Week 22 | Sept 28-Oct 4
Good Vibes Only
Previously On...
Last week I wrapped up a visit to Tucson, AZ, popped over to see a friend in Phoenix, then heading north to Jerome Ghost Town on my way to Sedona. I went to a small town annual cookout, saw an amazing sunset, and spent a day at a music festival.
Spoiler alert!
This week I’m meeting up with a vanlife friend from waaaaaay back in Week 8!
We’re exploring the Sedona Vortexes (vortices?), then over to the Albuquerque Balloon Festival.
Sunday, September 28. Day 147
Rain rain go away
Cottonwood, AZ
This evening I’m meeting up with my vanlife friend Tracie* and we’ll be traveling together for 10 days. But that’s not until later. In the meantime I have a day to kill and it’s pouring rain.
Being in Pacific Time (AZ doesn’t observe DST), Sunday football starts really early here! I looked up a sports bar and found a spot to watch the Eagles while I had breakfast!
When I finished breakfast and the rain showed no signs of letting up, I got my laptop and found a secluded corner of the bar with a sofa and chilled.
After the Eagles managed not to lose, the rain was still going strong and it was still another few hours to meet up with Tracie. Got a drink and ordered lunch. It’s a snacking kinda day.
My external hard drive was full and I couldn’t do any photo processing until I cleared up some space. I spent the afternoon deleting photos. Like, maybe I took a 20 shot sequence of an Elk walking. I pick the 3 best shots (will only actually use one), and then delete the other 17. Sort through blocks of photos weeding out the weak (and out of focus).
Peeking behind the curtain of photography, for every 100 pictures I take, probably 10 are “good” and 1 or 2 are “great.” Some days I don’t even get that.
You get to see the best 20 or 30 photos from a week of shooting where I’ve taken 200-300. If you’re out there taking pictures and wondering why most of your shots suck, you’re not alone.
In the evening I met up with Tracie at a grocery store on the way to Sedona. We got snacks and stuff for the week. Tracie was a neophyte vanlifer and I was a mentor when we met in at Rocky Mountain National Park in June. When I meet up with her this time she has a lot more confidence and self reliance, borne of many more trips and time on the road. I’m proud!
From the grocery store we drove up to Sedona. I wanted to show Tracie some of the amazing views I’d scoped out a few days earlier. I went back to a spot where I tried to take reflection photos at on Friday but got rained out. This time it was clear (well, overcast), but also crowded! There were 2 other photographers already set up for the same shot. They were friendly and accommodating as I squeezed in next to them. They had their fancy tripods set up, and I had a $40 micro tripod from amazon. But, the goal is to get as close to the water as possible, and the micro tripod is already low to the ground! The right tools for the photo, don’t over-think it!
A couple was doing a 40th bday cell phone photo shoot and refused to move out of our shot, even though the whole plateau was open. I asked nicely and they did move for a few minutes, then found their way back.
I don’t own the space, and let the frustration roll off my back. This isn’t the shot that’s going to make me famous, it’s not a big deal.
I've talked in this blog a bit about trying to be better. Not that I think I'm a bad person, the contrary actually. But I strive every day to be a better human than I was the day before.
An aspect of that is letting things like this go. My initial reaction is "grrrr! why are people so inconsiderate! grrrrr!" Then after that reaction passes I stop and think; does this really affect me? The answer is always 'no.' And I let it go.
I'm not always successful, but like yoga it's a practice and I have to continuously work at it. I'm getting better.
Good: Watched a Philly Eagles game and they won despite their best efforts to blow a 3 TD lead.
Bad: The RV park we're at for a few days has a lame shower! One shower! It's small and had no hot water. I’ve been doing van showers for a week and was looking forward to a nice campground shower. The upside is that I have power at the rv spot, so I can run the van's water heater, at least.
Unexpected: Spending most of the day in a sports bar while it poured rain outside.
* If you’ve known me for a while, not that Tracie!
Monday, September 29. Day 148
Your Aura is Very Calm
Sedona, AZ
When I met Tracie back in Estes Park / Rocky Mountain NP, the shops in town were 50% t-shirt shops, 30% ice cream shops, and 20% other.
In Sedona it was 50% rock/crystal shops. Where they’ll also read your aura, do tarot/psychic reading, and take an ‘aura photograph.’ If I had $100 to burn, maybe I’d have tried a tarot reading. Then again, I have probably half a dozen friends back home who would do that for me! The rest of the stuff in town was normal tourist stuff; more t-shirt shops, junk food, and a whole lot of “adventure” tours: Pink Jeeps, helicopters, atvs, and I probably could have rented a camel if I searched hard enough.
We spent most of the day browsing the shops. Getting past the woo-woo of the crystal shops, the rocks were just very pretty. There were a lot of worry stones that I kept picking up and fidgeting with. Again, if I had $50 to blow on a pretty rock, I’d have gotten one.
I got to ride along with Tracie’s browsing the crystal shops and vicariously enjoy it with her.
I had to pop into a photography gallery, of course. This guy’s stuff was very good. A standard mix for the southwest; local popular spots, some hard to find gems, and lots of wildlife. Most of it excellent.
It was slow in the gallery and he was super friendly, we got to chatting for a while about gear, favorite shots and places, and printing photos we like vs what sells.
A little later while Tracie was getting a psychic reading I went back to look for a print. It’s extremely rare for me to buy a pictures from another photographer. So while he didn’t know it, it was a big compliment from me.
Unfortunately he didn’t have the print I liked available in 8x10, but we chatted a bit more.
After tourist stuff we were figuring out the rest of out day. I needed to do laundry but didn’t want to interrupt my first day with Tracie for something trivial. So I was happy when she said that she had to get it done too.
For dinner I picked a Mexican restaurant based on yelp reviews and it was great.
If I go back to Sedona, I’m definitely going back to this restaurant.
FYI, Tortas de Fuego, West Sedona
I even got to have a margarita, since Tracie was driving. It’s been a long while since I was a passenger in someone’s car. Probably all the way back to Glacier NP in July, in Jessie’s pickup!
Good: Made a new photography friend! He said if I roll through Sedona again to let him know and we’ll go out shooting.
Bad: I’m getting eaten up by mosquitos here!
Unexpected: The unassuming Mexican place we went for dinner had good reviews, but it was even better than expected. I had pulled pork tostadas, and we shared an amazing elote salad (aka, Mexican street corn) that was *chef’s kiss*. Tracie was skeptical of the elote salad, but she trusted me, and ended up loving it!
Also it finally stopped raining!
Tuesday, September 30. Day 149
Do vortexes spin the other way in Australia?
Sedona, AZ
Sedona is known for its vortexes, Tracie and I did a vortex tour today.
Even after the tour, don’t ask me to explain what a vortex is.
The guide explained it as energy created in the earth that is released at certain places. He explained the “science” behind it, which had just enough real science to sound plausible, but also enough inaccurate science that I’m still skeptical.
Still, I went through the tour with an open mind. And aside from the vortex stuff it was also just a great sightseeing tour and he shared a lot of local history, culture, and information that was all enjoyable.
One of the vortices was inside a private community and overlooked a golf course. It felt ironic, but I couldn't explain why. Or maybe just the state of the world right now 'look wealthy people get their own private vortex.'
But to balance out the Karma, the next vortex we visited was at a Buddhist Stupa. That was fun and beautiful to visit.
And of course everywhere you look in Sedona is just amazingly beautiful.
At the end of the tour, the guide gave us a recommendation for a great hidden gem spot to go see sunset. We drove to a trailhead and then hiked a mile and a half up the side of a mountain, to the top of the mesa. We were rewarded with amazing views and a colorful sunset. I've been giving Tracie photography lessons while we hang out, it started back in June at Rocky Mountain NP. Its a joy to see her excitedly taking pictures and then showing them off to me. She was eager for feedback so she could keep improving and I enjoyed seeing her improvement. She soaked up everything I had to teach.
Then we hiked back down in the dark!
Feeling accomplished for doing a challenging hike and not dying hiking in the dark with just our phones, we treated ourselves to a nice dinner at a fancy joint. An Argentinian place recommended by a friend back home. For a bit I was wondering what Argentinian food is like, until I remembered that I spent 2 weeks in Argentina in 2023! *facepalm*.
Good: Hiking up for sunset on the mesa.
Bad: The vortexes did not spontaneously heal the chronic hip pain I've had for a couple weeks.
Unexpected: I genuinely enjoyed the vortex tour! Past me would have been too skeptical to appreciate it. I’m still skeptical, but the woo-woo of it was cute. And if it helps make people happy, then I’m happy for them! It was enjoyable to see how the vortexes are woven into the identity of the area.
Wednesday, October 1. Day, 150
A Buck Fifty
Sedona, AZ
Both Tracie and I had stuff to do this morning so we hung out at camp. She had to work, and I was glad for the down time to finally post the week 18 blog -Yosemite. I also edited photos and did some overdue ‘adulting.’
For sunset we went to the airport overlook that we learned about on the vortex tour yesterday. It was tremendously crowded, and the cloudless sky wasn’t overly photogenic. We left a few minutes before sunset to beat the huge crowd out of the parking lot, and got dinner.
I’m not superstitious, but I like numbers. Today is day 150 on the road. 5 months.
Back on day 100 it was a big day; visiting 2 national parks and getting an amazing photo of a meteor over Mount Rainier.
In contrast, today was a rather inauspicious day for being Day #150. But maybe that’s the point. I’ve been at this long enough that it’s just a regular day. Even then, I’m living my dream of being on the road and visiting so many wondrous places. Finding the joy and adventure in even the regular days.
To mark the 150 day milestone, I posted a recap and Q&A blog called Vansplaining. If you haven't yet, check it out, I think it's pretty good.
Good: Pizza and gelato
Bad: I felt like I was wasting a day in this amazing place by taking time to catch up on life stuff. But have to remind myself that my weeks are all 5 Saturdays and 2 Sundays. I can’t be too unhappy if I have to fit a Monday in there once in a while.
Unexpected: A “boring” sunset.
Then again, how spoiled am I that a sunset in such a beautiful place could possibly be considered boring?!
Thursday, October 2. Day 151
Sorry folks, park’s closed. The moose out front shoulda told you
Sedona to Albuquerque, NM
Not all long driving days are adventures, sometimes it’s just a long day.
Sedona to ABQ is 5 1/2 hours according to the maps. Of course when does it ever take me the advertised time?
We planned a stopover at Petrified Forest National Park, but I checked online and saw the park was closed due to the gov shutdown. We decided to swing by anyway, it wasn’t far out of the way.
Along the way we passed Walnut Canyon National Monument and took a short side trip there. The entry sign noted that it is an International Dark Sky Park! The sign also said the park closes at 5 PM. I don’t really get it.
It ended up being moot, of course the monument was closed too.
Further along the way we stopped at ‘Meteor Crater’ site in AZ, that’s privately run and was open. Except it was $30 to go look at the big hole, so we passed. So far we’re 0 for 2.
Along the highway I saw a sign for Winslow, Arizona and wanted to stop. It was such a fine sight to see.
We stopped in town and walked around. Checked out some souvenir shops and bought a couple stickers for the van. I got a Route 66 sticker pack, for all the states I visit on RT66 on this trip.
On the final leg to Petrified Forest NP I spotted Wigwam Village #6.
A friend back home stayed here in the spring and told me about it.
I had forgotten to actually look up the location and only had a vague idea it was nearby. So to drive right past it and get to stop was a wonderful stroke of luck.
Way way way back in week 1 I’d visited Wigwam Village #2 in Kentucky!
That village had a whole bunch of ‘no trespassing’ signs (that I politely disregarded). In stark contrast, Village #6 was very inviting. It was set up to encourage people to stop and look. The parking lot was staged with a whole bunch of classic cars to give it a 50’s vintage vibe. This was a really fun throwback to the very beginning of my trip and I’m glad I got to see it. I shot two rolls of film there. (Not developed yet, sorry)
Finally, we got to Petrified Forest National Park, and as expected it was closed. 0 for 3 for the day. Actually, we got to see Winslow, Arizona and that was neat, so I’m calling it 1 for 4.
Just outside of PFNP were a couple of rock shops (they’re minerals, Marie!)
Apparently this region is littered with petrified wood. It was on display everywhere. Hardly rare, yet endlessly fascinating. The way the texture of the wood was transformed into crystal and rock but still clearly originated as wood - it’s alchemy!
I got my picture in front of the closed park, then on we went to Albuquerque.
Tracie had her heart set on a shower at Love’s rest stop, so we did that. I hadn’t realized that it’s been weeks since I’ve had a real shower; unlimited hot water, space to move around, thoroughly wash my hair and have a shave.
I’ve been using the cramped and limited shower in the van for a few weeks, making this truck stop show like nirvana.
It was still a long drive to ABQ, much of it on dark rural 2 lane roads.
At 11p we finally arrived at our destination for the night… Cracker Barrel! In fact it’s the same one I parked at when I passed through ABQ way back in May! And it was Tracie’s first Cracker Barrel overnight!
It worked out because this was close to the balloon fest, and we had to be there ridiculously early the next morning.
Daily Listen: Eagles greatest hits.
“Standin’ on a corner in Winslow Arizona, such a fine site to see, it’s a girl, my lord, in a flatbed Ford slowing down to take a look at me.”
Good: Other than this popover to Petrified Forest NP, I fortunately don’t have any other National Park visits planned for a couple weeks.
Bad: Today was a lot of driving, and a long day. We left Sedona at 8a and got to ABQ at 11 p.
Unexpected: This is my fourth or fifth* visit to ABQ on this trip! First was when the infamous series of tubes incident happened, then when Gina visited for the Lightning Fields, and now for the Albuquerque Balloon festival!
There are a lot of places on this trip I’d gladly revisit, Albuquerque was not high on that list. Not to be disparaging, it’s a fine city, and I had a much better experience this time!
* I was in ABQ and left to Santa Fe, but when my generator broke I went back to ABQ. Dunno if I count that as one visit or two.
Friday, October 3. Day, 152
Up up and away!
Albuquerque, NM
Tracie and I did a hot air balloon ride this morning!
‘Pre’ official balloon fest, but there were still 50 balloons that took off today!
The ride, the whole experience, was amazing. I wanted to stay up there all day!
It was a sunrise launch, though we actually got off the ground about 30 minutes past sunrise. The sun hadn’t crested the mountain range yet, so I did still get to see sunrise from the balloon!
We launched from the festival grounds and ascended quickly to about 1000’ high. Which, now that I think about it isn’t that high, I hike higher than that!
But it was plenty high to look out over the valley, see the mountains in the distance, and see balloons floating around us in every direction.
Before the sun came up the sky was almost completely clear, but as the morning went on the clouds filled in, until we had a perfect speckled cloudy sky as a backdrop for our flight.
We landed in a field outside of town and the pilot and ground crew set up champagne and mimosas for us! Mimosas are one of like 3 drinks I actually like, so I had a couple. Well, maybe 1 1/2. I’m a lightweight.
It was still early in the morning and check-in to the RV site wasn’t until noon, plus we were pretty hungry. Found a 50’s style diner near the RV place and got a table. We both went big with fruity breakfasts, her a waffle and me with French toast. The portion was big enough that I had the leftovers later for lunch!
We stopped by Petroglyph National Monument, which was partially open during the gov shutdown. But it was getting hot and it was time to go to the RV park, so we didn’t explore. At the park we shared a site. It’s meant to park a trailer and the tow vehicle, so 2 vans side by side was easy.
For dinner I took Tracie to the Route 66 Diner that I first visited back in week 4 with Gina! I was actually looking forward to going back there. The dichotomy of ‘classic 50’s diner’ and tatted up alt-gen-Z staff was too fun.
Daily Listen: ‘Up, up and away’ by the 5th Dimension
Good: Soaring
Bad: Getting up at 5am so we could be at the fair grounds by 5:45. Early, but totally worth it!
Unexpected: The RV Park we’re at for 4 days is very upscale. It’s has probably the nicest showers of any place I’ve camped. The park electrician even physically upgraded the wiring in the power outlets so that both of us could be plugged in at the same time. That was above and beyond.
Saturday, October 4. Day 153
Float On
Albuquerque
Woke up at 2:30a to drive to the balloon festival. The festival can get insanely busy! Like, every road into the festival grounds gets backed up for miles. The recommendation is to get there stupid-early and hang out. So that's what I did.
A little before dawn there is a drone show and balloon lighting up on the field in the dark. Culminating in a “mass ascension” (not the tik-tok rapture, that was last week) at sunrise. Hundreds of balloons go up over two hours.
When I got to the festival grounds at 3 am there was already a long line of cars and a 30 minute wait to park. I parked and then took a short nap. The benefits of driving my house around.
Gates opened at 4:30 and I meandered in around 5a. I've joked a lot about missing sunrises because I sleep in, but if I really want to be somewhere, I'll make it happen.
The festivities got started with a morning drone show, which was cooler than I expected. Followed by the ‘morning glow’ and Dawn Patrol - 13 balloons lighting up then taking off before all the others. Unfortunately, due to high winds, the balloons didn’t launch this morning.
I hung out and walked around the festival for a couple hours. Many of the balloons inflated on the field but didn't lift off. It was neat being able to walk around through the launch field.
There was a huge 'Albuquerque' metal sculpture that people were climbing on. Since I like climbing stuff like a little kid, I went on up. Hung out for a few minutes and took photos of the balloon field. All the while asking myself 'is this a load-bearing sculpture?!' and wondering if "50 people injured in sculpture collapse at balloon festival" was going to be tomorrow's headline.
When I had my fill of pretty, but mostly stationary balloons, I headed back to camp for a mid-day nap.
In the evening Tracie and I went back to the balloon fest.
The Albuquerque sculpture had a fence around it.
There’s no evening launch, but there is a mass balloon glow, which was beautiful and fun. There was a different nighttime drone show, which was also impressive. Lastly there was a fireworks show! Photographing fireworks is my jam, but I didn't have a tripod with me so I had to merely watch the show like a normal person!
Daily Listen: ‘Float on’ by Modest Mouse
Good: I’ve wanted to come to the Albuquerque Balloon Festival for a long time, and finally got here! It was one of those things I really wanted to see, but couldn’t justify using my limited vacation time at work, and all the expense of flying out, getting a hotel room and rental car - to go to Albuquerque. But I knew early on in the van trip planning that I wanted to make a point to come here. It worked out a lot better this way. And now that I’ve done it once, it’ll be even easier if I come back.
Bad: Did you see the part about getting up at 2:30am?
Unexpected: Much like the rapture last week, the mass ascension didn’t happen. It was too windy and the balloons didn’t launch.
Coming up next!
I go back to the balloon festival Sunday and Monday! And the balloons actually launch both mornings.
I also got a notification from my Apple Watch that my sleep trends changed "You've been getting significantly less sleep over the last week." Yeah, tell me about it!
Mid-week, Tracie heads home and I head back west. That's when the van troubles start. It was a tumultuous week (but it all worked out, eventually. Hey, I'm still here, right?)
