Time to continue following the Comet

October 12, 2009.

One year ago at this time I started following the comet and it took me all over the US and to parts of Mexico and Canada. Just for the fun of it, and because I took some really cool photos yesterday, I am going to start posting again.

The End

3 countries, 25 states, 14,048 miles, 49 days, 15? mountain passes (open and closed) , one deer, 3 vehicles, 10 hot springs, 46 bright sunny days, 7 million sunflower seeds, too much canned soup, 4 pair of cheap sunglasses, 6 nights of believing I would be frozen and dead by morning, 2 books finished, 10 Laundromats, a presidential election, 4 million apples, and approximately 13,500 miles of staying off of major highways and this is all I have to report.

Next – Follow the Crow

Here is what I think…..not right, not wrong, just one man’s opinion:


• It is truly possible to control travel costs, other than gas. I bought most of my food in grocery stores, which I do at home anyway. And I think it is important, now and again, to have really good meals. I had 4 on this trip. One with family Omar and Linda in San Diego. One with friend Gil in Vail. One with family Tom and Haley in Hammond. One with Rick and Cindy in Channahon. And if I had breakfast other than stuff in the car/bike/van I found small diners in small towns that had inevitably, I believe, awesome food. And I think there is a place for fast food in the world, but not anywhere near the place indicated by the infinite number of fast food places all over America. Great places to stop when you need to or want to, but wow, there are more joints than stars in the sky.

• I slept in the van, or the car, or in a tent whenever I could, but I do think it is good to find cheap hotels when possible. I don’t think hotels that rent by the hour are not such a good choice, but there are lot’s of other choices and they are great places to regroup, stay warm, and shower hot.

• I found the travel suggestions by friends invaluable. Mike Mo. Mike Ma. Chris G. and Steve F. consistently fed me ideas and they did it, in my opinion, the right way. No “you have to see this” suggestions, but rather “take a look at this place if you can and tell me what you think” That is how to make a suggestion!

• I am convinced there are really good people all over and there are really bad people everywhere. No place is unique, in my opinion, in this respect….and everywhere the good and nice people are more dominant and will persevere, everywhere, every time. The problems (social, racial, gender, political, economic) are very similar everywhere I visited. Good people will work at it.

• I don’t think it is good drag children who are too young to places we want them to see, when what they really want are the basics, swimming pools, beaches, places to run around. And I did expose my kids to as much as the world as I thought they could handle when they were young, but I believed then, as I do now, that kids are really smart (not schooled or experienced, but smart) and they know what they want and what they want are good and simple things like food and room to play and swim and a nice story read to them, etc…. I saw, for my taste, too many young children who were cold, or tired, or hungry, or crabby, being dragged to too many places that the folks wanted them to see on this trip.

• I don’t think it is wise rely on one navigation instrument (e.g. gps/garmin) only. I think there are technologies that make life better: cell phone, laptop, gps, etc….but I found it best to reference against a good old atlas before, or in my case after, turning onto a road that could lead to tundra altitude passes on steep, scary, rocky roads. I think its best to use all of the references, mark up the atlas with notes, check on yahoo, google, mapquest when possible, ask somebody when it is an option.

• I think post offices, chambers of commerce (small towns), visitors centers (small towns), park rangers and people in restaurants are great sources for directions and local stuff to look at or do. The big stuff is all marked and plotted, the rest of the 90% of the stuff local people told me about, and they seemed very interested in helping.

• I think rest areas are a great resource, and many of them now have wireless access. And I did find out that you can sleep in Walmart parking lots in your vehicle, which is good and bad….good because it is a great place to stop when it is dark and late and they are everywhere, bad because they really, really are everywhere and that is a little scary.

• My preference for travel, if it is an option, is to not plan more than one or two days ahead. I believe that if one sets a destination 3 days out, that the destination becomes the goal and getting miles logged becomes the labor. I liked to lay the maps out at night and plan where to head the next day. Sometimes I made it, many times a great detour option became available and I took it. And I believe it is critical to turn around and go the other direction if you drive by something that looks kind of interesting....and I did this many times, even 100 mile turn arounds. It worked for me.

• Unless one is an experienced, extremely fit, and seasoned hiker (and I am none of the three) don’t trust internet sites or local guides who call a 12 mile round trip hike up and down a few thousand feet, on rocky narrow terrain….don’t trust them when they call this a moderate/relatively easy hike. A great hike, yes, but only to the hiking elite is it easy, or so they claim.

• I will never again underestimate (though I am not sure I ever did) the value of great friends, great neighbors, great family who made it clear to me of my relative place in their lives by checking in often….and even more touching, they would leave me fairly hilarious and often irate messages if I did not return calls or emails for more than 3-4 days. And I also learned that cell and internet are an east coast luxury that I like. There were days, stretches of days, when there was no connection, and it was blissfully peaceful and I loved it, but I also loved that people, people who I love, were angry when I did not check in. I have never taken it for granted that caring about people (friends, neighbors, family) was important, and I ever more realize that it is equally important to let people care.. Several great friends actually left messages that stated “Are you dead…if you are dead, please let us know” I love it.

• I am only a moderately big birthday person. Actually, I am big on other peoples birthdays, not so much my own, but I won’t lie in my own journal. On my birthday this year one friend went public on me and told too many people and those people bugged my cell message service and email all day, though I had no connection, with touching, and the best kinds of, insults. On that same day I was sung to by a glorious 2 year old neighbor and called by an equally glorious 2 year old nephew. I liked that day.

• It really is possible, as I knew it would be, to follow a comet and look for peace. It is not easy and it is not an answer to any question, but it is possible.

• About a year ago I started writing a book, I am now willing to say in writing, that I call: 49.50 I love to write. I don’t think I am particularly any good at it, but I like it. The book is my unofficial, entirely non-authoritative, hopefully humorous, version of what life is like in America for a person who is 49 or 50 years old in the 21rst century: good, bad, happy, sad, peaks, valleys. I have no idea what I am going to do with this thing, or how far I will go in finishing it, but on this comet journey I found a lot of life to think about, and laugh about. I do know that if I keep working on it, there will now be pictures of animals. I like, I found out, photos of animals, and, as I have mentioned many times, if I knew how to work a camera they would be good pictures of animals, but I don’t….and I still think it has something to do with a pissed off eagle back in Canada.

• I remember how much I like solitude and silence. I could not live in either, but both are great allies, great companions and great company.

THE END

family, towns, ice, more signs

Another great stop to see more wonderful family. This is niece Halex, nephew-in-law and cool U.S. Navy dude Tom, dog Onyx and one of their 32 cats sticking its nose in the photo in the back ground. Thank you Tom and Haley for a great visit.




This sign was at a beach on Lake Michigan in Hammond Indiana. My interpretation is that if you were planning to go to this beach and read this sign, you should turn around and go home. OK, I admit I added the "GIRLS" after "GRILLS" but Halex made me do it.





Winter is here.




I wonder how tough this seagull is to stand on these obviously frozen, and certainly very cold, steel pipes.



Traveling on US 30 East /Lincoln Highway I drove through this little town (Delphos) on Sunday evening, but it occurs to me that it could be any little town in any part of America on any given Sunday night.

hawks, reorganizing, mark twain, good bread

I don't know if it is because it is more flat and open, or another reason, but I saw more hawks perched on the tops of road side trees in Kansas and Missouri than I did in all of the other states combined. Must be good hunting.



Stopped at Cousin Rick and Cindy's to reorganize the ride. Everything was in its proper bin, but there was a lot of it.



Mark Twain River Boat on Mississippi River in Hannibal Missouri. I was there for a few hours and I am convinced until somebody proves me wrong that every business in the town is named either Twain-something (bank, bakery, hardware) or Clemmens-something (sheriffs dept. school, library)



At this Amish roadside bake sale in Missouri I bought the 3rd best loaf of bread that I have ever tasted, and the 2nd best oatmeal cookie. The folks selling the good respectfully requested that they not be in the photo, though the baked goods were allowed, and I thought that was fair.

Longitude and Latitude

I must admit that I do like signs like these. These photos were taken at mile marker 78 on I-72 in Illinois. When I saw the brown marker sign I decided to go back and photo it. It was about a 10 mile turn around and I was glad to do it. Then, the Garmin confirmed. I am not sure what it means to be 1/4 way west around the world, but there it was.

wind, santa fe trail, tractors and lunch

I got a call from friend Al R. today and he asked me where I was. I told him I was in Kansas and he joked that I should watch for the tumbleweeds. I told him they were blowing everywhere. About an hour later this big dude blew in front of my van and stuck under the bumper. It was not like hitting a deer but it dragged along under the bumper until I pulled over. Great prediction Al.



Brother Dennis is always in the market for tractors. A guy at this lot said I could have this one for $25 bucks if I could take it with me. Sorry Dennis.



7-10 miles a day from St. Louis to Santa Fe. Wow. This is a photo of a preserved section of the Santa Fe Trail. I will have completed more than 14,000 miles on this journey in something like 50 days, and I have been in or on motorized vehicles the entire time. I just can't fathom what is was like to travel 1,000 miles in 100 days, in this ripping wind, with unfriendly, albeit rightfully, natives all around.




This squirrel shared my lunch with me at this rest area in Kansas. I gave him a turkey bone with some meat left on it. He accepted and ran off with the bone. Then I wondered if it was dogs or squirrels who can't have turkey or chicken bones. This guy seemed to know exactly what to do with the food. Poor dogs, somebody a long time ago decided they can't eat turkey or chicken and now the squirrels have all the advantages.

About turkey. I think the two best traveling foods for me on this trip have been cooked turkey and hard boiled eggs. I cooked a very large bird at friend Steve's in Vail and it has lasted day after day. Same with the eggs. Refrigeration is easier in colder weather, but I still found a way to keeps some food cold in a cooler for most of the trip. Add a lot of water, some cold milk and some peanut butter, lots of fruit, and sunflower seeds for me it is a great way to travel.

I did treat myself to some Chinese food tonight, Friday Nov. 21 because, well just because.

wind, cows, geese

This was a charming house, on a lovely street in a small town in Kansas. For the entire drive of this day the wind was blowing steady and strong carrying with it dust and tumble weeds. It made me think that this nice house was probably painted fresh within the last year and that the dustblasting wind had just sanded it down that quick.




I saw these geese several miles off as they were cruising along US 50 in Kansas, which is the Santa Fe Trail. Then I saw them starting to land. I don't know what was in this particular cornfield of pond by the came in, by the billions I estimate, and they were loud enough that I could hear not only the honking but the fury of wind created by their wings. It was cool.



What else would one call the Best Western in any rural town in Kansas. There are so many cows. I did not stay at this place, but I could not help taking a picture.



And when cows play King of The Hill, the hills seems to be cow manure. What a kingdom.