronts.
We continue to the City of Rocks State Park, where we spend the night, and visit the nearby Faywood Hot Springs where we soak in three pools with temperatures ranging from 90 to 110 degrees. The City of Rocks is an unusual outcropping of rocks in the middle of the prairie formed by a volcanic eruption 30 million years ago that was 800 times greater than the Mount St. Helens eruption.

New Mexico is known for being one of the best places to look at the stars at night, and the night that we were staying at City of Rocks, a local astronomy buff led a two-hour star-watching session through a 14-inch telescope.

Hip Hop Medicine Nation Presents: KRS One & Souleye
plus Zahira Soul “The Pure Soul Songstress”

Friday, Mar 15, 2013 9:00 PM PDT (8:00 PM Doors)
Mystic Theatre, Petaluma, CA
21 years and over

http://www.ticketweb.com/t3/sale/SaleEventDetail?dispatch=loadSelectionData&eventId=3416514&pl=mystic

After leaving the Tohono O’Odham reservation, we spend Thursday night at a campground inside Tucson Mountain County Park. It’s one of the best campsites we’ve visited. It’s clean, well appointed and right in the middle of a cactus forest with saguaros and other cacti and desert vegetation. The campground is next to the Saguaro National Park and Old Tucson, where some old western movies were filmed. There are some nice trails for hiking here, and we explore one of them just before sunset. The campground is like a small community, with lots of friendly folks, some of them staying for the seven-day maximum.

We hit the road after one night and continue in a southeasterly direction, bypassing Tucson and passing through Benson and Tombstone on the way to our next stop in Bisbee, Ariz. Tombstone is considered the last of the wide-open frontier boom towns in the Old West, built on mining and famous for the gunfight at the O.K. Corral, where Wyatt Earp and his brothers plus Doc Holliday faced off against a bunch of Outlaw Cowboys.

We were surprised to see that Tombstone embraces its Wild West past. Main Street is closed to vehicle traffic, the original buildings from the early 1880s are nicely restored, and three different sets of actors dressed as gunfighters entice tourists to come inside the O.K. Corral, a saloon or a theater to witness a re-enactment of a 19th century shootout. There are plaques along Main Street commemorating the date and place where various people were gunned down.

After our brief Tombstone experience, we continue on to Bisbee, which we are exciting about visiting.

One of the destinations on our trip to the Southwest was the Tohono O’Odham Nation, a Native American reservation in southeastern Arizona. My interest in visiting this desolate terrain was piqued because this is where Gu-Achi music originated. And since I’m a member of the Petaluma musical quartet Los Gu’achis, I felt I had to pay a visit to this area since our itinerary was taking us so close.

I wasn’t expecting any spectacular scenery or impressive landmarks. But as we drove down Highway 15 onto the reservation, I recognized some familiar place names, some of them from Gu’achi tunes: Santa Rosa, Ajo, Anegam. We didn’t see any billboards on the reservations, but all of the signs with town names had been tagged.

At the intersection of Highways 15 and 86, we arrived at the Gu-Achi Trading Post. It is basically a convenience store and a gas station on the Gu-Achi District of the reservation. There were some music CDs for sale, but none of them were Gu’achi or Chicken Scratch music. I didn’t bring any copies of the Los Gu’achis CD, or I would have left some there to sell.

We were about to leave the trading post when Paul struck up a conversation with a Native American man who had pulled up in his van with his family to shop and was about to leave. I was walking up to where he and Paul were talking, wearing my Los Gu’achis T-shirt, and Paul mentioned to him that I am in a band that plays music from the reservation.

The man, Mike Benevides, said, “You should have been here last night. We had a wake for my mom and there was lots of music.” As I spoke to Mike, I hummed the music to “Santa Rosa Processional,” a Gu’achi song, and Mike knew the song and hummed along with me.  I mentioned the name of the late great Tohono O’Odham fiddler Elliott Johnson and Mike knew of him. He asked me if I knew Ken Keppeler and Jeanie McLerie of the duo Bayou Seco, which has recorded Tohono O’Odham music and other music of the Americas. I said I knew of them, but had not met them. He said he was good friend of theirs, gave me their phone numbers and said to look them up when we visit Silver City, N.M.

We drove on through Sells, Ariz., the main town on the reservation and then east on Highway 86 past Kitt Peak, home of the largest array of telescopes in the world, to the outskirts of Tucson, where we planned to camp for the night.

One of the highlights of our young trip occurred Monday evening as we were returning to our campsite at Anza Borrego State Park after a 3 1/2-mile hike up to the park’s Palm Canyon. The sun had set a couple of hours earlier and as we hiked back down the trail, darkness gradually enveloping us, we looked across the valley at an awesome, beautiful sight: A full moon was rising from behind the hills across the valley in the distance — a spectacular orange orb slowly ascending into the night sky.

We had left Los Angeles late in the morning and headed south down I-5 to the 15 and then caught Highway 79 through Temecula on the way to Anza Borrego, a 600,000 acre park that is the largest in California. Along the way we passed through Temecula, Warner Springs and other hamlets that are surrounded by acres of open fields, ranches, horses and cattle that made us forget that we had just left L.A. The road climbed to 3,000 feet in elevation, then wound down a steep mountain to the valley where the town of Borrego Springs and Anza Borrego State Park are located. As we drove down the mountain, we could see the Salton Sea in the distance.

After checking into a “dry camping” space at the park, we embarked on our trek up to Palm Canyon before it got dark. One of the odd features of the park is the open-air toilet stalls, with brick walls and no roofs. We passed octotillo, cholla and other flora on our hike, but we didn’t see any bighorn sheep. We were told that their natural color camouflages them against the hillside, but to look for their white rumps. We saw neither the sheep nor their white rumps.

Upon our return from our hike, we relaxed and toasted our trip with our beverages at a picnic table outside Mack, followed by dinner inside our rig and a rousing guitar/singing session before we turned in.

After stopping by the visitors center the next morning, we hit the road for Arizona, driving by the Salton Sea, over the bumpiest road we had ever experienced, through Mecca and stopping for lunch at the isolated Chiriaco Summit along I-10. We finally arrived at Jodi’s parents’ house in Mesa, where we plan to spend the night before continuing on toward southeastern Arizona tomorrow.