Also, to make life easier for you, I’ve created a text box in the sidebar with links for each of the days of the road trip to make for simpler navigation.

Enjoy.

Meanwhile, uploading the pics is taking longer than I thought because I have to make them small enough to make for quick page-loading, but large enough so they don’t look too bad. I’ve done it for Days 1, 2 and 3, so feel free to go back to those posts and take a look. The posts have been edited as well to make them look somewhat more decent than the “dashing off a few words before bed” feel that they all had. Ok, they still have that feel, but I’ve tried to clean up the typoa tyois typos.

Maybe some time later, I’ll upload them to Flickr as well. But for now, enjoy!

Update 1: Just added in the pics for Days 4 and 5.

Update 2: And the pics are complete. Just finished adding in Days 6 and 7.

We finally made it! 3,537 miles, 14 states, 7 days, 2 national parks, a national monument, 2 and a half borderline schizophrenic episodes and 1 a/c compressor later we arrive in the Bay Area to (blech!) hit traffic at the Bay Bridge. We made it home, however. Just about.

That six-digit number up there is the final mileage for the car, incidentally.

Nevada
Before I start the philosophizing and the reminiscing, I said I would take a pic of every state that we drove through, so here’s a token one of Reno, NV, where we stopped to fill gas. Not very pretty, I know, but hey, I just tell ‘em as I see ‘em.

Now, The Philosophizing
I guess the only thing I can say about it is that it’s been a long, strange trip! Learning the different states, the subtle changes in terrain, income-levels, culture and geography has been quite an eye-opener. It’s almost like an information overload and it will take some time for the whole thing to sink in, I guess. There’s so much to say, that I’m completely overwhelmed for once in my life.

It pretty much took me around 24 hours to start to feel some sense of normalcy. Yesterday I woke up, had my coffee and started to mime the gestures of starting the ignition, changing the gears, etc. The RXGeek had to forcibly restrain me for a few seconds before I realized that we were not on the road any more.

The Chariot of Fire: Afterthought
Yesterday, we walked everywhere! Ha! No need for the junk-mobile. Well, I don’t want to hurt it’s feelings. The bugger has seen the vast expanses of the midwest, then driven all over NYC, then driven all across the country, and is now going to see the west coast. That’s more than can be said for a large chunk of the world’s population. And, even though it’s an old geezer [or you could even call it a geyser, judging from that one time it over-heated and water shot out of the radiator mouth like Old Faithful, but I digress] it’s still going strong. A little dirty, a little scarred and a little beat-up, but then again, aren’t we all?

End of an Era
And it is the end of an era. I am, alas, no longer a grad student nor am I living the single life any more. No, I have neither graduated, nor am I married. But those are just technicalities that will come within a short period of time. The road trip was a rite of passage of sorts. My bar mitzvah, my janoi ceremony, my navjot. Call it what you will. Enough gray hairs have accumulated that I can no longer live the life of my foolish youth. I can, in fact, look back at my youth and call it foolish. To paraphrase Michael Stipe: It’s the end of the world as I know it. At the same time, it’s also a new beginning. To quote Bob Marley, “When one door is close/Many more is open!”.

More to come as I settle in here in SF and the consequences of the trip sink in. But in the meantime, I have only one thing to say to you east-coasters: 62 degrees farenheit, baby!

[I said I was alll grown-up, I didn't say that I had to act that way!]

The Chariot of Fire
The day usually starts with me checking the coolant in the Chariot of Fire, as I affectionately refer to the car since the air conditioner stopped working.

Mammoth Springs
Then we drove through Mammoth Springs in Yellowstone. It was great. Just breathing that mountain air was great. The springs were a little dry for some reason, but the rock formations resulting from the springs were fantastic, as you can see.

We got to see the stalactites that form with the falling water. No water, but still pretty awe-inspiring.

Even the trees were dry. This one caught my eye.

Mini Geyser
So Yellowstone is famous for its geysers. Old Faithful, in particular. We couldn’t see Old Faithful, because it was quite a distance out of our way but we got to see this little guy in Mammoth Springs. He’s only six inches long, but it’s a geyser!

Ok, ok, we also saw a real geyser: The Steamboat Geyser. Which just happens to be the world’s tallest active geyser. Quite a constrast from the little guy above, no?

Caribou
We even spotted caribou. On two separate occasions, no less. This first time it was a lone male, and he was just chilling in the shade (literally). There were tourists going crazy all around him crowding around and taking pictures. In fact, the guy caused a traffic jam on the Yellowstone roads. But he was totally at peace with his surroundings. Just hangin’, you know.

Now, on the second occasion, it was an entire herd. But these other caribou were younger, more rebellious. When I asked them very politely if they would pose for me, they turned around and showed me their kundis. Kids, these days, I tell you!

My Very Own, Private Idaho
After a pretty boring lunch in West Yellowstone, we once again gunned it at 85mph down the interstate in to Idaho, on our way to Utah. There was literally no one else on the freeway.

The clouds were beckoning, and since I was trying to get at least one pic from each state we pulled off at the Devil Creek Reservoir which is officially in the middle of nowhere and took a pic of the Chariot of Fire.

Utah
We drove into Utah, stopping at a rest area to get some respite from the sun beating merceilessly down on us. They had a little TV viewing area showing a Utah promotion video which was on a loop. The video sucked, but because it was a completley sun-less room, I saw the damn thing around 3 or 4 times. If you have any questions about Utah tourism, ask me. It feels like I know Robert Redford personally now.

In all seriousness though, Utah is a pretty damn beautiful state. Even the rest areas have nice views. Check it out.

Salt Lake
We decided to drive past Salt Lake City because of time constraints, and went right on to the Salt Lake. We did stop at the Lake and took a few touristy shots. Here’s one.

Filthy Greasy Spoon (Blech!)
After the Salt Lake stop however, we stopped off at a Travel Center at a filthy, greasy spoon chain called Country Pride. Man, it was by far one of the most disgusting places I have ever been to. It was essentially, a truck stop, but even the truckers didn’t stop in there. The food was by no means redeeming as is sometimes the case with these places. There were crumbs of food all over the floor, there was more oil and grease in the food than there is in Texas. Man, it was disgusting! The fact that we had not stopped off at a nice place in Salt Lake City just added salt to our wounds.

We hightailed it out of there ASAP, and got back on the road to drive down 80 West, through the Bonneville Salt Flats (which is one big desert of salt), into the sun setting on the mountains. It was beautiful. It made up for the lousy diner experience (which, I have to admit, still makes me a little nauseous).

It’s right around exit 99 on I-80. Prospective travelers, consider yourselves warned.

Wonderful, Wonderful Wendover
We stopped off at the oasis of Wendover, UT which is like a beacon in the darkness. You can see the casinos here from something like 10-15 miles away. There’s no other sign of civilization for around 100 miles east. Well, no sign except for this sculpture by this guy [here's another, nicer pic]. And let me tell you, it’s like a bolt from the blue. Or, more appropriately, a bolt from the white, since the salt flats are just huge expanses of salt.

Today, we’re going to make it back to San Francisco. And it’s going to be a long, hot drive through Nevada. But it’s the last day of driving, the last day of the trip and the end of an era. But more on that last part later. See you’ll again in 24 hours…

The day started with a trip to Mt. Rushmore from Rapid City. One word summarizes it: Overrated. I guess seeing it around a hundred times in pictures and movies takes away from the awe that one would expect seeing it face to face (pun intended) for the first time. Also, the fact that it was pretty touristy didn’t exactly help things. Not to diminish Mr. Borglum’s achievement – it is, by any standards impressive – but I guess I’m from that generation which grew up on video games and MTV and that has no appreciation for the finer things in life. What can I tell you? It was, at best, ok.

The leather-clad bikers were here as well. Not quite as friendly as the Badlands guy, but thought I’d get them in anyway.

The Dreaded Air Conditioner
We started the trip to Yellowstone early for a change, and everything was going fine until I tried to turn on the air-conditioner. And the damn thing doesn’t come on. Let me tell you folks, I spent a fortune having the thing serviced. Some more cash went in to putting in a new compressor just yesterday. And today it doesn’t come on! To illustrate the gravity of the situation, let me just say that the only reason for my getting in to that goddamned car in the morning, the one thing that keeps me going through all the driving is the peace of mind I get from knowing that my air-conditioner rocks. Correction: Used to rock. The wonderful feeling of feeling cool, calm and comfortable whilst the world outside burns. It’s Nero-esque, I admit. But it’s all I’ve got, ok? So get off my back. I just had to drive approximately 500 miles in the dry South Dakota – Wyoming – Montana sun at 85 miles per hour with my goddamned window open and sweat pouring down my face. Damn, that’s torture! Where’s the Geneva convention when you need it most? All I can say is that this only goes to reinforce my total lack of faith in the existence any supernatural being(s).

Sheridan
Despite that setback, we did stop off at a nice place in Wyoming for lunch. It’s called Sheridan and it’s allegedly the “#1 Western Town”. Hyperbole notwithstanding, it was also the home of Buffalo Bill for a time. He stayed at the now famous (?) Sheridan Inn.

Walking along main street, we asked the postman for a good place to eat, and he suggested Mexican. Hmmm, I wonder why? But on telling him that we didn’t want any, he suggested the local place-to-be, which turned out to be a cafe called Java Moon. This time I did remember the name. It was hustling and bustling with all ten of Sheridan’s residents waiting in line for lunch. Ok, I’m kidding, but it was pretty crowded. Oh, and did I mention it was air conditioned?

After lunch, we walked along main street and it was the day for the local market I guess, because everyone was selling their stuff on the street. We ran into this nice young lady selling books. We didn’t buy any, but I took her picture nonetheless.

On To Yellowstone
We finally got back on the road to Gardiner, MT, which is the town closest to the part of Yellowstone in Montana. Incidentally, Yellowstone is mostly in Wyoming, but we drove across Wyoming, into Montana, and then back into Yellowstone in Wyoming since we wanted to stick on freeways and get in and out of there fast.

We stopped for gas at this gas station in Middle-of-Nowhere, WY, just before we crossed over in to Montana. They had the old-style gas pumps with the rolling ceramic numbers.

What I liked most about it, was that unlike big city gas stations, this one catered to the refueling of alternative modes of transportation as well. Take a look a little to the left of the blue truck in the middle on the right-hand side above. Well, let me close up a bit, that should make it easier.

Montana
Equine transportation notwithstanding, my car was still hot as ever. Driving at 85 mph with the windows open under the dry Montana sun was, needless to say, quite unpleasant. We decided to stop off at Billings, MT for a break from the relentless sun, and to get hotel names to call and make reservations so we wouldn’t end up without a hotel room, like we almost did in Rapid City.

Billings is not so bad a town. In fact, it’s supposed to be ‘The Magic City‘. No magic for us, though the air-conditioner in the information center felt magical. We even drove by the post office and it had yellow stones in the background. Get it? Yellow stones on our way to Yellowstone? Sorry, that was bad. It must be the heat.

Yellowstone, At Last
I just have to say, even before we got there it was fantastic. Mountain air, cooler temperatures and we even spotted a rainbow. No pot of gold, though. Hope you can see it down there, since it’s pretty faint. Even if you can’t, the mountains are still pretty nice.

Tomorrow: Heading off to Mammoth Springs and perhaps Old Faithful, although I have no clue where it is. We have limitations on time, so we’re just going to skim the surface of the park. No worries, it’s an excuse to come back later on. Will keep you all posted…

Not So Bad
On the bright side, the car broke down in the biggest town in almost a 100 mile radius, and only after we were a few miles from our hotel. It could have been a lot worse. And, the town people are really nice. The guy at the pizza place where we got our dinner came out to take a look, gave his advice and some water for the car. The people at the dealership finished the job in half the time they said they would. Now, this is a first for me. I have never, repeat never, had this happen to me. Plus, they also gave us a loaner for the time the car was in the shop. It wasn’t exactly a Rolls Royce, as you can see below, but it worked and got us around town, ok. Given that “town” was probably a mile and a half from end to end certainly helped. On the whole, we got a good break, got to drive around town and got to relax a bit. So, all things considered, one might even consider this a blessing in disguise.

South Dakota
So we set off at around noon after everything was hunky dory (carwise, I mean) and the plan was to try and get as far as possible. Nothing eventful really happened – we crossed the border into SD pretty much as planned. And the good thing is that we were speeding all the way at the, now usual, 85 mph. The next stop was the Badlands National Park. Of course, we don’t forget to smell the flowers along the way. In this case, they were sunflowers. And they didn’t smell at all. But who’s keeping track, anyhow?

We also crossed the Lewis and Clark Memorial Bridge in South Dakota, which goes across the Missouri River. This made for the second major river crossing of the trip so, of course, we had to stop and take a picture to immortalize this precious moment in our lives.

The Badlands
We made it there by late afternoon and let me tell you this, folks: The place is beautiful. It was once a sea bed a few million years ago and fossils of sea creatures are still found there. But it is like an oasis in the desert. After seeing nothing but flat, burned out farmland for, literally, hundreds of miles, the whole park’s beauty was really accentuated. It’s difficult to describe in words, so here are some pictures. Even they don’t do it justice, but it’s the next best thing to being there, I suppose. I highly recommend a trip, if you haven’t already been there.

Here’s a panoramic view of a part of it.

And here’s my car in front of the badlands (isn’t she cute?).

Here’s a biker dude in front of some rocks.

Bikers were an integral part of the first half of our trip, because of a huge bike rally in Sturgis, SD which is around half an hour from Rapid City, SD. And Rapid City is the city that’s closest to Mt. Rushmore, and is also where we were headed. Most of the time, these bikers look scary all dressed in leather, with tattoos and piercings. But I have to say they were always polite in all our interactions (holding doors open for us, saying their pleases and thank yous, etc.). This guy was nice enough to give a little salute for my shot. So, of course, I had to include it in for you guys.

And if you happen to be one of those grumpy types who isn’t already taken aback by the sheer beauty of the park, there’s more. As you get towards the end of the park, you get to see the different colored rocks there. Again, words will not do justice and photos come a close second. So, I recommend to get there, but here’s a three-step program for visual wonder:

Step 1: You start with your basic purples, yellows and browns.

Step 2: Next, add some grays in, for good measure.

Step 3: And finally, take a closer look.

You follow this three-step plan, and I’ll guarantee you won’t walk away disappointed!

Alas, all good things must come to an end, and this was no different. It was a tearful goodbye. So I’ll end the day with a cheesy “looking back as we look ahead” kind of sentimental shot for the parting. The sign says ‘Leaving Badlands National Park’. Sniff!

Wall Drug
We drove by the famous Wall Drug which is a store, well, more like a mall, in Wall, SD. Of course, had to take a pic.

I really don’t know what the hype is, but I have to say the marketing was pretty brilliant. Starting around a hundred miles or so before the store, they put up several little signs (practically one at every milepost) with all kinds of publicity slogans. In those burnt-out fields, the only thing you notice are these signs. At first, you’re curious, but around fifty or sixty miles down the line you’re hypnotized by the repeating signs into absolutely having to know what it is. It’s nothing more than a store, of course, but we got suckered in to driving by it. Didn’t stop there, though.

Wall, on the other hand, I think is a town of as many residents as there are employees of Wall Drug. It’s also supposed to be ‘The Window to the West’. Building castles in the air with that slogan, methinks.

They even have a Chamber of Commerce (if you can see the billboard). Go ahead, check them out.

Rapid City
We got in to Rapid City by evening, but all the hotels were full of our biker friends. They didn’t seem too nice at that point, let me tell you. Nonetheless, we managed to get a room at a decent hotel. Fairly clean, too. Can’t complain.

Tomorrow: In the morning, we see Rushmore and then make it to Yellowstone by day’s end.

We started the day with a hearty breakfast at the Baker Hill Pancake House Restaurant in Elgin, IL. A local Greek diner, we started chatting with the owner about the abysmal state of coffee that one gets in most local places. The owner was sincerely empathetic, and sometime after the conversation a frappe miraculously appears on our table. And it was good! I’m thinking that this somewhat redeems the midwesterners of the pervasive problem of weak coffee.

After a quick oil change and tyre rotation at the mechanic across the street from the diner, we head on towards Sioux Falls, SD. On the way, we spot this Walmart nestled cozily amongst the corn fields of Illinois.

And it happens to be right across from, hold your breaths now, an authentic Illinois farm! Three words: Golly, gee and wowee!

Going Mad In Madison
Well, the plan was to get to Sioux Falls, SD. But at around 11am or so, we’re passing Madison, WI and we decide to stop for a coffee somewhere. So, we head off I-90, get in to town, just to grab a quick coffee. On the way we take some snaps of the capitol.

Then we circle around looking for a good place for around forty minutes! Finally, we find something near the Capitol building, park illegally (unintentionally) and head over to the coffee shop. Once more, my pre-conceived notions of midwesterners and coffee are challenged. Unfortunately, I can’t remember the name, otherwise, I’d put it up here.

Getting out of town turns out to be a little problematic since we get stuck on the wrong side of the railway tracks while a s-s-l-l-o-o-w-w freight train ambles by. Nobody else seems even slightly perturbed that it’s taking around an hour (or so it felt) to pass by. To compound things, we go up the road, overtake the train since the road runs parallel to the tracks, and guess what? We’re stuck while it crosses the road, which also happens to be the entrance ramp to the freeway, yet again! Somebody wasn’t thinking straight when they designed that part of the town.

The Mississippi
So after all those shenanigans, it seems unlikely that we’re going to make it all the way to Sioux Falls. But, after a quick (but late) lunch in LaCrosse, WI, we cross the Mississipi. This makes it official that we are now on the west of the country. So we, of course, have to stop off to take some pics.

Here’s one with my car in the river. Well, almost in the river, at any rate. We westerners are quite prone to exaggerate, you know! It’s a cultural thing. Ahem!

Next, we head in to Minnesota, and we start gunning the accelerator. We did around 85 mph pretty much all the way through. We didn’t get to Sioux Falls, but we’re less than an hour away from there in Worthington, MN, where I am just about ready to pass out…

And I Would Drive A Thousand Miles
Oh yeah, I should also mention that we covered the first thousand miles today. It was somewhere in Wisconsin.

The number on top is the total mileage of the car. Yep, she’s been around for a while. The number below was reset when we started the trip. It just crossed mile 999.9.

Tomorrow, we’ll have to see what happens. Just trying to be realistic, here. Will explain later.

At any rate, we somehow managed to make it to The Lunch Box which is a lakeside greasy-spoon. It wasn’t so bad. The coffee was (as usual) disappointing, but the food was, in the local parlance, a’ight.

Post-breakfast, we took a walk by the The Dock of the Bay Marina and as you can see, that made the trip and the torture totally worthwhile (note: sarcasm). Still, it made for some minor interesting conversation, post-trauma.

Ohio: Land of Farms and Turnpikes
Finally, we hit the Ohio Turnpike. But we remembered that we were on vacation so we pulled over immediately at a service area and took some pics in front of the watchamacallit thingamajig that says Ohio Turnpike. Take that, you doubters!

We also had the dubious honor of seeing an authentic Ohio farm off the turnpike! Three words: Golly, gee and wowee! Well, that’s probably how a three-year-old would respond to seeing that. Because that’s about the age when one would probably be interested in such things. But we’re tourists, so we have to take the pics. Have memory in camera, will use!

Traffic at South Bend
Well, we thought the drive to Lake Erie was pretty torture-some. That is, until we hit a bottlneck on Rte 80 right around the Indiana-Illinois border. South Bend, IN, to be precise. Five miles took us over an hour. And the heat. Oh for god’s sake, the heat! The air-conditioner works fine during high-speed highway driving, but when it comes to stop-and-go traffic, fuhgeddaboutit! Sweat pouring down my face, sun beating down, the smell of tarmac and truck exhaust. Now if that isn’t hell, I don’t know what is. Whoever thought up the idea of hell being hot was one smart cookie. I’d take the cold over the heat any day.

When one is stuck in that kind of situation, things can get pretty desperate. And, as we all know desperate times call for desperate measures. When the nice lady’s daughter had to use the restroom, she got one of the rides of her life. You know what they say, when you gotta go, you gotta go!

A Nice Gujarati Dinner
Anyhoo (as they say, in these here parts), the trip ended with setting up camp at the Scientists’ house just outside of Chicago, in Darien, IL. With a nice, home-cooked Gujju meal to boot. Now that’s what I’m talkin’ ’bout!

I will end this post with a nice tummy rub. A rub that is indicative of satiety, exhaustion, a nice, comfortable bed, and the nagging feeling that we should have done some more miles today. [Insert tummy-rubbing sound here].

Tomorrow, we have to make up the miles we lost to traffic today and try and get to Sioux Falls, SD.

Lunch and Some Thundershowers

Lunch was a late and uneventful turkey sandwich at a Perkins in Lamar, PA. There were a couple of ominous thundershowers around the Allegheny mountains and again when we entered Ohio. You know, the really heavy variety where everyone slows down and turns on their hazard lights. They fortunately lasted only around ten minutes a pop (pun intended), so it wasn’t all that bad.

Greasy Chinese Buffet (urp!)

The day ended with a greasy Chinese buffet – Jumbo Seafood Buffet (Open Seven Days a Week) – here in Elyria, OH. We entered the place at 9.40, and the restaurant closed at 10. The Chinese waitress came really close to us with a conspiratorial look. Expecting the exact number of missiles in China’s nuclear arsenal, I took my pen and notebook out and was poised to get everything down. Alas, however, she just told us that because they’re not going to refill the buffet, we’re getting 20% off. We ended up eating the grease-laden remnants of whatever was left. I’m still bloated and need seltzer. More to come when the food settles down…

Tomorrow: Chicago for lunch, and then onwards!

Unfortunately or fortunately (depending on who tells the story) The Great Gujju and the RXGeek discovered some bottles of Hayward’s 5000 in my fridge and that was the end of the world as we know it. Tottering down the stairs with items, there were random things strewn around my car. My shaving cream landed up behind the rear, left tyre; there were some cardboard pieces which landed up on the driver’s seat (I have no clue what these were); and my room-mate’s laundry basket almost came with us on the road trip. Meawhile, here I am, stressing profusely trying to get everything into my station-wagon in a manner which allows me to use my rear-view mirror. Ah, the pleasures of moving.

Through all that however, we managed to get everything done and get out of there in one piece. The plan was to spend the night at the Goa Brown Sugar’s place in Morristown, NJ and start the trip the next day. It’s close to Interstate 80 and we are treated like kings by the perfect hostess, so it’s win-win here. Symbolically, as well, this was where it all began, so it’s a fitting end to a crazy journey, and the ideal place to start another one.

So, drenched with sweat, and with everyone congratulating me on my decision to get the air-conditioner fixed, we head off to pick up some Thai food and drive to Morristown, NJ.

Tomorrow: The trip begins! Sometime in the morning. Ish. Keyword there being “ish”.