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Author: sutherland
The Unofficial Tech of the 2012 Graduation Road Trip
As with my kayak trips, we’ll be tracking hikes and walking with the Garmin eTrex 20. The Garmin Basecamp software will handle editing the GPS track to remove the crap that shows up because I forget to turn it off or reset the track before starting. Basecamp will also be used to geotag our photos … assuming I remember to set the date/time on the camera when I change the battery. It’s 6-to-5 against and pick ‘em for that to happen.
We take that for granted now, geotagged photos, or, at least, the younger generations do – that and the ability to document something with an, effectively, unlimited number of photos.
As I related in the first post here, my parents took road trips when I was young – this was in the early ‘70s mostly. I was at my mom’s recently, talking about this trip, and she pulled out the photo album for those road trips in the ‘70s. Two things struck me: for having spent weeks, maybe months, in some amazing places, there were very few photos and we spent an inordinate amount of time trying to figure out what state some of the pictures were from, much less where in the state.
Today, with 32GB SD cards selling for $25, is there ever a reason not to take a picture? With geotagged photos, will people a decade from now be able to conceive of not knowing, to the meter, where a photo was taken? Even without a dedicated GPS, phones tag their pictures and apps can log the location for later tagging.
That trip with my parents was forty years ago … forty years from now, instead of a few pages of yellowing photos in an album, this trip will still be documented with a Google Earth file with pristine copies of every photo included and exactly placed.
Obviously we’ll need a way to blog while we’re on the road. I looked into tablets, but I’m a keyboard-guy … I don’t like the onscreen keyboards, at least for any significant amount of typing. So we’ll be using an Acer Aspire One netbook along with a Logitech bluetooth trackball (I’m also not fond of pads).
The car itself will be a rolling hotspot, provided through iPhone bluetooth tethering and AT&T. Which likely means there will be significant delays in some new posts as we roll through the dead areas where AT&T has no coverage.
Amazon.com–The Unofficial Place to Buy Stuff of the 2012 Graduation Road Trip
Amazon could almost be an official sponsor. As an Amazon Affiliate, Amazon gives us a percentage of anything purchased through links from this site.
We’re purchasing most of the new items for this trip from Amazon and are using CamelCamelCamel.com to watch Amazon’s prices to get the best deal. CamelCamelCamel checks the price for an item every day and alerts you if it drops below a target price you’ve set.
Toyota Prius–The Unofficial Car of the 2012 Graduation Road Trip
http://www.toyota.com/prius-hybrid/trims-prices.html
Obviously the car that started this insanity is the most important piece of equipment. Toyota should definitely get on-board with sponsoring this trip.
MapQuest is currently estimating the fuel costs at around $800. That’s more than the original $600 budget, but San Francisco and Seattle were worthy additions to the trip, so I’m okay with that. I plan on using AAA’s report to locate cheaper gas, so hope to come in under that estimate.
Over the course of this trip, we’ll be looking at the Prius’ performance, long-term comfort, and the ability of the electrical system to handle the other tech we’ll be using.
Corporate Sponsors
Being an inveterate capitalist, I’ve decided to open the Jackson 2012 Graduation Road Trip up to corporate sponsors. Sadly, I don’t have any actual connections to get the sponsorships up front, so this’ll be on spec.
Over the course of the next twenty or so days before leaving on the trip, I’ll be detailing the items and equipment we’ll be using to make the road trip easier and more fun. Some of these are things I already have and some are things I’ll be buying for the trip.
My dream is that all these companies will read these and send me free stuff. I can dream.
This may be a bit insane
In April I bought a Prius. This, in and of itself, likely isn’t cause to question my mental health, but what it’s led to this summer may indicate that I have, indeed, gone batcrap-crazy.
See, for several years, I’ve been driving a V8 Mountaineer that averages 16 mpg. That resulted in a lot of skipped trips and vacations simply because the travel costs were too much. A $400-$600 monthly gas bill and fills that sometimes hit $80 will have that effect.
So when it came time to get a new car, I went to the opposite extreme. I took my first trip in years to the Keys thanks to it only costing $25 to get there in the Prius.
After that I started making plans to drive up to Minnesota along with my mother in August. This is an annual trip she makes and I’ve wanted to go along for years in order to visit relatives and show my kids where I grew up.
So I put that trip into MapQuest and it came up with an estimated fuel cost of $318.56. Damn. I can’t get a plane ticket for one person for that much.
That got me thinking … or not thinking, depending on how this turns out …
Back in the ‘70s, my parents took me on a couple roadtrips in an old Chevy Van. Massive roadtrips. Like, frickin’-everywhere roadtrips. I was pretty young, but the bits and pieces I remember are some of the coolest memories from my childhood.
I’d always wished I could show my kids something similar, so I started playing with the map to see what a couple detours would add to the trip. Just a little bit, to show the kids some of the amazing things there are to see in this country.
I set an initial budget for gas of $600 – the upper-end of what I’ve been spending each month on gas for the Mountaineer. That got me to Vegas, up to Yellowstone, then back to visit Minnesota and home. But Vegas is so close to San Francisco and Yellowstone is just not that far from Seattle (two of my favorite cities). Well, “close” and “not so far” relatively … relative to already having driven from the other side of the country, that is.
The most recent plan for the trip looks like the map above. The estimated gas cost varies day-to-day as prices change, but it’s around $650 at the current national average or $750 as MapQuest calculates for the average price along each part of the route.
The difficulty with this trip would be having both kids along – my son and daughter do not get along. They bicker. They annoy each other. They do it deliberately, at length, and not nearly cleverly enough to be entertaining. One day of driving to Minnesota I could handle, but both of them in the car for the 120-hours of driving involved in this trip … well, one or both of them would wind up buried in the desert somewhere around El Paso.
How to handle this? Well, my daughter graduated from high school this year. I think this makes an awesome start to a family tradition. I take her this year and then in five years when my son graduates I can take him. A sort of last, big thing to do together before they head for college and make lives of their own.
Also, they’re interested in different things. The girl’s gotten all outdoorsy and adventurous lately; the boy-child’s obsessed with video games, but who knows what he’ll like in five years. Taking them separately I can tailor each trip to what they like.
So the plan for this year’s trip currently looks like this:
Carlsbad, NM Carlsbad Caverns
Bat cavesSanta Fe, NM Sandia Peak Tramway Grand Canyon, AZ Big Hole Las Vegas, NV Hoover Dam
Las Vegas Strip
Ka
OSequoia National Park Big Trees San Luis Obispo, CA Pacific Coast Highway to San Francisco San Francisco, CA Too much to list Northern California Lava Beds National Monument Oregon Crater Lake Seattle, WA Family
First Starbucks
Kayaking San Juan Island
Mount RanierYellowstone, WY Yellowstone South Dakota Mount Rushmore
BadlandsMinnesota Family
Lake Itasca
Mall of AmericaChicago, IL Because the girl-child wants to see Chicago … not sure why. Atlanta, GA Shakespeare Tavern Twenty-four days, twenty-five states, 129 driving hours, 8000 miles, two people … in a Prius.
Batcrap, I’m telling you.
Afternoon on the Wekiva
An afternoon paddle on the Wekiva today, but no pictures or GPS due to battery issues. Those should be resolved before my next paddle, though.
I started at Wekiva Springs State Park and turned onto Rock Springs Run to paddle upstream until the water became to shallow to continue. Then I returned to the Wekiva and paddled downstream past the marina for an hour or two.
Two small gators, a number of birds, and a bevy of drunken paddlers from the marina. The highlight of the trip was a hawk carrying a squirrel (or some other small, furry dinner) that back-winged mid-river to reach a tree on the bank.
Part of this trip was to try out a couple pieces of new equipment.
First was a carry strap I got from topkayaker.net:
(stock photo – sadly neither the yak nor the brunette are mine)
I’ve used this the last couple trips, but those were short transfers. It worked well for those, but the 100-yard sand path from the parking lot to the launch at the Park would be a good test, with soft sand much of the way that tends to bog down some kayak cart wheels and a significant elevation change between the parking lot and the launch area.
So what I found was that the weight, even on one shoulder, wasn’t a problem. The 16’ length of the Tarpon is an issue, as it’s simply unwieldy to carry – controlling the ends, and such. The biggest issue for a long portage with this device is that the bottom of the boat presses against my leg just below the knee – so each step rubs that spot back and forth along the bottom edge of the boat.
On the trip down to the water the kayak had been on top of the car for a couple hours, so had plenty of time to heat up the plastic and it was uncomfortable. On the way back up again, the friction was noticeable – in fact, I believe there is a spot bare of hair on that leg now. Next time I’ll have to bring some pants to change into for the portage – that should alleviate the rubbing.
Next were these:
I’ve been looking at the Vibram Fivefingers brand for a while and my kayaking sandals are just about at the end of their useful life, so I decided to try a pair.
These are the KSO model, along with the Flow, designed for watersports.
So comparing them to the sandals I usually wear, I was favorably impressed. Yes, the having-stuff-between-your-toes thing takes a bit of getting used to, but aside from my left pinky-toe, all adjusted quickly and even that awkwardness went away once they got wet the first time.
I was in and out of the boat several times and when the water got very skinny on Rock Springs Run I got out and walked for a couple hundred yards pulling the boat.
The “feel” of these is very much like being barefoot, but still protected from rocks and logs. I didn’t have a need to perch on a log while pulling the boat over, but I do think these would provide better grip and balance than sandals.
The bottom of Rock Springs Run is more sand than mud, but there are spots where the sand isn’t hard-packed and your feet sink. These were easier to deal with in the KSOs than in sandals. With sandals, once you’re foot sinks, pulling it out often creates a void between the sole of your foot and the sandal – that creates some suction and makes it more difficult to get out. These both stay on and avoid that problem.
The fit around the ankle is tight enough that very little sand or dirt is able to get into the shoe.
Overall quite comfortable and effective.
Florida Keys
With a new car that gets much better mileage than my V8 Mountainer (even if a 16’ boat on 14’ Prius does look a bit silly), I can now worry more about where I want to paddle than how much it will cost me to get there and back.
Since Orlando to Key Largo costs about $25 with this new rig, I decided that’s where I wanted to go this weekend. Unfortunately, the weather didn’t cooperate, with 15+MPH winds Saturday and Sunday, I was only able to paddle on Friday and Monday.
After driving down and checking in at my hotel in the morning, I stopped at Florida Bay Outfitters for a new hat and rash-guard shirt. Since I was there and they’d started selling their rental fleet for the off-season, I also bought a boat … which will bring to five the count of boats in my garage when I pick it up in July.
Now, five boats may seem excessive to some people, but each has its own specific purpose and use. So to
justify myselfexplain each boat’s purpose:- My primary boat is the 16’ Tarpon pictured above. It’s stable, tracks well, and it’s generally comfortable, except for the still-missing
ass-padseat cushion that I still haven’t replaced. - Then I have a Pamlico tandem, which I’ll likely be selling soon, as I have a new rule of never going with someone who won’t paddle their own damn boat.
- Next is a 9.5’ Swifty that’s mostly used by my daughter, but it’s a light, handy, cockpit boat that’s nice to throw on top of the car for a quick paddle in the morning or afternoon.
- Lastly is an Ocean Kayak surf boat which I got
to have a surf boatfor the boy-child to use.
The new boat will be a 14’ Tarpon 140:
This will give me a boat similar to my primary, but a bit shorter (easier to control) for when I want to take someone who doesn’t have their own boat. In addition, it has a rear well instead of a hatch, so it’ll comfortably hold dive gear.
See? I absolutely need five boats …
Friday Afternoon – Lignumvitae Key
2.5 hours – 5.5 miles
My plan for the weekend was to paddle the three Keys accessible from the causeway between Upper and Lower Matecumbe Keys, Lignumvitae, Shell, and Indian Keys, with a possible diversion to snorkel at the wreck of the San Pedro (about a mile south of Indian Key):
I took a quick paddle around Lignumvitae – it was a beautiful day, with little wind and crystal clear water. On the way back across the flats, I passed a 3’-4’ nurse shark cruising along the bottom.
Saturday & Sunday
The weather forecast for the weekend called for 15+mph winds. When I arrived at the put-in Saturday morning, it was clear that the wind would be an issue on either the Gulf or Bay sides, so I took the opportunity to spend the day in Key West.
That turned out to be a good decision, as the beach rental at Smather’s Beach in Key West claimed 20-30mph winds and Bahia Honda wasn’t even renting kayaks because of the wind.
More of the same on Sunday, so I drove to Everglades National Park and spent the day there.
Monday Morning – Blackwater Sound
3.75 hours – 10.3 miles
The forecast for Monday called for 10mph winds dropping to 5mph in the afternoon. I put-in at Florida Bay Outfitters and paddled across Blackwater Sound to Dunedin Creek, taking a bit of a detour into the mangrove creeks to explore.
Coming out of Dunedin, I made for the western edge of Little Buttonwood Sound, which put the paddle at five miles. My plans were to head west from there toward Porjoe Key and then on to North and South Nest Keys.
At this point, though, the winds did not seem to have died down and were out of the East and Southeast, so continuing the trip another five miles to Nest Keys would mean a ten mile return mostly into the wind – with the first half of it giving the wind a five mile fetch across open water.
If I’d had camping gear with me, I’d have taken the chance, knowing I could just stay overnight and paddle back the next day. In fact, I think I’ll do that next time.
- My primary boat is the 16’ Tarpon pictured above. It’s stable, tracks well, and it’s generally comfortable, except for the still-missing
Sunday Clinic
I made it through about half of today’s clinic before leaving the ice with an equipment problem.
First we started off skating the face-off dots forward – two reps of that, then another two reps carrying a puck. With the puck, I concentrated on either keeping my head up or at least looking up at least half the time. I wasn’t the slowest in either of these and no one passed me, which made me happy.
Then we had two reps of skating the face-off dots where we skated forward east-west (cross-ice) and backward north-south. At the start of the second rep of this, I lost my edge transitioning from forward to backward and hit the ice hard. Head bounced off the ice pretty good, but the pads, helmet, and mouthpiece did their job, so I hardly felt it.
The right skate hadn’t felt quite right last week either, so I decided to get them sharpened after the clinic, but midway through the next drill it seemed to have gotten worse (or I just noticed it more), so I left the ice.
In the pro shop they confirmed my concerns and noted that the inside-edge of my right skate was mostly not there. Since that’s my cross-over leg, my stopping leg, and my transition leg, it’s inside edge is somewhat important.
Sunday Clinic
Today’s clinic started with a High-Low drill:
Two skaters from the goal-line along either side. Take the puck around cones set on the face-off dots – either far or near, depending on which side you’re starting from – then into the zone for a shot.
We ran this drill with groups at both ends of the ice, so there were four skaters converging in the neutral zone at any given time. Good practice for keeping your head up and knowing where the other skaters are.
This was followed by a passing drill the length of the ice:
From the goal-line pass to the blue-line, then to the far blue-line, finally to center-ice. The skater at center-ice takes the puck into the zone for a shot and everyone else follows their pass to a new position.
Finally we went around the face-off circle, picking up a puck after once around, then around again and take a shot on goal.
After a few reps of this, we changed it up to include skating backwards – always facing goal.
Game 2
So game number two for me, after skipping last week due to taking an ass to the groin.
Even strength teams tonight and we lost 3-4 in overtime. I wasn’t on the ice for any goals against and was out there for one of our goals, so I feel better about my performance than I did last time.
The goal I was on the ice for was a nice little wrap-around. I was left wing and I think I was in good position to take a pass from him when he was back there or pick up the rebound. Maybe a little too close to the goal, though.
I think I played my positions better – tonight I was mostly at wing, with one shift on defense. After the first game I found a site that lays out the proper position in different situations, something I probably should have learned before the first game.
One confusing situation that kept occurring was in our zone, where, as I understand it, I’m supposed to keep an eye on their defenseman at the point on my side.
But he was never there, he was more down in the slot, so I spent a lot of time in this big box of open ice.
My instinct is to head down their too and keep him off the puck, but our center said, no. Let our defense clear him out and stay where I should be to take the puck for a breakout.
One thing about the boy-child, who’s still on a bit of a hiatus from hockey, is that he plays his position well. Having been in a game, now, and felt the temptation to get down there into the play, I have a lot of respect for him doing that.
As in the first game, I think my best shift of the night was a clear that set up a breakaway. I got the puck in our zone and saw a clear lane out to our center at the blue-line and the other wing almost there. My pass was on target to the center and I wasn’t too far behind them down the ice. No goal, but it was a decent play on my part.
I think I was also able to put more pressure on the other team than last game. I was still behind people a lot, but rather than trying to catch up and touch the puck, I lifted a lot of sticks and kept them in mind that I was back there.
I fell less in this game. All but one the result of being bumped off balance by other players – it’s no-checking, but you can’t avoid all contact. The one was rather spectacular, as it involved my leg giving out while I was trying to climb over the boards to the bench – pancaked onto my back right there. My goal now is to make it through a game without the ref having to say: “You okay, man?”
With about 5:00 left in the third, my right thigh started aching on top. Twinging from moderate to muttered-obscenity. Weak and worse when I put weight on the leg, I made it through a last shift in the period – they scored 0:30 into overtime, so I didn’t have to see if it would handle that.
It was an unpleasant ride home, with lots of grunts and mutterings, but the pain subsided after a stop at Friday’s, so all it needed was a bit of rest. Or vodka. Rest or vodka, one.
The late end to these games is unfortunate, because there’re no massage places open on my drive home (well, no legitimate massage places). I would so pay for a massage after these games.