It has been a while…. a long while… since I have posted here. After my trip in 2011 I finished my degree in geology and continued on to grad school. After grad school I found myself in a pretty dark place. We all have our demons to fight, mostly manifested by our own minds. I certainly had my fair share. Between battling depression, losing my Jeep due to mechanical/financial issues, and leaving academia I was lost. I was honestly in some of the darkest days of my life. I had lost the inspiration to do the things that made me happy.
Interestingly enough my brightest days occur in the darkest places on our plant. Places with no light at all. Caves.
I moved back to Missouri in 2017 after being gone for about 5 years. I now work in a cave. I go caving as much as I can. I got a new Jeep and started traveling again. I teach geology at a local community college. Life is good.
Now that I’m back in the darkest place on Earth, I am looking forward to the brightest time of my life. I hope to bring you new updates soon as the inspiration continues to build.
To all of my friends, family and fellow cavers: Thank You. Without you I would be lost. You know who you are.
I had spent all of Yesterday (the official Day 34) driving so that I could get to Dubuque, IA to see Crystal Lake Cave. By the time I had arrived it was too late to tour the cave, and I was too exhausted to set up camp for the night, so I camped at a Econolodge in Dubuque. It was the last room available, as it turns out I showed up on the weekend of some sort of biking festival. Pure luck that someone had canceled their reservation is what secured my room at the Econolodge, one of the budget options for the Choice hotel chain that claimed to be smoke-free but smelled of stale cigarettes. Not my favorite hotel, but I was too tired to care at the moment.
Crystal Lake Cave map. The red outlines the tour route. June 12, 2011
Dubuque, Iowa is a river town, situated along the Missouri river as a major port for trade. Between the lead mines (you can visit the old spanish mines in the area) and the major river for transport, Dubuque flourished and looks to be a nice city. It has plenty to do in the area and I’m surprised I had never really heard of it until I started planning my trip…perhaps it’s because I struggle in properly pronouncing it’s name.
Crystal Lake Cave Dubuque, IA June 12, 2011
Crystal Lake Cave is just outside of Dubuque, Ia and was discovered by lead miners who had decided they wanted to find their own mine instead of work in someone elses. They found a cave when they began to drill in 1868. It was opened to tourists in the 1930s. It resides in the Galena Limestone layer, with another layer of Limestone above it, the Maquoketa. Underneath is the Decora LS/Shale formation, and below that the St. Peter Sandstone that we are familiar with back in Missouri.
A very pure speleothem (calcite) A Soda straw in Crystal Lake Cave. June 12, 2011
The cave, when it was original before the miners began exploiting it’s resources, was very small- probably only a few feet tall. It would have been a nice, long, (strenuous) belly crawl over flow stone in it’s previous, unaltered state. The miners enlarged the walking paths so that they could stand up and roll carts thorough the tunnels, so the lower half of your tour route was artificially carved out.
Notice the original height of the cave, and the people walking below it through the tunnel created by miners. June 12, 2011
The top half is incredibly rich in speleothem decoration, and most of them are a pure white indicating no traces of iron or manganese have seeped through to discolor them. One of the most amazing things about this cave is that they have anthodites, and quite a few of them. The cave is privately owned, and depending on who gives the tour you might get a different story. Each person has picked up on different bits of information and added their own flare to the tour. If you are the average tourist that just happened to bump into a cave to waste some time, this is fun. If you are a serious caver or geologist, it can be a little funny to listen and censor it in your head.
This isn’t to say it isn’t a good tour- every place has to cater to the audience and do what works for them. These sorts of privately owned caves are businesses, and whatever drives tourism is what needs to be done to keep the cave open. There is a delicate balance that is needed in any sort of natural resource for the public to enjoy and understand. Every National Park and State Park knows this, and they sacrafice small portions of the prized resource so that people can enjoy it while camping, in hopes that they will become educated and inspired to continue to protect it with their tax dollars for years to come.
You know how the saying goes that you have to spend money to make money? Well, you have to let some of these places go to the wayside of conservation to save the rest of it. It’s a fact of business: If people don’t know about it, they won’t want to pay for it.
It’s time for me to head to another cave that has been opened to the public, this time in Wisconsin. I’ll see you there soon.
-Nicole
Soda straws, very white, in Crystal Lake Cave. June 12, 2011
All of my friends have already expressed at how they feel about me leaving again so soon after returning, as tomorrow I will be headed out again, not to return until the end of July….but my non-human friends usually find a way to show that they care without words. Here are a few of my “non-human” friends that I had to say good-bye to before I head out on my Western Loop tomorrow.
The toad above took up residence in my shoe, my Siberian husky, Shaqua, decided to look cute, and the tree frogs serenaded me with their nightly song…
My beautiful dog, Shaqua. She turns 8 years old on June 14th!!!This year we had a LOT of snow in Missouri...Shaqua, my siberian husky, thoroughly enjoyed it! March 2011The tree frogs are some of my buddies....they hang out at the lamp every night just to say good night. If my tree frog buddies aren't on the lamp, they'll hang out on one of my various tropical plants in the summer. The toad came to visit me this week...and tried to steal my friend's money while we were watching a movie. Bad toad...I'm telling the toad that stealing money isn't the way to make new friends...One of my numerous tropicals, my Plumeria....incredibly fragrant. I winterize all my tropicals to survive the MO winters indoors....eventually I will be posting blogs and tips about that here on geojeep.One of my several tropical hibiscus plantsA couple of my orchid plants, left in the care of my sister. An orchid that was given to me by a very good friend. It's probably one of my favorites. 🙂 "Dragon orchid"My sister's cat....My sister's cat, Callie, will have to make friends with my parent's dog, Sasha, while I'm gone.Sasha, all curled up and tired...One of my best friends' dog, Bruce. He's my buddy. These cattle have followed me when I go on my long walks on gravel roads...
Animals tend to like me, and I like them. I will miss them all, but I have many things to see and missions to accomplish. There is one animal I won’t miss too much: This deer that I hit back in November…..yeah, the deer can beg all they want, but I wouldn’t stay for them. Animals like me so much they even come after my car (See also my New Mexican Cattle experience!)
The buck I got before deer season started. I bagged it with my Jeep, "29" in November 2010what "29", my Jeep, looked like post-deer and pre-shop in Nov 2010
So, you may be wondering “What is Nicole going to be doing while she is home?”
I mean…honestly..what COULD be so exciting at home that I would want to be there for a whole 4 days before I set out on my Western loop…..or rather, what could possibly get me out of bed (after such an exhausting last month) when I am home simply to relax.
One word: Cannon
I am very fortunate to have two fantastic friends (bf and gf), both of them involved in the sciences and recently graduated from the same University I currently attend, that invited me along on a cannon shooting. My friend works at a coffee shop that a man, who happens to be a genius and manufactures his own beautiful, working cannons, frequents. He invited her to come out with some friends to shoot the cannon….and she invited me!
I went out there thinking he would simply tell us about the cannon, shoot it a few times, and then we’d be on our way, merry that we were able to see up close how a cannon works. I got the first part right: He showed us the cannon, showed us how he made it and how he did all his calculations to get it so accurate (I should have come to him when I needed help with calculus…he does it for fun!), and then shot it once to show us how it works…
….then, he handed over the controls to us. It was time for us to each get a turn at loading the cannon, sighting it in for his lake, and then lighting it up to watch the splash.
Yes…I can honestly say I have loaded and shot a cannon. The following photos are proof!
So….What can you do to keep things interesting in rural Missouri? Well, shoot a cannon of course!!!
-Nicole
The cannon I will shoot...fuse burning as the creator has just lit his demonstrative cannon firing. This cannon has a name. Black Mamba. Yay!A close up of the springs on the cannonThe Black Mamba's barrell...something you don't want to be standing in front of!I pour in the pre-measured vial of black powder.I push the metal ball down into the barrell, against the black powder.I sight in the cannon, aiming for the lake. The builder of this cannon has manufactured it to be incredibly accurate, it is AMAZING!After everything is prepared, it's time to light the fuse!My own successful firing of the cannon.
PLEASE DO NOT SHOOT A CANNON BY YOURSELF!!! MY FRIENDS AND I WERE COACHED AND SUPERVISED BY A TRAINED CANNON BUILDER! CANNONS ARE VERY DANGEROUS WEAPONS AND ARE NOT TO BE PLAYED WITH!!!!
The roots of the sea oat plant can be 10 times the size of the plant above the sand. A grass like plant that whips around in the wind at the surface has deep ties into the sand it calls home. The roots are designed to allow the sea oat to survive on the sand dunes, where a large root surface area allows the scarce water to be found. The mosses that are so prevalent in the south, however, have no extensive roots to speak of. They are superficial, and even allow the plants to move from one place to another and survive. All of us have roots, some deeper set than others, that allow us to survive. Today I was headed for St. Augustine, Florida, the oldest city in the U.S. A place that has roots reaching back centuries, making the town what it is today.
The moon lit sea at Anastasia State Park Beach. May 15, 2011
I met a high school friend for breakfast at Datz, a tasty restaurant in Tampa, FL that is fairly popular in the area. The breakfast menu was varied, every menu item having a Datz personal twist. My friend and I both ordered a latte, which came in a soup bowl-sized coffee cup, lending to plenty of time to chat about our lives and catch up. The breakfast was delicious and afterwards my friend showed me their chocolate case: Rows and rows of hand-painted chocolates. I was unable to taste any, but they sure looked beautiful. I imagine they are bought more for the beauty than for the taste, each piece being artistically hand painted.
The hand-painted candies at Datz in Tampa, FL. May 15, 2011The biggest latte I've ever had at Datz in Tampa, FL. May 15, 2011
I have a blast driving my Jeep with the top down. This is near Orlando, on my way from Tampa to St. Augustine. May 15, 2011
The drive from Tampa to St. Augustine was beautiful. I was able to put the top back down on my Jeep after having it up for the night in Tampa (luckily, because a storm rolled through that night) and enjoy the sun and “natural” air conditioning that a highway drive is able to provide. At a gas station I met two other Jeep Wrangler owners. They knew about yesterday’s holiday (National “Go Topless” day for all Jeep owners), which of course made me smile. There is nothing quite like owning a Jeep….it’s like belonging to a special club, where everyone waves to fellow Jeep-owning strangers and we can all talk like we’ve known each other for years. If you are the adventurous type and you don’t own one, you should. You are seriously missing out.
Anastasia State Park Beach. The sand is so white! May 15, 2011.
After a quick stop at a citrus stand to get some local oranges, I arrived in St. Augustine to some familiar sites. First and foremost, the St. Augustine lighthouse (which I will go visit tomorrow, stay tuned for pictures and information on my next update). I checked into my campsite at Anastasia State Park, and when I first drove up to my tent site I knew instantly this would be my new favorite camping site.
My campsite at Anastasia State Park. May 15, 2011
Each site is tucked away in it’s own private alcove, similar to that of Tickfaw State Park a few days earlier, except this is even better: It’s on an island, and you can head the waves crashing on the beach in the distance. The beach is a short walk away, where the sand is white and the ocean sparkling. Every site has electric and water hook ups, which isn’t necessary for a tent, but nice for people like me who have a website to update and need to recharge electronics. The price isn’t terribly high for what it offers, either. Anastasia State Park is the perfect place to stay if you are looking to camp on the coast.
The Santa Maria Restaurant in St Augustine, FL
I decided to have dinner at Santa Maria’s, a unique restaurant I dined at my last trip to St. Augustine in January of 2007. It turns out May is a much better time of year to dine at Santa Maria’s in St. Augustine: You get to feed the fish. The restaurant is located on the end of a pier with a great view of Lion’s Bridge. The tables along the outside of the restaurant, again the windows, are provided with a little hatch where you can drop pieces of bread, provided by the basket full, into the water and watch the various fish come up to enjoy. I guess you can say you are fattening up the fish that you may eat later.
The window you open to drop bread to the fish at Santa Maria Restaurant in St Augustine, FL. May 15, 2011Name this bird: in St Augustine, FL at the Santa Maria Restaurant. May 15, 2011
The fish aren’t the only ones to enjoy the bread. Various birds, including pigeons, crows and another colorful little bird I do not know the species (readers, identify below! J ). Kids really enjoy this activity (and the kid inside me), and I had the pleasure of meeting a 1st grade girl who enjoyed every minute of it. She and her family were visiting from Pennsylvania and we had a wonderful conversation over dinner. Another great thing about being on the road: you meet a lot of friendly people.
The little girl feeding the pigeons at Santa Maria Restaurant in St Augustine, FL. May 15, 2011
After dinner I headed back to Anastasia State Park so that I could sit on the beach and take some night pictures. The moon was nearing full this night and it lit up the beach and the waves. I was able to enjoy a peaceful time alone on the beach, watching the waves crash and although the sky was mostly clear the lightening illuminate the horizon in little bursts-a storm nearly 200 miles away. I didn’t even need a flashlight, though I guess when you are a caver nothing is dark in comparison. The stars, moon and city lights are more than enough illumination in the night against the contrast of the white sands of the St. Augustine coast.
The coast of St. Augustine is held together by the roots of the sea oat, a 6” plant having roots up to 5’ long. Whlie we all have roots of different depths, we do all have roots. They don’t only keep us grounded, providing for us- They are an integral part of our society as a whole. Everyone plays a role in this world, some of us are nomads like the spanish moss that can easily be transplanted, and some of us have roots reaching deep into the sands of our native homes. Either way, the nutrients we have gathered from each place we live sustain us for a lifetime- each place becomes a part of us. It’s why I believe so strongly in traveling for education. A traveler who truly takes the initiative to learn about the geology, environment and culture of each place they visit is adding a little bit to themselves each time. I think too many people consider traveling a vacation by traditional terms. A true traveler isn’t meant to get away and do nothing- they enrich their lives, and thus everyone around them, by absorbing the knowledge of other places- and sharing.
These flowers decorate St. Augustine everywhere. A bee is doihg it's job. May 15, 2011I'm enjoying the sun at Anastasia State Park in FL. May 15, 2011.Lion's Bridge in St Augustine, drawn up every half hour to let ships through.A flower along the walk in St. Augustine, FL. May 15, 2011St. Augustine Lighthouse sits just beyond the ships in the harbor. May 15, 2011The moon rising at Anastasia State Park Beach at Duck. May 15, 2011Sunset at Anastasia State Park May 15, 2011My little camping buddy at Anastasia State Park, May 15 2011
I think one of the most intriguing parts of travel is running into places that you see on TV. It can feel a bit surreal. Here’s a game for you: Guess the TV show or Movie! This is a small collection of photos I have taken during many of my adventures that reminded me of a television show I enjoy watching. I know these places are on several shows, but let’s see if you can guess which one I was thinking of. Comment below with your answers!
#1
Let’s start with an easy one. I walked by this place in Baltimore, MD in March 2010. It is a bakery well known in a television show, but which one?
#2
This is one of many beaches that is featured in a popular TV show, no longer aired. (sadface). I visited Santa Monica Beach & Pier on Dec 29, 2009. Which show do you think featured this stunning pier?
#3
I took this picture on my most recent trip to Washington D.C., March 2011. This subway has been featured numerous times in one of my favorite crime dramas. Which one is it?
#4
Time to kick it up a notch. This is the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles, California. I visited them in December 2009. It was also featured in a movie. Can anyone guess which one?
#5
This bridge is FAMOUS for many reasons. I was able to see the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge in Taos, New Mexico in May 2010 with my Geology club. It is famous for being one of the highest and most beautiful bridges, built in 1965- also reputable for suicides because of this height. It was also featured in a movie that was produced in 2009. Come on, who knows this one????
#6
Last, but certainly not least, is my favorite!!!! I was graciously invited by some friends to go to Costa Rica with them in August 2010. I LOVED the lush rainforests that lined the rich coasts, and so did a certain film maker. This particular movie was one of my childhood ALL TIME FAVORITES! Does anyone have the answer to this?
COMING SOON!: THE GRAND SUMMER ADVENTURE: Caves. Waves and Future Paves!”
UPDATING TO THE WEB SOON: A Taste of Costa Rica and Washington D.C. & Baltimore (Museums, Dining & more), Orchid Care information, and Reintroducing your Tropical Plants to the Outdoors.
KEEP CHECKING MY STONECREATIONS site as I add more product offerings! Order your unique gift today!
Welcome to my website! My name is Nicole, and I am a Jeep-driving, cave-exploring, future geologist who wants to share my adventures of travel with you.
I look forward to sharing my adventures with you!
See you soon!
Nicole
“Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints, kill nothing but time.”
Caves, Waves & Future Paves: The Grand Summer Tour Route
Chaos is an event that is typically taken in a negative light, but chaos can be a good thing. It is the one thing that can take life out of your control and allow you to experience things you would have never been able to do so otherwise. Chaos is proof that you can succeed no matter what. A confidence booster. The one thing that can prove you are, and will remain, undefeated by life.
Manhattan Beach, CA Jan 1st, 2010
I think we all know things don’t always go as planned. We get frustrated that things didn’t happen as you had thought. But does it really have to ruin your day? In the heat of the moment it may seem like the day is lost, but rolling with the punches can make any day even better than your itinerary allowed.
Today I was planning on heading up to Pasadena to see the Rose Bowl After-Parade float viewing. I had originally considered seeing the game and parade in person, but since my plans weren’t set in stone I had to pass on the possibility of getting tickets. I figured I would just see the parade-then I found out that people camped out for 36 hours to get a good spot along the parade route. I finally settled on seeing the floats in the after parade display. A friend of mine from Ohio State was in town to see his team play in the rose bowl. Considering the likeliness of two friends, one from Ohio and one from Missouri, to be in the same place at the same time we had decided to try to meet up. Unfortunately, the air lines had lost my friend’s luggage, along with his cell phone charger.
As a result of the long night in Hollywood (exceptionally long since I was a full two hours later than my normal time zone) I slept in later than I planned. I showered and headed out in the general direction I knew Pasadena to be located while I waited for the antiquated GPS to catch up with me. A full 10 minutes later the GPS had still not loaded the necessary information and I noticed a sign over the highway indicating that Manhattan Beach was nearby. I decided to make a detour.
Manhattan Beach is a very familiar name of a place from my young childhood. It was a beach that my parents took me to, being such a short drive away. I had originally assigned myself to the task of visiting the beach everyday I was here, and yesterday the magic of Hollywood and the new year had prevented me from doing so. Today, I decided the beach was not an option. Tomorrow I would not have the chance to see it again since I would have to leave very early.
When I took the exit for Manhattan Beach I noticed a sign on the side: Hawthorne. Hawthorne, California is my childhood hometown. I was certainly traveling down memory lane. Apparently the jogging of my memory also jogged the GPS’s memory: it finally figured out where I was.
I found a parking spot along a steep hill close to the beach. I set my E-brake and curbed my tires, and as I dropped a few quarters in the parking meter I noted to myself that if I was driving my Jeep this would not have worked so well. I really do need to get the e-brake tightened on “29”.
The beach was everything I remembered as a child. The sand along the beach was clean and a light-sandy color, covered in variously colored seagulls and sparsely littered with broken seashells and rocks. My jogging sneakers, that have a mesh outer shell, began to fill with sand as I walked across the beach towards the ocean. I took them off and enjoyed the feeling of the soft sand as I made my way to the water.
The sky was a beautiful blue color and pretty clouds were stretched across the sky. There were a handful of surfers bobbing in the tide, and some parents walked around with their young children as they played tag with the sea. Expensive houses and condos line the backside of the beach and I daydreamed of a day when I could afford to life in a place like that. A time when I could step out my back door onto the sandy shores of the ocean.
After I spent a good half hour sitting there, soaking in the ocean air, I realized how hungry I was. I looked over to the pier and imagined there must be a restaurant at the end of it. I could only hope it was open on New Years Day, and luckily for me it was. The small snack shack was fairly busy for the day and it took a decent wait to get my food. As I waited in line to order a small boy, around the age of 4, sang a familiar theme song as his dad ordered food. I laughed and asked his dad if the boy was in fact singing the Star Wars theme. He chuckled and explained his son had been playing a lot of Lego Star Wars recently. Cute kid.
Manhattan Beach Pier, Jan 1, 2010
I decided it was getting a little late and walked back along the beach and up the hilly, blue-colored sidewalk to my car so that I could head towards Pasadena. The thought of smelling roses and looking at the intricately built floats that were made entirely of roses sounded like a welcome escape from the city. This time the GPS started right up, it was almost as if it had failed to work the first time on purpose. Chaos had put a wrench in my trek to the parade, but I had to thank it for the peaceful time I spent on the beach. Sometimes detours are well worth the extra time they take.
When I finally arrived in Pasadena it was easy to identify the parade route. The street was covered in paper, bags and various pieces of trash that had probably accumulated during the campout for the parade as well as the event itself. I realized that I had no idea where the float viewing took place so I stopped at a CVS pharmacy and got some directions. I was probably a good half mile away when I hit the wall of vehicles in line to get a parking spot to see the floats. After slowly inching forward for what may or may not have been hours I noticed the time was getting later. I had planned with my Aunt & Cousins to have dinner with them near their home, so I text my Aunt. I find out there is no way to get a hold of my cousins while they are at work to try to change the time so I leave the line for the parade viewing and start driving back towards Panorama to pick up my brother for the family dinner.
All I saw of the Pasadena Rose Bowl Parade 2010
All I knew about the Chili’s restaurant we were to meet at was that it was it’s address on Sepulveda Blvd, a large street that runs N-S through the entire LA area. What I didn’t know was what town it was in, so I couldn’t input the data into my GPS nor determine how far I could travel down the freeway before exiting. So as I traveled down Sepulveda I had my brother get a hold of my Aunt to determine that they lived in Manhattan Beach. Funny, I was just there earlier that day. Since I now knew I had a good distance to go I got back on the freeway and coasted south.
My brother had told me a theory earlier in the week: He has never seen a cop pull over a vehicle for speeding alone. It was his belief that the cops here simply didn’t care if you were speeding as long as you weren’t recklessly driving. Seeing as how the traffic was lighter due to the holiday I decided to put his theory to the test so we could get to the Chili’s restaurant on time.
As of this scientific experiment, my brother’s theory holds true.
Dinner at Chili’s was nice. It was great to see my Aunt and cousins since I don’t get to see them very often. I talk to them a fair amount online via social networking sites, but it simply isn’t the same. It was nice talking about how our lives were going, catching up and telling stories. It’s the best to hear childhood stories of your parents so that you can, for once, have the upper hand in a game of embarrassing stories.
I know that the chaos of my life exists because of my lack of planning. I wanted to go to see the floats, but had no time frame and didn’t even know where exactly it was. I had planned dinner but didn’t even know what city it was in.I even started driving before I knew where exactly I was going.
I can get impulsive and do things on a whim, and it usually ends up detouring from the plans I had originally made. I had said earlier that some things don’t always go as planned, but in my case I guess my lack of planning creates an empty canvass for my life to play out on. While I may not have been able to see the floats in Pasadena or visit with my friend from Ohio, I still had a pretty interesting day. Even seeing the trash-filled streets of Pasadena was an interesting experience that I will remember.
Chaos is proof that you can succeed no matter what. A confidence booster. The one thing that can prove you are, and will remain, undefeated by life.
Hollywood is a place of show. Everyone is trying hard to be who they think others want them to be. Walking down the streets lined with celebrity look-alikes and rising artists “giving away” sample cds for a small donation it’s easy to get swept up in the whirlwind. All of us are guilty of this to some degree: we work on certain tasks to impress a supervisor for a promotion (despite what you know to be more pressing) and we pretend to share our significant other’s taste in music or movies.. It is human nature to try to impress our peers, and Hollywood is quite the epitome of trying hard to be what others want us to be, in the ironic hope that it will allow us to, eventually, be who we want to be.
I woke up today to look out the window and see the sun shining brilliantly into the courtyard of my brother’s apartment complex. I got ready, taking my time to curl my hair so I wouldn’t have to do anything to it for tonight. Today, I was going to Hollywood. And tonight, my brother, his roommates, and I would be ringing in the new decade in Hollywood.
After I was all ready I woke my brother up, knowing he had to drive his roommate to work today, and went outside while he got ready. I found the perfect spot in the courtyard where the sun was directly shining and laid on the concrete to soak up as much of the warmth as I could. In many ways I feel like a reptile when I do this, the warm sun making me feel warm and fuzzy- literally. You can’t help but smile, even if it is caused by the sun’s rays.
Finally my brother and his roommate walk past me on their way out and I join them mid step, to them I had appeared out of no where. We walk the couple blocks to my brother’s mustang and he has to pull out so we can get in the car- his door sits too low and hit’s the curb.
I would like to now proudly point out that I am not the only one that has problems with their vehicles, and that most of my problems don’t affect the performance of my vehicle’s engine at all. That said, let’s head up the entrance ramp in my brother’s shiny black mustang:
Chug., chug…studder.
My brother’s roommate and I look at him.
“Um…what was that?” I ask
He says it happens from time to time. A side effect of him tinkering with his engine (for example, putting in new headers, etc) and not having a tune up afterward. Now, he has no money to get a tune up. I laugh, and try to keep my hair from being completely destroyed as we manage to reach speed with the windows open.
After we spend a little time milling around the roommate’s place of employment my brother and I head out to explore Hollywood. He drives for a while so I can get a good picture of the Hollywood sign, then we head to a Del Taco so he can eat lunch. I’m not terribly hungry because I had a bagel at his roommates’ workplace, but Del Taco does have something I need: CHURROS! I get two.
We get to Hollywood and find a spot in a parking structure that is only $2 if you get validation. Wandering out of the mall/parking structure we get to the sidewalk, covered in stars with the names of the famous. Actors, Singers, Writers…just anyone you could think of seeing their name on a billboard. Even Godzilla has a star. I laugh, as does my brother.
Covering this sidewalk are tons of tourists, many wearing Ohio gear for the Rose Bowl game tomorrow, and of course the entertainers. The entertainers are dressed up in various costume ranging from John Travolta, to Spiderman, to Jack Sparrow to Bumble Bee. Also covering the sidewalk are musicians who are trying to peddle their Cds to get their name out on the streets. Surprisingly, even with all of this hustle and bustle, I still manage to get some really good pictures of the stars in the sidewalk.
The Chinese Theater Hollywood, CA
One of the more popular stars along the walk is Michael Jackson’s. There isn’t a minute where someone isn’t posing beside his star for a picture. The Chinese theater is amazing, standing there picturesque behind the hand and footprints of big-time celebrities. Many of the handprints are fairly recent, even as of this month. There is one black-colored containing the handprints of the stars of Harry Potter, and Clint Eastwood proclaims “You Made My Day”.
After milling around Hollywood, exploring all the tourist traps, we decide to head back. We get to the parking structure, and we realize that for you to get parking validated you actually had to ask for it….a receipt from the shops doesn’t work. Shame.
As we head up the mountain to head back down to the valley where my brother lives his gas light comes on and his car begins again to chug.
“I hope we make it over this hill” My brother says.
I laugh. Maybe I’m not such a strange member of the family after all. It’s just in the genes to live a precarious life.
We make it over the hill and get back to his apartment safely. After we run to the grocery store to stock up on soda, and find myself a bottle of champagne, I decide that it’s time to dress up. I had purchased a dress almost 8 months ago that I had not had the opportunity to wear even once. Despite the fact I knew that no one else would be dressing up, I decided I needed to do so.
It was something amazing, ringing in the new year in Hollywood. One of those surreal events that many people talk about but most don’t get to experience. I, of course, drank a little too much, but I had lots of fun and had a driver.
As I sit in the bar in downtown Hollywood enjoying all the merriment that swirled in the air I felt complete. Here I was celebrating the new year on the pacific coast. I wasn’t here to impress anyone, or to even prove my worth. I was here because these types of places make me happy.
In the city where people make a living off of being someone else, I was happy to be exactly who I am.
