right on bro!

Yesterday I went to buy an Xbox, but found out there’s an Xbox shortage. Went to four stores and they were all sold out, except for a hamshack in Glendale that was selling a wack package that meant paying more for 6 games that I didn’t want, and they refused to sell the system separately. I finally found an Xbox from the Sears at Santa Monica & Wiltern, of all places - and it was the very last one.

You would think that there would be plenty of Xboxes available, but whatever. I got one. I celebrated my acquisition by vowing to set everything up last night after dinner, and then falling right asleep after dinner, waking up at 6:30 A.M. this morning. I guess I needed the sleep pretty badly.

Other than that, it was just stuff like handling bills, unpacking, re-stocking the fridge, and what not. Oddly enough, it feels like nothing much here changed while I was gone. I was hoping somebody would construct a Gap here in Los Feliz to drive away the cool people and therefore make parking a lot easier in my neighborhood, but that didn’t happen. Maybe next road trip.

Something useful: The feds have mandated that we get a free credit report every year from each of the 3 major credit agencies. If you live in the west, you can get yours now from annualcreditreport.com. East coast people are gonna have to wait until next year. You answer a bunch of questions and they generate the report on the spot for you, which is pretty cool. What’s not cool is I found out I have some other names (that aren’t mine) attached to my account, so I’m gonna have to clear that up. But it doesn’t look like anyone took out a mortgage in my name, so that’s good.

General, Road Trip 2004

Yesterday: Left Van Horn, Texas, and drove north into New Mexico, and then to the White Sands National Monument. Right before I got there, I had to stop at a checkpoint, where an armed policeman asked if I was a U.S. citizen or not. I said yes, and he let me pass.

White Sands is pretty cool. It’s one of the few places where the climate is right to produce gypsum sand, and there’s a grip of it. The area looks like a giant white sandbox. Kids brought sleds and were sledding down the sand dunes. I’d forgotten that my parents took me here when I was a kid to do just that.

The rest of my trip was just I-10, which, quite frankly, is a boring-ass road. Fortunately the speed limit in New Mexico (road sign: PRISON NEARBY - DO NOT PICK UP HITCH-HIKERS IN THIS AREA) is 75 so I managed to make pretty good time. I stopped in Deming, New Mexico, and had a steak at the Grand Motel, whose roadside sign advertised “Best Steak and Prime Rib” It was broiled and awful. Stopped in Tucson last night and stayed in a sketchy-ass cheap motel, which spurred me to wake up early and drive the 450 miles back to Los Angeles, only stopping for gas. You could see the smog, starting in Indio, and that and the traffic just got worse from there. I stopped in Monterey Park to pick up some Chinese food and boba tea, and that was it.

So…I’m back. After nearly a month (just a few hours shy of 30 days) of traveling around the country, I’m home. It was a pretty cool journey - approximately 8,000 miles - and at the end of it, I’m glad to be back as well. America is an amazing place, despite our faults sometimes, and I’m glad to have seen a big part of it. Cross this one off on my to-do list.

I’ll put up the final set of pictures soon, and write up a couple of things I have been thinking about along the way. It’s time to unpack, take a long hot shower, sort through a month’s worth of mail, and what not. I’ve also got a grip of CSI and Lost to catch up on, and have to collect on somebody owing me an Xbox and Halo 2, so those should both be fun.

Thank you all for coming along with me on my journey. I really enjoyed all of the comments as I’d read them from wherever I was - you kept me company along the way.

General, Road Trip 2004

Yesterday morning I had breakfast at the Waffle House in Beaumont, Texas. I’ve never been to Waffle House before, and it was on my list of places to go. It’s like Denny’s but way better. I think I’m going to eat there at least one more time on my trip.

After breakfast, I drove to Houston and went to the Johnson Space Center. I didn’t have much time before they closed, so I missed all of the films, but I did manage to take the tram tour through the place. Got to see the old Mission Control center from the Apollo days, some X-38 prototypes, and the astronaut training center - the latter which is a huge warehouse full of life-size replicas of the space shuttle, the Russian Soyuz capsule, the robotic arm (CANADIARM2) on the International Space Station, and more.

It took me quite a long time to get out of Houston, because I left Space Center right around rush hour. Houston has the most ridiculous toll road I’ve ever seen - the Sam Houston Tollway. It’s a nice highway, it’s just that I had to stop five times to pay tolls along the way. Even though I had to pay, traffic was jammed up all around the west side of Houston, and it was even worse on the 10.

Finally things on the 10 calmed down in the outskirts. I stopped in Sealy to eat at Hinze’s BBQ, which was an okay roadside restaurant. Made it to San Antonio, which is where I am now. I ended up doing some laundry tonight - it was too late to go out, and for some reason, I was out of clean clothes even though I should still have some. Maybe I left some stuff scattered around the United States or something.

Yesterday’s Space Center photos.

Hey April - thanks for the recommendations!

Oh wow, I just looked at the publishing date. It’s Friday already?

General, Road Trip 2004

Note: This is for the past two days (Sunday and Monday). I should be caught up by tomorrow morning and hopefully doing daily updates again.

Left Steve’s place in Jacksonville on Sunday morning, heading back east on highway 24. There is a town on 24 callled Turkey, but I am not sure why it was named such. 24 took me to I-95 south, the main highway that stretches from Maine to Florida.

Right on the border of South Carolina, I stopped at South of the Border, one of the coolest/cheesiest tourist traps I’ve encountered so far. South of the Border is a mini-park whose mascot is a smiling Mexican dude named Pedro, who wears a sombrero and allegedly started the place when he bought a five dollar sandwich. There’s all kinds of stuff there - gift shops selling souvenirs and adult-themed gag gifts, a motel, a fireworks store, a video arcade, a bunch of restaurants, and a mini-golf course. Unfortunately the mini-golf course was closed, but I played some skee-ball for a bit, walked around the fireworks store, and ate a footlong hotdog at Pedro’s Hot Tamale restaurant.

The rest of the day was just driving. The day’s destination was Athens, GA. The reason I was in Athens is because I was quite a big R.E.M. fan back in the day, and this was a pilgrimage of sorts. Unfortunately, it was cold and raining when arrived, and as it turns out, Athens doesn’t do much on Sundays. I walked around downtown for a bit, but most of the bars and restaurants were closed. Ate dinner at the Grill, a 24-hour diner, where the girl who worked at the counter said it was too bad I was here on a Sunday because otherwise Athens is a “pretty bumpin’ town.” Guess I’m gonna have to take her word for it. There were a few people in the coffeeshops and walking the streets, and they all were dressed like they belonged in Silverlake.

On Monday morning, I went downtown again. I went to Wuxtry Records, where Peter Buck used to work. and walked by the 40 Watt Club. After that, it was a short drive to the other side of the tracks on Broad Street to Weaver D’s Fine Foods, whose slogan “Automatic for the People” was the title of an R.E.M. album. Weaver D’s is only a little one-room restaurant on the river, but there I had some of the best food on my trip - fried pork chops, mac and cheese, and green beans, washing it down with lemonade. And yes, the guy behind the counter did say “Automatic!”

Back on the road - down 85, through Atlanta, to 65, and into Alabama. I made quick stops at Tuskegee University, where I saw Booker T. Washington’s house, and Moton Airfield, home of the Tuskegee Airmen, and then kept going. When I hit Mobile, it started getting real foggy - like, I couldn’t see maybe car lengths in front of me.

Jumped on I-10 and finally made it to Biloxi, which was the night’s destination - a hotel/casino called Casino Magic! that I found on Expedia. Casino Magic! allegedly has a big tower and a smaller hotel next to it, but I can’t find the small hotel. So I walk inside and ask the valet where the Casino Magic! Inn is, and she starts laughing. She asks if I booked over the Internet, and I said yes. Then she says - there are two Casino Magic! properties, and the one I booked actually isn’t in Biloxi, but Bay St. Louis, which is 35 miles away. I’ll be damned on this one, because it looks it’s right there on the map.

Weak - the room was prepaid, so I decided to make the best of it, and drove the 35 miles down the coast in the fog. As it turns out, this Casino Magic! is a resort, located in the middle of nowhere. Worse, by the time I get there, all of the restaurants are closed, and I’m starving. Fortunately, a blackjack dealer recommends a local bar that was still serving food - so I sat at the bar at the Firedog Inn in Old Bay St. Louis, enjoyed myself some catfish and oysters, and watched the Dallas-Seattle game with the bartender and a Navy guy.

Even though Casino Magic! was out in the sticks, it was pretty nice. I played blackjack and craps for a half hour and won a bit of money, then went to sleep. Wasn’t exactly the Biloxi experience I was looking for, but it turned out well nevertheless.

Photos are here.

General, Road Trip 2004

Hey all - I’m running behind on my updates, but this covers last Friday and Saturday. I’ll get to Sunday when I get to my next destination.

Left Roanoke, Virginia late Friday morning. There.weren’t any planned stops for this day - the only goal was to get to Jacksonville, North Carolina, which is located on the very eastern edge of the state along the Atlantic Ocean. My route took me through Virginia’s hilly, winter countryside on Highway 220 down to Greensboro, where I reunited with the same Interstate 40 that I used to travel out this way. (In fact, for all of you L.A. people, you can take I-40 clear across the country from Barstow to the interstate’s end in Wilmington, North Carolina. But more on Wilmington later.) Ate lunch in Burlington at the K&W Cafeteria. I didn’t know they still had pay-by-the-dish cafeterias anymore, but when I saw the billboard, I had to check it out. I ate my fish, french fries and collard greens amidst the senior citizens that populated the dining room. It was okay. Back on the road - I-40 took me past Raleigh-Durham (Research Triangle Park and great indie-rock college radio near Chapel Hill), and then south to Warsaw, where I took small roads to Jacksonville.

I was in Jacksonville to see my friend Steve, who I played with in a couple of bands over the past few years. Earlier this year he became a Marine officer, and now he’s stationed at Camp Lejeune, probably for the next few years. When Steve first arrived in Jacksonville, he told me the city was “a shithole.” I really, really wanted to give Jacksonville the benefit of the doubt on this one, but as it turned out, Steve was right. Jacksonville is the most disorganized, rough city I’ve ever seen. It’s bad strip mall after bad strip mall, tatoo parlors, furniture stores, used car dealerships, and strip clubs, seemingly all just dumped at random along Western Boulevard, the city’s main street. Traffic on Western rivaled rush hour in Los Angeles, it’s really hard to see the street signs, and there are no crosswalks or sidewalks at all. Somebody really needs to get an urban planner up in that joint, ASAP.

I finally made it to Steve’s place after getting lost for 45 minutes. We ate dinner at Texas steakhouse, and then walked to a local bar to play pool, drink some beer, and shoot the shit. It sounds like Steve really likes being a Marine officer (although not necessarily being in Jacksonville). He’s still the same cool-ass Steve, except he’s got a regulation haircut (medium cut) and more of an air of confidence that I haven’t seen in him before.

On Saturday, Steve took me around Camp Lejeune, which was pretty cool. It didn’t look like I thought it would - I thought I’d see tons of Marines running around singing cadence, tanks shooting each other, and various other things being blown up. But the base looked just like a big, quiet college campus, except they have humvees and armored trucks, and a shopping mall. After that, we drove around Jacksonville a bit, hung out a local coffeehouse there on the outskirts of town, and grabbed some lunch at Smithfield’s BBQ, a local chain where the barbecue chicken is, unfortunately, not very good at all.

Then it was off to Wilmington, which is about 35 miles to the south. Wilmington’s downtown is cool - several blocks of restaurants, bars, clubs, and shops in restored 19th-century brick buildings on the waterfront Front Street, surrounded by a neighborhood of beautiful antebellum houses. A lot of the houses have been preserved and made into historic landmarks, even as their owners live there. There’s a lot of young people walking around, and the area doesn’t feel like it has the pretentiousness of a Los Feliz or a Melrose. The odd thing about Wilmington, though, is that a lot of the storefronts off of Front Street are empty - it’s like they built up the area in anticipation of growth that never happened. I later learned that they closed the railway and sent off all of the manufacturing jobs, so there isn’t a whole lot of industry in the area anymore.

We got some tea at Port City Java, walked down Front Street, and had a drink at the Hell’s Kitchen bar, where, I was informed, they shot Dawson’s Creek at one point. Walked down Front Street again, ate some pizza, and walked down Front Street once more. Then we met up with Steve’s friend Allison, and then went to the Soapbox laundromat/bar to watch a couple of hard rock bands play. The joint was pretty packed, it sounded great in there, and the bands that we heard rocked really hard. After that, Allison took us to the Blue Post, a bar that was formerly a brothel in the old days and is allegedly haunted by the ghosts of prostitutes and the sailors that patronized them. I didn’t see any ghosts, but the bar was really cool. Finally, we drove back to Jacksonville in the early morning and went to sleep.

I left the next morning, feeling a bit sad - I had such a good time this weekend. I was reluctant to leave. Even though Jacksonville was crap, Wilmington was nice, and besides, wherever you may be in this world, it’s more about what you make of things, and the people you’re with, isn’t it?

I have to go now…gotta check out of this motel. No photos, but here’s a rough map of where I’ve been so far. Hope all is well with everyone!

General, Road Trip 2004

I’m off driving again, at least for a couple of days. Left Philadelphia in the morning, feeling hungover - went out drinking the night before with an old friend from college. The sun was back out and it’s making everything a lot more pleasant, although it’s still really cold and windy. Drove south down I-95 along the urban sprawl - Wilmington, Baltimore, and onto the Outer Beltway in Washington, DC. I passed Silver Spring, Maryland, home of Velocity Girl, and Tyson’s Corner, Virginia, former home of the largest shopping mall in the United States. From there, it was Virginia’s Interstate 66 (not to be confused with Route 66) out west.

Virginia is chock-full of history and stuff to see - 18th century settlements, numerous Civil War battlefields, etc. - but I’ve seen some of it already, so I didn’t bother to stop. Interstate 66 takes me to 81 south, along the Blue Ridge Mountains, which are really beautiful at this time of year.

Late in the afternoon I arrived at the place I wanted to see - Natural Bridge. Natural Bridge claims to be one of the seven natural wonders of the world. It’s giant rock bridge, something like 240 feet high and 45 feet thick. I could have sworn I was here when I was younger, on a family road trip, but it didn’t look familiar. I paid my $10 admission at the visitor’s center (complete with wax museum and hotel) and walk down a trail, and the bridge was right there. There was a walking trail that ran under the bridge, and it led to a replica of an Indian village, a saltpeter cave that they mined to make gunpowder, and some waterfalls at the very end. I walked the trail quickly because it was getting dark, and the place was empty, and it started to get kind of creepy. I took the shuttle bus back up to the visitor’s center and asked the shuttle driver if anyone had ever gotten hit by falling rocks when they were underneath the bridge. To her knowledge, it hasn’t happened.

After that, I went to check out Foamhenge - a replica of Stonehenge, made out of foam. Unfortunately, Foamhenge was closed - the gates were locked, but I could see it from the road. So I took a couple of pictures.

I wasn’t really sure where I was going to stay last night, so I drove across the highway and stopped at the Pink Cadillac Diner to look at my road atlas and get my bearings. The Pink Cadillac is chock full of cheap Elvis memorabilia in one room, and a bunch of 50s diner type stuff in another. I asked who the Elvis fan is, and the waitress says nobody, that’s just the theme. The french onion soup is pretty good though.

Last night I stayed in Roanoke, Virginia, which is where I am now. I read on Chowhound that there was a great local restaurant called the Roanoker, so I went there for dinner. It was a family diner that was about to close for the day, and I felt reallly out of place. But the food was pretty good I guess. I got lost coming back and ended up driving through downtown’s market square, which looked more lively and had some bars. Maybe next time.

Here are yesterday’s photos.

Anyone have any idea what the other six natural wonders of the world are?

General, Road Trip 2004

Okay, so people are wondering why I went to Chili’s last night. As it turns out…the Hilliard/Dublin

area is brand new - that explains the total urban sprawl of chain stores, and little else. More on this

in a bit.

Just to be clear, here are my Three Rules About Eating at Chain Stores While Traveling:
1. Local restaurants are preferred
2. If local restaurants are not available or look too scary, local chain stores are acceptable
3. If #1 and #2 don’t work, eat wherever you can (this rule applied last night)

First stop of the day: I read on Roadside America that there is a field of giant corn in Dublin. So I

went looking for it, and I got lost. I ended up at the Dublin Convention & Visitors’ Bureau, where the

lady there seemed to take great interest in the fact that I was driving cross-country, and that I wanted

to see the field of corn along the way. I also got a history of Dublin - it used to be all corn farms,

until the city incorporated in 1987 and then went through a rapid period of development. That explains

the Chili’s, Best Buys, Dave n Busters, Starbucks, Bob Evans, Tim Hortons, etc. Dublin is now on Money

magazine’s list of best places to do something or other in the United States. It certainly seemed like a

very safe, upscale suburb.

Anyway, the field of corn is a public arts project - it was made to memorialize Dublin’s history of once

being a bunch of corn farms. She also pointed me to another art project, Leatherlips - which is a face

made out of stone that’s supposed to look like one of the early Native Americans that was in the area.

So after I got a map from the bureau lady, I went to see both things. They were pretty cool.

After that it was onto Cleveland for the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame. It was a two-hour drive to Cleveland,

and I was playing the new Guided by Voices album along the way. When I saw smoke billowing out of some

industrial buildings, I knew I had arrived. I parked, went in, bought my admission, and went downstairs

into the main exhibit, which had a section called History of Music in Ohio, and it featured…Guided by

Voices! They only had album covers, but it’s good to see a band like GBV get a mention.

Unfortunately the museum did not allow photography so I couldn’t take any pictures. But I will bore you

with the list of stuff I saw. It’s mostly costumes - there were a lot of costumes.
* A couple of Christina Aguilera’s dresses
* Andre 3000’s suit from the “Hey Ya” video
* A couple of Jerry Garcia’s guitars
* Old Jimi Hendrix costumes
* One of Curtis Mayfield’s guitars
* Pete Townsend’s custom Hiwatt stack
* Old tape machines from Sun Studios in Memphis

Oddly enough I found little mention of three artists that I thought had a pretty significant impact on

music: R.E.M., U2, and the Replacements. Jeff Buckley got his own kiosk and I haven’t even heard any of

his songs. There was also nothing on Def Leppard, which was a disappointment.

That was pretty much it. I mean, there was a lot of other stuff as well - some funny letters from the

Rolling Stone staff, especially Hunter S. Thompson, and Michael Jackson’s glove. But I don’t think this

museum was nearly as comprehensive as it could have been. I’ll give it a 2 out of 5, also because I had to drive to Cleveland to see it, it was twenty bucks to get in and seven bucks to park., and I can’t get this damn admission wristband off.

Well, that was my day. After that I drove east. I ate dinner at a Perkins (it’s like Denny’s, see chain

store rule #2). I’m now holed up in Corapolis, Pennsylvania, about 15 miles outside of Pittsburgh. All I

really want to do is get to my brother’s place at this point, see my family, and get my Thanksgiving grub

on. It’s been a long trip, and even though it’s been cool so far, the driving is getting to me. One more

day to go.

Two more things:
1. Kelly, I forgot to mention that somebody called into a talk radio station in Arkansas and was

complaining about how they cancelled Hawaii. You are not alone.
2. Identify This Movie, Part 2: Clint Eastwood plays a Phoenix cop who goes to Vegas to pick up a witness.

When he gets there, he finds out there’s a betting line on whether he’s going to make it back or not.

Violence and stuff ensues. I want to see the end of this movie. Thanks.

General, Road Trip 2004

[Note: This entry is about Sunday.]

It hasn’t been sunny since I went through Oklahoma City, and Sunday was no exception. Memphis’ skies were gray and depressing, and a light drizzle permeated the air. Ugh.

My first stop of the day was Graceland. I’m not an Elvis fan by any means - I recognize some of his songs, but have never seen his movies or anything like that. But Graceland was pretty cool. Elvis had a really nice house. I didn’t know that he had two 8th-degree black belts in karate - but now I do.

After the Graceland tour, I hit I-40 again, headed towards Nashville and the night’s planned stop after that. I stopped for lunch at the Cottage Patch Restaurant in Parker’s Crossing, about halfway to Nashville. I guess the area had a big battle back in the Civil War - the walls were lined with pictures of Confederate soldiers. The drive seemed to go on forever, but I finally made it, up through I-65 and into Kentucky.

The night’s planned stop was Cave City, Kentucky, which is right next to the Mammoth Caves national park. The reason for this stop wasn’t the caves, but for the Wigwam Motel. This place is a series of 15 teepees, arranged in a half-circle facing Dixie Highway. I read about it on Roadside America a long time ago, and since then I’ve always wanted to visit.

I was in Wigwam #11 for only an hour and this I know this place is already going to be the best place I stayed at on my trip. After a week of Motel 6 and Best Westerns, this was a fantastic change. Glad to know there is still a small slice of weird Americana left.

General, Road Trip 2004

Yesterday was a straight shot east on I-40, starting from Albuquerque. It was mostly trucks on the road. There were a lot of Wal-Mart trucks out there. The highway was littered with billboards advertising Love’s travel stops, Stuckey’s travel stops, Tucumcari Tonite, fireworks, and putting on your seatbelt (”Stop driving without your seatbelt bucked or WE’LL STOP YOU.”).

I-40 runs parallel to the old Route 66, or at least what’s left of it. I stopped in Tucumcari, New Mexico, which bills itself as the “Heart of Route 66.” I guess it was once a vibrant place, filled with old-school roadside motels and restaurants, but a lot of them were closed up now, and the town felt depressing and desolate. I bought a PowerBall lottery ticket here - the jackpot is $83 million dollars.

Headed east again, into the Texas panhandle. The sky turned cloudy and gray. It’s flat as a pancake, and there’s not much else except grass, cows, and a couple of trees here and there. I flipped through radio stations - mostly Christian rock, religious talk, and country, with a couple of “today’s hits” type
stations, and NPR. I don’t even recognize the music on the hits stations.

I reach Amarillo, Texas. My first planned stop here was Cadillac Ranch. I had problems finding it - it’s not really a tourist trap, and there are no signs. But I finally drove along the frontage road until I found it (hint: it’s south of the highway and west of the Hope Road exit). Back in the ’70s, some artists jammed a bunch of old Cadillacs face down into the dirt in the middle of a field. I’m not sure what kind of statement they were trying to make, but whatever it is, I wasn’t feeling it. It looked like the thing to do was sneak onto the field and spraypaint the cars, but there were a bunch of cows in the field, and all were eyeing me warily. I got back in my car and left.

On the othe side of Amarillo was my second planned stop - the Big Texan Steak Ranch, home of the FREE 72-Ounce Steak. The Big Texan is virtually empty when I get there at four o’clock. It looks like a big ol’ Western saloon, with its wooden floors and walls. I did not order the 72 ounce steak, but I did order
an 18-ounce ribeye (ate about half of it). And goddamn if that wasn’t one of the best steaks I’ve ever eaten.

After I ate, I asked about the 72-ounce steak. There’s a whiteboard on the wall with this year’s winners. Since they opened in the 1960s, they said they’ve had about 50,000 attempts, with 8,000 people actually finishing the steak. When you order the 72 ounce steak, they put you on a special raised table in the
middle of the dining room so everybody can watch you. Some of the rules include “fat is optional” and “if you throw up, you lose.” This place would be perfect for Toby.

After dinner, I drove on. More flat earth, blah blah blah. I stopped in Oklahoma City and found out that most of the city’s hotels and motels were sold out, so it took me awhile to find a place to stay. I’m at the Regency Inn at I-40 and Meridian. The owner said they have wireless access in their lobby. I’m about
to go find out, and try to post this.

I’m finally feeling like I’m really on a long trip, and not just a 2-day jaunt to the Grand Canyon or something.

Music of the Day
The Spinanes, Manos

New photos are online. Also, I think that tonight’s stop will have wifi in the rooms so I’ll try to find a map and put it online.

General, Road Trip 2004

I left Vegas shortly after posting yesterday’s entry, down 515 and then Highway 95, through Searchlight (which has a really cool mini-bowling game in the Terrible’s off the main road), and into Laughlin, Nevada. Laughlin consists of about a dozen casinos in a valley on the bank of the Colorado River. It’s sort of like Vegas, but not as much sin - just straight up gambling and all you can eat buffets.

I drove up and down Casino Boulevard, did a quick walkthrough of the Pioneer and the Colorado Belle casinos (they all look the same), and then stopped at the Edgewater for their ham and eggs special and a bit of craps and blackjack. I was by far the youngest patron in the joint - Laughlin’s ballers, hustlers, and players are all senior citizens. I lost twenty bucks on $1 craps and $3 blackjack, and decided to move on.

I headed south on the Needles Highway. By now the landscape has transformed from plain old desert, to rocky, mountainous desert. If you visited on an overcast day and had a red filter, it would look like Mars in Total Recall, or maybe Doom 3. They’re building the hell out of the area, too - tightly-spaced houses in sprawling subdivions littered the valley, as well as numerous mobile home and RV parks.

After awhile, I hit I-40 and cross the Colorado. Next stop is a bit of a diversion: Lake Havasu City (more RV parks), and specifically, the London Bridge. You know the old rhyme, “London Bridge is falling down,” etc.? Back in the late 60s, some jackass bought and then moved every stone from England, and then re-built the whole thing here as a tourist trap. And yep, I felt kinda trapped after I saw it, but it was okay nevertheless.

Back on I-40, which is just flat desert all the way through Kingman, where I exit for a side trip. There’s a stretch of Route 66 that runs from Kingman to Seligman, and I wanted to see the Mother Road in all its faded, two-lane glory. After passing a bunch of old abandoned motels and restaurants with great neon signage, and the Best Westerns and Denny’s that replaced them, Route 66 quickly became empty, and once again I was the only car for miles around, passing through miles of desert plains and the Hulapi Indian reservation.

Once I hit Seligman, it was back on I-40 and a straight shot into Flagstaff, where I stayed for the night at the Parkside Family Inn and Suites, which looks a lot better on the Internet than it does in person, but they have free wireless access in the rooms, so that’s cool. Anyway, I’ve been to Flagstaff a few times before - it’s a stop into the Grand Canyon (where I’m not going), and a college town. It’s also frickin’ cold - 38 degrees or so last night. I went downtown and ended up eating and drinking a couple of brews at a local bar, and then came back to the motel and went to sleep.

Today should be an interesting day. Flagstaff is the most east I’ve ever driven, and I’m about to break that record.

Music of the Day
Hum, You’d Prefer an Astronaut
Flight of Mavis, Spools
“I Hate Everything,” George Strait

New photos are online in the photo gallery. I’m still getting used to the camera so please forgive yesterday’s crappy quality.

General, Road Trip 2004