Sunday, September 17, 2017
Mid-Life Crisis Road Trip 2017, days 15 to 21.
A woman at the campground had her cat in a stroller and chatted with me about our respective trips. She told me that that was beeweed and sure enough, there were plenty of bees on it.
Beeweed.
I packed up and drove toward the visitor's center, stopping at one trail leading to some petroglyphs. A small cottontail posed for me.
Cottontail.
The petroglyphs were made by the Fremont culture, roughly contemporaneous to the Hohokam here in southern Arizona.
Petroglyph.
At the visitor center I said hello to a stegosaurus. Like many kids, I was obsessed with dinosaurs when I was a kid.
Vernal.
I then drove to Salt Lake City and got a hotel room for two days. The airport Ramada. Avoid this place, it was gross. The windows are covered in see-through curtains. If you turn the light on, people walking down these rusty stairs can peek at you. The whole place was falling apart, the sidewalks cracked and buckled, cardboard patches next to AC units, nasty landscaping. A terrible Indian restaurant attached to it, the worst Indian food I have ever eaten. The "complimentary" breakfast was horrible.
Peek-a-boo.
On Saturday, August 26 (day 16) I went to the Family History Library and obtained my 4th great grandfather's will from England, in which he left my 3rd great grandfather his loom (he was a linen weaver). I walked around Temple Square and saw the LDS Temple, very grand.
Most of my pictures don't show how lovely the wide open spaces of the great American west are. These antelope were nice enough to pose for me.
A woman at the campground had her cat in a stroller and chatted with me about our respective trips. She told me that that was beeweed and sure enough, there were plenty of bees on it.
Beeweed.
I packed up and drove toward the visitor's center, stopping at one trail leading to some petroglyphs. A small cottontail posed for me.
The petroglyphs were made by the Fremont culture, roughly contemporaneous to the Hohokam here in southern Arizona.
Petroglyph.
At the visitor center I said hello to a stegosaurus. Like many kids, I was obsessed with dinosaurs when I was a kid.
Stegosaur.
You get on a little bus and it takes you up to the wall of fossils. The enclosing museum is very nice and up-to-date (and air conditioned!).
Replica skeleton.
Lot of bones visible, they are no longer exposing more. I had a little guide that I bought and gave it to the father of a boy, who was so excited because they had sold out.
Skull and cervical vertebrae.
After ward I went to Vernal, Utah and washed my clothes. I haven't been in a laundrymat since 1996.
I then drove to Salt Lake City and got a hotel room for two days. The airport Ramada. Avoid this place, it was gross. The windows are covered in see-through curtains. If you turn the light on, people walking down these rusty stairs can peek at you. The whole place was falling apart, the sidewalks cracked and buckled, cardboard patches next to AC units, nasty landscaping. A terrible Indian restaurant attached to it, the worst Indian food I have ever eaten. The "complimentary" breakfast was horrible.
Peek-a-boo.
On Saturday, August 26 (day 16) I went to the Family History Library and obtained my 4th great grandfather's will from England, in which he left my 3rd great grandfather his loom (he was a linen weaver). I walked around Temple Square and saw the LDS Temple, very grand.
Temple.
The next day I went hiking with Jon up in the mountains overlooking Salt Lake City. It was very attractive.
Jon and Homer.
Afterward I drove west from Salt Lake City across the Great Salt Lake. The Great Salt Lake Desert is in fact very salty.
Great Salt Lake Desert.
I tasted it. And later on wished I had grabbed a plastic bag and bagged a sample.
Salty Homer.
I arrived in Reno, where I spent the night at Circus Circus. Casinos are depressing as fuck. No one looks happy pulling the handle or pushing the button on slot machines. I did have an excellent pizza there.
On August 28 (day 18) I drove to Lake Tahoe and spent a day with Kevin. It was nice to see him after two years. We took his two dogs on a long walk, and he made me vegetable kabobs for supper.
Homer and Kevin.
The next day, August 29 (day 19) I drove south to Yosemite National Park. There was a controlled fire within the park and another larger one outside. Going in, it was very smokey.
Crazy smoke.
I found a space in Porcupine Flats campground, set up my tent as ash fell on me.
The sun was red from smoke.
And of course I got bored and decided to go find a candy bar. The store to the west of Porcupine Flat was closed and there was a young couple sitting there, waiting for the bus. For the first time in my life I picked up hitchhikers (Anthony and Claire), and took them back to their vehicle, which was near the only other store nearby. They bought me an ice cream bar. It was fun talking with them. That night I could hear something sniffing around the campground near my tent, I shined my phone light out but could not see anything.
So I got up, had a PBJ sandwich, and then headed eastward toward Las Vegas on August 30 (day 20). I wanted to go through Death Valley National Park but I wasn't paying attention, and Google Maps decided to send me down a deserted road north of the park. Very pretty scenery.
Once again in Nevada.
Antelope, somewhere in Nevada.
I arrived in Las Vegas only a few minutes before Jim and George got home. George made me a couple of very strong drinks.
Jim, Homer, and George.
Hadn't seen them in a couple of years, so it was nice to catch up. They are the nicest guys.
And the next morning, after a couple of bowls of cereal, I got in the car and drove to Tucson. Buddy, Snowball, and Puff were delighted to see me, as was Doug.
And there you have it, my 21-day road trip. It was lovely, even despite the lost wallet and Collin's totaled car (I gave him some money to use as a down payment for his next vehicle).
