The rest of the trip out west.
As you all know by now, I drove all the way out to sunny southern California last week to check out the game between San Diego State and Colorado State. I already shared some stories and insight from the game itself, so now I thought I would share some of the stories from the rest of the trip that you might be interested in. Of course, that's probably just the narcissism talking.
- Joel, my friend who went out there with me, didn't want to drive through the Plains, so he flew into Denver and I picked him up at the airport. I got there about an hour before his plane, so I had to spent the time waddling through DIA in the non-secure part of the airport. They don't generally put any of the restaurants in that part of the airport, and I ended up starving by the time Joel got in town. Everyone working there was pretty uncommunicative, but at one point a tall blond wearing knee high boots strolled in. Then the Denver Airport officials started throwing themselves at her. Nobody else got any help, however.
- We tried to book ourselves a hotel in Grand Junction, Colorado, but struggled to find one with availability. Apparently Grand Junction is a hotbed of convention activity. When we arrived, we found out that there was a soil and water convention in town. Let me tell you, those seminars looked like they were incredibly interesting. I have never seen so many full size pick up trucks in a Doubletree parking lot.
- We went out to eat at a pizza place in downtown Grand Junction (I wish I remembered the name) and were surrounded by some serious hippies. One polite young lady was their with her dog and was smoking outside, when a BMW tried to park in a spot much, much too small. We shared a laugh. But the really fun people there were at the seats next to us. I only heard one line from them. "So your zen is good...." Sure is, lady.
- Driving through eastern Utah left me with a profound sadness. It's so empty. It still affects me. The good thing is, when you reach 15, the speed limit is 80!
- I learned in Vegas that roulette is not my game. I kept losing and losing every time we played. At one point, we headed back to our hotel (Treasure Island) and Joel ran up to the room for a second. I won 110 dollars playing blackjack in the time he was up there. I ended up breaking even for the trip. At least we got to eat at MGM.
- The seedy underside of Vegas is all the Mexicans handing out fliers for escorts.
- Went to the Hoover Dam and crossed the Dam Bridge. There was a lot of Dam information to take in. My biggest Dam problem was that people wouldn't get out of the Dam road.
- We stopped at the Boulder City Albertsons to pick up some supplies. A cart attendant started talking to us as we were loading up the cooler. And kept talking, and talking. After she would say something, she would wish us a nice day, then start talking about something else, like how hot it was, or how we drove a long way. It was... uncomfortable. Also at the Albertsons? A limousine. I have no explanation for this.
- Here in Minnesota, most of my friends have labeled me as a fast driver, and make fun of me as a leadfoot. Pretty much everywhere I went, I was the slowest car on the road. Perhaps Minnesotans just drive too slow? I think so.
- In San Diego, we went to the world famous zoo. I for one love zoos, and this was obviously the best I had ever been to. It was HUGE and had packed in a crazy number of animals. The highlights were the rhinos, which I had never seen before, the hippos, which you could see above and below the water line and the mountain lions, another animal I had never seen before. Scary to think they have been seen around here before. Wait, I was thinking of cougars, which have been seen at suburban bars.
I was wearing my Southeast Missouri State shirt. A couple checking out a fox with us turned to me and said "oh, we're from St. Louis" then kept walking. People seem unwilling to chat with me out on the street.
- The next day, we went to the Grand Canyon and headed out to eat. As we were leaving the restaurant, a guy was staggering around his car and asked if the "General Store" was open. Then he noticed Joel's Purdue sweatshirt and obviously pleasant demeanor and started talking about his son, who went to Purdue and was now at Johns Hopkins and just went on and on. He was obviously severely intoxicated, and said he was looking for more beer. I doubt his son went to Purdue or Johns Hopkins.
By the way, the hotel at the Grand Canyon was far and away the busiest we saw.
- On the way into the Grand Canyon, we were slowed by a herd of elk. Almost as bad as traffic in Riverside. there were also signs for large cat crossings. We saw no such thing.
- We DID see tumbleweeds crossing the road, however. I managed to hit a few of them. The first one was sitting in between two lanes of traffic in the direction I was heading. I didn't know which way to swerve and it bounced up and over the car. The second one was the real problem. It rolled right out in front of us and I drove over it, managing to get it wrapped up and under the car. It was hilarious at the time, but damn, those things are prickly. Pulling it out was not a pleasant task. I made Joel do it. By the time the third hit (off the passenger door) there was nothing left to say.
- At the Grand Canyon, we hiked down about 3/4 of a mile. Going down is a lot tougher than coming back up, surprisingly. My knee still hurts. When we came back out, there was a mother and her two children playing with sticks. The bratty little son grabbed one of the sticks and hurled it over the side, down on the trail. Joel and I were mortified, but thankfully, we haven't heard any stories of people getting killed by getting knocked off the trail and falling 2 miles to the Colorado.
- We saw the donkeys at the trailhead. One tried to eat my jacket.
- On the way back out of the Rockies, we put the car in neutral and coasted 10 miles. We got 38+ miles to the gallon on that tank.
Solid trip all around, if you were to ask me. I would say my zen is good.
- Joel, my friend who went out there with me, didn't want to drive through the Plains, so he flew into Denver and I picked him up at the airport. I got there about an hour before his plane, so I had to spent the time waddling through DIA in the non-secure part of the airport. They don't generally put any of the restaurants in that part of the airport, and I ended up starving by the time Joel got in town. Everyone working there was pretty uncommunicative, but at one point a tall blond wearing knee high boots strolled in. Then the Denver Airport officials started throwing themselves at her. Nobody else got any help, however.
- We tried to book ourselves a hotel in Grand Junction, Colorado, but struggled to find one with availability. Apparently Grand Junction is a hotbed of convention activity. When we arrived, we found out that there was a soil and water convention in town. Let me tell you, those seminars looked like they were incredibly interesting. I have never seen so many full size pick up trucks in a Doubletree parking lot.
- We went out to eat at a pizza place in downtown Grand Junction (I wish I remembered the name) and were surrounded by some serious hippies. One polite young lady was their with her dog and was smoking outside, when a BMW tried to park in a spot much, much too small. We shared a laugh. But the really fun people there were at the seats next to us. I only heard one line from them. "So your zen is good...." Sure is, lady.
- Driving through eastern Utah left me with a profound sadness. It's so empty. It still affects me. The good thing is, when you reach 15, the speed limit is 80!
- I learned in Vegas that roulette is not my game. I kept losing and losing every time we played. At one point, we headed back to our hotel (Treasure Island) and Joel ran up to the room for a second. I won 110 dollars playing blackjack in the time he was up there. I ended up breaking even for the trip. At least we got to eat at MGM.
- The seedy underside of Vegas is all the Mexicans handing out fliers for escorts.
- Went to the Hoover Dam and crossed the Dam Bridge. There was a lot of Dam information to take in. My biggest Dam problem was that people wouldn't get out of the Dam road.
- We stopped at the Boulder City Albertsons to pick up some supplies. A cart attendant started talking to us as we were loading up the cooler. And kept talking, and talking. After she would say something, she would wish us a nice day, then start talking about something else, like how hot it was, or how we drove a long way. It was... uncomfortable. Also at the Albertsons? A limousine. I have no explanation for this.
- Here in Minnesota, most of my friends have labeled me as a fast driver, and make fun of me as a leadfoot. Pretty much everywhere I went, I was the slowest car on the road. Perhaps Minnesotans just drive too slow? I think so.
- In San Diego, we went to the world famous zoo. I for one love zoos, and this was obviously the best I had ever been to. It was HUGE and had packed in a crazy number of animals. The highlights were the rhinos, which I had never seen before, the hippos, which you could see above and below the water line and the mountain lions, another animal I had never seen before. Scary to think they have been seen around here before. Wait, I was thinking of cougars, which have been seen at suburban bars.
I was wearing my Southeast Missouri State shirt. A couple checking out a fox with us turned to me and said "oh, we're from St. Louis" then kept walking. People seem unwilling to chat with me out on the street.
- The next day, we went to the Grand Canyon and headed out to eat. As we were leaving the restaurant, a guy was staggering around his car and asked if the "General Store" was open. Then he noticed Joel's Purdue sweatshirt and obviously pleasant demeanor and started talking about his son, who went to Purdue and was now at Johns Hopkins and just went on and on. He was obviously severely intoxicated, and said he was looking for more beer. I doubt his son went to Purdue or Johns Hopkins.
By the way, the hotel at the Grand Canyon was far and away the busiest we saw.
- On the way into the Grand Canyon, we were slowed by a herd of elk. Almost as bad as traffic in Riverside. there were also signs for large cat crossings. We saw no such thing.
- We DID see tumbleweeds crossing the road, however. I managed to hit a few of them. The first one was sitting in between two lanes of traffic in the direction I was heading. I didn't know which way to swerve and it bounced up and over the car. The second one was the real problem. It rolled right out in front of us and I drove over it, managing to get it wrapped up and under the car. It was hilarious at the time, but damn, those things are prickly. Pulling it out was not a pleasant task. I made Joel do it. By the time the third hit (off the passenger door) there was nothing left to say.
- At the Grand Canyon, we hiked down about 3/4 of a mile. Going down is a lot tougher than coming back up, surprisingly. My knee still hurts. When we came back out, there was a mother and her two children playing with sticks. The bratty little son grabbed one of the sticks and hurled it over the side, down on the trail. Joel and I were mortified, but thankfully, we haven't heard any stories of people getting killed by getting knocked off the trail and falling 2 miles to the Colorado.
- We saw the donkeys at the trailhead. One tried to eat my jacket.
- On the way back out of the Rockies, we put the car in neutral and coasted 10 miles. We got 38+ miles to the gallon on that tank.
Solid trip all around, if you were to ask me. I would say my zen is good.
Labels: Travel
posted by Ryan | 12:43 PM
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