While driving through Death Valley, Katie was sprawled out across the back seat trying to get something out of the cooler when her phone rang. She was needed in Costa Rica. Phone call after phone call making arrangements, our flight was booked and taking off on the 12th. A much unexpected detour, but not such a hardship, after all, it is Costa Rica. We were leaving out of Las Vegas so we had a week to kill before our flight left. Not wanting to spend an entire week in Vegas we spent the week doing a few things in Arizona that we wanted. If you read the last post you know all about it.
Saturday morning, bright and early for our flight to Houston, Michelle and Rob dropped us off at the airport with a saddle to drop off for them. I had not had any sleep the night before, I was sick. All stuffed up, actually it wasn’t stuffed; it was dripping out faster than I could find tissues. A perfect way to get on an airplane, woohoo! We finally landed in Houston, and my head was clogged, snot was running out of my nose and I was running a high fever. An even more perfect was to leave the country.
Back on the plane, Costa Rica, here we come! As I am coughing up my lungs on the plane, they make the announcement that there was a new form that needed to be filled out for entry into the country. It was a health assessment form. Questions such as, have you recently had a fever, cough, runny nose, ect… I never had to lie so much on one form in my life. As the flight was descending, I loaded up of cough drops and Tylenol so I can try to pull off being healthy for immigration. As we were standing in line, I got hit smack in the face with a grasshopper that was on steroids.
Finally cleared customs and Katie’s brothers, Nick and Gene were waiting for us on the other side. It was a fantastic welcoming. Hugs and kisses all around. They took our bags and we were in the car headed to the house.
Instead of going to the house, we stopped at the Shack for a quick bite to eat. They had one bagel and one sushi roll left, so we all split that. It turned out that there was way more to drink than to eat. Rasta was the bartender working that night. I met him last year while I was in Costa Rica. He is a super nice guy with long long dreads. He looks just as you would expect someone with the name Rasta to look like.
The Shack was closing so we moved the party down the road to the Monte Carlo. More drinks. It is an amazingly pleasant atmosphere. It was right on the beach and we could hear the waves crashing and smell the ocean. Well, at least I think that we could. At this point Nick and I were having a drinking war with rum and cokes. Of course I was in the lead. There could not be a better way to nurse a cold. You are supposed to drink plenty of fluids, right?
Needless to say, I was in bed with a high fever, swine flu and a hangover for almost two days. No, I do not think that it was actually swine flu, but it makes for a better story…
We received a phone call early one morning advising us to get to the beach ASAP. We threw on our suits and headed over. There was a whale off shore giving birth. It is not every day that you get to see that happening. Not wanting to scare her, we did not get too close.
After a tough morning swimming in the pacific that was crystal clear, witnessing a miracle and sunning ourselves, we headed over to Mark’s beach house for a dip in the pool and a little shade. Nick looked up and noticed that the coconuts were just perfect for the picking; he took a stick and got a few down for us. Mark took his machete and opened holes for us to drink out of. The sweetness of the coconut was just perfect after the salt water in the face.
After a tough day at the beach we headed home to shower for dinner with our friend Jen. All cleaned up we jumped in the golf cart and headed over. There were drinks and great conversation. We had a homemade Thai pizza for dinner which was out of this world. I am going to attempt to make one when we get home. If it turns out ok, I will post a recipe.
Another tough day at the beach was in store for us the following day. Except this time, they all got the crazy idea that it would be fun to jump off of the cliff. Me, not so much. Don’t jump too far in either direction because there were rocks and you did not want to land on one of those. I have faced a lot of fears this trip, but this one I was not ready to conquer. I am not done with the living quite yet to jump off of a cliff and have a freak accident because the wind blew funny while I was in mid jump. Although, I have to admit that it did look like fun. Chances are good that next time I am there, I will jump.
After a full day of surfing, sunning and jumping we headed to Ben’s house for a jam session with the boys. This house was out of this world! It was all mostly open air, with a palm roof, an infinity pool, and a view anyone would kill for. It overlooks the marina and out into the ocean. It was a perfect night with an amazing sunset. Good food, good music, good friends, good view. There is not much better in my book.
The rest of the week was mostly the same, reading, beaching, swimming, surfing, relaxing. It was wonderful to catch up with people that I have not seen in a while. Good times, even though, I am still deathly ill at this time.
Our last night there Katie, her dad, two brothers and I all went out to have a farewell dinner. We attempted to go to the Shack and all they had was a couple bagels and sushi rolls. We ordered what they had for an appetizer. This is after all the rainy season and not much goes on in Costa during this time. After a couple drinks we decided to try the new Italian restaurant across the street. We walked up three flights of stairs to get to the open air café and it was nothing but a glorified pizza joint with bad atmosphere. None of us wanted to eat there once we saw the inside. So, we ordered some drinks, talked a bit and then headed to the Bahia. It is located right on the beach, awesome atmosphere, fantastic food and great conversation. What more could you ask for on your last night in tropical paradise?
There were many more things that went on while we were there, but these are the items that I can write about and not be incriminating myself or others. If you want the full story, it’ll cost ya…
Always remember to take time to refuel your tank with love…
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Friday, September 18, 2009
Tlaquepaque, the Best of Everything...
In the last leg, the horses were freaking me out and I had to hide in my tent. Up early the following morning and headed to Sedona. Taking historic route 89A, The Mingus Mountain Drive that has 158 curves in 12 miles, I barely survived, and we ended up in Jerome, AZ. Jerome was the cutest little town with the cutest little shops, with the highest prices. I could have spent millions of dollars easily in Jerome. We strolled the town and the little shops and opted to head on down the mountain into Sedona to find camp.
We stopped at a tourist information booth to inquire about campgrounds. The information man gave us a list of campgrounds in the area. We also asked what there is to do and he pretty much avoided the question. He told us to go find a campground, set up camp and come back to town and walk around. We did just that. We set up camp at Manzanita. We had a lovely corner lot with direct access to Oak Creek and a wonderful boulder for climbing and reflecting. Before heading back to town we had a wonderful lunch of squash, pear and onion in a balsamic reduction. Delicious! I know, pretty impressive for cooking on a one burner camp stove.
Headed back into town we stopped at a roadside market with many vendors with authentic handmade Indian jewelry. All of it very beautiful, but slightly high priced. After browsing and a couple purchases we were back in the car and headed to Tlaquepaque, the art and soul of Sedona, according to the brochure. Tlaquepaque was fashioned after an authentic Mexican Village. It was created to be “the best of everything”. When you first walk in you notice the vine covered walls and the cobblestone walks to guide you through the many different galleries, shops and restaurants. With the giant sycamore trees providing shade, you would never know that it was 90 degrees. Since it was hot after all we opted to stop into How Sweet It Is for some ice cream.
As we were strolling along enjoying our sweet treat we came across a moth/butterfly/caterpillar making its way out of its cocoon. We are not sure what it was, but it was very interesting to see. Obviously, we did not wait for it to come completely out since I cannot tell you want it was.
We came across the New Age Shop and went in to see if I could make an appointment with Madison Morgan. She was not in, but we called and left a message to try to schedule. The concierge said that she would return my call and set up an appointment that works best for us. (Still waiting…)
After a full day of window shopping, we went to the local airport to watch the sunset. It was by far one of the most spectacular sunsets I have ever witnessed in my life. To prove it, I have about 150 pictures of it. It seemed as though every time I snapped a picture there was something different and I had to take yet another. Of all the pictures, it does not even come close to what it actually looked like. Although I have to admit that Sedona is a photographers dream.
The sun was set and we were ready for some good southwestern cooking. Well, little did we know that Sedonaians run on their own time. It was slightly difficult to find a restaurant that was open. We ended up at the Cowboy Club. Our cowboy waiter Josh served us our cowboy pasta and cactus fries for dinner. Toward the end of the meal, we were making small talk with Josh about the area and what there is to see and do when Katie asks “Do you have moose here?” Josh responds with, “No, but we do have a lovely vanilla crème Brule.” Not exactly what she was asking, but we are still laughing about it.
We reviewed our hiking options and decided on the Boynton Canyon Trail. It was about 6+ miles round trip. We passed ancient Indian ruins, an energy vortex, beautiful desert natural gardens, the amazing red rocks down into a forest. The weather at times was very unpredictable. The sky was black and there was thunder rumbling in the distance. We pushed on trying to make it as far as we could before it actually poured on us. (Sedona boasts more than 300 days of sun a year and well, it rained both days we were there. Not all day, but partial days. ) We finally made it to the end and back with just slight drizzle actually hitting us. On the way into the canyon, there were many many footprints. On the way out, it was just ours. The rain had made a clean slate on the trail.
I was whooped. Looking back now, this was the first day that I was not feeling well. I was not sure if I was going to be able to make it out of the canyon, or if I would have to set up residence in the ruins. But alas, I made it out. We stopped at a fantastic little vegetarian café I had a fantastic hummus wrap.
After our lunch and a little rest for our legs we hit the road for Chapel of the Holy Cross. It was a chapel that was built into the mountain of 250 feet of rock. When you wind up the walkway to the entrance of the chapel it is all glass on the front and back to view the scenery. It is almost as if you are a part of the mountain. It was very peaceful, very spiritual.
After our spiritual journey in the chapel we drove to Schnebly Drive and found the most perfect spot to watch the sunset. All of the tourists were at the airport to watch and we were in our new favorite spot all by ourselves. I was clicking away on the camera while Katie was catching up with her journal entries. Everyone should witness a sunset in Sedona, AZ at some point in their lives.
Walnut Canyon National park in Flagstaff was our next stop. More cliff dwellings, these were much more pronounced and recognizable. More hiking. Very Interesting. It took a lot less time than we thought that it would so we made the executive decision to head to the Grand Canyon.
We made it to the Grand Canyon just as the sun was starting to set and the thunder clouds were getting closer and closer. We could see it raining off in the distance so it was a race against time to get camp set up before we got drenched. Of course we beat the clock; we are after all professional tent putter uppers. By the time we had camp set the storm had passed us by and we were in the clear. We raced to see what was left of the sunset over the canyon. B R E A T H T A K I N G ! ! !
Up early the next morning packed up camp and drove along the southern rim of the Grand Canyon. It was after all on our way back to Vegas. We stopped at several of the overlooks, took great pictures and read about the canyon. We stopped at the gift shop and browsed for a bit. I purchased some vitamin C and throat lozenges. (Now my not feeling well was really starting to kick in.)
Back in Vegas we finally got a shower after four days. We spent the rest of the afternoon by the pool and had a lovely dinner with friends. Early to bed, we have a flight to catch in the morning…
We stopped at a tourist information booth to inquire about campgrounds. The information man gave us a list of campgrounds in the area. We also asked what there is to do and he pretty much avoided the question. He told us to go find a campground, set up camp and come back to town and walk around. We did just that. We set up camp at Manzanita. We had a lovely corner lot with direct access to Oak Creek and a wonderful boulder for climbing and reflecting. Before heading back to town we had a wonderful lunch of squash, pear and onion in a balsamic reduction. Delicious! I know, pretty impressive for cooking on a one burner camp stove.
Headed back into town we stopped at a roadside market with many vendors with authentic handmade Indian jewelry. All of it very beautiful, but slightly high priced. After browsing and a couple purchases we were back in the car and headed to Tlaquepaque, the art and soul of Sedona, according to the brochure. Tlaquepaque was fashioned after an authentic Mexican Village. It was created to be “the best of everything”. When you first walk in you notice the vine covered walls and the cobblestone walks to guide you through the many different galleries, shops and restaurants. With the giant sycamore trees providing shade, you would never know that it was 90 degrees. Since it was hot after all we opted to stop into How Sweet It Is for some ice cream.
As we were strolling along enjoying our sweet treat we came across a moth/butterfly/caterpillar making its way out of its cocoon. We are not sure what it was, but it was very interesting to see. Obviously, we did not wait for it to come completely out since I cannot tell you want it was.
We came across the New Age Shop and went in to see if I could make an appointment with Madison Morgan. She was not in, but we called and left a message to try to schedule. The concierge said that she would return my call and set up an appointment that works best for us. (Still waiting…)
After a full day of window shopping, we went to the local airport to watch the sunset. It was by far one of the most spectacular sunsets I have ever witnessed in my life. To prove it, I have about 150 pictures of it. It seemed as though every time I snapped a picture there was something different and I had to take yet another. Of all the pictures, it does not even come close to what it actually looked like. Although I have to admit that Sedona is a photographers dream.
The sun was set and we were ready for some good southwestern cooking. Well, little did we know that Sedonaians run on their own time. It was slightly difficult to find a restaurant that was open. We ended up at the Cowboy Club. Our cowboy waiter Josh served us our cowboy pasta and cactus fries for dinner. Toward the end of the meal, we were making small talk with Josh about the area and what there is to see and do when Katie asks “Do you have moose here?” Josh responds with, “No, but we do have a lovely vanilla crème Brule.” Not exactly what she was asking, but we are still laughing about it.
We reviewed our hiking options and decided on the Boynton Canyon Trail. It was about 6+ miles round trip. We passed ancient Indian ruins, an energy vortex, beautiful desert natural gardens, the amazing red rocks down into a forest. The weather at times was very unpredictable. The sky was black and there was thunder rumbling in the distance. We pushed on trying to make it as far as we could before it actually poured on us. (Sedona boasts more than 300 days of sun a year and well, it rained both days we were there. Not all day, but partial days. ) We finally made it to the end and back with just slight drizzle actually hitting us. On the way into the canyon, there were many many footprints. On the way out, it was just ours. The rain had made a clean slate on the trail.
I was whooped. Looking back now, this was the first day that I was not feeling well. I was not sure if I was going to be able to make it out of the canyon, or if I would have to set up residence in the ruins. But alas, I made it out. We stopped at a fantastic little vegetarian café I had a fantastic hummus wrap.
After our lunch and a little rest for our legs we hit the road for Chapel of the Holy Cross. It was a chapel that was built into the mountain of 250 feet of rock. When you wind up the walkway to the entrance of the chapel it is all glass on the front and back to view the scenery. It is almost as if you are a part of the mountain. It was very peaceful, very spiritual.
After our spiritual journey in the chapel we drove to Schnebly Drive and found the most perfect spot to watch the sunset. All of the tourists were at the airport to watch and we were in our new favorite spot all by ourselves. I was clicking away on the camera while Katie was catching up with her journal entries. Everyone should witness a sunset in Sedona, AZ at some point in their lives.
Walnut Canyon National park in Flagstaff was our next stop. More cliff dwellings, these were much more pronounced and recognizable. More hiking. Very Interesting. It took a lot less time than we thought that it would so we made the executive decision to head to the Grand Canyon.
We made it to the Grand Canyon just as the sun was starting to set and the thunder clouds were getting closer and closer. We could see it raining off in the distance so it was a race against time to get camp set up before we got drenched. Of course we beat the clock; we are after all professional tent putter uppers. By the time we had camp set the storm had passed us by and we were in the clear. We raced to see what was left of the sunset over the canyon. B R E A T H T A K I N G ! ! !
Up early the next morning packed up camp and drove along the southern rim of the Grand Canyon. It was after all on our way back to Vegas. We stopped at several of the overlooks, took great pictures and read about the canyon. We stopped at the gift shop and browsed for a bit. I purchased some vitamin C and throat lozenges. (Now my not feeling well was really starting to kick in.)
Back in Vegas we finally got a shower after four days. We spent the rest of the afternoon by the pool and had a lovely dinner with friends. Early to bed, we have a flight to catch in the morning…
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
The Mirages of Death Valley
Off to Yosemite, another absolutely beautiful place in this country. We were on our way and kept seeing signs that the road that we needed to take was closed. So we stopped and picked up the detour information and it took us on a very scenic byway to the park entrance that was open. Turns out there are terrible wildfires in Yosemite. It was supposed to be a 10 acre controlled burn, but of course, it got out of hand. Did they actually think that it would be fine at just the 10 acres? This is after all, California in the middle of a hot dry summer!!
As I have said before every corner we go around the scenery is more spectacular and breathtaking. Yosemite is another one of my favorites from this trip. It is mountainous with wonderfully smelling evergreens. We twisted and turned up a mountain and down the mountain. There was a part of the road that was closed from a rock slide and we had to detour around it. You see those signs and think, eh, that doesn’t actually happen. Kind of like the moose crossing signs in Vermont, they just put those there for the tourists. Well, guess what!? It does. All the twisting and turning almost had us car sick once again. I had to stop taking pictures a couple of times because it made me feel like we were going to launch ourselves off the side of the mountain. As we were winding our way up the mountains, we could look out and see the fires at a couple different places. Smoke just billowing up to the sky. No worries, I have pictures, everyone can see, for a small fee, of course… We finally reached the top of Glacier Point. Out of the car finally for a short hike to the actual point. High up in the air, crisp, clean air we made our way to the Point. WOW!!! Is really all I have to say about that. Absolutely breathtaking.
I know I have been using the word breathtaking a lot lately, but that is really the only word that fits the situations that I am in. I must tell you that I am one lucky girl to be experiencing everything that I am. I am very thankful that I have been given the opportunity to take this journey and to share it with Katie.
After our short hike back in the car we went and wound our way down the mountain to a little town named Oakhurst. It is now dark out and we have not found a campground. Looks like it will be another night in the car. We stopped for dinner at OKA a California version of a nice sushi restaurant. They almost had it right, just needed a little redecorating and some Japanese people working there. The sushi chefs were Mexican. The food was good nonetheless. Until we found a place to park for the night with no bathrooms and then our stomachs started making some funky noises. I think it was all mental, knowing that there was nowhere to go to the bathroom, except the sidewalk that we were parked near. We parked in a hotel parking lot thinking it was going to be about the safest. It was safe, but of course I was wide awake all night with every dog bark, car headlight, any slightest little sound. Total I probably got about three hours of sleep, and not consecutive either.
Since we had decided to cut off our Southern California portion of our journey and added Las Vegas, we decided that it would be a good idea to go through Death Valley since it was sort of on the way. Once again, beautiful scenery. But HOT HOTT HOTT!!!! The air is suffocating. What did I expect; we are after all in the middle of the desert, in the middle of summer. We were driving along going from 5000 feet above sea level to below sea level. The altitude change did not affect us nearly as much as the heat.
We had just stopped at a vista point (scenic overlook) and as we were getting back out on the road a couple was on the side of the road with a flat tire trying to flag people down for help. Well, we had been concerned about our gas level. There are not too many places to put a gas station in Death Valley. So did our random act of kindness and stopped, in hopes that if we needed help someone would do the same. The lovely couple from Quebec said in their broken English that they had been trying for over an hour to flag someone down and jack up the car. The jack that was in the rental car was broken and would not jack up. So we unloaded the back of the car to get the unused jack out of its home to be the good Samaritans that we are. Just as we got everything out and started jacking up the car, another couple stopped and offered their help as well. It is good to know that there are still good people in the world willing to help out.
After the tire was changed and the jack safely back in its home, we got back in the car. We must have sweat off about 20 pounds between us while we were out there. Oh, did I forget to mention that there were signs all along suggesting for us to not use the air conditioning to prevent overheating? What were we supposed to do to prevent us from overheating? We finally came upon a gas station. They sure do know how to take advantage of a situation… We had to pay $4.14 a gallon. There were signs for the cold milkshakes that they had inside too… $6.00 for a small milkshake. Don’t people realize that we are on a tight budget?? So, we opted for the $2.50 ice pop instead.
By the time I was able to check the weather on my phone to figure out approximately how hot we actually were, it was 110 degrees. HOT!! As we were driving along Kate told me to look behind us, it was a salt lake that actually looked like the ocean. We desperately wanted it to be the ocean. Mirages do happen in the heat of the desert.
It was getting sort of late and we had no clue where we were staying. We never thought that it would take us so long to drive through Death Valley. We were on the road for twelve hours this day. So, working on virtually no sleep and sweating in 110 degree heat all day, I called in a favor and scored us two nights at The Mirage in Las Vegas. That’s right VEGAS BABY!! The car had to go in for a little work while we were in an actual town.
Everyone knows, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas… (Of course I might be prompted to tell if I was incentified…)
After our two night vacation from our vacation, we checked out, had breakfast and stopped at Wal Mart for some essentials such as water. We were after all in the desert. Probably best to stay hydrated. When I opened the cooler to put away our purchases, the strawberries that we had gotten at a farm stand had apparently gone bad. They were almost completely composted into pure liquid. Making a lovely pink wet mess all over everything in the cooler and the cooler itself. It took us about 30 minutes to actually get everything cleaned, emptied, wiped down, put back in and ready to go.
Finally on the road heading toward Sedona we encounter Hoover Dam traffic. It took us about 3 hours to go approximately 10 miles. Once we actually got to the dam, the sidewalls are built up so high that it is impossible to see anything. Not sure what the big deal is. We have been driving for six thousand miles with no guard rails in some places that there definitely should have been some. Oh well. Guess that is one that we will just have to enjoy in the movies. We did however have a lovely view of Lake Meade all the way to the dam. That was well worth it. They also appear to be building a freeway overpass over the dam that has some interesting concrete work.
We stopped in Chloride, Arizona for a restroom break, some tourist information and an orange cream soda. A very interesting little town. The store/rest area is in someone’s home. He is currently remodeling so the restrooms were out of order. We had to go down the block, make a left, go past the white brick building, into the park and on the opposite side of the park, those restrooms should be working. After we paid for our sodas, he said, “I will give you some useful information, do not talk to the man on the porch. He is ok, not too creepy, but he will talk all four of your ears off. Now get the hell out of here so I can close.”
Having spent three hours in traffic that we did not plan on, we did not make it as far as we were intending. We stopped at a campground on Route 66, the Grand Canyon Caverns. As I am sitting here typing this, there are horses off in the distance freaking out. Sounds like they are being attacked and it keeps getting closer and closer. Katie told me that he is just horny, but I am not buying that. I think they are being attacked by coyotes or something. Needless to say, I am getting in my safe tent (like they can’t get me there.)
Good night my lovelies.
Here is a quote for you to mull over until next time. “If you do not have peace within yourself, learning cannot take place.” Aki Kurose 1997
As I have said before every corner we go around the scenery is more spectacular and breathtaking. Yosemite is another one of my favorites from this trip. It is mountainous with wonderfully smelling evergreens. We twisted and turned up a mountain and down the mountain. There was a part of the road that was closed from a rock slide and we had to detour around it. You see those signs and think, eh, that doesn’t actually happen. Kind of like the moose crossing signs in Vermont, they just put those there for the tourists. Well, guess what!? It does. All the twisting and turning almost had us car sick once again. I had to stop taking pictures a couple of times because it made me feel like we were going to launch ourselves off the side of the mountain. As we were winding our way up the mountains, we could look out and see the fires at a couple different places. Smoke just billowing up to the sky. No worries, I have pictures, everyone can see, for a small fee, of course… We finally reached the top of Glacier Point. Out of the car finally for a short hike to the actual point. High up in the air, crisp, clean air we made our way to the Point. WOW!!! Is really all I have to say about that. Absolutely breathtaking.
I know I have been using the word breathtaking a lot lately, but that is really the only word that fits the situations that I am in. I must tell you that I am one lucky girl to be experiencing everything that I am. I am very thankful that I have been given the opportunity to take this journey and to share it with Katie.
After our short hike back in the car we went and wound our way down the mountain to a little town named Oakhurst. It is now dark out and we have not found a campground. Looks like it will be another night in the car. We stopped for dinner at OKA a California version of a nice sushi restaurant. They almost had it right, just needed a little redecorating and some Japanese people working there. The sushi chefs were Mexican. The food was good nonetheless. Until we found a place to park for the night with no bathrooms and then our stomachs started making some funky noises. I think it was all mental, knowing that there was nowhere to go to the bathroom, except the sidewalk that we were parked near. We parked in a hotel parking lot thinking it was going to be about the safest. It was safe, but of course I was wide awake all night with every dog bark, car headlight, any slightest little sound. Total I probably got about three hours of sleep, and not consecutive either.
Since we had decided to cut off our Southern California portion of our journey and added Las Vegas, we decided that it would be a good idea to go through Death Valley since it was sort of on the way. Once again, beautiful scenery. But HOT HOTT HOTT!!!! The air is suffocating. What did I expect; we are after all in the middle of the desert, in the middle of summer. We were driving along going from 5000 feet above sea level to below sea level. The altitude change did not affect us nearly as much as the heat.
We had just stopped at a vista point (scenic overlook) and as we were getting back out on the road a couple was on the side of the road with a flat tire trying to flag people down for help. Well, we had been concerned about our gas level. There are not too many places to put a gas station in Death Valley. So did our random act of kindness and stopped, in hopes that if we needed help someone would do the same. The lovely couple from Quebec said in their broken English that they had been trying for over an hour to flag someone down and jack up the car. The jack that was in the rental car was broken and would not jack up. So we unloaded the back of the car to get the unused jack out of its home to be the good Samaritans that we are. Just as we got everything out and started jacking up the car, another couple stopped and offered their help as well. It is good to know that there are still good people in the world willing to help out.
After the tire was changed and the jack safely back in its home, we got back in the car. We must have sweat off about 20 pounds between us while we were out there. Oh, did I forget to mention that there were signs all along suggesting for us to not use the air conditioning to prevent overheating? What were we supposed to do to prevent us from overheating? We finally came upon a gas station. They sure do know how to take advantage of a situation… We had to pay $4.14 a gallon. There were signs for the cold milkshakes that they had inside too… $6.00 for a small milkshake. Don’t people realize that we are on a tight budget?? So, we opted for the $2.50 ice pop instead.
By the time I was able to check the weather on my phone to figure out approximately how hot we actually were, it was 110 degrees. HOT!! As we were driving along Kate told me to look behind us, it was a salt lake that actually looked like the ocean. We desperately wanted it to be the ocean. Mirages do happen in the heat of the desert.
It was getting sort of late and we had no clue where we were staying. We never thought that it would take us so long to drive through Death Valley. We were on the road for twelve hours this day. So, working on virtually no sleep and sweating in 110 degree heat all day, I called in a favor and scored us two nights at The Mirage in Las Vegas. That’s right VEGAS BABY!! The car had to go in for a little work while we were in an actual town.
Everyone knows, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas… (Of course I might be prompted to tell if I was incentified…)
After our two night vacation from our vacation, we checked out, had breakfast and stopped at Wal Mart for some essentials such as water. We were after all in the desert. Probably best to stay hydrated. When I opened the cooler to put away our purchases, the strawberries that we had gotten at a farm stand had apparently gone bad. They were almost completely composted into pure liquid. Making a lovely pink wet mess all over everything in the cooler and the cooler itself. It took us about 30 minutes to actually get everything cleaned, emptied, wiped down, put back in and ready to go.
Finally on the road heading toward Sedona we encounter Hoover Dam traffic. It took us about 3 hours to go approximately 10 miles. Once we actually got to the dam, the sidewalls are built up so high that it is impossible to see anything. Not sure what the big deal is. We have been driving for six thousand miles with no guard rails in some places that there definitely should have been some. Oh well. Guess that is one that we will just have to enjoy in the movies. We did however have a lovely view of Lake Meade all the way to the dam. That was well worth it. They also appear to be building a freeway overpass over the dam that has some interesting concrete work.
We stopped in Chloride, Arizona for a restroom break, some tourist information and an orange cream soda. A very interesting little town. The store/rest area is in someone’s home. He is currently remodeling so the restrooms were out of order. We had to go down the block, make a left, go past the white brick building, into the park and on the opposite side of the park, those restrooms should be working. After we paid for our sodas, he said, “I will give you some useful information, do not talk to the man on the porch. He is ok, not too creepy, but he will talk all four of your ears off. Now get the hell out of here so I can close.”
Having spent three hours in traffic that we did not plan on, we did not make it as far as we were intending. We stopped at a campground on Route 66, the Grand Canyon Caverns. As I am sitting here typing this, there are horses off in the distance freaking out. Sounds like they are being attacked and it keeps getting closer and closer. Katie told me that he is just horny, but I am not buying that. I think they are being attacked by coyotes or something. Needless to say, I am getting in my safe tent (like they can’t get me there.)
Good night my lovelies.
Here is a quote for you to mull over until next time. “If you do not have peace within yourself, learning cannot take place.” Aki Kurose 1997
Friday, September 4, 2009
Border Patrol and Drive Thru Jerky...
Last time we were together, we were in Spokane, Washington. While we were at Spenser’s house, we took the time to re-organize the back of the car, something that we desperately needed to do. Everything loaded back in the car out on the road we went. Oh, I90 how we missed you. We stopped at a Perkins in some random exit off of i90 where there were only whitehead diners and young pregnant waitresses. My fear for the end of our trip, not so much the pregnant part, but the waitress off of a random exit of the highway serving eggs and scrapple to truckers, trying to make enough money to put gas in the car to get home. I guess we will cross that bridge when we get to it.
After our brunch at Perkins we stopped at the little farmers stand in front of the gas station. We picked out our produce, four nectarines, a cantaloupe and a bag of cherries, our total, $10. Well, it appears as though we have just been raped by the produce Nazi. We wanted to get some of the plums but he would not allow us to. We continued on our way complaining about the price of the cherries the entire way. Looking at the scenery we feel as though it is a letdown after being in Montana and Glacier Park.
We made it to about half an hour outside of Seattle when we decided to stop for the night. We pulled off of the highway to camp at a State Park. When we pulled in, the campground was full. Well, there was a campground on the other side of the highway. We headed over. It was literally on the side of the highway with three other campers there. We set up camp and headed to bed early. We got up early in the morning packed up and ready to go. Off to Seattle we go. Neither of us really knowing anything about Seattle, we were just kind of winging it. We parked in one of the first parking garages we came across. The walking shoes went on and we hit the streets.
Brunch was at a lovely little bookstore café where they had Yerba Mate on the menu. Not something that is easily found in restaurants. If you are a tea drinker and never had it, I highly suggest you try it. You either love it or hate it. I happen to love it, so I was super psyched!! Along with the mate was a herbed goat cheese and tomato jam on grilled rosemary bread. WOW! Incredible! After our bellies were full, we set out to discover the city. To our surprise, there were many stores that were empty and for rent. It was almost like a ghost town. There were very few people on the streets and very little traffic. We walked all the way to the space needle, which was at least 30 blocks from where we parked. But we are in Seattle, so we have to see the Needle, right? Well, we saw it, however, did not go up in it. We were entertained by a juggling unicyclist and people watching. This is where all the people were, Space Needle Park. We stopped by a little café for an afternoon crepe and coffee, both disappointing.
We walked the 30 blocks back to the area where we parked along the piers. Looking down in the water, there were starfish all over the rocks in the water. The street lights were all adorned with hanging baskets of flowers. Once we were back in the area of the parking garage we decided to take the Seattle underground tour. It is a 90 minute tour of the city that once lived underground. The great Seattle fire burned down 32 blocks of the city. Business owners were anxious to get things up and running again and rebuilt. The city decided that they wanted to raise the city’s elevation by building concrete walls and brick to connect them. To learn more, you can take the tour, email me, or read “Sons of the Profit”.
Our full day of touring the city by foot we were exhausted. We attempted to stay at three different campgrounds. The first one was a trailer park, not a campground; the second was nonexistent and the third full. So, we found a nice rest area off of the I5 and slept in the car. Probably one of the best night’s sleep I have had since we left. Who knew sleeping in the front of a Toyota Highlander would be comfy…
Rest areas get busy first thing in the morning, so we were up early and headed to Portland for the day. We arrived around 11 AM and went to the Saturday Market. Yes, I know it was Sunday, but it is now open Saturday and Sunday. Lucky Us! We walked the market and found millions of things that we could have spent millions of dollars on. Everything in the market has to be produced by its vendor. We met the nicest girl Nicole that fitted us with the most unique hats, perfectly fitting our personalities. Wait until you see them. We ate interesting food, tasted interesting teas, and heard great music, saw lots of bums. Lots of bums with brand new cutest little puppies begging for money. Not sure what else to see in Portland and after spending the day in Seattle the day before we were anxious to get back out to the country and beautiful scenery.
Crater Lake here we come! Back out in the country both of us were feeling much better. More relaxed, at ease, at home. We pulled into Crater Lake just about sunset. What a sight! If you ever get the chance, this is another place I would highly recommend. After many stops for pictures and to inhale the beauty we finally got to the campground. They do not accept cash! What kind of a place does not accept cash? Kate’s tent went up in the dark and having such a good nights sleep the night before in the car, I opted to sleep in the car instead of putting my tent up and getting all my gear out. It was just easier, and some more comfortable than some nights. It was COLD!!! The temperature went down into the low 30’s that night. We have been freezing ever since.
We decided to have breakfast at the little camp restaurant before hitting the road. It was a buffet, so we ordered our coffee and tea and went to the buffet and filled our plates with one pancake, a scoop of scrambled eggs, a strip of bacon and fresh fruit. When the bill came, it was $11.25 a person, $2.50 for a cup of coffee and $2.25 for a cup of tea. $11.25 for a breakfast buffet and you can’t even throw in a cup of coffee??? Come on now!
Winding through the byways of Oregon we come to the California border. At which point we are greeted by an inspection station. They stop all incoming traffic to check for illegal contraband (I am starting to shake in my boots…) or in this case corn and cherries. Well, remember the roadside produce that we got raped for? Yes, that’s right, our $10 cherries. Well, we either have to eat them, or dispose of them. And the corn had to be husked by the officer. He husked our corn while we ate as many cherries as we could. No way we were throwing away $10 worth of cherries on our tight budget. As we are eating our cherries, I look across the street to see a Drive-Thru Jerky stand. Of course we stopped. Rocky wasn’t sure of the couple questions that Kate had so he had to get his sister, Carol to answer them.
We picked out our campground from the book and headed in that direction. When we pulled in, it looked like a trailer park again. What is the deal with trailer parks calling themselves campgrounds on the west coast? It was not as scary as the first trailer park campground so we thought we would give it a try. Our site was on beachfront property. It was wonderful to sleep with the waves crashing on the beach. Very peaceful. The campground manager told us about a breakfast special at the casino right up the road, so we checked it out. It was a $2.99 special. Can’t go wrong there. It was kind of a dreary day so we stayed put and just had a mellow do nothing day. We both needed it. In the afternoon I went for a walk on the beach and found some of the most beautiful stones. The colors were very unusual. Farther down the beach out on the sandbar were seals, just sunning themselves. There must have been 50 or 60 of them. It was amazing to see. I put the extra strong lens on my camera and got a few good photos of them talking to each other.
The next morning after another breakfast special at the casino we headed to the Redwoods. The Redwoods are just massive. There is no other way to describe them. We even drove the car through the trunk of one. While driving through we met a group of wild hogs. Nice guys out for a couple day trip. Needless to say, we played leap frog with them most of the day. We stopped at an attraction and they drove by, then we happened to be at the next attraction together. I tried to get them to buy us lunch, but we were not their type. We parted ways just before the Avenue of the Giants. A very scenic drive through the Redwood Forest. That night we slept with the giants. No, get your minds out of the gutter. Not the football team, the trees. Although, I don’t think either of us would have minded the first one.
Today, we took scenic route 1 down the coast of California. It was very beautiful and picturesque, but made us both very car sick. It is a tiny narrow, windy, hilly road. Not at all good for those who have motion sickness tendency’s. There should be warning signs before you start out on a road like there are for roller coasters. Finally we made it back to the 101 and over the Golden Gate Bridge into San Francisco. Not at all what Kate expected it to be. We had dinner and got the hell outta there! We are not in a city kind of mood these days. We just wanted to be in our tents under the stars listening to the crickets. We are on our way to Yosemite. Hopefully not all of California is as well for the holiday weekend.
The adventures were not that amazing this week, but we both had a great time nonetheless. Please stay tuned for scenes from the next leg of our journey.
After our brunch at Perkins we stopped at the little farmers stand in front of the gas station. We picked out our produce, four nectarines, a cantaloupe and a bag of cherries, our total, $10. Well, it appears as though we have just been raped by the produce Nazi. We wanted to get some of the plums but he would not allow us to. We continued on our way complaining about the price of the cherries the entire way. Looking at the scenery we feel as though it is a letdown after being in Montana and Glacier Park.
We made it to about half an hour outside of Seattle when we decided to stop for the night. We pulled off of the highway to camp at a State Park. When we pulled in, the campground was full. Well, there was a campground on the other side of the highway. We headed over. It was literally on the side of the highway with three other campers there. We set up camp and headed to bed early. We got up early in the morning packed up and ready to go. Off to Seattle we go. Neither of us really knowing anything about Seattle, we were just kind of winging it. We parked in one of the first parking garages we came across. The walking shoes went on and we hit the streets.
Brunch was at a lovely little bookstore café where they had Yerba Mate on the menu. Not something that is easily found in restaurants. If you are a tea drinker and never had it, I highly suggest you try it. You either love it or hate it. I happen to love it, so I was super psyched!! Along with the mate was a herbed goat cheese and tomato jam on grilled rosemary bread. WOW! Incredible! After our bellies were full, we set out to discover the city. To our surprise, there were many stores that were empty and for rent. It was almost like a ghost town. There were very few people on the streets and very little traffic. We walked all the way to the space needle, which was at least 30 blocks from where we parked. But we are in Seattle, so we have to see the Needle, right? Well, we saw it, however, did not go up in it. We were entertained by a juggling unicyclist and people watching. This is where all the people were, Space Needle Park. We stopped by a little café for an afternoon crepe and coffee, both disappointing.
We walked the 30 blocks back to the area where we parked along the piers. Looking down in the water, there were starfish all over the rocks in the water. The street lights were all adorned with hanging baskets of flowers. Once we were back in the area of the parking garage we decided to take the Seattle underground tour. It is a 90 minute tour of the city that once lived underground. The great Seattle fire burned down 32 blocks of the city. Business owners were anxious to get things up and running again and rebuilt. The city decided that they wanted to raise the city’s elevation by building concrete walls and brick to connect them. To learn more, you can take the tour, email me, or read “Sons of the Profit”.
Our full day of touring the city by foot we were exhausted. We attempted to stay at three different campgrounds. The first one was a trailer park, not a campground; the second was nonexistent and the third full. So, we found a nice rest area off of the I5 and slept in the car. Probably one of the best night’s sleep I have had since we left. Who knew sleeping in the front of a Toyota Highlander would be comfy…
Rest areas get busy first thing in the morning, so we were up early and headed to Portland for the day. We arrived around 11 AM and went to the Saturday Market. Yes, I know it was Sunday, but it is now open Saturday and Sunday. Lucky Us! We walked the market and found millions of things that we could have spent millions of dollars on. Everything in the market has to be produced by its vendor. We met the nicest girl Nicole that fitted us with the most unique hats, perfectly fitting our personalities. Wait until you see them. We ate interesting food, tasted interesting teas, and heard great music, saw lots of bums. Lots of bums with brand new cutest little puppies begging for money. Not sure what else to see in Portland and after spending the day in Seattle the day before we were anxious to get back out to the country and beautiful scenery.
Crater Lake here we come! Back out in the country both of us were feeling much better. More relaxed, at ease, at home. We pulled into Crater Lake just about sunset. What a sight! If you ever get the chance, this is another place I would highly recommend. After many stops for pictures and to inhale the beauty we finally got to the campground. They do not accept cash! What kind of a place does not accept cash? Kate’s tent went up in the dark and having such a good nights sleep the night before in the car, I opted to sleep in the car instead of putting my tent up and getting all my gear out. It was just easier, and some more comfortable than some nights. It was COLD!!! The temperature went down into the low 30’s that night. We have been freezing ever since.
We decided to have breakfast at the little camp restaurant before hitting the road. It was a buffet, so we ordered our coffee and tea and went to the buffet and filled our plates with one pancake, a scoop of scrambled eggs, a strip of bacon and fresh fruit. When the bill came, it was $11.25 a person, $2.50 for a cup of coffee and $2.25 for a cup of tea. $11.25 for a breakfast buffet and you can’t even throw in a cup of coffee??? Come on now!
Winding through the byways of Oregon we come to the California border. At which point we are greeted by an inspection station. They stop all incoming traffic to check for illegal contraband (I am starting to shake in my boots…) or in this case corn and cherries. Well, remember the roadside produce that we got raped for? Yes, that’s right, our $10 cherries. Well, we either have to eat them, or dispose of them. And the corn had to be husked by the officer. He husked our corn while we ate as many cherries as we could. No way we were throwing away $10 worth of cherries on our tight budget. As we are eating our cherries, I look across the street to see a Drive-Thru Jerky stand. Of course we stopped. Rocky wasn’t sure of the couple questions that Kate had so he had to get his sister, Carol to answer them.
We picked out our campground from the book and headed in that direction. When we pulled in, it looked like a trailer park again. What is the deal with trailer parks calling themselves campgrounds on the west coast? It was not as scary as the first trailer park campground so we thought we would give it a try. Our site was on beachfront property. It was wonderful to sleep with the waves crashing on the beach. Very peaceful. The campground manager told us about a breakfast special at the casino right up the road, so we checked it out. It was a $2.99 special. Can’t go wrong there. It was kind of a dreary day so we stayed put and just had a mellow do nothing day. We both needed it. In the afternoon I went for a walk on the beach and found some of the most beautiful stones. The colors were very unusual. Farther down the beach out on the sandbar were seals, just sunning themselves. There must have been 50 or 60 of them. It was amazing to see. I put the extra strong lens on my camera and got a few good photos of them talking to each other.
The next morning after another breakfast special at the casino we headed to the Redwoods. The Redwoods are just massive. There is no other way to describe them. We even drove the car through the trunk of one. While driving through we met a group of wild hogs. Nice guys out for a couple day trip. Needless to say, we played leap frog with them most of the day. We stopped at an attraction and they drove by, then we happened to be at the next attraction together. I tried to get them to buy us lunch, but we were not their type. We parted ways just before the Avenue of the Giants. A very scenic drive through the Redwood Forest. That night we slept with the giants. No, get your minds out of the gutter. Not the football team, the trees. Although, I don’t think either of us would have minded the first one.
Today, we took scenic route 1 down the coast of California. It was very beautiful and picturesque, but made us both very car sick. It is a tiny narrow, windy, hilly road. Not at all good for those who have motion sickness tendency’s. There should be warning signs before you start out on a road like there are for roller coasters. Finally we made it back to the 101 and over the Golden Gate Bridge into San Francisco. Not at all what Kate expected it to be. We had dinner and got the hell outta there! We are not in a city kind of mood these days. We just wanted to be in our tents under the stars listening to the crickets. We are on our way to Yosemite. Hopefully not all of California is as well for the holiday weekend.
The adventures were not that amazing this week, but we both had a great time nonetheless. Please stay tuned for scenes from the next leg of our journey.
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