Time to complete the Bucket List

If our first two days are anything to go by we are in for a treat in Colombia. We hit the ground running upon our arrival. We had a 10 hour overnight flight, arriving in Bogotá at 3.50am local time, when we headed straight off for a 7 hour drive to our destination at Villa de Leyva in central Colombia.

Our first stop for breakfast introduced us to the national dish of envueltos y arepa – a cornbread with cheese filling, similar to a doughnut with slightly sweet outer and mild cheese interior.

Colombians like a hearty breakfast. Our guide ate caldo de costilla – a soup containing pieces of beef and potatoes, which is a regional speciality. However, of most surprise was the coffee. This came is a large bowl, about 5 inches across filled with milk with just a little coffee. To this one added a large piece of day old mild cheese, which melted in a stringy, fondue-like, fashion.

We then headed to the beautiful town of Tunja with its 16th century Spanish colonial architecture. We were soon to find out that many of the towns have very large central squares for festival gatherings or simply relaxation. Our arrival coincided with a bank holiday, which was not too surprising as the country has 22 bank holidays a year, that’s two to three a month. This town, like many others, had several small, but beautiful gardens.

Our first visit was to the historic Casa del Fundador in Tunja, the home of the town’s founder Gonzalo Suarez Rendon dating back to 1539. Its incredible painted ceiling has survived well as it was hidden for centuries behind a false panelling.

We then went to our destination for two nights, Villa de Leyva. This is considered to be one of Colombia’s finest colonial towns with its cobbled streets, whitewashed houses, an expansive main square and (again) beautiful small gardens. This town was made a national monument in 1954.

While already being spoilt for choice by these lovely towns, a delight that I think will always stay with us was a visit on our second day to Casa Terracotta, a short drive from Villa de Leyva. This was the lifetime work of Colombian architect and ceramist Octavio Mendoza.

This building, still the home of Mendoza, has been built out of clay and fired using ovens built over each section of the house as it progressed outwards and upwards. An incredible feat. Passageways wind in all directions to quirky but highly useable rooms. The terracotta walls and floors are accompanied by mosaic features in the bathrooms, metalwork of snakes as handrails and insects outside each of the windows, and woven rush drapes. I shall let the photos do the talking but needless to say I am now a fan of Octavio Mendoza.

Kitchen

Entrance hall

Washbasin with mosaics

Copyright: Words and photos Sue Barnard 2019

Mention one is visiting Colombia and chances are that the response from many will be “Isn’t that risky?”. But they are not alone. I thought that when John mentioned the idea. Even the tourism industry recognised such doubt more than 10 years ago when it led a campaign to attract visitors with the tagline: “Colombia, the only risk is wanting to stay”.

It seems that things have changed in the past 25 years, especially since the gunning down of drugs baron Pablo Escobar, estimated to have been worth some £25 billion from his trade in narcotics. Now, mention one is visiting the country to those who have been there recently and they say what a great place it is to see… especially if one likes coffee. Around 15 million bags are produced each year.

But it is not the only big seller. Some media sources say the country still provides around 70% of the world’s cocaine. Despite this, much change for the good has come about, including social prosperity, business, and increasing levels of tourism. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office says that some areas are still out of bounds, but that most visits, especially with reputable travel companies to the typical tourism sites, are trouble free.

Hopefully this will be the case as an interesting itinerary for our next trip is planned We will be spending most of our time in central Colombia, seeing architecture, coffee plantations, an underground cathedral in a salt mine, and some art and sculptures, before heading north to gain a different view around the coast of Cartagena with its walled city, colonial buildings and forts.

If the high altitude does not get us at 2,640 metres (8,660 feet) above sea level in Bogota alone (we suffered in Peru at 2,430 metres) we will be back soon to tell you more.

Copyright: Words and photo Sue Barnard 2019

First things first. I have received some enquiries about arugula and have delved deeper. This appears to be a fashionable leaf found in many dishes currently in the US either as part of a dressing or a main part of a salad (often drenched in dressing, unfortunately). When I asked about it, the salad leaf was described as spinach. References on the web call it this as well, but this would not be recognised in the UK as such. Rather, it is what we know as rocket, but the leaf is a little more furry. It tastes peppery. An image for our international viewers might help if arugula or rocket are not the names used elsewhere.

But what of our unexpected trip? One of the most noticeable aspects was the friendliness of the people. They seemed genuinely pleased to offer help even on occasions when we had not asked for it. They suggested routes to take and those to avoid, and additional ‘must see’ visits.

Driving through the US was a breeze, according to John, who when asked for his thoughts on the holiday considered he should be congratulated on the quality of his driving. So job done. We covered 1,700 miles by road. For me, the huge, lengthy lorries (some three trailers long) on the six lane freeways, and the sheer drops on the coastal roads I don’t think I will ever get used to.

What was noticeable as I attempted to take my mind off the freeways, were the interesting creek names, often named after a person of note and with a story to tell. Examples were Jump off Joe Creek, Rough and Ready Creek, and Lost Man Creek. Many bridges were named in tribute to a person. Mind you, I think I would prefer to be remembered in other ways than the naming of a bridge on a fast highway.

We were impressed by the good signage along the roads, not only directional but warnings such as ‘wrong way’, ‘all traffic in this lane must turn right’, ‘double fines in roadworks or school areas’. I was perplexed for many days, however, with regular sightings of ‘school xing’. Was this a sponsored school? It took me some days to realise xing meant ‘cross-ing’.

We were impressed how patriotic the country was, with hotels, stores and sites displaying the American Stars and Stripes flag. So many venues offered free entrance to serving military personnel, and signs saying ‘we honour (honor) our veterans’ were a regular feature.

Our scenery was so varied, from Mount Rainier with its timely show of wild flowers, to the whale watching of Depoe Bay, and the sunsets over the shores of Mendocino. All unforgettable.

Our initial experience of American food was lots of high fat – fish and chips, burgers, and cake. In time we found restaurants serving quality food, but at a price. Costs in the US are somewhat higher than ours owing to the $1.2 rate to the £. However, fuel was the only commodity we found to be lower varying greatly between $2.5-$4.5 per US gallon (3.7 litres), that’s up to half the price of UK fuel. We found the more remote the location, the cheaper the price.

Actually purchasing the ‘gas’ as we now call it, seemed to be different at every gas station. Registering credit cards, not registering credit cards, paying at the pump, paying only at the cash desk and knowing how much you need in advance, were all challenges, but we got through them with very helpful staff willing to lend a hand.

But we should thank Rob at Vacations to America who organised the route at such short notice when our Northwest Passage trip was curtailed. No we are not sponsored, but the advice made our holiday memorable for all the right reasons.

So, until the next trip, bye for now and thank you for joining us along our journey.

“Going underground, going underground”, as The Jam has sung many times. We too went underground this morning. Pioneer Square in downtown Seattle was at a much lower elevation until the late 1890s. The Great Seattle Fire of 1889 wiped out 31 blocks, mostly businesses, mostly wooden. Fortunately, nobody was killed, but a decision was made that in future all buildings should be built from brick or stone, and that the street level should be raised.

Pioneer Square had originally been built, to a large extent, on sawdust from the local saw mill. The area flooded often and it was considered that dispersing the unwanted sawdust onto the land would help alleviate the flooding. It did not. Clumpy sawdust pools resulted, causing more problems than the original mud surface, the smell was horrendous and sewage was a problem. The accidental fire gave an opportunity to overcome the problems.

The streets were lined each side with a series of walls and earth was used to infill, raising the level by 12-30 feet. How they infilled the area is most interesting. Parts of Seattle running towards Elliott Bay are very steep. The idea was to wash earth down from the surrounding hillside into the downtown area. Owners of land in the higher ground were paid for their plots, and work commenced.

Businesses were keen to get started on the rebuilding but many found that when work subsequently commenced on street building, their first and sometimes second floors looked out towards the retaining walls supporting the new road level several feet above.

To access the buildings people initially had to climb down stairs to those lower floors and climb back when leaving. Eventually a solution was found to produce new sidewalks (pavements) at road level using a series of steel girders, the resulting gap underneath becoming tunnels.

Light was let in through glass skylights.

In later years the tunnels were closed for fear of bubonic plague. Some were used for illegal activities, sleeping areas and opium dens. Today they are used for tourist tours, cafes and comedy clubs.

We filled the remainder of our day with a visit to a museum about the effects of the goldrush on Seattle, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Discovery Centre. Both very different, but interesting in their own ways.

Our next stop is London after two enlightening weeks we had never expected when originally booking our trip to the Northwest Passage.

Copyright: words and photos Sue Barnard 2019

As we drove through the Napa Valley from Mendocino on Day 14 we passed many small wineries so it would not be right to be in the Napa region of California and not go on a wine tour.

We were picked up from our hotel for the tour along with eight others, four of whom were from the UK. Our tour guide told us that we would visit four wineries and taste four wines at each. The wineries were Rutherford, Ghost Block, Cosentino and Fred Razi.

Along the way to the first winery she explained the history of wine making in the Napa Valley which started in the 19th century, the effect prohibition in the 1920s had on the industry and how many wineries were abandoned.

The catalyst that put the Napa Valley wines on the world map was the ‘Judgement of Paris of 1976’ where, in a blind tasting, Napa Valley wines were compared to French wines by a panel of predominantly French judges (9 of 11). The top wine, to the horror of the French judges, was the Napa Valley Stag’s Leap Cabernet Sauvignon.

90% of American wines come from California with, surprisingly, only 4% coming from the Napa Valley. This statistic is not so surprising when it was explained that the Napa Valley is only a small part of the wine growing area of California with regions such as Sonoma (which is next door) being much larger.

Now to the wines, we tasted four at each winery and starting with Rutherford.

It was interesting to hear that some of the wineries offered ‘estate bottled’ wines (ie grapes grown, produced and bottled all at the winery) with others buying grapes from other wineries.

The next was Ghost Block. Many of the wineries offered wines under different brand names some of which were the names of the owners’ sons or daughters.

We were told about the fermentation process, how the grape skins were used to make red wine, how French or American oak barrels were used to give the wine a different level of taste and how the length the wine stayed in these barrels made the characteristics of the wine.

The third was Cosentino.

One of our wine hosts said that white wines should be drunk within 1 to 2 years of the production date on the bottle. Red wines, however, mature in the bottle so could be drunk 5 to 6 years after the production date. That is if they last that long.

Our last stop was Fred Razi.

After visiting Fred Razi, it was decided to take another group shot and it is clear that 16 glasses of wine had taken it’s toll.

Day 16 and we make our last drive of the holiday from Napa to San Francisco for our flight back to Seattle. The 60 miles seemed easy compared to the 200 plus miles of other days but going into a major city did involve a lot more traffic, tolls and a 6 car crash (thankfully not involving us) so it took a bit longer than expected. Having spent the best part of 13 days and 1700 miles driving from Seattle to San Francisco, it only took 1 hour and a half flying back on Alaska Airlines.

Tomorrow is our last full day in Seattle and we are going underground. Find out more in our next posting.

The redwood forests became a distant past today as we left the coast of Mendocino for the inland wine region of the Napa Valley. We followed the fairly quiet highway 128 which follows the Navarro river. Heavy logging in the 1850s devastated the original redwood forests, but look closely at many of the trees today and one can notice the secondary growth that has sprouted from the cut stumps of the original redwoods. To their benefit has been the Navarro river which has nourished their regrowth.

At least 100 miles of our 150 mile journey ran between the many vineyards – mostly small-scale producers. We passed row after row of vines, sheltered by low lying hills and mountains either side.

One of the many vineyards running along the highway

Tomorrow we are to go on a wine tasting tour and hope to find out why the Napa Valley is known worldwide for its viniculture.

A three-hour journey led us to our destination, the town of Napa and upon arriving it seemed rather different to the areas we have visited so far. The buildings look so modern and clean, which belied the fact that the town dates back to 1847. Images from the 1800s show buildings in Main Street and First Street (where we have just eaten) that still exist today. The shops and restaurants look highly fashionable and enticing. There is also a lot of artistic work all around the town.

We took a stroll along the Napa river (along which our hotel is located) to the nearby market. Again, this was not as we expected. It contained lots of trendy companies selling coffees, ice creams, nicely displayed fruit and vegetables, sushi and meats. This was, without doubt, the most enticing and uplifting market we have seen.

Oysters are so popular they have dedicated outlets

Our hotel too is arty and brightly presented. Its floor to ceiling entrance displays show only books with white or beige covers, and they are not dummies.

So tomorrow the focus is on wine tasting. Well, it would be a shame not to when in this wine growing region.

Copyright: words and photos Sue Barnard 2019

We took a more leisurely approach today, taking advantage of a two night stop-over in Mendocino. This town is also located on the Pacific Coast, some 200 miles above San Francisco. Mendocino also built its industry and wealth on lumber, specifically giant redwood trees.

By the 1960s-1970s this industry had declined. It coincided with the hippy movement, with many moving into the town to share peace and love. From our experiences today some have still remained. There are quite a few interesting ‘characters’ here ready to catch the ear of passing tourists. One guy we got chatting to offered to do our life chart (by means of numerology), explaining how we can be reincarnated a thousand times. A delightful discussion, but we eventually turned down his offer. It is quite enough to know what we a doing tomorrow let alone for the rest of our lives,

We moved on to find this is a quiet and pretty town with wide roads and little traffic. It makes pleasant walking. Several houses date back to the latter 1800s, some are now museums… and we found yet another really nice bookshop. Unintentionally, these stores are becoming quite a pull for us with such an interesting array of reading matter.

Just a few miles up the bay there are areas known for their ‘glass beaches’. This concept was unknown to us previously so we headed to the local museum, whose owner was also a character and passionate about the beaches and glass. He had a fine array of glass pebbles and explained their origin.

We discovered that the sea was the dumping ground for trash before the age of environmental enlightenment (and plastics to a large extent). Despite the obvious problems this would cause, Fort Bragg’s coastline is formed in such a way that the trash stayed in the bay and was not swept out to sea. Hence, years of glass pieces rolling up and down the shore has caused them to become rounded and worn, larger pieces looking like pebbles. Ceramics are also affected in a similar way. Glass that has been washed and rolled in the salty sea gain a frosted surface. If this happens in river water (with no salt) the surface remains smooth. The colour depends on what the glass was originally used for. An example was red glass pebbles that had been formed from car reflector lights. Some particularly beautiful examples on display were light green pebbles with frosted surfaces, formed from bottles and jugs. Such pieces are often used for jewellery.

Having learned about this we headed to the nearest glass pebble beach, full of anticipation. What a disappointment. The beach had many beachcombers all searching for a little piece of treasure. What we did see were the smallest pieces of glass hardly half a centimetre in length. We have seen more on our own beaches. It seems that too many treasure hunters have taken away gems over the decades. Some people advised that the best time to visit is when the tide is out and the sun reflects of the surface of those remaining, but large pieces are hard to find today.

Our final destination was the Mendocino Botanical Gardens. This too was on the coast and seemed an unusual site to place a garden, being battered by the winds and salty air. However, the extensive acreage was beautiful, coupled with the views over the bays. So many of the plants were similar to ours, such as rhododendron and dahlia, and there were fine displays of heather.

Tomorrow we leave this lovely area, heading to our final destination of Napa before we start our journey home.

**Technical hitch. We apologise that there have been issues with the day 11 and 12 reports. Day 11 has come over multiple times, and day 12 (which we have had a great deal of trouble sending) does not appear to have all its photos displayed. We suggest you view the latter at www.timetocompletethebucketlist.com site where it is displayed correctly. We do not know what is causing this. It is out of our hands, but many apologies for the inconvenience.

Copyright: words and photos Sue Barnard 2019

Today was the day for worshipping the trees. We were heading to redwood country, the land of the giants.

We took the Pacific coastal route for most of our 250 mile journey, taking advantage of some of the many viewing areas along the way. America is very good at providing these ‘pull outs’, some with information boards and occasionally ‘restroom’ facilities.

Views over Crescent City harbour

Crescent City Harbour has been important for the lumber industry for 150 years, shipping redwood, spruce and Douglas fir to ports along the coast, but it has not been without its casualties with boats hitting dangerous sandbanks. The construction of two lighthouses helped alleviate these problems.

One of our stops coincided with the arrival of a young couple from Bristol, journeying even further than we are. They had just married north of Seattle, with a ceremony floating on a river and had chosen to go it alone – just the two of them at the wedding. We had a brief, but pleasant, encounter with them as we all enjoyed the bay views.

The seastacks are formed as a result of their immensely hard rock content being resistant to sea erosion compared with other softer rock surrounding it.

We were then on to the tall trees. We thought the Douglas firs earlier this week were tall, but the redwoods were immense. We took a trial around the Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park admiring the towering trees, unbeknown that this area also has black bears, elk and mountain lions. All best avoided.

This species of redwoods grows close to the Pacific coast along a band about 20 miles wide. The trees need lots of moisture and are found in rainy, foggy areas. Although, thankfully, we did not see the rain, we did see the coastal mist. Redwoods can grow from seedlings, but they can also sprout from the tree’s lateral roots, stumps or even logs. Initially they grow 2-6 feet a year. By 20 years they can be 50 feet tall but with a diameter of just 8 inches. Ultimately they can reach 300 feet tall and in excess of 20 feet around. They can live for 2,000 years.

But we have people, unknown to us, to thank for this scenery. In 1918 a group of people formed the Save the Redwoods League. Using private donations they helped purchase much redwood forest, which was later donated to the California State Parks.

Then, eureka, we reached the town of Eureka where we were to overnight. The hotel seems to have it all. A glass of sparkling wine on arrival, the room has another hot tub, and to top it all it had a bear in the room. So Ted is made up.

Just one night here before we head to Mendocino, but not before we take a look around Eureka which seems to have some interesting architecture.

Copyright: words and photos Sue Barnard 2019

We only popped out for the day. Three hundred miles later we returned. There is very little within a short distance in the USA. Our journey was to Crater Lake in the southern-central part of Oregon. Someone we met when in Romania suggested we visit the lake when in the States, and it did not disappoint.

The first view of the lake in all its glory is breathtaking. So are some of its walking trails, at least in the physical sense with its steep inclines. However, today was scheduled for admiring the lake rather than incorporating a workout.

The lake is situated in a volcanic depression, called a caldera. The depression formed 7,700 years ago when a 12,000 ft volcano, Mount Manama, erupted.

The oral traditions of local tribes parallel known geological details today, indicating that tribal ancestors witnessed the eruption. The area became a ritual site for the tribes and this remains today.

In the late 1800s European gold prospectors came across the lake and several names were given to it, until 1869 when a group of explorers called it Crater Lake. A later visitor in 1885, William Gladstone Steel, recognised its importance and campaigned to protect it. In 1902 his efforts paid off with the creation of the Crater Lake National Park. Entrance today to this extremely large site is $25, which covers visits for a week.

Streams do not run into the lake. It has been filled by centuries of rain and snow. (Forty-four feet of snow falls in the area each year.) Rain and snow, balanced with evaporation and seepage, maintains a constant level of water. The water is said to be so pure that clarity has been recorded 140 feet down from the surface. The lake is almost 2,000 feet deep and the maximum width is 6 miles. The drive around is 33 miles with plenty of stopping points.

Visitors can take a 2 hour boat ride around the lake’s only island, Wizard Island, accessed by a trail the equivalent of 65 flights of stairs down… and up! The boat trip is very popular and was sold out by the time we arrived there.

What is striking is the beautiful blue colouring, and the weather today could not have been better – clear, about 70F, with a gentle breeze. Life exists in the lake. A submersible found thick mats of bacteria thriving in the absence of light, and thick bands of moss stretching around the edges to a depth of 400 feet. The lake has also been stocked with rainbow trout and Kokanee salmon.

So why was our trip out so long today? Crater Lake was a considerable distance from our hotel but I thought it would be a good idea to take in the Klamath Lake. A mere 60 mile detour, but it too was worth it.

Tomorrow we leave for Eureka on the California coast, driving down the scenic highway 101.

Copyright: words and photos Sue Barnard 2019

We hugged the Pacific shoreline a little longer this morning to enjoy the views before we headed to the Interstate 5 Highway to break the back of our 300 mile journey from Depoe Bay to Medford at the southern end of Oregon State.

One hundred and sixteen junctions of the Interstate may seem daunting, but they did go fairly quickly and we passed the time being intrigued by some of the place names we saw along the way. These included the town of Drain (named after politician Charles Drain who donated land for the railroad in 1871. Current population 1,000); Wilbur (which brought back childhood memories of a pig in the wonderful book Charlotte’s Web); Hardscrabble Creek (a once popular area for early Indian tribes including Cheyenne and Sioux), and the unfortunate Jump Off Joe Creek (which refers to an accident of a young trapper in the 1830s). It was surprising how many National Park areas we passed through and the amount of greenery, especially trees in this logging region.

To add some inspiration at the end of this long trip we headed to Jacksonville. Not the well known town in Florida, but Oregon. This developed following the discovery of gold deposits in 1851. But when the gold ran out in the 1860s so did the economy. Today, this is designated a National Historic District. Some 100 of the original buildings remain, although most along the main strip are rather touristy in their content.

Jacksonville buildings are preserved as part of this National Historic District

The City Hall

We did, however, have our best meal yet in this town. An eclectic menu but, for once, not a chip, burger or battered fish in sight.

Then it was off to our hotel. We wondered why this is the first residence providing earplugs. We are based right next to a lorry/trailer park. Rather than Sleepless in Seattle, we are hoping we will not be Sleepless in Medford tonight.

Copyright: Words and photos Sue Barnard 2019