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 another 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.

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!

The Not Actually Great Serpent Mound

This morning we left the Econolodge, 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 and 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.

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.

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.

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!