Alive and Kickin in Death Valley

After leaving LA, I made a few stops recommended in the Southern California Curiosities book. I stopped in Rosamund at the Big Cats breeding facility (Wang, after seeing the actual size of the puma – I wouldn’t want to be near one at all). I went to Boron to learn about the borax mining history of the area, but I unfortunately couldn’t go to the mine because of hazardous road conditions from rainstorms. I stopped in Barstow to see Rainbow Basin, but the wind was gusting and there was so much sand blowing everywhere that it was not a good day to hike. Simply walking from my car to the town museum caused me to have sand in my ears and grit in my mouth. I stopped at the recommended ghost town of Calico, a tourist trap and a waste of time. Driving across the northern edge of the Mojave Desert is interesting when half the sand is blowing across the road. I stopped in Baker to see the world’s largest thermometer – 137 feet tall to commemorate the hottest temperature ever recorded in Death Valley. I ate dinner and then headed to Death Valley to camp for the evening.

The wind was blowing so hard that I had to put rocks in my tent so that I could set it up in the headlights of my car. I then had to keep the rocks in there bc it was that difficult to pound in the tent stakes. It was really windy, but not too cold. It was funny to wake up in the morning and actually see where I was and realize that I did not need to pee beside my tent; there was a bathroom on the other side of the big bush I was attempting to shelter behind. The snow-covered mountains were also surprising.

I headed to the ranger station for my official map and to get suggestions of what I needed to do. While I was there, the folks changing the light bulbs removed a two-inch scorpion from the light fixture – two inches not including the tail being curled up - and the first scorpion I had ever seen not in a cage. The rangers sent me on my way with a much-highlighted map. My first stop was Badwater Basin, 282 feet below sea level and the lowest elevation point in the United States. The second lowest place in the US is the Salton Sea where I had been a few days previous. It had rained recently, so there were plenty of fresh salt crystals to crunch around on. I hiked a few more stops to enjoy the geological formations – canyons, colored rocks, rockslides, arches, sand dunes, etc.

Death Valley is the largest national park in the lower 48 and it takes hours to drive from top to bottom and to go across it. It is a stunning landscape with the lowest point in the entire US and the highest point in the lower 48 in the same park. The low areas are ringed by snow-covered peaks. It is a desert that is sparsely vegetated, but when they get enough rain, people come from all over the world to see the wildflowers explode the valleys into rainbows of color. I think this year might be a good one.

For the evening I headed to the north end of the park to camp (again setting my tent up in the dark) and go to a star lecture. It was soooo cold that night. The two rangers giving the star talk were cool and they had a laser to point out the things they were talking about which made it so easy to actually see what they were talking about. We looked at stars, nebulas, and planets in the telescope and with binoculars. That night I had trouble falling asleep wearing two pairs of pants, four shirts, and a hat in my sleeping bag and liner with my coat over top of it. I scrunched down in my bag and closed the top off and it was still chilly so I did not sleep like a baby, but I did sleep.

The next morning, I went to Scotty’s Castle, a Spanish ranch built in the 50’s by a wealthy Chicago couple who were originally swindled and later became friends with con artist Scotty. The stories are really interesting and the house is well preserved. Outside Ranger Jay was attempting to set up a solar telescope to view the sun (it was astronomy week in Death Valley). I gave Ranger Jay a hard time and I eventually had to leave so he could figure it out. I went to Ubehebe (you-be-he-be) Crater and hiked the rim. I tried to hitchhike to the Racetrack but no luck. The Racetrack is this salt flat with boulders with little tracks behind them from when they moved across the flat – but no one has actually seen it happen. The road to get there is a 4 wheel drive – high clearance vehicle only road that my ford focus, as awesome as it is, probably shouldn’t go on. Next time. I went back to check on ranger jay and he had in fact found the sun so I got to look at it. I talked with him for a bit and he gave me a few more rangers to harass in a few of the parks I am visiting in the future.

I then got on the road to visit a true ghost town – Rhyolite. This ghost town was mostly one-walled structures and rubble with plywood signs indicating that this fallen structure used to be the brothel and that one was the bank. I stopped in Beatty for gas and ice cream for lunch and then onto Ash Meadows to find the Death Valley Pupfish. The fish aren’t found in Death Valley until it gets a bit warmer, but they were easy to spot in the wildlife refuge just outside. I went in search of the endangered Devil’s Hole Pupfish down a road that was not recommended for my vehicle. The focus was tired of being discriminated against and did not find the little bit of mud and potholes all that difficult. The funny thing about Devil’s Hole is that it has an 8 foot barbed wire fence around it – so there is no way in heck you could see this fish bc it is only 2 inches max and it is 20 feet down hill in a hole that is 20 square feet.

After spotting some more accessible pupfish (each stream is a different species – and probably all endangered), I got on the road to Vegas. Watch out for crossing tortoises, bulls, and burros.

in-n-out

i had my first in-n-out today. i told brandon the cashier that it was my first time and he told me i had to try it animal style. OK. it was GREAT! i even got a sticker for my car it was so good.

for those of you who have never experienced in-n-out, there are only three things on the menu, hamburger, cheeseburger, and double-double (double meet and double cheese). and they dont make any of it until you order it so it doesn't sit around - always fresh. i certainly wont boycott the in-n-out the way i boycott mcdonalds.

in other news it is POURING again. andy told me it never rains in southern california. if that is true - then it must only monsoon.

Kidnapping Andy to see eccentric parts of Southern California

after a breakfast of leftover pie, we headed to cabrillo national monument to see a cool view of the city of san diego. there are heaps of things named after this cabrillo dude and if you were curious like me, he was an explorer for spain. we also were present for the sending off of the nuclear powered nimitz aircraft carrier.

leaving san diego we headed to jacumba for the desert tower and mystery caves. it was only 3.50 and i still don't think it was worth the money. scrambling on the rocks was fun, but there are loads of places to do that. there just weren't as many rock carvings as i was expecting.

we drove along the cali-mexico border and there were these weird structures made of metal or PVC pipe and if that is the fence that is keeping the illegals out, then it is pathetic. we saw tons of border patrol cars in random places, but no action. andy and i spent at least an hour discussing what we would do if we needed to cross that border. i would wear camo and cross during the day.

our next stop was the CENTER OF THE WORLD(practically in arizona)! this stop was hilarious and well worth it. felicity is the only place that is government-declared as the true center of the world (i have a certificate to prove it!) and the official center is inside a pink granite pyramid (of course). bc it is the center of the world, there are/will be monuments and tributes to world things - so far is a US Korean war monument, a tribute to the french foreign legion, the history or french aviation, and a start to the tribute to humanity. coming soon are the history of california and arizona - all carved into pink marble. interesting. they are also building a church on the top of the hill of prayer. reason unknown. still hilarious.

on the way back to el centro, we rolled around in the imperial sand dunes (they filmed some of the tattooine scenes here for star wars). we had to venture a little ways to find undisturbed sand (bc of dune buggies and things) bc i really wanted to see sand dune ripples. we of course took some photos of us dying as we crawled through the sand. andy somehow filled his pockets with sand in the process- evidenced by the piles of sand on his seat, in his phone, and in his wallet discovered over the course of the entire weekend.

we stayed the night with Assaf in El Centro. he is an Israeli working at a geothermal power plant. awesome bc i have never quite understood how they work and now i do! and for those interested there are at least four geothermal power plants in cali and the largest one in the US is in san fran. and the funny thing about the plants is that they are designed and built in israel and then shipped over, put together and fixed by israelis. but they don't have any in their own country. weird, but interesting. i liked assaf a lot and thought he was funny. he was interested in our trip to the center of the world so hopefully we will go there too.

the next morning we headed for an oasis in holtville (carrot capital of the US - no big carrot or anything to really tell - but the carrot festival is next month i think) which assaf told us was a test sight for geothermal power and really now was a pipe spraying hot water from underground. there were some old people from RV land taking a dip in the pool, but the water from the pool went to a more natural looking pool surrounded by palm trees so it really did look like an oasis.

After going through a border control check point, we drove to the shore of the salton sea to see what it looked like. it was weird. it smells just like the ocean at low tide. the shoreline sand isn't sand - it is millions of barnacle shells - which i don't understand bc the glue that barnacles use to stick to things is super-powerful. there were carcasses and skeletons of dead fish from recent fish kills. we heard later that it was formed when a river flooded the area and that it is getting deeper as more water flows into it. people are concerned that it is getting too salty to support the major bird migration through the area and all the towns around it are essentially ghost towns and resorts that used to be popular forty years ago.

Andy and I visited Joshua Tree National Park for the second time and made a few stops that we missed the last time. we went to see hidden valley, skull rock, a rock arch, and chollas in the day light. i think joshua trees are just about the coolest trees ever. i like looking at the desert, but i don't think i want to live in one.

for the evening we couchsurfed with andres and patricia in indio. patricia is originally from mexico and andres from southern cali, so they took us out for the best mexicali food in their area - which was soooo delicious. they assured us though that if we really wanted the good stuff they would take us across the border for the real thing. if only we hadn't spent all day in the car and andy had his passport. i think that if i was married and settled and had kids, i would want to be like andres and patricia bc they go adventuring every weekend. they don't always plan things out, but appreciate random stops and going out and seeing things. when we left they were on their way to poker game-motorcycle race where you pick up a card at each station (that you don't look at until you get back to your base) and whoever ends up with the best poker hand wins. they gave us map advice and places to go on our way out the door. Andres sent us to a lookout over the valley for free (not 20 each on the tram) and we saw a herd of big horn sheep up there!

we made a mandatory stop at shield's date farm to watch a video entitled 'the romance and sex lives of dates.' it was more like the history of dates in the coachella valley and of shield's date farm, but basically dates can't really self propagate, and growing dates is very labor intensive which is why they are expensive. andy and i shared a date shake which andy did like, even though he doesn't really like dates. i like dates and i tried probably half of the varieties they grow there.

Andy and I went looking for Pioneertown, built in the fifties as a backdrop for western movies. it was a ghost town for sure with nothing open and no people, though we are told it is pretty lively during festivals. since we were in yucca valley already, we went in search of the jesus park also listed in my weird southern california book, and found it surprisingly rather easily. some guy made sculptures of jesus and apostles and all sorts of other 8-foot tall renditions. the problem is that some of them were damaged in a '92 earthquake, so one of the jesus statues looked like edward scissor hands bc his hands were missing and just had pieces of rebar sticking out. other statues were missing bits as well. this a free park so all money for fixing it is from donations.

for lunch we ate the highway 62 diner slash harley davidson dealer. this was not the first weird duo andy and i had seen, although not as strange as the casino slash quick mart. the blueberry pancakes were fab, filling, and cheap, and we got a good view of what shirts they had on the working staff. in the dealership they had harley shirts from around the globe on display - but i still think my mom's collection is just as good.

Andy and I were enticed by the 59cent-pot-your-own-cactus so we had to go choose some new friends. Mine, currently named spike until i think of something better, is perfectly wedged in my cup holder awaiting the next leg of the roadtrip. they are teeny-tiny though and hopefully i wont inadvertently kill spike.

we made it back to LA for soup and boardgame night with some of Andy's friends and spent the evening playing taboo and eating corn chowder and chess pie. megan cooked them both and they were really great. i have always been curious about corn chowder but never ordered it bc if it is like creamed corn, i wont be able to eat a lot of it. but if it all like megan's, then i love it. and i have this reoccurring pie theme that i will blame on a pie-roadtrip book i finished recently. and the fact that i love pie.

so in the weekend that i kidnapped andy, we checked off around seven things in the southern california curiosities book. i am vegging today, doing laundry, and going to a fish-nerd party before finally heading to death valley tomorrow.

National Pie Day in Julian

Andy and I made our way to Julian, a little teeny mountain town west of San Diego known for its apple pies. I don't know why it is known for these pies, but they are delicious!

Our first stop was the Julian Pie Company. This company has a website and can ship there fab pies anywhere. I enjoyed apple boysenberry and Andy had apple mountain berry. Yum.

Then we decided to walk down main street (smaller than Louisa) and see what else there was to see in Julian... more pie places! we went in a few, but I decided that I needed to see them all before I ate another piece of pie. On a normal day, one piece of pie would have been sufficient, but since it was National Pie Day, we were going all out. Then we realized that there was no way we could both eat our own pieces of pie at each place and decided to split a piece at each place.

So we ventured through town smelling the aromas of the various pie shops before setting our menu. At the Julian Cafe and Bakery, we sampled the apple cider pie with a flaky crust. At Mom's we tried the apple cherry crumb pie. At Apple Alley Bakery, we sampled the hot cider and got an entire apple pecan caramel pie to go - a gift for our host of the evening.

Andy and I decided that our favorite was the apple cherry crumb from Mom's. So if you are ever in Julian that is what we recommend. However, if you are there in the fall, you have to try the apple pumpkin pie and tell me how fabulous it is bc i really wanted to try it, but it is a seasonal pie.

From Julian, we headed to San Diego and it started SNOWING. This was the first falling snow I have seen this winter. we tried and tried to get a photo of it, but it didnt work. We also kept trying to remember to get a photo of us eating pie and that didn't work either.

We ventured into Ocean Beach for scrumptious fish tacos and then into the gas lamp quarter for the shout house. It was POURING rain which I found hilarious bc Andy told me it never rains in southern cali. We heard on the news that it had rained more in the last two days than all of last year. The shout house was closed for a private function, so to escape the rain we went to ghiardelli's for hot chocolate and to make a new plan.

i thought andy had to be somewhere on thursday or friday - like class or work... but no he didn't. so it seemed silly to drive north to LA and then south to the border... so we decided to adventure from San Diego - after a quick stop at walmart to get Andy supplies (since he only had the stuff he needed for work).

bets - when i am going home?

me: i am thinking of you! looking forward to coming home
todd: well, we have bets going on when you will be home. i hope i win! :D

so apparently mom and all my loyal blog readers in louisa are making bets on when i am actually going to make it home. i find that hilarious.

ask anyone. i don't even know when i plan on being home. right now, i am focused on seeing and doing and i keep looking at maps and travel books and finding more reasons to take my time. i didn't think at this time i would still be in california.

so when will i get home? i don't know. but if you are interested in joining the pool, you can email my mom (toddiej@gmail.com) and figure out how to get her a dollar and join in. could be funny.

it wouldn't be a good idea to post your idea as a comment bc then i might intentionally try to miss it. ;)

scooting around so cal

i have been bumming around southern california with andy. we played in some tide pools and saw lots of fun things but it was overcrowded with purple sea urchins. seriously overcrowded. i wanted to smash them all for being so destructive. andy and wang have both mentioned how devastating it is to be diving and see a front of urchins marching across the bottom looking for kelp to munch on. i had heard that people were increasing the harvesting of urchins to combat the problem - but andy said it is not not really successful.

andy is doing field work about an hour north of san diego and i am crashing his hotel room. i drove highway 101 here and it is spectacular. lovely sand beaches and quaint seaside towns (which turn out to be huge once you leave 101 but you don't realize it from the road).

i played in some more tide pools the other day and there were tons of people doing the same. i heard a five-year-old exclaim, "dad, dad, i found a nudibranch!" what five year old knows that word? i had to check it out. and he did - a spanish dancer which is beautiful fuschia with orange soft spikes. i showed him, his slightly older brother, and dad what chitons were and then we found a brittle star together. another guy flipping rocks found an octopus let me take a picture of it.

while exploring, my phone fell out of my pocket and into a tidepool. initially it seemed alright, but then it started buzzing like crazy. then it decided to turn off and on. and two days later, it is slowly getting better, but still likes to think it has a headset plugged into it in the middle of conversating with hot mel. interesting.

i hiked torrey pines state park to see what a torrey pine looks like. looks like a pine tree - nothing spectacular. other than it is extremely endangered and only found two places in california - here and santa rosa island. it is also threatened with impending global warming doom. but the sandstone cliffs were nice and made for a beautiful morning hike. especially when a pod of dolphins caught my eye. i am in the midst of peak gray whale migration south down the caifornia coast and i have yet to see a single one - though i have had my eyes peeled.

so tooling around, enjoying sunshine and beaches, and exploring the area. today's mission - julian, known for it's apple pie and because it is national pie day. then more tidepools and dueling pianos.

joshua tree with wang and andy

an early morning to get wang and i to long beach to meet andy to then drive two hours east to joshua tree, but i think well worth it.

we started with a hike over rocky hills to 49 palms oasis - and there probably were 49 palms. it was much cooler in the oasis and there was actually water surrounded by huge palms.

joshua trees are weird looking and a lot of folks say they are truffula tree-esque from the lorax by dr seuss. maybe - but they are spikier - more like yuccas on trees, but cool looking nonetheless. we hiked sevenish miles to a 'hole' aka mud puddle with ice encrusted over it. it was so awesome though, bc we ended up in the canyon with nowhere else to go and we were unsure if there was water somewhere else that we missed so we started climbing up the rocks to see if we could get a better view. the rocks were gritty sandstone so easy to get a grip on. the boys climbed one stack and i another and we all ended up really high. it was neat to see them across the canyon and so high on rocks. it was fun.

as the sun was setting we raced from high desert to low desert to see the jumping cholla (choya) or teddy bear cacti. they are fuzzy looking but extremely spiky and apparently double barbed and impossible to remove - so stay far away. wang said it was the closest he had ever been to one - but in this garden it was hard to get far away bc the population was so dense.

tidepools with wang

while my hometown was experiencing a snow day complete with going home early, i was out in the sunshine scrambling over rocks adn through tunnels playing in the tidepools with wang. wang told me to be on the lookout for sea hares (like sea slugs but not poisonous) and i successfully found two. the first one i found was HUGE - bigger than a bratwurst and purple and slimy. we moved him to a bigger tidepool and he unfolded and started sliming around eating algae. i also found a keyhole limpet that was elongated and as long as a dollar bill. i have never seen one that big before - the biggest i have seen previously was the size of a fifty cent piece.

i also saw chitons, hermit crabs, a rock crab, volcano limpets, dolphins, a sea lion, tons of barnacles and three different kinds of mussels. tidepooling was followed by a gourmet lunch prepared by wang - chicken soup and bean salad yum.

this evening i am supposed to accompany taylor (f) in the field to be a kangaroo rat field biologist. interesting. but much to my amusement, wang and taylor are running around in their bootie bike shorts and playing on their new road bikes... so we shall see.

politics schmolitics

though i am interested in the upcoming election, i find it hard to learn about the issues and candidates, mostly bc i am more or less on permanent vacation and i dont want to make the time.

check out http://www.electoralcompass.com/ answer a few questions and voila! you know how your views measure up with each candidate's. you can see which issues you match with a candidate and click on a candidate to see what views you match and differ on.

i found it very interesting and informative even though it is politics schmolitics. it is a good way to start in any event.

bob and betty... ulterior motives?

out of curiosity, i looked up the pine trees of the san gabriel mountains to see what kind of pine tree bob and betty came from.

Common name: Coulter pine, "widow maker"

interesting. what an apt name for such a prickly pinecone. i still have stab wounds on my forearm from carrying two in my hands and one under my arm while struggling up the slope.

other interesting facts about the coulter pine is that it has the longest pine needles in the world and the heaviest cone. so possibly the heaviest and the prickliest cone. just what i need in my front seat to deter any unwanted guests. :)

hollywood... da nananananananana

i think of hollywood and some theme music from somewhere always plays in my head...

so today i went and walked the 'walk of fame.' there are a TON of those stars on the sidewalk and they extend a long way in either direction and i saw them all. and finally i had to ask someone some questions.

to get a star you (or someone else) has to put up 25000 dollars and submit and application to the 'mayor' of hollywood. the 'mayor' then decides if you are worthy in the five subject areas (radio, music, film, tv, and?) and then they put a star down. and there is a giving back to the community aspect as well. so they have to pay. this is how people like britney spears get a star... but julia roberts doesn't have one. how big bird, lassie, winnie the pooh, and godzilla (ursula's fav) attained their stars is a mystery... sometimes movie theaters will submit for a star to get one as publicity for an upcoming movie release - michelle pfeiifer just got her star for some recent movie (who cares about michelle pfeiffer?)

i started and ended my walk of fame at grauman's chinese theater which has hand and foot prints of heaps of famous actors - some old and some quite new. it was interesting to see the high heel footprints of some of the ladies... hard to judge their footsize. but my favorite in this setting was r2d2's wheel imprints next to c3po's boots. yes i am a dork.

after that i went in search of the museum of neon art which unfortunately is closed for renovation. then it was off the LA county coroner's office. why? bc they have a GIFT shop called skeletons in the closet. definitely worth a ten minute stop and to laugh at all the things you can print a body outline on. my favorite shirt showed the bottom of a foot with a toe tag. morbid, but funny.

wang took me to get ramen for dinner - real noodles and soup - not the 25 cent kind from the grocery store. and you eat this noodly soup with chopsticks - or at least i gave it a good effort.

LA adventures with wang

first stop the getty - closed on mondays.

second stop - la brea tar pits. the museum was built in the seventies and hasn't much been updated, but i thought the video was hilarious and how much updating can you do to million year old fossils of towering ground sloths? (pictures to come) the museum had nice displays of whole animals like mammoths, ground sloths (3 kinds), saber-tooth tigers, giant wolves, camels, horses, and birds that used to live in LA a looooong time ago. they had a wall with hundreds of wolf skulls. and they had some plungers in tar that you could lift up and down just to see how difficult it would be to escape being stuck in tar. you cant. no way, you are a goner. which is why they have excavated thousands of whole fossils in an area about the size of a football field.

outside they had a tarpit with fake mammoths trapped in death throes. there were also places in the park where tar just leaked to the surface... it is super sticky and probably doesn't taste good... but i'll never tell. they had a dig site open so you could see what it looks like. what they are excavating is basically bones trapped in asphalt - hard work. they only excavate in the summer so no one was working in it. in one quarter of a basketball court they excavate more than 2000 bones in three months and that is with breaking it out of asphalt and all the detailed documentation about exactly where it was in the pit. and they had some funny statues of sloths and bears perfect for hugs and pictures.

next stop - cookie break! in one of my travel books it sounded to good to be true... but it was even better! at diddy reese you can pick any two cookies you want and an ice cream flavor and they will slap it together into an ice cream sandwich for a buck fifty(!). awesome. wang and i wanted to same thing which was hilarious. and then his second choice was the same as my second choice. funny. but delicious. i had to have two - and that was lunch for the day.

wang has a really big spiky pine cone in the floorboard of his passenger seat named bob. death to your toes if you arent careful. wang and i decided that i needed one for my car for my roadtrip so we drove north to the san gabriel mountains on a quest for betty. wang laughed at me as i scrambled down the hillside and contemplated which one was more perfect. in the end i carefully carried three up the slope and still havent decided (i have two riding shotgun in my floorboard awaiting final decision). we hiked nearby for a couple hours and watched the sun setting over the far off pacific ocean.

when we had enough, we went in search of pie n' burger, also in my travel book. and as the name implies we had pie and burgers. and they were delicious. :) and the pies were homemade. yum.

south to LA

after pancakes, brendan showed me where bubble gum alley was - the weird attraction for SLO. i guess i expected it to be more bright and cheery but i dont know why - old gum would get pretty crusty. anyway - the amount of gum covering the alley is impressive and some of the art within was interesting. i added my gum in a bare-ish patch, checked out the mission, said my farewells to brendan and headed south.

pismo beach is just south of SLO so i checked in again on the butterfly grove and was pleasantly surprised by more butterflies and they were much more active.

next stop - buellton for famous split pea soup. there are a lot of billboards for it (not as many as south of the border) and once there i was entertained with art, suished pennies, and a board i could stick my head through. and the soup was really excellent too.

after that i made a beeline for LA to meet wang in time to make it to frisbee. wang plays frisbee under the hollywood sign in a no-leash dog park full of happy dogs and there semi-wealthy, probably in the entertainment business owners. i read through my roadtrip book, wrote some postcards, played with some doggies, and watched the game.

wang made delicious chicken pot pie and chicken noodle soup and i am full. tomorrow la brea tar pits and other nearby attractions.

by the way.. am i the only one who didnt know that hollywood and la are next door neighbors? i think so.

stunning sequoias

brendan and i left early for kings canyon and sequoia national parks. who's brendan? a kid i met in SLO, and again in yosemite, and offered him a ride if he wanted to join. it was nice to have someone else to talk to and share the trip with. (and yes kelley, i know his last name).

kings canyon is in two parts - one part canyon (closed for the winter) and one part sequoia grove (open). the roads here were pretty clear and we drove down to grants grove to walk among the giants. there was even a tunnel tree - a giant that had fallen.

sequoias are not the tallest trees- redwoods are taller, and i think they may not even be the girthiest, but they may be, i cant remember. the thing that makes sequoias so massive is that they are pretty much huge all the way up - nearly the same girth at the bottom as the top. young sequoias grow tall quickly and then add girth every year after. they also only have branches near the top and not many of them - i wonder about the amount of leaves to support the tree growth. regardless they are considered the largest trees by volume. and that volume is calculated not taking into account the tree branches (some with seven foot circumference) or roots. massive.

after taking in the big trees in the annex of kings canyon we had to drive around to get to sequoia. there is a road that connects the two but it was closed for snow. we took the shorter scenic view and i thought the road was a roller coaster with all the twists and turns - way more curvy than any road i drove in new zealand - which is saying a lot.

we went to sequoia and to the visitor's center and learned that snow chains were required to get to the big trees bc the ice on the steep slopes of the road was treacherous. blah. i avoided chains in yosemite bc i have snow tires, but i had to see the giant forest so i had to get chains. we explored a small area of the park that we could reach - climbing on enormous rocks and looking at streams. we left for the evening and started the search for accommodation (brendan's job), dinner (delicious pizza), and chains (my job).

the owner of the inn, a pleasant egyptian man, offered an hour of humorous conversation and a glass of wine in the evening, and another hour of conversation in the morning with breakfast pastries. finally we escaped and made our way to the park. when it came time to put the chains on the tire, there was some discussion, but i think we remembered the lesson well enough that they were put on properly.

the grove of giant sequoias here was much more impressive bc there were more giants to see and there were some cross country trails (through the snow!). but even the trees can only captivate me for so long and it was time to hit the road. where to go? there are no hostels in cali except on the coast... bakersfield was half way from sequoia to la, but so was SLO... and there is a hostel there with excellent pancakes for breakfast so san luis obispo here we come.

snowshoeing is fun and funny

what an ordeal to get up a mountain - but it was definately a chains-four-wheel-drive mountain road and i was happy to be on a big ole bus with chains and an experienced bus driver named lupe (loopy).

snowshoeing was a lot easier than i expected and not very tiring. i enjoyed plowing through fresh snow and enjoying the tall evergreens. the snowshoes were made of metal and synthetics - not the leather and wood i expected. in the snowshoes in fresh snow we sank six to eight inches. the ranger took off his and stepped in well over his knees - so they really work.

it lightly rained the whole time, but i was not cold, and not really bothered by the rain. i had on two long sleeve shirts, a jacket, a vest, and a raincoat, underarmour leggings, pants, and rain pants. my feet were cold and after a while i couldnt feel my toes despite two pairs of socks. there was another lady who also had on sneakers so we commiserated together. but as long as i kept moving then i was alright.

we had a snowshoe race just to see who could run the fastest - though running is not advised in snowshoes. i think i came in third and then faceplanted. getting up was not easy, but i managed. i also enjoyed jumping and playing around in the snowshoes. it was silly and i like snowshoes.

after i got back and could feel my toes, i went on two short hikes to see more of the valley. tomorrow i am off to kings canyon and sequoia national parks to see GIANT trees. there are some sequoias here but they are mostly inaccessible or four mile hikes through unplowed snow. so i am moving on.

i heart yosemite

so i made the drive to yosemite today. and it is magnificent. it probably helps that there is snow on the trees and on the peaks. this is the first snow covered landscape i have seen this winter, so to me it is breathtaking.

i was worried that i didnt have snow chains for my tires, but turns out that i have "mud and snow" tires on my car so i am exempt from the R1 restriction (but not R2). the roads were clear enough anyway.

i didnt do much hiking bc it was late in the afternoon and i was getting my bearings. so i talked to the rangers about doing a snowshoe hike in the morning and my concern that i did not have boots. no boots? they were absolutely perplexed that there is snow all over and here i was without boots and a snow jacket. i let them know i was on plan E for 2008 and that i really wanted to come and be here, so here i was. they assured me that i should still be able to join the snowshoe and let me know where i could walk and hike in snow that is less deep. i dont think they realized that i was willing to walk in the snow anyway.

i walked around a bit, went to the museum, watched the yosemite video, and looked at art done in the park, including black and white photos by ansel adams (love it!). as the sun was setting, i headed back to my hostel. i stopped along the way to take more photos - convenient pullouts are everywhere - probably to allow people to pass the buses.

the coolest thing today was seeing a coyote on the side of the road. well i pulled over bc four other cars did. so my car is parked next to a snowbank as tall as the car window, which is down so i can take clear photos of the coyote. it got really close to my car - close enough that i was having an internal debate about what to do if it jumped through the window - after all, i did have peanutbutter breath. but it didnt. and i did get some good pictures i think. i saw another one on my way out of the park - or maybe the same one. whatever - it was still amazing and i cannot wait to post a photo. soooon.

central cali coast - there and back

i am a mess sometimes. i went to monterey, drove around in circles trying to find a butterfly grove, took ursula for a walk for the first time in months and LOST her, was denied access to pebble beach (sorry dad!), and then got lost some more. after that things were better...

the thing was i had this huge internal debate... do i got back for ursula? or let her go? she's a finger puppet. but i felt guilty, we bonded at camp this past summer, and she traveled all over australia and new zealand in my pink pack and i never got her out for a photo. i am sure she was mad. i got her out for a photo in pacific grove with a whale. later i went to look for her and she was gone. maybe she jumped ship or ran away to show how mad she was at me. or maybe i am a bad friend. i decided she was important and that i needed to turn around and go look for her. even if i did get funny looks when i asked folks if they had seen her. i did find her and she did look mad... but it is ursula... she always looks mad (or at least excited). (for those of you unsure who ursula is, you will have to look at my photos from this summer. she is a beautiful magenta monster with a loving mouth-open-teeth-baring expression and six arms with clawed hands ready for a hug.)

i drove highway one south down the coast. after leaving monterey, i had to pull over to take a picture of a pig crossing sign(!). shortly after i should have pulled over again, but there was more traffic, for the curvy line sign stating next 74 miles. then one that said hills/curves 64 miles. excellent. it was a beautiful drive along cliffs and ridges with the wide open pacific on the right and bits through forests and inland ravines. the thing with not being from here is i keep forgetting the ocean is over there and then BAM! there it is extending forever. you would think i'd get the hint, but every time it is just as spectacular.

the nice thing about highway one is that it is beautiful and there are pullouts everywhere, so if you think you want a picture, there is a place to pull out and take one. until you keep getting stuck behind the same camper van - then you make your pullouts short so you dont get behind it again. this works until the traffic is stopped by a huge front loader blocking the road for no apparent reason. then everyone gets stuck. but who cares when you can stare at the ocean while you wait. despite the camper van, i stopped often to take photos, scramble over rocks, play in tide pools, look for gray whales, and spot sea lions.

when i got to san simeon i was to stop and look for an elephant seal with a satellite tag for hot mel. i would have stopped anyway bc i could see two huge male elephant seals fighting from where i was driving on the highway. there is a huge colony next to the highway. i just missed a birth too - evidenced by the slimy pup and the seagulls fighting over the afterbirth. despite, not finding the tagged female, things were exciting in elephant seal land.

after that things were closing and the sun was going down, so i watched the sunset and was off to find my hostel and get some sleep. i had big plans of getting up and getting an early start, but that is difficult when the free pancakes and coffee begin at 8. rest assured, i was first in line.

first i headed south to another monarch butterfly grove - this time i did actually see large clumps of them instead of one here and one there, but they were high in the tree branches. then it was north back to san simeon to hearst castle.

hearst castle was built by media mogul william randolph hearst whom i have never heard of. basically at 50, he decided he wanted to build a home where he could entertain guests and decorate it with the antiquities and fine art that he had been collecting. they built on it for twenty some years and it still is not complete, bc mr. hearst passed away. there is a huge five story residence on top of a high mountain cliff five miles from the coast with three enormous guest cottages that all have at least 8 bed/bath suites. everything looks like a museum and i would have LOVED to have been invited to come visit for a few weeks, since that is how things were done at the time. he also had an in-house movie theater, a private zoo, an indoor and outdoor pool bigger than my house and all kind of other gardens and walks. it was neat to see, but reminds me of my poor existence and also how people now buy things like furniture bc they are cheap not bc they are well made and beautiful.

so tonight is my last official night with hot mel - we celebrated with thai and mint kisses. tomorrow we will go our separate ways - her to play with elephant seals and me to yosemite.

the mystery spot... how mysterious

hot mel and i arrived at the mystery spot - world famous in santa cruz and were annoyed that we had to pay five dollars for parking and five dollars each to get in. ripoff! we were thinking. we had to wait five or ten minutes to start our tour and we were both skeptical of the mysticism of the upcoming tour. our tour guide was perfect - she had perfect intonation and droll sarcastic cynicism.

mel and i were still totally skeptical as we watched the first demonstration - two people standing on level boards (and they were level bc i saw the bubble in the stanley yellow and black level) changing height bc one side was in the mystery spot and one was out. we didnt volunteer... but we of course tried it out as the tour moved on - and yes it worked. we were amazed again and again. i volunteered my chapstick to watch it roll uphill; i dangled my camera to see if it too was too heavy to push up the hill; mel got volunteered for a lot of things bc she was the tallest and she shrunk about four times in demonstrations (though she still seems taller than me so it must not have had any long term effects).

by the end, mel and i were just as amazed and confounded as the indian and chinese families accompanying us and had spent quite a lot of time giggling. i think we probably enjoyed more bc we were so skeptical in the first place - you have to see it to believe it.

leading theory to the cause for the mystery spot? there is a UFO crash landed in the hill and the motor is still running. riiiight. but you know they could be.

so i start yet again on a road trip, though i will be back tomorrow, and to commemorate another trip begun, a yellow mystery spot sticker will adorn my bumper.

finally last of nz photos

ok! except for this weekend's adventure with hot mel (geez i just got back two hours ago!!!), i am all caught up with photos bc the last bit of NZ is up. check em out.

blustery storms and drive-thru redwoods

mel and i headed north on thursday morning with a few errands to run and an eventual goal of fort bragg, home of mel's sweet adoptive parents bill and susie. on the way, susie called to let us know that hurricane weather was coming and did we know it wasn't going to be sunny? we told her yes we knew and i checked it out on the internet while mel met with her old adviser to discuss her phd project (bc her current adviser sucks). weather.com said the weather was going to be no big deal. and at first it wasn't. susie did call us a few other times just to check on us and let us know what was going on - like it was expected for the power to go out.

we took the scenic route to fort bragg and while in town sampled the best cookies ever at the mendocino cookie company, visited the tattoo museum owned by a famous tattoed couple (and this one was actually interesting), bought gas just in case the power went out, and bought some local ice cream to top the apple pie we had bought at an orchard. we met up with bill and susie and shared our recent adventures. for dinner we went to the north coast brewing company for pint night so mel and i could add to our collection of pint glasses. we finished the evening with apple pie a la mode and watching the news... and what we really should have done was take a shower. the worst weather was supposed to be early in the morning.

that night it poured. and the wind blew like crazy. and the power went out. i woke up at 4 bc i was blowing so hard, but snug in my orange sleeping bag that i still love, i fell back asleep. i decided that no matter what the weather was, driving through a redwood was still top priority. we packed extra clothes and sleeping bags just in case, and susie outfitted us with flashlights and extra batteries. off we went for about twenty minutes until we were turned around by a cop. there was debris and branches on the road, but the weather was alright - still rainy and windy, but not too awful. well we turned around and it occurred to me that we would have to drive back over that power line that i had driven on bc i didnt realize what it was until it was too late, but the cop was in front of me and he drove over it so it must be ok. i kept a better lookout after that. we dropped in on bill and susie, used the bathroom, and let them know we were going to take another route out of fort bragg - the dreaded route 20. mel hates this road, but after being on windy curvy roads in nz, this road was cake. and it is gorgeously overhung with tree branches (that in current weather conditions should have worried me).

we drove and drove. it rained on and off and poured on and off. a lot of the creeks next to the road were brown and swollen with runoff, but not really close enough to worry about too much. we finally made it to leggett, home of the first drive-through tree and it was closed! there was a gate so you couldn't even see it. so we toasted chocolate chip cookies (from the mendocino cookie company) and made our way to the next stop - avenue of the giants in humboldt state park. i thought we were there when the highway became a narrow two lane road between towering redwoods, but it was merely a sneak peek and home of bigfoot's woodcarving. so not only is he alive and well, he has a respectable job.

after traversing through part of avenue of the giants, we came into meyer's flat, home of the second drive-through tree. this one was open and i giggled as we drove through it - a tight squeeze. we rolled down the windows and touched the inside of the tree as we went. then of course we had to get out and walk through it as well. the tree is mostly dead and hollow, but a sign said that one tenth of it was still alive bc it was still producing leaves and things. neat. we took a photo with bigfoot's friend and then headed back home because it was a long way back and the bad weather was not yet over. it rained a lot and sometimes very hard, and it was windy, and it hailed, but we made it home.

still no power, when we returned, though a lot of businesses in town had generators. we ate soup to warm up and hung out with bill and susie and their neighbor. they were well-prepared with dry wood, a cooler with necessities, a camp stove to cook with, candles, and headlamps for everyone. so we sat around the table with our headlamps and mugs of coffee and played boardgames. the other weird thing for me is that bc they were on town water, you could still flush the toilet, or take a cold shower if necessary. i remember ten days without power and melting snow to be able to flush the toilet. these people were by no means roughing it the way i have on snowy days in virginia... but it was nice to not have the smell.

when we woke up the next morning, there still wasnt power and we listened to the radio to determine which road out was open to return south. mel and i went and got the best muffins ever for breakfast (mendocino cookie company again) and had breakfast and coffee with bill, susie, and rich before hitting the road.

it started a little gray and blustery, but pretty soon it was sunshine and blue skies as we winded our way down highway one, stopping at lighthouses and pullouts. sorry to leave my lovely new adoptive parents and the emptiness of northern california, but it is nice to back in santa cruz with electricity and hot showers.

travel plans - kim across america

my sort of plan - always in the works. so i am in santa cruz - purple arrow. mel and i are on way north on the quest of driving through a redwood (pink line)- apparently in hurricane weather - mels-adpoted-mom tells us. it is technically rainforest.

then south down the LA - either the coastal route (big sur)or the inland national park route (yosemite, kings, sequoia) or maybe doubling back and doing both. around la is joshua tree national park and cheesy hollywood things that i need to do - who knows i may even be 'discovered.'

from LA north east to death valley and vegas (hopefully picking up josh), across the hoover dam, and down to prescott to crash with kelley. random tours through arizona will abound (green) bc i am on a quest for giant cacti and scorpions.

then east on 66/40 (with a side trip to santa fe and los alamos) to little rock, arkansas with loads of stops and route 66 kitsch. then south to somewhere diamond mine and then into louisiana to visit dawn dawn and adam and maybe sun.

and then... not sure. i want to see memphis and nashville, but i could hit florida, or go home, or dont know.

so that's what i got. as always ideas, suggestions, and company are appreciated.

i am old

so what i discovered on my date is that i am old. smirk. he asked me what i did and i told him that i was taking a year off and traveling but that my real life job was teaching high school. he asked how long i had been teaching, i replied three years, and he said, "wow, that means you graduated like a while ago." yes, yes i did. i must seem ancient to someone who is 22(!).

i dont feel that old, but it has now been five years since i graduated. when i think of those five years past, the first thing i think of is that my ny state teaching licenses have probably expired by now and that i should check on that whenever i get home bc maybe i should renew them. bc even though five years have passed i dont really feel that much differently than i did at 22. i am sure that i am way different in some aspects, but it is hard to quantify.

so other than feeling old, the conversations were pleasant and nonstop, but one hour later, after two beers we were both on our way. i went home did the dishes, read, and went to bed. i am so glamorous.

promising?

i have a date tonight. in one hour exactly. weird.

when was i last on a date? the last dates i went on were in september and i have fond memories of drawing on tablecloths, going to the beach, and eating ice cream. i cannot remember the last time i went on a date with someone that i didnt already know. maybe two years ago. and when was the last time i went on a date with someone i met at a bar... oh wait... NEVER. well there was this one time it might have happened... but he lost his phone that night in a cab and in the interim (two days) got back together with his girlfriend. my dating history is actually pretty pathetic (dumped at the prom, dumped for my best friend, dumped bc he didnt want a gf but then had a new one within a week). despite this awful past, i have been somewhat lucky to date some really interesting and great guys.

so how did this start? i walked up to him and complemented him on his white fedora. i must admit that i was stoked that he gave me his number - and i didnt even ask. claye, my fav bartender at the RED, was surprised how stoked i was, and then felt the need to write his number on my other hand so i could be super-stoked.

i was sure he wouldn't call me and i was right. i was sure that he wouldnt remember an invite to breakfast and i was right. so right from the beginning i pessimistically shrugged it off and decided that it wasn't going to happen.

well i have a date tonight and i am still shrugging. what is the point? i dont live here, i am leaving for a weekend trip tomorrow and when i get back from that i will embark on a cross country trip. who knows if there is a point, but mel points out to me that he might be my soulmate and that i cannot leave the house wearing this hoodie. so i guess i will go decide what to wear.

2008 ring in the new year

here's to 08.

i dont have an income or a job, i dont have a lifeplan, i dont have a lovelife.

i do have a great family, great friends, and great hopes that one day i will be able to finally sort myself out.

double o seven has been an interesting year for me. if i knew on january first 2007 what i know now january first 2008, i might not have believed it. i have spent more than half the year on the road. i have visited twenty-five states and four countries. i have slept on more couches, spare beds, hotel, motel, and hostel beds, spare patches of ground, and airports than i can count (but i still love my sleeping bag). has it been a good year? hell yes. there have been some bad parts (death, destruction, heartbreak, and homesickness for the first time ever), but it doesnt do well to dwell on those when i think of all the positive experiences too (look at where i have been and what i have done!). it has been an amazing year for me.

i dont always make new year's resolutions, but when i do, i usually stick to my guns all year and really do accomplish my goals. i stuck to my new year's exercise program months and months later when i was finally able to relinquish the roboboot. i successfully learned to look people in the eye when speaking to them, instead of the forehead. i was only marginally successful with brushing my teeth twice a day - but i will blame that on my eccentric lifestyle. so what to work on this year? i am not really sure - bc if i am going to do it, i am going to pick something good. and i have weeks on the road to contemplate that.

so what plan i do have for the new year is winding my back towards virginia along the southern part of the US, seeing national parks, giant things on the side of the road, places i have never been, and fully taking advantage of the fact that though i may not really have the money for an adventure like this, i do have the time. and time is often a more precious commodity than cash.

so if you have ideas and suggestions of places to see and visit, floorspace waiting for me, relatives i can crash with, or a desire to fly and meet me somewhere and i will drop you off somewhere else, then let me know bc right now my life is an open road.

i can tell you that traveling by myself is often exhilarating and satisfying knowing i can do whatever it is i want to do and that i answer to no one but myself and the life of my camera battery. it can be lonely, but it is less lonely knowing that there are folks out there interested in what i am doing and checking this blog just to see what i have been up to. i truly appreciate your interest and your comments - sometimes more than you could ever know. thank you.

here's to 2008.

happy ending to 2007

new years eve. everyone always wants to know what exciting plans you have for new years. none of my past years have stood out as exceptionally awesome... except that one time i fell in love with ron cartavio black label rum and cokes minus the coke and spent the entire next morning crying bc i was SURE josh wasnt on the bus, feeling ill as we waited one more day to see if we could leave lima, and then not being sure if i had altitude sickness bc five hours later i was still hungover. i mean good times - josh and i still laugh about it (his side of the story is just as funny), but not really typical of what people expect. i mean typical new years would be an awesome party, a countdown, and kissing someone hot (bonus if you are in a relationship). i may have had this typical scenario, but if i have, i sure cant remember it, so it must not have been that great or it hasnt happened.

hot mel and i went had dinner with some of her friends for a meal - good food, good conversation, and laughter. if martians start calling you, simply waggle your hands next to your ears and carry on. lol. drinking games... it doesnt end when you leave college - they just get sillier and sometimes a little smarter. bizzbuzz had me perplexed as i SUCK at multiples of seven. we eventually had to leave bc mel and i were entirely too hott to not check out the RED

so off we went. i got a great hat when i walked in the door and was ready for the countdown, though still looking around for that hot guy i wanted to makeout with at midnight. yeah. my choices were a black jack look-a-like, a nerdy hippie with triangular curly hair and black rimmed glasses, a short dude in an orange jacket who was hovering, and a guy wearing a faux zebra fur cape, white top hat, and more glitter than me. i am sure there were other guys around, but who could compete with these four? the answer is EVERYONE. which is why i did not willingly kiss anyone and guiltily gave one a quick peck. yuck. i'll let you fantasize which one it was. but mel and i did have fun, i left with two phone numbers (one on each hand), we closed the RED for the fourth time this week, got invited to an afterparty at a bartender's house, and were in bed at 430am. it was goodtimes and kelley laughed a lot when we called her on speakerphone this morning over breakfast.

it never is like what happens in the movies.