Chapter One: 1200 Miles and One Broken Tent Pole
Trip Start
Sep 13, 2006
1
28
Trip End
Apr 25, 2007
Zion,
Utah,
United States
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
This journal stuff is harder than it seems but here goes...
Well I would like to tell you that we hit the road and burned rubber down I-5 out of Seattle, but anyone who as ever driven though Seattle anytime of days knows this to be a lie. So what I will tell you is that we bumper to bumpered our way out the place we have haved loved calling home blasting KEXP...onward to meet up with some old friends Jesse and Keely in Hood River, OR. Jesse and Keely are making the opposite trek from the east to the west. Many toasts to being jobless, homeless and living out of our trucks were made. Quick shout out to Jesse and Keely...so good to see you both and good luck with everything!!! see you again soon (who knows where)...
broken hearted Kim and our broken tent pole
Hood River, OR.: Kite Boarding, Wind Surfing, Camping, Full Sail Brewery, Outdoor Stores and more. If in the Columbia River area...a must stop! Shulay Rating: 3 of 5 high fives
From Hood River we putter through Oregon on into California. If you ever make this drive, follow the coast line. It is amazing! Cliffs, rocks, sandy beaches, crashing waves, sea stacks, and beautiful sunsets! Oh yeah did I mention there is this area that you get to that has huganticly bigiful trees. I mean to call the redwoods trees is in my mind quite an understatement. Maybe what we know now of trees is an understatement, either way they are spectacular.
Redwood Forrest, CA: HUGE FLIPPIN TREES!!! oh yeah and tiny people. Shulay Rating: 4 of
5 high fives
Now at this point I must let you know of a little passion of mine to take a nap in any place so wonderful along our travels. Kim, however, urges against this and we press on.
Next stop (aside from peeing and fueling) was Napa, CA. A former Co-worker of mine, Jon was kind enough to give Kim and I a going away present that would take us to di Rosa Preserve, a land preserve/modern art gallery. A very cool gift. About and hour outside of Napa we get look at the info on this place. Kim reads closed sunday and monday and as anyone who travels knows, the date and day of the week, quickly forgotten
Cool Place
! Excellent it's Sunday!!! So we go anyway to peek through the window, look around the grounds and pound on the very locked front door!!! Thanks Jon, sorry we are idiots and didn't consider that whole closed thing. But hey we got to drive through wine country!di Rosa Preserve, Napa, CA: A very cool looking place, even when closed...will go back to see more one day! Shulay Rating 4.5 of 5 high fives (the loss of .5 is for being closed Sunday and Monday...24-7 people thats what it takes to get that perfect score)
Congrats to those of you who have read this far. You probably are at work avoiding productivity and for that you get 5 of 5 high fives!!!
Out of Napa into the Sierra's, into NV...Reno Baby!!! Nevada's route 50, "The Lonliest Road in America" is an awesome cruise through the expansive Nevada desert. Really cool with sights and sand dunes yet quite scary in that terrible horror movie way after sundown. Thanks to Ely, NV for the creepy "motel" and the 12 year old running the gas station at mid night.
Route 50 NV: The best way to get across NV
Dave really loves Zion
. Not just as a sight seeing venture, but you can drive 70+ nearly the whole way. Shulay Rating: 4 of 5 high fives. (Kim not as much of a fan)OK last place I swear. Again if your are reading this you are a better person than I! We arrived in Zion and Kim had to scrape my jaw off the floor board of the truck before we could get out and enjoy it. This place is so amazing, from the colors, the formations and the simple fact that small river made it all happen. So, nice work Virgin River!!! We've liked this place so much we extended our stay for another day to play and soak up the sun. This was still not enough time to do all that we wanted, so we've decided that we'll just have to come back sometime.
Zion National Park, UT: Hiking, Biking, Canyoning, Climbing. River + Sandstone + Time = AWESOME Speachless even! Shulay Rating 5 of 5 high fives (this canyon is here 24-7 folks, it's got dedication!)
Now onto the rest of Utah and beyond.
Comments
I have an observation and a question
Good lord, you two.....hey, this is Cookie By the way. That's right, Cookie By the way. My full chosen travelpod commentor name. Things have really changed since you left. Anyways, thanks for sharing such lovely blog-a-logs and photos. Nothing alarmed me about your comments. I felt relaxed, I felt my blood pressure drop, I felt some jealousy but, really, very little, as I read along about your adventures across this big 'ol chunk-o-dirt. Then I perused the photos...aww, how cute....ooh, lookie thar at that sunset.....gee, i sure miss Dave and Kim....these are things I thought. Then..........I came upon the photo of your buddies and I observed meticulously the surroundings. No, not the flora and fauna, but the COPIOUS, I repeat, COPIOUS numbers of beer bottles and beer cans surrounding them. In fact, had that photo been taken out of context, I would have thought this couple was visiting a recycling center......just an observation. I mean, honestly, ya know, camping and hiking and whatever other extreme sports you are doing on your trip are great but we all know what the main event is for you two.......drinkin' COPIOUS amounts of beer....weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee, I miss you two, stay in touch, i will NEVER post such a diatribe again (?) best of love and luck, Flynn ' Cookie By the way' Bickley
Big Nail says hi
Well, good to see you guys representing the Travelpod forum. I've felt a little weird not updating for the past 2 month. Keep up the posting and enjoy the freedom. See you in B-town soon
Smashing journal y'all
Hey there Shulays, just wanted to give a shout out to you from one of the Wells Medina crew members who miss you! I'm excited to hear more about your trip (so amazing to me still - and I'm hoping to convince Des to do something similar someday. . .). Good luck and may the force be with you!
Kelly