Livin' La Pura Vida

Arenal Volcano

The North American and South American continents are connected by the Central American isthmus consisting of countries stretching from Guatemala on the northern end to Columbia in the south but it was not always so.  This relatively narrow strip of land is thought to be the result of volcanic activity as the western edge of the Caribbean tectonic plate pushes down on the Cocos plate beneath the Pacific Ocean.  Volcanic activity below the waves slowly built land masses that emerged along the fault as islands perhaps as recently as three million years ago.  The continuing eruptions added landmass that connected the islands into an isthmus.  Animal species that had not encountered one another now had a land bridge over which they could travel.  Add a varying topography and a range of climate conditions and you have a recipe for extraordinary biodiversity.  Costa Rica, located south of Nicaragua, north of Panama and just ten degrees of latitude north of the equator is ground zero for this incredible display of geological, biological and botanical diversity.  The lava show is not over yet.  Costa Rica consists of a mere .1 percent of the earth's surface yet it hosts more than 110 volcanoes, five of which are still described as active.

On his fourth and final voyage, Columbus sailed off of the Caribbean coast of the isthmus in 1502.  Encountering natives wearing some decorative items, he called the region Costa Rica or "Rich Coast" and evidently concluded that the area might yield more than a little gold.  Additional European exploration was quickly followed by exploitation which, along with disease, decimated native populations.  By the early 1800's, the region had become the Central American Federation and in 1838 the independent nation of Costa Rica was born.  Today it is one of the most stable and economically successful Latin American countries.

In a 1956 Mexican film called Pura Vida directed by Gilberto Martínez Solares, a comic actor named Antonio Espino uses the expression "pura vida" ("pure life") to express his unbounded optimism, despite his inability to do anything right.  The use of the phrase caught on in Costa Rica and by the 1970's it was used throughout the nation and has practically become the country's catchphrase.  It is used in a manner similar to that of "aloha" in Hawaii.

In March of last year we headed down there to experience pura vida for ourselves.  On this trip, I did something relatively new for me, I elected to drive for a part of our trip to a foreign land.  I was emboldened by the fact that I had purchased a computer chip for my handheld GPS (a Garmin e-Trex Vista CX) unit when we took our trip to Argentina and Chile last year.  The chip holds maps for most of South America and a quick check confirmed that it also held Costa Rica maps and that in addition to being compatible with the e-Trex, it was also compatible with the Garmin nuvi 2455LMT GPS that we use in our cars.  Additionally, the guidebooks I read indicated that driving in Costa Rica was no big deal.  The rate National quoted me wasn't too bad.

After landing in the capital of San José and clearing customs, we located the National counter and were promptly escorted a short distance to a waiting van for the quick ride to the office located off of airport property.  It took the counter attendant a moment or two to locate my reservation but once he did, all went smoothly.  We drove to highway 1 which is the Pan American Highway.  The original Pan American stretched from Laredo, Texas to Buenos Aires, Argentina, except for the break at the Darién Gap.  This was a busy urban highway with its share of quirks.  In places, large concrete-lined drainage ditches lined the side of the road so pulling over was not an option.  We went through one set of tollbooths where traffic officers were simply waiving everyone through.  I later learned from a cab driver that when traffic is heavy, tollbooths are opened up to speed traffic flow and when traffic subsides, the gates come back down and tolls are once again charged.  We exited the highway and ascended into the hills north of San José and through the town of Alajuela.

Thankfully, signs began appearing to guide us to our hotel because I had discovered one of the unique aspects of driving in Costa Rica: While a few streets do carry names, none of them actually feature signs telling you the name and address numbers are not used at all.  In making the reservation for our second hotel of the trip I had noticed that even on Marriott's website, the address of the Costa Rica Marriott Hotel San José is "700 metres west from the Bridgestone/Firestone".  No street.  No address.  Based on location estimates and on searches I could do on the GPS for specific hotels, I had saved a few locations into the memory of the GPS but other than that we were dependent on our own eyes and a few maps with the GPS offering some help.

To get out of the hustle and bustle of San José we had booked a room at Xandari Resort and Spa just north of the town of Alajuela which is itself just north of San José and a few hundred feet higher in elevation.  After some initial fiddling with the GPS, it lead us just about to the doors of the hotel itself.  Xandari consists of more than 20 small single story buildings scattered over 40 acres of hillside.  The hotel touts its eco-friendly practices.  We were greeted at the entrance by Andrea who quickly got us settled into room #3 which was in a secluded part of the grounds and featured a large patio with a westward view.  The buildings are of cast concrete which are painted in various hues of blue, green and coral.  Ours included a large window wall.  The upper course of windows consisted of glass louvers with screens to you could let in the breeze.  The rooms are not air conditioned but after a cold winter in the Chicago area we were ready for some tropical warmth.

The westernmost of the three pools at Xandari offered the best view...

... and at sunset the view was even more amazing

Our room at Xandari offered seclusion among the greenery

After getting settled we explored the orchard and plantings on the extensive grounds.  Pam had already returned to the room and I was just returning to the room myself.  As I knocked on the door since she had the key, I heard her exclaim, "That's the biggest spider I have ever seen!"  Having been married just over 20 years, I can say that I have heard her make that comment a few times but when I got in the room and looked at the foot of the small step down into the room I saw...   ... the biggest spider I have ever seen!  It was a tarantula and easily measured more than four inches in length.  I give Pam lots of credit for not making more of a ruckus and for being willing to walk within a few feet of this critter in order to let me into the room.  I think Pam thought I was heading for the phone to call the front desk but I promptly got my camera and recorded the moment for history.

This 4 inch-long tarantula was an uninvited guest in our room on the first night

We did call the front desk and a guy came with a couple of small banana leaves, picked up the spider and took it back outside.  Maybe it came in when the maid cleaned the room or maybe there was a crack somewhere it got through.  We searched the room pretty thoroughly and did not find any others but we knew we were not going to sleep too deeply that night.

The Owl butterfly is Costa Rica's largest with a wingspan that can reach 8 inches

Dinner in the hotel dining room was pretty good but the open air view of Alajuela and San José in the valley below was really great.

The view from Xandari's open-air dining room

The view during breakfast was equally beautiful

The main purpose for the trip was to take another Backroads biking journey but we wanted to experience more than one area of Costa Rica so we had arranged for a few nights at a hotel on the Pacific coast.  After breakfast at Xandari, we checked out and jumped in the car for our drive of about 100 miles to the hotel just outside of Quepos.  Of course, there was no "address" for the hotel but I had an approximate location and figured that signs or some friendly Costa Ricans would show us the way.  Driving in Costa Rica was as easy as I had imagined.  We took our time and enjoyed the journey of about three hours.  We passed through Quepos and, after a few wrong turns, did indeed find a sign for the hotel and arrived in fine shape.

Hotel Makanda By The Sea is a wonderful property and we knew we would enjoy our stay there from the moment we passed through the entrance gate.  The hotel is perched on steep hillside about 300 feet above the Pacific.  The weather was hot and humid but the sound of the Pacific waves pounding on the shore below and the shady jungle foliage let us know we were in another world.  We had reserved unit 11 and were quickly shown to our room which is on the edge of the property and feels wonderfully secluded.  A terrace stretching the full length of the room gave us a jaw-dropping view through the flower-draped jungle foliage to the sea.  The surrounding foliage echoed with strange bird calls and insect noises.  Hummingbirds flitted from flower-to-flower.

We explored the hotel property and soon came upon their pool and discovered a view that rivaled the one from our room.  The infinity-edge pool features a westward orientation and we knew the views of the sunset from there would be great.  Beside the pool is Makanda's small outdoor restaurant.  We spent the late afternoon by the pool and spotted toucans in the trees as well as a sloth.  The air was alive with strange sounds and just before sunset we heard the strangest sound yet.  The pool attendant said they were howler monkeys somewhere up in the canopy and they had plenty of company.  We spotted toucans and sloths.  The sunset was absolutely incredible and ranks right up there with the all-time great views!

The sunsets from Makanda's infinity-edge pool were incredible!

A howler monkey (photo by Andy P.)

What happened next almost ruined our trip.  I wanted a lower angle shot of the sunset and slid off of the edge of the pool, thinking that I would be in maybe four feet of water.  As I raised the camera to take a shot, I realized that I was going deeper and deeper.  Hoping that I was in perhaps six feet of water, I raised the camera over my head and was horrified to see it dip below the water as I found my feet touching the bottom of the pool in eight feet of water.  Clearly the camera was ruined.  I dabbed it dry and removed the battery and the chip on which the pictures were stored.  We needed a new camera pronto.  The desk clerk gave me the name of an electronics store in Quepos but they did not have cameras so we knew we had to get one on our return to San José.  In the meanwhile, we picked up a disposable film camera for use over the next two days.

We enjoyed dinner at the hotel restaurant that evening on the terrace next to the pool.  Before returning to our room, we ordered our breakfast for delivery to our room at 7:30 the next morning.  Breakfast is included in the room price.  Promptly at 7:30 breakfast arrived and we decided to enjoy it on our terrace.  Pam had an omelet but I had ordered the Costa Rican breakfast consisting of scrambled eggs, gallo pinto (white rice, black beans, onions, red peppers and cilantro) along with fresh fruit and fruit juice.  I was hooked.  The gallo pinto was delicious and each morning I got a different fresh juice (papaya, tamarind, starfruit).  As we enjoyed breakfast on the terrace, we heard rustling in the canopy and found ourselves amid a troop white headed Capuchin monkeys.  They were interested in finding their own breakfast in the jungle, not in mooching our meals.  We sat there in awe of this natural encounter and it dawned on me that perhaps the magic of Costa Rican wildlife is that to a North American it is the type of wildlife one sees in a zoo but in Costa Rica it is all around you and very close.  I was reminded of a movie quote:

"I own an island.  Off the coast of Costa Rica."  John Hammond (played by Richard Attenborough) in "Jurassic Park", Universal Pictures (1993)

One of the white-headed Capuchin monkeys that joined us for breakfast

We found this pair of crimson-crested woodpeckers on the hotel grounds

On our second day near Quepos, we arranged for a private tour of Manuel Antonio National Park.  Our guide George brought a spotting scope that brought wildlife in close.  We hiked for a few miles in the park and at one point found ourselves again accompanied by Capuchins as they foraged in the forest.  We spent part of that afternoon hiking down to the sea from Makanda.  The steep 300 foot descent to the beach brought on a sweat and we knew that the ascent would be even harder but were motivated by thoughts of spending more pool time.  The beach below Makanda is of dark gray sand.  Few guests venture down there due to the long, steep walk.  We got back to the hotel in plenty of time to watch another spectacular sunset from the pool.  On our final day at Makanda we took a boat tour along the Paquita River.

We found this python in the branches of a tree above the Paquita River

Before we knew it, it was time to get back to San José to begin the next phase of the trip.  It was tough to leave Makanda.  Some places you leave thinking that you may return.  I would be happy to return but its a big ol' world out there and I did not think it likely that we would return to this part of Costa Rica and I was sorry to think that I very well might have spent my last night at Hotel Makanda By The Sea.

Our return route to San José was on highway 27 which was evidently constructed recently since it was not on the GPS.  Still, we felt confident that the signs were directing us back to San José and pretty soon we were back in urban traffic.  I was following a public transportation bus on the Pan American Highway when it slowed down and pulled partway off of the highway.  I was shocked to realize that this was a bus stop (on the highway!).  Tollbooths that were open sporadically, bus stops on the highway, what's next?  Our Backroads trip was set to depart the following morning from the Marriott so we had booked a night there.  My advance work on estimating where the hotel might be and marking the location in the GPS paid off and we found it with no problem.  National had a rental car counter at the hotel so I dropped the car there.  Had I done more homework, I would have realized that we were probably less than a quarter mile from the main National office so I could have avoided the drop fee.  Live and learn.

The concierge at the Marriott confirmed that there was indeed a good electronics store in the Mega Plaza in San José.  He introduced me to taxi driver Pedro and we were off to replace the camera I had ruined.  As we pulled up to the mall, I told Pedro I would be back in a few minutes.  "Oh no, senior," he said, "I will go with you."  We looked over the camera selection and agreed on one that would fit the bill.  I reached for my wallet and Pedro gave me an imperceptible shake of the head and a warning glance.  He called the manager over and the negotiating began in rapid Spanish.  About midway through the conversation he turned to me and said, "You have cash, right?"  I did and the negotiations continued.  Before I knew it, I was walking out of there with a Panasonic point and shoot digital camera at a very low price.  The manager even threw in a free camera case.  Needless to say, the money I saved went for a handsome tip to Pedro.

As we arrive at a hotel the night before a Backroads trip begins, we play a game with ourselves and try to guess which guests we see in the hotel will be on our tour.  Often Backroads guests are easy to spot (biking or hiking attire).  At 8:30 the next morning we met Ally and Zach our guides for the trip as well as Scooby and Winnie, Costa Ricans who would be driving the support vans.  We met the other 12 trip participants and before we knew it we were in the vans and on the road.

Our drivers Winnie and Scooby made the trip easy

A one hour ride in the van took us north of San José to the Espiritu Santo Coffee Estate.  We receive an informative private tour of the estate and their coffee processing facilities and, of course, all the coffee we could drink.  A short shuttle ride later brought us to Candelaria, the starting point for our first ride of the trip.  Backroads guides work together to make the arrangements necessary for an efficient trip as seamless as possible.  Zach had left Espiritu early and had set up all of our bikes and the snack table.  When we arrived everything was ready.  I attached my GPS to the handlebars of the bike I was to use and stocked up on snacks and water.  As they do at the beginning of each trip, leaders then presented a short program describing the bikes and riding safety.  Each day riders are presented with detailed descriptions of the ride routes for the day, including turn-by-turn directions.  Riders can pedal for as long as they like and if they don't elect to do the full mileage for that day, they can quit at one of the pre-set break points or anywhere along the route.  Because this trip featured two van drivers, both Zach and Ally would be biking with us for the whole day.

Zach and Ally outlined our route before as every riding day began

Pam and I had elected to do the full route for the day and, according to the directions, that meant 21.5 miles (34.6 kilometers) and total climbing of 2,490 feet (760 meters).  The hills are definitely the most challenging aspect of these rides.  The directions feature detailed route information along with the distance (in kilometers) between points.  The most dreaded phrase on the directions as far as I am concerned is "Steep uphill begins".  Whenever I see that, my eyes dart to the left of the phrase to see just how long the hill is.  Riders quickly spread out as the route unwinds and it was customary to find ones self alone on a beautiful country road.  Understand that this is no Alpe d'Huez, the Alpine section of the Tour de France east of Grenoble where riders ascend 21 switchbacks in a little under nine miles, climbing 3,687 feet.  On this coming July 18 the riders in the centennial Tour will ascend this summit twice in one day.  Being a couple of flatlanders from Illinois, the most significant hill we face when riding around home is a highway overpass that ascends a total of perhaps 30 feet. 

After 15.5 kilometers, we stopped at Restaurant y Bar Mi Choza where we found the rest of the group gathering for lunch.  Small lunch spots like this in Costa Rica are known as "sodas".  The food is always good on Backroads trips and on this trip we found that the lunches were every bit as good as the dinners.  All meals were included in the price of this trip so when we were all done we stepped back out to our bikes and continued on our way.  Our afternoon route took us up into the Villa Blanca Cloud Forest.  By the time mid afternoon rolled around, we found ourselves enshrouded in the clouds for the last few miles.  We arrived at the Hotel Villa Blanca where Ally and Zach welcomed us.  It was as easy as taking the small pack that was strapped to the rear of our bikes off, turning the bikes over to Ally and Zach and heading to our private cabin on the hotel grounds.  We had time for a sauna before showering and heading to the lobby for cocktails before dinner.  On a trip like this, hours spent biking together as well as cocktail gatherings and meals give you plenty of time to meet others on the trip.  Dinner was delicious, particularly the roasted tomato and basil soup that started the meal.

On the morning of day two we met the local naturalist and he took us on a 2-mile walk through the cloud forest.  Afterward we had a shuttle ride to the starting point for our ride.  The previous day's ride had taken a lot out of us and we were not in shape to make the full 55+ mile ride that included ascending 4,704 feet and a ride along Costa Rica's continental divide.  We elected a shorter route that featured a net descent.  The route featured more traffic than we are accustomed to dealing with on a Backroads trip but it was some of the steep descents that really tested us.  A typical pattern was some flat riding followed by a steep ascent and then a descent into a valley where you crossed a river via a bridge and then ascended up the other side.  In the town of Bajos del Toro we had lunch at El Silencio and it was another winner.  There were a few raindrops as we started our afternoon ride but the sun soon reappeared.  Our hotel for the evening was Tilajari Hotel.  This Backroads trip was one of their "casual inns" trips that typically feature hotels that meet most expectations but are not five-star.  Tilajari was not fancy but the grounds were nice and the birdwatching along the river there was great.  That evening we gathered to celebrate the birthdays of two of our bikers and Ally and Zach prepared a selection of the fruits of Costa Rica before we all sat down to an outdoor dinner.

The next morning we gathered at the hotel restaurant for breakfast and noticed that the staff had placed slices of fruit on sugarcane stalks that were attracting some of the most colorful birds we've ever seen.  I'd noticed that the birds tended to nibble at the fruit slices higher up on the stalks.  I finished my meal and left but missed the most exciting event of the morning when one of the birds went for a piece of fruit on a lower branch and was seized by a small boa constrictor.

Wise birds go after the fruit placed higher on the stalk

Those birds who feed from the lower fruits often become breakfast for a boa

For our riding for the day, we elected to be shuttled to Santa Clara to begin our ride.  The hills of Costa Rica were definitely getting to us.  The riding on this day seemed to be the most scenic of the trip.  We passed countless fields and pastures on our way to the town of La Fortuna.  The landscape of this part of the country is dominated by the Arenal volcano.  Before July 29, 1968, Arenal had been dormant for at least 400 years.  The locals had even begun to refer to it as Cerro Arenal (Arenal Mountain).  On that fateful day, however, Arenal violently re awoke.  The ensuing eruptions killed 87 people and buried three villages.   We paused at one lonely road crossing to take a picture of the Arenal volcano in the distance.  A Costa Rican field worker was walking up the road in his straw hat with a machete tucked in his belt.  He gave us a hearty, "Pura vida!" and we responded in kind.  Our lunch spot for the day was the Lava Lounge and it was the best lunch yet: A slice of sweet Costa Rican pineapple, lightly grilled, placed atop a grilled chicken breast and smothered in a spicy sweet sauce.  In typical Backroads fashion, our hotel for the last two nights of the trip was the topper.  Nyara Hotel, Spa and Gardens in La Fortuna was a wonderful place to stay.  Our accommodations were private huts that featured outdoor showers and Jacuzzis, beautiful woodwork and two decks that put us right in the rain forest.

With views like this, it was hard to keep our eyes on the road

A typical rural road

While the hilly volcanic landscape provided plenty of biking challenges, the geothermal activity of the area brings one benefit to those with sore biking muscles (and backsides): Natural bubbling hot springs.  Eco Terminales hot springs.  We enjoyed a dip in the hot springs and a refreshing drink, followed by dinner.

Day four began with a quick shuttle to the Lake Arenal Dam and a boat ride across the lake.  Our drivers Winnie and Scooby were to meet us at the dock after our ride when we would begin our ride around the lake.  Low water conditions made the use of our planned arrival site impossible so the boat driver told us he would drop us at another spot on the shore.  We wondered how far we would have to walk to get to the road but there was no need for concern.  As our boat neared the shore, along came the vans with Winnie and Scooby happily doing some off-road navigating.  As we drove to the spot where we would begin biking, we spotted toucans and howler monkeys in the trees and a family of coatimundi.  The lakeside road supplied lots of scenery and a couple of challenging hills.  As I rounded a corner and finished the ascent of one hill, I was relieved to find the van parked by the side of the road.  Winnie was refilling water bottles and pointing out a sloth he had located in one of the trees.  I was out of breath after climbing the hill as I rode up to him.  He asked me in Spanish whether I wanted water.  I said that I had plenty, thanks.  Did I want fruit?  No, thanks, I said.  A smile crept onto his face: "¿Tanque de oxígeno?"  He knew just how to poke fun at an out-of-shape gringo.

A troop of coatimundi (photo by Andy P.)

After a boat crossing of Lake Arenal, we climbed on our bikes for a ride and enjoyed great views

Many of our fellow travelers elected to go ziplining that afternoon while a few of us elected to go on a hike through the jungle on a trail that featured hanging bridges through the canopy.  We met for cocktails at Nyara's wine bar that evening and then walked to the hotel's restaurant for dinner.  After four days of biking together, we felt like a group of old friends.

The hanging bridges  made it easy to walk right up in the rain forest canopy

 

On the final day of the trip our 21.4 mile biking route took us along the scenic roads surrounding the volcano.  We stopped at a roadside stand for a refreshing drink from a coconut.  Lunch was at Proyecto Asis, an ecological reserve and animal rescue center.  We were then driven back to the Marriott in San José where we said our good byes.  As with every Backroads trip we've taken, the guides were great and our fellow guests made the whole trip a pleasure.  We headed back to Xandari for one more night's stay before returning home the next day.

Roadside stands provide great fruit snacks

Costa Rica is an ecological gem.  We saw a lot of this beautiful country but there is much more to see and I hope we can return.

2013 Bike The Drive

Today was the 12th annual Bike The Drive event in downtown Chicago.  20,000 bikers signed up for this event where the fifteen miles of Lake Shore Drive between Hollywood Avenue in the north and 57th Street in the south is blocked-off for bikes only.  Bikers were allowed onto the course beginning at 5:30 a.m. this morning.  I parked in the south Grant Park garage, exited the garage on my bike and turned east on Jackson Drive.  I reached Lake Shore Drive just a few minutes after the 5:30 a.m. beginning of the event.  I certainly was not alone on the road but since I was among the earlier starters, there was plenty of room.  Also, the fact that this is not a race and does not feature a mass start, makes for easier riding.




My event participant number

Route map from the event brochure

After a couple of days of cloudy weather here in Chicagoland, today's weather was mostly clear and sunny but temperatures were cool and a breeze made it feel even cooler than the actual temperatures in the low 50's.  This is my third time doing this event.  Pam and I did it with friends in 2010 and 2011 but I was on my own this year.  The event bring out all sorts of bikers.  I saw more than a few tandems and a few riders on classic older bikes.  There were also several bike club groups riding together as well as families.  As I headed north, the taller buildings of downtown gave way to beautiful residential buildings that face Lake Michigan.  The sun rose shortly before 5:30 but I did not feel much heat from its rays.  I had on long biking pants as well as a windbreaker jacket and I was glad I did.  A few hearty or foolish soles had on shorts and t-shirts.  The predicted high temperature for the day was only 66 and it wasn't close to that yet.



I entered the course as it opened a few minutes after sunrise

North of the downtown "Loop" area

Some of Chicago's best beaches lay along our route.  There were already plenty of beach walkers and joggers out.  I noted plenty of race personnel standing along the route keeping an eye on things as well as first aid riders and repair riders ready to assist any bikers.  I did not see any accidents but I did see them loading one person who had evidently had some trouble into a car.  I previous years I had started the event later in the morning along with a crowd of riders.  Starting earlier got me a better parking spot and a less crowded roadway but less favorable weather conditions.

I skipped the rest stop at Bryn Mawr Avenue and went on to Hollywood Avenue after Lake Shore Drive bends west.  I did a u-turn at Hollywood and started back south.  With eight miles or so under my wheels, I was thoroughly warmed up and felt my speed pick up as I made my way south back towards downtown.  At Monroe Street I got off of Lake Shore and headed west to Columbus Drive where I turned south and then got off of Columbus onto Jackson before turning back onto Lake Shore to continue south.  We passed Museum Campus and then Soldier Field before passing beneath part of McCormick Place, the giant convention and exhibition hall.

Southbound back toward the city

Approaching downtown

This ride was made possible by the sponsors and by Active Transportation Alliance but, in a very important way, it was made possible by Daniel H. Burnham (1846 - 1912).  His 1909 Plan of Chicago called for a 20-mile long public park along the city's lakefront.  He was a visionary but certainly not alone.  A quote in a publication by the Canal Commission in 1836 is often incorrectly attributed to Burnham.  It stated that the lakefront should be "... public ground - common to remain forever open, clear and free of any buildings, or other obstruction whatever."  McCormick Place is the only building that violates that edict but many argue that Lake Shore Drive itself violates it.  Some would like to see the Drive itself removed entirely to make the lakefront a truly grand park space.

It doesn't look like Daniel Burnham spent too much time on a bicycle

I know I was moving along at a good pace but the trip seemed really quick this year.  Before too long I was in the neighborhood called Hyde Park.  My mother's family started out in Hyde Park in the 1920's and 1930's so parts of it are familiar to me.  The feature of the area that is probably most familiar to Chicagoans and visitors alike is the Museum of Science and Industry.  It's the largest science museum in the Western Hemisphere and is housed in the former Palace of Fine Arts building from the World's Columbian Exposition that was held in 1893.  It is one of the few buildings from the Exposition that was built as a permanent structure.  Chicago is known as "The Windy City" and one of the most commonly accepted explanations for that term is that it was used often by a New York City newspaper editor to describe the bragging of Chicago politicians and other boosters as we competed to be designated as the site of the Exposition.  I had stopped along the way to take a few photos and drink some water so I did not feel like I needed the rest stop at the turn around site at the Museum so I was back on my way north for the final leg of my journey in no time at all.


Some of the best views of the city are from northbound Lake Shore Drive

Getting close to the finish

Into the concrete canyons

A few folks come out to this event on bikes that are ill-equipped to handle a 30 mile ride but it is more common to see riders who are themselves not ready for the ride.  I did not see anyone riding in the van labeled "sag vehicle" but more than a few folks looked like they were not there to do the whole ride.  There were designated places to for people to enter and exit the route.

Some of the best views of the city are looking north from Lake Shore drive as you approach downtown and today was a great day to enjoy the views.  I saw several groups of people stopped by the roadside to pose for a photo with the city rising in the background.

I finished my ride before 8:00 and exited the Drive on Monroe to circle Grant Park again before heading to the parking garage.  More than a few folks were entering the riding area via Jackson Drive to begin their rides.  This is where you see the accidents happen when people are going in several directions or pulling over to rest or to try to meet-up with someone.  I saw one close call.  I headed back down into Grant Park Garage to retrieve my car and head home after a great ride.

At the end of the ride

You May Quote Me On This

I got a nice message from Fodor's the other day.  The company publishes travel guides that Pam and I have bought over the years and I am an occasional contributor to their online travel site.  They informed me that a quote from one of my trip descriptions I posted on their website was used in one of their guides and they kindly offered me a free copy of any of their books.  I chose their Costa Rica guide since that is a trip we are planning.  The book in which one of my comments is quoted is their Complete Guide To The National Parks Of The West.  Flip to page 701 and there is my quote on the opening page of their chapter on Saguaro National Park.

The trip I was referencing was a 2010 journey we took to the Tucson area which predates the beginning of my blog.  I dug out my notes and here is a recap, along with a few photos:

 

When I was a little shaver (1st grade) Sunday dinners were held at the home of my mother's parents in Riverside, Illinois.  In addition to dinner with the grandparents, these evenings meant one other thing: TV.  We did not have a television at home but our grandparents had a black and white set in their library.  In addition to a TV, the walls of the library featured quite a number of early color photographs taken by and of my grandparents when they visited one of their favorite places: Tucson, Arizona.  Most of the photos were of them standing next to large cactus by the side of the road.  My grandfather explained that the tall cactus were called Giant Saguaro and that the frames around the pictures themselves were made of the wood-like fibers in the cactus that made it possible for them to grow so tall.  The idea of such a place sounded pretty exotic to me. 

Pam had been to Tucson for business years ago but I had never been there.  We put it on our list of places to see and the time was finally right.  Our bike trip to Death Valley last year probably did a lot to spur us on to plan this trip.

The Sonoran desert covers about 120,000 square miles in southwestern Arizona and southeastern California, as well as most of Baja California and the western half of the state of Sonora, Mexico.  Giant Saguaro cactus are found only in the Sonoran Desert.  Tucson is one of the oldest towns in the United States and was originally a Pima Indian village called Stook-zone, meaning water or spring at the foot of black mountain.  Hugo O'Conor established the Tucson Presidio in 1775.  Spanish settlers arrived in the area in 1776.  Tucson officially became part of the United States with the Gadsden Purchase of 1854 and served as capital of the Arizona Territory from 1867 to 1877.  Our mid-March trip meant that we saw the countryside just as it was beginning to green-up to prepare for the spring blooms.  A few wildflowers were visible but the blooms will not really get going until April. 

We flew into Tucson on a Tuesday and headed over to the area surrounding the University of Arizona.  Locating a good bike shop in a university town is never difficult.  FairWheel Bikes rents and sells all manner of bikes and we had ourselves outfitted with a couple of mountain bikes made by Specialized in no time at all.  Loading them into the back of our rented Chevy Equinox wasn't too easy but we did get them to fit (barely).  We then made a quick stop to pick up some fruit and a case of bottled water.  We planned to be on the go for most of our trip so we knew that hydration would be important, especially in this part of the country.

It was about a twenty minute drive into the foothills of the Santa Catalina range north of Tucson to our hotel, Hacienda del Sol Guest Ranch Resort.  This charming small hotel was a girls finishing school until sometime in the late 1920's when it was converted to a hotel.  Our 2-room suite in a separate building overlooked a small valley.  The foothills have been pretty thoroughly developed so don't let the name of the hotel fool you into thinking we were somewhere out in the middle of nowhere.  Still, the view was nice and the many gardens and courtyards on the hotel grounds were wonderful.  Gambel's quail quietly skittered among the cactus in a garden just outside our room and humming birds could be seen visiting the blossoms from time to time.

Food is never far from our minds and after getting settled at the hotel, we found Blanco -Tacos + Tequila a short drive away.  I had a couple of great fish tacos & Pam had a taco salad.  The views of the sunset were very nice and we lingered over wine and beer and wondered how our day of cycling on the following day would go.  We hadn't been on bicycles since September.  We knew conditions would be warm and arid.  We wondered if there would be hills. 

On each of Wednesday, Thursday and Friday we had breakfast at the hotel.  Our waiter Joe gave us lots of great advice on daily activities.  Saguaro National Park is divided into two major sections, one on the east side of Tucson (the Rincon Mountain District) and one on the west side (the Tucson Mountain District).  The park encompasses one of the largest collections of saguaro cactus in the world.  This tall, majestic plant is practically the symbol of the American southwest.  As we drove through the park, it seemed like I had stepped into one of those photos on my grandparents' library wall.  Although saguaros thrive in total exposure to the region's blazing sun and temperature extremes, they grow slowly and take up to 15 years to attain the height of just a foot and up to 60 more years before growing their first arm.  In their first few years of life these cactus require the shade of a nearby plant for a part of the day before being able to stand on their own in the hot sun.

The saguaro are easy to spot, even in a crowded desert like this

 

Saguaro's Rincon Mountain District is higher in elevation (2,670 to 8,666 feet above sea level vs. 2,180 to 4,687) and a bit moister (12.3 annual inches of rainfall vs. 10.3 annual inches) than the Tucson Mountain District.  Cactus Forest Drive is a one-way paved loop road that runs through the Rincon Mountain District.  In addition to a few cars, the road is used by many cyclists and runners.  We arrived, set up our bikes, applied sunscreen, made sure we had plenty of water, strapped on our helmets and hit the road.  Death Valley is wonderfully stark with very few visible plants and wildlife that stays well hidden most of the time.  The Sonoran Desert in Saguaro is crammed full of cactus and many other desert plants.  Snow-capped Mt. Lemmon in the distance made it an even more scenic landscape.  About three miles into our ride we started up a gentle incline that went on for more than a mile as we climbed 500 or so feet.  I will admit to having to get off the bike at a particularly steep spot about three-quarters of the way up the incline but after a quick rest it was not too hard to get back on and make it to the top.  Seeing this sort of scenery from a bike is a real treat. 

Words like "colorless", "barren" and "lifeless" don't describe this desert

Pam surveys the road ahead and the view of snowcapped Mount Lemmon

Cactus Forest Drive is a great biking route

On Wednesday afternoon we wanted to see the Tucson Mountain District in the western portion of Saguaro National Park.  It was about a 40 minute drive from the hotel and seemed more remote than the Rincon area in the east.  This part of the park seemed closer to the foot of the mountains and was definitely drier with a lower density of cactus growth.  We hiked three separate trails here but our total hiking distance was less than two miles so it was not a challenging afternoon.  Our legs were sore from our previous efforts so we were grateful for the shorter distances and more gentle terrain.  We saw gila woodpeckers, desert cottontail rabbits and (from the car) we watched as a coyote crossed about 50 feet down the road in front of us.  

We'd made reservations at the dining room at our hotel for dinner Wednesday night.  I started with a skillet-seared Mexican cheese over a house-made focaccia bread with a pear compote and a strawberry-habanaro chutney with tamarind followed by a veal chop with house-made chorizo, Basmati rice, haricot verte, brazed Swiss chard and a saffron butter sauce.  Pam enjoyed artichoke hearts with house-made lamb sausage followed by pecan spit-roasted Cornish game hen with toasted orzo, Tanque-verde garden greens and organic vegetables.  For dessert we split Hacienda's signature chocolate cake with chocolate and caramel sauce and a scoop of locally made vanilla ice cream.  I thought the meal was top-notch and while Pam did not give it the high marks I did, she enjoyed it as well.

Tucson boasts more than just Saguaro National Park.  It is right on the edge of the Coronado National Forest.  The signature hike in this area is the Bear Canyon trail up to the Seven Falls area.  From the parking lot northeast of Tucson, take a brief tram ride up to the trail head.  Over the first half mile you descend about 75 feet but for the next two and a half miles up the canyon you ascend about 650 feet, crossing the stream that runs in the bottom of the canyon no less than seven times.  Pam & I were in hiking boots so it meant lots of taking boots off to wade across the stream.  Water depths at the crossings ranged from one foot to a little over two feet.  This was not a scene where we hopped from rock-to-rock, you had to take off your boots and wade.  A word to the wise here: A pair of Keens or similar rubber vented hiking sandals would have been a much better selection of footwear.  Some of the hiking was on kind of high canyon walls but Pam, who is not a fan of heights, did really well here.  The waterfalls at the end of the trail were worth every step, out and back.

Hiking up the Bear Canyon trail covered lots of dry ground...

... and required seven stream crossings each way

Seven Falls in the Coronado National Forest

We hustled back to the hotel because we wanted to go into Tucson for dinner that evening and we had symphony tickets.  Cafe Poca Cosa is located in downtown Tucson in an area that (I hope) is improving.  It has sort of a modern vibe and is clearly popular with locals and tourists alike.  The menu changes daily and is inspired by food from all over Mexico.  I had the pulled pork and Pam had the chicken mole.  Both plates came heaped with great salad greens and veggies.  Rice, beans and corn tortillas were served as well.  Pam said it was the best meal of the trip so far and I gave it high marks too.  The Tucson Music Hall was not far away and we very much enjoyed the performance by the Tucson Symphony Orchestra (in its 81st season), the Tucson Symphony Orchestra Chorus and the Tucson Arizona Boys Chorus.  They performed Leonard Bernstein's Chichester Psalms for Chorus and Orchestra and his "Make Our Garden Grow" from Candide.  After the intermission they performed Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125.  Well-exercised, well-fed and well-entertained, we fell into bed and slept like rocks. 

Forty-five miles south of Tucson you will find the town of Tubac, Arizona.  In 1726 it was the site of the first European settlement in what is now Arizona.  It is now a popular art colony.  I can't say it's crammed with genuine native artists selling nothing but handmade items but it is a community with lots of pleasant side streets with shops that sell everything from furniture made of the locale mesquite wood to all manner of souvenirs.  Don't simply stroll the central part of town taken up by a modern mall-type structure.  Get out on the surrounding streets and see it all. 

Friday afternoon we drove up Mt. Lemmon in the Santa Catalinas north of Tucson.  At 9,157 feet above sea level, it is one of the highest peaks in the area and boasts the southernmost ski slope in the continental U.S.  The community of Summerhaven at just over 8,000 feet is where the road essentially ends.  By the time we got up there we noted two feet of snow on the ground, although the roads were clear.  The temperature at the top was 43 degrees.  There are any number of places to pull off the road and take pictures of the valley below.  Unfortunately, the Mount Lemmon Cafe that used to be up there and we are told was a great place to stop, is now closed.  Still, the drive was worth it to experience the climate change and the views. 

View from about 9,000 feet above sea level near the top of Mount Lemmon

We were ready for a relatively simple meal for dinner on our last night in town.  Zinburger a little north of town was our choice and was it a winner.  Try the kobe burger with cheddar and wild mushrooms along with a Corona beer or one of their wines.  This may rank as one of the top burgers ever. 

You could tell our trip featured a wide variety of activities by the footwear Pam required

Saturday came all too soon and we headed back to the airport.  We returned to the Chicago area and an inch or two of new snow but I didn't care.  I have a much better understanding now of the beauty my grandparents saw in this part of the world and I wondered whether one of the towering cacti Pam and I saw might have been no more than an inch high and hiding in the shade of a mesquite bush in one of those photos I saw years ago after one of those family Sunday dinners at the home of my grandparents.