Zion, Bryce and Grand Canyon: Sunday
Jul. 8th, 2003 05:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tugrikOkay, last one. It was only a weekender, after all...
There's not many pics from today. Almost all of it was spent in-motion, simply trying to get back. At least the day started with a few critters being cute.
We'd kind of put ourselves into a bind here. It was nearly 800 miles home from the Grand Canyon. I could take Monday off at a whim; Revar really couldn't. At first I pondered the idea of getting back to Vegas and putting Revs on a plane home, but I figured that'd be a bit awkward at best. We figured it'd be best to simply point the car West and see how far we could make it, most likely finding sleep somewhere in a cheap motel along I5 or elsewhere in the San Joquain valley. From there we could get back to the bay for a midday work arrival, saving at least a little face.
This time both of us were up by 8am and making progress by 9. Jasper, Kaibab and Colorado City flew by easily. I'd re-found my 'road groove'; long-miles were easy. It's always the 2nd or 3rd day into a trip when it hits, and from that point on I can do 12 hour driving days without much worry. It's just a state of mind where distances stop being so worrysome and it's all about the rhythm of the road. We stopped at the same gas station in Hurricane as we did on the way out, taking a few minutes to chat with a GL1800 rider from Tenessee who was travelling with his wife on the back. Back down I-15 we rolled, passing up a handful of good spots in favor of making time, pulling over for a quick buffet brunch at the stateline casino in Mesquite, NV. In and out quick, taking a few moments to plunk quarters in various slot machines before getting back on the road.
We pulled off in Vegas simply because it was a convenient place to stop. Revs hasn't been there in the last decade and a half or so; the town's now a completely different place. We got off the freeway and trolled down the strip, past the newly reworked MGM lion. Figuring I'd get the best bang-for-the-buck with the few minutes we had to spare, I stopped at the registration parking for the Luxor and shuffled the bat inside. The view there is really cool and must be seen at least once if you're ever out in Vegas. While Revs wandered the attractions level I went and spoke with the registration desk. For a mere $60 we could have had a room and stayed the night and then seen the Blue Man Group while we were at it. Revar had no real choice, though, and had to get back. The airplane idea rose up in my head again, but I dropped it before it came out. A stop at a gas station called Terrible's, and we were on our way towards the California state line.
...where we stopped. Dead.
If you've ever been out on I15 or any of the other major desert highways you might be familiar with the 'horizon to horizon' effect. Every 20 to 50 miles you crest a ridge, and you can then see across the 'bowl' to the next horizon, 20 to 50 miles away. Repeat until you're at your destination on the other side of the desert. This is the first time in my life I've crested one of those hills and seen it completely full of stopped cars... in this case, for 45 miles. 45 miles.. Please, kill us now.
Again, to Honda's credit, the car preformed flawlessly. We sat inside, listening to satellite, nicely air-conditioned even though it was 110F+ outside.. Revar logged in via GPRS, taking care of email and coding away. It took us 4 hours to get to Baker and finally see the source of the problem, which was threefold: construction closing >25miles of freeway, forcing both sides to use one half of the freeway together, a jack-knifed construction truck that was still being yanked out of the already-reduced traffic lanes by a huge towtruck, and a gawker-blocker generated by a compact car that decided to immolate itself completely just for the experience.
This was the desert. There was no way around, really. Well, you could turn around and go the 50 miles back to Vegas, then take the Parhump route, adding another 50 miles... but this jam couldn't possibly last long enough to justify 100mi of backtracking... could it? (it did) Everybody was stuck. When we passed the sole rest stop we were amazed. More than 100 people lined up for each bathroom, cars parked out in open desert surrounding the stop for lack of anywhere else to fit. It was just insanity.
Now I was wishing I'd found a way to talk Revar into staying. We'd be living in a pyramid, watching Blue Man Group, eating buffet and sleeping in air conditioning... taking a leisurely trip home the following day. Ugh. Hindsight is 20-20.
We finally came free of the jam in Baker, pulling out to grab a quick stretch and a drink at the Taco Bell there. Back on the road and clear sailing until Barstow, and then Revar's family home in Boron once more. This was one part of the trip I'd been looking forwards to since starting: a meal at Domingo's.
We made it there just before their 10pm closing. Domingo's is the best Mexican food I've had in the entire state of California. Heck, the best I've had anywhere (as I really didn't like mexican food before moving here). This is a tiny restaurant in Boron, just barely outside of Edwards Air Force Base. The food is so good that this is where all of the shuttle astronauts that have ever made a Edwards landing have gone to eat. The locals say that "the mission isn't over until dinner at Domingo's". While I don't know if that's true, I do admit this is food worth leaving orbit for. :) I had a wonderful Chile Colorado while sharing tales with Revar's mother and her guest. Domingo came over and chatted with us a bit. I did my best to not @fanboy at him over his cooking. :)
We left there just after 11p to make the very-familiar route up I5 to home. I managed to stay alert and in the driver's seat until Kettleman City where I gladly let the previously-napped Revar take over, while I slid into the futon in the back to snooze. A quick wireless post to the LJ here is all that I got out before falling asleep, not really waking up until we pulled in our driveway just before 4am. Well, I had been driving for 16 hours afterall.
Revar made it in to work on time. I took the day off just 'cause I have days to burn... but ended up being bored and going in for a half-day anyways. I'm surprisingly un-weary for having driven near 2000 miles in four days. We didn't get to see as much as I'd hoped but we did at least hit the minimum list I'd wanted. I figure this was a scouting trip for my more properly-timed vacation coming up this late fall. Much fun was had. I can't wait to get out there again.
There's not many pics from today. Almost all of it was spent in-motion, simply trying to get back. At least the day started with a few critters being cute.
We'd kind of put ourselves into a bind here. It was nearly 800 miles home from the Grand Canyon. I could take Monday off at a whim; Revar really couldn't. At first I pondered the idea of getting back to Vegas and putting Revs on a plane home, but I figured that'd be a bit awkward at best. We figured it'd be best to simply point the car West and see how far we could make it, most likely finding sleep somewhere in a cheap motel along I5 or elsewhere in the San Joquain valley. From there we could get back to the bay for a midday work arrival, saving at least a little face.
This time both of us were up by 8am and making progress by 9. Jasper, Kaibab and Colorado City flew by easily. I'd re-found my 'road groove'; long-miles were easy. It's always the 2nd or 3rd day into a trip when it hits, and from that point on I can do 12 hour driving days without much worry. It's just a state of mind where distances stop being so worrysome and it's all about the rhythm of the road. We stopped at the same gas station in Hurricane as we did on the way out, taking a few minutes to chat with a GL1800 rider from Tenessee who was travelling with his wife on the back. Back down I-15 we rolled, passing up a handful of good spots in favor of making time, pulling over for a quick buffet brunch at the stateline casino in Mesquite, NV. In and out quick, taking a few moments to plunk quarters in various slot machines before getting back on the road.We pulled off in Vegas simply because it was a convenient place to stop. Revs hasn't been there in the last decade and a half or so; the town's now a completely different place. We got off the freeway and trolled down the strip, past the newly reworked MGM lion. Figuring I'd get the best bang-for-the-buck with the few minutes we had to spare, I stopped at the registration parking for the Luxor and shuffled the bat inside. The view there is really cool and must be seen at least once if you're ever out in Vegas. While Revs wandered the attractions level I went and spoke with the registration desk. For a mere $60 we could have had a room and stayed the night and then seen the Blue Man Group while we were at it. Revar had no real choice, though, and had to get back. The airplane idea rose up in my head again, but I dropped it before it came out. A stop at a gas station called Terrible's, and we were on our way towards the California state line....where we stopped. Dead.
If you've ever been out on I15 or any of the other major desert highways you might be familiar with the 'horizon to horizon' effect. Every 20 to 50 miles you crest a ridge, and you can then see across the 'bowl' to the next horizon, 20 to 50 miles away. Repeat until you're at your destination on the other side of the desert. This is the first time in my life I've crested one of those hills and seen it completely full of stopped cars... in this case, for 45 miles. 45 miles.. Please, kill us now.
Again, to Honda's credit, the car preformed flawlessly. We sat inside, listening to satellite, nicely air-conditioned even though it was 110F+ outside.. Revar logged in via GPRS, taking care of email and coding away. It took us 4 hours to get to Baker and finally see the source of the problem, which was threefold: construction closing >25miles of freeway, forcing both sides to use one half of the freeway together, a jack-knifed construction truck that was still being yanked out of the already-reduced traffic lanes by a huge towtruck, and a gawker-blocker generated by a compact car that decided to immolate itself completely just for the experience.
This was the desert. There was no way around, really. Well, you could turn around and go the 50 miles back to Vegas, then take the Parhump route, adding another 50 miles... but this jam couldn't possibly last long enough to justify 100mi of backtracking... could it? (it did) Everybody was stuck. When we passed the sole rest stop we were amazed. More than 100 people lined up for each bathroom, cars parked out in open desert surrounding the stop for lack of anywhere else to fit. It was just insanity.
Now I was wishing I'd found a way to talk Revar into staying. We'd be living in a pyramid, watching Blue Man Group, eating buffet and sleeping in air conditioning... taking a leisurely trip home the following day. Ugh. Hindsight is 20-20.
We finally came free of the jam in Baker, pulling out to grab a quick stretch and a drink at the Taco Bell there. Back on the road and clear sailing until Barstow, and then Revar's family home in Boron once more. This was one part of the trip I'd been looking forwards to since starting: a meal at Domingo's.
We made it there just before their 10pm closing. Domingo's is the best Mexican food I've had in the entire state of California. Heck, the best I've had anywhere (as I really didn't like mexican food before moving here). This is a tiny restaurant in Boron, just barely outside of Edwards Air Force Base. The food is so good that this is where all of the shuttle astronauts that have ever made a Edwards landing have gone to eat. The locals say that "the mission isn't over until dinner at Domingo's". While I don't know if that's true, I do admit this is food worth leaving orbit for. :) I had a wonderful Chile Colorado while sharing tales with Revar's mother and her guest. Domingo came over and chatted with us a bit. I did my best to not @fanboy at him over his cooking. :)
We left there just after 11p to make the very-familiar route up I5 to home. I managed to stay alert and in the driver's seat until Kettleman City where I gladly let the previously-napped Revar take over, while I slid into the futon in the back to snooze. A quick wireless post to the LJ here is all that I got out before falling asleep, not really waking up until we pulled in our driveway just before 4am. Well, I had been driving for 16 hours afterall.
Revar made it in to work on time. I took the day off just 'cause I have days to burn... but ended up being bored and going in for a half-day anyways. I'm surprisingly un-weary for having driven near 2000 miles in four days. We didn't get to see as much as I'd hoped but we did at least hit the minimum list I'd wanted. I figure this was a scouting trip for my more properly-timed vacation coming up this late fall. Much fun was had. I can't wait to get out there again.
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Date: 2003-07-08 06:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-07-09 09:13 pm (UTC)