26 and a quarter: February 2014

Friday, February 28, 2014

Highway 89

Highway 89 and 89A looks like this:

Zion won today. The late arrival and the rain at Zion turned me off on the idea of attempting Angel's Landing hike today. I wanted to do it because I knew there would be nobody on the trail, but I decided not to do it because I didn't want to fall off the 1,000 foot vertical drop on the five foot wide path near the top in the wind and rain and possibly snow. I'll try again tomorrow, but the weather is about the same so my chances of dying will be about the same.

Bucket List

Item 67: ~~See Grand Canyon~~

The Grand Canyon is grand.

So I took my clothes off.

My blue umbrella is my traveling gnome.

A decade of drought in the region, and just my luck, a giant rain and snow storm blows in just as I arrive. Thursday, my day at the grand canyon was fine.

Today, Friday, it was overcast and on/off rain. I've always enjoyed hiking in cool rainy whether, so I'm not too upset about hiking around Zion today in the cold and rain. There is a certain stark beauty to grey clouds and rain, as there is beauty in sunny weather. Traveling through this kind of weather is dreary and dramatic in a melancholy way I can't help but love.

The great thing about traveling around in the off season of late winter/early springtime is very few crowds and traffic; and cheap hotel rooms!

The grand canyon was cold because of the windchill. Zion today wasn't too bad, not much wind, just rain, probably upper forties, low fifties. Tomorrow should be about the same, mostly in the fifties.

If I make it to Bryce, through the snow and icy roads, it'll be much colder in Bryce. If I make try to do it. Driving times have been longer than i expected; my lazy ass sleeping in late everyday hasn't helped me keep to my itinerary either. I am behind schedule and was forced to spend two day in Zion, which is a good problem to have, but I will try to squeeze in a few hours in Bryce on Sunday if I can before driving back down to Phoenix. Bryce will be in the forties with some wind and snow on Sunday, temperatures overnight will be well below freezing so it's going to be icy.... which is a little worrisome to me having never driven on icy roads before. If Angel's landing in the slick rain doesn't kill me, Bryce's icy roads might... and if neither kill me, Winter will have to try to get me some other year.

Thursday, February 27, 2014

what a a week!

After my first flight got cancelled, i ended up having to cancel my first ticket and book a new one with Hawaiian instead. The good thing was there was a ticket, the other good thing was that it was first class, so i was forced to splurge and fly first class to get to my work conference on time. First class is pretty awesome, even for a short trip on a small plane. We had Guava juice mimosa's served to us right after we boarded. Guava juice mimosas. I had a feeling this was going to be a good trip from that point on.

This is a meal on first class on Hawaiian:

This is leg space on first class on Hawaiian. The arm rests were so far apart, i couldn't even comfortably put my arms on them:

Sat next to a lady whose mother was going schizophrenic, kind of a heavy conversation for single serving friend, but my prayers go out to her.

Then SF. Hostel. Drinks. Hostel. Airport. Carpool. Monterrey, CA. Got into SF, nice little homecoming to the Adelaide Hostel I stayed in all those years ago. It was pretty much the same. San Francisco was even awesomer than i remembered. Had a quick drink with James that turned into three or four drinks until closing. then woke up to go the conference.

The work retreat gave me about an hour to explore the area. I came up with this:

Feet in sand is becoming a thing.

Then... Airplane to Phoenix, then stayed the night at a hostel called Camelbackpackers. It was a pretty nice place.

Then i Drove from Phoenix. I17 North, took the scenic route through Sedona via 179, then 89A. The drive was okay. Not great, not bad. Then back on I17, then on to 40 and 64 up to Grand Canyon. At this very moment in time, i am staying in a roadside trading post that is surprisingly nice. I paid $69 for a giant room with two queen beds and amenities. This room is so sweet I am beginning to doubt the modus operandi of hostels and backpacking... But then again... i could spend three nights in the place up above, for the cost of one night here... plus the hostel has free food and cool people and guitars and music and free coffee and stuff...so no, backpacking is still awesome.