Blogging…. Blogger

I blog, therefore I am…. Or at least you have something to waste a few minutes on…

Blogging, via blogger is free… recently I added a few ads, so maybe it is better than free…It is an experiment that I may abandon, but may continue… comments from readers are welcome… negative, positive, just thoughts…

It is not about money, the couple of cents a click that Google pays… instead it is a a continuation of the experiment in new media that is this blog…

I changed the look as well… but there are issues… I post via a paste from word… and when it appears it is in different fonts, different colors, different size fonts… confusing…  but I generally like the new look… Blogger is a free service, so if there are issues, I tend to let them ride…

Like I said, comments on the look welcome.

I tend to write in MS word… then cut and paste… recently I have been writing on an Ipad, then emailing it and pasting… each has issues on how the formatting appears once in Blogger.

 I continue to blog…    Hopefully you continue to read… 

Randy

Tonight someone asked how I was doing, was I settled back in…

It was a reference to Dad, Mom, the dog, and scattering their ashes... 
 

I answered, no, Not quite settled, work is a zoo, life is imitating work... and a trip looms...”

I am way too busy at work… it is making me testy… grumpy… co-workers may be noticing… I am lucky to have an assistant… a good assistant… without Barbara I would either go crazy or quit…  Work is not currently fun… It is not fulfilling… it is a slog…

With work less than fulfilling, the looming road trip takes on a life of its own… Significant importance as a diversion…

With trip looming, The question of rules comes up… I believe we need rules…  (any significant undertaking needs rules… How can you break rules if you don’t have rules… )

 Alton Brown has published rules for his two “Feasting on Asphalt” trips… ( but not for feasting on Feasting on water) 

His Rules:

FOA Rules

1. Stick to back roads and clear of Interstates whenever possible

2. Will not eat at national chain restaurants

3. No whining

4. If no place to eat, fend for self—camping and cooking or kindness of strangers

FOA 2 Rules:

1. There will be no freeways. By pass them at all costs
2. Not eat any industrial chain fast food
3. No whining
4. Seek authentic food and tell the stories attached to it so we will know more about who we are and where we’re going

So, reviewing Alton’s rules, and understanding his goals, and our goals… I offer a set of rules for our Cannon Ball Run

So, reviewing Alton’s rules, and understanding his goals, and our goals… I offer a set of rules for our Cannon Ball Run… (based or at least inspired by Alton’s….)

Our Rules….

1) When possible avoid the Interstate…  Of course this trip is a cannon ball run, and we have to go many miles before we sleep, so, the Interstates will be used, but when an option is offered consider it…

2) Do not eat in any industrial fast food chain (this may be the most important rule…  This of course is targeted at Micky D’s, Taco Smell, and the Waffle house, but also at Starbucks… The ladies may push back at Starbucks…) But, once in Florida, it means we may eat Bar B Q…

3) No whining (Of course, they (the ladies) may, but based on our rules I get to ignore them… to a point)

4. Seek authentic food and tell the stories attached to it so we will know more about who we are and where we’re going… (this is Alton’s… I am adopting it as mine….)

5) Honor requests for bathroom stops (We after all are a civilized people)

6) Weird museums and local attractions are good… and worth a bit of time (a rule for me)

7) Occasionally, stop, walk once around the car, take a deep breath.

I have spent some time tonight trying to find acceptable places to eat along I-75 in Florida…places that conform to rule 4… finally I think I have a list… It was the biggest challenge…

Early to marrow I will go to work (5 hours from now)  I will work for many hours… I will return tired… then, I will do it again…  The trip is looking better all the time.

“It is not down any map; true places never are,”
Herman Melville

Randy

A New Look…. And more trip planning

I have been playing with the blog… changing the look… a got the slide show working again…  I updated my profile and the blogs and sites I follow… I considered a new photo centric look, but too often on the road, photo uploads are difficult… I decided that the words are more important.

I may even try to “monetize” it… ad a few ads on the margin… why not, it (the blog) is really all just a grand experiment in new media.  If Google ads buy me a six pack of decent beer every quarter it may validate the process… 

I am continuing to experiment with posting from my I pad… I can, but it ends up looking like one long paragraph… more appropriate for a rant, less for a thoughtful discussion about secondary roads and random sights in Texas…  Some of which may appear here in the near future…

Back to the trip…

I am continuing to over plan the next road trip, a cannon ball run to Florida… I have reservations for 3 of the 5 nights, a couch for one, so only one is unreserved, unplanned…   So far the food plan is looking good, strange places for lunch, wonderful places for dinner… except the last day, New Orleans to Ft Lauderdale… Breakfast is under control (Café Du Monde, New Orleans)  but Florida is looking like a food desert, with lots of Micky D’s, Taco Bells, and Waffle Houses… but few unique dining opportunities…  this is sad… The most memorable restaurant meal I ever ate was in Florida, in Ft Lauderdale, in Johnny V’s… the meal was wonderful, (ostrich, bunny and venison, the cheese plate afterward beyond…) but now, crossing Florida, north Florida, I can’t find a place to eat… beyond the Waffle House….  No one wants to eat lunch at the Waffle house…

It is likely there is a diner, a dive… somewhere along the I-10/I-75 area… but so far I haven’t found it… We have a trip goal, no McDonald's… No Taco Bell… (I will throw the Waffle house into the mix) we need to be true to the goal… Florida is a challenge…

More research is needed… back to the internet, the web, the grind stone….

On other news… tomorrow I will make a run to Carson City, Nevada, USA…. To a railroad museum, a museum with railroad cars, one of which was built in Sacramento in 1868, used by Governor Stanford in May of 1869 at the Golden Spike ceremony… I will do forensic paint research… as part of a team doing a restoration feasibility study, in building terms a Historic building report….   identifying how the car was painted many, many years ago…  We will look at how the car is bolted together…   It is my passion… I will enjoy the long day… then collapse on Sunday, before a late lunch on the coast with the wife and dogs…

Road trip evolution

The proposed road trip is evolving… taking on a life of its own…

The core goal survives… San Mateo to Ft Lauderdale… but details are changing…

The road trip is official… My leave request has been approved… Both Steph and I have purchased return airline tickets (on Virgin America, the best damn airline in the world)

And the trip itself is changing as we explore options… 

It started with a basic journey on I-10… picking up the interstate somewhere near LA, leaving it in Florida when we headed south towards South Florida…  Now we are finding ways to avoid the interstate… visiting places off the interstate… in the hinterland…

We have the option of avoiding LA, instead of I-5 to LA then west via I-210 to I-10, we can go via Hwy 58 from near Bakersfield to Victorville, to San Bernardino, then pick up I-10.  This version would include the Tehachapi Loop, the town of Boron, home of a 20 Mule Team Borax wagon... through Cajon pass

My favorite nephew in Tempe is unlikely to be home, instead off on his own adventure involving scuba and water… so instead of Tempe, i.e. greater Phoenix, we will head to Tucson the first night… Jen, (aka the niece) and children, the great nieces (both great and Great) will be in town… This opens up options, entering Tucson via Gila Bend instead of Phoenix,  Tucson is 100 miles further east, so we are able to shift the paradigm, the schedule eastward… 

Leaving Tucson, we have a couple of options… I-10 or maybe a diversion to Tombstone, then east on small roads to Churchill NM, a town raided by Poncho Villa… then back to I-10, through El Paso… we might extend the first day to Marfa, 70 miles beyond Van Horn, on Hwy 90, with its own old hotel, with its own history, and legend of the Marfa lights, strange elusive unexplained lights in the desert.  If we extend to Marfa, we have a chance to look for the lights…

Hwy 90 is increasingly becoming a destination… a thread… part of the trip…

San Antonio is still a hard point… an overnight stop… 

Reaching Cajun country, we are likely pushing a bit beyond Lafayette to Breaux Bridge… then south along old Hwy 90 through Cajun country… still visiting the Tabasco sauce factory… still in search of interesting food…

New Orleans survives as a overnight stop… what did you expect… it New Orleans…

Then a hard day… a bit over 800 miles to Ft Lauderdale…

More changes, adjustments are likely as the three of us negotiate a trip, a plan.

There will be more changes... more sites to visit... more plans... Followed by a trip, with photos and a couple of blog posts and an airplane ride back...

Randy