The White Automobile

San Francisco.

Two weeks ago today we were still on our way northwest than south towards NOLA. Today we are as far west as we go. San Francisco is a beautiful city, but the cold windy weather and the lack of sun have dampened my spirits a bit. It seemed weird to be wearing hooded sweat shirts (over 3 layers), scarves and gloves on the 4th of July. Perhaps it's our nonstop schedule that has really affected me today. Of course I'm still thrilled to be doing this and excited of all that waits ahead for us, but the wailing of the wind outside our 6th floor hotel room is a little off putting.

Yesterday we went to City Lights Bookstore where I was quite satisfied to finally be. We also took a boat ride under the Golden Gate Bridge and around Alcatraz.

We planned to watch fireworks from the top floor restaurant in our hotel, but after an hour and half wait and being somehow bumped down the list by two groups, we bailed. Instead we headed to the nearest corner store, grabbed some Fat Tire and sat on the side of a street where our view of the fireworks was this:

Today we rode a cable car to the Haight and walked approximately 49 blocks to Haight-Ashbury. We shopped, stopped at a local pub and walked through Golden Gate and Alamo Parks before heading back to our hotel via taxi.

While in City Lights, I sat reading one of Allen Ginsberg's poems that seemed especially fitting (minus the undertones) for this trip, called The Green Automobile. In it Ginsberg writes:

We'd pilgrimage to the highest mount

of our earlier Rocky Mountain visions

laughing in each other's arms,

delight surpassing the highest Rockies...

Tomorrow we head to Napa via Berkeley, where the temperature will hopefully hit 70.

Without Adequate Words, Without Adequate Service

"I have just been 800 feet underground....I have just gone through something that should not exist in relation to human beings. Something that is as remote as the galaxy, incomprehensible as a nightmare, and beautiful in spite of everything."-Ansel Adams after experiencing Carlsbad Caverns

Today Kt and I went to the Carlsbad Caverns and toured the natural entrance and Big Room. I cannot find words enough to explain the feelings that repeatedly washed over me as we experienced more and more miraculous things in the cave. Though we took what seemed to be 200 pictures, I know they will not do it justice, but will hopefully serve to remind us of how small we felt in such a grandiloquent place. Approaching the entrance was possibly one of the most wonderful things I have ever seen. It seems that almost out of nowhere a giant crater is revealed that appears bottomless. Looking back up at the entrance while we could still see the natural light was emotional in a way I can't explain. Perhaps I will try again tomorrow.

The KOA we are staying in is fabulous. Nice bathrooms, nice people, nice isolation and nice hairy tarantulas (I'm not making that up). Tomorrow we leave for the Grand Canyon and it almost seems incomprehensible to imagine that the beauty we will see will continue to awe and amaze us. While Kt's technological devices seem to be serviced nicely out here, mine remain off while they search for a signal they can't find. If a beacon of service returns on the road I will update with pictures.

6 states, 5 days. Tomorrow marks our 7th state.

Really doing it....

We set out this morning right on schedule and ready to get into NOLA around 7 pm. Then a tire blew. In Port St. Lucie. It was.....classic.

After AAA showed up, we made it to a Walmart where we replaced our tire, added 3 hours to our arrival time, and befriended our 10 year old mechanic. Finally, off we went.

We crossed four state lines today as we went from Florida to Alabama, Mississippi and then Louisiana. Though we got in later than we had hoped, we still made it safely to NOLA where we checked into our historic hotel that is currently undergoing renovations. The jury is still out, but I think we'll be quite comfortable. A quick late night meal and N'Awlins Golden Ale, a few conversations with some locals and we are ready to call it day one.

We are really doing it.

Thank you so much for your all thoughts, prayers, and good wishes. We are ready to experience it all. I am repeatedly reminded of e.e. cummings' poem, somewhere i have never traveled gladly and beyond; we are somewhere we have never traveled and we will continue gladly beyond.

I'm having some trouble uploading pictures tonight, so I will try again in the morning.

14 days....

Sample Print via Art.com

"For what was a vacation but a chance to be someone different?"

David Sedaris, When You Are Engulfed in Flames

So I was Thinking....

This seems to be the way most conversations at my house are beginning these days. Either Kt or I walk in the house after school, or from running errands and greet with each other with, "so I was thinking about our trip and....". Our musings have ranged from new places to stop, things to see, easier routes of travel, or "genius" ideas for saving money. My best of these plans so far has been to visit colleges and universities along the way hoping to get free meal tickets (I still maintain it's a fabulous idea).

UC Berkeley's Campanille and Reflecting Pool by Memorial Glade and Doe Library, AND my future alma mater.

Credit: Bonnie Azab Powell

Though we anticipate many changes and are prepared to be flexible, we have semi-finalized our map! As you can see through Kt's handy-work, the pink flags = camping, green flags= hotelling/friending, and yellow flags = stopping. Orange is used for our beginning point and final destination (creepy). It feels good to have a tangible form of all our planning in plain view as we discuss the upcoming the weeks.

Please ignore the radiant glow that is emitted from the glory of our map.

My school's graduation was last night and as I sat watching my students proudly display their tasseled mortarboards, I was filled with pride for their accomplishments and reminded of the overwhelming feelings of freedom and fear that encompassed me when I walked across that stage. Though I'm quite removed from that scary and exhilarating place of transitioning between childhood and semi-adulthood, I felt myself identifying with those excited and apprehensive seniors. We are both about to experience the world around us affecting it, as it continues to shape, mold and affect us. That's one mind blowing, living-the-imagined-life thought. I only wish Pomp and Circumstance would play as we drove into each city. Maybe I can arrange that...

It's a big country out there. I can't wait to see it.

My high school's graduation was far less exciting and grandiose than this, but this just seems to exude so much excitement I had to use it. Not sure who these people are...I'll give photo cred to: senileramblings.blogspot.com