The 15th and Final Week of the Road Trip- Texas

14 weeks down, 1 more to go for the trip.  This is nearly 2 months after the trip actually ended but sleeping, playing video games, watching movies, messing around on Sporcle, and daydreaming has consumed my time.  In case you missed week 14 and the arrival of Jordan Vance, check it out here.  If you don't actually read these posts, scroll down to the bottom to check out a before and after shot.  


The last week of the trip led us to Texas- first to Big Bend National Park on the US/Mexico border, then to San Antonio to visit my Aunt Dana, and then to Austin and Fort Worth to visit my cousins Peter and Paul.  Before I get to the day to day happening on the trip, here are a few things the crew learned after a week in Texas.  

Discovery #1  The saying, "Everything is bigger in Texas", is very much an accurate statement.  If you don't drive an SUV or a truck, then you are in the minority.  I don't think this phenomenon has a logical explanation but I would say 2/3 of Texans drive an SUV or truck.  My aunt and my cousins all drive SUVs.

Discovery #2 You can drive for days in Texas.  From the New Mexico border to Big Bend National Park was a 4 hour drive, from Big Bend to San Antonio was 9 hours, and from San Antonio northeast into Arkansas was 8 hours.  That's 21 hours worth of driving in Texas alone.  Since Texas is so big and in West Texas there is literally nothing for miles, the speed limit was 80.  Texas had to one up everyone else and make their speed limit the fastest in the United States, at least that I have seen.  This would have great and all if we hadn't been towing a 6,000 pound camper and could go 80 miles an hour.  70 is about the fastest you can go and still feel safe…. or in Jordan's eyes- 45 mph.

Discovery #3  Don't mess with Texas.  You may laugh reading that, but there are huge signs on the interstate that say, "Don't mess with Texas."  I wasn't sure if it meant not to litter, not to fight anyone in Texas, or what.  I saw the first one and laughed, thinking, "ahhh, someone got bored one day, made the sign and no one took it down."  After the 3rd and 4th sign, I realized that maybe Texas isn't kidding.  I asked my cousin what was up with the road signs.  He look at me straight-faced and said, "Dude, just don't mess Texas."  Point taken.

Discovery #4  You can definitely smoke inside in bars.  Isn't it unhealthy for us non-smokers to be in a public place with smokers?  I asked Peter how this was legal, I mean North Carolina even outlawed it, and we make cigarettes.  His response?  "This is Texas, we don't follow the same rules as everyone else."  

Discovery #5  Texas should just become its own country.  Its huge, their economy isn't hurting, they have a lot of oil, they have access to the ocean, and I think if any state were to do it, Texas could pull it off the best.  I always ask my cousins how long it will be before you need a passport to enter Texas.  They usually respond with, "Soon, hopefully", and then remind me that if Texas were it's own country, it would have the world's 6th largest economy as well as the fact that Texas is the only state that can fly their flag at the same level as the United States flag.  They claim it is because they won their independence from Mexico after the US was formed (or something like that) but who knows…. it's Texas, man.

Ok fine, it's littering.  I really didn't know this until searching for a picture

Big Bend National Park

After leaving Carlsbad Caverns, we headed towards Big Bend National Park.  On the way there, we drove through El Paso, Texas, which happens to be right on the US/Mexico border.  On one side of the highway is El Paso, and on the other side is Juarez, Mexico.  Juarez is known for being one of the most unsafe places in the world.  It's crazy to think that a highway can separate a third world country from arguably the greatest country in the world.  El Paso is a regular decent sized city while most people in Juarez live in extreme poverty in the slums.  Say what you want to about people illegally coming to the United States, but if you woke up every morning in Juarez, Mexico and could see the US from your house, wouldn't you try to make it across somehow?

After picking up our heroin shipment from Juarez, I mean driving through El Paso, we stopped for the night about 2 hours north of Big Bend National Park.  We ate lunch in Marathon, Texas the next day before heading into Big Bend National Park.  We settled on a hole in the wall Mexican restaurant that just happened to pretty damn delicious.  While we were eating, a few legit cowboys came in to eat.  These guys had huge hat and boots with actual spurs.  I'm not sure if this is abnormal or what purpose spurs actually serve but I had never seen legit cowboys.  I didn't look outside to see if they rode up on horses but they didn't seem like they should be messed with.  This is the part in a western movie where the swinging doors of a saloon open, 4 guys walk in, the dramatic entrance music is played, and everyone in the bar is immediately terrified.  

On the way in to the park, we come across an inspection station.  We pull through and a few US border patrol officers come out to talk to us.  They asked us a few questions, such as where we were headed, if we were all American citizens, if we had any weapons on us, where we were coming from, how long we planned to stay in the park, and if it was just the four of us traveling.  I told the guys it was just the four of us and that no one was in the back of the camper.  They then took a drug dog around the outside of the camper and around the truck, and told us we were good to go.  The honor system was in place and they never looked in the camper to see if anyone was traveling with us, but then again I don't think 4 homeless looking guys are who they're looking for.     

So Big Bend NP is right on the US Mexico border in southwest Texas.  It is in the desert surrounded by mountains in pretty much the middle of nowhere.  We knew from the get go that at least a stop or two in Canada was a must but Mexico was a toss-up.  In the words of the once great Martin Lawrence (who decided in the mid 2000s that selling out and making Disney movies was cool) "Ain't nobody wanna go to jail in Mexico."  At the beginning of the trip it was something like, "I really don't think it's a good idea to go to Mexico."  After talking to a few people and asking their opinions of Mexico, "Yo, we have to go to Mexico, come on, three countries on a road trip would be awesome."  By the end of the trip it was more like, "Ok, I'm down to cross into Mexico and say that I went, but that's about it."  I really don't know how safe Mexico actually is, but if you want to be the one to find that out, be my guest.


When you talk about people being able to cross the border, you aren't really ever sure what the border is.  Is it like an imaginary line like the one between North Carolina and Tennessee?  Is there this massive wall with US military posted up all around?  Is it the Rio Grande River, you know, a big roaring river that is uncrossable?  Well, I can't speak for the entire border between the United State and Mexico, but you can definitely walk across the Rio Grande from Mexico to the US in Big Bend. (Or the US to Mexico if you feel it's necessary.)  It isn't like the Oregon Trail where you lose an ox crossing the water or someone dies of dysentery in the process, but it was a matter of finding the path across where you didn't have to get your shorts wet.  

My cousin Paul gave me detailed directions on where to go in in the park.  First up Boquillas Canyon, right on the Rio Grande River.  When we parked the truck to walk down to the canyon, we saw a group of Mexicans on horses setting up items and then getting back on their horses and going across the river.  After they left, we walked over to where they had been and saw different homemade items grouped together for sale.  There were walking sticks, painted rocks, and little wire figurines for sale.  Each person had their own "shop" set up with a note and the prices on a piece of cardboard right next to it.  Most said something similar to "All proceeds go to help send the kids of Boquillas to school."  Beside the sign was a jar to put the money in.  We ended up buying a few things, giving a few extra bucks to the cause, and even trading one guy a beer for a chicken wire figurine.  As soon as we walked away, a few guys came back on the horses to check on their shop.  Living in Mexico, doing business in the United States.  

We walked down into Boquillas Canyon for about half a mile before finding the spot in the river to cross without getting our shorts wet.  After wading across the river, we physically set foot in Mexico.  We were on edge a little bit, knowing that we were technically in Mexico.  That may seem strange, seeing that within 15 seconds, we could have been right back in United States, but once again, this is Mexico.

On the other side of the river there were canoes, trash, and even a pair of shoes to show that a few people had been spending time right across the water.  We asked around later to see how easy it was for people to actually cross the border and get into the United States.  If you had an ride out, then maybe, but if not, you were stuck in the middle of the desert, about 80 miles from the nearest town.  But I'm sure it has definitely been tried before.  

Paul told me that I needed to find Jesus, the singing Mexican, in Boquillas Canyon.  He said that every time he visited the park, he brought Jesus clothes and food.  I figured I would give him some money if I saw him and tell Jesus that I was Pablo's cousin. I couldn't find Jesus there but I did see his jar for donations.  Guess he had already called it a night and gone back over to Mexico for the night.  Maybe next time, Jesus. 

We were told at a ranger station earlier that there was a natural hot spring right on the Rio Grande river.  We drove near the trailhead, hiked about a quarter mile, and sure enough, there was a hot spring right on the river.  It was pretty much a hot tub with a view of Mexico.  We got to the hot spring as it was beginning to get dark outside, and across the river, you could see the Mexicans start to build fires in order to stay warm.  The actual village of Boquillas was a little ways off the river, but a group of guys looked like they were there for the long haul.  Who knows what their night consisted of.  Here we are, 4 guys traveling around the country in a house on wheels, and 100 yards away there are people selling walking sticks and wire figurines to help send their kids to school.  That will put the difference in our countries into perspective.  

The next morning, we cooked breakfast, Jordan had a slight stomach issue, and we set off to do a hike before heading east towards San Antonio.  The hike was supposed to lead us to a cool waterfall that supplied water to the park, but this being the dry season in Texas, it was nothing more than a pool of water, although the hike provided some sweet views of the park.  So get this, we have been hiking in South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado so far, and a friendly bison is the meanest thing we have came upon.  Well, in west Texas, in the middle of the desert, we spot a bear on the trail.  No one was really paying attention as we were hiking…. I think I was telling a story with no relevance whatsoever to anything important, when we see a bear about 50 yards ahead.  A ranger earlier had told us that no one has ever been attacked by a bear in Big Bend NP, but I had no intentions of testing this theory.  Bub, on the other hand, was not scared of this guy, and kept following it down the path while Allen, Jordan and I waited until Bub told us he was gone.  We spotted him in a valley about a half mile later, just wandering through the trees, minding his own business.

Pretty brutal crossing, don't get your shorts wet

Allen and I in Mexico, Jordan taking a picture from the US

San Antonio

We arrived in San Antonio the next afternoon to meet my Aunt Dana for lunch.  She is always telling Rachel and I to come visit her, and I took her up on the offer a mere 6 years after my last visit.  She treated us to lunch at a Tex-Mex restaurant, which is supposedly not quite Mexican food, but not southwestern food, hence the Tex-Mex label.  (I think only Jordan understood the difference between the 3, claiming it was also his favorite American food).  We drove around the Sam Houston military base where Jordan's brother was stationed a few years ago.  We then drove through downtown San Antonio, stopping to check out the river walk that runs right through the city.  To the best of my knowledge, it is actually part of the river that runs near San Antonio, but somehow makes it way inside of a hotel, if that makes any sense at all.  The river then runs through the middle of the city, with outdoor restaurants and cafes lining both sides of the river.  Although we didn't actually grab anything to eat or drink, it seems like it would be a pretty cool place to enjoy a meal.  My aunt said they even have parades on the river.    

Next up was a visit to the Alamo.  Bub's first response was, "Can we check out the basement of the Alamo?"  We told my aunt on the way to San Antonio that we wanted to check out the Alamo and her was response was, "Do you actually want to tour the Alamo?  Because you might be wasting your money, the Alamo isn't very impressive."  I was surprised to hear that, but she told us that we could walk by it and then decide for ourselves.  We walked up to the Alamo after parking, realized that, well, the Alamo was not very impressive.  It was pretty run down, and if there wasn't a sign outside telling you that this random building was the Alamo, you wouldn't even give it a 2nd glance.  

We passed on the actual tour of the Alamo, but instead went inside the gift shop to add another sticker to the camper collection.  After 15 weeks of collection stickers, we had a rather impressive collection from 3 corners of the US. (Maine, Seattle, and San Diego.  Only Key West was missing.)  This happened to be my favorite sticker of the trip.  It was a bright blue sticker with only words from Davey Crockett that said, "You may all go to hell, and I will go to Texas."  

My aunt treated us again to dinner, this time with fish, potatoes, and a salad.  After we went to the store to get the food that afternoon, we came back to her house and actually relaxed on the couch for a little while.  in the week or so since Jordan had arrived, there had been very little relaxed, especially in the middle of the day.  (Unless you count binge drinking at a Nascar race as relaxing, which many people do, by the way.)  She introduced us to Modern Family, a tv show I had never actually watched before that happened to be pretty funny.  We had a few glasses of wine with an amazing meal, chilled in her hot tub that night, and caught a good night's sleep in a real bed before heading north to Austin and Fort Worth.

The river walk 

The almighty Alamo

Aunt Dana and Paul

Austin

After leaving, San Antonio, we met my cousin Peter had his friend's apartment in Austin near the University of Texas.  We pulled into a parking lot nearby and noticed the strange looking houses in the college neighbor with all kinds of kegs outside each one of them,  "Is this a neighbor of raging alcoholics?", I asked Peter.  He said no, these were all bars.  I had never seen anything like it, you couldn't tell the difference between houses and bars in the college neighborhood.  We went upstairs to his friends apartment to meet a few of Peter's friends and checked out the view of Austin before deciding the night's plan.  

Peter was with us for the night and instead of going out in downtown Austin, we decided to take the camper about 30 minutes outside the city and have our own party at a campground.  5 dudes in a camper was pushing it, but we managed to make it work for a night.  

The night morning, as Jordan is cooking breakfast and the rest of us are sitting outside (Because it's 70 degrees in November in Texas) and this random guy walks by.  His name ended up being Joey

Joey- "Hey, none of you guys play Foosball, do you?

Allen-  "Uh, yea, I know how to play Foosball."

Joey- " I'm supposed to play in this tournament tonight in Austin and my partner bailed on me.  I'm looking for someone to play with."

Me-  "Well, if you are playing in a tournament I don't think you want any of us on your team."

Joey- "I used to play on tour and I really just wanna play in the tournament.  If anyone of you guys change your mind, I live in that camper over there."

Bub- "Haha, alright, we will let you know."

We all didn't quite know what to thing about the following exchange, and about 5 minutes later, Joey returns

Joey- "Hey, any of you guys play Madden?"

Jordan-  "Hell yea we play Madden."

Joey- "Well, I got it for Xbox over in my camper on a big tv if you guys are interested."

Allen-  "What year Madden do you have?  In our camper, we only play Madden 07."

Joey- "I got Madden '12, come on you guys should play."

We all didn't know quite what to say, but agreed that we should definitely go over to this guy's camper.  After following him over there, the 5 of us cram into his camper with him, his wife Cricket and their crazy dog who's name I can't recall.  Come to find out, they were from Louisiana and lived here full time at the campground.  They had pretty thick accents, looked like the belonged at an '80s rock concert, but were really nice.  Allen sits down to play this guy on a television that had to be close to 50 inches in a fairly small camper.  I felt bad for the guy, because Allen proceeded to whip ole Joey in Madden '12.  During the course of the game, his wife, who once again, was named Cricket, sparks up a conversation with us.  

Cricket- "Where are yun's from?

Allen- "Western North Carolina."

Cricket- "Oh really, my son lives in South Carolina."

Me- (Thinking, well that sucks)- "Oh yea?  Where in South Carolina?"

Cricket- "He lives in Crawshank.  He's doing 15 to life."

I think someone managed an "Oh" but I can't be sure.  I don't what the protocol is when someone tells you that their son is in prison for life, but I sure as hell wasn't asking what he was in there for.  We all looked at each other after she said that and everyone was silent.  Luckily Allen and Joey bailed us out by something relevant happening in Madden that managed to change the conversation.  It didn't even seem to phase the two of them to tell us that their son was in prison.  They went on in conversation like nothing happened.  

After Allen destroyed this guy in Madden we said our goodbyes and went to pack up the camper.  On the way out, we decided that we had to get our picture taken with them, because this was pretty legendary.  I think ole Joey loved that we asked, because he sprinted right over and posed with us, but dead serious for the pic.  Man oh man, the people you meet on the road. 

Pete took us over to Austin Pools later that afternoon, which was like a pond, but was underneath a small cliff.  He convinced me to get into the chilly water with just khaki shorts on, that stayed wet for most of the afternoon.  If I wasn't awake before then, I sure was now.  A river ran right nearby, and we checked it out for a little while before eating a few Texas tomales and then headed to Fort Worth.

Ole Joey

Austin Pools

Fort Worth

A few hours north of Austin, you have the Dallas/ Fort Worth area, which is a massive area.  Only the New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago areas are bigger in terms of population.  Peter and Paul have a house in Fort Worth, right by TCU's campus, that Paul currently lives in.  We arrived late on Saturday night, and played a hell of a lot ping pong that night in his garage.  The next day, we grabbed lunch and had arguably the best root beer in the history of mankind.  Jordan doesn't even like root beer, but ordered one anyway and loved it.  I have never seen root beer on tap, but hey, this is Texas we're talking about.  

Paul showed us around the Stockyards, where cattle used to be/ are sold and took a quick drive through the actual city.  This was the second to last night of the trip, and we decided to take it easy before making the long haul back to Marion.  Luckily is was Sunday, so we caught a bunch of NFL games, played a lot of ping pong once again, and hit the road the next afternoon.

  


So after 104 days of a 105 day tour of the United States, 30 hours before we planned on being home, we were still over 1,000 miles from home.  The whole not planning much in advance didn't really work out for us these last 2 days.  I wish I had a few good stories to tell about the ride home, but the best I have is staying at the Graceland RV park, right near Elvis's old home.  Allen ended up driving all 17 hours from Fort Worth to Marion.  He told us before we left that he didn't want to be bored as shit on the way home, so he might as well be driving.  We arrived in Marion right before midnight on November 22nd, the same day we planned to come home from day 1.  We had a big welcoming committee and they even had food ready for us at Allen's house.  We pulled in to Allen's house and pulled a double take like the scene in Semi-Pro where the gun accidentally goes off.  We stepped out of the truck and made sure everyone was still breathing, no one had been shot, and all of our limbs were attached and.  We weren't hardly recognizable, we looked homeless, but we made it back.  It's always fun to travel, but it was a damn good feeling to get home.  Allen, Bub and Jordan- how do you even describe what we just did.  We talked about this thing for a year and we actually pulled it off.  As long as I live, that road trip will never be forgotten.  August 9th, 2012, let's do it again?   


Oh, and check out the before and after.  Pretty mind-blowing.  No one shaved during the trip and I actually have an afro now. 

Stats

Miles Traveled- Over 17,000

Number of States- 33 with 3 Canadian Provinces and about 7 minutes in Mexico

Casino Losses- About -300

Number of times eating bad meat- 1

Number of times eating bad meat backfired on me- 1

Notable Milestones

Worst Hangover of my life in Cranbook, British Columbia

Ran out of gas in wherever the hell we were, Wyoming

First birthday celebration spend outside of North Carolina in Denver

Best National Parks- Glacier, Yosemite, Badlands, Acadia, Zion, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands

Best Cities- Chicago, Denver, San Diego, Vancouver, Las Vegas

Family Visited- Burlington, Vermont, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Chicago, Illinois, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Huntington Beach, California, Los Angeles, California, Granby, Colorado, San Antonio, Texas, Austin, Texas, Fort Worth, Texas

Thanks to everyone who met up with us on the trip, thanks to my family who took my friends and I in for a few days- feeding us, letting us do laundry, and giving us a chance to see a familiar face.  Thanks to Kaysee for putting up with me for 15 weeks on the road and to Rachel for looking after my house while I'm gone.  Mom, you know you made my life on the road way easy with all the travel books and everything else you packed for us.  To my dad, who made it possible for me to travel worry free and who I know is watching over me, pissed that I lost 300 of his dollars gambling, but loving it knowing that I'm out wandering the world, living the dream.     

Week 14 with Jordan Vance

Through 13 weeks of the trip, it has been a 3 man wrecking crew.  We tore through the east coast, stopped to see both sides of my family in the midwest, and then slowed down considerably west of the Mississippi.  One of my best friends, Jordan Vance, finished work for the season just in time for the last 2 weeks of the trip with Allen, Bub and I.  Jordan had to fly out to meet us somewhere and board the camper for 2 wild weeks.  If we had stayed on the same traveling timeline as the first 13 weeks, we would have been further along in the trip, but that would have cut out a few bad ass scenic sites for Jordan.  Do I tell Jordan to meet us in Texas, take our time through Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and Tennessee or sling it around and cover a hell of a lot of ground in 2 weeks in order to see the maximum?  Well, when in doubt, sling it out.  Jordan, looks like you're flying to Los Angeles for a mad dash across to United States.  The plan from day 1 was to be home on November 22nd, two days before Thanksgiving, and we stuck to that plan all along.  

Welcome aboard 742

Jordan flew into Los Angeles on November 9th (technically the 10th since it was after midnight) and we scooped him up, introduced him to the camper and Rosa Lee (our GPS), and hit the ground running.  Due to no planning on our behalf, Jordan got in the truck and we had no idea where we were headed.  Southwestern Utah figured to be the first stop on the trip, but that happened to be about 9 hours away.  With the winter approaching, sunlight is hard to come by these days and we are certainly no early risers.  Three options arose about 5 minutes into the trip.  Remember this is 12:30 at night, Jordan had just flown across the country, and we had no idea what the next move might be.  

Option A-  Drive a few hours towards southern Utah, possibly staying near Las Vegas that night.  We would knock out the remaining 7 hours the next morning, find something to that evening, and go into Zion National Park the next day, effectively wasting a valuable day of Jordan's travels.

Option B- Drive to Vegas.  Sell the camper.  Take that money and put it on one hand of blackjack.  Hope for the best.

Option C-  Knock out all 9 hours of the drive and arrive in Zion National Park the next morning.  Once the sun comes up, hope a little of adrenaline and moving around kicks in to offset skipping a night of sleep.  This would be the best usage of time, and would start the last 2 weeks out with a bang.  

I had no interest in option A, option B seemed tempting but reckless, so that left option C.  Allen knocked out the first few hours of the drive until about 3:30 am and I took the reins from there, running on no sleep.  For the first time of the trip, someone decided to ride in the camper while we were driving.  Under no circumstances is this legal, but Allen figured he would get a few hours of sleep and report back to us a few hours later on how safe he felt back there.  Bub slept in the passenger seat, Jordan stretched out in the back and we were off.  Bub slept on and off for awhile, I wasn't sure what Allen was doing in the back, and Jordan got about an hour of sleep before the sun came up.  We slept until about noon that day before, with the possibility of something wild happening that night so I was good to go.  Pacific time is 3 hours behind east coast, so by that measure, Jordan had woken up at 7 am, flown across the country, got one hour of sleep in a 24 hour period, and had to make until the next night.  

If you have ever stayed up all night and skipped a night's sleep, you will know about 5 or 6 am is the toughest part.  Once the sun comes up, your body gets tricked and starts to wake up with a little sunlight. Lucky for me, Jordan woke up about an hour before the sun came up and we talked bs before driving through Las Vegas just as it was getting light outside.  We looked at each other about 5 minutes after passing through and just started laughing thinking about the situation.  I'm not sure he knew what he was getting himself into when he agreed to fly out and meet us for 2 weeks, but if anyone can give a spark to a group, Jordan Vance is the man.  

Fast forward about 4 hours later, and we had arrived in Zion National Park in southwest Utah at 10 am after a 9 plus hour drive.  Allen had made it out of the back of the camper after we had stopped a few hours earlier, claiming he slept very little and felt very unsafe in the camper.  You can't see the road laying down back there, and he said it was an extremely bumpy ride.  I guess they make these things to sleep in while stationary, not while going 65 mph.  

Zion NP is desert-like with red rocks all over with very good off trail hiking.  It is one of the smallest national parks in the United States, but good enough to satisfy us for a few hours.  Unlike a few of the other parks, we only had plans to visit it for an afternoon before hitting the road again.  For the last 2 weeks, it was a day maximum anywhere because of the ground we had to cover to get home by November 22nd.  

We talked to a park ranger, and he gave us a good 3 mile hike to do.  I hadn't slept a wink, and everyone else was running off very little sleep, but we had enough gas in the tank to suck it up and hike.  We made the first two miles on a designated trail before coming up on a big canyon that was hikable as well, but with no trails.  We were closer to the bottom of the canyon, so it was all uphill with big rocks and trees to climb up.  It was easily doable, but there wasn't a clearly outline path to take.  A few times, one of us would see a path up and someone else would claim they saw a better way.  We would all follow who we thought was taking the best path and see what happened.  One person would climb up a set of huge boulders to get up and another would try a hillside that led upwards.  At one point, I almost got stuck and Allen and Jordan had to put their hands out below me so I could step on them just to make it down safely.  

This was definitely one of the best hikes of the trip and we took it back to the truck around 4 that afternoon to find a place to eat. (We had the 2nd best looking waitress of the trip for this meal, with a Vancouver waitress taking the prize for the trip)  Like I said, we are not early risers and in order to maximize sunlight hours, we drove at night and got close to wherever we needed to be the next day, that night. (If that makes sense.)  For example, the next day we wanted to check out Bryce Canyon National Park, so we drove about 30 minutes away that night so we could just wake up and be there the next day.  Even if that meant driving a few more hours after no sleep and a 10 hour drive. 

I continue to tell people that Southern Utah is the most underrated part of the country.  I had never heard anyone talk about Southern Utah but between Canyonlands NP, Arches NP, Zion NP, and Bryce Canyon, it is amazing.  We had done the first two in the middle of September and headed north, and our route had taken us back to southern Utah for 2 more national parks.  

Bryce Canyon is, well, a big canyon at a much higher elevation than Zion.  This being in the middle of November, they already had snow.  This wasn't going to stop us from doing a hike or enjoying the outdoors.  We got into the park about 11 am to a cool 37 degrees and partly sunny but as long as you're moving, it wasn't bad.  We set off on a 2 mile hike through the snow and ice down into a part of the canyon.  Parts of the trail were completely covered in snow.  Before setting off, we took side bets on who would be the first person to bust their ass.  2 bets on Jordan, one on me, and one for Bub.

The trail was about a 3 mile loop that had plenty of switchbacks and many good overlooks.  The hike went down into a canyon with mountains surrounding us.  We made a couple sandwiches and stopped to eat and enjoy the scenery about halfway through, trying to stay warm all at the same time.  Believe it or not, there were actually a decent amount of people out hiking like we were.  Enjoy the pictures and let it be known that no one busted their ass on the hike, although we did decide to cut out about a 1/2 mile of the hike by going straight up the side of a mountain, where Bub almost got stuck.  We ended up throwing the rope down to him in order to avoid any catastrophes.    

For the time of year and where we were in the trip, Jordan couldn't have got luckier to catch a few scenic sites.  First Zion, then Bryce Canyon, next- the Grand Canyon.  Being late in the year and taking into account the weather, we didn't have too many options of things to do.  Let's hit all the lookouts and enjoy some breaktaking views, because hiking was out of the question.  As far as looking at a single scenic sight, this tops my list for the entire trip.  You have an image in your head about what the Grand Canyon will look like and how big it might be, but this blew my image out of the water.  We drove along the north rim for 20 miles or so, stopping every few miles to enjoy each vantage point.  It was in the 30s and really windy, so viewing it was about as much as we got to do.  It sure didn't disappoint my perception of what it would be like.  

Throughout the trip, we went on 3 and 4 day stretches were we would have a stocked refrigerator.  We would cook, throw sandwiches together, whatever we could do to avoid eating out.  Other times, we would go another 4 day stretch eating out for every meal.  Jordan went to culinary school so not only did we add a hell of a member to the crew, but we added a personal chef.  Jordan cooks, Allen drives, Bub made sure we made logical decisions and guided us places, and I decided where we were going and staying each night.  Looks like all areas were covered to me.  If only someone knew how to win money at casinos.    

In Bryce Canyon, around lunch time, we realized that there weren't many options to eat.  "Hey Jordan, why don't you go through the cabinets and fridge and see what you can throw together for us."  20 minutes later, Jordan had made pasta with some leftover ham and some spices we had in the cabinet with mac and cheese and few other random items.  The next night, we bought a pork tenderloin and he made an amazing sauce with some blueberry jam I had bought some time ago.  Anyone can throw something in the oven and cook meat on the stove but the thing that sets good cooks apart from random people heating up meat, like myself, is that they know how to make sauces that will go well with the food on hand.  Did I mention that Jordan was a good addition to the crew?

Prior to the Grand Canyon, we came to the realization that one of must see events was a possibility….. a Nascar Race.  Way back in May before I starting traveling, I went to the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte, Nascar's premiere event.  I swore I was going next year (and every year after) and Bub, Allen, and I all said from the start of the road trip that if we were near one, we had to go.  Lucky for us, that Sunday, the Kobalt Tools 500 was set to take place in Phoenix.  We left the Grand Canyon and headed near Phoenix the night before to catch the afternoon race the next day.  If you have never been to a race, well, it is very unusual.  The concept is to drink and tailgate and then watch cars go really fast for a few hours.  If this doesn't like fun to you, then you know what, you aren't fun.  Maybe the southerner in me is coming out in saying that, but you have to go to a race.  We brought the camper to the race, put the awning out, set up the table and chairs, and were ready to go.    

The race started at 1 pm, and we were there by 11 am to grill and drink some brews before the race started.  You have to get a few beers in before the race in order to get the full experience.  Have about 3 or 4 before it starts to loosen up a little and really get into the action.  The Phoenix crowd seemed much more high class than the die-hard Charlotte crowd but we still saw some characters here.  It was funny to look around and see an older guy with his 2 small kids at the race.  "Looks like its my weekend with the kids, better take 'em to the race, whewww!" 

We were still not shaving and looking rough now almost 14 weeks into the trip.  I wore jorts, Bub wore his denim outfit, and Jordan wore his newly purchased hat.  We represented North Carolina very well in Phoenix.  Arizona must not have the beer thing figured out, because you weren't allowed to bring alcohol inside.  You may think this is crazy, but in Charlotte, you can take a cooler with as much beer as you want into the speedway as long as it fits underneath your seat.  If you are a heavy drinker and the cooler underneath your seat won't do- you can even pay for 2 seats- one for you, and one for your cooler.  

We scalped 4 tickets to the race right outside the entrance and made it to our seats about 10 or 15 laps into the race.  It was about 70 degrees, partly sunny, in the 2nd week of November…. not too shabby.  This was one of the last races in the season, and by this point in "The Chase", Nascar's version of a postseason, the championship had come down to Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards.  Kasey Kayne ended up taking the race, with Edwards and Stewart finished 2nd and 3rd in somewhat of an anti-climatic ending.

After a 2 or 3 hour recovery period, ears still ringing, we hit the ground running again, this time heading towards Carlsbad Caverns in the middle of New Mexico.  The caverns were about 12 hours away so drove a few hours, stopped for the night, and continued on the next day, making sure we arrived before the 4 pm closing the next day.  

Carlsbad Caverns are the tallest caverns in the United States.  You go 75 feet below ground and then arrive in this huge open room at least 200 feet tall.  The government does a really good job of keeping areas like this and National Parks accessible to the public without ruining any land or elements of the wild in the process.  For Carlsbad, there were paved trails leading through the caverns with guard rails to keep idiots like us from falling off the side of the walkways into the darkness.  The caverns had massive formations of salt and limestone desposits that had formed over millions of years and formed the openings underground.  

This had to have been the most driving the crew had put in since the very first week of the trip.  Jordan flew in to Los Angeles- we drove 10 hours on no sleep, stopped for a few hours in Zion NP and then drove 2 more to Bryce Canyon NP.  Throw in about 5 to the Grand Canyon, another 7 to Phoenix, plus 10 to Carlsbad Caverns plus another 8 to our next destination, Big Bend National Park in Texas.  The driving seems like a lot, but I sure couldn't figure out another way to see the country like this.  Looking back, option B- driving to Vegas, selling the camper and putting the money on one hand of blackjack- doesn't seem like that bad of idea anymore.  Thanks for reading, stay tuned for the 15th and final week of the trip in Texas.  RIP JHW3