Logbook: Out Of The iVoid

I’m not going to dwell on the “lack of internet” (aka iVoid) problem, except to say that I’ve learned something about being on The Voyage: Sometimes there will be problems with connections and we all -- especially me -- will just have to be patient. With that said, here’s the recap of last week: On Wednesday and Thursday I took the chance to have lunch and visit with some old friends and clients in the Dillsburg area. I happily spent Friday and Saturday volunteering at the annual event of an organization with which my mom has been involved for years, Knitter’s Day Out. This year, over 300 women (and three men) convened for what must be one of the most extraordinary “craft-fests” in the world. I took pictures -- a few of which are in the Photos album -- and performed a variety of other functions such as raking in money at the door, selling merchandise, providing directions for lost participants and doing my best to flirt and otherwise entertain.

Sunday I drove down to Baltimore for the day and had a fabulous visit with Lorena. We toured the Walter’s Art Museum, had lunch at the Inner Harbor, went for ice cream and, of course, did just a little bit of shopping. Lorena is a lovely young lady who is a pleasure to be with, and I was treated to a rare and precious experience of her infectious laugh and robust wit... Thanks, Lorena! Yesterday was my last day on the farm and I helped my dad with a few chores then capped off the day by bagging one last evil woodchuck for old time sake -- One shot, one kill.

This morning I packed up my gear and we drove to Hunt Vally, MD where I had a nice lunch with my folks before they dropped me off at the light rail station -- see photo above -- for my connection to Amtrak in Baltimore. At present I am in a familiar little “roomette” on The Crescent, now ready to call it a night and look forward to waking up in Atlanta where my friend Ken will meet me at the station. He promises to have “wi-fi for days” so I really, really am determined to finish up at least four Reports in the immediate future... Provided, of course, that our usual “Who were those guys?” antics don’t interfere! Stay tuned! The Voyage of Macgellan continues...

Logbook: New York

To title this logbook entry “New York” is a little bit misleading. I was only in the city long enough to change trains last Friday and again this afternoon. I spent the time in between back in my old home town of Port Washington with my dear old “aunt” Evie. One highlight of this visit was the annual “Country Fair” which was held by the historical society to which she belongs. I have vivid memories of the Fair from when I was a kid and it is pretty much what it always was -- A time for local folks to have fun in the context of the history of the area which dates back to the 1600’s. I happily took a bunch of photos which I hope will be the content for an Report.

The other highlight was taking a nice drive into Westchester County to visit the grave of Ayn Rand who is a hero of mine and to whom I have long wanted to pay my respects. Besides that, Evie and I had a grand time -- as always! -- doing little chores around her house, taking drives, watching her soap opera, eating huge meals and laughing at each other’s stories. Aside from her somewhat limited mobility, you’d never know that Evie just celebrated her 90th birthday. She is sharp as a tack and has a lively sense of humor! At present I am on Amtrak, headed back for a few more days on the farm with the folks before heading south. I have had a terrible time finding good, stable internet connections so I am determined to park myself back in the Xpresso Cafe in Dillsburg and finally do the “catching up” I have hoped to do for a couple of weeks!

Logbook: Dillsburg

My decision to bolt from Bedford, PA last Saturday turned out to be inspired. One look at the weather report on Friday night made it clear that the hurricane (I don’t recall it’s name) was bringing a ton of rain my way and would make sightseeing impossible anyway. So, after a quick review of my car rental contract -- which showed that if I returned the car before 8:30 am I could save myself an entire day’s rental charge -- I got up and out about 5:30 am on Saturday and drove through terrible rain. It was no real problem, though, and I made the trip in fine form. My folks picked me up at the car return and we headed back to the farm. The rest of Saturday and Sunday were pretty low key except, of course, for the many fun and rewarding interludes playing with my mom’s new dog Sasha -- a fabulous, bright and energetic little girl! Monday’s highlight was a ride in Marty’s (a close friend of the family) new Mustang Cobra followed by dinner at the local VFW. Tuesday and yesterday just evaporated as days on the farm tend to do, but today I rode with Marty as he made a circuit through Amish country for his job with the state game commission.

Although I have made a few previous trips to the “tourist” areas, I have never gone so “deep” into the area or the Amish culture. I confess a certain admiration for their dedication to simplicity and heritage, but I also must confess a high degree of confusion about exactly what the “rules” of the culture are. For example, I saw many Amish farmers using horse drawn wagons in the corn fields, then using tractor power to put the corn into their silos. I learned that they do not use electricity, but they use diesel generators to charge the batteries that power their electric fences. I also noticed that they do not have phones in their homes, but often have a “phone booth” outside in the yard. As you might imagine, I spent much of the day trying to figure it all out... to no avail. I suspect the culture is struggling to balance sticking to the “old ways” with adopting “new ways” that make modern life possible. In the morning, I am heading to New York to visit with my dear old “aunt” Evie for a few days. Always fun!

Logbook: US30 Lincoln Highway

The day before yesterday, I left St. Louis and drove east on I-70 then north on I-69 to Ft. Wayne Indiana where I stopped for the night in anticipation of heading east again on the famous US 30 - The Lincoln Highway. My thinking was that driving the “byway” would offer a view of America that one doesn’t get to see from the Interstate. I was so right! Here’s a brief recap: Yesterday, heading east from Ft. Wayne, US30 is mostly a divided highway with two lanes in each direction. Miles and miles of just about what you’d expect... corn fields! After a pleasant few hours of driving -- catching up on podcasts on my beloved iPod Nano -- I arrived in Mansfield, OH. My good friend Mark is from that little city that time has forgotten and he gave me a heads up on some interesting things to check out. I took a 2 hour tour of the Ohio State Reformatory which was the site used for filming “The Shawshank Redemption.” It is pretty run down now but is in the process of “redemption” by an enthusiastic group of volunteers. There are a few Photos and I may have enough media to file a Report when I get a chance to catch up with myself. For now, suffice it to say that you really didn’t want to get sent to reform school. I had a little “Tell Macgellan What To Do” assignment from Mark and by the time I finished it I was ready to check into a local motel and crash.

This morning I headed east again on US30 which continued to be a nice highway. Just short of Canton, the nice road ended and the “byway” became a fairly troublesome route. A two lane road through many, many small towns, the route is surprisingly easy to lose. Blink once and you’ve missed the single sign with an arrow pointing in an unexpected direction. I will confess to having to make three small backtracks along the way. This tricky little road continues for just a few miles through the very northern tip of West Virginia and enters Pennsylvania just west of Pittsburgh where it became, frankly, downright ugly. I don’t know what kind of hours the folks in Pittsburgh work, but I was in what had to be rush hour at 2pm and didn’t clear the city until well after 4pm. Then, even worse, US30 continues for many miles as that road that every city has -- the one that has nothing but car dealerships, fast food restaurants, shopping malls and whatnot with traffic lights at least every quarter mile.

It wasn’t until Greensburg that the road became interesting again, making some nice dashes through quaint little towns and over terrain that is surprisingly mountainous. Along the way I made a brief stops at the “Flight 93 Memorial” (See Photos) and a few other points of interest before arriving here in Bedford, PA. After almost 500 miles on the historic US30, I have to admit that I’ve had my fill of Americana. In the morning I am going to jump on the PA Turnpike and zoom to Dillsburg, PA where I’m looking forward to a little “down time” with my folks. It’s hard to believe I’ve only been on The Voyage for a shade over three weeks. Then again, I’ve gone so far so fast that I’m actually a little tired. So, I expect to take a few days to catch up with my media, put together some overdue Musings and Reports, do my laundry and hang out for a little while. Fear not, however, for things will pick up again soon on The Voyage of Macgellan!

Report: Shawshank's Redemption

While passing through Mansfield, OH on my US 30 Lincoln Highway road trip, I stopped at the historic Ohio State Reformatory and was fortunate to be able to take a tour offered by the Mansfield Reformatory Preservation Society. I have prepared this Report to give you a little history of the facility and to share the highlights of my tour. Many thanks to all of the Society’s volunteers who are putting so much of themselves into the renovation of this important site and also to my good friend Stephen Jacob for once again providing a perfect piece of background music! (Note: This Report includes my first attempt at narration. I think it turned out pretty well and adds a lot to the video -- hopefully worth all the extra production effort! Please let me know what you think!)

Logbook: St. Louis

Shortly after Greg left Minneapolis on Tuesday morning, I e-mailed my niece -- who is working in Rochester, MN this summer -- to see if she would be willing to make the drive up to join me for dinner. I’m delighted she agreed because we had a really nice time together, and I hope we can rendezvous again elsewhere in the world. Wednesday was a travel day with a pair of long, but very satisfactory Amtrak rides that put me in St. Louis. Thursday and Friday were “other work” days with some fine folks who offered me some very interesting conversations and rewarding interactions. Yesterday was full of St. Louis exploration -- especially culinary -- including a tour of the Anheuser Busch brewery, fried raviolis at McGurks, pizza at Imo’s and a “concrete” at Ted Drewes. According to my very gracious hosts, I can now honestly say I know the “in things” of St. Louis! Today has involved marooning my first Devil Duck -- check the map to see what that is all about -- and a variety of other Voyage-related efforts. I plan to be in St. Louis for a few days longer then head east toward Pennsylvania. Being in one place for a while has been great, but I’m starting to get the feeling of being ready to continue The Voyage of Macgellan!

Logbook: The End of the Road Trip

After leaving Bismarck on Sunday morning, the road trip entered a somewhat surrealist phase. Although we’d already driven 800 miles through wide-open spaces of nothing, the Hi-Line and Badlands had been interesting in a bizarre yet captivating way. Continuing our road trip on I-94 was just plain boring, and we were in an almost trance-like state as the miles rolled by. We were briefly amused by driving through a thunderstorm and stopping to film the amazing cloud formations that it produced, but we mostly just drove and drove and drove... To Fargo, ND where we stopped for the night. Yesterday morning we spent an hour in the small but excellent airplane museum, challenging each other with trivia questions about the many WWII airplanes on display. Then, it was back in the car and on the road to Minneapolis.

Although neither of us are shoppers, we are both capitalists and decided that a visit to the Mall of America was in order. What a place... What an experience! In essence, MOA is four “normal” malls stacked on top of each other and houses every kind of retailer known in the universe. We were amazed -- and, frankly, a little bit creeped out -- by the raging consumerism. While it is “good for the economy” for people to be out buying stuff, we had trouble convincing ourselves that it was “good buying.” Jeans selling for $150 and just plain “junk” everywhere... Who knows? After walking the entire mall, we figured maybe we were just being crotchety old men and decided to take the light-rail down town for dinner. We picked Hooters as the perfect way to end our guys’ road trip, and I took the opportunity to embarrass Greg one more time by having the girls ambush him for a photo as we were leaving. This morning we had some time to reflect on our trip and our time together before Greg headed to the airport for his flight home. The Hi-Line Road Trip is now finished, and we are both wiser and better for it. Thanks, Greg, for being a great companion on The Voyage of Macgellan!

Logbook: The Hi-Line

Friday morning, KC and I left Eureka and drove south to Helena where I met my friend Greg who had flown in from Seattle to join me for an old-fashioned “road trip” along “The Hi-Line” -- The northernmost highway across Montana and North Dakota which more-or-less follows the trail of Lewis & Clark. So after spending the day driving SE through the “hilly” part of Montana, Macgellan got back in a car and started driving NE to the “flat” part of that immense state. About 200 miles later -- after stopping to eat in Wolf Creek and then to poke around the lovely town of Fort Benton -- we hit the Hi-Line (Highway 2) in Havre, MT. The local Super 8 Motel -- free (intermittent) wireless internet! -- was our home for the night.

In the morning (yesterday) we started the day with a brief internet check-in (Greg was a good boy and Skyped his wife back in Seattle) then had breakfast and headed out of town. The miles just fly by on the Hi-Line at the posted speed limit of 75 mph, and by the time we reached Culbertson -- 261 miles form Havre -- we figured we’d pretty much had the “Hi-Line experience” and decided to head southeast through the “badlands” -- or at least “not-so-good-lands”-- of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park. What a drive! Miles upon miles of absolutely nothing! By about 6pm -- after 8 hours of driving -- we were ready to stop for the day and tried to find a room in Medora, ND, the “center” of the Park. Alas, no rooms were available so we headed east again, trying Dickinson, Richardton and Glen Ullin before finally finding a cheap, basic, “good enough” room in a roadside motel in New Salem. Needless to say, the place had no internet, so we got up this morning, drove here to Bismark and have found breakfast and an internet cafe. In a little while we will head east again, bound for Fargo, ND.

Musing: Who is US?

Say the word "logging" to someone in a metropolitan city and they will very likely conjure up images of bald, ravaged mountains that have been devastated by indiscriminate clear cutting, then opine at length about the evils of logging and of the selfish, greedy loggers who so thoughtlessly spoil the land. Say the word "logging" to someone in northwest Montana and they will probably envision a lovely forest that has been selectively harvested, pruned for health and cleared of fire-prone underbrush, then talk about how important it is to take care of the forests for future generations. I know I'm generalizing, but I think you get the gist: City folks and country folks are different. They've got different realities, perspectives, values, priorities, etc.

After a month of voyaging repeatedly between city and country, I am as aware of this as I have ever been. I'm also powerfully reminded about how important it is for us to mind our own business and not superimpose our decisions and rules on others whose realities we do not share. This is difficult, of course, in a country like the US where popular vote has the power -- it's just so easy for the urban majority to make rules that make sense to them but which may be insane for the distant, rural minority. So here's a thought experiment that has entertained me on the road recently: Suppose voting was done by area instead of population. What might the rules for Seattle, New York, Chicago and San Francisco be if Alaska, Montana and the Dakotas got to vote their proportionate land mass instead of their head count? To a Montana rancher with 25,000 acres, paving land to make parking lots or cutting grass and throwing away the clippings might well be viewed as a wasteful devastation of precious land.

Logbook: Trego-Libby-Eureka, MT

Just as planned, my friend met me Tuesday morning at the Whitefish, MT train station and we went for breakfast. An hour-long ride to the north later, and we were pulling into the logging operation in Trego, MT. It was immediately fascinating and I proceeded to shoot about 5 gigs of stills and video, some of which I have edited into a Report that I think you will enjoy. Wednesday we drove a series of Forest Service roads to Libby, MT where we had lunch at The Libby Cafe (which has working wireless!) then drove over to the Libby Dam. The dam is very interesting and we had a great tour of it, but due to "security" I was not allowed to shoot any media so I can't share much about it. You will find the few shots I was able to take on the Photos page. Last night after dinner, we edited much of the logging operation media into a documentary movie for my friend. It's too long to share with you on this site, but I'm delighted to report that it turned out good enough to earn Macgellan his room and board for the week! I love this job! Today is a "Mac Day" as I catch up on media, reports, logbook entries, photos, etc. Tomorrow morning I will head south to Helena, MT where Macgellan will continue The Voyage! Stay tuned!