We take up the mother road...

June 28, 2006
Springfield, MO

The tiny hamlet of Springfield, MO (Hometown of one Mr. Brad Pitt, by the way :) is really trying to revive it's downtown... lots of nightclubs and bars and boutiques and galleries and such - a midwestern Hipster's best hope. The whole downtown (all 3 blocks of it) is even a wifi zone. Sweet... but slow. We're trying to post some pictures for y'all, but it's already taken 15 minutes not to load one. I don't even want to imagine how long the YouTube videoing will take. All in good time, I suppose...

We Join Route 66 in downtown Chicago

So, we left you at Sunday afternoon, just as we were about to take up Route 66. Well, the sun came out and the top came down and we cruised out of Chicago to the Southwest via a fairly well-marked route. Within a half hour or so, shabby city fringe gave way to suburban sprawl, which soon gave way to grain elevators. Lots of grain elevators. And corn. We enjoyed the ride and soon stopped to photograph the first bit of tacky Americana along 66, the Green Gemini Giant.

The GEMINI GIANT!

He Sees All...

Most of the rest of the evening was spent crusing along, keeping our eyes peeled for the "Historical Route 66" signs. The route usually parallels major U.S. Highways that were built later on in the 1950's and 1960's under Eisenhower's Federal Highways Act. So, for most of Illinois, we were driving within 50 yards of Interstate 55, a 4-6 lane motorway. The route does veer off periodically through small towns and along suburban "business districs" consisting of a mile or two of McDonald's, Super 8 Motels, and Wal-Marts. But even when driving along the highway, it's nice not to be surrounded by tractor-trailer trucks and such. Most of the time, we're among the only cars on the road - which makes it nice and easy to take pictures - just pull over and put the flashers on!

Illinois

Grain Elevator

Ride along with us for a moment...



We spun by the famous "Maple Sirup" farm along Route 66 in Funks Grove, but it was late on a Sunday evening and they were closed. But we could see the grove of Sugar maples and what appeared to be the evaporator, etc. We know our sugaring, so got the gist. Wondering about the sugaring season in these parts though - how's the weather work?

Dixie Truckers Home

We had a basic, greasy meal at the Dixie Truckers Home and browsed the lovely gift shop. Offensive bumper stickers and t-shirts thrive here.

Don't they though?

There were thunderstorms in the distance and lots of lightning, so we decided that another hotel was in order, and we pointed ourselves, ultimately, at Motel 6. Now, I really wanted to try and stay in authentic, locally-owned, traditional Route 66 style motor courts when possible. Stay away from the chain store vibe, etc. And we tried, really we did. We sought out about half a dozen Lincoln Inn's and Maple Courts and Garden Breezeway Motels, which are apparently all code for "no-tell-mo-tell". These places are sketchy - broken windows (albeit duct taped), weedy parking lots, dingy doors, and plenty of evidence of permanent residents. We just weren't down with that, so Motel 6 it was. Of course, during the day when we're driving along and not ready to stop, we see plenty of cute little places. Ain't that always the way...

At least the Motel 6 provided clean, reasonably priced accomodation, with long hot showers in the morning and the chance to catch "The View". And, yes, they did leave the light on for us. We breakfasted at the nearby Hen House family restaurant and then headed into Springfield, Illinois, home of Abraham Lincoln (not his birthplace, but where he lived for 17 years before becoming president). Our friendly guides were adamant to point out that it was a nice, upper class home - not a log cabin. He was just born in a log cabin. He didn't live in one his whole life! Still, this original log cabin was about as big as his kitchen, and with 7 people living in there at a time, it must have been mighty cozy. I guess this really is another case of the self-made American man - the American dream. He educated himself and moved from Log Cabin eventually to White House. And freed the slaves. And preserved the nation. And looked good in a beard. We like Abe!

If she were a president, she'd be Baberaham Lincoln...

On our way out of Springfield, we stopped at Cozee Dog Drive In, the home of the Corn Dog. As it turns out, neither Beth nor I have ever eaten a corn dog. Figuring this should be our time, we shared one, and while it was lovely, and particularly corny tasting, I don't know that either of us are chomping at the stick to have another.

Cozee Dog.

We then pointed the Snaab toward Missouri. Along the way, we stopped at Henry's Route 66 Emporium and Rabbit Ranch, where we met Henry, a Route 66 enthusiast, bunny lover, and insurance salesman. He and Beth talked rabbits for a while, and one of his 38 bunnies, Montana, 'autographed' a flyer for us. We took pictures of the rusted out gas pumps and motel signs in his yard and hopped back on 66.

Montana's Autograph

We were having some trouble keeping on Route 66, as the signage started to fail a bit. Eventually, we got on some bridge or another and forded the Mighty Mississippi River right on into St. Louis. We'd had a big ferret road trip here about 3 years ago, so didn't need to do the full exploration. Instead, we took our picture in front of the Arch - the Gateway to the West - and drove around in search of refinding Route 66 and the famous Ted Drew's Custard Stand. Kelly satisfied a serious Taco Bell jones and Beth enjoyed a cookie dough 'concrete' ice cream custard. We had a bit of a debate and we are curious as to where public opinion stands on this issue: which is a 'worse' dinner nutitionally speaking: two cripsy tacos and cinnamon twists - or - cookie dough concrete, which is essentially a really thick milkshake?

After a night camping at Jellystone Park, a not-as-bad-as-we-feared campground next to Six Flags, we rolled westward again. Our first stop was at the Jesse James Wax Museum.

So many things wrong with this picture... where to start?

While the muesum and accompanying (appallingly bad with uncomfortably awkward silences by the narrator - have you ever seen The Office?) video touched only lightly on the actual outlaw acts committed by Jesse James, there was a significant portion dedicated to debunking the "myth" that Jesse was killed in 1882. Rather, these conspiracy theorists firmly believe that Jesse staged his death, and lived until 1951, dying at the ripe old age of 104. There was also a good bit about Jesse's childhood mistreatment by Union Soldiers and how that 'drove him into' his life of crime. Why would Pinkerton detectives throw a bomb through his window when he was 15? There was also some bit about how his mom lost and arm and his brother died and then he started running with a bad crowd and then, poof! They skip ahead to 1950 something when some old man claims to be Jesse James. What about the bank robberies? The murders? The looting? Maybe someone who has seen "Young Guns" starring Emilio Estevez as Jesse James can fill us in on the good parts...

Well. From there, we decided to forgo the Reptile World Petting Zoo, and had lunch at Meremec Caverns, kind of the South of the Border of the Midwest. We are saving actual cavern visits for Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico. Plus, Jesse James apparently hid out here, and we'd had enough of him.

Drivin' Through the Ozarks on Ole Route 66

Ozark Daisys

The rest of the afternoon was spent trying to follow absurdly poorly labelled Route 66 through the Ozarks. We ended up on dirt roads to nowhere more than we'd like to recall. We were aiming for Springfield but couldn't resist a faded sign for "Exotic Animal Paradise", so camped out at Paradise RV park "God Runs this RV Park", and, after a set of instructions from our hostess that included "Now, if there's a tornado warning, someone will come out to your tents and fetch you", we retired. You can imagine how well Kelly slept that night.

G00dnight Missouri!

Back again...

Hi, we're still here... just driving a lot. And wifi is hard to score in most of these parts. Quit tailgating.

We know we've got a lot to catch up on, so we sat down at a pleasant cafe in Southwestern Illinois yesterday to do so. We thought they'd have wifi, being in a college town, but they did not, being also in the middle of a cornfield. So this entry will take you to Sunday afternoon, and the beginning of Route 66. Here's Beth!

26 June 2006
Edwardsville, Ill-ee-no-ah
(covering Friday 23 June – Sunday 25 June)

Friday, 23 June - Ohio
Beth’s first Waffle House experience was an extremely pleasant one- full of saucy waitresses who call everyone “Baby”, old men sitting at the counter, tunes playing on the jukebox, and lots of greasy food. We were fueled up and ready to go explore Columbus, Ohio- a city we didn’t really know too much about. It turned out to be a very cool place.

Yup. Mornin' at the Waffle House, baby.

First, we visited the Old Deaf School Topiary Garden, which is a lovely park in which they are recreating a 3-dimensional yew bush rendering of Georges Seurat’s “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte” – they have dug a pond to represent the Seine and the topiaries are scaled to create the proper dimensional viewpoint and everything. Some parts are still growing in, even several years on, but it was remarkably tranquil and lovely, even in the cool rain.

Topiary Garden - Woman with Big Bustle and Monkey!

Heading deeper into Columbus, we happened to arrive during CommFest, a community festival (hence the name). It was a lot like Bonnaroo minus the mud and about 80,000 people. We sat and listened to a jazz band for a while and absorbed the love, peace, and happiness of the town. We also learned about Columbus’ “Feel free to show your boobies” Law. On the way out we saw a collection of Art Cars and also listened to an angry organic farmer go on a rampage about Christians.

In a Red State?

Next, we decided to check out the local coffee shop (we chose one with free wifi, of course, so we could post our last blog entry). We stayed for a while so we could take care of some other business as well. Tired of the “Your Word on The Street” message, Beth used her negotiating skills to get a new “Scrolling Marquee License Plate Holder” sent to Joplin, MO. Hopefully we will be picking that up tomorrow, so please post your suggestions as to what we should say to the USA as we cruise by! Right before we left we spotted Kelly’s Dream Man. He was wearing a Red Sox shirt, walking a beagle, and drinking a …..Red Bull. Too bad it wasn’t a Coke or she might have gone after him!

We were loving Columbus, but unfortunately Columbus was not loving us. When we returned to the Snaab we discovered that we had parked in a “Resident Only” area and had a little souvenir in the form of a parking ticket. So we hightailed it out of there and took advantage of the sunshine that allowed us to put the top down, finally.

We cruised through the cornfield lined back roads of Ohio working our way towards Indiana. We made a pit stop at Hefner’s Dairy Barn where we met an adorable, well-behaved dog whom we named Uncle Lee. We wanted to take him with us as our very own Charley as we traveled across America.

Where the fun never ends.

The sun was beginning to set, so we began thinking about where we should camp for the night. One campground really stood out from the rest so we made our way towards Huggy Bear. Just as we were beginning to think we were lost we drove up over the horizon we saw a sea of RVs. We were home. The only tent set up amongst the white giants and golf carts we felt a little out of place. We are still trying to figure out why everyone had a golf cart as Huggy Bear could be walked from end to end in about 10 minutes. Any ideas or explanations?

Saturday 24 June - Indiana

This is what Indiana looks like. All of it.
*except for Gary, which is scary

In the morning we felt compelled to drive away from all that and return to the open road. We crossed over into Indiana, the Hoosier State. Neither of us knew what the word Hoosier meant, so we had to find out. We heard from an older woman that worked at the South Street Soda Shop in Goshen, IN (go there!) that a Hoosier is someone who lives in Indiana, but one of the stories about how that started had something to do with someone saying “Whose your _____”. This somehow was slurred together to create the word Hoosier. Not sure if we are buying that or not. While in Indiana we also stopped at the Indiana Historical Radio Museum. Helen, our guide, was extremely excited to have visitors, as the museum was closing in 30 minutes and we were the first visitors of the day.

We were close to Chicago so we decided to call it an early night by camping outside the city. Our first choice was Mink Lake (we figured minks were close to ferrets. Pfffttpffptptppt), but it turned out to be a little too creepy. Finally we settled on Michigan City as our home for the night. It advertised both RV and tent camping, a swimming pool, and free wifi. It also had a rooster farm right next door! And everybody knows that roosters are nature’s alarm clocks. What Kelly didn’t know is that they not only crow when the sun rises, but, basically, whenever it shines, pretty much until the sun sets. Ugh. Beth: “It’s like a snooze alarm that won’t quit”.

Sunday 25 June – Ill-ee-no-ahhh
We woke up bright and early and headed for the Windy City. We went through Gary, Indiana on our way- hometown of the Jackson Five. Depressing is the first word that comes to mind. Let’s just say, we get Michael now. Cut the man a little slack. The Neverland Ranch never looked so good.

Typical Street in Gary, Indiana, Gary, Indiana...

We finally arrived in Chicago, where Route 66 begins. Kelly went to the top of the Sears Tower to get a good view over Chicago and the rest of ‘Merica. Beth sat in a park across the street. Choose your interpretation: Kelly is a sucker for ‘landmark tourist attractions’ or Beth is too cheap to pay $12 for an elevator ride. But, by going up, Kelly did learn that Frank Lloyd Wright’s son invented Lincoln Logs, while Beth did not learn this. And we all know that everyone loves Lincoln Logs!

High above the clouds and Chicago from the Sears Tower

Beth Loves Lincoln Logs!

After Kelly waved down at Beth from above the clouds, they reunited for a grease-fest at Lou Mitchell’s Diner, the traditional human pit stop at the top of Route 66. Waaaaaayyyyyy too much food, that cost waaaayyyy too much money ($4 bacon? Wassup with dat?). While the apple and cheese omelet was an intriguing concept, it was lost in execution and we were shocked and dismayed to find that instead of crisp apple slices, what was delivered was essentially a cheese omelet smothered with a can of apple pie filling. Glub (that is the comment from Kelly’s stomach).

The Famous Route 66 human pit stop

We cruised down the Magnificent Mile and up Lake Shore Drive to get a feel for Chicago – after the bad impression caused by entering via Gary, IN, we revised our opinion of the town and found it actually quite pleasant and livable. We look forward to visiting again, and thus decided to savor Chicago another time on it’s own and head for the “Mother Road”.

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One of the questions people have asked is “What are you two gonna talk about for a month? Won’t you get tired of each other?” Well, we’re learning about this… day 1 was catching up with each other and being excited about the trip. By day 3, we were sharing random thoughts and stories “Sting’s “Englishman in New York” makes me think of Elian Gonzalez” or reminiscing about Goodfellow's passionate recollection of his encounter with John Glenn. Day 4 was Hi-Fidelity top 5 lists… by Day 5 we have been reduced to Beavis & Butthead impressions. “huh huh huh – Kickapoo. He said Poo”. We have determined that it is only annoying if just one person is doing it. With us both on board, it can be quite entertaining – trust us. However, we can forsee a time in the near future where this entertainment value will wear off. So, we entreat you for some topics for discussion - anything you'd like us to ponder? It's only Day 6 here.

check back soon for more pictures!

"Mother of God"

June 22, 2006
somewhere near Columbus, OH

First, I wanna give a shout out to my old co-worker, Margaret, who has just embarked on a cross-country journey of her own... by bike. Crazy woman - but power to her! She's even lugging a computer on her trip to blog, and is already better at keeping up than we are: (http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/journal/?o=lt&doc_id=1386&v=9y)! Go, Margaret! We're hoping to interset with her somewhere in the Midwest on our way back.

I just read her blog and her account of her first night camping out, which was (thankfully) a somewhat different experience than ours. As we left you at the end of the last entry, we had set up our campsite, had some good dinner, and were writing from the spacious, dry comfort of our tent (thanks for the loan, Aunt Patty!). We then went happily to sleep. Until about 3.30 am, when the flapping of the tent and ominous tree rustling woke both of us just to be sure that we were fully aware of the fury and damnation that was about to literally rain upon us. I thought for sure that the tent was going down. There’s just no way a piece of nylon and some metal poles could take it – but it bent and twisted but did not cow. Beth and I were freaking out – lightning and cracks of thunder like a million rifles – sweet Jesus. And it didn’t stop for over an hour… We finally managed to fall into an exhausted nap state for a bit and woke up with only minor dampness in the tent because we didn’t bother to properly fasten the rain fly, but rather just kind of stuck it on there. Frankly, I was amazed. And also grateful that Beth waited until morning to tell me that her dad was once struck by lightening while in a tent. Lordy.

The Morning After - Our Exhausted Tent in a Mild Breeze

After breaking our wet camp, we paid a daylight visit to the nearby Flight 93 memorial in Shanksville. Following that, we headed for Fallingwater. Luckily, the day got a little brighter, but was very hot and humid – we kept the lid up as we had been damp enough and yesterday’s sunburn was smarting even through the car window.

The mini-Milano theory holds true - these horses were adorable!
But what do they serve at the restaurant???

Fallingwater - "The Hatch"

Fallingwater was magical – what an amazing feat! The entire home really is a work of art, and blends in so uniquely with the landscape. The water literally runs through the house and the abundance of windows and built-in wooden desks, furniture, shelves and headboards really brings the outdoors in. What I would not have given to be able to just layabout and read a book or take a nap (especially after our sleepless night!) in one of the rooms with the windows open and the cool misty breeze and rushing water sounds flowing in. Beth is convinced that the staff lounge around in their off hours. Our guide, Matt, was particularly enthusiastic, dressed in 40’s era trousers and tie (the other guides wore khakis and white polos – boring!). Definitely aim to go back for a more in-depth tour!

At Home with Beth and Kelly

Come on in and have a pickle!

We then drove onward to Fort Necessity, where we bought a National Parks Pass and watched a video detailing George Washington’s role in establishing the fort, instigating the French-Indian War, and contributing to the idea of the first National Highway, running along or near U.S. 40, which we’ve been following since. We had a tasty lunch at the Sun Porch Inn, where they had some wicked good butter pickles. They were so good that after polishing off the three that came with her lunch Kelly jumped at the chance to pilfer a plateful from the salad bar while the waitresses back was turned. People are always asking if we’re from outta town (granted, we were the only folks in the restaurant at 3 pm). The waitress said “How’d you get enough time off of work for a trip like this?” Beth replied “I’m a school teacher”. I said “I quit.” Well, that’ll do it.

Not much else happened except for us trying to be the opposite of storm chasers – ominous black clouds, lightning bolts, and heavy rain. Enough! We decided to hotel it and, with no need to set up camp before nightfall, cruised the National Highway through West Virginia, and into the middle of Ohio, where we are enjoying the luxurious Super 8.

Um... hotel tonight.

Along the road we had yet another "oh, my god, pull over" moment. Right there on the National Road in a quaint, very American town we saw....Castle Blood. Imagine Jamie's Dream House. It wasn't for sale, but strangely enough most of the houses surrounding it were. Hmmm.

Castle BLOOD

Also, we noticed that Midge, our handy GPS tool (wicked cool!) tracks trip details as well... max speed acheived thus far? 92.1 miles per hour. Uh-oh... top that Margaret!

We don't know who this guy is, but thanks for the wifi!

“It feels like we’re just driving around” “Well, yeah, that’s kinda the point”

June 21, 2006
Outside Shanksville, PA

Kelly and Beth have taken off on their big adventure!

After a yummy breakfast from Msr. Crepe (Beth’s husband Kurt), we installed the snazzy LED marquee license plate frame on T. Snaab, waved goodbye to Kurt, his mom, and nephew Logan, and departed from Delaware at High Noon on the Solstice (plus 21 minutes). The sun was bright, the music was peppy, and the roads were clear!


We headed up to West Chester, PA so Kelly could have a ceremonial drive-by of her old office, where the dream of this trip began (“Instead of turning into this office park, what if I just kept driving? Where would I go?”). We pointed ourselves toward Lebanon, PA, our first destination. En route, we passed through the back roads of Chester County, and on into Amish Country.

This is basically a theme park of a region commercializing a particularly austere religious sect that lives there. Ironically, this religious sect eschews most aspects of modernity, using traditional plows and horse-drawn buggies instead of cars and tractors, dressing very simply, and most do not use electricity, running water, etc. But they live among ‘normal’ red-blooded Americans who like to take pictures and sell stuff ostensibly made by or in the style of the Amish. They sell this at places like “Dutch Country” and “Amish Traders.com”. Hmm. There are many smorgasbords with all-you-can-eat home cookin’ buffets (my dad used to drive us up here on weekends – an afternoon at Dutch Wonderland fun park for the kids and then Millers Smorgasbord for dinner.

Now, these are people of German descent – Beth has heard that the trusty locals misinterpreted Deutsch (which is German for, well, German) for Dutch. Which refers to someone from the Netherlands, which, albeit adjacent to Germany, is, in fact, a separate country.

Anyway, we finally ended up in lovely Lebanon, PA – home of Steve Wheeler AND the famous Lebanon Bologna! In historic downtown Lebanon, we stopped at a malt shoppe and had our bologna sandwiches on pasty, foamy white bread. This is different than your traditional Oscar Meyer b-o-l-o-g-n-a, as it was more purpley in color and somewhat mottled. Almost like salami.

From Lebanon, we pointed West, passing through Hershey, the best-damned-smelling-town in America. Chocolatetown U.S.A., where the streetlights are made of chocolate kisses… yum! We stopped at a Rite-Aid to buy some after sun lotion for the rad sunburns we were working, and picked up a couple of genuine article Hershey bars. Yum! Much tastier than Lebanon bologna. Also a battery for the aforementioned scrolling marquee license plate holder. Which we cannot seem to change from scrolling “Your word on the street!” as we start our way across America. Truckers have been yelling out the window at us “Word on the Street!”. We were hoping to broadcast witticisms like “Smell ya later!” and “Dang – this town smells SWEET!” or “Where’s the bologna?” We’re still exploring the technical problems… stay tuned. Send in your message suggestions – hopefully we’ll have it working soon! (A fun correlary of not being able to change the message is that the same device is also used to turn this marquee on and off. So it’s permanently on with this message until we figure out how to fix it).

We cruised through Harrisburg and then I capitulated and hopped on the Penna. Turnpike as it was already 6 pm and we wanted to set up camp near Fallingwater, some 130 miles further west, before dark. While we did reluctantly forgo a pit stop at the alluring Pigeon World, we did have to pull over for a quick pit stop at Breezewood, PA’s “50 State Souvenier Shop”. What a concept! Why travel to all 50 states to complete your spoon/shot glass/magnet shaped like the state/thimble/sticker/t-shirt/key chains/coffee mug collection when you can get them ALL – Alaska to Wyoming – right there in Pennsylvania?! Also handy were the postcards featuring anyplace remotely of note within a 350 mile radius (Washington, DC to Ohio to New York City). And if geography ain’t your bag, you can buy your Breakfast at Tiffany’s lunchbox, a piggy bank in the shape of Ringo Starr, and I Love Lucy camping chair (Vitametavegimin or the chocolate candy episode!), and, I think you get the idea. There was also a bitchin’ pirate bikini and hot pink cowgirl hats (that’s right)




Betsy, this is where LSS goes to die.
And, don’t worry, Kurt, Beth got you a prezzie!

Now we are camped in a friendly little campground with a lot of RVs near Shanksville, PA. It occurred to me as we were approaching the campground and saw the signs that the name was familiar, and, as it turns out, Flight 93, the fourth plane to crash on September 11, went down about 4 miles from here. On our way to Ida’s Mart to buy food provisions, we passed a chapel that has been dedicated to the flight victims and they maintain a tall light beam in front, similar to the temporary memorial that they had in New York City. At the market, we met a woman who has lived here her whole life and asked us about our journey (it’s a small town). She works at one of the nearby prisons, and was eager to tell us about how that day affected the area… how there was a school nearby and people 5 miles away could feel the ground shake. This really is a fairly rural area and I imagine that on that morning, as the locals watched the events unfolding on TV in New York City and Washington, DC, it must have seemed very scary but also so far away, only to have it brought home so immediately. So, a bit of an unexpected encounter, but extremely interesting.

Now, we’ve pried open a can of Dinty Moore, munched on some Herr’s potato chips and are ready to call it a night. Tomorrow morning, we head for Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater and then into Pittsburgh as we make our way to Chicago.


*note - this blog entry was posted during a(nother) thunderstorm late Thursday evening sitting in a parked car in a parking lot behind John Glenn's house in New Concord, OH. Thanks to the (now closed) Jitterbug Cafe for leaving your wifi network unencrypted!

Prologue

While our journey officially begins on Wednesday in Delaware, for me, at least, the first leg of the journey began just outside of Boston. I left bright and early Saturday morning from my home in Cambridge to head for a big family reunion picnic in Delaware, and have been staying at my parents' house until scooting over to Beth's for the big breakfast and send off in a few days.

So, to properly catalog, here is the scene as I slipped behind the wheel at mile 0:

Mile Zero

It was a gorgeous June morning, so I put the top down and popped in the first of a few roadtrip mix CDs that some pretty awesome people have made for the journey. The Cars "Let's Go" - sounds just about right! And was very necessary to get my juices moving at 7 am on a Saturday (after a late night of packing and re-packing, it was mighty hard to say goodbye to my bed for the next 5-6 weeks!).

I'm very used to the Boston - Cherry Hill route and all went smoothly until, surprise, I hit New York. First, major traffic due to the U.S. Open Golf tournament in Westchester County, and then the normal snarl leading into the George Washington Bridge. Now, the goal is to minimize highway/interstate driving as much as possible, although given my extensive familiarity with the northeast as well as the utilitarian nature of this leg of the journey, I gave this a pass. But, rather than sit in traffic on an on-ramp for the next 45 minutes, I decided to take a 'short cut' through Manhattan (an oxymoron, perhaps, but more interesting...). So, I cruised 5th Avenue from Harlem down to the Lincoln Tunnel at Mid-town:

View down 5th Avenue to Empire State Building

Woman outside Louis Vuitton on 5th Avenue

The next Snafu, natch, was in Jersey. Very slow going, frequently not moving at all, and running later and later for this family picnic. Highway driving can make one grouchy, and by hour 6 in the car... I was concerned that this could be the beginning of a very long trip. But, then again, the Jersey Turnpike is hardly the most inspiring of roads...

"Counting the cars on the New Jersey Turnpike..."

My faith in the journey was renewed later that day, however. After a lovely afternoon in Wilmington, I spun by Beth's house to pick up her CDs to burn into the ipod and decided to keep driving out the winding back roads of the Brandywine Valley and cut up through Chester County to get back to Cherry Hill. It was a beautiful summer night – crickets were creaking, fireflies blinking, and the sky was that dusky purple-blue that is such a perfect backdrop for a silhouette. I was following another car and as we drove down the narrow shaded lanes, our headlights moving on the dense leaves overhead made it appear as if we were underwater. The perfect song was playing... a light guitar and the voice singing “there were mermaids, weren’t there, sweet silver mermaids/they were young, they were fair, they brushed their blond and dusky hair”. It was magical, and so in the moment, amazed at the beauty that can be weaved from nature, machines, and music.

I can't wait to get started!

Our Sweet Chariot

I realize I forgot to introduce perhaps the most important character of all... our chariot: The Snaab.
Here, he gazes pensively out over Long Island Sound from Stonington, CT, and contemplates the journey ahead... it's a long way to the next ocean.

A random long list of everything we've proposed seeing along the way...

Beth wanted this list of emaily stuff for her folder. So organized. I don't even want to bring a map... anyway, we won't make it to many of the places on the list, but if you know of any must see oddities, please do send along...


B: Schmidt Museum of Coca-Cola Memorabilia
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K: Walk across the Mississippi!
Way up in Minnesota... at the headwaters...you can walk across!
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K: Graceland
Boulder, Utah - the darkest place in the United States (38 miles from nearest source of man-made light! Let's camp!)
Old Faithful
Cadillac Ranch (kind of like carhenge)
Burger joint in Big Sur
Drive thru tree
World's Biggest Ball of Twine
Corn Palace, SD
Mount Rushmore
Great Sky Road in Montana
Area 54
Route 66 start to finish - end with ride on ferris wheel at Santa Monica Pier
walk across Mexican border into Tijuana
World's Biggest Rubber Band Ball - San Francisco
Monkey Island - home of America's first space monkey - Independence, KS
Carlsbad Caverns in NM - there is an underground cafe there...
Gopherville in Saskatchewan: This is a wacky miniature wild west town outside of Langenburg, Saskatchewan, near the Manitoba border. The catch is, they've stuffed a bunch of gophers and dressed them up in little outfits (sheriff, etc.).
Carhenge, Alliance, Nebraska
Stonefridge, New Mexico
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B: Remember the Gilmore Girls episode when they imitated works of art? The real thing is happening in Laguna Beach, CA beginning July 7th. think we could make it there by then???
We would have to order tickets in advance.
Other cool things....National Hollerin' Contest. Third Saturday in June in Spinvey's Corner, North Carolina. Sounded fun and bizarre.
June 29th - July 3rd is the UFO Festival in Roswell, NM.
We have to fill our gas tank at the gas station on the corner of Rts. 33 and 45 in Cloquet, Minnesota (3 1/2 hours N or Minneapolis). It was the only gas station designed by Frank Lloyd Wright!
Andy Warhol museum, Pittsburg PA
Largest Living Thing...Sequoia Nat. Forest in Three Rivers, CA
Neon Museum in Vegas
Oasis Bordello Museum in Wallace, Idaho.
PEZ museum (are you still into that?) in Burlington, CA
Psychiatric Tools Museum in St. Joseph, Missouri
Largest Balls of Twine (yes, there are two!)....Cawker City, Kansas (community built) and Darwin, Minnesota (one man built)
Bridge of Sighs in Reno. You go there to toss your wedding ring after a divorce. NOT that I am doing that!
World's Largest Chess Set in Morro Bay, CA
Largest Donut, Randy's Donuts in Inglewood, CA
London Bridge, Lake Havusa City, AZ
Longhorn Grill...giant longhorn head is what you walk through to get in to restaurant...in Amado,AZ.
Oldest McDonalds...Downey, CA
Rolla Stonehenge in Rolla, Missouri (why not? We already thought of going to carhenge...).
Wizard of Oz museum in Wamego, Kansas (will probably have midgets) and the house from Wizard of Oz is in Liberal, Kansas on, you guessed it....Yellow Brick Road.
Most crooked street in the world...not Lombard, but Snake Alley in Burlington, Iowa.
Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum/House from Little House on the Prairie. Not sure if you are a fan.
Jack Daniel Distillery. Lynchburg, TN
Blue Cloud Abbey in South Dakota. Monks live there, but anyone is invited to come and visit and even spend the night. Reservations required.
International Peace Garden. North Dakota and Canadian border.
Lost Sea in Tennesee. Largest Underground Lake.
Twede's Diner...the settting for the RR Diner in Twin Peaks. We need coffee and cherry pie there. It is in Snoqualmie, WA
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B: Don’t forget, I have to shoot a gun and ride in a limo somewhere along the line.
p.s. We need nicknames for the trip.
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K: Awesome!
Do we get to pick our own nicknames or do we pick each others?
I think we should go to a shooting range in Reno "I shot a paper man in Reno just to watch him die..."
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B: Nicknames should be given by other people, I think.
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Anyone who bothered to read this far... any nickname suggestions???

The Mission: Saturn Returns so We Depart

Maybe it's some sort of third-life crisis; maybe it's an astrological phenomenon; maybe it's just a good time for both of us to take an extended break before diving into new lives in the fall - whatever the case, this is the summer to realize a few of those things we've always wanted to do, but never had (or taken?) the time. I've always wanted to drive Route 66 from beginning to end. Beth has always wanted to shoot a gun. Well, no time like the present. I'm on sabbatical, between office jobs and taking the summer off like a schoolkid or teacher or something. And Beth, well, she's a schoolteacher who will have a great "what I did on my summer vacation" report come September!

Your guides...