Arizona Rocks!!!...Get it....

Just got in to L.A. We are beat. Arrived to Flagstaff, AZ the other day. We stayed with Max and Cat, two amazing friends who just moved out there from Binghamton. We headed to Sedona, just 20 miles south of Flagstaff the first day there.



We got back and heard there was an open mic at the bar across the street from where we were staying. We also heard they give free beer to performers. Dan and I practiced a couple songs I wrote back in February. Somehow after driving 4,000 miles we didn't have any inspiration to write any new songs, but I am sure they will come.


The next day we drove about 7 miles outside of town to Mount Humphreys, the tallest peak in Arizona. We hiked to the summit and back down, with a little hail and snow on the way up. Just under 9 miles in total it was an incredible hike. The Grand Canyon, 60 miles away, was visible from the top.




The next day we woke up super early and headed up north to the Grand Canyon. Max works on the trails at the canyon and took us from the rim to the bottom and back up. It ended up being an 11 hour, 16 mile hike.







We made it down to Phantom Ranch taking the South Kibab trail, which lies along the Colorado River, shown above. On the way up we took the Bright Angle trail, which smells like mule piss because that's the trial that the guides use to take tourists down that are too lazy to walk.

That night Dan headed back to Flagstaff and I stayed in the canyon to camp for the night. I found out that camping in any nation forest is free as long as you drive at least five miles off of the freeway.

22 miles of hiking in 2 days does a number on you, especially if you're not in shape. We're both sore, but it was an incredible display of badassery. Also, living at a higher elevation affects your body's ability to metabolize alcohol. Two beers are enough to get you more than buzzed.
So Flagstaff is a cool place in the middle of a hot state. Lots of young people and lots of stuff to do.

We are staying with my brother, Al for a little bit in L.A. before heading north.

Lost in Albuquerque

We got to Albuquerque, NM yesterday afternoon. It is a cool little town; lots of cafes and an interesting native American culture. We walked to the university to get some internet to find somewhere to camp. We ended up in the mechanical engineering department. There is no camping within an hour of the town. We searched couchsurfing.org and contacted two people in the area but it didn't work out. We walked around the campus and tried finding possible spots to pitch the tent. After talking to a couple students on campus we figured it would be a really bad idea to camp on campus. Around 9:30 we were getting desperate and drove to a national forest about 15 miles away. We weren't sure where to park so we pulled in to the ranger station. There were lots of woods but some of it was privately owned. There was a Pueblo in sight and we didn't want to trespass on native American land. By now it was dark. We found sings giving tips about encountering cougars and bears. If you encounter either animal you are supposed to face it, walk back slowly, and if it attacks you it says to fight back aggressively. Great advice. We kept hearing foot steps around us and we decided to drive back to campus. We had met a girl earlier that day and told her out situation. She is living in a dorm on campus and offered her room. I gave her a call and we ended up crashing there.

The next morning I got up early to move my car to avoid a parking ticket. I drove to the closest hotel and for a continental breakfast. I got a message from the girl saying that Dan says to meet at the entrance of campus. He didn't have his phone on him and I couldn't find him anywhere. After about an hour I headed to the mechanical engineering department and by chance he was just leaving there.

So after that we met up with one of our mechanical engineering professors from Binghamton. He does research at the University of New Mexico, designing robots for multiple applications. He showed us his lab and gave us a couple demonstrations. The video below shows a swing-free system. This robot lifts and moves an object that has 4 pendulums, each with a different length and different frequency. The purpose of it is to move the objects and account for the acceleration so there is no swinging motion.

Afterwards we ended up checking out Old Town before leaving for Flagstaff, AZ.

T is for Texas

We just got to Albuquerque, NM and found our way to the mechanical engineering building for some internet. We spent the past couple of days in Texas. Last night we camped in a state park just outside of El Paso on the border of Mexico and New Mexico. The mountains out there are gorgeous. Below are some pictures from our hike through the mountains and the caves.



Once we hiked to the top we decided to scale the mountain on the opposite side and walk around the long side. We got a little off trail and ended up hiking through this:

That turned out to be probably the longest day we've ever had. We woke up at 6:00am central time and drove 10 hours from Austin to El Paso, going through a time zone on the way. Before leaving Austin we had a little bike jam. There is a huge BMX scene there and a lot of flatlanders live nearby. Although the jam was small it was still fun to ride for a bit.


We stayed with Mark for the two days we were in town. It just so happened that we were in Austin the same time the Republic of Texas was happening. Motorcyclists from all over the state came down to show off their bikes and party. We headed downtown Friday night and were amazed how many bikers were there. There were guys having contests who can rev their engines the loudest. Robby Knievel was even there and jumped off a ramp over a couple of trucks. It was pretty funny to be in the middle of all of this.


Before leaving Austin we stopped in a Holiday Inn for some free breakfast. On our drive we passed a couple huge wind farms, and a lot of desert.

We stopped somewhere for some food at this Mexican restaurant. There was a 'Fancy Junk' yard right next door.



So we are going to be in New Mexico today and tomorrow, meeting up with Professor Selleck for a bit then heading to the Petrified National Forest before getting to Flagstaff, AZ.

Louisiana Part II

Hey, Dan here with my take on Louisiana. Aside from the heat and humidity Baton Rouge and New Orleans have a unique culture. Jesse posted a pic of us in front of the state capitol building. Baton Rouge has the tallest state capitol building in the nation according to Ian, our friend and tour guide. Tourists are able to go up to the top floor observation deck which overlooks the city.
This overlooks the business district. To the left is the Mississippi River. Throughout our stay I got the chance to try some southern cuisine and some Louisiana cuisine including fried catfish, fried okra, red beans rice and sausage, crawfish eouteffee, and gumbo. We took a day trip down to New Orleans which was a lot of fun. The first thing we did was check out the National WWII Museum. After that Ian proceeded to take us around the city. We walked around the St. Louis Cathedral which is a beautiful church.
We also stopped by Cafe Du Monde for some beignets which is the french equivalent of a doughnut. A pretty delicious dessert. For $2 I got 3 with about a pound of powdered sugar.
We continued to walk around and check out the sites. New Orleans has some of the most unique architecture I've ever seen in an American city.
We also got a pic in front of this river boat. I forget the name of it but its one of a small handfull of steam paddle river boats that have a steam powered organ on it. I couldn't get a decent shot of the guy playing the organ but it was neat.
We couldn't leave without seeing some of the historic bars in New Orleans. Ian took us to both Pat O'Brians and The Old Absinthe House. At Pat O's we tried a drink called a Hurricane which is where the cocktail originated. Its made with burbon whiskey and some concoction of juices and flavoring.
So we made the most of one day in New Orleans and saw a bunch of stuff. The city is full of cool sites, music, and street performers. The downside is that the city is also full of pickpockets and people trying to rob you. Fortunately we were able to avoid these things but we had two separate encounters with people like this. These people like to prey on tourists. Aside from that I had a great time in New Orleans and Baton Rouge. Here is a shot overlooking the French Quarter of New Orleans from the parking garage.
So that's all for now. Jesse and I got into Austin, Texas today and have been waiting out a storm. In the next few days we're going to check out what Austin has to offer and a flatland bike jam.

Louisiana.

We got to Baton Rouge on Monday, met up with my buddy Ian. I met Ian in Maine last summer while doing research at the university. Ian is a very unique guy, super old school and super southern. He refers to Dan and I as damn yankees... He is extremely smart, just graduated LSU with a 4.0 and knows just about everything about everything, a real good tour guide around Louisiana.

The first thing we did was go to the Rural Life Museum. It took place on an old plantation with lots of southern houses, machinery, that sort. Ian was great at explaining everything.






That night we came back to Ian's apartment and we pulled out the guitars and he had his dobro and mountain dulcimer. Bluegrass, blues and jazz are all huge down here. Ian can really play that thing.

Yesterday Dan and I headed to downtown Baton Rouge. The largest state capital building in the country is located there. Today we drove out to New Orleans. It is a really cool city, very different then any other city I've been to. We did all the tourist things I guess. We went to the Old Absinthe House which is one of the first bars in the country, established in 1807. We also went to the D-Day museum, Bourbon St., a bunch of other places as well.







So I broke for a moment. I've been vegetarian for over 2 years and I decided to try some alligator. I ate one piece and it was surprisingly good. Dan finished the rest. Makes for a good story I guess. Tomorrow we leave for Austin, TX. Yeeha.