Afterthoughts about Goin’ West 2014
This is the map of my 16-day, Goin’ West 2014 trip: This surpassed my previously longest car trip from Grinnell to Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, by a whole 17 miles!! I stuck pretty closely to my original route, with some new additions–especially Little Bighorn National Park and North Cascades National Highway–and only two major deletions. After the magnificence of Yellowstone, I didn’t feel the need to deviate 250 miles from my westward trip to see Glacier National Park in Montana, although I’d heard many wonderful things about it. I also didn’t cross into Canada to visit Vancouver. The trip included visits to seven national parks: Little Bighorn (Montana), Yellowstone (Wyoming), North Cascade, Olympic, and Mount Rainier (Washington State), Redwood, and Yosemite (California). The parks were fantastic and more than worth the cost of the annual season pass. My favorites were Redwood and Yosemite, but none disappointed. There were other parks…
Ease on Down the Road (Day Five–the Home Stretch)
Got started at 5 a.m. Monday because I knew I had a medical procedure sometime that day in Iowa City and couldn’t remember what time I’d set the appointment. I also really wanted to avoid the morning rush hour in Indianapolis that, combined with all of the eternally ongoing road construction, was a fate I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. Made excellent time through Indiana and Illinois. Reached Iowa City at 10:30 (got an hour back crossing into Illinois). Called the hospital and learned I had nearly three hours before my appointment, so I spent the time getting both me and the RB cleaned up and then had some lunch. At the appointment, the doctor told me that while the growth on my face appeared benign, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to remove it. So, after a shot of Novocaine, the doctor took less than 30 seconds to…
Ease on Down the Road (Day 4)
Nearly bit off more than I could chew today. I’d spent several hours in the gracious company of Eugene Simpson, with whom I discussed several research approaches to Hall Johnson’s compositional philosophy and ways I should prepare for a much more extended visit and study of the Johnson collection. I then visited and got a tour of the home of my host daughter, Tianhan. We went out for an enjoyable dinner of shrimp (me) and grilled octopus (Tianhan) at an uptown restaurant in Philadelphia. (BTW, if you know of a dignified way to eat corn-on-the-cob and take the head off of shrimp, please let me know.) I am so proud of how well she is adapting to her new surroundings, which are so very different than Iowa. Since she’s now graduated from the college, I guess I’m not technically her host mother any more, but I hate giving up the…
Ease on Down the Road (Day 2 & 3)
No post on Friday because I didn’t really stop long enough to do one. RB and I went from Port aux Basques, Newfoundland, to the outskirts of Philly (1284 miles) in about 36 hours. See the route at http://mapq.st/q2Puzi. Along the way, I had to stop at an Esso gas station, a holdover from years before it became Exxon? Was pretty much out-of-touch from 1 a.m. Friday morning when we left the ferry’s WiFi access until my cellphone finally ended its week-long “looking for signal” mantra somewhere around Bangor, Maine. As much as I appreciated the hospitality of the Canadians I met, I must admit I was happy to see the gates of home at the border. It was certainly much faster to cross there than it was crossing in either direction at Niagara Falls. Hmmm… wonder why? The lady who gave me a history of St. John’s on Monday…
Ease on Down the Road (Day 1)
Since I got in so late last night, it was after one a.m. before everything other than what would be needed to dress in the morning was packed. I concluded that I didn’t have a snowball’s chance of dragging myself out of bed at 3:30 a,m., which I’d need to do to allow enough time to complete the 10-hour drive around Newfoundland and arrive in time to get the 4:30 p.m. ferry back to the mainland. Plus, I probably wouldn’t be a safe driver if I did pull it off. Actually beat the cellphone’s 7 a.m. alarm–one of the few things that’s currently working on the phone while I’m in Canada–by four minutes. Showered, dressed, checked out and was on the road by 8:30 a.m. While the weather was foggy and chilly (nearly noon before the temps rose above 50), thankfully it only rained sporadically throughout the day. In the afternoon,…
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…