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| Road Trip |
Sunday, September 2, 2007
Back in NY
I'm home. It feels good to be back, although I'm kind of depressed now that I have to face reality. I have to start looking for a job, paying bills, and dealing with the reality that all of my best friends have left NY and, essentially, me. NYC is a lonely place despite all of the people here.
Anyway, Nashville turned out to be an interesting and very lively city! We got another campsite and before we went out I took a nice swim in the pool. It was so humid and sunny that getting in the water was close to heaven.
I'm not into country music as a rule, but with the excess of live music happening at every single bar in the downtown Nashville area, it's hard not to get into it. I could probably enjoy anything that's live and upbeat. Before hitting the town, though, we got some amazing BBQ at this place called Jack's BBQ. It was so cheap to get a LARGE portion of bbq'd pork shoulder with pickles on a roll, and some baked beans. Entirely satisfying.
The entire trip, Troy and I had been playing the alphabet game. That's where you try to find all the letters in the alphabet (in order) only by looking at license plates. We'd been on one game for about a week. Then we hit Tennessee! We actually got through one game during a 10 minute stint on the highway. We were in high spirits because we'd finally hit some place where there was a SOUL. Everyone looked ready to get out and have a fun time, on a Thursday. The first place we hit was Rippy's, where we played some pool. Then we went to Tootsie's, where a live band was playing country and everyone in the place had a huge grin. We met this woman named Audra who was nice, but then told me a story that was really unsettling. She had thought it was funny at work to make a big sign that said "White's Only," and then plaster it on the door of the bathroom. She had this confused look on her face when she said she got in trouble for it. Ummmmm....what's with all this fucking racism? I had no idea when I started this trip that I'd be face to face with it. I mean, if it were a trip to the deep south, then OK, but Nashville is a big cosmopolitan city, and Boulder is a Northern liberal one, so what's everyone's problem?
Anyway, besides bars with live music, Nashville has a plethora of karaoke bars. Unfortunately, these bars are only for amazing-voiced cowboys/girls who want to get discovered. Before we realized this, Troy and I had put in a request to do Mr. Robato by The Styx, only to quickly withdraw it once we heard how serious people were. It would have been fun, though. I had planned to do the "Secret, secret, he's got a secret" while Troy would do that crazy broadway-voiced part ("I am the modern man!!!")
After Nashville was a drive that lasted forever to Chapel Hill, NC. I was so unimpressed. The city was full of frat and sorority types. We were in the south, I guess, but I was on the verge of vomitting. The only good thing about the city was that we dominated Photohunt there. Highest score yet!
We got back to Washington, DC at around 3pm. I had planned on staying at Troy's overnight and then leaving for home the next day. We watched The Royal Tennenbaums (I liked it much better the second time). I was supposed to hang out with an old friend, Tanner, that night, but then I found myself so jealous that Troy was home and I wasn't. I wanted to sleep in my own bed, eat the food from my fridge, and just sit on my couch and watch all the DVR'd stuff that was waiting for me (Rock of Love!!!).
So I got back in the car at 5:45. On the way home I realized it was the first time that I was in the car by myself in 2 weeks. I sang loudly to my music since there was no one to listen. The moon that night was so huge. It was bright bright orange and hung so low in the sky, I felt like it might fall to Earth. The moon's beauty made me think of all the wonders of the universe, and how this world, my world is a part of that.
Back in college, I'd written a story for a creative writing class about a boy who decides to take a cross-country trip, only to stop a few hours out because of fear of the unknown. To be honest, I thought that character I'd created might have been me. In completing this journey, maybe I've proven to myself that I'm stronger than I think myself to be. But, anyway, if nothing else I've discovered that the world is full of beauty in the most surprising ways.
Anyway, Nashville turned out to be an interesting and very lively city! We got another campsite and before we went out I took a nice swim in the pool. It was so humid and sunny that getting in the water was close to heaven.
I'm not into country music as a rule, but with the excess of live music happening at every single bar in the downtown Nashville area, it's hard not to get into it. I could probably enjoy anything that's live and upbeat. Before hitting the town, though, we got some amazing BBQ at this place called Jack's BBQ. It was so cheap to get a LARGE portion of bbq'd pork shoulder with pickles on a roll, and some baked beans. Entirely satisfying.
The entire trip, Troy and I had been playing the alphabet game. That's where you try to find all the letters in the alphabet (in order) only by looking at license plates. We'd been on one game for about a week. Then we hit Tennessee! We actually got through one game during a 10 minute stint on the highway. We were in high spirits because we'd finally hit some place where there was a SOUL. Everyone looked ready to get out and have a fun time, on a Thursday. The first place we hit was Rippy's, where we played some pool. Then we went to Tootsie's, where a live band was playing country and everyone in the place had a huge grin. We met this woman named Audra who was nice, but then told me a story that was really unsettling. She had thought it was funny at work to make a big sign that said "White's Only," and then plaster it on the door of the bathroom. She had this confused look on her face when she said she got in trouble for it. Ummmmm....what's with all this fucking racism? I had no idea when I started this trip that I'd be face to face with it. I mean, if it were a trip to the deep south, then OK, but Nashville is a big cosmopolitan city, and Boulder is a Northern liberal one, so what's everyone's problem?
Anyway, besides bars with live music, Nashville has a plethora of karaoke bars. Unfortunately, these bars are only for amazing-voiced cowboys/girls who want to get discovered. Before we realized this, Troy and I had put in a request to do Mr. Robato by The Styx, only to quickly withdraw it once we heard how serious people were. It would have been fun, though. I had planned to do the "Secret, secret, he's got a secret" while Troy would do that crazy broadway-voiced part ("I am the modern man!!!")
After Nashville was a drive that lasted forever to Chapel Hill, NC. I was so unimpressed. The city was full of frat and sorority types. We were in the south, I guess, but I was on the verge of vomitting. The only good thing about the city was that we dominated Photohunt there. Highest score yet!
We got back to Washington, DC at around 3pm. I had planned on staying at Troy's overnight and then leaving for home the next day. We watched The Royal Tennenbaums (I liked it much better the second time). I was supposed to hang out with an old friend, Tanner, that night, but then I found myself so jealous that Troy was home and I wasn't. I wanted to sleep in my own bed, eat the food from my fridge, and just sit on my couch and watch all the DVR'd stuff that was waiting for me (Rock of Love!!!).
So I got back in the car at 5:45. On the way home I realized it was the first time that I was in the car by myself in 2 weeks. I sang loudly to my music since there was no one to listen. The moon that night was so huge. It was bright bright orange and hung so low in the sky, I felt like it might fall to Earth. The moon's beauty made me think of all the wonders of the universe, and how this world, my world is a part of that.
Back in college, I'd written a story for a creative writing class about a boy who decides to take a cross-country trip, only to stop a few hours out because of fear of the unknown. To be honest, I thought that character I'd created might have been me. In completing this journey, maybe I've proven to myself that I'm stronger than I think myself to be. But, anyway, if nothing else I've discovered that the world is full of beauty in the most surprising ways.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Tapping the Rockies in ColorMANdo, Driving Marathons, and the South
We are far, far away from deer, antelope, grizzly bears, and mountains. We're in the SOUTH, baby. We got here by way of Colorado.
Colorado.
Yes, this state (as well as Montana), is MAN COUNTRY. That is, I am outnumbered by a million.
We got into Boulder and I was soooo beat. We'd been driving for a long, long time. We found a motel quick (it was raining and we yearned for the comfort of springs under our sheets). I was not in the mood to go out and party, but I also was not in the mood to be in a bad mood and go to sleep while near the (unofficial) sister school of UVM. I decided to just go out and get shit-faced. It was my turn, afterall (Missoula being Troy's turn). We got some Mexican and then headed to a bar called the Attic. Boulder is full of microbrews, including the well-known Fat Tire. I think Boulder rivals Burlington, VT in the sheer number of small breweries (although Burlington is rated #4 in the WORLD for best beer cities, just sayin').
Anyway, the Attic was rad. There was a foozeball tourny going on, and they had free pool tables. FREE. Paradise, in my book. T and I played some games, and then some short dude with blonde hair asked if he and his friend could get in on the next game. We are always up for meeting new people, so we accepted. Let's call these dudes Good Guy Tim and Crazy Dan. They had just met that night, being chosen to be foozeball partners in the draw. Both were Ph,Ds with some synthetic organic chemistry and information storage stuff or something weird and over my head like that. Crazy Dan was overly-talkative, and Good Guy Tim was really sweet and quiet, and obviously a good guy (hence his name). GGT bought us beers, and then we all played foozeball. GGT, Troy, and I got on yet ANOTHER photohunt scoreboard as no. 1!!! Then, we were about to all day goodbye, but I decided I wasn't done with the night. Everyone agreed! So we headed to Boulder's pedestrian street and into a place called Pearl St. Pub. There were, again, only men in there. And a band was playing Johnny Cash. The lead singer was this heavy-set guy wearing a black cowboy hat. Loved it.
Crazy Dan had his friend Brice come along. Brice was from Atlanta and looked like a white supremacist, if there ever was one. Anyway, Crazy Dan and Brice got me drunk (shots, beers) and the next day my recollection of the night was me running around the entire bar making friend with everyone. Troy said that wasn't what happened. He seems to think that everyone was making friends with me. He was sober, so I'll defer to him on that one.
The bar closed and we were all standing outside talking. Brice said something about something, and used the N word. There was a man behind him who had been playing in the band who was black. It was a really messed up situation. He went to apologize (which was entirely ridicoulous since you can't apologize for being a racist). I was too wasted to really get what was going on, but Troy felt really uncomfortable and tried to make me leave. Then he couldn't help it but get involved in a conversation ("I think it's entirely unnecessary to use that language"), and Crazy Dan started getting up in his face about it's just a social construct and there's nothing wrong with the word. He was making weird faces and trying to get Troy riled up. I couldn't believe what was going on, and I tried to diffuse the situation ("nice meeting you guys, thanks for showing us Boulder!"), and we finally left. Good Guy Tim came with us and we were all just left with a really bad taste in our mouths. Back at the motel I passed out immediately, but the next day Troy told me he'd been so upset he was up all night thinking about what had happened. It was really disturbing. Who'd have thought that we'd go to Boulder, Colorado and find (probably the only two) racists???
The next day we tried to get back into the spirit of the trip, and took an awesome tour of the Coors Brewery. I hate how Coors tastes, but it was interesting to see the largest brewery in the entire world. At the end of the tour, we got 3 8oz samples of their beer. I happily found out Blue Moon is made by Coors and I tried their seasonal "Harvest Moon" (pumpkin ale) which was excellent.
We got back on the road. The ultimate goal was Nashville. However, that is a 17 hour drive. We drove through Kansas and stayed over night in a city called Manhattan (their slogan is "the Little Apple). In the distance we saw the most insane lightening in the world. It was relentless and bright, and reminded me of a strobe light at some cheesy dance club. I was really scared, having had that crazy experience driving through a storm in Wyoming. I kept stopping, making Troy drive, then thinking we'd bypassed the storm, got back in the car only to discover we hadn't yet, then making Troy drive again. We didn't stop that night until 2am. Troy had gotten into this manic state where he was all wired up on caffeine and was actually quite hilarious. As time has gone on in this trip, we've definitely hit a flow and get along really well now.
The next day we did ANOTHER marathon drive, going through Missouri. We stopped in St. Louis and were so disappointed. It was a nice enough city, except that it was so desolate. There were no people around at all. We got some thai food and headed on. Last night, of all places, we stayed in Kentucky. Never in my life had I imagined that one day I'd go to Kentucky. What's even there? I don't know anything about that state at all. We found a motel that only cost $32, and I spent the night expecting some highway pirate to come in with guns and steal my suitcase.
But now we are in Nashville and I like it here. The library is cool, the parking is cheap, and the people are nice.
I'm excited to get back home. I miss everyone and need to start the whole job search in a serious way. This trip has been great, though. I've learned that America is so much more than what I'd previously known. It's a beautiful place with it's own culture and "American-ness." In only about 300 years we've developed into a very orginal place - something that rivals European countries that have existed as unions for way longer.
Colorado.
Yes, this state (as well as Montana), is MAN COUNTRY. That is, I am outnumbered by a million.
We got into Boulder and I was soooo beat. We'd been driving for a long, long time. We found a motel quick (it was raining and we yearned for the comfort of springs under our sheets). I was not in the mood to go out and party, but I also was not in the mood to be in a bad mood and go to sleep while near the (unofficial) sister school of UVM. I decided to just go out and get shit-faced. It was my turn, afterall (Missoula being Troy's turn). We got some Mexican and then headed to a bar called the Attic. Boulder is full of microbrews, including the well-known Fat Tire. I think Boulder rivals Burlington, VT in the sheer number of small breweries (although Burlington is rated #4 in the WORLD for best beer cities, just sayin').
Anyway, the Attic was rad. There was a foozeball tourny going on, and they had free pool tables. FREE. Paradise, in my book. T and I played some games, and then some short dude with blonde hair asked if he and his friend could get in on the next game. We are always up for meeting new people, so we accepted. Let's call these dudes Good Guy Tim and Crazy Dan. They had just met that night, being chosen to be foozeball partners in the draw. Both were Ph,Ds with some synthetic organic chemistry and information storage stuff or something weird and over my head like that. Crazy Dan was overly-talkative, and Good Guy Tim was really sweet and quiet, and obviously a good guy (hence his name). GGT bought us beers, and then we all played foozeball. GGT, Troy, and I got on yet ANOTHER photohunt scoreboard as no. 1!!! Then, we were about to all day goodbye, but I decided I wasn't done with the night. Everyone agreed! So we headed to Boulder's pedestrian street and into a place called Pearl St. Pub. There were, again, only men in there. And a band was playing Johnny Cash. The lead singer was this heavy-set guy wearing a black cowboy hat. Loved it.
Crazy Dan had his friend Brice come along. Brice was from Atlanta and looked like a white supremacist, if there ever was one. Anyway, Crazy Dan and Brice got me drunk (shots, beers) and the next day my recollection of the night was me running around the entire bar making friend with everyone. Troy said that wasn't what happened. He seems to think that everyone was making friends with me. He was sober, so I'll defer to him on that one.
The bar closed and we were all standing outside talking. Brice said something about something, and used the N word. There was a man behind him who had been playing in the band who was black. It was a really messed up situation. He went to apologize (which was entirely ridicoulous since you can't apologize for being a racist). I was too wasted to really get what was going on, but Troy felt really uncomfortable and tried to make me leave. Then he couldn't help it but get involved in a conversation ("I think it's entirely unnecessary to use that language"), and Crazy Dan started getting up in his face about it's just a social construct and there's nothing wrong with the word. He was making weird faces and trying to get Troy riled up. I couldn't believe what was going on, and I tried to diffuse the situation ("nice meeting you guys, thanks for showing us Boulder!"), and we finally left. Good Guy Tim came with us and we were all just left with a really bad taste in our mouths. Back at the motel I passed out immediately, but the next day Troy told me he'd been so upset he was up all night thinking about what had happened. It was really disturbing. Who'd have thought that we'd go to Boulder, Colorado and find (probably the only two) racists???
The next day we tried to get back into the spirit of the trip, and took an awesome tour of the Coors Brewery. I hate how Coors tastes, but it was interesting to see the largest brewery in the entire world. At the end of the tour, we got 3 8oz samples of their beer. I happily found out Blue Moon is made by Coors and I tried their seasonal "Harvest Moon" (pumpkin ale) which was excellent.
We got back on the road. The ultimate goal was Nashville. However, that is a 17 hour drive. We drove through Kansas and stayed over night in a city called Manhattan (their slogan is "the Little Apple). In the distance we saw the most insane lightening in the world. It was relentless and bright, and reminded me of a strobe light at some cheesy dance club. I was really scared, having had that crazy experience driving through a storm in Wyoming. I kept stopping, making Troy drive, then thinking we'd bypassed the storm, got back in the car only to discover we hadn't yet, then making Troy drive again. We didn't stop that night until 2am. Troy had gotten into this manic state where he was all wired up on caffeine and was actually quite hilarious. As time has gone on in this trip, we've definitely hit a flow and get along really well now.
The next day we did ANOTHER marathon drive, going through Missouri. We stopped in St. Louis and were so disappointed. It was a nice enough city, except that it was so desolate. There were no people around at all. We got some thai food and headed on. Last night, of all places, we stayed in Kentucky. Never in my life had I imagined that one day I'd go to Kentucky. What's even there? I don't know anything about that state at all. We found a motel that only cost $32, and I spent the night expecting some highway pirate to come in with guns and steal my suitcase.
But now we are in Nashville and I like it here. The library is cool, the parking is cheap, and the people are nice.
I'm excited to get back home. I miss everyone and need to start the whole job search in a serious way. This trip has been great, though. I've learned that America is so much more than what I'd previously known. It's a beautiful place with it's own culture and "American-ness." In only about 300 years we've developed into a very orginal place - something that rivals European countries that have existed as unions for way longer.
Monday, August 27, 2007
MANtana, a Near Bear Attack, and Other Items of Interest
A lot of things have happened over the weekend - all fun, some fun AND scary. But that's how things should be, right?
I left off when we were in Bozeman, post-horseback ride. We rode into town, which is a condenced 4-5 blocks full of shops, bars, etc. It's a real TOWN. We got to some bar that was half college-aged kids, and half parent-aged kids. Um, kinda cool, I guess. Reminded me of Ireland. Anyway, Troy and I got beers, and I told him to get lost so I could talk to some locals ("Hey, Troy, you have to go to the bathroom, right?" - it didn't come off that mean in delivery, honest). I started talking to some tall boys. One was named Ramsey. Ha. Anyway, he told me he wasn't into nature and stuff so he couldn't really give me any advice on where to go and see. But he was nice. Everyone I've been meeting mentions how scared they would be if they ever went to NYC. They basically all tell me that they'd walk around with their mouths wide open and ask for their mommies.
In the meantime, Troy met some ladies, who suggested we go to this other bar that was more laid back and had a pool table. It was called Colonel Black's. Here's the cool part: we walk in, and we see....Elliott Smith! Ok, well not the actual dead musician, but a guy who looked almost exactly like him, all the way down to the pock-marked face and the hair! For those of you who don't know, this is Elliott Smith:
I sat down at the table he was at with his friend, and I told him as much. And would you believe it, he didn't know who Elliott Smith was! He was even a little offended after I told him that Smith had stabbed himself in the heart. But he (Brandon was his real name), and his friend Matt were really cool and friendly. They told me they were going to the river (the Gallatin) the next day to fish and invited me and Troy to come. Turned out that Matt did call the next day, but I was on a hike and didn't get service. He didn't leave a number in the voicemail. Oh well, I would have loved to fish was some Montanans! The night in Bozeman ranked number 2 so far on the highlights of this trip (number 1 being the horseback ride).
The hike we took was in the Gallatin Nation Forest. It was the Indian Ridge Trail. We didn't know where it would take us or how long it would be. I was sooo up for it, but Saeurkrouse was very grumpy from the previous day's exertions. We hiked for 2 hours, up and up. The elevation is very high in the Rockies, and we could hardly breathe most of the time. Finally, Troy decided to give up. I wanted to be awesome, so I pressed on. Shorty after our parting, I encountered a man jogging down the mountain. I asked him how much longer to the top. He looked at his watch and said, "Hmm, well I've been jogging downhill now for about 50 minutes." "15 minutes?" "No, 50." I turned around and started back for the car. What the fuck!
We headed for Missoula. I'd been waiting for this part of the trip forever! Missoula is the most liberal city in Montana. It's supposed to be a really cool college town. It was. It was more spread out than Bozeman and not as pretty, but the people were A+. It was Troy's night to drink, so I had to sadly remain sober. He started talking to this guy named Warren who was really nice and bought us a shot (Southern Comfort) and said "Welcome to Montana!!!" He invited us to join him and his friends at their table in the corner. Another guy, (another) Matt, was also really nice. He was originally from Chicago. When I asked him why he'd moved to Montana, he said "just walk outside." Point taken.
So the point is, Missoula IS an awesome town that is inhabited by many out-of-staters who love the beauty and liberal politics of the city. If I go to graduate school, it's going to be in Montana no question.
Yesterday was the turn-around point. It had been 8 days and we needed to start back in an Eastwardly direction. We went down through Idaho (no houses for miles and miles, but beautiful), and got to Jackson Hole, WY by 7pm or so. We camped out in the Nati
onal Park's Campground, surrounded by the Grand Tetons! They were stunning and so magisterial. Since I can't upload my own photos, here is a picture.
Now for the bear attack. In the campground there were signs all over the place about being careful to not leave anything out that would attract a bear. I was slowly getting worked up about it, thinking back to those Discovery Channel shows ("When Animals Attack") I'd seen one when a Boy Scout was rudely awoken by a great big Grizzly, who just came into his tents and began to maul him! Can you believe that! A Boy Scout! Of America!
Anyway, I tried to not think of it as I laid down to sleep. Then, I heard a rustling. Troy's head we off his pillow, and I knew he'd heard it, too. At first, it was on his side of the tent. Then we heard it walk around, BRUSH UP against the tent, and walk VERY CLOSE to my side. You don't even know how much I was shaking. I was ready for a great big paw to come at me at any second. We laid there in utter terror, not knowing what the hell we should do. After a little bit, Troy got the balls to open the window a little and look out. Nothing was there. We decided to make a run for the car. At least glass and metal is a better defense than nylon. So we did it - slept in the car. It was very uncomfortable, but better uncomfortable than dead, right?
I left off when we were in Bozeman, post-horseback ride. We rode into town, which is a condenced 4-5 blocks full of shops, bars, etc. It's a real TOWN. We got to some bar that was half college-aged kids, and half parent-aged kids. Um, kinda cool, I guess. Reminded me of Ireland. Anyway, Troy and I got beers, and I told him to get lost so I could talk to some locals ("Hey, Troy, you have to go to the bathroom, right?" - it didn't come off that mean in delivery, honest). I started talking to some tall boys. One was named Ramsey. Ha. Anyway, he told me he wasn't into nature and stuff so he couldn't really give me any advice on where to go and see. But he was nice. Everyone I've been meeting mentions how scared they would be if they ever went to NYC. They basically all tell me that they'd walk around with their mouths wide open and ask for their mommies.
In the meantime, Troy met some ladies, who suggested we go to this other bar that was more laid back and had a pool table. It was called Colonel Black's. Here's the cool part: we walk in, and we see....Elliott Smith! Ok, well not the actual dead musician, but a guy who looked almost exactly like him, all the way down to the pock-marked face and the hair! For those of you who don't know, this is Elliott Smith:
I sat down at the table he was at with his friend, and I told him as much. And would you believe it, he didn't know who Elliott Smith was! He was even a little offended after I told him that Smith had stabbed himself in the heart. But he (Brandon was his real name), and his friend Matt were really cool and friendly. They told me they were going to the river (the Gallatin) the next day to fish and invited me and Troy to come. Turned out that Matt did call the next day, but I was on a hike and didn't get service. He didn't leave a number in the voicemail. Oh well, I would have loved to fish was some Montanans! The night in Bozeman ranked number 2 so far on the highlights of this trip (number 1 being the horseback ride).The hike we took was in the Gallatin Nation Forest. It was the Indian Ridge Trail. We didn't know where it would take us or how long it would be. I was sooo up for it, but Saeurkrouse was very grumpy from the previous day's exertions. We hiked for 2 hours, up and up. The elevation is very high in the Rockies, and we could hardly breathe most of the time. Finally, Troy decided to give up. I wanted to be awesome, so I pressed on. Shorty after our parting, I encountered a man jogging down the mountain. I asked him how much longer to the top. He looked at his watch and said, "Hmm, well I've been jogging downhill now for about 50 minutes." "15 minutes?" "No, 50." I turned around and started back for the car. What the fuck!
We headed for Missoula. I'd been waiting for this part of the trip forever! Missoula is the most liberal city in Montana. It's supposed to be a really cool college town. It was. It was more spread out than Bozeman and not as pretty, but the people were A+. It was Troy's night to drink, so I had to sadly remain sober. He started talking to this guy named Warren who was really nice and bought us a shot (Southern Comfort) and said "Welcome to Montana!!!" He invited us to join him and his friends at their table in the corner. Another guy, (another) Matt, was also really nice. He was originally from Chicago. When I asked him why he'd moved to Montana, he said "just walk outside." Point taken.
So the point is, Missoula IS an awesome town that is inhabited by many out-of-staters who love the beauty and liberal politics of the city. If I go to graduate school, it's going to be in Montana no question.
Yesterday was the turn-around point. It had been 8 days and we needed to start back in an Eastwardly direction. We went down through Idaho (no houses for miles and miles, but beautiful), and got to Jackson Hole, WY by 7pm or so. We camped out in the Nati
onal Park's Campground, surrounded by the Grand Tetons! They were stunning and so magisterial. Since I can't upload my own photos, here is a picture.Now for the bear attack. In the campground there were signs all over the place about being careful to not leave anything out that would attract a bear. I was slowly getting worked up about it, thinking back to those Discovery Channel shows ("When Animals Attack") I'd seen one when a Boy Scout was rudely awoken by a great big Grizzly, who just came into his tents and began to maul him! Can you believe that! A Boy Scout! Of America!
Anyway, I tried to not think of it as I laid down to sleep. Then, I heard a rustling. Troy's head we off his pillow, and I knew he'd heard it, too. At first, it was on his side of the tent. Then we heard it walk around, BRUSH UP against the tent, and walk VERY CLOSE to my side. You don't even know how much I was shaking. I was ready for a great big paw to come at me at any second. We laid there in utter terror, not knowing what the hell we should do. After a little bit, Troy got the balls to open the window a little and look out. Nothing was there. We decided to make a run for the car. At least glass and metal is a better defense than nylon. So we did it - slept in the car. It was very uncomfortable, but better uncomfortable than dead, right?
Friday, August 24, 2007
The Right Idea
Montana is not exactly what I’d imagined. It is more stunning and beautiful than anyone could imagine. We left Billings to head for Bozeman. Bozeman is in the Rocky Mountains, and it’s a college town. It was fucking 100x more awesome than Billings. Billings is a shithole compared. Bozeman is crawling with coffee shops (some organic), little stores, and a gigantic food co-op. We arranged to go on a horseback riding trail in Big Sky, which is an hour South of Bozeman. Sadly, we moved on after getting AWESOME pizza at this AWESOME place called Mackenzie River Pizza Co. We went on the entirely wrong route to the horse ranch. Instead of making our 3 o’clock ride, we didn’t get there until 20 minutes to 4. It was OK, though. Our guide, Lauren, turned out to be entirely laid back, but not backwards. She’d been all over the country and was so into the idea that Troy and I just decided to get in the car and drive. She told us about places we couldn’t miss in Montana and Colorado.
The trail ride was fucking fantastic. I can’t even describe how amazing it was. My horse misbehaved and I was scared shitless for about 1 minute straight. The ride was only me and Troy, with Lauren leading us. As we were ascending a steep hill, another tour was going down. My horse, Mr. Bugsby, obviously was envious of the horses who were descending the hill on their way back to the ranch. In my interpretation, he thought he could slyly turn around and start walking in line with the other horses back down. He refused to go back up the hill. Everyone was shouting at me to “Pull the rains really hard to the right!” “Kick him with your left foot!” “Harder!!!” But nothing I could do was working. The horse’s head kept violently shaking “NO! I want to go back DOWN!” and I was sure he was going to buck and through me off like a goddamn rag doll. Troy was at the top of the hill gleefully taking pictures depicting my terror. Finally, Lauren had to come down and take the lead from the horse and guide me back up the hill. So much of me wanted to be like, “Yo, this is where I get off,” and just exit the horse and walk back to the safety of the car. But I stuck to my guns and shut my mouth. This trip is a lot about doing what scares me, and holy fuck, Mr. Bugsby scared me!. I’m glad I stayed. We traversed creeks (here they say “criks”), we went through forest, we went down hills. There was a gorgeous view of the Gallatin River. Troy’s saddle moved around to the belly of the horse, and he most nearly fell off. So, both of us almost died.
At the end of the 2 hour ride, we were so fucking energized. I felt so amazing. In fact, this entire day has been one fucking amazing non-stop smiling and laughing day. Maybe I’ve finally beat the homesick-ish blues and it’s gonna be smooth sailing from here on out. We drove back toward Bozeman to camp, and in such high spirits we pulled off onto small roads and looked at the stunning sites. At the gas station, we bought some local beer. I’m drinking one right now - Bayern Dancing Trout. It’s made in Missoula and it’s the official beer of Montana. Fuck yeah, it’s really good. Sorry about the excessive use of fucks today, I’m just in that fucking mood right now.
There’s this idea in America that everyone should have roots. John Steinbeck contemplated this, and came to the conclusion that this is not in our blood. Only since the onset of agriculture did humans actually stay in one place. In the whole perspective of human evolution, this is only a small segment in time. In face, we are nomadic by nature, always looking and searching for something better. On the road is where we all may belong. I’m starting to think that may hold a lot of truth.
Montana is a state that can’t be summed up in a few words - at least the words that I know. It’s something in a wholly different realm. You have to see it to feel it. I knew I’d love it, but not in this way.
The trail ride was fucking fantastic. I can’t even describe how amazing it was. My horse misbehaved and I was scared shitless for about 1 minute straight. The ride was only me and Troy, with Lauren leading us. As we were ascending a steep hill, another tour was going down. My horse, Mr. Bugsby, obviously was envious of the horses who were descending the hill on their way back to the ranch. In my interpretation, he thought he could slyly turn around and start walking in line with the other horses back down. He refused to go back up the hill. Everyone was shouting at me to “Pull the rains really hard to the right!” “Kick him with your left foot!” “Harder!!!” But nothing I could do was working. The horse’s head kept violently shaking “NO! I want to go back DOWN!” and I was sure he was going to buck and through me off like a goddamn rag doll. Troy was at the top of the hill gleefully taking pictures depicting my terror. Finally, Lauren had to come down and take the lead from the horse and guide me back up the hill. So much of me wanted to be like, “Yo, this is where I get off,” and just exit the horse and walk back to the safety of the car. But I stuck to my guns and shut my mouth. This trip is a lot about doing what scares me, and holy fuck, Mr. Bugsby scared me!. I’m glad I stayed. We traversed creeks (here they say “criks”), we went through forest, we went down hills. There was a gorgeous view of the Gallatin River. Troy’s saddle moved around to the belly of the horse, and he most nearly fell off. So, both of us almost died.
At the end of the 2 hour ride, we were so fucking energized. I felt so amazing. In fact, this entire day has been one fucking amazing non-stop smiling and laughing day. Maybe I’ve finally beat the homesick-ish blues and it’s gonna be smooth sailing from here on out. We drove back toward Bozeman to camp, and in such high spirits we pulled off onto small roads and looked at the stunning sites. At the gas station, we bought some local beer. I’m drinking one right now - Bayern Dancing Trout. It’s made in Missoula and it’s the official beer of Montana. Fuck yeah, it’s really good. Sorry about the excessive use of fucks today, I’m just in that fucking mood right now.
There’s this idea in America that everyone should have roots. John Steinbeck contemplated this, and came to the conclusion that this is not in our blood. Only since the onset of agriculture did humans actually stay in one place. In the whole perspective of human evolution, this is only a small segment in time. In face, we are nomadic by nature, always looking and searching for something better. On the road is where we all may belong. I’m starting to think that may hold a lot of truth.
Montana is a state that can’t be summed up in a few words - at least the words that I know. It’s something in a wholly different realm. You have to see it to feel it. I knew I’d love it, but not in this way.
A Slight Set-Back
I do stupid things sometimes. Yesterday was a time. I was in Gillette, Wyoming. At a hotel. I forgot the power cord for my laptop there, and didn't realize it was missing until this morning. Now I'm in Billings, Montana. That is 8 hours away. So, the point is, I won't be able to use my laptop when the battery dies. That's not for 4 hours or so, but still. It's imminent. Sorry about the no pictures thing. I'll try my best, though. The good news is they found it and are sending it to me in NY.
Before we got to Montana, we stopped at Devil's Tower! It is seriously evil looking. I took about a thousand pictures of it from different levels of proximity. And then I bought a cowboy hat. I needed to, if only to fit in.
So, anyway. Billings is a cool city. We got here at around 4 yesterday, and went to a coffee shop. There was no one on the streets and we were all like "what the hell, man. where is everyone." Then we ran into two old ladies closing their shop. We asked them how to get to the movie theatre, and then after they told us we mentioned how dead the town seemed. "Oh there's Alive After 5 today," one lady said. "Alive After 5" is a summer concert series. We went to the place where it was held, and found a whole bunch of people (I'm not good with quantifying, but maybe over a hundred). There were oudoor bars set up, and a fairly decent band playing. It was a really cool vibe, though. We grabbed Coronas and stood around listening for a while.
Then we found an awesome campsite that had EVERY convienence possible (pool, hot tub, wi-fi), and set up out tent. I ate an apple for dinner.
Troy and I had a little talk. I mentioned to him that I can't see this trip lasting an entire other week. It's been really hard to be around another person with absolutely no break. I could probably only do that with someone I'm in love with. And even then it would be difficult. So, yeah, he agreed it's been hard, too. We've decided to try and spend at least an hour apart a day. This could work. Evidence: when we were waiting for our Jewel Cave tour, Troy went down to the woods to draw, and I stayed near the car and read. After a little while, I found myself sort of missing him. When I found him sleeping on a bench I was actually happy to see him! So the hour apart could be what saves this trip.
We are planning on spending a few days in this enormous state. Montana used to have no speed limit, but now it's 75. I still find myself unable to go over 80mph. When the speed limit is 65, I go 80. When it's 75, I still go 80. WTF? The state is really pretty, although it hasn't been very green so far. But then again, we are still only in the Southeastern portion of the state. We drove through a few Indian reservations on the way to the Interstate from Wyoming. It was the most depressing place I'd ever been. Everyone we encountered seemed so sad and hopeless. We took down our American flags when we went through. I'll write a little about the American Flag car adornments next time. Gotta get on with the day. Hope everyone back home is happy and having fun!
Before we got to Montana, we stopped at Devil's Tower! It is seriously evil looking. I took about a thousand pictures of it from different levels of proximity. And then I bought a cowboy hat. I needed to, if only to fit in.
So, anyway. Billings is a cool city. We got here at around 4 yesterday, and went to a coffee shop. There was no one on the streets and we were all like "what the hell, man. where is everyone." Then we ran into two old ladies closing their shop. We asked them how to get to the movie theatre, and then after they told us we mentioned how dead the town seemed. "Oh there's Alive After 5 today," one lady said. "Alive After 5" is a summer concert series. We went to the place where it was held, and found a whole bunch of people (I'm not good with quantifying, but maybe over a hundred). There were oudoor bars set up, and a fairly decent band playing. It was a really cool vibe, though. We grabbed Coronas and stood around listening for a while.
Then we found an awesome campsite that had EVERY convienence possible (pool, hot tub, wi-fi), and set up out tent. I ate an apple for dinner.
Troy and I had a little talk. I mentioned to him that I can't see this trip lasting an entire other week. It's been really hard to be around another person with absolutely no break. I could probably only do that with someone I'm in love with. And even then it would be difficult. So, yeah, he agreed it's been hard, too. We've decided to try and spend at least an hour apart a day. This could work. Evidence: when we were waiting for our Jewel Cave tour, Troy went down to the woods to draw, and I stayed near the car and read. After a little while, I found myself sort of missing him. When I found him sleeping on a bench I was actually happy to see him! So the hour apart could be what saves this trip.
We are planning on spending a few days in this enormous state. Montana used to have no speed limit, but now it's 75. I still find myself unable to go over 80mph. When the speed limit is 65, I go 80. When it's 75, I still go 80. WTF? The state is really pretty, although it hasn't been very green so far. But then again, we are still only in the Southeastern portion of the state. We drove through a few Indian reservations on the way to the Interstate from Wyoming. It was the most depressing place I'd ever been. Everyone we encountered seemed so sad and hopeless. We took down our American flags when we went through. I'll write a little about the American Flag car adornments next time. Gotta get on with the day. Hope everyone back home is happy and having fun!
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Double Post
Double-Post
*It's been hard to find internet around here, so I wrote these both last night, and now it's Thursday morning and I'm on mountain time. Anyway, hope everyone is enjoying this blog, and I'm not opposed to receiving an email once in a while! :)
Tuesday
On Tuesday morning we left from Waterloo and headed on to South Dakota. We left pretty early in the morning, but we took our time. I thought it would be a good idea to stop in Sioux Falls, which is right on the boarder of Iowa and South Dakota. The city turned out to be very cool. The downtown area was full of local sculpture displays, and best of all - the entire downtown was set up for wi-fi! Troy and I sat on a table outside and checked email, consulted maps, and just chilled out a little. We got some food and continued onward. Next stop was Mitchell, where the Corn Palace resides. The “palace” (just the town hall) is decorated with corn all around the outside. That’s all I’m going to say, because it wasn’t so great and I felt nauseated by falling into a tourist trap.
Tuesday was turning out to be the worst day yet. I was not in the mood to be in the car or around anothe
r person, and I was beginning to think I’d made a mistake in taking this trip in the first place. It was time to get gas, so I pulled off the road to a small town called White Lake. Driving to the gas station, I realized that this was a very beautiful town. It was really quiet and small, and the grass was lush and the sky took up most of my view. We decided to call it a day and set up camp there. It was only 7pm or so but we were ready to stop moving. The only campsite in the area charged us $10 for the night. We were the only ones there, except for some abandoned-looking RV. The site had its own sketchy-sketch bar that looked like a covered greenhouse. We set up the tent and decided to walk across the overpass of the interstate towards Main Street (for all intents and purposes, the ONLY street in White Lake.) The sun was on its way down and it was absolutely gorgeous. The road stretched on and on forever, and standing on the overpass above it was really magical.
The town of White Lake has a gas station, a park, a general store, a grocery store, a mailbox, a 2 bars. There was The Sportsman bar and Hamm’s. Troy and I decided on Hamm’s (after all, neither of us would fit in with anyone who’d patronize “The Sportsman”). Hamm’s was fairly large, with a bar and many round tables, a pool table, and a jukebox. There were only about 5 people in there, and by the time we left there were only 3 including Troy, myself, and the bartender. We got beers and played the most antiquated version of Photohunt ever. It was so old that it wasn’t even called Photohunt. Anyway, “Troymantha” got on the scoreboard - 1st and 2nd place. Mission Accomplished. Then we played pool (I won both games), and I was set to get back to our tent. I’d only had 1 beer, but Troy had 4 and I think he was fairly buzzed. He is a really cool drunk. He stops acting so Mid-Western, which means so polite, which means fewer “thank yous” and “sorrys” which I really hate in excess. We walked back in the darkness, acting all silly and running high-speed away from the mosquitoes that seemed to keep up with us regardless. Troy got one in his mouth and started spitting like a madman, which was the funniest sight I’d seen in ages. So we got back in high spirits, noticed that our tent had been erected unknowing underneath some flood light, successfully moved the tent into darkness, and settled in. I was so freaked out that we were going to be overcome by evil South Dakotans, so I broke out my trusty pepper spray and kept it next to my sleeping bag. I couldn’t fall asleep at first, but I guess exhaustion always wins out against fear. I drifted into a nice slumber, soothed by the distant sound of Interstate 90. In the end, White Lake made the day the best yet.
Wednesday
On the road by 8:00. Stopped at Wall Drug, because you kind of have to if you are out here. Wall Drug is just a huge store in the middle of nowhere. It’s special because it advertises itself all over the globe. With my purchase of postcards and a mug, I got a free bumper sticker that says “Where the heck is Wall Drug?” Yeah, man, I know. Well, anyway, we took funny pictures and then left.
We made it to the Badlands! And ohhhh are they baaad. As in, soooooo goood!!! See,
you’re driving through a semi-normal landscape. Kinda flat, but that’s to be expected here. Then you look to your left and see crazy formations that stretch on for miles and miles. It’s like being on Mars or something. We drove along a dirt road to take it all in. Every so often, we’d stop to get out and experience it more authentically, like, you know, without glass and metal separating us from the elements. I can’t even describe the sensation I got from being there. It’s definitely something that nobody should miss. The tall prairie grass that ran along the whole region was strikingly beautiful as well. The whole thing was something out of one of my happiest dreams. I just wanted to run with extra long legs towards the horizon.
America is truly the most beautiful place I’ve ever been to. There is so much variation in landscape and all of it is spectacular. I sincerely and honestly love my country.
Another crazy change of landscape happened less than a half hour away from the Badlands, and that was the Black Hills. This is also the home of Mount Rushmore. I wasn’t impressed, so we did a drive-by. However, the Black Hills are nice. We took a lantern cave tour of Jewel Cave - the 2nd longest cave in the entire world. There were no lights, so everybody needed to carry a lantern. I was scared at first, but I figured that there were enough 9 year olds with the group, it’d be OK. Our tour guide warned us that we might feel something scurrying by our feet. Yeah, rats. I was not excited about that. However, when we started back out of the cave at the end of the tour, and I’d still not seen a rat I found myself pretty disappointed. Such is life.
We got back on the road to look for some place to settle down. We got to Wyoming and stopped for dinner. Oh my God I love Wyoming. Nearly every man here wears a cowboy hat! I seriously want to move here.
We drove in the pouring rain in the absolute darkness. Everything is fucking FLAT here, in a good and eerie way. Lighting struck a few times and it lit the sky up so brightly that I had to squint. And yes, I did freak out. We kept stopping at motels but they were all booked. We finally had to settle for a way too expensive Howard Johnsons. And now I am beat. Goodnight.
*It's been hard to find internet around here, so I wrote these both last night, and now it's Thursday morning and I'm on mountain time. Anyway, hope everyone is enjoying this blog, and I'm not opposed to receiving an email once in a while! :)
Tuesday
On Tuesday morning we left from Waterloo and headed on to South Dakota. We left pretty early in the morning, but we took our time. I thought it would be a good idea to stop in Sioux Falls, which is right on the boarder of Iowa and South Dakota. The city turned out to be very cool. The downtown area was full of local sculpture displays, and best of all - the entire downtown was set up for wi-fi! Troy and I sat on a table outside and checked email, consulted maps, and just chilled out a little. We got some food and continued onward. Next stop was Mitchell, where the Corn Palace resides. The “palace” (just the town hall) is decorated with corn all around the outside. That’s all I’m going to say, because it wasn’t so great and I felt nauseated by falling into a tourist trap.
Tuesday was turning out to be the worst day yet. I was not in the mood to be in the car or around anothe
r person, and I was beginning to think I’d made a mistake in taking this trip in the first place. It was time to get gas, so I pulled off the road to a small town called White Lake. Driving to the gas station, I realized that this was a very beautiful town. It was really quiet and small, and the grass was lush and the sky took up most of my view. We decided to call it a day and set up camp there. It was only 7pm or so but we were ready to stop moving. The only campsite in the area charged us $10 for the night. We were the only ones there, except for some abandoned-looking RV. The site had its own sketchy-sketch bar that looked like a covered greenhouse. We set up the tent and decided to walk across the overpass of the interstate towards Main Street (for all intents and purposes, the ONLY street in White Lake.) The sun was on its way down and it was absolutely gorgeous. The road stretched on and on forever, and standing on the overpass above it was really magical.
The town of White Lake has a gas station, a park, a general store, a grocery store, a mailbox, a 2 bars. There was The Sportsman bar and Hamm’s. Troy and I decided on Hamm’s (after all, neither of us would fit in with anyone who’d patronize “The Sportsman”). Hamm’s was fairly large, with a bar and many round tables, a pool table, and a jukebox. There were only about 5 people in there, and by the time we left there were only 3 including Troy, myself, and the bartender. We got beers and played the most antiquated version of Photohunt ever. It was so old that it wasn’t even called Photohunt. Anyway, “Troymantha” got on the scoreboard - 1st and 2nd place. Mission Accomplished. Then we played pool (I won both games), and I was set to get back to our tent. I’d only had 1 beer, but Troy had 4 and I think he was fairly buzzed. He is a really cool drunk. He stops acting so Mid-Western, which means so polite, which means fewer “thank yous” and “sorrys” which I really hate in excess. We walked back in the darkness, acting all silly and running high-speed away from the mosquitoes that seemed to keep up with us regardless. Troy got one in his mouth and started spitting like a madman, which was the funniest sight I’d seen in ages. So we got back in high spirits, noticed that our tent had been erected unknowing underneath some flood light, successfully moved the tent into darkness, and settled in. I was so freaked out that we were going to be overcome by evil South Dakotans, so I broke out my trusty pepper spray and kept it next to my sleeping bag. I couldn’t fall asleep at first, but I guess exhaustion always wins out against fear. I drifted into a nice slumber, soothed by the distant sound of Interstate 90. In the end, White Lake made the day the best yet.
Wednesday
On the road by 8:00. Stopped at Wall Drug, because you kind of have to if you are out here. Wall Drug is just a huge store in the middle of nowhere. It’s special because it advertises itself all over the globe. With my purchase of postcards and a mug, I got a free bumper sticker that says “Where the heck is Wall Drug?” Yeah, man, I know. Well, anyway, we took funny pictures and then left.
We made it to the Badlands! And ohhhh are they baaad. As in, soooooo goood!!! See,
you’re driving through a semi-normal landscape. Kinda flat, but that’s to be expected here. Then you look to your left and see crazy formations that stretch on for miles and miles. It’s like being on Mars or something. We drove along a dirt road to take it all in. Every so often, we’d stop to get out and experience it more authentically, like, you know, without glass and metal separating us from the elements. I can’t even describe the sensation I got from being there. It’s definitely something that nobody should miss. The tall prairie grass that ran along the whole region was strikingly beautiful as well. The whole thing was something out of one of my happiest dreams. I just wanted to run with extra long legs towards the horizon.America is truly the most beautiful place I’ve ever been to. There is so much variation in landscape and all of it is spectacular. I sincerely and honestly love my country.
Another crazy change of landscape happened less than a half hour away from the Badlands, and that was the Black Hills. This is also the home of Mount Rushmore. I wasn’t impressed, so we did a drive-by. However, the Black Hills are nice. We took a lantern cave tour of Jewel Cave - the 2nd longest cave in the entire world. There were no lights, so everybody needed to carry a lantern. I was scared at first, but I figured that there were enough 9 year olds with the group, it’d be OK. Our tour guide warned us that we might feel something scurrying by our feet. Yeah, rats. I was not excited about that. However, when we started back out of the cave at the end of the tour, and I’d still not seen a rat I found myself pretty disappointed. Such is life.
We got back on the road to look for some place to settle down. We got to Wyoming and stopped for dinner. Oh my God I love Wyoming. Nearly every man here wears a cowboy hat! I seriously want to move here.
We drove in the pouring rain in the absolute darkness. Everything is fucking FLAT here, in a good and eerie way. Lighting struck a few times and it lit the sky up so brightly that I had to squint. And yes, I did freak out. We kept stopping at motels but they were all booked. We finally had to settle for a way too expensive Howard Johnsons. And now I am beat. Goodnight.
Monday, August 20, 2007
Iowa Continued
Today I am still in Iowa. Waterloo is a large-ish town that is one hour north of Iowa City. Troy is from here. But first, I’d like to mention something very coincidental.
Last night in Iowa City, we were all at a bar called The Mill. Troy and his sister were telling me that many famous bands had passed through this place before they became famous. This included (maybe) Arcade Fire, The Decemberists, and Two Gallants. As we were leaving, we stood outside the bar for a little bit, trying to decide on where to go for some drunken snack face-stuffing. Taped on the outside of the door was a poster advertising a coming show. It was the Bicycats playing on August 21st. I shouted in disbelief “that’s my friend!” And I was pretty sure it was. My friend Zach Bernstein, who I attended High School with, is in a one man band called the Bicycats. I recently saw him perform at the Sidewalk Café on the Lower East Side, and we’d hung out the night before he left for his new home in Providence, RI. Anyway, like I said I was pretty sure it was his band, although it is entirely possible that there is another band that calls themselves the Bicycats. I sent him a text last night, and today I we spoke on the phone. He said that he is in fact playing in Iowa City Tuesday night, and that he couldn’t imagine I’d be around that area, but that if I was, I should show up. Crazy. I told him about my trip, he told me about his. Sadly, I’m leaving tomorrow for South Dakota, which does not pass the route of Des Moines to Iowa City. I love when little stories happen within a bigger picture. PS If you are in the area, he is playing a show in Brooklyn on August 25th. Check out his myspace page.
On another note, I finished a great book yesterday by John Steinbeck called Travels with Charley in Search of America. Steinbeck mentions how journeys are very peculiar things. Sometimes they continue long after all travel has ceased, and sometimes the journey ends before the trip is in fact over. I wonder how my journey will be. Something tells me that I will continue to learn new things about myself and my country everyday. Another part of me feels that I will soon tire of the road and the stresses that come with it. Having to coexist with another person for 2 weeks non-stop is a very difficult task. I’ve noticed that Troy is mostly constant in his moods. He’s always up for talking and joking around. I, on the other hand, have different moods. Sometimes I like to just sit and watch the road, read my book, write in my notebook, or listen to whatever song we have playing. Other times I’m up for a fun conversation, or a silly game or whatnot. It’s been hard to communicate to Troy that sometimes I like to listen to my own thoughts. I also feel that this trip would be a little more exciting and (dare I say it) fun if one or two other people had come along. I really hope that I don’t go crazy. Two weeks is a long time, and we are actually planning on not coming back until Labor Day, which makes this trip two and a half weeks in reality.
Here is a rundown of today: We passed through Cedar Rapids, home of the Quaker Oats factory. Troy rolled down the windows and told me to take a whiff of the air. No joke, it smelled like freshly cooked oatmeal. Imagine living in a city that constantly smelled of breakfast. I think that would make for a happier population.
We got to Waterloo and I took a nice, NICE shower. Then went to see Superbad on a super huge movie screen. So super huge that we actually had to pay an extra $.50 for it! Superbad was super OK. I enjoyed it more than Troy because I had low expectations. Troy thought there were way too many dick jokes.
We got to play a game of House of the Dead 2. They had one in the lobby of the movie theatre. We got pretty far, but then our quarters ran out.
Dinner at the House of Krouse was good. We had sweet corn, turkey cutlets and rolls. They served fruit-filled Jell-O WITH the meal. I thought that was so odd. I passed on that. The Krouses are a very nice family, though. They lent us a large tent, and Troy, the dad, and I did a trial set-up on the deck to make sure it worked. It did. We also have an actual ton of maps and camping guides that were dug up for us. I have my very own guest room with a wall of windows going across. It’s very pleasant.
Iowans are very nice. They are not at all backwards. Very homegrown American, I would say. If you ever head out here and want to fit in, make sure you substitute the word “way” for “very” or “really.” Examples: Last night was way fun! Your shirt is way cool! Also, pronounce the word “tour” like “two-or.”
Tomorrow we are on to South Dakota!
Last night in Iowa City, we were all at a bar called The Mill. Troy and his sister were telling me that many famous bands had passed through this place before they became famous. This included (maybe) Arcade Fire, The Decemberists, and Two Gallants. As we were leaving, we stood outside the bar for a little bit, trying to decide on where to go for some drunken snack face-stuffing. Taped on the outside of the door was a poster advertising a coming show. It was the Bicycats playing on August 21st. I shouted in disbelief “that’s my friend!” And I was pretty sure it was. My friend Zach Bernstein, who I attended High School with, is in a one man band called the Bicycats. I recently saw him perform at the Sidewalk Café on the Lower East Side, and we’d hung out the night before he left for his new home in Providence, RI. Anyway, like I said I was pretty sure it was his band, although it is entirely possible that there is another band that calls themselves the Bicycats. I sent him a text last night, and today I we spoke on the phone. He said that he is in fact playing in Iowa City Tuesday night, and that he couldn’t imagine I’d be around that area, but that if I was, I should show up. Crazy. I told him about my trip, he told me about his. Sadly, I’m leaving tomorrow for South Dakota, which does not pass the route of Des Moines to Iowa City. I love when little stories happen within a bigger picture. PS If you are in the area, he is playing a show in Brooklyn on August 25th. Check out his myspace page.
On another note, I finished a great book yesterday by John Steinbeck called Travels with Charley in Search of America. Steinbeck mentions how journeys are very peculiar things. Sometimes they continue long after all travel has ceased, and sometimes the journey ends before the trip is in fact over. I wonder how my journey will be. Something tells me that I will continue to learn new things about myself and my country everyday. Another part of me feels that I will soon tire of the road and the stresses that come with it. Having to coexist with another person for 2 weeks non-stop is a very difficult task. I’ve noticed that Troy is mostly constant in his moods. He’s always up for talking and joking around. I, on the other hand, have different moods. Sometimes I like to just sit and watch the road, read my book, write in my notebook, or listen to whatever song we have playing. Other times I’m up for a fun conversation, or a silly game or whatnot. It’s been hard to communicate to Troy that sometimes I like to listen to my own thoughts. I also feel that this trip would be a little more exciting and (dare I say it) fun if one or two other people had come along. I really hope that I don’t go crazy. Two weeks is a long time, and we are actually planning on not coming back until Labor Day, which makes this trip two and a half weeks in reality.
Here is a rundown of today: We passed through Cedar Rapids, home of the Quaker Oats factory. Troy rolled down the windows and told me to take a whiff of the air. No joke, it smelled like freshly cooked oatmeal. Imagine living in a city that constantly smelled of breakfast. I think that would make for a happier population.
We got to Waterloo and I took a nice, NICE shower. Then went to see Superbad on a super huge movie screen. So super huge that we actually had to pay an extra $.50 for it! Superbad was super OK. I enjoyed it more than Troy because I had low expectations. Troy thought there were way too many dick jokes.
We got to play a game of House of the Dead 2. They had one in the lobby of the movie theatre. We got pretty far, but then our quarters ran out.
Dinner at the House of Krouse was good. We had sweet corn, turkey cutlets and rolls. They served fruit-filled Jell-O WITH the meal. I thought that was so odd. I passed on that. The Krouses are a very nice family, though. They lent us a large tent, and Troy, the dad, and I did a trial set-up on the deck to make sure it worked. It did. We also have an actual ton of maps and camping guides that were dug up for us. I have my very own guest room with a wall of windows going across. It’s very pleasant.
Iowans are very nice. They are not at all backwards. Very homegrown American, I would say. If you ever head out here and want to fit in, make sure you substitute the word “way” for “very” or “really.” Examples: Last night was way fun! Your shirt is way cool! Also, pronounce the word “tour” like “two-or.”
Tomorrow we are on to South Dakota!
The Not Actually Great Serpent Mound
This morning we left the Econolo
dge, after having a "filling" continental breakfast of orange juice and a small blueberry muffin. We got on the road in search of the Serpent Mound. I knew it wouldn't be impressive. This excursion was really in homage to a professor of mine. Jim Petersen was the chair of the department of anthropology at the University of Vermont. I took 3 classes with him. He was the kind of guy who really, truly loved his job and his research. He was essentially a hippie who spent his life studying native peoples, and especially "Black Earth," which is very fertile soil in the heart of the Amazon rain forest. He was there the summer after my senior year, when he got shot during a robbery in Brazil. He unfortunately died from the encounter, but his legacy lived on. I miss him, even though I only knew him in the capacity of professor. Jim Petersen taught a class called Native American Cultures, which I took in my Junior year. He showed a slide of the Serpent Mound, which was made by the Adena Indians. It's a 3/4 mile long mound depicting a serpent uncoiling on one side, and on the other ingesting an egg, or a frog. Part of why I wanted to see this was in the honor of Jim.
We had to take a state route to get there from Parkersville. On the two-way highway, I saw a strange object on the shoulder of the road. It had a triangle reflector and seemed to be moving. At first, it really looked like one of those space probes that NASA puts on Mars to take pictures of the landscape. It seemed to have three legs. As I got closer, I noticed that one of the "legs" was moving, like feet. So my thoughts moved to thinking it was some kind of Flintstone automobile, with a person using their feet to propel it. As we got even closer, I saw that it was in fact legs - horse's legs. And finally, I realized it was a horse and buggy! THEN a boy in a round hat and overalls leaned out of the rear window. He was Amish (or Mennonite). He was as excited to see my car as I was to see his horse and buggy. It was a great moment of joy for both of us.
We rode on through Ohio, until nearby Cincinnati, when we stopped for lunch. I'm not sure exactly which town we were in, but we pulled into a strip mall, and there was an Indian restaurant. I love Indian food, and Troy was up for an adventure, so we entered the place. It was packed with Indians and white people. There was a fantastic lunch buffet, in which we consumed Saag Paneer, Chicken Mahkani, and some bindhi masala. It was really excellent!
We headed out, on our way to Iowa City. Troy's younger sister attends the University of Iowa, and we planned on staying with her for the night and getting some long needed alcohol in our systems. The city turned out to be very similar to Burlington. We stopped first at a grocery store that sold tons of imported Belgian ales, as well as local brews. Troy and I got some Rogue, which is brewed in Oregon. Then we got to Kayla's apartment. She lives with her friends Erika and Jake, both from Waterloo, Troy and Kayla's hometown. They are really fun kids. We watched Rock of Love together (a show that I am a big fan of), and then headed out to "Hamburg Inn." This is a famous place in Iowa City. Most presidential candidates give speeches from this place. Joe Biden is actually speaking there tomorrow morning at 7:30 - too bad it's so early (oh well). They also have something called a "pie shake," which is a milkshake blended with a piece of pie. Unfortunately they had no red velvet cake to blend my shake with, so I skipped it and had a piece of Boston Cream Pie instead.
We headed back to the apartment and played a few games of asshole. It felt so great to get a little bit buzzed and to relax and feel like I've arrived at a destination. I was having fun. We went out to a local bar called "Mill Run" and I got a PRB in a bottle (who knew?) for less than 2 bucks, and Kayla, Jack, Troy and
I played cheap games of pool. There was a jukebox a
nd I got to choose 3 songs for my dollar, so I put on "Jailhouse Rock," by Elvis, "The Laws Have Changed" by the New Pornographers, and "Let Down" by Radiohead. We all got nice and good with our beers, and then walked back to the apartment in the rain. We sat on some comfortable couches while eating Tombstone pizza and watched a documentary about a nomadic Indian culture. Then everyone went to sleep and now I'm watching the Cosby Show while typing this.
It was a great day. Very relaxing, full of the road, and with a great ending: a college town enjoyed with some young, happy college students. Iowa is a great state and I'm glad to be spending the night here.
dge, after having a "filling" continental breakfast of orange juice and a small blueberry muffin. We got on the road in search of the Serpent Mound. I knew it wouldn't be impressive. This excursion was really in homage to a professor of mine. Jim Petersen was the chair of the department of anthropology at the University of Vermont. I took 3 classes with him. He was the kind of guy who really, truly loved his job and his research. He was essentially a hippie who spent his life studying native peoples, and especially "Black Earth," which is very fertile soil in the heart of the Amazon rain forest. He was there the summer after my senior year, when he got shot during a robbery in Brazil. He unfortunately died from the encounter, but his legacy lived on. I miss him, even though I only knew him in the capacity of professor. Jim Petersen taught a class called Native American Cultures, which I took in my Junior year. He showed a slide of the Serpent Mound, which was made by the Adena Indians. It's a 3/4 mile long mound depicting a serpent uncoiling on one side, and on the other ingesting an egg, or a frog. Part of why I wanted to see this was in the honor of Jim.We had to take a state route to get there from Parkersville. On the two-way highway, I saw a strange object on the shoulder of the road. It had a triangle reflector and seemed to be moving. At first, it really looked like one of those space probes that NASA puts on Mars to take pictures of the landscape. It seemed to have three legs. As I got closer, I noticed that one of the "legs" was moving, like feet. So my thoughts moved to thinking it was some kind of Flintstone automobile, with a person using their feet to propel it. As we got even closer, I saw that it was in fact legs - horse's legs. And finally, I realized it was a horse and buggy! THEN a boy in a round hat and overalls leaned out of the rear window. He was Amish (or Mennonite). He was as excited to see my car as I was to see his horse and buggy. It was a great moment of joy for both of us.
We rode on through Ohio, until nearby Cincinnati, when we stopped for lunch. I'm not sure exactly which town we were in, but we pulled into a strip mall, and there was an Indian restaurant. I love Indian food, and Troy was up for an adventure, so we entered the place. It was packed with Indians and white people. There was a fantastic lunch buffet, in which we consumed Saag Paneer, Chicken Mahkani, and some bindhi masala. It was really excellent!
We headed out, on our way to Iowa City. Troy's younger sister attends the University of Iowa, and we planned on staying with her for the night and getting some long needed alcohol in our systems. The city turned out to be very similar to Burlington. We stopped first at a grocery store that sold tons of imported Belgian ales, as well as local brews. Troy and I got some Rogue, which is brewed in Oregon. Then we got to Kayla's apartment. She lives with her friends Erika and Jake, both from Waterloo, Troy and Kayla's hometown. They are really fun kids. We watched Rock of Love together (a show that I am a big fan of), and then headed out to "Hamburg Inn." This is a famous place in Iowa City. Most presidential candidates give speeches from this place. Joe Biden is actually speaking there tomorrow morning at 7:30 - too bad it's so early (oh well). They also have something called a "pie shake," which is a milkshake blended with a piece of pie. Unfortunately they had no red velvet cake to blend my shake with, so I skipped it and had a piece of Boston Cream Pie instead.
We headed back to the apartment and played a few games of asshole. It felt so great to get a little bit buzzed and to relax and feel like I've arrived at a destination. I was having fun. We went out to a local bar called "Mill Run" and I got a PRB in a bottle (who knew?) for less than 2 bucks, and Kayla, Jack, Troy and
I played cheap games of pool. There was a jukebox a
nd I got to choose 3 songs for my dollar, so I put on "Jailhouse Rock," by Elvis, "The Laws Have Changed" by the New Pornographers, and "Let Down" by Radiohead. We all got nice and good with our beers, and then walked back to the apartment in the rain. We sat on some comfortable couches while eating Tombstone pizza and watched a documentary about a nomadic Indian culture. Then everyone went to sleep and now I'm watching the Cosby Show while typing this.It was a great day. Very relaxing, full of the road, and with a great ending: a college town enjoyed with some young, happy college students. Iowa is a great state and I'm glad to be spending the night here.
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Day 1: Not So Bad!
I've begun! It's almost unreal, this sense of beginning a journey I'd almost lost hope of ever taking. We left at 8:30 this morning - got out of NYC with hardly any traffic.The open road stretched out in front of me felt like absolute, tangible freedom. I've never felt anything like it. Being present as the miles piled up between me and everyone and everything I know is utterly exhilarating. I never had a feeling and an act so closely related in my entire life. I guess this trip was something I needed even more than I'd thought (and I've definitely thought I needed it).
We stopped first at Falling Water, a house in Southwestern Pennsylvania that was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. He designed it on a waterfall, as my picture shows. Not only that - everything he put into the design reflected the nature surrounding it. The structure itself was made to resemble the falling water beneath it. The floor on the first floor looked like the bottom of the river bed. It was really spectacular.
Towards the end of the tour, Troy and I realized we were famished. Our tour guide, Don (with his accent, it totally sounded like he was saying "Dawn"), told us there was nothing really around except for Pizza Huts and Burger Kings. Troy and I had decided when we started out that we want to only eat at local diners and restaurants during this trip, so we were bummed. But we got back on the road, stuffed our mouths with trail mix and tortilla chips, and made our way in the direction of our next stop: Peebles, OH. We were nearly out of gas. We drove around for awhile on one road that looked like the back country in Appalachia, until we passed a town called Ohiopyle. But we were in Pennsylvania. Maybe it was a place where there were piles of Ohians? Sorry - I'm deliriously tired right now. Anyway, this town had no gas station, so we pressed on. Troy almost had a heart attack. But then Dory somehow got some extra spark of life in her, and the gas light disappeared. We found gas shortly afterward.
We entered West Virginia, and immediately pulled into a restaurant called Twila's Fine Family Restaurant. We walked in and knew we'd hit the jackpot. There was a collection of teapots on shelves, a piano, statues of Laurel and Hardy! There was even country music playing, and our waitress had only half of her teeth! I felt so happy to be there, I couldn't stop smiling. Get this - I ordered a grilled chicken salad, and it came with a pile of french fries and melted cheese on top! Brilliant. I mean, I didn't eat the fries with the salad or anything, but just the IDEA of it was enough to make my night.
Back on the road, the sun was setting. Troy and I played a game where one person names two actors, and the other person has to guess what movie they've been in together. We are having a lot of fun together. My apprehensions about whether or not he'd be a fun travel companion have been put at ease. He laughs a lot, makes me laugh, and seems to be up for anything. We took a 7 mile detour to look for ice cream in Morganstown, WV (cute college town, btw), and then just changed our minds and got back on the highway.
We stopped at 10pm because the only road out of Parkersville, WV has been closed off for fireworks. We were beat anyway. After some price checking at the 4 motels that are side by side in the town, we decided on the Econolodge! Free continental breakfast, AND we get a 10% discount because Troy works for the government! Niiice.
So tomorrow is another day, but I'm excited for the next two weeks.
Friday, August 17, 2007
Team Meagan's Law
Tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow. We're leaving tomorrow! I already have my car here in the city. I've spent a few hours today packing and I have almost everything together. I'm a very quick packer. I never understood it when my friends would tell me they'd spent all day and night packing for a trip. I make decisions and stick to them, I guess.
I bought a knife today at Paragon. It's not for cutting twine or sticks or anything like that, though. See, I bought a bunch of oranges for the road (don't want us to get scurvy or nothin'!) and shortly afterward, I got this image of me trying to peel the navel oranges, getting all the rind underneath my fingernails, and it taking about an hour. I realized a knife would make things so much easier. I told the knife salesman as much. As he rang me up he said, "Alright, enjoy your orange cutter." It's OK, I laugh at me, too.
Anyway, I want to use this time before I leave to give everyone a rundown on who Troy is, and why we are going on this trip. It all started back in May. My friend Jenny and I went on a weekend trip to Washington, DC to visit some friends and see the city. At a friend of a friend's BBQ in Virginia one night, we met Troy. We got to talking, and it turned out he was a huge Kerouac fan, AS WELL AS a huge Daniel Johnston fan. I consider Kerouac and Johnston to be the most influential artists in my life. They've essentially made me a part of who I am. Needless to say, we hit it off. He came out to the DC bars with us, played pool with us, and Team Meagan's Law was born.
But I wouldn't exactly call Troy and I strangers. He came to NY a few weeks after I was in DC and we hung out and spent the entire night sitting on the floor in my apartment, talking about music and I guess some other things. Mostly music, though. Then we sat on my couch while he flipped through Leaves of Grass and I read some letter Neal Cassidy wrote. Then we switched. I knew from then on, we'd be friends for awhile.
We exchanged entertaining emails back and forth after that. He asked me if I wanted to travel to South America with him some time in the fall. I replied that I would, but only if we could get involved with some rebel force and be chased by corrupt policemen with guns. He thought that was a great idea! And then, the time arose that I was ready to get away from my desk job. I told Troy that if he wanted to, he should come with me on a trip through America. He agreed. And here we are today. It's finally, actually happening.
I bought a knife today at Paragon. It's not for cutting twine or sticks or anything like that, though. See, I bought a bunch of oranges for the road (don't want us to get scurvy or nothin'!) and shortly afterward, I got this image of me trying to peel the navel oranges, getting all the rind underneath my fingernails, and it taking about an hour. I realized a knife would make things so much easier. I told the knife salesman as much. As he rang me up he said, "Alright, enjoy your orange cutter." It's OK, I laugh at me, too.
Anyway, I want to use this time before I leave to give everyone a rundown on who Troy is, and why we are going on this trip. It all started back in May. My friend Jenny and I went on a weekend trip to Washington, DC to visit some friends and see the city. At a friend of a friend's BBQ in Virginia one night, we met Troy. We got to talking, and it turned out he was a huge Kerouac fan, AS WELL AS a huge Daniel Johnston fan. I consider Kerouac and Johnston to be the most influential artists in my life. They've essentially made me a part of who I am. Needless to say, we hit it off. He came out to the DC bars with us, played pool with us, and Team Meagan's Law was born.
But I wouldn't exactly call Troy and I strangers. He came to NY a few weeks after I was in DC and we hung out and spent the entire night sitting on the floor in my apartment, talking about music and I guess some other things. Mostly music, though. Then we sat on my couch while he flipped through Leaves of Grass and I read some letter Neal Cassidy wrote. Then we switched. I knew from then on, we'd be friends for awhile.
We exchanged entertaining emails back and forth after that. He asked me if I wanted to travel to South America with him some time in the fall. I replied that I would, but only if we could get involved with some rebel force and be chased by corrupt policemen with guns. He thought that was a great idea! And then, the time arose that I was ready to get away from my desk job. I told Troy that if he wanted to, he should come with me on a trip through America. He agreed. And here we are today. It's finally, actually happening.
Monday, August 13, 2007
T Minus 5 Days
My trip is almost a certainty at this point. As long as I don't get a phone call from a prominent environmental organization telling me I have been hired and must start immediately, I am officially heading out on the road.
I'm extremely excited for this trip. Since I was 16, I've had the dream of pounding the pavement and seeing where my wheels take me. Time has passed, and now at 24 the opportunity has finally presented itself in the form of unemployment checks, a willing companion, and the courage to do it! Troy rode up to NY from DC this past weekend to discuss logistics with me. We have 2 weeks. The plan: go West for 7 days, then turn around and come back. Sounds simple. Although we have set up a vague itinerary, we are both pretty wide open when it comes to where we go and what we see. This will be great because I get lost pretty often and easily. With no exact destination this will hopefully not be a problem. I should go out and get a compass, just to make sure, though.
As I said in the blog description, I am going to attempt to post something everyday, or at least to account for every day of the trip in post. I'm bringing my laptop, which will be useful for this task, as well as for Map questing, uploading pictures, and as Emergency Boredom Backup (EBB.)
I can't wait to finally explore the natural (and completely unnatural) facets of the Mid-West, speak to all different kinds of people, and (OK this is silly) try and get my name on the score board on Photohunt in every state we stop. Troy doesn't know about this last goal yet, but I think he'll be down for it!
I'm extremely excited for this trip. Since I was 16, I've had the dream of pounding the pavement and seeing where my wheels take me. Time has passed, and now at 24 the opportunity has finally presented itself in the form of unemployment checks, a willing companion, and the courage to do it! Troy rode up to NY from DC this past weekend to discuss logistics with me. We have 2 weeks. The plan: go West for 7 days, then turn around and come back. Sounds simple. Although we have set up a vague itinerary, we are both pretty wide open when it comes to where we go and what we see. This will be great because I get lost pretty often and easily. With no exact destination this will hopefully not be a problem. I should go out and get a compass, just to make sure, though.
As I said in the blog description, I am going to attempt to post something everyday, or at least to account for every day of the trip in post. I'm bringing my laptop, which will be useful for this task, as well as for Map questing, uploading pictures, and as Emergency Boredom Backup (EBB.)
I can't wait to finally explore the natural (and completely unnatural) facets of the Mid-West, speak to all different kinds of people, and (OK this is silly) try and get my name on the score board on Photohunt in every state we stop. Troy doesn't know about this last goal yet, but I think he'll be down for it!
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