Wrapping it Up

It's time to start heading home. My body is telling me I've done enough driving for one trip; I'm ready to sit in one place for a few days. Fortunately, Phoenix is my next stop and I'll be able to stay there for a short while. El Paso, Juarez, and Las Cruces have come and gone without too much excitement. Here's a couple highlights:

Juarez, Mexico is like any other border town I've been in: run down, dirty, and without much to see. But the intercountry bus is called the "Border Jumper" so for that reason alone I had to go for the ride. Once in Mexico I immediately took a wrong turn and got myself lost for a good 30 minutes. After refinding my bearings I finally stumbled back across the border a couple hours later (a quick note about the border: the "mighty" Rio Grande is little more than a stream at this point. Having watched the river grow on my drive through Colorado and New Mexico, it's sad to see it reduced to such a shadow of itself).

Radio in New Mexico and Texas is definitely not what I had anticipated. I was expecting the plethora of country and Mexican stations, but I wasn't ready for the incredible number of religious ones. It even has an influence on non-religious radio stations. On the drive out of Las Cruces today I was listening to a rock song with a chorus of "This ain't a scene, it's a goddamn arms race." But that's not the way it comes out here. Instead it's "This ain't a scene, it's a ---damn arms race." Now I've got no problem with radio stations bleeping out things, but just the word "god"? Why not bleep the whole word at that point? I dunno, it just seems a little weird to me.

Another fun tidbit on the radio is the cattle and raw food report. Directly after the stock report they cut to a second report detailing the prices of everything from steer and heifers to corn and beans. And it all goes by way faster than I can listen to. It's really something else.

On the way back from the White Sands Sand Dunes I made an impromptu detour to the White Sands Missile Range. This turned out to be a great detour. The missile range is one of the most successful in the world and was the site of the first atomic explosion as well as America's first rocket to reach space. Anyway the museum is small but packed full of historical information. They also have a large collection of old and used rockets from previous tests. While walking among the missiles I added a new item to my "things to do before I die" list: see a rocket launch in Cape Canaveral.

And that's pretty much it for now. I'm in Silver City, Utah, getting ready for a long drive up to Phoenix tomorrow.

Roswell and Carlsbad

Roswell is pretty much what I was expecting it to be: a small town capitalizing on the fact that it was near some strange events in the 1940s. Oh, and as I discovered while approaching the town, Roswell is also the self-proclaimed "Dairy Capital of the Southwest." The town has a few nice touches, like alien eye'd lampposts, but for the most part it doesn't look like anything has been updated since the 1970s. Even the "official" Roswell alien museum and research center is little more than a collection of old newspaper clippings and cheesy props. But it was a fun stop and walking around town was better than admiring the big-city "charm" of Albuquerque.

After a few days of motel living I was determined to find a place to camp out for the evening. So on my way to Carlsbad I pulled into a little state park and set up for the evening. Things were looking good: the sun was shining, I was set up at a lake side site, and I was ready for a relaxing evening outside.

Things went well enough until around 2:00am when I was jolted awake by what felt like 4 men attempting to pull my tent over. The sunny evening had turned into a brutally windy night. As I lay in my sleeping bag attempting to hold the tent in one piece, I noticed the right side of my tent was lighting up: lightning was coming. Despite the strong winds the lightning moved in slowly. It finally settled in overhead for the night around 2:30am. Bolts were easily going off every 2 to 3 seconds; the sky was so bright that I had to put my pillow over my eyes to try and get some sleep.

Of course, shortly after the lightning the skies opened up and my tent was pelted by rain. At this point there was no way I could sleep; all I could do was lie around and wait for the storm to end... Which it didn't. Around 8:00am the rain finally subsided enough for me to venture out of the tent. Everything was soaked but I managed to get packed up and jumped into my car in about 5 minutes. I drove into Carlsbad where I was introduced to the flash floods of southern New Mexico. The streets were covered in 1 to 2 feet of water. I was afraid to keep going through town, but more afraid to stop, worried that I might flood something if I spent too much time in the water. Turning on the radio confirmed it: nearly all of southern New Mexico was under a flood watch. Fortunately I made it through town and down to the Carlsbad caverns without any major hitches.

With that excitement out of the way I was free to explore the Carlsbad caverns for the day. The caverns are spectacular. And, of course, taking pictures in the dark doesn't do much good, but I still took a bunch. The highlight of the trip was a ranger guided tour through the King's Palace. At one point we turn off all the lights to experience "absolute" darkness. I thought it was even cooler when we turned off everything but his single candle lantern. With just one lantern lit you get a sense as to what the caves looked like to the original explorers. It was hauntingly relaxing to only be able to see a few feet. Stalagmites, stalactites, and columns appeared and disappeared as he waved his lantern around.

After the Carlsbad caverns I was planning on staying at the nearby Guadalupe National Park for another day, but the floods, rain, and wind caused me to make a bee-line for El Paso. I'm going to find sun at some point in this trip!

New Mexico

A quick update from Roswell, New Mexico. Things in New Mexico haven't been quite as awesome as I imagined. Starting with my snowy morning in Cortez, CO I made a little detour out to the Four Corners. I wasn't really expecting much, but was still completely underwhelmed by the monument. But I did get to run around in four states. Tragically, though, the Four Corners will be remembered as the place where my camera finally succumbed to the battle damage it received at the Great Sand Dunes. As I was lining up a picture of myself lying in all four states the camera made an ugly sound. I tried all the usually tricks (smacking the camera into my thigh, blowing on the lens as if it were an old school Nintendo cartridge), but it was all for not. Which means you don't get to see me sprawled out across four states. It also means my pictures of the Anasazi ruins from Aztec, New Mexico were captured on $3 Walmart disposable camera.

Fortunately Albuquerque was my next destination and I was able to find a replacement for the rest of the trip. While I was in Albuquerque I stopped by some more petroglyphs, which were also not all that impressive. I've come to the conclusion that petroglyphs are, for the most part, just 1000 year old graffiti. I'm sure the Indians had fun doodling in the rock, but they would probably laugh at us if they saw us hunched over the rocks, intently studying the remains.

Aside from having some old graffiti lying around, Albuquerque is pretty much like any other big city. Fortunately I stumbled across the 'historic downtown' section while I was looking for a Radio Shack. It's actually a nice couple blocks of older buildings that are now packed with tourist shops and stuff. My previous stops at Pueblo ruins taught me that the locals were master weavers so I though it'd be nice to get a locally woven plate. The first store had a bunch of them that were the right size and price ($10), but had a big tag that proudly declared "Handcrafted in Pakistan." Nice! I finally found some authentic Indian woven bowls, but they started at about $150. Maybe I should just get a Pakistani one and take the tag off...

Two more things and I'll be off. First, I'm still waiting for a full day of sun. The snow in Colorado actually followed me all the way down to Albuquerque. Listening to the forecast as I pulled out of town included snow flurries over night (and 3 - 5 inches of snow in Santa Fe!). If things don't get sunny by the time I hit Carlsbad I'm gonna get very suspicious of this whole "desert" thing.

And secondly, I know New Mexico is relatively uninhabited, but would it kill the government to add a few more campgrounds? As far as I can tell (by looking at maps) there are essentially no places to camp between Albuquerque and Roswell. Sure I could have climbed up into the mountains and looked for a place, but I wasn't convinced that the roads were drivable. Instead I had to go straight to Roswell yesterday; not the most exciting drive in the world. But I'm here now and it's time to go find some aliens!

Spring in Colorado

I'm certainly glad I decided to stay inside last night. I woke up to a beautifully snowy morning here in Cortez, Colorado. I'm not sure how long it's going to last (or how far south the storm stretches), but this road trip waits for now one. Maybe I'll get to see the Four Corners covered in snow.

Mesa Verde

I'm supposed to be camping somewhere in New Mexico right now. Instead I only made it about 60 miles, a small trek from Durango to Cortez, Colorado. The culprit? A little national park called Monte Verde, where I ended up spending most of the day. True to its name, Mesa Verde is a large, lush mesa in southwestern Colorado. But you don't visit Mesa Verde for the scenery. You visit because to check out the ancient cliff dwellings of the Puebleans.

The ruins are amazing and it's easy to wander around for a full day. There's one house that you can explore on your own and two others that can only be accessed with a NPS guide. They've even got a two mile hike out to some petroglyphs (quick note about them: they're quite uninspiring. So much so that I didn't mind blocking half of them with my ugly mug. In fact I originally walked right past them on my hike). The guided hikes highlighted the day. Most impressive is the Balcony House. The entrance is an interesting 35 foot ladder climb up and the climb out is even more tricky. Once actually up in the ruins, it's hard to imagine living life on the edge like that. It's really an awesome experience all around and my small detour into the park quickly turned into an all day event. You can check out all of my pictures over here.

So I pulled into Cortez around 7:45pm tonight. And with the forecast including both a tornado warning and a snow advisory I decided I'd enjoy life a little more if I stayed in a motel. Am I a bit of a wuss? Probably. But I'll wake up tomorrow morning warm, not covered in snow, and ready to make my way down to New Mexico.

Oh, and I almost forgot about the highlight of the evening. After checking into my Econo-Lodge I meandered downtown and ended up at the Main Street Brewery: another place to try a local drink and watch some basketball. As I perused the appetizer menu I was shocked to see the world famous Rocky Mountain Oyster. After confirming that it was indeed authentic I was compelled to complete my Colorado experience by trying some. I won't go into too many details, but the final verdict is that it's okay. It doesn't taste like chicken (like the bartender claimed), but it was completely edible. However, I'm not sure I'll be having it again. I think I'd rather have chicken...

Mesa Arch!

I was just browsing through my pictures and I realized I completely forgot to upload my shots of the Mesa Arch (in Canyonlands) at sunrise. This is what I got up at 5:40am for! They're a little repetitive, but I think some of them came out pretty well. It was beautiful to watch the sun slowly warm the underside of the mesa.

In the Shadows of the Rockies

As planned, I've spent the last couple of days in Colorado. I was actually planning to stay even longer, but clouds, thunder and rain have been chasing me all over Colorado. Aside from trying to outrun the storm, the drive from Grand Junction to the Great Sand Dunes was pretty uneventful. I made a brief detour through Colorado National Park which (as expected) was like southern Utah, only not as great. And the rain didn't help.

I also happened to be passing through Gunnison, Colorado. My dad noted that (due to it's unique location in the Rockies) the town one of the coldest places in America. That alone makes it a destination for me. I pulled into the visitor center and told them that I was passing through and looking for anything interesting. To my disappointment the best she could do was suggest I drive 45 minutes to a "pretty lake." She also told me (much to my shock) that it was another 6 hours to the Great Sand Dunes. Of course it turned out to only be another 2.5 hours... Thanks Gunnison visitor center!

Quickly putting Gunnison in my rear view mirror, I made a beeline for the Great Sand Dunes. I pulled in a little after 5:00pm and was greeted by some cold rain showers. I quickly set up my tent, jumped inside and didn't leave the tent again until 9:00am the next morning. Fortunately, the weather had taken a pleasant turn overnight. And the rain the night before was actually good for my next event: snowboarding the Great Sand Dunes.

The Great Sand Dunes are the largest in country, at a height of over 700 feet. For me, 700 feet sounded like a small price to pay for sandboarding. I quickly learned otherwise. Hiking up sand dunes is hard (of course), but it's really, really hard when you're wearing your snowboard boots and dragging your snowboard along with you. And ("duh" #2), you don't get 700 straight feet of vertical. It's 50 feet up, 20 down, 60 feet up, 40 feet down, etc. So you spend 15 minutes dragging your board up and you're rewarded with 5 seconds of "boarding."

And boarding makes it sound like I was actually doing something. In reality you can't actually turn and you don't go very fast, so all I was doing was pointing downhill and wishing I was on the snow. :) But it was worth trying once and all the kids loved watching me.

Oh, and did I mention that it was windy? It was probably the windiest place I've ever been. Here's a picture I was trying to take of me about to go riding, but all you can see is wind blown sand. I managed to get a slightly better picture of me on my board, but it was a struggle. The wind and sand gets everywhere, it was surprisingly frustrating trying to get things done up there. And, checking with visitor center, the winds were bring in more clouds, more rain, and maybe even some snow! Which meant it was time for me to get the hell out of the Rockies.

While driving I was shocked (and way too excited) when I saw my first real life tumbleweed. Just like on Loony Toons! Actually, it wasn't "a tumbleweed," it was more like a heard. They seemed to cross the road in packs, kind of like gazelles crossing a river in Africa. Strength in numbers. Oh, and I was filling up at a gas station when I heard a loud "mooo!" right behind me. I turned around to find myself eye-to-eye with a trailer full of cows. This are just things you don't see in Seattle or San Francisco. :)

So I packed up yesterday and moved southwest, towards the Four Corners. I drove through a little town called Durango, which ended up catching my eye. I'm a sucker for small towns with nice downtown districts. Well that's a bit of a lie. I'm a sucker for a local brewery that's showing the basketball playoffs and has live music. Even the locals were there! Sadly the weather is still chasing me, they're now forecasting snow in Durango tonight! But I'll be in New Mexico tonight, I'm ready to go find some desert heat.

Google Tried To Kill Me

Well that wasn't how things were supposed to start. Apparently Utah didn't want me to leave. If you look at the Google Maps directions from Park City, UT to Grand Junction, CO it includes a nifty little shortcut to get from US-40 to US-6. What it doesn't tell you is that shortly after you pass the Strawberry Reservoir the paved road ends. So I'm happily driving along, cruising along at about 30 MPH on the dirt road. Slowly the road starts getting steeper and narrow until it's a one lane road and I've dropped down to second gear. Things aren't feeling quite right at this point, but it's supposed to be an adventure, right?

Now snow is now clinging to the side of the road (I'm still something like 8,000 feet above the sea, the snow hasn't completely melted yet), turning the dirt road into a muddy road. There are even a few puddles of very slushy snow left on the road, which causes my car to slide a little as I pass over it. I come around a corner to find the road completely covered in snow. I only manage to make it about 20 feet before the car comes to stop, unable to push through the slushy snow any further. "Fantastic," I think, "Google's little detour just added 45 minutes to my drive time today." I ease the car into reverse and slowly back down the snow. Unfortunately the snow is so slushy that as I'm backing up the car slowly slides left. And then the car stops moving. I've slid into some thicker snow and I can't go backwards any further. I try heading back up the hill but my tires (all 4 of them) just spin. I'm completely stuck. I can't even open the driver's door because the snow is up above it.

I'm 20 miles from any sign of civilization with no cell phone coverage and my heart starts to pound a little harder. I manage to climb over my stuff in the passenger seat and climb out that door to take stock of the situation. "I can probably hike/run 20 miles today to get back to the main road today," I think, "and I've got a sleeping bag and tent in my car that I could carry with me."

But that's not really what I want to do. My first plan of attack is to try to dig my car out. Looking for some sort of shovel I end up pulling my snowboard out and using that as a huge spade. The snow is super hard on top and super slushy below. It's hard to break through and then a lot of work to move. But I frantically clear the snow around the tires away and try backing up again. The car slides a few feet and gets stuck again.

I'm happy, though, my method will work. I get the snowboard back out and start clearing snow out all over the place. I create a little path all the way out of the snow and, thankfully, am able to navigate myself back down it on to (somewhat) firm mud. Of course, I'm not out of the woods yet. I've got to back myself down a one lane road until I can find a place to turn around. And my car is full of stuff so I can't use the rear view mirror. I ever so slowly backed myself down a few hundred feet until I found a wider turn and managed to get the front of my car pointed the right direction again.

20 miles later I'm back on the main highway and back on track to hit Grand Junction. As I calm down a little bit I actually end up kicking myself for not getting a picture of me digging my car out with a snowboard. It would have been a great picture. But I was in survival mode at the time and it never really occurred to me to get my camera out. But I did make road trip rule #1: never drive on a road that doesn't get at least one other visitor a day. Had I got stuck (or if my car had slid off the road), it could have been weeks before another car stupidly ventured up there too.

So yeah, the adventure has certainly begun. I'm just hoping that the rest of it won't be quite as adventurous.