At the Symposium (Day 1 Pt. 2)
To say I woke up tired would be an understatement. I’d set the alarm for 6 a.m. in a useless exercise. Between that and managing to rehearse with the pianist, I missed the morning sessions. The afternoon ones were primarily geared to choral music, so I’m afraid I didn’t get much out of them. Hopefully, I’ll have lots interesting to report about tomorrow’s (beyond the obvious). I’ve now been on the east coast three days and hadn’t had a single bit of fresh seafood. From what I was told, today’s 72-degree temperature was especially warm and sunny for this area. So–impulsively and without even going back to my room to change, jumped into RB and took someone’s directions to a restaurant called Ches’s. It has been in business since 1951 and very popular around here. Boy, was their famed fish and chips wonderful!! Could see the Atlantic Ocean near Ches’s,…
At the Symposium (Day 1, Pt. 1)
Good morning! After the ship–anything big enough to hold semis is not a ferry, IMO–docked in Port aux Basques, Newfoundland, on Sunday morning, RB and I disembarked and started our 809 km (555 miles according to my GPS–btw, those who have been trying to get me to buy one for years now have permission to say “I told you so”) drive to St. John’s. As I learned driving through Maine, it’s not a good idea to let your vehicle gas gauge drop below 1/3 tank since the distance between stations can be substantial. I also discovered that prices here are extraordinarily high. Gas averages $1.30 Canadian per liter, so it cost me nearly $85.00 to fill the RB, and that was regular unleaded gas. Discovered that Newfoundland is surprisingly mountainous. I can see why there’s just one main road around the outer edge. It makes for some great viewing along…
On the Road (Day Four)
Got off to a slightly late start after indulging myself and getting some extra sleep. Drove from Erie to Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. Got lots of pictures from the Skylon observation tower, the walkways near the falls, from the famed “Maid of the Mist” boat and some of the interesting building fronts near the falls. Decided not to go to Montreal, so the GPS directed me back into the States. Finally stopped for the night in a little town in Massachusetts. The route so far: http://mapq.st/o3Z6G9 Tomorrow, making my run back into Canada. I realized that I neglected a couple of critical parts of my journey. First, I need to acknowledge the musicians and their songs that helped me focus on my driving throughout my journey. So, I’m going back and posting links to a song that I recall most strongly from each day’s playlist. This day’s song is Roberta…
On the Road (Day Three)
Took the Ohio Coastal Trail on the way to Oberlin in the hope I’d get to see something interesting along the way. The only thing that got my attention was the Davis-Besse nuclear power plant. I don’t think I’ve ever been that close to one before. Spent most of the afternoon doing research at the Oberlin Conservatory’s music library. They have a beautiful goldfish pond outside the building, where I ate lunch and enjoyed the fish. Found a number of scores by Margaret Bonds, R. Nathaniel Dett, William Grant Still, Edward Boatner, and Wiliams Arms Fisher that I didn’t have. Got to Erie, Pennsylvania, in the early evening and found the campus identified on the Web as connected with the H. T. Burleigh collection. However, as I suspected, it was too late to find anyone around to ask about it. So, checked into my home for the night. Decided it…
On the Road (Day Two)
Got an early start from Princeton. There was lots of construction along I-80. Illinois has definitely taken advantage of federal stimulus money. If I-80 looks and drives as well when it is finished as I-74 now does–talk about a nasty ride before the construction, it’d be worth the cost and current inconvenience. Speaking of driving, I’d love someone to explain why drivers who–at best–are driving speed limit settle into the left lane and won’t move out of the way. I was taught that slower drivers should be in the right lane or at least should move over and allow the faster driver to pass. After being stuck behind slow drivers more times than I can count, I find it rather frustrating. My pet peeve, I suppose. On a much better note, I reached the University of Michigan this afternoon. After a brief visit to the school’s music library–where I found…
On the Road (Day One)…
Well, I’m on the road to Canada!! Went to work for a few hours this morning. One of my co-workers took this picture just as I was leaving for the trip. Had a pretty good voice lesson at the University of Iowa this afternoon. Final hearing of the four spirituals I’ve prepped for the symposium. At least that part of my presentation is in very good shape. Immediately afterward, started heading East. With only two hours of sleep last night (really this morning), it was no surprise that I only got as far as Princeton, Illinois, before I was too tired to safely continue onward. Princeton, by the way, is proud to say it’s the hometown of President Ronald Reagan. I won’t hold that against them as long as they have a clean place for me to sleep. The route for Day 1: http://mapq.st/nsXTYv Off to a (hopefully) good night…
Readying to Go!!
Well, I finally understand why some say they need a vacation from their vacation! The RB is cleaned out. With what had to be at least 50lbs of books, music, etc., gone from the trunk, I’ll be curious what her gas mileage will be. If only *I* could healthily shed 50lbs that easily! Looked at the weather forecast for St. John’s, and it appears that they’re calling for rain and cooler temps pretty much the entire time. Just as I’d guessed, the wardrobe for that part of Canada will have to be very different from the warmer, drier climes I hope I’ll find along the way. Nice thing about driving, though, is that I can pack more liberally than if I was flying. Around 3 a.m. this morning, I finished recreating my driving music playlist. With nearly 10 GBs–from Scott Joplin to Janis Joplin, Glenn Miller to 50 Cent–I’ll be…
Readying to Go (More the Weekend Before)
Well, got a little packing done. Then, decided to go on a little ride. (Strange I’d want to do that considering the coming trip, but I do enjoy driving.) With no destination in mind, I ended up at a nearby state park. For some reason, I’d never visited it before today. Beautiful site. While I was parked within a few feet of a lake, a truckload of men got out and started tossing floating objects into the lake for their pair of dogs to retrieve. Looked like a great way to cool off. As I was driving back, I noticed how green the hills looked with all the corn coming up around the whole area. (You may now insert your favorite corn joke here.) The first time I drove into the state (yep, the moving van and I crossed the country from the D.C. metro area), I found two things…