Mile 2287

End of Day 7.

All of yesterday, it was there mocking me. Sitting in my motel room was a little flier from a local restaurant. "Warning", it said, "If you travel, but always eat the same food, are you really traveling? Don't waste another day, eat local. Present this coupon for a free appetizer, NO STRINGS ATTACHED!"

Of course it's right, that was the whole point of rule #2, I completely agree. PLUS, free appetizer! The problem? The restaurant in question was over 6 miles away, across pedestrian un-safe roads and bridges. So I sat there yesterday, eating my Perkins and Casino food, regretting that the one restaurant that I MUST eat at was just out of reach. So today, after I took a taxi to the mechanic's, and stuffed my stuff in the Beetle (The new oil pan hadn't arrived yet), I matched to the center of town to eat at that beckoning restaurant. The food was really just standard stuff, burgers, sandwiches, steaks, chili, but it was good. And when they mean free appetizer, they mean a real appetizer. I ended up with three meals because I accidentally ordered a sandwich, which came with a BOWL of chili, and then asked for the Mega Nachos, and got enough mega Nachos to feed two people.

Afterwards, I wondered around downtown for a bit, two used book stores, A comic book store, a music store still selling vinyl...

Then it got the call, the Beetle was fixed, no problem. No engine damage. So I hoofed it back, and proceeded to drive the last 100 miles or so to my final destination. And now I'm here.

Trip Completed.

Mile ??? + Epsilon

End of day 6.

Not much to report here, spend the day in the motel. The good news is that a new oil pan should be in tomorrow, and there are no traces of metal shavings in the old oil pan, which would be an obvious indicator of engine damage.

I tried hiking around the motel, but civilization is still 2 miles away, and most annoyingly the only road to town has a long overpass/causeway with no shoulder or sidewalk and allot of semi-traffic. Also, for some reason any time I tried to venture out into the world, it started to rain.

Food wise, I'm limited to to a Subway, Perkins, Dairy Queen, and a "Casino". I broke the rules again, and went to Perkins for lunch. Dinner I hit up the "Casino" for pub-fare, and got a very passable burger. Unfortunately, it seems that no-one on this side of the nation knows what Hard Cider is. All throughout dinner I kept asking myself how a bartender can be oblivions to the existence of cider, so when I settled the tab, and brough the subject up again, and asked her if she knew what a Snakebite was (1 part beer, 1 part cider), and she started talking about some drink with whiskey and lemon juice...


What is the world comming to when a man can't even get a cider...

Mile ???

End of Day 5

I'm back in civilization. It took a little longer than 3 hours for the towtruck to get out to me, and probably another 2 hours to get back out again. All the driver could say was “How did you get a beetle in that far? I've had trouble getting snowmobiles out that far...”.

I've left the beetle at a local auto shop, and we will see tomorrow how bad the damage is, and how long it will take to repair.

I also regret that I broke two of the rules tonight.

I got to the motel at 11:00 pm, and the only restaurant within walking distance that was still open was a subway, and seeing as all I had eaten all day was some toast and a muffin for breakfast, I was pretty hungry.

The second rule I broke was an unlisted bonus rule: No Soda. So far I've kept strictly to iced tea and various juices. Unfortunately all subway had was that really bad fake tea that comes out of the soda dispenser, so I gave up and had a Mr Pib.

Mile 2139.8

The guy at the wind farm visitors center told me there was a back way out, that took you across the rest of the farm (still keeping you away from the actual turbines though), and then through some wilderness and gravel roads back to the highway. It sounded like fun, so I gave it a try.

It was a little more wild than I expected.

Allot more wild.

This was a road made for my old jeep, NOT a beetle. I guess I pressed on just a little too far, I kept thinking “This is the one bad spot, the rest of the road will be better,” until one loud clunk, and the oil light let me know that things were not getting better.

I've seen this before, I probably just dinged the oil pan. If I stop now the repair should be quick and easy. The problem is getting out of here. So I backtracked 100 feet to a sign I had just passed, and started making calls to try and get a towtruck out here. Unfortunately, it's pretty hard to get a towtruck when you don't know where you are, and you are in the middle of nowhere. Thanks to some luck a passing jeep was able to give me directions to pass on, and I've called in a tow truck. ETA: 3 Hours.

Thats right folks, three hours in the middle of nowhere. And with no company but the cows (there are ALLWAYS cows).

Mile 2129.6

More wind turbines!

Don't look at me like that. The first wind turbine was awesome, so when I turned around the way and saw and entire ridge full of wind turbines, I just had to take a look. This was initially difficult, as the wind farm was on the opposite side of a very large lake, but obstacles are simply there to overcome. Turns out, not only did I find the wind farm, but they WANTED me to find it. Di spite there being no signage, there was a brand new staffed visitor center full of all sorts of green energy propaganda. Unfortunately this also means that they limited how close you could actually get to the turbines.

The visitors center itself was quite peculiar. Full of exhibits that ranged from the very simplistic (Touch screen game where you had to drag the parts of the a wind turbine into place), to unnecessarily complex (a display of the generation of all turbines, including reactive power). There was also a full conference room, rest rooms, the works. All in the middle of nowhere with no signage.

Mile 1943.4

End of Day 4.

That's right, over 550 miles today. I started early, and not long after my short side trip to see the tower I really got into the “groove” and just pushed onwards. Now I'm almost a full day ahead of my original schedule. Also, I'm pretty exhausted. So I'm just going to go pass out now.

Mile 1642.8

I'm driving along through some foothills, I come into a small valley and see one of the most Tolkienesque sights imaginable. Like Minas Morgul, there stands a black tower, almost as tall as the mountains behind it, overlooking the valley. As the highway brought me closer I quickly realized what it's true purpose was, but it was still fascinating, so I hopped off at the next exit and tried to scout it out.

Turns out the small town adjacent is quite attached to their tower, and have preserved it against destruction by declaring it a state park. Unfortunately; it's surrounded on all sides by private land, so there is no way to actually REACH it legally, and I wasn't quite in the spirit for trespassing today, so I stopped at the signs. There is a small viewing area, which offers a number of placards, a full sized replica of the foundation of the tower, and a very BAD view of the tower itself. I pushed a little further till I reached the big keep out signs, and found a much better viewing angle.

I feel bad for not having the guts to climb up to the tower itself... Perhaps some day later, when I have an accomplice and someone to bail us out of jail later...

Mile 1375.9

End of day 3.

As soon as I got back to civilization from my little adventure, I started looking for food. I ended up at a very local drive-through/fast food place. BUT it does not count as cheating because they have a sign that specifically states they are not a fast food restaurant. You drive up, place your order, then pull around back, get out of your car, and mull around a bunch of picnic tables for 10 minutes till your food is ready. The place was packed when I pulled in, and I felt rather out of place. Not because I'm not used to this sort of small farm-town... but because the parking lot was full of pickup trucks. Old, new, big, small... There was even an old Datsun. And then there was me, in my bright yellow Beetle with a new coat of red dust and mud-splatter...

I made it to my original target, even with the 2 hours I spend lost. Again, I went with a mid-range hotel, and what do you know, this one not only has REAL high speed Internet. The room also has a real office chair (stain free), and... Architecture.

Yep, for some reason they decided that they needed a round shower, and so the bathroom, which is normally just a rectangle cut off form the rest of the room in most hotels, is this big round pillar like thing protruding into the room. Then, to top things off, they replace the normal bathroom door with a sliding wooden door. Add to that a large desk/TV area complete with brand new LCD TV, conveniently placed power outlets (I don't have to unplug a lamp to charge my laptop!), and a crummy old window that looks like it belongs in a double wide...

Yeah, this room has Character, I'll give it that.

For dinner, I hit up Google for restaurant recommendations in the area, and ended up at a local “Tapas Bar and Grill”. I don't really do tapas, I guess it just seems too yuppie a concept for me. Still, the food was great, but it came in yuppie portions (small), at yuppie prices (high), and in a yuppie environment (overly decorated, and you guessed it, full of yuppies).

Mile 1160.3

And now for a few words from the Road Pylon:

ROUTE TRAFFIC!
ROUTE TRAFFIC!
ROUTE TRAFFIC!

Mile 1120.9

About 20 miles after that last post, I noticed that the “Scenic Route” singes I was originally following had disappeared. The entire area was littered with ranch access roads, and roads marked with “Private Property” signs that lead to the various oil equipment, and I guess I was just to busy enjoying the scenery, and pondering over how much it reminded me of where I grew up that I missed an important turn.

I could have just turned back. But I still had my bearings (if not a good sense of distance), and since roads like these were literally where I learned to drive, it only felt natural to just push on forward and get back to the interstate on my own.

Suffice it to say, I got myself royally lost.

I knew the relative direction to the interstate, sure, but on farm access roads that really does not help you much. To make things worse, they were in the middle of re-surfacing all of these gravel roads, meaning almost every mile had a different driving surface. Some roads were well packed gravel, some were fresh unpacked gravel, some roads had just had the top layer of gravel upturned, one road had been completely plowed up and was impassible to my low-clearance beetle. Speaking of the beetle, it did not get along with the gravel roads. Something about the low-clearance and plastic body work meant it rose a serious racket at even low speeds.

Eventually I managed to work my way back to civilization, but at the cost of going south when the interstate was well to the north. Mostly I just wanted to get off the dirt roads. In the end, I think I only added about 50 miles to the journey, and probably wasted 2 hours driving time.

Mile 1046.1

My travels took me through a rather stunning national/state park wherein I noticed a scenic road/auto tour that looked interesting. A 28 mile detour across “4 season gravel roads”, nothing compared to some of the offroading I used to do with my jeep, but considering my current method of transportation the scenic road seemed like it might but a fun diversion.

Instead of pictures of the beautiful landscape (which it was), or the oil pumps, pipes, and storage vessels which scarred the otherwise beautiful landscape (of which there were many), I present to you a picture of cows!

Not because open range cows are new or unique to me, but because I figured it would be fun to see how close I could place the pylon to the cows before they got angry/walked away. Turns out these were not a particularly friendly bunch...

Also, just proof of the saying: The grass is always greener on the cow side of the fence.

Mile 906.8

End of day 2.

This time I elected for something a little more... decent... in my hotel selection. For $10 more I have a room that is twice the size, and has either no mystery stains, or mystery stains so well hidden I have not found them yet (not that I'm looking). Their wireless high speed Internet works (Obviously), but I wouldn't exactly call it high-speed.

Mile 756.9

All day I've been driving through rolling hills, cow pastures, and farmland. The sky has been overcast, and very dark, and the radio has been issuing flash flood warnings, and checking with the weatherman to see if there is any “cloud rotation developing” every five minutes or so. I somehow managed to miss most of the storm, but it still made everything looks pretty miserable, and I just could not imagine how I was going to get some good pylon-shots in today.

Then, all of the sudden, there it was. I've already passed two other wind turbines so far, but both of them were significantly smaller and were planted in commercial districts. But THIS one. The other thing that immediately caught my eye was that there was an access road leading directly to the base, what looked like some sort of informational sinage, and NO fences or warning signs.

I took the next exit, and made my way through the back roads towards the turbine. Not only was there no warning/private property signs, but the service road was labeled, and had a few houses coming off of it.

When I climbed out of the car at the base of the turbine, three things surprised me all at once. First of all, it was REALLY windy. Second, that the turbine blades were howling horrifically and deflecting quite noticeably in the wind. And Third, I was right underneath 12 tons of bladed spinning awesomeness.

Call me a geek, which I am, but I got a huge adrenaline rush from this. Not from the trespassing (which I don't think I was), but just from being alone, in the middle of nowhere, close to a feat of engineering of such power, complexity, and lethal potential.

The signage I had spotted from the highway boasted about the technical specifications for the Turbine ( 900 kW, blade length of 85 feet and each blade weighing in 4 tons). Apparently this is one of two Turbines erected by a local energy co-op, and has been operating for 6 years.

I also did some back of the envelope math, and the blade tips would have only been traveling at 14 MPH, but it was still awe-inspiring.

Also, for those of you wondering why I was so fixated on wind-turbine related death...

Those pieces of steel you see floating gently to the ground like feathers? Yeah, those are chunks larger than 5 feet, some probably as long as 30 feet, and they aren't falling all that gently.

Mile 471.2

End of Day 1.

Pulling into town, one of the exists listed a restaurant by the name of “Machine Shed”. Intrigued by the name, I doubled back as soon as I could. Turns out to be a slightly higher class version of Cracker Barrel (Gift shop and all). Drinks served in mason glasses, waitresses in checkered shirts and overalls, you get the picture. Also, it turns out that “Machine Shed” is a chain... but since ONE, I did not know that, and TWO, it's only a chain in that one state, I don't think I broke any rules.

After dinner I "borrowed" Internet access from a nearby hotel, and looked up the budget hotel chains in the area. I found the cheapest one that listed Internet access (yes, I see the irony), called them up and made a reservation. Getting there was harder than I expected, as they had a surprising lack of sinage.

First, and most importantly, it turns out that their so-called Free High-Speed Internet consisted of a single linksys wireless AP placed SOMEWHERE in the hotel such that every room got poor signal. Furthermore, no matter how hard I tried, it would not let me connect. When I asked about it, the girl behind the desk just said that it sometimes does that when it storms.

Secondly, the room had, for reasons I will never fully comprehend, a rocking chair. Not some old time granny-classic rocking chair, one of those new tube-steel “Gliding” Rocking chairs with black steel frame and blue faux-velvet upholstery. It looked surprisingly conformable, except for the numerous “Mysterious” stains.. I did not sit in it.

Mile 270.5

FLOWERS!

Mile 63.5

I have driven by the Mars Cheese Castle many times, and even stopped there once. I honestly can't tell you what's so Martian about it, and the castle part is only by pure force. Fake crenellation everywhere, and even an number of bad medieval paintings in their “pub” area.

In truth, the Mars Cheese Castle is just one of many tourist traps billing “Authentic” cheese and sausage. Most surprisingly of all, they actually sell quite a bit of local produce along side the fake stuff, including an surprising selections of flavored hard ciders. Unfortunately, as I am driving, and they were $5.00 a bottle, I skipped on the local cider.

Also, they make a mean sub-sandwich, something local law enforcement seems to appreciate.

Mile 0

It begins!


What secret weapons are being developed behind these very doors?




Pylon on Bench.

I forgot the actual inscription, but if I recall correctly, this depicts the avatar of a student being gifted with the crown of knowledge by the four elemental spirits: Heat, Light, Gravity, and Momentum.

The Rules

Before I left (yes, I am making this post while already on the road), I set forth a few rules for my road trip. Some of these are due to outside limitations (like not having a CD player in the car), but most of them are just to improve the overall quality of the road trip, or at least make it more interesting.

Rule 1
At least 350 miles a day.

Rule 2
Avoid chain restaurants, and especially fast food joints.

Rule 3
No AC, windows and vent only.

Rule 4
No CD, MP3, Satellite Radio, etc. AM/FM ONLY!

Rule 5
If I see something interesting, stop at look at it.

Rule 6
Take at least one photo of the Pylon each day.

Introduction

What you need to know:

I am making this blog with the sole purpose of keeping myself entertained during a cross-country road trip. Anything else to put this blog into context has been intentionally left out.

Two points of note however:

There is a road pylon involved
I am NOT a photographer