Phase 2: Phish @ The Gorge (July 14-17)

Here are a few shots from the venue to give folks a feel for what it's like.

First, a good shot of Marc, Kevin, and me down near the stage.



This shot from before showtime gives you a good sense of how the stage is nestled into the Columbia River Gorge.

 

Marc's super power is that he can nap at any point.  This is especially valuable during festivals when sleep can be scarce and yet it's critical to keep one's energy up for dancing.



Here's an impromptu jam session on "Shakedown Street," which is the main area for non-official vending (named after the Grateful Dead song).

Phase 2: The Road to Phish @ The Gorge

After dropping my stuff off in Berkeley, parting ways with Missy, and getting to spend just one night with Mei-Wah, I headed to my friend Marc's place Wednesday to begin our 14.5 hour journey to the Gorge Amphitheater to see Phish.

For those who haven't been to the Gorge I can't recommend it highly enough.  This was my third time back to see Phish, and it rivals Red Rocks as one of the greatest venues in the country.  While Red Rocks may have a slight edge in natural beauty I love the Gorge because it is a world apart a couple of hours east of Seattle; and critically you can camp right at the venue so you park your car, set up your tent, meet the neighbors, stash your cell phone, and have not a care in the world for a few days.

First we needed to head to the airport in Seattle to pick up our friend Kevin who was flying in from DC.

But, first, we needed to stop at Chick-Fil-A, where Marc had never been.



Now, I know what you're thinking; but never fear.  Chick-Fil-A, in my opinion, makes hands down the best fast food in the U.S.  That chicken is flat out delicious.  And, yet, the folks that own the company are not so down with the gays.  And, in the past they've used the profits from their delicious chicken to contribute to anti-gay causes--such that some call it "hate chicken."  That's not cool.

But, I discovered a few years ago that some geniuses started a great website called ChickenOffsets.com where you can make a contribution to gay rights organizations to "offset" your enjoyment of a Chick-Fil-A sandwich.  So, rest assured that I've visited that site often to atone for my addiction to the perfect Southern fried chicken breast on a hot buttered bun with a pickle and a bit of added mayo.  [Marc insisted it was nothing special at the time but later admitted to me that he's been thinking about it ever since.]

A few Phish-related street signs witnessed on the way up north.

Then, dinner at a local landmark called Omars.





Marc and I crashed for the night a few hours after dinner, and then headed to pick up Kevin the next morning.

On the way from Seattle to the venue we made a stop at the Red Horse Diner, which I thought my Uncle Mark (who gave me the ExxonMobil gas card) would appreciate.

Day 12: Wrapping Up Phase 1 in Berkeley (Tues, 7/12/16)

We drove as far as we could on Monday before stopping over for the night and putting ourselves just 4-5 hours out of Berkeley.  As I mentioned, we had decided to cut Yosemite so we were now just heading into the Bay Area so I could spend one night with Mei-Wah before heading out on Phase 2 of my adventure: Phish at the Gorge.

We hit Murray Family Farms in Arvin, CA on the way.



And, here we are at my new front door--Mei-Wah and my apartment building lobby in Berkeley.



A few reflections to close out this phase of the trip (although you'll see from the post-date that I'm actually writing this several months later).

First, Missy and I are not just forced family--we really like each other.  We are quite different people in a lot of ways (not the least of which: musical taste); but in spite (or because) of that we had a great time bonding over many hours on the road.  We are the same age, but grew up in different cities and so only saw each other a few times a year.  This was definitely our most concentrated time together and it was truly fun.  I really appreciated the company, as this was a trip I had to make anyway--it wouldn't have been nearly as entertaining on my own.

Next, I want to give big thanks to Ryan and Christina, friends who travelled the world for a year on their honeymoon--including hitting 35 national parks here in the U.S.  They kept a great blog of their adventures, and to plan this trip I basically pulled up their blog, checked out their recs for national parks, and planned our route accordingly.

Finally, this trip reminded me of two important things.  First is the importance of true relaxation when one can fully unplug from work and other life stresses.  This trip was scheduled for a perfect time--I had wrapped up a large work project at the end of May and after winding down my life in DC for a month I was scheduled to take three full weeks off for this adventure (including the Phase 2 Phish shows).  Alas, the vagaries of the federal court system conspired against this well-laid plan, and I ended up with a brief due the day after I was supposed to return to the office.  This meant I had to stop over and work on my brief from time to time while on the road--but the biggest impact was mental.  Rather than being care free and truly unplugged as planned, I had this important item hanging over my head the whole time.  So, when I arrived in CA instead of feeling refreshed I was feeling drained.

Next, traveling is very fun, and I look forward to being able to schedule a longer adventure at some point.  The first part of this blog covers my 6.5 month solo adventure in Latin America which was an amazing experience.  That trip was originally supposed to be 3.5 months, which sounded like a lot from my living room in New Haven.  But, it wasn't too long before I realized that traveling in a way that allows one to be open-minded about new experiences and really explore one's surroundings requires time.  So, sitting in Buenos Aires about a month in I made one of the best decisions of my life--to forget about taking the bar exam for the time being and extend my trip.  This new 6 month plus adventure sounded quite long to my friends and family in the U.S.; but it was still on the shorter side for many of the new friends I met at hostels, who were often traveling for a year or more.

Now I have a partner and I look forward to being able to get some time of to explore the world together.

Day 11: Zion National Park (Mon, 7/11/16)

On Day 11 we were finally at Zion, considered by some to be the jewel of the national park system.  After sleeping mostly comfortably at the RV park, we were ready to explore.

Zion has buses that take you from parking facilities to several stops with different hikes and attractions.





Here's a closer look at the rock surface.

Here's a view from inside one of the buses, which had nice skylights.

We decided on a hike that would take us to the famous Angel's Landing, a pretty difficult hike that includes some genuinely dangerous parts--narrow ridges where one is clinging to metal chains to help pull you up and stay attached to the mountain (often while someone is coming down the other way).

Here's a "starting out" selfie.



Here's the switchback trail that began our journey in earnest.



And here's what that same trail looked like on the way down.



Then up some carved out switchbacks mercifully in the shade.



And to the Angel's Landing part.



There are some shots of those metal chains I mentioned.





We decided to hike up to the mid-point ridge and not to ascend to the top.  This was in part because of the advice we read on Ryan and Christina's blog (that the view from the very top actually wasn't worth the effort), and in greater part because it looked pretty freaking scary:



The views from the mid-point were plenty amazing for us.

Apparently this part of the trail ends here:





Here are shots of Missy and me at the mid-point.  If you look closely over our right shoulders you can actually see the chains that lead up to the top a bit more clearly than in the shots above.





We stopped for a break on the way down and I had some competition for use of my backpack.

On the switchback on the way down.







After our main hike and a break for lunch we took a short hike to a "weeping rock."

Here's the view from behind some of the dripping water.



Well-deserved beer selfie after a great day of hiking and exploring.  We put the beers in a cooler underneath the car and miraculously they were still cold at 3:19 pm when this photo was taken.  We tried to give some out to fellow hike-finishers, but had few takers.



Two tired and happy cousins.



In order to get from Zion to Berkeley, one must first drive south through Vegas.  Missy had never been to Vegas, so we drove the strip.  Here's the only pic I have from that little detour.

Day 10, Part 2: On to Zion (or its environs)

After heading out of Arches, we drove across Utah towards Zion National Park.  Campsites here are very hard to come by, so we arranged to camp outside of the park at "Zion West RV Park."  As the name implies this was actually mostly an RV park but there was a small grassy area where one can camp...so we pulled up the chariot and did some low level car camping.

While there, we made some friends.  Here's Missy pictured with Guy (on the left, Missy's right)  and Justin.  Guy is living in one of the RVs (behind him, out of view), and Justin is living in the tent behind Missy to save money for college.  We ended up hanging out with these guys all evening.  Justin was even going to come into the park with us the next day to show us around but after doing the night shift at the school for kids recovering from trauma or substance abuse he was a bit too tired in the am.



Perhaps most important, it is here that our traveling toaster finally found its rightful home.  As avid readers (I know you're out there) may recall, we were lugging a $20 toaster across the country because my brother Randy (who lives in Irvine, not the Bay Area where we were headed) mentioned offhand to my mother that he could use said toaster.  Missy and I found that somewhat ridiculous in a loving "Jewish mothers do the darndest things" kind of way, so we decided to treat the toaster like a travel companion, taking photos of it in various places throughout.  Well, our new friend Justin has a pretty sweet setup in his tent including a microwave, speakers, etc.--but no toaster.



In a flash of clarity we knew that we were actually carrying the toaster this whole time not to then lug it down to LA/Irvine for my brother but rather to satisfy all of Justin's outstanding cooking needs.  The toaster had found it's highest purpose in Zion West RV Park.

Here I am with Justin and his newest cooking implement.  See the joy that you enabled, mom?



And, our beloved toaster already comfortably nestled into its new home.



To her credit (and not at all to my surprise) my mother was both amused and happy when she learned the toaster wouldn't be making it to Randy's doorstep after all.

The next morning, we woke up and headed into Zion.  First, though, we stopped for breakfast.  Anyone remember when, way back in Denver, I argued that maroon was an especially popular color for SUVs?  Behold the parking lot at our breakfast joint.  Q.E.D.

Day 10 Part 1: Arches National Park (Sun, 7/11/16)

We woke early and headed into the park.  Here was our morning view from the motel.



When we arrived inside the park we discovered there was a flaw in our plan: there are no first-come-first-served campsites in Arches during the summer.  The website was not exactly crystal clear on that.

Oh, well.  We didn't have any shade structure and so were a bit concerned about hanging out in the 100 degree heat all day after our morning hike anyway, so we adjusted our plan: now we would hike in the am and then get on the road to Zion in the afternoon.

So, on to our morning hike in Arches.  We drove 18 miles into the park to the Devil's Garden trailhead.  Here are our "before" photo and video.

The entrance to the hike.



More images from our hike below.  We were going to do a shorter 4 mile round trip hike, but when we finished the first leg we felt good and it wasn’t too hot (we had a nice breeze) so we did the longer loop around Primitive Trail, which is listed as "most difficult."  The hike was actually just moderately hard (although that may have been due to the nice breeze); the part we found most difficult was spotting the smallish stones that mark the trail on some of the big expanses of red rock.

And here's Landscape Arch.































Here is our "after" video.

Here are some pics from the way out of Arches after our hike.







Here are a couple of shots of "Balanced Rock."