dodge city

from Miami, AZ to Moscow, KS. world traveling

and then there was SATANta, KS.

the legendary Hospital Ditch appears to not have been skated in decades

could not find a curb to do a blunt on....it could use a sweep too.

Aidan and the special bowl of grilled veggies

noah and the wii

noah, alison, & aidan - prepping the easter egg decorating

it had been a while since I colored an egg....

there is a 9 hole course across the street from Aunt Mary's!

Mary made me a special batch of fried okra for lunch. step 1

just a sprinkle of flour and fried in veggie oil. step 2

served with homemade salsa = delicious. step 3

had to do a Boot Hill drive by

always think of this SCENE in VACATION

passed by several wind farms on the way to Great Bend

the best part of the lesser roads....roadside picnic tables!

albq

it had been over 10years since I last skated Indian School ditch

it literally flows for miles at a mellow downhill grade

found some curbs right before the rain drops found me

had some time to kill so I found the UFO house

I met the architect too. He was outside doing yardwork

a mighty lumberjack on historic ROUTE 66

I met Lucy in OLD TOWN

she showed me around & we ended up at the Rattlesnake Museum

Miles could play ball all day long

we got out on the bikes and it was a blast!

next time we get the green chili pizza! good to see you LUCY!

the slow road to PIE TOWN

who knew there was a Miami, AZ. trust me, it wasn't very colorful

I took Hwy 60 through the Salt River Canyon.

river level was high and dirty.

sorta reminded me of the Grand Canyon - slightly smaller/less GRAND

part of why I took Hwy 60 is because I was curious about Pie Town

arriving at 5:15pm, I found the 2 pie shops closed at 4pm

phenomenal signage at THE GOOD PIE

I met Kathy the owner of PIE-O-NEER - sending her Brodie's vegan crust recipes

explanation of the town name

the VLA - aka the Very Large Array of radio telescopes as seen in many movies

it was looking awfully dark to the north, so I stayed in Socorro, NM.

the Martin's

I caught Trent on the roof early my first morning.

Mr, Mcduff is the newest resident at the Martin's.

Laura & I met Trent @ Chakra for lunch - rawvacado WRAP and creamy broccoli soup

 Coming into Phoenix I wasn't sure how much time I would be able to spend with Trent & Laura since they are in crunch time for the upcoming PHX AM contest first week of April. I also found out that my pal, MEG, had moved from Tempe to Boston in December. My plan was to shadow Trent one day and Laura the next. I envisioned it like a "TAKE KEVIN TO WORK DAY". And essentially that's what happened.

grabbed the boys from school, then stopped at NAMI for Tsoynami's & I found a GF donut

captured a fine Phoenix sunset

went to Tempe shop with Trent & ventured out to find Desert Roots Kitchen

school fundraiser got me to my 1st tramp park

Trent & Asher getting loose - PRO FOOTAGE

Trent learned the off the side tramp DUNK!

Friday night was TACO picnic night at home.

Trent tried out the chia seed egg replacer for his pancake breakfast

McDuff loves his toys.

I shoved off after pancakes and after harvesting lettuce, lemons, & oranges from the Martin farm. Thanks for a good time and best of luck with PHX AM.

the lesser roads

last day in San Diego had me out early on the golf course

Meredith was pissed - but it was good to see her, Hilda, & Rose @ Casa

my last meal at Casa de Luz was heavenly

I mean it was GOOD!

The last few hours in town I spent with Jen & Linus Bucko Jones  - sadly no pictures. After exploring the Tuesday night food truck pod on ADAMS Avenue, we ended up at the fancy El Zarape. I finally saw the Bachelorette and at 10pm I said goodbye and hit the highway. I only made it about 40 miles to the rest area at Buckman Springs Road before I bedded down for the night.  

  FUN FACT that's not so fun:  According to Mark Waters this exit off I-8 is where Gator turned off the freeway to head into the desert to bury the surfboard bag. 

I slept soundly and was on the road before dawn / soaking at Holtville soon after

  At the end of my travels last year I read BLUE HIGHWAYS and was sufficiently inspired to travel the smaller roads more and the interstates less.  To take things slower and stop more was the thinking. This year while back in San Diego, I didn't look at the map at all. I knew I would head to KANSAS first, COLORADO second, & ALASKA third. The routes were undecided. I plan to figure it out on the fly.

From Van der Linden Road I moved north up S33 to 5 Palms for a soak.

Jen Jones was going to Salvation Mountain on FRI so I figured I should go too

I played a round of horseshoes with BOB GREEN right here 6 years prior

over to the SLAB CITY pool for a blunt

not the best overview of the pool - see the CREATURE improvements

From Slab City I went south to Hwy 78 and east through Glamis

Met the elderly owners of this VW at a rest stop. They bought it new in Germany

crossed over the COLORADO River outside of Blythe

across some mountains

It's rare that I'm on I-10 to be able to stop in Tonopah at this hot springs

It was a pay to soak & was far from epic but I was glad for my 3rd soak of the day and another notch in my soakers belt

 As it got dark I drove into Phoenix and ended up in front of the Martin residence.