Oh my. I had such low expectations for Oklahoma City that I was sure I was going to be pleasantly surprised. Sadly, I was not.
To be fair, my first impression of Oklahoma was a good one. About twelve miles inside the state line I came upon the Oklahoma Visitor's Center, which was also the most beautiful, fancy rest area I have ever seen in my life. We're talking Corian countertops, gleaming fixtures, stone floors, stalls with actual doors that locked...you name it. Oklahoma, it seems, is serious about making its visitors feel welcome. The center was staffed by two older ladies in american flag shirts and was decorated liberally with animal skins and wagon wheels. The actual helpful part (excepting of course the lovely bathrooms) was two giant banks of pamphlets and brochures in the center of the room, detailing any number of activities to be enjoyed in the state. Two things immediately caught my eye: first, a brochure for the bombing memorial because that is the only thing I think of when I think of Oklahoma City. I literally know nothing else about the city (and I'd like to say I know a whole lot more now that I've visted, but....) Secondly, I saw a brochure for the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, which featured on its cover a number of gorgeous works of glass art and a tagline that advertised "the largest Chihuly collection in the world" (!!!!)
It was already 2 and the art museum closed at 5 and the bombing memorial at 6, so I drove straight to the art museum. I was on my very last bit of clean laundry so I was wearing a fairly goobery white tank and blue short combo. Not my favorite, especially for going out in public. I didn't want to take the time to check in at my hotel and change though, so I sucked it up and went anyway. I also had my backpack since my shorts had no pockets, so I definitely looked like nerdy tourist girl. It was kind of good for me because I tend to feel self conscious when wearing certain things and this was a good example of why that is so unnecessary because nobody is looking at me. Anyway.
Parking is free in Oklahoma City on weekends, so I found a decent spot and walked a few blocks to the museum. It was seriously HOT outside, sun beating down, no breeze whatsoever. Walking into the museum, however, I was greeted with two fantastic things that made me forget about the hot weather. The first was a giant blast of conditioned air. The second was a giant Chihuly sculpture in the lobby of the museum. It was at least three stories tall and I didn't even bother to take a picture of it because I wouldn't be able to get it all in the frame, but it was fantastic (here is a picture). I proceeded to the front desk, bought my ticket, then headed right up to the third floor to see the Chihuly exhibit. I loved it. My favorite part was probably the hallway with a Chihuly ceiling. So beautiful.
After the Chihuly I drifted into other exhibits in the museum. There was a great kinetic art exhibit and another room dedicated to minimalist art that contained some interesting pieces (though there was one minimalist piece that was just two similar shapes arranged together, both painted the exact same shade of lavender that kind of annoyed me with its simplicity. What could any artist possibly be trying to say with that kind of work?). The other exhibits were mostly portaits which didn't interest me so much. I really enjoyed seeing the museum by myself because I could take exactly as much time as I wanted on each piece. I could linger with the ones I wanted to see more of and breeze right by the ones that didn't grab me. Another good experience for me.
When I had seen everything of value (to me), I took off. The heat slammed me in the face when I exited the museum and sucked every last impulse to see the bombing memorial right out of me, so I headed for my hotel. I was staying in the Econolodge, in a cluster of similarly priced hotels on Oklahoma City's west side. Only forty or so bucks a night, and it showed. I approached my (accidentally smoking instead of non-) room and with equal parts delight and apprehension noticed several rows of motorcycles in the motel's parking lot. Now I don't want to stereotype bikers, in fact I am sure they are all probably just enthusiastic, delightful people, but the vast numbers of them did give me pause. Some of them were outside their rooms, smoking and chatting to one another and I did my best to give them a friendly smile and wave, but they were not charmed enough to return the gesture. Just as well.
I carried my essential stuff into the room and headed out in search of food. Dinner acquired, I set about locking myself in my room for the rest of the evening. There was a deadbolt but no chain and the door didn't quite meet the frame, plus I was on the ground floor, so I felt a little exposed. It didn't help that five minutes after I sat on the bed (that caved in if you didn't sit exactly the right way, btw) the family in the room next to mine began a loud, shouty, violent fight. The walls in the Econolodge? Very thin. Also, our two rooms had once been adjoining so there was a door right there that would shake every time one of them slammed the door to the room (which happened often). It sounded like a mother and father and potentially two kids, one in his late preteens or early teens and one a bit younger. The father seemed to be the violent force but everyone was willing to join in on the shouting without too much trouble. The initial conflict was about chinese food that the one kid brought back that the younger kid didn't want to eat, but there were myriad other conflicts throughout the night that resulted in loud arguments. I turned the TV up as much as I could to try to drown them out without disturbing the people on the other side of me. There were moments when it got particularly heated and I considered intervening somehow, but I was worried that they would retaliate at me if they knew I had said something (They were in the room on the end so I would be the only one who could have heard) and I rationalized that it probably wouldn't do much good anyway. It really broke my heart every time I heard one of those kids crying though...and it happened at least five times that night.
The next day I packed up my things, eager to get the hell out of there. Next stop, Memphis!
Monday, June 29, 2009
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Colorado and Kansas
Colorado hadn't been in the original plan. It wasn't even in the first draft of the revised plan. After I left the desert I had planned to stay in Santa Fe for three nights to recharge my batteries, recuperate, etc. Well at some point on the way to Roswell it occurred to me that instead of cooling my heels in Santa Fe I could continue north to Denver, Colorado and still get to Oklahoma City in time to take advantage of the hotel reservation I had already made for Saturday night.
I was excited just to see Denver but there was an added bonus: my friend Tony from high school moved there recently and I was going to get to see him! I was so excited :)
On the drive through Colorado (I don't want to be all predictable but...it was beautiful!) I started thinking about what I might want to see in Denver. Tony wasn't going to be available until later that evening and he was going to let me crash at his place, so until then I was free to do anything I liked. I posted on Facebook to ask for suggestions and I was referred to a fantastic bookstore downtown called Tattered Cover. I headed over there, found a parking spot, fed the meter, then went inside. Now I'm a little spoiled since I live right down the street from Powell's, a decidedly excellent book store, but Tattered Cover was just everything a book store should be and it was the perfect place to spend a couple of hours while I waited for Tony. For some reason whenever I go to a bookstore I always think I'm going to have trouble finding something I'm interested in but then I always end up with the opposite, a giant stack of books I absolutely have to have right now! Five minutes after going upstairs to the fiction section, I already had my hands full of books. One of the things TC does better than Powell's (sorry Powell's..you know I love you) is that it has cozy reading areas tucked in every section so you can sit down and get an idea of the books you are looking at before you buy them. I read a little bit of each of the books in my stack and decided which ones I didn't want and which ones to buy at Powell's when I get home. Believe it or not I actually managed to leave TC empty-handed.
Another excellent suggestion that was made was for Falling Rock Taphouse. I looked it up on my phone and it was only about four blocks away so I put some more quarters in the meter and walked over there in the light rain that had just started. Once there I grabbed a seat at the bar and ordered a pint of porter, I forget what brand. After that I asked the bartender to hook me up with something interesting I might not be able to get somewhere else so she had me try a few different things. It was a lot of fun, actually, tasting all of these different beers. Of course it didn't take long for me to feel a tiny bit buzzed. Almost two hours had passed so I had to run back and feed the meter again, then I texted Tony and asked him to meet me at Falling Rock when he was done with work.
At some point during the evening two intelligent-looking gentlemen sat next to me and we started talking about all sorts of things...beer, IT, cell phones, etc. You all know how talking to men in bars is not really my strong suit, but this was a lot of fun. Eventually Tony showed up and the other guys took off, so he and I stayed for one more beer (for him...I had switched to water a while ago) and then drove back to his and his wife's apartment to talk some more and finally get some sleep.
Now I don't have a high tolerance for alcohol to begin with, plus supposedly the altitude affects that sort of thing as well, so the next morning I was definitely hurting. I was nauseated and felt like I had been run over by a mack truck. Still worth it though. :) Tony made me some tea, we talked for a while longer while I played with his cats and then it was time for me to hit the road.
The only logical way to get from Denver to Oklahoma City is to drive right into the heart of Kansas so I prepared myself for a long and boring day of driving. There are definitely a lot of similar-looking wheat fields but I have to tell you, Kansas is (you guessed it) beautiful. I stopped that night at Wilson State Park which is arranged around Wilson Lake. Many of the campsites go right up to the lake's edge, in fact my tent ended up maybe 15 feet from the water with an incredible view. It also had a covered patio area near the water which seemed like a nice place to set up my laptop and write a little. Eventually the sun went down and the heat, which had been a little uncomfortable when I was setting up the tent, began to dissipate. A nice, cool breeze flowed off the water as the sky darkened and the stars began to show themselves. It was a fantastic evening, another perfect moment.
The next morning I awoke to the honking of geese! When I crawled out of my tent there were several families of geese (including fuzzy little goslings) just milling about the campsites, looking for some tasty bugs for breakfast. I stayed as still as I could against the car and they came close enough for me to get a few good pictures. Soon afterwards, I was off again, this time headed for Oklahoma City!
I was excited just to see Denver but there was an added bonus: my friend Tony from high school moved there recently and I was going to get to see him! I was so excited :)
On the drive through Colorado (I don't want to be all predictable but...it was beautiful!) I started thinking about what I might want to see in Denver. Tony wasn't going to be available until later that evening and he was going to let me crash at his place, so until then I was free to do anything I liked. I posted on Facebook to ask for suggestions and I was referred to a fantastic bookstore downtown called Tattered Cover. I headed over there, found a parking spot, fed the meter, then went inside. Now I'm a little spoiled since I live right down the street from Powell's, a decidedly excellent book store, but Tattered Cover was just everything a book store should be and it was the perfect place to spend a couple of hours while I waited for Tony. For some reason whenever I go to a bookstore I always think I'm going to have trouble finding something I'm interested in but then I always end up with the opposite, a giant stack of books I absolutely have to have right now! Five minutes after going upstairs to the fiction section, I already had my hands full of books. One of the things TC does better than Powell's (sorry Powell's..you know I love you) is that it has cozy reading areas tucked in every section so you can sit down and get an idea of the books you are looking at before you buy them. I read a little bit of each of the books in my stack and decided which ones I didn't want and which ones to buy at Powell's when I get home. Believe it or not I actually managed to leave TC empty-handed.
Another excellent suggestion that was made was for Falling Rock Taphouse. I looked it up on my phone and it was only about four blocks away so I put some more quarters in the meter and walked over there in the light rain that had just started. Once there I grabbed a seat at the bar and ordered a pint of porter, I forget what brand. After that I asked the bartender to hook me up with something interesting I might not be able to get somewhere else so she had me try a few different things. It was a lot of fun, actually, tasting all of these different beers. Of course it didn't take long for me to feel a tiny bit buzzed. Almost two hours had passed so I had to run back and feed the meter again, then I texted Tony and asked him to meet me at Falling Rock when he was done with work.
At some point during the evening two intelligent-looking gentlemen sat next to me and we started talking about all sorts of things...beer, IT, cell phones, etc. You all know how talking to men in bars is not really my strong suit, but this was a lot of fun. Eventually Tony showed up and the other guys took off, so he and I stayed for one more beer (for him...I had switched to water a while ago) and then drove back to his and his wife's apartment to talk some more and finally get some sleep.
Now I don't have a high tolerance for alcohol to begin with, plus supposedly the altitude affects that sort of thing as well, so the next morning I was definitely hurting. I was nauseated and felt like I had been run over by a mack truck. Still worth it though. :) Tony made me some tea, we talked for a while longer while I played with his cats and then it was time for me to hit the road.
The only logical way to get from Denver to Oklahoma City is to drive right into the heart of Kansas so I prepared myself for a long and boring day of driving. There are definitely a lot of similar-looking wheat fields but I have to tell you, Kansas is (you guessed it) beautiful. I stopped that night at Wilson State Park which is arranged around Wilson Lake. Many of the campsites go right up to the lake's edge, in fact my tent ended up maybe 15 feet from the water with an incredible view. It also had a covered patio area near the water which seemed like a nice place to set up my laptop and write a little. Eventually the sun went down and the heat, which had been a little uncomfortable when I was setting up the tent, began to dissipate. A nice, cool breeze flowed off the water as the sky darkened and the stars began to show themselves. It was a fantastic evening, another perfect moment.
The next morning I awoke to the honking of geese! When I crawled out of my tent there were several families of geese (including fuzzy little goslings) just milling about the campsites, looking for some tasty bugs for breakfast. I stayed as still as I could against the car and they came close enough for me to get a few good pictures. Soon afterwards, I was off again, this time headed for Oklahoma City!
New Mexico
So as I said, driving through New Mexico was fantastic. Honestly, I saw a difference only a few miles after I crossed the border from Arizona. Not that Arizona isn't beautiful in its own way, but New Mexico has something special...I don't know. You'll have to drive through it one day and see for yourself (or check out my pictures).
The whole Albuquerque/Roswell thing turned out to be kind of a bust. First of all, I don't know what I was thinking when I was planning it out, but it would have made much more sense to drive directly to Roswell from Tucson and then to Albuquerque or Santa Fe the next day. As it worked out, I drove all the way to Albuquerque, didn't have time or energy to do anything so I just went to the hotel. Then the next day I drove back down south to hit Roswell.
Roswell itself was not what I was expecting and I kind of wished I had skipped it altogether. First of all, they are so not into the alien thing as much as they should be, I think. Maybe one city block was dedicated to alien stuff and the rest was just an uberconservative rural town. I was so bummed by the half-heartedness of the alien museum I didn't even bother to pay money to see the inside. Instead, I went and had a pretty excellent Mexican dinner at the Capitol Cafe (recommended by a friend of a friend) and then just went back to my hotel room.
The one saving grace of the trip to Roswell was that on the way I missed my turn and ended up backtracking on a deserted country road with some of the most beautiful scenery I have seen in my life. It was one of those perfect moments where you know you're in exactly the right place at the right time. Fantastic.
So the next stop after Roswell was the Santa Fe National Forest. Driving into the forest was another incredible experience. Beautiful mountains, incredibly tall trees, a rushing stream...just fabulous. When I got to the campground it was a little crowded but I managed to find a decent site. I had chosen Holy Ghost campground because it was rumored to be haunted. I didn't so much expect to see any ghosts but I thought it might be fun to be a little scared.
Turns out the scariest thing about the campground wasn't the ghosts...it was the latrines. I had dealt with vault toilets (basically an elevated hole in the ground with a seat on it) in Joshua Tree and, while they weren't all that pleasant, I could certainly deal with them. It helped that the bathrooms there were big and bright and the climate was such that there wasn't a ton of flying insect activity. Not so in the SF Natl Forest. Oh dear. Okay, first there's the smell. Naturally, a big hole in the ground filled with excrement isn't going to act like a giant air freshener, but this was just overpoweringly gross. Then, there are the bugs. I warily moved the door aside to check everything out and I swear, it was like Amityville all of a sudden with the swarms of flies. Effing creepy. I did my best to shake them off of the door and kicked the side of the latrine to encourage any stragglers to depart. Then I closed the door behind me (sigh, it didn't close all the way, I had to hold it) and it was way too dark in there so I ran back to the car and grabbed my lantern. On my second approach, the majority of the bugs seemed to be gone, but I was still loath to expose my privatest business over a hole that might contain any number of horrifying crawly things. I was genuinely afraid. I had to stand there for a minute and talk myself down before I finally sucked it up and got the job done. Ugh...still makes me shudder to think about it.
The rest of the evening passed without incident. I got my tent set up, made some dinner, went for a lovely walk by Holy Ghost Creek while listening to the end of Sense and Sensibility (I love audiobooks), then hit the hay. The next day I got up early (of course) and packed everything up. No bugs on my tent this time, which was nice, but every little surface was covered with condensation which made it difficult to do all the rolling up and packing away without getting everything wet. But, you know, I managed. After a quick stop at a convenience store to change my clothes and brush my teeth, I headed north to Denver.
The whole Albuquerque/Roswell thing turned out to be kind of a bust. First of all, I don't know what I was thinking when I was planning it out, but it would have made much more sense to drive directly to Roswell from Tucson and then to Albuquerque or Santa Fe the next day. As it worked out, I drove all the way to Albuquerque, didn't have time or energy to do anything so I just went to the hotel. Then the next day I drove back down south to hit Roswell.
Roswell itself was not what I was expecting and I kind of wished I had skipped it altogether. First of all, they are so not into the alien thing as much as they should be, I think. Maybe one city block was dedicated to alien stuff and the rest was just an uberconservative rural town. I was so bummed by the half-heartedness of the alien museum I didn't even bother to pay money to see the inside. Instead, I went and had a pretty excellent Mexican dinner at the Capitol Cafe (recommended by a friend of a friend) and then just went back to my hotel room.
The one saving grace of the trip to Roswell was that on the way I missed my turn and ended up backtracking on a deserted country road with some of the most beautiful scenery I have seen in my life. It was one of those perfect moments where you know you're in exactly the right place at the right time. Fantastic.
So the next stop after Roswell was the Santa Fe National Forest. Driving into the forest was another incredible experience. Beautiful mountains, incredibly tall trees, a rushing stream...just fabulous. When I got to the campground it was a little crowded but I managed to find a decent site. I had chosen Holy Ghost campground because it was rumored to be haunted. I didn't so much expect to see any ghosts but I thought it might be fun to be a little scared.
Turns out the scariest thing about the campground wasn't the ghosts...it was the latrines. I had dealt with vault toilets (basically an elevated hole in the ground with a seat on it) in Joshua Tree and, while they weren't all that pleasant, I could certainly deal with them. It helped that the bathrooms there were big and bright and the climate was such that there wasn't a ton of flying insect activity. Not so in the SF Natl Forest. Oh dear. Okay, first there's the smell. Naturally, a big hole in the ground filled with excrement isn't going to act like a giant air freshener, but this was just overpoweringly gross. Then, there are the bugs. I warily moved the door aside to check everything out and I swear, it was like Amityville all of a sudden with the swarms of flies. Effing creepy. I did my best to shake them off of the door and kicked the side of the latrine to encourage any stragglers to depart. Then I closed the door behind me (sigh, it didn't close all the way, I had to hold it) and it was way too dark in there so I ran back to the car and grabbed my lantern. On my second approach, the majority of the bugs seemed to be gone, but I was still loath to expose my privatest business over a hole that might contain any number of horrifying crawly things. I was genuinely afraid. I had to stand there for a minute and talk myself down before I finally sucked it up and got the job done. Ugh...still makes me shudder to think about it.
The rest of the evening passed without incident. I got my tent set up, made some dinner, went for a lovely walk by Holy Ghost Creek while listening to the end of Sense and Sensibility (I love audiobooks), then hit the hay. The next day I got up early (of course) and packed everything up. No bugs on my tent this time, which was nice, but every little surface was covered with condensation which made it difficult to do all the rolling up and packing away without getting everything wet. But, you know, I managed. After a quick stop at a convenience store to change my clothes and brush my teeth, I headed north to Denver.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Joshua Tree 2 and a change in plans
The next morning I woke up pretty early again (this is becoming a pattern),this time due to more loud boy nonsense from the camp next door. I don't know if they actually slept at all. Anyway, morning in the desert is nice and cool, at least before the sun gets too high in the sky, so I decided to make the most of it and go do something. The day before I had driven past a sign for Key's View, a lookout point where you can supposedly see all the way to Mexico. I was of course intrigued.
So I drove the 20 minutes out to Key's View (still in the park...I told you it was enormous) and walked up the ramp to the viewpoint. I hate to be all jaded but the view, while pretty great, was nowhere near as fantastic as I wanted it to be. It was neat to be able to see the San Andreas Fault, and the mountains were beautiful, but it wasn't quite what I wanted. I did get to see some lizards up at Key's View and on the way back I actually saw a roadrunner (!) so it was still a worthwhile diversion, to be sure. Next I headed over to the Hidden Valley picnic area across from my campsite to check out the 1 mile Hidden Valley nature trail. The ranger had given me a newspaper with Joshua Tree info when I entered the park and one of the pages has a list of all of their trails. There are ten or so hiking trails and about the same number of "nature" trails, which I took to be a euphemism for, you know, your grandmother could walk this trail with no problem. Yes, well, my grandmothers probably could have..they were both tenacious old ladies...but I think most average people would have found the trail a little...challenging. I walk a mile to the gym and back twice a week, so I was all "oh a mile...piece of cake" but I had no idea what it would take to walk a mile over uneven, rocky terrain in the beating down sun. Luckily I had brought plenty of water with me, I had liberally doused myself in sunblock and I had my hat, so all that remained was to take my time and hike that trail.
Despite the unexpected toughness of the terrain, I loved the experience. I saw all sorts of incredible plant life up close, plus plenty of lizards and chipmunks. There were rock climbers on a rock bank in the middle of the trail so I stopped and watched them for a bit. Fascinating...I still may want to take that up one day. It was still early, so nobody else was on the trail for the most part, which was nice. When I got to the end of the trail I headed back to my campsite. I was roasting, the interior of the car was roasting, the sun was beating down on my tent, so I decided it might not be a horrible thing to go into town and do some laundry to escape the heat. So that's what I did. I had seen a laundromat in the town of Joshua Tree just before I entered the park, so I headed over there.
Laundry didn't take nearly enough time and I had no desire to hang out in the sun at that point so I decided to head into Yucca Valley in search of a movie theater. Luckily they had one...I saw a late matinee of The Taking of Pelham 123 which, I'm sorry to say, was one of the most ridiculous movies I've seen in a while, and by the time it was over it was 4pm and the sun was starting to set. I headed back to my campsite, a little irrationally nervous that someone might have either messed with my stuff or just poached my campsite altogether (since that day was a fee free day and the ranger had said it would probably get crazy crowded). Turns out I needn't have worried about what the other campers would do...nature was already messing with me.
When I got back to my site, my tent was gone. For a split second I started to freak out until I realized that the wind had just blown it away and it had rolled behind a giant rock. See, the thing about camping in the desert is that it's hard to stake your tent down. Either the soil is sandy which doesn't do a very good job of holding onto stakes, or, as in this case, the ground is solid rock a few inches down, so you can't drive stakes into it at all. My solution had been to weight the four corners of the tent down with heavy rocks, but apparently they were no match for the wind. That's another thing...it's really windy at Joshua Tree, which is nice when it takes the edge off the heat but not so nice when it's rattling your tent in the middle of the night.
So I managed to pull my tent back to where it should be, observed a few minor tears in the rain fly and scuffs on the tent poles, and reconfigured the whole heavy rock situation. After that I felt nervous about leaving the tent alone again, so I ended up not going to the star party I had been looking forward to. I did get to see the stars you can see with the naked eye, and let me tell you, the night sky in JT is lousy with them. Just exquisite. I sat up with my book and waited for it to get dark, then I spent a fair amount of time stargazing. Eventually I realized I was having trouble keeping my eyes open so I went to bed.
The next day I woke up early, ready to get out of the desert sun and get going, so I packed up my gear and got on the road. The way the park is configured, I could either go north 17 or so miles and leave the way I came, or I could drive down south, all the way through the park, maybe another 40 miles or so. One of the great things about being on a trip like this by myself is that I don't have to be in any particular hurry to get anywhere, so I decided to see the rest of the park. This is an experience I would recommend to anyone, especially at 7am. There are some incredible things to see in the southern part of the park (conversely, if you stay in the south you should take the time to drive up to the north...the vegetation is so different...but gorgeous in both places). Even the rock formations have a different character in the south. Also, I saw quail on my drive through the park...quail! At first it was just one and I was suitably excited but about a mile later I saw a quail parent followed by at least nine little quail babies! So that was definitely worth the extra time it took.
The plan for the day was to drive to Picacho Peak State Park between Phoenix and Tucson, AZ. When I was making this plan, it never occurred to me that a park in the middle of Arizona might be very deserty and hot, but as I got closer to it, I found myself wanting to stop less and less. The temperature was already above 100 and all I wanted at that point was some air conditioning and a bed. So I ditched Picacho Peak and dipped into my reserves to book a hotel room (btw, I pulled the car over and used my iPhone to find the best rate and book the room. Took ten minutes, tops. Such a handy little gadget). Once in the room I took a hard look at my itinerary and realized I needed to make some changes. The whole southern part of my trip would take me through some really hot temperatures and I knew I wasn't going to want to camp in that heat any more than I had that day.
So, change of plans. The next day, instead of continuing west I headed north to Albuquerque. Driving in New Mexico was such a glorious experience...there's never a moment when the scenery isn't beautiful. Also, I got to drive through Truth or Consequences, which was fun. In the end it looks like just another town, btw. Today I'm planning to head down to Roswell and see what all that alien business was about. Tomorrow it's back up to Santa Fe to camp for a few days in the Santa Fe National Forest, then out to Oklahoma City and then to Memphis before hitting Atlanta. Looks like I'll get to see Graceland after all!
xo,
C
So I drove the 20 minutes out to Key's View (still in the park...I told you it was enormous) and walked up the ramp to the viewpoint. I hate to be all jaded but the view, while pretty great, was nowhere near as fantastic as I wanted it to be. It was neat to be able to see the San Andreas Fault, and the mountains were beautiful, but it wasn't quite what I wanted. I did get to see some lizards up at Key's View and on the way back I actually saw a roadrunner (!) so it was still a worthwhile diversion, to be sure. Next I headed over to the Hidden Valley picnic area across from my campsite to check out the 1 mile Hidden Valley nature trail. The ranger had given me a newspaper with Joshua Tree info when I entered the park and one of the pages has a list of all of their trails. There are ten or so hiking trails and about the same number of "nature" trails, which I took to be a euphemism for, you know, your grandmother could walk this trail with no problem. Yes, well, my grandmothers probably could have..they were both tenacious old ladies...but I think most average people would have found the trail a little...challenging. I walk a mile to the gym and back twice a week, so I was all "oh a mile...piece of cake" but I had no idea what it would take to walk a mile over uneven, rocky terrain in the beating down sun. Luckily I had brought plenty of water with me, I had liberally doused myself in sunblock and I had my hat, so all that remained was to take my time and hike that trail.
Despite the unexpected toughness of the terrain, I loved the experience. I saw all sorts of incredible plant life up close, plus plenty of lizards and chipmunks. There were rock climbers on a rock bank in the middle of the trail so I stopped and watched them for a bit. Fascinating...I still may want to take that up one day. It was still early, so nobody else was on the trail for the most part, which was nice. When I got to the end of the trail I headed back to my campsite. I was roasting, the interior of the car was roasting, the sun was beating down on my tent, so I decided it might not be a horrible thing to go into town and do some laundry to escape the heat. So that's what I did. I had seen a laundromat in the town of Joshua Tree just before I entered the park, so I headed over there.
Laundry didn't take nearly enough time and I had no desire to hang out in the sun at that point so I decided to head into Yucca Valley in search of a movie theater. Luckily they had one...I saw a late matinee of The Taking of Pelham 123 which, I'm sorry to say, was one of the most ridiculous movies I've seen in a while, and by the time it was over it was 4pm and the sun was starting to set. I headed back to my campsite, a little irrationally nervous that someone might have either messed with my stuff or just poached my campsite altogether (since that day was a fee free day and the ranger had said it would probably get crazy crowded). Turns out I needn't have worried about what the other campers would do...nature was already messing with me.
When I got back to my site, my tent was gone. For a split second I started to freak out until I realized that the wind had just blown it away and it had rolled behind a giant rock. See, the thing about camping in the desert is that it's hard to stake your tent down. Either the soil is sandy which doesn't do a very good job of holding onto stakes, or, as in this case, the ground is solid rock a few inches down, so you can't drive stakes into it at all. My solution had been to weight the four corners of the tent down with heavy rocks, but apparently they were no match for the wind. That's another thing...it's really windy at Joshua Tree, which is nice when it takes the edge off the heat but not so nice when it's rattling your tent in the middle of the night.
So I managed to pull my tent back to where it should be, observed a few minor tears in the rain fly and scuffs on the tent poles, and reconfigured the whole heavy rock situation. After that I felt nervous about leaving the tent alone again, so I ended up not going to the star party I had been looking forward to. I did get to see the stars you can see with the naked eye, and let me tell you, the night sky in JT is lousy with them. Just exquisite. I sat up with my book and waited for it to get dark, then I spent a fair amount of time stargazing. Eventually I realized I was having trouble keeping my eyes open so I went to bed.
The next day I woke up early, ready to get out of the desert sun and get going, so I packed up my gear and got on the road. The way the park is configured, I could either go north 17 or so miles and leave the way I came, or I could drive down south, all the way through the park, maybe another 40 miles or so. One of the great things about being on a trip like this by myself is that I don't have to be in any particular hurry to get anywhere, so I decided to see the rest of the park. This is an experience I would recommend to anyone, especially at 7am. There are some incredible things to see in the southern part of the park (conversely, if you stay in the south you should take the time to drive up to the north...the vegetation is so different...but gorgeous in both places). Even the rock formations have a different character in the south. Also, I saw quail on my drive through the park...quail! At first it was just one and I was suitably excited but about a mile later I saw a quail parent followed by at least nine little quail babies! So that was definitely worth the extra time it took.
The plan for the day was to drive to Picacho Peak State Park between Phoenix and Tucson, AZ. When I was making this plan, it never occurred to me that a park in the middle of Arizona might be very deserty and hot, but as I got closer to it, I found myself wanting to stop less and less. The temperature was already above 100 and all I wanted at that point was some air conditioning and a bed. So I ditched Picacho Peak and dipped into my reserves to book a hotel room (btw, I pulled the car over and used my iPhone to find the best rate and book the room. Took ten minutes, tops. Such a handy little gadget). Once in the room I took a hard look at my itinerary and realized I needed to make some changes. The whole southern part of my trip would take me through some really hot temperatures and I knew I wasn't going to want to camp in that heat any more than I had that day.
So, change of plans. The next day, instead of continuing west I headed north to Albuquerque. Driving in New Mexico was such a glorious experience...there's never a moment when the scenery isn't beautiful. Also, I got to drive through Truth or Consequences, which was fun. In the end it looks like just another town, btw. Today I'm planning to head down to Roswell and see what all that alien business was about. Tomorrow it's back up to Santa Fe to camp for a few days in the Santa Fe National Forest, then out to Oklahoma City and then to Memphis before hitting Atlanta. Looks like I'll get to see Graceland after all!
xo,
C
Los Padres and Joshua Tree part 1
I confess, I am a total planner. Before any big undertaking I tend to draw up numerous lists, do all sorts of internet research, and yes, there are usually even spreadsheets involved. I love a good plan. The funny thing is, as much as I agonize over making the perfect plans, there are times when I delight in breaking them just as much. This is one of those times. But first...the desert!
So I left San Francisco on Thursday morning and headed out to Los Padres National Forest. At first, the campsite seemed not all that impressive. It was kind of small and really close to the road...hard to lose yourself in nature if cars keep flying by..and they did. Also, it seemed the only other inhabitants at this campground were a hippie couple living out of their van who liked to run their generator late into the night and an older gentleman named Bob who seemed to live there permanently in his RV(he functioned as the camp host and collected all of the fees and reminded people of the rules, etc). He seemed friendly enough but I remember thinking as I set my tent up that if I were writing a murder mystery about this campsite, he would totally be the secret murderer that nobody suspects until it's too late. So anyway, at first I was a little grumpy about the campsite. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw something furry pop out of a hole in the ground and scurry away and I was instantly delighted. I asked Bob what was living in the ground over there and his answer was 'ground squirrels', which was not the exotic prairie dog/kangaroo rat type thing I was hoping for, but I was excited to see wildlife nonetheless. I watched the ground squirrels for a while and attempted to get a good picture of them but they were very good at disappearing into their burrows when I got close enough for photography. Later that evening I also saw a fox (!) down by the road.
Los Padres was definitely growing on me because of the wildlife, but it was the stars that completely won me over. I had been sitting outside reading Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey all evening with the help of the book light Mom and Dad lent to me (thanks!) and when I started to get sleepy, I just happened to look up and was just struck by the number of stars in the sky. It was incredible, just incredible...a moment that begged to be shared with someone. Unfortunately the only people nearby were Bob, the hippies, and some late-arriving frat boys with their own generator and a giant cooler full of beers. So I enjoyed the stars by myself and then went to bed.
The next day I got to experience even more Los Padres wildlife as I came upon a couple of ant hills on my way to the bathroom that hadn't been there before. I always find it fascinating to watch great numbers of ants as they scurry around on top of each other getting their business done. I soon noticed that a lot of these ants had wings, which creeped me out a bit. Later I saw a million tiny specks flying away from the anthills, so I guess they had business to attend to. Luckily it wasn't the business of attacking me and consuming me from the inside out (I may have seen too many ant-based horror movies as a kid). Los Padres also had its fair share of other bugs, that had all decided to cling to my tent in the night. I hadn't experienced this with either of the other campsites I had been to...must be something specific about that climate that brings out the little bugs. Anyway, I shook off the tent, packed up the car, and headed down to Los Angeles for supplies before going to Joshua Tree. As it turns out, I needn't have bothered to stop because you can get anything you might need in the town of Yucca Valley, less than 20 miles before you get to the park. But I didn't know that, so I ended up getting off the freeway and going to a supermarket in Tarzana for water more sunscreen and other supplies (I had a craving for Pepperidge Farm Milanos for some reason...not the most practical desert food, but okay!).
I finally got to the park, paid my fees and headed off in search of a campsite. The vast majority of sites at Joshua Tree are first come first served, so I had some anxiety that I wouldn't be able to find a good site at the campground I wanted, but it wasn't necessary as there were several good sites left when I got there. The only thing my site didn't have that some of the other occupied sites did was natural shade. Kind of important in the desert. So it's around 3PM, I've just gotten to the park and claimed my site, and naturally the next thing I do is haul everything out and set the tent up. It didn't even occur to me to wait until later when it had cooled down...I was full steam ahead on getting everything squared away. Well, as you can imagine, I was freaking exhausted and roasting by the time I was done. All I wanted to do was get out of the sun somehow. So I pulled the chair into the tent, put batteries in my portable fan that I hadn't even had to use until now, and attempted to relax and read a little. There was a nice breeze outside but I had situated the tent next to a rock in an attempt to hopefully take advantage of natural shade at some other point in the day so the air inside was heavy and hot and not at all breezy, even with the fan.
Eventually I decided that I needed to cool down back to normal before I could be remotely comfortable at my site, so I hopped back in the car and drove around exploring a little bit. Thank god for air conditioning, seriously. Finally I was cooled down enough and enough time had passed to give me a little patch of shade on my site, so I dragged my chair into it and sat down with my book and a giant bottle of water. I read for a while, looking up when other campers drove into the area in search of a good site. Eventually the air was cool enough for me to get up and do a little exploring on foot. In situations like these, I find I'm constantly bumping up against things I believed were entirely off limits to me and realizing those beliefs are entirely false. Case in point: rock climbing. Now I'm not saying I'm going to go buy some crampons and rope and scale the tallest peak in the park (though instantly i'm thinking 'why not?' and wondering what kind of shape I would have to be in to take rock climbing lessons), but I'm certainly capable of doing a little simple climbing. There was a medium sized bank of rock behind my campsite that had a shady ledge that interested me. I thought it might be nice to climb up there and sit on the ledge and read my book some more. I couldn't readily see how to get up to the ledge from where I was at so I walked around the structure to an unoccupied campsite and climbed up from there. I think that's what I liked about it, the systematic problem-solving aspect of it. When I got to the ledge I felt elated and powerful, a big change from how defeated and weak I had felt when I was worn out from the heat. On the way back down I slipped a little and had to catch myself with my hand, giving me a little gravel indentation pattern on my palm for a few minutes. As I sat back in my chair I marveled at it and realized I hadn't felt that particular sting since I was a kid. It was an exhilarating feeling. I climbed up even higher a little later that day and again on the next.
The campsite on my right was occupied by an older couple with a complicated tent and a whole lot of gear, and the campsite to my left seemed like it would remain empty until a whole pack of extra testosterony guys pulled in around 8PM. They were...not quiet. They had also brought with them some kind of gun-type thing (expressly forbidden in the park, btw) that they kept shooting off, well into the night. Some of their conversations were definitely not for the faint of heart (there were a lot of drunk stories and sex stories and drunken sex stories) but they were such caricatures of men I just had to laugh at a number of boneheaded things they had to say. They didn't really quiet down much or stop shooting their gun-type thing all night but luckily the desert heat had wiped me out enough that I was able to sleep through most of it.
So I left San Francisco on Thursday morning and headed out to Los Padres National Forest. At first, the campsite seemed not all that impressive. It was kind of small and really close to the road...hard to lose yourself in nature if cars keep flying by..and they did. Also, it seemed the only other inhabitants at this campground were a hippie couple living out of their van who liked to run their generator late into the night and an older gentleman named Bob who seemed to live there permanently in his RV(he functioned as the camp host and collected all of the fees and reminded people of the rules, etc). He seemed friendly enough but I remember thinking as I set my tent up that if I were writing a murder mystery about this campsite, he would totally be the secret murderer that nobody suspects until it's too late. So anyway, at first I was a little grumpy about the campsite. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw something furry pop out of a hole in the ground and scurry away and I was instantly delighted. I asked Bob what was living in the ground over there and his answer was 'ground squirrels', which was not the exotic prairie dog/kangaroo rat type thing I was hoping for, but I was excited to see wildlife nonetheless. I watched the ground squirrels for a while and attempted to get a good picture of them but they were very good at disappearing into their burrows when I got close enough for photography. Later that evening I also saw a fox (!) down by the road.
Los Padres was definitely growing on me because of the wildlife, but it was the stars that completely won me over. I had been sitting outside reading Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey all evening with the help of the book light Mom and Dad lent to me (thanks!) and when I started to get sleepy, I just happened to look up and was just struck by the number of stars in the sky. It was incredible, just incredible...a moment that begged to be shared with someone. Unfortunately the only people nearby were Bob, the hippies, and some late-arriving frat boys with their own generator and a giant cooler full of beers. So I enjoyed the stars by myself and then went to bed.
The next day I got to experience even more Los Padres wildlife as I came upon a couple of ant hills on my way to the bathroom that hadn't been there before. I always find it fascinating to watch great numbers of ants as they scurry around on top of each other getting their business done. I soon noticed that a lot of these ants had wings, which creeped me out a bit. Later I saw a million tiny specks flying away from the anthills, so I guess they had business to attend to. Luckily it wasn't the business of attacking me and consuming me from the inside out (I may have seen too many ant-based horror movies as a kid). Los Padres also had its fair share of other bugs, that had all decided to cling to my tent in the night. I hadn't experienced this with either of the other campsites I had been to...must be something specific about that climate that brings out the little bugs. Anyway, I shook off the tent, packed up the car, and headed down to Los Angeles for supplies before going to Joshua Tree. As it turns out, I needn't have bothered to stop because you can get anything you might need in the town of Yucca Valley, less than 20 miles before you get to the park. But I didn't know that, so I ended up getting off the freeway and going to a supermarket in Tarzana for water more sunscreen and other supplies (I had a craving for Pepperidge Farm Milanos for some reason...not the most practical desert food, but okay!).
I finally got to the park, paid my fees and headed off in search of a campsite. The vast majority of sites at Joshua Tree are first come first served, so I had some anxiety that I wouldn't be able to find a good site at the campground I wanted, but it wasn't necessary as there were several good sites left when I got there. The only thing my site didn't have that some of the other occupied sites did was natural shade. Kind of important in the desert. So it's around 3PM, I've just gotten to the park and claimed my site, and naturally the next thing I do is haul everything out and set the tent up. It didn't even occur to me to wait until later when it had cooled down...I was full steam ahead on getting everything squared away. Well, as you can imagine, I was freaking exhausted and roasting by the time I was done. All I wanted to do was get out of the sun somehow. So I pulled the chair into the tent, put batteries in my portable fan that I hadn't even had to use until now, and attempted to relax and read a little. There was a nice breeze outside but I had situated the tent next to a rock in an attempt to hopefully take advantage of natural shade at some other point in the day so the air inside was heavy and hot and not at all breezy, even with the fan.
Eventually I decided that I needed to cool down back to normal before I could be remotely comfortable at my site, so I hopped back in the car and drove around exploring a little bit. Thank god for air conditioning, seriously. Finally I was cooled down enough and enough time had passed to give me a little patch of shade on my site, so I dragged my chair into it and sat down with my book and a giant bottle of water. I read for a while, looking up when other campers drove into the area in search of a good site. Eventually the air was cool enough for me to get up and do a little exploring on foot. In situations like these, I find I'm constantly bumping up against things I believed were entirely off limits to me and realizing those beliefs are entirely false. Case in point: rock climbing. Now I'm not saying I'm going to go buy some crampons and rope and scale the tallest peak in the park (though instantly i'm thinking 'why not?' and wondering what kind of shape I would have to be in to take rock climbing lessons), but I'm certainly capable of doing a little simple climbing. There was a medium sized bank of rock behind my campsite that had a shady ledge that interested me. I thought it might be nice to climb up there and sit on the ledge and read my book some more. I couldn't readily see how to get up to the ledge from where I was at so I walked around the structure to an unoccupied campsite and climbed up from there. I think that's what I liked about it, the systematic problem-solving aspect of it. When I got to the ledge I felt elated and powerful, a big change from how defeated and weak I had felt when I was worn out from the heat. On the way back down I slipped a little and had to catch myself with my hand, giving me a little gravel indentation pattern on my palm for a few minutes. As I sat back in my chair I marveled at it and realized I hadn't felt that particular sting since I was a kid. It was an exhilarating feeling. I climbed up even higher a little later that day and again on the next.
The campsite on my right was occupied by an older couple with a complicated tent and a whole lot of gear, and the campsite to my left seemed like it would remain empty until a whole pack of extra testosterony guys pulled in around 8PM. They were...not quiet. They had also brought with them some kind of gun-type thing (expressly forbidden in the park, btw) that they kept shooting off, well into the night. Some of their conversations were definitely not for the faint of heart (there were a lot of drunk stories and sex stories and drunken sex stories) but they were such caricatures of men I just had to laugh at a number of boneheaded things they had to say. They didn't really quiet down much or stop shooting their gun-type thing all night but luckily the desert heat had wiped me out enough that I was able to sleep through most of it.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
San Francisco
One of the cool things about hostels, at least the two I've been to so far, is that they give you free continental breakfast. Apparently here continental just means toast, bagels and coffee, but it was free so it was perfectly fine with me. This hostel used to be a hotel and they do the breakfast in a little restaurant off the lobby so there's limited seating. About halfway through my first piece of toast, a total stranger (!) asked if she could sit at my table. I'm trying to stop being such a timid mouse around new people (and also, what am I going to say? Leave me alone so I can eat my toast in peace?) so of course I said yes and she sat down. I got up for more toast and coffee and she got up to get her breakfast arranged but finally we were both sitting down and had no choice but to talk to each other.
I'm pretty sure she talked first, maybe asked me where I'm from, I don't remember. Anyway, we had a nice discussion about where we were each from, what brought us to the hostel, etc (her name's Kelly, she lives in nearby Stockton, CA but she takes classes in SF and the commute is too much to make several times a week so she stays at the hostel in between). I mentioned I was thinking of going to Golden Gate Park today and she pointed out the free day for the science museum she was planning to go to and suggested we head over there together. So yes, I met a complete stranger at breakfast at the hostel and we went and did something fun. That actually happens. Crazy.
So we took the bus over to GGP, which I enjoyed immensely because it seems no matter where I go, taking the bus is pretty much the same. For a moment, I felt entirely in my element. :)
When we got to the park we found that the line for the science museum (California Academy of Sciences, to be technical) was genuinely, literally, a mile long. Clearly folks in San Fran enjoy their free museum days. Kelly had a class in a few hours so waiting wasn't an option. We headed instead to the nearby de Young art museum where we did have to pay to get in but at least there was no waiting. We saw just about everything on the main floor which included the Art of the Americas and the Collection of Contemporary Craft (which contained several beautiful glass pieces by Dale Chihuly). There was another floor and a half of art to see, but at that point I was getting tired of looking so we found a bench to hang out on while Kelly figured out how to get to class from the museum. Soon afterward she took off to her class and I headed next door to check out the Japanese Tea Garden.
I had read great things about the Tea Garden but maybe I was too tired to appreciate it or maybe there were just too many people. I kept hoping I could find a quiet corner and relax and think about things but there weren't any quiet corners. I took some photos and found a bench outside to figure out my next move. I had seen some information about the Conservatory of Flowers online but I didn't quite know where it was in the park so I just started walking in what I hoped was the right general direction. I like to think I have a pretty good sense of direction, so it was gratifying to see the conservatory roof peeking over the trees before long.
I was hoping for a giant room overflowing with gorgeous colorful flowers that you hardly ever get a chance to see in nature, like a Portland garden times 100, but it turns out when they say flowers, they really just mean plants. Bummer. Still, there were some interesting plants and a handful of beautiful flowers for me to see so I enjoyed myself anyway. The rooms had to be sweltering and humid to provide the right environment for the plants to thrive, but at the same time the humidity sucked all of the energy right out of me. When I got to the gift shop (which they must plan somehow) I was all worn out and ready to buy things :D Somehow the voice of reason chimed in to remind me that no matter how many lovely seed packets and growing pots I bought, I was still likely to kill these plants too, so I should save my cash. Good advice, especially since I'm about to go to the desert so anything that might be alive now would probably not thrive there regardless of my influence.
At that point, I was all out of juice so I figured out where the stop was and caught a bus back to the hostel. If I had more days here I'd go see more things, but tomorrow I'm off to Santa Barbara and the Los Padres National Forest. It may be July before I have internet access again, so until then...
xo,
C
I'm pretty sure she talked first, maybe asked me where I'm from, I don't remember. Anyway, we had a nice discussion about where we were each from, what brought us to the hostel, etc (her name's Kelly, she lives in nearby Stockton, CA but she takes classes in SF and the commute is too much to make several times a week so she stays at the hostel in between). I mentioned I was thinking of going to Golden Gate Park today and she pointed out the free day for the science museum she was planning to go to and suggested we head over there together. So yes, I met a complete stranger at breakfast at the hostel and we went and did something fun. That actually happens. Crazy.
So we took the bus over to GGP, which I enjoyed immensely because it seems no matter where I go, taking the bus is pretty much the same. For a moment, I felt entirely in my element. :)
When we got to the park we found that the line for the science museum (California Academy of Sciences, to be technical) was genuinely, literally, a mile long. Clearly folks in San Fran enjoy their free museum days. Kelly had a class in a few hours so waiting wasn't an option. We headed instead to the nearby de Young art museum where we did have to pay to get in but at least there was no waiting. We saw just about everything on the main floor which included the Art of the Americas and the Collection of Contemporary Craft (which contained several beautiful glass pieces by Dale Chihuly). There was another floor and a half of art to see, but at that point I was getting tired of looking so we found a bench to hang out on while Kelly figured out how to get to class from the museum. Soon afterward she took off to her class and I headed next door to check out the Japanese Tea Garden.
I had read great things about the Tea Garden but maybe I was too tired to appreciate it or maybe there were just too many people. I kept hoping I could find a quiet corner and relax and think about things but there weren't any quiet corners. I took some photos and found a bench outside to figure out my next move. I had seen some information about the Conservatory of Flowers online but I didn't quite know where it was in the park so I just started walking in what I hoped was the right general direction. I like to think I have a pretty good sense of direction, so it was gratifying to see the conservatory roof peeking over the trees before long.
I was hoping for a giant room overflowing with gorgeous colorful flowers that you hardly ever get a chance to see in nature, like a Portland garden times 100, but it turns out when they say flowers, they really just mean plants. Bummer. Still, there were some interesting plants and a handful of beautiful flowers for me to see so I enjoyed myself anyway. The rooms had to be sweltering and humid to provide the right environment for the plants to thrive, but at the same time the humidity sucked all of the energy right out of me. When I got to the gift shop (which they must plan somehow) I was all worn out and ready to buy things :D Somehow the voice of reason chimed in to remind me that no matter how many lovely seed packets and growing pots I bought, I was still likely to kill these plants too, so I should save my cash. Good advice, especially since I'm about to go to the desert so anything that might be alive now would probably not thrive there regardless of my influence.
At that point, I was all out of juice so I figured out where the stop was and caught a bus back to the hostel. If I had more days here I'd go see more things, but tomorrow I'm off to Santa Barbara and the Los Padres National Forest. It may be July before I have internet access again, so until then...
xo,
C
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
The journey begins...
I'm at a hostel in San Francisco! I'm only three days into the trip but I've already had some pretty great experiences. Here's how the past three days went:
Of course I stayed up late Saturday, packing and stressing, so Sunday morning I was pretty beat. I finally dragged myself out of bed around 9 and headed for the bus to the car rental place. When I got there, they actually had the nerve to try to rent me a Yaris and say it was a mid-size (the class I had reserved and paid extra for). Oh hell no! They didn't have anything else "mid-size" available but apparently because I'm renting for such a long time, I have the option of swapping the car out one time if I'm not satisfied. Well, I won't lie, I really tried at first to be satisfied with the Yaris. It must be my inborn people-pleasing gene that doesn't want to make a fuss. But I sat in it for a little bit and thought about how far I was going to have to drive this thing and how uncomfortable it would be around mile 6 (much less mile 6000) and I knew I had to swap it out. So I went to the airport where they apparently have the giant car selection. I was completely prepared for them to give me trouble but it was a piece of cake and they swapped it out for a pimpin Corolla. Not only is it a bigger, cushier car, this one had an aux jack in the stereo so I could just plug in my MP3 player. Score!
So anyway, finally I got the car home, loaded up all of my crap (there was a LOT of it, if you can imagine, despite my attempts to minimize my load) and got on my way to my parents' house only about two hours late. A quick lunch and some hugs later, I was on the open road! Woohoo!
I pulled into Honeyman State Park around 6pm, found my site and unpacked the tent. It took me a little while to get over the awkward feeling that everyone around me was staring at me. Of course they were all busy with their own camping business and weren't worried about mine, and finally I was able to just relax and do my thing. There was one other solo camper in the site next to mine. He rode in on a motorcycle (I bet Mom and Dad are excited to hear that!) and instead of a tent was using one of those camping hammock thingies. He seemed friendly enough and kept to himself just like I did. The rest of the campers were families with small children...lots of them. They were not quiet, but I expected that so it wasn't a big deal.
After dinner (made flawlessly on Mom and Dad's camp stove. Thanks guys!) I grabbed my laptop and ducked into the tent to relax. No wireless access, as expected, but I knew I had some episodes of House plus the entire 1995 Pride and Prejudice miniseries on there, so I thought it might be nice to check out for a little while and watch something. It was such a nice feeling, to be totally out of my element but have a little bit of normal in the middle of it. It really made the first night a lot less stressful.
That night I did not sleep well. I don't think my sleeping pad was fully inflated, plus it's hard to adjust to sleeping in a sleeping bag since you can't really toss and turn unless you're planning on taking the whole thing with you. On top of that, I can't use my CPAP at campsites that don't have electrical hookups, so that made it harder to sleep as well. But, you know, it's camping. It's not supposed to feel like a four star hotel. I woke up pretty early in the morning, had some cereal, then got packed up and ready to go.
Day two was a nice drive. I took the 101 down to Redwood National Park (just north of Eureka, CA) and there were an unbelievable number of scenic points and overlooks and viewing sites. I managed to get photos of a couple of them but there came a point where I had to decide between documenting and driving. I felt guilty about it though...here's all this beauty and I'm not even taking pictures of it! But you know, I'd still be on the road right now if I had stopped as much as I wanted.
I got to Redwood NP around 3. My campsite was just gorgeous. Not only was it surrounded by these incredible redwoods, there was a giant one right in the middle of my site with this huge root structure sticking up out of the ground, just begging to be played on. Also the site had these giant prehistoric-looking ferns. I drove around a bit and looked at the other sites and honestly, I think I lucked out with the best one. If you ever go camping there, get site 20.
It was a little chilly out so I bought some firewood and built a fire while I put up the tent and cooked dinner. It took a little while for everything to catch but finally it did and I had a fantastic fire going. I was sitting in a folding camp chair and couldn't seem to get close enough to be warmed by the fire, so finally I gave up and stood right next to the firepit and got toasty. I had brought this Pema Chodron book, one of my favorites that Brian and Margaret gave me at some point last year (thanks guys!), and since I was feeling a bit aimless, disconnected and lost, I figured it might be a good time for some Pema. So I had a fantastic evening of warming myself by the fire, reading Pema Chodron, and cultivating my own fearlessness. Awesome.
The next day (that's this morning!) I headed out pretty early, maybe 6 or 7 am. The first cool thing I saw was a family of elk in the field across from the campsites. There was also an elk with antlers chillin by the 101 on ramp. Clearly they're used to cars and people. Redwood to San Francisco was about a 5 and a half hour drive. Interesting sites on the way included the Avenue of the Giants which was an incredible scenic route. There were also several sites where you could drive through a tree, which sounded so much more exciting than it actually was. Yes, I paid five bucks to see this marvel. I was picturing this enormous too-big-to-be-believed tree that the highway pavers couldn't in good conscience move, so they had to cut through it. I expected a giant roadway through this behemoth tree. In reality, it was just a normal-sized redwood (which is still pretty big) with a space big enough for an SUV to squeak through. It wasn't even on a road. Bah. So if you're ever in the area and you see signs for a Drive Thru tree....don't do it. You will regret it.
The rest of the drive was fairly uneventful. Oh, except for Golden Gate Bridge! I didn't even realize when I was planning my route that it would take me right over the bridge but it did. Luckily I had noticed this on the map about halfway there because Golden Gate is a toll bridge and I had to get some more cash to pay for the toll ($6!). Anyway, going across the bridge was just breathtaking. It is enormous and beautiful and exactly as you would expect. Well worth $6 for that experience.
Finally I found the hostel, got parking squared away, got up to my room, took the most satisfying shower of my entire life, put on some clean clothes and headed out into the neighborhood in search of dinner. It turns out the hostel is in the middle of the Little Saigon neighborhood which is...well, a little shady. The hostel itself is very nice (especially for only $30 a night in San Francisco) but, let's just say I'm not planning on doing much exploring on foot around here. I did have a creepy guy on the street call me beautiful though, so maybe I'm judging too harshly (This happens to me frequently in Portland. I don't know what it is about down-on-their-luck gentlemen everywhere but they've got a definite type and I'm it). For the most part, I just tried to affect my best tough-guy, don't bother me, I'm headed somewhere in particular and I know exactly where it is and also I have a knife look and people left me alone. There are (surprisingly, right?) a whole lot of Vietnamese restaurants around here but I managed to find a couple of decent-looking Thai places. One of them had a picture of Keanu Reeves eating there in the window, so that just made the decision for me. If there's one thing I love about Keanu it's his impeccable taste in Thai food, probably.
So that's where I am now. I'll be staying the whole day tomorrow in San Fran. As of yet I have no idea what I'm going to do with the day. I'm sure when I figure it out I'll tell you guys all about it.
xo,
C
PS: Photos
Of course I stayed up late Saturday, packing and stressing, so Sunday morning I was pretty beat. I finally dragged myself out of bed around 9 and headed for the bus to the car rental place. When I got there, they actually had the nerve to try to rent me a Yaris and say it was a mid-size (the class I had reserved and paid extra for). Oh hell no! They didn't have anything else "mid-size" available but apparently because I'm renting for such a long time, I have the option of swapping the car out one time if I'm not satisfied. Well, I won't lie, I really tried at first to be satisfied with the Yaris. It must be my inborn people-pleasing gene that doesn't want to make a fuss. But I sat in it for a little bit and thought about how far I was going to have to drive this thing and how uncomfortable it would be around mile 6 (much less mile 6000) and I knew I had to swap it out. So I went to the airport where they apparently have the giant car selection. I was completely prepared for them to give me trouble but it was a piece of cake and they swapped it out for a pimpin Corolla. Not only is it a bigger, cushier car, this one had an aux jack in the stereo so I could just plug in my MP3 player. Score!
So anyway, finally I got the car home, loaded up all of my crap (there was a LOT of it, if you can imagine, despite my attempts to minimize my load) and got on my way to my parents' house only about two hours late. A quick lunch and some hugs later, I was on the open road! Woohoo!
I pulled into Honeyman State Park around 6pm, found my site and unpacked the tent. It took me a little while to get over the awkward feeling that everyone around me was staring at me. Of course they were all busy with their own camping business and weren't worried about mine, and finally I was able to just relax and do my thing. There was one other solo camper in the site next to mine. He rode in on a motorcycle (I bet Mom and Dad are excited to hear that!) and instead of a tent was using one of those camping hammock thingies. He seemed friendly enough and kept to himself just like I did. The rest of the campers were families with small children...lots of them. They were not quiet, but I expected that so it wasn't a big deal.
After dinner (made flawlessly on Mom and Dad's camp stove. Thanks guys!) I grabbed my laptop and ducked into the tent to relax. No wireless access, as expected, but I knew I had some episodes of House plus the entire 1995 Pride and Prejudice miniseries on there, so I thought it might be nice to check out for a little while and watch something. It was such a nice feeling, to be totally out of my element but have a little bit of normal in the middle of it. It really made the first night a lot less stressful.
That night I did not sleep well. I don't think my sleeping pad was fully inflated, plus it's hard to adjust to sleeping in a sleeping bag since you can't really toss and turn unless you're planning on taking the whole thing with you. On top of that, I can't use my CPAP at campsites that don't have electrical hookups, so that made it harder to sleep as well. But, you know, it's camping. It's not supposed to feel like a four star hotel. I woke up pretty early in the morning, had some cereal, then got packed up and ready to go.
Day two was a nice drive. I took the 101 down to Redwood National Park (just north of Eureka, CA) and there were an unbelievable number of scenic points and overlooks and viewing sites. I managed to get photos of a couple of them but there came a point where I had to decide between documenting and driving. I felt guilty about it though...here's all this beauty and I'm not even taking pictures of it! But you know, I'd still be on the road right now if I had stopped as much as I wanted.
I got to Redwood NP around 3. My campsite was just gorgeous. Not only was it surrounded by these incredible redwoods, there was a giant one right in the middle of my site with this huge root structure sticking up out of the ground, just begging to be played on. Also the site had these giant prehistoric-looking ferns. I drove around a bit and looked at the other sites and honestly, I think I lucked out with the best one. If you ever go camping there, get site 20.
It was a little chilly out so I bought some firewood and built a fire while I put up the tent and cooked dinner. It took a little while for everything to catch but finally it did and I had a fantastic fire going. I was sitting in a folding camp chair and couldn't seem to get close enough to be warmed by the fire, so finally I gave up and stood right next to the firepit and got toasty. I had brought this Pema Chodron book, one of my favorites that Brian and Margaret gave me at some point last year (thanks guys!), and since I was feeling a bit aimless, disconnected and lost, I figured it might be a good time for some Pema. So I had a fantastic evening of warming myself by the fire, reading Pema Chodron, and cultivating my own fearlessness. Awesome.
The next day (that's this morning!) I headed out pretty early, maybe 6 or 7 am. The first cool thing I saw was a family of elk in the field across from the campsites. There was also an elk with antlers chillin by the 101 on ramp. Clearly they're used to cars and people. Redwood to San Francisco was about a 5 and a half hour drive. Interesting sites on the way included the Avenue of the Giants which was an incredible scenic route. There were also several sites where you could drive through a tree, which sounded so much more exciting than it actually was. Yes, I paid five bucks to see this marvel. I was picturing this enormous too-big-to-be-believed tree that the highway pavers couldn't in good conscience move, so they had to cut through it. I expected a giant roadway through this behemoth tree. In reality, it was just a normal-sized redwood (which is still pretty big) with a space big enough for an SUV to squeak through. It wasn't even on a road. Bah. So if you're ever in the area and you see signs for a Drive Thru tree....don't do it. You will regret it.
The rest of the drive was fairly uneventful. Oh, except for Golden Gate Bridge! I didn't even realize when I was planning my route that it would take me right over the bridge but it did. Luckily I had noticed this on the map about halfway there because Golden Gate is a toll bridge and I had to get some more cash to pay for the toll ($6!). Anyway, going across the bridge was just breathtaking. It is enormous and beautiful and exactly as you would expect. Well worth $6 for that experience.
Finally I found the hostel, got parking squared away, got up to my room, took the most satisfying shower of my entire life, put on some clean clothes and headed out into the neighborhood in search of dinner. It turns out the hostel is in the middle of the Little Saigon neighborhood which is...well, a little shady. The hostel itself is very nice (especially for only $30 a night in San Francisco) but, let's just say I'm not planning on doing much exploring on foot around here. I did have a creepy guy on the street call me beautiful though, so maybe I'm judging too harshly (This happens to me frequently in Portland. I don't know what it is about down-on-their-luck gentlemen everywhere but they've got a definite type and I'm it). For the most part, I just tried to affect my best tough-guy, don't bother me, I'm headed somewhere in particular and I know exactly where it is and also I have a knife look and people left me alone. There are (surprisingly, right?) a whole lot of Vietnamese restaurants around here but I managed to find a couple of decent-looking Thai places. One of them had a picture of Keanu Reeves eating there in the window, so that just made the decision for me. If there's one thing I love about Keanu it's his impeccable taste in Thai food, probably.
So that's where I am now. I'll be staying the whole day tomorrow in San Fran. As of yet I have no idea what I'm going to do with the day. I'm sure when I figure it out I'll tell you guys all about it.
xo,
C
PS: Photos
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Carrie, have your say!
If you were to ask me what my worst nightmare personally would be, I'd say it would probably involve being asked to speak intelligently on world affairs in front of a room full of strangers. It's just not my area of expertise, see, and the thought of looking stupid in front of people just horrifies me.
Funny story...earlier this week I was asked to participate in a BBC program called World Have Your Say. I had spoken on the program before, on fat issues, and this week they were broadcasting live in Portland. The producer I spoke to didn't know what the topic was going to be ahead of time, so I went in blind, hoping I would have something to contribute. Well, when I walked into the room it was worst nightmare time: The topic was the upcoming election in Iran. Dun dun dunnnnn!
Before we went on the air, the host went around the room and asked us all what we would like to ask the folks in Iran about the election. My response? "Um...." There were a lot of knowledgeable folks in the room with some great questions and I learned a lot just by listening to the discussions on the program, but yeah, it was pretty humbling to have absolutely no idea what to say about this landmark election that EVERYBODY else had an opinion about.
The upside is, now I've been through my nightmare scenario and totally survived. Honestly, after the initial embarrassment and stupid-feeling, I got to watch these people produce a fascinating radio show and I had a pretty good time. Also, school is over and I get to go on my trip in three days. Maybe I'm an idiot about world affairs, but I'm about to learn a whole lot about the US!
There I am in the middle, NOT contributing to the discussion :)
The next time I talk to you, I'll be on the road! How exciting!!
xo,
C
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
The singlehood acceptance movement
I'm beginning to think that the process of dating has very, very little to do with falling in love.
I had an epiphany yesterday on the way to the gym that being single in our society is a lot like being fat. The general opinion of singlehood is a negative one, everyone assumes you would rather be coupled, if you're not there's a subtle but very real implication that it's because you're doing something wrong, people get into unhealthy relationships with people they don't really love because of the pressure to not be single, and even if you do manage to enter into a relationship, chances are high that it won't work out and you'll be right back to single again. Anyway, yesterday it was all too clear to me that there are a number of parallels.
This led me to an interesting idea. Obviously I've been frustrated with my singlehood for some time now (you may have noticed the thousand posts on this topic). I began to wonder what would happen if I approached singlehood the way I approach fat. For instance, I could do the following single-positive things:
Does it sound ridiculous? Maybe. But maybe fat acceptance sounded ridiculous back in the day. Maybe gay equality or feminism sounded like silly things when they were first conceived. The fact is, like losing weight and keeping it off, it is next to impossible to control if or when you fall in love. It seems beneficial, then, to stop worrying about being coupled so much, right?. The way I see it, my body is just fine, my life is just fine, and I've got far healthier, more important things to do with both of them than worry.
xo,
C
I had an epiphany yesterday on the way to the gym that being single in our society is a lot like being fat. The general opinion of singlehood is a negative one, everyone assumes you would rather be coupled, if you're not there's a subtle but very real implication that it's because you're doing something wrong, people get into unhealthy relationships with people they don't really love because of the pressure to not be single, and even if you do manage to enter into a relationship, chances are high that it won't work out and you'll be right back to single again. Anyway, yesterday it was all too clear to me that there are a number of parallels.
This led me to an interesting idea. Obviously I've been frustrated with my singlehood for some time now (you may have noticed the thousand posts on this topic). I began to wonder what would happen if I approached singlehood the way I approach fat. For instance, I could do the following single-positive things:
- Remind myself that families come in all shapes and sizes and mine is perfectly okay the way it is
- Practice 'intuitive living' by figuring out, at any given moment, what I really want to do instead of what I 'should' be doing (attempting in some way to attract a partner)
- Combat singlehood shaming by appearing out in public by myself (at restaurants, movies, etc) and having a good time
- Dress and adorn myself in a way that is comfortable and appeals to me as opposed to dressing to attract admirers (hence the blue hair :)
- Refuse to participate in single-bashing or relationship coveting
- Notice when the popular media portray singlehood as something negative or to be avoided
- Make a list of the benefits of singlehood and refer back to it when in a slump (done and done)
- Encourage my other single friends to recognize the good things about their singleness
Does it sound ridiculous? Maybe. But maybe fat acceptance sounded ridiculous back in the day. Maybe gay equality or feminism sounded like silly things when they were first conceived. The fact is, like losing weight and keeping it off, it is next to impossible to control if or when you fall in love. It seems beneficial, then, to stop worrying about being coupled so much, right?. The way I see it, my body is just fine, my life is just fine, and I've got far healthier, more important things to do with both of them than worry.
xo,
C
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