Horseshoe Bend

A mile or so south of Page, Arizona the Colorado River navigates around a horseshoe bend. There is a 3/4 mile trek through the sand, up and down a hill, to get to the overlook, but it is well worth the effort. I went there twice.

The first visit was late in the evening before the sun set. The overlook faces west so the sun was directly behind the bend.

The river and the rocks, highlighted by the lowering sun.

The early morning light gives it a completely different look.

As the kayaks and canoes were preparing to leave a beach on the bend a big motorboat passed by.

These photos were taken on June 3rd and June 4th. I left Page on the morning of the 4th for Southern California to visit my cousin and to attend the Genealogy Jamboree. After Jamboree I spent two days on the coast near Point Mugu and Ventura (no photos, gloomy, foggy, but still nice) then ventured into the central part of the state...

Lovely garden restaurant in Samos: Anna’s Restaurant and my introduction to Imam Baildi

Dutchman and I have been eyeing this garden restaurant for days already. It has a different ambiance. Most of the restaurants in this area have their dining beside the beach road or on the beach, whereas this restaurant is set off from the main road and inside a garden of flowers and trees. One evening, we finally made a decision to dine here.







Anna’s Restaurant

Website Trip Advisor:Anna’s Restaurant



Anna’s Restaurant is located in Kampos (or Kambos, also called Votsalakia). I don’t understand why the many spellings and another different name, I think this is the old name--Votsalakia, but Greek language is difficult enough to understand, let alone translate it to English! The restaurant is on the main street right on the border to the next town, a little bit further from the town centre.













What do you think of the homey garden ambiance? This is actually a timely needed change of scenery for us after days of sitting on the beach for dinner.



The mother of the house restaurant was excited to show us (moi and another couple) what they had cooked for the evening. Some restaurants here in Samos prepare a part of the food in the menu ahead of time. It is something like a cafeteria setting, and they do heat the food of course before serving. Some people do not like this kind of set-up while others do not actually mind (like us) because this is the style, very organic and 100% local. A pure Greek home-style restaurant.











This home-style garden restaurant even has a stone oven. Beautiful!



Above you will see some of the Greek fares available for picking. For 15 Euros you can have small pickings of everything. We did not want that because that is too much. So I settled for something that caught my fancy for our starter which I am sure the Dutchman would also like.



Imam Baildi and more...



The mother of the house told me that the dish I picked for our starter is called Imam. Hmm, the only imam I know are those Muslim preachers, but anyway, Imam it is, and so I wrote it down in my black notebook so I can remember. After much googling, I came across with Imam Baildi. I do not write everything in my black notebook, only when I have it and when I remember writing down the new things I learned. Most of the times I get caught up with the flow of events that I forget to write them down. Really jammer.










This is Imam Baildi, in English Stuffed Aubergine (Eggplant for you non-Europeans), and yes this is vegetarian. Dutchman and I loved this, partnered with the bread. Great for starters!


For our mains, I settled for grilled fish while the Dutchman wanted some Italian fare, spaghetti with stewed beef on top. Now that is interesting!



My fish was very fresh and it was just what I expected. Dutchman on the other hand was quite happy and satisfied. He said he was tired of Greek food so the pasta was a nice welcome change.









We came from a long afternoon in the beach and did not bother going back to our apartment and change clothes for dinner. We were hungry and want to get over with it.













All in all, this is a very nice and lovely place. A different ambiance away from the beach but equally romantic and divine. We loved especially the Imam Baildi. I highly recommendAnna’s Restaurant. 4 stars out of 5.

High Heels and Saddle Height

A belated Monday Mailboxpost, on account of my wifi having conked out yesterday. Here is a variation of a question I've gotten from several readers this summer:

...I'd like to wear high heeled shoes on my bike, but find it's hard to get the saddle height right. If I adjust the saddle for my heels it is too high when I wear flats, and vice versa. What do you recommend?

The problem here is not so much with the high heels themselves as it is with platform soles. Over the past year platform and wedge style shoes with substantial stack heights have become popular again. And alternating between shoes that are flat, and shoes with a 3cm rise in the sole will make a noticeable difference in leg extension on the bike.



For short distances, this might not matter so much. Some women will adjust their saddle height for flats and then simply ride with it too low when wearing heels and platforms. Others (myself included) find this uncomfortable even for short stretches. And of course for longer distances riding with your saddle too low is simply a bad idea - not only uncomfortable, but bad for the knees.





Aside from the obvious but unhelpful suggestion of picking a heel height and sticking with it, one thing to consider is converting your seatpost to quick release. This should be easy to do on most bikes: You simply purchase a quick release skewer, and install that in place of the seat clamp bolt. I now have QR seatposts on my everyday city bike and on my cargo bike, and they have changed my life. Well, not really. But they have liberated me to wear crazy heels again without worrying about leg extension. In mere seconds I can adjust the saddle to whatever height I want before a ride; problem solved.



Granted, the downside to quick release seatposts is the increased possibility of saddle theft - which means either sticking with an inexpensive saddle on your QR bike, taking the seatpost and saddle with you every time you leave the bike locked up, or using an extra lock to secure the saddle to the bike. The last two are a bother, but still could be worth it for the versatility of footwear the setup affords.



Another possibility is adjusting your saddle height on the go without a QR seatpost. Just carry the appropriate tool with you. Of course this assumes the ability to do it on your own, and a willingness to constantly mess with your saddle height "the hard way." Personally, I kind of enjoy this. But still the quick release is an easier and more reasonable solution.



After several years of wearing mostly flat shoes, I've been getting back to heels and platforms lately and it's been great fun. And being able to adjust my saddle height on the go means my leg extension is always just the way I like it.

Sparkling Light for the Fourth

July 4th 1981. Digitized ... Copyright © 1981/.. by Rebeckah R. Wiseman Hope you have a safe and enjoyable holiday!

Colchuck Peak

Colchuck Peak, in the Stuart Range, was to be our first real climb of 2007. We camped near the trailhead the night before and then got a 4:00am start on the climb. The road to the trailhead was closed due to a mudslide that needed to be cleaned up. We pushed and rode bikes for 4 miles up the dry gravel road.




Mark crossing the bridge over Mountaineer Creek.



Doug, Mike and Dave enjoying the view.


Dragontail Peak is on the left, Colchuck Peak is on the right and the Colchuck Glacier is in-between. Our route would start directly below the summit as seen from this angle. Colchuck Lake was still frozen. We were able to save a lot of time by going straight across the lake.



Our route was the North Buttress Couloir (NBC). It is the snowy strip going up the left side of this photo. This is the NE side of the peak.





Heading up the lower part of the NBC. The snow was in great shape on this side of the peak. We could easily kick in steps and they were solid.





Dave, the moraine and the end of the lake.






We made it up to the notch and crossed over to the NW side of Colchuck. The snow on this side was loose dry powder.







Mark with Colchuck Lake in background.








Mark, Doug and Dave on top of Colchuck Peak with Mt. Stuart and Sherpa Peak behind us.









The Colchuck Glacier consisted of hard icy snow. We were numb by the time we finished glissading down to the lake!








Dave takes a lot of flower pictures. Here is just one. We hopped back on the bikes, made good time coasting down to the pickup, ate some real food and headed for home.

Small Tent Rocks

All over the Jemez Mountains are pointed rocks like these. Most are bigger than this. They are called tent rocks but to me they should be called teepees.

Lathe Turning

Some of you commented on my posting a month or so aga about the piece of cottonwood that my husband was turning on his lathe. Here is the finished piece. Some really nice designs in the piece of wood from an almost dead cottonwood tree. He has more of the tree to turn later on.



Here is a bottle and a candlestick with electric candle that he turned from a piece of wood he bought.




Christmas decorations he made from left over scrap pine wood. There are tiny holes with a piece of string for hanging on the tree.


Here are two snowmen (maybe the taller is a snowwomen) that hubby made for gifts.

Thanks Sheri...

While sitting in the auto repair shop in Oakhurst, I had contacted Sheri Fenley (The Educated Genealogist) to see if we could meet up for a day or two. She had been unable to attend the Genealogy Jamboree in Burbank earlier in the month and since I was (sort of) in the area I thought I'd stop by to see her on my way north.

It was a relatively short drive of 150 miles or so from Yosemite to Stockton and I arrived at Sheri's place about noon on Saturday (June 26th). It was non-stop talking for the next 10 hours and most of the day on Sunday! What did we talk about? Our families and Genealogy, of course!

On Sunday, I joined Sheri and a few members of her APG Chapter for lunch and a behind the scenes tour of the San Mateo Historical Museum Archives in Redwood City. It was nice to meet some of her cohorts and see the resources available in San Mateo. Sheri wrote a little about that excursion.

Monday morning photos as I was leaving.

Sheri was saying “Goodbye, Becky!”

Thank you, Sheri, for being a gracious hostess. I very much enjoyed meeting your family and spending time with you. Thank you, Thank you!

My Favorite Kind of Day

Since we spent all summer in Florida, and Florida in the summer is a dreadful experience temperature and humidity-wise, we are really enjoying the cooler days. We went out to Sixteen Hands and spent the day there alone because everyone else went to an event. It was just a lazy kind of a day.











The horses are starting to really know Nathan now. They greet him and then go and do their thing. Well, except Patriot who believes "we" are his thing.



Gypsy girl shows us how she multi-tasks by drinking and bathing at the same time.



And Chevy bravely walks over to me, rather than running away from me.



It was a good day! Hoping for more of them over the next few months!



Living the life in FL!