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Lower 48

October 2018 - May 2024
An open-ended adventure by Rosscoe Read more
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  • TravelerLower 48
    1
    11
    Day 4

    The Big Easy (exit)

    October 11, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    For someone who had a career putting lipstick on a pig you’d expect they’d be a little bit more wary of internet portrayals of a business especially if their website slideshow is overlaid with calming ambient music.
    But being sucked in we booked this hotel near the airport at Brisbane to get an easy start for our flight to San Francisco via Sydney.

    Now I’m not a complete idiot, I checked on Google maps to check the place was off any main highways so we wouldn’t be driven crazy with traffic noise.
    This proved successful because as we approached the hotel we saw parks all around and it was situated on a nice quiet street.
    Maybe a little too quiet, well thats what the local hoons thought because for them it made the perfect drag strip and that’s what we copped till they got bored at about three in the morning but then it turned out those surrounding parks were actually race tracks for horses like Ascot and so on.

    Now I don’t know what problem these horse people have with this getting up early business but that’s what they do just in time to take over from those dragster fools, so along they came with their damn banging, clanging horse float things, hundreds of them driving down our quiet street.

    Enough of this we decided to leave early for the airport so we would have plenty of time.
    Why bother Sydney Airport was hit with a massive storm so air traffic control delayed any aircraft on the east coast who hadn’t already taken off from doing so, so they could clear the backlog.
    Two hour delay at Brisbane, we only had an hour between the connecting flight to San Francisco.
    Now as I said, I’m not a complete idiot but with maths I am but even I could do the easy sums on this one and it wasn’t going to work. By this stage our original excitement had deflated a little.

    Good news at Sydney, the storm had delayed all flights so ours hadn’t left, we were fine.
    Bad news at Sydney the storm wasn’t the reason ours was delayed, something was wrong with a valve.
    Four hours later it was repaired but it had to be tested, an hour later we boarded but sat there for another hour because they had forgotten to refuel and the fact that we had been delayed for so long they had to get more meals.
    We sank lower in our seats thinking this is like the plane that never left, it was delayed by getting more meals, then getting more meals delayed it further so they had to get more meals then that delayed......enough this was what was going round in our heads and our original excitement was not only deflated but was like a plastic soccer ball that some old dog was chewing up down the backyard.

    We were down the back and I swear I heard the plane hit something as it was backing out but I was saying nothing, I didn’t care if half the tail section was missing we just wanted to get in the air.

    In the end the flight was great especially for a plane with no tail section and for once in my life I had a nice American border guard at customs which has led us to today where we have been touring “the streets of San Francisco.” and it has been really good.    Read more

  • TravelerLower 48
    1
    11112
    Day 6

    Would you like Wi-Fies with that

    October 13, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    This blog kindly brought to you from a MacDonalds car park... their free wi-fi is the only nutritious thing they produce. Thank you MacDonalds, as long as people are eating your crap your producing Wi Fi.

    The RV company Cruise America where we had to pick up the vehicle is at Newark, about one and a half hours from downtown San Francisco. To get a taxi is expensive and because they can’t pick up fares from out of their area you have to pay for their return trip as well. Then there is in their words a “mandatory” tip of 30% so this is why Uber is so successful.
    A 30% tip on a two hundred dollars (US) fare, what!
    I don’t tip which is worse far for Americans than burning their flag. Instead I educate them on the importance of being awarded a decent wage and not relying on gratuities like some homeless panhandler and doing this will not lead down a certain path to communism.
    Any mention of communism sends them mental so any thoughts of tips are forgotten, job done.

    So instead we use Uber, now that’s a corporate lucky dip with drivers and fares if ever there was one.
    We booked a ride from our downtown hotel, The Oasis, some stinking dive as we yet again got sucked in by the it internet representation.
    Now here’s a good financial tip, buy shares in Getty Images they will soar because I reckon every flea bitten hovel on the web is using Getty pics to present their own property.

    Back at the Oasis we order a Uber to take us to Newark.
    Is this expecting too much to expect the driver to know our destination before taking the job? because the first one arrives and says “you go airport”. No we’re going to Newark like it is showing on you GPS mapped out right in front of you. So he says “no airport, I have flat tyre... you cancel job”.
    I say no way Jose and in this case that really was his name, you cancel. “no you cancel” says Jose because he doesn’t want to look bad with Uber. So I say YOU CANCEL! (caps indicate strength of voice) so he says “OK” and drives off with his flat tyre.

    The second driver arrives and says “airport”? No Newark! like it is showing mapped out on your iPhone GPS right in front of you “ not airport, you better cancel I think I’m getting a flat tyre” NO YOU CANCEL! NOW!! Me now frothing with a finger pointing in a dangerous direction, he quickly says “OK” and drives off with his maybe flat tyre.

    Third driver arrives, does not speak English, does not say anything. I look at his GPS it shows a route to Newark so we get in. Not one word is spoken at any stage, nothing about past or future flat tyres, eventually we arrive at Newark and unload at Cruise America.
    Now the thing about all this is each time Uber ordered a new driver a totally different fare was quoted by them for exactly the same trip with as much as $US40 difference between them. Luckily we scored the lowest one.

    It’s all good now, we get our RV, pretty much a new one.
    We load in all our stuff and it feels just like it did a year or so ago.
    Very excited we pull out onto a 12 lane highway, flatten it and head toward Los Angeles though that is not the destination so after a hour or so we turn off, go through rich Californian farmland where we buy fresh produce from road side stalls run by Mexicans then head East to Yosemite.    Read more

  • TravelerLower 48
    111
    Day 8

    Death Valley

    October 15, 2018 in the United States ⋅ 🌬 15 °C

    A quick one from this third world country. Now I believe the moon landing was a Hollywood production, the way this place functions there is no way they could have placed a man on the moon.
    Every time we come here it’s the same but every time we come here it seems more fascinating and beautiful than the last time so we could keep touring this place forever.
    The people are just as nice, though a little dim, still waiting to meet the mandatory total crazy though we have come close a few times.

    The latest incredible place that we just left was Death Valley, stunning and in the evening we sat out under the stars and felt the warm desert breeze.

    That’s it, short and sweet as this time we are using Starbucks Wi-Fi and you can only nurse a cold pressed orange juice for so long.    Read more

  • TravelerLower 48
    2
    22
    Day 9

    LOST! backroading it to Vegas

    October 16, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C

    The idea is to tour America’s backroads, a good one because we’ve seen nothing traveling at 90 miles per hour on a 12 lane highway, the landscape is a blur. But at least you know where you are!

    We drove the full length of Death Valley then exited through a pass over a mountain range where you looked out across Nevada, spectacular country and no one there. Perfect!
    The road was good, it was also very windy, not windy as with wind but windy like with lots of curves, like a smooth roller coaster ride that went on for 20 miles, that’s a 20 mile downhill coast in a 5 ton RV, now this is living!
    We saw no other traffic so this qualified as a backroad which would have been better to stay on but near the bottom we saw a dirt road leading off to a range of blue mountains and the road looked like it was heading in the right direction. Perfect, according to someone.

    The idea has been taking the backroads and free camp as much as possible so this option had it all, till the road turned in every direction but where we were wanting to go.
    The road turned so much it was like being blindfolded and spun around many times, we had no idea where we were and it was getting dark so we pulled over for the night.

    This was all good, we have a shower, toilet, fridge, stove, dining area, a push button generator, enough food for weeks and the kitchen sink.
    After a gourmet meal and pondering all our maps and what we could pull up on Google without any reception we still didn’t have a clue so brought out the chairs to sit under the stars.
    Around us, the whole dirt road, backroad drive we saw no civilisation, no lights of any kind so it should have been very dark but in the distance, just over the next range glowed the laser like lights of Las Vegas that even flooded where we were.    Read more

  • TravelerLower 48
    2
    1321
    Day 10

    Las Vegas

    October 17, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    The night we were in Yosemite we froze the next night we were in Death Valley with the air con on.
    The next night we were in the desert very quiet with no one else now we are in Vegas and there are people in their millions everywhere.

    There is music, boom boom booming and loud speakers and jets, helicopters and sprukers, Trump Towers and daylight all night long, no surprise, that’s what happens here and as the saying goes what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, just as well, if too much of this s*#** seeps out we’re in trouble.

    It’s good to get to a place like this for the regular dose of crazies you usually meet traveling and Vegas has provided a few. As well as what are wandering the streets the businesses are providing some too.
    Trucks drive around with the usual Vegas Strip Clubs adds or call Tiffany Belle “she want to meet you now” lit up billboards but Vegas is definitely going upmarket now.

    My favourite one is for Zombi Showgirls that sounds like real class and the pic of the Zombi Stripper, well she’s a bit of a looker for a Zombi I suppose.
    I don’t know how it would work though, what happens, first she takes off her clothes then a arm or her head or something, see you would have to do something special or it wouldn’t be Zombi it would just be a normal strip show.
    Now I’ve seen The Walking Dead TV show and if you get bit by one of these buggers you turn into one of them and that’s a real worry. It would be bad enough having to eat other people but to do a strip act as well, well that would be a new low.

    We were real lucky we found a RV park right on “The Strip” in Vegas, part of the Circus Circus Hotel/Casino complex so you’re right amongst it all... constantly.
    It’s much more convenient, instead of having to walk out to enjoy all the tackiness and noise and sleaze we’re right in amongst it all, all the time, it’s so much easier that way.    Read more

  • TravelerLower 48
    1
    122
    Day 10

    Back to Backroads

    October 17, 2018 in the United States ⋅ 🌫 9 °C

    All those fancy pants neons and “The Vegas Strip” got a bit much for us simple country folk from the Northern Rivers so we were trying for some quieter times and a little less traffic, as much as you can in a country of 350 million people with probably 650 million cars.
    The one thing we weren’t going to compromise on is accomodation and fine dining luckily we have found five star all the way.    Read more

  • TravelerLower 48
    1
    211
    Day 11

    The GRAND CANYON

    October 18, 2018 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 10 °C

    Those few of you who took the effort to sign up and follow our blog, despite the many invitations sent out not only are you fine folk but I know you are smart buggars too so we’re sure you heard of or seen David Hockney’s ( too late to Google it now Nick) painting A Bigger Grand Canyon in the National Gallery of Australia.

    There are some great attempts at having a crack at this place by many artists but really not much hope when even our photos don’t deliver on describing the magnificence of it all.
    On story boards around the rim there are quotes from all those old bastards who first saw the place and even in their ancient flowery writings they don’t hit the mark either.

    What is it with those old people, they were supposed to be uneducated yet all wrote like Shakespeare, even the local “smithy” could whack out a decent bit of prose even if he was just saying “actually the shoes are fine it’s just your horse that’s worn out”. Today everyone’s supposed to be so educated yet few can rub two syllables together.
    Another thing too those ancient explorers knew how to put an expedition together. The first group of Spaniards to venture here from Mexico had as well as all the essential members took four priests in their party. Four! what’s that all about, you either know what you are doing or you pray, I reckon the former is the go, make sure you read the book “Exploring For Dummies” first then it should all go well.

    This advice should have been taken along time ago because apparently the party was sent out to look for five or so cities of gold and when they returned to Mexico having failed the cranky ruler cut off their heads. At this stage those four priests could have come in handy.
    Little did they realise that this bit of overachieving erosion here was worth far mor than any golden city as all you had to do was to stick a toll booth at the front and hold out your hand.

    The altitude here 7,000ft plateau makes it a cold place in winter, we are approaching it now and so last night it snowed.
    In respect to those poor headless Spaniards rather than pay exorbitant prices for an overcrowded campground we drove a few miles out into the state forest where you are allowed to camp and light a fire for free.

    Despite the sound of gunshots all around, this is Arizona after all, it was a peaceful place, so what if a few bullets whistle over your head at least it’s better than being surrounded by campers.
    It’s under tall pines with plenty of wood lying around so we were determined to have a fire no matter how cold it was getting, just forget about the warm RV with its furnace and all the comforts we can have a fire out here for free.    Read more

  • TravelerLower 48
    1
    11121
    Day 13

    Monument Valley

    October 20, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 11 °C

    Like every true cowboy we road into Monument Valley at sundown.
    I know you’re supposed to leave town at sundown but arriving at sundown still had a certain western theme.

    Not being able to find the local saloon we tried the RV Park to feed, water and bed down our trusty RV for the night whilst we rustled us up some bacon ‘n beans.
    It was good to see the people here were into the spirit of the Wild West too as they fleeced us just like any crooked gambling house would to a couple of green horns new to town. They made the casinos in Las Vegas seem like amateurs as far as squeezing tourists go.

    Our opinion of the US being third world remains.
    Here they have converted old pickups into tour vehicles. The conversion consists of bolting three rows of old school bus seats to the back, that’s it, not even seat belts are added.

    There is a part of Monument Valley that is a loop road, this has been closed off with a gate and entry booth as this is all traditional land.
    It costs $US20 to pass here and go a 100 metres to a car park.
    Here for the privilege of paying $US80+tax per person first you make sure you are rugged up against dust and the cold before climbing aboard one of these rat rod limousines that travel over roads so bad they must be deliberately made that way so no other vehicles can use them because even nature can’t be that mean.

    This tour lasts for a couple of hours and most of it seems to be taken up watching some poor Navajo woman who has been roped into weaving traditional Navajo rugs, using traditional Chinese wool on a traditional loom made in Taiwan.
    This is unless for $US140 + tax, you take the all day tour. I couldn’t find any sadists, well still alive that is, to find out about this harrowing experience but it didn’t matter as we left all this stuff pretty much alone.

    What we did do though was to drive along the public highway that runs through Monument Valley, pulling over every few hundred metres for photos, tea and meal breaks or just to stop and gaze.
    Thats the way to do it and at one stop we were approached by an American family asking us if we knew about the tours. This was our big chance, having been done over in Deadwood we decided to return the favour and put the boot in.
    A few others picked up on the conversation and in the end we had a small crowd gathered around listening to us describe the best way to tour Monument Valley.
    They all took us seriously and said how fortunate it was to run into us for advice. This made us realise how easy it is to get tourists in, just like the locals have been doing for years with their over priced junker tours.

    With the aura of Las Vegas still around and dollar signs spinning like slot machines dials in our eyes we couldn’t help but think of the possibles in the tourist trade here. One thing our friendly crowd said was how funny it was that we Australians were telling Americans how to tour their own country, they thought that was great.
    Now this gave us a great idea. Our company has to have an Australian flavour yet be relevant to what people are use to here... you’re already guessed it, Ned Kelly Tours.    Read more

  • TravelerLower 48
    1
    1
    Day 14

    Mesa Verde

    October 21, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    The pics of these Pueblos look like they are in miniature but in reality they are quite large buildings where a lot of people lived to help stack rocks on top of one another to create a decent home.
    It makes your mouth water, I got as far as building a rock wall, that felt good and it has a good feel about it too so there is a little bit of envy with people who build a whole village out of that material.
    It’s a good material, you walk on top of this desert mesa to see houses built under massive cliff overhangs and the feeling they give sure beats something made out of treated pine and Gyproc with a vinyl floor.

    The one exception I would make though is to install a few aluminium windows, this is something they should have considered.
    This Mesa is 8,0000ft high, the place is cold enough but in winter it goes under snow so they had to store a lot of food to get them through.
    The places they built, the Pueblos housed themselves, their food stores and the ubiquitous scruffy mutt or two so you could imagine in the depths of winter, with a howling blizzard outside, people shivering, stores dwindling, dogs fighting and then someone complaining about who left the windows open.

    There was a huge population one and a half thousand years ago living on the Mesa and it started out by people digging holes in the ground to house themselves, a bit basic but being in the ground keeps you cool in the short summer and warm during the long winter.
    Eventually the houses rose a little higher and then after that the Pueblonians, (no I’m not having a go that’s what they call them) came along and looked at the enormous caves and thought well, we already have a roof now we just have to fill the bottom in.
    This was radical as I tried to build a house from the roof down once with disastrous results but anyway they really were radical and contemporary people as their ingenuity and art show from examples of beautiful designs on everything from bowls to plaster walls inside the Pueblos.    Read more

  • TravelerLower 48
    1
    1111
    Day 16

    American Graffiti

    October 23, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 6 °C

    A small collection of some of the treasures you find along the road with the exception of the ad in a local paper. Photo number four is of a classic column called “CRIME OF THE WEEK” and if it’s hard to read it describes the theft of seven guns and a TV Set. The guns sound a little pedestrian till you get to the .44 Magnum and the AK47 built from a kit.

    An AK47 kit, where do you get one of those from? I know what I’m asking Santa for next Christmas.
    Trouble is how do you tell Santa you’ve been good and ask for an AK47 in the same breath, you can be sure you wouldn’t get anything next Christmas.

    Thats what great about traveling in the US you really know that you’re in the USA, there is no doubt about it like say travelling in the tropics because the coconut tree your sitting under could be on any tropical island any where and Margaritas taste the same the world over.

    Along the backroads, away from all the rich fancy pants areas, which is probably the majority of the country, it seems most peoples vehicles are worth more than their homes.
    That not hard because reading more adds from that local paper one says “For Sale 2 Acres. $200 down and $200 a month for 2 years”. Another one reads “Priced Reduced. Land and Home. Immaculate two bedroom, two bath. Laminate wood floors, fenced, half irrigated acre lot. Large shed. $49,900”.

    These ads are getting better, I just spotted one for a Mustang LX 5.0 Convertible for $4000.
    So the idea now is, convert all our overpriced Australian properties into US ones, create a property empire, stick a fat cigar in your mouth and drive round like a ponce in your Mustang Convertible.

    I was lucky to find my $4000 Mustang because the reason why vehicles cost more than property is.
    We have just driven up from Arizona through Utah to Colorado, then on into Wyoming and over ninety percent of the vehicles on the roads are nearly new Dodges, Fords or Chevrolet pick ups all worth well over $50,000, there were very few normal cars on these byways at all.

    You spot them too from the road, gleaming and garaged, if they could afford a garage, alongside some decrepit hovel with about twenty other antecedents out the back amongst tons of other rubbish so the contrast is dramatic, the vehicle seems like the only thing clean and cared for.

    Getting little away from the US, this would be politically as well, another ad I spotted reads: “35 Miles West Of Cuba, 600+ acres bordering BLM (whatever that is), public water and wells, electricity, fenced (what all 600 acres fenced) 5000’ two story cinder block building with bathrooms and a kitchen. LETS TALK 505-258-7894”

    Now we’ve included the phone number so if any of you want to get in on this action. We’ve all ready got the trailer park market tied up here though would consider a partnership as this spot has tax haven written all over it.    Read more

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