New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland*, Virginia, Texas, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, Nevada and California (12/12)
*only 14 miles were traveled in this state
No Driving today! Well no driving into another state or for an extended period of time. To get around LA you do need to drive a bit.
For once the person we were staying with didn’t need to work at the crack of dawn and Jo and I didn’t need to wake up early to drive anywhere. But, the past few days of driving and changing time zones meant that Jo and I woke up on our own before 8AM. Sweet.
It worked out in the end, we started to get ready and Katie woke up while we were getting ready for the day. Katie did have to work at 3PM so we planned to go to complete a quick driving tour of Culver City, walk around Venice and have lunch in Santa Monica before we dropped Katie off for work at 3PM.
I got to drive for the first part of the morning- driving through LA is much different than anything we had been in yet with our rental car. Lots more people, lights but still pretty fast paced. The changing environments are always keeping us on our toes. Side note- I was not honked at or yelled at any point while driving (nor was Jo) so I think we did a good job driving with California drivers.
The tour through Culver City started with a visit to Katie’s studio while she had been at school in LA. It is right across from one of the places The Hills T.V show frequents when filming. Katie said she would see the film crews and cast members stop by all the time while she was working in the studio. Once she graduated she had acquire her own studio- we drove by her first studio (surrounded by painters who didn’t always appreciate the noise associated with her sculpting) and then told us about her new studio. The art scene in Culver City is amazing and the fact that Katie is a part is even more so (plus we got to see some of her artwork, she does pretty cool things with wax).
We stopped at a coffee house right by Sony Studios. We walked over after grabbing some coffee and peaked in to the gates. There was some sort of filming going on. As Jo and I took pictures I think Katie finally realized how much Jo and I were going to look and act like tourists for the rest of the day- haha. That’s not a bad thing, right?
I wonder what they are filming?! I bet if I saw it on TV i wouldn't recognize it
The church across the street from the studio
From the studio it was time to head over to Venice Beach (and my first look at the Pacific Ocean!)!
Venice beach is just like the Baywatch, 90210 and all those shows portray it, well with an updated wardrobe. After kicking off our shoes we walked along the beach (in the sand!) near the skate park for a bit. While we walked towards the water’s edge Jo got a request to run through the hundred of seagulls chilling on the sand from a nearby photographer. She did a pretty good job, until she realized they might retaliate, then she stopped and slinked away hoping to remain unnoticed. I think the photographer got his picture, he didn’t ask again.
Once we distanced ourselves from the birds we were pretty close to the ocean- the pacific ocean in case you need reminding- so of course Jo and I began to jog towards it! Me, after I had given my camera to Katie so she could take pictures of our first feet in the ocean, proof me made it to the opposite coast! We on the edge of the water and the water brushed over our feet, it was freezing. Obvious, but it still made me jump. Jo, used to the chilly Atlantic waters in northern Jersey was a little more used to the temperature and was just amused how it was similar in temperature to the Atlantic Ocean in the late spring.
about to make our first steps in the Pacific Ocean!
I still thought it was cold, so I walked a bit further from the tide as we walked along the beach. We stumbled across a memorial made of rocks which provided homes for a lot of barnacles, mussels and star fish! Barnacles have always freaked me out a bit… it has to do with how I feel unsettled about bubbles in mass quantities… but Jo and Katie were having fun looking at all the life within the rocks while I took pictures (from a distance) of the waves crashing into the rocks and the other activities taking place on the beach.
While everyone was looking at barnacles I was catching some waves
A starfish! I could stand the barnacles to get this picture
From Venice beach we headed over to Santa Monica. Usually you can walk from Venice to Santa Monica, but because we needed to make sure Katie got to work on time we drove in the car down to Santa Monica on the Sanata Monica Blvd. (not really but at this point we had driven on it a few times… I just didn’t know how to bring it up).
After driving a few laps around the mall we finally realized that two of the parking lots we had been passing had free parking for the first two hours. Perfect! In 2 hours we needed to be on the road to drop Katie off. We parked and headed out to beach to get some lunch.
Where we had lunch outside- the factors that won us over $4 24oz Buds and "world famous burgers" (which we later found out every one and their mom claims to have)
Jo and I enjoying the sun at Big Dean's
We didn’t walk along the shore of Santa Monica as much, but I could still it’s a bit different then Venice. There are less people running around and the roadway is much closer to the actual beach.
roadway next to the beach- taken from the bridge connecting the boardwalk to downtown
We got back to the car and dropped Katie off so she could go to work then Jo and I were back on the road. First stop, the Hollywood stars!! Good news- the star walk was included in the Garmin so we didn’t have to look up directions. Bad news- the Garmin gets limited reception in LA and it takes forever for it to come up with a route to follow. But we managed in the long run.
Although only a mile or so away it took quite a bit of time to make it to the Star Walk traffic and lights slowed us down quite a bit. Luckily, parking on the side of the road was ample. We grabbed a sport about a block away from Hollywood and Vine (right outside this booth to, “get an agent and make it!” where people were completing auditions- amusing).
Then we began walking the stars, which go on forever. It was a slow start, the first block and a half Jo and I didn’t recognize any of the names. So I got a little excited when we saw and recognized our first star Mark Wahlberg. We continued walking and realized we had jumped the gun- as in the next few blocks we started recognizing and wanted pictures with every other star. Here are just a few of the good ones!
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland*, Virginia, Texas, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, Nevada and California (12/12)
*only 14 miles were traveled in this state
The sunset crater, Navajo ruins, the Grand Canyon, Hoover dam, Las Vegas and Katie’s house were all on today’s agenda. A lot to do and only a day to do it! Luckily we gain another hour when we cross into Nevada and into Pacific time, but I’m not even sure 25 hours is enough to adequately fit all these activities.
This morning Jo and I woke up before our alarm, only by a few minutes but still crazy. The view from our room this morning was an interesting site.
For some reason the ice bath is not on the brochure for the Ramada Inn West, i would have brought my bathing suit
The Ramada Inn also had a continental breakfast, no bagels or yogurt this time but they stepped it up by serving eggs and sausage (deviled eggs mad an appearance for the third straight time, I don' think I had ever seen deviled eggs at breakfast before this trip. I find it kind of odd).
While we ate the news was on, the story being covered on CNN was about a shooting in an Arizona supermarket the previous week. I have never felt so out of the loop, Jo and I haven't been keeping up with any of the things going on in the country (minus the weather) this entire trip even though were traveling through half of the country. Jo called her mom to catch up on some of the details of what had happened just so we could be a little more aware of what was going on. It's a travesty what happened and we will keep all the family's affected in my thoughts.
With Jo and I a little more informed we headed to the car to start our third day of driving. We already knew this would be a long day, we had over 600 miles to cover! Not including stopping time and traffic Google maps had predicted it would take just over 11 hours to complete.
Our first stop was actually to the Wal-mart to pick up an air mattress to use while we were at Katies. Conveniently the Ramada West Inn is across the street from a Wal-mart. We ran in picked up some warm gloves and hats that were on sale and grabbed an air mattress. The hats and gloves were because of the piles of snow that we had seen in the parking lot at our hotel and the bitter wind rolling through Flagstaff.
Look! we have snow too!
It was just 9AM when we left the Wal-mart parking lot (woo good timing for Jo and I, waking up before the alarm is amazing!). We were using another scenic road map to navigate our way back North through the Grand Canyon and surrounding area.
Our first stop was the Sunset Crater National Monument.
When we got to the site we thought we had gotten lucky again. The entrance fee stop was closed and we were able to drive right in. However, we made the mistake of stopping at the visitors center… although most likely the only people to visit that day we had to pay the entrance fee. I wonder if they would have stopped us had we kept driving… guess we’ll never know. But I guess the fee goes towards preserving the area for future visitors so we can’t be too upset.
One of the dried lava rivers on the way to the Crater
Sunset Crater is the result of a volcano that erupted only 900 years ago (I use the world only because in relation to other volcanoes in populated areas this is considered recent by the travel guide). The crater is a slowly forming area of vegetation as the base of charcoal, rock and ash don’t sustain life very well. We didn’t climb the crater but we were able to get a few good shots of the black soil and some life coming back into the hills in the surrounding area. Fun Fact: the Sunset Crater National Monument is the result of a film crew attempting to create a landslide the site in the 1920’s. Activists got very upset and worked rapidly to protect the land from being disturbed and in 1930 President Hoover named the area a national monument!
The Crater! You can walk up it, but the slippery soil makes it pretty tough climb
The next stop on the road was the Wupatki National Monument. Only ten or so miles from the crater the environment and vista couldn’t have been any different. As we turned out of the sunset crater monument we left the mountains, tall trees and evergreen colors behind us and turned into red rock country with little brown bushes and flat land. I still can’t get over how fast the environment changes around here.
Mile 16
Mile 19
The Wupatki National Monumnet holds the ruins of the pueblos of the people that once lived in the valley over 800 years ago. Before the Volcano had irrupted thousands of people had been farming in this area. Earlier smaller irruptions improved the farming in the area and drew farmers to its nutritious soils in the late twelfth century (only in areas further from the Volcano, not like the areas in the Sunset Crater). However, in 1250 the volcano quieted and the soil lost potential. Many people moved, however the Navajo, Hopi and Zuni people stayed and learned to adapt to the new environment. Their presence remains today as they share their traditions and crafts with the many tourists that make their way through the area each year.
Jo and I were able to stop at one of the Pueblo ruins for a bit before continuing on our way to the Grand Canyon.
Jo in front of one of the ruins, will the tallest of the San Francisco Peaks in the background, Mt. Humphrey
Another ruin, this one was the most intact out of all the ones we had seen
Learning from our first trip through a national park, Jo and I made sure to stop and fill up the tank before heading into the Grand Canyon Park. After gas we were off to the Little Colorado River Gorge, the first view of the Colorado River before entering the Canyon and National Park.
Pulling up there were actually people parked here! Amazing! We haven’t seen many people at the tourist attractions we’ve been too, it was crazy! The numerous stands that line the path to the lookout give some insight to how people would be here in the real tourist season. Only a handful of merchants filled the stalls, but they still had some very cool dream catchers, pipes and jewelry. Got to love tourist traps! Also, Jo and I had been seeing these stands along the road on the way into flagstaff and into the canyon- we finally saw what they were supposed to look like when in use. I can’t imagine all of these shops being filled with gifts- it would be a tad over whelming, but probably better prices.
Shopping stalls!
After stopping and looking at all the different items we made it to the rim. Once again, amazing. Our guide says that this is potentially what the Grand Canyon looked like in its early years when the Colorado river first began to erode the bedrock, just over few million years ago. We were able to get one of our first pictures together here (because there were actually other people here!). Ironically, the people that snapped our picture were on a road trip from Delaware. I guess people on the East Coast don’t understand the idea of the ‘off-season.’
First views of the erosion done by the Colorado River
Jo and I finally getting a picture together!
We even remembered to get Haggred out and about
The river! who knew it could change the environment so much
Anyway, we packed up into the car and headed to the Grand Canyon (after picking up some souvenirs, hey, I may know it’s a tourist trap but some of the things are just so cool!).
Again we had to pay an entrance fee, 25 bucks this time! The woman at the kiosk tried to convince us to purchase an annual membership- only $80- and we could use the 10 dollars we had paid earlier towards the total cost. Although a great sales pitch, Jo and I passed on this great opportunity. Our $25 pass would be good for 7 days and that was well over enough.
Now once in the park, all you have to do is drive along rt. 64 and stop along at the different areas to view different parts of the Canyon. Over all there are about 8 stops to make while in the park we did not stop at all of them due to time constraints. Rather than write about each different stop I’ll just show you the pictures. It’s important to note that these stops are only a few miles apart from each other, but somehow the view is completely different at each one. Also, I would hate to have to had to travel on this road with thousands of tourists- the off season is a definite plus for these popular tourist destinations.
The Watch Tower at Desert View (1)
View at the Desert View Location (1)
Oh and wait for it, wait for it...
Full view from the first stop, Desert View (1)
Bam! the landscape you know and love!!
View from Lipan Point (2)
Another angle from Lipan Point (2)
View from Moran Point (3) there are class 3 rapids at this point in the Colorado River below
The raven! huge bird at Moran Point (3)
More from Moran Point (3)
Last one from Moran Point (3)
The drive though the park was really pretty too
Grandview point (named such it was home to the Grandview hotel in the early 20th century) (4)
Me at the Grandview Point (4)
Yaki Point
So you may be wondering why didn’t we do that cool glass walkway thing you’ve heard about. Well, the Skywalk is on the North Rim of the Canyon, about a stone’s throw (well I guess only if you’re superhuman) from the last few the West Rim (10 miles at the narrowest to be exact). We traveled along the East, South and West Rims of the canyon. However, unless you are flying it is approximately 250 miles to get to the North Rim. A bit far for our journey, but if you ever go I suggest staying in Page, AZ and going to the North Rim- it’s less well known and therefore less people to worry about even when in-season!
We were starting to get hungry and began to look for a place to eat once we started heading Northwest. As luck would have it food was sparse on the highway. We finally found a promising billboard, “burritos!” We headed off the highway and followed the signs... to a desert building. Nice, we thought maybe we just didn’t go far enough so we continued a bit to a “unfinished road” that was to be “traveled at your own risk.” Well, needless to say Jo and I didn’t really want to take the risk so we turned back around. We noticed that if we turned the opposite direction off the exit ramp we could get on historic rt. 66. We headed toward the road and were greeted with a pizza place!
The main reason we thought it would be a good idea to eat here- this awesome sign
We pulled in and it turned out to be a pretty cool place. So even though the sign said, “not for those who are in a hurry” we ordered some food (plus we could say we actually went on Rt. 66).
The inside was awesome too!
While we were wrapping up our waitress came over began talking to us. We talked about what were our trip was about, where we were headed and where we had been. In turn, she told us a pretty good story (no idea if it true or not). Cars (the Pixar movie) was based on the next few towns on Rt.66. The writer had broken down as he passed through the area, he then stayed in the area for the next 6 months as he developed and wrote the concept for the Cars movie.
To add some credit to their story- they even have two of the Cars characters painted on the side of the building
Jo and I already knew we wouldn’t make it to the Hoover Dam during daylight, so we decided to take the thirty minute extra route on 66 rather than getting back on the express way.
It turned out to be a pretty nice drive, very straight for the most part but some pretty pictures. Not sure if the story is true- sure there are motels, tire stores and a town named Peach Springs on this part of 66 but I’m sure the writer used a combination of all of 66 and not just this area. Good story though!
straight and flat- describes most of the drive, oh with some cows!
After 66 it was back to the express way as we raced the sunset to the Hoover Dam.
The sunset made for some really pretty skies along the last bit of our drive
Sadly, as Jo and I predicted the sun was down by the time we reached the last twenty miles to the damn. But as the mile markers for the Dam reached into the single digits I started to get excited. Well that’s a lie I’ve been excited the entire trip to see the Hoover Dam, blame all those National Geographic and History channel specials!
Anywho, we turned the last bend and went over a bridge with high walls and no view… of anything. Jo looked at me and asked, “Is that is?” Baffled and not about to claim that was the climatic point in this leg of the journey, I shook my head no and we continued on our way.
Well, turns out that was the fancy bridge they had been talking about over the past year, lame. BUT there was an exit to actually go the Hoover dam almost immediately after the lame bridge (by the way this is where the time zone changes from Mountain to Pacific and we travel from Arizona into Nevada).
We followed the exit to an inspection point. The guards let us know that the actual damn was closed to visitors, however you could still drive over it… just NO stopping. Somewhat upset about the news, Jo and I continued on the windy path to the damn. Good news- you can drive over the entire dam! Bad news… it was dark and my camera stinks at night, also bad news it’s really hard to drive well, be excited and take in your surroundings.
So after driving back into Arizona and over the damn, Jo and u-turned and drove back over into Nevada. We then tried to find a spot to pull over and stop (I know he said not to, but come on! It’s the Hoover dam!). We saw a few other people pulled over so we followed suit. As we stepped out of the car the other people began yelling at us! They were breaking the same rules as us! I just wanted one picture of the base of the dam (which you can’t see while driving). They would have none of it. So Jo and I completed another u-turn and went back into Arizona.
This time we found a desert parking lot. We parked and ran down to the damn, no one was around… so I don’t think it count’s as breaking the rules (side note- it was actually pretty warm at this point which made the brisk walk/jog to the dam really nice after all the driving). I finally got some shots of the dam that weren’t completely black!
The water level was pretty low
Look out below!! It's amazing in person- you can finally grasp what all those engineers are talking about
Not wanting to push our luck we jumped back in the car and headed back into the Pacific time zone and into Nevada.
Nevada was pretty cool- we got to see the Las Vegas skyline and about a thousand other casinos lining the highway in between the few hundred shopping centers. It was a much different drive than we had been used to in the deserted areas of Arizona, Texas and New Mexico.
Finally we made it into California! After driving for a bit we had to go through an inspection station. I have never been through one on the road, nor had I even thought this would be part of our trip but hey guess you have to go with the flow.
We pulled up and the guy greeted us with a question Jo and I are quite used to, “Well what do we have here? A couple of Dallas cheerleaders?” Haha, he then asked us about any fruit or other things we had with us, I guess the normal questions one is asked at a inspection station. We passed, even with our apples from the continental breakfast earlier today (wow that was today… hard to believe). Just as we were pulling out though, he says, “Now wait, In California you have to wear sunglasses all the time.” What? It’s pitch black outside… is what first came to mind but then he finished with, “can’t have you stealing hearts with those eyes” hahaha- best inspection station ever- thank you California!
Okay, so after the inspection station it was smooth sailing to Katie’s house. We made it to her lovely place in Culver City around 11PM and as you can probably gather we arrived exhausted and ready to sleep.
