Grand Finale - Bryce and Zion

The final Road Trip is finished. I'm now done with the Road Trip after taking an awesome 5 day, 4 night adventure with TP, Mr.T and Beana as well as the Treason dogs Scully and Bronson. We all piled into an RV (Clyde), relegated Pre to a tow dolly, and headed North to Utah to experience both Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks. What a grand finale to Road Trip 07!


We borrowed the RV from TP's boss and picked it up on Tuesday. It was a 36 foot long Land Yacht behemoth, and TP quickly took to loading it with a quantity of food that could easily have fed a small country (perhaps 90 percent was brought back with us). And on Wednesday morning, we attached Pre to the rear, and embarked on a scenic 9 hour trek from Phoenix through the desert, past the Grand Canyon, across the Lake Powell dam and on to Utah and a KOA just outside of Bryce Canyon NP.


Along the Road Trip, I had frequently passed by KOA's, without ever taking advantage of them. These are (k)campgrounds that are somewhat standardized - the Walmart of camping. My mistake, because the ease of use, stocked camp store, washer and dryer, and clean bathrooms and showers were quite impressive and would have made for some easy camping.


Of course having an RV to live out of also makes for easy camping. With stocked refrigerator, freezer and cupboards, combined with the KOA facilities, it was like being at home. I can now see how the RV "full timers" can live for years on the road. Just pull in, hook up to the water, electric and sewage, expand the slideouts, perhaps set up your satellite dish, and spend a few weeks at a stunning location with all the comforts. Outside of gas (and of course the RV purchase), it's a pretty cheap and interesting lifestyle. (Here's a link to one of many sites about Full Timers.)

We arrived after dark at the KOA and performed the basics of setting up our campground. Mr.T steadied the RV, I started a fire, and TP and Beana tended to the dogs, unpacked, set up chairs, etc. We then sat around the campfire snacking for dinner, cooking smores for dessert, and drinking the rest of the night away. It was a relief after such a long drive to be settled in and ready for the next few days. (BTW, thanks to Mr.T for doing 100% of the driving.)

The next morning, with TP tending to the pups and Mr.T actually working!, Beana and I headed into Bryce for our first look and a stunning and strenuous 5 mile hike. The first look is literally breathtaking. At Sunset Point we looked out over the Amphitheater, which contains some of the most striking Hoodoos (strange spires and pilings of limestone shaped by wind and water). Sunset Point was also the start of the combined Navajo and Peekaboo trails we had chosen for the day.


The hike started out with a series of steep downhill switchbacks that led straight down to Wall Street, a half mile long slot canyon with steep walls on each side towering straight up. This beginning was just a first glimpse of the many stunning sights along our hike.


The combined Navajo Loop and Peekaboo Loop trails formed a meandering figure-eight through the Cathedral. It was a series of treks up and down ridges of hoodoos. Because of the vast depth and diversity, coupled with the dramatic elevation changes, every few dozen paces provided new and exciting vistas and I couldn't keep my camera in my pocket. I took 130 pictures during the nearly 4 hour hike, more than at any other complete day. (Check more of them out in the photos section, some are pretty awesome.)


Many thanks to Beana, without whom I would not have pushed through the long, strenuous and wondrous hike of Bryce Canyon. It was unforgettable and "bad ass". If you visit Bryce, it is magical to look at, but to fully be appreciated, you need to hike down into the hoodoos.


Returning to the KOA, we found it inundated by about a hundred cyclists who were on a week long trip through southern Utah and its parks. TP had already befriended all of them and we spent hours listening to their travels and stories before firing up the grill for burgers and dogs. As has been standard when camping, nearly everyone else at the campsite was asleep shortly after sundown. I'm not sure why there isn't as much appreciation for the night sky. This remote part of Utah provides some of the clearest skies with the Milky Way easily visible and passing satellites can be spied if you are looking in the right direction.

The next day, with TP still tending to Scully and Bronson, and Mr.T finishing up his work week, Beana and I took the advice of a fellow RVer and headed to the slot canyon that is part of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument (a part of Bryce makes up the top step of the Staircase). After 6 miles on a dirt road, we stopped at a secluded creek and proceeded to follow it out and back more than 2 miles as it wound through a long series of slot canyons that it created.



We walked right along the creek bottom, stepping over or into it as we wound through the canyons. At first, the canyons were no more than 8 feet or so, but as we went downhill with the stream the narrow canyon towered up probably more than 100 feet. The walls were washed smooth, and prodded out with bulbous noses and chins. With very few others in the canyon, it was a beautiful and peaceful trek. Scully and Bronson would have loved it, and had we known what awaited us, we would have dragged them and TP along.


Returning to camp, it was time to pack up and make the move into Bryce Canyon's campsite. Beana and TP took Pre in to scout out a site, and Mr.T and I went to drop the tow dolly off at the local U-haul. We reunited and set up at the Sunset campground, just outside of Sunset Point. So we went there to see the sunset. The prior night Mr.T and I had gone to see the shadows as dusk approaches, and this time, Beana and TP joined me for the beautiful display. It's an impressive display as the sun falls and the moon rises and the depth and beauty of the canyon is displayed as the shadows grow across the Amphitheater.

The night ended with clouds creeping in and a BBQ of salmon, shrimp and veggies. I wrapped the salmon in aluminum foil, but in a stick of butter, and placed it on the grill. Beana prepared the skewers of shrimp and veggies. Surprisingly, all turned out superb, though so much was cooked we could only finish half of it.

The next morning, we jumped into Pre for the 18 mile driving tour which presented stunning panoramic vistas along the rim of the canyon. We returned back to camp just before the rain started; the rain followed us all the way to Zion National Park.

While I liked Bryce Canyon the best, TP, Mr.T and Beana seemed to like Zion better. Zion was BIG. Huge rocky mountains, boulders of enormous size, provided an overwhelming and dramatic contrast to the intricacies of Bryce. The continuing rain kept hidden and misted some of the larger panoramas that were probably there, but this was made up for by the waterfalls and powerful rivers the downfall produced. At the entrance, the ranger was almost giddy at the dramatic changes water causes at the park and urged us to continue on.

Unfortunately, the rain coupled with my exhaustion, dissuaded me from venturing in for a hike. I regret that I did not see more. Mr.T and Beana caught the shuttle (the only way into a part of the park) and were able to do a little hike. They said it was great. On their way back, a part of the canyon collapsed and stopped traffic. Apparently, Mr.T and a half dozen other tourists hopped off the shuttle, cleared the road way, and Mr.T absconded a rock the canyon had spit out.

One night at Zion's camp (spent mostly in the RV due to rain), a long beautiful ride home and it was over. The best trip yet, I'd say.

Sunrise Sunset - Home in Phoenix

One week ago today I moved into my new home. My new home! It feels so fantastic and I'm ecstatic about it.

I am situated in North Central Phoenix close to the intersection of the Carefree Highway and I 17. Unfortunately, I can just barely hear the traffic on 17. But it is somewhat drowned out by the light sounds coming from the Ben Avery Shooting Range, which sounds like dull firecrackers off in the distance or the sound of popcorn popping. Neither the traffic nor the guns distracts from the beautiful sunsets from my balcony.

The view is why I chose this place, and it was a great choice. Every single night since being here, I amble out on the balcony for the last dozen minutes as the sun slips behind the distant mountains and then for the next 10 minutes as it colors the sky and any clouds that may be present with yellows, oranges and reds. I'm paying $28.09 per day ($871 per month) and the sunset alone is worth every penny. (Here's a link to the final 3 minutes of one of my Sunsets.)

Besides the sunsets, I am also loving this apartment complex living. Everything is so easy. I have my own washer and dryer, a garbage disposal and an ice maker - I never had these before, and I don't think I ever want to live without them again. The complex also has a beautiful pool that is rejuvenating when the temperatures soar over 100, which had been every day other than today when it peaked at 98. If anything goes wrong, even if a light bulb goes out, I just stop by the concierge and they send someone to repair it. My sink had a slow drip, so they had a guy come over and totally replace the faucet fixtures. It's the simple life, and it's great.

Craigslist - what a great website. On Tuesday, I was the first to reply to the offer of a free, little used, pillowtop queen size bed, box spring and frame. I then found a cool, pine corner table and benches ($126) that are pretty unique and fit well into the dining nook. I have moved my single bed into the living room until I can find a loveseat or sofa.

But more than anything, it is great to have my stuff back. I spent the first half of the week moving all my boxes and furniture up to the apartment, and then sifting and sorting, and finding the right place for each item that I deemed important enough not to discard. I like my stuff, and I like having it back again. It's been a long road between then and now, and it's good to be making a home again.

I'm keeping my cell phone number and email address, but my new home and mailing address is:

removed because swza said it was wrong to put my address on the web for fear of identity theft

Feel free to drop by anytime.

Like a Bat Out of Hell

I could add 2,400 more driving miles to the Road Trip, but they aren't the kind of miles worthy of the now defunct adventure. The trip was more expedition than adventure.

At 6:50 PM Friday night, Mr.T and I left Haddonfield, NJ and made a beeline for Phoenix. Exactly, and I mean exactly, 36 hours later, at 3:50 AM PST on Sunday morning, we arrived. We travelled the whole way on just four highways (76 W to 70 W to 44 SW to 40 W), rarely exceeded the speed of traffic, and rarely stopped. Our longest break was 30 minutes for breakfast at Bob Evans on Saturday morning. Otherwise, we only stopped to get gas and relieve our highly caffeinated bladders.

Mr.T and I were driving machines. After the first 6 hours through Pennsylvania, we got into a routine of driving and napping; the twin bed we were transporting became an oasis so comfortable that we decided to motor straight through. First, Mr.T would drive 200 miles. Then I would drive 200 miles, fill up the tank and repeat the process. After each driving stint we'd climb into the back, nap for as long as possible and then slap ourselves awake to prepare

for the next stint.

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Conversation, as is the Tao of Mr.T, was kept to a minimum, primarily focused on speed, mileage, the status of LWV, and our repeated desire to just be "home". A normal exchange would go something like this:

ME: Wow, I can't believe what great time we're making. We're getting 17.8 MPG, averaging 71 MPH and Sake says we should arrive around 5AM if we drive straight through. It'll be great to be back and have all of Sunday to rest up.

Mr.T: Right on.

We had each brought bags of snacks and sweets to accompany the Red Bulls, Monsters, Dr. Peppers and water. We noshed on Doritos, bananas, Cheeze Its, melting chocolate snaps and a whole tray of mom's Rice Krispie Treats. Just the kind of fuel needed to push on and on as well as to cause sugar high headaches and wreak havoc with our digestive tracks.

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Because of the lack of air conditioning, we had been concerned about the blistering that daylight would bring. But on Saturday, the sun never rose. At dawn, and through most of the day, the skies were overcast with intermittent drizzles. The weather couldn't have been more accommodating. Just another in a long list of things that have worked out perfectly during my travels.

The LWV was also a driving machine. We bought it for $6,300 and hope to sell it here for as much as possible. If we lose less than $1,500 on the deal, it will have been more cost effective than either renting a U-Haul or paying for shipping. Perhaps we'll even make money on the deal. If the future buyer of LWV understood just how efficient and dependable it is, they'd know they were getting a great deal.

And then we were home. A real bed and a real sleep awaited us. TreasonPal did not await us. She had assumed we would be getting back during the day on Sunday and had skipped out to Scottsdale with the pups for an overnight with TreasonBikerBro. Thanks for the homecoming TP!

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After the respite, I straggled over to my apartment complex and found out I could move in a day early...but that's a story for another post.

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It's great to be home.

So Much and So Little

I have so much to write about and so little time.

Trip home great. Arrived earlier than thought possible. Found out I could move into new apartment early. Did so. Been moving stuff in since then.

Details to follow.

Mission Improbable

Cue theme music: Dat da da da, dat da da da. Dat da da da, dat da da da. Dah-da-da. Dah-da-da. Dah-da-da. Dah-dumb!

The mission, should you care to follow it, was to fly from Phoenix to New Jersey, secure a suitable vehicle and transport all of RoadTrippers life possessions back to Phoenix. Tomorrow night at precisely nineteen-hundred hours (7PM, EST), Mr. T and I shall venture out on the most boring Road Trip mission yet. Expect no future verse or pictures on this languid journey.

Let me get you up to date: The intrepid Mr. T and I arrived separately in the leafy Garden State during the holiday weekend and have been preparing for the horrific mission. Mr. T's preparation pretty much consisted of swimming and sunning on the beaches of Ocean City, NJ to achieve a zen like state that will allow him to drive 42 straight hours. He should be well rested by now.

As the technician and navigator, my preparation has been more meticulous. Upon arrival I went through the obligatory 36 hours of decompression and the mandatory 36 hours of mapaandme time; I saved time by completing them concurrently.

The next task was to secure the vehicle. Last week, Mr. T landed a whale of a vehicle using his well honed EBay skills, and on Tuesday, I was sent to make the final acquisition. The EBay ad had indicated that the vehicle was a large white air conditioned van. I have code named the vehicle, "Large White Van". It would have been a longer code name, but the AC doesn't work.

My preparation sweatily continued with me single-handedly gorging Large White Van (LWV)with the complete contents of the storage facility I had established prior to the sale of my condo. LWV is now decked out with about a ton of my possessions and with my single twin bed well situated and easily accessible for trade-off sleep breaks. This should come in handy as we expect to travel the 2,500 miles in about 42 hours with at most one night in a hotel. A tedious mission, whose greatest difficulty will likely be not falling asleep at the wheel; alas, the whole journey will be on the major interstates...not a single national park or scenic byway is anticipated during the mission. Seriously, never attempt this yourself.

Should all go as planned, I will be moving into my new hometown of Phoenix first thing Monday morning. Should things not go as planned, first I'll be pissed, and second, it should make for a funny story some time in the future. I'm hoping for no funny stories.

This blog post self-destructed six paragraphs ago.

The Numbers

Some Stats and Figures. This list is by no means comprehensive and I may have others to add later. But this is what I thought up and was able to calculate or estimate for now.

MILES

First of all, the mileage. From the odometers, you’ve see that I put 24,207 miles on Pre. But that’s not the total miles I have accumulated as other modes of transportation were used. Limiting it to the major modes of transportation, here is the full list of my non-exact travel miles:

Pre – 24,207 Miles
Round Trip Flight between San Francisco and Philadelphia – 5,014 Miles
Round Trip Drive from Haddonfield to BS Wedding in Saybrook, CT – 399 Miles
Sceinc Drive with M&D to Delaware – 109 Miles
Round Trip Drive from Haddonfield to Hoboken – 174 Miles
Round Trip Drive from Phoenix to L. A. w/ Mr.T - 745 Miles
Flight from Seattle to Minneapolis – 1,382 Miles
Drive with BS in B-girl’s Car from Minneapolis to Seattle – 1,995 Miles

I think that’s it.

So, if you care to calculate the Road Trip based on miles travelled by car, the total would be: 27,629. That would be the equivalent of driving coast to coast 9 times.

Or if you want to include the flying miles, it would be: 34,025.

TIME

I was on the Road Trip from April 9th through August 25th. Call it 4½ months, or 140 days, or as I prefer, 20 weeks.

On an average day where I was truly on the road (meaning waking up on the road and going to sleep that same night on the road), I estimate that I averaged:
5.5 hours sleeping;
10.5 hours Road Tripping;
3.5 hours blogging and emailing;
1.5 hours plotting and planning
2.0 hours either fueling myself (food) or fueling the Pre (gas)
0.9 hours watching TV – if anything it would be less
0.1 hours talking to Mom;
0.0 hours of naps.

I gained 3 hours by moving to the Arizona time zone…I don’t know what I did with them.

EXPENSES

This is a big topic, and will require a lot more information, such as final credit card bills and bank statements. But let’s just say a lot!! I will break this down in the future, but I’m going to need a printer, spreadsheets, and a super computer that can perform high speed calculations, as well as a full week of time off – good thing I’m still unemployed.

SOME OTHER STUFF

Highest Elevation: Rocky Mountains National Park, CO off of Rte 34 near Lava Cliffs at 12,183 feet (above sea level).

Lowest Elevation: 9th Ward, New Orleans, LA at -8 feet (below sea level).

I took 2,634 pictures during the trip - WOW. (If I were to print them all out, it would cost me $237.06 using the .09 cents per print when ordering more than 1000 prints from Photoworks. If anyone knows of a cheaper service, please let me know.)

The most pictures on any one day was 98 at Yellowstone on Day 104. The fewest was 0 on multiple days.

Surprisingly, I gained 3 pounds. I started the Road Trip weighing 182 and finished weighing 185. I know I was eating a lot of decadent foods, but my activity level (compared to none) was way up. I’m actually a bit surprised I gained anything…it’s probably because of the change from fat to muscle.

I think I crossed the Continental Divide a hundred times. So many of the great drives criss-cross the divide and it is not a straight or singular line.

Bugs killed – judging from one square inch of Pre’s windshield, and calculating for wind shear, angle of impact, and time on the road, I come to 17,486,157 plus or minus 5. Gophers killed – 1.

I’d say that on a true day on the road (previously defined), I would meet about 25 people. Of those, I would have a conversation that lasted more than 5 minutes with about 6 of them. About 1 of them would walk away with my website address…but mostly, I tried to hear what they had to say.

I wrote a whopping 111 blog posts, and received 309 comments (including my own). I’m a bit surprised I got so few comments on the post indicating the end of the Road Trip...no congratulations? I would estimate that for every comment I got on the site, I received 2 emails from people directly (the shy people). All this was very time consuming, but also very motivating.

My number one fan was TreasonPal. This would have been followed by a tight knit group including Buz, YoungAunt, Battlestar and 6Pack. From what I can tell by the limited website diagnostics available, there were about 40 people checking out the site on a daily basis (at the end of the trip)…but I think this number is inflated because TP was checking in 38 times a day.

One question I asked people a lot was: “So, do you love your job?” The only people who really answered yes were 5 park rangers, 3 glider pilots, and one small town cop way down in Texas.