As the planning for Sprung from Cages gets more and more involved, I’m looking closely into the specific route I’ll be traveling.

The third day will find me in Nevada on US 50. I took this exact route on Scoot 66. You can read about that here. It quickly became one of my favorite roads in America. Like last time, I’ll be stopping for the night in Ely, Nevada, an old mining town that is apparently pronounced like “freely.”

In 2008, I left Ely and took US 50 through the western portion of Utah. You can read about that day here. Along US 50, after crossing the border into Utah, I rode past a sign reading: OLD HWY 6 & 50. It indicated that this old segment of road was 16 miles north of the newer segment that I was on.

After a bit of research I discovered that there’s a 100 mile stretch of old road from the Utah border to the town of Delta. I hoped that one day I could do it.

That day is coming.

When I first planned out this area of the trip for Spring of 2010, I decided to give Old Hwy 6 & 50 a shot. But 100 miles is a long, long distance to travel on an old segment in the middle of the desert. There are no services for those 100 miles. Not only that, there are no houses – no signs of human existence for at least 80 or 90 of those 100 miles. There’s no cell coverage and, being 5000 feet up in the spring, the weather is fairly unpredictable.

Mostly, it’s a flat, straight road through the desert, passing through the Confusion Mountain Range (not exactly comforting).

If I were to break down, I would have to walk as many as 16 miles to modern US 50, which isn’t really all that well traveled (its dubbed “The Loneliest Road in America” for a reason). Even then, there’s no cell coverage or services.

When it comes to traveling across the country on two wheels, very few things scare me. Wind, rain, dust storms, even East St. Louis were all easily survived. For some reason, however, this little abandoned alignment has made me more than a little uneasy.

Prior to this old road being US 6 or 50, it was the Grand Central Highway, a local “shortcut” and preferred route to the Lincoln Highway, which was through the salt flats. It was also part of the National Roosevelt Midland Trail from Washington DC to LA. The Midland Trail is perhaps the oldest cross-country route, first signed in 1913. This specific segment wasn’t used until 1922.

Modern US 50 through this part of Utah wasn’t even paved until 1952. The old alignment, upon which I’ll be traveling, has never been paved. A 1950s newspaper described it as “nothing but a wagon trail-rutted, filled with dust…one of the worst chunks of federal [sic] road in the country.”

My concern was simple – ok, it was not much more than a wagon trail in 1950, but what has happened to it since then? I figured that it was never paved, but was it ever graded? Is it dirt? Gravel? Satellite images give some detail, but it’s hard to tell. I could find no pictures of the road – hardly a mention.

I decided to write to the Millard County Road Department about my trip and ask what the current road conditions might be.

The department secretary replies: This road is all gravel. It is graded and in good shape at this point. It has some traffic on it depending on the day. Heavy rains can cause wash outs. Vehicles do not need to be 4 wheel drive but do need to have some clearance. It is a good gravel off road. Always be prepared. Good tires and water are always recommended. Have a good trip.

This was great news! I’ve been on some crappy roads before – washed out, muddy, rocky, sandy – the Vespa does surprisingly well. I’ve been nearly stuck in a few spots, but have always been able to pull through. The light weight of the scooter makes it easy to pull out of the mud and lift over rocks if need be. I’ve gone places where a normal SUV couldn’t go. That’s pretty cool.

So while the road conditions seems pretty ok, the desolation still frightens me. It’s true, breaking down on a tenting road trip across the country isn’t that huge of a deal. I have a good tent, a sleeping bag, food, water and all that I’d need for a hike to the main road.

I don’t figure that there will be any problems. Still, it’s good to know what I’m up against and to be prepared. I’m both and I can’t wait to tackle this 100 mile stretch of desert!

Get the mix here, and/or continue reading… (174MB)

In January, I posted a mix CD called The Bastard Love Child of Punk & Disco; First Singles: The 80s in the 70s, Vol 1. It was, as the title suggests, a collection of first singles put out in the 70s who later became more popular in the 80s. That mix contained 25 songs – all A-Sides. This mix is the flip side to every single one of them.

Ever since I was a kid, I loved B-Sides. They were almost always a bit left of center, strange and usually not available on the album. When I decided to make this three volume mix of singles, I figured that I just had to include the B-Sides.

Talking Heads kicked off the first mix and they kick this one off too. “New Feeling” was the b-side to “Love → Building on Fire” Both songs are strong and either could have been the single. In the case of Devo, the flip side to “Mongoloid” was “Jocko Homo” which later became much more famous. This version is the first and, in my opinion, the best.

There are some great songs here. Check out Tubeway Army’s “Oh! Didn’t I Say.” Brilliant stuff. Also, “Don’t Cry Baby” by The Polecats is a creepy, but really fun song. How about TV Personalities “Oxford ST”? And Peter Gabriel’s “Moribund the Burgermeister” – that one is really weird. You’ll like it. Oh! And Pere Ubu’s “Heart of Darkness” – it’s passionate and crazy. Wonderful stuff.

The Police, Japan and Madness all have some good stuff here. Madness, especially. Or maybe Japan, especially. Know what? The whole thing is good. It’s not like a bunch of second rate songs that weren’t good enough to be the release side. For many of the bands, the b-side was simply the other song they recorded.

Here’s the track list…

How about some sample songs?

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Tubeway Army – Oh! Didn’t I Say

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Devo – Jocko Homo

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Thompson Twins – Could Be Her … Could Be You

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Peter Gabriel – Moribund the Burgermeister

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Pere Ubu – Heart of Darkness

Ok, enough of all this. Go check it out!

Just click on the link and save the zip file to your desktop. Then open the zip file with WinZip (or whatever program you use to open zip files). Add to your MP3 library or burn it to a CD-R. Easy as pie!

Check out my other mixes right here…

As is well known, I’m taking the Vespa to Miami and back in late May. Much planning has gone into this already and I know I’ve talked about it quite a bit before. However, I’m to the point where I’m getting pretty specific about which roads I’ll be taking. Here’s a little day by day break down (links go to GoogleMaps).

To Miami…

Day One – Seattle to Crooked River, OR – WA 507, Old US 99, WA 14, US 197, US 97
Day Two – Crooked River, OR to near Reno, NV – OR 31, US 395, NV 447,
Day Three – Reno, NV to Ely, NV – NV 341, US 50, NV 722
Day Four – Ely, NV to Moab, UT – Old US 6 & 50, US 50, UT 128
Day Five – Moab, UT to Taos, NM – US 191, US 64
Day Six – Taos, NM to Amarillo, TX – US 64, NM 72, NM 456, OK 325, US 385
Day Seven – Amarillo, TX to Ardmore, OK – TX 207, TX 86, US 287, US 70
Day Eight – Ardmore, OK to Anacoco, LA – US 377, US 82, US 71, US 171
Day Nine – Anacoco, LA to Mobile, AL – US 171, LA 10, US 190, US 90
Day Ten – Mobile, AL to Gainsville, FL – US 90, US 98, US 27
Day Eleven – Gainsville, FL to Miami, FL – US 27, US 17, FL 31, US 41

To Seattle…
Day One – Miami, FL to Callahan, FL – FL A1A, FL 20, US 1
Day Two – Callahan, FL to Murphy, NC – US 1, GA 17, GA 43, SC 81, US 76, US 64
Day Three – Murphy, NC to Paducah, KY – NC 294, TN 68, US 70, TN 56, TN 52, US 68
Day Four – Paducah, KY to Springfield, MO – US 60
Day Five – Springfield, MO to Dodge City, KS – Old US 66, US 400
Day Six – Dodge City to Sidney, NE – US 400, US 385
Day Seven – Sidney, NE to Riverton, WY – US 26, US 20
Day Eight – Riverton, WY to White Sulphur Springs, MT – US 20, WY 296, US 212, US 89
Day Nine – White Sulphur Springs, MT to Clarkston, WA – US 12
Day Ten – Clarkston, WA to Seattle! – US 195, US 2

That's the route. More to come on the planning, etc.

Any further tips or advice is always appreciated.

This is sort of all the rage on the interwebs these days. I just thought I’d share it since I don’t have much else to say today…

We’ve been watching Little House on the Prairie on and off since July. It was sort of done on a dare. My friend, Jeff, told me that Little House was crap television. I figured that wasn’t true, but had to find out for myself. Sure, I watched this a bit as a kid, but it was sporadic and I remember pretty much none of it.

I knocked down the first and second season a while back and just a couple of days ago finished the third.

The first thing I noticed that was different in season three was a slightly changed theme song. It had a bit of country swing to it. I’m not sure if it sticks around into the future seasons, but honestly, I didn’t care for it.

Country legends, Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash (as well as their son, John Jr.) appeared in the first episode. Johnny played an ex-con who tries to swindle Walnut Grove out of money by posing as a man of God. Thanks to Pa and the good folks of the town, the Man in Black sees the error of his ways. He sings a couple of songs too, but surprisingly not in a cheesy way.

That’s one of the strong points of Little House. It somehow manages to not come off (too) cheesy. That’s surprising since it aired in the 70s. Even episodes like the Halloween-themed “The Monster of Walnut Grove” didn’t amp up the cheese factor. Sure, it was a little far-fetched, but I never felt cheated.

Johnny Cash wasn’t the only guest star. Todd Bridges (later played Willis in Different Strokes
) plays Solomon, a runaway black kid who wants Pa to buy him. He didn’t really get that slavery had ended (and this still didn’t come off as cheesy!). Willie Ames (from Charles in Charge) plays a racist kid who doesn’t like the “Injun Kid.”

We often joke about how the random school children change from episode to episode. As is natural, we riff along with Little House quite often. My favorite riff is saying “Who the hell am I?” whenever the featured character is some new kid we’ve never seen before. That’s often followed by regular characters asking each other “Who the hell was that?!”

This clearly isn’t a series that builds upon itself (like most hour-long dramas today). Some episodes span only a day or two, but others span a season or more. It’s a bit difficult to understand how the Ingalls could do all of these things over the course of one television season, but if you don’t really get too wrapped up in it, it’s no big deal.

With that said, there’s some continuity from episode to episode. Pa’s shirt that he got in “The Blizzard,” a Christmas episode, makes several appearances throughout the rest of the season. The third and forth episodes are about Bunny, Laura’s horse. The DVDs get it wrong, switching the running order of the only two episodes that really rely upon plot continuity to make any sense.

That brings me to the DVDs. Whoever released these did it on the very cheap. The original series was filmed on 35mm film stock (like a movie). Instead of transferring from the original, uncut film, they used the heavily edited versions used by TBS and transfered from worn out video tapes. Often the color is off and it looks like you have to adjust the tracking on your VCR (except that this is DVD). The edits are the worst as they usually cut off a scene in a really unnatural place. Why the producers of these DVD sets chose to do this was probably financially driven, but what a horrible mistake.

The season ends in a strange way. The Ingalls and the Edwards pull up stakes in the spring and move to Deadwood for a gold rush. They don’t really want to, but it’s been raining a lot and they’ll never get their crop in the ground at this rate. Deadwood turns out to be a pretty nasty place with murders and prostitutes, so at the end, they leave. It’s not clear if they’re going back to Walnut Grove – so where will they end up in Season Four?

I guess that’s the best we’re going to do as far as a cliffhanger goes. I’m ok with that. If I wanted a cliffhanger, I’d watch Lost or Dallas or something.

Season Three is all about really bad things happening to the Ingalls. First, three bullies try to take over the town, then everybody nearly dies in a blizzard. Carrie, the youngest mouth-breather, falls down a mine shaft and then everybody nearly dies again from “the fever.” Mary nearly dies from an intestinal infection and Laura shoots Pa and he nearly dies alone in a broken down cabin. Nobody seems to notice that Pa, Ma, Laura, Mary and Carrie are really bad luck. In fact, Pa saves the day on a regular basis. Each of the episodes are fun, a little far-fetched (but not too much) and touching.

Three seasons down and I can conclusively say that this isn’t crap television.

Every roadie (is that what we’re called?) has planned countless road trips. Most normal people (tourists, I guess) start with a destination and then find the quickest way to get there – interstates or flying. Those who are in it for the journey (roadies?) start with a road or maybe a general location (like the southwest or New England) and then think of a way to get there and back.

I fall into the latter category. There have been very few road trips that I’ve planned that are focused upon a singular point where I need to be. There have been even fewer that have me getting to that point as quickly as possible in order to “vacation” there. For me, the “vacation” is the journey.

This trip to Miami for Michael’s graduation is sort of an anomaly for me. It focuses upon a destination where I’ll be for a few days. That destination is the reason for the trip. This hardly ever happens.

Most people would hop on a plane, fly to Miami, hang out for a few days and then fly back. I don’t think that’s possible for me. For one, I basically don’t fly. I have flown before – twice. Once when I was in 4th grade and once in 2007. The only thing I remember for the 4th grade flight was finding a comedy radio station on the plane that was playing Bob Newhart. I was a weird kid. I, however, remember everything about the 2007 flight. The panic, the white knuckles, the intense claustrophobia and dizzying acrophobia are all very fresh in my mind.

So basically, flying is right out.

And that’s ok with me because I get to cross the country yet again! I’ve done so on the ground in 2004, 2006 and 2008.

Planning this trip is a bit different since I have a destination and time when I need to be there. It’s also a bit different because I have a job that probably doesn’t want me to be going at all. Actually, I’m not even sure if they’re “allowing” me to go – but that’s a whole other story.

I’d usually find a road (like Route 66 or US 2), research it and then plot out my routing. But since there aren’t any specific roads leading from Seattle to Miami, I’ve had to improvise. I’ve left myself enough time to see some site, but this time it’s mostly about the ride.

My tools are GoogleMaps and a Rand McNally Road Atlas. That’s it. A lot of people use Delorme computer software and GPS tracking, but I’m fairly old school. The Road Atlas is my main tool and often the final decisions are based upon that. GoogleMaps is nice for a rough overview as well as very specific details.

I look for scenic roads and small towns. The atlas is great for that and GoogleMaps’s Street View feature works well too. Since I’m not generally following a specific historical route, I’m freed up to follow whichever road I please (which often reverts to the most historical route around – it’s what I do).

I started with two premises. The first was that I wanted to take roads that I had never been on before, as much as possible, anyway. The second was that I wanted to take US 50 through Nevada and a bit of Route 66 somewhere. I also wanted to hit as many states that I’ve never ridden in before as I possibly could. That was secondary, but it still played a role in the planning.

Mostly, I feel that I met all of the premises. Almost all of the routes are new to me and I did manage to hit a few old favorites. I got 27 or so states in too, including 10 or 11 that I’ve never ridden in before. Not bad for just throwing it together.

Of course, there’s more to a road trip than which roads I’ll be riding on. There’s the logistics of money, food, lodging, repairs and generally being prepared for any one of a million things that could go wrong. I was amazingly lucky on Scoot 66. I’m hoping that luck will be with me on this trip as well.

After spending a few days visiting Michael in Miami, I’ll have to head back to Seattle. The trip back is generally a bit north of the trip there. At no point does it cross or join up with the eastern trip. However, there are a handful of segments and even a campground that I’ve visited before. I’ve got some really new roads as well as some old alignments.

So if you’re really interested in this kind of stuff, check out my rough draft of the day-by-day routing. You can click on any of the tiny maps to make them bigger. Enjoy!

The first day back on the road after visiting Michael should be a pretty easy, but slow-going experience. I’m planning on ride up Florida Route A1A, along the Atlantic coast from Miami to just north of St. Augustine. This will take me through Ft Lauderdale, Boca Raton, West Palm Beach, around Cape Canaveral through Daytona Beach, just east of Jacksonville to Fernandina Beach. There, I’ll head inland, still sticking with A1A, to the town of Callahan, my home for the night. This is a distance of over 400 miles. According to Googlemaps, it should take me nearly 12 hours. It’s a very long first day back, but I should be ok. Leave at six, arrive at six. Hopefully.

While the first day is pretty simple, the second day gives me tons of chances to get lost. I’ll head up US Route 1 from Callahan, crossing the squiggly Georgia border, to nearish Augusta. US 1 heads northeast and I’ll head northwest on state roads 17 and then 43, crossing into South Carolina on US 378. The smaller Carolina chucks a bunch of state routes at me as I cross over the Appalachian foothills – 28, 81, 412, 187, 24 to US 76 through Sumpter National Forest and back into a sliver of Georgia. I’ll jump up to US 64 in North Carolina, ending my day near Murphy, which kind of seems to be in the middle of nowhere. 428 miles of confusion and woods.

The third day is when I’ll fully make it over the Appalachians. Continuing on US 64 for a little and then on NC Route 24 into Tennessee where it connects with TN Route 68. This seems to be a long, uneventful, but scenic little road. Most of it seems to be a wide two-lane over gently rolling hills. There are some wide open spaces and some tightish curves, but mostly it seems like a lovely ride. This will take me to Crossville on I-40. I’ll skip the interstate in favor of US 70 to State Route 56, 262 to 52. I’ll slide into Kentucky on US 31W to US 68 which will eventually land me in Paducah. 418 miles for this day!

I don’t get days off on this trip, but the forth day is almost like one. It’s about 100 miles less than most days. I did this for a day “off” and to allow me some fun at the end of the day. Day Four is almost totally 100% on US 60. From Paducah, Kentucky, I’ll cross into about three feet of Illinois and then into Missouri. Here is the flat, southern midwest. A lot of US 60 seems to be four lanes with an original alignment not too far away. I’ll probably stick to the original two-lane alignments for reasons on sanity. There’s a lot of Old Highway 60 out there through Missouri. These roads will take me through the bubbly Ozarks to the wide plains and finally into Springfield. Here, I’ll have the time to explore the city again and visit Wilson’s Creek Civil War Battlefield again. I had a great time there in 2008, so why not? I’ll be staying at the same campground where I stayed in 2006 and 2008. That might seem a little redundant, but it’s a nice place close to the battlefield, close to some busy railroad tracks and close to Route 66. Civil War, Trains and Highways.

This is a Route 66 day. The fifth day was purposely routed to include the Mother Road from Springfield, Missouri to Galina, Kansas. This 30 or so mile segment is a really nice one. It includes a few old bridges, some lovely old alignment choices and Red Oak 2. I’ll leave 66 at Galina, taking the weirdly-named US Route 400, which is a new US Route created in 1994. This runs through southern Kansas, including Wichita. I’ll get to ride through Greensburg, a town that was completely destroyed by a tornado in 2007. It’s being rebuilt in some really neat ways. I can’t wait to see this town. I’ll stop for the night, just down the road, at Dodge City.

Day six starts out on US Route 50, which joins with US 400 for a bit just past the Colorado border where I’ll pick up US 385 North. I’ll leave US 50, cross US 40, I-70, US 6, I-76 and finally I-80 after crossing into Nebraska to US Route 30. It’s neat to be crossing so many roads that would take me back to Pennsylvania. There are few small towns and not much of known-interest to see on this day. Who knows though, maybe I’ll stumble onto something amazing. I’ll stop around Sidney, Nebraska for the night, 394 miles.

After a week on the road, day seven is a long day. From Sidney, I’ll stick to US Route 385 north to Alliance, Nebraska, home of Carhenge – my third visit. To save time and miles, I’ll hop on a short cut, Nebraska Route 2, to US 20 near Fort Robinson State Park. I went through this area with Smartz in 2008. There was an old alignment of 20 that I missed and I really hope I don’t forget about it until then. I’ll take 20 into Wyoming via an old alignment of the Yellowstone Highway (not the Yellowstone Trail) into Douglas – where there’s a great(and free!) Railroad Museum. After Douglas, I could hop on the interstate, but there’s more Yellowstone Highway – I just have to find it. I’ll take that to Shoshoni and then US 26 to Riverton. 429 miles on this day.

Because of having to find a good camping spot, I’ll have to backtrack to Shoshoni, picking up the old Yellowstone Highway (roughly US 20) to Cody, Wyoming. I’ll now get the chance to ride the Chief Joseph Highway, a well-known motorcycle route. This picks up US 212, slips into and then out of Montana. Back in Wyoming, I’ll ride to Mammoth and catch the spur of the Yellowstone Trail (note: not Highway) north into Montana. I’ll have to do some more research about this. It’ll take me to Livingston where I’ll stick to US 89 north to US 12 and White Sulphur Springs, 435 miles from where I broke camp that morning.

The ninth day is all about US 12. I have a feeling that this will be a chilly ride. The views, however, will be nothing but spectacular. A bunch of small towns like Winston, Avon, Bonner and Lolo break up the scenery between Helena and Missoula. I’ll cross into Idaho, my 27th and last state, through Clearwater National Forest and wiggle my way northwest to Lewiston. I’ll almost be in Washinton. 414 miles on this day, thank you.

This, the last day of the trip, takes me clear across the great state of Washington. First, however, I’ll ride up the Spiral Highway, just north of Lewiston. US 195 will usher me into the Evergreen State. Route 26 will do much of the work through eastern Washington, but I’ll hop off of that for Route 28 to Wenatchee and US Route 2. I’ve taken US 2 about a billion times, but the only other option is the interstate and I’d rather not. I’ll cross the Cascades and be back home!

It’ll be about 4,000 miles back.