So, my wife and I were wanting something to do that was different than what we were doing. We closed up the house, packed up her apartment, and we're now in New Hampshire.

We just finished dining at Flatbread, a pizza joint, in N. Conway. It was so-so and the pizza didn't sit well. I feel like I could vomit as I type this.

From here it looks like we'll be going through Vermont and then hitting New York - going to the falls. Ho hum. We'll skirt Canada which is nice enough because my French really isn't that good and she speaks no French at all.

We don't know where we will be going or how long we will be on the trip but we're off and we are taking you with us. As it is night time there aren't any good photographs. If you want to see where we left then http://maine.kgiii.info is the URL. There are some Mt. Washington pics there too so that is right near here.

Anyhow, I'll be mooching bandwidth and bathrooms across the country. Maybe we will hit all fifty states or at least the 48 that are almost rational to drive to.

If you live in the country and you can think of something we should certainly see then you should add that to this thread. I'll keep you posted on our progress.

Additionally, I'll still be logging in and doing support and stuff like that. Don't think I am taking off on you or anything.

(How's that for dedication?)

Cheers!

Or as they say here in New Hampshire, "Cheers!"

KGIII

Stop by Washington... I don't got cookies but I could give you a can of beans

We are now in a god-awful town called Potsdam. New York is WAY too long. We slept for a bit way back in some town at a bank. (In the car - no hotels no nothing.)

We are on Rt. 11, it goes left, and I have officially decided that SMF hates this part of New York or, well, at least I do.

I have to make a pooh and I am in the car. *sighs*

It is raining. Do you know how much I hate the rain?

We have yet to kill each other. That is a good sign. Though I might just as a matter of GENERAL PRINCIPLE. That and I have to take a poop. Or leave one.

Anyone in the New York area? Can I *use* your bathroom? I hate public bathrooms all most as much as I hate the rain.

I am sore, I am cramped, and I am thinking we should have picked up a mobile home for this trip.

NOTE TO SELF: Get giant friggen'  camper.

NOTE TO SABRINA: Stop reading what I type.

NOTE TO SELF: She doesn't listen.

*sighs*

Anyhow... We are going to try to make Niagra Falls sometime today but it is raining so I am going to push her off and get back in the car and be making the rest of this journey by myself.

On a more realistic, and serious, note... I really hate the rain. Oh - I mean it. I hate the rain. Oh - and I need a bathroom.

KGIII Poops Across America <-- what this sojourn really should be called...

If you really want a scruffy (and smelly) KGIII and company to stop at your house drop a note in here along with a PM with some sort of information. We are thinking that there's at least one place (after last night's phone conversation) where we will want to stop in our travels.

Still, we have no real destination. We are thinking Florida sounds nice this time of year but really it is just a fun name to say. Watch your lips when you say the name of that state. See? It is just way too fund to say.

Anyhow, that's enough of an update for you.

Oh - I really REALLY hate the rain and I can't think of a time when I have been through this state and it hasn't at least been raining or snowing. I do like the snow.

Ah well...

Niagra Falls here we come!

See Ya Later!

Or, as they say here in New York, "**** You! ***hole!"

KGIII

Quote from: KGIII on October 26, 2007, 08:11:55 PM
or at least the 48 that are almost rational to drive to.

You cannot miss Hawaii.... I had already been there 3 times (from Brazil!) and it is fantastic...

I have been to Hawaii but I can't really drive there. Well, not yet. *sighs* That is a good idea though - Alaska too.

Anyone got a bathroom near Potsdam New York? I gotta make a poop so bad I feel like it is a turtle poking its head out of the shell.

*sighs*

She's looking at me like I am insane and reading this as I type it.

We are so not going to make it to Niagara Falls before dark. We might just skip it and go to somewhere else. Maybe stop in and see one of the Great Lakes. *sighs* I have been trying to not sing the Erie Canal song (spelling?)

I've got a mule, her name is Sal, 15 miles on the erie canal...

Ah well.

We are off yet again - I got a few support questions done and rested my butt only to sit on a hard bench in a rest area. *sighs*

Anyhow...

I made a poop. I was pleased. Wal-Mart had a clean bathroom in the back.

It isn't too dreadfully exciting but it was a good poop as far as poops go.

Good for you! Did the crap weigh more than 8.6 Courics!?

Anyways hope you enjoy your trip, just go to a bunch of random places and graffiti SMF all over the place.

SIGNS

We all know the importance of signs and so far I have been grading them on their use, spacing, location, size, and accuracy.

(I am very exhausted.)

Maine gets an A-
New Hampshire gets a B
Vermont gets an F
New York wins so far with a whopping A+

As much as I seem to dislike the state (it is a really LONG state to drive across and we are still not across it) they are fantastic at putting signs in the right places, at the right size, and it is almost a beautiful thing except it really destroys what scenery there was.

Upstate New York is not too bad. That is where I am now. What is now understood is that before I was NOT in Upstate New York I was in NORTHERN NEW YORK and yes they say there is a difference and I understand that now.

I am at a Hotel in the Buffalo area and we are going to head north tomorrow, after checkout, and go to the Niagara Falls probably.

Northern New York is beautiful farmland and the people there are a lot like what I found in Maine. I am not too fond of New Hampshire or Vermont but there are some nice places in both of those states.

I am exhausted and hungry. I am clean though. That is good.

My poop wasn't that large at all really. I almost could go for another one. (It is about the only interesting thing so far.)

I attach a folder of us doing something or other on Rt.... Something or other. I think it is I-90 but I am not entirely sure. New Yorkers drive like crazed maniacs except they are actually FAIRLY polite to us slow folks who just drive along at a steady speed-limit-like speed.

That is enough for now I suppose. I am tired, hungry, needing some loving, and actually will have a bed tonight. I haven't had a real night's sleep since like Wednesday.

I take that back - that was Rt. 11.

*sigh* you and your poop

It is bright and early and we actually slept in a bed. I am not so sure what is continental about this breakfast. Google Maps is open and I've got some sort of plan. Ah well. We so should have gotten an RV for this sort of trip.

Remember to change your oil every 3,000 miles

Well, we are now in suberbia PA. We are out in the east side. That means we drove straight down from Buffalo, about halfway through PA, and then drove back east for a few hours. We went and visited a buddy of mine and we're working on getting our body's in shape for the next leg of our journey.

We have gone about 1200 miles so far and we are only in PA. We might crash out here tonight as well. Then I will have some time to get a few things done. Yay! Go me.

We went to Niagara Falls. Which, for those who don't know much geography, is above Buffalo. So we drove to Buffalo, drove north, then drove south through it. To top it off we drove west a billion and eight miles and then drove back east half of it.

We are thinking that we will meander towards FL and then over towards TN and then go up towards Michigan.

So far we have only missed MA and RI but we didn't really want to go to either of those two places anyhow. When and if we drive back we might drive through there.

Attached is are pictures of Lake Erie and Niagara Falls.

It was dreadfully cold (windy) in that area. Even being from Maine didn't help matters much. It was absolutely fridgid and I have been coming down with a cold.

I am thinking it is time to head to a warmer client at some point. Though, well, we may stay in this area for a couple of days to see what happens.

So far PA has the most amusing signs. Either that or we were just exhausted. One of the funniest was, "Buckle Up For The Next Million Miles."

Note to travelers: You can not buy beer anywhere in PA. Well, you can but it has to be from some sort of distrobution center or in a bar. Oddly, in a bar you can take the beer out with you but you can not in a club. (I have no idea what the differences are between the two in this state but it is different than what I am accustomed to.)

Stay off of Rt. 22 in the morning hours. At that time of the day there are nothing but giant trucks that are going a billion and ten miles an hour and parked in random places.

The roads here are just scary as all heck because they're turning 4 lane, 65 MPH zones (a bit over 100 KPH) into these death traps with concrete barriers all around you creating just a single lane. Yay for road construction!

We need to do laundry and clean ourselves up. We smell funny and have dirty clothing left. Not much clean clothing at all. I think I am down to just a single set of clean stuff and I am saving that for a special occasion.

We might stay here and get mildly intoxicated tonight. Then, tomorrow, we may actually drive NORTH! *sighs* This is certainly not a direct trip anywhere but that's to be expected when you haven't a plan or any destination. If we can get through this without killing each other then we can likely get through anything.

(Buffalo was a grumpy place to be.)

Anyhow...

Attached are some pics and I'll keep you posted with the travels as we go across the country doing SMF support. (And taking pictures and having fun.)

Quote from: KGIII on October 29, 2007, 02:13:20 PM
The roads here are just scary as all heck because they're turning 4 lane, 65 MPH zones (a bit over 100 KPH) into these death traps with concrete barriers all around you creating just a single lane. Yay for road construction!

I just had to laugh at that one because its so true. Those things are no joke, I've seen plenty of uprooted vehicles on my way to Houston because of those construction death traps. Someone should tell them that its not safe to do it that way.

@KGIII: Come here in Italy!!

Alright - there is a lot to add to this but I will have to add more later.

We found that the deer are little in Tennessee but they are still quite capable of causing problems. And now my cell phone no longer works. We were stuck sleeping in a tent for a couple of days.

However... I don't have a lot of time.

We are at a hotel in beautiful Panama City, Florida and we're leaving in about 30 minutes.

We hit W. Virginia, Virginia, did Maryland for a very short time, and then went to Tenn. It is great there. Absolutely beautiful and they have nice mountain tops that need someone to live on them.

We then went to Georgia...

Georgia gets the worst signs on the planet record (so far) and the drivers there are all in a hurry to go nowhere. You can see the stop light turning red and yet they all still want to ride your butt at 85 MPH until you slam on your breaks for the next light. I don't understand... It sucked and we left Kennesaw as quickly as we could after meeting a friend of my wife's there.

We then headed into Alabama and decided to go down to Florida where we are right now. We have warmed up finally. We are never going to Georgia again which limits our destinations from this area but that's okay. We may head over towards the swamps when they kick us out of the hotel for the day.

what about this? time wise may not work for you

http://www.sandcastledays.com/

by the way...only one province in Canada speaks french a lot...Quebec
but they also speak english generally

Quote from: KGIII on October 26, 2007, 08:11:55 PM
We don't know where we will be going or how long we will be on the trip but we're off and we are taking you with us. As it is night time there aren't any good photographs. If you want to see where we left then http://maine.kgiii.info is the URL. There are some Mt. Washington pics there too so that is right near here.

Cool!

Quote from: KGIII on October 26, 2007, 08:11:55 PM
Anyhow, I'll be mooching bandwidth and bathrooms across the country. Maybe we will hit all fifty states or at least the 48 that are almost rational to drive to.

I've always wanted to do this.  Go see all 50 states.  I love traveling.  I'm not into big cities and nightclubs, I'm into communities, neighborhoods, and natural scenery.

I don't travel nearly as much as I like.  But when I do I always make it a point to check out the surrounding communities.  When I was in Vegas I rented a car and drove through the neighborhoods in North Las Vegas.  Well, we drove all over the Las Vegas valley, actually, including out to Arizona and California.

Quote from: KGIII on October 26, 2007, 08:11:55 PM
If you live in the country and you can think of something we should certainly see then you should add that to this thread. I'll keep you posted on our progress.

Will do.

check out http://geocaching.com and find some caches while you travel. You will see more of the country than you expect. Don't forget to bring a hand-held GPSr! Oh, have fun!

Well, we're now in Terre Haute, Indiana. There is so much to add/say that I don't have the time to do it at this moment in time but what I have done is make this:

http://travel.kgiii.info

You can go there and see some of the pictures we have taken in our travels. I'll hopefully be able to update this later tonight and do some support. First I have a bluegrass festival/concert/jam session that needs attending.

KGIII

DUDE! I was in Georgia the other day at Ft Benning. Too bad I didn't have internet access. We could have met for a beer or something. If you are stopping by NJ, PA (east) or NY (NYC area) you have to let me know. I have a couple of bathrooms you can use

I skipped New Jersey entirely but we spent some time in nothern and up-state New York earlier on in our trip. We were in Kutztown, PA for a few days actually. That was rather enjoyable but it smelled kind of funny in some of the areas of the state.

We found Jesus in Kutztown actually.

Note the license plate on the front of the truck? Yup. We found Jesus though there was a church out on Route 11 in nothern New York that said "Jesus is Here." We were tempted to stop in and meet him but fortunately we found out, later, that he was driving a beat up old pickup truck in PA.

It would have to be a country song...

"I lost my wife, my job, my dog.
I've done run out of luck.
I think my life is really bad,
But Jesus drives a pickup truck.

I was drinking way too much,
Stuck in this life-long rut.
I know it can get worse,
'Cause Jesus drives a pickup truck.

Life is crappy and I want to cry,
Feel like I don't give a ****!
I know it's okay, I'll be alright.
'Cause I'm not driving Jesus' truck."

It should need some polishing...

So we are banned from Kansas. Here's a quote from an email home:

Quote
We, Sabrina and I, have been kicked out of Kansas.

I will start at the very start... I actually have some money and I'm also
pretty cheap. I prefer the term thrifty...
I put some in Sabrina's account and didn't bring more than a check book and
a credit card...
It was 4:00 in the morning or so. Maybe a bit before as we'd been near the
time zone line...
I was driving and the hotels kick us out at 11:00 in the morning.
Rather than get a hotel we just found and empty parking lot.
We often sleep in Wal-Mart parking lots.
We don't get to shower often but we have a great deal of fun.
We really stay in a hotel about every 3 days at worst but it is normally
two.
We are parked next to a horrid old dump truck at an abandoned building.

*oops*

So they woke us up at 6:00 in the morning with two cruisers.
Sabrina is a midwife.
She had boric acid in capsules.
That is for her... Err... Female things. She uses them to rid herself of
yeast infections which she gets easily.
They were leaking out of the bag. (A baggie full of capsules.)

*sighs*

They said that they were drugs and the parking lot was now amazingly full.
It seems it was a factory and we'd been reported.
They wanted to search the car but she was the driver and she said, "No."
(That's the best answer.)
We told them the entire truth.
We gave 'em ID and showed them everything.
They were ticked right off.
They wanted to search the vehicle and there wasn't anything for them to find
BUT...
She still had those pills.
I am calling them pills...
I am not sure what to call them but I am not a woman.
Err... It is something that she puts IN THERE to ensure that there is no
yeast infections.
She catches kids. (Mothers deliver them. She just catches them according to
her.)

*sighs again*

(Note: This almost resembles poetry.)

They thought those were drugs.
They thought that those were illegal.
They thought that we were going around the country selling drugs.
I showed them ID.
I gave them our map.
I showed them receipts from hotels.
I told them where we had been.
They still wanted to beat us with sticks.
We came up clean AND insisted that we had our rights.
I was sleeping and she was so we kept saying silly things so they had
reason.
I don't blame them.

...

It ended up with this...
"Get out of Kansas, now."
"How do I get out of Kansas as quickly as I can?"
"Take this road to highway 35 and leave."
"Alright..."

We had thought about living there in tornado alley to learn to love life and
raise whole hearted loving children.

Ah well.

Panama City, Florida... That's a fantastic place.

We have been more than 6000 miles and as far west as Texas and Oklahoma. We have gone enough miles to have crossed the country and returned - from one ocean all the way to the other.

We went aggilator hunting - you all should see the pics at the travel site. Yes, yes I know they are called alligators but when you're trapped in a car all the time with only one other person you start coming up with some really stupid crap. So they are now known as aggilators. I wanted to wrestle one but to do so I'd have had to stomp across 40 feet of swamp. That seemed quite dumb. So we went to aggilator territory futher into the swamp and didn't see any.

Georgia is the worst state so far. I don't get the idea of going 60 or 65 for 200 feet to get to a red light and the idea of riding on each others bumpers for that 200 feet when you only have to slam on your brakes.

Tennessee is likely to end up our new home. Panama City may also end up our new home. It is beautiful and warm but Tennessee is so much more beautiful.

We go to a state and get off the major routed highways and go find the real people. We listen to whatever is on the radio - a lot of Goat Roping music lately... We check crime rates, laws, and then we go in search of the real America. We found it in Tennessee. Panama City has the heat though and it really isn't that large for a beach town in Florida.

In Mississippi we found that they feed us way too much. We had to waddle back to the car. We have been bloated since. Y'all feed well down here. We strive to avoid the fast food joints.

While we were in the Smokey Mountains we found two people (they have a rather ugly site but they're good people and great musicians) that played behind a pottery shop. They own a pizza parlor way out in North Vernon. It isn't just a pizza parlor - it is a pizza and pickin' parlor with open jam sessions. They play bluegrass, country, and gospel mostly. I went and sat in on it there. Err... We drove like 800 miles to come back to go there but, having been kicked out of Kansas, it seemed like the thing to do at the time.

I hate Lafayette. (Spelling?)

I heard something odd on the radio so we went to Greensburg, Kansas. I am so sorry. I guess the second worst part is that it was a dry town and I couldn't buy beer. The worst part is that they'd been hammered on by a tornado and not just any tornado. 95% of the town was gone. There was ONE single gas station open.

We actually enjoyed Greensburg and all of Kansas and had actually discussed returning there to raise our children when we have them. Alas, we're kicked out of Kansas.

Anyhow...

So, first... We pasted a deer (I say we only because I was in the passenger seat) twice. Well no. We hit two different ones. It wasn't like a deer from my area, it was more of a critter a wee bit larger than a good sized dog but still enough to have the insurance company "total" a vehicle. We got a rental for a couple of days and had her old car shipped to us (we met them in Georgia which I believe I have mentioned how much I disliked). So we are back in her old car. We'd be in my truck or the likes but her strange old Honda actually gets 33 to 37 MPG. I kid you not. We got well over 500 miles on a tank in Kansas but that was really really flat and really straight and stuff.

Side note: I haven't hit any deer personally - I have, however, avoided plenty. If you get the chance to go to a children's library I highly recommend the book, "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride."

Yesterday, or Saturday, we beat each other up all day. I'm some sore and she bruises easily. I have a dark complexion so I don't bruise as bad. We are going stir crazy staying in one place this long. I warned her, long before we left (at least five minutes prior), of how addictive this is. I have done this sort of silliness before.

While I was in Kutztown, PA I was asked by a friend (and the person holding down a good portion of the fort with the web hosting company while I am doing this mid-life-crisis stuff) what we talk about in the car for all these hours. We could only laugh. Err... Not too much of what I say there is going to be repeated but it mostly consists of us making up mean names for each other or calling each other names. Yeah, that and finding things funny.

We have so many stories and still so many miles left to go. This isn't just a trip, it is creating both memories and perhaps history. The memories aren't just our own. We make it a point to be honest (our accents give us away anyhow) and tell people exactly what we are doing, why we are doing it, and how. They ask us so many questions and I have yet to meet a single person who didn't envy us. It takes a lot of daring to just pick up and go. We actually go to a state and throw the map away until we feel ready to leave most of the time.

Later today, tomorrow, sometime... We'll discuss where our next destination is. Groundup offered us a bathroom but didn't say we can camp on his lawn or mention a spare room so we might go that way. I want to go north and see BlackMage but it is getting cold up there and the heat stopped working a while back unless you're going quickly. Well the heat works, the fan is broken. Somehow I expect this trip will kill me.

We have met some great people and have had some great times. We have had some really lousy times. We were in a town with no hotel and the only place to stay was camped on someone's property. They fed us too well actually but we rewarded them well enough I suppose.

I will add this...

If you can spend this much time in one confined space with one person and not kill them, you can very likely have a good relationship with them.

It isn't easy to sit in a single area for this long. I already miss my aching back from riding in her crappy car without lumbar supporting seats. Here is some irony...

I actually connect at much faster speeds to the internet than I could at home - when I can connect. I actually watch way more television (hotel rooms) than I ever did in my entire life.

Alright, that's enough for now. I, trust me, I could go on for hours... There are so many great, intersting, horrific, and wonderful things we've done and seen and been put into as circumstances insist. For now, this is enough.

Sabrina loves it.

Gm7
C
Gm7
D

(You can even hammer-on with the D to a Dm dim 9th unless it is some other chord who's name I've forgotten.)

interesting progression (i just fingered it out on the guitar).

Yes, i said fingered. 

Who cares to figure out problems anymore?

Quote from: KGIII on November 18, 2007, 01:12:28 PM
I skipped New Jersey entirely but we spent some time in nothern and up-state New York earlier on in our trip. We were in Kutztown, PA for a few days actually. That was rather enjoyable but it smelled kind of funny in some of the areas of the state.

We found Jesus in Kutztown actually.

Note the license plate on the front of the truck? Yup. We found Jesus though there was a church out on Route 11 in nothern New York that said "Jesus is Here." We were tempted to stop in and meet him but fortunately we found out, later, that he was driving a beat up old pickup truck in PA.

Was he from Bethlehem, PA?

I don't know - it was in Kutztown though so they might have traveled over.

I'm going to never eat Mexican food in Indiana again. *goes back to lay down*

Well, we are back in Panama City, Florida. We have more pictures but haven't uploaded them yet. We figured we'd go somewhere warm to spend some time thinking out our next move.

Roswell seems to be our next major destination. We are quite a few miles away from it (and the hotel is rented until Sunday) so who knows? We're thinking that one of the days while we are here we're going to go down to the Everglades and hunt for more aggilators.

In Georgia we went to the Okifenokee (spelling?) State Park and found an aggilator. When Sabrina gets a wee bit more energetic I'll get her to grab the camera pics and upload 'em so you can see them.

Ho hum...

So, what should we do in between here and Roswell?

Feel free to come up North.  Let me know if you are planning on hitting Iowa, North Dakota, Illinois, or Minnesota.  If you hit ND before December 13th I have some free internet to share and maybe a bathroom and some food.  Iowa and Illinois after December 13th and before the MoTM.

Arizona for MotM?

Have fun!

Almost to Roswell. Will post more when we get there. Got some nice pics of more aggilators.

Happy Birthday KGIII!!!!!!