since i'm really really bored sometimes I thought I'd let everyone know what web-sites I use to kill time - I know it's super cool of me to share this information and your all so excited so I won't keep you in all this suspense.

www.definr.com - it's a super fast dictionary web-site and I'm trying to improve my spelling abilities past the fourth grade level.

http://plabox.info/real-age/ - this is a creepy tool that tells you when you are going to die. I'm going to live until I'm 74, according to this here machine.

http://www.gracenote.com/map/ - this is a really cool interactive map that shows you which singers/bands are currently the most popular in any country in the world. For instance, I know that Celine Dion is hot in Iran right now - you didn't know that before right now, I told you.

http://www.kazoop.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4&Itemid=24 - not I'm handing this one out reluctantly, use them at your own will. Personally I prefer movieforumz.com, but whatever. Don't ask me about them or anything like that, they are all confusing as hell but once you get the hang of them you can steal movies off the internet until you drop dead for all I care.

http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2006/12/01/30-essential-pieces-of-free-and-open-software-for-windows - I hand this one out more frequently then I ever expected. I use some of the software myself actually. I get super confused on when it comes to which format I save documents in and if they are compatible with the computer that I need to open it up with.. the horror of the days in high school when your 'book report' that you saved in .doc format opens up and prints in a language that ony NEO can read. NEO from the Matrix. so I use abisoft word processor which opens and saves in any format, and clamwin, a free virus protection program which works well and doesn't dominate your computer for the first ten minutes when you turn it on. Check it out.

http://www.radiomat.com/streaming/index.html - this is a great website. it streams audio from local radio stations. it's free and no sign up and it works great. cool for me because I can listen to philly and ny radio stations wherever I am. can I listen to the eagles broadcast on 94.1 WYSP, no, well sometimes - it's so busy sometimes you can't connect, and that is because the eagles are so great.

There are so many, I'm just going to post all of the links some other time not here.
I'm headed to the beach.

Ps - driving around yesterday I was at a traffic light with my favorite car of all time, well one of them - a ferrari of sorts - I felt really cool because he had chrome rims on his ferrari and I have 'chrome look' wheels on my Jeep, so we were basically like brothers up there on the line. I was going to ask him if he wanted to swap for a few days, but I don't know if he could handle my HEMI.

it's been a few days since I've had the opportunity to write at all. More so than other places, I've really been soaking in the surroundings here - getting my bearings as to where I am and what's around me. It seems that i'm in an area that's 'younger'. not saying im an geezer, but i don't really want to go out every night, wake up at 2pm hung over the next day just to finally get out of my pajamas in time to do it all over again.. huntington is def. a beach town, but it's very much also a working town - the 405 & 55 freeways run right around here so it's a good place to live if you have to commute to san diego or LA - sort of like the Hoboken of CA.
It's really fun, and Chupes and his roommate Cris, who I also had classes w/ at central really have been accomodating. I don't want to jump in and settle down into a place before i know what the neighborhood is like. rent here is rediculous, anywhere from 1500 - 2500 for a one bedroom and 1600+ for a decent two bedroom. I'm in the air whether to buy a place further inland or just rent a place closer to the beach. Either way, who knows. i have my eye on a couple places but i'm still filled with that 'is this really it' feelings. should I pack up and head back east or what? It's still new to me, like a vacation, but that's fading and I'm starting to come back down. Part of me just wants to hit the road for a part two heading up north to Alaska or some shit, but just reviewing my finances made me realize the nonsense that would make. 28 days and almost 6500 miles or whatever has set me back the cost of a deluxe hot-tub with remote timers and a three year waranty. I did pick up a Coors Light 36 PACK. 36, I know, I thought they only come in 30's, but it was only 19.99 at Stater's (grocery/booze) I know from selling the shit for years that the top deal on Coors was 20.17 on 300 cases, and that's wholesale. So I got a good deal, the dirty in me wanted to buy a bunch of them, tape them up into six-packs and sell them for 5 bucks each, netting me a profit 15 dollars per 36 with a beer for myself to keep the smile for the customers. I will say that things get rolling later out here and on that note, I'm going to get going. but I appreciate everyone saying hi on my blog, it's like not leaving home- sort of.

Happy Thanksgiving Weekend, and I'll catch ya'll in a month!

so i never got to tell you guys more about denver, it is a nice city. my procedure for checking into hotels has been usually just logging on to expedia.com and searching for hotels in or around my planned destination. it works well, and I've found that the cheapest rates so far are set aside for expedia/hotels.com/orbitz, etc... search for 'places to stay in xxxxxxx city' you get the idea, read some reviews to find out where & where not to stay. Not that I'm worried about a few ruffians here and there, it's more that I have most of my priceless stuff with me - pictures, no need to get sappy, but you get the idea - stuff that I would probably burn the hotel down unless it was returned in a timely fashion, someone in there took it - one bad apple! Spare the details I ended up at the Ramada Downtown, which at first I didn't like but the first night I decided to go to the hotel bar.

THE ROCKMADA LOUNGE

That's the real name, and it has a loud stereo which was pretty sweet, and the music selection was def. 80's. Long story short, the Ramada was where most of the bands in town stay and it had more of liberal attitude towards . .. everything. I truely admired the look on guests faces when they were checking in and thirty feet away there was Motley Crue being played loudly. I love that kind of stuff, watching people feel uncomfortable. It's so obvious when they try to hide it, worried that if they decide to go to another hotel they'll lose their deposit. anyway, so the first night i was tired after cruising into denver from roswell, nm - so i didn't even bring any bags up to my room at first, i checked in, took a nap and went to the bar to eat. i meet rory (the guy who owns the distillery & troy, the comedian - who is very very funny)

I don't know if I told this part of the story yet, but I was overhearing rory. his situation entailed something about his truck being worked on by 'D' the biker or something. I was referred to as 'Adam from New Jersey' and later on came 'Sarah the photographer' so rory neeeded a ride to a town called palisade. rory is one good guy to sum it up, but I'll tell you his name could have been Rory Bushmills McMurphy, because he drank like I could and loved to party. Over a few pints of ale I agreed to give him a lift to his truck - which turned out to be at his distillery, Peach Street Distillers, which I highly recommend. I do want to thank Rory, and his lovely lady friend Amanda for their hospitality and Amanda especially for tolerating mine and Rory's schenanigans.

Anyway, a day later, after sacrificing two coolers to make room - I have Rory, Sarah, and COLBA - C.O.L.B.A. - an awesome labrador riding out west towards utah to do a photo shoot for Sarah and Rory.

The short story is that Rory makes a vodka called 'Goat Vodka' of which I have a bottle in my possession now. Sarah, the one with the camera thought it would be good for rory to pose with goats - while the goats thought it was a good idea to hammer rory in the tackle with their hooves. This is the day after we got there, the distillery is also a local attraction that people go to to sample the goods/drink/drink drink & have a good time. So rory treated me to about 8 drinks. They make awesome brandy and bourbon and all sorts of goodies, so I sampled most of them under rory's supervision. Rory and I road the 'company vehicle' into town that night, the company vehicle being one of those low rider bicycles - he had his customized with some sweet ass pegs for me to ride on. So you can imagine two slightly intoxicated individuals.. you get the pictures. I will say that we have a combined weight of well over 500 pounds so the company vehicle earned her keep that night. Rory rode the bike straight into the bar, not the side of the building, but through the front door, which was kind of ironic because there were real bikers in the bar and I thought it was just the funniest thing. Anyway. moving on.

My real reason for sitting in this horrible restaurant listining to the Lady Seniors Golf Club talk about their 'net adjusted handicapps' while my breakfast sits here getting cold is barry bonds. I like the guy - I think he is a tremendous athlete and personally I don't understand what's going on.

Steroids - not the stuff they taught us about in high school health, I'm talking about the good stuff.

If I want to sacrifice my body - which he is not, because any doctor would admit off the record that with the proper diet and excercise regiment steroids will halt, if not reverse any damage or deterioration caused by vigorous activity or just over time. I've seen it! I have, unfortunately lived within close proximity to steriod users and know how they work. D-bol, Winnie, whatever, I've seen them all - i've even been lucky eneough to witness needles between toes, in ass cheeks, etc - it's just awesome. So what's wrong with that - everyone is doing it anyway, why do you think the russian commie swim team (women) shaved their heads? so they couldn't test them. NFL players are prescribed them, ex-NFL players use them illegally because they swear that it's the only way they can still walk. And are they leadign a negative example to younger crowds, no I don't think so. What is hockey showing, that if you disagree with another person that it's cool to just start punching them in the face? Fuck you Congress, and you douche Mitchell for ruining a guys carreer. Does your anger stem from the fact that a baseball player at your prep school in connecticut was banging your girlfriend while you were at ice hockey practice, probably - get a life, if being an asshole was a crime, they could just put a big cage around the capitol building - but it would have to be between jan and July, because you fat fuckers only work half a year - the rest of the time you are playing squash, or boating, or trying to get blow jobs in park bathrooms. Leave the guy alone and stop trying to deflect the light off of the fact that our country is in total disarry. PS THANKS FOR LEAVING US AND OUR KIDS AND THEIR KIDS AND SO ON WITH TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS OF DEBT TO PAY OFF! FUCK YOU ALL!

I'm out of here, I've been sitting in this place for too long. I miss you all so much and I'll be back in late dec. I'm headed to cali. tomorrow and I'll check back when I can.

Looking back at the Mile High City

Ah..... Denver. The mile high city, the name comes from the coincedence that the 13th step of city hall is exactly 5280 feet above sea level. The city kind of reminds me of Boston, tree lined residential streets one block - hookers on the next. My hotel experience is a matter in of itself. I met some of the most interesting people which led to another town...palisade...spare the details for now and look at the pictures.

This is obviously Red Rocks Ampitheatre, it is about 17mi. southwest of Denver. The city of denver was sort of built piecemeal. The original street plan when the city was 'established' is contradictory to the new street plans, so needless to say, traffic is so congested that it took me nine hours to travel 17 miles. Worth it though.

This is Adam Live @ Red Rocks! The seating here is pretty limited. It's tought to gauge the size of the theatre but it's not very big - i'm sure the information is somewhere on the internet. I'm standing on the state here so now I know what Dave Mathews sees if he's not too drunk to see past the first few rows. That is a dog on the right hand side - believe it or not, at 6500 feet, you can barely breath. I had several heart attacks walking up the steps - while there I witnessed five psychotic women doing stairs here. You can just walk into the place, I think it's more of a park then anything - there is a gift shop a few minutes down the road where your receipt is from the park system. It's a really neat place to see, I have other pictures but this one is what it looks like right on the stage.

This is the Denver Skyline taken from an obscure point in the park. I was zoomed in almost 32x so it actually appears much much smaller with just your eyeballs. The tallest building are Republic Plaza, Wells Fargo (a Mormon Bank), and MCI Tower. I mention the Mormon Bank issue because once upon a time about four years ago they wouldn't let me use a wells fargo credit card to finance a gambling account - who are they to judge. Put your magical goggles on to read your magical tablets about how it's ok to have more than one wife and who cares if they are 14 either. If your offended by that, well I'm fine with that - I don't like you either. You and all your magical tricks can go elsewhere. if your still not convinced about what I'm saying I'll provide a few links here.

http://www.somethingawful.com/d/news/oh-my-mormons.php

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Steed_Jeffs

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/gaming/2000/dec/12/511161819.html

http://mormonconspiracy.com/cult.html

I highly recommend all of them, especially the ultra-biased ones which I agree with, and are 100% factual.

That little spec at the bottom is my Jeep, and yes, I honestly thought that you had to park there to get to the Ampitheatre. There weren't many signs, so yeah - I hiked up this slope, which is much steeper then it looks. My physical aptitude and technical skills aided me greatly, when I fell, my love handles gaurded me against the sharp rocks and my ability to fall and not spill my beer protected my camera as I sacrificed every other body part so my camera wouldn't hit the ground.

Here is my trustee steed. We've been getting along ok as of yet. The whole 3+ dollar gas thing has def. influenced my trip decisions. I will be in California next week. I'm not saying where I'll be for the next 5 nights, but it's in Arizona on a golf course and there are washers and dryers in my room. I just washed her, makes me happy when she's happy. Today she's getting fresh oil, and possibly new brakes - going 3 miles on a 7% downgrade riding the brakes wears them out soooo fast. Gotta give props to Jiffy Lube though, you know that if you have the Jiffy Lube sticker on your window that they will fill up all your fluids for free if you stop at any of them.... So yeah, I pull into every jiffy lube for more windshield fluid because you have no idea the size of the bugs that splatter on my windshield, and because I take a ton of pics from the car I want it clear. Big bugs, like small birds almost - and the rabbits are so big that their ears flop up on the hood when you clock them with the front bumper. And for the record Road Runners do exist... BEEP BEEP!

I gotta run, but I have so many more pics I want to show everyone. I'll put a few more up now without descriptions and let you guys ponder what they are.... good luck.

Funny

I was just hanging out last night, got burger at this irish pub across the street from the hotel and i was shooting the shit with this guy. he was really cool, turns out he's some really funny comedian. he gave me four tickets to his show tonight downtown. he was cool. we packed dippers at the bar and talked about golf and women. so me and my three friends, yeah, we're all going down to a place called comedy works - should be funny. I found the guy on the net.
http://www.comedyworks.com/Members/Event.aspx?cid=157

should be fun, and no I don't know why he insisted I take four tickets - but that's pretty cool. I also met a really cool guy and his girlfriend. He owns a distillery where he makes a vodka called goat vodka, and a new gin. I think that's who I'm going out with tonight, I usually find people to go out with but these guys seem just like me. Anywy, I'm busy on my other computer uploading almost all of the photos fit for myspace. so you can see them at www.myspace.com/legsweep

later folks

pictures so far...

I think that you guys will get better idea of where i've been if i just put up pics.

here is the road from lubbock to denver, north of lubbock. most of the roads were like this.

as you get closer to denver, in northern NM you get to see the preamble of the mountains.

I have more pictures that i'll post later, i am starving, i ordered food to my room last night when I got settled in and they didn't deliver it for 2 hours so i refused it. i'd rather go hungry than accept that level of service. so i'm going to eat my breakfast, which will be free because i let an older lady handle some business at the check in desk ahead of me. turns out her mother is in the hospital, so after waiting for 30 minutes i checked in and they gave me a free breakfast.

and a word to the wise, don't always believe the reviews you see online about hotels.

and one more thing. right now I have a tissue stuffed up my nose and a sink full of blood. the rumors about the dry air, well they are true - my skin is itchy as hell and i have bloody noses all the time. I know you might think that because i'm driving so much that i'm probably picking my nose, well I'll plead no contest to that - but it's the dry air, im sticking to that.

I'm starting to learn some things.

I never made it to Santa Fe, and I'm not going. Everyone of these towns from San Antonio to Roswell, NM is the same. It's starting to get to me. Not the cities, like Austin, or actual downtown San Antonio, or even Lubbock - it's the interim towns that make me nauseous for some reason. I can't ever imagine living in a town like that. Get the FUCK OUT! I understand everyone has a reason why they are where they are. Jerry and Ali are in Harrisburg because of Jerry's job & and Ali's and they really love each other and it was worth it to both of them to make it work, Buff is in DC because she made the choice not to teach in the Bronx, I'm in New Mexico because I made the decision to find what is going to make me content. I'm learning a whole bunch about myself, a few interesting things, a few things that you people have told but I needed to feel them for myself. First thing, if I'm not occupied in some PRODUCTIVE manner, I go right back to being very fickle. I get depressed, emotional, and I don't like it. It's like I have my period, everything pisses me off and anything that anyone else suggests or mentions is just plain silly nonsense to me. I start to look for other venues to occupy myself like gambling, drinking, and spending money. I don't like that stuff - not when I'm in that mood - so I've def. learned to find a way to occupy myself lately which is like sort of exciting to me, because my traditional venues of staying busy are not the best ones. I can even list them in order now of what I do. I traded vidoe games/drinking beer for golf, which I am getting very good at. I traded finding a casino for putting a large portion of my money into the stock market which is why I have two computers infront of me with a tv watching bloomTV since 530 this morning (that and the bastard next door, his alarm is going off). And I've really taken a liking to taking pictures, it's satisfying to take a good picture. I will admit that you absolutely can not take the good quality pictures you want with a 'pocket' digital camera, so I broke down and bought an official tourist camera, complete with fanny pack holder, straps galore and rechargeable batteries that I can charge in my vehicle. I can say with absolute conviction - I am a different person. Sitting in your car, by yourself for hours and hours on end you have tons of time to think about things, and lately I've been going through people, person by person and I've really just wondered if I did things that way or this way or what way would have been best...best for who though, me? No, probably not, I'm too occupied with making other people happy and now I'm making myself happy. Not to say that there aren't a few situations where I wish they worked out better, but for the most part, I'm happy - and I can work on those situations when I get back.....


You know, I know that I wasn't who I wanted to be in lambertville, and no, I didn't know what I was going to find out here on the road, but I knew that I spent years in NJ looking for it - I found parts of it, but not all of it. The hardest part is missing my family - I've always really liked to be around my family, even though I don't talk a whole bunch most of the time I enjoy being around them. This trips been good for me, I don't know what it is, but I'm starting to find it.

So I'm off to Denver, I can't stand this shit in the desert any longer - I'm going nuts....

And after a full day investigation my conclusion is that there are infact aliens in New Mexico - they speak Spanish and ride around in pickup trucks.

See ya in Denver.

good morning

i just want to say that i'm mad because I fell asleep with my laptop on my bed and knocked it off and now there is a crack in the glass.

so it's 555 am and I have to wait for the sun to come up so I can go take pictures of Chewy's childhood home. I don't want to do it in the dark because I'll probably get shot - -it is Texas, where I was told it is legal for your passenger to 'shotgun martinis' as long as I wasn't hitting it. I'll have to look that up, hold on. It's was true unitl 2001, now it is a ticketable offense. I'm up this early because honestly I knocked my computer off the bed and now my blood pressure is so high because of the cracked screen that I'll not be able to go back to sleep, and I'm just up.

I'm headed to Roswell NM, this morning - see what all of this UFO hub bub is about. Time allowing I'm going to head north to Santa Fe - it's another long day, but I'm good like that. I stocked up on mountain dew at the hotel gift shop and also picked up a copy of golf digest. I was going to play golf today but I don't really feel like it now, I just want to get the hell out of texas.
I wish I had a travelling friend now for some reason, I'm starting to get bored of being alone.

Lubbock, TX

So yeah, in review I see that I've spelled a few things incorrectly. I think back to grade school and I always scored 100%'s on Mrs. Holcombe's 4th grade spelling tests, I'm not sure where my spelling abilities went, they must have been contained in the brain cells that have been massacred through years of heaving drinking... alcoholism is a disease, so you can't blame me, it's like blaming somebody for being a diabetic - it's just not cool to do. I haven't honestly been boozing on the levels that most of you have seen in my previous years. Aside from New Orleans and two night in San Antonio, I haven't been drinking on my off nights. I don't feel comfortable driving at all in Texas after even one drink, and if you think I was going to dull my senses while I was camping in Creepyville, LA - you're crazy, I don't think I'd be able to defend myself against a bear in hand to hand combat with alcohol in my system. Without the alcohol it's an even odds match up. I will admit that I ran like hell when an armadillo cornered me out of the blue, they may not seem like the most aggressive animal, but come face to face with a fanged mammal with built on body armor and the way I see it, it was a one sided match - so i used my super unnatural sprinting speed to avoid a bloodbath.

Anyway, I'm in Lubbock TX right now, and I must say that as much as my impression of the small towns I've stopped in to get gas or eat were 'out there Texas' they weren't. From LA, to Austin then San Antonio it's quite a few miles - I've learned to stop for gas as soon as I get to the half tank or so mark, learned because there are stretches 200 miles plus with not much, let alone a gas station. I do have my navigation, but this is also the nav. that gave me directions from San Antonio to Lubbock today that were overall 300 miles longer then the map directions I followed on my paper map. I'm not sure why it always does that, but last year when I was driving back from Chicago, it felt the need to take me through downtown Pittsburgh on my way back to NJ. I should have realized how far off course I was, but after a 3 day bender in the windy city combined with driving for 6 plus hours I was on autopilot and just following the arrows. I did pass through a town that an old friend was living in while he was in the Air Force, some of you might know Craig H. He's in Iraq now, but he was based in San Angelo, TX and just by chance I had the pleasure of being in this area. It seems like most of these towns have two things in common. one, the towns seem to sprawl outward from a main shopping center, in this case one usually anchored by a wal-mart. Two, things are relatively cheap. I say relatively because when I stop to eat at Joe Bob's BBQ or Nancy & Tommy's Burgers I eat like a champ and the bill never comes to more then 15 bucks including tip. I also found that the standard tip for anything down here, from what I've seen outside of your chain restaurants is $1. Six beers for the group, $1. I guess we're just used to the fact that if you don't tip your server your not going to get served - I also noted that tipping the 20% that I usually tip and people are overwhelmed. Let me restate that, at the hotel, where I ate the first few meals in San Antonio, I tipped for every drink and 20% on my bill. I ate at the bar, which was nice, they had a really good restaurant in the hotel, but you could eat off of that menu at the bar, and I being by myself it's nice to talk nonsense to the bartender or watch TV instead of sitting at the table alone looking around at people and the room like your on a bad date. I ate mostly at places right on the river walk, so there were always people around, which was nice. I did do something which is typical, I went to a restaurant and I chose to sit behind sort of where the monitor for the karaoke machine was - I didn't know this, because there was another monitor that the 'artists' were reading the lyrics from, so I thought that this group of ladies that kept looking over where checking me out -totally understandable. I'm not going to get into details here, but I was wrong - in the end it worked out, they accepted me into their tightly knit gaggle and we all went out together that night. I think they thought I was gay, which was cool because they weren't weird around me and my classic good looks and polite manner. I thought that the unibrow would give it away that I'm not - but I think that was offset by my new cowboy cut jeans. Anyway, the roads I drive seem to all look the same

Flat on either side and the occasional 'mesa' if you will popping up here and there. They actually aren't that big, they look big, but when you get next to them they aren't much higher then 300 feet. I say 300 because ones similar to this that I saw right after had wind turbines on top of them, and from previous research I know that they are about 350' tall and they about doubled the height of the mountain. For example if there was a house on top of this one, you would be able to see it clearly from where my jeep is. One thing I did notice was that my left arm is considerably darker now then the right, from riding west I guess and the sun being on me. Another thing I really pay attention to is my vehicle, we've really gotten to know each other lately and for some reason my back right tire jumps in psi's. I have about 4o0 pounds of gear in the back, so I shifted the heavy stuff up right behind the driver's seat, but for some reason the tire jumps up to about 39PSI from about 31 cold when the others stay at 35/36. I inspected the tire for any visual defects, none - but I have to find a jeep dealer to get my 30k service and I'm going to have him switch the tire to the other side rear. I don't want it on the front because, now I don't know - but it makes sense that if I do have a blow-out that I'd rather have it on a non-steering tire. My Sirius radio unit is on the fritz, which pisses me off because I don't have an address where they could ship me a new one, and I can't exactly go to the store I bought it at either.

I'm in Lubbock anyway, mainly because I told Jerry that I'd take a picture of the house were his parent's lived in - and also, Texas is sooo big that where I'm headed next/tomorrow (I haven't figured out yet) well there isn't really any place to go that wouldn't require five+ more hours of driving, and while I don't mind driving, I'd rather spend the money on a hotel then run the risk of falling asleep. I've never fallen asleep behind the wheel, but I have had the conversation in my head that if I closed my eyes for 5 seconds that it would be OK, which is totally ridiculous, I don't know if anyone else has had this conversation with themselves, but it's the most idiotic thing - just proof that humans can be really really stupid. So I'm going to do that tomorrow, Lubbock is a pretty cool city, around 210,000 people - there is a Hooters right across the street, but a single guy going into Hooters is weird because everyone knows the food is awful and I'm not that desperate to see boobies. Not saying Hooters makes a city cool, just saying that because I'm looking out the window and I can see the place. I couldn't walk there, it's on the other side of the 'street' which is actually a major overpass for route 87.

One really cool thing that I saw, which started about 40 miles out of Lubbock were cotton fields, I've never seen a cotton field before but there were cotton fields as far as you could see on both sides. Most of them were harvested already, but this patch hadn't been. The blue thing is an oil producing well pump - there is a rod ont he right hand side which goes down however deep necessary and operates a pump which pulls the oil up. My question is where the hell does the oil go after you draw it to the surface, apparently there is a pipe that collected it, but I have yet to see one, so as far as I'm concerned they don't exist. I know this picture is fuzzy, but you get the point. There were HUUUUGE tractors with these mechanical contraptions on the back that picked, cleaned, and compressed the cotton. The picture is of a huge block of cotton - probably 40x 12x 8. Enough for a few t-shirts anyway. And yes, I did notice that they use genetically engineered cotton plants called FiberMax. There were literally hundreds of these large blocks of cotton along the way, I can't imagine how long they last out there - but I did see signs that indicated that it was a big time crime to intentionally bring boles or weevils - I know I spelled them wrong. I guess that they eat the crops? not sure, but it was interesting to see signs like that.

I'm getting pretty tired, I need to exercise more, I'm getting tired too early. I'm actually getting enough probably because I walk about ten miles a day. I just got a drunk phone call from a friend and now I can't remember what the hell I was writing about. Somebody asked me about why I haven't written about Gettysburg and North Carolina. I probably should, so I will.

Miss everyone, love everyone, and I'll see y'all soon enough.

PS - I spell checked this.

my spelling and grammer

I want to point out that I do know that I spell things incorrectly and sometimes I skip punctuations. I know this, but i type 94 WORDS PER MINUTE SUCKERS AND I MAKE SOME MISTAKES BECAUSE I'M SO FASTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT. That means that I typed this entire paragragh in TWELVE SECONDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Where I've been...so far

I left NJ on 10/23 after Eric's Halloween party. I headed out to Harrisburg for one last taste Kokomo's wings. Truthfully I sat in Jerry and Ali's driveway for about 20 minutes wondering two things. One, where the hell am i going now, and two - oh man what am I doing. Anyway, I've drive just over 3,000 miles so far, so in a straight line I'd be in California already, but I'm still in San Antonio, TX. I like it here. In order these are the places I've been to - the ones with * are places that I've stayed.

1. Gettysburg Historical Park - Battlefields



2. Anteitam National Park - Battlefields



3. Roanoke Virginia* (1 night)



4. Blue Mountian Parkway - beautiful but slow road to NC



5. Ashville North Carolina* (1 night)



6. Great Smokey Mountain Park



7. Nashville, Tennessee* (1 night)



8. LONG DRIVE SOUTH to New Orleans* (3 nights)



9. North Toledo Bend State Park* camping (2 nights)



10. LONG DRIVE WEST to Austin, TX* (2 nights)



11. South West to San Antonio* (2/4 nights so far)

it's been long, it's been far - and I'm about 1/3 of the way used up in terms of resources and personal energy. It's not like a vacation, I still have things that I need to do. Ever think about laundry? hope I don't get sick, I would probably die before I go to a strange doctor. Can't eat out every day, so I do buy groceries and make sandwhiches in my room. It's actually pretty nice, kind of feels like a home. I have to admit I'm living the good life here in San Antonio - my hotel room is bigger then my old apartment in L-ville. Here is a funny picture that the housekeeper left me...... If you know me then you'll get this one.

"To: Guest

From: Hsk.

I did not make your bed because your belongings were on it."

I had a pair of pants and two shirts on it. Minor infractions, seriuosly.

So far everything has been amazing. I will put up a few things so far that have made me mad.

• People in restaurants that get antsy at the end of their meal. They sit there for 10 minutes and sip their drinks, talk about nothing (I eaves drop), so on and so forth... but at the minute that they decide that they are done, and I've noticed that there is usually a discussion about if the couple or more are finished... "are you done? do you want dessert?" Usually the answer I hear is yes I'm done, no I don't want dessert let's get the check. And it's as if there is nothing more important in the world then the check. the alpha male usually starts looking around frantically for a member of the wait staff and as soon as he makes eye contact he gives the head nod lip sync 'check' business. if that's not your waiter, he has to go get your waiter so he can bring you your check. BUT NOOOOOO, you have to use your magical fucking air pen to write 'C-H-E-C-K' Oh I get it now, now that I see what you wrote into the air it's so much clearer now. And I'm glad to see that you're educated, I know this because you spelled check in cursive - I was confused for a minute because you are the first people I have served ever in my life and I didn't anticpate what you wanted. I'll go get your check so you can analyze your bill for several minutes when I actually know that your not doing anything except proving to the wait staff that if you ever come back they better not make any mistakes on your bill because you check your bill at the end of the meal. It's so rediculous, these antics, just relax, because 9/10 times all I see you do for the next five minutes after you stand up from your table is adjust your belt, decide where to wander next, talk on your phone . . .but good thing you got out of that restaurant so fast. good for you jackasses.
• Next thing, is people behind me in traffic that curse at me because I have New Jersey plates. I see your ugly ass and all your bastard kids in your minivan you loser. Stop karate chopping your steering wheel peering around my vehicle - THERE ARE THREE LANES PACKED WITH TRAFFIC IDIOT! IT'S 5 PM IN THE 7TH LARGEST CITY IN AMERICA! Like all this traffic ismy fault. I see your bright red lipstick in contrast to your clown white makeup while the sun is glarring through your windshield. I read your lips, "See this, this guy from New Jersey, he just let that guy go infront of him....blah blah blah"Listen to me you moron -there were EIGHT THOUSAND CARS on that highway at the time and you can go F-YOURSELF. I bet you went home that night and stuffed your face with Dominos and cried after you sent your kids to bed at 7 because you hate yourself. If I wasn't so patient with people i would have put my truck in reverse and really gave you something to explain to your four year old sitting behind you - he just thinks his mom is crazy now.
• Another thing is people looking at me because I'm by myself at a restaurant. I don't want to sit at a bar when I'm eating. I want to sit on at a normal table - fine treat me like a leprosy patient and hide me at the back table. I hate that crap, and truthfully if I get a shitty table I just order the cheapest beer drink half of it and leave. I see the nine tables you have ready, just put me there - I'm not like 80% of the people I hear asking what the specials are, I'll order what I want and pay for it, not like those idiots who order the 9.99 fish special even though you can tell they hate catfish.
• I'm all fired up now, I'm leaving.

San Antonio

it's early friday morning here in San Antonio. This place is pretty cool, the river walk is pretty sweet.

this is a picture that I took on the 'loop' of the Riverwalk. The loop is basically a channel, a "U" shaped waterway averaging 7 feet deep that is sort of plugged into the San Antonio River. The water level is controlled via locks on both ends. The purpose of the channel was/is to prevent flooding. Apparently there were two 'disasterous' floods in the 20's that only killed 50 people and caused 'millions' of dollars worth of damage. I don't want to talk about something you could look up on the net yourself, but I will tell you this. In San Antonio, the people here just act like this waterway appeared! It was dug, by people and machines. If you know what the WPA is, well that is how this project was funded. The WPA sent workers here to construct the channel which was the idea on an architect named Hugman. It was highly criticized because of a few reasons. one, the wpa was highly scrutinized because it provided money for projects that weren't necessarily necessary. A fine blend of need and want, blended with a healthy dose of coercion is what I think brought this riverwalk to fruition. I'm getting sick of bartenders and roving historians putting emphasis on the whole 50 deaths and the whole 'millions' of dollars worth of damage so they feel better about something. If you have two 'MAJOR' floods and that's all that happens then just shut up, because we all know that is nothing. Anyway, eneough ranting.

I do want to put out there something that I think you should all know. If anyone has the urge to fly all the way to italy to visit Venice, just come here. It's basically the same, except that in Venice you get several things.

• Rude People


• Smells AWFUL


• Dirty, trash in canals


• Pigeon shit in St. Marks Square


• Overpriced Everything


• Graffiti that reads "venice hates Amercia" <-- Spelled wrong yes


• Hotels that won't bring ice to your room


• Seafood that falls on the street and then goes to your plate


• Guys selling fake Fendi bags on every corner, worse then the beaches in Cancun with sunglasses and beads


• Not to mention free boat rides to islands around venice then not giving you a ride home until you buy a 1200 dollar glass bowl.


• Venice is sinking into the sea, so obviously it was chosen by God to not exist any longer.

Austin to San Antonio is only about 70 miles, so it was a relatively short trip. ALong the way I stopped at 'The Natural Bride Caverns' and took an hour long tour. The room here is the largest room on the tour, the cieling was almost 120' high. The formations are composed of calcium carbonate and grow at an average rate of one inch every 100 years, so imagine that this would have to be millions of years old. The formation on the left of this photo is called 'The Kings Throne' - you can sort of see there he would sit at the bottom - I didn't see it, and I especially didn't see the 'Ice Cream Cone' to the right incase he gets hungry. it was really interesting seeing all this, I didn't feel safe AT ALL! They may convince some of the visitors that it is completely safe. There are 'vertical cracks' in the ceiling, 'not to be confused with faults' - c'mon buddy, its a crack in the rock, which is sedimentary, so don't tell me that sooner or later this cave is coming down. I had fun - there was a stop ont he tour where the guide took a photo, sort of like on a roller coaster and he kept grouping me with the two old women behind me as a 'family of three' so at picture time i said I was just a family of one from New Jersey and he looked at me like I was a criminal. I'm really getting sick of that crap, the 'New Joisey' shit, I hear it all the time, so if I dno't really like the people I just tell them I'm from Canada.

Today is going to be really fun. I'm headed to Wurst Fest with the hotel bartender Petra - she's from Germany. The slogan for Wurst Fest is 'The Ten Day Salute to Sausage' ----I"M THERE.

check it wout http://www.wurstfest.com the town is about 30 minutes away from here, and I'm driving so I'm not going to be able to drink much beer. The police down here are copies of Walker, Texas Ranger, so I'm not fussin around with the law when it comes to boozin' - especially with Jersey tags. I have so much to write, but I also have so much to do - so I'm going to get lost for now and hopefully check back later or tomorrow. I appreciate comments too - just so I know somebody is reading this thing!