Hello friends of CC2C!
Well this may come as a surprise but we're in Arizona now and in case no one told you, it gets seriously hot here. We were out of the heat while we were still in the mountains for the first portion of the state but it was evened out by some ridiculous hills with extremely windy (both meanings of the word intended: with gusts of wind and serious turns)roads. We made our way from Springerville to Payson, getting pretty excited about the huge cacti we were starting to see along the way. We had an interview with CBS in Phoenix and were shocked at the difference in heat between the mountains and the city. In the course of an hour drive we went from 90 to 110 degrees. Even at 10:00PM in Phoenix it was 98 degrees so we were relieved to go back to the mountains, even with the hills, where we would actually be skating. On Monday ESPN First Take did a piece on us and interviewed Shayne live on nationwide TV (no pressure)! Alex's uncle recorded it and put it up on his Youtube channel so you can watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iv7JM4ZMQrI We skated through to Prescott where we stayed with Erin's cousin Paula and her wonderful family. Their three little girls kept us busy while we stayed there for a few nights. They even tried our long boards and actually got pretty good over the course of an afternoon. We took the chance to go see the Grand Canyon while we were in the area and were only disappointed in that we couldn't spend more time there. It truly is a wonder of the world and we're very glad that we got the opportunity to experience it for ourselves. Unfortunately at this point Kris had to leave and go back to North Carolina due to a family emergency and much to both his and our disappointment he will not be able to come back in time to finish the trip. He did, however, skate his share of 2,900 miles across 10 states which is by no means a small feat or anything to be less than amazed by. We left off skating outside of Salome, AZ but went to Parker for some much needed rest. In order to maximize both our skate mileage before Kris had to leave and our time at the Grand Canyon we pulled some long days with little sleep, which apparently caught up with us last night when everyone passed out for 20 hours straight of sleep. Tonight with just Alex and Shayne skating we will cross the border into California, which is unbelievable. We will arrive in Venice Beach on Wednesday and we're all looking forward to jumping into the Pacific Ocean, especially since we still have some of the Mojave Desert to go through.
-The CC2C Crew
Friday, July 23, 2010
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Across New Mexico
Hello Friends of CC2C!
We finally made it out of Texas and into New Mexico, and not just to visit this time. We crossed the border and stopped just outside of Tatum, NM where saw huge jack rabbits and prairie dogs. We had a very generous room donation from the Country Inn in Hobbs which was about half an hour to the south so we drove there after skating till 8:00 am and got some much needed rest. The manager was kind enough to set us up with the local paper so after an interview and photo shoot we hit the road to return to Roswell, this time on skateboards. When we visited for the 4th of July we got a preview of the monster hill that leads into town. It was pretty giant and warranted holding onto the car to prevent getting too much speed. We all survived though and lived to stay in our donated room at the Candlewood Suites and eat dinner/breakfast at Denny's. Between the two trips to town we ate at that one location at least 4 times because there's not much else open between the hours of 2-5am, when we usually roll into town. Roswell was much more tame this time around and we did a short night of 45 miles so we could make some progress but not get too far away from a free place to sleep.
From there we passed through the Capitan Mountains and Smokey the Bear National Park, turns out he was based on a real bear cub in a forest fire. The mountains made for beautiful scenery but serious uphills and lots of wildlife. We had a closer than comfortable meet and greet with a rattlesnake and saw elk for the first time. We stopped for the night just outside of Socorro, NM and were a little more than halfway through the state. We got some delicious Mexican food at El Camino and went off in search of a ghost town that lived up to its name a little too well and couldn't be found. We did get to explore the Magdalina Mountains though and enjoy the piny, high altitude forests. As we skated through them later in the night we started to feel the difference in the air between 8,000 feet and our homes at sea level and had a cold, strong wind blowing against us to contend with. More exhausted than usual when we made it to Pie Town, NM, we were even more grateful to a friend of a friend, Penny, for a cozy trailer to sleep through the day in and some wonderful home cooking. Pie Town is one of the most pleasant places we've seen so far (obviously with great pie) and the Cibola National Forest is beautiful with broad mountains, herds of elk and we even had an antelope sighting while passing through.
Although we were all sad to get through New Mexico so quickly, we have now officially skated into Springerville, Arizona and our last state before California. Its strange to think that we've skated this far and stranger still to consider that there are only 2 more weeks till we arrive in Venice Beach. But then again, these next two weeks will be difficult since Arizona brings on big challenges of its own and we've still got plenty more hills to climb.
-The CC2C Crew
We finally made it out of Texas and into New Mexico, and not just to visit this time. We crossed the border and stopped just outside of Tatum, NM where saw huge jack rabbits and prairie dogs. We had a very generous room donation from the Country Inn in Hobbs which was about half an hour to the south so we drove there after skating till 8:00 am and got some much needed rest. The manager was kind enough to set us up with the local paper so after an interview and photo shoot we hit the road to return to Roswell, this time on skateboards. When we visited for the 4th of July we got a preview of the monster hill that leads into town. It was pretty giant and warranted holding onto the car to prevent getting too much speed. We all survived though and lived to stay in our donated room at the Candlewood Suites and eat dinner/breakfast at Denny's. Between the two trips to town we ate at that one location at least 4 times because there's not much else open between the hours of 2-5am, when we usually roll into town. Roswell was much more tame this time around and we did a short night of 45 miles so we could make some progress but not get too far away from a free place to sleep.
From there we passed through the Capitan Mountains and Smokey the Bear National Park, turns out he was based on a real bear cub in a forest fire. The mountains made for beautiful scenery but serious uphills and lots of wildlife. We had a closer than comfortable meet and greet with a rattlesnake and saw elk for the first time. We stopped for the night just outside of Socorro, NM and were a little more than halfway through the state. We got some delicious Mexican food at El Camino and went off in search of a ghost town that lived up to its name a little too well and couldn't be found. We did get to explore the Magdalina Mountains though and enjoy the piny, high altitude forests. As we skated through them later in the night we started to feel the difference in the air between 8,000 feet and our homes at sea level and had a cold, strong wind blowing against us to contend with. More exhausted than usual when we made it to Pie Town, NM, we were even more grateful to a friend of a friend, Penny, for a cozy trailer to sleep through the day in and some wonderful home cooking. Pie Town is one of the most pleasant places we've seen so far (obviously with great pie) and the Cibola National Forest is beautiful with broad mountains, herds of elk and we even had an antelope sighting while passing through.
Although we were all sad to get through New Mexico so quickly, we have now officially skated into Springerville, Arizona and our last state before California. Its strange to think that we've skated this far and stranger still to consider that there are only 2 more weeks till we arrive in Venice Beach. But then again, these next two weeks will be difficult since Arizona brings on big challenges of its own and we've still got plenty more hills to climb.
-The CC2C Crew
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
West Texas and the Fourth of Ju-ly
Hello CC2C Friends!
We've made it out to Post, TX and will be officially skating across the New Mexico border and into a new time zone tonight. Some of the leftover rain from hurricane Alex finally caught up with us over the last few days resulting in some soggy skaters and shoes but our new night skating system has kept us doing 90 mile nights. We got a sneak peek at our route for the next few days as we went into Roswell to celebrate the 4th of July and of course, the alien festival. Many moons ago in the 1950's around the fourth of July a mysterious object may or may not have fallen from the sky and landed outside of Roswell. To commemorate this occasion there are parades, costumes, laser shows and fireworks throughout the town which is about as close as you can get to being in the movie Independence Day. We all had a great time and got an idea of some of the terrain we'll be heading through. The landscape has officially changed now and we're going through scrubby trees and grasslands with lots of cows. We now like to keep a look out for snakes, tarantulas and wild boars while on the road, but are excited about getting out west.
-The CC2C Crew
We've made it out to Post, TX and will be officially skating across the New Mexico border and into a new time zone tonight. Some of the leftover rain from hurricane Alex finally caught up with us over the last few days resulting in some soggy skaters and shoes but our new night skating system has kept us doing 90 mile nights. We got a sneak peek at our route for the next few days as we went into Roswell to celebrate the 4th of July and of course, the alien festival. Many moons ago in the 1950's around the fourth of July a mysterious object may or may not have fallen from the sky and landed outside of Roswell. To commemorate this occasion there are parades, costumes, laser shows and fireworks throughout the town which is about as close as you can get to being in the movie Independence Day. We all had a great time and got an idea of some of the terrain we'll be heading through. The landscape has officially changed now and we're going through scrubby trees and grasslands with lots of cows. We now like to keep a look out for snakes, tarantulas and wild boars while on the road, but are excited about getting out west.
-The CC2C Crew
Thursday, July 1, 2010
On the road again
Hello Friends of CC2C!
We're back on the road with a new fuel pump for the bulletproof tiger (aka. 94 volvo)! We made 90 miles our first night back out and are switching to only having one person skate at a time. We've been using teams of 2 on the road for the buddy system but its nice to have a bigger rest between turns for some fresh legs. We picked back up outside of Greenville, TX where we broke down and made it all the way to Decatur in one night. We started riding with the drivers coming home from work and ended in the morning commute. Ihop and Yesterday's were kind enough to hook us up with some food and the local skate shop Shrederz gave us some gear to represent. We were anxious to get a move on again so we made 10 miles and are now waiting out the traffic at Bridgeport Lake. We're now more than halfway there and its starting to look like the west with buttes and mesas peeking over the horizon!
-The CC2C Crew
We're back on the road with a new fuel pump for the bulletproof tiger (aka. 94 volvo)! We made 90 miles our first night back out and are switching to only having one person skate at a time. We've been using teams of 2 on the road for the buddy system but its nice to have a bigger rest between turns for some fresh legs. We picked back up outside of Greenville, TX where we broke down and made it all the way to Decatur in one night. We started riding with the drivers coming home from work and ended in the morning commute. Ihop and Yesterday's were kind enough to hook us up with some food and the local skate shop Shrederz gave us some gear to represent. We were anxious to get a move on again so we made 10 miles and are now waiting out the traffic at Bridgeport Lake. We're now more than halfway there and its starting to look like the west with buttes and mesas peeking over the horizon!
-The CC2C Crew
Plano Heat
Well, we couldn't have been stranded in a better place, being that we've been at Alex's uncle's house in Plano, Texas. It was pretty funny, we get out on an early start on Saturday to make some extra miles and our car breaks down right before we got into Greenville, Tx. The car just sputters and comes to a halt on the back roads of Texas, which by the way, are NOT gentle on the joints and are Horrible for getting ANYwhere at a decent speed. We called AAA to come and tow us back to an automotive shop in Plano, so we can continue to get spoiled by Alex's uncle. He put us to work a little to so I don't feel Completely horrible about bumming, but still pretty bad. So we've been kickin it in Plano since then. We've been spending no money and have been treated like kings, but I think we're all getting a little stir crazy. Just roaming around with nothing to do. We're finally gonna get back on the road tonight after a replacement to the Fuel Pump. So we head west tonight and its time to make up miles, so we got our work cut out for us. This Texas sky has been tripping me out. It is so huge with gigantic, detailed clouds. Whenever I look around I feel like I am going to fall upward into it. I feel like I am floating whenever I take angle glance upwards. Crazy. Its gonna look like bigger the further west we go. I can't wait. I love it.
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