Week 4 – It’s A Small World After All

Back when cell phones didn’t exist and no one knew what the hell a “Carmel Macchiato” was (and for those of you that still don’t, this is a sweet, fluffy, coffee drink that Starbucks makes) the world seemed a little bigger than it does today. Now, getting in touch with someone 3,000 miles away is as easy as flipping a switch and, Presto!, instant sunlight in the dead of night or turning a faucet that immediately unleashes a seemingly unlimited supply of drinkable water. These are some of the things one begins to reevaluate while traveling across the country in not-so-luxurious accommodations. Not only does personal hygiene become difficult to maintain to keep up with mainstream society but you begin to see things a little different. Roads become life-giving arteries of highways and byways pumping you all over the nation with unlimited access. Things seem closer than they appear and conversations between strangers begin to determine where you should go and what is worth doing once you get there. You also begin to trust people more as well as your own intuition about what you want. And, oddly enough, the faster and farther you go, the slower life seems to happen.

Looking back, you can remember days when you couldn’t even get the simplest errands done. But now, in just one day, it’s possible to travel across two states, take a two-hour hike down and out of the Grand Canyon, find a free spot to set up camp, read for an hour and be asleep before 10 o’clock! And don’t be deceived by quantity because even roaming at such high speeds there remain endless moments in which the smallest happenings don’t slip by unnoticed. You really do begin to appreciate the little things. Like, have you ever noticed how impressive a game of hacky-sac can be, especially when all the players know what they’re doing? Or have you ever watched a dog in the throngs of pure ecstasy running helter-skelter after a frisky he has no hope of catching? Witnessed a herd of elk more than 30 strong weave themselves through a forest shrouded in early morning fog? Beautiful things are happening all around us and they aren’t happening that far away. Just outside of Ouray, CO you can wake up to big horned sheep grazing in your front lawn or wander off I-70 west of Denver into the Holy Cross Wilderness to discover what the “spring thaw” really means. Expect the unexpected and never be too surprised by what you’re going to get because there is no end to the many unusual things that can happen. Sitting beside a bed of hot coals left over from an early morning fire, you might not even notice the tiny creature, wired by some unimaginable energy, as it comes zigzagging up beside you like a loose bottle rocket. Suddenly, you are startled by sounds you cannot comprehend and you turn from the book you were engaged in to locate the disturbance within the force. And then, POP, up shoots what you think is a chipmunk but the royal blue color its head seems to be throws you off and you begin imagining that this might be some bizarre new hybrid. Excited about an opportunity to name your own genus, you watch in earnest as this curious little thing hops to and fro until it turns like a hurricane in your direction and recognition hits you. Yes, it is definitely a chipmunk and one that has secured a treasure beyond its reckoning and partially stuffed into its elastic cheeks – an empty single-serving coffee cream container complete with aluminum lid. Well, there goes your Scientific Discovery Award and any chance you had at a rare species breeding program, but that’s ok, you decide, maybe tomorrow you’ll discover a rare lizard that has three eyes and feathers growing out of its armpits. But fame and fortune do not hinder your kind heart into action as you get up to confront this deceived forager from possibly making the last worst decision of its life. And, as most confrontations go when really big unknown objects approach small, fragile hyper-active objects, all current directives dislodge themselves from conscious thought to be replaced instantaneously by desires of fleeing in terror. The little guy drops his already forgotten cache as his entire body seems to defy gravity as he ricochets into nonexistence. This is just one example from an impossibly long list of memories that we wish all of you could have experienced too but, unfortunately, this is when being there makes all the difference.

So yeah, you could say we have traveled quite a long way within a very short time but that fact has, by no means, affected how much we have experienced. The next time you think about how it’s just too far to get somewhere you’ve never been before or that it would be too confusing and difficult once you got there, remember a few things: 1) This really is a small world and it is getting smaller the more we advance in technology. Traveling in our modern age is peanuts compared to what it used to be like. A Grayhound bus ticket from point A to point B anywhere in the nation is just $99, and 2) Things are never as difficult as they seem. Anxiety and over-analyzation have not only become the leading causes of stress-related health problems in the world but they are causing these things completely unnecessarily. There are guides out there, maps to follow and step-by-step outlines for anything you could want to do. Get into Globalfreeloaders.com or Couchsurfers.com, buy an Atlas road map and reap the unbelievable benefits they have via their website, get online and DO some research, go to the library, contact your local governmental recreation agencies or call up a local travel agent – they are all there to help you. Just start asking questions – you’ll get answers, we promise.

Go to that town that you read about in the whatever and do aaaall the things it talked about. Oh, and if you happen to be in Denver, CO, check out the Buenos Aires Pizzeria on 22^nd and Market. Not only will you get, guaranteed, amazing food but you just might have a great conversation too.

Week Three – Actors, Art and 12 Bottles of Wine for $24

Hello and good morning/evening or whatever time of day it happens to be for you. Another week is behind us and we are 530 miles away from where we were last Sunday (520 miles of that total were eclipsed just yesterday).

Looking back now, it has been really good to tell the story of what we are doing. It is as if relating it makes it even more real. Honestly, when you are in the midst of something there isn’t any real comprehension. It’s like being in a car accident – the surreal feeling of complete disassociation as you spin around and around with the world outside trying in vain to find some point of stability. It isn’t until everything has stopped flipping upside down that you actually grasp what’s happened.

This past week our world finally stopped spinning enough for us to gather what’s happened in just the short time we’ve been traveling. Compared to our first and second weeks of travel, week #3 has been relatively mild and with finally a chance to analyze where we have been, what we have done and where we are going (physically and mentally) it has been an appreciated respite from all of our coming and going.

We’re in Flagstaff, AZ at the moment sitting in a small local cafe called “Late for the Train Espresso Bar and Bakery”. Good coffee and even better music. Flagstaff is quite wonderful and it is possibly the first town we have come across that both of us have thought, “Yeah, I could live here.” But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. When last we spoke we were nestled deep in the Valley of Los Angeles, CA staying with Marc and Stacy (Thanks for everything, you guys!). Monday’s greatest adventure was getting the oil changed in our car (be wary of the Midas off Van Nuys and Chandler Blvd. The owner is an angry little man). After that we spent the majority of the evening getting to know our new friend from Australia. Sebastian, an actor/musician from Melbourne (South of Sydney on the east coast – check him out at myspace.com/sebgregory) was in town for the week for interviews/script readings. Great guy and good looking too. The last we heard of him (on Friday) he’d gotten two callbacks to audition for two different movies (both of which he seemed happy about the scripts). We wish you luck and hope to see you on the big screen soon, friend. Monday was also the day that Stacy had made the decision to have white wine bottles serve for vases for the center decorations at her wedding and, having knowledge of our love for wine, asked for help gathering empty bottles. Having a baby kind of makes it hard to drink alcohol and we sympathized enough to indulge her request. I think we cleared 6 bottles by 5pm Tuesday (they were shared between 4 people and no driving was involved for all of those would-be worriers out there). There was lots of drawing and journaling to say the least (Jess wants to get one of her drawing’s scanned into to share – it’s pretty). Sleep happened at some point.

Tuesday’s tale isn’t something to get too excited about (well, at least not for you guys, we enjoyed ourselves). It came and went with, cleaning, laundry, reading and finishing up our last bottle of wine.

Wednesday was a bit more active and there were lots of things we saw and would like to share. By noon we’d packed up all of our stuff and headed toward Culver City (a sub-city of L.A. where a lot of galleries are) to meet up with Keegan’s Brother (Tavish) and for about an hour we walked down the strip and whent into gallery after gallery after gallery. The George Billis Gallery had an amazing artist called Kunihiko Maehara and his work really iconizes patients to the max by drawing the same symbol over and over again in different widths and heights to create some amazing decorative patters. The pieces were huge too and completely drawn in bic pens. The Kim light gallery has an incredible watercolor artist, Kim McCarty. Each piece was a beautiful human form and each is an inspiring illustration of how versatile watercoloring can be. The Honor Fraser Gallery was/is featuring oil paintings by Yi Chen. If you were to mix Picaso with any modern pop-surrealist you’ll have some concept of her wonderfully textured and bizarre portraits. Around 4pm we cut out of Culver City to check out a gallery further downtown – one which we have both visited nearly every time we come to L.A. and they (Gallery 1988) just happened to be having an opening the same day we decided to check them out. Luckily for us someone left the front door unlocked too. The three of us wandered in to take a look and the gallery owners just didn’t have it in them to kick us out. So, we to enjoy the work of Mark Brown (www.browntownstudios.com) without having to wait 2-3 hours during the opening at 7pm. On average, 1988 can have upwards of 2,000 people attend one of their smaller openings – yeah, lucky us. But it gets even better, we got a chance to speak – without interruptions – with Mark about his work without having a hundred people push us about. He is a top-notch guy and it was awesome to speak with him about his work. Figuratively, his pieces are Hans Christian Anderson on steroids – a bizarre mesh of children’s stories on vacation with Hieronymus Bosch. Mark was also able to relate to us the story (in the works of becoming a picture book?) that is behind all of his paintings on display at G1988 and it is definitely something we are both looking forward to reading in the future. If anyone out there reading this is in L.A. go check this stuff out – you wont be sorry for having gone. We left downtown quite refreshed and drove the 20 miles (1.5 hours) to Tavish’s place and spent a wonderful evening with him and Laura watching The Boondock Saints and Doubt (both are amazing movies and recommended).

Thursday was a slow day in the city of angels. We caught up on some reading and had a good chance to go through our workout routines. Tavish gave Keegan a book called Einstein’s Dreams for his birthday (yup, Keegan turned 25), which he finished in a single day. Highly imaginative and recommended to anyone that is exploring the concepts of time. Jess is still enjoying Huston Smith’s book about world religions and she has had some fantastic ideas about how to structure her children’s book “Timothy Tommy” from reading this book. We picked up Laura after she got out of her last class and headed to a hill somewhere off of some road in Buena Park to see all of L.A spread out below us. It was a perfect night and visibility was high. The hours ticked by as we sat and talked, getting to know Laura a little more, and enjoyed the company of several owls out on their nightly hunt (beautiful creatures). At some point we slipped over to the local dollar theater and saw “He’s just no that into you” (not a bad movie – it has a huge cast but it isn’t nearly as funny as was expected, there was a good bit of drama worked into the plot) before dropping Luara off and heading back to Tavish’s place to sleep.

Friday was preparation day before leaving L.A. We drove back up to Marc’s place (with no traffic it only takes about 25 min!) to gather some things we had left (it happens even to everyone) and pick up the portable scanner we had ordered and delivered to us. Check it out at www.planon.com. It is the RC805 model. Very, very cool. Around 3:00pm we said goodbye to Marc and Sebastian and headed back down to Buena Park (with light traffic right before the getting-off-work rush it took us an hour) and decided against getting all decked out to wander away from our comfort zone to some club where we’d have to pay way too much money to end up having a good time. Instead the boys went out and picked up some $5 pizzas and rum and we spent the rest of the evening watching movies, arguing about the ethical principles behind the Olympics, the monetary system and evolution. At some point Jess accompanied Laura back to her apartment to gather some small travel-sized canvas stretchers, which Laura wanted to give us. We also acquired enough coffee to last us a whole year, a Dremel tool, Jess got a new shirt and a coat and some pieces of wood for carving. Laura, you are awesome and Jess really enjoyed getting to know you – she’s definitely found a new friend.

Saturday morning was a bit slow at starting but we were on the road out of L.A. by 8:30am. It was a straight shot to Phoenix on I-10 before we turned north on I-17 to Flagstaff. We decided on eating at a local Chinese restaurant and stopped over at Starbucks to leech Wi-Fi so we could figure out what we were doing. Turns out we learned more from the guy working at Starbucks than anything we could find online. He suggested we go up this road, stay right, turn here and end up in a place in the Coconino National Forest where we could set up camp for free. It was a great suggestion and we wandered out far enough to feel like we were lost in the woods, set up camp and went to sleep.

So, now it is today, Sunday, and we have been ever so productive. We woke up, packed up camp, reorganized the car – everything is once again in its place – and now isn’t even 2pm and we are nearly finished with writing our post – this is awesome. We have tentative plans to hang out in Flagstaff for the rest of the day to see whom we can meet and what we can get ourselves mixed up in. We’re going to be heading up to the Grand Canyon here in the next day or so (depending on what we learn from the locals) before traveling up into Denver for a few days and then heading into the Shambhala Mountain Center (you can get more info about the Center here, www.shambhalamountain.org). Once at the Center our cell phones will have no reception so, if you need to get in contact with us you’ll have to call the Center and leave us a message or you can expect a phone call from us on Sundays. We’ll be at the Center for a month. If you’d like an address to which you can mail things to us while we are there, let us know.

It is beautiful outside, not a cloud in the sky and the temperature is a mild 70.

We hope each of you out there are enjoying life as much as possible and thanks for reading. Love, peace and good energy to all of you.

- Jess and Keegan

Week 2 – Vegas, Venice and a Really Horrible Movie

Well hello, hello! It is good to be back in touch with so many of our wonderful friends!

Week two started with our descent out of the solitary wilderness that is southern Utah and northern Nevada straight into the American playground that is Las Vegas. The 3.5-hour drive was just the mid-morning adventure (after hiking out 6+ miles from our camp site in the Southwest desert of the Zion National Park). We sipped hot tea on the road and discussed progressive concepts of social evolution on the way. Once having made our way into the city, we wandered about on a few side streets until we got our bearings and located our hostel for the evening. It is really fun being in new places around new people – especially those people that differ from you in some extremes. We stood around at the hostel check-in while the two Swedish receptionists consulted each other back and forth. We offered consolatory nods and gestures as we waited patiently for them to figure out the computer system to check us in and issue us our room key. Both girls had just arrived in Vegas and neither had any idea what they were doing. After about 20 min. there was a managerial takeover and we were sent on our way. There was a pool, free breakfast, clean sheets, fluffy pillows and – most important – a shower with hot water. Having spent the morning hiking six plus miles down out of the Zion backcountry and driving with no air-conditioning through the hot desert and a solid week of living out of our car, we were both past due for a good scrub. After washing the leftovers of the past week away, we whipped out our handy little computer to attack the Internet in search of the night’s entertainment. With minds made up and stomachs growling, we grabbed a map of the area and drove straight for the main Strip – Las Vegas Boulevard. Once we passed into the strip-proper, we dropped down to 10 mph and cruised toward the Treasure Island Casino. We had decided to see the acrobatic extravaganza, Mystere, yet another one of Cirque du Soleil’s amazing shows, which began at 9:30pm leaving us with plenty of time to grab dinner and explore the 4 miles of million dollar casinos dressed up in their best. As we found out, with each casino boasting unique attractions and covered in dazzling lights, they are all interesting to journey into (though, once you are far enough south on the strip they all begin to look the same).

At around a quarter past 6pm we decided our stomachs were now our priority and began our hunt in search of food. The Wynn Hotel and Casino Buffet boasted foods from all over the world in every type of arrangement and flavor at its finest quality – and they weren’t lying. 2 hours later and about 20 lbs. heavier, we still went back to the lines for desert before slowly making our way out onto the strip. With how much it cost to eat there, there was no way either of us was going to leave without at least devouring everything we could. Our bellies were hurting but it was worth it. Everything was so delicious and there were so many different things to chose from – it was like going to 5 completely different restaurants all at once (Jess now likes anchovies – fresh ones, at least).

With one goal now behind us we both agreed that after such an ordeal our bodies would enjoy a prolonged walk up and down the causeway where the many lights and fancy things desired to be looked at and experienced. We saw Dale Chihuly instillations, butterfly hatcheries, flying umbrellas, the Paris sky in the middle of summer and were delighted by the Bellagio’s Dancing Water display before we pointed our feet back towered our dream theater. The majestic gymnasts inspired such creativity as they told the tale of two small children’s imagination. It was beautiful to say the least.

We exited from our day around 1:30 am after starting at 5 am. Sleep wasn’t something we had to try hard to find.

The next day we rose rested and energized after sleeping in our first bed in 7 days and, still on camping time, we were both ready to go by 8am. After checking out of the hostel, we headed back out to the strip to take in more people, places and things that we couldn’t seem to get enough of the day before. We stocked up on some Slurpees to ward off the Nevada heat and a small handy of rum to share between us (One 16oz bottle of pure rum for $10 at the quickie-Mart or 1 4oz. mixed cocktail at some Vegas bar for $12… you do the math. It may be a little ghetto but it saved us so much money). We spent nearly the whole day outside watching people walk up and down the strip. As the day wore on so did the sun and not even our wonderful Slurpees could save us from the heat. Luckily enough there were fountains to be cooled in weather we were supposed to or not, though, we will not recommend following the example. Vegas isn’t stupid and they load those babies up with so much chlorine you’ll wish you hadn’t jumped in to begin with. Well, maybe. We had no regrets.

Night came quickly and we hardly noticed how late it was getting until we sat down at the local Denny’s Diner. 12am. Since our goal was to be out of Vegas by noon the next day we spent the better part of the next hour eating a bit of early breakfast before meandering our way back to our car to sleep. (NOTE: If you ever need a good place to rest in your car for a few hours, Pilot Gas Stations have designated areas for cars with drivers who need sleep – not just truckers. It saved us from getting yelled at by the Casino parking garage attendants again).

So, after a semi-restful night we arrived at our next destination – Henderson,NV – which is about 45min. southeast of Vegas. This was a very exceptional day for us. Prior to leaving Taos, NM we advertised on globalfreeloadrers.com about being in the Vegas area and needing a place to sleep. A response came at our request offering accommodations and friendship. Happily we got in contact with Ruffino of Henderson, NV and made arrangements to stay the night before we headed out of Nevada to L.A. That day became one of the most enriching experiences we had had since our trip began. We met completely new people, stayed in completely new places and to top it all off we had the best pizza ever. Thank you guys so much for all of your hospitality and we hope all of you are happy and well.

That night we fell asleep comfortable and tired but ready for our adventure to continue. Of the few things we can say for certain since beginning this voyage is that the more we move the harder it is to stay in one place too long. Wanderlust has definitely found its way into our hearts and that was obvious enough with our early start the next morning. By 3pm Thursday we had arrived in L.A. several hours before we originally thought and, to that effect, we were running several hours ahead of others who we’d plan to meet up with upon our arrival. But it wasn’t a problem. With the few hours of extra time we headed to a local grocery store, picked up a bottle of wine, some bread and cheese and headed out to one of the many parks that dot L.A.’s massive body. It is always pleasurable to see people outside enjoying the weather and each other. A friend of ours, Marc Blackwell, joined us for the remainder of our mid-day snack before escorting us back to his lovely home, his fiancée, Stacy, and their soon to be baby girl (We’re almost certain they’ll name her Zoë), in Sherman Oaks, CA. We stayed up late into the night (at some point, Keegan’s brother, Tavish, made his way over) catching up with old friends.

Mid-morning found us in the car exploring the labyrinth that is the city. Good coffee made a great additive to a lazy day and on the way back to Marc’s we stopped by the world’s greatest food market, Trader Joe’s, to grab enough ingredients to make Baja fish tacos. With bellies stuffed and minds content we drowned the rest of the evening in books.

Friday morning arrived like all the others – sunny-side up and breezy. Today we headed to Venice Beach, probably one of the most historical places in all of L.A. and one that is notorious for its ever carnival-like atmosphere. But we weren’t going just to visit – we were going to stay and experience all that Venice had to offer. Another friend of ours, Anton (You crazy Russian – we love you man and wish you’d been here to see and experience) has an apartment right off beach – literally 100 feet from the boardwalk. As we pulled passed the apartment it became quite obvious that this was no ordinary place (how could we have expected anything less with Anton involved) with its iron gates, fantasy frescoes and gargoyles adorning the outside – we could hardly wait to see what was inside. After parking a few blocks away we carried our meager amount of stuff to the gated entrance and escorted ourselves in. We met Lord Milton and a few of the other Bordello’s dwellers (they call the apt. complex The Bordello) as we wandered about getting a good eye full of the absolute fantasy that it is. It was an old house that had been converted into apartments and dressed up quite extravagantly for the pleasure of the tenants and for the confusion of anyone that passes by. Red, purple, deep blue and yellow lights cast glows of magical realms while house gnomes hide in all corners, fairies flit from light pole to light bulb and Poseidon lassoes dolphins cascading across the roof. Lavishing in the extremes of our new environment, we soaked up the energies for a while before finding pleasant relaxation while watching the Godfather on a projector 6 foot wide and 4 foot tall. But, before finishing, we paused the show at its most climactic moment and made our way in time to meet Marc and Stacy at a movie premier, The Pit and the Pendulum. It turned out to be some below B-Horror flick that a friend of theirs was staring in. It was possibly the worst movie either of us has ever seen and that is all that that movie deserves to have spoken about it. But, needless to say it wasn’t a waste of time. Laughter shared with friends never is. We returned to Venice and to the cave-like confines of the Bordello to finish the Godfather. What a terrific movie (Jess had never seen it before) and just as it finished Tavish, his girlfriend Lora and some of their friends dropped by to check the place out and have a few laughs while we watched the Saulton Sea. We enjoyed our evening to the fullest and found our bodies once again ready for a good nights sleep. Life is so good.

Waking to the day bright and bustling outside with the sounds of people going, coming, selling and trading blowing in through the open windows, we rolled out of bed and hit the Boardwalk. Wondering out among the currents of people like an ocean of bodies we were buffeted from all sides by skates, bikes and boards all maneuvering in and out of the walking schools of people. We examined all the venders toting their wears and goods while the bums slept right behind them. Once we had our fill of things for sale we sat close to the ocean and drank in its powerful, freeing energy. As the last rays of the setting sun tanned our skin before traveling down over the distant water, the cold crept in with the tide. Each vender like scared mice out in the open began scuttling away from their temporary space to disappear – some into cars, some to homes, and some just to wander till they are welcomed back to the sunny freakshow the next day. For us, it was an easy few paces back into the house for one of Jess’s fantastic meals. Mark and Stacy came by and we watched Dumbo while eating delicious turkey burgers on bagels. Sufficiently full on food, culture and wine we all fell asleep. The next morning we each woke separately seemingly on purpose to wander the strip at our own pace in directions we chose. And, at the noontime’s highest, we all found our way back to the house at the same time to prepare to leave the shore and head back into the valley for the next few days.

Now nestled in at Marc’s and Stacy’s place we are recounting our journey to all of you as much as to ourselves. In retrospect, there is nothing you can’t analyze to reap some lessons from. Our lessons are as follows: have a professional stack your wine-glass pyramids, wear plenty of sunscreen, don’t trust Google maps, smell cheese before you taste it or you may regret having tried it, there are many breeds of people and never leave home without your keys.

We send love to all of you whom we’ve had the pleasure to meet and we are anxious to meet those of you whom we’ve yet to stumble across on this journey.

Be happy and we wish you all well.

Until next time – Jess and Keegan

The Facts

Note: This is a factual post about places and things discussed in the post titled “Week 1 – Southwest and Lights”.  Please feel free to read this before or after you read the other post but you might have a better time if you read the other post first.

April 13^th – Monday

Tecolote, NM

- Tecolote is Nahuatl (Aztec Indian) for “owl.”

Las Vegas, NM

- Montezuma Hot Springs, located northwest of the town of Las Vegas on the grounds of the United World College. Three clusters of concrete soaking pools of various sizes and temperatures.

April 14^th – Tuesday

Taos, NM and the Carlson National forest

- Camped off of forest road 9. we told the guy who told us about the site along the Rio Grande Gorge we wouldn’t tell anyone about it so this is all the info we’re giving.

- Eske’s Café – Green Chili Beer & Sushi Tuesdays. Great, great people and even better food. their menu changes up every day but you can fall back to their secondary menu if you don’t like their daily specials. Try a SAMPLE of their Green chili Beer because a whole pint is too much! the Scottish Ale is good and a little bitter while their 10,000 Footer is a mass of dark, bitter-sweet thickness and really nice if you are hungry.

o 106 Des Georges
Taos, NM 87571
(575) 758-1517

April 15^th – Wednesday

- Taos Ski Valley – Taos Ski Valley was incorporated as a village in 1996 as New Mexico’s 100th municipality.  While the last official census put their human population at 56 inhabitants, they share the valley with a much larger population of deer, elk, bear, and bighorn sheep.

- Taos Pueblos – is the only living Native American community designated both a World Heritage Site by UNESCO and a National Historic Landmark. The multi-storied adobe buildings have been continuously inhabited for over 1000 years.

- Elevation Coffee – only open for 7 days when we hit them up for tea, coffee and free Wi-Fi. They serve several kinds of gelato, muffins and other cakes and cookies. Great people, clean and in a good location north of Taos on H 64. Hit them up!

- Take the H-64 Drive North from Taos to Tierra Amarilla – Beautiful!

El Vado Lake – only a herd of 20+ deer were our companions. Pretty place but we only slept here. wish we’d had the time to stay a while and fish. Their lake pulls trout and kokanee salmon.

April 16^th – Thursday

- H64 to H98 to H89 into Page, Arizona (we were told to go to the brewery in Page but couldn’t spend the $50 for the tour but our very reliable source says it was amazing and worth it. neither of us are big beer drinkers but if you are – you know where to go in Page, AZ.

- Glen Canyon State park and Lake Powell – More than 400 feet deep, 186 miles long and nearly 2,000 miles of shoreline, Lake Powell surrounds you with spectacular rock canyons and towers. Its rosy sand beaches and gentle giants of towering rocks alongside this blue-green desert seascape is like no other place on earth.

- Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument – this remote 2-million acres of bold plateaus and multi-hued cliffs was the last place in the continental United States to be mapped. It is completely accessible to the public via a backcountry pass (it’s free). Grab one at the Big Water’s ranger station and head out into the, literally, unknown (via some very rough dirt roads).

April 17^th – Friday

- Zion National Park is often said to be the most beautiful place in America. “Spectacular” just can’t sum up this Utah National Park. Zion unveils itself in eight layers of sandstone that has taken two-hundred-million years to carve and mold into a masterpiece of towering cliffs, deep red canyons, mesas, buttes and massive monoliths. Zion’s fame is due to more than its beauty, but also its incredible geology, hiking, backpacking and scenic drives.

- Southwestern Desert Chinle Trail – 7mil. to our campsite (#1)

April 18^th – Saturday – Chinle Trail

April 19^th – Sunday

- The Mean bean Springdale, UT. – Est. in 1998 as a great location for coffee tea and sarcasm. Locally owned and run it is a great place to meet locals and enjoy the beautiful Utah wilderness around you. Their Burritos are amazing and their coffee is triple organic certified and quite tasty.

o 932 zion park boulevard

springdale, utah 84767

(435)772-0654

- Las Vegas – USA Hostels Las Vegas Cheap with free coffee, tea (all day) and an all you can eat pancake breakfast!

Week 1 – Southwest and Lights

Hello all -

We hope this update finds you happy and well. Below is an account on our adventures so far and a few things we have learned along the way.

We set out for New Mexico one week ago on the 13th of April. We thought all of our planning had been put in order and we wouldn’t have too many alterations to bear. Well, so much for what we knew. To our delighted surprise, as soon as we were getting close to our first campsite destination in Santa Fe, NM we received a phone call from some good old friends. Jacob Berkin (a friend of ours from old Edmond, OK) and his fellow lost boys where holed up on his brother’s ranch within 20 minutes of where we were at. So, we decided to pull a u-turn and head back along the highway to join them. After some roundabout directions (which without a cell-phone would not have been possible) we landed in the back foothills of the mountains near Tecolote, NM. There were lots of hugs and good energy shared with this bunch. Jake and crew informed us that there was some great hot springs about 25 minutes up the road right below the United World Collage off Montezuma RD near Las Vegas, NM. We set out that evening in search of those medicinal, mineral waters and while we were there bathing in the 118 degree pool (a sanctuary from the mid 40s air) we met some great people and learned a little history about the small town of Las Vegas, NM. One of these friendly locals was called Betty or Booker, depending on who you asked, and her agile 59yr. old frame moved about as if she was 20 hoisting herself in and out of the hottest pool these springs had to offer. She claimed that her health secret was hot spring’s water. Turns out she comes to the springs twice a day, once at 4am and then again at 10pm after she gets done working with horses up on a local ranch. We sure hope we can enjoy such long and impactful days when we are that age. She told us that the springs had been bought by a wealthy entrepreneur in the mid-1980’s and he tried to close them down. The entire town of Las Vegas showed up in the courtroom to make sure that their natural springs stayed open and available to all. And that did. The towns people also promised the wealthy man to take care of the concrete tubs and rock pools, draining and scrubing them down once a month. Booker not only shared this history lesson with us but she also changed our plans once again (and looking back, it could have been a better choice than to follow her advice). She told us (in her own roundabout way) that Santa Fe in the last few years had become more of a tourist town and that if we were to go anywhere we needed to go to Taos. It apparently is the way Santa Fe used to be 20 years ago. So, with smiles and hugs we headed back to the ranch to huddle around the fire till sleep came upon us.

The next day we rose with the sun to a brisk morning, a warm breakfast and said our goodbyes before making our way north to Taos, NM. Not that we overlooked the gorgeous, forest-covered, winding roads on our way to Taos but the town itself struck us far more spectacular. Upon arriving in this beautiful mountain-town we just happened to find ourselves wandering around in the old-town Plaza full of its own unique shops and supplies. A mountain outfitting store is nestled in among all the galleries and knickknack shops to which we entered to ask some questions and stock up on some propane for our stoves. While there we met Shane, the store attendant, experienced mountaineer and climber. He had grown up in Taos and was more than willing to help us to a near-by free campsite to stay the night. Well, after he pointed us in the right direction we got to talking about our adventures and where we where headed and (since we were open to suggestions now that all of our plans had changed so much) he told us that Lake Powell and Zion National Park were on his “must see” list and would “awaken great joy with in you”. The smiles he boasted about his journeys to these places were convincing enough and we knew what we where going to be doing once we left the NM area. But first we needed to know what to do in the town we where in. The whole store seemed to be adamant about us going to the local beer pub to try the Green Chili Beer but we were forewarned not to have a whole pint but to just grab a sampler. That advice turned out to be a great suggestion because neither of us think we could have stomached a whole pint – but that is not to down the beer at all – it was great, just very intense. For dinner though, we did decided on two other brews from this local microbrewery and we’ll recommend them to anyone that likes a heavier beer: The 10,000 footer (think a bitter-sweet Guinness) and the Scottish Ale ( a nice rich amber). Both are quite good and come highly recommended by the local staff. Once we had our fill of downtown Taos we headed out to find our night’s home. After we drove down along forest road 9, a winding dirt road, we reached the perfect plot of land overlooking the Rio Grande Gorge to stay for the night. Stunned for a few minuets by the locations awe-inspiring beauty we set up camp quick and built a fire to ward off the evening’s cold. We watched the flames die out and climbed into our cocoons to keep warm while our bodies rejuvenated for the next day’s adventures.

We awoke with a little more gusto than we had any morning previously but this does tend to happen when you hear rain sprinkling the top of your tent and you know that, if it Does rain, the car you drove out here with wont make the trip out. In under 5 min. we had the whole of our camp in the car and were on our way. With the suns arrival we headed toward the only Rio Grand Gorge crossing for 100 miles. The bridge was quite a spectacle and it kept our attention for an hour or so while we reorganized the chaos that had become our car. With teeth brushed, our tent and gear appropriately stowed, we got our bearings toward the Taos Pueblos. Once on the reservation we walked around viewing the hand-made jewelry and foodstuffs born from one of our nation’s oldest towns to have continuous inhabitants for over 1000 years. We bought some great bread from a local Indian and munched on its nutritious fiber as we wondered around the town with the community dogs following close at our footsteps. They must have known how good the bread was. The hour had reached late afternoon by the time we began questioning where we were going to lay our heads for sleeping, so we jumped into the car and started to head toward Lake Powell. All we knew was that was where Shane had bade us go and there would surly be something between here and there that our car and tent could call home for a few hours of rest. Slipping through the mountains covered in more than several feet of snow, we came upon El Vado State Park nestled among the sparse arid-forests. Not a soul was there, human anyway, we were accompanied by a herd of more than 20 deer for the majority of the evening. We spent the night in our car allowing for a quick start in the morning (not having to pack up our tent and gear) and, as it turned out, that was the best idea. We not only said good morning to the sun but also to several inches of snow! Chilled but awake, we headed out of the park back to H 64. After several more hours of driving snowy roads we entered into the desert of Arizona and soon there after we reached the city of Page, AZ on the southern shore of Lake Powell. Of the few things we had originally planned on doing, one of them was aquiring an “American the Beautiful” annual pass. This pass allows the card holders and a vehicle free entrance into any federally owned and operated national forest, park, monument and preserve. It cost us $80 for a year but it is already helping. While signing the paperwork for the said pass, we picked the brain of the Ranger that was helping us. He pointed us not towards the lake itself but to some slot canyons up H-89 about 30 min. from where we were. Well, we went to the station we thought he told us to go to but missed it by 10 miles. Fortunately we stopped at a station for another national monument and we gained our free backpacking permits for the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument. With permit in hand we backtracked about 4 miles to a turn off to a dirt road and drove an hour to the Paria Box Canyon. We parked, set camp and wandered about till it was dark enough to have to sleep.

Morning met us awake and already packing as we traced our way back down the dirt road to the highway turn off towards the ranger station we were trying to get to yesterday. We were running early on purpose in hopes of getting permits into Coyote Buttes but, as morning ambled on, more and more people showed up and we were forced into the lottery for a chance at winning the passes. You see, Coyote Buttes is possibly one of the world’s most famous rock formations. You probably have seen it in pictures and it is because of its fame that the park service only allows 20 people to walk the wave each day and 10 walk-in permits. The morning we showed up the new record for this season totaled up at 70 people. We unfortunately did not win passes but we went out and hiked Wire Pass to Buckskin Gulch (the two other places our Annual-pass giving ranger said we should see) and couldn’t have had a better time. These two trails take you through gorgeous slot canyons at an easy grade. They are both worth seeing.

By mid noon we were out of the canyons and to our car ready to head for our next destination, Zion National Park. At only an hour away, we took our time getting back behind the wheel. With tempetures now reaching into the mid 70s it was nice to feel the wind blow through our open windows as we headed north on hwy 89 to hwy 9. Scoring one for the American the Beautiful Pass, our $25 entrance fee into Zion was waved and we entered into a place that literally defies imagination. Huge, big, colorful, mountainous – completely made of rock. The list could go on but our pictures say 1000 words and more. We took the 25min. scenic drive through the southeastern edge of the park before getting out to ask questions about backcountry camping in the park. Turns out we needed a permit and our closest campsite was 7miles into the park on foot. Exhilarating. This will have been our first chance to get to pack all our gear up into our packs and hike out. Needless to say some of our group was a little nervous or could it have been anxiousness? Well, regardless of what we really felt it was now 3:30pm and we had to get to our trailhead, park, pack and hike out to our site before nightfall. We headed south on hwy 9 through the town of Springdale, UT which caters specifically to the people that work Zion and the multitudes the park brings to explore its land. The town is quintessentially a perfect example of a mountain-town nestled next to one of the worlds most visited parks. Aesthetically constructed to almost disappear into the landscape it is full of tourist-seeking outposts, lodges, motels, hotels and restaurants evenly infused with local ethnic culture and charm. It cannot be called a tourist-trap by our standards because it just doesn’t have a touristy feel. But enough about Springdale, we had to get to our campsite! The trail we had to take to get to our site was called Chinle and it took the better part of 2 ½ hours to hike out to our destination but the trail was amazing and worth every step. In every direction was a site quality enough to be on a postcard with towering mesas and colorful cliffs. Plus, the semi-arid desert scrub land, conifer trees and petrified forests made the hike more memorable than our eventually sore feet and hungry stomachs. Needless to say we were happy about finding the sign marking our designated campable area. Within an hour we had our tent set up, sleeping area arranged, eaten a hardy dinner and gone to sleep with resolutions to wake up when our bodies decided it was time to wake up.

It was well past sunrise when our bodies did decided it was time to begin the day and we were feeling the hike from the day before. But, a little soreness was not going to detour us away from hiking more of the Chinle trail. At 17.6 miles, one way, our camp wasn’t even halfway along the path. We spent the better part of early noon and midday hiking out about another 3 miles and back to our camp before we relaxed by reading and arranging the rocks around our site into neat patterns and balanced stacks. Night fell upon our already sleeping bodies and we dreamed till about 5:30am. Packed and already headed back within 20min. of waking up, we were ready to get back to our moble hub (our car) to prepare ourselves for our first reconnection with the world we hand left nearly one week ago. By mid morning we had located a wonderful place to camp out (the Mean Bean Cafe in Springdale, UT) for a few hours and kindly leech WI-FI while we gathered facts, corrected guesses and planned our next several days journey down into Las Vegas and L.A. By 12:30pm we were on the road to Las Vegas with excitement aimed for the bright lights and extravaganzas that Vegas offers. We arrived at our Hostel off Fremont, about 10 min. from the main stip, took our first showers since last Sunday and settled into clean clothes before journeying out. We decided at the beginning that we would spend a little extra money in Vegas to make the most out of what the city offers. We purchased tickets to see a Cirque du Soleil spin off show called Mystere and wandered into the Wynn Casino and Hotel to find food. It may have been a little pricey but the buffet was unbelievable. Foods from all over the world of all different kinds. We definitely ate our money’s worth and left with aching bellies to wander the strip till our show started. There are amazing amounts of people all up and down the Vegas strip – they alone should be a spectacle to come and watch. Mystere was amazing – the things people can do with their bodies is absolutely mind-blowing and the costumes were crazy! Around 1 am we maneuvered our ways through the traffic that becomes the main thoroughfare back to our hostel to sleep.

Well, we have told you of our start and about some of what we have encountered since our journey began. We hope you leave well educated, encouraged and excited about life. There is a lot out there and we’ve only been able to tell you about one journey that has occurred over 1,370 miles in 6 days. Live, love, learn and remember – you are capable of anything. Until next week friends! Live well and may many blessing find you healthy, happy and loved.

- Jessica and Keegan

Here. We. Go!

Hello all, welcome to the Beginning.

We have set out for New Mexico (or will have by 6am) with only 9 hours till we reach Albuquerque. From there we will go north, into the mountains, where we can look forward to seeing the Rio Grande from atop the Nation’s second largest suspension bridge – it was once called “the road to nowhere”, hot springs on the sides of mountains, and the Plaza Blanca (just to name a few). We’ll be in NM. for a few days (5 or so) before moving on into Arizona (more about that part of the trip in the next post as well as details about what happens while we are in NM).

It will be fun to see New Mexico again (Keegan has traveled here before but this will be a first for me) with its mountains cascading shadows over the vast arid landscapes of beautiful colors, mystical sunrises and disappearing orange sunsets which we will follow toward the edges of the western horizon.

As the first post to the beginning of this journey, we wish we could divulge more, but that would be impossible for two reasons. First, we have yet to begin the trip and are lack for information to relate back to you and second, we want to keep a portion of our comings and goings a surprise so that it can be just as much fun for you as it is for us. We hope to make this worth your investment to read each week by offering information, travel tips, tricks and suggestions as well as a pretty good story.

We share the lightness and laughter of our inner strength through everything that we do and are. We will be developing our minds and bodies with the beauty of the world, its people and the interactions we are blessed to experience.

We hope to meet you, see you, or just talk to you on line – or in person if our paths are meant to cross.

Thanks for dropping by to see what’s going on. Check back each Sunday for updates and we will be posting pictures as we go.

There have been a few updates with the website:

- You can now drop by the store and pick up a shirt or some stickers

- Be sure to run by the books page and check out the Stories and Informative sections to see upcoming publications and release dates.

- An elephant is said to have the best smelling capabilities of any known animal and that they almost never lose their way – clumsy at times but right on course.

and here are some people we think you’ll enjoy:

- For some stunning artistic accomplishments check out –

o THEDIRTYFABULUS.COM, and Zach Johnsen www.zenvironments.com/

o For some auditory intoxication give The Books and Eels a listen

o For reading something mystical check out the Celestine prophecy,

o Something raw Charles Bukowski’s Pleasures of the Dammed,

o Something poetic e. e. comings,

o Something modern pick up Haruki Murakami’s Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World.

Come join the heard at clumsyelephant.com

side note: elephants in cultures around the world represent – strength of mind, memory, transformation and spiritual power.

Thanks again

- Jess and Keegan

who knew…

wow. i really can’t believe that i can say this but… 1/2 of our website is built! only the content and links are missing but the design and basic navigation and pages are built – we even got our hosting up and running. which reminds me, i should put up a splash page of some sort. hmmmm.

as for the rest of the last few days – movies, friends, snow, snow, rain, sleep, great food (made something called Nun’s puffs – mostly lots of eggs, butter, flour and milk but they are sooo amazing for a breakfast substance) puppies and a lot of work.

short post. i’ll get back soon.

we’re all a little clumsy

it was a beautiful night last Monday and i decided to watch the thunderstorm instead of playing around on the computer. fair enough really since i spent most of the day staring at the screen. my wonderful roommate took me our for some drinks at a blues bar that she works at down town. i saw santa clause play ac/dc on guitar. it was a wonderful change from the norm. but, all was not just for fun and games… ok, that really isn’t true because in the end, everything really is either for fun or games(learning). i would like to introduce everyone to our new logo for clumsy elephant:

stumbling through life

just one of many possible color combinations we’ve chosen but i like this one best for making a strong impact. we have ordered business cards with all 12 color combinations on one side and some information about us on the other. they should be here in the next 5-10 days. we ordered them from moo.com. check them out – pretty fun company.

we have plans for the website brewing thought we do not have hosting set up yet, however, the domain has been bought – clumsyelephant.com. coding the site will be interesting considering neither keegan nor myself code much nor have we for many years. keegan and i also finished writing the introduction for our creative-journaling book, and please, keep in mind that that description is really loose. this is such a diverse book we haven’t quite nailed down its genre yet – bare with us

I have a wonderful idea for a children’s story book. i’ve shared it with several people and all of whom have enjoyed it very much. I’ll be at liberty to share it once i have more of it on paper and solid. It has to do with best friends, stories, nonsense and family. just a teaser but i think you will all really like it.

On some other note if you have not seen the movie “Man From Earth” you must. Netflix – for those who are members – has it for instant viewing only until the 1st of April when it will be removed – how sad.

i think this is really all. i know, not very stimulating but i’m still getting used to this whole “blogging” idea. i think it will progress as we get further on.

Gathering

Lots of thing are starting to fall into place.

For all of you out there keeping tabs we are still in Oklahoma City.

I was up early and went straight to work. It is amazing how much time it takes to color correct, crop and categorize images scanned in from journals. The fact that many of the journals have very textured paper wasn’t helping at all. I’d say about 3/4 of all that is done and i have about one day left of all that before i can begin isolating my time with layout and design.

Our logo for Clumsy Elephant is nearly done. I still need to get the text worked out and colors but the hard part is over!

Today has also presented us with a wonderful project. Keegan and I are gathering information regarding journals – the questions people have about them, reservations, ideas, complaints, wants, needs, desires, how-to’s etc. and are in the process of making a 30-50 page book to address those questions with examples, outside source information and tricks and tips from our own experience with journaling.

The best part about all this is that most college art and design classes here within the OKC area require their students to keep journals. We’ve spoken with two or three teachers regarding their programs and all of them are Highly interested in this book as a possible requirement for their freshmen students! How awesome!!!! Not only would that be at Least 200 orders a year but we’d have to update it constantly!

This is a very exciting probability for us.

Keep a look out for updates and revisions -  I can barely find time to get these posts out and I am constantly revising them.

from the mouths of our fathers

since before the age that we began to remember we have had stories and adventures dripped down upon us from the lips of society and yet few, if any, have the courage to stick out their tongue and capture the sticky sweetness of those stories; to taste dreams and make them real. belief – in yourself and in what a human being is capable of – clears all paths that were hidden from us and collects those scattered pearls of sugary amber into a full comb to which we can grasp and devour.

thus it is with all things in life. thoughts, desires, pains and even fate fall victim to our volition. when we decide on our course in life the whole universe conspires with us to achieve our personal legends. (if you have never read The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, i recommend that you do – i do not steal phrases from people that have more adequately written whole books concerning their ideals. credit is given where credit is due.)

you can never know where you are supposed to be without being there first.

you can never know who you are without changing in order to see what you were.

you can never know what is right or wrong because the universe doesn’t contain life within the limits of our human definitions. everything either is or is not and in the act of not being – it still is.

i hope to keep you all connected within me as i travel about these questions and search out this world to grow, learn and change.

- jess