What a crazy last couple of months!

I haven't made any updates lately because I've either been at work or staying with my girlfriend, the last few months have been pretty hectic.

Let me see if I can give you the brief rundown:

Meeting my girlfriend, it was a magical mix of feelings and a strong spark was ignited.
Willy Nelson!
My first trip home after living out of state.
A wonderful Christmas with my family.
My First AZ New Years, Russian style.
Tat's Birthday party and meeting all her friends.

I've been seeing various parts of AZ that I didn't know existed. Tubac, Green Valley, some scenic highways, and closer views of surrounding mountains.
Visited Superior AZ, there wasn't much to look at there. It's a small mining town with a few places to eat and a single motel. I hung out at a bar and had a strong margarita, my girlfriend had some kind of sour apple drink and then talked Russian with the local bartenderetta. It was a nice enough town with nice enough people, but if you ever check it out make sure you don't drive to fast or you'll miss it!

Visited Globe AZ this place was a larger version of Superior, a few more places to eat, a few more buildings to see, and no place I really felt comfortable drinking at. ;) The highlight of this trip was up to Tonto National Monument where Tat and I were allowed to go up to the top cliff dwelling for a guided tour. It was blocked off, but a nice park ranger came to our rescue. This type of thing usually happens when we are together, we end up seeing more than most people do. It was a nice little mini vacation, and although Globe wasn't much to look at, Tonto and the drive there were spectacular.

This weekend I'm off to San Diego so that my parents can meet Tat's mother. It's been ages since I've been to the ocean and I'm really looking forward to the trip. Stay tuned for pictures as I get time to post them!

The Sun and I have reached an understanding

The sun and I had a talk recently over some tea. It turns out we have quite a bit in common, including rising in the morning and night. Not many people have the benefit of watching the sun rise and set nearly every day. I've also been out late most nights so I also get to say the same for the moon. This entry is going to be fairly short. But I thought I would share some pictures I've taken recently from my car to illustrate what I'm talking about. I'm thankful that I can see such a beautiful mix of colors at the start and end of my day.

Photos I have taken from my car during my commute.

An evening with BB King

Blues music, what is there to say? About five months ago I was cleaning out my garage, listening to BB's latest album. Prior to that I had made the determination that I was going to buy music that I would not normally listen to in order to broaden my horizons. With strong guitar, bass, and brass an obvious start was Blues. I've always liked strong guitar sounds and I play trumpet and have spent many hours in concerts both performing and as an audience member. Perhaps I'm reincarnated from an older time, where people sang with their heart and not their mic.

To that extent Blues reaches out to me and touches a place in my soul that other music can't. If I had to describe the feeling, I would relate it to ocean waves. Sink in the sounds, let it wash over you, and pull you out into something greater than the sum of the parts. Last night I had to pleasure to listen to one of the greats perform live. The opening act set the scene for what was to come, Lukas Nelson (Willy Nelson's son) jumped on stage with his band TPotR They rocked, and his songs had pretty deep meaning. He needs better people to market his stuff, because he rocks on stage.

BB King was highly entertaining to watch. His voice is as strong as always, and it was good to see his sense of humor, which is something you don't get when you just listen to his music. As the night progressed I not only had good music to listen to, but also got a chance to see into his life and imagine what life on the road was like some 40 years ago. The show was quite inspiring, and for a few hours I was lost in the sea of guitar, piano, and brass.

Who'd have thought that rocking out in my garage one day would turn into actually seeing these guys perform in person. Life is crazy, life is chaotic, it's nights like this that I'll always remember. They help me realize that when all is said and done, I jumped in and held on to see where it takes me.

Happy Veteran's Day!

I first wanted to thank the Vets out there for their dedication, sacrifices, and bravery for their duty in the service. My complete respect goes out to each of you and your families.

I celebrated my day off by hiking at Mt. Lemmon. I found myself a bit above 7,000 feet and a wonderful little trail-head called Butterfly Trail I quickly found out by talking to people in passing that an airplane crashed somewhere along the path
though I didn't see the wreckage. I'll have to hit the site I just linked the next time I go out to take some interesting pictures.

A breeze blew through the mountains almost continuously, not only did it cool my damp shirt, but it also brought scents of memories from my times spent camping in California. Just like my previous hike, the views were serene with the only sounds coming from the rattle of leaves as the wind blew them off of trees and they fell like large snowflakes on the ground around me. Colors exploded everywhere, and as I looked around the trail this hike quickly became my favorite so far.

The hike was mostly down-hill and then a difficult up-hill walk when I finally decided the sun was getting too low for my comfort being my first time on the trail. This trip also marks the first time I brought my gun along. Although late in the season, there are bears and other wild animals about. Since I've been hiking alone I needed a little insurance.

Flickr shots of my adventure

Following my trip, I swung by El Charro and had a nice dinner. Now I'll retire for the evening and watch G.I. Joe in celebration of our troops. I hope everyone else had a great day as well.

Making the most out of AZ

My last post talks about hiking in California, and now I am going to talk about hiking in Arizona. It just goes to show how much I've been neglecting this blog. Thankfully I am now at a point in my life where I can spent time to put things into writing. The long and the short of it is that I followed my career to this great water-less state amidst some heartache and some life lessons about going with my gut instinct when it comes to trust. That's a story for another time, perhaps. At the moment I am going to make the best out of the current situation and explore this state and share my experiences.

Today I went hiking along a trail called Green Mountain Trail It is located between mile marker 11 and 12 up the Catalina highway in Mt. Lemmon. The entire area of Mt. Lemmon is beautiful even after surviving a decimating fire. Nearly seven years have passed and although there are definite signs of damage, nature has worked its magic to rebuild the beautiful greenery in the area.

Initially I had set out to hike up Sabino Canyon but changed my mind after reading an article in the AZ Daily Star Talk of Fall colors had me hooked and off I went. The weather was beautiful, there was a nice breeze at the top of the mountain, and the sound cascading through the trees were the only interruption to an otherwise serene landscape. I feel in love when I reached the canopy of trees as it felt like a whole other planet from the dry single-colored landscape that exists in Tucson. The trail was a moderate up-hill hike, which I traversed both ways only being slightly slowed down by a broken toe from this morning. I'll admit that I was a little winded and sore when all was said and done, but three years of WoW and relationship stress will do that to you. I hope to go up every weekend and explore different trails since I went ahead and purchased an annual pass to the area.

I've linked my Flickr set below. Hopefully I will have many more pictures to share.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/44415324@N02/sets/72157622756886820/

Spenceville Wildlife Refuge

Spenceville is one of those interesting pockets nestled in the hilly areas parallel to Beale AFB. I started going here when I was pretty young, and since then have taken many trips with friends and shared many memories with others. Now I've said many, far too many times. The place is thriving with nature, and the destination that I stick to is the falls at the end of the hike. Waterfalls in the Yuba-Sutter area? A good portion of it exists in Yuba County, but it also falls inside Nevada County as well.

You would be surprised at what types of wildlife that roam across the rolling hills:

Here we have the gigantic man-eating cow. I barely escaped with my life. She gave me a dirty look when I exclaimed "Moo to your mother!"



Back when I was younger we were able to drive a car through the main road all the way up to the Falls. This was pushed back about four miles or so some years after I started going. The new Parking area has remnants of the old road. Here we see a bridge that was recently torn out, up until a few years ago this bridge remained with a few holes burned on the surface. It's the nature of the beast, that eventually nature reclaims her property. I wonder how long the cement pillars will remain:








The journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. Which path will you follow?




I was going to post some video of a few shots but Youtube is being naughty so I'll have to wait until they start allowing uploads again to share.


The final payoff of the hike is the waterfalls. Having felt the massive rumble of Snoqualmie Falls Beale Falls is tame in comparison. The falls still have their own beauty and majestic feel to them. Here are a few pictures I'll share of my recent visit.








I enjoyed the fresh air, the sound of water crashing over the falls, and ultimately surrounded by peace helped me relax a bit and spend time enjoying what life is all about. I always learn something new when I visit these falls, to me that's what life is all about.

Childhood memories

As often times that happens, something current will trigger my memories of something past. This time around I was talking to someone about the closure of KB-Toys. As a child there were two stores that made me jump for joy when my parents said we were going to town, KB-Toys and Ernie's Toyland. I would love to link more information about Ernie's since it was unique to Yuba City, but there isn't a wiki or history about this place beyond a blurb located here. I should probably explain a bit of history about our fair town before I drive down memory lane. In the '80s this little hole in the wall place had no big name stores. FAO Schwartz in San Francisco was a long ways away, and I wouldn't make my first visit until the '90s. Before "The Mall" came to Yuba City, we had Ernie's, and that was pretty much it. I remember they had aisle upon aisle of toys, a small play area that consisted mostly of a wooden train set, and some plastic kid's seating. As a child the store felt gigantic, and it was sectioned off in age groups from toddler up to adult. In my adolescence, I covered about three sections worth of space in that old store ranging from He-man to Atari games. The owners eventually went batshit insane like most people do who try to run a business in the area and moved over to a small shop in Marysville where they sell collectible dolls.

My fondest memory of Ernie's besides recalling the smell that greeted me at the door (if they could bottle that smell, I'd set it along side the new book smell and enjoy a moment of peace every now and then while inhaling) would be my trip to visit the He-Man cast. That's right, He-Man was my hero for a long time in my childhood. If my memory suits me, the cartoon was out long before G.I. Joe and Transformers were on the heels, though my first experience with transforming automobiles came from the Go-Bots when a kid brought a transforming ambulance to school one day and I instantly knew it would be a hit. For a few years I ate, breathed, and lived He-Man and fondly remember the Battlecat figurine I had, along side a panther that had glued on fur. They just don't make toys like that any more. I met Orco, my personal hero and friendly neighborhood mage (I wonder if this later played a role in my accidental Freudian selection of a mage in World of Warcraft). Orco's figurine left much to be desired of the well-loved mage. It was hard plastic, with a small device that would send him around in circles across the table.

I suppose the main point to this blog entry is that a piece of my childhood has been whittled away with the closure of KB-Toys. Sure we still have a Toys R Us around, but I didn't grow up traversing the far too crowded and narrow aisles of Toys R Us. The close to an era my friends.