7 Apr 1998
Hi
Sitting
in a cyber cafe in Las Vegas at the moment, a bit different to sitting in Fat
Dog Cafe in Rotovegas, kind of mind blowing. We've got us a car, a big V8 5.7 L
Pontiac station wagon with fake wood panels and electric everything. Only costs
$20 to fill as well, I like it.
Have
only managed a couple of days mountain-biking so far which included nearly
getting a big fine for biking in a state park that was supposed to be closed
('course us uninformed kiwis weren't to know that). When the ranger put his hand
on a big scary hand gun and said "put the bikes down" Moray looked
like he wasn't quite sure if he should put his hands up with the bike in them or
what, so he asked where he should put the bike down which got an "I don't
give a damn where you put it, just put it down" (don't worry mum, it wasn't
really that scary) the ranger was cool, he was a biker and has just got back
from biking in Rotorua so we got a great conversation going and got let off with
a warning. Did some really cool biking in Santa Cruz including a full-on 10
minute really fast downhill, was a bit of a bitch getting up there though. Great
views but we didn't see any mountain lions!
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Driving
on the interstate highways at night is a rush, more trucks than cars, six lanes
of them in each direction. Our big V8 station wagon didn't feel so big any more.
Still haven't seen a river yet but planning to be at the Kern River festival
17th April to buy a boat and do a bit of paddling. Off to see the casinos
tonight then probably heading for Moab in Utah to do some more biking and maybe
do a bit along the way too.
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See
Yooall later now ya hear
from
Custard
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15 Apr 1998
Hi
Well
I'm back in Vegas (Las Vegas) after an all too quick tour de Utah and Arizona.
Have done some awesome mountain biking - Moab leaves Rotorua for dead. Did a
ride there called Porcupine rim, and I'm quite sure this is what mountain-bikes
were invented for and it is also why I ride them, it was the best ride I’ve
done ever. The first hour was climbing 900ft to an elevation of 7100 ft, pretty
steep and hard on the lungs at that altitude. We got above snowline but still it
seemed as hot as the desert temperatures we started in. The next one and a half
hours was blasting one long fast technical hard out enjoyable downhill, 3000 ft
vertical, and awesome scenery. At the summit we stood on the edge of a huge
bluff that dropped to a valley floor 2000 - 3000 ft below. The ridges
surrounding the valley are all Grand Canyon style sandstone with shear vertical
walls. The valley floor sloped towards the Colorado river with houses dotted in
isolated patches and faint lines between that could be made out as roads or an
air strip. The valley head rose up to snow capped peaks. The view was too much
to take in all at once, photos wont do it justice.
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Top of the Porcupine Rim trail
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Slick Rock - Moab
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Unfortunately the don't
like people who ride across the Natural Bridges
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Before
Moab we spent a day in Gunnison doing some biking on loose shingley stuff with
same altitude shock as Moab but some awesome down hills to make it worth our
while. Finished with a very steep and long and sort of out of control blast down
a huge open shingle face. Sort of like Tarawera crater except a bit longer and
steeper and faster and probably a lot harder if I bit it, but I didn't and what
a rush, I was buzzing on that one for hours.
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After
Moab was a very small outback redneck little place in Arizona called Bluff with
a dirt road ride through some awesome scenery that looks just like those classic
cowboy movie set backdrops (or Thelma and Louise), camera has been getting a bit
of a workout.
Grand
Canyon weather predicted rain and snow storms so we didn't do our planned trek
(run in Paul and Moray's case) into the canyon. Weather stayed good but we ended
up peering into this 5000 ft ditch from the top. Quite impressive really. I even
bought a poster 'cause my camera cant take photos that big. |
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Stopped
in at the Hoover Dam, being the engineers that we are, on the way back to Vegas.
It is the same as I remember it from my trip when I was ten years old except I
think its primary function is now as a tourist attraction and I think my spit
got further down this time, before blowing back up with the updraft and
showering unsuspecting tourists.
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Off
to California this weekend for the Kern river festival.
Love
and Custard
Dave
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Wednesday,
20 May 1998
| I'm
in San Louis Obispo (1/2 way between San Francisco and LA) staying with Suz, a
mates cousin (a Kiwi on university exchange). Shawn finally gave way after 5
months travelling and has flown home. Getting him to the airport was a bit of an
adventure. We discovered with an hour till his plane left that the airport was
an hour and a half away in good traffic. Well the speed needle in Junior was
bouncing on the 85mph maximum mark for our entire freeway slalom session, just
like the movies....hope we didn't get too many speed camera tickets!
Suz
has been keeping me busy on my bike and in my boat. Within half and hour of
turning up I was riding up a ridiculously big hill from sea level to a really
high place with lots of towers and parabolic dishes, then we rode all the way
down, but it wasn't steep enough and fast enough to be very scary so I felt a
little bit cheated. |
Note the person in white top - bottom right coner
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A
couple of days later Suz cunningly got me to ride up the same hill, but in the
other direction. We took a different route down though, it was a lot steeper,
and since we were running late for a BBQ, it was definitely faster. A narrow
boney track with a big steep drop on one side keeps the concentration peaking.
Again I forgot my camera for the classic "jagged peaks spanning to the
glistening sea drenched in evening sun" shot, (and to prove I biked that
high). My bike is falling to bits...poohs! We've done a bit of surf kayaking as
well but the surf was a bit poopy but at least the weather has improved and I
can work on my 'Bay Watch' suntan again.
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Saw
my first humming bird yesterday, sitting on a step eating ice-cream and pebbles
(me not the bird), it just cruised up really close, like about 6 inches in front
of my face, and hovered there checking me out.
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I've
also had my first encounter with poison oak. It litters the river banks, had to
get me sooner or later. I was warned about touching it but not warned about the
consequences, this stuff is shitty. I've got heinous blistering welts all over
my legs and the ones that I popped have turned bloody and keep weeping all the
time and they itch like hell. I can hardly walk without having to stop and
squeeze something really hard to try and null the pain and quell the urge to
scratch. I’ve had this for about a week now and apparently they can last for
about 6 weeks or something like that! poohs!
I'll
be cruising north from here to meet back up with Matt and Lou and probably Nigel
(the OPC crowd) to do more rivers in Northern California and Oregon, then
hopefully over to Colorado. Apparently the snow pac is relatively small over
there this year so the paddling season is expected to last only a couple of
weeks once the melt begins.
Went
out to a BBQ again the other night, awesome. Got feed with a continuous supply
of BBQ tricut and turkey with salad and garlic bread, Apple pie with three
different flavours of ice-cream, Fresh Paua in a light batter with chips for
supper, and I’m sure there was something else as well? Just lucky I’d worked
up a suitable appetite!
Speaking
of food I had clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl for lunch today at an
acclaimed cafe at Pismo beach, 10 mins south of here, pretty awesome. Enough
about food, I’m starting to sound like an American. |
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Some
of the laws around here are so stupid they are just funny, like at Pismo beach,
you're not even allowed to overhead cast your fishing rod let alone jump off the
wharf and you'd probably get arrested if you were caught pissing in the surf!
There are signs everywhere, unreal.
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Custard to you all
Dave
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