Hello everyone, and welcome to another sheltering-in-place update from our nation’s capital. It’s been a tough week for me here personally, and I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m in a one-day-at-a-time kind of place right now. I’m grateful to have my family around me as we support each other through the highs and lows of this process.
My friend Ryan passed away over the weekend. Ryan was a part of my local hometown gang – a group of my closest friends that’s been hanging out together for more than 20 years. We’ve been through ups and downs, marriages and kids. Some of us grew up together, but we’ve all grown through adulthood together, and I’ve never doubted that I could call on any one of this group for anything in the world, even though my travel schedule makes me a recurring guest star more than a regular cast member. I have a photo of this group on the visor of my van, and when I’m feeling lonely, I flip down my visor and I’m surrounded by my closest friends. Ryan had cancer, and this wasn’t something we didn’t know was coming, but it still hurts to know he’s gone. I’m a hopeful person, and I never lost hope that he would come out the other side of it. He was my age, entirely too young to die. I’m thankful that we gathered the gang together over the holidays, some coming from as far away as California and Colorado, so that we could laugh and share and break bread and just be together. We knew what was possibly to come, and I’m glad that my friends made this gathering possible and that I was in town to be there for it. It was a wonderful weekend filled with warmth and love. Ryan’s smile, laugh and playful spirit will be missed. May he rest in peace.
Also this week, I got a text message from my ex-girlfriend telling me that she got engaged. This is, of course, happy news and I’m very happy for her and her fiancé. I am giving her the benefit of the doubt, as I have for several years now, and believe that she texted me because she wanted to share her good news with me and also wanted to be sure I heard it from her and not through the grapevine. It’s still incredibly painful news to hear though, although also not unexpected…
Hi Everyone! It’s really hard to believe how quickly these weeks are flying by. I can’t believe it’s been 6 weeks since I got home and started writing my weekly updates from here in D.C. I’m still keeping very busy and still have plenty of things to do, but the days really start to mush together when I’m not out there on the road or at least making plans in that direction. The weather has been decent this week, and we’ve been spending some good time outside enjoying it, which has been great.
This week has been one of celebrations, which has also been really good. On Friday we celebrated another week gone by with our weekly “Forget About It Friday” party in the basement. This week I broke out my blacklight from college and went a hundred years into the future for a “future party”. We had some glowing gin and tonics and a few laughs and played a new-to-us card game called The Game which we all enjoyed. Saturday we all threw in together in the kitchen and created a huge and wonderful New Orleans inspired Italian meal. Monday we celebrated my folks’ anniversary with another nice meal and last night we had some tacos and margaritas for Cinco de Mayo. Because television and walks only boost your spirits so much, we’ve enjoyed these celebrations as an excuse to be together and enjoy something fun and different. The themes just give it some direction.
I got some good news this week from a wooden puzzle company in England who wants to use one of my photos of Cloudland Canyon in Georgia on one of their puzzles…
Another week has come and gone for me here in our Nation’s Capital, and with it the month of April is coming swiftly to a close. I have spent the entire month under quarantine here at home, and I know many of you have been shut in longer than I have. It has definitely become a “new normal” for me, and this week I’ve started to fall into a good rhythm and routine. I’ve also come to terms with the idea of being here for a while and am trying to make the best of it.
First off, I know how incredibly lucky I am to be in the situation I’m in. My folks have been willing to take me in for an indefinite amount of time. They have retirement income and no mortgage to worry about and we all have enough space to not be under each other’s feet all the time. I myself have no debt and really no bills to speak of and because I cut my winter travel plans way short, I still have a reasonable amount of savings in the bank. All of this is good news because as long as this will last for the country, it will last significantly longer for the travel industry. I would be surprised if there’s any real work for me at all this year. I am trying to scout out a few writing gigs and maybe some virtual guiding, but as far as multi-week face to face stuff, it could be a while.
Hello Everyone! Well, another week has blurred past. It’s gotten a bit colder this week in Washington, but we’ve had a lot of sunshine which has helped prop up my spirits most days. It’s already light when I get up in the morning and the sun is out until almost 8 p.m. which I’m really enjoying. I’m looking forward to some beautiful spring days with plenty of sitting-outside weather in the coming weeks. We can fire up the barbecue and the outdoor fire pit and at least be able to enjoy the outdoor section of our shelter. I’ve still been getting out for at least one long walk a day, and the flowers are still fantastic around our part of the city. If nothing else it’s been wonderful to focus on the changing colors of spring in our Nation’s Capital.
Emotionally, it’s been another week of ups and downs though. I had another friend in my close friends network lose a parent this week, and my heart goes out to her and her family. Hard times on top of hard times. Meanwhile another friend is slowly recovering from the virus and doing better by the day. One of my good friends and loyal readers of this blog celebrated his birthday this week, so a big shout-out to Rob on his special day. Ten of us got together on Zoom to celebrate and it was good to see that particular group all in one place, even if it was done virtually. I have one photo that’s on the back of my sun visor in Shadow Catcher which I look at when I’m feeling particularly lonely on the road. Most of the people in that picture were on this call so it made me feel good to be a part of it. On Friday, my folks and I had a Roaring Twenties Prohibition Party in the basement. We sipped fancy cocktails, threw some dice, listened to some cool jazz and big band music and focused our attention away from the quarantine and virus for a few hours. It’s been really nice to have these “parties” and escape from reality for a little while.
Hello everyone, I hope this update finds you all well. Although I had been socially isolated for almost two weeks before traveling home to DC, this was my first full week sheltered in place. To be honest, it was a pretty good week, the terrible news on TV notwithstanding.
It’s springtime here in DC, and the days have been really nice and the nights cool but pleasant. The spring flowers are in bloom and are exploding with color all over our neighborhood. While DC is known for the cherry blossoms around the Tidal Basin downtown, there are actually plenty of them throughout the city. The tulips are fantastic and my mother’s azaleas are in full bloom. Because the traffic is so minimal right now, the air is cleaner and you can actually smell the flowers when you’re outside. It’s a wonderful sensory experience. The flowers are definitely brightening my days and helping keep my spirits up.
The city is very quiet right now, which I’m also really enjoying. Most people who live in touristy areas will tell you their favorite time of year is the off-season, when things quiet down and they get their town back for a while. In DC, we like the holiday weekends because the transient population goes home, and the traffic dies down and the city rests for a few days. It’s been like Memorial Day Weekend since I’ve gotten back, and I’m loving it.
Hello Everyone, I’m sorry I haven’t had the chance to post anything these last two weeks, but it’s been quite a strange time. Two weeks ago I was writing to you from Texas with every intention of pushing on with this journey, come what may. I was well stocked with food, water, fuel and everything else I needed to survive for at least a month if need be. I headed south to South Padre Island where I holed up for almost a week, keeping my distance from everyone and everything and trying to read enough to make some educated decisions about what to do next. The beach was beautiful, and warm, and quiet and I enjoyed my daily walks, reading my books and enjoying a private Happy Hour with my feet in the sand every day as the sun went down. As I came to understand the coronavirus, how it was likely to spread and the best ways to minimize the damage it would cause, I realized we were going to be in this for way longer than a couple of weeks. I also read a post from a friend of mine who had contracted the virus and what that experience was like. While he is on his way to a full recovery, I realized that what he went through was not something I wanted to experience while living in the back of my van in 80 degree temperatures. To compound the situation, one of my teeth broke the night I arrived on South Padre, and while I was lucky to be able to get an emergency root canal in nearby Brownsville, I got in on the last day the dentist would be open. I was blessed to get this taken care of, but it made me realize how precariously perched I was so far from home during a worldwide crisis. Reading more, I came to realize that the governor of Texas was not putting into place the appropriate measures and was lagging way behind other states in that regard. I also came to understand that while there were no reported cases in that part of Texas, there was also almost zero testing going on which created a false sense of security. That all being said, I was truly impressed with the measures the local governments were enacting there on South Padre and in surrounding towns, closing all non-essential businesses and laying out simple to understand policies to keep their citizens safe. Finally, the day before I was going to splurge for a hotel room for the night, clean up and write my weekly This Week post, that same local government issued a Shelter in Place order. I couldn’t pay for a hotel for weeks on end with no end in sight, and I couldn’t sit in my van all day either. I could move on, but with nothing open it would be somewhat futile so what would be the point? As difficult as the decision was, it became clear that heading towards home was the safest, most responsible decision, so we fueled up and started on the 30+ hour drive back to Washington D.C.
Hello Friends, boy what a difference a week makes, huh? Last week at this time things were very different than they are now. While the coronavirus was definitely making news a week ago, over the course of this week whole countries have been shut down. American travel restrictions have gone into place and cities have started to shut down non-essential businesses. Grocery shelves are bare across the country and while panic hasn’t set in yet, at least here in Texas, some of the big cities on the coasts are on high alert. New phrases like “social distancing” and “self-quarantine” have entered our lexicons, and people are, and should be worried. To read about my plans and what life has been like this week and also to get an understanding of the importance of some of the public buildings I use on a regular basis, please be sure you read my post on the coronavirus HERE. I was also sad this week to see that the Trace Theater in Port Gibson, Mississippi, which I had photographed just a few weeks ago, had caught fire and burned out pretty badly. In addition, it was the 9 year anniversary of the tsunami which rocked Japan and started the Fukushima mess - another tragedy I lived through as I was teaching in rural southern Japan at the time. It’s been a tough week out here. I decided to finally finish watching Treme, the HBO show about the rebuilding of New Orleans after Katrina, something else I was a part of for two years, and it reminded me that this too shall pass and soon this will just be a memory.
Very soon after I hit “Publish” on last week’s This Week on the Road post, my friend Christian called to tell me the Houston Rodeo had been cancelled for the rest of its run over concerns regarding the coronavirus. I’ll admit I was pretty disappointed because I was looking forward to it, but it seems now like it was for the best. There will be other rodeos in the future, and better safe than sorry in a case like this.
When I found out about the rodeo, I decided to pack up and head out of town. I made my way south to Galveston Island on the Gulf Coast. I had spent some time in Galveston before, but many years ago. It’s a beautiful place with an old, historic city on the bay side and a decent beach on the gulf side
Hi Everyone, I feel like everyone else is speaking their piece on the topic, so I thought I would update you all on my status and my plans for the coming period of time as the country and the world deals with the pandemic caused by the COVID 19 coronavirus.
First and foremost, I am safe and sound and healthy. As I write this, I’m currently in Corpus Christi, Texas and there are, as of now, no reported cases in the city or in surrounding Nueces County. The hospitals are preparing to offer testing to anyone who meets the criteria to get one and respond accordingly. The stores have weathered the initial storm and while the toilet paper and hand sanitizer supplies have been depleted everyone remains civil and courteous. I think the fact that the Gulf Coast has had its share of hurricanes and tropical storms over the years leaves it a little less likely to react over-zealously. I have made some rounds and stocked up for myself with enough food to last for several weeks if the need arises. I have plenty of water, a full propane tank and yes, I even have enough toilet paper to last me if necessary. Most of my equipment, from my camera to my computer, can run or be recharged on board my van. We’re pretty self-sufficient at this point. In short, I’m good for the foreseeable future when it comes to supplies. Also, for those of you who don’t know, my mother is a nurse so I’m getting expert professional advice on keeping safe and healthy.
I’m pretty good at the whole idea of “social distancing” and have lived most of my life in at least a somewhat isolated space. I rarely get the flu because I’m rarely in that close a contact with anyone. But I cannot park and hide out in my van for the next few weeks or months. I would lose my mind and that’s too much to ask. I don’t think driving 24 hours to get home would be very helpful either as I think I would be putting my folks at risk just being there and I would be putting myself in a far more concentrated area than I’m currently in. It seems the more spread out people are, the better situated to deal with this. So for now, I’m staying put, and by that I mean I will continue on this journey albeit on a modified course with an eye towards safety always.
I’m keeping updated on the news but trying not to overdue it. I think many people aren’t listening critically and seem to be making up their own version of what’s going on. On the one hand, some people have watched too many disaster movies and feel like the apocalypse is upon us. It is not. Others think this whole thing is a hoax or a test or something significantly less serious than it is. It is not that either. It is a time for caution and a time to pay attention to real doctors giving out real advice. People have lost faith in the media and while some of that is deserved, there are still good reporters doing real coverage out there. Try and keep informed the best you can, and as a general rule it’s better to err on the side of caution…
Hello everyone, I hope y’all are having a nice week out there wherever you are. March is upon us and I’m loving the warmer weather and longer days. Flowers are popping up, the clouds are clearing and spring is definitely in the air here in Texas. This week has brought me through some fascinating parts of East Texas as I begin my exploration of the Lone Star State.
After I signed off last week, I did indeed make my way out to Rutherford Beach in far southwest Louisiana. It’s not a beautiful beach, but the waves are nice to listen to, it’s quiet and nobody bothers you out there. The camping is free and you can stay as long as you want. I’ve been there before and was really looking forward to a day on the beach to relax, read, plan and give Shadow Catcher a good cleaning. It was definitely a wonderful place to be for a couple of nights and I left feeling refreshed and ready to go. Rutherford Beach is also as far west as this journey has taken me so far so it was a good place to sit and reflect back on the last couple of years and prepare to set off in a new direction: west to the Pacific.
Hello Everyone, I hope you’re all having a wonderful week out there. This is going to be short and sweet this week, because I’ve been off the road and hanging out in New Orleans for most of it. After Mardi Gras, I started in on getting the rest of my photos from Mississippi edited and published and am almost completely caught up in that regard. Many thanks to my friend, Luke, for letting me crash at his place all week and use his internet to do so. I think you’ll find some pretty great photos in these posts, from the Mississippi Delta to the Gulf Coast. I enjoyed getting these photos up and hope you enjoy looking at them. It was a fast but amazing month in Mississippi.
Other than that, I’ve been catching up with some old friends, eating some wonderful New Orleans food and preparing for my dash across Texas. I’m not going to lie, Texas is a pretty daunting state. While I’m really looking forward to it, I’m trying to come up with a reasonable plan to see as much as I can in the 2 months I’ve allotted to be there. If y’all have any awesome must-see places, please feel free to leave me a comment on this post…
Hey y’all, it’s time for another edition of This Week on the Road. It’s going to be a short one this week because I only really spent the first couple of days of the week on the road. Since Saturday I’ve been relaxing here in New Orleans, spending time with my friends and enjoying the Mardi Gras weekend. I did have a great few days along the coast to wind up my time in Mississippi though, and wanted to share what I got up to out there.
My week started in Pascagoula in the rain, but I quickly moved on to Ocean Springs. I really liked this quaint and quiet seaside town with its thriving artists community, pleasant bars, and good restaurants. It seemed like a vibrant and livable place. My first stop was a restaurant I’ve wanted to get to for a while: The Shed Barbecue and Blues Joint. The Shed is a South Mississippi Institution, and occupies a huge, ramshackle building just north of the interstate. The Shed is the kind of place that chains have been trying to emulate for a long time, but with little success. The place is full of old beer and traffic signs, mismatched furniture and dollar bills hanging from the ceiling. It’s the real deal though with great food, wonderful employees and an all around good feel to it. I went with the ShedHed Sampler which came with all seven of their smoked meats and three sides. For $26 I didn’t expect too much, but what came out was amazing. It was a tray piled high with food, enough to fill me up that night, and also for lunch and dinner the next day as well. It was a great meal and experience and I will definitely come back to The Shed in the future. After dinner, I went for some live music and a few beers at the Glory Bound Gyro Co. on Government Street. It was a little chilly, but not too cold to enjoy the outdoor seating area which had a beachy feel to it. I sat by the palm tree and enjoyed some acoustic music there, and later popped in for a quick beer at a place called The Juke Joint. I really liked this divey bar in a hundred year old house a mile or so from the main part of downtown as well.
Hello Everyone! It’s been another amazing week on the road, dodging the rain, learning some history and thankfully catching some breaks in the weather to get some cool shots of some wonderful small towns as well. I’ve got a lot of photos that need to be edited and published, but I’ve really enjoyed taking them and am looking forward to getting to them ASAP. This week started in Vicksburg, took me down to the one-time State Capital of Natchez, up the Natchez Trace Parkway through Port Gibson to Jackson, east to Meridian, northwest to the Choctaw Indian Reservation and then due south to the coast here in Pascagoula. It’s been a busy week with lots of miles clocked, but I’ve seen some amazing places along the way. I want to give a big shout-out to one of my readers, Todd, who gave me a lot of suggestions for this week, all of which were spot-on. Thanks Todd!
After I left y’all last week, I had a pretty quiet night there in Vicksburg. Thursday morning I woke up early and headed straight for the Old Courthouse Museum high above town. I had a nice chat with one of the men working there as I entered, and then had a great long wander through the collection. I realized at some point that I had been there before, but it’s been at least a decade. I really enjoyed it. There was a hammer made from the wreck of the Star of the West, some original Dix banknotes (Dix is 10 in French, and people used to say they had some “dixies”, which then offered up “Dixieland” and the rest is history), the tie Jefferson Davis wore at his inauguration, an original Teddy Bear presented to a local child by Theodore Roosevelt himself and so much more. The courtroom itself has been nicely preserved, and I loved the swivel seats for the jury – it was probably all the rage when they were installed in 1890…
