Travel And Exploration

In the past I have blogged about the Apache Trail but this weekend we packed up our camping gear and headed out on a Sunday afternoon for a one night camping expedition. Having driven the trail before, we recalled a few places where camping could be found just off the road. We set out from Chandler on the 88 and found a place to park just a few miles after the dirt road begins. To find the location, drive down the step ravine incline. At the bottom there is a river and a bridge to pass over the river. Just 1/8 of a mile past the bridge there is a parking area to the left (West) of the road with some boulders to prevent you from driving further in to the land. Park there and follow the trail to the river. Just after crossing the river there are many places for camping with sandy ground, good clearing and sometimes you might get lucky and find an abandoned fire ring made of rocks.

Make sure you do not go when rain is expected, as the trail drive can be difficult and there is a good chance for washes to come roaring down the lowlands and raising the level of the water. We pitched camp here and just soaked in the scenery around us.

Out there the night sky lit up like nothing I’ve ever seen before! I’ve been camping many times but this was something else! Our bellies full of potstickers and hot cocoa, we sat by the fire until the night became a blanket around us and the stars shone their brightest. The bubbly stream, singing frogs and breeze ruffling the trees lulled us to sleep in our tent.

In the morning we hiked up the river and found even more good camping pads and secluded caves. Then we packed up and headed back, but not before noticing a few crushed vehicles that glinted on the steep slope just below the high apache trail. Two trucks had taken the plunge from the harrowing road and were left to rust:

On the way back West on 88 we stopped at Tortilla Flat for some famous Prickly Pear Ice Cream. The unique fruit flavor of the prickly pear was a welcome taste after a warm hike through the river. As we rounded a sharp corner after Tortilla Flat, we came upon a rescue scene pulling a Jeep up from the cliff. The entire top was flattened from its recent roll down the hill. We only hoped that the occupants made it out ok. Get one tire off the road and you are done for. This is definitely the place to be cautious. Even though we were fairly certain no wild animals would bother us, we kept a hand knife on us at all times and slept with an axe and a rock pick at the ready. The thrill of sleeping under the stars with no other humans to bother us was worth it!

This past weekend we drove from Phoenix, Arizona down to the Catalina Mountains just north of Tuscon in search of Trilobites in the soft grey limestone. We found the collecting site from Gem Trails of Arizona by J. R. Mitchell It was written in 2001, so some of the accuracy in the ‘freshness’ of gathering sites may be outdated. However, we went with high hopes of finding something and if not, at least having an adventure!

2/15/08

After a few hours on the road, we reached the Catalina Mountains and struggled to accurately follow the hand drawn map in the book to a little town called Oracle. We passed the road titled “Biosphere” with a bit of hesitation, seriously considering pausing our fossil hunt for a side trip to the unknown ‘biosphere’, but giddily declined: the possibility of fossils waiting to be found too tantalizing to let linger.

Turning into Oracle we passed a few small town icons: the one gas station, cows along side the dirt road, and abandoned houses. The dirt road winded up and around hills finally reaching the base of a large hill (or small mountain… I’m still not sure which one it was). Our little 4 door crawled up the dirt switchbacks, rounded the top of the hill-mountain. I held my breath as we drove over a washed out part of the dirt road that revealed a steep cliff overhang just inches from the driver side wheels. Parking at the base of the hill on the other side, we walked 100 paces to the wash where said fossils were supposedly waiting to be found and adored in a collection by adventurous fans.

When we turned into the trench, a hillbilly family was occupying the entrance with their well worn Ford Truck. They moved timidly away from us. We gave a kind hello and asked if they had found anything, seeing them picking about with a metal detector. We passed them quickly after they gave a few grunts in our direction, the woman continuing to search and her son swinging about in the trees, breaking them and tumbling into the ditch. Many people search for gold nuggets in the bottom of washes, as they usually settle there. If they had found anything they certainly were not sharing information with us.
The soft grey limestone dotted the sides of the deep trench-like wash. A pine like tree grew alongside the cactus in the wash and up the hillsides, making it easier for us to climb up the steep bank to hack away at the stones. The limestone had evidence of eager hunters before us. We searched for 3 hours. Nothing. Except one little thing… a baby lizard. We found him next to a scorpion huddle (they huddle under rocks together to keep warm).

The sun was setting, so we drove home passing along the way the part of the road that was threatening to wash out down the cliff, this time I was the one inches from the edge starring down the rocky, cactus-laden slope. We plan to try a new spot each weekend, so be prepared for a little Arizona adventure sprinkled into whatever else I decide to throw on my blog.

Gary, the baby lizard we found, has taken up residence in a home-made habitat inside a plastic spinach box on our kitchen counter. We’ve had to tape it down because our cat Autumn has a particular fondness towards Gary.

There seems to be a serious learning curve in American society. On our trip to Florida this past weekend for Krista and Aaron’s wedding we encountered the most white trash, tourist ridden area of Florida so far: Daytona Beach. Daytona is a beautiful beach with a lot of potential. However, its immediate shore roads and shoreline is encrusted with run down hotels that smell of mold and endless shell and swimsuit shops that are lucky to see a dozen visitors in one day. Half the place was shut down or out of business probably in thanks to the economy and the new ’stay-cation’ trend, but also I believe due largely to the demographic to which they cater: low-class, low-expectation travelers from colder climates. The beaches and hotels were full of pasty-white blubber filled boring people who found joy in eating fried foods and laying out in the sun like beached whales smoking cigarettes. If they aren’t killed first with a heart attack in their mid 40s, at least they will soon after die of lung cancer or skin cancer. Needless to say, Dylan and I have written Florida off our travel venue for life. It holds no cultural or visual value to us and will soon be underwater anyway.

However, the wedding of our friends was beautiful! Their wedding coordinator found a lovely vacant beachside with perfect sand. We ate at a very classy fish restaurant for the reception which lived up to its reputation… the food was excellent.

The few days leading up to our move was on the high end of the stress level reader. We had to go through our things 3 separate times and take out more and more things we couldn’t take because of limited space. After selling almost every large item on craigslist and giving the rest away to goodwill, we rolled out of MN with the bare essentials.

Day 1: Dara, Dylan’s sister was the best help ever! Without her hard work, we would never have left on the day/hour we wanted to. We hit the open road at about 1pm Sunday Sept 28th. Autumn came with, meowing and confused. A few hundred miles later, one of our trailer tires blew, thankfully in Iowa where the flat, open road allowed Dylan to get the car/trailer safely onto the side of the road. We luckily had a spare. We stopped shortly after to change the other tire before it blew as well and kept the old one as the spare. Happily bumping along, we made it to our first Hotel in Nevada at 1am.

Day 2: Poor little Autumn finally started to settle down in the car. She slept in her cat carrier after a restless night in the hotel exploring all the scents and new surroundings. Dylan and I had a good laugh as we drove through Colorado and saw a Nacho Libre movie set type landscape followed by town names such as “Rio Rancho”. The mountains, red rock formations, and beautiful arid plants began to dot the landscape as we drove through Colorado and New Mexico. A few times the hills gave us trouble, threatening to overheat the little camry as it tried to pull 2,000 lb of our stripped down belongings up the majestic slopes. A little trick we used was to turn on the heater at full blast, roll down the windows and lock the cat in the carrier (so she wouldn’t be temped to run for it). So it is 100+ degrees, we are truckin up a mountain, passing loaded semis going 20 mph, the windows down, the heat full blast, the cat meowing to high heaven because she is roasting in her fur coat… it was really a sight to see.

Day 3: Another almost-deal-breaker was in Indian Territory. We left the second night at the hotel in an area that was void of gas stations, so we decided to hit the road on a half tank and just get fuel down the road. Bad idea. Just after leaving, we entered Indian land where gas does not flow. Just fluttering above “E”, we drafted a semi for 30 miles before spotting a gas station. We stopped, but the place wasn’t open for the day. Apparently they had no gas to sell. We scrambled back on the freeway. AAA wouldn’t have been any use to us if we needed to call for a free gallon of fuel because apparently Indians don’t have cell phone towers on their land. A Shell station another 20 miles down the freeway saved our butts. We filled that tank up nice and good.

When we arrived, after gaining 2 free hours in the time change, it took awhile to get the papers in order. Finally, we lugged all our things up 3 flights of stairs to the 3rd floor in 100 degree weather. Poor Autumn got a cold and was sneezing all over the place and so tired that she basically slept for 2 and a half days straight. We have had a few days to get things more in order, register to vote, visit IKEA, and get comfortable with our surroundings.

Our Front view

Overall, I am delighted by the views from our place and the space in our apartment. There is more closet and cupboard space than I know what to do with. We are going to keep our possessions down to the basics so that our next move will be easier (and lighter). There is a huge shopping center right across the street. Also, it is surprising how compact the suburbs are. Phoenix has a sort of 694 loop (called the 101 loop) and a 94 of sorts… but all of this is about half the distance from the city center as in the Twin Cities. There may be alot of people here, but they use their space wisely. Technically we live on the outer loop of the city’s freeway system, but it took us just under 15 minutes to get from our front door to the heart of Phoenix yesterday. Crazy! Everywhere you look, drive, walk, you see mountains and green dessert plants.

View from the porch at sunset

Dear Minnesota, thank you for the beautiful spring, warm summer and cool northern night breezes. I must confess I am a bit of a heat magnet and will be leaving you for a rendezvous with your southern cousin, Arizona…

The preparations for the big move are ticking along on schedule, even a tiny bit ahead of schedule. We recently made some visitation rounds to a few family members and are trying our best to pin people down before we leave on the 28th. We are hoarding the 26-27th for all those last minute packing and preparations that will inevitably eat up our entire day.

It is thrilling to sell everything we own, give the rest away and eventually cart behind our car only the things that are absolute necessities, irreplaceables, and the rare keepsake (both of us a notorious throw-it-awayers, which is great for a nomad lifestyle.) Driving down with a feline will also provide a mini adventure. We can only hope she will enjoy the scenery. 2 and 1/2 days in a car and 2 nights in a hotel with a very active cat could get interesting.

There is a little part of me that will miss Minnesota. She’s been good to me. Born and raised. Even stayed here for 4 years of college. Just like a good pair of shoes, I’ve worn her out and she’s kinda gone out of style (at least for awhile… you know how trends repeat). Arizona offers her own oddities like “washes” when it rains 3 times a year and takes cars, houses and roads away… or “slick roads” when the rain bring the oil out of the tar and makes the roads slippery than MN black ice. Scorpians, snakes, cockroaches as large as your hand, weather so hot you can fry an egg, and even the smog that has been promised to drift from Vegas. I’ll take the bad with the good: adventure, challenge, interest terrain, grand canyon, craters, fossil hunting, 300+ days of sunshine, no snow, the west coast a short road trip away, no icy roads, glistening pools, new friends, expanding horizons, experiences to gather and stories to tell. Arizona, here I come! … please be careful with my virgin Minnesota skin

Wow! So much has happened since I last wrote! Dylan and I celebrated our one year anniversary on July 11 2008. We had a fantastic summer with camping, visiting friends, and making preparations to….

MOVE TO ARIZONA!!!! http://www.mark-taylor.com/shade/index.asp

We are moving on September 29, driving down with a small trailer. Our new place is a dream with 2 bed 2 bath, a porch, 3 pools in the community, gym, spa, great view. Oh, man it is everything we have been dreaming of. It will be awesome to get away from MN. We are both tired of MN and family always nagging at us for things. It is time to start a new adventure in a new place.

HostRail is really getting off the ground. Orders are coming in faster and Dylan recently had a great interview with one of the podcasts that HostRail sponsors.

Listen to his interview here!

For New Years, Dylan and I went to NYC. We stayed from the 31st to the 3rd. It was so wonderful to fly with someone I care about… that was a first for me.
Monday we arrived around noon and took a taxi to Adrianne and Alex’s apartment in Astoria. We dropped off our things and Adrianne took Dylan, Josh Schwalbach and I into Manhattan to get a glimpse of the Statue of Liberty off Battery Park. She was all lit up in the night sky when we arrived. We stopped by ground zero as well. It was serial to actually stand in the places I had always heard about. We took the subway back to the apartment and got ready to party at the bar to bring in the new year. We shared some wines and shots and headed out into the cold night air. We arrived at 10:30pm ready to party. Unfortunately Dylan forgot his ID, so the two of us took a tour of the neighborhood trying to find an uptown subway and then resorted to a taxi when our search took us in a huge circle. A freeway accident held up the taxi and put us at the apartment 15 mins to midnight. I had a mini breakdown from the stress of the day and the overwhelming craziness of transportation. We resolved that and then made the best of the situation. We sat on the couch and watched the ball drop, kissing each other as the year 2008 breathed it’s first breath of NYC air. We blew up the airmatress and got comfy while we waited for Adrianne and Alex to return home. Dylan’s New Years seems to be cursed, as every New Years plans he has ever made have fallen through for some reason or other. But that is ok. All I wanted was to bring in the New Year with him. Everything else was superficial; nice, but not necessary.

The next morning all four of us woke up late, showered and headed out into the cold NYC day. We went to Central Park in the hopes of going skating, but the rink was packed so we resorted to a lovely horse and carriage ride instead. From there we took the subway back to Astoria and walked to a sushi restaurant and had a lovely dinner together with some yummy sushi. Those two are such good company. They are on the same page as Dylan and I and they are so easy to talk with. It was a great dinner. We rented a movie that night.

This morning Dylan and I got up earlier. The wind was even more bitter and the temps in the low teens. We had ambitions of seeing as much as possible. We scurried to the subway and got off at China town. We walked around and I was amazed at how similar the streets looked to streets in China. We found Little Italy close by and stopped in Puglia’s for some fresco pizza. It was hands down the best pizza I have ever had. And I have eaten pizza in Italy itself! From there we visited the Fossil store where Dylan used to oggle over some pretty sweet gems and fossils. We made a quick stop at Macy’s (with 8 floors!) to buy Adrianne and Alex and thank you gift. We stopped by Dylan’s uncle’s office and said hi to Nubbs and Mike. From there we walked down Times Square and saw all the beautiful lights. We kept stopping in shops and buildings trying to warm up. We then scurried home to rest our legs and warm our noses. After regaining strength, we walked a few blocks to a American bistro place for some grub.

Our last day in NY. Another freezing day. Dylan and I took the subway into Manhattan to have lunch with Adrianne. She showed us her office in the Sony building and then we ate lunch with her in the building’s cafe. From there we took the subway to the Natural History Museum. The place was pretty full. We visited a few sections: gems, planets, dinosaurs, and a few others. It was pretty neat. The best part was being able to see it all with Dylan. He is so smart! He knows a little bit about everything! I am more surprised if I ask him a question and he has no thoughts or knowledge on the subject matter. Seriously, the man is a walking Encyclopedia… a sexy, handsome and very fit Encyclopedia On our way home we stopped in a cafe and shared some turkey wraps. We said our good byes to our gracious host and hostess and took off for JFK in our cabbie.
Overall, I am sooo glad I went and even more thankful that Dylan knew his way around. He is such a breeze to travel with. He doesn’t get stressed out when things aren’t going as planned and is so relaxing to be with. Sigh, I just love him so very much.