9,702: miles traveled during the trip. the first few miles in montana went the fastest, because i had gradually increased the speed to 100 before i saw a 75 mph speed limit sign. who knew montana had reinstituted a speed limit. the fastest farm roads were in texas, where you could go 70, so long as you kept an eye out for farm machinery.
$1,647.96: amount spent on gas. the price varied around the nation, with a number of places in the $3.85-$3.99 per-gallon range and others over $4. washington state is among those with the highest prices.
$3,648.76: amount spent on lodging. this varied as well, from $80 per night in some places to, well, considerably more in key west and d.c. i found that location determined price as much or more than the quality of the room. for example, the uninhabitable room at the howard johnson's in pensacola was $120, while the nice room just a few blocks away was $90.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
road rage
of all the states i traveled through -- washington, oregon, idaho, utah, arizona, new mexico, colorado, wyoming, texas, arkansas, tennessee, alabama, florida, georgia, south carolina, north carolina, virginia, west virginia, pennsylvania, ohio, missouri, kansas, nebraska and montana, as well as the d. of c., washington state by far has the poorest highway system, particularly from the standpoint of maintenance. it also has, by far, the worst drivers. in other states, i'd see the occasional driver who forced everyone else to adjust to him or her, but in washington they're everywhere. and there seem to be more now than when i left a month ago...
a wow moment
while olivia and i were at the fairly new museum of the american indian in washington, d.c., and looking at the displays, she spotted what looked remarkably like a sculpture i have at home. after looking at it for a while, we were both certain it was the same. i wrote down the artist's name, amos wallace, and took a look at mine when i got home. same artist. same sculpture. now the question is, does the museum have the original or do i? either way, it was pretty cool to see something displayed that prominently in the museum that i also have at home...
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
day 29
the potholes in eastern washington to home in woodinville, washington; 209 miles.
i guess that's it. end of the road. home again.
the last leg was nice, crossing the columbia river at vantage, seeing mount rainier come into view -- big and snowy -- as i reached the ryegrass summit west of vantage. as i approached the cascades, the cloud bank spilling across the mountains was thick and swollen with moisture. looked ominous. looked good. looked like i was back home.
when i left just about a month ago, it was cloudy; fittingly, it was again when i returned home. i'm told there was sun while i was gone.
now it's time to be normal for a while.
in the next few days, i'll probably put together some observations and post them.
thanks to everyone who joined me on the road, either from their homes or in person at various points. it was a good ride. we'll have to do it again some time. good night, everyone...
tomorrow:
i guess that's it. end of the road. home again.
the last leg was nice, crossing the columbia river at vantage, seeing mount rainier come into view -- big and snowy -- as i reached the ryegrass summit west of vantage. as i approached the cascades, the cloud bank spilling across the mountains was thick and swollen with moisture. looked ominous. looked good. looked like i was back home.
when i left just about a month ago, it was cloudy; fittingly, it was again when i returned home. i'm told there was sun while i was gone.
now it's time to be normal for a while.
in the next few days, i'll probably put together some observations and post them.
thanks to everyone who joined me on the road, either from their homes or in person at various points. it was a good ride. we'll have to do it again some time. good night, everyone...
tomorrow:
Monday, July 21, 2008
day 28
billings, montana, to the potholes in eastern washington via idaho; 672 miles.
yes, i'll drive this far for mom's home cooking. and her washer and dryer. feels good to be back in washington, though the stretch between spokane and moses lake isn't much to write about. crossed the continental divide just east of butte, montana, at 6,393 feet. that's almost three times as the eastern continental divide back in maryland or west virginia. also saw my first skull tree today somewhere in montana. someone had taken bleached skulls of critters and nailed them to a tree in their front yard. i wonder why more people around the country don't do that. didn't stray far from the interstate today, once to find decent coffee in livingston, montana, which led me to a park with a really nice statue of sacajawea and her kid on a horse. also drove through anaconda, montana, to see all of its dead trees. decades of mining and smelting had killed most of the trees in the area. there are still some dead ones visible, but i think they maybe cut down and burned most of the bad ones. the key to the day was arriving at mom's, where i had spent the first night of the trip, so now i've closed the loop. good night, mom; good night, linda and george; good night, olivia.
tomorrow: the potholes to woodinville to wrap up this trip and start planning the next one.
yes, i'll drive this far for mom's home cooking. and her washer and dryer. feels good to be back in washington, though the stretch between spokane and moses lake isn't much to write about. crossed the continental divide just east of butte, montana, at 6,393 feet. that's almost three times as the eastern continental divide back in maryland or west virginia. also saw my first skull tree today somewhere in montana. someone had taken bleached skulls of critters and nailed them to a tree in their front yard. i wonder why more people around the country don't do that. didn't stray far from the interstate today, once to find decent coffee in livingston, montana, which led me to a park with a really nice statue of sacajawea and her kid on a horse. also drove through anaconda, montana, to see all of its dead trees. decades of mining and smelting had killed most of the trees in the area. there are still some dead ones visible, but i think they maybe cut down and burned most of the bad ones. the key to the day was arriving at mom's, where i had spent the first night of the trip, so now i've closed the loop. good night, mom; good night, linda and george; good night, olivia.
tomorrow: the potholes to woodinville to wrap up this trip and start planning the next one.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
day 27
north platte, nebraska, to billings, montana; 657 miles.
today was humbling. first by the weather, which to this point had been perfect, so long as you like hot and humid. today dawned cloudy, down-to-the-ground cloudy that didn't seem to want to let the sun in. i had decided earlier that chimney rock in western nebraska would be a key marker on the trip, that everything west of it would be the west, and everything east the rest. i had visited the rock with judy blake a few decades ago and wanted to see if it impressed me as much this time. it did. and the clouds lifted just in time for me to see it off in the distance. the second humbling was courtesy of don from tulsa. we had arrived at the chimney rock visitors center a little before it opened, so we started talking. he was on his way home to conclude a road trip on his bike. don had gone to the northeast corner of maine to start his trip, then motorcycled across the country to lapush, washington. gulp. but i figured my trip from cape flattery to key west was at least the equal of his, so i was feeling pretty good. but then he mentioned casually that a few years ago he went from key west to prudhoe bay, alaska. and before that, he and some friends had biked down to argentina. i was more than humbled by his trips; i think my jaw scraped the pavement. we were both humbled, though, by the fact that we were driving comfortably around the country while the first folks who had crossed through here to get to oregon or california or utah -- all wagon train routes to the west passed chimney rock -- had endured hardships we couldn't imagine. there's a cemetery near chimney rock where some of them are buried. after chimney rock, i decided to go due north to the agate fossil beds national monument. there i met arthur short bull, a member of the lakota nation who was painting some watercolor scenes. you can see his work at www.dawnhawk.org. had a nice talk with him, about cultures and perspectives and other things. he's planning a series of paintings related to big tourist spots like chimney rock that will view the scene from the native american perspective and what it was like for them watching the white migration to the west. after talking with him, it was time to find an interstate and pile up some miles. there also were a couple of significant things that happened today: 1) i saw mountains, real mountains, with snow, and 2) i merged onto interstate 90. i could just stay on i-90 all the way home. we'll see. good night, don; have a safe trip home. good night, arthur, and thanks for the drawing you did of me as i sat down to talk with you (the drawing is of me as a wind horse, which fits with driving the mustang and flying down the roads). good night, jean, i'll see you soon...
tomorrow: billings maybe all the way to the potholes in eastern washington to see mom on the return trip home.
today was humbling. first by the weather, which to this point had been perfect, so long as you like hot and humid. today dawned cloudy, down-to-the-ground cloudy that didn't seem to want to let the sun in. i had decided earlier that chimney rock in western nebraska would be a key marker on the trip, that everything west of it would be the west, and everything east the rest. i had visited the rock with judy blake a few decades ago and wanted to see if it impressed me as much this time. it did. and the clouds lifted just in time for me to see it off in the distance. the second humbling was courtesy of don from tulsa. we had arrived at the chimney rock visitors center a little before it opened, so we started talking. he was on his way home to conclude a road trip on his bike. don had gone to the northeast corner of maine to start his trip, then motorcycled across the country to lapush, washington. gulp. but i figured my trip from cape flattery to key west was at least the equal of his, so i was feeling pretty good. but then he mentioned casually that a few years ago he went from key west to prudhoe bay, alaska. and before that, he and some friends had biked down to argentina. i was more than humbled by his trips; i think my jaw scraped the pavement. we were both humbled, though, by the fact that we were driving comfortably around the country while the first folks who had crossed through here to get to oregon or california or utah -- all wagon train routes to the west passed chimney rock -- had endured hardships we couldn't imagine. there's a cemetery near chimney rock where some of them are buried. after chimney rock, i decided to go due north to the agate fossil beds national monument. there i met arthur short bull, a member of the lakota nation who was painting some watercolor scenes. you can see his work at www.dawnhawk.org. had a nice talk with him, about cultures and perspectives and other things. he's planning a series of paintings related to big tourist spots like chimney rock that will view the scene from the native american perspective and what it was like for them watching the white migration to the west. after talking with him, it was time to find an interstate and pile up some miles. there also were a couple of significant things that happened today: 1) i saw mountains, real mountains, with snow, and 2) i merged onto interstate 90. i could just stay on i-90 all the way home. we'll see. good night, don; have a safe trip home. good night, arthur, and thanks for the drawing you did of me as i sat down to talk with you (the drawing is of me as a wind horse, which fits with driving the mustang and flying down the roads). good night, jean, i'll see you soon...
tomorrow: billings maybe all the way to the potholes in eastern washington to see mom on the return trip home.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
day 26
shawnee, kansas, to north platte, nebraska, 478 miles.
we're not in kansas any more, gang. today was another good example of the difference between the interstates and everything else. the interstates are great for getting to a destination; the other roads are great if you want the journey to be as interesting as the destination. i started the day on interstate 70 headed west from the kansas city area. but then i saw a sign for the wizard of oz museum in wamego, kansas. passed on the museum, but there was also an oz winery in wamego, and i picked up a nice bottle of yellow brick road merlot. they say they make the wine right there in oz world, but i wonder where they get the grapes. eastern washington? didn't see any grapes growing anywhere around wamego. just corn and cows. oz world naturally led north to the pony express home station museum, which led to the geographic center of the contiguous 48 states. who knew? apparently they had a bunch of surveyors and assorted engineers and brain surgeons figure out that the geographic center of the u.s. is just outside lebanon, kansas. and it turned out that for the 10 or so minutes i was there, i was the lone person at the center of the universe, er, country. any significance to that? i should hope so. the back roads through northwestern kansas and north into nebraska were just very nice. and fast. i'll also go on record and say that, so far, the folks in kansas have been by far the friendliest. they strike up conversations for any reason: the weather, the car, the washington license plate or just the fact you're headed into a store and they're headed out. small towns in kansas and nebraska, like other midwest states, still have streets made out of brick in their downtown cores. nice to look at; not so nice to drive on. drove on my first toll road today, and saw my first coal train of the trip. the mount hope area of kansas was the flip side to the happy day. i had passed a few dilapidated, run down, worn down, falling down, ramshackle houses and wondered what happened to the folks who once lived there, then saw the cemetery with "mount hope" across the gate. at one time, the folks living there had some hope, but no more. don't know whether it was the depression or dust bowl or what, but folks obviously just packed up and left a long, long time ago. switching topics now with this smooth transition, many thanks to jean for the CDs she mailed to me in omaha. fortunately, the omamaniacs were in kansas city, so i was able to get the package. excellent road music. if anyone needs a "theme" CD put together, jean's the person. lastly, don't ask me why, but for some reason i spent a lot of thinking time on the road today thinking about the next road trip. hmmm. good night, jean; good night, ray; good night, olivia, who called me today to say i had 58 voice messages on the phone at home...
tomorrow: north platte to hopefully sheridan, wyoming; a long day.
we're not in kansas any more, gang. today was another good example of the difference between the interstates and everything else. the interstates are great for getting to a destination; the other roads are great if you want the journey to be as interesting as the destination. i started the day on interstate 70 headed west from the kansas city area. but then i saw a sign for the wizard of oz museum in wamego, kansas. passed on the museum, but there was also an oz winery in wamego, and i picked up a nice bottle of yellow brick road merlot. they say they make the wine right there in oz world, but i wonder where they get the grapes. eastern washington? didn't see any grapes growing anywhere around wamego. just corn and cows. oz world naturally led north to the pony express home station museum, which led to the geographic center of the contiguous 48 states. who knew? apparently they had a bunch of surveyors and assorted engineers and brain surgeons figure out that the geographic center of the u.s. is just outside lebanon, kansas. and it turned out that for the 10 or so minutes i was there, i was the lone person at the center of the universe, er, country. any significance to that? i should hope so. the back roads through northwestern kansas and north into nebraska were just very nice. and fast. i'll also go on record and say that, so far, the folks in kansas have been by far the friendliest. they strike up conversations for any reason: the weather, the car, the washington license plate or just the fact you're headed into a store and they're headed out. small towns in kansas and nebraska, like other midwest states, still have streets made out of brick in their downtown cores. nice to look at; not so nice to drive on. drove on my first toll road today, and saw my first coal train of the trip. the mount hope area of kansas was the flip side to the happy day. i had passed a few dilapidated, run down, worn down, falling down, ramshackle houses and wondered what happened to the folks who once lived there, then saw the cemetery with "mount hope" across the gate. at one time, the folks living there had some hope, but no more. don't know whether it was the depression or dust bowl or what, but folks obviously just packed up and left a long, long time ago. switching topics now with this smooth transition, many thanks to jean for the CDs she mailed to me in omaha. fortunately, the omamaniacs were in kansas city, so i was able to get the package. excellent road music. if anyone needs a "theme" CD put together, jean's the person. lastly, don't ask me why, but for some reason i spent a lot of thinking time on the road today thinking about the next road trip. hmmm. good night, jean; good night, ray; good night, olivia, who called me today to say i had 58 voice messages on the phone at home...
tomorrow: north platte to hopefully sheridan, wyoming; a long day.
Friday, July 18, 2008
day 25
Effingham, Illinois, to Shawnee, Kansas, 359 miles.
Let’s talk about religion for a minute. All over the country, I’ve seen religious icons of sorts, from back-road Baptist churches in Mississippi to the mormon temple in salt lake city to amish country in ohio, the national cathedral in d.c., the native spirituality in the west and the Krishna temple in West Virginia. and much more. Today, there was the biggest cross I’ve ever seen alongside the interstate in Illinois. Not sure how tall it was. 100 feet? Taller? Big, bold and pure white. No signs of any kind; no advertisements. Just the cross. I guess what I’m saying, with this 60-second sermon, is that a big chunk of this country believes in and practices some sort of religion, that another big chunk doesn’t, and that we’re somehow able to pull this off as a nation and not get into any knock-down drag-out holy wars with each other. Sorry, didn’t mean for that to sound either like I’m running for office or pontificating. I suppose it’s that as this trip -- perhaps the first of who knows how many -- motors toward its conclusion in the next week or so, I’m starting to pull some disparate pieces together from around the country and say something about how, to me, they’re all important parts of the country, that they make the country. Does that make sense? And if elected, I promise to get us out of iraq. Now.
So let’s talk military history for a minute. I made a point in d.c. of going to The Wall, the memorial to the 58,000 or so u.s. servicemen and women who died in Vietnam. Not ready to talk about that one just yet. This part of the country also contains some of my military history. After basic training at fort lewis in western Washington, I was sent to fort ben Harrison in Indianapolis for training. Passed it yesterday. Now, I’m in the same state as fort riley, Kansas, where I was sent for jungle training as a prelude to going to Vietnam. Except that it was November, and I doubt the temperature outside at fort riley ever exceeded 40 degrees. Plus, the wind chill probably took it down to 20 degrees. But there we were, being trained on how to stay alive in the jungle while trying not to shiver to death in kansas.
Today was uneventful on the road. Stuck to the interstate to get here in time to party with relatives. The keys were my uncle gerry and aunt jane. Gerry is six years older than me and the closest to me in age of all my uncles. So when we were kids, he got to be my big brother. It worked for me, and it seemed ok to him at the time (whenever one of his older brothers was blamed for something, they’d blame it on him and he’d blame it on me). He went on to get a degree in Russian, then flew around Europe on spy planes, listening. So naturally after his time in the service, he started working for the post office in Omaha. Still does.
Gerry played a big part in my surviving Vietnam. He sent me all kinds of stuff in the mail. A cheeseburger that we heated and tried to eat. Tapes he put together of high school basketball games and other things, including him reading the community news headlines and quirky stories. His tapes introduced me to the music of tom Paxton, of whom I’m still a big fan. Everyone in the barracks gathered around when one of gerry’s packages arrived. He also tried to get me put in prison, which would have been just up the road from here in Leavenworth, kansas. He subscribed to the soviet version of life magazine, which came to him in a brown wrapper with “moskva” stamped all over it. He’d take the wrapper and use it for the things he’d send me. At least once, he sent me mao’s little red book, along with literature from north Vietnam. If I had been caught with any of that, I’d probably still be in Leavenworth. It was the kind of stuff I didn’t even dare just throw away. I took it to the office and put it through the shredder we used for secret documents, then bagged it up with the other shredded stuff to be burned.
So tonight I was able to have dinner with gerry and jane, their son neil and his wife maria and their kids, and gerry and jane’s daughter amy and her fairly recently acquired husband nat. just missed seeing gerry and jane’s son danny. I had a great time. Even if they weren’t relatives, they’d still be great people and fun to be with. When I hit the road in the morning, a part of me will still be in Shawnee with them.
Tomorrow: Shawnee to hopefully somewhere in the high plains of western Nebraska. Good night, everyone.
Let’s talk about religion for a minute. All over the country, I’ve seen religious icons of sorts, from back-road Baptist churches in Mississippi to the mormon temple in salt lake city to amish country in ohio, the national cathedral in d.c., the native spirituality in the west and the Krishna temple in West Virginia. and much more. Today, there was the biggest cross I’ve ever seen alongside the interstate in Illinois. Not sure how tall it was. 100 feet? Taller? Big, bold and pure white. No signs of any kind; no advertisements. Just the cross. I guess what I’m saying, with this 60-second sermon, is that a big chunk of this country believes in and practices some sort of religion, that another big chunk doesn’t, and that we’re somehow able to pull this off as a nation and not get into any knock-down drag-out holy wars with each other. Sorry, didn’t mean for that to sound either like I’m running for office or pontificating. I suppose it’s that as this trip -- perhaps the first of who knows how many -- motors toward its conclusion in the next week or so, I’m starting to pull some disparate pieces together from around the country and say something about how, to me, they’re all important parts of the country, that they make the country. Does that make sense? And if elected, I promise to get us out of iraq. Now.
So let’s talk military history for a minute. I made a point in d.c. of going to The Wall, the memorial to the 58,000 or so u.s. servicemen and women who died in Vietnam. Not ready to talk about that one just yet. This part of the country also contains some of my military history. After basic training at fort lewis in western Washington, I was sent to fort ben Harrison in Indianapolis for training. Passed it yesterday. Now, I’m in the same state as fort riley, Kansas, where I was sent for jungle training as a prelude to going to Vietnam. Except that it was November, and I doubt the temperature outside at fort riley ever exceeded 40 degrees. Plus, the wind chill probably took it down to 20 degrees. But there we were, being trained on how to stay alive in the jungle while trying not to shiver to death in kansas.
Today was uneventful on the road. Stuck to the interstate to get here in time to party with relatives. The keys were my uncle gerry and aunt jane. Gerry is six years older than me and the closest to me in age of all my uncles. So when we were kids, he got to be my big brother. It worked for me, and it seemed ok to him at the time (whenever one of his older brothers was blamed for something, they’d blame it on him and he’d blame it on me). He went on to get a degree in Russian, then flew around Europe on spy planes, listening. So naturally after his time in the service, he started working for the post office in Omaha. Still does.
Gerry played a big part in my surviving Vietnam. He sent me all kinds of stuff in the mail. A cheeseburger that we heated and tried to eat. Tapes he put together of high school basketball games and other things, including him reading the community news headlines and quirky stories. His tapes introduced me to the music of tom Paxton, of whom I’m still a big fan. Everyone in the barracks gathered around when one of gerry’s packages arrived. He also tried to get me put in prison, which would have been just up the road from here in Leavenworth, kansas. He subscribed to the soviet version of life magazine, which came to him in a brown wrapper with “moskva” stamped all over it. He’d take the wrapper and use it for the things he’d send me. At least once, he sent me mao’s little red book, along with literature from north Vietnam. If I had been caught with any of that, I’d probably still be in Leavenworth. It was the kind of stuff I didn’t even dare just throw away. I took it to the office and put it through the shredder we used for secret documents, then bagged it up with the other shredded stuff to be burned.
So tonight I was able to have dinner with gerry and jane, their son neil and his wife maria and their kids, and gerry and jane’s daughter amy and her fairly recently acquired husband nat. just missed seeing gerry and jane’s son danny. I had a great time. Even if they weren’t relatives, they’d still be great people and fun to be with. When I hit the road in the morning, a part of me will still be in Shawnee with them.
Tomorrow: Shawnee to hopefully somewhere in the high plains of western Nebraska. Good night, everyone.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
day 24
sugarcreek, ohio, to effingham, illinois, 407 miles.
so this is effingham. hmmm. looks like it's only reason for being is that a couple of interstates intersect here. and the fact there's a starbucks across the street from the hotel. spent the morning on back roads after leaving hank and ruth's place. almost had a very close encounter with a horse and buggy. i was on a road doing about 60, came over the top of a hill, and there, right in the middle of the road, was a horse and buggy. i think i was more surprised than they were. they probably deal with that all the time. after that, i got on the interstate in columbus, ohio, and cruised through indiana and then into illinois. not much of a day to write about.
tomorrow: effing, illinois, to kansas city for a multi-birthday bash for some kids and/or grandkids of an aunt and uncle. wonder what they'll get me?
so this is effingham. hmmm. looks like it's only reason for being is that a couple of interstates intersect here. and the fact there's a starbucks across the street from the hotel. spent the morning on back roads after leaving hank and ruth's place. almost had a very close encounter with a horse and buggy. i was on a road doing about 60, came over the top of a hill, and there, right in the middle of the road, was a horse and buggy. i think i was more surprised than they were. they probably deal with that all the time. after that, i got on the interstate in columbus, ohio, and cruised through indiana and then into illinois. not much of a day to write about.
tomorrow: effing, illinois, to kansas city for a multi-birthday bash for some kids and/or grandkids of an aunt and uncle. wonder what they'll get me?
day 23
wednesday was cumberland, maryland, to sugarcreek, ohio, in the heart of amish country, 237 miles.
crossed what they call the eastern continental divide this day. couldn't help but laugh when i saw how high it was -- 2,610 feet. i got a little lucky west of cumberland. saw that i could leave the interstate and take some back roads to wheeling, west virginia, so i did. on highway 40, saw a sign for a national historic site called fort necessity. stopped in, partly to take a break, partly to use my nifty annual national parks/monuments/sites/etc. pass. turns out that fort necessity, back in 1754, was the scene of george washington's only military defeat. the french and indians were tough. seeing this washington-related site reminded me of a trip to new york city, where i had the good fortune to go into an old tavern. upstairs, and well-preserved, in the tavern is the room where washington said goodbye to his officers after the revolutionary war. also learned that highway 40 is called "the national highway" because it was the first federally funded road and opened what was then the northwest part of the country to more folks. enough history. farther on down the road, in west virginia, i saw a sign for a "temple of gold." since i have some gold flakes and things from alaska and california and other places, i figured i'd add a little west virginia gold to the mix. after driving four miles down one of the narrower roads i've been on, there it was, the temple of gold. a real temple. with gold thingys on top. don't ask me why, but for some reason the krishnas built a big -- really big -- temple, complete with a lodge and meeting rooms and terraced gardens and other goodies, here on top of a ridge in west virginia. i've seen a number of interesting things on this trip, and the temple ranks among the top 10, partly because of the location. and everyone around the temple was smiling and waving.
the best part of the day came later, when i reached amish country. sugarcreek, home to my aunt ruth and uncle hank, is at the heart of the country's largest amish population. hank grew up amish, just a few miles away from where hey live now. i'd never been to their part of ohio, and it was interesting. shortly after i turned down the road to their house, i was behind a horse and buggy. the kids in the back seat were watching me, probably because i had the top down. i waved but got nothing in response. i later learned that they'll wave if they know you. if not, no wave. many things around sugarcreek have become tourist-oriented as "amish" has become a selling point for many things. it's an interesting area, an interesting way of life. it was paricularly great to see hank and ruth, and their son steve came over for dinner so got to catch up with him as well. i'd seen their oldest son dan and his family in florida earlier on the trip, so the only one of their children i'm going to miss is carol, who is a missionary in africa with her husband john. about 37-38 years ago, i had a great time with these kids when i visited the family in australia. they're grown up now, but there's still a nice connection. good night ruth and hank and steve in ohio, good night dan and tabby and family in florida, good night carol and john in africa...
tomorrow: sugarcreek to somewhere in illinois?
crossed what they call the eastern continental divide this day. couldn't help but laugh when i saw how high it was -- 2,610 feet. i got a little lucky west of cumberland. saw that i could leave the interstate and take some back roads to wheeling, west virginia, so i did. on highway 40, saw a sign for a national historic site called fort necessity. stopped in, partly to take a break, partly to use my nifty annual national parks/monuments/sites/etc. pass. turns out that fort necessity, back in 1754, was the scene of george washington's only military defeat. the french and indians were tough. seeing this washington-related site reminded me of a trip to new york city, where i had the good fortune to go into an old tavern. upstairs, and well-preserved, in the tavern is the room where washington said goodbye to his officers after the revolutionary war. also learned that highway 40 is called "the national highway" because it was the first federally funded road and opened what was then the northwest part of the country to more folks. enough history. farther on down the road, in west virginia, i saw a sign for a "temple of gold." since i have some gold flakes and things from alaska and california and other places, i figured i'd add a little west virginia gold to the mix. after driving four miles down one of the narrower roads i've been on, there it was, the temple of gold. a real temple. with gold thingys on top. don't ask me why, but for some reason the krishnas built a big -- really big -- temple, complete with a lodge and meeting rooms and terraced gardens and other goodies, here on top of a ridge in west virginia. i've seen a number of interesting things on this trip, and the temple ranks among the top 10, partly because of the location. and everyone around the temple was smiling and waving.
the best part of the day came later, when i reached amish country. sugarcreek, home to my aunt ruth and uncle hank, is at the heart of the country's largest amish population. hank grew up amish, just a few miles away from where hey live now. i'd never been to their part of ohio, and it was interesting. shortly after i turned down the road to their house, i was behind a horse and buggy. the kids in the back seat were watching me, probably because i had the top down. i waved but got nothing in response. i later learned that they'll wave if they know you. if not, no wave. many things around sugarcreek have become tourist-oriented as "amish" has become a selling point for many things. it's an interesting area, an interesting way of life. it was paricularly great to see hank and ruth, and their son steve came over for dinner so got to catch up with him as well. i'd seen their oldest son dan and his family in florida earlier on the trip, so the only one of their children i'm going to miss is carol, who is a missionary in africa with her husband john. about 37-38 years ago, i had a great time with these kids when i visited the family in australia. they're grown up now, but there's still a nice connection. good night ruth and hank and steve in ohio, good night dan and tabby and family in florida, good night carol and john in africa...
tomorrow: sugarcreek to somewhere in illinois?
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
day 22
washington, d.c., to cumberland, maryland, 138 miles.
short day on the road. good day because i think i saw a doug fir, or at least the eastern equivalent; bad day because olivia flew home to seattle. driving around the west side of d.c. gave me a last look at the washington monument and lincoln memorial. nice. we had a good couple of days in the city. it also was nice to get out of washington and start driving north and WEST. finally, west. west, young scott. go. google says it's 2,841 miles from d.c. to the seattle area and that i should be able to drive it in 43 hours. doesn't look like i'm going to be able to do that. driving through western maryland was interesting because the sun was setting. i tried to keep up, but as i crossed each ridge, it seemed the sun was always one ridge ahead of me. it was really nice to go up and over hills again. and it's cooler here. ahh. at one point, i thought i saw the famed cumberland gap off in the distance, and it was impressive. as i reached it, though, it looked more like a road crew had cut a gap in a ridge, and cumberland was still 20 miles away. where is the cumberland gap? am i close? it was sad to watch olivia go through the gate and get onto the plane, then watch the plane lift off the runway. she was a big part of this trip, as navigator, as someone to talk with, as someone who shared with me seeing and experiencing so many things for the first time. i'm fortunate to have a daughter like her who's willing to do this with me, particularly when part of her would like to be home spending summer vacation with her friends. we still think key west was "the" place on the trip. we're going back. but it was time for her to go home to friends and other family, and it's time for me to head home for the same reasons. still lots of road ahead, though -- all 2,841 of those google miles. lots to see and experience.
TOMORROW: cumberland to sugarcreek, ohio, to spend the night with uncle hank and aunt ruth. good night, olivia...
short day on the road. good day because i think i saw a doug fir, or at least the eastern equivalent; bad day because olivia flew home to seattle. driving around the west side of d.c. gave me a last look at the washington monument and lincoln memorial. nice. we had a good couple of days in the city. it also was nice to get out of washington and start driving north and WEST. finally, west. west, young scott. go. google says it's 2,841 miles from d.c. to the seattle area and that i should be able to drive it in 43 hours. doesn't look like i'm going to be able to do that. driving through western maryland was interesting because the sun was setting. i tried to keep up, but as i crossed each ridge, it seemed the sun was always one ridge ahead of me. it was really nice to go up and over hills again. and it's cooler here. ahh. at one point, i thought i saw the famed cumberland gap off in the distance, and it was impressive. as i reached it, though, it looked more like a road crew had cut a gap in a ridge, and cumberland was still 20 miles away. where is the cumberland gap? am i close? it was sad to watch olivia go through the gate and get onto the plane, then watch the plane lift off the runway. she was a big part of this trip, as navigator, as someone to talk with, as someone who shared with me seeing and experiencing so many things for the first time. i'm fortunate to have a daughter like her who's willing to do this with me, particularly when part of her would like to be home spending summer vacation with her friends. we still think key west was "the" place on the trip. we're going back. but it was time for her to go home to friends and other family, and it's time for me to head home for the same reasons. still lots of road ahead, though -- all 2,841 of those google miles. lots to see and experience.
TOMORROW: cumberland to sugarcreek, ohio, to spend the night with uncle hank and aunt ruth. good night, olivia...
Monday, July 14, 2008
days 20 and 21
In washington, d.c.
FROM SCOTT
we spent the past two days seeing the sights in d.c. white house, congress, supreme court, fbi, irs, washington monument, lincoln and jefferson memorials, the wall, smithsonian, american indian museum, air and space museum (i wasn't really scared when olivia rolled out fighter jet simulator, again and again and again. honest), national archives, national cathedral, georgetown and more. wow. lots to see, and i think we did ok for our limited time. i think seeing everything here -- to include the magna carta, declaration of independence, constitution and bill of rights, not to mention the hope diamond -- is something olivia will remember for a long time, including taking the metro into town and back from our hotel in crystal city, where the shops are all underground. i'm just sorry to see it end. tomorrow she flies home and i'll be alone again, talking to myself and strangers in parking lots. but we had a great trip, particularly in key west and d.c. lots of wonderful memories for me as well as her.
FROM OLIVIA
SO MUCH WALKING! ohmahhhhgawwsshhhh it was intense... my knee started to hurt the sencond day... so we cut it short at the museums.. which by the wway were pretty cool! haha plus the flight simulater.. geting to see my dad freak out when i made the plane go upside down haha that was worth it. "TURN IT BACK AROUND OLIVIA!!!! TURN IT BACK AROUND!" im gonna be sad to see it all go..... but i'll be back DC.. ohhh i will be back! haah im kinda at lost for words... so yeah! i had a great trip! and im gonna have many great memories from this.
TOMORROW: olivia flies back to seattle, scott starts driving back to seattle.
FROM SCOTT
we spent the past two days seeing the sights in d.c. white house, congress, supreme court, fbi, irs, washington monument, lincoln and jefferson memorials, the wall, smithsonian, american indian museum, air and space museum (i wasn't really scared when olivia rolled out fighter jet simulator, again and again and again. honest), national archives, national cathedral, georgetown and more. wow. lots to see, and i think we did ok for our limited time. i think seeing everything here -- to include the magna carta, declaration of independence, constitution and bill of rights, not to mention the hope diamond -- is something olivia will remember for a long time, including taking the metro into town and back from our hotel in crystal city, where the shops are all underground. i'm just sorry to see it end. tomorrow she flies home and i'll be alone again, talking to myself and strangers in parking lots. but we had a great trip, particularly in key west and d.c. lots of wonderful memories for me as well as her.
FROM OLIVIA
SO MUCH WALKING! ohmahhhhgawwsshhhh it was intense... my knee started to hurt the sencond day... so we cut it short at the museums.. which by the wway were pretty cool! haha plus the flight simulater.. geting to see my dad freak out when i made the plane go upside down haha that was worth it. "TURN IT BACK AROUND OLIVIA!!!! TURN IT BACK AROUND!" im gonna be sad to see it all go..... but i'll be back DC.. ohhh i will be back! haah im kinda at lost for words... so yeah! i had a great trip! and im gonna have many great memories from this.
TOMORROW: olivia flies back to seattle, scott starts driving back to seattle.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
day 19
fayetteville, north carolina, to crystal city, virginia.
FROM SCOTT
he's asleep.......
FROM OLIVIA
well... today marked the last day of me in the car watching(to some extent) my dad drive...I must say.. im happy and sad at the same time.. not much to see on the road today except trees.. and gasp! hills! it was pretty amazin.g the hotel is nice.. (wait till u hear my dad rant....) and the view is amazing... 16th floor. ive been reading alot.. ask my dad.. he'd agreee. haha sooooo DC tomorrow, then the next day,... then i fly home.. yes if your my friend and actually reading this.. i am coming home a day early.. so that means party a day early...... get ready and dont mind me if i fall asleep.. im gonna be jet lagged.. :) YAY! ttyl
TOMORROW: enjoy the sights of washington, d.c., and not being on the road.
FROM SCOTT
he's asleep.......
FROM OLIVIA
well... today marked the last day of me in the car watching(to some extent) my dad drive...I must say.. im happy and sad at the same time.. not much to see on the road today except trees.. and gasp! hills! it was pretty amazin.g the hotel is nice.. (wait till u hear my dad rant....) and the view is amazing... 16th floor. ive been reading alot.. ask my dad.. he'd agreee. haha sooooo DC tomorrow, then the next day,... then i fly home.. yes if your my friend and actually reading this.. i am coming home a day early.. so that means party a day early...... get ready and dont mind me if i fall asleep.. im gonna be jet lagged.. :) YAY! ttyl
TOMORROW: enjoy the sights of washington, d.c., and not being on the road.
Friday, July 11, 2008
day 18
brunswick, georgia, to fayetteville, north carolina, via south carolina, 372 miles.
FROM SCOTT
savannah, georgia, might be nice to spend more time in. interesting old southern architecture, a nice old-timey downtown, big shade trees, and a barnes and noble with a starbucks. they seem to have preserved a great deal of the city's old downtown and old neighborhoods; the malls and other goodies are on the fringes of the city. went through savannah on our way out to fort pulaski, a civil war fort near the atlantic ocean that was at times in union hands and at times in confederate hands. when captain quincy gilmore of the union army got the confederates at the fort to surrender, one of his first acts reportedly was to free the slaves there. that was overruled by lincoln. folks who now oversee the fort -- a national monument -- believe lincoln wanted to do all of the slave-freeing in his emancipation proclamation. that was the highlight of today's drive, which otherwise was spent on interstate 95 pushing north. not much to say about south carolina; not much to see from the freeway.
FROM OLIVIA
well. today was..... exciting? at least the fort was. got to see many of the things that i learndedededed about last year.. when i was a ...8th grader,....not muh else happened.. i read. then i talked to jeff.. . then i read some more.. ate... talked ... read.. typed this yeah ive had an exciting day.. cant wait to get to DC tomorrow.. should be fun YAY!
TOMORROW: fayetteville, north carolina, to washington, d.c., where we'll spend a few days seeing the sights. no word yet on whether we've been invited to stay at the white house.
FROM SCOTT
savannah, georgia, might be nice to spend more time in. interesting old southern architecture, a nice old-timey downtown, big shade trees, and a barnes and noble with a starbucks. they seem to have preserved a great deal of the city's old downtown and old neighborhoods; the malls and other goodies are on the fringes of the city. went through savannah on our way out to fort pulaski, a civil war fort near the atlantic ocean that was at times in union hands and at times in confederate hands. when captain quincy gilmore of the union army got the confederates at the fort to surrender, one of his first acts reportedly was to free the slaves there. that was overruled by lincoln. folks who now oversee the fort -- a national monument -- believe lincoln wanted to do all of the slave-freeing in his emancipation proclamation. that was the highlight of today's drive, which otherwise was spent on interstate 95 pushing north. not much to say about south carolina; not much to see from the freeway.
FROM OLIVIA
well. today was..... exciting? at least the fort was. got to see many of the things that i learndedededed about last year.. when i was a ...8th grader,....not muh else happened.. i read. then i talked to jeff.. . then i read some more.. ate... talked ... read.. typed this yeah ive had an exciting day.. cant wait to get to DC tomorrow.. should be fun YAY!
TOMORROW: fayetteville, north carolina, to washington, d.c., where we'll spend a few days seeing the sights. no word yet on whether we've been invited to stay at the white house.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
day 17
cocoa beach, florida, to brunswick, georgia, 254 miles.
FROM SCOTT
much of today was spent at the kennedy space center. even if you're not a spaceaholic, there's a lot to see and do. the two-hour bus tour was a little long, but we learned a lot and saw a bunch of things fairly close. one of the most interesting things to me is how spread out everything is. they say the space center is 140,000 acres, and it takes a long time to get from place to place. the visitor center is chock full of goodies from past space missions. not surprisingly, the gift shop is huge. one of the cool things is the "rocket garden," where a bunch of old rockets are located. but by far the coolest was the space shuttle blast-off simulator. you get in, buckle yourself in and experience a launch without being launched. felt kinda like the car does when the state patrolman tailing me pulls off the road and we rocket ahead. we were kind of sad to say goodbye to florida. we arrived in florida on july 4 and didn't leave until this afternoon. lots of good memories. one of mine is how colorful everything is. day-glo cars, pastel houses, color everywhere. good night birgitta and hanna, good night linda and george, good night heather.
FROM OLIVIA
I'm gonna be an astronaut when i grow up! haha it'll be amazing.. just you wait. so basically im wearing a sweatshirt right now.... yes. thats right. a sweatshirt haha the A/C is cold!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! so pretty much my dad just about summed it up.. all i did today was.. read, go to the space center, talked to dad, talked to jeff, read some more, ate, left florida.. :'( GOOD BYE FLORIDA!!!! I'LL SEE YOU SOON!!!!! barnes and nobles are fairly har to find around here. haha i cant wait to see everyone soon! haha byeeeeeeee
TOMORROW: brunswick, georgia, to wilmington, north carolina, or thereabouts. looks like thunderstorms and rain are headed our way. oh, boy.
FROM SCOTT
much of today was spent at the kennedy space center. even if you're not a spaceaholic, there's a lot to see and do. the two-hour bus tour was a little long, but we learned a lot and saw a bunch of things fairly close. one of the most interesting things to me is how spread out everything is. they say the space center is 140,000 acres, and it takes a long time to get from place to place. the visitor center is chock full of goodies from past space missions. not surprisingly, the gift shop is huge. one of the cool things is the "rocket garden," where a bunch of old rockets are located. but by far the coolest was the space shuttle blast-off simulator. you get in, buckle yourself in and experience a launch without being launched. felt kinda like the car does when the state patrolman tailing me pulls off the road and we rocket ahead. we were kind of sad to say goodbye to florida. we arrived in florida on july 4 and didn't leave until this afternoon. lots of good memories. one of mine is how colorful everything is. day-glo cars, pastel houses, color everywhere. good night birgitta and hanna, good night linda and george, good night heather.
FROM OLIVIA
I'm gonna be an astronaut when i grow up! haha it'll be amazing.. just you wait. so basically im wearing a sweatshirt right now.... yes. thats right. a sweatshirt haha the A/C is cold!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! so pretty much my dad just about summed it up.. all i did today was.. read, go to the space center, talked to dad, talked to jeff, read some more, ate, left florida.. :'( GOOD BYE FLORIDA!!!! I'LL SEE YOU SOON!!!!! barnes and nobles are fairly har to find around here. haha i cant wait to see everyone soon! haha byeeeeeeee
TOMORROW: brunswick, georgia, to wilmington, north carolina, or thereabouts. looks like thunderstorms and rain are headed our way. oh, boy.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
day 16
key west to cocoa beach, florida, 371 miles.
FROM SCOTT
today marked the start of the return trip, so to speak. from now on, i get closer in miles to seattle. somewhere between today and tomorrow also marks the halfway point of the trip in terms of days on the road, if the projected return date of july 25 holds up. i'm starting to think it might be nice to get home earlier. the road is nice, but home is looking nicer every day as well.
today we started driving north along the atlantic to washingon, d.c., where we'll see some sights before olivia boards a plane back to seattle on july 16.
it was tough to leave key west today. nice place. nice feel to it. plus the valet comes to your room, takes your luggage, gets your car out of the garage, packs the luggage in the car and puts the top down; all you have to do is get in and drive away. why can't i get olivia to do that?
not much to talk about from the standpoints of sights seen today. saw a couple of big lizards ambling across the highway. going through miami, it seemed the highrises stretched forever north to south. few people in florida use their turn signals to let anyone know they're changing lanes. at the restaurant here, all of the menu items had cape canaveral type names: blast-off burger, space salad, etc. we're about two miles north of the cape.
olivia and i have been dealing with an interesting phone situation. there are times when we're both on the phone, so we've been alternating who gets to be in the main part of our room, who has to be in the bathroom, or who gets to be on the deck. the past couple of nights, she decided to create a nest in the bathtub using towels. she'll set her iced tea and cheese and crackers on the edge of the tub and climb in and talk. i think she's 14.
FROM OLIVIA
as a matter of faCT.. I AM 14!!! haha im pretty excited for tomorrow.. get to go through Georgia... i probably know everything you need to know about georgia because i had to do my 5th grade state report/project on it. pretty fun! soo im pretty distracted right now.. because i got a new book.. 3 ish hours ago.. and im proud to say that i am already on page 307 out of498.. im gonna be sad to see it end. oh well! my dad pretty much summed it up.. so yeah. see you all in like 7 days!
TOMORROW: cocoa beach to maybe charleston, south carolina, via cape canaveral and st. augustine,l florida.
FROM SCOTT
today marked the start of the return trip, so to speak. from now on, i get closer in miles to seattle. somewhere between today and tomorrow also marks the halfway point of the trip in terms of days on the road, if the projected return date of july 25 holds up. i'm starting to think it might be nice to get home earlier. the road is nice, but home is looking nicer every day as well.
today we started driving north along the atlantic to washingon, d.c., where we'll see some sights before olivia boards a plane back to seattle on july 16.
it was tough to leave key west today. nice place. nice feel to it. plus the valet comes to your room, takes your luggage, gets your car out of the garage, packs the luggage in the car and puts the top down; all you have to do is get in and drive away. why can't i get olivia to do that?
not much to talk about from the standpoints of sights seen today. saw a couple of big lizards ambling across the highway. going through miami, it seemed the highrises stretched forever north to south. few people in florida use their turn signals to let anyone know they're changing lanes. at the restaurant here, all of the menu items had cape canaveral type names: blast-off burger, space salad, etc. we're about two miles north of the cape.
olivia and i have been dealing with an interesting phone situation. there are times when we're both on the phone, so we've been alternating who gets to be in the main part of our room, who has to be in the bathroom, or who gets to be on the deck. the past couple of nights, she decided to create a nest in the bathtub using towels. she'll set her iced tea and cheese and crackers on the edge of the tub and climb in and talk. i think she's 14.
FROM OLIVIA
as a matter of faCT.. I AM 14!!! haha im pretty excited for tomorrow.. get to go through Georgia... i probably know everything you need to know about georgia because i had to do my 5th grade state report/project on it. pretty fun! soo im pretty distracted right now.. because i got a new book.. 3 ish hours ago.. and im proud to say that i am already on page 307 out of498.. im gonna be sad to see it end. oh well! my dad pretty much summed it up.. so yeah. see you all in like 7 days!
TOMORROW: cocoa beach to maybe charleston, south carolina, via cape canaveral and st. augustine,l florida.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
another sunset in paradise
day two in key west.
FROM SCOTT:
before dawn, there was a tremendous light show out over the ocean. lightning strikes every 5-10 seconds. huge thunderclouds illuminated by the lightning. beautiful. the day dawned with a cruise ship parked in our front yard and another one just down the road. they're even bigger close up. it was interesting watching them leave in the late morning, casting off their lines, then turning sharply to get out of this smallish area between islands. don't know where they were headed. today we learned a lot about the island's history (lots of cigar rolling) and some of the folks who have enjoyed it (hemingway, jose marti, frost, calvin klein (?) jimmy buffet, mother teresa (ok, maybe not her). spent some time in the morning at one of the beaches, then touring the island, then shopping (it's an olivia thing; she shopped while i sweated. it was really humid today, even though the thunderstorm off in the distance overnight was gone), refreshmenting (we found the starbucks), then dinner at the hard rock. liv still has a smile on her face. liv found an island she wants us to buy. it has a beautiful beach. holler if you want to contribute to the island fund. i think the asking price was only about $7 million.
FROM OLIVIA:
I WANT AN ISLAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! please? if each and everyone of you contribut like a dollar or two or 5 or 100 each time you look at this. i could do it in like a year maybe! o gosh.. thts an exciting thought! im gonna be really sad to leave here today but oh well.. i might be the only 14 year old to go from neah bay to hawaii to key west in 2 weeks. :) yay! haha i feel spencial.. i really need to pack my suitcases.. oh im officially starting a "lets get Olivia more suitcases so she can actually safely transport her items(clothes.. you souvineers) home!" fund. haha im just kidding. it was soo much fun shoppping! i have no idea why my dad was sweating.. it really wast that hot.. only like 90.:) see you all soon! like in.... 8 days and one hour not that anyone's counting haha buh bye!
TOMORROW: key west north along florida's atlantic coast as we begin the journey to washington, d.c. we'll probably try to stay at the white house for a few days.(YES!)
FROM SCOTT:
before dawn, there was a tremendous light show out over the ocean. lightning strikes every 5-10 seconds. huge thunderclouds illuminated by the lightning. beautiful. the day dawned with a cruise ship parked in our front yard and another one just down the road. they're even bigger close up. it was interesting watching them leave in the late morning, casting off their lines, then turning sharply to get out of this smallish area between islands. don't know where they were headed. today we learned a lot about the island's history (lots of cigar rolling) and some of the folks who have enjoyed it (hemingway, jose marti, frost, calvin klein (?) jimmy buffet, mother teresa (ok, maybe not her). spent some time in the morning at one of the beaches, then touring the island, then shopping (it's an olivia thing; she shopped while i sweated. it was really humid today, even though the thunderstorm off in the distance overnight was gone), refreshmenting (we found the starbucks), then dinner at the hard rock. liv still has a smile on her face. liv found an island she wants us to buy. it has a beautiful beach. holler if you want to contribute to the island fund. i think the asking price was only about $7 million.
FROM OLIVIA:
I WANT AN ISLAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! please? if each and everyone of you contribut like a dollar or two or 5 or 100 each time you look at this. i could do it in like a year maybe! o gosh.. thts an exciting thought! im gonna be really sad to leave here today but oh well.. i might be the only 14 year old to go from neah bay to hawaii to key west in 2 weeks. :) yay! haha i feel spencial.. i really need to pack my suitcases.. oh im officially starting a "lets get Olivia more suitcases so she can actually safely transport her items(clothes.. you souvineers) home!" fund. haha im just kidding. it was soo much fun shoppping! i have no idea why my dad was sweating.. it really wast that hot.. only like 90.:) see you all soon! like in.... 8 days and one hour not that anyone's counting haha buh bye!
TOMORROW: key west north along florida's atlantic coast as we begin the journey to washington, d.c. we'll probably try to stay at the white house for a few days.(YES!)
Monday, July 7, 2008
tan, shopping, water, sun.. but no friends
its amazing here... and i mean amazing. our view out of our room is to the sparkling aqua blue water.. the sun sets infront of our room... right next to the big shopping street.. I LOVE IT HERE! im thinking we should sell the houseand buy one here.. anyone wanna buy a house in seattle area... let me know.. also anyone selling/giving away a house here... let me know also.. haha it has to hae enough room for... 1...2.....3.....4...5...6...7.8.9.10.11.12.13.14.15.20.25.30.40. some people to be in when i have my crazy parties.. plus my friends that move down.. yes! JEFF, EMI, ANDI, JULIA, LAUREN, CONNER, MAX, JAKE, BEN, SIERRA, BRIAN, BECCA, ALI, ANDREW, ALY, HANNA, AND EVERYONE ELSE WHO I MISS! HAHA let me know if i forgot your name :) i'lll add it. so basically....... i love the sun. i aloha the sun. i live for the sun. i am the sun. prettttttttttty M-AZING! haha dont worry! i'll see you all in 8ish days i think at my "surprise" party! i love you all! buh byeeeee oh.. text me about what present you want... Olivia will take care of it.. if you dont have a phone... *cough*jeff*cough* just call me then... <3's 4-eva summer 08!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Olive the Other Reindeer~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Olive the Other Reindeer~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
day 14, part two
ahh, key west. and i do mean ahh. nice place. they celebrate sunset here every day. everything stops, and everyone watches the sunset. when i left cape flattery just west of neah bay, a road trip from the northwesternmost point in the contiguous states to the southeasternmost point seemed a little daunting in some ways. still does in some respects. but it was a great trip. and i discovered that the country is both bigger and smaller than i thought, if that makes sense. big country and too many vast expanses to keep track of, but also so many connections among everyone, so many things that tie us all together. it's pretty cool.
today we started on the west coast of florida, drove across to the east side and then down through the keys. alligator alley, one of the roads crossing the everglades, wasn't much to talk about, so we cut south a ways and took another road east. "panther crossing" signs were one of the highlights, along with circling vultures and a gecko that wanted no part of us. but no gators to be seen. the road through the keys was quite interesting. some of the keys are so small the road takes up most of the key. others are big enough to have home depots. and one bridge is seven miles long. it's an interesting feeling being this far out here as a hurricane is developing in the atlantic. we may be closer to cuba than the u.s. mainland. but we're watching the weather channel, googling weather stories and watching the hurricane's progress. if it turns west, we head north. more lightning off in the distance tonight, meaning more thunderstorms out there somewhere. tuesday we plan to spend enough time on the beach to reignite our sunburns, explore the island a bit, check out some of the touristy stuff and swim in the ocean and the pool. in other words, just relax and enjoy being here -- finally.
good night mel and judy in lynden (unless you're hiding somewhere in key west), good night olivia, good night jean...
today we started on the west coast of florida, drove across to the east side and then down through the keys. alligator alley, one of the roads crossing the everglades, wasn't much to talk about, so we cut south a ways and took another road east. "panther crossing" signs were one of the highlights, along with circling vultures and a gecko that wanted no part of us. but no gators to be seen. the road through the keys was quite interesting. some of the keys are so small the road takes up most of the key. others are big enough to have home depots. and one bridge is seven miles long. it's an interesting feeling being this far out here as a hurricane is developing in the atlantic. we may be closer to cuba than the u.s. mainland. but we're watching the weather channel, googling weather stories and watching the hurricane's progress. if it turns west, we head north. more lightning off in the distance tonight, meaning more thunderstorms out there somewhere. tuesday we plan to spend enough time on the beach to reignite our sunburns, explore the island a bit, check out some of the touristy stuff and swim in the ocean and the pool. in other words, just relax and enjoy being here -- finally.
good night mel and judy in lynden (unless you're hiding somewhere in key west), good night olivia, good night jean...
day 14
naples, florida, to key west, 256 miles.
arrived in key west at approximately 3 p.m. east coast time.
more later...
tomorrow: relax in key west...
arrived in key west at approximately 3 p.m. east coast time.
more later...
tomorrow: relax in key west...
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Day 13
day 13, alchua, florida, to naples, florida, 374 miles.
FROM OLIVIA:
I'm gonna be first today since i set the computer up. and i'm just all-around better.. haha well the day started out shaky.. very very shaky. THERE WAS NO STARBUCKS! ANYWHERE! i was about to like die i was so tired.. all i needed was a chai or latte to make it better.. but no. it was not meant to be.. dad even called jean in lake forest park and had her google starbucks in the area we were in.. nothing. so it was hot it was sunny it was nice.. but not for long. we got in the worst storm i have EVER SEEN! i'm sure that dad will go into full detail about everything.. so i'm not worried. :) YAY! haha i'm gonna go see if my friends have decided to talk to me again...BYE!
FROM SCOTT:
it was a big day. big sun, big rain, big beach resorts, big bridge, big boat party. wow.
definitely a day of contrasts. first the weather. started out normal, then a little rain, then lots of sun. sunny in particular on the beach north of sarasota on the gulf coast. that's quite a place. liv and i came close to deciding to sell the car, buy a little boat and just stay. white sand beaches, and she waded in the surf. warm water, blue sky. nice. we spent so much time on the beach roads that at some point in the sarasota area we headed back to the freeway to make up some time. that's when we hit one of the heaviest thundershowers i've ever experienced. we just pulled in behind someone and hoped they stayed on the road. it was raining so hard everyone was going about 10 mph. huge rain. and it lasted a long time. we stopped at a rest area and ran from the car to the covered area and still got drenched. we also got to see the bridge over the bay at st. petersburg -- beautiful. and there were people at stoplights on the highway hawking copies of the sunday st. petersburg paper. oh, back to the beach. in one area, it was like lake washington for the seafair hydro races. boats all tied up together, everyone partying. at another place, a little island, folks had put the noses of their boats on the beach and were picnicing and partying. wow. quite a place. lots of old money, too. really ritzy (enough to make medina on lake washington look cheap) condo developments and houses that went on for miles. a high point came about mid-morning. liv was suffering from sleep deprivation, and there was no starbucks nearby, no specialty coffee spots of any kind. she finally googled starbucks on her phone and found one that turned to be a couple of miles ahead on the road we were on. turned out it was in a mall, which satisfied another of her deprivations, and next to the mall was a boston market. when she was little, she enjoyed food at the boston market in woodinville. but it went away years ago. so today she had a boston market lunch, something from starbucks, a little mall time. when we arrived at the mall, she was kinda grouchy, grumpy, listless, barely awake. when we left, the was definitely ready to party.
TOMORROW: naples, florida, to key west. ahh...
FROM OLIVIA:
I'm gonna be first today since i set the computer up. and i'm just all-around better.. haha well the day started out shaky.. very very shaky. THERE WAS NO STARBUCKS! ANYWHERE! i was about to like die i was so tired.. all i needed was a chai or latte to make it better.. but no. it was not meant to be.. dad even called jean in lake forest park and had her google starbucks in the area we were in.. nothing. so it was hot it was sunny it was nice.. but not for long. we got in the worst storm i have EVER SEEN! i'm sure that dad will go into full detail about everything.. so i'm not worried. :) YAY! haha i'm gonna go see if my friends have decided to talk to me again...BYE!
FROM SCOTT:
it was a big day. big sun, big rain, big beach resorts, big bridge, big boat party. wow.
definitely a day of contrasts. first the weather. started out normal, then a little rain, then lots of sun. sunny in particular on the beach north of sarasota on the gulf coast. that's quite a place. liv and i came close to deciding to sell the car, buy a little boat and just stay. white sand beaches, and she waded in the surf. warm water, blue sky. nice. we spent so much time on the beach roads that at some point in the sarasota area we headed back to the freeway to make up some time. that's when we hit one of the heaviest thundershowers i've ever experienced. we just pulled in behind someone and hoped they stayed on the road. it was raining so hard everyone was going about 10 mph. huge rain. and it lasted a long time. we stopped at a rest area and ran from the car to the covered area and still got drenched. we also got to see the bridge over the bay at st. petersburg -- beautiful. and there were people at stoplights on the highway hawking copies of the sunday st. petersburg paper. oh, back to the beach. in one area, it was like lake washington for the seafair hydro races. boats all tied up together, everyone partying. at another place, a little island, folks had put the noses of their boats on the beach and were picnicing and partying. wow. quite a place. lots of old money, too. really ritzy (enough to make medina on lake washington look cheap) condo developments and houses that went on for miles. a high point came about mid-morning. liv was suffering from sleep deprivation, and there was no starbucks nearby, no specialty coffee spots of any kind. she finally googled starbucks on her phone and found one that turned to be a couple of miles ahead on the road we were on. turned out it was in a mall, which satisfied another of her deprivations, and next to the mall was a boston market. when she was little, she enjoyed food at the boston market in woodinville. but it went away years ago. so today she had a boston market lunch, something from starbucks, a little mall time. when we arrived at the mall, she was kinda grouchy, grumpy, listless, barely awake. when we left, the was definitely ready to party.
TOMORROW: naples, florida, to key west. ahh...
Day 12
Pensacola, florida, to atachua, florida, 384 miles.
FROM SCOTT:
The day started out great. We found a starbucks, then found my cousin dan, his wife tabby and their kids just north of Pensacola. Had a great time catching up with them. And there was some catching up to do. Dan and I figured we hadn’t seen each other in decades, and I had never met tabby or the kids. I’ll see dan’s parents, hank and ruth, when I’m in ohio later on the trip. Hank helped get me interested in baseball when I was a little kid. Then I visited the family in northeast Australia when hank and ruth were living there as linguistic missionaries. Even though that visit was more than 35 years ago, much of it remains vivid. After our visit with dan and tabby and their family, the day had its twists and turns. We planned to go back to the gulf coast and follow it for quite a few hours, figuring we’d stop once in a while to play on the beach or in the water. But as soon as we got to the beach road, we also encountered unbelievably heavy traffic. After spending about an hour in traffic that was at best going about two mph – and with the top down in 90 degree weather BECAUSE WE WERE AT THE BEACH – and not knowing how many more days the traffic might be like that, we decided to go back to the freeway and put some miles behind us. Did that for a while, then headed onto some back roads to take a straighter line to Gainesville, florida. Saw a lot of cows. A lot of cows. Mostly dairy cows. Smelled a lot of cows as well. So now Olivia has been on the road for two days, and neither – with the exception of the time we had with dan and his family – has gone as we’d hoped. But we have reservations at key west, and we’ll be there in a couple of days. Good night danny and tabby and family. Good night, danny’s sister carol and her husband john in Africa. Good night steve, danny’s brother in ohio. Good night, Jeff, olivia’s friend who’s playing in a baseball tournament in Yakima this weekend.
FROM OLIVIA: (tan still better)
HAYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So basically today was ubber amounts of fun… well at least the first 3 hours of the morning were... so we went and visited some people.. had lots of fun.. learned that it’s ok to take your jacket off if your playing a game of basketball outside, and it’s like 90-100 degree weather outside. But I also learned how much I really appreciate the A/C, and how hot black leather seats get going top down on the florida coast… hahahahahahahan I’m still a little jet lagged, so basically it’s only 2 in the afternoon for me instead of 10 at night.. eek! So yep.. I think I’m gonna call people now.. buhbye!
TOMORROW: atachua, florida, to the area of fort myers, florida.
FROM SCOTT:
The day started out great. We found a starbucks, then found my cousin dan, his wife tabby and their kids just north of Pensacola. Had a great time catching up with them. And there was some catching up to do. Dan and I figured we hadn’t seen each other in decades, and I had never met tabby or the kids. I’ll see dan’s parents, hank and ruth, when I’m in ohio later on the trip. Hank helped get me interested in baseball when I was a little kid. Then I visited the family in northeast Australia when hank and ruth were living there as linguistic missionaries. Even though that visit was more than 35 years ago, much of it remains vivid. After our visit with dan and tabby and their family, the day had its twists and turns. We planned to go back to the gulf coast and follow it for quite a few hours, figuring we’d stop once in a while to play on the beach or in the water. But as soon as we got to the beach road, we also encountered unbelievably heavy traffic. After spending about an hour in traffic that was at best going about two mph – and with the top down in 90 degree weather BECAUSE WE WERE AT THE BEACH – and not knowing how many more days the traffic might be like that, we decided to go back to the freeway and put some miles behind us. Did that for a while, then headed onto some back roads to take a straighter line to Gainesville, florida. Saw a lot of cows. A lot of cows. Mostly dairy cows. Smelled a lot of cows as well. So now Olivia has been on the road for two days, and neither – with the exception of the time we had with dan and his family – has gone as we’d hoped. But we have reservations at key west, and we’ll be there in a couple of days. Good night danny and tabby and family. Good night, danny’s sister carol and her husband john in Africa. Good night steve, danny’s brother in ohio. Good night, Jeff, olivia’s friend who’s playing in a baseball tournament in Yakima this weekend.
FROM OLIVIA: (tan still better)
HAYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So basically today was ubber amounts of fun… well at least the first 3 hours of the morning were... so we went and visited some people.. had lots of fun.. learned that it’s ok to take your jacket off if your playing a game of basketball outside, and it’s like 90-100 degree weather outside. But I also learned how much I really appreciate the A/C, and how hot black leather seats get going top down on the florida coast… hahahahahahahan I’m still a little jet lagged, so basically it’s only 2 in the afternoon for me instead of 10 at night.. eek! So yep.. I think I’m gonna call people now.. buhbye!
TOMORROW: atachua, florida, to the area of fort myers, florida.
Friday, July 4, 2008
day eleven
memphis, tennessee, to pensacola, florida, 497 miles.
FROM SCOTT:
what a day. by the time it ended, far from where we expected to be, we'd almost forgotten about the morning's high point: the home elvis lived in when he was a kid in tupelo, mississippi. all elvis all the time. and nice women with syrupy southern drawls helping everyone inside the gift shop. but on down the road, through mississippi and alabama. originally, we were going to spend the night in mobile, alabama, but the place was full. so we motored on down the road to pensacola, figuring we were going to see my cousin danny and his wife tabby and their family anyway, so it wouldn't hurt to be closer. we decided to go out to the little islands off the coast of pensacola and get a room there. we hadn't figured on a three-day fourth of july weekend drawing everyone in the entire south to this one spot. it was a zoo, a madhouse and everything else. a resort area full of people. more than full. the parking attendant at the first hotel we were going to try nicely informed us the closest available rooms were probably in northern pensacola, quite a ways away. so we headed out again, me driving and olivia calling hotels and motels. no one had a room, and no one knew of anyone who had a room. after umpteen attempts, we finally found a room at a howard johnson's on the west side of town. got there and checked in, took our stuff up to the room, opened the door and almost gagged. it was hotter inside the room than outside, it had a nice view of the motel's garbage area, there was some loud intermittent noise coming from the laundry area just outside the window, and it smelled like a bunch of large animals had either died in the room or had just spent a few months there. it was awful. we headed out to get something to eat and ponder our options. going down the road, we saw another place, and stopped in to see if they had a room available. they did, we took it, then went back to howard's and told them we couldn't stay in the room because it smelled so bad. they said ok, canceled our bill, and we went to dinner. i'm sure they rented the room to someone else. so we would up in a room that was cool, clean and quiet. ahh. all in all, a decently adventurous day for olivia's first one on the road.
FROM OLIVIA:
If this is what every day on the road is gonna be like... im thinking about calling it quits. 8 hours on the road wsnt that bad.. its better then being in a plane for like 10 hours straight basicalllyy. and theres a lot more to see. so basically im kinda upset everything on Pensacola Beach was booked.. because the beach there.. was ASTOUNDING <: haha so dad basicaly summed it up.. it was really nince on the road though. and i got a very nice arm tan... :D well im gonna go.. byeeeeee
TOMORROW: pensacola to probably somewhere in the tampa-st. petersburg area, unless we get slowed down by playing on every beach we see. good night, heather; good night, nicole, who is taking care of willy the cat while we're gone; good night, linda and george, who are playing at ocean shores this weekend...O:good night, emi!; good night, all of my friends who i have to go another 2 more weeks away from.. yeah you know who you are.
FROM SCOTT:
what a day. by the time it ended, far from where we expected to be, we'd almost forgotten about the morning's high point: the home elvis lived in when he was a kid in tupelo, mississippi. all elvis all the time. and nice women with syrupy southern drawls helping everyone inside the gift shop. but on down the road, through mississippi and alabama. originally, we were going to spend the night in mobile, alabama, but the place was full. so we motored on down the road to pensacola, figuring we were going to see my cousin danny and his wife tabby and their family anyway, so it wouldn't hurt to be closer. we decided to go out to the little islands off the coast of pensacola and get a room there. we hadn't figured on a three-day fourth of july weekend drawing everyone in the entire south to this one spot. it was a zoo, a madhouse and everything else. a resort area full of people. more than full. the parking attendant at the first hotel we were going to try nicely informed us the closest available rooms were probably in northern pensacola, quite a ways away. so we headed out again, me driving and olivia calling hotels and motels. no one had a room, and no one knew of anyone who had a room. after umpteen attempts, we finally found a room at a howard johnson's on the west side of town. got there and checked in, took our stuff up to the room, opened the door and almost gagged. it was hotter inside the room than outside, it had a nice view of the motel's garbage area, there was some loud intermittent noise coming from the laundry area just outside the window, and it smelled like a bunch of large animals had either died in the room or had just spent a few months there. it was awful. we headed out to get something to eat and ponder our options. going down the road, we saw another place, and stopped in to see if they had a room available. they did, we took it, then went back to howard's and told them we couldn't stay in the room because it smelled so bad. they said ok, canceled our bill, and we went to dinner. i'm sure they rented the room to someone else. so we would up in a room that was cool, clean and quiet. ahh. all in all, a decently adventurous day for olivia's first one on the road.
FROM OLIVIA:
If this is what every day on the road is gonna be like... im thinking about calling it quits. 8 hours on the road wsnt that bad.. its better then being in a plane for like 10 hours straight basicalllyy. and theres a lot more to see. so basically im kinda upset everything on Pensacola Beach was booked.. because the beach there.. was ASTOUNDING <: haha so dad basicaly summed it up.. it was really nince on the road though. and i got a very nice arm tan... :D well im gonna go.. byeeeeee
TOMORROW: pensacola to probably somewhere in the tampa-st. petersburg area, unless we get slowed down by playing on every beach we see. good night, heather; good night, nicole, who is taking care of willy the cat while we're gone; good night, linda and george, who are playing at ocean shores this weekend...O:good night, emi!; good night, all of my friends who i have to go another 2 more weeks away from.. yeah you know who you are.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
day 10
texarkana, texas, to memphis, tennessee, 307 miles.
starting today, olivia will be adding to the blog. so we'll separate it as FROM SCOTT and FROM OLIVIA. enjoy.
FROM SCOTT
blasted through arkansas to get to memphis so i could meet olivia's flight. so naturally i arrived in memphis before she even left seattle. it's no fun being on the interstates. they serve a purpose, but it's only to get from one place to another, not to see or do anything along the way. lots of history in arkansas. some of the city names reek of history: little rock, pocahontas, arkadelphia, fort smith. one of the day's bigger smiles was reserved for a gas stop in arkansas -- $3.89 per gallon. arkansas also was much greener than texas; lots of fields of corn and hay; lots of rivers. crossed the mississippi just west of memphis. nice river. big. as big as its history. best roadside sign of the day, particularly considering olivia's arrival: "use the rod on your children and save their life." hey, liv, come here, let me save your life. i drove a little faster after i saw that sign; that area wasn't one i wanted to linger in. only saw one elvis impersonator in training at the airport, but that was ok. it had a starbucks. the best part of the day was olivia's arrival. she had a nice hawaiian tan, though i believe my top-down tan is darker. she had a good week in hawaii, and now we'll have a couple of good weeks on the road.
FROM OLIVIA(who's tan is much betterrrrr)
So.......... sheesh. im suppossed to put everything ive done this week with my phone vibrating constantly cause all my friends want to talk to me.. at the moment. i have 10 unread text all occuring in the last 2-5 min. haha ok so.Day 1. i went to Hawaii.. nothing really ummm exciting happened.. unless you count flying over the hugestestest ocean ever for like 5 hours exciting.. i sure dont.Oh! but i just remembered.. i had to spend a night in San. Fran. cus our flight from seattle to Sanfran was delayed cus' of smoke.... and so our flight to Kona. LEFT WITHOUT US! how rudeeeee.... haha so we got to Kona, got our car and...... got caught in traffic. yeah i know! i mean why would an island have traffic?!?!?!?!?!?!?! i still havent figured it out. the next day we went to this AMAZING BEACH called Hapuna Beach... google it. youll be glad you did. anyway it had great boogieboarding waves... so great i forgott to re-apply my sunscreen... whoopsies. haah needless to say i looked like a tomato... and i felt like a fire. OW! haha so day 3.. i cant even remember what we did.. im gonna look at the letter i wrote to remember.. one sec. i need to go get it. ok. so day three. I went to the rehersal dinner for the wedding i was at Kona for.. it was pretty funny.. because they had this watermelon.. but it was spiked... but i didnt figure that out until i had had like 5. needless to say... i stopped immediately. haha that was all i did day three.. besides hanging out in the pool with my cousin.. and watching the surfers. hahahhaahahhahaha yay! Day 4 was the Wedding... kinda like all the other weddings ive ever gone to................... but. i did go to a beach again.. on the road from down below.. basically it was a lava road... that was just a little smoothed ou. it was not a good road.. specially if you're in a dodge charger. oh well day 5 was the Luau.. purddy fun! they had some good food.. some not so good food.. i ate it anyway.. (what can i say? i was hungry!!!!) they had a fire thrower juggler person.. it was cool! haha day 5. i went snorkeling at a reallllly cool and pretty bay. that was all i did. day 6. i drove around the island... from 830-830. we saw cool stuff and went to the volcano.. while it was erupting.. even more purddyyy cool. haha. day 7. i dropped my sister off at a farm.. and headed home.. day 8 Emi came over.. really early this morning.. like 7! haha we played rockband until she had to go.... then i went to the airport.. and guess who i saw there... EMI!!!!!!!! haha i swear she stalks me. oh well.. haha i also got to call jeff today! so i was happy.. anyway..im gonna go to reply to my texts now.. so umm buh-bye?
TOMORROW, memphis to as far as we get in alabama before we crash for the night.
starting today, olivia will be adding to the blog. so we'll separate it as FROM SCOTT and FROM OLIVIA. enjoy.
FROM SCOTT
blasted through arkansas to get to memphis so i could meet olivia's flight. so naturally i arrived in memphis before she even left seattle. it's no fun being on the interstates. they serve a purpose, but it's only to get from one place to another, not to see or do anything along the way. lots of history in arkansas. some of the city names reek of history: little rock, pocahontas, arkadelphia, fort smith. one of the day's bigger smiles was reserved for a gas stop in arkansas -- $3.89 per gallon. arkansas also was much greener than texas; lots of fields of corn and hay; lots of rivers. crossed the mississippi just west of memphis. nice river. big. as big as its history. best roadside sign of the day, particularly considering olivia's arrival: "use the rod on your children and save their life." hey, liv, come here, let me save your life. i drove a little faster after i saw that sign; that area wasn't one i wanted to linger in. only saw one elvis impersonator in training at the airport, but that was ok. it had a starbucks. the best part of the day was olivia's arrival. she had a nice hawaiian tan, though i believe my top-down tan is darker. she had a good week in hawaii, and now we'll have a couple of good weeks on the road.
FROM OLIVIA(who's tan is much betterrrrr)
So.......... sheesh. im suppossed to put everything ive done this week with my phone vibrating constantly cause all my friends want to talk to me.. at the moment. i have 10 unread text all occuring in the last 2-5 min. haha ok so.Day 1. i went to Hawaii.. nothing really ummm exciting happened.. unless you count flying over the hugestestest ocean ever for like 5 hours exciting.. i sure dont.Oh! but i just remembered.. i had to spend a night in San. Fran. cus our flight from seattle to Sanfran was delayed cus' of smoke.... and so our flight to Kona. LEFT WITHOUT US! how rudeeeee.... haha so we got to Kona, got our car and...... got caught in traffic. yeah i know! i mean why would an island have traffic?!?!?!?!?!?!?! i still havent figured it out. the next day we went to this AMAZING BEACH called Hapuna Beach... google it. youll be glad you did. anyway it had great boogieboarding waves... so great i forgott to re-apply my sunscreen... whoopsies. haah needless to say i looked like a tomato... and i felt like a fire. OW! haha so day 3.. i cant even remember what we did.. im gonna look at the letter i wrote to remember.. one sec. i need to go get it. ok. so day three. I went to the rehersal dinner for the wedding i was at Kona for.. it was pretty funny.. because they had this watermelon.. but it was spiked... but i didnt figure that out until i had had like 5. needless to say... i stopped immediately. haha that was all i did day three.. besides hanging out in the pool with my cousin.. and watching the surfers. hahahhaahahhahaha yay! Day 4 was the Wedding... kinda like all the other weddings ive ever gone to................... but. i did go to a beach again.. on the road from down below.. basically it was a lava road... that was just a little smoothed ou. it was not a good road.. specially if you're in a dodge charger. oh well day 5 was the Luau.. purddy fun! they had some good food.. some not so good food.. i ate it anyway.. (what can i say? i was hungry!!!!) they had a fire thrower juggler person.. it was cool! haha day 5. i went snorkeling at a reallllly cool and pretty bay. that was all i did. day 6. i drove around the island... from 830-830. we saw cool stuff and went to the volcano.. while it was erupting.. even more purddyyy cool. haha. day 7. i dropped my sister off at a farm.. and headed home.. day 8 Emi came over.. really early this morning.. like 7! haha we played rockband until she had to go.... then i went to the airport.. and guess who i saw there... EMI!!!!!!!! haha i swear she stalks me. oh well.. haha i also got to call jeff today! so i was happy.. anyway..im gonna go to reply to my texts now.. so umm buh-bye?
TOMORROW, memphis to as far as we get in alabama before we crash for the night.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
day nine
wichita falls, texas, to texarkana, texas, 331 miles.
thought i was going to be in arkansas tonight, but it turns out i'm one exit off the freeway shy of arkansas. seems like i've been in texas a long time. not sure whether that's because it's big or because it's still BORING. why did we want texas anyway? of course, i'm saying this having seen just the northern part. i'm sure places like brownsville are much more scenic and interesting. galveston! oh, galveston. i don't really have anything to say about texas despite umpteen hours driving through it. except it has nice speed limits. you go 70 on the freeways, and you go 70 on little farm roads. everyone goes 70, all the time. nice. and i absolutely detest texas mud. yesterday, when i had to take a little detour because of a "major accident," according to the sheriff's deputy, i was following a car with texas plates that pulled into a driveway, then backed out to turn around. after i did the same and got going down the road again, it felt like the entire car was going to fall apart. shimmying, shaking. if the car had a front axle, i would have been certain it had fallen apart. got out and looked, but saw nothing, so started slowly down the road again. little by little the shimmying smoothed out and i picked up speed. eventually i was doing 70 and everything was fine. the only thing i could figure is that i had picked up some nice red texas mud on part of the front tires when i turned around, and it had dried and was causing the problem. but when my shimmy problem was gone, so was the car i had been following. I WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF TEXAS AND HAD NO CLUE WHAT DIRECTION TO GO TO GET OUT OF TEXAS. fortunately, a nice guy driving a huge combine stopped and opened the door when i climbed onto the thing and told me where to go. today, there were a couple of firsts. number one, i was so engrossed in the fabulous texas scenery that i missed a turn and had to backtrack about 20 miles. the second was when i made an intentional detour and drove north about 10 miles into oklahoma, just so i could say i had been to oklahoma. noticed on the map that there's a durant, oklahoma, and i almost went there to see what marketing plans they had for kevin durant of the sonics when he becomes an oklahomaniac. also stopped in paris, texas, but the hilton girl wasn't there, and the guy putting out flags around the town square for the fourth of july didn't know if she had ever been there. i just finished spending a day and a half driving across texas, and i must admit i'm still looking for a reason for its existence.
tomorrow, texarkana to memphis, where i'll pick up olivia. it's about 5 p.m. texas time, and i just got off the phone with her. she's in the airport in hawaii getting ready to fly to seattle, where she'll have a layover of about 12 hours before flying to memphis. will be good to see her. miss her. miss a lot of folks. hope you're all well. don't worry about me -- i'm getting used to talking to myself. and i've been asking lots of questions of the folks behind the counter in the hotel lobby today so i can get used to talking again. good night olivia, good night ray. good night, texas, wherever you are...
thought i was going to be in arkansas tonight, but it turns out i'm one exit off the freeway shy of arkansas. seems like i've been in texas a long time. not sure whether that's because it's big or because it's still BORING. why did we want texas anyway? of course, i'm saying this having seen just the northern part. i'm sure places like brownsville are much more scenic and interesting. galveston! oh, galveston. i don't really have anything to say about texas despite umpteen hours driving through it. except it has nice speed limits. you go 70 on the freeways, and you go 70 on little farm roads. everyone goes 70, all the time. nice. and i absolutely detest texas mud. yesterday, when i had to take a little detour because of a "major accident," according to the sheriff's deputy, i was following a car with texas plates that pulled into a driveway, then backed out to turn around. after i did the same and got going down the road again, it felt like the entire car was going to fall apart. shimmying, shaking. if the car had a front axle, i would have been certain it had fallen apart. got out and looked, but saw nothing, so started slowly down the road again. little by little the shimmying smoothed out and i picked up speed. eventually i was doing 70 and everything was fine. the only thing i could figure is that i had picked up some nice red texas mud on part of the front tires when i turned around, and it had dried and was causing the problem. but when my shimmy problem was gone, so was the car i had been following. I WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF TEXAS AND HAD NO CLUE WHAT DIRECTION TO GO TO GET OUT OF TEXAS. fortunately, a nice guy driving a huge combine stopped and opened the door when i climbed onto the thing and told me where to go. today, there were a couple of firsts. number one, i was so engrossed in the fabulous texas scenery that i missed a turn and had to backtrack about 20 miles. the second was when i made an intentional detour and drove north about 10 miles into oklahoma, just so i could say i had been to oklahoma. noticed on the map that there's a durant, oklahoma, and i almost went there to see what marketing plans they had for kevin durant of the sonics when he becomes an oklahomaniac. also stopped in paris, texas, but the hilton girl wasn't there, and the guy putting out flags around the town square for the fourth of july didn't know if she had ever been there. i just finished spending a day and a half driving across texas, and i must admit i'm still looking for a reason for its existence.
tomorrow, texarkana to memphis, where i'll pick up olivia. it's about 5 p.m. texas time, and i just got off the phone with her. she's in the airport in hawaii getting ready to fly to seattle, where she'll have a layover of about 12 hours before flying to memphis. will be good to see her. miss her. miss a lot of folks. hope you're all well. don't worry about me -- i'm getting used to talking to myself. and i've been asking lots of questions of the folks behind the counter in the hotel lobby today so i can get used to talking again. good night olivia, good night ray. good night, texas, wherever you are...
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
day eight
socorro, new mexico, to wichita falls, texas, 550 miles.
boring. texas is really big, and so far really boring. in new mexico this morning, i crossed the rio grande river and later the pecos river. also passed the trinity nuclear site. i'll have to check tonight to see if i glow. speaking of glowing, a highlight today was the town of roswell, new mexico. alien central. many of the businesses in town have names that speak to the "crash landing of a ufo" near town decades ago and the alleged hauling-off by the military of a couple of alien bodies. believing it or not doesn't really matter in roswell; they're cashing in on it in a big way. across the state line in texas, oil derricks, big farms and ranches, cowboy boots and hats and a happy "join the NRA" sign replaced rock outcroppings and the beauty of the desert. boring. maybe tomorrow i should sneak up to oklahoma city and stand on a street corner downtown and tell everyone there what seattle thinks of the new sonics owner. maybe not.
tomorrow: wichita falls to texarkana or however far into arkansas i get. it better not be boring...
boring. texas is really big, and so far really boring. in new mexico this morning, i crossed the rio grande river and later the pecos river. also passed the trinity nuclear site. i'll have to check tonight to see if i glow. speaking of glowing, a highlight today was the town of roswell, new mexico. alien central. many of the businesses in town have names that speak to the "crash landing of a ufo" near town decades ago and the alleged hauling-off by the military of a couple of alien bodies. believing it or not doesn't really matter in roswell; they're cashing in on it in a big way. across the state line in texas, oil derricks, big farms and ranches, cowboy boots and hats and a happy "join the NRA" sign replaced rock outcroppings and the beauty of the desert. boring. maybe tomorrow i should sneak up to oklahoma city and stand on a street corner downtown and tell everyone there what seattle thinks of the new sonics owner. maybe not.
tomorrow: wichita falls to texarkana or however far into arkansas i get. it better not be boring...
Monday, June 30, 2008
day seven
phoenix to socorro, new mexico, 403 miles.
an absolutely great day on the road, once i finally left the traffic of the phoenix area behind. refreshingly cool as well, because the temperature only reached into the mid-90s. there's so much to see out there, and today's drive was a good example of not knowing what was in an area and discovering a lot. if you haven't been to the salt river canyon along highway 60 in east central arizona, go. go now. it's beautiful. not as spectacular or deep as the grand canyon, but it has a significant "wow" factor. and you get to drive down one side to the river and then back up the other side. crossing the state line into new mexico, i drove through a thunderstorm. a little one, but lots of lightning and rain. lasted maybe 15 minutes. also came across pie town, arizona. hey, i didn't name it. wasn't much of a town, with about four businesses on the road, all of them advertising pie in big letters. why pie town? in the middle of nowhere? someone's grand marketing plan to put the community on the map? but none of the businesses were open, and there weren't any indications they had been open for a while. a pie in the sky? in pie town, i crossed the continental divide at about 7,800 feet. much of the day was spent more than a mile high, driving through some beautiful country. east of pie town, there was a stretch of road that was straight as a line for 21 miles. not kidding. 21 miles. it stretched all the way to the horizon. and about halfway through it there was a strange assemblage of stuff -- at least strange from a distance (initially thought it might be my first mirage). at a little rest area near the stuff, a sign indicated that it was the "very large array," the most powerul and widely used radio telescope in the world. it was substantial. lots of big dishes arrayed in lines and pointing to the stars. there was a jodie foster movie years ago with scenes that included a very big array. don't know if that one was this one, but if you saw the movie you get the picture. all in all, a good day on the road. need to put a lot of miles behind me in the next two days, though, to reach memphis.
tomorrow: soccoro to wichita falls, whatever state it's in.
good night jack and shirley, jack and jackie, jake and jill, mike and barbara. good night jean...
an absolutely great day on the road, once i finally left the traffic of the phoenix area behind. refreshingly cool as well, because the temperature only reached into the mid-90s. there's so much to see out there, and today's drive was a good example of not knowing what was in an area and discovering a lot. if you haven't been to the salt river canyon along highway 60 in east central arizona, go. go now. it's beautiful. not as spectacular or deep as the grand canyon, but it has a significant "wow" factor. and you get to drive down one side to the river and then back up the other side. crossing the state line into new mexico, i drove through a thunderstorm. a little one, but lots of lightning and rain. lasted maybe 15 minutes. also came across pie town, arizona. hey, i didn't name it. wasn't much of a town, with about four businesses on the road, all of them advertising pie in big letters. why pie town? in the middle of nowhere? someone's grand marketing plan to put the community on the map? but none of the businesses were open, and there weren't any indications they had been open for a while. a pie in the sky? in pie town, i crossed the continental divide at about 7,800 feet. much of the day was spent more than a mile high, driving through some beautiful country. east of pie town, there was a stretch of road that was straight as a line for 21 miles. not kidding. 21 miles. it stretched all the way to the horizon. and about halfway through it there was a strange assemblage of stuff -- at least strange from a distance (initially thought it might be my first mirage). at a little rest area near the stuff, a sign indicated that it was the "very large array," the most powerul and widely used radio telescope in the world. it was substantial. lots of big dishes arrayed in lines and pointing to the stars. there was a jodie foster movie years ago with scenes that included a very big array. don't know if that one was this one, but if you saw the movie you get the picture. all in all, a good day on the road. need to put a lot of miles behind me in the next two days, though, to reach memphis.
tomorrow: soccoro to wichita falls, whatever state it's in.
good night jack and shirley, jack and jackie, jake and jill, mike and barbara. good night jean...
day six
june 29, flagstaff, arizona, to phoenix, 294 miles.
27 or so years ago, in a world far, far away, i was covering baseball for the paper in bellevue, washington. each year, i drove to spring training in arizona. one year, terry tazioli, a good friend who also worked at the bellevue paper at the time, joined me for the trip south. along the way, we drove through a snow storm at the grand canyon; enjoyed laid-back sedona, arizona; discovered picturesque jerome, arizona; and marveled at montezuma's castle and montezuma's well, a couple of national monuments that contain dwellings used by folks here thousands of years ago. today, i revisited those places. sedona is no longer laid-back -- it has two starbuck's -- and jerome is no longer a tumble-down community perched precariously on the side of a hill in copper-mining country. the buildings have been renovated, it has been designated an historic site, and the tourists are out in force. but they're still good places to visit, and montezuma's castle is still amazing. the day ended with family and friends, first family at a dinner in chandler, arizona. an uncle and aunt, jack and shirley, have been in arizona for a while, and were joined about six years ago by one of their daughters, jackie, her husband, jack, and their kids. much more recently, one of their sons, jake, and his wife, jill, arrived. so we had dinner. and good conversation. then it was time to drive to sun city west and spend the night with mike stanton, who had been my boss at the seattle times before i drove him into retirement, and his wife, barbara. when i started planning this trip and contacted mike about the possibility of mooching a night's lodging, his first comment was something along the lines of, "what? are you crazy? it'll be like 110 degrees here that time of year." ok, so he got lucky, and it was 110 degrees. i finally turned on the air conditioning. on the way from chandler to sun city west -- it took over an hour to get from one to the other because the phoenix area has become huge -- it rained for a while and the wind blew strong. felt good. it was a good day. it was nice to see everyone and spend at least a little time with them. wish i could have stayed longer, but olivia will be in memphis in a few days, and i need to be there as well.
tomorrow: phoenix to socorro, new mexico...
27 or so years ago, in a world far, far away, i was covering baseball for the paper in bellevue, washington. each year, i drove to spring training in arizona. one year, terry tazioli, a good friend who also worked at the bellevue paper at the time, joined me for the trip south. along the way, we drove through a snow storm at the grand canyon; enjoyed laid-back sedona, arizona; discovered picturesque jerome, arizona; and marveled at montezuma's castle and montezuma's well, a couple of national monuments that contain dwellings used by folks here thousands of years ago. today, i revisited those places. sedona is no longer laid-back -- it has two starbuck's -- and jerome is no longer a tumble-down community perched precariously on the side of a hill in copper-mining country. the buildings have been renovated, it has been designated an historic site, and the tourists are out in force. but they're still good places to visit, and montezuma's castle is still amazing. the day ended with family and friends, first family at a dinner in chandler, arizona. an uncle and aunt, jack and shirley, have been in arizona for a while, and were joined about six years ago by one of their daughters, jackie, her husband, jack, and their kids. much more recently, one of their sons, jake, and his wife, jill, arrived. so we had dinner. and good conversation. then it was time to drive to sun city west and spend the night with mike stanton, who had been my boss at the seattle times before i drove him into retirement, and his wife, barbara. when i started planning this trip and contacted mike about the possibility of mooching a night's lodging, his first comment was something along the lines of, "what? are you crazy? it'll be like 110 degrees here that time of year." ok, so he got lucky, and it was 110 degrees. i finally turned on the air conditioning. on the way from chandler to sun city west -- it took over an hour to get from one to the other because the phoenix area has become huge -- it rained for a while and the wind blew strong. felt good. it was a good day. it was nice to see everyone and spend at least a little time with them. wish i could have stayed longer, but olivia will be in memphis in a few days, and i need to be there as well.
tomorrow: phoenix to socorro, new mexico...
Saturday, June 28, 2008
day five
moab, utah, to flagstaff, arizona, 415 miles.
hothothot. hot at canyonlands national monument, though "newspaper rock" was great. a big bunch of petroglyphs on one rock. they don't know how old it is or who exactly created it, but it's nice. they call it newspaper rock because it tells a bunch of stories. hot at the four corners, but not too hot for me to stick a foot in four states (arizona, new mexico, colorado, utah) at once and take a picture. hot in keyenta, arizona, and the air-conditioned mcdonald's there was booming. they were selling huge cokes for $1; i got two. hot in the car, but kept the top up. i'm getting a road-trip tan -- brown in front and washington state white in back. canyonlands and arches were great, but there's so much beyond them. they're the national monument theme parks, but there are rock formations to ooh and ahh over everywhere. climbed to wilson arch, which is all by itself south of moab, and stood under it.
tomorrow: south to phoenix, where it was 109 today. hmmm. good night olivia in hawaii, good night mom in the potholes, good night jean...
hothothot. hot at canyonlands national monument, though "newspaper rock" was great. a big bunch of petroglyphs on one rock. they don't know how old it is or who exactly created it, but it's nice. they call it newspaper rock because it tells a bunch of stories. hot at the four corners, but not too hot for me to stick a foot in four states (arizona, new mexico, colorado, utah) at once and take a picture. hot in keyenta, arizona, and the air-conditioned mcdonald's there was booming. they were selling huge cokes for $1; i got two. hot in the car, but kept the top up. i'm getting a road-trip tan -- brown in front and washington state white in back. canyonlands and arches were great, but there's so much beyond them. they're the national monument theme parks, but there are rock formations to ooh and ahh over everywhere. climbed to wilson arch, which is all by itself south of moab, and stood under it.
tomorrow: south to phoenix, where it was 109 today. hmmm. good night olivia in hawaii, good night mom in the potholes, good night jean...
Friday, June 27, 2008
day four
ogden, utah, to moab, utah, 333 miles.
suffering today from a bad case of topdownitis (a combination of having the top down too long on a day in which the sun focused its energies directly on the car and the temperature may have topped 200. ok, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration), so called it quits early after driving through arches national monument. if you haven't been to southeastern utah, you have to see this stuff. rock formations -- and colors -- that are too remarkable for words or pictures. the scenery earlier in the day wasn't as spectacular, but still interesting. huge, wide open spaces way above sea level. went over one pass east of heber city -- it's in heber valley -- that was 8,020 feet. can't remember when i last saw a real tree. and i'm so in need of conversation i've started talking to random folks in parking lots. stuff like, "hey, that's an interesting bug on your windshield. where'd you get it?" and "I see from your license plate you're from ohio. you know my uncle hank and aunt ruth?"
tomorrow: canyonlands, the four corners and eventually south to flagstaff, arizona.
suffering today from a bad case of topdownitis (a combination of having the top down too long on a day in which the sun focused its energies directly on the car and the temperature may have topped 200. ok, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration), so called it quits early after driving through arches national monument. if you haven't been to southeastern utah, you have to see this stuff. rock formations -- and colors -- that are too remarkable for words or pictures. the scenery earlier in the day wasn't as spectacular, but still interesting. huge, wide open spaces way above sea level. went over one pass east of heber city -- it's in heber valley -- that was 8,020 feet. can't remember when i last saw a real tree. and i'm so in need of conversation i've started talking to random folks in parking lots. stuff like, "hey, that's an interesting bug on your windshield. where'd you get it?" and "I see from your license plate you're from ohio. you know my uncle hank and aunt ruth?"
tomorrow: canyonlands, the four corners and eventually south to flagstaff, arizona.
where's olivia?
the day i drove away from woodinville earlier this week, olivia flew to hawaii for a wedding. she returns to sea-tac around 12:30 a.m. on july 3, then flies to memphis about 12 hours later. i'll be in memphis to meet her, though she likely won't recognize me in the elvis outfit i expect to wear proudly in the airport. and if she does recognize me, i'm absolutely certain she won't acknowledge me. we'll spend a couple of weeks doing florida and the atlantic coast, then she'll fly home from d.c. ...
Thursday, June 26, 2008
day three
june 26, the potholes in eastern washington to ogden, utah, 662 miles:
here are some random babblings from the road. ... i started talking to myself this afternoon. wonder what that says about the remaining 27 days of this trip. i think it was more a result of today being an intentional mile-eater, plus baristas for some reason not being interested in just chatting for an hour or so. it was a just-get-on-the-road-and-go day. four states -- washington, oregon, idaho, utah -- and more than a few coffee stops. ... said goodbye to mount rainier this morning. there are nice views of it from the road between moses lake and the tri cities. said goodbye to the columbia river as well. played woodie guthrie's "roll on columbia" to mark the occasion. the lyrics to roll on columbia are fairly dated, and rhapsodizing about dams and power plants doesn't go over well these days, but it would sure be a better state song than whatever washington currently has. anyone know the lyrics to the state song? any state song? ... crossed the 48th parallel, meaning i was halfway between the north pole and the equator for an instant. ... one of the nicest surprises of the trip so far was when i hit idaho and saw my first 75 mph speed limit sign. passed an idaho state trooper at one point, and he eased in behind me and paced me for 20 miles or so, but then he dropped back. guess he got tired of trying to keep up. ... if you're ever traveling along interstate 84 in idaho between mountain home and twin falls, you have to stop at the rest area. amazing. it has a lobby. you go through a set of doors into the lobby, where there are maps and pop machines and other things, and then through more doors to the real reason for a rest area. nicely air-conditioned, too. has someone written a book about rest areas? ... my uncle mel is feeling better, enough so that he called my mom to say he might fly to miami and rent a car so he could still beat me to key west. hmmm. wonder what the speed limit is in texas. ... the highlight of today's drive was a new CD i played. hey, when you're driving 600 miles and you start talking to yourself, CDs come in handy. and this is a good one. it was put together by jean from lake forest park, washington. it's time i introduced all of you to jean. she has practiced medicine in africa and the alaskan outback and other places. i can never be her patient because then we'd have to stop dating for four years. she was a driving force behind creating a foundation in her community to enhance the environment and create more and better habitat for birds and critters and fish as well as educate folks to better take care of their part of the environment. it's very cool. i have a great deal of respect for the things she has done, and continues to do, to improve the world around her. so, family and friends, meet jean. jean, meet the friends and family. more about jean later, after you've all gotten to know each other. i suspect that by the end of this trip, i'll have told enough stories about all of you -- yes, that includes jean, mike stanton and everyone else -- so you'll all know each other fairly well. speaking of mike, he's one of my former bosses at the seattle times who never knew whether to laugh or cry about the things i did. i mention him because all of you should know that mike and others still at or recently detached from the times are reading this, as well as other friends and a number of family members past and present, not to mention folks around the world who just google something and get lucky. tomorrow: ogden to monticello or blanding or somewhere in the southeastern part of utah. it may hit 100 in some of these places. might be a good day to put the top down and gather some heatstroke or sunstroke data for jean. good night family, good night friends, good night jean...
here are some random babblings from the road. ... i started talking to myself this afternoon. wonder what that says about the remaining 27 days of this trip. i think it was more a result of today being an intentional mile-eater, plus baristas for some reason not being interested in just chatting for an hour or so. it was a just-get-on-the-road-and-go day. four states -- washington, oregon, idaho, utah -- and more than a few coffee stops. ... said goodbye to mount rainier this morning. there are nice views of it from the road between moses lake and the tri cities. said goodbye to the columbia river as well. played woodie guthrie's "roll on columbia" to mark the occasion. the lyrics to roll on columbia are fairly dated, and rhapsodizing about dams and power plants doesn't go over well these days, but it would sure be a better state song than whatever washington currently has. anyone know the lyrics to the state song? any state song? ... crossed the 48th parallel, meaning i was halfway between the north pole and the equator for an instant. ... one of the nicest surprises of the trip so far was when i hit idaho and saw my first 75 mph speed limit sign. passed an idaho state trooper at one point, and he eased in behind me and paced me for 20 miles or so, but then he dropped back. guess he got tired of trying to keep up. ... if you're ever traveling along interstate 84 in idaho between mountain home and twin falls, you have to stop at the rest area. amazing. it has a lobby. you go through a set of doors into the lobby, where there are maps and pop machines and other things, and then through more doors to the real reason for a rest area. nicely air-conditioned, too. has someone written a book about rest areas? ... my uncle mel is feeling better, enough so that he called my mom to say he might fly to miami and rent a car so he could still beat me to key west. hmmm. wonder what the speed limit is in texas. ... the highlight of today's drive was a new CD i played. hey, when you're driving 600 miles and you start talking to yourself, CDs come in handy. and this is a good one. it was put together by jean from lake forest park, washington. it's time i introduced all of you to jean. she has practiced medicine in africa and the alaskan outback and other places. i can never be her patient because then we'd have to stop dating for four years. she was a driving force behind creating a foundation in her community to enhance the environment and create more and better habitat for birds and critters and fish as well as educate folks to better take care of their part of the environment. it's very cool. i have a great deal of respect for the things she has done, and continues to do, to improve the world around her. so, family and friends, meet jean. jean, meet the friends and family. more about jean later, after you've all gotten to know each other. i suspect that by the end of this trip, i'll have told enough stories about all of you -- yes, that includes jean, mike stanton and everyone else -- so you'll all know each other fairly well. speaking of mike, he's one of my former bosses at the seattle times who never knew whether to laugh or cry about the things i did. i mention him because all of you should know that mike and others still at or recently detached from the times are reading this, as well as other friends and a number of family members past and present, not to mention folks around the world who just google something and get lucky. tomorrow: ogden to monticello or blanding or somewhere in the southeastern part of utah. it may hit 100 in some of these places. might be a good day to put the top down and gather some heatstroke or sunstroke data for jean. good night family, good night friends, good night jean...
day two
june 25, woodinville to the potholes in eastern washington, 207 miles.
an uneventful trip over the cascades to mom's house. decided to take stevens pass across the cascades because it's more scenic. the warming temperatures are causing the snowpack to melt rapidly, which in turn is making the rivers run fast and high. one of my favorite waterfalls, deception falls, is on highway 2 going over the mountains. it's more of a tumbling, rumbling falls than a drop over a cliff, and its spray was keeping the footbridge nice and wet. don't know why it's called deception falls. maybe because it's deceptively hidden beneath the highway. if you're going 60 mph down the road (remember, i never exceed the speed limit), you wouldn't know it's there. most interesting things along the route: a crop-dusting helicopter (hadn't seen one of those before) and tractor magazine, a magazine (like house-selling magazines) devoted to selling tractors and combines and balers and seeders and stuff. these things are not cheap. one combine was for sale for just under $300,000. the magazine itself reminded me of a trip to green bay, wisconsin, with the seahawks years ago. the writers stayed at the howard johnson's in green bay, and the three magazines offered in the hotel lobby were playboy, penthouse and the green bay packer magazine. so maybe i shouldn't have been surprised to see tractor magazine in a place like moses lake, washington. did that anecdote make any sense?
today: the potholes to salt lake city, or however far down the road i get.
an uneventful trip over the cascades to mom's house. decided to take stevens pass across the cascades because it's more scenic. the warming temperatures are causing the snowpack to melt rapidly, which in turn is making the rivers run fast and high. one of my favorite waterfalls, deception falls, is on highway 2 going over the mountains. it's more of a tumbling, rumbling falls than a drop over a cliff, and its spray was keeping the footbridge nice and wet. don't know why it's called deception falls. maybe because it's deceptively hidden beneath the highway. if you're going 60 mph down the road (remember, i never exceed the speed limit), you wouldn't know it's there. most interesting things along the route: a crop-dusting helicopter (hadn't seen one of those before) and tractor magazine, a magazine (like house-selling magazines) devoted to selling tractors and combines and balers and seeders and stuff. these things are not cheap. one combine was for sale for just under $300,000. the magazine itself reminded me of a trip to green bay, wisconsin, with the seahawks years ago. the writers stayed at the howard johnson's in green bay, and the three magazines offered in the hotel lobby were playboy, penthouse and the green bay packer magazine. so maybe i shouldn't have been surprised to see tractor magazine in a place like moses lake, washington. did that anecdote make any sense?
today: the potholes to salt lake city, or however far down the road i get.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
uncle mel
my uncle mel and aunt judy had planned a road trip of their own, coinciding somewhat with mine. their plan was to drive from their home in lynden, WA, to nebraska and ohio to see relatives. uncle mel, you need to know, has always taken great pleasure in beating me at things. i remember when i was three or four feet tall and he graciously agreed to teach me how to play chess. i think it took him maybe four moves to checkmate me. again and again and again. no mr. nice guy. but it forced me to learn the game. i didn't find out until years later that he had enough chess trophies to fill a room. at some point recently, mel and judy decided to extend their trip all the way to key west, probably so he could beat me there. but the stupid cancer he has been beating back for a number of years now had him feeling bad when they got to idaho, so they turned back. so i'm going to push on, for me, and for mel. key west or bust. do me a favor and keep mel in your thoughts. he's a good uncle, and a good person. tomorrow: woodinville to the potholes in eastern washington...
Sunday, June 22, 2008
the trip begins
day one, woodinville, WA, to neah bay, WA, and back to woodinville. 380 miles.
olivia and i kicked off the trip june 21. it was a fairly long day, with a couple of ferry rides between edmonds and kingston; a side trip to port townsend to pick up olivia's friend, hanna, so she could join us for the day; and some agonizingly slow, windy roads. we were fortunate in that we didn't become part of a battle in port gamble, where a bunch of folks were reenacting some civil war skirmishes. there were folks dressed in blue, folks dressed in gray, and women wearing the dresses of the day. i figure we'll see some of the real civil war areas between florida and washington, d.c. we drove to neah bay and then hiked a nice half-mile trail through the woods to cape flattery, the northwesternmost point in the contiguous states. here's more on what the makah nation has done there recently to make it more accessible for tourists: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/travel/2008011123_onlywa22flattery.html. before leaving neah bay, we drove south of town a couple of miles to one of my favorite beaches, but didn't stay long because a fog bank was rolling in. i'm going to take a couple of days now to finish preparations before i start driving east and south. will probably hit the road in earnest tuesday or wednesday.
Hanna (left) and Olivia (right) standing out on the lookout
at Cape Flattery.
olivia and i kicked off the trip june 21. it was a fairly long day, with a couple of ferry rides between edmonds and kingston; a side trip to port townsend to pick up olivia's friend, hanna, so she could join us for the day; and some agonizingly slow, windy roads. we were fortunate in that we didn't become part of a battle in port gamble, where a bunch of folks were reenacting some civil war skirmishes. there were folks dressed in blue, folks dressed in gray, and women wearing the dresses of the day. i figure we'll see some of the real civil war areas between florida and washington, d.c. we drove to neah bay and then hiked a nice half-mile trail through the woods to cape flattery, the northwesternmost point in the contiguous states. here's more on what the makah nation has done there recently to make it more accessible for tourists: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/travel/2008011123_onlywa22flattery.html. before leaving neah bay, we drove south of town a couple of miles to one of my favorite beaches, but didn't stay long because a fog bank was rolling in. i'm going to take a couple of days now to finish preparations before i start driving east and south. will probably hit the road in earnest tuesday or wednesday.
Hanna (left) and Olivia (right) standing out on the lookout
at Cape Flattery.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
OLIVIA!!!!
So, This is Olivia! I just added myself to this blogging thingy-majiger.. and i have to say.. i approve. Even though i don't think that the picture is up-to-par ... I'll just take a new one. :) I'm going to start making all of my posts very bright colors...! it will be uber amazing. BLUE! I just got out of school ... yesterday to be exact. It was the happiest day of my life so far ... I can't wait for high school ... however, i do NOT know what i am going to do without my friends for 3 weeks(ish ) straight ... Anyway ... i'm gonna close this thingy up ... and I'll be sure to post some more ... in bright colors!
Monday, June 16, 2008
planning the trip, part IV...
here's a tentative daily schedule. keep in mind, though, that it has been evolving on an almost daily basis and probably will continue to do so for the next week. but this will give you a rough idea:
.
June 21, 152 miles: Woodinville, Washington, to Neah Bay, Washington
June 22, 152 miles: Neah Bay to Woodinville
June 23, 183 miles: Woodinville to The Potholes, Washington
June 24, 487 miles: The Potholes Lake to Twin Falls, Idaho
June 25, 419 miles: Twin Falls to Crescent Junction, Utah
June 26, 396 miles: Crescent Junction to Kayenta, Arizona, via Canyonlands and the Four Corners
June 27, 244 miles: Kayenta to Flagstaff, Arizona, via the Grand Canyon
June 28, 144 miles: Flagstaff to Phoenix via Jerome, Arizona
June 29, 432 miles: Phoenix to El Paso, Texas
June 30: 551 miles: El Paso to San Antonio
July 1, 393 miles: San Antonio to New Orleans via Corpus Christi, Texas
July 2: a make-up day in case I don’t go as far each day as hoped
July 3, 395 miles: New Orleans to Memphis (Olivia arrives in Memphis)
July 4, 458 miles: Memphis to Pensacola, Florida
July 5, 326 miles: Pensacola to Live Oak, Florida, via Apalachicola and Tallahassee
July 6, 318 miles: Live Oak to Fort Myers, Florida
July 7, 303 miles: Fort Myers to Key West, Florida
July 7-9 in Key West
July 10, 361 miles: Key West to Merritt Island, Florida
July 11, 297 miles: Merritt Island to Charleston, South Carolina
July 12, 225 miles: Charleston to Jacksonville, North Carolina
July 13, 338 miles: Jacksonville to Washington, D.C.
July 14-16: in Washington, D.C.
July 16: Olivia flies to Seattle
July 16, 211 miles: Washington to Morgantown, West Virginia
July 17, 148 miles: Morgantown to Sugar Creek, Ohio
July 18, 248 miles: Sugar Creek to Indianapolis, Indiana
July 19, 473 miles: Indianapolis to Des Moines, Iowa
July 20, 135 miles: Des Moines to Omaha, Nebraska
July 21, 498 miles: Omaha to Cheyenne, Wyoming
July 22, 438 miles: Cheyenne to Salt Lake City, Utah
July 23, 519 miles: Salt Lake City to Reno, Nevada
July 24, 293 miles: Reno to Ashland, Oregon
July 25: in Ashland (all Shakespeare all the time)
July 26, 569 miles: Ashland to The Potholes, Washington
July 27, 183 miles: The Potholes to Woodinville, Washington
.
June 21, 152 miles: Woodinville, Washington, to Neah Bay, Washington
June 22, 152 miles: Neah Bay to Woodinville
June 23, 183 miles: Woodinville to The Potholes, Washington
June 24, 487 miles: The Potholes Lake to Twin Falls, Idaho
June 25, 419 miles: Twin Falls to Crescent Junction, Utah
June 26, 396 miles: Crescent Junction to Kayenta, Arizona, via Canyonlands and the Four Corners
June 27, 244 miles: Kayenta to Flagstaff, Arizona, via the Grand Canyon
June 28, 144 miles: Flagstaff to Phoenix via Jerome, Arizona
June 29, 432 miles: Phoenix to El Paso, Texas
June 30: 551 miles: El Paso to San Antonio
July 1, 393 miles: San Antonio to New Orleans via Corpus Christi, Texas
July 2: a make-up day in case I don’t go as far each day as hoped
July 3, 395 miles: New Orleans to Memphis (Olivia arrives in Memphis)
July 4, 458 miles: Memphis to Pensacola, Florida
July 5, 326 miles: Pensacola to Live Oak, Florida, via Apalachicola and Tallahassee
July 6, 318 miles: Live Oak to Fort Myers, Florida
July 7, 303 miles: Fort Myers to Key West, Florida
July 7-9 in Key West
July 10, 361 miles: Key West to Merritt Island, Florida
July 11, 297 miles: Merritt Island to Charleston, South Carolina
July 12, 225 miles: Charleston to Jacksonville, North Carolina
July 13, 338 miles: Jacksonville to Washington, D.C.
July 14-16: in Washington, D.C.
July 16: Olivia flies to Seattle
July 16, 211 miles: Washington to Morgantown, West Virginia
July 17, 148 miles: Morgantown to Sugar Creek, Ohio
July 18, 248 miles: Sugar Creek to Indianapolis, Indiana
July 19, 473 miles: Indianapolis to Des Moines, Iowa
July 20, 135 miles: Des Moines to Omaha, Nebraska
July 21, 498 miles: Omaha to Cheyenne, Wyoming
July 22, 438 miles: Cheyenne to Salt Lake City, Utah
July 23, 519 miles: Salt Lake City to Reno, Nevada
July 24, 293 miles: Reno to Ashland, Oregon
July 25: in Ashland (all Shakespeare all the time)
July 26, 569 miles: Ashland to The Potholes, Washington
July 27, 183 miles: The Potholes to Woodinville, Washington
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
planning the trip, part III
a little more detail is available. olivia flies into memphis on july 3, then we head south to key west for a few days, then north along the atlantic to d.c. for a few days. she'll fly back to seattle from the d.c. area.
Saturday, June 7, 2008
planning the trip, part II
this much is known: olivia will fly into memphis on july 3. we'll spend july 4 either watching herds of elvis impersonators run patriotically through the streets of memphis, or we'll start working our way toward key west...
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
planning the trip
June 4, 2008: The plan is to drive from Neah Bay, Washington, to Key West, Florida. The planning for the trip right now is a work in progress, as is this entire blog. Stay tuned...
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