Blog Hiatus/Mavis News

Hi Everyone! I appreciate your continued patience with me. I haven't posted in a while as I now have a semi-regular job and unfortunately my laptop "blow'd up real good" as they used to say in the day. So, I've been doing what I can with what I got. In other news, my traveling companion Mavis is no longer with us. She was suffering from what we think is cancer and it necessitated me to plop my tush in a relatively stable environment for a couple of months while I treated her to a backyard full of yummy smells for her remaining days, courtesy of my mom's place in Pennsylvania. I had to put her down, and am constantly having to remind myself that it was for the best because she was, to her last day, entirely loving and trusting of me, even to the point where she wagged her tail for the vet who was there to do the deed. I miss her a lot.

I promise to post soon though. I have yet to share with you some of my favorite places on my trip, including new libraries!   

Lone Pine, California and the Museum of Western Film History

Mavis and I followed U.S. Route 395 on our way to Death Valley. I chose Death Valley because I knew that it would be warmer this time of year to camp than most anything else on my route as it was now the beginning of December.  We went over the Eastern Sierra Mountains via Walker Pass, named after Joseph Rutherford Walker who located it in 1834. I tipped my baseball cap to the fellow explorer, took my pictures for the Historical Marker Page and we moved on.  The scenery became more rustic, more western. It should have tipped me off that we were indeed moving into an area of the state that Hollywood used frequently for western and more recently science fiction locations. I only wanted to get to Death Valley, but the light was failing and it was going to be too cold to camp anywhere else.  I drove into the town of Lone Pine for the night and stayed in a motel, (good thing too, for it had dipped to 21 degrees that night).

The next morning the clear, cold air revealed the peak of Mount Whitney, the tallest mountain in the contiguous United States.  It was simply beautiful.  At breakfast I acquired a map of the surrounding area.  Evidently the nearby Alabama Hills was the location of countless television shows and films ranging from Rawhide to Gunga Din to Iron Man.  I packed up and drove into town, towards the Hills, but not before checking to see if the local library was open.  Nope.  It was closed.  On a Monday.  I took a picture of the library for good measure. The Alabama Hills, on the other hand, didn’t disappoint as they are made up of some truly unique geologic formations.  I followed the map as best I could but eventually gave up as the washboarding on the roads took its toll on the van’s suspension as well as my bladder (and Mavis was none too happy either). So, I set my compass towards The Museum of Western Film History.

The museum was quite a surprise. I was expecting some sort of roadside attraction affair, but this was a professional establishment with some genuine articles of Hollywood film history.  I’ve always had a soft spot for film and film nostalgia, (I have even created a librarian's finding aid for film) but honestly, the western genre was never one of my favorites. The museum's displays range from the earliest days of movie making to recent productions, both in film and television, and particularly those shot in and around Lone Pine. (See below for my extensive collection of photos I took.) I learned a lot and now have a new found respect for westerns. After spending a lovely afternoon there, I climbed back into the van and Mavis and I drove east towards the Valley floor. 

Pictures listed below.  I am posting a lot today, so get your popcorn and strap in! A.-B.) Two maps of the Alabama Hills, one focused on the movies produced there and another of the geologic formations. C.-F.) Some of those geologic formations. G.) Inyo County Lone Pine Branch, closed. H.) Exterior shot of the Museum of Western Film History. I.-M.) Some equipment and rigging used in outdoor film production. N.) The Lone Ranger’s costume from the television series.  O.) Cardboard cutouts of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans in their gallery.  P.-Q.) Richard Davis Thunderbird a.k.a. Chief Thunderbird display case with Native American headdress. Chief Thunderbird was a pioneer native actor in Hollywood movies. R.) Errol Flynn’s costume from Kim; he was actually a pretty slim guy. S.) Russell Crowe’s costume from Gladiator. T.) Robert Downey Jr.’s costume from Iron Man. U.) The John Wayne exhibit. V.) The dentist’s wagon from Django Unchained. W.) A western stage coach used in various western genre productions. X.-Y.) A 1941 Buick Eight Roadmaster used in the production of Trail to San Antone. Z.-AA.) A 1937 Plymouth Coupe used in High Sierra, complete with Humphrey Bogart cutout.  BB.) A Republic Pictures film still with signatures by Roy Rogers and Slim Pickens, among others. CC.) Poster from Trail to San Antone. DD.) Poster from The Gunfighter with Gregory Peck. I love the tag line: “His only friend was his gun, his only refuge…a woman’s heart!” EE.) A display featuring Roy Rogers, Tex Ritter, and other singin’ cowboys. FF.) Randolph Scott! GG.) Lobby card from I Died a Thousand Times featuring Jack Palance and Shelley Winters. HH.) Bad Day at Black Rock display. II.) Gunga Din poster. JJ.) Kim poster. KK.) Le Sheik D’Arabie (The Flame of Araby) poster. LL.) Samson et Dalila (Samson and Delilah) poster. MM.) The Charge of the Light Brigade poster. NN.) Clint Eastwood display. OO.) Joe Kidd Japanese poster. PP.) Rocketship X-M poster. That one is for the MSTies out there. QQ.) Cherry 2000 poster. That movie takes place in 2017, by the way. RR.) Director William Wellman display. SS.) The Enchanted Hill poster. TT.) Columbia Pictures film still featuring signatures by Clayton Moore, Pat Buttram and Hugh O’Brien. UU.) Gunga Din film still. VV.) Hopalong Cassidy Savings Club display. (An early television program loyalty club where members got tchotchkes for continued viewing.) WW.-YY.) Django Unchained display, script and photo taken of cast members Jamie Foxx and Christoph Waltz, plus James Russo and director Quentin Tarantino. They attended an event at the museum during filming. ZZ.-AAA.) Two latex models of the "worms" used in the film Tremors.    

California's Central Valley and Silver City Ghost Town

Mavis and I started our long trek east by taking the interior road, California State Route 25 south through the coastal range.  It was a treat with its winding curves, up and down action, and the fact that it was virtually empty, save for a trio of Porsches that at one point overtook me.  For the first time since I left the Bay Area I lost both data and cell service on my phone; it was hard to believe I was in California. We spent the night listening to flocks of wild turkeys gobbling at Pinnacles National Park, home of the California Condor Recovery Program which releases and manages zoo-bred condors back into the wild. (Sadly, I didn’t get any pictures as my phone was acting up again.)  Afterwards we ventured south and east towards Bakersfield, taking Interstate 5 through the Central Valley. 

I had heard about the Central Valley of California. It is a flat area nestled between two mountain ranges that although technically a desert in some parts, it has been modified through irrigation to create some of the richest farmland in the United States; one fourth of the food in the country is grown there. As I was traveling through in December and it wasn’t the growing season for a lot of crops, it sure felt and looked like a desert.  It was so flat, it made I-80 through Nebraska look like Lombard Street in San Francisco. Sand and dust coated my car. I saw tumbleweeds. It gave me a real appreciation for the scarcity of water in the west, and only through careful conservation and engineering could such a breadbasket be maintained.  I left the Interstate and made my way to Bakersfield, stopping at a roadside stand where I bought some farm-fresh pistachios to snack on. Mavis and I bunked at a Motel 6 that evening then the next morning had the oil changed in the van at the local Jiffy Lube. We resumed our trek east, this time going north so that we could eventually see Death Valley.

Bodfish is in a dam failure area. 

I’ve talked a lot about the serendipitous nature of a good road trip. At one point as we were trekking west we stopped in a small town to get gas. The town was Bodfish, which wasn’t much to write home about as it seemed to have seen better days, but who am I to judge?  The town was in a valley that was in the path of flooding should the local dam give way, which may explain the depressed local economy. (Also, the recent news coming out of Oroville comes to mind.). Once again, I reflected that most everything in the west is tied to and/or threatened by the availability (or unavailability) of water. Anyway, I spied an interesting sign that caught my eye: “Visit the Silver City Ghost Town”. Ghost Town! Oh cool! I had heard there were a lot of ghost towns scattered around the west, usually Nineteenth Century boom towns grown up around mines that grew seemingly overnight and just as quickly abandoned after the mine veins had given out.  I’ve always been fascinated by them, it may have been my love of Warner Brothers cartoons or Scooby Doo as a child. I wasn’t missing this!

I gladly paid the $5.50 entrance fee and walked around the grounds. In the late 1960’s a family called Mills started hauling old structures from neighboring ghost towns and created a (excuse the pun) living ghost town by arranging the various buildings in a circle so that you can walk and poke around while being transported in time.  While there was a bit of kitsch to the place (most notably the mannequins arranged in period costumes playing cards in the saloon), it was a genuine piece of Americana that would have been missed had the Mills and later Curlew family not stepped in and saved the buildings from the dustbin of time. This is not Disney. This is real. I really feel that the strength of this country lies in the small teaching projects put together by real people who to this day sacrifice a lot to keep it going. 

I exited through the gift shop, which in this case was a multi-roomed antique shop with period and other goodies.  I chatted briefly with Shawn Curlew, who gave me a few anecdotes about tourism in the area.  For instance, he mentioned that they get a lot of Europeans for months at a time particularly in the summer. They always think they can go through Death Valley in the heat of August "because they have air conditioning!" (instant breakdown by the way, engines overheat that much faster when running the a/c. Many rental companies around the area don't cover engine failure due to heat because of this). Feeling flush because I had an actual conversation with another human, I bought a few things, most notably a book put out at the national Bicentennial on the history and contemporary (1976) snapshot of California. I know you’re jealous. I then let Mavis out to do her business, packed her up again and set sail east and north, ending up in Lone Pine for the night.  

Pictures below (click to move on to the next picture): A.-B.) A relatively bumpy part of the Central Valley, C.-E.) Exterior of Silver City Ghost Town, F.) A cat lounges outside the Town office, G.-I.) The interior circle of buildings, J.) A mining cart, K.) An artsy-fartsy shot, M.-O.) Exterior/interior of the assay office, notice the mannequin. P.) “Women were scarce in the west”, Q.) Interior of the jail, R.-S.)  Interior of domestic quarters, T.-V.) Exterior shots of various buildings, W.-X.) Exterior and interior of a chapel, Y.-Z..) Exterior and interior of a eatery, AA.) An outhouse, BB.) Exterior shot, again, CC.-DD.) Exterior and interior of the saloon. I love the mannequins. EE.) Bicentennial Edition - California Yearbook

Cannery Row and Monterey Bay Aquarium

The Monterey Bay Aquarium is one of the premier aquariums in the world.  It has a strong not-for-profit, educational and conservationist ethic, and quite frankly is amazing. I grew up near Chicago, and I know from aquariums having spent a lot of time at the Shedd Aquarium, but the Monterey in a lot of respects blows it away, mostly because of the variety of fish and sea creatures not found anywhere else. I was also intrigued by it as it is located in the Cannery Row historic area of the city, a place so beautifully and somewhat brutally written about by the great American author John Steinbeck in his books Cannery Row and Tortilla Flat.  I drove the van to a parking space, noted that the various parking lots were mostly empty, left the window open a crack for Mavis (snoozing away in her dog bed festooned with pillows), and walked a couple of blocks to the aquarium.  Immediately I had a case of sticker shock; the entrance fee was $49.95. But what was I to do?  I was there, I wanted to see it.  I made a mental note that it would be another ramen noodle night, paid the fee and walked through.

The place is massive.  Built in the 1980’s, they literally used the skeleton of an old sardine cannery and transformed it into an aquarium meant to preserve what once had been exploited, the sea and its life.  It has two floors, sectioned off by zones of interest.  I immediately went for the Kelp Forest, one of the largest aquarium tanks in the world.  I saw a giant grouper, seemingly the king of the tank.  No one, not even the sharks would fail to give way when he approached.  I spied another fish, perched on a ledge, taking it easy, only to be nudged rudely by a passing shark as if to say “get up lazy bones”.  I can easily see how this was the inspiration for the movies Finding Nemo and Finding Dory.  The writers, producers and animators all spent a lot of time here as certain scenes are directly lifted from the reality of the aquarium tanks.  I moved on to the second floor with its amazing array of deep ocean creatures which included a hammerhead shark and a sea turtle.  The aquarium also preserved a bit of the cannery itself, giving a historical edge to the environment that isn’t necessarily in its prime directive.

The aquarium takes its educational endeavor seriously.  In addition to the traditional exhibits that describe what you are looking at, they are also using an approach that caught me off guard at first, but made sense in the long run.  The technique is this, instead of having patrons come to you and ask you questions, employees would actively seek out groups of people and make themselves available for questions.  I found it encouraged learning and gave an extra layer of human interaction to what I was experiencing.  I also encountered a number of volunteers who were manning the touch pools, happy to help you have a one-on-one encounter with nature in the form of a starfish or a bat ray (my favorite).  I also learned from them that the aquarium’s otter conservation program not only releases otters back into the wild, but also supplies otters to most of the major aquariums in North America, the Shedd being one of them.  I love this aquarium and consider the $50.00 money well spent. 

Worn out a bit, I left the aquarium and collected the van and Mavis.  I considered eating dinner in the Cannery Row area, but was slightly disappointed to realize that it reminded me of Navy Pier in Chicago and Baltimore’s Inner Harbor in that it had a bunch of chain and/or overpriced restaurants of dubious quality as well as touristy yet expensive shops.  I remembered I vowed to myself I’d have ramen tonight, so I got a room at the Motel 6, warmed some water in the coffee maker, ate my makeshift dinner and crashed. 

Pictures below: A.) Mr. Alpha Grouper, B.) Mr. Lazybones, C.-H.) Life in the Kelp Forest I.) The giant octopus cowers in the corner of his habitat, away from those annoying camera flashes. J.) Giant sea clams. K.) Sea crustaceans. L.) A trick of photography- a tiger shark swims about a foot below a sleeping duck. M.-N.) The exterior of the aquarium and the view from their deck onto the ocean. O.) The remains of the sardine works left as a remnant of what Cannery Row was in the 1930's-1940's. P.-Q.) Teaching plaque of John Steinbeck and his books set in Cannery Row. R.) An otter livin' the life.

New Brighton Beach, Monterey, and Monterey Public Library

I think I mentioned that some of this blog would be to highlight the not-so-great aspects of travel.  Some of you may know that I come from a travel industry background.  It was my career before I went on to librarianship.  So, one of my pet peeves is sloppy management on the part of purveyors of hospitality, especially when they perceive you, the guest, are the one at fault when they are the ones going against a standard practice.  One case in point was my modest campground site near Santa Cruz, New Brighton Beach State Park.  I rolled in late in the evening after dark, something I generally avoid doing, but I got lost a few times, even with my GPS.  After arbitrarily choosing a campsite, Mavis and I fell asleep for the night.  We were woken up the next morning by the park manager who informed us that I had chosen the one campsite that had been reserved.  I apologized, having not seen any indication tacked to the numbered signpost.  We do it different here, he said, as I should have read it on a sign when at the pay station.  I bit my lip.  Really?, I thought.  Every other state or federal campground in the west uses the signpost method, but they’re special.  I just shrugged and offered my apologies to whomever I inconvenienced.  They moved on and I tried to salvage the day.  I walked to the ocean and spied a number of educational signs that highlighted the history of the area as being one of a mid-19th Century Chinese immigrant fishing village.  That and the varying array of plant life and, ahem, the Pacific seemed to calm me down.  I considered staying another night.  But, of course, as I was heading back, yet another person from the campground, this time a ranger informed me of “my” mistake.  Again.  Yes, yes.  I get it.  I’m outta here.  They had coin operated showers anyway.  Grrr.

So, Mavis and I moved on to Monterey.  Originally when I conceived of this project I imagined I would take the coastal route all the way to the Mexican border.  I very quickly realized that that was financially unfeasible as California is freaking expensive, regardless of how or where you camp, or where you do your laundry.  (At one point I did laundry there and it cost me $3.75 for a standard wash, $2.00 for a dry.  Water is a scarce commodity in California, so I’m sure that is reflective in the price.)  Monterey, as abundantly beautiful as it is, just sealed the deal.  It would be my last stop on the coast.     

I found the main branch of the Monterey Public Library, California’s oldest library dating back to 1849.  Its current incarnation is a beautiful mid-20th Century building featuring beautiful wood finishes, an open floor plan, an extensive magazine area, and an outside terrace.  The special collections were wide and varied, with one display featuring the history of Monterey and its contributions by those of Japanese ancestry.  Another collection, and this was a new one for me, was a seed catalog, where you can “check out” plant and flower seeds to add to your garden.  Very cool.  The atmosphere itself was a bit non-library-like.  It was a bit noisy as the kids in the children’s department located on the main floor was singing Christmas carols that day.  Almost every seat was taken though and electrical outlets were scarce.  The library however is certainly loved and used by its community.  I saw many smiling faces and happy librarians.  I felt very comfortable there. 

Later that evening Mavis and I decided to stay at a city campground located at Veteran’s Memorial Park near the VFW.  Monterey has a large military community due to the presence of the army presidio located in the heart of town.  I noticed staying in the campground itself was a handful of vets who formed a tent ring in the center of the park.  The campground itself was clean, cheap for the area-$30.00, and had good facilities though I noticed the sites were a bit close together.  Mavis and I chose a site next an amazing spider web (pictured below) and listened to the sounds of seals on the wind emanating from the seashore.  The next morning we were off to the Aquarium. 

Pictures below (click to enlarge): A.) Mavis sniffs our campsite.  Notice the bear-proof storage locker. B.-E.) Various species of mushrooms found on my walk to the sea. F.) The beachfront near the Chinese Fishing Village learning area. G.-I.) Learning plaques located near the Village. One about local aquatic birds, another about the Chinese Fishing Village itself, and another about the Civilian Conservation Corps who built the interpretive learning area. J.-K.) More views from the second floor of the Monterey Public Library. "Reading is Good for Business". L.-M.) The first floor magazine area.  N.-R.) The current display featuring the history and contributions by the local Japanese-American community. S.-T.) The circulating seeds. U.) A nice book display. V.-W) My neighbors at my Veteran's Memorial Park campsite; a spider and some very loud black birds.  

San Francisco, Santa Cruz and Santa Cruz Live Oak Public Library

I woke up in the parking lot of the Mount Tam state park the next morning.  After dawn I drove as far up the mountain as I could, snapped a picture of the far-off Golden Gate Bridge (see below) and began our journey into the city itself. I took the same road down to Stinson Beach, but turned south onto the coastal highway.  This is the highway that has been used in many, many movies (Innerspace and Foul Play come to mind immediately) and ads as it is amazingly beautiful and fun to drive as you zig and zag around the bends of the Pacific coast. At around nine in the morning, we were crossing the Golden Gate Bridge, heading towards the Presidio and Golden Gate Park.  Full disclosure: San Francisco is one of my favorite cities in the world.  However, it is also one of the most expensive and that coupled with the fact I vowed to myself that I would not linger in places I had been before on this project, I decided to stay only a night.  I booked a room at the LaQuinta Inn Airport, (the cheapest place I could find that had free parking and no dog fees) dropped Mavis off and headed into the city to have my iPhone looked at the Apple Store Union Square (it had been acting wonky again) and catch dinner.  I got a cheap parking space on Ellis Street ($11.00!) using a parking app and went to the Apple Store to talk to the nerds.  The guy I talked to once again told me to reboot my phone (as had one in Salt Lake City) but this time using a backup I had stored a few days before.  Ok, whatever.  As it turns out, this didn’t help things much, but the guy I talked to was polite and friendly unlike Nerd #1 in Salt Lake City.  I left the Apple Store and had a lovely, if somewhat pricey dinner at John’s Grill. Dashiell Hammett, author of The Maltese Falcon used to get soused there, I thought it was appropriate, (plus it was the one and only time I splurged on dinner for myself the entire trip).  After dinner I got my car out of hock, drove around town a bit, and returned to Mavis.  We left town the next morning.

I decided to take another delightfully zig-zaggy back road (California Route 92) from the airport area back to US 1-the Pacific Coast Highway.  I am again amazed at the fun roads that can be found outside of major cities.  For those of you who don’t live in the Midwest, and therefore don’t understand this, remember I’m a flatlander; cut me some slack.  Route 92 ends in Half Moon Bay.  I turned south and continued that day on to Santa Cruz, enjoying a day by the ocean where it wasn’t raining.  Nope, no libraries to be had, but a lot of coastal scenery and even another lighthouse, Pigeon Point, (see a photo of it below).  I finally made it to Santa Cruz later that afternoon.  After passing the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk and Amusement Park which looked very enticing (but unfortunately closed), I made my way to the Live Oak branch of the Santa Cruz Public Library.  What a fun place!  I immediately noticed that it fronted a lagoon and there were some very, very loud ravens cawing from the trees nearby.  Not exactly my idea of an ideal library, but I didn’t grow up near a beach. I went in and was struck by the architecture of the place, a late 20th Century homage to the earlier Arts & Crafts Movement.  I also noticed that most of the signage was in English as well as Spanish and the library had a sizeable Spanish-language collection.  I got chatting with one of the circulation clerks, Cathy, who grew up in the area.  She said that this location had once been a very rowdy bar (the “Albatross” or alternately the “Sail Inn”) until a coastal storm took it out in the early ‘90’s.  The library district purchased the property and salvaged a bit of the architectural details (most notably some stained glass windows, see below) and reformed it into a local library.  “She was a bar girl who grew up to be a librarian” Cathy quipped about the building.  I can’t think of a better use.  I also talked to Jasmine, the reference librarian who helped me find a campground for the night.  She had recently gotten her MLS from San Jose State University and was looking forward to her career in the library.  Both Cathy and Jasmine looked happy and well cared for.  Bravo, Santa Cruz!

Picture Gallery below (click to expand): A.-B.) The view from atop Mt. Tamalpais. If you squint, the first photo features an outline of the Golden Gate Bridge. C.) A view from the road to Stinson Beach. D.) Along the Pacific Coast Highway (Route 1) to San Francisco. E.) The road to the Bridge in Marin County. F.) Union Square, San Francisco decked out for Christmas. G.) My drinkie winkie at John's Grill, a 1738 Sidecar. H.) This is the California Beach I think of. (On the road to Santa Cruz, near Pescadero.) I.) The lighthouse at Penguin Point. There's a B&B there. J.) "Look" it's Santa Cruz! K.) The roller coaster at Santa Cruz. L.) The Live Oak Library. M.) The library is "Open/Abierto". N.) A view of the lagoon from the front porch of the library. O.) The trees where the very, very loud ravens lived. If you look closely, you'll see them. P.-S.) Interior of the library featuring the stained glass windows from the former bar and the inclusiveness of a well-loved library. 

Northern California Continued

With the Thanksgiving weekend over, Mavis and I once again headed south along US Route 101.  Even though it consistently rained the entire time, the views were breathtaking as we weaved in and around the coastal mountain range.  We stopped at a log-themed tourist trap near Benbow, California and I had a sturdy breakfast and later shopped for tacky knick-knacks/stocking stuffers for the upcoming holiday.  You see, in my family stocking stuffers are much more important than actual gifts.  We shop for the perfect, mostly tacky, cheap, silly, and/or exotic tchotchke and distribute them in custom, oversized stockings that my mom and aunt sewed together over two decades ago.  In years past, it was an arms race to see who could outdo the other, however cooler heads have prevailed recently and my family has endeavored to spend less this year than say, the GNP of Andorra.  At any rate, I think I have the exotic category nailed this year with my Redwood-themed card decks and shot glasses. That night, I decided to stay at a Motel 6 to catch a shower (which I didn't have the quarters for the nights before) and get some Zzzzzs.   

The next morning we moved further south, eventually into Sonoma County.  Once again, I could not find a library.  Once again, no available public wifi.  Finding myself with ample time and studiously avoiding the wineries lest I fall down a well of drinking on an increasingly empty stomach + temptation to buy wine + driving from winery to winery, I decided to bypass the wineries and pull into Petaluma, California, where, you guessed it, the library wasn’t open as it was a Sunday.  The town itself was very charming with a homey, small town business district that featured a homemade pie company, a toy store, two (!) Christmas stores, a tattoo parlor, some bars, nightclubs, antique shops, etc.  It reminded me a lot of my mother’s town back east of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.  I loaded up on more stocking stuffers and moved on to Mt. Tamalpais State Park just north of San Francisco where I van-camped for the low, low price of $25.00. 

Mt. Tamalpais, or Mt. Tam as the locals call it, has got to be one of the best kept secrets in the Bay Area.  I got there in the late afternoon hours of that Sunday, after weaving my way through some of the more spectacular byways I’ve driven so far.  It was a challenge hugging the curves of the zig-zaggy roads of Marin County in the Honda Odyssey, but it handled much better than I thought.  However, I still couldn’t help wondering what it would be like driving a sports car of some sort.  Oh well, in my next life…  The state park was jammed with hikers, bikers, families all enjoying the day using the facilities of this spectacular state park.  Though most people tended to be local, I noticed a few Europeans had taken public transportation up from San Francisco just to take a hike. I myself would have taken advantage of the amazing hiking and camping opportunities, but the paths were too tough for Miss Mavis and the campground was positioned on the side of a mountain with a stiff breeze and the threat of rain/wind.  As it is, I saw a flock of wild turkeys from the parking lot.  That evening, Mavis and I took a curvy, spectacular road with amazing Pacific views to Stinson Beach and enjoyed the wifi from the parking lot of the local library (thank you Stinson Beach PL!) and had a hamburger at a the Parkside Snack Bar beach restaurant, which had been decked out with heat lamps as the temperature had dipped to around 40 degrees Fahrenheit.  The people of Marin County have it rough.

Pictures below (click to enlarge): A.) Tourist's map of Petaluma, California, B.) Looking down the main thoroughfare of Petaluma Boulevard. I wished I had that roadster. C.) You too can purchase Downton Abbey for your Christmas town! Only $240.00! D-G.) An amazing Christmas store shop window, with close-ups of individual panes. H.) When in Petaluma, have the pie! I.) The Abstinence Fountain. I find this cracks me up as Petaluma probably owes part of its livelihood to the nearby wineries of Sonoma County. J.) Looking east onto residential Stinson Beach. K.) My view of Stinson Beach Public Library from the parking lot. L.) The burger I ate at the snack bar in Stinson Beach.

Northern California and the Redwoods

Mavis and I crossed the border from Oregon to California at the end of November.  We were greeted by a traffic stop by the California Department of Food and Agriculture where they were allowed to check your car for contraband fruits and vegetables (and one would assume other herbals).  They waved us through.  I guess I don’t fit a profile.  This was my welcome to California, one that would kind of cast a shadow over the rest of the week.  In the mean time, having not located an open library, Mavis and I headed for the redwoods. 

I’m a kid from the Midwest.  Growing up, the largest trees I was aware of were the elms, oaks, and ashes of my neighborhood.  When my family moved into our suburb outside of Chicago the streets were known for their cathedral-like branches of elms that would tower over the streets stretching into what seemed to me at the time, infinity.  (Dutch Elm Disease would, in a matter of years, kill off the majority of elms I grew up with.)  As an adult, I had been to California a few times, even at one point walked the grounds of the state capitol building in Sacramento which has a garden that features the flora of the state.  So, I’ve seen redwoods.  However, I was not prepared for the beauty that is the state parks in the northern end of California that feature redwoods, Jedidiah Smith Redwoods State Park and Humboldt Redwoods State Park.  The parks themselves are a challenge.  They’re expensive.  $36 to tent camp.  The showers were coin-operated.  Who carries around four dollars in quarters just so they can have twelve minutes of a shower?  The shared facilities themselves were so-so in terms of cleanliness and upkeep.  It rained.  All day.  No chance of hiking trails (they were flooded) or even making breakfast.  Each campground had a metal locking cabinet that is meant to store foodstuffs away so that bears and such are not tempted to rip apart your tent or car in search of food, which in its own way made me feel uneasy.  However, by gum, the trees were amazing!  At Humboldt I camped next to a tree stump that was easily twenty feet in diameter.  It had to have lived at least a couple millennia before it was either cut or collapsed.  (The park estimates it met its demise some time in the early nineteenth century.)  It was an amazing experience.

We moved further down the coast, eventually staying in Arcata near Eureka, Califonia.  We couldn’t get into the local libraries as they were closed for the Thanksgiving holiday (day of and day after).  So we holed ourselves up in a Super 8, went to the grocery store across the street and bought a salad, some champagne, and Haagen Daz for Turkey Day and watched a marathon of original Star Trek episodes on the boob tube (I think I’ve told you I’m a bit geeky).  The day after I stopped in Eureka to get some supplies at Target and noticed a sushi place across the street.  I ate lunch there, thinking that hell, I’m on the west coast, the sushi should be marvelous.  Nope.  It wasn’t.  Successful restaurants adjust their menus according to the local palate, and well, I’m thinking the palate around Eureka is pretty bland.  Oh well.  

Pictures below (click to enlarge): A.) The trees towering over my campsite my night at Jedidiah Smith State Park.  B.-I.) Various trees and pieces surrounding my campsite at Smith. J.&K.) The very, very old stump that was next to my campsite at Humboldt State Park. L.) The stump with the nearby bathrooms in the background.  I took this picture for scale.  The bathrooms are at least thirty feet away.  M.&N.) The road through Humboldt S.P. I thought it looked like something out of The Lord of the Rings.  O.-Q.) A teaching log. This particular specimen dates to 912AD. R.) "The Road Trip that Saved the Redwoods" teaching sign. Evidently people have been using the beauty of nature to heal their souls long before me. S.) My Thanksgiving meal. (Haagen Daz not shown.)

More of the Oregon Coast & Florence, Oregon's Siuslaw Library

Mavis and I were near Florence, Oregon the week before Thanksgiving. We had decided to camp at one of the various state and national parks that dot the Pacific coast.  The constant rain was a pitter patter on the van as we woke up from our camping slumber in our designated space next to the ocean.  We van-camp instead of utilizing the tent on days where we know it’s going to be windy, rainy or cold; we learned our lesson back in Illinois.  I opened the van, let Mavis do her thing and shortly afterwards stumbled in the early dawn to the restroom area to do my thing.  I decided to open the tailgate and watch the skies turn from deep dark navy to lighter shades of pink and blue, (see picture below).  I put Mavis back in her nest of blankets and pillows and I watched the ocean from the back of the tailgate, canopied by the open door.  (Mavis didn’t like the sounds of the ocean, but she liked the smell.  Satiated, she decided to go back to sleep.)  The camping manager tooled around in his golf cart and admonished me for parking the van in the opposite direction of clockwise.  (I had parked this way specifically so that the tailgate had a view of the shore.  As I was one of a grand total of five people in the campground that could probably fit a hundred, I didn’t really think it was a big deal.)  I told him I’d be leaving soon.  He asked if I could turn around the van anyway.  Ok, I said.  I did, sat for a moment, and decided to pack it up, a little miffed that my morning had already been upset.  Meh, I thought a minute later, he was only doing his job. 

I continued to take the road down the coast.  After stopping for breakfast, I decided to check out (no pun intended) the Florence Siuslaw library which was blissfully open.  A large, sprawling building, it was also very busy.  I pulled up a table and utilized their wifi to work on this blog, not getting in the way of the librarians.  I was there the week before Thanksgiving, and noted a lot of people were there to meet friends and family.  It was indeed the center hub of Florence, which made me happy.  I noted a lot of the shelves were well weeded, the historical and genealogical room was well used, the various collections bright and shining.  The wifi could have been more robust, especially in some of the peripheral areas, but that was a minor issue. I bought a CD from the Friends tray (for those many times I seemed to be on the road without a decent audio companion.)  I even overheard one lady complain about the constant rain to which the librarian good-naturedly replied: "It's winter. This is Oregon. It rains here."  I smiled.  I have said this a billion times before to various patrons of my own, substituting the words "Oregon" with "Chicago" and "rains" with "snows". 

Pictures below: A.) The sunset view from the back end of my minivan of my ocean side campground.  I incurred the wrath of the campground manager for this shot; this job can be treacherous some times. B.) Mavis sniffs the site the next morning.  C.) On the path to the ocean the next morning, I came across this sobering sign.  I'm not in Chicago any more.  D.) A yurt-a newfangled way of camping that is more eco-friendly than a traditional cabin.  I took pictures looking in from the outside   E.) Interior of the yurt.  F.) Interior of yurt, featuring view of acrylic skylight.  G.H. & I.) Roadside art in Bandon, Oregon:  Sculptures of a man and boy enjoying their day on bicycles.  J.) A tsunami warning sign.  I'm really not in Chicago anymore.  K.) Florence, Oregon's Siuslaw Public library.  L.&M.) The history/genealogy room at Siuslaw library.  N.) Library notice with hand-written citation. 

Thank Yous for the New Year

Happy New Year from Kelly & Mavis!

Many of you have wondered just what the heck happened to my blog updates.  In short, December was a very busy month and took me away from ready WiFi availability as well as my return to the Chicago area to see my friends and family for the holidays.  I have also been grappling with the fact that my travelling companion and fur baby, Mavis, has cancer and needs a more stable place to be for the time being. December was a challenge in all respects, but I am writing up my adventures that I took beforehand and will drop them into my blog periodically. Thank you for your continued support.  Speaking of which... 

Thanks are due to my friend and librarian, Cheryl Diane Collins for her financial support (and so much more).  Diane was and is my mentor in so many ways.  She was the first librarian that showed me the ins and outs on how to be an effective and caring person at the reference desk and has continued to be nothing but a wonderful friend and mentor. Diane has a whole phalanx of patrons and coworkers who love her unconditionally due to her stellar and unfortunately mostly unsung performance at the Forest Park Public Library.  I have to tell you, it's a hard act to follow.  It boggles the mind that she will be retiring at the end of this week after her service of more than a decade.  I love you, Diane, and enjoy your well-deserved retirement!

Additional thanks go to my friend Jacque Cunnigham who has generously contributed again to my project as well.  I can't do this without you!   

Fun and Frolic on the Oregon Coast

Turning south from Newport I took the coast road, US Route 101.  I was amazed at how wet everything was.  I had been in an arid environment since I left Illinois, so rain was a new experience.  (Little did I realize I would be wholly sick of it within a matter of days.)  I stopped off a Waldport, the next largish town down from Newport.  I noticed on the corner there was a candy store, The Chocolate Frog.  I like candy, and I had been a good girl for the most part on the road.  Plus, they seemed to specialize in salt water taffy, which always reminds me of the shore.

Inside, I got to talk to the store’s owners, Amy and Nick.  They were a hoot.  A young couple, they had the business for a few years and were making a real go of it.  Amy was originally from the Monterey, California area, but had moved north because (I am assuming) the cost of living was a lot cheaper in Oregon.  They were also really dog friendly, Mavis was not only welcome (in a candy store!) but she was spoiled with hugs and snacks.  I was a bit afraid she’d take out some of the low-hanging candy from the lower shelves, but she behaved herself. 

The intersection of US Route 34 and US Route 101 at Waldport.  The Chocolate Frog is to the left.  

I asked Amy about the library which was across the street (and closed, naturally).  She said she knew the librarian and that she would kick herself to know I had came and went.  I asked if she knew if the wifi was working, she said no, evidently the town didn’t like people hovering outside after hours, so it is now not available when the library is closed.  She didn’t think it was that big a deal, people just need to get online. Amy and Nick should be the official ambassadors for the town or at the very least members of the chamber of commerce or some such, as they had a lot of stories to tell about town and the surrounding community.  Amy said that she took a tour of some of the lighthouses up and down the coast and said that in the early days before automation, lighthouses served as de facto libraries for the area as they received regular monthly cases of books delivered to the lighthouse keepers to keep them and their families from going batty. I thought that was pretty cool.  She also told me some juicy tidbits of local lore: evidently the lighthouse at Newport is haunted, the beachfront north of Florence north to Yachats is a hotspot for UFO activity, (although from my own research it looks like the entire state is a magnet), and in the 1960’s about sixty people disappeared from a local beach, leaving only their clothes behind (I couldn’t find anything from a Google search on this topic. I’ll dig into it when I have greater access to a library database.)  I love this kind of stuff.  True or not, it’s a load of fun.  I bought a bag of yummy taffy plus a dark chocolate treat to die for and wisely moved on, lest I bought more.   

Further down the coast I visited one of those lighthouses that Amy was alluding to.  I stopped at the Heceta Head lighthouse near Florence, and what a beautiful place it was!  I hiked up the winding path to the lighthouse and checked out the view.  Ahhhh.  I started talking to Velva, the volunteer tour guide who gives tours of the lighthouse.  She confirmed that yes, the lighthouse keepers did get regular shipments of books, but she couldn’t confirm that they were in general use to people outside of the keepers’ families.  She went on to give her tour.  Did you know that the Fresnel lenses in lighthouses in this country were manufactured in either England, as the one at Heceta Head is, or in France, as most other are?  You can tell that by the color of the lense.  The English ones are a bit more yellow whereas the French ones are a bit green, due to the elements used in the manufacturing process.  If you want to get into the really nitty gritty world of Fresnel Lenses, I suggest you peruse this site and geek out….

I also got chatting with Velva as to what brought her to do what she does.  She said she had been widowed twice and decided upon retirement to pack herself up into an RV and drive around the country, stopping where she liked and taking on volunteer jobs which in most cases provided her with a free or discounted hookup space for her ride.  She said it was a change from her more staid life before, but she loves the fact that once she gets tired of her gig and/or her neighbors she can just “turn the key”.  

Gallery below (click on images for larger views): A.) Heceta Head lighthouse with one of its kerosene storage outbuildings, now unused as the lighthouse is electrically automated (photo by Restore Oregon.org); B.) A photo of the remaining house for the lighthouse keeper and family, now a bed and breakfast; C.) An artsy-fartsy photo I took looking up from within the lighthouse tower-to mixed results; D.) A view of the coast looking out from the trail to the lighthouse summit.  Velva says seals congregate on those rocks sometime. E.) Another view from the trail. F.) View of the coast from a bit south of the lighthouse (larger view above) where G.) seals are indeed congregating! H.) Tillicum Beach hazard sign, among some hazards are logs and "sneaker waves". I.) Mavis sniffs next to our oceanside campsite.

This Week's Thank Yous

As I wind down the current phase of this project due to the fact that the weather is taking a turn for the cold, making camping uncomfortable is not downright dangerous, I reflect that I have so many people to thank for my success.  This latest batch was generous enough to believe in me and donate to my GoFundMe campaign:

This week's round of thank yous starts with my former coworker Jennifer Mars.  In another life before I was a librarian I was a travel agent.  Yes, I can really pick professions, can't I?  Anyway, back in the go-go '90's I worked for a relatively progressive company called McCord Travel Management and one of my friends there was Jennifer Mars. Jennifer was a part of a group of people whom I admired greatly, the international ticketing department.  These were a niche of people who came mostly from an airline background (TWA for most of them).  They were well traveled, curious group who had encyclopedic knowledge of places and destinations but were also a lot of fun to hang out with at parties.  Jennifer was one of the nicest people to work in the department, always helpful and open to any questions, and she also enjoys a mean margarita. Thanks SO much Jennifer.  I hope to see you again soon!  

My second person to thank this week is my friend Frank Avagliano.  Frank and I were undergraduates studying Geography at SUNY New Paltz together, and through a quirk of fate, we sat together in cartography class, (which incidentally was taught by Jo Margaret Mano-see my thank yous from September 23). We quickly learned that we have the same quirky sense of humor and have been good friends ever since, to the point that he has a long standing invitation to drop in on my mother any time.  I miss you Frank, and hope to be heading east soon so that we can make snarky comments on James Bond movies again.   

Finally, my last person on the thank you list is another coworker of mine, albeit one from within the past few years.  Ben Haines was one of the first librarians I learned from.  He taught me to be fearless and creative and to always push the envelope even if it pissed off those in charge, for without questioning the status quo and coloring outside of the lines, there is no innovation. It is because of him in a lot of ways that I found the courage to do what I am doing.  Thanks Ben!

Monroe, Oregon's Historical Library With an Eye Towards the Future.

On my way north from Eugene to Corvallis, I eschewed I-5 and took the slow road through the agricultural region just east of the shore of Oregon.  On my way of passing through Monroe (population 617) I noticed a strange building to my left, which looked like a train depot, but there was something different about it.  It turned out it was the town’s library!  I decided to take a look-see.  It was quite a gem…

I walked into center point which was flanked by two wings.  (Kind of like the floor plan of the library in Bend..a pattern perhaps?) The center room was lovely with comfy chairs and a fireplace all welcoming to induce a person to come and read.  I moved to the left wing and noticed that it was in the shape of a depot, complete with a railroad wigwag sign at the end.  In the wing to my right was the library proper, and what a library!  It was open floor plan with cathedral ceilings but with a nod to the railroad era. I talked to Alison, one of the two librarians who were on that day.  She said she had been with this library for many years now, and was proud to have been involved in the project that brought this library to fruition.  The left wing was a depot, but it was revamped into meeting space and a historical depository.  She showed me the meeting spaces.  It was state of the art for the most part, with a larger room that they use for library programming, dancing lessons, public meetings, and pretty much anything else the town requires.  In that room, the architect left a relic from its old days as a depot, a cartoon “Carl’s Girl” drawn presumably by one of the workers of a famous (for that time) cartoon character from the Toonerville Folks series.  It’s a fabulous room which any library would be envious of.  In order to be more self-sufficient, especially as they keep illuminated at night, the library retrofitted the roof to have solar panels.  They have thus far this year generated 40kwh of electricity and the lighting only takes about 32kwh.  They’re discussing what to do with the overage.  I asked Jacque how all this is possible in a relatively small community, especially since it seemed pretty conservative.  She said the governing body at Corvallis (which oversees four libraries in the region) is very proactive and they find ways of reminding the smaller communities that an innovative and well-funded library gives dividends back to the communities multifold in that it helps raise not only the standard of living, but it enhances the tax rolls as well by increasing property values. 

She showed me some of the programs the library spearheaded to make up for the lack of the arts and other vehicles of critical thinking that are lacking in their school system.  One of the items is a “Maker Kit” which can be checked out and brought home with a child so that he or she can get creative as their wasn’t any arts education currently in the local schools. There are also shelves full of games and toys ready to be played with.  I talked to her a bit about my crusade regarding accessible wifi, and she said yes, in her opinion wifi should be "a utility" available to all.  Her library keeps their wifi on all day and night as a courtesy to their community when they are not open.  I told her about my experience with what library in Ontario told me in that they had to shut theirs off after hours due to vandalism, etc.  She said that should not happen in this community as they are still really too small for that kind of thing to happen.

Lastly, I asked her if she had an MLIS  as it seemed to me she knew a lot about the managing of a library, she said no, in fact she didn’t even have a bachelor’s degree, but the people she works for are very generous in the amount of resources and money they give towards professional development.  It definitely showed.

For all intents and purposes this new library has now become the centerpiece of a town that is on the way up..  Bravo!

Gallery below:  A.) The welcoming fireplace at the apex of the building.  B. and C.) The deport wing with original wigwag sign.  D.) The larger room which contains "Carl's Girl".  E.) "Carl's Girl", 1936.  F.) The smaller room which is good for study meeting and presentations. G. and H.) The main library wing.  I.) A nice nook to sit and read, located in the main wing.  J.) A "Maker Kit"  K.) "How To" instructions for patrons to utilized their ebook and audiobook resources.  L.) Games and toys for the kids (and adults).  M.) A cathedral ceiling in the apex area, which echos its past as a rail depot.  M. and N.) Outside shots.  O., P. and Q.) Historical relics and geologic gems from the local historical society and library itself located in the depot wing.

Quickies: Mavis and I Make it to the Pacific

So after what seemed like weeks of brown, dry, tumbleweed-laden desert, I crossed Oregon and went through the Willamette range.  Bang!  Just like that I saw green again, and lots of it.  Although I was amazed by the stark beauty of the volcanic area I had just passed though (otherworldly is a good word for it) my heart leapt when it saw the mountain peaks looming on the horizon.  It was a beautiful trip, one I highly recommend.  As some of you have picked up on, I tried to take U.S. Route 20 as far as I could from Chicago to the Pacific.  I failed in some instances by having to dip southward due to weather or just the need to see a more urban environment (the eastern slope of Colorado, for example).  But I made my way back to 20 and followed it through Oregon.  I ended up in Newport, Oregon.  End of the line.  Finis.  I found myself tearing up when I went over that last hill and saw the Pacific finally.  

Newport was lovely and had a public beach which was pet friendly.  Mavis went down with me and sniffed a bit.  I don't think she liked the roar of the ocean though.  I, however, was thrilled. I later found out that the many places in the town of Newport have municipal (free) wifi.  It was lovely.    

Gallery below: A.) Look! It's brown. With bits of dark green. But mostly brown.  B.) The ocean from the parking lot at the end of U.S. Route 20, next to Don Davis Park.  C.) Whale bones near the beach reminding people of Newport's past as a whaling town.  D.) A view from the beach to the houses perched on the cliffs above.  Lucky people.  E.) A poem inscribed on a Vietnam Veterens' memorial in Don Davis Park.  

Giving Thursday

Yeah, I know Giving was on Tuesday, and it is Thursday, but it is never to late to give.  I wanted to share with you some library advocacy initiatives that are near and dear to me and this blog.  Please take the time to check them over and if you can't give money, consider donating your time.  Thanks.  (By the way, if you have any other organization or anything similar to add to this list, please comment.  I'd like to crowdsource this thing.)

• Everylibrary "is the first and only national organization dedicated exclusively to political action at a local level to create, renew, and protect public funding for libraries of all types.  We are a nonprofit Political Action Committee", (PAC) "chartered to work exclusively on local library ballot initiatives."

• I Love Libraries, an initiative of the American Library Association to continue to promote what's going on in community libraries and how they can encourage their communities to "support and take action" on behalf of their libraries.

• Big Adventures with Kelly & Mavis.  You're reading it right now and you love it!  Why not support it through my GoFundMe account?  All proceeds go towards the production of this blog.

Deschutes - East Bend Library, Oregon

The East Bend Library is the Deschutes County library system is a good example of a library adapting to its community's needs. It is in what I assume is a relatively inexpensive strip mall space but didn't skimp on its architectural welcome. Inside warm woods are mixed in with other materials, creating a welcoming environment. It is a well-weeded, clean library and although it is technically a branch library, it was bustling. To one side of the central checkout area (corner) is the children's area, where there were materials and programs aplenty.  To the other side is the adult wing which has plenty of comfy chairs and updated areas to surf the 'net.  The print materials were up to date and plentiful, however the circulation librarian I spoke to said that over 50% of their materials circulate virtually (i.e. downloadable audiobooks, music and movies.) That's impressive.  I took into account the leading edge that this part of Oregon is in terms of education, literacy and income, and it makes sense.  I asked her what their primary challenge was and she said without hesitation-parking!  It gets crowded here when they are busy. I was there on a so-so day and noticed it wasn't easy to get a space. Having worked at a library where this was always an issue as well, I felt her pain.  

Ontario, Oregon's Community Library.

Ontario, Oregon lies just over the Idaho border and is in the largely agricultural east of Oregon. It is a place of windswept plains and brown earth.  I met with assistant director Joyce McCurdy, a former teacher and a lovely woman who is fighting the good fight. The library has overcome some pretty lethal obstacles in the recent past.  Ontario was faced with losing their library.  They are in Malheur County, the poorest county in Oregon, but the community managed to keep it together by having its library district itself with other local small libraries, and therefore remain a viable service to their community.  They have a large space with multiple patron computers, two floors of print books, a large children’s area, and on the day I was there, the place was busy, especially considering it was only days away from the Thanksgiving holiday.  Their print book collection could, in my opinion, bear some weeding, but the focus is shifting to online resources and community outreach.  They have multiple programs for children and adults, including a book mobile.  They have a large selection of archival material and house the local historical society’s manuscripts and newspapers.

The wifi was robust and useful.  I mentioned to her my pet peeve of libraries password protecting their wifi and/or turning it off after hours, and she told us the reason they turn theirs off after hours (and believe me, she said, it was a hot issue) is because before they did that they had vagrancy and vandalism issues outside the library doors.  Sad, but understandable.  I am glad they have regular hours for that reason alone.

A new challenge for them that is looming on the horizon: According to Joyce, she gave me a rough estimate that Ontario school rolls have about 60% kids of Hispanic origin, and even though these children are being taught English in the schools, the library is stepping up their game and is boosting their Spanish language materials, especially for the adults who come in with their children. 

Malheur County is very lucky to have that resource so active and viable.  Keep up the good work! 

The Golden Spike, or Getting Infrastructure Right, 19th Century Style

A lot of people don't know about the Golden Spike.  I only really know about it because I am deeply geeky.  Anyway, it has been described as the 19th Century version of Neil Armstrong walking on the moon.  It was that big of a deal.

Still don't know what it is?  In a nutshell, it was the meeting point between two major railroads, the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific, who were tasked with bridging the North American continent and making it possible to travel from New York to San Francisco completely by rail, and therefore avoiding that pesky trip around Cape Horn or worse-travelling overland facing months of toil and possible death to visit the other side of the country.  When the two railroads met near Promontory Summit, Utah in May of 1869, dignitaries ceremonially drove a railroad spike made of gold into the last tie uniting the railroads.   The importance of the Golden Spike cannot be underestimated.  It ushered in a new age in communication and commerce that would float this country into the 20th Century and later make it a great economic power.  It also hastened the demise of the native population's way of life and later subjugation to the American (European) Way of Life.  

When I first looked at my proposed route and noticed this place was on the way, I was inwardly jumping for joy.  You may know that I'm a transportation aficionado, and the Age of Railroads is one of my romantic escapes.  Also, years of playing Sid Meier's Railroad Tycoon and watching Hell on Wheels on Netflix didn't hurt either.  But later, as I was driving around the Great Salt Lake I realized that this place is also another symbol of one of my themes of this project: connectivity.  In the 19th Century America linked its commercial thoroughfares by rail, cutting a trip from New York to San Francisco from months to what would be under a week.  In the 20th Century we saw the rise of highways and interstates which opened up new tracks of real estate to commerce.  Much later we had the internet, and its opening up of virtual real estate.  

Our next great leap should be (please!) greater access to the internet, even making it a straight utility that all citizens can have equal access to.  I've talked to many librarians along the way and a lot of them have come up with this idea independently of each other.  I know first hand what a boon it would be to this country to have equal and consistent access to the 'net.  This has happened before.  We can do this.  

Gallery below: A.) a replica of the Golden Spike flown with the Space Shuttle Atlantis in 1990. B.) An original poster proclaiming the union of the railroads celebration. C. and D.) A replica of Jupiter, the engine that the Central Pacific sent for the event with its dignitaries. E. and F.) Union Pacific #119, the engine the Union Pacific sent. G.) A model diorama of the event.  (That one is for you Model Train Crazies out there.  You know who you are.) H.) A glass bottle left from one of the hell on wheels towns (temporary lodgings set up for the railroad workers as they moved across the country).  This bottle of "Injection Brou 102 Rue Richelieu Paris" was supposed to fight infections "incurred while fraternizing with women of the evening". I.) Outside where the scene took place.  They hold events there now sometimes.  J.) The evolution of steel rails, once again for you geeks out there.    

Thanksgiving +1

Happy Thanksgiving all ya’ll!  I know this is a day late, but I wanted to post material that really meant something, and the champagne I had last night wasn’t helping (plus it gave me hiccups).

My Thanksgiving meal.  Not pictured: Amy's (frozen) Pad Thai and a half-pint of chocolate Haagan Daz.

I want to thank everyone who has shown me support for this project.  You have no idea how much it means to me.  I think of you every day and consistently wish you were here to share it with me.  I’m not kidding.  I have a host of pictures which do not make it to the website, but I hope the ones that do illuminate the wonders that I am experiencing.

I want to thank everyone who has supported my project financially.  You have made the difference between me taking that room at the Days Inn over freezing the next morning in a campground.  I thank you for it.  My toes and fingers thank you for it.  Most of all, Mavis thanks you for it as she hates camping.  I still camp, but I can be judicial about it by noting the weather the next day.  If not for your support, I’d have no choice. 

Most of all, I want to thank those who supported me through the past few years of hell.  This project is a treat and though it has had its challenges (access to the internet being the first and foremost), they have been nothing compared to the crap I endured the past few years.  Thank you, thank you, thank you. 

All of which brings me to the newest batch of GoFundMe thank yous: 

Thanks to Jacque Ragona Cunningham for another donation.  I bought Thanksgiving dinner with it!  Love ya!

I’d like to thank Dion Shaw for another donation.  You enabled this room I’m writing in.  Thanks so much Dion!

New donations have also come in from my friends Laurie Cunningham and Jenny Gottlinger Pesina.

I’ve known Laurie since, gasp, grade school.  She’s one of the kindest, funniest people you’ll ever meet.  When not working as one of the foremost nurses in the northern suburbs of Chicago, she spends her time making art, cooking, and keeping a wary eye on her two kids, Alex and Chloe (now grown!).  I think of Laurie a lot on this trip because I had the honor of traveling with her to New Mexico some years ago.  We had a blast.  Here’s to you, Laurie…and remember, Zozobra is always lurking….

Jenny and I, jeez, we go back to edge of time.  She and I used to play on the block I grew up on, and yes, she has a lot of incriminating photos of me getting into trouble, especially since her older sisters, Cheryl in particular, used to babysit me.  I’m sure if you’re interested, you and Jenny can come to some arrangement and obtain some blackmail material on me.  Seriously though, Jenny and her family are some of the kindest and loveliest folks on the planet.  I recently had dinner with them and it was like time had never progressed and Jenny and I were eight years old again, singing silly songs and cutting the hair off of Barbies (they had it coming).      

Quickies: My Rant on Life on the Road with Cable TV

I cut the cord years ago; I haven't had cable TV in my home for almost a decade now.  So having cable on the road should be a treat, right?  Not really.  This is gonna sound old and stuffy but seriously, when did almost every cable outlet revert to asinine reality TV shows?  The History Channel?  Bravo?  I used to enjoy those channels (somewhat).  Also, if I see another CSI/NCIS/police procedural marathon I think I'm gonna hurl. I find myself inordinately fond of The Weather Channel.  (Fun fact-all the motels I stayed in had TWC on in their breakfast room.  Evidently it is the non-threatening background soundscape of the modern age.)

Friday looks like a good day for BBQ.  Photo by NLB Creations.

Many years ago a gentleman with the unfortunate name of Newton Minow decried television as it was. Today he'd be horrified.  Vast wasteland, indeed.