The USA Finale!

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Monday 27/08/12 – We headed south this morning to the Sunset Crater NP which is just north of Flagstaff. The volcano erupted in the early 1100’s and because it is situated on the edge of the desert, the land has barely recovered since. The lava from the eruption has cooled and remained almost totally undisturbed for almost a thousand years! There are a few shrubs and a sprinkling of lichen on the otherwise barren larva. It was a fairly unique habitat with almost no flat surfaces; instead the ground was all sharp and jagged, and seemed to now be home to many lizards and to spiders that spin their webs between the craggy larva shards. We went for an extended walk along the lava flow being careful where we stood, if you tripped on the ground your face and hands would be forever ruined! We also hiked up a nearby cinder-cone mountain that was formed during the eruption.

We then headed north to the Grand Canyon South Rim. The views of the canyon were amazing and much better than what we saw from the North Rim a few weeks ago. The South is definitely the pick of the rims! We spent a few hours riding to various lookouts until the hordes of tourists shortened our fuses enough that we left satisfied with what we had seen. On the way back from the Grand Canyon Visitor Centre (or the “Mecca” of the ignorant tourist who wields their map and camera aloft in a makeshift battering ram) we came across a large herd of deer and a large bull elk that was pulling massive branches of the trees with his antlers.

We headed south on the highway and then down a few unmarked forestry road to a place where I knew (due to some sneaky internet research), there was a lava tube tunnel that went 1.25km deep into the earth. It was formed during the volcanic period in the 1100’s where molten lava bored a tunnel up to the earth’s surface. As the flow lessened, the tube-cave remained intact until the lava cooled leaving the tunnel half filled with lava. It is now an amazingly smooth tunnel with a lava floor that can be explored by anyone! It is not a cave that is maintained by the parks department with rangers or guided tours, it is just a lava tube out in the bush that caving enthusiasts can explore! We put our head torches on and explored the full length of the cave. We bumped into two other couples who were on the way out, however besides from them we had the caves to ourselves. I couldn’t help being reminded of the Jules Verne novel ‘Journey to the center of the earth’ that I read and reread as a kid as their journey first began down some lava tubes. The entrance to the cave was a steep hole in the ground that was quite difficult to descend. The temperature just inside the entrance was about zero degrees and there were drops of ice on the cave ceiling. The height of the ceiling ranged from about 10 metres to a few sections that were about 1 metre high where you were required to get on hands and knees. We made it the full 1.25km to the end of the tunnel.



Tuesday 28/08/12 – During breakfast this morning there was a white fluffy tailed squirrel that carried a pine cone down from the tree we were camped under. It reminded us of how ferrets carry rolled up socks or fluffy toys – they can’t see past the object they are carrying so they run a few metres then put it down and plan the next leg of their journey. This squirrel went straight past us, climbed up my bike tyre and up onto the seat, and began trying to bury it amongst my clothes in my open pannier! Unfortunately when we tried to sneak up and take a photo, he ran off, pinecone and all.

We left the city of Flagstaff and again headed out into the desert. The desert landscape is so beautiful, I never thought it would be so interesting. Much of the landscape is so interesting because there is no vegetation to hold the soil together, meaning that the wind blows all the sand and soil away to expose the strange and vast bedrock formations. The temperature had reached the low 40’s by 10 am, meaning it was another tough day of riding. We stopped in at the Hoover Dam to check it out and ended up staying there for a few hours. We went on a joint-tour of the power plant and dam structure. The tour didn’t start off well as we had to watch a video which was either very out-dated or perhaps exemplified the Americans approach to the environment. The video was centred around the idea that humans had to tame nature, that they can overcome an unruly river system that had ‘turned its back on humans’ (whatever that means). It was even stated that any drop of water that was not used by humans and reached the ocean was ‘wasted’. I couldn’t keep my mouth shut and had to unleash a scathing sermon-like speech from my mountaintop on the tour guide of the facility who not only agreed with me but was embarrassed by the angle that the movie took. Despite the touchy start, the rest of the tour was amazing. The scope of building the dam was mindboggling, especially since it was built in the 1930’s.

We left Hoover Dam and headed as quickly as possible to Vegas. The city doesn’t seem to have changed much since we were last here! This time Kenz booked us into Hooters Casino for 3 nights which I find hilarious. We got the room for under $30 a night which is why we are staying here; it also has 3 really nice pools and is in a good location. Also the croupiers, who are mainly female, are wearing some really interesting outfits. It’s a shame I don’t gamble…

We brought some bikkies, brie and salsa for dinner from the local market and then headed out for a swim. Whilst in the pool, about 4 security guards swooped in and escorted a young lady out who was protesting her ejection quite vigorously. We think she was ‘fishing for male clients’ around the pool - Welcome back to Vegas!



Wednesday 29/08/12 – Yesterday in a moment of pure inspiration (which Kenz immediately began to regret), we signed up to go sky-diving. We got picked up by the company in the morning and driven out to the airport. After signing an extensive legal document we got suited up into these snazzy jumpsuits with about 5 other students. One of the students was a 52 yo Japanese woman which we were both very impressed by. She had a steely eyed look of determination which was infectious. If she could do it, then we could too! We piled into a small aircraft which looked like it was made from old tins of cat food that were riveted together; it even had a plastic roller door. As it was our first time, we both had to do it tandem with an instructor. My guy was fine, but Kenz’s kept pretending that he was only new and didn’t really know what he was doing – it was hilarious. The best part of the experience was the look on Kenz’s face when the first couple of people jumped out of the plane, it looked like they were getting sucked out of the back of the plane! We jumped from 15,000 feet and free fell for about 45-50 seconds. It was absolutely amazing/terrifying depending on who you ask. I loved it and was interested in looking at earth beneath us. We could see Vegas, Lake Mead, Hoover Dam, heaps of desert and some mountain ranges. I kept getting in trouble for looking around too much during the free fall (apparently you are just meant to scream your head off like a lunatic – just like Kenz). We were falling at about 130 mph, the strange part was that we couldn’t hear ourselves scream or yell at this height and speed. Also the saliva in our mouths was evaporating so quick, it felt like we had cotton-mouth. Once the parachute opened it was a totally different experience, but equally exhilarating. We came into land at an extremely fast speed which I was really nervous about it – a broken ankle would mean the trip was over. Fortunately all went well. After the experience we got the adrenaline hangover and just chilled out back at the hotel and pool-side for the afternoon.

(Unfortunately, the photos and DVD of our skydiving experience are on a CD and our laptop has no CD drive! We will upload the photos when we manage to find an internet café that will read the disc…)



Thursday 30/08/12 – Inspired by the saying when in Rome, do as the Romans do, I decided that I should be a true American and go shoot some guns! We pulled up to a gun shop and range just off the Las Vegas strip. It was an interesting experience as they had ALL sorts of guns behind the counter and all the staff was carrying pistols and pepper spray in their belts. There were also some hilarious bumper stickers which were only funny until you realised that they were actually meant to be serious. I was also a little surprised by the amount of anti-Obama stickers, shirts, holsters etc. After reading a 3 paragraph legal document and receiving some instructions, I got to fire a .22LR Rifle and .22LR Pistol with 50 rounds each. It was good fun but I didn’t get that “I’m a true man now!” feeling that I was expecting. Maybe you need to select the AK-47 or RPD belt-fed machine gun package for that. I did get me a beaut shirt included in the package tho, YeHaaaw!

This afternoon was spent driving around shops collecting a few things that are required to get the bikes ready for Mexico. Kenz is turning into quite the mechanic, I went off to get some equipment and she fixed an attachment point for the fairing to the bike frame all by herself by selecting the right nut, bolt, rubber washers and spacers, and even spring washer!

We decided to go to the Hooters restaurant for dinner. The restaurant chain seems to stick to a fairly basic formula: waitresses wearing tight clothes, sports on the TVs, man food and cheap beer. The moon here tonight was so huge; it’s the second full moon this month. That doesn’t happen often!



Friday 31/8/12 – After the morning was spent preparing to leave Vegas, we left Vegas. Riding out to the south, we stopped at the famous ‘Welcome to Las Vegas’ sign and snapped a photo. We moved on across the border into California and through the Mojave NP which was more fantastic desert. The road was pretty poor through this part with plenty of obstacles to negotiate (hair pin turns, sand on the road, road sinking, potholes etc.) we thought it would be good ‘training’ for the Mexican roads! We then followed a section of Route 66 past a town called ‘Amboy’ which was famous as the whole town was put up for sale on EBay a few years ago. After talking to the gas station man for a while, he started telling us some of the movies that have been filmed here, when he mentioned that ‘The Hills Have Eyes’ was filmed here we paid our bill and hit the road!!

We then crossed the Joshua Tree NP, which is of course home to the strange looking tree called the Joshua Tree. It is also home to a large plain which was full of ‘cholla’ cacti, renowned for hitching lifts on unsuspecting tourists. Kenz, being the klutz she is, managed to get two stuck to her trousers and one firmly spiked into her hand. The spines are incredibly sharp and barbed that when she accidently bumped her hand against one, the whole branch snapped off and remained attached to her hand. It drew blood removing the spines and she developed a nasty bruise on her hand. We also came across a desert tortoise in this NP who was sitting on the side of the road.

We approached the town of Indio after sundown and managed to sneak into a closed-gate RV park behind one of the residents. We picked a grassy corner and set up camp using the light from our bikes headlights. We also got paid a visit by some wild dogs with their puppies.



Saturday 1/09/12 – Our wakeup call this morning was the sprinkler that we managed to camp next to in the dark last night. As the sun came up, the tent got a soaking and we were scurrying to pull our equipment into the tent and out of harm’s way. We set our sights on San Diego and spent most of the day trying to find accommodation. It was the Labour Day long weekend which means all camping and RV places are booked, and single room motels are going for over $150 a night – no thanks!

We eventually managed to book a room at an ultra-economy motel; however when we turned up there was confusion as they hadn’t received our payment and were already overbooked. After much animated discussion with a bearded lady receptionist, we managed to get the room and moved all our gear in. The room was horrible with cockroaches, dirty towels, and some sort of lice crawling on the bedside table… but it was better than sleeping behind the dumpster. Later I walked back down to the lobby to complain and it was chaos. About 3 groups of people had booked online only to be told at 9pm when they arrived that the motel was overbooked. There was no other accommodation in all of San Diego for less than $200. I just bit my tongue and went back to the room happy that we had managed to get a room.

Next blog: Mexico INCOMING!!

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