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.

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. 

February 2014 Travel Denied

Well....that was anticlimatic.  Flight cancellations suuuuuuuuuuuuck. Weak-ass pilot calling in sick.  

February 2014 Travel

Awwwwwwww yyyyyyeyeyeheyeheyahaheaheaheahehae.

song

Here are my goals for this trip: 

1. Take selfie at Grand Canyon

2. naked shot at top Angel's Landing at Zion park



3. Dinner at Leopolds in SF

Organic Jack Cheese with Portabello Mushroom

There's this really good cheese (see title) at Safeway that isn't always available, it's available now.  I would advise anyone reading this to go get some right now.

I love Justin Beiber's DUI mugshot.  The photographer's all like, "Now, give me a bloodshot glazed-eye smile of denial.  Bigger, yes, just like that, hold it... beautiful."

I never paid much attention to Beiber, I've never known more about him then what I accidentally learn from article headlines while perusing Google News for more important things.   I never liked him, but he's really won me over with this picture.  This is a guy with a sense of gallows humor.  To be able to smile like that in a mug shot that probably signals the end of your career takes admirable gumption.

omelette, toast, salad and grapefruit soup. 

I can see my house from here!

i like this picture.  I like the contrast between the deep and light blues, the shades of verdant green demarcating levels with the rusty brown foreground.

Also, my nekkedness acts as a riveting focal point that provides a delicious aesthetic tension; your eyes can't quite decide whether it wants to ogle the majestic Hawaii landscape or admire the firm, yet soft and pale undertones of my ass.

Do coffee shops stay open on Christmas Day?

A: no, they do not (unless you count 7-11 as a coffee shop).

We fed the homeless today.  I suppose I could feel sad and cry about how tough their lives are.  I suppose I could feel good about feeding the homeless, but really...i just feel silly.  Feeding the homeless once a year is like putting a band-aid on a patient with stage IV terminal cancer.

Where was everybody when the City Council tried to outlaw laying on public sidewalks?  

First thanksgiving at my new place, second turky I've every baked in my entire life.  It was meh.  Can't complain considering it was the first time i used that oven too.

Tribe-less.  Outcast.  Outsider.  I have wandered the desert of a life for too long.  too long it has been until now.  i have found my people. I have found my tribe.

 The people at the mall bookstore at 9pm on a Saturday night.  My People.  Home. 

Moving

What are friends for if not for helping you move heavy furniture hither and thither. 

There was a lay buddhist who lived by the rule of 100.  In his simple home, he had 100 items... his rule was to never have more than 100 material possessions.  a mattress counted as one, a bed sheet was another item, a fork was another... one hundred objects and no more.  anytime he acquired or was gifted a new item, he must get rid of something to keep the number below 100.  I want to live like this.  i want bare empty walls that echo my footsteps back to me when i come home from work.  i want a chair.  a table.  a lamp.  for one.

I never want to move house again.  I will never have to.

but its hard to live with few things in my new home when my mom keeps decorating the place with things i don't want during the day when I'm at work.  fancy bookcases when i want disposable lightweight particle board shelves... vases with live plants when i want institutional severity.


so many thirtieth birthdays...so many people having babies...

His name was Daud.  he played sad sounds. 

I've been disinclined to write in this here blog of mine.  may be cuz I've found easier times.  But I won't just delete this web site yet.  This too shall pass is what they say and interesting times will come my way again someday. 

this man with this song makes me hurt and i am doing you a favor by sharing this pain

Premise 1:
Generosity while possessing great wealth is easy.

Premise 2:
Generosity and giving when you have little is difficult.

Conclusion:
If you are financially poor, but want to give, give those ephemeral things which everyone has an abundance of: Love, Time, Compassion, Help, give of yourself, rather than material wealth.

But if you don't have financial or spiritual wealth to give, or just don't want to give what little you have, no worries.  Givers can't be Givers without Takers, right?

Yin and Yang.

It's a beautiful thing when you hear about a poor person giving generously of what little they possess.  But "the fact that people are poor or discriminated against doesn't necessarily endow them with any special qualities of justice, nobility, charity or compassion."  Or does it?  I will have to think more about this.

The Hawaiian Islands: a Retrospective

It's been years since I've been to the outer islands.  I haven't set foot on the outer Islands since at least 1999.  I've forgotten, assuming I ever knew, how beautiful the islands are.

Each island is different.  Big Island has the lush east side, with volcano landscapes.  The west side is drier, almost dessert-like at times.  Maui, the parts I saw, had undulating pasture lands.  Kauai was lush all around.

I see why tourists come to Hawaii.  It's a pretty place.

I attended a keynote speech at a tourism conference today, actor and travel writer Anthony McCarthy.  I agreed with everything he said.

He spoke not about the facts and figures and corporate activity of selling hotel rooms and plane tickets.  He talked instead about the beauty and spirituality and inner growth experiences of Travel.  I laughed when he argued there is no difference between the definition of "travel' and "vacation".  I had just learned myself that there is a big difference between those loosely associated terms.  Though I would say the two are two completely different activities, I agree with him when he says that both lead to learning moments.  I waited after his speech and spoke to him and shook his hand because I was so tickled by his speech...I totally "got" what he was saying.

He spoke about the superficial Hawaii vacation, i.e. the Mai Tai's at a beach side hotel bar in Waikiki. But he also said that Hawaii, and traveling in general, can provide a deeper experience to individuals.  He called them "ah ha!" moments.  I just call them moments.

Here is a moment  on a deserted black sand beach on Maui:

Reminiscent of El Salvador many miles away.

One of the more relaxing moments on my cruise trip.  I believe this was on the Big Island.  A few miles south of Waikoloa Village.

good wine and bad chinese food, or was it the other way around?

So it goes.

Haleakala

I watched the sunrise.

And I bought a red hat.

I didn't realize how disappointed I could be until I finally got what I always wanted. 

Ocean Roads

I learned during this seven day cruise experience with my extended family that there is a difference between "vacations", "family vacations" and "traveling".  I prefer the last.

I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of service on the boat.  All the little services and amenities added up to a pretty nice experience.  I wasn't expecting much from the staff on the boat, but it wasn't bad.  It wasn't 5 star, but it was more than i expected.   Other more experienced cruisers, they like to call themselves "cruisers", said that this particular cruise wasn't that great in terms of food or service or activities.  My feelings about it is that you're not really paying to stay on the boat to watch shows, swim in the pool and eat buffetts, you're there to go on shore and see the islands.

This is one of those vacations where I'm going to need a vacation to recover from it.  It was very fun, but tiring.

I learned many things about family, life, health, patience, kids,  etc...

 I learned it takes about 30 minutes to get kids ready to go somewhere in a car.

Not that there was any doubt before, but i would reiterate that i'm definitely not having kids. Nope.

The morning that I left I packed my things into my old backpacking backpack, the one i've used on my previous two trips.  the moment I swung the straps over my shoulders and the familiar weight settled against my back, it felt so right.  It felt so good.  I asked myself why I was wasting my life away in an 8:30am to 6:30pm desk job.  I should be traveling the world.  You should have seen the grin on my face as I walked out my front door to my seven day cruise adventure.  You should have felt my contentment at that moment in time. 

Things Lonely People Do. Go!

1. Talk to self.
2. Order take out.
3. Self-improvement activities.
4. Smile at seemingly nothing.
5.

I was sitting in a doctor office waiting room this morning.  out of boredom I decided to call the surf report to see what the waves were doing that day.  I called the number absentmindedly and when the recorded voice said, "hey there..." I said "hey!" back like it was a real person i was calling, and not an automated recording.

I panicked because there were other people in the room with me and they would know something was up if I sat there for two minutes in silence and listened to the voice recording.

So what did I do?  What else could I do?  I said out loud, "Oh, okay, sure no problem, I'll call you back later" and then hung up the phone.  Crisis averted. 

pardon my weeks of silence, dear reader.

To Coffee!  To self destruction via subtle addictions!  to cigarettes, the addiction that never quite goes away...to coffee and cigarettes...

To those evil terrorists who hate our freedom! To those evil muslim terrorists stealing all my street parking during Ramadan!

To surfing past sunset, till you can't even see the waves coming at you anymore!

To friday nights alone, discovering new music!

To organic creamy jack cheese with portabello mushrooms!  that shit is delcious and makes me feel like i'm eating a meal in a fancy restaurant even though I'm just sitting by myself in my boxers eating sandwhich salad and watching Hulu.

To the Postal Service (the music group, not the government service provider though they are great too)! Finally ending their ten years silence with a remastered two disc album including b-sides and remixes of their one and only album.  I am very happy they put something new out.  I love the strange melodramatic nostalgia postal service evokes in me, even though there is no rational reason for it.  I guess that's why we listen to music, to live vicariously through the artist.

Aaron Hernandez

I don't believe this is happening. Why would anybody do such a horrible thing to such a wonderful person?  What did he ever do to anybody?!  Why would some evil bastard, with the help of complicit crooked cops frame poor Aaron Hernandez???  Somebody in the Massachusetts Police department must have a vendetta against Bill Belichick, Tom Brady and the Patriots.  Somebody must have put a lot of money in a long bet against the patriots this season and is now conniving to sabotage their season.  But I'm not too worried.  With Brady under center, anything is possible.  Poor Hernandez, why is he being framed?  Who is framing him?!  I just don't understand why this is happening!

Heat vs Spurs

I am so confused.  It's been six exciting games into this year's NBA Finals and I still haven't figured out which team I want more to lose.  Should I pick the spurs, a dirty, flopping, boring, gang of pussies who robbed my Steve Nash and his suns of a NBA championship back in 2007?  Or the Heat with everyone's favorite target of hate, myself included, Lebron James?  There's just something in his stupid face that makes me hope he maxes out at one championship.

Can both teams lose? What happens if at the end of quadruple overtime, the game is still tied?

God, I hope a giant meteor will fall out of the sky and smoosh both teams.  That would be the ideal. 

This is so frustrating! I want them both to fail, but one will win!