WordCamp Wrap-up

There are a few random notes that I wanted to mention in order to bring closure to this series of adventure posts:

• Eton FR400 - Buy it! I used it while camping to check local weather where other forms of communication could fail.
• Twitter - I witnessed Andy use this to great effect from his cell phone by posting his gas stops. Wonderful use of the technology to keep family and friends informed.
• Cell Phone - While I have enjoyed using Skype as my sole source of voice communication it seems I might have to break down and buy a cell phone again. I discovered that long distance pay phone installations are quickly dying out. Some day WiFi access will be universal…
• Conference Power - I found it amusing that while attending a blogging conference there was a severe shortage of power connections BUT WiFi access worked fine. Seems kind of silly to have WiFi service when your laptop battery is dead. Boo.
• Offline Usage - I made a serious mistake by taking notes in various formats when I could have been using Windows Live Writer as an offline tool for composing blog posts. It supports the WordPress API and once I regained connectivity I could have published my posts, fully formatted, without using the web interface. On the other hand, offline access to my syndicated feeds via Feed Demon worked beautifully!
• Slideshare - Cool service. I mentioned it earlier, just wanted to mention it again.
• GPS-enhanced Pictures - I need the ability to take pictures with GPS coordinates recorded. It would make writing trip posts so much more interactive when you can link photos to maps. There are some technologies out there. Just need to incorporate them on this site…

OK, that is it. Trip is over.

Tags: WordCamp, WordPress

WordCamp - Day 8

I slept well in the tent set up the night before in Great Basin National Park. It had rained during the night but my tent was dry and made packing my gear on the bike easy. The following details some of my travels for the day.

Great Basin National Park

I needed to cover a lot of ground in order to make it into Colorado Springs by nightfall but could not resist traveling up the mountainside to get a glimpse of Wheeler Peak (13 miles of switchbacks from my campsite). The following captures some of the surrounding area, including Wheeler Peak and some shots of rain falling on the distant plains below:

After leaving Great Basin National Park, it was roughly another hundred miles before I reached Beaver, Utah. The roads were desolate but beautiful as the landscape still maintained the Nevada starkness except covered in golden grass. It was not until I reached Milford, Utah where I found a semblance of civilization. The following map will help put things in perspective:

From Beaver, Utah I connected to Interstate 70 and headed East.

Salt Wash

I try to stay away from interstate highways as much as possible but, as it turns out, Interstate 70 had a lot of offer. I enjoyed the high altitude driving near the Fishlake National Forest and the lower canyons found in Manti-La Sal National Forest.

There are several vista points worth checking out while in the Manti-La Sal National Forest. Here are pictures taken while stopping at the Salt Wash vista point:

Devils Canyon

Not far from the Salt Wash is the Devils Canyon vista point. The landscape looks very familiar to what can be found at Hell’s Backbone near Escalante, Utah (as noted on Day 2).

Ghost Rock

Apparently, if I can recall from memory correctly, the story says that two cowboys saw these rocks in the fog and thought them to be ghosts:

I missed the chance to see one last vista point called “Spotted Wolf”, I think, where the interstate descended through jagged redrock to plains. From there the road flattened and warmed up as I traveled towards Moab and Arches National Park. I did not stop to visit Arches or the nearby Colorado Canyons National Recreation Area but would have liked to.

Independence Pass

I think it was near Grand Junction, Colorado where I caught up to the Colorado River and followed it for quite a ways before reaching Glenwood Springs, finally leaving Interstate 70. I then headed South on Highway 82 to Aspen, Colorado. The drive from Glenwood Springs, through Aspen, and over Independence Pass is really spectacular and something that everyone should experience. I have to admit that the road through this region is really slow, however. There is a lot of residential housing, businesses, and stop lights in this area so be warned. I should also mention that the road over Independence Pass is somewhat treacherous as it is covered in loose rock and narrows to a single lane at certain points. Do not let that deter you. It is worth it.

Aspen, Colorado blew me away. First time there. I have been to resort cities before (like Tremblant and Telluride) but nothing quite like this. I would have taken pictures but I plan to explore this more intimately in the future since it is not that far away. Anyway, here are some shots outside of Aspen via Independence Pass:

Twin Lakes

On the other side of Independence Pass are the Twin Lakes where I caught the last of the fading sunlight:

For the next couple of hours I would travel in the dark. Punishment, I suppose, for too much lally-gagging around earlier day. I reached home around 10:30pm.

Trips Stats

Alas, this concludes my road trip to and from WordCamp. I’ll end this post with a few travel stats:

• Total Length: 8 days
• Total Mileage: 2,861
• Total Gas Purchases (premium gas): $233

Tags: WordCamp

WordCamp - Day 7

The following illuminates some of the roads that I took while traveling back home from WordCamp. I have to admit that I was dreading this first day of the trip back because I was not sure what to expect in Nevada. To my surprise, I found that the landscape, though still barren, was slightly better than the what I found days earlier.

The Truckee River

Interstate 80 is heavily populated with patrol cars near the Lake Tahoe region leading up to Reno but I managed to not pay the road tax. If I were to travel through this region again, I would have done it differently and traveled closer to Lake Tahoe, hitting Highway 50 earlier as shown here (the route I took is in green, the alternate route I could have taken is shown with red arrows):

The following are pictures near the Truckee River on Interstate 80 just outside of Reno, Nevada.

Highway 50

I had a blast on this road. Very barren, yes, but an interesting road none-the-less. It was this road where I started to appreciate the state of Nevada more. The following are pictures taken at various points on Highway 50 (from Fernley to Austin, Nevada). An area map of the region in which these pictures were taken is included at the end.

Austin, Nevada

Here is a shot of Austin, Nevada while climbing a twisty road out of the city.

Austin is an small city with some old stone buildings and appears like a fun place to stop and visit. I gassed up here but would have liked to have checked out the town a bit more but wanted to make sure I had some daylight left in order to set up camp in the Great Basin National Park just outside of Baker, Nevada near the Utah border.

Tags: WordCamp

Protected: WordCamp - Day 7 (Fox & Goose)

Tags: WordCamp

Protected: WordCamp - Day 4

Tags: WordCamp

WordCamp - Day 3

Today was an amazing day! After leaving Tonopah, Nevada and crossing the border into California the landscape became very interesting. Lots to look at and enjoy. The following pictures are broken down by points of interest since they all are pretty much near the Yosemite National Park.

Highway 6 (Tonopah, Nevada to Benton, California)

Mono Basin National Forest

This caught my eye while on the way to Yosemite and could not resist investigating it further. I had to travel down a rather shifty rocky road to get there but it was well worth it.

Yosemite National Park

Since I had made really good time traveling though Nevada yesterday, it made it easy to spend most of the day playing in the park. I took my time, enjoying as many sights as I could.

I must come back and spend a week or more here. It ranks up there as one of the best parks I have been in.

Don Pedro Reservoir

Taken near Groveland, California just outside Yosemite National Park.

At this point, San Francisco was roughly 90 miles away so I decided to drive on into the city and see if I could find my friend Jeremy. I arrived into San Francisco around 7:30pm, found Jeremy, and then we both went out for drinks (several drinks).

Notes

Highway 120 is an excellent road with tons of challenges and technicalities from Lee Vining to Groveland, California. Great fun on a bike and something that every biker should experience.

Tags: WordCamp

WordCamp Preparation

Only one more day left before I take off with Andy Skelton for WordCamp and things are shaping up nicely. The weather forecast for the area we will be traveling through seems to be sunny with the occasional afternoon thunderstorms but, of course, that can change. Will be keeping an eye on weather and forest fires as the week unfolds. Speaking of forests, here are a few of the national parks that I hope to travel/camp in:

• Yosemite National Park - $10 entrance fee. Camping is reservation and first come, first serve. Pricing seems to max at $20 a night. Very popular camping site. Might be hard to get a spot since reservations should be made several months in advance.
• Natural Bridges National Monument - $3 entrance fee. Camping is first come, first serve.
• Great Basin National Park (Nevada) - No entrance fee. $12 for camping (on a first come, first serve basis).

As for the motorcycle, it is gassed and ready to go. Changed the oil this weekend too. Will most likely need to change it again when I get back from this trip.

Got a call from Andy about an hour ago. Sounds like he has made good time traveling across the bread belt of America. He is a day ahead of schedule but we are happy to have him. He should arrive in the Springs between 10 and 11pm tonight. We have the place ready for him to relax. Sounds like he might work from my home office tomorrow while I spend one last day at the corporate office. On Tuesday we head for San Francisco together.

Stay tuned. I hope to be posting more updates from the road!

Tags: WordCamp