4 month road trip comes to an end...

[Handlebars]

I have finally run out of money and had to go back to civilization. I was doing fine up until the point that I needed to put new tires on the Jeep, but these things happen on 6000 mile road trips. The good news is that I succeeded in my goal of moving out of SoCal, I have found a job and a place to live in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The bad news is that I am starting completely from scratch- I don?t know anybody here, don?t know my way around and am flat broke. But I am happy to know that I squeezed 4 months of travel out of a budget that I expected to only last 2 months.

I didn?t actually get out of California until the end of September when the cold weather drove me out of the high Sierra. I returned to LA to pick up my mountain bike that I had dropped off back in July because my plan was to meander out to Moab for the NAXJA Fall Fling and I might as well do some biking too. While in LA, I had a single encounter with death wobble on the crowded 101 freeway, that one episode was enough to make me want to park the Jeep and never drive it again so I had to address it. I knew that it was caused by the cupped wear pattern on my Yokohama Geolanders, not to mention all the wheel weights that had been rearranged and knocked off over the course of the summer. A new set of tires exceeded the the value of my remaining cash so I charged them to the credit card that I have carried just in case of emergency. At that point I knew my trip was coming to an end but I was not going to quit immediately, I still had some unfinished business.

So I jumped on the 10 eastbound and ended up at the Grand Canyon.


I wasn?t really planning to stay more than a day or so but I followed a whim and got the permit to go backpacking from rim to river. It was one of those things that I had thought would be nice to do someday and then I realized that this was my season of somedays. So I squeezed 2 billion years of the earth?s history into 3 days of hiking, down the South Kaibab Trail and back up the Bright Angel Trail, leaving the cold and stormy fall weather of the Kaibab Plateau for the warm and stormy weather of the the inner gorge.



I really don?t know how people do this hike in the summer, it was in the 60?s down at the river while I had to brush frost off of my tent the night before on the rim. That river must really be cooking in August!

Once I made it back out of the Canyon I packed up and headed east, in search of lower elevations and warmer climes. I passed through Monument Valley and Valley of the Gods on the way to Canyonlands National Park.




Canyonlands has several well marked 4x4 trails, I sampled several of them and then headed out via the Lockhart Basin trail. That trail was very beautiful but soooo tedious, for the first time in my life I was begging for pavement. 40 miles from Canyonlands to the back door of Moab, winding in-n-out and up-n-down hundreds of washes of every size that drained the canyon rim to the east. It had rained heavily a couple of days before, erasing any tire tracks and making route finding a pain in the neck from constantly having to climb out the window to see over the hood.



The trip took 2 days, but I did manage to squeeze a bike ride in on Amasa Back before arriving at dark in Slickrock campground in beautiful Moab, Utah.

There were a week?s worth of trails planned for the NAXJA Fall Fling, but at this point I didn?t want break anything. All 3 of my previous trail breakages had been in Moab, so I drove a couple of the bunny trails and rode with MJR on a couple of others. I actually ended up walking most of Cliffhanger due to the slooow pace of the run and the exciting view from the passenger window.




I spent the week with some old friends and made some new ones, and managed to ride 3 new trails on my mountain bike. You can bet that I will be there again next year for the 25th anniversary of the Cherokee birthday bash.

MJR once again had some free time so he joined me on the slow trip to Albequerque for my job interview. I began this long, aimless journey with him so it was only appropriate that I finish it with him. Thanks, Mike for the good company and the entertaining moments!



We made our way east through the ruins of the migrating Pueblo Indians, starting with the ruins at Hovenweep National Monument, through Mesa Verde National Park, and then on my own to Bandolieer National Monument and Los Alamos. I stayed in my first and only motel of the trip the night before my job interview. It was the lowest budget accommodations I could find in Albuquerque, the Route 66 Hostel. 30 bucks got me a room in a 100 year old building with steam heat and appropriately, an ?America?s Moving Adventure? blanket on the bed.



I got hired on the spot? but my new employer gave me a week to get moved out. So I found an apartment, dashed back to LA to load my motorcycle, tools and remaining possessions into a badly overloaded 10 foot U-Haul trailer for the trip back. I could barely manage 45 mph up some of the steeper hills but other than that the trip went smoothly. So I am now settled into my own little home with a nice view and my Jeep and motorcycle share a cozy little 1 car garage, for the first time in either of their existence. I now close the book on one adventure and open up the next one.

[Daddy Longlegs]

Thats a really cool story. I sure wish I could go on a 4 month adventure

Congrats on finding new work!

Scott

[sethmark]

Good for you! What a wonderful trip. My wife and I did 3 mos off last year when we moved from San Francisco to San Diego. Great time with lots of interesting places and people. But your trip is WAY better.

Good luck in the new digs.

sEth

[John]

I've been to Albuqueque a couple of times, and loved that little town. It's even on the short list of places my wife wants to transfer to (Air Force).

[Chris L]

Congrats Alex! Great pics and story as always. I am sure everything will work out well for you. We missed you at Last Chance Canyon last saturday. Talk to ya soon.

Congrats on landing a job and escaping the SoCal madness.
It was good to see you again in Moab, perhaps we'll see you next May, as some of us might be coming out to Farmington for a little run.


Jes

[derf]

Welcome back to civilization.

Looks like you've had a lot of fun.

I made that trip down through Monument Valley on my way down to CA in '99. Very cool.

You do realize that you're now just one long day trip away from me in Fort Worth. 600 some odd miles by the most direct route. With my job giving me every other Friday off, a weekend road trip to do some real moutain wheeling is doable. Although, making the drive in my new-to-me CJ probably will be out, a jaunt in the XJ or SJ would be entirely possible.

[Handlebars]

Originally posted by Chris L
We missed you at Last Chance Canyon last saturday. Talk to ya soon.

I haven't felt homesick at all... until I saw your Last Chance pics. That was my favorite SoCal place to go. We had a lot of good trips there and I don't know if I will ever go there again.

Originally posted by Jes
It was good to see you again in Moab, perhaps we'll see you next May, as some of us might be coming out to Farmington for a little run.Jes

Lemme know when it will be- Farmington is an easy weekend trip from here... and I now get every weekend off so planning for it is easy. If you are doing hardcore stuff again I'll just ride along/walk/shoot fan club pics. I've grown very fond of my Cherokee over the summer and don't want to put it in harm's way anymore. Is this going to be the Best of the West crew again?

Originally posted by derf

You do realize that you're now just one long day trip away from me in Fort Worth. 600 some odd miles by the most direct route. With my job giving me every other Friday off, a weekend road trip to do some real moutain wheeling is doable. Although, making the drive in my new-to-me CJ probably will be out, a jaunt in the XJ or SJ would be entirely possible.

Hey Roy, we could hook up for the Chile Challange in Las Cruces, it is Feb. 19~22. The Las Cruces 4wd Club holds it every year. Other than that, I don't know what kind of 'wheeling there is around here yet. I'm going to the local ABQ 4wd club meeting this Thursday to see if I can find some locals to show me where I can go 'wheeling.

[Paradiddle]

What a wonderful trip - thanks for the photos and words.

I wish I'd got a chance to meet and wheel with you - maybe my XJ will find it's way out by you one day.

There is a killer mexican restaurant by the College in Alb. that has the best sopapilla (sp?). I remember eating there on many road trips with my parents.

Good luck to you.

Jeff

fixed it for you Jeff

[Handlebars]

There is always Moab... Jeff, if you have never gone to a NAXJA run you owe it to yourself and your Cherokee.

Was that place by U of NM called Frontier? I ate there on the recommendation of a local. I hope I get used to the food, they like it spicy around here.

[Wind_Danzer]

Beautiful, truly beautiful. I love your pics and write up and I'm glad you had a blast.

Was this the first time you ever did anything like this???

[Handlebars]

Yes, and hopefully not the last. Wanderlust is a drug. Once indulged, it doesn't easily leave your system.

[Joe Dillard]

Excellent reading! Thanks for sharing.

Originally posted by Handlebars


Lemme know when it will be- Farmington is an easy weekend trip from here... and I now get every weekend off so planning for it is easy. If you are doing hardcore stuff again I'll just ride along/walk/shoot fan club pics. I've grown very fond of my Cherokee over the summer and don't want to put it in harm's way anymore. Is this going to be the Best of the West crew again?

Yes it'll be the BOTW crew again and knowing that I'm sure it'll be some hardcore stuff. As always your welcome to ride with me.


Jes