Sea World: Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Today I worked on this blog for a few hours.  I finally figured out how to upload pics and videos.

Suzy and Anna (two of Sorna's roommates) offered to take me to Sea World because they had season passes.  It's been a good 15 years or so (I think...) since I have been to Sea World so we went!  I was going to use Edwin's pass to get in for free.  When we got to the front of the line, though, we realized that they are electronically finger-printing people and tying that print with the pass (so people can't do exactly what we were trying to do)!  Sooo, I got in line to buy a pass.  Luckily, someone else had purchased an extra one-day pass and sold it to me at half price.

I got to see seals, penguins, polar bears, a walrus, and killer whales.  Cool!  We went out to a Hawaiian place for dinner.


Mileage: None
Stayed at Sorna's

Seals...

Polar bear:

And the big polar bear:

Penguins:

Walrus (I think):

Sea lion.  These animals were pretty cool.  They look so friendly here... not the way that Disney's Happy Feet made them look:

Shamu:

Washing the Car: Monday, June 27, 2011

Today was another relaxing day.  I got up and exercised.  After some lunch, I went to find an auto parts store to get towels, a sponge, and mini-mirrors.  It turns out that Sorna sees the value in mini-mirrors (you put them on the mirrors on your car to eliminate blind spots) so I bought him a set. 

After an hour or so, I found a place where I could wash my own car.  All the other places had full service bays, not self service.  The Cobra is shining now!  It makes me so happy.

Sorna's roommates made dinner and we watched Predators.  Sorna had to be at work at 6 AM so we stayed in. 

Mileage: minimal
Stayed at Sorna's

Sunday In San Diego: June 26, 2011

Today was a nice, relaxing day.  I slept in some and had a late breakfast.  Then Sorna and I hit the beach and went snorkeling for Tiger Sharks.  The water was a little cold (around 64 degrees).  I saw a fish but it wasn't a Tiger Shark.  The water was very choppy so visibility wasn't that good.  We walked the beach and the city a little and then went to a veteran's memorial site on the top of the city.  You could see everything!

We were both a little hungry and Sorna confessed he likes Cold Stone so we got some ice cream!  We got back to his place and ordered a pizza and watch Terminator Salvation with his roommates.  Good times!

Mileage: None on the Cobra!
Stayed at Sorna's

Sorna at the memorial site:

Me at the site:

Me, again:

From the Desert to Paradise: June 25, 2011

After a few hours of sleep, it was time to get up and head for the coast.  It was incredibly hot and I had some concern that the Cobra would overheat. As I started the journey, I made a deal with the car that if I kept the A/C on low, it wouldn't overheat. It worked!  I did notice the pattern that if I trailed a car too closely or anytime I would ascend a mountain, the engine would start to get hot.  Knowing that, I changed up my driving habits to work with the car.

After several hours of driving in the desert, all of the sudden I noticed that the mountains were green, not brown.  I hit some traffic and one of the cars was a Mercedes CLS 63 ($100,000, 6.3L V8, +500 Horsepower). The driver really amazed me when he went to pass me and dropped the hammer.  Most people that can afford these cars don't drive them like they are meant to be driven.  After some spirited driving we shared a thumbs up and huge, s***-eating grins and then he got off at his exit.  It's always fun running into other car guys... especially ones that can afford the expensive toys!

Around 6 PM, I arrived at casa de Sorna.  It has been about a year (almost exactly) since I have seen him.  He is doing great.  We went out and hit the beach before dinner.  He took me to a beach where sea lions come up to the sand and sleep.  We could walk right up to them!  Just an FYI- they will hiss/ growl at you if you get too close.  Then we walked around the town and Sorna picked out a nice restaurant for dinner.  When we got back, I meet his roommates and then we called it a night.

So I did it!  I made it from Dayton to San Diego.  I will be here for a few days and then off to other parts of Cali and then the drive back East will begin.

The Mileage from Dayton to San Diego was 72,228-74,895=  2,667!

Mileage: Starting 74,572 & Ending 74,895= 323
Stayed in San Diego (at Sorna's)
States Visited: Nevada, California

Sorna driving the Cobra:

Sea lions from far away:

Sea lions up close:

The coast at sunset:

Sorna with a sea lion:

My turn:

The sunset:

Grand Canyon and the Hoover Dam: June 24, 2011

So I woke up today in the Grand Canyon.  I set the alarm for 7:15 which made sense because I went to bed around 11 PM Thursday night.  I heard other people leaving in the morning and checked my phone.  It was like 6:15 AM.  I rolled over and waited for my alarm to go off!  I got up and had the car packed up by 8.  I was one of the last people to leave the campground.

The Grand Canyon was only several hundred feet from where I camped.  I looked like Johnny tourist with all my sunblock and my cool straw hat.  The view is hard to describe in words.  Breath-taking starts to describe it.  After a few minutes I heard someone talking that seemed to know what they were talking about.  It was a ranger giving a tour.  And she was cute... so I spent the next several hours going on a tour with Ranger Lauren and four other people. :) One of the other guys on the tour was Oren.  He is from Israel and he is 3 weeks into his cross country tour.  What are the odds of running into him doing the same thing as me? Good times!

From there I set out for Vegas.  I just can't believe that Kenny flew out to Vegas for his birthday on the same weekend that I was going to be near there.  On the way I stopped at the Hoover Dam.  Even in today's post 9/11 crazy world they will let you drive over the dam.  Pretty cool!  Vegas was a blast.  It was good to meet up with Kenny and the two Ashley's for some Vegas fun.  

Mileage: Starting 74,265 Ending 74,572 =307 miles
Stayed in Las Vegas (at the Luxor)
States Visited: Arizona, Nevada

Video of the Grand Canyon:

Lake Mead:

Hotel Coleman (for the brand of tent):

The Cobra is just to the left...

A pretty cool view of the Grand Canyon:

Ranger Lauren:

Another shot of the GC:

Me pretending to not be scared:

More scenery:

Lake Mead by the dam:

Me with a random woman from Texas at the Hoover Dam.  The dam is to the right:

Me and Kenny in Vegas before we went out on the town:

Petrified Forest: June 23, 2011

Today was amazing.  I got a later start (which is sooo me) but then it just went great.  I visited the Petrified Forest.  It was really hot outside but what do you expect in June in the desert!  Through the smoke of a new fire that started a day ago, I was also able to see the Painted Desert.  At times I feel like such a foreigner on this trip… I actually thought someone painted part of the stone cliff when I first heard about the Painted Desert.  It turns out it is just really crazy colors- blues, reds, oranges, etc.

From there I started to head to Flagstaff and came across the Meteor Crater exit off of I-40.  How can you pass that up?  It was also sweet.  Once I hit Flagstaff I decided to push through to the Grand Canyon.  I came to a ‘scenic view’ sign and stopped.  It was a cliff that dropped a 1,000 feet.  The sun was just setting and the temp had dropped…it couldn’t have been better.  I met Alex and Nune (his girlfriend from Thailand) and, again in my ignorance, asked if this scenic view was part of the Grand Canyon.  Alex laughed and asked if I had seen the Grand Canyon yet. We wound up talking for about 30 minutes and he told me if I visit Thailand to look them up.  Then I set out for a hotel.  To get to a hotel, I had to drive through the park.  I decided to call a Best Western and they wanted $240 a night!  Now come on people!  So, I found a campground in the Grand Canyon and set up my tent.  The weather was perfect... 65 degrees or so and not a cloud in the sky.  There was also a nice breeze.  See, all those scouting days are paying off!  I can’t wait to see the Grand Canyon tomorrow.  

Mileage: Starting 74,000 Ending 74,265= 265 miles

Stayed in the campground at the Grand Canyon

States Visited: Arizona

Here is the new fire:

Here is a short video of the Petrified Forest:

A video at the Meteor Crater site:

Here are some cool pics from the Petrified Forest:

Some fossil they found:

Actual petrified wood:

Cool scenery:

More scenery:

An old car placed on Old Route 66... The telephone poles in the background mark where the road used to be.  This was actually in the park:

Another shot of the telephone poles.  The current highway is several hundred feet away:

A good shot of the Painted Desert:

Here I am at the Meteor Crater:

And at the 'scenic view':

Driving in the Desert- Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Today was just a good day on the road.  I was warned to drive slow in Texas.  It was good advice.  I saw 4 cops in the state and I wasn't in the state that long!  Once I hit New Mexico, I did some searching and found a good country road (wink, wink). I wasn't really worried until I saw signs that speed is monitored by aircraft.  That just doesn't seem fair... I was also able to drive on Route 66 on and off.  Good times!

Mileage: Starting 73,326 Ending 74,000= 674
Stayed in Holbrook, AZ
States Visited: Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona

Joplin, MO- Tuesday, June 21, 2011

My big adventure today was driving into Joplin, MO to see the damage from that massive twister that went through the town about a month ago.  The damage was surreal! 

Mileage: Starting 72,781 Ending 73,326= 545
Stayed in Erick, OK
States visited: Missouri, Oklahoma

Here are several short videos from Joplin.  Most start out looking at the dash of the Cobra... I am still working on perfecting the whole 'driving and operating the camcorder' thing!

This first video is an intro to Joplin.

 Here is some damage...

More damage...

 

The damage continues... 

 

And finally

Off to St. Loius- Monday, June 20, 2011

I visited St. Louis today.  The arch was pretty cool.  I went to the top!  It was also Marine Week in St. Louis so I got to look at H1 Hummers and helicopters and hold a rocket launcher and 50 cal. sniper rifle.  Cool!

Mileage: Starting 72,397 & Ending 72,781= 384
Stayed in Saint Robert, MO
States Visited: Indiana, Illinois, Missouri

 The arch...cool!

 This is a picture from inside the top of the arch.

 The top video was taken right before I got into the bucket to take me to the top of the arch. 
The second video is from inside the top of the arch.

Sunday, June 19, 2011

I am finally out the door!  It was almost 4 PM but hey, the wheels are turning.  Cousin Jess is in Indy so that was  my first stop.  It was great to catch up and have dinner with her. 

Mileage: Starting 72,228 & Ending 72,397= 169
Stayed in Plainfield, IN (outside of Indy)
States Visited: Ohio, Indiana

 Here is the Cobra all loaded up.

 The trunk is also packed.  Here is the emergency kit provided by Mrs. Bottenfield and the extra 2 gallons of gas in case I run out.

Cousin Jess and the Italian restaurant that we went to for dinner.

On the Road...

Well, the big trip is underway.  I am a little behind on postings so here is where I have been so far...