home

I'm home.

Among other things, this means this blog will go into hibernation. I suspect I am only interested in blogging while on the road.

I drove 1697.9 miles and stayed in 6 places over 12 days, 11 nights. I listened to "Pet Sounds", "Smile", and "Long Knives Drawn" a million times each.

I used couchsurfing to find two of those places. I liked the experience - I met new people that I liked (and hey, it's also a free place to stay).

I am of course already dreaming of other trips this year. This time with the kiddo.
Again I'm dreaming big... originally this January trip was possibly reaching as far as Colorado...
So if we leave right after school ends in June, there should be enough time to make it to Boulder (by way of Madison) and back to NJ in time to see my partner for my birthday, right?
Kiddo will be 5 this summer... I'm thinking 4 to 5 hours is probably a good max time of driving per day to subject her to. Couchsurfing for stops where we don't know people. And since it's summer, maybe we can do some camping too!

hoist up the john b sail

the pillow has been retrieved
so the last stop has been made
next: home!

couchsurfing 2

Last night I stayed with completely different people. They have a bunny, who acts more like a stereotypical dog than a stereotypical bunny.

couchsurfing 1

Last night I had my first stay with people I connected with via couchsurfing.
It was pretty awesome.
Here are some prayer flags from the bedroom I'm in right now.

goodbye, beach

dead fish

I am hoping I get to see alligators before I leave the coast, but for now most of the animals I seem to be taking pictures of are dead.
(I did see some [live] dolphins, but they were far off so I don't have a good picture)

the coast

this is a head wound

I bumped my head. I'm pretty sure I have not gotten blood on anything yet (well, besides my head), but please forgive me if I did, dear host.

misc

I dislike how almost all DC-area metro stations look alike inside.

Thomas Jefferson made a book called "The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth" by cutting up parts of the New Testament and pasting them together. He removed everything about miracles, resurrection, angels, prophecy, etc. It was just the story of Jesus the man and his teachings.

I left my favorite pillow in Arlington. I realized within a minute of stepping outside, but I had locked the door behind me. I will probably need to stop and get it on the way home - I'm not ready to break my dependence on it.

The Smithsonian Museum of American History had a little bit of flag waving nationalism but a lot less than I feared. The Air and Space Museum, however, was a bummer. Our country's development of aviation and the space program has really been all about the military. Plus it was hard to concentrate on taking a picture of the alternate moon lander thingy when the doors to the food court kept opening and letting that unique McDonalds smell out.

the "hang up signs" people and the "add paper towels to the bathroom" people really need to talk

a letter for my kiddo

Hey Little,

I took a bunch of pictures today. I tried to take pictures of things you might find interesting.

	This small triangular thing is a piece of a moon rock! When people went to the moon, they brought back a moon rock. This is part of it.
	When some of the first few people went into space, they went in something almost exactly like this! It's pretty small in there, but there's room for one person to sit.
	This has been in space! It's the tip of a rocket.
	You know how people went to the moon? They had to wear special space suits. Someone wore this on the moon!
	This is another space suit that someone wore on the moon!
	This is a cast of dinosaur bones, which means they took dinosaur bones and copied the exact shapes so that they could display the copies in a museum. This is a triceratops, like in that book we read. The triceratops is huge!
	Check out this woolly mammoth! It was a giant animal sort of like an elephant!
	People thought there weren't anymore of these fish in the ocean, but then they found one! It's pretty weird looking.
	Giant whale!
	That whale again!
	It's a piece of a meteor!
	The bones of a giant turtle!
	Scientists think that this rock is from Mars. They think that a meteor hit Mars, which sent Mars rocks flying into space, including this one!
	more parts of meteors from different places
	an old train. It's green!
	another old train
	a third train. Black and red!

I really miss you! Hope you like the pictures I took for you.

Love,
Dad

No Jesus Allowed

apparently, walking on water is strictly forbidden in DC (bottom center)

light

Twice on this trip I've looked up into the very beginnings of a sunset, where the sun is large, yellow, and blinding. The circumstances were very different.
The first one was on Sunday when I was driving in. I turned west on 495, which meant I was almost at my first stop (faster than I had remembered it taking), and "Wouldn't It Be Nice" was on the stereo, and it was one of those little bursts of happiness for no good reason.
The second was today at the Holocaust Museum. After touring the exhibit I went into the Hall of Remembrances and approached one of the narrow windows, which happened to be facing west across the Tidal Basin.

I last toured the Holocaust Museum at age 13, and I remember the big pile of shoes the most. That was what took all the horrific imagery and put it in the context of real people. Today I was kind of a wreck way before the shoes.

Would have liked to hug my kid after that.

oops

I was denied entry to the Holocaust Museum because I had a flask of vodka in my bookbag.

I had filled it up for a party on Saturday, but I didn't use it, so it's completely full.
Today I brought the bookbag with me into DC, completely forgetting about the flask.
So I walked in and put my bag in the x-ray machine, and it took me a minute to realize what the guy was talking about when he asked about the flask. I laughed and admitted it was full of vodka. He told me I could go outside and pour it out, but since the museum was about to close I just said I'd come back another day (note: turns out I wouldn't even have been able to take the elevator up to the main exhibtit anyway, that closes 1 hour before the museum closes).

So... oops.

self portrait in front of the Tidal Basin

it was snowing (a lot)

goodbye, old friends

Back in 2010 I misjudged how much my partner and I would each have to pay for a DC metro ride, and I ended up with two 20 cent cards.

I carried them around for at least a year and a half.

Finally, they're home.

departure

I'm not very good at packing.
Well... I'm really good at packing a car. But I'm pretty bad at deciding / remembering what to bring in the first place.

Today I left for a trip that will be at least a week and a half. It's January in North America.
I didn't bring a coat.
I actually didn't bring a single thing with long sleeves.
But I did bring a milk crate full of oranges, and something like six pounds of baby carrots. I don't even like carrots that much.

Tomorrow's to-do list now includes thrift stores.