archives

Tuesday, July 1, 2003 mount up riders, we're off to the large hole in the ground-the grand canyon. first, however, we'll cross over the hoover dam. now, if you're planning to drive across this dam sometime in your lifetime, i suggest you hop in your dam car quickly, because osama bin laden and his friends george bush and tom ridge decided that national security will no longer be safe unless traffic is prohibited across the dam. now i cannot say i totally agree with every political move in the nation, however, i think i'll have to agree with this one. apparently, blowing up the dam would cause several tons of water to cascade down and flood phoenix. all in favor of diverting traffic- aye, oppose, strom? strom? oh, he finally passed on at the ripe age of 98. anyway, the hole in the ground. it's impressive. alright, it's pretty damn amazing. anyway, we got there around dusk. so we set up camp and watched the sunset. highlight of the day--hoover dam. more concrete than new york city (well, probably not, but it was a lot of concrete).

Wednesday, July 2, 2003 we awake, grab a shuttle, and begin a several mile hike around the southern rim. very scenic, no snakes, a few lizards, and hot again. back in the car again for a drive down to phoenix. oh, we're making terrible time, but why not, a random stop at some dormant volcano. the ground still littered with volcanic ash, though it hadn't erupted since 1180 a.d. interesting and worth seeing if you ever go to the grand canyon from phoenix, just don't plan spending too much time there. alright, onward to phoenix. check out the seguaro cactii and the coyote running across the road. arrive late at kristen's aunt and uncle-george and melinda. say hello to them and her parents who were also visiting at the same time. off to bed. highlight of the day--the giant seguaro cactii.

Thursday, July 3, 2003 happy birthday, kristen. now i don't want to say that george and melinda are loaded, but they've got a nice spot in life that's for sure. tivo, surround sound, speakers out by their pool, misters (which are wonderful things in hot, dry areas), a well behaved dog, and several other nice commodities. not only that, but they're absolutely wonderful people and extremely fun to hang around. for those who may know him, george reminded me very much of my uncle dave, who i will be visiting in vermont later this summer. anyway, they rented a boat, a tube, and water skis. now, i can no longer say i've never water skied. it took me a while, but i finally got the hang of it. it sounds weird, but i think i really liked falling face foward, and skidding across the water, finally, losing enough momentum to sink into the water. it just felt really wild. being exhausted from that, the rest of the day proceeded around naps, grilling, swimming, games, and drinking. highlight of the day--water skiiing

Friday, July 4, 2003 happy birthday, america. we awoke to the dry, heat only to enjoy that baking feeling by taking a hike. as hot as it was, it was still a nice hike. once again, no snakes, but plenty of lizards and cactii. some more games, then *boom* *ker-smack* *sizzle, sizzle* firework time. we got a nice outdoor seat, at a nice mexican restaurant, with nice margaritas, to watch the nice fireworks. bed again. highlight of the day--seeing a bobcat run across the road. big cat, big allergies.

Saturday and Sunday, July 5-6, 2003 we awoke, say our goodbyes to everyone then left for angela and tony's place in tempe (outside of phoenix). at first, it was great seeing those two folks again. second, it was just as great to find out that they weren't really up for doing too much outside their apartment. we were already hot and tired. finally, it was really, really great to find out that they possessed mario party 4. most of our time with angela and tony involved playing mp4 and talking. i personally could not think of a better way to spend my days with them. anyway, thanks george and melinda and angela and tony. highlights of the days--seeing angela and tony and playing mario party 4

Monday, July 7, 2003 farewell, angela and tony, hello again road. not much planned today. cruise across the arizona desert and climb the new mexico hills to view the largest gypsum desert in the world--white sands national park, closed during missle testing days. the dunes shift approximately 30 feet each year, and it was the whitest beach i'd ever seen. on conor's u.s. travel book, on page 73, you can see that i highly recommend staying at white sands, and do try to get a backcountry pass to camp there over night. so far, that's the one thing i regret about our trip. instead, we got a hotel somewhere on the apache reservation and watched x-files. highlight of the day--white sands