DAY 48 granted us another good night’s sleep without being asked to leave after a few hours. I think this is due to the fact it wasn’t a busy rest stop. A great thing about the Delaware Water Gap Welcome Center was that it had an air filling station that was complimentary. We topped off the air pressure in tires and hit the road.

We started out through Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area to take our last few hikes of the trip. The area was beautiful and the walks very welcome. We saw the two highest waterfalls in the state of Pennsylvania. Since it is only a few hours’ drive, I have a feeling I will be heading back again before the year is out.

Traveling was smooth up until we crossed into Danbury. Traffic was building and by the time we hit Southbury we were crawling along I-84. I guess that was par for the course. I finally made it home about 4 PM. It was good to be back and now the work begins. Stay tuned for an epilogue . . . at some point in the future.

DAY 47 found me well rested and raring to go after a good 7 hours rest. We aren’t too far from home, but it will be another day of hiking and diversions before we will make it back to CT. A little after an hour we arrived at Catoctin Mountain Park, which is part of the National Park System. We took two short hikes while there, as the day was quite overcast and the dense fog preventing us from seeing the surrounding beauty.

We continued on our way and stopped at Cabela’s in Hamburg, Pennsylvania. Since it is an outdoorsman’s store it probably would have been better putting that at the beginning of the trip. It was great to see all the gadgets there are for camping and hiking and it gave me a sense of accomplishment by nearly finishing this trip by using predominantly recycled or repurposed supplies. What you find in the store definitely allows a hiker to pack a lot lighter. Good thing I didn’t hike this adventure. I would never have made it out of CT.

We were trying to get one more stop in before dark, but that plan was foiled 7 miles up the way. An accident blocked our way so we decided to turn back. While the accident didn’t look good it also didn’t look like anyone was seriously injured. There were plenty of people on the scene and we had no special skills to offer, so chose to stay the night at the Welcome Center. Let’s hope our luck continues.

DAY 46 began relatively late. The rest area was remote enough that no one cared that we stayed over the suggested 3 hour stopover time. Well rested we headed out for our first hike of the day at Hocking Hills State Park.

I read about this in a book titled Grandma Gatewood’s Walk, well actually listened to an audiobook to tell the truth. This is my second visit, as the last attempt found me waterlogged due to an unexpected downpour. It was nice to take the mile plus loop to see the places mentioned in the book. I really encourage everyone to read the book. Check it out of you local library or buy it online!

After that we took a driving tour through North Bend State Park. We couldn’t decide on which trails to take (and the best place to park), so the overview was perfect. We did stretch our legs a bit but then we kept on moving.

Closing in on dusk we made it to Cooper’s Rock State Forest. There we took a 1.5 mile round trip hike to an iron furnace then made the drive to the gorge overlook. There we took in the sunset and talked with some native West Virginians. It was almost dark so we decided to get going so we can find a place to spend the night.

It was yet another rest area. It didn’t look like it would be a problem if we stayed the night as it was pretty desolate, with only a few people coming and going the first hour we were there. It didn’t take much after that for sleep to come upon me.

DAY 45 had me surprised by a restful night. The rain brought the temperature and humidity down and I was able to keep cool enough to not be bothered the way I thought. We got up, took care of odds and ends and then headed the 15 minutes to our first attraction of the day, MY Garage Museum and Store.

This was a great little free stop to start our day. I meandered through the museum looking at vintage corvettes and some of the swag of the day. Oddly it also featured Volkswagens as well. There was a Herbie replica even. After a while, we headed on our way.

In order to make to it Sweetwater Sound before Jeff (my direct line for all things audio) left for the day, we skipped the Indiana State House. We cut it very close because I forgot about the time change back into Easter Standard Time. Jeff stayed an extra hour showing us around the place. It is an incredible space and I highly recommend anyone going through or near Fort Wayne Indiana make it a point to spend an hour or so there. I even had enough space in my brain to learn a few more things!

Since it was still light out, we chose to hit the road and find a spot to sleep, although we could have car-camped at Sweetwater. It took a little longer to find as one rest stop we passed seemed permanently closed and there was a detour to contend with further down the road. We made it there and settle in for the night, hoping we wouldn’t get asked to leave 3 hours later, as the sign suggested.

DAY 44 came very early. It did rain, thunderstorms in fact. I woke about 1 hour after falling asleep to the light pounding of rain on the roof of the car. It would soon be time to close the windows. I sat in the driver’s seat hearing what I believe was a pack of coyotes and watching the lighting dance across the sky. Soon after the thunder was getting louder and louder, and with that the rain came pouring down. I could only leave the windows open a crack (thankfully since there are visors on the car). If I hadn’t had that, I wouldn’t have slept at all. I went in and out of sleep adjusting the windows with the storm’s passing. With a crash behind us, not knowing what caused it, it was time for us to go. We made it back to the pavilion, had a bit of breakfast, and headed on our way.

Our first stop of the day was the State Capitol in Topeka, Kansas. I have taken the tour to the top before, but I couldn’t resist doing it again. I was also able to take more time looking around the state building itself and the museum on the ground floor. After getting our fill, we moved on to our final destination, Gateway Arch National Park.

We had some trouble finding adequate parking at the near the Arch which led us to some extra driving, out of Missouri and back. The drive over the bridge allowed a chance to capture a great photograph. There was some disappointment when we arrived; tram tickets to the top had been sold out for the day. We opted to watch the documentary about the building of the arch. It was one of the most interesting one’s I have seen; both keeping me on edge of my seat and filling my head with interesting bits of knowledge. It was late in the day and we didn’t get to see much of the recently updated museum. Just walking through the hallway (on our way to and from watching the movie) sparks my interest to revisit this in the future.

We got on the road and set off for our scheduled sleeping spot. That was a crazy 20 minute drive. There was a construction zone where a “flagger” held a sign that showed SLOW. About 500 feet down the way I have a car coming toward me. I moved over as much as possible and let them pass. Then a few seconds later another car was heading my way. Someone wasn’t doing their job. This happened two more times. My only guess is people were coming in from side streets. We made it safely through the obstacle course only to arrive at locked gates for the Missouri Welcome Center.

We chose to keep pressing on, getting to Flying J slightly after midnight. It had been very muggy and hot the last few times we had gotten out of the car and we were driving into a storm. I figured I would be in for another miserable night’s sleep. Since the storm had arrived by the time we settled in, we only cracked the windows, turned on the little fan, and hoped for the best.

DAY 43 began with a good night sleep at the Flying J. This surprised me as I usually figure it will be loud and traffic ridden. The setup was such that it wasn’t either. We took our time getting going, as our next stop didn’t open until noon. I miscalculated the distance to The Archway in addition to the fact we were crossing into Central Standard Time, so we didn’t arrive until 1:30 PM. This wasn’t a problem as the day was planned around this activity.

This is the second time I visited this museum. The technology has been updated so you can go at your own pace. It is an audio tour combined with audio visual displays alongside recreated scenes of “our” westward expansion through the advent of the interstate highway system. It took about 2 hours to go through the museum and I feel I took everything in . . . how much I retained is yet to be determined. We walked the grounds for another half hour or so then went on our merry way.

Our next stop was the Geographical Center of the United States of America. This was a nice rest spot with a picnic area that included a couple types of BBQ spaces. After stretching our legs we hopped back in the car and set off for our remote campsite for the night.

We lucked out! There was electricity in a pavilion there and there was no one using it. In fact there were hardly any people at the lake. We cooked on the grill, recharged some batteries, and cleaned up the area (people before us left it quite messy). After a delicious meal, we headed to a spot to get some sleep. It was humid, but tolerable with the windows open. It looked as if it were going to rain. If it does, we’ll have to close the windows and that will not be a good thing.

DAY 42 found us refreshed and ready to head out to Rocky Mountain National Park. I have to say this park was breathtaking, literally and figuratively. The views from 12,000 feet, the highest we’d been on the entire trip, cannot be adequately described in words and the pictures in the gallery pale in comparison.

We climbed from the visitor center about one half mile to the upper most point of that side of the park. That is where my breath was literally taken away. The sign says that above 12,000 feet you are only getting 2/3 the oxygen compared to sea level. We enjoyed the views and then returned for a drive on the original road through the park. That was a fun ride full of switchbacks and potholes. Heading out of the park we got to view a bunch of elk resting in a field.

We stopped in Denver so I could take advantage of my last opportunity to have some vegan doughnuts. There are two Voodoo Doughnuts in Denver, I only went to one. That will be my fix for the next 6 months at least. After all the errands were complete, we headed to Nebraska for our nightly stop.

DAY 41 morning light confirmed the end of the road was on private property so it was good that we moved to the other side of the fence. It was a great night’s sleep and we were able to get going fairly early to our next park, Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. On our way there we had to slow down for some cows to cross the road and also take some pictures of a bunch hanging out under some birch trees.

The views from the rim of the canyon were breathtaking. Short hikes would take you to some steep cliff overlooks. There are a few great pictures in the gallery to showcase this. We also drove a 16% grade down to the river. It was a sight to see.

We then headed to various stop-offs along the Curecanti National Recreation Area. There we learned some history of the area, got to see a restored train that had been retired long ago, and a dam that supplies electricity to the area.

Before reaching our “campsite” for the night we even passed the highest point thus far on the Continental Divide. The site we choose really didn’t exist, so we found one that turned out to be great. I look forward to a new day tomorrow.

DAY 40 surprised me with solid sleep, as with it being a truck stop and 80 degrees out I was sure I was going to be in for a rough night. Going to sleep the USB fan helped keep the air circulating, but it must have cooled down more. I woke up refreshed, although early and quickly got on the road so we could enjoy Canyonland National Park early in the day!

There is way too much to do for just a half day in the park. A little while after watching the park movie, we decided to take a short hike early on while it was still cool. The rest of the park we drove through and stopped to take pictures. The gallery has few key shots from the day.

We then set out to Arches National Park only a 30 minute drive. We checked out the movie there before heading into the park. It was pretty hot so we opted to only take a few short walks and one short hike in order to get some of the photos you can check out in the gallery.

Although night photography would have been spectacular there, we opted to leave before sun down so we could get a few more miles under our belt. We found a county road that dead-ended and chose to sleep there for the night. Let’s see what the morning brings, as we parked just before what we think was a private property marker. The sign was bleached white, so we weren’t sure.

DAY 39 began confirming that it was indeed a perfect night’s sleep for me. It was a perfect 51 degrees when we woke up at around 7 AM. We packed out our site, making sure the fire was completely out and taking any sign of our presence away. We were off to Cedar Breaks National Monument, just 3 miles or so from our campsite. The drive through was only 7 miles, so we got to see all the vantage points of the amphitheater (the formation that makes up the monument) in no time. We were also the only ones at each stop, which made it feel like we had the place to ourselves.

We were at Bryce Canyon National Park by 11 AM which was good because this park is 18 miles one direction. We made it to the furthest point about an hour and a bit after our arrival to the park, as we checked out the movie in the visitor center and it took over 30 minutes to make the trek. We took our sweet time on the way back taking photos at each stop. Each vantage point showcases different formations. It gets overwhelming at times. If there was time on this whirlwind trip, I would have loved to hike the lower trail. That wasn’t an option though.

We managed to leave the park with just enough time to make it to our final destination of the day, Capitol Reef National Park. Thankfully it was only 10 miles each direction and we had decided to make it a quick drive through. We managed to get some great pictures while the sun was still out, make it to the furthest point (gravel road for 2.25 miles) and also hit a small side road (1.25 miles of gravel) all before it got too dark to appreciate. When we got back to the picnic area, we pulled out the propane grill and made ourselves a delicious meal.

After taking advantage of the park being designated an International Dark Skies Park, we headed to the Pilot gas station, the place we would sleep for the night. I didn’t have high hopes for this place, but we shall see what happens, tomorrow.

DAY 38 hit us early (relatively speaking) due to the amount of warmth of the sleeping quarters. Getting 6 hours sleep is a vast improvement on the 2 or so hours the night before. On our way to the multiple parks we were to hit for the day, we ended up stopping at the Navajo Bridge (another rich source of architecture and history) in the Glenn Canyon National Recreation Area. We then proceeded through the Vermilion Cliffs National Monument. What a beautiful drive.

We made a stop at Pipe Spring National Monument and took a walk around the grounds and a short hike into the hills. This place was rich with history, some things not so great. You really learn the effects of changing environments when seeing things first hand. We could have spent more time there, but we needed to keep somewhat to a schedule. We were off to Zion National Park next.

The drive in held amazing views! We still had one more park on our agenda for the day, but we decided to alter plans a bit so we could take the shuttle through the canyon. I think it was a good choice. One really notices how small they are standing below the towering walls. We did forgo the movie so we could make it to a campsite before it got dark.

Our plan worked out well as we found perhaps the best campsite of the trip thus far, right before our next excursion. We were able to cook a meal and enjoy the night sky uninhibited by noise or light pollution. The quiet was so intense that when I heard a noise in the tree-line nearby, I wasn’t sure if it was a bear or mountain lion. What a relief when I shined the light in its direction to discover it was simply a deer. We settled in for what seemed would be a perfect night’s sleep.

DAY 37 start very early since I couldn’t sleep comfortably due to the heat. The noise wasn’t the issue even though there was a train that passed a few times. The early start was good since we had about 2 and a half hours to go to get to Grand Canyon National Park.

We checked out the IMAX movie before heading into the park. It was a great primer for what was to come. When we got to the Visitor Center, it was bustling. We missed the park film, so we walked up to Mather’s Point to check out the giant hole that was a small segment of the Grand Canyon. After spending some time there we went back and watched the film, further enlightened about the park.

We took our time making it east from one end of the South Rim to the Watchtower. The sights never got old as each vantage point gave a unique perspective and opportunity to reflect. Since the shuttle only goes so far into the park, the crowd thinned out at many of the stops.

We spent some time at the Watchtower (a very interesting architectural story) where we met a guy that was photographing day lightning. We had an interesting talk about technology, weather, and photography. After spending maybe too much time there we were on our way to find our camping spot.

We made a stop at a viewing area which solidified the fact we wouldn’t be stopping until after dark. We grabbed some great sunset shots over the Little Colorado River. Worth it, perhaps, but it was a bear trying to find a place to stay for the night. The dispersed campsite we were trying to get to had no openings, so we had to backtrack to our backup plan; Walmart. We’ll see what comes of that.

DAY 36 started out with no issues. We got moving at a decent hour and headed into Death Valley National Park. The reason we weren’t comfortable with our spot the night before was that it happened to be within park boundaries. What was worse than that was there was a lot of ranger activity. I had seen an article online a few days prior about a jet crash there. That must have been the investigation front.

We moved past quite quickly out of respect for the rangers doing their jobs and of course to get on with our day. That place is HOT, I mean H!O!T!!! This is not my sort of place at this time of year. I would love to go back in the early spring to do it again. I took the death walk (about 1 mile out and back on the Badwater Basin Salt Flat). So, I am a pretty resourceful guy and since I knew I would melt making the walk I decided to bring instant shade, AKA a golf umbrella. I was the only one there doing that which surprised me. I did however get multiple compliments on my great idea. I must be an innovator.

After sweating up a storm, we headed to the visitor center where we watched a movie about the park, as always, very informative. Heading out we got confirmation of how hot it was. I took a picture with the thermometer when it was only 118 degrees, but before we drove off it actually hit 121 degrees. It was time to get moving, as I didn’t want to be there after 2 PM, the hottest time of the day (it was supposed to get to 124 according to the sign in the visitor center). We set off to Dante’s Overlook to check out the walk we did. The temperature up there was a comfortable 96 degrees.

At various points we actually had to turn off the air conditioning to prevent the car from overheating. In the hills the breeze was welcoming, 200 plus feet below sea level was not! I felt like an oven door was opened in my face. We made it to the park boundary by 2:30 PM and headed to our next destination. Since we were ahead of schedule and Las Vegas was only 15 minutes out of the way, we decided to hit the Stratosphere and be dare-devils. It was a nice excursion, but I am happy to be back heading to nature. Flying J is our campsite for the night. Let’s see how we make out!

DAY 35 we managed to get a relatively early start after a decent night’s sleep. We were off to Yosemite National Park. I knew going in it would be a “zoo” so I didn’t have any expectations for a hike of any sort. This park would be a driving tour. I really wasn’t wrong. We managed to enjoy the loop around the park in very slow moving traffic.

After the loop we began heading to our next destination (for tomorrow) via the Tioga Pass which is only open late May through early October. This was a beautiful drive. We got out at Lake Ellery to get some fresh water, which seemed colder than any of the previous ones; although I am sure it was just because it was much warmer here.

We were ahead of schedule so we took our time getting to our evening resting spot. A little too much time as it got dark just as we found it! It really didn’t appear to be that great of an option, so we decided to backtrack to a place we saw earlier and were able to feel comfortable there. It was a good thing we did as the night photography here was spectacular!

DAY 34 was a day chock full of driving and a few scenic walks. We hit two parks that day Sequoia National Park and Kings Canyon National Park. Hopefully the pictures in the gallery speak volumes. Sequoias are larger around the base and in volume. Redwoods are the tallest. Two very different but mighty trees; you would think if you saw one tree you would have seen them all.

We enjoyed the tour of the two parks, made it to Fresno for gas and supplies, and headed to our camping spot, a OHV Staging area outside our next day’s adventure location. It was about a mile off the road and was the perfect quiet spot to rest and also get some great night sky photos. Hopefully the rest is as good as anticipated.

DAY 33 marked the end of the 2019 conference and did so on a good note. There wasn’t anything scheduled in the morning that I HAD to attend, so it afforded me guiltless time to pack up my things and check out a little later in the morning, meaning I didn’t have to be up at 6 AM thankfully.

I got everything squared away and was at the conference slightly after 11 AM missing the first part of ‘First Man’: Redefining In-Camera FX. It was amazing, I am sorry I missed the first 20 minutes or so. After that I was shocked to discover that a former NVCC student was at the conference. We connected briefly and I am happy to know that Matt is in an industry that he set out to be in. On top of that his work involves imparting knowledge onto up and coming creators, so there will be further talks in the near future.

After that it was time for me to catch the last two big presentations of the week: ‘Alita-Battle Angel’: The Art of Being Human and Swing into Another Dimension: The Making of ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’. Both were a wealth of knowledge on top of the WOW factor. I will definitely be introducing some of the techniques/processes in the classes I teach and share with colleagues just how much our different programs are intertwined.

Since I wasn’t planning on getting too far for the night and it was on our way to our next destination, I filled my “need” for more vegan doughnuts at the VooDoo they have at Universal City Walk. I overindulged, but I won’t be getting them again for a while. We walked around a short while then headed to our rest area to catch some Z’s. Back to nature tomorrow!

DAY 32 had me dragging. While I really wanted to make it there for the Color Fundamental for Digital Content Creation, Visualization, and Exploration, without the bikes it wasn’t going to happen. I got there about an hour after I wanted to but I was early enough so I could check out the Production Gallery. There was costumes from Avengers: End Game and Toy Story 4, models from Spider-Man Into the Spider-Verse and character poses/panels from How to Train Your Dragon The Hidden World.

I then checked out a talk on Wacom Tablets and their practical use in education, which was an unexpected stop. I was invited by William Joel from Western CT State University to check it out and I am glad I did. After that I met up with Ferris Webby from Blue Sky Studios for lunch. I’m not that cool to make friends with someone on my own. Ferris is the husband of NVCC’s very own 2D Animation instructor Stephanie Benvenuto. We had some great conversations and did some brainstorming. We’ll see what plans we have can come to fruition. Long term goals, I’ll share more when they move from ideas to possibilities.

After lunch I made it back from The VFX of Netflix Series where I learned about the visual effects in A Series of Unfortunate Events, The Umbrella Academy, and Stranger Things. I am not going to lie; it was a little gross for my taste, but amazing all the same. The final event of the day was For the Thone- The Making of ‘Game of Thrones’: Season 8. For someone who doesn’t watch the series, there were still a lot of incredible things to learn. Each of these events reminds me of students (past and current) and will have great anecdotes to share with them. This also will help me direct them on their paths, aligning their interest areas with the multiple options that are contained in the digital arts.

With that fun over, I headed back to the hotel and to the fun of getting ready to move on tomorrow later in the day. Laundry was washed and dried, everything prepped for the morning checkout, and all the other odds and ends taken care of. Sad to see the conference coming to an end; it is so long and so quick all at the same time. That’s it for now!

DAY 31 had me awake early so I could take care of this bicycle situation. I took my normal route through the parking garage where I bumped into a security guard. I explained the situation and he said unfortunately it was stolen and the best course of action is to file a police report. I didn’t want to miss a few of the events, so I headed into the LACC to get to the first one of the day. On the way in I realized I didn’t ask where I would have to go to file the report, so I asked the guard at the door. Hector was so helpful. He took information and brought it to his supervisor. A bit later the supervisor John came to us and got more information and provided us with the address and phone number of the police station. They even tried to find out if they had footage of the bikes going missing. Unfortunately the bike racks were in a blind spot so they weren’t able to see anything.

I went to the Exhibition Floor and checked out some new technologies and other points of interest. Since the next event I really wanted to attend wasn’t until after 3 PM, I decided to take the mile and a half walk to the police station. That was a sketchy situation. It is burned into my mind, so I will describe that another time.

I had wanted to be back for around 2 PM, as there was another event I would have like to catch. Due to timing, I wasn’t going to make it so I decided to walk ¾ of a mile to a place called the Blue Cow for lunch. It was great and really quick for a sit down place. I made it back for the 3:45 PM event on Lighting (for Toy Story 4). After that it was Real Time Live! There were 10 presenters that share new tech in real time. It was extremely entertaining and the new tech very exciting.

I was back at the hotel by 8:30 PM so I was able have some dinner and check on the ant situation. It truly seems they are gone. I grabbed the car vacuum and started to clean up the dirty carpets and attempted to get rid of the corn starch. That makes us one step closer to being ready for the return trip home.

Sleep was a challenge as the people in the room above us were really rude. I don’t know why the children were up running around at 11 PM and still at 12 AM, but it was getting ridiculous. I called the front desk and asked him to check on it. After that, it got worse for another ½ hour and we complained again. At that point they finally chilled out. Tomorrow is going to come really early.

DAY 30 came early but I seemed to get enough rest so I could make it through the extra-long and exciting day. The Keynote speaker was Victoria Alonso, Executive Vice President of Physical Production for Marvel Studios. She had some great info regarding Avengers, being a woman in the industry, and also some great advice about being successful!

Besides the daily activities, this day marked the Computer Animation Festival, the reception, and the Chapter parties. They have a traveling Computer Animation Festival and I was able to find out more about it during the reception. It is a cool event that showcases student and professional work that earns awards. I would love NVCC to be able to experience it; it is on my list of something to explore for this fall.

It was close to midnight and time to go get the bikes and head back to the hotel. When I got there, they weren’t. I tried to connect with security but they weren’t really accessible, hoping they take bikes into the convention center when left after hours. I decided to walk back to the hotel and deal with it in the morning. Pretty upset, to say the least, I forced myself to get a decent night’s sleep. It helped to reflect on the great events of the day. We’ll figure out things tomorrow.

Side note: It appears the ants have abandoned ship. Will check again, and vacuum tomorrow.

DAY 29 met me much better rested than the night before, but I think I could have used a little more sleep. It didn’t seem to affect my ability to make it to through the entire day. We got ready to go, grabbed the bikes and headed the mile to the LACC. My main focus of the day was checking out many of the presentations that were part of the ACM SIGGRAPH Diversity and Inclusion Summit.

The three that caught my attention most were the Panels titled Rendering Gender: Identity, Representation, and Sexuality in 3D Design, Interactive Media, and Animation; Inclusion of Diverse Talent with Outstanding Abilities; and Diversity, Collaboration, and Building Toward an Inclusive Organization. I also connected with fellow educators during the meet and greet, reconnecting from some I met from years prior and also made some new connections. This should help with making decisions with the DAT program revision.

The last thing of the day with Technical Papers Fast Forward which is a bit insane; over 200 paper summaries presented in less than two hours. It was great to get a preview of topics that were to be presented during the week, helping to narrow down the topics that best fit one’s interest area. My brain was already in overload at that point.

Oh side note, when we were at Whole Foods an associate suggested corn starch to get rid of the ants. I spread it all over the vehicle, including inside the engine compartment. We’ll check on the success or failure in a day or two.

DAY 28 did not greet us as nice as the previous ones. Sleep was not very restful so it was a very early morning. We headed off to Whole Foods to get some groceries and use the restroom but those plans were foiled due to an inaccurate opening time listed online and on top of an electric outage prevented it from opening at the time listed on the door. Even worse was the discovery of an infestation of small brown ants. I don’t know if they got there from the parking spot of the night or they were hitchhiking from a few days before. It’s a mystery and a headache we need to deal with.

Since we were in LA way before our check-in time, we stopped at the Santa Monica Pier and decided to check out a shop in Long Beach that is pretty famous among car enthusiasts. With the crazy amount of traffic we made it there, checked out Hoonigan and the beach, grabbed some food and headed to the hotel. We arrived at the exact check in time. It took a while to unload. We cleaned up, grabbed the bikes and headed to the Convention Center to get our badges from Siggraph 2019. After that was set we headed to the store for a few groceries and something to battle the ants.

A lot needed to be taken care of before sleep could be considered. Hopefully the rest will be enough to give me energy to get through the first day of the conference. More to come . . .

DAY 27 surprising left us with a good night’s sleep despite the uncertainty of the spot that was chosen. The view was great and the pull off very spacious which was a huge contrast to the planned stop we abandoned. Without much pause we headed out to see the still foggy sights of the PCH (Pacific Coast Highway).

The fog dissipated a little later on, returned, and left again. We encountered Elephant Seals along the way and learned a lot about them from signs along a trail that overlooked their protected spots on the beach. We stopped in Morro Bay and took a walk at the port. The big hill you see in the gallery photo is the top of an inactive volcano. It was too bad it was so foggy as we were unable to see the nesting Peregrine Falcons that reside there.

We also stopped in Santa Barbara to check out the visitor center for the Channel Islands National Park. The cruises lasted a good deal of time so we would have had to be there much earlier in the morning to catch one. We jumped back on the road and just enjoyed the ride toward LA, where it is hard to find a free place to spend the night. Our choice was to stay in a busy pull-off of the PCH. Busy might be an understatement. Let’s see how we fare!

DAY 26 we woke up pretty late, after 8 AM. It was a pretty good night for sleeping. We didn’t have anywhere to be by a particular time, so we just went on our way, checking out the sights. We happened upon Lugana Seca and decided to check it out. What was supposed to be a quick diversion turned into a 5 hour visit; with no complaints here.

Way too many pictures were taken, but I will try to include enough to highlight the track and the couple of racers we encountered and talked to. There is video too, but that won’t be included here. I took some time to catch up on getting the posts into the correct format but couldn’t upload since I was in roaming and couldn’t use data to tether.

Once we were on the road again, we headed to 17-mile Drive. The drive was packed with diverse sights, as you will see in the gallery. Ocean, animals, nature of all kinds, and golf! The visitor center had a great film playing on loop. It was a great day overall, even though we really spent too much time at our unexpected stop and on our scenic tour as well.

Daylight was fading fast and we were trying to find our “camping” spot before it was totally dark. We missed that goal. We checked out the destination and due to warning signs and a small 1 tenth of a mile attempt, we scrapped the spot and looked for something else. Darkness and fog don’t make for easy navigating, but we finally found a place we were comfortable to stop at. Morning will let us know how well we chose.

DAY 25 was a big surprise in a few ways. We did get up on time to avoid paying the parking fees and slowly meandered to Muir Woods National Monument. When almost to there, we see signs saying parking reservations required, but no other info so we kept going. Down at the parking area we meet with an attendant that was marginally helpful giving us a card as to how to reserve a spot. Problem was there was no signal . . . so we moved on to Muir Beach. There we had signal and info on parking reservations. We opted out of visiting the woods and spent some time at the beach.

From there we went back towards Battery Spencer, stopping at the Marin Headlands Visitor Center. The rangers there were very helpful and the exhibits encouraged using all senses. I especially liked the jars that had the scents of the plants along the seashore. The other highlight was learning about the draw that brought my great grandfather on my father’s mother’s side out to California. Many people from the Azores came during the gold rush seeking gold. Failing at that, they became cattle farmers where they made a good living. This matches up with what I heard from my dad a while back, minus the drive about the gold rush. Turns out he was pretty well off. That’s a story for another blog entirely.

We toured the Marin Headlands spotting a lot of wildlife including Pelicans and Harbor Seals. After grabbing some cloudy photos from up top at Battery Spencer, we headed down to the Golden Gate National Recreation Area Presidio Visitor Center for a few more photos from a different vantage point before heading to Billy Jones Wildcat Railroad (closed due to heat) and finally to Pinnacles National Park.

I wasn’t expecting much at all from this park so I couldn’t be disappointed. Well, I was really impressed but getting there was a little tense. It was a one lane road for about 6 miles. On the way in we passed exactly ZERO cars thankfully but had a relatively close call with a fox. We got there about 2 hours before dark and managed to get a hike in. I don’t think I could have made a hike during the day due to the 95 degree plus heat. Check out the pictures through the cave and on the ridge. We had the park pretty much to ourselves.

Before leaving, we managed to make some rice since there was electric at the visitor station (no fires allowed due to the high fire danger rating) and also get some great night photos. Leaving the park we passed one car – who apparently didn’t think we pulled over enough to the side to let them pass, as they decided to drive partially off the road. We got through it and made it to where we planned to stay for the night. The Pilot Travel Center was not what I would have considered safe or restful, so we looked for another spot. On recommendation of a site, we found Food Co and asked if it was ok for us to stay for the night after explaining the Pilot situation. The manager understood and asked what vehicle we were in so she could alert the towing company to let us be. We’ll see how the night went in the next post.

DAY 24 again did not disappoint. We weren’t but about 30 minutes from Lassen Volcanic National Park. I hadn’t expected to stay so long at the park, but there was a lot more to it than it sounds. On our hike around the lake we not only took some picturesque photos, we met some nice Californians that lived not TOO far from the park. I heard one of the young ones needed a Band-Aid and I offered up one (when we got back to the parking area – as it was in the car).

While it wasn’t necessary, Chris asked if I wanted some organic nectarines that she had brought from her orchard. Although I am somewhat allergic to pitted fruit, I couldn’t resist. We stopped by their campsite and chatted a bit. Turns out she is a retired teacher so we talked a bit; making her burn some of the lunch she was preparing. After causing the damage, we walked away with an organic tomato and cucumber as well. I hope they end up checking out this post so that they know to send me an email.

The photos were plentiful. We ended up spending close to 8 hours there, and we could have spent more. I think this park had the coldest water thus far. The ice in the lake I was in pretty much assures that. Oh, we also Parkcached while there and earned ourselves some carabineers. Just in the nick of time, as the visitor center was closing in 10 minutes. We left the park and headed for Battery Spencer overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge.

We got some nice night photos then headed to a parking area to catch some Z’s for the night. The sign said you start paying for parking at 7 AM, so we planned to get up by 6:45. Let’s see if we don’t oversleep!