Note: I forgot I even had this blog until today (January 16, 2018). The following is a draft from more than six years ago, when I apparently lost interest in the blog:
KY to VA: 531 miles
VA to NYC: 264 miles (conservative estimate)
Tuesday, January 16, 2018
Thursday, July 7, 2011
An overdue update
Location: Billings, MT
Local time: 7:11 pm
I left Vermont on June 22 and headed back to Rochester for the last hurrah in Upstate New York. After spending some time with family I headed to Marcellus, and then to Ithaca on June 25 for a good friend’s quasi wedding. Instead of getting married, he and his partner had a commitment ceremony that incorporated a lot of elements from various traditions. Their reasoning was that as long as gays are not allowed to marry, they wouldn’t either. I think that’s a pretty awesome stance to take. After camping in Ithaca that night I returned to Marcellus on the 26th to pick up Arrow and leave New York. Between the time I left Vermont and when I was ready to leave Marcellus I clocked another 485 miles.
On the night of the 26th I stayed in Manassas, Virginia, again. This time I stayed only one night and didn’t do any sightseeing. I did score myself a free copy of Dan Fisk’s new album though. It’s good to be the king. On the 27th I got to Cleveland, Ohio, and stayed there for a couple nights. Marcellus to Cleveland added another 794 miles to the odometer.
I went from Cleveland to Lexington, Kentucky, to stay with my mom for a bit. I ended up staying in Kentucky until July 5. Add 343 more miles to the tally.
My plan when I left Kentucky was to go as far as Columbia, Missouri, and stay the night there. I found myself in Columbia around 3 pm and with no success finding a place to stay so I decided to just keep going and see where I ended up. I planned to keep going west until Kansas City, and then take 29 north to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where I’d turn west again to go to Montana. It turned out that a stretch of 29 was closed because of flooding so after some twists and turns through rural Missouri and Iowa I called it a day when I got to Council Bluffs, Iowa. I was exhausted from driving and the thought of sleeping in a bed was too tempting. That’s how I ended up staying the night at the Motel 6. I have never smelled meth before, but I imagine it smells like that Motel 6. I was tired enough that I just crashed and got a good night’s sleep in spite of the questionable odors.
The next day, July 6, brought me to Sundance, Wyoming. Instead of going north on 29 I decided to cut across Nebraska. I looked at the map a bit and ended up taking 275 northwest through Nebraska until I got to 83 which took me north into South Dakota. I have seen some storms in my day, and rain strong enough to nearly bring traffic to a halt, but I have never driven through a storm like the one that hit me on 83 in South Dakota. The wind and rain were unreal. It was nearly impossible to see anything, and I thought the car might get blown and/or washed off the road. I pulled into the parking lot of some sketchy little casino in the middle of nowhere and waited out the rest of the storm. After that it was smooth sailing on 90 to Sundance.
I stayed the night with friends in Sundance and then went to Devils Tower on the morning of July 7. I have wanted to see Devils Tower for a while, and I was not disappointed. The only negative part of it was that I couldn’t hike up to the base because they don’t allow dogs on the trails. We were able to get close enough, though, so I was happy with the stop. From there I drove to Billings, Montana. The whole Lexington to Billings trip was 1,760 miles.
We walked around downtown Billings a little bit and I was not very impressed. It seems like a nice enough town but I wouldn’t want to live here. I am looking forward to Missoula tomorrow. After a couple days in Missoula we will go to Bozeman for a night or so, and then it will be time to head back to Denver. There are definitely other parts of the country I would still like to see, and some I have seen that I’d love to spend more time in, but I am getting tired of all the driving. Also I have figured out a plan for how I want to move forward with working, and I’m kind of excited to get that in motion. I am of course nervous about finding a job when I get back to Denver, but I don’t want to worry about that too much now. I am going to enjoy these last handful of days and then get to the next step in the process. I don’t intend this to be the last road trip I ever take, so the other places I still want to see will just have to wait.
This was in the campground we stayed at outside of Billings.
Total miles to date: 6,955.1 (Something seems fishy about this total. I will need to go through and double-check everything at some point.)
Local time: 7:11 pm
I left Vermont on June 22 and headed back to Rochester for the last hurrah in Upstate New York. After spending some time with family I headed to Marcellus, and then to Ithaca on June 25 for a good friend’s quasi wedding. Instead of getting married, he and his partner had a commitment ceremony that incorporated a lot of elements from various traditions. Their reasoning was that as long as gays are not allowed to marry, they wouldn’t either. I think that’s a pretty awesome stance to take. After camping in Ithaca that night I returned to Marcellus on the 26th to pick up Arrow and leave New York. Between the time I left Vermont and when I was ready to leave Marcellus I clocked another 485 miles.
On the night of the 26th I stayed in Manassas, Virginia, again. This time I stayed only one night and didn’t do any sightseeing. I did score myself a free copy of Dan Fisk’s new album though. It’s good to be the king. On the 27th I got to Cleveland, Ohio, and stayed there for a couple nights. Marcellus to Cleveland added another 794 miles to the odometer.
I went from Cleveland to Lexington, Kentucky, to stay with my mom for a bit. I ended up staying in Kentucky until July 5. Add 343 more miles to the tally.
My plan when I left Kentucky was to go as far as Columbia, Missouri, and stay the night there. I found myself in Columbia around 3 pm and with no success finding a place to stay so I decided to just keep going and see where I ended up. I planned to keep going west until Kansas City, and then take 29 north to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where I’d turn west again to go to Montana. It turned out that a stretch of 29 was closed because of flooding so after some twists and turns through rural Missouri and Iowa I called it a day when I got to Council Bluffs, Iowa. I was exhausted from driving and the thought of sleeping in a bed was too tempting. That’s how I ended up staying the night at the Motel 6. I have never smelled meth before, but I imagine it smells like that Motel 6. I was tired enough that I just crashed and got a good night’s sleep in spite of the questionable odors.
The next day, July 6, brought me to Sundance, Wyoming. Instead of going north on 29 I decided to cut across Nebraska. I looked at the map a bit and ended up taking 275 northwest through Nebraska until I got to 83 which took me north into South Dakota. I have seen some storms in my day, and rain strong enough to nearly bring traffic to a halt, but I have never driven through a storm like the one that hit me on 83 in South Dakota. The wind and rain were unreal. It was nearly impossible to see anything, and I thought the car might get blown and/or washed off the road. I pulled into the parking lot of some sketchy little casino in the middle of nowhere and waited out the rest of the storm. After that it was smooth sailing on 90 to Sundance.
I stayed the night with friends in Sundance and then went to Devils Tower on the morning of July 7. I have wanted to see Devils Tower for a while, and I was not disappointed. The only negative part of it was that I couldn’t hike up to the base because they don’t allow dogs on the trails. We were able to get close enough, though, so I was happy with the stop. From there I drove to Billings, Montana. The whole Lexington to Billings trip was 1,760 miles.
We walked around downtown Billings a little bit and I was not very impressed. It seems like a nice enough town but I wouldn’t want to live here. I am looking forward to Missoula tomorrow. After a couple days in Missoula we will go to Bozeman for a night or so, and then it will be time to head back to Denver. There are definitely other parts of the country I would still like to see, and some I have seen that I’d love to spend more time in, but I am getting tired of all the driving. Also I have figured out a plan for how I want to move forward with working, and I’m kind of excited to get that in motion. I am of course nervous about finding a job when I get back to Denver, but I don’t want to worry about that too much now. I am going to enjoy these last handful of days and then get to the next step in the process. I don’t intend this to be the last road trip I ever take, so the other places I still want to see will just have to wait.
This was in the campground we stayed at outside of Billings.
Total miles to date: 6,955.1 (Something seems fishy about this total. I will need to go through and double-check everything at some point.)
Friday, June 24, 2011
Jingle bells
For a while now I've thought about how jingle bells seem to make such a good, and unlikely, contribution to hip hop songs. Some examples:
Fun fact: Both of those songs sample Average White Band's "Schoolboy Crush."
Good stuff. Real talk.
Fun fact: Both of those songs sample Average White Band's "Schoolboy Crush."
Good stuff. Real talk.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Vermont
Location: Green Mountain National Forest, Vermont (N 43° 15.302' W 072° 53.703' elevation: 1,659 feet)
Local time: 7 pm
Today's drive took me west through northern New Hampshire and into Vermont. From what I've seen, Vermont and New Hampshire are beautiful. Once in Vermont I went south along the border and then turned west again into Rutland. I stopped in Rutland for a bit to get something to eat and find an internet connection. The visit to Rutland was a success on both accounts. Maybe it was just luck or some different attitude on my part, but I found the people I came across in Rutland to be very friendly. Naturally Arrow attracted the most attention.
I've gotten a lot of reading done in the last couple days. I'm now more than halfway through Game of Thrones. I also listened to all the Joe Rogan podcasts I had stored. Even though Brian Redban is annoying the podcasts were pretty good overall. When you get right down to it, though, it's just some guys getting together and talking. Many times I found myself thinking, “hey, I wouldn't mind doing one of my own.” Something to marinate on.
June 21 miles: 204
Total miles to date: 3,573.1
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Massachusetts and New Hampshire
Location: White Mountain National Forest, New Hampshire (N 44° 20.009' W 071° 13.024' elevation: 1,305 feet)
Local time: 7:15 pm
I traveled from Newburyport, MA, today and will be spending the next couple nights here camping with Arrow. I stayed in Newburyport this weekend with a good friend from college and his wife (and their dog). Newburyport is a picture-perfect New England town, and it was a good weekend. Driving up here there were a lot of bikers going south from some kind of bike rally in New Hampshire (I think the name of the town is Laconia or something like that). I would Google it but the White Mountain National Forest is sorely lacking in the wireless internet department. The next couple days here will hopefully be relaxing and give me plenty of time to catch up on reading.
Miles traveled while in Upstate New York, and to Newburyport: 894
June 19 miles: 129
Total miles to date: 3,369.1
Friday, June 10, 2011
The 'chester
Location: Rochester, New York
Local time: 12:00 am
Back in Upstate New York. While I'm up here I'll see some friends and family, and that's about the extent of my plans at this point. One of the first things I've done is visit one of my undergraduate professors. Before becoming a professor he was a lawyer, and aside from wanting to catch up with him in general I wanted to talk to him about how he decided to be a professor coming from being a lawyer. I got some great advice from him. Two main points stuck out (I'm paraphrasing here):
1. Think about what you want your day to be like. This seems to me to be a good way to look at the big question from a practical perspective. Do I want to spend my days in an office or outdoors or some combination of the two? Do I want to spend my days working alone? I think answering these questions will help me analyze things from the bottom up.
2. Figure out what specific characteristics of a job I want, and those I don't want. This is another way of looking at the big question from a different perspective. I had been asking myself what jobs or career I might prefer, which now seems to me to skip over an important step in the analysis: what are the specific characteristics I like and do not like. After figure those out I can move on to looking for what has the characteristics I like.
I still don't have any answers, but I think I now have a better means of figuring them out.
June 4 miles: 335
Total miles to date: 2,346.1
Local time: 12:00 am
Back in Upstate New York. While I'm up here I'll see some friends and family, and that's about the extent of my plans at this point. One of the first things I've done is visit one of my undergraduate professors. Before becoming a professor he was a lawyer, and aside from wanting to catch up with him in general I wanted to talk to him about how he decided to be a professor coming from being a lawyer. I got some great advice from him. Two main points stuck out (I'm paraphrasing here):
1. Think about what you want your day to be like. This seems to me to be a good way to look at the big question from a practical perspective. Do I want to spend my days in an office or outdoors or some combination of the two? Do I want to spend my days working alone? I think answering these questions will help me analyze things from the bottom up.
2. Figure out what specific characteristics of a job I want, and those I don't want. This is another way of looking at the big question from a different perspective. I had been asking myself what jobs or career I might prefer, which now seems to me to skip over an important step in the analysis: what are the specific characteristics I like and do not like. After figure those out I can move on to looking for what has the characteristics I like.
I still don't have any answers, but I think I now have a better means of figuring them out.
June 4 miles: 335
Total miles to date: 2,346.1
Thursday, June 2, 2011
New York City part 2
Location: Manhattan, New York
Local time: 4:30 pm
Today I finally made it to The Cloisters (my enemy, the subway system, having prevented me from getting there on my first attempt). I expected this to be an interesting place so I made sure to bring my camera. Despite this shocking feat of planning and foresight, I managed to forget the memory card for said camera.
This is where I'd show pictures of my favorite things I saw there, knowing that pictures could do a better job than me trying to describe the things. My favorite parts of the collection were the illuminated manuscripts, most of which were over 500 years old. Marinate on that.
The other highlight of this little field trip out to the country (read: 190th Street) was Fort Tryon Park. The weather today was absolutely perfect, and the park was not even close to crowded. It was like something from a Norman Rockwell painting. I half expected to see kids playing marbles and rolling one of those hoops down the street with a stick. After some excellent soft serve ice cream, though, it was back to "where all the lights are bright": downtown.
Local time: 4:30 pm
Today I finally made it to The Cloisters (my enemy, the subway system, having prevented me from getting there on my first attempt). I expected this to be an interesting place so I made sure to bring my camera. Despite this shocking feat of planning and foresight, I managed to forget the memory card for said camera.
This is where I'd show pictures of my favorite things I saw there, knowing that pictures could do a better job than me trying to describe the things. My favorite parts of the collection were the illuminated manuscripts, most of which were over 500 years old. Marinate on that.
The other highlight of this little field trip out to the country (read: 190th Street) was Fort Tryon Park. The weather today was absolutely perfect, and the park was not even close to crowded. It was like something from a Norman Rockwell painting. I half expected to see kids playing marbles and rolling one of those hoops down the street with a stick. After some excellent soft serve ice cream, though, it was back to "where all the lights are bright": downtown.
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