That's All, Folks

Well, I've been back at work since Wednesday, so there's not much more to post except the last few galleries of pictures. I definitely wish I had stuck with my original plans of taking 3 months off, since 4-5 weeks just wasn't quite long enough. Of the places I visited, I definitely want to return to Yosemite, Zion, and the Moab/Canyonlands area. During my itinerary I was often just a stone's throw from other places like Yellowstone, the Tetons, and the Grand Canyon. So eventually I will have to go back.

The last week was a great time with Thomas and Alyssa as we viewed the giant trees of the Kings Canyon and Sequoia park areas, and tackled some challenging trails in Yosemite. But even though we spent 4 days there, we barely scratched the surface of what there is to see. The famous waterfalls are at very low flow or even dry, so a springtime visit is due at some point. Entire areas and much of the high country also remains to be seen, so I see a 1-2 week return in the next few years.

Zion National Park and The Narrows

Kings Canyon and Sequoia National parks

Yosemite National park and Half Dome

Didn't roll off the Dome

Made it up then back down in one piece. Today is an off day, sitting in the posh surroundings of the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite -- not because I'm spending the $400/night for a room, but because they have free wi-fi in the lounge.

The last few days of vacation will be more tours of Yosemite, and then a day back at Davis with Jer before heading back on Oct 06. Will probably post pictures around then.

Onwards to Yosemite

Taking advantage of the wifi at the Kings Canyon Grant Grove Visitor's Center free wireless internet. Unfortunately it doesn't quite extend to the cabins we stayed at for the last three nights, but oh well.

Saw more big trees; Sequoias this time, not Redwoods.. Shorter and fatter than redwoods, and a rather misshapen figure. Most of the time here was on short outings to Interesting Things (named Big Trees, fire lookout, cavern, swimming hole on the Kings River, etc.) Yosemite will be a bit more of a challenge -- tommorrow bright and early we attempt the Half Dome trail, 17 miles roundtrip and 4900 elevation gain.

Killing Time in Fernley, Nevada

Sitting in a Starbucks in Fernely, Nevada, the gateway to Carson City. Just crossed the great state of Nevada on US50, The Loneliest Road In America. It wasn't so bad. Pulling to the far shoulder of this two-lane road to let a convoy of those big mining dumptrucks (the BIG ones; yeah) and other assorted mining monstrosities on flatbed was quite interesting. This time, "wide load" actually meant it.

That, of course, is about the most interesting thing there is to say about north central Nevada. After that is passing an bedraggled homeless-looking dude, without backpack or anything, on the shoulder of the road 30 miles from the nearest town, in the middle of the desert. Of course it might have been a mirage. Some odd things I've come to conclude so far on this trip, in no particular order.

Canned V8 is the most wonderful post-hike/camping food out there. Just enough salt, flavour, and nutrients, and just enough substance that you enjoy chugging it like a meal.

Nutella is awful awful stuff. In order to keep the car Alyssa-friendly, I've avoided peanut putter. When the almond butter ran out a few days ago, the only alternative I could find in the local markets was Nutella. I'd never had it. The stuff is absolutely horrible -- the top two ingredients, in order, are "sugar" and "modified palm oil". I through out the jar after one morning bagel's worth. I'm sure Davis California, my destination for tonight, has a good choice of granola shops that stock real almond/other butters though.

Always keep a spare 2GB SD card in your wallet/daypack/shoulder-bag/etc. It's a real downer to realize halfway up a trail that you don't have a memory card in your camera.

Always sample the local beers. You know you're not really "roughing it" when the biggest challenge for the night is discovering one of the bottles of beer you bought isn't a twist off and you have to fetch the leatherman from the car. The best local brew so far was the Dead Horse Ale at the Moab Brewery.

I don't think I'm in Utah anymore

After three fine days at Zion NP and facing an 11am appointment on Saturday back in San Francisco, I decided to skip out on Great Basin NP in eastern Nevada. In any event, I will be back to the Zion/Escalante region again at some point in the future, so it will slip into that itinerary. There's certainly more to Zion than there is to nearby Bryce. I didn't even visit the eastern or Kolob Canyon part of the park, so I will probably want to be back in the future. On the other hand, Bryce is one park you can check off in a day and a half, really.

Zion was nice, though I think I'm suffering from a bit of scenic overload since I wasn't as awestruck as I would expect to be. Too many fine places in rapid succession, I guess. Anyway, I did the "famous" hikes there: Angel's Landing, The Narrows, and Observation Point. All quite nice. There won't be too many pictures thought since I forgot to put the SD card back in for the first day and a half; since Zion runs a mandatory tour bus system, once you're gone from your car at the start of the day it's a 60-90 min excursion to go back and get something.

So instead, here I am perched in Ely, Nevada... The regional hub for the middle of nowhere. Heading up US93 from Panaca to Ely, there is absolutely nothing for 120 miles. At around the mid-point, the "SCAN" feature of the radio found nothing on either the AM or FM dials, merrily spinning through the frequencies in an endless loop. So I listened to one of the CDs I bought in Moab. Again. I'm starting to get tired of them too.

So my next post will probably me late Saturday or even later on Sunday or Monday, once Thomas and Alyssa have joined me. I'm pretty sure the place we booked in Sequoia advertised "wifi".

I haven't fallen off a cliff. Yet.

Sitting here in the parking lot of a large motel complex next to Bryce Canyon National Park. They advertise free wifi for guests and non-guests, so I don't even think it's technically illegal for me to surf the web hree, either.

Just got off three days in the Capitol Reef National Park, the Escalante area, and now Bryce Canyon National Park. The southern Utah area is certainly spectacular, if desolate, countryside. My first real concern for lodging was driving through Escalante, where I was close to pulling over and just setting up tent next to the road after everything (what little there was) wasn't available. In the end I shelled out $30 for a crappy postage stamp tent pad at a KOA, which got me through the night.

Anyway, moving on toe Zion for the next 2-4 days, which should be interesting. The hikes there which I want to do are more challenging than what Arches and Bryce have to offer, so who knows how well I'll do. The spectacular 8x3 cm blister on my foot is coping well (skin stress/stretch blister, not friction, so it's not a huge impedement.) Here are some photos from the last few days.

Another lazy saturday

Another lazy saturday, from Torrey Utah just west of Capitol Reef National Park. I'll be heading back to the park shortly to do a few quick day hikes, but for now I've been able to process the pictures from Arches/Canyonlands and get them posted. I really like how some of the pictures turned out but many of the others, especially those taken in the hard midday sun, don't really convey the impression you get by being there in person. So crowds and all, this is a recommended visit for anyone who likes that sort of thing.



Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks are next on my itinerary before I head back to San Francisco to meet up with Thomas & Alyssa. Capitol Reef just happens to be on the way and has some classic easy-access sites, so I might as well. I also want to avoid the really popular parks on the weekend, even if it is September, so delaying until Monday seems like a good idea.

While Capitol Reef is named after a prominent feature, which looks a lot like the dome of the Capitol Building, I have a sense that it was so named by the Mormon sensibilities of the area. I must admit that my first impression tended more to the same French Canadian spirit that named the Grand Tetons.

Petapixels

It's almost bedtime for my third night here in Moab and again I'm posting from the cool, pleasant and breezy confines of a picnic table in (almost) complete darkness. Most places in town have free wifi as well -- I'm not sure how they get effective high-speed internet to such a remote place; it must be microwave repeaters or something. Anyway.

Finished off today with the ranger guided hike into the Fiery Furnace area of Arches NP. It capped off a full two days in the area, and there's so much more that Moab and the area south has to offer that I can foresee returning here at some point (ATV/4x4 offroading, rafting, etc.) Tomorrow I'm off bright and early and I still havent decided whether to venture into Canyonlands for a quick hike (Aztec Butte is recommended by many people here) or defer that to an eventual future trip. Either way, tomorrow I'm off, either to Canyonlands or Escalante/Capital Reef/Grand Starcase area. The car is stocked up on gas, gatorade, granola bars, and gorp so I should be set for another few days of random direction.

Petapixels;I'm sure that visitors to Arches generate more pixels per day than almost any other place on earth. It is apparently the most photographed natural/landscape area in the world, and these days EVERYONE has a digital camera, or two. I certainly took my fair share of them as well and I hope they turn out (I haven't cull/processed the collection yet -- will post when available.) In cases like these it's difficult to strive for originality; you're bound to stick on the trails, for the most part, so there's only so much creativity available -- it all comes down to framing and lighting, and I certainly hope that my collection will be a good enough memento for my future self. I was up early(ish) to the famous Delicate Arch. Aside from a few keen tourists, the trail/site had at least a dozen "pro"-level enthusiasts, with gear and a keen eye to traipsing around for different angles.

I was certainly among them. The Delicate Arch site certainly merits its reputation as a world-class must-see natural wonder. The trail leads directly to it, and you don't know you're there until you walk around a corner and... it's just there in all its wonder. That corner, of course, is a cliff-side ledge trail with about a 100' droppoff so you're already somewhat in awe.

By the time I (we) headed down after the morning light dissipated, the trail was "packed" in the sense that a person or group was on the way up every 20-30 feet. Arches is in the Top Three most popular parks in the US, apparently, despite it's relative isolate (4 hours from nearest major center.) Mid week, after the start of school, and the place was still absolutely packed. The park is designed for auto-touring, with most of the hikes short and simple, so things can get congested. If you're not a viewpoint/trailhead by 10am on a nice day, everything is packed. I can certainly see why at some places like Zion visitors *must* use the park shuttle service.

In the end I was glad I extended my stay here a bit longer than planned. The Fiery Furnace hike, which has challenging sections but accessible to anyone with reasonable coordination and no joint problems, is well worth it. In this case the Ranger (Matt Smith -- a prototypical grizzled, pnytailed veteran) excelled at clear and interesting narration of the locations we visited, experience and detail in answering questions, and an excellent rapport with the group (23 people.)

Give me some mo' of that Moab Feeling

Well, first off, I have to say that I'm posting from my tent. This is the day and age where even campgrounds have free wifi service. I'll be here for three nights total as I explore the Moab, Arches, and Canyonlands areas of souheastern Utag. It's that part of the world with all those funny shaped red rocks.

Took the scenic route to get here from Orem, where I stayed last night. Central Utah is a high plateau, with jagged ridgelines in all directions, with the occaisional river here and there. It's desert country, but torrential downpours yesterday and today means the ground is actually pretty soft right now (hard to set up a stable camera tripod, for example.)

Got into Moab in time to set up camp then rush back into Arches to take some pictures. I'll be back there all day tomorrow, and I've signed up for a ranger-guided-only hike on Thursday, too (Fiery Furnace area.) Weather looks decent, though a forecast for more rain and thunderstorms tonight and tomorrow means I actually had to put the fly on my tent. Up until now it had been starry skies every night -- overall the weather has been quite good so far on the trip.

Welcome to the Beehive State

Well, I've moved on from Idaho and am now in Utah. Utah, the Beehive State (*that* is what the odd iconagraphy they use for road signs is.. really..) Utah, the state where Home Builder billboards that indicate "All new homes include complete food storage" make sense -- but you have to think about it. Met up with some friends in Orem to grab a beer and chat; Utah, where the local brews are tasty, but can't exceed 3.2% alcohol by law. Ah, Utah, so wild and crazy..

The area from centreal Oregon to central Utah is the vast northern expanse of the Great Basin desert (of which Nevada -- all of it essentially -- is the primary contributor.) But there is a certain ruggedness and beauty to it, and irrigation does allow extensive farming and ranching. I have posted up a third Gallery covering my time in Idaho. I did see something odd though... Irrigated pasture (pasture, with cows on it, not hay fields) with a sign saying it was for "grass fed organic beef". Hmmph.

One thing I was warned about would be that I might be under-estimating the distances in effect on my itinerary. To the contrary, everything seems a lot closer that I'd think. Maybe it's the long, straight roads with 75mph limits, or maybe the area just isn't as big as I expected. So here I am in Lehi, UT, and I'm only 300km from my next target (Arches NP.) And I'm 1-2 days ahead of schedule already, which is good since it will allow me to spend a bit more time in Utah. Maybe I will have time for some 4x4 adventuring in Moab or something, who knows.

And I have to say one thing.. Love them or hate them, Starbucks and 2 free hours daily of wifi access at (almost) every location, and they're pretty much in any town over 100,000 now, means I can easily pop in and log on to research or reserve something en route. Yay Starbucks.

From the glossy Mountain Resort town of Ketchum

Well, I didn't really expect this place to be here... Just driving along through the Sawtooth Range National Recreation Area and I come across the town of Ketchum. Small regional center I expect - -no, it's a typical Mountain Resort town where everything is either a gallery, a cafe, or a bike/ski/outfitters shop. Sun Valley Ski Resort is right across the river so I guess it makes sense that a place like this exists, though as a ski hill it doesn't seem that impressive.

Anyway, it's a beautiful Sunday and the town is relatively busy, mostly with bicyclcists, ATVers, and the rest of the summer adventure crowd. Just north of here is the main bulk of the recreation area, which is the western edge of the Rocky Mountains in this part of the work. Quite arrid, with ponderosa pine forrests dominating. There are lots of trails and such, but they're all aimed primarily at ATV and motocross, and apparently it's hunting season as well. So I'll stay in the car and just drive through to Craters of the Moon NM later this evening.

The whole Sawtooth National Forest, including where I camped last night, is an active forrest -- as in, logged (clearcut in some spots, thinned in others including around the campsite.) So I guess that makes clear that "management" of national forests includes harvesting them. (That's not a revelation to me -- but it makes for somewhat less interesting scenery.)

And on the Sabbath, he rested

It's beastly hot in Boise right now. That's good, because today is a day off and I get to stay inside air conditioned buildings. After doing laundry, etc, I'm chillin' at Starbucks. My 2 hours of free wifi is almost up -- that's OK, I see a "Lucy's Coffee" shop across the street also advertising free wifi, so I'm set for at least awhile.

Since the only XM subscription I still have is for my car stereo, I couldn't bring my portable one with me this trip. FP radio is spotty around here (content, and signal -- unless you want to hear about God every damned mile.) Thank goodness I left my home server one -- downloading some of my MP3s to burn to CD so I have something to listen to in Utah -- where the radio choices may be even more peculiar.

First set of pictures up

You can browse the first two galleries at:

California Coast and Redwoods National and State Parks

Crater Lake National Park

Oregon's all blowed up good, historically

Spent the last two days at Crater lake National Park, one of those places you just have to see, if for the shear unexpectedness of it. You just drive around in non-descript semi-interesting semi-mountainous area of western Oregon, drive up to what looks like another nondescript ridge, and... whoops.. 800' cliff down into a 1000' deep lake -- with a mini volcano in it. It's all very scenic, and I did play tourist and take the two-hour boat tour of the lake itself (after a 65 storey hike down to the boat launch.)

To finish off this morning I hiked Mt. Scott, the highest "peak" in the park, which is an old side cone for the main mountain. I tried to get up early enough to catch the sunrise but, well, that didn't happen. I did make it there early enough to avoid the gaggle of 40 middle schoolers disgorged upon the trailhead by some sort of school event. I'm surprised the lawyers even allow that, since this trail (and most others) you are a trip/step away from death, since there's 45deg or more falls in every direction. But anyway... Mt Scott was good, not crowded, and provided a full view of the crater, so I hope the pictures turn out.

Oh, in case you didn't know, Crater Lake is a calderea that formed when about 4000' of mounted collapsed in on itself after blowing its top 7000 years ago. We're good for another few thousand before it begins to build up again, apparently. The entire area from Crater Lake northeast to Yellowstone is all one big volcanic mess, apparently. I certainly had not even a vague awareness of what "southeastern Oregon" was, other than I had to drive through it and there were no interstates. Parts of it are very scenic, in the badlands sense. One very scenic route that wasn't mention in any of the maps was Route 20 down the Malheur River from Juntura to Harper Oregon. Well worth it.

And don't worry about the lack of interstates. The Route 26/20 combo from Bend to Boise are straight, wide, and recently paved. That was most of my day. I probably won't update for a few more days as tomorrow I head up into the Sawtooth Range area and overnight at Craters of the Moon (yes, more volcanic stuff) and then who knows where.

You are likely to be eaten by a grue.

Just off spending two days in the Redwords State and National Parks, a veritable jigsaw puzzle of various protected federal and state lands, peppered throughout with memorial/family/personal grove dedications.

As far as I could tell, the redwoods here were pretty much the same as in Humboldt SP, but they can be explored in a wider variety of environments. Unlike Humboldt (the part I saw anyway) which is purely lowland groves, there's seems a more majestic presentation slightly north at Redwoods.

While I did tour the "Tall Trees" area (restricted/permit access, but not busy) and it did offer up The World's Tallest Tree, I found much more interesting the Lady Bird Johnson Grove. The trail is almost wheelchair accessible, but it is set on a plateau/ridge overlooking at parts some areas which had been previously logged. There's only about 10 big trees per acre so a Redwood grove is actually quite "open". So at many points your view is of all these towering trees, but with bright blue sky and "space" visible as you gaze outward.

I decided to finish off the day with more of a backcountry loop, which was I thought a quick ridgeline trip then back along the coast. It turns out I misread the map and there was an extra 3.7miles in there; anyway, I had to walk the last 3 miles with the headlamp. I had previously set up camp at the Gold Bluffs Beach site, where your tent it out in the open on some grassy dunes overlooking the Pacific. I was asleep by 10 and out by 8 the next day -- some people looked like they were set up for about a week.

So Wednesday I toured the Jedediah Smith Park portion of Redwoods. It's more of the same, really.. Once you're seen two days of big trees, another day is less impressive. I did hike the Boy Scout Tree trail which the guides highly recommended, but while nice it was not that special.

Now I'm up in Coos Bay, preparing for tomorrow's venture to Crater Lake. Also trying to process some photos for posting.

If that's the price for roughing it, I'll stay at a Motel 6

I'm able to post again today since a campsite at Humboldt State Park is $45, and a room at this Motel 6 is $50. Touch choice, but this particular M6 isn't have bad. Eureka, California seems to exist only for the purpose of being the regional urban center for this part of the world. It has everything you need, including a Safeway and a CVS; this is key since I happened to gift my toiletries to the airport hotel in San Francisco. Now while I'm willing to rough it to some extent, foregoing tothpaste for a month might alienate even the wildlife.

So today's prime goal was to Humboldt Redwoods State Park. This was do to a recommendation from a random randonneur I had met in Death Valley in April, who said this park was as good if not better than Redwoods NP. Since that's on tomorrow's itinerary, I will reserve judgement for now. To get to the park, I had to continue the journey on Highway 1, and the accolades continue for this being a scenic and engaging drive. With no extra traffic (a 7am departure) I must recommend that anyone with a decent handling car and the opportunity to do so drive the Hardy to Piercy segment. The tarmac is in perfect condition, the banking calculations were spot on, and the surroundings are fantastic -- just stay within your limits since the alternatives are hitting an 8' tree trunk, or going into a steep ravine (and then hitting an 8' tree trunk.)

Once in the park, the Avenue of the Giants scenic byway is just as interesting, where larger trees (park-worthy -- trees so big they name many of them) are up to within inches of the side of the road, which slaloms between the giants. More than a few trees bear the battle scars of a foolhardy RV driver. There's lots of places to pull over and gawk and, while I succumbed to some extent, my main option was the day use area in the bottoms of Bull Creek -- the largest old-growth redwood grove in the world. Big -- massively big -- trees everwhere, and you're hiking over, under, through, and between them. You are never more than a few feet from standing and windfallen trees. They're all scorched too -- whether from lightening or a ground-level fire I'm not sure. But the char never reaches more than 20-30' feet up, 100' lower than the first branches.

On a clear, cool day the bottoms are still, and all you hear is the creaking and moaning of intercrossed trunks and branches hundreds of feet above your head. And youre surrounded by the aroma of redwood; there is very little other vegetation, and splintered remnants of trunks are everywhere. It is difficult to convey the esprit when your alone, absolutely silent, in such an environment; it's the glee and giddiness I saw in some 5 years olds rushing up to the eponymous attraction of the Big Tree area, internalized and alone.

Act I, Scene I

Plans for heading North bright and early put on hold by a wonderous trifecta: the Bay Bridge newly closed for maintenance, the Labour Day long weekend, and absolutely fabulous weather. It means it took me three hours to get from South San Francisco over the Golden Gate. That would be "Bridge", not "Branch", esteemed friends at Tom Tom, but good guess.

Once over the bridge things picked up. I didn't stop at the bridge, but it was very impressive. The south half is completely fogged in, and the north half isn't. So driving north you see the second tower just looming above you out of the fog as it evaporates around you. By then it was lunch time and a nice place called Cafe Del Soul served up an excellent Hummus Yummus wrap, all organic. For less than yesterday's enchilada. Including organic yerba mate. And surrounded by hippies and large electric fans (wouldn't be Earth Friendly to run the A/C, I suppose.)

Did I mentioned it was Labour Day and the weather was nice? Highway 1, the Shoreline Drive, is absolutely packed. It takes forever to get all the way up to Point Reyes; every single nook, cranny, shoulder and bare patch is covered with cars. If you like driving, by all means hit this road though. It's nice -- there are frequent pull-outs where you're supposed to let faster traffic pass you. And people do it, with astonishing courtesy and awareness. I finally eased off after I could start smelling my own tires on every curve.

It is very scenic. The Cabot Trail has nothing on it, sorry Nova Scotians. But rather slow going, since for the most part you can never get above 40mph and it's not because of traffic. So progress for this day was quite limited, and I'm now in a dingy motel in Ft. Bragg after a full day. Dingy, but free wifi-N; I hope this is a trend.

At the sit-in pizza shop, waiting for my order. Little girl is messing around with the salad bar, is asked not to by aproned employee. Does it again, further intervention. Mother doesn't like the way pizza girl is telling little daughter girl what do to -- meanwhile daughter girl sticks her fingers in the dressing/etc. Pizza girl goes balistic; unfortunately things are said, content not specific, maybe something like "You can do what you want back in your country but you don't do that here". Hilarity ensures as mother hears this as "Why don't you go back to your own country".

So the ideals of the american dream. I am there, a Canadian, witness along with other customers a French mother and South American father, and their two children fully trilingual, to a comment by an overworked hormonal pregnant California girl misinterpreted by a Pakistani family. Do I mean the dream of multi-culturalism? No, of course not. The Pakistani father was fully americanized, it seems, as the family expressed only the willingness and intent to sue, sue, SUE.

Maybe tomorrow I'll get further north, further away from traffic, from people, and from exulted Labour Day silliness.

Stranger in a Strange Land

I'm sure I'll be in San Francisco again, at some point. So while I had originally entertained the thought, an evening/afternoon trip into downtown seems a meek priority at this point. So here I am, stuck at a crappy airport hotel, ready for a bright and early departure for downtown in the morning, to pick up my rental car.

But I have to eat, since all I've had today so far is lounge food, and airplane galley food, and my computer clock says it's 7PM; OK, adjusted, now it says 4PM. My choices in this barren semi-corporate area under the roar of Air France 747s, are... Chili's, or a 1km trip to a mall. Mall it is; at least there's a Barnes & Noble, which usually means a Starbucks, and a food court. And the BART station is there as well which I will need to take tomorrow.

I realize that besides Sears, Target and Barnes & Noble, I don't recognize any stores except a few by vague name awareness. I don't "mall shop" in Toronto so I'm completely lost in the weeds over here. Books stores are universally recognizable and browseable, so I spend some time in there. I prefer Chapters and Indigo; both for choice and layout. Oh well, indeed there is a Starbucks, so latte in hand I wander to the food court.

I apparently cannot understand Latina/o English. Ordering my dinner from "Green Salsa" was a confused babble of "sorry, what?" from my side of the Lexan sneeze guard. Oh well, my extra large quesadilla turned out fine, though pricey ($10 for Mexican fast food? maybe I ordered all kinds of extras..) Now munching away, it's early Saturday evening and apparently that's when teens head out to the mall -- or maybe they're always there. It's hard to describe, but the "mix" is certainly different that in Toronto.

Toronto and San Francisco; Canada and the US. So similar yet so different. Some evidence of tough times at this mall, with more than a few storefronts shuttered. Emerging back into the parking lot I was greeted with what is a surefire San Fransisco memento... Sun pouring through fog -- that coarse, heavy, cool wet mist best described in French by the term "brume" that you feel as you walk through.

Sitting in the lounge waiting for my flight

I've never checked more than one bag when flying somewhere. This morning, I checked three bags; and, I had to get the special "Heavy" tags as I exceeded the 50lb limit. I feel like an infrequent vacation traveller, and all I need is a Hawaiian shirt and a sombrero, and some large multi-coloured luggage straps to really fit in.

At this point I am in the lounge, surfing the free wifi and swilling the free... drinks... (too early for the booze.) Starts now my commitment to not read or look at work email or websites. Let's see how long I can keep it up.

It was the best of times, exciting times.. I am leaving for a full month, and the only thing I have booked is the airport hotel for tonight, and a rental car for tomorrow. In deference to the Blues Brothers.. It's 3000 miles to San Francisco, we got a full tank of gas. Hit it.