Helplessnesslessness. 16”x8”. acrylic and ink on canvas.
America the Diligent (Weeks 6&7)
Not a closed course… DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME
The adventure begins after the jump!
Our host in Palm Springs sprung for us to stay at the Desert Paradise Resort, a gay, clothing optional resort that caters primarily to the retired crowd. We optioned to keep our clothes on. But our new friend Wayne didn’t.
Wayne ended up donating some $$$, wonder where he was hiding it?
Unfortunately we arrived mid week during a rare rain storms thus turning the city into a ghost town. The turnout for our event at the Ace Hotel was dismal but that didn’t stop us from taking advantage of the situation. We had a heated pool, a hot-tub, a sauna, a steam room and 20+ channels of gay porn to keep us preoccupied.
Desert Paradise Resort
These photos were taken some between Palm Springs and Las Vegas…
It’s actually higher than it looks
Las Vegas, What’s the saying again? Whatever happens in Vegas??? Well nothing happened in Vegas. I swear! We had two events scheduled and neither went as anticipated but we did our best to make lemonade…???? The first event was supposed to be a reading at UNLV however that ended up being more of rally for democratic candidates. Still we had a good time learning the ins and outs of local politics with J.Son of Naked Boy News and Nate got the opportunity to meet senator Harry Reid.
J.son of Naked Boy News
Dina Titus for Congress (she lost her race)
Nathan & Harry Reid
The second event was supposed to be a fundraiser at a new bar/club called Secrets. Secrets is a loud, dimly lit “cabaret” joint with both male and female performers. We were escorted through the red velvet rope, seated in a VIP area and were provided “complimentary” bottle service. Wha??? All of this for us? Well, it turns out that they were expecting an entire film crew to film a couple of the their performers. Oooppsss we had zero intention of filming that night and we definitely weren’t equipped to handle a club situation like that. With a makeshift light bank I managed to pull something together in their back “champagne” room. We filmed for a few minutes and then partied the night away in our booth. I even managed to lose a buck or two to one of the performers ;-) Ohhh, that complimentary bottle service came with a healthy $40 service fee. Still, it was well worth it.
Leaving Nevada, we stopped to take in some sights….
Me at The Hoover Damn
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Next, we had a choice… Go hours out of the way to see the Grand Canyon OR, go straight to Phoenix, AZ. That’s a no brainer right? “Of Course Go the Grand Canyon!” Right? Well, that’s exactly what we did. The plan was to drive to a town close to the Canyon, crash at a cheap motel, and rise early in the morning to catch the sunrise. Well, the motel wasn’t terribly cheap, and we woke at 4:30 AM to the sound of rain against our window. Uggghhh Ohhhhhh! Needless to say, there wasn’t a spectacular sunrise and our Canyon experience wasn’t so Grand. :-(
Grand Canyon Sunrise… whee!
It got a little better tho
Every time Pheonix was mentioned throughout our road trip it was accompanied by a distasteful glare and remarks of disgust. And now that I’ve visited I think I understand why. It’s a lot like Vegas but with out the casinos; Useless! Why on earth would anyone go there? In it’s defense we were only there one night, so i can’t say i got a sampling of everything the city has to offer and in an effort to be positive, I will say that the weather was nice and that we had a good time at a local gay bar. Nex
Alamogordo, New Mexico is a strange little town. You have to drive through a “live” missile range and a border patrol check point to even get there. It appears like one of those towns time has left behind. If it weren’t for the cars on the road, you’d think you were damned back to the early 80’s. It’s known for being the site of the first detonated nuclear bomb and if it weren’t for the few really cool people I met there, I’d suggest they drop another nuke on the place. At first the people we met there appeared to be caricatures out of a Terry Gilliam film, but after chatting with them and hearing a few of their stories we warmed up to them to the point that there were many hugs and well wishing as we loaded up the van to leave.
Another thing Alamogordo has going for it is it’s proximity to White Sands. White Sands is stunning. It’s quiet, still, and calming!
Nick @ White Sands
Nate @ White Sands
Me @ White Sands
After New Mexico we began our “rest week” and headed back to Austin with a quick pit stop in El Paso. On the way we had a blow out and got searched by the Border Patrol because our McDonald’s hot cakes tipped off the drug dogs. I’m not kidding! Rest week turned into stress week in Austin We had some serious issues do deal with It seems like money was the solution to all of our issues, however we don’t have a lot of it. The Van needed new tires and ball barrings amongst other things We’ve somehow managed to fill several hard-drives with footage from the road so we needed to purchase more. And Orbitz failed to provide us with the promised vouchers to get us to LA, Hawaii, and Alaska so we had purchase them too. Needless to say the bank accounts are empty thus putting the second leg of the tour in jeopardy. With all that on our minds we still managed to have a fun halloween weekend.
Next up Las Angeles, Hawaii, and Alaska.
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