Friday, August 12, 2011
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Behind The Times
Yes, yes, I'm a little behind, but we've had a busy weekend and a difficult time finding wifi... here's a brief recap/highlight of all the fun stuff we've done recently.
So, after we left Ventura, we drove down to Valley Center, spent the night with my awesome uncle and aunt, Chris and Amy, and then went to lunch with Chris down by the beach at one heck of a restaurant at the end of a *very* long pier. Probably had the best milkshake of my life there. We intended to camp one more night in California, but we ended up driving a little further to see Las Vegas at night. It was kinda cool, but definitely not near as impressive as I thought it'd be for all the hype it gets. It definitely wasn't worth sleeping in the car at a Wal-Mart. The next day we got up and saw the Hoover Dam (which is pretty crazy big, in case you were wondering) and drove to the Grand Canyon, where we camped early. Originally, we'd intended to hike down, camp, and hike back out, but because of technical difficulties and government red tape, we were unable to obtain camping permits for inside the canyon. We then decided to hike the canyon anyways, so we got to bed early and got up even earlier... comparatively. Pictures will follow, but in a nutshell, we did one of the toughest things any of us have ever done. If you've never hiked the Grand Canyon, understand that it's steep, it's very very very hot, and it's a very long hike. I drank the least of all of us, and I had somewhere between 5 and 6 liters. 16 miles round trip, and a mile in elevation change from the rim to the Colorado River... there's a reason they post signs warning people to *not* hike the whole canyon in a day. It was pretty grueling, but I'm glad we did it. After we made it back out, we went to a steakhouse and each ate a ton of steak and fries and potatoes and beans and other manly stuff (we felt pretty ruffy-tuffy.) We ended up copping out and going to another KOA to camp for the showers... unfortunately, it was the second worst night sleep-wise I've had on the trip, because the tent campground location was all gravel. Seriously, who sells a tent lot on gravel? Needless to say, I was not impressed. Their wifi didn't work very well, either.
We headed up to Mesa Verde the next day. We passed a site that claimed, "Dinosaur tracks!" Sure enough, it had recognizable dino tracks... of course, *when* they were made and by *whom* was questionable. It was sort of cool, I guess. We drove past Four Corners, which is a monument that marks the joint corner of Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. We meant to stop, but it was gonna cost more money, so we skipped it... we'd already been in all of those states anyways. :D
Mesa Verde was really cool, but by the time we got there the park was about to close. We managed a few pictures, and that was about it. :( Once again, proper planning for time (or lack thereof) kind of ruined a cool stop. Trouble is, it's too late to fix these now.
All in all, it was a pretty cool weekend... I mean, as far as weekends go. Weekends with two friends. Weekends with two friends on a road trip across America. *shrug* I guess it was ok.
So, after we left Ventura, we drove down to Valley Center, spent the night with my awesome uncle and aunt, Chris and Amy, and then went to lunch with Chris down by the beach at one heck of a restaurant at the end of a *very* long pier. Probably had the best milkshake of my life there. We intended to camp one more night in California, but we ended up driving a little further to see Las Vegas at night. It was kinda cool, but definitely not near as impressive as I thought it'd be for all the hype it gets. It definitely wasn't worth sleeping in the car at a Wal-Mart. The next day we got up and saw the Hoover Dam (which is pretty crazy big, in case you were wondering) and drove to the Grand Canyon, where we camped early. Originally, we'd intended to hike down, camp, and hike back out, but because of technical difficulties and government red tape, we were unable to obtain camping permits for inside the canyon. We then decided to hike the canyon anyways, so we got to bed early and got up even earlier... comparatively. Pictures will follow, but in a nutshell, we did one of the toughest things any of us have ever done. If you've never hiked the Grand Canyon, understand that it's steep, it's very very very hot, and it's a very long hike. I drank the least of all of us, and I had somewhere between 5 and 6 liters. 16 miles round trip, and a mile in elevation change from the rim to the Colorado River... there's a reason they post signs warning people to *not* hike the whole canyon in a day. It was pretty grueling, but I'm glad we did it. After we made it back out, we went to a steakhouse and each ate a ton of steak and fries and potatoes and beans and other manly stuff (we felt pretty ruffy-tuffy.) We ended up copping out and going to another KOA to camp for the showers... unfortunately, it was the second worst night sleep-wise I've had on the trip, because the tent campground location was all gravel. Seriously, who sells a tent lot on gravel? Needless to say, I was not impressed. Their wifi didn't work very well, either.
We headed up to Mesa Verde the next day. We passed a site that claimed, "Dinosaur tracks!" Sure enough, it had recognizable dino tracks... of course, *when* they were made and by *whom* was questionable. It was sort of cool, I guess. We drove past Four Corners, which is a monument that marks the joint corner of Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. We meant to stop, but it was gonna cost more money, so we skipped it... we'd already been in all of those states anyways. :D
Mesa Verde was really cool, but by the time we got there the park was about to close. We managed a few pictures, and that was about it. :( Once again, proper planning for time (or lack thereof) kind of ruined a cool stop. Trouble is, it's too late to fix these now.
All in all, it was a pretty cool weekend... I mean, as far as weekends go. Weekends with two friends. Weekends with two friends on a road trip across America. *shrug* I guess it was ok.
Tulsa
Here we are in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Kind of an odd city. They put a lot of money and effort into the arts and such, but the streets are falling apart. We tried to go to Starbucks for wifi and coffee. We got coffee... the wifi was locked, however, because the only Starbucks in town is on the second floor of a hotel. Now we're sitting in the public library, where it appears they've blocked almost all uploading, so... no pics or videos to share just yet. I'm feeling we're gonna try to find another coffee shop here soon... a whole city without complimentary wifi is a little ridiculous.
Texas was hot, and the whole drive through smelled like oil. There was no getting rid of it, either... windows up, windows down, a/c on... none of it. And nothing was bigger in Texas, either... in fact, half the roads were SMALLER. It was a little odd. We finally found a place to camp around 2 am last night, and we enjoyed every hour of sleep. We've got at least one more all-nighter of driving before this trip is through.
We topped 6000 miles today! And we're still a time zone and almost half a dozen states from home. It's been a lot of driving. I'll never complain about a 2 hour drive to church again.
Let's see... the biggest honking cave I've ever seen is where we went next. Really really huge, and there's no way to describe it. It's seriously ginormous. and was pretty cool in there. (The outside temperature was near 100, the inside temp was mid-high 50's.) It was really damp as well... such a nice change from the heat we've had most of the trip. Although, we've only seen a couple rainstorms, and only one of them actually hit us. This is probably the only time in my life that I've seen rainstorms and watched them miss me by miles... it's incredible how much space there is out here. Really makes me feel like I live in a bubble. There are cities here and there, but you can literally drive for hundreds and hundreds of miles and only see a handful of houses. The concept of just driving a couple minutes for a coffee, gas, food, clothing stores, hardware stores, and ALL OF THEM HAVING BATHROOMS seems foreign out here. I'm gonna miss the wide open spaces. :(
Anyways, we're in Tulsa to see a good friend of ours, and when she gets out of work we're going to grab dinner and have a blast. After that, we only have one more tour stop - the Lost Lake, which to me sounds like something from Jules Verne's Journey to the Center of the Earth. It's an underground cave... with a huge lake in it. But for now, it's off to find a better wifi site so we can upload videos. My name is Hollywood, and I am not making an "I approve this message" joke.
Texas was hot, and the whole drive through smelled like oil. There was no getting rid of it, either... windows up, windows down, a/c on... none of it. And nothing was bigger in Texas, either... in fact, half the roads were SMALLER. It was a little odd. We finally found a place to camp around 2 am last night, and we enjoyed every hour of sleep. We've got at least one more all-nighter of driving before this trip is through.
We topped 6000 miles today! And we're still a time zone and almost half a dozen states from home. It's been a lot of driving. I'll never complain about a 2 hour drive to church again.
Let's see... the biggest honking cave I've ever seen is where we went next. Really really huge, and there's no way to describe it. It's seriously ginormous. and was pretty cool in there. (The outside temperature was near 100, the inside temp was mid-high 50's.) It was really damp as well... such a nice change from the heat we've had most of the trip. Although, we've only seen a couple rainstorms, and only one of them actually hit us. This is probably the only time in my life that I've seen rainstorms and watched them miss me by miles... it's incredible how much space there is out here. Really makes me feel like I live in a bubble. There are cities here and there, but you can literally drive for hundreds and hundreds of miles and only see a handful of houses. The concept of just driving a couple minutes for a coffee, gas, food, clothing stores, hardware stores, and ALL OF THEM HAVING BATHROOMS seems foreign out here. I'm gonna miss the wide open spaces. :(
Anyways, we're in Tulsa to see a good friend of ours, and when she gets out of work we're going to grab dinner and have a blast. After that, we only have one more tour stop - the Lost Lake, which to me sounds like something from Jules Verne's Journey to the Center of the Earth. It's an underground cave... with a huge lake in it. But for now, it's off to find a better wifi site so we can upload videos. My name is Hollywood, and I am not making an "I approve this message" joke.
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Photo Recap I
Here's just a tiny sampling of what we've been doing so far. If you really want to get a feel for what this trip has been like, look at each picture and then go for a 10 hour car ride before you look at the next one.
This is Hollywood and I getting ready to surf in Ventura, California.
Hey look, it's a couple of pictures of the Grand Canyon!
These are the cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado.
Here's the entrance to Carlsbad Caverns. Pictures can't do this justice. Think hugely amazing underground cathedral at 56 degrees Fahrenheit and 90% humidity and you might get the idea.
After I get home I'll post a lot more pictures. Metric out.
The Grand Canyon and Other Adventures
The day before yesterday we hiked down and up the entire Grand Canyon, and our legs are still a little sore. It was well worth a little bit of pain though, both for the experience of hiking a trail with such breathtaking views, and just to say we did it. I will definitely hike it again if I get a chance.
We also stopped to see Mesa Verde National Park. Mesa Verde is notable for cliff dwellings, homes that Native Americans built into the side of a cliff centuries ago. Unfortunately, we arrived too late to take a tour, so we just got to look at them from a distance.
We're currently on our way through New Mexico to Carlsbad Caverns, which I'm especially looking forward to. Hopefully it won't be too long before I can post about that. Metric out.
Friday, August 5, 2011
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Surfin' in the USA/Homeward Bound
Yesterday I tried surfing for the first time. It's slightly easier than I imagined it would be, although I wasn't able to stand up all the way on the board. At least I got the feeling of starting to catch a wave. I spent just $25 to rent a board and a wetsuit, which was well worth it.
Hollywood wrote earlier that wetsuits are surprisingly effective. They are, which is great because the Pacific Ocean is much colder than it looks. I'm pretty sure the wetsuit that I rented fit more tightly than my actual skin, but I can safely say there is no way I would have willingly submerged myself in water that cold without it.
The beach marks the midpoint of our journey. From now on, we'll be headed eastward. I'm beginning to miss the rolling hills of Pennsylvania, so it's good to know we're on our way home. Next up, we'll visit Hollywood's uncle and aunt, then the Hoover Dam, and then the Grand Canyon. Metric out.
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