Adventures: Cross-CounTrey
September 12, 2005
I had a good night - slept like a rock, which was nice. If I'd known it'd be the last bed I was to sleep in for over a month, I probably would have slept in a little bit. But I didn't, so I didn't. Alas.
Even though I woke up early, I still didn't do so well at the getting-an-early-start thing. Casey's daughter was too cute. But I made it out of Minneapolis at around 10 or so (I think - well, it was 10 or so somewhere in the world), and headed on to the great state of South Dakota. My goal was to make it to the Badlands in time for sunset.
I stopped a couple of times on the way. One stop for the legendary Corn Palace...
Stunning, eh?
...and another when my eyes decided that it'd be a good idea to suddenly reject my contacts while I was driving. I think they did it out of spite. After an hour at a rest stop chastising my corneas, I was off again. My dad said there were storms on their way, but I decided to press on anyway. Sunset was worth it, right?
Right. I made it to Badlands National Park just as the sun was starting to set - it was pretty cloudy, but there wasn't even a sign of rain.
I drove around for a couple hours as the sun set, and am pretty sure this was the set they used for the moon landings back in '69.
¶ 12:00 AM 0 comments 
I had a good night - slept like a rock, which was nice. If I'd known it'd be the last bed I was to sleep in for over a month, I probably would have slept in a little bit. But I didn't, so I didn't. Alas.
Even though I woke up early, I still didn't do so well at the getting-an-early-start thing. Casey's daughter was too cute. But I made it out of Minneapolis at around 10 or so (I think - well, it was 10 or so somewhere in the world), and headed on to the great state of South Dakota. My goal was to make it to the Badlands in time for sunset.
I stopped a couple of times on the way. One stop for the legendary Corn Palace...
Stunning, eh?
Right. I made it to Badlands National Park just as the sun was starting to set - it was pretty cloudy, but there wasn't even a sign of rain.I drove around for a couple hours as the sun set, and am pretty sure this was the set they used for the moon landings back in '69.
I even made a friend. Awww.
It was pretty late by the time I felt my first raindrops. These were no storms, though - it felt more like the clouds were spitting at me. Spit. spit spit. Spit. You know, that kind of thing. I heard the rumblings of thunder, and thought it might be a good idea to get into my car, being surrounded by nothing but scarily-unconductive mountains. I turned the corner to get back in my car, and lo and behold, the storms were not coming at me, but rather blowing through just south of me...
I left the Badlands, and pulled into a rest area for sleeping-in-car night #1.
It was pretty late by the time I felt my first raindrops. These were no storms, though - it felt more like the clouds were spitting at me. Spit. spit spit. Spit. You know, that kind of thing. I heard the rumblings of thunder, and thought it might be a good idea to get into my car, being surrounded by nothing but scarily-unconductive mountains. I turned the corner to get back in my car, and lo and behold, the storms were not coming at me, but rather blowing through just south of me...
I left the Badlands, and pulled into a rest area for sleeping-in-car night #1.
September 13, 2005
I woke up this morning to pitch blackness, save for the one spotlight streaming at my car in the rest area. This was cool, because I wanted to make it to Mt. Rushmore for the sunrise, so I put my car in gear and drove off.
By the time I got to Rushmore, it was STILL pitch black out, even though my clock said 6:45. The sunrise was supposed to happen at like 6:30, but there was no sign of it. (See? Time really has no meaning at all.) There were no attendants at the gates, so I just drove in (I had the pass anyway, so I wasn't worried). But when I got to the parking structure and found it totally empty, I didn't know what was going on. It was pretty cool though. I felt special. Heh.
So I got my warm clothes on (it was ridiculously cold) and walked up to the viewing area. And guess what - I was still the only person there. Well, not quite - the cleaning crews were arriving. So I set up my tripod and waited for the sun to rise (at this point, it looked pretty close).
Fast forward - 30 minutes later. I had a nice chat with my dad while I was waiting, but the sun was still being stubborn. I wandered around a little bit, and saw that the store doesn't open 'til 7. And my watch said 7:30, but they were as closed as ever. Hm. I got the sense that it was my time zone that was off, not my watch...
The sun finally started rising, and it was just beautiful looking back over the Black Hills behind me. It still took a while to hit Rushmore, so I wandered around for a better picture than what the viewing area was giving me.
I stumbled across a path at some point, and followed it around until I found a new view of the mountain, away from the noise of the cleaning crews and from the stoopid flags that kept blowing into my pictures at the viewing area. I took some quick shots as soon as the sun hit the sculptures, and then my shivering body, alone in the silence of the woods, ran back to my car.
My next destination? Custer State Park, about 30 minutes away along the winding roads of Black Hills National Forest. It was almost too gorgeous of a drive, though - especially at sunrise. It was tough to keep my eyes on the road.
Luckily, I got to Custer without incident. The weather was shaping up to be absolutely gorgeous, which is exactly what I needed for such a full, busy day. As I drove through Custer, looking for its famous wildlife, I got my first real sense of inner peace - I was totally happy being all alone. That actually surprised me quite a bit - this might have been the first time in my life that I could feel that way. It's a very satisfying feeling, knowing that I'm all I needed...
Although it doesn't hurt to have some friends around either. Take this antelope, for instance. He posed rather well for me - certainly better than any of my human-type friends would have... :)
It's "where the deer and the antelope play," not lay!
(har har)
As I drove through the park, it was almost like the animals felt my inner peace too.
I finally left Custer, in an even better mood than when I went in. I drove through some more gorgeous places, and finally saw what I was looking for: prairie dogs. I got out of my car for a while, and just leaned against it, listening to the prairie dogs barking and the bison bellowing in the distance. There were no cars in sight, so it was easy to feel one with nature.
I eventually got back in my car and looked at my map - I had no idea where I was going next. I discovered I was really close to Wind Cave National Park, so I headed there, saying hi to some more bison as I went. This guy even said hi back.
Our tour guide was just about the most cliche park ranger I'd ever seen. (I already forgot his name, so I'll call him Wally.) Wally was so into his job - he loved this cave more than he loved his mom, I'll wager. He had so much to talk about that his audience - 20 eighth-graders and me - barely had time to talk amongst ourselves. But he really was a good guide, and somehow managed to keep the 8th-graders interested. Kudos to him for that, that's for sure...
I left Wind Cave to go to the Mammoth Site, a place I heard about at the cave. Apparently, people are digging out the remains of 100+ mammoths who all died in one sinkhole. It sounded interesting, so I went. It wasn't interesting, so I won't go back. Oh well.
After Mammoth Site, I realized I had spent more than 24 hours in South Dakota - which is, frankly, more time than I thought I'd spend there in my entire life. So it was time to move on. I headed to the Wyoming border, and drove through Wyoming for a while on my way to Denver. Eastern Wyoming was surprisingly boring, at least until I saw this lone mountain, the first I saw of the Rockies.
I got to my friend Josh's parents' house at around 5:30, and we had some incredible food and went out to play some pool. I was so exhausted that I passed out within about 30 seconds of hitting the couch where I was to sleep.
¶ 12:00 AM 0 comments
I woke up this morning to pitch blackness, save for the one spotlight streaming at my car in the rest area. This was cool, because I wanted to make it to Mt. Rushmore for the sunrise, so I put my car in gear and drove off.
By the time I got to Rushmore, it was STILL pitch black out, even though my clock said 6:45. The sunrise was supposed to happen at like 6:30, but there was no sign of it. (See? Time really has no meaning at all.) There were no attendants at the gates, so I just drove in (I had the pass anyway, so I wasn't worried). But when I got to the parking structure and found it totally empty, I didn't know what was going on. It was pretty cool though. I felt special. Heh.
So I got my warm clothes on (it was ridiculously cold) and walked up to the viewing area. And guess what - I was still the only person there. Well, not quite - the cleaning crews were arriving. So I set up my tripod and waited for the sun to rise (at this point, it looked pretty close).
Fast forward - 30 minutes later. I had a nice chat with my dad while I was waiting, but the sun was still being stubborn. I wandered around a little bit, and saw that the store doesn't open 'til 7. And my watch said 7:30, but they were as closed as ever. Hm. I got the sense that it was my time zone that was off, not my watch...
The sun finally started rising, and it was just beautiful looking back over the Black Hills behind me. It still took a while to hit Rushmore, so I wandered around for a better picture than what the viewing area was giving me.
I stumbled across a path at some point, and followed it around until I found a new view of the mountain, away from the noise of the cleaning crews and from the stoopid flags that kept blowing into my pictures at the viewing area. I took some quick shots as soon as the sun hit the sculptures, and then my shivering body, alone in the silence of the woods, ran back to my car.My next destination? Custer State Park, about 30 minutes away along the winding roads of Black Hills National Forest. It was almost too gorgeous of a drive, though - especially at sunrise. It was tough to keep my eyes on the road.
Luckily, I got to Custer without incident. The weather was shaping up to be absolutely gorgeous, which is exactly what I needed for such a full, busy day. As I drove through Custer, looking for its famous wildlife, I got my first real sense of inner peace - I was totally happy being all alone. That actually surprised me quite a bit - this might have been the first time in my life that I could feel that way. It's a very satisfying feeling, knowing that I'm all I needed...Although it doesn't hurt to have some friends around either. Take this antelope, for instance. He posed rather well for me - certainly better than any of my human-type friends would have... :)
It's "where the deer and the antelope play," not lay!(har har)
As I drove through the park, it was almost like the animals felt my inner peace too.
I finally left Custer, in an even better mood than when I went in. I drove through some more gorgeous places, and finally saw what I was looking for: prairie dogs. I got out of my car for a while, and just leaned against it, listening to the prairie dogs barking and the bison bellowing in the distance. There were no cars in sight, so it was easy to feel one with nature.
I eventually got back in my car and looked at my map - I had no idea where I was going next. I discovered I was really close to Wind Cave National Park, so I headed there, saying hi to some more bison as I went. This guy even said hi back.
Our tour guide was just about the most cliche park ranger I'd ever seen. (I already forgot his name, so I'll call him Wally.) Wally was so into his job - he loved this cave more than he loved his mom, I'll wager. He had so much to talk about that his audience - 20 eighth-graders and me - barely had time to talk amongst ourselves. But he really was a good guide, and somehow managed to keep the 8th-graders interested. Kudos to him for that, that's for sure...
I left Wind Cave to go to the Mammoth Site, a place I heard about at the cave. Apparently, people are digging out the remains of 100+ mammoths who all died in one sinkhole. It sounded interesting, so I went. It wasn't interesting, so I won't go back. Oh well.
After Mammoth Site, I realized I had spent more than 24 hours in South Dakota - which is, frankly, more time than I thought I'd spend there in my entire life. So it was time to move on. I headed to the Wyoming border, and drove through Wyoming for a while on my way to Denver. Eastern Wyoming was surprisingly boring, at least until I saw this lone mountain, the first I saw of the Rockies.I got to my friend Josh's parents' house at around 5:30, and we had some incredible food and went out to play some pool. I was so exhausted that I passed out within about 30 seconds of hitting the couch where I was to sleep.
¶ 12:00 AM 0 comments
September 14, 2005
I only woke up once last night, but for some reason I was in the chair in the living room when I woke up. It's truly bizarre, because I could have sworn I went to bed on the couch in the basement. Oh well, I'll pass it off as true and total exhaustion.
I went out to breakfast with Josh and his mom, and we had a great time. Some really good food, too. I didn't leave Denver until 11 or so, but that was right on schedule to make it to Utah for the sunset.
I've decided that if you have to pick one state to drive all the way through, pick Colorado. Nowhere I've been has more beautiful 
roadside landscapes, or more exciting driving. Getting chased down by a 30-ton truck on an 8% grade really gets your adrenaline going.
(This was, on a side note, September 14. Still summer, last I checked. But I drove through a pretty intense blizzard in those mountains.... apparently neither time nor season has meaning on this trip.)
After a good 7 hours or so of driving, I made it to Arches
National Park in Utah. The sun was pretty low on the horizon, so I only took a couple photos on my way to getting to a good point to watch the sun disappear.
I fell asleep in my car in a parking lot in the park - the only car in sight, with the moon my only company. Goodnight, moon.
¶ 12:00 AM 0 comments
I only woke up once last night, but for some reason I was in the chair in the living room when I woke up. It's truly bizarre, because I could have sworn I went to bed on the couch in the basement. Oh well, I'll pass it off as true and total exhaustion.
I went out to breakfast with Josh and his mom, and we had a great time. Some really good food, too. I didn't leave Denver until 11 or so, but that was right on schedule to make it to Utah for the sunset.
I've decided that if you have to pick one state to drive all the way through, pick Colorado. Nowhere I've been has more beautiful 
roadside landscapes, or more exciting driving. Getting chased down by a 30-ton truck on an 8% grade really gets your adrenaline going.(This was, on a side note, September 14. Still summer, last I checked. But I drove through a pretty intense blizzard in those mountains.... apparently neither time nor season has meaning on this trip.)
After a good 7 hours or so of driving, I made it to Arches
National Park in Utah. The sun was pretty low on the horizon, so I only took a couple photos on my way to getting to a good point to watch the sun disappear.
I fell asleep in my car in a parking lot in the park - the only car in sight, with the moon my only company. Goodnight, moon.
September 15, 2005
I woke to the first hints of dawn. I was still the only human in sight, so I walked outside and breathed it all in. Finally, I left the parking lot to go take some pictures as the sun came up.
I parked myself at a cool-looking arch, and was about to take some pictures when this other photographer set up shop right in front of me. He was the first person I'd seen in 12 hours, and he was loud and obnoxious, "teaching" two others how to avoid being in other people's photos (no kidding). He's lucky I was in a good mood, or otherwise I would have called him right out. Instead, I just moved over politely and glared really hard at him.
I took a whole bunch of shots here, and started walking around.
I found some cool paths, and hiked around away from the road. There were quite a few people on the main side of the arches,
but it was totally silent and empty on the other side. I got some good solitude time to just look around, and I decided that if the Badlands were the moon, this is most certainly Mars.
Except that Mars doesn't have any wildlife, whereas Arches National Park had one rabbit. Seriously - it's the only animal I saw the whole time.
After Arches, my next stop was Mesa Verde National Park. For that, I had to drive back into Colorado (it wasn't as out-of-the-way as it sounds, really) and into the mountains. I wasn't all that excited about this park, but it was a beautiful drive down into canyon country, so I didn't really mind.
The park itself was fairly impressive, and I'm sure it would have been awesome to the anthropologists around 
the world, but it didn't really capture my interest. The villages themselves, all carved into the rock, were incredible, but I guess I'm not as into ancient civilizations as I thought I was.
I made short work of the park, really stopping only at the most picturesque sites, and then hightailed it out of there. I had to make it to the Grand Canyon by sunset, after all.
I drove through the Navajo Nation on my way to the Grand Canyon - it was incredibly desolate and made me feel even more sorry for the people 
whose only reserved land exists in the desert there. They had, apparently recently, gotten control of the Four Corners National Monument, but there was nothing around it and no good ways of making money.
I was, therefore, a bit depressed heading into the Grand Canyon National Park, but my sadness went away as soon as I laid eyes on the canyon itself - it was my first time seeing it, and I had never seen anything so majestic in my life.
It reminded me of the first time I saw the Rockies, only someone had taken the mountains now and sunk them into the ground. It felt like I was on the top of a mountain even though I was still just at sea level.
I did (obviously) make it to the park before sunset, so I drove along the length of the canyon, stopping a few times along the way, in an effort to make it to the Grand Canyon Village area before sundown. (This village was interesting, btw - it had all the feel of a ski village but with nothing to do but sit and stare. I don't know what people planned to do when they bought houses there, but they ended up doing a lot of sitting and staring.)
I pulled into a campsite parking lot for the night, but there was a loud bus incessantly making its rounds every two minutes or so. There was no way I could sleep there, so I found another spot to sleep. I slept like a baby in my car along the side of the road.
¶ 12:00 AM 0 comments
I woke to the first hints of dawn. I was still the only human in sight, so I walked outside and breathed it all in. Finally, I left the parking lot to go take some pictures as the sun came up.
I parked myself at a cool-looking arch, and was about to take some pictures when this other photographer set up shop right in front of me. He was the first person I'd seen in 12 hours, and he was loud and obnoxious, "teaching" two others how to avoid being in other people's photos (no kidding). He's lucky I was in a good mood, or otherwise I would have called him right out. Instead, I just moved over politely and glared really hard at him.I took a whole bunch of shots here, and started walking around.
I found some cool paths, and hiked around away from the road. There were quite a few people on the main side of the arches,
but it was totally silent and empty on the other side. I got some good solitude time to just look around, and I decided that if the Badlands were the moon, this is most certainly Mars.Except that Mars doesn't have any wildlife, whereas Arches National Park had one rabbit. Seriously - it's the only animal I saw the whole time.
After Arches, my next stop was Mesa Verde National Park. For that, I had to drive back into Colorado (it wasn't as out-of-the-way as it sounds, really) and into the mountains. I wasn't all that excited about this park, but it was a beautiful drive down into canyon country, so I didn't really mind.
The park itself was fairly impressive, and I'm sure it would have been awesome to the anthropologists around 
the world, but it didn't really capture my interest. The villages themselves, all carved into the rock, were incredible, but I guess I'm not as into ancient civilizations as I thought I was.I made short work of the park, really stopping only at the most picturesque sites, and then hightailed it out of there. I had to make it to the Grand Canyon by sunset, after all.
I drove through the Navajo Nation on my way to the Grand Canyon - it was incredibly desolate and made me feel even more sorry for the people 
whose only reserved land exists in the desert there. They had, apparently recently, gotten control of the Four Corners National Monument, but there was nothing around it and no good ways of making money.I was, therefore, a bit depressed heading into the Grand Canyon National Park, but my sadness went away as soon as I laid eyes on the canyon itself - it was my first time seeing it, and I had never seen anything so majestic in my life.
It reminded me of the first time I saw the Rockies, only someone had taken the mountains now and sunk them into the ground. It felt like I was on the top of a mountain even though I was still just at sea level.
I did (obviously) make it to the park before sunset, so I drove along the length of the canyon, stopping a few times along the way, in an effort to make it to the Grand Canyon Village area before sundown. (This village was interesting, btw - it had all the feel of a ski village but with nothing to do but sit and stare. I don't know what people planned to do when they bought houses there, but they ended up doing a lot of sitting and staring.)
I pulled into a campsite parking lot for the night, but there was a loud bus incessantly making its rounds every two minutes or so. There was no way I could sleep there, so I found another spot to sleep. I slept like a baby in my car along the side of the road.
September 16, 2005 - the last day.
I don't know what woke me up this morning. Maybe it was the wisps of dawn streaking through the sky. Or maybe it was the fact that I had no feeling left in my entire body. Somewhere in the middle of the night, it had gotten so cold in my car (and outside it, obviously) that every single one of my extremities had gone numb. Including my nose, which is a bizarre feeling.
I ended up sitting on the edge of the Grand Canyon waiting for sunrise all by myself, freezing my you-know-what off. The worst part was that the cold actually froze my batteries - I put brand-new batteries in my camera, and they only lasted 2-3 shots. Luckily, those 2-3 shots were all I needed to capture the view...
I walked around the village a little bit, trying to restore feeling to my body, and came across something that you just don't see at home - some deer had come out to the village, to where all the people are, to partake of some fresh grass on the front lawn of a hotel there. They didn't care at all about all the people around - in fact, it seemed like they actually liked the attention. Go figure.
I ended up leaving the Grand Canyon a little earlier than I had anticipated - by this time, I was pretty much done with sightseeing and just wanted to be done with my car. So I cancelled my last stop - Bryce Canyon - and went instead straight to LA.
Well, not quite straight - I stopped for a couple hours to have lunch with my cousin's wife on an Army base in the middle of the Mojave desert. That was perhaps the most isolated place I've ever been - I didn't like it at all.
...which is a good thing, considering I'm now in Los Angeles. I arrived at around 6:00 local time (I'm pretty sure of that, anyway), and crashed pretty early. I had to get an early start on my next adventure - the rest of my life.
(Sorry - I had to close it with cheesiness. I couldn't resist!!! :) )
¶ 12:00 AM 1 comments
I don't know what woke me up this morning. Maybe it was the wisps of dawn streaking through the sky. Or maybe it was the fact that I had no feeling left in my entire body. Somewhere in the middle of the night, it had gotten so cold in my car (and outside it, obviously) that every single one of my extremities had gone numb. Including my nose, which is a bizarre feeling.
I ended up sitting on the edge of the Grand Canyon waiting for sunrise all by myself, freezing my you-know-what off. The worst part was that the cold actually froze my batteries - I put brand-new batteries in my camera, and they only lasted 2-3 shots. Luckily, those 2-3 shots were all I needed to capture the view...
I walked around the village a little bit, trying to restore feeling to my body, and came across something that you just don't see at home - some deer had come out to the village, to where all the people are, to partake of some fresh grass on the front lawn of a hotel there. They didn't care at all about all the people around - in fact, it seemed like they actually liked the attention. Go figure.I ended up leaving the Grand Canyon a little earlier than I had anticipated - by this time, I was pretty much done with sightseeing and just wanted to be done with my car. So I cancelled my last stop - Bryce Canyon - and went instead straight to LA.
Well, not quite straight - I stopped for a couple hours to have lunch with my cousin's wife on an Army base in the middle of the Mojave desert. That was perhaps the most isolated place I've ever been - I didn't like it at all....which is a good thing, considering I'm now in Los Angeles. I arrived at around 6:00 local time (I'm pretty sure of that, anyway), and crashed pretty early. I had to get an early start on my next adventure - the rest of my life.
(Sorry - I had to close it with cheesiness. I couldn't resist!!! :) )¶ 12:00 AM 1 comments
