SummerTroll: travel

Showing posts with label travel. Show all posts

Sunday, September 18, 2016

City of Skinny Bricks & Wrought Iron

You might think that Washington D.C. is the city of marble, granite and blue gneiss, but those are the monuments. The city itself is built of skinny brick and enough wrought iron to outpace New Orleans, thrice over.

18th Street and Belmont, Washington D.C.

No Pictures, Just Words

Arlington National Cemetery

I couldn't bring myself to take pictures here because I struggled to see the "beauty" of the cemetery. If you have seen my pictures, especially the one's from last summer's New Orleans trip, then you know I have an affinity for patterns.

At Arlington National Cemetery there are patterns built into the foundation of the place, buried deep in the ground and echoed along the surface. Tombstones are placed deliberately so that they do not overlap. The names on the headstones always remain visible regardless of which direction you look towards them from the road and pathways. These white headstones ripple like waves cresting over the hills so you feel lost at sea among the dead.

I couldn't glorify it or try to recapture its sacred sorrow in pictures like a place that needed to be checked off a tourist's list and take my designated smiling selfie. I couldn't find it in me to frame the sorrow-scape in photographs, but I do feel compelled to record the visit in words.

How a Penny Pincher Plans a 3-Day Vacation

And by vacation, I mean getting far, far away from where I am. In the past, a 3-day vacation usually meant going home to see the parents and grandparents or a slightly longer trip to see my cousin’s family.

As a result, I rarely returned to my home fully rested because of the emotional baggage. Thus, going home does not qualify as a vacation. (FYI- There’s little-to-no emotional baggage when visiting my cousin and his ilk, but they are quite busy and schedules don’t always match up.)

If I wasn’t going to my parent’s home, I typically stuck out the 3-day weekend at my place working on my to-do list and suffering pangs of guilt for not seeing my parents and grandparents. Again, this ‘staycation’ is not a vacation either.

I don’t know why it took me this long to realize that visiting my family or staying home were not vacations. But now that I have, I wanted to figure out how to take a 3-day vacation. The bonus is that I now have a level of financial flexibility.

Getting There

Google Flights

I’m a driver. I love to drive rather than fly. However, this doesn’t make sense when the vacation is only 3 days long, unless the whole point of the vacation is the drive. I’m also a penny pincher (hence the financial flexibility) and want the best vacation for the least bucks. Usually, driving is cheaper especially if I’m planning to visit many different locals spread out over a vast cartographical area.

For 3-day vacations, it’s best to shoot for a single location. To justify spending money on flights and determine what’s a ‘good deal,’ I calculated the mileage to drive to and from UnKnown City and figure the price of gas. A ‘good deal’ is a roundtrip ticket that cost less the gas necessary to drive to UnKnown City.

Google Flights is a decent source for find cheap flights. Even better is if you don’t have a location picked out and you can browse for the cheapest flights anywhere.

It is important to remember that the vacation time is limited to 3-days. So an early departure to UnKnown City and an afternoon/evening departure from UnKnown City is crucial. Also, make sure the flight has no stops or connecting flights. This eats into your vacation time.

Where to Go

Dallas Skyline by Daxis

When I drive, I’m all about the parks and car camping which are far away from the cities, museums, culture, etc. For the 3-day vacation I’m heading towards civilization, partially because I need to rely on public transportation to get around. I could rent a car, but the penny pincher rears its head to ask, “Why?” There are plenty of interesting cities with excellent public transportation networks.

You may think that limiting the available cities to visit by their public transportation system would be difficult. The opposite is actually true, because the bigger American cities (that are teaming with history, art, culture, museum, food, etc.) also have better public transportation in addition to having the cheaper flights… usually.

Some highlight cities I suggest are: Washington D.C., Boston, San Diego, New York, Denver, Atlanta, Orlando, Portland, Chicago and even Dallas.

Where to Stay

airbnb

I am consistently surprised by how far flung my extended family and friends live. With every vacation, I seem to have a friend or family member who lives in or near the city I am visiting. For those times there are no friends and family, I’m a fan of Airbnb. My best friend turned me on to them. She has found some rocking good deals through them and we stayed in a wonderful place this Summer on the Pacific coast.

There are several factors to remember when using Airbnb. For instance, when taking public transportation, the proximity to the public access (either bus stop or metro/rail) and the host location needs to be considered. When traveling by yourself, read the host reviews before making a decision. Actually, do this one regardless. Also, if the host has a history of canceling reservation, even with plenty of notice, it may not be a good fit for a quick trip. Don’t be afraid to look at hostels but, again, read the reviews.

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I’ll be taking my first 3-day vacation later this month so you can expect a practical review later.

Sunday, August 14, 2016

Where Everyone Whispers

I drove to Arches National Park late in the evening, my first national park of the trip. Before I arrived though, I had to travel through Colorado and parts of Utah. That was no hardship.

Let me begin by saying that Colorado was an adventure to drive. The scenery varies from meadows, to canyon walls and highways following the river bends.

I experienced a stillness as I zoomed forward through Silverthorne, Vail, and Glenwood, Colorado. The contrast of Texas' temperatures (well into the 100s) and Colorado's 50-60 degrees brought on feelings of calm and renewal associated with Fall or Spring. The glimpses of snow peaks in the fogged distances were wintry surprises. Colorado was magical not only for its adventurous landscapes but also for its Summer of all Seasons.

Though tucked away from the main interstate, many of Colorado's towns have entrenched themselves into the nooks and crannies of the mountain and canyon walls. Though you may not see them, they are there scattered between the major cities. Cross the state line into Utah and the little towns are few are far between.

I didn't know what to expect from Utah, other than a beautiful national park. My first thought after crossing the state line was, "What do people do here?"... "What do visitors do?" If you really want to experience the beauty of Utah, you have to stop the car frequently. Whereas Garden of the Gods taught me to slow down and enjoy the places around me. Utah brought me to a halt. (Click here for photographs of this trip.)

Without words being spoken, people smiled as they passed on the trail. It didn't matter if you were Hispanic, Biker, College kid, Punk/Goth, Muslim, or White Girl. Interactions were careful, sincere, polite and often conducted in whispers. We all had a single purpose when we stopped, to see an indescribable petrified beauty.

It wasn't until I reached Arches National Park that I realized a silence had permeated the entire trip. At Arches everyone spoke in whispers including me. Even children recognized the reverence owed when witnessing the majestic artistry of the Earth. Arches National Park truly was like a outdoor art museum in which the statues were molded by the science of nature.

Sacramento Scenes

Back of Typewriter - Samsung Galaxy s6

Street Curb Writing - Samsung Galaxy s6

Post Writing - Samsung Galaxy s6

Plywood Eyes - Samsung Galaxy s6

Russian Orthodox Church - Samsung Galaxy s6

Time Tested Books - Samsung Galaxy s6

Saturday, August 13, 2016

South Lake Tahoe Scenes

South Lake Tahoe, NV - Samsung Galaxy s6

Pine Needles - Samsung Galaxy s6

Friday, August 12, 2016

Utah & Nevada Road Scenes

Black Dragon Canyon, UT - Samsung Galaxy s6

Salt Wash, UT - Samsung Galaxy s6

Petrified Reef, UT - Samsung Galaxy s6

Great Basin Forest Fire, NV - Samsung Galaxy s6

Highway 50, NV - Samsung Galaxy s6

Thursday, August 11, 2016

The Trail Less Traveled

Tree, Roots & Rock Formation
Garden of the Gods,
Colorado Springs, CO
B&W - Samsung Galaxy s6

After my incomparable experience at Carlsbad Caverns National Park on a Sunday, I was hoping the Sunday following the Tiny House Jamboree would boast similar results at the Garden of the Gods. That hope was in vain. Maybe if I had gotten up at dawn, but that wasn't to be either.

It's obvious that some people find comfort being in a crowd of people and if I were people watching, this was an excellent opportunity. But I wasn't at Garden of Gods to see people. Like the thousands of others there on Sunday, I wanted to witness the artistry of the Earth. I couldn't fault these people for wanting to see the same visions I did, but I wanted to.

Rather than pout at the people crowding the trails, I took Robert Frost's advice. When the crowd surged right at the trail fork, I went left. As the tides changed and the school shifted right, I went left. When I got stuck in a flock, I slowed down until it passed.

Being with people doesn't usually bother me, especially if I'm traveling with other people. Having companions, either friends, family or strangers is part of the experience and it's built in to my expectations. However, I have noticed that when I solo travel, I have less of a desire or threshold for engaging with others. Hence my annoyance at all the people in my way.

What I failed to realize until the next day, all those people were pushing me away from the popular scenes and forcing me to venture out into parts of Garden of the Gods that I would not have otherwise visited. When I slowed down to let a group pass, I saw more beauty. Because groups were blocking paths, I often made loops twice to take in the whole view - enriching my experience.

Garden of the Gods is a visual and physical experience. I posted pictures in an earlier blog article, Garden of the Gods. The reality is, it's hard to take a bad picture here because every angle is unique and beautiful.

Again, thanks to the mass of people, I learned to stop and rather than tap my foot impatiently for the group to pass, I stood and looked around myself. I didn't just stare straight ahead. I turned my head from side to side, up and down, and turned my body completely around 360 degrees. I found myself backtracking, thinking, "How did I miss that?"

Prior to this adventure, I would have considered myself an attentive person with a visual awareness of the world around me. Now, I'm not so sure. It took these moments to show me that I had indeed fallen into a trap of looking straight ahead, keeping my eye on the ball, and other similar euphemisms. This is not to say that looking ahead is a bad trait. Think about it. A human's most natural motion is forward. The human head easily rest in a position that provides a clear front view.

Even though the forward motions and views are the most natural, humans can and do move in other directions. Side to side. Up and down. Reverse.

More valuable than witness the beauty of Garden of the Gods, I was reminded that my straight ahead approach needs to be balanced out with patience and awareness of what I have passed by.

"...I took the road less traveled by, and that has made all the difference." ~ Robert Frost