the stars at night are big and bright...
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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