Day 11: Grand Canyon, AZ

September 2 (Nate’s Birthday!!!)
Grand Canyon Hike!!
Miles: 12 (on foot)

We woke up at 5am very excited for the day’s adventure that lay ahead. I gave Nate his birthday present which was a dinosaur t-shirt.

Background story:

Nate and I became friends in kindergarten. One of the first conversations that we ever had was in reference to a knitted sweater that my granny gave me. It had a knitted triceratops on it and Nate was super jealous. He told me he liked my sweater and we became friends after that. Nate went home and whined to his mother that he wanted a dino sweater as well. Nate’s mom bought him one so we could be dino-sweater-matching friends. He still did not think his was as good as mine but needless to day, Nate’s intense jealousy for my awesome sweater was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Let’s fast-forward 14 years:

5am. September 2nd, 2009: It’s Nate’s 23rd birthday. Our original dino-sweaters are long lost, donated, and for sure, much too small for our now manly muscular frames. We woke up at 5 and the first thing I did was wish Nate a happy birthday and give him his new dino t-shirt. It’s black and white with a velociraptor-looking dino on it. I had bought one for myself so we could match (Mine’s a triceratops of course) and we set off for our adventure!

The sky was just beginning to creep up over the canyon walls as we set out. We made it down to the bottom by about 8 or nine and had a break in the Indian Campground. There was a nice stream and trees for shade. Along the way we encountered many fellow travelers from all over the world. We went another 1. Miles out to a plateau overlooking the Colorado river. It was absolutely breathtaking. The power of that place is overwhelming. Hiked back up and made it out by 1pm. We were both so tired! We went back to camp and showered. I fell asleep from 3-6 and totally knocked out. Woke up just in time to go get dinner at the lodge for Nate’s birthday!


Still went to sleep pretty early because we had been awake so long and there wasn’t much going on around the camps.

Nate thinks people care what he has to say:
I had one of the most amazing birthdays. Luke got me an awesome shirt. We hiked 12 miles and talked to some nice people. Luke took me to a birthday dinner and gave me a birthday shirt. It was another great day.

Love,
Luke & Nate

Day 10: Holbrook, AZ-Grand Canyon National Park, AZ

September 2, 2009
Holbrook, AZ-Grand Canyon National Park, AZ
miles: 181.3

The trend of getting up before sunrise started this day. I woke up refreshed before the sun rose and checked out the pink, orange, and red sky. Nate and I were pleasantly surprised to find really nice showers and a all-you-can-eat-pancake breakfast for $2.00 (TWO DOLLARS) which included coffee. We at next to a 2 million year old piece of petrified wood. Both of us were so so so excited to get to grand canyon that we jumped right onto the road.

Drove less than two hours to arrive at the grand Canyon! We got a campsite reservation at Mathers Campground and walked less than a mile to the rim. As with the Carlsbad caverns and numerous other sights along the way, I find it literally impossible to describe what we have seen in words. Bottom line: The grand canyon is huge and you should see it for yourself.

Nate and I spent the day walking the rim trail, which goes along the rim (duh) and planning an epic hike the next day. We wanted to hike into the canyon and spend the night but you have to book it months in advance and get permits and stuff. We’ll jus do that for spring break with Ben Powers. We got some food and were both feeling pretty lazy. Since we were planning on getting up before dawn we went to sleep early. I’m embarrassed to say we fell asleep in our tent at 8:30 pm. Seriously how cool are we?

Nate’s birthday is tomorrow! It’s the first birthday we’ve spent together since high school because I was always in Corvallis. Slept like a log.

Nate:
Good breakfast, good drive, good campsite, good grand canyon, good day.

Love,
Luke & Nate

Day 9: Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico-Roswell, NM-Albuquerque, NM-Holbrook, AZ

August 31, 2009
Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico-Roswell, NM-Albuquerque, NM-Holbrook, AZ
Miles: 534.4


Woke up very early to the sunrise in the desert. We had a great time sleeping under the stars of New Mexico. It’s a really good thing we packed up quickly and headed out when we did because just as we were pulling out to get to the highway, some guy drove by in a maintenance truck and looked very confused indeed. I recon if we had slept a little more we might have woken to a shotgun in the face and an angry farmer who did not take too kindly to strangers sleeping with his cows. We drove out as he was pulling in and all there was to do was smile and wave politely. (us: 1, camping fees: 0)


It was a very short drive to get to the Carlsbad Cavern National Park entrance. The best part about it was the whole tour was only 6 dollars each! That’s right we only paid 6 bucks to see one of America’s most amazing natural attractions. Since we were so early there was barely any people there and we got right in after a quick breakfast. The caves are very difficult to describe in words. We felt like we were being engulfed by the earth and the cavernous trails went on for miles and miles. It took us about an hour to get through the whole thing. The path into the caverns were lit by lams otherwise it would be complete darkness. The informational signs told us all about how caves are formed. Stalactites and stalagmites came from the floor and ceiling and sometimes touched and made columns. Other than that, the caverns are a very difficult place to describe. I think everybody should see them for themselves.


Left the caverns and drove to Roswell, New Mexico. I was definitely disappointed. I expected to see space aliens on every corner, but instead just saw people selling alien clothes and dolls everywhere.

Drove to Albuquerque and realized that there is a whole lot of spaces in New Mexico with pretty much nothing. We drove hours without seeing anything but grassy planes and long horizons. I bought 14.00 worth of fudge the other day so while Nate slept I just drove, ate fudge and listened to the Fun album “Aim & Ignite” Life couldn’t really be better. Got to Albuquerque around 4 and wasn’t all that impressed. It was still early so we decided to continue t Arizona! There are a few places in AZ that I really want to see so We’ll try to figure that out now.

We head into rain up ahead. It’s beautiful

That night we pulled into the tiniest town ever called Holbrook, AZ. Driving through the rain and lightning was fun but Nate and I were getting pretty sick and tired of being in the car. Hungry and tired, we found a KOA campground and set our stuff up. Had some nice Safeway food and relaxed after a long drive. The KOA had a pool so we had a nice friendship jump into the pool (see video) We went to bed pretty early that night.

Nate tells a tale:
I have no tales to tell. Luke pretty much covered it all.

Love,
Luke & Nate

Day 8: Houston, Texas-Junction, TX-Carlsbad, New Mexico

August 30
Houston, Texas-Junction, TX-Carlsbad, New Mexico
Miles: 651.8
Music: Kevin Define, OCMS, Andrew Jackson Jihad, Owl City


Today so far has been a really spectacular day. We woke up to Roe making us a hearty breakfast of sausage, eggs, ham, and rolls. We realized that it is the first time we have eaten breakfast food at breakfast for the first time all trip. Sheesh. Anyway it was delicious. Hit the road around 11 and said our goodbyes to Roe. HE is a fantastic person and we are so glad we were able to spend some time with him!

On the road most of the day. We kept seeing signs for beaver nuggets and said we had to stop at that place. It turned out to be a crazy huge rest stop with really nice bathrooms and lots of food. The beaver nuggets turned out to be really sugary snacks coated in more sugar. They were kinda like cracker jacks only less healthy. I bought 14 dollars worth of fudge. That was a really good idea. I saw a really funny poster in the bathroom. It had all kinds of guns like six shooters and revolvers with all the names of them. The title of the poster….The Peacekeepers. Oh Texas and you’re backwards logic. No offense to people who love guns. I just thought it was an interesting title. Instead of opening up that can of worms, I’ll move on…

There was also a sign with all the different kinds of barbed wire there are. Yeah.

I was happy because Darea called me (my previous travel buddy) and Brenna, who I’m going to see in Los Angeles!

Drove a really long ways because lets face it, TEXAS IS HUMONGOUS!! We’ve been driving and driving and all we see is the landscape become more and more desert-like. We are excited for the changes though. The highlight of the day by far was stopping for gas in Junction, Texas. It is a tiny tiny town with not much there. There was however a really cool river and a dam. We found a rope swing and went swimming in a Texas river! I looked it up and it was called the South Llano River. The water was blue-ish green and very pleasant temperature. We swam around for a bit then got back on the road!

So far this whole trip we have been luck enough to be able to stay with my friends from previous travels and a couple couch surfers. We decided we’ve been too spoiled so tonight the plan is to drive till about 11pm, pull off the highway in northwestern Texas or Southeastern New Mexico and camp on the outskirts of a small town. Sleep in the car if we have to but we’ll set up the tent if we can!

And we’ve been driving all day and night. Almost to Juarez right by Mexico. We stopped for gas and saw a very interesting sign. The sign read: Carlsbad Caverns and pointed in north. (We were headed mostly West) After a brief discussion Nate and I decided it was about time for a spontaneous decision at the last minute. We headed north and drove on the most desolate road so far on the trip. We didn’t see cars for miles and miles. The sun had gone down but the moon and stars illuminated the landscape pretty well. It was obviously becoming more and more of a desert. Many critters were seen on the side of the road. We saw lots of little birds and a couple coyotes. I was spacing out or using my phone when I heard Nate scream like a little girl and abruptly swerve the car all over the place. This was followed by a massive thump from under the car.

Nate killed a bunny rabbit. A jackrabbit to be specific. We stopped and got out to assess the damage. The car was fine but the rabbit had seen better days. Basically his or her guts were spread all over the road and it died pretty much instantly. We both felt bad but I’m sure Nate felt worse. We literally said a prayer to any higher being that was listening for the rabbit to have safe passage into the afterlife where he can eat lots of food, run through beautiful meadows and have sex all the time. Ya know like rabbits do.

Back in the car I played Jeff Buckley’s “Halleluiah” and drove for some time in complete silence.

Just outside the Carlsbad caverns state park we thought that it would be more adventurous and exciting to find somewhere to sleep off the road. We drove down some rural looking gravel trail near a cow field. Finding a kind-of-hidden place to park, we unpacked the tent, put blankets in it and went to sleep. Not long after we had laid down did I start to hear the sound of about 20 cows moo-ing their heads off bout 20 yards form us. It wasn’t too difficult to fall asleep. In fact it was really nice to sleep in the desert with nothing but us, the stars, and sounds of nocturnal animals sniffing about. Slept well that night.

Nate just said “I can’t wait to write my retort to that”
I said “Nate there’s nothing to retort about, you’re still a murderer”

Nate exuberates:
I hate rabbits.

Love Nate & Luke

Day 7: New Orleans, Louisiana-Houston Texas

August 29
New Orleans, Louisiana-Houston Texas
Miles: 366.4


We drove pretty much all morning and arrived in Texas at in the early afternoon at Roe’s. We sat and chatted for a bit and got settle into his awesome house in the outskirts of Houston. Shortly after we got on our finest clothes (Jeans and collared shirts) and headed out for a killer night on the town. First stop was cool Mexican restaurant were Roe’s friends met us there. Jodie and Melina were their names. We went to a comedy club next and it was so cool! It was called comedy sportz or something and they did live on stage improvisational comedy with audience participation. It was kind of like “who’s line is it anyways” (that old TV show) We were in stitches and really enjoyed it. The people were so quick-witted and humorous.

After that we went to a bar for a while and Roe bought us tons of drinks all night. We went to a huge dance club later. I can’t even express in words how crazy this place was. My eyes were like dinner plates trying to take it all in. It was like 3 or 4 huge rooms all differently themed playing different music. There was tons of people looking to dance the night away and shake what their momma gave them. Roe bought us more drinks and we basically people watched the whole time. Definitely a good time. Stayed there till about two and decided to head home. In the parking lot a small Hispanic man approached us and tried to buy our shirts off our back. Literally. To het in the club you have to have a collared shirt and he did not. We all decided our shirts were worth more than the veinte dollores ($20) that he was offering. And sent him on his way. It was fun to talk to him in Spanish though. We then went back to Roes house and fell asleep watching “The astronauts wife” which seems like a crazy good movie that we never finished. Nate and I were totally blown away by Roe’s hospitality. We hope he comes to Portland so we can show him how us Oregonians party.

Nate says:
Monroe was awesome!! Thank you so much for everything. Can’t wait for you to come to Oregon..!