On the Road Again

Well, after a long break Paige and I are back on the road again. We hung around Texas for a long to get things settled a bit, hang out with family and killed time so that when we left Texas we could go through Louisiana during Mardi Gras.

So now we're on the road. We got things started off right with a trip north through College Station where we spent a night with my sister and her college friends where we played games and danced at the local, collegiate watering hole. Despite the fact that we were about 10 years older than her and her friends we had a fantastic time. Nothing beats people watching on a Thursday night at a bar called Hurricane Harry's.

From there we continued the northward journey towards Dallas and spent a long, peaceful weekend at my mom's lakehouse. We arrived in Dallas yesterday and spent the night with Lisa and Todd. Our plan is to spend the rest of the week here in Dallas with family and friends, then head out on Sunday or Monday. If the weather is good in the Ozarks of Arkansas (i.e. no wintry mix forecasted) we're going to go up there to camp and climb for a week before we drop into the Gulf Coast to start our trip. If the wintry mix wins out, we'll skip the Arkansas leg and go into Louisiana early.

Here is a map of our projected itinerary:

View Road Trip: Portland to Houston in a larger map

From Louisiana we'll be driving east along the Gulf Coast to Florida where we'll jump straight across to St. Augustine to meet friends from Portland. From there we'll head up the coast to Savanna and Charleston, then inland to Atlanta to stay with family. After that we'll go roughly along the Appalachian mountains all the way to Maine. We'll be coming back via a more midwesterly route with stops along the great lakes, Wisconsin and Minnesota.

At that point we don't really have much of a plan. Assuming we make it that far, we'll have to evaluate what's left of our bank account and motivation. If we need a break, we'll probably head back to Texas. If not, we'll be westward bound.

Start looking for more regular updates starting next week. In the meantime, here's a rough itinerary for you to look at and figure out where you want to meet us.

2/1-2/6 Arkansas: Climbing at Horshoe Canyon Ranch, camping on the Buffalo River, Aunt Nette in Heber Springs
2/6-2/8 Shreveport, LA: everyone's dream vacation? We'll be staying with our wedding officiant Ben Luck, aka mr. fun
2/8-2/14 Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida: Mardi Gras, Gulf Coast fun
2/14-2/17 St. Augustine Florida: Yay Lincoln, Leola, Blackie and Mariann
2/17-2/21 Savannah, Charleston, Atlanta
2/21-3/3 Atlanta to Washington, DC via Chatanooga, Asheville, Red River Gorge, and the Virginias (this is where our dates start to get pretty loose so if you want to meet us somewhere, let us know and we can make arrangements).
3/3 -3/8 Washington, DC: Happy hour anyone? Camping trip Maggie?
3/8-3/10 DC-NYC: We're taking recommendations for things to do between these two spots. After being forced to watch Jersey Shore last night I've decided we'll definitely be avoiding the coast.
3/10-3/15 New York City: I've never been. Looking forward to it.
3/15-3/19 Explore NH, VT, Maine: Hopefully we don't freeze to death.
3/19-3/21 Boston: Cameron and Josh, I hope you don't have plans yet
3/22-4/? Rochester NY, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Chicago, Madison, WI, St Paul, MN: This is a long ways off. The dates and locations from here on out are fuzzier than my vision without contacts in, but we'll be moving a tad quicker through this section of the trip.

Holiday Recap

In case you're wondering what's new with Paige and Zach, the long and short of it is not a whole lot...which has been nice (for now).

We spent the holidays hanging out with friends and family, shuffling between houses in Houston and Dallas. All of our Christmas celebrations were wonderful. Friends. Family. Presents. Lots of food. Probably not all that different from anyone else's Christmas, but special in its own right. I will spare you the blow by blow, however highlights include...

• Seeing one of Paige's best friends act in the play A Christmas Carol.
• Homemade cinnamon rolls and family time on Christmas day.
• Getting to play with all five of the nieces and nephews in Dallas.
• Playing a new board game called "Quelf" with my family and then having to explain to my aunts what the word "quief" meant. My sister used the word in a "list as many words that start with the letter 'Q' " competetion and no one else would explain what it meant to them.
• Getting settled into Justin's house. I forgot how fun it was to live with another guy. I finally have someone who will do all the stupid crap with me Paige never would.

We are spending the next few weeks in Houston and then heading to Dallas for a bit before we get back on the road February first. Depending on the weather we'll either be heading through Louisiana by way of Arkansas or straight into Louisiana.

From there we're trying to figure out our route. We'll probably hug the coast until we get to Florida, where we'll jump straight over to the Atlantic side for a few days. After that we'll cut inland to the mountains via Atlanta and stick close to the Appalachian Trail all the way up through New England. Start looking at a map and a calendar and figure out where you want to meet us. We want to see you in a bad way.

Thats all for now. Give us a call. We'd love to hear from you.

Houston: Home Sweet Home

Sorry for the delay in posting a new update. My little sister has been berating me nonstop to post something new and since I didn't get her anything for Christmas, I thought this could suffice.

We left Phoenix last Friday and booked it to El Paso where we stayed with Paige's Uncle Frank, Grandpa Derf (Fred spelled backwards...don't ask) and cousin Marie. Saturday we got up early and pushed all the way to Houston.

Highlights from the drive included eating at a pizza hut buffet in New Mexico, reviewing an "entrance exam" on Smyth family history given to the new fiance of one of Paige's cousins, and driving for 18 hours on I-10. My favorite question from the quiz was from the essay portion: "Explain in 1000 words why you want to be a part of the Smyth family. Because I'm in love with a member of the family does not count. Please be specific."

We've spent the last few days in Houston wrapping up Christmas shopping, hanging out with friends and family and getting settled into our new home with Justin. My best friend Justin recently bought a house in Houston and has graciously offered to let us bunk down with him until we get our own place. We are going to use his place as home base during the rest of our time off. Then we'll live with him for a few more months after we settle into Houston while we save some money to get our own place.

We're spending Christmas with Paige's family then heading to Dallas to spend some time with my family next week. We will probably spend New Years in Houston.

It has been a nice change of pace to settle a bit in Houston. When we initially packed the car for the roadtrip we also had to pack our whole house at the same time. With everything going on, we ended up with more crap in our car than we would have liked. After three weeks on the road, we've figured out exactly what we need and what we don't and we're glad to have the opportunity to trim the fat. I think Emma has also enjoyed having a bit more stability. Between being on the road and not being able to exercise because of her hurt paw, she was starting to get a bit antsy. I think Paige has also enjoyed the stability as well. The simple act of getting settled in with Justin and knowing where all of our stuff is has been a surprising relief. I've had a lot of fun exploring Houston (as opposed to Houston's suburbs) for the first time and I think we're going to end up surprised at how much we enjoy the city. Houston is wildly different from Portland, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. At first pass, there seems to be a lot of things to enjoy. That being said, we're still looking forward to getting back on the road and seeing the country.

Here're a few pictures from the last leg of our trip (Las Vegas to Houston):

Paige in front of the Hoover Dam

View from the top of CamelBack Mountain in Phoenix

Nephew Jaxson with Paige

Phoenix

Alas, I have not yet convinced my sister to name her unborn child after me. Why does she have to be so selfish all the time? Other than that, Arizona has been great.

On the way to Phoenix we stopped at the Hoover Dam and at the Beaver Street Brewery in Flagstaff. Paige and I were pretty impressed with the Hoover Dam; its pretty damn big. Due to the overwhelming number of recommendations to stop and take the tour at the dam, we really had no choice but to stop. We were told by everyone to pay the extra money and take the "deluxe" tour. In the end we couldn't let go of the $60 for the fancy tour and just did the regular tour. I think we should have ponied up the dough though. The basic tour was just an elevator ride down to the bottom where we saw a big pipe and a walk to see the generators. We had a better time watching the videos in the exhibit hall than riding an elevator with 60 other people. Oh well-live and learn. In the end, just walking around the dam was the most impressive part. As my buddy Jackson from Portland told me, "the Hoover dam changed the whole west." Seeing the dam makes you understand how.

We cruised into Phoenix with our one headlight (still working on replacing that darn thing) and spent the night with my sister Summer. The next day we hung out with her and my nephew Jaxson at their house. Today we went on a hike in Phoenix up Camelback Mountain. The hike was nice except for the fact that I had to stare longingly at the walls all afternoon and wish I had a climbing partner around.

Tomorrow we're starting the two day trek out to Houston and basically skipping most of Arizona and New Mexico. It has been hard to skip so much of the southwest, but we've been consoled by knowing we'll be back here next summer to explore it more thoroughly.

I suppose that's all for now. As always, if anyone is interested in meeting up with us, give us a call and we'll come meet you. I would love to have a climbing partner I knew for once. El Potrero Chico over the winter anyone? Paige would love to see anyone other than me pretty much. I think I might be driving her crazy.

Pictures from Death Valley

Mosaic Canyon

Who knew they had sand dunes in Death Valley?

Who's the best dog ever? Emma finally learned to settle down while on a dog run.

They have a golf course in Death Valley?!?! This seemed too absurd not to take a picture of. Where do they get the water to water the grass?

The lowest point in North America

Paige and I underneath the natural bridge in one of the canyons at Death Valley

Vegas Baby, Vegas

Ahhhh Vegas. What an interesting city. It is the epitome of commercialism and somehow still wildly irresistible.

We arrived in Vegas by way of Death Valley where we spent the better part of a day and a half. We scooted out of Bishop, CA early on Friday with hopes (my hopes) of climbing south of there where hopefully the weather was a bit warmer. Alas, the climbing locale known as the Alabama Hills was not as warm as its namesake would have you believe. It was a brisk morning and I could not convince Paige to climb with me. I will say, the climbing looked extremely promising and I hope to come back sometime when there are other climbers around and/or the weather is warmer.

From there we hopped into Death Valley and went for a few hikes. Our first stop was Mosaic Canyon, a very cool slot canyon that narrowed to just a few feet in some places. We followed up the canyon hike with a stroll along the sand dunes right before sunset and settled into our campsite just after dusk. The next morning we went for a run around the campsite and down around the visitor center. We stopped in at the lowest golf course on earth in the heart of death valley and headed back to our tent for breakfast and to get packed up. On the way out we made sure to stop in at the salt flat (the lowest point in north america) and for another short hike through yet another canyon.

Once we were back in cell phone range we called Marc Moore, Paige's friend from high school and met him at his house in Las Vegas. While we killed time before we headed down to the strip, Marc introduced us to the hilarious show that is "It's Always Funny in Philadelphia." I had no idea what I'd been missing out on. This show is hilarious.

Once we deemed it late enough to head downtown, we went on a tour of the strip that was not to be forgotten. After the statutory visits to Caesar's Palace, the Bellagio, and all the rest, we ended up at Marc s favorite spot, O'Shea's. If memory serves, we had a good time. You'll have to check with Paige for all the details, but I think we won like a million dollars. I don't remember exactly. I'm pretty sure it happened though.

There's not much to say for Sunday. It was a day of rest. It was much needed.

After Sunday's recovery, today I actually got out for a real day of climbing. While Paige tended to the home-front and to Emma's wounded paw, I went out and made some new climbing friends at Red Rock Canyon. In true Zach fashion, I found several groups of climbers and forced myself on them. By the end of the day I'd racked up almost a dozen pitches and managed to find a half dozen new belay partners that were willing to catch me (a kind gesture on their part considering I was generally twice their size).

Tomorrow we are going to head to Phoenix to stay with my sister Summer and my brother-in-law Matt. While there I will try to convince Summer to name her unborn child after one of her favorite brothers. I think Zachary Boyd has a nice ring to it. It sounds almost as nice as Zacharina Boyd in case the child is a girl. I'll let you know how it turns out. If I can't convince her to name her kid after me, we might go for a hike or something instead. Who knows.

Thats all for now.

P.S. I'll try to get some pictures up tomorrow from death valley.

Quick Post from Vegas

I'll update later about our time in Death Valley, but I just wanted to make a quick note. We just got into Vegas and are staying with Paige's friend from high school, Mark Moore. I just want to say, its AMAZING! Holy frijoles, I love being back in a bachelor pad.

Recap of his tour of the place:
"We're moving, you can't mess anything up"
"put anything anywhere you want"
"this is the shower. It works how every other shower you've ever used works."

While he was running an errand, I unloaded a few things into the fridge. Here's a quick inventory of items in the kitchen:

1. BB Gun (why won't paige let me have one of these?)
2. Box of hamburger helper. I miss the helper. Again, Paige, why can't we buy this?
   
3. A book called "getting it on"
4. 4 varieties of pepper/steak seasoning
5. Log cabin syrup (I buy this, but Paige would prefer if I didn't)
6. 3 jars of peanut butter
7. An amazing looking store bought apple pie
8. A framed picture of the Backstreet Boys. Ironic? Hilarious.

Oh lordy, I miss living with men.