Watson's Road Trip 2008!

Day 23 : HOME!

2008-06-25T09:53:00.003-04:00

I am pleased to say that I am writing this from the comfort of my own home!

I stayed in Midland, Texas on Monday night. Yesterday morning, I got up around 6:00AM, packed, ate breakfast, and hit the road by 6:45AM. I was on I-20 and only stopped to get gas when the gauge got to empty. I drove until 12:15PM last night. That was approximately sixteen and a half hours of driving. But it turned out to be a really easy drive because I knew what was at the end of it: home. The one thing I have learned on this trip above all others is the value and appreciation of home. My wife, my dog, and my house. I cared for each of them very much before the trip, but now it is only more so. It is easy for all of us to take those things for granted because they are omnipresent. But if you remove them, even for a little while, it becomes very apparent just how much they mean.

Here is the final tally:
start of trip: 140,512
end of trip: 148,197
total miles driven: 7,685 miles
I left on 06/03 and got back on 06/24. So, I was gone 22 days; just over three weeks.

yesterday's numbers:
start: 147,053
end: 148,197
distance: 1,144 miles
That's a personal best for me.

And here are some things I saw that I didn't post in the daily entries:

wildlife:
-a coyote trotting down the side of the road in Grand Canyon National park, looking like he had business to attend to.
-two roadrunners on separate occassions in New Mexico. And they were doing exactly what you'd expect them to be doing: they were crossing the road. Alas, I saw no coyote chasing them with fork and knife in hand.
-two crows attacking an owl in Mississippi. That was yesterday evening. Crows hate owls on principle. I'm not sure why, but it is true. My dad always told me so, and last evening I saw it firsthand.
-a group of about six doe laying down under one of the only trees in western Utah, trying to savor the shade it provided.
-the mountain goats and the pronghorn go on this list, but I did post about them.
-I was disappointed that I did not see a single buffalo on the entire trip; not even on a ranch.

activities:
-I rode an alpine slide in Keystone, South Dakota. It was like a curvy waterslide, except you go down on a sled with wheels. It was very fun.
-I went to a junk store outside of Crazy Horse and bought a Miller Highlife pull tab that I may use as a shifter in the hot rod.
-I paid an Indian $5 to show me some dinosaur footprints out in the desert east of the grand canyon in northern Arizona. I took pictures and would have posted them, but I had to use the other camera and I couldn't get the pictures off of it.
-I collected rocks from many of the places I visited. To be clear, I have an unusual collection going. I have a rock from many places I have been. I am not a rock hound or geologist. When I go somewhere, I pick up a rock and save it as a souvenier. It is an actual piece of the place I have been. You see? So, I now have an actual piece of Mount Rushmore granite, Crazy Horse granite, a piece of the Grand Canyon, a piece of sandstone from within Meteor Crater, and a piece of Carlsbad Caverns from deep in the earth. They aren't big pieces; you could close your fist around them. Oh, and the fossils from Utah. got those too.

So, that's it. This is the last post. I owe Chad and Nancy a sincere apology for flaking out and not going through Houston. Sorry, y'all.
Truth be told, Jennifer and I had both eaten something in San Diego that made us sick; some type of food poisoning. I was very weak after that stay in the truck bed and hike in Carlsbad Caverns. It was at that point I decided to cut the trip a couple of days short and head for home. Enough was enough.

Thanks for reading this blog, and following along on what has been a great adventure. I really love this country for its beauty and VAST variety of landscapes. You should really get out and see it. You won't believe the variety that exists out there. And I only saw a small fraction!

Lastly, the biggest thank you of all goes to my wife, the best friend I've ever had. When I was leaving my job, she reminded me of the dream I had had for this trip (I've wanted to do it for many years) and encouraged me to take advantage of the moment and do it. For that, I am humbled and forever grateful. I love you.

Till the next adventure,
Watson

PS
Check the post below for more Carlsbad Caverns pictures.

Day 22

2008-06-23T19:48:00.004-04:00

I left Tucson around 8:00AM. Hurtling across the desert, it was already 93 degrees by 9:45AM. I hit the flat bottom of an ancient lake bed, and T. Rex's "Bang the Gong" came on the classic rock station I was listening to. I hit the gas and topped out around 105mph, and I left it there for a few minutes. My only companions were T. Rex and the mirage to my left, a small, yet vast, promising sea, glimmering in the distance. On it went, the desert was never ending. And I couldn't help but think, "Why do people live out here? Honestly?"
The miles passed in this way for the rest of the day. After El Paso, the cacti stopped, and I turned left. I headed over the mountains. Three more hours of desert driving and i came to the turn off for Carlsbad. By that time it was 4:45PM. I headed six miles into Carlsbad Caverns National Park. I bought a ticket and got to the elevator in time for the last trip down. But I opted to wait till morning.
I drove back to the turn in point which was a place called "Whites City". I booked a campsite and went looking for dinner. Toward sunset, I drove back into the park. There is an ampitheater at the natural entrance. Around 8:15PM, the bats start to fly. I watched as 500,000 Mexican Freetail Bats left for the evening to consume their individual bodyweights in bugs. It was a pretty amazing sight. They swirled out of the entrance in a whirlwind type pattern. They then scattered into the oncoming night.
I drove back to the campsite and set up the tarp to sleep in the back of the truck. The night that passed was a pretty bad one. After I laid down, a desert wind kicked up. It was gusting and shaking the tarp hard. It did that for about three hours. When it died down, I fell asleep. At least I think I did. Then the birds started. I have no idea how many there were, but they made a great deal of noise in a nearby tree for a few hours. They eventually stopped. But I suspect that was because the desert wind came back. In all, I estimate that I got two to three hours of sleep last night.
I got up at 6:30AM and showered. I was at the natural entrance to the caverns when it opened at 8:30AM. Here are some pictures:

So, after the cave, I headed back into Texas. I am now in Midland. I have opted not to go through Houston. I feel bad about it, but I have been away for just over three weeks now. I am ready for home.
I will probably make one or two more posts and then it will be done. I'll post more cave pictures in the next day or so. Most didn't turn out too well since it is so dark in the cave.

Day 21

2008-06-22T10:37:00.002-04:00

Two things from yesterday:
1. It was at least 115 degrees in the desert. It was the hottest day I have ever experienced. Breathing was more of a chore it was so hot.
2. As soon as I crossed the Arizona border in Yuma, the price of gasoline dropped $0.50 a gallon down to $3.99 a gallon. I want the next job I get to be close to home for the simple reason of the price of gasoline. It has really been the most negative element of this whole trip.
Alright, I need to get some breakfast and get on the road. I've got caverns to see...

Day 20

2008-06-22T10:33:00.003-04:00

Today I dropped Jennifer off at the airport and started heading east. Parting ways with her was tough. We had a great week together. And today she gets to see Henry again after a week. It's been three weeks for me, and I can't wait to see him myself.
I drove for six hours and stopped at a La Quinta in Tucson. In the morning, I plan to drive approximately six more hours to Carlsbad Caverns. After that, I have a decision to make. Either I drive southeast to Houston where I spend a day or two with my old friends Chad and Nancy, or I head for home. I cross I-20 between Carlsbad and Houston. I am going to be very tempted to just turn left and head for the house.

Day 19

2008-06-20T19:08:00.004-04:00

Today I tried to surf. I didn't get up, but I gave it an effort, and that is what I wanted to accomplish. Also, I am not used to six foot waves. This is me in a wetsuit. The pacific is very cold in June:

Around noon, we went in a found a pizza place to have a slice and a pint of beer. Both were good:
After that, we stopped back by the hotel room to pick up some stuff, and we went back out to lay on the beach for the afternoon. It was very crowded, but still nice. We both wound up a little red despite using sunblock.
Tonight we are going to a local joint called Hodad's. There has been a constant line for that place, so, it's either truly good, or it's riding on hype. Time will tell.

Enjoying ice cream after dinner:
Some surfers were catching waves and surfing through the pylons of the pier:
the "star trike":
The last leg of the trip begins tomorrow, and I can't wait to get home:
Tomorrow I take Jennifer to the airport to fly back to Atlanta. That will be hard. It has been great having a companion for this past week. After I drop her off, I am going to drive as far as I can toward New Mexico. Sunday, or possibly Monday, I may stop off to see Carlsbad Caverns. I was originally going to see the Trinity Test Site, but I found out that they only open it twice a year; once in April and again in October. So Carlsbad will be good instead. I like caves. I took a "wild cave tour" of Mammoth Cave in Kentucky once, and it was a good adventure. I had to wear a helmet and knee pads. It was a lot of fun. I may not post tomorrow as I may be sleeping in the desert...

Day 18

2008-06-19T20:48:00.007-04:00

Today we traveled from San Marcos, CA to Ocean Beach in San Diego. On the way we mad a couple of stops that Jennifer was interested in. The first was the Salk Institute. This was an architecture stop. Louis Khan is the architect that designed it, and it is considered a masterpiece. I actually tend to agree. It was a really cool use of space.

yeah, they're a bunch of slackers and layabouts at the Salk Institute:
From there, we went to the children's pool in La Jolla. It is a famous place where sea lions romp and play. And sure enough, we saw some.

After that, we drove another 45 minutes or so down to Ocean Beach in San Diego. Jennifer has picked out yet another nice spot for us to stay. It is across the street from the ocean.

Alright. It's off to find some dinner. Tomorrow, I may make a first attempt at surfing!

Here are a few more photos. The first two are of a nice California sunset:

This guy and his dog were very funny. Apparently, the dog, "Brutus", loves the ocean. The guy, the girl on the left, and Brutus were all sitting on the wall watching the sunset and the surfers just like we were. Then Brutus got loose. He took off running as fast as he could toward the ocean. The guy took off after him. Brutus leapt into the waves and went swimming. The guy waded in ankle deep and was able to call Brutus to him. As soon as he got ahold of Brutus' leash, a triple wave rolled in and knocked the guy off his feet. He was soaked. Undaunted, he walked Brutus back up to the wall, where Brutus promptly escaped again and dove right back in the water. The girl was laughing histerically at all of this just as we were. This time, the guy, already wet, took his shirt off and dove in to go swimming with his dog. And then a wave knocked his pants off. We laughed some more. He got his pants back up and swam some more. After about ten minutes, he and Brutus made their way back up to the wall and sidewalk. That is where I took this picture:
there really are guys with metal detectors at the beach in California:
bicycles and skateboards come in a thousand different varieties in California. I didn't get a picture of it, but earlier in the evening, I saw a bike that had a hinge in the rear that allowed the rear wheel to steer as well.

Day 17? I'm losing track

2008-06-19T00:29:00.005-04:00

We left the Queen Mary this morning and south for Costa Mesa. What's in Costa Mesa, you ask? For me, the biggest disappointment of the trip: Hawleywood's Barbershop.

Despite the name of "Barbershop", Hawleywood's apparently takes appointments. I have NEVER heard of a barber shop that takes appointments. In my book, if you book appointments, you are, at that point, a hair salon, or some other fancy establishment. Barber shops take in the man off the street. That said, I was told that the next available spot was tomorrow at 3PM. I turned it down. In retrospect, I could have fought harder. I could have explained that I was on a road trip and could they work me in. But I just didn't bother. Afterall, it's only a haircut. still sucked, though.
We went to a nearby Subway for lunch and got in the car and continued south.
Next stop, Palomar Observatory. We drove the Interstate for about an hour, got off, and back out on the country roads we went. Eventually, we turned left onto Highway 6. This road was built back in the 1940's for the sole purpose of getting the 200 inch wide pyrex mirror up the mountain. It took a special trailer and one truck pulling and two trucks pushing to get the mirror up the mountain. The skeletal structure of the telescope was assembled in a shipyard, because that was the only place that could handle pieces of steel that large. Here is the history page of the palomar website:
http://www.astro.caltech.edu/palomar/history.html

This is Jennifer at Palomar. She thought the rattlesnake sign was funny because the snake looked happy:

I am awestruck at the engineering and physics prowess it took to build this device. It has got to be the largest mechanical device I have ever seen. IT IS HUGE!! So huge, in fact that I couldn't take a picture of it. It wouldn't fit in the frame of the camera. Here is a video instead. They keep it dark in the dome during the day because they carefully control the climate inside the dome so that it is the same as the nighttime climate outside. Having lights would produce heat, so they only have a few low temperature lights. Ignore me saying "Keck" at the beginning of the video. That is wrong. I had just been explaining to Jennifer that the largest optical telescope in the world is on the big island of Hawaii on Mauna Kea at the Keck Observatory. Palomar was at one time the largest optical telescope on Earth. Here is the video:

After the Observatory, we headed back down the mountain and started looking for a hotel. We are now holed up at a Hampton Inn (we both were in favor after the camping trouble) in San Marcos, CA. Tomorrow is a short drive to San Diego. Jennifer has a beachfront motel lined up that sounds nice. So, until then, goodnight.

Days 15 and 16

2008-06-18T22:41:00.010-04:00

Sorry for the delay. It has been a bit of a whirlwind. So, Monday the car check engine light lit up like I said. After the repair, Jennifer and I headed northwest up the coast to Malibu Creek State Park to camp out. The pictures above are from the park. The landscape was gorgeous like most of California. And we had some squirrel type creatures living in some rocks next to our tent, which Jennifer liked because they were cute.
So, we set up the tent and got to camping. I had foreseen a logistical difficulty that I had yet to figure out how to overcome. I had a tent, a ground cover in the form of a tent. But I only
had one sleeping bag and one foam pad. I set these out, and we tried to split them. Jennifer was on the inside, and I got whatever sleeping bag was left. I figured that I could at least keep her warm that way. That part worked a little too well. It probably got down to 50 degrees that night. But with a holo-fil sleeping bag, she kept getting out of the bag because she was hot. I, meanwhile, was cold. So, I put my zip up sweatshirt and black army jacket with liner on. That took care of my upper body. I was able to zip the bag halfway up and that took care of my legs. After a while, Jennifer was able to find some temperature equilibrium and stay in the bag. Goodnight, sleep tight, right? wrong. Being in California, the hippie quotient is slightly higher than the rest of the nation, and being in a campground only amplified that. In the campsite across the road were a group of about four Japanese young people. They had all bought some musical shakers on rope. These devices looked like two round wooden balls on about six inches of rope. They would hold one of the balls, and swing the other one out of their hand, off the back of their hand, and back to click on the ball they were holding. And they did this in a rhythm. for many hours. Well, since it was rhythmic, I was OK with it. I could sleep through it. What I couldn't sleep through was the other people in the campsite 50 yards away. Apparently they were not Japanese, but from some uncharted South Pacific island, because at about 9PM, they broke out many drums. like tribal conga drums. a bunch of them. And they quickly became friends with the Japanese people and began to have a jam session. Budda budda, budda budda, budda budda, smack! Budda budda, smack! on and on. We drifted in and out of sleep for about three hours, waiting for Kong to come and claim someone from the campsite. Around midnight, the drums stopped. Kong had made off with Fae Ray at last. Even so, the rest of the night passed pretty poorly. Camping with two people sharing one bag and one pad sucks. I guess we made out better than it sounds like. I cant' speak for Jennifer, but I probably got about 5 hours of sleep.

The next morning, Jennifer and I got up, showered (luckily there were coin operated showers), packed everything up, and headed back into town. First stop: the Getty. The Getty is a museum named for oil Wildcat tycoon John Paul Getty. He bought 700 acres of land in LA, got renowned architect Richard Meier to design a campus and poured about $1 billion into the project. And it turned out beautifully. Here are some pictures:

This one looks like some sort of side scrolling Space Invaders game to me:

Jennifer and I want this fountain as a swimming pool in out backyard, but the HOA would nix it. I was a total redneck about it too, "Man, we need that thing in our backyard."
"Yeah!"
"Make it about two feet deeper, get some floating lawn chairs and a floating cooler filled with beer..."
"Ha ha ha!":
While at the Getty, we saw an exhibit called, "Imagining Christ." It was an exhibition of art from bibles and prayer books that dated back as far as the 1100's. It was very interesting to see books that old.
After the Getty, we ventured into Hollywood. We did a driving tour of Hollywood Boulevard. That is the street with all the famous theaters and the walk of fame. Also on that street was the Whisky A Go-Go, for all you rockers. It was in a much nicer area of town from what I had expected it to be. Here are some of the pictures we took:

Graumann's Chinese Theater through the windshield. It was mobbed with people. This is the one that has all the hand prints of a bunch of famous actors:

don't know what this one is of. It was on Hollywood Blvd, though:El Capitan, again through the windshield:
Scientology! Aaaaah! Stay away! tin foil hats!

more random Hollywood Blvd:
Capitol Records building:

And that was it.

And on to the Queen Mary. Jennifer found this somehow. And it was a really great addition to the trip. It was in service from 1936 to 1967. And it supposed haunted. We explored the ship after checking in and I took pictures down in the engine room, hoping to get a ghost on film. Evidently, ghosts can tell the difference between digital cameras and analog film cameras, because no ghosts made themselves known, either to the naked eye or on camera. There were a couple of spots that were roped off and had no lights on that were creepy. And the propeller box was creepy, but I was generally unimpressed. But the hallways did remind us of "The Shining." Thankfully, there were no twin little girls or a boy on a big wheel anywhere to be seen.

the spooky engine room:
supposedly, down this corridor, a ghost of a man has been seen looking for a wrench.

giant nuts!
this was probably the creepiest thing we saw, partly because it was so unexpected. They cut a hole in the side of the ship and boxed off the propeller for viewing. It is 18ft tall and weighs 35 tons. The perspective of walking into a room and looking over a rail into a pool of water and seeing that was very strange:
giant wrench! I know they used it on the giant nuts, but who picked it up? It must weigh 1500 lbs.:
and back on deck:

This was the main dance hall. The heavy art deco styling of the entire ship was especially prominent here:
This was one of the ship's hallways:
And that evening, we took a shuttle into downtown Long Beach and ate dinner at a place called King's Fish House:

And that brings us up to today. I'll start a new post for that.

Day 14

2008-06-16T17:34:00.003-04:00

Today is Monday. This morning, Jennifer and I walked down the Venice beach walk. I skateboarded in a small park, and we ate breakfast in a place called Benice Totoos. It was actually really good. We got traditional breakfasts: pancakes and french toast. After checking out of the hotel, we started driving to some of the LA sites. Our first stop was of a building Frank Gehry designed that had giant binoculars out front.

We then went and looked at a house Frank Gehry lived in back in the 70's. He experimented on that house, putting corrugated sheets of steel and chain link fence pieces all over it. It's a bit of an architectural landmark now, but the neighborhood was all uptight about it when he did it. when I post pictures, you'll see why.

While we were looking for Frank Gehry's house, my check engine light came on. The truck seemed to be running fine, but I was still concerned because you never really know exactly what that light means. So, we were lucky enough to be near a dealership, and we took it in. Leaving the truck there, we proceeded to walk down Santa Monica Boulevard to the Santa Monica Pier. We then sat on the beach for 45 minutes or so. I was frustrated about the truck, so I didn't enjoy it as much as I should have. This is the Santa Monica pier. We sat on the beach next to it (this is where Michael Douglas got killed in "Falling Down". It's been in a bunch of movies):

After a bit, we started to make our way back. We stopped at a Mexican place that was similar to a Moe's (if you know what Moe's is). While there, I got in touch with the dealership who told me it was the throttle position sensor. Evidently, if you let that go uncorrected, over time it will foul up the engine, because the computer won't know how much fuel to give to the engine because it can't tell where the throttle is (how hard or easy you are hitting the gas). So I had them fix it. They also wanted to fix the brakes. I've been aware that the brakes are wearing thin, but I decided to wait until I got back to address that.
I guess a 6000 mile trip on a truck with 141,000 miles on it can be hard on parts. I've put some long miles on that truck in the last two weeks.
So here we sit at the dealer waiting on the "johnson rod" repair. As soon as that is fixed, I think we may stop by a retro clothing store to look for anything we can't live without. After that, it is out to the Malibu Creek State Park to camp out for the night. Malibu Creek State Park is where they filmed "MASH" and "Planet of the Apes".
Tomorrow night we stay aboard the Queen Mary, an vintage ocean liner.

The above picture was of me as I was typing some of what is above on Monday.
After the repair, we went on to Lady Jo's. It's a retro clothing store. I got a cool crushable felt hat and an art print for the garage, and Jennifer got a belt and a parasol. Fuly accessorized, we headed for the mountains. That is where the next post picks up (although the days are now disorganized).

Day 13

2008-06-15T11:07:00.006-04:00

Today I drive south to Los Angeles to pick up Jennifer. I am excited about that. I have missed her a lot, and it will be nice to have my best friend back. I just have to get packed and out the door by 10:00AM PST to make it. Shouldn't be too hard.

OK, it is now officially the next morning. I picked up Jennifer at LAX yesterday without too much difficulty.

And this is our hotel room. It is directly on the Venice beach walk. Jennifer did very well in finding it. Today, we walk down to muscle beach to watch the bodybuilders (my request. not hers), and I get to skateboard on the walk. This is where skateboarding was born, by the way. First impression of Venice beach: there are some freaky people here. that is actually the norm. I'll take pictures today.
Evidently, the freaky people don't come out at 7:00AM.
Jennifer on a nice sidewalk.

Day 12

2008-06-14T19:46:00.005-04:00

Davy and Kim's house (the one in the middle):
Sleeping in a house is nice. No noisy neighbors. no bugs. climate controlled. ah, modern living. Last night we got pizza from a place called Zachary's Chicago Pizza. I carried the pizzas on the ride home, and I am sure they weighed 8 to 10 pounds. There were only two pizzas. They were about an inch thick. And they were really good.
Davy and I spent the morning watching Ninja Warrior Challenge on G4 on TV. I like cable for that kind of lazy morning, and it makes me almost wish we had it at home.
Eventually, Davy and I got out of the house and went to the horse track nearby. We didn't bet on any horses, just watched. Davy got a hot dog and a beer. I had eaten a leftover slice of pizza from last night's dinner, so I didn't get anything. Before the second race, the number 5 horse got spooked and threw the jockey. It then took off down the track. A handler/wrangler person had to chase it down. Eventually, they got the horse under control. The jockey got back on, and they put it in the gate. The gates opened, the race was on, and the number 5 horse won! I thought it would have tired itself out from all that running before the race, but evidently it just had an enormous amount of energy.

After that, we came back to the house and have been playing Rock Band for a couple of hours.

Laika the dog:
AND NOW, we have come upon one of those things to do that you can only do in a big city like San Francisco. We are going to go out for cheeseburgers followed by going to an establishment that exists for the sole purpose of playing pinball. Davy read off the pinball menu from the Internet, and it sounds like a good mix of vintage and almost vintage games. I'll take the camera and update this post.
It is now the next morning. So, here is where we ate dinner:
And this was a shop down the street from it. It was called "The Bone Room". They specialized in mounted animal skeletons. It looked really fascinating. A Goth/Industrial couple was in there buying something, but I couldn't get in because the shop had closed just before I got there.
and now, pinball. The place was called Lucky Juju's Pinball:

Day 10 and Day 11

2008-06-13T21:12:00.013-04:00

I'm behind again. I am writing this on Friday, but I am going to tell you about Thursday. After Meteor Crater, as I said I drove back to Flagstaff and happened upon an interesting hotel. Here are the pictures:

As you can see, I wound up with the "Robert Englund" room; ie, the Freddy Kruger room. I really liked that. And, no, I did not see Freddy in my dreams. Although I wish the people down the hall had. They got to their rooms at 2:00AM and started fighting and slamming doors at 3:00AM. They were very rude. I didn't sleep well at the Monte Vista.
The next morning, I got up, packed, sat on the floor of my hotel room and ate a coffee cake muffin from the cafe downstairs for breakfast, and then hit the road. On my way out of town, I stopped by the Lowell Observatory. Perceval Lowell was a Harvard mathematician who discovered the contentious planet/plutoid/whatever called Pluto. Here are some photos of his 24" optical telescope he built for $20,000:

Here are a couple of calculating instruments they had in the museum. The first is the biggest scale I've ever seen, and the second is a mechanical calculator.

So, I didn't get out of Flagstaff until about 11AM. I should probably mention that I changed my plans again. I talked to one of my old college roommates who now lives north of San Francisco. He told me I could come visit. So, I decided to drive up to see him for a couple of days. I would drive half the distance on Thursday and half on Friday. Thursday's stopping point was going to be the Sequoia National Forest. It took a lot longer to get out of Arizona than I had expected; about 4 hours.

Eventually, I made it into California and was promptly greeted in the Mojave desert by gasoline at $4.89 per gallon. Yes, that's regular unleaded. I took it on the teeth and soldiered on. It started to look like I wasn't going to make my goal, but having no other plans, I kept going. After leaving the desert just past Mojave, CA, I turned north into the mountains. That was an interesting drive. Very narrow roads that were extremely curvy took me forty or so miles up to a town called Isabella.

I stopped to get a Subway sub and had to negotiate some Jerry Springer Show meth heads fighting in the parking lot about drugs, money, or both. Quick to flee the scene, I got back in the truck with my sandwich and began looking for a campground as I had intended to sleep out in the open again. Seven miles west of Isabella, on the shores of Lake Isabella, I found a National Forest Campground. I parked, ate my sandwich, and proceeded to set up "hobo tent v. 1.2". This time it turned out even better. more head room and more square footage!

The new setup involved me draping the tarp over the roof of the truck. I then used the back window to climb into the bed of the truck. That allowed me to more securely fasten the rear portion. So, I was pleased.
While setting all this up however, I noticed something that could have been disastrous. And by disastrous, I mean potentially dangerous. My left front tire had worn down so much that the steel belt was torn. That means that a blowout was imminent. And on the very curvy California mountain roads i had to drive to get out of the forest, I could have tumbled off the mountain. So, I changed the tire in the dark last night. I had to dig through the mountain of clothes and food and various other supplies in the back of the cab to get at the jack, so it amounted to some hard labor, but I preferred to have it done before I went to bed so I could get up and drive in the morning.
The night in the bed of the truck was great. I slept very well. I think it was because I was so tired, and it was much more peaceful and quiet than that Flagstaff hotel.
The next morning I got up, brushed my teeth, put on fresh clothes, and hit the road. On the way out, I made an attempt to pay the $19 camping fee, but no one was around to collect, so I left, having had a free stay.
Here is what my morning looked like:

And here is what the tire looked like:
I stopped at a Sears Auto in Visalia, CA and got two new tires. So, now I have four new tires and all should be well. (got the alignment straightened out as well).
And, finally, one picture of the golden hills of California. I took this on my way to Richmond.:
I am now at Davy's house. I will take a picture of that tomorrow and post. We're ordering pizza now. I tell you couch surfing is really nice.

2008-06-11T16:29:00.004-04:00

Today I drove south from the Grand Canyon to Meteor Crater, which is 35 miles east of Flagstaff. Formed 50,000 years ago. 4000 feet wide. well, here:

I saw that in the morning and made my way back to Flagstaff to find a place to stay with reliable Internet so I could updates posts. I am currently sitting in the Monte Vista Hotel, waiting on my room to be ready. I stumbled upon this place in downtown Flagstaff. It is on the National Historical Places registry. A bunch of famous people have stayed here: John Wayne, Humphrey Bogart, Carole Lombard, Lee Marvin, and more. And apparently John Wayne saw the ghost of a dead bellhop once. So it may be haunted too. Tomorrow, I may try to stop by the Lowell Observatory. That is where the planet (now ex-planet) Pluto was discovered. They currently do Near Earth Object research. Basically, they look for asteroids that may destroy life as we know it. From there, the map opens up a little. I may go to Mojave, CA to look at an aircraft graveyard and the Sealed Composites company, who won the X Prize for being the first privately funded group to build and fly a vehicle to the edge of space (62 miles).
We'll see.
Right now I just want my room so I can shower. I smell since I slept in the bed of the truck last night and haven't showered in two days.
By the way, third gear is getting touchy in the truck. I've had this truck for ten years, 145,000 miles and I have never had a single thing go wrong. So, I don't feel bad. All the other gears are still fine. They feel crispy and deep. But third is soft and shallow. It will actually fall out of gear if I let off the gas and press it again. I think the only gear I have ever ground has been third, and I may have finally stripped the teeth off of third. Regardless, I can still use third, I just have to hold the shifter. This is OK because I don't usually cruise in third anyway.

Day 8

2008-06-10T21:14:00.007-04:00

Today I drove from Delta down to the Grand Canyon. This drive rivals and may even surpass the Black Hills drive. I've never seen anything so BIG. I took route 89A south. It paralleled the Vermillion Cliffs. They must be at least 1000 feet high (maybe even 2000 feet) and twenty miles or more in length. Vista after vista greeted me as I drove. truly unbelievable. I knew it would be big, but not like this. I will upload pictures and video to this post as soon as i am able. Tonight, I camp in the bed of the truck in my "hobo tent". I'll take a picture and post that as well.

Dinosaur track:

The hobo tent:

That's a tarp over pvc tubing in the bed of the truck. It actually turned out to be more comfortable than I expected.

Day 7

2008-06-10T19:53:00.006-04:00

I'm posting this a day late. I stayed at a motel last night that said they had wireless internet, but their router refused to give me an IP address, so I could never connect.
I have had my first adventure of the trip.
I rolled in to Delta, Utah around 12:30PM having driven from Salt Lake City. Delta is a town of 3209 people. So, it is not that big. I drove around that tiny town for almost an hour trying to find U-Dig Fossils. I eventually found it in someone's driveway. They had a sign over their garage with the name on it.

So, I pulled up, got out, and saw that the sign on the garage door said "closed." I figured this was highly unlikely, so I went to the house and rang the door bell. No one answered. I then proceeded around to the back where there was an outbuilding from which a lot of noise was eminating. Upon approaching the building, I was intrigued to discover that the noise was heavy metal. It was not the heavy metal of today, like Throwdown, Lamb of God, or Coalesce. Nor was it the hair metal of yore. It was the metal that has always been; the metal of the shadows that shares a close kinship with rock n roll, but takes it to a new level. Think Motorhead cranked up to a slightly more vicious level, and you will be in the ballpark.
I peer in the open door and see a bunch of machinery, but no human being. After a couple of minutes, I give in. I head back to the truck and head back toward the center of town to find lodging. As I am headed toward main street, a nomad passes me. By nomad, I mean that a man in a pickup truck, a man with a giant mustache, an even more giant cowboy hat, and a face beaten by years of desert wind, drove by in his home. This vehicle had a camper in the bed and was pulling a trailer with a 4 wheeler and a bunch of tools in the back. I instantly knew where this feller was headed. I whipped around, and headed back to U-Dig. Sure enough, the truck was in the driveway. And two men were already standing outside talking. I pulled up and got out. The nomad finished telling the man who materialized that he would bring "them" by later and left. I walked up to the supposed resident and proprietor of U-Dig, and introduced myself.
"Hello," I said.
"Can I help you?"
I pointed at the sign, "U-Dig Fossils. I want to do that."
"OK. Follow me."
He proceeded to lead me into the "closed" shop and gave me a brochure. On the back of said brochure was a map. I wish I had a scanner right now to show you this "map." The man described to me how to get out to the Trilobite pit. I had to clock miles by my odometer because 5 or 6 miles past the town of Henkley, I had to turn right onto a dirt road that had no name. I then had to drive that dirt road to 22 MILES and then turn right onto another dirt road and drive it for 9 more miles. I took all this in, thanked him and left. While contemplating whether to go out there that day or not, I checked into the Deltan Inn, one of Delta, Utah's finer lodging establishments.

I say finer because it is one of Delta, Utah's only lodging establishments. After another few minutes of thinking, "Well, what else am I going to do in this town for half a day," I decided to go for it. It was 5 miles from Delta to Henkley, and I started watching the odometer. Around 5 miles out, I see a dirt road off to the right. But there is no sign that says "U-Dig". Plus, it looked underused. So, I kept driving. Two miles later, I came upon another right turn dirt road. This one was wide with a stop sign. There was a piece of paper taped to the stop sign post. The sun had bleached out the lettering some time ago, so I got out to read it. It said, "The Wild Bunch" and had an arrow pointing up the dirt road. Envisioning some sort of redneck/desert folk/nomad party out in the hills where there are no laws, I figured it must have been that first turn off. So, I got back in the truck and headed back. I turned down the first dirt road, and had to slowly work the truck over some serious ruts at the beginning. Forging onward for about 4 miles, the brambles of the desert began to close in on the road. At one point, they got so close they smacked both side mirrors against the side of the truck. Shortly thereafter, I hit a dead end. I was at a large irrigation ditch (I think) that had a rusted out, shot up truck on the other side; a truck no doubt from some other errant driver who had tried to find some fossils, but came across the "wild bunch" instead. I turned around to head back to pavement. Getting back to the main road, three pick up trucks passed by, all pulling trailers with 4 wheelers on them. Hey, it worked once. I turned to follow. Sure enough, they turned right on the second dirt road. So down it I flew, cruising over a fairly well maintained dirt road at 60mph for 22 or so miles, eventually coming upon an intersection. And, lo and behold, a sign that said "U-Dig!" The trucks kept going straight, and I turned right. I drove for 9 more miles through "Death Canyon" and finally hit my target.

I parked at the U-Dig Trilobite quarry and paid an old prospector of a man in a plywood booth $28 for 2 hours worth of digging in the dirt.
I have come to the conclusion that this is a hard part of the country to live in. This codger I paid looked to be 80 at least, but it is really impossible to tell. He talked really slowly. In fact he did everything really slowly. He had that same hard bitten, leathery face; a true desert dweller.

So, I went and dug for fossils. I was only there for two and a half hours, but it felt like four. For one thing, it is exactly what it sounds like: busting rocks with a hammer in the desert sun. For another, there was a family of about 10 there who had three toddlers and an infant. Yeah, I know. Believe me I do, because those dang kids hollered and squawked the entire time I was there. They would fall over on the rocks. They were hot. They were thirsty. They had dirt in their eyes. on and on. Evidently I had to drive an hour out into the desert to hear endless whining. I didn't really let it get to me, though. I dug. I found some small fossils, and they are in the truck now. Not award winners by any means, but I dug them out of the earth, and that is what I went all that way for.
So, I eventually got back in the truck and headed back to town.

Upon getting back to the Deltan Inn, I showered off, dumped the rocks out of my shoes, and went looking for dinner.

I found this diner that was attached to another motel in town, and stopped in there.

Upon entering the place, I immediately noticed a haze that, in my lifetime of southern living experience, I immediately identified as "fried." Sure enough, when I sat down and looked at the menu, I saw that every item on it was fried in some way. I was not in the mood for "fried", but I was too tired to go search for another joint, so I settled for fried chicken. I placed my order with my waitress who looked eerily like "Large Marge" in a purple and blue tie dyed t-shirt. She was a giant woman. She even had a giant, kinda scary laugh. It made me think she could conceivably eat you if you didn't watch out. Mind you, she would fry you first.
When my fried chicken arrived, I found that it was not moist and tender, but had a hard shell which I had to crack with the fork. I also had mashed potatos and gravy, which tasted fried because of the gravy. I think they even somehow figured out how inject "essense of fried" into
the potato soup because even it tasted fried. I ate as much as I could, paid, and left.
After getting back to the Deltan Inn, I gave up with the Internet and konked out by 9pm. I awoke at 6AM (internal clock is still on east coast time), showered, got packed, and headed out. I first stopped at another eating establishment in town for breakfast. This one was much better. I had french toast with eggs and bacon. The unique thing about this place was (I think it was called the Tops City Cafe) that there was a horseshoe bar in the middle occupied by more old desert men. I could tell that these men had assigned seats, and it had been that way for years. They yammered about the usual stuff, cattle, who died recently, and the LA Lakers. I paid and left for the Grand Canyon. And that is where I will stop this post for the next one.

Days 5 and 6

2008-06-08T17:50:00.012-04:00

06-07-08
odometer start: 142,476
odometer end: 143,276
miles: 800

06-08-08
odometer start: 143,276
odometer end: 143,418
miles: 142

I didn't post yesterday because the drive wiped me out. I left Rapid Springs, South Dakota at 6AM and didn't get to Wendover, Utah until 7:30PM. I was very tired. Along the way, here are some of the things I saw:

This is where I ate lunch:

Crossing into Utah:
They get snow in June in Utah:

I crossed the Continental Divide a total of four times yesterday (that's my truck on the side of the road:

I stopped here. I don't know why I took a picture of it:

giant Jackelope silhouette:

saw lots of Antelope yesterday:

Wyoming train:

Wyoming landscape:

This is where I stayed last night:

It's called the Western Ridge Motel. I wanted to stay there because it was where all the hot rodders who raced cars on the Salt Flats back in the 60's stayed. It is even featured in "The World's Fastest Indian." However, I do not recommend it if you are ever in Wendover. It was run down and grungy. and drafty. The curtains inside the room would move from the wind outside.

So, this morning I got up around 6AM again, went and ate breakfast in a casino in Wendover. I then drove out to the entrance road to the Bonneville Speedway. I got out, took some pictures, walked around and then left. Here are the pictures:

Notice all the bullet holes. Evidently rednecks really are everywhere:
It was actually quite a pretty place:

My truck is on the left. That is the end of the five mile access road that takes you out onto the salt flats. The dry lake bed goes on for twenty miles to the right of the picture. Also, notice the initials in the lower left. Apparently, a big thing to do on the road from Salt Lake City to Wendover is to right your name in rocks on the side of the road. There were hundreds of pieces of graffitti like that. The SUV on the right had two people in it. I think they slept there overnight:
On my way back toward Salt Lake City, I was feeling drowsy. So I did the trucker trick where I got off at an exit and parked on the side of the entrance ramp. I laid down in the cab of the truck and took a nap, but only for about 20 minutes. Then I started the truck, backed up and headed south down this small road. About four miles from the Interstate, there was a turn off and a trail that headed off toward a rock formation. So I pulled the truck over, got out, and laid down in the bed of the truck. That was probably one of the nicest things I have done so far on this trip. I had the sun shining on me to keep me warm, the sky was blue with just a few clouds, and I just laid there and listened to the birds and the desert. I was far enough from the highway to where I couldn't hear it. I could only hear nature. I'm going to try to do that again while I'm out here.
So now I am in Salt Lake City. Today I was supposed to drive to Delta, Utah and dig for fossils. But I have been feeling under the weather, so I thought I'd stay in a decent hotel and take the day off. After I finish this blog, I plan on getting in the bed and not getting back out until tomorrow. and to answer the door when I order pizza tonight for dinner.
Tomorrow, I get up relatively early and drive two hours south to dig for Trilobytes. After that, I have a decision to make. I may skip Mesa Verde and head straight for the Grand Canyon. Driving back east to Colorado sounds unappealing right now.

Day 4

2008-06-06T17:03:00.006-04:00

Today was gorgeous. I got an early start and was at Mt. Rushmore by 8:15AM. I was there for about two hours, and then I moved on to Crazy Horse.

I now know why there is a bike rally held in South Dakota. This place is incredible. The roads and landscape are amazing. I wouldn't mind living here at all.

Mountain goats at Mt. Rushmore. There are about 200 of them, and they are actually not native to the region. Someone had about 10 or 12 of them as pets, and they got out of their pens. So now they live on Mt. Rushmore.

Crazy Horse memorial is entirely privately funded. They have turned down $10 million grants from the government on more than one occassion. The original sculptor, Korczak Ziolkowski (a polish american who looks like a sterotypical prospector, by the way), always thought that the will to see something like this done should come from the people, not standing around with his hand out waiting for the government to help.
And I think that is in keeping with the ideals that Crazy Horse is said to have held. He never signed a treaty, never lived on a reservation, and generally never gave in to the encroachment of the US government. He ultimately died in 1877 from literally being stabbed in the back by a Union soldier as he tried to escape being arrested.
So many injustices were visited upon the Native Americans of this country. The Crazy Horse Monument speaks to that and to the enduring spirit and culture of the Native American people.
Oglala Lakota chief Red Cloud said it best:
“They made us many promises, more than I can remember, but they kept only one; they promised to take our land, and they did.”

videos:

Day 3

2008-06-05T22:01:00.003-04:00

start odometer: 141,714
end odometer: 142,377
distance traveled: 663 miles

(yesterday was 527 miles, by the way)

Started at 7AM. The first thing I did was cross the Mississippi River. I drove across Minnesota and South Dakota. I am now at the Town House Motel in Rapid City, South Dakota. I am about thirty minutes from Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse. This is the cheapest motel in town, I think, and it is awesome. straight out of the sixties. I'll take a picture of it tomorrow and post it. I like it. Places like this make me hate chain businesses.

Today around noon I stopped in Mitchell, South Dakota and saw the Corn Palace. It is a 100 year old building that is somewhat of a civic center. The outside is decorated with hundreds of thousands of ears of corn. I've got a fact sheet on it, but I can't find the sheet, so a rough estimate will have to do.

Also, today I had my first misadventure. I locked my keys in the truck for the first time in at least ten years. Luckily, I had a good Dad who taught me all kinds of useful things, like putting a hide a key under the car/truck. The only really bad part was having to kneel in the Flying J truck stop parking lot in a puddle as it was raining.
And that's another thing. It started raining around 11AM and has yet to stop. I am deep in the Badlands right now, and I haven't even really seen them as it has been raining so hard I have had trouble seeing the road in front of me let alone any surrounding landscape.
I did take some pictures, though. Evidently, they are toying with windmills up here, and those things are HUGE. The blade diameter on them must be 200ft.

Tomorrow I don't drive a lot. I see Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse, and maybe I'll drive up to Sturgis as it's only 40 minutes away.

pics and video:

(yes, I did buy that "Floyd" pocket knife)

Day Two

2008-06-04T20:42:00.008-04:00

There was a tornado warning in Springfield last night. Too bad it didn't hit the Super8 I was at. That thing could have used a good scrubbing.

Things I have learned so far:
Illinois is flat. so flat that rainwater doesn't go anywhere when it rains, which is why they have floods here.
Illinois and southern Wisconsin are covered in fog. literally hundreds of miles of fog. It got weird after a while. I'm out of it now though.

I left Springfield, Il. and drove north to Milwaukee, Wisconsin and straight into Miller Valley. Miller Valley is what the Miller Brewing Company calls the street that runs down the middle of their campus of buildings. I headed straight for the tour center. I started my tour of the brewery at 11:30AM. All tours are free, by the way. They just love you that much at Miller.
So the tour begins with the perfuntory movie/commercial. And with the opening line, I knew I was going to love this tour: "Since the dawn of time, man has longed for one thing... MILLER TIME!" And then the screen explodes in a MTV style montage of suds, sex, and NASCAR. Almost ten minutes go by (it seemed like it) before they actually start to talk about when the company was founded and how the beer is made. The video was more amusing than informative. I think they said and flashed "Miller Time!" on the screen at least a dozen times.
From there, we went to the packaging factory. They have two such factories, and each can produce 1200 bottles a minute, 90,000 cans an hour, and 250,000 cases per day. That's 500,000 cases of beer EVERY DAY from this one location. After that, we saw the Tuns and vats where they ferment the hops and yeast. We saw the shipping warehouse (yawn), the beer caves where Fredrick Miller used to store beer back in the 1800's (that was interesting), and the tasting hall where they gave us free beer.
I have toured the Heiniken Brewery in Amsterdam, and when they gave us a free beer at the end of the tour, it was much better tasting than a store bought beer. At Miller, it wasn't really that different. The High Life was a little better, but not by much. High Life is my beer of choice, by the way.
The whole tour took about an hour and a half. After that, I bought some junk at the gift shop and drove three miles down the road to eat lunch at a place the tour guides had recommended. It was called Saz's. It was OK. They did have Sour Cream and Chives French Fries, which I don't know why someone didn't think of sooner. They were good.
Then it was back in the truck to wear more rubber off the tires. I made it across Wisconsin to a town on the Minnesota border called La Crosse. I am now holed up in a HoJo in La Crosse, and it beats the pants off that Super8 from last night. Actually, I shopped around before bedding down when I got here, and the Super8 here beats the pants off that one in Springfield. The hallway in that thing was 75 yards long and had two lights. looked like a dungeon. I actually slept on top of the bed spread and pulled what remainded of it over me in a sort of inside out blanket.

Tomorrow is almost nothing but driving. This one stretch of I-90 I have to tackle is 657 miles of straightness. However, I have a surprise addition to the trip: The Corn Palace of Mitchell, South Dakota. Americana. That's what road trips are about afterall. I will hopefully hit that tomorrow. Then I will find somewhere to camp between there and Mt. Rushmore. Oh yeah, I decided to add Mt. Rushmore too since it is only a few miles from Crazy Horse.
Tomorrow I am going to camp. I can't afford to keep staying in motels every night for the whole trip, so I am going to rough it. Which means that I might not get to post. I'll have to play that part by ear.
I am just about to get far enough ahead of schedule (I have a tentative schedule) where I can slow down on the driving and find some unique things to look at. local stuff. That's the stuff I like most anyway. Everybody goes to the arch. but not everybody goes to, oh, I don't know, a German Beer Hall in Wisconsin (apparently there are a few). I almost went to a baseball game in La Crosse tonight. I happened upon one. But I was hungry, so I got a Subway sub and came back to the room to write this, and I am now happily watching "Escape From New York" on AMC. If I owned a Cadillac, I would want candelabras on the hood. It would be the epitome of "ghetto fabulous."

Pictures:

You Tube videos (unedited, so may be crappy in parts):

Day One

2008-06-03T21:04:00.003-04:00

miles:
beginning odometer: 140, 512
ending odometer: 141,187
distance traveled: 675 miles

gas:
Manchester, TN: $3.72/gal.
A Road Ranger just north of Paducah, KY: $3.99

I left Atlanta at 8AM. I am now writing this from Springfield, Illinois, home of a super creepy Super 8 Motel. I was going to camp at a KOA, but I got so far away from the highway looking for it that I got spooked. Besides, I am loving the air conditioning right now.

St. Louis Arch:
Eero Saarinen, a Finnish American architect, won a national design competition in 1947 for the arch. The arch was built between 1963 and 1965. Saarinen died in 1961. It has a stainless steel outer shell and stands 630 feet high.
I took the little space pod tram to the top today and took these pictures:

That's it for today. I'm beat. But it's an early morning tomorrow for a continental breakfast (Super 8 style) and then on to the Miller Brewing Company tour in Milwaukee, Wisconsin!

The Trip

2008-06-02T00:18:00.008-04:00

The Trip:

Hello, and welcome to my Road Trip 2008 blog/journal. If you are reading this, chances are you know me. For those that don't (this blog is being left public, please post comments accordingly!), my name is Watson, and I am about to go on a trip across the country and back.

The Route:

Here is the route (roughly) I am going to be taking on my month long, 6500 mile road trip. Atlanta to St. Louis to Milwaukee to Crazy Horse to Bonneville to Delta, UT to Mesa Verde to Grand Canyon to Meteor Crater to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to Hawleywood's Barber Shop to the Palomar Observatory to a beach in San Diego to Alamagordo, NM (home of the Manhattan Project) to the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin (tentative) to home. And any of it is subject to change at a moment's notice.

My Motives:
As soon as I saw that gasoline was climbing towards and past $4.00 per gallon, I thought to myself, "Now would be the perfect time to burn a WHOLE LOT of gasoline!"
After 7 years, May 9th was my last day at my previous employer. Now that I am between jobs, I thought that I would take advantage of the gap and do something I have always wanted to do. I was born in this country. I grew up and live in it. And I haven't even seen it. Well, I've seen parts of it, but never like this.
This is the traditional grand tour.

So, keep checking this spot. This is where I will be posting updates. with pictures. and maybe even some video.