Fat Chance America

Ships on Parade - and picture of the week!

2008-07-31T13:09:00.000-07:00

I’m thinking I need to start a photo of the week posting…or month…a week may be too much pressure. Either way here is the photo of the week and its story.

Yesterday I had the chance to ride in the parade of ships that circled the sound and the Seattle piers as part of Seafair. (A traditional Seattle summertime festival of parades, hydroplanes, the Blue Angles, marathons, marching bands, the milk carton derby (my personal favorite), and of course the crowning of a local girl as Miss Seafair.)

So through people, relations, and those kind of odd connections that give you access to new things, I rode on the USS Princeton in the parade of ships. We boarded at the way too early hour of 8 am for breakfast, set sail, and filled our time parading around the Puget Sound with tours of the ship and meeting a few sailors. It was interesting even eye-opening—did you know that the severe gunmetal grey exterior of a navy ship is actually squishy and soft to the touch. It surely was a glimpse into a life far outside my own. Although I couldn’t shake the feeling of how odd it must have been for the many sailors to have three hundred or so guests crawling all over their home.

The USS Princeton was the lead boat in the parade and as such got to fire a seventeen-gun solute to honor an admiral that was sitting on one of the piers in Seattle’s waterfront. A sincere thanks to all the sailors for their stern advice about wearing the earplugs they passed out!

But the photo of the week (or month)!! By the end of the day everyone seemed to feel very comfortable on the ship, maybe a little too comfortable for life on a guided missile carrier. I couldn’t really wrap my brain around it. People milling about, talking, napping, even snogging on the missile launch pad! I’m not sure I would lie down in complete peace on the hatch door of a missile launcher. Are they crazy!?

The Saddest Thing

2008-07-27T09:00:00.003-07:00

One thing has always stood as a symbol of change, rebirth, beauty, grace, hope...and that would be a butterfly. What else? A butterfly has always been a sign of good things in the world. Yesterday I watched a butterfly die.

I told my mom I would help her prune bushes in her yard and when I got to my first bush there was a beautiful swallowtail butterfly spread across the front of the bush. I stood for a moment to watch it. It just sat there slowly flapping it wings. So I quickly ran for my camera, knowing it would be gone by the time I got back, but hoping it would still be there. It was. I took my picture and then waited for it to fly away. It didn't.

I stepped around the bush and began pruning from the back to give it space. By the time I got to the front, it was still there. Slowly I transferred the butterfly, encouraging it to crawl to another branch. I trimmed the branches all around it (couldn't believe how close I got) and transferred it to yet another branch. Its wings flapped slower and slower. Finally when I couldn't get it to crawl anymore, I clipped the branch it was hanging from and slowly set it aside. Its wings only twitched and its body moved but once. At the end of the day it was still where I had set it - laying on its side, wings folded slightly up. It didn't move at all.

Somehow it just seemed like one of those mysteries in life you're not suppose to see. No one wants to see a butterfly die! I know this isn't an adventure tale, but it truly was one of the saddest things I've seen.

Big Sky Country

2008-07-19T17:32:00.010-07:00

The last destination on this summer tour was Montana. Fairmont Hot Springs was the first stop, which was filled with tons of good food and lots of just sitting (a much need thing). And I mean you can't well go to Montana and not order a steak the size of your head.

Fairmont has a ton of pools which are filled with water cooled down to various temperatures from the hot springs. But here is a photo of a stream I took there which has nothing to do with anything because no one needs to see a photo of me in a swim suit, or flopping out of a water slide, or the brilliant red shade my back turned after too many hours in the sun.

After the Fairmont was a brief drive and short stay outside Helena at the log cabin of a family friend. (Resting up for the long haul back to Seattle the next day.) For a Montana summer it was clear and mild in temperature - perfect. This is the view of Lone Tree from the cabin, the ever so aptly Montana named hill in the distance with the single, lone tree a top it.

A true benefit of being out in the hills with no city lights or other people around are the stars! It just so happened to be a full moon the night we were there and the bright star in the sky wasn't a star at all. I took this photo as the moon was rising (exploring yet another setting on my camera). The single bright dot in the upper right side is Jupiter! And looking through a telescope, I could see the planet and four of its moons!! Way too cool!

Now the long haul home to rest. I'm looking forward to not having to fish around the bottom of my bag every night for my toothpaste...at least for a bit.

City views

2008-07-13T12:18:00.012-07:00

The east coast tour is wrapping up - I fly out tomorrow to head back to Seattle, pick up a suitcase and drive out the following morning for Montana. Not the best laid plans as the jet lag driving could potentially be brutal, but we'll see how it works out.

So this last week in Boston has been good, catching up with people and even seeing some sights I haven't seen before. I took this picture from the fortieth floor of an apartment building downtown on the wharf. Can't say that I've ever seen a view like this of the city or been up on the fortieth floor of any apartment building in the city while I lived here.

Also took a quick tour up north near Swampscott for some beach sitting and hanging out. It's yet another view of Boston...way, way in the hazy distance with tooth pick buildings, but it's there. The city as viewed from the suburbs. It was the perfect day for wandering around and beach sitting (very low in the humidity department, but sunny and warm).

This could be called the Boston photo gallery, montage or something. Here's yet another view of the city and for those of you that know the city this picture is unreal. The last time I was here, the wharf area was still under construction from the big dig. It's now a big park and it blows my mind that you can stand at the aquarium and see the garden. That shouldn't be! There should be the highway and elevated train tracks in the way. But yet you can. As I said it blows my mind and makes the city feel that much smaller. I do have admit the park is nice even if does drastically change the look and feel of the city.

Camera works

2008-07-07T16:14:00.008-07:00

Boston's South Station has become my second home of late - having gone in and out of there four times in the last week to and from NYC to Boston and on to Martha's Vineyard and back again. Lots of travel, but a relaxing weekend of good peeps and good food.

I thought I'd just post a few pictures. Here's a couple of the fireworks at the big Boston 4th of July celebration (can you tell I found a new fireworks setting on my camera - not very good at it)

And a few from the Vineyard. Look at all the little snails (periwinkle snails) hanging out at the water's edge!

And the giant dead things with slightly foul, rotting smells you find while beach combing.

New York Roaming

2008-07-04T07:30:00.010-07:00

So after a rather relaxed few days in Boston, I headed to New York. I didn't have much of a plan other than to write and wander around. I'm beginning to be good at having no plan. So I sat in Central Park and tried to do some writing, but ended up people watching much more. And of course just sitting there opens you up to meeting many strange people. My favorite was the guy with barely any teeth that sat down and asked me if I had a boyfriend. I said no and I'm not looking. He said great I'm not looking for a boyfriend either. To that I had to laugh, but our courtship ended when I wouldn't buy his poem for my special discounted price of $1.

Now when I got off the plane in Boston and walked outside it was like getting hit in the chest with a fist. How did I forget how much I dislike humidity? And the humidity in NYC was much worse than Boston. So finding air conditioned places to escape was key. Some how in all my trips to NYC, I'd never made it to the public library. The Copley Library happens to be my favorite spot in Boston, so I was surprised when I walked passed and realized I'd never been inside the giant New York Library. All I can say is that it's immense, grand, beautiful, a mausoleum where you could walk miles without ever actually seeing a book and above all else well air conditioned. The stairways were endless and the entrance on par with some grand museum or palace (which to my way of thinking is a fitting place for books).

But the one thing I did stumble upon while there (and I do remember being told they were there at some point but I never put it together) were they original Winnie-the-Pooh, Tigger, Kanga, Piglet, and Eeyore dolls. They looked well loved and fitting of their place in the library museum. But I had to walk around the back of the glass case just to make sure Eeyore's tail had actually been pinned back on...it was. In fact his tail looked like it had been stitched, pinned, and stitched together again. All was right with the world and somehow it up held my faith in books.

In the three days of walking around the city I've calculated I walked about 95 blocks - from east 68th street to about west 4th and over and back up. And 57 of those blocks were in one day. My feet were about to fall off. I stopped at many parks, cafes and stores along the way. It was a good visit of lunch with friends, and getting lost in hours of book wondering at the Strand (a must stop for every visit).

I'm heading back to Boston (writing this from the bus - wifi is a marvelous thing) for the big holiday and then off to Martha's Vineyard for the weekend. Hope you all have a Happy 4th of July!

A day behind

2008-06-24T15:33:00.003-07:00

I don't know when it happened, but somehow I got a day behind. I stopped in Orem, UT for a fabulous and extremely hot visit with some friends (97 degrees in the evening isn't exactly my idea of fair weather conditions). And sadly I don't really have any pictures from there because I forgot my camera the day we went up to scenic view points and when I did have it I was distracted and forgot to take any at all.

I left Utah and took two days to drive back to Seattle. I left with enough time to get back, do laundry, and repack everything to fly out to Boston. I stopped on the Idaho/Oregon boarder for the night on my drive, but when I got to the hotel that I had made reservations for, they kindly informed that I was a no-show for the previous night. I had made my reservation for the wrong day. I don't even know how that happened. I stood at the counter with my mouth open.

But I got it sorted out and made it home, did my laundry, and repacked. The night before my flight, I logged onto the computer to check-in and ... oops... apparently I fly out on Tuesday night, not Monday night as I had thought and planned. I sat there staring at the computer trying to readjust my brain. It's true - I fly out tonight and I've been packed and ready for two days now. So I'm not quite sure how it happened or where my brain is at, but it seems my next adventure will start when it's good and ready to.

Research

2008-06-14T14:09:00.004-07:00

Well my plan for this trip was to gather research in Denver. Now that I'm here in Denver the research is nothing like I could have predicted. I have written the section of the book where my characters are in Denver and when I was done I was not thrilled. It felt flat and forced. So I figured I needed to come to Denver and figure out why that was. A luxury I know.

I went to all the places I had previously figured my characters would go and took pictures, made notes, made friends, and had things happen no amount of my imagination could have dreamt up. Isn't that what research is for - I mean seriously. So here are a few of my favorite happenings and photos (some related to the story and some just crazy enough they needed to be documented).

This photo is hands down my favorite one I've taken since being in Denver. It's a good close-up-can-you-tell-what-this-is type photo. It's the bra and underwear racks at the Ross clothing store in Denver. That's a lot of undergarments!! All bright and colorful too. and yes I got several strange looks while taking this photo, but how could I resist.

Just after that I was sitting outside writing notes down while they were still in my head and this guy comes and says, "You a writer? You are a writer! I need someone to write my life story!" He then proceeded to tell me he was a homeless street musician who calls Denver his home and he's gonna make it big so just all you out there take note, I met the next huge flute player.

But of all the places I stopped and strange encounters I had, the best was the prayer revival that occurred in the middle of a baseball diamond. I'm not sure I can even do the feeling and the sight justice, but I can say I've lived to hear bible readings spoken from a pitcher's mound. A group of folks brought the spirit of the Lord to the inner city baseball field and I 'm not sure what it was all about, but I know it was something to see. Bowing, stamping, and clapping in the great outdoors just must sound better than in a church.

Road Funnies

2008-06-10T19:57:00.017-07:00

So when I drive from place to place I try to first do things I haven't done before or go to places I've never seen and second to notice things that make a good story and make me laugh.

Today I drove from the California coast straight into the Mojave desert and spit out the other side. Firsts - I drove mostly interstates today, stopped in Barstow, CA (where the heat practically made me fall over) and there I paid almost $5 a gallon for gas! Also, among the firsts, I drove through Las Vegas - in a snails paced traffic jam - and took pictures as I went. Driving into the city, through it, and out the other side really make you realize that it's a big darn city in the middle of BFE!!

As I was leaving Las Vegas, up ahead on the highway was an armored truck driving into the middle of the desert. I stepped on the gas. What kind of story exit from Vegas would it be if I didn't chase down an armored truck...and fly right on by.

Okay and on the funny side, as I passed the armored truck there was another semi pulled over on the shoulder of the highway. Out on the roadside, in front of the pulled over semi was the driver doing push-ups in the hotter than hades weather wearing black jeans and no shirt. You don't see that every day! Does he have a routine? Was he keeping himself awake? Was he expending extra energy from the smorgasbord of energy pills I see hanging next to the cash registers at truck stops? Seriously the little baggies of multi-colored energy pills intrigue me, but are not half as funny as the bags of goat weed.

Back in the Saddle

2008-05-31T11:48:00.006-07:00

So this was meant to be posted several days ago, but my access to the internet was unceremoniously cut off and I haven’t been able to get on in a few days...

It's been almost seven months since I was on a long road trip and some how I don't remember the saddle being so painful. I mean it's awesome to be on the road and I've missed it, but somehow I don't remember the cramping and literal pain in the ass from the last long trip. About four hours into this trip down to California I couldn't sit still. The heel of my driving foot went numb and my butt fluctuated between tingly numbness and no feeling at all. I don’t remember that problem from before, but then maybe it’s like what they say will happen when you work out—your body cramps, aches, and fights everything you want to do to it, but if you keep going eventually your body will give up and everything becomes easy. You push through - or at least I hear that’s what happens. So maybe driving is like that, if you have to keep going you eventually be comfortable..or numb. The second day of driving was much much better, even though it was through the rain and fog.

I made it to Santa Clara, CA on Wed. night where I’m staying for the next week or so (and given that I had no internet, I leave tomorrow). My first day, I didn’t do much because my car got locked in my friend’s garage and I had no access. So I took a walk around the neighborhood, down to Santa Clara University and the old mission and pretended I could blend in and still pass as an undergraduate. I sat outside the student union building in the sun and dutifully edited a section of my book—Fat Chance—like I a final paper I needed to finish. I’m not sure I really fooled anyone, but it was fun to pretend.

But I am liking the days of writing in the sun. Yesterday, I took myself to Vasona Lake Park in Los Gatos and did some writing in a big grass field by the lake. Here’s proof that I actually did do work on this trip. I spent all day there and am now sporting some rather red legs—sunscreen does work but only when you remember to put it on. I seemed to have missed a few places.

Sunday…Monday Excursions

2008-05-01T12:53:00.013-07:00

I thought I’d drop in a new post as I have shamefully neglected any sort of posting in the past few months. But while I was watching TV the other night, I saw that the first episode of the Discovery Channel series on the rebuilding of Greensburg, KS is going to air this Sat. I thought I should post and make you all watch it. So watch!

Sadly I have been off the road for a bit, save for a few weekend excursions and a brief cruise trip to Mexico for my friend’s birthday. But plans for a new trip are in the works to gather more research for Fat Chance. The writing has begun and is going well, but there are holes in the research I gathered last summer. Hmm maybe that’s because I only now fully know what’s going to happen in the story. I need to make a few stops to gather more ideas. To Denver I must go.

But I can’t leave a post without my latest adventure or pictures so… On Monday of this week (after an amazing SCBWI writer’s conference in Bellevue, WA) I went up to the tulip festival, the fields of tulips farmed by the folks north of Seattle. Well the festival officially ended last week, but that didn’t really make me think twice. The first field I came across I was so excited, I pulled over in the trailing splashes of some heavy rain only to sink in two inches of mud. Trying to get close to the field was like high stepping through quicksand.

The closer I got to the fields I saw that there was a tractor out in the middle plowing tulips. Is there anything sadder than a field of stunning flowers that have been beheaded? I’m not kidding. They chop all the petals off and leave the green stalks to die so then the bulbs can be dug up and sold. Look at the troughs of yellow heads.

I began to panic that I was in a race against an agricultural guillotine. I had to see the fields before they were gone. I need not have worried though. They weren’t going to turn away my five bucks at the tourist stops and fields. I was satisfied and got to see the acres of flowers I’d come to see.

"Green"burg

2007-11-09T18:14:00.000-08:00

This is just a quick post, because I heard about this and first thought "Hey I've been there" and then "That's pretty cool." The town of Greensburg, Kansas, which I visited this summer on my trip, was hit by a tornado earlier this spring. I saw first hand the total destruction of the town. The town didn't exist anymore. See my July 6 post - wow, huh, and why.

Anyway, Greensburg is rebuilding! And not only is that amazing, they've decided to go entirely green. A green town at this scale has never been done before. It's about time we see what can happen if we go totally green. Check out their website: www.greensburggreentown.org/

Frisco

2007-10-26T22:12:00.000-07:00

I’ve been to San Francisco before, but never on my own, always with company to wander the tourist sites with…so this time things were a bit different. This time I feel like I can now say I’ve been to SF – went to a great show, wandered the streets, saw great views and gardens, and said a prayer of thanks at every stop sign that I learned to drive in a stick shift in Seattle. And all things have to be right with my karma as I had no problems finding street parking wherever I went. I would just pull up and there would be a spot right in front, across the street, or just down the block. So now that I have written that, it’s probably a good thing I’m leaving as my karma is now broken.

So as highlights go, my stop at City Lights bookstore filled some space in me that needed to be inspired. As the hangout and haunt of the beat generation, it is everything that an independent bookstore should be. It’s a place where guttural thoughts waft off the shelves and the history in the floorboards creak, where the books stand upright among each other in equality not laid out in glorified glossy pyramids. There was just something about walking through the door that stripped the air of chaos, yet left me totally blank and entirely humbled. So, are there words? Not really, but as someone who loves to stand in front of a bookshelf just to pet the covers, it is a stop that will carry me.

In the land of giants

2007-10-24T16:50:00.001-07:00

I can cross another national park off the list. I am down in California, well central and northern parts because at this time the southern parts are going up in smoke. My October jaunt started in San Louis Obispo with my sister where I saw dolphins for the first time in my life. We were walking around Avila beach and out in the bay there were five or six dolphins feeding and playing. Somehow I thought all the animated and watercolor paintings of dolphins breaching and leaping seemed a little too idyllic and therefore must be romanticized or fantasized, but certainly not in truth. And it was a pleasant sort of image adjustment to know that really and truly that is what dolphins look like playing.

From SLO, I drove out to Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. It was a pretty drive with fall colors and vineyards, but in all my 14,000 miles of driving, I can now say I made myself car sick. I drove the windiest road I have been on yet – 180 turn after 180 through forest and rock and farm. Those kind of roads always look so picturesque in the car commercials, but I can say they are not so much fun in real life.

Another new thing for me was visiting a national park in non-tourist season. The “winter” is when they do their road maintenance and close the lodges. Thus all the well traveled scenic roads with overviews you usually can hop out of your car, walk down a short path, and view the spectacular scenes were not accessible by car. To get to Moro Rock in Sequoia NP was a five mile hike round trip. But the view was amazing and I was the only one around.

The walk up the rock was another story though. I’ve never been very big with heights so this narrow staircase up the rock was not really my cup of tea. I made it up about halfway, which was fine with me. I figured that I could see the view on both sides and I was already above everything else around, how much more was a few feet going to improve my view.

Sequoia NP is home to the largest tree on Earth. It is called General Sherman. It’s scared and burned and missing most of it’s top it seemed. But, it is not the largest for its height but by its sheer girth – as you can see. The amazing thing about the tree was not the scars from forest fire or lightening, but that the old sepia photos of loggers and mountain men standing around the tree from 1900s had the same burn marks.

There were many amazing trees with fire scars and trees that reached amazing heights, but this one was my favorite. Burned completely on one side and full of life on the other. Just shows how resilient the tree is and unpredictable fire is.

Distracted in America

2007-10-13T15:25:00.001-07:00

It’s been a long time since I’ve posted and really there should be no excuse for that, but if you are going to have one it better be amusing. I haven’t posted because I’ve been a little distract by…oh…I don’t know…what am I going to do with my life now. But when I get distracted I tend to collect stories, ponder oddities, and do some pretty stupid things.

I’ve spent some time, too much time, in local public libraries watching in fear of the immense self-righteous and indignant attitudes of pre-teens. My particular favorite story was listening to one girl tell her friends about this boy/kid who got in her way and showed her no respect. With an incensed head bob, she told all her friends about it to make herself feel vindicated. And my favorite part, her friend looked at her and said, “He’s a four year old. He’s supposed to be stupid.”

Among the oddities to ponder, I drove behind this Budget rental truck on my drive down south again. I drove behind it for much too long as it was going incredibly slow, but the back of the truck was spray painted on the roll up door. It said, “Runaway wifes. Laugh but u might be next.” Now first I thought, they spelled wives wrong. Then I laughed. Next I started to wonder…if your wife really did runaway and you were moving your stuff in the budget rental truck would you really paint that on the back of the truck? Would you? And then I thought, what if the person driving the truck didn’t write that. They rented the truck and pulled the door down to find it painted with that and had to drive down the road. The only thing that would make this better would be to know who was driving the truck. But I pulled around the truck still deep in thought and forgot to look. I told you I was distracted.

And the grand daddy of all distracted moments just happened and inspired this entire rant. I just sat down in a café on the beach in CA, pulled out my work and such, (I have been freelancing) when I grabbed my drink to shake it up forgetting that I had already removed the cap. I flung green machine super food smoothie all over myself, green guck– in my hair, down my back, in my lap, in both my bags, all over my books, in my ear, and the kicker of all is that I went to the bathroom to wash off my shirt (which was made much easier by just stripping it off and putting it in the sink) I had smoothie in my bra. How does that happen? I stuck my shirt in the sink to rinse it off and then… no hand driers to blow it dry. What’s happened to environmentally friendly – I mean really.

Partridge in a Pear Tree

2007-08-18T11:12:00.000-07:00

So this is a bit over due, but I got distracted when I got home. I left Portland for the final drive home about a week ago. Well I’m hoping it wasn’t the final drive. I don’t think stopping will be that easy. I’ll have to take some side trip while I’m home.

I decided to drive east along the mighty Columbia River gorge and then track back west. I wanted to drive roads I haven’t ever driven to get home. That proved kind of hard. But it was interesting to go from west to east along the river. This is the western side of the state along the river – lots of trees and evergreen hills. But that soon gave way to the dry brown cliffs of desert east. Kind of neat to see the change. The whole drive along the river was dotted with Lewis and Clark historic markers. I stopped at quite a few of them to read about their trek and read the diary excerpts. I stopped to read about the Native American trading hub and waterfalls where they could catch salmon with nets as they jumped the falls to swim up stream…except there were no falls visible. How does that happen? Even if the river is damned and lowered in level, wouldn’t the water still have to flow over the rocks that created the falls to begin with. But no falls in sight…hmmm.

From the river I cut back west and drove through the Cascade Mountains and Mt. Rainier National Park. It was a pretty easy drive given that they had a massive flood last fall that wiped out most of the roads. The only evidence I saw were many downed trees clogging the streams. The one thing I did notice driving over the mountains were that they were the greenest darn mountains I had seen yet. Score one for copious rain.

I made it home and the first thing I did was give Chester (my car) a decent and proper bath inside and out. It had acquired quite a distinct smell. Then I had one great long sleep.

So looking back – this is how it sums up.

62 days on the road
10,430 miles driven
298 gallons of gas
1,083 pictures taken
21 states
30 National Forests
14 National Parks
2 oil changes
2 parking tickets
1 heck of good time
0 speeding tickets (yeah!)

I learned that good driving is free of competition and absent of pride. I happen to have a healthy dose of both, so…learning to swallow them was necessary at times. It also helped to drive back roads where there were no people. That probably also helped with the no speeding tickets.

So what’s next? I’ll keep you posted.

Crazy Scenic Roads

2007-08-12T16:39:00.000-07:00

The play in Ashland was a grand time. I do love outdoor theaters…even when there was a bird that kept swooping down just a little too close (and for me that’s saying something).

Now I’ve driven some winding, narrow, two-lane roads that twist around some steep cliffs on this trip. Those roads are ambling streets in a Sunday park compared to the one I drove out of Ashland to the coast. I turned onto this road and there was a giant sign in red and white. It read: Warning! Remote road. Watch for log trucks and ice slides. It was a sentiment echoed by my map, which had a stamp across the road – closed in winter. I thought well, one it’s Sunday so the logging trucks shouldn’t be a problem and two it’s summer. So I started up the road. It narrowed very quickly to a one-lane road.

“Road” is being generous. It was more like a paved strip that wound around rocks and trees. Although some of the rocks and trees were in the road or caressing its edges so that the one-lane road was more like a half-lane road. And calling it paved is also being generous. There were places where the road had fallen away down the hillside – no guardrails of course. Other places there were pot holes/sink holes or places were the right side of the road was a good three inches higher than the left side. Although can't I really complain when all these obstacles were pointed out to me? All the gaps, rims of holes, and exposed edges where the road had disappeared were outlined in white spray paint. Helpful...really…. I passed a few signs that said rough road ahead. These meant the pavement disappeared altogether. It just stopped…thunk, thunk…and picked up again 30 feet down the road. Through this whole trip I have never been scared on the road, but this one had me sweating. Especially when other cars were coming at me and wanted to pass and animals were not running across the road they were coming up through cracks in the road. There is no warning for that. I could go only about 20 mph…20 mph for 72 miles. It did have an excellent view. I’m just not sure it was enough compensation for the road.

From that insanity, I made it to the Oregon coast, which is indeed a unique and great place. I stopped at this overlook where there was a spout. I spent forever trying to get a good picture of the water eruptinig from the hole in the rock. I drove up the coast and ended in Portland where I am staying with a friend. Yesterday, we went to see Body Works 3. It blew my mind. If you ever get a chance to go don’t even think – just go. Today we are heading to the art museum to see artist renditions of the human body. It will be interesting to see how they compare.

The Northwest

2007-08-04T14:35:00.000-07:00

Leaving Yosemite, I drove across central CA back to the coast. I passed through rolling hills of toasty golden brown (otherwise known as extraordinarily dry) dappled with green trees. They looked almost polk-a-dotted. I kept trying to snap a picture while I was driving. It’s a problem when all the best views of the hills are in fleeting glimpses from the tops of a rise in the road. Unwilling to actually stop and take a good picture (that and any place to pull over had no view), I kept trying to grab a shot. I took many pictures of blurred guardrails and streaks of green. Obviously I eventually succeeded – not great but you can see the polk-a-dot hills.

It took me a day to get to the coast. I went from upper 90s hot, hot, hot to foggy misty and in a relative sense – freezing. What is it about the CA coast in the summer that it is perpetually foggy? I wonder if it’s like this in the winter. I have a hunch it’s not…so perhaps I’ll have to come back and check it out.

The next stop up the coast was Redwoods National Park…and again it was foggy. But then I suppose it is always foggy there. It is what helps the trees grow so big or at least that is what the video at the visitor’s center said. On days I’ve been going into national parks, I’ve been trying to get up early. I got to the Redwoods about 8:45am. Two things make that a great decision – one I beat the hoards. Waiting in lines and driving in traffic is not my idea of nature viewing. Second, I get to see things like this – the sun beginning to break through the early morning fog. I went a little picture happy. You can feel like a great photographer when there’s no bad scene in view and the misty fog adds a sense of the dramatic to everything. I had a hard time deciding what picture(s) to post.

I took few short hikes while in the Redwoods. One hike was up to this small falls –Trillium Falls. I had my first sense, on that hike that I was getting close to the northwest when I spotted a banana slug. For those who have never seen one, they’re long, thick, gelatinous things that happen to be bright yellow. My communing with wild animals continued when I spotted these elk just off the road. Boy are they big up close – good thing they seemed completely unconcerned by me. Which was unlike the group of five mountain goats that would not get off the road for me in Zion. Those goats turned their heads toward me, about six feet from my car, and gave me a nasty look, if that’s possible. These elk were slightly farther away and much nicer.

From the Redwoods, I crossed the Oregon border and am now officially in the northwest. A fact I kind of liked when I flicked on the TV last night and the Mariner’s game was playing. I am in Ashland, OR – a very quaint town in southern Oregon. It’s home to the Oregon Shakespeare festival. And as one of the last stops on the trip where I will be alone, I’m living it up. This morning I went to see if I could get tickets to a play for tonight. Last night, they told me everything was sold out, but I thought I’d try again. I met this very nice woman whose friend wasn’t going to be able make it. So I bought her extra ticket, front row center, to see Taming of the Shrew in the outside Elizabethan replica of the Globe Theatre. As my last solo stop things are working out nicely.

CA good times

2007-08-01T22:17:00.000-07:00

So I think my stop in San Jose to visit my friend Rochelle was a very good stop – one of the best. But before I get there….

I took a day trip to LA to visit my college freshman roommate who works at DreamWorks Studio. All I can say is that my last job didn’t have a lunch area with waterfalls and a lagoon. It sure didn’t look like this and we had to pay for our lunch.

I then drove Highway 1 up the coast. This is what I saw. Nice huh? I saw a white wall, which made driving the twisty, windy road a bit tricky. From afar it looked like a thick white blanket tucked up to the chin of CA. Still pretty neat – better from afar than stuck underneath.

I did make a stop to see some elephant seals along the coast. They may look like a loving couple, but again they were fighting…or maybe it just looks the same.

So San Jose began with a wine tasting. The way any good stop should start. And from there it just went up hill. Of course there are no photos of the rest of the weekend. Funny how that happens when you’re having fun. And I’m kind of disappointed I didn’t get any pictures from my motorcycle ride! On Monday, I got to go for a ride and for anyone who knows me, knows that it was…hmmm…the best. Thanks again Greg.

So from San Jose, I drove east to Yosemite National Park. It was an amazing park. In comparison to other parks I’ve been to on this trip, Yosemite was like Zion on steroids. Every turn of the road was another amazing view. When I got up to this view, I thought – this looks familiar. It’s on the California state quarter. So very pretty!

Driving out of the park, heading west again, I passed a sign for a Mark Twain historic marker. Now I thought that was a little odd out in California. Then I passed a sign for the Calaveras county line. Then I got it! It’s my favorite Mark Twain short story. The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County. And just incase I doubted it when I got to the town of Angels Camp there was a large frog painted on the road.

Ocean Life

2007-07-31T09:20:00.000-07:00

I think there might be a saying about how blue the Pacific Ocean is, but I can’t remember it and my internet searching skills for something unknown are lacking. Anyway there should be a saying about how blue and large it is – something about how the pacific doesn’t ever forget. But then I think that’s an elephant.

I have been staying and driving along the coast of CA for almost two weeks now. I drove up from San Diego to San Luis Obispo, where my sister lives. I was going to take Highway 1 all the way up the coast, but…um…CA traffic stinks. Not only do CA drivers stop and look at anything on the side of the road – people, old tires - they’re bad drivers to boot.

San Luis Obispo was a good time. I stayed there a full week and relished in the feeling of not moving. I have been moving on every few days for a month and a half now and to stop and stay put for a week was a treat. I will tell you the one thing I was promised on my stop was sea life and it didn’t disappoint. First we stopped at Morro Bay and I got to see sea otters just swimming around having the life. Too cute!

Then we went out to somewhere I don’t remember (I wasn’t driving) and I got my fill of seals. It was windy and chilly out there on the beach, but it was a good time watching the seals all curl up every time a wave came in so as not to have their head or tail splashed in the water. This guy was not so fortunate. We also went down a pier where they like to hang out and eat the fish leftovers that are chucked over from the seafood restaurants also on the pier. I had a slightly closer encounter than I thought I would. This little guy shot up on the pier from the water right in front of me. They may look cute, but their not so nice – a fight broke out between a few of them and I ran. Still good times.

My first night in SLO, my sister and I went to the farmer market. It was a good farmers market…and then I saw this sign and it was a great farmers market. This sign hung over a booth where a man was standing giving his two cents to the world at large. This just might beat my other favorite sign I’ve seen. It was in Utah at a gas station. It read: Lotto, Gun, Ammo, Beer. Just seemed that was an appropriate order to life.

From hot to cold

2007-07-22T23:53:00.000-07:00

Oh my goodness! It is hot hot hot in Arizona. There are many amazing things to see and hikes to take there, but alas none of them were done by me. Another stop to make when it is not so hot. The one place I did stop was at the San Xavier Mission in Tucson. It started in 1692, long before there were thirteen colonies. Two things I did not understand about the mission…I mean it was an amazingly beautiful oasis in the desert. It’s not hard to see why the natives of the area wanted to join up to be in such a place. The insides were incredibly ornate with many statues (sadly missing limbs from age). But here’s the thing I’ve never seen in any other church – the statues were wearing clothes. Real clothes that someone had made for them recently and put on the wooden statues. Now to me that’s a little odd. A statue of Mary was wearing this ornate white lace gown and another statue of a man was wearing a bright red button up shirt. Hmmm…

This is a picture of the side little chapel where you can light candles for Mary. There were more statues of Mary in there than I had ever seen. And the number of candles burning made it so hot that just standing in the door you could feel the waves of heat escaping. I couldn’t even go in.

So from Tucson I headed west to San Diego. And as my friend said that require a drive through Egypt. The drive takes you through a desert in the true sense of the word…rolling white sand dunes and the occasional palm tree. As I was driving, I pulled over to a rest stop on the Arizona California border which was only about 40 miles north of Mexico. This was the rest stop – a sandy clearing with three of the oldest looking port-o-potties I had ever seen. I decided to hold it.

I think this deems a side little story, because it has happened to me twice on this trip which is a little crazy if you ask me. I was in Missouri or Kansas, I don’t remember, but either way I was way out in the middle of nowhere with nothing around and I had to go to the bathroom so badly. There was nothing in sight except the flat bed truck driving in front of me with portable toilets on it. If that’s some sort of twisted cosmic humor I don’t know what is. The other time happened when I was stuck in traffic and couldn't go anywhere. And then a big truck carrying portable toilets got on the road next to me. Not so funny!

San Diego was so much fun!! Also crazy that thus far California is the coolest place heat wise that I have been. Would not have guessed that. I made it to San Diego for opening day at Del Mar racetrack. So much fun. I felt somewhat prepared as I had stopped and taken a tour of Churchill downs when I was in Kentucky. I went to opening day with a good friend of mine and her family. It is a tradition for them. Opening day at Del Mar is a tradition in and of itself. Every one gets dressed up wearing hats in that very My Fair Lady way. There were some of the craziest looking hats I have ever seen. There were hats with fountains, plants, buildings, and other craziness coming off them. Here are a few of my favorites.

I did not go so crazy, but I did wear a hat. I also tried my hand at betting. And sadly after five races I was 40 cents down. I’m such a big spender. Although, my first horse won the race and I won $10. Such a feeling of glory!

The Desert

2007-07-21T23:13:00.001-07:00

So it would seem there is some extreme catching up to do. Life gets rolling, literally, and I get behind. My national park tour was continued slightly as I drove to the Grand Canyon after Zion. When I was in college, I did a six-day trip along the bottom of the Grand Canyon. But that was sadly…oh…um…like ten years ago. I remember it being the most amazing place, but I was wondering after all my recent national park stops how it would compare. And although Arches many well still be my favorite, the Grand Canyon is still amazing. It’s hard to take it in from one place or even one view it’s so big. It was fun to look down in the canyon and pick out the various mesas I remember camping on. Pretty cool. So for all those wondering it’s still there—still a big hole. Although I was a little surprised at all the blackened forest surrounding it. I don’t remember hearing about a huge forest fire there.

From the GC, I drove out to the Navajo and Hopi reservations and down through the Painted Desert. I find it rather interesting that two tribes, who in history weren’t the friendliest tribes with each other, have reservations on top of each other. Quite literally the Hopi reservation is in the middle, completely surrounded by Navajo reservation. Just thought that was interesting, nice of us to set that up for them.

The Painted Desert is a difficult thing to actually see. There are no roads that really go through it, and a barren flat space that is pretty much a horizontal line is hard to see. But I did take the nearest road I could find to drive through it and can you believe it start to spit rain. I was for practical purposes in the desert and it was raining. Interesting!

The next stop was Flagstaff. I don’t know whether it was because it was the first real town/city I had been in for a while. Or maybe it was just nice to be in a place with life, but the downtown area of Flagstaff was awesome. I loved it. I could have walked around forever. Alas it was only a few blocks, but I still enjoyed it. Also did my fair share of train track dodging. I felt initiated.

Now Arizona is an odd place. It seems like it should be a desert, dry and flat but there are National Forests, mountains, even volcanoes there.I stopped and looked at a few of them on my way to Tucson (yes not the most popular stop in July). I also stopped at some old pueblo ruins on my way down. This place sits out in the middle of the desert with nothing in sight and you have to wonder what it was like when it was built. There’s no way to tell really how old they are, but they guess around mid 1200s. Pretty crazy that any part of it is still standing or that anyone could survive living out there.

I also stopped at Montezuma’s Castle. I would have loved to go up inside of this place, but they closed it to the public a long time ago. Here’s something that blew my mind…this cliff dwelling was built around the same time as Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Um, slightly different building styles don’t you think?

NP Trifecta

2007-07-13T20:21:00.001-07:00

What are men to rocks and mountains?

That’s a quote from favorite source of witty advice – Pride and Prejudice. Although I would like to add to it, what are rocks and mountains to mother nature. If my last few days of national park touring has taught me anything, it is that water and wind are some pretty forceful things when give a few million years to do their work.

The first stop in the National Park tour was Arches. From the drive up into the land of wind and rain swept rock, to the red color of the sand that you have to walk through (my white tennis shoes are now pink), the whole place is crazy. Crazy in that awe inspiring way. Two of the better sights were one, the Balanced rock. I took a walk around this guy and was impressed by how all the sides look different. So to answer the question how does that happen…in simple terms, the ones I understand, the layers are made of different types of rock. The different types erode at different rates. For this picture, it just happens that the lower layers are eroding faster than the top layers and…tada, you get this crazy looking thing.

The next sight was the Delicate Arch. Now I’m sure you’ve all seen pictures of this. It’s on the Utah license plate for all that. But what they don’t tell you is that it is on the other side of this rather large hill. So I struck out on the climb at 9:30 am since it was gong to be 103 in the park that afternoon. I decided to go early and avoid the nutty heat. What a lot of good that did. It’s still 90 some degrees at nine in the morning. Anyway, I huffed and puffed my way up and over the hill, The trail led you over a wide rock face where the trail was just a worn groove for part of it and cut into the side of it for the other part. I got to the top and turned the corner and my knees went limp and my stomach dropped. The other thing they don’t tell you is that this iconic arch sits on the rim of a very steep bowl. I thought I had gotten better with my slight fear of heights…guess not. I sank to the nearest rock and didn’t move. You stand on the opposite rim and look at it. Or if you’re crazy like some people you could make your way along the bowl to get a closer look. Me…I sat and looked. It didn’t help that there was a rather forceful wind that felt like it was trying peel me off the rock. But in the end I’d have to say it was worth it. I can now say I’ve seen it…and that I made it up and down.

The next stop was Bryce Canyon National Park (and by the way on the drive from Arches to Bryce Canyon I think I saw every type of land form – desert, alpine mountains, rock canyons, and farmland). Bryce Canyon is a humbling view. I took a short hike down into the canyon, which unfortunately means you have to climb out of the canyon at the end. Anyway, I hiked down and around the hoodoos. That is what these free-standing spire things are called. Pretty funny if you ask me. Now after I got out of the canyon, it started to hail. Yes, hail! How does it hail in 90 degree weather? Just doesn’t seem right to me. But thankfully both my car and I made it through with out any dents.

Just a note about people in national parks. Don’t talk on your cell phone while standing at a scenic over look taking a picture. I mean really. It’s up there with there talking during a movie. Almost as bad…almost.

The third NP stop was Zion. It is incredible! A very quiet and humbling place – I guess they named it well huh? My only issue with Zion is that it felt more like an amusement ride. There is no driving in the park, so you have to take these shuttle busses and listen to guided tours. I’m not to keen of being herded with other people. You can get off and walk around all you want, but to go from place to place the bus is the only way. I’m so mad that I didn’t get to take the narrows hike, which is walking up the river (in the river) into the very steep and narrow parts of the canyon. Sadly I had left my water shoes in the car, which was way back down at the park gate.

Bottom line on all – I need to go back when it’s not so hot!!

On a totally side note – is there anything quite so idyllic as a stream that meanders through a flat grass field with cows grazing in the back ground. I passed this stream on my way to Bryce Canyon and didn’t take a picture, but I had to go back the next day and take it. Just too perfect.

Driving x 2

2007-07-10T20:36:00.000-07:00

So again I have some catching up to do. From Kansas, I drove to Denver and Boulder (and having now driven through Colorado all I can say is wow they have a diverse landscape). Coming into Denver from the Kansas-esque eastern farmland, the Rocky Mountains loom and some how all the houses and people suddenly looked like they smacked against the mountains and settled. I mean if I was a settler coming west across the prairie and I came up against the Rockies I would probably say, “this is good…I don’t need to go over those.”

Except after a few days in Boulder and a night in Denver area, I began my trek over them. I took a very narrow, at times one lane close your eyes and hope no one is coming the other way road, but amazing road all the same. The switch back all the way up and often dipped in the direction of the sharp drop off the side of mountain with no guardrail.

Now all my driving has just reinforced my number one driving conundrum. I can’t turn my head and look at all the pretty scenery I am driving passed. And if I want to look or take a picture, I am like a jack-in-the-box popping out of my car at every turn. There’s no easy solution, but I have gotten pretty good at taking pictures while driving.

I ended up going over Independence pass and the Continental Divide. I have missed the smell of alpine air. And no comment on how bad this picture is – you can’t complain when you ask someone to take your picture. So that road dropped me into Aspen. I spent a few hours walking around. Wow trendy and I now understand what mountain chic is!

My next amazing drive was in the southeastern corner of Colorado along the Utah border. It wasn’t flat farms, or mountain alpine, but desert canyons. The road wound along the bottom of a canyon. At times the canyon closed in on the road and I felt like I was going to get squashed between two slabs of rock…or that some huge hunk of rock was going to decide to erode in a dramatic fashion.

I once read somewhere that canyon walls were mountains that stood knee deep in their own rubble. I don’t know why that has always stuck with me, but it is a very good description. That image definitely fits the drive into the Canyonlands National Park. It was so hard to get a picture when you can only take a narrow portion of a 360 degree panorama – very frustrating.

Also on the drive into the Canyonlands NP, is the Newspaper Rock. It is petroglyph panel etched in sandstone some time between late B.C. and 1300 AD. Pretty cool! And since no one knows what the images mean, we can make it up.

Now all these pretty drives were dented slightly, when I created my first road kill today. I have been so good swerving, stopping, or straddling critters. I have dodged hitting toads, a turtle, squirrels, deer, vultures, wild turkeys (boy are they dumb), a prairie dog, and a fox, but a little chipmunk didn’t make it today. And the cloud of butterflies I drove through don’t count, because some of them lived.

But I am now in Moab, UT and will be doing a massive national park tour for the next few days.

Gas (getting ridiculous):
Denver - $3.09
Aspen - $3.24
Moab - $3.15

wow, huh, and why

2007-07-06T15:09:00.001-07:00

So I’ve spent almost a week in Kansas now and here are some of my general conclusions. Under the wow heading… I took a drive straight south in the western half of Kansas (which by the way is much different than the eastern part). My drive took me through Greensburg, KS. For those who don’t remember, Greensburg was just about wiped off the map a couple months ago by a tornado. All I can say is wow. The farms and fields surrounding the town looked like the rest of Kansas, except they were littered with debris – crumpled metal, hunks of wood, or random items like a garbage can or other household items. Driving into to town the first thing I noticed were the huge piles of rubble; then the trees which looked like fuzzy sticks as they had been stripped of their branch, but were starting to grow again; next were the street lights and stop lights that were just poles with wires hanging down – the lights were gone. The row of emergency tents was especially humbling. There really is nothing left of the town. And structures left are random walls attached to nothing. But the best part is that the town is going to rebuild!!

These pictures are pitiful in terms of capturing anything. If you want to check out some real pictures go here.

As I drove farther east, I kept passing these signs to come pet the pigs and see the world’s largest prairie dog. Clearly, I had to see that. So I pulled up to the bright red shack/trailer in the middle of nowhere. This place was definitely a scratch your head, huh, kind of place. Behind the trailer was a dusty dirt field with prairie dogs running allover.
I would step over a hole in the ground and a little prairie dog head would pop up under me. But sadly the world’s largest prairie dog is cement. But this place didn’t just have a cement prairie dog, it had goats roaming around, snakes, pigs, and the strangest cows you’ve ever seen or ever want to see. Yes this cow has five legs.

Notice the fifth leg hanging from its neck…hoof and all. Now there was a six-legged cow, but she never got up for a photo-op. But her extra lags were coming out her rear end. All this for the low, low price of $6.95. Are there words…I don’t think so.

And lastly, truly under the why question is this…
It is an 80-foot easel with a 24ft by 32 ft replica of Vincent Van Gough’s Sunflowers. It sits in Goodland, KS with not much fanfare. It is true in eastern Kansas; there are some inventive ways to get you to pull off the highway.

Gas update:
Manhattan, KS - $2.99
Russell, KS - $2.89
Denver, CO - $3.09

Kansas! Kansas!

2007-07-02T19:27:00.000-07:00

As many of you know I was very excited to go to Kansas when I began this trip. And I’m here! Today, I took a drive through the Flint Hills and they did not disappoint. I stopped at the National Park Station in the middle of the hills and took a hike from there. It was a perfect day of wind and no humidity. Every step along the path, through the rolling green hills, a cloud of crickets erupted from the ground. And by the way, crickets are large and hard and feel about like being pelted with pebbles when they spring in every direction including your arms and legs. But it was amazing. I apologize for all the romanticism, but I felt like I was about 5 years old again, wanting to be Laura Ingles Wilder. The Flint Hills are the largest untouched tall grass plains left in America. I got out into the middle of them and couldn’t see anything but grass pebbled with stones – thus the name Flint Hills. I somehow found myself imagining all the pioneers that traveled through them. And lucky for me not to far from the National Park Station someone had made giant statues of a covered wagon train up on the peak of a hill. I didn’t have to imagine after all. If you ever make it to Kansas the Flint Hills are worth a stop. Check it out.

I then meandered my way around, and ended up in Delia, Kansas. I sought out this town for my namesake and to have a whole new idea of what it meant to find yourself. I drove about ten miles down this road into the middle of nowhere and then I saw it. Delia, Kansas is about three streets wide by about three streets long – not quite a square city block. I drove around and saw the school and the community center, and street of cute neighborhood houses in the middle of a wheat field. Finally, I found a post office. I went in to see if someone could tell me how the town got it’s name. The post office was closed. There were no other buildings. So I drove to the edge of town, two streets over, and stopped at a house where a little old man was mowing his grass. How did the town get the name Delia, I asked. “Oh,” he said leaning in so I could hear him. “Now let’s think. I should know this. I can’t remember the name of the family who started the town. Let’s go ask the authority.” He walked me back to his wife who was picking beans in their garden. Cunningham. The family’s name was Cunningham and Delia was one of the lady’s names. Of course they were quick to tell me that Delia used to be on the other side of the train tracks and this town used to be David. (In my head, I have this idea that the towns were named after long lost lovers of sort, but that’s just in my head).

Anyway, the Cunninghams moved Delia over the train tracks and disbanded the old town. My new friend and his wife have lived in the Delia for 45 years. And the school in town used to be the high school, but they moved the high school to a neighboring town that was bigger. It is now a middle school. And the old middle school is now the community center. The big news of town was that last week the community center got three window air conditioners, because the last town election they had, they all just about died of heat. They said there used to be three grocery stores and several bars in the town, but they were all gone now. Both of them weren’t sad to see the bars leave. They caused to much ruckus.

I told my new friends that I was driving from Boston to Seattle and they looked at me like I was crazy. But they said they had been to Fort Lewis Army Base near Seattle. As have I for many a volleyball tournament. Well, he had set sail out of Fort Lewis on the Omaha in World War II. Which sort of blew me over.

It was great. I stood there talking and watched the combine plow the wheat field across the street. So after today, I have to say I really like Kansas.

In the Land of Corn

2007-07-01T20:12:00.000-07:00

I’m developing a distressing trend of “camping” in the rain, which inevitably turns into thunder and lighting. Last night, I slept in my car in the Mark Twin National Forest – a legitimate campsite, so a step up from baseball fields I’d say.

Yesterday started by getting obscenely lost in the land of cornfields. This picture on repeat is what I saw for hours…except when I got lost on a gravel road, then the corn stalks looked much bigger. I know the old saying that corn should be knee high by the 4th of July and well…I’d like to see some of the knees around here. The corn was over my head.

I finished following the Ohio River all the way to the Mississippi. But not before I made a few stops. I drove the byway into Old Shawneetown where the byway unceremoniously ended. There was a sign in the middle of the road that said “END.” If I had gone any farther, I would have driven into the Ohio River. The only thing I can say about Old Shawneetown is that it had about three buildings – one abandoned building, one huge three-story, Greek-style stone building complete with columns that looked like it belonged somewhere in the old section of a city, and one building that read “saloon” and there were many cars parked out front. And then I had to like the town because any town that can have a saloon without irony has to be okay.

So from there I drove to Metropolis, IL. Yes that would the fabled town of Superman. Except Metropolis was a bit more like Smallville than the New York style home of the Daily Planet.

I did have one unexpectedly wonderful stop – The Garden of the Gods. Illinois has only one national forest and they chose well. I took a little hike/walk and stood in awe at a forest that in prehistoric times was the bottom of a sea.

Now on a totally separate tangent – as I have been driving I see the same town names, street names, and even river names in every area. I mean how many Rip Rap Roads should there be. Our settlers didn’t have a very large imagination. But here are two of my favorites for well…my own amusement. Leather Strap (a small four house town) – for the absurdity of it. And Future City (another very small town) – for the optimistic propheticness of it (and no that's not a word, I know).

The River Road

2007-06-29T08:30:00.000-07:00

I had this idea to follow the Ohio River since it’s in my book of scenic drives and passes through stops I had to make. So I picked it up in West Virginia and have followed its banks thus far to Evansville, IN (including the stop Cincinnati). It’s been a pretty nice drive. I am glad that time is not such an issue. I wouldn’t take the river road if I wanted get anywhere specific. I’ve hit turns in the road that are a little over a 180-degree turns. So…driving speeds are kept to about 40 mph or less. The road passes through rolling farms, forest, and over many bluffs. And for someone who doesn’t like writing description that’s enough for me. Here are some pictures.

This is a view of the Ohio from a bluff in Indiana.

The woods in Ohio/West Virginia…and yes this picture was taken while I was driving. It’s pretty interesting to see where you’re going through a digital camera screen.

I thought it would be rather appropriate to listen to Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn while I drove along the Ohio River. It’s the wrong river I realize, but it’s close enough. I’m heading out again tomorrow and just to complete the story tour I’m going to pass through Cairo (pronounced in the book K-row) the town Huck and Jim miss to go north so Jim could be free. And to round it off I think I’ll stop in the Mark Twain National Forest when I get to Missouri.

I now need a new book to listen to…

Gas in Evansville : $2.89

Cincinnati, OH

2007-06-27T11:13:00.000-07:00

I have some catching up to do. I wrote this update a while a go, but was not able to post it. I’ve been down for the count with food poisoning, which if you’ve never gotten it is a nasty business. I just have to say, if it had to happen, I’m glad it happened while I was in a place with a bed and bathroom near by. Getting food poisoning while in a campground would have to be in the top ten worst things that could happen.

Anyway, I drove from West Virginia to Cincinnati along the Ohio River – a very winding, but pretty road. I was in Cincinnati for my dad’s family reunion. Now the fact that my dad is from a rather large family only makes things more interesting. I think the last time I actually saw all my relatives on that side (well that’s an exaggeration because I don’t think I have ever seen all my family in one place, that would be a ridiculous amount) I was 10 years old. So really in my knowledge, I have never been in a room with so many people I was related too. In all, it was pretty fun to see people I have haven’t seen since I was little – or I suppose that would be meeting them first time.

This is the house where my dad grew up and heard many stories that made me wonder how all his brothers and sisters lived to adulthood…setting the house on fire, stealing gas from gas stations at night, building carts with an engine and running them down a main street only to have the wheels fall off and the cart go careening down the hill in a mass of sparks, or throwing knives at each other. And really all I can say about all those stories is that my parents can have nothing to complain about. They had it so easy with my sister and I.

The motley Greve clan (the immediate brothers and sisters)…

I had other things planned for the time in Ohio, but alas the time was spent in bed. So I am off to Indiana.

Gas:
Cincinnati - $2.95

Mountain Driving

2007-06-20T18:20:00.000-07:00

So... I am in Ripley, WV right now. I drove a lot today, all on two lane roads that were very twisty and turny. My little eyes are bugging out. Yesterday I went to Jamestown, took the Jamestown ferry across the Chesapeake, and then drove across VA to the Blue Ridge Mountians. I slept in my car there (in a camp ground slash the field behind the little league baseball diamonds). It was pretty good, but very sticky hot. So I cracked the windows for air, but by about 1 am…I was getting wet. It had started raining. I scrambled around, crawling over the driver's seat to turn the car on so I could roll up the windows, but in my haste I hit the panic button on my keys - aptly named since it made me panic. So nice of me to alert everyone in the area that I was there. It rained hard all night with car rattling thunder and lightening. I may have been a tin box in a big grass field during a lightening storm, but at least I was dry.

Needless to say I didn't get much sleep, so I took off before it got light and headed up into the Blue Hills and took a nap at a scenic overlook. The Blue Hills as well as the Shenandoah Valley are really beautiful.

Oh and this is for the folks in Boston…it made me laugh. Boston is a knob, not a mountain or even a hill. Just a knob.

I also picked up a couple of hitchhikers just outside the Shenandoah National Park. They were a couple of college-aged kids back packing the Appalachian trial. They wanted a lift into the nearest town to get blue body paint since the next day was hike naked day. They thought they'd paint themselves blue so as not to scare any kids they came across in the Appalachian towns. Somehow I think two naked bodies painted blue might scare them more, but whatever. Hope they have fun.

I have counted 25 bug bites on my right leg from knee to ankle alone and about 15 per arm. My survival = Benadryl.

Gas update:
Eastern VA - $2. 97
Western VA - $2.91
Eastern WV - $2.76
Western WV - $3.09

And last, the map update:

The Pony Hunt

2007-06-18T18:01:00.001-07:00

It’s been a long day that’s for sure. I left DC this morning and drove to Chincoteague, VA by way of the eastern bank of Maryland – lots of farms and small towns. It looked like something that should have been in the mid-west, except the corn and wheat fields were edged in thick trees (one could even say forest). I got down to Chincoteague without a hitch, but getting to Assateague Wildlife Refuge took some patience. I sat on the bridge to get to the island forever – just sat there. Good thing this was my view…

But needless to say, I missed the refuge tour and had to create my own search for the wild ponies. The ranger was very helpful in pointing out places where I might find them. To quote him, “I’ve never been up to the ridge and not seen them.” So I set out on the 2-mile hike to see the ponies. Did I mention it was 100 degrees, well 98 degrees but close enough. I made it about five feet up the trail when I got swarmed by mosquitoes and I mean swarmed. I don’t think if I had bathed in DEET it would have done anything. But I pushed on and made it to the overlook. Apparently the ponies liked the heat as much I did. No wild ponies! I ran all the way back down to my car and jumped in. Unfortunately part of my swarm made it too. I then had a massacre of bugs in my car. You know it’s bad when you slap them and they leave a red streak across your legs. So I drove out to the other side and waded out in the Atlantic Ocean to wash off the blood. No ponies on that side of the island either. I went to another ranger station and asked again. No such luck – apparently the ponies like to hide in the forests and shade when it’s that hot out. I was about to give up – when I spotted this… Yes if you can’t tell, those dots are wild ponies!

I also drove over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. I paid $12 to drive over that bridge – total extortion. But if you ever get a chance to drive over it, pay up. It’s 20 miles of crazy bridge. I couldn’t see land in any direction for most of the drive, but I was on a bridge! And bridges that sink under the water to let boats go over the top rather than rise up so boats go underneath are just cool. Check it out.

I am no longer in New England that’s for sure. The first restaurant I walked into asked if I wanted smoking section or non…and ever since I crossed into Virginia, everyone single person has said hello and have a nice day - from the woman at the visitors center to the teenagers at the gas station.

VA Bound

2007-06-17T15:55:00.000-07:00

Oops…somehow I got a day off. I was little shocked this morning when I realized that tomorrow is the 18th and not the 17th. I guess that means it's time to move on. I am heading down to Virginia tomorrow, not on Tuesday. What are ya gonna do? I spent the day at the zoo here in DC. Last time I was here, they had just had a baby panda born. I remember waiting in line forever to see the baby panda, only to get to the front and see a zookeeper standing there with a picture of him. So not cool. But this time I got to the see the baby. Although he doesn’t look so much like a baby now. I guess that’s why they’re called giant pandas.

So I’ve decided to try and post a map as I go along to track my route. We’ll see how this works, but thus far this is where I’ve been.

Tomorrow I head out early to go to Chincoteague, VA and then on down to…we’ll see when I get down there. This begins the real solo trekking of the trip. No more interstates, no more crazy 10-lane highways. I’m hoping to make it across the country by stringing together routes from my National Geographic book of the most scenic byways in America. Here we go…

Next Stop DC

2007-06-15T14:10:00.001-07:00

I left NYC this morning to make my way to DC. I had an awesome time in NYC hanging out with Brooke and Clementine. We had lots of walks, good made-up conversations, and our own run-in with the Pitt/Jolie baby clan at the children’s museum.
Also got to experience a little of NYC's wilder side – not crazy all night parties, but more in the way of the city’s wild life. Now I’m all for communing with nature. Never really had issues with bugs or spiders…but mice. Mice are another thing all together. Particularly when you’re sleeping on the floor and you’re at their level. And they wouldn’t be NYC mice if they weren’t just a little bold…or very bold. The first mouse I saw I got up to scare it away, but it just scurried to the other side of the room and watched, waiting for me to leave. So i ran at it and chased it to the other side. It crossed back again and stared at me.

A fun fact…mice hate the smell of peppermint. I poured peppermint flavoring into every little hole. Haha. I win. Wild Kingdom in the Concrete Jungle.

Now I’m somewhere in New Jersey on my way to DC. For a pretty long, skinny shaped state, they have the widest highways I have ever seen – six lanes going each direction. Make me wonder…

Oh and Katie, as requested, gas prices thus far:
Boston - $2.97
NYC - $3.23
New Jersey - $2.89

So far it looks like your new home is in the land of big roads.

And so it begins…

2007-06-12T17:30:00.000-07:00

It’s starting. I’m off. What is that saying? A journey begins by stepping outside your front door, or a friend’s door in my case. And what should I find just outside my friend’s front door – my car with a parking ticket! My last day in Boston and I got my first parking ticket. It just seemed all to fitting a way to leave. Waving the ticket in the air, I drove out of town.

And what a pretty day to drive – bright, blue sunny sky. I rolled down all the windows and let the smell of cut grass blow around the car. The first stop NYC. I hear the collective scoff that my first stop of my big trip is the city. But I’m not going to make the wild west in one day. So I successfully navigated my way to NYC and drove into and parked in the city. I can now say I have driven in the city and I have to say, not so bad.

So now I am lounging at my friends in the west village. I’ve taken a walk around the neighborhood, run into a random friend in true NY style, had cupcakes, and a dance party with a one-year-old. End of trip day one.

so long number 95

2007-06-04T06:59:00.000-07:00

On Friday, I moved my remaining things out and handed in my keys. It’s was strange to walk out for the last time. Of course about ten feet outside the front door, I automatically checked that I had my keys with me and had a wave of panic when they weren’t there. Stop, breath, keep walking. It's the way it is suppose to be.

I’ve had some good memories in that place. A few of my favorites - our annual Christmas parties… The time they gutted our bathroom and I had to go so badly at about 3 am that I snuck up the back stairs, into the apartment above, and crept through the sleepy sounds to their bathroom… Or the time I locked myself out and had the brilliant idea of gathering all the recycling bins in the neighborhood and stacking them up to reach my back porch. I climbed up the precarious stack, only to have them topple over leaving me hanging from my back porch… Or the absent habit I had of picking the flaking paint off the walls while I was on the phone… Oh the good times.

It's all empty now. Most definitely the end of an era but oh so liberating!

A Perfect Picture

2007-05-28T17:53:00.000-07:00

I am so tired that I cannot move. Literally, I am typing this laying flat on my back, my lap top on my stomach, and the exertion needed to move my fingers is somewhere on par with pushing a heavy boulder uphill.

I have just completed a most unrelaxing Memorial Day weekend. I packed up my life and put it in storage. I moved into my apartment almost seven years ago (a ridiculous amount of time in one place for someone in their twenties) with two bags of clothes and that was all. And well…I have acquired much since then. My two bags seemed to the have been spit out of the Mysterious Multiplying Jar and seven years later I have many many more bags. But the master packer has crammed most everything into boxes and lugged them all to storage.

Now, I feel like I’m in one of those movie shots designed to show how lonely or depressed a person is - the camera pans away and a person is sitting in the middle of an empty room in a lone chair watching the only other thing in the room, a TV. Except in my in shot, I’m laying on the floor staring at a screen two feet in front of me that is balanced on my stomach. The room is totally bare, but the floor is strewn with random and strange things I don’t even remember buying and don’t know what to do with. And far from depressed, I’m celebrating, jumping up and down…or would be if I wasn’t so darn tired.

The Eagle Has Landed

2007-05-21T20:24:00.000-07:00

The car has arrived. It is true. I got the call that my car had completed it's journey and was waiting for me. I went down, signed all the papers, and promised them my first born. And the pending question of how I would react...well at first sight I was in total joy, but then after an hour in a white washed room with an overly tan man whose teeth were as unnaturally white as his false hair line, which resembled something more like the crumpled mesh from a tutu than actual hair - to say the least, after exiting that room I had a little melt down.

God bless my friends who drove me a out there to buy it, sign the papers, and pick it up. They will never have to cart me around again.

And without further delay....

Ain't it a beauty! Cross item one off the list of things to do before I leave on this little journey.

Still waiting

2007-05-17T06:54:00.000-07:00

My car still has not arrived. This has become the greatest game of patience I have played in a long time. And I'm losing. The car people tell me that they now expect it next week. The delay is pushing everything back and getting mighty close to when I have to move out. All those things I was waiting to do until my car arrived are getting squashed into a very short time. The first trip my car may make is to drive off the car lot to my apartment, packed up with stuff, and driven to the storage place. That ought to break it in nicely.

Hopefully that was the last "it's coming next week" phone call I get.

The car

2007-05-08T06:07:00.000-07:00

For all those interested in the seemingly unending car saga, it has reached our western border and begun its cross-country trek. I bought my new car, a Honda Fit, in the beginning of April and have been waiting for its arrival ever since. It was born from an assembly line in Japan on April 12th, braved the Pacific Ocean in a tanker ship, and has now officially landed in the US. I got the call yesterday that it is in Montana, making its way to the east coast. It should be arriving in Boston sometime mid next week - only to be packed up and driven back across the country the other way.

People keep asking me if I'm excited for the trip and my response is always the same, "It doesn't feel real yet. It'll be real when my car gets here." And when I think about things I need to do to pack and move, I say, "I'll do that when my car gets here." So next week when my car gets here...it's going to be great or it's all going to hit me. I hope it's the first one, but if it's the second one - there will be drinks.

It's starting...

2007-05-01T16:18:00.000-07:00

...to freak me out. I'm hitting the road. Moving out of my apartment in Boston and driving around the country for the next few months. When I made this decision, it seemed like there was plenty of time to change everything in my life. I plan on this trip being rather liberating, but right now it's just a lot of planning—one too many big kid things to do. I have to move out, move into my car, get a car, buy a map. You know the basics.

The impetus for this little trip came from an idea I had for a book. The book is titled Fat Chance. I know I know a title before the book is even written is a little backwards, but I'm going with it. It may change as I chase down this book, but regardless this will be my Fat Chance America tour.

The Fat Chance America Tour starts... oh sometime in the beginning of June. I'll keep ya posted.