Update: United airlines still the worst.

United is still the worst.

That black guy from reno 911

I'm pretty sure that black guy between the bald guy and the guy with hat is the dude from tv show "Reno 911". Poor guy isn't doing  too well if he is flying economy.

This is my first airplane celebrity sighting, very exciting. Very fulfilling.

Bourgeois pig

Lunch and coffee before going to airport at a, for lack of a better word, cute, coffee shop. The bourgeois pig.

Hipster. That's another word that could be used to describe the place.

Hipster but in a good way. 

There's an upstairs study that looks like an early 20th century bourgeois Victorian living room. If I was a student living in that neighborhood, I would go there everyday to study and drink coffee. 

I would even consider going back to school just so I can study in that coffee shop.

There was an inordinate number of young Asian people traveling in large groups and singly in that hostel.

Kentucky bluegrass country...

which is just another way to say rich, landed, property owners in Lexington Kentucky. 

89.9 FM and 96.7 FM

Country Music.  Where have you been all my life?!

Truckers and trucking music

I have lots of respect for what truckers do.  Theirs is not an easy job.  Here are a few of the songs that were playing in my head in an endless loop of background music:

"Turn the Page": certain lines of this song were my anthem on this road trip.  

"Papa Was A Rodeo": Once again, The Magnetic Field's Papa Was A Rodeo was the background music to my life:  "Home was anywhere with diesel gas, love was a trucker's hand, never stuck around long enough....for a one night staannniaaannnnaaaannnnndddd...".

"Here I Go Again": self explanatory.

Between 6/7/14 abd 6/14/14, I have driven 2,475 miles. According to Google Maps I spent at least 33 hours driving, but I assure you I spent much more than 33 hours sitting behind the wheel.

Here I am last night trying to save a few bucks and sleeping in the back of my SUV rental in a highway rest stop on my way back to Chicago: I didn't want to pay for a motel room for a few hours of sleep:

I'm very happy that the car rental agency place "upgraded" me for free to an SUV, instead of the 4 door sedan I reserved.  I am a big fan of sleeping in the back of SUV/hatchbacks with dropped down backseats.  Not to romanticize it, because it sucks, but it can be pretty convenient and way more comfortable than a sedan.  

However, the night I slept in the car, I think this was in Indiana, it was about 55 degrees during the night and i had nothing to keep me warm but a hoodie.  I even resorted to wrapping myself up in an emergency rain poncho to try to stay warm; that didn't work too well.  I ended up turning the car on and turning on the heat but i wasn't sure how much gas that would suck up and since I only had a little bit of gas left, i had to be really careful with doing that.  I  love traveling. 

$43/Night (inclusive)

Hip boutique hotel? or $43/night hostel?

Free Wifi, free computer stations with free printing, private rooms, free breakfast, giant free use kitchen, vending machines, ice machines, actual front desk clerks with little earphone walkie talkie things, pool table, tasteful indie pop rock playing in the background, grand piano, touch screen hotel info guide, outdoor seating area, all in a historic section of Chicago, right off of North Clark Street (which is just miles of shops and restaurants) and short walking distance from public transport.  

And people wonder why I am such a fan of hostels.  

Admittedly, the bathroom situation can use some improvement.  There are way too many beds for the number of toilets and shower stalls here.  I had to walk up to the third floor to find the least disgusting bathroom to poo in.  The toilet-to-bed ratio is way off.  But as Macklemore would say, "but hey, it was 4,300 cents a night" 

Devon Avenue, Chicago IL

I have been magically transported back to India.  Surly servers, slow service, thalis and delicious rava masala dosas.  

I was a little too excited. And hungry. I ordered way too much.

and look! There are even Betel nut stains on the sidewalk!  That's some authentic indian culture: 

End of my Southern Road trip

Time to start heading home.

I need to watch TV more Often

Why? So commercials can tell me that things like CougarLife.com exists. 

Road Tripping

You can only see so many small towns, interstates, highways, byways, farms and monuments before you get kind of jaded by it all.  This is not to say I don't like car road trips, I think i Just want to do quality over quantity in the future.  Instead of going far and wide and fast, i would like to focus in and dig deep into an area, really understand the local culture...you know?

It took a couple of days but my body got into road tripping trip shape a few days into.  That first day after driving about 11 hours and being on the road for 13, I was hurting.  But now, a 4 hour drive is easy peasy.

Ever get the feeling the world is too big?  I know its a big world out there, and it's a both comforting and annoying fact.

Also, I have to stop saying that the North Shore is too far.  It's not that far of a drive.  I realize that now.

Obligatory

Here is obligatory mountain ass. 

Sitting at the top in the fog was kind of cool, even though it admittedly wasn't the classic view, which is supposed to look something like this: 

Hell or high water, Charlie's Bunion or Death.

I went on one of those hikes motivated by sheer stubbornness more than any desire to enjoy nature or exercise.  I decided to hike Charlie's Bunion in the Great Smoky Mountains.  It was suppose to be a nice hike.  And it was (very atmospheric with the fog and cold and rain and lush forests).  But it was also 8 miles, round trip.  That's a bit much for me and my still questionable knee.  After the intermittent thunder storms, the 60 degree air temperature, soaking wet leather dress shoes and cotton socks, and after the 2.7 mile marker, it became one of those stubborn "i'm going to finish this whether I want to or not".  And like most acts of selfish, stupid, stubbornness, it's not me that is going to get hurt, but something else... in this case, my knee, I know it's going to be hurting tomorrow and it just started getting better.  FML. 

Beautiful lush drive into the park.  The park is free, which is nice.  The Motel 8 i'm staying in now is 70 bucks.  fair enough.  I've been staying at highway motels for most of my trip.  So far, I've avoided anything too gross and disgusting and managed to pay rates that don't make me cringe too much.  I think i will always be a hostel kind of guy.  

forests of Appalachia. I was actually hiking on the Appalachian Trail. 

I had a wonderful time in the South, in Tennessee and Georgia, I want to go watch Deliverance now.  

deer. 

It was rainy, and foggy and cold during my hike (good thing I had a blue umbrella with me); i guess they don't call it the Smoky Mountains for nothing.   The smoky mountains is a great marketing name for what are really just cloudy, foggy and hazy mountains...

Next on my bucket list is Kalalau trail on northern Kauai..  Under-prepared and over-confident baby.

Oh Tennessee...

Who would have thought there was a disneyland in eastern Tennessee:

A disneyland I tell you.

and here is a guy with what appears to be a g-string thong dangling from his rear-view mirror:

Take my love

Take my love, take my land.
Take me where i cannot stand.
That's OK, I'm still free,
you can't take the sky from me.

I get it. 

On Being Yellow in the South

The only thing I can say about being an asian minority in the south is that people might give me a second look, or a long first look.  This can get awkward at times since I like to people-watch and I end up making eye contact far too often… especially with the cute southern girls... i stare at them...they stare at me...very awkward. 

But sometimes I’m just begging for attention by making myself a spectacle with my blue umbrella… taking pictures of weird things and doing weird stuff….

and what is the deal with all these korean Presbyterian churches in Georgia? is it that chubby, bearded korean cult leader's doing?

The other ocean

Here I am seeing the Atlantic Ocean for the first time.   I can say I’ve touched both the water of the pacific and the atlantic ocean.  I guess that can be a retroactive bucket list item. Done.

AS I was driving up to the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee (a beautiful drive) I was listening to Fresh Air with Terry Gross on NPR.   I have decided to add a new item on the list: get interviewed by Terry Gross on Fresh Air on NPR.    I realize this isn’t going to be easy, but hey, getting naked pics at the top of Angel’s landing wasn’t easy either and I managed to do that. 

Jekyll Island

This is my decadent meal for the trip.  A dinner at the fancy dining room of the Jekyll Island Hotel. It was the full authentic experience, had a coldly polite black man in a jacket serving me, calling me sir.  

here i am chilling in front of the Rockefeller's house on Jekyll Island. 

You know you’re in a fancy resort island when even the public restrooms have AC.  You know you’re in the south in the summertime when the freeway rest areas have AC.  

The South

As pretty as the roads may look during the sunset, I couldn't forget the fact I was still in the South and certain formalities about stereotypes needs to be addressed:

Georgia

The backroads of Georgia.  Sunset. Pretty. Atmospheric.  The stuff bad country songs are made of.   Thunder storms.  Thunder storms to clean the dead bugs all over the grill and windshield of my car. 

The Georgia Guidestones

I didn't realize how much I wanted to do this, and see this thing until I finally arrived after hours of driving in the Georgian back roads.  I was giddy when I got out of the car.  This bucket list item was unexpectantly important to me.  

Things I did

Ethiopian Diamond: it was okay.  The satisfaction of accomplishing this objective was as delicious as the food itself.

Jekyll Island.  Fail.  The Federal Reserve meeting room was locked and set up for a business meeting.  All I could do was look in through the windows and jiggle the door handles.  I am disappoint.  But not entirely surprised.