4 corners: rediscovering America.AS WE ALL KNOW sometimes things start off on a bad note, this trip being no exception. Made my early morning flight by the skin of my teeth only to learn it was delayed four and half hours. At least I had a good book with me. I eventually got on a plane headed for Phoenix, AZ, to meet up with Joe Hammeke, Toad, Jimmy the Greek Jimmy the Greek renowned American oddsmaker. [Am. Culture: Wallechinsky, 468] See : Chance , Tyler Mumma, special guest Andrew "Randy 'The Nacho Man' Savage," and a host of other legendary board riders. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] I arrived at 2 am, Joe picked me up, and we went to his house for a couple of beers. We talked story, and then I passed out on the couch On the Couch is an Australian television program formally broadcast on the Fox Footy Channel and it focuses on the current issues in the AFL. This is now broadcast on Fox Sports after the closure of Fox Footy Channel. The show airs on Monday night and is hosted by Gerard Healy. . Joe has three very large, obnoxious dogs. Dog hair is everywhere. These dogs seem to have control over this house. I'm not very found of dogs, especially big ones who run around the house only to cause me extreme aggravation Any circumstances surrounding the commission of a crime that increase its seriousness or add to its injurious consequences. Such circumstances are not essential elements of the crime but go above and beyond them. . Woke up in dog hair and dogs breathing down my neck. Let's just say I'm a eat person. Sorry, Joe. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Phoenix is hot this time of the year. No joke, 108 degrees right now. Great weather for skating, yeah? Went to check out the Tempe park and met up with Greek and Mumma. Ronnie Creager Ronnie Creager (b. January 14, 1974) is an American professional skateboarder from Orange, California who primarily skates street, and more specifically flatland technical skating. He currently resides in Califorina. just happened to be there, too, a nice surprise, for sure. Talked a little story with him, and reminisced about the old days of our youth. Good to see Creager. He's a nice, humble guy, and almost always puts a smile on everyone's faces when he's around...very inspirational, to say the least. It was way too hot for skating; went to a pool, which unfortunately was empty, so we were obligated ob·li·gate tr.v. ob·li·gat·ed, ob·li·gat·ing, ob·li·gates 1. To bind, compel, or constrain by a social, legal, or moral tie. See Synonyms at force. 2. To cause to be grateful or indebted; oblige. to skate it. Greek killed it 'til the sun went down. I think he has night vision or something...impossible back disaster in the dark where no one goes in the light. Woke up covered in dog hair again. Toad arrived, and we can now be on our way to whatever the road has in store for us. At sunset we met up with the one and only Randy Colvin. We ate some magic cookies on the way to Prescott. I always wanted to skate with Colvin, so I felt like a kid again. I should have had him sign my board. Crazy Eddie This article is about the electronics store. For other uses, see Crazy Eddie (disambiguation). Crazy Eddie was a consumer electronics chain located primarily in the Northeastern United States- previously called ERS Electronics (ERS stood for Eddie, Rose and Sam – was there as well. I've got to say it: dude skates better than you and your favorite pro. The local skateshop owner Tyler let us set up camp in his backyard, our own little tent village. No fancy hotels or nights spent in VIP bars on this trip. Had some pizza, got a few six packs, talked, made plans, made claims, and went to bed with a head full of optimism and dreams of pool coping and good times to come. The next morning I woke up and met with Colvin and his son, who, by the way, skates damn good at the ripe age of eight. Watch out America, there's another Colvin out there. Driving to another park through Jerome, AZ, winding through the hills vortex, layers of red, yellow, and orange painted canyons in the distant horizon--the art of creation itself was visibly unspoiled by the filthy hand of the power mongers of war and greed who we allow to ruin our America. FREEDOM STILL EXISTS in this land. I felt connected to my roots there. Good ol' watering holes, horses tied to hitching posts, the aroma of cigars, poker games and gun fights, and silver, copper, and gold mines. Ruins of a time lost to development cover the hillside. Shrines litter the side of the road; markers of lost loved ones loved ones npl → seres mpl queridos loved ones npl → proches mpl et amis chers loved ones love npl , death around every corner, red walls of stone created to protect this land from invaders. We were rediscovering America. Back into the oven as we lowered our elevation, we passed a sign that read "Dead Horse Ranch." I wondered what it must look like. Winding roads through old mining towns; locals-only America is turning to dust before our eyes. We made our way to Sedona skatepark A skatepark is a purpose-built recreational environment for skateboarders, bmxers and aggressive skaters to ride and develop their sport and technique. A skatepark may contain half-pipes, quarter pipes, handrails, trick boxes, vert ramps, pyramids, banked ramps, full pipes, stairs, , and then on to Flagstaff Flagstaff, city (1990 pop. 45,857), seat of Coconino co., N Ariz., near the San Francisco Peaks; inc. 1894. Lumbering, ranching, and a lively tourist trade thrive in the region, where many ruined pueblos, numerous state parks, several lakes, and large pine forests . Good times, my friends. Good times. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Everyone awoke the following day, broke down camp, loaded the wagons, and hit the rail driving north into Indian Territory Indian Territory, in U.S. history, name applied to the country set aside for Native Americans by the Indian Intercourse Act (1834). In the 1820s, the federal government began moving the Five Civilized Tribes (Cherokee, Creek, Seminole, Choctaw, and Chickasaw) of the . Spotted a dirt BMX BMX abbr. bicycle motocross BMX Noun 1. bicycle motocross: stunt riding over an obstacle course on a bicycle 2. park off to the side of the road in a small Navajo community. It reminds me of a Brazilian favela favela In Brazil, a slum or shantytown. A favela comes into being when squatters occupy vacant land at the edge of a city and construct shanties of salvaged or stolen materials. minus the guns, children wandering around with nothing to do but put up with what they have--and that ain't much. Mike, a Navajo man in his early 30s, greeted us. I'd say he was a friendly guy, and seemed to be a few beers deep into a buzz that would inevitably turn into another drunken night, as I'm sure happens often in these parts of the country--thanks to our wonderful gifts of alcohol and smallpox-infested blankets that white men so generously bestowed upon the great Indian tribes of America. How those slave traders even got away with this genocide I'll never know. Or do we already know? We all know, but we look the other way. Mike was stoked stoked adj. Slang 1. Exhilarated or excited. 2. Being or feeling high or intoxicated, especially from a drug. to have us in his village and gave us the go-ahead to skate his dirt creation. He asked me for a cigarette. I offered him the whole pack, as it was much more valuable to him. In my mind I imagine how it must have been in times past to be with these proud people, these real Americans, and how the tides have changed in such a cruel and ruthless way. Mike and I in a tepee tepee or tipi (both: tē`pē), typical dwelling of Native North Americans living on the Great Plains. It was usually made by arranging tent poles into a conical frame and spreading skins, usually buffalo hide, tightly over , stars shining in the clear desert sky, a fire burned, as did the aroma of sage. Mike offered me his peace pipe. I accepted it and took a long, slow pull, everything swirling around me. Back to reality, and it's not your friend. Five minutes went by and Mike asked for another cigarette. He'd refused to accept my entire pack. The Navajos' kindness and spirituality shines through all the red dust, even if for a brief moment. Thanks, Mike, the dirt bowls were fun. WE CHECKED OUR COMPASS and headed north to Lake Powell Noun 1. Lake Powell - the second largest reservoir in the United States; located in southern Utah and north central Arizona and formed by the Glen Canyon Dam on the Colorado River to set up camp for the night, and cook up some of da kine "Da kine" is a word in Hawaiian Pidgin that usually functions grammatically as a placeholder name (compare to English "whatsit" and "whatchamacallit"), but can also take the role of a verb, adjective, or adverb. ono grinds. Sausages, pork chops, and veggie packs--dinner was served on a brand new skateboard deck and consumed with our hands. Great meal. Ten o'clock and to our great surprise--and disappointment--we were out of road sodas. Not good at all. I know a 30 pack sounds like a lot, but between six grown men it can go in a blink of an eye. We considered making the 45-minute drive to town, but the scare of a DUI made us stay safe and drunk at the camp. We zipped up our tents and surrendered to the windy night under the Arizona sky. Tore down camp at 6 am, loaded up the wagon, had breakfast at a gas station: burritos, cup of noodles noo·dle 1 n. A narrow, ribbonlike strip of dried dough, usually made of flour, eggs, and water. [German Nudel. , and watered-down coffee and cigarettes. Toad and Andrew purchased a couple of bright pink and neon green floatie mats. After breakfast we headed down to Lake Powell for a refreshing swim. One of the most visually stimulating bodies of fresh water I have yet encountered. The water was brisk, but not unbearably cold, and crystal clean. Tyler and I paddled the floatie mats about a mile each way to Lone Rock Lone Rock can refer to:
On the road again I spotted a natural ditch off to the side carved by the Creator Itself. It was a small canyon carved by wind and water. I swear whoever and whatever created the earth foresaw skateboarding. Red and Monk would have been inspired if they'd been with us. Heading northeast, we came across gas stations with skateshops inside, Navajo art and jewelry for sale. Of course they've got Barn's board. Navajo dogs begged for ice cream and donuts donuts - (Obsolete) A collective noun for any set of memory bits. This usage is extremely archaic and may no longer be live jargon; it dates from the days of ferrite core memories in which each bit was implemented by a doughnut-shaped magnetic flip-flop. . It's nice out here in the desert. Seventy-seven miles to the four corners. You can play a game of twister in four states at the same time! Stopped by another gas station and met a Navajo family selling jewelry out of the back of their car. Really nice people; I bought some cool earrings for my wife, and talked stories for about a half hour. They had a baby all wrapped up in one of those authentic fiat boards you only see in history books. It felt as if we'd stepped back in time for a brief moment. We said our goodbyes and headed to Durango, CO to skate their park, and hopefully meet up with legendary underground shredder Roger Seliner. We tracked down the tattoo studio he worked at, and asked the girl working the counter if she knew how to find him. She was rude, and probably thought we were a bunch of lowlifes. I think she was having a bad day. We left our number anyway. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] WE STARTED TO MAKE OUR WAY to the Aztec park, a really good Grindline park that's hard to skate but very unique. I love that kind. Roger eventually showed up. Yet another epic person. Legendary skills on a board and behind a tattoo gun, he's a balls-to-the-wall sort of guy. Roger got a cool gig working at a nice shop, and lives in a cool apartment right behind it. He let us crash at his pad and we stayed up all night catching up on each other's lives, drinking whiskey and water and watching Toad and Andrew rock Andrew Rock (born January 23, 1982) is an American athlete who specializes in the 400 meter dash. He was born in Marshfield, Wisconsin, and graduated from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse in 2004. He grew up in Stratford, Wisconsin, where he graduated from high school in 2000. out in the band room. I'm not sure how musically inclined these two are, but at the time it sounded good. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Woke up to another glorious day in the Rocky Mountains Rocky Mountains, major mountain system of W North America and easternmost belt of the North American cordillera, extending more than 3,000 mi (4,800 km) from central N.Mex. to NW Alaska; Mt. Elbert (14,431 ft/4,399 m) in Colorado is the highest peak. , God's country. We said our goodbyes and began to make our way south to Albuquerque, NM, in search of pools and the infamous Indian School ditch. We arrived with about three hours of daylight left, made some calls, and got directions. I'd been there once before a few years back and I knew then that I had to return. This is probably one of the top three ditches in the whole world. If you skate street, vert VERT. Everything bearing green leaves in a forest. Bac. Ab. Courts of the Foreat; Manwood, 146. , bowls, rails, freestyle, or even jump ramps, Indian School is a must-skate pilgrimage destination for all. About a mile long, slightly downhill, relatively smooth, sort of transitioned at the bottom, and dark bridges to go under at full speed. Watch out for broken glass and stoners lurking See lurk. (messaging, jargon) lurking - The activity of one of the "silent majority" in a electronic forum such as Usenet; posting occasionally or not at all but reading the group's postings regularly. at the crucial areas. We shot the ditch a few times. Jimmy, Toad, and Mumma were Indian School virgins, and I could tell by the huge grins that they were stoked on the place. Wheels melting, full speed ahead, no tricks, no time to think or run out--just pure rolling fun. Thanks, Indian School. I love you. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] After that we headed to Palmer's house, equipped with a real nice natural backyard pool with some of the easiest stairs I've seen to carve over. We barbequed and stayed up all night skating. You're a great host, Palmer. Mahalo! Unfortunately I had to abandon the trip a bit earlier than everyone else, concerning some sort of obligation with my family and everything that goes along with it. I reluctantly got a ride to the airport and was on my way. I must say--please, don't tell my wife--I did seriously consider changing my ticket to stay a couple more days, but there are many days ahead. I hope?! Many trips to plan, photos to shoot, stickers to toss, and blah, blab. How the good times roll, and how we roll with them. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion