I ran into this collection of shoes near Lake Walton, NV. Many had writing on them about boyfriends or vacations. There were also a couple of bras. I wondered a lot about who started it and how long it might have taken for it to gain momentum enough to keep it filled. I found a probably-apocryphal version of events on Roadside America but I won’t recount it here so as not to spoil your imaginings with someone else’s cheese. You can click on the first one to make it bigger.
I’m in Reno staying with Vibeke while working on some freelance work for my previous employer and getting some things in order to head into Mexico. I bought some SPT locking tie-downs made for tying kayaks to the top of your car, they’re 13 feet long and should provide an added measure of safety for all of the gear. I was unable to find the Pacsafe mesh I need so I’ll have to look for that in Los Angeles or San Diego. Currently the ETA for entering Mexico is within the next 7 days!
A huge thank you to my cousin Jesse Gunderson, good friends Jeff & Christine Roberson, and new friend and friend of my mother Stacy Jones-Erickson for their recent and very thoughtful contributions! I think people know me for always trying to “do the right thing” and so I can say honestly that when people give me money I try very hard to make it worth their time. It’s a big motivator to write more, take more pictures, try harder, and keep myself safe so that they don’t have to worry as much.
Thanks again!
I stopped at an Exxon/Subway after leaving Hot Springs, AR and a couple pulled up in a Jeep with a canoe on top as I was eating my sandwich by my bike. A man got out and offered to trade the Jeep and canoe (“everything but the woman”) for my bike. They had a cute dog and we talked for a little bit and I gave them a card. The ride to Diamond Crater was beautiful, the first warm day in a long time. I saw lots of other motorcycles on the way, most without helmets.
Diamond Crater was interesting, it was fun to see everyone trying their luck. The parking lot was large and mostly full. I found some quartz and kept it to send home. I talked to the man in the blue coat in the photo in the previous picture entry for a little bit.
“Having any luck?”
“Nope, not really…”
“Having fun anyways?”
“No, it’s more like work…”
“How long have you been doing this?”
“Oh, I came out here for the first time in 1971 but I’ve been out here pretty steadily from 1980. I figured out I’m making about $2 an hour, but this is the only hobby I’ve had that’s paid any money at all!”
I asked him if I could take his picture and he said, “Sure, it’s your camera, it might break!” I wished him good luck and he said, “Yeah, I could use some of that…”
I stayed at a hotel in Dallas called the Super 7 Inn… Lesson learned, if they try and fail to copy a Super 8, you should probably skip it.
On the ride up 287 to Amarillo I saw a blank billboard that said “SIGHN FOR LEASE” which reminded me of another blank billboard I saw in Florida that said “AVAILIBLE”. I stopped at a Dairy Queen and a nice man made sure I knew about the approaching storm, and another man asked me where I was coming from.
“I started in Dallas today,” I said, “but I came from Seattle originally.”
“Where are you going?”
“Everywhere!”
“Well, it’s fixing to rain…”
Someone else in the aforementioned Subway parking lot had said that he was “fixing to take his bike out” after he saw me on mine. Texas is the land of fixing.
I stopped in Clarendon, TX after the wind got so bad I was angling to go straight and I’ve been here for two days waiting out the storm. I ate at a Bronco Burger, run by the local high schoolers; their team is the Clarendon Broncos. I also ate at a Subway here that was host to the Clarendon College Rodeo Team when I entered. They tried to impress each other by making fart noises as soon as I walked in—I think I was wearing the wrong kind of boots.
More panoramas, the first was from the side of Route 287 outside of Quanah, TX and the second was from Diamond Crater State Park in Arkansas. You can click them to make them bigger.
Written February 29th.
I stayed last night at a KOA in West Memphis. I woke up, packed (a horrific undertaking) and set off for Graceland. The mansion tour was fascinating and provided a glimpse into Elvis’ life. I talked a little bit to one of the employees at the end and gave her a business card. Everyone on the tour had something to say about my boots; one older gentleman said, “You know what they say about boots that squeak, right? They ain’t been paid for!” I also checked out the Elvis Automobile Museum and saw his Harleys and the famous pink Cadillac. Pictures of all of this are forthcoming.
After leaving Memphis I gassed up at an Exxon. As I was filling up someone pulled up in front of me and began to fill up as well, though apparently in Arkansas it’s de rigeur to smoke while filling up. I said, “You can’t smoke at the gas station, dude.” He mumbled something about parts per million and fires and got back into his truck.
Now I’m at a KOA in Hot Springs, AR typing from my tent. There’s pretty much no comfortable way to use a laptop from within a one-person tent, so I think the best course of action now is to sleep. I’m still not quite used to the air pad and sleeping bag so I’m sure I will wake up every two hours until morning, cursing myself for the whole ordeal but immediately happy again once everything is packed and I’m on my way.
I’m still planning on checking out Diamond Crater State Park tomorrow, though I don’t think I will do any serious digging. Apparently the best time to look is right after rain, which makes my timing pretty good. Wish me luck!
This is a panorama I made from some pictures I took from the side of the road on Historic Route 66 in Arizona last month. It turned out pretty well without the use of a tripod. The trick is to pivot the camera on its lens axis and not your own axis (i.e. your spine).
Yesterday and today were both relatively short, cold rides. It was snowing today as I got to the outskirts of Nashville. My left eye has been pretty angry a few times in the last couple of months. I’ve been wearing my glasses but I’m not sure what’s up with it. If it was just dryness from the wind I think both eyes would be affected… At one point I had to pull over at a gas station in Louisiana and drench my eye with eye drops, I must have looked pretty weird.
Tomorrow I’m going to see if the weather will cooperate enough for me to get to Memphis and see Graceland so I can tell my dad about it. There’s snow on the ground outside… I think it might melt by the morning.
