Odd vehicles and weird drivers

Here are a few more odd sights I encountered while driving.

In San Francisco, I got extreme van envy when I saw someone driving this around:

One of the craziest things I saw was a car swerving all over the parkway in Tennessee. It turns out the driver was reading a newspaper. Not a folded over newspaper, either – I’m talking about a full spread-out paper, covering the entire wheel. It was pretty much the most reckless thing ever (except maybe for the blogger who felt the need to take a photo of that guy while driving.)

This yellow car in Georgia was one of my favorite cars on the road.

Houses on wheels freak me out.

At first, I wanted to take photos of license plates everywhere, so by the end of the trip I’d have a photo of each state’s license plate. But then I lost interest. I did end up seeing all 50 state licenses, though. In Washington I saw a bunch of Alaska plates.

In the Northwest I saw a few of these Zapcars. I’m trying to understand the physics of a three-wheeled car. Wouldn’t it tip over if you go around a turn too fast?

A witty window sticker from Idaho:

The best vehicle I saw on the road was this All-American truck in Knoxville. Something tells me this guy watches Glenn Beck and attends tea party rallies!

Another look: Memphis, Tennessee

Original posts:
Day 22: Two Elvises and a King
Day 21: Whole lotta shakin goin on

I was in Memphis for a weekend and spent most of that at the Beale Street Music Festival. The photo above shows Elvis Costello coming out to play a song with Los Lobos. Here are a few more pics I didn’t run the first time around.

The entire weekend was a downpour. The festival grounds were a muddy mess.

The music was good for the most part. I got close to the stage to see hard rock act Rise Against.

Memphis soul act The Bar-Kays were a pleasant surprise.

Memphis has a statue of Jefferson Davis, the evil president of the Confederate states.

A look at some of the memorabilia for sale at the gift shop of Sun Studios, the birthplace of rock n roll.

Me outside Sun.

Among the many artifacts on display at Sun Studios was a platinum record of Johnny Cash’s “I Walk the Line” from the 1950s.

The iconic photo of Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Elvis Presley, and Johnny Cash. It’s on the wall inside Sun Studios, in the same room where the photo was originally taken.

I was just looking through my Graceland pictures, and I have a lot of great pics from there that I haven’t yet published. So many that I’m going to save them for an upcoming post. Stay tuned!

Another look: Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico

Original post: Day 33: Caverns and aliens in New Mexico

I originally only published two pictures from inside Carlsbad Caverns. Since I took at least a couple hundred photos down there, it’s logical that I should unload some more of them. The cavern is 750 feet below the surface of the earth. We hiked to the bottom, then continued to hike through some of the winding caverns, past formations called stalagmites and stalactites.

The temperature is a constant 56 degrees there. I took both of my cameras, but because the lighting is dim, most of my pictures weren’t so hot.

The imposing entrance to the cavern:

The view looking back out of the cavern from the inside. It’s too late to turn back now!

In some rooms the rocks have formed into icicle-like shapes hanging from the ceiling.

Others looked like coral at the bottom of the sea.

Some of the formations were huge. Note the walking path in the bottom right of this photo to get a sense of proportion.

Jason spotted something interesting.

There’s an elevator at the bottom of the cavern that all guests use to get back out. There’s also a restaurant down there, with lots of signs urging you to “eat lunch 750 feet underground!” But as I recall, they didn’t have any hot foods. Or if they did, it was only microwaved foods. The food selection was no better than what you’d find at a 7-11 – mostly just sandwiches. So we passed.

Aside from the lack of tasty food, Carlsbad Caverns was a cool experience.

You’ve been struck by a smooth criminal

Current location: Gary, Indiana

On my way home from Michigan, I finally made it to Michael Jackson’s childhood home in Gary, Indiana. What was intended to be a fun touristy visit instead became a sober trip through one of the most blighted cities in America. Gary is consistently ranked as one of the most dangerous cities in the U.S., but I didn’t think a rainy Thursday morning would be a particularly dangerous time to drop by.

The house isn’t hard to find, but I was confused the first time I drove past because I was expecting to see flowers and gifts all over the place, like they were after Michael died. Those have all been removed, and now the only sign that 2300 Jackson Street is not just another house is the police tape around the place. The house was very small. It’s amazing the entire Jackson family grew up there.

The neighborhood is pretty much a wreck. Here’s a house I saw that was missing the entire back half. Incredibly, when I drove around to the front, I saw that people were actually living in this place.

I’ve read that some people want to turn the Jackson house in Gary into an official tourist attraction like Graceland. Based on what I saw, that seems like a swell idea. Anything to pump up the economy of Gary would be a great idea because it’s in pretty bad shape right now.

Two autumn days in Michigan

Current location: Buchanan, Michigan

During my summer jaunt I found great joy in secluding myself for a day or two in campgrounds. So with the hustle and bustle of the city taking over my life, and with winter fast approaching, I decided to take 48 hours and head to western Michigan at a deserted campground. No internet, no human contact.

It was nice to be back inside the van in a campground.

I brought my winterized sleeping bag which can keep me warm down to 30 degrees, but the weather was nicer than that. Because it got dark so early (7:30 pm), and I’ve been staying up til 2 am lately, sleeping was a tricky adjustment. On the first night, I went to bed at 8, then woke up and it was still dark. I looked at my phone, expecting it be 3 or 4 am, only to find it was 11:58. Not even midnight yet.

The next day I did a lot of reading, practiced some volleyball setting and golf tee shots, and did some hiking.

The autumn leaves were full of color.

I spotted a birds nest that had fallen out of a tree. It was amazing how sturdy it was and how intricately woven together the sticks were.

On one hike I stumbled upon an abandoned building. It literally felt like I was in the movie Jeepers Creepers, stumbling upon an old house by myself in the woods. It was one of those moments in horror movies where the characters say, “Let’s go investigate that place!”, while you as a viewer are screaming, “No! Don’t do it!”

So I chose the second option and opted not to investigate. Otherwise, it was a quiet couple of days and I feel refreshed.

My love/hate relationship with Walmart

My most common sleeping location, after friends’ couches, was in my van in Walmart parking lots. Walmart has a corporate policy of allowing travelers in RVs to park overnight in their lot. Most Walmarts are fine with this, but a few stray from the corporate policy and ban overnight parking.

The general protocol is that RVers go inside, talk to a manager, and confirm that overnight parking is allowed. I tried this once and got nothing but blank stares, so after that I didn’t bother. I figured if anyone said anything to me, I could claim ignorance. And usually, I would see RVs or campers in the lot, and park in their general vicinity, as if we’re all in this together.

I never had any problems parking overnight at Walmart, though sometimes I had to visit 2 or 3 Walmarts before I found one that I could stay at. Some Walmarts actually hire security to drive around the parking lot 24/7. Any time I pulled into a Walmart and spotted the security car with the blinking lot, I moved on to the next Walmart. There was one Walmart that had signs that said, “No overnight RV parking.” Since I wasn’t an RV, I parked there.

It’s an unwritten rule among Walmart RVers that those who park overnight in the lot should buy something in the morning as a thank you to the company. I did this at first, but after a while, I got frustrated that a lot of Walmarts didn’t allow overnight parking, so I stopped doing this. In the morning, I would go inside to use their restroom, then get back in the van and move on.

I also dislike Walmart because of the way they bully their way into small towns, even those that don’t want them. In Logan, West Virginia, Walmart blew away the side of a mountain in order to create a flat space to build a store (see top picture.)

So, I didn’t have any moral qualms about using Walmart for their bathrooms. In fact, towards the end of the trip, it brought me great joy to sleep in Walmart lots, then drive to Target to spend money there, at Walmart’s competitor.

Moving pictures: Assorted video clips from my trip

When I began my 4-month journey, I imagined that I’d be taking videos everywhere, which I could later stitch together into some sort of movie. But I ended up not having the time, nor the space on my computer, to follow through.

I did take a handful of videos here and there, mostly less than 60 seconds long. Here are some assorted clips that provide a taste of everything I saw.

Yellowstone: The bison are not afraid of your vehicle, even if it’s a huge travel van like mine. Watch this guy stare me down and wait until I stop before waddling away. Taken on day one in Yellowstone.

Atlanta, Georgia: The hailstorm of the century. Like a responsible driver, I pulled out my camera and started filming while racing down the freeway.

New Orleans, Louisiana: A jazz celebration in the streets, outside a tavern that was having a going-out-of-business party.

Grand Canyon, Arizona: Brief footage of the California condor we saw at the North Rim of the canyon. It wasn’t moving much.

Pensacola, Florida: It’s the Gulf of Mexico! The surf was deemed too dangerous, so we weren’t allowed in the water.

Jersey City, New Jersey: At the All Points West music festival, Ghostland Observatory perform “Vibrate.”

Portland, Oregon: Hundreds of riders at the start of the World Naked Bike Ride. You can’t see much, because it was midnight.

San Diego, California: A komodo dragon at the zoo! I love this animal. It’s one of the few animals that will kill and devour humans.

Yellowstone: Trudging through snow in late June, at nearly 10,000 feet on Mount Washburn.

Austin, Texas: The hallowed capitol grounds.

White Sands, New Mexico: You can see there’s absolutely nothing here except for white sand.

La Jolla, California: A seal comes out of the water to join dozens of others on the beach.

Crescent City, California: A lone elk grazing in a yard near Redwoods National Park.

Seattle, Washington: The downtown skyline as seen from the ferry to Bainbridge Island.

Stuff I didn’t blog about the first time: Wallace, Idaho

I just read an article on Yahoo! about the 10 coolest small towns in America. As I was reading through the list, the name of one town rang a bell: Wallace, Idaho.

I thought, could Wallace be that cute, quaint little town I passed through on my way to Montana? I went back through my photos, and sure enough, it was.

I don’t remember why I stopped in Wallace. Either I needed food or gas, or my GPS led me astray. But I do remember driving through the town very quickly, snapping a couple of photos, and getting back on the highway.

Wallace was nestled in between mountains, and it really was surprising to see such an old little town in a place like Idaho. Whenever I drive through small towns, I like to ask myself, Could I live here? I honestly don’t remember what my answer to that question was for Wallace, but I do remember getting excited by the presence of a video arcade.

The main street of the business district seemed to have a lot going on.

Somewhere after leaving Wallace on the way to Montana I was greeted by a rainbow.

I don’t know if I would call Wallace one of the coolest small towns in America, but it’s interesting enough for a visit if you happen to be passing by.

Let’s play guess the state capitals!

It feels like I visited a zillion state capitals, but in retrospect it was only about ten. I secured photos of seven of the capitol buildings. Try to guess which one is which! The answers are posted at the bottom.

A Denver, Colorado
B Olympia, Washington
C Salt Lake City, Utah
D Austin, Texas
E Madison, Wisconsin
F Providence, Rhode Island
G Little Rock, Arkansas

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Answers:

1 B; 2 F; 3 C; 4 A; 5 G; 6 E; 7 D

Where should I travel next?

Now that I’m settled in Chicago, it’s time to start thinking about trips I can take around the area. There are plenty of places I missed on my 4-month journey that could be worth checking out.

For city life, there’s Milwaukee, Indianapolis, Columbus and St. Louis.

For touristy stuff, there’s Michael Jackson’s childhood home in Gary, Indiana.

For nature, there’s a lot of forested land in northern Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota that I never made it to. Maybe I can see more bears!

There are interesting small towns in Wisconsin and Missouri. Maybe I’ll even check out western Kentucky, seeing as how I only spent 15 minutes in that state.

And then there are those elusive two states of the lower 48 that I haven’t made it to yet: The Dakotas! A quick Google Map check reveals that Chicago to Sioux Falls, South Dakota is a 9-hour drive. That could be doable in one day.

Yes, I’m getting the travel bug again. And since I’m currently working from home as a freelance writer, I can travel whenever I please. As long as my funds hold up, I do think I’ll be hitting the road again, sooner rather than later!