To California

California is like a mythical destination after leaving the East Coast, but I finally made it. My last few days were interesting, certainly more so than Missouri. I stopped at Meteorite Crater, which was impressive both at the crater, and the museum. The crater didn't seem too big until I looked for the 6 foot cut-out of an astronaut in the bottom of the crater, and realized the only way I could see it was through a telescope. The scale is amazing.

Hoover Dam was impressive, and I took a few photos at night, playing with my new mini-tripod, and getting a few 15-second exposure shots.

I made it to Las Vegas just before midnight, and spent a day wandering around the strip. I spent more money on the buffet than I did on the slots, which I was happy with. The Casinos were stunning and beautiful.

Driving across the country you also read great names. I drove through "Deaf Smith County" in Texas, passed "Zzyzx Road" and also "Dead Dog Road" (though the last one might be sleep deprived hallucination).

I've been bumming around San Francisco, which is a lovely place, with great beer and food, and a welcoming city. Can see why so many people like to call it home.

Accross America to Oklahoma City

I left NJ on Saturday the 15th. I woke up late, after a rather smashing time in the city with friends, packed, and after buying groceries to take me through 2 days of driving (yes, I am a food snob) and stopping off to see my Dad in his nursing home, I was finally on the road at 4 PM.

Starting a cross country road trip at 4 is a bit silly, but I drove off anyway, making it to somewhere in Ohio by midnight, staying at Motel 8. When I began the next morning, my GPS said 997 miles to my destination. Ouch. In one day.

I didn't stop, except to fill up my tank, and empty my own tank. It got rough about 450 miles to go, but the last 200 went pretty quickly, all things considered. Note to self and everybody else - don't ever drive 1000 miles in a day.

Oklahoma had just been hit by ice storms, but my friends place had power. I collapsed, slept late, and toured the Oklahoma City bombing memorial and museum the next day, which was well worth it. I also stopped by the OKC boathouse, which was a beautifully built new boathouse. It was bittersweet seeing it, after Rutgers just lost its men's team. structure. I felt happy for them, but awful since Rutgers crew has just been eviscerated by the Administration.

The whole area is a bit limited, culinary, but amazingly OKC is chock full of Vietnamese restaurants. I ate at Lido, a well known one, and was so hungry I took home an extra order - Vietnamese Curried Frog Legs, and watched Eraserhead alone in an eerie apartment. Strangest evening.