I'm trying to let others know what's going on inside my head--hopefully I'll be able to successfully share my stories, experiences, opinions, and lessons learned with you all. I want this to be a casual, enjoyable thing, so don't take this too seriously or too lightly. I'll post on an occasional spontaneous basis, whenever I feel necessary, about sports, society, school, and/or life in general.
Thanks for your time, and happy reading!
--JTF
This is my post-road trip blog post. If you want to read my full road trip blog, click here.
I want to start this post by
stating how grateful I am for all the support I have received and how much it has
meant to me over the past few months.
When I was struggling in Seattle
and contemplating a return to Atlanta, I sought guidance from a variety of
people I am close with. Nearly every single person I contacted was more than
happy to help and support me. Additionally, I was receiving unexpected messages
from people I was not as close with offering guidance and help. Every little
contact of communication I had was crucial in me figuring out who I am and
realizing that returning to Atlanta is what I wanted to do.
Ever since I publicized that I
was returning to Atlanta, my support has grown even greater. Within a matter of
days, I had multiple friends offer their homes to house me upon my arrival, and
others who had provided connections to help my search for employment. Just as
importantly, the number of people in Atlanta who have reached out to me and
telling me how they are happy to have me back in the city has been more than I
could have ever imagined.
While on my road trip itself, my support
continued to reach new levels. I had received support from a variety of
sources—extended family, close college friends, former professors, high school
friends I hadn’t heard from in years.
It was great to know that my blog
itself has had a positive impact on others. I’ve had several people message me
that they’ve enjoyed reading about my experiences and thoughts. I had one
person tell me he was hoping to refer to my blog in his upcoming thesis paper.
Yet another person said that my blog has been helpful for her upcoming cross
country road trip.
The simplest of interactions I had
have meant just as much. Whether it was a facebook message wishing me luck, a
phone call to keep me company on the road, a text to check in and say hi, a
snapchat that had nothing to do with anything, or simply taking the time to
read this, it has meant so much to me to know I have some people who care.
Thank you for your love and
support. My support system is far greater than I could have ever imagined. I
could not have done this without you.
-JTF
Some numbers:
-My trip took me 15 days,
over 52 hours of driving, through 4 time zones, and 3,596 miles.
-I traveled through 14 states*
and 5 states I had never been to before, bringing my states total to 35/50. I
also visited 6 capital cities** and touched 4 well-known rivers***
-I visited three national
parks (Arches, Canyonlands, Hot Springs)
- I traveled on 24 different
interstate highways****
- I took well over 2000
pictures on the trip.
- My max driving speed was
100 mph.
- I’m not sure how much money
I spent and I’m not willing to find out.
- I posted 6 blog posts,
including this one. Several more if you include the times I wrote but did not
publicize due to lack of internet connection.
**(Boise, Salt Lake City,
Santa Fe, Oklahoma City, Little Rock, and Atlanta)
***(Snake, Colorado, Rio Grande,
Mississippi)
**** In chronological order: 5 90 82 84, 80 215 15 70 25 40 235 35
240 (OKC) 430 630 30 240 (MEM) 55 22 65 59 20 75 85. For those unaware, odd
interstates always travel north-south, even interstates east-west. the higher
the (odd) number the further east you are, the higher the number (even) the
further north you are), and three-digit interstates are interstates that
circumnavigate the last two-digits of the number, usually around a city (i.e.
285 is the perimeter around Atlanta and I-85).
i) Here are some fun observations about gas:
An 86 Regular? Weird.
- I’m very fortunate I traveled
this month instead of three months prior. Gas prices have dropped over a
dollaer per gallon since then, saving me at least a couple hundred dollars
throughout the trip.
-lowest prices I filled up on by
state: WA: ~$2.80, ID: ~$3.20, -UT: ~$3.10, -NM: ~$2.50, -TX: ~$2.60, -OK:
~$2.50, AR: ~$2.60, TN: ~$2.60, MS: ~$2.60, ~$AL 2.70, GA: ~$2.80.
-A great site that displays
current gas costs by county is here.
-The lowest gas that I filled up
on the trip (which was also the lowest I’ve ever filled up as a driver in my
life!) was in Oklahoma at $2.45, although I did spot a $2.39 on the road.
-Shell is by far the worst gas
station in terms of price, throughout the country. 10 cents more expensive than
its neighbors without fail.
-You know how the numbers at gas
stations are 87, 89, and 93, with 87 being regular gas? I learned that in gas
stations in some of the southwestern states, those numbers are lower by one or
two, with regular being at 85 or 86.
My only "winner."
ii)Scratch Ticket Adventures: Speaking of gas, Every time I stopped
for gas in a new state, I wanted to buy a $1 scratch ticket.
-Despite me traveling through
(and filling up gas in) 14 different states, I was only abIe to buy 10 scratch
tickets.
-I was unable to buy one in
Arizona because I was on an Indian Reservation, which does not allow gambling.
Similarly, I was also unable to buy tickets in Utah, Mississippi, and Alabama
because religious obligations restrict scratch ticket lotteries.
- Of the 10 tickets I did buy, I
won only once, in Colorado. Even then, I only got my money back, giving me a
win-loss record of 1-9 net loss of $9.
-The one downside of me actually
winning in Colorado was that I didn’t get to keep the scratch ticket. You have
to turn it in to get your winnings.
-The average actual rate of
“winning” scratch tickets, which include getting your money back, is usually in
between 1:4 and 1:5.
iii) State route signs analysis: One thing I noticed while driving through different states
is that each individual state has its own logo for state highway routes. Youcan see an entire picture list of them here.
-a lot of states have route signs
with the number inside/near a shape of the state. BORRRRRRING.
-two states: Alabama and Idaho,
pull off this feat particularly poorly. Alabama stretches its width so much to
include the number it looks more like New Mexico, where Idaho’s is outside of
the state, making it look like it could be the sign for Montana.
- One state’s signs that are
disappointingly confusing were Utah’s. How such a beautiful state could produce
this as a state sign is an embarrassment. What is that? A fat arch? A beehive?
An igloo? To me, it looks like a three year old’s pants and shoes. Regardless,
it’s an utter disgrace for such a beautiful state.
-Two states that worked
creativity in nicely were New Mexico and Washington. New Mexico does a great
job incorporating its Zia sun symbol into its state route, and Washington does
a good job putting the state route inside a profile of George Washington.
-My favorite state route sign of
all time, although admittedly biased, will have to be Massachusetts’. Nothing
better than Routes 28 and 62 crossing in the good ol’ NR.
-My favorite along the trip was
most likely Oklahoma’s. It just looked really different and creative, at least
relative to the other states’ I saw.
-Idaho’s design was ok. But it
jumps up to one of my favorites simply because of its wonderful slogan at the
bottom.
- Once again, disappointed in
Utah. While it has the famous Delicate Arch, they could’ve done a much better
job. I did like its slogan “Life Elevated.”
-Random side note, I saw a Hawaii
license plate in Utah. Did it drive from Hawaii? That’d be insane! It was my
second Hawaii plate seen ever.
-My all-time favorite license
plate design has to be South Carolina’s. A great design. Although now that I
look at it: the slogan is pretty lame.
-By far the ugliest plate design
has to be New York’s. I don’t like New York as a city or state, but even if I
did, these things are just hideous. Puke Yellow. Yuck. Well, the smell of the city makes me want to puke. So at least there's some correlation there.
The main takeaways and reflection:
I was so lucky that I had the opportunity to do
something awesome and go on this road trip. A cross country road trip has been
on my bucket list for quite some time, and the circumstances happened to work
themselves out such that I was able to do so. It was truly an eye-opening
experience.
Every
once in a while, and maybe you do this too, I ask myself “I wonder where I will
be in x days?” For example, the day before I began my trip a few weeks ago,
when the Patriots were playing the Broncos, I asked myself “where will I be in
one week? Two weeks? One month? It’s pretty incredible that a week later I was
experiencing a big ass crater at Canyonlands National Park. And that two weeks
later, I’d be in Hot Springs, Arkansas, watching another Patriots game.
Similarly, when I graduated from school six months ago, I would’ve never
guessed that six months later I’d be with my family in Albuquerque, New Mexico,
of all places, in the middle of a cross country road trip. I have no clue where
I’ll be in one month, two months, half a year, or one year, but it’s interesting
to think about how these things work out.
Exactly one week later, I was here.
I was
also very lucky in regards to my travel conditions. The weather was good, for the
most part. It was warm during the week I was camping outside. Although it got
colder during the second week, and even snowed some, my ability to travel was
barely affected. Had I left even a week later, I would have had a pretty
miserable time throughout the trip due to the cold and snow. I also had no
major car issues, breakdowns, or accidents.
After I decided to return to Atlanta, in the weeks leading up to my road trip, I was initially
pretty hesitant on how to move back to Atlanta. Should I sell my car and fly
back? Should I drive back along the shortest route possible, minimizing travel
time and monetary costs? Or should I take a more scenic route? Should I simply
stay in cheap motels, or flirt with the idea of camping, despite the fact it
was late fall? I ended up, of course, taking the longer scenic route, camping
along the way, and I was greatly rewarded with an amazing trip.
When in doubt, with the assumption
you aren’t hurting anyone else, go with the decision that is more adventurous,
the one that will make a better story. Sure, I could have taken the shortest
route possible, staying in motels. But that wouldn’t have been fun or memorable
at all! More importantly, I wouldn’t have learned nearly as much, nor had much
to tell in my stories or blog posts. Whenever you have the opportunity to do
something interesting or adventurous, you have to go for it; you have to give
it a try. Make your own opportunities!
As I’ve been saying since
high school, “you’re never going to remember the time you didn’t do something.”
Even though doing adventurous things runs an inherent risk, it’s better to give
something a chance and have it not work out than not giving it chance and
always wondering “what if?” It’s usually the unexpected bumps in the road that
bring out the best stories and memories, anyways.
I’m a pretty big believer
in living life with no regrets—whether it’s with your career, relationships,
everyday decision making, etc. If you regret something, then you’re doing it
wrong. It is important, however, to recognize the difference between regretting
something and having done something differently based off of what you currently
know.
Take for example, my move
to Seattle. If I had the opportunity, knowing what I know now, to hypothetically
go back in time and go about that whole process differently, would I? Of
course! I wasn’t happy there. I probably wouldn’t have taken that job, wouldn’t
have moved out there in the first place, and certainly would have pursued other
options.
But do I regret moving out
there? Absolutely not. It was, knowing what I knew then, the best possible
decision I could have made at that time. Sure, things didn’t work out. I should
have thought some things through a little more. But at that time, given what I
knew, there’s no way I could’ve foresaw how things would work out.
We should all live the
same way. As long as you’re making what in your mind is the best decision at
the time of the decision, there’s nothing to be ashamed about.
One of my biggest concernsgoing into the
trip was whether or not I could handle being alone for such a long period
of time. Think about it. When was the last time you had spent even a week by
yourself with nobody else around that really knew or cared about you?
Being alone for so long
was a refreshing revelation. The freedom of not having anyone or anything to
worry about is a refreshing feeling, especially when you’re surrounded by the
best nature has to offer. If you ever have the opportunity to go solo for a significant
period of time, especially in a gorgeous place, I highly recommend it. If you’re
lucky, you’ll be able to really slow your life down, take in those moments,
stretch your boundaries, and reflect upon yourself in ways you have never had
before.
My last bit,
and perhaps the most important, is my thoughts about social interaction and
relationships. Being relatively alone—both on my road trip and while I was in Seattle—made
me realize a serious flaw in society today: convenience aside, we are terrible
at connecting and interacting people.
It seems that people are
so concerned about being polite, not getting in the way of others, and avoiding
awkward situations that it has made us afraid of connecting with others.
The best descriptor of
this is when I’d see a group walking around a scenic viewpoint in a national
park* taking pictures of one another, sometimes taking selfies and other times
switch off who gets to be in the photo. Very rarely did I see a group of people
ask someone else if they could take a picture for them. How many times have you
gone somewhere with a few other people, and would have loved to have a group
picture of everyone, but no one was willing to ask/bother a stranger to doing
so?
*although I will admit,
people in National Parks are generally way more friendly than in your average community.
The thing is, if you do
ask others, which I was forced to do at times on my trip having gone solo, the
vast majority of the time they are happy to help. Similarly, the times in which
I’d ask a group of people if they would like a picture as a group, they’d
always eagerly say yes, as if they were waiting for someone to ask them that
very question.
It’s that awkward initial
interaction that is the most difficult part for everyone involved. We don’t
want to bother other people, and they don’t want to bother us, mainly due to
the fear of the ensuing awkwardness that may follow.
This fear of an awkward
interaction is true not only with strangers, but between acquaintances as well.
For example, on a college campus, we’ve all been through that feeling when you
walk by that person on the paths that you kind of know, and you know (s)he kind
of knows you, and you both know you kind of know each other, and then you make
awkward eye contact for a split second, only for the both of you to quickly
glance away to avoid interaction. And then it becomes a never ending cycle, in
which the same progression happens with this same person every time you cross
paths, unless you decided to completely avoid this situation and by pretending
to be preoccupied looking at your smartphone when you see the other person
coming from yards away. I’ve done it time and time again, possibly with some of
the people reading this right now!
Why don’t we just say hi,
wave, or simply acknowledge one another? Are we that uncomfortable in those few
seconds of a potential awkward encounter? Perhaps we are scared of being
rejected, the slim chance that that person has forgotten who we are (even
though we know (s)he knows who we are) and we’ll look like a fool? The
potential of connecting with others is well worth overcoming those little fears.
It’s unfortunate that societal norms have encouraged us to continue avoiding
these connections.
Similarly, and I was
talking to someone on the phone about this on my trip, we as a society are terrible
at connecting with people we do know and have relationships with. It seems that,
other than with the closest of our friends, we don’t interact with our friends
unless there is an excuse/reason to do so.
One such example, is
someone’s birthday, and I’m as guilty as anyone at this. I won’t hesitate to
post on a friend’s birthday (assuming I actually like this friend), but will rarely
post on a friend’s wall just cause.
I believe 79 people posted
on my facebook wall for my birthday, along with a handful of facebook messages,
snapchats, and texts. I’m not saying I didn’t appreciate the wishes, nor that
you shouldn’t wish me a happy birthday next year, but in the grand scheme of
things, practically speaking, wouldn’t it have meant more to me if someone had
posted on my facebook wall on a random day of the year that wasn’t my birthday,
when I wasn’t overwhelmed with so many other birthday posts?
Is it so wrong to check in
with someone you haven’t seen for a while just for the sake of checking in? If
someone contacted me for no other reason than to just check in I’d be thrilled.
Why don’t we do this more often? Once again, is it because we don’t want to
bother them? Or for them to think “why are you talking to me again?” about us?
It’s so easy to connect with people these days. It’s a shame we’re so bad at
doing so.
Rant aside, I’m glad to be
back home in Atlanta. After the first few days, everyone has been so welcoming.
But I have to realize that I’m back in the real world (and not in college,
unfortunately), living on a friend’s living room floor, and I need to get my
shit together, and soon.
Thanks for your continued
support; I’m glad you came along for the ride. See you next time.
Post Number #1--11/2/14 6:00pm PST, Seattle, WA. So I'm returning to Atlanta. From Seattle. Since I have a car, a bunch of stuff, and no real reason to rush back (the Patriots have a bye next weekend) I decided to to go a road trip! This is a big-league road trip. I leave Seattle tomorrow (Monday) morning. While I've done and blogged about a couple of road trips in the past, this road trip I'm taking is quite a bit different from my past trips. Here are a few reasons why: a) The route is a few miles longer. Remember when I blogged about my past road trips and acted like they were a big deal? Turns out they weren't. My 2013 trip from Boston to Atlanta was just over 1,100 miles, good for about 17 hrs nonstop, according to google maps. My trip in August from Sacramento to Seattle was barely more than a measly 750 miles, only about 12 hrs. This trip is projected for 2,800+ miles, a number that will almost certainly be pushed into the 3,000 range when you consider the sightseeing detours I am going to make, adding up to at least 41 hours of driving. It's gonna be pretty epic.
My projected route.
b) The plan is to camp the majority of the way en route.I haven't camped in quite some time. The last time I can recall sleeping in a tent is part of the Hikin' Hornets 8th grade Summer Trip (ST '06, for those who actually get this). I actually like camping though so I am looking forward to this! Of course, there are a few challenges I will deal with, including cold weather (sub 20, possibly), sleeping at sunset and waking at sunrise (I'm more of a 2-10am guy) no cell phone service and/or data, electricity, boredom, warm food, etc. Should be part of the fun. It'll be like the prehistoric pre-wifi /cell phone days. Worst case scenario, I chicken out after day one of camping / no internet/phone access, and I motel it over to atl in like 5 days. I hope it doesn't come down to that. At least I won't get bitten by 150 mosquitos in one night. Speaking of the prehistoric days... c) I'm using some old school ways to try to keep myself entertained and not lost. That's not to say I've completely ditched this decade's technology (using my gps, some sweet apps like SkyMap and Roadtrippers--thanks James), but I'm not just driving and staying at homes and apartments. I'm using CDs to listen to music* in the car (thank you Bennett) when there is no radio signal. I'm preparing to do some reading (real books, shockingly), using maps and atlas, and asking people for directions. How strange. The best idea, however, came from my brother (Ben, not Matthew, unfortunately) saying I should bring out the Gameboy Color and play Pokemon Blue, when in my tent at night. both of which I conveniently have! Except the "A" button doesn't work. Bummer. It would have been awesome. In a terrible segue completely unrelated to this trip, speaking of my brother, here is a video of an insane ultimate play in July which I somehow hadn't seen until today. This is what you get for waiting five months to tell me about this. Be grateful this wasn't a fb status. *earlier this week I learned how to get music from youtube to cd's. Am I five, seven, or ten years late to the party?
d) I don't really have set plans. One of the wonderful things about not having a job or any other commitments is that I can do whatever I want for however long I want. Other than the first day or so, I have no plans. My actions will be pretty spontaneous. If I absolutely LOVE this experience, I might be out here for three weeks, going from national park to national park and camping. If I'm tired of camping slash being alone, I could be back in ATL in 5 days. How You Can Help: If you happen to live anywhere semi-close to my route, I'd love to see you, especially if you might have a place for me to crash for a night! Let me know. If you have great experience with road tripping, camping, or any of these places that I'm driving relatively close to, I'd love to hear your input and recommendations on anything. As for everyone else, I would love it if you contacted me! Really. I say this because I know most people reading will not actually try to contact me. But please I'm serious. I would love nothing more to have a nice surprise from some people I have or haven't heard from in a while, especially during a time where I'll have little social interaction. It'd be cool to chat with someone on the phone (if I have service) when chilling in my tent at 5pm because it's dark out. I can't guarantee consistent or instant communication (due to data/service issues), but I'd love to keep you in the loop and catch up with you! I will try to be active on facebook, twitter (@joshtfeng), and I hope to be available via text/phone, facebook message, snapchat. Make it happen. And if I contact you, it's because I care about you (and not because I have nothing better to do...), so please throw me a bone and communicate back. Thanks everyone, will try my best to blog about my adventures (hopefully within a few days) and keep y'all in the loop. Here's to eating lots of granola bars and homemade beef jerky (thanks again, Bennett), sleeping in the cold with clothes on, letting my hair grow out, and spontaneous awesome adventures and sightseeing! -JTF
Post #2--11/4/14 11:30am MST, Boise ID.
Day One
Yesterday, I began my road trip! My route yesterday took me from my apartment in Seattle to a free unofficial campsite in East Oregon, right on the border of Idaho. I'm currently sitting in a coffee shop Boise (we'll open this can of worms later) cranking this post out because I finally have wifi. Plan is to head to Salt Lake City today. Here are some notes thus far:
Day One:
-I covered about 450 miles, it took me about 8 hours including stops. I traveled on three interstate highways: Route 90, 82, and 84. Felt like I could have driven longer but had to stop before nighttime to set up camp.
-It’s crazy how quickly the Seattle evergreen pacific northwest climate and scenery change into the dry wasteland valley of eastern Washington. Similar to California, once you go over a set of hills (in this case, the Cascades) everything changes so quickly: rain and green turns to brown and dry real quick.
-For the first hour or so, I actually followed a car with an emory sticker on its back, as I tweeted here: I regret not getting a picture.
-I got the cheapest gas I have ever gotten in my life, I believe. $2.53 in Central Washington. (Okay, I kind of cheated here, I had a 50 cent per gallon off on safeway gas with my card since I spent so much buying groceries for my extravagant Seattle roommates.
-There was sign on route 84 saying I crossed the 45 degree latitude, the halfway point to from the equator to the north pole.
-Thank you Bennett for your help. Cds in the car actually worked out surprisingly well. It was wonderful always listening to what I thought was the perfect playlist (I mean, I did make them). The homemade chicken and Beef jerky has been a life saver out on the road.
-topped 100mph for the first time in my life.
-I get Seattle being dark and dreary better now. Today, even though it was cloudy outside, there was a stroke of sun brightening the sky to a nice orange. Doesn't happen in Seattle. And the sky is way higher away from Seattle. It's kid of like having your apartment ceiling raised a few feet. It's nice.
-this part of Eastern Oregon is not has foresty as I thought. More dry and hilly.
-4g and wifi have been on and off. Campsite has no 4g and very spotty service.
On a side note, just like I did back in 2013, I am planning to buy a $1 scratch ticket in every state I pass. So far I'm 0-for-2. Maybe Idaho is the good luck charm. Will keep you posted en route.
The Campsite:
The (photo-enhanced) view from camp.
My campsite was legitimately just a patch of grass and dirt on the side of the road… It sits right on the Snake River* with a great view of a few hills.
-I planned to get in at 3:30 pacific time, since the sun is supposed to set at 4:30 in Huntington. Turns out a sliver of eastern Oregon is actually in mountain time, so I was behind an hour.
*For those who care, I have a strange amount of interest in / knowledge of rivers. The Snake River is one of the Northwest's (and country's) longest rivers. It goes through Idaho and forms part of the border between Idaho and Oregon. The river is a tributary of the Columbia River, which goes through Portland and empties out into the Pacific.
As always, the smelliest tent of the group.
-I am also in the middle of nowhere. But actually. The nearest town is like 30 miles away. No signs of humanity in sight. While I wish I had internet and phone, I don't mind being so isolated. It’s really nice, really get to soak in the wilderness and the moment. I loved it. It's unfortunate it wasn't a clear night. the stars must look incredible out there!
-It was really warm once I got here (perhaps 60) but dropped into the 30s tonight. I wore a lot of clothes to bed. Coldest weather I've ever slept in.
-didn't sleep too well not due to the temperature, more due to it being dark at 6pm. I read a book* for a bit. then tried to sleep. didn't fall asleep till 11.
*Bob Greene's "Rebound," a book about Michael Jordan that takes readers behind the scenes when Jordan abruptly retired from basketball (the first time) and tried to play baseball while soul-searching following his father's murder. A surprisingly relevant book for me right now.
my sleeping apparel. pretty sexy.
Day Two:
Thus far, I've only traveled about an hour from Huntington, OR to Boise, ID. Despite the short length, it arguably has been the most exciting hour of the trip thus far for me.
For those who know me well, I have had a (justifiable) borderline unhealthy obsession with ragging on Idaho for the past few years. Despite this, I have legitimately wanted to visit Idaho since that time.* Boise is actually a pretty cool city though. Beautiful too.
*Spoiler Alert: My ex-girlfriend is from Idaho.
I wasn't planning on ever making it here without a companion, but here I am so I'm making the best of it.
Two things I want to point out.
1. When I was pulled over taking pics of the Welcome to Idaho sign, one trucker pulled over next to my car (which was about a hundred yards ahead of the sign), presumably to see if I needed help. Then he pulled away. Though I didn't see who (s)he was, I appreciated that someone was kind enough to go out of their way and pull a random act of kindness like that. We should all be doing things like this when we get the chance. I'll try to soon.
2. Shout out to one of my Loomis Chaffee friends to actually reaching out to me (as I requested on my last post). It means a lot. Thank you.
Off to try to check out Boise State's Blue Turf field, and then off to Salt Lake City. Thanks for reading. Hopefully will post again in a few days.
--JTF
Post #3--11/4/14 8:30am MST, Salt Lake City, UT
Day Two Route
It is now day III of the road trip and I am still loving it. I've already decided that I want to go on road trips as much as possible, hopefully at least once a year. They're so fun and adventurous. While it would be totally awesome to have a friend with me, I do appreciate this time alone too. I highly recommend everyone doing this (long distance driving alone). You really learn a lot about yourself.
Yesterday, I since left Boise after a quick stop at Bronco Stadium, most famously known for its blue turf field. Surprisingly, they have a free viewing stage to see the field. Why don't all stadiums do this?
Bronco Stadium in Boise
I officially put Boise in the past shortly afterwards, once and for all. Good to attack that and move on. Surprisingly, I had pretty solid cell phone service the next two hours in the middle of nowhere and was able to make a call and catch up with a friend. It's crazy how far technology has advanced!
I soon arrived near Twin Falls, Idaho. In order to get there, I had to detour off of the interstate a few miles. I was on the fence of doing it at the time, but thanks to the advice from a couple of friends (that it's better to go off the interstate to see things, and doing random spontaneous things are fun) I went for it. And only a few miles later, I was greatly rewarded with the Snake River Canyon*, and Idaho, at its best:
*I may or may not have tried to throw a frisbee across the Canyon. And I may or may not have not even reached the river, due to a throw going upwind. It wasn't pretty.
Moral of the story: spontaneity is good, and take the road less traveled. Sure you might waste a bit of time, spend a bit more money, or get lost or something. But that's when the best stories are made, the best experiences are had. In the grand scheme of things, a few extra hours and a couple hundred extra bucks will be completely irrelevant.
It was getting dark (5pm) at that point, so after failing to find a campground in the Twin Falls area, I quickly grabbed an Idaho themed dinner I headed for Salt Lake, even though I was pretty tired. Idaho/Utah luckily has 80 mile per hour speed limits (meaning you're good to go 90, or even 100) and that cut the commute time greatly.
Yes, I ordered an extra side of potato chips. And yes, they were exceptional delicious,
Moral of this part of the story: When going on a road trip, try your best not to drive at night. Two main reasons here. First, it's a lot harder to drive. The car lights are annoying, you can't see as clearly, you have to pay attention harder. But more importantly, it makes the act of driving (and thus the road trip) no longer a road trip. Since you can admire the scenery anymore, you're driving only to get from point A to point B. Everyone will have to do this at times (I mean, I did) but try not to!
Upon arriving in Salt Lake City, I went on a quick hike to Ensign Peak, to view the city. Great view. Cool city nestled right next to the mountains; kind of like Boise but bigger and prettier. And then I crashed at a hotel for the night.
Salt Lake City
Today I am exploring Salt Lake City for a bit, then I'm off to Southern Utah, arguably the most beautiful region in the country! Arches, Canyonlands, Mesa Verde, and Four Corners is on the Agenda. Plan is to camp in the wilderness for at least a couple of days, so it might be a while until this next blog post is up, for the three and a half people semi-regularly following this. Thanks for following. Lots of pics to come!
--JTF
Post #4--11/10/14 2:00pm MST Moab, UT
It is my sixth day and final day here in Moab, Utah. Given that the plan was to stay one, maybe two days, it is safe to say that I really enjoyed my time here.
The format of this post is different because I haven’t any wifi for several days. I was able to do some typing on the laptop though. Thus the posts are in chronological order, but edited in tense at the time of this writing, however. It’s a lot of writing, so give yourself a bit of time for this one.
Part III of the Trip
Post 4i: Thursday, 11.6.2014 4am Moab, UT
It was 3:00 am and I had trouble falling back asleep so I decided to blog. I was officially crazy! Day 3 of my road trip, at that point, was the best day yet.
I woke up on Wednesday (11/5) in Salt Lake City returning to Ensign Peak to get a bird’s eye view of Salt Lake City. Awesome view, again. Salt Lake is really a beautiful city. Following Ensign Peak, I went downtown, specifically to the famous Temple Square, the mecca like-home of the Church of Jesus Christ Latter Day Saints, or LDS, or as we commonly refer to it, Mormonism.
Temple Square is a really cool place; I could’ve spent a few extra hours there. It has a great history of Mormonism and really cool architectural buildings and sculptures. My favorite part of the square was its 28 story high conference center, where I had an individual tour of the observation deck overlooking the city. My tour guide, a 50 something year old “sister” named Paula gave a sweet brief rundown of the surroundings and Mormonism. For example, I learned that about there are about 15 million Mormons in the world, about 60 per cent of Utah is Mormon, and there are over 88,000 missionaries around the world trying to convert people to Mormonism. While walking around was slightly interesting, as there were a ton of young members of the Church around trying to talk to people and convert/educate them. Everyone seemed very nice and chill. Paula was saying that Mormons are pretty much just normal people.
A Statue of Jesus Christ, and the Mormon Temple in Salt Lake City
Following Temple Square, I headed 20 miles west of the city to see the Great Salt Lake, to find out if it was truly as salty as advertised. So the Great Salt Lake is the largest lake west of the Mississippi and the largest lake that does not have an outsource (to an ocean), hence why it is so salty. Anyways, I went there, and yes, it is significantly saltier at 14% salt (and thus nastier) than the ocean (3.5% salt). And apparently the northern end of the lake gets as high as 25% salt. Crazy.
I then headed southeast towards Moab / Arches National Park, some 4 hours away. I stopped for lunch en route at, to my surprise, an In-N-Out Burger! In Utah! So good. I also learned en route that Utah doesn’t sell scratch tickets (or an type of gambling), due to its moral codes, ruining my quest for a scratch ticket in each state.
Tasting the Salt Lake. Obligatory In-N-Out Photo
Upon my arrival in Southern Utah a few hours later, I was in awe at its beauty. Southern Utah has got to be THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PLACE I’VE BEEN TO. Everyone should go here at one point. The Canyons are amazing, the rivers, the rocks, the cliffs…
The thing is, I knew this already. I had been to Southern Utah before (although not the Moab/Arches area) back on the 8th grade Hikin’ Hornets Summer Trip of 2006.* But I forgot how awesome Southern Utah really was. Pictures, while helpful, do not do this place justice. You have got to get out here. And when you do, take me with you. Please.
*My middle school sent about 40 eighth graders on a month-long camping trip through the West. My trip went through Vegas, (the other half of) Southern Utah, Tahoe, and most of California.
Moonset over the cliff at the campground
Anyways, I got to my campsite just before sunset. The campsite was in a beautiful spot: right on the Colorado River and below a huge-ass cliff. This campsite was a legit campsite (I paid $15 a night) but there are actually other people here and tables and fire pits and stuff, a nice change from my spot in bumfuck Oregon.
The best part of my day, though was my interaction with my neighbors. Shortly after my arrival, I soon met my neighbor, a thirty something year old lady named Brie from Denver. She quickly helped me get settled in and offered me perhaps my “favorite” beer, a PBR. After I got settled in, she suggested I meet our other neighbors, two forty/fifty something year old brothers, named Phil and Scott, also from Denver.
Phil and Scott were legit campers. They had a grill, a canopy, a dishwashing station, firewood, lamps, everything. They had camp equipment I had never heard of, like a dutch oven* and a solar shower**. Basically, They knew their shit. Phil and Scott invited me over for dinner, during which Scott made us chicken enchiladas. So the four of us hung out, had some beers, and got to know each other better. It is crazy how nice these guys were out here. Sure was better than being cold and miserable in a tent by myself.
*a mini oven you put over a campfire
**a wine-bag like thing you fill with water, place in the sun to warm the water, and then spray on yourself to shower with
Following dinner, Phil asked if either of us knew how to play a card game… cribbage! This was too much! I learned how to play cribbage back on my hiking hornets’ summer trip, in Utah. Those days with Surfer Rick, Mr. Brosnan and Mr. McGillvary couldn’t be clearer.
Friends. Cribbage!
My time out here had really brought me back to those summer trip days. How crazy awesome those days were: camping, hiking, the outdoors. The campgrounds, fires, the shitty restrooms, the nature, hiking. How Mrs. Crocker and friends made that all happen is ridiculous, and now even more greatly appreciated than ever.
After cribbage, I looked up at the cliff overlooking us. With a full moon out, the cliff was lit up in an unreal way. The view was like something you’d see in a scenic movie (when Forrest Gump is running the country comes to mind). No pics though due to phone camera. We then called it a night, until I woke up at 3 to write the post.
I went back to sleep for a couple of hours to catch the sunrise, then a full day of hiking (Devil’s Garden in Arches, apparently a 9+ mile hike, plus maybe one or two more hikes) with Brie, who had invited me to go with her.
--JTF
Post 4ii: Thursday, 11.6.2014 4pm Moab, UT
On the sixth I went on a couple of hikes with Brie in Arches National Park, just a few miles from my campground. Arches now rivals Zion atop the “most beautiful places I’ve ever been to list.” It was pretty incredible. While I’ll let my pictures do the talking, again realize that pictures don’t do the place justice.
Brie and I went on a 9ish mile hike. We did some chatting, got to know one another better. We saw some cool arches and structures, and at one point we split up and got separated/lost for a couple of hours even. But after a mild panic, I found her eventually,* and all was good. Other than the outstanding scenery, nothing too crazy. I did jump in the Colorado River when I got home though! It was chilly but oh so refreshing.
Landscape Arch
*whenever you are spilt up with someone, return to common ground, which in my case was Brie’s car.
One thing Brie said to me while we were together on the hike that resonated with me was that people tend to take life too seriously always seem to be in a rush. She further elaborated that people need to slow down so they can actually appreciate what they are doing. For example, she felt that hiking shouldn’t be too strenuous an exercise and that we should hike for the journey and not for the exercise.
I wouldn’t fully realize this until a few days later, but I totally get her now; she was totally right. Our whole lives, especially when we are young and in school, we are trained to work efficiently and do as many things as possible in a limited amount of time. But just like in college, where it is not wise to try to overwork yourself too quickly and take on too many tasks such that you don’t enjoy them, the approach on life should be the same. Why do too many things so you have to rush and you cannot truly enjoy them?
This is particularly difficult when you are on vacation or a trip. There’s always so much to get done in a limited time and you want to do it all. But why rush? What are you rushing to? Back to work? Sure, you might miss a few things* here and there. But you need to enjoy yourself. Sit back and relax. Enjoy the ride**. And if you’re like me, where you need to live a life you love (kind of like a vacation), the approach should be the same with your day-to-day life. It did for me; my time was way more relaxing taking it easy as opposed to trying to get everything done.
*in my case, like eighty things. There are an absurd 100+ different views/hikes in Arches and Canyonlands alone!
**as a natural fast driver, I think I get why older people drive slower now, you know, other than their terrible reaction times. I found myself voluntarily letting people pass me on the road for the first time as I enjoyed the scenery.
-JTF
Post 4iii: Saturday, 11.8.2014 4:30pm Moab, UT
On the night of the sixth, Brie, Phil, Scott and myself just had another nice night by the campfire. I bought a rack of ribs at a supermarket(City Market, a branch of Kroger!) which they then grilled up for me. Phil and I played some cribbage again. Nothing too eventful.
I did learn a key thing from Phil and Scott though. Remember a few days ago when I put up a picture of what I was wearing to sleep in the cold? Turns out I had it all wrong! Apparently you are actually supposed to take off as many clothes as possible so your body heat directly touches the sleeping bag, which insulates it and warms up the area your body is in. I was skeptical at first, but it worked. Sleeping in just a t shirt and boxers was much warmer (and more comfortable) than when I had all that other crap on.* So ladies, take your clothes off! At least when you're camping and ready for bed.
*The one thing that does suck about this is when you have to wake up to pee in the middle of the night. It’s a real pain the ass to either have to put on your clothes to go out and pee and then take them off again or to run outside the tent barely clothed, piss while frozen, and hop back in. They said you could try the water bottle method, but that isn’t happening.
Balance Rock. Do you see Idaho too?
A quick lesson I learned here is listen to what the experienced tell you. They know their shit. Of course I’m going to listen to these campers who have a truckload of camping gear including a dutch oven, a solar shower, and a tent heater. So whether it is older people, experienced people, or local people, listen to people who know their shit.
The seventh led me back into Arches for the day. I decided to take my time, as recommended. I sure am glad I did.
I drove around the park and stop and look at the tourist hotspots. The arches were better aesthetically than the day before. I found myself taking hundreds of pictures of the arches and landmarks.
Double Arch
While all the arches along the roads were awesome, there was one arch that I loved in particular: Double Arch. I hiked my way inside the arch, and went to the highest point inside possible, looking back out through the arch. It was possibly the most beautiful view I’ve ever seen.
What made it so great? It was a perfect frame for an awesome background: the sky, the clouds, the mountains, the desert, the arch… The colors and contrast were perfect. I had to have sat up there for over an hour and also taken over different 200 pictures of that one view alone.
The best part was that every once in a while, when the other tourists moved out of the arch, I was the only one in the arch. Just me, the arch, and pure beauty. It might have been the most relaxed I’ve been in months, years. I could have sat there for days. Querencia.
The View From Double Arch
Delicate Arch
At this point I realized how lucky I have been to be in that place at that time. November has to be the best time to visit this area. The offseason is great in these wilderness/national park areas because there aren’t a lot of people there to ruin your photos and experience. People suck when you want to be in the wilderness, you want no part of them. To be able to visit a sweet national park in decent weather with few people around, you have to be really lucky schedule-wise. Here’s to no schedule and unemployment! If I had a job/classes, there’s no chance in hell I’d be in a place as awesome as this at this time. It’s called making the best of a situation!
I've been working out.
Anyways, I eventually got the courage to leave the arch, and headed for Delicate Arch, the most photographed arch in the park and the one you see on brochures and magazines. The hike up was short and very cool, like a way better version of Stone Mountain’s. Anyways, I got to the top and it was as beautiful as advertised. I snapped away, taking pictures of the arch but also trying out my picture taking skills--getting some different angles and even a trick shot in a mini photo session:
By the time my mini photo session was over, it was nearly sunset, so I decided to stay until sundown because why not? Absolutely worth it:*
Sunset From Delicate Arch
*I’m actually really fortunate I had pictures of this at all. Thanks to my silly photo shoot, I drained my battery to < 5%. My camera app doesn’t work when it has less than five percent. Luckily, snapchat(!) still worked at five percent, and I drained the rest of my battery via that app and saved the pics to my phone.
After the sunset I went back to camp so fulfilled. The Double Arch and the Sunset at Delicate Arch were two moments where I literally could not have been any happier, ones I’ll never forget. I was able to forget everything and anything else about my life: the past, the future, and anything and everything else. I focused solely on taking in those moments, which could not be better. I could not have been happier.
In general, we should always try to live in the moment, every moment. Sure it is hard, perhaps impossible; everyone has their own stressors and stuff going on. But the truth is, as the great Scott Hoenig preaches, you can only control the present at this precise moment. You cannot do anything about the past or the future. Sure, you might have to plan and care about your future, and perhaps you learn from your past. And if you elect to you use your moments to do something for the future, by all means, go for it. But given all the circumstances currently in your life at this moment, what is stopping you from being happy? Most of the circumstances aren’t going to change this moment. If you can train yourself to live in the moment and be content with yourself for every single moment, you will be infinitely happier.
--JTF
Post 4iv: Monday, 11.10.2014 7pm, Moab UT
Fisher Tower. That green thing is a climber.
On the Sunday the eighth I went to Fisher Towers, thanks to recommendations of Phil and Scott. It was a pretty legitimate hike through a canyon with some great views. Fisher Towers also has the most epic stage for rock-climbers, the kin of things you see in the commercials. It was fun to watch them for a bit.
Anyways, I got home to Phil and Scott leaving the campground (Brie had left the day prior), and I was off to fend for myself for a few nights. They were nice enough to leave me some leftover firewood to use in the pit, so I decided to get creative and buy some sausages and dogs* to grill old school style. Cooking was super exciting and fun, and the food tasted better too! *hot dogs, not the woof woof dogs. Chill everybody.
Sausages, grilled the right way.
I was having so much fun and was learning so much; part of me wishes I could have stayed there for a month. But camping alone for the first time, however, made me wonder why I was still there camping. After all, I was stretching what I thought would be a 1-2 night stop into six nights. People, like Brie and Phil and Scott, have come and gone through the campsite again and again.
Why was I still there? Was it truly because I loved it there so much? Because I loved living in the moment, and because that place in Utah is really just that fucking awesome? Perhaps. There’s no denying how awesome this place is.
But the dark side of me questions if there was something else. Perhaps I’m running away from something. There was a reason everyone had come and gone only for a day or two, and only I have stayed for a while. Everyone else has their own life: jobs, kids, wives… Phil and Scott made a joke that they’ll try to come back on Thanksgiving and I’ll still be here. But there I was, just dicking around, with no purpose other than to be where I was.
Not having a purpose isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Living spontaneously—with no plan, no purpose, no restrictions—has given me a feeling of freedom that I’ve never felt before. I legitimately do not have to worry about anything: there is nothing to worry about. This trip, thus far, as given me everything I could have asked for, and much much more. I’m so happy I’m making the most of it. Do you know how many people have told me they wish they could have done a cross country road trip, perhaps as awesome as mine, but never had the chance? And how many others who have told me that I’m definitely doing this trip the right way?
Is this what freedom feels like?
Yet I must realize that this isn’t real life. I mean, it is real life—perhaps the best of life—and it’s fucking awesome. But I know at some point I’ll have to face the “real” real word, look at it in straight in its eyes, and face the truth. I can’t forever hide away in this awesome fantasyland of Arches and Moab. I know I’ll have to start contributing to society, probably even take a crappy job, and likely start doing shit I don’t want to do again. As awesome and as necessary as this is, it will come to an end. Hopefully I’ll be able to take what I’ve learned on this trip and bring it back to real life.
So when I do leave Moab, Arches, Canyonlands, and Southern Utah, and finally resume my journey back home to Atlanta, where I will once again have to face the reality of the real word, I know why I’m headed there. My goal is to one day bring this everyday live-in-the-moment joy that I’ve had on my trip to the real world. I understand that it probably won’t happen right away, but I know it will happen eventually. Right?
--JTF
Post 4v: Monday, 11/10/14. 1:30pm Moab Utah
Yesterday I went to Canyonlands National Park (Island in the Sky District), just a 40 minute drive from my campground in Moab. Like Arches, Canyonlands was incredible.
I started the day off right. I went straight for the most famous part of the park: the Grand Point View. After searching for the right spot, with the wind and the lighting for a video shoot, I finally did this*:
*It’s one of the props of being a frisbee player: hucking off of sweet places.
By this point of my trip, I realized that over the past few days I’ve learned so much about photography. I appreciate how much (good) photographers have to do to get their good shots in.
The View from Grand Point, Canyonlands.
Things such as angle, distance, shapes, framing, and most importantly, lighting, are HUGE in getting a good shot in. A few steps to the left or the right can make or break a picture. A higher/lower angle can do wonders as well. Whether or not you are standing in / facing the shade has huge implications. It’s also been fun to use the timer on the camera to get some good shots of myself with no one else around!
Most importantly, I realize how crucial the sun and its lighting are in all landscape photos. It really determines which way you should face and what pictures you can take. Facing the east? Not if you want to see landforms in the morning, and vice versa for the west. Waiting a few minutes, or hours, for your shots can turn good shots into great shots. With smartphones these days, even the amateur photographer can be great with basic skills, although it would be cool to have a sweet camera and know how to use it.
Speaking of photography, and given my camping over the course of the week, I’ve learned how important it is to rise and sleep on the schedule of the sun. The best picture taking opportunities of everyday by far are sunset and sunrise; and you could get one of each per day. During those times, you might have fifteen minutes to make some great picture opportunities, so you had better make the best of them.
On a non-photography related note, being a 2:00-10:00am sleeper in college, I thought I’d hate waking up and going to bed early. I’ve been waking up as early as 5:30 and going to bed sometimes as early as 8:00. Turns out it isn’t so bad at all; it’s actually somewhat refreshing! In addition to seeing the beauty of a sunrise, I found it incredible to wake up, hike for five hours, and it still only being 11:30 AM. At 11:30 last year, I’d just be waking up lol. It makes sense though; in college things mainly happen at night. In the wilderness just about everything happens during the day.
Hanging in an Ancient Aztec Storage Unit
Anyways, I slowly went around Canyonlands for a while, visiting various points of interests and views. The top spots for me included hidden Aztec storage units in a butte and crater caused likely by the meteor. After staying and chilling for a few hours to watch the sunset, I headed back towards my campground.
As I went back, I decided to take a small detour back to Arches to a spot to view the stars*, which were finally relatively visible because the full moon was gone. And oh my god—the stars are absolutely incredible out here. Shooting stars, constellations, the milky way, everything. You know the song “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star?” I finally get it. The stars actually twinkle out here! And having the Google Skymap app was awesome to have these days.
*Astronomy is so cool and trippy; it really gives you a different perspective on everything. Right Amanda?
I gazed up at the stars for nearly an hour at a canyon at Arches National Park, in the dark. I then let out a yell, at the top of my lungs, just because. No lie—I had to have heard my echo 7-8 times perfectly clearly after my yell. It was awesome. It was at that point, I realized there, in the dark, gazing up at the starry sky, with not another sound in sight, I was completely alone.
Since the beginning of my road trip I had been flirting with the idea of loneliness. Would I be able to be alone, something I had never actually done for a long stretch of time? Throughout my trip, I found being alone, especially at that climax point of gazing up at the stars in the middle of dark and silence, to be very refreshing. I’ve been able to do some soul-searching, do some deep reflection, break out of my comfort zone, and have great experiences I never thought possible. I’ve been as relaxed as ever, reaching some sort of zen, one might say. With little/no services and technology, I was really able to take it all in, just live in the moment and nothing else, no distractions, nothing. Just me. And nothing. It’s a pretty incredible feeling that I’ve never had before and is quite difficult to explain, honestly. You should give it a shot.
This isn’t to say that regularly being alone is a great way to live life. It isn’t. We are social beings; we need people to survive and thrive. Friendships and love are really the meaning of our existence, I believe. It’s why I’m headed back to Atlanta in the first place; the desire to be near people and relationships that I care about. It is ironic though how much fun I am having on my (primarily solo) road trip, how much I’m learning and living on my own, and yet in the grand scheme of things, I’m going back to Atlanta for support and because I was tired of being alone. Perhaps I love being alone so much because I know it is temporary.
Love.
And that’s why I continue to blog. I know that the nature of blogging—and technology in general—contradicts my attitude of living in the moment and is arguably watering down my road trip experience. Every moment I am taking a picture or writing a post is a moment I’m not gazing at the stars, hiking cliffs, throwing discs into canyons, or doing something else that is awesome.
But sharing knowledge and experiences and opinions with other is what drives us, makes like worth living, and makes us better people. It's why I'm spending a few hours getting this done. So I hope the now 4.5 people who actually read this far actually get something out of this.
Anyways, on my last day in Moab, one of the most beautiful places in the world, I’m not hiking, taking pictures, or doing something epic. I’m instead doing something needed that I haven’t done in a week: just bumming. I finally found a coffee shop with wifi. I’m checking my fantasy teams, going on facebook, and blogging. Tonight I’m going to have a big campfire, grill some food, and get ready to go to Albuquerque tomorrow. I will stop briefly in Canyonlands (Needles District) and Four Corners Monument.
This guy.
Turns out my dad, stepmother, and most importantly Baby Matthew (gahhh!) are actually flying out to Albuquerque, New Mexico to meet me and stay until Saturday. I’m so excited to see family (mainly Baby Matthew). A break from camping and not having to pay for a hotel room is the icing on the cake!
That said, I likely won’t be blogging at all until Saturday or Sunday as I’m going to devote 100 percent of my time to my family and doing things with a near three year old. Showering for the first time in a week will be nice too. Feel free to contact me whenever. Would be open for a phone call on Tuesday the 11th and on Saturday and Sunday. Thanks for reading.
-JTF
Post #5--11/18/14 8:00pm EST Atlanta, GA
Moab, UT to Albuquerque, NM.
On Monday the 10th, after spending several hours in Moab inside a coffee shop blogging, surfing the web, and watching South Park, I went grocery shopping decided to treat myself to a final dinner by my campfire. The three course meal consisted of steak, chicken, and sausage, all of which were pre-marinated for flavor. Cooking the food by a fire, once again, made the food taste better than ever.
The main course.
I had rationed a fair bit of firewood over the couple of days, so I decided to go all out and build a raging fire. While the fire was big and great, the moment that most touched me was when I brought out a bag of recycled paper from my car. In the bag was all of my recycled papers from Seattle: Pay stubs, insurance documents, junk mail, and a calendar from the school I briefly worked at. Putting all those papers in the fire was quite symbolic, as if I was putting that part of my life in the past…
On Tuesday the 11th I finally left Moab for Albuquerque early in the morning, after my sixth night. I headed south as I packed my belongings and took down my tent, I started to feel sentimental. For the past six days, the campground had been like home to me; I had some good memories there; it’s like I was leaving home. It felt weird to be attached in a matter of days. Two things kept me going though: (1) Leaving is one step closer to my real home, and (2) I’m sure, sometime down the road, I’ll be back.
My first stop was an hour or something detour back to Canyonlands National Park, but this time in the Needles District, which although great, wasn’t as spectacular as Arches or the other side of Canyonlands. On that day, as I learned at the visitor center, I didn’t have to pay the nominal $10 visitor fee because it was veteran’s day. Awesome that our country does things like that. I left a few hours later and continued south towards Four Corners National Monument, the only place in the country where you can physically be in four states at once. Despite legitimately being in the middle of nowhere, it was pretty cool to cross off my bucket list. I then headed for Albuquerque.
Four Corners.
I checked into the hotel shortly after 7 and quickly grew re-accustomed to the non-wilderness life. While I certainly enjoyed my time camping, returning to a hotel was heavenly. It really helped me appreciate the little things again. Living in a heated building with lights and furniture was a revolutionary experience, as my comfort was no longer at the fate of nature. That first shower, my first since leaving Salt Lake City six days prior, was perhaps the most wonderful shower I had ever taken: soap and hot water had never felt so great. Must’ve been in there for at least 30-40 minutes. My first shave in like 3 weeks (Asian facial hair doesn’t look too good…) made me look like a new, civilized man. And that standard queen bed—and not having to sleep on the ground—might have been god’s gift to earth. I had my first deep sleep in quite some time.
Our hotel living room.
Although any bed and hotel room would have been wonderful for me, I was further pampered by the hotel selection my father decided on. While it was not a super glitzy five-star hotel, he booked this antique New Mexican style bed and breakfast, our first ever time staying at a B&B. It was a two bedroom apartment, complimentary with kitchenware, furniture, New Mexican decorations, etc. Better yet, every morning the hotel offered a made-to-order breakfast (we’re talking quesadillas, breakfast burritos, omelets, etc.) by a professional chef! It was perfect for our purpose: a place to just chill, relax, and rest as a getaway for a few days. If you or you family are looking to just relax and chill in a new place, really consider a B&B!
The hotel was great alright, but the best part of that night for sure was seeing my family: my dad, my stepmother, and most importantly, Baby Matthew! They didn’t get in until after midnight (which was a problem since I had been waking up at 6 and going to bed a 8:30), but despite my fatigue, it was well worth the wait. I went to bed shortly after their arrival.
Baby Matthew
On Wednesday the 12thI woke up in a warm bed, and quick stroll over to the dining complex of the bed and breakfast soon rewarded me with an incredible freshly made quesadilla by the hotel’s chef. Shortly after breakfast, however, I realized how tired I was and took a nap, from about 10:00-11:00am. After waking up for lunch and getting some grocery shopping done, I returned home at 3:00ish, only to take another nap, this one for 3.5 hours! I didn’t realize how much road tripping and camping wore me out! We legitimately did nothing all day but stay around the apartment: it was perfect. These days are SO underrated in everyday life.
On Thursday the 13th, after my day of hibernation, we decided to make a quick day trip up to Santa Fe, about an hour from Albuquerque. Santa Fe itself is a pretty touristy town, with really cool architecture. It was pretty much exactly how I had pictured New Mexico in my mind: clay homes and buildings, a bit of a Mexican flair. We were simply tourists, just walking around the state capitol building, which was by far the coolest state capitol building I’ve seen simply because it doesn’t follow the cookie cutter blueprint that most others do, and the downtown areas.
Santa Fe
Perhaps more memorable than Santa Fe itself was the encounter we had on our way over. We stopped by a Native American pueblo (village), one that probably only consisted of a few hundred people. We went to the village which was nearby the Rio Grande River, touched the water, and decided to take some pictures at the river since the weather was nice.
After about 20 minutes, just as we were about to leave, a police officer of the reservation put on his sirens and told us that were weren’t allowed to take any pictures on the reservation, and that we had to delete all of the pictured we had already taken. A bit surprised by this request, we listened and did so.
Why aren’t we allowed to take pictures? To preserve the natural beauty of the reservation? So people cannot document anything? And furthermore, how do they enforce this? It was an interesting interaction.
We then drove around the town part of the pueblo, which looked pretty authentic—lots of firewood, stone ovens, clay homes, stray dogs, etc.—something that would have seemed in Native American style a hundred years ago (other than the cars)… yet people continued to live there.
Two bros hanging in Santa Fe.
Did these people choose to remain in these outdated conditions? Perhaps it’s a cultural thing? I’m not sure. But I did realize earlier that week, as I was driving to Albuquerque from Utah, that there are communities / modern towns and cities in New Mexico that are on Native American Reservations. These cities and towns, although seemingly integrated into American culture, are still super run down, lower income communities. It is quite clear that Native Americans, at least in this part of the country, do not have the kind of access to a higher standard of living like the people I interact with do. It seem like they are definitely getting the short end of the stick in our country.
Sandia Peak Tramway
On Friday the 14th we went to the Sandia Peak Tramway, an aerial tram that took passengers from Albuquerque 2.7 miles up to the top of Sandia Peak, a 10,000+ foot mountain right next to Albuquerque. It was very cool (pun intended).
It was a particularly fun time for Matthew. He loves cars, trains, and planes, and the like, so the tram was right up his alley. But it was also his first time on a mountain and his first time in snow (it was about 20 degrees at the peak, some 25 degrees cooler than in the city! We had a lot of fun.
First time in snow!
We followed the our trip to the Tramway with a walk around Old Albuquerque, a touristy part of town with lots of shops, restaurants, and antiques. (kind of like Old Sacramento, for those of you who have been there). A nice place to walk around. What I’ll remember more is what I did after that, which was have some one-on-one time with Baby Matthew.
My brother, at 2 years and 11 months old, was really a fascinating specimen. In just three months since the last time I saw him, he already seemed so much smarter. He had improved his letters to the complete alphabet, his counting had increased from 9 to 20, and his vocabulary, sentence structure, and memory were much more refined. He still remembered my buddy Emre, who visited my home nearly half a year ago in June! He even knew when I was trying to trick him. For example, when I told him the color of a sheep was green, he’d be like: “No, I think it’s white.”
While Matthew sure is maturing quickly, it’s crazy how he can be entertained with the simplest things. For example, when we were in Santa Fe, there was a gazebo in the park plaza, with a few stairs and a ramp in the back. Matthew and I were playing tag like games and wandering around for about 20 minutes and he was cheerfully smiling the whole time, like he was at Disneyworld. He could’ve played on that thing for hours. Similarly, back at the hotel, Matthew and I were playing with our water bottles on the couch. Trying to entertain him, I pretended to have my water bottle “hike” up a pillow on the side of the couch and he was immediately entertained, laughing his butt off and giggling like a two year old does. I did this, after adding some different formations and sound effects to my water bottle hike, with him for about an hour, and he was laughing at 100 percent the entire time.
This entertained him for hours.
We then ate dinner, and next think I know, matthew is asking me, in his cutest unrefined baby voice: “Do you want to play water bottle climbing mountain?”
It’s crazy how much joy Matthew—and kids in general—are able to have in the simplest of things. If Baby Matthew can be so happy walking up a flight of three stairs and playing with a water bottle, we should be able to be happy with everything that we have, right?
It is so incredibly rewarding to see anyone, never mind a closed loved one, 100 per cent genuinely happy, especially when you know you are the main person causing such happiness. If you are ever in a position to make someone else truly happy, just do it. And take in those moments. It’s well worth it.
I'll miss this guy!
On the Saturday the 15th I dropped my family at the airport in Albuquerque. I was certainly sad to see them, especially Baby Matthew, go forward.
After only 4 days together, I was already back to thinking how much my dad is a complete pain in the ass. That’s because he actually is a complete pain in the ass. He’s stubborn, condescending, inconsiderate… I can go on for hours about his flaws and how easily he gets underneath my skin.
Sure my dad sucks at times, to rather annoying levels, and my family life has its fair share of flaws. But in the grand scheme of things, we have to get over our family issues. Every family has issues, some more than others, but the matter of fact is, for us to be where we are today—educated, privileged, etc.—our family has done something right. So no matter how much I hate when dad gets under my skin, I have to swallow hard and accept it. For all he’s done wrong, he’s done so much right I have no choice but to love. Love your family. They’re the only real family you’re going to have.
Albuquerque, NM to Oklahoma City, OK
I headed east on I-40 for Oklahoma City, about eight hours away. Due to the Arctic Blast that had taken over the country and the help from some relatives with hotel rewards points, I decided to hotel it the rest of the way home as opposed to camp.
What Texas looks like.
The ride to OKC was rather uneventful, other than the changing scenery. The three states that I went through—New Mexico, Texas, and Oklahoma—all pretty much fit my preconceived ideas of what they looked like. New Mexico was mostly dry and had small shrubs and bushes growing. There was, just like in the movies and cartoons, actually a fair bit of tumbleweed rolling across the interstate! Texas, at least the northern panhandle, was pretty stereotypical Texas: a lot of cows, a lot of land (some green and some yellow), some windmills, some farms, no Trees. Flat land as far as the eye could see. Pretty much what you see Texas depicted as on the intro of Friday Night Lights.* Oklahoma was like Texas, except slightly more hilly and some trees were present, a little less green.
*yes, I did put this in here just to give myself an excuse to tell you that Friday Night Lights is actually my favorite TV show ever. I initially watched it because it involved football, but it is legitimately the best drama and plot I’ve seen, too. Non-sports people will like this. Watch the pilot episode and try to stop watching. I dare you.
Good Restaurants look like this!
On my way to my hotel in Oklahoma City I did stop at a few places en route. I first stopped in Amarillo, Texas for some dinner at a burger/steak place called Coyote Buff Café. While it had good ratings on yelp, the main draw to me was that it was a hole in the wall cash only place that was only open for 5 days a week. (I did later find out it was on Man vs. Food, too). The only other place I can recall that did something similar, Paseo’s in Seattle, provided me arguably the best meal I've ever had.* Yes, it was delicious. I knew it when there were 15 people waiting at the door at 4:50 when the place opened at 5:00. Moral of the story: the best food is always in a hole-in-the-wall place.
*apparently, last week Paseo’s inexplicably abruptly closed down. So sad. The world lost a great meal. At least it provided me more insurance that leaving Seattle was the right call!
This a better time than ever to describe how I’ve been eating on my trip. Besides trying not to spend that much money, my only rule has been this: eat what the area is known for. I filled up on everything potato based in Idaho, I ate a lot of green chile and Mexican food in New Mexico, and then a burger in Texas, and then Memphis BBQ in Memphis. The only time I really broke this rule was in Utah, when I had In-N-Out, so that was justifiable.
Lit up Chairs at the OKC Memorial
Following dinner, I headed straight to touring OKC where I went to the Oklahoma City Memorial for the OKC bombing on April 15th, 1995. The memorial, quite frankly, may have been the coolest and best designed memorial that I have been to, I’d say even more beautifully* than the national memorials in DC, which are great within themselves. The spacing, the two walls with the times the bombs went off, the giant elm tree that miraculously survived, the lit-up chairs of the victims, the reflecting pool, the city in the background—there was just a feel to it that made it seem not just like a memorial, but something more meaningful with hope.
*definitely seemed like a cooler place at night, with all the lights and stuff. It also helped that there was legitimately no one else besides me in sight.
The OKC Bombing Memorial
OKC to Hot Springs, AR
On the Sunday the 16thI woke up at 5:30am Central Time so I could leave Oklahoma City before an oncoming snow hit. It wasn't ideal, but you face obstacles and then you deal with them. I headed straight for Arkansas on I-40. About two hours later, when I was near the Arkansas state border, I decided spontaneously to stop by an Indian Casino in Oklahoma, since I had such an early start and a sizeable lead on the snow.*
*for those of you who are unaware, in this part of the country weather generally moves from east to west at about 40 mph.
Casino Time!
The convincing factor for me was that new members would receive $10 in free play, so I figured why not spend an hour or there to use the $10 as long as I don’t lose any of my own money. The Casino wasn’t big by any means, I ended up playing on a Game King (Video Poker) where I turned my $1 + $10 in free play into $6, where I would lose the rest of that money on a blackjack hand. So I ended up spending $1 on entertainment for about an hour. But I did get a free bottled water while I was playing. I was a bit pissed when I left the Casino having not walked away with a dollar (that’s how they get ya!). but it was still fun. I can see how gambling can be addicting.
Anyways, I then drove through Fort Smith, AR, which might be the most run down town I have seen on the trip thus far. I would later learn Fort Smith was the end point of the “Trail of Tears,” when the whites bullied the Natives out of the east into Oklahoma. The town was filled with old, closed buildings that made me think that I was living in the 60’s. It’s kind of how I pictured Detroit, except on a much smaller scale.
Hot Springs National Park
I arrived at my hotel in Hot Springs, AR at about 2:00, and shortly after I went to nearby Hot Springs National Park, the third National Park of my trip. Hot Springs National Park was unlike any other National Park I had been to, simply because unlike its peers that compassed many square miles in the wilderness, the main attractions of this park are immersed within a few blocks in a small city.
As its name suggests, Hot Springs National Park is known for its natural hot springs. The Park had several bath houses as designed back in the early 1900s, all based off of these hot springs. There were also some natural hot* springs outside in the surrounding blocks, which were really cool (no opposite pun intended) to see steaming on a day eerily resembling Seattle’s cold, dark and misty weather.** While I was unable to actually to take a bath (closed on Sundays), I was able to fill up some jugs with natural hot spring water, which was delicious as it sounds. Overall, the park was very different from the other national parks, but still a pretty cool place to visit for a couple of hours.
This guy.
*by hot, I mean the perfect temperature for a bath
**in a strange twist, it was completely sunny in Seattle this day, as my ex-roommate would later snap to me.
I went back to the hotel to rest, blog, and watch the Patriots smoke the Colts. I’m fortunate they have a Sunday Night game this week so I didn’t have to watch it during the day. It’s crazy to think that the last time they played, I hadn’t even began my trip yet!
On Monday the 17th I woke up in from my hotel to the ground covered in snow. I was initially a bit worried because I absolutely despise driving in slow (mostly because it is dangerous and you have to drive like 20 miles slower to get where you’re going). Despite the fact my car was covered in snow, luckily the ground was rather dry so I decided to go on as planned.
Hot Springs, AR to Birmingham, AL
I first stopped in Little Rock, Arkansas. I visited a few places rather briefly, including the Riverfront, a library/museum dedicated to Bill Clinton, and Heffer Village, a non-profit that uses microcredit to help solve world hunger.
Certainly the most interesting place I visited in Little Rock, however, was the site of Little Rock Central High School. For those who were unaware, Little Rock Central High School was the focus of the desegregation of public schools in the 1950’s. After a lot of discrepancies and physical outbreak between the Arkansas state and U.S. national governments, an absolutely huge step in the civil rights movement, nine black students, known as the “Little Rock Nine” began their first year of classes in Little Rock Central, marking the first time a previously all-white school enrolled black students and the first major impact of the famous Brown v. Board of Education of 1954.
The heart of desegregation in education.
It was really cool, as an Education and Sociology double major, to be standing on the streets and by the school where total outbreak and chaos—soldiers, riots, angry people, cannons--were going on about racism some just 50+ years prior, and where history was made, at a center of the civil rights movement. It’s amazing to see how far society has come since what really hasn’t been such a long time ago. Not that racial relations are close to perfect by any means. Here’s to change!
A moment I’ll remember though was at the visitor’s center, which was so cool that I stayed at about a half hour, when I approached the visitor’s guestbook. Under the guestbook was simply for guests to write their name and where they are from.
I had been asked several times over the course of the trip where I was from. For me, it had not been an easy question to answer. I had grown up in Boston, spent the past four years studying in Atlanta, my family lived in California, and had most recently been living in Seattle. I’d always tell people I was coming from Seattle and going to Atlanta.
But at this time, it became pretty clear what I needed to I write: “Name: Josh T. Feng – From: Atlanta, GA.”
It was official, Atlanta was home now.
***
Memphis BBQ
I then left Arkansas for Memphis, where I accomplished another lifelong goal of mine by touching the Mississippi River* and also went to Germantown Commissary, a restaurant known for its Memphis BBQ. The food was, as expected, incredibly delicious, and the portion was a nice large southern sized quantity. Just as memorably, as I walked in and wanted to know where to sit, the hostess said, in her thick southern accent “Any seat you want, baby.” I knew I was close.
*I did a project on the Mississippi River in 4th grade. Perhaps why I have a strange obsession with rivers.
After the satisfying meal, I headed to Birmingham, some four hours away, where I was crashing at my buddy Kevin(!)’s place for the night. After hanging out with Kevin, a wonderful and overstuffed meal* consisting of samgyapsa (how’s my spelling?), I pretty quickly passed out, ready for my final leg of my trip—the 2.5 hour trek from Birmingham to Atlanta—the next morning.
*if you ever eat at an Asian family's establishment, eat as much as humanly possible. How much you eat is pretty much how polite they think you are.
On Monday the 18thI left Birmingham after grabbing breakfast at a local place with Kevin. It was the last leg of what had been an incredible, long journey.
Birmingham, AL to Atlanta, GA
About an hour in, as I was driving in Alabama, I had been thinking how fortunate I had been on my trip. I avoided dangerous driving conditions and bad weather, didn’t have any car trouble* (mechanical malfunctions, accidents, etc.) and didn’t have any incidents with the police in regards to my driving.
*which, if you had ever been in my last car, was a nice change
Of course, the next thing you know, the all too familiar blue flashing lights were in my rearview mirror. Luckily, the cop passed by to attend to a car crash further up the road.
But(!) legitimately ten minutes later, I look in my rearview to see a cop following me again. As I turn to the right lane to let him pass, he follows me and on go the lights. What the hell?
So I got a ticket, my first ever. Basically I kind of got screwed over here. I was going 75ish in a 70 zone, but apparently the last mile or two I was driving the speed limit inexplicably moved down to 55. Worse yet, the Georgia line was a mere five minutes away, where the limit was back up to 70 again!
I’ll admit, at several times in the trip, I probably deserved a speeding ticket. But this was not one of them! I got screwed over! On my birthday!
Question for the public: Any advice on what I should do? It seems like I was targeted because I had a Washington plate and am unlikely to return to court, which strangely already has a date set in February. Sounds like Alabama setting a speed trap and trying to make a quick buck. I could go to court, which is only an hour or so away, and fight it (possible but I could definitely still lose). Maybe I’ll get off if the cop doesn’t show up. Any suggestions on what to do here?
Anyways, speeding debacle aside, I had no problems the rest of the way back to Atlanta, at that point only about an hour away.
I’m so excited to be back, and I’ll chug out another post in the next few days with a recap and some overarching reflection on my trip as a whole.
Thanks for reading everyone! And if you live in Atlanta, hit me up, I’d love to see you! And thanks for the birthday wishes.
-Random side note, I saw a Hawaii
license plate in Utah. Did it drive from Hawaii? That’d be insane! It was my
second Hawaii plate seen ever.
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