The Road Home

After Zorbing the drive to South Carolina seemed like it would be an easy one. It was the opposite.  Driving through South Carolina was a daunting task, despite my claims that an 8-hour drive no longer seemed that difficult.  It felt as if the state would never end and our destination was on the coast, all the way in Myrtle Beach.  However, we did have an opportunity to see why they are called the Smoky Mountains and we also drove through out fourth National Park.

Smokey Mountains

We detoured a bit away from the beach to visit Mike at work in Conway, SC.  Of course, we ate some much-needed pizza, even if it was Dominoes.  We also had some much-needed cocktails when Mike finally got off work.  After telling as many stories as we could to fill Mike in on our trip, we went to bed after 5am.  This was fine with us because we did not plan on getting out of bed anytime before noon.  It’s that key word ‘bed’ that made us so excited.  No longer would we be sleeping on an air mattress.  And sure enough we did not rise until the afternoon was well underway. 

The day was spent in a relaxing fashion.  There were no National Parks or Historical Archives to explore.  We didn’t have to drive 800 miles to get to our next adventure.  We just simply sat on the couch and watched Cars. Yes, the Pixar movie and then Cars 2, it’s thrilling sequel. 

At one point we went to Wal-Mart, our new favorite store, to try and get Josh’s film developed.  However, you can no longer get film developed in less than a week.  1-hour photo developing no longer exists in this country.  After doing some research, Josh also came to the conclusion that because the pictures are valuable and possibly irreplaceable, we are going to send the film out to a professional company for development.   So you will have to wait to see those pictures, but I can guarantee it will be worth the wait.

We finished our stay in Myrtle Beach and headed towards New Jersey.  It was a surreal moment when we realized that we were heading home.  We were only 12 hours from completing our journey.   North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware were the only states that stood in our path. 

The highlights of the drive included Josh NOT getting pulled over in Virginia, getting gas on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington D.C., and realizing that we could stop off in Belmar to catch some of the Shots and Goggles show at Connelly Station.

We arrived in Belmar around midnight.  Needless to say, Chuck and Sean were pretty surprised to see us.  We made this stop the official last stop on our tour of the USA and neither of us would have had it any other way.  We were evacuated from the bar at one point due to someone pulling the fire alarm.  Despite it being amusing, it was also at that moment I realized I needed to tinkle.  Soon enough we were let back into the bar and the music continued.  We had some beers and sang some songs.  It was awesome, but left us quite tired.

When we got to Josh’s apartment, the only thing on my mind was sleep.  And that’s what we did. 

Zorbing: Pigeon Forge, Tennessee

We awoke in Tennessee and drove into Pigeon Forge for Zorbing. We were surprised to see that Pigeon Forge is actually a big tourist town. There are resorts, restaurants and all sorts of fun things to do. I’ll have to come back for the other stuff. We were there for one thing and one thing only. Zorbing. 

After a hilly drive we arrived at Zorb HQ. We entered our information into the touchscreen kiosks, changed and waited for our van. Yes, there is a van that takes you to the top of the hill. In a way that you would expect if you were on safari, this maroon van came barreling down a gravel path to pick us up. We got into the van (who needs seatbelts?) and proceeded to speed up the hill. 

Jaimie and I are in these balls

This is something I’ve wanted to do for a while and to be honest, I was quite nervous. It’s not every day you get zipped into a bubble with water and pushed down a hill. Of course, I volunteered to go first. The way it works, for those of you (read: most of you) that don’t know what Zorbing is, is as follows: You have the choice between two tracks, straight or zig-zag, and two types of rides, strapped into a harness and rolling with the Zorb or unharnessed. Unharnessed means you sit in the Zorb with some water to reduce the friction and they push you down the hill. Simple. Awesome. It was pretty hot and stuffy inside the Zorb, but the water was nice and cool. I must say, there is something pretty calming about being inside these things. That is, of course, until you start rolling down the hill. It wasn’t long before the gate was opened and I was off. (The guy that launches you yells Zorb on every run. It adds a nice touch.) It’s difficult to explain the sensation of Zorbing, except for the fact that it’s a controlled fall. For me the fun of going downhill without being strapped in is that you end up in some pretty interesting positions on your way down the hill. One of the guys working there informed me that they were opening a location in Boston, but there’s no info on the official Zorb site yet. As of right now, Pigeon Forge is the only place in North America you can do this. At the end of the run, the handler at the bottom of the hill opens the Zorb and takes some pictures, both inside and outside the ball. 

Once we were finished, we were given the option of buying some of the pictures. In the spirit of saving money and not making decisions, we had them put all of the pictures on a flash drive.

Texas to Tennessee

Outlaw

We awoke in Lubbock and started off toward Arkansas. This was a driving day so we didn’t expect anything too interesting to happen – until I got stopped by a Texas patrol car… Ok, so I was going a little fast. The speed limit was 75 and the road was a flat, straight line. This was the first time I’ve had a police officer tell me to step out of the car. I guess you shouldn’t mess with Texas after all. Either way after a nice long conversation with the officer, he let us go. That’s right, I’ve now talked my way out of not one, but TWO tickets on this trip.

Dallas/Fort Worth

Texarkana?...Arkadelphia? Really?

On the way to Arkansas we passed through Texarkana. It’s a pretty interesting town considering it’s in both Texas and Arkansas. We didn’t stop, but I looked up some facts about it on Wikipedia and that was enough for the both of us.

We finally made it to Little Rock, Arkansas to find it was a cool 100+°. And it was going to be 90° at midnight. Wonderful. We set up camp quickly and headed to the nearest Walmart. Interestingly enough, the one we found was the biggest one I’d ever seen; way bigger than the one we went to in Texas. Sorry Texas. Anyway, we got a small fan figuring it’d help a little. It helped a little, alright. Before we went to sleep we decided to light a fire; not for the heat I might add. I was reveling in the best fire I had made yet and along came the dude in the KOA golf cart. He stopped by to inform us that there was a fire ban and we had to put the fire out immediately. That’s ok. We didn’t need the heat and the wood was cheap anyway. Needless to say we went to sleep pretty early last night.

This morning we woke up about as sweaty as we’d expected. We took care of that and went to the Bill Clinton Presidential Library, but not before having some surprisingly good bagel sandwiches at a nearby café. So I had suggested we go to the presidential library as I thought it’d be pretty interesting. More so, I had by chance to geek out in Roswell so, being an English teacher, I figured a library would be right up Jaimie’s alley. It only cost $7 to get in and it was quite worth it. I plan on visiting some of the other presidential libraries when I get a chance. 

We spent a solid few hours watching videos and looking at correspondence between the President and such dignitaries as the Dalai Lama, Mother Teresa and Tony Danza. It was really cool to see letters hand-written by the first two. Tony Danza’s looked like it was a letter to George Lucas written by a 12-year-old.

We left behind sweaty Arkansas and headed in the direction of Tennessee. I say this, and not ‘went to Tennessee’ because for some reason it felt like it took us FOREVER to get to where we’re staying tonight. 

Beale Street

On the way to our camp we stopped in Memphis. Being a musician, it was a must. We went straight to the legendary Beale Street. It was wonderful and I wish we could’ve stayed there longer. Actually it seems like it really comes to life at night, considering there were a few bars that had walk-up windows at which you could buy drinks. We went to Dyer’s, a burger joint that claims it’s been cooking it’s food in the same oil for 100 years. Whatever, it was delicious. Dessert was a deep-fried Twinkie, complete with powdered sugar and strawberry syrup. I didn’t care that we had a 5 hour drive ahead of us. That needed to happen.

Deep Fried Twinkie

It wasn’t really that long of a drive, and we got here in the amount of time we were supposed to, but it felt like we had been driving for days. Jaimie and I could probably stand to work on our conversation skills, too. It was a quiet and pretty uneventful ride. We made it to our camp and set up in the dark. We have a fire going and we finally have decently working wifi. The only setback was when we traveled into “town” the only thing open was a Taco Bell. Not a big deal. I’m used to eating tacos in my car. Oh well, it’s off to bed to sleep to the sound of frogs and crickets. We need to get our rest; tomorrow we Zorb.

Mystery Solved

The birds that I was freaking out with the flashlight are...(drum roll)...


Grey Catbirds!!!

(pats herself on the back)

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Roswell to Texas

We awoke in Albuquerque, had some cereal and headed to Roswell. I expected New Mexico to be a little more sandy but it was surprisingly green on both sides of the car. It was however, flat. Definitely expected that. After only a few hours we arrived in Roswell! Definitely excited. I was in nerd heaven. There were alien-related things everywhere. The Arby’s (ugh) window said “Aliens Welcome.” The streetlights were alien heads. Since the crash site is private property (and I don’t ‘spect them to take kindly to trespassing ‘round these parts) we went to the International UFO Museum (although I don’t know of any branches in any other country; I should’ve asked the 17 year old cashier). We paid our $5 admission and got to see all sorts of newspaper articles on the crash, read stories about other UFO sightings/abductions and look at cheesy replicas and artists’ renderings. It was hokey and I loved it. 

There was a section on Area 51 and Jaimie almost had me convinced that we had driven right past it when we went through Nevada. After double-checking a map I realized she was wrong and I calmed down. We were on a time limit, so we left the museum and went to get lunch. Unfortunately the lady in the gift shop told me there weren’t any alien-themed restaurants. I told her maybe I’d move out here and start one. She seemed more concerned about what time she was going home. We decided to go to Weinerschnitzel, which had been recommended to us by my cousin in San Jose. We drove past that awful Arby’s and got some pretty great hotdogs and fries.

At this point I would like to note an interesting phenomenon. We drove through some small towns on the way to Roswell and they were all deserted. At one point we ran low on fuel and had to stop. Driving through this one town, I noticed homes and closed businesses. No cars. And then we passed the church. Full parking lot. Of course! It was 11:00am on a Sunday in the South. I thought about going in and seeing if someone could turn on one of the gas pumps. Thankfully there were some heathens at the Allsup gas station. We filled up, eyed some rather unsavory food sitting under heat lamps and settled on Moon Pies and Doritos for our post-cereal snack. Moon Pies, by the way are awesome. I don’t know if I’ll be able to find any in New Jersey when I get back, but I’ll try.

It was time to get to Lubbock, Texas. After about a 3 hour drive through fields of cattle and oil pumps we arrived. We set up camp and went in search of dinner. Of course, while in Texas, we had to go to a steakhouse. Of course, it was Sunday, and most of them were closed. We found Texas Land and Cattle, a franchise steakhouse. We ate some amazing steak amongst the heathens and headed back to camp. 

We sat down to work on our blog and apparently there are a number of birds that chirp in their sleep in the tree behind our tent. Jaimie is finding it quite humorous randomly shining the flashlight in their direction and listening to the startled commotion. I would have to agree. Tomorrow we head to Arkansas with a hopefully non-bird-poop-covered tent in tow.

**Jaimie researched Birds Native to Texas and narrowed it down to two possibilities...

Least Flycatcher or Grey Catbird???

Arizona to New Mexico

After we arrived back to camp yesterday, we drove into town to check out what else Seligman had to offer. We decided to go to Delgadillo’s Snow Cap and boy am I glad we did. We knew just by looking at the building that it had some rich character to it. There are gags all over, from dummy doorknobs on the doors to a neon sign that says “Sorry, we’re open” to menu items as “dead chicken” and “oink burgers.” The people running the place all had a sarcastic sense of humor, but you could tell they all really loved what they did. The food and shakes were great, as expected and the funniest part, I think, happened next. We had just finished eating when I noticed everyone walk out through the back door. All but one got into cars or trucks and left. “I think they just closed,” I said. “What time is it?” “6:30” I went to the car and got my camera to snap some quick shots before we were asked to leave. As I walked back to the restaurant the last guy drove off into the desert on a quad. No one cared that we were still there. I should mention we were eating outside. We weren’t locked in like that time in the antique store. Even still though, I found it humorous. 




We went back to camp but before going to sleep I got some night shots of the town and tried to do a little more astrophotography. Not knowing what pictures are going to look like until they are developed is driving me crazy, but I keep telling myself it’ll be worth it.

This morning we headed back into Seligman one last time. We had breakfast at Westside Lilo’s Cafe, which was exactly what you’d expect from a roadside diner on Route 66; friendly people and great comfort food. Apparently the owner is German, and it shows. The sausage gravy was among the best I’ve had. (Side note: The French toast was so good we didn’t need syrup) (Side note to the side note: We used some anyway) Afterward we left Seligman in the dust (quite literally) and drove to New Mexico.

The drive was pretty uneventful, aside from some rain and some great views of rock formations. We kept ourselves busy by listening to MxPx and Nofx. 

Crazy Storm

New Mexico 

Once we were about 20 minutes out of Albuquerque, I insisted on listening to the song of the very same name by Weird Al Yankovic. 

We set up camp and went to the store for dinner supplies. Sick of hotdogs, we opted for steaks, potatoes and corn. We were surprised to find the firewood cheaper here than anywhere else we had been thus far ($4 a bundle). Needless to say we’ll probably be stocking up for the rest of the trip tomorrow. Tonight was our best fire night yet! After our upside down fire, we cooked over the coals and built a log cabin on top of that. If only it was colder so we could fully appreciate it… Oh well. Tomorrow, Roswell!

The Grand Canyon

The morning sun in the desert is hot, especially when it’s beating down on your tent.  We went to sleep in cool comfort and awoke a sweaty mess. At 8 am, this does not put one in the best mood, but we pushed through it because we knew something that would exceed both our expectations was before us.

Before heading out on our adventure for the day, we ate breakfast at The Road Kill Café.  The menu items had great names.  For instance, Josh and I both had the Awesome Possum, which was a regular breakfast consisting of eggs, bacon, potatoes, and toast.  The best part of breakfast were the signs on the way in explaining that fire arms were not allowed in the establishment.  I keep forgetting that I’m in the West.

After breakfast, Josh needed more film for his camera, so with some advice from the locals we headed to Williams, AZ.  Sure enough there was film available in the grocery store there.  It’s becoming harder and harder to come by this stuff in these days.  We’re hoping that when we get home there will still be a place to get it developed.

The trip to The Grand Canyon was about 90 miles from our campsite.  This can be a grueling task on one-lane highways with all types of buses and RV’s and tourists! It was worth it.  The view from Mathers Point is... ridiculous is the only word I can muster.  I had no idea it was going to be so spectacular (I found another word).  The elevation and the distance you can see out into the vastness of Arizona are things I cannot describe in words.  The pictures speak for themselves.

As travelers at this point, we have become incapable of staying on the recommended paths the NPS has established.  We are adventurers and had to climb down onto all types of cliffs.  Nothing too “Cliffhanger,” but at a few points I could see things going terribly wrong. 

Of course the day we go to The Grand Canyon it rains, no better yet, pours!  We walked to the car to change our clothes and eat a sandwich.  The bad weather gave us an opportunity to explore the various gift shops and visitor centers which are filled with a plethora of information the canyon itself and the people who have come to be synonymous with the exploration of the canyon.   It’s cool. I myself wondered what it must have been like to stumble upon such a wonder as The Grand Canyon.  

This entire trip has brought us to places we’ve only seen in books and postcards and on The Discovery Channel.  Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined being given the opportunity to see three National Parks, never mind seeing them all in one week.  I am truly blessed and humbled by this experience and hope that our journey, though it is not over, will inspire you to see this amazing country that we have the privilege to live in.

Arizona

On to Arizona

We have finally left California after almost a week of being there, but the people and places we visited will be missed.  It’s funny how an eight-hour drive no longer seems like a big deal.  I drove eight hours today and it was pretty nice especially because we are now in a new state, Arizona.  Josh is not so much impressed as I am because he’s been here before, but it’s awesome.  We’ve been here four hours and we’ve set up camp, made an awesome fire, saw a snake, and ate more hot dogs (and salad)!

Mojave, California

The trip to Arizona was again quite tedious due to the lack of attractions.  We followed route 40 for most of the way, stopping to fill our tank and empty our bladders. If you’ve ever driven on route 40 you understand that it’s quite a bumpy ride. We did happen to stop in Mojave, which is the home of the first manned private space flight aboard SpaceShipOne.  Josh was way more excited about this than me, but I did make a crazy U-turn so he could take a picture of the sign.  Don’t get me wrong, Arizona is beautiful, but there’s not a whole lot going on.

 Oh yeah, I saw my first desert snake.  We Googled it and apparently it’s not poisonous.  We will be tightly securing the zippers on our tent tonight despite that important piece of information.

Campsite Views

 The town of Sarsaparilla? Salisburg? No it’s Seligman! Those are the other names I’ve been using.  The town of Saligman is the heart of route 66.  There’s a General Store with pretty much everything in it and restaurants with names like The Road Kill Café. We will be eating breakfast there in the morning before heading The Grand Canyon.  I hope they have rattle snake on the menu.

Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks

Yesterday we arrived at Yosemite not knowing exactly what was in store for us. I knew I was going to be doing some amount of hiking, but rock climbing? Not really. 

Driving in to Yosemite

Bridevail Falls

Our first stop in the park was Bridalvail Falls; a waterfall so high that the water at the top forms a mist and eventually makes its way to the bottom. We started up the path toward it but soon after decided it would be more fun to take the less populated “scenic” route. What started off as level rock hopping soon turned into steeper rock climbing. Before long we were way off the beaten path. The payoff, however, was great. After about a half hour we arrived at probably the highest point we could get without equipment. We found a collecting pool that had a number of other human visitors (They had climbed up from where the path ended; we don’t need no stinkin’ path).

After hanging out for a while we headed back down a different, but still precarious path. We then drove toward El Capitan. We did a little bit of walking and got some interesting views of both El Capitan and Half Dome. 

El Capitan and Half Dome

Unfortunately due to our diet of beef jerky and water for lunch, we were pretty beat and decided to head to camp. On the way out we stopped at Sweetwater Steakhouse for a late lunch. Great food. It looked like a lodge from the outside. And the inside. Seriously, there was wood and portraits of bears everywhere. After eating dried beef all day, the fresh stuff was a nice change. With dinner done, it was on to Visalia!

More Yosemite

We arrived at KOA of Visalia (We really should have gotten a KOA card before this trip) and got to work setting up our site and building a fire. Unfortunately, Hephaestus was not with me and I couldn’t get anything larger than embers. Which means we didn’t eat. Oh well, I guess that’s camping. We went to sleep hungry and woke up this morning hungrier. 

After a stop at a gas station for breakfast (both for us and for the car) we shoved off to Sequoia National Park.

Sequoia

It was driving the mountains into the park that we finally delighted in the fact that automatic transmissions have a second gear and an overdrive off feature. The internet is a wonderful thing.  When we got into the park our first stop was Moro Rock. Actually our FIRST stop was a half hour wait in construction traffic as they were only opening the road to traffic on the hour. 

Nevertheless, we made it to the monstrosity that is Moro Rock and headed up the stairs (yes, stairs) that some brave old-timey folks had installed some time ago. The elevation at the top is 6,725 feet. We were quite winded during and after the ascent, but the view was incredible. It was like I was surrounded by a postcard. We snapped a bunch of pictures and headed for the tree tunnel. 

Now this was something I’ve wanted to do ever since I was a child and I can finally say that my car has driven through a tree. 

We then drove to see General Sherman, the largest tree in the world. Not tallest, not widest. Just largest. And boy, is it huge. I won’t bore you with the stats. You can read them here. Alas, we were extremely tired and hungry, so it was time to leave. Before the left the park we stopped at a lodge. In a wonderful stroke of luck the restaurant was serving dinner for another hour and a half. That meant we were having Pepsi for lunch. 

As we headed back to Visalia we looked for places to buy firewood for dinner. We were so hungry, the mere glimpse of a Taco Bell caused Jaimie to run a red light. But I said “No! We must make hotdogs and save money!” A quick stop at the grocery store and it was back to camp.

Having Some Fun

Firebuilding: Round II – The Awakening. This time I was determined to build a camp fire. Our hotdogs depended on it. After some experimentation, I had a roaring upside down fire in no time. Again; the internet is a wonderful thing. We impaled the kosher tubes of beef and feasted upon their blackened corpses like royalty. Sure, they didn’t taste very good. Yes, a Dorito taco would have been amazing at that moment in time. I didn’t care. I was a man and I made fire and then I produced hot meats with it. We definitely leveled up in the RPG that is life today. Look out country. Thank you internet.