In the summer of 2003, Charlotte and I decided to take a trip across the country by rental car (why a rental? Don't ask--it's complicated, dull, and annoying.), stopping at various friends along the way, seeing the sights, and culminating in our annual visit to the Burningman festival in Nevada. This is the diary we kept along the way.
| Rough Itinerary | |
|---|---|
| July | |
| 14-20 | Jamestown NY |
| 20-21 | Cleveland OH |
| 21-24 | Louisville KY |
| 24-25 | Memphis TN |
| 25-26 | Hot Springs AR |
| ? | Oklahoma City OK |
| ? | Albuquerque NM |
| 30 | Taos NM |
| 31 | Mesa Verde CO |
| August | |
| ? | Grand Canyon AZ |
| 6-8 | Tucson |
| 8-10 | Phoenix AZ |
| 10-11 | Indio CA |
| 11-13 | Los Angeles CA |
| 13-16 | Yosemite CA |
| 16-24 | San Francisco CA |
| 24 | Tahoe CA |
| Reno NV | |
| 24-Sept 1 | Black Rock City NV |
| September | |
| 2 | Salt Lake City UT |
| 3-11 | ????? |
| 12 | Louisville KY |
Sebastian writes:
Lotte's a little anxious that I'm about to muddy up everyone's sense of sequence, so here's a quick summary: she & Lori went out to Sirius Rising, leaving last Sunday evening and arriving on Monday morning. Lori's sweetie--Jonathan--and I came up to meet them on friday. (digresion: at Sirius, the line "are you staying for Starwood?" is as ubiquitous as "what do you do for a living?" back in the real world)
On morning of the 20th, we packed up, had lunch, and drove to Cleveland, where we stayed with Lotte's old friend Steve, and his boyfriend. The next day, we went to Cincinatti, where we stayed with her even older friend Vasso, and her husband and son. This is being written en route to Louisville, whewe we'll be staying with Lotte's sister Sarah.
There. Ssirius was a pretty intense experience, especially for Lotte, so I'm leery of trying to get it all down before describing subsequent stuff. There may be Sirius entries scattered through for weeks to come.
Our foray into regional cuisine occurred at Skyline Chili, a local chain, and Vasso's son Stergios' second favorite chilli etablishment.
Concinatti chilli, as you may know, is a spiced ground beef served over spaghetti, with some combination of onions, beans, and cheese on top. The flavoring was kind of odd--Lotte suggested large quantities of cumin and cinnamon as the culprits. It didn't really do it for either of us, but it was an educational experience.
afterwards, we asked Stergios why he prefers Gold Star's chilli to Skyline's. The former, he explained, offers free Pokemon cards with every kid's meal.
On returning to Vasso's house, Lotte collapsed into a deep sleep for an hour or so, and now suspects that Skyline's beef may not actually be of bovine origins, since it felt like a glycemic crash.
Word to the mother,
--sebbo