Ruth Reeds resa i Nordamerika

Dear readers,

On Friday last week I took off with my family.
We are on a roadtrip, experiencing New Mexico like we never have before.
It's the wild west, really it is. Cows are running freely on the roads,  I have seen a couple of cowboys riding horses and the scenery is very west, cactus, mountains (Rocky Mountains), dry land.

Our first stop was Santa Fe in New Mexico. It's artistically very important, many artist live or promote their art there.
It is very charming, only adobe houses and they are peach colored.
There's a plaza with a park, on Fridays it fills up with salesmen who brings their tents up and try to sell jewlery and things they've made out of leather, mostly indians.
One of the two days we spent walking along Canyon Road, that is where most of the galleries are.
On that road there are 113 galleries, so I've heard.
It seemed very French, or Italian to med.
Narrow pavements, warm but not humid, lots of vegetation and some of the art was very European too.

There is a great benefit when visiting Santa Fe on a Friday. All the big museums are free.
We went into the museum feauturing Georgia o'Keeffe.
She lived between 1886-1987.
Mom's a big fan and enjoyed it very very much.

We had dinner at a Mexican restaurant, which is very common for us to do. New Mexico is famous for their hot green chili and everyone in my family happens to love it.
I didn't like it at first but it has grown on me.

On Saturday we left Santa Fe and continued towards Monuments Valley in Utah.
We made a stop in Chama. Willy and I were content with staying at the hotel and skip dinner. Lydia, mom and dad immediately went to a resaturant, they got back late and told us what a fabulous place it was, live music, terrific food. They had been dancing.
Willy and I were glad we stayed at the hotel.

Early morning next day before breakfast we went to see the town of Chama, it's very small. What is has except for the great restaurant is old trains, the ones that go forward by coal and wood. It was fun to see, a bit odd too since their so old, last century.
We went to the restaurant for breakfast, it was fantastic especially the pancakes. 

In the car again and off we went.
At four corners we did a quick stop, it is the only place in the United States where four states, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado and Utah meet in just on spot.

Now we are in Utah in Monument valley.
The momuments are rockformations (sandstone) created by wind, sand and rain.
It is very odd here, the soil is read because it is full of iron (so I've heard). In this red gigantic desert there are rockformations. One of the famous one is "the three sisters",
a tall piece of rock conected at the base emerge into three skinny ones. Google it: three sisters Monument Valley.
We spent all day there, driving around in the car on a very bumpy road, taking pictures, doing some sketches of the monuments. It was a beautiful sunset, big shados appeared and the monuments got a more intense red color.

Today we take off towards Grand Canyon.

I hope everything is well with you.
Live and prosper
 

hello dear readers

I now have an official home in this country.
If anyone wants to send me a letter and tell me what you are up to please feel free.|
32 Spruce Trail
Cloudcroft, New Mexico 88317
USA

My new home is a travel trailer.
It belongs to Lydia but I'm on the electric bill which proves residency and I have a house key.

Two days ago we drove to White Sands National Monument, located at the bottom of the Sacramento mountains near Alamogodo.
It's incredible 370 square miles and the sand is soft like babypowder.
We arrived just before sunset, it was beautiful. Too bad I haven't figured out how to download the pictures or I could show you what it's all about.
Moments after the sun set the wind came and whipped us in the face. Too soon we were on our way home again.

Prior on that same day we went to Holloman Air Force Base where they train American and German fighter pilots.  10,000 people within the military live there with their spouses and kids. It was huge, they have Mc Donalds, a big foodstore, a department store, gas station, gym, and olympic pool.
You name it, everything you want, they even have a cinema.
We went into the gym and saw all the big muscalar men and women work out.
Lydia's friend Shavan's husband Pete is retired from the Air Force so they  have acces to the base.


Tonight Lydia and I are making dinner for Bryan, a wonderful friend of Lydia and now me too, at his place.
We've already prepared the Gnocci and lemonpie with strawberries on top. We're going home soon to bake the rolls and make a salad.
 

On Sunday my paretns are coming and we'll be off driving for two weeks.

Live and prosper and todays word is HONESTY

Hello readers,

I'm now in another country.

I flew from Vancouver to Seattle in less than an hour and from there Pheonix was only a few hours away by airplane.
At the airport my godmother Lydia picked me up.
We managed to fit my two bags into her jeep and then we were off.
that was the start of our roadtrip.

It was 35 degrees outside of the car and nothing but desert.
Every once in a while was a pit stop with gasstations, malls and restaurants. Around 8pm we stopped at a waffle house, we both ordered a burger. The staff who worked there were so funny, dancing around, playing with eachother and singing loudly with the music.

We continued our driving for a couple of hours and by ten o'clock at WestWardLook resort in Tucson and that's in the state of Arizona.

As soon as we brought our bags inside I said we should go to the pool and swim. 
It was nice to cool off a bit.

Next to the pool sat a couple in their seventies, they really enjoyed talking to the two of us especially about the many flaws with the school system.

I lay down in bed and fell a sleep immediately.

The next morning we took off pretty early, we got up at 7 something I havn't done since I left the boat.
Anyways on the road I saw a biker going 80miles/hour(130km/tim)
without a helmet on.
We passed him and then he passed us so I took up my videocamera and the next time we passed him I got him on video and he was waving. 
Next thing I new I was sitting on the back of his motorcykle, his stuff was in the passengers seat in Lydia's car.
I held on to him really tight because the wind was so strong I thought I would grab me and turn me into an organ doner. 
I was wearing a helmet and he never went passed 75m/h
which he had promised Lydia who it seemed made it her mission in life to follow that vehicle no matter what.

After a few exits I decided to get off.

Lydia wanted to show me Old Mesilla in Las Cruces in New Mexico very close to Mexico. Billy the Kid and Poncho Villa had been in that city. Exept for all the criminals it was a veru nice place to visit.

In the evening we arrived in CloudCroft in the state of New Mexico, that is where Lydia has some land. We are staying at one of her friends's house.

Very soon we're having dinner at Nancy's one of Lydias many friends

Live and prosper, enjoy life

  

Hello readers,

I've spent almost a week in Victoria with the cities best guide amd her helpers.

Her name is Inger and she is Lauritz's older sister.
She's got a beautiful home outside of Victoria.
From her balcony I've seen hummingbirds and squirrels racing eachother up and around the oak trees.

We've spent most of our time together in the kitchen, cooking dinner, drinking lots and lots of tea while exchanging stories, listening to great music (Opera, Bach, Yo Yo Ma, Madeleine Peyroux, Lennart Cohen, Norah Jones) watching French Open.

In the morning we've been watching the tennis games.
My favourite players are Tonga(american), Federer (french) and Anna (Russia).
It's been lots of fun watching the tournament, she gets as exited as my mom does when watching a good game of soccer.

On Saturday we went to see her son Ian and his wife Nancy. They are both very very nice.
Ian has an entire room full of big aquarium tanks, most of them with saltwater which enables a richer surrounding for the fish than freshwater.

After the visit Inger aka Nana drove to Katrine (Kriss) her daughters house. We were invited to dinner the following evening cause Saturday night spagethi with broccoli and tomatoe sauce was on the menu.
For desert we idulged in strawberries.

Sunday
Inger drove to one of the many beaches and we saw some of the sailboats that participated in the Swiftshire Race (I think it's called that) as they came in to the harbour with their big spinnakers. It's a huge sail that looks like half of a baloon, they're supposed to be very difficult to manage.
I was able to see everything from the peer.

We drove around the harbour and walked on the dock. There were houses floating on the water where people had little pots with flowers and numbers on their houses. It was very fun to see.

I booked a spot on the eagle  wing whale watching for the followin day.

Afterwards we left and went to have dinner at Kriss's.
We were sitting on their porch out in the sun, then came the clouds and it got cool very fast.
Ross's son Ian gave me a Cowegian (a special type of knitting wool by the natives) sweater to put on. He told me his mom made it for him but it's been to small for quite a while so he decided to give it to me which was very nice of him.
They also have a dog, a little black spaniel named Bella. She loved it when I threw her tennisball over a wooden fence. As soon as she dropped the ball on the ground by my feet she'd run around the other side of it, she's such a funny little dog.
I wouldn't mind having one actually.

After dinner Ian showed me a lovely viewpoint just a few minutes walk from the house.
We overviewed Juan De Fuca Strait and saw the mountains of Washington.

We continued our walk towards the beach and we went in the chilled water for a quick swim. Ian and I sat on the pebble beach for a while, watching the sun set and looking for pebbles.

When we got back Ross had driven Inger home and did the same with me. I found her in the coach watching an old movie. I sat down next to her and we watched it until it ended at 11.30pm We were pretty tired I tell you.

Monday:
At 2.30pm I jumped on the eagle wing whale watching boat in a grey pair of pants and a red jacket. W were about 9 on the boat and together we looked like a rescue team, I thought.
The guide explained why there are so many orchas in these cold waters. It's basically because they for one thing like cold water and all the currents in the water that meet makes all the nutricious plancton float up, bigger fish eat the small ones and so it goes until we come to the orcha aka killerwhale which is a top pretator.
We were boating in the water and suddenly a huge black fin surfaced and then quickly went town again. A few minutes later I saw another one. Sometimes they popped up their heads right up. One splashed the water with its back fin and made a big splash. It was an amazing experience to see these amazing animals in the wild.
I got some footage of it so anyone who is interested is invited to come by and watch.

Nana picked me up at the harbour and we drove  back to her place. Soon after Ingers daughter in lay Nancy came with three tennisballs and two rackets. We walked down the hill to the tenniscourt and played for a while just for fun.

I had such a great sleep that night.

Tuesday:
Nothing much to tell about Tuesday. In the evening Kriss and Ian came over for a cup of tea.

Wednesday:
Nancy picked me up at 2pm and we left for the Royal Museum. We started with IMax, it's a huge screen where scientific videos are shown. We saw one about the ocean.They have an exhibition with treasures from all corners of the world.
I found most of it very interesting.
We went in to the giftshop and I bought a painting of Poppies by Evan Trotter. I've never heard of him but I love the piece I bought.

Nancy and i left and walked over to her son Cameron and his girlfriend Pheobe's apartment. He's an artist and had lots of work at the moment. We didn't spend much time there but I would enjoy meeting them both again. She's travelled a lot within Europe and some of his artwork I found very interesting.
Inger has been talking about him a lot, what a nice guy he is.

Thursday:
Kriss and Ross picked me up and we drove out to the French beach, pebbles and sand. I found some really nice ones to bring  home.
When sitting on the beach I was able to see the Pacific Ocean.
Bella was super happy constantly running around on the beach and in the water too.

For lunch we went to Point no Point.
they have their own privet park that only guests can use, restaurant guests included.
More pebbles, I have quite a bunch now in my bag.
I found a little stone with some sort of painting on it. I think it looks like a man while Inger on the other hand thinks it looks like a chicken. It's quite interesting.

Friday:
At 1pm Nana and me are talkin the ferry over to Vancouver and at the harbour her granddaughter Jennifer (who I should tell you is very highly thought of by everyone) will come and pick me up. It is so nice of her.

Lau and Barbara are still out sailing. I have no idea where they are, they said they would call but they never did.
So now the plan is I live in her big house by myself for a couple of days.

In Vancouver I would like to see the aquarium.

On Tuesday I fly to Pheonix.
I'm very much looking forward seeing my dear gm Lydia.

I'm gonna have a good nights sleep now. Good night.

Hello readers,

My boat trip has ended today and I'm now in Victoria on Vancouver Island which is a pretty big one and compared to the boat it's mainland.

I've seen so much it's difficult to find the words...

The sailboat Salt Peter is 30feet (10m).
The inside is divided in three parts; the V-birth which is at the bow (front), the head which is basically a tiny washroom with a toilet (that is flushed by pumping a handle next to it)  and a sink, the biggest compartment is the kitchen and a table which we folded in to a  bed.

We've mostly had our meals on deck but sometimes the wind was too strong or it was raining so we had it inside.

Barbara is a great cook and we've  been eating like kings and queens like Lau said.
We bought a chicken and it gave us three meals. First Barbara cooked it in the oven and we used some of the left overs in a crabtrap and of the rest she made soup.

Many days we had to motor because the wind wasn't in our favour or we had non.

Some days we put up the sails and after a couple of times a got the hang of it. I love the sound of wind catching the sheets, especally the jib cause' it makes more of a sound.
Without the motor one is able to hear all sounds of nature, waterfalls finding thier way down from the snowy tops and birds singing.

When I got in to the Harbour of Nanamo everything was so loud, the sounds from all the engines.

Anyway
We went to Octopus Island, around it are a bunch of other islands. It was a very fun place to cajac, around all the islands in to small bays.
We put out our crabtrap and we caught enough for a lovely dinner. they have to be a certain size and you can only eat the males, you tell their gender by turning them over.

Another day I went over to a big rock which during flood is covered by water but when it's ebbing all these oyster show up. Massive amounts. Within a few minutes I had picked two buckets full. I didn't even have to work to get to them, normally they stick to the rocks like the blu mussels, they were in a big pile on top of eachother.
I rowed back in the dinghie to the sailboat and Barbara made a batch of beer and some flour and cooked them in a frying pan.

If you're close to a sandy shore when it's ebbing you'll probably see iny water fountains coming out of the sand. That's the Butterfly clams. They dig deap down in the sand and spout out water and also sand. We brought a showel and dug a bunch of them up and Barbara made a wonderful clam chouder.

I've seen three snakes, they weren't very big but I jumped each one I saw one. Lau laughed his head off, I guess I would have to. However on this island called Hornby I spent a lovely couple of hours in Halliwell Park. We began our walk on the sandstone which water in due time carves into marvelous shapes and continued our walk up to a bluff on the rim of the cliffs.
The sun was setting so the light was just lovely and the view spectacular.
I'm afraid I won't be able to portray good enough.
If you get a chance go to Hornby Island and visit the park, you will not be sorry.

I've seen rackoons, minks, baby geese and a lot of big ones.

What else do  you want to know?

Use sunscreen

Hello!

The route has changed.

Now we are traveling south.

At the moment I'm in Comox a town on Vancouver Island.

Yesterday a saw a bunch of sealions. They actually sound like lions.

I'm afraid my internet time is up.

bye bye

Good morning!

I hope my Swedish readers had a nice Valborg.

We'reloading up the boat and finally leaving Gambier island. Don't get me wrong it's very nice here but I'm looking forward to the sailing.

Time to set sails.
It's a very nice day for sailing. The temperature will rise to 19degrees.

Live and prosper!

Hello!

Tomorrow I have a dentist appointment to deal with my toothache.

I'm spending the night with Caroline and her family in Robert's Creek.

Today was a fun day.

I met Caroline who is very nice.
We went cajaking and on our trip we saw four seals sunbathing on logs and whe got too close they dove in the water and played around our boats.

I'm sorry guys. I wrote an essay on todays adventure and by some mystical reason it all dissapperad and I just don't feel like writing it all over again.

Unfortunately the map doesn't show where I'm at probably because I'm in a small town called Richard creek (along the Sunshine coast, north(just a little bit)west of Gambier) which I think is too remote of a place.

Live and prosper!

hello dear ones!

Today was spent on land.

Barbaras cottage is set very close to the shore, it's only a two minute walk down to it.

From the cottage one can see the dock which goes a long way out into the ocean, I'll tell you why.
When the tide goes ebb the water is drawn towards the pacific ocean by the current.
Today during ebb the water was drawn almost all the way out to the end of the dock where the boat is at.
During ebb the sun heats upp the rocks (that are normally covered in water) and when the tide goes flood the water is heated upp by the warm rocks.
Therefor the water is swimable,I did not think this possible. I'll go for a dip tonight and see if it really works.

I and the others eat lunch by the shore while sunbathing.
It was nice but now I'm very red in my face even though I wore sunscreen with a factor of 60.

The most exotic animals today were: starfish (real big ones!),
spread out starfish arms due to the seaguls eating them, hundreds of tiny crabs hiding under stones and three eagles.

The boat engine is still not working, a mechanic is looking at it right now. All I know is that the problemis not due to water in the engine.

The radio is on all day here at the cottage and I hear a lot about the swine flue, I'm getting a bit put off to travel to New Mexico.
I'll see what happens and decide later on what to do.

I wish my readers a good hike with sunny weather, a safe trip home from Berlin on Wednesday, a safe trip to Prague, a good workout in Turkey and a nice tapas dinner in Madrid.
You know who you are.

That's all for now.

We left the harbour at eleven. We should gone earlier so we could go with the flood. after we'd been sailing for 30minutes perhaps the tide changed into ebb and we had the wind against us. We started the engine in order to gain more speed. Unfortunatley it made a beeping sound and we had to shut it off. It might have been because of water coming into the engine. We don't know yet. there's a special fluid we put in that should tell us if there is. In the morning we'll check it.

Anyway.
for lunch we had the chili con carne I made the other day at Barbara's house. It made me drowsy so I took a nap.
As soon as i closed my eyes Laurtz wakened me and pointed in the water - wake up it's a seal.

Today we mainly had the sail on starboard (green).
Port (red) is the left hand side.
 

At 4 pm  we arrived at Gambier, it's the island where Barbara has a cottage.
She has lots of stories about the island and guests she's had.

I'm very tired and even though I'm on land it feels as if I'm still on the boat.

Bye for now

In ten days I start my journey to Alaska