Day Two, p.m.

Alas, no photos from this afternoon. There would have been some nice ones, too. I can picture them in my mind. Battery issues. Or battery owner issues. I was too worried I'd forget to take the battery with me if I recharged it last night. And it would have really looked out of place in that room, which hasn't changed much since Nixon was in power. Wish I had risked it -- there was some neat stuff out there today. Oh well, live and learn. Tomorrow, we begin anew.

12:24: 1,513.6 kms.
What’s Playing: Pulp, This is Hardcore

13:24: 1,630.3 kms.

13:42: Back off the highway looking for the Turkey Creek Outlets. Disappointing. Didn’t even get out of the car. They look just like the big boxes set up back home, just more plentiful. Money scurrying, quickly gathered and crammed back into my pockets.

14:08: Knoxville! Wild man’s back at it again, off the highway looking for the University of Tennessee. Go Vol’s. There are tents set up all around this city with signs advertising “Revivals”. I don’t think I’m going to stop here. Or there. Oh, there’s the university. In between, I also saw the World’s Fair park, replete with big, gold dome and ran over my share of bad, bad streets. Have you not heard of grading, folks? Driveways should not drop vertically to the street. Not good for the shocks. Or the bumper.
What’s Playing: Coldplay, Parachutes

14:31: More gas. $2.679 a gallon for a total of $21.89. With some clever guesswork, I managed to pull into a gas station directly beside the street that leads into the university. And almost got into an accident in the process (sorry to the guy who’s likely still cursing Canadians everywhere). Funny enough, UT is not located on University Avenue, but on Volunteer. It’s a good thing I have a fondness for orange. Bright orange. Everywhere. The university is still bustling with students.

UT gets high marks for the efficiency of providing free visitor parking (from an attended booth, no less) and maps. With the size of campus, the allotted 45 minutes of parking was hardly sufficient to see everything, but it’s a great gesture. And I got to park next to “Peyton Manning Pass”. Cute.

15:16: There’s an old street car on wheels making its way up the road in Knoxville. It’s too early to brag, yes, but I have found my way back across town to the highway on the first try. Confidence can be the great equalizer. Okay, is there toilet paper hanging from my shoe? There’s got to be something.

15:24: 1,718.3 kms. 31 degrees.
What’s Playing: The Postal Service: Give Up

15:48: Oneida/Hunstville, TN. Absolutely delicious juxtaposition of a xxx outlet strip mall falling literally under the shadow of a hundred-foot-tall cross.

16:05: Kentucky!
What’s Playing: Interpol, Antics

16:24: 1,833.9 kms. 27 degrees.

16:29: Scary moment as a dump truck decides to merge into my lane. This time, it’s not his right-of-way. Had to drive down the shoulder in front of a construction zone to avoid becoming gravel for the offending beast.

17:24: 1,953.1 kms.
What’s Playing: Bob Dylan, Greatest Hits

17:35: Lexington! Off-roadin’ it again, this time for the University of Kentucky. I had been drafting quickly behind a car from Ohio so that I could make up some time and get to the UK bookstore before it closed. Then another car from Ontario came along. Obviously a veteran of the 401. Hello, new drafting partner. One of the first places I passed in Lexington had a giant donkey painted on the side of the building, with a sign that read “Big Ass Fans”. Don’t believe me, check out the website. The houses here are incredible. I’m seeing a theme developing: there’s money in the south. Damn.
What’s Playing: Split CD: Cat Power, The Greatest; Camera Obscura, Let’s Get Out of this Country

UK is a more modern-looking university, with mostly red brick buildings. It’s cooler out, despite the humidity. I can’t believe how much branded merchandise there is at these American schools. You can get almost anything with the school’s logo. And even the UK Marching Band has its own field. But as hawd as ah looked, I couldn’ fahnd Ashley Judd anywhea (workin’ on that southern accent). It’s a shame, really. Would’ve topped off a fine, fine day. It was nice to see, though, that even in Lexington, there is indeed still a student ghetto.

For the second time today, I have successfully navigated across a university city to re-find the highway sans map. Mom would be proud. It turns out that Lexington isn’t a one-horse town, though. It’s also home to Transylvania University. Can you imagine the looks you’d get if you had a medical degree from there? You don’t have to worry – it’s a small, liberal arts school. That goes by the short form, Transy. Glad they kept the ‘s’ in. I know, I know, like they haven't heard it all before. Just not here.

18:24: 1,988.4 kms.

18:44: 2,000 kms!

18:51: The horse farm to end all horse farms – thousands of acres divided with nice white fences. Not right beside it: Elmer’s.

19:02: Rain. Must be approaching the Ohio border. Oh wait, yes indeed I am.

19:24: 2,076.4 kms.

20:20: Certainly does not describe my vision right now. Bleary and tired. The end of the day was to have come sooner, but I got lured into going to the Nike Factory outlet beside the hotel. Dammit. I don’t need new basketball shoes, but I love them. And they’d normally be $200, but they’re on sale for $40. And they’re nice. And they fit well. And, dammit, they’re purple. At least there’s free wireless here and, an added bonus: free hot breakfast in the morning. Then it will be homeward bound. Wrapped up at 2,078.7 kms. tonight, reflecting a total of 792.6 kms for the day. And 13 hours out and about. More seeing of the sights, though. Good day. Now, good night.

Day One, Morning.

5:01: Start time. We're off and we're wet. 17 degrees and it turns out that the car doesn't have a multi-changer for the CDs. Gas in London is 91.9. Don't need any; haven't gone anywhere yet.
What's Playing: Bright Eyes, Digital Ash in a Digital Urn

5:16: Not messing with what I know works, make it to the highway. Go figure, there are trucks on the 401. And they're snarling at me. I'm tired and don't want to hear it. But this will seem to be a theme for the day.

Blades slice through
the rain,
water colours on the
windshield
painting smudged memory
down the road behind,
a blank
canvas ahead.

2006.08.29

6:01: 101.3 kms in the first hour. Things are humming along, albeit dark. The rain, though, mercifully subsided after the first forty minutes or so. Gee, thanks. Even the trucks have abated for a bit.

6:08: Ambassador Bridge! There goes Canada, here comes the U.S. Michigan: state number one for the day. Gee, let's guess what they odds are that a scruffian traveling solo to Alabama -- where he knows nobody -- will get stopped at the border. 5 to 1? 10 to 1? 100 to 1? Let's go with almost guaranteed. Twenty minutes later, freed from the clutches of the orange form stuck to my windshield and from the raised eyebrows emanating from several rather large, and surprisingly thick-accented U.S. Customs Agents. Just doing their jobs, I know. At least there was no snapping of latex gloves onto overly eager fingers. And now, the sigh of relief. I'm free to go do whatever it is I'm going to do in Alabama and points in between. The odds of getting searched when I return to Canada? Particularly if I have nothing to declare?

7:01: Up to 201.4 kms

7:53: Back on the highway after circling around and wandering aimlessly like a lost school child (albeit in possession of a 2,000 pound car) in Detroit. Those ramps that branch off in three directions are just dang tricky. Especially when you don't read the signs right to begin with. Figures that this is the one city on the voyage I've been to the most. And an inauspicious start. Where's that paper bag again?
What's Playing: REM, Reconstruction of the Fables

8:01: Up to 232.3 kms

8:20: Billboard advertising 'Alcatraz, the Gentlemen's Club'? This is the first of what I discover to be a trend throughout the journey: billboards for strip clubs, fireworks and God. Everywhere. And not always in that particular order.

8:23: Another beef jerky outlet, this one given the stomach-tantalizing moniker of 'Beef Jerky Unlimited'. Alas, it does not open until 9am. Sigh. But I don't want to wait. Hmm, dried pork products. Drool. Traffic ends up slowing for a bit as everyone is drawn like moths to the shiny lights. They're fire trucks, people. We all have them in our towns. A tiny Honda Civic decided to tangle with an 18-wheeler. Well, there was a tangle. The transport, however, was just sitting there, blowing on its fingernails, a ho-hum look on its face. Major plastic surgery for the Civic.

8:36: O-Bye-O! I barely knew you. The Buckeye State. Not to be confused with Hawkeye.

8:56: First voluntary stop of the day. Feeling patriotic, so the call of duty is at a Tim's in Ohio, just outside Toledo. I had forgotten about how many American establishments have midget-sized urinals. Seriously, a foot off the floor. Short or not, the pot of coffee had to go somewhere. First gas fill-up, too: $2.549/gallon for a total of $14.43. Oh yeah, it's still wet, grey and crappy too. Up to 18 degrees though. Much easier job getting back on the highway this time. Yay me.
9:01: Up to 314.7 kms
What's Playing: REM, Life's Rich Pageant

9:46: An all-you-can-eat buffet. Of Kentucky Fried Chicken. When are we going to get that kind of greasy goodness in Canada?

10:01: Up to 424.1 kms
What's Playing: Mixed live album (Cat Power, Bright Eyes, Linkin Park f/ Jay-Z)

10:43: Midget urinal breakshouldn't two. Oh wait, probably shouldn't have phrased it like that. But you know what I mean. You're smart like that. A pleasant Ohio rest stop with an hour to go to Cincinnatti.

10:51: While still cloudy, I can see the first hint of sun, albeit only a sliver. It has only taken six hours.

11:01: Up to 534.6 kms

Evidence that we are finally approaching the south. Even the water tower -- this one in Florence, Ohio -- says "Y'all".

11:09: Lovely Dayton, Ohio. A little hillier and greener than what we've been seeing, though Michigan and Ohio have bdidn'tbeen pretty blah. The weather didn't help. It just made the dirt wet. First jump in the temperature of the day, though; up to 24.
What's Playing: Liz Phair, s/t

11:31: Quite the Church. They like they're churches down here. And their enormous sculptures of people climbing out of the earth.
What's Playing: Fugees, The Score

11:51: Cincinnatti



11:58: Kentucky! Welcome to the bluegrass state. KY. No, not the jelly.