Tag: tourism

Meteor Crater – Arizona

Alright, this time I was guilty of seeing a sign and going, “let’s go!” It’s not my fault though, as it was something I wanted to see, just something I had completely forgotten about. Apparently Arizona is the home to one of the most well preserved meteor craters on the globe. It’s 50,000 years old and absolutely huge. I paid $15 to see it and peruse their little museum. That was a bit pricey but whatever. Might as well see it now I’m here.

The place was huge, I walked around it on the little concrete steps and tried to grasp the enormity of it all. It was so wide I had to take two photos, one of each side, in order to get the whole thing. There were little periscopes labeled with different things. I looked through the one that said “house sized rock” and indeed, on the other side there was a house sized rock. They claimed the meteor that hit was 140 feet in width when it struck.

As with any of these attractions it was full of children. I didn’t stay long but it was very neat.

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Grand Canyon North – Arizona

So the Four Corners guy also told me the grand canyon has a North and South side.. something I probably should have known but I am finding the research t hat went before this trip to be… lacking. that wasn’t my department. That’s fine, though I did almost miss Valley of the Gods due to it and did miss the dinosaur footprints. SIGH. In any event, I decided to see the North side today. I drove only two and half hours and suddenly there’s trees, tall ones. With no warning whatsoever. They’re everywhere, pine, and they smell like home. I am suddenly hit with a pang of homesickness but its quickly disturbed by the sighting of an elk, real close. I took photos.

I walked the path to Bright Angel Point. Maybe I were just tired but none of it was that impressive. The trees were so much like home and the canyon? Yeah it was huge and all sorts of pretty colors but I’d been driving through much prettier all day. I’m going to the South canyon in the morning. It’s the more touristy side and I’ll see if I’m more impressed with it.

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Grand Canyon South & Little Colorado River – Arizona

I already had a pass to get into the Grand Canyon so I decided to check out the other side. For once I was I well slept and probably in a more open mood when I arrived. I drove into the visitor center which was overflowing with people. I loitered around looking at a stuffed raven and a stuffed cougar cub which had apparently been hit by a car. There were also displays of Indian ruins and pottery and geological information. I stopped at their bathroom, chuck full, didn’t feel like waiting so I drove off to see some of the views we could find.

I drove down the road a little ways and then pulled off at the first little parking area I found where people were gathering. It wasn’t as busy as the last place I’d been and best yet there was a raven sitting there begging for food. It made off with a cracker, flying into the canyon where it appeared to have a nest. I resumed looking around. The south side of the grand canyon is not obstructed by too many trees like the north is. You can see a lot and today I was impressed. Apparently my visibility was over 74 miles as I could easily recognize a mountain range that far away. I snapped some photos and then realized the raven was back, cocking its head and trying to figure out if there was more food. An entire rye biscuit was thrown at it. The bird looked at it, hopped around, gave a quizzical look, and decided against picking it up. However a minute later the raven decided the food was abandoned and picked up the whole cracker, flying away with his new treasure and landing somewhere on the rim of the canyon, probably trying to break it up.

The views of the canyon got more and more majestic the more I traveled down the road. I saw the canyon, the surrounding mountain ranges, peaks and eventually the river that winds down it. This wasn’t until the very last stop though. Here was a little pueblo, three stories high, you could walk up to get a better view. It was decorated with traditional Navajo paintings and there was a gift shop inside that had a lot of beautiful Navajo pottery as well as many other things. I climbed up as far as I could go and found a spectacular view, far too enormous and wild for any photo to ever do it justice but there it was stretched before me for miles and miles.

I had some tourists take photos and saw a strange little blue bird with a crazy head crest. later in my travels I would come to figure out it was a Steller’s Jay, something obscenely common yet so strange to me!  It was so windy that day that even the ravens were being blown around and my hair stood straight up like a troll for the photograph. These were some heavy gusts! It was still worth it.

Now as to which side is better… the South side definitely has more people, but it also has numerous views and far more options on activities than the north side. The north side is great if you want to walk in the trees, see some elk, and get some nice glimpses of the canyon.

After the canyon visit I went up the road and stopped at the Little Colorado River Canyon. It was $2 a person and there was a nice Navajo market set up at the side. I went through it and took one last chance to marvel at their creativity and art. After this I saw the canyon itself, over the guard rails. It was alright, the market was more interesting…

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Horseshoe Bend, Vermillion Cliffs – Arizona

I was instructed to go to Horseshoe Bend by a friendly local Navajo man. It’s free and if you happen to be in the area you must go see it! Of course the heat was simply scorching and the hike was up a number of steep sand covered hills which I’ll admit were a huge challenge to someone as unfit as myself. Weeks driving a Jeep and eating nothing but PB&J’s had taken it’s toll. I felt like a smoker wheezing and gasping for air, clawing my way upwards like I was escaping Hell! Still once I got to the peak the view was staggeringly beautiful, a circular body of water with another piece of mountain jutting up from its center, so massive I couldn’t take a full photo of it. I walked around taking photos. I had a photo taken by a couple from Chicago and paid back the favor. Then I noticed a couple speaking Dutch which was a delightful change of pace from the Germans I saw everywhere else. Greetings were exchanged and photos were taken. I was just impressed by their intense baby buggy which looked like it might have four wheel drive. That thing was hardcore. And the baby? Most quiet and content new human I have ever seen. Apparently they were travelling from here to the grand canyon as a vacation, bringing their little bundle of joy along. I sort of wish I knew a language other than English. Perhaps someday.

When I walked back I saw some tracks in the sand. I identified them as those of a lizard and I were able to trace them to a rock where two adorable lizards were skittering about. On this little off-path detour I also found a weird bug and more brightly colored lizards. One of the strangest realizations I have had since coming out traveling is the fact lizards are everywhere. Hundred s of varieties, all different sizes, clinging to rocks, ground, and trees. I grew up and lived in New England where if you want to see a lizard you have to go to a pet store or zoo. I don’t think these free range reptiles will ever loose their charm in my eyes.

Let me tell you the hike back was brutal. Being the little wuss I am I took two long breaks and then thanked God when I could finally see the Jeep again. It was hot, I hadn’t eaten lunch, and I was both absolutely famished and thirstier than I’d ever been before.

Driving away from the area I passed and photographed the Vermillian Cliffs and a few other things. Everything was just so surreal. I am not sure I will ever believe I was once in a place so beautiful.

If you are enjoying Catching Marbles please consider adding a dollar or two to my limited gas money fund so I can continue going on adventures and sharing them with you! Thank you!


 

 

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Antelope Canyon – Arizona

Antelope Canyon is a guided tour done by the local Navajo. It’s a VERY bumpy ride getting there and a bit pricey at thirty something dollars a head but let me tell you… it was worth all this and more. This time I got to actually walk into the belly of the scenery I was admiring. Here was a brilliant red crevice in the rock, worn away in fantastic swooshes by sand, wind, and flood water. With every swirl you could see something even more profound.

It was a very short tour, if one were to just walk through it paying no attention it’d take maybe five minutes, but this would be a waste. I’ve never heard of Antelope Canyon but apparently others had. I shared my tour with a couple Australians and a number of French. One of the little French women attempted asking if I could take her and her boyfriend’s photo. This was done mostly through sign language since my French is pretty much gone (one of my few educational regrets…) I love the French. I love their stubborn insistence not to learn anything other than French. I have long since theorized the reasons French and Americans have such a hostile frenemy relationship is because we’re too alike. Go back to where you came from! BWAHAHAHA. Seriously though – French is such a beautiful language. I smile every time I hear it and am more than happy to snap a few tourist photos to have the privilege.

If you are enjoying Catching Marbles please consider adding a dollar or two to my limited gas money fund so I can continue going on adventures and sharing them with you! Thank you!


 

 

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Four Corners Monument (Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah)

I decided to go to the four corners because who wouldn’t at this point? I mean really, its there, might as well go. I sort of figured it’d be this lame monument in the middle of nowhere with nothing much going on around it. I also figured it’d be free. No, you do have to pay a few bucks to see it, nothing too extravagant though. I drove in and found it quite busy. People filed in and out, the vast majority were Americans this time. People came in and took photos of each other touching all four states at once. The usual staged touristy photos were taken.

Around the monument itself there were a few dozen little stands, all with Navajo craftsmen and women. They were selling everything from tacky little four corners memorabilia to hand crafted sand paintings, gorgeous pottery, and lots and lots and lots of jewelry and beadwork. The people selling the stuff all said hi and were very friendly. I talked to a few and one woman told me that the sand paintings were all made of locally collected pigments, taken from various rocks. This was amazing as they were so colorful. I ended up buying one (a depiction of a pot – unique from the other more traditional designs) for $15 as well as a magnet. I have a magnet for a number of my destinations now. It would forever remind me of the irony of the situation – a meaningless monument set up and run by Native Americans for white people to show them the lines they drew in the dirt for their states. I mean whoever thought of that was genius. Props to them!

It was sweltering and hot and I was hungry so I tried some “fried bread.” Turns out that this was just the local way of saying fried dough, which is fine. It marked the end of my fried food tour. I was eating it with cinnamon and sugar in the car when I heard a knock on the window. I looked up and there was a guy that I swear to God looked like the father on one of those crappy 80’s sitcoms, Family Ties, I think. Anyway, that’s aside the point..

“What town?” He said without even coming up with a proper greeting. I recognized his Yankee accent. He was either from New Hampshire or Vermont. Since there was a moment of confused silence the man repeated his question and I answered.. Turns out he was from Bennington Vermont and had been traveling for 16 years. He told me about the book Travelling on a Shoestring and a number of locations I could check out including Monument Valley, just an hour down that road there.

I ended up taking his advice and good thing or else I would have missed Valley of the Gods which would become one of my favorite destinations.

If you are enjoying Catching Marbles please consider adding a dollar or two to my limited gas money fund so I can continue going on adventures and sharing them with you! Thank you!


 

 

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Roswell New Mexico

I ended up in Roswell New Mexico because I’m just that fucking adorkable. I didn’t expect to see much but apparently main street has turned into an adorable alien mecca. There are clothes stores there who have alien masks fixed on their dummies and doleful looking wooden alien statues sitting out on the side walk. There was even one place who had little green alien footsteps running up the sidewalk. People had constructed their own little crashed UFOs and gift stores abounded. There was also a museum, however like most small towns everything closed at 6 and I drove in at 7. Only one gift store was open so I checked it out and awed at all the cuteness and fluff and geekery. It was too much – I had to come home with something. I ended up with a T-shirt reading, “fly it like you stole it.” That amused me way too much. I also ended up with a bumper sticker reading, “Buckle up, it makes it harder for them to suck you out of the car.” I mean… how cute is that?

I left laughing. It was such a dorky place to stop but so amusing. Even the local McDonalds was sporting aliens on their advertising and their parking lot and the bank as well! I like to see a town with a sense of humor.

If you are enjoying Catching Marbles please consider adding a dollar or two to my limited gas money fund so I can continue going on adventures and sharing them with you! Thank you!


 

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Branson Missouri

You know how much of a sucker I am for “World’s Largest Whatevers.” Today it was World’s Largest Banjo because why not? When in Rome (or Missouri…)

So I ended up, for some odd reason, driving through Branson Missouri. It was such a weird thing, like driving through the Twilight Zone. I couldn’t tell what was reality anymore. On every nook and cranny of the city there was some sort of fantasy tourist trap… Go golfing with pirates! Go to an indoor water park! Elvis, Elvis, Elvis, oh my god, look! More Elvis! What was up with all the Elvis stuff? And the Old West mock-ups? And the Indiana Jones stuff? And the themed restaurants? This place was creepy, and didn’t have that many people in it. It was strange. The amusement park stood still, the two outdoor water parks stood dry. It was just creepy. “Where am I? Did I just re-enter the 80’s?” I never did find that damn Banjo…

If you are enjoying Catching Marbles please consider adding a dollar or two to my limited gas money fund so I can continue going on adventures and sharing them with you! Thank you!


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Mystic Caves – Arkansas

I am not sure why I went to the Mystic Caves… it’s not as if they were world famous or anything. I mean as far as caves go this one was taking a bit of a piss but in the spirit of writing down every adventure here I go…

I was guided through both Mystic Caves. During the first tour I was with a small group of quiet adults and I took time to listen to the guide and take photos. Apparently the cave was used by local Indians who found one of the chambers sacred and used some slime growing on the wall for medicinal reasons.. Then the white man came along and used it as a moonshine distillery during prohibition… at which time they sooted up the ceilings, broke off a lot of the stalactites to sell during the depression, annnd caused damage when their distillery just up and exploded one day. The place was a mess, a great illustration of how destructive man is, but little else. It was also tiny.. and the staff kept naming the formations after food. “This is our wedding cake, over there is our carrot patch and don’t miss the curly fries!” There was however a number of fossils embedded in the ceiling so go fossils! Woo! I’m sure they were edible once…

Our guide ended the tour by telling us some hogwash story about a monkey being brought down in the cave and then getting stuck to the ceiling somehow. There was indeed something gnarly-looking dangling from the ceiling but a monkey it was not. Everyone listened like, “yeah whatever.” Our guide kept pausing midsentence, as if he were expecting us to say something or laugh. We were a boring bunch and didn’t.

The Chrystal Dome was a little better. It was only recently discovered, in the late 1960’s, and only on active tours since the 1980’s. It was only one set of stairs to the bottom of the dome where you could look up and see intact stalactites and stalagmites starting to form on the floor. This time we were accompanied by a Biblical swarm of 13-14 year old Christian boys, either boy scouts or from some boys only Christian school, who the hell knows. They all had flashlights and were fairly loud and obnoxious. Our tour guide said very little about what was actually known about the cave, instead he started telling stories about a guard Yorkie who got stuck in the rocks, and then a guard turkey, and then a guard alligator, and then a fucking octopus. I wandered off and took photos on my own of this weird slimy orange thing I found, too old to be amused by this, though on the way out I did see the Virgin Mary but I guess that’s to be expected. She’s everywhere.  Our tour guide merely called her an angry wife, pointing to another formation that looked like a guy and two critters, dogs or fish depending on which story you could visualize. Coolest thing here was a little salamander in the rocks and a wolf spider nearly as big, both of which were actually real…

Though it was amusing I doubt I would suggest this cave to anyone outside the local area. There are just a lot of better caves to go to and $14.50 a person seems a bit steep for such a little place. In any event the gift shop was beautiful, had amazing minerals, rocks, and fossils.

If you are enjoying Catching Marbles please consider adding a dollar or two to my limited gas money fund so I can continue going on adventures and sharing them with you! Thank you!


 

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New Orleans

Good old New Orleans, how could I forget America’s home to Voodoo, ghost tours, beloved vampire writers, and Mardi Gras? I decided to start my little journey by heading towards the famous French Quarters, a magical place where diaper-wearing horses pull carts around the streets. No no, I ended up parking comfortably near the French Quarter for $14 and I walked around. I was in search of a skirt… you know one of those airy ankle-length ones that they apparently don’t sell in the South… and to be quite frank they don’t sell skirts period down here. Whhhy?! It’s so frickin’ hot you’d think everyone would be wearing them! I would settle for an ankle length sundress of course but all the ones here went to your knees and were made of hot materials. It made no sense. I weaved in out of Voodoo shops as a reward for sticking it out and trying to find a skirt, a abysmal activity if there ever were one. Skulls abounded.

I stopped wherever it looked interesting, or just air conditioned in the case of the Magaritaville, apparently a whole parrothead-inspired margarita-flinging bar. I only stayed in its stoop for a few minutes so I could go on. In the meantime mules and horses clacked by with their tourist carriages telling of pirates and voodoo priestesses. I passed by the Voodoo priestesses’ bar and her little voodoo shop. I may have gone in there if a bunch of locals weren’t in the stoop debating something.

After I walked around the main part of the French Quarters I meandered up to Bourbon Street for shits and giggles, figured it’d be interesting people watching if nothing else. That was interesting to say the least! The first thing I stumbled upon was a seedy cabaret with a barker out front. I looked him dead in the eye to see if he’d still make his pitch and laughed when at first hesitated but then actually did! I walked by, obviously. I had no idea the States even had cabarets. Seems such an odd thing to me, bet you they probably named it such to make it sound more interesting than it actually was. In any event I walked past a lot of little strip joints and whatnot, a great deal of them with cutesy little names like The Cat’s Meow. I passed by pubs, bars, and other liquor friendly little nooks, some reading, “two drink minimum,” which seemed more than a tad bit odd. Apparently there was no room for responsible drivers here.

It was a scalding hot day and I had to take time out to lather myself up with sun screen in a public courtyard. I was melting. I ended up back in the French Market scouring the area for a cold non-alcoholic drink when in the spirit of trying new things I also bought a praline. Good thing I only bought one… it was really rather sweet, to a fault. Will not be trying that again.

I had a lot of fun just wandering around. The streets weren’t that busy, the people were friendly, and there was a lemon piper playing classic jazz on sax down at the piers. Every time a dollar was donated this hilarious musician would holler, “Thanks big guy! Have a great day!” before going right back to the same note he left off on. I didn’t come by anyone with a thick New Orleans accent either, which was fortunate as that’s probably the only US accent even I can’t translate.

If you are enjoying Catching Marbles please consider adding a dollar or two to my limited gas money fund so I can continue going on adventures and sharing them with you! Thank you!


 

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