On Tour in the USA

[xoxoxoBruce]

I just read, in July Death Valley had 20 days over 120 degrees F.

[glatt]

Originally Posted by diminished

Today has been a long drive, down from Kanab to Tucson, where we'll be visiting 'The Boneyard' http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerospa...neration_Group

- the USAF's storage facility for aircraft they're not currently using.

If you find yourself with extra time in Tuscon, Sabino Canyon is pretty. It's a narrow canyon in the foothills of the Catalinas and a stream (which is probably a trickle or dry now in August) winds its way from pool to pool in the canyon with nice views of saguaro cacti all around. Probably my favorite place in Tucson.

Also, a drive up to the top of Mount Lemmon might cool you off by about 10 degrees. You'd be at 105 instead of 115. There are some decent views from up there.

The old historic mission San Xavier will take you back in time.

The Desert Museum is a zoo that contains desert animals. When I was a kid we used to get the coyotes going absolutely bananas by howling in front of their cage. That would stir up the whole zoo. Good times. But it's just a zoo.

If you like astronomy at all, you have to take a trip to nearby Kitt Peak and get a tour of some of the huge telescopes there.

[diminished]

I wish I hadn't got myself banned from the motel's network last night.

Then I might have seen glatt's post this morning...I'm a closet astronomy enthusiast...it never occurred to me that I might be near the Mt.Lemmon observatories.

All that needs to happen to make that mistake complete is to check the BAA website in a couple of days and find they discovered a comet there today.

We're now moving in completely the wrong direction to visit those, and after dragging Persistence around 'another' Air Museum all day, in the scorching sun, she's not in a mood to turn back.

Oh well.

The PIMA air museum was interesting, and for once, since most of the aircraft are stored outdoors, I didn't have much bother taking photos.

The Boneyard tour was pretty good too, although I was so intent on looking out of the bus windows (we weren't allowed to stop or get off, the AMARG facility is still an operational base) I failed to notice the aircon had broken down.More heat for poor Persistence to endure!

Unfortunately,it was well towards museum closing time before she was able to drag me towards any kind of exit, and we had to set off again.

West again, back into southern California next.We'll try not to smuggle fruit.

[diminished]

Time for an update.

We entered California after ditching our stash of bananas, that we might not attract attention to ourselves.

Initially, we made for L.A, after a little visit to the town of Joshua Tree, to have a quick look at Myrtle the Turtle (roadside statue of a turtle).Persistence called a halt around Perris (site of some smashing boulders painted up as apples), as she was finding the traffic more than a little intimidating.

We bounced back, towards Death Valley, overnighting in Barstow.Whilst there, we read a few things online about the town, which had us more than a little worried to step outside.Especially as the bolt on our motel room door had been torn off at some stage.

Next day, we headed for Death Valley, where things began to go wrong.

I take this opportunity to remind myself, that it is not an especially good idea to run off into the desert when the temperature is 122f, even when you have water stashed about your person.And that water is all well and good, but only tends to be useful when it is drank.

The Mesquite Dunes did look very photographically appealing however.And it did seem like a good idea at the time.

I began to have a little trouble keeping co-ordinated about halfway back to the car, I'd been feeling quite smug about some of the photos I'd got.Things got progressively more difficult the closer I got to the car.I just about crawled up onto the roadway.

Persistence had spotted me stumbling about, and brought the car alongside and helped me in.

It was probably less dramatic than it sounds, and I felt (slightly) better after the application of a couple of litres of water, which I promptly sweated back out.

I dozed for the next hour or so, as we headed towards Stovepipe Wells, with the intention of heading up to The Racetrack, to see Death Valley's mysterious moving stones.

I was required to make a navigational decision, which in my confused state, I really should have taken more time over.About an hour later, as we pulled up at the western entrance about 100 miles out from where we should have been, the error was realised.

We immediately set off back for The Racetrack, arriving at the entrance to the 31 miles of rough road about 6pm.

We should have known better than to set off down a very rough bladed earth track with around 90 minutes of daylight left.That road surely has to be the worst we've encountered in just shy of 24000 miles of motoring we've done over here.

We both called a halt an hour in, and around 9 miles short.There was a very real danger that our trusty vehicle was going to become crippled if we continued.Persistence gingerly backtracked along that crappy road in failing light, and we slowly realised that it would be at least 3 more hours before we got anywhere near a motel which would be of any use to us.That fuel would be marginal, and we didn't have much in any way to eat (although plenty of water).It also became apparent that our vehicle suffered from the little adventure.

The suspension is now considerably looser than it was before we set out there, and we get a much bouncier ride now.

We eventually made a motel, but if we'd continued on to our original goal, things could have been hairier.The deity that protects all naive fools pulled overtime that day.

Suitably self-chastised, we set out the next day on something of a curious mission.

We went to a forest in order to find a tree.

At once, a simple sounding thing, but when you're looking for one tree in particular, can also be a quite complicated thing.

We went to the Ancient Bristlecone Pine groves in Inyo National Forest, to search for the Oldest (non-clonal) living Thing on the Planet, the Methuselah Tree.

Methuselah is estimated, this year, to be 4500 years old.The problem searching for it, is that it's not marked on map, and Forest Rangers will not tell you where it is (with good reason.When they had a sign indicating which tree it was, it was vandalised) .Its also located between 10000 and 11000 ft above sea-level.

We went to the local ranger station, and found that there is a trail around the Methuselah Grove, and the Ranger informed us that the tree itself is between two of the numbered markers, but gave us no more information than that.

We'd done some research the previous night on the net, but that had just proved confusing.We'd turned up a set of GPS co-ordinates, and 4 different images purporting to show the tree itself.

The GPS co-ordinates we immediately discarded, on the grounds that they're in the wrong grove of Bristlecone Pines (Methuselah is reportedly in the Schulmann Grove, our co-ordinates indicated the Patriarch Grove), and when you're hiking at altitude and speed, one tree looks very much like another.

We did, however, find a group of big and old Bristlecones, in the area the Ranger had told us to look.Searching off the trail, I also found another very poorly defined and seldom used track that lead up to a group of 4-5 trees.These trees had metal tags attached to them, unlike the others we'd looked closely at, and we decided that if none of them were Methuselah itself, they were probably among the older ones of the grove.We left, breathless, hopeful, and reasonably satisfied that we probably have an image of the correct tree somewhere amongst our shots.

Bristlecone pines are quite interesting things, I think.I'd seen a documentary about them several years ago, and to refresh my knowlege, I bought a book when we got back to the ranger station (after crocking my ankle on the trail back).

I read that simply, these trees do not die of old age.They only die when something kills them.I also read that, to my chagrin, Methuselah is not the oldest amongst them.There is at least one older, known to a couple of researchers, who will not give out the location.

There was indeed, an older specimen, up until sometime in the 1960's called Prometheus, who was felled in an unfortunate incident by a scientist (he was taking core samples for dating, his coring-tool broke and he sought permission to cut this particular specimen down, which surprisingly the Forestry Service granted.They're apparently a lot more careful with their permissions now.).

Anyway, onward, and in conclusion.

Today, we set off with the intention of visiting Bodie, a ghost-town on the border between California and Nevada.To some extent, its not really a ghost town, in as much as that there are still a few residents, and that the town itself has been declared a State Park, and is held in its state of decay as a showpiece.

The last several miles to the town however, are across our old friend, bladed dirt road.After our previous experience, Persistence called a halt several hundred yards on from where we'd left the tarmac, and turned about.

As an alternative, we instead headed for Yosemite National Park, which we had intended to look at tomorrow.

I've got to say, Yosemite is quite spectacular, but very challenging to capture in photographs.More challenging yet to photograph in crappy weather.And by the time the weather clears, more challenging again becuase everything is smothered in people.

It was a shame to visit at the weekend.The sheer volume of people more or less ensured that the possibility of encountering large furry, or even medium-sized fluffy wild-lifes was at a minimum.

I think to get the best out of Yosemite, its more or less essential to go hiking out on the many trails around the place, which we weren't able to because of my crocked ankle (and today I seemed to be handling the altitude a lot less ably).

We left slightly disappointed, but at the same time frustrated, because we knew we hadn't been able to give ourselves the opportunity to experience the best that it could offer.

Time to sign off.My typing fingers are becoming tired, as are doubtless some of your eyes.I'm taking some Jack Daniels and shortbread cookies for my conditions.Find your own medecines

[ZenGum]

Yeah, we're now in possession of a bright blue PT Cruiser for the last week of our jaunt, after assuring the rental people that we had no idea at all how the fault had developed

The kid was about fifteen, and none too bright.

"This is a terrible town for driving around in convertibles" I told him "They beat the shit out of it..."

Man, you ARE going all Hunter S Thompson. Awesome. Check the trunk. (You know, the boot.)

[diminished]

No Epic Suitcase.

Got some Adult Robitussin cough gels (tried them earlier in the trip, for the DXM content, didn't rate it very much), Equate sleep aid liquidcaps (diphenhydramine, intend to knock myself out for the flight home rather than endure nicotine withdrawl), still quite a bit of Citalopram (my AD meds), a nicorette inhalator (always have a backup plan, in case the diphenhydramine doesn't work) and an empty bottle of Jack Daniels.

I'll hopefully be turning that empty into a full, later on.

Judging by the shenanigans at last nights motel, and the interesting and familiar odour on the wind outside, I could have probably bolstered my substance count with something pleasantly herbal.

But its been almost 4 months with nothing other than tobacco to smoke, might as well wait until I get home now.

[xoxoxoBruce]

We're certainly going to miss your reports on the state of the nation, hopefully you'll keep coming back to the Cellar if not the states.

btw, how do you like the PT?

[diminished]

Cheers Bruce.

Its been my great pleasure to be posting up my stuff here, as all but one of the people back home seem to have forgotten we exist, the one who remembers does so because I keep badgering him about our cats

We've just been calculating some preliminary stats for our journey.All numbers are current as of....now.

Miles travelled : 25601.3 (hitting our primary goal of over one Earth circumference)
Rental Cars defeated : 2
Photographs taken : 11601
Cats Petted : 1
Dogs Petted : 4
Swivel Chairs swivelled upon : 3

Roadkill counts

Birds : 7
Kangaroo Rats : 4
Prairie Dogs : 2
Squirrels : 1
Bugs : Lots
No Otters

Cheapest Gas (/Gallon) : $2.09 (Somewhere in West Virginia)
Most Expensive Gas (/Gallon) : $3.99 (West Entrance, Death Valley)

Highest temperature endured : 122f (50C) Death Valley
Highest elevation attained : 11158ft (Eisenhower Tunnel, I-70, Colorado)

I've always liked the way the PT Cruiser looks, but it feels heavy and underpowered compared to the Rav4.Its a rather jolly shade of blue tho.

[Glinda]

Originally Posted by diminished

I could have probably bolstered my substance count with something pleasantly herbal.

But its been almost 4 months with nothing other than tobacco to smoke, might as well wait until I get home now.

You blew it by not coming to La Center, dude!

[ZenGum]

I offer my thanks for your posts, Diminished. I have not (yet) been to the USA, and you've shared some awesome places with me, from the "visitor" perspective. Thanks. It has been a great trip, even vicariously.

So, is there any chance of a sequel? Diminished and Persistence Down Under?

[monster]

you didn't pet both of our cats? no wonder Atomic has been pissy since you left......

[diminished]

Your cats wouldn't let me anywhere near them, Monster.Although I think I managed to get one of them to stop running away whilst I was in the area.Without resorting to Crazy Glue.

And ZenGum, if economic circumstances had been slightly better, we should have been moving on from San Francisco to NZ, then on to Australia.Bloody global economic crisis.

The Antipodes are however pencilled in for a forthcoming journey.There's some debate between us on the order forthcoming journeys shall be in, but we've definately been bitten by the travelling bug.(Or at least Persistence has, I just like not being at home.She's the one with the earnings potential and lack of vices,)

From something I remember from years ago, do they make 'pie floaters' in your part of Australia?That delicacy cannot go unsampled by me.

We've been in SF long enough for Persistence to become extremely worried by Oakland.We stopped there under a bridge, to photograph some scrap-metal figures and a slightly mad, but quite attractive community garden.It was only after we'd got out of the car that we noticed the RV shanty-town we'd parked next to.

We also passed by the Oakland Raiders stadium, just as I was mentioning how much I'd like to visit Candlestick Park (home of the SF 49'ers).

'Oh,look' said Persistence.
'There's a football game going on in there,'
I had to explain to her the difference between the Raiders and 49'ers in 'soccer' terms.

We also attempted to visit the Pacific Pinball Museum, but it didn't open until 6pm, and Persistence, still rattled by Oakland, didn't fancy hanging around Alameda until then.(Rightly so, as it was barely 2 o'clock).

We've still got stuff to do, and about 4 days left to do it in.We simply have to holiday harder

[xoxoxoBruce]

I had to explain to her the difference between the Raiders and 49'ers in 'soccer' terms.

I'd had loved to be privy to that conversation.

[diminished]

It was a relatively easy one to do to be honest, Bruce.

As a native of the Northeast of England, all I had to do was mention 'Newcastle' and 'Sunderland',two 'soccer' teams from the northeast with a history of desperate rivalry.

Eerily, the recent history of my favourite NFL team, the 49'ers, is somewhat mirrored by the recent history my favourite football team Newcastle United FC.(Newcastle, with a lot less actual success than the 49'ers...lol).

I recall with a lot of fondness, the 49'ers of the 80's.In the UK, I had to stay up very late as a young teenager (who had just been given his own TV for his bedroom!) to watch Bill Walsh, Joe Montana,Jerry Rice et al righteously stomp all who opposed them.

It was with a lot of sadness that I read of Bill Walsh's death a couple of years back.

I try to watch the NFL when I can these days, but it somehow just isn't the same without the big characters from my youth.People like Tom Landry, Don Shula and a (then) up-and-coming Mike Ditka.

[diminished]

I have a publishable map of our convoluted travels.Unfortunately, its produced using Microsoft Streets & Trips, and I can't find a way to remove all the tags for each stop necessary to keep track of our progress, they somewhat obscure things, especially once we get into the northwest.

If anyone knows the package better than my passing familiarity with it, please tell me how



At least there's some sort of numerical progression going on