two chops, a pole, and a honda

2009-05-07T10:28:00.000-07:00

Temporary Administrative Post:

We've been driving like mad people for the past few days and have brief time with rarely seen friends in places we've never been. To the blog and the people newly following it, we apologize. We'll be in LA from May 8-12 and will catch up then.

In the meantime, here's a photo of some road-side stuff checking each other out:

2009-05-05T09:09:00.000-07:00

Graceland: witness the power of the 1970s Southern rock-star dollar.

This is Elvis Presley's official big-time tourist magnet in Memphis, TN. (According to Forbes, his estate rakes in $42 million a year...pretty good for a dead guy.) Anyway, he had raucous parties with fans and friends and golf carts and fireworks. Shag carpets, poodle wall paper, mirrored hallways, and lots of meatloaf. Expensive cars, a pair of airplanes, and more employees than you can shake a Frito-encrusted chicken fried steak at.

We got there pretty late, but luckily, PSQ put her persuasive crown on, and got us in as the last two admissions of the day!

The Pole has some awesome photos here

2009-05-04T10:58:00.000-07:00

On the way to Memphis, we stopped by Brownsville, Tennessee to see a local road side attraction, known as Billy Trip's Mindfield.

The large steel structure seems to come at you, out of nowhere past downtown Brownsville, as it grows out tall in between local motel and a rental store. At first glance it looks like an old abandon electrical transformer station that's been decorated by bunch of colorful junk. But at closer look you start noticing beautiful and elaborate elements that make the 'Mindfield memorial'.

There are all steel typographic phrases, icons and symbols, all beautifully crafted and suspended in the metallic massive sculpture. Weirdly enough the structure seems well engineered and safe. You can actually sneak in, and walk along tall metal pillars and not fear that you'll be crushed and killed by a falling metal debris.

if you like the place, leave a note in the comment box, and you might just find a free copy of Billy Trip's autobiography.

if you want to find out more about Billy Trip's Mindfield, check out this website.

to see more photos, see 2 chops or my flickr

2009-05-02T17:57:00.000-07:00

Tire-d Ramblings

Hey, that's me!!
So I've been driving around with these two farters for several days now. In that time, I've seen more different kinds of asphalt than you can shake a quart of 10w30 at. In Virginia I was feeling a little randy because I hadn't opened it up after the tuneup I got before I left. Man, I was flyin'. My air to gas ratio is sharp and my sparks are totally synched! Felt great! That cop really liked chasing me down, I'm sure. Hahaha.

I've got some pointers for you fellow gas-guzzlers out there:

South-Central Pennsylvania: HOLD YOUR INTAKE!
It's like shit factories galore out there!...I mean, wow. I have my nose 5 inches from the ground all times and I smell all kinds of stuff...but that state!?!? Wow.

Exit 297 off the I-40 in Tennessee: could you make the grade any steeper? Jeeeeeez.

I kinda miss Connecticut, but hey, life is but a one-way path to the junk yard anyways!

More updates to come.

2009-05-01T09:32:00.000-07:00

our first day/night of driving was interesting:

parts of Pennsylvania smell bad.
I though my nose will fall off, while my nostrils burned in agony, as we were passing by Chambersburg, PA. Seems like such little town, with such enormous stench!

sleeping in a car is not very comfortable.
Although clean bathrooms totally make up for shitty sleep. Who thought West Virgina trucker rest stops had such delightful amenities

Virginia is very pretty in some areas.
which in my case lead to distraction, which let to not watching the speedometer, which lead to this:

2009-04-28T09:27:00.000-07:00

I never knew a ball of cheese could be so....
While this photo may seemingly say nothing about this great country of mine, I like it, so I'm leading with it. Karolina (in the glasses) and myself (IN the glasses) are on a vast road trip across America. We'll be out and about for two months, give or take. One awesome destination is Anchorage, Alaska, for the World Beard and Moustache Championships on May 23. While we're not technically "driving there", we'll still be there in full force.

Anywho, we've driven hog-wild (pardon the expression) through Jersey, Pennsylvania, the Virginias and Tennessee. We find ourself in Memphis without a blog update, so we're encapsulating now. Expect more frequent updates imminently!
Have a nice day,
eric