moab, utah, to flagstaff, arizona, 415 miles.
hothothot. hot at canyonlands national monument, though "newspaper rock" was great. a big bunch of petroglyphs on one rock. they don't know how old it is or who exactly created it, but it's nice. they call it newspaper rock because it tells a bunch of stories. hot at the four corners, but not too hot for me to stick a foot in four states (arizona, new mexico, colorado, utah) at once and take a picture. hot in keyenta, arizona, and the air-conditioned mcdonald's there was booming. they were selling huge cokes for $1; i got two. hot in the car, but kept the top up. i'm getting a road-trip tan -- brown in front and washington state white in back. canyonlands and arches were great, but there's so much beyond them. they're the national monument theme parks, but there are rock formations to ooh and ahh over everywhere. climbed to wilson arch, which is all by itself south of moab, and stood under it.
tomorrow: south to phoenix, where it was 109 today. hmmm. good night olivia in hawaii, good night mom in the potholes, good night jean...
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Friday, June 27, 2008
day four
ogden, utah, to moab, utah, 333 miles.
suffering today from a bad case of topdownitis (a combination of having the top down too long on a day in which the sun focused its energies directly on the car and the temperature may have topped 200. ok, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration), so called it quits early after driving through arches national monument. if you haven't been to southeastern utah, you have to see this stuff. rock formations -- and colors -- that are too remarkable for words or pictures. the scenery earlier in the day wasn't as spectacular, but still interesting. huge, wide open spaces way above sea level. went over one pass east of heber city -- it's in heber valley -- that was 8,020 feet. can't remember when i last saw a real tree. and i'm so in need of conversation i've started talking to random folks in parking lots. stuff like, "hey, that's an interesting bug on your windshield. where'd you get it?" and "I see from your license plate you're from ohio. you know my uncle hank and aunt ruth?"
tomorrow: canyonlands, the four corners and eventually south to flagstaff, arizona.
suffering today from a bad case of topdownitis (a combination of having the top down too long on a day in which the sun focused its energies directly on the car and the temperature may have topped 200. ok, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration), so called it quits early after driving through arches national monument. if you haven't been to southeastern utah, you have to see this stuff. rock formations -- and colors -- that are too remarkable for words or pictures. the scenery earlier in the day wasn't as spectacular, but still interesting. huge, wide open spaces way above sea level. went over one pass east of heber city -- it's in heber valley -- that was 8,020 feet. can't remember when i last saw a real tree. and i'm so in need of conversation i've started talking to random folks in parking lots. stuff like, "hey, that's an interesting bug on your windshield. where'd you get it?" and "I see from your license plate you're from ohio. you know my uncle hank and aunt ruth?"
tomorrow: canyonlands, the four corners and eventually south to flagstaff, arizona.
where's olivia?
the day i drove away from woodinville earlier this week, olivia flew to hawaii for a wedding. she returns to sea-tac around 12:30 a.m. on july 3, then flies to memphis about 12 hours later. i'll be in memphis to meet her, though she likely won't recognize me in the elvis outfit i expect to wear proudly in the airport. and if she does recognize me, i'm absolutely certain she won't acknowledge me. we'll spend a couple of weeks doing florida and the atlantic coast, then she'll fly home from d.c. ...
Thursday, June 26, 2008
day three
june 26, the potholes in eastern washington to ogden, utah, 662 miles:
here are some random babblings from the road. ... i started talking to myself this afternoon. wonder what that says about the remaining 27 days of this trip. i think it was more a result of today being an intentional mile-eater, plus baristas for some reason not being interested in just chatting for an hour or so. it was a just-get-on-the-road-and-go day. four states -- washington, oregon, idaho, utah -- and more than a few coffee stops. ... said goodbye to mount rainier this morning. there are nice views of it from the road between moses lake and the tri cities. said goodbye to the columbia river as well. played woodie guthrie's "roll on columbia" to mark the occasion. the lyrics to roll on columbia are fairly dated, and rhapsodizing about dams and power plants doesn't go over well these days, but it would sure be a better state song than whatever washington currently has. anyone know the lyrics to the state song? any state song? ... crossed the 48th parallel, meaning i was halfway between the north pole and the equator for an instant. ... one of the nicest surprises of the trip so far was when i hit idaho and saw my first 75 mph speed limit sign. passed an idaho state trooper at one point, and he eased in behind me and paced me for 20 miles or so, but then he dropped back. guess he got tired of trying to keep up. ... if you're ever traveling along interstate 84 in idaho between mountain home and twin falls, you have to stop at the rest area. amazing. it has a lobby. you go through a set of doors into the lobby, where there are maps and pop machines and other things, and then through more doors to the real reason for a rest area. nicely air-conditioned, too. has someone written a book about rest areas? ... my uncle mel is feeling better, enough so that he called my mom to say he might fly to miami and rent a car so he could still beat me to key west. hmmm. wonder what the speed limit is in texas. ... the highlight of today's drive was a new CD i played. hey, when you're driving 600 miles and you start talking to yourself, CDs come in handy. and this is a good one. it was put together by jean from lake forest park, washington. it's time i introduced all of you to jean. she has practiced medicine in africa and the alaskan outback and other places. i can never be her patient because then we'd have to stop dating for four years. she was a driving force behind creating a foundation in her community to enhance the environment and create more and better habitat for birds and critters and fish as well as educate folks to better take care of their part of the environment. it's very cool. i have a great deal of respect for the things she has done, and continues to do, to improve the world around her. so, family and friends, meet jean. jean, meet the friends and family. more about jean later, after you've all gotten to know each other. i suspect that by the end of this trip, i'll have told enough stories about all of you -- yes, that includes jean, mike stanton and everyone else -- so you'll all know each other fairly well. speaking of mike, he's one of my former bosses at the seattle times who never knew whether to laugh or cry about the things i did. i mention him because all of you should know that mike and others still at or recently detached from the times are reading this, as well as other friends and a number of family members past and present, not to mention folks around the world who just google something and get lucky. tomorrow: ogden to monticello or blanding or somewhere in the southeastern part of utah. it may hit 100 in some of these places. might be a good day to put the top down and gather some heatstroke or sunstroke data for jean. good night family, good night friends, good night jean...
here are some random babblings from the road. ... i started talking to myself this afternoon. wonder what that says about the remaining 27 days of this trip. i think it was more a result of today being an intentional mile-eater, plus baristas for some reason not being interested in just chatting for an hour or so. it was a just-get-on-the-road-and-go day. four states -- washington, oregon, idaho, utah -- and more than a few coffee stops. ... said goodbye to mount rainier this morning. there are nice views of it from the road between moses lake and the tri cities. said goodbye to the columbia river as well. played woodie guthrie's "roll on columbia" to mark the occasion. the lyrics to roll on columbia are fairly dated, and rhapsodizing about dams and power plants doesn't go over well these days, but it would sure be a better state song than whatever washington currently has. anyone know the lyrics to the state song? any state song? ... crossed the 48th parallel, meaning i was halfway between the north pole and the equator for an instant. ... one of the nicest surprises of the trip so far was when i hit idaho and saw my first 75 mph speed limit sign. passed an idaho state trooper at one point, and he eased in behind me and paced me for 20 miles or so, but then he dropped back. guess he got tired of trying to keep up. ... if you're ever traveling along interstate 84 in idaho between mountain home and twin falls, you have to stop at the rest area. amazing. it has a lobby. you go through a set of doors into the lobby, where there are maps and pop machines and other things, and then through more doors to the real reason for a rest area. nicely air-conditioned, too. has someone written a book about rest areas? ... my uncle mel is feeling better, enough so that he called my mom to say he might fly to miami and rent a car so he could still beat me to key west. hmmm. wonder what the speed limit is in texas. ... the highlight of today's drive was a new CD i played. hey, when you're driving 600 miles and you start talking to yourself, CDs come in handy. and this is a good one. it was put together by jean from lake forest park, washington. it's time i introduced all of you to jean. she has practiced medicine in africa and the alaskan outback and other places. i can never be her patient because then we'd have to stop dating for four years. she was a driving force behind creating a foundation in her community to enhance the environment and create more and better habitat for birds and critters and fish as well as educate folks to better take care of their part of the environment. it's very cool. i have a great deal of respect for the things she has done, and continues to do, to improve the world around her. so, family and friends, meet jean. jean, meet the friends and family. more about jean later, after you've all gotten to know each other. i suspect that by the end of this trip, i'll have told enough stories about all of you -- yes, that includes jean, mike stanton and everyone else -- so you'll all know each other fairly well. speaking of mike, he's one of my former bosses at the seattle times who never knew whether to laugh or cry about the things i did. i mention him because all of you should know that mike and others still at or recently detached from the times are reading this, as well as other friends and a number of family members past and present, not to mention folks around the world who just google something and get lucky. tomorrow: ogden to monticello or blanding or somewhere in the southeastern part of utah. it may hit 100 in some of these places. might be a good day to put the top down and gather some heatstroke or sunstroke data for jean. good night family, good night friends, good night jean...
day two
june 25, woodinville to the potholes in eastern washington, 207 miles.
an uneventful trip over the cascades to mom's house. decided to take stevens pass across the cascades because it's more scenic. the warming temperatures are causing the snowpack to melt rapidly, which in turn is making the rivers run fast and high. one of my favorite waterfalls, deception falls, is on highway 2 going over the mountains. it's more of a tumbling, rumbling falls than a drop over a cliff, and its spray was keeping the footbridge nice and wet. don't know why it's called deception falls. maybe because it's deceptively hidden beneath the highway. if you're going 60 mph down the road (remember, i never exceed the speed limit), you wouldn't know it's there. most interesting things along the route: a crop-dusting helicopter (hadn't seen one of those before) and tractor magazine, a magazine (like house-selling magazines) devoted to selling tractors and combines and balers and seeders and stuff. these things are not cheap. one combine was for sale for just under $300,000. the magazine itself reminded me of a trip to green bay, wisconsin, with the seahawks years ago. the writers stayed at the howard johnson's in green bay, and the three magazines offered in the hotel lobby were playboy, penthouse and the green bay packer magazine. so maybe i shouldn't have been surprised to see tractor magazine in a place like moses lake, washington. did that anecdote make any sense?
today: the potholes to salt lake city, or however far down the road i get.
an uneventful trip over the cascades to mom's house. decided to take stevens pass across the cascades because it's more scenic. the warming temperatures are causing the snowpack to melt rapidly, which in turn is making the rivers run fast and high. one of my favorite waterfalls, deception falls, is on highway 2 going over the mountains. it's more of a tumbling, rumbling falls than a drop over a cliff, and its spray was keeping the footbridge nice and wet. don't know why it's called deception falls. maybe because it's deceptively hidden beneath the highway. if you're going 60 mph down the road (remember, i never exceed the speed limit), you wouldn't know it's there. most interesting things along the route: a crop-dusting helicopter (hadn't seen one of those before) and tractor magazine, a magazine (like house-selling magazines) devoted to selling tractors and combines and balers and seeders and stuff. these things are not cheap. one combine was for sale for just under $300,000. the magazine itself reminded me of a trip to green bay, wisconsin, with the seahawks years ago. the writers stayed at the howard johnson's in green bay, and the three magazines offered in the hotel lobby were playboy, penthouse and the green bay packer magazine. so maybe i shouldn't have been surprised to see tractor magazine in a place like moses lake, washington. did that anecdote make any sense?
today: the potholes to salt lake city, or however far down the road i get.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
uncle mel
my uncle mel and aunt judy had planned a road trip of their own, coinciding somewhat with mine. their plan was to drive from their home in lynden, WA, to nebraska and ohio to see relatives. uncle mel, you need to know, has always taken great pleasure in beating me at things. i remember when i was three or four feet tall and he graciously agreed to teach me how to play chess. i think it took him maybe four moves to checkmate me. again and again and again. no mr. nice guy. but it forced me to learn the game. i didn't find out until years later that he had enough chess trophies to fill a room. at some point recently, mel and judy decided to extend their trip all the way to key west, probably so he could beat me there. but the stupid cancer he has been beating back for a number of years now had him feeling bad when they got to idaho, so they turned back. so i'm going to push on, for me, and for mel. key west or bust. do me a favor and keep mel in your thoughts. he's a good uncle, and a good person. tomorrow: woodinville to the potholes in eastern washington...
Sunday, June 22, 2008
the trip begins
day one, woodinville, WA, to neah bay, WA, and back to woodinville. 380 miles.
olivia and i kicked off the trip june 21. it was a fairly long day, with a couple of ferry rides between edmonds and kingston; a side trip to port townsend to pick up olivia's friend, hanna, so she could join us for the day; and some agonizingly slow, windy roads. we were fortunate in that we didn't become part of a battle in port gamble, where a bunch of folks were reenacting some civil war skirmishes. there were folks dressed in blue, folks dressed in gray, and women wearing the dresses of the day. i figure we'll see some of the real civil war areas between florida and washington, d.c. we drove to neah bay and then hiked a nice half-mile trail through the woods to cape flattery, the northwesternmost point in the contiguous states. here's more on what the makah nation has done there recently to make it more accessible for tourists: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/travel/2008011123_onlywa22flattery.html. before leaving neah bay, we drove south of town a couple of miles to one of my favorite beaches, but didn't stay long because a fog bank was rolling in. i'm going to take a couple of days now to finish preparations before i start driving east and south. will probably hit the road in earnest tuesday or wednesday.
Hanna (left) and Olivia (right) standing out on the lookout
at Cape Flattery.
olivia and i kicked off the trip june 21. it was a fairly long day, with a couple of ferry rides between edmonds and kingston; a side trip to port townsend to pick up olivia's friend, hanna, so she could join us for the day; and some agonizingly slow, windy roads. we were fortunate in that we didn't become part of a battle in port gamble, where a bunch of folks were reenacting some civil war skirmishes. there were folks dressed in blue, folks dressed in gray, and women wearing the dresses of the day. i figure we'll see some of the real civil war areas between florida and washington, d.c. we drove to neah bay and then hiked a nice half-mile trail through the woods to cape flattery, the northwesternmost point in the contiguous states. here's more on what the makah nation has done there recently to make it more accessible for tourists: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/travel/2008011123_onlywa22flattery.html. before leaving neah bay, we drove south of town a couple of miles to one of my favorite beaches, but didn't stay long because a fog bank was rolling in. i'm going to take a couple of days now to finish preparations before i start driving east and south. will probably hit the road in earnest tuesday or wednesday.
Hanna (left) and Olivia (right) standing out on the lookout
at Cape Flattery.
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