I took the 6,000 mile road trip (actually, more than 6600 miles in all). First time in decades I’ve driven from coast to coast. I made a few observations along the way.

1. This is a big country.

2. This is a windy country.

3. This country has lots of apparently empty space. Lots.

4. Although united under one flag, there appear to be two separate countries on either side of the Mississippi River.

5. Although this is a big country, it is entirely possible to traverse the continent without ever losing sight of another vehicle. That disturbs me.

6. The country is sadly homogenized, at least along the Interstate corridors. We are a nation of chains—chain restaurants, chain motels, chain stores and businesses. Mom and pop are franchisees.

7. Even so, it’s still possible to find gems among the tailings. You just have to work harder than you used to. (Thank you, Lonely Planet. )

8. Despite having a GPS device, and GPS capability on both smart phone and iPad, there’s nothing quite as useful as the venerable Rand McNally Road Atlas.

And a note in passing… I was looking at the map as we passed through Arkansas, and saw a town called Arkadelphia. Now Texarkana I could understand, being a city near the conjunction of Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana. But Arkadelphia? Then it hit me.

If Philadelphia is the City of Brotherly Love, then Arkadelphia must be the City of Cousinly Love.

:) 1 month ago

...or, Moving Mom.

Mrs. Hawkmeister’s mother (“Mom”) lives on the east coast. Not just near the coast, but on it. There are no buildings between her building and the Atlantic ocean. Mom had quite an adventure when Superstorm Sandy rolled through her neighborhood. Mom does not “do” evacuations. [rolls eyes]

Mom is in her mid-80’s. She lives alone on the 5th floor of an apartment building. She can’t walk well, and definitely cannot climb or descend multiple flights of stairs, and is dependent on the elevator. The elevator runs on electricity. The very same electricity provided (or not) by the Long Island electricity folks. She had no power for almost 6 weeks after Sandy, could not leave her apartment, could not phone us, and could not get out to shop or do laundry. By the time power was restored, she had eaten almost everything edible in her apartment. (We think it fortunate that her pet dog had died a year ago.)

Mom is also beginning to manifest symptoms of dementia, perhaps Alzheimer’s disease. She has her good moments, she has her bad ones. Sometimes she is lucid, and sometimes… Well.

Mrs. H and I live in California. We have decided to move mom to California so we can help her. After Sandy, mom (reluctantly, after years of opposition) agreed. We wanted to move her earlier this year, but since mom can’t sit long enough to fly across country, we will have to drive her, taking frequent breaks. We have put off this trip until late March because of the heavy snow storms across the land, and especially in the Long Island area, earlier this year. But now is the time.

Or past time. It appears mom has been forgetting to pay her bills. Her telephone service was cut off today. So now we have no way of reaching her, except to fly out. Mrs. H just might do that, we’re not sure yet. But we will have to move mom and her stuff out to Calif. later this month. I toyed with the idea of having professional movers pack and transport her stuff. I even got estimates from moving companies. But just as I was about to sign the contract and pay the deposit, I thought I should probably research the movers. You know, just in case.

Just in case there are any negative reviews floating around out there. And there are. Each of the movers from whom I got estimates had detractors warning me to “Run, don’t walk” away from them. I feel like I narrowly adverted disaster.

So now it looks like Mrs. H and I will drive our car to NY, pack up mom’s stuff, load it all into a U-Haul (or similar) truck, and caravan back to Calif. We will have 16 days from start to finish.

It will be an adventure.

_{adventure: (noun) ad VEN chure An exciting, often dangerous activity, the outcome of which is in doubt.}2 months ago

...I would like to be the driver. I tend to get nauseous during long road trips, but one where I can do the driving, and I;m with my friends and not my family… yes. Sounds great to me. 3 months ago

Obscura Antiques and oddities NYC
Smithsonian D.C.
Museum of natural and other oddities
Winchester mystery house
Snoopy rock
Largest ball of twine
Hershey’s chocolate world
Garden of the Gods CO
Dakota Dinosuar museum
Roswell
Tour Minnesota
Niagara cave
Salem Mass. 4 months ago

since I went on a bonafide road trip. The last couple were to central Texas in 2006 and San Francisco in 2005. This time it’s up to Mammoth Lakes, CA for a regional meeting and to pick up a load of snowshoes (of all things) to bring back to a local outings group for kids. We are renting a RAV4 – all expenses paid courtesy of the Sierra Club. One stop on the return journey will be at the Goldwell Open Air Museum and the ghost town of Rhyolite. It’s not a long trip really, just 11~12 hours of driving, but three of us will be gone three days and it should be a lot of fun. 10 months ago