End of the Line

I am SOOOO sorry for procrastinating on this post. I should have done this a week ago.
Actually, there was some technical problems, like misplacing the folder with the following pictures. Then I kept getting error messages that disguised the fact that I was loading pictures that were too large into the blog...well, technically, I am now up to date.
Anyway, when I left off I was at Mom and Peg's in Eureka, CA. We had a wonderful Mother's Day and the mothers were everywhere. Here is 4 generations (three mothers!) with enough kids to generate the energy to power a small city.
The kids were a lot of fun. We played baseball and they were especially interested in my camera. I had to duplicate the shot from their cousins house (see Austin's skateboard shot) and we got an aerial shot that does 'em proud.

Left Eureka late Sunday and drove to Medford, OR where sister Mary Pat lives.

She works for Harry and David doing the on-line promotional work for their many fruit, flower, candy etc promotions. They have lived there for over 30 years. Yes, she is the mother of Brianna that I visited on my first day of my trip. I think Patsy and her husband saw a TV program on Medford when they were living in Ohio and decided that was where they wanted to live. They packed up a U-Haul and she hasn't regretted it yet.

I spent a couple days there cleaning out the van, reorganizing the gear and getting ready for the trip. I also did some maintenance on the bikes and took a great ride down a bike trail from Phoenix through Talent, OR in some beautiful weather. I won't be on my bike for almost 2 weeks. I have to make due with a stationary bike here in New England.

We also had time to really get out in the country to visit some friends of my sister.

The picture really doesn't due it justice, but there wasn't another house in sight. The view of the mountains and the bright spring flowers, gardens turned and ready to grow. It was true nature. Very peaceful.

That brings me up to date. I flew home last week and have been busy putting the final details of the trip together. I saw the website on-line for the first time. You can go up to http://www.the-trip-of-our-lives.com/ to check it out, but it still a work in progress. The business cards look great, the logo has been ordered for signs for the van. It is all coming together. Josh is graduating this weekend and a week from today, I will head back to OR to start the trip.

There were some highlights to the trip.
I want to make some observations about the trip as a whole.


The most ever paid for gas was $3.55/gal - actually I didn’t pay for it. Thanks, Mom and Peg.

The most I ever paid cash with my money was $3.39.

I never paid a toll road or bridge after VA. I must have paid close to $20 that first day.

It will be a damn shame when CA falls into the ocean. So much beauty.

It would have been a nicer ride up the coast with a small convertible.

The strangest name: Zzyzx Rd in CA. Seriously, it’s out in the middle of nowhere. Googled it and got: http://www.abandonedbutnotforgotten.com/zzyzx_road.htm

Thank God for iPods and cell phones oh yeah and cruise control. I had none of these when I did this trip twice in the ‘70’s ( Yes, I can remember the ‘70’s - contrary to popular belief - at least some of it anyway.

I'm sure there will be more bon mots in the future as my witty sons contribute to the blog.

Till we take off in June...

travel safe!!

Home to Mama

Haven't written for a couple days. Don't feel much like writing now. I'm having trouble connecting to the net and so I am taking pics and transferring them to another pc to get them out. What a pain!!
My pre-trip trip is almost done. I have been on the road for 3 weeks and it is starting to get tiring. I rode up the coast Wednesday and Thursday. It is beautiful country around Mendocino and Ft Bragg. The weather wasn't great. "May Gray" is what it's called around here. The fog stays around all day on the coast even though it is sunny a couple miles inland. It is beautiful, if a little cold. It reminds me of Ireland.

Moved up the coast and into the redwoods. I wanted to get a picture of the van in the Drive-in Tree, but it wouldn't fit. The roof was too high. It's hard to get a picture that does justice to these massive trees, some of which are 2,000 years old. I got off 101 and drove through the Avenue of the Giants. This is a secondary road through the redwoods that is amazing and marvelous. I had to backtrack several miles when the road was closed due to a mudslide. But the weather was sunny and the countryside fascinating, so I didn't mind. I am not covering the same number of miles I did in the first few days of my trip. I am spending much more time on the secondary roads soaking up the scenery.

I made it to Eureka, CA late Friday. My mom lives there with my sister, Peg.

It was good to catch up. we had dinner and turned in early. We got up at a leisurely time on Saturday and ran some errands. Peg has a house that she is renovating. They are planning on moving in next month and there is a lot of finish tasks yet to get done. So, she spent a good bit of the day over there while I spent time with mom. Mom turns 85 next week and as she is doing well. I hope I am half as good when I am that age. She is as feisty and as witty as ever.

I fixed dinner which consisted of my special Teriyaki steak (from an old family recipe), rice, salad and fresh strawberry pie for dessert. I am always under a lot of pressure to cook well when I am there since I have a couple brothers who are such gourmet cooks. Mom expects the best!

Today is Mother's Day. Peg's daughter and her 6 children will be over for the day. Then I plan on taking off for Medford, Oregon in the evening to get to my sister Mary Pat's house at the end of my pre-trip trip.
That's all for now. Happy Mother's Day.

California Coastin'

Cerulean skies, verdant hills, sparking waters...there is nothing to describe the pure terror of driving the CA coastline. I love the scenery, but every time I tried to enjoy it, I almost drove off the road.
For my siblings: Do you remember Dad driving to the edge of the road and trying to scare Mom? Well, I believe he traumatized those of us in the back seat. I am afraid of heights. Niagara Falls, The World Trade Center, Empire State Building...been to all those places and stay back at least 20 feet from the edge or I get vertigo. Call me chicken, I blame it on my old man.
Seriously, it is a beautiful coast. I always think of CA as crowded and urban, but there are miles and miles where the farms are right on the ocean. I wanted to stop and take more pictures, but just couldn't stop on some of the dangerous curves. I could have taken 101 and gotten further faster, but the rugged hills and winding roads were worth the time. It was very hot yesterday, over 100 in the city. It was a little cooler on the water, but not much. Made it as far as Santa Cruz yesterday and now I am in Santa Rosa above San Francisco tonight.

It's much cooler here. The fog was in most of the day, so shorts were traded for jeans.

I just love the scenery and I'll head to Mendocino tomorrow for the redwoods. It's such a range of flora and fauna that I am constantly reaching for the camera.

Not much else to report. I'll just keep cruisin and I'll let you know where later.

A Slice of Heaven

Left Reen's house Saturday morning and drove a couple hours to San Diego. Happy Cinco de Mayo!
Arrived around noon to visit an old friend, Dan Cleary.

I've known Dan for over 20 years and most of the stories that I can tell you about our fun over the years falls under a similar rule as Vegas - "What goes on on tour, stays on tour" By the way, we were saying that long before Vegas came up with it. I will simply say that his nickname is "Mr Bleary". Dan and I started our catalog careers just about the same time in Maine, me at LL Bean and Dan at Carroll Reed. We met after I moved to Talbot's in 1985 and Dan joined a database company, Direct Tech. Within a couple years, he became our account salesman, and he had to put up with my attitude because the customer is always right. As you know, I am very even tempered, rarely become volatile. But, I continue to apologize after all these years for perhaps my biggest vendor bash, directed at Dan. I don't even remember what set me off, but he got caught in the kill zone. He has healed nicely.
This was far and away the most unique stay I had on the trip. I stayed on Dan's 34 ft sailboat at Shelter Island Marina. The picture above was taken from another boat where we had cocktails on Sunday. A picture doesn't do the place justice. Everywhere you look is masts and flags, Only a small portion of the slips are allowed permanent overnight status, so it gets really quiet and peaceful at night.
So why a boat, Dan? Well, Dan has been a boat guy since he was a kid in Long Island. Off and on over the years, he has had boats and I have sailed on some of them.
He just got a job in San Diego, where housing prices are astronomical. I think it could be 50% higher than MA. He has been living in Bozeman, Montana and it will take some time to sell his place and move the family. So in the meantime, he lives on a boat in San Diego harbor and commutes back to MT to see his wife and 2 daughters. It's rough living away from the family. I know. I've done it myself several times. But if he had to do that, he sure has picked a nice way to do it.
We went to lunch where else? A Mexican restaurant! The place was suitably festive and the food was great. After that, we stopped in to see an old friend, Liz Duffy. My mom has been very interested in this woman for me for years after she heard the name Duffy, an old family name. However, never visit a person who owns a scrapbook store on National Scrapbook Day. The place was mobbed, so we didn't get a chance to talk much. On to dinner and watching the De La Hoya v. Merriweatherfight and then came back to the boat just talking till way after midnight. A beautiful moon came up, but I didn't want to trudge up to the van to get the camera. I planned on shooting it Sunday night.
Woke up Sunday morning after a full 8 hours sleep. I haven't done that in years. It must have been the rocking of the boat. Dan calls it being back in the womb. Got up and took a bike ride. The knee loosened up a little but tightened up after I stopped at the beach, so I got back to the boat and got it iced down. It feels much better today. We went over to the neighbor's boat for drinks and then all went out to Italian.
Decided to get some pictures after the wind died down. The harbor was like glass. This is the view from Dan's "backyard"...

Beautiful night and we stayed out on the harbor for a while hoping the moon would come up. We were both ready to call it quits around midnight. I did see the moon when I got up this morning, but the shot wasn't right. Oh well....I got to get the picture when it's there, not wait and plan to get it on my schedule!!
Left the boat when Dan went to work this morning..It was just a wonderful stay and if the timing is right, we may meet up with him and his family in MT later in June.

Drove up above LA and went for a leisurely drive up the coast. Stopped in Santa Barbara, one of my favorite towns. Decided to buy some books and my ATM card got refused. I went over to BankofAmerica across the street to find out and was surprised to know that they couldn't see my account status. It seems they can only look at CA records. The other 49 states have a separate data system. We called back to MA, but they were gone for the day. There is plenty of funds there, so I don't think there is unauthorized use of my card, we were able to check that, but they might have put a hold on it after all the charges across the country.

It's not a big problem, but it took too much time to resolve, so I didn't get as far up the coast today as I wanted to. I stopped in Buellton about 50 miles north of Santa Barbara, where I am now working on blogs, websites, logos and emails. It's almost 10PM, so I won't be doing this much longer.

That's all for tonight. I will probably do this again Wednesday, hopefully around San Francisco.

Till then.

California Here I Come

I made it to the ocean. Coast to Coast in two weeks!
Happy Cinco de Mayo!!
Took off late from Las Vegas and made it to within 75 miles of LA. I wanted to stay around Las Vegas to do some biking, but the winds continued at the 40 mph level and I didn’t want to get sand blasted.
I got off the road and into the hotel early and catch Wheel Of Fortune. My son , Matt was in the audience for the taping last month when he was in San Diego. I didn’t see it, but I did ask my sister to tape it in case he gets his 5 seconds of fame.
Speaking of fame, I am doing this blog while I am at my sister Maureen’s house. She lives with her husband, Steve and son, Austin in Rancho Santa Margarita, CA, an hour south of LA

Austin is the acting star in the family. Here are some of the shows he has appeared in TV: Cold Case, Criminal Minds, My Name is Earl and Crossing Jordan. He has also acted in some movies: Benchwarmers, Blades of Glory, and Evan Almighty. Quite the star, but very unassuming and down to earth. Not like all those stories you hear of stuck up stars. He has a lot of other things going on as any boy of 11 does. We played on his skateboard and took some neat pictures.

I took a big fall myself, not on the skateboard. I was going out to the car at night to get my gear and didn't realize that there was a down step. I fell flat on my hands and knees and I am very sore this morning. I always thought I would probably take a fall sometime on this trip. That's all in the biking game. I just thought it would be on the bike.

Maureen is very worried about lawsuits and the bike ride continuing. I want to be able to walk out of here without limping, but I was already limping when I got here, so it's hard to tell how injured I am. She will be hearing from my lawyers. After all, I have to finance this trip someway.

Seriously, it was great catching up and I am so glad we got our chance to see each other. Her husband, Steve is off to Brazil this morning and I am off to San Diego. Cinco de Mayo in San Diego. It should be fun. I'll let you know later.

Of Wind and Rain (and Bugs - the sequel)

The last couple days have been travel days. I have gone from Santa Fe to Las Vegas, stopping for the night in Flagstaff, AZ. The drive has been just that, a drive. It was something to get through.
The first day was rain. I really wanted to get some shots of the lightening that was all over the place, but I never snapped the picture during an actual bolt. I now comprehend the word scattered showers. I could be miles away from the rain and be dry. Also, I could be dealing with rain and lightening and see sunshine in the distance..
I passed through Winslow AZ, so I had to play Take it Easy by The Eagles. The line goes:
I was standin’ on a corner in Winslow, AZ,
such a fine sight to see.
It’s a girl my Lord in a flatbed Ford,
slowin’ down to take a look at me.
OK, it just wasn’t the same. First of all I was in a truck stop. The middle aged woman was in a Lexus SUV and she slowed down to take a look at me, but I think it was because I stole her parking space. Just not the way I envisioned it when I hear the song..
After stopping in Flagstaff for the night, I drove on to Las Vegas. The wind was fierce. And the van is NOT the most aerodynamic vehicle on the road. I fought the thing for 300 miles. Went across the Hoover dam. Really not good scenery. In fact, all the machines and technology seem somewhat futuristic. Too many tourists to stop and look.



Not much in the way off pictures today. This one is off the dust storms that were kicked up by the 50 mile per hour winds. You can see the cloud of dust by the sun. I didn’t have time to put a filter on the camera, so there is too much glare.
Just a couple more words on bugs. They continue to batter the windshield. These are different bugs, though. The ones around MS were a different color, more brown and red, soft and blurry like a Seurat pointilistic piece. The ones out here, are much more brilliant yellow when they splatter, more like Van Gogh’s Arles period. You begin to see the pure brain exercises I am undertaking to fend off the boredom of endless miles. It seemed so much more profound when I was thinking of it in the car.
Anyhow, I have to get on the road. Vegas was OK, and nothing to report from here.
What goes on in Vegas stays in Vegas.

Santa Fe

This has been a great town to visit. It is just so different from out east. I expected a bustling city here. Santa Fe has an image that is so artsy and cosmopolitan that I expected bigger. Delightfully, it wasn't. The population is only 60,000 and the whole area is less than 100,000. It really is just a town, a quaint Southwestern village.
I made arrangements to meet my friend around noon the first day, so I had time for a ride in the morning. I decided to take my mountain bike in case I got off onto dirt trails. I didn't. I stayed on some really nice and surprisingly flat terrain. So, the pavement was no problem, but the altitude made for a good workout. Riding the old bike gave me a great appreciation for my new one. I felt every bump in the road with the old bike. It kind of compares to riding a pickup truck compared to Mont's BMW.
Met with my friend Rich Freedman at his house then we went to Canyon Road, the major art gallery street to met his wife Roseanne, who works in a gallery there.

Beautiful area, again nothing like Newbury Street in Boston or SOHO in NYC. It is a series of adobe houses separated by fences and native landscaping. In fact it isn't all that different than the little street than R & R live on. We had lunch there and then went back to watch the Red Sox beat the Yankees. It was good catching up with Rich. We met in Boston 10 years ago. About 7 years ago he sold his business in Boston and moved to Santa Fe. Made a complete change in his life from being a tax attorney that owned several nursing homes to a getting an MSW degree and becoming a life coach. He also is the CEO of a non-profit agency in the town. His wife, Roseanne has been here longer, a transplanted New Yorker from Westchester 20 years ago. She has done various things here with young children, entrepreneur and now in the arts. Both these people were great company at dinner at an authentic Santa Fe landmark, The Plaza Restaurant. Great food and conversation. I am always in the market for new words. I heard a new one - "Jewboo". That is a somewhat disparaging term for a Jewish person that converts to Buddhism. While this may sound racist, I can assure you that I heard it from two transplanted Jewish souls that have dabbled in the eastern religions. Santa Fe apparently has more than it's share of Jewboos.

Got up the next morning and ran some errands. I got the oil changed in the van. Haven't gotten a fill-up with gas yet, but the prices are $3.15/gal. I am about to cross the magic threshold of $3/gal and probably will approach $4 before I get out of CA. I wandered my way around the town. It is a very confusing place to navigate. Nothing runs north/south. All the streets radiate out in spokes from the town plaza, that has the cathedral and the statehouse. Then they wind around the rolling hills. You can get turned around and lost real easy. The Natives spread out blankets around the town plaza and sell their crafts and jewelry every day. They draw lots daily to determine their place to spread their wares. Again, really cool and hardly metropolitan. I wasn't in the market for the fine jewelry. I liked a lot of the pottery, but I didn't think any would survive the long van trip.

Got out in the country toward Taos and even the highway bridges are colorful. I am assaulted by the light and colors in this area. I know I will have to come back here again. Had a great dinner with Rich and went up to Museum Hill to watch the sunset. We had a real good talk about my bike trip. It was some excellent coaching. If I consider Larry Hart in Dallas my bike coach. I would have to consider Rich my head coach. It was great to get checked out by both for my fitness for this trip.

Woke up this morning with a phone call from my friend Dan Cleary. He will be part of my next stop on my journey. I leave here today to head toward southern CA. He works in San Diego, although he was calling from his home in Bozeman, MT (long story for later). Got to finish this post, pack and get out the door before they throw me out.

More from the road later.