Signs

Over the course of driving across the U.S, we saw a collection of very interesting signs.

One that we did not have a picture of was a billboard reading:
"Well, you asked for a sign.
                                               -- God"

Remembering out cat (apparently Shiloh Inns are everywhere)

WSU Football stadium

The best part of Colorado Falls, MT is the name of their central street

The main gas station chain in Montana

Ambiguous ad for Dairy Queen 

Sunday liquor laws 

Life on Mars 

Justice has no place in Cowboys and Indians (St George, Utah)

Fishing Bridge (No Fishing!), Yellowstone National Park

Thank goodness for Priceline negotiating for us

Mixed messages after passing the legalize Marijuana bill (Seattle, WA)

The biologist's bathroom (Seattle, WA)

Another suspicious sign from Seattle, WA (a good example where commas could clarify so much)

Las Vegas!

Last leg of the journey. Sadly, there is little to tell as what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.

The delicate arch (and Arches by Night)

Earth Date: 2014 July 30th
Location: Arches National Park

Delicate Arch at Twilight

My goal for the evening was to do the delicate arch trail by sunset. Amanda and Zach declined to go, as they were too tired after the afternoon on the river. They elected to see what the nightlife of Moab had to offer instead.

I had banked on a two hours to make the one and a half mile trail to delicate arch. It turns out around sunset this is cutting it far too close, as the parking lot is completely full with other people with the same idea. This day was particularly bad, because the flash flood closed two of the nearby auxiliary parking lots.

500 feet before reaching delicate arch (facing in the opposite direction)

Thankfully I made it just in time (as can be seen from the position of the sun in the previous picture).

Success: made before sunset

While up there, I met a group of three astrophotography enthusiasts who were visiting from DC. They were doing a similar insane road trip...... they had flown from DC to Vegas, and over the course of the next 4 days went to Yosemite (where they encountered similar ash problems to our problems in Glacier), Arches, and were going on to the Grand Canyon before heading back to Vegas.

I tagged along with them until 11:30 pm (to Amanda's concern) to see what sort of pictures I could get of Arches at night.

The Milky way by Elephant's head

Milky way as seen through the North window (light painting used)

Moab, Utah: Rafting and the Red Desert

Captain's Log
Earth Date 28-30 July 2014

      After driving and spending a sleepless, angry night in a Wal*Mart parking lot, we finally landed in Moab, Utah: land of Arches National Park. Damien explained that we had decided to forgo staying in our campsite due to flash flood warnings in the area. Instead we stayed in a hotel, which after almost a month of traveling, was quite a relief as opposed to huffing it in a campsite in a desert.
     Unable to check in to our hotel until 3pm we decided to find something interesting to do to keep us awake and engaged until we could check in and get some shut eye. Because I was excited about rafting and seeing some areas of the area that people don't always get to see, I became fixated on white-water rafting and convinced the guys to come along with me and investigate the possibilities. Eventually we found a place that had some room on rafts for the following day, so we set reservations   for the level 2-3 rapid tour, assured by the tour guides that we would get wet and have a good time. Looking back I wish we had decided on a more intense rapid tour, level 5-6 at least! Here are a few pictures of the views from the scenic drive through Arches National Park:

neat effect of panorama as a white car zooms by. 

 

  Well, we still had a blast anyway since the people on our raft were two families from France and on the other raft there was a family of German people. So we all got  to enjoy the refreshing sound of other languages as well as a wet and wild water throwing war between the French (our raft) and the Germans (one of the other rafts). The competition was fierce and the French women on our raft laughingly cited the rivalry between the French and the Germans. Shortly after our third victorious battle, the French made fun of themselves by waving a white t-shirt in surrender. All were soaked with the muddy water from the Colorado River.
   After the rafting adventure, Zach and I went for dinner at a sushi restaurant that ended up having some of the best sushi that I have ever had, despite the fact that we were in s desert and fresh fish should be difficult to come by. It was called Sabaku Sushi, which means "desert" in native tongue of the first peoples of this area. After sushi, Zach and I headed to a local bar just off main street where all the tourists were wining and dining. I do not remember the name of this place, but This bar was the bar that I discussed the interesting liquor monitoring laws that pervade Utah. Both the bar tender and the local, middle-aged woman sitting next to me named Sharon, supported my conspiracy theories about Utah being run by the Mormons. Sharon explained that they (the Mormons) get into the government and have an easier time passing bills and raising taxes on things like cigarettes and alcohol, because of their over-representation in the state as well as in the state government. Then the bar-tender,  John, explained how the magnetic, alcohol-flow stoppers worked and advised us not to even "waste our time" on certain drinks. These revelations made sense to my brother and I who had tacitly wondered why we could have more drinks than normal in Salt Lake City, and not really even accomplish a buzz. AHA! It all comes together.
   Anyway I really enjoyed my conversation with Local Sharon, who grew up there in Moab and spent some time living in California and was sitting on a bar stool at one of her favorite local bars, one of her usual drinks: a rum and coke. She had a high forehead and deep set almost squinty, grey eyes with crinkles at the sides, like she had spent a lot of time smiling. It was from her that in addition to learning about Utah liquor laws, I also learned that drinking through a straw would give me wrinkles and that you're not drinking alone as long as you know the bar tender. She talked about how she liked the tourists because they kept the place alive and vibrant and brought in so many interesting people. This woman was so friendly and easy to talk to. It was like chatting with a relaxed, buzzed version of Grandma, if Grandma ever had more than one glass of wine and actually relaxed a little. This little lady carried herself like she had seen a lot in her day and sat there at that bar all alone, confidently and without regret or apologies. Alone without being lonely. In short I admired this woman, at least the impression she made on me as we sat there chatting away in the bar about life. After a while she excused herself and said, "see you later," even though that was probably never going to happen and that was that; she walked across the street to her house.
   
Panda, out.

People of Wal*Mart

Earth Date: 2014 July 28th
Location: Salt Lake City --> Price, Utah

Monday was a fairly relaxed day. We had plans to meet Mark Kozek that evening for dinner, and then heading down to Moab. Mark was coming in from Fort Collins, Colorado so we had some time to kill before he arrived. We decided that we had spent enough time in SLC, and went to the nearby Lehi to look at their dinosaur museum.

We spent a couple of hours looking around at exhibits. We were a little disappointed overall, and would not recommend driving out of your way to see it. We had been excited about what might be shown, as many fossils have been collected from Utah, but the number of exhibits were reasonably small.

As we waited for Mark, I looked over the weather in Moab. There were warnings of flash floods that would occur over the next couple of days, and we worried about setting up tent in that weather. We talked about our plans, and it turns out everyone was tired of staying in tents and didn't want to try and struggle with the elements.

We bandied about various plans, and the one that seemed the most convenient logistically was to make our way over to Zion that night, and pitching a tent there in the slightly better weather. If there was not a tent site to be found, we would try to find a cheap cabin. We would make our way over to Vegas a day earlier, and this would cut some of the driving out. At this point in the trip other plans we had were driving straight back to Whittier, and Amanda coming out to Vegas later in the week. We were travel weary, and ready to come home. Zion seemed like a compromise that involved less back and forth.

At least, this was the plan until we got to Bohemian Brewery and Grill, where we met Mark. As we were talking about our trips (Mark was also making his way across the United States, but he was coming back from the East Coast) we mentioned our plans to cut Moab out of our trip. Mark told us that when he had made a similar trek through the national parks of the US, Arches National Park was one of the highlights because it was so different and it would be a pity if we missed it. We had a pleasant dinner talking about where our trips had taken us, and the highlights. Mark had a slight advantage, as his trip was significantly longer than ours (and took him over to Brazil).

After making our leave with Mark, we discussed whether we wanted to stick with our original plan of cutting out Moab. After some discussion while driving south, we decided that we should cut out Zion instead. With the flash flood warnings in effect, we decided that to book a hotel instead of using our (unfortunately already booked and paid for) campgrounds.

Hotels in Moab are expensive. For that evening, the cheapest place we could find was around $200 per night. We could find a place for $100/night for Tuesday and Wednesday, so our plan evolved into sleeping in the car on Monday night, and then checking into the hotel for Tuesday and Wednesday.

Dinner had gone a little later than expected, and we were still driving around 2 am. I was certainly getting tired, and I think Amanda was as well. We decided that we would pull into the Wal*Mart in Price, Utah, as it did not matter too much where the car was as we tried to sleep in it -- as long as it was off the road and safe.

The Land of the Mormons: A Return to the Fold

Captain's Log
Earth Date 27-28 July 2014

     We have found The Place where we will settle (for two days). Salt Lake City is the Mormon Mecca, with  the center of the city thick with Mormon monuments, historical buildings, a temple and a visitor's center. Not long after arriving Zach and I were reading the large granite tablets with various scriptures on them about topics such as "government," and "family," when we turned around to see that Damien was chatting away with two lady missionaries. After a few minuets of active avoidance, we turned around and noticed them waving at us (obviously Damien was explaining how we were connected to him). Feeling wildly uncomfortable I wandered over to their circle and introduced myself. They were explaining to Damien when and where the tours happened and subtly offered that if there were other questions about The Church they could "teach" us by phone or at home. Not really knowing how to deal with that, the three of us merely looked at the missionaries and an oppressing 10 second silence occurred. After a cordial decline in the offer we tried to change the subject and asked where they were from. One was from Brazil and the other was from California. Unable to control myself and thinking it must be boring to be sent to Salk Lake on a mission (rather than somewhere foreign and exciting), I bluntly/judgmentally asked them, "What is that like? Do you enjoy it?" A stupid question. Of course they are going to say they like it, but they apparently didn't get that one often, since they at first answered me with silence and blank stares before uttering that, yes, they were really enjoying their time there. Grappling with embarrassment at my kinda rude question, I tried to remain as silent and polite as possible for the remainder of the interaction, but I was so glad when they finally excused themselves from us.
      It's not that I do not like them as people; I guess they just made me uncomfortable, impart because I grew up Mormon, and also because it freaks me out that they simply believe things I cannot reconcile about things like the three kingdoms of heaven, baptism for the dead and their cult-like ways of keeping the youth so busy that they are surrounded by their own all the time. I mean, I remember really believing in Mormon doctrine and just kinda accepting their stories about Joseph Smith translating golden plates given to him by the angel Moroni, the the kingdoms of heaven and other fundamental aspect  of the Mormon foundation, without ever looking it up in the Bible/Book of Mormon and reading it for myself. It's scary to think that that could have been my future: those lady missionaries, the arrogance of thinking that your church was the one and only true church and trying to "save" everyone and bring them the The Truth. As I mentioned in my previous blog post, Utah has the highest percentage of people who seriously consider/attempt suicide in the US. I don't think it simply a happy coincidence that this is also the state which has an overrepresentation of one single religious group that tends to be unforgiving of certain human traits and behaviors.
    Later that night a Whisky Street Pub we learned about the liquor restrictions in Utah. Apparently you can only have 1.5 ounces of the same liquor in front of you at a time. This includes drinks such as a Manhattan or other drinks that call for at least 2 ounces of a certain liquor. They simply have to alter the recipe to abide by the laws. The result is that many drinks are less potent than you would expect them to be if you are from a liquor loving state like CA, where free-pouring has not been abolished. Yes, in Utah, all of the nozzle of the liquor bottles have been replaced with magnetic, contraptions that measure out the alcohol and after the 1.5 ounces is reached, the nozzle simply closes and that is that. Later on in Moab, Utah we discussed this with locals at another bar. More on those interactions later.
    The next day we visited the Planetarium, which had amazing hands on exhibits about the way the earth works within the solar system. The exhibits answer questions such as why do we have seasons? Why is the North Star North? How to tornadoes form? What is the difference between refraction and reflection telescopes? What causes wind? and tides? and How do we know about black holes? I enjoyed this place immensely and when we were finished with the museum I purchased butterfly earrings (made of real butterfly wings...pulled off post-mortem, of course), which I plan on weirding out my future students as part of my intimidation/respect/meta-game game for the beginning of the school year.

Later on for dinner, much to the chagrin of Zachary, who thought up until this point that his sister only likes "weird, hippie" food and tofu, we took him to the Melting Pot. For those who do not know, The Melting Pot is fucking delicious. It specializes in fondue and like Korean BBQ, patrons cook their own food in the center of the table. There are many different choices of meat and veggies to cook with various cooking broths and delectable cheeses to dip veggies and bread into as well. Zach eventually admitted that he enjoyed the cuisine. win for the panda (and Zach too, I guess. Changed yo' life, bitch.) Together, Zach and I enjoyed drinks from their menu (that were decidedly weak..) Zen Master was the one I selected and it was tasty even though it did little to alter my sober-like state. Characteristically, Zach selected The Baller, and was disappointed. 

That's all for now. 

Panda, out

 

Grand Teton National Park, and to Salt Lake City

Earth Date: 2014 July 26th
Location: Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming --> Salt Lake City, Utah

Grand Tetons (through the bushes)

Saturday was a somewhat stressful day. We had five people (Amanda, me, Zach, Morgan, and Martha) to pile into the Prius along with all of our luggage. Morgan had a flight leaving Salt Lake City at 6:50pm, so our trip through the tetons was not as leisurely as we had hoped.

Morgan and Martha in front of the tetons

These were probably some of the best landscapes we saw during our trip. We stopped in the park at a Marina for lunch, before carrying on through. Around lunch time we checked our ETA at the airport. Siri claimed we would get there around 7:10! Naturally this was quite distressing. Adding to the confusion, Google Maps would give our ETA as around 6 pm (more than enough time). 

It took quite a while for us to find the source of the discrepancy. The routes that Google Maps and Apple Maps suggested were identical, yet differed greatly in the travel time estimate. The issue seemed to be I-15 through Idaho. If you have a long North-South journey on the Western side of the US, you may consider a detour to this highway as the speed limit is 80 mph almost all the way along it (at least in Northern Utah and Idaho).  It seems Siri had the speed limit plugged in as 65 mph, accounting for the time difference.

[Math 79 Question: Given the hour in time difference, how far did we travel on I-15 S?]

In front of stuff

Here are a collection of group portraits from across the park

Nickersons, Damien, Amanda and Zach at Artist's Point (Waterfall)

Morgan, Damien, Amanda, Zach, and the Nickersons at the top of the waterfall (just before the downpour)

Group portrait from the Badger Creek hike trail

...on which only some of us were prepared to climb through the wildflowers

Amanda at Grand Prismatic Spring

Amanda, Morgan, and Martha at Grand Prismatic Spring

Morgan, Martha, and Amanda on the Fairy Falls hike (above Grand Prismatic)

A puzzled Morgan

Damien, Amanda, Morgan, and Martha in front of Castle Geyser

Everyone in their usual holiday activity during the Lost Lake hike (where is the lake? Lost, of course!)

So long, Yellowstone

Saying farewell at the Northern Gate:

Ignore my shadow

Mammoth Hot Springs

Early morning at Mammoth Hot Springs

On our last morning in Yellowstone Morgan, Martha, Amanda and myself went to look at Mammoth Hot Springs. We had put off doing Mammoth because it was the closest part of the park to Gardiner, where we were staying, but we never had the energy to at the end of the day.

Water collecting in the limestone pools

Geothermally warmed water steaming off in the morning

Grand Prismatic Spring

One of the most famous locations in Yellowstone (probably second to Old Faithful) is the Grand Prismatic Spring. The bast pictures of it are taken from above such as this one (not by me).  Note the scale of the people on the diagram.

There is a boardwalk that goes almost to the edge of the lake / spring, but it is so enormous that you cannot really take the whole thing in. For the New Zealand audience, the Grand Prismatic Spring (GPS) is similar to the Champagne Springs in Rotorua. Amanda in front of the GPS (on the boardwalk)

The bacteria on the outside of the GPS (my guess is that these are slight valleys, and have water for the bacteria when the pool contains more water / paths for runoff (from the boardwalk)

The different colors are from different bacteria, which have different temperatures in which they thrive. The red bacteria survive in the coolest temperatures, with yellow, then green, then blue thriving at successively higher temperatures. I found it curious that the colors map to the energies of photons in the electromagnetic spectrum fairly well -- that is, red is the least energetic to blue which is the most energetic. As far as I know, unlike stars, there is no reason for this to be the case -- it is just a coincidence (after all, we do not tell anything about the temperature of plants from their colors).

The pool is heated from the center, and as it touches the (cooler) land on the outside the temperature changes.  The colors from the bacteria serve as an indirect way to measure the temperature. As bacteria live in a reasonably board range of temperatures the "thermometer" is not particularly precise! Still, this is a good model for my PDE students: the GPS color profile is approximately a steady state solution of the heat equation.

There is a hill to the south of the GPS which allows an elevated view. On our second trip to the GPS we decided to venture up it. The trail is called the Fairy Falls Trail, but we were completely unable to find the eponymous falls. If you plan to do this trail yourself, be warned that the trail is actually quite difficult to find. The hill has many (unlabeled) routes leading up it, and we selected one more or less at random to get the view we were after.

From the fairy falls trail looking over to the GPS: note the reflection off the mist

The GPS as seen from above (on the fairy falls trail). See people for scale.

Wildlife in Yellowstone (Bison and more!)

Elk at Mammoth

While in Yellowstone we saw a lot of wildlife. Almost all the wildlife we saw were elk, followed by bison. We saw other animals as well, but they were a lot more rare.

Poking my tongue out

This bison ended crossing the road to check us out. We clambered into the Prius as this he made his way over.

Angry bison

On our last day out, we saw a group of Bighorn Sheep by North Gate. We found out that they are there almost everyday around sunset.

We also have some (not-so-good) pictures of bear with her cubs, and foxes. The bears are quite difficult to spot, as they show up in the Northern half of the park rather than being concentrated in specific areas.

Bead with cub ("bear"-ly visible). 

Bear popping up to say hello (Mother from previous picture). Amazing focus on the trees in the background =(

The fox didn't say anything.