Breakfast on the Tailgate

Day 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28. miles

2013-01-01T07:56:00.000-08:00

Leanne in Salt Lake City.

Our pilgrimage to Spiral Jetty. Turns out, we uncovered a secret... You can walk off the jetty and the water is hardly deeper.

Spiral Jetty was 20 miles down a dirt road...

Also past the Golden Spike, where the East railroads meets the West.

After a few days and a lot of mixed drinks in Salt Lake, Craig picked me up for some time with the boys at the Bonneville Salt Flats for Speed Week. I can honestly say... It was AWESOME.

The Bonneville Salt Flats:
Unique to any other place on earth. Miles and miles of uninterrupted flat, salty desert. We were fortunate enough to witness Speed Week: a week of time trials involving some of the coolest and fastest cars on the planet. No sponsors, no prize money, just passion. The owners of each of these cars on a relentless quest for a world record in their class. Campers, tear drop trailers, and tents littered the salt as spectators and participants hung out for a week of cool vehicles, innovation and community. My dad, brother and little cousin all flew out for some quality family time for this particular destination.

Below: Craig's brother Rob and cousin Adrian in some sweet hats and shades... Necessary when there is this much white around. It looks like ice, but it was salt... And was about 100 degrees outside everyday.

Below: Plans for the next roadtrippin'mobile... Teardrop trailer.

Above: I was drooling over this Bel Air. I'm thinking of axing in my Scion (as my siblings like to call: my Wind-up toy) for one of these.

Location:Salt Lake City / Bonneville, Utah

Now on Blurb

2012-12-19T13:30:00.000-08:00

I finally had the time to put all these blog posts from the summer into a book format. With some additional photographs, some photographs removed... some extra maps. Anyway, you can see it on blurb, at the link below. You can also buy it. But if you are Craig Murli, you should not buy it because I already bought you one. You'll get it in January. Sorry it won't be in time for Christmas. It will print like a magazine, which was the only economical way to print almost 100 pages of images and text.

http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/invited/3217220/2d7546352dad3c47359626e6f453cfb3a8f084a2?ce=blurb_ew&utm_source=widget

Day 29. 4,461 miles

2012-08-20T13:35:00.001-07:00

Finally left from Salt Lake City and crashed for the night in Battle Mountain Utah.

In the morning we hit this awesome cafe in downtown Salt Lake...

Rose Establishment. It opened up 2 years ago. They had some amazing amazing coffee. And my cappuccino was beautiful, not always a given in the states...

I had been saying I needed a haircut for a while, so afterward, went around the corner to a new spot called the Pink Flamingo. The women there did an awesome job.... Pictures to follow in future blog posts.

We drove a few hours west, stopping in Battle Mountain to sleep and make dinner.

Delicious lamb with broccoli and red bliss potato, pictured below.

Location:Battle Mountain, Utah

Day 21. 4,438 miles

2012-08-12T19:03:00.001-07:00

Today we drove all day West on 40 through the mountains.

Above: our delicious lunch stop, we made some eggs on sourdough bread with Parmesan cheese and yellow tomato. Complete with a dash of Sriracha.

At the end of the day, Craig and I parted ways in Salt Lake City. I am spending a few days with my lovely friends from RISD: Michael and Wen-You and he is having man time at speed week in the salt flats with his dad and brother and cousin.

Location:Steamboat Springs, Colorado to Salt Lake City, Utah

Day 20. 4,105 miles

2012-08-10T17:31:00.001-07:00

Denver food trucks! Easy access to some of the best bites in town.

Western CO.

Location:Walton Pond Cir,Steamboat Springs,United States

Day 19. 3,952 miles.

2012-08-09T20:19:00.001-07:00

The Tattered Cover on Colfax... The Col' fax of life.

Pour House Burger: our dinner after seeing a show at Comedy Works, awesome show, headlining Ali Wong.

Location:Denver, Colorado

Day 18. 3,951 miles

2012-08-08T18:25:00.001-07:00

Dogman. The name says it all. We met this guy near his community comprised of broken down buses and earth-built homes.
His crops behind us. He insisted we get them in the picture despite possible legal ramifications... Is this what happened to all the hippies?

Kit. Sole proprietor of Coffee Cat; a cafe in Taos, New Mexico. A wonderful business owner, good to the people in her community and an incredibly sweet woman.

Coming into CO.

Looking down a few hundred feet to the Rio Grande.

We lingered, for a while. It's easy to do that around here. Any place you go is more scenic than the last. Each shop or farm stand has better produce than the one before, more Mexican blankets for sale, or better turquoise jewelry. I want to get something for my mom.

We began the day waking to the sound of the Rio Grande. We were surrounded by the high canyon walls carved down over time by the river. The same river, now only a stone's throw wide, calmly and humbly flowing next to our tent. We stripped down and jumped in before doing anything else that morning. It was a fresh cup of coffee and early morning wakeup sex rolled into one experience. The river was cool and invigorating. Nothing could be better.

As we parted ways from the high walls of the canyon which seemed to protect us from the dessert heat, we came upon one of the more curious sites of the trip. In the distance, the gleam of old airstream trailers and broken down buses caught my eye. Strewn across a five mile radius were networks of makeshift homes and hand- made, weathered, wood fences all connected by rutted-out dirt paths. Curiosity being the driver, we proceeded down the main entrance until we were confronted by a well seasoned-looking character who introduced himself as Dogman. This man, who's ultimate agenda remains a mystery ( even to himself, ) was nice enough to give us a tour of the place. As it turns out, it was not the progressive-thinking, free-spirited, sustainably-focused community I had hoped it was.

His home, dug into the earth, adorned with old newspaper clippings, paintings of mushroom-induced visions, written plots to assassinate Donald Rumsfeld and a full-size Winnabago for sleeping in. One wall, made of recycled window pains gave light for his "crops," the pride and joy of Dogman. To be honest, it was strangely cool. We are both happy we made the stop. After trading a half-drank growler of beer and ten dollars for one of Dogman's old bicycles, we parted ways another experience richer and ready to take on the rest of the day.

Location:Taos, New Mexico to E Colfax Ave, Denver, United States

Day 17. 3,648 miles

2012-08-07T18:21:00.001-07:00

First stop of the day was breakfast at Penny's Diner in Vaughn; the only stop between Roswell and Santa Fe.

And this market, possibly the only grocery store between Santa Fe and Taos.

The past few days have been long, scenic, driving days. I would say, New Mexico, is the most beautiful state in the country to drive through. The colors are stimulating in a way that other landscapes aren't always. It's more than sprawling greens, more than sprawling tans. Peaks and Valleys roll through a diversity of pale pastels into rich, saturated reds and greens. Any photograph you see will only tell you lies. There's something about this space that makes you look harder until you develop an affinity for specific shapes that the land displays.
Santa Fe turned out to be... Well beautiful, but touristy. So after spending the afternoon there, we were on our way. About an hour north, we found a small brewery called Blue Heron, that the daughter of some local vintners opened up. She said she could hardly keep up with the business that they ran out of their small bar.
We decided that the landscape was too beautiful to pass through and we were itching to use our new tent, so we camped out nearby in Pilar on the Rio Grande.

Inspired much by the colors we had been surrounded by all day...and some of my nagging...we picked up some yellow cucumbers at a farm stand and some blue corn meal and goat cheese at the Dixon Grocery Store, with some stewed tomatoes, a delicious sunset dinner.

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Location:Santa Fe, New Mexico

Day 16. 3,455 miles

2012-08-06T12:26:00.001-07:00

Great produce and great conversation. Betsy's farm stand resides in the only town of this West Texas county.

Getting dinner ready in the New Mexico dessert. A needed break from a day of driving.

We multitask. Roasting jaleps while stewing.

On paper, it was just a day of driving. In times like these, it's the little details that become memorable. Though not as bombastic as New Orleans or Austin, our days with no major destination stops always turn into something special.
Long stretches of open highway punctuated with unassuming country towns every few hours. This routine can get tedious so we made a point to stop every so often. Speaking with some of the people who live in these towns is a culture shock. 45-mile drives to buy groceries or take your kids to school is a paradigm neither of us have ever lived with. The scenery is beautiful and at times haunting. With every new mile of bobbing oil pumps and wire fenced prairie, the diversity of this country becomes more apparent. It is easy to forget we raise the same flag back home, abide by the same constitution and elect the same leader. That being said, I now believe it is not just a nation's government which makes it great, but rather it's capacity to let people live and thrive exactly how they want to. I have no interest in adopting this lifestyle, but respect the hell out of those that do. In a way, it gives me confidence to go out and grab a piece of my own " American Dream."
The motel we're spending the night in stinks like piss. As advertised on the highway sign, it does have a color TV. We'll spend our night writing a new song and drinking what's left of our bottle of bourbon.

Location:Texas to Vaughn, New Mexico

Day 15. 2,712 miles

2012-08-05T13:15:00.001-07:00

Austin Farmers Market! Above and below: Johnson's Backyard Garden, Organic Farm.

Elephant Garlic... Less peeling.

Wild boar pate'. He caught and slaughtered the animal himself before making this excellent forcemeat. Accompanied with a fresh baguette, 6$ made for a perfect lunch.

Natural spa?! After hiking in the midday sun, we were lucky to happen upon this spot. Met some great people here.

Barton Creek.

I experienced some short term memory loss when we were in Louisiana. I don't remember most of the hospital visit, but I remember about a minute of time when I didn't know why I was in Louisiana and I didn't know what we were doing. Probably anyone who has had a concussion goes through this moment where you intersect with yourself. It's almost like someone else took the wheels for a minute. I remember hearing myself say, "well good thing we kept a blog because I don't remember a thing." ....I would say that. And from the flip side, when Craig told me what we were doing, driving across the country in his truck...keeping a blog...something something... I remember thinking, wow, that's pretty cool. I guess I am kinda cool. Huh... I wasn't really surprised, but I was puzzled, a little excited. It was like I was meeting myself. I didn't know even how I knew Craig. But I was comfortable having him comfort me, I didn't feel alone or panicked. My autopilot driver knew me pretty well and understood some things about my life intuitively though not exactly cognitively.

So the trip has changed since then... Were now in this rental car, which we can't sleep in; no more fort, no more vegetable oil, no more need to power through the southern heat without air-conditioning. It's a little cushy, staying in hotels... But part of the lifestyle that we were traveling in was with the mentality that anything could happen. So we may as well appreciate the fact that we can still drive with the windows rolled down and well... At least we know our next shower is hours and not days away.

Location:Austin, Texas yeeeehawww.

Day 14. 2,583 miles

2012-08-04T07:50:00.001-07:00

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School lunch style, sloppy cut pork sandwich.

Above: 6th Street at 7 pm. Below: 6th Street at 1 am.

The Power Chiefs. They played at a very cool dive bar/ outdoor venue. Lone star beer and cigarettes were complimented very nicely by their style.

Location:Austin, Texas

Day 10, Day 11, Day 12, Day 13. 2,401 miles.

2012-08-03T23:44:00.001-07:00

After an unexpected layover in Lafayette, Louisiana... We are back on our feet, and a set of rental wheels continuing on our scenic journey to California.

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Tomatillo,r blue cheese, onion, cherries, olive oil, white balsamic vinegar, and smoked salt. S&P to taste.

Breakfast at the French Press in downtown Lafayette, off Jefferson. Above: French toast stuffed with banana and cream cheese, topped with a compote. Below: Cajun Eggs Benedict; Eggs Benedict on grilled French bread with boudin sausage gravy.

Every kind of emotion was felt about this. Is the trip over? Should we be booking flights somewhere? Is the hassle of the insurance company runaround worth it?
As it was happening I had no idea how serious the accident was. First thought: is Leanne ok? Am I ok? For all intents and purposes, yes, we are fine. And lucky.

An older woman speeding through a red light did the damage you see above. The truck is a total loss. Leanne's bike was flattened, but most of our personal belongings remain intact. We were hooked up with a rental Jeep Patriot which we makeshift fastened my bike to the back of.

Bleigh... The new set up is a bit cushy for us. The fact of the matter is, we are no longer traveling in something we worked on together. My hours of blood, sweat and tears no longer line the engine block of our vehicle. Our collective effort to filter vegetable oil no longer motivates our endurance. The little smirk of self empowerment which we once had is no longer there. WE NEED IT BACK.

...I suppose I can only keep that rant up for so long. In reality and In my heart, there is no material thing on this earth who's loss will effect me THAT deeply. I love the people in my life and I can honestly say I am among the lucky few. We are gonna keep moving forward. Why the hell not? What we have been offered in place of the truck and everything it meant, in no way fill the void, so it is now up to us to redirect our energy elsewhere. There is still a lot of juice left in this peach so to speak, and we intend to suck it out!

Location:Lafayette, Louisiana / Cleveland, Texas

Day 9. 2,074 miles.

2012-07-30T09:08:00.001-07:00

Some of the greatest things to happen on this trip have been dictated by chance. Riding bikes through the French Quarter, we happened upon a couple of guys roasting a pig. We had no idea that that conversation would lead us to some of the greatest food and cocktails we've had. Pig and Punch NOLA 2012: a fundraiser for the New Orleans KIPP Charter Schools.

The Roots Of Music. These kids were awesome! One great thing about New Orleans is just how active the community is in supporting one another. This program is for at risk youth 9-14; it's tuition-free, year round music education and academic mentoring. www.therootsofmusic.com

Below: Don Q Anejo Rum, The King's Ginger, Barenjager, Pamplemousse Rose Liqueur, Grapefruit Juice, Lime Juice, Bourbon Rooibos Tea, Cardamom, and Lemon.

Pig and Punch NOLA 2012. What a beautiful thing. (their "Lord of the Flies" moment so to speak)

Location:French Quarter, New Orleans, Louisiana

Day 8. 1,942 miles

2012-07-28T16:10:00.001-07:00

First night in New Orleans. Frenchmen Street: Jazz, blue and everything in-between. The Spotted Cat was our favorite spot.

Jimmy: self appointed New Orleans tour guide... Of sorts

Very delicious, very illegal. Great street food. He was disbanded by the police an hour later.

Collard greens, jambalaya, slow roasted pork chop, wonder bread.

Location:New Orleans, LA

Day 7. 1,579 miles

2012-07-27T11:10:00.001-07:00

For geography more than anything, Birmingham Alabama was the next stop for us en route to Louisiana. We drove to the city with the intention of finding good food, and lots of it, as soon as possible. With nothing in our stomachs but a cup of coffee and a bagel from this morning, we happened upon a string of food trucks over by Linn Park in downtown Birmingham. This seemed like a perfect solution to our hunger problem.
Whether they are run by a group of kids fresh out of college, or a veteran chef living out a midlife crisis, food trucks have become beacons of gastronomica in cities all over the country. What does this food truck craze mean to me? Bites of undeniably easy-to-put-down food being pumped out of a window, all as exciting as the colorful logos painted on the side of the truck. They are Making farm to table cooking accessible and affordable to people in all neighborhoods while marketing themselves in charmingly creative ways. Do I ever see myself working in one of these Fry slingin' food mobiles? Hell no! It looks too damn hot back there. But I am a fan nonetheless. If your traveling and looking for the city's best while on a budget, I highly recommend jumping on twitter or facebook and tracking down one of these delightful food trucks.

Following our dinner experience, we took a few recommendations and rode our bikes down to the Avondale neighborhood in search of some drinks and a respite
from the oppressive Alabama heat, (Keep in mind we are from the NorthEast.) Good Friends IPA, local to Birmingham, deceptively delicious despite its Busch Lite - style canning. This was a memorable beer on the trip.
After A few drinks, some needed relationship maintenance and a blown tube on my bike, we walked a few miles back to the truck and straightened up the bed for sleep.
Spread out, shirtless and sweaty, I was rudely awoken by a security guard threatening to shoot me! "Your lucky your not shot right now!" he exclaimed in a southern drawl. According to this gentleman, he saw us inside and assumed we were breaking in. With a "your welcome and be more careful next time" attitude, he explained it's a good thing I'm not dead right now, and go back to sleep. Needless to say, I'm happy he decided to refrain on this one...

The fabric of the south's marketing. These things are everywhere.

Shindigs Food truck. Great people makin great food.

Shindigscateringtrucks.com

Roasted Corn. Steamed buns: Pork belly, crispy catfish, braised short rib. Truffle French fries. Damn good. Let it be known, Birmingham has a food scene!

Location:Birmingham, Alabama

Day 6. 1,334 miles

2012-07-26T15:16:00.001-07:00

Well, we had such a great time the first night that we decided to stay another in Nashville. The first night, we had a taste of the music scene, the second, a real taste. We had dinner at "The Pharmacy subtitled and advertised as 'the wurst burger joint in Nashville.' It's pretty much burgers and beer. Local beef and real phosphate soda. Mmmmmmmmm. I think Craig might be secretly plotting a plan to move to Nashville.
The diversity of places we have been already has been exhilarating. One morning we wake up on a mountain top, the next night we're in a smokey dive bar that turns out to be the shooting location for the Black Keys latest music video.
I left my summer internship with the feeling that the job, the routine I was doing was bad for my soul. The sheer boredom of commuters moving through their routines left me empty. There is something truly frightening about watching someone do something: waiting for a train, handing you a cup of coffee, and the fact that all of those moments are completely forgotten. There are cups of coffee that we will forget on this trip, buy the days are clearly punctuated by the people and places that surround us.

Our awesome bikes on the East end of Nashville.

The Farm Burger and the Pharmacy Burger at the Pharmacy in Nashville.

Curry Ketchup and Maple Mustard. We ARE writing home about it. - in the back: bottle of phosphate used for making phosphate sodas. The elusive bottles labeled "extinct acid phosphate solution". Cool points for that one...

Chattanooga Imperial Pilsner.

The Blackberry and Lemon Old Fashioned. Next door at Holland House for after dinner cocktails.

Location:Nashville, Tennessee

Day 5. 1,333 miles

2012-07-25T13:41:00.001-07:00

After driving 6 hours through the midday heat on back roads and scenic byways of central Tennessee, we finally arrived in Nashville in time for happy hour. We met up with friends Ally, Robin, Trey, who were gracious enough to take us out for a night on the town. A cushy bed in their beautiful home was also offered. More than hospitable - thank you!! As expected, Ally led us to awesome music and the divey-est of dive bars. Murder by Death:Tom Waits inspired folk rock, complete with accordion, propane tank and angle grinder?... What a show!

We subsequently hopped into a stranger's van and headed to Springwater... Walls covered in paint marker tags were adorned with red tinsel curtain. Perfect fit for this charmingly seedy karaoke bar. Beams of light shot through the thick smokey air as a girl in a Pabst Blue Ribbon trucker hat belted Tina Turner through the P.A. Robin was right ... I was sure to like this place. My pink, virgin Connecticut lungs were begging for mercy, whimpering in the corner by the end of the night. I welcome the culture shock with open arms. This ain't like back home.

Cherokee Purple Tomatoes

Cory Chisel and the Wandering Sons

Murder by Death

At Mercy Lounge in Nashville, Tennessee.

Location:Nashville, Tennessee

Day 4. 1,074 miles

2012-07-24T08:23:00.001-07:00

Raindrops lightly tapped on the cap of the truck as I slowly woke up in the morning. Fast moving storm cells spotted the smokey mountains through most of the morning, leaving a haze that dissipated and reappeared every ten minutes. Clouds raced up the sides of the famously steep mountain ridges, shooting off the tops and skimming across the parking lot surface.

Everyone we spoke to at the mountain top told us that they were on vacation. They were taking a break from their 'stupid jobs' and soon they would be done with that, retire, and find a permanent escape, a permanent slow down. I wonder then if we are ahead of ourselves taking things slow the way we are on this trip.
A new friend from 'Coon's Rock' asked me if we were on this trip to 'find ourselves?'. I think I laughed... The truth is, I'm doing the opposite. I'm losing myself... Leaving all the places in my mind that drive me in order to spend time in the place that I am.
We made our first fan today as a musical duo. Jim took our picture and chatted with us for a while. His appreciation made me realize that maybe some of the most spectacular things you find on the road cannot be photographed or taken with you.
We ended up staying up in the mountains through lunch.

Smokey Mountain Pasta...

After lunch, we headed out to Knoxville to see our long lost friend Jack Wolf. It was really nice to see a familiar face. A random occurrence: we had met Jack two months prior playing music on the street in Mystic CT. Who would have known, 1,000 miles from there, he would be welcoming us into his home.

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Location:Market Square, Knoxville, Tennessee

Day 3. 974 miles

2012-07-23T13:30:00.001-07:00

Duck liver pate with sprite melon: courtesy of Weaver Food Co op. (except for the toast which we had left over from breakfast...)

The back of this truck is becoming more like the fort of my eight year old dreams rather than just a truck bed. As I dig my toes into the fleece liner we have draped over the rug, I am confounded by the situation I am in. Gallons of vegetable oil supported by our plywood shelving line the starboard side of the truck, each cell jammed full of our nick-nacks accumulated in the short four days we have been on the road. In order: butane tank for our stove, bottle of bourbon, container of lamp oil, bag of miscellaneous tools, right up to the fuel tank Leanne is currently leaning on.

North Carolina brought us a grab bag day. A pit stop for the restroom turned into an oil change, which turned into a conversation, which turn into an apprehensive drive to a place locals call "coons rock.". We stayed a while to hang out with new friends Cody and Dax among others. Cliff diving, rope swinging, good company... couldn't ask for more.

On our quest for local food, we came by the Weaver food Co op, which brought us that dank tasty lunch you see above.

All said and done, a 4 hour detour later, we headed into the Smokey Mountains. We drove into the dark. And tomorrow morning will have a grab bag view.

It's cool outside, so we will be able to sleep comfortably with the tailgate and window shut tight. I can at least make that my excuse... We are alone on the top of this mountain. As beautiful as the Appalachian mountains are, it is kinda scary at night. All of a sudden irrational questions race through our heads: Do bears like to walk on pavement? Do snakes come out at night? Was that a dry leaf blowing across the overlook parking lot... Or something much more man-eating?!?!?! I find solace in the fact that there is a perfectly orange crescent moon hanging over our heads. And tomorrow is sure to bring an inspiring view of these smokey mountains.

Location:Somewhere in the Great Smokey Mountains

2012-07-21T19:48:00.001-07:00

23 miles of bridge across the Chesapeake Bay.

Location:Chesapeake bay bridge tunnel, Virginia

Day 2. 660 miles

2012-07-21T19:14:00.001-07:00

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First night in the truck! Smoother than expected... Aside from getting closer than we'd like to a few greasy containers of veggy oil, it was comfortable sleeping (as truck bed sleeping goes.). Our morning was greeted by agreeable weather, and the only sunshine we got all day. Leanne's homemade granola, a few almost over-ripened bananas, and some bangin starbucks instant coffee held us over nicely for the five hours of driving until lunch. Nothin says Indian food like cornfields and rebel flags! Don't ask what inspired us, but an excellent pot of spicy indian-style stew became the first tailgate gastronomic experience of the trip. Say what you will... But it was damn good. (read more about that above).

Now, it's just after ten at night. We are wet. We are sitting in a hotel lobby. Too stay the night you ask? No. We'll be sleeping in the parking lot. However, we are scheming the best way to steal some continental breakfast from this place in the morning. I don't know if it's the surroundings or the company... Or both, but I'm lovin this so far.

Location:Ruin Creek Rd,Henderson,United States

Day 1. 299 miles

2012-07-20T18:14:00.001-07:00

Traveling down the east coast in route to Nashville.
8 hours of driving Brought us to the southern tip of New Jersey.
We took the Cape May-Lewes ferry... An early start to work on the truck and a day of driving landing us in Lewes, Delaware for the night.

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Finally on the road! 165 gallons of veg oil, 2 gallons granola, 750 mL bourbon. Check.

Location:Lewes, Delaware