Employed in L.A. (at least until tomorrow)

A quick update from the bustling city of Los Angeles. I'm on my lunch break at "work". These last two days I've been helping my college roommate, Stacey, work for her father's company. He is liquidating a large Japanese animation company and Stacey and I have been working on organizing and cleaning cubicles as well as animation artwork, etc. It has been an interesting job indeed. Anyhow, it will be nice to put some fresh cash in my pocket for our return trip back across the country.

This short stint in L.A. is thankfully that - short. While I love Stacey and am grateful to her family for showing me such hospitality, I will be that much more thankful to escape the chaotic, mentally noisy nature of this city. There is so much to look at and so much more to understand. L.A. folk certainly are different from New England folk. The people have been very friendly but I find myself lost in their conversations sometimes. I think truly that my mind is just geared to view life through a lens so different from theirs its as if I need translation.

The weather has been sunny mostly with patches of rainy weather but it feels balmy and friendly to me. As such, its been comical to watch L.A. residents bustle by with scarves and pea coats.

The city itself is quite impressive to me. Each district offers something new to look at - interesting billboards, the rolling waves of the Pacific, amazing and various cuisine (we enjoyed a new Sushi restaurant last night) and the scarily fast and twisty roads of the canyons. It is somewhat scary to me that they literally build houses on stilts into the sides of the steepest canyon walls. It is lucky that I am viewing the city after the practically two straight weeks of rain because the street sides, lawns and hill sides seem to be exploding with green, neon green, pink blossoms, mammoth ferns and flowering trees. It's like driving, disturbingly fast, through some jungle on an alien planet. It is not surprising to me that James Cameron thought up the splendor in Avatar given that he has lived in and experienced the exploding green beauty of L.A.

I'm having a blast in this oddly real video game life but am thrilled to be headed back to the desert for some rock crawling entertainment!

Greetings From Apache Junction, Arizona

Blogging about something like a road trip is difficult. I guess the reason you go on a road trip is to experience the world and see things first hand. So, its next to impossible to put into words and retell things which must be experienced for one's self. Nonetheless, I greatly enjoy trying. . .

Since my last update, we haven't put on as many miles but have taken the more scenic roads. The west truly is a sight to see. Right now, in the reflection of my laptop screen is a gigantic Saguaro Cactus - which also happens to be the Arizona State plant. No picture describes their massive and unique nature. Upon leaving Texas we roamed though Ft Davis and stopped at the McDonald Observatory. They have a large sun clock and we had fun estimating the exact time and watching the shadow line move. We took back roads, crossed several cattle grates and hooked back up with I10 headed toward New Mexico.

Night fell as we looked for a place to sleep and El Paso lit up the western sky like nothing I have ever seen. Apart from the homeless man sleeping on the bathroom and the massacre in Cuidad Juarez like 5 miles south of us, it was an uneventful evening at the New Mexico Welcome Center parking lot. Of course we narrowly escaped crisis of our own as Adam stuck a match (allow with his arm) into the propane oven to produce heat in order to bake my brownies. In my case, the prospect of brownies clearly outweighs the concern of a scorched limb. One must have priorities.

The first fun fact I learned about New Mexico is that it has a town called Truth or Consequences but that fun fact was far surpassed by the sight of the City of Rocks. The "city" is an impressive conglomeration of rock structures that sit entirely out of place in the desert plain. A massive volcanic eruption spit mile long rocks into the sky 34.9 million years ago and the current sight is the result of erosion and precipitation.

From the City of Rocks we drove north, missed our road and kept driving only to discover the most back woods, incredible scenery ever. The road stretched before us in a surreal view of rolling desert plains, snow capped mountains and endless blue sky. Adam said upon driving through one "town", "you know a town is small when the cows perk their ears and watch you drive by."

We climbed into the mountains of the Apache National Forest, higher and higher, winding around each switchback, obeying the 15 mile per hour limit and viewing some of the most breath taking scenes. It was in this forest that we crossed into Arizona and descended into a somewhat different looking desert. The plains are dotted by Saguaro Cacti scattered throughout, the rocks become more jagged and mean looking and the roads go on forever.

Then we drove through a long stretch of San Carlos Indian Reservation which was disturbingly poor and littered with trash, waste and debris. Obviously there is a disconnect from the money made at the casino which we later passed and the economy of the local towns.

From the reservation we drove into Tonto National Forest, a large land mass that reaches nearly to Phoenix. There is a certain risk in believing signs on highways announcing campsites with restrooms. We discovered this after turning onto an ancient, poorly maintained gravel road which wound slowly along a washed out river bed. There is an even bigger risk in believing such signs when you are towing a 24 foot trailer requiring more than a river bed of space to turn around. Directly before I became very concerned that we would never, in fact, find a campsite or a place to turn around, we did and I sighed.

The highway brought us closer to Phoenix and we watched the sky turn every shade of fuchsia, yellow and orange as the sun continued its journey around the earth. Somewhat lost on a dirt road, a mostly drunk man gave us directions and we happily arrive at Lost Dutchman State Park. This morning I enjoyed a hot shower at this same park and we ate pancakes on a picnic table while looking at the amazing desert scene shadowed by looming mountains.
There is so much to see in the world and in this country. The scenery and sensory input feels like a blur of amazement and perspective broadening. Truly, if I did not keep track of the locations and events each day, I could not tell you what state I went to sleep in last night. For now, I will return to my current reality of mountains, desert, sun and cacti. California is literally on the horizon and we will drive toward tomorrow.