A blog documenting our journey south and west through farms and parks
Tuesday, March 14, 2017
In Which Plans Change Repeatedly
* It's my turn again cause whatever. There are going to be lots of pictures. I've also started organizing the post sections by location, cause that'll be more relevant for the rest of this adventure. +k * Albuquerque, NM someday the 28th day 180!
Alright.
I'm not gonna type so much cause there
are like 180 pictures (oh shit how appropriate to say that on the 180th day...) or something.
That covers a few national
parks/preserves/whatever and like two weeks so I'll try to keep the
story to the captions.
We finally went to a laundromat... I
don't think we've had to do that since we started our adventure,
which is kinda weird. Is it? Maybe not. Whatever. That happened in
New Mexico and there was the most hellacious dust storm as we were
finishing.
I BRUSH MY TEETH BACK AND FORTH
Folding n shit
That's some fast, dusty wind.
Big dust.
I go to bathrooms.
O_O
STRIDER!
other day march 1 day 181
Got my mothafuckin tattoo continued
finally! It was great, the shop owner did it and I would really like
to actually be friends with the guy, we had a great conversation
spanning AI and Mars and the future of technology and humanity as
well as backpacking and travel in general. He did a bunch of work for
really not a lot at all.
We drove to the Petrified Forest, slept
in a gift shop parking lot which was lined with petrified (which I
found out actually means turned to stone) wood so.. well I guess we
could have turned around right there since we pretty much saw the
main attraction of the park... We went into the gift shop and it had
some pretty cool shit, including large slabs of petrified wood (one
for $12,500!).
We took a drive through the park and
then began our hike into the wilderness... where our route finding
skills would be required. It was on that hike that I found out the
compass I got years ago is actually a piece of shit that doesn't
really work. So that was good. The desert was also pretty much just
mud which I didn't really like and okay this is getting way too
long.. I'll keep the rest way shorter or just not type beforehand.
Check out that swagger!
yay
I guess I can now say I have plants growing out of my ass.
Whataburger! (It was alright.)
Heh.
Spoiler alert: this blog post is 1/3 bathroom pictures.
Petrified Forest
That's where we stopped for the night... Ooooooohhh...
Mar2 day182
Got some petrified logs. That water is our sweat condensed on the inside of the car.
There was no mirror, so...
These had to suffice.
I almost didn't make it out of the bathroom!
This is for Henry.
I imagined making a table out of that slab one day, a $12,500 table.
Hello.
Some logs. A little path by one of the visitor centers
Petrified log.
Petrified logs also desert flowers and shit.
You're welcome! I didn't exactly know what the right thing was, but...
Badlands!?
This was a pretty hike.
Some red/green desert.
Lunch time!
I had a lot of extraneous shit (top right corner) in my pack... here's me repacking! Martin made that yellow shirt!
Setting off on our wilderness camping expedition!
Check it out, we found some petrified wood. It was kind of grueling cause we aren't the most experienced backpackers.
There's the Onyx bridge, time to find a campsite.
It was cold; we almost camped here, but the ground was too hard to get stakes in...
Mar3 day183
Charlotte's facedown sleep method produced satisfactory results! Warmth = sleep.
That's where we slept!
A couple hundred feet away, there was a field of petrified wood.
Maybe this is a nice picture?
Flagstaff, AZ
On our way to Flagstaff, we passed the (exit for) Meteor Crater! Charlotte's been there, she has pictures.
We went to Raising Cane's (usually referred to just as Cane's) cause they had it in Arizona!
Mmmhmmmmm
The paper towel dispenser dispensed paper towels unbidden... I was suspicious.
Mar4 d184
...walmart? idk.
Wildflower Bread Company (only in AZ, sadly), a delicious Paneralike
ALREADY SIGNS FOR CALIFORNIA!? SHITNF
Williams, AZ
Mothafuckin hotel time!
This hotel was pretty sweet. Owned by an old lady, run by an Indian man from Schnecksville, PA! She gave them a fully furnished apartment and also pays for his oldest son's apartment while he's in college!
First hotel room in six months of traveling. About an hour from Grand Canyon and cheap cause off-season!
This greasy boy is gonna get a fuckin shower!
Mar5 d85+100
Big, free breakfast!
Pre/post shower
Mean and clean.
Kaibab national forest, right outside of Tusayan, AZ.
Idk wtf kind of tree this is, but it's got pretty sweet bark!
Grand Canyon
ELK BUTTS
Got a picture of a lady taking a picture of some elk!
There it is.
Here's some more of it, along the South Kaibab Trail
the "Ooh Aah Point". Kinda cold, kinda windy.
It looked fake for a while, even walking down into it.
Can't imagine actually building the trail.
Cedar Ridge! 1.5 miles down, where we stopped to rest before heading back up.
This is only a tiny part of the Grand Canyon
There's a small plateau.
That's where we came from.
About to begin the trek back up...
It was so fucking windy on the canyon, I literally thought I was going to be blown off. I ended up crouching and all but sitting down a bunch of times, terror gripping me right by the balls. Apparently this is one of my biggest fears now. I even had a nightmare the other morning that I was going to be blown off a skyscraper (annoyingly, this was part of a lucid dream in which I put myself on the skyscraper because I wanted to fly. Needless to say, I lowered it down to the ground and got off).
In the side of the canyon, most of the way up, there are some shiny rocks :]
Charlotte boldly goes to the edge...
We went on a "shuttle bus" and ended being on the sunset drive, so we stopped at the furthest point they were going and got out to enjoy the sunset. It was quite pretty and we got to see the Colorado River!
McDonald's bafroom.
Charlotte claimed we wouldn't spend more than $2 cause mcdonald's has a dollar menu...
Mar6 186 days
We slept in a forest in Tusayan and it fuckin snowed.
WHAT FRESH HELL IS THIS, MCDONALD'S?! PRESS BUTTON, NO BACON?
Another dog we considered stealing
Big, big canyon.
Big, big ice path.
The most popular trail, apparently. We planned to go three miles down.
Ice all the way down.
It's like Escher's crazy stairs. We almost turned around here, but we went down along the side.
Uh oh... That part seems necessary... THAT'S WHY THERE WAS SO MUCH ICE!
Mile-and-a-half mark! We turned around there because Charlotte's knee was super not happy.
Squirrel buddy, offering us a fresh one.
Kindly old lady surprised us by offering to take a picture or five!
We drove out to the desert view portion of the park, to the watchtower. This is the view natives had.
All inside the watchtower.
Charlotte, keeping watch. TO THE NORTH
Got a picture of people getting their picture taken! The game is still on.
Uh... yeah... I did a bad job.
Guess we're not staying at that campground.
Fuck, this shit again? Eventually, we found a rest stop along the highway and slept there.
Mojave National Preserve Mar7 day187 Yeah, we took a detour from our regularly scheduled traveling cause it was so fucking cold and was going to be cold in most of the other places we were hoping to go. Twenty-five degree nights are just not pleasant. We were fine in the Painted Forest because we had layers with us (unlike our stay in White Sands, when we slept about a third of the night), but still. National parks just aren't as fun without the sun. So, we detoured into CALIFORNIA!
woo
True hole in the wall visitor's center. It was permanently closed, too.
LOOK, MA! I'M WEARING THE SOCKS YOU GAVE ME FOR HIKING!
Gentlemanly dogs on this trail only, please.
HAHAHA IT'S A BARREL CACTUS!
Some petroglyphs or whatever! Who knows, it might've been like prehistoric porn. Or it detailed their rituals, I don't fucking know. What's the difference?
SKULL MOUNTAIN?! CHRISTOPHER ROBIN, ARE YOU THERE?!?!
Holey rocks along our hike, the rings loop. Idk what it was actually called. Maybe that.
The rings!
A hole!
A bathroom!
Thus we began our camping hike on Barber Peak Loop Trail. A six mile loop.
There were some weird fuckin plants, yo.
A popular rest stop! (i.e. a shaded place in the desert heat)
JACKRABBIT!
Charlotte almost got the jackrabbit to walk right up to her, it was such a great time to have decided to film something!
So many paths, which do we take?
GUYS LOOK IT'S A TREE IN THE DESERT!
Charlotte found a watch! The ticking is nightmarish at night, so I stuck it in the trunk and will eventually set it into a piece of wood or a rock. It'll be maybe my first clock making project. Now that I have the clock part, it'll be easy!
We almost stopped here to camp but we were both feeling pretty good and wanted to keep trucking on, to see how fast we could finish the loop.
... I thought this was a national preserve? Thanks, trump.
Only a mile left?! We were both shocked and confused.
It was quite a sweet hike. Mostly flat, but the ending was soo nice.
Just look at this view!
And this one! So many cactuses (fuck you cacti) and yucca trees!
Idk, apparently there's a penalty for removing this random spike.
This fucker was like six feet tall!
Oh shit, I guess the sign was right. Here's the ring loop trail again!
Hhuurrrrgghh! We did the trail again, with full packs on.
So much for camping in the Mojave. It was an alright national place. Now, time for some fuckin In-N-Out Burger!
Oh fucking come on seriously?!
YES. STILL UNDER BUDGET FOR THE DAY, TOO!
We found a campground thing, apparently a loop (we couldn't see shit at night) and we slept in the car cause it was late and whatever bored. Mar8 day188
Birdseed (qia) and kefir breakfast! Charlotte's fucking LOVING this meal.
We slept right near this, part of the mojave desert! I decided to scramble up that little mountain.
PRETTY FLOWERS
This is the view from atop the mountain.
Herro
GUYS I FOUND AN ACTUAL DESERT! Complete with fucking stupid heat.
Check it out, Joshua trees! Maybe?
Holy sh--
OH MY GOD, CALIFORNIA! This is how you do renewable energy. High wind area? Here's like a million differently-sized wind turbines!
We cooked pasta in a park that was clearly too rich for our smelly blood.
I FINALLY SAW A REAL CACTUS!
Yep, bathroom.
Joshua Tree National Park
We found an awesome spot right outside of Joshua Tree National Park to camp!
Mar9 189-day
This was our camping spot! Complete with the worst rope swing ever!
We drove to a grocery store like half an hour away to get groceries cause we were running low on (good/real) food. On the drive, I got an email from Tesla. I didn't get the job I applied for at the Gigafactory... I was so mad. I also immediately lost confidence in my ability to get any job at Tesla. I mean, shit, I can't even get a factory job? Production associate. That's what I applied for. Tesla was like nah, you're not experienced enough. Charlotte ended up finding an article later about getting a job at the Gigafactory and the author was basically like you want a job at the Gigafactory? Get in line. I guess there are lots of people applying and I'm sure there are tons of people who have actual experience assembling shit in a factory setting, whereas I just worked for a small printing company in New Jersey and the thing I was riding on was the fact that I decided to travel across the country specifically to work for Tesla. Not good enough, I don't really have actual skills to offer the company. Well, fuck. Now what? I was hoping to just get a job at the Gigafactory and then find an apartment in Sparks, NV or close by and that's that, plan complete. Now, if I might not even be able to get a job at the Gigafactory, where the fuck are we even gonna live? We might just skip Nevada altogether since I was hoping the Gigafactory would simply be a gateway into Tesla, and we might just move right into California. We're already here, after all. I don't know. Gotta apply for other positions at Tesla, like Valerie said. Can't give up now, obviously, but I was so sure I'd be able to get a job as a production associate...
This woman in the parking lot of the grocery store randomly gave us oranges and it really made my day. I felt so much better. She must have heard us talking about the cost and making sandwiches to eat in the parking lot, in our car full of our possessions. She heard we were from New Jersey and asked what we were doing down there "it's hot!"
On to Joshua Tree National Park, its bathrooms complete with drinking water and a chart telling you how close to death you are!
We took a short hike cause it was like fucking 85 degrees and not a cloud in sight.
Beginning of Mastodon Peak Loop (Colony Of Birchmen plays in background)
Weird fucking.. cactuses?
I didn't touch them, but they looked thorny as fuck.
Way out there is the Salton Sea, where this one couple we talked to drove up from
Life and death in the desert (I said this with a Sean Connery accent for some reason)
An abandoned mine!
It's like minecraft, except my abandoned mine entrances are way prettier.
PHOTOSHOP! Nice try, desert. Just look at the pixels.
Dinosaur poops!
FINALLY saw a fucking Joshua Tree. The first one we saw in the park, 30 miles in to the park.
Salad in a bag! The dressing was not delicious. Some weird Californian French dressing.
After we ate, this is a nice Joshua tree we passed.
Back to our wonderful camproad! This was only the second time we've ever camped without the rain cover. Every other time it has just been too cold (not like the rain cover really helps, but at least it broke the wind (ha)).
M10 190 fucking days on the roads
It was so nice sleeping in the tent! I mean, it got hot, but it was nice not being totally enclosed.
There were people shooting a rifle over there, complete with cartoon PING sounds when the bullet ricocheted.
It got up to 100 in the tent roof, right in the sun under plastic. It wasn't actually THAT hot, but it felt like it.
We had a spinach bacon souffle at Panera on the road and it was fucking DELICIOUS! Charlotte had foregone her coffee just to spend the money on this instead. Five dollars, half our budget, so worth.
LOS ANGELES! Surprise! We went to fucking LA to visit Andi! I still can't believe we're in California already. It feels like we're really on the last leg of the journey, I feel like we should be looking at apartments any day now...
There are palm trees and everything! I also saw the Hollywood sign from the road!
This is her apartment building! She has a really nice place, like almost right in Hollywood.
Greasy boys get to shower again!
We went to the stove for some groceries and had a great dinner! (I would kill - per usual - I would kill something to eat that right now. -Charlotte)
m11 *191
I made breakfast! The avocado wasn't great, but fuck it's been too long since I've made my bagel sandwiches.
...I kept chewing on my mustache accidentally.
Some really pretty chandeliers in the hallway!
Andi took us to one of her favorite spots, Narlesdanib Park!
I got a picture of the Hollywood sign! Yay!
Action shot.
Sunset in the park!
Jajajajajaja
Andi also took us up to Griffith Observatory! It was pretty packed, but fucking gorgeous.
It ain't no New Yawk, that's for sure. There apparently aren't that many enormous buildings, just a shitload of lights and gross smog! I guess that makes up for the lack of tall buildings.
m12 '192
Idk, stressing the fact that my face is full of hair?
I was gonna make an omelette but then decided that I wanted to half-do Tyler's method of scrambling eggs (very low heat, constantly furiously stirring) but I didn't use vinegar or really do the method at all I guess so the consistency of the eggs wasn't custardy.
It was so nice to cook at Andi's, it's been so fucking long since we've really cooked shit. I guess I had the farm in New Mexico, but it was challenging to cook there (although I still made some delicious fucking meals, some days actually just cooking and eating all night). Haven't had a kitchen to cook in in a really long time. That's one of the things I think Charlotte and I both miss, the ability to buy whatever (and however much) food we want, to cook whenever we want. To eat whatever we want. Shit, this budget and on the road stuff isn't great... I'm getting tired of eating shit and still worrying about money (the car is nearing 100k miles and of course that's when everything goes wrong... it's been whining when we turn the steering wheel lately which is just fantastic). Well, in a month or so we'll be bumming around getting jobs and thinking about where the fuck we're gonna live. Actually, we talked about the very likely situation where we'll end up continuing to live in the car after I get a job wherever accepts me... That'll be something, got a job but not an apartment. We'll be looking for something cheap and of course I need a job somewhere before we pick a place to live cause reasons... Anyway, that's like a month away, I hardly know what's gonna happen next week.
My five-headed application hydra!
I applied for five more positions at Tesla. Kind of varied, one at the Gigafactory as Material Handler (and that's after I found out I technically did exactly that at UFF (I went out and brought my own materials to print on, took them back out to the floor, and several times helped organize the inventory) so that's a nice other thing to be able to claim in my resume!) and there's material handler at the Tesla Factory in Fremont (also packaging associate seems to be just about the same thing...). I'm pretty excited about potentially getting the shop assistant position, or really any of them cause obviously I want to work for Tesla, I mean that's why we traveled all the way out to California in the first place. It would be cool to work in the Tesla Factory, I'd really love to do that anyway (I was thinking of going there after working at the Gigafactory for a while) cause then I'd be assembling the cars, learning exactly how everything is supposed to go together and so on, which is a similar reason for my desire to work at a service center. Maybe I'd rather work at the service center... that might actually be my top desired job... Well I can't really count my eggs cause I don't even have a basket right now.
Check it out, it's Hollywood Boulevard!
We got pho! Well, I got fried rice... which was delicious! Also, Andi got us beer! And we spent several hours watching our new favorite show, The Great British Baking Show! They're all so adorable and nice!
m13 "193
Charlotte made breakfast! Presentation clearly influenced by the show, lol.
Check it out, I finally shaved my face! Charlotte said I look like a jew.
Fingertips are still growing back!
GOODBYE ELAY YOU SMOGGY SHITFUCK
Nice architecture, though...
WE HAD CHIPOTLE AND IT WAS DELICIOUS CAPSLOCK
That's where we slept I added this on my phone it will not be formatted very well
Yeah, so. We probably will be skipping Yellowstone and Glacier cause both have tons of snow and have closed most of their roads... We'll be heading to Utah and then Colorado and then Seattle, most likely, unless the car really shits the bed or something, or like I magically get a job next week or something. Fully expecting to be living in the car even after I get a job (and after I get a job Charlotte will start looking for a job cause then we'll know probably where we'll be living, or at least near where we'll be living), but shit at least we'll be able to spend more money on food. Annnd pay off debt... Hopefully we don't accrue more debt between now and getting jobs, that would just suck. But hey, tax money! So there's that. That's part of why I chose Chipotle for dinner last night and it was so delicious. I devoured that whole burrito like it was nothing, though, and then helped Charlotte finish hers, hah. Yeah. I'm a hungry hungry hippo. It's Tuesday. Meanwhile you fucks up north have like a foot of snow on the ground... that sucks. We're sitting over here in our shorts, sweating our faces off driving around in like 89 degree weather in.. What state are we in again? Nevada.
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