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I Blogged Across America
You'll note that the last entry took place 10 days ago, about the time I entered northern New England. Internet access here is extremely difficult, unless you stay at one of the few large hotels or have a monthly landline service of some kind. So, the blog is a bit out of sync with my current activities.
In any case, I'm currently in Bar Harbor, Maine, and I think I'm going to spend a day or two in Acadia National Park. Then, I'll go further south. Or, if the weather is right, I might try Katahdin.
In any case, yesterday I visited both Eastport Maine and West Quoddy Head Maine. The first is the easternmost city in the U.S., and the latter is the easternmost town and home to the easternmost point in the U.S.
Therefore, I have officially (more or less) accomplished my mission, and I have Blogged Across America.
Everything from here on is going back.
Posted to BloggingAcrossAmerica at 06:01 AM | Comments (0)
Lonewacko has friends in high places
Sep. 19, 2003: Driving through Troy, I spotted the headquarters of the Tutunjian for Mayor campaign. Since I was having trouble finding the visitor's information center, and since I wanted to know where I could score some hummous, falafel, tahini, and all the other good things I had come to take for granted back in L.A., I stopped by.
I visibly winced when he said he was a Republican. Despite being a proud member of the VRWC, I'm uncomfortable meeting my fellow righties. I'd rather meet lefties, because a) the women are reportedly easier, and b) I enjoy baiting them. He also informed me that there aren't Zankous or Sevans in the Albany area. I concluded there are no large masses of Armenian women there either, so I moved on.
Posted to BloggingAcrossAmerica at 05:56 AM | Comments (0)
Albany/Troy/Schenectady
Sep. 19, 2003: Albany is semi-OK, for a capital city that few go to unless they've got governance on their minds. It has some high-crime areas, and it also has an interesting area where I was able to buy two very greasy slices from a shop obviously owned by a devout Muslim at around 10pm. His enburkaed wife helped out, and he had a few posters praising Allah on the walls. It's too bad he wasn't selling falafel or hummous, but the pizza wasn't that bad. Unlike many of the other areas Lonewacko has visited on his journeys, the area seemed to have a little bit of life, even though it seemed to degenerate not too far down the street. Unfortunately, Lonewacko doesn't know exactly where in Albany it is. The next day, I paid a visit to Troy, which despite having some nice old buildings had apparently been allowed to rot during the past few decades. There doesn't appear to be any old WASP money in the area, just local burghers. Schenectady is the home of GE and a company town.
Posted to BloggingAcrossAmerica at 05:49 AM | Comments (0)
Getting across Pennsylvania
Sep. 18, 2003: I wanted to get to New England as quickly as possible, because I'd dawdled a bit in the towns in Illinois and elsewhere. On the way out of Bedford, I briefly stopped at the Tourist Bureau, but they were a bit parochial and didn't really have anything of interest. The Whisky Rebellion taking place there seemed to be the most well-known attraction. I briefly stopped outside Harrisburg. I passed the Hershey Highway. I'll leave that to prop comics, I'm much higher-brow. I passed the Mike Piazza International Birthplace Shrine. Then, I briefly stopped in Wilkes-Barre and watched the local cops investigate a punching incident. W-B has a Hummer dealership, so someone's doing OK. But, it looked like a bit of a dump, and the three-block-long downtown section wasn't of interest. On to NY, where I stopped at the helpful Tourist Bureau just over the border and south of Binghampton on the 81. On to Albany, passing by the National Soccer Hall of Fame in Oneonta. No communism for me, thanks.
Posted to BloggingAcrossAmerica at 05:45 AM | Comments (0)
"Susan Poulin to present 'Franco Fry' at UMFK's Fox Auditorium October 5"
Fort Kent - On Sunday, October 5, 2003, actress-playwright Susan Poulin will present her critically acclaimed one-woman play 'Franco Fry (Or, Pardon My French!)' in a 1:00 p.m. matinee performance at UMFK's Fox Auditorium.
In 'Franco Fry,' native Mainer and Franco-American Poulin recounts her sometimes humorous, sometimes treacherous journey to reconnect with her Franco-American heritage and the French language. The play is presented in English, with occasional journeys into French.
Poulin, born in Jackman, spoke French until she was 3 years old. But after the family moved to southern Maine, they melted into the mainstream American culture of the 1950s and 60s.
When Poulin became an adult, she felt an 'ache' inside...
Posted to BloggingAcrossAmerica at 07:33 PM | Comments (0)
Vers le nord avec Lonewacko
[All the other posts here are in English./Tous les autres posts ici sont en Anglais.]
"Ou sont les communities francophones?" j'ai inquirie de un few peuple a les bureaux touristiques et elsewhere. Oui, bien sur, j'ai wanted to brush up on my French. En Los Angeles, est no problem de trouver lieux ou on peut ecouter Spanish, j'ai wanted the meme chose en Maine. Selon de ceci, en quelque areas, presque de 70% des gens parlant francais chez soi. Ou sont les francophones? Mais oui, je veux seulement parler francais, lire francais, et ecouter francais. Oui, bien sur.
Le plupart de les communities sont en Maine presque de Quebec: Fort Kent, Ste. Agathe, Frenchville, i.t.d.
Alors, avec l'amitie interethnique dans mi corazon and un grosse lump dans mes pantalones, je m'est conduici vers le nord.
Unfortunately, the wonderland of Natalie Merchants dansant avec les pieds or autres nus was not to be found. Les gens la sont fermeurs, et les villes sont petites. Lonewacko a besoin de beaucoup et mas beaucoup de femmes, Lonewacko a besoin de milles et milles de candidates parce que Lonewacko has enough problems. Lonewacko a besoin d'un infrastructure. Il n'y a pas ni Barnes et Nobles ni 99 Cents Only Store. What am I going to do, hang out at the Feed and Seed? It's not like Lonewacko est going to get lucky donne un si petite numero de candidates.
Posted to BloggingAcrossAmerica at 06:58 PM | Comments (0)
Maine?
I'm in Maine.
Maine?
The Lonewacko has heretofore known very little about Maine, mostly out of disinterest. It was all the way at the other end of the country after all. Wasn't it really actually part of Canada anyway? Lonewacko was apparently out of the loop, because not only do people live here, they apparently come here (in the summer) in droves. For some strange reason, that point is taking a long time to sink into my brain. There are actually other people here, it's not just trees and moose.
On the way up, I made a list of the things I knew about Maine:
- Steven King
- Katahdin
- Acadia National Park
- lobsters, trees, and water
- really bad weather
- the pant-suited, man-hating Jessica Fletcher
- L.L. Bean
- it's where the Bushes go on their summer vacations
I'll be here for a few days, then I'm heading south. I'll also try to post about what happened between Bedford PA and here now or within a few days. Meanwhile, enjoy this Maine overview.
Posted to BloggingAcrossAmerica at 07:01 PM | Comments (3)
I have to go back to Mt. Davis?
BEDFORD, PA - Pictured above are, from the top:
- the view from Spruce Knob, the highest point in West Virginia
- Seneca Rocks, WV
- the smallest church in the U.S., near Silver Lake, MD
- the WV/MD border marker near the highest point in Maryland, Backbone Mountain
- Mt. Davis, the highest point in PA.
I dawdled a good bit in WV, so I didn't get to Mt. Davis until it was turning dark, and it was night by the time I got to the top. Unfortunately, I didn't find the absolute highest point, which, according to a gas station attendant, is on the top of a 6' high rock. Of course, I asked where it was after I got down. So, while I walked around the observation tower a bit, I might not have got the actual highpoint. It was pretty dark up there after all.
I'll have a more detailed trip report later, including commenbts on West Virginia, but while I'm thinking about it, the coordinates of the parking area for Backbone Mountain are approximately 39N 14' 49.1" by 79W 29' 33.6". The starting elevation is about 2730', making the actual hike up about 650' of elevation gain and not 750'. If, of course, my GPS was accurate.
Posted to BloggingAcrossAmerica at 09:15 PM | Comments (0)
West Virginia: "It's not as bad as you feared"
Yes, that's right, I've made it all the way to Elkins, West Virginia. Why, I'm almost to the East Coast.
Regarding WV, put your preconceptions aside. I've been here already six hours, and I've not once been "jacked," robbed, marked as a tourist city slicker and tailed by toothless mountain folk in a '42 Ford pickup and run off the road, nor any other bad things. The people are generally friendly, and, despite driving in on the Robert C. Byrd Highway (D-WV), I haven't had to use my snood nor my papal denunciation even once.
Tomorrow, I'm going to go check out Seneca Rocks, and I might stay overnight if I intend to climb it. Or, I might just check it out and then get the highpoints of WV, MD, and PA, and then continue moving north. Blogging will be light, as the room I'm staying in doesn't even have three-prong outlets, and I'm paying extra to connect to my ISP through their 800 number.
Posted to BloggingAcrossAmerica at 05:42 PM | Comments (0)
I'm the king of the flatland summits
Earlier today I bagged the highpoints of Indiana (1257') and Ohio (1550'). The tent area of the KOA Kampground where I stayed yesterday was nestled between a nice little pond and the ever-present noise of I70. So, I didn't get much sleep and I didn't feel up to going for a third, fourth, or even fifth in the same day. In actual fact, I don't think it would be possible to get the highpoints of PA, MD, and WV all in the same day unless you started at the Indiana highpoint at midnight.
I was very glad to get out of Indiana, and it's unfortunate that I just drove across Ohio without exploring it in more depth. The personalities of those I met seemed to change for the better once over the border, and the women, while not as outdoors fitness-oriented as those in Indy, were consequently more overall attractive. I was also heartened by the appearance of hills as I went east; Zanesville looked like an interesting small city worth a future visit should I be in the area.
I'm also happy to report that Wal*Mart is not the fearsome competitor some think them to be. According to a few employees of a superstore in Richland, IN and a secretary in Bellefontaine OH, Wal*Mart isn't trying to cut off the air supply of the more local merchants. Hooray for Wal*Mart!
Posted to BloggingAcrossAmerica at 05:27 PM | Comments (1)
One circle, and a lot of holes
INDIANAPOLIS - "Indy," a.k.a. "The Circle City," looks OK for a flat midwestern town. But, if it's the 11th largest city in the U.S., we're in trouble. The per capita asshole population here seems to be greater than most other places I've visited on my tour.
The downtown area is small but looked semi-attractive. There seemed to be many joggers present, and the population appears to be more oriented towards outdoors recreation than elsewhere in the Midwest. That's perhaps explained by this being where the graduates of one of Indiana's "universities" go. In addition to young urban bumpkins and the indigenous population, it also seems to be a favorite getaway for yokels from neighboring states.
My impressions of Indy weren't helped by me getting kicked out of three different places. I was escorted out of the Centre mall because, even though I wasn't riding it, I had my bike with me. I wandered into one of their "museums" through an open, main entrance that had no sign about the museum being closed, yet I was asked to leave because it's closed on Monday. I later walked through an open door at the Indy zoo, and it turned out I wasn't welcome there either.
On the plus side, the city has several canals with bikeways that criss-cross the city, and it would appear to be fairly bike-friendly. While the canals aren't as wide and deep as the wonderful L.A. River, they also don't appear to be clogged with garbage and covered with graffitt.
But, overall, I'd rate this place as a dump, and my only regret is that doing a proper hit piece on it would require spending both time and money here.
Posted to BloggingAcrossAmerica at 03:52 PM | Comments (1)
"Flyers are a Cacophonist's best friend"
INDIANA - So, I was trying to find guest bloggers by standing out in front of Cosi's cafe on Michigan in Chicago. I was holding up a sign that said "Free Blogathon." Almost immediately after setting up, I found what would be my single guest blogger. The rest of the people either worked hard to ignore me, or read the sign and then either smiled or looked at me funny. In any case, they kept walking. Occasionally I would try to quickly explain what I was after, but that didn't help. No one else even asked what was going on. That was even after I added a novel-length explanation to the other side of my sign: "Post your thoughts to my website. LIVE & FREE"
Certainly, many of these people were tourists - foreigners even - yet I think this also reflects badly to some extent on Chicagoans. In any fairly busy part of L.A., I would have been swamped with people at least trying to find out what "blogging" is. But, I guess that's why they live in Chicago and not California.
If there is a next time, I think I should print out some flyers explaining what's going on. Perhaps "Can I interview you for my Internet website?" might be a good tagline.
Posted to BloggingAcrossAmerica at 07:22 PM | Comments (1)
Blogging live from Chicago
My first guest blogger is Doug, who took his baby for her first trip to the Art Institute, and "she's glad to be born in the year of the second Cubs/White Sox World Series." Also, "She's doing everything she can to overturn the Bush coup."
UPDATE: Other than Doug, the rods up these peoples' butts have rods up their butts. Things like this would never happen in L.A. First of all, they'd know what a blog is. Second, they'd actually come over and guest blog.
I'm going to make a quick trip to Mother Hubbard's at 5 W. Hubbard St., then I'm out of here.
UPDATE 2: I'm in Indiana, see the next entry.
Posted to BloggingAcrossAmerica at 10:53 AM | Comments (0)
Chicago
I drove into the Chicago ourskirts on Thursday night, and Friday I went into the city. I started in the Loop, and then I went to a nearby area to visit a couple places that I vaguely remember from many, many years ago. Friday was quite an emotionally difficult day for me, and I still haven't quite got over it. One of the places I visited has been shuttered for a couple years, and will probably be demolished. The other, assuming I have the address correct, has been replaced with a school building. Visiting these places fills me with an intense sense of regret and other emotions that I'd rather just forcibly repress and lock inside.
But, enough of the maudlin Lonewacko, and back to the wacky insouciance that I use to mask the intense pain I feel every moment of every day.
I'm going to try blogging live from the Loop tomorrow. I'll set up the laptop, connect to a WiFi access point, and then invite passersby to guest blog, letting strangers write entries in this very space. If they're willing, I'll also post their pictures here. All live.
I'll first try this at the Cosi cafe at 116 S. Michigan at around noon or 1pm Central time, and if that doesn't work out I'll try a bar named Mother Hubbard's at 5 W. Hubbard. I'm awaiting manager approval on Cosi's, and I haven't even asked Mother Hubbard's yet. So, it might have to wait for another city.
UPDATE: I don't think he knows exactly what he's getting into, but EJ at Cosi just approved my request, so I'll be at the S. Michigan location between about 1 and 2pm on Sunday 9/14/03. When I'm asked to leave, I'll ask Mother Hubbard's if I can do it there. Then it's on to Indiana.
Posted to BloggingAcrossAmerica at 11:32 PM | Comments (0)
Starved Rock State Park
Pictured above is French Canyon, at Starved Rock State Park about 80 miles west of Chicago. There are several small canyons about 50-100' deep, and all the trails on the tops of the canyons are actually board walks with handrails. Which, to a certain extent makes sense as there are a few direct vertical drops from the tops to the canyon below. However, somehow I don't think something with so many handrails should even be called a park; perhaps an arboretum would be a better term.
Posted to BloggingAcrossAmerica at 11:24 PM | Comments (5)
Everything's normal in Normal, IL
Normal, Illinois is a smallish town coalesced with Bloomington, Illinois into Siamese twins of unrelenting Midwestern normalness. According to a local source (a hot little Gidget type who despite having received a Lonewacko: Blogging Across America card has not corresponded with me), the students at Illinois State University are quite an abnormal lot. A couple of them ride unicycles on the quad, and there are occasional SCA meetings behind the tennis courts.
Surely, there must be something more abnormal in Normal. My search brightened when I was directed to the three or four block older downtown section, home of a comic book store, various studenty type stores, as well as what is surely a Normal landmark, Mother Murphy's.
I've stepped back into a few 60s/70s flashback places (for instance, the Empowerment Project's old location in Santa Monica), but Mother Murphy's takes the prize. It's a head shop/record store that still proudly features an autographed photo of Tiny Tim back from when he performed there. It was just me and the two workers there in this second floor walk-up store, and I was already planning my escape routes in case they thought I was a narc because I was asking all these strange questions. Not to worry. They were both natives of Normal, and I wasn't the first person who had noticed the town's name. "Each year, five thousand students gather here and make fun of our town's name." While there, I also picked up a copy of the Post Amerikan, a "humanist" 10 page rag whose content can be guessed but not equaled by a satirical treatment. Perhaps I'll post one of the poems here in a later post.
The comic book store guys told me about a couple of the abnormal residents of Normal, including an 80-year-old prostitute and a drunk who thinks he's a sportswriter. However, they indicated that most of the abnormal people live in Bloomington.
According to Steven Westerdahl of Normal's Community Development/Downtown Renewal Department (pictured above holding a Lonewacko business card) the only thing abnormal about Normal is "efficient local government." I'll leave it at that.
P.S. Two of the reasons I stopped in Bloomington were a) Boingo indicates that they have a WiFi access point there, and b) to climb a silo.
As for a), the WiFi access point was non-operational. I'm very disappointed with Boingo, and I'll have more to say about that in a future post.
As for the silo, I had called ahead to the climbing gym asking if the owners (who are based in AR, not IL) would waive the fee in exchange for being reviewed here. When I got there, I learned that my application had been rejected.
The gym offers three things that are of interest: climbing inside a 60' silo, climbing a 100' outdoor wall, and rappeling 120' from the top of the building. Those all sounded interesting, but the rappel alone would cost me $50 plus, and doing all three would cost near $100. I took a look at the silo, and it seemed a lot more interesting on paper than in person. I watched someone climb to the top, and it would have been fun to do, but it was also a sweaty, claustrophobic environment. I decided to hold off.
P.P.S. The gym was the first place I stopped when coming into town. I entered via what I guess is the old route. The lady at the gas station, while nice, was a bit more like someone who would have been a nice biker chick from West Virginia. That's an unkind characterization, I'll think of a better one later. The neighborhood I passed through was a bit decrepit and semi-rural, much like I guess one would find where the silos are. It didn't look like the kind of place that would have its own climbing gym. I asked one of the workers there whether there were any "town and gown" conflicts. He didn't know what I meant, and he'd never seen An Officer and a Gentleman either. Once explained, he hadn't noticed any. But, as alluded to above by the gents from Mother Murphy's, apparently there are some. The Siamese twin towns became more of a bustling mini-metropolis as I went further north and east, and I could see how it could sustain a climbing gym.
P.P.P.S. While in Normal/Bloomington, my seat belt buckle failed, causing the latch to never stay in the buckle. I went to the Jeep dealership there, who didn't have the buckle in stock. So, I went to the Autozone and bought the special bit needed to get the buckle off, and I switched the buckles there in the Autozone parking lot. For a brief moment, I was living the normal, everyday life in Normal, Illinois.
Posted to BloggingAcrossAmerica at 10:38 PM | Comments (1)
Shea's
My interview and pictures at Joe Shea's Route 66 museum can't do it justice, and it's already been covered many times. In his former service station he's collected various Route 66 memorabilia. He showed me various articles that U.S. and overseas newspapers had written about him, including one from the 2/17/02 LAT. His register contains the names of several people a day who come there, including many from Germany, Japan, and other faraway lands.
"Lots of good looking women from Brazil..." I said as he showed me where his some of his visitors came from. "They were mostly men. And here's one from Panama. She was a petite little pharmacist."
The idea of a petite little Latina farmacista sounded real good to me, but he thought she'd already moved on.
On the way out of town, a legal secretary/weathergirl/real estate agent type of blonde in a white Miata let me cut in front of her. Since Denver, I really haven't seen too many good looking women and, while she wasn't exactly my type, she did have a pretty face. Made even prettier by the fact that she was looking at me with a welcoming look. Or, at least it was curiosity or something. Like, she was wondering why I hadn't removed the cicadas stuck in my radiator.
Posted to BloggingAcrossAmerica at 10:52 PM | Comments (0)
Looking for weird
While touring the Lincoln House, I noticed that a reporter and his cameraman were outside shooting. It turned out to be Jerry Lambert, News Anchor of Springfield's NBC affiliate News Channel 20. They were there to interview an NPS official about funding for the Lincoln exhibits.
"What are the main local stories? Controversies?"
"The main story is probably the budget..."
"Is there anything weirder, more controversial but not like that? You know, like weird."
"Well, there's a case involving racism in the police department..."
"No, I mean, weird. Light, not heavy. Like, who's the weirdest person in town?"
He mentioned a local political extremist wacko who's always running for office and goes to school board meetings. The image of interviewing the Melrose Larry Green of Springfield Illinois and giving him a forum for his 2000 word screed here flew threw my mind.
Unfortunately, they didn't know how to get in touch with him.
Another possibility was a black guy who runs a pirate radio station with a mix of music and politics. He sounded interesting too, but they didn't have any beta on him either.
As a backup, he suggested I check out the Lincoln Colored Home, which was one of the first orphanages for African-American girls. And, he and his cameraman raved about the Route 66 museum, which I had never heard of...
Posted to BloggingAcrossAmerica at 10:46 PM | Comments (0)
The Land of Lincoln
Pictures from Lincoln's house in Springfield IL. That's the actual desk he used, not a replica. Which is kinda trippy when you hold up the ranger's tour thinking about it. As the ranger stated, the stereopticon shown in the middle picture was their version of the Internet. Making me kinda like one of the guys who made strange stereopticon drawings.
Posted to BloggingAcrossAmerica at 10:41 PM | Comments (0)
I couldn't get across Missouri fast enough
Unfortunately, I had to spend a night there. Like working through sedimentary layers, MO gets down and dirty and pretty darn close to the unreconstructed hickdom frequently visible elsewhere in the midwest. The greenery and water is certainly attractive, and one can almost imagine Huck and Tom around the next bend. However, it's also home to things like the Ozarkland gift shop. I briefly stopped in Rocheport and saw one of the upper layers. That's home to a terminus on the Katy Trail, a "Rails to Trails" 250+ mile bike path running through MO. It featured an upper-scale restaurant with a few families and older folks munching on crabs. However, I didn't want to disturb anyone's dinner in search of a Greenspunian moment.
In Columbia, I stopped at the Alpine Shop and briefly spoke with their manager, Paul Lowry. Missouri is the Cave State, and I wanted to have a caving adventure. However, while both the Alpine Shop and the state of MO conduct tours of one of the more interesting caves in the area, the Devil's Icebox, the tours have to be scheduled in advance and there wasn't time. He suggested I check out the Graham Cave, Onondaga, and Meramec State Parks. I only had time for the first, which was OK, but it's mainly just an overhang. Meramec, despite being a paved tourist path, sounds interesting. Maybe on the way back I'll be able to do some of the caves.
Anyway, I got to St. Louis, dropped the bike, and took a tour of the downtown area. I took a few pictures of the arch but, other than that, St. Louis didn't exactly light my fire. I'd driven by the International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame but, like other things hereabouts, I assumed that it had already closed at 5pm so I didn't even bother.
Posted to BloggingAcrossAmerica at 10:31 PM | Comments (1)
No thanks, I already have one
Apparently, regional English in the eastern Colorado and Kansas areas dictates that one must say "Do you want a sack?" when one is, in fact, offering a "bag." Chicago seems to be using the correct "bag."
Posted to BloggingAcrossAmerica at 10:23 PM | Comments (0)
The Pork Belt
The next morning, I decided to go check out KC. By this time, I had asked several of the fine residents of the eastern suburbs about this West Port. "All manner of weirdos go there" was the common refrain.
In search of my fellow weirdos, I decided to check it out. It certainly didn't look like Times Square to me, more like your standard artsy area inhabited by weirdos like me, but the kind who think twice about jaywalking.
While the area directly south of I70 (down the street to the west of McGee) was pretty rundown and desolate, when I got to around 40th street the area looked pretty good. Nice old brick apartment buildings with green areas. Most of the ones to the south were restored, but most of the ones to the north were in various stages of disrepair.
Many buildings were advertising lofts for rent, however, there appeared to be many more lofts than people who could ever inhabit them. I later drove around the desolate area looking for good shots. I thought I took some, but I can't find them now. However, from a photographic perspective if from no other, KC looks pretty interesting. In the words of an interviewee who asked that their shop remain nameless, "KC is known for its BBQ and its Chiefs. And, somewhat for its jazz. It's a dying city." I asked them about West Port's evil reputation, and how it compares to Hollywood or Berkeley. They told me there was no comparison, "it is the Midwest after all." Because most of the students in KC are there going to med school, they don't have time for Berkeley-style amusements.
On my way out of town, I took the elevator to the top of the Liberty monument which, at just $2, is a good value. The shots above are of the monument and the view looking toward Union Station in the foreground and downtown KC in the background.
Posted to BloggingAcrossAmerica at 10:21 PM | Comments (0)
Converging on Greenspunness
The reader has, no doubt, heard of Philip Greenspun, author of the famous web journal Travels with Samantha. Basically, his dog dies, so he drives across America and Canada, chatting up and taking pictures of pretty women. The Lonewacko Blogging Across America tour is simply following in his giant footsteps across this great land. Tonight, in Independence MO, I finally had my first near-Greenspunian moment of the tour.
There are several Motel 6s in KC; rather than staying in an urban location and perhaps ending up in an area I didn't want to be in, I decided to go east to a more truck stoppy location. I stopped at one of the local fast food restaurants on the way. This restaurant is known by one name in Cali and another name hereabouts. I asked one of the workers, a pretty young blonde, about it, and she quickly rattled off various statistics about who bought whom when and what happened. "It's sad I know that."
It turns out she's going for her MBA, and she's a computer administration expert who, when she had gone back to the town she was from, had helped rid their computers from virii. She hadn't worked at that chain for a year, as she had started in a management training program at another chain. Originally, the second chain had been cool with her studies, but had soon started demanding that she work more and more time. Eventually, she quit and came back.
I eventually asked her where the "artsy" area was. She couldn't think of one, other than suggesting that there was a comedy club there. There might have been some confused over whether I meant "there" to be Independence or the whole KC area. However, she also mentioned an area called "West Port" in KC. She knew someone who'd been carjacked twice there. "Should I ride my bike through there?" "No" came the response. The other workers had no idea either, as they had no time nor interest in such things.
If not for the lack of various details, this was truly a Greenspunian moment. Those details include: getting a picture, getting a name, getting a phone number, giving a drive, etc. etc.
I did, however, go back the next day and, while she wasn't there then, at least I got her name.
Posted to BloggingAcrossAmerica at 10:19 PM | Comments (0)
Lawrence
I briefly stopped in Lawrence KS, home of the University of Kansas, in order to take the picture for this post. I didn't like it too much. Kind of like Berkeley (or, more accurately, Westwood) but with the population replaced with farm boys and girls who, come Saturday night, do there what they used to do in their smaller towns: drive up and down Main Street. On to Kansas City.
Posted to BloggingAcrossAmerica at 10:15 PM | Comments (0)
I embarrass myself in front of the Hubbards
After the Eisenhower Museum, I decided to get a few "confluences." Confluences are the points where even latitude and longitude lines meet, for instance 97W/39N, 98W/39N, and 99W/39N. Those were all on my flight path and just a few miles from I70. The first is located near Chapman, north of the freeway. I soon found it after a bit of dirt road driving about 100' SE of 2800 and Sage. It was in a planted field and no one was around. For a few reasons I decided to ask permission first. An older gentleman at a gas station off the freeway suggested I ask at the realtors in town. He wasn't around, but at the nearby hardware store they helpfully looked up the plat map and told me that Mrs. Meyer was the owner. Unfortunately, she wasn't at home, so I kept driving. (It gets slightly more interesting, just you wait.)
98W/39N is located near Keene, but the offramps were closed for construction forcing me to double back. After several miles of dirt roads, I found it about a half a mile from any road. I stopped at the house for the owners of this large plot of land, the Hubbards, and asked their permission. They had no idea they had a confluence on their property, so apparently I'm the only one who bothered to ask permission first. Anyhoo, they gave me permission, and I went through a few gates on their property. The gates were there because of steers (I guess that's what they were), and the steers quickly retreated on my approach. They congregated on a rise a few hundred feet from my path, and they didn't appear like they were about to charge. Nevertheless, I kept a very watchful eye on them. I was still a distance from the confluence when I decided that the steers could reach me before I could jump one of the fences. I'm not about to get stampeded just to take a picture of my GPS.
So, I went back to the Hubbards' and said I'd try it from the north. I was able to jump their barbed wire fence at a low point, go through some scrub and through a muddy creek before I came to another barbed wire fence. At this point, I could have looked for another jumpable point, but I was worried about having left my car back in the road, so I turned around again.
So, back to the Hubbards'. "If you get any people here again who want to go to the confluence, please don't tell them I was here." I didn't give them one of my "Lonewacko: Blogging Across America" cards, and I only gave my first name. I asked if I could come back and try again, and they said OK. I mean, it's not that big of a failure, and if not for the steers and the fences I could have jogged there and back. Let my embarrasment be your trip planning. Since it was nearing dark, I decided not to try for 99W/39N.
By the way, Mrs. Hubbard apparently is a licensed massage therapist as well as a seller of things Amway if you're in the area.
Posted to BloggingAcrossAmerica at 10:14 PM | Comments (0)
On the trail of Doris Kearns Goodwin
The Eisenhower Museum in Abilene KS has a museum and a library, as well as Ike and Mamie's tomb. A few plaques in the museum deal with Senator Joe McCarthy, and not in a way that Ann Coulter would find to her liking. While the museum has interesting historical artifacts, including various cables between Ike and others, it doesn't go into too much depth about any one subject. Only one plaque mentions in passing his warning about the military-industrial complex.
For that, you'd need to speak to an archivist or (even) one of the many visiting historians. Unfortunately, the archivists were off because it was a Saturday, and none of the famous historians were likewise to be found.
On my way out of town, I stopped at one of the more upscale hotels in the area, and asked if they'd had any famous historians sightings. The gentleman behind the counter - who unfortunately but kindly refused my request for a photograph - couldn't name any famous historians he'd seen. Marlin Fitzwater is from the area, but he hadn't stayed there. Neither had Arthur Schlesinger Jr., but he might have stayed at one of the more upscale hotels in the area. Like Gwen Ifell, I began naming TV historians: Michael Beschloss? Steven Ambrose? Doris Kearns Goodwin? None of those names rang a bell, but he did mention that most of their historian traffic is one or two tiers down, being mere college professors or students. Those didn't interest me.
Posted to BloggingAcrossAmerica at 10:04 PM | Comments (0)
Would Huell Howser do this?
If Huell and Luis were driving around Salina KS taking a quick tour of the town, and they spotted a store selling gothic and fetish clothing, would they go in and feature it on the hypothetical Kansas Gold show? I think not.
What exactly is a gothic and fetish clothing store doing in the middle of Kansas anyway? I don't know, but apparently it's currently the only one in Kansas. It's called The Other Side, and it's located at 1056 East Pacific (corner of Pacific & Ohio). Pictured above, from left, are John, the proprietor of the store, together with two other visitors, "Magdalena," and Jim Penquite.
Magdalena is based in White City KS and makes holographic displays, such as the one on the table which is not visible because of the lighting.
Jim Penquite makes ornamental birdhouses and other yard art. I shot the photo above at Celestial Ironworks in Lawrence KS, and I believe that's one of his pieces. He can be contacted through them and his items can be bought through geezer.com. Here's an interview with him.
UPDATE: The previous address given was just the mailing address. As pointed out in the comments, the address above is the actual location.
Posted to BloggingAcrossAmerica at 09:50 AM | Comments (4)
I drove 2000 fucking miles for this?
SPRINGFIELD, ILL. - I recently posted to the Chicago Bloggers Yahoo group, saying that I'd be there soon and asking if anyone would like to meet me and do things.
In response, I received one helpful private reply, and two less than helpful replies to the list.
"Jeff" writes: "Why is that I'm not charmed by a stranger who tells me he's coming into my town in 48 hours and then provides me with a list of suitable ways to entertain him?... at least go through some of the motions of gentility and decorum? Maybe say we have a nice group... he'd sure like to meet us... sorry for the late notice... ?... the ChicagoBloggers are more or less a group of friends... not the Blog Chamber of Commerce... And that list thing... sheesh."
Someone else writes: "Demands will get you nowhere, politeness will, at least get your e-mail read and maybe kept and considered instead of being trashed after being briefly scanned."
Messages received.
I'm sorry to be brusque, it's just that I've been living in L.A. for many years, and sometimes we cut corners with the niceties a bit and get right to the point. I realize I'm now in the Midwest, and I need to adjust myself to a different way of doing things. Plus, I've been spending a lot of time driving, and that means that my 'net time has been greatly reduced. If I'd had more time, I most likely would have been able to put more thought into my message.
As for the list, it wasn't really a list of demands. While it includes some of the things I'm interested in (but certainly by no means all), it wasn't meant as a list of the ways that I could be entertained. It was meant as a starting point to see if there was some commonality between what I'm interested in and what the receiving bloggers would be interested in. I'm certainly willing to be interested in what you're interested in, as long as I can finally meet some fellow bloggers on my tour. And, to be frank, I was hoping they'd be Chicago bloggers. While some Angelenos might have a negative opinion of Chicagoans, I don't. In fact, I spent a few years there. I realize it's a lot different from the glitz, glamour, stars, mansions, near-constant sunshine, culture, beaches, and frequently snowy mountains of L.A., but it certainly has its own charms, and I was hoping to experience those charms again accompanied by my peers. Although there might be thousands of miles separating us, when I was blogging away back in L.A., I always knew I was part of the worldwide blogosphere, and that blogging connected me with all the other bloggers out there.
I want to stress that I bear both gentlemen quoted above no ill will. I visited both their blogs, and I found them quite interesting. I apologize again, and peace out.
(Special note to John of THE OTHER SIDE in Salina, Kansas: As you can see, I'm trying to blog in geographic order and I'm over 500 miles behind. But, your report will be posted next.)
Posted to BloggingAcrossAmerica at 09:49 PM | Comments (11)
Cathedral of the Plains
Located in Victoria, KS. Here's their homepage, and here's some pictures from inside. There wasn't anyone there, and I foolishly assumed the doors would be locked, so I didn't even try to see the inside.
Posted to BloggingAcrossAmerica at 07:44 AM | Comments (1)
Ranking the western Kansas roadside attractions
1. The High Plains Museum in Goodland:
The High Plains Museum is small in size, but it's larger in spirit. It features your standard exhibits about prairie life, antiques, etc. Plus, it has a few dinosaur and mastodon exhibits. All is not sweetness and light; the mannequins gave me the creeps.
However, as pictured above, it's main claim to fame is having the first working helicopter. The helicopter has a secret feature that I thought was super neat. You'll just have to go there to find out what it is.
2. The Prairie Museum of Art and History:
Larger and slicker than the High Plains Museum, this museum features a house, a church, a school, a barn, and a couple other buildings that were moved to the site. The inside part features a doll collection. As at the other museum, their mannequins gave me the creeps, but the dolls were even worse. They also do not have a helicopter.
3. Prairie Dog Town:
Last and definitely least, PDT has been featured in several quirky-roadside-attractions books and shows. It's a dumpy, depressing hell hole, and all I wish is that I didn't catch any diseases from walking amongst the prairie dogs.
After seeing the roadside signs for 50 miles, I was expecting something akin to one of those Wild Safari places, where you at least drive through a gate. Instead, PDT was based in a ramshackle building that reminded me of Colorado Auto Parts in beautiful Lennox, CA. I said to the lady behind the counter: "How much is it? Oh, hmmm, $5.95. Hmmm..." as I began my internal debate on whether I really wanted to see a six-legged cow and a five-legged steer. "Hmmm..." I continued my internal debate.
Soon a shill arrived and stated how this was her third or fourth trip here, and how much she enjoyed it.
"Let me put it this way," said the lady behind the counter, "the only way we can pay to feed the animals is through your admission fee."
Well, that's all it took to sell me. "You mean, if I don't buy a ticket, the animals will starve? OK, give me two tickets."
All thoughts of buyer's remorse soon faded when I stepped past the counter and saw a wood cage full of rattle snakes (most lost in deep, deep slumber). "Is it OK if I kick the cage?" I said jokingly.
"I'll do you one better," counter-lady said and began scraping across the chicken wire on top of the cage with a board. That brought the snakes to life, but to get an even greater effect she stuck the board in the cage, causing one of the rattlers to try to strike it. Too bad they were just diamondbacks and not mojaves.
The outside area of PDT is about .5 acre of unhappy animals, some free, some caged. It's not like they're wallowing in their own filth or something, but it's not the San Diego Zoo by any stretch of Larry Farmer's imagination.
Larry is the owner of PDT, and I met him after my tour. I took a few pictures of him with my "Lonewacko: Blogging Across America" card, but he wants a release before I could publish them on the web. How's this: I won't publish any of the pics I took there. As much as I hate PETA, if I had to choose I'd probably rather have given them my $5.95.
Plus, PDT does not have a helicopter.
Posted to BloggingAcrossAmerica at 09:08 PM | Comments (1)
A sign of better times
A closed gas station in western Kansas.
Posted to BloggingAcrossAmerica at 08:16 PM | Comments (0)
Scaling Mount Sunflower
These are pictures from Mt. Sunflower, the highest point in Kansas. In actual fact, no technical skills or equipment are required to reach the summit other than about 42 miles of dirt road driving and a 10 foot walk.
Most "highpointers" - those who try to reach the highest point in each of the fifty states - are Wacky Like Me. Case in point.
To duplicate my feat, simply take the dirt road that starts at the Kanorado exit of the 70 south about 15 miles. It jogs once for about 1/8 of a mile, but stay on the southbound route after the jog. Then, you'll see a sign saying that Sunflower is 6 miles ahead. After about 5 miles, turn right and look for the U.S. flag. For more information, see this page.
This makes my fourth state highpoint, after MA, CT, and RI. My strategy is to start with the absurdly easy ones first and work up from there. I do, however, have about 15 California county highpoints, some of which are not just walk-ups.
Posted to BloggingAcrossAmerica at 08:59 PM | Comments (2)
My trip up the Third Flatiron
That's a picture of me climbing the Third Flatiron outside Boulder, CO earlier today. This was my first multi-pitch route.
Here's more information on the route and a picture of the Third Flatiron, and here's a picture from winter. More later, now it's on to KS.
Posted to BloggingAcrossAmerica at 04:57 PM | Comments (0)
Pictures from Rocky Mountain National Park
I'll post higher res pictures later.
Posted to BloggingAcrossAmerica at 07:39 PM | Comments (1)
The Lonewacko Blog is now available in Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico
All at the same time that is. This picture was taken at the Four Corners monument where those states meet.
Posted to BloggingAcrossAmerica at 08:22 AM | Comments (0)
Downtown Denver
I briefly visited the LoDo area, and it didn't appear too very bohemian to me. I'd imagine the rents there are outside the capabilities of most starving Denver artists.
Posted to BloggingAcrossAmerica at 08:18 AM | Comments (0)
Smart computers for smart people
A shot taken at the Apple Store at the Cherry Creek Mall in Denver last night. I used their WiFi connection to upload the pics for the previous post. The posters shown rotate and depict voice chat conversations.
As this picture shows, if someone is wearing Smart Glasses, they are no doubt a Mac user.
Posted to WackyHumor at 08:09 AM | Comments (0)
Pictures from Zion and Bryce
Pictures from Zion and Bryce National Parks are here. More pictures later.
Posted to BloggingAcrossAmerica at 08:02 PM | Comments (0)
Lonewacko: blogging live from Denver
The Lonewacko Blogging Across America tour continues, and I'm now in Denver.
It took a bit more time than expected because I was driving aimlessly back and forth through UT, AZ, and the southwestern part of CO, including visiting several national and state parks. I'll post pictures later.
However, I'm now 1/3 of the way across the country. I'm going to Rocky Mountain National Park tomorrow or the next day, then it's on to Kansas, Kansas City, St. Louis, Chicago, and points east.
I also haven't promoted the tour as much as I should have, but hopefully that will change. If you want to meet me, leave a comment here with a valid email address.
Posted to BloggingAcrossAmerica at 12:25 PM | Comments (1)
