Tag: not traveling

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August 2020 Updates and Follow-Ups

A few news items worth mentioning and items I’ve mentioned that deserve some follow up…

Black Lives Matter mural by To-Ree’-Nee’ Wolf
Smoke from the Bighorn Fire behind To-Ree’-Nee’ Wolf’s mural, 6/16/20.

Bighorn Wildfire: Out

The monsoon rains have arrived, and the wildfire I wrote about is no longer making the Tucson air all smoky.

After burning across the Santa Catalina Mountains for a month and a half, the Bighorn Wildfire was finally 100% contained on July 23.

Catalina State Park campground
View of Santa Catalina mountains from Catalina State Park (before the fire), 5/25/20.

Thankfully, firefighters were able to ensure that no lives were lost and no homes or businesses burned down. Many of the mountains’ recreation areas (including Sabino Canyon and parts of Mt. Lemmon) are tentatively closed due to road repairs, flash flood danger, etc. until November 1, 2020.

Cookie Cabin patio
Cookie Cabin patio on Mt. Lemmon, 2015.

Mt. Lemmon

Initially, all access to Mt. Lemmon was going to be shut down that long. But businesses in its mountaintop communities of Summerhaven and Ski Valley urged the County for a quicker opening, so visitors could return sooner.

Road crews were able to repair fire-damaged guardrails along the Catalina Highway, which goes up Mt. Lemmon. Amazingly – in what may be a construction project first – it reopened 3 months early! Officials may limit traffic to prevent crowding, since many areas are still restricted, but at least there is some access.

Open:

Closed:

  • Coronado National Forest trails and campgrounds: No picnicking, hiking, or fishing.
  • Mt. Lemmon SkyCenter: Observatory closed to the public.
  • Trails in nearby Sabino Canyon.

Watch: Our drive up the Catalina Highway from the Tucson desert to Mt. Lemmon pines in 2015.

 

Mural by Adia Jamille

Murals at MSA Annex: New

There are a couple more mural additions at MSA Annex!

Mural by To-Ree’-Nee’ Wolf.
Mural by To-Ree’-Nee’ Wolf.

The mural honoring ancestors that To-Ree’-Nee’ Wolf was working on when I met her is finished now.

Black Lives Matter mural by Adia Jamille
Mural by Adia Jamille.

Also, textile designer Adia Jamille completed a sweet painting of a couple next to her larger “Black lives matter when they are…. alive” mural.

"Black Lives Matter when they are alive..." mural by Adia Jamille
Mural by Adia Jamille.

Watch: Star Wars actor John Boyega – who plays Finn, the former Stormtrooper turned “big deal” in the Resistance – gave an impassioned speech at a protest in Hyde Park, London: “Black lives have always mattered. We have always been important. We have always meant something.” It’s beautiful and makes me tear up every time.

Anaheim Convention Center
Star Wars Celebration, 2015.

Star Wars Celebration: Postponed

The 2020 edition of Star Wars Celebration, the big non-annual convention we attended a few years back, has been canceled. It was supposed to return to Anaheim this month, but, of course, this is not really a time for crowded cons. It has been rescheduled for August 18-21, 2022.

Anaheim Convention Center
Phillip and I at Anaheim Convention Center after Star Wars Celebration, 2015.

Watch: In lieu of the in-person event, some fans are organizing a virtual conference, ForceFest, August 28-30. I think you need an account on the GetVokl platform to see the livestream, but you can just sign up free with your phone number, Twitter, Facebook, or Patreon account. (I did. It was pretty quick.)

 

Disney Parks: Reopening in progress

Speaking of Anaheim (and Star Wars), Disney properties have began to open back up in phases. Precautions they’re taking include operating at reduced capacity, adding distance between parties on rides, requiring masks, and sanitizing the heck out of anything that can be sanitized. Some attractions will remain closed for the time being.

Downtown Disney
Downtown Disney, 2008.

Opened in July:

Pixar Pier in Disney California Adventure Park
Disney California Adventure Park by Joshua Sudock / Disneyland Resort.

Still closed:

Listen: Podcast the Ride episode on the craziness of the day Disneyland first opened in 1955. (Heads up: Even though it’s about theme parks, this is not a podcast meant for kids.)

Paper Disney park
Via Disney Parks Blog.

DIY: A couple Disney Imagineers designed these cute Disney Paper Parks. Print out Sleeping Beauty’s castle, buildings from Main Street, U.S.A., and floats from the “Magic Happens” parade (which barely debuted before the coronavirus shutdown), and then color, cut out, and fold them to set up your own little Disneyland!

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Virtually Visit Italy

If you can’t take a plane to Italy, there are still ways to see the sights from where you are.

Florence Duomo by Petar Milošević • CC BY-SA 4.0

If you can’t take a plane to Italy, there are still ways to see the sights from where you are.

Museums and monuments sometimes have “virtual tours” that allow you to see 3D views of a place and (usually) click to navigate through it – like Google Street View but inside.

A group of Russian photographers has taken incredible 360-degree photographs around the world. You can probably get lost in their site, AirPano, for days. I’ve linked to some of the AirPano pages for Italian cities (below).

Skyline Webcams allows you to search for live camera feeds of public places by country or category (city views, landscapes, etc.) I’ve included a few live cams from Italy in the lists below, but there are lots more on their site.

 

David selfie

Florence

Milan

 

Galleria Umberto, Naples

Naples and Pompeii

Pisa

 

Vatican

Rome and the Vatican

 

regata storica venice http://www.regatastoricavenezia.it/mg.php?fg=2016&pg=2&lang=it

Venice

Where would you like to “travel” to without leaving home?

Happy virtual trails!

*Not mobile friendly.

 

Microblog Mondays: Write in your own space

Photo credits —

  1. Florence (Duomo): Petar Milošević • CC BY-SA 4.0
  2. Florence (David): La Galleria dell’Accademia di Firenze
  3. Naples: Italy Guides
  4. Rome: Vatican City State
  5. Venice: Regata Storica
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30+ Ways to Travel Without Leaving Town

Sometimes you need to stay close to home. Maybe family or work responsibilities are keeping you grounded. Maybe it’s health or money issues.

There are still ways to see new things, experience other cultures, feel transported.

Norton Simon cafe

Recently, National Geographic featured a “travel photographer” who finds and composes interesting shots within Google Street View.

Navigating through the Street View of an area does give you a better sense of a place. So we’ll start there.

world-map-2

1. Use Google Street View to explore an area you’d like to visit or re-visit somewhere you’ve gone in the past.

Flamenco

2. Go to a local cultural center, performance, or festival.

3. Be a tourist in your own town.

  • See the cheesy stuff you’d normally skip and take photos.
  • Pick out postcards.
  • Visit the tourist information office or visitor bureau and find out what visitors are seeing or doing that you might’ve overlooked.

fremont-postcards-front

4. Watch some foreign films.

5. Try out any travel apps you’re interested in. See how well they work while you’re still at home.

papago-park-lake

6. Have you visited all the parks in your area?

travelexpo-dtphx

7. Take a different route home.

  • Skip the freeway.
  • Walk or ride your bike.
  • Try public transit or take a different line.
  • If you’re in Phoenix, have you ridden the light rail yet? End to end?

8. Get lost in a library.

cartel-mocha-art

9. Try a new restaurant, coffee shop, or bar.

10. Watch movies about travel.

  • The Secret Life of Walter Mitty comes to mind.
  • So does Already Tomorrow in Hong Kong, which I reviewed last year and is now on Netflix.
  • Phillip reminded me of The Motorcycle Diaries. So good. Definitely feels like you’ve been on a long journey through South America by the end.

Backyard

11. Set up a tent in your backyard or inside the house.

12. Sign up to host an international student.

p-drive

13. Go to another part of town and explore a neighborhood that’s usually not on your radar.

14. Get out photos and relive memories. Put them in albums or scrapbooks if you haven’t already.

Norton Simon museum

15. Visit a museum. Find out when they have voluntary admission days or other special events.

Pressed wildflowers.

16. Read a book set in a place you’d like to visit or that takes you on a journey. A few ideas:

  • Cheryl Strayed’s Wild.
  • In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson.
  • Riders of the Purple Sage, the Zane Grey novel that we recently saw an opera based on, really puts you inside the canyons and valleys of its setting.
  • Phillip loved Mitchner’s Iberia and said it made him feel like he’s been to Spain.

Mesa community garden

17. Ask friends for their favorite spots around town (to do, see, eat etc.) and try out their recommendations.

18. Wander around an international market. Buy something you’ve never seen before.

Patio

19. Bring a little of the places you love to visit into your regular life. Splurge on extra soft towels or have coffee on your patio.

20. Buy music from a place you’d like to travel. (Or borrow it – Phillip has found some great stuff at our local library.)

21. Make a friend from another country.

  • Volunteer with an international students’ group.
  • Adopt a refugee family.

star-over-desert

22. Explore the stars at a local planetarium or with a regular telescope.

23. Have you seen all the public art on display where you live?

Bag at sunset

24. Test out your travel gear. Make sure everything works, is comfortable to wear, etc. My dad used to fill his pack with encyclopedias and walk around the block to get ready for future backpacking trips.

25. Take photos of places or things you see every day. Use it as an opportunity to really look at what’s around you and maybe see it in a new light.

26. Watch travel shows or documentaries.

Processed with VSCOcam with g3 preset

27. Book a staycation at nearby hotel or resort. They probably offer discounted rates in the off-season.

28. Switch things up in your house.

  • Have dinner outside or spread out a blanket and “picnic” on the living room floor.
  • Build a fort.
  • Rearrange the furniture.

Riverside, CA

29. Go for a drive and see where you end up.

Tacos from Tacos Atoyac in Phoenix

30. Eat food from another culture. Go to a restaurant or try making it yourself with the help of a friend, cookbook, or a food blog….

31. Find the nearest places to camp.

Setting up camp at Lakeside

32. Learn another language. There are apps, podcasts, and resources at many libraries to help you with this.

  • MindSnacks has several free language learning apps. Their Learn Chinese app was great when I was attempting to do that, and the games were really fun.
  • There are lots of language learning podcasts if you just search on iTunes. I’ve been working on italiano on and off with Learn Italian from Italianpod101.com.

33. Plan your next trip or in-town adventure.

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Sometimes the best plan is going nowhere

ceiling fan

Good thing we decided not to go out of town for Labor Day.

A week ago, I woke up and just didn’t feel right. I had caught some bug that’s going around. And I’m still on the mend.

So, it’s actually better that we had already postponed our trip and planned to stay in. Home is the best place to be when you’re sick and your energy level is zero.

What did you do over the weekend?

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