104!

Yesterday we had an exciting day in DC .... then headed off for Virginia. We were staying with friends and just got the car unloaded when an incredible storm came through. Thunder and lightning right over the house. About the time I was going to get some personal work done ... the electricity went out and stayed out all day, until we left. DC was so hot, I was left in a pool of sweat at the end of the day. Am NOT acclimated to this head and humidity. Here I am, signing the extension for unemployment ... to benefit people like ME! 

 

And giving a press conference about how businesses should hire the over-50-applicant!

 

Giving a quick tour.

 

The only thing I really wanted to see in this short run through was the Lincoln Memorial, but we just could not get to it in time.

 

Heading for Virginia, one very scary bridge on the MD and VA state line. I am pretty sure that said Potomac.

 

 

Virginia, we watched the Vets Wheelchair Championship basketball tournament. That was great! Drove through Richmond pretty quickly and headed to North Carolina.

 

I am finally cooled off in my hotel room. Eating Fritos and bean dip for dinner and working on my second glass of wine. Shower next! xoxox Mom!

Jane Wynn

I am so disappointed that I am going to miss Jane Wynn's solo show. IN DC ... tomorrow night! Soooooo sad about that. I love her work! And would love to see her again. Good luck, Jane!

Catching up

I hate to hear the news about Nora Ephron. Don't you hate that we won't have any more treats to read from her? 

Ann Curry got voted off the island?  

I want this for my flower book ... especially want this for the grasses I have had the pleasure of smelling lately. 

It is suppose to be really hot today, but I think we dodge the heat bullet. We just left the area that is hit hard with heat. Waiting to hear the Supreme Court ruling ... what is wrong with this country. 

Spotted a small praying mantis swaying in the wind this morning. And had the most incredible firefly show last night. Hope to see a repeat performance tonight.


Trying to figure out how I will pay my bills on the road.


We might be  on the road a little longer than planned.


Wish I could have gone through this Folk Art museum we passed the other day. 


The Last Lightning Bug, 1999, Found materials, by Robert Morgan

 

Lush!

We drove from Athens, OH to Maryland and what a beautiful drive! 

Got off the highway at Salem and Cumberland ... Salem, the cutest town ever! We are 30 minutes outside DC and have 2 days of shooting here. Salem had narrow streets and the kind of houses where the front door was practically on the road. It was very hilly, and you could tell the sidewalks/stairs were everywhere, very steep. I really loved that little town.


Oh, I was texting something and couldn't remember where we were, so called out to a guy standing by his truck, "is this West Virginia or Ohio?" And he said, "are you kidding?" and I said ... NO.

 I heard tonight that the weather is going to be very hot and very humid. Not looking forward to that. 

I really did not think I could find anything on the internet about this passage I saw ... but the compression of the layers of earth was so incredible, I almost had a wreck trying to figure it out. I think this is it, I will investigate more. Have 2 busy days ahead, must go to bed.

Time running together

I feared this would happen. Days/memories/events/visuals ... are running together ... in one big blur. Hotels all becoming one ongoing experience of unloading and loading car,  without recalling what the hotel name was ... just how delicious the fluffy pillows and AC turned up high.

R and I were sat down tonight and concentrate on the last 2 days events/memories/music we listened to ... etc. I think we are really tired tonight. We decided to knock up early (early being before 11pm), order pizza and get some rest. Our hotel is really nice tonight ;)

In Athens, OH tonight. We started off in Louisville, KY, made our way to West Virginia and up to OH. Tomorrow I think we are heading for Baltimore. 

We happened upon a very old cemetery and took a moment to look around and me grab some dirt. I literally have not had time to bend down and slap some into a snack baggie. ;0 

 

I remembered a very important thing today about hot weather ... stand in the cool of tree shade and park your car in the shade. Saw the MOST incredible barns today in Kentucky!  Everything is so lush, rolling hills, beautiful buildings, barn wood to die for.

 

We happened upon Booker T. Washington home today in Athens, OH

 

Meet a woman that paints those quilt squares on the side of barns. (I want that job).

I have tones of ideas of new paintings!

Good Morning (mom)

It is cool air this morning ... and I just had a great shower and splashed on some 4711. It feels wonderful to have clean hair and clothes. Today I have decided to wear Bryn Walker instead of the usual jeans (that stretch out in the waist that by the end of the day ... the are practically falling around my knees). 

So we are off to someplace ... not sure where this morning but headed towards the east coast. I think we are in W. Virginia right now, but not really sure about that.

Have I mention how incredibly nice everyone has been, in every place, at every door! 

Oh, and the wi-fi sucks in almost every hotel we have stayed at. I am not a patient person when it comes to loading pages ;0

Blessed

We landed early tonight in (somewhere's-ville) Kentucky. I had a dinner, and a couple of glasses of wine :) and a couple of hours of doing nothing. Air cooled down at dusk ... it almost felt cold outside ;) and all is great. As Robin says ... "we are blessed" ... I am finishing up corrections tonight and I think we are heading for West Virginia in the morning.

Talked to Matt tonight. Funny, I don't think I have ever been away from him this long or not talked to him in days and days, even when he was in summer camp. I LOVE Skype!

Lately, I keep forgetting to take photos for myself for blog.

 

 

Hey, from Batesville

We drove very late to our destination from after many stops through the day,  to find the town we were heading to did not have a hotel, a store open to buy wine OR cell phone service. ;0 Started at 9a ... finished at 1230a. Good morning MOM ...  Miss you!

Gary, Indiana

I have seen many things on this trip that I had not expected to see. But I was not prepared for what I saw in Gary, Indiana today. We had a few stops here, one being Micheal Jackson's childhood home. 

Shocked at the complete deterioration of a once vibrant city (think Chernobyl). I met some wonderful residence today, coping with what is going on around them. Hoping for the best. And I am hoping for the best for them, too.

Emotionally, I don't know if I can write about it tonight. 

We are near Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana. Wind turbines, rows and rows of them! 

Tired and hot. I have some notes to write before I hit the sack. 

 

First stop

This morning we are heading to Gary, Indiana. I would love/hate to see the interior of these abandoned buildings ... there have been soooo many of these along the way that I could have spent an entire day exploring. It is a sad statement about our country and that makes me sad, scared. But they are also a piece of history, just standing there waiting for us to come visit. (Of course, I can't get the Music Man tune out of my head).

Take out

I forgot one funny story last from last night. We ordered Chinese take-out, then ran to the nearest store for wine. On return, in the elevator, a man was there with take-out and I laughed ... we are all having take-out tonight. We get off and start walking to the room, and the guy was standing right behind us at the door. Like he wanted to come in ... I thought, great, they have rented my room to an additional person! It took us a couple of minutes to realize that HE was delivering OUR Chinese take-out. LOL.

Chicago, my kinda of town

I think only in hot, humid weather after a thunderstorm can grass smell like a perfume. What would the scent be called? "Brown grass after rain"? The fragrance was intense today, just like when I was a teenager riding horseback in the back pastures around Denton. Not so humid today, the breeze off the water was deliciously cool. It felt like the entire world was out cooling themselves. Chicago, or what I saw of it in the blur of my review mirror was pretty fantastic. Enormous, white, Annabella hydrangeas lining the city streets. Flowers, everywhere. Huge columned museums. But my favorite moment was when I saw the Indian on a Horse statue. Called "The Bowman and The Spearman" sculpted by Ivan Mestrovic, installed in 1928.

If you hear a little excitement in my voice, it is because there is a laundry area in the hotel. I am doing laundry as we speak (instead of doing my work/note taking of the days' events). Clean underwear tomorrow! 

We came into the city, and skateboarders, hoards of them ... on the streets. 

 The sky was very pastel blue today, with big puffy clouds. We drove through a really bad thunderstorm getting here. One of my dreaded things is driving behind big trucks, with all of water slushing up on my windshield. 

We drove into South Chicago. On every street corner someone had set up a snow cone stand. That was great. I was tempted to stop and get one and have that red syrup (that never washes out) drip all over the front of my white shirt.

Some guy in South Chicago was explaining about how to stay safe. Told me something about the Wow Wow West (as it pertains to the street numbers, I am looking up that reference). We have been in some pretty sketchy neighborhoods and so far I have felt very safe. Everyone has been really nice and helpful. Only one bad experience and that was at some exclusive workout gym to the stars ...

Okay, very tired. Got laundry to finish. Good night. Tomorrow, Gary, Indiana and beyond. 

ps ... can I say how much I love La Quinta ... iron and ironing boards in every room! I just ironed all of my cotton shirts ... NOW to bed ;0

 

csm242000 on Flickr has the goods on this statue! 

Junko Oki

My only words ... WOW when I look at the work by Junko Oki via Pinterest. 

About to hit the road.

Beautiful decay

Sweaty hair. Bright sun in my eyes all day. A hot shower and AC in the room, never sounded so good! I still have lots of work to do and can hardly keep my eyes open. 

Found my letter of the day!

Had an emotional albeit good quick visit through Detroit. A sad combination of beautiful old homes and decay. As if an apocalyptic event where all the humans are gone and only birds are left singing. Grass growing through asphalt that is not being driven on. Curtains blowing with the breeze, in and out of the broken windows. 

We drove by a house with the top level completely caving in. Then I noticed an old man sitting on the porch, cooling himself. 

Lots of cool graffiti. 

Saw a little portion of blue in a blur out the window and I think that was Lake Erie. We are one hour outside Chicago. 

Landed in Michigan

I hardly know what time it is, or what state we are in. ;) Okay, I do know we are right in the state lines of Michigan. We have been finding great deals at La Quintas ... what did we all do without smart phones to find the next hotel and call ahead, etc. I never truly appreciate my smartphone until I am in the car or traveling. Without it, I would be lost.

I think I have lost 10 lbs ... I will call it the RL diet. We drive and eat on the road. Just like the time I drove my mom to Texas and refused to stopped the car for a meal ... drive-throughs ... only! Mom always wanted to stop and sit at a table to eat. R and I prefer to eat in motion. I have been eating lots of hummus. So busy I have quit biting my nails. ;0 Drinking lots of water while I drive. The traffic is so light and manageable, I almost hate to say that ... in fear I might jinx us.

We planned on leaving Ohio and head over to Michigan around 3pm ... but ended up in the most beautiful farm country around Huron and Milan (Ohio) that we just decided to stay longer. I LOVE Milan! (OMG, I just discovered it is the birthplace of Thomas Edison)Adorable, neat town with a real town square. I am so fixated on the fireflies and wanted to see more of them at dusk. So we stayed a while longer and filmed some of them doing their green-glow magic. 

I have forgotten high humidity and sweat running down the small of your back. Frizzy hair. Longing to get back into the air conditioned car. 

Loved these manicured bushes.

I feel in love with this house. And could almost feel the history. I knocked on the door and realized the house was abandoned. Then saw it was for sale. Like the owner had passed away with no one to leave it to. Belongings in place at the house and now it was on the market. Almost perfect yard, with a few strong weeds growing through cracks in concrete. I will have to think about this house. I had a connection! Some emotional connection. Very weird.

 
On the way to Michigan.

Downtown Cleveland, great! Wonderful buildings! Wide streets!

Gotta go to sleep. No energy to write my nightly notes.

Foggy with humidity predicted

 

I think we are 2 hours outside Pittsburgh. Drove through Philadelphia yesterday. I am so surprised how mild the traffic is! Last night the highway was lined with *fireflies*! Really!!! I wish we could have stopped and chased a few. But too late. Saw Gettysburg exit and tried to recite the Gettysburg Address ... had to google the last part. This is for my Pinterest group, my favorite letter of the day. Found in Brooklyn.