Los Angeles Zoo

Josh, James and I visited the Los Angeles Zoo today. It was pretty easy to find, as it is only about a 10 minute drive from our apartment! Talk about location. Because it is "winter" (it was 70 degrees and sunny all day) there were minimal crowds today, meaning easy access to the animals, and less stress for me (I hate large crowds, especially at tourist-y places). The zoo was really phenomenal, and provided many good photo and video opportunities. Here are a few photos I took today, and a video or two that Josh recorded. Thanks!

View the rest of the photos on my flickr account: http://flickr.com/photos/matthewdale/

More Joshua Tree Images (SEE BLOG POST BELOW!)

A few additional images from Joshua Tree.

SEE BLOG POST BELOW!

Western Beauty.

We made it. 3200 miles, 5 nights, and countless gallons of gas later, we arrived in Victorville, CA, about 80 miles north of Los Angeles. Our last day of travel was our shortest distance-wise, so we planned a few scenic stops along the way. We first stopped at the Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona. It was stunning. Deep reds, washed out blues, aged pinks covered the mountainsides providing gorgeous views of the area. As an avid photographer, I was in heaven. These mountainous areas are known as the Painted Desert, and the other section of the park, from which it derives its name, was no less spectacular. The petrified forest was a huge vista of shards of petrified wood fragments and logs. Over the course of millions of years, the wood had slowly transformed into a form hard, rock-like substance rich with yellows, reds, blues and greys. It was interested to be able to see a fragment of the ancient past of Arizona, to see something that lived in the age of the dinosaurs. While we were there, we were viciously chased off of an overlook by a large, angry looking raven. Not knowing what the bird was capable of, we high-tailed it. Our next stop was the Meteor Crater, also located in Arizona. This is the crater left by the meteor that allegedly killed the dinosaurs (or at least leads all theories in probability). The crater was incredibly large, roughly 3 miles in circumference, and nearly 500 feet deep. Like the petrified wood, it was humbling to view a piece of history hundreds of millions of years old. Something that altered the state of the Earth for the rest of time. After leaving the Meteor Crater, we continued on our route down I-40. Lying in stark contrast to the shrub filled desert we had so become accustom to in Arizona, we entered a national forest, in which we were quite surprised to find....snow. In fact it started snow while drove through the forest. Shortly after exiting the woods, a tremendous mountain scape creeped into view. We have not yet determined the name of the mountains, but they were the last thing we saw as the sun went down, a fittingly beautiful end to such a scenic state. As we entered California, we were mildly shocked to be met with a border check-point, asking us if we had any fruits or plants, and where we originated from. It seemed a little extreme, given it was only a state border. Today, with our first free day in a week, we decided to travel to nearby (such a relative term now, it was in fact 2 hours away) Joshua Tree National Park, a desert area with beautiful rock formations surrounding your field of view as you journey to the heart of the area. I spent quite a bit of time bouldering and climbing around the rock faces. We came across a rather picturesque area, just as the sun was going down, so I gathered up my gear, and made a trek to the top of the rock outcrop that headed the area. As the sunset, the areas rocks were cast in a red-golden glow, and the sky glowed a light shade of purple. All the sights I have seen on this trip have awoken a new respect and admiration for our nations beauty. We are lucky to live in a country that has such varied and beautiful landscapes.
Well tomorrow our cross-country pilgrimage comes to an offical end, as we move into our apartments in LA. Look for a blog post and images of our new digs sometime soon. Thanks for reading.

Included are a few pictures of Joshua Tree National Park, and a few videos that Josh has filmed in the past few days. Enjoy.

Petrified Forest National Park

Josh and I visited the Petrified Forest National Park today, which also includes large portions of the Painted Desert. Here are some of the better photos I took today. More to come, and a blog post tomorrow.

Tennesse to New Mexico, or, Why Is Everything So Flat?

In the past two days, Josh and I have driven from Nashville, TN to Gallup, NM. They have been two very long days, during which I have made a few observations. First, everything is FLAT. From western Tennessee, to Oklahoma, to the Texas panhandle. We can see just about as far as the horizon allows, our view not being obstructed by hills or trees. Just grass. Grass and cows. And more grass. It makes me miss the hills, mountains and trees of Maine. And water. One would think water to be a pretty universally present item, however the west proves otherwise. Rivers are scarce and lakes are as foreign as Democrats in this area. Yesterdays (1/1) trip was rather uneventful. We spent most of our time staring out the window, marveling at the flatness of the area. Today's (1/2) section was much more interesting. We stopped at the 19-story cross just before Amarillo, TX. It was massive. We could see it on the horizon from roughly 20 miles away. However, it is surprisingly only the 2nd largest cross in the Western Hemisphere. I believe the behemoth cross in Rio Di Janeiro is the largest. We then stopped at the Cadillac Ranch, a true American icon. Located along Rt. 66 (which we are traveling on by the way), it is a series of 10 Cadillac cars, buried upside-down in the middle of a corn field. Over the years they have been painted, graffitied and drawn upon, amounting to a coating nearly a half an inch thick of paint, a collaborative piece of roadside Americana. I found a can of bright pink spray-paint and decided to throw the old Springfield College "Spirit-Mind-Body" logo on one of the cars (I figured Ruth would like that, I know how much she loves the SC triangle). From there we then traversed the remainder of Texas, and the majority of New Mexico. Upon entering New Mexico, we were greeted with a rather surprising piece of signage; Speed Limit: 75. Oklahoma and Texas had both been 70mph. But 75mph? Yikes. This meant an actual effective speed of 85-90mph for most motorists. Needless to say, we made good time. The climate also changed dramatically, leaving the flat grasslands in Texas, and giving way to more of a chaparral environment. Thick shrub growth and wind-blown hills shaped the countryside, providing a lovely scene at sundown. That's another thing about the west. The sky. I have never seen a bigger, brighter sky in all my life. Well tomorrow we arrive in California, at long last! Our route will take us through the remainder of New Mexico, all the way across Arizona, and down to sunny Southern California, where we will stop just an hour or so outside of the city.
Thanks for reading.


Here is a video of me painting the SC logo on a Cadillac. Enjoy.

Photos

Here are some photos I have taken in the past few days. Blog entry tomorrow morning.

Smooth Sailing.

Yesterday we made our way from Martinsburg, WV to Nashville, TN. We spent the majority of our time driving through the western side of Virginia. The area we saw was a simple one, nothing but rolling hills, cows grazing, ancient silos and elaborate water towers (I think its a Virginian pride thing or something, these suckers look like monuments). It was a rather peaceful drive, and the first section of our journey that we truly felt on the road. It was an area neither of us had previously traveled, a totally new experience. The road ran right along with the beautiful Shenandoah mountain range. This probably would have been a more breathtaking sight in the summer or autumn, but it was beautiful nonetheless. The weather was sporadic at best; snow flurries one minute, bright sunshine the next. The only elemental factor that did not vary was the wind. 40mph+ winds blew all day, making driving a bit difficult at time, but nothing of great concern. A few miles out of Knoxville, TN, we finally made it on to the final major highway of our trip, Interstate 40 (which becomes historic Rt. 66 after Oklahoma City). We will remain on Interstate 40 for the 2000 miles, all the way to sunny Los Angeles. Today's trek will take us to Oklahoma City, OK, about 676 miles. See you there.

Happy New Year!

Check out a colorful Water tower in Virginia. Don't mind the poor audio.