There...and now back again, part one of a few.

So we're home now. Two weeks, nine states, six cupcakes, five campgrounds, uncounted cups of coffee, and one breakdown later, we're home. Photos to follow, with more at our Flickr site, but a quick recap since the last post.
We left LA Monday morning, heading east on I-10 to see the dinosaurs in Cabazon. The dinos, which were in the movie Pee-Wee's Big Adventure, are enormous. There's a T-Rex and what I think is an Apatasaur, but it's been a while since Paleo 101. They're part of a small truckstop complex, but were recently sold and are now a creationist museum...so they're God-fearing dinosaurs, which raises all kinds of interesting paleological, biological, and spiritual questions. Whatever the dinosaurs' beliefs, they make amazing pie. We ate in the truckstop cafe next to the dinos, and had fantastic six-inch tall homemade slabs of cream of coconut and cream of banana. That was followed by an excursion to the Salton Sea.
The Salton Sea is an ecological disaster and a nature preserve, an abandoned resort area and a hotspot for photographers. It's one of the strangest and most beautiful places I've ever been to. Also, according to Dan, one of the smelliest. I was getting over a cold and was fortunately too congested to smell the combination of hypersaline water, dead and dying fish, and baking beaches. It's now a bird sanctuary, and we must have seen 1000's of pelicans, kestrels, gulls, herons, cranes...other than that, it was almost totally silent. Photos to follow - words can't really do justice to the strangeness and isolation of the place. Suffice to say, we both want to go back, but maybe stay more downwind next time.
After tooling around the Salton Sea and environs for a while, listening to Calexico or just to nothing, we left the sun behind and followed our GPS back to the interstate and headed east with the intention of making Arizona that night, and finding a decent campground. Somewhere in the Mojave, something in my car's turbo system went boom, but we didn't realize it until we stopped for supplies in a tiny town on the border of California and Arizona, and then tried to get going again. Turns out, even a tiny car with a diesel engine won't go very far without its turbo. We limped a couple of miles down I-10 until we got to a KOA campground, within sight of Arizona. Literally. The Colorado River was the eastern border of both the state of California and the campground. The next morning and into afternoon, after consulting with our mechanic back home, Dan wrestled with hoses and zip ties and tools in the very tight engine compartment, and finally found the right combination of four-letter words and zip ties to get us back on the road. The people at the KOA were very nice about lending us tools and letting us stay past check-out time without extra charges, and we motored on to Phoenix, to a mechanic our mechanic had recommended.
Of all the places we touched down in, Phoenix was the hottest. We got there late afternoon, and it was 97 roasting degrees. The mechanics at the shop lifted the hood, and said the repair job was the best side-of-the-road job they'd ever seen, and as good as anything they could do in their shop with their lifts and power tools. They praised Dan's McGyver-like abilities to fix cars at campsites with nothing more than a hammer, screwdriver, and a couple of wrenches, noted that zip ties were used to fix cars at race tracks all the time, and said he could finish the job no problem once we got home and ordered the part. Dan was very pleased with himself, as well he should be, but after that ordeal, I doubt he'll be lifting the hood to do much more than add windshield washer fluid. He may be handy, but he's not a gearhead by choice.
After leaving Phoenix with our car, now pronounced healthy and fit to go the next 1800 miles, we headed north and up into Flagstaff. Between the sun going down, and climbing nearly 7000' into the mountains, the temperature dropped almost 60 degrees. We actually had to bundle up to set up our tent, but because of dry conditions and the fire risk, we didn't set a campfire. The campsite was great, an old one right on Rt 66 just outside of Flagstaff, and completely surrounded by pine trees. And all the way up, we saw Saguaro cacti! Hundreds of them, standing silently by the road with their arms raised. Pretty amazing. Neither one of us had ever seen Saguaros before.
So that was the first couple of days out of LA. Wednesday on, it was less eventful, but still great. More to follow in the next installment! And photos!

Here's our potential route home; we're leaving sunny Hermosa Beach Monday morning.  Highlights for the route home include Tucumcari, NM, which has amazing '30's through '60's architecture and neon; Cadillac Ranch, outside Amarillo; and Shamrock, TX which is the town the movie Cars used for inspiration.  Also, a stop in Memphis for some of the best BBQ in the country.  Not sure which BBQ joint yet, but almost any place in Memphis will have the best BBQ in the country.  

And today we had cupcakes, and they were very good.  More photos to follow. 

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More photos!

Gorgeous day here in LA, of course.  Hot, but not too hot, very blue sky, a bit of wind off the ocean...perfect day for running!  So while everyone else hung out at their house, I went for what turned out to be a six-mile run/walk, down a nice greenway from Hermosa Beach to Manhattan Beach, to Peet's Coffee for iced green tea and some coffee for our friends, then back along the Strand, next to the beach.  After walking for about 6.5 hours last night at Knott's Scary Farm, we were pretty wiped out, so we mostly just hung out today.  Had excellent Thai for dinner, with Pinkberry yogurt for dessert.  The one in Hermosa Beach just opened last night, and I can see why it's so popular.  Good stuff, really tastes like frozen yogurt and not ice cream.  Dan got his eyebrows threaded, which was kind of traumatic, but looks very nice.  Actually, his eyebrows don't look much different. 

Knott's was lots of fun - we went on a huge rollercoaster, the Ghost Rider, and I actually really enjoyed it, went on a couple of other rides, including a log flume that was pretty soothing except when it wasn't, and went through 13 different haunted houses/mazes, each with a different theme.  In between all of the rides and mazes, costumed characters, mostly variations on zombie clowns, walked around and jumped out at people.  Fog machines pumped out fog, and the whole thing was lots of fun, and very crowded after about 9 pm or so.  

Photos!

As promised last night (earlier this morning?), here are a few photos.   The first is of the two of us in New Mexico, on I40 at a cheesy tourist stop.  

The second is huevos rancheros, one of the best breakfasts ever, at the Rt. 66 Diner in Santa Rosa, NM.  It had hash browns, refried beans, a corn tortilla, red chile sauce, cheese, fried eggs, and lettuce.  Heaven on a plate, especially on a cold foggy morning.  The last photo is our first campsite in Missouri, west of St. Louis.  It was pretty foggy and cold that morning, too. 

We're here!

Just a quick update, because it's nearly 3 am/6 am depending on which time zone you follow.  We're in Hermosa Beach, at our friends' house, after a marathon session of driving.  Our itinerary looked like this:

Sunday - Hobart, Indiana to approximately Sullivan, Missouri, pulled in to campsite around midnight. 

Monday - Sullivan, MO to Branson, MO where we met Dan's parents for dinner.  Followed by a scenic route through the Ozarks back to I-40.  Realizing we wanted to get to LA by Wednesday evening, and had a lot of mileage to cover, and were still essentially in the Midwest, we decided to drive through the night and into the next day.  Also, Dan discovered Braum's Ice Cream. States covered on Monday: Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. 

Tuesday - New Mexico and Arizona, as far as Winslow, where we found a nice state park to camp.  It got quite cold at night, and the sky was so clear we could easily see the Milky Way.  Also, we had s'mores made with dark chocolate.

Wednesday - Arizona and California.  We crossed the Mojave Desert.  Very windy, and mountainous.  And now we're in LA.  Photos etc to follow tomorrow.  

On the Road...almost...well, out of Indiana, anyway. For now.

So the trip has nearly begun.  We're one state away, in Illinois - Lincoln Park, Chicago, specifically.  Dan is playing two gigs with Duke Tumatoe at Kingston Mines, and another at an orchard in Northern Indiana (keeps pulling us back!) and then, finally, then we'll get to leave.  It's Saturday night, so Dan's playing gig #2 of 3 a couple of blocks away while I take advantage of the hotel's free WiFi.  This is an interesting neighborhood.  DePaul University is here, so there's lots of students strolling around with cups of coffee or smoothies, listening to their own private soundtracks, and lots of shops to cater to them.  

It's nice to wander around in an urban neighborhood,  and just people-watch and see the sheer variety of everything.  Indy's come pretty far in the last few years, but it still doesn't have much in the way of truly dense neighborhoods.  Blocks, yes, but not really whole neighborhoods yet.  Dan and I wandered in and out of record stores, vintage stores, bookstores...ate lunch at a fantastic place called The Counter.  Build-your-own burgers, sweet potato fries, and Fat Tire Amber Ale.  Yum!  Dinner (or breakfast?  It was 2 am) last night was at a place called the Smoke Shack, a few doors down from the club.  Best BBQ I've had outside Memphis, and mac-and-cheese almost as good as my dad's, which is saying something because my dad is the mac-and-cheese master. So, the record for finding good restaurants is 2 for 2.  That's a good start.  And tomorrow, the vacation really begins - after Dan's gig. So, about 3 pm.  Not sure how far we'll get, doubt we'll get past Missouri, but we'll be moving!

Counting down and packing...

Just a few more days, and we're on the road! I keep looking at the calendar and the clock and thinking, "This time next week I could be in New Mexico!" or wherever. We're leaving early Sunday, so New Mexico by Monday might be a bit of a stretch, depends on how many distractions we see along the way. Maybe Tuesday?
Dan and I hauled out the camping bin last night to check our supplies. After one or two chaotic, messy camping trips, we consolidated everything and put it in a giant blue plastic bin with a lid, that fits handily in the back of the Golf. Sleeping bags, bug spray, lanterns, propane, things for cooking stuff over a fire, things for starting fires, tarps, the tent, chairs - all except the tent goes into the bin, and the tent is pretty compact. I also packed my backpack - it's one of those external frame hiking bags, so I can't pack a lot. This was done on purpose. The Golf is a small car, and there seems to be a law that states that what you absolutely must bring is directly in proportion to the size of the bag you carry. This also applies to purses. If it's a small purse, I can get away with just wallet, phones, and lip stuff. Bigger bag, and add more lip stuff, sunglasses, iPod, camera, Moleskine notebook(s)...you can see where this is headed. So, a relatively small backpack, although I did cheat a bit and threw my running gear into another small tote bag. But, hey, that's exercise clothes. Don't want those in with my regular stuff. And you get to a certain point in packing where you think, "Ok, if it's not in there somewhere, I either can get along without it, or I'll just buy another one when I get there." The only tricky thing is the weather. Our altitude is going to vary by about 7,000 feet over the course of the trip, from mountain foothills with the possibility of snow, to desert with blistering sun. You can always add layers; there's only so much you can take off without being issued a ticket. So there are a lot of layers in the backpack. I may look like a scarecrow at the higher altitudes, but, hey, it is nearly Halloween.
So now the camping gear is packed and my backpack and running gear are packed, and it's all sitting in our front room, waiting for Friday morning when we load it all into the car and leave. Makes it more real, that we are actually going on this epic Roadtrip.

Photo stuff

I have a new camera! I'm very excited. Dan, less so....it's a Canon G9, and so far it has amazed me with its versatility. Goes right into my bag, can shoot totally manual, and has the image stabilization thingy so photos I shoot in the hopes that they'll turn out but with low expectations, so far mostly have turned out. Canons are my favorite. The G9 is coming with us, along with Dan's Canon XTI and its assorted lenses and filters and tripods (which I might borrow), and the other newest member of our camera family, the Panasonic HD video camera. It shoots in resolution up to 1080p and saves it to the same kind of memory card the G9 uses, and has a Leica lens, which will be fantastic for all those sweeping shots of the desert. It's also unbelievably tiny, even smaller than the G9, so we can take all kinds of sneaky photos.

And you thought we were kidding when we said we were going to take 1000's of photos.

22 days and counting....

before we leave. Starting to think about the logistical stuff more, like what to do with our two high-maintenance wiener dogs, and how best to cram a keyboard into the car so it can still be played without dislodging the tent and backpacks from the hatch, or the car from the road for that matter.
We've also been working on multiple playlists on our iPods. Between the two of us, we have 220 gb-worth of songs, or approximately enough to drive to the moon and back several times without repeating a single song, assuming you could buy diesel and coffee once you got to the moon. So the playlists are sort of necessary for sorting out all the songs by tempo, mood, state we're in (mental and geographical), etc. We also like to quiz each other by putting the iPod on shuffle, and seeing how quickly the other can guess the artist. Dan usually wins. No surprise there.
Some of the music that will probably go into semi-heavy rotation in the car includes Dan's favorite New Orleans music, like Dr. John, the Meters, and Fats Domino; classic rock for playing loud and driving fast; and alt country like Uncle Tupelo, Jim White, and Gillian Welch for the long dusty stretches. But then, each roadtrip has its own soundtrack, and you don't know what that is until you're underway. When we went to Memphis, it was mostly Johnny Cash, Al Green, Leadbelly, and surprisingly little Elvis. Going down to NOLA, it was the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Walter Wolfman Washington, Dr. John, and Green Day found their way in there once or twice. So, who knows, we could start out listening to Zeppelin and the Stones and the Radio 4 News Quiz, and have devolved into Metallica or Kylie Minogue or both by the time we hit Tulsa. Driver picks music, passenger plays DJ, and when we get slaphappy, it's anyone's guess what will be blasting out of the sunroof.
And now I have "Tombstone Blues" stuck in my head.

Getting our Kicks, Part One

...on Route 66.

In a few weeks, we leave on our Roadtrip. We've both gone on long roadtrips before, together and separately, east coast, west coast, and south coast, but this will be the longest trip we've taken together. 13 days out and back, in a hatchback loaded with camping gear, camera gear, running gear, music gear, and probably a few books, iPods, and coffee cups rattling around there too.
The route will roughly follow Route 66. We don't have an itinerary, but Dan has a gig in Chicago the night before, and going that route is the most efficient way to get from Chicago to LA. Besides, it's the iconic Great American Roadtrip. We plan on flying through the midwest, and setting up camp somewhere between Tulsa and Tucumcari - depends on how far we get the 1st night. The next couple of days will be spent going quickly in a leisurely fashion through the desert Southwest, stopping at a canyon here, a National Park there, taking 1000's of photos (probably not much of an exaggeration), and ending up in Hermosa Beach. 4 or 5 or 6 days there, then we turn around and go back again, stopping at a diner here, another park there, and filling up the memory cards on all of our cameras.
This blog will be updated as time and WiFi connections allow. We're bringing one of the laptops, so we can share our trip with you Live and As It Happens!! More or less, anyway. The good stuff, anyway. Any suggestions along the way, let us know - we're flying by the seat of our pants here, with only the weather, the open road, and our less-than-reliable GPS as our guides.

I can't wait.