Good bye beard hello moustache

I had not shaved in almost 2 months. Decided that it was time. Except I needed to keep the moustache. Classy if you ask me. Any thoughts?

MAP UDATE

I will call this journey complete. I am in Ilwaco, WA. Still have not made it to Hood River yet, as the roads still are snowy and I am not really in any rush. I have been staying at Steve and Kates since I got here.

It was a good journey.

Merry Christmas

Beer Closet

For some crazy reason Steve keep's all his empty beer bottles. I think these are from last month.

Astoria

Made it to Oregon on Sunday night, Astoria!!!! Well, Actually my car made it to Warrenton, OR. The snow was coming down pretty hard. Steve and Kate had to come pick me up the truck. They live in Ilwaco, WA. So I finally made it. I can't get to Hood River where my brother Matt lives as all the highways are shut down. Hopefully I will be able to get there in a few days.

Just hanging out here for the time being. Relaxing from the long trip. I will figure out my final millage tomorrow. It was a good trip. Not going to do much until after the holidays.

More to come, as I don't really feel like blogging. I think I might keep this blog going, maybe rename it, update it ever week or so...... what do you think?

Wine Country

Spent the night in Sonoma County, wine country. My new breakfast is merlot. All the wineries open at 10AM. Perfect. Stopped at a few on the way out of town. It was a cool drive up through into Eureka, Arcata. Also a very cool area. The highway then leads into Redwood national park. Dang those trees are big. Awesome drive!!!

Then I finally made it into Oregon!!! Stayed the night in Coos Bay after driving further up the coast. I will be in Astoria by Sunday afternoon.

map update

That's one big bitch!

I mean bridge. Drove over the Golden Gate Bridge today. Wait, not only did I drive over it, but I parked my car at the visitors lot and rode my bike over it too. It was huge. Very cool. I only saw 5 people jump, which is a slow day from what I understand.

I started the day in Morro Bay, and drove up the coast through Los Padres National Forest and Big Sur. Beautiful coast. So many vistas, look outs, small towns, picnic areas, pull outs, places to hike down to the beach, etc.... Almost no people too. I think this is a good time of year to do this. Other then it gets dark at 5:30 and is cold. Pictures don't do the coast justice. Anyone that has not been on the coast needs to. I could have spent a week exploring.

The road is incredibly winding. Just like switchbacks hiking up mountains. So, it is a slow drive but well worth it.

I did leave the coast north of San Fran, at Jenner which is almost a 100 miles from the city. It was dark and could not see much anyway so I figured I would hit the highway for a little bit. I am staying the night in Santa Rosa, which right in the middle of wine county.

Maybe a wine tour tomorrow before I head to Eureka and Redwood National forest. I have decided that I am going to go all the way up the coast of Oregon too. With any weather coming, at least it will just be rain on the coast. Doesn't look like it will take me much longer really. So, I may be in Oregon tomorrow, or Sunday. And will go to Astoria first, spend a few days there and then go to Hood River.

Morro bay, CA

Stayed the night in Morro Bay. Cool little beach town. Today I plan to try and make it north of San Francisco. Got a few really cool pictures.

Day 24, Mile 4850.4

Wow that is a lot of miles and I still have around another 1000 to go. Leaving to head up the coast today. I got a few recommendations of places to stop at. The average high temperature for Southern California is 68. The high today is only going to be 54. Maybe I will camp tonight??? I feel like a weather man after this trip. Most of the highway's in the mountains around here were still closed this morning. Even Vegas got snow last night. Crazy. I wonder if they were taken bets on how much snow they would get.

Too many choices?

When I was in Albuquerque a few days a go, I asked someone where there was a good place to get some New Mexican food. And yes there is a difference between Mexican food and New Mexican food. The bar tender was nice enough to narrow the selection to about 30 good places. WOW. I was instantly overwhelmed. I just wanted to know one place. Finally a gentlemen sitting next to me suggested one place. Ok good. I did go there the next day and it was very good.

Now the next day something very similar happened. I was looking for a good time, and by a good time I mean a place to get a cup of coffee. I was down in the Nob Hill area of Albuquerque. I would call this area the downtown for University of New Mexico. I asked someone where a good place to get a cup of coffee, they said there were about 10 on this side of the road and another dozen or so on the other side for the next 15 blocks. Wow, not again. I found a place a few blocks down that looked good, and it was.

Now as an American consumer shouldn't I like that I have this many choices? I guess I like small towns where there aren't many choices.

map update

The City of Angeles

Just drove from Phoenix to Venture, CA. That is about 60 miles north of Los Angeles. The first part of the drive was cool driving through the mountains. Mostly sunny, the mountains were huge. Tons of wind farms.

I guess I did not plan as well as I thought for rush hour. I got close to the city about 3PM. To go about 100 miles it took 4 hours. The first 2 didn't bother me. Miami had prepared me for anything. The last two was just boring. Oh ya, did I mention it was raining ans snowing too!

Well here I am on the coast. I would not be able to go much further north right due to the highways being closed because of snow. I think I may go get some chains for my tires, just in case. I can't see the ocean right now, but I shall find it tomorrow morning. Rumor has it that there is a brew pub in town. I will give a full report on the quality of the beer tomorrow morning.

Here is some good trivia for you. Did you know that California has the most number of breweries of any state. Last count 238.

Where Am I? check out the map

To the Pacific North West via South.....

I decided to go south today since west was not looking good. The highway going west was already closed this morning. Albuquerque had no school today. They got any where from a dusting to about 4 inches in the foot hills.

Left early in the morning after cleaning a few inches of snow off my car and using my room key as an ice scraper. Got to Silver City early afternoon. Took the 70 mile mountain pass from the highway to get there. It was well worth the couple hour detour. I was thinking about camping and then going to find the hot springs in the morning. After finding a great camping spot, it started to snow and the temperature dropped to about 25 and was windy. Needless to say a little too cold to camp. Packed up and drove the 4 hours or so to Phoenix. Staying the night here. I will check the weather tomorrow. I have decided to bypass the Grand Canyon, as I have already been there and want to get to the coast of California. So hopefully I will be in Cali tomorrow. That should put me in Oregon by Xmas!

NM Pictures

Alba Turkey

Stuck here in Albuquerque. Can't go west as the road conditions are not good. Looks like I am going to go South tomorrow. Flagstaff is going to get over a foot of snow, so I may have to bypass that whole area. It is currently snowing here!! Maybe a 1/4 inch so far. Not sure how much we are going to get. No worries, no rush.

Map Update

Good bye OKC

I left Oklahoma City yesterday. Stopped by the Oklahoma City National Memorial on my way out of town. This was the site where Timothy McVeigh blew up the federal building. I drove by it the other day and did not realize it at the time. Anyone that drives through should stop by.


Thanks Pepe for letting me crash at your place. On Friday night we went to downtown Norman. That is just a few miles down the street and where University of Oklahoma is located. Classes were about over and finals are next week. I was graduating next week and had no finals. Pepe was a transfer student and trying out for the basketball team. Needless to say no one liked either of our stories.


The only excitement was when I tried to stick up for a girl next to me trying to order a drink. The guy behind her didn't think she was ordering quick enough or something and starting to yell at her and was giving her hell. Me being the gentlemen that I am, I couldn't let him do that. I said something, he pushed me, and wanted to fight. I am guessing he must of saw my huge guns and decided it wasn't worth it. It was time to go after that. Not to mention it was about last call anyways.


I sure don't miss college bars. The only good thing was that was no cover to get it.

Oklahoma

I have been in OKC all week. leaving tomorrow to go to albuquerque. Might get snowed in for a couple days, but no worries. Just relaxing. Here are a few pictures from the last few days.

Bricktown Brewary

Hooters!

Jamming

Day 15, Mile 2,577.9

At my going away party at work, they gave me a retirement card. And so far retirement is going great. I am glad I no longer have 3 Voice Mails, and an email to check on a regular basis. Not for me.

Made to Patrick Pepe's place last night about 10:00PM last night after my leisurely 12 hour drive from Newnan, GA. I think I will stay here for a least a few days. Woke up this morning and went to get some coffee about 11:00AM and damn it was cold out. I had ice all over my car and the wind was blowing. Currently it is 28 and only 13 with the wind chill. I am glad that I did not camp last night. I know this does not sound very cold to a lot of you northern people. But don't forget that my blood has thinned out from Florida. So it felt damn cold to me!

I am glad that I did the 12 hours yesterday because I would not want to be driving through this crap. The people around here are not use to ice on the roads. On the news this morning Oklahoma City said they were ready for any ice because they had 2 trucks ready with sand and salt. WOW 2 trucks for a major city.

So where to next do you ask? Looking to see if I can find some hot springs to get lost at for a day or two.

Some Pictures

Yes I started in the southern most point in the continental US, to go almost the northwestern most point in the continental US.

I took this picture at an old civil war era fort in the keys. See those things floating around. We call those orbs. They are ghosts!

I took this picture on a beach in the Keys, Didn't even notice Portland, OR was on the sign until the other day.

I've Been Everywhere, well not yet

I've been to Jacksonville, St. Augustine, Daytona Beach, New Symrna Beach, West Palm Beach, Ft. Lauderdale, Miami, Key Largo, Marathon, Islamorada, Key West, Plantation, Orlando, Neptune Beach, Lake City, Macon, Newnan, Atlanta, Birmingham, Tupelo, Memphis, Little Rock, Fort Smith, and Oklahoma City.

Oklahoma City

Just drove 860 miles to Oklahoma City. What a long boring drive. It is going to snow tomorrow, so I wanted to stay ahead of the wather. I will have some more random thoughts to put up tomorrow. Too tired. But drinking beer

ATL

Leaving Hotlanta tomorrow morning. Thanks again Karen and Justin for letting me stay here. Good times even though they have the loudest kids in the world. Went up to Emory university and had lunch with Lisa Carboni today. She is going to school to be a minster.

So, I now that I have had more time to think about it, I guess Florida wasn't that bad of a state. Not a dump, just different. I am ready to see some mountains! I hoping I will get some good pictures soon. Once I get to some scenic areas. Also it has been a little cold to camp, but maybe further west??

I will be heading to Oklahoma City next and crashing with Pepe for at least a few days. Not sure if I am going to stop some where else yet before I get there. Maybe Memphis...... I can go see Graceland! haha.

That is all I got for now.

Random Thoughts

I was at the book store the other day looking for some books about driving across the country. I was looking for places to stay, things to do, see, etc... After a few minutes I realized that these books are junk. These books are about someone else's trip what they did. This is my journey, not someone else's. I am going to find my own adventures. When I was walking away to go to another section I walked by a big book on how to blog. I just looked at the cover it gave recommendations on how to blog, and proper blog etiquette. I got to thinking do people really need a book on how to do everything? Can't people just do things they way they want to do it? Does there really need to be a wrong and right way to do everythig? So I bought no books.

If I am writing this blog wrong please don't let me know!

Hello Georgia

Well, I have finally left FL! It has taken me 12 days and about 1500 miles just to leave this state. I hope some of the other states go a little quicker. I am staying for a few days in Atlanta with Justin, Karen, Dillion, and Sara. It already feels good to get out of FL. I did have fun there, it was just time to go. Where to next, not sure yet. I think I might stop in Memphis, TN on my way to Oklahoma City. I will figure that out in a few days. Thanks to everyone in FL. Maybe some people will come visit me some day and I can pay back the hospitality.

I have not shaved in almost a month now, the beard is getting a little crazy. I will post a picture in a few days. Can't believe that it is December already. I can't wait to get further west. I want to see some mountains! I was planning on doing some camping but it has been pretty cold every where. It is only going to be 27 here tonight.

Found out the fish that Randy and were ctacching are Mongoose Snapper, but the ones were catching were way to small to keep.

Good bye Florida

Leaving Florida today. I hope I do not come back any time soon. What a dump this state is. Hello Georgia

Where am I?

Lets see stayed at Randall's and Sara's place tuesday night. thanks again. Before I went over ther stopped by Riddle campus and saw Woody. I almost didn't even recognize him as he has lost 50 pounds. Anyways, Wednesday I spent the day in Orlando hanging out with Claire. I got the grand tour of the city. I believe we did a big triangle driving around. Ate some thai food!! Had some beers. And almost feel down the stairs when they broke on me. Concerete steps, what the hell.

That night went up to Jacksonville Beach and drank way too many beers with Evan Lawton. I was told I had a great time. Went to bars, and drank until last call, went back to his place and drank until about 4 am I think. Slept on the couch until noon which felt great. and did nothing for the rest of day.

Tonight I am in Lake City and will be finally leaving FL tomorrow. About damn time. Up to Atlanta (aka Hotlanta) tomorrow for a few days.

Fishing

Thanks Jeff and Kelly for letting me crash at your place! Went fishing today with Randy Ebersol. We caught some huge fish! I think the I got the biggest one, about 5 inches. We are good. Maybe I should be a professional fisherman? At least we caught a buzz thanks to the bottle of vodka I had stashed in the car. I think tonight I am going to stay in New Smyrna with Randy and Sara. I have gone about 100o miles since my journey has started and I have not even left FL yet. damn, this trip is turning into a 4000 mile trip now.

Ormond Beach

450 miles later I have left the keys and staying the night near Daytona with Jeff, Kelly, Chloe. I was going to stay the night with my cousin Jason in Delray Beach, but I never heard back from him. Jason where are you???? Talked to Chris Johnson and he said I could crash at his place but I just wanted to get out of South FL. I stopped in Plantation to drove by the old apartment. Weird. Drove by Jacaranda pizza, and Anthony's coal fired pizza. good times. So up to Ormond Beach for me. What to do tomorrow? I think fishing with with Randy. Maybe stay the night in New Smyrna Beach. Wednesday up to Jax beach to stay with Evan Lawton. I should be in Atlanta by the weekend.

And so it goes.........................

Mile 0 of 3000

Key west

Key West

Well, the last few days I have been fishing, boating, swimming and watching football. Today I am in Key West to hang out for a few hours. Then most likely back to Marathon for the night and then on Monday to West Palm beach area to see cousin Jason for a few days. It is actually raining here today. Not too many crappy days in the Keys, but looks like the next few days will be. Here are a few pictures...

Black Friday

I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. I drove about 425 miles to Marathon, FL and had turkey with the Willis family and the Bleocher family. Justin is still finishing up the 2 million dollar house. Little did I know that they needed some help, so they put me to work. I think today we might be going for a boat ride. A little fishing, snorkling, etc.... I think I am going to stay for another few days. Maybe make it down to Key West before I go back north. I will post some pictures soon. I won about $50 playing poker the other night! Looks like I found my calling.

Day 1

Wednesday November 26

To get to Orgeon, you must go south! I will be driving to Marthon, FL today. That is about half way down the keys, about and hour or so from Key West. I have started todays journey from St. Augustine, FL. Yes that is the nations oldest city. Stayed at the hampton inn on the beach,
appreciation of Eric Johnson. I think he knows everyone in this town. If anyone ever stays in the area, the hampton inn has the most comfortable beds in town.

The West is the Best

I have decided to start a blog to keep track of my trek to Oregon. I will post my progress, post some pictures, and some rambling thoughts.

to be continued.............