Grandest of Canyons

How do you take a picture of the Grand Canyon? I suppose I could have brought a wide-angle lens, but I think the Grand Canyon is like a good sunset - it'll never look as good in a photo as it does in reality.

This was actually my second visit to the Grand Canyon. I previously went on a family vacation, but I was 9, and we drove all the way from Memphis, and my brother and I had to share the backseat, so by the time we actually made it to the Grand Canyon, we were all a little worn out. I remember getting out to look, complaining about the heat and getting back in the van, then being incredibly upset that my candy bar had melted. Looking back, I figured I was too young to appreciate the natural beauty.


The Grand Canyon in my memory is a big, open area where my parents drove wherever they wanted, and we could get out and explore all the way to the very edge. In fact, my second most vivid memory (next to that poor, liquid Milky Way) is watching a squirrel inch closer and closer to the edge on his belly. I kept my Mickey Mouse camera trained on him, and used up half a roll of film.

In reality, the Grand Canyon is a park very similar to Yosemite. There are hiking paths, yes, but mostly you drive around, park at a popular lookout point, and take photos. Be amazed for a moment, push through some tourists, wave at someone to back up so they can take your parking space, and drive to the next point.


I wanted to walk the Rim Trail, but as soon as I got out of my car at the first lookout point, the rain began. I shielded my Nikon but didn't have very much to use - I was wearing shorts and a halter top. To give some perspective: families around me were wrapping massive blankets emblazoned with sports team logos around themselves. In my defense, it was maybe 70 degrees - a nice change from the blazing heat that drenched me in sweat on the previous day's hike around Lake Pleasant.

I braved the rain and "cold" to fire off some shots at that lookout point, but the rain picked up and I didn't want to risk my camera, so I went back to my car. I drove around and around a loop of road work and one-way streets leading to lodges, and then risked to go to where the signs were labeled "Park Exit."

There were tons of lookout points along the exit drive. I stopped at many and took pictures, and even think I found where I had seen the squirrel peek over the edge so many years ago, but it's hard to be sure.


I'm glad I saw the Grand Canyon again as an adult, but I'm also slightly pleased that I didn't totally misremember it from my childhood. In fact, I think it might be one of those things best seen young, when you don't have to worry about driving the right way on a one-way street, when all you have to do is tuck your candy bar out of the sun and scramble out of the car to stand beside your parents and take in the view.

Check out more Grand Canyon on my Flickr.

Yabba dabba do!

As I left Williams, Arizona (where I crashed early my first night), I found the Flintstones village I thought I had already passed by. (Yes, RoadsideAmerica.com strikes again!) As soon as I walked in the gift shop, I worried that it would be pretty cheesy, but I still paid the admission because I didn't have anything else planned that day except the Grand Canyon, which wasn't too far away.

So worth it.

The whole Flintstones town was set up: Barney's house, Fred's house, the policeman's house, a fire cart, a gas station, a school, a grocery, a barber shop and beauty salon, a pay phone, and a theater playing the original cartoons.


There were two real goats hanging out in this pen. They were the most mellow goats I've ever seen: they didn't react at all when I approached and said "Hey goats."
I was the only one exploring, so I made sure to go in each and every building. You know how fake animals and statues creep me out? Imagine how I felt being all alone in this fictional ghost town…

I approached the theater cautiously - I had heard the dialogue, but thought each house was playing a scene. I peeked in the "stone" building and was scared out of my mind when a maintenance man came breezing out from behind the leopard print curtain. Instead of peeing on myself, I smiled and said "Hello," to no response. Creeptastic.


They caught me. I didn't see until after I took this photo that there was
an incredibly scary mannequin locked up in the next cell.


Tried to call home, but I didn't have correct change.


My dentist used to have this same model in his office!


They had stone TVs in each house, but nothing good was on.

Into Arizona

Welcome to Arizona!

I arrived in Phoenix bright and early Monday morning, but all I wanted to do was sleep. It was 8a for goodness sake - prime sleeping time! Instead, I picked up my rental car and began driving towards the Grand Canyon.

I saw a little brown sign pointing the way towards Lake Pleasant. I thought "That sounds... nice," (HA! You thought I was going to state the obvious, didn't you?) and so I followed the signs. I spoke with three friendly individuals (which I later found out Phoenix is full of) and then changed clothes in my car and went for a photo-hike.

I loved the lake because I was already tired of cities just from my return to Vegas and brief time in Phoenix traffic, and also because the vibrancy of the sky and water reminded me of Mono Lake.




I couldn't get over the contrast of the rocks, cacti, and vast expanse of water.

See more Pleasant water, rocks and cacti at my Flickr.

Guest Post: Visiting Artist

Remember when I featured Lauren of I'm Better In Real Life as an inspiration? She's returned the favor, as is showcasing me today to kick off her Visiting Artist series!

Go check it out.

Now.

All Good Things Must End

Day eight was a day dedicated to ramblin'. We had no real plans, just a few places to see (most of which were in the second roadside attractions post, like the grape slide and dinosaurs). We did, however, stop in Palm Springs to walk around. My seatmates on my Vegas flight said it was a cool place, as did two guys we had met the night before. That day it was… hot. And boring. Like an outdoor mall for rich people and/or those who love tacky souvenirs. (Believe it or not, Kelly and I are neither of those.)

We didn't take many photos in Palm Springs, but I think this one pretty much sums it up:

Yeah.
We were going to spend the night in LA, mostly because I was determined to have a Behemoth burger from the Grill Em All truck. They won last season's Great Food Truck Race, and I had rooted for their awesome rock-ness from the beginning. I've previously made my own, but I was excited to finally sink my teeth into a real burger with grilled cheese sandwiches as buns.

We got to town early and found Wirtshaus, a cool little German bar that had just opened two weeks prior. Like the previous day's visit to the Coronado Brewing Company, we tasted a wide variety of German beers.

I also found out that I am a wine:

Though I didn't get any pictures of the food truck, nor the actual burger (which Kelly and I split - it is indeed a behemoth!), the visit was a success! The beers and burger were delicious, the bartenders and food truck dudes were all incredibly nice, and LA pretty much rocks.

The next day was day nine of our adventure, which means the last day. We drove on to Vegas where we tried to recreate our previous night of fun, but instead ended up in our room at 10p, eating honey buns and watching To Catch a Predator. Don't judge! We had to get up at 4a to say good-bye and catch our separate (*sob*!) flights.

More Roadside Fun

Did you think Wednesday's post was all the goofiness Kelly and I could take this trip?

WRONG! Welcome to part two!

In Escondido (during day eight) we played with our food in Grape Day Park.






Yup, that is totally the way I came down the slide, in a skirt. I am always graceful.



At some random highway exit on the way to LA, we saw dinosaurs!


If you squint, you can see me down there, perched on Rex's toe,
pretending to be over my fear of fake animals.

I expected this guy to roar when I was right beneath him. We did not go into this exhibit. Like I said, I was just pretending to be over my fear.
These guys were all spotted on day eight, which means my "California with Kelly" recap is almost done! (We were on the road together for nine days.) But don't worry about getting restless - I still have two more weeks of travelin' to share!

Zoos and Brews

I've loved the San Diego Zoo since I was a kid - my family had the coolest interactive CD-ROM that made me want to be a zoologist for the longest time. Obviously that didn't happen - turns out, you have to be good at science and stuff. Anyway, I was stoked to finally visit the zoo.

Remember how we felt about San Francisco? Yup, that feeling hit us again at the San Diego zoo. To be fair, it is sprawling and overwhelming. It was difficult to find the actual animal habitats due to the souvenir shops, restaurants, and espresso stands. Also, Kelly and I grew up with good zoos - the Memphis Zoo is actually really fantastic, as is the National Zoo in DC where Kelly grew up, and I visited while I lived there.

We still saw some good things:

I love flamingos, but had never seen one sitting down!
We stuck around to watch him struggle back to his feet.


This hungry little guy was super cute. The other koalas were rolled into
themselves to sleep, and looked exactly like furry basketballs.


This two-headed monster still haunts my dreams.
The heat, crowds, and extensive walking to find any animals wore us out. Since we had such a good time on the winery tour, we decided to round out the trip with a brewery visit!

Hellooooo, Coronado Brewing Company! We love you forever and ever, amen.


We both ordered the sampler platter, which included four of their
signature beers, plus a seasonal brew of our choice.


All of them were super tasty, and it was the perfect way to end a hot day.

Roadside Attractions

As I previously mentioned, Kelly and I picked our winery from RoadsideAmerica.com. While perusing the site, we made a list of other things to hunt down.

In San Jose (during day five), we found:
A thirty foot tall Chuck E. Cheese. Even though he was in a cage, he seriously freaked me out for some reason. When I zoomed in, I could actually tell I wasn't smiling. I'm wearing my "Get me the hell out of here!" look again.


A human-sized Monopoly board.


I wanna play!


Representin'.


This classy guy was in the downtown area, where we stopped at a bistro for lunch.


In San Luis Obispo (during day six), we saw the gum alley.


Yup, all that is people's old gum. Some stuck gum wrappers up, as well as various trash.

Some got more creative:

Me too!

You know I had to leave my mark!

Wet Sand

After leaving the redwoods towering behind us, Kelly and I drove down Route 1, which runs along the Pacific coast. We went through a lot of beach towns, windows down to smell the salty air, stopping to walk in the sand several times.

We saw Santa Cruz, Santa Maria, Santa Rosa, Santa Barbara, and yes, even

We hit the Santa Cruz boardwalk the night we left the redwoods (day five). It was our first beach stop, and I was super excited.


Found in the sand:

I am so immature that even the word "fart" still makes me laugh.




This guy was hardcore - we watched him dig a crab out of the sand, then
slam it down forcefully and gobble it up in two bites!

We explored the arcade section of the boardwalk, too. There were two failed attempts at skeeball, a fortune from a Zoltar-type grandmother, and a round of Spider Stompin'.

I couldn't see the "spiders" light up, but regardless of not scoring very well,
we won enough tickets for two rubber bracelets and four plastic rings!

Traveling around so frequently has shot my memory to bits. I had to ask Kelly every night, "What did we do today?" So while I have a written record, I can't remember which beach these were taken on. Probably Santa Barbara. Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's Santa Barbara.
Or any of the other Santas. Or Monterrey.

It is the Pacific Ocean, though. I'm sure of that. And while it was much
too cold to swim, I'm still marking it off my life list.

Taller than the Tallest Tree

Big Basin Redwoods State Park is the perfect place to go when you're jonesin' for some nature, like Kelly and I were after leaving San Francisco. We were especially happy to find this place because Mariposa, the sequoia section of Yosemite, was closed when we were there.

These guys were so tall, you almost broke your back looking up at them.


Here's lil ol' me (6'1") climbing on a fallen redwood.


I love this shot because it looks like a split screen. The lighting was perfect when we were there in the afternoon, but I love how the sun is only illuminating half of this shot.

Check out more redwood photography on my Flickr.

Wake Up San Francisco!

For some reason (certainly more than fond Full House memories), I thought I would love San Francisco. It seemed fantastic - in California and by the water but a little chilly. I like California, I like the water, I like being chilly. But for some reason, me and the Fran just didn't mesh.

It got to the point where, after driving in and around, we decided to cut our next day's plans down and get the heck out. No offense to the city - I think Kelly and I were just so used to being in relatively open natural settings, that going to such a cramped city made us claustrophobic.

But on to the good stuff: our bakery marathon!
We found three bakeries relatively close together, so we parked and walked the crazy steep streets. We went to American Cupcake, That Takes the Cake, and Kara's Cupcakes (which I didn't try due to a cupcake overload).

The ceiling in American Cupcake. It will be mine, oh yes, it will be mine.

How 'bout a peek at my cute minis from American? The guy on the left was the best carrot cake I've ever had, and the chocolate chips made the red velvet so delicious.


That Takes the Cake really... well, don't make me say it. Their red velvet was absolutely perfect, and the other one? That was "Elvis Has Left the Building" - a banana cake with caramel filing and peanut butter icing. I'm drooling just thinking about it.
Tackling the city on foot definitely made it more tolerable, but I was blown away by the amount of homeless people, not to mention how everything is just stacked on top of each other.

Those of you who live/have lived there... how did you do it?