Ah Utah!

July 27
So our night in an unsecured tent passed uneventfully and we got up early to see sunrise in Monument Valley – which was AWESOME! So beautiful – and as a fan of Western movies in my childhood I got a real kick from seeing where they were really staged – we even got to see John Wayne's cabin from the movie "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon". The real fun part came when trying to leave Mounment Valley J the road through the valley to see all the buttes & peaks is unpaved, and in areas, quite sandy. On the way out the last uphill section is quite steep and rutted, our little automatic ford focus had a hard time getting out of a couple of sand drifts – I would get stuck, have to reverse a bit, try to drive forward, then get stuck – the wheels would spin, sand would fly – and repeat. We got out after about 5/10 minutes – not too bad...but the other foreigners who were watching decided to go back to the visitors' center and take a guided tour than risk driving in the sand themselves.

After breakfast, we packed up our tent & belongings and headed further west to Moab , Utah. Moab seems like quite a cool little town, adventure capital of the area for sure. There are tons of places hawking jeep, biking, climbing, rafting tours and possibly anything else you want to do as well. We came here for the myriad of National Parks in the area. After finding a hostel (Lazy Lizard – the cheapest & best kept secret in Moab), we headed out to Canyonlands – which both Melissa & I preferred to the Grand Canyon. There were far less people around for one, and because the canyons are all together you see far more – its really really cool.

After Canyonlands we took off to Dead Horse Point State Park, where the final scenes from Thelma & Louise were filmed. Unfortunately we didn't see the ridge they drove off – but it was really beautiful, and in the distance we could see huge bolts of lightning flash in the sky.

July 28
This morning we went to Arches National Park to see the sandstone arches. Pretty impressive stuff up close when you realise how large they are. It was absolutely roasting & sunny there. So we didn't hang around too long after snapping some pics.

Then we hit the road for Bryce Canyon – took us most of the day to get there. It is really beautiful despite the fact that we were dodging rain showers to get photos - a total change from this morning's sun.

Tomorrow we are hitting Zion Canyon to attempt to hike the Narrows, but its not looking too good at the moment due to the torrential rain in the area – if that doesn't work then we're going to do some day hikes instead.

New Mexico to Utah

July 25
Spent all day driving to Flagstaff Arizona. The scenery was beautiful but everytime we tried to get good viewpoints for pictures it didn't work out. Eventually we decided to just gun through to Flagstaff and get there early so that we could have an evening off instead of spending every waking minute driving. We stayed at the International Hostel in Flagstaff where I had stayed 10 years ago – and I can report that the only thing that has changed about the place is the sofa in reception J. We went out for drinks last night with a Dutch guy from the hostel – nothing wild, Flagstaff is not a kicking Sunday night destination J.
July 26
After a leisurely breakfast in the hostel this morning, we started out for the Grand Canyon (after a small spot of shopping). Before we got there, we took a small detour on a scenic drive via Sunset Crater, Wupatki ruins and the Painted Desert, all stunningly beautiful in very different ways.

The Grand Canyon was the same mayhem that I remember from 10 years ago, with so many people around. There's also some construction going on now, so we went to not-the-usual-viewpoint and were able to climb down and out onto a rock promontory to get some pictures. We weren't there long before a park ranger arrived and ordered everyone off of the point and back up to safety – but we had managed to get our pics so we were happy enough.

Back on the road, we started heading northeast to get to the Four Corners of Arizona, New Mexico, Utah & Colorado – but when we stopped at a roadside motel to check for vacancies, the receptionist told us that it is closed atm for construction – so we decided to head straight for Monument Valley. Monument Valley is in all the Western movies – its gorgeous and I'm really excited about getting to see it tomorrow. The only downside is that there is not much accommodation available out here on the Navajo Nation Indian Reservation – so we are camping J. We got the tent up without any hassle, but the ground is too hard & rocky for us to peg the tent down. Here's hoping that we don't get blown away during the night with a sharp gust of wind J. Stay tuned!

Okmulgee, Oklahoma to Tucumcari, New Mexico

July 24
What a long day! From Oklahoma to New Mexico – 3 states! After buying breakfast this morning in Walmart we headed past Tulsa and onto Route 66 – yeay! Our first stop was Rock Creek Bridge, after which we drove to Bristow where we got take out ribs for lunch from Russ' Ribs – they were gorgeous.

Continuing on along Historic Route 66 we stopped in Arcadia to see a historic round barn.

Then we hit the I-40 to Clinton where we saw a Route 66 Museum.
Moving from Oklahoma to Texas, we got in touch with our inner delinquents J. Outside Amarillo we stopped at the VW Bug Ranch & the Cadillac Ranch to do some spray painting – good fun – even if it was incredibly muddy.

Then we hightailed it through the last 60 miles of Texas to cross into New Mexico, and our 2^nd time change in 3 days J.
Staying in Tucumcari, New Mexico tonight – tomorrow heading towards Santa Fe and who knows what else J.

Memphis, Tennessee to Okmulgee, Oklahoma

July 23

Arkansas is really, really flat, quite pretty but there's not a whole lot there J. We passed a few "Jesus Saves" and "God will shame you if you shame God" signs. Then we saw a sign for an Outlook – so we thought we should stop & take a look – see pic below – like I said, not a whole lot to see but sort of pretty.

We drove straight through Arkansas and into Oklahoma – our plan to get to Tulsa by night in order to start on Route 66 in the morning. We've stopped in the town of Okmulgee, which is about 30 miles south of Tulsa. According to the guide Okmulgee looks like a quaint town from the 50's. As it was dark when we arrived, it's kind of hard to tell but the motel we are staying in is definitely a throwback to the 50's. And there's even a railroad running close outside and we can hear the trains whistling as they roll by – very retro!

Atlanta, Georgia to Memphis, Tennessee

July 22

We started out this morning from Atlanta with a carload of our own stuff, drinks & snacks supplied by Melissa's parents and even guide books and road maps to direct a small army J. I got my first real glimpse of Americana when we passed a shiny red firetruck with lots gorgeous firefighters on board.

I really didn't expect to see so many American clichés on my first day but they/many were present as the day went by: porches with rockers, swing chairs and stars & stripes flags; bumper stickers proclaiming "Proud Parent of a Soldier", roadside churches with big billboards announcing "God loves you whether you like it or not"; deer running across the interstate highway, and it taking longer with each stop for the locals to drawl y'all at me.

It didn't take long for us to leave northern Georgia and cross into Tennessee. Tennessee is really beautiful – the farming land reminds me of Uruguay. Despite passing very close to the town of Lynchberg, we decided not to stop at the Jack Daniel's distillery – they don't give out samples during the tour of the distillery because it's located in a dry county! One of the other landmarks we passed was the David Crockett state park.

On the food front, today has been a chicken day. At lunch we went to Cracker Barrel and had chicken & dumplings. The chicken was good but the dumplings were tasteless, glutinous, gelatinous – yuck. Tonight we had Gus's famous fried chicken – I will never be able to eat fried chicken again, it was so good I have been ruined for life J.

July 23

This morning we couldn't find anywhere to eat except McDonalds – if we're not careful this roadtrip could turn into another version of "Supersize Me". Then we headed to Graceland! Graceland is AWESOME. Totally worth USD34 for the platinum tour. Ok, there's a lot of merchandising but you see the mansion, the cars, the airplanes and a couple of other random exhibits on Elvis' clothes, his comeback tour & his movies.

After 3 hours in Graceland, we headed to Interstate BBQ for a taste of Tennessee BBQ – really really good, mildly (& surprisingly) spicy. After BBQ we hit the I-40 west towards Arkansas.

I had a dream last night

If you believe that people dream every night and just don't remember their dreams then you would say that isn't that unusual. What was unusual about this dream is that I dreamt about work! I haven't dreamt about work since I don't know when J. I usually dream about work when I'm finishing a vacation. If I have a 2 week vacation I'll totally switch off and not think about work for 10 days or so...but then towards the end of the fortnight I'll start dreaming about work again. I suppose it's my brain's way of gearing back up for the onslaught when I get back to the office.

The dream was so vivid too. I was working in the last company and exchanging emails with a colleague who works somewhere else now – it was a normal transaction that I dealt with on a semi-regular basis – and it felt really good to be doing something familiar & that I was good at. So...I guess it's time to start thinking about looking for a new job! It's been 9 months since I left work and it would appear my brain wants back in J. If anybody out there reading this has a job for me J well...my email address is on this website.

Mexico

2 weeks in Mexico and I barely hit the backpackers trail at all. I stayed in Mexico city for 3 nights and I have to say I felt really safe there despite expecting to feel exactly the opposite. I would even go so far as to say it was the safest I felt in all the big cities of Latin America.

I hung out in Mexico with an English guy Tim & a Korean guy Xian. We visited the Centro Historico one day and the next we went to Teotihuacan – the Mayan city 50km north of Mexico city. It has the 3^rd biggest pyramid in the world, after one other in Mexico and Cheops' pyramid in Egypt. The hostel in Mexico City (Versalles 104) was not great – it's a beautiful building but not outfitted properly to be a hostel. The toilets and showers were basically in the same room as the common room with just a sarong hung up to give some "privacy". There was no kitchen and the dining room was the patio on the roof of the building – and as it rained every morning in the city – breakfast was served in an upstairs corridor with nowhere to eat and almost no cutlery or crockery. I don't recommend Versalles 104.

After the 3^rd night in Mexico, Tim & I took a 24hr bus to Cancun. He was getting a flight home to England & I was going to hang out on the beach and catch up with Urvi & Anand on their way back from Cuba and before they caught their next flight to the US. The bus to Cancun was pretty comfortable and only half full so we each got our own 2 seats. In Cancun I found a nice, quiet HI Hostel – Moloch. I imagine it gets a bit crazy there in high season but it was almost completely deserted while I was there. I stayed there 3 nights and then found a deal on Expedia for The Westin Resort & Spa by the beach. The hostel was great, but it was a half hour on the bus to get to the beach and I didn't want to spend an hour commuting every day J.

The Westin has been great. When I arrived I was upgraded to an ocean view room free of charge. I haven't done anything except to have breakfast, lie by the pool and order room service for 6 days. I was invited to go to a time-sharing presentation of the Westin's sister resort Lagunamar in Cancun, for which I would receive a $100 voucher to offset against the cost of my stay – cha-ching! I really didn't know what timesharing was – its an interesting concept – especially if you like your expensive resort holidays and take them every year – then maybe it would feel like its worth it. Actually the prices weren't bad – at least they seemed reasonable, and if you don't want to use your "time" in a resort you can convert it to points to use in any of the hotels in the scheme – which sounded good to me. If I was working I would have to seriously consider it! I went to the spa one day for a massage – it was divine.

One night I decided to go to one of the hotel restaurants instead of ordering room service. I was so disappointed with it. The concierge had really sold it to me but it was such a let down. My strawberry margarita came from a bottle – no fresh fruit. The chimichurri sauce that the meat was marinated in was not chimichurri and the vegetables were cold & overcooked. I sent the food back and went to concierge to give feedback. I wasn't cross about it – I just wanted to give my opinion and suggestions for improvement. The next morning when I went for breakfast, I was met by a manager who asked me again to talk them through the issues with the food. I did, and she apologised & ordered me a free meal with a bottle of wine for that night. Also when I went to sign for the breakfast, she told me that would be on the house as well that day. I was very impressed by their handling of my complaint and their wanting to put it right. I would definitely recommend the Westin to people in the future.

My next destination is the USA for one month. Melissa & I are going to roadtrip around the country! We have a vague notion of where we want to go – we're not sure how much of it is feasible but we're gonna try! We both have friends in lots of different states and we're gonna try to catch up with most of them J. Stay tuned!

Oscar Wilde

While I was in Ireland, my jungle buddy Michael came to visit me & we spent a day going to the touristy sights in Dublin. The Oscar Wilde monument in Merrion Square was 3^rd or 4^th stop on the Dublin Bus sightseeing tour and we duly took a stroll into the park to have a look at Oscar. There is a statue of the great man reclining on a rock facing what used to be his old home on the corner of the square and 2 pillars opposite him have some of his most famous quotes. As I read them I realised I recognised some, most made me laugh and other give a pause for thought. Here they are below & in photo. Enjoy J.

• "A cynic is a man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing."
  
• "Life is not complex. We are complex. Life is simple and the simple thing is the right thing."
  
• "Those whom the Gods love grow young."
  
• "No gentleman looks out of the windows."
  
• "...that little tent of blue that prisoners call the sky."
  
• "Punctuality is the thief of time." – I especially like this one J
  
• "Only dull people are brilliant at breakfast."
  
• "Most people are other people."
  
• "Whenever people agree with me I always feel I must be wrong."
  
• "The well-bred contradict other people. The wise contradict themselves."
  
• "Nothing looks so like innocence as an indiscretion."
  
• "Who, being loved, is poor?"
  
• "We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars."
  
• "Wickedness is a myth invented by good people to account for the curious attractiveness of others."
  
• "Experience is the name everyone gives to his mistakes."
  
• "I can resist everything except temptation."
  
• "This suspense is terrible. I hope it will last."
  
• "Pathos leaves the artist unmoved. But beauty, real beauty can fill his eyes with tears."
  
• "You have set yourself to music."
  
• "To reveal art and conceal the artist is art's aim."
  
• "the true tragedy that dogs most artists is that they realise their ideal too absolutely"
  
• "I find it harder and harder every day to live up to my blue china."
  
• "I have nothing to declare, except my genius."
  
• "I drink to keep body and soul apart."
  
• "I always pass on good advice. It is the only thing to do with it. It is never any use to oneself."
  
• "For he who lives more lives than one more deaths than one must die."
  
• "A thing is not necessarily true because a man dies for it."
  
• "...my duty is a thing I never do, on principle."
  
• "There is no sin except stupidity."
  
• "Being natural is simply a pose."
  
• "It seems to me we all look at Nature too much and live with her too little."
  
• "They are the elect to whom beautiful things mean only beauty."
  
• "Beauty has as many meanings as man has moods."
  
• "All art is at once surface & symbol."
  
• "All art is quite useless"
  
• "There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about."
  
• "Literature always anticipates life. It does not copy it but moulds it to its purpose."
  
• "Conscience must be merged in instinct before we become fine."
  
• "Thought is not catching"
  
• "Nothing that is worth knowing can be taught."
  
• "Poets you know are always ahead of science."
  
• "Lying, the telling of beautiful untrue things, is the proper aim of art."
  
• "the truth is rarely pure and never simple"
  
• "Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask and he will tell you the truth."
  
• "A man who allows himself to be convinced by an argument is a thoroughly unreasonable person."
  
• "No work of art ever puts forward views"