Monday, June 30, 2003
Americorps regrets to inform me that the ENTIRE YES Crew has been cut because of Bush cutting funding to Americorps. But anyway. Lexi and I made it to Eureka yesterday around 5pm, had a DELICIOUS dinner and strolled around. Today we are in a little town above Santa Rosa visiting our friend James, and tomorrow we reach San Francisco. I'm annoyed about the Americorps thingy so I have little to say. Bye.
Saturday, June 28, 2003
The previous post has today's date but is actually about yesterday and the day before -- I've had bad luck with internet access. Here's the ACTUAL post from today:
Today we drove to Portland, got a delicious Vegan breakfast, and strolled the shops on Hawthorne. Then we took off for the town of Hood River, which is situated in the lovely Columbia River Gorge. 4 of my predecessors are buried in the cemetery there -- Elwin, Sherlie, (my dad's grandparent's) and Elmer and Ethel House (my dad's aunt and uncle). Pretty cool to see the town where there's some House history. We toured the town itself a bit, following a pamphlet on the historic buildings, most of them from the early 1900s. Then we cut back towards Portland and southwest, through Corvallis where Dad went to college, and had a DELICIOUS dinner of steamed mussels and salad (Alexis had couscous) and a shockingly decadent bread pudding, in Newport, Oregon. We finally stopped in Reedsport, Oregon -- not as far down as we'd hoped but we were tired from all the sun we got walking around. We lucked out anyway, since it's the weekend and there's been a hotspell inland, so the coastal towns are PACKED. The hotel we're staying in just happened to have a room open up just as we called. The 101, our trusty highway, remains simply gorgeous -- a winding, hilly, tree-framed, rocky road along the ocean.
Best Names: Bridal Veil, OR; Zigzag, OR; Rhododendron, OR; Boring, OR (a REAL town name!!); Marmot, OR.
Most Beautiful: Mount Hood -- gorgeous; and the Columbia River, which is itself fairly pristine, has carved a colorful and textured gorge.
Tomorrow we hope to hit the Redwood National Forest -- in Cali -- pretty solidly, get in a good long hike. Just about 2 days until we get in to San Fran!! I hope everyone else's June is wrapping up so well!
Today we drove to Portland, got a delicious Vegan breakfast, and strolled the shops on Hawthorne. Then we took off for the town of Hood River, which is situated in the lovely Columbia River Gorge. 4 of my predecessors are buried in the cemetery there -- Elwin, Sherlie, (my dad's grandparent's) and Elmer and Ethel House (my dad's aunt and uncle). Pretty cool to see the town where there's some House history. We toured the town itself a bit, following a pamphlet on the historic buildings, most of them from the early 1900s. Then we cut back towards Portland and southwest, through Corvallis where Dad went to college, and had a DELICIOUS dinner of steamed mussels and salad (Alexis had couscous) and a shockingly decadent bread pudding, in Newport, Oregon. We finally stopped in Reedsport, Oregon -- not as far down as we'd hoped but we were tired from all the sun we got walking around. We lucked out anyway, since it's the weekend and there's been a hotspell inland, so the coastal towns are PACKED. The hotel we're staying in just happened to have a room open up just as we called. The 101, our trusty highway, remains simply gorgeous -- a winding, hilly, tree-framed, rocky road along the ocean.
Best Names: Bridal Veil, OR; Zigzag, OR; Rhododendron, OR; Boring, OR (a REAL town name!!); Marmot, OR.
Most Beautiful: Mount Hood -- gorgeous; and the Columbia River, which is itself fairly pristine, has carved a colorful and textured gorge.
Tomorrow we hope to hit the Redwood National Forest -- in Cali -- pretty solidly, get in a good long hike. Just about 2 days until we get in to San Fran!! I hope everyone else's June is wrapping up so well!
Drive to Seattle/Olympia (6/25) and then to Seaside, Oregon (6/27):
Best Plates: CRMELOT (Montana); 2SUAVE (Washington);
Best Names: Superior, Montana; Othello, Washington; Sappho, Washington; Humptulip, Washington; Cosmopolis, Washington.
Most Beautiful: all the various Mountains in the Rainier/Olympia area; Lake Crescent, Washington – beautiful, crystal blue water.
I got to spend a 2 nights and a day with my former teammates, Vida and Katie. Olympia’s a cute college town, with delicious fresh produce at their farmer’s market and a fun, old, entirely too claustrophobic theater where we saw Bend It Like Beckham. (I highly recommend it! Lots of fun.)
Alexis and I split the day today (6/27) driving, which was a luxury for me, and we went from Olympia north along 101 all along the coast (a long, long drive that, 6 hours later, brought us back to within 20 minute or so of Olympia!) and eventually into the Hoh Rainforest, the U.S.’s only rainforest and one of the only temperate rain forests in the world. It was gorgeous, jungley because of club moss and ferns coating all the trees like wizard beards – both of which are epiphates, plants that never touch the soil and yet are not parasitic. We did about an hour “hike” (a completely level ¾ mile walk in our flip flops!) and learned a lot. It was a great mid-day break.
We stopped in at Oysterville, Washington, where I’m told Grandma House lived at one point. It was a beautiful town, reminding me of Rhode Island a bit in its saltiness, but with a lot more flair, somehow.
An hour later we stopped for the night here in Seaside, Oregon – the bridge over the Columbia River at sunset, perfect timing!! – and it reminds me quite a lot of Martha’s Vineyard. There are hoity-toity stores, bars, arcades, and home-made candy stores (yeah, you know we hit those!!) all commingled on the same block. We went down to the beach which was still glowing with a sunset-like haze and enjoyed the sensation of standing at the edge of our continent – and not the edge I’m used to. ;) Funny thing – the more you travel west, the later the sun seems to set – it sets around 10 pm here because it only has the sea to sink behind, instead of the bulk of the continent.
Being by the ocean is so fulfilling, and Washington was BEAUTIFUL country. I also had the luxury of seeing it during its slim window of non-rainyness, which made it even better. Tomorrow we hit Portland and hopefully I will at last be able to post this!
Best Plates: CRMELOT (Montana); 2SUAVE (Washington);
Best Names: Superior, Montana; Othello, Washington; Sappho, Washington; Humptulip, Washington; Cosmopolis, Washington.
Most Beautiful: all the various Mountains in the Rainier/Olympia area; Lake Crescent, Washington – beautiful, crystal blue water.
I got to spend a 2 nights and a day with my former teammates, Vida and Katie. Olympia’s a cute college town, with delicious fresh produce at their farmer’s market and a fun, old, entirely too claustrophobic theater where we saw Bend It Like Beckham. (I highly recommend it! Lots of fun.)
Alexis and I split the day today (6/27) driving, which was a luxury for me, and we went from Olympia north along 101 all along the coast (a long, long drive that, 6 hours later, brought us back to within 20 minute or so of Olympia!) and eventually into the Hoh Rainforest, the U.S.’s only rainforest and one of the only temperate rain forests in the world. It was gorgeous, jungley because of club moss and ferns coating all the trees like wizard beards – both of which are epiphates, plants that never touch the soil and yet are not parasitic. We did about an hour “hike” (a completely level ¾ mile walk in our flip flops!) and learned a lot. It was a great mid-day break.
We stopped in at Oysterville, Washington, where I’m told Grandma House lived at one point. It was a beautiful town, reminding me of Rhode Island a bit in its saltiness, but with a lot more flair, somehow.
An hour later we stopped for the night here in Seaside, Oregon – the bridge over the Columbia River at sunset, perfect timing!! – and it reminds me quite a lot of Martha’s Vineyard. There are hoity-toity stores, bars, arcades, and home-made candy stores (yeah, you know we hit those!!) all commingled on the same block. We went down to the beach which was still glowing with a sunset-like haze and enjoyed the sensation of standing at the edge of our continent – and not the edge I’m used to. ;) Funny thing – the more you travel west, the later the sun seems to set – it sets around 10 pm here because it only has the sea to sink behind, instead of the bulk of the continent.
Being by the ocean is so fulfilling, and Washington was BEAUTIFUL country. I also had the luxury of seeing it during its slim window of non-rainyness, which made it even better. Tomorrow we hit Portland and hopefully I will at last be able to post this!
Tuesday, June 24, 2003
Hey guys -- a pretty seamless day today. I woke up early, checked the tube and saw that all snow and other mayhem would be in the Bighorn Mountains in Northwest Wyoming, i.e., not on my route, and 7 hours later here I am in Missoula, Montana, having arrived at 4pm. The first part of my drive was consistently rainy until about Bozeman, Montana, and then it was sunny but overcast ever since. I drove over all sorts of terrain -- the Rocky Mountains in particular -- and it was lovely and easy.
Best Names: "C'mon Inn," (in Billings, WY); Crazy Mountains, Montana; Anaconda, Montana; Opportunity, Montana; Phosphate, Montana.
Best Plates: "WEBGOIN" & "GTOVAIT."
States Accumulated since CT: 14
Tomorrow I meet up with Alexis in Olympia (along with Katie and Vida, potentially) after a self-tour of Seattle. Should be an easy drive (a mere 5 hours) and a fun day all around.
Best Names: "C'mon Inn," (in Billings, WY); Crazy Mountains, Montana; Anaconda, Montana; Opportunity, Montana; Phosphate, Montana.
Best Plates: "WEBGOIN" & "GTOVAIT."
States Accumulated since CT: 14
Tomorrow I meet up with Alexis in Olympia (along with Katie and Vida, potentially) after a self-tour of Seattle. Should be an easy drive (a mere 5 hours) and a fun day all around.
The missing blog from yesterday:
Sorry guys – tonight I am in b.f.e. Wyoming – or rather, Buffalo Wyoming, and can’t connect, though they claim to have “data ports.” In any case, I have a lot to say about today, and none of it really works with the list format I was using. So this one will be slightly different, and I’ll post it tomorrow. I woke up in Denver, CO early – 8am, probably because of the 2 hour difference from EST – enjoyed a continental breakfast and headed to the Denver Zoo, which was WONDERFUL. Their exhibits are set up such that you’re always very close to the animals, and if they think you want to be closer, they often set up little indoor rooms along the outdoor habitats where they put nothing but a tinted pane of glass between you and the animals. This was the most effective with the Macaques – a kind of monkey who rather enjoyed studying their reflections and putting their hands to the glass – but even more so with the Gorillas. I happened upon the Gorillas at a moment where there was a young one inspecting the hay by the glass and the big, bad silver-backed leader of the pack decided HE wanted that spot, so he abruptly charged (at the glass!), banged his chest full-on King Kong styles, and then promptly swung around and displayed his enormously muscular posterior at us. When he was done looking like a bad-ass (literally) he sat down perpendicular to the glass and appeared to morosely contemplate his aggression. This means one could go up to the glass, turn side ways, and basically be face to face with a great ape. His features were gigantic – the flat-nose, the deep eyes, the fat fingers – and simply amazing to study so closely.
There were also hippos – I took about 4 billion pictures; a rainforest display (with a fish about the size of me in length, quite literally the biggest fish I’ve ever seen!) full of all kinds of amphibia and reptilia; plenty of scraggly looking versions of African quadropods; tons of other monkeys and monkey-type animals (the Golden-Headed Tamarins in particular awed me – they’re like mini versions of a cross between a spider monkey and a lion); rhinos, elephants; African Wild Dogs, Bat-Eared Foxes, wolves; sea lions, penguins, peacocks roaming freely…but the other best besides the Gorillas and the Hippos were the Bears, who were active and playful. One Asiatic Black Bear had just had a cub in January – cuter than cute – and two grizzlies -- who were born and orphaned in 2002 and thus picked up by the zoo – were chasing each other all over their habitat. The polar bears were more low key but beautiful in person. I have great videos and pictures of everything. The only mildly disappointing exhibit was the felines, who were either MIA or asleep. Though there was a great placard outside the puma enclosure showing a tourist’s photo of a woman holding her daughter out in some park or other, and in the bushes not 20 feet behind them is a puma looking quite involved and poised to pounce. The people, of course, did not know it was there until they developed the film.
That put me through to about 12:30pm, when I quite innocently decided to get a quick oil change and head to Wyoming. The phone book had a Valvoline listed on pearl street – pearl street in BOULDER, that is. An hour later, I figured this out. So I stopped in a gas station to find any old oil-change place, and they directed me to “Pep Boys,” a chain that does repair, sells parts, and changes oil. The woman said it would be 45 minutes, but an hour and a half later, I was still sitting there while my car baked in the sun, unmoved and unnoticed. So I took my keys back and decided to drive to the AAA office in the city, because THEY would know where there was a gul-blamed oil changerie. And of course, a block before I got there, I spotted a jiffy-lube. They were great and changed my oil quickly, and I also had them coat my windshield with stuff that makes rain-water bead – it was on sale cheap and I knew I’d be driving into rain. (It works like a dream – so well that the wipers are hardly necessary. They clear water up on the first sweep, but stick on the way back down!)
By the time I hit the road, it was 4:15pm. I was pissed. I just barely dodged Denver’s rush hour (the radio a half an hour out of town reported that there was a major accident on every side of every major highway going through Denver by 5pm!). Fortunately, Wyoming from South to North is only about 7 hours long, so somewhere along the way I decided to stay here in Buffalo, about an hour from the Northern border, which put me in here at about 9:45pm – a waste of good scenery, but I saw a lot before it got dark. The sky was full of clouds and the land was so low-lying and panoramic that there were vistas in the sky to match the vistas on the land. I had mountains to my left, dark and covered in rain; pasture to my right, with red desert dirt and sage-looking bushes on hills and buttes; and before me, a vast spread of clouds, sometimes so thick as to be ceiling-like, and sometimes bursting at the seams with sunlight. It was captivating and held my attention. The rain wicked off my waxed windshield and made me feel like I was inside a soda bottle. It literally looked like the windshield was effervescing.
The only interesting town name was “Chugwater, WY.” And also, “Crazy Woman River, WY.”
About an hour before I got into Buffalo, I hit Casper. Craving Chicken Tenders and a little carbonated sustenance, I pulled into a Burger King. As I was filling my soda at the self-serve station, I hear a raspy male voice on the other side of the room going, “I bet SHE wants one!” and a meeker voice saying, “who?” and the first voice saying, “the girl in purple.” (I was indeed wearing a purple shirt.) There’s nothing like some strange man vocalizing about what a woman “wants” to make one instantly paranoid, but I shifted calmly into my tall-girls-are-intimidating-persona and sat on the other side of the room to eat quickly. But I made the mistake of glancing over to see who was being so loud and of course, made eye contact. His name was Jessie and what I “wanted” was actually a rough-hewn garnet from a little tin he’d been collecting. He was college-aged and totally innocuous, just tired and loopy and overly extroverted. I say this with all confidence because he didn’t hit on me, he just insisted I have a garnet and went back to his seat. As I got up to leave, I had his friend take a picture of us so you guys can put a face to the weirdo. But like I said, he wasn’t lewd, so it just made me smile; providence is a strange bird indeed. (Of all the Burger Kings in all the towns in all the world, I had to walk into HIS, Sandie!)
Now I’m tired and hoping to make it to Missoula, Montana in daylight, barring the unforeseen. The desk clerk here reported that the hotel is full because there was a snow storm everyone hit that turned them back…I’ll be checking the weather in the AM.
Sorry guys – tonight I am in b.f.e. Wyoming – or rather, Buffalo Wyoming, and can’t connect, though they claim to have “data ports.” In any case, I have a lot to say about today, and none of it really works with the list format I was using. So this one will be slightly different, and I’ll post it tomorrow. I woke up in Denver, CO early – 8am, probably because of the 2 hour difference from EST – enjoyed a continental breakfast and headed to the Denver Zoo, which was WONDERFUL. Their exhibits are set up such that you’re always very close to the animals, and if they think you want to be closer, they often set up little indoor rooms along the outdoor habitats where they put nothing but a tinted pane of glass between you and the animals. This was the most effective with the Macaques – a kind of monkey who rather enjoyed studying their reflections and putting their hands to the glass – but even more so with the Gorillas. I happened upon the Gorillas at a moment where there was a young one inspecting the hay by the glass and the big, bad silver-backed leader of the pack decided HE wanted that spot, so he abruptly charged (at the glass!), banged his chest full-on King Kong styles, and then promptly swung around and displayed his enormously muscular posterior at us. When he was done looking like a bad-ass (literally) he sat down perpendicular to the glass and appeared to morosely contemplate his aggression. This means one could go up to the glass, turn side ways, and basically be face to face with a great ape. His features were gigantic – the flat-nose, the deep eyes, the fat fingers – and simply amazing to study so closely.
There were also hippos – I took about 4 billion pictures; a rainforest display (with a fish about the size of me in length, quite literally the biggest fish I’ve ever seen!) full of all kinds of amphibia and reptilia; plenty of scraggly looking versions of African quadropods; tons of other monkeys and monkey-type animals (the Golden-Headed Tamarins in particular awed me – they’re like mini versions of a cross between a spider monkey and a lion); rhinos, elephants; African Wild Dogs, Bat-Eared Foxes, wolves; sea lions, penguins, peacocks roaming freely…but the other best besides the Gorillas and the Hippos were the Bears, who were active and playful. One Asiatic Black Bear had just had a cub in January – cuter than cute – and two grizzlies -- who were born and orphaned in 2002 and thus picked up by the zoo – were chasing each other all over their habitat. The polar bears were more low key but beautiful in person. I have great videos and pictures of everything. The only mildly disappointing exhibit was the felines, who were either MIA or asleep. Though there was a great placard outside the puma enclosure showing a tourist’s photo of a woman holding her daughter out in some park or other, and in the bushes not 20 feet behind them is a puma looking quite involved and poised to pounce. The people, of course, did not know it was there until they developed the film.
That put me through to about 12:30pm, when I quite innocently decided to get a quick oil change and head to Wyoming. The phone book had a Valvoline listed on pearl street – pearl street in BOULDER, that is. An hour later, I figured this out. So I stopped in a gas station to find any old oil-change place, and they directed me to “Pep Boys,” a chain that does repair, sells parts, and changes oil. The woman said it would be 45 minutes, but an hour and a half later, I was still sitting there while my car baked in the sun, unmoved and unnoticed. So I took my keys back and decided to drive to the AAA office in the city, because THEY would know where there was a gul-blamed oil changerie. And of course, a block before I got there, I spotted a jiffy-lube. They were great and changed my oil quickly, and I also had them coat my windshield with stuff that makes rain-water bead – it was on sale cheap and I knew I’d be driving into rain. (It works like a dream – so well that the wipers are hardly necessary. They clear water up on the first sweep, but stick on the way back down!)
By the time I hit the road, it was 4:15pm. I was pissed. I just barely dodged Denver’s rush hour (the radio a half an hour out of town reported that there was a major accident on every side of every major highway going through Denver by 5pm!). Fortunately, Wyoming from South to North is only about 7 hours long, so somewhere along the way I decided to stay here in Buffalo, about an hour from the Northern border, which put me in here at about 9:45pm – a waste of good scenery, but I saw a lot before it got dark. The sky was full of clouds and the land was so low-lying and panoramic that there were vistas in the sky to match the vistas on the land. I had mountains to my left, dark and covered in rain; pasture to my right, with red desert dirt and sage-looking bushes on hills and buttes; and before me, a vast spread of clouds, sometimes so thick as to be ceiling-like, and sometimes bursting at the seams with sunlight. It was captivating and held my attention. The rain wicked off my waxed windshield and made me feel like I was inside a soda bottle. It literally looked like the windshield was effervescing.
The only interesting town name was “Chugwater, WY.” And also, “Crazy Woman River, WY.”
About an hour before I got into Buffalo, I hit Casper. Craving Chicken Tenders and a little carbonated sustenance, I pulled into a Burger King. As I was filling my soda at the self-serve station, I hear a raspy male voice on the other side of the room going, “I bet SHE wants one!” and a meeker voice saying, “who?” and the first voice saying, “the girl in purple.” (I was indeed wearing a purple shirt.) There’s nothing like some strange man vocalizing about what a woman “wants” to make one instantly paranoid, but I shifted calmly into my tall-girls-are-intimidating-persona and sat on the other side of the room to eat quickly. But I made the mistake of glancing over to see who was being so loud and of course, made eye contact. His name was Jessie and what I “wanted” was actually a rough-hewn garnet from a little tin he’d been collecting. He was college-aged and totally innocuous, just tired and loopy and overly extroverted. I say this with all confidence because he didn’t hit on me, he just insisted I have a garnet and went back to his seat. As I got up to leave, I had his friend take a picture of us so you guys can put a face to the weirdo. But like I said, he wasn’t lewd, so it just made me smile; providence is a strange bird indeed. (Of all the Burger Kings in all the towns in all the world, I had to walk into HIS, Sandie!)
Now I’m tired and hoping to make it to Missoula, Montana in daylight, barring the unforeseen. The desk clerk here reported that the hotel is full because there was a snow storm everyone hit that turned them back…I’ll be checking the weather in the AM.
Sunday, June 22, 2003
I made it to Colorado!! 12.5 hours of driving and nothing to show for it but 2 more states under my belt and a sore gluteus maximus -- not bad, eh?
Yesterday's List O' Stuff, from Lexington KY to St. Louis MO:
Best Names: Waddy, KY; English, IN; Birdseye, IN; Santa Claus, IN (yes, that's a real town in Indiana. Who knew?); Burnt Prairie, IL; "Skeeter Mountain Rest Stop."
Best Plates: JOY X 5; BG-LOVE; and TRL ATTY (on a convertible, green lincoln town car, naturally).
Most Exotic Plates: Alaska. Yup that’s right – saw some Alaskan plates.
Road Kill Factor: Minimal.
Bug Kill Factor: Yipes.
Most Beautiful: Horse pastures all over KY; and the Arch in St. Louis is a tall and awesome as ever. My God parents’ house should be included here too -- lovely.
Biggest Annoyance: getting lost trying to find the Thomas Edison House.
Best Personal Educational Experience: The Thomas Edison House. Though Larry and I think his biggest collection of stuff is in Fort Myers, FL, there’s a teeny tiny house in Louisville, KY that he boarded in at age 19 for a while. A man by the name of Charlie gave me (the sole visitor on a Saturday morning) a personal tour of the place. Though Thomas Edison is most famous for inventing the light bulb, his favorite invention is, of course, the phonograph. His first invention was a vote counting machine that he presented to Congress, but Congress didn’t want it because it was too quick! (I told Charlie I was pretty sure that was the machine they were still in using in Florida elections…) They wanted time to filibuster…so he vowed only to make things that people would actually buy. Thus his next invention was a stock market ticker-tape reader, for which he was paid $40,000 – in HIS time – which is roughly $1 Million these days. Get thinking people!!
Thanks to the Umlaufs for stuffing me full of *home cooked* nutritious food and for being dazzingly fun people.
Number of states accumulated since CT: 10.
Today’s List of Stuff: St. Louis, MO to Denver, CO.Best Names: Pottawattamie County, Kansas; Enterprise, Kansas; Manhattan, Kansas.
Best Plates: Hey – U.
Road Kill Factor: Disgusting. Gross and prolific enough that I am hereby eliminating this category, cuz I don’t want to think about it any more. (And neither do you, trust me.) I only started it because I was shocked at how little there was a couple days ago. Sorry.
Bug Kill Factor: I now know what it’s like to BE a Pollack canvas.
Most Beautiful: Aw, C’mon guys, Kansas wasn’t THAT bad – I’ve heard you can even drive past fields of sunflowers at the right time of year. Now is not that time, but pasture land has its own charm. There was an informational sign about the pioneers saying they called their wagons “schooners” because the visual and emotional allusions to the ocean were so strong, and I definitely agreed. Though I do have to say the mountains off in the distance as I arrived at the outskirts of Denver were pretty magnificent.
Biggest Annoyance: Aggressive Pick up Trucks, as always. And a sore butt.
Number of States Accumulated since CT: 12.
Yesterday's List O' Stuff, from Lexington KY to St. Louis MO:
Best Names: Waddy, KY; English, IN; Birdseye, IN; Santa Claus, IN (yes, that's a real town in Indiana. Who knew?); Burnt Prairie, IL; "Skeeter Mountain Rest Stop."
Best Plates: JOY X 5; BG-LOVE; and TRL ATTY (on a convertible, green lincoln town car, naturally).
Most Exotic Plates: Alaska. Yup that’s right – saw some Alaskan plates.
Road Kill Factor: Minimal.
Bug Kill Factor: Yipes.
Most Beautiful: Horse pastures all over KY; and the Arch in St. Louis is a tall and awesome as ever. My God parents’ house should be included here too -- lovely.
Biggest Annoyance: getting lost trying to find the Thomas Edison House.
Best Personal Educational Experience: The Thomas Edison House. Though Larry and I think his biggest collection of stuff is in Fort Myers, FL, there’s a teeny tiny house in Louisville, KY that he boarded in at age 19 for a while. A man by the name of Charlie gave me (the sole visitor on a Saturday morning) a personal tour of the place. Though Thomas Edison is most famous for inventing the light bulb, his favorite invention is, of course, the phonograph. His first invention was a vote counting machine that he presented to Congress, but Congress didn’t want it because it was too quick! (I told Charlie I was pretty sure that was the machine they were still in using in Florida elections…) They wanted time to filibuster…so he vowed only to make things that people would actually buy. Thus his next invention was a stock market ticker-tape reader, for which he was paid $40,000 – in HIS time – which is roughly $1 Million these days. Get thinking people!!
Thanks to the Umlaufs for stuffing me full of *home cooked* nutritious food and for being dazzingly fun people.
Number of states accumulated since CT: 10.
Today’s List of Stuff: St. Louis, MO to Denver, CO.Best Names: Pottawattamie County, Kansas; Enterprise, Kansas; Manhattan, Kansas.
Best Plates: Hey – U.
Road Kill Factor: Disgusting. Gross and prolific enough that I am hereby eliminating this category, cuz I don’t want to think about it any more. (And neither do you, trust me.) I only started it because I was shocked at how little there was a couple days ago. Sorry.
Bug Kill Factor: I now know what it’s like to BE a Pollack canvas.
Most Beautiful: Aw, C’mon guys, Kansas wasn’t THAT bad – I’ve heard you can even drive past fields of sunflowers at the right time of year. Now is not that time, but pasture land has its own charm. There was an informational sign about the pioneers saying they called their wagons “schooners” because the visual and emotional allusions to the ocean were so strong, and I definitely agreed. Though I do have to say the mountains off in the distance as I arrived at the outskirts of Denver were pretty magnificent.
Biggest Annoyance: Aggressive Pick up Trucks, as always. And a sore butt.
Number of States Accumulated since CT: 12.
Saturday, June 21, 2003
Hello from St. Louis Missouri. I am tired from good wine (and creme de cassis in my ice cream -- courtesy of the genius of my god parents) but I will fill in the fun place names and details of my drive tomorrow. Tomorrow is going to be a haul of a day: 12-13 hours to Denver. But I'm going to get up early and brave Kansas as best I can. My god parents are extremely funny, smart, and convivial and I can see why my parents liked them so much.
Please forgive the short blog -- I am safe and well and will write tomorrow when I am safe and well then too. Mom -- Ellen found me a gun to take with me. (Not really, but ask her for the story.) ;)
Goodnight.
Please forgive the short blog -- I am safe and well and will write tomorrow when I am safe and well then too. Mom -- Ellen found me a gun to take with me. (Not really, but ask her for the story.) ;)
Goodnight.
Friday, June 20, 2003
A List to sum up the trip from Williamsburg, Virginia to Lexington, Kentucky:
Left at 8am, arrived 4pm.
Number of Cookies my Step-Mom sent with me: 15, and a fresh baked loaf of bread.
Best Names of Things: Mechunk River (VA); Lake Moomaw (VA); Humpback Bridge (VA)
Best Names of Towns: Mossy, WV; Nitro, WV; Hurricane, WV; Salt Lick, KY
Best Multipurpose Name: Kanawha County, Turnpike, Road, Boulevard, & River. (This is an inside joke with D&P: "Kanawha" made me laugh because it sounds like "Can I WHAT??" if you're FIB. Wai' Wha'?)
Best License Plates: AIGHT DN; GOT JZUS.
Last Foreseen Dunkin' Donuts that I might ever get to have again: Fisherville, VA. (This was a "self serve" D&D in a mini-mart/gas place. Never before known to me that D&D can be self-serve, but it didn't cut down on the magic.)
Road Kill Factor: surprisingly minimal.
Most Beautiful: the Allegheny/Blue Ridge Mountains, which I drove through, around, and over quite thoroughly on Rte 64. It started with light green trees and embankments directly by the highway (and bazillions of red, pink, and purple wild flowers); then panned back to a rich forest green on the nearby hills; and then a green so deep that it was blue on the mounts in the distance. (Aptly named.) Cap off with lush fog and you have quite a sight. The road took you over them, so there were vertical panoramas off over either shoulder. And the Kanawha River ran along and under the road around Charleston as well -- Ch. may be one of the more beautifully situated capitals in the U.S. (As a city itself, it's got the usual run-down industrial buildings and gold-capped capital building; but we're talking location, location, location.) It was breathtaking. I have pictures. Will send you the whole album on Snapfish.com when I get through with the trip.
Biggest Annoyance: Pick-up trucks playing aggressive tortoise and hare in the left lane. BUZZ OFF!
Runner up: TORRENTIAL RAIN as I first got into the B.R. Mounts. But also gorgeous in a way.
Road Buddy: A red Honda CR-V from Ohio played road frog with me (think leap frog only in cars on 2 lane hwys) from Charlottesville, VA to Roncevert, WV -- quite a distance. Then construction forced the 70mph limit down to 55mph, and then the CR-V got in front of a truck and I got stuck behind him, and then the road reduced to one lane and the truck, who couldn't hack the hills, reduced to 35mph for about 5-8 miles. When I FINALLY got out from behind him, my road buddy was gone. But it doesn't end there: I randomly stopped at a rest-stop at Paint Creek in WV to take a picture of the Blue Ridge Mts nearly an hour later. I got back in my car, went to back up, and saw a Red CR-V parked behind me. When I turned around and got a look at it -- you guessed it -- it was the same CR-V. If it wasn't a mental game I was playing with myself, I would have left a note. ;)
Thanks to my Dad & Sandie for hosting me for a night, helping me with all those last minute tasks, and stuffing me full of nutritious food before I began the car-carbo marathon that will sustain me for most of my trip...here's looking at you, kids.
By the way, whether it was an early blast of adrenalin or I've inherited the Pratt car stamina, today's 8 hours were a piece of cake. No worries!
Left at 8am, arrived 4pm.
Number of Cookies my Step-Mom sent with me: 15, and a fresh baked loaf of bread.
Best Names of Things: Mechunk River (VA); Lake Moomaw (VA); Humpback Bridge (VA)
Best Names of Towns: Mossy, WV; Nitro, WV; Hurricane, WV; Salt Lick, KY
Best Multipurpose Name: Kanawha County, Turnpike, Road, Boulevard, & River. (This is an inside joke with D&P: "Kanawha" made me laugh because it sounds like "Can I WHAT??" if you're FIB. Wai' Wha'?)
Best License Plates: AIGHT DN; GOT JZUS.
Last Foreseen Dunkin' Donuts that I might ever get to have again: Fisherville, VA. (This was a "self serve" D&D in a mini-mart/gas place. Never before known to me that D&D can be self-serve, but it didn't cut down on the magic.)
Road Kill Factor: surprisingly minimal.
Most Beautiful: the Allegheny/Blue Ridge Mountains, which I drove through, around, and over quite thoroughly on Rte 64. It started with light green trees and embankments directly by the highway (and bazillions of red, pink, and purple wild flowers); then panned back to a rich forest green on the nearby hills; and then a green so deep that it was blue on the mounts in the distance. (Aptly named.) Cap off with lush fog and you have quite a sight. The road took you over them, so there were vertical panoramas off over either shoulder. And the Kanawha River ran along and under the road around Charleston as well -- Ch. may be one of the more beautifully situated capitals in the U.S. (As a city itself, it's got the usual run-down industrial buildings and gold-capped capital building; but we're talking location, location, location.) It was breathtaking. I have pictures. Will send you the whole album on Snapfish.com when I get through with the trip.
Biggest Annoyance: Pick-up trucks playing aggressive tortoise and hare in the left lane. BUZZ OFF!
Runner up: TORRENTIAL RAIN as I first got into the B.R. Mounts. But also gorgeous in a way.
Road Buddy: A red Honda CR-V from Ohio played road frog with me (think leap frog only in cars on 2 lane hwys) from Charlottesville, VA to Roncevert, WV -- quite a distance. Then construction forced the 70mph limit down to 55mph, and then the CR-V got in front of a truck and I got stuck behind him, and then the road reduced to one lane and the truck, who couldn't hack the hills, reduced to 35mph for about 5-8 miles. When I FINALLY got out from behind him, my road buddy was gone. But it doesn't end there: I randomly stopped at a rest-stop at Paint Creek in WV to take a picture of the Blue Ridge Mts nearly an hour later. I got back in my car, went to back up, and saw a Red CR-V parked behind me. When I turned around and got a look at it -- you guessed it -- it was the same CR-V. If it wasn't a mental game I was playing with myself, I would have left a note. ;)
Thanks to my Dad & Sandie for hosting me for a night, helping me with all those last minute tasks, and stuffing me full of nutritious food before I began the car-carbo marathon that will sustain me for most of my trip...here's looking at you, kids.
By the way, whether it was an early blast of adrenalin or I've inherited the Pratt car stamina, today's 8 hours were a piece of cake. No worries!
Thursday, June 19, 2003
I write this from a room in my Dad's house in misty, gray Williamsburg. I decided with the late start to crash in D.C. yesterday with my brother, which means I got to see him and a surprisingly snazzily-dressed Anthony one more time. I left this morning and am at last back to being on schedule...sort of. I made two executive decisions: 1) to allow the Forester to breathe a bit, to give me some visibility out the rear window, and to allow foot room in the seatwell for my eventual reunion with Alexis in seattle as well as space for her bags, I mailed some packages from the Williamsburg PO to Laura in SF. And let me tell all of you this if you're not aware of it: there's an option called Media Mail with which you can ship books, videos, cds, etc. at RIDICULOUSLY low rates. One BIG box of books was going to ship for $90 priority/$30 parcel post, and instead shipped for a mere $16. Now that's a bargain. 2) I'm stopping in Lexington instead of Louisville. It cuts my drive down from 9 hours to 8, but the drive to St. Louis after that was going to be at most, 5, and now will be 6. Found a cheap hotel in Lexington, too. Tip from my dad: always CALL in advance for reservations. Even if you find the hotel in the middle of the night off a random road, call from the pay phones or your cell phone. They always quote & book cheaper if you call "in advance." Being a AAA member helps too. Hey Mom -- Dad had recent trip tix and maps from them here, after all. So I now have all the skinny on most of the areas I'm driving through.
The hotel I made a reservation for supposedly has "dataports," so I hope to email more tomorrow, if there's any news. Until then...
The hotel I made a reservation for supposedly has "dataports," so I hope to email more tomorrow, if there's any news. Until then...
Wednesday, June 18, 2003
Whew. Today is lift-off and I am officially running 3.5 hours behind schedule. But that's because I'm a pressure-packer -- I can't do it 2 days ahead of time. Last-minuteness helps me cut through the crap more insistently, but it sure is stress-inducing. My car is stuffed to the gills. This means Alexis and I will have some serious rearranging to do in Seattle. But 2 Phi Beta Kappas should be able to figure it out, right? I am, however, happy to say that I can fit all of my life in my car -- one single car -- which was never true before this.
Anyway, wish me luck and bon voyage. To the family and friends I'm leaving behind: I'll miss you and I promise to keep in touch. Thanks for all your generous support, too.
Anyway, wish me luck and bon voyage. To the family and friends I'm leaving behind: I'll miss you and I promise to keep in touch. Thanks for all your generous support, too.
Monday, June 16, 2003
The updated itinerary:
the 18th: Williamsburg with a stop in D.C. for an "aloha" dinner with my bro.
the 19th: Stroll and loll about in luxurious Williamsburg with my Dad and Step-Mom.
the 20th: Head to Kentucky, ultimately Louisville.
the 21st: Drop in on my Godparents, the Umlaufs, in St. Louis, Missouri.
the 22nd: Cruise-control through Kansas all the way to Denver, Colorado.
the 23rd: Spend the day touring Wyoming.
the 24th: Spend the day touring Montana.
the 25th: Jet over to Seattle, where I meet my likely much-needed road warrior companion extraordinaire, Alexis.
the 26th to the 31st: Explore the west coast -- family sites in Oregon in particular. Maybe a whale watch. Savor, not guzzle.
the 1st: arrive in San Francisco and relax.
the 18th: Williamsburg with a stop in D.C. for an "aloha" dinner with my bro.
the 19th: Stroll and loll about in luxurious Williamsburg with my Dad and Step-Mom.
the 20th: Head to Kentucky, ultimately Louisville.
the 21st: Drop in on my Godparents, the Umlaufs, in St. Louis, Missouri.
the 22nd: Cruise-control through Kansas all the way to Denver, Colorado.
the 23rd: Spend the day touring Wyoming.
the 24th: Spend the day touring Montana.
the 25th: Jet over to Seattle, where I meet my likely much-needed road warrior companion extraordinaire, Alexis.
the 26th to the 31st: Explore the west coast -- family sites in Oregon in particular. Maybe a whale watch. Savor, not guzzle.
the 1st: arrive in San Francisco and relax.
Sunday, June 15, 2003
Hello all. I am back from Vegas. Vegas is one bizarre place -- a big random burst of wholly contrived environment in the middle of a desert, compounded by the fact that my upbringing has been so thorougly un-desert, un-city, un-sin. I know I am not the first to have this opinion, but I thoroughly confirm all previous intimations of how bizarre Vegas is. And all previous intimations of how fun it is. It IS fun. ;) Especially "old" Vegas, you know, the famous Vegas strip with the winking, waving neon cowboy and the high-kicking neon cowgirl, the Golden Nugget and the Horseshoe and all that -- more lights than the sky has stars, and that's just INdoors! There were elderly playing slots, young playing craps, cheap drinks, cover bands, one of my friends counted 12 brides just ambling along bedecked in white -- a lot of honest kitsch and history that just isn't there in "new" Vegas, though that was spectacular in its own right, of course. The Luxor, for example, is cavernous and vertigo-inducing, a black jewel of a pyramid with a beacon at its top than can be seen from space; and then there are the city casinos -- the Paris, the NY NY, the Venetian -- with the outdoors indoors in scale, every detail characatured to perfection, the essence plucked at its most pure of each real place. (Most of the other casinos, though thoroughly thematic, had facades more impressive than interiors.)
Activities? We lounged at Mandalay Bay's wave pool and "lazy [tube] river" each day, Mandalay Bay being home base for us; then evenings led to all sorts of things: walking the strip; (me) trying the nickel slots (won back half of what I put in, most of the time); (me) watching (the boys play) several rounds of craps and poker; eating at a buffet and a steakhouse; counting brides; dancing at RA! -- the Luxor's night club -- where giant, golden, ancient egyptian god statues presided over the mayhem, and Rum Jungle -- the M.B.'s night club -- where women in any shade optimal for black-lighting danced in cages, on trapezes of all sizes and shapes, ropes; we did not, however, take in any shows -- perhaps next time. The key moment, though, not surprisingly, was the Bellagio's fountains -- set to opera arias and underlit, waving like graceful ballerinas at one moment and then soaring sky-high with a sound like a jet charging past at another -- gorgeous, beyond gorgeous, past past.
I write this on 2 hours of sleep (on the plane) in the last 31 hours, but Vegas does a good job of keeping you energized enough to pour out your money and awe for cascades of hours. Cheers to Vegas, and thanks to my friends for helping me celebrate the big 24 (I've been awake for every last hour of it!!) today, and for sponsoring me on this trip.
2 days 'til the E of the East become the E of the West, and counting...
Activities? We lounged at Mandalay Bay's wave pool and "lazy [tube] river" each day, Mandalay Bay being home base for us; then evenings led to all sorts of things: walking the strip; (me) trying the nickel slots (won back half of what I put in, most of the time); (me) watching (the boys play) several rounds of craps and poker; eating at a buffet and a steakhouse; counting brides; dancing at RA! -- the Luxor's night club -- where giant, golden, ancient egyptian god statues presided over the mayhem, and Rum Jungle -- the M.B.'s night club -- where women in any shade optimal for black-lighting danced in cages, on trapezes of all sizes and shapes, ropes; we did not, however, take in any shows -- perhaps next time. The key moment, though, not surprisingly, was the Bellagio's fountains -- set to opera arias and underlit, waving like graceful ballerinas at one moment and then soaring sky-high with a sound like a jet charging past at another -- gorgeous, beyond gorgeous, past past.
I write this on 2 hours of sleep (on the plane) in the last 31 hours, but Vegas does a good job of keeping you energized enough to pour out your money and awe for cascades of hours. Cheers to Vegas, and thanks to my friends for helping me celebrate the big 24 (I've been awake for every last hour of it!!) today, and for sponsoring me on this trip.
2 days 'til the E of the East become the E of the West, and counting...
Wednesday, June 11, 2003
I should have mentioned this first: Thank you very much to Jack for opening my eyes to the convenience and hilarity that is a blog, and then directing me to the blogspot.com site.
Here's the vague first version of the itinerary: Leave the 18th to visit Dad in Williamsburg. Then to Kentucky, St. Louis, Denver, (Kansas,) Wyoming, Montana, (a little blip of Idaho,) Seattle, all over Oregon, and down the coast to San Francisco by July 1, where I move in with one of my charming former volleyball teammates and keep attempting to get a job.
Here's the vague first version of the itinerary: Leave the 18th to visit Dad in Williamsburg. Then to Kentucky, St. Louis, Denver, (Kansas,) Wyoming, Montana, (a little blip of Idaho,) Seattle, all over Oregon, and down the coast to San Francisco by July 1, where I move in with one of my charming former volleyball teammates and keep attempting to get a job.
Welcome, friends and family. I have decided that the easiest way to keep you posted on this enormous change in my life, and the road-trip adventure that is its prelude, is to simply have a public journal website for you to check in with daily. (Hopefully, I will be able to access the internet daily on this journey.) I am starting this Wednesday, June 11, 2003, a week before I hit the road. Tomorrow, I leave for Vegas. I return Sunday. I believe Vegas might be a good test-subject for my initial blogs...enjoy!
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