Backyard Exploration

Reunion in the Rockies

Most of you know me as a globetrekker, but what you don’t know is that back at home, aside from traveling to California, I have only gone as far west as Ohio. “America the Beautiful” was a song I used to sing in elementary school every day after reciting the Pledge, but until a few weeks ago I had no idea what a plain or a prairie looked like! And mountains? According to my roommate, the Appalachians are like hills compared to the Rockies. So to see the prairies, plains, and vast mountainsides that our national songs mention, my college roommate and I headed out west towards the lands discovered by Lewis & Clark for a crazy trip involving 9 states in 8 days!

Here was the itinerary:
Day 1: LA to Vegas
Day 2: Vegas
Day 3: Vegas, through Utah, to Aspen, Colorado
Day 4: Aspen to Jackson Hole, Wyoming
Day 5: Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Park, through Montana, through Idaho, and on to Seattle, Washington
Day 6: Seattle
Day 7: Seattle to Astoria, Oregon to San Francisco, California via PCH
Day 8: San Francisco to Monterey/Pebble Beach to Big Sur National Park to Los Angeles
Total Miles Traveled: ~4,000

Starting Off on the Wrong Foot (As Usual)

As per norm, where does this stupid American tourist begin? In the midst of preparing for this road trip and for grad school, I pulled an all nighter the night before our trip as did my roommate, who was studying for a final. So with no sleep we headed onto Vegas, Red Bulls in hand. Miraculously, we made it without a hitch, and thus started the pattern for our trip - sleep one night, drive through the next. Sleep is overrated anyway, right?

However silly the sleep patterns might have been, even more absurd was the way we planned this trip. I mean, considering the fact that before this road trip I had driven a car less than 20 times in 9 years, I probably shouldn’t have been the one planning our driving route! And of course with no common sense whatsoever and overly ambitious goals, we decided that the planned route was totally doable. Doable? Who the heck drives 4000 miles in 8 days and expects to see the sights and enjoy the drive???? But despite the tight schedule and lack of sleep, Jen and I amazingly had a great time, seeing the sights and having lots of time to catch up on the past few years since graduation!

Finally, although we couldn’t have really changed our road trip dates, we managed to pick the only week in the year where gas prices skyrocketed to a new record high. The lowest gas price we found was $2.29, and on the last day of our trip we paid a whopping $3.95. Unbelievable!

American Landscapes

4,000 miles of the western United States offers a vast array of landscapes, ranging from desert to lush valleys to glacier caps to other worldly rock formations. Our expectations for each state were on target for the most part, but one state that completely overwhelmed us was Utah. We thought it would be one big desert and thus a boring drive, but it proved to be one of the highlights of our trip. It felt like we were in a land rover (albeit a Pontiac Grand Am land rover!) rolling through some planet in outer space. Picture clear blue skies stretching to the far ends of the horizon, only interrupted by awe-inspiring rock formations, remnants from ages long before man. I didn’t know which one to expect, martians parking their space ships or dinosaurs appearing from amidst the rocks!

Another absolutely beautiful drive was through Montana. A combination of grassy knolls, mountains in the distance, and crystal blue lakes made the drive really memorable. On the way, we stopped by “Earthquake Lake” or something like that - which was basically an old valley that had been created into a lake when a nearby river overflowed and the fire department diverted the flood into the nearby valley to avoid flooding a nearby town. You can still see the forest that used to be there, its dead branches jutting out of the water; I wonder what else might still be down there! We also passed by this enormous RV park. Hundreds of RVs were parked in this very random place in Montana, and people were camped out in tents having a great time. It seemed like they were all there for a rodeo or concert or something because a makeshift stadium had been built far off in the distance. Had we had more time, we would have definitely stopped by to see what kinds of people were there!

Those two were definitely the top highlights of our drives, although Colorado was just as picturesque as we had predicted - lush forests surrounded by the snow-capped Colorado Rockies. The drive down from Seattle was also stunning, as we took PCH down through Oregon, stopping through Astoria, home of the Goonies. I looked around for Mikey and Data but had no luck. Oh well, maybe next time!

Those were highlights, now let’s talk about nightmares. Definitely at the top of the list was the drive through Big Sur National Park at night, on less than a quarter tank of gas, no station in sight, fog cover so thick that visibility was about 5 - 10 feet, and roads at the cliff’s edge that was so windy that going more than 15 mph would have sent us to the bottom of the Pacific. Meanwhile passing by were strange furry creatures in black (were they bears? Were they wolves? What were those red beady eyes a part of anyway? I prefer not to know…) and random people that I could only assume were crazy since they were walking alone in the park at night. Many thoughts ran through my head; for instance, if we plunge into the Pacific, can I be like Jennifer Garner in Alias and breathe the air from the tires? But then I found out the answer was a resounding no, so then I thought, are there great whites in the Pacific? If it’s night, will I be able to see so I can punch them right in the nose so they’ll go away and not tear off my limbs? And while all this was running through my head, Jen was trying to divert my attention by asking me deep philosophical questions to the meaning of life. And here I was wondering what the heck does any of that matter when I am going to fall of this cliff? I need time to think about survival tactics!

Another nightmare, although significantly less scary than the drive through Big Sur was the drive through Wyoming. Another night drive, the road was remarkably easy, just a long straight (and lonely) road to Jackson Hole, but although it was pitch black, you could feel the vast expanse all around us. We were surrounded by either prairie or some sort of cornfield the entire way to the Grand Teton area. Meanwhile, far off in the distance, flashes of lightning could be seen, but were they coming closer? With nothing to gauge distance, we could only hope it would go away. If that wasn’t distracting enough, at least 30 rabbits of all sizes (including large jack rabbits) decided to play Frogger with us by staying in the road until the last possible moment and would hop away. But if Aesop’s fables taught us anything, it’s that the hare, despite his speed, does not win in the end by snoozing! Although Jen saved almost all of the stupid bunnies, we did feel a thump under our car at one point. I HATE THAT FEELING! GROSS! At least they were only bunnies and not something larger like elk or moose, or freaky possessed kids a la Children of the Corn. Glad those nightmares are over!

Real Cowboys!

Our crazy schedule did not afford us the time to meet many people, but we managed to spend some time with real cowboys and cowgirls in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. We went to a real saloon, where people were wearing cowboy hats and dancing two-step and listening to honky-tonk for real, as in it wasn’t a theme party! It was surreal. I just couldn’t get over the fact that they were dressed not for any party but just because it’s how they dress! Amazing! We met a cowboy that was explaining how rodeos work and how it’s a tough life to be a cowboy, how you need to constantly practice and maintain your athleticism and all that jazz. The music at the saloon was funny too - they were mixing Eminem with honkytonk, and apparently it’s all the rage there! If I ever get a chance, I’m definitely going back, this time with boots and hat in tow…

The Adventures Are Not Yet Over!

The past few months of travel might have come to an end, but the adventure does not stop here. I have just arrived to what I will call home for at least the rest of this year: Bologna, Italy. I start my first classes as a graduate school student with the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), a grad school of Johns Hopkins University. I will be focusing on International Economics and Development, and will most likely be heading back to the states for second semester at the Washington DC campus.

For my friends in New York, I’m sorry I did not get a chance to meet up while I was home! It was just a very short 10 day period and I barely had time to spend with my family. I will definitely give you a heads up the next time I’m in town and make definite plans to meet up! In the meantime, if you plan on heading to Italy, come for a visit!

As for these blogs, this is not the last, although the future entries will be few and far between. If my school schedule allows it, I hope to be sending more blogs about adventures through Europe!

Until then, ciao!

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