I’ve been a little lackadaisical with the entries the past few days, but in all fairness we’ve been busy. On Monday, we woke up in Santa Fe. Since then, there’s been stops in Sedona and Scottsdale, Arizona. At the moment, I’m sitting on my buddy’s porch in San Diego.

We spent a few hours wandering around Santa Fe on Monday. There was a big street fair for the city’s 400th birthday in the old Plaza, which was fun to walk around. I would love to go back and spend a few days in Santa Fe sometime. It’s an interesting city and I wish we had more time there. After that, we took off for Scottsdale to spend some time with my family there. I decided to stop in Sedona, which is on the way there.

Part of the drive includes a trip down route 89A, through Oak Creek Canyon in the Coconino National Forest. What a drive! I actually have a vivid recollection of doing that drive about 13 years ago, travelling from the Grand Canyon with my grandfather. I didn’t plan the drive, but the GPS took us that way anyways. The best part is that after that incredible drive it brings you straight into Sedona, which is definitely one of the most beautiful places in the world. I’m pretty sure Pat didn’t want to leave.

We stretched our legs and walked the main strip in Sedona for a bit, and then continued on our way down to Scottsdale, catching the sunset on the way. The next day we spent with my family – a tough hike in the morning up Squaw Peak in Phoenix, some time at the pool, and dinner with my cousin and his children. I don’t think I’ve seen them in over 3 years, so it was great to spend some time with them.

Wednesday morning we left for CALIFORNIA! Not quite Palo Alto just yet, but San Diego is pretty awesome. We stopped for lunch with my cousin in Yuma (as in 3-10 to Yuma) on the way there. The ride from there to San Diego is pretty bizarre. First, you drive for about 10 miles through rolling Saharan-ish sand dunes, followed by many miles of absolute desert. As you approach the mountains, the first few peaks are made of Martian boulders. It feels like another planet. Once you hit the peak, there starts to be signs of life again, and as you descend you suddenly pop out into San Diego. And the place really is paradise. The weather is gorgeous every day – mid/high 70s and partly cloudy.

We’re staying with our friend Jay here. He lives in Little Italy, on the edge of downtown San Diego. It’s a really nice area. Wednedsay night he took us downtown for a bit to check out the bars. Thursday, Pat and I were on our own for a while, so we went to the Zoo! Awesome place. We spent (no joke) 5 hours there wandering around all of the exhibits. Favorites were the baby gorilla, the elephants, and some badass little monkeys that were playing tag. Went out last night for a bit to OB (Ocean Beach) to see some live reggae and a different part of the city. Another really cool part of the city. Today I think we’re going to La Jolla to check out the beaches there.

Tomorrow – it’s off to Stanford!!

Yes, those are bulletholes in the welcome sign. Don’t ask me, I have no idea.

We spent two full days with friends and Pat’s family in Fayetteville, AR. Getting off the road for a while felt great.

Pat and I have two close friends from college – Greg and Jen – who are living down here and attending graduate school at the University. We hadn’t seen them in a while, so it was awesome to spend some time with them. Additionally, Pat’s Aunt and Uncle have been living here for the past 30+ years – both Bostonians originally. They put us up even though they weren’t home from vacation until our 2nd night, which was so nice.

We arrived late Wednesday night, dropped our stuff off, and went over to see Greg and Jen for a little while. Sleeping in the next morning was wonderful and much needed. When Pat and I finally got moving, we went into the town center to explore and meet Jen for lunch. Greg was teaching in the afternoon so we had to drop by and harrass him for a little while. He was lucky neither of us were feeling particularly cruel.

There’s a huge used book store in the center of Fayetteville which was very cool (and a little daunting). Wandering around in there for about an hour was lots of fun. We also checked out the University’s performing arts center – they have a great auditorium. After Greg finished up teaching, we caught up with them again and went for a few drinks at the local microbrewery and then to dinner at an award winning BBQ joint. The pulled pork was pretty tasty.

Post food-coma, Greg and Jen took us to a few bars around town, and we met up with a bunch of their friends down there. They allow smoking in the bars there. Everything I wore along with my entire body smelled like cigarettes by the end of the night, although I can’t say I noticed or cared until the next morning. Pat’s family got home while we were out. Saturday we hung out with them most of the day.

The Fayetteville farmer’s market is held every Saturday morning. Everything looked really fresh. We spent a few hours there collecting groceries with Pat’s Aunt, and then headed back to the house for brunch. In the afternoon we went for a hike by the town lake, and I chatted with Pat’s Uncle Ralph for a while. They have a really neat story as to how they ended up in Fayetteville. Thirty some-odd years ago, he, his wife, and his new baby were driving cross country to California and stopped to see some friends near Fayetteville. While visiting there, Ralph got word that his job in California had been cut, and he was now unemployed. At the same time, a local mental hospital had received a large grant to expand their services. Ralph had experience in that field and ended up getting a job there the next day. Thirty seven years later, they’re still here.

He also told me about a pretty unique story regarding the Jewish community in Fayetteville. They’ve been small but present for many years now, and recently have grown large enough to support their own synagogue. Originally, they hoped to purchase an existing home and convert it into a temple, but there was a lot of opposition in the town for whatever reason. A successful general contractor in the area who happened to be a Muslim Palestinian immigrant approached them and offered to build them a brand new temple at his cost. The NY Times covered the story. Very cool.

Saturday night, Greg and Jen came over for dinner. We called it an early night since Pat and I had the worst drive of the trip the next day – 12 hours to Santa Fe, NM. We left around 9am Sunday morning and were driving down a one lane highway with the windows down when I literally got smacked in the eyeball by a bee. She was much worse off though – I don’t think she survived the collision. But we made it! All the way through Arkansas, Oklahoma, the Texas panhandle, and New Mexico. Driving up towards Santa Fe, we watched the sun set out of the driver’s side window and a huge lightning storm up ahead. Gorgeous.

After we settled in at the hotel, we decided to head down to the Plaza and grab a late mexican dinner. The Plaza is the old historic area of the city. On the way into this mexican restaurant & microbrewery, we heard some live music down the street and decided to check it out afterwards. The music was coming from a place called Evangelos – an awesome little bar with lots of character and a small stage. We walked into a jam session – there were about 10 musicians shuffling on and off the stage playing R&B and they were all awesome. When they stopped playing for the night and walked around to collect money, we realized Samuel L. Jackson was hanging out in the back of the bar listening too. This trip has been surreal.

Day 3: Wednesday, September 2nd

After spending the night in the deserted city of Cleveland, we went to see the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.  Pat half-expected to wake up and see tumbleweeds rolling across the city streets, but we actually encountered residents of the city. One of the other oddities: absolutely no foot or vehicle traffic. No backups at lights, no people beeping, no crowded sidewalks.

The hall of fame itself was very cool. The building design was neat and the exhibits were well done. It’s fascinating to see these diverse genres of music – blues, gospel, r&b, and country/folk – come together to form rock & roll. Those were my favorite portions – the ones devoted to history and origins of rock. The special exhibition was Bruce Springsteen. Pat is a big fan, so he loved that one.

We spent a few hours going through the museum, grabbed a bite, and got back on the road. The final destination was St. Louis – about a 9 hour ride total. First things first – the countryside in Ohio is very boring and not so pretty and it goes on forever. Definitely our least favorite state so far. We crossed through Indiana and started across Illinois, crossing our first time zone along the way. One down, two to go.

I had picked Effingham, Illinois as the place to stop for the night. Lots of hotels and about 7 hours of the ride knocked off. Unfortunately they had other plans that night and every single hotel was booked up. Eff you, Effingham. We ended up driving another 45 minutes, until about 9:30, to Vandalia. It wasn’t actually so bad since it pushed us closer to St. Louis. There was a pool & hot tub at the hotel, which was much needed.

Day 4: Thursday, September 3nd

Yesterday was awesome! We started out with a 1 hour drive, crossing the remainder of Illinois and the Mississippi River into St Louis. The Gateway Arch is by far the dominating structure in the skyline. I think it’s taller than just about every building in the city (630 feet). We stopped to walk around the waterfront and the arch for a bit. The waterfront in St. Louis sucked, which was a little surprising to me. Nothing to see except for a few dilapidated riverboats and casinos.

The city itself is nice. Pat wanted to walk down by Busch Stadium and we toured a bit of the city on the way. We talked about trying to see a game, but I checked the schedule beforehand and it didn’t look like it would work. On the way to the ballpark everyone was wearing Cardinals gear, but we assumed the city just took a lot of pride in their teams. It turned out I read the schedule wrong – there was a 1:15 afternoon game! We picked up a couple of cheap bleachers tickets and saw the Cardinals play the Brewers. Two things: Prince Fielder is a built like a mini bus, and Albert Pujols is pretty huge. I guess the stadium is 2 years old or so.. what a beautiful park. I love Fenway, but new parks have a certain appeal.

We left after the 7th inning since there was still a lot of driving to do.  After a midday beer and baseball game, I wasn’t really feeling it. Fueled by trail mix and tunes (Stones best of, Zeppelin IV, Coda), we pushed on. On this leg of the trip, my GPS had its first tweak out. Sometimes it decides on a route which is possibly faster than staying on the interstates, but takes you down some country bumpkin roads. We spent about 60 miles on those kinds of winding, one lane highways, driving through towns with populations less than one thousand. It was nice in some ways – we saw some of the country side. And something in the Missouri air smells really, really good.

At about 9:30 we rolled into Fayetteville, dropped our stuff off at Pat’s Aunt’s house, and went to see Greg and Jen for a while. They’re down here in graduate school for communication and poetry, respectively.

I’m writing this post from Cleveland.

Day 1: Monday, August 31st
Destination: Saratoga Springs, NY
Total Drive Time: ~4 hours

I had breakfast with my family and left Sharon in around 9am. It was a tough goodbye. I have no idea if I’ll ever call Massachusetts “home” again, which is pretty strange. I’ve lived here all my life. On my way out, I picked up Pat in Boston. I’m amazed at how much stuff fit in my little car. I’ll have to take a picture of it at some point. Three suitcases, 5 or 6 boxes, my kite gear (board, kite, suit), and a variety of other items.

Our first stop was my mother’s house in Saratoga Springs, NY. The ride out there took about 4 hours. We spent the afternoon hanging out at her house and then went into town for dinner and ice cream. Saratoga is a really fun town in the summer. I’ve had some great times there over the past few years. It was a relaxing way to start the trip, and nice to spend some time with my mom (and her awesome dogs) before heading out of the north east.

Day 2: Tuesday, September 1st
Destination: Cleveland, OH
Total Drive Time: ~9 hours

Today was the first big travel day of the trip. We left my mother’s house after breakfast and headed for Niagara Falls. Neither of us had ever been, and it’s not too far out of the way. What an incredible sight! We arrived at the park around 3pm, grabbed a bite, and headed for the main attraction. The entire park is beautiful, and the falls themselves are just breathtaking. It was an awesome day to be there too – sunny skies and cool late summer weather. We spent about an hour wandering around and taking pictures. It would’ve been fun to take a boat ride right near the falls. I watched people getting on and off the ferries in blue ponchos. They looked a bit like little blue ants from where we were – kinda funny. After 5 hours of driving, it was nice to get out and walk around for a while. The city itself leaves a bit to be desired, but oh well.

We got back on the road around 5 and headed for Cleveland, which is only about 3 hours from Niagara.  There’s a Holiday Inn Express in the downtown area which is a pretty sweet deal. It’s about 3 blocks from the House of Blues and a half mile from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. On the way there, I called my cousin to ask about nightlife and things to do – her husband is from Cleveland. After dropping off our luggage we headed for his recommendation, the Great Lakes Brewing Company. They had an awesome seasonal Belgian on tap (Grassroots Ale). We checked out one other bar and then headed back to to the hotel. There was NO ONE! anywhere in the city. Pretty bizarre. Apparently all the young people just went back to school so no one goes out. I realize it was a Tuesday night, but still – in Boston there are people to be found on any night of the week.

Two crazy cabbies: the one on the way there had a cell phone fight with his family while we were in the car and the one on the way back gave us an impromptu tour of the city. Good stuff.

Off to see how the city is during the day…  to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and then on towards St. Louis… One sad note: my iPod is officially dead as of the first day of this trip. Poor timing.