a leisurely sunday drive
Home. I am back at home after my much maligned tour of Arizona. I never thought I would say this but I am happy to be back in Tacoma. The weather here is soothing that the mind can forget even the worst memories. It massages the skin with it's tiny little hands found in the wind. The rich smell of Pine, which dominates the landscape here, is much more pleasing than the smell of desert, which is why you have never seen desert scented candles or air freshner.
The little man of Tucson ended our relationship much the way he found it - without a word or any assistance. The best thing I can say about him is that he wasn't as bad with me as I hear he has been with others. Isn't that sad when the best thing anyone can think to say of you is that you aren't as shitty of a person as say, Hilter. He didn't offer me a ride to the airport, but he did pay me. So I guess I broke even. C'est le vie.
Home - late Sunday and trying to be ready for work on Monday morning. The biggest problem I have right now, other than the fact that I have to get up at four, is that I don't have a vehicle to get to work on Monday. The train and the bus aren't running that early and a cab would be close to 90 bucks. The pony and the car were sold so I am stuck with a truck that is in the shop and not ready for use. I stressed out for hours trying to figure out what to do and eventually a workable solution was arranged - I cried until a friend lent me their car.
I got to work two hours late... And was laid off.
Home - early from work on Monday and in need of a job to pay for a dream. I feel that I am slowly losing my grasp on my September tour and that scares me. It's one thing I have been looking forward to for a long time. It's one of the reason that I labored so hard in the hot sun during the entire month of July.
I spent Monday reviewing my dream tour and doing the math that will make it possible. I need to know the following; the mileage to money ratio, the food to money ration, the friends to distance to time ratio, the distance to time on the bike to comfort ratio. It's a labor of love, so I can't say that I was to put out by the math. I got to charting all my work and my spirits started to rise. There is something about using a dry erase board, a calendar, a map, some push pins, a ball of blood red yarn and a calculator to plot an event that makes you feel like you have the world by the balls.
Each push pin is a stop and the red yarn will be my path. With the enthusiam of a Mountain Dew'ed 6 year old, I am pushing pins into the map. I have almost emptied one box of push pins before I realize that I can't stop in all of these places in the time frame that I am giving myself. My unruly excitment has me on a tour that would take a TRON light cycle to achieve. After my intial plan, the grand totals for the trip are: 9 months of travel. 3000 dollars in fuel. Needless to say, I had some editing to do.
The rules became thus; I can't go more than 400 miles in any one day. I can't spend more than forty bucks on a hotel. I have to choose camping before staying at a hotel. I have to stay with friends and milk them for their showers, before camping. I have to over-estimate gas prices, gas mileage and travel time that it takes for a particular leg of the trip.
After a few hours the trip boils down into 25 legs, 31 days, 8000 miles, 600 dollars for gas, 600 dollars for housing and food, 4 shows along the way that cover 750 dollars of the trip, and 12 stops where I can borrow a shower from a friend. I will see Spokane, Butte, Fargo, Minneapolis, Chicago, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, D.C., Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Louisville, St Louis, Kansas City, Oklahoma City, Lubbock, Albuquerque, Salt Lake City, Boise and Tacoma. Of course, there are ton of stops in between, but those are the highlights.
The yarn on the map that connects each stop to the next, makes North America look like it has fuzzy arteries feeding every conceivable corner of it. Of course, these arteries are straight and don't allow for the true nature of the trip, but I feel like a Bond bad guy staring at my next evil plan to take over the world, every time I stand with my arms crossed looking at it. The fuzzy blood red arteries just add another element to my evil.
The tenative tour schedule is up on www.danielrock.com... they're subject to change as offers for free housing, free food, body massages and once in a lifetime events are presented to me.
The rest of my week is going to be spent trying to come up with the money necessary to cover the bills while I am on tour. I am still trying to find more work while I'm out on the tour, so if any of you know of a bar that would like a comic and can accomodate my schedule... I am willing to work something out for gas money and place to shower.
It would seem that I have a lot of time all of sudden... I can't say that I like this stagnant feeling, perhaps a month long bike tour is just what I need.
The little man of Tucson ended our relationship much the way he found it - without a word or any assistance. The best thing I can say about him is that he wasn't as bad with me as I hear he has been with others. Isn't that sad when the best thing anyone can think to say of you is that you aren't as shitty of a person as say, Hilter. He didn't offer me a ride to the airport, but he did pay me. So I guess I broke even. C'est le vie.
Home - late Sunday and trying to be ready for work on Monday morning. The biggest problem I have right now, other than the fact that I have to get up at four, is that I don't have a vehicle to get to work on Monday. The train and the bus aren't running that early and a cab would be close to 90 bucks. The pony and the car were sold so I am stuck with a truck that is in the shop and not ready for use. I stressed out for hours trying to figure out what to do and eventually a workable solution was arranged - I cried until a friend lent me their car.
I got to work two hours late... And was laid off.
Home - early from work on Monday and in need of a job to pay for a dream. I feel that I am slowly losing my grasp on my September tour and that scares me. It's one thing I have been looking forward to for a long time. It's one of the reason that I labored so hard in the hot sun during the entire month of July.
I spent Monday reviewing my dream tour and doing the math that will make it possible. I need to know the following; the mileage to money ratio, the food to money ration, the friends to distance to time ratio, the distance to time on the bike to comfort ratio. It's a labor of love, so I can't say that I was to put out by the math. I got to charting all my work and my spirits started to rise. There is something about using a dry erase board, a calendar, a map, some push pins, a ball of blood red yarn and a calculator to plot an event that makes you feel like you have the world by the balls.
Each push pin is a stop and the red yarn will be my path. With the enthusiam of a Mountain Dew'ed 6 year old, I am pushing pins into the map. I have almost emptied one box of push pins before I realize that I can't stop in all of these places in the time frame that I am giving myself. My unruly excitment has me on a tour that would take a TRON light cycle to achieve. After my intial plan, the grand totals for the trip are: 9 months of travel. 3000 dollars in fuel. Needless to say, I had some editing to do.
The rules became thus; I can't go more than 400 miles in any one day. I can't spend more than forty bucks on a hotel. I have to choose camping before staying at a hotel. I have to stay with friends and milk them for their showers, before camping. I have to over-estimate gas prices, gas mileage and travel time that it takes for a particular leg of the trip.
After a few hours the trip boils down into 25 legs, 31 days, 8000 miles, 600 dollars for gas, 600 dollars for housing and food, 4 shows along the way that cover 750 dollars of the trip, and 12 stops where I can borrow a shower from a friend. I will see Spokane, Butte, Fargo, Minneapolis, Chicago, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, D.C., Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Louisville, St Louis, Kansas City, Oklahoma City, Lubbock, Albuquerque, Salt Lake City, Boise and Tacoma. Of course, there are ton of stops in between, but those are the highlights.
The yarn on the map that connects each stop to the next, makes North America look like it has fuzzy arteries feeding every conceivable corner of it. Of course, these arteries are straight and don't allow for the true nature of the trip, but I feel like a Bond bad guy staring at my next evil plan to take over the world, every time I stand with my arms crossed looking at it. The fuzzy blood red arteries just add another element to my evil.
The tenative tour schedule is up on www.danielrock.com... they're subject to change as offers for free housing, free food, body massages and once in a lifetime events are presented to me.
The rest of my week is going to be spent trying to come up with the money necessary to cover the bills while I am on tour. I am still trying to find more work while I'm out on the tour, so if any of you know of a bar that would like a comic and can accomodate my schedule... I am willing to work something out for gas money and place to shower.
It would seem that I have a lot of time all of sudden... I can't say that I like this stagnant feeling, perhaps a month long bike tour is just what I need.
posted by Daniel Loomis | 10:22 AM
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