Friday, December 5, 2008
Heading out.....
We're gettting ready to leave for San Francisco this weekend. Neither one of us has ever been there before so it should be fun and exciting. I generally tend toward the wild and unspoiled places, but Rodd was supposed to be attending a seminar so I thought I'd tag along. His seminar got canceled so now we're free to spend all week just goofing off.
I'm looking forward to doing some street photography. The places we generally go don't offer much opportunity for such things. I have to say, if I had been planning a "vacation" just for the sake of it, San Francisco wouldn't have even made the top 5 list. However, we're meeting friends from Michigan that we don't get to see but once every few years so that makes it extra special even if the city sucks.
We don't really have an agenda. Our typical MO is to play it by ear. That seems to be working well so we'll stick with it. We do have a few "must see" places on the list. We want to tour Alcatraz, visit Golden Gate Park and of course the bridge. I'm hoping to catch the bridge with dense fog at sunrise, but I'm probably not going to get that lucky. We also plan to see Chinatown and maybe Pacific Heights for the architectural appeal. We're booked to see "The Phantom of the Opera" at the Orpheum while we're in town. One of our friends is an avid actor and an amazing vocalist so we thought a show would be fun.
So, while we're looking forward to a packed week there are still the parts of traveling that really suck.....packing, flying, unpacking, flying, dirty public transportation, flying, bad hotel beds, flying......did I mention I don't care for flying? It's just such a hassle. It's especially inconvenient with all of my equipment. I bought a smaller camera bag for the trip and I'm going to see what I can scale back (yeah, right!!!). That's one of the reasons I love road tripping. You can bring as much stuff as you can cram in the car and then when it's full, you can start on the SkyBox!!! :)
Well, I suppose......I'd better finish packing and see what I'm going to have to weed out of my camera bag.
I'll try to get something posted shortly after we get home next weekend. I'm being lazy and leaving the laptop at home because I don't feel like lugging it around. It will be the first time in over 5 years that I've not traveled with a laptop. I may regret my decision, but it's just not worth the extra luggage.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
More from the latest road trip.......
So, one cool thing that we discovered on this last was that antiques are CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP on the route we traveled. I threatened several times to rent a Uhaul trailer and fill it up with antiques. I'm seriously considering a future road trip where we make a similar loop and rent a trailer when we get back there, fill it up and haul it home.
Some of the things we found back there were just amazing to me! I've been searching for an old fashioned panel door for a few years now. I come across them every now and then, but I simply refuse to pay $50+ dollars for one. We stopped at one antique store in S. Dakota and they must have had a half dozen of them for $5 a piece!!!! FIVE DOLLARS!!!! I wanted one so bad I could hardly stand it. Unfortunately, they had windows in them (which made them even more perfect for my purpose) and I was afraid I'd never get them home without breaking the glass. This was on the 3rd day of our trip and I threatened to strap it to the roof rack on the Yukon, but I was afraid I'd break the glass on some of the rough roads we planned to travel in Colorado. I still should have done it. I should have at least tried.....if I broke the glass, oh well. It was FIVE DOLLARS!!!! What was I thinking leaving it there!!!! I've been kicking myself ever since I got home.
I did find an antique tricycle (probably from the 50's) on the way home in Kansas. I bought it for $25. It's absolutely adorable and will make a great prop. I also bought 2 dolls, a hat box, a few dishes, an antique leather suitcase (for $10) and a few more odds and ends in S. Dakota. Oh yeah, I also finally found the antique tractor seat I've been looking for. I've found many of these here in the Northwest, but again, you're looking at anywhere from $50 - $100. I picked this gem up for $5!!!!! I almost felt dishonest!!!
So, if you love antiques and you're traveling east, take I-90 across S. Dakota and I-80 back through Kansas. Don't forget your trailer!!!!! We are seriously considering doing such a thing on our next trip out to see family. We had a great time in these antique stores and the prices were absolutely unbelievable!!!!
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Just for Fun.....
Tagged!
Here we go!
1. I always mush the pulp out of my tomotoes because otherwise it gags me. It's kind of snotty, really.
2. I have 2 tattoos and 11 piercings. Tattoos are actually kind of addictive and I've had to restrain myself from getting more.
3. I hate holidays. Yes, all of them.
4. I hate being the passenger in an automobile. I get bored and restless.
5. I love the Lord, but I hate religion. It's about the relationship, not the religionship.
6. When I shop, I always get a push cart instead of a little hand basket....even if I'm only getting one or two things. My theory is that if someone sees you barreling toward them with a big ol' push cart, they're more likely to get the h-e-double hockey sticks out of your way. A hand basket just isn't very intimidating......
So, there you have it!
Now, I don't have 6 people to tag so I'll just add a couple.... I tag Phil, Jen and Rodd.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
The Big Butts
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Ashcroft, Colorado
Montana Relic
Chapel of Transfiguration - Grand Teton NP
Friday, November 7, 2008
Bushong Piano
One of the Many Reasons I Love Colorado
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Home at Last....
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Headed South.....
Before heading down to Columbia we spent some time in Moberly with my Aunt Marcia and Uncle Tom (my mom's brother and his wife). It was such a treat to see them. We so rarely see our family....especially those on Mom's side. We had a wonderful visit and ran around Moberly for the afternoon with Marcia. We got to have dinner with them as well and we really enjoyed the day. It really was a treat to get to see them. I think we figured it had been 14 years since we'd seen each other last.
While in Moberly we had a few "coincidental" meetings with people who knew my family. I don't really believe in "coincidence". I know it was arranged.... :) One of the ladies who was running the front desk turned out to be my cousin's aunt. Her sister was married to my uncle. That was an interesting conversation! She was extremely helpful and we enjoyed chatting with her. We also met a guy who was surprised to hear that I was a Wessel. He said he lives in the "Wessel" subdivision and when he was recently remodeling his kitchen, he found Dad and John's signatures in pencil on the wood!!!! Small world!!!
When we left Moberly we drove over to Glasgow where my mom lived as a girl. We also wanted to visit my grandmother's grave there. We found out just what a small town Glasgow is!!!! Tom (my uncle) had given us a general idea of where Granny was buried and said that if we needed any help finding it to go to the funeral home and they would be able to help. They also said just to mention that I was Tony Komer's niece to anyone in town and I'd get all of the help I needed. :) When we got to town we stopped at a little floral shop and bought a bouquet of flowers to take with us. Then we wandered all through the cemetery with no luck and headed over to the funeral home (which is right across from the floral shop). We went in asked if they could help us and they were able to tell us when she had passed away, but wasn't sure where "exactly" she was buried. She suggested that we try across the street at the monument maker's place. So, we walked over and asked him if he could help us find Elizabeth Komer's plot and he sort of did a double take and then asked if I was related to Tony Komer. :) It turns out he was a good friend of Tony's and he actually not only told us where she was buried but took the time to drive us right to the spot!!! He asked if we were driving a suburban (Yukon's look about the same) and said that he'd already talked to his wife about us....... She owns the floral shop!!!! We hadn't been in town 30 minutes and already we'd been spotted and tagged as "the out of staters". :) I don't guess Glasgow, Missouri gets a ton of out of state visitors. :) I have lots more details and musings about this leg of the trip that I want to share, but right now we need to get down the road........ I'll catch back up later with pictures and details........
We're off!!!!
Sunday, September 21, 2008
On the Road Again.....
Our first night out ( 9/17) we stayed at the KOA in Billings, MT. It was a long but uneventful day.
Our second night we thought we'd drive all the way to Mitchell, SD but ended up only making it to the Badlands. It was dark and we had to decide if we wanted to see the Badlands or not. We stayed at some dump called the Circle 10 Campground at the east entrance to the Badlands. What a divola!!! It was a "Good Sam" campground and so we figured "How bad can it be?". Bad..... We'll leave it at that for now.
We rolled in to Des Moines, IA late on Friday night. Saturday morning we drove out to Tom and Terri's house (my uncle and aunt). Unfortunately, they weren't home. They were down in the Ozarks but we're hoping to meet up with them later this week. From there we went to my grandparent's house and had a very nice visit with my grandparents. We also got to see my cousin Ryan. On our way out of town that night we went over to see Ryan's house and meet his girlfriend Ashley. We really enjoyed our visit with them as well.
Last night we drove on as far as Moberly, Missouri. We figured we'd have no trouble getting a room. WRONG...... I guess Missourian's take their football seriously because there was apparently a college game (in Columbia I'm assuming) because Macon, Moberly and Columbia were all booked because of this game. So, we spent the night in the car in the parking lot at the Holiday Inn. :) Oh well. We saved a few bucks! We want to rent an ATV while in Colorado and it's about a $250 rental. We figured if we spent a few nights camping instead of in hotels we could rent the ATV and not add any $$ to the vacation budget. We're over half way there!
So, tonight we're staying INSIDE the Holiday Inn in Moberly and tomorrow we'll do a bit of looking around in this area. Today we drove out to the house my grandparents used to live in and saw the A-Frame that Dad built in that same area. After we're done up here we'll head south to Columbia.
I tried to add a few photos, but for some reason it's not working..... I'll try to figure it out tomorrow.....
More later!
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
A Double Blessing.....
Saturday, September 6, 2008
On the Way to Monument Valley
The dust storms they were having ended up driving us out of the area early, but they did make for nice sunrises and sunsets.....
11 Days and Counting......
I was playing with a new brush I got...... I'm not sure I like what I did. I think the colored leaves are way too "whimsical" or something for the image. I don't think I like it..... The brush is cool...it just doesn't work here. And the back ground was supposed to be white...not pink. Egad! What was I doing????
This one is a pre-dawn shot at the Maroon Bells. We got up at the butt-crack of dawn for this shot. It was necessary. If you could see what was behind and beside me, you'd see why. This is an extremely popular spot for obvious reasons. It's aslo a great place to catch alpenglow. It was 27 degrees and there was ice around the edge of the lake. Our fingers and toes were totally numb, but we didn't care. I'll be going back.... :)
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Countdown to Colorado
Monday, August 25, 2008
the Way.......
the Window......
Monday, August 4, 2008
Grand Haven, Michigan Lighthouse
Monday, July 7, 2008
For this, I'm thankful.....
Tomorrow is Rodd's 36th birthday. I have been blessed to have him as "mine" for the last 14 years. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect man for me. God knew exactly what I needed, and sent me Rodd......
These are a few of my favorite things about Rodd......
He loves the Lord
He LOVES to laugh
He's extremely generous
He accepts me as I am (if you know me well, you know that's a HUGE sacrifice on his part!)
He loves my family
He has breakfast every Saturday morning with my parents because he loves hanging out with them.
He loves taking "photo excursions" with me and is always extremely patient when I get immersed in a shot and forget that anyone else is around.
He loves hiking and is always patient with me lagging behind.
He adores kids and is a child magnet! Kids love Rodd.....he just has a way with them.
He's very laid back and doesn't get uptight about things. He keeps me grounded as I tend to freak out. He's calming for me......
He loves his mother and treats her with respect
His favorite food is spaghetti
He loves drinking homemade wine at Mom & Dad's
He loves gardening and making things grow
He mows around my baby bird nests in the yard so he won't scare them. :)
He loves to sew and he's awesome at it!!!! (he gets embarrassed when I tell people that)
He appreciates nature and the beauty God has created in the world around us.
He makes me laugh
He is probably the most selfless person I have ever met (my mother is the only one I know who might give him a run for that title....)
He inspires me to be a better a person
He is my true love.....the one created just for me
Happy Birthday Rodd!!! I love you......
Shooting in Rocky Mountain National Park
Shooting at Fish Creek Falls, Colorado
Sledding up Smith Creek
Exploring at the Hoodoos in Southern Utah
Catching a sunrise nap at the Grand Canyon. We had been up and on the road since 1:30am to make it there for the sunrise. He's so good to me......
With his mom at Cape Flattery, Washington
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
A New Nephew!!!!
Thursday, June 26, 2008
HDR Photography
It's here!!!!!
The honest truth though...... I was going to cancel the order on Tuesday because we bought a 4-wheeler. I started to freak out about spending the money and had decided to wait on the lens. I figured that since the lens was on serious back order anyway, it wouldn't kill me to wait a bit. When I came home and got online to cancel the backorder I had an email stating that the lens had shipped that morning. Oh well..... I wanted it anyway. :)
After work tomorrow a friend and I are going to do some shooting so it'll be fun to test it out. Hopefully I'll have something worthy of sharing........
Happy weekend!
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Compensation.....
Now we'll have to see where else we might want to brave via train.......
Saturday, June 14, 2008
In Closing........
So, I guess now it's just hurry up and wait for OneCall to get theirs in again....."sigh".
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
The "Real" Me......
10 things you don't know about me. Hhhhmmm.... Ok, here we go!
1. I sleep with a teddy bear. I always have. I know, FREAK!
2. I can't STAND poor table manners. People who make "noise" while they eat make me crazy. PS. Not only do I not want to hear your food, I don't want to see it either.
3. I didn't see the ocean until I was 19.
4. I don't eat at buffets. Yes, Lyle already knows this. That's just nasty though..... Hello! Some people are shorter than that sneeze guard thing!
5. I have 3 sisters. I'm the "responsible, solid, dependable" one.
6. I have a nice voice, but I'm too self conscious to use it in public.
7. One of my biggest fears in life was always disappointing my father.
8. I was a published photographer at 16. ( I did some product photography and in addition to my wage I got photo credit in a national magazine. No biggie, but at 16 it was pretty exciting.)
9. When I was 7 years old I had a stuffed Cookie Monster that I loved. He got really ratty and lost a "googly eye" and my dad finally made me throw him away. I would go out to visit him in the garbage can outside every day until Dad took the trash to the dump. I can identify with Jude and his "Baba". It's traumatic! :)
10. I am extremely shy and don't like crowds or social gatherings that require petty "small talk".
So, there you have it. Some things you didn't know about me! :)
I think I'll tag Shebly. I know they're out of town, but she can catch up when they get back. :)
"The Lens" continued.......
When I got home a few minutes ago I checked my email and found another message from Ritz Camera to call and confirm my order. In case you missed yesterday's episode, we've already been through this. So, I called them back and got some guy with an incredibly thick accent who said his name was "John". Last night I got "Daniel". Come on Punjab, you're not fooling anyone here...... I'm not racist by any means but I hate it when companies outsource and then their CS reps tell you, in incredibly broken English, that their name is something like "Matthew" "Brenda" or "Christopher". Like that's going to fool you into thinking that you haven't just gotten some mass call center in India. Yeah, ok....I'm fooled. Whatever. Why can't they just say "My name is Rajib" or whatever it is? Is that a mandate from their company? I kind of feel sorry for them, actually. Anyway, I got "John" and he said that we needed to go through this little song and dance again. I asked if my order had been processed yet and he said "No, it ship tomorrow." This is what "Daniel" told me yesterday. At this point I'm getting a little cranky. I told him that I had been told the same thing yesterday. He just repeated "No, it ship tomorrow." I asked to cancel the order and he said ok. I also requested a cancellation number and he said he didn't have one. Something about just checking the order status on the web site in a few hours. I'm not totally confident that "John" and I communicated, but I'm praying he at least understood "CANCEL" and got it done. I plan to watch that credit card and if I see a charge I'll have to put a stop payment on it I guess. At this point I really don't have any other options.
So, feeling a little better about the whole thing I hopped over to OneCall to buy my lens. Guess what........ON ORDER!!!! AAAAHHHH!!!! NO NO NO!!!! I have to believe it was an error last night on the site that said it was in stock. I'm on their list to receive an email when it comes in and I never heard a peep and now the status is on order again. This sucks!
In the mean time, I checked my credit card online and I see there is a pending transaction for $1800. I called them to stop it and they said I can't do anything until the transaction is processed by the vendor. They said if I canceled the order I should see the pending trans disappear in 2 to 3 days. You can bet I'll be watching that one!!!
I'm going to go cry myself to sleep now........ :(
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
I think I'm going to vomit.........
I've been chasing the Nikon 70-200mm VR 2.8 for 2 weeks now. It's been out of stock EVERYWHERE!!!! I've tried OneCall (my first choice), Adorama, B&H Photo, and The Camera Corral in CDA. On order, on order, on order...... When asking when they would be in stock again, the same answer. "We don't know. They're flying out of here like nothing we've seen." Ok fine. I'll wait and just keep checking. I have checked for them daily for 2 weeks and they're still "on order". I even tried to buy the demo lens at Huppin's but they wouldn't budge. I even offered to buy a D300 body at the same time (seriously, I would have). They still wouldn't budge. This lens is a sweet lens. I mean, I have never seen such a nice lens. The clarity and bokeh are BEAUTIFUL! Not to mention the solid construction. I MUST have this lens. It's not an option anymore. It's become an obsession.
So, last night I was reading some reviews on Ken Rockwell's site. He has a link on his site to Ritz Camera, Adorama and Amazon for this lens. Of course, I already know that Amazon and Adorama don't have one. I clicked on the link for Ritz Camera.........drum roll please! (insert light from heaven and the Hallelujah chorus here).......THEY HAVE IT!!!! It's even the same price as it was at Huppin's. Fantabulous!!!! I'll take one! Usually, I have to agonize over a purchase like this ($1800.00) for days, sometimes weeks before committing. BUT I've done my homework, I know the value and this is the lens for me. So, I bought it. Here's where it starts to slide. This morning I checked my email and I have one from Ritz saying that I need to call their 800 number to confirm my order. Huh??? Didn't I just do that last night? You know, that little button that says "CONFIRM". The one you push after you give them your billing address, your shipping address, your mother's address, your credit card number and 4 or 5 secret codes relating to your credit card, your home phone, work phone, cell phone, neighbor's phone....and on we go. I thought we'd been through this already. So anyway, I called the 800 to see what the deal was. The deal is that they don't speak English. No, I'm sorry, that's not English. If English speaking Americans can't understand you, it doesn't count. So, I muddled through that conversation. What they want is the customer service phone number off the back of your credit card. I've never been asked for this before. So before giving them the number I called my CC company and asked them if that was "normal". They said that for large purchases online some companies call to verify the funds and such. Ok, that's fine. However, in the mean time I'm surfing the web looking for consumer reviews on RitzCamera. Bad idea. Why do I torment myself like this???? It's about 50/50 good and bad, but the bad is pretty bad. But, no one else has this lens and I'm dying for it. So, I press on. I called back to confirm, gave them the cust serv number for my card and checked yet again to be sure it was in stock. Yes, it will ship tomorrow.
So, by the time I got home from work today I had really been stewing about it. What if they're a scammy kind of outfit? What if the lens is damaged? What if it ends up to be a big ordeal? What if what if what if.....? My only saving grace in the whole thing is that no one else has the lens in stock. If I just keep telling myself this it will be ok. Right? WRONG!!!! I came home today and checked OneCall, just to torment myself I guess....... IT'S BACK IN STOCK!!!! I checked last night and it wasn't there. AAAAHHH!!!! What was I thinking????? I should have just waited. So now, I'm hooked up with some unknown, sketchy place with customer service in India. I could have ordered it today from OneCall. I even could have gone down to the store (Huppin's) and talked to Doug, my favorite sales rep, and taken one home tomorrow. WHY? WHY? WHYYYYYYYYYYY?
I'm crossing my fingers and praying that it arrives with no further issue. This is all so out of character for me. I NEVER buy from places I'm not familiar with. Usually, I'll make a small purchase or two to check them out. If all goes well, I'll buy something more significant. I don't know what I was thinking.............just shoot me!!!!
I'll keep you posted.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
The Amtrak Experience - Part 2
The Amtrak Experience - Part 1
Rodd and I just got back from our first "Amtrak Experience". I had to travel to Michigan on business and we decided it might be fun to take the train. I know, we have warped ideas of fun. Our trip was about 40 hours each way, boarding in Sandpoint, Idaho at 2:30am on Sunday the 18th and ending the eastbound trip in Grand Rapids, Michigan at 10:30pm on Monday night. The eastbound trip was relatively uneventful. We originally had a lower berth but when we boarded they told us that they had needed to move us upstairs. Fine. Whatever. We don't care.
The food was pretty decent although I can't say as much for the service. We had breakfast while skirting Glacier National Park. That was pretty cool, but the waitress was horrifying. She was completely demeaning to the other members of the staff and she was less than friendly to the patrons. Other than her, the dining experience was fine. You share a table with 2 other people, which being the recluse that I am, was not fabulous, but hey......it's the Amtrak Experience.
The "roomette", which will henceforth be referred to as "the closet", is about 3 ft wide and 6 ft long. I was a little concerned about claustrophobia, but it really wasn't bad. The bottom bunk is much less offensive than the top. Remember when you were a kid and you took that summer vacation in the 1960's camper? And you sat up one too many times in that "over the cab" bed? And you thumped a knot on your melon the size of a large lemon????? It's not unlike that..... HOWEVER, I have slept in worse places so I'm not complaining. It was MUCH better than being stuck in coach. What IS that smell........? We'll get to that in a bit.
The route from Idaho to Michigan is a very northern route and much of it is Montana and North Dakota. It's a little brown and drab, but I must say they have some fabulous "junk" photo opps. Of course you can't take advantage of them because you're stuck in the closet flying by at 70mph. There really were literally 100's of old rusty cars from the 20's - 50's along the edges of the fields by the tracks. There was also an oddly large number of appliances....... Appliances??? Hhhhhm. I don't just mean 2 or 3 old stoves. I'm talking, like, a LOT of them.....stoves, fridges, hot water heaters..... Not any houses or towns for miles around but appliances...... I don't get it. How did that happen? I can only imagine..... It must have gone something like this, "Well Henry, it's too bad about that appliance warehouse goin' belly up and all. What do you think we should do with all of these left over appliances? There sure are a lot of em'. I know, maybe we could just haul them out to the back 40,000 and scatter them along the railroad tracks. Nah, that ain't litterin'. No one will even notice if we spread them out a little bit. Yeah, from here to Minnesota would be good." Huh???
When we finally got clear of the plains and into Minnesota a bit we decided it might be fun to check out the observation car. We were traveling along the Mississippi at this point but it was on the opposite side of the car from our closet. The observation car was about 6 cars back from us. On the way back we had to pass through 2 coach cars. I wasn't prepared for the sensory assault that met us there! WHOA!!!! I suppose you have to keep in mind that this train originates in Portland. By the time you hit Minnesota these people have been almost 3 days without a shower.......and these cars must seat at least 50-80 people. AND the windows don't open. You do the math! Wow....hurry through those cars. After braving the stench we didn't even get to see the river anyway because the only available seats in the observation car were on the same side as our closet. Oh well.....back through the stench!
At LaCrosse, Wisconsin we were delayed for track work for about an hour. By the time we reached Chicago for our transfer we were an hour and a half behind schedule. Guess how much time we had to catch our next train? .........that would be negative 10 minutes. Yep, just missed it. BUT never fear, they're calling Greyhound!!!! Oh horrors! Now I've been on a Greyhound bus and have earned the right to say that. If you've "gone Greyhound" you can sympathize. So, they shuffled us off to a little room to wait while they "make arrangements". Whoohoo!! The bus is waiting on the curb! Let's go see what we've got! You know those nice big fancy tour buses that take the elderly tour group to the casino to lose all of their social security check? Yeah? Well.....it wasn't one of those. This one was more like the old hotel shuttle bus that is so dilapidated that the hotel simply can't duct tape it back together anymore. However, they didn't want to pay to have it towed away so they donated it to the inner city youth program because "it's for a good cause". "Oh yeah, you can HAVE it...Yep, for FREE. Just come and get her!!!". This thing made Greyhound look like a luxury line! We're talking black smoke rollin', fenders flappin', windows rattling, funky smelling, steaming pile. AND the driver was missing more teeth than is acceptable. I know, I'm awful, but I'm just trying to paint the picture for you here.
We all (there were probably 18 of us) piled into the "charter bus" where we proceeded to wait for another half hour before we could leave. I haven't a clue what the hold up was. When we got on and sat down I made the mistake of not paying close attention to my seat selection. If I had been paying attention I certainly would not have chosen this particular location. Yes, it had what may have seemed like a redeeming quality at the time. It was next to an emergency window exit so that when this rolling dung heap spontaneously combusted we'd have a means of escape. However, what I didn't realize was that a.) this exit window was loose in the frame and was going to rattle, bang and leak cold air for the next 3 1/2 hours and b.) I picked the hump over the wheel well!!!! AAHHH! How could I have been so careless? I'm a seasoned traveler and generally speaking I'm very cognizant of such things. What an IDIOT!!! So, here I sit...riding "the hump" from Chicago to Grand Rapids...... holding the emergency window closed for fear it might fall out, freezing my patootie off with my knees wrapped up around my ears. Oh God, please make it go by quickly!!!
There was some poor older woman (she said she was 70) sitting in front of us who was also freezing and had to go to the bathroom since leaving Chicago. Rodd graciously loaned her his jacket, but there wasn't much we could do for her on the other "issue". When we finally arrived in Holland, Michigan she mentioned again that she really needed to use the restroom. Rodd had gotten off the bus to stretch his legs a bit while the "Holland" passengers disembarked. He walked away from the bus a few steps and found our semi-toothless driver urinating in the flower beds!!!! How gross!!! What's up with that??? He can't stop so that Granny can use the restroom but he's taking care of business in the tulip bed at the train station!!!!! Amtrak will be hearing from me....... After the driver got back on the bus I asked him if we could make a restroom stop at a gas station for a few minutes. Poor Granny was honestly going to wet herself. He grudgingly conceded, but the lady sitting across the aisle from me absolutely blew a gasket!!! Now, I understand, we're all tired, we're hungry, we're sick of the bus, we're pissed because we missed the train etc. But come on, this poor 70 year old lady needed to use the restroom!!!! It'll take all of about 5 minutes! Anyway, we stopped and the few who were going to take advantage of the restroom went inside. Granny went first and headed back to the bus. Next there was a lady traveling with 2 little boys around 5 and 6 who needed to go. I stayed in the gas station to watch her kids so that she could use the restroom. Back at the bus I'm missing all of the fun. "Blew a Gasket" is growing increasingly pissed off. Granny told Rodd, "If she even says ONE THING I don't like, I'm going to tell her she can mark off a spot and kiss my you know what!!!!" Rodd said that the "blew a gasket" lady started yelling about how long it was taking and hollering for everyone to get their butts back on the bus and blah blah blah. She came off of the bus and headed for the gas station to herd everyone back. Granny was close on her heels telling her she can't talk to people like that. "Blew a gasket" told her, "I'm not even talking to YOU!!!!". Granny said, "No, you're talking to my friends!!!!" (Meaning Rodd and me). They continued to argue until I put my arm around Granny's shoulder and gently steered her back to the bus. She looked up at me and grinned and said, "Isn't that funny how we just became fast friends????" I was laughing my butt off. The rest of the ride to Grand Rapids was fairly uneventful, but Granny hinted that she'd like someone to wait with her while her ride came to pick her up. She was a little scared of "Blew a Gasket" now. Of course, we wouldnt have left her standing at the bus station in the dark / cold at midnight anyway.
We finally settled in to our hotel room at around 2:30am Tuesday morning. Whew! What a day!!!!
Stay tuned for Part 2!
Thursday, April 10, 2008
The Backroad to Hell...(an escape from Chaco Canyon)
We have visited Chaco Culture National Historic Park twice now. If you're into cultures of the past, American history and Anasazi ruins Chaco is certainly a place you don't want to miss. From Farmington, NM take Hwy 64 east to 550 and head south. Travel 550 for approximately 40 miles or so. The turn on CR 7900 is well marked for the park. You'll then travel another 21 miles to the park entrance. A very short part of the 21 miles is paved. The rest bears a strong resemblance to your great-grandmother's washboard. In fact, it is SO bad that we actually saw a bicycle that had vibrated right off of someones bike rack!
The park offers a one way tour through acres of carefully excavated ruins. The excavation is still in progress and it was fun to see what they'd accomplished between visits. These sites are huge, and unlike most sites, you can wander through them unattended at your leisure. This is the site of the ever photographically popular "infinity doors". The doors are located in the Pueblo Bonito site. On our first visit I didn't know which of the sites the doors were located in and so it was kind of a fun little "hunt" for them when we arrived. If you visit during a busy time it can be difficult to get a shot of all 4 doors without someone wandering through your shot. A little patience is all you need. It's worth the wait.
This particular trip was sort of an impromptu visit. We were planning to stay in Farmington but decided it was early in the day and we had more than plenty of time to visit Chaco while in the area. We cancelled our reservations and decided we'd camp at the park. We realized this was a risk, but figured if worse came to worse we'd just drive on to the next town for lodging. To our dismay, all of the campsites at the park were already taken and so we figured we'd just push on when we were done.
While out wandering the sites, the wind picked up and the sky darkened. It never really "rained" but there was a scattering of huge drops and we knew it was coming. We didn't want to backtrack all the way back to the highway we came in on so we decided to take the "back road" out of the canyon. Now, this "back road" is actually Hwy 57. Where they got the audacity to call it a highway is beyond me. It's not paved....it's not even gravel. It's what I would call something of a clay substance perhaps. The surface was somewhere between Elmer's paste and Mary Kay face masque. Before embarking, we stopped in at park headquarters and asked about exiting the canyon by that route....... "No problem!!!" they said. They also indicated that there was a family who lived about halfway between the park and Hwy 371 who rent campsites. We figured we'd check it out.
When we first started down the road everything was fine. It was a dirt road, but we weren't worried because we had 4 wheel drive and plenty of clearance should things get "iffy". We had driven for maybe a 1/2 a mile and found ourselves behind a little Toyota Avalon from Maryland I believe it was. I honestly have no idea how this couple made it out of there in that car. He had it wound up in first gear and there were times I was sure he was going to blow the engine! It spoke well of Toyota though! He offered to let us go by but we figured we'd better stay behind them in case they got stuck. At least they wouldn't be stranded (alone).
As we continued down the road, the surface became increasingly sticky. Before long, all of our tires were completely caked with this foul, sticky horrifying mud substance. I hesitate to even call it mud. Being a N. Idaho native I'm VERY familiar with mud and this stuff was like nothing I'd ever seen before. We had the Yukon in 4whl-low and were still spinning in this stuff. It was the scariest driving experience I've ever had in my entire life. The name of the game was "keep it between the ditches". I had no idea "mud" could be like this. Give me snow, give me ice, give me flood but please Lord, don't ever make me drive in this crap again!!!! I finally stopped on a cattle guard to try to scrape the tires off a bit. I couldn't stop on the road because walking in this stuff was impossible without falling down. It was useless. The stuff wouldn't even budge! It took us over 2 hours to drive the 20 some miles back to the main road. It was absolutely horrific. Crossing the cattle guard back onto the main highway was like crossing the finish line at the Boston Marathon! We all got out of our cars and ran around cheering! We had a bond with these people now. We had all survied the "Escape from Chaco" together.
We ended up continuing on to stay the night in Gallup, but that's another story for another day. Today, let me just say....If you're contemplating a stay in Gallup, just don't. And if you do, don't say I didn't warn you.
What is the moral of the story, you ask? Visit Chaco. It's a fascinating place. There are ruins and rock art galore. Don't miss it. Bring your camera, tripod and prepare to spend half the day here at least. But, whatever you do, DO NOT go out the back way if it is raining, has been raining, could start raining...... Even if it doesn't LOOK like rain, stay away. Whatever the cost, go back. You'll be glad you did.