| I began the trip in Saskatoon on Aug. 6th. I
realized that there was not going to be anybody in my pictures which means
postcards would be just as personal, so I started taking pictures of my
car Grey at various highlights. Here he is at Yellow Grass SK. Home
town of my friend Kim. A few minutes later Grey was at the US border
into North Dakota and then in the Little Missouri river valley.
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By Midnight I was in the South Dakota Badlands. I woke up
in my car right under Washington's nose. That day I drove to the Wounded
Knee Monument and through Nebraska to Lincoln to see Dinos' new work place
(University of Nebraska in Lincoln) where Grey burned out an alternator.
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The next day I had to wait till about 3 pm to hit the road.
This was pretty good given it was a Sunday, but it meant driving late through
the area I had biked while biking to Atlanta for Habitat for Humanity (August
1996-see main photopage). So all of the sites I visited were in the
dark. They included: Mark Twain's Cafe in Hannibal Missouri, the
YWCA (where we first met Bethany-see below) in Alton Ill. and the Superman
statue in Metropolis Illinois. Sorry for the poor quality.
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| The next three days I was in Nashville at the AAEA meetings.
By noon on the second day Dr. Andy Schmitz, Dr. Jeff Gillespie and I had
set up shop at a legitimate Honky Tonk on the corner of Broadway and 5th
ave just half a block from the Ryman Auditorium (the Grand Ole Opry from
1943 to 1974). In the first picture Andy and Jeff are cheering on
"Chas" the lead singer from Michigan (a dam Yankee!). These guys
sang George Jones like they had lived just as tough a life. The next two
pictures are from the Country Music Hall of Fame. The first is a Gibson
Guitar exhibit the second is Hank and Johnny (they are on the same wall).
If you don't know who I mean, we need to talk.
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After the last morning of meetings I drove to Memphis, visiting
Graceland, the Rendezvous
and Beale St. that night. While I was touring Memphis, I crossed
the river into Arkansas just to say I had been there. As you cross
the bridge there is a big sign "Welcome to Arkansas: Home of President
William Jefferson Clinton" and then coming back across you get "Welcome
to Tennessee: Home of Vice President Al Gore." Beale St. was one
of the highlights of the trip. It was a whole street of great blues
music joints and one outdoor show in the park. Pictures are Grey at the
visitor entrance for Graceland, the Kings Grave and BB King's Blues bar
on Beale.
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I was, by now, on day 7. I woke up in Memphis.
Stepping out of the air conditioned hotel room into the summer heat was
like being struck. I heard a comic talking about this bang of heat
saying he always thought southern folks were lazy until he stepped out
into a New Orleans day and said "man this is hot - lets jus all sloow doown
a lil". On day 7 I drove from Memphis to Baton Rouge through the
Natchez Trace. This is the ancient trail that natives used to walk
up the Mississippi. Many of the first settlers in Mississippi and
Louisiana made there money trading along the Trace. I got to Jeff and Michelle
Gillespie's home in Baton Rouge around supper time and I tried some Gumbo
& Shrimp Etouffeé at a local cajun restaurant. The next
day I spent the morning touring Antebellum (pre civil war) plantations,
the afternoon with Jeff on the bayou and finished the night off in "Nawlings"
(southern speak for New Orleans). Pictures: first Grey on the Old Trace,
then the Oakley House which had the distinction of being a place where
John James Audubon came in 1821 to teach drawing to Miss Eliza Pirrie;
next is the entry lane and Main house of Rosedown. The diary of Rosedown's
Mistress sounds a lot like Gone With the Wind.
   
Next pictures: Jeff in front of the Silver Moon which served "low country" food - three different bean dishes, Jambolya and corn bread; canoeing on a real bayou; Jeff and Michelle at the gate of a New Orleans grave yard; Beignets (like flap jacks covered with icing sugar) and ice coffee at Cafe du Monde; me and a menu lady on Bourbon St; Jeff and I drinking in an outdoor bar (I'm having a real Mint Julip); a Dixie Jazz Band; Grey on Bourbon St.; and finally me looking over Lee's (he is in the background on his horse) Square.         
You can't really capture the feel of New Orleans with pictures. There are always a lot of people on Decatur and Bourbon St. especially when its dark Bourbon St. has a seedy feel but the Jazz is incredible. They have preservation societies for Jazz. I really enjoyed Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville and the Cafe Du Monde. And Nawlings smells - not always good. On day 9 I had waffles with Jeff and Michelle and headed East. I had to drive across Lake Pontchatrain to see New Orleans again. By the time I got to Bilouxi the sun was setting on the Gulf of Mexico (first picture). I decided to try to catch the sunrise on the Atlantic in Jacksonville, Florida(second picture-it was foggy).
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So Day 10 sorta started on the road trying to catch the
sunrise at Jacksonville. I drove to Savannah and got a room on Tybee
Beach. I had a nice relaxing night and woke early to catch the sunrise.
The pictures are of sunset and sunrise on Tybee beach.
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Day 11 began with that great sunrise and some pecan waffles
at a lil place in Tybee. Then I drove to Savannah for the basic tour.
I saw the main squares, a Cafe were the writer of Midnight in the Garden
of Good and Evil used to frequent and the main museums. The picture
is of Savannah's waving girl who waved at all the incoming ships.
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After touring Savannah I drove north into the
Carolinas and headed for the Blue Ridge Mountains. On Day 12 I drove
along the Blue Ridge Mountain Parkway, stopping at Cherokee to visit their
great Cherokee Museum. Pictures are of Grey on the Blue Ridge Mountain
Parkway; me standing on the Highest Point in the Smoky Mountain National
Park; Grey on the Appalachian Trail and a sign for the trail.
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By 7:00 am of Day 13 I was at my friend Bethany's house near Chicago.
That afternoon I walked the streets of Chicago. I slept on the road
between Chicago and Duluth. These pictures are of the Chicago River,
the Billy Goat Tavern (home of the cheese burger cheese burger cheese burger
skit on SNL), the Sears Tower and Bethany Me and Grey.
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Day 14 began on the road to Duluth. I toured Duluth for a good part
of the day and watched a ship from Yugoslavia pass through their raised
bridge. I got a Motel rm on Lake Superior. The next day I watched
the water at sunrise and drove to Winnipeg, stopping at the US Hockey of
Hall of Fame,  Souix
Narrows and Lee and Laura's place in Lasalle, MB. I spent day 16
out at Bethan's folk's cabin on Gull Lake. As I was leaving for Saskatoon
I took this photo of Bethan. I had just asked her to marry
me!! She took a week
to say yes but thats OK with me.
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| So that was my excellent adventure. | |
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