Day 4 - Part 1 - Still in Colorado

Apparently people in this country like baseball, which I don't get, but that's ok.  Except for the fact there was some minor league tournament in Grand Junction, CO, so we could not for the life of us find a hotel for the night.  Which meant we ended up at the Riverwood RV park and motel in Delta, CO, about 20 miles south of Grand Junction.  It was amazing.

After rain all night, we set out in the grey morning and started back east. 

It rained steadily, but as soon as it broke, we decided to stop and see Doc Holliday's final resting place in Greenwood Springs, CO. 

We hiked up the half mile above the picturesque mountain town and in to a wooded forest.  Why there is a cemetery up here I couldn't tell you, but it just felt great to walk.

We made it up to the headstone...

Only to learn that it was really anyone's guess where he was buried.  Another marker said they weren't even sure if he was buried in this town, let alone the cemetery, but someplace is as good as any I suppose, and they were fairly certain he died in Greenwood Springs, so, fair enough. 

Walking back down and around Greenwood Springs, Tom made friends with this guy, who was en route running across the United States.  It was his 4th trip across, and as such he was in the Guinness Book of World Records.  Known to us as "the Swede", he was 31 short running days from Los Angeles heading to the east coast.  What a stud.  You can check out his (more technically advanced) blog here

Back on the road, we soon again diverted to appreciate the raging Colorado River we'd been driving along for some time.  We didn't pick the best place to do so, getting stuck both under the freeway and in a major traffic jam entering a national park.  But the water, and the canyons, were impressive. 

Without further ado, we decided to gun it to Denver.  "Gunning it" may be quite a hyperbole, as we had to make it through the Rockies, first in rain, then hail, then snow, coming to peaks of 10,000 and 11,000 feet.  Clarisse was pretty slow going, but steady as she went.   This is the Vail pass. 

Making it to the other side, we stopped in a weird little mining town, Idaho Springs, where I made friends with this guy, who owned the Idaho Springs pawn shop, where things were surprisingly overpriced.  

He was eating his lunch, which he said was from next door and was the best food around, but I wondered whether he and I had similar tastes and standards.  Deciding the likelihood was low, we set out again for Denver. 

Day 3 - Part 2 - Utah and Colorado

Day 2 continued!
Naturally we decided on the circuitous route and launched in to Monument Valley.
Tom recognized one vista as the Eagles Album cover:

And decided that we should replicate this photo from the middle of the road.  Good idea Tom.  Safety first. 

I did not successfully ditch him in the road, so after meandering through the truly stunning park we decided to stop for lunch in Twin Rocks Utah. We had lunch next to this trading post, where I made the ill-advised decision to get a "Navajo Taco" which was basically a giant fried donut/taco covered with beans and cheese.  Weird. But I digress. 

Clarisse really did well today, with only a few weird noises. Tom was so happy he took this car commercial product quality shot of her: 

Making our way back down from Utah, we decided to forego the Four Corners park and head north to Telluride.  As soon as we got in to Colorado, the topography changed completely, as did the weather. Storm brewing. 

And then the storm hit us.  We drove through pounding hail, lightning, and then snow, which turned to rain just outside Telluride. 

We made it in to town, walking through the rain and stopping at the local saloon for a beer and some food. 

And finally we pushed on toward Grand Junction, stopping for what was a perfect sunset to bookend the glorious sunrise. 

Day 3 - Part 1 - Grand Canyon to Utah

After a late arrival and a little sleep at the El Tovar hotel on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, we woke up for the 5am sunrise, which was freezing, but worth it.

We took at shuttle to another vista and stayed for a just a bit longer than: Clark Griswold did

We met this mule, and hit the road again.  

Our first stop were the "Elephant Feet", and then we faced the decision whether to take a major detour through Monument Valley in Utah or head straight for the Four Corners...

Day 2 - On The Road - California and Arizona

Day 2!

Initial planned departure time: 4am
Revised planned departure time: 6am
Actual departure time: 10am.

Tom was a bit hung over, so I whipped up a couple of eggs on toast and we left Silver Lake in the Odyssey. All was well.

We made it about 80 miles and decided we could not go on without a car stereo, as the Odyssey had only a CD player and that is so 2004...as is the car, but still.  So we detoured to Apple Valley, which was not a very pretty start to the road trip.

Two hours and two burritos later, we hit the open road.

And we rejoiced with music from this hideous-colored stereo and reminder to look up a tornado-chasing app (sorry mom).

Pretty soon we diverted off the main road and traveled down Route 66. 

Finally getting some miles between us and LA, we further diverted to a route through the mountains, and in to Oatman, Arizona. 

We were slowed by some donkeys on the main street, but quickly started climbing up the mountains.  Tom's car wasn't a huge fan of the bad road and windy turns, so we realized she needed a name to cheer her on.  He donned her Clarisse, the Grey Lady.  She was probably beautiful in her youth, and although her blossom was waning, she persevered through the mountains..

and we at long last made it to Williams, AZ and then late at night arrived at the Grand Canyon. 

Day 1 (of 7)

Day 1!
Still in prep mode.

This days prep included nothing related to the trip.
Apparently it is Danish tradition to kidnap the bride-to-be for a day and either pamper, entertain or embarrass her, or a little bit of everything.

Camilla is getting married in June, so Stine (another Dane), Carlee, Susie and I (all non-Danes) planned to surprise her and whisk her away to a politically incorrect day at the Bel Air Hotel.  Carlee was teaching at the Twin Towers men's jail in downtown LA, which Camilla and Stine were sitting in on, and i was tasked with hiding in the back of Stine's car to surprise Camilla and then we'd make our way to the hotel for a day of sun and relax.  So after uber-ing down to jail, which was a first for my uber driver, i hid in Stine's car for an hour and a half, scared the crap out of Camilla and voila! we were on our way.

We spent the day eating, drinking, laying in the sometimes-sun and playing stupid games.
It looked like this:

The most ridiculous game was an iPad version of Celebrity, where the person holding the iPad had to guess the name on the screen while friends gave clues as to who this person is.

Meanwhile, Tom got drunk with some friends for a bon voyage after his 3 weeks of living in LA.

Prep Day

My friend Tom is driving from LA to New York for love.  I am going because, well, carpe diem. Which in this case means I don't have much else to do and have always wanted to.

We're taking 6 days, to drive, so there was some advance prep.
Prep Task 1. Buy a car.  Tom bought this amazing 2004 Honda Odyssey.

Prep Task 2. Make snacks to survive through middle America.  So ok, home made bread and ricotta from raw milk are not your typical road food, and I really felt like a pretty bougey a-hole for thinking we'd snack on fresh ricotta and bread, so I ate most of it and gave the rest away. 

I still might be a bougey a-hole though for making quinoa and kale pilaf.  I spilled most of the quinoa all over the kitchen floor around my bare feet.  So far, trip prep going smashingly well.