The book about the divorcee stranded in California who hires the young buck to teach her to drive her ex-husband's convertible? You need to find an agent and get that story out there!

And yes -- it's Rocky Point! Thank you for saving me from a sleepless night. I would have played brain games all night trying to think of the name. I knew it was Something Point...

Yes, Route 101 north of San Francisco was part of our "Ribbons" journey, sea lion caves included. The kids had a blast sliding down the great Oregon dunes.

I didn't want to leave the raw, fogbound beauty of the coast, but then we turned inland into the great redwood forests, and life went from incredible to incredible.

Dot's I hope you read my plans for your big California tour. Good bye empty nest. Hello California!!
Girls, I apologize for hogging the F.A. topic. Can't help it. Lori just gets my travel juices flowing and I am compelled to type.
Yes Lori, that's the book. I forgot I had posted about it. I had put it away and tried to forget it, but your posts bring it back to my mind. It was my way of using some of my travel journals.
Rocky point was so beautiful and unspoiled. A tourist mecca in the making. Roadside stands with trinkets and colorful dresses hanging on lines blowing in the wind. Three brightly colored hotels on the beach still not completely constructed, but accepting guests, still surrounded with unused building material. Dinner of huge freshly caught shrimp on the roof of a ramshackle restaurant overlooking the ocean crashing on the rocks. Rental Jet skis for riding the waves. Gee, I want to go back.
I liked the redwood forest too. Isn't going from the the huge openness and hot light of the ocean into the cool green enclosure of the giant redwoods wild. Kind of like entering a new world or an air conditioned tent.
I must have missed the Oregon Dunes or else I forgot. Tell us more.
smile
P.S. How is the running injury? I hope it's getting better. Maybe walking will do for a while. You might try walking with weights on your legs (though most doctors advise against it). I think the extra exertion helps you reach the running high or something. And when you take them off to run, you can leap forever and it's like Flying. Gee, you make me long to run again. I must have been a Jaguar in a previous klife,. Maybe after I'm fully healed from the surgery.

[ May 24, 2005, 09:28 AM: Message edited by: smilinize ]

Hey Smile, please, hog away! (Before turning in last night I read the posts about jawjaw's forthcoming book and July F.A. appearance. Imagining the scores of people that will jump into that forum and the thousands of posts it will generate, I went to bed and had a mini-nightmare in which Dotsie was upset with me because my forum wasn't as lively as the Queen's. Trixie was in the dream with her little crown.)

Leg's not good. Had MRIs Saturday and will know the verdict next week, but I'm thinking stress fracture in the pelvic/hip joint area. Leg just doesn't seem to want to support my weight. I'm pool-running, NordicTracking and biking. I don't get too crazed about injury layoffs anymore. It happens. Relax, heal, then get back out there. If this is the worst thing that happens to me, I'll take it. I'd like to be healed by the end of June so I can train for a September marathon in NH, but we'll see how it goes. There's always another marathon.

What kind of surgery did you have?

How's this for serendipity? I always read a magazine while I eat my breakfast. This morning, I read Conde Nast Traveler (which I hate -- way too precious and chi-chi, but I got it free using some old frequent flier miles I had kicking around). Anyway, they had an article about Baja. It didn't mention Rosarito, but mentioned towns on the Sea of Cortez/Gulf of California side of the peninsula. Talked about old Spanish missions and caves with 9,000-year-old paintings and places like San Ignacio and the Playa el Requeson, where you can park your RV for two bucks a night with hookups, and the highway between Loreto and Santa Rosalia, which skirts hidden turquoise coves the whole way. I'm going. You've inspired me!

And the Oregon Dunes. After you pass through Coos Bay on the Oregon coast, heading north, you enter Oregon Dunes National Seashore, which runs for miles. We hung out at Spinreel Campground and Umpqua Lighthouse State Park. There are ATV rentals at Spinreel, and people of all ages sail up and down the dunes on these four-wheelers. As a Harley pilot, that ought to be right up your alley, Smile.

Why, if you've hijacked Dotsie and have made it as far as California, tie her down and take her up to Oregon, and then tell her to hold on while you fly over the high, yellow sand dunes, the Pacific glistening in the distance. She may never go back to Baltimore.

Lori, One of the most insane trips I ever took, I have no idea why, was to drive along the Mexico U.S. border with a friend in the middle of summer. What an eye opener that was.
Incredibly hot, desloate and poverty stricken with many of our major industries in big buildings just feet across the line, all surrounded by huge stretches of desert and incredible poverty. Roads through mountains of barren red boulders with dangerous sharp curves where running off the mountain was a real possibility at every turn.
Almost no traffic, but lots of vacant eyed Mexican border guards standing in the blazing sun with machine guns. Scary, but interesting. I wonder if it's still the same.
I will pray for your healing. I know how depressing immobility can be, especially if you have always been active. I'm sure you will be back out there in no time.
smile
P.S. I wonder where I was when we drove past the dunes. Must have been asleep. I'm sure I would have noticed such an interesting sight. ??

[ May 24, 2005, 12:11 PM: Message edited by: smilinize ]

I've been to Cabo where happy hour begins at 8 AM! I am not a fan of Mexico. I don't feel safe there and never have.

There is a little town outside of San Diego called Carlsbad that I loved. Very cool. Redondo (sp?) beach is also beautiful. Carmel...ahhhh.

Dianne,
I guess I like a little danger when I travel. Kind of like riding a roller coaster I suppose. Makes me feel blessed to survive.
I respect the desperation of the poverty in Mexico and I try to use caution, but I just love the Mexican people so much that I never truly feel afraid. I am fascinated by the way they carve everything and paint it some bright color then put lace and ribbons on it. The way they always want to feed you and close everything down to take a nap mid day and everyone seems to smile a lot. I've never had anything stolen or been abused in any way there.
I was never afraid in Europe either. Even in Italy where the police raced around with sirens screaming and the police carried uzzis.
Strangely, the one place that I am frightend is D.C. It's one of the reason I left a great job there and moved to California then home to Oklahoma.
I've been to Carlsbad, both the cavern and in CA. Loved the cavern, but it was a boring drive getting there. Redondo beach and Carmel will have go in Dotsie's soon to be infamous "California Girl tour" for sure.

We gotta' get her out West where """men are men and cows are afraid!""
smile

Smile and Lori, you two have me laughing out loud here. I need to print your suggestions and show them to my husband. He and my youngest did a San Francisco trip last year about this time. Ross took our youngest and three of his friends on a skateboarding/filming adventure. The kids had the time of their lives.

I haven't been west of The Rockies. Every time we take a vacation we hit a beach. I've been to five islands in Hawaii, St. Thomas, St. John, Virgin Gorda, Jamaica, Puerta Rico, Bahamas, Bermuda, get the idea? We always stay at luxury resorts and do water sports and veg out.

Lori, please keep us posted on your injury. I love your spirit. If you can't run on land you run in the water. Nothing's going to get you down.

Smile, you should try travel writing. You've got the talent. Your word pictures are rich and evocative. In every post you've written about a place, you've taken me to that place. And, you keep journals, so you have, likely, a vast store of raw material to work with.

And you've got an edge to your style that grabs a reader. I bet that Thelma-or-Louise/Brad Pitt novel you've got squirreled away is outstanding. You should dig it out, dust it off and see where you can take it.

I, too, love the Mexican people. I've traveled only to the state of Quintana Roo. Did the Cancun thing, and then went down the coast to Tulum and Chichen-Itza, stopping in small towns along the way. We'd just find the main square and sit on the steps of the church or on the rim of the ubiqitous central fountain that never had any water in it and wait for kids to come over and talk to us. They were invariably gentle and lovely. Driving back into the tourist madness of Cancun after that was difficult.

Dotsie, I see tatoos in your future. Rendered somewhere south of the border. Smile will hold your tequila glass while the artist works.

Thanks for your good wishes regarding the leg. God's just giving me a chance to practice the art of patience. But you're right, Dotsie, I'll keep moving regardless. If I can't run, I improvise. It works.

Having a good morning. Just sent off a travel story, and the editor loves it. Doesn't pay much, but it's good for a few days of lunch money for the kids.

Lori, what do you think of all inclusives for traveling with children? We stayed at one in Punta Cana. We went with another family. We had a fantastic time, but the food wasn't nearly as fresh as other resorts we have stayed. Any thoughts?

Dotsie, I think all-inclusives when traveling with kids are a great idea. I'd resisted the all-inclusive route because I'm not a sit-on-the-beach type -- I like to be out in the country tooling around and exploring -- but we had a fabulous experience at the Sunset Beach Resort in Montego Bay, Jamaica, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat. I think the trick is to find an all-inclusive that welcomes children and families (some are geared pretty narrowly to couples, mainly young couples), and then to make sure that the property has activities suitable to the ages of your kids or grandkids.

Dana and Adam were 11 and 14 when we went to Sunset Beach, and they met other kids, stayed out late (the property was secure and guarded), overdosed on snacks all day and generally felt pretty free from the old parental reins. Yet, we knew where they were and what they were up to and checked in on them (between endless free cocktails).

I know a young couple who went to Sunset Beach with two toddlers, ages 2 and 5, and they had a wonderful time, as well. The property has a child-care center for young ones, which enabled the parents to have some free time.

I've recommended www.TripAdvisor.com several times during this forum, and it's a great place to get unbiased feedback from actual guests. You'll find all-inclusives here that the slick travel magazines or mainstream travel websites don't feature.

Which Punta Cana resort did you stay at? We'll definitely consider all-inclusives in the future, particularly as the next few years will mean traveling with teenagers, and I'd love to learn about good properties.

And no, you don't go for a gourmet food experience, but then, I'm not a gourmet, so I was happy as a clam with the buffets. No complaints. But if outstanding food is a focal point of your travels, it's probably best not to go the all-inclusive route.