Pavement pounding: 9739 miles in 24 days. Part 1.
- Thread starter whiskeytacos
- Start date
whiskeytacos
Observer
The Grand Canyon was insane. I've seen it from the air but I was absolutely breath taken at every stop. Also, the ravens that frequent the parking areas are hilarious. One was even imitating pig noises after a fairly hefty gentleman threw a rock at it. People are the worst.
Once we left the Park, we drove to Albuquerque, NM for the night. I had a great time, and plan to go back. The next morning we drove to Marfa, TX. My wife works in the art industry and went to a pretty prestigious art school, so the Marfa Prada store was on her bucket list. We stayed in a safari tent at El Cosmico, and despite the freezing temps overnight we were quite warm. Ok, the heated bed did the trick, but I would have happily brought out my sleeping bag. After this, I kinda just stopped taking pics as we were certainly back into pavement pounding mode.
Upon leaving Marfa, we went to Austin to see some friends for the night, and afterward we made a pit stop in Waco for the Magnolia Farms store (you know what this is if you watch HGTV's Fixer Upper) and in Dallas for the last In-n-Out of the trip. From Dallas we drove to my sister's house in Little Rock, AR. She and her husband live there (both USAF NCO's) until their next deployment to Germany. The next day we drove to Nashville, had some nice dry rub BBQ and drinks while checking out the live music scene, and we drove home the next day. Nashville to NYC was about 900 miles. It was a long one.
Thanks for reading and wasting your time on this. I had a blast, I'd do it 100 times over again. I can't wait to run into more people on trails in the future. Hopefully I'll see some of you at Vermont Overland Rally 2016. Happy trails y'all.
-John
Once we left the Park, we drove to Albuquerque, NM for the night. I had a great time, and plan to go back. The next morning we drove to Marfa, TX. My wife works in the art industry and went to a pretty prestigious art school, so the Marfa Prada store was on her bucket list. We stayed in a safari tent at El Cosmico, and despite the freezing temps overnight we were quite warm. Ok, the heated bed did the trick, but I would have happily brought out my sleeping bag. After this, I kinda just stopped taking pics as we were certainly back into pavement pounding mode.
Upon leaving Marfa, we went to Austin to see some friends for the night, and afterward we made a pit stop in Waco for the Magnolia Farms store (you know what this is if you watch HGTV's Fixer Upper) and in Dallas for the last In-n-Out of the trip. From Dallas we drove to my sister's house in Little Rock, AR. She and her husband live there (both USAF NCO's) until their next deployment to Germany. The next day we drove to Nashville, had some nice dry rub BBQ and drinks while checking out the live music scene, and we drove home the next day. Nashville to NYC was about 900 miles. It was a long one.
Thanks for reading and wasting your time on this. I had a blast, I'd do it 100 times over again. I can't wait to run into more people on trails in the future. Hopefully I'll see some of you at Vermont Overland Rally 2016. Happy trails y'all.
-John
whiskeytacos
Observer
Gosh, I wish I knew. I haven't added up all my receipts but it was probably around $2k worth. Some days we were really pushing it and getting only 10mpg in the mountains.
Nice - I'll have to keep El Cosmico in mind. Sleeping in an actual bed, but not having to deal with a hotel is right up my alley.
We just did White Rim at the end of SEPT 2015 and there was not shortage of cyclists and other vehicles. How was it in the dead of winter? Looks like you only mention one encounter...
We just did White Rim at the end of SEPT 2015 and there was not shortage of cyclists and other vehicles. How was it in the dead of winter? Looks like you only mention one encounter...
whiskeytacos
Observer
I'd stay at El Cosmico again for sure. They don't allow BYOB but have a decent beer selection. I had whiskey in my bag anyway.
As far as other people went, we only had the one vehicle encounter. We spotted two hikers in a wadi and had no idea where they came from, as there were no other vehicles on the trail. They must have hiked in from at least 15 miles away.
EugeneTheTJ
Tar Heel
This is fantastic and inspiring
Jeeper4life
Adventurer
Very inspiring! Looks really cool man!