Nelson's Roadtrip in '96

Update (12/04/96)

The Plan

I'm looking to have fun with a minimum of responsibility. I'm also trying to do this on the cheap, so lots of camping, occasional sleeping in the car (a 6'5" man in a Honda Civic! It works). I don't know what I can keep in the car to eat - peanut butter and jelly gets old very quickly.

I'm particularly interested in seeing the back highways, small towns with local culture. Places that haven't been homogenized by network television and the Internet. Have you been somewhere that was particularly vibrant, intense, or just plain weird? Can you recommend beautiful parks to visit, local festivals that I should try to attend? Have you been to any folk art environments that were interesting? If you're on my route, would you like to meet for dinner, maybe show a visitor around a bit?

My basic schedule is below. If you have any suggestions about where to go or are on my route and want to meet up, please get in touch with me. You can try to reach me by email, but my net access on the road will be spotty. I am maintaining a voice mailbox at 505-995-6550: you can hear where I am and leave me a message. I plan to check it at least every two days.

Rough Itinerary

June 22 -> June 26. Santa Fe -> Las Vegas. 600 miles, 600 total.

First part of the trip, trying to get in the driving mood by crossing lots of dry, hot west. I'm planning on finally seeing Chaco and the Grand Canyon. And maybe spend an evening in Phoenix to meet up with some folks. Then to Las Vegas to see the fabulous Cirque du Soleil show. I'm staying at the Barbary Coast.

June 27 -> June 28. Las Vegas -> San Francisco. 600 miles, 1200 total.

It's a long one day drive, so I figure there's something interesting on the way if I take two days at it. San Francisco is my favourite city in the world, I'm looking forward to spending a week there. A great party, gay pride, plenty of friends. I might also find some time there to work on html-helper-mode.

July 6 -> July 8. San Francisco -> Portland. 650 miles, 1850 total.

Another long one day drive, stopping on the way to see Ben. And, with some luck, taste a few wines. Then off to Portland for a week, see my friends from college.

July 14. Portland -> Seattle. 200 miles, 2050 total.

Up to Seattle to see Kjarly. I've never spent much time in Seattle, either, so it'll be nice to see it. Maybe go out for a day or two on a hike.

July 17. Seattle -> Victoria. 100 miles, 2150 total.

Victoria is a fun place, kind of like a British Santa Fe. I've not seen the rest of Vancouver Island, but everyone says it's beautiful. More friends to see here, and a party on July 20.

July 21 -> July 26. Victoria -> Las Vegas. 1300 miles, 3450 total.

A long haul through dead land, but I've done it before. Not sure of the return route: either straight to Vegas for DefCon, or blow that off and go straight to Santa Fe via Montana and Colorado, see some of the parks on the way.

July 28. Las Vegas -> Santa Fe. 600 miles, 4050 total.

Back to Santa Fe, pick up my mail and say goodbye for real. More than halfway done with the trip!

July 31 -> August 1. Santa Fe -> Houston. 900 miles, 4950 total.

There's nothing at all good about this drive. Maybe coming through Big Bend would be nice, but it's a long way and very hot. With some luck I can spend a bit of time in Austin. Houston is where I grew up, so I'll see my mom for a couple of days.

August 4. Houston -> New Orleans. 350 miles, 5300 total.

I've only been to New Orleans once when I was far too young to appreciate it.

August 6. New Orleans -> Tallahassee. 400 miles, 5700 total.

See my lovely sister, go to some beaches. August is hot.

August 9. Tallahassee -> Miami. 500 miles, 6200 total.

I really want to see Miami. My good friend Sim lives there, and he raves on and on about Miami - the food, the culture, etc. I also want to see Key West, but that's entirely too much driving. Even Miami is a stretch, this will be a wait-and-see option. Maybe there are cheap plane flights from Tallahassee.

August 11 -> August 14. Miami -> Washington DC. 1100 miles, 7300 total.

Up the Eastern seaboard, stop in Washington to see museums. I know almost nothing about this part of the country.

August 15 -> August 20. Washington DC -> Boston. 450 miles, 7750 total.

Time to go to where I'm supposed to be going. Again, I know almost nothing about the drive. I've got a few friends scattered through there, something will work out.

Previous Roadtrip

The experience that I remember the most was spending a couple of hours around noontime in Ely, Nevada. Ely's an old mining town about midway on the eastern border of Nevada. The town has definitely seen better days: the mine left, things are looking like they're running down. But what an intense little place! Nice main street, quaint without trying to be, a real honesty underneath. I stopped in the drugstore and had an ice cream soda. I talked to the guy who worked at Radio Shack about local politics. I marvelled at the sounds of a Bach cantata coming out of the church belltower (recorded, one presumes). All in all, an interesting little place, very different from my normal life.

I also enjoyed visiting the various parks in Southern Utah. I had an excellent dinner in Torrey, Utah, a fresh vegetable/pasta dish. I spent a couple of days in Las Vegas, Nevada: there's nothing like that anywhere else, that's for sure. I spent a lot of time burning down miles in the wastes of southeastern Oregon and northern Nevada.