I spent a lot of my time in San Francisco doing a freelance project to make some money so I could pay off some of my car trouble debt. I was still able to see a lot of the city and enjoyed my time there. San Francisco is still one of my favorite cities.
Thank you to those of you who let me sleep on your couches! After San Fran I went out to Yosemite for some camping!
My drive from Santa Monica to San Francisco was pretty amazing. Driving up the Pacific Coastal Highway was something I had been wanting to do since the idea of my trip started in my brain many months ago. Driving up the PCH through Big Sur was like driving through the clouds. Clouds and Fog rolled over the road and up the mountains as I drove up the windy road to San Francisco. It was a beautiful drive on a beautiful day.
I apologize for the lack of updates. I have been quite busy traveling around. Here are some photos of my time in Southern California. This included the drive in through Indio and Palm Springs, Santa Monica, LA in general, and San Diego. Much more to come as soon as I get some more internet connectivity.
Things to come:
Photos of my drive up California…
San Francisco
Yosemite
Driving to Northern Cali
Enjoy!
I have to say, firstly, that most of these photos were taken my Greg Mitchell. He has an underwater camera and we brought it along with us for the trip. We drove down to La Jolla Cove, which is just north of San Diego, and spent the day looking at fish, and sea lions, and exploring a cave on the other side of the cove. I have to admit, I never expected to go snorkeling in October. Ever.
One of the few necessary stops along my way was Tucson, AZ for my friends wedding. I had planned on stopping here since the beginning of my trip and was happy to arrive in the desert once again. My time in Arizona involved a lot of drinking, seeing old friends, and a really nice wedding.
One of the best parts of my time in Tucson was the sunset that (UPDATE:) my friends and I saw from atop ‘A Mountain.’ It was the best sunset I have ever seen. Just as I thought it wouldn’t get any better, it just got more and more beautiful until the sun was finally gone behind the mountains.
After all the excitement of the wedding, I dropped everyone off at the airport I headed towards San Diego…but was twarted by another car problem. I slowly made my way up highway 85 towards Phoenix where I was eventually towed into Avondale (just outside of Phoenix) to a Subaru dealership. Turns out I needed a new LEFT front axle (after already replacing the RIGHT front axle in PA). Luckily, they had the part and I was out of Arizona after only one night in the unbelievably depressing QUALITY INN. Anthony Bordaine kept me company all night as I learned much about Russia and South American culture & cuisine. Thank you Anthony…where ever you are.
In the morning, I cut across the lonesome desert of western Arizona and made it into California just as the sun was setting over Indio & Palm Springs. I got into Santa Monica as it got dark and met up with my friend Greg, whom has been nice enough to let me stay at his place. So far so good…if nothing else, I made it all the way to California.
I met my good friend Adam Yeager in Austin, TX (as I mentioned before) and headed westward across the great and immense state of Texas towards Tucson for our friend Brian’s wedding. We hiked through Guadalupe Mountains National Park, explored Carlsbad Caverns, and saw Roswell, New Mexico. Roswell was one of the most depressing places I have ever seen in my life, but was worth the experience. I also enjoyed my drive through New Mexico more than any other state so far. It was gorgeous. We hit a lot of bugs on the way through texas..and a bird. We almost hit a huge rattle snake and a Coyote once it got dark. All in all, we got to see a lot of the desert wildlife, even though half of it ended up all over my bumper in liquid form.
I almost made it across the desert without having car trouble…but need ANOTHER front axle (a left one this time). I am stranded in Phoenix for the time being and will hopefully be in California by tomorrow assuming they can fix the ole’ dirty bastard Subaru by then. I was just getting excited about my car because it made it to 111,111 miles….sigh. The good news is that I am slowly becoming immune to the mental stress that comes with car problems. It seems that it is just part of the trip.
At any rate, thats the way she goes…and I will post pictures of my time in Tucson in the mean time. Enjoy.
He noticed I was taking his picture so he flipped his sign over for me. I gave him $1 for his troubles. He said ‘thank you’, and he’ll spend it @ Walmart. God Bless America.
My drive from Savannah to Baton Rouge was 11 hours in total. From Brunswick, GA to Baton Rouge was 10. I drove straight through some crazy rain and some really nice pastel colors of the southern shores. I hit Alabama & Mississippi just in time to see these states before it got dark. The rest of the drive through Louisiana was pretty dark…except for the light of God being preached about on every radio station I listened to.
Here is a little collection of photos from my time in Georgia. The funny part about this whole experience is that I hadn’t ever planned on even going to Georgia in the first place, but it was where I have spent the longest amount of time in a single place since leaving Brooklyn, NY. Funny how that happens.
The Objective: To maintain a level of excitement just above wanting to kill ones self while stuck in a motel while stranded in Brunswick, Georgia, USA, Earth. This manifested itself in wanting to take a self portrait of myself, through the peep hole in my door with no ones help. No one but the sweet, sweet, god above me.
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The Inspiration: While occupying my first Brooklyn apartment, I was fortunate enough to have a large group of people come visit. On one drunken night myself and Eric Rothman started taking pictures of our friends knocking on the door through the peep hole. That night’s fun hadn’t come to mind until tonight…when I took my own peephole shots out of pure boredom.
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The Problems:
How would I elevate my camera to be positioned right at the level of the peep hole to take a picture?
How would I take the picture if I needed to be standing on the other side of the camera, on the other side of the door, and in the hallway?
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The Solutions:
Since I only had the things I brought with me to the motel, and the things in my motel room, my tools were limiting. I didn’t have a tripod with me or anything that would be the right height to set up against the door. and Even if I did, i still had to exit the door once the camera was set up against the peephole. I tried a number of test shots with the camera far away and zoomed in, but realized that the camera had to be in very close proximity to the plane of the door. This meant that I had to make my own ‘tripod.’