The Last Days of Nevada

Trip Start Mar 05, 2006
1
12
Trip End Jul 27, 2006


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Flag of United States  , Nevada,
Saturday, February 11, 2006

Hey Folks! Audrey and I leave for Guatemala on Sunday, March 5th via Boston (don't ask). As we transition from our time in Americorps to our time as freelancing, jet-setting bums, I thought it a good idea to show some pics of our travels in Nevada with the NCC and our trip back to NC. Audrey and I miss both the people and the beautiful places we've seen. (well, except Las Vegas). Here's a small sample of our time...

After we finished with the NCC, Audrey and I made our way to Flagstaff, Arizona to see our friends John and Karen. They happened to be crossing the country too, just in the opposite direction (towards San Diego). We stayed in a tiny motel with them and their great dane Miles for 3 days, then they headed off to their new life on the west coast. I managed to convince Audrey that a trip into the Grand Canyon was necessary. Wow, I highly recommend it 01 - Nice looking bunch a people
01 - Nice looking bunch a people
 ! But buy hiking poles so you can save your knees.

Following several days in the Grand Canyon, Painted Desert/Petrified Forest National Park was a serious letdown. We decided to bust a move to the Gila Cliff Dwellings for some historical fun. Unfortunately, we took a wrong turn in Alpine, Arizona that cost us several hours. Aside from the extremely curvy road in beautiful country, we did stumble upon an amazing, horrifying sight, The Phelps Dodge Morenci Copper Mine. This is one of the largest open mine pits in the world. It's not so much a mine is it is a whole county, complete with company store, company houses, company schools, etc. Very massive (miles and miles of tailings), very ugly and very sad. If you're ever town, stop by, they give tours!
http://www.phelpsdodge.com/Community-Environment/MorenciMineTour.htm

The Gila cliff Dwellings were Spectacular. 'Nough said. We left from there to the Guadelupe Mountains of Texas. Highest point in the state, and very impressive rock formations. Then off to Carsbald Caverns, running on gasoline fumes. Carsbald was neat..I'm just not as big a spelunker as I thought I was.

Next it was off to San Antonio 02 - Grant's Crew after a dirty Day
02 - Grant's Crew after a dirty Day
 . My, what a gorgeous city. Even the library was pretty! At this point in our journey, we realized that money was issue, so we hightailed it to NC. A quick dinner in Austin, a campsite in Waco, an Avett Bros concert in Little Rock, a sketchy night at America's Best Value Inn, oh yeah Avett Bros. Great show full of their new material!

This is where things get interesting. Major ice event in Arkansas. 1 inch solid on the road. Audrey and I drove 20 miles in 2 hours. Multiple wrecked tractor-trailers. At this point, James made a courageous, risky decision. Stay on 40 West or get creative. Creative it was - screw Memphis and Nashville, we're headed south to the music capital of the world... Fayette, Alabama. An old Ireland friend lives there, Taylor Moore. We had a great time hanging with Taylor and his family, even though they all seemed to have bubonic plague or something. Audrey whipped up some delicious authentic gumbo and all was well. Watch "Grizzly Man"!

Now we're back in NC ready to leave again

Enjoy the pics!

-James

Post your own travel photos for friends and family More Pictures

03 - Now what's going on here? 03 - Now what's going on here? 04 - Mud on the Back 04 - Mud on the Back 05 -Playin' for change at the gay park port-a-john 05 -Playin' for change at the gay park port-a-john 06 - Terri and her favorite musician (Not!) 06 - Terri and her favorite musician (Not!)
07 - LeRoy 07 - LeRoy 08 - Matty in the infamous union suit. 08 - Matty in the infamous union suit. 09 - Audrey representing her former days at Irwin 09 - Audrey representing her former days at Irwin 10 - 15 ft of snow 10 - 15 ft of snow
11 - Sam likes to jump in snow 11 - Sam likes to jump in snow 12- LeRoy and Pimp Giggy 12- LeRoy and Pimp Giggy 13 - Cholla, a wonderful, yet painful desert plant 13 - Cholla, a wonderful, yet painful desert plant 14 - Hoover Dam, Arizona Side 14 - Hoover Dam, Arizona Side
15 - James, a bathtub, in the desert. 15 - James, a bathtub, in the desert. 16 - Zach getting frisky on Lake Mead 16 - Zach getting frisky on Lake Mead 17 - Crew at an old prospector cabin, Death Valley 17 - Crew at an old prospector cabin, Death Valley 18 - The Leadership (Matty and Paris looking good) 18 - The Leadership (Matty and Paris looking good)
19 - The Tree of Shoes 19 - The Tree of Shoes 20 - Center for Afforable Housing Volunteer Day 20 - Center for Afforable Housing Volunteer Day 21 - Matty recieving cornrows from Audrey 21 - Matty recieving cornrows from Audrey 22 - Mr. GQ (Ford) 22 - Mr. GQ (Ford)
23 - Quentiessential Nevada 23 - Quentiessential Nevada 24 - Nick Sands makin' out with the floor 24 - Nick Sands makin' out with the floor 25 - Audrey and our roomate Phil 25 - Audrey and our roomate Phil 26 - The Most Amazing Boulder ever 26 - The Most Amazing Boulder ever
27 - John, Karen, y Miles 27 - John, Karen, y Miles 28 - James looking sexy 28 - James looking sexy 29 - Super Fast Johnny Flash 29 - Super Fast Johnny Flash 30 - El Gran Canyon 30 - El Gran Canyon
31 - The Four of us at Desert View at Sunset 31 - The Four of us at Desert View at Sunset 32 - Grand Canyon Hike: DAY 1 32 - Grand Canyon Hike: DAY 1 33 - Switchback, after switchback, after switchbac 33 - Switchback, after switchback, after switchbac 34 - The Bright Kaibab bridge at the Colorado 34 - The Bright Kaibab bridge at the Colorado
35 - Audrey tired and enjoying beer at the ranch 35 - Audrey tired and enjoying beer at the ranch 36 - The Grand Canyon: DAY 2 36 - The Grand Canyon: DAY 2 37 - The Second Suspension Bridge 37 - The Second Suspension Bridge 38 - Plateau Point 38 - Plateau Point
39 - The Grand Canyon: Day 3 (darn we ugly) 39 - The Grand Canyon: Day 3 (darn we ugly) 40 - Victory at last !!!! 40 - Victory at last !!!! 41 - The Gila Cliff Dwellings of New Mexico 41 - The Gila Cliff Dwellings of New Mexico 42 - The stone work was fantastic, 800 years old! 42 - The stone work was fantastic, 800 years old!
43 - Carsbald Carvern 43 - Carsbald Carvern 44 - The Bathroom, carved out of cave 44 - The Bathroom, carved out of cave 45 - Remeber the Alamo? 45 - Remeber the Alamo?
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Comments

melissastevens
melissastevens on Mar 5, 2006 at 04:43PM

envious
Well, well, well, it seems like you guys are living out some sort of amazing fantasy. I am glad to hear of your adventures, I wish you safe journeys. Don't worry I'll take care of enough responsiblity for the three of us, then we can trade off sometime in the future. Have fun! Much love, can't wait to hear more!

walco530
walco530 on Mar 8, 2006 at 06:01PM

Miss You Guys
Just wanted to say we miss you guys already but we know you are having a blast. Keep us updated with where and what is going on. We love you.
Dad

walco530
walco530 on Mar 13, 2006 at 04:13PM

Thanks
Hey guys,
Thanks for all the great pictures. The ones from Antiqua remind us of our trip there and how beautiful that city is. Have fun. Love you.
Dad

j.brock
j.brock on Mar 24, 2006 at 12:11AM

Of all the things you wrote about ...
... the one I comment on is the movie: Grizzly Man is awesome but so, so strange. Not because of what the guy did, but because of the way everybody else talked about it in the movie. It felt like they were acting. (Didn't help that he had that friend who _was_ an actor.)

That said, you guys are wicked amazing. You hands-down win the contest for Best Adventure of 2006 -- and it's not even April yet. Best of luck, and now that I've caught up with your travelogues (read the three existing entries to date backwards), I'll be following along.

Y'hear that? I'm watchin ya!

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