Thursday, September 08, 2005
I Love The Smell Of Commerce In The Morning
posted by Jonathan at 11:44 PM
Current Location: Tomah, WI, N 44 01.387', W 090 30.373', elev. 961 ft.
On Tuesday I woke up and drove east from Sioux Falls on I-90, into Minnesota. Along the way, I passed over 25,000 miles for the trip. I got to Minneapolis and checked into a motel, and a pal of mine, Odin, met me there after work. Odin went to college with me and also worked with me for a summer. I was pretty psyched to see Odin; going weeks at a time talking only to strangers can wear on you. He greeted me with the same greeting almost all the friends I have met up with have: a huge laugh and a constant grin the rest of the night. I think people aren't quite expecting to see me with a long, scraggly beard and even longer hair.
We hopped into Odin's car and began a great conversation about his future plans, my future plans, about how almost no one we know is willing to take risks, whether on a real good idea, or on an adventure. Some people can't because of their situations, they have children and or mortgages, but a lot of people are simply too afraid. If I can give anyone advice, it is to take the big risk when it comes. I no doubt talked Odin's ear off, because I am a little chatty kathy.
Odin took me to dinner at a local haunt in Minneapolis, a real shit hole in the wall called Matt's. I love these kind of places, you really feel at home. We got a pitcher of beer and ordered some burgers called Jucy Lucys. The Jucy Lucy is a large burger pattie with cheese on the inside. When it is served to you, the cheese has turned molten and can't wait to ooze out and burn your tongue. The waitress and Odin warned me not to eat them for a few minutes, to let them cool. They were greasy and cheesy and delicious. Perfect.
Next up, we traveled to the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, to see the Twins game. There's not much to say about the HHH, except that is a very awful stadium. It is a multi-purpose stadium, hosting the Twins baseball, Vikings football and Minnesota Gophers football. It doesn't work as a baseball stadium because it is too big and irregular shaped and has artificial surface, and it doesn't work as a football stadium because it is too small. What a mess. I hate these multi-purpose domes with all of the hate I have to give. Most baseball stadiums do Take Me Out To the Ballgame at the seventh inning stretch, but some will also add a second song. Sometimes it is God Bless America, or even America the Beautiful. Well in the HHH dome, they played that awful Proud To Be An American song, the Toby Keith version. Damn, I hate that song. The game was pretty uneventful, Kenny Rogers started for the Rangers, and wasn't booed all that much. The Rangers hit a grand slam in the second to go ahead 5-0, and the crowd was pretty much shut up. The Twins made a comeback, eventually pulling ahead 7-6 by the 8th inning, but in the 9th, they gave up four runs, blowing the game, losing 10-7. Everyone filed out of the game with a resigned look on their face, because this has been happening all season. You can see the photos here.
Odin next drove me around Minneapolis a bit, showing me the neighborhoods and the sights. We stopped at Nye's Piano and Polka bar and had a drink. What a colorful place. This bar had a lot of character and charm, and is definitely a place to visit if you ever find yourself in Minneapolis. Afterwards, we drove to another bar, called William Peanut Bar, where we had a final drink and some peanuts. Odin drove me back to my motel and we parted ways. I had a really excellent time catching up with Odin and hanging out in Minneapolis. Minneapolis gets a check mark in the cool cities column.
The next day, I didn't do much, I drove around a bit. Driving in Minnesota, you get the feeling this is the capital of American retail. In addition to the Mall of America, the largest mall in the US, Minnesota is the corporate home of many of the big specialty retail chains such as Target, Best Buy, Barnes and Noble and the Federated Department chain, owners of Macy's, Filene's and others. After my drive, I just relaxed the rest of the day.
Thursday I went to the Mall of America. The place is huge, but extremely well organized. There are 4 stories of stores, and the mall is laid out in a large oval, with an amusement park in the center. All the stores are on the outside oval, which makes it very easy to figure out where you are and where you are headed. If you get lost, you can just keep walking and get back to where you entered. Because of this, the Mall of America is much easier to navigate than Crossgates in Albany, NY and Palisades in West Nyack, NY, the other two giant malls I have been to. I walked the entire length of all four floors of the Mall of America, and somehow I managed to keep from buying anything, save for a few postcards. I even had enough will power to skip out on buying an iPod Nano. I took a few photos in the Mall of America, mostly of the Lego store and the amusement park. You can view them here.
In the evening, I left the Mall of America and Minneapolis and headed east on I-94, into Wisconsin, stopping in the town of Tomah for the night.
On Tuesday I woke up and drove east from Sioux Falls on I-90, into Minnesota. Along the way, I passed over 25,000 miles for the trip. I got to Minneapolis and checked into a motel, and a pal of mine, Odin, met me there after work. Odin went to college with me and also worked with me for a summer. I was pretty psyched to see Odin; going weeks at a time talking only to strangers can wear on you. He greeted me with the same greeting almost all the friends I have met up with have: a huge laugh and a constant grin the rest of the night. I think people aren't quite expecting to see me with a long, scraggly beard and even longer hair.
We hopped into Odin's car and began a great conversation about his future plans, my future plans, about how almost no one we know is willing to take risks, whether on a real good idea, or on an adventure. Some people can't because of their situations, they have children and or mortgages, but a lot of people are simply too afraid. If I can give anyone advice, it is to take the big risk when it comes. I no doubt talked Odin's ear off, because I am a little chatty kathy.
Odin took me to dinner at a local haunt in Minneapolis, a real shit hole in the wall called Matt's. I love these kind of places, you really feel at home. We got a pitcher of beer and ordered some burgers called Jucy Lucys. The Jucy Lucy is a large burger pattie with cheese on the inside. When it is served to you, the cheese has turned molten and can't wait to ooze out and burn your tongue. The waitress and Odin warned me not to eat them for a few minutes, to let them cool. They were greasy and cheesy and delicious. Perfect.
Next up, we traveled to the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, to see the Twins game. There's not much to say about the HHH, except that is a very awful stadium. It is a multi-purpose stadium, hosting the Twins baseball, Vikings football and Minnesota Gophers football. It doesn't work as a baseball stadium because it is too big and irregular shaped and has artificial surface, and it doesn't work as a football stadium because it is too small. What a mess. I hate these multi-purpose domes with all of the hate I have to give. Most baseball stadiums do Take Me Out To the Ballgame at the seventh inning stretch, but some will also add a second song. Sometimes it is God Bless America, or even America the Beautiful. Well in the HHH dome, they played that awful Proud To Be An American song, the Toby Keith version. Damn, I hate that song. The game was pretty uneventful, Kenny Rogers started for the Rangers, and wasn't booed all that much. The Rangers hit a grand slam in the second to go ahead 5-0, and the crowd was pretty much shut up. The Twins made a comeback, eventually pulling ahead 7-6 by the 8th inning, but in the 9th, they gave up four runs, blowing the game, losing 10-7. Everyone filed out of the game with a resigned look on their face, because this has been happening all season. You can see the photos here.
Odin next drove me around Minneapolis a bit, showing me the neighborhoods and the sights. We stopped at Nye's Piano and Polka bar and had a drink. What a colorful place. This bar had a lot of character and charm, and is definitely a place to visit if you ever find yourself in Minneapolis. Afterwards, we drove to another bar, called William Peanut Bar, where we had a final drink and some peanuts. Odin drove me back to my motel and we parted ways. I had a really excellent time catching up with Odin and hanging out in Minneapolis. Minneapolis gets a check mark in the cool cities column.
The next day, I didn't do much, I drove around a bit. Driving in Minnesota, you get the feeling this is the capital of American retail. In addition to the Mall of America, the largest mall in the US, Minnesota is the corporate home of many of the big specialty retail chains such as Target, Best Buy, Barnes and Noble and the Federated Department chain, owners of Macy's, Filene's and others. After my drive, I just relaxed the rest of the day.
Thursday I went to the Mall of America. The place is huge, but extremely well organized. There are 4 stories of stores, and the mall is laid out in a large oval, with an amusement park in the center. All the stores are on the outside oval, which makes it very easy to figure out where you are and where you are headed. If you get lost, you can just keep walking and get back to where you entered. Because of this, the Mall of America is much easier to navigate than Crossgates in Albany, NY and Palisades in West Nyack, NY, the other two giant malls I have been to. I walked the entire length of all four floors of the Mall of America, and somehow I managed to keep from buying anything, save for a few postcards. I even had enough will power to skip out on buying an iPod Nano. I took a few photos in the Mall of America, mostly of the Lego store and the amusement park. You can view them here.
In the evening, I left the Mall of America and Minneapolis and headed east on I-94, into Wisconsin, stopping in the town of Tomah for the night.
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
This Means Something
Current Location: Sioux Falls, SD, N 43 31.100', W 096 46.748', elev. 1395 ft.
Sunday I woke up in Douglas Wyoming, and drove north on Wyoming 59 for two hours until I reached the town of Gillette, and the intersection of I-90. I followed I-90 east to the town of Moorcat, where I veered north and east on US 14.
This means something
US 14 took me up to Devils Tower National Monument, the fist national monument. Driving up, I was expecting to see the monument at any moment, and when I got about 20 miles away, I could finally see it. Despite the distance, I was still awed to see it.
It is very strange to see this huge monolith, sticking up in the middle of the prairie land. Driving up to the monument itself, I was very surprised to see how textured the sides are. Reading up at the visitor center, the Lakota and other tribes all had an origin story to explain the tower, right down to the detail of the side texture. Devils Tower is sacred in many Indian cultures.
I spent a while at the monument, hiking all around, admiring the views and watching the rock climbers.
Rock climbers
Finally, I started driving out of the monument, but not before stopping at the prairie dog town. The prairie dogs are very interesting to watch, as they scurry around the town area, going into their little burrows. They make a cheep cheep barking sound which can only be described as cute.
Prairie Dogs
From Devils Tower (view the rest of the photos here), I kept on heading east and south on Wyoming 585, eventually reaching US 16, passing into South Dakota. I passed a lot of cattle along the way, and for the first time on the trip, I found myself mooing at all the cows I passed, I couldn't stop. I think this is the first sign that madness has set in. US 16 led me through the town of Custer, where I continued north past Crazy Horse Memorial. I wanted to stop at Crazy Horse, but it was getting late, and I was on a mission to see Mount Rushmore, and I was afraid it would be closing. I finally arrived at Mount Rushmore National Memorial. Driving into the park, you get a very cool side view of George Washington, which is very impressive.
Mount Rushmore is an incredible place, very beautiful to see. There is a parking lot, where they charge you $8 to park, and the national park pass doesn't give you a discount. It is a little ironic, Mount Rushmore is featured on this year's National Park Pass, but the pass doesn't really do anything for you in the park, since the parking lot is run by an outside company. I walked the 1.5 mile trail through the park, taking lots and lots of photos of the very cool memorial.
When I entered the park, I was informed there was an evening program, beginning at 8PM where they light the monument, so I decided to stick around a few hours and wait for that. By 8 PM, the park's amphitheater was full of families anticipating the program. The lights around the monument were all turned off, and a park range came out and gave a neat program about the history of the monument, the project to carve it, and the history of the Lakota and other Indians from the area. It was a very cool program, and at the very end, everyone was asked to join in the singing of the national anthem and America the Beautiful as the memorial was slowly lit up. I captured this moving scene on video, but unfortunately don't have enough room on my webserver to load up the file.
You can view all the photos from Rushmore here. At the end of the program, I rushed out to my car, because it was getting late and I wanted to beat the traffic out of the garage so I'd be able to find a place to sleep at a reasonable hour. I was one of the first people in the garage, and I started up my car. It had the air conditioning and the stereo on, and recently, I've been having a few power problems when backing up with the AC on. I forgot about this and started to back up to leave, and my car completely stalled out dead. I tried to start it back up several times with no luck. I kept trying and in the meanwhile, people started to file into the garage. I was getting panicked, I thought I would need a jump, I was convinced my car had a battery or power problem. I couldn't get my keys out of the ignition, which should have been a clue to me, but I popped my trunk to get out my jumper cables. This is a huge hassle, since the cables are buried in the tire well of the car, under all the other items in my trunk. I had to remove all those items to get out the cables. I popped the hood of the car and decided to wait for the people from one of the cars next to me. As I was waiting, I decided to try the ignition a few more times. While in the car, I realized I never put the car back into park after it stalled. Of course it won't start while in reverse. I put the car back into park, and it started with no problems. Yes, Mom, Dad, your son is a tremendous idiot. I piled all my stuff back into the car and made my way out of the garage very slowly. From the memorial, I drove north on US 16 to the town of Rapid City, South Dakota, (N 44 06.144', W 103 12.070', elev. 3356 ft.), where I stopped for the night.
In the morning, I drove east on I-90, passing through Badlands National Park. Badlands was cool, but not really worth a lot of description as I have seen many similar places so far on the trip. The highlight was seeing some bighorn sheep.
The grass the sheep are eating smelled like a cross between a skunk and marijuana
You can check out the Badlands photos here. South Dakota is actually a much cooler state than I had assumed it would be, with a lot of history and a lot of interesting destinations. It is worth a visit. There is also a lot of Jesus, as I passed a ton of religious billboards and churches. I continued east on I-90, and along the way, I passed into the central time zone and my car passed 90,000 miles. Holy. Crap. I arrived in Sioux Falls by the end of the day, and stopped for the night. My intention originally was to head north from Sioux Falls and spend the night in Fargo, just so I could say I had been to North Dakota, but my travel had been delayed longer than I had calculated, and lost the hour passing into central, so it would have been way too late by the time I arrived in Fargo. Now that I am back in the central time zone, I am starting to realize I don't have a lot of trip left. Most of my itinerary the rest of the way is baseball games, and no more national parks.
Sunday I woke up in Douglas Wyoming, and drove north on Wyoming 59 for two hours until I reached the town of Gillette, and the intersection of I-90. I followed I-90 east to the town of Moorcat, where I veered north and east on US 14.
This means something
US 14 took me up to Devils Tower National Monument, the fist national monument. Driving up, I was expecting to see the monument at any moment, and when I got about 20 miles away, I could finally see it. Despite the distance, I was still awed to see it.
It is very strange to see this huge monolith, sticking up in the middle of the prairie land. Driving up to the monument itself, I was very surprised to see how textured the sides are. Reading up at the visitor center, the Lakota and other tribes all had an origin story to explain the tower, right down to the detail of the side texture. Devils Tower is sacred in many Indian cultures.
I spent a while at the monument, hiking all around, admiring the views and watching the rock climbers.
Rock climbers
Finally, I started driving out of the monument, but not before stopping at the prairie dog town. The prairie dogs are very interesting to watch, as they scurry around the town area, going into their little burrows. They make a cheep cheep barking sound which can only be described as cute.
Prairie Dogs
From Devils Tower (view the rest of the photos here), I kept on heading east and south on Wyoming 585, eventually reaching US 16, passing into South Dakota. I passed a lot of cattle along the way, and for the first time on the trip, I found myself mooing at all the cows I passed, I couldn't stop. I think this is the first sign that madness has set in. US 16 led me through the town of Custer, where I continued north past Crazy Horse Memorial. I wanted to stop at Crazy Horse, but it was getting late, and I was on a mission to see Mount Rushmore, and I was afraid it would be closing. I finally arrived at Mount Rushmore National Memorial. Driving into the park, you get a very cool side view of George Washington, which is very impressive.
Mount Rushmore is an incredible place, very beautiful to see. There is a parking lot, where they charge you $8 to park, and the national park pass doesn't give you a discount. It is a little ironic, Mount Rushmore is featured on this year's National Park Pass, but the pass doesn't really do anything for you in the park, since the parking lot is run by an outside company. I walked the 1.5 mile trail through the park, taking lots and lots of photos of the very cool memorial.
When I entered the park, I was informed there was an evening program, beginning at 8PM where they light the monument, so I decided to stick around a few hours and wait for that. By 8 PM, the park's amphitheater was full of families anticipating the program. The lights around the monument were all turned off, and a park range came out and gave a neat program about the history of the monument, the project to carve it, and the history of the Lakota and other Indians from the area. It was a very cool program, and at the very end, everyone was asked to join in the singing of the national anthem and America the Beautiful as the memorial was slowly lit up. I captured this moving scene on video, but unfortunately don't have enough room on my webserver to load up the file.
You can view all the photos from Rushmore here. At the end of the program, I rushed out to my car, because it was getting late and I wanted to beat the traffic out of the garage so I'd be able to find a place to sleep at a reasonable hour. I was one of the first people in the garage, and I started up my car. It had the air conditioning and the stereo on, and recently, I've been having a few power problems when backing up with the AC on. I forgot about this and started to back up to leave, and my car completely stalled out dead. I tried to start it back up several times with no luck. I kept trying and in the meanwhile, people started to file into the garage. I was getting panicked, I thought I would need a jump, I was convinced my car had a battery or power problem. I couldn't get my keys out of the ignition, which should have been a clue to me, but I popped my trunk to get out my jumper cables. This is a huge hassle, since the cables are buried in the tire well of the car, under all the other items in my trunk. I had to remove all those items to get out the cables. I popped the hood of the car and decided to wait for the people from one of the cars next to me. As I was waiting, I decided to try the ignition a few more times. While in the car, I realized I never put the car back into park after it stalled. Of course it won't start while in reverse. I put the car back into park, and it started with no problems. Yes, Mom, Dad, your son is a tremendous idiot. I piled all my stuff back into the car and made my way out of the garage very slowly. From the memorial, I drove north on US 16 to the town of Rapid City, South Dakota, (N 44 06.144', W 103 12.070', elev. 3356 ft.), where I stopped for the night.
In the morning, I drove east on I-90, passing through Badlands National Park. Badlands was cool, but not really worth a lot of description as I have seen many similar places so far on the trip. The highlight was seeing some bighorn sheep.
The grass the sheep are eating smelled like a cross between a skunk and marijuana
You can check out the Badlands photos here. South Dakota is actually a much cooler state than I had assumed it would be, with a lot of history and a lot of interesting destinations. It is worth a visit. There is also a lot of Jesus, as I passed a ton of religious billboards and churches. I continued east on I-90, and along the way, I passed into the central time zone and my car passed 90,000 miles. Holy. Crap. I arrived in Sioux Falls by the end of the day, and stopped for the night. My intention originally was to head north from Sioux Falls and spend the night in Fargo, just so I could say I had been to North Dakota, but my travel had been delayed longer than I had calculated, and lost the hour passing into central, so it would have been way too late by the time I arrived in Fargo. Now that I am back in the central time zone, I am starting to realize I don't have a lot of trip left. Most of my itinerary the rest of the way is baseball games, and no more national parks.
Sunday, September 04, 2005
I Heart Colorado Part 2: Electric Boogaloo
Current Location: Douglas, WY, N 42 45.736', W 105 24.207', elev. 4880 ft.
Wednesday I had gone to bed real tired, I was just worn out, exhausted. I had done so much driving, so much exploring in the past month that I was just physically, and mentally numb. I realized I hadn't had a "day off" in over a month. I realize that in essence, I am on a great big vacation, but the vacation has been very tiring at times. Please don't yell at me, informing me how hard you work. I have kept myself on a very grueling schedule, driving 4 to 8 hours a day, often visiting 2 or 3 attractions in one day, writing and preparing photos at night. All of this can be considered work in one form or another and I'm putting in 12 to 16 hours a day. I haven't had even a single day off in a long time. So thursday, I woke up, called the front desk and asked to stay an extra night in the motel. I did not do a damn thing all day. I even kept the do not disturb sign up, so my room was not prepared. I just sat in the air conditioned motel all day, watching TV, the Hurricane Katrina news, playing video games, and reading. I did not do anything for the trip at all, no writing, no assembling photo galleries, no website work, no planning any next steps. I only went outside for a short while to get a few groceries. It was delightful, and the one day off was all it took to recharge my batteries fully. I got two full great nights of sleep on a comfortable bed, took some nice showers, and relaxed. I need to do that more often.
With that all out of my system, I was back on the road and ready to explore on friday. Unfortunately, it seemed like friday was the day all the shit hit the fan on the Gulf Coast. The levees started breaking, New Orleans was a dead zone, Mississippi and Alabama were in awful shape as well. New Orleans is one of my favorite cities, and I have huge regrets not spending more time there on this trip. I only spent a few hours, and I wrote that I'll be back someday. I just hope New Orleans is there when I go. I listened to the news on the radio, and it just got worse and worse. Donate (money and blood) and / or volunteer with the Red Cross if you can. It is not much, but I'll be donating 100% of money I receive [text removed] for this website (currently around $17.00), plus whatever else I can spare out of my own pocket. $17 is not all that much, in fact I can't even collect from [text removed] until I reach $100, so if you happen to [text removed], I won't tell the police on you. It will be our secret. And if [text removed] happens to be reading right now, I certainly did not just try to drive traffic to [text removed]. No sir, I would never do such a thing to violate my [text removed], not even for charity.
With all that going on in the back of my mind, I went to a gas station and got a little dose of my own Katrina reality. $4 gas prices and a 10 gallon limit. But My troubles are paltry compared to the gulf region. I drove around Pueblo a bit to get my bearings, then headed east from Pueblo on US 50, until I got to Cañon City, CO. Cañon City is the gateway to the Royal Gorge, the canyon near the source of the Arkansas River.
The very interesting thing about the Royal Gorge, is the bridge built over it, the highest bridge in the world; 1,053 ft. above the river below. The bridge does not support much traffic anymore, and a theme park has built up around the bridge. It was $20 to enter the theme park, which includes admission to the bridge, the aerial tram which flies over the gorge, and the incline railway which takes you down into the gorge. On the way out, you get a $7 rebate if you spent less than an hour in the park, which I ended up doing.
The bridge
Damn, I was all set to cast from the 1053 ft. bridge!
The main attraction is clearly the bridge, and it was the only thing I was interested in. I walked right out onto it, and it was very very windy. Windy enough that the bridge swayed a little, a little scary, but it was a lot scarier for others than me. Also scary was the bridge was al wooden slats, some old and starting to show a little rot, some new, but all spaced further apart than one likes to see, and all had a different plane, so if you weren't careful, it was easy to trip. Which I did. Twice. To the delight of my fellow bridge goers. Luckily I didn't trip enough to fall completely over, and get splinters in my face. I did one of those half trips where you catch your balance in mid air. I may be klutzy, but I am a graceful klutz.
Looking through the slats
Looking out over the side of the bridge was incredible, you could see little rafts and rafters in the river below, and the handiwork of eons of wind and water erosion. The bridge is an engineering marvel, and isn't bland or utilitarian, it was definitely designed with aesthetic in mind. You can see the rest of the photos here. This place, though very goofy and kitschy, was quite amazing. CT: you'd love it. KB: this is the bridge I mistakenly thought was in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. JS: enough with the personal little in-jokes, back to the narrative. Hi Mom.
Next I drove north and east on Colorado 115 to Colorado Springs. Let me just say I loved everything about Colorado Springs, and it would be the perfect city to move to if it were next to the ocean or located in Oregon. Colorado Springs is big, but not too big. It is located at the base of the Rocky Mountains, so you have spectacular views towards the west from all over the city. To the east are the plains as far as you can see. And in the sky are the planes in constant motion, in formation 2 to 5 at a time, because Colorado Springs is where the air force academy is located.
It was getting close to sundown, so I quickly drove to the eastern part of the city, to a very beautiful monument / park called Garden of the Gods, which my dad insisted I see. It is not part of the national park system, but I have to say it is probably most beautiful municipal or private park I have ever seen. (Not sure which it is). Garden of the Gods (N 38 52.864', W 104 52.810', elev. 6482 ft.) sits at the base of Pike's Peak, which I got some excellent views of. I went to the visitor center and got some info about the park and the formations inside. I also paid $2 for a short film explaining the geology of the park, and the original finding of Pike's Peak by Zebulon Pike back in the day. Pike's Peak is significant for some reason that I don't know; I probably don't know since I slept through the film. I'm sure it was interesting.
Anyway, very quickly thereafter I left the visitor center and went to the park and walked around a bit. I did some hiking in the park and got some photos, which can be enjoyed here. You better enjoy them, I do not offer refunds. As you can see towards the end of the photos, a great big storm was rolling in, and threatening with lots of thunder and lightning, but never actually reached me.
It was getting pretty dark at this point, so I wanted to find a place to stay. I went to a few motels in Colorado Springs, but since it was labor day weekend, and it was also parents weekend at the Air Force Academy, I had no luck finding motels with vacancies. I continued north on I-25 until I arrived in the town of Castle Rock, CO, halfway between Denver and Colorado Springs. I found a decent place and stopped for the night. All motels usually bump their prices $10 on the weekends, but on holiday weekends it is $20 or $30. Bastards.
Saturday I got up and drove north on I-25 into Denver. Colorado is so perfect, the air and the views and the people. I had Sublime on the stereo, and I couldn't think of more perfect music to cruise around Colorado listening to. It is both laid back and edgy at the same time. When I reached I-70, I headed west towards my next destination, Rocky Mountain National Park. Driving east on I-70 into Denver, which I had done two weeks earlier in my trip is a lot of fun, driving down hill at a very steep grade over the course of 12 miles as you exit the Rocky Mountains. Well, unfortunately, driving west back into the mountains is the opposite of fun, driving up hill at a steep grade over the course of 12 miles. Lots of trucks going slow, lots of cars trying to pass, even quite a few vehicles pulled over overheated. My little car made the trip, but definitely used a bit of gas in the process. Over the course of three hours from Denver, I slowly made my way into the western edge of Rocky Mountain NP.
I won't bore you with a lot of description of the park. Other than to say it covers a lot of mountain road, including the highest pass me and my car have yet reached as we crossed the continental divide for the 10th time on the trip. This is the spot N 40 25.624', W 105 45.482', elev. 12,222 ft.. The air up there is very rare and you have to have care, as you climb the stair that you don't run out of breath up where. And watch out for bears! Or something. Anyway, Rocky Mountain National Park is very similar to Glacier National Park, which I have already described in detail here.
Here are a few photos of Rocky Mountain NP:
And here's a picture of a big ass bug that somehow landed on my windshield and managed to stay a good 4 miles:
Little bugger must have been 4 inches
And some more of the park
And finally, towards the end of the park, I got to see some wildlife. A huge herd of huge elk, males and females.
The highlight, by far, was two elk fighting:
And a third elk fighting a tree - and only barely winning.
So that was pretty much it for me in the park. You can view the rest of the photos here. I exited on the eastern side via US 34, which I took east until I reached I-25 again. On I-25 I drove north until well after dark, into Wyoming, passing through Cheyenne. In Wyoming, I was finally reaching the plains. There was a lot of wind and it seemed like another thunderstorm might be rolling in; my only indication of this is that it was too dark to see the sky. The wind brought tumbleweed across the road, which is so very scary driving at night on a dark highway. You'll be cruising along at 70 or whatever and all of a sudden a very fast, bright white object jumps right in front of your car. You can't tell if its a rabbit, a deer, an alien or something else so your natural instinct is to brake. Even if you were able to hit the brake before hitting the object, you're still hitting the object, just maybe 5 mph slower. It is a relief when the object bursts into a ball of weeds and makes a whoosh sound. But it is still scary every time. I kept on driving in Wyoming on I-25 until I reached the town of Douglas, where I stopped for the night. I caught a quick glimpse of my car, and there were little bits of tumbleweed stuck in every single crevice. Colorado is beautiful, I'll be back sometime.
Wednesday I had gone to bed real tired, I was just worn out, exhausted. I had done so much driving, so much exploring in the past month that I was just physically, and mentally numb. I realized I hadn't had a "day off" in over a month. I realize that in essence, I am on a great big vacation, but the vacation has been very tiring at times. Please don't yell at me, informing me how hard you work. I have kept myself on a very grueling schedule, driving 4 to 8 hours a day, often visiting 2 or 3 attractions in one day, writing and preparing photos at night. All of this can be considered work in one form or another and I'm putting in 12 to 16 hours a day. I haven't had even a single day off in a long time. So thursday, I woke up, called the front desk and asked to stay an extra night in the motel. I did not do a damn thing all day. I even kept the do not disturb sign up, so my room was not prepared. I just sat in the air conditioned motel all day, watching TV, the Hurricane Katrina news, playing video games, and reading. I did not do anything for the trip at all, no writing, no assembling photo galleries, no website work, no planning any next steps. I only went outside for a short while to get a few groceries. It was delightful, and the one day off was all it took to recharge my batteries fully. I got two full great nights of sleep on a comfortable bed, took some nice showers, and relaxed. I need to do that more often.
With that all out of my system, I was back on the road and ready to explore on friday. Unfortunately, it seemed like friday was the day all the shit hit the fan on the Gulf Coast. The levees started breaking, New Orleans was a dead zone, Mississippi and Alabama were in awful shape as well. New Orleans is one of my favorite cities, and I have huge regrets not spending more time there on this trip. I only spent a few hours, and I wrote that I'll be back someday. I just hope New Orleans is there when I go. I listened to the news on the radio, and it just got worse and worse. Donate (money and blood) and / or volunteer with the Red Cross if you can. It is not much, but I'll be donating 100% of money I receive [text removed] for this website (currently around $17.00), plus whatever else I can spare out of my own pocket. $17 is not all that much, in fact I can't even collect from [text removed] until I reach $100, so if you happen to [text removed], I won't tell the police on you. It will be our secret. And if [text removed] happens to be reading right now, I certainly did not just try to drive traffic to [text removed]. No sir, I would never do such a thing to violate my [text removed], not even for charity.
With all that going on in the back of my mind, I went to a gas station and got a little dose of my own Katrina reality. $4 gas prices and a 10 gallon limit. But My troubles are paltry compared to the gulf region. I drove around Pueblo a bit to get my bearings, then headed east from Pueblo on US 50, until I got to Cañon City, CO. Cañon City is the gateway to the Royal Gorge, the canyon near the source of the Arkansas River.
The very interesting thing about the Royal Gorge, is the bridge built over it, the highest bridge in the world; 1,053 ft. above the river below. The bridge does not support much traffic anymore, and a theme park has built up around the bridge. It was $20 to enter the theme park, which includes admission to the bridge, the aerial tram which flies over the gorge, and the incline railway which takes you down into the gorge. On the way out, you get a $7 rebate if you spent less than an hour in the park, which I ended up doing.
The bridge
Damn, I was all set to cast from the 1053 ft. bridge!
The main attraction is clearly the bridge, and it was the only thing I was interested in. I walked right out onto it, and it was very very windy. Windy enough that the bridge swayed a little, a little scary, but it was a lot scarier for others than me. Also scary was the bridge was al wooden slats, some old and starting to show a little rot, some new, but all spaced further apart than one likes to see, and all had a different plane, so if you weren't careful, it was easy to trip. Which I did. Twice. To the delight of my fellow bridge goers. Luckily I didn't trip enough to fall completely over, and get splinters in my face. I did one of those half trips where you catch your balance in mid air. I may be klutzy, but I am a graceful klutz.
Looking through the slats
Looking out over the side of the bridge was incredible, you could see little rafts and rafters in the river below, and the handiwork of eons of wind and water erosion. The bridge is an engineering marvel, and isn't bland or utilitarian, it was definitely designed with aesthetic in mind. You can see the rest of the photos here. This place, though very goofy and kitschy, was quite amazing. CT: you'd love it. KB: this is the bridge I mistakenly thought was in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. JS: enough with the personal little in-jokes, back to the narrative. Hi Mom.
Next I drove north and east on Colorado 115 to Colorado Springs. Let me just say I loved everything about Colorado Springs, and it would be the perfect city to move to if it were next to the ocean or located in Oregon. Colorado Springs is big, but not too big. It is located at the base of the Rocky Mountains, so you have spectacular views towards the west from all over the city. To the east are the plains as far as you can see. And in the sky are the planes in constant motion, in formation 2 to 5 at a time, because Colorado Springs is where the air force academy is located.
It was getting close to sundown, so I quickly drove to the eastern part of the city, to a very beautiful monument / park called Garden of the Gods, which my dad insisted I see. It is not part of the national park system, but I have to say it is probably most beautiful municipal or private park I have ever seen. (Not sure which it is). Garden of the Gods (N 38 52.864', W 104 52.810', elev. 6482 ft.) sits at the base of Pike's Peak, which I got some excellent views of. I went to the visitor center and got some info about the park and the formations inside. I also paid $2 for a short film explaining the geology of the park, and the original finding of Pike's Peak by Zebulon Pike back in the day. Pike's Peak is significant for some reason that I don't know; I probably don't know since I slept through the film. I'm sure it was interesting.
Anyway, very quickly thereafter I left the visitor center and went to the park and walked around a bit. I did some hiking in the park and got some photos, which can be enjoyed here. You better enjoy them, I do not offer refunds. As you can see towards the end of the photos, a great big storm was rolling in, and threatening with lots of thunder and lightning, but never actually reached me.
It was getting pretty dark at this point, so I wanted to find a place to stay. I went to a few motels in Colorado Springs, but since it was labor day weekend, and it was also parents weekend at the Air Force Academy, I had no luck finding motels with vacancies. I continued north on I-25 until I arrived in the town of Castle Rock, CO, halfway between Denver and Colorado Springs. I found a decent place and stopped for the night. All motels usually bump their prices $10 on the weekends, but on holiday weekends it is $20 or $30. Bastards.
Saturday I got up and drove north on I-25 into Denver. Colorado is so perfect, the air and the views and the people. I had Sublime on the stereo, and I couldn't think of more perfect music to cruise around Colorado listening to. It is both laid back and edgy at the same time. When I reached I-70, I headed west towards my next destination, Rocky Mountain National Park. Driving east on I-70 into Denver, which I had done two weeks earlier in my trip is a lot of fun, driving down hill at a very steep grade over the course of 12 miles as you exit the Rocky Mountains. Well, unfortunately, driving west back into the mountains is the opposite of fun, driving up hill at a steep grade over the course of 12 miles. Lots of trucks going slow, lots of cars trying to pass, even quite a few vehicles pulled over overheated. My little car made the trip, but definitely used a bit of gas in the process. Over the course of three hours from Denver, I slowly made my way into the western edge of Rocky Mountain NP.
I won't bore you with a lot of description of the park. Other than to say it covers a lot of mountain road, including the highest pass me and my car have yet reached as we crossed the continental divide for the 10th time on the trip. This is the spot N 40 25.624', W 105 45.482', elev. 12,222 ft.. The air up there is very rare and you have to have care, as you climb the stair that you don't run out of breath up where. And watch out for bears! Or something. Anyway, Rocky Mountain National Park is very similar to Glacier National Park, which I have already described in detail here.
Here are a few photos of Rocky Mountain NP:
And here's a picture of a big ass bug that somehow landed on my windshield and managed to stay a good 4 miles:
Little bugger must have been 4 inches
And some more of the park
And finally, towards the end of the park, I got to see some wildlife. A huge herd of huge elk, males and females.
The highlight, by far, was two elk fighting:
And a third elk fighting a tree - and only barely winning.
So that was pretty much it for me in the park. You can view the rest of the photos here. I exited on the eastern side via US 34, which I took east until I reached I-25 again. On I-25 I drove north until well after dark, into Wyoming, passing through Cheyenne. In Wyoming, I was finally reaching the plains. There was a lot of wind and it seemed like another thunderstorm might be rolling in; my only indication of this is that it was too dark to see the sky. The wind brought tumbleweed across the road, which is so very scary driving at night on a dark highway. You'll be cruising along at 70 or whatever and all of a sudden a very fast, bright white object jumps right in front of your car. You can't tell if its a rabbit, a deer, an alien or something else so your natural instinct is to brake. Even if you were able to hit the brake before hitting the object, you're still hitting the object, just maybe 5 mph slower. It is a relief when the object bursts into a ball of weeds and makes a whoosh sound. But it is still scary every time. I kept on driving in Wyoming on I-25 until I reached the town of Douglas, where I stopped for the night. I caught a quick glimpse of my car, and there were little bits of tumbleweed stuck in every single crevice. Colorado is beautiful, I'll be back sometime.