Category Archives: Vacation

Trips and flights of fancy.

Vacation

FST : Day 8 – Shamrock TX to Home (640 mi)

After yet another night of illness for me last night, we decided to point the Big Green Box for home. In truth, we were dancing on the fence about possibly heading to Suck Creek Mountain as late as going through Oklahoma City, but we decided to just push for home, and get me back into some familiar territory. It’s always nicer to recover in your own bed.

Today’s was a long leg of driving. It’d be long when feeling the best you could, but with a none-too-well-functioning body, it seemed interminable. We crossed from Texas to Oklahoma, and then to Missouri, and the end of the line for this trip could be seen. We arrived home, Beck went to pick up the dogs, and all seemed right with the world.

You can’t control illness, and I’ve been very fortunate to have been lucky enough to not fall significantly ill during our travels. This year, though, the odds caught up with me, and our vacation planning was cratered. We’ve decided to call this a “scouting trip” for travel in the future. We’ve also agreed that next time, we’ll do Monument Valley first, which forces us on a southern route to travel west. We’d then travel up to Moab, and return again through a southern route. Those steps will keep us out of the really high mountains in Colorado, and perhaps spare us some of the struggle we had along the way.

We definitely want to stay at The View at Monument Valley, and see the dark skies and rock formations. I don’t know that we have to time that visit around a meteor shower (although that’d be cool), so we may end up splitting up as two trips the voyage to Monument Valley and Moab. Regardless of the pairing or splitting of those trips, they will definitely be made in spring, autumn or winter — no more treks into the desert in summer for us!

Photography, Vacation

FST : Day 7 – Santa Fe NM to Shamrock TX (370 mi)

Today, our eyes turned east as we wrapped up our stay in Santa Fe. Once again, we traipsed downstairs, expecting another zoo-like experience in the “free” breakfast arena at the hotel. As it ends up, there were no kids running around, and there was more on the agenda than just breakfast.

Remember the photographer Beck met in the hall? Well, he was at breakfast this morning, and I got a chance to talk with him. His name was Simon Biswas, and he’s in the midst of an 8-week cross-country trek. He was stuck in Santa Fe with a broken-down vehicle — one of the dangers of the road, I suppose. We talked about cameras, especially the Canon G10, and had a great conversation.

We asked Simon about his lodging, and he mentioned that he wasn’t using hotels (much), and was relying on the kindness of strangers through a site called CouchSurfing. My understanding is that folks announce their willingness to put up a stranger on their couch, and travelers sign up, and sleep on their couches. There’s a whole bunch of trust in that model, and I’m just not sure I’m trusting enough to either be the couchsurfer or the couch supplier. Still, it does sound like a cool way to meet a lot of folks, and see how folks in different parts of the country live.

All good things must come to an end, and our time to depart came. We said our goodbyes to Simon and went to load up the Jeep. I wish him well on his quest!

The highpoints on the travel leg today were the Cadillac Ranch and the Big Texan, both near Amarillo TX. We’ve been to both before, and both needed revisiting.

The Cadillac Ranch is a collection of ten classic Caddies, all buried nose down into farm land outside Amarillo. Passers-by are encouraged to stop, bring their spray paint, and leave their mark upon the classics. And mark they do. I’m not sure there’s a part of these cars — inside or out — that hasn’t been painted at one time or another. We brought paint, and left our mark, although we learned a few things in the process. First, our paint was waaaaaay to thin. Everything we sprayed ran miserably. It’s hard to make good characters and symbols when the paint is running like water down the car surfaces. Secondly, we need to bring Sharpies. There were loads of Sharpie-based scribbling on the Caddies, and that really seemed to work quite well. I think Sharpie makes a chisel-point marker that’s in excess of an inch wide — that oughta do.

Last time we visited, the weather was nasty, wet and muddy, and because of that, we had the place to ourselves. This time, the weather was hot and basically clear, so there were loads of folks around. We were there about 45 minutes, and ran across thirty other pilgrims to this site. That was cool. It was a neat community feeling. Each of us knew why we were there, and there was some camaraderie from that. Every now and then, someone would happen by that didn’t bring spray paint cans with them. Usually, they could find someone leaving who still had paint in their cans, and would pass ’em on. That was cool. We donated ours to a family that had stopped by, and had just finished dumpster diving at the site for cans with paint in them. To say the least, they were thrilled to get our leftovers.

Beck and I both shot quite a bit, much as we did last time. Almost everyone there had a camera, and were shooting not only what they’d painted, but other notables from the Caddies. You see, what was there today would be gone in a week or so as fresh paint replaced the old, so capturing what you saw while you were there was way important. There was even a pair of girls shooting with an old Polaroid SX-70! That was cool to see, although I don’t know how in the world they’re still finding film for the thing. I’m pretty sure the camera was older than they were.

Our next stop was the Big Texan, just 20 minutes down the road. This restaurant advertises both east and west on I-44 that they are home to a free 72-ounce steak… and that’s kinda true. The deal is that you have to woof the 4½ pound steak down — along with a salad, baked potato, dinner roll and shrimp cocktail — in an hour, and the meal is yours for free. No one was on the clock this go around, but we did ask about the cost of failure — $72, or a buck an ounce. And now, if you need inspiration, their web site has the records of the folks who’ve done it, and their stats (age, weight and time). Right now, one of the hot dog eating champions holds the record at just under nine minutes. That’s half a pound a minute, or two ounces every fifteen minutes. Sustained. Wow.

Last time we were here was an Easter a few years ago, and things were a little peculiar — Easter brunch was the rule, rather than normal steak operations. This time, we had a normal meal — for me, an 18-ounce ribeye — along with the fixings and some fantastically sweet tea. Great eats, even off the clock. 🙂

We continued our drive to Shamrock TX without much incident, aside from loads of road construction. The one bad thing that had crept up on us as we moved into the southern plains was the temperatures. Along with the cloudless skies and sunshine came ever-increasing temperatures, and by the time we got to our room in Shamrock, the Jeep was reporting that we were back to 100°… again. Fortunately, the room was palatial, and once again Shamrock presented itself as an oasis in the crazy heat.

Photography, Vacation

FST : Day 6 – Santa Fe

This morning, we planned our day around being at the Old Towne Square most of the day. The best way to start a day of exploration is with breakfast. We’d been selecting hotels with continental breakfast included. I know that “free” ain’t free — TANSTAAFL, ya know — but it’s just more convenient to not have to strike out in search of breakfast. However, this morning, we’d likely have been better off going elsewhere. There were kids everywhere, doing what kids do, and the community TV was tuned to Spongebob Squarepants. Urgh.

Once we hit the road, things got a little quieter, and we found ourselves near the Old Towne Square pretty quickly. The area was friendly, full of great shops and restaurants. A few stood out.

One of the first places we found was the Monroe Gallery. I’ve not been in too many galleries that focused specifically on photography, so finding this place was a real treat. The Monroe’s current exhibit, A Thousand Words, focuses on photojournalistic images, which is a little outside my normal experiential sphere, however, there were plenty of times when I had to blink back the mistiness from my eyes as I gazed upon some of these wonderful pieces. There were images by photographers I was familiar with (Eddie Adams and Joe McNally, for example), along with iconic images that I’d seen my whole life. These were serious prints too — values in the thousands and tens of thousands — as contrasted against what I print. Truthfully, this was photography as it should be… moving, emotionally, telling a complete story with no caption necessary. No epiphanies about my work from this — my photography is far, far away from photojournalistic — but I was touched, humbled and inspired to view a collection of masterpieces like this.

There were jewelry shops everywhere. Beck was “gentle” on only took in a few of them, and they were interesting. Plenty of nice pieces, unusual cuts, and not too terribly out of line pricewise. And there was everything you could want — rubies, moonstone, coins captured as jewelry… a very big selection. I think it’d be pretty easy to spend a full day just touring the jewelers’ shops, enjoying all the play-pretties.

For lunch, we stopped at the Atomic Grill. This place was a nice surprise. After wandering around in the 80° weather, we were ready for something light for lunch, and finally chose these guys from among the many choices downtown. They had loads of different beer (although surprisingly they didn’t carry Red Stripe), which under other circumstances would’ve been intriguing. However, after all I’d been through in the last few days, it was iced tea. 🙂 Beck and I each ordered a gyro, and man was it great! I was really surprised how light and flavorful it was. AG’s definitely a place I’ll revisited when I get back to Santa Fe.

After we returned to the hotel, and while on a search for a soda, Beck ran across a young guy and an older gentleman discussing photography. Had I not been so tired, I’d like to have joined them. The young guy was a Canon shooter, using a 5D and a G10. He sang the praises of the G10 to Beck… only a day after I’d done the same. You see, I’ve been finding it hard to pull out the 40D during the trip. The G10 is so small, easy to carry, and aside from superwide or super telephoto situations, it’s done everything I’d needed and anything I’ve asked. Folks looked at it, and weren’t intimated by the size, thinking it was just a point and shoot. And yet, I could do almost anything with it that my 40D would do. The young photographer basically said the same thing. Great minds, I guess.

Vacation

FST : Day 5 – Moab UT to Santa Fe NM (407 mi)

By comparison to yesterday’s infirmity, today I felt dramatically better — albeit still not quite normal. To get a sense of the temperatures we’ve been dealing with, you only have to look at this morning’s weather. When we got up (right around sunrise), the temperature was about 66°. Two hours later when we left the motel, it was almost 90°. It gets hot out here, and quickly.

And once we’d gained 1000′ of elevation above Moab, we got a little rain. Maybe enough to get the windshield wet, and then it was gone. Just a reminder of the water-hungry nature of this environment.

Shortly after we left Moab, we ran across Wilson Arch, which is outside the park, and right on the side of the road. Again, I was tempted to hike up to it — I hadn’t been inside any of the arches we’d encountered yet — but I still wasn’t quite up to the task. Kinda unfortunate, as this one would’ve been easy.

The rest of our trek southeast was largely uneventful, and an exercise of watching the outside temperature to confirm that we’d made a good decision to move in this direction. Through most of the afternoon, our trek across SE Utah and SW Colorado let us stay in reasonably constant temperatures in the 80s. This was a nice change. However, as we moved toward NW New Mexico, our temperatures rose as continued toward Bernilillo NM, where we found temperatures in high 90s. Between the higher-than-expected temperatures and hitting I-25 at rush hour, my spirits sank. However, the closer we got to Santa Fe, the more the traffic thinned, and the lower the temperatures sank. By the time we arrived at the hotel in Santa Fe, our temperatures were in the low 80s, and dropped quickly into the 70s as sunset approached. What a welcome change!

So why’d we pick Santa Fe for recharging our batteries? Well, we’d been through Santa Fe a few years ago, and didn’t get to spend much time looking around. We’ve heard so many good things about the city — especially the downtown area — that we thought it deserved another shake.

Our hotel was a bit of oddity. Apparently, the two-story hotels in Santa Fe don’t have elevators, which left us lugging our impressive pile o’ stuff up two stories. Not the most fun I’ve had. Add to that the room. Our room had a king bed, but had obviously had been designed with two queen beds in mind. You’d think that the hotel would fill some of that dead space with furniture — a table and chair, perhaps. Nope. We had the biggest deadspace I’ve ever seen in a hotel room. There could’ve had a massive game of Twister had on all that carpet.

Tomorrow — wandering the streets of Santa Fe.

Vacation

FST : Day 4 – Arches NP

Last night, both Beck and I were a little ill — not from the food, I’m sure. The more likely culprit was the heat and the mountain crossing through Colorado. Whatever the cause, the effect was some gastrointestinal distress and my waking up during the night with a massive, raging headache. By breakfast, I was just well enough to get out of bed, and grab breakfast at the motel’s restaurant. However, I was beginning to feel better, especially after eating, and Arches NP was just around the corner, so we gathered up our gear and supplies and headed north to Arches.

Arches was breathtaking. We only went about halfway up the main road through the park, electing to call it a day after three hours in the 100°+ heat. We did a little hiking around Balanced Rock, and it was after that hike that we decided the heat was too much. We drove to The Windows, and I really thought about hiking out to them, but I began feeling a little unwell, and that’s when we decided to head to our rented room.

The rest of the afternoon and night was horrible. My headache returned, and I could barely think straight. Becky took the opportunity to do the laundry, and brought me back a club sandwich from a local joint called Hogi Yogi, which was just what I needed. I was teetering on the edge of asking Beck to take me to a doctor to see what was going on. I knew this wasn’t normal, and I knew if it continued for long, I’d be in trouble. With a lot of fluid, my little sandwich, and lots of cold towels, I’ve come back to normal.

However, this ordeal was a hint and a half — I’m just not rigged for running in this kind of climate. It’s time to cry “uncle” and look for cooler climes. We’ve decided to forego the desert stay at this time, and journey toward Santa Fe where the weather is almost 20° cooler than Moab and the Four Corners region.

Rediscovering my intolerance of this kind of heat is heart-wrenching, as it means the end of our pursuit of the desert in this trip. Moab and Monument Valley will have to wait for another season, when the weather is cooler. Tomorrow, we’re off to Santa Fe, for a couple of days of recovery in the cooler weather.

Vacation

FST : Day 3 – Wheat Ridge CO to Moab UT (356mi)

Today’s trek took us from the green lushness of mid-Colorado to the extremely stark landscape of southeastern Utah. Along the way, we had some fun.

A few years ago, we crossed the high passes in Colorado, and really suffered for it. Apparently, I don’t do elevations above 10,000 feet very well. This time, we took it easy, drank lots of water, and took breaks as we crossed the passes. We even took a short hike at the Gore Range trailhead after we passed through the Eisenhower Tunnel. It seemed to make a big difference in how we felt after crossing through the big mountains.

Along the way, we stopped at the Glenwood Canyon rest area. This is a fantastic area, with access to raft the river, trails to hike, and plenty of space to ride a bike. (In fact, I think we saw more cyclists at the rest areas than I usually see on the Katy Trail. Coloradans really seem to enjoy pedaling.) This was a luscious area, and we could’ve easily spent hours and hours exploring it. Utah beckoned, and so we plowed on.

We arrived in Moab, and got checked in to the Big Horn Lodge. This is a classic-design motel, with the rooms filled with log-construction furniture, and wood plank walls. Really a step back in time, but still including color TV, high speed internet, fridge and microwave. Very nice place.

However, the temperatures were not. When we rolled into town, it was 103 degrees, and miserable. It’s hard to describe what the heat is like — maybe like a blast furnace, or a kiln. It just takes your breath away as soon as it hits you.

Since it was around dinner time, we went down the street, and stopped at Pasta Jay’s. This was said to be the best Italian food in town, and there was absolutely no argument from me! I had a portabella mushroom cap, filled with diced chicken and ricotta cheese, served over spaghetti noodles and smothered in a tomato cream sauce. This was amazing, and something I wanna try to replicate at home on the Egg.

Having arranged housing, and with full bellies, we headed back to the motel for a restful night.

Vacation

FST : Day 2 – Hays KS to Wheat Ridge CO (345 mi)

A little shorter leg today, and on this day, we began to see the mountains.

We had yet another uneventful drive today, with a few more stops to smell the posies. We once again stopped at the site of the world’s largest prairie dog. We’d stopped here some years ago with Siobhan, and while we didn’t go run through the animal pens, we did do a little shopping in the gift shop. Sometimes, you just need another rubber snake.

We kept expecting to see the mountains, and it seemed like it was forever before they finally showed themselves. In reality, we probably could’ve seen them sooner, but there was a fair amount of haze out there, so that kept us from seeing them until we were quite close to Denver.

Just seeing them makes my heart go pitter-patter, and reminds me of the first time I saw the Rockies, back in 1989. I’d gone to Cheyenne (from Omaha), and was driving down to Denver from there. I topped a hill and suddenly the Rockies showed themselves. I was smitten, and still am.

Tomorrow, we stab to Moab, where we’ll stay for five nights, taking short jaunts, and taking a whole bunch more photos.

Vacation

FST : Day 1 – St. Louis MO to Hays KS (500 mi)

The first day of our roadtrips are inevitably long and uneventful. It’s the first day out, and there’s always excitement in the promise of seeing new things… but that comes later. First comes the first day’s drive, and that usually means a long haul. For this trip, it’s a 500-mi jaunt into the middle of Kansas.

I don’t mind the drive much. In this leg, the landscape just starts to hint about changes from farming to ranching. The terrain gets a little flatter, and the hints of prairie begin. It’s a good leg, with a promise of what’s to come.

We saw a huge wind tower farm today. I just don’t get why this country can’t figure out that dual-purposing this wind-swept land is a terrific use of resources. Farming and wind power can definitely co-exist, and this part of the country sure gets plenty of wind to feed power back to the grid. And it’s plenty renewable.

BTW, I’m surprised at how much Hays reminds me of Kearney NE (last year’s opening leg). It was almost like we’d slept and gone to Nebraska! 🙂

Tomorrow — the mountains!

Space, Vacation

Roadtrip: Falling Star Trek (FST)

After several months of planning, we have decided on our summer vacation destination and route. We are going to go watch the Perseid meteor shower under very, very dark skies. And in keeping with our recent roadtrips, we’ve named this one: Falling Star Trek. After all, we’re trekking out to see falling stars. 🙂

Having the dogs’ lodging arranged, the grass mowing scheduled, and the neighbors lined up to take care of the house, we will set out this weekend. Right now, our plan is to take three days to get to Moab, Utah, where we’ll spend five nights playing in the desert. From there, it’s two nights in Bluff, Utah, again to play in the desert.

And then it’s showtime.

From Bluff, we head to Monument Valley for three nights of astronomy and viewing of the Perseid meteor shower in some of the darkest skies you can find in the US. Don’t take my word for it, check out the Dark Sky Finder for the area! I can just remember seeing really dark skies from my grandparents place in Bokeelia, and I can’t wait to see those skies again.

Watch this space for more as we trek across the southern US in search of flaming rocks in the sky!