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March 30, 2000
Thursday - Winnemmucca to
Thursday - Winnemmucca to Home! 500 miles.
This roadtrip has been brought to you by Nokia, Sprint PCS, Canon, Dell, Garmin and Chevrolet.
Things we forgot to mention along the way...
We saw a store selling houses. But, the homes were actually on wheels, parked near by. The purchasers just tow the pieces of their chosen home to some plot of land they've just bought. We also saw a plot where the house had been delivered in two pieces, but hadn't actually been bolted together yet.
We drove past the 'World's Largest Thermometer', which is erected above a Bun Boy restaurant somewhere in Nevada. In any case a highly dubious name for a restaurant chain.
Utah has some pretty peculiar laws regarding alcohol consumption. In Salt Lake City it's illegal to have more than one pint on the go at the same time. Americans would call this two pints situation 'being double fisted'... ouch.
I just can't get over the sheer vastness of this country. 250m people, yet 95% of the land is unoccupied.
Posted by John at 12:00 PM
March 29, 2000
Wednesday - Livingstone, Montana
Wednesday - Livingstone, Montana to Winnemucca, Nevada, 750 miles.
Posted by John at 12:00 PM
March 28, 2000
Monday morning we set
Monday morning we set off from Salt Lake City for David and Jackie's house in Montana. We started early with a hearty meal.
After a very uneventful hack through Idaho, point the boat north, set the cruise control to eighty-five and wait seven hours, we arrived in Montana.
Where the the full service gas stations come with casino's.
We got lost looking for David's house and after a bit of rough track driving got high enough to get a cell phone signal. David guided us in, and he is greeting us in the front yard.
David's office & shop. He doesn't sell things, that's what
a woodworking workshop is called in America. David's actually
Scotish, but is married to a native, so is slowly being
assimilated into their ways and means. (e.g. He has 500 TV
Channels, and a Table Saw.)
Here we have an action shot of David igniting his BBQ,
except it's called it a grill. We had excellent pork
chops.
Tuesday morning we got up kinda late and David made us a smashing
breakfast on the griddle. We then drove through the local town,
Livingstone (home of the world famous Lentfer's Taxidermy), to Yellowstone. The most famous National Park!
We saw (and shot) Big Horn Sheep, Buffalo, Elk and Dog.
At Mammoth Springs, at the north park entrance are some mineral
springs that spit oddly coloured limestone out of the ground
David taking a picture of me taking his picture...
Tomorrow, Wednesday, we'll be getting up at the crack of dawn,
which is going to be difficult for our Simon, to drive back
down through Montana and across part of Nevada to hopefully
spend the night in Reno. A city much like Las Vegas, but
smaller, and less famous.
Posted by John at 12:00 PM
March 27, 2000
Monday - Salt Lake
Monday - Salt Lake City to David's House Montana, 500 miles on interstate 15 and
highway 90.
Clean underwear situation: critical.
Last night we checked into the downtown Super 8. The clerk didn't believe that we didn't have any discounts, so he gave us the Bay Area Resident special rate, which he invented on the spot. $45. Sweet.
The guy behind me in the checkin queue said he recognised me. 'Nah, man' I said, trying to blend in with the local lingo, 'I'm from California'. 'Yeah Dude' he says 'Where from?' This guy's a big fair skinned black guy, but he's looking a bit red in the face. 'Ugh, Mountain View' I say. He squints a bit and says 'You hang out at Bentleys? I'm from Oakland.' (Which is about 20-miles from Mountain View). I notice that his eyes have a marbled sheen, and his breath is a bit stale. 'Nah, nah' I say.
It's not good when you're in the middle of Utah and some drunk wanders up to you and could plausibly actually know you.
It turns out that Novell's geek conference, BrainShare, is in full swing downtown. It could be that this guy was some kind of deranged LDAP programmer who'd decided to shun the corporate hotel at $120 a night and had spent the $75 saved on beer. (LDAP = The thing I work on, which Novell have adopted as their native directory access protocol in an attempt to save themselves before Microsoft actually manages to ship a decent network operating system.)
We walked into the downtown area to check out the lay of the land. The business district was totally dead, but the adjacent blocks were filled with hotels that seemed quite busy, as most of the bars and cheaper restaurants were open. We happened upon the 'Dead Goat Saloon', a real dive bar with upstairs music venue. We had to queue at the bar whilst a real authentic american character ordered a round of drinks for his buddies. Dark leathered skin, full straggled beard, aged full length waxed coat, cowboy boots, roll your own pouch of baccy, having a robust discussion with the huge barmaid... of course he's from fucking Norfolk and he's trying to make use of his frequent drinkers card that he'd been hanging onto since his last visit in the early eighties.
We had an all right meal at Squatters, a local brew pub restaurant, but we had a table too far from the TV showing the Oscars, and the waiter wasn't very interested in finding the remote to fix the TV near us. So, we repaired to the hotel room to watch the results there. Best bit was the bloke from London for American Beauty.
A number of complete strangers said 'Wot's up man?' as we walked back. It turns out the correct response is the ponderously recursive 'Wot's up man?'
We didn't get to sleep very quickly... It could have been the altitude, 4000 feet, or the gas resulting from the chemical reaction between the three pints of pale ale and the sausage calzone I consumed.
We'll be driving all day... so I won't get to play savanna panorama today.
Posted by John at 12:00 PM
March 26, 2000
Sunday - Bryce Canyon
Sunday - Bryce Canyon to Salt Lake City via Panguida, 310 miles on highways 63, 12, 89, and interstate 15.
This morning we explored Bryce Canyon. It was quite cool at the canyon rim, although much warmer than is usual at this time of year.
There was still quite a bit of snow on the ground, and amongst the Hoodoos - pillars of rock eroded in fantastic shapes over the past
few millons of years. There were very few visitors in the park, as this is off-season, but that suited us. This place is amazing.
Bryce Canyon - Rainbow Point
Rainbow point at an an elevation of 9115 feet. From here you can see the Navajo Mountain and Kaibab Plateau 90 miles away
in Arizona. It was a very clear day, so supposedly we could see straight across Arizona into New Mexico.
Bryce Canyon - Sunset Point
Sunset Point looks down into the huge natural Bryce Amphitheatre full of Hoodoos called the Silent City.
Heading for S.L.C
We met Officer Knaw W Moore in Panguida who presented us with a certificate of driving 45mph through a 35mph zone. $40, thanks very much.
We'll be sticking with the interstate from here on, and at his suggestion, to just 5mph over the posted limits.
Today we have been mostly listening to... 'My Bloody Valentine' and 'The Cure - All Mixed Up'.
Tonight we'll be staying somewhere in or near Salt Lake City.
Posted by John at 12:00 PM
March 25, 2000
Saturday - St. George
Saturday - St. George to Bryce Canyon via Zion National Park, 130 miles on highways 15, 89, 9, 89, and 12.
We'd collected the mucus remains of a couple of hundred insects which had become baked onto the windsreen in the sun. A rare sight... Simon doing some real work.
We drove the 40 miles from St. George to Zion National Park and parked at the visitor's center to get some information.
We stopped at the Weeping Rock trail, made a sandwich, then headed up the Hidden Canyon trail. The Weeping Rock trail didn't look very challenging, so we took the harder 1-mile long 850 foot trail instead. Of course I was gasping for air by the first corner, but we eventually made it up to the Hidden Canyon overhang.
Super-size that panorama. You can just about make out Sam's truck parked by the side of the road.
Since we'd struggled up this far we decided to take a fork in the trail and continue up to Observation Point... another 3 miles, and 1200 feet.
The trail was marked Strenuous, and indeed it was. At some places we lost the trail completely.
But, the efforts were worth it for the amazing views from the top of the world.
As the sun started to set the light changed bringing out the many colours of the sand-stone rock faces.
Having spent four hours on the trail we set off down highway 9 for our next stop, Bryce Canyon.
Tonight we're staying at Ruby's Inn, and we're pretty dang hungry.
Posted by John at 12:00 PM
March 24, 2000
Friday - Las Vegas
Friday - Las Vegas to St. George via The Hoover Dam. 190 miles on highways 515 to 95, then 15.
This morning we visited the Hoover Dam, and then drove up through Nevada into Utah. We're staying over tonight in St. George Utah and are planning our assualt on the Zion National Park, and Bryce Canyon.
Construction of The Hoover Dam started in 1931 to control the frequent flood and drought of the Colorado River. The dam created a Lake Mead a hundred miles long.
The Dam is 726 feet high and 660 feet wide at the base.
On the road there's a memorial to the many workers who died in the harsh conditions that prevailed during the five year construction of the Dam.
We took a tour down into the heart of the Dam to see the Generators and Transformers. Another quote from Simon "'Dick', our guide, has clearly become jaded so rushed his tales. He wanted to be doing the Hardhat tour, not the Regular tour."
Simon was particularly taken with this sorrowful tale. It reminded him of the similarly tragic fate of Ed's Dog --- and how we chuckled.
Simon refused to believe just how awful Twinkies (tm) really are. Sponge filled with spuke... This is all he managed to eat of it.
Posted by John at 12:00 PM
March 23, 2000
Wednesday Mountain View to
Wednesday
Mountain View to Bakersfield via Pasa Robles, 270 miles down highways 101, 46, and 99.
Simon cut his own hair this morning with the kitchen sissors... slight bald patch on the back, and the right side.
An uneventful drive down 101, except for a quick swerve around the remains of a truck tire in the middle of the lane. Simon drove the second hundred miles through the vine yards of Pasa Robles, a rolling range of hills 1 2 3, and the huge fruit orchards of the central valley.
On highway 46, travelling at high speed, were two halves of a house being moved. I wasn't quick enough to get a picture, so you only get to see the side here.
Another odd thing is a field of nodding oil pumps called the Lost Hills Oil Field. We cruised by here listening to KPIG... a truely tragic radio station where the DJ broadcasts from the STY on 105 OINK 5 FM.
Coming into Bakersfield from Wasco we saw a double decker frieght train over a mile long being pulled by four engines.
We checked into the cheapest hotel we could find, and went on an expedition to find some food. The Daddy'O Diner, a 50's style eatery. We had a malt chocolate shake, a hound dog with onions, and a chicken fried steak sandwich.
Bakersfield to Las Vegas via Barstow, 281 miles down highways 58 and 15.
We got up at about 9am this morning. Simon was straight into the TV and very pleased that 'The Price is Right' was on. He delivered a passioned argument about how the ancient host was even more professional then Brucie. 'True sincerity without giving anything away, and straight on to the next contestant without even a pause - True Genius.'
We drove up from the central valley over a mountain range through some town that begins with a T, I forget the rest. Anyway, there was a huge wind farm there, and a little further on there looked like a solar energy farm too.
We stopped at the Barstow Denny's for Breakfast and Lunch...
On the way out of Barstow we booted up the laptop and listened to the first chapter of 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas'. We saw no bats or twisted hitchhickers.
We arrived in Las Vegas late in the afternoon and drove 'The Strip' to look at all the casinos. There were quite a few more than I remember from being here two years ago. We decided that the cheaper rooms would be at the older hotels, so we tried out 'Circus Circus', which fitted nicely with the Hunter S. Thompson theme. But, they'd filled up with some spring break promotion. So we got a suite at the...
Some time later we wandered up the strip to find somewhere to eat and drink. The food in Las Vegas is either very expensive, or really crappy. Caeser's Palace turned out to be pretty nice. We eat at a Spago cafe, and hung out in a blues bar.
On the way back we were most impressed by 'The Venetian', and Simon managed to get a picture with his heros Siegfried and Roy. (I could never work out which one was Siegried, as I was convinced the tiger was Roy.)
Posted by John at 12:00 PM
March 19, 2000
Posted by John at 12:00 PM
March 18, 2000
My brother Simon is
My brother Simon is flying in on BA285. Right now (12.28 PST) at 35,000 feet, travelling at 455mph, and is 492 miles NNE of SFO.
At 1.25pm we set off for the airport to collect Simon. We thought we saw the plane approaching as we drove up 101, but we weren't sure. They finally landed at about 1.40pm and we spied him from the arrivals gallery quite some time later. I didn't quite recognise him under the punkish hair and the modish jacket.
We took him back home for a wash, then set out to the primary tourist spot of the bay area. Frys, the electronics supermarket. Loved, yet also hated, by all its patrons. Simon's desired camera was only available on show... but we'll try elsewhere tomorrow.
We then set out on the traditional keep-the-vistor-awake trip to the beach to have some drinks whilst the sun sets. The Moss Beach Distillery was a bit packed so we headed off to witness... 'excess'. Two of my work collegues, Lief & Michelle, have just bought a rather large house (4000 sq. ft) near Miramar beach in Half Moon Bay. Games Room, Bar, Four Bathrooms, Two Offices, Server Room, and, ugh yeah, a Snake Room.
Posted by John at 12:00 PM
March 16, 2000
Our new king bed
Our new king bed was delivered yesterday morning. It's huge. Cato still takes up half the bed, but the quarter we each get is now slightly bigger. Luxury!
In the evening we had dinner at the California Cafe with Eileen & Andreas, and Lucy, to celebrate Eileen's birthday. The food was well presented, and very tasty. We'll certainly be going back.
This evening we're meeting up with Jasper, a friend from Octel, and Pete & KC and walking into town for dinner.
Posted by John at 12:00 PM
March 13, 2000
A couple of pictures
A couple of pictures that Sam selected were delivered today from www.barewalls.com.
Portrait Of Journalist, Sylvia Von Hardn and Ambassadeurs. Barewalls will transfer the image onto a canvas, and even add brushstrokes for texture. Pretty damn cool.
We went to see Titus at one of our favourite cinemas, Palo-Alto Square. A visually very impressive film, brutal story line, longer than we'd expected.
Posted by John at 12:00 PM
March 12, 2000
It turns out that
It turns out that our insane six month old kitten has a name-sake. The late Cato 'Poopsy-Bear' McNair, was also named after the live in assassin of the Pink Panther films.
Our Conehead Cato went from a She to an It on Friday. The vet made a few snips to ensure the Cato genes travel no further. Now the little monster has to wear a plastic collar to prevent her, I mean it, from knoring at the stitches. For the past 48 hours she's, damn't it's, been attempting to throw running headstands, and has been cone-butting all the furniture.
This afternoon we went on another shopping trip to furnish the new house. We bought a very cool computer work station, and a California-King bed.
Sam's cooking a Thai meal, and I'm enjoying a beer whilst I type this news of our day.
Posted by John at 12:00 PM
March 11, 2000
Sam went shopping with
Sam went shopping with Colleen this afternoon, and is now at a party this evening with Stacy.
John spent the day playing with these pages, and has ordered a 'Canon S10' for his upcoming road trip with Simon.
Here's a satelite image of where we live from 1996, and from 1993, and a fuzzy one from 1989.
Posted by John at 12:00 PM
March 09, 2000
Today I signed up
Today I signed up with EditThisPage.com.
A few weekends ago we went to Tahoe, and last weekend we went wine tasting in Russian River.
Posted by John at 12:00 PM
March 08, 2000
When and if your
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Posted by John at 12:00 PM
March 01, 2000
Russian River
We went to Russian River...
...and what a nice time we had.
Posted by John at 12:00 PM
Western USA Road Trip
Simon is John's younger brother. He works for Mute records in London,
and visited us in March 2000. We went on classic american a 'Road Trip'.Thursday - Mountain View to Barstow to Las Vegas
Friday - Las Vegas to St. George via The Hoover Dam
Saturday - St. George to Bryce Canyon via Zion National Park
Sunday - Bryce Canyon to Salt Lake City via Panguida
Monday - Salt Lake City to David's House Montana
Tuesday - Montana and Yosemite
Wednesday - Livingstone, Montana to Winnemucca
Thursday - Winnemmucca to Home!
Posted by John at 12:00 PM