North ... to Wyoming

It's 10am, cloudless sunny morning in SLC ... I'm off - through Park City, then North into Wyoming to Yellowstone & Cody ...

A day in the air - Moab & the Arches

I wish I took more still photos (I've got great video footage tho) as I was treated to some amazing views today from the cockpit of John's twin engine Cessna. We left an airport in SLC around midday, flying directly for Moab and the around the Arches National park area over some spectacular slick rock & desert landscapes. John & Emma do a bit of off-road jeeping in this area which looks pretty wild. The slick rock mountain biking looks cool too, will make note of this for when I am here next!

I got to drive John's Dodge Viper when we landed back in SLC - I didn't use much of it's potential apparently, but I thought I did OK for a 1st time in rush hour traffic! Thanks for the great day John!

Temple City

Navigating your way around SLC is easy - the streets all form a grid, whose references can all be traced back to their distance from the Salt Lake Temple. The architecture in the Town's centre is largely dominated by the LDS Church. They have an interesting & sometimes colourful history, which I wont go into here, but I went on a tour of the temple (non Mormons cannot go into the Temple itself) grounds & buildings, escorted by 2 young Sisters on their mission. Free tours are on every 15 minutes & are well worth the effort, if for interest sake only. I gave my address for my free copy of the Book of Morman at the end, so I may get a visit sometime soon. I'm not sure what a fresh faced 20 year old missionary is going to be able to convince me of, but we'll see.

The rest of the town's centre is pretty immaculate. Great architecture too. Apparently it had a makeover for the 2002 winter olympics, which obviously helped, but it's location on the flat amongst surrounding mountain ranges & alongside the Great Salt Lake makes SLC a pretty attractive place.

Southern Utah Camping Sept 22-24

We (Emma, her friend Pita & I) headed south down the i15, camping for the weekend. It was dark by the time we got to look for our 1st camping spot, which was somewhere NW of the predominantly Morman town of St George.
We collected Sage brush & other dry wood, had a campfire, a few beers & looked at the stars before turning in for a fairly cold (but well wrapped) night in our tents. After packing up camp the next day we hiked around Snow Canyon State Park. The landscape around here was dominated by those amazing, kind of primeval, red-rock formations you've seen in Western shootouts where the gang has holed up in the desert. It was also bloody hot, considering I'd woken up to snow in SLC yesterday.

Later on (after a fairly sizable off-road campsite hunting venture - great driving Emma) we found a place to stay on a river bed somewhere in Cedar Breaks Canyon:










It was a great campsite, with the narrow river flowing nearby & plenty of dry wood for a roaring campfire. It was also the coldest night in a tent that I've ever experienced. However my 2 sleeping bags & wooley hat soon warmed me into a pretty good night's sleep.

We hiked in Dixie National Forest the next day, at about 10,500 feet which gave us breathtaking views (like the top photo) and also, at that altitude it literally was a breathtaking hike. Emma & I mostly trailed behind Super-Hiking-Chick Peta and her wonder-dog Sporen, the super fit & friendly black lab.

SLC Foot Treatment

Check this out. So far this trip has been an avalanche of new experience for me. One of which you can see in this photo. I've never had a pedicure before, and now I can fully recommend it! Thanks Emma for allowing me this experience in your shop, and thank you Tiffani for the extremely fine job and for making it such an enjoyable, if not ticklish time. PS - I now have my toenails painted an electric shade of blue. Don't ask me why, I just do.

SLC, Friday 22nd

The weather here has been great; cloudless & not too hot / cold. Dry, with the autumn colours starting to show themselves in the valley below the house. This morning, however, I woke up to a light covering of snow. Not entirely conducive to our intended camping trip today ... even Emma seemed a little dubious...

New Road Trip Vehicle ?!

Maybe not ... I think my gas bill would dramatically increase. But it would be a pretty cool way of seeing the country...

Salt Lake City Wed 20th Sept

After a much longer drive than I expected, I finally arrived in Salt Lake City at 6.30pm just as it was getting dark. My cousin Emma arranged to meet her & her partner John outside the zoo, which was on the way up to their place. I hadn't seen Emma since I was a kid, so naturally I was wondering what she was like. Well... she's cool! & so is John! I was welcomed warmly & me & my van were escorted up into the hills where their lovely home sits overlooking Emmigration Canyon to the lights of SLC.

The World's Fastest Indian

Check this out - Bonneville salt flats, where they break all the land speed records is just off the i80 as you get into Utah ... SLC here I come (I guess about 100 mikes to go ...)

The Big Sky (2) Sept 20th

Well, Winnemucca was interesting ... (last night mostly full of truckers & older people at the casino / restaurant) I had a strange, stodgy (almost tasty) beef & gravey concoction for dinner.

Phoned my cousin Emma & finally touched base last night from the motel (my txt messages weren't getting through). I will be visiting & staying with her today. Haven't seen her since I was about 10 ...

The Big Sky (1)

Leaving Yosemite, I drove for a while at over 9,000 feet. (How high is Mt Cook?).

Down, down, down, descended to around 5,000 feet, past Mono lake & then through Carson City (pretty, not quite what I expected, but I was going on Mark Twain's account of it which I imagine is a little out of date...)

Onto Reno Nevada (getting HOT now in the afternoon), didn't stay long as wanted to get on. Blinked & missed my first State line crossing. Contacted my cousin Emma who lives in Salt Lake City, so I now had a goal to get across there to visit ... roll on the interstate 80 (i80).

This is where I experienced my 1st BIG drive - nothing but a straight road for miles ... dramatic desert lanscapes, occasional STRONG cross winds buffeting the van, BIG trucks rumbling past, & a BIG sky full of a variety of cloud & weather patterns ...

Had to break this trip in 2 - stopped at a motel in Winnimucca, in the middle of nowhere, nothern Neavada. (got some coupons for the local casino too - bargain!)

Yosemite - 18-19 Sept

Holy sh*t it was cold last night! The air in the air bed must have been dry-ice or something. Managed to sleep after a while ( was in bed by 8 as had nothin to do once it got dark!). Had a slight disagreement with a bloke who turned up to his camping spot once he returned from being lost. I chose to ignore his little tent in the far corner of the area. Was OK in the end - I just moved the van a bit, because the plonker wanted to light a fire (close to my parking spot). He was gone when I awoke.

Cruise down into the Yosemite Valley for brekky & to check the place out. The rangers had roped off an area right by the visitor center - because a bear had climbed one of the trees - right to the most extreme, thin branches - & was chewing on acorns! Hiked to the top of Verna falls - a bit of a climb up hundreds of granite steps. Spectacular views - the sheers walls of rock amongst the trees is something pretty unique.



Drove out of the valley & camped again that night - at an elavation close to 8,500 feet. But I was more prepared for the cold this time + I had seen the videos in the visitor centre showing how beers frequently rip car doors open like a can opener if they can smell food inside! This was a bear area so I made sure I had everything smelly in the bear locker. Was alot of scratching type of noises around the van for a large part of the night (so it seemed). I couldn't see out so well, so at one stage I blasted the horn& flashed my headlights. It seemed to make the noises stop. There weren't alot of other people at the site. (apart from a guy sitting up late watching TV outside his tent). $10 was all they charged for this camp-place - you leave it in a box at the entrance.

To Yosemite ...

17th Sept - I've been staying in Mill Valley now for over a week - & I'd like to thank Toby Reed for his generosity in allowing me the use of his apartment for that time.

The cheapest gas I've got so far - $2.55 a gallon - was just down the road from where I was staying (at a gas staion right next door to another one charging $2.79 - go figure? - great competion here, NOT like in NZ).

Was pretty hot in that part of California - heading South on the freeways. I had the needing to get a matress thing on my mind when, like a beacon in the fog I spied a Walmart. I had reached the town of Tracey. So, for a mere $34 I got an airbed + 12V air pump & I was away laughing. Finally got to the park entrance around 6.30pm. At the gate I bought an all National Parks pass for $50 - great value considering it's $20 to get into Yosemite alone.

Called into the 1st camping area I came across - Crane Flat - I parked the van in a spot (including a picnic table, fire ring & bear-proof food locker) & got set up pretty quickly...

On the Road ...

Well, I'm now leaving the San Francisco Bay area ... to Yosemite. Should be 3-4 hours. Just need to get up NOrth on the 101, cross the Richmond Bridge, get on the 580, then ...

There's not a cloud in the sky & I'm rearing to go!

Bargains to be had...

Got me some stuff for the trip yesterday ...
- 1 GALLON of distilled water ...99c
- bath towel from target $2.99
- full double sheet set $7.99
- duvet / 'comforter' $13.98
- a foon for $2 (bet ya don't know what that is)
- & a new pair of Timberlands from a factory outlet for $39

Just need to get some sort of matress before I get to the park ...

Beach Volleyball in the Dark

Hey guys, thanks for a great night of beer, bbq & beach volleyball. You know who you all are, I wont publish here where or when this regular event is, but it sure makes for a fun night.

Thank you Hannes for taking me along & introducing me to everybody. Funny how, as the night wore on, the games became increasingly competitive & we all became more & more skillful.

Giants 5 Rockies 0

Went to the ball game at the AT&T park on the bay's waterfront yesterday. What a great stadium! Built in a classic design of the ball parks of years goneby, even the views from the worst seats give you a great outlook over the marina & the Bay Bridge. I got to see Barry Bonds bat (& got some good closeup footage), but he didn't hit any homers this time. The promanade level of the park takes you all the way around the field, with a HUGE (& fairly pricey) array of food, drink & merchandise on offer. I sampled a Giants Hot Dog ($3.75), an all-beef Superdog ($4.50) & a Louisianna Hot Link (another hot dog, with a kick) for $5.25. Washed down with a couple of Sierra Nevada pale ales, this mixture in my stomach produced a slightly (only slightly) uneasy feeling of not wanting to eat anything else for quite a while.

Apart from the Giants much needed win, other notable stories in today's Chronicle:
* Senate committee rejects President Bush's proposed strategies on torture of enemy combatants
* So far, the hurricane season is pretty tame (good news for me!)
* The CIA knew Hussein had no ties to bin Laden, but did not pass this onto the White House, and;
* Dog the Bounty Hunter has been arrested on charges in Mexico for kidnapping

Sorted ! ... almost, + a few sights along the way

Now I have a cellphone (pay-as-you-go) & insurance for the van ($420!) + I've become an AAA member (needed for the insurance, but a good idea considering the miles I'll be doing). Just waiting for the DMV papers ...

Yesterday, after having lunch & checking out the sights on Haight I walked all the way back to the Civic Center passing through what I would call a dodgy looking neighbourhood. There were quite a few cops about in places, and at times it seemed I was the only white guy for a mile! The look of a neighbourhood can suddenly change in a couple of blocks when you walking a fair distance.

Around the town here it rivals London in the amount of people begging for change. A guy with one leg the other day had a sign that claimed he was a vietnam vet, yesterday a guy on Haight needed dollars for weed. One skinny white guy claiming he was from San Rafael accosted me yesterday and became agressive when I said no - I felt like booting him in the bollocks & telling him to f*** off, but I didn't! I gave a buck to another guy shortly after - he was alot more polite ...

There was heaps of 9.11 memorial coverage on TV & the papers ... Helen Clark was 1 of only 2 world leaders quoted in the San Fran Chronicle.

Speaking of T.V. - I've emailed Jerry Springer to see if I can get free tickets to one of his shows (the address is advertised during the show). Go Jerry! Go Jerry! ...

Haight-Ashbury & CHANGE of PLAN

Hey - I'm on Haight, where the Summer of Love kicked off. Thesedays, it's alot of bohemian cafes & boutiques. It's still cool tho, still plenty of interesting characters (seemingly both friendly & non) about. Plenty of people talking to themselves. I got some great footage of Mr T.V. doing his George Bush routine.

Had a delicious feed last night, courtesy of the great hospitality of Chris & Lydia of Coute Maderia. They also managed to change my intended route through the USA. I'll head North, instead of South 1st - this way I'll :
1 Miss the tropical storm season in the South & ;
2 Miss the snow & sleet of the Northern Midwest coming back in November

Makes sense to me!

So Far I have learned:

1 Especially in the summer San Francisco is blanketed in fog mornings & evenings. It's been in fog the whole time I've been here. (not so much over in Marin) It actually gives the air a clean fresh feel - especially coming off the redwoods up here.

2 The toll south over the Golden Gate bridge by car = $5 ! + you can unexpectedly come across other freeways which have a toll (mostly $3)

3 "Yield" means Give Way

4 Dr Pepper, is an awful, sweet, chemically-poisonous tasting fizzy drink that I could only stomach 2 mouthfuls of.

5 In and Out Burger - not a bad feed as far as fast food goes

6 Freeway 101 South is full of potholes

7 MASSIVE SUVs & pickups are commonplace

8 Sometimes, the driving here is crazy!

9 you don't have to wear a helmut here to ride a bike

Driving in California Lesson#1

Phoned a truck sales yard in Princeton down on the coast (on Adam's recommendation), and they had a 1990 Ford Aerostar in good condition for $2,200. I'd never heard of it, but Bill has one & said that it was a great deal. So I hired a cheap little Toyota in Mill Valley & high-tailed it down to Princeton immediately.

When I say I high-tailed it, I actually missed a couple of exits on the freeway & ended up going alot further, but I got there in the end. The van was perfect, Steve & Anna at the car yard were nice & were also DMV dealers so all the paperwork could be done from there. So - got me a car within a day of arriving - yeehah!

Note - here on the freeway, I've experienced the most aggressive driving ever! I had to rev the shit out of the little Toyota to change lanes, as they're not big on letting you in here. Bill says it's a California thing & the drivers in rest of America are fine. Let's hope!

Arrive San Fran Sept7th !!!

It's now Saturday the 9th & I'm in sunny Mill Valley, Marin County just a bit north across the Golden Gate Bridge. I'VE BOUGHT A CAR ALREADY (Photo to come), and ... the San Francisco fog has lifted today (out here in Marin anyway).

I was met at the Airport by my mate Adam's mate Bill, who has very kindly put me up in his apartment here in Mill Valley. There was not much sleep to be had in economy class on the flight, however I was wide awake & rearing to go by the time I walked through US Customs & immigration. Here I had both my index fingers scanned for their prints + a digital photo taken. Apart from that, nothing unusual (EXCEPT that I could not buy duty free booze as I did not do it 90 mins before my flight ... only for flights to the US)

I imagine I would have had trouble with US immigration if I answered YES to the following question on the Visa Waver entry form:

Have you ever been or are you now involved in espionage or sabotage; or in terrorist activities; or genocide; or between 1933 & 1945 were involved ... in persecutions associated with Nazi Germany ...?

I didn't have to think too hard about that one before I answered no, I wonder who would answer yes? Keep an eye on the person next to you on the plane when filling these in ... ask to change seats if they do tick yes to this, I'd suggest.

While waiting outside the airport for Bill to get his car, I saw a line afet line of the biggest SUV's I've ever seen. Dodge RAMs, Hummers, BIG Fords & GM's, even the Japanese vehicles are beefed up for the American market. It looked like a military procession, with all those tinted windows. It wasn't - they seemed to be mostly mothers with small children. Herne Bay & Ponsonby soccer moms aint got nothin on these women.