The Dream Becomes Reality

  We finally feel like we have made it to California. Although we spent the night in San Diego, the sun is coming up in the east and we are pointing north on The Pacific Coast Highway. The Pacific Ocean is on our left and beautiful Southern California is to the right. Our first real contact with the Pacific is in the town of Oceanside. We found a parking spot close to the beach, walk through the mist and fog on moist, sticky sand to the water. There were some rocks about ten feet out and I had to stand on them for some reason. So, I rolled up the legs of my sweat pants (no judging) and walked through the freezing water. I have a picture of myself standing on top of this rock with my shirt off, striking a very studly pose. I need to get those out again and show my wife and kids. We stayed on the beach for about another 15 or 20 minutes then moved on. It was very interesting seeing the area come to life as the morning wore on. First the surfers are out with there boards and then the businesses and shops start opening along the street. After a while the bums and homeless people start roaming around to get to there panhandling spots and get to "work". As the sun gets higher in the sky the people on the streets get weirder. I don't want to dwell on this too much but let's just say Southern California is not the place for me.
  By now we are on the 405 near Los Angeles and sitting a near stand still in traffic. We creep along for maybe an hour when we see why the left lane is closed and causing brutal congestion. Apparently someone thought it was a good idea to cross 16 lanes of traffic in morning rush hour. Well, he didn't make it, and they had not removed his body by the time we drove past at 10 miles an hour. I don't know why, but for some reason I didn't call my parents or really tell anyone about this. Maybe because it doesn't even seem real when you drive past a dead person covered by a sheet in morning traffic. So we continue north, next stop Big Sur!
  See you next week for more adventures in Sunny California!
 

Death Valley and the Worlds Tallest Thermometer.

 After our three hour stay in Las Vegas we moved on towards California. We drove for what seemed like, at the time, to be the longest and hottest day in human history (check back in a few weeks for my post about northern Nevada). We ended up in Baker, California. Known as the gateway to Death Valley, and home to the Worlds Largest Thermometer. We stayed at the Wills Fargo Motel, across the street from THE restaurant in town. It was about 120 degrees  according to the giant thermometer, and that felt about right. Dry heat my ass! Hot is hot, I don't care what anyone says. The motel was clean and we went straight to sleep (two beds). We woke up the next morning bright and early to hit the road.

 Our next destination was Mission Bay in San Diego. We wanted to camp for the night and found that they had a site right on the water. It was night by the time we arrived, and the place was packed! People everywhere. Come to find out, Mission Bay has a huge Fifth of July party. We found a spot to park and set up camp for the night. By set up camp I mean we opened the back doors to the van. We had no space in the front, back, or either side of our van to set up even a lawn chair! We ate some canned goods for dinner as the fireworks started, and settled in for the night to the soothing sounds of drunks yelling "Whoooo!".

 In the morning we packed up camp before the natives woke up and pointed the van towards the PCH (Pacific Coast Highway). At this time we haven't seen the Pacific Ocean yet, and we are getting pretty antsy to get there. Check back next week to share in the thrill of victory!

VEGAS BABY!!!

 After seeing the two largest holes in the United States, our next destination was Las Vegas. By now it's July 4th and we are excited to see some crazy stuff, so we do the logical thing, leave Route 66 and head for Vegas. On our way up Hwy 93 we saw some amazing things. One of the coolest was Hoover Dam. It was completed in 1936 and over one hundred workers lost there lives building it. The dam is 1244 ft across, 726 ft high and holds back the Colorado River to create Lake Meade. Awesome site to say the least.

 Thirty five miles to the west lies Las Vegas. We arrived around five in the evening, and were immediately struck by the amount of people crammed into a relatively small town. We decided to try to get a room at Circus Circus. That's right, we had no reservations. First mistake. Then we wanted to check out the casino, and headed that way, only to be stopped by security after taking two steps into the doorway. Needless to say, we had a quick visit to the casino in Circus Circus. A little disappointed, but unfazed, we moved north on the famous Vegas Strip to find a place to stay.

 Chris and I landed at a quaint little motel in North Las Vegas, frequently seen on the T.V. show COPS. We walked in the front door and notify the fine gentleman that we needed a room. He asked "One bed, or two?" After a short discussion about who would sleep on the floor if we tried to be frugal and only got one bed, reality sank in. There was a surreal moment of noticing the fish bowl of condoms on the counter and hearing the guy add up a whole nights worth of hourly rate charges, we answered in unison "Two beds!" Followed shortly by "No thanks, we'll find somewhere else."

 Well, realizing that there were no other vacancies in all of Las Vegas, and after our encounter with the locals, we decided to move on. Next stop, California!!

 Check back to find out if we make it through Death Valley.

The Meteor Crater, and The Grand Canyon

 The next attraction we stopped at was 154 miles down Route 66. The Meteor Crater  is in Winslow, Arizona and I would definitely recommend stopping for this one. Go to google earth and search The Meteor Crater, you will be amazed to find that this huge hole exists in our country. I'm not being sarcastic. It is freaking huge and amazing! I think it was one of the highlights of the trip, although this was before we got sick of driving and had the choice of staying where we were or sucking it up and finishing the trip. It is about 4,000 ft in diameter, 570 ft deep, and is surrounded by a rim that rises 150 ft above the surrounding plains. That means if you were standing on the rim of the crater and the St. Louis Arch was at the bottom, you would almost be looking straight into the windows. Pretty cool, especially if you've been to the Arch. If you haven't been, GO! It's the tallest monument in the country (630 ft)!! Sorry, I have to stick up for STL since to everyone else in the country thinks we only grow corn and noodle for fish (look it up). Anyway, The Meteor Crater is cool.

 From here it was a short drive to Flagstaff. I think we stayed in a free camp ground that night, I remember there was a sign warning of mountain lions and Chris slept in the van instead of the tent. He turned out to be the smarter man, I froze my butt off! This was when I learned it's true that it gets cold at night in the desert. Thankfully no mountain lions though.
 After thawing out, we set off for the Grand Canyon. This turned out to be a little farther out of the way than we thought, about 100 miles one way! After seeing a huge hole in the ground the day before, and driving for three hours, the Grand Canyon was a little anticlimactic. The best part about this leg of the journey was watching a Chinese lady be amazed while she took pictures of a crow picking through a trash can. I wanted to take a picture of her doing this but I didn't want to get beat up by a bus full of 70 year old Chinese tourists. So, after about an hour we hit the road again.
 Check back next week to find out how much trouble two 18 year olds can get into in Las Vegas!

Gallup, NM - our next stop on Historic Route 66

 The next stop on Route 66 was Gallup, New Mexico. The only thing I remember is that we stayed at a KOA campground for one night. Little did we know that at the same time there was also a serial killer visiting KOA's around the country. We didn't meet him, and it wasn't us. I think this is where we cooked spegetti-o's over a piece of charcoal. Not too exciting. On the road again, next stop Flagstaff, Arizona!

The next stretch of Route 66

That's right, it's a stuffed horse. Trigger, to be exact. He was Roy Rodgers famous horse that he had stuffed and put into his museum. It used to be located in Oklahoma then was moved to Branson, Missouri. The museum closed down in 2009. Sadly, while on my trip down Route 66, we didn't stop here and see the awesome stuffed horse. All I have to remember this place by is a picture of the sign taken out the passenger side window while traveling at 70 mph.

 The next state we hit was Texas. The only major place to stop was Amarillo, though if we were thinking ahead we would have stopped in the town of Panhandle. Yes, it's a real town. Really the only thing I remember about Amarillo is the GIANT ROACH in the motel. After recovering from a heart attack, we trapped this quarter pounder with legs and tried to flush it down the toilet. Notice I said "tried". This thing literally swam against the current and did not go down. I almost felt sorry for this roach version of Michael Phelps, then we just threw some toilet paper on top of him and flushed again. Needless to say, I had a little trouble sleeping that night.
 Our time spent in Texas was short and I guess you could say, eventful. I was looking forward to New Mexico and views of beautiful mountains and high plains deserts. Check back next week to see if what really happened.

Route 66, The Beginning

It was midnight on my 18th birthday when me and my buddy Chris set off on our epic journey on historic Route 66. We made it maybe four hundred miles to a truck stop just outside of Joplin Missouri. We were so tired, we couldn't even make it to the Oklahoma border on our first leg of the trip. At this point I have to admit this was completely my idea, I had this romantic idea of "The Mother Road". Route 66 has, for some reason, has always been a symbol of freedom to me. I had always wanted to point my car west and go, that's pretty much what we did. The original idea was to drive my 1974 Dodge Dart, affectionately referred to as "The Chick Magnet". Luckily, my parents saved me from making a HUGE mistake, and let us use there van. They also used there AAA insurance and got us route planners for the entire trip.

Back to the adventure. After a night of sleeping with one eye open in a shady truck stop, we hit the road once again. Our next stop was for breakfast at the world's largest McDonald's in Vinita, Oklahoma (pictured above). This thing is built across the highway, and is actually a site to see if going down I-44. I had pancakes and sausage, I think. Back on the road, next stop was Oklahoma City. This was really just a drive by to see the 1995 bombing site. You really get no idea of the damage on TV, there were still windows boarded up in the YMCA a couple blocks away. The building was gone, but the fence was still there with all the flowers and makeshift memorials around the perimeter. They have a beautiful permanent memorial there now, take a look at it some time New York, I think it is very appropriate and tasteful.

That's all for now. Next time, the Roy Rodgers museum and horse taxidermy.