road trip - part 1

below you will find posts of journals, stories and thoughts from the first third of my road trip. I've posted the miles from Atlanta through Utah. Lots of these posts are near word-for-word journals from the days I wrote them. A few places I've added thoughts and comments today.

june 16th

Leaving Stonecliff at 9:40 am with 9,680 miles on my one-year-old Hyundai Elantra. Amy stood at the door waying goodbye - it's probably the last time I'll see Stonecliff.

Laura mixed a CD of songs - Alabama to Texas, including a new Dylan one for me - "Stuck in the Mobile." Sounds just like "Million Dollar Bash."

Stopped in Anniston, AL to see this big chair for "Miller Furniture." Odd Alabama sites. We stopped at Sonic too, for a little lunch, and when the lady brought out our order, she smiled at the picture in the windshield and said, “Aw, isn’t that so cute? How sweet, is that your boyfriend?” I smiled and nodded. What can you say? Sure a 1960s postcard of Dylan looks like my boyfriend.

Laura drove across the Mississippi state line (first new state!!) and my car turned 10,000 miles old! We took pictures marking its birth-miles.

I read aloud her a chapter of The Education of Little Tree--my favorite one where they set the hounds out on a fox hunt. Now we're filling up in Meridian, listening to Emmylou Harris's "Red Dirt Girl" who never got any further across the Alabama state line than Meridian.

In Meridian Laura bought me a harmonica at Mississippi Music, which was awesome. Now this evening I can play a scale on it. But it sounds nice just blowing on it anyway. It is a present for my travels for music at the campfire. I'm already addicted but I don't want to annoy her family too much. =)

Mississippi is the most humid place I have ever been. The air is hot and muggy - just plain still. Laura says now I can understand how blues originated. Which I can.

june 17

After a big flapjack, eggs & bacon breakfast,
Laura and I left Jacson at about 10am, playing Johnny Cash and Hem's "Jackson" song. We drove West out of MS and I got my first sight of the Mississippi River! We got out in Vicksburg and saw a hill where Vicksburg-ians defended their city against Grant, till it fell in 1863.

We stopped in Ruston at Louisiana Tech to see the bricks Brian Wells and Laura's parents had as graduates, and then got peaches at a farm stand. We were excited about enjoying a picnic of peaches outdoors, but then it rained.

The rest of the drive was relatively uneventful. We arrived in Dallas with just enough time for Laura to meet the Polaks and then I took her to the airport.

Milage: 10,600

week in Texas

I spent the following week in Texas with my sister, her husband Milan, and their kids (my adorable neice and nephews) -












Elizabeth with Mark, Milan, Anna & Daniel


They live in a small apartment in a complex, and I slept in their living room on an air mattress, which Daniel and Anna used for hours of entertainment. I visited their church, went swimming in their pool, went to their ethnic grocery store, watched them at gymnasics, and just hung out. It seems that most of the time went by eating meals, cleaning up after meals, loading up kids in the car, unloading the kids from the car, listening to Wakko's state capitals song over and over...

june 21

On Tuesday we drove to Forth Worth about 1 hr. away. Fort Worth is something like the capital of cattle round-up, and it's got an "old town" and it's much more artsy than Dallas.

We saw the cattle roundup - cowboys driving them down a road, but there are only about 15 longhorns... so it's not that dramatic. They are cool animals though - big and they look smooth and their long horns really are neat. They move slowly and they are different colors, which surprised me.

We then went downtown to a history-of-cowboys-and-cattle-raising museum. Most interesting was the brandings and the story of rustlers and how they took cows and faked brands and such. It was a cool time. I never really though about how there still are ranchers and cowboys. I guess I just thought that time was over. One guy walked through the museum with spurs on - he was a real cowboy.

Wednesday we went to downtown Dallas, saw the corner where Kennedy was shot, and tried to ride up to the top of the funny-looking-needle building. Unfortunately, there was a private party up there, so we just took photos in front of the big pictures in the lobby...

As I was driving through Dallas today I realized that I almost missed Atlanta - the city, I mean. I realized that I've slowly developed an affection for the place I didn't realize I had, or even could. But Dallas seemed non-distinct and boring, and Atlanta at least is familiar, and I know some distinctive places -- where I'm going to live, at least.

June 23

Leaving Dallas, Texas, Friday; mileage 10,797













Elizabeth and I had to stop at the post office for postage stamps to make a CD to NJ and then for more supplies at Walmart.

Merging on the hwy we saw a truck get into a near accident. Startling because you realize how suddenly that can happen. The truck driver was really amazing how he managed to skid to a scary stop without hitting anyone else.

We also saw the petrified wood gas station in Decatur, and a "flock" (?) of camels!?

We jaunted up to Okalahoma and took pictures of welcome signs and ate lunch at a lone table. We saw the weirdest bird with a long tale that was split in two. Very cool. (later we decided it was a flycatcher)

This land is flat and you can see for miles. It is totally cOUntry - so much more than places out East because we are miles and miles from cities, and the towns are so small.

Driving through Texas at a the onset of our trip, a nut or rock hit the top of the windshield, and a crack formed just to the right of my dragonfly and spread across the center of the top.
First casualty of the trip.

I just managed to teach Elizabeth Stew to drive my stick shift. She did great for a first-timer - a little shaky at first, but only one stall! We are soaring through west Texas now. I love it.

Things about this vast wild west land -

• No mile markers - just CD RD - county roads that we pass and occasionally we recognize a chain food, or, more exciting, see cowboys.
• Train tracks run along the road. I waved at the engineer and he honked his horn at us!!

• The sky meets the grass in an ever-receding horizon
• Cars imbedded in the ground upright - maybe 6-8 of them, painted colorfully on the side of the road. Stonehenge?
• A Thai restaurant in a small town!? in the middle of ‘nowhere’?
• Spring calves eating grass with their moms licking them
• Flat fields with ugly metal silos raising out of them - an eyesore for a mile

...

Saturday we took the most spectacular drive across New Mexico. The land, flat with mesas, slowly became hillier and mountains appeared in the distance. When we got to the mountains we visited Tinkertown in the Sandia Mtns. just outside Albuquerque. It is a house/yard created by a man who loved to collect things and it was just incredible. So much random old stuff. Walls were made of glass bottles, and there were ironworks everywhere. Inside was a 'museum' of carvings and collectables - houses, saloons, circuses, everything! It was like a page from I Spy and around each corner, machines to drop a quarter into to play something. And the floor was patched up with license plates from everywhere.

We squandered an hour or so there. Then, on to Albuquerque. We road a small stretch of Rt. 66 when we got into town. I decided I would not enjoy a 66 road trip – the traffic lights and slow traffic…but just once seeing the 50s/60s stores & cafes on the road was good.

We walked around old town and suddenly it became windy. In a few minutes it was so windy that dust was blowing through town, in our eyes and on our faces, covering my car. Then, it ended, just like that. Elizabeth’s teeth were gritty and our faces felt sandy. I went into a store and bought a hat. We had sopapillas after a small lunch/dinner at La Placita as directed by Leslie. Then we drove up 550 to Aztec and WoW. The land was incredible. You could see strata on the rock. There were arroyos – dried up river beds that were sunk like canyons. It was dry-dry-dry, with old shrubs everywhere, but the landforms were crazy – spots of hilly-ness, mesas, arroyos.













It’s too hard to describe in words and pictures don’t do it justice either. We got to Leslie’s parents’ house just at dark. Then I discovered that I know their son, Warren. So crazy to arrive at someone’s house – in another state, whom you’ve never met – to discover that you know them.











(the Coles')


Another cool thing that happened on Saturday was that I found a cell phone car-charger. The one that I originally bought at Verizon was $30 and I returned it when I found it cheaper on the Internet. But when it came, it didn’t fit! The ones at Walmart didn’t work. So, in Albuquerque I found a Verizon store and resolved to get it from there. On the way I prayed that it wouldn’t cost so much, and when the lady rang up my order, she said, “Guess what? This used to cost $30 but it just went on sale for $7." I almost did a dance in the store. When I got back in my car I remembered the prayer, and how God amazingly answered it. Why was I surprised?

june 24th

I'm sitting atop a rock looking out over Ute Lake - our first camping site. Last night we successfully set up tents and flies, and cooked couscous. We tried to make hot cocoa but had a hard time keeping the stove burning.

This morning we woke up with the sun low in the sky, made coffee and had cold cereal. I had a beautiful quiet time up here, with birds and lizards and a view of a blue lake.

We head for Albuquerque now - but I'm thinking of a dip in the lake.

Colorado

Tuesday am - Sitting by the Colorado River, flowing at its highest in the spring.
Let’s see if I can recollect the past few days.


On Sunday morning we decided to do a loop around Southern Colorado and come back to New Mexico to stay with the Coles. They seemed so sad to have us leave so soon, and I’m so glad we stayed.

We drove up to Chimney Rock and I was expecteding a barron weird peak in my imagination – one that pioneers had signed. It didn’t quite look like that and anyway we arrived at the wrong time for a tour which would have taken longer than I expected. So, we left and drove back west through Durango again and to Mesa Verde.
We stopped for a nice lunch – PBJ of course – at a creek and ate in the sun. (Note typical lunch preparations in photo.)

We took a short stroll through some paths and then forded up the creek.

Mesa Verde was cool. It is a mountain/mesa with pueblos on top. Much of my recollection of climbing the mtn peak was that I was almost out of gas and there was, of course, no gas within 30 miles.

















Anyway, it was an incredible view up there, and the Lord blessed us with INCREDIBLE gas mileage! (When I filled up, I calculated 37mi/gal that tank!) We took a tour of a little group of rooms with long ladders to climb. The people must have been small. It’s hard to believe that they could survive those conditions – little water; source of food/clothes minimal. But they must have been good at it because they did it for centuries.

It was an incredible view up there, and on the way down we attempted to sail the kite Elizabeth brought. We were marginally successful.




From there we went to the 4 corners and paid $3 to stand in 4 states at once – it felt like a rip off, but there we were, and I always wanted to do that. We also spent $3 on fry bread. yum.

Then we returned to the Coles and the land of New Mexico – back into dry, flat, mesas – to tell them about it.

June 26th

Monday was a spectacular day with a HUGE range of sights. We started N on 550 driving through Durango, Silverton & Ouray. Silverton was my favorite – a town with only one paved street, and I bought some souvenirs – the key rack hanging by our door now, for one. Elizabeth and I also saw and bought some crazy jerky – elk, moose, deer, buffalo….road kill?













Ouray was a bit more pretentious of a town I thought, but the scenery was beautiful. Just a little snow left on the peaks. We took a short hike just one mile south of Ouray to see the falls, and it’s a good thing it was short. It was steep, the dry dirt was loose and slide-y and we were winded easily from the elevation – probably 9 or 10 thousand ft.








It was a gorgeous drive the whole way, though much of it was treacherous. You have to leave yourself enough time to rest at overlooks and such.

The most exciting part of the day by far was the Colorado National Monument by Grand Junction. I know it was Providence that led us there, and it was awesome. In fact, I could think and name so many ways God has watched over us, provided and showed us his power. First, the beauty of the Canyon. We drove right through it, a “short cut” from 55 to 70W that of course takes a lot longer, but is worth every minute.

It is a sweeping HUGE canyon – if the Grand Canyon is more amazing, I will probably faint. There are some cool rock formations – geological wonders, one of which was a balanced rock and one a fallen rock.

Amazing! We saw it at its most glorious time too – aglow in the sunset. Then I raced the sun West, and raced to the end of my gas tank again, but we were so rewarded by scenery and excited at its unexpected beauty we didn’t mind the lateness and hunger. It’s amazing how God is just directing our paths to the most wonderful spots at the perfect time and I couldn’t ever have read and planned enough to do that.

We got gas in Moab and then went back up the road, taking a good while to find a campsite. We found one finally, along the Colorado River, and hurriedly unpacked and set up dinner. I seemingly miraculously cooked us two delicious hot dogs each while Elizabeth set up a tent. It took a moment to realize that, once my hunger was satisfied, there was no need to hurry. We relaxed in our camp chairs – green and pink – and gazed at the stars. It was the most magnificent sight in the sky I had ever seen. (I feel like I’m speaking in superlatives all the time, but there is no other way to say it. I won’t try.) Elizabeth brought a star chart, and she knew a bit herself, so I learned how to find many new constellations. I slept under the stars – magnificent stars, and the incredible spray of the Milky Way.

June 27

There is just so much to write about – things I’m learning, things I’m seeing, ways God is faithful, the scenery, the funny moments, the food I’m managing to make…

There are bunny rabbits here in this campground up in Arches NP. This very minute a rabbit came in sight just a few feet from our sleeping tarp and started to dig a bit. It looked at me, and then kept digging. Then it lay down and flopped its hind legs out from under him just like Lewie used to do. It waited a moment until it, seeing me laughing, self-consciously hopped away. Our camping neighbors are Czeck, I’m sure of it. I want to go say hi.


This morning we woke up in the most beautiful campsite – in a Colorado River canyon with high cliffs all around. I made us pancakes and tried to percolate coffee, but I didn’t care for it. Then we entered Arches National Park, and started the drive through. We got a camping reservation, stopped at the new, excellent and informative visitors’ center, then started up. We stopped at Courthouse Towers to see the Three Gossips, Organ and Lady Arch. We looked out over the Sand Dunes. Then we drive on up to reserve a good camp spot.








We started our hiking ventures at Devil’s Garden and hiked through to see the Landscape Arch, which just recently in 1991 got more slender;
the Partition arch, which had a fabulous view through it; and the Navajo Arch, where I got pictures of chipmonks. Then we went on to Double O Arch and this was the spectacular part of the hike. The walk was partly on a ridge which made me feel on TOP OF THE WORLD…insert Tom Petty song…
















After replenishing water, getting Gatorade and a power bar, we began the “most rewarding” hike to Delicate Arch, as my book said. But I though it was ½ mile and it was a total of three more miles! We made it, but were hot and exhausted. Elizabeth was a good sport for forgiving my misreading – but as she said, we probably wouldn’t have done it if we knew how hard it was, and it was aweseome.






It’s amazing how clean you can feel when you wipe down your limbs and wash your face. Compared to how tired-dirty I was, I feel great now.

I did go over and talk to the Czechs. They were glad I came over and surprised I understood and could speak a little Czech. Surprised I lived in Slovakia. But they were fun to talk to – they left Prague in ’68 and ’69 when things were a bit crazy with the Russians coming and Prague Spring. They were surprised too that I knew that date was significant. We had a nice chat about where we had been and what we had enjoyed on the trip, and what animals we had spotted so far. They were pleasant, and when we pulled out of the site the next morning, he waved and said, “Na Skledano!” which made me laugh, because that is good bye in Slovak, and I was saying “dovidenia” in Czech. please correct my spelling….


This trip I’m having more thoughts than I can possibly record. I’m thinking about how much I love learning, and all I want to learn. And I’m thinking about different things I’d like to do – like spend a summer on a ranch in Colorado, or become a NP ranger, or just come live out in Silverton, working at a coffee shop.














Utah Rocks...cool kairns in Utah