Memory Lane

I'm home now. Finally. Don't get me wrong. I loved the trip, but for the last couple days all I've wanted to do was come home to Chester and see him sit up on his butt and beg. Before Chester I doubt I would have felt this way. I love Athens and all, but I'm convinced I could be just as happy in other places (Colorado being the best one of course). At dinner last night with my family, my brother-in-law was surprised by my willingness to move away from Athens, which he called my Mecca. He is partially right, but I don't know. I should move on to the end of our trip...

Nostalgia is a good word for the last stop of our trip. We went to see our grandparents in Shreveport like we have done so many times, but it was just the two of us this time around, so we couldn't just let our mom do the talking. It was a relatively short visit, but productive. We saw our Aunt Barbee and our Aunt Connie and jokingly tried to get the dirt on our mother from her earlier years. We got a couple of old boyfriends' names, but that's all. Our grandparents are both 90 and live in a small bungalow house where many family christmas dinners have taken place.

I slept on the couch in their living room and all I could think of was all the life that was in these walls. I don't know how much more time they have here on earth, but they sure have made the best of it. Though I joke about my grandmother being senile, she always manages to find the good in things. She is the true definition of eternal optimist. As for my granddad. He is old school. He is a man of very few words, but when you get him one on one he tells great stories from the old days or just talks sports with you. My parents kid me about how I may be the closest one to my granddad because we always shy away from the big family crowd when we're all together. I am rather proud of this. As the youngest grandchild, I am rarely the center of attention and I think he likes that about me. Or maybe that's what I like to think.

Another bit of nostalgia on this leg of the trip involved baseball...of course. It seems like every time we went to Shreveport (which was almost every summer) as kids, we would find time to go to a Shreveport Captains game. At the time, they were a minor league team for the S.F. Giants and won their division year after year, but these days they are a measly independent league team that has lost all affiliation with the Majors. Fortunately the same stadium exists and the team now known as the Shreveport Sports were in town. We strolled though the stadium as if we were little kids again thinking about the times we tried to get autographs, the souvenir helmet ice cream I always begged for, and that awesome mini-bat I got one year for my birthday. The field was in horrible shape and the crowd was maybe a few hundred, but it was a very gratifying experience all the same. We didn't stay the whole time since we had grandparents to visit with, but we did stop by the old Hot Donuts place right by the stadium. Somehow it is still kicking in the rough neighborhood that grew up around it. I did not eat a donut, but perhaps I should have to complete the stroll through memory lane.

My grandparents are interesting people that are very rare in the world we live in. Despite my grandmother's excessive worrying and my granddad's use of terms that are not so accepted by today's standards, they are the greatest example of selflessness, loyalty, and longevity in love that I'll probably ever have in my life. They seem to have found the secret to being content, one that always seems to be out of my grasp. They live simply, love everyone, and feed you Blue Bell ice cream until you're sick.

Texas...blah

Okay so back to Texas. The first stop in Texas was in Fort Worth to see Troy and Taryn. The sights of the city were not the intended focal point of the stop. She has a city hall that was in Walker Texas Ranger, some stockyards, a cool place to get beer and a surprisingly good vegetarian restaurant called the Spiral Diner, but none of these were the main attraction. This part of the trip was for me. I got to see my best friend. I have a lot of thoughts of moving to Boulder, but hanging out with Troy and Taryn often just makes me want to move into their house. I mean, their tv is huge! I love you guys!

On to Austin…There was a lot of hype surrounding Austin before getting there. Everyone talks about how cool it is, the music scene, the vegetarian options, the river, the capital, blah blah blah. We got to see a lot of that and hung out with good friends, some mine, some Fred’s, but overall I was underwhelmed.

The first thing we saw was a Round Rock Express (AAA Astros) baseball game. The stadium was one of the finest minor league parks I’ve been to. Nolan Ryan and some other guys invested a whole lot of money in the team and things seem to be working out real well. Speaking of Nolan Ryan, it was Nolan Ryan Statue night so we got the ever so cool free figurine to put on display when we get home. Good game. They won with a walk-off homer.

Next up in Austin were the restaurants. We went to some good places with a lot of veggie options and even found one that was all veggie, but overall, I would say Athens has them beat. I mean how do you beat The Grit? That being said, the eating was good…and I may just be out of money now. One of the things that was bugging me about Austin was how spread out everything was. I feel like we drove all over the place (though that may be due to a lack of free parking). I must be a small city kind of guy.

Next up. The music scene. Though we weren’t there for Austin City Limits or South by Southwest, we were still able to see a great show at Stubb’s BBQ. We ate there and stayed for the Grand Archives show. We lucked out with a table looking over the relatively small stage and caught the surprisingly good opening act Sera Cahoone as well. Whistling, harmonica, steel guitar, and harmonizing is a great formula for a band. I highly recommend it.

Oh and Houston…baseball game was okay, but when they offer a free t-shirt, they should really tell you before hand if there is only going to be one size (XL). That way those waiting around for almost an hour won’t be so disappointed. I must have been in the minority though cuz almost everyone I saw in Houston probably wore an XL or larger. We stayed with our aunt and uncle. We had two excellent (free) meals, which is no doubt a luxury as I am out of money. More of that should be coming in Shreveport.

So that was Texas. This post sure hasn’t been insanely detailed like some others, but we must hit the road and get out of this freakin state. The G-rents are the next stop, which will mean lots of Blue Bell ice cream. Hooray. I miss you Chester.

The Border

Holy crap, I’m still in Texas. I realized today that this trip has us in Texas for a week and a half. No offense to all my hosts, but that is way too long to be in such an egotistical state.

I’ll admit it. I am a Texas native. What does this mean you ask? Absolutely nothing. It actually brings up an interesting point. Why do we have pride for where we come from? No one has any control over his or her birthplace whether it be Houston, Boulder, or, well, Mexico for that matter. It’s all the luck of the draw. And might I just say, while I am on this subject, how ridiculous we are in this country about immigration. Anyone who says we’re too crowded in America has not driven through Texas…or Kansas…or Utah…or you get the point. One of our stops from Phoenix to Fort Worth was El Paso. We stopped in a mall food court to find something to eat only to find “Now Hiring” signs everywhere. Then we stopped in the Target to pick up some snack food and find cleaner bathrooms. The checkout lines were wildly chaotic. There were maybe 4 lanes open and a mob of people trying to buy things like Kashi cereal and Mike and Ikes. It was insane. On my way out, I noticed a “Now Hiring” sign. Hmmm… Here we are right next to Mexico with all these available jobs yet we in America don’t want to let them into our country because they had the unlucky draw of being born six inches from the border. One word. Ridiculous. No no, how about…

Amnesty

Brothers

So it's been a handful of days since the brother blowup, but now seems to be the perfect time to ramble about it. I am in Austin at a cool little coffee shop called Lava Java drinking a mango smoothie and waiting for Fred and Dave to finish observing some conductors' symposium at the UT school of music. Yeah, good time to write about the different paths my brother and I have embarked on.

I used to idolize my brother. I'm not sure if that's too strong a word for it, but I definitely looked up to him. We're 4 1/2 years apart, but have often joked about how we're the same person in different bodies. We'll say the same jokes, quote the same movie lines, agree that we're better than "those" other people, and often buy the same cds. Somewhere in the last few years, I must have forked off from brother road to form a new one. I'm not sure if I was the only one to veer off course of if we both veered to form new roads. I'm not even sure if this metaphor really works, but hopefully you get the point.

I guess it all started in college. My brother went to UGA and majored in Music Education. His idol was our high school band director and still is. Four years later I joined him in a similar pursuit. I trekked up to the University of Illinois to major in Music Performance. We shared jazz and classical cds while listening intently to what pieces our various ensembles were playing each semester. I remember the Christmas of my freshman year up there when we went to Chicago together to the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic. It's a really big conference that all the band directors across America go to. I can't lie. I was really into it. I was a band nerd.

Then the burnout came. I won't go too into it, but ever since that burnout, I think there has been a part of our brother friendship that has died. I couldn't even walk into the rehearsal room just now. It's almost as if I've drawn a line between our worlds. Over there is Fred's music world. Over here in the hipster coffee shop is my world. Every time Fred talks about band, I just let him talk. I'm really glad he's found something to love, to live for, work for, etc... I might even be jealous of that, but it's just not for me.

When I transferred to UGA my second year of college, I got into another crowd. I met some cool people in my dorm and got more into music, but not band music. I went from classical music snob to indie music snob. Along with this change came the change in political leanings, and an overall desire for simplicity. These changes are the ones that have reared their head on our trip.

Here and there, big brother has said some really stupid things on the trip. Indirectly criticizing poor people, cursing at bikers, and an overall elitist attitude are the things that come to mind right now. Now I realize that I often have an elitist attitude about things as well (music, beer, vegetarianism), but I just feel like his is worse. He is hell bent on staying in his little suburban county teaching band to good little school children and having every corporate convenience at his doorstep. When I've mentioned how I want to move to Colorado, he says stuff like "be sure to not live in the poor part of town or teach at the poor school". I don't even know how to respond to that. I do that now and would much rather do that than teach a bunch of silver spoon band kids stuff they will most likely forget or give up after finding something much more meaningful to live for....Okay-harsh.

I think you get my point though. There have been times on this trip when I feel as if taking pictures of scenery were more important than actually experiencing the scenery by hiking through it or just watching the sun set behind it. I have kept my complaining mostly to myself for most of the trip, but acting as an escort (maybe more like a cab driver) at the Grand Canyon and Arches was not so fun for me. When faced with walking or driving, I will gladly walk, or EVEN BIKE! I realize I am not necessarily saving gas by taking a 5000 mile road trip, but when I can save gas, I would like to do that. I also want to do it so I can use the legs God gave me.

Just earlier today, we were driving to downtown Austin. We had no idea how to get to food, so we ended up at a Schlotzsky's. If it were me by myself, I would have walked until I found somewhere I wanted to go, but with older brother, I feel like I should just give in, walk the minimum amount, and succumb to the corporate monster that America has created. I guess it would be better to do that than blow up on him again. I mean, WWJD?

To come: Texas! (but not til I'm out of here, which may take awhile)

Arizona Pics

Arizona and the Brother Blowup

We left Vegas pretty early expecting a rather quick drive to Flagstaff and then the Grand Canyon. Turns out there's a huge dam on the way, the Hoover Dam. I remember thinking we would cross it when planning for the trip, but it had totally slipped my mind when we stumbled on it. We parked and snapped pics and reveled in the fact that people made this massive structure. It looks like you could slide down it if there were enough water below, but there is definitely not enough water below.

We continued on our way to Flagstaff from there and planned on grabbing some lunch before going north to the canyon. Out of curiosity, I had looked up brewpubs in Flagstaff prior to leaving Vegas, and sure enough there was one called the Beaver St. Brewery and Whistlestop Cafe. More beer...We ate there and went on our way. Flagstaff seemed like a real cool spot. When you think of Arizona, you think it's all desert, but Flagstaff surprises you with forests and pleasantly cool temperatures. It's right off Route 66 too, so there's all sorts of classic roadside motels and diners.

On to the canyon. It was a little over an hour from Flagstaff and it was surprising to find a little town of sorts right before hitting the park entrance. Why I didn't expect this of corporate America, I don't know, but I'm sure it's nice to have if you work at the canyon or can't afford the lodges. We pressed on through the entrance and progressed slowly along the main road in the park. I kept expecting the road to just stop right in front of the canyon, but it really just winds along the side. We parked and hopped right on the Rim Trail...........................................................

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okay, you get the point. It is a breathless site, one words are completely useless on, pictures are completely inadequate. We walked twenty yards or so, stopped, looked over the edge, and repeated this for a mile or so. It was just amazing.

Off in the middle of the canyon, there are these plateaus that appear to just be islands in the canyon. I looked down to see a couple perched on one of these plateaus and immediately knew what my future held for me. I must climb down to one of these plateaus. I saw one particular one that was incredibly thin, but rather easily accessible, so I bolted down leaving my camera with my brother. They thought I was NUTS! The tourists around them thought I was NUTS, but I did it anyway. I climbed down and never really looked down or up until I reached the thin little strip of rock. Then, I looked back up at them and could have sworn my knees were gonna shake me off the edge. It was one of the most exhilarating experiences of my life...(not sure if that's overly dramatic or not but who cares). I think I royally pissed off my brother by doing this...but this is not the brother blow up. That's next.

We left the canyon after sunset. Unfortunately a good bit of our time was wasted trying to find parking a little closer to Bright Angel trail and the lodges. - Why we couldn't just keep walking, I don't know. It's not about me, no, no. Just my car. I am but an escort. So anyway...we found a decent little overlook just before sunset and grabbed some pictures. It took several stops and starts down the road to find the best picture...Don't know if you can tell, but I'm building to the brother blowup. I promise. Finally I stopped the car and walked down a trail to get some alone time with the sunset and the canyon. It was the best alone time of the trip so far.

At dark, we headed back to Flagstaff, but I had given in to the idea of a hotel because the others didn't seem to keen on camping in cold weather (mid 40s at night there). Oh well. We found a Travelodge and set up camp there only after driving around feeling like an escort again. (We had kinda done this in Moab if you remember from my other post).

The hotel was fine and even gave me wireless access to look for a hotel in Phoenix for after the Diamondbacks game. I found one right by the stadium, a Super 8, not too expensive. We got there around 2pm or so and I figured we'd check in and just walk to downtown and stay there til the game was over. Nooooooo. It was too hot for that. My brother just kinda looked at me and said why walk when you can drive there. My response (this had been building up for awhile now)

"Well Fred. You tell me what to #$%ing do. I've been trying to %$#ing please you this whole %$#ing time!!!!"

Did all this warrant a blow up? Probably not, but it was totally ridiculous to drive in circles looking for a free place to park, wasting gas, when all we really had to do was walk. How hard is that? We ended up finding a place to park equally as far away from the ballpark as the hotel, but it was close to a Subway so we ate there and then decided to drive back to the hotel and then walk to the stadium. hmmm...Might I mention I almost changed lanes into another car during this drive...It was kind of ridiculous and a little juvenile, but this little blow up opened my eyes to something I hadn't quite realized about my brother and I. We are quite different in our attitudes and opinions. We may like a lot of the same music and enjoy beer and baseball, but down a little further we are quite different. I think I'll save the rest of my thoughts for the next post. This is something that's been brewing in me on this trip and I'm gonna do a bit more overthinking before I share.

b-bye for now.

**Oh and the Diamondbacks game was great. Very nice stadium. Saw Randy Johnson pitch although not well. Saw a guy thrown out for disorderly conduct. Killed a guy with a trident.

Vegas Pics

***I forgot to add the hilarity of our little Walmart visit...

When we got to Vegas, we were feeling rather dirty from the Arches KOA camp out. We had not taken advantage of the KOA showers and needed to clean up for our Liberace dinner. Our solution: Walmart. Fred and Dave went in to scout out the restroom situation for changing clothes. First we had to get clothes out of our suitcases. We drove to the back corner of the parking lot where the clothes giveaway bin was and tried to inconspicuously get stuff out of the car to change clothes. Dave and I decided to just drop trow right there in the car and parking lot, but Fred insisted on going into the family bathroom in the back of Walmart. He walked right on in with a change of clothes and his shave bag. Needless to say the walk out of Walmart was somewhat tense and the greeter lady didn't look happy. Oh well. Mission accomplished and we were all clean for dinner.

Catching up

Last I wrote, we were leaving Arches on our way to Vegas. Much has happened since then including an "experience" like no other, the grand canyon, and an exciting little blowup at my brother (more on that to come).

First, let's talk Vegas. The drive from Arches to Vegas was not all that special. There were some cool rocks along the way and all, but the majority of it was desert. Because of that, approaching Vegas is quite humorous. At first it appears to be a mirage off in the haze, but then you realize that those buildings out there are real and home to a whole lot of machines that give you money if you're lucky...oh, and shady people of course.

Our link in Vegas was our old friend Julie from the good ole Lassiter HS days. By old friend, I'm talking back to middle school band...Yeah!!! Julie's long journey since high school has landed her and her fiance Adam (also a friend from high school) in Vegas. It had been a very long time since we had seen each other and unfortunately Adam was not in town, but Julie and Tucker MF(the dog) were EXCELLENT hosts! Rehabilitating Tucker was especially fun.

We began our Vegas experience at the fabulous Liberace restaurant. For those who don't know, Liberace was basically the predecessor to the wonderfully flamboyant Elton John. He played at this piano bar/restaurant before his death and the inside was hilarious and full of glitter and pizazz. The next stop on our Vegas tour was the strip. I really had no idea of what to expect on the strip, but all those people who compared it to Disney World were right. I prefer the Epcot comparison just because of the different cities and countries represented by the many casinos. There's Paris, New York, Venice, Rome, and even Margaritaville to name a few. We walked for literally hours up and down and around casinos until our feet could not take anymore. Luckily when your walking the strip you are encouraged to continue your walk in order to collect all the porn baseball cards you can find. Men are lined up and down the streets slapping cards of naked women and trying to force them in your hand. For the first several hours, we tried to avoid these cards, but after awhile we gave in to the exhilarating experience of collecting naked woman baseball cards. Fred was particularly fond of Skye.

Next up on the experience was what else, but a baseball game. I know what you're thinking. Why the heck would you go to a baseball game in Vegas? The answer. I have a problem...really an addiction, and I don't have money to gamble anyway. The game was cool. Julie, like the good sport she is, came along probably wondering what was wrong with us and our baseball obsession. After the game though was the best part of the experience...THE FREMONT STREET EXPERIENCE!!!

Fremont Street is old Vegas at its best. Neon lights, a band dressed up as a variety of 80s artists, drinks in a football shaped cup, and of course a new age light show on the ceiling. I know I know. Words don't do it justice. It was by far the best way to end up the trip to Vegas. THANKS JULIE!!!

Up next...Arizona and the blow up.

Arches National Park

Colorado - Utah

Warning: This may be a long post.

One interesting thing about blogging I've found so far is my tendency to put my foot in my mouth. I have no idea who all might be reading this, so I've had to watch myself at times to make sure I don't make fun of anyone or reveal private things. If I have done this at all so far...sorry!...moving on...

Here's a quick run down of what I did in Colorado. We got there Friday night after a ten hour drive or so. Once again, I pooed a little when I saw the mountains. Unlike last summer I had a place to stay. We bunked in Lafayette, just outside of Boulder, with some friends of Fred's he met in grad school at Indiana. Their house was very cool as were their dogs, Layla and Sully. As soon as we got there, we went to a brewpub called Southern Sun. Southern Sun and Mountain Sun are pretty much the same place, an awesome microbrewery with amazing selection and a ton of veggie friendly food. Mountain Sun is in downtown Boulder while Southern Sun is on the outskirts in a strip mall, but with really nice atmosphere. It easily blew away Copper Creek. Easily...in fact I'm kinda pissed about it.

The next morning we woke up to a pancake breakfast and the hilarity of little dogs fighting (playfully of course...no Vick stuff here). I saw on the Great Divide Brewery website that they were having a 14th anniversary party that afternoon before the Rockies game, but before we headed over there, we got a little driving tour of Boulder and the campus of U of Colorado. By afternoon we were ready for a little more beer although I'm not sure if our stomachs were. Great Divide was just charging $10 for all you could drink...wow! It was there where we ran into crazy Atlanta guy who talked all about how moving to Denver was the greatest decision of his life (refer to previous post).

From Great Divide, we walked a few blocks to Coors Field. This was my second time to a Rockies game and just as amazing. I love the feel of the stadium, the mountains in the distance, the city right next door, the weather!!! The Rockies poured it on in the first inning led by a grand slam by Brad Hawpe. It was nice to see them win. My only regret is missing the bobblehead giveaway. Rockies fans take this bobblehead stuff seriously apparently. There was a massive line at the stadium a good two hours before the game. By the time we got there, we were not among the lucky 10,000 who received a Troy Tulowitzki bobblehead souvenir. Bastards.

The good times kept on rolling Sunday. First, Fred and I drove over to Boulder to do some hiking in the Flat Irons. We went all the way up to the top on the Royal Arch trail. A great view waited for us up there along with some fun rocks to free climb. When we got home, we accompanied our hosts to Left Hand Brewery in Longmont, CO, just north of Boulder. Left Hand was perhaps my favorite brewery so far. It didn't hurt that the weather was amazing. I had a big sampler tray of beers and a couple more. From there, we went just down the block to a party with some CU professors. Our hosts, Pete and Keri, met Fred at Indiana's School of Music a couple years ago. Since then, Pete has become a Professor of Music Education at CU. The party was made up of some of the other music professors. It was a great party with good food, a crazy dog, a fun three year old kid, and a playground. Oddly enough, one of the professor's wives knew Fred from high school so they got to reconnect. Me, I got some good use from the playground.

Monday was our Rocky Mountain day. We headed up in the afternoon and stopped for lunch in Lyons, CO at the Oscar Blues Grill and Brewery, home of Dale's Pale Ale (in a can). From there we crapped our pants a few times on Trail Ridge Road and snapped hundreds of pictures. Compared to last summer when I was there, this time was marked by the massive amount of snow. Apparently, there was a big snow shower up there just a few days before we went. The trail I hiked last summer was unhikeable and the picture of me at the Continental Divide this time around is marked by five feet of snow or so. I won't go on and on about the park experience. We got to see some wildlife, feel some wind, and drive by walls of snow. Love it. At night, we met back up with Pete and Keri for dinner in downtown Boulder and went back to their place to sample some more Colorado brews and play Sequence or "Sequenza" as Pete liked to call it.

Tuesday we had to leave, but we picked up Dave Miles on the way. Dave, a close friend of Fred's, had been visiting one of his friends in Denver and was scheduled to hop on in the car on the ride to Utah. He'll be with us all the way to Austin, Texas. On the way out of town we made a couple of pit stops. One was at a strip mall at the world famous Casa Bonita. Okay, it's really not world famous, but if you're familiar with the South Park episode, you may know what I'm talking about. After Casa Bonita, we headed on to Red Rocks Amphitheater, and then on through the Rockies to Utah.

The drive out to Utah was nice. I even had a flashback to last summer when I ran out of gas in the middle of nowhere Colorado. After we had passed through Grand Junction, I thought to myself, "Oh I'll just wait and get gas a few miles in to Utah"...NOT SO! For miles, I stared at the orange light yelling at me to get gas until we finally stumbled upon some gas. It was a very tense moment. I'm pretty sure if Dave had leaned forward to the front seats of the car where Fred and I were sitting, he would have bumped his head on a tension force field. (Cutting the tension with a knife is just too common a saying. I had to make up another.) Anyway, the problem was solved and we headed on to Arches National Park without having to walk miles in the scorching hot desert.

We got to Arches with about 2 hours of sun, so we decided to go ahead and get some sunset pics. The road made us stupid so we didn't have the foresight to think we needed to get a campground while it was light. We got out of the park with a little bit of sun still out and spotted the Moab Brewery. Again, why we went in and got food/beer and didn't find a campsite...I guess breweries have that effect on me. We got out of there around 10:30 or 11pm. Hmmm, where to sleep for the night? Originally, I had hoped to find a campsite off the Colorado River. I heard these were pretty sweet and really cheap. This was not going to happen as planned. We drove up and down the road and saw nothing. Eventually, I spotted a KOA, but Fred didn't seem too thrilled with setting up a tent in the dark. We drove back into town and asked a few cheap motels about their rates. We even stopped in motel parking lots stealing their wireless signal so that Fred could call for rates of other hotels. $70 was the cheapest thing in Moab and we're talking shitholes like the Bates Motel in Psycho. Even if we had stayed there (I believe it was called the Silver Sage), I would have slept in a sleeping bag on top of the sheets and feared for my life of roaches crawling in my mouth. You get the idea.

It turned out my first instinct was good. We went to the KOA, grabbed a site, turned on the headlights and set up my tent. It was not rustic camping, but I enjoyed it all the same. The wind whipped all night and at one point blew the rain tarp off. Sweet! Three adult males in a three person tent. If you know anything about "3 person tents" you know they really only hold two people comfortably. It was a cozy night to say the least. Fred and I were used to this after sharing hotel beds for years and years of family trips to Shreveport, but poor Dave. We woke up in the morning and headed back to Arches for sunrise pics. That place is just sick. It's like a giant sculpture garden. They say wind and erosion made the rocks into these shapes. I have a sneaking suspicion that God did it. Either that or aliens. Goulay!

That's all for now. To come...Vegas Baby!

A small sampling of Colorado pics

Colorado

What can I really say about Colorado? I've been out here two summers in a row now and must come back next summer. Some people see mountains and nature and say "Oh wow, that's pretty". It's more than that for me. Mountains give me hope. They make me a more positive person and if you know me, you know this is a big deal. I've lived in Georgia most of my life now. Though I like to claim the North, I was really only there for 6 or 7 years. Georgia has been home for almost 20 years really. It's made me claim the Atlanta Braves and the Georgia Bulldogs (College World Series, WOOO!), but it's never done much else for me except give me reason to complain. There's nothing to see in Atlanta. I don't go downtown. I don't go "clubbing". And I shouldn't even get started on suburbia...That may be all well and good Jim, but you live in Athens now - this is what i say to myself. However, I'm finding that Athens is just a clever way for me to keep a Georgia teaching salary, act like a college student, and more than anything, be safe. Safe seems to be the best word to define my existence. I have these "wild" dreams of moving out west, of joining Americorps, of spending a year working at a National Park, building trails, doing whatever I'm told. I remember threatening to move to Montana when I was younger, but part of me really meant it. I get to travel during the summers with the whole teaching gig, but I don't think it's enough. I don't want to be safe.

Both times I've been out here, I suddenly turn into friendly guy and talk to complete strangers. When we went to the Great Divide Brewery in Denver before the Rockies game, this guy (all be it somewhat inebriated) and I started talking all about Sweetwater Brewery in Atlanta and about how moving to Denver was the best decision of his life. Another time, Fred and I were hiking up around the Flat Irons in Boulder when I just randomly picked up a conversation with a guy and his dad who were hiking along the same trail. I caught myself wondering if Fred was shocked at this sudden change in his brother. Who knows what comes over me. This was not the first time Colorado made me more social. Last summer, I was hanging out at the Walnut Brewery in downtown Boulder and me and a guy talked all about baseball while watching Sportscenter at the bar (and he was a Yankees fan). Maybe it all boils down to being a happier person out here. I'm not pissed off at the humidity or the ignorance or the traffic, and even if I do get upset over something, I can look up at the mountains and know that life is beautiful and full of meaning.

**So that was my early morning rant as I think about leaving Colorado. I'm sure it was not all that focused, but rarely are my thoughts ever focused, just bouncing endlessly. I'll write more about details the next time I can get the Internet, probably Vegas. Up next...Arches National Park!!!

Pictures!!

Tulsa - Boulder

No worries. This post will not last a lifetime. I mean it's Tulsa. How exciting can we get? The Golden Driller...uh...flat land...uh...............So we woke up Thursday morning in my cousin's house after he had gone to work. Now a quick note on my cousin. He is only 3 years older than me, yet owns a 4 bedroom house in a nice suburb of Tulsa called Owasso. He's an accountant and I am not, but that's totally irrelevant. Since there is not a whole lot to do in a Tulsa suburb, we decided to head over to my cousin Angela's house and see her 9 month old baby Nicholas. Fred played with the baby while I hurried over to make friends with Pilot, the poor neglected dog of the house. We had a good ole time, but sure enough, that dang baby started to grow on me with its weird sounds and laughter. I still can't imagine wanting one, but he was rather fun to play with for the afternoon...oooh what an idea for a business...Rent-a-baby!!!

After spending the afternoon with Angela and that baby, we got ready for the big Tulsa Drillers game. My cousin John managed to get free tickets through his company and just as planned, we got there early enough for the free t-shirt. It was also dollar beer night, but just Budweiser, so needless to say the free t-shirt was the highlight of the evening. There were four of us at the game: Fred, cousin John, Uncle Tom, and myself. The stadium is a classic 80's minor league park - very plain without a lot of funky features, that if you ask me water down the glorious game of baseball, but anywho. Tulsa lost late to the Springfield Cardinals 3-2. I kept score and oddly enough found in my score book, a game from two years ago in Asheville where the first two batters were the same as the Drillers. Apparently Mr. Dexter Fowler and Eric Young Jr. have not made it too far since last I saw them. Young had a nice game and showed a lot of hustle, but this Fowler fellow was kinda slack. Who am I to know? Just your average guy who pretends to be a scout. I made comments to myself during the game like oh that guy's swing is way too long or wow, he didn't get a very good jump on that ball. Needless to reinforce the fact that I'm a baseball nerd, but wait, I just did.

So that was pretty much it for Tulsa. We got to take a look at the Golden Driller before the game. My oh my, what a statue. He is a driller and he is made of gold. Wowzers! (A picture will soon follow). The next morning, we drove over to the golf club to see my cousin Eric. Though he was working, it was a rainy day and not so busy, so we chatted for a little while and went on our way. We headed on through Kansas and ended up in Boulder around 9pm Rocky Mountain time. I have again made the vow that I am moving here in a couple years. I hope I can keep my promise. This place is just too good to pass up. Sorry Athens.

*Much more to come on the Colorado Weekend.

Pictures!

Atlanta - Memphis - Tulsa

I was pleasantly surprised with the first long leg of the trip. I guess I had just assumed it was going to be pretty uneventful riding on long stretches of interstate, passing ridiculous billboards, getting cut off by big rigs, and of course being endlessly tempted by delectable treats at fast food restaurants. Of course, all of these things happened, but the midpoint of our trip made it all worthwhile. You might be saying, "Wow Jim, you stopped in Memphis and you liked it. What's your point?" Here's the point a-hole...After a day and a half of staying at my parent's house and talking about the road trip, I was starting to feel as if there was no spontaneity to this trip.

Last summer, I got in the car, knew when baseball games were, but that was about it. I slept in the car when I needed to and ran out of gas where I saw fit. This summer is a bit different. It is shared. My brother and I have a freakishly close relationship, but any time another person is added to the mix, you can't be totally selfish (as I'm so used to being). This trip is not so much an adventure for "finding myself" as it was last year. Instead, this trip is about quality time with my brother, seeing old friends I haven't seen in awhile, and enjoying the discovery of new places. We have had to coordinate things with a lot of people in order to have free places to stay and go to the right baseball games at the right time (this is key).

All that to say...Day one was a pleasant surprise. We were pretty hungry as we approached Memphis so we decided to go into town and find a non-corporate...aka...good restaurant to enjoy. As we inched by in traffic for over thirty minutes, we randomly stumbled upon Sun Studio, the only record studio to be registered on the national register of historic sites. Sun Studio's claim to fame includes discovering artists like Elvis, Johnny Cash, and Roy Orbison to name a few. We walked in and forgot we were hungry. After waiting around the store, we decided to give in and take the $10 tour and see the actual studio where Johnny Cash was discovered (as seen in Walk the Line), among others. It may have been 10 bucks to walk into a single room, but there was a sense of romance about the place that made it all worth it.

After the Sun tour, we realized that we were indeed still hungry. We hopped back in the car to search for Beale St. We eventually found it and picked a place to eat that very well could have been the worst restaurant on the street for all I know, but it turned out to be okay. There's not a whole lot for a vegetarian to eat in one of America's BBQ capitals, but I made do (okay, i may have eaten beans cooked with meat, but the mac n cheese was good). While paying the bill, we looked at the time and realized just how late the little side trip was going to make us for arriving in Tulsa. We had wanted to look for a couple more places before leaving, but sure enough, they found us.

If you have ever seen the movie Elizabethtown (and liked it despite Orlando Bloom's terrible attempt at an accent), you may understand how cool this next part was for us. We had resigned to the fact that we wouldn't find the Lorraine Motel and this other bar as he does in the movie, but as I pulled out of our parking spot, I decided to drive down the road a bit more because of its old look. Sure enough, we look up and we see Ernestine and Hazel's Sundry Store. This place was featured in the movie as Bloom's character was taking a road trip of his own. Now a bar, the place used to be a hang out for musicians like Ray Charles and Otis Redding, and also a brothel. We nearly jumped out of the car to go in and have a beer. The bartender could tell we were tourists and gave us an impromptu tour of the premises, including a room where Ray Charles used to shoot heroin. Needless to say, it was an uplifting experience. The bartender told us a few other stories before we were on our way. Good times. We hopped in the car again and started to head on the road to Tulsa, but sure enough, the Lorraine Motel popped its pretty little head out to let us take pictures and experience a little bit of history. I may just be a dumb tourist, but seeing the place where MLK died made me wonder if the city has ever gotten over that event. The whole 4 hours we were in Memphis made me feel as if there might be a shadow lingering over that city. Just throwing it out there.

Okay, I'll get on with it. If you are still reading, I congratulate you on enduring my long-windedness...yeah, it's a word. We ended up arriving in Tulsa at 2am and effectively kept our cousin up way later than he wanted. As I write he is plotting to blow up my car. I wish some people (not everyone) could have witnessed the last couple hours on the road trying to stay awake. If you ever want to crack up at the freakish closeness of my brother and I, you will have to hear us sing/scream Jackson 5 songs. Fred does a great Jermaine. I'm partial to Michael and my sweet falsetto...and on that note, I'm going to sleep

Still to come...Tulsa - Boulder

I Will Drink Your Milkshake

Ok Seth and all those many people who want me to put up a blog about my trip. Here goes...