Roadtrip: Days 1-3

[a note: Wouldn't it seem that anytime one of us hits the road, without much concern as to itinerary or destination, we take on the honorary stole of 'Wandering Philosopher'? Poet, soothsayer, minstrel; drunk on asphalt and solitude. Steinbeck, Kerouac, Heat Moon, Miller have all preached the gospel of the road, the absolute truth of white letter on green field. I suppose they set the precedent for this modern meta-character, the Vagabond Sage. All this to say: please excuse me if I attempt to wax eloquent or lend undue gravity to the mundane. I am not immune to the intoxication of the road.]

8-12-12 DAY ONE STUFF
I don't think it's a stretch of the imagination to say that no one would call the drive from Knoxville to Pensacola, FL glamorous. Not when you stay predominantly on interstates, at any rate, and I didn't really have the time to explore backroads on my way down. I left town around 11am after coffee with friends and a great send-off. Nine hours later I pulled into my friend Joey's driveway, and there honestly isn't much else to say about it. Hopefully I'm not overly romanticizing the western portions of this trip.
Miles: 480
MPG: 40
Track of the Day: Ludovico Einaudi - Dietro Casa

8-13-12 THE DOLLHOUSE
It's hard not to slip back into old relationships as if we were still in high school. Joey and I went down to P'cola Beach for a few hours, then got dinner at a locally famous Irish pub, McGuire's, where he bought me their signature drink, the Irish Wake. I guess it was about 6 shots of whiskey with orange juice and green food coloring, all mixed together in a big mason jar. Didn't really hit very hard, considering. The house Joey lives in with a handful of other Navy officers looks like a giant dollhouse. Got a little sunburned, all is right in the world.
Miles: 0
TOTD: The Goat Rodeo Sessions - Here and Heaven

Disclaimer: I do not play the guitar.

8-14-12 THE STARS AT NIGHT
If it's raining at the beach,
it'll be worse on the plains.
You'll catch every red light out of
Alabama when all you want is Texas.
Do ten hours of stop-and-go
make up for two years of off-and-on?

Have you ever felt soreness in your eyes? By the time I got to Longview, TX tonight I could barely focus on anything. Dusk driving is the worst. Crossed the Mississippi today, I guess that should probably be a landmark of some sort, but I've hopped over it too many times to give it much pomp anymore. More importantly, I broke 1000 miles today. Just the tip of the iceberg, but still momentous.

Miles: 546 (Total: 1026)
MPG: 33 (red lights + AC)
TOTD: one hour of silence (hey, your ears need a break now and then)

Is that...

Levon!?

Starting to hallucinate

There is a decimal point there.

From sea to scalding sea.

Up and went to Charleston on Wednesday with JB & JP. Why not? Six hours straight to the sand and scorched skin.

I know the Carolina coast is fed by the gulf-stream, and therefore warm, but I wasn't prepared for the veritable hot tub of Sullivan's Island. We waded across 3 sandbars on our way out to sea, but were still only chest-high a quarter mile out.

Ultraviolet radiation made a fool of my hubris. I'll sport a mantle of red and dying skin cells for the next week.

Jeremy will too, even though he spent half of our sea-side escape applying sunscreen.

We wandered downtown Charleston Wednesday night, but didn't plan ahead and ended up walking the 2.5 miles back to the hostel after the trolleys stopped running. Cool town. Lots of character. Shame we were only there for a night.

In a freak instance of synchronicity, the other bed in our hostel room was occupied by a fellow Knoxvillian, with whom we shared common friends back home and some delicious tacos Thursday afternoon.

Got stung on the foot by a jellyfish Thursday morning, then got stung on the other foot by another jellyfish 30 mins later. One of our party (who shall remain nameless for dignity's sake) graciously bathed my assailed appendage in ammonia, to no discernible effect. Oh well.

But now, back to Knoxville, and back to work. Americorps orientation starts Monday, then 40 hours/wk the next Monday.

Summer is over. But Fall is pretty cool too.