Well, we got up on Wednesday morning and Jessica’s mother had made a delicious breakfast for us. We ate and watched some more Olympics, then we got on the road just after 7. We drove and drove and sang and whatnot. We got to Ben’s house in Atlanta (Conyers, if you want to be picky) at around 2 or 3. We unloaded his stuff (but I’ve already found his bedsheet in the car, so who knows what else he left in there) and talked to his dog, a chihuahua who apparently wanted to come to South Carolina with me, as he decided to camp out in the passenger’s seat. I headed out and maneuvered the roads of Atlanta quite brilliantly, on my way home finally. I called all sorts of people, trying to keep myself from getting antsy or bored in the boring drive from Atlanta to Greenville. I got within 3 miles of the house when I was slowed down by a car that insisted on going so slowly that it made me cry. I got home and yay! I’m here! Woo! Chris came over for dinner, Paul came over after that, and there were wii competitions. Quite fun. I pooped out and here I am this morning. I am sitting here all by myself with the dog, who is quite content. Mom and Amy left for PA just a little while ago (boo) and Dad has gone to work now. He’s apparently going to Kansas on Sunday, so nobody will be around. I’ll probably hop between Clemson and Greenville for a little while.
Thanks for being awesome readers! Amy has promised to blog for us while she’s gone. I don’t know how frequent my blogging will be this school year. Grad school puts a lot on your plate, so yeah. We’ll see. But anyway, thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed it!
home again, home again
the dull part of the drive (except we got to see Jess)
Did I mention that we failed to find the special Dr. Pepper in Texas? I am very sad.
The drive out of Texas was very foggy. Very Very Very foggy. So there weren’t many pictures on this trip. Oklahoma was mostly boring. I called Rachel and talked to her while I drove. Except she was in Texas and not Oklahoma. Arkansas is currently boring as well. Ben is griping at the drivers around us. They’re quite absurd. We saw a plane take off right next to us. We are on the west side of Arkansas, on the way to Little Rock.
Welp, now I’m at Jessica’s house. Yay! The traffic in Memphis was quite insane, but we made it into Collierville safely and have had a lovely dinner, thanks to Jess’ family. We had delicious homemade peach ice cream. Yum! After a quick walk around the neighborhood and a phone call, I’m ready for bed. Going home tomorrow!
The drive out of Texas was very foggy. Very Very Very foggy. So there weren’t many pictures on this trip. Oklahoma was mostly boring. I called Rachel and talked to her while I drove. Except she was in Texas and not Oklahoma. Arkansas is currently boring as well. Ben is griping at the drivers around us. They’re quite absurd. We saw a plane take off right next to us. We are on the west side of Arkansas, on the way to Little Rock.
Welp, now I’m at Jessica’s house. Yay! The traffic in Memphis was quite insane, but we made it into Collierville safely and have had a lovely dinner, thanks to Jess’ family. We had delicious homemade peach ice cream. Yum! After a quick walk around the neighborhood and a phone call, I’m ready for bed. Going home tomorrow!
at the edge and on the road
Monday morning, we woke up at 5 to rather chilly weather. We threw on several layers and hopped into the car. We drove to the rim trail and hiked out to watch the sunrise. It ended up being much warmer right at the edge, so we We were probably there for over an hour. We wanted to see the light hit a few of the deeper parts of the canyon. Well worth the wait, because the view was amazing.
We hit the road, stopping for coffee to properly caffeinate ourselves. The drive was fairly uneventful. We stopped in some little town near the Petrified Forest NP and saw some petrified stuff and some dinosaurs and “buckets of blood” road. We stopped for lunch in Albuquerque at the Rio Grande Nature something State Park. It was hot, but we saw a roadrunner, which was really funny. Never have I seen a bird with such a personality. We gave it goldfish crackers. Probably not allowed to do that. We didn’t much care. We then headed out toward Amarillo. On the far side of New Mexico, we encountered a large cloud that ended up causing a storm, but also causing TWO complete rainbows that arced perfectly across the road. So cool.
We got to Amarillo, checked into our hotel, and took the first showers that we’d had in two days. We went to the Big Texan steak emporium hotel opry banquet space thing for dinner. It was hilarious. We had steak, which was quite delicious. They have a 72 oz steak meal that is free if you eat the whole thing in an hour. It includes salad, rolls, shrimp, and 2 sides or something like that. There was a guy attempting the challenge when we were there. Poor guy had to eat this dinner up on a raised platform that faced the entire restaurant and had a timer going behind me. His friends had set up a video camera to record the whole thing. Sadly, he didn’t finish. But he got a tee shirt.
We went back to the hotel and that is where I decided that I wasn’t going to blog until we got on the road today. If you had the bed I had, you wouldn’t have blogged either.
We hit the road, stopping for coffee to properly caffeinate ourselves. The drive was fairly uneventful. We stopped in some little town near the Petrified Forest NP and saw some petrified stuff and some dinosaurs and “buckets of blood” road. We stopped for lunch in Albuquerque at the Rio Grande Nature something State Park. It was hot, but we saw a roadrunner, which was really funny. Never have I seen a bird with such a personality. We gave it goldfish crackers. Probably not allowed to do that. We didn’t much care. We then headed out toward Amarillo. On the far side of New Mexico, we encountered a large cloud that ended up causing a storm, but also causing TWO complete rainbows that arced perfectly across the road. So cool.
We got to Amarillo, checked into our hotel, and took the first showers that we’d had in two days. We went to the Big Texan steak emporium hotel opry banquet space thing for dinner. It was hilarious. We had steak, which was quite delicious. They have a 72 oz steak meal that is free if you eat the whole thing in an hour. It includes salad, rolls, shrimp, and 2 sides or something like that. There was a guy attempting the challenge when we were there. Poor guy had to eat this dinner up on a raised platform that faced the entire restaurant and had a timer going behind me. His friends had set up a video camera to record the whole thing. Sadly, he didn’t finish. But he got a tee shirt.
We went back to the hotel and that is where I decided that I wasn’t going to blog until we got on the road today. If you had the bed I had, you wouldn’t have blogged either.
On top of the world…
I have never been so in love with one place as I am with Zion National Park. We caught the 5:45 shuttle into the park on Sunday and headed to the Angel’s Landing trailhead. The trail itself is only 0.5 miles long, but you have to hike 2 miles to get to it. The hike is listed as strenuous in the guidebooks and there is a warning that you shouldn’t hike it if you are afraid of heights. We headed up the mountain, hoping for a glimpse of the sunrise when we got to the top. Since we were blocked by hills, the light itself got to us before the sun came over the hills, so we were able to see our way on the trail. It was quite a challenging hike, despite its being mostly paved. I haven’t a clue how they got cement up there, but I can tell you that some parts looked like the old driveway at 120 Montverde Dr.
We got to the end of the 2 mile section and could see that we had made it in time to watch the sunrise. The last part is along the rocky spine of a ridge and many parts have chains along the “trail” for you to hold on to. There are spots where the rocks have steps that have worn into them over time, but there is a lot of your own skill (and holding tightly to the chain) involved. We made the climb quite well considering it took a lot longer than any half mile on the trail to it. We got to the end in time to see the sun come over the canyon edge and light the top of the ridges. Absolutely beautiful. The canyon was as stunning as the sunrise itself. We probably sat at the top of the peak for 45 minutes, staring out and enjoying the beautiful weather The pictures of the trail are there in the slideshow to show you why I am so proud of myself for completing this hike. We made a friend at the top, a German man who we ended up hiking all the way down with. We talked about schools and travel and all of the differences between the US and Germany. Very cool dude.
We got back, hopped into the car, and got on the road. The route took us out of Utah, across the top corner of Arizona, and into Nevada. In Nevada, we went through Las Vegas, which is quite hard to miss from miles away, because there is nothing to block the view (that means no trees). The city is truly as tacky as you might believe it to be. If I were loaded, I’d go shopping there. I’m not loaded. We drove down the strip (traffic was AWFUL. Big surprise, right?) and saw all of the casinos and whatnot. There was a Donny and Marie show, plenty of half-naked showgirls, and there were FOUR Cirque Du Soleil shows. We stopped on the south end of town, where the Las Vegas sign has been moved, and hopped out to take a picture (it is apparently quite acceptable to stop in the road for this sign, as there were about 8 cars stopped).
After we escaped Vegas, we headed southeast toward the Hoover Dam. To cross the Hoover Dam (or get within a mile of it), you have to be inspected. This caused a traffic backup of four miles. The traffic was moving, but only just. But I didn’t care, because I wanted to see the dam and because we had to cross it to get to the Grand Canyon. It was frying hot. Enough that when we opened the window for air, it was too hot. We got inspected, which consisted of a man standing by the road and waving us on. Yeah. All that traffic. We’re not really sure what his criteria for stopping you are, because he really didn’t look at the car at all. We parked and hopped out and went to explore. I was a little bit more than excited. Okay, I was making squeaking noises because it was so stinking cool. We walked down on one side and back on the other. The sheer size of the thing is astounding. I mean, I’ve heard about it many many times before, but I never really fathomed how big it is. The water on the backside was well over 100 feet below us. As I mentioned, it was hot. Ben’s watch said it was 103 in the shade and easily over 110 in the sun. Which caused me to get dizzy very quickly and have to seek refuge in the shade several times. Thankfully, we made it back to the car before I started seeing black and white (which has happened every time I’ve been near passing out). I drank enough water to cause me to need the bathroom quite frequently for the rest of the drive and sat with my face in the vents.
We headed out across Arizona and were surprised to eventually encounter some trees. How strange. We always assumed that there was only desert there. We got to our turn (Williams, I think) and headed due north for the Grand Canyon. We came into the park and were again surprised by the trees. We assumed that it shouldn’t be too hard to find a ginormous hole in the ground. We checked in to our campground and went to get firewood before attempting to decipher the map and get to the rim. We found the trail and started walking. It turns out that you can only see the canyon once you’re within about 100 yards of the rim, because of the tree growth. We had gotten there right at sunset, so we found a spot to sit and took pictures. So, now that I’ve gushed about all of the other stuff we saw on Sunday, I am at a loss for words to describe the Grand Canyon. It’s the most to-the-point name in the National Park system. It’s bigger than I ever imagined it would be. I can’t even begin to tell you how stunned I was at the sight. So I won’t. We made a campfire and roasted hot dogs for dinner. We slept with the tent fly off so that we could see the stars. It ended up being a bit cool in the morning, but that story is for the next blog post.
We got to the end of the 2 mile section and could see that we had made it in time to watch the sunrise. The last part is along the rocky spine of a ridge and many parts have chains along the “trail” for you to hold on to. There are spots where the rocks have steps that have worn into them over time, but there is a lot of your own skill (and holding tightly to the chain) involved. We made the climb quite well considering it took a lot longer than any half mile on the trail to it. We got to the end in time to see the sun come over the canyon edge and light the top of the ridges. Absolutely beautiful. The canyon was as stunning as the sunrise itself. We probably sat at the top of the peak for 45 minutes, staring out and enjoying the beautiful weather The pictures of the trail are there in the slideshow to show you why I am so proud of myself for completing this hike. We made a friend at the top, a German man who we ended up hiking all the way down with. We talked about schools and travel and all of the differences between the US and Germany. Very cool dude.
We got back, hopped into the car, and got on the road. The route took us out of Utah, across the top corner of Arizona, and into Nevada. In Nevada, we went through Las Vegas, which is quite hard to miss from miles away, because there is nothing to block the view (that means no trees). The city is truly as tacky as you might believe it to be. If I were loaded, I’d go shopping there. I’m not loaded. We drove down the strip (traffic was AWFUL. Big surprise, right?) and saw all of the casinos and whatnot. There was a Donny and Marie show, plenty of half-naked showgirls, and there were FOUR Cirque Du Soleil shows. We stopped on the south end of town, where the Las Vegas sign has been moved, and hopped out to take a picture (it is apparently quite acceptable to stop in the road for this sign, as there were about 8 cars stopped).
After we escaped Vegas, we headed southeast toward the Hoover Dam. To cross the Hoover Dam (or get within a mile of it), you have to be inspected. This caused a traffic backup of four miles. The traffic was moving, but only just. But I didn’t care, because I wanted to see the dam and because we had to cross it to get to the Grand Canyon. It was frying hot. Enough that when we opened the window for air, it was too hot. We got inspected, which consisted of a man standing by the road and waving us on. Yeah. All that traffic. We’re not really sure what his criteria for stopping you are, because he really didn’t look at the car at all. We parked and hopped out and went to explore. I was a little bit more than excited. Okay, I was making squeaking noises because it was so stinking cool. We walked down on one side and back on the other. The sheer size of the thing is astounding. I mean, I’ve heard about it many many times before, but I never really fathomed how big it is. The water on the backside was well over 100 feet below us. As I mentioned, it was hot. Ben’s watch said it was 103 in the shade and easily over 110 in the sun. Which caused me to get dizzy very quickly and have to seek refuge in the shade several times. Thankfully, we made it back to the car before I started seeing black and white (which has happened every time I’ve been near passing out). I drank enough water to cause me to need the bathroom quite frequently for the rest of the drive and sat with my face in the vents.
We headed out across Arizona and were surprised to eventually encounter some trees. How strange. We always assumed that there was only desert there. We got to our turn (Williams, I think) and headed due north for the Grand Canyon. We came into the park and were again surprised by the trees. We assumed that it shouldn’t be too hard to find a ginormous hole in the ground. We checked in to our campground and went to get firewood before attempting to decipher the map and get to the rim. We found the trail and started walking. It turns out that you can only see the canyon once you’re within about 100 yards of the rim, because of the tree growth. We had gotten there right at sunset, so we found a spot to sit and took pictures. So, now that I’ve gushed about all of the other stuff we saw on Sunday, I am at a loss for words to describe the Grand Canyon. It’s the most to-the-point name in the National Park system. It’s bigger than I ever imagined it would be. I can’t even begin to tell you how stunned I was at the sight. So I won’t. We made a campfire and roasted hot dogs for dinner. We slept with the tent fly off so that we could see the stars. It ended up being a bit cool in the morning, but that story is for the next blog post.
Day one! Goodbye Richland!
Homeward bound!
We got up on Saturday at about 3 and started cleaning and packing what hadn’t been packed already. We worked fast and got on the road at around 4:15 am. Ick. So early. We headed south into Oregon, but it was too dark to get a picture of the sign, so we got a picture of the sign thanking us for visiting. We got a rather nice sunrise in Oregon, so it made the early morning okay.
Sadly, we decapitated our bobblehead in Oregon. His name is Dusty Dust Devil (now Decapitated Dusty), and he’s the mascot of the Tri-Cities’ minor league baseball team. Free bobblehead giveaway coincided with one of our trips to the games. Dusty tumbled dramatically off the dashboard, his head flying off upon impact with the gear shifter. You’ll see his head in later pictures.
We hit Idaho and discovered that it looked like Washington and Oregon. We were soon to discover that Utah also looked the same. At least, the northern part does. We entered Utah after a highly uneventful drive through Idaho. The good thing about Utah was that there were mountains in the distance. We went through Salt Lake City and saw Temple Square from a distance (from the interstate, because we weren’t stopping). Once we reached southern Utah, we turned off of the interstate (84, I believe) and headed into some beautiful countryside on our way to Zion NP. The sun was starting to go down by the time we got onto this road, so Ben (as I was driving at this point) got some excellent pictures of the sun behind us and the moon in front of us. The sudden appearance of cliffs was quite remarkable.
We set up our tent and walked into town for dinner (who wants to get into the car after 15 hours of driving?) at a cute restaurant that ended up being quite delicious. We headed to bed soon after dinner, because we had to make the 5:45 am shuttle into the park for our hike.
We got up on Saturday at about 3 and started cleaning and packing what hadn’t been packed already. We worked fast and got on the road at around 4:15 am. Ick. So early. We headed south into Oregon, but it was too dark to get a picture of the sign, so we got a picture of the sign thanking us for visiting. We got a rather nice sunrise in Oregon, so it made the early morning okay.
Sadly, we decapitated our bobblehead in Oregon. His name is Dusty Dust Devil (now Decapitated Dusty), and he’s the mascot of the Tri-Cities’ minor league baseball team. Free bobblehead giveaway coincided with one of our trips to the games. Dusty tumbled dramatically off the dashboard, his head flying off upon impact with the gear shifter. You’ll see his head in later pictures.
We hit Idaho and discovered that it looked like Washington and Oregon. We were soon to discover that Utah also looked the same. At least, the northern part does. We entered Utah after a highly uneventful drive through Idaho. The good thing about Utah was that there were mountains in the distance. We went through Salt Lake City and saw Temple Square from a distance (from the interstate, because we weren’t stopping). Once we reached southern Utah, we turned off of the interstate (84, I believe) and headed into some beautiful countryside on our way to Zion NP. The sun was starting to go down by the time we got onto this road, so Ben (as I was driving at this point) got some excellent pictures of the sun behind us and the moon in front of us. The sudden appearance of cliffs was quite remarkable.
We set up our tent and walked into town for dinner (who wants to get into the car after 15 hours of driving?) at a cute restaurant that ended up being quite delicious. We headed to bed soon after dinner, because we had to make the 5:45 am shuttle into the park for our hike.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Well, as the song goes, I'm deep in the heart of Texas. Not really. I'm in Amarillo. In a bed. And I'm clean. Which means I'm VERY happy. After two nights of camping and no showers since Saturday morning, Ben and I were starting to smell ourselves. Bad sign that you need a shower. So I'm in a ginormous fluffy bed in a ginormous hotel room, thanks to my dear mother, and the last thing I want to be doing right now is blogging. I'm uploading some incredible pictures to my computer as I type. I want to tell you all the stories of our trip, but I'm exhausted and plan on getting up at 5:15 am local time. I have to find Dublin Dr. Peppers. The 24-hour Wal Mart was a no-go. I didn't expect they'd have them. I guess I'll ask the front desk folks. They might know. I will blog my little heart out as soon as I get home. Or maybe I'll type it all up in the car tomorrow. For now, I leave you with a picture...
Thursday, August 07, 2008
Since all of you were so keenly interested in the trip out to Washington, and since this trip will be much better, and since I can't visit and show you the maps of the trip before I leave, I have decided that the next best option is to paste a few maps from Google Maps (my most recent best friend) so that you can get an idea of where I'll be going. Also, since I will be camping the first two nights of this trip, I remind you that there won't be any posts until I get to Amarillo, TX. Plenty of pictures by then though, I promise!
I am so proud of being able to embed these maps that it doesn't even upset me that the route doesn't show up on the embedded map. Except on the last two. One of which you have to drag the map over to see the route. I am not a pro at this. I think it's just a matter of luck whether your route shows up or not. I went back and tried the others several times. If you click on the "VIEW LARGER MAP" link below the map, you'll be able to see our route highlighted. I've broken it down into individual days so I can talk about each day.
Day 1: Richland to Zion (14 hours)
We will be departing Richland, WA bright and early on Saturday, August 9. Heading east into Idaho, we will pass through Boise and Twin Falls, then head south toward Utah. We will be traveling nearly the entire length of the state, passing through Salt Lake City and Provo. We will stop for the night at Zion National Park, camping at the Watchman Campground. To get further into the park, you have to ride a shuttle. I don't know how much time we will have to actually see the park, but we'll try in the morning probably. Don't forget to click on the links to see highlighted route!
View Larger Map
Day 2: Zion to Grand Canyon (7.5 hours)
This is the day I am most looking forward to out of the trip. Except the part where I actually get home. We will be departing Zion on Sunday morning and heading southwest, passing briefly into Arizona before we continue into Nevada. We will be passing through Las Vegas, with our route taking us directly down the Las Vegas Strip and past the famed sign (pictures!). We will then turn east once more and go toward the Hoover Dam. After another brief pause to take pictures, we will continue east until we reach Williams, AZ. We will then turn North to the Grand Canyon. We are camping on the South Rim at the Mather Campground (yes, we have reservations already. yes, I've had them since May). Since this day will be half the length of the previous day, we will have time to dawdle in Vegas and at the Hoover Dam and still be able to see some of the Grand Canyon before dark.
View Larger Map
Day 3: Grand Canyon to Amarillo (10 hours)
On Monday morning, we will be enjoying the sunrise over the canyon, then heading out the East entrance of the park (so we can see more of the area before we leave). Once we are out of the park, we will be turning south toward Flagstaff. At Flagstaff, we turn due east on I-40 and head through Winslow, Albuquerque (the poor children who learn to spell in this town...), and on into Amarillo, TX. Dinner this night is scheduled for the Big Texan. Should be amazing. They serve fried okra. For those who don't know, I could probably kill for some fried okra right now.
View Larger Map
Day 4: Amarillo to Memphis (11 hours)
On Tuesday, we continue East. We will travel (STILL on I-40) through Oklahoma City and Little Rock and a whole bunch of little towns that don't have much chance of being interesting. Luckily for them, Dusty Bobblehead will be there to make their towns seem more interesting. We will be stopping in Memphis, Collierville really, for the night. We have a friend from school (Jessica! yay!) who has graciously offered to let us stay with her.
View Larger Map
Day 5: Memphis to Greenville (9 hours)
Yay! For those who know that the fastest way from Memphis to Greenville is through Knoxville and want me to stop and visit, let me go ahead and explain our route. Ben is from just outside of Atlanta. Since his car is still there, he can't go back to Clemson. So, we will be going through Birmingham and meeting up with some member of his family on the west side of town (at least, this is the plan right now) so that he can go with them to the lake. It also spares me some rather outrageous driving in Atlanta. Once I drop Ben off, it is a straight shot home to 120 Montverde Drive. I have to get there in time to kick mom's hiney at Wii Bowling. Yeha!
View Larger Map
I hope you've enjoyed this tour of my route home as much as I have. Stay tuned for tales from the road!
I am so proud of being able to embed these maps that it doesn't even upset me that the route doesn't show up on the embedded map. Except on the last two. One of which you have to drag the map over to see the route. I am not a pro at this. I think it's just a matter of luck whether your route shows up or not. I went back and tried the others several times. If you click on the "VIEW LARGER MAP" link below the map, you'll be able to see our route highlighted. I've broken it down into individual days so I can talk about each day.
Day 1: Richland to Zion (14 hours)
We will be departing Richland, WA bright and early on Saturday, August 9. Heading east into Idaho, we will pass through Boise and Twin Falls, then head south toward Utah. We will be traveling nearly the entire length of the state, passing through Salt Lake City and Provo. We will stop for the night at Zion National Park, camping at the Watchman Campground. To get further into the park, you have to ride a shuttle. I don't know how much time we will have to actually see the park, but we'll try in the morning probably. Don't forget to click on the links to see highlighted route!
View Larger Map
Day 2: Zion to Grand Canyon (7.5 hours)
This is the day I am most looking forward to out of the trip. Except the part where I actually get home. We will be departing Zion on Sunday morning and heading southwest, passing briefly into Arizona before we continue into Nevada. We will be passing through Las Vegas, with our route taking us directly down the Las Vegas Strip and past the famed sign (pictures!). We will then turn east once more and go toward the Hoover Dam. After another brief pause to take pictures, we will continue east until we reach Williams, AZ. We will then turn North to the Grand Canyon. We are camping on the South Rim at the Mather Campground (yes, we have reservations already. yes, I've had them since May). Since this day will be half the length of the previous day, we will have time to dawdle in Vegas and at the Hoover Dam and still be able to see some of the Grand Canyon before dark.
View Larger Map
Day 3: Grand Canyon to Amarillo (10 hours)
On Monday morning, we will be enjoying the sunrise over the canyon, then heading out the East entrance of the park (so we can see more of the area before we leave). Once we are out of the park, we will be turning south toward Flagstaff. At Flagstaff, we turn due east on I-40 and head through Winslow, Albuquerque (the poor children who learn to spell in this town...), and on into Amarillo, TX. Dinner this night is scheduled for the Big Texan. Should be amazing. They serve fried okra. For those who don't know, I could probably kill for some fried okra right now.
View Larger Map
Day 4: Amarillo to Memphis (11 hours)
On Tuesday, we continue East. We will travel (STILL on I-40) through Oklahoma City and Little Rock and a whole bunch of little towns that don't have much chance of being interesting. Luckily for them, Dusty Bobblehead will be there to make their towns seem more interesting. We will be stopping in Memphis, Collierville really, for the night. We have a friend from school (Jessica! yay!) who has graciously offered to let us stay with her.
View Larger Map
Day 5: Memphis to Greenville (9 hours)
Yay! For those who know that the fastest way from Memphis to Greenville is through Knoxville and want me to stop and visit, let me go ahead and explain our route. Ben is from just outside of Atlanta. Since his car is still there, he can't go back to Clemson. So, we will be going through Birmingham and meeting up with some member of his family on the west side of town (at least, this is the plan right now) so that he can go with them to the lake. It also spares me some rather outrageous driving in Atlanta. Once I drop Ben off, it is a straight shot home to 120 Montverde Drive. I have to get there in time to kick mom's hiney at Wii Bowling. Yeha!
View Larger Map
I hope you've enjoyed this tour of my route home as much as I have. Stay tuned for tales from the road!
Sunday, August 03, 2008
Well folks, it's been a pleasure regaling you with stories of my adventures this summer. I will be sure to keep you as informed as possible about the trip home, including an extra post later this week.
As the summer has drawn to the end, it's been rather busy. The first intern to leave was Sara. She left last Thursday after a quick hello and goodbye at the second party of last week. The first party was thrown by Nick and Carolyn, the folks Sara lived with, and was held at a local barbecue place (where we could actually get sweet tea, though it wasn't nearly sweet enough). It ended up being nearly 25 people. There are several pictures of that. The second party was at Joe's house. Joe is one of the guys I've worked a lot with this summer. He and his wife (and PJ, who is 3 and very outgoing) were kind enough to have nearly 30 people out to their house to enjoy some hamburgers and bonfire action. Several of the mentors came, and there was delicious food. Some people played frisbee, I played bocce with the guys, and then we made fire. Remember: when there is a high fire hazard, always have a hose. So you don't burn your yard down.
I'm finally quite busy at work. I got my samples back and had to cut and polish and prepare them for resistivity tests. I ended up staying at work an extra hour on Friday and going in to work on Saturday too. I get time and a half for overtime, so hey, at least I'll end the summer with a big paycheck. Joe (mad props to Joe for going to work on Saturday for me) and I went in at 7:30 to start a test and found out that the power had blinked just before I got there (and thankfully after my data had auto-saved). We started some stuff and I left to go get my oil changed, my tires rotated, and my car washed. Once Rhonda was happy, I headed back to the lab and prepared some more samples (lots of cutting and polishing) for testing on Tuesday. I ended up being there for about 2.5 hours more, then I came home, grabbed lunch and Ben and I went to the park by the river to be lazy. New favorite thing to do. Lay around in the sun and read our books. Get in the river occasionally, roll over occasionally. It's a great park, all families. Quite entertaining. There was a baptism while we were there. And a family that came ready to go fishing, except they never got in the water to fish...they just practiced casting in the grass. Strange.
Today was a major cleaning project. I scrubbed the bathroom and gave Ben the kitchen. Then we vacuumed and whatnot. I'm mostly packed. As I finish with clothes this week, they're supposed to be put into the suitcase. Last stuff to go in is the kitchen stuff. Friday, we will pack the car, then we'll get on the road bright and early on Saturday. Not really bright. Like between 4 and 5 AM. We have 14 hours to go on Saturday. We'll probably rotate by tanks of gas (~ 4 hours) so that neither of us gets too tired. Lunch will be peanut butter and jelly and bananas for the week. There is a grocery store that has a great bulk food section, so we'll probably stock up on essentials for the road. You know, peanuts, gummy worms, sour patch kids, trail mix, more gummy worms. Trying to find some corn nuts. Those were good. We got them at the Gateway Arch in Saint Louis on the way here. Yeah. Nice salty snack. Also, we may have to be inventive in Zion, because there is a ban on all fires due to the dry season. Understandable, but we don't exactly want to eat PB&J for lunch AND dinner. And we don't have a stove. Any suggestions from my well seasoned campers? Need something dinner-like that requires no heat whatsoever. I'm out. I need to poke at some data before tomorrow. Ciao!
As the summer has drawn to the end, it's been rather busy. The first intern to leave was Sara. She left last Thursday after a quick hello and goodbye at the second party of last week. The first party was thrown by Nick and Carolyn, the folks Sara lived with, and was held at a local barbecue place (where we could actually get sweet tea, though it wasn't nearly sweet enough). It ended up being nearly 25 people. There are several pictures of that. The second party was at Joe's house. Joe is one of the guys I've worked a lot with this summer. He and his wife (and PJ, who is 3 and very outgoing) were kind enough to have nearly 30 people out to their house to enjoy some hamburgers and bonfire action. Several of the mentors came, and there was delicious food. Some people played frisbee, I played bocce with the guys, and then we made fire. Remember: when there is a high fire hazard, always have a hose. So you don't burn your yard down.
I'm finally quite busy at work. I got my samples back and had to cut and polish and prepare them for resistivity tests. I ended up staying at work an extra hour on Friday and going in to work on Saturday too. I get time and a half for overtime, so hey, at least I'll end the summer with a big paycheck. Joe (mad props to Joe for going to work on Saturday for me) and I went in at 7:30 to start a test and found out that the power had blinked just before I got there (and thankfully after my data had auto-saved). We started some stuff and I left to go get my oil changed, my tires rotated, and my car washed. Once Rhonda was happy, I headed back to the lab and prepared some more samples (lots of cutting and polishing) for testing on Tuesday. I ended up being there for about 2.5 hours more, then I came home, grabbed lunch and Ben and I went to the park by the river to be lazy. New favorite thing to do. Lay around in the sun and read our books. Get in the river occasionally, roll over occasionally. It's a great park, all families. Quite entertaining. There was a baptism while we were there. And a family that came ready to go fishing, except they never got in the water to fish...they just practiced casting in the grass. Strange.
Today was a major cleaning project. I scrubbed the bathroom and gave Ben the kitchen. Then we vacuumed and whatnot. I'm mostly packed. As I finish with clothes this week, they're supposed to be put into the suitcase. Last stuff to go in is the kitchen stuff. Friday, we will pack the car, then we'll get on the road bright and early on Saturday. Not really bright. Like between 4 and 5 AM. We have 14 hours to go on Saturday. We'll probably rotate by tanks of gas (~ 4 hours) so that neither of us gets too tired. Lunch will be peanut butter and jelly and bananas for the week. There is a grocery store that has a great bulk food section, so we'll probably stock up on essentials for the road. You know, peanuts, gummy worms, sour patch kids, trail mix, more gummy worms. Trying to find some corn nuts. Those were good. We got them at the Gateway Arch in Saint Louis on the way here. Yeah. Nice salty snack. Also, we may have to be inventive in Zion, because there is a ban on all fires due to the dry season. Understandable, but we don't exactly want to eat PB&J for lunch AND dinner. And we don't have a stove. Any suggestions from my well seasoned campers? Need something dinner-like that requires no heat whatsoever. I'm out. I need to poke at some data before tomorrow. Ciao!
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