Grand Canyon Adventures, Overheating in the Mojave, and at the Route's End (for now ;)

So it's about time I updated the blog with the last days of our trip leading up to Cali.  I think all of my traveling for the last month has finally caught up with me as I've been crashing for the last two days.  Our second day in Flagstaff found us at the Grand Canyon.  I think it is impossible to describe in words how vast it was.  I've never seen a picture that could do justice to what it actually looks like.  It literally went as far as the eye could see, well, further than that even, I suppose.  It went so far that it looked like it stretched on forever, kind of like when you go to the ocean but with land - an ocean of canyon, if you will.  Also, from the Kaibab trail at the South Rim we still couldn't see to the bottom even after hiking about a mile down.  Apparently, it's impractical to hike all the way down to the Colorado River at the bottom and back up in one day.  People have died who tried it.  Another fun fact - it was 87 degrees at the top of the rim and 106 degrees down at Phantom Ranch (the hotel at the bottom).  That's right - almost 20 degree difference.  It's no wonder the park ranger who suggested the path we ended up hiking said we would be descending into Hades.  Both Renana and I loved it though and would really like to come back and spend a day or two hiking to the bottom and back up.  We ended up coming back in the evening and seeing the sunset over the canyon.  This experience really made me feel like such a tiny spec in grand scheme of things, yet I also felt a sense of wonder, awe, and even contentment knowing there are distances on this planet that my mind can't even wrap itself around.

Wednesday we made the final (and rather long) 10 hour trek from Flagstaff to Los Angeles... but not without difficulty.  We only made one stop since there was so much driving to accomplish, but it was a worthy one.  Oatman, Arizona was and largely still is a ghost town in the middle of the desert hills.  Once a mining town, Oatman shut down shortly after the gold rush and abandoned burros took up residence in its hills.  Today, it still captures some of the old west with its 10 or so shops, high noon standoff shows and burros that still come down from the hills to be fed carrots by some easily swayed tourists.  Out of the two restaurants in town, we found ourselves in a diner whose interior was entirely covered with dollar bills.  Apparently, once the currency became nationalized dollar bills and no longer gold nuggets, bar patrons would staple a bill to the wall as collateral (or as their bar tab) before throwing back a couple cold ones.  Tourists, of course, now carry on the tradition and since we are such good little tourists we couldn't really resist this one.

Upon leaving Oatman however, we made it about as far as Needles before our car began making funny noises and overheating.  We took it into a shop were we sat for about 3 hours while a very nice mechanic explained that many older cars overheat while they attempt to climb the twenty or so mile hill that we were on in the middle of the sweltering Mojave sun.  He then replaced our radiator and thermostat and changed our oil (since it needed to be done after all of those mile anyway).  After that, it still had a bit of trouble up the first hill (we pulled over a few more times to be safe) but then it was smooth sailing until we pulled into Renana's aunt's house in North Hollywood around 1:30 am.

Thursday we took a trip to the Santa Monica pier.  We figured the trip wouldn't really feel complete unless we made it to the ocean.  The beach was surprisingly overcast whereas down in the valley where Renana's aunt lives, it was beautiful clear skies abound.  Apparently, this is a frequent occurrence.  Although it was overcast and pretty windy, we couldn't help but run straight into the freezing Pacific.  We lasted about 15 minutes before the cold and the jellyfish convinced us to head back to the shore.  On the upside, we did find the end of the Route 66 trail on the pier which brought our journey to a nice close before we sat in another hour of LA traffic to Calabasas to check in for the festival.  And now a whole new, very different type of journey is about to begin.  I'm in an entirely unfamiliar (but incredibly beautiful) place with only one familiar face with new teachers and new styles of acting the learn and embrace.  Only a month ago, I was setting off on an adventure abroad and now here I am in my home country and many acting troupes from all over the world are coming to me.  I can't wait to see what this next adventure has in store for me.  Life is a highway. ;)

Song of the Day:  Don't Stop Believing -- Journey
Quote of the Day: “We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.” – Jawaharial Nehru

Uh-Oh! Arizona

Today was one of those days that roadtrips are made of - snafus.  We got off to a bit of a late start due in part to the fact that Sandia Park, NM was just so beautiful that having breakfast outside on the porch with the view of the breathtaking mountains in the background took much longer than expected.  Malcolm and Leora seriously have the most beautiful house I have ever entered in my life.  They really made us feel so welcome there too which was fortunate when we accidentally cracked the front bumper of our car by running into one of the railroad ties lining the driveway.  Minor accident that was patched up with a shoelace and some good old duct tape but a major setback nonetheless.  Since it was Sunday, we spent a major portion of the day searching for an auto-body shop that was open.  We ended up at Firestone where they were able to screw the droopy mudflap up so that it wouldn't interfere with the tire.

After picking up a little extra duct tape, we headed off to Sky City in Acoma Pueblo, NM.  Sky City is a Native American reservation built on top of giant butte.  Unfortunately we'd missed the last tour to the city due to our setback but we did get to poke around the museum a bit and check out some artsy clay water pots and restoration project ground plans.

Next we trekked to the Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona which sadly was also closed by the time we made it there.  Would've been spectacular, although we probably wouldn't have gotten to hike much in it anyhow.

Follow that, we found ourselves in Holbrook, AZ where Wigwam Village #6 still stands.  The town itself looked frozen in the '50s with kitschy neon signs abound.  As we poked around the motel we noticed a bunch of vintage cars lined the parking lot.  Upon further inspection we discover that these cars were straight out of the movie Cars!  There was the Mater tow truck and even Doc Hudson.  It was surreal.

Finally we ended the night at our hostel in Flagstaff (yeah, I didn't know there were hostels in the U.S. until this trip either.  Don't feel bad.)  It's an international hostel and we ended up going out for a drink with a navy boy and a Swiss study abroad student (the hostel is, after all, international ;).  Overall a good day even if everything didn't work out as we had planned.

Tomorrow: Grand Canyon bright and early!  Happy trails. :)

Song of the Day: One Headlight -- Counting Crows
Quote of the Day:  "Tell 'em we're survivors." -- from Life is a Highway by Tom Cochrane

Underneath That Amarillo Sky

Today we began our adventure at the waffle house with a big southern breakfast of pecan waffles, bacon, fried eggs and, of course…. grits (which are soooo much better in Texas – softer, less chunky and more melt in your mouth…mmm ) Then it was off to the Big Texan Steak Restaurant and Motel where we saw their pool in the shape of Texas as well as their bull horned limos. We made sure to leave our mark on the giant boot outside the entrance. Sadly neither they nor anyone else in Amarillo seemed to have an “Everything’s Bigger in Texas” shirt that I promised to get wifey.

Next we were off to the Palo Duro Canyon National Park in Canyon, TX about 20 mins south of Amarillo. It was breathtaking. Never have I seem something so vast. It’s like the Earth just decided to open up in the middle of a plain. It was truly amazing. We hiked 1 ½ trails while we were there the Passe de Rio which was 2 miles roundtrip and one that went to the lighthouse that was 6 miles round trip (although we probably on did a mile or two of that one). The River trail had a lot of overgrowth and bugs (specifically flies). The trail to the lighthouse was slightly higher up and out on the open red rock in the direct sunlight. Renana and I both agreed that we loved the dry heat in comparison to the humidity of the East but once we got in the sun it was sweltering. (It was, after all, 115 degrees out.) We were sure we got sunburned. The echo in the canyon was phenomenal and after we reached the end of the first path we loudly sang the national anthem to test it out (and also because we felt oddly very very American from all of the stereotypical America imagery around us). We ended our park time by dipping our tired toes in an area of the creek that had flooded across the road and preventing us from passing.

Finally we made our way to the infamous Cadillac Ranch where several Cadillacs appear as though they’ve taken a nose dive into the earth. When we arrived there was a school group leaving who had brought their own supply of spray paint. We made sure to snatch a can and leave our marking before leaving town.  After about 4 1/2 hours we found ourselves in Albuquerque, New Mexico where we are staying with some of Renana's family friends.  Leora and Malcolm are two of the loveliest and most intelligent people I've ever met.  I'm so grateful that they've welcomed us into their lovely home.  Now time for some of that lovely shut-eye. :)

Tomorrow it’s off to Flagstaff, Arizona (as long as the wildfires out there don’t interfere with our travel plans *keep your fingers crossed*). Lookout for the historic R66 Wigwam Village as well as the Acoma Pueblo city.

Song of the Day: Amarillo Sky -- Jason Aldean
Quote of the Day: “One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.” – Henry Miller

Oh Oh Oklahoma!

So the second leg of our journey took another 6 hours west to Amarillo, Texas.  However we saw a ton on the way.  First stop was Catoosa the Blue Whale in Catoosa, Oklahoma - about 10 minutes backtracking outside of Tulsa.  We hadn't been able to see it the night before because we got in too late.  Apparently this Route 66 icon was built for the owner's wife as a gift.  It's made of concrete and steel and used to be open in the 70's and closed around '88.  Apparently, the pond used to be open for swimming which would have been grand on that hot hot day.  Although, since it has fallen into disrepair and the land is not longer manicured there is a ton of wildlife in the area now.  We saw lots of fish, two turtles and while hiking the trail along the shore to the little fishing pier I saw a pretty sizable garden snake.  All-in-all though we were very disappointed that the whale was no longer open for business.


Next stop was the Center of the Universe in downtown Tulsa.  It's a spot in the middle of a walkway where a weird phenomenon occurs when you stand directly in the center of it - your voice loudly echos back as if in a tunnel.  Yet take one step out and the phenomenon no longer occurs.  Oddly enough, no one standing outside of the spot can hear your voice echo either, just the echoer.  We signed our names at the center of the universe in fashion with the other tourists this year who had visited the spot.


Following that we made our way to Arcadia, OK where the Round Barn and also Pop's on Route 66 take up residence.  Got a picture of the Round Barn on our way to Pop's which was where we really wanted to stop.  They have over 500 different flavors of soda-pop for sale in their restaurant/gas station/souvenir shop.  We each bought a few bottles to quench our thirst on the journey ahead.  Renana got the Route 66 Cream Soda as well as the Dry Vanilla Bean.  I was feeling adventurous and went for the Love Potion #69, the Dry Rhubarb, and the Thomas Kemper Oregon Marionberry which was postively delicious!  The dry pops are a particularly interesting Seattle-based company that make all natural healthier sodas sweetened with cane sugar instead of that nasty high-fructose corn syrup (I hate hate hate those damn commercials that try to make it look like corn syrup isn't all that bad for you.  You're body has trouble breaking it down, folks!  Don't want that business lingering in your system).  Anyway, the dry sodas come in really interesting flavors like cucumber, kumquat, and lavender.  Definitely an interesting experience. 

Our next stop was in Yukon, OK where our fruit picking turned out to be a bit of a let down.  It wasn't fruit picking at all, actually.  Just a nice old man selling his home-grown produce in his driveway.  We did end up getting some peaches, pecans, a tomato and a watermelon though which were all positively delicious.  A lot of locals turned up to fill up their sacks (what Southerners call plastic grocery bags) while we were there and were all very friendly and interested to hear where we were from and where we were headed.  It was the first time I really felt like I was somewhere very different from home what with all of the accents.  Overall a good experience.  Later on after getting to our hotel, we had a hell of a time trying to cut up the watermelon with the small kitchen knives they provided.  The watermelon didn't seem to enjoy it so much either.

The highlight of today was by far The Sandhills Curiosity Shop in Erick, OK with Harley and Annabelle the "Mediocre Music Makers".  These two terrific people have a shop full of old Route 66 memorabilia that is just there for tourists to enjoy.  It is literally the only thing in Erick.  (Never have I seen such a small town!)  We lucked out with meeting Harley and Annabelle as it was an off-day for them and they had just happened to be in the shop practicing some guitar (a British agency brings tour groups through there and they entertain).  Although both of them will argue that it's not about them but about the people they meet who come through to see them and the experience they create.  You should know that Harley and Annabelle were the basis for some characters in the Pixar movie Cars which upon meeting them shows through if you've seen the movie.  Harley however is much more of the pot-smoking, jack-drinking, innuendo-spewing redneck than Pixar could probably get away with animating.  Annabelle is super sweet, incredibly knowledgeable and artistic ex-hippie (although I suppose she isn't too far off from still-a-hippie).  Both are more than willing to show you the memorabilia that they've accumulated (not collected, they are not collectors just self-proclaimed pack-rats :) over the years.  People from all over brought them most of the stuff and the amount is incredible.  We got to hold one Route 66 sign that Annabelle gauged was from around the 1920's.  They also gave us a tour of their home which they've lovingly dubbed the Redneck Castle (complete with claw-foot bathtubs on the lawn).  My favorite part of this adventure (aside from exchanging witty innuendos with Harley) was when they played a two guitar rendition of "Get Your Kicks on Route 66".  They were really just great people who loved life and wanted to share their life with anyone who came along.  When we left they saw us to our car like old friends, gave us hugs and told us to make sure we stopped by if ever we found ourselves in Erick again.

 After Erick, it wasn't too far to the Texas border where we almost immediately passed through Groom, TX, home of the Leaning Tower of Britten and the World's Largest Cross.  Both exciting to see in themselves but all-in-all we were ready to get off the ole' dusty trail and hit the hay.  Next up, Amarillo to Albuquerque - complete with canyon hiking and the famous Cadillac Ranch.  G'night y'all.

Song of the Day:  I’ve Been Everywhere by Johnny Cash

Quote of the Day: “[...] the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes 'Awww!'"  -- Jack Kerouac On the Road

 

The First Leg of the Journey

First off, I have no idea how I am not yet dead.  (Oh, I'm not dead yet, no I'm really really not!)  I've been traveling since the 7th.  First to London to visit my friend Carrie (aka wifey) at King's College where she is attending grad school.  We then went on a week long extravaganza venturing to Rome, Munich, Fussen, Goerlitz/Zgorzelec and Berlin (another blog for anther day).  Then returning to London for a few more days, flying out on the 22nd and meeting up Renana to begin this road trip at 11 am on the 23rd.  I must be mad.  But really, I wouldn't have it any other way.  This is, after all, my last hurrah at being a careless college student before having to enter the job market and work forever and ever amen.  Plus I've been to the UK, Europe, and South America but somehow have not been further west than Chicago, Illinois in my own country.  This clearly needed immediate fixing.

Wednesday found Renana and I traveling for 10+ hours Pittsburgh to St. Louis.  Many playlists were built and road games were immediately instituted which include but are not limited to the license plate game, amount of trucker horn honks, and tallying roadkill (tires are winning so far).  Once in Saint Louis, we stayed with Elaine and Barry, very kind friends of Renana's.  After delicious food and delicious conversation we promptly collapsed.  In the morning we got a bit of a late start due to a few pit stops including but not limited to the post office and Target to exchange Renana's seizing camera for a functional one.  Our next stop was the long anticipated Ted Drewes frozen custard which is legendary for their vanilla custard and concretes (the vanilla mixed with flavors).  It's customary to hold it upsidedown to show how thick and concrete-like it is (appetizing... I know ;)

 Our next stop was the Gateway Arch which we rode 650 feet to the top in this bizarre egg-shaped train-like elevator.  The view was spectacular. 

Next it was two hours to Rolla, Missouri where a half-scale model of Stonehenge was built by some druids at the Missouri University of Science and Technology.  I actually was supposed to go to Stonehenge proper outside of London on the summer solstice this past Sunday to Monday to see all the pagan shenanigans at sunrise but that fell through when wifey and I realized I wouldn't get any sleep the day before I had 10 hours of flying to contend with.  This was a worthy substitute with though.  It has a Polaris window to find the North Star as well as an Analemma which at noon shows the month by the light passing through a hole and somehow projecting a figure eight or "analemma" onto the stone.  Sadly, we did not find any wealthy future-engineer husbands while roaming the institute.

Finally we hunkered down and drove the remaining 4 hours here to Tulsa where we have many sites to see in the morning.  Look for the giant whale in Catoosa as well as going fruit picking next on our journey to Amarillo, TX.  May the road rise up to meet you. <3






Song of the Day: Route 66 -- Bobby Troup
Quote of the Day: "Live, travel, adventure, bless, and don't be sorry." -- Jack Kerouac