Tuesday, May 02, 2006
Day 24.
I'd like to apologise to the park ranger that I lied to this morning. Mr Ranger, if you're reading this, I'm sorry i lied to you - its just that i had to say i hadn't camped in that spot you found me at this morning because i didn't want to get the fine that you were happily writing out for me. I knew you didn't know whether i'd been there all night, and last night even though i saw the no camping sign i was tired and just wanted to sleep so i stopped there. But if its any consolation, i wasn't lying when i said i didn't dump all that trash beside the van. That was probably the rednecks.
Shortly after that we moved into Prescott, an old town built around a courthouse on the town square - the first i've seen out west. Late in the afternoon we headed out through the mountains and dropped several thousand feet down to the desert flats. All of a sudden we were surrounded by Saguaro cacti, towering around us like giant forks planted in the ground. At a junk store a bit further down I was almost persuaded into buying a genuine VW jack from the very friendly, very drunk owner. The goal was to get to California, so I also declined the offer of a beer - the second time in my life. A couple of hours later we crossed the colorado river and were in California. My plan was to pull off at the next exit and find a place to park up. It was after dark and at the next exit was a sign. It said: "State Prison. Do Not Pick Up Hitchhikers". Well that was enough to put the woolies up me so i drove on to the next exit, another 40 miles at a place called Desert Center. And it must be, because there was nothing there!
Day 25.
Joshua tree national park was our next stop, although we didn't really stop there too much. We drove through it with gas concerns and out north into 29 Palms, which I've since learned is home to the largest american marine base. The thing that should have had me guessing was when i saw the sign on the barber shop: "military AND civilian cuts". Now if you're thinking, you'd be wondering why gas concerns would prevent me from stopping through the park. I wonder that now too.
Funnily enough we saw more joshua tree's once we were out of the park and heading around to Palm Springs. Again we dropped down through a canyon and into... a wind farm. And this was no ordinary wind farm. There were over 4000 wind turbines here, all off them beating their blades to remind me just how windy it was. For the record i didn't need reminding, as a volkswagen bus puts up more of a sail to the wind than a turbine does. We were all over the road, staggered by the wind, the turbines, and although we were still 120 miles from LA, the smog. Yes the smog. Surrounded by mountains that we couldn't see half way up due to the air pollution. For only the second time in my life i've wanted to put a blade to my wrists. The first time was in a similarly polluted environment - the damming of the three gorges in China.
Luckily for me it got dark and I couldn't see the pollution any more. And we missed the exit for Palm Springs, so instead we spent the evening in Redlands. Home to a good cafe with free wireless, and a nice park for Forrie. Later that night we slunk into LA and parked up in the lot of an adult video store.. this is LA after all. Shortly after we moved to a more private spot behind a dingy cocktail bar. I asked the bartender "BaM" if i could park there. "This is LA, you can do anything", he said.
Day 26.
And he was right. The next day we headed out of town but were heading into rush hour traffic so I thought: I'd like to pulled off and park up a nice tree lined avenue with a view of the sign on the hill. And we did. We found a nice street called Windsor avenue, with a nice view of a sign on the hill HOLLYWOOD. The bike came off and we just rode towards it, passing paramount studios, sunset boulevard, and finally up on Hollywood boulevard. We came in from the east, which is arguably the most interesting way to approach it. Scattered amongst the empty shop windows were tattoo stores, strippers outfitters, and the occasional shop selling dath vaders mask. Is this hollywood? As we got further west it started to pick up, we passed the venue for the Academy awards and the names on the stars in the pavement became a bit more familiar. Later in the evening, once we'd driven to the outskirts of LA, i read about where we should have gone in LA. We'll be back.
For the record, Forrie is on dishes duty again after $279 at the vet. Somehow i don't think she minds that punishment though.
Day 27.
Interstate driving. This time it was slightly interesting though, as there was a big motorcycle meet somewhere in the vicinity and so there was a billion bikes to watch pass me instead of just a billion trucks. We pulled up for gas and refreshments at a town called Barstow, and here i discovered a gem for my existence. Its called a community center. Here I could shower and shave for only a few bucks and leave without feeling ripped off and raped as I probably would at a truck stop. (Note to dad: please delete that last line before you show this to Gran). Soon after we pulled off the interstate and headed into the Mojave desert national preserve, and a couple of days of bliss.
A national preserve has the same rights as a national park only you can hunt in it. This didn't make me feel so good, but in any case we found a camping spot under the shade of the only trees I saw in a half hour of driving, and right in front of kelso dunes - a huge range of sand blown in from "devils playground" out to the east. That night a group from UCLA came up to hike to the top of the dunes for sunset. I felt a little guilty sitting watching them, but I got my dues the next day when i did in the full heat of the day. When they returned they pulled out ultraviolet lights to go scorpian spotting - this i wouldn't miss. We found a couple of small ones a bit to close to my camping spot for me to risk pulling out the blanket and sleeping under the stars!
Day 28.
As previously mentioned, we climbed the dune. It was hot, but i think that forrie suffered more than me. Spotted some sidewinder (snake) trails on the way up. When we got down I rewarded myself with a beer and a knap, then whittled away the afternoon reading and playing guitar. As evening fell, armed with a rubber band, we went out lizard hunting to test a technique i'd recently heard about in Crete for capturing lizards. We failed. I didn't even get to see if my aim was any good. But we did see some jack rabbits, a vole, and ground squirrel. Later that night when I turned my back on my dinner plate, it was attacked by a pair of kangaroo rats - one little bugger stole off with my fork! I decided I'd better let my trusty ratter onto them to solve the problem. As per usual forrie bounced around enthusiastically, but no destruction came of it.
Day 29.
Reluctantly we pulled out of the mojave preserve driving down and out into some serious heat. We found refreshments for the bus and me at the town of Baker, home to hot sun and a kitsch Greek fast food restaurant. I needed some supplies before heading into Death Valley so asked around where i could get fresh bread, with a stress on the word "fresh". The only hope was a Subway down the road. I went in and was told i'd have to pay the price of their cheapest sandwich to get just the roll. Jesus God! I walked out without saying anything that could cause my receiving serious bodily injury. I've since realised that its not their fault, its mine. Computers are to blame... more specifically, Software! Had I been at an old corner store selling rolls, the old lady would probably have smiled at me and said "that'll be 50c dear". But at Subway they have inventory controls and computers handling the sales, and no "roll only" button on their computer! For all i know their cheapest roll might only have been 50c - i didn't stay to look.
We made out of Baker and into the blistering heat towards death valley. I was starting to worry about the heat and the exhaust leak, and out of nowhere a sign for Salt Creek Preserve appeared. So we pulled off to see what it was about. Here we hike around for three hours up a rocky mountain, down to the spring where I had a wash, watched hummingbirds flit around as happy as we were to be in this desert oasis. Another trail took us off around the range to an old mine, where Indians had a moment of victory against the settlers, stalling their demise. Strangely I found a lot of people at the mine, and I wondered how they got there as I didn't see them on the 40 minute walk I took. On my drive out I discovered the answer when I passed a 4x4 off road recreation area just around the corner. The rednecks were back en masse!
We pulled up short of death valley for the night in a moonscape similar to the petrified forest we passed through in arizona, pulled out a book on astronomy and took a stab at identifying constellations.
Day 30.
I've started talking to myself. More than usual. The conversations usually start with a funny thought i have and i find myself giggling away telling myself how funny that was. I need to talk to forrie more.
We got up early to miss the heat and were off to Death Valley, the hottest, most inhospitable place in america. And it was. We drove over a range of about 3500ft and then down into the inferno. Death Valley is the largest national park outside of alaska, the lowest point in America - 282ft below sea level or something like that, and also the hottest: 56 degrees one sad day in 1917 or there abouts. It wasn't that hot today, thank god, but it was hot enough. With names like Furnace Spring, Badwater Basin, Stovepipe, etc it was no surprise that by 11am we were parked under a tree to wait out the next 7 hours of heat! To say the scenery here is dramatic is an understatement. The mountains rise out of huge bulging valleys, and as we drove down a valley towards death we were looking down on the tops of the mountains below. Once at the bottom we drove along looking at geological signs of an ancient lake that once filled the valley. At its lowest point, Badwater Basin, a white sea of salt is all that is left. And before the heat really set in we took a peak up a canyon that is home to an all too precariously perched natural bridge.
The heat of the day is too much for an air-cooled VW, so we sat out the day in Furnace Spring, hoping that the old bus might finally blow its head so we could rent an air-conditioned RV. Heat distorts reasoning.
I amused myself by observing the 5 minute "experiences" the average tourist has here each time they step outside of their car. Then I looked up and noticed that I was lazing under an exotic palm planted here to attract the aforementioned tourists, and that put me in my place.
I'd like to apologise to the park ranger that I lied to this morning. Mr Ranger, if you're reading this, I'm sorry i lied to you - its just that i had to say i hadn't camped in that spot you found me at this morning because i didn't want to get the fine that you were happily writing out for me. I knew you didn't know whether i'd been there all night, and last night even though i saw the no camping sign i was tired and just wanted to sleep so i stopped there. But if its any consolation, i wasn't lying when i said i didn't dump all that trash beside the van. That was probably the rednecks.
Shortly after that we moved into Prescott, an old town built around a courthouse on the town square - the first i've seen out west. Late in the afternoon we headed out through the mountains and dropped several thousand feet down to the desert flats. All of a sudden we were surrounded by Saguaro cacti, towering around us like giant forks planted in the ground. At a junk store a bit further down I was almost persuaded into buying a genuine VW jack from the very friendly, very drunk owner. The goal was to get to California, so I also declined the offer of a beer - the second time in my life. A couple of hours later we crossed the colorado river and were in California. My plan was to pull off at the next exit and find a place to park up. It was after dark and at the next exit was a sign. It said: "State Prison. Do Not Pick Up Hitchhikers". Well that was enough to put the woolies up me so i drove on to the next exit, another 40 miles at a place called Desert Center. And it must be, because there was nothing there!
Day 25.
Joshua tree national park was our next stop, although we didn't really stop there too much. We drove through it with gas concerns and out north into 29 Palms, which I've since learned is home to the largest american marine base. The thing that should have had me guessing was when i saw the sign on the barber shop: "military AND civilian cuts". Now if you're thinking, you'd be wondering why gas concerns would prevent me from stopping through the park. I wonder that now too.
Funnily enough we saw more joshua tree's once we were out of the park and heading around to Palm Springs. Again we dropped down through a canyon and into... a wind farm. And this was no ordinary wind farm. There were over 4000 wind turbines here, all off them beating their blades to remind me just how windy it was. For the record i didn't need reminding, as a volkswagen bus puts up more of a sail to the wind than a turbine does. We were all over the road, staggered by the wind, the turbines, and although we were still 120 miles from LA, the smog. Yes the smog. Surrounded by mountains that we couldn't see half way up due to the air pollution. For only the second time in my life i've wanted to put a blade to my wrists. The first time was in a similarly polluted environment - the damming of the three gorges in China.
Luckily for me it got dark and I couldn't see the pollution any more. And we missed the exit for Palm Springs, so instead we spent the evening in Redlands. Home to a good cafe with free wireless, and a nice park for Forrie. Later that night we slunk into LA and parked up in the lot of an adult video store.. this is LA after all. Shortly after we moved to a more private spot behind a dingy cocktail bar. I asked the bartender "BaM" if i could park there. "This is LA, you can do anything", he said.
Day 26.
And he was right. The next day we headed out of town but were heading into rush hour traffic so I thought: I'd like to pulled off and park up a nice tree lined avenue with a view of the sign on the hill. And we did. We found a nice street called Windsor avenue, with a nice view of a sign on the hill HOLLYWOOD. The bike came off and we just rode towards it, passing paramount studios, sunset boulevard, and finally up on Hollywood boulevard. We came in from the east, which is arguably the most interesting way to approach it. Scattered amongst the empty shop windows were tattoo stores, strippers outfitters, and the occasional shop selling dath vaders mask. Is this hollywood? As we got further west it started to pick up, we passed the venue for the Academy awards and the names on the stars in the pavement became a bit more familiar. Later in the evening, once we'd driven to the outskirts of LA, i read about where we should have gone in LA. We'll be back.
For the record, Forrie is on dishes duty again after $279 at the vet. Somehow i don't think she minds that punishment though.
Day 27.
Interstate driving. This time it was slightly interesting though, as there was a big motorcycle meet somewhere in the vicinity and so there was a billion bikes to watch pass me instead of just a billion trucks. We pulled up for gas and refreshments at a town called Barstow, and here i discovered a gem for my existence. Its called a community center. Here I could shower and shave for only a few bucks and leave without feeling ripped off and raped as I probably would at a truck stop. (Note to dad: please delete that last line before you show this to Gran). Soon after we pulled off the interstate and headed into the Mojave desert national preserve, and a couple of days of bliss.
A national preserve has the same rights as a national park only you can hunt in it. This didn't make me feel so good, but in any case we found a camping spot under the shade of the only trees I saw in a half hour of driving, and right in front of kelso dunes - a huge range of sand blown in from "devils playground" out to the east. That night a group from UCLA came up to hike to the top of the dunes for sunset. I felt a little guilty sitting watching them, but I got my dues the next day when i did in the full heat of the day. When they returned they pulled out ultraviolet lights to go scorpian spotting - this i wouldn't miss. We found a couple of small ones a bit to close to my camping spot for me to risk pulling out the blanket and sleeping under the stars!
Day 28.
As previously mentioned, we climbed the dune. It was hot, but i think that forrie suffered more than me. Spotted some sidewinder (snake) trails on the way up. When we got down I rewarded myself with a beer and a knap, then whittled away the afternoon reading and playing guitar. As evening fell, armed with a rubber band, we went out lizard hunting to test a technique i'd recently heard about in Crete for capturing lizards. We failed. I didn't even get to see if my aim was any good. But we did see some jack rabbits, a vole, and ground squirrel. Later that night when I turned my back on my dinner plate, it was attacked by a pair of kangaroo rats - one little bugger stole off with my fork! I decided I'd better let my trusty ratter onto them to solve the problem. As per usual forrie bounced around enthusiastically, but no destruction came of it.
Day 29.
Reluctantly we pulled out of the mojave preserve driving down and out into some serious heat. We found refreshments for the bus and me at the town of Baker, home to hot sun and a kitsch Greek fast food restaurant. I needed some supplies before heading into Death Valley so asked around where i could get fresh bread, with a stress on the word "fresh". The only hope was a Subway down the road. I went in and was told i'd have to pay the price of their cheapest sandwich to get just the roll. Jesus God! I walked out without saying anything that could cause my receiving serious bodily injury. I've since realised that its not their fault, its mine. Computers are to blame... more specifically, Software! Had I been at an old corner store selling rolls, the old lady would probably have smiled at me and said "that'll be 50c dear". But at Subway they have inventory controls and computers handling the sales, and no "roll only" button on their computer! For all i know their cheapest roll might only have been 50c - i didn't stay to look.
We made out of Baker and into the blistering heat towards death valley. I was starting to worry about the heat and the exhaust leak, and out of nowhere a sign for Salt Creek Preserve appeared. So we pulled off to see what it was about. Here we hike around for three hours up a rocky mountain, down to the spring where I had a wash, watched hummingbirds flit around as happy as we were to be in this desert oasis. Another trail took us off around the range to an old mine, where Indians had a moment of victory against the settlers, stalling their demise. Strangely I found a lot of people at the mine, and I wondered how they got there as I didn't see them on the 40 minute walk I took. On my drive out I discovered the answer when I passed a 4x4 off road recreation area just around the corner. The rednecks were back en masse!
We pulled up short of death valley for the night in a moonscape similar to the petrified forest we passed through in arizona, pulled out a book on astronomy and took a stab at identifying constellations.
Day 30.
I've started talking to myself. More than usual. The conversations usually start with a funny thought i have and i find myself giggling away telling myself how funny that was. I need to talk to forrie more.
We got up early to miss the heat and were off to Death Valley, the hottest, most inhospitable place in america. And it was. We drove over a range of about 3500ft and then down into the inferno. Death Valley is the largest national park outside of alaska, the lowest point in America - 282ft below sea level or something like that, and also the hottest: 56 degrees one sad day in 1917 or there abouts. It wasn't that hot today, thank god, but it was hot enough. With names like Furnace Spring, Badwater Basin, Stovepipe, etc it was no surprise that by 11am we were parked under a tree to wait out the next 7 hours of heat! To say the scenery here is dramatic is an understatement. The mountains rise out of huge bulging valleys, and as we drove down a valley towards death we were looking down on the tops of the mountains below. Once at the bottom we drove along looking at geological signs of an ancient lake that once filled the valley. At its lowest point, Badwater Basin, a white sea of salt is all that is left. And before the heat really set in we took a peak up a canyon that is home to an all too precariously perched natural bridge.
The heat of the day is too much for an air-cooled VW, so we sat out the day in Furnace Spring, hoping that the old bus might finally blow its head so we could rent an air-conditioned RV. Heat distorts reasoning.
I amused myself by observing the 5 minute "experiences" the average tourist has here each time they step outside of their car. Then I looked up and noticed that I was lazing under an exotic palm planted here to attract the aforementioned tourists, and that put me in my place.
