BSIIH, Part 15, The End of the Series

Well, here it is. The end of the trip. This post has been a little delayed and I’m sorry about that.

I’m still going to be traveling for the next couple of days but I felt that this segment of the trip has come to an end.

Ben and I spent the night in Stroke’s State Park, in Ohio on the Sept 2nd and had the whole place to ourselves for most of the night. A Tesla decided to park in the parking lot sometime during the night. I think it was because we were the only ones there that we both thoroughly enjoyed the stay. it was quiet and peaceful with plenty of trees and unlike Colorado, had a great reservation system. (I’m not still upset about it or anything). We did have the pick of the site so we were being very picky of the 50 or so odd available spots. As far as our last night camping it was fantastic.

We woke up, made coffee, of course, and headed to Parkersburg, WV. Breakfast was along the way at a local diner that served what I believe is the best french toast that I’ve had on the trip and possibly the worst coffee I had on the trip. Still, breakfast was well worth it after our single meal of KFC the previous day. Ben also had his first Sheetz MTO experience. Sheetz is a gas station in the Northeast that serves faster food like sandwiches, burgers, wraps, etc that are Made to Order (Or MTO). I’m a fan.

We switched drivers and drove all through the western part of Maryland, through Pennsylvania and finally made it to New Jersey to drop Ben off for the night where I experienced Pickled Garlic. It's pretty addictive and I kinda want more. The next morning I woke up and had breakfast and then left for PA where I’ve been for the past day and a half or so.

There wasn’t too much to write about as we were driving the last 8 hours of our trip. Looking back its been a lot of fun with a lot of good memories and several things added to the bucket list along with about 1200 pictures to go through and process. I enjoyed my time traveling across the US and every time I’m excited to see something new along the way.

I’m already planning the next trip which made to for me to finally finish off the rest of the lower 48 that I have hit yet, Oregon, Nebraska, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. I’m thinking a road trip to Canada to see St John’s and Newfoundland would be good along with stopping in and seeing the last place in the US where they make wooden boats by hand.

I still have a Vintage car race in Watkins Glen this weekend to see and to make it back down to Virginia but as I said this is a good endpoint for the BSIIH series. Thanks for reading it.

On to the next adventure. Do it for the story!

BSIIH, Part 14, Metropolis, Land between the Lakes, Mammoth Cave, and a random log cabin.

We had to stop and see Superman along the way. The only real question is how he fits into the phone booth at 34 ft tall? I’ll say that it was a nice stop In Metropolis from driving all day. Be we did have a catfish dinner that we were trying to eat that night. We were up against a timeline trying to get to the restaurant before it closed. Unfortunately, it has decided to close about an hour early than normal and we were still craving catfish. Only one thing left to do: go to the Old Country Buffet. It wasn’t exciting but we also didn’t that much of an option at 8 at night. The good news that we made it to Land between the Lakes Campsite and we even had live entertainment till about 11 that night. Both Ben and I had earplugs.

In the morning, while having our coffee, we had several people approach us and ask about the rooftop tent and how it worked. I was one of two people in the campgrounds that had a rooftop tent. It was fun to explain to our neighbors how it worked and what we were doing. Even the Park Ranger was having some fun saying that we wouldn’t have earthquakes so the ground should be a little more stable than what we were used too.

We drove from Land Between the Lakes to Mammoth Cave which for some reason I can’t stop saying Monmouth Cave. I have no idea why. MAMMOTH cave deserves its name. It is the biggest cave system in the United States and has been occupied since about 4500 years ago. After the Revolution War, the United States was desperate for saltpeter and gunpowder production. Mammoth Cave was recently discovered and bat guano was essential for making both gunpowder and saltpeter. In 1811, the guano from Mammoth Cave alone was able to produce over 300,000lbs of gunpowder which was essential during the war of 1812.

Ben and I decided to look for Abraham’s birthplace which was about 40 miles from Mammoth Cave. President Taft started the National Park and President Theodore Roosevelt completed the memorial. Abraham Lincoln childhood home is encased in a giant mausoleum. Except it isn’t. You see then they first started the construction they assumed that the cabin on the property was the same one that Abraham Lincoln grew up in. However, some archeologist radiocarbon dated and took a core sample of the wood that only dated back to 1840 which means that the cabin enshrined is just an example of the house that Lincoln grew up in. Oh well.

We were starting to get hungry at this point and decided that since we were in Kentucky, we could only get KFC. Naturally expecting them to be everywhere in its home state we were wrong and ended up driving up the Lexington, KY for KFC. Which, of course, had to be one of the slowest fast-food restaurants we have been too. A good 30 minutes after we ordered we got our food. Rather underwhelming. However, we go KFC in Kentucky. And we also had to stop in Paris, Kentucky. The center of Bourbon County where REAL Kentucky bourbon is made. All along the Bluegrass Parkway (yes, we did listen to bluegrass almost the whole time in Kentucky. What else would you listen to) are distilleries that you can stop at along your way. We didn’t stop. We were too interested in that KFC in Lexington.

Currently, we are in Ohio heading to Parkersburg, WV listening to Jet Airliner by Steve Miller Band. The scenery has turned from golden fields to green fields of corn and the straight roads now have way more turns in them. The trees reach to the blue sunny skies. IT funny to think that only a couple of days ago we were way “Out West” and now we are knocking on the door of home. We are trying our best to blend in but I think our accents give us away.

BSIIH, Part 13, Granada…the Great Nothing. I know my Spanish.

We did make it to Colorado Springs. We stopped to see a couple of friends along the way. A big thanks to Andy Wise and wife for opening their home for showers and laundry. It was necessary. I did see another high school friend, Jeff Blair, too. We stopped for dinner at Pho-an-Thai. It was a nice little place that had just opened a few weeks ago. We had a nice dinner and Ben and I had to keep going. We wanted to get as close to Kansas as we possibly could before the following day. And there we were about 80 miles from the Kansas state line when we decided to find a spot to camp.

Our night was interesting. A problem with traveling over the last major holiday of the official summer travel season is finding camping spots. The other is dealing with overly complicated State Park systems. Colorado, you are a beautiful state, but please do something about your online registration for campsites. I really shouldn’t have to make an account, sign up for your newsletter, have my credit card be the only way to pay just to try to reserve a spot for the night. The private campground that has a deposit box and whiteboard with what sites were still available. 5 minutes versus the 30 mins I spent trying to navigate your website and wasn’t able to book an available campsite. Sorry for the rant. Back to our regularly scheduled program.

After we got some sleep, Ben and I started the longest driving portion of our trip. Colorado Springs to Kansas City to St Louis to Mammoth Caves, Kentucky. We got up earlier than we had been and were on the road by about 6 in the morning. And by about 9 we had made it to Dodge City, KS. It's famous for being a major hub on the Santa Fe Trail along with being popular with Wyatt Earp. Yes, there is a statue of Wyatt Earp in Dodge City. Since the town wasn’t big enough for the both of us and we did need to get out of dodge (literally) We stopped at Miss Kitty’s Café on the east side of town for a good hearty breakfast of Pancakes, bacon, eggs, hash browns, and coffee. What more do you need?

Ben and I switched driving so that he could experience driving across the American heartland. To help make the time go by we’ve been listening to a bunch of different podcasts (Caustic Soda, American History Tellers, Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History, Mission to Zyxx) and interspersing the podcast with a selection of music. So, on Ben’s turn to drive I asked what he wanted to listen to, “You know, I could go for some Yodeling.” Say no more fam. Spotify has no shortage of wonderful music choices to include several playlists on Yodeling. This would be a good time to mention that we are 2.5 hours away from Wichita, KS and 5.5 hours from Kansas City, KS. 4 hours of yodeling later we had to stop for gas again. Yep. 4 hours. Of yodeling. In Kansas. I did take a nap for about an hour. Probably some of the best sleep I’ve had on this trip. Who knew yodeling was a great sleep aid?

We had decided beforehand that in Kansas City we’d stop for a real Kansas City Steak. We were not disappointed. If you ever get to Anton’s in Kansas City they control the whole process of getting meat to the table for you to enjoy. It was well worth the stop. There was also a place called Tom’s Town Distillery that we stopped at. Tom’s Town was one of the first distilleries to open in Kansas after Prohibition was repealed. It’s very much styled as classy 1920-30’s joint but it is worth the stop. After the disaster of last nights camping, we decided it best to spend the night and explore Kansas City some more which we did.

I think the traveling and lack of sleep was catching up to us because we woke up late this morning and had a nice breakfast, compliments of the Hotel (Had to move rooms a couple of times for different reasons. I give Holiday Inn credit for their customer service in Kansas City though. I’m impressed) We then drove to St Louis and saw the Gateway to the West. A little to the east of St. Louis is Cahokia Mounds which is a part of the Great Mound builders. Fun Fact Cahokia was the biggest city in America up till the early 1800s when it was eclipsed by Philadelphia, PA and at its peak was roughly the size of London, UK. The visitors center has a wonderful display of the Mississippian culture and what life was like the area based on archeological digs in the area. We took a short bit to climb up Monks Mound which you can clearly see The Arch in St Louis and beyond. As far as off the beaten path places to visit, its decent one to check out. We are on the road again and going to try for the Land Between the Lakes Park to camp for the night.

Current music is Bluegrass. Seems appropriate for Kentucky.

BSIIH, Part 12, The Black Canyon and the Great Sand Dunes

We saw another Canyon! Hurray! Black Canyon of the Gunnison is another remarkable site. After seeing all the red sandstone, seeing trees and granite was different. The Canyon gets its name because it only receives 33 minutes of sunlight a day. Duane Vandenbusche, in his book Images of America – The Black Canyon of the Gunnison, states that “Several canyons of the American West are longer and some a deeper, but none combine the depth, sheerness, narrowness, darkness, and dread of the Black Canyon.” Naturally, I want to hike it now. We only stayed on the south side of the Canyon but as we were driving to the Sand Dunes we had to pass the exit for the north side. There is no easy way to get to either side without having to go around the entire canyon.

Eventually made it to the town of Gunnison. We stopped for a late lunch or early dinner at 5B’s BBQ which had a lovely brisket and beans. We didn’t think that we that hungry but I don’t think we stopped to talk after we got our food. Coffee was going to be necessary to stave off the food coma and we backtracked to Gunnison Coffee for two Americanos. Just in time too because the food coma was starting to hit hard. And then we hit Colorado State Highway 114.  

Maybe it was because I just had a decent amount of caffeine flowing through my body but I’d like to think it was the road that kept me awake. I’m sure that there are very few roads in America that could be that good. It carves its way through a canyon and snakes its ways along the stream running through the valley. After what seems like an endless road of S curves it opens up to a wide-open plateau surrounded by mountains with soft drops and a straightway that goes to the horizon. It's fantastic. This is also cementing my view that the only way to see America is off the Interstates. Interstates are fantastic for getting you places but I’ve met and talked to so many great people and seen so many fantastic views that I just don’t want to travel any other way. CO 114 ends in the town of Saguache. Which had a rare treat for Jeep lovers: the Gillette Jeep Collection. It a private collection of jeep including Willy’s, Forward Control (FC) Jeeps and plenty of the original Jeep Wagoneer. What a great place for CO114 to end.

We did make it to The Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve last night to spend the night. Thinking that we’d were smart we drove directly to the campground to get a spot. Unfortunately, it a reserve only site. We never said we were smart here. There was a campground just outside of the park though that offered a much better view of the Sand Dunes against the Sunset and Sunrise that the Park Campers didn’t get to see. Overall, I think we came out on top. I did pull over several times to get pictures in the fading light which I think turned out pretty good. I was going to try to get up early in the morning and make sunrise but…On the map of the park, the NPS has marked two types of wind that help make up the park. Storm Winds and Prevailing Winds. Let me tell you that those winds work pretty darn good at forming the Dunes they also do a fantastic job of whipping past a tent, mounted on top of a vehicle, and moving said 4000lbs behemoth of a vehicle like a teeter-totter. At least I know they aren’t kidding about the wind. I felt bad for Ben in his hammock but apparently being surrounded by trees and being blown around by the wind acted like a rocking cradle, after he put earplugs in to block out the wind noise.

We did get up eventually and packed up the campsite and made for the Dunes. We had a hearty breakfast of instant coffee and left-over hotdog buns. Gordon Ramsey has nothing on us. And thus, began the trek up the Great Sand Dune and to High Point. I tell you people need to work on naming places. Ben as normal, takes stride like a Gazelle leaping across the African plain, meanwhile, I’m working on just not falling over and looking like a freshly rolled out sugar cookie. Walking up Sand Dunes, not fun, but the view at the top was well worth it. You could see the whole Sand Dune from the top with all its various shades of tan and shadows. You could see where the Birds beat us up to the top and where they had a small scuffle. Following a path that someone did earlier, I was jealous of his companion, a small dog. You could see the deep footsteps of the person who beat us up the dunes but alongside you could see the dainty pawprints of the dog. Didn’t even break the crust of the sand. Just skidding across and that dog was having the time of its life up there. Coming back down the Dunes was more fun. We surprisingly ran down a lot of it but both of us wished that we had boards to ride the dunes down.

Ben and I are currently on our way up to Colorado Springs. Probably doing some laundry and getting some food and coffee. Our goal is to push into Kansas as much as we can today. We are going to take the state highways to hit Dodge City and Wichita and then Kansas City for a Kansas City Steak. I feel that we deserve that.

Do it for the story right?

BSIIH, Part 11, Why is the hike always uphill?

Not Surprising. We woke up hungry. Aram, the owner of the Hotel, was extremely welcoming to us. We found out he was from Armenia and start to chat about some of the history of Armenia. Long story short, I added Armenia to the places that I want to go and I’m pretty sure that I may have a tour guide there if I want one.

After stuffing ourselves with the full continental breakfast we packed up and headed out for more adventures on the road. Destination? Moab, Utah. Ben drove most of the day to help me work on homework and the blog. Having modern technology sure is wonderful sometimes. Allows me to study on the road and to take pictures and share what I’m doing. Pretty neat. There wasn’t much on the road to see. Just more beautiful scenery going by. Utah has some wonderful scenery.

Our first stop was in Moab itself. Had to fill up the beast. It is thirsty but it makes for a great road-tripping vehicle. I can’t complain that much about it. The Landcruiser has done everything I’ve needed it to do and more.

Second stop was The Arches National Park. During summer. In the middle of the day. It was warm. To date, it was the most strenuous hike we’ve done. I’m not sure if that is because it was hot or the elevation; probably both. The Arches has over 2,000 natural stone arches. We only when to a few of them. Double O is a good one to see along with Devil’s Garden. Again, it wasn’t an easy hike out there but it was worth the walk. We did stop on the way back down to see Delicate Arch. We didn’t hike up to see it because we have just finished about 8 miles hike in and around the Devils Garden. Did I mention it was hot? It was hot. Above 100 hot. You can cook cookies in the car hot.

Our third stop was Canyonlands National Park. Ben and I learned our lesson and got a campsite as soon as we got to the park and then decided to hike around. I think Canyonland is underrated. While the Grand Canyon gets credit for being more accessible, Canyonlands is just as, if not more impressive. I think the entire time the word that kept coming out of my mouth was epic. Nothing prepares you for standing on the edge of a canyon and looking out for what seems like hundreds of miles and all you can see is more canyons, in layers, like an onion. Not just one continuous one but what seems endless canyons cut in the sandstone. It is stunning. Canyonlands is broken into three sections, Island in the Sky (where we stayed), The Needles, and The Maze. I do want to come back here. Other than the incredible views, there is an off-roading/Backcountry 4x4 trail that takes you around the entire park. Supposedly it takes about 3-4 days to complete so if anyone is interested let me know. Permits are the hard thing to come by so I’ll work on that for the next time around.

We did finally cookout steaks that we have been keeping. We were hungry enough that it didn’t matter that we had no seasoning for them, or the veggies, or the sweet potatoes. It all tasted good to us. We finally did get to sleep eventually. Canyonlands is certified Dark Sky Park. Meaning that there are no lights within the area and you can see all the stars. It again makes you feel pretty small but in an amazing way. we meant to have an early night and by early, I guess I meant early morning instead of evening. Partially our fault though we did go into town to a brewery in Moab. Ben spent the time talking to a couple of Danes that have seen an incredible amount of the US. I was talking to a Journyman Lineman who was now working in corporate Headquarters. And I did make Ben stop for a Mcflurry. M&M if you must know. It was delicious and it didn’t ruin my steak at all.

We did start keeping track of quotes we had on this trip. Ben is an adorable kitten (only in Japanese though). Who knew? Our goal is to get to Colorado and see Black Canyon of the Gunnison and The Great Sand Dunes National Park tomorrow. Looking forward to it.

BSIIH, Part 10, Cronuts are delicious

2158 miles. That is as far the Landcruiser has brought us so far. Yesterday was possibly the shortest driven distance of the trip at just under 200 miles. As mentioned yesterday we stop just north of Salt Lake City and made it to Fishlake National Forest and Capitol Reef National Park. Both I feel are unrated in the National Park Service.

Before I begin I have to mention that coffee has been an integral part of this trip. Naturally, we had to stop and get a cup of coffee at a place called Caffé Torino. When we walked in there were these giant donut looking things behind the counter. I just had to take a picture of this donuts. The gentlemen that were waiting for his coffee quickly corrected my mistake. “Cronut”, He said, “They are called Cronuts”. For those who don’t know they are a mix of croissants and donuts and are filled with jelly or cream. Ben got Strawberry; I had Maple. “Well, I don’t think I need to eat anything else for the rest of the day with that Cronut.’

Our first stop was Fishlake National Forest, home to the largest single organism known as Pando. All the Aspens around Fishlake are connected through their roots and are a clone of each other. Pretty cool. Since Ben and I had been sitting for a bit we decided to take a hike up to the scenic overlook which looked to be only a short walk away and not that steep. In reality, it was a 7.5 miles round trip and another 1500 ft of elevation on top of already being at about 9000ft. Halfway through the hike, I meet some very friendly wasps that wanted to welcome me to the trail we were taking. Just me. I left with a parting gift of a sting on the back of the neck. Coffee was wearing off anyway. Nothing like a little shot of adrenaline to keep your heart rate up during a hike. The view was worth the walk, not the sting.

I also convinced Ben that we needed to do a little off-roading. We had a Landcruiser, right? What better way to cruise the land? Again, the view was definitely worth the slow crawling up the side of the mountain. The view was the entire valley that we had just driven through. You could see for miles and miles as the mountains when from gold to green to a pale blue in the way off distance. Just fantastic.

Capital Reef National Park. Wow. It is named after a series of white domes that resemble the white domes on capital buildings, all out of Navajo Sandstone. The area itself has been occupied over the years by several groups of people which have each left their mark, from petroglyphic depictions from the Fremont Indians to the Mormons who settled here after the American Civil War, and modern-day hikers coming for the spectacular views. I don’t think I was bored even slightly. Every turn offered a new cliff face that had different patterns, textures, and shadows that changed all the time with the setting sun. We drove down Hwy 24 thinking it was the scenic drive. It wasn’t and had to backtrack to the actual scenic drive which I have no idea how the determined which one was more scenic than the next one. The scenic drive resulted in some more light off-roading into a canyon which offered a great promotional shot for Toyota and Tepui rooftop tents. My rates are reasonable, Toyota and Tepui. Have your people call my people and we’ll take.

We went from the desert to a forest at 9000 ft to Sandstone Canyons all within a few hours’ drive of Salt Lake City. The night sky is amazing and the sun setting against that sandstone is a sight to be seen. I was setting up to take a panoramic picture at the aptly named Panorama Point, in Capital Reef. It took me a good 10 minutes of twirling around to figure out which Panorama I wanted to take. I’m still not convinced I took the right one.

We also were having so much fun that we forgot to get a campsite and ended up driving back to a hotel for the night because everything was pretty full. I only had that Cronut for food, but it was worth it.

BSIIH, Part 9, The Loneliest Highyway In America

One thing that I forgot to mention yesterday is that we slept and ate at10,000 ft. How cool is that? Not bad for just randomly picking a camping spot and hoping for the best. It did get cold. Not surprisingly but thanks to a Kifaru woobie, a wonderful blanket that I had, I stayed warm. Ben on the other hand, well he strung up his hammock and got slightly cold in the upper 30 degree weather on the mountain. It was almost made up by the fantastic view of the mountain in the morning and it was pretty much made up for by the stronger coffee for both of us. As we were leaving the camp site our campsite neighbor asked if we were going to climb the mountain. He said that we were leaving one of the best hiking trails in American that goes to 13,000ft. Mount Wheeler just got added to my bucket list.

HWY 50 in the US has been called the loneliest highway in America. I don’t think they are wrong. Part of the photography that appeared in yesterday’s post was taken on HWY 50 and there is nothing to be seen. There is probably more cows then people along that road. HWY 50 parallels the Pony Express route, which had horse exchange points every 10 miles or so. The Pony Express was America’s first attempt at express mail service. At several point we did try to stop for gas only to find out when we got closer to the buildings that they were abandoned. So a small notThe scenery on HWY 50 was amazing, however, and driving into Utah yesterday just showed how diverse the country is. I’m always amazed that you can go from the lush green of Yosemite Valley to the desert of Nevada and drive through incredible mountain passes in Utah only to arrive in farmland growing corn. Pretty amazing.

I did stop and see Jaybriel Akoi and finally got to me his wife and daughter. It was as good time to catch up with Jay Akoi. I do appreciate it since it was Monday and he took off work to have lunch with us. We are currently just above Salt Lake City, Utah. After Wheeler Mountain Yesterday and an beautiful view of the mountains we drove up to Promontory, UT where the “Golden Spike” was put in marking the completion of the first transcontinental railroad. I thought it was important to visit it since I the first thing I saw in Sacramento was the Railroad museum and the start of the western side of the Transcontinental Railroad.

Hopefully we’ll make it to Colorado tonight but we are playing it by ear. Still having fun.

BSIIH, Part 8, Bodie and Yellowstone

What a trip! It was so good and I’m still going through all my photos which is probably going to take me about a month to process all of them.

Back to the actual trip, Bodies sits at just about 8000ft feat and has some good history around it. Found during the Gold rush, it still has gold in the hills that surround it. As with my towns during the God Rush it was a pretty rough time having the title of the deadliest town in the US for a little while. During its heyday it had over 2,000 buildings. During the 1930’s it suffered two fires that devastated the town and it never fully recovered. The nail in the coffin was World War II when Roosevelt suspended gold and silver mining in favor of the war effort. Bodie’s post office was shut down shortly afterwards. People still resided in Bodie until the mid 1940’s when it was left in a state of arrested decay.

Our schedule ran from 5:00 AM until about 12:00PM and then from 5:00 PM to 12:00 PM. From Lee Vinning to Bodie Ghost town it is about an hour drive. And that isn’t trying to include eating food which if you get out to Lee Vinning is a great place for food. Epic Café is absolute the best place for eating. Try their blueberry pie with homemade whipped cream. So good. There were so many details to focus on which was a little overwhelming at times. It seemed that as soon as you looked somewhere else there was another picture to take. Part of Jennifer Kings trip was an exclusive look inside the buildings. Sometime during the 1960’s a park ranger set up some scenes in a few of the buildings in an attempt to drum up more excitement about what life was like in the town before it was abandoned. Since then nothing has been moved, to include the dust.

After a brief breakfast with the group and saying goodbyes, I set off on the second larger half of this adventure. Picking up Ben from Reno, NV. We drove down to Yosemite National Park and spent the night just outside of Yosemite. This morning we woke up, and drove into Yosemite. It is as good as everyone says it is. The drive going into and going out of Yosemite was just brilliant. So much to see and it is awe inspiring. As we had a long way to drive we didn’t stay long but we did do a small bit of hiking to Mirror Lake. Being late in the season the lake was pretty low but it allowed us to stand on the sand bar and admire the steep valley walls and watch the sun come over the tops. You feel very small standing in the middle of the valley with the giant granite cliffs surrounding you. Even when driving through Yosemite, the scenery is just spectacular. I slightly evny John Muir and I understand why he fought for so long to make the Park a protected place. There is an Interesting story about Teddy Roosevelt and John Muir in the woods of Yosemite talking about land protection and the beginning of the National Park Service.

We eventually stopped back and Lee Vinning for lunch and began our trek across Nevada going through several national forests, a Missile Test range, several abandoned gas stations (which was a little worrying by we made it through with 2.5 gallons left in the tank.) Currently We are on our way to Great Basin National Park where we are going to spend the night. We have Green Hatch Chile sausages for dinner that we plan on grilling or possibly broiling over an open Jetboil flame. I’m hoping to resume a more regular schedule now that the Photography trip is over and there is a slightly a more normal schedule of events. It’s still an adventure.

BSIIH, Part 7, The Journey Begins

It was a pretty amazing day yesterday. After getting the Landcruiser, I had to return the rental car. So I drove to the Budget drop off, unfortunately they were not open quite yet. I should have checked ahead of time. Oh well. Instead I drove back the hotel ,picked up the Landcruiser and drove it to the mechanics shop.

What? Did you think that I bought a perfectly good vehicle? Psh. What's the fun in that?

All it needed was tires and an alignment. I was fortunate because there was a gentleman that had just bought new tires for his vehicle. Guess what it was? A Landcruiser. Since he did not need his brand new old tires I had those mounted on my Landcruiser. While the Landcruiser was getting a new set of tires, I was able to drop the rental off and Uber my way back the shop to pick up the Landcruiser. I also decided to get some cheap insurance and have an oil change done and a quick inspection to let me know what, if anything would go wrong. Amazingly both mechanics I took it to said the same thing. The vehicle was almost in perfect condition. Not to bad for 217,000 miles on the odometer. Well done Toyota.

I still needed a place to sleep. The Landcruiser has a lot of space but it would be cramped with my gear, another person and their stuff come the 24th. After a lot of debate between friends and arguing with myself, I decided on a Roof Top tent. Particularly a Tepui Kukemon 3, from REI. No real reason for that particulaer tent other than it was in stock. Beggars can’t be choosers here. REI - Sacramento has some incredibly helpful people that just loved what I am trying to do and they helped get the tent out to me and installing it. I then spent the next 2 hours getting the tent on the roof of the Landcruiser. Short jokes aside, I wish I had a ladder for this thing. However, this did allow me to meet Christian.

Christian just so happened to be walking his dog around the block and saw that I was having some trouble. He graciously offered his help in getting the tent on the top of the Landcruiser. I could tell his dog, Larkin, was impressed. After saying goodbye to Christian, I finished attaching the tent. Time for the truth. Amazingly it stayed on to the hotel so I could gather my stuff and check out.

On the way to South Tahoe Lake, I did have the opportunity to help out a fellow traveler in a Maserati. I don't think his girlfriend appreciated my jokes about italian cars but Her boyfriend took it in stride. They did ask me if I was going to the Casino and I said no. I was going to spend some time camping. They looked a little confused at that but we said goodbye and I left.

And so after a brief drive out to South Tahoe Lake and wandering around for a bit, I found a place to stay. The first night in the roof top tent was an experience. One, every time I move, the whole vehicle moves. Two, roof top tents aren’t as easy to set up as they seem but it is kinda fun and I understand why people like them. I don’t think it save me any time from a normal tent. You still have to tuck things away, zip up all the window, undo all the supports for the fly (if you put them in, which you don’t have to but I decided to try it) and make sure the zippers are not caught in anything. Then you have to put the cover over top of the and zip that on. Its a labor intensive process at times, but the advantage of it is that it is still clean and if you wanted to you could have the tent set up in about 10 mins to live in and break it down and away in about 20 with some practice. The engineering that Tepui did on the tent is amazing and neat. Only thing that I realized this morning is that I had a severe lack of coffee to make in the morning. Details.

BSIIH, Part 6, The Vehicle is...

I'm back in Sacramento and I final have a vehicle. On the way back I stopped at the Golden Gate Bridge. Its funny how different places strike you with different types of amazement. I was awed by the natural beauty of Hwy 1. The Golden Gate Bridge is fantastic. It is an incredible achievement don't get me wrong and spectacular, but there is something a little less about it. It is definitely worth the visit. Had I had more time I would have loved to visit the Forts around the bridge, but I had to find a car.

The last couple of days I've looked at several different cars. All of which has good things about them. I wanted to find another Westfalia to bring back east with me but it just wasn't in the cards for this trip. So I went back to my initial criteria for vehicle selection. Had to be under my price point, maintained well enough to make it across the United States, can sleep in it, and have enough stuff for camera gear.

After narrowing down the list between likes and dislikes along with looking several friends for a the Great American Road Trip Adventure that I'm on, my options where a 2006 Lexus GX470, 2006 Toyota Tundra, 2008 Toyota Sienna or a 2003 Honda Element. I test drove the Tundra and I liked it. It drove, well like a truck and what is there not to like about a truck? It had a Camper shell on the back which would be great for sleeping in and storage of equipment. It was comfortable enough and the important thing is that it had cruise control. The Honda Element's cruise control didn't work unfortunately and the GX 470 was extremely comfortable but just a little bit small for what I was thinking. Which leaves us with the most practical vehicle on the planet, the Mini-Van, the Toyota Sienna. All around it looked great. Heated leather seats, sunroof, stow and go seats in the rear to make a wide area for sleeping in, decent fuel economy, working AC and cruise control. It was also this lovely shade of green that reminded me of older 70’s style bathroom tile. Nice.

So here is the vehicle I decided on a 1999 Toyota Landcruiser in Blue. It's perfect in that it meets almost none of my criteria, but it is perfect. Well perfect for this trip anyway. After being owed by a loving family for years it was time to downsize. It has been well kept and well loved over the years and I'm excited to embark on my literal Cruise of the Land with it. I'm looking forward to seeing how this all ends up. I could spin off into automotive history right now on how Landcruisers are everywhere, but I won't. Needless to say that since there has been a Landcruiser on every continent, in every possible environment, it should easily be able to handle a small excursion across the US. I'll take suggestions for names too.

BSIIH, Part 5, The wait

I have a car. Well kinda. Until the end of the day at least. I took a rental car from San Luis Obispo, Ca up to Los Altos, Ca to visit with Jennifer Garnett who offered to put me up to for the night. Also had a great dinner of pasta which was the first meal that I had pretty much all day. Last time we saw each other was several years ago and it was good to catch up and swap stories of the travels, which hers have been fair more exciting than mine. She was inbetween trips so I am glad that it worked up for us to catch up.

To make the trip more fun, I took HWY 1 up. You have to stop and look at the views; awe inspiring. I understand why all of HWY 1 is a road trip in itself. Along the east coast, it is most beaches. The land and the water smoothly roll one into another. In California it might as well have been the Cliffs of Insanity. Near vertical drop offs into a broiling sea. The Cliffs and Waves were are in a constant battle to the death it seemed. Breathtaking.

I'm headed back to Sacramento this morning after some coffee. I haven't found much of a replacement vehicle yet but I have my eye on two. Considering how short time is getting later today or Monday I’ll have a vehicle. How exciting!

BSIIH, Part 4, The Story is Good

Sometimes things just work out. After getting on the train this morning wondering how I was going to get on with this adventure, I reminded myself that it is all about the adventure. I have nowhere to go and plenty of time to get there. Plans get disrupted or change or even completely blown away. And that is ok.

I spent some time of the train ride down looking at possible options from cars to vans to trucks and none of them seemed adventurous enough. However, I do have a solid reliable plan now to get me places I need to be (more on that later. I don't want to spoil the surprise. Or lack of one). I had a lovely breakfast on Amtrak. Three egg omelet with roasted potatoes and fresh fruit. It was a little pricey but I had a voucher for $6 off a meal so I used it and it made the price reasonable. Amtrak has you sit with other people and I sat with a lovely couple that could have passed for Mr. and Mrs. Claus. Of course, they both knew it and played along with the staff in the car. After that, it was more sitting and watching the countryside go by until lunch. After lunch was more watching the countryside go by. Amtrak has outlets so I could recharge my phone multiple times as I was looking for other modes of transportation back to Sacramento.

Eventually, I arrived at San Luis Obispo and Meet Mr. and Mrs. Menzo. Both apologized about the van and to make it up offered to show me around town and to take me to dinner. It was such a wonderful time spent with strangers. We ended up talking for several hours until I told them that I needed to get a place to stay. They offered to drive me to the hostel in town where I am currently writing this out. They were such a fantastic couple and I couldn't have asked for a day that started badly to turn out pretty darn fantastic. I had such a great time with them I may just come back to visit them!

San Luis Obispo (SLO) is a nice little town. I'm probably saying this because they had Marsh Street. I might be biased but that is the best street in town as far as I am concerned. There are more adventures to be had and I'm still excited about what is going on to happen next on this trip!

Best Stupidist Ideas I've Had (BSIIH), #2

This is more on a continuation from my day that started way too early and ending way too late. My flights were uneventful. I do thank American Airlines for being so quick to manage the disruption of the flight had before it even left the gate in Dallas. There was a major part broken with the plane. They had us on a plane and flying while only delaying us about 25 mins overall. Kudos, American Airlines, Kudos.

I landed just fine in Sacramento, CA to 80-degree weather that was on the rise. But it felt good to be in dry heat again. I ended up visiting the local REI because I needed a few things that I had forgotten to pack for the camera excursion later on in this trip. After that, I caught a lovely Uber to Downtown Sacramento where I checked in to my hotel. A quick nap and a cup of coffee to keep me going, I managed to walk around Old Town Sacramento. It reminded me of most old Western towns. I was half expecting to see two guys in the middle of the road prepping for a showdown but I'm glad that didn't happen.

I did end up visiting the Sacramento Railroad Museum. I had to fight with myself to go but I enjoyed going and reading all about the history of the railroads in California and seeing (a bit of home-state pride here) that the majority of the Locomotives that were in the Museum were from Philadelphia, including the one seen in the picture of the Golden Spike. The Museum also addressed the untold thousands of Chinese immigrant workers that built the railroad. They paid homage to the workers that gave up their lives in search of a better life in America. The museum also displays the history of model trains which is exciting for us that grew up with them. I never knew how competitive it was in the early 1900s before World War I broke out.

After that, I did take a stroll down to the Capital building to snap a few pictures. I also managed to grab a few of the many palm trees with my phone. I know. I know. But my camera gear hasn't arrived yet. At least I blended in more with the tourist scene. Not that the long pants in 100-degree weather would have given me away.

I stop by Mash and Malt to recover for a bit. It was fantastic to sit out of the heat and drink some refreshing beverages before scouting out dinner which was supposed to be pizza. Due to a navigational error on the human part, I ended up eating a Cafe De Brew. It's an American style diner that I was happy enough eating at after walking several more city blocks in the cooling heat of the evening.

I'll be up tomorrow on Amtrak going from Sacramento to San Luis Obispo to pick up the Westfalia. It's exciting that this is happening and it is for real and my journey is just starting.

With full disclosure, I was a little nervous on the plane while we were on approach to Sacramento. There are so many things that can still go wrong on this trip, but it wouldn't be an adventure if there wasn't any risk.

The Best Stupidest Idea I've had

Well to give the rest of the story over the next couple of weeks some context, I decided to fly across the country. Normally this would be an everyday affair. However, I decided that instead of taking the smart way home, flying back home, I would buy a 1985 VW Westfalia Van and drive it back. What could possibly go wrong?

I will say that there is more backstory to where I decided on a van and that van in particular that I may get to later. Right now though I'm sitting in the airport waiting to board my flight for three hours to Dallas then another three hours to Sacramento, CA. And that is only the beginning.