Travelogues | The Habitation of Justice

Category Archives: Travelogues

Postings discussing travel in general or serving as travelogues of my experiences as I journey around the country (and the world.)

I love Los Angeles, and BlogWorld was awesome (sort of)

Written by Lincoln Adams on December 5, 2011 | 6 Comments
Filed Under: Travelogues

The title of this post is actually a spin of last year’s title: I HATE VEGAS (and BlogWorld Expo Sucked, Sort Of)

What a difference a year and a city makes, eh?

When I attended BlogWorld last year, it was actually the first time I had ever been to a conference (other than job expos that is.) See, me being a government stooge, I am hence not important enough to my employer that I should attend seminars, conferences, classes or indeed any form of training that could actually improve my skillset. Although to be fair, it wouldn’t have been logical anyway, since my job doesn’t really require a skillset to begin with.

So I was basically a weenie conference virgin, having no clue what to expect, and worse yet, what I was expected to do. Needless to say, the experience in Vegas was something I hope not to repeat in this lifetime.

But… this time I was sure things would be different, as I had now had the experience of attending a few more conferences after Vegas (including SXSW), and as a result gained a deeper understanding of how they operated, and how to make the most of them. After a year’s time I would finally get my second chance with BlogWorld in the City of Angels.

But first, Venice Beach!

This is where my iPhone bit it too...

I went straight from the airport to Venice Beach… actually no, I went straight from the airport to In and Out Burger, THEN to Venice Beach. I wanted to cram as much sightseeing as I could my first day here before BlogWorld started, so the net result was a whirlwind of an afternoon driving up and down the coast near L.A.

So I’m on Venice Beach now, snapping shots with my iPhone when I feel a tickle at the back of my neck. Thinking it’s an L.A. sized mosquito about to suck half the blood out of my body, I instinctively slapped my neck… and my iPhone goes FLYING.

All I could do was watch as it glides through the air like Icarus to the sun before plunging down into the cement. Then bouncing three or four times.

I immediately picked it up (after I screamed for a good long while) and initially it seemed to be fine. I had it protected in an Otterbox case and there were no scratches or apparent damage. I looked to have dodged a bullet there.

Well, not quite… but more on that later.

So I walk back to my car… and there’s a parking ticket. I’m gone what, 5 minutes? I’ve been in L.A. all of what, 30 minutes? And already I get a ticket?

Stupid, stupid parking signs. I got thrown off by the fact that there were so many of them, and never noticed the parking sign telling me I had to PAY like 100 yards away from where I parked. One sign said 30 minutes parking, then the one after it said 2 hours parking. I should have looked further, allllllll the way down the block to see the parking meter, but I never saw it. Blah. $60 down the tube, and I hadn’t even checked into my hotel yet.

Ok, fine, whatever. I drove further up north to get a peek at Santa Monica (unable to stop though because unlike Venice Beach, you need actual coins to park here), and kept going until I reached Mulholland Drive.

Mommy, Mommy, look at me, I'm on Mulholland Drive! Wheeeeee!

I paid the price for that little detour though, as it was now after 4PM, which meant once I was back on the main roads, I would soon experience L.A. rush hour traffic in all its glory.

Fortunately I’ve been hardened by the experience of driving in rush hour traffic in both Long Island and New York City, so in the grand scheme of things, L.A. traffic wasn’t THAT bad in comparison. Still, I’d rather perform a hernia operation on myself using a wooden spoon than go through that experience again.

I finally made it to the Westin, checked in and met up with all my BlogWorld buddies later in the lobby.

You know, it occurred to me that I hardly have any pictures from BlogWorld itself. Weird. I guess because it’s so people oriented, while my focus is more about the atmosphere around us. People are more or less the same, but the environment we’re in is always in a state of change and flux. I guess that’s why so many of my photos never have people in them.

I am mindful of that though, so every now and then when I’m taking pictures I try to be a bit more inclusive:

Koko poses in front of the Hollywood Sign. Who says I'm not a people person?

Actually I think another reason why I didn’t take a lot of photos at BlogWorld may be due to the fact that my iPhone went crazy. I was taking a morning drive before a seminar took place, when suddenly the antenna no longer functioned. I lost my GPS, cell signal, even Wi-Fi. Suddenly I’m on a strange highway, I have no idea where I am, and it’s time to start panicking. I wound up somewhere in Pasadena where I finally had the good fortune to find a Starbucks, fired up my iPad on the free Wi-Fi and then started my desperate search for an Apple Store. I found one just down the road in Glensdale, and after chatting with a sweet Genius Bar girl, she had me up and running with a brand new iPhone 4S, complete with an iCloud restore all at now cost to me. Apple = WINNING!

I had several gigs of apps though, and because it required Wi-Fi to restore everything, I still had to make do without a lot of them for the next few days, since I just didn’t have time to hang out at the Apple Store all day waiting for all my apps to restore. I had a conference to attend!

In hindsight I wish I had stuck around, the hotel’s Wi-Fi was so awful I would have gotten better results jacking my iPhone up to a 2400 baud modem. Sigh.

I did eventually get back into the swing of things though, attending some of the Travel and Tourism track seminars, and discovering somewhat to my amazement that I actually recognized and personally knew some of the people sitting on the panels now. They either told us things that confirmed what I already knew (such as using a media kit for pitches, what associations to join to network with other bloggers and PR representatives, etc.) and things I didn’t know, such as the best apps to use for multimedia storytelling (Hollywood in Your Pocket turned out to be one of my favorite seminars for this reason.)

I also met and talked to some really great people, people like Liz Strauss (who hugged and kissed me like I was family) and several other established voices in the blogging industry. Even at the expo, I was running into people I already knew and corresponded with online, even the guys who built the theme I use for my blog. This was no longer a stranger in a strange land experience for me anymore. I was now legitimately a part of this world.

I handed out my wooden nickels, attended dinners, seminars and and dialogued with as many travel bloggers as I could find (at least the ones who didn’t run like crazy when they saw me coming.) All in all, BlogWorld, LA for me had become the very polar opposite of BlogWorld, Las Vegas.

I still had a city to see though, so in between getting my iPhone replaced, attending BlogWorld LA and getting tagged with parking tickets, I still found time to see the best of what the California had to offer.

Panorama of LA from Griffith Observatory

Griffith Park Observatory: Two Parts Awesome, One Part WIN!

I had time to visit Griffith Park, which incidentally is also one of the best places to see the Hollywood Sign unobstructed, as well as downtown L.A.. I was truly marveled by the contrast between the panoramic views of pollution free Denver in Colorado and the smog that blanketed the region here. And I was told the pollution wasn’t as bad as it used to be too. Wow.

I was also surprised by the experience of seeing Hollywood Boulevard for the first time. Considering this is where all the red carpet shows take place, I was expecting a bit more… glamour? Or perhaps, a spotless, glittering street of gold if you will. Instead it looked and felt grimy to me, something akin to the experience of walking down Times Square before Giuliani cleaned it up. The streets smelled of faint sewage, while celebrity look-alikes and solicitors for bus tours relentlessly, and I mean RELENTLESSLY try to get you to anty up your cash. Grauman’s Theater looked old and not as well kept as I would have imagined, while a crowd of teenagers camped out across the street from the theater anxiously awaiting the next red carpet show.

When it comes down to it, it really is just a sidewalk.

Downtown L.A. turned out to be a much better sightseeing experience for me, beginning with Disney Hall with its jagged, steely architecture, to the meandering walk around city hall, where at the time they were still protesting in front of the court buildings over the Michael Jackson death trial.

LOL

This was also before the Occupy Wall Street crowd got expelled from the grounds too, although I have to admit the OWS folks here are a LOT more mellow than the ones I’ve seen at Zucotti Park in New York. They were even selling paintings and tie-dyed t-shirts. Peace and free love, man. I can dig it.

I knew I should have bought stock in Bass Pro Shop when I had the chance.

I also had the opportunity to visit the old and new Parker Center, and being an avid reader of Michael Connelly’s books, this was a real treat for me, especially on seeing a lot of the events in the book regarding Parker Center’s move was actually based on real life.

The Old Parker Center, still in use but no longer the HQ of LAPD

From there it was a few minutes walk to where the new center was, definitely impressive in scale and look compared to the old. I felt like I already knew the building too, having watched so many episodes of The Closer and Brenda Leigh Johnson’s hilarious attempts to adapt to the new Parker Center and all its quirks. Yes I know she’s only a fictional character but let me dream here.

Home of Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson's Major Crimes Division, thank yoooooou, thank you alll so muuuch!

Having now seen as much of BlogWorld and the city of L.A. as I could within the span of a few days, I had one thing left on my list that I wanted to see: Simi Valley, home of the Ronald Reagan Library.

Whoa, am I back in Colorado???

Driving to Simi Valley drew worthy comparisons to the drives I’ve taken in Colorado: sweeping views of canyons, trees, mountains and valleys swirled all around me as I cruised to the library on Ventura Freeway. The library itself was spotlessly kept, a museum built on a generous portion of land and providing a panoramic setting that surpassed even that of Griffith Park’s Observatory. The exhibits made me nostalgic for the 80s, complete with boxy looking computer terminals on Air Force One that even our iPhones today could now easily outperform.

A piece of the Berlin Wall glimmers in the California sun.

After finishing the museum tour and taking a casual walk outside, I finally came across Ronald Reagan’s grave site. I remember when he passed away how deeply I wanted to visit his grave and pay my respects, but I never imagined that I would ever find the time or the opportunity to visit him in California. But now, 7 years later, here I was.

Godspeed Mr. President. May your infectious love for our country continue to live on in all our hearts.

My trip to California was over. I left for New York on a rainy and cold morning, sad to leave, but hopeful that there will be another time where I would visit the region again.

Koko sits in reflection by the window. Will there come a day when he might visit L.A again? Stay tuned...

Tags: "Occupy Wall Street", BlogWorld, California, city hall, Hollywood, Los Angeles, Ronald Reagan Library, Venice Beach

Smarter than the average travel blogger at Yellowstone Park

Written by Lincoln Adams on October 31, 2011 | 7 Comments
Filed Under: Travelogues

I woke up in Cody and boy did something stink a poopsie poo. Not sure what that was, but it was like all of New York City had decided to break wind at the same time and send it in my general direction. Sort of like a “Hey, remember us, here’s a gift from back home!”

All kidding aside (ok, I’m not really kidding that much), I sipped some coffee in the hotel lobby, then geared up and headed out to the Buffalo Bill Historical Center for an early morning quickie visit.

The name however is a misnomer: I thought it would be all Buffalo Bill/William Cody exhibits, but the center is actually 5 museums in one, state of the art, and incredibly HUGE. The Yellowstone section alone is worth a day’s visit.

Don't bet on the skeleton to win this round.

If you ever visit Cody, do not miss out on this museum. From windowed floor panels revealing underground ferret tunnels recreated in painstaking detail, to forest fires that literally emanate the smells and sounds of an actual forest fire, to endless hallways of every imaginable firearm the West could have ever produced, to Buffalo Bill exhibits that lovingly preserve not only William F. Cody’s time as a showman, but the entire era he lived in.

One of the actual posters used to promote Buffalo Bill's shows (typically placed on the side of barns.)

I wish I could have stayed longer to visit the Native American sections, but I had an entire national park to go out to and explore. I left the museum around mid morning, and hit the road once again.

You know, there’s something to be said for visiting Yellowstone from the east. Technically, the official airport for Yellowstone is in Jackson, Wyoming, but the airfare costs are prohibitive, at least arriving from New York. I checked the airport near Cody as a possible alternative and the airfare was literally $300 cheaper, with only one layover required from New York too. I was amazed. Morale of the story? If you want to visit Yellowstone and you’re coming from the east, fly to Cody, not Jackson. Otherwise, this is what you’ll miss out on:

That my friend, is what a drive from Cody to Yellowstone looks like.

The pictures, quite seriously, do not do the views here justice. Bright and brown canyons tower over still blue waters that often sparkle in the sun, while wispy clouds decorate the sky and lazily roll over and through mountains. A brisk wind sweeps across the valley and cools your skin on an otherwise warm and balmy morning.

And I wasn’t even at Yellowstone yet.

I had to exert a considerable amount of discipline to prevent myself from just parking right at the shore near here and gawking at the scenery till the end of time, and I think the only thing that kept me going was the promise that Yellowstone itself would often even better treats for the eyes. So I continued on for another half hour and at long last:

This, is gonna be an AWESOME day. (Eastern Entrance)

As I rolled into the park, the first thing I noticed was the extent of the damage a recent forest fire had caused, as rolling hills of trees burnt to a crisp blanketed the area. It was depressing to see, indeed, several forest fires were still going during the duration of my visit.

Forest fires in the distance

As much as I hate to say it though, the air was permeated with pleasant odors of burning wood, evoking visions of a warm fireplace and tasty marshmellows with loved ones and friends, which stood in stark contrast to the actual destruction taking place in the distance. Fortunately (at least from the reports I read later at a visitor center), most of the fires were already under control.

I continued past Yellowstone Lake and worked my way north, only to get stopped by a buffalo in the road.

Wait, did I say buffalo? I meant a stampede of buffaloes that tore up the landscape as they all raced towards the lake. Methinks they were all on their way to go skinny dipping, but that’s just a guess.

They took one look at me and went crazy nuts.

It’s not often I see a stampede though (unless you count Saturday afternoons at the Chinese buffet), so I was pleased to witness a buffalo stampede in real life (and equally pleased that they didn’t rip through my car rental either.)

I continued to drive until I reached the mud volcano, got out and immediately experienced my first whiff of sulfur. Whooooooo wheeeee, that is some major stinkie poopsie.

Ah, so "mud volcano" wasn't a metaphor I see.

Heh, it’s hard to imagine the source for all the heat here is a supervolcano that theoretically could end all life on the western seaboard as we know it, and yet here I was prancing around without a care in the world. Life is funny, sometimes.

I continued onward until I reached the entrance for the lower Yellowstone Falls, and despite the time needed to hike close to the falls, I still managed to enjoy a nice solid view from the distance:

Yellowstone Falls, otherwise known as nature's awesome-sauce.

Despite the HUGE size of Yellowstone park (in terms of real estate alone, the park is even larger than Long Island in New York), I was amazed at how much ground I was still able to cover in the space of a day. By the afternoon I had arrived just shy of Montana at the famous Mammoth Springs.

A more dynamic picture of Mammoth Springs

It looks like melting ice cream, doesn't it? I didn't lick it though.

Mammoth Springs actually has a small village built around it, complete with stores, a restaurant and a nearby hotel, even though all of it was still technically inside the park. Old Faithful was the same way, another mini-town that had been built around Yellowstone’s arguably most famous landmark. Although to be expected, it still struck me as kind of unusual that I could do some shopping right here inside the park.

In fact, it was inside Yellowstone that I found a large general store and bought my very own Stetson hat. It just stood there on the racks, waiting for me to try it on, and sure enough, it just fit. Black and wooly and water repellent too. It was weird, because over the years I have tried on every imaginable cowboy hat and fedora trying to go for either that Marlboro man or Indiana Jones look, and I could never quite pull it off. And yet somehow, this Stetson was actually wearing well on me. No pictures though, you’re just gonna have to trust me on this. ;-)

World's largest pile of fossilized dino poo at Mammoth Springs

After the springs I hit the geyser basins (upper and lower) as I made my way south towards Old Faithful. Despite the stinky sulfur aromas, these are some really noteworthy stops, (especially the famous Fountain Paint Pot.) They’re not particularly glamorous landmarks, (really how glamorous can sulfurous steam, boiling water and mud bubbles possibly be), but when you’re there, I think it’s the sheer oddity of seeing things boil by completely naturals means that draws you. That and of course, pits that evoke images of horrific biblical origins:

Yep, I don't think I really wanna know what's at the bottom of these holes...

After the geysers it was time to visit one more: Old Faithful herself (or is it him?)

There she blows! (well no, not when I was there)

Unfortunately I had arrived late in the day and the next eruption wasn’t projected to occur for another 2 hours (which surprised me, because I had thought there was usually an eruption every half hour). Still, all I had ever learned about Old Faithful I got from watching Looney Tunes, so it was like meeting an old friend in a way (I know, I need help.)

Anyway, the ancient geyser is surrounded by a square of wooden benches for tourists to come sit, wait and watch for the next eruptions. I can understand why this might be an anti-climactic experience for some people, since it’s just hot water gushing upwards (and sometimes not even very high) and ending as quickly as it begun, leaving you to wonder, “That’s it?” Still, I think it’s amazing to witness eruptions occurring at regular intervals that have remain unchanged for decades, if not centuries.

After sitting a while and asking Old Faithful if she had any tips for me on dating relationships, I finally bid farewell and Yellowstone Park itself, moving onward through the Grand Tetons towards Teton Village.

The Grand Tetons puts on a show just for me...

I was hoping to get a Priceline deal for Jackson but my winning bid came up for the Snake River Lodge in Teton Village instead, about 15 miles north of Jackson. Not really a big deal I thought… until I turned onto a road from the highway called Moose Wilson Road. I think it’s fair to say the last time this road was maintained was when Roosevelt was President. Teddy Roosevelt that is. It winded and narrowed to the point that I honestly thought it disappeared altogether and I was in actuality offroading through a thick forest. At night too.

Other times I had to slowy creep past what had to be a twenty or so cars parked along the road, all owned apparently by photographers, because I saw them looking eastward and furiously taking pictures with some fancy tripods and equipment. To say it was an odd site was an understatement; it was like they were all setting up for a glamorous red carpet show, only the red carpet here was a dirt road. I didn’t have time to get out and see what the flip they were looking though, since I was too busy cursing at my iPhone for now having lost its GPS signal right when I needed it the most. I was convinced I was either going to be eaten by bears or accidentally drive off a cliff, or worst yet, drive off a cliff and THEN be eaten by bears. Fortunately Moose Wilson Road takes you directly into Teton Village, and I leapt for joy (hitting my head on the roof of the car) when I finally saw the lights of civilization again. I spotted the Snake River Lodge and quickly pulled right in.

Snake River Lodge in the morning...

After checking in I got a good room and a nice bed, delicious room service, plus a shower head that only had one setting: power drilling (which, on the upside is just the ticket when you need something to really wake you up.) The next morning I treated myself to their breakfast buffet, took a quick walk around the village, then hightailed it to Jackson.

Antler arches! (disclaimer: no elk was killed in the making of these arches)

I couldn’t really give Teton Village or Jackson as much attention as I would have liked, but I did get an opportunity to try a huckleberry milkshake for the first time:

Don't let the Coca-cola logos fool you, there be some awesome huckleberry...

Despite being ski-oriented towns, there was still a lot I would have enjoyed here if I had time to stay a little longer, such as the gondola ride at Teton Village, the evening gun shootouts at Jackson, and I suspect, the Cowboy Bar too for some good old fashioned western steak. Ah well, maybe next time. For me it was enough to see the antler arches and slurp me up some huckleberry.

Now it was time for another LONG drive, taking me through Idaho and on to Salt Lake City.

Tags: buffalo, Cody, geysers, Jackson, Mammoth Springs, mud volcano, Old Faithful, Teton Village, waterfall, Yellowstone

Mount Rushmore to es el Diablo!! Aiiiee!!!!!!!

Written by Lincoln Adams on October 30, 2011 | 1 Comment
Filed Under: Travelogues

I woke up bright and early in Custer, South Dakota, ready to see Mount Rushmore and then make like a mad man across the entire state of Wyoming to get to Yellowstone, all one one day. Piece of cake!

It was a gorgeous morning too, and since I was coming up from the south I was able to meander my way through a beautiful scenery of pine trees, lakes, and mountainous hills as I made my way towards the famous landmark.

Awesome views on the way to Mt. Rushmore

Fog rises from a lake in nearby Custer.

Needles Highway can be found here too, although unfortunately the way I drove I wasn’t able to see the views that made that highway famous. I did get another treat though, as I continued to wind my way around the forest, I caught a glimpse of Mount Rushmore for the first time:

THERE IT IS!!! OMG, THROUGH A TUNNEL TOO!!11 OMG LOLZ!11

I still had a lot more switchbacks before I would finally reach the park, but at long last, I arrived at the last turn and got a really good look from the car:

Sweet land of liberty... *sniff*

A few wild turkeys had crossed the road right near here too, probably following after the chicken. ;-)

Even though the park is a national one, I wasn’t able to use my Access Pass to get in for free, since it only covers entrance fees, not parking fees (usually.) I was a bit irked by that, but considering how much I’ve saved already using my pass for other parks, I wasn’t going to complain. After I got out, there’s a huge walkway decorated with many state flags leading to the viewing deck, where you can behold Mount Rushmore in all its glory.

And here's my official picture of Mt. Rushmore!

What, you can't crack a little smile here guys? I'm taking a picture!

They have a museum here too, with extensive exhibits and sculptures that provide a fascinating history of how the monument was built, as well as a trail that can take you all the way around the monument (no, you can’t see their butts if you go behind, and yes I was indeed disappointed that those pictures were fake after all.) Ah well.

Satisfied that I had seen and taken enough pictures of Rushmore, it was time to move on to another landmark I’ve been wanting to see ever since I first saw Richard Dreyfuss playing with his mashed patooties: DEVIL’S TOWER!

I made a stop first at Rapid City, then took the interstate back into Wyoming:

Forever west, and they are seriously not kidding, either.

Devil’s Tower is an oddity that’s about an hour out of the way from doing a straight shot over the Bighorn mountains towards Yellowstone, but it was worth it. After some monotonous driving through prairie land, I eventually spotted it in the distance:

THERE IT IS!!! COME GET ME ALIENS!!!!! Dooo dooo dooo dum deeeee...

As I moved closer and closer, I was beginning to see why Devil’s Tower was used as the setting for the famous movie Close Encounters. It stuck out like a sore thumb in the midst of otherwise ordinary rolling hills and prairie land, a geological oddity of unusual striations and abnormal formations that made it… dare I say… alien to the terrain here.

Even Koko is mesmerized by Devil's Tower

There’s also a great restaurant/gift store about a mile from the park here called Devil’s Tower View, definitely worth a stop if you got a hankering for juicy, well done buffalo burgers. Unlike the burgers I tried near Buffalo Bill’s grave, these were flavorful and left no aftertaste. My faith in all things buffalo was thus restored. I took the time to scoff down the burger since I had missed breakfast that morning, then continued onward.

Ok, I'm gonna need an electronic piano and 10 speakers...

Devil’s Tower does offer hiking and rock climbing challenges for the extreme sports types among us, but me, I’m quite fine right here on the ground, thank you.

As you approach the foot of the tower, you can actually see a few hawks circling and perching at the top (or are they vultures??) as well as a rock climber here and there scaling their way to the top. They are merely dots on the wall, so much that I never would have noticed them without binoculars.

Inside the same park there’s also an incredible population of prairie dogs, literally seeming to pop out of every prairie mound in the area.

I hope you're getting my best side, punk

Alright, fine I'll pose for a photo, just make sure you're getting my best side...

I couldn’t get any closer shots without a zoom, but since I had never seen prairie dogs before, it was still a treat to see so many of them scurrying about, popping in and out of holes. I took a few moments to watch them before finally leaving the park for good.

A city of prairie dogs live here!

With Mount Rushmore and Devil’s Tower now out of the way, it was approaching late afternoon, and I still had to book at least 300 miles to get as close to Yellowstone as possible before the sun set. I spent some time researching on my iPad and settled on Cody as the place to stay the night. It was a long shot getting there before dark, but I had confidence that my Hyundai Elantra 4-cylinder car rental would see me through.

Uh, on second thought...

I have decided this is not the part of Wyoming I’d really like to live in. See, I’ve always envisioned Wyoming to be mostly mountains, so it was with some surprise to learn that 59% of the state is actually prairie land (or otherwise, flat as a pancake.) Fortunately, because I was further north I was able to roll through the Bighorn mountains on my way to Cody, which really helped to break up the monotony so I wouldn’t lapse into a coma from all the driving.

Woooo, pretty canyonz... zzzz.... *screeech* I'm AWAKE, I'M AWAKE!

After passing through the Bighorns the sun started to set, but by this time I was near Buffalo and only had an hour or so left of driving. It was a tough one though, because the roads suddenly went unpaved, and stayed that way for a good few miles before things got civilized again. I thought the muffler was going to fall off.

Now that's beautiful, seriously.

At long last, with just enough time to grab dinner, I had made it into Cody. I stayed at the Cowboy Village for the night, and while exhausted, I could feel myself getting another buzz from the anticipation that only a few hours from now, I would finally visit Yellowstone for the first time ever.

Tags: Cody, Devil's Tower, driving, Mount Rushmore, South Dakota, Wyoming

Fast-tracking from Colorado to South Dakota

Written by Lincoln Adams on October 27, 2011 | 6 Comments
Filed Under: Travelogues

BTW, a question for you readers: when you surf through the photos in my post, do you usually click on them for a larger view, or just kinda scroll past them without clicking further? I’m trying to decide whether to keep my Fancybox plugin or not, which only works when I upload the images in my media library instead of hotlinking them from Flickr. The extra steps to do that is such a bother though that I’m thinking of just hotlinking all my images via Flickr from now on. Ugh… ok I’ll stop whining now.

Anyhoo, my original plan was to hop from Boulder to Fort Collins to Cheyenne to Mount Rushmore all in one day. Didn’t quite work out that way, but I did come close. It helped to get up at the crack at dawn, then stopping first in Boulder for a quick breakfast at the Man vs. Food approved Buff for some of their famous saddlebag pancakes.

Honestly, I wasn’t all that impressed, since the main selling point is that they take the typical breakfast side of bacon, sausages or eggs, and mix that into the pancake batter instead. I couldn’t really taste the difference though, but at least the portions were generous, and the home fries made up for it by being surprisingly delicious, basically potatoes that were cut in large chunks, but crunchy and flavorful. Usually when they’re cut that large they tend to be so bland in taste that you have to soak them in ketchup just to get some taste out of them, but thankfully that wasn’t the case here.

After that I stopped by one of the nearby parks in Boulder and got a panoramic shot of the area:

I can see my house from here! No, not really.

From there, it was off to Fort Collins, where I stayed maybe a half hour or so at the Old Town Square before jumping back in the car again and hightailing it to Cheyenne.

It's so old townsie here.

Being a new-time dweebie visitor from New York, I was surprised by how quickly the mountainous backdrop disappears the further north you go on I-25. I need my mountains, dang it, which meant Fort Collins was off my list as a possible place to live. On the other hand, I could envision having a job here, as it doesn’t appear that a commute from the mountains would be that bad, but then again, I wasn’t driving in the snow either.)

If the mountains were hardly to be found in Fort Collins, then, whoa, they REALLY disappeared when I started heading for Cheyenne.

What the... OMG it's Mississippi all over again! *flails*

Good grief where did everything go? Thankfully it wasn’t too long before I finally arrived at Cheyenne.

Just to accentuate their manly superiority over girlie Denver, Cheyenne sports a blue ribbon.

I couldn’t believe I could park right next to the capitol too (yes I know I already said this about Denver, but seriously this is just weird for me.) And for free too! On a Monday! O_O

The Wyoming State Museum was literally right around the corner from where I parked, so I waltzed on over to check out the exhibits. That’s all I really had time for though as far as Cheyenne went, as I had to get going and still had a LOT of ground to cover so I could make it to Mount Rushmore by nightfall.

So I drove. And drove. And drove. And drove. And drove.

There’s something to be said for the experience of driving through prairie land where you literally see NOTHING for hours (and there’s no cell service either.) I was starting to wonder if I’d ever see civilization again. Still, Wyoming had its moments, like this one:

Is this heaven? No, it's Wyoming!

I finally arrived at Newcastle and parked at a Pizza Hut, then whipped out my iPad because I had absolutely no freaking idea where I’d be staying for the night. I was just too far out to make it to Mount Rushmore before night fall, yet at the same time there weren’t many options between here and there for lodging. The best rated motel in Newcastle was of course booked up for the night, so I did some more digging and discovered Custer was close enough to juuuust make it before pitch black darkness set in. I booked at a Comfort Inn and eventually crossed the border just in time to see the sun set:

Almost there!

All in all, I had driven close to 400 miles while taking a few hours to sight-see in three different cities. All by my lonesome, too. Who’s your Daddy, PUNKS? :-D

Tags: Boulder, Cheyenne, Colorado, Custer, driving, Fort Collins, South Dakota, Wyoming

When I’m feeling blue… all I have to do… is take a look at you…

Written by Lincoln Adams on October 26, 2011 | 4 Comments
Filed Under: Travelogues

... and then I'm not so bluUuUUuue...

Sorry, I can’t seem to get Groovy Kind of Love out of my head. I blame Zooey Deschanel and her over-the-top adorable cuteness for this.

Anyhoo, recapping my second day in Colorado, I pretty much spent the morning checking out a church in Colorado Springs, then cruising on a scenic byway afterward that took me through Golden and the Red Rocks. I didn’t have any desire to stop in Golden since that was Coors territory and I’m not much of a beer guy. Seriously, I don’t get how people can drink beer anyway. To me it tastes like a combination of brake oil and Listerine. Wine, I could understand, but beer? But then again, I never drink… wine.

I did stop by Buffalo Bill‘s Grave though, which would kick off an odd series of coincidences where I would not only visit his gravesite, but also eventually visit the town he once founded (Cody, Wyoming), as well as the popular Buffalo Bill Historical Center.

Not to be flippant but I couldn't think of a better place to be buried. Awesome views from here.

It’s funny, prior to visiting his grave I thought Buffalo Bill was one of the gun slingers at the O.K. Corral who earned his nickname by killings lots of Indians named Buffalo. I blame public education for my ignorance.

By the way, don’t try the buffalo burgers here. They left a weird aftertaste in my mouth that almost made me swear off buffalo meat for good. They do have homemade fudge treats that’s worth trying, and seriously you’d have to be REALLY bad if you can manage to screw up even the delicious taste of fudgie chocolates.

After visiting the grave I cruised some more and wound up at the famous Red Rocks Amphitheatre. I don’t think I’ve ever seen sandstone in real life before, so it was an experience to suddenly behold red-colored formations dotting an otherwise green and hilly landscape. I could see why the Beatles chose to play here.

Wooooow, it's so... so... red!

Then I really got a treat once I reached the amphitheatre itself and spotted Denver in the distance:

You definitely don't get views like this in New York.

I leaned over the precipice and took a moment to soak in the views and relax, then closed my eyes for a long while, focusing on the dry winds that breezed all around me, as well as the scents of trees and rocks baking in the sun. So nice to smell something other than sewage for once. :-D

I stayed for about an hour, then eventually meandered my way back to Denver and took another walk down 16th Street, including checking out the Brown Palace Hotel. I had a long drive ahead of me beginning the next day, so I made sure to veg out earlier than usual to brace myself for what I knew was going to be the first of many crazy-wild days of driving.

"Ringo, hey where's Ringo? Excuse me, have you seen Ringo? "Please leave, sir."

Tags: Brown Palace Hotel, Buffalo Bill, Buffalo Bill Historical Center, Colorado Springs, Red Rocks Amphitheatre

Recapping my Rocky Mountain Road Trip (BOOBIE PICS!)

Written by Lincoln Adams on October 25, 2011 | 4 Comments
Filed Under: Travelogues

Kidding, I just threw teh boobehs in the title to get more hits to my site. But just to prove I’m not a liar, here ya go:

"Nazca Boobies" by m24instudio

Anyway, I finally got my MacBook back and finished cataloging all the photos I’ve taken during the trip, so at long last I can now move on to reliving the wondrous experience of visiting the Rockies right here on my blog.

Eat my shorts, New York! Onward, hooooooo!

I flew on an Frontier Airbus 320 for only a little over 4 hours before seeing, for the first time ever, a wall of mountains that stood over the eastern plains of Colorado like a tidal wave frozen in time. It’s hard to believe 4 hours was all that separated me from fulfilling a lifelong dream:

So beautiful... *sniff*... so wondrous... *sniff*... *cries*

My flight arrived early, early enough in fact that instead of waiting for the 11:50AM SkyRide bus to take me downtown I had a chance to grab the 10:50 bus instead. After I got off the plane, I raced to the baggage area (after taking a tram ride from the terminal) and waited. I knew right away that I wasn’t in New York area because my luggage arrived within minutes. Heh. With five minutes to spare I made the 10:50 bus and before I knew it, I was checked into the Westin in LoDo Denver and ready for action.

I pretty much pranced about in cheerful glee as I explored part of the 16th Street Mall , visiting the Tattered Cover Bookstore, and then working my way downt— err I mean…uptown(?) to explore the rest of 16th Street. My internal compass was a bit out of whack because I was so used to down town being south of the city center rather than north of it, as it seemed to be the case with Denver. Once I reached the end of 16th Street my car rental was ready for pick up at Avis, so I headed over there to pick up my ride, then drove off to the Capitol. There was one place I HAD to be just to say I was there:

One mile up and dry as a bone baby! SUCK IT, humidity!

I was amazed that I was able to park for free right next to the capitol, even on a Saturday. For some reason I just enjoy exploring the government districts of cities I visit (maybe because I’m a government employee myself), so I lazily wandered around the capitol and took pictures wherever a sight inspired me.

Wooooooo....

That’s when I ran into the Occupy Wall Street crowd. Oh boy. This was before the movement was going into full swing, so there was only a rag tag band of fuzzy haired hippie types that were gathered in front of the capitol and slowly chanting “Occupy Wall Street! Occupy Wall Street!”

I hadn’t realized what I was stepping into here since I had my face all up my iPhone’s butt tweeting away until I was right in the middle of the crowd. Rather than make a face and start shouting at the top of my lungs ”RICK PERRY FOR PRESIDENT!!!!” I decided to play it safe and chant right along with them, shaking my fist at some imaginary rich white boy hot shot exectuve.

“Occupy Wall Street… Occupy Wall Street… Imhotep… Imhotep…”

Heh. The whole time I was thinking of a scene in The Mummy:

Legalize Hemp-- err, I mean Occupy Wall Street!

Because getting unlimited weed is far more important than a $15 trillion debt crisis.

After having a little funsies with that crowd, I took a short drive around town, ultimately opting to go to Whole Foods in Larimer Square for some groceries rather than spend $50 for a steak at the Buckhorn Exchange, then headed back to the Westin. The great thing about my hotel was how close it was to 16th Street, so I took another night time stroll up and down the outside mall to enjoy the lights (and pick up some boigas at Smashburger).

16th Street Mall at night

Man was I parched then. Still, I was happy the only effect the high altitude seemed to have on me was to drinking 20 gallons of fluids and still ending up thirsty, but after the third day I was fine. The next day I would kick my visit into high gear and start expanding my sightseeing beyond Denver to the mountains that beckoned.

Tags: "Occupy Wall Street", 16th Street Mall, Colorado, Denver, LoDo

Hooray for Ouray! Prancing around the Box Canyons for a few days

Written by Lincoln Adams on October 4, 2011 | 9 Comments
Filed Under: Travelogues

I’m in Ouray now, staying at the cute and comfy Box Canyon Lodge for three days while I draw up plans to visit Slverton for some mining/ghost town expeditions, then perhaps Ridgway, Montrose and even the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, although I may save that for when I leave Ouray for Colorado Springs to complete the last leg of my road trip. Makes sense since it’s on the way too. My only regret while passing through this region of Colorado is that I have absolutely no time to visit the Great Sand Dunes Park, which I heard is yet another natural wonder of the world. Ah well.

I did visit Mesa Verde though, finally getting a chance to see the cliff dwellings that I had previously only read about in books (and *ahem* a few X-Files episodes), so it was definitely a treat to see them in real life.

Wonder how fast their internet service was...

After that I hit Durango for a couple of hours to explore the town and get a feel for the area, something I’ve been doing since starting this road trip. I’ve been sizing each town and city I’ve visited and every time I do I ask myself: Could I live here? :-D

Yeah, I could live here.

Speaking of Durango, I may have to sacrifice doing the famous Silverton-Durango train ride there as the shortest trip would still take 6 hours, not including the time it would take for me to go from Ouray to Durango and back again (there’s no round trip that begins at Silverton). Plus I’d have to drive on that crazy million dollar highway with its utter lack of guardrails and roadways that seem to vanish into thin air at every curve. So yeah, it seems a bit much driving 150 miles on a road like that and losing a whole day to a train ride. As a consolation prize though I may ride the Royal Gorge train instead after I arrive in Colorado Springs, which is only 2 hours compared to Durango’s usual 8 hours. Plus they serve lunch and dinner too!

But that’s for later the week. :-P

Ouray is definitely more rustic than Telluride, but the people seem friendlier and more engaging to me, although that could just be anecdotal. Still no laundromat or car wash from what I could see (yes I’m getting hung up on this), but on the upside, at least there’s no 7-11 either.

There’s also something oddly comforting about being almost completely boxed in by the surrounding mountains, as if they were a mother hen spreading her wings to protect the residents of Ouray from the evil, outside world. If I’m brave enough I may also dive into one of the hot tubs here at the Box Canyon Lodge (or even the hot springs, which oddly enough has been so well developed and maintained that if it were not for the black appearance of the water indicating its natural origin, you would have thought it was a normal swimming pool provided by the town.)