a few last thoughts

while i gave a lot of my opinions in my previous post, i thought that i would conclude this portion of my blog with a few conclusions.

first of all, this trip was amazing: a true once-in-a-lifetime, you-aren't-the-same-afterwards trip. i am fantastically glad that i went on it. i feel like i have now undergone one of the american rites of passage, leaving going hunting and a trip to alaska still on my list. i saw and did things i would never ever have done otherwise--everything from eating my first fried green tomatoes to seeing a glacier. it also has served another very important purpose: giving me a framework with which to view america, both the parts i have experienced and those i haven't. for example, i know that i would really like to be able to go back to oregon and spend a couple weeks seeing the coast, crater lake when it's not half-frozen, and parasail the columbia gorge, as well as do some rafting. also, i know that i have no real desire to spend more time along the southern california coast, unless visiting friends or family.

this trip has also taught me how to travel--how to make long drives by myself, how much i can tolerate, what my limits are. i know how much water i need to hydrate in different climates, how to live out of my car for both short and long distances. fyi, if you are doing a long trip, DEFINITELY pack towels, paper towels, plastic silverware, a blanket, pillow, batteries, emergency medicine kit. i know how long and far i can hike, that i don't really have the lungs for mountain climbing. i know how long i can go without a real vegetable and how my body reacts to a sudden decrease in protein.

all of that being said, there were also downsides to this trip. for sure travel with someone who you don't have a problem being up front with--it will kill you traveling with someone who you feel can't take what you have to say. be sure that you don't try to do too much over a short time, particularly if you are by yourself. it might be fine driving 8 hours two or even three days in a row, but you probably really won't want to on the 4th day. also, if going on a super-long trip like this, plan in a vacation or two amidst your travels. i pit-stopped in spokane and glorieta, nm, both for a few days, doing nothing, which i at least needed. traveling like this, while fun, can be as much work as leisure, at least if you do it like it did: seeing a whole lot.

if i take another big road trip again, it probably won't be as long, and i certainly won't try to see as much every day. i'd like to go hit the midwest--kansas, nebraska, oklahoma, colorado--where i didn't go at all on this trip. but i'd like to spend at least 3 weeks out there, not including the days traveling out that far and back, exploring--and maybe more time. and there's not even that much in ks, ne, and ok.

also, and i know that i have said this before, i wish i had packed camping gear. while i probably wouldn't have wanted to camp by myself (i feel like that would be a little like putting a 'kidnap me! i'm alone!' sign on my head), it would have been fun with mum was with me, as well as cut costs a little.

would i do it again? definitely. and i certainly don't intend to end my exploring of the u.s. with this epic trip. my parks pass is still good until may 2011, and i intend to make good use of it. tuscaloosa is 1 hour from birmingham, 4 from atlanta and nashville, and 6 from new orleans: all places in intend to visit, along with memphis, mobile, and mississippi, alabama, louisiana, georgia, and florida at large. so, while you probably aren't in that part of the country, and maybe don't care that much about it, check in periodically to see what i've been up to. not that i'll be doing things every weekend (i only have classes tuesdays and thursdays), since i will be in grad school, but i do want to really see the south, with a strong emphasis on food. yum.

at the very least, i hope that i have been the gandalf to your bilbo and given you a little nudge out of the door. i've shown you a lot of the country--some of it you may have seen, most of it you probably haven't. just know that where you live is probably just as steeped in history, culture, and natural beauty as all of these places. go out and see what is around you: you might be surprised at what you find. myself, i'm headed down to hike/swim in falls lake tomorrow. what are you going to do?

superlatives

please keep in mind that things like the weather are as much chance as anything. all else is strictly my opinion--except the stats, which are just true.

hottest: 123, death valley np
coldest: 40s, glacier np
highest: 10,445 yosemite np
lowest: -282 feet, death valley np
best weather: oregon, kentucky
worst weather: illinois, minnesota, montana (rainy season)

total days: 67
total states: 25
total provinces: 2
national parks visited: badlands, yellowstone, glacier, crater lake, redwoods, yosemite, death valley, carlsbad caverns, guadalupe mountains (not counting the many, many, monuments, historic sites, forests, military parks, reserves, state sites, etc--these are just the parks proper. i didn't count the others)
favorite national park: crater lake, guadalupe mtns
least favorite national park: yosemite
favorite national monument: white sandsleast favorite national monument: jewel cave
strangest np: badlands
best views: crater lake, death valley, white sands nm
best wildlife: yellowstone
best plants: glacier, redwoods
most crowded: yellowstone, yosemite
least crowded: guadalupe mtns, by far
most over-rated: yosemite
most under-rated: death valley, guadalupe mountains
best value: annual national parks pass
favorite historic site: santa fe plaza, vicksburg battlefield, death valley, pendleton
favorite cultural site: taliesin, wi; lincoln, nm; woodford reserve bourbon distillery, ky
favorite city: rapid city, sd
favorite town: pendleton, or; harrisonburg, va; truth or consequences, nm
strangest town: roswell, nm; wall, sd
best science: 1940s in new mexico (los alamos, white sands, roswell)
best history: virginia, oregon, new mexico
favorite farms: iowa
favorite church: san francisco de asis mission, outside of taos
favorite state: oregon, new mexico, south dakota, kentucky
least favorite state: arizona
favorite parts: meeting new people and talking and old friends along the way, happening upon special events, exchanging sic 'ems with another car in az.
least favorite parts: when you want a nap, you're on the road, and it's 96 degrees outside. or when you want a shower after a long hike but have to drive 4 hours first.
what i would do differently: bring an actual cooler (i only had a freezer bag), pack slightly fewer clothes, pack a pair of heels, pack camping gear, go to north dakota since i will probably never go back that far north. have an extra two weeks to go to utah.
longest hike: apx. 8 miles, guadalupe mtns np
longest drive: san luis obispo to flagstaff, 10 hours
best drive: santa fe to taos, livingston to glacier np, columbia river gorge, raleigh to northern virginia, california coast road, several more.
worst drive: california desert, california 101
most desolate drive: california desert. all of it. though i-40 through arizona to new mexico is pretty bad, as is west texas.
highest speed limit: montana, south dakota, and texas at 80.
lowest consistent speed limit: california at 30, highway 101 near oregon.
worst construction: new mexico
worst traffic: california

total miles: 12,892
most expensive gas: $4.24 in death valley
least expensive gas: #2.35 in harrisonburg, va, followed by texas at about 2.40-50
oil changes: 5
other: nail in tire in sd, tires changed in california, cracked windshield
personal health: bad bug bite in glacier, sunburn in guadalupe mtns, caught a cold in california, slept poorly when traveling alone.

i will now be home for a week--i start classes at alabama on august 18. if there is anything else you want to know, just ask!

homeward bound

i am going to lump the last three days of my trip into one post, since i spent most of them in the car. wednesday i headed east from waco, driving the 10 hours to tuscaloosa. of course, that's just driving hours, and that's without the rain i ran into, surely the same storm that had bothered me in texas. most of this drive was on i-20, taking me into shreveport, la, and the straight across to mississippi, where i stopped for a nap in the 90 degree, 80% humidity weather. needless to say, i didn't nap long. for the record, both the louisiana and mississippi visitor centers i stopped at were as good as the one in new mexico, with a helpful staff and even coffee, which was great. the bridges to the left are the new (left) and old (right) bridges over the mississippi, from the ms side. in case you haven't driven across it, this is a big river--on either side of the river, even, the bridge continues for quite a ways because it's all swampy marshy stuff, prone to flooding. an impressive river, and easy to understand why so many writers have been inspired by it. (see my mississippi post from the early portion of my trip in missouri).
i made it to tuscaloosa, about an hour west of birmingham on i-20, by about 9 at night. i was quite exhausted, and so collapsed into the free bed of a fellow student in the american studies program. the next morning i ran all around town doing errands--buying a mattress, making a payment on an antique desk i bought, getting the key to my apartment. and through all of this, excuse my language, it was humid as hell. i was wet through after about 10 minutes outside. luckily everything went well--that's the denny chimes to the right, the most recognizable thing on campus other than the football stadium. it's a beautiful campus with building in a classic antebellum style, though,, only three building survived the war. it's all (or almost all) brick building with white columns, very southern. the entire town of tuscaloosa bleeds crimson, but it's got a great downtown, newly revitalized, and a fantastic river-front with parks and such. i'm actually living just across the black warrior river near a little town called northport, where i had lunch on thursday at a about 100 year old place called the city cafe. this is one of those old-school places where they make a set list of menu items each day and you pick what you want. this is what my plate looked like, and it was all absolutely delicious, and only about $5. i am really looking forward to getting to know everyone in this area, as long as i can get them to accept me despite my outsider status. i think i will have a lot of fun and learn a lot too while i am here: it really seems to be a great place.

i left tuscaloosa just after lunch, headed toward clemson, sc, where a friend of mine is getting a phd in math (why are all of my friends so smart?). on the way i passed through birmingham, which i am excited to be so close to. i hear that's it's one of these new south cities, kind of like austin, but less hippie and in alabama. and it's also home to a lot of civil rights sites, so the historian in me is happy. that's a picture i stole off the internet of the city below (see, it actually is a city). since i lost an hour--for some reason alabama is on central time--i hit rush hour in atlanta, but i still made it to clemson by dinner time. i had a great time with andy: we had at texas roadhouse for nostalgia's sake, and i left by about noon on friday to drive the last 5 hours back home. i finally arrived back home by about 5--i drove like a speed demon, but there's no avoiding summer traffic to the beach on a friday. it was sooo good to be home, again: to eat real food and sleep in my own bed, to see my family and friends.

central texas

tuesday morning noelle and i went to another local institution: cafe cappucino's for breakfast. they make the most amazing pancakes if you are ever in town. from there we went to meet up with some people, and lazed about until lunch, which rolled around pretty quick. now, this meal i was quite excited about. i was going to meet gideon (see the picture of the cute couple from the wedding post) for a burger at a place i had never been: double-r burgers, which i had heard was delicious. and it was: it was one of those places that's practically falling apart and had a line out the door--sure signs in gideon's book as well as mine that the food is good. it's also not in the best part of town, but i felt ok with him, particuarly at lunch time. we had fantastic burgers and conversation--while i'm heading off to alabama next year, he's going to washington university in st. louis for philosophy.

after lunch i ran a few errands, including going to see jeff again--that's him to the left. around 3 i headed out of waco for my dinner date in college station with another one of my best friends, katie. college station is about one and a half hours from waco, and a clean shot down highway 6. this being texas, i almost had to enter the highway behind a tractor: luckily, though, i was able to pass him. on the way i passed through a couple really cute little historic towns. i wish i had time to stop and see them, but i had a deadline, and it turned out to be a good thing that i didn't stop at all. much as this picture belies, it began to monsoon on me a few miles out of college station, forcing me to drive only about 40 miles an hour, and even that was sketchy. beware: texans do not believe in drainage systems. on campus, this meant that if you didn't wear galoshes you had water up to your knees, and on the highway this means that you are very likely to hydroplane. thankfully, i made it to college station in one place and on time.

now, why here? the town is home to texas a&m, which is a pretty big (and ugly) but good technical school. they are also somewhat crazy--they have intense rituals which usually kill a few students every year, and a pseudo-military student group which more-or-less runs campus. we baylor students don't like them much--they're our rivals, although texas at austin is a&m's rival. unrequited rivalry is what happens when you have a bad football team, which is king is texas. my friend katie is at a&m getting a phd in environmental toxicology, and has already started doing some sort of cancer research.

we had mexican for dinner and then headed to the bar section of town to go to the irish pub, o'bannon's, which katie had not yet been to. while a&m is nothing to write home about, the town wasn't that bad. the pub turned out to be your standard irish fare, with a good beer selection. it was also a pretty good place to talk, since it was early-ish on a summer evening. i was so happy that i was able to see katie, even if only for a few hours, but by 9 i needed to head back to waco, fearing that i would run into more rain, which i did. all in all, a great day spend with friends in new and old places.

waco

last monday i headed south on i-35 from colleyville towards waco, a drive i must have made dozens of times before. first off, much of texas looks like the above picture: scraggly farms and pastureland with wood and barbed wire fences. not terribly pretty, but also not without their charm. my first stop was about 9 miles to the northwest of waco at the old (or so i thought) branch dividian compound. now, this place is not very easy to find in the first place--it's one numbered county road after another, and there isn't a sign from the road. eventually, i did find it though. in case you haven't heard, here is the one thing waco, tx is most famous for in brief. in 1993, a christian sect calling themselves the branch dividians, headed by david caresh, set up a compound in the middle of texas, complete with women, children, and a whole lot of guns. in february of that year the atf went to go serve a warrant--the dividians protested, and a 50 days siege ensued, involving not only the atf but the fbi and national guard. in the end, the feds stormed the compound, killing 67 people in total. and this is what little waco is known for. today, apparently, the branch dividians still own the land, because they are building a new society on the land, calling themselves 'the branch.' there isn't much there, not that i wandered that far, considering these people's past. there is a memorial wall and monument at the front of the complex, and its pretty clear that they welcome civilians, considering the gate was open, but not feds, considering this sign next to the gate. other than that, there was a small church and a few mid-line trailer homes, and a dog that chased my car. but as i said, i really didn't spend all that much time there. for your information, they are making a movie about this particular occurrence called, you guessed it, waco, and starring adrian brody, sharon stone, and kurt russell.


from the middle of nowhere, texas, i headed back to baylor to say hi to the few people i knew would still be there--namely, the office where i worked. it was good to see them and tell them a little about the rest of my trip (i sent them a postcard from montana). i also wandered around campus a little bit, but not too much, since it was still pretty hot. the picture up above is of the main quad a baylor--that's burleson, one of the early presidents of the university, and the building behind also carries his namesake. in case you didn't know, i just graduated from baylor, which is the oldest and largest baptist university in the world. now, don't hold this against it: it really is a great university making strides in the world of academia. i certainly enjoyed my time there, and learned a lot.

after wandering around campus a little i caught up with one of my best friends, noelle. together we went to the two masonic buildings in waco: the lodge, which is actually where the masons in texas have their big meetings, and the scottish rite building. we had a hoot wandering around the small museums in both buildings, going places we probably shouldn't. of course, the fact that these were the places belonging to one of the oldest secret societies in the world only made this more fun. there were lots of gavels, aprons, and other decorative/functional? things, as well as some pretty neat history, like confederate bills with the only woman ever to be printed on american currency. (of course being confederate, do they really count as belonging to the u.s?) anyway, that's a statue outside the scottish rite building noelle is leaning against there, and the library inside the building. that evening we went to one of our standard waco restaurants, the clay pot, a great little asian place near campus. after that we picked up another friend, and went to see inception, followed by a drink about our favorite local pub, the dancing bear. it was so much fun to see some more of my friends, and to see waco one last time, even if it was as a tourist. and i learned just enough about the masons to be impressed, jealous, and creeped out, all at the same time. and of course baylor was practically founded by masons. below is a picture of one of waco's most iconic images: the suspensions bridge, which dates back to the mid 19th century. back in the day it was one of the few places to cross the brazos and made waco a hub of trading activity. ahhh, the good old days.

get me to the church on time

most of my time in dfw i spent with my family. saturday, however, i spent with my friends. two of my friends at baylor, whom i had known since welcome week right at the beginning of freshmen year, were getting married. so i headed up to coppell on saturday afternoon. their ceremony was beautiful and very traditional, with a few exceptions, like the silent sic 'em bears the groomsmen did right before the recessional. or the dr. pepper floats the newlyweds drank instead of champagne, or the picture up above, which i took at the request of the groom--matt's in the white vest, front left. mostly though, it was a grown-up wedding and reception. it was wonderful to be there for matt and sarah, as well as to see so many of my baylor friends one last time before graduate school. after the reception, since it was dinner time, eight of us baylor folk decided to head to downtown ft. worth for dinner and drinks, so we headed to sundance square and a restaurant called 8.0, which my aunt recommended.

we had a great time hanging out, chatting and laughing, until most of them left around 9 (the couple up above i think asked for this picture, so i feel no qualms in posting it). three of us decided to stick around, however, to see the band that was going to start playing at 10. it turns out that this band was called metal shop, which had us worried--and it was rock, but they are an 80s cover band, and hilarious at that. we spent about 30 minutes enjoying their pink leopard print leggings, curly wigs, and actually pretty good music, and then headed out of 8.0 to walk around sundance square for a few minutes before leaving. this being texas, it was still hot, but it was a blast all in all. i actually prefer downtown ft. worth to that of dallas--it is more people-friendly and fun, at least in my opinion. that's bass hall, the performing arts space, to the left, and a picture of downtown ft. worth, which is all lit up at night, down at the bottom of this post.

i left downtown about 11 to drive the roughly 20 minutes back to my aunt's house. thanks aunt karen for having me, once again, and to all of my friends i saw that day. you all are fantastic, and getting to see you all reminded me of all the good times we had a baylor, as well as how wonderful life can be. best of luck to all of you, and especially matt and sarah as they begin their new life together!

guadalupe mountains

wednesday i left carlsbad bright and early and went south about 45 miles, entering texas about halfway. my destination: guadalupe mountains national park in the lone star state. i was really excited about this park because it is really remote, and therefore little visited (and cheap for those without the park pass i have). carlsbad is the nearest town, with the nearest accommodations being just outside carlsbad caverns np. first off, a little about this park. the park protects the world's best preserved fossilized reef--this part of the country used to be entirely underwater, as in, all of texas. in addition, it has a wide variety of flora and fauna, encompassing everything from desert to mountain conifer forests. it has also been part of some pretty interesting history: the el paso salt war, as well as tensions between the mescalero apaches and nearby cowboys and the butterfield overland mail route (which i had seen in mesilla, nm as well). it became a park when an oil explorer working for what would be exxon fell in love with the area, built two homes how in the park, and brought it some attention. it became a national park in 1972. oh, and its home to guadalupe peak, the highest point in texas with an elevation of 8751 feet.

i had determined ahead of time that i would not climb the peak, which means climbing 3000 feet, but go on a desert hike instead, since i had not yet been on one. of the 80 miles of pretty well-maintained trails, i decided on the el capitan trail, which goes around the extreme southern end of the mountain range and the sheer rock face after which the trail is named. it was a beautiful trail, full of a wide variety of cacti and flies, as well as stunning arroyos (dried up stream beds), and great views of the mountains to the north. of course, hiking in the desert also has its perils. for instance, it was hot. above 90, even with some cloud cover in the desert takes getting used to, since there aren't trees for shade. after about 30 minutes my hair was wet through and i looked like a spanish soccer player. also, all of those stunning cacti, and even most of the non-succulent plants, with stick you. plants in the desert are survivors because they attack. by the end of my hike my legs were bleeding in at least a few places and i had a wicked sunburn on my shoulders, which are now quite disgusting looking. oh well.in the end, though, it was definitely worth it. i think this was the most fun i had hiking--i ran into no one else on my trail, which was fantastic. in all i hiked about 8 miles, taking me about 5 hours, including a few stops for water and food. i could even see the salt flats in the distance--that's the white stuff in the far background of the picture to the left. i really do love the desert, and this was a pretty one--it's part of the chihuahua desert, for anyone interested. i saw quite a few birds, lizards, and even what i think was a mule deer, or a deer of some sort. i made it most of the way around el capitan: that's it right there.

i'm glad that i finished hiking when i did: like so many mountains ranges, the guadalupes make their own weather. when i was on the trail it was by far cloudier right next to the mountains that out in the open, and it looked like it was about to storm as i left. i loaded into my car, all sweaty, and headed back up north briefly, since for some reason i had to go through new mexico to make it to midland, tx, where i was going to be spending the night. the only thing that redeemed this drive even somewhat was that there were a lot of wind farms--and i do mean a lot. at one point i could see them all the way to the horizon in just about every direction. otherwise, it was extremely flat, and mostly grazing lands. thursday i woke up, realized the extent of my sunburn, and cursed my sunscreen. i then drove the rest of the way to colleyville, in the dallas/ft. worth area, to my aunt's house to drown myself in aloe vera, which did help somewhat. in case you don't know what they look like, that's a prickly pear cactus below.