Austin and New Orleans

So it's been a while since I've updated, and I do apologize about this, but I just haven't had the time. Now I do.

So after our night in Van Horn, we got up and motored our way to Austin. What we noticed on our drive is how massive Texas really is. We were barely going halfway across the state and it took about 8 hours. I think the totality of I-10 (which is the closest thing you'll get to going the farthest distance across the state, though it's not a straight line) is 878 miles. It's ridiculous. So on our way to Austin we stopped at the famous Salt Lick BBQ in Driftwood. It was amazing, delicious, and I ate way too much. I decided to get the all you can eat plate. I had two servings and then felt overly full. My stomach was not happy the rest of the night, which sucked because when did get to our hotel room, all I wanted to do was lie down and do nothing. Here's what the grill looked like:So we didn't go out that night. The next morning we decided to go to see Inception at one of the Alamo Drafthouse movie theaters. What's really cool about this place is that they serve you food and beer during the movie, and have some really cool shorts and clips before the movie starts. The prices are reasonable too, and the quality of the theater was just as good as any high end theater I've been to. The movie was great, as was the overall experience of the theater. Definitely wish they had them around the country. After the movie, we drove back to the hotel, and grabbed the shuttle to downtown. We meandered through part of the city and saw the capitol, as well as walking down 6th Street, which is where most of the bars and clubs are. Of course it was the middle of the day, so nothing was happening, but we saw a few cool shops, and made our way to a really awesome record shop where I got another 7 CDs, most of which I can't find anywhere but online (or they were used and a good deal). We then walked across downtown to eat at Stubb's BBQ. This place is also a music club, but nothing was happening that night, so we just had some more delicious BBQ. I actually love their sauce, and used to buy it all the time. We then called for the shuttle because it was going to be a long drive the next day, and I didn't want to be tired at all if I could muster it.

The next morning we left the hotel around 10 and made our way to New Orleans. It wa about a 9 hour drive, and we got in around 8ish. Jackie had some friends who lived in the city previously, and was told of a few places to go, and I also found out that Rebirth Brass Band (who I really like) was playing that night. Once we got to our room, we changed and headed out to the French Quarter. We checked out Tipitina's (where the show was) and decided to come back later if we could get in, and found our way to Pat O'Brien's, which is supposedly the place where the Hurricane drink was invented. Neither of us had one, but I had a mint julep, which was delcious; the only other time I had one was at the Kentucky Derby, and it was 90% ice. We had some fried alligator bites as an appetizer, and I had shrimp creole for dinner. It was very good. We then decided to walk around Bourbon Street. We got hand grenades at Tropical Isle, and meandered, looking for a club that had good music. After stopping in one that had cajun music and another that had traditional New Orleans jazz (Preservation Hall style), we found a place called Blues Club, and sat down for a set by an R&B cover band. They were great. The highlight for me was their cover of Bill Wither's "Use Me," while Jackie enjoyed their version of Joe Cocker's "You Can Leave Your Hat On." It was about 12:15AM, and we decided to see if Rebirth had played yet and see if we could get in. We lucked out and they hadn't played, and it wasn't sold out, and it was only $10. Plus it was a benefit for the oil spill, so it was all good. Now you have to understand, my hope and goal was to see a brass band in New Orleans, and if I was lucky, it would be Rebirth. So basically I was extactic. They were awesome, though they only played for like 1.5 hours. Just great stuff. We walked back to the hotel and passed out. The next morning I got in contact with one of my mom's cousins who I had never met before, and we planned on meeting up for dinner and to see Ellis Marasalis that night. In the meantime, Jackie and I grabbed some lunch at a great seafood place called Red Fish Cafe, and then walked to Louis Armstrong Park. We were disappointed to find out that the park was closed for refurbishment. We then walked down Bourbon and meandered through shops. We got back to the hotel room and got ready for the evening. My cousin picked us up and we met a friend of his, and then he took us to this amazing little restaurant on the west side of the city. I drank a sazarac, ate fried green tomatoes, had black drum (local fish), and a sundae. It was amazingly delicious, and it was all paid for by my relative, Jonathan. I couldn't believe it; he continued the trend the rest of the time we hung out. We then drove over to the east side of the Quarter and got to Snug Harbor, which is the club were Ellis Marsalis plays almost every Friday night. He was great, as was his band. We then drove into the Quarter and walked around parts we didn't before, had beignets at Cafe du Monde, and then walked along the Mississippi River. We then went back to the hotel (it was about midnight) and planned on meeting up in the morning. Next morning we packed up and met Jon, and went to brunch at a place called Mother's. It was delicious, but was way too filling for me. I had eggs, debris (which is like bits of roast beef), grits, a pancake, and biscuits. I ate maybe 1/2 of it and took one of the biscuits to go. We then drove around the north end of the city to see where the damage of Katrina was, and still is. It was amazing. I couldn't believe that houses were still being gutted 5 years later, and that some houses were just GONE from their lot. Water lines were still visible too. It was crazy. We then went back to the hotel said goodbye, and started a long drive. We drove about 10 hours to Anderson, SC, and stopped for the night. This morning we got up and made our way to Greensboro, NC, where my uncle lives, and that's where I'm writing from now. Tomorrow I'm dropping Jackie off around Richmond where her cousin will pick her up and we will part ways, and I will go to Norfolk to visit my friends Jim and Abby, then I head home. Can't believe it's almost over.

The Canyons (Bryce and Grand) and Arizona

So after our morning hike in Arches, we booked it to Bryce Canyon hoping to snag a campsite in the park. Due to the fact we decided to take a long lunch break on the road (where they had internet) we got to the park a little too late and did not grab a campsite. So we had to go back out of the park and go to this huge lodge/rv park/campground place and got a site there. Luckily, there were showers and we got a tiny bit of internet. After we set up our tent we drove back into the park to go to some places on the rim and take pictures. I had been to Bryce (and Arches too) back in 1998 so I was familiar with what we'd see in the canyon. However, I forgot how awesome it was , and couldn't stop taking pictures. As the sun was setting we headed back to the campground. We noticed someone had put up a tent right next to ours and usurped our table. Since there was a ton of European tourists everywhere, we were praying it wasn't a family that couldn't speak English. Luckily, it was a very friendly family from Kansas City, and we shared the table and conversation with them that night. The next morning we packed up the tent early and went straight into the park and hiked down into the canyon and did a 2.5 mile hike. I took a ton of pictures, and can now see why my father loved this place. Just to clarify, Bryce Canyon is not like the Grand Canyon. It's more like half of a canyon, but it has some amazing geologic formations. Like this:So after our hike we decided to drive 18 miles to the end of the park and stop at every view point on the way back. We saw some different formations and it was just a nice pleasant drive there and back. After we saw them all, we made our way to the Grand Canyon.

Now, every summer, from 1993-2002 (1997 and 2001 excluded), my family would take a trip out west and see several National Parks; we stopped after my father passed away in 2003. The only major National Park my family truly avoided was Grand Canyon. Why? Because my father did not want to deal with the immense amount of people at the park. I would also assume he knew that while it would be a great thing to see, it wasn't nearly as cool as the other parks we ended up going to. Knowing this, I still had the urge to see it since it is one of those places that people connect the USA to. Well, my father had the right inclination. The Grand Canyon was packed. We luckily had reserved a campsite so we could stay in the park, but the amount of people that was there was insane. The park, however, is built to hold and move so many people. The problem is that walking anywhere in the park is almost shunned upon. You also have to take a shuttle to get to the really awesome views (you can hike the 8 mile trail, however). Note: this is all on the South Rim of the park, and I was told that the North Rim is actually less crowded. Anyway, when we drove into the park it was insanely cloudy and windy, but we managed to see parts of the canyon as we drove to the campground. Once we got to our site, we set up camp, and then Jackie went to the nearest lodge to use the internet, and I grabbed some food at the store near the campground and made myself dinner (burgers and Ramen Noodles). As I was going to bed, Jackie called me and told me she was lost and couldn't find her way back from the lodge. So I had to drive and find her. Luckily it wasn't very far before I found her. We then went to bed. Next morning we tried to walk to the rim of the canyon, but didn't really follow a map, so we took a crazy long time to get there. Our hope was that we wouldn't have to use the shuttle buses to see nice views. Well after about 30 minutes of walking on the rim, we realized this was not possible. While there were nice views, we wanted to see the Colorado River, and the only way to see it was to take a shuttle. So we walked back to the site and packed up, and then drove to where we could grab the shuttle. Well we get to the shuttle pickup point and see a massive line. We waited and saw one bus load a small amount of people, and decided to hike to the first view point and pick up the bus from there, since they didn't allow people to stand on the bus from the first stop to the second. Our plan worked and we beat the next bus to the stop and picked it up. We then made three stops and saw some great views, a few with the river included. We then shuttled back and grabbed lunch at the nearest lodge, and then headed to Tempe.

In Tempe, we stayed with my friend's Jess and Luke, and their dog Milo. We stayed for two nights and had a wonderfully relaxing time with them. The only bad part was that it was super hot all day long. The highs were in the 110's and the lows were in the 90s. Crazy. Btw, my friend Jess is the most amazing cook my age. She came home the second night from work (she worked an 8 hour shift with no break) and made us dinner, that was DELICIOUS. It was fantastic. Luke was a great host and showed us some cool places in the area, and was just super awesome in general. Milo is one of the cutest dogs ever! He's a corgie. I hadn't seen all of them since last summer when they moved from Philly, so it was great to see them. After a scrumptious breakfast yesterday moring at US Egg, we packed up our stuff and headed east to Texas, which is where I am typing from. Van Horn, to be exact, and we'll be headed to Austin shortly for a few nights, and then to New Orleans for a few nights. Just over a week left of this trip. Can't believe it.

Lake Tahoe and Arches

Wow. I can't believe how long I've gone without updating this thing. Many apologies, but we've been without a good internet connection for almost a week, and I really haven't had time to even write down my thoughts. Since it's late right now, I'm going to write about part of the journey.

So last time I wrote I was in California, at my friend John's place in Cupertino where he is interning at Apple for the summer. After doing our laundry, we headed west to Lake Tahoe just to see the lake (which I've seen before) and split up the massive drive that was gonna happen if we drove straight from Cupertino to Arches National Park. So we spent the night at a random motel near the lake and near the Nevada border. We walked down to the lake and took some pictures, and then walked to the stateline, then grabbed dinner. Our dinner which was supposed to be the "best barbecue in town," which means the other places suck, because this place was horrible and overpriced. Ok, it wasn't HORRIBLE, but not very good. After our dinner, I couldn't resist the urge to gamble, and lost $50 on Let It Ride Poker and single deck Blackjack. We then walked back to the motel, and went to bed. After waking up, we grabbed a quick breakfast and drove 9 hours to Delta, Utah, which was about 5 hours from Arches. The motel was cheap and supposedly had internet, but it was sketchy, and really didn't work. Next morning, we drove to Arches National Park.

When we got to the park, it was about 3pm so we went to the visitor center and got information on hike's and campsites outside of the park. We found a site right on the Colorado River, pitched our tent, and headed back into the park. The first thing we did was go and see Balanced Rock. Here's a picture:
It was pretty cool. We then went and did the hike to the Windows, which is essentially two arches next to each other. Here is a picture:
We then decided, since the light was going to be really good, to go see the most famous arch in the park, Delicate Arch. The hike was long, and up hill, and extremely hot, but we made it and it was worth it. Here's what I mean:
Yeah, crazy beautiful. After the hike back we were dead, and drove into Moab (town right outside the park), had dinner, then drove back to the campsite, and passed out with no rain hood on the tent, so we pretty much slept under the stars. Next morning, we packed up the tent early, and hiked to Landscape Arch. We saw a few other arches as well. Basically everything was beautiful and amazing.

Right now, I'm too tired to think, so I'll write about the rest tomorrow, hopefully. Sorry, but I can't think right now.

Crater Lake and the drive to the Bay Area

So on Friday, we got up, and headed to Voodoo Doughnuts to check out why it's so popular. Let's just say, I've never had a doughnut with oreo cookie crumbs on it until this past Friday. Basically, this place has crazy doughnuts, but they are DELICIOUS. Even their "normal" doughnuts were scrumptious. Jackie actually had a doughnut with bacon on it, and then another one with Captain Crunch. I bought five doughnuts total (ate three that day and two the next) and she got 4. We then left and made our way to Crater Lake. The drive was about 6 hours, if I recall correctly, and we pulled into the place where we were staying. It was part motel, part camp ground, but all around nice. We were the only ones camping so it was fairly quiet, except for the cows that woke us up in the early morning. They sounded like airhorns. Crazy. Also, another annoyance, the whole time actually, was the amount of mosquitoes in the whole area. We had to put long pants and sleeves on to cover up, it was that bad. I actually was covered the whole way up, except for my sandals, and I paid for it dearly: 5 bites on my left foot, 2 on my right. So in the morning, we got up and headed into the park so that we could get tickets to go to Wizard Island. Let me take a step back here, and explain a bit about Crater Lake. So Crater Lake is in the middle of the Cascade Mountains, which is really a chain of volcanoes. These include, Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Rainer, Mt. Hood. Mt. Adams, and Mt. Mazama (which is where Crater lake is located). So about 7,700 years ago, Mt. Mazama erupted, and it was about 100x worse than Mt. St. Helens. Since the eruption was so strong and so much magma was released, the chamber below ground collapsed and the top of the mountain literally imploded to create a caldera. The caldera measures 5 miles wide, and filled with water from precipitation and snow melt. No rivers flow into the caldera. Also, the lake that formed is about 2,000 ft deep at it's deepest point, so it's not some shallow fill in. Anyway, a while after the major eruption, another volcano formed in the lake, and erupted. This is Wizard Island. So essentially, Wizard Island is a volcano in a lake in a volcano. Got it? So we got tickets to the 1pm boat, and found out that we got a 30 minute tour to the island, 3 hours on the island, and 1.5 hour tour back, which covered the rest of the lake. We then went back to the visitor center and just perused around and took some pictures. Around noon, we walked the trail down to the dock (1 mile long, about 800 feet down). We had a bunch of time, so we watched people "swim" in the lake, and then saw some cliff jumpers. We decided after our tour we'd do this. At 1pm, we left for Wizard Island, and when we got there, we hiked up to the summit and hung out around the crater. The trail was about a mile long and had an 780 feet ascent, so it wasn't quick. I decided to head back down after about 30 minutes up at the top (actually got cellphone reception and talked to my mom). When I got down, I decided I was going to change, and jump in the lake. I have to say it was one of the coolest and coldest things I've ever done. The lake is so clean and clear I had to go in, but it was about 52ºF so my body got a bit of shock. I went in about 3 times, staying no longer than a minute in, because it was too cold. A few other people jumped in as well. On the boat ride back we saw a bunch of other really cool formations, and learned more about the lake. I need to say that everywhere you look is absolutely beautiful (yes we had an amazing day weatherwise, but still). I took over 200 pictures that day, I just couldn't stop snapping them. Here's one:
So when we got back, we decided to cliff jump. It was a thrill, but freezing. Luckily the sun was still up and warm. After plodding back up to the rim, we drove to one of the restaurants in the park (buffet) and then came back to the tent, and almost immediately went to bed.

In the morning, we packed up and were out before 9AM, and headed toward San Francisco. We decided to drive down US-101 (which took about 3-4 hours to get to), which took us along the very northern California coast and through Redwood National Forest. Our destination was San Francisco International airport to pick up my friend John, who we were going to stay with. We ended up driving over the Golden Gate Bridge, but in a dense fog, so you could barely see it, and then through downtown San Francisco. We picked up John, and then drove to his place in Cupertino, which is in Silicon Valley (he interns at Apple). And that's where I am right now. Just did some laundry, and about to head out to Lake Tahoe, then on to Utah. Will update when we get out there.

Day out in Portland

So, yesterday, we decided to explore Portland, but separately, which was good. It was nice to have some "me" time and do what I wanted to do without much worry. I decided to get some lunch, but I did so in two parts. I first decided to try some Portland pizza, since I read it was good. It was, but it still has nothing on NY/NJ pizza. I only had one slice ($3, overpriced) because I wanted to go check out the plethora of food carts downtown. Wow, there were a ton, and I didn't know which one to go to, so after seeing almost every possible style of food (there was even a Polish stand), I decided on getting a lamb gyro ($5). It was scrumptious. The pieces of lamb weren't regular gyro strips, they were actual chunks of ground lamb. It was a treat. I then meandered my way downtown in the heat (it was over 100º but low humidity) to the Willamette River. Really nice down there, and saw a few draw bridges up. I then walked back up, and saw a few instrument stores, and stopped in to the drum shop. Talked with the dude, who was really nice, and saw some really cool vintage sets. Then walked and found my way to a record shop (2nd Avenue Records) that had an amazing vinyl collection. They also had a very good CD collection, and had some stuff I could never find (most of the remastered Funkadelic collection and actually albums by The Meters). I came out of there with 4 CDs: Funkadelic's Free Your Mind and Your Ass Will Follow; The Meter's Fire on the Bayou; Herbie Hancock's Crossings; Booker T. and MG's Definitive Soul Collection (2 CDs). I then walked around town some more and meandered. I saw a lot of homeless people (there's just a ton in the city) and a pair of sick street drummers, and then found myself at Pioneer Square. Took some pictures, and then walked back toward the hotel. I stopped at another music store that we saw several times, and was taken aback. The store, Everday Music, had the biggest collection of CDs I have ever seen. I could have spent $300 in there easily. The staff was really cool, they had listening stations, and they had things that I haven't seen anywhere else, even 2nd Ave. Their vinyl collection was really good too, but I didn't spend much time looking there, because there was just an amazing amount of CDs to sort through. I came out of there with 4 CDs as well: Big Star's Columbia: Live at Missouri University; Jason Falkner's I'm OK, You're OK; Robert Randolph and the Family Band's We Walk This Road; Medeski, Martin & Wood's Zaebos - Book of Angels Vol. 11. I got back to the hotel, and just chilled and watched LeBron James announce he was going to the Miami Heat. Then got in contact with Jackie, and we later met for dinner at another brewpub (Bridgeport) that was just ok. The beer wasn't great, the service was crap, but the food was good (at least my burger was delicious). Came back (it was about 10:15), and watched some tube and went to bed. This morning we're heading to Voodoo Doughnuts and then off to Crater Lake National Park. I don't know if I'll have internet there, so this may be the last time I blog before I get to San Francisco. Til then...

Well it's been a few days, and here's what happened

So we left Saturday morning from Riverton and drove to Jackson, Wyoming, to see the Grand Tetons. If you've never been to the Tetons, you need to go. It is seriously one of the most beautiful places you will ever go. We snapped a few pictures inside the park (a few with some buffalo), and then made our way to Teton Village. In 1993, my family took a trip to the Tetons and Yellowstone, and we originally stayed in Teton Village and I was interested to see if it was the same. I can say that overall, it was still the same, but the whole area has been built up. The hotel we stayed at was still there, but it looked old compared to all of the brand new hotels and spas. Still it was very pretty and worth going to. We ate at a restaurant in the village called the Mangy Moose, and had some great beer. I had a Snake River Lager, and it was delicious. The beer I really wanted, however, was Teton Ale. This was a beer that my dad went crazy for on our trip back in 1993, and I knew it was a just a local microbrew, so I needed to find it and try it (he actually bought a growler for our white water rafting trip). Well I did find it, and bought some bottles, and then had a few later that night, and they were scrumptious. Overall, I felt that it was a pretty perfect way to celebrate July 4th. After lunch, we drove until we hit Boise, and found a cheap (but incredibly nice) hotel to stay at. We order Domino's and watched Star Wars (on TV) and caught some fireworks from our hotel room.

The next morning, we got up and left around 10:30 to make our way to Portland. The drive was pretty amazing. I-84 goes right along the Columbia River, and you drive through the Columbia River Gorge, and could see Mt. Hood and Mt. Adams (which is in Washington) most of the way. We got in around 6ish, and went to Deschutes Public House for dinner. Deschutes is a local Oregon microbrew, and the beer was pretty delicious, and the food was good as well. We decided that the next day (yesterday) we would go hiking around Mt. Hood. So, yesterday we drove back along the Columbia River, had lunch at a random Chinese restaurant, and made our way to Mt. Hood National Forest. We were suggested a nice 3.8 mile (roundtrip) hike to Tamanawas Falls and then drive up to Timberline Lodge to really see the mountain (it's really a volcano). The hike to the falls was absolutely gorgeous, and the falls themselves were absolutely astounding. We then drove up to Timberline, and really got to see Mt. Hood up close. The lodge is 6,000' up and the summit of the mountain is 11,249', but you really are up close and personal with the mountain at this point. There was a ton of snow, and they actually still have some summer skiing going on, though just in the morning. From the lodge you can see Mt. Adams and Mt. St. Helens. I should mention that from the balcony of our room you can see all 3 mountains. It's pretty nice. We checked out the gift shop in the day lodge, and they had a real St. Bernard in the shop (the breed is tied to the mountain's history). 'Twas super cute. We drove back and went to another brewpub, this time Rogue. They had a TON of beers, and what we had was very good. I finally had some salmon, but it was on a Caesar salad. Still good though.

Today, after I got the oil changed in my car, we drove to Cannon Beach. AMAZING. The beach, Haystack Rock (and the other rocks in the ocean), the scenery, the town, all beautiful. The water was clear (but freezing cold) and the beach was clean (except littered with flying ants; WTF?). For dinner I FINALLY had some steamers (steamed clams) and they were DELICIOUS! All you can eat salad bar was a bonus as well.

Anyway, it's bed time. Roaming around the city tomorrow. Hopefully will update sooner.

Mt. Rushmore and Wind Cave

So, we had a bit of a change of plans yesterday. Almost immediately after I posted, I realized how far it was going to be from Wind Cave to Portland, and since Jackie has yet to practice/finish learning how to drive a manual transmission, I knew that I needed to cut up the driving times. So we decided to immediately head out to western South Dakota, go see Mt. Rushmore and then camp at Wind Cave. We get back to the campsite to pack everything up and we find the tent flipped over due to the wind. Well that just said, "TIME TO GET OUT OF HERE!" I'm a little disappointed we didn't see some of the other formations, but oh well. After packing, we drove 2.5 hours to Mt. Rushmore, which was very cool, but literally took 20 minutes to go to and see (and get some ice cream). We then hustled to Wind Cave before the visitor center closed, and even though Google maps told us to turn on a seemingly non-existant road, we got there right before it did. Got some info, got a campsite, set up, ran into town, got some gas and food, ate, and then slept. On our way to town, we saw a herd of buffalo. Yes a HERD. It was amazing. Here's a picture:
Actually all of the Black Hills was amazing and beautiful. Very green and scenic. This morning we woke up, ate breakfast, packed up, and then went on a tour of part of Wind Cave. The place is insane. Incredibly unique structures and interesting history. Just sucked we could only see 2/3 levels (the bottom level has pools). Overall, however, this a very amazing place and one that I was not originally planning on seeing, and glad I did. After, using the free wi-fi at the visitor center, we hopped into the car and (after a brief stop for lunch) made our way to Wyoming. Which is where I am now. Riverton, Wyoming, about 2.5 hours outside of Jackson. The drive was easy and beautiful, and we listened to some more Harry Potter 7 (almost halfway done). We'll be driving through the Rocky Mountains tomorrow, probably stop at Grand Teton, and then stop somewhere in Idaho on our way to Portland. Very excited to get there.