May * June * July * August * September * October
|
May - the Journey Begins |
|
| Barrington,
RI - leaving the stately homestead of the Backmans (Richie, Sammi and Sasha) on May, 27, 1999. Mile 0 |
May 27, 1999 |
| New York City and his cousin Melissa Backman | May 27 |
| Washington DC: Dinner, drinks & pool with Jael McHenry | May 28 |
| Washington DC: Catholic Law School graduation for Christine Lee | May 29 |
| State College, PA for the wedding of Amy Lilien and Glenn Harper accompanied by Lauren Hollander. Wore a tux. |
May 30 |
| Rochester, NY with Lise Hamilton, accompanied by Bob. | May 31 |
| June - Middle of the Country and 5,000 miles reached | |
| Rochester: hung out. Sneezed at the cat | June 1 |
| Niagara Falls
and then Toronto, Canada, eh (NOT, one of the 48 states) Still with that Bob guy. |
June 2 |
| Toronto: Drop
Bob at the airport. Goth clubbing with newly-met friend Laura Brown |
June 3 |
| Detroit, Michigan - back in the USA, then on to Oberlin College, Ohio | June 4 |
| Oberlin College, Ohio
with Bill Stackman and Family. Visit Cedar Point Amusement Park |
June 5 |
| Cleveland, Ohio and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame | June 6 |
| Columbus, Ohio to visit Becky Schoenberg | June 7 |
Louisville, Kentucky visiting Kathryn Tillett and Fort Knox |
June 8 |
| Mammoth Cave
National Park and then Nashville, Tennessee, including the Grand Ole Opry |
June 9 |
| Walking in Memphis, Tennessee, through Graceland and the National Civil Rights Museum |
June 10-11 |
| Stopping in Cape Girardeau, Missouri to visit Jim Settle | June 11 |
| St. Louis to visit Christy Casado, listen to zydeco, and visit a lesbian pool hall, a blues club and the Arch at night |
June 11-13 |
| Gateway Arch, St. Louis, MO, riverboat casino and explore downtown | June 14 |
| Daniel Boone's house; Mark Twain in Hannibal, MO | June 15 |
| St. Louis Science Museum, live outdoor music in the Botanical Gardens | June 16 |
| Springfield, IL
to visit Abe Lincoln sites; stayed with Lt. Carrie Adelson, in Rock Island Arsenal, IL |
June 17 |
| Quad Cities, including the John Deere Pavilion to witness the history of tractors | June 18 |
| Davenport, IA, Gary, IN and then to Chicago to stay with the Murphys | June 19 |
| Chicago, IL museums, art, comedy and cows | June 20 |
| Appleton, WI to the Harry Houdini museum | June 21 |
| House on the Rock, Spring Green WI.; Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin | June 22-23 |
| Wisconsin Dells, saw Mir and arrived in St. Paul, Minnesota | June 24 |
| St. Paul, MN, visited the governor's office and the Mall of America | June 25 |
| The Green Giant in Blue Earth, MN and Spamtown in Austin, MN | June 26 |
| Des Moines, IA and the Bridges of Madison County | June 27 |
| Independence, MO; the world's largest ball of twine and the center of the United States in Lebanon, KS |
June 28-29 |
| La Crosse, KS and the Barbed Wire Museum, with a dip
to Beaver, OK for the hell of it |
June 30 |
|
July - 10,000 miles and the Pacific is reached |
|
| Liberal, KS and OZ mania, then up Pike's Peak and onto Denver, CO to see Zim | July 1 |
| Denver, CO and environs; visit
by Steph Oestreich; went to Cherry Creek Arts Festival and saw fireworks |
July 2-5 |
| Boulder and such with Zim | July 6 |
| Exploring Colorado, including Royal Gorge with Rebecca Brosnan from Amherst | July 7 |
| Unpacked Gamelan instruments, killed Balinese cockroach, rode on back of a motorcycle for the first time |
July 8 |
| Rocky Mountain
National Park; Continental
Divide; southeastern Wyoming
and the Oregon Trail. Stayed with Tom Hall |
July 9-10 |
| Chimney
Rock, Carhenge
& Agate Fossil Beds National Park in Nebraska plus 5 avian suicides by Volvo grill |
July 11 |
| Mount Rushmore,
Crazy Horse, Custer State
Park, Badlands, Wind Cave by candlelight and Wall Drug in South Dakota |
July 13-14 |
| Devil's Tower and the Geographical Center of the 50 United States | July 12 |
| Corn Palace; Stampede Rodeo; Lawrence Welk's birthplace, Pierre, ND | July 15-16 |
| 10,000 mile mark; Pompey's Pillar; Little Big Horn; Yellowstone and Old Faithful | July 17-19 |
| Butte, MT; Craters of the Moon National Park; world's first nuclear power plant | July 20 |
| Utah: Temple Square,
Mormon Tabernacle, 1st legal beer during a movie (Buckaroo Banzai), Golden Spike |
July 21-22 |
| Boise ID with new friend Alice Rentz | July 23-25 |
| Columbia River, Stonehenge War Memorial, Maryhill Museum | July 25 |
| Last day of second month; reached Pacific Ocean | July 26 |
| Seattle, WA with
hosts Loryn, Charles & Samantha Paxton. Seattle Underground Space Needle, Duck Tour (quack), Microsoft. Dinner & Burning Man film with Heather Ralph |
July 26-29 |
| Qi Gong celebration, Rogue Brewery, Crater Lake | July 30-31 |
|
August - Along the Pacific and 15,000 miles reached |
|
| San Francisco
adventure begins, Brunch with host Nancy and friends Stephanie Eckhaus and Colleen Sanford |
August 1 |
| Chinatown, Lombard
Street, Ghiradelli Square, Dinner in North Beach with friend Jen Bonardi & roommate Laura Stern. |
August 2 |
| The Mission, Metreon & Where the Wild Things Are with Nancy | August 3 |
| Cartoon Art
Museum, Anchor Brewery
tour with SF visiting Marc Elzweig, & host brewmaster Mark Carpenter, SF Tufts Alliance "Loud Hour" |
August 4 |
| Dinner with Jen Bonardi, evening improv music performance by
"024c" -- Marc Elzweig & friends |
August 5 |
| The Stinking Rose, The Haight with Marc Elzweig,
Laura & Stephanie Stern & Lynn Goldman |
August 6 |
| Visited Berkley, saw Blair Witch, explored campus & Telegraph Avenue | August 7 |
| Oakland A's game -- NOT meets Stomper the elephant mascot,
dinner with SF- visiting Erin Cox in Chinatown |
August 8 |
| Laundry; dinner with Tufts friends Jen Trask & Kristina Gutschow | August 9 |
| Redwood City & Palo Alto with old Tufts friends Kris & Marc Garrigus | August 10 |
| Fisherman's
Wharf and sea lions, Alcatraz
tour with hooky-playing Nancy, Golden Gate Bridge |
August 11 |
| Tactile Dome adventures (pitch-black crawl-through alternate-sense space)
& Exploratorium, Palace of Fine Arts |
August 12 |
| Redwood forest, Napa Valley, Petrified Forest, SF rush hour | August 13 |
| Eighth Annual Rubber Ducky Derby, met mascot Mr. Waddles | August 14 |
| Pinnacles National Park, Pacific Ocean | August 15 |
| Hearst Castle, Pacific Coastal Highway, Santa Barbara | August 16 |
| La Brea Fossil
Pits, Mann's Chinese
Theater, Walk of Fame,
Hollywood & Vine, "Hollywood" sign |
August 17 |
| Universal Studios, Warner Brothers Tour | August 18 |
| Saw Lorne Michaels
get star on Walk of Fame & met Chris Kattan and Molly Shannon of SNL; attended taping of Politically Incorrect, waved at by Craig Kilborn |
August 19 |
| Hit 15,000 mile mark in Carson, CA, UC San Diego campus, "Old
Town" San Diego with Charlene Ellsworth, San Juan Capistrano |
August 20 |
| Rolls Royce
festival with Boston friends Traci Craig and David Green, nightlife in Tijuana |
August 21 |
| San Diego Wild Animal Park, drinks with Nancy (in
from SF), Yale Goldis & Mayer Danzig |
August 22 |
| World's
tallest thermometer (107 degrees), Las Vegas at night, Treasure
Island pirate show (the Dread Pirate Daveley), Star Trek: The Experience |
August 23 |
| Went to the feeding trough (a.k.a. the lunch buffet), saw volcano explode
(or was it a Mirage?), NOT won money on a duck-themed slot machine, saw Cirque du Soleil, propositioned by a prostitute (not accepted, by either Dave or NOT) |
August 25 |
| Hoover Dam, London Bridge (Lake Havasu City, AZ) | August 26 |
| Route 66 in
Kingman, AZ, Phoenix, dust storm, Tuscon, Biosphere 2, Montezuma Castle, Grand Canyon, Painted Desert, Four Corners |
August 27-29 |
| Visit from Mom. Explored Albuquerque, Los Alamos, Santa Fe, Taos Pueblo | August 30- September 1 |
|
September - The Southern Swing and 20,000 miles |
|
| National Radio
Astronomy Observatory VLA (Very Large Array), Trinity site, Alamogordo, New Mexico |
September 3 |
| National Atomic Museum | September 2 |
| Roswell, NM, Cadillac ranch & Big Texas Steak Ranch in Amarillo | September 4 |
| Clinton, O.K. - Route 66 Museum, world champion hog caller | September 5 |
| Riverwalk and the Alamo in San Antonio | September 6 |
| Austin, Texas visiting friends Lynn Goldman and Erica Coffin | September 7-8 |
| Houston - Johnson Space Center, New Orleans | September 9 |
| Rosh Hashanah with friend Sara Hanig...New Orleans style. | September 10-11 |
| New Orleans - Bourbon Street, ghost tour | September 12-14 |
| Biloxi blues, USS Alabama, McGuire's in Pensacola, FL | September 15 |
| Statue dedicated to boll weevil, reached JJ's in Atlanta | September 16 |
| General introduction to Atlanta...including traffic | September 17 |
| World of Coca-Cola with JJ, dinner with friend
Jill Hollander (no
relation to Lauren, above and below) |
September 18 |
| Yom Kippur with friend Lauren Hollander (See May 30) | September 19-20 |
| CNN tour,
Stone
Mountain, Centennial Olympic
Park, Emory University, flat
tire for Inga |
September 21-23 |
| Drive with JJ to Greensboro, NC | September 24 |
| Wedding of Anadri Chisolm (former co-worker) and Terry Noel | September 25 |
| Left Greensboro back to Atlanta with JJ, saw giant
peach, dinner with
Lauren Hollander |
September 26 |
| Augusta, GA, Columbia, SC, South of the Border | September 27-28 |
| Roanoke Island (Lost Colony), Wright Brothers (Kitty
Hawk), Duck, NC,
Dismal Swamp Canal, attacked by mosquitoes |
September 29 |
| Monticello, "Cooter" from The Dukes of Hazzard, Harper's Ferry, WV | September 30 |
|
October - Journey's end at 25,000 miles |
|
| Gaithersburg, MD, "Old Town" Alexandria with Anna Rappaport,
Kennedy Center with host Heidi Marchetti |
October 1-2 |
| Arlington National Cemetery, Iwo Jima, Cumberland Falls | October 3 |
| Declaration of Independence and Constitution with Christine Lee, Dinner
with Jael McHenry |
October 4 |
| White House, caught sight of Buddy the First Dog | October 5 |
| Driving with Christine Lee to Roadside America, Crayola factory | October 6 |
| Dinner in NYC with John Voloudakis and Melissa Backman | October 7 |
| Today Show, met Katie
Couric, Statue of
Liberty, stayed with
Christine's family in Stamford, CT |
October 8 |
| Uncle Sam in Troy, NY, National Bottle Museum, leaf peeping | October 9 |
| Ferry across Lake
Champlain, Magic Hat
Brewery, Ben & Jerry's Ice
Cream Factory, floating bridge |
October 10 |
| Mary Meyer Corporation to meet NOT's
makers, America's
Stonehenge,
Bangor, ME |
October 11 |
| Wesley, ME, 2nd largest whirlpool on earth,
Eastport, ME (easternmost US
city), Acadia National Park |
October 12 |
| Bar Harbor, Desert of
Maine, L.L. Bean, surprise
dinner at John Harvard's with Kat, Bob, Kris, Chris, Doug, Mike and Jeff, return to 145 Franklin Street in Arlington Total Miles: 24,925.6 miles. |
October 13 |
Page Updated June 1, 2006