Traveling from Columbus the afternoon of the Sunday I responsible for all those kids I took the shortest drive I have taken on my trip. I headed to Gambier, my old collegiate stomping grounds, and met up and crashed with a friend. It was cool to see her again and we spent a good deal of time both walking around and catching up on what the other was doing. She seems to be doing pretty well and is enjoying working for the admissions department as she has since our graduation.
Gambier has and hasn’t changed much with the exception of some trees missing and a few new buildings here and there. Though as I expressed in a letter to a collegiate friend I wrote while there, it was a vacant place. I don’t mean just that the students were missing because they were, more that my time has passed from the place and I am an oddity, a remnant from some bygone time. My friends and experiences are what made the place and them being gone helps me move on as they have.
Having spent the night in Gambier at one of my friends numerous houses I headed out about mid-morning but I was slow to get started and didn’t do as much driving as I would have liked. I got past Pittsburgh quite a ways and ended up staying in a motel since there did not seem to be much in the way of state parks along I-80 in Pennsylvania. I was surprised about how much I liked the scenery, there are numerous rolling hills in Western Pennsylvania which was a refreshing changed from the flatness I had been experiencing across the Midwest. Granted the hills were nothing in size to anything in the Rockies, but the very green watered fed scene was a stark difference when compared to the parched West and Northwest I visited.
The next morning realizing I only had about 8 hours of driving to do, I figured I had some time to see a few things. Having now seen Groundhog Day, the movie, about a million times at this point, I thought I should check out Punxsutawney PA where the movie is set. It was cool to see the town and its weird devotion to the Groundhog, something most farmers truly dislike and classify as vermin. “Phil” the mascot and groundhog who either does or does not see his shadow has fiberglass statues all over the town. You could pretty easily tell that Groundhog Day, Feb 2 is the biggest day of the year in the sleepy little town. I surprised about how the whole place doesn’t look anything like the movie and it left me wondering where they actually filmed the movie.
Having now put off the drive off until noon I started to head back to MA. It was an entirely uneventful journey except for me finishing my book on tape, David McCullough’s John Adams and having to find another. I ended up starting Twilight by Stephanie Meyer about a girl who falls in love with a vampire. Unfortunately I didn’t finish its 13 hour run before I got home, so I have been trying to decide to finish it or drop it. The last installment of this book series is supposedly coming out this week, but it is definitely teenage girl fiction if there ever was any. This is due to the constant description of the love interest’s superiority, lips, and “muscular body.” I’m not one to finish something I haven’t started but this one is trying my patience and I might just have to wait until the movie comes out to find out the ending.
So now I’m back in Massachusetts for now going on two days and it’s a refreshing change to be back in familiar surroundings and scenery. I spent yesterday cleaning out my car and doing nothing in particular which was a refreshing change from driving too much. Looking at the odometer I put just a little under 10,000 miles on my car in all the time I was gone and the machine didn’t let me down. It’s official I love Volvos.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Two ends of the Age Spectrum
I got into Glen Ellyn, IL where my Grandparents live at about 1:30 in the afternoon. I didn’t have to drive far so I had left later in the morning but didn’t really make much difference on the final arrival time. It was really nice to take an easy day of travel after having spent the two days prior driving.
I had planned to stay with my Aunt, so I headed over there. Despite contacting her before arrival and her assurance she would be around during the day she wasn’t. I hope I don’t make this sound like it was a big deal. It being a Friday and the middle of day I was not surprised she had found something to do with herself. When you have your days free to do what you will with them and people in your life know that, activities have a tendency to come calling you; I should know I also do not have a job.
Having gotten to my aunt’s house and not found anything there to keep me occupied I decided to try to go see a movie I’ve been longing to see. Hellboy II, had been out for a while and I wanted to see it in a theatre because it looked pretty cool. Despite having a demonic title it is not about anything very deep other then the usual bad guys versus good guys. So I found a movie time online courteous of a rogue wireless network and headed over.
I would like to predicate my next statement with saying I have been trying to adapt myself to military time, or the 24-hour clock, for the last couple of months. Well I serious miscalculated the time of the movie so I was over an hour early. A showing of Batman: The Dark Knight was showing far closer to my arrival time, so I decided to see that.
It was a gritty movie and overall an artfully crafted movie. I just didn’t enjoy the whole experience because the movie was too jarring. The picture was about “the Joker’s” psychotic nature, was more unsettling then enjoyable to me. I don’t understand why we are obsessed with the crazed killer in this country. CSI and Law and Order are both formulaic around a central theme of crazy people. Why as a society do we rightfully vilify these people and then make movies about them that glorify their tragedies? Why are some horrible acts usually more thoroughly covered then amazing acts of kindness? What does the media slogan still apply “it saying it bleeds it leads” always win?
When I got out of the theatre I had got a call from my Aunt and she was around to hang out. I headed over to her place and move a bunch of my stuff into her place for the night, all the while catching up with her. It had been a few years since we had seen each other and had things to catch up on. I really like my aunt and just talking about whatever. She’s super nice and often too generously laughs at my jokes. My aunt seems to be doing well and been enjoying the time off she has had since quitting work in March. Not liking what she was doing for a living as well as an interest to take some time off had spurred her to quit. It was cool to have the validation, that as long as you have the ability to pay the bills it's ok not to have your entire life figured out by 30.
My Grandma called while we were talking and so we headed over to restaurant rendezvous. It was a place I had been to before with my aunt, grandfather, and grandmother, but I enjoyed it and we talked for almost 2 hours about things. My Grandmother is ever the conversationalist and it was good to hear about what she and Grandpa have in their lives at this point. We ended up heading back to my grandparent’s house to see a news program she had extolled the merits of over dinner. It was a cool segment that is not broadcast in the Boston area, despite being one of the news programs on PBS.
After headed back to my Aunt's I pretty much went straight to bed, since I planned to leave early the next morning. Throughout this trip I have learned that “early” is a very relative term and due to having a schedule I pretty much set on a daily basis, I have a tendency to be a little lax about starting my day in a timely fashion. I didn’t end up leaving my aunt’s house until about 9:30 which is mid morning, but it as nice to have a full night’s sleep.
After leaving my Aunt’s house it did not take me long to lose an hour by crossing yet another time zone. Since getting the book on tape it has made the driving far less momentous and I find myself really not focusing on the length of but rather just the story and the immediate driving. It is a welcome mental distraction after merely having the radio and my IPOD for weeks. I don’t think it has hampered my alertness at all, to those who might be worried about such things.
It was a middle length day driving to Columbus to see my college friend Rich and I got there about 5pm. I got into a debate with the kid within 10 minutes from walking in the door; same old Rich. It was good to see him and see what he has been up to since he moved back from Cleveland to live with his folks. He has started his own business of rehabbing old houses to turn into decent rental properties. The houses he’s buying seem to either be under foreclosure or easily gotten cheaply at very reasonable in price. He showed me his first house and what he has done so far and plans to do for it in the future. I can’t say it would be a business I would want to get into, but I got to give the guy credit as having an entrepreneurial spirit. I got to see his parents ministry which was cool, they have had a huge influx of people into the program and it was cool to hang and talk to the kids who are involved in the program. Since I was there for both the Saturday night and Sunday services I got to see the kids that were around there the most, I forgot how rambunctious kids around 10 can be.
I had planned to stay with my Aunt, so I headed over there. Despite contacting her before arrival and her assurance she would be around during the day she wasn’t. I hope I don’t make this sound like it was a big deal. It being a Friday and the middle of day I was not surprised she had found something to do with herself. When you have your days free to do what you will with them and people in your life know that, activities have a tendency to come calling you; I should know I also do not have a job.
Having gotten to my aunt’s house and not found anything there to keep me occupied I decided to try to go see a movie I’ve been longing to see. Hellboy II, had been out for a while and I wanted to see it in a theatre because it looked pretty cool. Despite having a demonic title it is not about anything very deep other then the usual bad guys versus good guys. So I found a movie time online courteous of a rogue wireless network and headed over.
I would like to predicate my next statement with saying I have been trying to adapt myself to military time, or the 24-hour clock, for the last couple of months. Well I serious miscalculated the time of the movie so I was over an hour early. A showing of Batman: The Dark Knight was showing far closer to my arrival time, so I decided to see that.
It was a gritty movie and overall an artfully crafted movie. I just didn’t enjoy the whole experience because the movie was too jarring. The picture was about “the Joker’s” psychotic nature, was more unsettling then enjoyable to me. I don’t understand why we are obsessed with the crazed killer in this country. CSI and Law and Order are both formulaic around a central theme of crazy people. Why as a society do we rightfully vilify these people and then make movies about them that glorify their tragedies? Why are some horrible acts usually more thoroughly covered then amazing acts of kindness? What does the media slogan still apply “it saying it bleeds it leads” always win?
When I got out of the theatre I had got a call from my Aunt and she was around to hang out. I headed over to her place and move a bunch of my stuff into her place for the night, all the while catching up with her. It had been a few years since we had seen each other and had things to catch up on. I really like my aunt and just talking about whatever. She’s super nice and often too generously laughs at my jokes. My aunt seems to be doing well and been enjoying the time off she has had since quitting work in March. Not liking what she was doing for a living as well as an interest to take some time off had spurred her to quit. It was cool to have the validation, that as long as you have the ability to pay the bills it's ok not to have your entire life figured out by 30.
My Grandma called while we were talking and so we headed over to restaurant rendezvous. It was a place I had been to before with my aunt, grandfather, and grandmother, but I enjoyed it and we talked for almost 2 hours about things. My Grandmother is ever the conversationalist and it was good to hear about what she and Grandpa have in their lives at this point. We ended up heading back to my grandparent’s house to see a news program she had extolled the merits of over dinner. It was a cool segment that is not broadcast in the Boston area, despite being one of the news programs on PBS.
After headed back to my Aunt's I pretty much went straight to bed, since I planned to leave early the next morning. Throughout this trip I have learned that “early” is a very relative term and due to having a schedule I pretty much set on a daily basis, I have a tendency to be a little lax about starting my day in a timely fashion. I didn’t end up leaving my aunt’s house until about 9:30 which is mid morning, but it as nice to have a full night’s sleep.
After leaving my Aunt’s house it did not take me long to lose an hour by crossing yet another time zone. Since getting the book on tape it has made the driving far less momentous and I find myself really not focusing on the length of but rather just the story and the immediate driving. It is a welcome mental distraction after merely having the radio and my IPOD for weeks. I don’t think it has hampered my alertness at all, to those who might be worried about such things.
It was a middle length day driving to Columbus to see my college friend Rich and I got there about 5pm. I got into a debate with the kid within 10 minutes from walking in the door; same old Rich. It was good to see him and see what he has been up to since he moved back from Cleveland to live with his folks. He has started his own business of rehabbing old houses to turn into decent rental properties. The houses he’s buying seem to either be under foreclosure or easily gotten cheaply at very reasonable in price. He showed me his first house and what he has done so far and plans to do for it in the future. I can’t say it would be a business I would want to get into, but I got to give the guy credit as having an entrepreneurial spirit. I got to see his parents ministry which was cool, they have had a huge influx of people into the program and it was cool to hang and talk to the kids who are involved in the program. Since I was there for both the Saturday night and Sunday services I got to see the kids that were around there the most, I forgot how rambunctious kids around 10 can be.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Purple Mtns. to Waves and waves and waves of grain
After being at the Oregon State Park I continued on to Salt Lake City, which took most of the day. It was a mostly uneventful journey with the exception of the amazing scenery zooming by my car. I will say that having traveled both though the Northwest and West, it is an increasing dry place. I have heard the reports on the news saying there is not much rain here, but it’s another thing to see it first hand. I hope that trend changes because as much as Americans are building here, it doesn’t bode well for the long term sustainability of the region.
When I got Salt Lake City, I got lost despite having good directions from my host. After being on the wrong side of town from his house, I finally got the way the streets worked and got to his place. All the streets are number and don’t really have official names, so for example you can live at 1100S and 900 E. It made finding his place a lot easier once I figured out where I was on this massive grid.
I met Joel, the guy I was staying with and learned a little about being a young attorney. He was also a really interesting guy just in his own right with a lot of interest in environmental law and it sounds like he’d recently gotten into disability claims which I made the mistake of getting confused with liability and suing for malpractice.
I crashed on his floor that night and headed out toward Colorado by way of Temple Square. It was a pretty building and the Mormons do a lot to make it look pretty. Apparently we weren’t allowed in the Temple itself, but I did get to take a picture of where they regularly had services and stuff. They had a lot of visitor centers and a museum about The Church of Latter Day Saints. I was most unsettled by the fact there was a lot of people about my age or younger just standing around there to welcome you. I figured they were all on their two years service. They bothered me with how they all looked the same with their nametags and their super neat appearance. After that initial observation I realized that if I was doing something full time, like greeting, I would probably look the same, so I decide to cut them a little slack.
From there I spent the rest of the day in the car with the weather turning hotter and hotter as I headed toward Colorado. I managed to pass the day pretty well between calling people and listening to the radio. It was still a long trip and I need to find something else to either listen or do to break up the time. I arrived in Denver and met my hosts Dave, Dan, and PJ who were really cool and gave me my own bed to sleep on. They also had a really cool dog by the name of Dante that made me wish I had one. They were a nice group of guys and I like just chilling with them for the time I was there.
When I headed into Denver the next morning, and I had intended to see a good chunk of the city and the art museum, but I unfortunately I didn’t get to the museum. I spent so much time chilling and walking around the city I got to the museum about a half hour before it closed. The city itself is pretty neat with a lot of shops and restaurants. The thing that visually makes it for me though is they’re big about getting people to create public works of art. That means there are these massive sculptures throughout the city not just the same statue throughout painted differently. There is also all these mountains all around so the scenery is cool and the people are nicer then on the East Coast.
The next day, after biding adieu to my hosts I headed over to Boulder just to check it out for a few hours. I only really had time to see the resort section and see a few things. I can see myself in the future headed back there for at least one trip. The mountains were there just being begged to be climbed in all their glory. I did take the time to see Celestial Seasonings, a tea company that has really cool pictures on their boxes. It was neat to see their factory and see how the tea gets inserted into bags and then sent to the consumer.
My only real complaint with Colorado was the lack of water both it in large pools on the ground and the lack of it coming from the sky. I’m not saying that its something they can fix, I’m sure if they thought they could get more rain they would be doing it. It was just emphasized to me by the fact it was so dry the whole time I was there. It was plenty hot, but it was so dry with no humidity that I really didn’t ever feel like I was sweating, I got dehydrated way to easily.
I managed to get into Nebraska late that night and decided to spring for a hotel because after checking the State Park list I thought there wasn’t any near the highway. As it turned out there are numerous state parks along interstate 80 in Nebraska (I’m writing it down so I’ll remember in the future). Even if it broke the bank it was a good time and refreshing change of pace; I really enjoyed having my own space and bed. I didn’t get out that early this morning because I was just enjoying lounging and now having put a lot of miles on my car I’m finally sick of driving.
I did manage to stop though Omaha today and truthfully its older sections are really depressing. There isn’t really anything in the downtown section other then a few banks and some businesses that have chosen to stick with the place. The two I noticed were ConAgra and Union Pacific, which are big names, but can’t really keep an entire city employed. Omaha has seen better days and I hope it can be looking up some day.
While in Omaha, I stopped on the outskirts and checked out a Cracker Barrel for some books on tape. It was weird being back in one, since I hadn’t been back since I stopped working at one two years ago. It might have been the one I worked in Mass. it looks exactly the same with all the merchandise in the same spot. I was able to rent a book on tape for $3.50 a week, but I had to put in a deposit for how much the whole thing sells for that I’ll get back once I return it to another Cracker Barrel down the road. I got a copy of David McCullough’s new book John Adams, it’s been really interesting and a breath of fresh air to have something to listen to while driving, I should have done it sooner. I hope I get more then one book done by the time I get home.
I also made good time going across Iowa and only really made one stop in Grinnell IA. It is home to a college of the same name that was mentioned to me when I interviewed at Kenyon. It is a small liberal arts college about the same size and locality, they both are in very rural settings, so it makes sense I might have applied there. Now having seen the place, it would have been cool to throw an application at it, not to suggest I would have changed where I went now that the hand has been played. I was just surprised it impressed me.
I’m breaking the bank yet again tonight and staying at a hotel in Davenport IA and hopefully will be headed to Chicago again to see my Aunt and Grandparents. Nite!!
When I got Salt Lake City, I got lost despite having good directions from my host. After being on the wrong side of town from his house, I finally got the way the streets worked and got to his place. All the streets are number and don’t really have official names, so for example you can live at 1100S and 900 E. It made finding his place a lot easier once I figured out where I was on this massive grid.
I met Joel, the guy I was staying with and learned a little about being a young attorney. He was also a really interesting guy just in his own right with a lot of interest in environmental law and it sounds like he’d recently gotten into disability claims which I made the mistake of getting confused with liability and suing for malpractice.
I crashed on his floor that night and headed out toward Colorado by way of Temple Square. It was a pretty building and the Mormons do a lot to make it look pretty. Apparently we weren’t allowed in the Temple itself, but I did get to take a picture of where they regularly had services and stuff. They had a lot of visitor centers and a museum about The Church of Latter Day Saints. I was most unsettled by the fact there was a lot of people about my age or younger just standing around there to welcome you. I figured they were all on their two years service. They bothered me with how they all looked the same with their nametags and their super neat appearance. After that initial observation I realized that if I was doing something full time, like greeting, I would probably look the same, so I decide to cut them a little slack.
From there I spent the rest of the day in the car with the weather turning hotter and hotter as I headed toward Colorado. I managed to pass the day pretty well between calling people and listening to the radio. It was still a long trip and I need to find something else to either listen or do to break up the time. I arrived in Denver and met my hosts Dave, Dan, and PJ who were really cool and gave me my own bed to sleep on. They also had a really cool dog by the name of Dante that made me wish I had one. They were a nice group of guys and I like just chilling with them for the time I was there.
When I headed into Denver the next morning, and I had intended to see a good chunk of the city and the art museum, but I unfortunately I didn’t get to the museum. I spent so much time chilling and walking around the city I got to the museum about a half hour before it closed. The city itself is pretty neat with a lot of shops and restaurants. The thing that visually makes it for me though is they’re big about getting people to create public works of art. That means there are these massive sculptures throughout the city not just the same statue throughout painted differently. There is also all these mountains all around so the scenery is cool and the people are nicer then on the East Coast.
The next day, after biding adieu to my hosts I headed over to Boulder just to check it out for a few hours. I only really had time to see the resort section and see a few things. I can see myself in the future headed back there for at least one trip. The mountains were there just being begged to be climbed in all their glory. I did take the time to see Celestial Seasonings, a tea company that has really cool pictures on their boxes. It was neat to see their factory and see how the tea gets inserted into bags and then sent to the consumer.
My only real complaint with Colorado was the lack of water both it in large pools on the ground and the lack of it coming from the sky. I’m not saying that its something they can fix, I’m sure if they thought they could get more rain they would be doing it. It was just emphasized to me by the fact it was so dry the whole time I was there. It was plenty hot, but it was so dry with no humidity that I really didn’t ever feel like I was sweating, I got dehydrated way to easily.
I managed to get into Nebraska late that night and decided to spring for a hotel because after checking the State Park list I thought there wasn’t any near the highway. As it turned out there are numerous state parks along interstate 80 in Nebraska (I’m writing it down so I’ll remember in the future). Even if it broke the bank it was a good time and refreshing change of pace; I really enjoyed having my own space and bed. I didn’t get out that early this morning because I was just enjoying lounging and now having put a lot of miles on my car I’m finally sick of driving.
I did manage to stop though Omaha today and truthfully its older sections are really depressing. There isn’t really anything in the downtown section other then a few banks and some businesses that have chosen to stick with the place. The two I noticed were ConAgra and Union Pacific, which are big names, but can’t really keep an entire city employed. Omaha has seen better days and I hope it can be looking up some day.
While in Omaha, I stopped on the outskirts and checked out a Cracker Barrel for some books on tape. It was weird being back in one, since I hadn’t been back since I stopped working at one two years ago. It might have been the one I worked in Mass. it looks exactly the same with all the merchandise in the same spot. I was able to rent a book on tape for $3.50 a week, but I had to put in a deposit for how much the whole thing sells for that I’ll get back once I return it to another Cracker Barrel down the road. I got a copy of David McCullough’s new book John Adams, it’s been really interesting and a breath of fresh air to have something to listen to while driving, I should have done it sooner. I hope I get more then one book done by the time I get home.
I also made good time going across Iowa and only really made one stop in Grinnell IA. It is home to a college of the same name that was mentioned to me when I interviewed at Kenyon. It is a small liberal arts college about the same size and locality, they both are in very rural settings, so it makes sense I might have applied there. Now having seen the place, it would have been cool to throw an application at it, not to suggest I would have changed where I went now that the hand has been played. I was just surprised it impressed me.
I’m breaking the bank yet again tonight and staying at a hotel in Davenport IA and hopefully will be headed to Chicago again to see my Aunt and Grandparents. Nite!!
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Fire and Death on the Road to Walla Walla, WA
Going immediately following the last entry. I managed to get down to the Burke Museum after spending most of that morning just lounging around. It was a cool museum and their Northwest Coast stuff was cool for what they had of it, the Field Museum in Chicago has a better and more extensive collection. They had some really cool things, but I wasn’t allowed to take any pictures of the stuff inside, which left me really bummed. I had made the trip there to see it and it appears the museum caters more to a younger age bracket then myself, like people under 10. Even with the exhibits being fairly simplistic they had some really neat artifacts and fossils. There was a primitive whale skeleton and they had various dinosaurs bones set up in life posses, like a stegosaurus. The stegosaurus left me the most intrigued because I have for a long time taken it has a granted that it had spines along its back and a spiked tail, the way its usually depicted. I am not an expert, but the spines anthropologists have always put along the back are in no way connected to the skeleton and could have gone another place, it seemed like to my untrained eye. Though I suppose they are putting the flat dagger shaped bones along the spine, due to dig evidence and not just conjecture. Hopefully evidence is why they look the way it does, otherwise I don’t get why the points down the spine. I found the museum enjoyable and it was cool to wander around the University of Washington’s campus afterward.
After finishing around there I was trying to head over to the City Hall area of Seattle and then maybe the Fremont Troll, but I then had the misfortune to experience what would be occupying me for the rest of my afternoon. I got a flat tire, something I had thought I had fixed prior to leaving my friend Laurel house that afternoon. The second time I had to fix it I was trying to take a short cut and ended up in an upper middle class neighborhood where I stopped under a shady tree to fix my leak.
I was minding my own business and trying to patch my leak, with yet another patch when three little people and a shepharding mom came out to play outside. It didn’t take long for me find out one of the two boys was called “Sam,” which left me feeling pleasantly surprised due to the coincidence. His mom was trying to fix his bicycle as well and it left me wishing my mom was here to bail me out of this one. (Though this mom didn’t know the first thing about bicycles, but “Sam” was still at the stage where parents are all knowing almost supernatural beings.) So I patched it for the 2nd time and headed down and over a block so I could turn around.
Well lucky me the leak wasn’t fixed, so I flipped my bike over and went at it again. At this point I was reusing patches and I was trying to get it too work, when another Mom rolls up and said “I have a pump and a patch kit if you’re still here when I get back.”
I said thanks self-assured that I was going to make it with what I had. No such luck, the patches refused to hold anything and I pumped up the tube a couple of times to see what the problem was. By this time the 2nd mom for now my 3rd patch had come back, I was still there getting more frustrated. She was very helpful and gave me a whole kit to fix the hole, that at the time I didn’t think I would need having just finished the leak. I thanked her told her were I was from and the other usual stuff people talk about when first meeting and hit the road. After getting about maybe a half a mile my fire was flat yet again. So I took the tire off again the 3rd time and used the kit she gave. I patched it and though I had got a good hold on it except the patch failed to hold around the edges, so I ripped it off and tried again. It didn’t work the 4th time either, but figured if I added another patch I couldn’t go wrong, right? I added a 5th and had just as much luck as the fourth. So had 2 patches on my tire and still have a hole and since the air was holding for a little while I decided to pump it up high and try to limp my way home. I got all of maybe a quarter mile before I needed to pump it again and at this point I just gave up and called a cab since it was past 7 by this time and been about 3pm by the time I started this escapade. My tire is still flat, I might have wrecked my back rim, and I currently don’t like my bike.
The next day I drove downtown and walked all over. Being a member of REI I checked out the original store, which was cool, though not as cool as the LL Bean store in Freeport ME. I also just wandered about just seeing things and that looked interesting. For example I bought this really sweet hat at the best Army/Navy store ever. I had intended to see the Fremont Troll sculpture that was under the Aurora Ave bridge, but I managed to forget on my way back toward Laurel’s house. Oh well something to see next time when I go back.
The following day I headed up to Vancouver BC, for the day. It took longer then I had expected partly because I started later in the day and the customs line took forever getting into Canada. The guard wanted to know about my finances as I didn’t have a job and thought I was just coming to Canada to freeload. I gave him some information, but he was kind of insulting but I finally got into Canada. Vancouver, as a city is pretty cool the buildings reflect both a Europe and American influence that is definitely Canada. I checked out downtown and a museum on the University of British Columbia’s campus and then hit the road again. It is a place I would like to visit again, but didn’t feel I had given myself enough time to adequately explore. I also know half of Vancouver’s mystique is the nature around it and I wasn’t really sure where to start since my guidebook only covered the States.
The drive back was uneventful except for an incident I had at the border. I guess I got in the right most car lane called the “Nexus lane.” The only thing I can figure is its for frequent border crossers because they people an extra ID to cross there. I got ushered into Customs Office, hoping I didn’t have to pay a fee as they sent me in with a form that said “Nexus Violater” on it. At this point I was informed that there had been adequate signage, despite seeing any, that told me I was not supposed to be in that lane. It is certainly possible that I had zoned out, but I didn’t see any signs telling me it was a $5000 fine for going in the right most lane. I started to mention this to the guard, but then realized it was better to hold my tongue and let him say his piece. He got the fine waived and sent me on my way after having talked to his supervisor. I got back to Seattle and chilled out at the house for the rest of the evening.
I got up decently early, but I didn’t get moving until later, so I had headed out at about noon and made some headway toward Oregon. It was a boring drive up until I made the turn off toward Walla Walla, WA. There was a tree and grass fire on the way with the largest individual plume of smoke I have ever seen. It was outside the small hamlet of Wallula and I actually saw a fire truck out fighting the flames, which was neat to see while passing, since stopping to gawk at the flames did not seem like the most intelligent thing to do at the time.
I continued on and got caught in a traffic jam that I figured was for an accident, since the road was pretty small I figured it was for that reason. It slowed down and I got a chance to see why things had slowed down as much as they had. It appears to have been an accident between a truck with a trailer and motorcycle and it would appear the accident was fatale for one rider of the motorcycle.
http://www.oregonlive.com/newsflash/regional/index.ssf?/base/news-25/1216588463105730.xml&storylist=orlocal
Walla Walla, WA was a pretty cool town between both Whitman College that is in town and the wine is grown there it is a pretty happening place when compared with other places of a similar size. I had the privilege of running into the annual Sweet Onion Festival and I got to see a few of the sights as well as eat a good onion sausage. Since I was running late I ended up crashing at a fairly decent Oregon state park that I really liked both for its cheapness and its general comfort.
After finishing around there I was trying to head over to the City Hall area of Seattle and then maybe the Fremont Troll, but I then had the misfortune to experience what would be occupying me for the rest of my afternoon. I got a flat tire, something I had thought I had fixed prior to leaving my friend Laurel house that afternoon. The second time I had to fix it I was trying to take a short cut and ended up in an upper middle class neighborhood where I stopped under a shady tree to fix my leak.
I was minding my own business and trying to patch my leak, with yet another patch when three little people and a shepharding mom came out to play outside. It didn’t take long for me find out one of the two boys was called “Sam,” which left me feeling pleasantly surprised due to the coincidence. His mom was trying to fix his bicycle as well and it left me wishing my mom was here to bail me out of this one. (Though this mom didn’t know the first thing about bicycles, but “Sam” was still at the stage where parents are all knowing almost supernatural beings.) So I patched it for the 2nd time and headed down and over a block so I could turn around.
Well lucky me the leak wasn’t fixed, so I flipped my bike over and went at it again. At this point I was reusing patches and I was trying to get it too work, when another Mom rolls up and said “I have a pump and a patch kit if you’re still here when I get back.”
I said thanks self-assured that I was going to make it with what I had. No such luck, the patches refused to hold anything and I pumped up the tube a couple of times to see what the problem was. By this time the 2nd mom for now my 3rd patch had come back, I was still there getting more frustrated. She was very helpful and gave me a whole kit to fix the hole, that at the time I didn’t think I would need having just finished the leak. I thanked her told her were I was from and the other usual stuff people talk about when first meeting and hit the road. After getting about maybe a half a mile my fire was flat yet again. So I took the tire off again the 3rd time and used the kit she gave. I patched it and though I had got a good hold on it except the patch failed to hold around the edges, so I ripped it off and tried again. It didn’t work the 4th time either, but figured if I added another patch I couldn’t go wrong, right? I added a 5th and had just as much luck as the fourth. So had 2 patches on my tire and still have a hole and since the air was holding for a little while I decided to pump it up high and try to limp my way home. I got all of maybe a quarter mile before I needed to pump it again and at this point I just gave up and called a cab since it was past 7 by this time and been about 3pm by the time I started this escapade. My tire is still flat, I might have wrecked my back rim, and I currently don’t like my bike.
The next day I drove downtown and walked all over. Being a member of REI I checked out the original store, which was cool, though not as cool as the LL Bean store in Freeport ME. I also just wandered about just seeing things and that looked interesting. For example I bought this really sweet hat at the best Army/Navy store ever. I had intended to see the Fremont Troll sculpture that was under the Aurora Ave bridge, but I managed to forget on my way back toward Laurel’s house. Oh well something to see next time when I go back.
The following day I headed up to Vancouver BC, for the day. It took longer then I had expected partly because I started later in the day and the customs line took forever getting into Canada. The guard wanted to know about my finances as I didn’t have a job and thought I was just coming to Canada to freeload. I gave him some information, but he was kind of insulting but I finally got into Canada. Vancouver, as a city is pretty cool the buildings reflect both a Europe and American influence that is definitely Canada. I checked out downtown and a museum on the University of British Columbia’s campus and then hit the road again. It is a place I would like to visit again, but didn’t feel I had given myself enough time to adequately explore. I also know half of Vancouver’s mystique is the nature around it and I wasn’t really sure where to start since my guidebook only covered the States.
The drive back was uneventful except for an incident I had at the border. I guess I got in the right most car lane called the “Nexus lane.” The only thing I can figure is its for frequent border crossers because they people an extra ID to cross there. I got ushered into Customs Office, hoping I didn’t have to pay a fee as they sent me in with a form that said “Nexus Violater” on it. At this point I was informed that there had been adequate signage, despite seeing any, that told me I was not supposed to be in that lane. It is certainly possible that I had zoned out, but I didn’t see any signs telling me it was a $5000 fine for going in the right most lane. I started to mention this to the guard, but then realized it was better to hold my tongue and let him say his piece. He got the fine waived and sent me on my way after having talked to his supervisor. I got back to Seattle and chilled out at the house for the rest of the evening.
I got up decently early, but I didn’t get moving until later, so I had headed out at about noon and made some headway toward Oregon. It was a boring drive up until I made the turn off toward Walla Walla, WA. There was a tree and grass fire on the way with the largest individual plume of smoke I have ever seen. It was outside the small hamlet of Wallula and I actually saw a fire truck out fighting the flames, which was neat to see while passing, since stopping to gawk at the flames did not seem like the most intelligent thing to do at the time.
I continued on and got caught in a traffic jam that I figured was for an accident, since the road was pretty small I figured it was for that reason. It slowed down and I got a chance to see why things had slowed down as much as they had. It appears to have been an accident between a truck with a trailer and motorcycle and it would appear the accident was fatale for one rider of the motorcycle.
http://www.oregonlive.com/newsflash/regional/index.ssf?/base/news-25/1216588463105730.xml&storylist=orlocal
Walla Walla, WA was a pretty cool town between both Whitman College that is in town and the wine is grown there it is a pretty happening place when compared with other places of a similar size. I had the privilege of running into the annual Sweet Onion Festival and I got to see a few of the sights as well as eat a good onion sausage. Since I was running late I ended up crashing at a fairly decent Oregon state park that I really liked both for its cheapness and its general comfort.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
The Tower to Seattle
So despite the fact I was the only occupant of the campsite, I passed a fairly peaceable night and headed out midmorning toward the Badlands and Mt Rushmore, still the only person at the campsite. I left around mid-morning and made it to the Badlands in short order.
I had intended to just stay there for the day and continue on to Mt Rushmore, but I kind of got stopped in my tracks. I was amazed, the Badlands are beautiful with its jagged towers that stretch to the sky and the really crumbly earth that seems to be in a perpetual state of flux that the roads made though it are threatened for being too permanent in this landscape. I managed to scramble up one of the spires and get a fellow tourist to take my picture. Getting down safely was another matter, as I had to go down backward and far more slowly and far less impulsive. I also did it all in sandals, smart eh?
I then ended up crashing in the Badlands since I didn’t have any other place to crash or anyone else to meet up with. It was an enjoyable night after traversing 12 miles of open dirt road and getting settled. I had made had a pit stop in town prior to heading to the site and had bought food. I was able to find a bison steak, which I ate for dinner in a meal I call “bison and rice.” I met some cool women from Colorado who had just come from the Mt Rushmore-Black Hills area. They had only good things to say about the experience so it made me hugely excited for the next day. They also suggested I check out a place in Wyoming called the “Devils Tower.” I hadn’t planned to stop there, but due to their advice and it not being too far out of my way I headed on over after I saw both Rushmore and the beginning stages of the Crazy Horse statue.
Devils Tower, is called the “Bear Lodge” by most native American tribes of the area. There is a lot of reverence for the rock in tribes in the area, for example both the Creek and the Lakota revere it and it factors into their native religion. There is a voluntary climbing ban in June when the American Indians are celebrating the solstice. People still do climb just not as many as normal. To give you an idea of what it looks like it is a giant rock made up of cylindrical columns all melded together and at least 40 stories high. In terms of just sheer geology it is one of the more amazing things I’ve ever seen, mostly because the jury is still out on how exactly the whole thing formed. The only conclusion that people are in agreement about is that it formed at the base of a volcano and somehow came to the surface. I have never been much of a rock climber, but on finding out there was no other way up the tower other then a belayed climb, I wanted to sign up for a run at it.
Having spent the night and met a number of fellow friendly travelers the prior night, I headed out on the rather long drive to Missoula. I had chewed over not staying at the Tower as it was in Wyoming and not close enough to Montana, but I just wanted to stay, so I did. Unfortunately I spent the rest of the next day wishing I had chosen differently. I ended up being on the road for about 11 hours, most of that driving. I also couldn’t really take my time as I wanted to make sure I had gotten to my Uncle and Aunt’s house before it was too late in the evening.
I arrived far later then I had anticipated and I was greeted by my Uncle, who was eager to catch up about things and tell me the state of affairs since I had seen him last. We figured out together it had been 6 years and both he and my cousins had changed some. For example most of my cousins are a lot different. Anne the youngest is in 6th grade and is at least a foot taller, plays the violin, and gotten far more talkative since I saw her last. They all seem to be doing as well as can be expected and life in Montana was slow for me, but not for them. Every member of the family always seems to be doing something and since they live on a ridge outside of town they are always trying to make sure they limit the amount of trips back to the house they have to take.
I got to see a little of Missoula MT with checking out the Farmer’s Market they have every Saturday in the summer. I also wandered around the downtown as well. Missoula seems to be doing well for itself especially compared with Butte, which I had stopped in while passing though the prior day. There seems to be a lot of people relocating to Missoula because of the scenery and just the general cost of living being a lot cheaper, then say California. I also learned that despite Montana being the 4th largest state in the nation, it has less then 1 million people in it with only 1 congress seat for the whole state.
Having now spent a few days with my cousins, I decided to head back out on the road and head toward Seattle Washington. It was a more leisurely drive as I had decided to take my time a little more then I had going across Montana. I was also helped by the shorter drive I was taking to my new destination. I got in to Seattle around 5:30 and I was going to be meeting Laurel, my friend at about 6pm so I had some time to kill. Having spent most of the day in my car I decided to go wander around on my bike and see the lay of the land more then I had from my car driving in.
Seattle is by far the most organic looking city that I have ever seen. There is trees and growing plants everywhere you look. When I first crossed the bridge going into Seattle I passed under overhangs and bypasses that were coated with creepers and other plants. Biking around I continued to see a theme of green, which did a lot to cement the accuracy of the state slogan in my own mind “The Evergreen State.” The thing I did notice that has never been mentioned to me before was how hilly the town is. I am not trying to suggest that it would rival San Francisco, but is it no even close to flat except right next the water.
I spent today biking around town and seeing a few things. The Space Needle, was the first place I stopped it and is what gives Seattle its distinctive skyline. I was entirely surprised at how short it was. Not to say it was not tall, I just expected it to be larger then it actually was. I might have been more impressed if I had gone up it, but at $18 it seemed like a waste of money. From there I headed over to the iconic shopping place in Seattle called Pike Place Market. It was a really cool shopping center, there with a lot of shops and vendors selling things from fresh fish to designer dresses. Despite being home to the original Starbucks, it did not look like most tourist trap places I’ve been to in the last month. It was a complete random grouping of shops hawking an assortment of items. The place has not really gentrified at least not yet. I am hopefully it might yet avoid the fate of most shopping areas as there are some very seedy sections that keep the place a little more interesting.
From the Market I tried to go a museum by way of a lot of window-shopping and getting lost on the way. I was trying to go to an institution called the Burke museum that is associated with the University of Washington campus. The reason I wanted to go is they supposedly have a great collection of Northwestern Coast Indian artifacts. I will hopefully be looking at it in the morning and I will be able to make more detailed account of it from there. It’s getting late, I just wanted to make sure my fans knew what was going on with me. I hope there is not to many typos in this account. Nite!!
I had intended to just stay there for the day and continue on to Mt Rushmore, but I kind of got stopped in my tracks. I was amazed, the Badlands are beautiful with its jagged towers that stretch to the sky and the really crumbly earth that seems to be in a perpetual state of flux that the roads made though it are threatened for being too permanent in this landscape. I managed to scramble up one of the spires and get a fellow tourist to take my picture. Getting down safely was another matter, as I had to go down backward and far more slowly and far less impulsive. I also did it all in sandals, smart eh?
I then ended up crashing in the Badlands since I didn’t have any other place to crash or anyone else to meet up with. It was an enjoyable night after traversing 12 miles of open dirt road and getting settled. I had made had a pit stop in town prior to heading to the site and had bought food. I was able to find a bison steak, which I ate for dinner in a meal I call “bison and rice.” I met some cool women from Colorado who had just come from the Mt Rushmore-Black Hills area. They had only good things to say about the experience so it made me hugely excited for the next day. They also suggested I check out a place in Wyoming called the “Devils Tower.” I hadn’t planned to stop there, but due to their advice and it not being too far out of my way I headed on over after I saw both Rushmore and the beginning stages of the Crazy Horse statue.
Devils Tower, is called the “Bear Lodge” by most native American tribes of the area. There is a lot of reverence for the rock in tribes in the area, for example both the Creek and the Lakota revere it and it factors into their native religion. There is a voluntary climbing ban in June when the American Indians are celebrating the solstice. People still do climb just not as many as normal. To give you an idea of what it looks like it is a giant rock made up of cylindrical columns all melded together and at least 40 stories high. In terms of just sheer geology it is one of the more amazing things I’ve ever seen, mostly because the jury is still out on how exactly the whole thing formed. The only conclusion that people are in agreement about is that it formed at the base of a volcano and somehow came to the surface. I have never been much of a rock climber, but on finding out there was no other way up the tower other then a belayed climb, I wanted to sign up for a run at it.
Having spent the night and met a number of fellow friendly travelers the prior night, I headed out on the rather long drive to Missoula. I had chewed over not staying at the Tower as it was in Wyoming and not close enough to Montana, but I just wanted to stay, so I did. Unfortunately I spent the rest of the next day wishing I had chosen differently. I ended up being on the road for about 11 hours, most of that driving. I also couldn’t really take my time as I wanted to make sure I had gotten to my Uncle and Aunt’s house before it was too late in the evening.
I arrived far later then I had anticipated and I was greeted by my Uncle, who was eager to catch up about things and tell me the state of affairs since I had seen him last. We figured out together it had been 6 years and both he and my cousins had changed some. For example most of my cousins are a lot different. Anne the youngest is in 6th grade and is at least a foot taller, plays the violin, and gotten far more talkative since I saw her last. They all seem to be doing as well as can be expected and life in Montana was slow for me, but not for them. Every member of the family always seems to be doing something and since they live on a ridge outside of town they are always trying to make sure they limit the amount of trips back to the house they have to take.
I got to see a little of Missoula MT with checking out the Farmer’s Market they have every Saturday in the summer. I also wandered around the downtown as well. Missoula seems to be doing well for itself especially compared with Butte, which I had stopped in while passing though the prior day. There seems to be a lot of people relocating to Missoula because of the scenery and just the general cost of living being a lot cheaper, then say California. I also learned that despite Montana being the 4th largest state in the nation, it has less then 1 million people in it with only 1 congress seat for the whole state.
Having now spent a few days with my cousins, I decided to head back out on the road and head toward Seattle Washington. It was a more leisurely drive as I had decided to take my time a little more then I had going across Montana. I was also helped by the shorter drive I was taking to my new destination. I got in to Seattle around 5:30 and I was going to be meeting Laurel, my friend at about 6pm so I had some time to kill. Having spent most of the day in my car I decided to go wander around on my bike and see the lay of the land more then I had from my car driving in.
Seattle is by far the most organic looking city that I have ever seen. There is trees and growing plants everywhere you look. When I first crossed the bridge going into Seattle I passed under overhangs and bypasses that were coated with creepers and other plants. Biking around I continued to see a theme of green, which did a lot to cement the accuracy of the state slogan in my own mind “The Evergreen State.” The thing I did notice that has never been mentioned to me before was how hilly the town is. I am not trying to suggest that it would rival San Francisco, but is it no even close to flat except right next the water.
I spent today biking around town and seeing a few things. The Space Needle, was the first place I stopped it and is what gives Seattle its distinctive skyline. I was entirely surprised at how short it was. Not to say it was not tall, I just expected it to be larger then it actually was. I might have been more impressed if I had gone up it, but at $18 it seemed like a waste of money. From there I headed over to the iconic shopping place in Seattle called Pike Place Market. It was a really cool shopping center, there with a lot of shops and vendors selling things from fresh fish to designer dresses. Despite being home to the original Starbucks, it did not look like most tourist trap places I’ve been to in the last month. It was a complete random grouping of shops hawking an assortment of items. The place has not really gentrified at least not yet. I am hopefully it might yet avoid the fate of most shopping areas as there are some very seedy sections that keep the place a little more interesting.
From the Market I tried to go a museum by way of a lot of window-shopping and getting lost on the way. I was trying to go to an institution called the Burke museum that is associated with the University of Washington campus. The reason I wanted to go is they supposedly have a great collection of Northwestern Coast Indian artifacts. I will hopefully be looking at it in the morning and I will be able to make more detailed account of it from there. It’s getting late, I just wanted to make sure my fans knew what was going on with me. I hope there is not to many typos in this account. Nite!!
Friday, July 11, 2008
From a Tent Reprise
This is another entry written in a tent on the evening of the 8th and I will post it whenever I get the chance to do so.
I spent yesterday both doing laundry and making sure I left my uncle’s house in a better state then I found it in. That required doing some sweeping and general cleaning of the kitchen. I had left a great deal of dishes, so I wanted to make sure I didn’t leave that for my uncle to either do or find. I also felt like I should try to improve things as a way to show my gratitude for him allowing me to stay in his house unsupervised. Cleaning took a little longer then I had intended, but it was nice to have accomplished something of substance after having been on the road for 4 weeks.
I then once again succumbed to idleness and went out to a movie, to one of the numerous movies I have wanted to see this summer. It was called “Wanted” and though the story was interesting and the characters fairly sympathetically drawn, there was so much blood. What I mean is not blood packets spewing everywhere fairly comically. No the most consistent special effect was showing how someone got their brains blown out and what the end result was. Like I said, the story was intriguing and definitely entertaining at points, but why so much blood and brain splattering?
The rest of my day was spent lounging about and cooking dinner, which went over decently well. After watching way too much Star Trek, I headed over to the MN airport and picked them up. I was able to get there and back without much trouble due to my uncle’s expert directions and I got to catch up some with my Uncle. He had been out at my aunt’s house in OR and it was cool to find out what had transpired while he was out there. I take it my aunt and my other uncle are both doing well which was good to hear. I was sorry to hear that other then my cousin Johanna, who traveled out with my uncle, that none of my other cousins came down. Gone are the days when we can all get hauled along to family gatherings together, though is that a necessary facet of growing up?
I headed out at about noon this morning and so far have had a pretty uneventful day. With all the chuckholes, I’m surprised I haven’t got a flat yet. I suppose I have to wait to be in the exact middle of South Dakota for that happen. ;) I did get to stop by the Corn Palace in Mitchell SD. It is the only corn palace in the whole world, which is something they are fond of telling you while you’re there repeatedly. The most disappointing thing about the whole visit is they are busy prepping the outside building for next year so most of the “palace” is not cover in anything other then last years decorations if anything at all. Plain plywood was showing in various spots and the murals that are usually on the outside of the building from last year were about it. Once they do have it all up though it does look pretty cool (I could tell from pictures) with the multiple colors of corn and the careful arrangement and murals.
Well tonight I’m crashing in a South Dakota state park and appear to be the only resident of the place. As a result it is deathly quiet here, which is magnified from my perspective having just left a city. The lack of people is kind of freaking me out so hopefully I will be unmolested by both man and beast tonight and be able to head out early tomorrow morning. Night!
I spent yesterday both doing laundry and making sure I left my uncle’s house in a better state then I found it in. That required doing some sweeping and general cleaning of the kitchen. I had left a great deal of dishes, so I wanted to make sure I didn’t leave that for my uncle to either do or find. I also felt like I should try to improve things as a way to show my gratitude for him allowing me to stay in his house unsupervised. Cleaning took a little longer then I had intended, but it was nice to have accomplished something of substance after having been on the road for 4 weeks.
I then once again succumbed to idleness and went out to a movie, to one of the numerous movies I have wanted to see this summer. It was called “Wanted” and though the story was interesting and the characters fairly sympathetically drawn, there was so much blood. What I mean is not blood packets spewing everywhere fairly comically. No the most consistent special effect was showing how someone got their brains blown out and what the end result was. Like I said, the story was intriguing and definitely entertaining at points, but why so much blood and brain splattering?
The rest of my day was spent lounging about and cooking dinner, which went over decently well. After watching way too much Star Trek, I headed over to the MN airport and picked them up. I was able to get there and back without much trouble due to my uncle’s expert directions and I got to catch up some with my Uncle. He had been out at my aunt’s house in OR and it was cool to find out what had transpired while he was out there. I take it my aunt and my other uncle are both doing well which was good to hear. I was sorry to hear that other then my cousin Johanna, who traveled out with my uncle, that none of my other cousins came down. Gone are the days when we can all get hauled along to family gatherings together, though is that a necessary facet of growing up?
I headed out at about noon this morning and so far have had a pretty uneventful day. With all the chuckholes, I’m surprised I haven’t got a flat yet. I suppose I have to wait to be in the exact middle of South Dakota for that happen. ;) I did get to stop by the Corn Palace in Mitchell SD. It is the only corn palace in the whole world, which is something they are fond of telling you while you’re there repeatedly. The most disappointing thing about the whole visit is they are busy prepping the outside building for next year so most of the “palace” is not cover in anything other then last years decorations if anything at all. Plain plywood was showing in various spots and the murals that are usually on the outside of the building from last year were about it. Once they do have it all up though it does look pretty cool (I could tell from pictures) with the multiple colors of corn and the careful arrangement and murals.
Well tonight I’m crashing in a South Dakota state park and appear to be the only resident of the place. As a result it is deathly quiet here, which is magnified from my perspective having just left a city. The lack of people is kind of freaking me out so hopefully I will be unmolested by both man and beast tonight and be able to head out early tomorrow morning. Night!
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