Now on Blurb

I finally had the time to put all these blog posts from the summer into a book format.  With some additional photographs, some photographs removed... some extra maps.  Anyway, you can see it on blurb, at the link below.  You can also buy it.  But if you are Craig Murli, you should not buy it because I already bought you one.  You'll get it in January.  Sorry it won't be in time for Christmas.  It will print like a magazine, which was the only economical way to print almost 100 pages of images and text.


http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/invited/3217220/2d7546352dad3c47359626e6f453cfb3a8f084a2?ce=blurb_ew&utm_source=widget

Day 29. 4,461 miles

Finally left from Salt Lake City and crashed for the night in Battle Mountain Utah.

In the morning we hit this awesome cafe in downtown Salt Lake...









Rose Establishment. It opened up 2 years ago. They had some amazing amazing coffee. And my cappuccino was beautiful, not always a given in the states...




I had been saying I needed a haircut for a while, so afterward, went around the corner to a new spot called the Pink Flamingo. The women there did an awesome job.... Pictures to follow in future blog posts.

We drove a few hours west, stopping in Battle Mountain to sleep and make dinner.

Delicious lamb with broccoli and red bliss potato, pictured below.

Location:Battle Mountain, Utah

Day 21. 4,438 miles

Today we drove all day West on 40 through the mountains.



Above: our delicious lunch stop, we made some eggs on sourdough bread with Parmesan cheese and yellow tomato. Complete with a dash of Sriracha.

At the end of the day, Craig and I parted ways in Salt Lake City. I am spending a few days with my lovely friends from RISD: Michael and Wen-You and he is having man time at speed week in the salt flats with his dad and brother and cousin.

Location:Steamboat Springs, Colorado to Salt Lake City, Utah

Day 20. 4,105 miles

Denver food trucks! Easy access to some of the best bites in town.








Western CO.

Location:Walton Pond Cir,Steamboat Springs,United States

Day 19. 3,952 miles.

The Tattered Cover on Colfax... The Col' fax of life.


Pour House Burger: our dinner after seeing a show at Comedy Works, awesome show, headlining Ali Wong.

Location:Denver, Colorado

Day 18. 3,951 miles

Dogman. The name says it all. We met this guy near his community comprised of broken down buses and earth-built homes.
His crops behind us. He insisted we get them in the picture despite possible legal ramifications... Is this what happened to all the hippies?


Kit. Sole proprietor of Coffee Cat; a cafe in Taos, New Mexico. A wonderful business owner, good to the people in her community and an incredibly sweet woman.


Coming into CO.


Looking down a few hundred feet to the Rio Grande.

We lingered, for a while. It's easy to do that around here. Any place you go is more scenic than the last. Each shop or farm stand has better produce than the one before, more Mexican blankets for sale, or better turquoise jewelry. I want to get something for my mom.

We began the day waking to the sound of the Rio Grande. We were surrounded by the high canyon walls carved down over time by the river. The same river, now only a stone's throw wide, calmly and humbly flowing next to our tent. We stripped down and jumped in before doing anything else that morning. It was a fresh cup of coffee and early morning wakeup sex rolled into one experience. The river was cool and invigorating. Nothing could be better.

As we parted ways from the high walls of the canyon which seemed to protect us from the dessert heat, we came upon one of the more curious sites of the trip. In the distance, the gleam of old airstream trailers and broken down buses caught my eye. Strewn across a five mile radius were networks of makeshift homes and hand- made, weathered, wood fences all connected by rutted-out dirt paths. Curiosity being the driver, we proceeded down the main entrance until we were confronted by a well seasoned-looking character who introduced himself as Dogman. This man, who's ultimate agenda remains a mystery ( even to himself, ) was nice enough to give us a tour of the place. As it turns out, it was not the progressive-thinking, free-spirited, sustainably-focused community I had hoped it was.

His home, dug into the earth, adorned with old newspaper clippings, paintings of mushroom-induced visions, written plots to assassinate Donald Rumsfeld and a full-size Winnabago for sleeping in. One wall, made of recycled window pains gave light for his "crops," the pride and joy of Dogman. To be honest, it was strangely cool. We are both happy we made the stop. After trading a half-drank growler of beer and ten dollars for one of Dogman's old bicycles, we parted ways another experience richer and ready to take on the rest of the day.

Location:Taos, New Mexico to E Colfax Ave, Denver, United States

Day 17. 3,648 miles

First stop of the day was breakfast at Penny's Diner in Vaughn; the only stop between Roswell and Santa Fe.

And this market, possibly the only grocery store between Santa Fe and Taos.

The past few days have been long, scenic, driving days. I would say, New Mexico, is the most beautiful state in the country to drive through. The colors are stimulating in a way that other landscapes aren't always. It's more than sprawling greens, more than sprawling tans. Peaks and Valleys roll through a diversity of pale pastels into rich, saturated reds and greens. Any photograph you see will only tell you lies. There's something about this space that makes you look harder until you develop an affinity for specific shapes that the land displays.
Santa Fe turned out to be... Well beautiful, but touristy. So after spending the afternoon there, we were on our way. About an hour north, we found a small brewery called Blue Heron, that the daughter of some local vintners opened up. She said she could hardly keep up with the business that they ran out of their small bar.
We decided that the landscape was too beautiful to pass through and we were itching to use our new tent, so we camped out nearby in Pilar on the Rio Grande.


Inspired much by the colors we had been surrounded by all day...and some of my nagging...we picked up some yellow cucumbers at a farm stand and some blue corn meal and goat cheese at the Dixon Grocery Store, with some stewed tomatoes, a delicious sunset dinner.


Open large map

Location:Santa Fe, New Mexico

Day 16. 3,455 miles

Great produce and great conversation. Betsy's farm stand resides in the only town of this West Texas county.

Getting dinner ready in the New Mexico dessert. A needed break from a day of driving.


We multitask. Roasting jaleps while stewing.

On paper, it was just a day of driving. In times like these, it's the little details that become memorable. Though not as bombastic as New Orleans or Austin, our days with no major destination stops always turn into something special.
Long stretches of open highway punctuated with unassuming country towns every few hours. This routine can get tedious so we made a point to stop every so often. Speaking with some of the people who live in these towns is a culture shock. 45-mile drives to buy groceries or take your kids to school is a paradigm neither of us have ever lived with. The scenery is beautiful and at times haunting. With every new mile of bobbing oil pumps and wire fenced prairie, the diversity of this country becomes more apparent. It is easy to forget we raise the same flag back home, abide by the same constitution and elect the same leader. That being said, I now believe it is not just a nation's government which makes it great, but rather it's capacity to let people live and thrive exactly how they want to. I have no interest in adopting this lifestyle, but respect the hell out of those that do. In a way, it gives me confidence to go out and grab a piece of my own " American Dream."
The motel we're spending the night in stinks like piss. As advertised on the highway sign, it does have a color TV. We'll spend our night writing a new song and drinking what's left of our bottle of bourbon.

Location:Texas to Vaughn, New Mexico

Day 15. 2,712 miles

Austin Farmers Market! Above and below: Johnson's Backyard Garden, Organic Farm.








Elephant Garlic... Less peeling.


Wild boar pate'. He caught and slaughtered the animal himself before making this excellent forcemeat. Accompanied with a fresh baguette, 6$ made for a perfect lunch.


Natural spa?! After hiking in the midday sun, we were lucky to happen upon this spot. Met some great people here.





Barton Creek.











I experienced some short term memory loss when we were in Louisiana. I don't remember most of the hospital visit, but I remember about a minute of time when I didn't know why I was in Louisiana and I didn't know what we were doing. Probably anyone who has had a concussion goes through this moment where you intersect with yourself. It's almost like someone else took the wheels for a minute. I remember hearing myself say, "well good thing we kept a blog because I don't remember a thing." ....I would say that. And from the flip side, when Craig told me what we were doing, driving across the country in his truck...keeping a blog...something something... I remember thinking, wow, that's pretty cool. I guess I am kinda cool. Huh... I wasn't really surprised, but I was puzzled, a little excited. It was like I was meeting myself. I didn't know even how I knew Craig. But I was comfortable having him comfort me, I didn't feel alone or panicked. My autopilot driver knew me pretty well and understood some things about my life intuitively though not exactly cognitively.

So the trip has changed since then... Were now in this rental car, which we can't sleep in; no more fort, no more vegetable oil, no more need to power through the southern heat without air-conditioning. It's a little cushy, staying in hotels... But part of the lifestyle that we were traveling in was with the mentality that anything could happen. So we may as well appreciate the fact that we can still drive with the windows rolled down and well... At least we know our next shower is hours and not days away.

Location:Austin, Texas yeeeehawww.

Day 14. 2,583 miles

Open large map


School lunch style, sloppy cut pork sandwich.





Above: 6th Street at 7 pm. Below: 6th Street at 1 am.





The Power Chiefs. They played at a very cool dive bar/ outdoor venue. Lone star beer and cigarettes were complimented very nicely by their style.

Location:Austin, Texas