Smoothie

Our drive through eastern Oregon to Crater Lake gave a full impression of the hardships that lined the original Oregon Trail. Even today in 2009 the state is made very difficult to navigate through due to lack of signs, constant road work, and rollercoaster roads. The most shocking thing was the change from desert to volcano to near-rainforest weather. The moisture in the air went from non-existent to oppressive. When we approached the park office pay-$10-booth at Crater Lake and I asked if there was camping, I was given a mysterious non-committal response and told there was road work causing delays, the campground was "far away" and I should turn around unless I "really wanted to see the lake". By the girl's tone of voice she didn't seem to suggest I did really want to see ... read more

Zion National Park wasn't less beautiful or awe-inspiring than the Grand Canyon. It was as if we were inside the canyon so it was a very different experience and a very different kind of beauty. Instead of looking down and across, we were looking up and around. The entry was $25 plus another $15 because we are a camper and there is a very big tunnel that they'd close off to traffic to let us drive through. This soured our entry at first, but after experiencing the tunnel, all to ourselves, it was almost worth the total $40. The tunnel and all the roads are very believably an engineering masterpiece.... read more

Today I turned 25. At the International UFO Museum and Research Center the ticket seller asked me if I was turning 16. And I got carded for trying to buy an alien lighter for Vincenzo. Apparently you have to be 18 to purchase one. The museum had a lot of newspaper clippings and things to read so Vincenzo had a blast. The accounts of the initial 1947 Roswell crash were my favorite part because they seemed the most unaffected. The best was when the guy who found the crash site and brought his findings to the army ended up with a brand new truck and kept his mouth shut. Then we drove through Albuquerque to Laguna Pueblo. It was not what we had expected- the historic pueblo was centered around a mission church and there were ... read more

We got up early early to arrive in Houston by midday, about 350 miles. Sad to report that I saw no alligators throughout all of Louisiana or Eastern Texas. I saw a black floating scaly looking thing in the water, but I'd be lying to myself if I said I was sure it was a gator. Maybe a log, or maybe a dirty gator. I did see a whole bunch of armadillos, squashed like tires and one completely upside-down, feet sticking up in the air. The name of the game from New Orleans to Houston on I-10 is scary scary bridges. To leave New Orleans going west there is a bridge that spans at least 30 miles of swampy rivers and bayous. In a camper, frightening. There was another one that seemed nearly 90 degrees vert ... read more

Today's drive was much more enjoyable for the pilot. We left I-95 after an hour and have been taking state highways through Georgia and Florida that provide interesting scenery and velocity changes to keep Vincenzo from falling into a monotonous drone. The intermittent downpours also spice things up a bit. The navigator's day is nearly fulfilled at having spotted a wild boar grazing in the “soft-shoulder”, an armadillo whose vital signs were questionable, a fox the size of a gazelle fleeting across the road, and many flocks of white herons. I still want a 'gator but I can wait till Friday when my AAA book PROMISES me a gator sighting. We were warned against swimming in the swampy water at the Florida Caverns State Park campsite because of the gators, but I was dubious of their ... read more