Southwest, Nat'l Parks, and Bakersfield...

(I apologize for the LONG time without updating however I have not been within phone reception OR internet access for quite some time now...)

We left Austin-- car in good condition and headed towards New Mexico for the night. We drove all through Texas (it took the entire day) and got into our site in NM around 10ish at nite. It had started pouring down rain, was dark, and our site happened to be at the TOP of a mountain. Needless to say, it was only the beginning of our adventure as we trudged our way up the steep, one-lane mountain road in the dark and the pouring rain. We finally what got to what appeared to be a camping area, parked our car, and slept in it. Around 2am, we awoke with the smell of gas intruding our noses, and very ill at this point- hopped outta the car and set up our tent rather hastily-- in order to avoid death by gas leak!!

The next morning we awoke to the ranger telling us we were in the gravel parking lot for the campsite and we packed up and headed on towards Arizona. All day in the HOT desert- stopping frequently as to avoid overheating-- and finally made it to a random campsite in AZ, also up on top of a mountain. We had directions to a National BLM land in AZ that we could camp at for free, however, those directions led us elsewhere and we found a random site on top of another mountain..

After leaving AZ on the 18th, we headed toward the HooverDam. It was rather unimpressive for everything I have heard about it. The place is essentially a tourist trap for those who come through, charging a whopping $13 just to see the Visitor Center!! (that is $13 that I could spend on food, OR the Titanic exhibit which also was a rather hefty price and I did not see either!) Anywho, the HD looked just like a factory on top of some water-- pretty water-- but water all the same. I don't even know if I have ever seen a Dam before, but I guess I just worked up the HD in my mind so that when we finally passed on thru it wasn't amazing.

The night of the 18th we stayed in Sequoia Nat'l Park... we had decided to stay in the $12/night campsite instead of the $20/night... of course we had no idea what was in store for us!! Our campsite, called "Cold Springs" was not in the main part of the park, nor was it developed. We turned onto Mineral King road, thinking "It shouldn't be TOO far" until it took 2 hours driving up a one lane mountain road that did not have guardrails (or any protection from the morbid depths beneath!) I was VERY VERY scared, and extremely grateful that FaithFetzer drove the entire thing as to keep me from having a heart attack!! We had to stay safe from bears, and were rather paranoid about what we should put in those bear boxes... Also, not having had showers since we left Matt's in Austin we were REALLY wanting some showers by now-- EXCEPT our site was very undeveloped and only had vault toilets!

The next day (19th) we decided we would take a hike... we hadn't received any maps or info on the park since we didn't enter in the main park entrance, so we decided we would just start hiking on a trailhead to see where it went... BIG MISTAKE!! 10 miles and 8 hours later after we had hiked up and down 3 (maybe 4) mountains... I was utterly exhausted and all the trail took us to was a "Mosquito Lake"!!! And MAN were there mosquitos... My legs are STILL hurting after the unexpected almost-half-marathon up the mountains of Sequoia. We went to bed at 8pm that night. whew.

Then we had to leave Sequoia, deal with that CRAZY road again, and make our way to Yosemite. We saw the Sherman tree- the world's largest and oldest living thing on earth!! It's 2300 years old and real humongous. (It really hurt to walk the half mile to the thing considering how I could hardly move)

The 20th, we arrived in Yosemite... praying for showers and there were none! :( We stayed at Wawona about 45 miles from the valley. I was utterly exhausted at this point so I could not really bike or hike without severe pain.

We hiked a mile to BridalVeil fall (it hurt) and it was nice.

We hiked a mile to Lower Yosemite falls and at the base there were millions of rocks that you could climb to get a closer look. I had been here when I was 16 and climbed all the way up to the top-- thinking I could do this again, I started the adventure. The very first rock I attempted, my accident prone self slipped and bruised my tailbone! I decided then that I would sit on a park bench with all the older folk and look at the nice view...

We drove up to Glacier point where you can see all of Yosemite.. It was pretty and there were rails protecting us from the depths below so I was not scared of the height.

The 22nd, FaithFetzer went for a run and I laid out by the stream on the sandy beach. I did not realize how long it had been and burnt my entire backside to a crisp waiting for her. So, now my legs are fine BUT my entire body is burnt... (I can't get a break).

On the 23rd, we left for LA. On the 5 about an hour and a half outside LA our car caught on fire!!! (we are the most unlucky travelers to have broken down twice already!) Flashes went through my mind of our car blowing up and us dying-- but thankfully that did not happen. Spanish men stopped to help us, but I could not understand a word they said. A California Highway Patrolman stopped and gave us a lift to a nearby Jack-in-the-box so we could be safely off the road. We called AAA and Roger (our tow truck driver and savior) came to rescue us. The car went to the Toyota dealership in Bakersfield, CA and we went to the motel 6. (SO excited that we finally had a shower!!!) Debating what we would do, we lounged around and read HarryPotter 4 and drank 40s.

The car was beyond repair-- there had been an electrical fire with the alternator and everything was burned badly. We decided to rent a Chevy Malibu and proceed on our journey.. both sets of parents eagerly encouraging us to trek on.

It is now the 25th and after giving the car over to the dealership and nervously climbing into our new rental car we left Bakersfield and have arrived at out LA/Fullerton hostel for the evening.

San Antonio and Austin, once again.

Tuesday FF and I rented a car and drove to San Antonio, TX to see the Alamo-- It was not very impressive and rather small. The actual fort that was there back in the day (when we are supposed to "remember" it's significance in American History) is not even in existence anymore! The only thing that remains from that day is the church. Oh well-- we had a good time in San Antonio anyways...

We went to the mall and shopped around. We bought discount books and we drank iced coffees.

We ate dinner at this cool place called "Sam's" and then drove back home.

Wednesday, once again, we rode our bikes a million miles to S. Austin and ate lunch at a pizza place. We had iced coffees once again and ate cookies the shape of Texas.

We went to Barton Springs once again to people watch and met the "Man in Charge"... he was very in charge of everything there-- cleaning up trash, reuniting children with the parents after the strong current had swept them away, and keeping all the dogs from getting into fights over the squishy fetch ball. Not to mention welcoming all the newcomers to the spring.

Last night we went to the best 80s cover band ever! The Spazmatics dressed up like nerds and crash test dummies and sang their hearts out while we babies from the 80s jammed out. We were the triumvirate of good things that came out of the 80s. (well, us and the music of course)


Today (thursday) we went to Hippie Hallow where people swam o-naturale. It was quite an experience and rather entertaining. (It was a lake, we like lakes)We played MadLibs until it got strormy and then we left... Our MadLibs sure were fun!
The car should be ready tomorrow... who knows though!!!

Austin, TX

The car's radiator is cracked! As a result of it cracking, many other things went wrong with the car as well. After careful consideration and many deliberations, we are fixing the car and moving on. We had to cancel pretty much the whole southwest (Grand Canyon included) in order to be able to stay here for the fixture of our vehicle and be able to make it to Yosemite on time.









So, we are in Austin, Tx until Thursday 6/14 (at the least) staying with my good friend Matt. He's tremendously wonderful to be keeping us up for so long. Austin, the Heart of Texas, is pretty neat and nothing like what I thought it would be. It's got awesome night life which Matt took us out to experience~~


On Thursday night we went to 6th Street which is essentially a street lined with bars and clubs. They block off the street to cars and you walk from bar to bar (kinda like on Bourbon St., except better)!

Saturday night Matt took us to 4th Street- which is basically like 6th St. except they didn't block off the streets and maybe there's less bars(?)

As you can tell, we had an awesome time!



FaithFetzer is a little crazy and likes to ride her bike EVERYWHERE!!! So while Matt is studying for his Law classes, we go out riding throughout Austin... ugh, so much.

Today we went to a nice place called Zilker Springs and swam in the spring there- there were SO many people (AND dogs!) that we decided we had selected the wrong day to go.


There were rocks ALL over the bottom of the spring. We fell in the water numerous times and I felt like I had re-broken my toe about 3 times from running into rocks!




We finally made it out to the center of the over-powering water and we sat on a rock (shown here with the man standing on them) for about 3 hours before we wanted to make the trek back onto the banks.

We occupied our time by watching people who were attempting to make the same trek we had just accomplished. People would bring bags full of towels and such, coolers, fishing rods- all while holding a child in their arms- and attempt to wade thru the extremely fast current! Needless to say, no one really accomplished what we had!


We left the springs and FF decided she wanted to check out South Austin, which is on the opposite side of the city from where Matt lives.


We rode and rode and rode for a long time-- up steep hills and all... until finally we had this view of the skyline-- (pretty far away)-- then we decided to go check out the bats.


















(Can you tell I've been riding a bike all day?!?) Austin has the largest Urban Bat population in the WORLD!! (what a thing to have as your claim to fame!) They reside under the Congress Ave. Bridge and every night during summer they fly out at sundown in order to go eat insects. It's a pretty popular thing to do here on summer nights-- I related the turn out for the bats, to the 4th of July... Well, to sum it up-- we only saw a couple of bats fly out of the bridge-- it wasn't as exciting as we thought it would be- and locals were chocking it up to "It's just a low number coming out tonight!"...

On the way home, naturally, it was dark. I have gone from not riding a bike at all, as a result of my accident-- to riding across town, downtown, and at night!! Also, I can go up hills now. FF is pretty proud of me. (As am I)

We rode right past the capital building on our way home... Then by the time we got home, at 1030, I was tuckered out!

Screw Texas!

We do not like Texas, not one bit. We'd heard of the horror stories about driving across it and how dreadfully awful it is. We have been preparing ourselves for quite sometime for this long trek into no man's land. Not to mention, we did not feel very "Welcome" when we entered the state, b/c instead of the Welcome Center Information center with the promised free maps and brochures, we got a big sign that read RESTROOMS on a garage door!















It is SO hot here, that even in the AC it was squelching hot and we decided to where our bathing suits the whole way!


Also, people in Texas can NOT drive. They do not obey the speed limit, or the rules of the road. I was continually cut off yesterday at least 10 times and personally, I don't care much for that!~ Driving thru Houston was pretty scary (pretty, but scary)-- reminded me of going to LA, New York, Chicago? (any of those big cities) and I just had to be overly cautious b.c. of the maniacs.

Naturally, we get onto a country highway (or byway or whatever-- I don't really know what this would qualify for) and we overheat!!! At least we pulled into a well lit area, even though the gas stations were closed! We get out of the car and there is smoke billowing from the hood (kinda like it was on fire, but not).

We realize at once that this is no good.

We call FaithFetzer's dad and he pretty much says we are stuck there for the night!! I don't know where we would sleep whether it be behind the sketchy Shell gas station or the dirty "We Got Fireworks" sign!

Meanwhile we see a car pulling over-- I told FaithFetzer she needed to get the make, model, and license plate # and txt it to someone b.c. this was our killer coming to get us.

Thank God he was not a killer. (Don't worry I have my knife ready to defend us!) He was a very nice man who was on the way to see his wife in the hospital who also used to be a mechanic! Well, he confirmed that we were going nowhere and that it was probably the coolant which had run out!

So we call AAA and have the nearest wrecker come to get the car. I call my dear friend Matt in Austin and he drives the 70 miles to come pick us up!! (What a nice one) During the interim from when the nice ex-mechanic man stopped to help us and the simultaneous arrival of the wrecker and Matt-- we sat in our locked car peering through the windows for our killer!

He did not come, thank goodness.

We also laughed that only insanity occurs when we are together, not to mention traveling together. It also does not help that we both have bad car luck- so why did we come on this trek together? Don't ask me, we must be crazy!

We will figure out today what is going on with the car. I simply had to say goodbye to the possibility of seeing the Alamo-which was today's proposed main event. (who knows, if we are stuck here, thats all we may get to see! ugh, I hope not)

The moral of the story is to travel with a mechanic everywhere you go and if you are going to breakdown:
1. Always have some sort of weapon to defend yourself against the lunatics
2. Do it relatively close-by to a friend's house instead of out in the middle of the desert, and
3. Have the AAA PLUS membership (not basic, like we do) b.c. then you get more without having to pay for all the emergency roadside care entitles!



Hopefully the rest of Texas won't be so bad... if we get to see it!!

New Orleans!

This morning, we were leaving Tally and it started POURING! :( We HAD to get to New Orleans on time so we packed up the car in a torrential downpour-- this was my "rain gear" b/c we had no umbrellas OR ponchos. (Just our luck, the second we were done packing up and in the car-- it stopped raining!)
We were SO excited to finally reach Alabama... It took SO long to get there.
Even longer to get to Mississippi and a bumper sticker was all there was to show we had crossed the state line-- no sign :(
We arrived in NewOrleans after a long and grueling 6.5 hr journey!! It was long and grueling b/c we decided to ride with no AC and the windows down...Needless to say, we arrived in NO looking rather sun burnt and windblown. (I will be very tan at the end of this trip!)

We are staying with FaithFetzer's cousins here-- they have lived here for so long and it's amazing to hear how Hurricane Katrina has affected EVERY single aspect of their lives... when driving through the town you can see houses that are still devastated by the hurricane and were never rebuilt or fixed. There are areas where trees were destroyed and nothing has grown back in their place. Houses and buildings have a "water line" which shows just how much water flooded the area. Even with FF's cousins' -- their jobs, house, and life have forever been affected by the natural disaster.

I LOVE the houses here in NO... they are so historical and antique. (not to mention cute and quaint..) This here is FF's cousins' house-- pretty awesome on the inside (and outside)...

I got back on a bike today for the first time since my accident 6 wks ago!!! It was pretty scary and I had to learn how to ride pretty much all over again. Towards the end of the ride, I was fairly comfortable with the situation... although, I still think I will be pretty bike-leary for the remainder of my life. (kinda like how I have never touched monkey bars or went bowling again!)


We went to Bourbon St. and partook in some Hand grenades. It was not quite like Mardi Gras when we went down to the French Quarter, more like any town's strip-a-bars... Except, people are a little on the scary side in the French Quarter, pretty much a scary red-light district~~When we got out of our car, I commented: "Ya know, when everyone is telling me to have a safe trip- they must be referring to right now and all the scariness that is going on". Still, I had a hand grenade, which was nice.



Tomorrow is Austin, I'm excited about seeing my buddy Matt-- NOT excited about the LONG 8 hour drive in the HOT sun... egads.

The FINAL Itinerary!!!

We got a late start (as expected from the two of us)... The procrastinators didn't leave Jax until 3ish!! Therefore, we stopped in Tally for the evening and stayed at my house here. This gave us time to complete the final itinerary and prepare ourselves for the 6 hour journey tomorrow into New Orleans, LA!!

We still don't feel like we're really doing this, it's more like a weekend trip to Tallahassee than anything else...

Fun updates shall follow-- once we REALLY get on our journey, until then:

Our final Itinerary is as follows:

June 4: Tallahassee
June 5: New Orleans, LA
June 6-7: Austin (& The Alamo)
June 8: Roswell, NM
June 9: Petrified National Forest
June 10-12: Grand Canyon
June 12: Montezuma Castle & Night at Mojave National Preserve
June 13-14: San Diego, CA
June 15: Hoover Dam, Las Vegas
June 16: Death Valley
June 17-19: Kings Canyon & Sequoia National Parks
June 20-23: Yosemite National Park
June 23-24: LA
June 24: LA and Pacific Coast Highway (Night at Santa Barbara)
June 25: Pacific Coast Highway (Monterey, etc) Night in SF
June 26: San Fran, CA
June 27: Napa Wine Valley
June 28: Redwood National Park
June 29-30:Oregon Pacific Coast Highway towards Astoria, Or
July 1-2: Portland, Or
July 3-4: Mt. Ranier, Wa
July 5-7: Seattle, Wa
July 8: Anacortes, Wa
July 9-11: Victoria, BC, Canada
July 12: Vancouver, Canada
July 13: Spokane, Wa
July 14-15: Glacier National Park
July 16-17: Yellowstone National Park
July 18: Grand Teton National Park
July 19-20: Rocky Mountain National Park
July 21-23: Breckingridge, Co
July 24: Somewhere in Kansas
July 25: St. Louis, Mo
July 26: Nashville, Tn
July 27-28: Atlanta, Ga