Getting Started - December 3-12

Hey Y'all!

You are getting spammed because you either a) expressed interest in what I was up to; b) feigned interest in what I was up to; c) provided housing for what I was up to; d) were on my last list of what I was up to; or e) being sent this by accident.

Where am I? Depends on what day it is. I departed San Francisco, by car, two Wednesdays ago. I am now in an EconoLodge (the Bates Motel) in Flagstaff, AZ watching 'High Noon' (which, besides Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly, has Lee Van Cleef, Harry Morgan, Lloyd Bridges, and 'Uncle Billy' from 'It's a Wonderful Life'). I've been a few places in between and will be a few more places afterwards. According to the AAA Trip Kit and if I do not deviate from the plan, I will cover about 3,000 miles and be sitting in a car seat for about 53 hours. Ouch.

Why am I doing this? I have never been to the Grand Canyon on the ground. I figured I had seen enough old stuff in Rome so it was time to tour the American Southwest and see some old stuff state-side. I also figured I could get some skiing in somewhere as there is no good snow in Tahoe. So, with that in mind, I loaded up the golf clubs and the skis and I started with a trip down to LA to see my mom (old stuff or skiing - you make the call).

I did not want to spend a lot of time on the road to LA as I would have plenty of time to in the car anyway. The Pacific Coast Highway is the most scenic way to go down but you better set aside two to three days to do it (and I had already done it). The 101 is the next quaint option; I've done that one, too. The 5 is the fastest. I've also done that but I needed to get to LA by supper time.

There is nothing to see on the 5. There is plenty to smell but nothing to see. I made LA by supper. My appetite showed up shortly thereafter.

My first day in LA I checked out the LA Contemporary Museum of Art and the La Brea Tar Pits. They're next to each other. The LACMA had a number of exhibits going on. One was a collection of items William Randolph Hearst had acquired. This showed that money cannot buy taste. There was a collection of Vanity Fair portraits. There was another collection of post WWI German art including the film 'Metropolis'. This fell into a bunch of depressing Picasos and other dreary modern art. Good thing the Tar Pits were on the opposite side of the museum...

The second day in LA I took the Porsche up to Malibu to grab a bite in The Grove (all the stars do it) and then check out the Getty Villa on the way back. You are supposed to book for the Villa ahead of time but, alas, my people did not. It made no difference as the personnel at the gate just happened to have some extra VIP passes. The Getty Villa is a pretty good concept done well. The Villa is a montage replica of a Roman vacation villa and it contains a bunch of Roman art and statues. This would have been pretty spectacular if I had not actually just been in Rome. As it was, me and my Porsche were bored.

(Disclaimer - I do not have a Porsche. It was borrowed. I also took my mom. So, no, I did not look so cool.)

For the third day it was off to the Rose Bowl to see USC beat UCLA in a cross-town college match up. Good thing USC did not need their kicker. It was a blow out but with the Trojans in red and the Bruins in blue it made a visually appealing game.

On Sunday I took off for The Bolders in Carefree, AZ (outside of Phoenix). On the way there I dropped in on the Joshua Tree National Park. Coming from the north entrance was pretty spectacular. After that, there is a lot of nowhere to the Cottonwood gate and the 10. I would imagine that coming in from the Cottonwood gate would not be so spectacular.

My uncle housed me in The Bolders so it was another extremely tough stretch of the trip. Eighteen holes of golf Monday, a couple of good meals, relaxing at a five star resort... very trying.

And now I sit here... in the dark... at the Bates Motel... watching a hockey game (I switched from 'High Noon')... listening to the trains roll by...

Oh, before here I went to Jerome, AZ. It was once the Billion Dollar Mine and now is a ghost town occupied by hippie artist and wannabe bikers. When the mines stopped giving in 1953, the town population went from 15,000 to about 100. It's back up to about 300 or so. The old Douglas house covers the story pretty well and provides a cool view back into the Verde Valley. If you're nearby, it's worth the trek.

From Jerome I took the 89 up to Red Rocks and then on to Sedona. Been there; seen that; did it again. Sedona is a haven for schlock art and crystals (think harmonic conversion and the band Yes and you have a pretty good picture). However, it does have a pretty nice backdrop as its skyline is red rocks, towers, buttes, and mesas. Unfortunately, I dawdled too much time in Sedona and did not go through Oak Creek Canyon until late in the day. I wish I had done it when the sun was higher.

So, tomorrow brings (hopefully no bed bugs from the No Tell Motel) a swing past Sunset Crater and Wupatki National Monument before I roll into the Grand Canyon for two nights at El Tovar. Friday will be the biggest and brightest full moon of the year. A "perigee" (nearby) moon. According to the space geeks, on December 12th the Moon will be 14% bigger and 30% brighter than lesser full Moons of the year. So coming to the Grand Canyon in the dead of winter wasn't such a bad idea after all.

After that the plan is the Ancestral Puebloan cliff dwellings in Navajo National Monument; more rocks in Monument Valley; the only place where fours states converge at Four Corners; passing through Mesa Verde; Durango and Silverton for more old west mining towns; and Telluride for a little skiing. Then I have to figure out if I am going back west or just ski Colorado until January.

It's a hard knock life.

On the road again.
Hank