Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Blasting off!!!!

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Our bags are finally packed, the maps have all been studied, and we are set to begin our journey westward tomorrow morning. During our two weeks in the Carolinas we managed to stay busy and active while still finding time to hit the Tivo once or twice a day (we all have guilty pleasures, right?) The downstairs basement was painted (it's all about the prep!), the screen porch door fixed (thanks JP!), the storage unit cleared out (ever wonder what 14 years of idle junk smells like?), and the curtains for the Eurovan sewed (thanks Patti!). While we tried to run, climb, stairmaster, walk, and lift heavy boxes as much as we could, we're still taking a few extra pounds away from here thanks to all that delicious southern cookin' (thanks again Patti!!) Mix all these up with a Carolina Panthers NFL game, more sweet tay than you can imagine, and some hush puppies, and y'all be sure to come back now, ya hear?

After a trip to AAA and a glance at a calendar (yikes!) we needed a strategy to get back to Cali by Christmas. We spent the morning mapquesting and now we have a plan, detailed enough to include specific city stops, regional ideas, and possible camping locations for the next 26 days. Scary but true. Of course, you all know us, and plans change, but as long as we keep heading somewhat Westward we think we'll be okay.

First, it's North to the Linville Gorge area of North Carolina to hop on some local granite. Then, it's Southeast down Florida's coast to Key West (note the Westward direction? We thought so.) Up the left side of Florida and across the panhandle along the gulf coast toward New Orleans, with our sights set on Texas. Stops around Austin and at Hueco Tanks will bring us across to New Mexico and Arizona, with ideas of Carlsbad Caverns and Cochise Stronghold. We'll have to move quickly up California to make it to Yosemite by Christmas where we will hopefully rendez-vous with the Cane gang at various elevations off the Valley floor.

We are open to suggestions and must-see locations and adventures, so if you know of any Superman museums or killer BBQ joints that we absolutely have to check out please let us know! Bon voyage!

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

From the California sun to the coal mines of Kentucky

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To some, the California-Kentucky connection might not be immediately obvious. While Mat may seem like a tried-and-true California boy, the truth is that he spent about 5 years in the Bluegrass State during high school and hasn't really been back since. His friends there now own houses, dogs, and Eurovans - well, I guess one doesn't own the Eurovan anymore. During our quick trip to the 'ville, we saw good folk, got our Eurovan (which Greg still owes us money for after the result of some backwards transactions - don't forget, Greg!), toured a Bourbon plant, and watched movies on a comfy leather couch (the midwest is COLD!)

The acquisition of the van begins the true road-trip in our mind in many ways. Now we have comfortable room for all of our things, a warm(er) place to sleep at night, and a behemoth of a car that our Governator would be proud of. Not wanting to escape Kentucky without seeing the Red River Gorge, we headed to a pizza place named Miguel's just outside the bustling metropolis of Slade, Kentucky.

We arrived at Miguel's on a Saturday night and felt like we were walking into some crazy backwoods version of Camp 4 at its heyday. It was a small pizza joint on the outside, but in reality it was so much more. Literally hundreds of tents were assembled festival style in the fields behind Miguel's restaurant amidst slacklines, community fire pits, and signs reading "Camping for climbers only!". Dirtbags from around the world gathered under a covered picnic area to fire up their Coleman stoves, cook top ramen and veggies, and brag about the day's accomplishments. Amazing looking pizza passed back and forth while the climbers on a tight budget salivated at the substantial aromas. We opted to skip some of the craziness by camping in the parking lot inside our van, after fighting for a level spot amongst the long-termers circling the perimeter.

The gorge and the surrounding area was truly beautiful. The fall leaves were almost at their peak, and while we didn't get too much climbing in, we went on some amazing hikes and got a decent feel for the place. The routes were short, the sandstone was steep, and the climbing was social - unfortunately it rained a bit and made everything a little sloppy.

We bid adios to Miguel's and headed up to see Mat's extended family in Ohio. Throughout our travels in other parts of the world, arriving in new locations brought with it the excitement of discovery and novelty. For example, one might travel to a new state in India and encounter an entirely different language, food, type of dress, and environment. While cruising along I-75 we realized that the freeways of America do not offer this same variety. As our country becomes more corporate and privatized it appears that every city is becoming the same, with strips of identical box stores and chains lining Main Street, USA. It's strange to visit a new town and not only know what store to go to for milk or batteries, but also know the exact location, aisle, and the price we can expect to pay. Convenient, perhaps... but one must admit that it takes a certain flair out of the everyday tasks.

This being said, we do believe that there are unique, interesting, and rich places out there (like Miguel's!!) We are prepared to search a bit longer and harder in the states to find these locales - maybe it's staying off the freeways, maybe it's taking a wrong turn every now and then, and maybe it's camping in Walmart parking lots instead of actually frequenting the store.

We've been blessed so far to see lots of friends and family, and actually spend a bit of time with them in their homes. We've now settled for a bit at Mat's parents' house in beautiful Lake Wylie, South Carolina, where we will celebrate Thanks-giving/taking and figure out how the heck to get back to the left coast.

P.S. We've got some photos up on flickr now - click on the nifty flash logo to the right to check them out!

Thursday, November 8, 2007

Vegas, on belay!!

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We were looking to kick our trip off with a tour of our coast, and thus we took off for a three week California / Nevada romp hitting some of our favorite places; Joshua Tree, Red Rock, and of course... Las Vegas. Neither of us had ever been to the Red Rocks National Preservation Area and were very pleasantly surprised to find an oasis of ochre sandstone formations towering thousands of feet high above the desert. The climbing was great, although it did take a while to get used to the somewhat crumbly sandstone, and after a few days we were ready for some time off the rock.

While you can't directly see Vegas from the campground at Red Rock (thanks to a well-positioned strip mine) you cannot deny its presence, as evidenced by myriad searchlights and neon pollution every night centered around the giant SETI-inspired floodlight of the Luxor pyramid. Like moths into a flame, we too followed our primal urges and headed toward the lights.

In an effort to find the location of the Hard Rock Cafe, where we had "plans" to see a 1 AM show with Michael Franti, we got sidetracked and soon found ourselves in the middle of a high pressure 3 hour timeshare presentation at the Planet Hollywood hotel, tempted by the lure of a free buffet and tickets to a show. Dave Lemoureau (a fine French name, he assured us) helped us calculate our "yearly vacation investment"... to be fair, our visit was accompanied by some white lies... let's just say that we didn't exactly disclose our campsite number or the amount of free camping food we had inherited from our neighbors who left the day before. Predictably, after some number crunching and some stories about his special needs aunt at Mardis Gras, Dave arrived at the conclusion that it made financial sense for us to "own a piece of the strip" at the mere cost of $40,000!!! Pocket change, especially when you consider the pre-approved financing at 18.99% APR!!!

The kicker hadn't even come yet, because we had yet to see the building!! Oh wait!! The building isn't actually built yet... but Dave provided us with a brilliant artist's rendering of the Planet Hollywood Towers, and escorted us into a beautiful model room. There was no doubt that this room was incredible, down to the plasma TVs in the bathrooms and the convenience of a full-fledged mall downstairs (Mo happened to mention that she hates both shopping and watching TV). We followed Dave back to the final negotiating table, where we found it quite easy to say no. It was, however, much harder for him to hear our answer - this could possibly be due to the multiple couples around us screaming in exhilaration as they signed up for their new place in the PH towers. Yes, people were buying all around us, buying shares of a building not yet built - we took our tickets and got out of there as quickly as we could (after one more visit to the complimentary juice bar).

The buffet was mediocre, Stomp was fabulous, and wandering around Vegas amidst a crowd of Parrotheads there for the Buffet show made us strangely nostalgic for the days of Phish. All in all, we learned a few important lessons - we spend way too money much on vacations, there's a sucker born every minute, and a rest day in Vegas is not really a rest day.

P.S. A 1AM show? Our bed time is like 8 PM!!!!!