Today i booked tickets for the National Recreation and Park Association congress and exposition which is in Indianapolis. Kevin plans on moving from NY to LA and asked me to do the drive with him a while ago. We decided this would be a good trip to do it. I fly into Washington DC on September 22nd and out of LA on October 5th. We plan on popping by Uncle Phil and Aunt Gwen before hitting Indianapolis for the conference. We’ll leave there and visit Cece for a day, head toward Colorado to meet up with Mike VanElzakker, and then head for Los Angeles. 2,692 miles and 13 states using the most direct route.
I have a few ideas of things to do along the trip. One would be to set up a computer (laptop with an inverter) with webcams set up out the front and sides set to capture an image every minute or so. Then we could set up an art display that would involve sitting in car seats in an open room with projectors broadcasting a time-lapse video of driving across country. Or i could work on collecting information for the field guide i have wanted to write for 10 years: the roadside field guide. It would have information collected like most field guides - by type - and then details on specifics. So if you saw something on a power pole you would go to that section and then flip through information on transformers, spacers, and those orange balls that are sometimes attached. Even details on the differences between creosote poles (What kind of wood is it? What is creosote? How are they put in the ground?), metal poles (What kind of paint is it?), and the large trusses made with lots of triangles. Perhaps sections on pavement types, roadkills, trees and shrubs, mile markers, bridges, water towers, fencing… and then imagine the details… fencing: chain link, barbed wire, birds commonly seen on fence posts. How grooves are cut into concrete for rumble strips, or what kind of adhesive is used to glue those reflectors in the middle of the lanes.
Or we could just drive and have a good time. Maybe steal a lawn ornament and have pictures of it sent to the owner along with the stolen gnome (how cliche).
The weekend before i leave for this trip, Cena and i are zipping up to Juneau overnight. Then the weekend after i get back from driving across country i have to bop up to Anchorage for an ARPA meeting. I’ll be there from Friday until Sunday. Then the weekend after that i have a SEAtrails meeting in Sitka that will have me gone from Saturday through Tuesday. So from today i only have two weekends in Petersburg between now and Halloween. I better start thinking about my costume.
Cece on 
Jimmy on 
