Foggy Horses

6/11/2009

I was thinking of spending another day/night in Philly, but really there wasn't much keeping me there. Plus, by this point in my journey I was ready to settle in Rye, NY, my final destination. However, after hitting the road out of Philly, I got a call from my company director informing me that the house I am to be moving into is not ready due to some renovations. So I extended my tour a bit.

As I drove up the Jersey shore I picked a point on the GPS and went to it, figuring I'd stop when I saw something interesting. That did take long. Within an hour of driving I came across Monmouth Park horse racing track. I've watched the Kentucky Derby on TV and such, but I've never been to a live horse race. Lucky me, I got there in time to see the last four races, three on the dirt and one on the turf.

It was a unique day for racing because as you can see, it was a touch foggy. For the majority of last race, the announcer just said, "and I can't see anything, last I saw 'Fast Forward' had the lead." Because of the mysty dampness, the dirt was good and thick and clung to the jockeys. It was these little nuances that entertained me the most.

Like when a horse decided he just wasn't going to leave the stables. The caretaker tugged and pulled, but he just planted his hooves. Every once in a while he would buck up on his rear legs and everyone around would clear the way. The race was drawing nearer. The owner and jockey were discussing scratching. Then out of nowhere the horse decided he was in the mood for racing after all. He ended up taking second.

After the races, I continued my drive north on Ocean Avenue. I pulled off to walk over the sand dunes but saw nothing but a few feet of the Atlantic Ocean and a whole lot of fog.

I continued north and reached Sandy Hook National Park. I'm sure this place is gorgeous on a bright sunny day. However, I did not have such luck. Further into the park though, things got more interesting.

In the early 1890's this National Park was (and still is) a homeland security base. Some of the old turrets and mortars are no longer in use and are open to visitors. Well, they are sort of open. The cool parts are gated off. But that did stop me. There was no one else in the park, so I figured a little gate hoping wouldn't hurt. I went where this sign said I shouldn't. Opps, but worth it.

Not Always Sunny in Philadelphia

6/10/2009

It was overcast all day. But no matter. I made it to Philly and met up with Zach, whom I met on couchsurfing.com. Now when I mentioned couchsurfing to family and friends before I left on this little excursion I got a lot of, "are you sure you wanna do that?" And I do understand people's concern.

Allow me to explain couchsurfing. Better yet, I'll let them. This is taken straight from the "What is Couchsurfing?" page on their website:

Mission:

"CouchSurfing seeks to internationally network people and places, create educational exchanges, raise collective consciousness, spread tolerance, and facilitate cultural understanding."

As a community we strive to do our individual and collective parts to make the world a better place, and we believe that the surfing of couches is a means to accomplish this goal. CouchSurfing isn't about the furniture- it's not just about finding free accommodations around the world- it's about participating in creating a better world. We strive to make a better world by opening our homes, our hearts, and our lives. We open our minds and welcome the knowledge that cultural exchange makes available. We create deep and meaningful connections that cross oceans, continents and cultures. CouchSurfing wants to change not only the way we travel, but how we relate to the world!

The safety factor is also addressed on their site. But I really wasn't too concerned on safety. Zach is just a guy, like me, like so many people. Say 10% of people in the world (and I think I'm over estimating) are out to get you: harm you, scam you, etc. That still leaves 90% that are just living life, not interested in hurting anyone. This certainly was Zach, a fellow guitar player.

He had to work most of the afternoon so I made it around Philly on my own, checking out the Historic district and walking around the Delaware riverfront as well as South Street, a popular shopping/eating/happening area. Saw Benjamin Franklin's grave, Besty Ross' house, some war memorials, and buildings that dated back to the time of the Revolutionary War.

Once Zach was done with work we walked down to south Philadelphia for some Geno's and Pat's cheesesteaks. These two epic rivals are located right across the street from one another. Since there is so much controversy over which is better I figured I'd overstuff myself and sample one of each. Geno's, with it's neon flashy exterior uses a cheese wiz, imitation cheese on their steaks. Pat's, on the other hand, uses real slices of cheese. Being the Wisconsin guy that I am, I had to choose the one with the real cheese.

Give me more Baltimore

6/9/2009

Around an hour drive northeastish of D.C., and I was in Baltimore, Maryland. Here I was meeting up with old running pal Brennan. He works for the Baltimore Orioles, and was busy all day. Fine by me, cause the harbor was just a short bike ride from Brennan's place. 

Full of restaurants and rental mini-boats, the harbor area is well designed and great for a chill afternoon. Lining the docks are a few permanently moored historic ships that are available for touring. 

It was either that or go to the aquarium where it seemed every elementary school in Baltimore was taking an end-of-the-year field trip. I decided to go where there were no screaming children, aboard the USS Torsk and later the USS Constellation. 

The Torsk was a submarine used most in the late 50's / early 60's. It was nifty, but so tight that some men even had to sleep above torpedo storage. Leavers are exposed all over the place which would make me nervous as a sailor knowing I could accidently bump one and flood the whole shebang. The other most interesting part, to me anyway, was the escape hatch which was used if they did start taking on water. Four men would sardine their way into this hatch, close the end they came from, and start filling the airtight space with sea water. Once full, they would open the top hatch and swim their way out. This process was then repeated for every man on board.  

My real cup of tea was the USS Constellation, the last wooden sail ship built but the US Navy. I think I was most into this ship for two reasons. One being I want to go on extend sail on a grand tall ship sooner than later. The other reason is I had just finished reading Blue Latitudes by Tony Horwitz. It's a book about the journey of Capt. James Cook as he "discovered" islands and indigenous peoples around the Pacific. From reading that book and taking the audio tour at the USS Constellation, I feel like I could tell anyone all there is to know about ships in the late 1700's. Go ahead. Ask me sometime. (Just don't ask about the actual sailing aspect)

I sat around the harbor people watching for a while, but the skies started to look a little questionable. I made it back to my car just in time to sit through some high winds and pounding thunder. After a while, the rain stopped and Brennan got done with work. We took a seven mile run around the Harbor area and over to the Oriole's stadium where people were beginning to pile in. We ran back to his place, showered, and made it to the stadium in time to see the first run of the game.

Since Brennan is a supervisor in charge of sponsorship and advertising, he oversees all that is sold and displayed in the park. I think I annoyed the hell out of him throughout the game, asking him how much that sign was or that promotional "text-in-your-answer" question. It was cool sitting with someone who knew all those ins and outs. Plus from our private box, we had a great view of what turned out to be a beautiful night in Baltimore. 

Gotta Love D.C.

6/8/2009

Seeing as how my friends are all employed, I took on D.C. today on my own. Went to see the Freedom Documents: The Bill of Rights, Declaration of Independence, and the United States Constitution. From reading the info provided while I was waiting in line, I learned that the rotunda room where the documents are kept is only two footcandles in luminosity. Apparently a footcandle is the distance of a candle a foot away from you. A sunny summer's day can reach 12,000 footcandles. But no matter what the lighting is like, seeing those documents is an experience every American should have. 

From there I took a walk to the sculpture garden in the middle of the mall. Among the many interesting pieces a few stuck out in my mind. One being the Wishing Tree for Washington D.C.

by Yoko Ono. While I do despise her for breaking up the Beatles, this piece is pretty cool. It's just a tree. But next to it is a box full of tags in which visitors write their wishes and place them on the tree. I'd tell you what mine was but I'm afraid it's like a birthday wish, and it may not come true. 

Another nifty piece was this two-dimensional house that looked very three-dimensional. 

I decided more art was in order. So I continued my day at the Smithsonian Hirshhorn Modern Art museum. As you may recall from an early blog on modern art, I have mixed feelings on it. But this gallery had quite a few I could get into.

Today had it's fill of art, but I could use a bit more history. So I checked out the Native American Indian Museum, which was worth the stop just for the incredible design of the building itself. But inside I dove into the world of the America Indian, from the Incas to the Alaskan tribes. 

The museum closed on me before I could get in all that I wanted, but no matter. It was time to end my night. I had dinner with my gracious host Sara at Bangkok 54, a fantastic Thai place. Then ended my night with a few beers and catching up with my other Sara friend, this one from college. 

We finished up our beers just in time for me to catch the last Metro leaving Foggy Bottom. 

D.C. Brunch and Georgetown Waterfront

6/7/2009

With the Jumbo Slice of pizza comfortably sitting in my belly, I knew it was time for sleep. Making it back to Crystal City just wasn't going to happen, so I crashed at Chris' place. 

Upon awaking this morning, we were hungry. How this is possible after eating a pizza slice the size of a small child, I'll never know. But I was informed that while I was in D.C., I had to experience a D.C. brunch.

This brunch was nothing like the Sunday after church crowd in Green Bay, WI. The first thing the waitress asks for is your drink order. Much like a dinner, except this is brunch, the first thing most people will eat on Sundays. As it turns out, I had half a bloody mary in me before anything else. But when my omelet came to the table, the bloody was on hold till this magnificent egg creation was taken down. Besides the great food and drinks, the meal was also accompanied by great conversation, as Alex, Chris, and I caught up on old times from 9 years ago. Yet, I felt bad for Chris' roommate who sat quietly, taking in all of our ridiculous stories. 

Chris had a soccer game after our brunch. So Alex and I went to his place to chill on his rooftop pool. Once I felt like I had fried myself enough up there. We went down to the Georgetown Waterfront where at 2pm the outdoor bars were packed with people getting there afternoon buzz on. We chilled at this bar for the rest of the afternoon as we watched helicopter after helicopter buzz the waterfront every 20 minutes or so, both police and Coast Guard. When two US helicopters flew by together, Alex told me it was probably Biden. When three fly together, that means it's the president. 

Eventually, Chris met back up with us. At this point, we were already about eight margaritas into our afternoon, but we still had room for a few more. 

I walked back to the metro station with Chris. On the way, I broke our conversation to say, "um Chris is that the White House?" Hey replied with a, "oh yeah, and that's the US Treasury." 

A Tourist with Well Connected Friends

6/6/2009
Today started out as a touristy day of D.C. with Sara as my guide. First we saw the Navy Memorial/Fountains. Then we walked to a park where a young boy apparently just couldn't hold it anymore. 

From there we checked out the Natural History Museum where we saw some prehistoric skeleton's of extinct sea creatures, land mammals, and birds, but more importantly DINOSAURS. Oh and the Hope Diamond which is surprisingly not as impressive as one would think. 

After that museum, we met up with my other buddy Chris and checked out the Air and Space Museum. Here we saw a model of the Wright brother's plane, a bunch of rockets, and the coolest parts, the Apollo command modules. I also discovered that one of the Wright brothers was a wicked mandolin player. Who knew?

Chris just so happens to be a legislative assistant on Capitol Hill, so he took Sara and I on a little tour of the offices. We even got to venture out onto the roof to get a fantastic view of Independence Avenue and the Capitol. 

Then we were hungry. It was a toss up between Ethiopian and Spanish tapas. Since we passed by the tapas place first, it won out. Fantastic little dishes. One consisting of the most flavorful, tender chicken, another dish of warmed mini-potatoes with a spicy/tangy dipping sauce. The wild rice and mushrooms had each of us fighting for the last bite. Even the asparagus, covered in a buttery base and topped with asiago cheese, made for quite a treat. Washing it all down, a perfectly blended sangria. 

A good day in D.C. But we still had a night ahead of us. Sara and I parted ways with Chris to get ready for the night. I met up with Chris later in Columbia Heights, just a 15 minute Metro ride up from Crystal City where I was staying with Sara. We started things out in a dive bar with a few bottle's of PBR. But eventually we wanted to meet up with another friend, Alex. We made our way to South 18th street, a bar district packed sidewalk to sidewalk with a young drinking crowd. We drank at Town Tavern for a bit and met up with Alex, then went next door to a sweet jazz lounge, more my cup of tea. Unfortunately, the band was just wrapping up. But no matter, cause we were getting free drinks. It helps to know people who know bartenders in D.C. 

After that, we were done, but hungry. I was told I had to experience a jumbo slice of pizza. At the time, I remember a euphoria of pizza bursting in my face. However, the next morning when I looked at this picture, the only thing I could say was, "I ate that?"

Hold Your Breath and Hit the Gas

6/5/2009

Driving in D.C. is a hell on wheels that I am not looking forward to repeating anytime soon. But it was cool to be diligently following the GPS and turn a corner to see the Washington Monument poking out of the city. A few turns later and I was circling the Iwo Jima Monument, followed by Arlington Cemetery. However, I'm extremely glad to be off those roads and enjoying a Yuengling lager. 

After chilling out at my friend Sara's apartment for a bit, we grabbed a bottle of wine and headed for the mall to see some night sights: Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, World War Two Fountains, and the Korean War Memorial. Cruising up and down the mall at night is a gorgeous way to see these memorials in their greatest splendor as they are beautifully lit. Plus, you are not fighting too many tourists for a close look or a good picture. 

Didn't Know I Had that Muscle

6/5/2009

As I woke this morning, I couldn’t figure out which pains are from the six hour cave dive and which are from sleeping in the car. There's a lot of not just condensation, but a thick layer of dripping water on all may car windows. Undoubtedly from my sleeping in here, but also from the large pile of wet clothing in my back seat. Either way, I had to get out of that car before pushing on to D.C.

Right next to the Sleep Inn is Harding’s Family Restaurant, a good ol’ fashioned diner where I can get a hardy breakfast. The combined elevator-music rendition of Goo Goo Doll's "Slide" and the large display of Bennie Babies in the gift shop gives this diner a slice of class like no other. Anywho, my cakes and eggs are coming soon.

Here are some more stats thus far:

Miles Driven: 1,180

Total Gas Cost: $97.64

State w/ Highest Gas Cost: Illinois 

Number of Times I've Had to Poop in the Woods: 2

...Even When Life Tries to Get You Down

6/3/2009

Once I was done with my online business at Arby's, I looked out the window. The black sky rolling in and the wind bent trees suggested the beginning of a tornado. As I rushed out the door I heard one fast food patron say in his Kentucky twang, "I heard there's some hail coming in!" 

Just as I was getting in my car, an old gentlemen getting into his said, "let's high tail it outta here!" With a smirk I replied, "too bad I'm camping at the National Park."

"You'll be fine," was his quick remark as he dashed into his car and drove off. 

Barely seeing through the buckets of water splashing over my windshield, I drove through the tiny towns outlining the National Park. One in particular, Cave City, is a tiny run down town built around the tourism of Mammoth Cave. It's full of novelty gift stores, crappy mini-golf courses, and other second rate attractions. But one caught my eye through the haze of water on my windshield: Dinosaur World.

A park that boasts over 100 life-size dinosaur models in an outdoor realistic setting. I was in Jurassic Park heaven. Especially because when I got there, it was still thundering and lightning. Even though everyone else at Dinosaur World was running out (all 6 of them) I insisted on running in. Although the park mostly caters to those under 12, I would argue it's fun for all ages. 

Except on a day like today, where the challenges keep coming. My main purpose for going into Dinosaur World was to get as many pictures as I could of me with these super sweet dino replicas. However, as you may recall from earlier today my good camera died. Now my crapy one was making me work for every picture as I had to turn it off and then on in order to take every single pic. Frustrating. But still, at $12.50, Dinosaur World was worth every penny.

Things dried off as I was there, so I figured I'd check back in at my campsite and survey the damage. To my surprise, my day's luck turned around as my tent still stood with minimal water inside.

A touch of daylight remained, so I hiked along some trails and saw where the subterranean River Styx's opened up to the surface world. I winded my way down some other trails and discovered that deer are just straight up attracted to me in this park. Three sat eating dinner no more than 15 feet away as I sat and watched the chomped up leaves roll down their long necks as they swallowed. 

Got back to my campsite just in time for the rain. Sat in my tent entertaining myself with the mandolin and trying to get some stations in on my wind-up radio. Eventually the rain started coming down harder, and I found exactly where the leaky spots in my tent are. I plugged them up with dirty clothes I had lying around and slept as dry as I could. 

New Month, New State

6/1/09

I hit the road around quarter to 8 this morning. Destination: Evansville, Indiana. I’ve just now stopped at 10:00 to refuel and de-oil my un-showered skin.

So far, so good. Here are some statistics:

Miles driven: 325

Total Gas Costs: $31.11 + just refueled: $33.02  = $64.13

Later That Day:

Arriving in Evansville around 4pm, I made my way to the University of Southern Indiana campus to meet up with a friend who’s doing summer-stock theatre work there. She wasn’t quite done with work yet, so I decided to take a jog around the USI campus.

Hot & Humid. That’s all I can really say about both my drive today and my run. I knew the south would be warmer, but I didn’t quite expect this. Nor did I expect my air conditioner to just shoot out air instead of cold air. My car is a rolling inferno.

My night in Evansville was chill, but really that’s what I needed. Hanging out with some fun theatre peeps playing drinking games. Even from state to state, some things never change. Drinking is drinking and a good time is a good time.

Drove to Chicago, All things Go

9-31-2009

With a long night in Boytown behind us, Lee and I woke up to a leisurely morning consisting of Hulu videos and playing with Charlie the rabbit. Lee had some studying to do as his finals were coming up, so I took the Metra (yes, Metra, not metro) into the city for a little touristy Chicago fun.

I made my way up the Sears tower to the Skydeck observation level on floor 99. For a soild hour I stood up there gazing out onto the magnificent city below, thinking of the hundreds of thousands of lives that are unfolding under my feet. It’s a humbling experiences seeing a city like Chicago laid out beneath you.

My friend Meagan met me up there and we sat for another long while staring out onto the city and catching each other up on the last year of our lives.

A ear-poppingly quick ride down the elevator and Meagan and I were walking the city streets seeing what there was to see. In a short while we got thirsty and realized we were across the street from the House of Blues. Great place for a few beers. Last night I was introduced to 312 (pronounced three one two), a locally famous Chicago brew reminiscent of New Glaurus’ spotted cow. Good converstion, good beer, great atmosphere, but before long we decided to check out more of the city.

Millennium park was our next stop. What an incredible public space. We just so happen to get there as a local youth choir was finishing up a concert in the park. The stage, architecture, and sound of this performance space is masterfully done. I could see myself as a Chicago citizen and utilizing this space on a daily basis.

The incredible Mellennium park outdoor art has made a landmark in-print on this Chicago area.

One can get some rather impressive pictures using this metallic dome-blob to help.

From there, we did a bit more walking as the sun began to set on this marvelous setting.

Dillo Day, Off to a Good Start

9-30-2009

At the end of every school year the students at Northwestern University in Evanston Chicago unfurl themselves from their armadillo armored balls and let loose. Hence the endearing term Dillo Day, 24 hours of drunken debauchery topped off by a free concert.

For the day, I was a Northwestern student. Got into Chicago around 5pm and wasted no time. After a few rounds of beirut, my friend Lee, his roommate, and I made our way to the lakeshore for the concert featuring Estelle. Brilliant show. She is a beautiful, sincere performer, constantly breaking the fourth wall to really get the audience into it. She even paused the show for a ridiculously wasted chick in the crowd who needed some medical attention. But besides that, great show.

From Estelle we headed to Lee's fraternity house on campus. Basically, it's a 20-some room dorm-like mansion, in which every room has it's own mini-bar. The drinking continued there.

Then came in the most interesting part of the night, Boystown, Chicago's flamboyantly gay district. From Hydrate to Cocktail and finally passing out at Mini-bar, the night got only more ridiculous, and much more gay.

East Bound and Down

Weddings are a good time. Hard to argue against that. Two loving people become one, family and friends reunite to celebrate like they never left each other, dancing like idiots without a care, and most often, free alcohol flows through everyone's veins (which aids in the dancing). It's a new beginning.

Tomorrow morning I will have a new beginning, a fresh start. I've spent the past few months here in Green Bay enjoying the time I've had here. But a lot of that time was also spent confused and frustrated with where I was in life. For some reason, at 23 I just expected more.

Tomorrow I will have more. For two weeks I'm going to take advantage of what this country has to offer. While I have a vague idea of where I'm going and what I'm doing over these next 14 days, I'll be playing a lot by ear. That smidgen of uncertainty gives me an edge of excitement. For example, this upcoming Wednesday. I have a six hour spelunking tour of Mammoth Cave in Kentucky. Will I get in those 9 inch crevasses and have a claustrophobic panic attack? Who knows! But certain things are planned out and good to go.

Tomorrow I will be starting this summer off right. My first stop is Chicago. I'll be catching up with a good friend and seeing The Decemberist, N.E.R.D., and Estelle LIVE. I'm hoping Sunday will include the Shed aquarium or perhaps the art museum. We'll see how hungover I am. But either way, I am pleased with my first stop.

I was pleased tonight as well, seeing my long time friend Brandon join forever with his soul mate Joy. I've been to a few weddings in my day and never have a seen a couple enjoy life together more than these two.

Tomorrow I will begin enjoying life like I never have before, just me and the road. I'm east bound and down, loading up, and truck'n.

Suddenly American, Suddenly 2009

1-2-2008

The holidays have their way of erasing time. Two weeks of my life seem like an utter blur. Then all of the sudden it's 2009 and I'm struggling to keep up.

Here's a quick recap of what my life as of recent has entailed. I finished up in the canary islands on Friday, Dec. 19th with a day of chilling in the sun at our sweet Americanized resort.

The next day we awoke early to get to the airport for our 11:05AM flight, which didn't take off until 6:30PM. If I ever get back to the Reina Sofa Airport, it will be too soon.

The next day back in the UK I caught a train out to Oxford where I caught up with long time

friend from high school Joseph Smeall. He's studying music composition and conducting at this prestigious university. We had a splendid day of walking about Oxford and catching up.

Later that evening, we went to a 9 Lessons Church Service where the choir sang many familiar classical pieces. It would have been a beautiful concert service were it not for the crying babies which parents didn't have the decency to remove from the church.

My last full day in London consisted of me finishing up my holiday shopping around London, mostly in Camden.

Then on the 23rd, I flew into a snow covered Chicago O'Hare Airport, got in just in time as well. An hour after I got in they began canceling flights arriving and departing.

I made it home in time for Christmas. From the moment I arrived in Wisconsin, I was taken over by day after day of family get-togethers. It was great catching up with everyone, but I was jet-legged as all hell and those first 72 hours back in the states was non-stop holiday brunches, dinners, and falling asleep on couches.

Now, it's 2009. I'm attempting to figure out exactly what is going to be happening with the rest of my life, and as soon as I know, I'll post it here. Until then, there will not be the day by day updates that my European adventure warranted. Just some random thoughts thrown down which will be hopefully better written and less journal-like.

I hope these entries about my travels have been entertaining and perhaps even a little bit informative. Once I have a bit more of my life in place, I'll be taking some time to reflect more on the past four fantastic months of my life...until then, Happy New Year!

Teide

12-18-2008

I woke up at 6:30 this morning and took the 477 bus to Los Cristianos. After an hour of walking and wave watching there I took the 342 up La Teide, the highest mountain of the Canary Islands.

This island is extremely unique. Due to the differing altitudes as you climb/drive up the montain, there are differing micro-climates. There are completely different plants growing below the clouds, from where the clouds sit, to above the clouds where nothing grows. Once you get above the town of Vilafor, about a fifth of the way up the mountain, everything is part of the Parque Nacional del Teide.

I got off the bus above the clouds at a basecamp/hotel, Parador de Turismo. From there I hiked four hours, eight kilometers, along the sunny, windly, and beautifully serene Siete Cañadas route. While windy at times, every so often I would be surrounded by cliffs and rocks that completely blocked the wind. When they did, I heard a silence like I've never heard.

That eight kilometers led me to one of the other two basecamps on the mountain, El Portillo. From there, I had another four hours of bus journey to get back to Puerto de Santiago, but again. Worth it’s weight in credit crunch.

The Splendor of Tenerife

12-17-2008

Today I took another tour with Manfred. The first one rocked so hard, I couldn’t resist another. This tour went in the opposite direction of the first to the north east side of the island towards La Laguna. There were ocho of us in this little beat up mini-van this time, filled to capacity. I actually had to plead with Manfred to let me go along. But totally worth it.

This tour involved a bit more driving and stopping but we saw some amazing views as we drove high into the Monte de las Mercedes region. Every half an hour or so, we’d stop and take another breathtaking look at the island that lay beneath us.

We took a walk around a cave village, a town in which everyone builds their homes into the sides of the mountains around them. Since these villages are so far removed from the more civilized parts of the island, they are mostly self-sufficient. They farm on terraces built into the sides of the mountains and most homes ran solely on solar power until three years ago when the island government brought electricity and street lights to the village. Manfred was puzzled as to why they would do this, as the inhabitants of these little villages are mostly elderly and sleep early. The government even built a lovely community center six years ago that is rarely used. Manfred assumes they are trying to beautify the area to attract people to live there. Because with the average age of the inhabitants around 55, the area may die out soon.

I could see a huge market for people wanting to live there, perhaps even monthly time-shares. Many people I know from Point would jump at the opportunity to live in a secluded village and sustain themselves for a number of years. I’m going to look at investing in this place….

After another short drive, we ended up in another mountain village where we met with an old shop owner who supplied us with the most delicious goat cheese I’ve ever eaten, some bread, and vino rojo.

He had the most ecliptic collection of random alcohol bottles I’ve ever seen. His collection of extremely old products also made me giggle. Emmet, the Irish guy on the tour, bought some batteries from the shop keeper. Upon putting them in his camera, he quickly realized that they had lost all their charge. To support the old guy, I purchased a Kinder Bueno candy bar. The visit to this little mountain shop was definitely one of the highlights of the day.

From there we drove further up the Monte de las Mercedes and took a hike through the “magic forest.” The vegetation here was quite unique.

And we got some more incredible views.

Our last stop was one of the only white sand beach on Tenerife.

The sand was shipped over from the Sahara desert to create a lovely holiday stop for locals and tourists alike. I was hungry so ordered what looked like onion rings on a bun. A British guy walked up next to me and asked what I had ordered. I said, “clamarie, it looks like onion rings on a bun.” He replied, “yeah, that’s not onion rings, that’s squid.” And sure enough it was, but it was also delicious.

Once I got back to the guesthouse, I grabbed my backpack and Manfred gave me a ride down to the bus station in Puerto de la Cruz where I took a bus to Los Gigantes and met up with Rachel at our next amazing accommodation, Hi! Tamaimo Tropical.

While the place was incredible and had much to do, I have a long day of hiking ahead of me tomorrow. So sleep took priority.

Masca Gorge

12-15-2008

Our guest house owner Manfred runs his own little tours. For €28, he packed four of us into his little red mini-van, drove to the northwestern side of the island, and took us on a guided tour of the Masca Gorge, probably the most beautiful area of this island.

We drove an hour to a tiny town where we met a hiking bus that took us to an even tinier town at the top of the Masca gorge. From there we hiked four hours through some absolutely breath-taking landscape. The pictures say more than I can.

We started in a rainy, misty, wet part of the gorge, but the further we hiked the dryer it got.

 

In the beginning stairs were cut into the rock to make for an easy start, but after those first 100 meters, it was rough, raw hiking. The way I like it.

Quite windy at times...

Through crevasses.

Manfred taught us about water canals that were dug in the gorge in the late 1800's to supply the surrounding villages with fresh water. 

And how their discarded tools were made into part of the trail.

As we broke into the sunlight, we were stalked by a cat who I named Senor Gato. He liked me because I fed him….and probably because I named him.

 

At the end of the gorge, was a picturesque beach, only accessible by boat or by taking the four-hour journey we just took. While a bit rocky, it was a welcome warm sight after the damp walk we just took.

It was a bit choppy, but that didn’t stop me from getting in the water. With the waves crashing against the rocky shore, walking in from the beach was not an option. I had to walk over this concrete walkway out to a round platform in the water. Manfred assured me it was safe and it more or less was. I’m always shocked at how strong currents are in the ocean. I thought I was going to get smashed upon that concrete platform a few times, but my strong swimming held out.

I dried off just in time to board our dolphin watching boat. It was really entertaining watching people attempt to board this bouncing boat as the captain carefully maneuvered the boat to keep it from drifting to far away or from crashing into the platform.

As we pulled away from the gorge a full spectrum rainbow bid us farewell.

 

We eventually pulled up to some fish nurseries where we were able to see some live dolphins pick off the fish that made it through the nets. A few even jumped out of the water for us, but mostly it was dorsal fins and blowholes. But I’d rather see that from dolphins in the wild, than a full body view of a dolphin in a tank.

After a little wait in the ocean side tourist area of Los Gigantes, we took a bus back to the little red mini-van where we drove back to La Orotava.

We walked into town that night and grabbed some dinner with Patrick and Arnita, the other two hikers on our tour today. I don’t know how I became the Spanish expert in our group of four but it was up to me to communicate with the waiter, which with Rachel was rough as she had specific wants. Poor Arnita had to have all her meals gluten free, but she had a small card with all her needs printed in Spanish, which helped a lot. The highlight from this place was the pumpkin soup, delectable.