Part I: desert
Cloudcroft NM
Enjoyed visiting Cloudcroft NM, and staying at Cloudcroft Hostel. Owners did a nice job remodeling a derelict building; there are before and after photos on its website. Owners live on-site, upstairs; they don’t have any employees, similar to the Triple Crown Hostel in Silver City NM, where I visited last fall. There were two signs in the lobby that I enjoyed reading, the first, “welcome foolish mortals” and the second, “we don’t have to agree on anything to be kind to one another.” There was another guest at the hostel, Wes, who worked as a consultant for PwC and IBM in Washington DC; educated and articulate. He quit his job, and served three years in the Peace Corps in Madagascar, and subsequently, was a ranch hand in New Mexico, until he was displaced by the wildfires this spring. Enjoyed a file-mile trail run at High Rolls on Monday (May 23rd) at 7,000 feet elevation, and added dynamic versus static stretching to warm-up.
Finished reading Paulo Coelho’s The Pilgrimage (1987), which documents his hike along the Camino de Santiago; the book is considered a precursor to The Alchemist (1988). One quotation from The Pilgrimage stood out to me, “I must not be afraid to change my life. If I liked what I was doing, very well. But if I did not, there was always the time for a change. If I allowed change to occur, I would be transforming myself into a fertile field.”
Bisbee AZ
On Tuesday, passed through the small town of Bisbee, just north of Douglas AZ, on the Mexico border. Visited the Lavender Copper Mine, an open pit copper mine, used in mining operations between 1950-1974. Learned about Bisbee after reading “Going Back to Bisbee” written by Richard Shelton, a writer and poet, and emeritus Regents Professor of English at the University of Arizona. Currently reading “Crossing the Yard: Thirty Years as a Prison Volunteer” also written by Shelton.
Coronado
Visited Coronado National Memorial; visited back in January 2020, but it was too cold and windy to hike. Hiked a short trail to a nearby cave. It’s possible to hike eight miles south to border monument 102 on the United States – Mexico border.
Sierra Vista AZ
Stayed overnight at an AirBnB in Sierra Vista, adjacent to army base, Fort Huachuca. On Wednesday, passed through Nogales AZ, on the Mexican border, before driving north through Tubac, and stopping in Tucson. Visited Barrio Bread, an artisan bakery, where the owner, Don Guerra, was a James Beard finalist in 2021. Bakery opened at 9:00am, and there was a line around the building. Stayed at an AirBnB in Tucson; the afternoon temperature was 95-degrees. I did laundry, and placed the wet clothes on the clothesline; the clothes were dry within 30-minutes. I enjoy southern Arizona, that is, south of Interstate-10; I could envision living in Bisbee, Sierra Vista, Tubac, and Tucson during the winter.
Finished reading Thorton Wilder’s, Our Town, three act play, and winner of the Pulitzer Prize (1938), recommended by my friend, Andy. Previously read Wilder’s novel, The Bridge of San Luis Rey, an inquiry into death, as part of my hospice training; this novel won the Pulitzer Prize (1928). I’ll share one of the key quotations from the play: “Yes, now you know. Now you know! That’s what it was to be alive. To move about in a cloud of ignorance; to go up and down trampling on the feelings of those…of those about you. To spend and waste time as though you had a million years. To be always at the mercy of one self-centered passion, or another. Now you know – that’s the happy existence you wanted to go back to. Ignorance and blindness” (Simon Stimson, the town drunk).
Las Vegas NV
On Thursday, drove two hours northwest to Phoenix; drove two hours northwest to Kingman; and drove two hours northwest to Las Vegas. Las Vegas wasn’t my target destination, but there aren’t many other places to stay. Stayed at Sin City Hostel; it was 100-degrees.
In 2018, took Amtrak, Southwest Chief, from Los Angeles to Chicago. A freight train derailed in Kingman AZ, so we had to get off the train, and take a bus to Flagstaff AZ, before re-connecting on a train. For people who believe that airlines have poor customer service, Amtrak sets a new low. There is a lot to see and do in Las Vegas, besides the casinos, including: Valley of Fire State Park, Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, Tule Springs Fossil Beds, and Mt. Charleston.
On Friday, drove state highway 95, northwest to Truckee CA. The drive was surprisingly scenic, including salt flats, alkali flats, and mountains to the west. Visited the infamous Clown Motel in Tonopah NV, before passing through Reno NV, and west into Truckee. Understand that some people won’t stay overnight in the rooms, due to creepy clowns.
Part II: mountains
Truckee CA
Woke up early Saturday morning; it had rained overnight; air temperature was 45-degrees, a far cry from 100-degrees in Las Vegas the prior day. The smell of the fresh air, and the fir trees, was truly intoxicating; perhaps the best part of visiting Truckee.
Ashland OR
Drove northwest on highway 395, which runs east of the Sierra Nevada mountains; frequent burn scars were visible. There was light rain, and the temperature was considerably cooler. Was going to visit Lassen Volcano National Park, but the park was still closed; the roads were plowed, but there remained risk of avalanche. Arrived in Ashland OR, home of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival; stayed at a small hostel, Ashland Commons, which had really creative artwork on the outside of the building.
Crater Lake NP
Woke up early on Sunday; wanted to visit Crater Lake National Park; there was snow in the forecast, with a temperature of 24-degrees; snow came down at elevations higher than 4,000 feet; the park is at 6,000 feet; when I arrived at the park, the rangers were closing the main gate, anticipating nine inches of snow. I continued on, driving northwest to Eugene. It would have been easier to drive Interstate-5; some days, not sure why I even bother.
Eugene OR
During my drive to Eugene, tire pressure indicator light was illuminated on the dashboard; figured that this was due to the cold overnight temperatures. When I arrived in Eugene, noticed that the left rear tire was very low. Stayed at the Eugene Whittaker International Hostel, the owner, Mac, had a tire inflator, and inflated the tire. Fortunately, the tire sidewall wasn’t compromised; unfortunately, it was Memorial Day weekend, so I wouldn’t be able to get the tire repaired until Tuesday.
On Monday morning (Memorial Day), drove east over the mountain pass; it was snowing, but the roads were manageable. Continued driving east through the Oregon desert, as the land east of the Cascade mountain range, lies in a rain shadow. Stopped for breakfast in Bend OR, and this is definitely a place where I would like to visit, and live for a month, outside of winter. Arrived mid-day in Boise ID, and stayed at an AirBnB; there were no hostels. The AirBnB had a memory foam mattress, and I slept very well; don’t think that I even moved.
Boise ID
Woke up early Tuesday morning, drove east and stopped at the local Honda dealer, Middlekauff Honda in Twin Falls. I had new tires installed on my car at the end of April, in anticipation of the round-trip drive to Alaska. I had the tires installed at Honda, because the tires included a road hazard warranty, and I can find a Honda dealer throughout the United States. The service department was very helpful, servicing the car quickly, even without an appointment. It found a staple in the car tread, and patched the inside of the tire.
I was planning to re-visit Craters of the Moon National Monument, but given the unscheduled maintenance stop, and the underwhelming weather (cold, damp, rain), I continued east along Interstate-84 and Interstate-86, towards Driggs ID.
Driggs ID
Stayed overnight at the Teton Hostel Hideaway, a hostel just west of Teton Pass and Jackson WY. At midnight, I felt a migraine coming on; took a CBD gummy at 4:00am. I could feel the gummy taking effect, but it took a while before I felt any relief in my head. I couldn’t find any ice for my head, so I used a frozen water bottle; better than nothing. I was quite sick, and if vomiting was an Olympic sport, I would have won a gold medal. I may certainly sympathize with chemotherapy patients.
I stayed in bed until 11:00am, check-out time. The host allowed me to rest on the couch, where I stayed until 3:00pm. It’s likely that the migraine was due to multiple factors, including fatigue (from a lot of driving), concern about the leaking tire (risk of blowout at highway speeds), high altitude (6000 feet elevation), and eating apple cider vinegar and peanut butter the night before with my dinner. Next time, I’ll take the gummy at the immediate onset of the migraine (as the pain only becomes worse). Also plan to try using sublingual CBD oil, to minimize risk of vomiting, due to the overwhelming nausea.
I left the hostel, driving east over Teton Pass, which peaks at 8,400 feet, before descending into Jackson WY at a 10% grade. Most interstate highways are at a 6% grade; so I went down the mountain in third gear, not wanting to overheat or warp the brakes.
I was planning to visit Grand Teton National Park; obviously, that didn’t happen; but I did manage to check-in at The Cache House, a high-end hostel in the heart of Jackson. Typically, a migraine last 36-hours; so I was generally pleased that the migraine broke after 12-hours; a significant improvement.
Yellowstone NP
On Thursday morning, woke up early, and re-visited Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone National Park. Turns out that on Wednesday, a woman was gored and injured by a bison at Yellowstone; she was standing only ten feet away; the park rangers warn visitors not to approach closer than 25 yards. Yellowstone, at 8,000 feet elevation, still had significant snow along the side of the road; got to see Old Faithful geyser erupt; the park became quite crowded by mid-day, and headed west to Island Park ID, staying at the Kilgore Mountain Hideaway. The evening was enjoyable; guests watched the NBA finals, and compared travel plans.
Bozeman MT
Woke up early Friday morning; drove two hours north to Bozeman MT, before visiting the local Honda dealer, Denny Menholt Honda, for an oil change and tire rotation, and staying overnight at the Treasure State Hostel, in downtown Bozeman. Wonderful time of year to visit Bozeman; the mountain tops are covered in snow; the valleys are verdant green, and the temperature is 70-degrees; definitely a town where I’d enjoy living for a month.
Sleeping at the hostel wasn’t great; one of the guests appeared to have sleep apnea; he would stop breathing, and then begin coughing, choking, and snoring; it sounded like someone let a snorting pig into the room. Often times, a person will stop snoring, if they shift body position, or, as s/he enters into different stages of sleep. That never happened, and I woke up in the morning exhausted.
Missoula MT
Today marks the fortieth anniversary (June 4th 1982) of Star Trek II: the Wrath of Khan; remember seeing the movie in the theater with my twin brother; if you’re a Star Trek fan, this movie is a classic. The movie used scale models of the Enterprise, which was 20-feet long, rather than relying on computer generated imagery (CGI), which was spectacular in the first battle scene, and even better with James Horner’s fantastic scoring. For a twelve year-old boy, the death of the iconic, Mr. Spock, was particularly devastating.
Woke up Saturday (June 4th), made coffee before departing Bozeman, and for some reason, it tasted bad. It wasn’t over or under extracted, it just tasted bad; stopped drinking, and threw most of it away.
Drove three hours north to Missoula MT, stopping in Butte for breakfast. Pretty quiet, low key day, scattered showers. Similar to Bozeman, would enjoy living in Missoula, too. Perhaps my outsized, romantic opinion of Montana is due to reading too much Norman Maclean as a young adult.
At mid-day, I was working at the library; and my body became strangely hot, like a blast of hot air was blowing on me.
After working in the library, I stopped downtown, to watch the local pride parade, and then checked into the Shady Spruce Hostel at 3:00pm, at which point, I went to bed. Two hours later, I could feel bile building up in my stomach; I went to the bathroom, and expunged my breakfast, followed by the most intense “horror movie” cold sweat that I’ve ever experienced. I went back to bed for another two hours. Woke up at 7:00pm to clean up and shower; it felt like my body was beaten with a baseball bat. After additional consideration, it’s likely that the drip coffee maker was harboring mold. In Mexico, made “cowboy coffee” on the stove. I have a French press coffee maker packed in the car, and will rely on this method going forward.
East Glacier NP
Woke up early on Sunday; appreciated the scent of the Missoula mountain air. Drove three hours north, along Flathead Lake, and arrived mid-morning at Glacier National Park. During the summer, the park requires a reservation to enter the park, and to drive Going to the Sun Road, even though, at present, more than half the road remains closed due to snow. This re-confirms for me that the best time to visit the parks is after Labor Day.
Visited the park previously in September 2014, during an early season snowstorm, which was a white-knuckle drive. Was driving a rental car, without an ice scraper, and had to use a piece of cardboard to clean off the car the following morning.
I spent the day at the Two Medicine section of the park, in the southeast corner, a section of the park that I didn’t experience previously. This section of the park was only a few miles from Brownies Hostel, in East Glacier MT, where I stayed for the evening.
If you plant to visit Glacier National Park, and if you are short of time, I recommend staying in West Glacier MT, west of the continental divide. The park’s landscape is more dramatic, and the local town is better established, with more traveler amenities.
In 2018, I took Amtrak, the Empire Builder, from Chicago to Seattle; the train runs along the southern border of the park, stopping in both East Glacier and West Glacier. If you’ve seen the movie, The Shining (1980), the opening movie credits were filmed on Going to the Sun Road, and accompanied by the Dies Irae (day of wrath) music from the requiem mass.
During the past two weeks, it feels like I’ve spent too much time on the road, and not enough down time; not enough yoga, running, kettlebell, hiking, or, just doing nothing at all. It’s been tiring to not stay more than one night in one place; thankfully, the trip will slow down, now that I’m in the pacific northwest; there is some downtime in Alaska, too. The other challenge is traveling by oneself, when not feeling well.
Driven 6,500 miles, averaging 37.7 miles per gallon (2.65 gallons per hundred miles), with an average fuel price of $4.49 per gallon, spending $775 on fuel. My visa card offers 3% cash back on gasoline. Still, high fuel prices takes some of the joy out of the road trip. Anticipate that the higher fuel prices will increase the overall cost of the trip by at least $1,000; so in the big picture, it’s not material. I could stay home and sit on the couch, but I’ve waited two years to visit Alaska.
Part III: other thoughts
Stayed at AirBnB in Houston; there were many books on the shelf to read. Re-read Po Bronson’s What Should I Do With My Life (2002). Most interesting, was chapter 37, titled, Uncomfortable is Good – Rehearsing for Life’s Improvisation; will share key excerpts below.
I correspond with numerous people who were traveling to different parts of the world, hoping that while away they might figure out what to do with their life. Some returned with a new courage, and an insight into themselves that guided their decision. Many didn’t, though. They had a good time, saw the world, and often wished they could keep traveling for the rest of their years. But insight into what they would do with themselves if they had to stand still? They weren’t able to answer that question.
At home, at work, at school, there are always a ton of external inputs coaxing you in the direction you’re already going. Deadlines, parents chirping in your ear, friends wanting you to go out. Your life has a momentum. Traveling can take you away from all those influences, quiet their din, and allow you a kind of silence to consider who you are as an independent entity. It can be uncomfortable if you’re not used to it. You might come face to face with the fact that there’s not much brainwave activity upstairs without all those influences to react to. And when you start to think that you haven’t been the pilot of your life, you have no other choice but to hear what your soul is saying. Am I the person I think I am if nobody is there to tell me who I am?
Being uncomfortable is good. If you remain comfortable, you remain more or less yourself. The quickest way to make yourself uncomfortable is to travel alone. It takes courage to change your life. Sometimes, doing so, you feel all alone in the world. You can get used to this scary feeling by traveling alone, being by yourself for long periods of time, having to talk to strangers, having to get yourself from one city to another. You become accustomed to it.
It also helps to travel without a plan. This was particularly true for young people who’ve segued from high school to college to a prize job they were recruited for without ever taking any great leaps of faith. They’ve never been off a path. With each step, they’ve known where it was likely to lead. They’re uncomfortable with the prospect of not being associated with a respected school or company. Traveling without a plan is a way to rehearse the improvisational approach, and opens your mind to the sense of adventure. You learn to trust the laws of chance.
garthmonroe 