A Big Red Bridge

The journey has concluded.  Well, kind of.  We are in San Francisco for another day and then we head out to the airport on Saturday.  But we only fly as far as Detroit because we left my car there and have to pick it up before going home for real.  By early next week we should be safely back in PA.  I don't know if I can make it that far though! I'm so over driving.  I'm forever grateful that airplanes exist because I would not be able to drive the whole way back across the country! 

Our last day in Santa Monica, or first, depending how you look at it, was spent at Santa Monica Mountains NRA with a ranger friend I made when I interned at Shenandoah many summers ago.  Big shout out to Coby Bishop! We had a great time exploring the set of the Dr. Quinn TV series and going movie star sight seeing.  

After we left Santa Monica, we chose to drive the Pacific Coast Highway up north.  It is fondly called the PCH for short, here on the west coast.  Turns out it was like a mini 66.  We wound through small towns in the middle of nowhere, got lost a couple of times, and even completely lost cell service for about a day! We smartly chose to break up the drive into two days allowing ourselves a comfortable amount of time to make it from A to B.

The first day was kind of cloudy and dreary.  The fog settled low in the mountains and we couldn't see very much of the water or coastline.  However, the land we could see was absolutely gorgeous! It was more lushly green than anything we had seen in the country so far.  We wondered if we had made a wrong turn and found a lost bridge to Ireland or Scotland.  

Just after we entered the area called Big Sur we found a place to stay for the night.  It was a lodge bordering the cliffs right next to the ocean (which we still couldn't see because of the weather).  The lobby staff informed us that they were the "cheapest" place we were going to find from there to the end of the Big Sur region.  Well, that cheap rate had just risen the day before to their new spring prices and they were certainly not a bargain by any stretch of the word! At least we got a fireplace in our room and free cookies in the morning....

The next morning it was still raining when we set out.  Fortunately it cleared out for us by noon.  Just in time, too! We got to drive around the cliffs and through the woods on our way to San Francisco.  

When we rounded that first bend and I saw the Golden Gate Bridge soaring above the tree tops up ahead I was so excited! I woke up Danielle so she wouldn't miss the drive and we enjoyed the most thrilling ride across the coolest bridge in America!  It was an experience that I will never forget - one that made me unexpectedly filled with joy.

I spent the day today riding along with and meeting some of the rangers here at the park.  I had a really great time!!  Tomorrow I get to explore the park on my own on foot by trail.  One of my favorite ways to learn about a new place and bond with it.  Also one of my favorite ways to exercise. 

I should also mention that I had my first experience at a coin operated public laundry facility in Sausalito!  Danielle and I were critically low on clothing items and so we had no other choice but to do it at an over-priced but generally nice laundry place.  We also had dinner at a great Italian place locally and enjoyed listening to a string quartet (which was made up of 5 people) that was surprisingly talented!  I actually considered buying their CD.

California has treated us well.  I will miss the warm sunshine and the lively atmosphere that this place has.  I hope someday to visit again or to work in a park in this state.  

The End of the Trail...

But not the end of the adventure....

Danielle and I have driven the entire length of Route 66 from East to West!!! Celebrate with us! We are so excited to be done but that doesn't mean I will stop blogging or traveling.  The next road we plan to drive is the Pacific Coast Highway up to San Francisco and we leave TOMORROW!! Can you believe it?  

  

We were worried last night when we got here that we would end up paying $300 for a hotel room.  Fortunately we remembered our very nice stay at the hostel in Chicago and found one 2 blocks from the beach right here in Santa Monica!  We are in an awesome location for an awesome price! The weather is perfect today.  We plan to take full advantage of it.

Yesterday was an interesting day being that it was our final push to the end of our 3 week long adventure.  We left Barstow, CA in the morning and drove most of the way without stopping.  We did make one unplanned stop somewhere in the desert at a place called Bottle Tree Ranch.  We met this eccentric old man who had a long white beard and lived by himself but had been working on this artistic creation for over 15 years! It was amazing to walk around his yard and see all the sculptures and art he had made.

From there, we pretty much just made a straight shot to the end.  We enjoyed the palm trees and the warm weather but not the traffic in Santa Monica.  Nor did we enjoy trying to find parking at the pier!! When we did, it was worth it because we made it to the end just in time to see the sun set over the Pacific Ocean.  It was the best sunset I've seen in a while! We called our Dad to sing Happy Birthday to him afterward and then we wandered back down the pier to find some souvenirs.

We were about to give up when this random guy (later he introduced himself as Ian) in a tiny booth asked if we had any questions or if he could help us.  We ended up talking to him for a long time and he took pictures for us in front of his shop.  Turns out he's a 66 enthusiast who has driven the route many times.  It was fascinating to talk to him and it was validating to us to be congratulated on finishing the route by someone who actually knows what it means and how significant the accomplishment is! 

We had a celebratory dinner on the pier and then went to our hostel room, totally and completely worn out in a good way.  Since we finished I've been enjoying the constant stream of memories from our trip.  Things I hadn't thought about in a long while but made me smile when I re-remembered them.  Maybe when things settle down I'll write a post with some reflections and things I learned while on the trip.  Thanks for reading and journeying with me!  Keep checking back in the future. You never know where I'll be going next. (Especially in the next couple weeks)

History and Heat

Today's drive was long but this post will be short.  I never knew that the Eastern part of California was so empty and large and full of desert! The only part publicized is the popular part along the ocean.  I must say, I'm getting used to isolation.  I'm almost nervous to head into the densely populated LA area tomorrow! Too many cars, too many people.  

We left Needles this morning and drove until we couldn't any longer.  This time, not because of exhaustion or darkness.  We hit a dead end.  We were met with a Road Closed barrier right at the entrance to a major section of uninterrupted highway.  We did not know why the road was impassable, only that a sign said it was.  As tempted as we were to drive past the sign, we did not.  We asked some truck drivers if they knew anything about it and they said that construction crews were repairing the bridges down the way.  We had to get back on I-40 for several miles until we found an exit that would allow us back on 66.

I left my signature H2 sign on a bank of rocks where others had left their signature as well.  Then we drove to Roy's Motel.  I suppose the man working inside was named Roy, although I never actually asked.  He was incredibly helpful supplying us with water and directions and advice.  

We decided to hike the Amboy Crater after that based on his suggestion.  It was a hot hike but we had just enough water and the view from the top was gorgeous! It was a totally different hike than I am used to because there were no trees or brown dirt to walk on.  Instead, it was sand, black rocks, and old lava flow.  

We also met an older gentleman and his wife who told us stories about how the section of road we were driving used to be bumper to bumper with cars in the old days! He had driven 66 several times in the past and it was really cool to hear first hand how the road has changed.  It was hard to believe that the deserted road used to be a hubbub of traffic before I-40 passed through. 

Although the picture below looks as though we are at the end of Route 66, we are not.  We have one or two more days.  I just thought this looked like a promising photo op and so I pulled over the car, knelt down in the road (because you can do that when you're the only one driving on the road for miles and miles), and snapped a few shots.  I'm thankful I did!

Oatman Saved our Asses*

*sorry! I'll explain that word later ;)

Getting up for the sunrise at Grand Canyon NP meant that Danielle and I had a lot of time on our hands and what we did with it was drive.  And drive some more.  We probably over-did it a little because by the time we got to the California border we were "hangry" and tired and more than ready to be out of the car!  But it was a really fun day with lots of little towns along the way and many memories to be made.  

The beginning of our drive was on the longest continuous stretch of 66 still intact after all the re-routing and diverting it has experienced since its original construction.  Welcoming us to this section were several Burma Shave signs! The only reason I was excited for this was because a former ranger at Salem Maritime told me about them before his last day at the park and before I left on my trip.  I enjoyed reading their broken messages along the side of the road.  I memorized one and thought I would re-produce it here:

'Twould be more fun

to go by air

if we could put

these signs up there

-Burma Shave

The reason that this stretch in Arizona is so long and unbroken, we learned, is because of a man named Angel in a town called Seligman.  Seligman is a sweet little town that was rescued by Route 66 running through it again instead of being by-passed by I-40.  We stopped for lunch at the Snow Cap and enjoyed taking pictures around town.  We also got to see the small, one-room barber shop where Angel works.  Everybody in town was very friendly.

After that we passed through some other towns... if that's even what you can call them! Some of these places along Route 66 have a sign on a rock announcing their presence when in fact you could drive right through them and not even know that a soul lived there.  How do these random places survive? Some of them don't even have a gas station or a grocery store for miles!

Yes, we did go to another cave. This one's claim to fame was that the air inside reportedly comes directly from the Grand Canyon!  Hence the name Grand Canyon Caverns.  It was a fun tour! 

We enjoyed looking around the small store (inside and out) in Hackberry.  I bought an old fashioned coke because it made me feel like I was back in the 20's driving along a dusty road looking for something cool and refreshing to drink.  It put me in the spirit of driving a historic road again.  It will also make for a good souvenir.

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Shortly after all that, we entered the middle-of-nowhere.  This long stretch between Kingman, AZ and Needles, CA was desolate but beautiful.  We had no indication before we started into the Black Mountains just how long the drive would be and how much gas it would take.  The only warnings in our maps were to expect hair pin turns and narrow roads.  What an understatement!  We wove up and down and around those mountains expecting to see a town at every turn.  When we finally did, it went by the name of Oatman.  After we walked into the Hotel expecting it to actually have real rooms and a place to stay the night (which it did not), we wandered down the burro lined streets (they let them roam free there) to a place called Saving your Ass.  We met the most friendly people there! And they saved our asses.  They gave us directions and let us use their bathrooms and Danielle walked away with some pretty cool souvenirs too.  They encouraged us by telling us where the nearest gas station was, the best way to get there, and they suggested some cool places to see along the rest of our drive.  I would have stayed in Oatman longer but we had to get moving if we were going to make it to Needles that night.

 
And make it to Needles, we did!  We arrived to warm air and palm trees and a hotel with the best color scheme we have seen yet.  It feels good to finally be in California!

The Grandest of Canyons

Sorry for the lack of pictures last time, folks.  It takes a bit of effort to get them up so I bypassed them in favor of relying on my written word and your imagination.  Besides, most of my better pictures have been taken using my "real" camera, not my iPhone, and those have not been uploaded yet. However, tonight, I am prepared to share a few more photos to add flavor to my posts.  

My original plan for the Grand Canyon was different than how it actually ended up happening.  But in the end, what happened was definitely better.  I thought Danielle and I would drive to Williams, AZ and purchase tickets to hop on a train which would take us to the South Rim.  When we got to the ticket depot, though, we learned that only one train departs each day and that it had left at 9 AM (it was 12:30 when we got to Williams!).  Fortunately, it was only a 90 minute drive on a very straight road to enter the park on our own.  When we got there, we watched the film in the Visitor Center to orient ourselves to our new surroundings and then walked a short bit to get our first view of the canyon at Mather Point.  I can't describe what I saw or how  I felt sufficiently so I'm not even going to try.  You'll have to go see it yourself to know what I mean...

The scale of that park is so immense I didn't know where to start.  Danielle and I debated for a while what to do.  I REALLY wanted to hike down into the canyon to Phantom Ranch and back up again but time and weather/trail conditions did not permit that.  So, it shall remain a dream until someday in the future.  Instead, we found a room to stay at in Bright Angel Lodge and then caught a shuttle to a small, unpaved rim trail which we hiked until we found a good spot to watch the sun set.  Then, we caught the bus back and drove to the Visitor Center where we joined up with a ranger for a special tour called the Full Moon Walk.  It was really cool that we were in the park during a full moon! The canyon at night is a totally different world and whole other experience.  We thoroughly enjoyed the tour despite freezing temps and we learned a lot.  In the morning, we got up early to watch the sun rise.  All in all, the things we did and the place we stayed made for a truly unforgettable and rewarding time at Grand Canyon National Park.

Crystal Skulls and The Cosmos

Today was the busiest day by far of the whole trip! At least, it felt that way.  We really packed a lot into the short time that the sun was up.  Our day began with a small act that made both Danielle and I feel a LOT better about life and our trip.  We cleaned out our car! It only took about 20 minutes but when we got into the car afterward, we simultaneously breathed in a deep breath and went "AHHH!".  We organized, cleaned, threw out some trash piles, and found some items that had been lost or buried for a while.  That small, simple act of domesticity started out our day on the right foot.

I must admit we didn't make it very far today distance-wise.  We traveled from Winslow, AZ to Flagstaff, AZ.  But the stops we made along the way account for why that happened.  First, we stopped at a meteor crater just a few miles down the road.  It was really cool to look at, and generally surreal, but it was pretty much what one would expect to see after a giant piece of meteor slammed into the ground.  It made a giant hole!  Maybe the best thing to come of our first stop was Burt Marvin - Danielle's crystal skull souvenir purchase.  Now, one might wonder, "why that particular name?"  Well, our mascot had to have a name if it was to sit upon our dashboard and stare at us for the next few hundred miles.  The first name to pop into Danielle's head was Marvin.  The first name to pop into my head was Burt.  And thus, Burt Marvin was born.  He's been pretty good company so far.

After the meteor we stopped at 2 Guns which was basically an abandoned rest stop for travelers of Route 66.  There was even a zoo at one time!  After that, we sought out the next giant oddity that the route has to offer - a pair of giant twin arrows.  It fits into the same category as 2 Guns.  It was a trading post/rest stop for weary travelers complete with a store, a cafe, and a couple of gas pumps. We enjoyed the off-roading we did in order to experience both of these sites.

Entering Flagstaff, we debated between a few different sites but finally decided to focus on two: Walnut Canyon NM and the Lowell Observatory.  Side note: I really think that NPS employees should be able to visit other National Park sites in the country for free.  And I'm wondering why that's not the case.  Every other company has employee discounts, why shouldn't we???  We are exceptionally responsible park consumers who know the rules and respect the parks more than the average person does! Shouldn't that count for something?

Anyway, I really enjoyed Walnut Canyon! At first, the hike seemed a little daunting because of the number of stairs to climb.  However, in the end, it wasn't bad at all.  I enjoyed the scenic views and reading the numerous trail signs about different plants and how they were used by the native peoples who lived there historically.  I also liked seeing how those same people built their homes in the rock and how creatively they used their natural surroundings to make a simple but efficient existence in a harsh environment.

When we left the canyon, we had a short drive to our next stop.  The Lowell Observatory.  This was a little different than some of our other stops but that is why we chose it.  Flagstaff has a light advisory for the city with several rules set up to limit light pollution and protect the night sky views.  That makes it the perfect location for an observatory.  This place has several different telescopes and a grand history of research along with interpretive solar and planetarium type presentations for the public.  Danielle and I walked in thinking it would be a grade school presentation about the solar system and the planets but walked out with our minds blown.  We learned a LOT!  One interesting thing I learned is: my astrological sign is actually Gemini, not Cancer as I had thought!

After all that driving and learning, we have settled in for the night at a local hotel.  Tomorrow we will conquer the Grand Canyon!

The "Meat" of our Journey

These western states have really delivered.  Extreme beauty, colorful vistas, and educational opportunities abound and I am so thankful for them.  Compared to what I have seen in the past few days, the rest of Route 66 was dull.  Maybe that's only because of the winter season and the unruly amounts of snow and other precipitation but regardless, everything is definitely much more exciting out here!

This must be the National Park segment of our trip.  Bandelier and El Malpais (which I have yet to learn how to pronounce) in New Mexico were amazing! Then yesterday we visited Petrified Forest NP and today we visited a park (rather, a monument) that I have never even heard of before called Walnut Canyon National Monument.  Tomorrow we visit the Grand Canyon!!!  I love noting the similarities and differences among each of the park sites and seeing which types I can see myself working at in the future.  Danielle and I commented today that although we have seen so many parks, none of them are redundant.  Each of them have their own unique story to tell and a niche within human and/or natural history.  Particularly of note was that Petrified Forest NP is the only park in the country with a portion of Route 66 running directly through it.  Other parks are nearby or come close to the old historic highway, but only this one actually intersects with it.  There is a small pull off point in the park to view an old car and read about the road's history in the park.

After we left Petrified Forest we drove a short way to Holbrook where we found the Wigwam Motel. Upon locating it, we decided to forego that location as a stopping point for the night because it brought back memories of our chilly night at the Wagon Wheel Motel in Cuba, MO.  Of course, we took pictures to prove that we had been there but then we kept driving.  The next thing we passed was the Jack Rabbit Trading Post, a small souvenir shop with giant rabbits painted everywhere! It is famous for its billboards painted bright yellow with the words "Here It Is" painted on them.

When we pulled over for the night it was in Winslow, AZ.  We got lucky with the price on that hotel! It was the best deal we found so far on our trip and yet it had all the accommodations we are used to. We even had the opportunity to do laundry! This is exciting, and was much needed, because we left some of our laundry in a bag back in Santa Rosa, NM.  We are now running low on some critical items.  Laundry will need to happen more frequently for the duration of our trip.

Dinner was at a little diner called the Brown Mug.  We felt a little out of place there, and we modified their menu quite a bit in order to get something our low spice tolerance could handle, but we enjoyed the food very much! Enchiladas and sopapillas.  Yum :)

....more to come in a separate post....

My Home Away from Home

Big shout out to New Mexico! This is my second time here in this wonderful state, both times in one year, and it just keeps getting better.  These past couple of days I have had the privilege of exploring new corners and hidden gems as well as re-discovering places I've been before.  New Mexico is really, really big and there's so much more to see that it can be overwhelming at times!  I'll just have to keep coming back.  Deep down, I know that I will live here one day.  I don't know when or for what reason, but this place pulls at my soul in ways I cannot describe.  Until then, sporadic visits will have to suffice.

From Amarillo,  we drove until we had to stop in Santa Rosa to wait out another snow storm passing through.  We had a lovely, relaxing night at a Comfort Inn there and woke in the morning to about 4 inches of snow.  Again, people were freaking out for no apparent reason.  It was all very funny to me, actually.  We brushed the snow off our car - also a much easier task than in Massachusetts - and drove to the Blue Hole.  Our first stop of the day was interesting because the water in this natural spring stays at a constant 61*! We couldn't help but stick our fingers in the water to feel it but then immediately regretted doing so when we took them out into the cold, snowy air! It was pretty, for sure.  Just not so blue as it might be under a clear sky on a summer day.  

The only other stop we made was at Clines Corners -  a tourist trap where I bought a Route 66 T-Shirt.  My very first.  The bathrooms were cool but that about summarizes all the hype.

In my excitement to get to Albuquerque we made it into the city super early and then had to wait until Matt was out of work.  Danielle and I spent the entire weekend in Albuquerque with my friend Matt from Temple.  It was a good thing, too because our weather ran the gamut from 9 inches of snow and ice to 60*, sunny, and dry all within those few days! Some of the highlights were my long-awaited purchase of a turquoise bracelet, a hike in Bandelier National Monument,  dinner with Matt's parents, and another visit to Santa Fe.  Oh, and also a leaky apartment roof!  

We left, reluctantly, this morning.  The goal was Arizona but a late start and some more bad weather kept us from getting that far.  The best part of today was a quick visit to El Malpais National Monument!  Gorgeous scenery followed us from there all the way through the Continental Divide with the Red Rock cliffs in the distance and along the road!  We have parked for the night at the El Rancho Hotel, known for its' historically famous occupants.  Lucille Ball's room is down the hall!! We have a room with the name Wallace Beery on it... No clue who that is.  But I probably should know.  Leave a comment if you can enlighten me/us!

Petrified Forest NP is our next stop.  I can't wait for tomorrow!