Category Archives: Travel

So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright

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Looking down the hallway of the Marin County Civic Center in San Raphael, California.

One of the highlights of my recent trip to the Bay Area to see my kids was visiting the Marin County Civic Center. I was surprised that touring a civic center was on the agenda with my son and daughter-in-law. But I soon learned that it was Frank Lloyd Wright’s largest public project and also his last commission.

Intended to centralize thirteen dispersed Marin county departments, the Civic Center project encompassed an entire campus of civic structures and incorporated ideas from Wright’s Broadacre City scheme of the 1930s. The three-story 580-foot long Administration Building, and a four story 880-foot long Hall of Justice together spanned the valleys between three adjacent hills. The flattened dome of the circular library and its connected gold tower (built to encase a smokestack and a radio transmitter) form the focal point of the plan. The concrete Civic Center’s pink stucco walls, blue roof and scalloped balconies are distinctive. The interiors feature glass walls and are arranged around open atriums in order to promote the transparency that Wright felt governments should promote. Though Wright planned the atriums to be open to the sky, practical considerations saw barrel-vaulted skylights put in following Wright’s death. Construction was carried out by William Wesley Peters and Aaron Green. The Hall of Justice was completed in 1969, the Veterans Memorial Auditorium opened in 1971, and the Exhibit Hall opened in 1976. The site also includes a circular post office, Wright’s only commission for a national U.S. government facility. https://franklloydwright.org/site/marin-county-civic-center/

This was a model of the Marin County Civic Center I discovered outside of the library.

A committee interviewed 26 architectural firms in 1956 to select an architect for the civic center. Peter Neutra was the lead candidate. Frank Lloyd Wright was not interviewed and refused to participate in a competitive selection. Wright had an ardent supporter on the Board of Supervisors but it was a battle to get him appointed as the architect. Wright eventually earned the commission and was directed to proceed with detailed design on April 28, 1958. In March 1959 Wright was appointed to design the post office. On April 9, 1959, Wright died at age 91. The Civic Center continued under the direction of two of Wright’s architects, Wesley Peters and Aaron Green.

Here’s a view of a spire through the ceiling glass. We have a Frank Lloyd Wright spire at a shopping center in Scottsdale. That spire was originally planned for a capitol building that Wright designed without anyone asking for it. His project was never approved or brought to life, but the spire was built.

This is the library in the civic center. We walked the entire length of the building and saw the sheriffs department, attorney general’s office, library, a state senator’s office, cafeteria, court house and government agencies including financial, community services and administrative offices.

Next to the large building is the jail. Isn’t that amazing? The jail is underground and a tunnel connects it to the court house.

Here’s s view of the spire from outside.

The design has been controversial with the blue roof. But I thought it was beautiful!

I wrote about Taliesin West, Frank Lloyd Wright’s compound in Scottsdale HERE.

Are you a Frank Lloyd Wright fan?

What Wright homes or buildings have you visited?

Travel Day

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A photo I took of Red on his flamingo buddy the day before we left.

Travel day turned out to be uneventful, thankfully. There wasn’t a single delay or cancelled flight on the boards when we arrived. We got through TSA in a snap. Waffles was a trooper and besides finding the one stray M&M under a seat in the airport, he was well behaved.

After asking my husband repeatedly if he had packed his swimming trunks, when I unpacked at the hotel, I realized that I had forgotten my swim suit. The hotel has an amazing spa with a steam room, jacuzzi and pool. I was looking forward to daily lap swimming and enjoying the luxury of soaking in their various tubs and using the steam room and sauna.

Where I sat outside with Waffles waiting for a friend of my daughter’s to pick him up for a week. This was outside the hotel with a view of the Golden Gate Bridge in the distance. My daughter needs one more week to heal from her shoulder surgery before she can take care of Waffles the pug.

Sunrise view from our bedroom at home before we left for the airport.

Ginger snaps and chocolate chunk cookies my son baked for us the day before his surgery.

I lost a lot of sleep over travel worries and worry about my son. Although he’s in a lot of pain post surgery, the doctor said it went well.

My favorite beach houses

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My favorite house on the beach where we walk each morning and evening.

Part of the enjoyment of our beach walks is looking at the houses — as well as at waves, dolphins and an occasional seal. I’m sharing some of my favorite homes, from mansions to cottages. I notice workers washing windows and gardeners working in the yards — but I rarely see people who live there.

I like the house above the best because the architectural style is similar to the house I grew up in. Lots of large glass windows, angles and shake shingles — a contemporary style from the 1970s. I also love this house because it’s private and not too showy. Then there is the tree:

The tree makes the house.

This stately home must have stunning views from the multiple decks.

Another magnificent home with lush landscaping.

I love the contemporary look of this home and the expanse of windows. They scalped the lawn yesterday, which I didn’t know was a “thing” in Santa Barbara. In Palm Springs, lawns are scalped each fall to plant Winter Rye. In the heat of late Spring, the Winter Rye dies and Bermuda Grass, which is dormant in the winter, grows back.

I like the simplicity of this A frame.

Look what is and has happened around this sweet cottage below? Last year there was a cottage next to it, but now there’s a huge crane making tons of noise.

When you get near the parking lot, the homes are smaller and closer together. There are still some cottages left, that haven’t been torn down to build modern monstrosities. This is one of my favorite cottages.

I hope you enjoyed my beach home tour!

If you owned a beach house, what style would it be? Beach cottage, White House replica, contemporary or modern?

It’s that time again…

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My husband and I decided it was time to renew our passports after our last trip to Mexico a couple weeks ago. We don’t plan on any trips out of the country for the next few months.

We do have plans to visit California, our friends in Santa Barbara — and hopefully our kids will be joining us. You don’t need passports to visit California, regardless if it seems like a different country or not.

My son didn’t join us on our last trip to Mexico although our DIL did. He didn’t get his passport renewed in time. He did schedule an appointment. The soonest appointment was a month out.

After looking online and printing out paperwork, my goodness! What a complicated bunch of words in tiny print. It gave me a headache looking at it. Or, maybe it was because I had an eye exam earlier and my eyes were dilated.

In any case, they tell you if you have your passport, it isn’t expired, and want to renew it, you don’t go to a passport office or post office. You mail in paperwork. I’m not sure if we mail in the old passports or not. That’s a little concerning. We do need to get new passport photos and staple them exactly a certain way to the paperwork.

Our passports don’t expire until February, but we’ve heard the turn-around time is three to four months, so we’re tackling this chore this week. Reading the US Passport website, it said when renewing your should start NINE MONTHS IN ADVANCE! Yikes, we’re already a month behind.

Do you have any tips for passport renewals? Do you need to mail in your old passports or do we get to use them until the new ones come in?

Hotel vs. Airbnb

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We’ve vacationed in the summer for six years in this cottage a few blocks from the beach near Santa Barbara. I can’t wait for our time there this summer!

When we get away, we like to stay in VRBOs or Airbnbs — most of the time.

Since the time my son was one year’s old, we rented a house in Laguna Beach in the summer with another family from our hot desert. We rented directly from the homeowners (pre-VRBO era). The owners were school teachers who left for Alaska once the school year was over. We’d split the summer in two and overlap with the other family for a fun weekend.

My husband would commute back and forth for long beach weekends, while I’d stay with the kids the entire time. Not a bad deal, but with toddlers I remember I was tired. Still, much better than being in the desert with temperatures 100 to 126 degrees!

At Christmas the past two years, we’ve rented a house for a week — big enough for our Christmas Crew that varies from 10 to 14 people. We love being together under one roof and cooking Christmas Eve and Christmas Day feasts.

For the past 10 years, since my son was in college at UC Santa Barbara, we traded Laguna Beach for Santa Barbara. We stay at least a week and sometimes almost a month. My husband works remotely, so he sets up shop there.

When don’t we stay in Airbnb’s or VRBOs?

When we are going away for a quick trip, like a weekend, we stay in hotels. First of all, there are usually cleaning deposits and other charges that make a VRBO expensive for two nights. If you’re staying for a week or more, it can be more affordable to rent a house or condo and cook most meals.

When our kids were swimmers, we’d stay in hotels. We’d have to get to the pool early for warm-ups, get back to the hotel so they could rest between prelims and finals. The hectic schedule made the hotel much easier. I didn’t have to prepare meals, grocery shop or do dishes. I could order from the hotel restaurant or drive for takeout.

What’s your preference? Hotels or VRBOs and WHY?

Who knew “Little Hollywood” is in Utah?

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Kanab Utah Little Hollywood sign.
The Little Hollywood sign in Kanab, Utah.

As soon as we crossed the border to Utah, a loud crack hit the windshield right at my head.
“Welcome to Utah,” Siri announced from Apple maps. Large trucks barreled by us throwing up rocks in their path.

Last time we drove home from Utah our windshield got cracked due to big trucks. We’re two for two on Utah and windshields.

We left our Sonoran desert, crossed the green forest of Flagstaff, passed by the Grand Canyon’s south and north rims across Navajo Country to Lake Powell. Once in Utah (with the cracked windshield) we drove the final one hour leg of the journey to Kanab, Utah to spend the night.

It was an adorable town of 4,998 people filled with mom and pop motels where you pull your car up to the room’s front door. The woman at the motel desk told us the town’s best restaurant was next door, “The Rocking V Cafe.” Dinner was both delicious and affordable.

Rocking V Cafe in Kanab Utah
The Rocking V Cafe at the end of the block.

We walked around town and discovered why Kanab is known as “Little Hollywood.” My husband said, “This looks like where Westerns were filmed.”

Plaque in Kanab for the Lone Ranger.
Along our walk we noticed many plaques like The Lone Ranger one above. My brother and I used to play The Lone Ranger and Tonto when we were kids. I was always Tonto of course. It was in the 1960s, so we must have been watching reruns.
Randolph Scott plaque in Kanab.
Another one of the many plaques honoring the celebrities who made movies in Kanab.
Residential street in Kanab with red rocks.
A view of a residential street in Kanab. The town was friendly, safe and I felt like I time warped to the 1960s.
Church bells in the morning in Kanab.

What sights traveling have you enjoyed? What things were new to you?

What other joys of road trips — besides cracked windshields — have you experienced?

Too much stuff

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This is stuff I’m lining up for my husband to pack in the car. Missing in the photo are our two suitcases, mesh swim bags, laptop computers and all my husband’s work monitors and computers.

Just a bit of the stuff we’re taking on vacation. I miss the days when we first got married. We’d throw our sleeping bags in the car and take off.

Now we bring half the kitchen with us. That includes our small Keurig because hubby drinks decaf and I like caf. A pot of coffee doesn’t work for us and we both like just one cup each.

One of the biggest things taking up space is vitamins. We are hefty consumers of anything that promises a return to youth and the end to pain.

I also take fruit, a cooler full of condiments, frozen steak and chicken to cook in the airbnb — and sandwiches for the road. Cheese and crackers and a bottle of wine. I have to take a jug or two of water. We are traveling through the desert.

Then there’s the swim gear, hiking sticks, hiking boots, hats, sunscreen etc.

My husband likes his own pillows. So why not take four?

The computer is packed, so I’m trying to write this on my phone.

When you travel do you pack light or full on Clampetts like us?