From Auburn to Astoria

Hidden Secrets of the Ordinary

2009-06-16T20:07:00.000-07:00

I drove a few miles to Cannon Beach where I spent 3 or 4 hours walking and looking. When I walk my goal is to let myself be captivated by those things that are outside of myself.

I came upon this small lump of barnacle encrusted basalt in a pool of tidal water.

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It doesn't look like much. Look a little closer.

The beauty is in the details.

It just keeps getting prettier and prettier.

A little further down the beach are several large sea stacks.

The brilliant daylight shining through the opening at the bottom of the monolith caught me by surprise. I had been taking photos of it and the other sea stacks while I approached from a distance. As I came in front I saw the light shining through from the other side. My mouth fell open, I was 'wowed' for quite a while watching the surf continuing to pound its way through and around the clustered sea stacks.

Bees And Blossoms On The Way To The Beach

2009-06-12T12:58:00.000-07:00

(Click on highlighted texts for videos)

On the way to the beach on the N. east corner of S. Downing and Avenue 'U' I found this going on. The blue of the flowers is unlike any blue I recall seeing in New York. It is unlike chicory in that it tends to be a dulled blue. Chicory is more like the sky in 'blueness'. There are other blue flowers here of shades I have not made note of before. Apparently the bees like it. The camera and lighting did not emphasize the 'strange' blue I am speaking of but it hints at it. I have no idea what kind of flowers they are.

Down at the end of the street the tide and the surf are still at it. These buggers are still going at it too.

Keep on Truckin' guys. We need yah.

Reflections On A Walk To The Edge Of The Sea

2009-06-03T21:44:00.000-07:00

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The waves are smaller
than they were this morning
when they rose and fell in a series of collapsing walls;
the residue of which dissipated in a froth
around my feet.

They’re smaller now
and inflections from the afternoon sunlight
make distinctions in the outline along the brow of Tillamook Head
which at sunrise appeared as soft curves covered by muslin.

At the end of the sand, gulls clustered on a small rise in the sea floor
between the ocean and beach
remain unperturbed by my approach:
their shapes replicate surreally on the film of watery sand under the sky.

Is it true nothing is as it seems?
Tillamook Head only a transient who moved here from Idaho
fifteen million years ago?

What am I that appeared
and will be gone in less than a century;
and the tide as well vibrating at my feet
on a string plucked at the heart of a universe
that will one day be gone like me?

A Country Yard on Avenue 'U'

2009-05-28T13:10:00.000-07:00

(click on photographs to enlarge for detail)

This is a very pretty and comfortable setting for anyone who would want to unwind. I know nothing of this property but could not help stopping to photograph it in the morning sun.

At first glance the yard appears overrun. There are several trees and untended garden spots where flowers are or will be later on in the season. But at second glance there is more. This is a place that says: "Everything can go to hell for a while. I need some time."

That's the 'vibe' I get from this parcel of land on Avenue 'U'. Other lawns in the community are impeccably manicured, some to an extreme. Just the visual information someone does not want to have reinforced when trying to escape a carefully detailed regimen.

Imagine having escaped from the rat race of 9 until whenever the day mercifully ended in a night which you would wake from to coffee, by yourself on this porch, to a new day without schedules. I can imagine doing it here, with coffee as the sun floods over the hills at the end of the street.

Just look.

This is the boundary of the universe for a couple weeks.

Unless you want to walk a few hundred yards to the Pacific Ocean

and forget everything there with the never ending surf: food for thought while hoping for supper.

What A Long Strange Trip Its Continuting To Be

2009-05-22T09:54:00.000-07:00

Well I am settling in and keeping busy trying to do the things necessary for the purchase of the trailer. Apparently the DMV handles the titles on these things. This simplifies matters.

I bought a full sized air mattress after sleeping on the floor for the better part of 9 nights. The air mattress is very comfortable and it encourages me to lie there when I wake up. The floor was surprisingly comfortable too. My back felt invigorated after lying flat on it most of the night.

This is an interesting interlude in my life. I seem to be experiencing things as if they were happening to someone else and I was watching it. I suppose if I was up on social issues I might have cause for worry. Send me the social security and go away. I earned it. I realize there are people out there trying to remove the value from our lives, I could spend the rest of my life worrying about it. Or I could forget it and feel certain someone else is worrying about it. One worrier per problem is my motto. You worry about it.

Actually the trip has disorientated me in more than the physical realm. Imagine what it is like to be familiar with nothing and everyone is a stranger. I began to think about this on the drive. As I sensed a rootlessness in my experience it gave me the ability to consider things with greater attention. The reason is that there was no comfortable format or backdrop to interpret what I was seeing. So I just 'saw' it as it was. For a bit of it anyhow.

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At least that is how I have understood the experience. I went from my place on the hill where I had slept and woken up for almost 36 years...

to living with horizons completely different.

Here I am literally at a place where the concept of 'no more' has no meaning.

The horizon is impenetrably vast communicating the idea of limitless potential. The ocean works like a 'Zen Master' explaining and redefining who I am. There's not much more to say in that regard.

Below is a poem I began 4 years ago. I revised it some today and will probably revise it more later. The photo associated with it is from Lincoln City Oregon. It is further south along the coast than Seaside is.

Everything here on the west coast is astonishing. From traffic to just setting my biological compass; nothing has anything which I can refer back to for validation of a current conception. Seeing things for what they are, then, becomes very important.

On the beach At Lincoln City 11/09/05

The constant rolling and heaving
mesmerizes me

before breaking over
my feet

making me leap toward shore
unexpectedly wet

while laughing at the recognition of a universe
that not only sings,
but wants to dance as well.

Time On The Beach

2009-05-20T08:53:00.000-07:00

The beach is a lot like a damage return area. (click on highlighted text for additional information)

(click on photographs for greater detail)

A wide variety of items that are no longer functioning in their original capacity often end up on the beach together without any apparent organization. The Pacific is the great equalizer.

The Pacific Ocean functions like a department manager, doing what it does to keep the whole thing going on. By repeating one activity endlessly with amazing efficiency many things are accomplished. Verse 16 of the 'Tao Te Ching' This is from the first, and still my favorite, translation of the 'Tao' which I read by Raymond B. Blakney. :

"The Way and Immortality ...
Touch ultimate emptiness,
Hold steady and still.

All things work together:
I have watched them reverting,

And have seen how they flourish
And return again, each to his roots.

This, I say, is the stillness:
A retreat to one's roots;
Or better yet, return
To the will of God,
Which is, I say, to constancy.
The knowledge of constancy
I call enlightenment and say
That not to know it
Is blindness that works evil.

But when you know
What eternally is so,
You have stature
And stature means righteousness
And righteousness is kingly
And kingliness divine
And divinity is the Way
Which is final.

Then, though you die,
You shall not perish."

In the Pacific Northwest the geological features reveal huge amounts of time and events too violent to be adequately described with words. I'm pondering what it means to refer to a period, the Eocene, and reporting it to be in the time frame of 40 million years in the past. This is really just a drop in the bucket of geological time.

Less than 5 years ago I believed that all this took place in a period of time 6000 years ago within a specific beginning and creation period lasting six consecutive twenty four hour days. I certainly have changed.

Time...

... is one thing I'm thinking about.

Rainy Days In Seaside

2009-05-12T06:12:00.000-07:00

There's a lot of rain during May in Seaside. I found a way to enjoy it. The windows and doors of the apartment provide some interesting shots.

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This is looking out the back door on a rainy afternoon.

The way it came out gives it a 'painting' like quality.

With the blinds out of the way the rain splattered window continues to contribute an interesting effect.

Like strings of crystals.

Clothing hangs in the rain.

It was sunny when the laundry was hung out. Most of the wash got dried, this was left on the line. It takes a bit of faith to hang wash out to dry in Seaside.

On the other side of the apartment two windows meet in a corner with striking effect.

I had an interesting time doing this on a rainy day in Seaside.

The Mystery and Beauty of the Common Sand Dollar

2009-05-10T10:43:00.002-07:00

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The sand dollar is an interesting creature and it is common to see on the beach. The photograph is of the only one I found that was this much intact. It appears to have some damage. What appeals to me about these creatures, on the aesthetic level, is the designs and patterns in their shells. When I picked it up I was surprised. It felt heavy, in relation to its size, like cement. Here's why. This is very interesting.

The biomineral matrix of echinoderm skeletons is composed of calcium carbonate and several proteins. The calcite is deposited as numerous tiny crystals, but all of them lie on the same crystal axis within an ossicle.

The photograph below is what I would take to be the bottom of the creature as the other side has a raised dome making it appear to be the top. The one below I would imagine being the bottom as it is flat. But the design on on both sides is delightful to look at. Clicking on the pictures will bring out the detail.

Day to Day In Seaside: grocery shopping at Safeway

2009-05-10T08:30:00.000-07:00

I did my first grocery shopping in town picking up the items in the photo. The cost was $37.55 with a 'savings' of $6.31 with my 'Club Card'.

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I found that with the 'Club Card' some prices were comparable to Wegmans. The store brand coffee was about the same. A loaf of 15 grain bread was about the same. I am not sure of the quality yet. Wegmans offers Omega3 breads which are excellent, this does not have Omega3. The cat food and kitty litter are about the same for store brand products. Most things are more.

When Rite-Aide opens I will go and buy a coffee maker which will keep me out of McDonalds in the morning.

The cats have adapted quickly to canned food and have settled in and begun exploring their new digs. I have also adapted quickly adding dry food to their canned food to stretch it out.

I'm looking forward to pepper jack toasted cheese with tomato sandwiches.

Today I am going to meet with a guy about purchasing his trailer. It is in an 'adult' park for only over 50's. There are a lot in the area. They require a background check in order to be a resident of the trailer park so hopefully I can begin the process today.

If all goes well I will buy the trailer outright. The lot rent is $350 a month $200 less than the rent here. That's a lot of cat food.

This morning I was on the beach before sunrise. The light at that time has interesting effects reflecting on the wet sand at the low angle. My camera needed new batteries and a new 'card' so I didn't get any photographs. At least I know when to go there for that particular light effect. There were a lot of people out digging clams, and the wind was not blowing. There was just the continuous murmur of the surf unlike yesterday which was windy.

The Dalles to Seaside

2009-05-09T08:59:00.000-07:00

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It is about 198 miles from The Dalles to Seaside. The shortest days drive of the trip begins with the first light illuminating the snow on top of Mount Hood.

It is an 84 mile drive from The Dalles to Portland. Along the way I stopped at the Bonneville Dam.

It is an impressive structure and its importance is chronicled by Woody Guthrie. For me the river and men and their relationship is more important than mere 'progress' or electricity. I find a great sense of spirituality in the gorge that puts this ego body in its proper perspective, connecting it in a completely satisfying way.

Society thinks of the river as primarily promoting commerce. I think of it as a visible, tangible, cosmic connection with the human soul.

Multnomah Falls is the second or third highest falls in the United States with a drop of 620'. It is dwarfed by the Yosemite Falls but in my opinion Multnomah Falls is much prettier.

Here in my apartment I am about a thousand feet from the shore.

Do you suppose I should worry?

Coalville to The Dalles

2009-05-08T17:49:00.000-07:00

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I left Coalville with an emptiness inside of me having lost Dusty. It is difficult to think about. Five and Lucky don't seem to miss her, but I do. I will miss her sleeping by my pillow and her quiet sweet spirit. But she's gone and that's it. I left, leaving her there on her own.

(click on photographs to enlarge them.)

Just outside of Coalville on I 84 is the Devils slide in the photograph at the right.

Utah has a surreal beauty, more colorful

but of the same untameable, rugged variety as Wyoming. Take a look as I head toward Idaho.

I found that Idaho had the best maintained highway, at least for I 84. All the way across the country I had slow downs due to construction and poor pavement conditions. In Idaho I had no delays for those reasons. I did get lost in Boise, but that was my doing.

Idaho had the same vast qualities of Wyoming, maybe more.

My gas mileage went haywire through Wyoming, Idaho and Oregon. In one day I filled up twice and had gas mileages of 22 mpg and 36 mpg. I figured out that it had to do with the hills and the head winds. The wind would rock my car from side to side and I could feel it struggling. It doesn't stop blowing at the higher elevations and it seemed to be trying to keep me from moving. My little 85 horse power Saturn worked it's heart out and started to burn oil. Those ponies were working hard! But it got me here. I don't know if it could make the return trip unless the wind was blowing me back.

I crossed into Oregon about 1 pm. I had originally planned to stay in Baker City Oregon, but ended up having dinner at the Oregon Trail Restaurant and going another 200 miles to The Dalles.

When I stopped for the day and got out of my car I saw a now welcome, comforting, spiritual sight. I'll show you tomorrow.

North Platte to Coalville

2009-05-06T20:00:00.000-07:00

My plans changed considerably. When I reached Rock Springs I was not tired and decided to push on to Evanston Wyoming which is by the border of Utah. When I got there I could not find a motel and I continued.

I found a little dump of a town in Utah named Echo which a highway sign assured me had lodging. Think Appalachia. There was a motel. To say it looked like an elaborate chicken coup would be kind and they had a 'no pets' sign on the door to boot. Once I stayed with my parents in a set up like this in Tennessee when we got caught in an ice storm. That place had straw mattresses and a wood stove in the room.

Well anyhow I made my way to Coalville and they did have a legitimate Best Western Motel.

Earlier in the day I stopped in a place named Buford Wyoming.

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It is at 8000' elevation, the highest elevation of highway in the U.S. It has a population of two. Up until Cheyenne I was rocking along at 75 to 80 mph with no problem. After Cheyenne I began to notice I was having a hard time getting over 60 mph. I asked the guy at the Buford Trading Post if I had been going uphill since Cheyenne. He said I'd been going uphill since New York and that Buford was at 8000' elevation. I was struck by that. Just west of Rawlins the continental divide was listed at 7000'.

Wyoming is awesome. As I was driving I tried to absorb as much of it with my eyes as was possible. From the land of 'Ticky-Tacky' it was a big change for me to fathom.

The landscape appears almost limitless and the weathered, untamed terrain reinforces that idea. It dwarfs all previous experiences. It is imposing to me. So immense. Driving through it the idea that it will be here long after the last tractor trailer drives over its hills comes to me. It's vastness puts my body-ego importance in a proper perspective. I tend to attribute far to much importance to my existence. There is comfort in understanding myself this way. The panorama teaches without speaking. That is how the landscape of Wyoming affected me.

At journeys end I will have traveled approximately 1992 miles from Auburn. I have 864 miles to go and two days to do it. Utah is pretty in the same way that Wyoming is.

I'm anticipating seeing Idaho as I have never been there. It will be quite an experience to cross the Idaho / Oregon border.

I lost Dusty last night. She got away from me in the parking lot and will be staying behind in Coalville. The motel staff and I both looked for her and put out food for her. She's been with me since 1996 but she's on her own now. I'll leave my phone number, if they find her they can call.

This is Dusty when we stopped on Tuesday.

Davenport to North Platte

2009-05-06T04:14:00.000-07:00

(Click on photographs to enlarge them)

Tuesday took me across the rest of Indiana into Nebraska. It was another long drive and I decided to shorten today's drive. I had planned to drive to Salt Lake City but it would have been a ten hour drive Instead I am stopping at Rock Springs Wyoming.

The landscape in Iowa along I80 seems to roll like waves in the ocean. As I was driving I tried to imagine what it would be like if there were no roads, bridges or cities to interrupt it's continuity.

Much of the land is farmland and it is so hilly and steep in places that the farmers cultivate it in terrace like furrows, leaving some places unplowed because of the steepness.

My gas mileage has dropped. I don't know if it is the ethanol they put in it or not. I paid for super premium at the last fill-up to see if that would make a difference. The drop in gas mileage may be also due to the fact I had to drive with the windows open because Lucky shit and pissed in his travel container right off the bat and the car began to stink. Having the windows open would increase the drag on the car.

The luggage carrier is riding well and have not had to adjust it since I bought an additional strap with a tightener on it.

I saw some wind farms on the way and I passed several trucks carrying propellers for the wind mills. They are very long, I would estimate 50 feet. Long enough to require an addition to the end of the flat bed. While flying to Portland I have looked down and seen wind farms from the air. I had never seen then this close before.

Well it is about 7 local time and I have the car loaded except for the computer. Here is my itinerary. (click)

It claims to be a 6 and a half hour drive. After the two tiring days I've just had this will be a breeze. I hope to arrive in Seaside Friday afternoon.

Pittsburgh to Davenport

2009-05-04T16:52:00.000-07:00

According to one of the internet services it is about 611 miles from Pittsburgh Pennsylvania to Davenport Iowa and about 10 hours driving time. I left Jason's place In Pittsburgh at 5:50 a.m. and arrived here in Davenport at 6:35 p.m. (time adjusted). I almost became eligible for pizza topping near Moline Illinois.

The cats are behaving as well as can be expected. (more later) I love my cats, and worry about them in their little boxes, with their perceptions askew due to having their familiar reality so drastically altered. I know them well enough so that I know they'll adapt when we get to our new place.

Right up until Illinois there were toll roads. 'L' had never heard of a toll road until I told her about the NYS thruway. She was incredulous: "In California it's called a freeway and there is no toll." Then she said: "They make you pay to drive on the roads?"

Californians are weird, don't you think?

I made good time going 70 - 75 mph most of the time. I stopped twice,; each time for forty minutes to give the cats a break from their travel cages. They did not take well to the changes in their routine. The first rest stop had a fenced enclosure for pets to be exercised and relieve themselves in. They acted as if they were disoriented. Which, of course, they were. I did give them forty minutes and had to get back on the road: worrying about them.

Gary Indiana reminded me of a smudge pot as I passed through on I 80. And as best as I can recall, near Joliet on my left was a wind farm on the hills which formed the horizon.

It was a long ride. Each time I got out to stretch my legs at a break I felt a deepening mental 'wired-ness' as I walked. It was like I was there, but unaware on the full level I usually am on. Getting out of the car I felt as if I was relearning the mechanics of walking, seeing and navigating myself. In another way it was like the way one feels when forcing themselves to perform while physically exhausted. But I wasn't tired and the more time went by the more I became increasingly prone to having things happen that wouldn't ordinarily happen. Mental acuity at first, then an almost sleep-walking state.

What I think was happening is that I was focused on the highway with an unbreakable attention (for the most part) and that was the cause of my disability. It shows how the mental parameters of being affect the physical.

As the strain of driving set in I noticed my awareness of other things, like the whereabouts of my wallet and cell phone, had become ineffective. I kept misplacing things in the course of the days driving etc. Fortunately I caught all these things but the very last was when I was unloading the car. I found my cell phone on the sidewalk. I'm always aware of where my cell phone is. It had fallen from my belt before, but I was always aware of it. It is something I pay attention to. Today I was insensible to it.

Well I made it here to Davenport anyhow. The cats are exploring the motel room after being caged for 2 days. Dusty is the quirky one. Always overtly affectionate, or very very shy. She immediately found a place to disappear under the bed. Lucky, the youngest, seems to take this all in stride. I got him as a stray when he was two or three months old. He still has that confidence he had in the parking lot as a kitten. Five is not well and has not been well for a while. He is lying at my feet and has eaten. He's the one who attacked his brother, and got me instead, giving me blood poisoning which put me in the hospital for 5 days. He's my favorite. I think he may be on his last legs.

Monday May 4th 9:06 p.m. Iowa time.

Pittsburgh

2009-05-03T06:10:00.000-07:00

(click on highlighted text)
I spent the day with Jason. He showed me the city and the Duquesne Campus where he taught last year. I don't like big cities but I'll show you some of it. To enter the city we went through the Pitt Tunnel.

Out the other side we are in Pittsburgh.

There are a lot of churches in this city. Some have been made into bars and residences.

This is Heinz Field (click) where the Steelers play. Here is the incline. (click) It consists of two cable cars hauled up and let down the hillside. It gives a panoramic view of the river and it becomes clear when up there why Pittsburgh is called the city of bridges. Here is a video of a ride on the incline. (click)

Billy Conn, the former light heavyweight champion, is a native son of Pittsburgh. He has been honored with a street named after him.
(Click on photograph to enlarge it)

For those not familiar with boxing, Conn came within 9 minutes of walking away with the heavy weight title in his fight with Joe Louis. (click)

Jason showed me around town. (click) We ate at a small Indian restaurant. I had never had Indian cuisine before. I enjoyed it.

In the evening we watched the Hatton / Pacquiao fight on HBO which was a shocker. We both had expected Pacquiao to win but not so quickly or dramatically!!! (click)

Here is round 2.

Tomorrow I am leaving Pittsburgh and Jason,my eldest son, and going on to Seaside 2650 miles away. This is how I have broken it down. Everything is subject to change as needed.

5 days.

1. Pittsburg to Davenport Iowa. 611 miles 10 hours.

2. Davenport to North Platte Nebraska. 577 miles 8.5 hours

3. North Platte to Salt lake City. 660 miles 9 hours.

4. Salt lake City to Boise Idaho. 340 miles 5 hours

5. Boise to Seaside 521 miles 8.5 hours. Actually the route is to Astoria because it is easier for me. Astoria is 18 miles from Seaside

So Long, It's Been Good To Know You

2009-05-02T03:52:00.000-07:00

(Click on highlighted text.)

May 2: I left the hill and hit the road with three cats and a fair amount of my possessions yesterday. I got into Pittsburg, after taking a wrong turn, and arrived at Jason's around 4:30 A days travel of 349.8 miles. Gas mileage seems to be good despite the luggage carrier. I have not checked it because I did not fill the tank, an attendant did, and I did not record the number of gallons. The total gas for the day was $29.40 and I have a half a tank left.

Jason totaled his car on the way home from the airport a day or so before I got here. He has a loaner now and will receive more for the car that was wrecked than he paid for it. The GPS unit he loaned me helped me find my way back to where I was supposed to be.

When I left the hill the lilacs had not yet bloomed. In a few days they will look like this. This will be the first year I have missed them, and last year may be the last year I will see them blooming on the hill in spring.

Having worked nights and come home in the morning I have spent quite a few moments in the still May darkness just before dawn, the air suffused with the fragrance of lilacs. That's what changes entail, you go from one experience to another. It's the way it should be. In a few days I'll be at the place below on the opposite end of the continent.

Quite a change huh?

Jason and I are going to the AAA office today for a map and, later, possibly to see 'Knowing' which I was ordered to see by a friend. lol He asked if I wanted to go see the Pirates play. It rained, they played, and we didn't go. I had no desire to see them. I am planning to leave on Monday morning. Hopefully I will get to Seaside by the weekend.

Everything runs it course, in our insecurity we want everything to remain in the stable form of the past, which we collect and hold in our consciousness and regard as the present. But it is not so. The present is actually the motion from one to the other lumped together under the generalization we recognize as our life.

Packing / Leaving ..........

2009-04-25T12:13:00.000-07:00

April 30:

Tonight is the last night I am spending in my house. The last night I will spend in my familiar bedroom. Will I see the same moon out the bedroom window in Oregon?

I've been here since 1973 its really time to leave. Some say past time, I don't know. I'm going now is all I know. I almost don't want to go to bed because when I wake up I will leave and not return night after night. But I will go, because I need to have my own experiences before I die.

The wind is howling on the hill tonight. 30 or 40 mph at ground level. It howls a lot here. When I first came here I thought it was trying to blow me off. Today I'm leaving on my own.

April 28: Daffodils and the back yard.

As the first of May approaches my thoughts are many. Getting ready to go occupies my mind first of all, and behind that the emotional echoes of all that transpired here. From 1973 to 2009 is a long time in one place. A lot of stuff happened in those years. It has nothing to do with me leaving. I'm not leaving it behind, I can't, and don't want to. When I can't remember it and make sense of it anymore I should no longer be breathing. All that was then, it was real. This is just as real now, but it is so different it is hard to imagine its a piece of cloth woven from the same skein.

Routines and predictability have their place for some. I like routines, but I also understand they can get in the way of seeing what is right in front of my eyes. Two and two can result in a whole shitload of one thing or a shovel of another.

April 25:

Packing: I'll be gone next week this time. I have scheduled the electricity to be turned off on the first of May. In my absence the house will become the residence of rodents, birds and perhaps stray cats and raccoons. Though I will return, I can't imagine I will think of it as coming home.

Everything here that is meaningful to me has left. Everything that had comprised my life and myself as I know them has changed. Now I'm leaving, I have changed. I thought it was the least I could do.

Meanwhile I have run into something called 'lack of space'. I have three times as many boxes to be shipped to me as I can fit into my car. I will go through them again and see what can be discarded and what I want to keep. I am not happy about getting rid of any boxing videos.

It takes some degree of creative manipulating to find space when it is severely limited. While going through items I had boxed up a while ago I found some manuscripts I thought I had lost over the years. There was one short story I was happy to find about a couple of boys working at a summer camp in the 60's. I thought that was gone for good. I wrote it in the 80's. It's a good story, funny as hell, and now I can write it better then I did then. You can bet safely that the manuscripts are coming with me.

The Cats: All the cats have been harnessed without much problem. I hope it it not too hot for them on the trip. It is hot here today. I suppose I could drive at night. He has been acting 'different' lately. Five looks very old, thin and frail. Dusty is FAT.

Packing and burning. I find myself wondering what the last sunrise on Friday morning will be like. Rainy or sunny I'm headed west down the golden road.

My initial plans have changed. I will be staying a day or two with Jason in Pittsburgh and then continue on. We may go to a Pirates game. We may not. He's going to be filming a documentary in the Southwest this summer and I hope I can get him to come out for a while when he is done.

Philosophical: For peace of mind I owe a debt to mortality. You know, 'death' as it is commonly understood. In the last five years 'It' has been the best teacher of all, the greatest of Zen Masters. As a result the existential realism of recognizing death for what it is became comforting when combined with other information.

Five complete days to go. I leave on the morning of the sixth day. I am packing up the roof mounted luggage carrier now. I got this one. It appears to be well made. I have some reservations about the straps and plastic fixtures on the straps. I'll keep you posted on how it works out. I will look for replacements, in case I need them, before I leave.

March 6th: Spent the day waiting for the car to be repaired. $600. Front wheel bearing and something to do with the steering. Slightly less than half of the price was labor. It’s all part of getting the car ready for the trip.

Tonight I am going to begin packing the few things I will want to bring with me. The clothes I will not be wearing until then, books and CD’s etc. I have a collection of Richard Brautigan’s books and a few by Ginsberg and the beats that will be coming.

Just in case you need an up to date on Richard Brautigan.

http://www.poemhunter.com/richard-brautigan/poems/page-1/

Short bio of Brautigan: http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/678

http://www.litkicks.com/BrautiganPoetry/

Selected poems from: ‘The Pill Verses The Spring Hill Mine Disaster’.

http://home.no.net/mskogly/brautigan/poesi/pill.html

I have Kerouac’s ‘On the Road’ as an audio book. I was going to listen to that on my first day out but decided against it. It comes across as immature and post high school-ish after all these years. Maybe I’ll just put on the ‘Easy Rider’ soundtrack or the soundtrack from ‘Woodstock’. That would get me past Buffalo. It’s still good music.

Another thing I will do today is fit Dusty for her harness. I expect a bit of trouble with this.

Trip: routes and places

2008-12-18T12:41:00.000-08:00

(Click on colored links for maps and other information)

This is the trip as I see it. The first day will take me 567 miles beginning in Auburn, New York and ending in South Bend, Indiana. I should leave no later than 7 in the morning. It will be 20 miles on state highways and the rest will be Interstate driving.

I have driven this before. It is a long, easy but tiring drive. Yahoo maps estimates it at slightly over 9 hours driving time. It is basically flat and boring driving. Good driving to put an all day audio book on the mp3 player and let it rip. First day 567 miles.

Second day 540 miles terminating in Council Bluffs Iowa.

I had thought I would try and make Rock Springs, but Wyoming has a lot of spaces where there are no places. Stopping at Cheyenne seems more reasonable than pushing on to Rock Springs. It is a 502 mile drive from Council Bluffs and only seven hours.

Got to break down the next thousand or so miles. Having a hard time finding locations from Cheyenne on. I need two or more overnight stops and then the next day will bring me to Astoria.

'L' urged me to go no further than Boise in the evening as the Blue Mountains are dangerous at night. So I am trying to plan accordingly and it looks like an area I might like to stop at for a while.

Time will be mine as at this time I will be FREE in the universe for the first time in my life.

Evanston, Wyoming seems like the natural place for the next stop. It takes me completely across Wyoming from Cheyenne in the east to Evanston in the west. Only 358 miles.

From Evanston to Boise is only 379 miles. This should let me arrive fresh for the trip through the Blue Mountains and into the Columbia River Gorge.

From Boise to Astoria is the last segment of the trip.

The trip is 520 miles. The last leg is familiar to me having driven some of it before from the Dalles through the Gorge. I may break the trip up and not try and make it in one day. I'll see how I feel at the time. I may stay at Hood River in the Columbia River Gorge and enjoy the area there for the remainder of the day.

I am in love with with the gorge. It's scenery is spectacular. A truly spiritual place that has refused to be domesticated.

I made these plans while snowed in on the hill. I am hoping I will not spend another winter and thaw another water pipe here on the hill as I am doing this morning.
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From Coast To Coast

2008-10-10T06:55:00.000-07:00

The most far reaching decision (click to see the route) of my life begins in Auburn, New York and ends in Astoria, Oregon or close by. It is a drive of about 43 hours entailing 2853.96 miles as the road winds. It's not quite from coast to coast but it's close enough. I expect to drive for 10 or 12 hours each day. So the trip will be approximately 4 days depending on how fast I drive. Maybe 5 if I decide to daydream a bit.

Auburn is my hometown, I've lived in or around it my entire life, 6 decades and counting. Astoria and the North Coast of Oregon along with a woman there have charmed me and so I am getting ready to be on my way. Each day I try to accomplish something that will enable me to be ready to leave. This is something new for me. I have always wanted to hold on to everything and not lose it. The crazy thing I found out is that the tighter you hold on to something, the more likely you are to kill it. Now I am letting everything go. I know my liver is going to be the death of me and I can't see any sense in sitting here tied to a job, worrying about health care and dying under the auspices of people in white uniforms and suits with tally sheets they mark everyday who don't give a shit about me.

This is a large undertaking as far as I'm concerned. I've never moved 'away' before. I'll be leaving family and going into a new set of relationships a long way from home. But I am anticipating this more and more everyday. It is October, my plan is to leave in April. One more winter on the hill fills my hopes. (click photograph for detail)

This will be a spiritual journal in some sense because in back of everything I think or do I imagine there is 'Something' that knows for sure what is going on and is taking care of business. If not, what the hell difference does it make because the shit house, society, is about to burn to the ground? Whatever gets you through the night. Getting through the night. That's the goal. Cause what is at the end of the night?