day 1 out of san francisco by 10am or so, drive through yosemite, early supper at a taco truck in bishop, watch the temp gauge in the convertybeetle climb past 100° as we drive through death valley
in the dead of night, pull in to pahrump, nv, for gas and lodging but decide to push on for vegas. 12+ hours of driving total.
day 2 up early, shopping spree at vegas walmart (beer, camping supplies, beef stew!), head east out of town with the top down in a sea of air conditioned cars, take the 15 thru a wee slice of arizona and into utah,
another stop at walmart (long johns for grand crayon!), lunch at the
cracker barrel, put the top up for a cool down, cut back over into arizona via the 59 past a town called hurricane (hurricanes in utah?), warm weather gives way to chilly breezes as we connect to the gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous 67, pull over to change out of shorts and into jeans and sweatshirts, continue on the pine and aspen lined road passing deer families eating their dinners, finally arrive at the
north rim campground at the grand canyon just as darkness falls, set up camp, build a fire, admire the evening sky, collapse in cozy sleeping bag.
day 3 make our first cups of drip coffee and it takes
forever, head out to the kaibab national forest for my first view of the grand canyon from point imperial, take beaucoup pics, back to camp to make a picnic lunch, head out to north kaibab trail and hike down as far as we can go, take beaucoup pics, eat sandwiches on the trail and make friends with mules as they pass by, crawl back to the convertybeetle, back to camp for showers, laundry, dinner, and a little reading before dark, chitty chatty by the fire into the night.
day 4 with heavy hearts, we break camp, back on the road with the top down and we are shocked when the convertybeetle temp gauge confirms that it is 49°! completely bundled up, we make our way back to the interstate, stop for a bathroom break at an vermillion cliffs overlook, buy the most beautiful turquoise and feather pendant from a navajo woman named genevieve, more sandwiches in the arizona desert, shed some layers, retrace our steps through utah, back in arizona for a minute, then on into the punishing nevada heat, finally arriving in the hustle and bustle of late-day las vegas, settle in our room at the
flamingo with a view of the live flamingos, dinner at the buffet (not so good, crappy crappy service), a little gambling, long stroll down the strip with occasional pop-ins at other big casino-hotels, nice to sleep in a bed again.
day 5 up early and head out to explore the flamingo on me own while nathan sleeps in, visit the wedding chapel, the pool, and the animal sanctuary (turtles!
huge koi! swans! flamingos! duckies!), read up on
bugsy siegel's flamingo legacy, back to the room to wake up my travel companion, finally packed up and checked out, we stroll back out on the strip in search of a better buffet, happy to find a good one at the mirage (sushi! bread pudding! enchiladas! pine nut & salami & pasta salad!), gamble a negligible amount at the mirage and discover a nickel slot call
kitty glitter! one last trip to my favorite walmart, back on the road for another marathon day in the convertybeetle, spend the rest of the day cutting thru the vast and beautiful nevada desert, nathan buys a capgun at a truck stop and pretends to be clyde to my bonnie, traverse the
extraterrestrial highway (375), reach
tonopah, an old mining town, after dark, opt to check into the silver queen over best western, really good mexican food for dinner down the street, a few rounds of digi poker and a winning round of kitty glitter at the little ramada casino down the road, then off to bed.
day 6 our last day in the desert, we are eager to hit the road and leave town before gassing up, and about an hour later, we just barely make it back to tonopah for a fill-up and some bk, back on the road and on and on and on through more vast desert, past vacant walker lake, through more wee towns, finally cross the border into california and on into beautiful forested hillsides, lots and lots and lots and lots of bikers, jeez, get to lake tahoe with no place to stay, nathan
randomly finds the
cal-neva resort in our
guide book from the library, we head up to crystal bay on the east (feels like north) shore and score a $300 room on the top floor for two nights at less than $100/night, dump our stuff and fawn over the lake views from our room, back out for burger dinner and chocolate malt at the
char-pit in king's beach, the past week catches up with us and we both fall asleep earrrrly.
i made a few discoveries during our trip and developed a love of a few simple things that had somehow eluded me till now.
guess where
just before dusk on the 67
where the deer are
arizona desert before it gives way to the pines
one of my absolute favorite moments on the trip was driving towards death valley our first night. the sun was setting in the desert, we were heading to nevada with no idea where we would later be resting our heads. we'd been in the car for hours, i'm talking 10+, but we were still digging the road. we listened to pulp, goldfrapp, and joy division (plus elegia from new order). the music was depressing, but we were so happy.
leaving east bay
near mono lake, yosemite
on the way to death valley
rounding out my LA photos are a few architectural details from the villa that i wouldn't sneer at if they were in any of my future residences.
my favorite, most genius idea: rosemary hedges.
michael had the lovely idea that we should check out the getty villa in malibu. my last trip there was in junior high school before the villa was closed for renovations. i'm not quite sure if photos are allowed, but a lot of people seemed to be having at it, so i took some of random stuff, like the shadows above from a caesar-style crown.
and this old plate with a greek guy puking.
guess who.
right behind the bev laurel, there was an abundance of sweet little LA cottages that i couldn't help but photograph so i could drool over their fairy tale details from my dark shoebox in san francisco. humor me; i've included quite a few of them.
of all the rental cars we could've been saddled with, we scored this awesome mustang while we were in LA. michael dubbed it "gay blue." it's cerulean!
i labored at styling bart for this shot that zach thought he could crash with his ambercrombie-lite good looks. jerk.
stephan and nathan had a joyful reunion during our trip to los angeles.
then the beer started flowing, and it was all downhill from there.
i'm gearing up for a cupcake party michael and i will be having together in berkeley, guest list: 2. the last time i was at his place two weeks ago, i snapped these photos in his gorgeous backyard. can you believe the size of that dahlia? i included my hand in the shot for scale.
here's oscar and his hedgie friend before we subjected him to six+ hours in a hot sports car. we were all congregating at michael's before heading down to LA for the weekend. there were seven of us--- i am still trying to catch up on my sleep.
michael shares the backyard with alan and his wife marie who have tended nicely to this giant plum tree. every limb stooped with the abundance of the fruit. jam heaven!
the parking lot was lined with sky-high sunflowers.
the coffee shop was a bit crowded, so we all decided to brave the outdoor seating area. we're talking 100+ degree heat out there, and against all sense and reason, i decided to order a latte. HOT, not iced--- and i somehow lived to tell. with renegade two weeks away, i also forced myself to work a bit on some embroidery.
i ate a lot of betty crocker, including this red velvet cake with dark chocolate frosting. april turned out some delicious chicken tikka masala and nan that i am still thinking about.
nathan's brother moved his little family out to phoenix from kansas recently, so we decided to pay them a visit this holiday weekend. you might remember shorty from here. i like the muppet baby feel of this photo. cogan is wearing the ferdinand onsie i bought him at last year's renegade craft fair.
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