Pictures

 Hatchery

Elkhorn Tavern at Pea Ridge (Civil War site)

Storm

Dallas and in between

So if you haven't figured it out through the back channels, yes I am in Dallas, TX.  Looks like I have fallen behind with my posts, seeing as I have skipped the whole south.  I mostly blasted through it in two days.  Once I  closed my lease in New Haven I headed south to see what southern comfort is all about.  Skipped the tolls on the way to the south because I wasn't down for paying another $14 to drive.  This tour ended up heading through the mountains, below is the map.    

Ended up driving right past the Yuengling factory and didn't realize it until I was 200 miles away. F's.  If you know nothing of this lovely brand it's the oldest brewery in the U.S. and very hard to come by if you don't live on the east coast.  

                                                  

After missing the opportunity of my life, I enjoyed the mountains of Virginia, maybe a little to much because I spent the night there in my car.  As you can imagine, sleeping in a car full of my stuff wasn't very comfortable.  That night made for an early morning on the road, plus a had a lot of road between me and the next sleeping den.  

The next 14 hours was me vs. the road, except lunch that was lunch vs. me.  I found an amazing hole in the wall bbq place in Memphis.  The place smelt amazing even before I got through the door.  I don't have a picture of the pork sandwich I had before it wasn't around long enough.  

Memphis is on the border between Tennessee and Arkansas.  After enjoying the beautiful country side of Tennessee I was hating on Arkansas as soon as I crossed the border.  As soon as you pass over the Mississippi river you find your self on the wrong side of the river.  Miles of mud as far as the eye can see.  Things just seemed a little gloomier, houses were run down, businesses closed, and more importantly the road became degraded.  I thought to myself, "How can that old man (Don Purser) like it here?"  It took until Little Rock, AR until I realized how beautiful Arkansas can be.  I ended up taking a lot of pictures when Mr. Purser was showing me around.  We went to a Civil War site, National Parks, lakes, a fish hatchery, and surrounding cities, which took a twisted winding road to access all the sites. 

Pictures from Tennessee and Arkansas below.

Fish Hatchery

Weather was odd a few days in Arkansas. It was a beautiful day and then a hailstorm, then sun, and then later that night rain, lighting, and thunder.

Hotel Purser

Grandpa's (Don Purser) new fishing hole (heated)

  

New Haven

It’s April 16th and people are starting to ask me where I am and where I have been, so this obviously means that I’m not a very good blogger.  I’ve been in New Haven, CT since my last post.  Here I have been going to museums, restaurants, and seeing local sites.  A few notable places are the Yale Center for British Art, Yale University Art Gallery, Tokyo String Quartet benefit concert, some great restaurants, and architecture that dates back to the beginning of this lovely country.

The art museums were a nice break from the city and the best part was that they were free.  Yale's art museum had many different exhibits, some of which I couldn't take pictures of probably because they were owned by starving artists.  Pictures below

http://artgallery.yale.edu/

http://ycba.yale.edu

It was restaurant week in New Haven last week.  Restaurant week is when the local restaurants have a set menu for lunch and dinner.  My favorite restaurant was Pacifico, which served fresh Latin food.  I attached a picture and a link.

http://www.pacificorestaurants.com/













Tokyo String Quartet put on a benefit concert for the victims of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.  It was a packed event with people young and old.  The last song was two quartets going back and fore, which was quite intense.

http://music.yale.edu/news/?p=5082

Rush hour?

As I sat in New York, NY rush hour traffic today, I wondered why they called it rush hour when it lasted me almost three hours. I guess I had a little time on my hands. HA. Today was the big trek from Luke's sweet Bloomington, IN pad to grad ol' Yale campus in New Haven, CT, which totaled 15 hours in driving time. I was making great time with limited stops until New Jersey and New York each used me like a dirty play thing. Just when I thought it was done and I was about to call the cops, Connecticut stuck up from behind and kicked me between the legs like a mischievous three year old. Well as you can guess, I'm a little sore and tired. Til next time kiddies.

1,736/3,600 New Haven... for those of you who are keeping score.

877/3,600 Bloomington, IN

The trip down to Bloomington, IN was an interesting one because of one special gem I found in the Indiana landscape, a place called Fair Oak. It seemed like an different place to stop for lunch, but I should have know that with as much advertising as they had on the side of the road the place was going to be loaded with ankle biters. That's kids Shawna haha. A few of the activities that were offered at this fair establishment were barn tours, calfing demonstrations, and the process of making cheese. I guess that it's close enough to Chicago to sell it as a tourist attraction. At least my sandwich was great.

Once in Bloomington, Luke informed me about the local folk so I wouldn't have any culture shock when we were out on the town. Bloomington wasn't a half bad place all in all. The food we had was amazing, the Indiana University was huge, and, for the most part, had a general youth atmosphere, but I didn't have to deal with the aspects that Luke warned me about.  

Pub Grub
Guiness and Stew

Turkish Style Lamb shank with salad, rice, soup, and tea for $12!

643/3,600 Chicago, IL

This wasn't my first visit to Chicago, but there were a few important firsts, the most important of which was watching defending champions the Chicago Black Hawks beat the Detroit Red Wings while I was in Chicago. OT glory, Amazing! Not quite as fun for my friend, T.J., who was working for most of the game at Fridays. Which brings me to another first, getting drunk at Fridays, thanks to T.J. Oh and that special little bar that I will always forget. 

Lastly, it was the first time I have seen T.J. and his parents since last time I saw then... I'm counting it.

Special thanks to T.J.'s parents for letting me enjoy their hospitable home once more.

The journey begins

Thought I should start this one off with a few words about the evening of Friday the 25th of March 2011.  It may have been a little over the top with the fire department, cops (Billy), and later on the Land lord, but I appreciate all my friends that came to send me off and even more to the friends that can read (brought me a mixed cd).  Ask someone else about the party details.  I'll miss most of you guys I'm sure. haha.

I'm all packed and I hit the road after watching UND destroy Denver. As the picture shows, my car was packed to the brim.  I have downsived my life enough to fit just my essential things into this small car.  Humbling to think what we really need just to live on, which could still be a few less things then I have haha.  Staying the night in the cities and tomorrow I will be meeting up with an old friend, T.J., in Chicago.


235/3,600 miles down and only 3,365/3,600 to go, I'm basically there. 


As I was driving today one of my favorite songs came on the internet radio, swing life away by Rise Against, which was perfect for the situation at hand... the best verse sings,  
      
      I've been here so long, I think that it's time to move
      The winter's so cold, summer's over too soon
      Let's pack our bags and settle down where palm trees grow

      I've got some friends, some that I hardly know
      But we've had some times, I wouldn't trade for the world
      We chase these days down with talks of the places that we will go

Interpret as you will