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July, 2009:

Creatures and Caves – Hiking Canyon Vista and Walnut Canyon

Jul 31st, 2009
by WanderingJustin.
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In July, I was off to Flagstaff for more a bit of fun. For my wife, it was hard work – she was competing in the Mountain Man Half-Ironman Triathlon around Upper Lake Mary.
I woke up at 4:30 a.m. right along with her after a fairly fitful night of sleep at the Travelodge on Butler Street (thanks, trains, for blaring those horns!). The Travelodge isn’t too bad if you can manage to get a room on the side of the hotel that doesn’t face the tracks.
Anyway, my plan was to get her on her way, cruise out somewhere for a hike, then return by the time she was switching from the bike portion to the running. I grabbed a ranger at Lake Mary, who told me to head to Canyon Vista Campground. I did as he said, including following the path to the back where there was parking for a trailhead. There was also a map, but it actually didn’t seem very up-to-date.
I stepped into my La Sportiva Trango Trek boots (just in case it was a rocky trail), fired up the GPS, double-checked my water and headed off. For those who wonder about such things, I was also carrying my Pentax K100D-Super, an assortment of lenses, some energy bars, a Leatherman and a sturdy knife. My mistake was not packing my headlamp. More on that later.
If you bear left, the path first goes past a cool rubble field (you can also veer right if you want to go rock [...]

Help Animals While on Vacation – Utah’s Best Friends Sanctuary

Jul 30th, 2009
by WanderingJustin.
2 comments

Few things get me down more than a sick or hurt animal. But few things get me cheering quicker than people who help animals in need. Travelers who help animals, then, really rank high up there for me.
Recently, a friend of mine got married at an amazing no-kill animal sanctuary in southern Utah. Best Friends Animal Society is home to about 2,000 animals – mostly cats and dogs, but some others, too: horses, birds (including wild raptors like the one to the right), livestock and more. My friend and her new husband made some time to volunteer after exchanging vows. Brilliant!
Best Friends animals come from all sorts of situations. Some are abandoned. Some are displaced by events like Hurricane Katrina. However they wind up there, the Best Friends staff and volunteers do their best to rehabilitate the animals and get them ready to be adopted. Others might be too sick or too old to be adopted – or may have physical or behavioral problems. In those cases, they stay at Best Friends, living among people who can care for them properly.
The sanctuary seems to thrive on visitors. There are four tours per day, seven days a week. And if you have a few spare hours on your vacation, the staff can find some way for you to help. The Web site says a lot of the animals have special needs, so any hand you can lend is sure to make a few creatures’ lives a bit better. You can contact the staff ahead of time to [...]

Possums and Parks – A Quick Visit to St. Louis

Jul 28th, 2009
by WanderingJustin.
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 Back in the old days before I began keeping my blog, I had to visit St. Louis. My sister-in-law was graduating from Washington University (a beautiful campus – the sort that would feature in a Revenge of the Nerds-style movie) and the wife and I were off to see her into the professional world.
I should preface the rest by saying my brother J.D. also live near St. Louis. He says Missouri’s state motto is “Missouri: Love it or Leave It … hey, come back here!”
Well, our Southwest Airlines flight landed well into the nighttime hours. And I was famished since peanuts just don’t satisfy for that long. Once we got a cab from the airport to our near the university, our main objective was to find somewhere decent to eat in the Italian-flavored area known as “The Hill.”
So Sarah and I began walking. As we were walking past some homes, I saw the eyes of a little creature poking out from a hedge. I guessed it was a cat from its somewhat furtive movement.
Being a cat-friendly guy, I immediately “kittykittykitty”d in hopes of making a new furry friend. The creature advanced slightly, giving me a better look.
And let me tell you, this was the ugliest cat I’ve ever seen. “This poor thing needs a lot of petting to help its self-esteem,” I thought, running my gaze over its unusually beady eyes, it’s somewhat pointy snout and its disheveled, matted fur.
I heard Sarah yell at me “Justin, get away from that! [...]

My Best Zorbing Tips for Beginners

Jul 25th, 2009
by WanderingJustin.
2 comments

I’m kind of surprised by something: People are finding WanderingJustin.com while searching for Zorbing tips for beginners. I’m not surprised because people are looking here for Zorbing info, but about tips for beginners.
Alright, people … Zorbing is not exactly a skill. It’s not like skiing. There are no double black-diamond Zorbing hills (though that would be awesome). You don’t need a finely tuned sense of balance, powerful quads and awesome spatial awareness. Really, if you can fit in the hole, you can Zorb just as well your first time as any veteran can.
But you seem to want tips, so I’m gonna give ‘em to ya:
1. Book a flight to New Zealand. This is where Zorbing was born, and thus is the ultimate place to Zorb. When you book, I recommend Air New Zealand since Qantas, unfortunately, seems to be experiencing a spiral into management wankery (the cabin staff and crews are still great, though). I’m hoping V Australia decides to start flying to New Zealand from the States, too.
2. Get a taxi from the airport to your hotel. Parnell is a nice neighborhood with good nightlife, decent hotels and a nice vibe. It’s also not far from bus and rail stations.
3. After spending a night in Auckland, take a bus to Rotorua. That’ll give you a chance to savor the countryside. Another option is to rent a Wicked Camper, if that’s more your bag. This also allows you to skip Step 4 and go directly to 5 .. along with [...]

Why Does Everyone Think I’m Canadian?

Jul 23rd, 2009
by WanderingJustin.
1 comment

The post title says it all. Everywhere I go, people think I’m from Canada. Especially people from the United States.
The most recent example was in New Zealand. Sarah and I were hitting the caves near Waitomo with three other Americans. I could overhear Sarah chatting with them. I was half-listening and heard:
“…but your husband. He’s not American. Where’s he from?”
Sarah really started howling when the sisters all thought I was Canadian. I sometimes pepper my speech with an occassional “eh?”, but not that often. One time, a guy at my local Wildflower Bread Company heard me drop an “Eh?” Bomb, and said “Eh? Are you from Canada? I’ve been there!”
He was too excited about this for me to tell him “no”, so I said “Oh, yah. I’m from Moose Jaw up dere in Sasketchewan.” Sarah glared at me in that funny way of hers. Sometimes, I just can’t help myself, eh?
Anyway, stuff like this always repeats itself. In Australia, though, a few times Americans would ask me for directions. I thought that was pretty funny.

A Few Fun Photos and Fishy Facts

Jul 21st, 2009
by WanderingJustin.
4 comments

Just in case you’re wondering, I have a few new adventures that I’m preparing to share with you. In the meantime, enjoy these few photos from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. These are a few of the more interesting planes at the candidate for America’s dullest international airport.
The Alaska Airlines Salmon-Thirty-Salmon wasn’t an interesting plane aside from its paintjob – and the political posturing that ensued from its creation.  The half-million-dollar paintjob was funded by the federal government. Check here to read more sniveling and see the infighting spurred by the state of Alaska’s attempt to pimp its salmon industry.
Without further ado and seriousness, onto the photos!

5 Reasons Why You’d Hate Traveling With Me

Jul 16th, 2009
by WanderingJustin.
4 comments

Often, when I describe my travels to people, they’re pretty jazzed. But then they go a step too far: “Oh, I’ll bet it would be fun to travel with you!”
I suppose for some. But I think most people would think saddling up with my wife and me is a circle of hell if they encountered the reality of it. Here’s why:
1. We can’t say no to adding mileage. One of us will see or hear of something cool. And it’s only a short hike away! There’s no way we can resist, even if we’re already in the middle of a death march. Onward!
2. We walk everywhere. Unless we’re just getting into an airport, we largely move by foot once we’re at our destination. Yeah, we’ll take a bus from city to city, but once we’re there, it’s all on foot. And god help you if we’re hunting down rumors of a good coffee house or craft brewery. We’ve marched ourselves into the ground on many a damn-fool idea.
3. We get up really early. And we’re going full-throttle the entire day. By the time 10 p.m. rolls around, we’re dead to the world.
4. We eat really weird stuff. If you don’t and you’re tagging along with us, we will verbally abuse you and ostracize you until you take a bite of fricaseed jellyfish. And I will eat haggis just to make you gag.
5. It’s very unusual for us to spend more than two nights anywhere. So our trips are often less [...]

US Airways Doing the Samba from Charlotte, Heading to Tel Aviv from Philly

Jul 7th, 2009
by WanderingJustin.
1 comment

Note from Wandering Justin: Since I live in Phoenix, which is a US Airways hub, I plan to keep a closer eye on its activities. I won’t regurgitate press releases, but rather analyze what it means from a traveler’s perspective. I am also not an industry expert, just a curious flying enthusiast. Feel free to debate or tap me wit the clue bat!

Back on May 26, US Airway announced that it would fly from Charlotte, NC, to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
On the surface, I have to wonder how much sense that flight makes. Obviously, the airline is going to do anything rash. It wants to make money, so it’s going to analyze the numbers to see if this makes sense for them. So I guess they found some sense in a BBQ Belt to Sunny Samba flight. The flights will start on Dec. 2.
I’d love to read more than what’s in the press release (look for it here). I’m guessing US Airways is funneling passengers from other Eastern cities to this flight. Why Charlotte rather than Philadelphia, another nearby hub? I have no earthly idea.
Still, seeing Charlotte snag a major international destination fills me with some hope – hope that it will deem its Phoenix hub worthy of some major international destinations. Right now, we have the most boring big airport on the planet. Great for getting to Cleveland, but useless for getting to Copenhagen. So if a small city like Charlotte can land a good flight, let’s hope Phoenix [...]

National Geographic Bungles Story on New Zealand’s Tongariro

Jul 4th, 2009
by WanderingJustin.
1 comment

I’ve read National Geographic since I was about 10 years old. I always got excited when I saw some cool place I would want to go (these places often involved pyramids!).
This means I was extra-excited to see someplace I’d already been in the July 2009 issue. I headed straight to page 82 for “Between Fire & Ice” by Mel White. It was all about Tongariro National Park in New Zealand, one of my favorite places on the planet. I’d just been there in February 2009. And boy, was I disappointed in the story.
My only guess is that Mel White has never been there, and only interviewed a few hand-picked people. I’d also guess that the story had an agenda: To decry the effect of invasive species and the non-Maori people. I’ll address these two points separately.
First, the article conveys absolutely no sense of the park’s majesty. It’s a pretty flaccid description – no mention of steam oozing from the cracked floor of desert between Ngauruhoe and Mount Tongariro. No description of the Devil’s Staircase or the exhausting scree slope. What about the blasted, colorful mini-Mount St. Helens of Red Crater? And the striking lack of life? Near the volcanoes, you will see no form of life -flora or fauna- until you see a handful of birds at Blue Lake. That’s hours of hiking with no life but other hikers! It’s seriously lunar in its lava and gas-blasted devastation.
There’s also a pretty poor commitment to accuracy, as shown by this photo [...]

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