TravelStream™ news feed for member nisonger on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/nisonger en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Tue, 11 Dec 2007 10:39:06 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nisonger/cali2nc/1197298860/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nisonger/cali2nc/1197298860/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nisonger/cali2nc/1197298860/tpod.html Tue, 11 Dec 2007 10:39:06 -0500 From Los Angeles to Raleigh, North Carolina: a slow bisection of these United States by way of Highway 50.

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Raleigh, North Carolina, United States

Steinbeck wrote, "you don't take a trip; a trip takes you."

We arrived in Raleigh Sunday afternoon after one last amazing day. We spent most of Saturday and Sunday morning at a farm in Leesburg, Virginia. It's owned by Andy Wright, passed down to him through generations. It is old (a log cabin stands, presumed to be old slave quarters), it is large (~500 acres) and it is beautiful. Rolling fields of grass (he's building a polo field), multiple old structures in various states of repair, groves of unexplored trees, meandering streams, small ponds and many animals. Most notably, he's got 52 buffalo.

Despite only having talked for about 10 minutes total previous to this, Andy welcomes me like family. I get a brief tour, meet his two dogs (Daisy and Shadow - sweet farm dogs), feed the horses and get shown to my lodging for the night - an old cottage situated in the middle of a field. Andy leaves for the night and gives me run of the site. F'in A.

The dogs and I tear through the land over the next 4 hours. We explore old barns that haven't been touched in years, coo buffalo, cross streams (Kaya rolls around on her back in the water, the fool (she never thinks about the future)), and basically frolick around on and on and such. I can't get the smile off my face.

The dogs and I settle down with the sun - I read, they sleep. It's glorious.

Sunday morning and it's raining at a pretty good clip. From what I've heard, there's an east coast storm. Having such an amazing last few days, I decide to scratch the Outer Banks, avoid the inclement weather and head for my new home.

The drive is short - 4.5 hours - and I keep myself occupied trying to get my head around all that's happened in the last 19 days.



----



Thanks to all of you for caring enough to follow along - I hope I've provided you some entertainment and just maybe a little inspiration to get out there and go someplace yourself. I've learned that an adventure is a living thing unto itself, no two are alike and it's futile to think you can own it. I am so grateful for all of it.

Hope to see you soon,
matt.

dont.ever.stop
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nisonger/cali2nc/1197120180/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nisonger/cali2nc/1197120180/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nisonger/cali2nc/1197120180/tpod.html Tue, 11 Dec 2007 09:39:29 -0500 From Los Angeles to Raleigh, North Carolina: a slow bisection of these United States by way of Highway 50.

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Washington, District of Columbia, United States

The drive to DC from Damascus is short but revealing. It splits two ranges of the Appalachians: the Allegheny mtns to the right and the Blue Ridge mtns to the left (don't quote me). I heard someone also refer to this stretch as Roanoke Valley. You can't help but focus on the breathtaking panoramas. In any direction, the
mountains surround you. I notice the Apps have much more of an immersive nature to them as compared to the Rockies or Sierras. They're significantly lower in elevation but the ranges seem closer to together, squished almost. Snow on the ground. It's gorgeous.

Quick sidebar, at a trailside coffeehouse at 6am in Damascus, I overhead a converstation between two guys about converting a short school bus to a mountain biking tour van. They were INTO it.

Snow covered the ground the whole way to DC from the previous day's storm. Today however, the sun was out. We drop right into the mall area from the interstate - where all the monuments and tourists lurk - and it's a sight to behold. I nearly crash trying to take pictures while driving. I am everything I hate about tourists at this moment.

Kaya and I explore the area on foot for a couple hours, splashing through the melting snow, chasing squirrels, saluting various fire hydrants and small trees. Being so close to the end of my trip and being in this city feels amazing.

That night, I'm invited to dinner in Georgetown by Joanna. A quick word on Jo: actually it won't be quick. If you should find yourself fortunate enough to be an acquaintance of hers and in the DC area, brace yourself. Thanks to her, the next 48 hours would be one enchanting experience after another. I am gushing about Joanna and her boyfriend, Ray (ironman triathlete slash badass polo player slash mayor of DC slash great guy) - amazing hosts.

There's almost too much to tell (and, as I write this, it's Saturday morning and Kaya and I are scurrying to leave DC for the outer farmlands) so I'll hit the highlights:

* Thursday night dinner table mates included the CEO of Rosetta Stone, a guy who makes documentaries about hip hop kids in Sudan/Darfur?, Smithsonian Institute board members (aforementioned Jo & Ray), and other delightful friends. One gets the sense of a young, highly educated, influential DC elite forming. Great conversation.

* Crowded bar antics afterward.

* Friday, on Jo's suggestion, I visit the Corcharan(sp) for the Ansel Adams and Ann Lebowitz exhibitions. RAD. What a great pair. Totally different styles and eras but their coupling forces you to compare them, you almost don't want to, but their work is fun and very digestable. Lebowitz displayed a lot of personal shots with her paid work, telling an integrated story about her whole life way more compelling than the outlandish pop culture shots she's most widely known for.

* I strolled the city solo for a couple hours. So much to say about walking DC but I don't have the time. If you haven't done it, you have to. Much like the NY energy but not it - it's inspiring, thought provoking and intense. The gloom magnified it.

* A word on the security situation around the DC national mall area: much like power lines, you tend to not notice the details of them beyond mere presence until you stop and behold. I consider myself fairly familiar with overzealous policing, around movie studios, ultra-rich neighborhoods, etc - but it's something entirely different around the innner core of DC - justice dept, irs, white house, et al - there's no superficiality here, their role is entirely functional and just looking at them is enough to send shivers. They aren't for show.

* Friday night: luxury suite at the Wizards/Suns game. Booyah. It was fresh. More interesting folks. Plus, a surprise visit by George Muresan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gheorghe_Mure%C5%9Fan), the 7 foot 7 Romanian former NBA center. I've got pics. We rapped about the Celtics title chances.

* Crowded bar antics afterward (during which, as I lamented with Jo & Ray the fact that Kaya was all alone in the hotel room, they suggested I go to their friend Andy's farm about an hour outside the city - Jo arranged, I relished).


And so here we are. I spoke with Andy about an hour ago and any friend of Jo's is a friend of his. So, we're off to the farm!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nisonger/cali2nc/1196903460/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nisonger/cali2nc/1196903460/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nisonger/cali2nc/1196903460/tpod.html Wed, 05 Dec 2007 20:21:50 -0500 From Los Angeles to Raleigh, North Carolina: a slow bisection of these United States by way of Highway 50.

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Damascus, Virginia, United States

I'm sitting in a small room with 3 bunk beds, 2 maps covered in push pins, an oil space heater and a large stack of National Geographic Adventurers... about 50 yards from the Appalachian Trail. The place is called The Hiker's Inn. Beds are $20/nt, dogs are welcome and the coffee is always on.

Since we entered eastern Tennessee yesterday eve, I've felt a move towards east-coastedness. Towns are becoming increasingly closer, more dense and wooded. The roads weave around the natural geography of rolling ranges and rivers rather than plowing ahead unimpeded for miles as they do in the midwest. The feeling that you could turn down some unknown road and disappear for a while is gone. More cars are on the roads, moving faster. The shift is welcome. If feels like progress.

I'm also feeling an appreciation for the massiveness of our country. This is about the 5th major geography shift and each comes with it's own totally tangible cultural manifestations - people, language patterns, types of homes, food. Fascinating to think about our nations relatively short history of exploration, settlement and industry that has shaped it all. And while a bit unwieldy to experience (two weeks in and a neophyte), it's really not that subtle if you're paying attention. OK, anyway.

Kaya suffered through another ear setback this morning; still seeing a fair amount of blood when I change her bandages out. I've opted to fit her with a small bandage over the ear alone to minimize the discomfort and her fidgeting. We're 6 hours in and it seems to be holding up OK.

We only had a few hours of sunlight after the ear work, and I really wanted to set up shop before sundown, so we made our way towards the Appalachian Trail. Many of the small mountain towns cater to the hikers along the AT, so I figured we'd stand a good shot of finding a cool remote place to crash.

As soon as we entered Damascus I knew it was a solid choice (it's beautiful here, really - will take pics in the daylight tomorrow). I stopped at a mountain outfitter asking the shop owner about good lodging. We talked for a half hour - he let me use his phone, computer, he even made a few calls to friends about open rooms. And, amazingly, he's also maintains the town web site - http://www.damascus.org/. A ten minute tangent ending in a mutual appreciation for intuitive information architecture followed - this old dude gets it.

Most of the lodging options are guesthouse style - rooms or small homes behind a main house. I found Suzanne, the owner of the Hiker's Inn, by phone and she gave me walking directions, closing with, "I'll turn the heat on for you."

I arrived, she got me sorted and then sat down to talk. It seems like that's how it works here. First about the place, her pets, then Kaya. when she learned about her Katrina background, she talked about her volunteer stint in Biloxi 2 weeks after the storm. Amazing story. Another cool thing about the Inn - no keys. Hikers come and go as they please, all payment on the honor system. She said I'll probably have the place to myself but perhaps not as there are a few straggling southbound hikers (Sobo's) from Maine that are still on the trail. If you're not south of here by December, it's usually too cold to continue.

Gonna head over to Dott's Inn for a cheeseburger and beer in about an hour. Tomorrow we're making the 5 hour drive to DC to rendezvous with a friend, Joanna. Looking forward to a proper meal and good conversation.

ps - haven't touched a book in a few days, the real thing is too hard to put down :>
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nisonger/cali2nc/1196696520/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nisonger/cali2nc/1196696520/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nisonger/cali2nc/1196696520/tpod.html Tue, 04 Dec 2007 11:44:45 -0500 From Los Angeles to Raleigh, North Carolina: a slow bisection of these United States by way of Highway 50.

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Columbia, Missouri, United States

I haven't written anything here since last Friday, 3 states ago. Feels more like 2 weeks and a continent. We've been making tracks across the midwest but have also managed to keep quite busy. Weird thing about this trip - with all the time I spend in the car, it doesn't feel leisurely by any means. Hangovers don't help. More on that in a minute.

First, an update on Kaya: I picked her up from the animal hospital in Denver post-surgery and she had this huge bandage-cone contraption on her head and was completely out of it, stumbling all over. We drove the 2 hours to Colorado Springs. When I left the car to check in to our hotel, she managed to rub the bandage off and spring the stitches loose, sending blood everywhere. I took her to another hospital and they re-sedated and re-bandaged her. Of course, 3 hours later as I slept, she got if off again and the blood again, went everywhere. The ear doesn't stop. It streams, as in 3 towels full. I stayed up all night with her and then we drove back to Denver first thing in the morning. They re-did the stitches and came up with a much better bandage technique that she hasn't tried to remove yet (much more comfortable). All in all, she looks like the Grinch's phony reindeer but is in good spirits and healing properly.

I decided to use the healing time as an opportunity to clock some miles so we've been making good time the last few days. About 10 miles east of Denver, the midwest hits you hard. Flat flat fields of wheat (or brown grass, not sure) that go forever. I'm posting a picture of the road here, it's all you need to know about the area between Denver and mid-Kansas.

We stopped in Salina, Kansas for the night. It was just what I needed. Out of the way, not crowded, easy, quiet with a bar and restaurant on-site. I got Kaya settled and went in for a much needed mug. I chatted up an Oklahoma trucker for about an hour, or I should say he chatted me up.... never stopped actually. I think the poor guy hadn't had a conversation in a while (unlike me) and I learned all I needed about weigh stations and those pesky Dept of Transporation regulations. The bartended snapped a solid photo of us.

On the recommendation of my favorite Mizzou-born friend Sara Park, we made our way to Columbia - home to Univ of Missouri and 2 other small colleges. Their football team had just lost the #1 ranking the night before - the town was collectively mourning.. and hungover. I found a college bar withing walking distance to watch the Steelers game and chatted up Fletcher the bartender. An hour later, the bar was packed with youngins and shots were magically appearing in front of me every 20 minutes or so - bad ones, red bull, jaeger, woowoos... all that college bullsh*t. Needless to say, I got crushed trying to make a respectable showing for past-their-drinking-primes 30+ dudes everywhere. Much of the football team was their, too - apparently you're not supposed to talk about a loss the day after... like I should've known that?

Back on the road, driving hungover, I started collecting pictures of water towers and ranch homes. Amazing way to pass the time, very proud of myself. I'll post a few, there are many more.

Missouri farms look a lot better in the sun, and passing through Illinois and into Kentucky, things got progressively greener with more trees and altogether gorgeous in the setting sun.

We just arrived in Paducah, Kentucky. Haley, a senior at Stevens college that has a serious drinking talent, recommended it. We'll see what it's all about in the morning!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nisonger/cali2nc/1196609880/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nisonger/cali2nc/1196609880/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nisonger/cali2nc/1196609880/tpod.html Tue, 04 Dec 2007 10:42:22 -0500 From Los Angeles to Raleigh, North Carolina: a slow bisection of these United States by way of Highway 50.

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Salina, Kansas, United States

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]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nisonger/cali2nc/1196523240/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nisonger/cali2nc/1196523240/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nisonger/cali2nc/1196523240/tpod.html Tue, 04 Dec 2007 10:37:40 -0500 From Los Angeles to Raleigh, North Carolina: a slow bisection of these United States by way of Highway 50.

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Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States

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]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nisonger/cali2nc/1196463180/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nisonger/cali2nc/1196463180/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nisonger/cali2nc/1196463180/tpod.html Fri, 30 Nov 2007 17:58:13 -0500 From Los Angeles to Raleigh, North Carolina: a slow bisection of these United States by way of Highway 50.

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Denver, Colorado, United States

Important things are being worked on. I'm sitting in the customer waiting area of a Toyota dealership in Denver. They service folks got a kick out of my frank retelling of the 120mph incident. Nothing seems to be wrong with the car but they're going to reset the computer and change oil, fluids, etc.

Kaya's repairs, unfortunately, aren't as simple. She's currently recovering at the animal hospital after some minor doggie plastic surgery. Turns out she had tiny warts in her ear, which caused her to shake her head often and violently, which had the effect of deepening the existing (and chronic) wound on the tip of her ear. The skin was split so far that surtures/staples wouldn't work. So, they had to actually clip off the end of her ear to allow the skin to stretch across the cut and properly heal. She just woke up and is doing fine. She's going to require quite a bit of care for the rest of the trip and will have various contraptions on her little head so that the wound can heal undisturbed.

All that said, the last 2 days have been great. I've found my Circadian Rhythm. Grand Junction was kinda dingy, or at least in contrast to the vibrance of Utah. My will was tested as I drove through town looking for food after 10pm. Applebee's appeard to be the only option. Summoning strength, I pressed on through town and came upon the beautiful GJ Ale House. Local brew: ahhh. Had two glasses of the 9.75% IPA. I took no pictures, which in the mediated world, means I was never there. Poof.

Leaving town, I had a truckstop diner breakfast and rapped with the busboy about my planned route over the Rockies into Colorado Springs. Oh, blessed serendipity. Turns out the 50 is not regularly plowed, filled with deep, dark canyons and curious wildlife. With sunset at 430, I had no desire to tempt fate and made the safe decision to head northeast towards Denver along interstate 70 instead.

I'm pretty sure Aspen was closed - the mountain looked like oreo cookie ice cream, dirt and trees poppping out of the snow all over. We stopped at the Vail Summit for about an hour, played in the snow, fell in the ice, froze and loved it.

This entry is kinda dragging but I've got to tell this story about last night. I found a La Quinta Inn 1/2 mile from downtown through hotels.com 800 number (so easy. thanks, Dave), settled in and took a cab into Lower Downtown (LoDo - feels kinda artificial) to watch the Cowboys game. There's a string of sports bars and pubs right around Coors Field. Cool area. Bellied up at a nice, full big bar called Jackson's.

So, here's the interesting part. The guy I sat next to, Mark, was 25 days into a cross country trip which began in, yep, Raleigh! His destination was SF, then back again to NC. We traded tips - his from the East, mine from the West - and proceeded to put down a few $6 Coors Light pitchers with the help of his local buddy, Randy. To boot, we ended up winning the bar-wide trivia contest and a $25 gift certificate (Lee Havery Oswald was a Marine, Master P's son Lil Romeo got a USC basketball scholarship, Onomatopoeia is how you spell it). We thought this was a great reason to order cocktails and shut the place down. Good night! Kaya no doubt smelled the booze, ignoring me on my way in.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nisonger/cali2nc/1196345460/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nisonger/cali2nc/1196345460/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nisonger/cali2nc/1196345460/tpod.html Thu, 29 Nov 2007 13:41:46 -0500 From Los Angeles to Raleigh, North Carolina: a slow bisection of these United States by way of Highway 50.

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Grand Junction, Colorado, United States

Awoke yesterday in Eureka to our first snow. A nice light dusting but cold enough that I needed my handy ice scraper tool - I am prepared!

Last night I visited Eureka's one restaurant followed by a stop in it's one bar (they're next door to each other about 100yds from the hotel). Cold, cold beer. Friendly, hearty folk. And by hearty I mean many extra layers to get em through the colder times. OK, so they're fat and jolly.

I decided to drive straight through to Grand Junction, Colorado - about 430 miles, mostly across Utah - in order to stay ahead of a storm coming down from the north. We're about a day ahead of it right now and I'd like it to stay that way until I clear the Rockies. Even w/o the snow however, the roads outta town are icy and cold... very cold, between 5-10 degrees. We stopped at a park in Ely to run around and take care of business - that didn't last very long. I try to scrape the white crust off my car - it's not moving.

I picked a great stretch to do my longest drive of the trip - the views are jaw-dropping. Utah has to have some of the most incredible scenery in the world - everything from arid desert to lush pastures around roaring green rivers to high plataeus and deep canyons to towering snow-capped mountain silhouettes. It seems to change every 50 miles or so as we crest another summit and drop into a new geography. I want to pull over every 10 miles but the drive is long enough as it is. We manage a few stops to snap pics and view some Petroglyphs (10,000 BC and graffiti free - is that possible?).

Like the little mining towns of Nevada, Utah has some sweet summit names: jupiter, broad forks, the bastard son, red top, honeycomb, saddle knoll, swallow rocks.... I had to look up some of these, too many to remember.

So, I've been reading two books at night, both given to me by my good friend Clint the day before leaving town. So far they couldn't have been more relevant, in many ways. Travels with Charlie by John Steinbeck chronicles his trip across the country with his dog. Duh. The other, similarly journey-esque but narratively told by Jon Krakauer, is Into the Wild (now a movie, great). In fact, Alex Supertramp spent some time in Grand Junction, where I am now. This book is tough to put down. Steinbeck is losing the attention battle.

Well, that's all for now. I believe our next stop is Colorado Springs. I'm considering swinging north through Aspen. But first, two errands: 1) Kaya has a cut on her right ear that keeps opening up and it's time to get it properly bandaged, and 2) my car computer is telling me to "Check Hybrid System" ever since I 'accidentally' hit 120 mph yesterday afternoon... errrr.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nisonger/cali2nc/1196221500/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nisonger/cali2nc/1196221500/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nisonger/cali2nc/1196221500/tpod.html Thu, 29 Nov 2007 13:09:00 -0500 From Los Angeles to Raleigh, North Carolina: a slow bisection of these United States by way of Highway 50.

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Eureka, Nevada, United States

The trip has really begun with today's drive. I got that feeling as soon as I left the Tahoe basin. It's all new land now. We arrived here in Eureka about 5pm, just as the sun was going down, "the friendliest town on the loneliest road". There's one hotel, one restaurant, one bar, population 650 - proper.

The drive flew by - view after view, mixed in with a few interesting towns. Carson City (the capitol): eh. We oscillated between 4 and 9000 ft elevation. In general, it looked a lot like a mix of hill country outside of Austin, the Mojave and scens from No Country for Old Men. Or something. One thing you can't help but notice is the great names of towns out there: Alpine, Lost City, Rawhide, Bucktown. Right?? We stoppped at a place they call Sand Mountain - a random, giant sword-edged sand dune. A few RV's were camped at the base, dune buggie rats.

I just noticed the publishing engine for this travel blog is written in Perl! That is so interesting and you don't even care.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nisonger/cali2nc/1196182920/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nisonger/cali2nc/1196182920/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nisonger/cali2nc/1196182920/tpod.html Thu, 29 Nov 2007 12:43:44 -0500 From Los Angeles to Raleigh, North Carolina: a slow bisection of these United States by way of Highway 50.

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South Lake Tahoe, California, United States

[It's been tougher than I thought to find internet access during this stretch. I've been writing offline the last few days and am just now uploading a few entries.]

It's now Tuesday morning, I just emerged from the hot tub and hurried the 25 feet to my door in the 25 degree morning chill. Getting set to hit the road after two nights here in south shore.

I couldn't have picked a better place to stay starting the trip. Shantelle runs the front desk, her parents built it 30 years ago, chatty. She's got the big yellow lab Kaya has befriended. Big John, the owner, and I chest bumped watching the Niners overtime win on Sunday evening. We own the Cardinals. Since then, I've had access to his Sierra Nevada stash. Also a good thing because Kaya has already made her presence felt. I came back to the room after the game to find my door security latch had been flipped from the inside. Key no worky. The handyman finally got it clipped off after about 30 minutes of Macgyvering. Good to know those things can be had.

Yesterday we hiked Fallen Leaf Lake - about 8 miles total around the lake. Desolate and gorgeous and just cold enough. We even got lost on the way back - all the trails looked the same! We ended up about 2 miles north on the main road and hoofed it back. My outdoor navigation confidence is a little shaken, we may be sticking close to the trailheads when camping this trip.

Last night I hit Lakeside Casino for a little gaming. I lost $200 at single deck black jack. The dealer, Rob, was so high he even admitted it to me. Gotta love Tahoe. We talked about snow mostly, something I know very little about. Apparently the reason skiiers swear by Tahoe is a combination of what they call Sierra cement and the Lake effect. A nice smooth hard layer beneath and dry fluffy dusting on top. So, there you have it.
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