After Grand Canyon, we camped in New Mexico. Nothing very eventful happened, except that we drove through a super creepy town to get to the campsite and I’m fairly certain that every building in it was either a methlab or the home of some crazy old man with a shotgun waiting for an excuse to shoot someone.
On the way to Texas, we stopped at a Chili’s in Albuquerque so that we could watch the world cup final. After a long ass day of driving, we finally got to the campsite we were supposed to be staying at, Palo Duro Canyon State Park. When we went to check in, we got a warning from the park rangers that because of the severe thunderstorms, it was very likely that the campsites would become flooded, and the roads to get out would be closed. They said we could either take the risk of being stranded (also asking us if we had enough food and water to last for a couple of days) or cancel the reservation, get a refund, and try to find somewhere else to stay. The idea of being stranded in Texas is terrifying to me, so it didn’t take too much consideration before decided we should just keep driving. They gave us our money back and we left. It continued to rain, there was some very scary looking lightening, and we think we made a good choice.
Unfortunately, there weren’t many campsites past that one, and definitely not any that we would have been better off at. So we thought about it, and decided to just drive through the night til we got to Arkansas. Why? I don’t really know. But that’s what we did. We left Palo Duro at around 7:30 p.m., (after already having driven about 7 hours that day) and got to our campsite in Arkansas at around 8 o’clock this morning. We made a few stops for gas, coffee, food, and one failed attempt to sleep in the car at a truck stop (it was just too damn creepy).
So here I am, after a short and unsatisfying nap, in Arkansas. It’s fucking hot And humid. And gross. I don’t like it. I’m really upset that we’re going to be here for two days. The end.
Monday, July 19, 2010
Friday, July 16, 2010
Grand Canyon
We spent two nights at Grand Canyon North Rim. It was really nice to not have to drive for a day, or hurriedly pack up camp early in the morning. The first day, we took a hike that was relatively easy. It was a mile and half each way, so round trip about three miles. Really beautiful views, and the terrain wasn’t too difficult.
After our hike, we hung out a little bit at the campsite, had dinner, made a fire, and just relaxed for a while. We enjoyed ourselves making fun of the large group of 10-11 year old children at a nearby site, probably some sort of summer camp or something.
Next day, we set off pretty early for a much longer, and much more strenuous hike. The Kaibab Trail, or as it should be called, the Mule Shit Trail, was intense. It is a 4 mile round trip hike down into the canyon and then back up, which is frequented not only by hikers, but packs of mules carrying tourists. The first three quarters of a mile or so is literally covered in mule crap, only occasionally broken up by large and smelly puddles of mule piss. Nothing motivates you to move quickly like the smell of mule excrement, not to mention the hordes of flies buzzing around them. Gross.
Aside from that though, it was a good hike. The way down is relatively easy, it doesn’t seem too steep, and, as it was still morning, the heat wasn’t too much of a problem yet. Also, the views were incredible. It’s a damn big canyon.
At the bottom is Supai Tunnel, a manmade tunnel in the rock. It’s pretty cool. We took a little break, enjoying the view and some tasty snacks, before resuming the hike and beginning our ascent.
Now this was the hard part. The trail, which seemed relatively level on the way down, is actually incredibly steep. And at 11 or 12 o’clock in the afternoon, the sun is blazing hot. Two miles uphill is not as easy as you might think. Due to my short legs, my lack of will power, and the fact that I am extremely out of shape, we had to take quite a few short breaks. I made it in the end, and as much as my legs hated me for it, it was worth it.
We hurried to the showers, which was a good thing because I think we were both probably starting to smell really bad at that point, and then went back to camp to have lunch and be lazy for the rest of the day. Not much else eventful happened, we just ate, drank, and relaxed by the fire. The next morning, we headed out for New Mexico.
* On another note, I just want to express that the Petrified Forest in Arizona is bullshit. Don’t waste your time.
After our hike, we hung out a little bit at the campsite, had dinner, made a fire, and just relaxed for a while. We enjoyed ourselves making fun of the large group of 10-11 year old children at a nearby site, probably some sort of summer camp or something.
Next day, we set off pretty early for a much longer, and much more strenuous hike. The Kaibab Trail, or as it should be called, the Mule Shit Trail, was intense. It is a 4 mile round trip hike down into the canyon and then back up, which is frequented not only by hikers, but packs of mules carrying tourists. The first three quarters of a mile or so is literally covered in mule crap, only occasionally broken up by large and smelly puddles of mule piss. Nothing motivates you to move quickly like the smell of mule excrement, not to mention the hordes of flies buzzing around them. Gross.
Aside from that though, it was a good hike. The way down is relatively easy, it doesn’t seem too steep, and, as it was still morning, the heat wasn’t too much of a problem yet. Also, the views were incredible. It’s a damn big canyon.
At the bottom is Supai Tunnel, a manmade tunnel in the rock. It’s pretty cool. We took a little break, enjoying the view and some tasty snacks, before resuming the hike and beginning our ascent.
Now this was the hard part. The trail, which seemed relatively level on the way down, is actually incredibly steep. And at 11 or 12 o’clock in the afternoon, the sun is blazing hot. Two miles uphill is not as easy as you might think. Due to my short legs, my lack of will power, and the fact that I am extremely out of shape, we had to take quite a few short breaks. I made it in the end, and as much as my legs hated me for it, it was worth it.
We hurried to the showers, which was a good thing because I think we were both probably starting to smell really bad at that point, and then went back to camp to have lunch and be lazy for the rest of the day. Not much else eventful happened, we just ate, drank, and relaxed by the fire. The next morning, we headed out for New Mexico.
* On another note, I just want to express that the Petrified Forest in Arizona is bullshit. Don’t waste your time.
Zion National Park, Utah
Zion National Park
After Vegas, we spent the night in Utah at Zion National Park. It’s a beautiful park, unfortunately we got there a little too late to get any hiking in. After setting up camp and having some food, we took a little walk down to the river and took a little swim. The water was cold, but clean, and it felt nice once you got used to it. After that, we just hung out at our campsite, I drew really bad pictures of the Fonz, and then we went to bed. That’s really all.
After Vegas, we spent the night in Utah at Zion National Park. It’s a beautiful park, unfortunately we got there a little too late to get any hiking in. After setting up camp and having some food, we took a little walk down to the river and took a little swim. The water was cold, but clean, and it felt nice once you got used to it. After that, we just hung out at our campsite, I drew really bad pictures of the Fonz, and then we went to bed. That’s really all.
Las Vegas, NV
Let me start by saying, I WANT TO GO BACK TO LAS VEGAS SO BAD.
Okay, now, I’ll tell you about it. It’s awesome. When we first got to Vegas, it was too early to check into our hotel, and we were both too disgusting to want to be in a casino, so we decided instead to waste some time doing laundry. THERE ARE SLOT MACHINES IN THE LAUNDROMATS. And in the supermarkets, and the gas stations, and built into bar counters, and just fucking everywhere. It’s ridiculous. Afterwards, we drove to our hotel to check in, waited on a really long line, finally got our room key, and were completely blown away by the room. We stayed at the Hotel at Mandalay Bay, and it was gorgeous. The room had two bathrooms, a living room with a big ass TV, an amazing bedroom with a super comfy bed, a beautiful view, and one of the bathrooms had a TV in it, along with a full bath AND separate shower. It was so nice, I wish we never had to leave. After that, we both showered and got dressed, and headed down to the casino to check it out a bit.
We didn’t have too much time to do anything, because we had to pick up our tickets to see The Beatles Cirque Du Soleil LOVE, thanks to Steve’s super awesome parents (THANK YOU!) for giving them to us for Steve’s birthday. The show started at 7, doors were at 6:30, so we walked around a little bit and had some tasty Chipotle for dinner (it was cheap, ok?).
Now I will attempt to describe the show, and I know already that I will fail. But here I go anyway: We sat down in our seats, FRONT ROW, (THANK YOU AGAIN MR. AND MRS. MCNULTY!) and tried to prepare for what we were about to see. The stage alone is really cool, it has long runways that run between the sections of seats, where the artists enter and exit the stage. A few minutes before it started, one of the characters began walking silently, but flamboyantly, up and down the aisles of seats, carrying a large gold teapot filled, I assume, with dry ice, because he kept pouring smoke on peoples heads. (Brigit: he reminded me of Voldemort from A Very Potter Musical, in the way that his makeup was done and his face)
The show started, and it was just a complete barrage of color, light, amazing sound, and incredible acrobatics and dancing. There was so much going on, and so much to look at, that it would be impossible to actually digest everything that was happening. Some parts slowed, and became serious and sad, and other parts were outrageous and whimsical, but it was all so unbelievably beautiful. There’s one fantastic part of the show where the artists are suspended in the air, and the pull a huge white sheet over the entire audience and stage, waving it so that it billows and flows on top of your head while waves of fog or smoke or something wash over from the center. It’s just awesome. Beautiful, mind-blowing , awe-inspiring, fantastical…I could just go on and on. I should stop though.
I’ll just say this: if you EVER have the opportunity to see this show, TAKE IT. It is worth the trip, worth the money, worth whatever you have to do to get tickets. You absolutely have to see it.
Moving on.
After the show we went to the casino to play some games for real. We tried roulette, which did not go well, and I gave the slots a go, which actually turned out well. After three dollars in a slot machine called “Penguin Pays,” I won $27 dollars. I’m not really sure how, because I didn’t see what I lined up, but the machine gave me money and I am not complaining. I figured it was time to call it quits, and cashed in my 27 dollar voucher, and we headed upstairs. We were both pretty hungry so we decided to use our $25 room credit and order some food up to the room. We got a tasty pizza and some French fries. And while both were delicious, let me just remind you that a small pizza and a plate of fries should NEVER cost more than 25 dollars, not matter how good it is. Damn room service.
The next day I finally got the opportunity to use the gift certificate Steve gave me for Christmas and get a massage and Massage Envy. SO GOOD. I have been needing one for a long time, and it was awesome. The woman was magic, I swear.
Anyway, after that Steve and I went out to explore the city. We walked from our hotel to the end of the strip and back, which took a fair few hours. We each got one of those giant tasty drinks, and stopped in basically every casino that we walked by just to get out of the damn heat. We saw some fun stuff, some ridiculous stuff, and had a good time. We ate an overpriced meal at some Italian restaurant, got some cheap beers at Hooters, and I won a dollar in video blackjack at the bar. All in all, it was an enjoyable day. I don’t want to bore with too much detail, you’ll see it all in the pictures.
The morning that we left, we ate breakfast at the ridiculously overpriced House of Blues restaurant in our hotel, because we had a two for one coupon. (A cup of coffee was 3 dollars, give me a fucking break.) It was however, delicious I had an omelet with cheese and smoked salmon, it was so damn good. Smoked salmon in an omelet, who would have thought?
Then we said our goodbyes to Vegas, our wonderful bed and glorious bathroom, and ventured off for more god-forsaken camping.
Okay, now, I’ll tell you about it. It’s awesome. When we first got to Vegas, it was too early to check into our hotel, and we were both too disgusting to want to be in a casino, so we decided instead to waste some time doing laundry. THERE ARE SLOT MACHINES IN THE LAUNDROMATS. And in the supermarkets, and the gas stations, and built into bar counters, and just fucking everywhere. It’s ridiculous. Afterwards, we drove to our hotel to check in, waited on a really long line, finally got our room key, and were completely blown away by the room. We stayed at the Hotel at Mandalay Bay, and it was gorgeous. The room had two bathrooms, a living room with a big ass TV, an amazing bedroom with a super comfy bed, a beautiful view, and one of the bathrooms had a TV in it, along with a full bath AND separate shower. It was so nice, I wish we never had to leave. After that, we both showered and got dressed, and headed down to the casino to check it out a bit.
We didn’t have too much time to do anything, because we had to pick up our tickets to see The Beatles Cirque Du Soleil LOVE, thanks to Steve’s super awesome parents (THANK YOU!) for giving them to us for Steve’s birthday. The show started at 7, doors were at 6:30, so we walked around a little bit and had some tasty Chipotle for dinner (it was cheap, ok?).
Now I will attempt to describe the show, and I know already that I will fail. But here I go anyway: We sat down in our seats, FRONT ROW, (THANK YOU AGAIN MR. AND MRS. MCNULTY!) and tried to prepare for what we were about to see. The stage alone is really cool, it has long runways that run between the sections of seats, where the artists enter and exit the stage. A few minutes before it started, one of the characters began walking silently, but flamboyantly, up and down the aisles of seats, carrying a large gold teapot filled, I assume, with dry ice, because he kept pouring smoke on peoples heads. (Brigit: he reminded me of Voldemort from A Very Potter Musical, in the way that his makeup was done and his face)
The show started, and it was just a complete barrage of color, light, amazing sound, and incredible acrobatics and dancing. There was so much going on, and so much to look at, that it would be impossible to actually digest everything that was happening. Some parts slowed, and became serious and sad, and other parts were outrageous and whimsical, but it was all so unbelievably beautiful. There’s one fantastic part of the show where the artists are suspended in the air, and the pull a huge white sheet over the entire audience and stage, waving it so that it billows and flows on top of your head while waves of fog or smoke or something wash over from the center. It’s just awesome. Beautiful, mind-blowing , awe-inspiring, fantastical…I could just go on and on. I should stop though.
I’ll just say this: if you EVER have the opportunity to see this show, TAKE IT. It is worth the trip, worth the money, worth whatever you have to do to get tickets. You absolutely have to see it.
Moving on.
After the show we went to the casino to play some games for real. We tried roulette, which did not go well, and I gave the slots a go, which actually turned out well. After three dollars in a slot machine called “Penguin Pays,” I won $27 dollars. I’m not really sure how, because I didn’t see what I lined up, but the machine gave me money and I am not complaining. I figured it was time to call it quits, and cashed in my 27 dollar voucher, and we headed upstairs. We were both pretty hungry so we decided to use our $25 room credit and order some food up to the room. We got a tasty pizza and some French fries. And while both were delicious, let me just remind you that a small pizza and a plate of fries should NEVER cost more than 25 dollars, not matter how good it is. Damn room service.
The next day I finally got the opportunity to use the gift certificate Steve gave me for Christmas and get a massage and Massage Envy. SO GOOD. I have been needing one for a long time, and it was awesome. The woman was magic, I swear.
Anyway, after that Steve and I went out to explore the city. We walked from our hotel to the end of the strip and back, which took a fair few hours. We each got one of those giant tasty drinks, and stopped in basically every casino that we walked by just to get out of the damn heat. We saw some fun stuff, some ridiculous stuff, and had a good time. We ate an overpriced meal at some Italian restaurant, got some cheap beers at Hooters, and I won a dollar in video blackjack at the bar. All in all, it was an enjoyable day. I don’t want to bore with too much detail, you’ll see it all in the pictures.
The morning that we left, we ate breakfast at the ridiculously overpriced House of Blues restaurant in our hotel, because we had a two for one coupon. (A cup of coffee was 3 dollars, give me a fucking break.) It was however, delicious I had an omelet with cheese and smoked salmon, it was so damn good. Smoked salmon in an omelet, who would have thought?
Then we said our goodbyes to Vegas, our wonderful bed and glorious bathroom, and ventured off for more god-forsaken camping.
Monday, July 12, 2010
I'm still alive.
So I haven't posted anything in a while, and the reasons for that are simple. Laziness, and limited Internet access. I have however written out all the things I want to post up to the other day, as well as all the pictures. As soon as I have wifi, rest assured you will have some really great stuff to read/look at. (as if you're all just hanging on every word, ha. Oh well.)
Monday, July 5, 2010
The Rest of California
I think I'll continue with bullet points, it's much quicker and i'm sure it's easier to read. If you want more details, you can read Steve's blog.
- after San Fran, we camped at big basin redwoods state park. Honestly, the redwoods weren't that big.
- the next day, we made a stop at the Hahn Winery (unfortunately, I am not related to them.). We tasted like 10 or 12 delicious wines, I got a little tipsy, and then I bought two bottles and two wine glasses with the name Hahn etched in the sides. So good.
- then we went to Monterey, and had a tasty seafood lunch
- drove down the coast (such a beautiful drive) to Big Sur, where we were camping. The view was beautiful, the bathrooms were disgusting. We also had a minor incident with a hungry raccoon.
- after Big Sur was Ventura. This place wasn't too bad, we were able to walk to the beach, although it was much too cold to swim.
- we spent a little time on the beach the next morning, then decided to go into LA to check it out. Went to the California Science Center, which wasn't too bad.
- next day we camped in Malibu, the place was okay, a lot if kids and the bathrooms were stupid. We got a little bit of hiking in.
- went back into LA again today and saw all of the Hollywood stuff. It was cool, I felt like such a tourist, but hey, isn't that what I am?
- so tonight were camping in Angeles national forest or something, and tomorrow is Vegas!
Hopefully I'll have a chance to post pictures soon, I know that's way more interesting.
- after San Fran, we camped at big basin redwoods state park. Honestly, the redwoods weren't that big.
- the next day, we made a stop at the Hahn Winery (unfortunately, I am not related to them.). We tasted like 10 or 12 delicious wines, I got a little tipsy, and then I bought two bottles and two wine glasses with the name Hahn etched in the sides. So good.
- then we went to Monterey, and had a tasty seafood lunch
- drove down the coast (such a beautiful drive) to Big Sur, where we were camping. The view was beautiful, the bathrooms were disgusting. We also had a minor incident with a hungry raccoon.
- after Big Sur was Ventura. This place wasn't too bad, we were able to walk to the beach, although it was much too cold to swim.
- we spent a little time on the beach the next morning, then decided to go into LA to check it out. Went to the California Science Center, which wasn't too bad.
- next day we camped in Malibu, the place was okay, a lot if kids and the bathrooms were stupid. We got a little bit of hiking in.
- went back into LA again today and saw all of the Hollywood stuff. It was cool, I felt like such a tourist, but hey, isn't that what I am?
- so tonight were camping in Angeles national forest or something, and tomorrow is Vegas!
Hopefully I'll have a chance to post pictures soon, I know that's way more interesting.
San Fransisco
Upon arriving in San Fransisco, it was still much too early to check into our hotel. We parked the car and took a little walk around the touristy Fisherman's Wharf area. It had all of the things you would expect out of a boardwalk, plus those creepy mimes who spray themselves gold and dance like robots on top of boxes. So wierd. After about an hour, we decided we were hungry, and drove farther into to town to avoid paying for a ridiculously overpriced seafood meal at the pier. We went to a place called King of Thai Noodle, which is supposed to be one of the best Thai places ever or something. The food was unbelievably cheap (all the entrees were $5), and it was really tasty. Two big complaints, however: while the eggrolls and my meal arrived fairly quickly, they apparently forgot about steves, and I was almost completely done eating before it finally got to the table (after steve reminded them about it). Also, the Pad Thai on the menu was listed as having rice noodles, peanut sauce, egg, and tofu, however when it arrived, it had all of those things plus a mystery ingredient. At first I thought it was tofu, but as soon as I tasted it I knew it had to be something else, and on further inspection, we decided it was probably chicken. Normally, I guess this wouldn't be a big deal, but to me, it is a very big deal. After that, I had a very difficult time eating anything else on the plate and although it was delicious, my appetite was gone.
We left after paying and walked back to the car, which had literally just run out of time on the meter (there's a one hour limit on meters in San Fransisco, wtf?), and thus narrowly avoided a ticket. We still had a while before we could check in, so we decided to check out the San Fransisco MoMA. We parked the car again (we spent a ridiculous amount of money on parking, it was absolutely stupid.) and walked over to the museum. It was more expensive than I would normally pay to get into a museum, but ended up being worth it. There was some pretty awesome stuff there, along with some pretty awful stuff. We saw a great video piece that we both really liked, I can't remember the artist at the moment though.
We were finally able to check into our hotel, so we went there to drop off our stuff. I took a shower, uploaded some pics, and we left again. We went to the Macy's in Union Square and I bought a dress to wear in Las Vegas. After a little more shopping around we were ready for dinner.
So now I'm getting kind of bored or writing all this, so I'll just list the rest:
- we had sushi for dinner at two different restaurants, and one of the waitresses was from jersey which was cool
- we bought some beer and went back to our hotel
- we attempted to find bagels the next morning, which apparently is impossible in San Fransisco
- we left, and had chipotle for lunch
The end!
We left after paying and walked back to the car, which had literally just run out of time on the meter (there's a one hour limit on meters in San Fransisco, wtf?), and thus narrowly avoided a ticket. We still had a while before we could check in, so we decided to check out the San Fransisco MoMA. We parked the car again (we spent a ridiculous amount of money on parking, it was absolutely stupid.) and walked over to the museum. It was more expensive than I would normally pay to get into a museum, but ended up being worth it. There was some pretty awesome stuff there, along with some pretty awful stuff. We saw a great video piece that we both really liked, I can't remember the artist at the moment though.
We were finally able to check into our hotel, so we went there to drop off our stuff. I took a shower, uploaded some pics, and we left again. We went to the Macy's in Union Square and I bought a dress to wear in Las Vegas. After a little more shopping around we were ready for dinner.
So now I'm getting kind of bored or writing all this, so I'll just list the rest:
- we had sushi for dinner at two different restaurants, and one of the waitresses was from jersey which was cool
- we bought some beer and went back to our hotel
- we attempted to find bagels the next morning, which apparently is impossible in San Fransisco
- we left, and had chipotle for lunch
The end!
Sunday, July 4, 2010
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