Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Altima -- R.I.P.

Sorry about all the car and travel posts lately. When Steven went away to college early this summer I took over the '94 Nissan Altima, cleaning it all up and buying new tires for it. It was looking so sharp and I was definitely feeling pride of ownership.


I composed a blog post previously about the Altima:

http://acraigwalker.blogspot.com/2009/11/driving-stick.html

Well, yesterday Steven was driving the Altima and it overheated on him. Last night I replenished all its fluids and after it cooled down I nursed it over to the auto repair shop. Today they took a look at it and the preliminary diagnosis is a blown gasket or cracked cylinder, so $1000 best case to fix it, with $1500 or so more likely.

I have been agonizing over whether to invest more in the car. It has served us so well and so economically the past 2.5 years. Emotionally I want to fix it, but rationally it doesn't make sense, as we really don't need the car anymore.

We'll take another day or two to decide, but it is almost like losing a member of the family.

Update: Indeed we decided to scrap the car. I was pleased to get $280 for it from a salvage yard. I swapped the original steel wheels and winter tires back onto it so I can sell the nicer alloy wheels and almost new tires on craigslist. Still sad to see it go.

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Swagger Wagon

Our trusty Toyota Sienna minivan carted us all over Utah and did a swell job of it.



Nice having all that room in the back.




This picture actually inspired this post, as it kind of looks like a shot you might see in the product brochure. (Near the Colorado River crossing.)


And for those men who feel emasculated owning a minivan, here's a hip video about the Sienna "Swagger Wagon". You can feel proud.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Utah Road Trip -- Part 4

Our campsite in Bryce Canyon was the most primitive on our trip. No internet, no showers, no grass. But it was very convenient, and we were glad to have it. And we loved the refreshing cool temperatures at 7000 ft. elevation or more.

I remember how much I liked Bryce Canyon from our brief family visit there in 1993. So I was looking forward to this stop. The hiking brochure from the visitor center recommended the most scenic three mile hike in the world (Queen's Garden and Wall Street loop), so off we went. At the overlook to start the hike we were greeted with these other wordly views.





And we got the obligatory photo of us. Are we enjoying our vacation or what!






I wish we had more time to hike more trails, but we were anxious to get back on the road to Provo and home. We'll definitely make another trip to Bryce Canyon.
We drove up through Provo, taking Steven out for an early dinner and bidding farewell once again. We spent the night at a campground in Snowville, UT. The following morning I hit some complimentary golf balls on their driving range.


We encountered so much green landscape all along our trip. Areas that are normally rather brown and arid were pleasantly green. I think all that spring rain made a difference.



We arrived home around 6:30PM Wednesday, June 23, and it was back to the grindstone. But what marvelous memories!



Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Utah Road Trip, Part 3

We departed Hanksville and drove 40-some miles to Capitol Reef National Park. The scenery was fantastic once again, though perhaps a step down from the previous two days. We decided on a hike up to Cassidy Arch, and started up a fairly steep canyon wall.



We got a good view of what we thought must be the arch.



But somehow we hiked on and on, well past the 0.5 miles a previous sign indicated. We did enter a scenic valley on the other side before turning around.




We encountered another couple hiking up on our way back, and warned them it must be the wrong trail, so we weren't the only ones who went astray. We studied the sign and the fork in the trail on our way back. You can see a trail on each side of the sign, and we took the left trail. However, the correct trail was actually behind my left shoulder. (We gave feedback to the park ranger later that they should improve the signage.) So I figure we got a bonus two miles added to our hike of around five miles.




We hiked over some interesting rocks out to the arch. In fact, it reminded me a lot of some of the Yosemite domes we hiked on. It was a bit windy and precarious looking down into the arch. I walked out on the top of the arch for this picture--it wasn't as scarey as it might appear.




We did another short hike out to some ancient petroglyphs and some pioneer autographs. Then we headed south on highway 12 towards Escalante and Bryce Canyon. I had heard this highway was spectacular, and it was indeed. It was only completed within the last few decades and traverses some seemingly impossible terrain. At one point I felt like we were driving on one of those canyon blades. There was a steep drop off on either side of the road. We also reached pretty high elevations (9,000 feet plus or minus), and the air temperature was in the 60's (so refreshing!).
In Escalante we ate a steak dinner at the only restaurant in town, and got some groceries at the only store, then headed on into Bryce Canyon National Park, and were fortunate to snag the 2nd to last campsite in the park just before dark.

Next up, Bryce Canyon!

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Utah Road Trip, Part 2

Here is a picture looking out the "front yard" of our campsite near Moab.



We headed south from Moab towards the southern entrance of Canyonlands National Park. I was thinking Canyonlands would be a step down from Arches, but the scenery began its buildup soon after entering the park.


We then got recommendations at the visitor's center for hikes and chose one from Elephant Hill Trailhead, which we reached after driving a while on a gravel road. The hike was through varied terrain in the Needles area, and about 4 or 5 miles in length. Temperature was about 80 with a little wind, so very pleasant. In fact, the combination of outstanding scenery and interesting trail made me think this hike was about as good as it gets. It inspired a blog post I will write soon on my top ten hikes (this one makes the list, and ranks right up with Yosemite hikes).

Here is a photo of a very narrow canyon we hiked through.


More photos of needles and canyons.








We continued on driving through Monticello (pleasant, high altitude town in a green setting) and Blanding before turning east and driving through Natural Bridges National Monument. I have to say the outstanding scenery was unrelenting the entire drive today. Even outside the parks on the normal highway the views and colors were interesting and remarkable.

This picture is after crossing the Colorado River/Lake Powell at the end of the day.


We drove on to Hanksville to get some elevation and cooler temperatures for our camp (it was 90's near Lake Powell), arriving before dark around 8:00 or 8:30. We quickly set up our tent, checked the internet, read for a while, and then early to bed.

Next stop Capitol Reef National Park, some hiking trail misadventures, and scenic Highway 12.

Monday, June 28, 2010

Utah Road Trip

For many years now I have been looking forward to a vacation to scenic southern Utah. Last week we dropped Steven off at BYU, then Suzanne and I headed southeast from Provo, through Price and Green River, to Arches National Park. We arrived late afternoon but still had time to drive the length of the park (stopping at scenic points a few times), and do a couple of hikes to view various arches and scenic formations. The first hike was about four miles, and the second only a couple of miles, which we finished at sunset. The scenery was so dramatic and otherworldly I felt like we were in a cartoon! Here are just a few pictures.











We had a tent and sleeping bags, so just stayed in campgrounds each night, with the first one a few miles outside Moab.

Next stop, Canyonlands National Park!

Monday, June 7, 2010

bike crash

Well, I have been very fortunate to have logged tens of thousands of miles riding my bicycle, and never had a real accident. Until last Saturday.

The weather was perfect. No wind, cool temperatures, and sunny. So I joined a group of fellow cyclists to ride the Pioneer Century--100 miles through the scenic and historic Willamette Valley. I have done this ride in years past, but not for the several recent years.

Three of us were clipping along at a good pace on an open, low traffic road at about mile 35. I was second in the line and without warning the rider in front of me braked and swerved to avoid a dog that ran out at us. I did the same, wildly trying to avoid crashing into the dog or rider, and just about made it through okay when the rider behind crashed into me. We both went down on the pavement and gravel.

I ended up with some scrapes on my knee and a chest injury, which I thought might be cracked ribs (it hurt to breath deeply). And my rear wheel was wobbly. The other rider also had scrapes and a ruined front wheel. We had to call a sag wagon to pick up the other rider, but I was able to open my rear brakes enough to continue riding. At the next rest stop a mechanic was able to true my wheel somewhat and the bike rode fine.

At 55 miles I was back at the start/finish and could have gone home, but, since I had paid my money and the day was beautiful, I continued on the 45 mile second loop and completed the full century.

Interestingly, about mile 80 a bee flew into my helmet and sunglasses and started stinging me multiple times. I stopped quickly and flung it out. Man, that hurt like the dickens. But there was nothing to do but keep riding, and the pain subsided after a few minutes. That's another thing I don't recall ever happening to me on a bike ride.

Coincidentally, I had my annual physical exam scheduled for today, so the doctor checked out my chest (which is already much improved from Saturday) and diagnosed just some strained muscles.

So, with the double misfortunes was the ride worth it? Of course! And what memories it created! And a feeling of accomplishment!