On the Road with Bryan

Farewell to Bryan

2009-11-02T21:33:00Z

Some of you may be wondering what happened to Bryan. He started out in California, drove north to Oregon and Washington, then wound his way across the USA, passing through Texas and Louisiana on his way to the East Coast. He was last heard from in Asheville North Carolina, before he totally disappeared. Bryan actually drove north from Asheville on a sidetrip to visit some friends in New York, and suffered an unfortunate mishap. He, somehow, injured his leg rather severely. The injury was serious...(read more)

Day 102: Asheville, North Carolina

2009-09-12T19:12:00Z

I liked Asheville so much I stayed an extra day. In the morning I went for a jog through the neighborhoods on the west side of town. It was beautiful out, warm and sunny but not too hot. Everything was lush green - the trees were full of leaves and the lawns were full of grass. I found a hydrant for sale: You don't normally find fire hydrants in such nice condition, so feel free to call if you're in need I headed downtown and went to some cafes and a cool local bookstore - Malaprop's...(read more)

Day 101: Smoky Mountains --> Asheville, North Carolina

2009-09-12T03:04:00Z

In the morning I hiked up to lookout rock - a tower built on the tallest point of the rim as a forest fire lookout. It gave pretty good views of the long flat valley to the southeast, northeast, and the industrialization and development creeping in from the west: The Smoky Mountains have always appeared 'smoky' due to condensation trapped in the valleys by the mountain ranges. In the last several decades, smog from nearby industry and auto traffic have caused a 40-60% increase in smokiness...(read more)

Day 100: Smoky Mountains, Tennessee & North Carolina

2009-09-11T15:30:00Z

I left Memphis the next morning and drove east along highway 40 through Nashville. Memphis calls itself 'the home of the blues,' while Nashville calls itself 'the home of country.' I drove through the main strip and it looked about how you'd expect - lots of music venues and bars, lots of tourists walking around snapping pictures. I didn't feel like stopping and pressed on eastward. When I turned off of Interstate 40 onto Highway 73 I could see the Smoky Mountains ahead in...(read more)

Day 99: Memphis, Tennessee

2009-08-25T02:07:00Z

I made the long drive up Interstate 55 to Memphis. A friend of mine, Katherine, was in town for business, and offered me a place to stay on the couch of her hotel suite. I got there pretty late and we had dinner and went to bed early. The next night we went out to Beale street. Memphis has a long and illustrious history as a music mecca, particularly for blues and rock & roll. Beale street is supposedly the heart of this. Beale is a couple blocks of nightclubs, bars, and venues. Live music blasts...(read more)

Day 97: New Orleans, Louisiana

2009-08-25T01:16:00Z

I met up with my friend Rick, who, since I'd seen him in Sacramento a couple months ago, had set out on his own USA travel adventure. He was staying in New Orleans at a hostel, and we met up for an authentic New Orleans tradition - muffuletta sandwiches. Muffuletta sandwiches originated at Italian grocery stores in the French Quarter. Many of them claim to be the 'Home of the Original Muffuletta'. Central Grocery, on Decatur street, appears most authentic. No one seems to know where the...(read more)

Day 96: New Orleans, Louisiana

2009-08-11T23:40:00Z

In the morning I drove south along the St. Bernard Highway snaking along the Mississippi River to St. Bernard's Parish. St. Bernard's Parish had been decimated by Hurricane Katrina in the fall of 2005, and I had spent the summer of 2006 gutting flood damaged houses there. The volunteers all stayed at an abandoned middle school that had been converted to a barracks. When I arrived, 10 months after the storm, 2 houses were inhabited out of 5000. Row after row of houses were in the same condition...(read more)

Ode to Cheese

2009-08-09T20:17:00Z

A couple months ago - way back in the northwest Idaho mountains - I mentioned that a friend and I had composed and performed a song. Well, here it is (sorry, but you'll have to click the link - can't embed youtube videos here). Ode to Cheese Oh my hound dog's left me and my truck's run dry, Suzy done left me for another guy, With the whiskey low and the beer run out, I sure feel down and out, But I got cheese... What makes the night less lonely? What makes the bread less moldy? What...(read more)

Day 95: Galveston --> New Orleans

2009-08-06T16:13:00Z

Casey and I finally split paths - she had to get to a medical rotation in Corpus Cristi, 5 1/2 hours west, and I was heading to New Orleans, 5 1/2 hours east. We said some small things and drove off. I took the fairy from Galveston to Port Bolivar. There was a huge line and it took me an hour to get aboard. Here's a picture of me waiting in line for the ferry! Port Bolvar is a narrow strip of land that spits out into Galveston Bay. All the houses were built on high stilts to avoid flooding. The...(read more)

Day 94: Houston

2009-08-05T23:31:00Z

Casey and I returned to Houston Saturday morning. She took me to what appeared to be a very normal-looking neighborhood. And then I saw the rocket ship trailer: After that I was pretty sure it wouldn't be a normal neighborhood. I was right, because next door was 'The Orange Show'. The Show was built by Jeff McKissack over a period of nearly 30 years. The idea was something to do with oranges, steam power, education, and entertainment, though I'm not sure how all of these things were...(read more)

Day 93: Houston, Texas

2009-08-02T18:05:00Z

I hung around Galveston during the day. It's a long, thin island with tons of beachfront. I wandered around to the pier and saw the beautiful old oil tankers and barges and cruise ships at the dock, and the fishing trawlers dragging nets back and forth through the bay. It was hot out and when Casey got out of work we went swimming at Stewart Beach Park. I've never felt ocean water so warm. It was like a jacuzzi. It was very salty and easy to float in. The waves broke at odd angles and it...(read more)

Day 91: Galveston, Texas

2009-07-29T00:01:00Z

Steve went to work at 6:00 a.m., so I got an early start towards Galveston, Texas. I drove through Houston along the way, and decided to stop. Houston has an interesting and unique skyline that reminds me of Legos. I stopped and found a cafe and got some work done for awhile, then drove the last stretch to Galveston. I hit rush hour traffic exaggerated by a car accident. It took me about 2 hours of stop-and-go driving to get 20 miles. The last 30 miles went quickly. Galveston is an long narrow island...(read more)

Day 90: San Antonio, Texas

2009-07-23T17:15:00Z

I finally left Austin and headed towards San Antonio, where I had found a place to stay through couchsurfing.org. I arrived pretty late and had a low-key night hanging out with Chris (my cs host) and his friend Russell. San Antonio was hot. I went downtown to see The Alamo monument and it was so hot walking around outside that afterwards I found an air conditioned cafe and sat there drinking fluids for an hour. The Alamo: The Alamo is an old fort that was over-taken by the Mexican army prior to the...(read more)

Day 87: Austin, TX

2009-07-21T18:36:00Z

I got up pretty early when smelled food cooking in the adjacent kitchen. I'd slept on Catherine's couch and everyone was up very early making breakfast. They're all doctors and med students, so it's programmed into their circuitry to wake up very early no matter what time the night ends. I'm not a doctor or a med student and I wanted to get some more sleep. But I also didn't want to miss breakfast. It was a tought decision, but I woke up. It turned out to be a good call because...(read more)

Day 86: Austin, Texas

2009-07-14T17:58:00Z

I stayed in Austin, writing and wandering around for much of the day. On 6th street I ran into this old hotel. I went to the Whole Foods store again to get some food and ran into Sy. Sy was born in India, but has lived in Texas for years working as an engineer and a teacher. He is a very friendly guy. We chatted for awhile and then he asked me if he could show me his special talent. I said sure. He told me he needed something to write on and I gave him my notebook. He pulled out several colored markers...(read more)