The Trek: Day 12 & 13

Drive, drive, drive.

Stay the night in Bakersfield, CA.

Drive, drive, drive.

Arriving in Northern California.  

Drive, drive, drive.

We're here!   

The landscape is much more beautiful here than I was prepared for.  The mountains loom on three sides of our new place and the San Francisco Bay beckons us to play in the city not too far away.  The traffic lights are long here, there's almost 1 million people just in San Jose alone but we find ourselves enjoying stimulating, intellectual interaction with other Silicon Valley inhabitants.  

It's not "home" yet.  But...just wanted to welcome you here all the same.  ;)

The Trek: Day 9, 10 & 11

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As we left Arizona and began to make our way into Nevada, we discovered major congestion at the Hoover Dam. Those who were ahead of us were slowing down, or rather stopping, to get a good look at the dam and take pictures.  We were really bummed that it was dark by the time we got to the dam itself and over to the Nevada side.

However, once on the other side, we headed for a 3 night rest in Las Vegas, NV. Crazy place to rest, don't you think?  We stayed at the gorgeous Venetian Hotel which has replicated the Grand Canal in Venice, Italy and, having been to both, I was impressed with the architectural likeness.  The creators of the hotel left no detail out and completed the setting with gondolas guided by operatic singers.   

Then, the true reason we chose Las Vegas...a night to take in the Blue Man Group which "is best known for their wildly popular theatrical shows and concerts which combine music, comedy and multimedia theatrics to produce a totally unique form of entertainment".  

We soaked it up and took in every hard rock beat of the performance.  If you like rock with a lot of percussion, then the Blue Man Group is a must-see!  Look at me in the picture...I even look wild-eyed and frenzied after the show!  ;0 

And, then came New Year's Eve!  We intended to take in all of the activities that the city had to offer that night.  We were ready to brave the crowds and noise and be a part of the whole scene! Sadly and unexpectedly, we fell asleep at 10:30pm.  

There was so much to do and see at our hotel that we never left the building to go outside.  The restaurants were fabulous, the room was exquisite and our bodies got the rest we needed. Leaving Las Vegas was sad but we found ourselves getting back into the car singing the old classic by Willie Nelson, "On the Road Again"!

The Trek: Day Eight in Flagstaff, AZ

Once we left Albuquerque, NM, we knew we needed to make a semi-detour. We were so close to somewhere we've always wanted to go...the Very Large Array.  

It's the National Radio Astronomy Observatory where the movie "Contact" (with Jodie Foster) was filmed.  

Impressive!  Enormous!  So geeky-cool! 

The Trek: Day Seven in Albuquerque NM

A day of driving

from here to there

An endless sight

with nothing to share

A photo, perhaps

to say we stayed

But that's really all of

the impression made.

The Trek: Day Six in Wichita Falls, TX

The beauty of Texas and the variety of sights made driving across the massive state very enjoyable and quite entertaining.  Some sights were expected:  small working oil wells scattered across acres of flat and dry land, bulls with strong horns that curled upward from their faces as they grazed on sparse vegetation and the many roads that seemed to have no destination at all but collided with the horizon at some unknown point as they disappeared.

Other sights, however, were totally unexpected and took me by surprise:  cotton fields blanketed in white waiting to be harvested and other fields that were just harvested with bales upon bales of bundled up white towers scattered the area, wind turbines that spun rapidly in a juxtaposed position of eco-friendliness against the more well-known oil rigs and the most beautiful wide open sky that seemed to span forever as it danced with different colors and shapes.

Tumbleweeds proved to be vicious as they made their way across the highway with veritable force from the non-stop wind.  And, then....

In the end, Mr. Smart Guy had one of the thorns plucked out and we journeyed down the road without further incident.   ;)