May 27, 2006

Indianapolis is a fun place to be during the month of May. The Indy 500 is a lot more than just a race for the people here. There are all sorts of events that go along with the race throughout the month and people just tend to be in a good mood. Kathy’s father, Jim Kilroy, flew in on Thursday to attend his first Indy 500 and her brother Chris arrives tonight. We have been busy playing host/tour guide and giving Jim a quick indoctrination into Indianapolis and the crazy race he will be attending. His first night in town, we took him along with my mother, Marta Blades out to eat at my favorite Indianapolis dining experience, Brugge Brasserie (see link). Located in the hip enclave known as Broad Ripple, Brugge was opened last year by a group of my high school friends including Eli Schloss, Shannon & Ted Miller and Abe Benrubi. Ted is an award winning brew master and his beer took silver medal honors in last year’s great American Beer Fest. Quite an honor considering his brewery was less than a year old at the time. The food is awesome as well.





Friday was a big day as well as we took Jim to “Carb Day” at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which is basically a funny name for the final practice before the actual race. We started off with a visit to the speedway museum for a historical perspective, then a tour of the garage area since we were fortunate enough to have garage area passes. Then out to the stands to watch practice and the IPL or minor league race that was part of the festivities. The weather was stellar, beautiful sun and not too hot or humid. The sun brought out a massive crowd, and we ran into some friends, Kevin Love & Mark Wolfe who were enjoying the party atmosphere. There was a concert by the B-52s which we missed and Kathy was sad not to have seen the actor Patrick Dempsey who owns one of the race team, but we had a great time and Jim enjoyed his experience.



One of the fun things about the 500 is all the parties that go along with the race. Last night, Jim & I were invited to one of the many annual “Calcutta” parties. These are basically a way to combine a party with a chance to gamble. The starting drivers are auctioned off and a percentage of the total pot is divided among the top finishers and whoever finishes last. A group of my friends known as the “Fisher Farts”, formed a syndicate to bid. The pot went over $40,000 and we got could only afford the cheaper end of the field, so let’s hope driver’s PJ Chesson, Eddie Cheever or Felipe Giaffone finish last.

Indianapolis

May 25, 2006

Thanks again JD & Amy (shown with Peppy & India)

Indianapolis-

We made it to Indianapolis last night, driving from Marietta with a nice stop in Murfreesboro, Tennessee to visit the beautiful Stones River National Battlfield Park. The park is at the site of one of the bloodiest conflicts of the civil war. It is nice battlefield, certainly not one of the largest or most important battlefields but remarkable in it's beauty and simplicity. There are not monuments every few feet like you find at many civil war sites. It is just a beautiful place, it's hard to reconcile the carnage which happened there with the serenity that one finds today.





We arrived in Indianapolis, just before raging thunderstorms last night. We will be staying here probably about 5 or 6 days and plan to attend the Indy 500 this weekend. We are staying with Michael's sister Michele and two of her sons. Her husband Jerome has left to open their Canadian fishng lodge. And she has two more sons away at college. Kathy's father & brother will be flying in to go to the race as well.

On the Road

May 23, 2006

Two days into our journey and so far, everything has gone wonderfully well. We actually didn’t get going Monday till late in the afternoon. There was a lot more work getting prepared than we had originally envisioned. But once underway, we made decent time; driving to Ft. Pierce where we spent the night at a musty Motel 6 (they accept Pets). This early few days involve more driving than exploring simply because we are actually on a timetable and need to be in Indianapolis by tomorrow. Thus we didn’t stop as often as we might have. Day 2 was a big day for India.

There is an excellent dog park in Gainesville, Florida called Dogwood Park and we had wanted to stop there for her sake, sadly we arrived to find the place closed. It felt a little like the Griswold family in the National Lampoon’s Vacation movie, who drove to Wally World only to find it closed. Thankfully, just across the street from the dog park is the amazingly beautiful Kanapaha Botanical Gardens which welcomes pets, so we went there and it turned out better because we really enjoyed it. Gainesville made for a nice pit-stop.



The excitement wasn’t over for India, as we ventured on into Georgia. Our friends, JD & Amy Mettler live near Macon and they happen to own India’s brother Peppy. The dogs had not seen each other since JD & Amy moved from Florida 5 years ago. It was a happy reunion, India’s happy squealing noises reaching new heights. I first met JD & Amy years ago when they were working at the Pizza Hut in Key West. They are an inspiration because they have pursued and fulfilled their dream. Since before we met, JD aspired to be a comic book artist. Through hard work, perseverance, and self-taught skill, he has not only made it, but made it in a big way. Last year the book he works on, Ex Machina, won the Oscar of the comic book industry called The Eisner for best new comic and he was nominated as an individual for best colorist. Pretty impressive stuff. Check out the Jolly Rogers Studio link and see some of JD’s work. We enjoyed a great, but too short, visit and dinner before continuing on through Atlanta, stopping in Marietta for our second night on the road.

Today is Departure Day, I just wanted to add a quick note thanking everyone for all their positive encouragement, e-mails, offers of a place to stay etc. If we make it to your area, we just may take you up on them. It is tons more work than one might imagine preparing to leave your home for months. Thankfully our friends Colin and Esme have agreed to stay in our home and take care of it and our cats. Special thanks to them! Speaking of friends, I would highly suggest that you take a moment to check out the links section,almost all of the links go to sites of friends and or their businesses. From writer Eddy Harris whose amazing journeys and insights have inspired and encouraged us to our friends Kerry & Bruce who are opening a fantastic new restaurant in Estes Park this week, all the links are personally selected with great care. We hope to add links to places we visit as we go. Check em out.

May 20, 2006- Gotta Rush Away...

"One way or another
I'm just hoping to find a way
To put my feet out in the world"

-Adam Duritz

Welcome to the first post of our blog. I was trying to think of something of interest to write and then last night we hosted a small going away party and I kept having to answer the same sort of questions from a myriad of people that were remarkably similar. So I figured what better way to start off than by attempting to address the queries that many people have when you tell them that you are taking 3 or 4 months off and driving about the country. The first is usually, "Where are you going?" - Well we only have a sort of skeleton out-line based on where when know we have to be at certain times.

We are leaving Key West and driving to Indianapolis initially because we are going to the Indianapolis 500 on memorial day weekend. After that we will head for the East Coast, to Marshfield, MA where we will be dropping off our dog India for her stay at summer camp (ie Kathy's father's house). We plan to use Marshfield as a base to explore the Northeast, before venturing south towards Philly, Baltimore, DC and into the Carolinas. After that the plan is to head into the deep south, Alabama, Mississippi, New Orleans,etc. From there it will all depend on how much time we have used. We have to be in Colorado in August to attend the Folks Fest, so how far west we go all depends upon our rate of travel. The main point is to enjoy the journey, rather than try to rush to as many places as possible. The next question is usually,"What about your jobs?" - Well Kathy teaches preschool so her schedule is somewhat open in the summer. I recently left my job at Reef Relief where I had worked for more than 10 years which opened up the possibility of taking an extended vacation.

Many people asked, "What are you driving?" As you can see, we will be taking our flower-painted Honda CRV. The paint job is the work of Key West artist Rick Worth. It may get cramped at times, but we hope not too bad, we plan to travel lightly. Another popular query asked, "How can you afford the trip?" Well we plan to travel as economically as possible. We look to camp often, to stay with family or friends when possible. All those people who visited us in Key West and offered, "If you ever make it to (your city here)..." Well guess what- here we come. Gas prices are a concern, but hey you only live once....

Lastly, many people asked simply, "Why?"...or, "What do you hope to get out of this?"
These questions are really questions more about who we are than why we may be taking some trip. I can think of flip answers like, "Because we can" or superficial ones like, "We love to travel"...But the fact is the matter is that by experiencing new places, new people and new experiences you can open yourself up for some real introspection and insight into who you are in a way not possible in the rigors of day to day life. If you've read this far, we invite you to join us and follow along as we put our feet out in the world.