Going Nowhere

Day 56 – AZ

andrew — Sun, 16 Sep 2012 00:06:56 +0000

We arrived to the Lone Rock Primitive Campground in the early evening to great clouds and a pretty good sunset. It was all downhill from there — the difficulties we faced camping: all sand or super hard packed rock (no easy way to stake in to stop the tents from violently rippling in the), non-stop wind, drunken party dudes who showed up at 2am and set up about 50 ft away from us, playing backgammon and a wonderful medley of tunes from their boombox and slept under a blue tarp (?) — followed by pouring rain in the morning. We pulled the car around and used it to block some of the wind and found big rocks to put in our tents to hold them down. Not much to do about the revelers or rain. It was one of those times when we really felt exposed — out in it, with no real chance at comfort or relaxation or more specifically (and importantly), rest. Usually breakfast is redemption, a hot meal in the morning after a night like that goes a long way, but the Denny’s we went to was a long ways off from providing that for us. It was sustenance nonetheless and with that we were headed off towards Monument Valley.
-Andrew

Day 55 – UT

andrew — Sun, 02 Sep 2012 14:05:22 +0000

From the moment we arrived at St George and ate Del Taco (great in theory, not as great when you’re sprinting around trying to get photographs immediately afterwards) the atmosphere was extremely ominous. The mountains, the canyons and the huge storm passing nearby were all a show of what was to come for the rest of our time in the state. Have you ever heard thunder rumbling through a canyon? The echo goes on for an extra 30 seconds after you expect it to stop. Highly recommend it. Moab is the best inland situated city we passed through, sitting inside a canyon with walls rising several hundred feet on either side. A little bit touristy and outdoors adventure-y for our taste in small cities but its location and pretty amazing breakfast was completely redeeming. Arches National Park is cool in theory but we had way more fun and saw better stuff driving the backroads southwest of Moab.
-Andrew

Day 52-54 NV

andrew — Sun, 26 Aug 2012 23:19:13 +0000

Phil has hosted me on many trips and this one was no different. He took us to the top of The Palms for an excellent view of the city and then we saw The Dark Knight Rises in the largest IMAX in Las Vegas. That was as cool as you’d think it would be. After a bit of time in the city we drove east towards Utah, stopping in the Valley of Fire. We pulled over to hop out and climb up a big rock for a better vantage point and returned to our car to find two park rangers waiting for us. They gave us a ticket for parking directly in front of a no parking sign. Definitely our bad, but the first time that has ever been a thing in months of driving around and stopping on the side of the road. He was pretty impressed by our project and goal to see as many state/national parks as possible and let us off — so long as we removed 10 pieces of trash from the park. We happily obliged.
-Andrew

Day 49-51 CA

andrew — Sat, 25 Aug 2012 19:57:55 +0000

Camped among giants in a redwood forest in northern California, took a well needed break in San Francisco to see friends and grab some great food and then checked out Yosemite and Death Valley before leaving. Yosemite is an amazing place, watch the Ken Burns National Parks documentary and then go visit, but NOT in the summer. Unless you like that feeling you get when trying to walk down a crowded sidewalk in New York City. The coldest night of camping all trip was in the desert east of Yosemite, it got down to 37 degrees and believe you me we were not prepared for that. It was a sleep with your jeans and socks and thermals and hoodie and jacket and fire-warmed-rock to stay warm kind of a night. And then it was approximately a million degrees the next day, driving through Death Valley — the biggest, flattest, steepest, hottest, lowest, place we’ve ever been.
-Andrew

Day 47 – OR

andrew — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 23:20:02 +0000

The Oregon coast is great. Huge waves, huge cliffs, huge trees, huge sand dunes, etc. What’s not to love? In Portland we saw old friends and ate a lot of good food before heading south down the 101.

-Andrew

Day 42-46 HI

andrew — Sat, 11 Aug 2012 23:30:06 +0000

We flew straight from Anchorage to Honolulu with a connecting flight to Kona. Goes without saying but I’ll say it anyways — Hawaii and Alaska are worlds apart. Each could be a country in its own right. On Big Island we drove the highway loop around the island, stopping to check out as much as we could possibly see (tons of waterfalls, an active volcano, etc). Camping every night in the county parks we encountered some very interesting characters, the best of which was Leo The Wood Dragon, a man who had been living for two years out of a camper on the beach. He shared his conspiracy theories and offered to let us crash in his “backyard”. We drove up to the summit of Mauna Kea (13,796 feet) on a gravel road with 15% grades in a car which certainly did not have the advised 4×4 drive. The sun set on time here, a bit early even, based on how far south the islands lie. The last thing we did (before hanging out with a zebra along the side of the road and going bowling) was cliff jumping at South Point, the most southern point in the United States. It was about 45 feet down, which gave you enough time to look down and realize what was happening before hitting the water. It was a 45 foot climb back up an old rusty ladder hanging off the side of the cliff afterwards.
-Andrew

Day 39-41 AK

andrew — Sat, 04 Aug 2012 16:20:23 +0000

In Alaska the mountains are everywhere all the time. So are the clouds. There was no point during our three days there when our surroundings weren’t intense and dramatic. Also, the sun sets at midnight and it never gets totally dark, quite disorienting if you are just passing through, especially if you are camping… We drove through a mountain, saw moose, saw eagles, experienced the worst mosquitos ever and the best cosmic bowling with karaoke ever (imagine everyone in the alley losing it when Eminem came on) and also had the best french toast of the trip — if you are ever in Anchorage, you must go to Snow City Cafe. Also eaten: salmon bacon BLT’s on texas toast and reindeer sausage. Good state. Highly recommend.

-Andrew

Day 38 – WA

andrew — Sat, 04 Aug 2012 03:43:29 +0000

Washington state is full of farmland, mountains, dams, addicts, drive through espresso huts, scary little towns, nice little towns, and volcanos. Mt Rainier is one of the craziest things I have ever seen. After driving all day we were nearing Tacoma and I looked out to the left and out of nowhere there was this humongous snow covered thing. Which turned out to be an active volcano. Also got a chance to see it from the plane flying back in from Hawaii and then up close on our way down to Oregon. FEAR RAINIER. Don’t know how all those people are cool living in the shadow of a 2.5 mile tall volcano but hey that’s on them not me.

-Andrew

Day 37 – ID

andrew — Sun, 29 Jul 2012 14:35:49 +0000

We entered Idaho already pressed for time, trying to get to Seattle for our flight to Alaska on the 9th. As we left Missoula, MT for the day and headed west, we took what seemingly appeared to be a fairly straight road across the southern part of the state called Route 12. If you zoom closer in on Google Maps however, you will then find this road not to be straight, but a series of cutbacks, throwing your body to the left before immediately slamming you back in the opposite direction as you whip around the next turn. I imagine the man who made this road sitting on the hillside looking down, softly chuckling to himself, as he watches the people toss back and forth on the cruel joke he created. However, these roads opened up to some great views at the end of the day so we couldn’t complain.

-Jake

Day 36 – MT

andrew — Sun, 29 Jul 2012 00:21:10 +0000

We knew it would be tough to follow up Wyoming, but Montana did a pretty good job. There were good mountains and actual cowboys riding around. Got to stop in an excellent camera store in Bozeman and talk about lenses with the guys. Jake and Sarah fed a pony on the side of the road. We went into an outdoors store that I was sure would have a good camo windbreaker, to no avail. The sky was big.

-Andrew