Monday, June 23, 2008
Deli Success
There's a certain measure of pride I take when I order a sandwich at a deli and the person behind me sees it, comments on how that sounds good, and then orders the exact same thing. In the cosmic scheme of things it means very little, it doesn't change or shift worlds or fate. What it does do is show that at least someone else thinks you have good taste in sandwiches, which is pretty remarkable given the 1000's of possibilities at any given deli. Not sure exactly what the pride I take in this is, but I do take pride in it. I also take pride on my ability to eat lots of saltine crackers very very quickly without water. So I guess maybe I need to reevaluate what I take pride in but I'm just so darn bad at so many things.
Mmm bike shorts
F: So what are you going with this evening? Black beards delight or a scent that is banned in 7 countries?
M: Sex Panther. Although there's not much time so I'm going to have to work fast and take the long way home.
F: I suggest nothing but bike shorts and a midriff tank top when you walk in the door. And if you can magically add a handle bar mustache to your face before then all the better.
M: Long socks with one red and one yellow stripe at the top and some all white chuck taylors as well? Also remember I'm going to the airport so I don't want to be stopped by airport security for concealing a weapon in my bike shorts.
All this and more over at www.fatkidmusings.blogspot.com
M: Sex Panther. Although there's not much time so I'm going to have to work fast and take the long way home.
F: I suggest nothing but bike shorts and a midriff tank top when you walk in the door. And if you can magically add a handle bar mustache to your face before then all the better.
M: Long socks with one red and one yellow stripe at the top and some all white chuck taylors as well? Also remember I'm going to the airport so I don't want to be stopped by airport security for concealing a weapon in my bike shorts.
All this and more over at www.fatkidmusings.blogspot.com
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Kentucky Blue Grass
Kentucky was a delightful state to drive through, I thought it was very pretty for the entire drive through and the other enjoyable thing was how polite the drivers were. Completely night and day difference from West Virginia Drivers. It wasn't just one instance but I thought I counted 4 or 5 times where a driver would either move aside or let us in when it wasn't required. It really made the whole drive much quicker and more enjoyable.
As we were driving down the road I couldn't help but think how gorgeous the big fields were. Some of them were Kentucky Blue Grass which in the afternoon light looked quite blue. There were really big barns every couple of miles and horses all over the place. Really really beautiful country side, I don't think I can stress that enough.
As we got to Lexington we turned around and got on a cutback highway so that we could go visit Irvine (which I will write about later) the home of my great grandmother, and one of the places my father lived as a child for a short time. After we got done with our visit in Irvine we got back on the road and went all the way to Louisville, which looked like a fine city with lots and lots of new stores all over the place. Not sure what kind of business they do in Louisville but it looked like it was doing quite well, I know the university is there but the buildup seemed so large.
We spent the night in Louisville, and after we had checked into our hotel we wandered over to a nearby bar and sat outside and had some drinks. We both took note of how polite the wait staff was, and it was not for the first time that day. In Kentucky I first noticed one of the overarching themes of the entire trip, which was that people in the middle of the country just seemed nicer, more polite. They seemed like they were genuinely interested in your well being and making sure you had everything you needed. Case in point would be my experience the next morning. We were staying at the Residential Inn and wanted to leave before the breakfast buffet was open, the staff at the front desk insisted that we go ahead and go up there even though it wasn't ready. When we got up there the lady who was setting up the buffet stopped what she was doing, asked us if there was anything we needed, and even offered to cook us eggs to order. Just remarkable. I was astonished that she was so nice to us, I felt bashful telling her that all I needed was some cereal and milk, but thank you for the offer.
We got on the road after breakfast and headed down the road into Indiana, I somewhat lamented the fact that we didn't get more time to spend in Kentucky.
As we were driving down the road I couldn't help but think how gorgeous the big fields were. Some of them were Kentucky Blue Grass which in the afternoon light looked quite blue. There were really big barns every couple of miles and horses all over the place. Really really beautiful country side, I don't think I can stress that enough.
As we got to Lexington we turned around and got on a cutback highway so that we could go visit Irvine (which I will write about later) the home of my great grandmother, and one of the places my father lived as a child for a short time. After we got done with our visit in Irvine we got back on the road and went all the way to Louisville, which looked like a fine city with lots and lots of new stores all over the place. Not sure what kind of business they do in Louisville but it looked like it was doing quite well, I know the university is there but the buildup seemed so large.
We spent the night in Louisville, and after we had checked into our hotel we wandered over to a nearby bar and sat outside and had some drinks. We both took note of how polite the wait staff was, and it was not for the first time that day. In Kentucky I first noticed one of the overarching themes of the entire trip, which was that people in the middle of the country just seemed nicer, more polite. They seemed like they were genuinely interested in your well being and making sure you had everything you needed. Case in point would be my experience the next morning. We were staying at the Residential Inn and wanted to leave before the breakfast buffet was open, the staff at the front desk insisted that we go ahead and go up there even though it wasn't ready. When we got up there the lady who was setting up the buffet stopped what she was doing, asked us if there was anything we needed, and even offered to cook us eggs to order. Just remarkable. I was astonished that she was so nice to us, I felt bashful telling her that all I needed was some cereal and milk, but thank you for the offer.
We got on the road after breakfast and headed down the road into Indiana, I somewhat lamented the fact that we didn't get more time to spend in Kentucky.
Monday, June 16, 2008
This should be fun
http://fatkidmusings.blogspot.com/
This should be fun, I'll write my sports musings here and get into it with my best friend.
This should be fun, I'll write my sports musings here and get into it with my best friend.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
West by God Virginia
West Virgina was a unique state to drive through. I've only ever spent limited time there so there were a couple things that surprised me. The biggest of which was the fact that there were so many nice ass cars on the road. I feel like we couldn't drive a whole mile without seeing a new Corvette or a Porsche or a BMW. I couldn't believe the number of cars we saw that were either really nice sports cars or really nice brand new trucks. I don't know what they do out in West Virgina, but apparently they do it well or the cost of living is so low that they can all afford nice cars. Nice cars in which people drive like assholes. I don't think I saw a level of shitty driving on the trip quite as much as I experienced in WV.
Second thing I'll always remember about West Virgina is how hard and steep some of the turns on the highways were. The turns in Arizona and New Mexico that were semi-twisty with elevation changes were all heavily labeled with warnings. Those same turns in West Virgina would not even make the cut, they would be considered runts and the people who feed turns in the road would let the western turns starve to strengthen the herd…I took that analogy wayyyy to far. But driving through West Virgina was fun, at any moment there was likely to be an incredibly difficult to maneuver turn, and most of the ones that were unlabeled, would have had skulls and x's in the states further west.
The third thing I noticed was a little franchise that we saw in the Western part of West Virgina, West West Virginia, called Tudor's Biscuit World. They advertised heavily and to be honest it was difficult to resist the allure of Biscuit World. I mean you would assume that the place would have the best biscuits ever, maybe even biscuits from all across the globe, and exhibits of illegal or discontinued biscuits. Maybe there were other restaurants where you go in and order a biscuit and they tell you that they don't have them but you should go knock on the door of that abandoned kitchen down the street and ask for a man named Rod who knows a guy who might be able to hook you up. Someone got tired of these illegal biscuit operations and decided to bring all of the laws and rules governing biscuits under one roof to provide the customer with the largest and best selection of street legal biscuits in the world. Whatever the case, Tudor's Biscuit World's always seemed to be next to a strip club, or a porn mega store, or an adult bookstore. I'm thinking this is a great thing, I mean they can share grease, and you can go have your fill of biscuits and head to the sex shop (or the other way around you pervert). I mean I wouldn't have thought that adult industry goes hand in hand with biscuits but hell it looks like it was working fine in West Virgina.
Second thing I'll always remember about West Virgina is how hard and steep some of the turns on the highways were. The turns in Arizona and New Mexico that were semi-twisty with elevation changes were all heavily labeled with warnings. Those same turns in West Virgina would not even make the cut, they would be considered runts and the people who feed turns in the road would let the western turns starve to strengthen the herd…I took that analogy wayyyy to far. But driving through West Virgina was fun, at any moment there was likely to be an incredibly difficult to maneuver turn, and most of the ones that were unlabeled, would have had skulls and x's in the states further west.
The third thing I noticed was a little franchise that we saw in the Western part of West Virgina, West West Virginia, called Tudor's Biscuit World. They advertised heavily and to be honest it was difficult to resist the allure of Biscuit World. I mean you would assume that the place would have the best biscuits ever, maybe even biscuits from all across the globe, and exhibits of illegal or discontinued biscuits. Maybe there were other restaurants where you go in and order a biscuit and they tell you that they don't have them but you should go knock on the door of that abandoned kitchen down the street and ask for a man named Rod who knows a guy who might be able to hook you up. Someone got tired of these illegal biscuit operations and decided to bring all of the laws and rules governing biscuits under one roof to provide the customer with the largest and best selection of street legal biscuits in the world. Whatever the case, Tudor's Biscuit World's always seemed to be next to a strip club, or a porn mega store, or an adult bookstore. I'm thinking this is a great thing, I mean they can share grease, and you can go have your fill of biscuits and head to the sex shop (or the other way around you pervert). I mean I wouldn't have thought that adult industry goes hand in hand with biscuits but hell it looks like it was working fine in West Virgina.
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Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Oh Maryland,
SORRY IT HAS TAKEN ME SO GODDAMN LONG OT WRITE THESE, I WAS BUSY AND CERTAINLY NOT WITH WORK.
Not much to say about Maryland really, I can tell you that I had the hangover from hell after not drinking very much at all the night before. It was really really strange but I persevered and managed to let my father drive through most of Maryland, which included quite a bit of DC memorial day weekend traffic. What surprised me was the amount of traffic that occurred outside of the DC area however. Once it hit about 11am though we decided it would be necessary to stop for an early lunch and switch drivers (which we did about every 2 hours for the whole trip).
We stopped at a Roy Rodgers so that I could enjoy the blissful taste of the gold rush chicken sandwich (the finest of chicken sandwiches available in this nation). After lunch we decided to find some backwater sports store to buy a real bike rack since at the time of our launch the bike was secured to the roof with a blanket and some questionable quality string. So we navigated though some beat up looking part of Maryland and found a sports store who had bike racks and we proceeded to strap that bitch to the back of the van. Mind you my optimism regarding the bike's survival was quite low. So my expectation was that the bike would bike the dust on the highway and get run over by a semi, rendering it useless. But at least with the bike rack we could see the tire out the side view mirror and we would know when the bike inevitably crashed to its doom.
The western part of Maryland went by quickly and before I knew it we entered....
Not much to say about Maryland really, I can tell you that I had the hangover from hell after not drinking very much at all the night before. It was really really strange but I persevered and managed to let my father drive through most of Maryland, which included quite a bit of DC memorial day weekend traffic. What surprised me was the amount of traffic that occurred outside of the DC area however. Once it hit about 11am though we decided it would be necessary to stop for an early lunch and switch drivers (which we did about every 2 hours for the whole trip).
We stopped at a Roy Rodgers so that I could enjoy the blissful taste of the gold rush chicken sandwich (the finest of chicken sandwiches available in this nation). After lunch we decided to find some backwater sports store to buy a real bike rack since at the time of our launch the bike was secured to the roof with a blanket and some questionable quality string. So we navigated though some beat up looking part of Maryland and found a sports store who had bike racks and we proceeded to strap that bitch to the back of the van. Mind you my optimism regarding the bike's survival was quite low. So my expectation was that the bike would bike the dust on the highway and get run over by a semi, rendering it useless. But at least with the bike rack we could see the tire out the side view mirror and we would know when the bike inevitably crashed to its doom.
The western part of Maryland went by quickly and before I knew it we entered....
Great cross county adventure!
So I moved from Washington DC to San Diego California. I packed all my stuff up in a mini-van and set out with a brutal hangover from the night before. My father took the first driving shift and the route we planned was thus.
Took 270 up through Maryland and get on 70 west. We took 70 west into West Virgina until it hit 68 West and got on 68 till it hit 79 and went on down through Charleston, WV.
In Charleston we picked up 64 and drove till just before Lexington, KY and then we took the Bert T Combs Mountain Parkway and some back roads and had dinner in Irvine, KY (more on that later). Then we backtracked and got back on 64 which we took to Louisville, KY and spent the 1st night there.
After Louisville we continued on 64 via Indiana and Illinois, all the way to St. Louis, MO (where we forded the mighty Mississippi river) and there we caught route 44 on down through Missouri and to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (where they are big into Cowboys let me tell you). We spent the second night in Oklahoma City.
From Oklahoma City we caught Route 40 that went through Amarillo, Texas (near the world's largest cross), Moriarty, NM (home of Blackie's bar and grill and near the windiest stretch of highway I've ever seen), into Arizona and the Petrified Forest National Park, and to Flagstaff, AR where we spent the third night.
We began the 4th day by driving on route 17 south from Flagstaff to Phoenix (the 6th largest city in the country) and we took some side roads to get around the traffic in Phoenix and eventually got on Route 10 through the desert to 85 south which also runs through the desert down to route 8 west which surprisingly runs through the desert all the way to San Diego where we found my new home and moved all my worldly possessions into the house.
It was a fantastic trip, I really really enjoyed it and I'm actually a bit sad that it's over. I really enjoyed spending so much time with my father and hearing all his stories and trivia. It's not often that a 25 year old gets to spend so much time with his father, it was a once in a lifetime experience. I saw so much it was so much to digest. But I will write out my experiences state by state because I think I'll always want to remember the trip, and the things I saw. I even took some pictures!
Took 270 up through Maryland and get on 70 west. We took 70 west into West Virgina until it hit 68 West and got on 68 till it hit 79 and went on down through Charleston, WV.
In Charleston we picked up 64 and drove till just before Lexington, KY and then we took the Bert T Combs Mountain Parkway and some back roads and had dinner in Irvine, KY (more on that later). Then we backtracked and got back on 64 which we took to Louisville, KY and spent the 1st night there.
After Louisville we continued on 64 via Indiana and Illinois, all the way to St. Louis, MO (where we forded the mighty Mississippi river) and there we caught route 44 on down through Missouri and to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (where they are big into Cowboys let me tell you). We spent the second night in Oklahoma City.
From Oklahoma City we caught Route 40 that went through Amarillo, Texas (near the world's largest cross), Moriarty, NM (home of Blackie's bar and grill and near the windiest stretch of highway I've ever seen), into Arizona and the Petrified Forest National Park, and to Flagstaff, AR where we spent the third night.
We began the 4th day by driving on route 17 south from Flagstaff to Phoenix (the 6th largest city in the country) and we took some side roads to get around the traffic in Phoenix and eventually got on Route 10 through the desert to 85 south which also runs through the desert down to route 8 west which surprisingly runs through the desert all the way to San Diego where we found my new home and moved all my worldly possessions into the house.
It was a fantastic trip, I really really enjoyed it and I'm actually a bit sad that it's over. I really enjoyed spending so much time with my father and hearing all his stories and trivia. It's not often that a 25 year old gets to spend so much time with his father, it was a once in a lifetime experience. I saw so much it was so much to digest. But I will write out my experiences state by state because I think I'll always want to remember the trip, and the things I saw. I even took some pictures!
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