Road Trip 2010 - Last week (the last week, not last week...)

Well, it's getting down to the wire.  Hopefully I can start heading home today.  I'm back in Flagstaff, AZ.  I got here late Tuesday evening after a very slow and intermittently bone-jarring ride from Phoenix.  It turned much colder on the way up, and though it snowed overnight, it was melting in the morning.

I got my car in to Discount Tire late Wednesday morning, and guess what...  The hub centric rings I ordered and FedEx'd overnight are the wrong size.  Aaargh!  Oh well.  I wonder how many times have I said that out loud or to myself over the last seven weeks.  I searched and found the right ones (or at least they better be) and they'll be in by Thursday.

No point wasting time sitting around again, so since I was already here, I might as well at least set out for the Grand Canyon.  I figured another couple hundred km's (versus four thousand from here to home) is going to hurt.  So I head out of town, and of course, it the sun disappeared and it started to get a bit gray.  No biggie; it's still winter, so I stopped to get some gas - here's a shot of a big hill in front of the gas station as I pulled in:

Can you guess what this picture is?

Yup.  Same hill, one tank of gas later. 

Two blocks and two minutes later:

Ahh, what the heck.  It's only 65 miles up to the canyon, and I can't go above 80km/h anyway.

Fifteen minutes out of town, it's another world.

I found myself distracted by the scenery and ended up in the wrong place Thurdsay night, but it turned out to be the right place after all, consistent with everything else this trip.

There's too much to document right now, as I'm heading west today (boo, hoo, hoo...).  I have to get back to Discount Tire now to see if my car can go fast, so more later.  Lots more.

Sneak preview:

Road Trip 2010 - Second last week

It's been a long while since the last post.  I don't blame you if you gave up following this.  Sorry about that. 

Since the 27th, I've gone through Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas and now New Mexico.  I'm going to attempt a night run to Phoenix, Arizona, and try to get to the Grand Canyon by Wednesday.  I was going to extend my trip by a week or two to make up for the delays, but the bank account says otherwise.  So, California and Utah will have to wait until next year.

I have taken a few pictures along the way, and hope they're enough to keep you interested a while longer.

Galveston, TX - driving on the sand at East Beach, Crabcake Caesar and a Shiner Bock at Joe's Seafood, sunset at the west end of the island

Carlsbad Caverns, Carlsbad, NM

On the highway between Deming and Silver City, NM and the Backroad Scenic Parkway near Gila National Park, NM

Road Trip 2010 - February 27

I finally left Jackson, MS around 5 on Friday, but it took over five hours to get to New Orleans. It was too late to get an ffordable hotel, so I slept in the car. A bit chilly, but no biggie. This car is really comfortable. Of course, still no decent Internet access or even anywhere to sort and convert files, so no pics again, sorry. OK, here are a few, just so you know I'm still using my camera...

The gal in the doorway of the European Jazz Club is Kate; she's from Czech Republic, and puts a new spin on the concept of bouncer. The two getting prepped for fun on Bourbon Street preferred anonymity. The couple is Adrian and Camilla (pronounced like "Pamela" - she's from Iceland). They're very much in love (more mooney, lovey-dovey pics later). They came into the bar (Harry's) about 1:30 a.m., and Adrian bought the house (all five of us) a round of Jameson's and we all had some good laughs.

New Orleans is very different in the morning (really?). I walked around the French Quarter for another couple of hours, talking with people and snapping pics like this one:

I was going to stay over Saturday night, but the weather channel said it was going to rain, so I headed west mid-afternoon. And indeed, it started raining just outside of NO. And it rained, and rained and rained. It was supposed to be a band of rain travelling west to east, so I thought I would go to Avery Island to visit the Tobasco factory. By the time I got to the area, it was raining too hard to even think of getting off the highway. So, I ended up staying in Lafayette, LA for the night. I got a $200 room at the Hilton (for $46, thanks again to Capt. Kirk), but there was no Internet access - their network was down, and tech support was not available. I offered, but no go. So, I watched some TV and dozed off. I slept in (again); they finally kicked me out around 1:00.

Anyway, I'm heading for San Antonio, TX now, and just stopped in to McD's to check messages and log this (three hous later...). I will be staying in San Antonio for one night; two if the FedEx place accepts the shipment of car parts for me (it's against the rules, so I might be SOL). The car is good, but needs an alignment (hence the parts).

Otherwise, all is well.

Road Trip 2010 - 24 February

Well, I'm just about on my way outta Jackson.  The car is finished*, and they've done a nice job.  I'll let you know a bit more once I've had a chance to drive it.  I'm feeling much better, though my left side ribs are really sore.  It must be the midway ride in Chapala.  It only took more than a week to start to ache.  I don't recall if I mentioned that ride in an earlier post, so I'll elaborate later on.

I'm heading for New Orleans (again), and plan to be in San Antonio by the weekend.  The * is for the one missing piece of trim that's meeting me there.  It's a little cap that fits on the end of the drip rail at the back of the car.  The Volvo dealer ordered and sent the part for the other side.  The body shop had to overnight the right part, they're going to paint it tomorrow and overnight it to Texas.  I've ordered a few other front end parts that need replacing; hopefully we'll all be in San Antonio at the same time.  Gotta love cars.

I want to get moving, so that's about it for now.  I have a lot to say about what's happened so far, and will try to get it recorded asap.  As Matt at Enterprise rent-a-car said "Huy myan, that's purty deep".  And they say I've got an accent.  No doot aboot it, eh?

Later, all.

Road Trip 2010 - February 23

Zoiks. 

More than half-way through  my trip (time-wise) and I'm still in Jackson, Mississippi. 

The car had to go to the local Volvo dealer when the body shop found the dash display was insisting the tailgate was open, when in fact it was not.  They even replaced the lock mechanism, but it turned out to be nothing more than a pinched or broken wire. And, it's not a simple replacement - the car is networked, and harness is almost $2K on its own, so they had the dealer go at it with a meter to find the break.  God bless the troubleshooters who know how to do things the hard way.  Makes me proud to be an old-school techno-wienie.

So the car comes back this morning, and goes off to the nearby tire/suspension specialist for a 4-wheel alignment.  And guess what!  The steering wheel is a few degrees off center.  No big deal, a simple adjustment.  Nope.  The lower tie rod on the passenger side is frozen and/or bent.  It's likely a result of "Ohio Hammering Incident".  The tech has put penetrating oil on it and is leaving it for the night.  Worst case, they'll have to cut off and replace the tie rod.  The good news is that the dealer has one in stock.

Auto Body America has to do a final inspection and get their subcontractors' paperwork sorted as well, so it'll be tomorrow morning before it's ready to go.

So it's one more night in Jackson.  I sure wish I felt like doing something.  I've been here long enough to have hit all the high spots, but with the weather (it's getting cold and they're calling for snow tonight), and this head/throat/chest thing, I just haven't had the energy to do much of anything. 

I did go to a real blues club (The 930 Blues Cafe) on Friday night (pics real soon), but Saturday morning I felt like someone had put a garbage bag over my head, tied it off at the waist and went about beating me about the head and torso.  Fever, aches, pains, the grippe (anyone know what that is?).  Good thing Dr. Beam (fondly known as Jim) is easily reached.

My tablet PC has been acting up as well, overheating and shutting down, so I broke down and picked up a new laptop (like I can afford it now).  I guess I'll finish setting it up tonight, and maybe get to uploading some images.  Gonna need a second job to get caught up.

Enough rambling; the shop is about to close, and I have to get hold of Captain Kirk again to see if I can score another deal on a nice hotel (BTW, the Marriott chain leads in quality so far - high thread count sheets, real pillows, etc.).

RoadTrip 2010 - February 19

Fast forward more than a week...
I miss Mexico already.
Back in Jackson, MS.  My car was supposed to be ready yesterday, so I flew back early.  I wanted to check it out before leaving for another 10,000km.  Well, now it won't be ready until Monday.  Bad weather, short staff, damaged replacement parts, more damage than realized, things missed by the adjuster, etc., etc., etc.  Oh well.  I have a nice rental (a big Kia Borrego SUV), so I think I'll head back to Memphis for the weekend.  Maybe Arkansas (remember those nurses?).  It's nearly 3:30 (it took forever to get the rental sorted out), so I better get moving one way or the other.
Jackson nightlife is apparently non-existent, or shuts down at 10 p.m.  I drove around for more than an hour last night looking for anything to eat other than fast food, but no luck.  Three surprisingly good tacos at Taco Bell later, and that was it for the night.  Whee!
Not even a bit discouraged.  It's rather fun doing nothing.
Oh - upload speed is almost zero, so pics will have to wait.  I'm going to see if I can poach a signal at a Kinkos or somewhere else.  Y'all have to wait until then.

Road Trip 2010 - February 10-11

OK, I've lost track of which day it is.  Apparently it's Thursday, but I don't feel like figuring out which day number of the trip any more, so we'll go with the date.

Still in Nuevo Vallarta; we're leaving tomorrow.  I could stay here.  It would take me a few more days to get used to the heat, but I think I could handle it.

We took a bus into Puerta Vallarta yesterday morning.  That was indeed an experience.  The roads here have, in addition to potholes and other wear-related road hazards, thin but high speed bumps and these yellow things (I'll find out the name and get a picture) nailed into the pavement.  They're not exactly everywhere, but they are intended to keep traffic at a reasonable pace.  Cars seem to deal with them nicely, likely because the drivers are also the owners and have to fund the repairs, but the buses are another story.  I'm pretty sure we were doing 60-80km/h or even more whenever possible.  As we passed across those speed bumps, the bus, or at least the rear end became airborne.  And more than once.  Much more than once.  I was standing, so it wasn't that big a deal, but the folks that were sitting, particularly the ones at the back row were jolted out of their seats.

A fellow got on the bus with a guitar, and proceeded to serenade us.  He's playing at the Hard Rock Cafe on Saturday night, but sadly, we're leaving tomorrow (Friday). 

I have video; I'll upload it to YouTube when I get a better connection.

I do see why Puerta Vallarta is so popular, and it would be very interesting to live here, for a few months at least.  Of course it is very touristy, and the hotels and resorts are nothing like life even a block off the main drag, but it is quite the place.

My new friend Vince and I walked almost almost most of the way back (actually maybe a quarter of the way).  We took some back streets, walked along the beach, hit another resort for a few cervesas, and once we ran out of gas, took a taxi back to Samba Vallarta.

I met a fellow named Jesus here at the resort.  He is a local photographer, and works here at the resort and around the area.  He has been shooting couples and families, weddings, etc.  I don't want to compete with him, but I did have an idea.  I'm sure it would be relatively easy to set up one or two week tours, set up specifically for for photographers.  It could be based here at the resort, with day trips into the surrounding mountains and villages and into PV.  Having a guide with both camera skills and familiarity with the area, lighting, weather, etc. would provide a terrific opportunity for amateurs and pros alike.  There is such a variety of landscapes, ocean views, including whale watching, not to mention the small towns and villages nearby.  This resort would definitely need a better Internet connection, as well as some additional computer support and printing services, but I'm sure it wouldn't be that hard to set up.

I have a lot of pictures to upload; I'm not sure if this blog can handle them.  I'll save the text for now and give it a shot (can't resist using that...)