Pepe Does NYC

No, this is not The Big Apple, but it is the first shot of what would become a very long day on the road. I didn't get out early enough to suit me, and consequently decided to forego the trip to the National Air and Space Museum this time around. Good thing, too, as I ended up in Branford, CT, around 7:30 this evening, beat up and with hip screaming. But enough of Boo Hoo Theater -- let's hit the road. This, as you can well see, is the Skyline Drive entrance of Shenandoah National Park, just outside of Waynesboro, VA. The last time I was in these parts, it was pretty darned foggy. Hmm. It doesn't look to promising this time, either.


Well, not too bad, so far. Just enough fog to add a little atmosphere to the drive, but not enough to become a major nuisance, at this point. Let's move along.


Hmm . . . Not looking too promising, is it? It's beginning to look a lot like the last time I was here. So far, I haven't seen anything to either side but a very light gray. I know it's out there, I just can't see it.


Well, I hope these guy didn't spend too much too much on these Interpretive Exhibits, unless they're describing the development and distribution of fog.


But, like I said, sometimes the fog can add a little atmosphere into a picture. I just loved this tree, and couldn't go without giving it it's just due. Or would that be dew?


Okay, enough with the atmosphere! There were times I had to drive at about 20mph because I could barely see the double yellow lines. Almost the same this time.


Bacon Hollow, VA -- or as they say here, Holler -- during a break in the fog. I looked it up in my Macintosh dictionary and a "Hollow" is a small valley, or I suppose you could say a hollowed-out place in a mountain range. I suppose you could say that. As to whether or not that's completely accurate, you'd have to ask the local hillbillies. Good luck! Banjos are optional.


"Warp 10, Mr Scott!" No, this isn't a still shot from a lost episode of Star Trek, just a trip through a tunnel near Philadelphia PA. Okay, you all know how I am, don't you? Oh, yeah? Well, there's more to come. Hang on!


I can't seem to resist shooting passages through any and all structures that come into range. I'm fascinated by the engineering, and because I'm too chicken to wander into them on foot, I shoot them from the comfort and safety(?) of my truck's cab. This stuff is just too cool!


Welcome to The Big Apple! Here we are at the end of the New Jersey Turnpike, the George Washington Bridge. Why there are Police officers here is beyond me, but it must be to fill out accidents reports. This is where driving gets ugly.


Holy Clusterfuck!!! Pardon my French, folks, but that's the only appropriate description for this completely idiotic display of New York City driving technique. If you blink, you're dead. Take my word for it. Here we are taking eight lanes of incoming traffic and trying to squeeze it into three lanes of outgoing. Yeah, right!


Now, that's more like it. The trick here is to not to blink. Take the upper hand and charge into your lane like you really mean it. Pepe and I got squeezed out once by a blonde shouting some unintelligible epiphets, but after that, we took charge by jinking hard to the left. Once we saw their nose dip due to hard braking, we hit the accelerator and jumped over into place. Welcome to New York City!


And here is New York City, although a bit out there. For some reason, I thought I would be a lot closer to get a better shot of it, but I guess not. So, a grab shot out the side window will have to do for now, until I can get back to shoot it properly. Someday.


Welcome to the Bronx. I remember stopping here in 2000 on my Big Trip, but I didn't think it was something special then. It wasn't something special now, either.


Just a grab shot. I can't seem to help myself.


And we're off! I thought this would be the last of the traffic delays, but little did I know this was only the beginning. Such is travel in the northeast. Oh, boy.

"Top of the Arch, Ma!"

For those of you who are cinematically challenged, the line James Cagney delivered just before being blown to smithereens at an oil refinery were, "Top of the world, Ma!" It was delivered a couple of other times to celebrate his rise to fame -- or infamy -- so I thought I'd be cute here and use it myself in celebration of my achievement at finally arriving at the top of the Gateway Arch in St Louis, seen here. (And, no, it didn't blow up while I was there.)


Before going in for my ride, I stopped to take a couple of shots of the arch, although the wind was fierce and cut my inclination to stay and do all the shots I'd planned (any where I wasn't actually supported by something). Still, I had to get a couple.


One last shot -- my homage to Brancusi's "Bird in Space" -- before heading inside to finally get my butt on a tram up to the top. The excitement is growing.


On the way down to the tram loading area, I stopped to take a picture of what I assumed was a miniature mock-up of one of the tram cars. Ha! Little did I know this was the actual size. Maybe they put this here to allow those who are claustrophobic to see what they're actually up against so they can back out gracefully.


And here we are at last, waiting to see what's behind Door #2. Oh, boy. I can't believe after all this time, this is really gonna happen! Woo hoo!!!


And here's our little tin of sardines now, making a hasty retreat into open air once again. Let me tell you, it's really cozy in there for the four minute ride to the top. Thank goodness my companions were all of relatively normal size.


Yep, that's exactly what it looked like back at the exhibit. Doesn't this remind you of one of the escape modules in the movie Spaceballs? Nice lighting.


A quick interior shot of the car to give you a sense of the tight conditions. I sat in the middle seat on the way up, but just a little warning: That's the pod's speaker right there behind your head. Yikes!


And up we go! This little guy was a real trouper, let me tell you. He was totally in awe the whole time and his dad was explaining everything in complete detail to him all along the way. What a cool experience for him.


Ta-daaa!!! At long last, I made it to the top of the freakin' Gateway Arch! At first, it was hard to get my head around the fact that I was actually here, 630 feet up above St Louis and the Mississippi River, but I managed it. Wow.


That said, here's a shot of beautiful downtown St Louis. For a large modern city, St Louis still maintains a certain ancient charm, mixing shiny new buildings with the older rock structures. It also helps that we're 630 feet up.


And looking out the other side of the arch, here's the Mighty Mississippi. Can you imagine all the history that transpired down there on those very riverbanks? It just boggles the mind.


So, after fighting the crowds for a peek out of the tiny windows for as long as I could stand it, here we are waiting for our cars for the trip down. If you think this is crowded, just wait till the cars get here and unload. Like I said, if you can't handle tight spaces and close faces, this is not the ride for you.


A parting shot as I'm leaving the site, as I just can't resist. The sun has now moved into a decidedly more artistic position, and it's spectral flares add a nice touch, I think. For a day with an unfortunate haze to it, I managed to pull off a few good shots, anyway. I just love this thing! Okay, that's done, so it's back on the road again and on to Kentucky. Catch ya later!

Yep, time to leave!

In order to make more space in Pepe for the trip back up north, I arranged to store a couple of containers of things in the back building behind the Visitor Center, since I was just going to have to bring them back, anyway. As I had to turn in my keys today, I cajoled my co-worker Jim into opening the building for me and began scouting out the spot least to be in the way. While I was doing that I heard Jim say, "Uh-huh, there he is." I looked around and saw this coil of what looked like rope laying right at the hinge point of the door and, upon further investigation, saw for myself the fabled rattler that's supposed to live here. Holy crap! No telling how many times I just blissfully marched by him on my way to deposit trash and recyclables in the building! Apparently, this is his favorite spot. I'll keep that in mind.


So, in an effort to make sure I left Big Bend without having to dash off to the hospital in Alpine first due to snakebite, Jim grabbed a rock rake and snatched up our little friend and relocated him to a cactus stand a little ways off. Right about now, the snake is wondering just what the heck is happening. Sorry about the rather sloppy job of composition, but I was running along after Jim snapping as fast as I could. Yeah, I'm an idiot.


And here's our little friend all sunny and warm now, and pissed as hell. If you look closely at where the end if his tail is, you can see a blurry beige parallelogram, as he gave us a buzz as I took this shot (or was it another one?). That would be him telling us just where to go and what to do with ourselves when we get there. Don't worry, he'll be back in his little corner before too long and will forget about the whole episode. That's the theory, anyway. Hmm . . . I wonder if rattlesnakes have long memories?

Pepe Gets A Bath

No, this is not the local car wash, it is in fact the Panther Junction Visitor Center (a.k.a. Headquarters, or HQ). Note the two Dagger Yuccas in full bloom. It was while gathering my massive quantity of mail that I decided it was finally time to give Pepe a bath, as Lex had taken off to parts unknown and Pepe's services as a stalwart utility vehicle were pretty much over.


While she was here, we took off and visited Ernst Tinaja on the Old Ore Road, and were met with several large water puddles, one of which was almost 200 feet long. We almost turned around at this one, but then espied a sedan approaching -- piloted by two girls of the female persuasion, no less. Oh, yeah?


Well, then, there was nothing for it but to proceed on through the axle-deep water and mud and continue on to our destination, whose parking lot was covered in a layer of cake frosting. Pepe had himself a field day this day, let me tell you.


Back in present day, here's a shot I took on the way to Alpine this morning of our Persimmon Gap entrance sign, complete with its own blooming Dagger. There is quite the buzz around here about this, as apparently this is the first time this particular plant has bloomed since being planted. Pretty cool, huh?


And here's Pepe preparing to hit the shower, at long last. Now you see it . . .


. . . now you don't. It took a grand total of $6.00 in quarters and several applications of the foamy brush to finally get rid of all the mud, but as you can see, it was well worth it. Now, doesn't he look happy?


And here's a little detail shot showing how clean he really is. After taking the last shot, I caught this glint coming off of him, and was reminded of Lightning McQueen, the little race car in the awesome Pixar animation Cars. Ka-CHOW!!! Oh, yeah. We're cookin' now!


With Pepe feeling so fine about himself, and with my appetite for a burger to appease, I decided a little trip to our local Sonic drive-in was in order to show him off properly. I just love this place. (A new girl, Tasha, was our waitress. She's so cute!)