#also we were in woodland hills by a mall so i wonder if he was there lol

[butterkeaton]

i still can't process that i was driving by captain kirk himself!!! when i realized it was him as we pulled up beside him, i just stared and couldn't even say anything out of shock. i wish i could have said something funny but he was on the phone and looked back at me (honestly he looked a little annoyed lol). we made an attempt to sort of follow him but he was in his porsche and was able to lose us pretty fast!! (it was also a busy street so let me emphasize this was not as creepy as it sounds)

[vtmusicomp]

That Day

I’ve been doing mostly upbeat posts about our time together chronologically up to this point, but since this is glioblastoma day (at least the senate says so!) I wanted to go out of order and share what happened on that fateful day. It really all started in December of 2016. Grant had the flu. It was also around this time he told me he was having slight memory issues; specifically, that he would see people at work who weren’t a regular part of his team and he couldn’t remember their names. I admit to thinking nothing of this – he was turning 45 in January, and I teased him that he was having problems remembering things because of his advanced age. Sometimes I have trouble remembering things I could easily have recalled in my 20s, and I thought it was the same. Here’s a picture of us at BART in San Bruno from that time, on our way to see Primus at the Fox Theatre in Oakland, CA - NYE 2016.

A few days into the new year, he started feeling bad again. He went to urgent care and they told him he was probably just having lingering flu symptoms. He took a couple extra days off work to rest and seemed to get better.  I had scheduled time off on 1/19/17 and 1/20/17 to get an outpatient procedure done for my sinuses, so I was recuperating through the weekend and feeling mildly sorry for myself. Saturday 1/21/17 we went to IKEA because I was restless and we were still trying to add a couple small pieces for our condo we’d just bought in May. We went across the street for mid-day ablutions/a snack; I was talking to him about something inane, and he told me to hold on a minute. Then we just sat there in silence…after maybe couple minutes I asked him what was wrong, and he said he didn’t know. The way he described it was he got confused and needed a moment, but then he was himself again. It was such a short blip in the day that I didn’t think too much of it.

Sunday 1/22/17 we went to the mall in Woodland Hills to get birthday gifts for Naomi. While I was purchasing something, Grant went to get coffee from a kiosk. When I was done, I found him waiting for his drink. He told me he had a hard time ordering his coffee, that it took longer than it should and he had gotten confused. There was a lot of noise and activity in that section of the mall – there were children running around and parents yelling, also a couple dogs, in addition to the noise of the coffee kiosk itself – so I could see why that might have been distracting. Again, I didn’t pick up on anything out of the ordinary. We went home and relaxed for a couple hours, but I wanted to try this gastropub in Sherman Oaks we read about online. This picture is from his 45th birthday, on 1/8/17 at Chris and Anne’s house.

Dinner time rolled around and I decided to drive because I chose the place. Usually, he liked to drive us to dinner but we reversed roles that night – and it’s provident we did. I was turning to get on the freeway, and talking to him, when he again told me to hold on a minute. That minute stretched out into the entire length of the drive. At first, I thought maybe he was tired - he had been battling that flu and also had mentioned to me at some point over the weekend that his stomach hurt. I changed my mind and told him since he wasn’t feeling well, we shouldn’t be going out to some random bar we’d never been to before. I couldn’t think of anywhere else to go, but we were coming up on the exit to Van Nuys Blvd, so I got off and headed towards the Mendocino Farms next to Guitar Center in Sherman Oaks.

At this point, Grant had said nothing to me for a while, and I started asking him questions. I wanted to know what his stomach felt like – did he feel like he was going to throw up, was it a dull pain, was it localized in some area? I was thinking maybe he needed to get his appendix taken out or something. He would only grunt at me, which got me thinking maybe he was annoyed with me for asking him so many questions, so I shut up. I confess to being a little annoyed myself that he wasn’t communicating with me (I wish I could take that feeling back). Mendocino Farms is part of a larger structure with a parking garage and a couple different restaurants. I parked and asked him again if everything was ok. He got so frustrated he started talking to me, only what he was saying didn’t make any sense. He was using vowels and consonants but it was all gibberish.

Initially, I couldn’t figure out what was going on, because what was coming out of his mouth sounded so close to actual words, I thought my hearing was the problem. I didn’t always take good care of my ears in the early years of playing in a band; maybe I was losing my hearing. I told him I didn’t know what he was trying to say and asked him to repeat it. I asked if he was talking about the restaurant but he couldn’t tell me. He tried to get out of the car anyway, with the intention of going in to order something, but I stopped him.

I want to describe what this felt like but I’m not sure I have the right words. I got a chill that went right through my body. My head felt just a little faint and I couldn’t quite focus. I wondered if he was having a stroke, but his face didn’t look like it was drooping and he was able to operate all his limbs just fine. We sat there for only a few seconds more and I told him I thought maybe we should go to urgent care. I took Woodman to the Kaiser in Panorama City; it was dark out, raining and cold. The whole drive, he kept talking gibberish to me; and I kept telling him I didn’t understand him but that was ok. Every now and then he’d pepper an actual word in there, which made me think he was making sense and it was just me who couldn’t understand. So, I’d apologize and ask him to repeat himself, he’d respond, I would say I didn’t get it, and so on. It was a loop that went around and around.

When we got there, we went to urgent care first – my default. He had progressed to being able to put some words together – we were at half words, half gibberish. Of course, the intake desk at urgent care told us we should go to the emergency room. The ER is across a driveway in a separate building, so we walked over there in the rain under my umbrella. Someone was waiting to take us back – the urgent care folks had called ahead. Then it was this whirl of activity – four nurses and a doctor getting his vital signs, drawing blood, asking him questions he couldn’t answer because he still couldn’t quite talk. They took him for a CT scan about five minutes after we arrived, and then he was back in his ER bay ten minutes later. The whole time, a lady was screaming in the next room, and hilariously, I felt like I was in a horror film. I mean, turns out we both were, we just didn’t know it yet.

At first, they wouldn’t tell us what was wrong. Panorama City Kaiser doesn’t have neurology, so we did a video conference with the neurologist at the Sunset Kaiser – this was Dr. Guzman, and he would eventually become Grant’s neuro-oncologist. He asked Grant to identify pictures on a laminated sheet. Grant was able to get some of them right, but he couldn’t tell the doc what a cactus was, or a feather, or a chair. By this time, Grant was able to talk again, albeit not confidently, but he could at least form sentences and tell me things. I sent a text to Grant’s sister Kim, telling her what was going on and asking her to help me relay this to his parents, Larry and Connie. Shortly after that I was in touch with Connie, messaging her the little I knew about what was happening. She told us they were coming out first thing the next day and requested we keep them updated in the interim, no matter how late.

After the neuro guy was done, the ER nurses told Grant he was being transferred to the Sunset Kaiser. I was so confused by this point, and also so hungry, that I wanted to know if they’d let me pull up to the ER door so Grant wouldn’t have to walk back to the parking lot. No, Val, they’re transporting him by ambulance (duh). I wanted to ride with him, but I also didn’t want to leave the car behind in case we needed something, so I ended up following them on the freeway. The guy drove 55 the whole way – I’m sure the people behind us were thrilled! I could see the paramedics talking to Grant in the back of the ambulance. Later I learned this is when Grant learned there was a mass on the CT scan and that’s why he was being admitted.

When we got to Sunset, I figured it was going to take a bit before they got Grant settled; my phone was dying and my stomach was grumbling so I went to the Rite Aid on the corner of Hollywood and Vermont. I am never going to that Rite Aid again because I don’t want those memories. I bought the cheapest phone charger I could find and bag of Chex Mix, then I went to the hospital. Kim texted she was on her way and asked if we needed anything, but I wasn’t sure what to say. I found Grant in the ICU on the 6th floor just by the elevator. He was talking and laughing with the nurse. At this point he’d gotten most of his words back and was able to tell me what the paramedic told him. Even though I know he was worried about what they’d found on the scan, he was also feeling better because he was able to communicate again. He asked me to call Alicia and let her know what was happening – it was 11pm by then and I had to leave a voicemail. That’s probably the worst voicemail I’ve ever left a person. One last picture, this one of the first evening we went out after his surgery, wearing a hat Carrie knitted for him.

The week that followed was insanity – but I’m going to stop here for now. I hope this isn’t too much information; I know we told some of this story to different people in fits and starts, and I’m happy to be able to share it fully. He didn’t really want people to know much of what happened when it was happening, but he was so brave it’s almost not fair to NOT share it. He did so incredibly well; his will to keep going stayed strong despite all the challenges, and it remains inspirational to me. A better role model could not exist for this horrid disease. Thank you for reading.

[londontopsightstours]

The Best Walks in London

London is a vast city with plenty to do for everyone! Being as big as it is, London has some wonderful walks that any visitor or city dweller can do on their own or with friends.  Here is a list of the top 10 walks you can take when visiting the English Capital.

St James's Park

St. James Park is the oldest Royal park in London. The area where St. James's Park lies today was actually once the site of a lepers hospital for women. The history of this park goes way back to King Henry VIII buying the land from Eton College in 1532, and transforming the land into his own personal deer-hunting and duck-shooting ground. King James I even introduced various exotic animals to the park in 1603, such as crocodiles and even an elephant and a camel. In the 1820s, the park got an extreme home makeover. It was remodeled in the new naturalistic style. On a walk, a visitor can now stroll alongside a curving lake, winding path,  and beautiful shrubberies all designed by landscaper John Nash in 1827. The work was commissioned by the Prince Regent, later George lV. It was part of a huge project that created many of London's best-known landmarks, including Regent's Park and Regent's Street. The park you see today is still very much as Nash designed it and there have been only small changes since. Traffic was allowed to use The Mall in 1887, and the area outside Buckingham Palace was remodelled in 1906 to make space for the Victoria Memorial.  What was once an elegant suspension bridge was built across the lake in 1857 and was replaced 100 years later by the concrete, and much safer structure we use today.  An added bonus is that this park is centrally located in Westminster, and from certain parts of your stroll, Buckingham Palace is visible.

The Capital Ring Walk 

The Capital Ring Walk  is a circular “Walk London route”. While it covers almost 78 miles, the walk is conveniently split up into 15 sections so anyone can walk at their own pace. One particular point of interest on this walk is the Abney Road Cemetery. Abney was unique in being the first arboretum to be combined with a cemetery in Europe; offering an educational attraction that was originally set in a landscape of fields and woods, some distance from the built-up boundary of London. This sight is considered to be one of the “Magnificent 7” cemeteries in London, meaning that it is one of the biggest and most beautiful cemeteries in the English capital, that sprung up during the Victorian age.

The London Wall Walk 

From around 200 AD, the shape of London was defined by one single structure; it’s massive city wall. From Tower Hill in the East to Blackfriars Station in the West, the wall stretched for two miles around the ancient City of London. In modern London, the layout is very different, but the remnants of its ancient past are still apparent. On an afternoon stroll, a walker should start at  Tower Hill, and then travel north to Aldgate and Bishopsgate where parts of the wall still steadily stand. Following the layout of the old wall, travelers should head along the north, past Moorgate, Cripplegate and West Cripplegate. In this section, there are remains of an old Roman Fort, the wall ends South towards Newgate, Ludgate and Blackfriars, and a walker will conclude in modern London, having traveled in the footsteps of its ancient citizens.

Thames Path

The Thames path may seem a little self explanatory but it is anything but ordinary. On this path, a traveler can see the greatest river in England for 184 miles from its source in the Cotswold hills to the sea and all around London. While this path stretches  79.5 miles down one side, it is divided into four sections on both the North and South Bank. Being right alongside the Thames, it also passes by some of the greatest city landmarks such as Parliament, The Globe, The London Eye, Tower Bridge, Canary Wharf, Thames Barrier, South Bank, Hampton Court Palace, Chiswick Pier, Albert Bridge, Erith Marshes and The Royal Docks. Travelers looking for a more laid back stroll may be interested in the  Hampton Court to Albert Bridge stroll on the path. This long and winding walk will have you soaking up the Royal Palaces of Hampton and Kew, and give you the chance to enjoy an incredible view of the Thames floodplain below Richmond Hill.It’s a well sign posted route, with plenty of spots along the way for you to drink, shop, stop, or have a meal.

South Bank stroll

One of London's most iconic walking routes is South Bank. Easily accessible and on pavement for those with ability concerns, this leisurely walk will take you past The Globe Theatre and the Tate Modern, and if any should peak your curiosity, you can easily pop in and out without ever leaving the paths route.   Continuing along the river, you pass HMS Belfast, a Royal Navy battleship that served in the Second World War, and is now open to the public. After passing HMS Belfast, although you can continue along the river a short way, it's better to head away from the river through Hay's Galleria, a shopping arcade - you can't miss it, it's dominated by a vast vaguely-boat-shaped statue - onto Tooley Street, where there is a view of London Bridge.

East End Walk 

Fancy a walk in the hippest part of town? Try the East End Walk. Start at the curious dog-shaped Aldgate Pump and discover Leadenhall Market and the ever trendy Brick Lane. This walk will also take you past old Spitafeilds market, one of the most historic shopping venues in London. There has been a market on the site since 1638 when King Charles I gave a licence for flesh, fowl and roots to be sold on Spittle Fields.  After the rights to the market had seemingly lapsed during the time of the Commonwealth, the market was re-founded in 1682 by King Charles II in order to feed the burgeoning population of a new suburb of London. Now, the market is home to trendy clothes, artisanal foods, art and music. The East End walk will have something to entertain everyone in your group.

Westminster to Whitehall Walk 

If you’re spending the day taking in the sights and sounds of historic Westminster, the Westminster and Whitehall Walk is easily accessible via any route in the area. Short by walking trail standards, this three mile walk takes you past some of London’s most famous tourist attractions including Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square and Number 10 Downing Street. Make sure to plan your trip accordingly in order to catch the changing of the Guard outside of Buckingham Palace.

Hampstead Heath

In contrast to the finely trimmed walks of central London, the enormous Hampstead Heath nature reserve offers a wild, untamed walking experience with great views across the city. This royal park  has over 30 ponds, huge bright rhododendron bushes bursting with colour, and a vast variety of wildlife. Running along its eastern perimeter are a three open-air public swimming pools which were originally reservoirs for drinking water from the River Fleet. To the north east of the heath is a derelict site within the conservation area comprising the grounds and mansion of the former Caen Wood Towers.This historic building, currently in disrepair, was built in 1872 for Edward Brooke, aniline dye manufacturer. In 1942 the building was taken for war service by the Royal Air Force and was used to house the RAF Intelligence. Casually strollers can feel free to explore this building if they wish.

Beautiful Hampstead Heath is one of the  biggest green areas in London – over 791 acres of woodland and meadows. So be sure to bring your walking shoes, and bug spray!

London’s City Tree Trail 

On the theme of nature in a big city, the City Tree Walk is the perfect stroll for those looking for a little green while not wishing to leave London. A short walk, the trail is designed to take in eleven significant trees found within a two-mile route of St Paul’s Cathedral and also incorporates sites of historical importance such as the London City Wall, the Barbican, Smithfields Market, the Old Bailey, Cheapside, Millennium Bridge and St Paul’s Cathedral. This walk should take you roughly one hour, however if you are pushed for time, there is a shorter route of thirty minutes which can be followed on the map. There are plenty of parks and gardens along the way to sit and relax in, enjoy a picnic or have fun on the play equipment.

London’s City Tree Trail is described as a celebration of the diverse tree population and history of the Square Mile. It is also intended to highlight the importance of urban trees across the world and the need for people to continue planting and caring for them.

Jack The Ripper Walk

Founded on some of London's more sordid history, visitors of London can recreate the murderous path of one of the city's most infamous residents.

Between August and November 1888,the Whitechapel area of London was the scene of five brutal murders. The killer was dubbed 'Jack the Ripper'. Although a murderer was never found, there has been much speculation as to the identity of the killer. It has been suggested that he or she was a doctor or butcher, based on the evidence of weapons and the mutilations that occurred, which showed a knowledge of human anatomy. Many theories have been put forward suggesting individuals who might be responsible. One theory links the murders with Queen Victoria's grandson, Prince Albert Victor, also known as the Duke of Clarence, although the evidence for this is insubstantial.On this spooky walk,  visitors will stroll through the dark and narrow streets of London’s famous Victorian East End and  trace the footsteps and crime scenes of the murders Jack the Ripper committed. This walk  is not for the faint hearted.

Be sure to check out our own Jack The Ripper walking tour and all of our other exciting tours on our website! 

[thebatgurrl]

Nestled behind a busy city of townhouses, shopping and a mall is a park formed around a place that hundreds of people lived and worked mining coal. You are aghast! How can that be in the suburbs of Seattle a coal mine exists?

Truth be told the coal mine is now plugged up, the mill is gone and the many houses of the workers are erased like they never existed. This is Cougar Mountain Park. Come along on my adventure around the trails to discover how things can change in 100 years.

My first destination was Coal Creek Waterfall. I stopped in Renton and bought a breakfast sandwich and a cup of tea. My plan was to hike to the waterfall and have brunch while I inhaled nature.

I had printed my trail map and plotted a course. Don’t be fooled. This park is honeycombed with trails and sights. The waterfall is only one of many places to visit. Red Town trail-head is where I started. I left my car, put my gloves on and headed up the steady slope. Got to love the names of the trails. The next was Cave Hole Trail.  Have to go back and check out that destination. My course was half way up the hill I would take a right onto Coal Creek Falls Trail.

But before getting to the trail cutoff I found the first sign of mining. It was a deep depression off to the side of the trial. The sign and small fence tells it all.

I dare you to go down here!

Step back and this is what the small fence looks like. Not sure it really keeps the determined out but then again, do you want to sink into a mine shaft?

Not my idea of adventure to cross this fence!

Look close. This is what the bottom looks like. It does have a squishy appearance under all the logs and branches. God help he who thinks that might be a fun place to play.

Someone toiled here – hope they got rich

I resisted the temptation and moved on up the hill to the Y in the trail. Until then the trail was really a small dirt road and it made me think this had been a road for years before the park made it a trail. When I took the turnoff, it miraculously changed to a real woodland trail.

Now we are talking and I got excited that the waterfall would be as special as I had hoped. I sipped my tea and carried on down the trail. It was quiet except birds chirping.

Then I heard it and I looked down into a ravine thinking the babbling brook was it. One never knows when seeking woodland wonders. Would it be spectacular or not?

Can you hear it?

It was not a disappointment. A small bridge crossed the creek at the bottom of a lovely waterfall. The recent rainfall had made it full tilt!

Coal Creek Waterfall – March 2017

It just poured from the top of a flat rock face and rushed down another couple of stair steps. I crossed the little bridge and started a video. What the heck!!  My good camera’s battery died right off. What the heck was not my exact words!!

But this girl has a spare. Not only do I carry my Nikon but I also have a small Canon Elph and as a last resort my smart phone. I hate to say I prefer my real cameras to the phone. However, that last option would have done in a pinch.

Check out the difference in the clarity between the two cameras.  Now you know why I cussed a little when my Nikon’s battery failed.

I climbed off to the left. There I found a perch to eat my brunch and savor my tea. I watched a few folks wandered by and some seemed to dance in the joy of the sound and sight. My plan had paid off. I really did enjoy the place and time by sitting up on the side taking my time.

The trail’s bridge below the falls from my perch

Off to my left was the falls. I was up on the side of the ravine and could look down on the lower falls but still upward on the main view.

Falls in all its glory

Waiting and watching can bring a special moment. As I sat there inhaling the negative ions and the peace of the setting, the sun came out. It brought a glow of to the side of the falls and here is my attempt at capturing for you to behold.

Sun peeking out at me

Then it was time to go. I captured this parting sight of the area as I trekked up the trail. Oh.. I forgot to tell you how I cleaned up some obnoxious orange peels left at the side of the creek. I climbed up and buried them. Did not like how that orange looked so out-of-place in the sweet green wonderland.

One look back as I left the magic

Onward I walked up the hill and  I met a small family at another fork in the road (trail). They had two preschoolers and one of the was directing how to go. We joked at the sign post. They went north as I went Southwest on Quarry Trail.

Down I went on the trail following a small creek in a ravine. Got to the bottom and turned to the right onto the Indian Trail This is a small leg to get me back to Red Town Trail and my way back to civilization.

Blazing green greeted me as I wandered my way home. It was not just any green but glowing color contrasted against the grey cliff rocks. It appears the cliff fell down in huge chunks and created a place for fairies.

Vivid green moss rock tumble

How could I help but to investigate when I saw a natural entrance before me. It was like giants put two stones together just for me.

Shall we go through the door?

How can one resist thinking of the Lord of the Rings and pass into the fairy tale.

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I did go back through the hole and came back to the trail. I had places to go and things to see. The fairies couldn’t hold me even with the verdant green soothing all the world’s worries away.

Last look back

It is history time! I knew this was an old coal mine but did not really understand what that meant. Then I came to what is called the meadow. On my little map it calls it a restoration project. That made me think it was just a lovely place that was replanted with native plants.

Cross the creek to the meadow & discover history

Once I got across Coal Creek I saw a gated garden place and several information boards about it. The first one is where I realized that the meadow isn’t just an old cow pasture. I was where Red Town and the other local miner communities played baseball. In the above photo you can see that sign in the upper right corner. What got me the most was how it said I was standing on second base. That made my imagination take off to another time. How could that be? There is no town, no foundations, no signs of anything 100 years old here.

Meadow history board

If this land could tell it’s story

Looking back from 2nd base… gives you more perspective

It was time to start home and so I walked back along the creek. There was trail on both sides of it here. The side where the meadow is and then the original trail I had left to cross into the magic place. It gave me a lovely babbling brook moment with mossy rocks and rushing water soothing the soul.

Mossy trees along the trail home

Mossy trees and rushing creek

Then I was on the Red Town Trail again. It is more of a road than a trail. It did dawn on me that was probably due to it being a road long ago.  At least my imagination wanted to think that. Another sign board gave me history and geology. That sparked me to look from side to side as I walked back. Where could I see a foundation or a hint of an old house. Not to be. This place of many homes was gone.

This was a busy place long ago.

Today it is just trees and ferns

This next picture is of Coal Creek Mine. That sight is near where the parking lot is and the road to the park actually drives right over the closed opening. Most folks have no clue it is even there.

More industry that was.

Still searching for ruins! but none to be found

I continued walking back towards home looking at the trees for signs of the old. Then I saw a small section of old fence. That was all I ever saw up on Red Town Trail.

One small trace of old fencing.

There was a sign to Rainbow Town Trail. It said there was an exhibit called Ford Slope coal mining exhibit. No longer was I going directly home. I had to go see that.  So, off the main trail I turned. Immediately I started seeing vent pipes coming out of the ground. As I traveled down the hill there was a sign warning of cave ins and the load limit was 5,000 pounds.

Then I saw my first ruin. It is some cement and metal part of a building.

Ruins near Ford Slope Mine entrance

Does it have 1921 as a date?

Then ahead was the exhibit with that coal car you see at the top of the blog post.

Ford Slope Mine exhibit & entrance to coal mine

I am getting excited now. There is an information board and obviously something to see where that fence is.

Plugged entrance to Ford Slope Coal Mine

There it is!!  History at my boot tips. Imagination can take flight and time stands still. A sort of twilight zone comes upon me as I read the board and see the picture of the miners right where I stand.

I am standing right where they are in this photo. The mine entrance is to the left.

Info explaining the miner photo.

See the “H” mentioned above?

That “H’ is where a huge piece of machinery once stood. One would never know if they had not put the signage up for us.

Goose Bumps form up thinking of what was and what is now.

Ford Slope Mine

I had to walk away. Home was calling. I wanted to be in my comfortable 2017 life even more. So, I pulled myself out of my reverie and left the time warp.

Looking back onto the info board.

Down by the coal car were some pieces of pipe and cement. Just little tidbits of the past to tease us.

Some mining debris for us time travelers

Final look back at Ford Slope Mine

I walked away shaking my head, crossed the creek and noticed how it had eroded the area recently. Dangerous place for sure. The next trail I took was Bagley Seam Trail. It promises a visible coal seam.

So, upward I trekked back out of the depression the coal mine was in. This trail was in a gully which I figure was man-made to get at the coal.

Coal seam exposed here

Coal in the ground.

It was interesting but kind of anti climatical after my escaping the time warp.

I leave you with a map of Coal Creek 1928 plus the mines. Contemplate this piece of civilization gone with the photos of the water fall.

From here I traveled back to my car and drove away with a much greater appreciation of how nature and man can change the landscape. First to destroy it with heavy mining and then by removing all traces of that major activity. AMAZING!!

Coal Creek Mine Ruins – 100 years later Nestled behind a busy city of townhouses, shopping and a mall is a park formed around a place that hundreds of people lived and worked mining coal.