Welcome

This blog is an archive of a road trip from Southern California, to Canada, to Alaska, to Wisconsin, to Louisiana, back to So Cal and everything in between. I probably won't be adding any more to this, but please enjoy what's here. And if you have the opportunity to take five months off and drive around North America, even (or especially) if you have to sleep in your car and work at a cranberry farm, I highly recommend it.

The trip and blog began in August 2007, and it is all archived over here ----------->

Memphis to Mississippi

I received a letter from one of my fans, errr, rather a comment on an old blog post, requesting more info on the journey from Memphis to Baton Rouge. Looking back at those posts, I do see that the reporting was spotty. I think I was feeling the impending end of the trip and was withdrawing into self pity, despair and mounds of BBQ ribs. That kind of fat intake can choke off blood to the brain, and I'm just now recovering some cognitive function.

So answer your question, Pete, no, I didn't travel down the actual Mississippi River. I tried to follow the river as best I could by using Highway 61. The thing is, that can get boring and I'd have missed some interesting stuff. I'd say I was generally within 50 miles of the river from Minnesota to New Orleans.

Regardless, here continues that saga through a series of snapshots of the South, from Memphis to Baton Rouge.

Go back to here to catch up on Memphis.

After Memphis, I drove south and quickly exited Tennessee and entered Mississippi.



I lived in Greenville, Mississippi around the ages of 8 to 11 and had not been back since then, so the welcome sign rang true.

By the way, the rest stop right past the border was the single nicest roadside rest stop of my entire trip. Clean bathrooms, security guard on duty, even free wireless Internet! The place itself looked like a little plantation home. I slept like a baby in my truck that night. I think it was around Hernando, MS off Interstate 55. If Mississippi is the poorest state in the Union, you wouldn't know it by the highway rest stops.

Here's what Mississippi looks like (pretty much):



There are some rolling hills here and there, but for much of the state it's flat delta, meaning the land was created by silt that the Mississippi river has deposited over the eons. That's also some rich soil, hence the agricultural economies. And hence King Cotton:





More later.

Mahalo, J

The Raven

As read by Christopher Walken. Can't believe I just found this:



"Nevermore!"

The Blackfoot Nation

As promised four months ago (Sept. 30th, 2007), I will now tell you of my visit to the Siksika Nation (Siksika meaning "Blackfoot") in Alberta, Canada. Driving from Calgary toward Medicine Hat, I saw a sign for the Nation and felt I needed to turn. I drove a few kilometers through rolling hills dotted with homes of different sizes until I saw a large, modern rotunda building on a hill. A brilliantly painted teepee stood on a higher hill next to it. A sign told me this was the Nation's cultural center. I pulled into the parking lot and was greeted by a Siksika man sitting outside smoking. I walked inside and paid the $10 donation. After that, I was immersed for hours in the history of a tribe whose lands once stretched from Edmonton, Alberta in the north to the Yellowstone River in Montana.

The center:


Nobody lives in teepees anymore (except hippies), but they look cool:


After experiencing the inside of the center, I walked out the back down a long path into the woods.


The path led down into a valley that had been used for hundreds of years as a meeting place for the tribe. I was completely alone.




My time on the Siksika Nation was quiet and powerful. I gained a new understanding of a fiercely independent tribe of people that to this day are living with and preserving the memories, traditions and ghosts of their history. I had never experienced anything like it.



More Info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackfoot

Girdwood, Alaska in January

I've been wondering what it looks like up in Alaska now in the dead of winter. Well I found the above photo here: http://www.onthesnow.com/AK/11/cams.html. The pic's from January 4, 2008 from the top of the Alyeska Ski Resort looking down to the Turnagain Arm.

No doubt, good old Uncle Kevin is hitting the slopes right now. Or wishing he was.

50th Post!

I'd like to take a moment to celebrate the 50th post to this blog. Thanks for reading. Hooray for us!

Big Hearted River Keeps on Rollin'

Wow, it's been too long, my friends. I never regaled you with stories and pictures from my continued journey down the Mississippi from Memphis to Baton Rouge. So here it begins were we already began: Memphis.

On Beale Street, the famous blues corridor. Just like in New Orleans, you can get a big ass... beer:


The Rendezvous, Charles Vergo's Rendezvous, that is:


Here you procure the greatest dry ribs in the kingdom:


I sat down inside, my order was taken, and I was served all in about 4 minutes. The ribs were so tasty and rubbed to perfection that I forgot to take any pictures inside. If you haven't had dry ribs, track down someplace to eat them or fly to Memphis and go to Rendezvous. Make this a resolution for 2008.


Here's another angle of Rendezvous. I think it deserves the attention. In this tastefully image, you can just make out the famous Peabody Hotel in the background at the end of the alley.


Back atcha later with some more from Memphis. For realz.

It's Life Jim, But Not As We Know It

Getting back into the swing, man. Blogger.com seems to be too... working like a champ this morning.

On another note, what can possibly be the antidote for traffic in Los Angeles? It just can't be healthy to repeat "You F*cking A*shole" over and over again in your head and out loud. SOL! (swearing out loud, and shit out of luck)

But I digress...

So here are some pics from New Mexico. After driving through Texas, I went to the Carlsbad Caverns. Really unbelievable. You take an elevator 75 STORIES down into the desert. Once you're down there, you explore parts of the the 35 miles of caverns where hundreds of thousands of bats live (part time - they had migrated to Mexico for the winter).

Guadalupe Mountains on the long desert to the caves:


Cactus, cactus, scrub brush, coyote, mouse, cactus... surprise! giant hole in the desert:


The Pit of Despair:


Stalagtites (hold on tite), Stalagmites (mite poke you in the butt):


The mega-column:


Stay tuned (or subscribe to the RSS feed, if you don't want to check in here for weeks, I'm sorry!).. FOR my review of the Roswell UFO Museum!

Weather Report Suite

In San Francisco, it's 55 and cloudy.

In Portland, it's 58 and partly cloudy.

In Seattle, it's 55, cloudy.

In Anchorage, it's 11 degrees. Cloudy.

In Fairbanks, it's -8. Cloudy.

In La Crosse, it's 23. Snowing.

In Baton Rouge, it's 62 and sunny.

Greenville, MS is 60 and sunny.

Houston is partly cloudy, 63.

I'm back in California. It's sunny and around 70.

From Alaska in September to Louisiana in November, I followed Autumn's arrival and watched the wave of change, that blaze of color that burned up the leaves and left them dangling until the winds came and stripped the trees bare. Nothing subtle about it. I loved seeing it.

They say California doesn't have seasons, which may relatively be true. But the Santa Ana winds are on their way.

That picture above is in Mississippi on the Natchez Trace near Vicksburg, November 12, 2007.

Memphis Guitars

In Memphis, I visited the Gibson Guitar Factory. I play a little, so it's kind of a mecca. And even cooler than I thought it would be.

Entering The Dirty South: St. Louis to Memphis (via Nashville)

St. Louis was the biggest city I'd hit on the Mississippi trek. And I didn't stay long. I hit the road and after some map inspection, decided that I needed to see Nashville, TN which was only a few hours away. After a call was made to a friend from the area (Wewo), her friend April put me on the guest list for a show at BB King's joint in downtown Nashville. The band was tight and the show was great. Also, by total luck, it turned out that the Country Music Awards show was happening that night and the town was buzzin'.

After my quick sidetrip to Nashville, I headed to Memphis where I got some of the best ribs ever at a place called Rendezvous, checked out Beale Street and took a tour of the Gibson Guitar factory. Good times

Yep, old St. Louie on the mighty Mississip:


BB King's in Nashville:


April on the left. Rollin, Rollin, Rollin down the river:


In Memphis, these were soldiers on a bike ride for other disabled vets:


Y'all know this guy. The King:


I stopped into this funky museum called the Pink Palace which is a huge mansion built in the 20's by the founder of Piggly Wiggly (a grocery store chain in the South). One exhibit was Clyde W. Parke's Miniature Circus. I'm not kidding:




More from Memphis to come...

Hannibal, Missouri

On day two of my trip south, I made a long stop at Mark Twain's roots: Hannibal, MO, sitting right on the Mississippi. The old downtown is well preserved, and you can easily imagine Tom and Huck walking down the street, up to no good.



Samuel Langhorne Clemen's childhood home:


It seems that every business in town had a name that was somehow related to Mark Twain. Becky Thatcher Candy. Huck Finn Shoes. Tom Sawyer Concrete, Inc. It got kinda of out of hand.

Highway 61 Revisited

Oh God said to Abraham, "Kill me a son"
Abe says, "Man, you must be puttin' me on"
God say, "No." Abe say, "What?"
God say, "You can do what you want Abe, but
The next time you see me comin' you better run"
Well Abe says, "Where do you want this killin' done?"
God says, "Out on Highway 61."

-Bob Dylan, Highway 61 Revisited

So I departed the land of cheese, cranberries, Dylan and lawyers and headed South. I intended to trace a path down the Mississippi and Highway 61 is the old way to do it. In practice, it was better to deviate off the path here and there for sight-seeing's sake. So I did.

I also intended to get to Baton Rouge in time for Thanksgiving with the family. I got here about 10 days early. That's how much I love Thanksgiving and my family. Also it shows how much I overestimated how long it would take to get here. But that's neither here nor there. Muddy water under the bridge and all that.

I haven't updated this old blog in a while, I know. No excuses except perhaps taking a break to absorb the journey. The trip is winding down. I'll be goin' back to Cali after the holiday. It's a strange thing to consider.


That's me in Iowa. The bridge to Starr's Cave, to be precise. It was getting cold. And everybody knows cold weather can mean only one thing: it's time for FASHION! OK.

I'm having trouble uploading pics at the moment, I'll try again later. Ciao.

Scenes from the Midwest (Part 3 - Bog Life)

Hi Folks,

I'm in Muscatine, Iowa at a little cafe on Hwy 61. I spent the night in my truck parked by the Mississippi. It's 27 degrees out and sunny. I'm caffeinated and ready for a long day of driving South.

Here are the rest of the best pics from the bogs... xoxo. jp

Berries on my mind.


Crating the millions:


The leftover totes to be dispatched:


The pits to be slogged:


Wally's Bar/Garage:


A bog (minus water):


The crew on the last day of harvest. Cheers!:


The farm house where I bunked:


Totes on the bogs:


Sunset on the water:


Bosshard Receiving:


The road calls. OK!: