There's not much to see...

Actually, there is, but just no photos yet since I haven't gotten any off the camera.  I have been hiking and shooting and will hopefully have something to upload tomorrow.

Here are some tidbits from the drive:

Gas just outside DV: $3.39/gal.

Gas just inside DV: $4.49/gal

Firewood outside DV: $6.49/bundle, which is less than 1 nights' fire.

Firewood inside DV: Undiscovered so far (it's all BYOW).

Temperature at 7:30 AM: 27 Degrees.

The Sun goes down early in the valley due to the mountains on either side that, you know, make it a valley.  This presents quite a challenge in photographing places that look their best just before and just after sunset.

A Day Late and Many Dollars Shorter...

I'm on the road this morning, Saturday, instead of Friday because I haven't had time to get the day of prep work done with everything going on.

The plan now is to spend more time in Death Valley and Zion and skip Valley of Fire, and only spend maybe half a day in Petrified Forest, and still splitting the last leg into 2 long days.

Google Maps says my total driving distance for the trip is 2,446 miles (not including local miles). This should come to about 100 Gallons of gas for the main trip and 38 Hours of drive time.

Next stop, Death Valley where the current weather is highs in the 60s and lows in the 30s. Fortunately, staying in Templeton has prepared me a bit for this, with lows in the 20s and 30s for the last several days.

Hear me baby, hold together.

Today the Subie got a good Lube/Oil/Filter and a 4 new shoes for the trip.  The folks at the mechanic's shop reminded me that she is due for a timing belt.  I didn't want to continue to fork out money ahead of the trip and not working for 3 weeks, but the alternative (busted belt in Death Valley or Zion National Park and a $1000 towing bill) is less attractive.

Life is like a box of...

...miscellaneous crap; you never know what you'll throw out.

There isn't much thinking or planning going on regarding the trip right now, seeing as I am spending every waking moment stressing about the work transition and getting the house packed.

I did get a radical head light from Karl, so it turns out he isn't all bad after all.

Tick Tock

Well, I've got most everything I need including 0 Degree Sleeping Bag, tent, new knife, new flashlight, shoes, thermals, propane stove, messkit, sweet German silverware set, hatchet, shovel, mini-compass (I don't know!), first aid and much much more.

Tires, folding chair, and a solution to power is all that remains.

Oh, and food.

But I don't have much more worked out in terms of schedule.

I have a baaad feeling about this...

A few nights ago I was shooting a concert (Science Heros of Terra Obscura, link coming) when the usually reliable 20D threw the infamous Err99 (link coming).

I was hoping to have a backup camera body by the time I left for the trip, but the finances did not work out. While the prospect of leaving on the trip of a lifetime with one quasi-functional camera body is, to say the least, discouraging, that is the boat we're in.

We're in for Some Chop

To plan and prepare for the conditions I will be facing while camping across the country in the middle of winter I set up weather and daylight hour widgets to correspond with each stop.

click for bigger version

So it looks chilly.  Little bit of snow in Utah and Arizona right now, but not cold enough to stay on the ground.

If you are curious, in the widgets on the bottom row, light blue is daylight, dark blue is night, and the medium blue is nautical twilight, when I hope to be doing quite a bit of shooting.