Half way through Nevada I had an intense craving for a Red Hook, a local brew here that is one of my favorites. So I put the pedal to the metal and went as fast as I could. After drinking 3 rather quickly I was ready for bed.

My friend Kevin, who was gracious enough to offer me lodging in the city once again, decided that we were going to get up early and hit the gym. This would be my first time picking up weights in about 3 weeks and I was so looking forward to it. At 7:30 we woke and I went out to check Milo and get the bagels that we had been traveling with to toast for breakfast. As I was walking up 14th St I noticed that there was a piece of paper on the street that had the listings for Sirius Radio. How odd I thought, I have Sirius Radio, and before I could begin to process this finding I looked in Milo’s cab to see the contents of the back in the front and the window in a thousand pieces. Yup, Milo had been violated!

My first thought was my father. You see, I had his ashes in a small urn in the suitcase that was now all over the truck. I had not gone through it enough to know what had been taken; it was a mess, an absolute mess. The though of my dad being gone, again, was enough to make me throw up. I then thought “good”, I hope they did take him because he is going to kick some serious ass from the spirit world and make their crack-head lives miserable.

They left dad and oddly enough left the radio face, my Sirius transmitter and everything else. They sifted through everything and made a serious mess, but the only thing they took was my change, my sunglasses and my headset. Kevin said that this sort of thing is typical; they are junkies looking for money. They also took my back pack after displacing the contents. I guess mine was the first stop on a smash spree and they needed a shopping bag. I loved that bag. But it could have been so much worse and I am really glad it went down this way.

I have a cover that locks so I can keep all my shit in the bed and one of the latches broke in Death Valley. There was still the one working on the other side, but a couple strong lifts and tugs could have easily broken it open. We debated whether or not to fix it then or wait till the next morning in San Fran. We opted for a stop at Home Depot in Carson City and Scott, thank god, was able to make the repair. I cannot even begin to think of what may have happened if we didn’t take care of that.

Petty looting aside, it’s great to be back in San Francisco. Aside from being a little shaken, Milo was OK. I was truly lucky, dad was watching out for us I’m sure.

The drive to Death Valley last night was really annoying. It was dark and the road was loooooooong. Driving that long with no visual stimulation has a tendency to really screw with my head. Naturally, everything had closed and we had to have canned tuna for dinner. The hotel room had no phone, no internet and no TV. And there was a typed sign on the sink telling us not to drink the water. Scott informed me after I threw a minor fit that the sign at the registration desk had said it was OK to drink the water. I was a bit weary about the whole thing and drank my green tea that I had in the truck. Did I mention that the price for the hotel was twice as much as our trusty Super 8? This did not sit well with me, but Scott promised that come morning I would be really happy that we were here because not only is the land spectacular, but the nearest motel was about 40 minutes away.

He was right, it was awesome. The roads seemed to go on to eternity and the valley was beautiful. The valley is home to the lowest point in the US at 238 ft below sea level and it is in the Badwater Basin, a salt lake bed, now dry, that constantly fills and dries with the varying rains of the season. We hiked around a bit and took some really cool shots of the lengthy road.

The drive out of here was mostly up hills and down them. It was not only hard on Milo, but I was beginning to get sick of it as well. Going through Carson City and Reno almost did me in. The speed limit fluctuated from 65 to 35 to 25 to 45 back to 25 and then back to 65. I absolutely hate going 25 mph and to have to do it over and over again with the addition of traffic lights was about enough to send me over the edge. However, the promise of reaching San Fransisco tonight was enough to keep me sane and strong. We arrived at 10. I was so done and Milo was begging for a rest. I love this city and am so happy to be here. Total mileage: 4312.

Keeping with the theme of the trip we arrived into the Grand Canyon Park last night 12 minutes after the pizza joint closed. About an hour prior we decided that a couple beers and a pizza were going to be the perfect close to today. Unfortunately that was not going to happen. We found a café across the street and went inside. Looking at the menu I lost my appetite and was going to order a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and maybe a cup of soup. Sensing my upset and disgust at the menu Scott had the brilliant idea to call the restaurant at the hotel El Tovar and see when their last seating was. It was in 30 minutes. We were so there. We had a decent meal, but compared to what our option had been, it was perfect!

Sunrise was at 7:38 and it seemed a waste not to see it in a setting such as this. It was freezing due to high winds. Stopping for shots I was so cold that I could barely operate the camera and while Scott was taking his pictures I found refuge crawling under a pine tree out of the path of the wind. I felt like some mountain creature, all I had to do was shit in tiny pebbles and start gnawing on some pine bark and that would have sealed it.

Given our time constraint we only had about an hour to hike down the canyon a bit. Not before the most awesome breakfast ever in the restaurant of the El Tovar. Scott chose this history rich hotel because not only was it solid with spirit and structure, it sits on the rim of the canyon. We walked out of the hotel directly to the rim overlooking the stage where the Colorado River and the high Arizona plateau did their dance to the song of time millions of year ago. The canyon is immense dropping a mile down in some places. We took a short hike down the canyon before moving on to Hoover Dam. Going back up was quite a workout and because of the elevation I was a bit dizzy and had to take the stroll a bit more slowly. It was better this way because I could take in more of the scenery.

We parked at the dam and walked toward the center of the dam. Scott told me to close my eyes and led me to the railing where he told me to open my eyes and what I saw was amazing. The engineering that went into this structure is impressive as is the power it generates. They say Vegas is lit by the power from the dam. What I thought to be kind of cool was that there is a spot on the walkway where the state line between Nevada and Arizona is drawn as well as the line for the change from Mountain to Pacific Time. A funny thing happened right before we entered the park, we had to pass through a security check and well…

Click the image above to watch the video.

The forecast today called for more ice and ridiculously cold temperatures. Soon after we left New Mexico the sun shined bright and clear without a cloud in the sky. It remained this way all day and thank god because we spent a lot of time outside. Today was our field trip to the Petrified Forest and the Meteor Crater in Arizona.

The forest was first and man what a trip to see these logs that look like wood, had the look of bark and the rings of interior wood, but as you put a hand on it, it’s solid rock. The wood became saturated with silica long ago and over time it hardened to its present state. The ground was littered with small pieces and shards of it and I was really tempted to take a piece although it is strictly prohibited. My rationale was a small piece won’t matter and I really did not feel like purchasing it from a store; I prefer to spend my money someplace that puts my dollars back into the park. Scott politely stated that if everybody did that then the park would surely be emptied in no time. I agreed - reluctantly.

I am getting much better with my camera and becoming more adventurous with tones, angles and lighting adjustments. Practice makes perfect and experience has always been my best teacher (Scott isn’t half bad, either).

On the way out we stopped at a shop that sold pieces of the wood that came from an outsourcing station and the owner assured me that it was all keeping in tune with karma. I really like the idea of wearing something that is so old and has seen so much.

It was then off to the crater and we pulled in the parking lot 30 minutes before they were to close; this seems to be a theme with us. They were cool enough to let us take our time and enjoy the crater and museum. This thing is enormous and it is the most well preserved example of a meteor impact in the world. Pictures cannot even come close to illustrate the size and presence of this thing. We were lucky enough to catch the last showing of the film and did you know that sometime in 2020 or there about a meteor will pass near the orbit of the Earth coming in at about 230,000 miles from us? It comes back 7 years later, but they are unsure of how close it will be that time. All through the tour I was constantly reminded of that movie “Deep Impact” and realized that the probability of that happening is quite high. Oh well. If it’s going to happen it’s going to happen. You’d better be wearing clean underwear.

Next stop Grand Canyon.

We woke up early today and I shivered all the way to the restaurant to cash in on our free breakfast before tackling the caves.

A small opening in the ground lead us down below the ground of New Mexico; the down equivalent to walking up to the top of the Empire State Building.

What waited for us is beyond words and pictures although I will try to illustrate using both.

New Mexico was once the coastline of the ocean home to a huge marine reef. The temperature then was close to what you would find in the Caribbean today. As the coral and other organisms died, they settled and collected forming limestone, the major component in the composition of the caverns. Limestone, gases from oil fields deep in the ground and oxygen rich rainwater produced chemical reactions that dissolved the stone leaving behind immense underground caves that in some spots reached over 250 ft high.

Just to scale the size a bit, imagine 14 football fields side to side and there you have it.

Stalactites and stalagmites are formed when calcium rich water drips to the ground from the ceiling. Over time the water drips and drips, leaving behind the calcium crystal to collect and build on itself. The formations that reach up from the ground are the stalagmites while the ones that hang above looking like prehistoric chandeliers are stalactites.

It is mind boggling to think about the time it took to create these formations - some reaching well over 20ft into the air. To be in the company of such magnificent geological wonders was truly humbling in every sense of the word.

The tour was astounding. We were there off season and sometimes were the only ones on the trail. We rented small cell phone devices that gave informative audio segments when we dialed numbers seen on small signs lining the trail. I would have loved to been here to see the look on the face of the first man to discover this.

Back in the day they lowered people down by means of a bucket big enough for a standing couple.

This was by far a huge winner and highlight. 5 hours and a hundred pictures later we were back on the surface and off to Santa Fe for dinner at a place Scott recommended called Geronimo.