Louisiana

We left the Grand Canyon at noon last Friday and decided to drive until we were too tired to continue. We made it all the way thru Arizona, New Mexico, and by the time we hit Texas we were dog tired. We were strongly urged by our friend from the mule ride to not overnight in El Paso. We refueled in El Paso and totally understood what Greg was talking about. We drove until 6 am the next morning and finally got some sleep in the Wal Mart parking lot outside Fort Stockton, TX. After 4 hours sleep we decided to soldier on and make Houston, TX. We drove for 8 hrs and found ourselves in the middle of a horrible flood! The roads were covered with 2 feet of water in some spots and somehow we managed to get the rig into Houston. We ended up having to spend two nights in Houston because the rain was so horrible and many of the roads were flooded. We made the most of our time in Houston and actually found a Wild Wings Café to eat at! It tasted just like back home and totally refreshed us.

From Houston we decided to go check out New Orleans. We found an awesome state park 40 miles north of the city in Madisonville, LA and set up shop for the next two days. On our first night we decided to grab some grub in The Big Easy. We crossed the causeway over Lake Pontchartrain and headed towards Joey K’s, which was another Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives selection. Crossing the causeway was a pretty neat experience. It is the longest bridge in the world at 28 miles long! We ate some great seafood and then toured around the French Quarter and checked out Bourbon Street. New Orleans was neat, but the Big Sleezy really didn’t have too much to offer us.

The next morning we got up at 4 am and drove 2 hrs south to go fishing in the marshes of Breton Sound. We had a charter trip arranged in Shell Island and all we knew was to be at the marina at 6 am sharp to meet Captain Dane. We got to the “marina” a little before 6 am and it was pretty much a rusted metal roof over a dock with every other board missing or rotten out. Shrimp and Oyster boats were flying thru the canal and they were so dilapidated I have no clue how they even float. I can’t even begin to describe what the back country bayous of Louisiana are like. You really have to go there to truly experience the scenery. At 6 am sharp a center console boat came flying down the canal and we were introduced to Captain Dane. Captain Dane was a true 100% ragin Cajun. We got introduced and baited up and hit the water. It was pitch black and the fog down there is so bad you can hardly see your hand in front of your face. We have absolutely no clue how Captain Dane knew where the boat was headed, but we went flying out of that canal and into the sound in the total darkness. We reached the marshes around sunrise and Captain Dane put us on the fish. We had a fish within the first two casts and the action never slowed down all day. We quickly hit it off with Captain Dane after learning how to decipher his thick Cajun accent and had an awesome time catching redfish, speckled trout, and black drum. By noon we already had 15 redfish in the boat and were limited out. Personally, fishing for reds is probably one of the most fun types of fishing. They hit like a freight train and put up a ferocious fight all the way to the cooler. We spent the rest of the day catching speckled trout and talking about life with Captain Dane. At the end of the day we had caught around 80 fish, had 35 keepers in the cooler, and were totally worn out and sunburned! We got back to the marina and Captain Dane cleaned our fish and then sent us to his neighbors to buy some fresh shrimp. Buying shrimp straight from the source is also another very interesting experience that would probably make the common person quit eating them altogether. The fishing trip was excellent and we’re already planning our next trip with Captain Dane.

I am very sad to inform our audience that Louisiana is the last stop on our road trip! Yeah, I am ready to cry because I don’t want to return to GA. Keep tuned for our farewell post!

-Cheggy

Grand Canyon

Leaving Zion National Park (SEE ZION BLOG BELOW) we drove to the town of Jacob Lake, Arizona which is about 35 miles north of the Grand Canyon. After a little research and talking to some locals we decided the North Rim was the best place to visit the Grand Canyon. The Grand Canyon is a gorge formed by the Colorado River and other geological processes that is 277 miles long, up to 18 miles across and 1 mile deep! So we head into North Rim to check out the famous Grand Canyon not knowing what to expect. I can personally say it was undescribable experience, the pictures we have cannot justify what it is like to be there. We checked out several trails that showed different parts of the canyon before heading to the visitor center/lodge. When we got to the lodge we saw a sign for mule rides that take you down into the canyon. Being the "experienced" mule riders we just had to check it out! We found out that we had missed the last ride for the day so we had to sign up for the next day 7:30 am ride. Now I don't mind getting up early but I haven't mentioned that the temperature the next morning was supposed to be down to 24 degrees! So the next morning with our heavy jackets, sock hats, and gloves we headed back to the park to start the adventure! On the drive there we hit temperatures as low as 14 degrees and had to avoid hit wandering mule deer! We got to the lodge and met our shuttle bus driver, a guy decked out in cowboy boots with spurs, cowboy hat, and chaps, a real cowboy who was in charge of transportation! I guess the weather had scared off most the people because there were only 3 other people who went on the ride with us, a couple from New Jersey and a oil man from Texas. We rode down about 1 1/2 miles to a point where the trail narrowed and let the mules and us take a break before heading back up. It was a great experience that let us see the canyon different than the typical tourist does. If you have the chance stop by even only for an hour or two the Grand Canyon is definitely worth it!


-POTTS

Zion National Park

From Las Vegas (SEE VEGAS BLOG BELOW) we decided to begin the homeward trek and headed east into Utah. Our destination was Zion National Park, which is located in the far SW corner of Utah. It was a quick 2.5 hour trip from Vegas to Hurricane, Utah and we found a decent campground 30 miles outside the park. We spent the first day getting the truck serviced, buying some much needed groceries, and catching up on our laundry at the campground. That night we made quick friends with our neighbor Tom from California and enjoyed hanging out with him and comparing road warrior stories.

The next morning we headed into Zion National Park. Zion is composed of 8 different brightly colored layers of rock that were deposited into the land some 200 million years ago. The park started as an ocean and then evolved into lake, river, stream, volcano, and then a dune filled desert. Over the years these layers have been eroded away by the Virgin River and led to the current cliff and canyon landscape of the park. Another attribute Zion is famous for is the 1.1 mile long tunnel that was cut out by hand in 1930. We spent the entire day touring and hiking thru Zion and were very impressed with the scenery.

-Cheggy

What Happens in Vegas Stays in Vegas...

The wide open life on the road was getting tough so we decided it was time to set up for a couple days in Las Vegas! We had a motive to be in Vegas for the weekend other than just the gambling, girls, and nightlife, we were meeting our NASCAR-employed buddy Brian at the NASCAR truck race at the Las Vegas Speedway.

We rolled into town Friday evening and setup at an RV park (aka asphalt parking lot with electrical plugs!) right off the main strip behind the ever-sketchy Circus-Circus Casino. Having been in the truck all day we decided we would walk the strip, besides we needed the exercise. We ventured into a few casinos checking them out but skeptical to gamble (mainly because we are horrible at it) but had a great time soaking in the scenery. Upon deciding it was time to head back the RV we realized we had walked all the way to the other end of the strip. Did I mention the other end of the strip was almost 5 miles away and it was still 85 degrees outside? But no worries we called up our favorite taxi cab driver, Hassan! Hassan is a native Iranian who’s lived in Las Vegas for the last 14 years and we met him exactly one year ago when we came to Vegas for the Kid Rock concert (See photo with Cheggy below)! We’ve kept in touch with him throughout the last year and couldn’t wait to see him again.

On Saturday for lunch we headed down to the ESPN Zone to watch all the college football games and stay out of the 100+ degree heat! We stayed there watching some great games till it was time to ready for the NASCAR race. My buddy Brian, who I mentioned earlier, works for NASCAR in the Timing & Scoring Division which means he keeps track of the positions of the race cars and lap speeds throughout the race and for final results through an elaborate network of wiring and computers. We got to go into his trailer where he worked and see all the equipment and how everything worked. He was able to get us garage and pit passes which allowed us to go anywhere the drivers and team go, a pretty rare experience for the average NASCAR fan! The race was a Camping World Series Truck race, a division within NASCAR, which is a little different then what people think of a typical NASCAR race. The car’s body is in the design of a truck, they have fewer cars in the race and they go about 8-10 mph slower than the cars, but I think the level of competition is better than the other divisions! The night started out a little different than any race I had been to with a power failure on the lights in one area of the track cutting off right before they started. This caused about a 30 minute delay, where Brian informed Cheggy and I that we had been on TV standing on pit road! After getting power back they started the race up with no other major incidents! It was a great race under the lights with good racing and a few good crashes. We stopped by victory lane to see the celebration of Johnny Sauter and his team before leaving. After leaving the racetrack we headed back to grab some dinner and waited for Brian to get done at the track so we could meet him back at his hotel. We spent the rest of the night catching up with him since we all had been on the road for quite a while. Thanks B I know you’re reading so we owe you a free place to crash when you come to Dega!

In case you’ve never been to Vegas I’ll explain why most people aren’t out till after dark because the temperatures hit triple digits everyday! We tried to stay cool with our AC unit that was struggling and watch the NASCAR race on Sunday morning relaxing for most the day. We decided that since we came to Vegas we had to see at least one show before we left. With a little research Cheggy and I agreed that the show that best suited us was a stand-up act of the infamous Carrot Top! We didn’t know what to expect but it turned out to be a pretty funny show with him doing some standup and using a bunch of props. But beware audience it was a little vulgar so leave the kids and easily offended if you ever go! We decided after all the money we spent that Sunday was our last night out on the town!

On Monday we decided had to go to the famous Lake Mead and Hoover Dam before leaving town. The Hoover Dam is 726 foot tall, has 3.25 million cubic yards of concrete, 660 feet wide at the base, and was built in 1935 to control the Colorado River and provide water and power for surrounding cities. We went on a tour that took us into the inside of the dam, as well as, to the base where the turbines are that generate power. The turbines provide enough power for 1.3 million people! The most amazing aspect to me was that it was built in the 1930s with none of today’s modern technology. It is truly an amazing site and well worth stopping by to see. After doing the tourist thing we returned to Vegas to meet Hassan and his family for dinner before we left out. It was a lot of fun to meet his family and spend some time with him outside of work. We spent a ton of money in Vegas and definitely had enough of the city for a while, but we’ll be back. We’ve already promise Hassan he can be our personal “chauffeur” again when we come back!