Country Roads: Part 5 - Barbecue and Burgers

When we last left our hero he was laying down for a night's sleep in Lawrence, Kansas. I awoke the next morning ready to head back out on the road and finish another Agatha Christie murder mystery. First I grabbed some food from the continental breakfast. The bagel was horrible so I jumped into the shower and figured I'd munch on the fruit loops while I was on the road. After my shower I dressed and loaded up the car with no problems, except that I spilled the Fruit Loops in the parking lot. It was a little after 11 so breakfast at McDonald's was out of the question, but I figured I'd stop over for an orange juice and to borrow the Wi-Fi. Then back in the car I could just munch on another mini box of cereal I had brought with me.

I arrived at the Lawrence, KS McDonalds and my jaw dropped. Right there on the door was a sign - "Breakfast served until 11:30am EVERYDAY" (I added the caps). I was shocked, surprised and totally giddy as I probably scared the girl at the counter with my excitement that I could still get my regular breakfast. It was delicious. I mapped out my route and started driving towards my lunch spot - Oklahoma Joe's Barbecue in Kansas City.

As you would probably expect by now, the drive wasn't very exciting. The conclusion of "Murder in Mesopotamia" however was exciting.

After driving by the gas station that houses Oklahoma Joes I finally figured out where it was and was able to get a parking spot fairly close to the door, which was good since it was already 97 degrees. Now, I had looked up places in Kansas that Food Network had been to (specifically Triple D), but none of them were barbecue places. So I ran a Google search for the best barbecue in Kansas City. Oklahoma Joes was right at the top, and since it's inside of a gas station, I had to check it out.

So what did I order? The 2 meat combo plate - brisket and ribs which comes with 2 slices of buttered toast, a side of french fries and large styrofoam cup of Mountain Dew. I took my tray and found a counter stool by the window, facing out by my car. I immediately grabbed 2 sections of paper towel and was ready to dig in. From the beginning it had the makings of my best meal of the trip. I ate the brisket and while it was good I immediately regretted not having ordered the sausage instead. Oh well. Then I dug into the ribs. Yeah... Kansas City knows barbecue. The meat was perfect. Stays on the bone until it hits your mouth and then slides right off. Great flavor, great color and that's all you can ask for. I alternated rib and toast for a while, occasionally sipping on some Dew. When I finished, I was done. I began to worry about falling asleep at the wheel thanks to a food coma but figured that if I filled up the cup with some more Mountain Dew that could keep me awake until St. Louis.

On the way out I bought a bottle of their CowTown barbecue sauce to bring home to mom.

Back in the car and on the road, it's time for another mystery and some music. I was into Missouri now and really had no expectations until I hit St. Louis. And then I saw what I believed to be a mirage on the highway. I couldn't believe that I had seen what I thought I had seen. But if it was real, I couldn't let it pass by. I jumped off at the next exit to investigate. Had I been wrong and it was a mirage I would only lose about 5 minutes. If I was right I'd have a story to tell.

I pulled off at the exit for Wentzville, Missouri. It reminded me a bit of the Cortland Town Center in Mohegan Lake in terms of colors and structure for a strip mall. By now I had confirmed I was not seeing things and anticipation was building. It was only fitting that the Rolling Stones were playing as I pulled in to...

White Castle.

I ordered light, since I still had a few hundred miles to St. Louis and well, they don't call 'em Belly Bombers for nothing. So 2 burgers and an order of chicken rings. Of course I couldn't experience this alone, I sent texts to several people and called back to NY to my White Castle compatriot, Richie, who would appreciate this.

His first question, "any white people there?"
"They all are." I answered.

Not only that, but there was no bullet proof glass in front of the counter. It was a strange sight for me to see. But the food was still the food, so it was all good and I was back on the road.

As I was driving I realized this would probably be the best food day of the trip - the best McDonalds in the country, great barbecue and then White Castle. And I still hadn't eaten dinner yet.

I pulled into St. Louis and eagerly started looking for the Arch. I made the mistake of using the GPS again and all it could find was "St. Louis Art". Great, big help.

I eventually made my way over and found a parking lot to drop the car off while I did the tourist thing. First stop, of course, was the Mississippi River. I took some pictures, stuck my hand and acted like a real tourist. Then it was over to the arch. I didn't go inside for time and money constraints, but did stand in what I believe to be roughly the exact middle. Took some pictures, went over to Busch Stadium and took some more pictures, grabbed a burger at Hardees (specifically to use the restroom) and was then back in the car around 8 or so as the sun was going down.

Trying to make it as close to Memphis as I could, without running into my Arizona/Utah problem, when the GPS started reading "Low Battery", I had it find me a local hotel. Another Best Western in Sikeston, Missouri, so I figured it'd be pretty cheap. I pulled in and asked for a room. $73.95. At this point I was pretty tired from all the heat, and wasn't sure if the GPS had enough juice to get me to another place, so I reluctantly said yes.

I got the key to my room and brought my first load of stuff in. I opened the door and looked to the left for a light switch, turned on the lights and expected to see a small bathroom off to the side. Instead I found what looked like a closet. I looked ahead and didn't see a bed, instead I saw a mini-fridge with microwave, a couch, coffee table and arm chair. I stepped in a little more and saw a TV and desk and another room. Inside of the other room was a king sized bed, dresser, another TV, 2 lamp tables and then a separate bathroom. I suddenly wasn't so pissed about the price for the night. I brought in the rest of my stuff and then took a refreshing shower before going to bed.

Sikeston, Missouri - Southern Hospitality starts here. That's what the brochures say, and I'm inclined to agree.

Country Roads: Part 4 - The Bobo's Bungle

I had made sure to set my alarm to wake up in time to catch the tail end of the complimentary continental breakfast in the hotel. I wasn't expecting much, and it didn't disappoint. I grabbed an apple danish, a mini muffin and a bowl of fruit loops and headed back up to my room to shower and plan the next stage of the trip.

I chowed down, input my plans into Google maps and headed for the shower. When I dried off I realized I had forgotten all about the Fruit Loops and had to flush them for they had become too soggy to salvage. I gazed at the map and it's simplistic directions.

Get on I-70E
Arrive Kansas City (6xx miles)

I thought about how I didn't really want to drive 600 miles through Kansas and formulated some alternate plans, namely stopping for the night in either Topeka or Lawrence which were on the way. I was already planning on briefly stopping in Topeka to chow down at another Diners, Drive-Ins and Dive's joint - Bobo's Drive In.
I'll spare you the details of the drive, needless to say that it was far less eventful than the previous day. After leaving Colorado I reached Kansas... and that's all I have to say about that.

Fortunately, I had supplemented my iPods music catalog with a collection of audiobooks, and with nothing but flat lands and hundreds of miles between me and my destination, now seemed like the most opportune time to give them a whirl. I set the cruise control at a brisk 72mph and selected an Agatha Christie mystery to engage my mind and counteract awesome boringness that is Kansas.

I was at first caught off guard that my audiobook wasn't really an audiobook (where someone reads the book to you) but rather a BBC radio production of the book. SCORE! "We present John Moffet as Hercule Poirot, in Agatha Christie's 'Appointment with Death'".

I honestly couldn't tell you anything about my journey for the next hour or so because I was so caught up in the story. Fantastic production. When it ended I pulled over for some food. I believe it was another Burger King (gotta love those gift cards). After a quick meal, I got gas and popped in another mystery, "Murder in the Clouds".

Those stories, and later some music got me through most of Kansas.

I arrived in Topeka shortly after 10pm and set the GPS for Bobo's Drive-In. I got there too late. They close at 8pm.

8pm! In the summer! In Topeka, Kansas - where, I could plainly see, there wasn't anything else going on.

I was dejected. But I made the best of it, jumped out of the car and recorded my trip on my Flip so that it would forever be part of the video record that I was there, even if I wasn't able to eat there.

As I headed back towards the highway I was a bit hungry so I had the GPS tell me where I could find some other fast food options. Suddenly, I saw one that we don't have on the East Coast, and, to make things better, Marc Summers (yes, former host of Double Dare), had mentioned on the Food Network Show, "The Best Thing I Ever Ate" - Steak N' Shake.
I pulled up hoping they'd still be open. My fears were quickly put to ease as the sign read they close at 3am and have malts and shake happy hours from 2-4 (am and pm, eat that Sonic). I went inside to find a quasi-fast food joint, retrofitted to a '50s diner/soda shop motif. The waitress was young and nice and I asked her to excuse my wide-eyedness having never been there before as I looked over the menu.

4 meals for under $4 you say. And one of them is a triple steak burger with fries? Unheard of. Yes I'll have that. And to drink... hmm, double fudge shake sounds good. Yeah, let's go with that.
It was a delicious meal.

Afterwards, I hopped back into the car and headed towards Lawrence, home of the University of Kansas Jayhawks. Also known as, most hated college basketball team #2. (Seriously, it's the one title I'll gladly give Duke every year).

After crossing my first toll road of the trip ($1 to go about 4 exits), I made my way to the EconoLodge I had looked up earlier on Expedia - see, I'm learning. Well to my surprise the guy at the desk actually charged me $5 less than the Expedia rate I was planing on. Not one to argue I took my room card, and pulled the car around.

The room was your standard cheap for the night motel, but comfortable non-the-less. It lacked some of the outrageous amenities of the motel in Denver, but that was to be expected. I had my free wi-fi, plenty of outlets to charge my things and a comfortable bed. What was more, was that I was 4/5ths of the way through another Agatha Christie mystery, "Murder in Mesopotamia" and couldn't wait to get back on the road the next day to hear the conclusion.

I also decided that I would obtain more of these BBC productions once I returned home, and gather mother and sister around the iPod to listen to the stories as we ate dinner some evening. In old-timey Americana fashion. I thought the idea fit me well, merging the modern with the classic, as is so often my way.

And so with that thought I laid my head down to rest on yet another bed, in yet another state.

Country Roads: Part 3 - Highway to Heaven

I awoke on Day 3 around 6am as the sun began to shine through the windshield. I thought about repositioning myself so that the light wasn't in my eyes and trying to sleep a little more, but figured that it wouldn't be long before the hotel staff were awake and discovered me. And the last thing I wanted was to pay for a hotel room I didn't get to sleep in.

So I turned on the car and continued my journey. I needed gas so I made an almost immediate stop at the first place I saw. Bought a 24oz Lemon-Lime Gatorade for breakfast, took most of my medication (all of the important ones) and chowed down on a mini box of Fruit Loops I had packed for just such an emergency. Then I headed out.

I had crossed into Utah under the cover of night so I didn't really see much of it until the next day. The mountains were beautiful. I stopped at a few "scenic turnoffs" to snap some pictures. Then I would jump back in the car and continue to press onward.

Around the town of MOAB, Utah I passed by a McDonalds and needing to pee decided this was a good place to stop. Besides, since I had been driving since 6am I definitely deserved a proper breakfast. As I walked in I noticed the "Free Wi-Fi" sign on the door and after using the lavy (practicing for London), I ran back to my car and got my laptop.

I ordered the usual, 2 sausage biscuits and a medium OJ, and sat down to enjoy and map out my route for the day. I was heading towards Denver. And after the incident the night before, I was more vigilant in looking up places to stay. I got addresses and phone numbers in case the GPS crapped out on me before I got someone, I could call and ask for directions. I also updated my fledgling fantasy baseball teams, responded to some emails and updated my Facebook status. Honestly I could work out of a McDonalds now a days.

I got back in the car, directions in hand, breakfast in belly and continued my tour of Utah. I passed by a small shop offering ATV and Dirt Bike tours and turned around to drive by it 3 more times. I was seriously considering it, as it is on my life's to do list. However, I was exhausted. I realized that it wouldn't be as fun or safe in my current condition. So I continued towards I-70. Once I got on, I pulled over at the first gas station, circled around back and grabbed myself a trucker nap.

I woke up an hour or so later as the sun was now high over head and it was starting to heat up in the desert. I went inside the convenience mart, where I picked up some water and an enticing looking ice cream treat - Snickers Brownie Bar. It was damn good. I got back in the car and kept driving.

A little later on I pulled off again to grab another nap. This time it was at a Kum and Go convenience store. I mention the name only because this is obviously the work of a copywriter. Someone decided that they absolutely had to use a "U" instead of the "O "and "E". Then they realized it may be offensive and unappetizing to, well just about everyone, so they kicked out the "C" and replaced it with a "K" to add a coolness factor to it. I laughed a lot at that.

Back in the car and the day is really long. Stopped for gas and grabbed a quick bite at a Wendy's. But the real hero was the Frizzle.

It's like a slurpee. Whatever this chain of stores' brand. There were two options, "Rock n' Roll" which looked to be a combination of berries and "Dragon Fruit" which seemed to have grapes and a dragonfruit. I made my decision in the only logical way possible. Which one was purpler, because purple-ness is next to godliness. The Dragonfruit won out.

It was incredibly delicious.

Back on the road and I was into Colorado now. I had passed through maybe 2 counties and had seen the rockies (Rich, they really are big. John Denver wasn't lying) in the distance. Now I was driving on what I will forever call the "Highway to Heaven".

This has to be the most beautiful stretch of road in the country. You're driving in between the mountains. The Colorado River is on your side. East and West traffic are separated. There are tunnels through the mountains. The speed limit is 75mph. There's nothing about it that isn't perfect.

Remember in the end of Gladiator, when Russell Crowe is dying and he sees himself walking through the golden fields on the way to his family? I'd like this stretch of road to be what I see when I reach that moment. It's truely remarkable.

So after all that I made it to Denver. I passed by Invesco Field and stopped at a Burger King which had Wi-Fi (to change it up, plus I had a gift card) and got directions to a nearby motel. I called to check availability this time and the woman at the counter told me not to worry. So I inputted the coordinates into Google Maps and was off.

20 minutes later I was back at Burger King. Since my battery in my laptop was dying I didn't pay attention to my starting location, which was wrong, and therefore gave me directions I could never follow. I plugged in after finding an available outlet and re-tried to get directions.

Driving down the road I saw the hotel to my right. Then a sign saying the bridge was out. I went down the next turn and tried to find my way about 700 feet over to get to the hotel. Couldn't do it. Got frustrated and went to look for another way there. Came back again and this time noticed the orange Detour signs. Followed them and got to the hotel.

$39.99 for the night.

I wasn't expecting much. But they had a laundry room so I decided to wash all of the dirty laundry I was bringing with me (since it was the only bag of clothes I could reach and had worn the same shirt and shorts for the past 2 days). When I got to my room I was amazed.

A fridge. Not the mini kind, the same size as my apartment in Binghamton all those years ago.
A microwave.
A sink (kitchen).
A stove.
Plenty of outlets.
A king sized bed.
Plus free Wi-Fi

It was great. I ran down and put my laundry in. Brought up some drinks from the cooler and put them in the fridge. Started charging everything. When the clothes were done I got in the shower, did some internet work and then, around 1 or 2 in the morning, finally went to bed.

Country Roads: Part 2 - He's a Highway Child/Gimme Gimme Shelter

After an exciting, and grueling first day I decided to take advantage of the noon check-out time for my hotel in Vegas.

I woke up around 20 after 10 in order to catch the end of breakfast in the hotel restaurant - it wasn't free but $3.50 a short stack of pancakes isn't bad. Of course when you throw on the apple juice and the side of bacon it turned into an $8 breakfast, but whatever, I need to eat.

After breakfast I went back to my room, showered, and packed up my things. My route was already planned out, I'm going to the Grand Canyon. But first, a stop for lunch at a place featured on Diner's, Drive-Ins, and Dives, "The 4 Kegs".

Guy Fieri was actually a regular customer there when he went to UNLV. I threw the coordinates into the GPS and despite the 95 degree heat, made it. I grabbed a booth next to a sort of wall of fame, where Guy had signed some pictures. I also had a good view of 2 TVs - one showing the Italy World Cup match, and the other college baseball, but with the ESPN bottom line. After weighing my options (something I really have to do when eating out), I decided to throw caution into the wind and order one of the 4 Kegs strombolis. I got the meatball one. I hoped I wouldn't regret subjecting my stomach to it.

It came and looked great. I bit into it and it was gr... friggin hot! I was eventually able to get some in my mouth and was very happy I ordered it. The crust was light and crisp and the meatballs were good. As I was eating Italy tied their match at 1 and earned a draw. After powering through half of the stromboli I was ready to depart.

Back in the car and on to the Grand Canyon! Except that I was stuck in traffic before the Hoover Dam for an hour, maybe longer as there's only 1 lane to go through the security check. To kill some time I called my mom to check in and tell her everything was good - minus the traffic and the heat.

After a long time I finally got past security and got to drive on the Hoover Dam into Arizona. From there it was pretty smooth sailing until I was stopped again on my way into Grand Canyon National Park. Not as much of an inconvenience, just wondered why the line I was on moving about 6 times slower than the other one. Then I saw the $25 access charge and cursed TJ in my head again. Regardless, I got into the park as the sun was getting ready to set. I parked by the visitor's center, grabbed my camera and headed over to the South Rim.

I took a bunch of pictures and tried to get the sunset-ting effect but the SLR kept making things brighter. So I played a little with the aperture and shutter speed, although I'm not sure I made anything better. I silently wished Manolo was around so I could ask him how to take the picture I wanted. Oh well. I suppose I should get a book of digital photography basics, or ask Julie to explain and help me learn, when I see her in London. Her photos are great and I'm not a complete moron, so she should be able to teach me.

Anyway, I got back in the car as the sun had nearly gone down, and started driving out the other side of the park. It was getting darker and darker and I began to plan where to spend the night. I also wanted to make sure that I got enough mileage in, so that I didn't set myself back on the time I predicted for the trip.

I kept driving and looking at the signs for upcoming towns. I eventually settled on Kayenta, Arizona and had the GPS navigate me to a Hampton Inn. I got out of the car and went to the front door.

Locked.
That's strange.

Oh well, there's a Holiday Inn on the otherside of the street and a little ways up. I went in and asked for a room - they were booked. The woman told me that she was pretty sure that the Hampton Inn (that I had come from) and the Best Western down the street were also fully booked. Now if I was smart I would have asked what the hell was going on that all the hotels were booked, but it was late, I was tired and now needed to drive further.

With the GPS as my guide I kept searching for a place to spend the night. By now we're approaching 1 in the morning.

Funny thing, Arizona isn't really dense with hotels so you have to drive a fairly long ways. I went to 3 or 4 more hotels, many closed for the night where I'd have to call to get someone to come back to the hotel. Plus it seemed like $99 for the night was the best deal.

So after visiting hotel number 5 or 6 since finding out that I had no place to stay, I decided to (smartly) rough it. I pulled around back of a nice looking hotel, found an empty parking space, turned the car off, set my cell phone alarm and put my hat over my eyes to get some sleep because it was now after 2am.

It wasn't the most comfortable rest and I only got a few hours (maybe 3), but now I have this story.

Country Roads: Part 1B - Yosemite Sam's a one arm bandit

Car is loaded up and all I need to do is pay to get out of the garage. It's $27 for 24 hours, I had the car parked there 30 or so, and it's $27 for a lost ticket. I've got a brilliant idea - I'll just tell the guy I lost my ticket.

Apparently, I'm not the only genius to have this idea. He tells me to pull the car up to the gate because he has to check the license. Great, I'm gonna get busted before the trip starts and all I wanted to do was save a few bucks for a slurpee on the road. Hey I don't know, maybe he couldn't find it or karma bailed me out but he let me go with a $27 payment and didn't say anything to indicate I had done something "naughty". Now that's a good sign for the trip.

Of course because I'm cliche I turned on "Highway to Hell" as I began the trip. Drove over the Bay Bridge for the first time, was surprised that they don't charge for it, figured that was another good sign and headed out towards Yosemite National Park.

I inputted "Yosemite National Park" into my GPS (a Garmin Nuvi - just so you know) and got the directions. They differed a bit from what I had copied down on Google Maps, but then again Yosemite is pretty big and just figured this was taking me to a different part of the park. Besides, it's easier to look at the little screen on the dash than it is to fumble through a notepad and read stuff.

So yeah. The GPS took me to a park on Yosemite Ave, in a residential section of Merced, CA. I tried several combinations, menus, etc. to find the big fucking NATIONAL PARK listing, but it doesn't appear to exist in the Garmin world. Fucking GPS.

It's a good thing I've hated it just about since I bought it, don't trust it, and had the written instructions, which I followed. Amazing that GPS systems cost money, Google Maps is free and only 1 of them knows how to get to one of the largest national parks in the United States.

When the GPS tapped out and read "Low Battery" after 3 hours or so, I gladly turned it off.

Got to Yosemite and was shocked that you have to pay to get in. Not only that, but it's $20. Silently cursed T.J. in my head. Got into the park and didn't really know what to look for/do - other than I'd be exiting the other side. Sort of got lost, but more like didn't really take the most efficient route, but saw some cool waterfalls and took some (hopefully) good pictures*. Also encountered one of the nastiest and smelliest restrooms/outhouses in the world. Unfortunately when you've got to pee, you've got to pee. That's why there's pocket sized hand sanitizer.

So after I had my fill of beautiful natural scenery (and forgiven T.J. in my head) I started to make my way to the other end of the park. Here's the problem. The speed limit is like 30mph (which makes sense), except that when you chart your course on Google Maps it estimates time/distance combos at around 60mph. So yeah... it was a lot later than I planned on when I got out of Yosemite.

Not a problem though, I just won't drive all the way to Vegas. I'll stop somewhere after I get my 577 miles in. (That's the number per day that I calculated to do my original route in 7 days). Besides, it's almost 10:30pm and I started driving at 10:30am.

Now here's the fun part.

After I passed by a small village with places to sleep at 540 miles or so, I was all set to spend the night in the next area listed on the road signs. Except, it was just a few gas stations.

Okay, I'll stay at the next one.

No lodging.

The next one? Gas station.

So now I'm looking at the upcoming areas signs posted on the road, it's nearly midnight, and there's just one option left.

You guessed it, Vegas.

In a way, I was sort of happy. I'd be doing an all day drive to get to Vegas, at night, and come barreling down onto the strip in all it's glory. Plus, since my original plan was to make it to Vegas on Day 1 (not a complicated feat other than getting slowed down in Yosemite by the low speed limit) - I knew of a cheap place to crash. Even had the address.

I hit the Vegas city limits and I'm looking at exit signs for Las Vegas Blvd. Can't find any. Okay, now we're having problems. Get off at one of the exits and try to find it. Not working. I momentarily thought about calling Mr. Scott back home (since he knows Vegas like I know the script to the movie "Clue") but 3am may be early even for him. So I made a desperate move. I tried to turn on my GPS.

To my surprise it worked and after some fiddling had the address entered. Of course it gave me 2 options, North Las Vegas Blvd, or South. I chose North. I followed it and didn't see the Howard Johnson. Problem. However, I did pass by a Best Western, so I back tracked it over there, crossed my fingers it wasn't more than $60 a night and went in.

$49.95 for the night. It's about 12:30-1 in the morning when I get to my room. I set everything to charge, crank the AC, plan a little of Day 2's route and get to sleep.

*A note about pictures from this trip - I'll add them at the end. I shot/shoot everything in RAW format on my SLR so will do some editing/correcting in Photoshop. (Read as: Manolo told me to do this, so I do it even though I have no idea what I'm doing).

Country Roads: Part 1a - Oh you're leaving? Not so fast.

So here we go, I'm finally going to do it. Woke up bright and early, walked up to Fisherman's Warf for the last time and went the McDonald's there, for the first time, to get my favorite breakfast, (2 sausage biscuits and a med. O.J.) Then went back to my apartment to pack the last of my bags into the car, put out a "Box O' Free" full of stuff I couldn't fit in the car and still had enough value that it'd be a shame to throw it out, and made a horrifying discovery...

The guy set to sublet my room backed out!

Yeah, so that was a shocker, although I honestly can't really blame him for panicking after I had to say, "no, please don't send the check and finalize the agreement we made because one of my roommates suddenly realized that he knows a friend of a friend of a friend of someone's dead aunt that may need a room, and it'd be much more preferable to live with someone they sorta knew but not really. So the kid bailed thinking he wouldn't get the room, and I'm fucked for a few thousand dollars. Roommate not really taking responsibility for financially fucking me over because "next time don't tell him it's a friend, just say it's another respondent so they don't panic."

Great advice. Here's some for you. 3 days before I'm set to drive cross country and just found someone to replace the last guy who bailed on taking my room, take your preferences and shove them unless you plan on financially covering me in case this shit happens.

Fortunately (sort of), the roommate I knew the least is a stand up guy and has put the room back on Craigslist and is trying to help me get it sublet so I can recoup/salvage some of the money I lost because of the blown deal.

Hey, now if that's not the way to start a week long, 4 thousand mile trip, what is?

Country Roads: Part 0

You could probably call this a prequel to my cross country adventure. I was planning on leaving today. I even scheduled 3 hours for packing on my Google Calendar.

However, it apparently takes something more like 6 hours and when you've got an 80 degree plus heat beating down on your pasty white ass, it takes even longer. So after much back and forth, constant rests and drinking a ton of water, I decided that it just wasn't worth it to kill myself and will leave tomorrow (Sunday, June 13th).

What's more though is that with all of the crap I crammed into the car, there's still so much I have to leave behind. Tomorrow I"m putting out a "Box o' Free Stuff" outside the apartment before I go. Things in it include: Guitar Hero controller (Gamespot wouldn't buy it), my 1969 Mets framed celebration print, my NY Giants rug - those last 2 I really wanted to take but I can't feasibly fit them anywhere, my Mike Piazza bobblehead, various Google schwag and my ultra comfortable bathrobe (I may be able to salvage that one).

But yeah, anyway it sucks to give up all of these things that I remember what occasion I got them for, from who and what they meant/mean to me. That's because I'm crazy and develop an instance emotional attachment to inanimate objects.

So anyway that's my story for today - not even going to get into the clusterfuck of subletting my room - going to bed now so I can wake up early and get breakfast (hopefully I'll be feeling better and able to eat) then throw some food and drink in the cooler and pack my laptop, maps and be on my way. I'm hoping to be on the road before 10:30am

First stop: Yosemite National Park

That reminds me, I should get directions.

We've come to the end of the road

I'm sitting here, in my room in San Francisco, while everyone else is out. I've been having abdominal pains for most of the day. My room is cluttered, yet without life and personality as most of my important belongings have long since been shipped back to NY or, in the case of my beloved big screen, sold earlier this evening.

Tomorrow figures to be a day of mostly packing, culminating in a trip down to Sunnyvale to pick up my car one last time. Park it overnight in a nearby lot and spent a good portion of the night packing it. If I'm feeling better I may break to have one last hurrah at one of the nearby bars, or randomly call people from school to see who is around and out. When that fails, I'll have a drink alone. Fitting.

As I was about to leave NY I wrote a lot about how I felt, the excitement of "starting" my life, reflecting back on those people who had made the most impact and wondering how I'd get on without them.

Nearly three years later has my life actually "started", or did it do that back in August 1982 and I've just been too caught up in looking for a big moment to realize it? Those same great friends who shaped me into the person that was able to come to California have all since changed. Marriage for many, new jobs for others and we haven't been as close. No visits since I moved. We've only seen each other when I made the effort to come home. That stings.

I spent a fair amount of energy and time ragging on California, comparing it unfavorably to New York and various other things that I could easily see coming across as hatred for the state or the city of California. Neither of which are true. While it is true that I can honestly say that I don't belong/fit here, I cannot diminish that it was this three year adventure that taught me that as well as many other undiscovered things about myself. For that I can be nothing other than grateful.

A big thank you to all, for this life changing experience. I'm finally up in the driver's seat of my own life rather than sitting in the back watching the trees pass by and occasionally asking for the radio to be turned up. Without further ado, the payoff to this post - my attempt at summarizing my time in California with the soundtrack of my life:

1 - California; Phantom Planet - it's happy, upbeat and like me was full of hope when I arrived
2 - California Love; Tupac and Dr. Dre - "well let me welcome everybody to the wild wild west", thank you very much. Nice to be here.
3 - Welcome to the Good Life; Kanye West - going to work for Google and riding high
4 - You Can't Always Get What You Want; The Rolling Stones - the gig at Google isn't what I thought it was going to be, I start to discover other abilities and interests
5 - Fat Lip; Sum 41 - "don't wanna fall in line, be another victim of your conformity" decided that I don't like the Google Kool-Aid. (Regular Kool-Aid however is delicious)
6 - Renegades of Funk; Rage Against the Machine - start the ConOps question wall and co-found the ConOps Fun Council. Outlet for creativity created, countdown started
7 - Gives You Hell; The All-American Rejects - part ways with Google
8 - Juicy; Notorious B.I.G. - complete 1st quarter at Miami Ad School and attend graduation. Mentally re-write this song to be my graduation speech
9 - Public Service Announcement; Jay-Z - win an award for White Castle work, start to come into my own at MAS
10 - New York State of Mind; Billy Joel - always in the back of my head as I continually find slight differences in perception and attitude on the West Coast that I really don't like. (If you're driving a Smart car or riding a Vespa you should be laughed at by everyone, not just me)
11 - Killing in the Name of; Rage Against the Machine - quarter away locations announced, mass competition to go to London. Only know one way to compete, kill 'em all, take no prisoners.
12 - London Calling; The Clash - I am as good as I say I am
13 - Country Roads; John Denver - decide that I have one chance left to drive cross country and this time I'm going to do it.
14 - Here I go Again; Whitesnake - "I don't know the future. I didn't come here to tell you how this is going to end. I came here to tell you how it's going to begin." - Neo, the Matrix
15 - Good; Better than Ezra - Giving crap is something I do as a term of endearment. It was good living with you.
16 - End of the Road; Boyz II Men - where do you think I got the title from?
17 - Take another little piece of my heart in San Francisco; Janis Joplin/Tony Bennett mashup that I should create - It'll never be "home" but it was for a while. Maybe I'll be able to look back years from now as the place I got my start. The place I came into my own. Maybe it's just three years of bad pizza. Whatever it is, it's a part of me.