Dispatches From The Road

Sunday, June 30, 2013

The End? Ha! Not Even Close...

Mi madre and me and the Great American Road Trip.

The final numbers: 3,741 miles, 9 states, 12 days, a total 71.5 hrs in the seats, a few bottles of wine, and one very dusty Jeep Grand Cherokee.

Americana Visited:
- Lenoir and Asheville, NC
- The Great Smokey Mountains National Park, TN
- Beale Street, Memphis, TN
- Graceland, Memphis, TN
- Thorncrown Chapel, AR
- Route 66, Tulsa, OK to Barstow, CA
- Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial, OK
- The Panhandle of Texas
- Santa Fe, NM
- Albuquerque and the Titanic Exhibit, NM
- Canyon de Chelly, AZ
- The Petrified Forest National Park, AZ
- The Painted Desert, AZ
- A Corner of Winslow, AZ
- Sedona, AZ
- The Grand Canyon National Park, AZ
- Hoover Dam, NV
- US-1 California Coast
- The Best Coast

I would highly recommend it to all. But now its time to set up a house (painting likely required)...

Goodbye Sanford...

...Hello Monterey

The Coast

So we made it. At 1118AM on Sunday, 30 June we came around a corner and saw the ocean. Following the footsteps of Lewis and Clark, Horace Greeley, and the Joad Family, the Wood-Norbury expedition felt the exact same ecstasy as they caught their first glimpse of the Pacific Ocean. Of course we had to screech Tonto to a halt (whoa boy...) and take a picture. We then headed straight to the Best Coast, played around on the beach a little, had a great lunch on the water, took our time driving up US 1, and eventually rolled in to Monterey, CA at 435PM. Manifest Destiny.

East Coast to West Coast = Success

Thar Be Sea! 1118AM

The Road Sign We've Been Waiting For: US1 North

Tonto Sees the Ocean

Saturday, June 29, 2013

The Main Street of America

Route 66. The Main Street of America. The Mother Road. An archetype of American history. It has crossed east to west since 1926, becoming a mainstay in US culture. Even today, over 28 years since it was officially removed from the US highway system, thousands flock to its old route to “get their kicks on Route 66”.

We waited until we were near the end to post our Route 66 piece since we were on and off and on and back off of it again and again. Or at least what it used to be since Route 66 has technically been decommissioned as a US highway; however, that doesn’t mean its been decommissioned as a draw for those wanting to retrace the route of countless American families heading west for countless reasons: adventure, entertainment, escape, or simply a new start “out west”.

We got on Route 66 about 60 miles east of Tulsa, OK and got off at Barstow, CA. Some stretches of highway were very obvious old 66 trails and some were simply long stretches of I-40. But whether you were looking at the Texas horizon stretching forever, or bumping through the Petrified Forest gawking at the prehistoric trees, or taking a detour in to the Grand Canyon, or simply driving mile after mile after mile, it wasn’t hard to imagine you were 60 years in the past. Only in a much nicer vehicle.

Historic 66 Stop

Oklahoma

Texas

Arizona

Route 66 Roadway

Death Valley...Didn't Happen

We elected to skirt Death Valley today. The Weather Channel, the News Channel, and every other channel for that matter...to include the Cartoon Network...was continually reporting that Death Valley would hit 129 degrees. I kept picturing Tonto in the middle of the desert with the hood up and steam rising from the engine; two little cartoon skeletons resting against the tires with a bottle of Moet Chandon between them. One cartoon skeleton would be saying to the other cartoon skeleton "They call this 'Death Valley' for a reason, you know". Not a good way to end a cross-country trip.

So yes, in a fit of flexibility, we elected to skirt Death Valley.

Mr Hoover and His Amazing, Incredible, Impossible Dam

Like any good American road trip, we had to go see the Hoover Dam. But a quick word about the weather. It hit 100 degrees by 919AM. If Sedona was 8 bajillion degrees, Hoover Dam was 8 bajillion degrees squared. Thats 64 quadragazillion degrees for anyone wondering. I've never been to the sun, but I imagine people that work at Hoover Dam go there to cool off.

But it didn't matter because seeing Hoover Dam was well worth the heat. Built in 1931 to harness the power of the Colorado River, it was complete in 4 years, both ahead of schedule and under budget. I don't think that has happened in the government contracting arena in the 80 years since.

So how the heck do you build a dam across one of the most powerful rivers in the US? Let me tell you (because we went to the visitors center and took the power plant tour, we are now qualified in explaining the art of dam building). First, you need to dig four massive 56ft diameter tunnels through the Black Canyon to completely divert the Colorado river around your work site. Then you need to build two earthen dams both above and below your worksite to keep the river out. Then you dig down through 150 feet of sludge to reach bedrock. Then you pour 3.25M cubic yards of concrete, over 6.6M tons, in 5 foot blocks to build up the dam. But because its in the 1930s, once the dam is complete you make sure its decorated in the Art Deco style of the time, including a marble terrazzo floor inside the generator room.

Thats all after you hire 5000 workers from all over the country, build a city in the middle of the desert for their families to live as well as establish the transportation and communication infrastructure in the middle of nowhere that allows you to do the impossible.

So ya, you pretty much have to do the impossible.