Aliens and Indians

Driving through New Mexico I saw a lot of this

Spot the bullet holes

and even more of this

New Mexico nothingness...

Basically, there was a whole lot of nothing in New Mexico, so but at least I had Mr. Michel Thomas to keep me company for the drive. I know at times we might not get on, but he is good at keeping me awake on the road. 

After spending a few days in the outdoors enjoying the natural beauty of Big Bend, I figured I'd better balance it all off with a pit stop in Roswell, New Mexico - yup, the famed Roswell of alien landings and all that fun stuff. 

The UFO Museum in Roswell -  I expected a bit more

I was kinda hoping for some serious America 'tack' - with aliens everywhere and cheesy neon signs. But to be honest, most of the neon signs were for fast food chains and I could have easily passed through the place not knowing it was Roswell. 

I did however see this in the parking lot of a motel:

This was parked right beside a Ford F150 pick-up

Unimpressed with the level of tackiness, I left the neon lights of the fast food chains in rear view mirror, and headed for Santa Fe.

Arriving in Sante Fe definitely restored my faith in New Mexico - it ain't all boring! This city was beautiful unlike any other place I've been to in the States before. There's huge Spanish and Native American influence with all the buildings adhering to the Pueblo style of architecture. 

The New Mexico Museum of Art - all the buildings looked like this

St. Miguel Church - the oldest church structure in the US - 1680 (they've got nothing on Europe!) 

The city was thriving with art galleries, a lot of which was made by local Native American Indians. In fact, the town square had a market every day where you could buy jewelry and art directly from some of the local Indians. It's working as a great way for them to make some money and to preserve some of their old traditional artwork and crafts.

The market is lined with local Indinas every day selling their goods - some really cool stuff

A perfect example of how strong the art scene is in Santa Fe is the State Capital. I did a quick tour of the place and was amazed at how different it was to the State Capital in Austin Texas. While the one in Texas was steeped in tradition and the history of Texas, the State Capital in Santa Fe focused more on the talents that New Mexico has to offer, displaying huge art installations free to browse. 

Cool garden of outdoor art

Once I recharged my culture batteries, I jumped back into the car and hit the road for the final destination of the road trip, Breckenridge Colorado...

More pics here: https://picasaweb.google.com/105659496923832797916/RoswellNewMexico
And here: https://picasaweb.google.com/105659496923832797916/SantaFeNewMexico

Big Bend

Driving from Austin to Big Bend National park was looking to be a very long, boring drive. I saw lots and lots of nothing and was wondering if Big Bend was going to be worth the trip at all. But then, before I knew it, I was driving over a canyon that appeared out of nowhere.

Cool canyon I crossed on the drive to Big Bend

And from then on the landscape started to get interesting. But of course that's also when it started getting dark!

One of the better photos I managed to take while driving

I arrived at Big Bend pretty late, so it wasn't until I woke up the next morning that I realized what was around me - some spectacular views! Pictures just don't do this place justice as however big you imagine it to be, it's bigger.

It's a place you could spend weeks, but I was determined to see as much of it as I could in the short space of time I was staying there. The park borders on Mexico with the Rio Grande serving as a natural border so that's where I planned to start.

The river was pretty low, in fact Texas has been suffering from a severe drought for the past few weeks, but after speaking with one of the park rangers, she suggested that I could put-on the river below the St Elena canyon and paddle upstream into it. And so I did.

St Elena Canyon on the Rio Grande

The canyon was spectacular, and I had it all to myself! It was amazing being in such a beautiful place, so far from any civilization. There was no sounds of traffic, no people talking - every paddle stroke I took and every drip of water echoed around the canyon walls.

Chilling on the Rio Grande!

One of the bonuses of the trip to Big Bend, was that I got to make an impromptu stop-off in Mexico. Since the river forms one of the American/Mexican borders, one side of the river was Mexico and the other America. Since my trip to Central America was skipping over Mexico, I had to jump out on the Mexican side just to say I've been to the country!

My first trip to Mexico!

For the afternoon I planned on seeing some of Big Bend by bike. I got some cool views biking along some of the dirt roads but I didn't quite cover as much ground as I intended - biking in 105 degrees is tough going! I had to keep reminding myself to drink water as it was so hot I didn't even feel like drinking anything.

Biking through the desert

It felt bit like the movie 127 hours biking through the desert by myself, and that film definitely flashed before my eyes at one stage when I went head first over the handlebars - sand looks very similar to dirt when you're getting dizzy from the heat!

A farmhouse I stopped off at along the way to take a break from the heat!

I spent the rest of the time in Big Bend hiking some of the trails and taking in the magnificent scenery.

Window Gap in the background

Big Bend is an amazing place, and definitely worth the visit even though it's quite a bit of out of the way, but one thing I won't miss about the place is the border police. Because of it's proximity to Mexico there's a few security checks to keep an eye on drug trafficking and illegal immigration. And for some reason these guys decided that I was a drug trafficker. I got to enjoy a half hour of questioning while they ripped every piece of gear out of my car, and tore everything out of my bags. You know when you pass a border patrol or customs and you see some guy getting searched with the contents of his car strewn about the road and you think to yourself - 'woah, I'm glad I'm not that guy' - I was that guy! When they were done I had to repack everything myself and didn't even get a hint of an apology - pricks! Gotta love America.

Once I said goodbye to my good friends the border police I hit the road for New Mexico...

Lots more pics (yet to be organized) here: https://picasaweb.google.com/105659496923832797916/BigBendNationalParkTexas02

Gone fishin'!

So I got to Austin, Texas hoping to take it easy after a few crazy days in New Orleans. I hoped wrong! Austin is a party city, that's for sure. Less than a few hours after arriving I found myself on 6th Street (like a mini Bourbon St) with Brian and Komi, two guys from the hostel. When we discovered that the Thursday night special was dollar 'well drinks' (spirit+mixer) - it all went downhill from there.

Komi making the most of the cheap drink!

Austin is a big university town, definitely a different crowd from New Orleans. It's well known that it's a good place to party, and that's one of the reasons people go to study - I like their priorities! Every year it's one voted one of the top party colleges in the US.

To clear our heads the next day, Brian agreed to take me fishing. Brian is currently doing something similar to me, taking some time off work to do what he loves - and for him, that's fishing. I reckon this guy know's everything there is to know about fishing so it was cool that he was happy to take out a total newbie. The hostel is located right on the river, so we headed off for a paddle, me in my creekboat and Brian in his own boat.

Not a bad way to spend the day!

As well as the fact heading fishing on the river on a beautiful day was seriously relaxing, it was also cool to see the city from the river. The Colorado river flows right through the middle of Austin.

After paddling around for a while, finally getting the hang of casting a line, I felt what I though was a lump of seaweed on the end of my line. It soon became apparent, that this lump of seaweed was silver and swimming about. So I was after catching a fish, but now what was I supposed to do? I gave Brian a shout, he paddled over and removed the widemouth bass from the end of my line. It wasn't exactly huge, but it was my first ever fish so I was pretty stoked. Myself the little fella posed for a few shots, before we set him off on his way again.

My first fish!

I had never had much interest in fishing before, but I have to admit, that day on the river was really relaxing and intensely satisfying.

We rounded off or day of fishing with a few beers back at the hostel, hanging out with their pet duck - yup the hostel had a pet duck, mad yolk, he'd follow you about the place until you picked him up or gave him some food - I'm pretty sure it was a dog trapped in a duck's body.

The hostel pet duck

After hanging out on the hostel dock for a while

Cool view of the city from the dock.

Brian taught me how to fish, so I showed him how to make some random photos - fair deal, right?

we headed into the city for another night on 6th Street. Once again the drink was flowing, with the drink of choice being Long Island iced teas.

Why get a glass of Long Island iced tea, when you can just get a pitcher

Brian and Antonio on 6th Street

The next day I was determined to see what the city looked like during the day time and get my culture fix. It's not a very old city, The most impressive part of town was probably the State Capital, where one could learn everything you wanted to know about Texas history.

I rounded off the trip to Austin with a trip to Salt Lick BBQ a place I'd been recommended just in the hills outside Texas - As you might have gathered, I'm quite a fan of good barbeque, and this place did not disssapoint. Checkout out their pit:

mmm…sacrilicious!

With a fully belly, I swung by San Antonio to take a peek at the Alamo

The Alamo

and headed on towards Big Bend National Park, for some serious chill out time away from Burbon and 6th Street!

More pics here:
https://picasaweb.google.com/105659496923832797916/AustinTexas

And here: https://picasaweb.google.com/105659496923832797916/SanAntonioTexas

N'Orleans

The trip to New Orleans was definitely kicked off with a bang. Obviously, if you're spending a few days in a place you want to get your bearings as quickly as possible. A handy way to do this is to go on an organised tour - but what if the tour was going to different pubs, getting cocktails and bringing them along for the walk? Sold! And so the first thing I did in New Orleans was a cocktail tour of the city.

Mario making some Pims Cups at our first stop

Not only were we brought to the home of some of the worlds most famous cocktails, but our guide was a fountain of information about the city and it's history. It was as good a city tour as you could get, and we got to drink cocktails along the way, a win-win situation.

Francois eagerly anticipating some Absinthe!

After the tour, I headed to a gig nearby with Francois, one of the guys from the cocktail tour. He knew of a really good New Orleans jazz band that were playing that night. We headed to the D.B.A. bar on Frenchman St. (one of the street's known for good music in the city). We saw Glen David Andrews and his band, and they were phenomenal. It was a typical example of some of the talented musicians that come out of New Orleans.

Glen David Andrews at D.B.A.

 It was here that I began to realize that I may not be able to keep up with Francois. For every pint we ordered, he got a scotch to go along with it - and this is the same night of the cocktail tour! After the show we headed across the road to another jazz gig - there's live music everywhere in this town. After another beer or two, I accepted defeat, told Francois he had broken an Irishman, put myself in a cab and headed to bed!

Over the next two days I caught up on all the tourist sights that New Orleans has to offer. Starting with coffee and beignets (New Orleans style freshly made square doughnuts) at Cafe do Monde.

Coffee and Beignets -  a true New Orleans Breakfast

 Wandering around New Orleans is pretty different to any other US city I've been in. The French Quarter has some really cool old Spanish architecture (it may be called the French Quarter, but after numerous fires and the Spanish taking over the city, there's nothing much French left about it).

Jackson Square is right in the middle of the French Quarter, with the impressive St. Louis Cathedral.

Jackson Square - St. Louis Cathedral in the background

Another fascinating part of the city are the old cemeteries, where all the tombs are above ground.

St Louis Cemetery #1

During the few days in New Orleans, I saw most of the city, and the highlights were definitely the French Quarter, and probably the Garden District, which has lots of old plantation houses. I also got to the New Orleans Superdome which was used as a shelter for about 35,000 people after Hurricane Katrina.

The New Orleans Superdome - the largest fixed domed structure in the world

And of course, you can't talk about New Orleans, without mentioning Bourbon St. This street runs through the French Quarter and is the hub of nightlife in the city. There's a ridiculous amount of bars and gig venues, with no set closing hours. The place is pretty lively all day long, and at night time it's one huge party. Drinks are sold in plastic cups as there's no open-container law in New Orleans, so you can parade the streets with your poison of choice.

Bourbon St

At the end of my stay in New Orleans I was really impressed with the city. The combination of the people, the food (I even ate alligator a few times) and the amazing music seen make this a city well worth the visit.

Next stop, Austin Texas...

More pics here: https://picasaweb.google.com/105659496923832797916/NewOrleans#

Seeing more of the country (music)

I finished up my stay in Asheville with a fine healthy North Carolina breakfast of ribs and pulled pork at 12 bones in Asheville - some of the best ribs I've had in the states. Nothing better to set me up for the quick five hour drive to Nashville in the neighboring state of Tennessee.

When a BBQ place sells meat by the pound, you know it's good!

To break up the drive (and because I'm a caffeine addict) I stopped off at Knoxville, Tennessee along the way. I did get a really good cup of coffee, but to be honest that's probably all I have to say about the place. Maybe it's because it was a Satucay afternoon, but the city was pretty lifeless. There were a few nice buildings

Knoxville City Hall

and a random globe thingy

The 'Sunsphere' apparently, still not quite sure of the point of it!

The coffee shop I went to actually sold Kopi Luwak, the stuff we brought back from Indonesia.

This stuff sure wasn't 60 bucks a carton in Indonesia!

The story behind Luwak Coffee

I arrived in Nashville that evening and strolled around for a while. This place was quite the opposite of Knoxville, the place was thronged with people. I soon found out that one of the reasons it was so busy is that there was a Taylor Swift concert in the Bridgestone Arena which is right in the middle of downtown. Obviously I was gutted I didn't have a ticket.

Every bar you passed was packed and nearly every place had some dodgy country singer wailing about his dog that died or girlfriend that left him, or maybe he married his dog because his girlfriend left him, anyway, you get the picture. I eventually escaped to a not-so-country pub called The Beer Seller where the extensive selection of micro-brews provided a welcome refuge from all the country music and tourists (yes, I know I'm a tourist aswell).

Downtown Nashville. Lots of neon lights and country music.

That night I crashed with Robbie, a friend of a friend who's going to university in Belmont a college in Nashville. A bunch of his college mates called over for the evening and it felt like being back in college again!

Knowing that the drive to New Orleans was a long one I was up early the next morning. I had hoped to check out Nashville during the day, but when I got into to town, the place was again, bedlam. This time there was a game in the Tennessee Titans stadium which is also right in the middle of the city. Seriously, who's bright idea is it to build these things in the middle of downtown Nashville?

The 70,000 seater stadium of the Tennessee Titans

Anyway, after abandoning those plans, I finished up a brief stay in Nashville and hit the road for New Orleans. 

More pics here: https://picasaweb.google.com/105659496923832797916/Tennessee#

Going Green in North Carolina

At this stage I had paddled the two rivers on my list, the Upper Yough  (including a bonus run on the Top Yough) and Upper Gauley, but there was one river that I've wanted to get on for a long long time, so I ended up in Asheville, North Carolina to paddle the Green River Narrows.

I arrived on the Tuesday and hoped to paddle with Eric, a guy who a buddy in Boston told me would be happy to show me down the river. However, it turned out that the Green (which is dam released) wouldn't be running until Friday, so I planned on hanging out in Asheville until then.

My home in Asheville

Before I arrived in Asheville, all I knew was that it was the place where the Green River was. But after hanging out there for a few days I realised what a cool spot it is. You won't find any McDonalds or Burger King downtown, in fact you'll be hard pressed to find any chains at all. It's full of funky independent cafes, restaurants and bars and the place has a really laid back vibe to it.

Cool cafe downtown, it's an old doubled-decker bus from London

I hung out with some folks from the hostel, Nate a guy from North Carolina along with Holly and Katie two girls from Devon. After spending some time sampling the local beer,

mmm, tasty local brew

finding out some interesting facts at a pretty random museum - did you know the X's on a bottle of moonshine stand for how many times it's been distilled?

the KFC guy actually did exist!

and catching some local music

The Holy Ghost Tent Revival at The Grey Eagle - cool venue

By the time Friday rolled around I was already in love with Asheville, and now I was getting to jump on a river I've always wanted to paddle.

The only proof I've been on the Green.

I have to be honest, I don't know if I've ever been so psyched out by a river than I have been by The Green Rive Narrows (American Whitewater - Green River Narrows).  I've paddled a lot of rivers at this stage, but I've watched way too many videos and seen too many photos of this one.  The Green is the epitome of creeking - very steep and low volume (Gradient Profile). I've see lots of video and way too many photos of some of the best kayakers on this run, so it's one of those things that scares the crap out of me, but at the same time I really want to do.

I met Eric at the river and it turned out I had paddled the Raquette in Upstate New York with him a while back. He did a great job of leading me showing me down the river (along with another Eric who we met at the take-out) and convincing me that I probably wasn't going to die.

Once I got on the river I realised why it's such a famous run, it's so many quality rapids stacked on top of eachother. And as Eric put it - you can make the river as hard or as chill as you like. Yes there's some big rapids on it (the infamous big thee), but there's so much more on it as well.

I spent so much time worrying about having all my safety gear that I forgot all my non-safety gear (cheers Eric for the beer after Sunshine!) including my camera (I reckon I was doomed to have no whitewater pics for this trip) so I'm going to steal one of Eric's photos of Gorilla, one of the big ones at higher water:

Eric running Gorilla at higher water

The Green has a lot of stuff on it, including three well know rapids - Go Left and Die, Gorilla and Sunshine. Go Left was at a pretty friendly level and we all ran it, but Gorila lived up to it's name - it's a beast. No pictures or video can do this thing justice. It's way bigger than it looks, and at the low level we were running the river at, it didn't look doable, not for anyone on the river that day anyway. Sunshine's an interesting rapid, there's a line, but if you messed it up you're gonna be hurt for sure - at that level I'd probably run this one before I'd run Gorilla, but we walked this one as well.

Sunshine, another picture stolen from American Whtewater . There is not as nice a landing as it looks!

And so against all my premonitions, I survived The Green. I finished up the run a huge grin from ear to ear, after expecting to come of it a nervous wreck. It's a fun run for sure. This river runs 300 days a year which is unheard of in the whitewater world - what I'd give to have this in my backyard!

A successful run brought to an end a great few days in Asheville, North Carolina. Definitely somewhere I'll be back to - I'd definitely like to stay there for a while. Winter on the slopes, and Summer in Asheville...that'd be pretty sweet, maybe some day.

Next stop Nashville, Tennessee for a quick stop-off..


More pics here: https://picasaweb.google.com/105659496923832797916/AshevilleNC