I had trouble sleeping Wednesday night and woke far too early for my late bedtime—gambling will do that to a person—so, naturally, I went to the hotel casino. I’d ended the night before up $20, so, figuring I was playing with house money, I played the crazy “Aliens” movie-themed video slot machine that had given me such luck the night before. The $20 evaporated fairly quickly and I was back to even. I thought about leaving, but the addict in me decided to go just one more time. Another $20 into the machine, and 15 minutes later, I found myself up $100, after a particularly fortuitous result. Discretion being the better part of valor, I cashed out and headed back to my room. Continue reading
Day 7: Damn, it’s hot.
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Tagged Chico, gambling, Redding, Reno, Sierra Nevada, The Big Trip
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Day 6: As We Go Up, We Go Down
Traffic on the street below my room at the Red Lion Hotel in Salt Lake City was loud enough to roust me from sleep at 6AM, far earlier than I’d hoped to get up, since I didn’t get to sleep until well after midnight. Not only was I up too early, but I had such a splitting headache that I thought maybe someone had attacked me with a shovel in my sleep. I got dressed and wandered down to the lobby, where I pushed through two full charter buses’ worth of Norwegians—or possibly Swedes—who had just arrived, and walked down the street to the Raw Bean coffee shop for my daily constitution. Continue reading
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Tagged Elko, Nevada, Reno, Salt Lake City, The Big Trip, Utah, Winnemucca
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Day 5: Dirt Roads, Dead Ends & Dust
After an oil change for my car, I left Glenwood Springs and hit Interstate 70 toward Utah. I spent the afternoon at Arches National Park near Moab, taking photos and doing a little bit of hiking. Because most of the day was spent driving, there isn’t much to write about; Glenwood Springs to Moab to Salt Lake City is just a lot of open road, and a lot of time alone with one’s thoughts.
So, without further adieu, the photos:
Arches National Park - Entrance
Arches National Park - Entrance
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Tagged Arches National Park, Colorado, Glenwood Springs, Moab, photo, Salt Lake City, Utah
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Day 4: Some may never live, but the crazy never die
When I opened the door of my motel room, I was greeted by dense fog and a steady cold wind. The sky was grey for as far as I could see, so I stayed in the room for a while, repacking my bags, updating this site and drinking coffee. Once the fog dissipated a bit, I made my way back to the interstate en route to Colorado Springs. Continue reading
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Tagged Aspen, Colorado, Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, Garden Of The Gods, Glenwood Springs, Pikes Peak, The Big Trip, Woody Creek
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Day 3: Dust In The Wind
Despite getting to bed at 2AM in my luxurious room at America’s Best Value Inn in Independence, Kansas, I awoke around 8AM on Day 3 in a fog. As I’m barely functional until I get a cup of coffee and since the hotel’s idea of coffee is a push-button contraption in the lobby that’s basically powder and hot water, I decided to test my portable coffee setup. Continue reading
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Tagged Al's Chickenette, Garden of Eden, Hays, Kansas, Lucas, museum, sunset, The Big Trip
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Day 2: Goody Goody Po
After clearing the cobwebs with a coffee from Northwest, Marie and I set out for Connelly’s Goody Goody Diner, a St. Louis institution for over 60 years, for breakfast. It bodes well for a place when it’s packed for breakfast at 10:30AM on a weekday, and even better when the restaurant is the sort that has 12 ways to order one’s eggs on the menu (five scrambled, five fried, up or basted, for the record). Continue reading
Day 1: Gateway To The West
The weather was more Indiana-in-August-like than it had been in weeks, the kind of weather in which no matter how high the A/C is set, you’re still clammy. I didn’t get as early a start today as I’d have liked, but I was up too late getting this site operational to do any packing, so by the time I hit Greenwood, Indiana, it was well past lunchtime, so a trip to Mrs. Curl Ice Cream Shoppe seemed like a good idea.
Mrs. Curl Ice Cream Shoppe
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Tagged coffee, Coffee Grounds, Effingham, Food, Giant Cross, Iron Barley, Mrs. Curl, Terre Haute, The Big Trip
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Let’s get social, shall we?
I mentioned earlier that I’m using a Dash Express GPS on the trip. One of the coolest features is Send2Car, which allows me (or anyone who knows my username) to send me an address. If there’s somewhere on the trip you think I should see, go to My.Dash.net and follow the Send2Car instructions at the bottom of the page. There’s a place for notes, so let me know why I can’t miss the place you’re sending me. When you’re asked for a username, it’s the url of the site you’re currently reading, without the http:// or the .us. (That bit of linguistic wizardry might keep me from getting spammed, but probably not.)
And so it begins…
The Prius is gassed up and loaded down. Next stop: St. Louis. What better way to start than traveling via the Gateway to the West? I still have a couple of stops to make along the way, like the giant cross in Effingham, Illinois, Mrs. Curl, a great independent ice cream stand in Greenwood, Indiana, and Mario’s, a pizzeria in Greenville, Illinois.
Isn’t this exciting?
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Preparing for The Big Trip
I’ve delayed the start of my trip by a day. My last day on the job was Monday, and I needed a day to unwind and collect my thoughts before I could seriously consider packing everything I’d need into the car for a trip that could last more than a month.
I’m using a Dash Express GPS for navigation, and to power the Dipity timeline/map on the front page of the site. I’m shooting video with a Panasonic HDC-SD9, and using a Nikon D200 for still photography, and a Zoom H2 for audio recording.
So, the trip starts Thursday, when I head to St. Louis. I plan on stopping at Mario’s in Greenville, Ill., for pizza, because it’s been recommended to me.
Thanks for coming along for the ride.