Jellystone, here we come.

smackaholic · Post by **smackaholic** » Sat Jul 07, 2007 2:39 am

Picked up the toyota sunrader from hi tech transmission in east longmeadow, massatwoshits, this afternoon. Bill and his guys know their shit......unlike the aamco monkeys in nocal that rebuilt it when the previous owners daughters fried it on a roadie to the left coast last year. Fukkin cali hippie mutherfukkers. Lucky I'm only going as far west as yellowstone.

Since I bought this thing this spring it ran and shifted great except that it would not hold third gear when commanded to via the OD off button. I changed the OD solenoid valve thingy which was bad, but, it didn't help. So, my local grease monkey dude said bring it to bill, he is a mutherfukking tranny wytch.

He was right.

I was figuring that ole bill would wipe his dick on the sunrader's curtains when he was done with my visa card, but, it was 229 bucks out the door. Outfukkingstanding, considering most hacks want 100 bucks just to change your fluid. He had to drop the valve body and rearrange the little check ball thingies inside. Apparently hippie dude hit the bong a little too hard at lunch the day he rebuilt it and had one of them little magic balls in the wrong spot.

So now, the journey begins. We had hoped to hit the road today, but, I didn't get the rig home until about 4. Then I had to install my bitchin' cyberdyne digital tranny temp gauge and figure out how to rig up the bike rack without ripping the rear bumper off.

Anyhoo, she's loaded and ready to roll. We hope to be on the road by 5 AM.

Douchebag, don't dissapoint me. Have your chunky ass on the shoulder of the hiway somewhere between ellington, ct and minneapolis, mn. Mall of america, to be more specific. Maybe we can throw down right in the mall parking lot. After I beat you down, it'll be my treat at the food court.

Stay tuned, trolls. Pics to follow.

Luther · Post by **Luther** » Sat Jul 07, 2007 6:33 am

Smackaholic, ...make sure you pick up Cousin Eddie. Pictures are a ten.

Are you taking the family dog on the trip? I remember when I was a kid and we took "Goldie" along with us on our trip. Fuckin' gold looking female, fat, cocker spaniel. Mama Luth had the heart of Ghandi. I remember sweating and sitting in the rear seat with poor old Goldie on the floorboard. Goldie was under the infuluence of some serious travel meds for dogs in the late '60's. I thought it was funnier than hell to see Goldie try to stand up next to the Chrysler Newports rear seat. Goldie was so fucked up that she tried to piss on the seat ala a male dog. Goldie had no crank, so I don't know how he/she planned on doing this.

Goldie owned pussy...

You know Goldie was one fucked up dog.

I remember when we stopped outside of some shithole in Missouri...I saw War Wagon manning the coffee station as a child, and I just didn't have the gusto to flick him some shit. So I left Goldie in his care.

Little did I know that Goldie was the victim of some failed fuckin' home care. Goldie was found with her tongue stretched out on the rye grass. A waffling gate swung in the wind. A creek here, and a creek there. I mean, WW...give me some cpr stories for crissakes. Goldie died.

Rip City

War Wagon · Post by **War Wagon** » Sat Jul 07, 2007 7:04 am

IT WASN'T MY FAULT.

I swear. Any mutt left in my care will be one spoiled dog upon return.

So Luth... did you see where the space shuttle piggybacked a ride home due to the inclement weather... and made a pit stop at Offutt along the way? How fucking cool is that? Don't bother answering with any of the gibberish you posted above... It was very fucking cool.

Hey, smackaholic.... if you spend one second on your trip concerned about the Board, you're a fucking loser and I hope you crash and burn somewhere along I-80.

Happy trails.

Mister Bushice · Post by **Mister Bushice** » Sat Jul 07, 2007 7:36 am

Luther wrote: Are you taking the family dog on the trip?

You know Goldie was one fucked up dog.

Goldie died.

Rip City

Poor little guy, probably kept up with you for a mile or so ...

Wolfman · Post by **Wolfman** » Sat Jul 07, 2007 12:02 pm

What "gate" you using to enter the park ?
Give your transmission a real work out and go over
US #14 (pick it up out of Sheridan off I-90) and go
through the East Gate. The drive up over the Big Horns
and down past Shell Creek Canyon will test it really good !

BSmack · Post by **BSmack** » Sat Jul 07, 2007 2:12 pm

War Wagon wrote:IT WASN'T MY FAULT.

I swear. Any mutt left in my care will be one spoiled dog upon return.

Considering that road kill starts to go bad after a few hours, I'd say that's all but a given.

Rootbeer · Post by **Rootbeer** » Sat Jul 07, 2007 3:41 pm

I live a couple hours from West Yellowstone. Don't bother stopping to see me. I don't meet people from the boards.

Yellowstone is amazing. If you're in a hiking mood the view from Union Falls is amazing.

bbqjones · Post by **bbqjones** » Sat Jul 07, 2007 4:05 pm

Rootbeer wrote:I don't meet people from the boards.

boo. we could have so much fun

smackaholic · Post by **smackaholic** » Sun Jul 08, 2007 11:55 pm

Greeting from mall of mullatos errrr I mean america, courtesy of caribou coffee's wifi. Fuggin' sordid clambake ought to be called MoM though. I swear I ever seen so many crossed breeded fukks.

Here's a quick report of the trip so far.

0639 Rolled out the driveway, ellington, Ct

08ish entered NY. Left it a few hours later. I think we were also in jersey for maybe 3 seconds. You'd never know it though as the upper tip of joisy that I-84 has no toll booths, smoke stacks, casinos or any of the other things that make the garden state, well, a rather shitty garden.

10ish Entered PA. Drove about 3 1/2 light years through PA. Mostly nice looking, but, their deer cross highways about as well as JTR posts. I think I saw about 43 of them, all dead. The fukking deer hunter is alive and well and his weapon of choice these days is a buick.

Late that afternoon, entered Ohio. Pretty much a continuation of PA with fewer deer. Nothing much to note.

Right around dusk we hit Indiana. A little flatter than Ohio and the fukkin deer here are nails. I swear I saw 15-20 of them, ALIVE. Mutherfukking PA deer need to take road crossing leesons from their bretheren a few hundred miles to the west. I was unaware that Indiana was so lousy with streetwise deer. The only other place I have ever seen similar concentrations is in Maine.

Slept in a rest stop. Found a nice quiet end which wasn't so quiet by morning as we had an idling kenworth for an alarm clock. Didn't algore tell them they can't idle their riggs all night long anymore?

Hit the road around 5 AM. Traveled through lovely Gary Indiana aka Newark west around 7. just as shitty as I remembered it about 23 years ago. Chitown sukked nearly as much as Gary. Spent the rest of the day crossing Wisconsin. Fukk it's hot up here. Unfortunately there have been no fester sightings yet.

Well, they are throwing me out now. Gotta run

Wolfman · Post by **Wolfman** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 12:32 am

PA highway crews do not clear off road kill. I saw the same deer carcass in some spots for about 3 years. It would be better if a Kenworth blasted them to bits instead of being clipped by a Buick.
If you are sleeping in rest stops, I hope you are packing !
If you're doing I-90-- make the side trip to Devil's Tower.
And-- we want a PET !!

TenTallBen · Post by **TenTallBen** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 4:28 am

Worked two summers for the park in Gardiner, MT. Beautiful times.

If for some reason you roll through there they have about seven bars for a town that has about 650 people for their population.

Hit the K-Bar for some damn good pizza and you can't go wrong at any of the following...

Two Bit Saloon
Red's Blue Goose
Town Lounge
Rusty Rail

If at all possible, head south and do the Grand Tetons and Jackson Hole. Amazing scenery!

Have fun!

Tiny · Post by **Tiny** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 4:45 am

Actually, some of the deer populace here isn't so streetwise; They get plowed here, just like they do in PA. The difference is that the necks around here just field dress 'em, and strap them to the hood of their cars, or toss them in the bed of their trucks.

INDOT doesn't do the death scene clean-up here either. Locally, (here in the sticks years ago), there were a couple dudes that the local Sheriff's office had on speed dial. Whenever somebody would call in a car/deer come to Jesus meeting, they'd break off a phone call to them, and these guys would come out and clean up the deer carcass, often beating the "investigating officer" to the scene. I was told they quit doing that somewhere about 10-15 years ago, because they were concerned about anti-freeze/oil/other vehicle fluids contaminating the meat. Lord knows we can't give somebody a reason to sue the county.

I live just about a mile and a half from St Rd 25, which is the main state highway between Ft Wayne, and Lafayette. At any given moment, while traveling on said road, you can have one or ten of those fuckers jump out in front of your rig, and you play hell just trying to keep from vaporizing them, (forget the thought of missing them altogether).
In my 25 years of driving, I've hit 5. Damn near totaled out the same S10 pickup twice, almost broke the bumper in two on my car back in high school, and just grazed a couple more in the past 5 years or so. The damn corn gets so high, and you can't see them coming at you. They can't see you, for the same reason. So they are trucking along at full bore because they get spooked or something, and you are doing whatever the speed limit is ;), and before you can react, they just materialize out of the wall of corn.....BAMMM!!!!!!!!! Your lucky if you don't clip the deer while he is in mid-jump, while he's coming up out of the field; I've seen too many times where this has happened, and the damn deer just comes up over the hood, and on in through the windshield.

The corn here is right about 5 1/2 to 6 foot high now, so we are on the verge of the absolute worst time of the year. Here in a couple weeks the corn will be pretty well matured, and then the deer will start his all night feeding raids in the fields. This will culminate after harvest, when the deer feast on all the corn that the farmers spill, the combines miss, or stalks that just plain don't get processed. If some tard is coming home after too many pops at the local watering hole, he doesn't stand a chance.

smackaholic · Post by **smackaholic** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 1:46 pm

I forgot about the neck deer butchershop reason for spotless highways. I think they do it in PA as well, but, most of the PA dead ones were a bit too tenderized even for a neck. And lemme tell ya, Arkangeorgiasippibamalina neck got nothing on central PA neck. We stopped for gas/lunch there. We were served by one rough looking chick in an Ozzy shirt in this joint's left side that looked like a cross between a pizza place and the men's room at fenway. The other half was occupied by cooter and jabba the hut. I actually had to hand my credit card to cooter as there is no pay at the pump there, ofcourse. I'm sure he is ordering some pron as we speak with my CC number.

edit* this post brought to you by an unsecured motorola wifi souce in the corn palace parking somewhere in eastern south dakota.

The Whistle Is Screaming · Mon Jul 09, 2007 2:35 pm

bbqjones wrote:
Rootbeer wrote:I don't meet people from the boards.

boo. we could have so much fun

Big Rack for the jones!

Enjoy your trip smack!

Dinsdale · Post by **Dinsdale** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 4:27 pm

So, you left in the morning, and by afternoon, had been in 5 different states?

Dang, things are different in the East. Unless I go north to Washington, which is a few minutes up the highway, if I take off in the morning, by early afternoon...I'm still in Oregon, regardless which direction I drive(besides due north).

ucantdoitdoggieSTyle2 · Mon Jul 09, 2007 4:55 pm

Dinsdale wrote:So, you left in the morning, and by afternoon, had been in 5 different states?

Dang, things are different in the East.

Yes, they are "different."

However, dude had been traveling for about 13.5 hours by my count. Ya see Dins, the last time I checked, dusk does not occur "in the afternoon" during summertime in The States.

I could take 95 South from Maine (the southern tip... obviously) and hit at least 10 states in the same time span...

Dinsdale · Post by **Dinsdale** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 4:59 pm

ucantdoitdoggieSTyle2 wrote:I could take 95 South from Maine and hit at least 10 states in the same time span...

I could take I-5 south from here(it's a few blocks away), and in 13.5 hours, I'd be about halfway through the state to the south. If I drove slowly and stopped for lunch and extended sightseeing/pissbreaks, I'd just be settling in San Francisco, in Northern California.

Mikey · Post by **Mikey** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 5:10 pm

Dinsdale wrote:
ucantdoitdoggieSTyle2 wrote:I could take 95 South from Maine and hit at least 10 states in the same time span...
I could take I-5 south from here(it's a few blocks away), and in 13.5 hours, I'd be about halfway through the state to the south. If I drove slowly and stopped for lunch and extended sightseeing/pissbreaks, I'd just be settling in San Francisco, in Northern California.

And another 10 hours (+/- 2 depending on traffic) to get down here to LowCal

Mikey · Post by **Mikey** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 5:10 pm

Dinsdale wrote:
ucantdoitdoggieSTyle2 wrote:I could take 95 South from Maine and hit at least 10 states in the same time span...
I could take I-5 south from here(it's a few blocks away), and in 13.5 hours, I'd be about halfway through the state to the south. If I drove slowly and stopped for lunch and extended sightseeing/pissbreaks, I'd just be settling in San Francisco, in Northern California.

And another 10 hours (+/- 2 depending on traffic) to get down here to LowCal

socal · Post by **socal** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 5:14 pm

Mikey wrote:And another 10 hours (+/- 2 depending on traffic) to get down here to LowCal

I'll take the over.

Dinsdale · Post by **Dinsdale** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 5:25 pm

Haven't made the drive to SoCal in many, many years. I've had a couple of friends make some nearly-unbelievable times from LowCal, though. My buddy lived in SD for a few years, and he would occasionally make it in less than 20 hours...in a Chevy Sprint... nuts-to-the-wall, WFO.

Years ago, a friend called before he left, I believe it was Anaheim. He showed up in Beaverton about 14.5 hours later...but he's a fucking maniac.

Hell, I've done San Fran to Portland in about 7 hours. But what's it worth? That's just going flat-out, doing triple-digits most of the way. That's just gambling that you're not going to be the poor sap who passes the bored cop. Sure, once you get much north of Excremento, you can pretty much do whatever you want until you get to the larger I-5 cities of southern Oregon (aka "Extreme NoCal"), and there isn't really anyone around to do anything about it(I don't think people outside of the West Coasties realize just how rural California is once you're away from the population centers).

But I'm too old and too concerned about my driving record these days to save a few hours(plus the Glory Days of childish warfare between the Oregon and California DMVs are behind us, which means we actually have to pay tickets and be accountable in our neighboring states... too bad. Gone are the days when you could get a license suspended in one state, and immediately send yourself some mail adressed to yourself at your buddies house in the other state, and walk into the DMV and get a new, valid license. Never utilized this loophole myself... but I know people who sure did.).

ucantdoitdoggieSTyle2 · Mon Jul 09, 2007 5:27 pm

Dinsdale wrote:I'd just be settling in San Francisco, in Northern California.

REALLLLLLLLLLYYYY???

Thanks for specifying which half of the state SF is a part of... I am riveted. I need more. More. More!

Hey, if you drove 13.5 hours due west from your house, where would you be then?

Dinsdale · Post by **Dinsdale** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 5:34 pm

ucantdoitdoggieSTyle2 wrote: More. More!

Hey, if you drove 13.5 hours due west from your house, where would you be then?

Well, I'm glad you asked, Ucan't...

If I drove 13.5 hours due west, I'd have been crashed into the Mexican's house next door for about 13.499 hours.

If I took roads due west for 13.5 hours, it means I've been languishing in the breathtaking beauty of the Pacific Ocean for about 12 hours or so, and I would most likely be quite drunk by then, and most likely would have picked up some skanks that were invoking the "what happens at the beach stays at the beach" clause.

I'll let you know -- since that's the tentative plan for the scorched-earth temperatures they're promising for the next couple of days or so here in the interior. The coastline don't do hot days... 80 is really cranking up the heat bigtime at the Coast.

Mikey · Post by **Mikey** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 5:56 pm

socal wrote:
Mikey wrote:And another 10 hours (+/- 2 depending on traffic) to get down here to LowCal
I'll take the over.

Yeah I think I did misunderestemerate that.

I used to make it in 8.5 hours on I5 but that was 30 years ago, and it was from the southern end of the Bay Area. Haven't made that drive in quite some time. If we ever drive up north along the coast we try to hit LA at around 3:00 am. You might miss the stop and go at that hour and see a nice sunrise right around Morro Bay.

ucantdoitdoggieSTyle2 · Mon Jul 09, 2007 6:08 pm

Dinsdale wrote:If I drove 13.5 hours due west, I'd have been crashed into the Mexican's house next door for about 13.499 hours.

Good recovery. Thanks for the LOL....

Dinsdale · Post by **Dinsdale** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 6:25 pm

ucantdoitdoggieSTyle2 wrote:
Dinsdale wrote:If I drove 13.5 hours due west, I'd have been crashed into the Mexican's house next door for about 13.499 hours.

Good recovery. Thanks for the LOL....

And as I plowed through their exterior wall into their kitchen, they'd probably say "are you OK, Amigo?" And then hand me a plate of tamales. And their fucking dog would be barking the whole time, as per usualm.

smackaholic · Post by **smackaholic** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 12:46 am

states in the west are BIG. who'd a thunk it? thanks marcus.

we are currently camped out at ellsworth AFB just north of rapid city.

drove a bunch and only crossed 1 state line.

as for heading south from the southern tip of maine, you can see 5 states in about 3 hrs, a little less if you pass up the obligatory new hampshire liquor store rest area, but, who can do that.

gotta rack the hell out of a state that promotes it's low liquor taxes to the point of actually constructing a rest stop on I-95 that is a liquor store. Don't have to leave the interstate at all!

we will probably hang here for awhile tomorrow. gonna go see rushmore and probably dead wood. maybe check out devil's tower as well.

Douchebag · Post by **Douchebag** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 1:31 am

i'm on the fucking road, dicksuck. i'm in the VW bus and am headed straight for San Francisco. i've got some buddies there who've got a place i can stay at.

make the fucking drive to SAN FRAN you fucking FAGGOT. i will fight you there.

this shit is going down

Tiny · Post by **Tiny** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 1:38 am

^^^ MY GOD, WHY CAN'T SOME MOD OFF THIS SHIT TROLL????

Mister Bushice · Post by **Mister Bushice** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 1:53 am

smackaholic wrote:states in the west are BIG. who'd a thunk it? thanks marcus.

we are currently camped out at ellsworth AFB just north of rapid city.

The fucking map out front could have told them that. Effing U & L hicks.

we will probably hang here for awhile tomorrow. gonna go see rushmore and probably dead wood. maybe check out devil's tower as well.

what? No fucking pictures?

PSUFAN · Post by **PSUFAN** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 12:39 pm

headed straight for San Francisco. i've got some buddies there who've got a place i can stay at.

BIIIIG shocker, Douchebag. Your colon is going to be a big hit in the Castro.

smackaholic · Post by **smackaholic** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 3:22 am

greetings from some shitty RV park about 10 miles south of jackson, WY. Atleast it has wifi.

When last we speaked my little band of gypsies was headed up to Rushmore. It was cool. The road in sucked arse though. Well, actually it was a cool road, but, the 10 percent give'r'take a few grade near the end gave the old toyota all it could handle.

From there we wasted a few hours in deadwood. It sux and is gax. Shoulda did devil's tower instead. Then we hit 90 west through wyoming. Yawn. Actually, kinda nice. We pulled over and spent the night on the side of 16 as it passes over the big horn mountains. Hit the road at about 4 in the morning. As we climbed over the 9600 ft pass we saw some pretty epcot views and some bigass elk. Spent the rest of the day crossing the high plains of wyomissippi. I said nobody had anything on centrall PA necks. I misspoke. Central wyoming pretty bad. Then we got to Cody which is the gateway to the east gate. The damn there is pretty cool. As for Jellystone, words cannot describe it. The scenery is pretty damn amazing, but, the fukking critter gazing is, well, let's just say it does not suck. Not even a little. here's the tally for wildlife viewing:

Bison- Eleventy bazillion, maybe eleventy two bazillion.
Elk-Many hundreds and like the bison, they pretty much ignore you
mule deer- couple hundred. they are pussies compared to elk, kinda skittish.

Then, for the wildlife viewing main attraction, the bears. We saw a momma black bear and her two cubs rip the shit out of a bunch of old trees for an hour or so. Being black bears, poppa bear was nowhere to be found, ofcourse. About a half hour later as we were headed back Canyon, I damn near ran over a momma grizzly and her two chillins. I will post picks when I get a chance.

This morning as we headed towards Grand Teton, we were treated to the wildlife grand finale. A momma grizzly was back about 200 yards in the woods. She was being circled by a few wolfs who were apparently trying to have her cubs for lunch. I couldn't see the cubs but, that's what somebody who arrived on scene before me saw. Apparently the griz was going after an elk when the wolves went after the little ones. I guess the elk got away. After about a half hour of watching this go on, I guess the wolves figured they better find a less protected lunch.

We then past through big tits national park. Awesome view of the range, but, seeing as we ain't gonna climb them, we movede on to this shitty little RV park. Tomorrow morning, it's white water rafting on the snake river.

Gotta run

smackaholic · Post by **smackaholic** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 3:22 am

greetings from some shitty RV park about 10 miles south of jackson, WY. Atleast it has wifi.

When last we speaked my little band of gypsies was headed up to Rushmore. It was cool. The road in sucked arse though. Well, actually it was a cool road, but, the 10 percent give'r'take a few grade near the end gave the old toyota all it could handle.

From there we wasted a few hours in deadwood. It sux and is gax. Shoulda did devil's tower instead. Then we hit 90 west through wyoming. Yawn. Actually, kinda nice. We pulled over and spent the night on the side of 16 as it passes over the big horn mountains. Hit the road at about 4 in the morning. As we climbed over the 9600 ft pass we saw some pretty epcot views and some bigass elk. Spent the rest of the day crossing the high plains of wyomissippi. I said nobody had anything on centrall PA necks. I misspoke. Central wyoming pretty bad. Then we got to Cody which is the gateway to the east gate. The damn there is pretty cool. As for Jellystone, words cannot describe it. The scenery is pretty damn amazing, but, the fukking critter gazing is, well, let's just say it does not suck. Not even a little. here's the tally for wildlife viewing:

Bison- Eleventy bazillion, maybe eleventy two bazillion.
Elk-Many hundreds and like the bison, they pretty much ignore you
mule deer- couple hundred. they are pussies compared to elk, kinda skittish.

Then, for the wildlife viewing main attraction, the bears. We saw a momma black bear and her two cubs rip the shit out of a bunch of old trees for an hour or so. Being black bears, poppa bear was nowhere to be found, ofcourse. About a half hour later as we were headed back Canyon, I damn near ran over a momma grizzly and her two chillins. I will post picks when I get a chance.

This morning as we headed towards Grand Teton, we were treated to the wildlife grand finale. A momma grizzly was back about 200 yards in the woods. She was being circled by a few wolfs who were apparently trying to have her cubs for lunch. I couldn't see the cubs but, that's what somebody who arrived on scene before me saw. Apparently the griz was going after an elk when the wolves went after the little ones. I guess the elk got away. After about a half hour of watching this go on, I guess the wolves figured they better find a less protected lunch.

We then past through big tits national park. Awesome view of the range, but, seeing as we ain't gonna climb them, we movede on to this shitty little RV park. Tomorrow morning, it's white water rafting on the snake river.

Gotta run

War Wagon · Post by **War Wagon** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 3:56 am

War Wagon wrote: Hey, smackaholic.... if you spend one second on your trip concerned about the Board, you're a fucking loser and I hope you crash and burn somewhere along I-80.

Happy trails.

Great, despite my admonition to not think about the BORED on your road trip, you found it necessary to report in anyway. Good God, man... you're on fucking VACATION... and I'm fucking jealous.

Rack the travelogue.

Sounds like you took the exact same route that I did back in 1993, and yeah, you shoulda' hit Devils Tower.

Back then, Yellowstone was just beginning to recover from the enormous fires of a few years prior. Lot's of burned out stumps in many places, but many new saplings also taking root. I'd like to hear your report on the recovery. I figure it's complete by now?

I doubt there's many places on this earth quite as unique and awe-inspiring as Yellowstone Park. Everyone should experience it at least once in their lifetime.

smackaholic · Post by **smackaholic** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 4:48 am

the lodgepole pines are filling in quite nicely. Sure as hell ain't no shortage of down well seasoned firewood.

next stop, canyonlands of utah, that is if it ain't on fire anymore.

RadioFan · Post by **RadioFan** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 5:21 am

next stop, canyonlands of utah, that is if it ain't on fire anymore.

Don't know if you're going this far south, but Zion and especially Bryce Canyon are fantastic. If you're lucky, you'll be at Zion when a rainstorm hits. That happened when I was there in the early-80s. We were walking along a trail in a canyon with a nearby river, got to a stopping point and stayed out from the downpour in a small sheltered area, then walked back in the mostly-cleared sky to find several waterfalls coming from the top of the cliffs -- one of them at least 250 feet. None were there before the rainstorm. Spectacular. One of the most amazing things I've ever seen in a national park.

Bryce Canyon is probably the most unusual place I've visited as far as natural parks in the U.S. That place is incredible.

Rack the account, btw. I've been to many national parks but not Yellowstone.

Also, that drive into Wyoming from S.D. kicks ass. I did that in '83 during the Sturgeon motorcyclefest in S.D. I was driving the family car, doing about 90, heading south toward colorado and dudes on bikes were passing me like I was standing still. I'd move over toward the shoulder for 'em, though (as those who took driver's ed in Texas do), and most of them gave me the fist up motorcycle "right on" sign when they'd pass. I think I could be the only driver of a '79 Chevy Impala who ever got that signal from Sturgeon biker dudes and dudettes.

Invictus · Post by **Invictus** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 1:44 pm

The Whistle Is Screaming wrote:
bbqjones wrote:
Rootbeer wrote:I don't meet people from the boards.

boo. we could have so much fun
Big Rack for the jones!

Enjoy your trip smack!

Second that rack. bbq was on point.

WAR HAIR GUYS

Mikey · Post by **Mikey** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 2:43 pm

RadioFan wrote:
next stop, canyonlands of utah, that is if it ain't on fire anymore.
Don't know if you're going this far south, but Zion and especially Bryce Canyon are fantastic. If you're lucky, you'll be at Zion when a rainstorm hits. That happened when I was there in the early-80s. We were walking along a trail in a canyon with a nearby river, got to a stopping point and stayed out from the downpour in a small sheltered area, then walked back in the mostly-cleared sky to find several waterfalls coming from the top of the cliffs -- one of them at least 250 feet. None were there before the rainstorm. Spectacular. One of the most amazing things I've ever seen in a national park.

I'll RACK that take.

When we were still living in Vegas we went, on a whim, one Saturday morning in the springtime on a drive to Zion. As you said, it had just rained. As we were driving through the canyon the clouds were still obscuring the tops of some of the cliffs. There was water pouring down everywhere and the pine trees on the hillsides had water droplets covering them. The sun breaking through and shining through all those droplets made the trees look like they were covered with diamonds. Amazing. When we got to the end of the road we thought about getting out and going for a walk, but our 100 degree desert rat flip flops and shorts turned out to be insufficient for the suddenly mid-40s weather we climbed out of the minivan into.

So, we turned around and drove back home.

ucantdoitdoggieSTyle2 · Mon Jul 16, 2007 3:03 pm

Mikey wrote:but our 100 degree desert rat flip flops and shorts turned out to be insufficient for the suddenly mid-40s weather we climbed out of the minivan into.

Shorts and a T-Shirt would have been plenty of clothing to brave such temperatures for any self respecting New Englander... and bare feet. I don't care if it was rocky terrain. You had sufficient protection. Flip flops are like steel toe boots to us. Hell... I might have taken off my shirt and laid out in the sun.

Mikey wrote:So, we turned around and drove back home.

Fucking SoCals. Weather pussies.

Mikey · Post by **Mikey** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 3:11 pm

ucantdoitdoggieSTyle2 wrote:
Mikey wrote:but our 100 degree desert rat flip flops and shorts turned out to be insufficient for the suddenly mid-40s weather we climbed out of the minivan into.
Shorts and a T-Shirt would have been plenty of clothing to brave such temperatures for any self respecting New Englander... and bare feet. I don't care if it was rocky terrain. You had sufficient protection. Flip flops are like steel toe boots to us. Hell... I might have taken off my shirt and laid out in the sun.

Mikey wrote:So, we turned around and drove back home.
Fucking SoCals. Weather pussies.

I hear what you're saying. I could handle those kinds of conditions buck naked myself, but we had a 2 year old and a 4 year old with us and they hadn't been weather-hardened yet.