Across the Country in a 1997 VW Golf

Well folks, I’ve driven across the country and am getting settled into my new home. Here is the report in brief:

I was on the road for 18 days.

Drove 3,501 miles.

Fuel: $424.12 (130 gallons)

Average miles to the gallon in my fully loaded VW Golf: 27

Food: $208.03 ($11.56 per day)

Entertainment/Souvenirs: $85.96

Unforeseen car repairs: $531.36

Day 1: Tuesday, November 29: Tapping my foot waiting for the tire place to finish getting my wheels ship-shape. Finally got the car around 4:30 pm, frantically packed and drove over the mountains to beat the coming snow. Spent the night in Gillette, WY, with fellow Worland-ite, Preston Beckstead, a roads engineer who is jealous of my traveling life, but who experiences a lot more stability than I do. Great to see him and his wall-eyed pug. Go to Hawaii, Preston, or come visit me here in the sub-tropics sometime . . . Janie is welcome.

Day 2: Wednesday, November 30: Drove to Sioux Falls and spent the evening with my little sister Denise, then college senior year roomies, Lauren Parliament and Ariana Hunt. I could have cried, it was so great to see them! We shared all that important girl-talk and stories and plans. Lauren is stable, working, and getting training in counseling. Ariana is crazier than I, headed for Costa Rica, and then a bicycle trip across the US, starting in Florida, so I’ll hopefully be joining her for some of it in February or March.

Day 3: Thursday, December 1: Met my dear friend Kirby Wilcoxson at the church he pastors, shared coffee and some stories, then left my cat with him in the office and spent the day shopping and hanging with my sister. Cooked a supper of steak and greens for the Wilcoxson family and Denise.

Day 4: Friday, December 2: Spent time on campus, talking with Nancy Olive. Beyond that I don’t remember . . . slept on the couch with Jonah, Kirby’s giant dog? Kirby and I made shrimp and pasta for supper . . . one of our favorite activities . . . hanging in the kitchen with food.

Day 5: Saturday, December 3: Got up early and shared breakfast with Kirby and Nancy. Packed up and picked up Denise on campus and drove to Moorhead MN, for “Christmas at Concordia,” the beautiful concert our sister Kelley was singing in. Met Dad, Mom, Grandma Nelson, Uncle Keith, and Aunt Nancy there and enjoyed an afternoon of gorgeous choral music. Supper all together at Ruby Tuesdays. Spent the night at Kelley’s fancy townhouse on campus, Ember running around terrorizing everybody.

Day 6: Sunday, December 4: Breakfast and grocery shopping with sisters in the morning, then attempting to drive to Sioux Falls. 35 miles south of Fargo my Spark Plug #2 blew out of the engine block. Horrible sound. Good thing Denise was right behind me in the family Sebring. She rushed me back to Fargo and headed out for her own concert in Sioux Falls. My college sophomore roommate’s parents, Vick and Dixie Lehman opened their home, hearts, and AAA towing services to me. Got the car towed to a local shop and spent time catching up.

Day 7: Monday, December 5: Visited the local garage to explain the VW in the parking lot and its story. Then spent the day resting, visiting, and preparing some Christmas goodies for Dixie. Car repaired by 3 or so in the afternoon, so I packed up and drove to Sioux Falls.

Day 8: Tuesday, December 6: Drove to South St. Paul, MN, stayed with Branigan Weber, friend of Toolik co-worker Justin Johnson. Shortly before my arrival Branigan texts me: “How are you with dead animals?” Turns out, Branigan and his friend were butchering a deer. I was so pleased to be there. Beer, venison, and cold weather (a high of 20, I think, for the next couple days).

Day 9: Wednesday, December 7: Went to the Spring Forest Qigong center for two sessions in the morning. A Qi-ssage session with Jaci, and an initial/informative session with Master Jim. Since I was finished by noon, went downtown Minneapolis and visited the Walker Arts Center and Sculpture Garden. Enjoyed browsing modern artwork, especially a Mark Rothko piece, the Merce Cunningham (choreographer) and Robert Raushenberger (painter/collage) exhibit, the film of a flooding McDonalds, and the dress made of steaks. Hm. Modern art. Bought cards, posters, and Wyoming-made earrings, then visited the Basilica of St. Mary before calling it a day and going back to Branigans for a supper of pheasant, and more deer butchery.

Day 10: Thursday, December 8: Picked up my sister Kelley downtown Minneapolis and treated her to breakfast at the Uptown Diner on Hennepin Ave. I had Benedict Caprice . . . poached eggs, tomato, mozzarella, and pesto hollandaise on English muffins. WOW! Party in my mouth! Our mohawked waitress came to our table and said the cook had prepared our meals a second time and boxed them for us to take with. We knew somebody in the 500 Concordia singers in Minneapolis for their final concerts at Great Hall would be hungry. Dropped Kelley and food off at the hotel, and went for my sessions at Spring Forest. Had another Qi-ssage, a class on exercises I can practice on my own, a Healing Circle (20 some people and the staff in a mass healing/meditation session), another private session with Jim, and another with Chunyi Lin. Then back to Branigan’s to cook chicken and alfredo pasta for him and his 2 year old son, Lachland. Another great day.

Day 11: Friday, December 9: Drove to Chicago, to my friend Dianna’s place. Had a Chicago-style hotdog and sprite upon my late arrival. Always good to see a college friend.

Day 12: Saturday, December 10: In the morning, shopped IKEA with Dianna, ate at Panda Express, got lost trying to get back to the apartment, and then drove to Plymouth, Michigan. Jane Cameron, who I worked with at Bee Heaven Farm winter 2010/2011, lives with her sister in Plymouth, working and saving up for her dream homestead. Jane and I are like sisters from two different generations. I drove a car for her last spring, and she babysat the Shaker broom I bought in Kentucky and didn’t want to take on the bus. I had to go all the way to Michigan to get the broom and see Jane. We ate downtown Plymouth . . . I had the whitefish dish voted “the best” in Michigan, and it was pretty dang good. Then we drove around looking at Christmas lights.

Day 12: Sunday, December 11: Participated in a Qigong meditation with Jane, then, fed and refreshed, headed out for Wilmore, Kentucky. Well, almost. North of Dayton, Ohio, my car died. Oops. Helped by Dave and family, we got it into Huber Heights and into a shop that was able to look at and fix the problem by 5 o’clock. It was the alternator; it had finished its good life at 14 years and 160,000 miles. Now the new one looks too shiny for everything else under the hood. Ember and I hung out in the shop and talked to the guys and Abby, who felt she had met me somewhere before. Called my friend Bernie in Cincinnati, and asked if I could stay with him after all (had actually contacted him once, then decided to stay in Kentucky instead of Ohio . . . the alternator altered all plans). Bernie to me and the cat into his house full of stuff . . . heaven for a little cat. Showed me his wooden stripper canoe building project and offered something irresistible . . . “You want to go canoeing tomorrow?” What the hell . . . the car says slow down, my landlady won’t be in Tallahassee until later, and my Alabama friend would be better off if I came after finals rather than right in the middle. Canoeing sounded like a great idea.

Day 13: Monday, December 12: Bernie and I floated a 10 mile segment of the Little Miami River, visiting Loveland Ohio’s local castle, and following up the float with Skyline Chili . . . a Cincinnati signature . . . chili atop spaghetti and covered in shredded cheese, served with a bowl of oyster crackers.

Day 14: Tuesday, December 13: Off to Kentucky. I tried to stop at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, but turns out it’s closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. Bummer. But, arrived at Jim and Elaine Hamilton’s at a decent time, had supper and shared Alaska pictures and stories.

Day 15: Wednesday, December 14: Spent the day relaxing, knitting on the porch in the warm Kentucky weather, making a shopping trip to Nicholasville with Jim, Elaine, and Elaine’s 96 year old mother, Paupeé. We had supper at Casa de José in downtown Wilmore.

Day 16: Thursday, December 15: Drove to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, to stay with Alyssa Rosenblum, a Toolik connection. (Insert car story: Stopped in Bowling Green, KY, to get a rubber tube for something related to the oil distribution system. It was cracked pretty badly, and everything under the hood was nasty oily. The VW-specific hose would have cost $20 and needed ordering, so we settled on a radiator hose for $10 and cut it to size. I got to do most of the dirty work, but Kenny's muscle got the hose on all the way. Thank you, Kenny.) Since Alyssa finished finals that day, it was a night to party. We dressed up and started with margaritas on the UA strip. Following was supper at Five, a downtown bar and restaurant (the best cheeseburger I’ve ever put in my mouth) and more drinks at the Grey Lady. We closed the bar at 2 o’clock, dancing and carrying on. A good time. Back to the apartment to crash.

Day 17: Friday, December 16: Slept until noon. Then meandered across the Black Warrior river to Northport for great southern food. The menu is simple, and the line was thankfully not too long. You pick your meat, and then your sides. For me, fried catfish, turnip greens, fried okra, and sweet tea. Boom-badda-boom: Deliciousness. Afterward, we wandered into the antique store across the street where I broke down and bought a 7-inch cast-iron skillet ($8) and egg-beater (the non-electric kind: two whisks on a manual crank, $6). I hope nobody expects me to treat them like antiques. Then an introduction to UA campus science buildings and the Greg Starr labs . . . this is one place all those Toolik samples end up. Then supper at the original Dreamland Bar-B-Q, tucked off in a part of town where there are a lot of rusty trucks and trailer homes. Alyssa, Mandy, and I outdid ourselves with a full rack and a half, and then a banana pudding to share. Then a beer downtown with more Toolik friends, Mike and Eve Kendrick. The world is so small! Isn’t it great?

Day 18: Saturday, December 17: The final leg, Tuscaloosa to Tallahassee. It was great to be off the freeway. Stopped at the Bama Nut Shop for 5 lbs of pecans to send Daddy for Christmas . . . hope he can figure out how to get them open. Arrived in Havana in the evening, and met Scott, who led and introduced me to my new home, a 5^th wheel trailer camper back in the woods. My landlady is still stuck in Ft. Myers on a job, but I’ll meet her soon. Unloaded the car and went into Tallahassee to outfit all my grocery and homemaking needs at Harvey’s. It felt great to sign up for their discounts card and fill my cart with normal things like vegetables, olive oil, aluminum foil, soap, grits, a bigger litter-tray for the brave traveling kitty, bags of greens, and a tray of smoked ham hocks. Greens and ham hocks? Welcome to the south.