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‹ Previous (10/06/2010) MONTH Next (2010-08-09)› ‹ Previous (2010-10-08 - Canada) COUNTRY Next (2011-01-23 - Mexico)› US Death Valley, CA 92328 (see on map) 10/07/2010:
We left to the National Park Dead Valley (Valley of Death) at 9 am, after Anne gave us foods for our refrigerator, which was filled to bursting and, as she said, if we do not take she would feel hurt. We reached the top of a hill overlooking the valley hell (Dante`s view) close at noon and I was glad that the winds of the coast drew some clouds. Although we put gas in the air conditioning a week before, it had evaporated, and we were again driving with the windows open. He knew that the temperatures down in the valley (to 86m below the sea level) could be terrifying and hoped that at times the clouds would be blocking the sun. I do not know what temperatures we would have reached without the clouds, but as we descended into the hell the thermometer was up to 50 ° C (122 º F), with some points of 51 º C. Actually the heat was unbearable, although I knelt and I walked over some sea salt and lengthen the path leading up to the golf course the devil and to the artist`s palette. Alexandra wanted to kill me, but she died first: lost energy so fast that it almost ceased to protest, I have always claimed that if she had listened we would have gone to six in the morning and we would have found much less heat. To visit the north of the valley, we decided to climb the mountains, where the 37 º C were comforting, and after a snack and cool off with ice and fresh water we came down to visit the so-called Scottish castle, which was already closed. The north of the valley was higher and the sun was setting, but temperatures were still exhausting. But we visited the spectacular crater of a volcano of steam that exploded about 300 years ago, and then we headed south with the intention of seeking a high point where we could sleep without being hot. Surprisingly, down in the valley temperatures were rise again to 47 º C, despite driving on black night, when we pulled the hand out the window the air was burning. Actually that place was hell. To the west of the park we began to climb a small road until you reached a height of around 2000 meters where the temperature stood at 27 º C and finally we could relax and sleep. The next day, taking advantage that we had not left the park, we drove through a path leading to another interesting view of the valley (imagine people screaming in agony below), to a house and abandoned gold mine and even some large ovens located close to a coal mine. Then we went down the other side of the mountain, leaving the national park, where the valley temperatures increased again to 43 º C. This time, Alexandra did not entirely lost energy and was screaming for a long time that she did not want to be more warm but she was silent when I showed her the map and the route we had to take, after crossing some plains, until Sierra Nevada Mountains.
We had to go down to the plains of California to be able to rise again to the natural parks of Sierra Nevada, so we stopped at a Cowboys bar of a small town to see the World Cup final. It was a victory oworked and deserved by the Spanish and Catalan team members and in the end we celebrated in a Macdonals (the budget did not allow for much more). Then, we stopped to buy food and also a FM transmitter for the iPod of Alexandra, because we were both tired of listening to some U.S. radios, which every now and then surprise you with a religious message or a song about Jesus. Finally, after connecting to the Internet for free at a library, we headed towards the National Park of giant sequoias. Having ascended a long and winding road that afternoon we enjoyed views of the mountains and forests from Moro Rock and then a nice clearing in the forest, looking down the road to eight bears. At night, Alexandra was obsessed with bears paranoid and shit scared if she had to go out to pee at night, commenting every now and then that in Romania the bears killed or attack many people each year, or every hour. Fortunately we woke up alive the next day and after breakfast we did some interesting walks through the park and the next King Canyon, surrounded by centuries-old Sequoia and some few of thousands of years. The most impressive and enormous had been baptized, as the giant General Sherman, the tree with the most voluminous trunk in the world, with 1487 meters hight ,1.385 cubic tons, which was passed in diameter by the General Grand Tree, accessed at night, with 33 meters in circumference and 12 meters in diameter. Although the two trees should measure about 80 meters high, were overtaken by other redwoods that can reach 115 meters (resulting in the highest trees in the world), had no record of longevity, because even if they had 2200 and 1700 years respectively, there are other redwoods that have reached the 3,500 years and for sure with a lot of stories to tell.
To go to the next park, we had to go back down to the warm plains, through Fresno, from where we started to climb again to the beautiful Yosemite National Park, about 3,000 meters. Apart from enjoying the cooler temperatures we are also delighted by the views of the rocky mountains, waterfalls and snowy peaks. Unfortunately, apart from admiring the views, Alexandra also read a poster reporting that the bears could break the windows of cars and get in if they smelled food, and became paranoid, unable to sleep all night, getting up every now and then shouting that had to be the bear. On the other hand, we were also camping illegally and feared that the Rangers wake us at night to communicate that we had to leave the park to continue the dream. But none of those things happened. The next day Alexandra stayed in the car resting after a sleepless night while I made a magnificent 3 hour hike to the foot of Yosemite waterfall, the highest in North America with 739 meters of altitude, and walked three hours more to marvel at the Vernal and Nevada Falls. As I walked, I asked myself again what was the cause or ulterior motive that drove humans to make great efforts to see natural spectacles fascinating and rewarding only on an emotional level.
We were surprised that the temperature rose from 20 º C in Yosemite to 40 º C in the plains, to come down to the acceptable 30 ° C in San Leandro, a few miles from San Francisco, where Kevin was waiting for us, and who wonderfully hosted us for several days. But we were surprised that Kevin informed us we had to go with warm clothes to visit San Francisco, because just across the bay temperatures could drop to 20 or 10 º C. As he explained, the high temperatures of the plains rose the warm air above and the cold air of the sea penetrated to the interior, the currents coming from Alaska. And really, the next day afternoon, when he and his partner Francisco led us to the famous city we could not help but recall a famous line from Mark Twain ´The coldest winter I ever lived was a summer in San Francisco.´ And not just the cold was the problem, but also from the ocean the fog hid the beauty of San Francisco. As Kevin and Francisco explained, the city was a cultural landmark, both today and in the sixties when the hippie culture grew up around Haight Street, even now a more obscure neighbourhood or neo-hippie San Francisco . After hinting that they were both gay, they told us that San Francisco was a city wide open, showing at the same time the Castro district, with shops aimed at the gay clientele. At the same time, San Francisco is a city where minority cultures are kept distinct with pride as Chinatown, where you actually breathed the essence of that country, or the shopping center full of restaurants offering Japanese sushi or shops selling very curious products. But apart from culture, San Francisco also thrives economically, with a large business district dotted with skyscrapers, known as the Wall Street West. In other areas, San Francisco was able to maintain the calm of nature, with its vast Golden Gate Park, which retained the same name of the bridge that connects the cold Pacific Ocean San Francisco Bay. At that point, the bridge had been a Spanish military garrison, but it now raises into the current San Francisco icon, the famous Golden Gate Bridge, built between 1933 and 1937, with a total length of 2737meters. Invited to dinner several times by Kevin and Francisco (one night of which we celebrated my birthday), we had good chances to talk about their work: Francisco was a psychoanalyst and psychiatrist, explaining the case of a patient, and Kevin was a mathematician, explaining that mathematic knowledge was advancing ahead of science, fascinated by the beauty of the numbers and unconcerned about the practical applications of their findings, although in the future they would surely. During another conversation, I thought that surely the American society was more religious than Europe, declaring I was surprised when Kevin declared he was a Christian (also Francisco believed in God) but also explain that for a long time they suffered from the immorality in which Catholicism was treating homosexuality. Fortunately, now he had discovered other Christian groups expressing their sexual nature without recrimination. We talked about many fascinating topics with Kevin and Francis, just as interesting that the answers that Kevin brought to the project taking the pulse of the world, being the first person I interviewed in America (sorry the sound quality was not very good, I have to buy a good micro). Kevin said that the main problem the world is that people do not see that they are interconnected with the rest of humanity, acting consistently with selfishness and materialism, a problem perhaps inherent to humans but on a personal level can be changed. The biggest problem in California is the Conservative Republican who does not believe in taxes or the involvement of society, causing regional and international conflicts, a problem that can be solved on a personal level acting minimally different. Kevin is a happy person, but sometimes feel unhappy because of the emotional imbalances, would be happier to be more compassionate with himself, similar to the secret of happiness: Do not take yourself too personally.
On Tuesday morning we went to San Leandro and left the San Francisco Bay back up through the rugged and beautiful north coast of California to Redwood National Park that we visited the next day. Redwood groups several huge redwood forests, among which are trees higher than 115m. Anyway, to protect its delicate ecosystem, the park rangers do not reveal their exact locations. The redwood forest is kept similar to the natural park´s forest of redwoods, previously visited, so what surprised us most were other aspects of the park, such as elks grazing, or the rugged coastline , where you could watch from a distance a couple of whales. Grants Pass (see on map) 21/07/2010: In the afternoon, after visiting the Redwood National Park, we crossed Rouge River, and arrived a small town near Grants Pass, where we hoped to meet Do Lee, a funny american woman who we had met in Athens two years ago, after the African trip. When we had met the American women Do Lee in Greece she had seemed an impulsive woman and a little peculiar, and so she still was the same in the United States, where she was taking care of a friend who was dying of cancer, a job that kept her joy suppressed. It was interesting for me to spend two afternoons with her and her friend as the two had had a life a little more rugged than our previous guests and allowed me to capture other side of the United States. Many of her friends had been hooked to drugs and marijuana, with the latter currently available in California, where it is readily prescribed to terminally ill patients and rebound to anyone interested. The friend of Do Lee also told us that she had been arrested twice for driving with .08% alcohol in the blood (about 3 beers for a person weighing 64kg), something considered a grave offense punishable with a few days in jail. She complained about the large amount of money you should invest for you to regain your driver´s license, but also considered it important to attend all mandatory lectures in which several witnesses explained how alcohol and conduct affected their lives and made it miserable. While I thought about what the girl explained about the U.S. legislation I thought that it was harsh, but then I consulted on the Internet about Spain and webegin to punish before, from 0.05% (0.5 g / liter), although it was not considered a criminal penalty till more than 0.12% (1.2 g / liter). Moreover, as we are here there is another statistic worth mentioning that we obtained by looking online, where Spain consisted as one of the countries with the highest alcohol consumption per capita, ahead of the United States, perhaps because of the religiosity of much of society but also for the taxes that keep the prices of alcoholic beverages rather high. Parque Nacional del Lago del Cráter (see on map) 23/07/2010:
Crater Lake National Park was another place that we loved for its spectacular and dramatic lanscape, with the rugged slopes of the crater partially snowed and the deep lake waters colored in blue. According to studies, depression and subsequent lake occurred when a large volcano exploded and collapsed a mountain about 7700 years ago. It was nice to go drive the 50 miles of perimeter around the crater, with a typical access most visited of United States offer. Anyway I had to go away from the car to be totally immersed in nature, and did a walk for a couple of hours going through a sustained way until one of the highest peaks along the lake. Portland, OR (see on map) 26/07/2010:
On the way to Portland we stopped next to a couple of lakes where the road passed, and then tried to visit some old wooden covered bridges in Oregon that I had marked on the GPS. Unfortunately many of the covered bridges were gone, still we found one through which we passed, making us arrive happy to Portland. In Portland we were received by Terry, a woman who was hosting at the same time Malene, a teacher from Mallorca who was making a trip of six weeks in West United States. It was funny when Terry began to explain her relationship with her unsociable neighbours, but, as in most U.S. homes, their gardens are all unfenced and communicate. Alexandra got along very well with Terry and Malene and the next day went with them, ´women day´ she said, while I stayed at home writing the blog and meditating on the possibility of starting to write my second book , describing our crazy African adventures. Although we spent a great day with Terry, the next afternoon we were greeted by another couple of CouchSurfing, Chris and Jen, who had not been able to host us on our first night in Portland. We spent three days with them, sharing three different intimate evenings playing board games (Carcassonne and Dominion) until after midnight. The games were so absorbing that during the night, and even when we wake up, our brain never stopped trying and studying new plays or strategies, urging us to continue playing. Inevitably, humans have evolved to play, an activity that allows us to learn and further develop. Alexandra wanted to convince me to buy one of the games to play at night, but I refused, because these three nights I had been too obsessed. Furthermore, it should start writing the book describing our African adventures, if I wanted to have a chance to publish before next year at Saint Jordi. On the other hand, the trip continues to be a game, which is providing me with learning and the development I´m looking for, connected to reality, unlike the games. Possibly by being so absorbed by the game and disconnecting from reality we restricted our communication with Chris and Jen on a more superficial level, although they accommodated us wonderfully. Despite the desire to continue playing the rest of the day, we went out on the first day visiting the city of Portland and relaxing the rest of the afternoon in the garden of roses, with lovely flowers that had become the emblem of the city. Without wishing to pay for parking that was too expensive in the city center, the next day we decided to go out and visit the nearby Hood mountain with extensive patches of snow through which many skiers descended. In the afternoon we returned to Portland crossing the mighty Columbia River, where dozens of fans took advantage of the constant wind to glide through the water with windsurfing or kite boards.
After saying goodbye to Chris and Jen we drove to the northern Oregon coast, as many people said it is one of the most fascinating sections of the American coast. After parking the car we made a short walk to the beautiful beach that our hosts recommended. Then we went to another beach , Cannon, with large rocks, quite charming, despite the place being so crowded with tourists. Then we just arrived to Astoria at the mouth of the Columbia River, where we could admire some of its Victorian houses and then crossed the river to enter the new state of Washington. At night, rereading the beginning of the day, when a jovial girl introduced us on the plane, I realized that Americans are much more open than Europeans and network or communication more easily. For example, if cooking in a rest area or at the table in a park and someone walks by the side is not unusual to stop and ask Alexandra ´mmm, what a good smell, what are you cooking?´. Alexandra has also been approached in more than one occasion to be asked about her mini-computer ´does it work like an ordinary computer?´. Or contact me when the camera focused in a natural park, ´If you climb this mountain, you take a picture even better.´
The Washington State coast charmed us more than the northern Oregon, but continues being covered by this mysterious low clouds that keep hiding the sun, which otherwise could not stop shining a dozen miles inland. Without any reference we visited Rugby beach, with several large rocks to receive the onslaught of waves and worn many tons of logs resting on the beach. A similar landscape waiting for us at Rialto Beach, where still many more logs were piled up, probably washed out to sea by the floods and returned to earth by ocean currents. Having stayed north of Olympic National Park the next day we climbed around an hour and a half(round trip) to the Hurricane hill, where we enjoyed a wonderful view over the mountain ridge of Mount Olympic. Then we took the car and headed east to take a ferry to Seattle, where we were expect by yet another great couple of CouchSurfing. Seattle, WA (see on map) 02/08/2010:
To be able to leave from the Olympic Peninsula to Seattle we lost two ferries, but fortunately we got enough early to have dinner with Jeff and Carol, a delicious red salmon on the barbecue. Then we went to his car and headed to a cultural centre in the city where Jeff and Carol were practising already for a couple of years English dances. Despite the experience of the attendees who were all very friendly and teaching us to dance the steps or necessary movements. Finally, after nearly three hours dancing, no one was hurt; just we were very tired and almost turned into some experts. It was interesting to recall the group dances that so often appear in the historical films of England and understand the social role they had at the time. The next day, Saturday, we spent the day between charming people, when Jeff and Carol took us to a party of friends and family to a bay, where we collected shells at low tide, we made a short trip in a kayak and we got full with a good lunch-dinner. After spending the Sunday resting and editing photos and writing the diary, on Monday we went early morning to Downtown, where it was found the Canadian embassy. We were there all morning waiting in different queues until finally we got a single-entry visa to Canada for Alexandra. I would have liked to go up to Vancouver and possibly Calgary, but finally decided to pay only $ 75 for a single entry instead of $ 150 for multiple entry. In any case, surely we would enjoy a lot the road that we had to take from Bellingham to the National Park North Cascades and Glacier National Park. Leaving the embassy we took the opportunity to visit a little the downtown and the busy market next to the sea. Later, returning to the car we were in a central square where an organization or the council had placed a large chessboard with giant pieces under the shade of some trees and several guys who lined up to play. When it came my turn I had to play with one who knew a lot and ended up losing both games. In any case it was fun to play facing the board with a totally different perspective and running the plays walking on black and white squares and take the pieces killed on the opponent field as if they were real trophies. At night, after deciding that the next two days were going to visit Mount Rainier National Park and would make a break for our visit to Seattle, I spoke a while with one of the sons of Jeff, who had been studying and working in China for two years and had planned to march again in the future to Southeast Asia to settle and live there the rest of his life. Talking about our fascinating journey through all the diverse cultures of the world, again Both asked me the same question that Jordan did in Hollywood: ´Why you travel so long for America? After traveling for so many different cultures it must be a bit boring for you. Looking for a different response I said, ´You´re right, but is also very well touring the United States because the cultural proximity allows us to interact and learn more about the people. And on the other hand, discovering the landscapes is also fascinating, as in the rest of the world, but here it is much more care and easier access.´
We left the house advised by Jeff and on the first day I did a hike from Mowich Lake to Lake Eunice, and then to Howard Peak. But I ended up climbing to the top, because the clouds covered the entire Mount Rainier also a true militia of mosquitoes jumped on me, added to an army of ants that climbed up the clothes for a moment that I stopped to take a photo. The next day we stopped at Sunrise point, where the clouds at times allowed us to see Mount Rainier (4392m) completely uncovered and covered with snow. A little later I made another nice four-hour walk from Paradise, to the waterfalls of Sluiskin and Panorama Point, where i enjoyed a magnificent view of Mount Rainier partially covered with clouds. It was a very enjoyable walk, when I had to follow in the footsteps over large patches of snow taking care not to fall, when I put the raincoat under my ass and used it as a sleigh and got off at high speed. Seattle, WA (see on map) 06/08/2010:
Seattle was good again and Jeff and Carol gave us complete freedom to enter and leave the house whenever we wanted, while they continued their activities. So free we were that it gave us even a strange feeling that we rarely ate with them, although we found many more occasions to discuss various topics, many of them around the nonexistence of God and evil that religions have done historically. I was quite surprised Jeff´s views, it is not too common to find atheists in the United States, however Carol was a little more traditional and was a member of the Unitarian Church (Unitarian Universalism), which she accepted any belief, including atheism, and was primarily focused on spiritual growth. Advantage that both had formed some strong opinions, I interviewed them together taking the pulse of the world (www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OY-0PvG-8U). Obviously Jeff felt that the main problem of the humanity were the superstitions, including religions, in contrast to Carol´s main problem was the lack of education, including education about reality. To solve these problems would require more education, especially for women because they are the major transmit knowledge to children, and also education should be free. In the U.S., the main problem was the polarization of policy toward increasingly extreme positions, made worse by the divisions caused by religion. On a personal level, both considered themselves very happy, but would be happier when Jeff was able to sell his company and together they can travel the rest of their life. The secret of happiness is to accept life as it is and appreciate the little things. After spending a week between Seattle and Mount Rainier, I began to feel that we were adapting to a satisfactory pace of the travel. The last few days we were given more time and Alex had finished writing her blog (unaviajeramas.blogspot.com), which was delayed several weeks, and I had begun to rewrite the African diary to publish a book later. However, we also left over in the afternoon to visit the city and the run to talk to Jeff or Carol. We were there the first Thursday of the month to visit free the museums of Seattle and in the evening we visited with Jeff and Carol various galleries, which were full of people, because the first Thursday of each month was the day that traditionally they were changing exhibitions. It was interesting to visit and see the works of art, but did not know they had buyers as some works that could paint a boy of 10 years were worth 2,000 or $ 3,000. On Friday we went back out and visited the Fremont neighbourhood, and then alternative we approach the gates that connect Lake Washington with the open sea. It was interesting to see how boats crossing from one point to another using the system of gates, but more fascinating was to see next as salmon amounted to a special channel to go to lay eggs in the upper part of the rivers in Washington state and then die. |
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