california here we come

right back where we started from. well- where ian started two weeks ago. but it wasn't in yosemite. right.

now writing from moterey after a nearly 600 mile push yesterday from just north of vegas all the way across to the coast. yowza. we made it fun with a drive through yosemite, which neither of us had seen and after three days of hard driving and the worst hotel room in nevada -and possibly the world- we were ready to see something pretty.

the drive from marfa to here brought us through:

nothing arizona. none of the four residents where there. between bernard, ian and me, we would have doubled the population nearly. we did get some good photographs. ian likes to show off while i do pinhole experiments with the hasselblad.

check out his other amazing stuff by clicking here. don't forget to click the photos themselves to get to the rest of my images of the trip as well. there are just too many to cram into the blog.

we made it all the way to tucson from marfa texas in one day and then tucson to indian springs, nevada the next. ian described indian springs as "murderlicious" and wouldn't let me go to get anything out of the car. if we hadn't been dead tired we would never have sampled the delights of this little hamlet between a correctional facility and an air force base. our favorite moment from the motel of delights was the moment when i asked, " did you fart or is that just the the room?"  we were both thankful i had bought pinion incense in arizona. when i needed to ask ian just now for the name of the godforsaken town his response was, "christ on a cross, don't remind me. "

things only looked up once we got out of there. ian was able to take a walk down memory lane in tonopah, nevada, which we ended up driving through after missing a turn for a shortcut.

apparently he and his brother david had briefly considered this is a cheap base for reducing overhead while working on a year of internet projects. the consideration stopped once they actually witnessed the actuality of tonopah, where there is a reason rent is $150 a month: the biggest excitement is a clown motel and a banjo that plays itself like a player piano in the local casino. i wasn't sad to move on. i think ian was, just a little bit.

the only other eventful stop was in lathrop wells, nevada. this stop was more exciting for bernard, we think, than us. he tried out some gambling, posed for tourist shots, and made friends with the locals. we were quite near area 51 in nevada.

bernard looks forward to writing his recap of the trip. he needs to make some notes in big sur and plans to share the secret inside stories once we arrive in los angeles.

after nevada, we cut into california and hit yosemite. we had had to make some tough choices on the way, giving up both santa fe and the grand canyon in order to get to big sur and to be able to drive down the coast, so i was happy to get to see yosemite and get a dose of some beauty before pushing to drive across california on little roads to get in late last night to monterey.

and beautiful it is. even on a drive essentially straight through it, we were amazed by the scenery. it was difficult to only stop a couple of times to look around. but getting to smell the air and see trees and rocks and walk to a lake was enough to convince us we need to come back and actually make use of our new tent. oops.

  i look forward to it.

and then it was a drive in the dark with a brief stop for dinner outside yosemite in a little gold-mining themed restaurant with an electric train that ran through a course along the ceiling. i got to have mandarin chicken salad and felt at home at last. bliss.

and here we are in monterey. we can smell the ocean and we'll see carmel and point lobos and big sur today. i can see the sun is coming out outside. we did it. and we didn't even kill each other.

so the trip is coming to an end, but the blog is not. look for more of the content i had hoped for in starting it; travel will go on as i travel, but look also for interviews with remabulous artists, reviews of la restaurants, events, and general thoughts on living a remabulous life. i'm very excited about it.

stats:
number of cheese and peanut butter crackers consumed between marfa and monterey: over 100.
best soda in the world: mountain dew code red (i like to refer to it as "pink drink") number of days in a row ian has worn his marfa texas shirt: we're up to three. i think he likes it. number of tuna melts/sanwiches: 4 1/2 and we will probably hit 5 1/2 as nepenthe is on the bill for lunch- best sandwiches and view in the world. definitely click that link and check out the web cam of the view- have a sandwich while you do and we'll imagine everyone is there with us.

song of the day:
9-18: "road to nowhere" -talking heads
9-19: "california" -phantom planet

and i expect that 9-20 will be:
"los angeles, i'm yours" -the decembrists.

ok- i see blue sky. review on austin street cafe, deetjen's big sur inn and restaurant and bernard's journal to hit stands by the end of the week.

thank you thank you thank you for being a part of this trip.

Comments

[Cody McComas]

Thank you for sharing your trip. You are a great writer. You are not sure who I am, ask Ian.