Sierra Nevadas, Nevada, Most of Utah

Sorry for being a little late with the most recent post, I've been in the middle of nowhere for the past two days. Needless to say, I've gone through numerous state and national parks, taken tons of photos, and covered substantial ground. Hopefully this won't be too rushed nor too long winded.

After my last post, I checked out the trails in Whiskeytown National Recreation Area. Finally a trail system with not only some flow, but some challenging climbs that were at a grade that didn't leave me yearning for a crawler gear. There were some older trails in the Swassy Recreation Area that had some water drainage issues, but the soil composition meant there was very little mud. The trails in Whiskeytown were newer, machine built, and just plain fun. Near the top of the trail, there was some light snow cover, which probably contributed to the large number of waterfalls that crossed the trail in one section. The trail system was also being expanded, with what appeared to be more challenging trails. Good to see that some people in California don't feel the need to start every trail off with a 90 minute climb. In that respect the ride was very refreshing. I have to admit though, I stopped at one point and quickly made sure some tracks weren't made from a large feline. To the person that has their gigantic dog come along for their rides: I am not amused.

Sorry, I was having too much fun to take lots of photos.

After the ride, it was time to cross the Sierra Nevadas. I knew from the temperatures and the recent snowfall that if I was going to make an attempt on the scenic roads, I'd need to do it during the warmest part of the day. The original plan was to take Route 44 to 89 and go through the Lassen National Volcanic Park, but as I got closer to Route 89, it became clear that wasn't going to happen. They don't even attempt to keep that section of Route 89 open in the winter.

This was Route 44

A drive to the 10,000 ft volcano caldera might be a little ambitious.

Instead, I ended up taking the long way around and picking up Route 89 further south. I was surprised by the Sierra Nevadas, I always thought they were steep. Instead it was mostly foothills with the occasional large mountain. Combined with lakes and the many variations in elevation it must be an outdoorsmans paradise in the summer.

Bridge where the railroad tracks follow the road

Travelling east across the Sierra Nevadas, the mountains slowly squeezed more and more moisture out of the air, and by the time I crossed into Nevada I was back in an arid climate. Crossing into Nevada was surreal. Dusk was casting a purple glow over the snow covered mountains and there was a large full moon rising.

Too bad it was still cold.

I stopped in Reno for the night, which is a strange big little city. I don't have many nice things to say about Reno, so I think I'm going to leave it there.

When I left Reno, it was 12 degrees outside. Since crossing the Sierra Nevadas, it hasn't been above freezing for more than 4 or 5 hours. Its cool though, I didn't think I'd ever see frost and snow in the desert.

Somewhere just east of Reno

I decided to cross Nevada by taking Route 50: The Loneliest Road in America. True to its name, it was a long, arrow straight, two lane road that went through miles of nothing. Its the kind of road where its necessary to stop at every gas station and top off the tank because it might be 200 miles before the next opportunity arises. About 30 miles after leaving the last town resembling modern civilization, something amazing happened. Graffiti of dark rocks started appearing on the banks of the drainage ditches on either side of the road.

Maybe not so lonely after all.

Yes, there was a lot of potty humor as well. No, I didn't get pictures of the word "poop." The older the message, the less legible it became, slowly being returned to the desert and recycled to make new messages. From here, Route 50 was uneventful. Although Nevada has plenty of mountains, they are aligned in thin strips. All the roads go through the large valleys in between, meaning they're all straight, relatively flat, and boring. Tired of the loneliness, it was time to make a detour. I hooked a right onto Route 376 and started to head South.

Route 376 was even worse than Route 50. During the long stretches when there was no one around, I floored it, which is something I haven't done the entire trip. About 7 hours after leaving Reno, I finally found something of interest: Lunar Crater.

Look! A giant hole in the ground over yonder. 

The quickest way to Utah from here is down Route 375: The Extraterrestrial Highway. No lie. For once I was looking forward to driving somewhere at night. For those unfamiliar, Route 375 goes through the town of Rachel which is home to The Little A'le'Inn, a mecca for opinionated people on the topic of aliens.

Ok, I'm not taking your abduction story seriously if you're going to use the Comic Sans font

It was a little strange here. I could see oncoming headlights a good 40 miles down the highway. Given that Rachel is right next to a military testing ground, combined with the high visibility of the area, I think the mystery is solved. If I could hear munitions testing while looking at the crater, I don't think its a stretch that you can see evidence of this testing from Rachel. The constant "Low Flying Aircraft" signs on the highway were a nice touch though.

I finally got out of Nevada and stopped for the night in St. George, Utah. First stop in the morning was the Gooseberry Mesa trail. I didn't pack clothes for the blustery 22 degrees with 20mph wind gusts. Nevertheless I doubled up on my base layer and put hand warmers in both my gloves and socks and set out to ride. Its a good thing I had the foresight to grab a GPS map of the trail so I could follow the digital breadcrumbs. Where the trail went over the large sections of slickrock they had marked the path with white spray painted circles. These blended in perfectly with the snow that hadn't been blown away, making it a very difficult trail to follow. With that said, it would've been a blast to ride here if I knew where the trail went.  Relatively flat but challenging obstacles and quick, steep climbs. As usual, the slickrock trails tend to have some of the best views.

To make slickrock sandstone truly slick, just add snow.

The trip back to the parking lot was down a dirt road, which was starting to thaw and get a little muddy. Given that I had to drive down a very rutted, 5 mile long frozen dirt road to get to the trail, I knew this meant trouble. I got back to the car and onto the highway as quickly as possible. Crisis averted.

Continuing east, the next stop was Zion National Park. For being the off season this place was packed, to the point of being over capacity and not having enough parking. Granted, the entire park is only about 15 miles of road. Several of the tourists were rude and annoying, driving as fast as possible as close as possible to the car in front of them on their way to the next parking lot. If you've come all the way out to some place like Zion National Park and the only things that warrant your attention are those that are specifically pointed out, then you're missing the point of being there. The entire park is stunning. Luckily I found a spot that didn't have a sign, and I was able to be alone to soak it in. Meanwhile there were 200 people fighting for parking less than 1000 ft away, hoping to see water weeping down the side of the canyon or something.

I should've packed lunch

The impact of these places is lost by making them too accessible. Many of the people there left with nothing more than some hackneyed photos, and are no better off than had they stayed home and watched the latest episode of Honey Boo Boo.

Luckily the next stop was Bryce Canyon, which was much less popular.

It started to get dark. Trying to make some time, I kept driving. Normally I'd be disappointed in missing the scenery by driving at night. Fortunately the full moon did a good job of illuminating everything. By pulling over and letting my eyes adjust I don't think I missed much.

Note to self: Zion Park at night next time.

I finally pulled over and stayed in Hanksville, and left the next morning before any of the gas stations even opened. One of them left the pumps on so I could at least get gas.

First for the day was a drive through Glen Canyon.

Small canyon just outside Glen Canyon

Then, it was a stop in Natural Bridges National Monument. In order to get a closer look at the Sipapu Bridge, I had to get down this:

No "Caution" or "Watch Your Step" signs. Perfectly safe!

It was pretty cool to stand under the arch, but the view was better from the top.

It was still early in the day, but I was getting anxious because the next stop was Moab.

I got in to town at around 1:30 and headed straight for a trail. Although there was about 3" of snow on the ground, the Lazy-EZ loop at the Moab Brand Trails had been packed down by riders on fatbikes, which meant I could get a ride in without making any modifications.  

Easy to follow the trail when its the only thing rideable

First stop tomorrow is Arches National Park, assuming I'm not snowed in tonight. They weren't calling for any snow, so it should be ok. Then again, it was supposed to get to 36 today and it never got above 22. I'm hoping to get another short ride in before leaving. It's a little disappointing to be in one of the best mountain biking areas in the country and not be able to ride most of the trails.

8200 miles in and I find myself talking to the car and the GoPro on a regular basis. Don't worry though, they aren't talking back yet.

NorCal

I've been dealing with a lot of rain since my last post in Santa Cruz. Between the abundance of rain and the overcast skies, I've had to really fight the urge to hibernate and continue sleeping. I've also had trouble finding things to do with myself that don't involve mountain biking, since most of the trails are closed to bikes during the wet season.

Small Japanese garden in Hayward, behind a senior center

At least the driving has been good. I was planning on doing a short bike on Mt. Diablo for Christmas, but it started doing a heavy wintry mix while I was in the middle of taking photos.

Wearing my Christmas colors angered Mt. Diablo

Time to continue on with the trip. I have to admit, I didn't do much research about whats north of San Francisco. I only checked the average temperatures and made sure they were above freezing. So I was pleasantly surprised when I cut through the Napa Valley. The whole place reminded me of that default Windows XP background, only covered with grapes and cows. It was also much larger than I expected, going west to east through Napa and Sonoma took well over an hour.

From here, it was out to the coast to pickup Route 1:The Shoreline Highway. The road that's been made famous by every cliche advertisement about a car. This is a windy road that follows the coast as close as possible, regardless of whether there are rivers, mountains, or cliffs.

Where Rt. 1 crosses the Russian River

The few places Rt. 1 does pull away from the shoreline, things start to feel very Pacific Northwest, with small streams and lots of pine trees. Towards the end it got very twisty, making for some fun driving, before finally dumping onto an interstate.

From the interstate, some of the trees started to look different. Then, there were signs for The Avenue of the Giants, which cuts through Humboldt Redwoods State Park. It was getting dark, so I decided to pull over and sleep in the car, under a bunch of giant redwoods.

As cool as it sounds, it was a pretty crappy nights sleep. Since it wouldn't stop raining I brought the bike in the hatch. This means I couldn't recline the seat. Then, even when it did stop raining there was always water dripping down from the tree canopy, making noise on the roof of the car. But how often will I get to sleep under this?

Long exposure, tail lights, and moon

This also gave me plenty of time to think about all of the predatory animals that live in these woods that I don't have at home. Maybe its about time to pick up some bear bells.

Cats hate bells too, right?

When I woke up the next morning, I was determined to get a ride in. There's no way I'm passing up an opportunity to ride here. I found a loop online earlier that looks like it includes the only piece of singletrack in the park open to bikes. The climb up was brutal, and was made worse with all the water running down the trail. I've never seen so much water before. I can understand why people think there's Bigfoot out here. The size of the trees, the water dripping down, all the noise from the small streams, it always sounded like there was something in the woods. Nonetheless, the views were worth it. 

It also gave a good perspective to the size of the trees. They don't appear to be that much taller than some of the oaks on the east coast, but the trunks are enormous. 

How do you turn a mountain bike into a clown bike?

At times with all the large trees and ferns it felt almost pre-historic. I wasn't sure if I should be more afraid of a mountain lion or a t-rex. Not much of a trail, but definitely a cool place to ride. From here, it was a quick drive north to Eureka.

Now, I've had several people comment about Eureka. Just let me confirm: there is nothing in Eureka. However, this is where I make the final right turn onto Route 299 and start heading home. It was very tempting to keep heading north. Afterall, I could've been in Oregon in under 2 hours. But the signs warning about winter weather and the necessity of snow chains made it clear it was time to finally get out of the area and avoid the mess. And actually, just 20 miles east I crossed the first mountain ridge and the sun came out. I wonder if the people in Eureka know that they're not condemned to a life of overcast and rain if they'd just move the town over a bit. If nothing else they'd save a fortune on black coffee and fungicide. 

Continuing east, things started to look very alpine before finally drying out and looking more like California. 

6600 miles in, stopping in Redding for the night. I might've finally found a trail system that doesn't start with a 2000ft+ climb. Looking forward to stretching the legs out tomorrow with a good spin. At the trail head there was another one of those signs about mountain lions. Maybe I'll skip the tuna I was planning on having for breakfast.

Los Angeles

I've spent the last several days staying at a cousins house in Los Angeles. Its hard to believe I spent 4 years here going to college. I was expecting Los Angeles to still feel like a second home, but a lot has changed with so much time away. Most of the people that were here for college have spread back out. When I lived here I didn't get off campus much, so I didn't form a connection with much of the area. Even parts of the campus are unrecognizable. Still, it was good to see family and a few old friends I could track down. There's still a lot left on the to-do list here. I'll need to come back soon.

I've eaten so much food the past few days. When I wasn't eating and catching up with old friends, I was out riding. First stop was La Tuna Canyon, which is the closest place I could find to my cousins house. Riding here seems typical of the area: take the fire road all the way to the top and then take the single track back down. This place was the first wake-up call to the west coast trail philosophy. The fire road was a 4 mile long, 1300' climb. As it wrapped around the mountain I'd freeze in the shade and bake in the sun. Once reaching the top with all the radio and communications towers, I came across my first sleeping homeless person. Welcome to LA. From the top you could see Glendale, Pasadena, Downtown LA, Burbank, the ocean, pretty incredible stuff. 

Downtown LA just left of center

Finding a trail to get back down was a little challenging. There were several that went down the wrong side of the mountain. I finally found one that headed in the right direction. Steep and narrow with hairpin turns. I get the impression that this place is a personal playground for a small group of bikers. 

From here, I headed out to Hollywood to meetup with my old friend Six, check out one of my favorite music stores Amoeba, and grab lunch. Then, it was up to Malibu to check out some real mountains.

Back in college I always wanted to ride in the mountains above Santa Monica. Not having a car, I never got to do it. Now, I finally had a chance to check things out. There was some single track, but it was mostly fire roads with several 1000ft climbs. More incredible views of the mountains, ocean, and Malibu estates.

Looking down on rich people

Saturday, I wanted to check out the trails down in Orange County. A friend recommended checking out the San Juan trail outside of San Juan Capistrano. I took the San Juan trail to the top, a grueling 14 mile 3600' climb of bench cut trails and plenty switchbacks. After passing a bunch of the locals (and some guy with an Italian accent) on the way up, there was no way I was taking the same trail back down. All I'd do is run into people. I took the adjacent Los Pinos trail back down instead.

Ever since seeing this video on YouTube, I've been curious about ridge trails: the ones that go straight down the spine of the mountain. Theres a short one outside of Penn State in Rothrock State Park, but the Los Pinos trail is the real deal. Or, at least as close as I'm going to get to one on my bike. Let me just say, I'm no longer curious about ridge trails. I think this trail is as close to riding in the Andes as is possible in the continental US. 

The trail goes right down the top of the mountain in the center of  this shot

Steep ups and downs. Where the brush pulls away from the trail I could see almost straight down. I've never been surrounded by mountains like that before. Truly a remarkable place to ride, even if I walked about half of it. I can't wait to check out what else California has to offer.

5700 miles in, its been raining in San Francisco the past several days. Both my college roommate and my cousins girlfriend had their flights cancelled. The weatherman in LA was really smug about how the cold front had stalled and had given SoCal an abundance of warmth and sunshine. Although its sunny in San Francisco now, everything is soaked. Looks like I might be paying for that primo SoCal weather now. Unfortunately I won't be able to meetup with my cousin in San Francisco, she went back east for the holidays. I'll see what I can find to do instead.

Arizona to Las Vegas

So with the limited sunlight I've been making sure to start my days before sunrise so I can maximize daylight. I don't know how many other people have been able to see a sunrise over monument valley. Definitely worthwhile, even if it was freezing out.

From Monument Valley, it was a short drive to Antelope Canyon, which is apparently one of the most photographed slot canyons. Like Monument Valley, its inside the Navajo Nation, which means the rules for access can be very different from a state or national park. In the case of Antelope Canyon, there are Navajo companies that will take you out to the canyon and give you a tour. I went with one of the smaller companies, where the doors on the suburban only opened from the outside and the driver did power slides on the dry sandy riverbed down to the canyon. He probably would've been more professional if there were more people that showed up than just me. Or, if he thought I wasn't having fun. It also meant I got a private tour by someone who was very familiar with the canyon and was able to help me line up some good shots.

The next stop was going to be the Grand Canyon, but someone decided it was acceptable to close the main route to the north rim just because its winter. I don't know who thought it was acceptable to essentially close a national treasure just because of some cold weather, but I hope they get a giant sack of coal for Christmas. Not accepting defeat so easily, I found a few secondary dirt roads to take to the canyon instead. The canyon was a good 40 mile drive from the highway. As I drove closer, the dirt road started to get a light snowy coating. Then it got more snowy, then started snowing, got foggy, and dropped below freezing. When I could hear the car bottoming out on the snow ridge in the middle of the road that had built up from the tracks of the other drivers, I knew it was time to turn around. Next stop, Las Vegas.

Defeat

In order to get to Las Vegas from here, theres a short detour into Utah to pickup I-15. As soon as I-15 comes back into Arizona they wedge the highway in between some mountains, and drop the elevation 3000 ft over the next 10 miles. The entire drive looks something like this:

Things flattened out as I crossed into Nevada. I never saw a sign welcoming me into Nevada, but the neon lights from the casinos on the border town made it clear exactly where I was. Then, I ran over a tumbleweed.

Las Vegas was stupid windy and it never got above 45 degrees the entire time I was there. I did a quick drive down the strip and then called it a night. First thing in the morning, I headed down to the Golden Nugget. When my cousin in LA found out I was stopping in Vegas, he had me place roulette bets by proxy. He might have a gambling problem. I fiddled with one of the slots and came out $36.50 richer. Time to head to the Hoover Dam.

The Hoover Dam was constructed by great men that worked together to tame the merciless and savage power of mother nature, thus bringing prosperity to the southwest. At least thats what the film said at the beginning of the tour. The whole site is a time capsule back to the 1930s and still reflects a lot of the nationalist attitudes of the time.

View from one of the vents inside the dam.

While I was in the area, I checked out the Bootleg Canyon Trails. Riding around, it quickly became obvious that these trails were built by Freeride and Downhill riders. Long downhills, banked turns with loose gravel, sections that required lots of momentum. It took some getting used to the different building philosophy, but once I did the trails were fun, though I still stuck to the easier trails. There were also some good views of Las Vegas, about 20 miles away.

From here, it was a short drive to Los Angeles. Coming into California theres an agricultural inspection and I had to give up my Florida grapefruits because they might have fruit flies. I guess its better than becoming a Typhoid Mary and bringing pestilence to the southwest, undoing the work of such great men.

4900 miles in, looking forward to staying put for a few days. Don't worry, I'll still find some trouble.

Disappointment in New Mexico, Redemption in Arizona

On my route map New Mexico wasn't even a destination, but the section of New Mexico off I-10 isn't much of an improvement from old Mexico. This piqued my curiosity, so I stopped at the welcome center to what  NM had to offer. Turns out there are Indian cave dwellings not too far north. In the same area there is also the Signal Peak Trail. Unfortunately what they don't tell you at the travel center is the Indian dwellings are 2 hours each way from the closest city, the park closes at 4pm, and the roads aren't plowed on weekends. I arrived too late to make it to the dwellings on time, but I did have some daylight left to explore the Signal Peak Trail. The trailhead is 5 miles up a snow covered fire road. My attempt in the VW ended about half a mile up when the car slid into the water channel on the inside of a steep hairpin turn. Turns out there was a thick layer of ice under that thin layer of snow. Luckily with a little finesse and the aid of gravity I was able to get unstuck. I parked at the bottom of the road and broke out the mountain bike. The parking lot at the bottom of the fire road is at 7400' and the trail head is up at 8900'. Fun! Luckily I didn't have too much trouble with the altitude, but when I got to the trailhead it became obvious that the deep snow, grade of the trail, and dwindling daylight meant a ride was not going to be possible. Coming back down I had my first fall, which was more of bail as I slid on a patch of ice. Lucky for everyone I was testing a new perspective with the GoPro and managed to get footage. You're welcome.

When Shane falls in the forest, it doesn't count unless there's video evidence.

There were some cool views on the way down. From a clearing you could see through the snow covered pines all the way down into the dry and baron desert. 

I decided the best thing to do would be to head back into the desert for the night and try again first thing the next morning. This at least allowed me to check out the City of Rocks, which is a collection of large rocks in the middle of a field: a natural Stonehenge. 

Arriving early, I had the whole place to myself

From here I made another attempt up to the dwellings. Of course, it was lightly snowing on the mountain. I got within 10 miles before the car started having trouble pulling the hill in the snow covered ice. Sliding into a drainage wash out is one thing, sliding off the side of the mountain is another. Time to find something else to do. 

From here it was a 3 hour drive to Tucson. I've always had a soft spot for Arizona. The modern and clean cities, the inexpensive top-notch universities, the way the constant sweat and hazardous UV exposure levels give everyone a healthy glow. Cool place. The trip through the state has more than made up for the disappointment of New Mexico. After checking out Tuscon for awhile, I headed out to the trails in Casa Grande. Getting a half hour outside of Tucson, the only real evidence of civilization is the plethora of radio stations. The Casa Grande Trails are built on the side of a small and isolated mountain, and were a good mix of tricky rock sections, steep climbs, and flow.

Dark shadows and bright desert make for tough photography

From here, it was a short drive to Phoenix. I had been planning on hitting the Schultz Creek Trails in Flagstaff, but the weather forecasts were showing a high of 40 degrees. The Black Canyon Trails were at a lower altitude and looked like a good substitute. 

Arizona: Ride the Terrarium 

Actually, I'm surprised these trails aren't considered an epic. Bench cut flow trails that still maintain the unique qualities of the area with steep climbs and awe-inspiring views. Riding here is just plain fun, and with 70+ miles of trail should be on everyone's to-do list if they're in the area.

From here, I took Route 89A to Sedona. Route 89A from Prescott Valley goes up a mountain and has some pretty spectacular views.

Despite having spent more time than I anticipated at Black Canyon and the detour to take the scenic route, I arrived in Sedona with enough time to get a quick ride in. The Cathedral Rock trails are definitely not indicative of riding in the Sedona area. These are multi-use trails that are setup more for hiking. With that said, there were some singletrack offshoots that had fun banked turns, rock features, and dry creek crossings. Also, the views.

So much to look at

Leaving at sunset, I continued up Route 89A and could still make out some of the features of Oak Canyon. Today was outstanding.

4,300 miles down, and its only getting harder with sunrise/sunset times varying by up to an hour depending upon where I am in the time zone. Also, altitude affects temperatures by up to 30 degrees. Its all a little disorienting. Tomorrows agenda includes monument valley and the grand canyon. Weather looks sketchy, we'll see how it goes.

Texas

Texas has been really interesting. Very spread out, but they make up for that with 65+mph speed limits on every road, made safe by making the double yellow line 4" wider and made economical with cheap gas prices. Needless to say, I've been doing a lot of driving the last few days.

The advantages of being owned by oil companies

On my way to Austin, I started off with rush hour through Houston, a pit stop in Giddings for laundry, and a detour to the Stony Hill Ranch for some bike riding.

What have I gotten myself into?

Rocky Hill Ranch was about 25 miles of  privately owned trails. The owners were getting ready for a race, so everything was roped off and arrowed. It was nice to not have to stop and figure out the map along the way. This place had a huge variety of soil types, trail conditions, and trail building styles. Several of the climbs were unsustainably steep and had started to erode. They were also murder on my legs.

If I could sum up Texas in one sign

From here, I went through Austin at afternoon rush hour, which was horrible, but inevitable when your city grows at a breakneck pace. It did give me a good opportunity to look around. There were tons of upscale independent businesses, outdoor aerobics in the park, lots of new buildings. The sun started to set and I was on my way to San Antonio.

From San Antonio, I had to decide on an adventure for Friday. When I looked over my atlas with Ashleigh, she warned me about I-10 in west Texas being flat and boring, when looking for alternate routes I noticed Big Bend Ranch State Park down in an isolated corner of the state and lots of mountains with 5000ft+ elevations. Ashleigh immediately warned me about it being too close to the Mexican border and all the drug violence. Sorry Ashleigh, I couldn't help myself. Afterall, its a 2000 mile long border and you figure at most theres a couple hundred smugglers actively working the border at any given time. Besides, its not like the Mexican drug cartels are going to be using the trail system to smuggle their contraband.

Fuck

The trail system was a good 7 hour drive from San Antonio. Its another 5 hours from here to El Paso. This place is as isolated as it gets. I never really thought of Texas having a panhandle and thought it was strange that people said it had one, but now I understand why. All the major cities are in the east half of the state, there is no one in the west half of Texas.

This is a very unforgiving place. Even though it was only 75 and partly sunny I was drinking a lot more water.  There were random tropical storm force wind gusts that would stir up for about 20 seconds and then disappear. The plants here are more dense than they are in the true desert. Brushing one of the plants will result in it punching, slicing, or stabbing back. Even the aloe plants looked out for blood. All the rocks are sharp and pointy so falling down is going to hurt. Slow and steady wins the race.

Stab

With that said, there were plenty of photo opportunities.

There were tons of trails down there. The IMBA epic alone has 70 miles and is considered a 2 day ride.

I've been fortunate. My tour of west Texas has been anything but flat, brown, and boring. 3150 miles so far. Its been too cloudy and hazy to see any stars. Hopefully New Mexico will be clearer. 

The Gulf

When I arrived in Lake City, FL I couldn't figure out why my route took me north into Alabama. Then I realized theres an Ozark in Alabama and I had planned a detour for the wrong city. So I decided instead to head south when I hit Tallahassee, hug the coast, and go through Panama City and Pensacola. There were lots of causeways, vacation spots, and towns that don't look like they've changed much since 1970.

I got back on the I-10 in Pensacola and continued my west. My only detour in Alabama was the gas station where the hosts of Top Gear got pelted with stones and run out of town. I had planned to stop, take a quick picture, and get gas, but it looked nothing like what was shown on TV. It's on google maps if you want to check it out. The parking lot was crushed stone, which explains where the locals were getting their ammo.

Mississippi went quick and before I knew it I arrived in Baton Rouge where I stopped for the night.

First stop in Louisiana was a trail referred to as "the beast" in St. Francisville, about 45 minutes north. I arrived a few minutes before someone came to open the gate to the park. I love the local accent. This section of Louisiana is still relatively flat, but this trail system manages to find some very steep climbs and descents. This was a good opportunity to experiment with the camera a little.

From the trail I headed back to Baton Rouge to catch lunch with an old friend. I met Ashleigh a long time ago on the internet and we've somehow kept in touch for over a decade. Not everyone online is a rapist or ax murderer. Its good to know good people. We met up at a local chinese buffet with a bunch of her friends, who all happened to be engineers. Fun.

Leaving from lunch, I backtracked a little and hit New Orleans. I made sure to go over the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, which is at least 20 miles long and goes right through the middle of the lake. New Orleans grew bigger on the horizon and I made my first stop by the zoo in Audubon Park. Here was the trailhead of the Mississippi River Trail, which is paved along the top of a levee. What better way to see a city.

One fine dyke I tell you what.

I did a quick driving tour of New Orleans, and although some of the side roads were in horrible, pot-hole riddled shape, I felt very safe. I went through downtown and ended up in the French Quarter just after sunset. I was a little disappointed, the French Quarter is a tourist destination and is more of a consumer playground than a historical site. It felt fake and geared more towards trying to sell you a t-shirt than to preserve any history of the location. I was more impressed with the drive through the neighborhoods and downtown. I had no idea the city was so big.

In how many cities would this house blend in?

I got out of New Orleans, and crossed the Mississippi river around 7:00. Theres a long section of the I-10 near Atchafalya N.W.R. where the entire highway is elevated about 20 feet in the air. Its bad enough that I'm missing so much travelling down the interstate at 70mph. This was too much, so I got off and checked out the area on the surface roads. This was my reward:

Louisiana DOT: money for Christmas lights, not so much for roads

Crossing into Texas I was greeted with a 20ft lone star and the biggest welcome sign yet. I stopped last night on the east side of Houston. I want to continue from here in the daylight. I'm already seeing a lot of shooting stars. 2300 miles in, looking forward to a big open night sky. I've been warned on two separate occasions now that I-10 west of Houston is brown, flat, and boring. I was already doing my best falsetto to Don't Stop Believin' back in Louisiana (don't judge, I can only take so much of this, this, and this). I don't know if my sanity can handle Texas. I'll have to see what kind of trouble I can get into.

On a side note, the VW is doing well. The trip meter resets at 2000 miles. Considering that's a round trip from Berlin to St. Petersburg, I'd say the Germans weren't expecting so much fahrvergnugen.