My Way

I really did it, My Way

2009-04-21T10:32:00.001-07:00

And now, the end is near;
And so I face the final curtain.
My friend, Ill say it clear,
Ill state my case, of which Im certain.

Ive lived a life thats full.
Ive traveled each and evry highway;
And more, much more than this,
I did it my way.

Regrets, Ive had a few;
But then again, too few to mention.
I did what I had to do
And saw it through without exemption.

I planned each charted course;
Each careful step along the byway,
But more, much more than this,
I did it my way.

Yes, there were times, Im sure you knew
When I bit off more than I could chew.
But through it all, when there was doubt,
I ate it up and spit it out.
I faced it all and I stood tall;
And did it my way.

Ive loved, Ive laughed and cried.
Ive had my fill; my share of losing.
And now, as tears subside,
I find it all so amusing.

To think I did all that;
And may I say - not in a shy way,
No, oh no not me,
I did it my way.

For what is a man, what has he got?
If not himself, then he has naught.
To say the things he truly feels;
And not the words of one who kneels.
The record shows I took the blows -
And did it my way!

I've now been to 37/50 states. I should pick up another 8 on my road trips to Vancouver if I move there.

My route, roughly

Dedicated to all the amazing people I met who hosted, drank, ate or just chilled with me along my way.

What's next?

2009-04-21T10:26:00.000-07:00

Next.... that's a very good question! Just like when I was asked the question of where I'm from on my trip, I don't have an answer. Currently I'm not from anywhere, I'm living with friends back in Chicago for about two weeks until I find a country to move to. I have a Green Card application which just got approved for step 1, it's still a few months to a few years away from getting approved. So until then I need to find somewhere to be gainfully employed. I'm going to spend the next few days trying to figure out which country/city I'm going to move to. Vancouver if I can get a visa is my top option. Failing that Geneva in Switzerland seems like the most likely option.

Stay tuned....

And now, the end is near

2009-04-21T10:07:00.000-07:00

Phase 3/3 complete!

Thoughts on retirement
One thing I definitely learned about retirement, it's not cheap, traveling around is what I want to do and hotels/food are expensive. One other important lesson is that when you retire, that's it, whatever lifestyle you set yourself you better be happy with it. You can't start going out to have nicer steaks, longer vacations if you meet new people, you have your set income, it can't get bigger, it can only get smaller so what ever you finish with, you better be happy with.

Thoughts on the trip:
This has long been a dream of mine to road trip the states, the circumstances weren't idea, but they were also the only ones which would have allowed me to do such a trip. If I were to do it again, which I'd have no problem doing I'd do it in one of those huge bus style RVs, a jeep in tow, some mountain and road bikes. Oh and a Harley, some of the roads I was on just screamed out for a Harley. I think that is how I want to spend my next retirement.

Blogging:
I've never blogged before so this was an interesting experiment which I've always wanted to pursue. It took an incredible amount of time to write the articles, crop and re-size photos, research names and spellings of places and so on. But in a way this was my companion on this journey, I'd be driving down the wide open road thinking of what I could write and what would be interesting. I also found it an inspiration to try find stories everywhere I went otherwise I'd have nothing to write about.

Traveling Solo:
I loved every single bit of traveling by myself, I don't think I would have enjoyed it in the same way if I had company. This was a solo trip, I just wanted to visit friends and get my head around a few things. If I met people good, but I never went out of my way to just go meet people. That's for another trip. I did go out of my way to try find magic and adventure in every state and I think I succeeded in that. Something which would have been a lot more difficult if I had a companion. You're driving down the road, you have window down if you want, the radio on or off if you want, you can take random right or left turns just because you think something fun might be down there and yeah, I found some amazing things that way. Also I feel traveling with a companion is more about the destination than the journey. It felt amazing to just let fate take care of me, sometimes putting myself in harms way to achieve this but it's how I wanted to do things, how I wanted to pursue them, how I wanted to experience them, how long I wanted and how I did it my way.

Thank you everyone for reading, I hope you've had as much fun reading my random rants and stories as much as I've enjoyed writing them. I've had almost a thousand views at this point and I truly hope I can inspire someone to do something similar.

Peace out

Barry

Awards

2009-04-21T07:55:00.000-07:00

Biggest disappointment
Boston, I've heard so much about this place but it just failed to deliver. I'll give it another chance but I'd go with people next time. Architecture was mundane, people weren't great. If I didn't have my guide it would have been a lot worse.

Biggest surprise
Utah, a state of incredible beauty

Best Food
Quebec
Florida
Louisiana

Winner - Louisiana, hands down the best food in the nation. The Porembski Shrimp Creole is highly recommended.

Best Meal
Brad's Steak in Dallas
Cajun Po Boy in New Orleans
Duck in Quebec City
Jackson Hole Burger in NYC

Winner - Brad's 24oz Cowboy steak in Dallas. It took us over an hour to cook, and cooked to perfection it was. This steak was immensely enjoyable as we smoked 19 year old cigars and drank fine beers. Great job Bradley!

Most interesting person
Crazy lady who threw bread at me in Savannah

Best little town
Marathon, Texas above Big Bend National Park
West, Texas

Winner - West, definitely the best little town in this country, Amazing food, very interesting people and a definite sense of real life about the place. Check it out!

Place I wouldn't go back to
New Mexico
Nebraska
Iowa

Winner - Nebraska, awful place

Place I'd go back to
Key West
NYC
Quebec City
Miami Beach
Florida Keys
New Orleans
West, Texas
Austin, Texas
Sedona, Arizona
Grand Canyon
Zion National Park
Moab, Utah
Denver
Nebraska (Just kidding)

Winner - Grand Canyon. I found the solitude and challenge I was looking for here. Some of the best roads in the country are near here and the Camping was fantastic too. Lighting campfires under the stars, magical. Also, hopefully it'll be warmer next time.

Best road
Moab to I-70 along the 128
Grand Canyon to Utah along route 89
Lajitas to Presidio along Ranch Road 170 in Big Bend National Park
Zion to Moab along route 12 and 24
Sedona to I-40 on the 89A
Quebec City to Portland via route 201
Florida City to the Keys via Card Sound Road

Winner - Moab to I-70 along route 128 was a clear winner and I even place it above the Grand Canyon for scenery.

Most boring time
Florida panhandle, the only time I was bored driving in the whole trip. Yawn

Highest point
Completing the Grand Canyon hike
reaching the summit of Angel's Landing
Completing the trip
Miami Fashion Week back stage
hiking the dome of death
Driving 10,000 miles in 40 days

Winner - Angels Landing really pushed me more than I thought I could or was comfortable with. But I have to say getting back stage to Miami Fashion week, talking to all the models and meeting Ms. Spain was the highest point. I think a lot of people can hike Angel's Landing, not many people can get back stage to Miami Fashion week the way I did.

Scariest Moment
Dome of Death - Quebec City
Wall of Death - Going past South Bend on the way to Detroit
Hike of Death - Angel's Landing, Zion National Park, Utah

Winner - Hike of Death, I've never been more petrified or wanted to turn back from something in my life.

Lowest Point
Being stuck at the side of the road in Denver after the ice storm with no way to get out by myself.

Worst state
Virginia
New Mexico
Nebraska

Winner - Nebraska - simply nothing to do.

Best State for people
Florida
Quebec
Texas

Winner - Florida, the one state where I met the most strangers and interesting people.

Best hookups
Krystal by a long shot. She hooked me up with her friends in her native state, something I thought more people would do. I got to meet up with her Dad, oh and she's from the best little town in the country.

Best Supporting Actress
Allison kept me company on the long drives over the phone and entertained my silly little ideas such as working out how many bugs have hit my windshield, or what the Thing in the Desert was and many many more interesting conversations.

Best City
Quebec City, Quebec
Savannah, Georgia
Sedona, Arizona
Denver, Colorado

Winner - Quebec City, culture is hard to find over here since US and Canada are such young countries and so Quebec City is like a breath of fresh air. It feels like you're in a different country. Beautiful castles, old town and buildings throughout this city. Even a hotel made from Ice along with a Dome of Death! Very cool people too.

Best State - Overall winner
Quebec
Florida
Louisiana
Utah

Winner - Utah, just based on how beautiful and expansive the state is. You could not get bored in Utah if you're an outdoors person. Breathtaking views around every corner. I could spend months here.

Numbers breakdown

2009-04-21T07:53:00.000-07:00

28,576.8 dead bugs
10,176.1 miles traveled
1630 dollars estimated that I spent on gas for the trip
660 most amount of miles I traveled in one day
331 dollars in fines I had to pay for this trip
254.4 miles driven per day on average
160 the most I spent on one nights accommodation
40 days and nights traveled
37 number of America's states that I've now visited properly.
27 states visited on this trip
3 tickets (2 parking, 1 speeding)
2 many unforgettable moments that I had to say, "life is so good right now".
1 trip of a life time that I'll never forget

Carbon Footprint and what I killed 28,576.8 of

2009-04-21T00:12:00.000-07:00

A few of my more environmentally conscious friends (Isabelle ;o) have pointed out the toll on the atmosphere of traveling ten thousand miles in a V8 4.6 liter boat so I decide to pay my dues and use the website www.terrapass.com to calculate my carbon foot print for such a trip. The total is 9,782 lbs CO2 for the roughly $1,630 I spent on gas. Total cost to remove my footprint from the atmosphere.... $59.50. I encourage others to do the same.

On the flip side...

On average according to According to a biker website-lrlr.org (long reach long riders) and their calculations, an average of 2.35 bugs are killed per 1 sq inch of wind shield over the course of 1,600 miles.

# Bugs per 1 mile (in one sq. in)= 2.35/1600
# Bugs for total mileage = (2.35/1600)x10,000= 14.7 bugs per square inch of windshield

Approximate Sq inches in Lincoln Towncar windshield= 54x36= 1,944in

# Bugs killed on my entire windshield over the course of the 10,000 mile trip=
14.7 x1,944 = 28,576.8 dead bugs

This doesn't seem too outrageous, every time I stopped for gas I had to wash the windscreen to get rid of the little splattered buggers. I guess you could probably double the death toll if you included the front grill which was sickly covered in dead bugs.

Kind of makes me feel evil but...

What's the last thing that goes through 28,576.8 bugs minds before they hit my Towncar?

Their arse!

Nebraska - Iowa - Girls Gone Wild - Parking Ticket - Chicago

2009-04-20T23:49:00.000-07:00

I see my first ever tumbleweed in Nebraska, that's all I have to say about Nebraska.

I watch the LiverPOOl V Chelski game in a grill along the way, incredible game. I drive until I get to Omaha City. There's nothing going on in Omaha city so I cross the river and go to one of the Casinos which are legal on the Iowa side of the city. Can't get a game of poker going so just bet some dollars on slot machines and roulette just out of boredom. I find a Marriott hotel about 90 minuts away so I book it for the night. 660 miles travelled today and that's really taken its toll on me. When I book in I notice a large bus as I'm unpacking my boat with Girls Gone Wild writtten along the side of it. I can't really say what I saw in that pool that night but these girls definitely went wild. I'll leave that up to your imagination as to how.

I pull into the College town of Iowa City to watch the United V Porto game. United win 1-0 and I get a parking ticket for parking in a commercial spot, only $10.

I get closer and closer to Chicago and I'm starting to reflect on what I've accomplished, looks like I'm going to hit my 10,000 miles, I've seen every kind of weather from snow storms to blistering sunshine to hail to intense rain. I've toured a hotel made from Ice one week and been on Miami Beach the next. I've travelled across 25 states in the US and Ontario and Quebec in Canada. I've met people from every walk of life and had some of the most incredible experiences of my life. I've done this solo and wouldn't have it any other way. I pull into my mate Florin's place on my way back in Napperville and say hi for about an hour then back to Chicago and I'm back in my old apartment. I go for a few celebratory drinks with Jesse and meet up with my beautiful girlfriend Allison who I can't believe has stuck with me all through this. You're a rock star!

The next day I return the car to Hertz, I get talking to a Location Manager and I have never been more impressed with a customer service representitive in my entire life. He called up road side assistance and demanded that they pay for my towing, along with my oil changes. He was a rock star and managed to get me $160 cash back from the towing and two oil changes. The next day I send his boss an email stating what a stellar job this guy has done. My first time to ever do such a thing.

So the car is back, the dream is over, I've completed my 10,000 miles and I'm immensely happy. The real world is now kicking in though as I can no longer say I'm retired, but now unemployed with no fixed address and no solid ideas as to what country I'm going to be in at the end of this month.

Denver, Colorado

2009-04-20T23:35:00.000-07:00

The funny thing about Denver is, everyone I talk to either knows someone who lives there or is moving there soon. I've been here once just at the airport on the way to my snowboarding trip to Vail. I'm interested to check it out. I'm supposed to go snowshoeing with Jen but I arrive later than planned as I had to spend the night in the mountains. We go to hike the famous red rocks instead. These provide the backdrop to what musicians describe as the best place in the world to play live. We go on the 7 mile hike and Jen I might add is a personal trainer and one of the most motivated people I've ever met. A mixture of macho-ness and pride keep me going to keep up with her while pretending I'm doing fine and I do fine until I hit the inclines where I've to take a few breaks on the way up. I find it a good tactic to start a conversation on a decline and then play the roll of listener on the inclines when you're out of breath and talking is difficult without looking like a wimp.

We complete the 7 mile hike and grab some much needed Chicken Wings and Fries. Some of the best chicken wings I've ever had I must say and believe me, I've had a lot of wings in my time. They're the greatest thing about America. We decide to chill that night and grab Forgetting Sarah Marshall and try Colorado Style Pizza. Which is pizza with a whole load of toppings thrown on top. Not a patch on Chicago Deep Dish or New York thin crust style pizzas I gotta say. But at least it's local. The next morning I leave early to get started on the 1007 mile trip back to Chicago.

Skidding off the Highway

2009-04-20T23:22:00.000-07:00

So I've finished with the most incredible and scenic drive I've ever completed and I'm on I-70 hurtling towards Denver to visit my friend Jen. I'm passing Vail and dangerously low on gas so I pull in and try find a gas station. None to be found so I decide to check out the next town. A Huge snow storm hits and about 2 - 3 inches of snow is on the highway in a matter of minutes. The temperature drops below freezing, I'm going about 40mph when the car does it's first fish tail. I regain control easily enough but the snow keeps coming harder and harder. All of a sudden I'm down to a crawl and the boat has rear wheel drive so I have very little control. Then the car just goes sideways as I try to go up a hill and slides off the highway. It comes to a halt and I try again to move out. I'm not the only one stuck, all the trucks have pulled over to the side and are putting on snow chains. I try for about 30 minutes to get out but every time the car just goes sideways. Rear wheel drive is useless in icy conditions. For a brief period I block the interstate and with the help of a cop I get back to the side of the road, there's no way the boat is getting out of this and there's only 7 miles of gas left in the tank. I'm screwed.

This is definitely the lowest point of my trip, I'm getting frustrated and panicked that I've no way out of this situation. I call Hertz road side assistance but the reception was very poor and the call kept dropping. Eventually I find a tow truck and convince him to pick me up first. He does and I'm put on the top of the truck and am towed out ahead of everyone else stranded on the motorway. The charge is $165, I call hertz who say they won't pay it so it's down to me. I hear that the tunnel ahead is closed to everyone but those with snow chains so there's no way down the mountain from here. I fill up on gas.

I've always wanted to go to Breckenridge but not like this. I head into the town and find a few hotels. I ask how much a room is and the guy goes $100. I have no place else to go but I'm still not going to get screwed by these guys. So I say, sorry buddy, there's no way in hell I'm giving you $100 for a room in April, the season is almost over. He goes $75, I say I was offered $59 in the hotel next door so he offers me it for $50. Sold I say and he even gives me an upgrade.

How cool, a town called Mack in Colorado!

Greatest drive of the trip

2009-04-20T23:11:00.000-07:00

The drive from Moab back up to I-70 along route 128 was simply the best scenery of the trip. For me, this drive was better than my experience in the Grand Canyon. It's everything an epic drive needs, incredible breathtaking scenery as you meander along the valley cut out by the Colorado River. Huge towering red cliffs on either side of you. Every moment was postcard perfect. The road was sparsely populated also which added to the experience.

Once you cross over the Colorado you emerge on the flat pains above the gorge. Rolling hills with cattle walking around freely, it was breathtaking.

Union Pacific trains

The only cow to ever have licked it's tongue at me

It was so picturesque and beautiful, definitely the best drive of the trip. Things however, were about to take a turn for the worst.

Moab - Arches National Park

2009-04-20T17:22:00.000-07:00

Delicate Arch in Canyonlands National Park, this arch is pictured on all the license plates in Utah.

I spent Easter Sunday morning looking through the town of Moab, Utah for somewhere to get an oil change, my second of the trip and the warning light had been going for days now. There's the dad who runs the shop, and about 8 kids of at least two different ethnicity running around. One of the older boys was the one doing my oil change, he took 2 hours. All the kids were his bros and sisters so another Morman encounter. I didn't have enough time to do Canyonlands due to his ineptitude so I just went to Canyonlands for a quick hike before my drive to Denver.

Balanced Rock, this thing is incredible, the size of 3 school busses and precariously perched on a thin support. I wonder if either of these will fall in my lifetime.

Utah, Mormans and interesting characters.

2009-04-20T15:28:00.000-07:00

The drive through Zion National Park to Moab is incredible, few drives do you get to pass through so many national parks. The scenery is breathtaking. I pass by Bryce Canyon which I'm disappointed not to have the opportunity to hike but time is running out. I extend my trip by 2 days taking the total to 40 days and 40 nights.

On my way to Moab, you can't help but notice advertisements for homes along this little travelled road. They're advetised as, private, secluded, fenced properties. Why anyone would want a secluded fenced property on a remote road? they're Mormans is why. I soon find out the steriotype of Utah is true.

I spend the night in a tiny little village that I pass through, I'm too tired to continue any further, I find a nice little motel and they have rooms. I ask if there's anywhere to eat and the receptionist recommends The Patio. I say I'll check in later and race down to get some grub. I get there, sit down and enjoy me 3.2% beer and some BBQ Briskit which was quite tasty. I get talking to the owner who's sitting at the bar and she points out a Morman man, with his first wife who are dining. They couldn't look more normal. Mormans famously practice polygamy and I find out that they don't mix their wifes, but live seperate lives with each of them, and there's a heirarchy too, first wife, second wife and so on.

Buffalo!!

So while I'm trying to figure out if his 1st wifes name is Monday or Tuesday a group of people come in. The two girls and one of the guys sits down at the table, the other two guys sit down at the bar beside me. I immediatly figure I could be in some trouble here based on the reaction of the bartender. Fortunately in these sink or swim situations with unsavory people, I tend to excell. So rather than trying to react, I initiate conversation instead. Wyatt was one of the guys names, Tom was the other. Tom looks like a decent enough guy just rough around the edges. He sits down, gets a glass and pours some budweiser from the bottle he brought into the bar into the glass much to the dislike of the owner who still choses not to intervene. Wyatt on the other hand, is a cattle rancher and rough around the edges and to the core. He sits down with this huge cooler cup which is instantly recognized as cheap whiskey by the smell.

We're chatting away and as I tell them I'm from Ireland, they say I don't sound like I'm from Texas. They think I mean Arlean, Texas which I guess sounds similar as how I prenounce Ireland. I end up having a laugh with these guys while the bar tender keeps staring at me wondering what I'm doing. Wyatt even gives me some of his petrol tasting whiskey which I call 'pure shite' much to his amusment. Alls well that ends well, they walk out without paying their tab and I say on for another few minutes before heading home.

Oh one thing, you know when you're in a small town when I get a phone call in the bar and it's for me. The motel had called the bar seeing if I was going to check in or not that night. Last thing you'd ever expect.

Wyatt with his cup of whiskey, me and Tom.

Hike of Death

2009-04-20T10:17:00.000-07:00

Almost at the Summit

The knife edge ridge you've to climb up, sheer cliffs on either side. Probably one of the most scary things I've ever done.

I arrive up to Zion National Park, park outside it and use the free shuttle buses to navigate around it. After checking out the trails I chose Angel's Landing. It's only 5 miles there and back, and it's nothing special until you reach the final half mile. You hike up a steep and very narrow knife edge sandstone ridge. On one side is a 1200 ft drop, on the other is an 800 ft drop. I'm not afraid of heights but I found myself completely terrified being up there. Exhilarating is the only word to describe it. You can see the drops on both sides of you and you're walking on sandstone which isn't the strongest of rocks by any means.

The summit offers incomparable, fairytale views. Almost 1500' below, the Virgin River winds around the base of the valley.

Meeting the locals

2009-04-19T19:59:00.000-07:00

Suffering mildly from dehydration from the Hermit hike, the temperatures were dropping below freezing again so I decided not to camp out again so I went down south to Williams for a nights rest in a hotel. Pretty nerve wrecking flying down the road through the forest with Deer and Elk chilling out at the side of the road. They seem smarter than the rabbits I've met on my trip because they run away from the road.

The next day I get up early and drive back into the Grand Canyon National Park. The drive through the park is pretty poor, there's a few look out points but nothing compared to what I experienced on Hermit's Trail. Once you get out of the other end of the park, you're traveling through the desert and along the highway there's stalls operated by Native Americans. I had to drop into one of the stalls and meet some of the first natives of this country that's been my home for 2.5 years. It was pretty cool talking to them and telling them about my country.

One of the stalls that the Native Americans sell their jewlery from.

It's very surprising traveling through this desolate part of the world that the Natives live in such squaller, they were living in small little groups of run down trailers. I thought they'd have a higher standard of living.

I end up in Utah with their very odd Alcohol rules where beer can not have a higher alcohol content of 3.2%

Hiking the Grand Canyon

2009-04-19T18:23:00.000-07:00

So 90% of the 4 million people who visit the grand canyon never leave the visitor centers or the look out points. I'm determined not to be one of the 90%. So I find out about the trails into the Grand Canyon. The Ranger Station recommends that you don't hike down to the Colorado River and back in one day. I looked at a few trails but the one that stuck out was the Hermit Trail. It's unmaintained which I like, hiking along a paved path is too much like a treadmill. Also you don't know what you're going to come across. There were 3 rock slides I had to navigate. It looked like the least traveled trail in the Grand Canyon so I went for it. Described as best for 'experienced desert hikers in top physical condition', and it's location at the far West end of the Park I figured there'd be the least amount of people there.

I was right, I saw maybe 10 people all day, most of whom were surprised I was doing this hike alone which made me curious and nervous. It started off as a steap descent into the canyon, then leveled off to a slow decline as you walk along the edge of the cliffs. I figured out how to use Cairns pretty quick to find where you're supposed to go. But on one of the three massive rock slides I had to navigate through I got lost for about an hour. You go to the bottom and realize there's a cliff and at the top you're at the bottom of another cliff. It was fun though hopping from rock to rock, watching the lizzards skirry away when you approached.

It was on this trail that I really feel that I found what I was looking for from the Grand Canyon. Solitude, a challenge that pushes you past what you think you can do, and epic scenery. This is something you can't get from the viewing areas. It feels like you versus the canyon. Next time I'll leave early morning and make it to the Colorado River and back.

I made it down to almost Cathedral Stairs, so a total of 2,500 ft down into the canyon, and about 10 miles. I really wanted to make it down to the Colorado river but I only had about 4 hours of daylight left and I'd forgotten my torch. So I returned back up the trail. Wow, I can see why you've to be in top physical condition. Going into the Canyon is easy, getting out and climbing 2,500 feet is no easy task. This was a serious hike, I had 5 liters of water with me, a load of assored energy bars and water treatment tablets. I suffered a little from dehydration once I had finished the hike but

The Grand Canyon

2009-04-19T13:27:00.000-07:00

I arrived into the Grand Canyon around 5pm and accommodation wasn't looking likely. I get the last tent site in Mather Campground on the South Rim. I book the campsite for two nights then go watch the sun set over the canyon. As you can see, breathtaking. My dreams and preconceptions were definitely met and exceeded. Apart from watching the sunset I was surrounded by people and it just wasn't what I wanted. Too many people with annoying accents talking loudly and it just felt like it took away from the experience. It was distracting.

Resourcefulness

So, I go to the store and stock up on firewood and grabbed a steak, popcorn and some sweetcorn. I set up the roaring fire, cooked up the popcorn. I bought three tinfoil type plates earlier also, so put the sweet corn in one with some water to cook them up. I had no spoon or fork so it was hard to eat them, but in a feet of incredible resourcefulness I took apart my popcorn pan and used the coat hanger type wire from it as my fork for the steak. I put some sea salt on the steak and cooked it up. It cooked a little over medium but tasted damn good. I felt like Mac Gyver with my ingenuity.

The night was great, there's few better things than sitting by a fire you've made and maintained with your bare hands. The temperature had dropped and was heading to near freezing so sitting by the fire under the stars was pretty magical. I went to sleep in the tent which wasn't too comfortable when the temperatures dropped below freezing and I struggled mostly with the cold from the ground. It was good to be roughing it though.

Sedona

2009-04-19T13:00:00.000-07:00

I was in Sedona about 3 years ago when I was here for work, Claire and I drove a convertible Mustang to here, I loved it so much I had to come again. You turn a few corners through some canyons and you are suddenly presented with one of the most beautiful places in the world. This is Red Rock country, it's just like you see from the old western movies. Towering red rocks sculpt the landscape, the town is very arty and has some great local artists. The food was terrible in the place I went to but that was the only blight on my trip to one of my favorite places in the states.

After I wondered quickly around the town, I went on one of the best drives of the trip so far. The trip from Sedona to Flagstaff, North on route 89A is breathtaking. You're driving through deep forrested valleys, the road twists and turns and a beautiful postcardesqe landscape around every corner.

Dead Snake

2009-04-19T12:15:00.000-07:00

Huge Dead Snake

Stage 2/3 Complete!

2009-04-17T14:14:00.000-07:00

Phoneix was my goal for the second part of my trip and I've made it here. Based on time, Part 3 will be very different to my original plan. About another 3,500 miles completed.

Meeting the Governor of Arizona

2009-04-17T13:44:00.000-07:00

Back in my days as a programmer. I was luckily selected to fly to Phoenix Arizona to work on a client site, Avnet. They're a distributor of computer products, embedded systems, semiconductors, interconnects, passives, electromechanical, RF and microwave components. This was my first experience of consultancy which would later bring me to the states full time (Full time until recently). Dealing with customers, IT guys, managers of all levels in both the client and your own company. The good and the bad, it was pretty exciting and more fun than sitting as a code monkey for 8 hours a day. We worked hard, about 11 hour days but we also played harder, introducing our clients to the 'Precision Drink' which was a Jeagerbomb. This is where I met a good friend of mine Claire, no visit to a client site has ever been as fun as the 3 weeks we spent down there. Working from 8-8, then heading out and about till about 3 or 4 every night. It was crazy, but crazy fun.

We also got to meet a guy called Tony Allen, I don't remember what he did, but everyone called him the Governor. He was called this because it looked like he just walked around, shaking hands, kissing babies, waving to the fans in Governor fashion. He's been a good friend since and also a true hero and inspiration in my life. He introduced me to Captain Morgan Rum, always have two glasses in your freezer for when a guest comes over and you need a touch of class, but the most lasting influence he's had is that he was the man who introduced me to Scotch Whiskey. Since that first glass of Glenfiddich 12 on the rocks, I've come to love the stuff, along with Irish Whiskey. Highlights are my Johnny Walker Blue from Kev (Thanks Kev!) and when I was 24, I drank a whiskey that was older than I. The Macallan 25 year old. As soon as he opened the bottle you could smell just how good it was going to be. (Seriously, thank you Alix!!!!).

It was one of my goals of this trip to make it as far as Phoenix and see his new born baby boy Miles and his wife Evie. Mission acomplished :o)

The Town too Tough to Die

2009-04-17T13:28:00.000-07:00

Tombstone, Arizona. I had to check it out. Very cool little town where all the locals dress up as they would have back in the day. Massive beards, gun holsters, dresses, corsets everything. And they're paid to just walk around town and hang out, you see them shopping, sitting down having beers for lunch. It was very well done. There's whip shows on in the middle of the street and gun fights a couple of times a day. The taverns are pretty cool too.

Side note, if you're ever in Tucson, they're famous for their mesquite grilled food. Don't eat it, it's pure crap. The only time in my entire life I've never finished a steak, it was that bad.

The Thing!

2009-04-17T13:15:00.001-07:00

This is definitely one of the highlights of my trip. The drive along I-10 from Las Cruces to Phoenix is deathly boring. There's some nice mountains in the distance and you pass over the Continental Divide, that's about it. So, for about 200 miles every 5-10 miles or so you see a massive billboard advertising 'The Thing?'. I remember hearing something about The Thing in the Arizona Desert, but couldn't remember what it was. So, for about 200 miles of driving, you're constantly asking yourself, what is The Thing? And your imagination wonders and comes up with the most amazing Things that this thing could be. It really stimulates your mind and makes what would be a boring drive, really quite interesting. Anyway, I arrived at The Thing, paid my $1 to get in and wow, it was nothing like what I had expected, but astonishing none the less. The reason I liked it so much is how much it gets you thinking about what it could be. So, if you're inclined to google what it is, you'll probably lose the best thing about the thing, which for me was wondering what the hell this thing was.

The Most interesting Thing!

2009-04-17T13:08:00.000-07:00

So, you're driving along the desert, you see a car every 35 miles maybe, it's pitch dark, there's nothing around but this road. So what's the last thing you'd expect to see? A Prada store is something you'd probably never guess!

Prata Marfa store, there's no car park, no telephone or power lines into the building, it's just totally isolated out in the middle of the desert. I find out later that it's an art piece. The door doesn't open, it just sits there with all the expensive Prada merchendise inside it. Definitely not what you expect flying through the desert.

Dream comes true

2009-04-17T12:39:00.000-07:00

The one thing I've searched for this whole trip was an entirely empty road stretching out as far as you could see. Not one single car in eyesight. I finally found this heading from the dreadful Fort Stockton to Big Bend National Park. Big Bend is the least visited of all the national parks due to the fact it's in the middle of nowhere, right on the Mexican boarder.

I pay the $20 to get into the park and enjoy a very beautiful scenic drive through it. I head to Chisos Mountains and find the Lost Mine trail, it's 1,200 ft to the top and about 4.8 miles round trip. Challenging enough but the views from the top are definitely worth it. Panoramic views of the whole area. Not that many people on the trail and it's definitely tougher at the top when the temperatures reach 90 degrees (About 34 Celsius).

I then drive towards Lajitas and onwards to Presidio. This is definitely one of the most scenic drives of the trip, you're passing along the Rio Grande which boarders Mexico and the US. The inclines here are 15% which is the maximum allowed incline on a road. You're passing ghost towns and abandoned houses along the way. I even see a dead snake on the road.

Mexico on the left, Rio Grande in the middle and US of A on the right. I head up towards Marfa to get back on the I-10

Austin

2009-04-17T12:03:00.000-07:00

I even converted Christi to be a Longhorn fan!

The first time I heard of Austin was from Stone Cold Steve Austin of WWF fame. Since moving to the states I've heard about it non stop. A lot of my mates here went to University of Texas (UT). I used to go to the Longhorn Alumni bar in Chicago to watch their Football games (the football they play with their hands and pillows on their shoulders, not the real one). Anyway I definitely got into the spirit of things at these games where the bar would be packed, we'd eat Queso and drink cheap beers. Many times I'd start off the chanting in the bar of their school fight song. Ever since, UT has become my adopted university. I felt I had to visit this city to pay hommage.

I arrived in and found a hostel which was a good bit out of town, but it had parking and was cheap enough. Found my way into town and met up with Krystal's free spirited mate Christi. We had some beers and she dropped me on the famous 6th street. $1.50 for a rum and coke, I felt like I was making money. Austin also has some of the best live music in the states and every couple of bars had a live band playing and free in. So I just went bar hopping, I was disgusted though when I found a bar charging $2.25 for my rum and coke. Definitely an eclectic array of music from the area, Jazz, Blues, Rock, Pop and many more. Pretty good city I must say.
I met up with Christi again for lunch the next day and then off West I sailed. I stopped by Enchanted Rock State Park and had my first hike of the trip. The rock is a huge pink granite boulder that rises 425 feet. I climbed up that with relative ease and there were too many people around to truly enjoy it so I spotted another peak that looked promising. I climbed Turkey Peak which turned out to be challenging enough, I don't seem to be happy unless I'm in some kind of danger for some odd reason. Got to the top and just chilled out able to enjoy the view without some stupid family, or bunch of kids distracting me. Bit more of a challenge to get down but made it out. Off West I went then until I hit Fort Stockton which was easily the most ugly city I've visited. I think about sleeping in the car but find a cheap motel.

West comma Texas

2009-04-15T10:35:00.001-07:00

My good friend Krystal is from the tiniest little town in Texas called West. I've been here once before and I still think this is my favorite little town in all of America. Not one single sign of corporate America. The place just is what it is, an awesome little town with amazing food and a lot of character. It's a little Czech town and there's one of my favorite places to eat, the Czech Bakery right off of I-35. They have these things called Kolache's and they're simply divine. They're pastry filled with a range of toppings, I got cream cheese and strawberry jelly (Jam). Definitely czech this place out if you're passing through. Krystal's dad was passing through so I met up with him and had a few beers in a most genuine Texan bar called Myners. Dollars bills and bras hanging from the ceiling, crates of beer piled up in the corner, peanuts all over the ground. Good times, I'm sorry to leave this little town but Austin is calling...

Howdy y'all, I'm from Texas

2009-04-15T10:06:00.000-07:00

Lee Harvey Oswald's view of Elm Street from the Book Depository Store. If you see the X's in the center lane, they mark where John Fitzgerald Kennedy was shot.

Onwards past the Bayous and Bridges of Indiana and I arrive in Fort Worth (Dallas). I met my buddy Brad when we worked together in Chicago, and after just one famous (infamous) night showing him the bars in Chicago we've been great mates ever since. I got to crash in his place for a few days to catch up and just get my plans together for the rest of the trip.

The Steak
So we're wondering around the local shopping mart and pick us up some Cowboy Steaks (T-Bones) about 24oz of them each. Back at his house we fire up the BBQ, smoke Rocky Patel Vintage 1990 Cigars and fire up the steaks. We cooked them for over an hour and when they were ready, it was simply the best T-Bone steaks I've ever had. I finished it off by literally eating the meat off the bone. Followed that up with some ice cream and some chocolate sauce and we were happily ready to pass out. Brad didn't make it off the couch. This is a part of life Bradley and I are exceedingly good at. Also got to check out Angelo's famous BBQ restaurant and the Flying Saucer bar with about a million different beers available.

While there another good friend of mine, Chelsea was directing The Little Mermaid for her school. It was pretty cool and definitely a new experience watching 10yr olds perform a play. Which they rocked at by the way! Great job Chelsea!

I can't end talking about Brad and Chelsea without adding a personal note and some words of advise... ARSEnal suck!!

Bridgeanna

2009-04-11T09:49:00.001-07:00

Louisiana really should be called Bridgeanna, it's incredible, the whole trip from New Orleans to Lafayette (prenounced Laffy-ette by the locals) seemed to be on bridges. No wonder then when we arrived that Anne told me I was on the worlds longest bridge, Pontchartrain Lake Road 23.87 Miles long. In fact 3 of the 10 longest bridges in the world are in Louisiana. It was a great drive though crossing over the Bayaus and gaters.

We arrived at Anne and Jeff's house in Lafayette and of all the people I know in our age group, they have the nicest house by far. Loads of space, perfectly decorated and full of all the mod cons. But I think what won it for me was the old school NES and Duck Hunt. At 24, she's not doing too bad, good Job Anne! I simply had to try the drive through Daiquiri store. Drove around and ordered the 'strongest one allowed by law'. Paid for it and drove off, Daquiri in hand. Mad!

Later that day Anne cooked up a lovely home cooked Shrimp Creole. My first home cooked meal in a long time and dang, it was tasty! Another friend from Chicago, Jenne dropped in for dinner too. Great evening.

Jeff, Anne and mise (mise is me in Irish(Irish is Gaelic for you yanks)) :o)

The next day we dropped into the Blue Dog Cafe which odly enough, displays all the work of George Rodrigue who chose to put a blue dog in each of his paintings. Great food consisted of a a big ass burger and a Shrimp, Crab and Lobste gumbo. The food in Louisiana is simply a different class to the rest of the states.

Off I go North now to the Great state of Texas and one of my best buddies Bradley in Dallas.

$100 for anyone who can prenounce this town first off.

N'aaarlaans

2009-04-11T09:02:00.000-07:00

Burbon Street, New Orleans

Heading from Mobile to New Orleans you really get a sense of how beat up this part of the world is. All along the highway 90 by the Gulf Coast there's evidence of devastating hurricanes. All the homes there are built on stilts. I wondered into this pretty cool bar which overlooked the coast for lunch. Coming into New Orleans there are a few desolate houses but apart from that, everything looked to be back in working order.

I met up with Annie, one of my oldest American friends (old as in known here a long time, she's still 24.5). She got us a SWEET hotel room on the 34th floor right on the corner of the famous French Quarter (not very French I must add). We decided to leave the infamous Burbon St. till later in the day so we wondered around the area, checking out street performers, bronze statues down random side streets and taking in the atmosphere of the whole place. It took us maybe 3 minutes before I said I wouldn't mind a drink. So a Hurricane it was, one of the most popular drinks in the area. Some more wondering and I had now moved onto Hand Grenades, one of the sweetest and most powerful drinks around. They'll get you to a good place in no time.

People really do look like this if you spend enough time drinking Hurricanes!

FOOD

Wow, the food in N'aarleans is every bit as good as they say it is. We went for dinner in this quaint little restaurant which had a nice little courtyard you could stare up into the sky from. We ordered Gumbo, Muffalattas and some Jambalaya. Very tasty and filling indeed. From there we went to Buron St. and checked out the very ecelectic live music scene. We went from a live pop band to some Jazz and kept walking around collecting beads from the people who would throw them from the balcony. French Quarter is definitely a fun spot and a great spot for having a drink in the street and people watching. After a long day of walking around and sipping on a drink or two we went back to the hotel.

Determined not to let the night escape us just yet we got a second wind and decided to go back down to the shop in our pijamas and buy some food(funnyuns)/beer. Odly enough we were not the only people in our PJs.

The next morning we did some more walking around and stopped off for more food. Wow, we got Crawfish Cakes which were incredible, much nicer than Crab Cakes and then I ordered the most amazing Cajun Po' Boy. Definitely one of the tastiest burger sandwiches I've ever had. The meat was spicy and full of flavor. mmmm I wish I had 4 stomaches. Off we go now to Laffayette.

Further North you go, Further South you get

2009-04-06T14:49:00.000-07:00

"Epic Storm" 4am in Pascagoula, Mississippi and I decide to give up.

I've spent two days sleeping in my car with little sleep, and two nights in Naples with about 3 - 4 hours sleep a night. After Dali I just find the nearest hotel and crash. Way too dangerous to drive when you're exhausted. Interesting article I read says that Driver Fatigue causes as many accidents as driving intoxicated.

http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1451053

Interesting note from the article:
"If you have one driver who is drunk and another who is tired, then neither should drive. But if you absolutely must drive somewhere, as a matter of life and death, put the tired driver in charge through town and the drunkard behind the wheel on the freeway."

They say that the further North you go in Florida, the further South you get and after leaving St. Petersburg you can really start to see that. There's billboards saying "America, Love it or Get Out!" and "America, built on Guts, Guns and Glory". Y''all start to see a few more red neck truck drivers too.

I arrive into Mobile, Alabama and drop into Daphine St, the main bar street. See some interesting bands and then I'm on my way out of there. Not as backward as I had hoped. I do notice on the TV they're talking about an Epic storm that's sweeping the nation, and Fargo looks like it's in trouble. I continue on anyway so I can get an early start for New Orleans the next day.

Hotels are expensive down here for some reason, and it's raining so I just park the car up in a hotel parking lot and settle down in the back seat for the night. I get a few moments sleep but the rain is relentless and the thunder and lightning is becoming deafening. I take a look out the window and my boat is sitting in about a foot of water. It's coming up to the door frame. With lightning cracking I decide to give in and book a room for the night. I try drive to one of the cheaper hotels but the flooding is so severe you can't see where you're driving. I had a bit of fun making waves before taking the $100 hit to spend the rest of the night in the hotel.

Salvador Dali

2009-04-06T14:17:00.000-07:00

Upwards to St. Petersburg I go next and I see there's the worlds biggest collection of Salvador Dali's artwork. I think it might be worth seeing so I drop in hoping to catch the last 30 mins the place is open. Ends up being a late opening so I get in for $5. Taking a walk around there really are some amazing pieces. There's a free tour so I join that.

Definitely one of, if not thee best tour I've ever taken. The lady giving was witty, knowledgeable and a fantastic story teller. Showing off a piece he did when he was 13, and then a self portrait when he was 17. She went through several key pieces and the stories behind them. What different parts prepresented. Ants for example always represented death or decay, and if you ever see a man holding the hand of a little boy it's representative of Dali and his Father and his wish for them to be close once again. She also went through the hidden pictures/figures in his paintings which were fascinating. I have definitely found my favorite artist.

This painting below literally blew me away when I first saw it, how you can create something that size and get it to work so well as two separate pictures. It's the painting of the girl looking out the window and also a portrait of Abe Lincoln.... see if you can see Abe?

Can you see Abe?

Dali painted “Gala Contemplating the Mediterranean Sea, which at 30 meters becomes the portrait of Abraham Lincoln (Homage to Rothko)” in 1976 and is one of my favorites. It's impossible to replicate on a computer. The original is about 7ft by 15ft. Standing in front of it you see what you see below, a naked lady staring out through a window.

Now, try squint your eyes (put a finger at the ourside corner of your eye and pull towards your ears). The portrait of Abraham Lincoln should come right out at you.

Ms. Spain and I

2009-04-02T09:37:00.000-07:00

Miami Fashion Week

Damn I make her look good

Miss Spain and I, love the pint of Stella in my hand!

The Real Everglades

2009-04-02T08:45:00.000-07:00

So, the Alligator farm was fun, the Air boat was a rush but again, it's all just staged and I don't feel like I've really been in the Everglades. I'm driving through the Everglades National Park for a few hours and coming up on Sunset.

As I do, I took a random right turn down this dusty gravel road. The highway was getting boring. This is exactly what I was looking for. I drove for 3 or 4 miles down this dirt track, dust in my wake. Stopped the boat at this one open area and sat down and enjoyed the sunset. Not a single car or person or man made object could be seen apart from the road. It was perfect. I've escaped the tourists!
What a Sunset it turned out to be. Blazing fire red above the tree line, and soon after I was joined by some wild deer.
I really could have stayed here for hours and I'll definitely go back to this exact spot. It's amazing, though you're conscious all the time that there's a creek behind you and stuff that can kill you lives there. So I'm constantly turning around to see if there's any oncoming snakes, spiders, gaters etc.

I end up in Naples on the Gulf Coast with my old room mate Siobhan. Sit down and chat to the locals over some Guinness. For the next two days we did what Siobhan and I do best, drink and be hungover. Met some of her friends and got to see a booty shaking competition in the local. There was no way I was going up on stage. Enjoyed some time by the pool and very little sleep.

Stage 1/3 Complete!

2009-04-02T08:39:00.000-07:00

3,500 miles traveled from Chicago to Quebec City to Key West and I haven't deviated too much from my original plan. I've now completed phase 1 of my trip without any major incident, but with many many amazing adventures. It's going to be hard to come out of retirement and go back to work after all this. I've done more in 3 weeks than I could have done if I was working for 3 years. A lot to reflect on. Anyway, not much time, onwards to Phoenix and my meeting with the Governor. I'm about 2 days behind schedule at the moment.

Aligators, Crocadiles and Snakes oh my!

2009-04-02T08:07:00.001-07:00

Life is good!

I wake up pretty exhausted, the size of the spiders on that key made me keep the windows up in the boat all night. Very stuffy. I'm really enjoying the drive back up the keys, it truly is one of the most amazing drives. I stop off in the Midway Cafe, 80 miles to Key West, 80 miles to Miami. Nice little place and worth a stop. This time I do see the Card Sound road and venture up it. Not much to see for the first half, just high trees surrounding you. Once you hit the toll booth though, the place just changes dramatically, a real swampy feel to it, beautiful views for miles in every direction. Definitely take this road less traveled.

Wild Aligator. He was lucky I wasn't in a wrestling mood!

There's a road through the everglades just off of Florida City (the worlds worst city). Some interesting shops and sights like "Robert Is Here", and Coral Castle. I check out Garden Grill where the owners tell me not to bother going all the way into the Everglades since it hasn't rained and the animals are well away from the water. They point me towards an Aligator Farm which turned out to be pretty cool, Aligators, Crocadiles, baby ones, snakes etc.

Cool just walking around there and then I went on an Air Boat trip (those flat bottomed boats with the huge fans at the back). That was pretty damn cool, saw some wild aligators and birds. Very noisy but feels cool flying over the grassy water at a good speed.

What does Cliché mean?

Key West

2009-04-02T07:36:00.000-07:00

When I get to Key West it's dark and getting late, around 9pm. Heading to the 'Most Southern point in the continental US'. Damn frustrating when you get there, look left and right and see that it's not possibly the furtherst southern point. I find parking and go for a walk down Duval St. This is the main strip for Key West. Full of people, almost all tourists. There's some good bars playing some old school rock and some bad ones with a mechanical bull. I do find some locals who point me towards Irish Kevins and several other bars and recommend another bar called The No Name Pub a few keys up. I try Irish Kevin's and the other bars. This place just feels overly touristy and not like the escape I had envisioned. There's hand rolled cigars available everywhere and you can drink on the street which is nice. Deciding to skip paying $140 a night I just sleep in the car on the side street I parked in earlier.

Breakfast at Blue Heaven, Grits and a Rooster. Good thing it wasn't lunch or he'd be on my plate!

I met some cyclists who recommended Blue Heaven which was on Thomas and Petronia for breakfast. I gotta admit it was pretty cool, you enter in this old courtyard and there's a hippy playing guitar on stage already drinking. There's chickens and roosters running around the place. The food is tasty too. Anyway I've had enough of Key West.

I head back up the keys and arrive on Big Pine Key. There are Key Deer who live here and are indigenous to the lower keys. I go on the search for The No Name Bar. Eventually I find it, the slogan is "it's a great place, IF you can find it". On this tiny back road is a small sign above a building that states "Yes, you've found it". I walk in not knowing what to expect and I had the same reaction everyone else did when they came in later. WOW! Every single square inch of wall and ceiling space in this bar is covered, literally covered with $1 bills which people have written on and stapled to the wood. There must be thousands of dollars there all stuck by many people over the years. I sit down, order some local beer and a pizza. When finished I design my dollar bill and afix it to the ceiling. Great food, very friendly staff and just a damn cool and different place. It's a must see for anyone going to the keys.

See if you can spot my Dollar... Definitely one of the most interesting bars I've ever been in.

I had a failed attempt to try live the Florida Keys life when I try rent a canoe and fishing rod, it was already too late. Another time I hope. I'm not ready to leave here yet, the keys just south of 7 Mile Bridge are just too nice and a hell of a lot better than Key West. I find a campsite, buy a tent then go check out Bahai Honda state park. Not that good I have to say, there was a cool deralict bridge there but that's about it, the beaches weren't that nice. I make it back to my campsite, and try as I might to put up the tent, it's just too windy. I throw my boots, fridge, beer, everything into it to try keep it on the ground but I'm staying right by the waters edge and it just keeps blowing over. I resign myself to another night sleeping in the car. Not before a midnight swim under the most amount of Stars I've ever seen. I lie out under the stars on a bench drinking some ice cold Heineken. Life is good here.

One of the Key Deer here to help me put up my tent.

Welcome to Miami

2009-03-28T10:38:00.000-07:00

After some much needed recharging at Keith's house I went down past Barry University. Not as interesting as I had thought. Onwards to the famous South Beach at Miami Beach. Got parking close to it and yeah, you can see why it's called the South Beach diet. Everyone is ridicoulously skinny. Luckily I had my big guns so I didn't feel out of place. Walked down for about an hour and got talking to some nice French people who wanted their photo taken.

I'd love to spend more time in Miami, I hear it's a shit hole and very dangerous but it was definitely a nice place to just drive around.

BANG!!!

on my way out of the parking lot some car hits the back of me. I get out and see 4 terrified kids staring back at me. I think he took his foot off the break and hit the back of my car. I took a look and no damage done so told them in my own not so polite way to be careful. As my mate Scotty said when driving with me, it's not me he's worried about, it's the other people. After getting away lightly with my first bump I decide it's definitely time to get insurance for my $60,000 boat. I was covered for the first 15 days from booking with my credit card and was contemplating not getting it to save $300.

This is the car I wanted to do the road trip in, old school Mustang.

I cut my Miami trip short so I can enjoy the scenic drive down the keys to Key West. Keith strongly recommends Carl Sound Road as an alternate route to the Keys. He says it's a tiny turn off and if you think you see it, that's it and just go for it. So, I think I see it, but miss the turn and there's no where to turn around for about another 20 miles. Hopefully I'll make it on the return journey. Running out of daylight I continue down the Keys stopping off at Hurricane Harbor for an all you can eat buffet with over 80 items, mostly fish. I have shrimp, Crab Legs which were delicious and a few other odd things. Continuing on I run out of daylight by the time I hit 7 Mile Bridge, I'm very disappointed to be missing one of the most scenic drives in the country but onwards I go to Key West.

I stop to take some photos of the sunset.

Miami Fashion Week

2009-03-25T10:22:00.000-07:00

Keith's mom had a friend in town who had a friend who was working at Miami Fashion week. Never one to miss an opportunity I jumped at the chance to go check it out when she offered. Not knowing what I was getting myself into at all. We drove down to Miami Fashion district where I got to prove the worth of my iPhone over MapQuest which I think tried to kill us by taking us over a median. Never doubt the iPhone.

In we go and there's a multitude of displays of various types of jewlery, My friend's mom's friends' friend had some pretty nice stuff in perticular. We got to wear "Designer" badges which got us in for free to this highly sought after event. There was a runway and a fashion show underway when we arrived so of course I grabbed my 'wife beater beer' Stella Atrois and looked over peoples heads trying to grab a glimpse. Of course this would not do for Barry 'Been to two world premiers and two VIP after parties' Mc Sweeney so off I walked to the side, around the grand stand and arrived near the top of the catwalk. Much better position and to my plesent surprise, everyone around me was 1. Female, 2. Taller than me and 3. Pretty hot, eureka, I've landed in the middle of all the models. Not too bad.

Of course, this still wasn't good enough for me, so off I went walking around, and went back stage, I found a nice little spot right where the models line up before going on the cat walk. Perfection, I'm back stage at Miami Fashion week talking to models before they go on stage. I have more photos of me making the models look good which I'll upload soon. Life is good. Oh and Fashion shows, really are as crazy back stage with people running around and screaming as I had imagined.

Mine is bigger than yours

2009-03-25T09:53:00.000-07:00

I went from Daytona Beach to Fort Lauderdale to visit my friend Keith "Barry, yours is bigger than mine" Mounsey. Had a few pints and some good conversation in his local along with some darts. Got to meet his parents who took a liking to my Jameson 12 yr old. Lovely spacious house near the everglades complete with pool, it was very very nice to relax for a day. I've done 3,500 miles so far and really needed a day to relax. Chilled by the pool and caught up on some things. Life is good in Florida, since I'm retired it felt appropriate that I was here.

Life does not suck

Mello Yello

2009-03-25T09:34:00.000-07:00

I arrived late into Days of Thunder land Daytona Beach, Florida. Drove around a bit looking for accommodation, found a nice place for $65, went back to my car and there were some sketchy people hanging around, one came up to the car and was selling drugs, I figured there was probably somewhere better to spend a night than in a drug dealers parking lot. Off I went and found some crappy little place but the parking was secure, it was right by the beach too. Grabbed a pint for $4, but quickly figured out that pitchers are only $6, so had a few drinks to myself and some wings. Next morning I wake up and go for a walk down the beach. SUNSHINE!!!!! It's good to have sunshine again, I think it didn't go above freezing in Chicago for all of January. Got a little sunburnt and then came back to the car and drove to the famous racetrack that's home to the Daytona 500. I didn't see Cole Trickle and they weren't driving you around the track that day but you could walk around the grand stand for free which was pretty cool. I must go see one of these races one day.

Life is like a box of chocolates

2009-03-25T09:15:00.000-07:00

Forsyth Park

Eureka, no more being pulled over today. I kind of feel lonely. I head down to Savanna Georgia, everyone who's been there always raves about it and it's easy to see why. It's a small little town, every street is tree lined. All the shops are local and there's 24 little parks at most 3 blocks away from each other in a grid like layout. I made the mistake of getting a trolly tour around the town and although I got to see a lot more, it just felt wrong being stuck inside this little train thing. The place is so small you can walk anywhere and I think you really need to walk around to fully experience and appreciate the place. So departed the trolly and just walked around through the parks, wondering into random art stores and soaking up some sunshine for the first time since November. The opening scene from Forest Gump where the feather falls through the air was shot here. A truly beautiful city and I highly recommend. (Thanks Tara)

Speeding - Court Date May 12th, 9:00 am

2009-03-20T12:11:00.000-07:00

3 states
3 times pulled over

Copper the first:
So after spending pretty much every mile above the speed limit so far it finally caught up with me. I was on the phone to a friend in Switzerland saying how I've never seen so many people pulled over as I have in Virginia. Tried to pass a truck and bam, on come the blue and red flashing lights and I got pulled over. License and registration sir, and he comes back promptly with a ticket. 77 in a 65 zone. My first ever speeding ticket and I get a court summons. I think I can pay it up front and avoid the court though. I really don't think I'll be in Emporia, Virginia again so I guess I hope I can pay it.

Copper the second:
So I'm now in North Carolina and going maybe 78 in a 70 zone when I pass two cop cars on the median. I saw him walking to his car so I figured my game was up. I went from the fast lane to the slow and noticed an off ramp. up I went and took a right hoping I'd have gotten away from him. Went down the road a bit and turned into a gas station when I saw him behind me lights flashing. BUSTED. So he takes me out of my car and puts me into his and goes "So what made you decide, after you saw me and realized you were speeding, to go from the fast lane to the slow lane, go down this street and go into this gas station?", I wanted an Ice Cream was my reply, it's the first sun I've seen since November. He laughed and asked what the real reason was, so I said I figured I was caught. He ran my license and registration and it came up clean. I guess that traffic offenses are only per state so my earlier ticket didn't come up. He asked me if I had any weapons or drugs in the car and said he was going to search it, I had a knife which was a wedding gift that I intend on using for camping in the coming few states but I didn't mention it, I didn't want him taking it. Anyway I said the car was clean and he shook my hand and said have a good day sir. PHEW!!! He really could have nailed me for trying to get away from him and speeding. Sound chap

Officer the third:
So after a call to my friend Jen who's queen of getting speeding tickets I find out that speeding is just not tolerated down south. So I stick to 3 or 4 miles above the limit. So I arrive in some crappy looking motel thing which was another goal of mine. Parked the car and went out for a drive to explore the area. I'm in South Carolina and near this tiny little town called Walterboro. So off I sail in my boat and go down this tiny little main street, get to the end and turn around at the stop sign. On my way back down the street there's a cop car coming my direction and he flashes his lights for me to pull over. What now I'm thinking, so aparantly it was a one way street and I was going down the wrong way. I didn't see any signs, so he asks for my license and registration. Runs it through his system, lucky I was in a new state so my previous two encounters with the law didn't show up. Tells me to turn around and go home. Sweet no ticket. I went back to the motel and just went to bed, pulled over three times in three different states, just one ticket.

Now that I think of it there was one other time I was pulled over, it was the day I came back to Ireland about a year ago and my buddy Mikey and I went over to see another mate Simon. On the way back I drive his car to the end of the housing estate and he's like, sure just go to the edge of town and then I'll take over. I had no license at this time. Turn a corner and bam, police check point. I had no license, no insurance, and Mikey only had a provisional license, I thought I was proper gone. Anyway, he takes a look at me and Mikey and tells us to get out of here, so I promply started the car and then stalled the damn thing right in front of them. So of 4 times I've been pulled over, only one ticket. Not bad going.

I had a dream

2009-03-20T11:05:00.000-07:00

Where MLK stood and delivered one of the most famous speaches in history.

Abe just chilling out. Interesting that he's credited with abolishing slavery when there's evidence he was pro slavery until it was politically beneficial for him to switch.

Iwo Jima

Arrived in Washington, D.C. and checked out the monuments for the day, Iwo Jima, Abe, the giant Washington Monument (which some say was modeled after me), Capitol Hill, The Smithsonian musuems which hold so much stuff that only 1% of what they own is on display at any one time. The Air and Space musuem was pretty cool and great that it was free. Some bad points, they had the original 1903 Wright Flyer which made the first flight but they had replaced all the fabric and that made it just look crap and new. I don't get why they didn't just leave it the way it was so people could say they saw the acutal plane, not some of it. The Smithsonian Freer Gallery of Art wasn't too impressive especially when you have the National Gallery of Art across the Mall. The National Gallery was definintely impressive, some really beautiful works of art like the Ginevra de' Benci. One of only 17 existing paintings attributed to Leonardo De Vinci himself. And the only one in the US. I flew through the museum due to time constraints but I did spend about 10 mintues admiring that painting. A truly beautiful work of art.

Then the fun started, I walked through the Sculpture garden and saw what could only be described as an army of tow trucks taking cars away. I knew my game was up, I totally forgot about the car as I didn't intend to be away from it that long, got a taxi back to my car and definitely luck of the Irish, my car was one of only two cars on the entire of Consitution Ave that was still there. I have a theory that it wasn't towed because my boat the the other car there both had their wheels turned into the curb, maybe the trucks can't tow unless they're straight. Anyway, a $100 fine for me :o( My first ever car related fine, about 10 minutes later as I tried to take a left turn, this red filter arrow appeared out of nowhere, I had already committed to the tun so I just went and the damn camera flashed at me so I expect another ticket for that. So two tickets in one day, but that was nothing compared to what was to come.

Tur a lura lura

2009-03-20T09:42:00.000-07:00

oh tee heee ta haaa isn't Ireland wonderful. Watching more TV with Pat and Kara about 2 Americans in Ireland for Paddy's Day and you can just see why people think the way they do about us Paddys. They were in the West of Ireland and in a market eating Oysters and out of nowhere a pint of Guinness appears for her. West of Ireland is a breathtaking place and they really do talk like that over there but unfortunatly it's the only Ireland that's shown on travel channels. Yes we do have the Euro, we were in the first group of countries to adopt it, we're no longer poor, in fact we're

List of countries by GDP (Nominal) per capita
#4 in the world according to the world back
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nominal)_per_capita

List of countries by GDP (PPP) per capita
#5 in the world
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(PPP)_per_capita

anyway just wanted to get that off my chest since it seems that everyone I meet asks about Ireland thinking we're aloof farmers who do nothing but drink.

There's no business like showbusiness

2009-03-20T08:34:00.000-07:00

Hoboken - My kind of town. Well not really, but it's where Frank Sinatra was born so I thought I'd pay homage and raise a pint in his honor there. Good bars. Onwards past Philly where they do indeed have that statue of Rocky but he's at the bottom of the steps. Local tip - when you get a Philly Cheese steak make sure you ask them for Whiz on it, or as I said, "whiz all over it man". Whiz = cheese. Make sure and check out Pat's King of Steak on 9th st, they've got the best I hear.

Met up with Pat and Kara, two good friends who will be tying the knot pretty soon, I wish you amazing times in the future. Had some pints, ordered waaay too much food. Had Crab Bisque for the first time and damn that was so tasty. Played some darts, Pat beat me in the third over time of our darts game (bastard!) came home and chilled out for the evening.

I was very lucky growing up to have a dad who did TV work, he'd take me along which was the best thing ever playing around with the cameras and sitting in the audiences. Anyway I learned a thing or two about how TV works which is good I guess but just makes me cringe when watching TV, especially reality TV. It's soul destroying contrived, contorted and planned crap which I can't stand. Like you hear the doorbell ringing and the camera shows the person open the door and greet the guest and bring them in and it all seems so seamless. I mean, if you went up to a friends house and they opened up the door along with a camera guy, audio guy and director staring back at you, I'm pretty sure you'd be like what the hell. It just really grinds my gears when you see two people meet each other for the first time on TV with their stupid fake smiles. Or one time when Jessica Simpson was on TV, every time she picked up a baby it would start crying, odly enough you never saw the babys crying face and for something screaming its lungs out it didn't move an inch and just looked asleep from behind. I don't know, she managed to make a lot of money and interest by convincing people she's stupid and gets in these stupid situations all the time. Great marketing at the expense of your reputation I guess. Anyway, random thoughts from watching TV with Pat and Kara.

Why I didn't see the Statue of Liberty

2009-03-18T07:42:00.000-07:00

The Statue of Liberty on Liberty Island is a symbol of freedom and democracy. It's also a welcoming symbol for millions of immigrants who've entered the states through New York Harbor. As someone who's lived in the states for 2.5 years, payed a hell of a lot of taxes, proved that I'm not taking any American's job, twice, loves this place and is generally a help to society, I'm not even collecting unemployment insurance over here. It pisses me off that I lose my job and I'm told I have 24 hours to vacate the country while thousands of fuckers are coming into this country with no intention of contributing and they can get in and I can't? I'll see this statue when I feel it symbolizes what it once was. I think it's appropriate that in Grand Theft Auto 4 you can go into the statue and see its heart locked up in chains.

New York, New York

2009-03-18T07:08:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning myself and Scotty my buddy from Jersey headed up the Jersey Turnpike. Pretty cool seeing all the sights from the opening credits of The Sopranos. Entered Manhattan through the Lincoln Tunnel and managed to get me some free parking on 36th street between 8th and 9th. SWEET I was looking up online for parking at $40 for the day.

One thing I've always wanted to do since I was a kid was head up the Empire State Building, I tried once before but the lines were too long. Took 40 mins but up we went and it was indeed, pretty damn cool. A little bit better than my personal favorite, the Hancock Tower in Chicago only because you were outside on the ESB. Hungry as all hell Scotty took me to what he described as one of the best burger joints he knows. Bold statement I have to say but Jackson Hole on Manhattan was definitely one of the best burgers I've ever had. The burgers were 7oz and I got the Western Burger - Topped with Melted Jack Cheese, BBQ Sauce, Bacon & Fried Onions.

Onwards to Grand Central which I gotta say is pretty breathtaking, I've been in many train stations from Toronto to Krakow and I've never seen anything like this. It's more like a museum or theater than a train station. Massive and lined with Marble, defintely check it out. Times Square was our next stop.

After this we went walking through Hell's Kitchen, this used to be the worst of the worst in NYC with the Irish being kings around here. Gangs like the Westies once called this home, but good oul gentrification has taken hold and it's now looking pretty decent. Not one crack whore to be seen. I definitely want to live in New York one day and it has to be Manhattan. As Myrna Loy once said, "If you're bored in NYC, it's your own fault".

I woke up this morning

2009-03-17T08:15:00.000-07:00

Got myself a Gun - couldn't help but continuously sing the Soprano's theme song by Leonard Cohen going through Jersey. Friday was a hangover from hell, didn't make it to NYC today but instead went for a drive around Monmouth Beach up as far as Sandy Hook. Nice view of the New York skyline from the North beach, also has Twin Lights which was the first twin lighthouse ever built, the first to use kerosene and the first to use electricity. Some people might find that interesting, I don't. Grabbed a nice filet Steak at Sally Tee's by the docks and passed out for a good nights sleep. One funny thing about Americans and French words. They pronounce everything as it's spelled apart from Fillet which they say 'fill ay', where as words like niche are 'nitch'. Humm I must find out how they say cul de sac or rendezvous. Ugh, need to check out of this place in 20 mins so I'll finish updating later.

Tea Party

2009-03-13T14:56:00.000-07:00

Arrived in Boston around 11 and stayed in a hostel, I think I'm going to do hostels for 3 days then hotel for 1, repeat. Hostels are cheap but it costs a good bit to park the boat somewhere safe for the night.

So anyway, Boston Massachusetts went straight out after my marathon drive to Mc Greevy's put which I found along the way. Odly enough, it turned out to be America's first Sports bar, odly enough because of my severe distain for sports bars. Great when there's a game on, but going there with some mates and you have ESPN top 10 highlights right behind someones head on some 100" projector you can't help but look. I think they're everything a bar shouldn't be when there's no game on, you go there for conversation and to meet people and you're bombarded with flashing tvs all around. Way too distracting. Bars should be dark, wooden and no sports unless there's actually something on. Walked for ages talking to my lovely Allison on the phone and eventually arrived at my destination of the Cheers bar by Boston Commons, the damn thing was shut and I was starving. Met two Californian's who had just come from a U2 pre-tour concert outside who were equally angry that the place should be closed at midnight so we went on a tour of Beacon Hill, couldn't find anywhere serving food so just had a few pints, went to another dive bar afterwards, Seven's I think it was called. A very kind friend of a friend Anna made me my own personal tour plan for boston. I got to do a good bit of the things she mentioned, did the Trolly tour and got some Cannoli's at Mike's Pastry which were damn tasty. Went by MIT and Harvard which were interesting to see, loads of historical places which were kind of lost on me since I never studied it in much detail. Boston was an interesting city, loads of disgracefully drunk people falling around the place didn't give me the best impression when I first got there but seems like a good place.

Bit of a drive on Thursday from Boston to New Jersey to visit a buddy of mine, Scotty. He has a very nice place right by the beach, oceanic view. Had a good few beers here then hit the town. Didn't get to sleep till late so very tired today. Going to NYC tonight for some food and who knows what else. Philadelphia tomorrow. stay tuned...

Shipping up to Boston

2009-03-13T14:38:00.000-07:00

Away from Québec I went and I decided to stop off at Hotel De Glace, a hotel made entirely of Ice, didn't look like much from outside but wow, what a place, it melts away in April every year and has to be made from scratch every year. It has a wedding chapel and a massive Ice Bar. Rooms are about $200 per person a night and you have to sleep in a sleeping bag since it's always -2 to -9 Celsius in the hotel at all times.

Had to have a drink in a glass made from Ice. Very tasty but I didn't have gloves and I'm not sure the pain of holding the damn thing was worth it.

The drive to Boston was about 400 miles. I was inspired by another road tripper I met a few weeks previous, Jimmy who went on road trips and the rule was, no interstates. So I decided to take the less traveled route Canada 173 to US route 201 and wow, what a great decision. Interstates get you from place to place quicker but wow, going along this route, there were hardly any cars, just the occasional logging truck. The roads were winding, hilly and really fun to drive. Surrounded by forests, seeing the occasional Deer or Moose skirring along the route, aparantly they come to the road to lick the salt off of it, odd behavior. Grabbed some popcorn and chicken wings in a tiny little town called Bingham. I really wanted to stay the night there, it just looked like a damn fun place to stay and have a beer with some locals. But onwards I went to Boston. My longest stint without stopping, 227 miles and about 4 hours straight driving. It was very tough the last 70 miles though.

Oh yeah, during the drive I got bored so took a random right turn down this road with no signs to see what was going on, not much, but it was still very pretty. Then the road got bad, the boat got filthy so turned back on contined onwards to Boston.

Québec City

2009-03-13T14:13:00.001-07:00

As I said, I was on the way out of Québec City when I had a change of mind, canceled my hotel in Portland ME and booked a room in the Marriott Courtyard. Great central location just inside the old walls of the city, it was really good to have a room to myself and get reorganized, which was good because I never really organized myself as I was rushing to get on this trip. So after a helpful chat with the concierge off I set walking around this beautiful city. Very European in architecture, winding narrow streets and there were hardly any chain resaurants or anything which was an enormous relief. The one thing I don't get about America is people's insistance to trust a chain restaurant over a local one where the owner works there and really cares about the place and the food rather than making targets. Here there was no Starbucks, no 7/11, just a real city with real people and real shops. After wondering around I walked down the Escalier du Casse-Cou ("Breakneck Stairs"), so called because people fall down them after one too many local brews. I found a beautiful restaurant called Le Lapin Sauté which was a very quaint french style restaurant specializing in Rabbit. My old room mate Julie has me hooked on Foie Gras so I had that for a starter, followed by some mouth watering duck and rabbit for main course. What a great meal, highly recommended. Some more walking around this very welcoming city and got some well needed sleep. Beautiful, safe and I didn't feel isolated here like I did in Montreal. I'd definitely come back

2009-03-13T13:57:00.000-07:00

Driving along a frozen river just outside Québec City

And I thought my car was big...

Approaching the Dome of Death (Montmorency Falls), I'm walking on the frozen river here. To give you an idea of perspective, those tiny dots on the bridge above the falls are people. The falls are 84 Meters, 275ft high. That dome was pure ice.

Climbing the Dome

At the summit.

Dome of Death

2009-03-10T22:00:00.000-07:00

I talked to a good friend of mine Vinny in the weeks preceeding my little drive and he had suggested going to Quebec City and to Montmorency Falls, they're higher than Niagra! Vincent is a sound chap so I figured he must know what he's talking about so off I went on a 4 hour detour to go see these falls and to take in Quebec City while I was there. I arrived to the park at the base of the falls and navigated ice covered narrow roads until I got to the parking area where a few other smarter people were already parked in their big SUVs. Decided to go take a walk to try wake myself up after Fatty Mc Fatterson-of-a-bitch ruined my nights sleep the night before. So on go my hiking boots (People laughed at me when I took 9 pairs of shoes/boots on this trip) and set forth towards the falls. Looking back it was probably a bit silly but I hiked directly towards them, across the frozen river up to the base of the falls, the water there was exposed and roaring down the cliff, dissapearing beneith the ice sheet.

Not content with scaring the hell out of myself when the road went black and I seriously thought I had found the end I hiked right up to the falls, there was a large dome created from the falls, it's easier to show in a photo but it was probably about 40ft high and the water kind of fell into it. Seeing two people atop of it I thought it was my duty to try reach the summit for a photo opp. Off I set, I asked the two lads if it was safe and they said "kind of, just don't slip". I must admit it was a pretty amazing feeling to be kicking my boots into the ice to try make foot holds as I climbed up. It wasn't terribly difficult but it was still challenging, I got to the top, and the roar of the falls was deafening and they were spraying me so I was getting drowned. Took my photos and decided it was best to get off this ice mound quick. Found a nice line and just slid back down to the bottom to the cheers of the two guys I had just met previously.

It was now 5:40 and I was on my way to Portland, Maine. I was on my way out of Quebec City when I had a change of plans, I really wanted to see the scenery through Maine and it would be dark in an hour or so with a 5 hour drive ahead of me, also I was just exhausted from lack of sleep. There was no way I was staying in a hostel again so I gave Marriott a call and sorted out a massive room in the heart of the city for $130 for the night. I feel much more at home here in a nice hotel, they say you learn a lot about yourself when you travel by yourself, and one of the things I've learned is my days of being able to sleep in hostels are probably over, especially since driving when you're exhausted is neither safe nor fun. I'll write about my time in Quebec City later, time for sleep but I have fallen in love with this place.

Slán agus go raibh mile maíth agat Vinny G.

P.S. Photos will be up when I get back to the states

Au revoir Montreal

2009-03-10T21:30:00.000-07:00

Last night was horrible, after I finished updating the last post I came back to the HI hostel and just couldn't sleep, this massive fat American was in the bunk next to me and snoring is tubby little head off. Fatty Mc Fatterson (of a bitch) is what I named him. Anyway around 4am I suddenly remembered about the new legislation that requires you to sign up online before you can apply for the Visa Wavier to get into the states, so back on my clothes and went down stairs, paid $3 for their crappy internet. I checked and saw a website say it could take up to 72 hours to get approved so I went and applied. Also saw a website that for $50 would fill in the info for you and for $250 you'd get your own personal consultant, what the hell, all you need to do is fill in your name, passport info and where you're going to stay. Anyone who needs help with that deserves to have $250 taken from them. Got to sleep around 6 and woke up at 10:30

This morning I went for a walk down to the old town of Montreal and wow, the place is just spectacular. You're walkind around little streets and in most of the shops is the most amazing art work, sculptures and amazing art in general, not like the cheap tacky crap you get in most cities, this was top quality stuff. Buddahs, Dragons, Tea Sets, Stone waterfals, paintings etc. I loved it all and just wish I had more time to spend ambling around the shops not buying anything. I found this quaint little corner restaurant called Solmar on Rue Saint-Paul and had Mussels and Fries along with a very nice hot choclate. Mmmm that was devine. Got a taxi back to the Days Inn where I parked my car and off I set for Quebec City not really knowing what to expect....

I needed gas so decided to just pull over when ever the car started complaining that it was thirsty. So while traveling route 20 I pull into a Gas Station near St-Léonard d'Aston and couldn't have ever prediced what I was about to see. Every gas station looks the same and they're dreery monotinous places that you can't wait to get out of, so I had to laugh when I crossed the bridge and was confronted by what appeared to be an army of Dinasaurs and Monster Trucks, yes, Dinasaurs and Monster Trucks, what an odd combination of hobbies. Surrounding the gas station were about 40 - 50 dinasaurs of varying sizes up to 20ft tall. And intermittently along the procession of dinasaurs were massive Monster Trucks. What ever floats your boat I suppose but I loved it.

The journey not the destinations

2009-03-09T22:25:00.001-07:00

So, road trips are about the journey not the destinations right? About 4 hours into my trip to Montreal I thought the sight of a long open road was getting a bit tedious so I just took the next turn I could see which ended up being a small town called Irquois, then took a random right, followed by a random left and oh fortuitous random turns I ended up by a semi frozen lake at sunset (cloud set), ducks were flying by and landing in the water, other than that it was pure silence, a beautiful moment and the first real bit of good scenery I've seen. I was pretty unimpressed with what I've seen so far in Canada, I guess I was expecting more. That or maybe the 401 just doesn't go near anywhere that is scenic.

Arrived in Montreal about 9:20 and staying in a hostel. I've gotta say I kind of realized that I'm not 20 any more and maybe I'm getting a bit too used to my comforts. But I guess I've got to get used to it. Was a bit put off when they told me not to park outside since 2 cars were broken into last night. Times like this I wish I had a shitty car but it's an 09 model, I'm not completely sure if I have insurance and most importantly, anything material of value in my life right now is in that car. Also, I'm a 6+ hour drive from the nearest people I know.

Not to be deterred I went out looking for somewhere to enjoy some good local food. Getting by with my terrible French but most people I've met speak English. Went out exploring the Quartier Du Musée district which has some quiet bars, not too good, and an unusual amount of strip clubs. There's about 2 on every street. Tomorrow I'm going to check out Old Town which is by the river. Today I'm definitely feeling the boring part of traveling by yourself. I'm sitting in a Days Inn at the moment using their wifi (suckers), it's 1:40am and time for bed. I did manage to meet Jorge, the depressing maintenance man from somewhere that used to be Russia, he hates his life and has tried to kill himself twice. I've met happier men in my time.

Sleep time, let's hope the rest of Montreal isn't as depressing as my new friend Jorge. On a happier note, Canadian Fries are a leage above the ones we get in the states. Tomorrow is Quebec City and Boston hopefully that night. Depends on how long I can drive for. Stay tuned

Torontoowwww my head

2009-03-09T22:18:00.000-07:00

Drive to Toronto was handy enough, no rain this time which made me very happy, Massivly hungover though especially after losing two hours in time zones and daylight savings. Arrived there late afternoon and stayed with my Aunt and Uncle. Went for a few scoops in their local pub - Orwell's. Got my photo by the C.N. Tower, a better one will be uploaded later. Grabbed lunch in Swiss Chalet which is the first place I ever had chicken I believe about 13 years ago. The chicken strips were just as delicious!! Onwards to Montreal

Detroit Rock City

2009-03-09T22:06:00.000-07:00

Me and Gobbles
After the worst drive of my life, I was relieved to arrive in Clawson (Not Detroit but close enough). I went to go visit and stay with a guy called Brian I met at Thanksgiving last year which I had in his place. You know when you walk in the door and you're was greeted by a line of beer bottles that you've made a good decision. We had some beers, played with the fog machine and strobe light in his living room and then off we went to a Beach Party a few miles away. Met some pretty interesting and people there, the place was totally decked out in Hawaiian style beach decor, I just wish I had a bad Hawaiian shirt. Never fear though, soon enough I was decked out in beachy things around my neck and make a new best friend called Gobbles. He is a fish that was hanging on the wall earlier, anyway he was on my shoulders most of the night and has now decided to join me in my trip. After a spontanious Volley Ball game on the sand covered dance floor where Brian and I KICKED ASS against two of his friends. That was pretty cool, we just took over the whole dance floor for our game.

After that we went for last call at Rickshaws pub near where I was staying. I know something really funny happened there but I don't remember what. So you think you finally get home and can get some shut eye, not so lucky, straight out we went to Brian's Hot Tub for a few more beers, it was about 4:30 by the time I got to sleep.... but the surprises were not over, I went into the house to find wrappers all over the floor. His dog Buddy had gotten into my Reeses Pieces and my Starburst and eaten both the damn bags, most of the wrappers included. I just hope he's going to be ok. Just mean't I was a little bit hungrier on the road trip. Fantastic night in Clawson, I can't wait to go back.

Wall of Death

2009-03-08T08:04:00.000-07:00

Had one of the most terrifying experiences of my life, it was raining so hard all you could do was follow the two red lights of the car in front of you, that was literally as far as you could see, you could barely make out the road markings at times, the wipers were on fastest setting the entire journey. It was nerve wrecking, and the safest thing to do was to follow the car in front of you, going slow was even more dangerous so I'm flying at 80 mph behind someone who I'm throwing my complete trust in. I just turned the radio off and sweated a lot. Then, it turned dark and I swear I thought this was the end of me, I'm following the tail lights of the car in front of me, there's a thin concrete barrier between my lane and the opposing lane, a truck comes my direction in the lane to my left, there must have been a massive puddle. Suddenly all I see is this giant black wall of water sent flying into the air from the truck, the car I was following disappeared and I was headed right for it. This thing was about 20ft high and flying high through my lane as far as the lane to my right, there was no way I was going to stop in time or avoid it so I just held the steering wheel firm and blasted through it. Every single instinct in my body told me to swerve and avoid it. the car rocked, I couldn't see anything for a couple of seconds until the wipers cleared the water away. I know it's water but still, when you can barely see, and then flying down the highway you can't see a thing for 3 maybe 4 seconds, it feels like a lifetime. Anyway, I got through, the car hydroplaned twice later in the trip, scary thought knowing only 2 or 3 wheels are on the ground. Saw a crash and was happy to slow down to about 60 the rest of the way, I'd have gone slower but I couldn't see the markings on the road and so the safest thing was to follow the car in front and hope he was going the right direction. One of the most nerve wrecking times of my life, I'm not going to drive in rain that bad again.

Yes I Can!! In a Lincoln too

2009-03-08T07:51:00.000-07:00

So, took off yesterday, my car is pretty damn sweet, Lincoln Town Car. It's HUGE, but perfect for a long road trip. Loads of space, really comfortable so I'm pretty sure I'll save a bit of cash sleeping in the back. $1257 for 38 days or $33 a day. Not bad for such a monster of a machine.

Odomoter reads 11,256.1
Let's see if I can't double that

Highway To Hell

2009-03-06T08:28:00.000-08:00

13,000 miles
31 states
1 Month, 1 Week
1 Soccer ball called Beckham
18 people to visit
1 Cadillac
me
and a helluv' a lot of unknowns.

The trip is in 3 parts, Part one is Chicago to Montreal to Florida.

Part two is from Florida to Phoenix with some stuff tied in at the end like Grand Canyon and Canyonlands National Park

Part 3 is really the unknown, I had originally planned on going to Seattle and back, but it just depends on how I'm feeling once I hit Phoenix, either I'll just head home via Denver or stick it out a bit longer and rock out in some more National Parks; Yellowstone - visit Yogi Bear, Yosimmite - Yo So Mite as I pronounced it before moving to the states, Death Valley - another place you hear a lot of while growing up in Irlant' (Ireland).

Now I'll hand it over to AC/DC to tell it better than I ever could

Living easy, living free
Season ticket on a one-way ride
Asking nothing, leave me be
Taking everything in my stride
Dont need reason, dont need rhyme
Aint nothing I would rather do
Going down, party time
My friends are gonna be there too

Im on the highway to hell

No stop signs, speed limit
Nobodys gonna slow me down
Like a wheel, gonna spin it
Nobodys gonna mess me round
Hey satan, payed my dues
Playing in a rocking band
Hey momma, look at me
Im on my way to the promised land

Im on the highway to hell
(dont stop me)

And Im going down, all the way down
Im on the highway to hell

Revolution from my bed

2009-03-06T08:09:00.000-08:00

So I'll start a revolution from my bed, 'cause you said the brains I had went to my head

And this is where it starts, 10:11am on a beautiful blue bird sky day in Chicago. As cliché as it sounds, birds are singing outside to my left and it's easy to get lost admiring them, mostly because to my right is a room covered with junk from over two and a half years of living in the US which I have to sieve through and decide what to take, what to throw out, what to leave behind knowing I may never see it again. Books, DVDs, Foix Gras, Barry's Tea, Mike Wazowski and much more. Materials are material, but the story behind them that they remind us of are what makes them irreplaceable. Time to departure 25:36 and time to start packing, if packing is the worst experience I'm going to have on this adventure, I won't be surpirsed. I HATE PACKING

I'm gonna do it my way

2009-03-06T08:01:00.000-08:00