Christmas Break Road Trip
Thanks to furloughs I had 15 days off for Christmas vacation, so it was a perfect time for a road trip! The plan was simple: drive north towards San Francisco.
We departed San Diego on Sunday, December 27. After getting north of LA we headed for the coast and Highway 1/101. I was amazed at the amount of farmland in California. Mile after mile of crops -- mainly artichokes this time of year -- that lead right up to the sea.
We stayed the first night in Pacific Grove on Monterey Bay.
After getting settled in at the Pacific Grove Inn and having dinner, we took a walk around town. No matter where you were you could feel the presence of the sea.
The next morning we decided to check out the included breakfast at the inn. Hey, it's a bed and breakfast after all. Let's just say it was bleak and we mistook the coffee for dishwater.
The next stop was San Francisco! There was no real agenda for San Francisco other than to go to the SFMOMA on Tuesday. Monday night we walked from our hotel near Union Square to Pier 39 and then back -- around 6 miles. It was pretty cool and drizzling, which felt really nice. In fact it's probably the only time I'll get to wear a coat this winter.
The view from the hotel was great.
Tuesday included visiting the SFMOMA, which has a great collection, and having some pretty decent Indian food for dinner.
We did not go here.
Wednesday we got the Jeep from the belly of the hotel and set off for the Golden Gate Bridge. Seeing the bridge in person is something you must do. Its shear size it daunting. I also found its orange color wonderful.
After driving across the Golden Gate Bridge we headed towards Muir Woods National Monument to view some redwoods. Muir Woods gets extremely busy, and today was no exception. After driving down a road lined with cars for a mile trying to find a parking spot, we called it quits. Back to Highway 1!
This is pretty much where the trip ends. We drove north on Highway 1 -- void of guardrails, along a roadway perched on cliffs! -- until we came to a road that would take us east back to Highway 101. From there we shot over to Sacramento and then headed south on Interstate 5 back to San Diego.
Long drive, but totally worth it.
Long Way Round Review
I finally finished Long Way Round after a month of grueling reading. OK, it wasn't that grueling but it wasn't the most inspirational read, and every other page led me to cast it aside until I had nothing better to do but pick it up again.
I have two major issues with this book:
1.) After spending three months riding around the world, I expect more details. Tell me more about the land and people. Throw in some history along the way to bind it all together (sympathy and guilt are not reliable substitutes for facts here, fellas). I'm sure in an attempt to keep the book around 300 pages a lot had to be cut, but less time could have been spent whining about how much they missed their wives and children – we got the point, no need to remind us every other page.
2.) Heard of packing light? Not Ewan and Charley. Two 4x4 support vehicles, a camera man on a third bike, a doctor, and local "fixers" is all it takes to ride around the world? God I hope not! Throughout the book Ewan complains about the local media attention that awaits their arrival in each town. No wonder! To many of these people it must have looked like the carnival was rolling into town with as much crap as you guys had in tow.
In the end this book is nothing more than two personal journals – seemingly written after the fact – clobbered together in an attempt to create an epic travel novel. Had there been more details about the trip itself and less self-absorbed introspection and whining it could have been a good read.
Many men and women have completed this same trip without any sponsors or support vehicles. In fact, I've gained more knowledge about the land and people from reading firsthand accounts on ADVrider.
Virginia to Oklahoma
After carefully packing the ReloCube for its cross-country trip, Kevin and I departed Radford, VA, destined for Charleston, SC, with the Jeep Wrangler packed to the roof.
As expected, Charleston proved to be hot and humid. We stayed with Kevin's friend Alaina and her roommate Erin, and of course Brutus; Brutus is a dog, a shih-poo to be exact.
We ate dinner at Bambu, where Kevin got the live entertainment to play Garth Brooks, and I had a great vodka infused sweet tea cocktail. The food and service were great.
Pickles enjoyed both the company and dinner as well.
Next stop, Savannah, GA, for a quick tour. After feeding a parking meter an hour's worth of change, we walked around for a solid 10 minutes before deciding the car's air conditioning was more desirable. We did manage to fit in a quick walk along the river where Kevin embraced the pub.
Next stop:
In Carrollton, GA, we visited Kevin's friend from graduate school, Joe. Joe works -- and lives -- at The University of West Georgia as a residential life person, so we got to stay in a deserted dorm. Carrollton is a very nice small town with a wonderful, updated, central downtown with shops and restaurants. We decided to share a bottle of wine at a wine bar while three frats guys picked a fight with a drunk guy. We watched with ho-hom interest.
Since we were only 4 hours from my grandmother's house, we decided to alter our route and head to Chipley, FL. Granny was excited by the surprise visit and posed with Pickles for a picture.
We stopped at a rest area somewhere in Florida that had an old Blue Angels plane on display.
This same rest area had a sweet drive-thru, motion activated windshield washer station. There should have been a stern warning, however, about backing up and pulling forward several times because I nearly collided with the guardrail due to my enthusiasm.
The next stop on our journey was New Orleans, LA, to visit Kevin's friend Julia. Upon arrival I was immediately intimidated by the scary neighborhood and refused to leave the car. The shopping cart in the middle of the road didn't help ease my fears, but it did warn of a huge hole big enough to swallow a car.
Since we have both been to New Orleans several times, we decided to mix it up and go on a plantation tour. Word to the wise: research your plantation tour prior to setting off; the GPS is not always the best source of information.
Plantation tour FAIL #1:
Plantation tour FAIL #2:
After the failed plantation tour, I decided to feed elephants.
And then I rode a horse.
Finally, a gunshow before dinner.
For dinner, we got all gussied up and headed to Arnaud's. Before leaving Julia's house we got a nice drug dealer in a motorized wheelchair named Charles to take our picture. Sadly, it wasn't taken on my camera so all I can offer is an after dinner photo.
Next stop Norman, OK, to visit Kevin's parents. The trip from New Orleans to Norman took 13 hours, and is mainly a big blur. But we did pick up an alligator head somewhere in Louisiana.
When in Oklahoma dress like an Oklahoman. Seems logical to me, so we headed to the western store in Yukon, OK, located on Garth Brooks Blvd. to pickup some boots.
My boots:
Kevin's boots, along with his mother, Molly, and Pickles:
The next day we had lunch at Toby Keith's restaurant in Oklahoma City. I believe everyone at the table got some form of chicken fried steak.
The decor of the restaurant was decidedly country music themed, and even included a sparkly saddle, which served as a disco ball.
On the way back to Norman we stopped at Toby Keith's residence for a picture. Admittedly we couldn't get too close -- given the guard dogs and all.
Yee-haw ya'll!
That makes 8 days and 2,300 miles, and we are only half way to San Diego, CA.
Relocation Road Trip!
Next Saturday, August 1st, Kevin and I are departing good ol' Southwest Virginia for San Diego, CA. The selected route is somewhat indirect at nearly 3,500 miles, but it should prove to be a great road trip.
- Radford, VA to Charleston, SC (370 miles)
- Charleston, SC to Savannah, GA (107 miles)
- Savannah, GA to Atlanta, GA (249 miles)
- Atlanta, GA to New Orleans, LA (470 miles)
- New Orleans, LA to Norman, OK (707 miles)
- Norman, OK to Santa Fe, NM (555 miles)
- Santa Fe, NM to Grand Canyon, AZ (470 miles)
- Grand Canyon, AZ to San Diego, CA (553 miles)
Schmap: Use with Caution
Sometime ago I received an email asking for my permission to include one of my Portland, OR Flickr photos in a Schmap Guide of Portland.
This photo's Flickr title is "Portland Building." Considering it was a picture of a building, and in Portland, this seemed like a logical choice. The problem is there is an actual building named the Portland Building, which includes a 38-foot tall statue perched atop the front of the building -- a far cry architecturally from the mundane building in my photo. So now my picture of some-random-building is associated with the true Portland Building.
This gaffe of Schmap's part due to my trickery makes me question the accuracy of their service.
Dull Photo Selection
Today, I received a request from Schmap.com to include one of my Portland, OR photos on Flick in their Portland guide. At first I was excited, and then slightly saddened. Here's the photo they chose:
While I'm sure the selected photo is appropriate for the context, I just feel this photo of Kevin hugging a tree shows so much more emotion and communicates Portland's green side:
Likewise, another tree getting some love by yours truly:
Overheard on a plane
Man: Where are you from?
Women: Monroe, Louisiana.
Man: Is that near Texas?
Women: Yes, Louisiana is east of Texas.
Flickr photostream
Twitter Feed
- Lovely: "Too many table names in the query. The maximum allowable is 50."
- Great run through @balboapark with @runwithgreg. Now time for some steak!
- Just ordered an Apple TV. It's the cheapest thing I've ever purchased from Apple. #fb
- Having a personality like a potted cactus is not a good thing.