random thoughts from a feverishly distracted brain

[zenithblue]

It is exactly one week until departure day.

Yesterday I was walking past the bathroom and thought, "Wow, the bathroom's so clean and organized. No boxes. No piles of crap."

Then I thought: "Maybe I could live in the bathroom for a week?"

I realized the other day that I am incapable of thinking of the road trip in anything but the most David-Lynchian terms. Like I literally am dreading this as a horrible beatnik/apocalyptic hell trip. Our car will break down in the desert. One cat will die of thirst and the other will be terribly ill and I'll have no way to get him to the hospital. Or a crazy trucker will run us off the road and murder us with his rig (he looks a little like Willem Dafoe crossed with Steve Buscemi, in my head). Or something.

I confessed this mindset to Hodge yesterday and he just said, "Actually, it'll be like that, but a lot more boring."

Of course the only other model Hodge has provided so far has been to describe every Stephen King story where a young traveling couple ends up in a weird town, and either gets eaten by carnivorous frogs, or sent to the rock show of the damned. So he's not helping (if it's up to me I'm taking us to the rock show. I've always had a thing for Buddy Holly.)

Anyway, it occurs to me that I need a new paradigm for this trip. I've never moved my belongings to a new city via road trip. Moving from Alaska to Portland was piecemeal over four years of care packages and plane trips back and forth. Any suggestions for a new set of circumstances to visualize?

I'm very excited to get to Austin. I'm just fuck-all tired of moving there.

Oh, also: I have been inked. When I find the little cord-thingy to upload the pictures I shall (who wants to guess it's in a BOX?!?).

Comments

[deadkytty9.livejournal.com]

Just think, you actually *are* moving to bat country!

[zenithblue.livejournal.com]

LMFAO...too true. Not sure that's the paradigm I'm looking for though...

Although it would include 100% more Johnny Depp than the current trip would seem to.

[deadkytty9.livejournal.com]

If you bring me Johnny Depp, I will {heart} you forever. SERIOUSLY.

[helpimarock.livejournal.com]

::a Fear and Loathing freak wanders into the conversation::

Wait, I thought I moved to bat country -- i.e. in the desert between L.A. and Vegas.

?

[deadkytty9.livejournal.com]

Austin is known for it's Mexican Free-tail Bat population - lots of them live under our bridges. :)

http://www.io.com/house/batstory.html

[helpimarock.livejournal.com]

Ahhh, okay, that's what I suspected.

Your icon rocks btw. :)

[morningsprite.livejournal.com]

ah, but you should pass the time by planning to Feng Shui your new place.

Maybe not, but it's helping me. :)

[zenithblue.livejournal.com]

Someone should write a book about consignment shop/Goodwill Feng Shui. How to create good chi flow with threadbare (but hopefully lice-free) furniture.

[choogy.livejournal.com]

i'm cuing up a song...

the final countdown!

[zenithblue.livejournal.com]

I think that needs to be my theme song this week. I need blastoff music for sure.

(off to download...)

[lagizma.livejournal.com]

I'm glad Hodge is being so helpful. Or, you know, so funny, for those of us in imaginary friend land.

[zenithblue.livejournal.com]

He is almost as helpful as the cats are being. Every time I turn around to fill a new box, it's already full of cat. Or cat fur.

[johnnybrainwash.livejournal.com]

There *is* another paradigm for "young couple gets in trouble on road":



"Hi! My name is Brad Majors, and this is my fianceé, Janet Weiss."

[zenithblue.livejournal.com]

That's certainly helpful...

Actually, "Touch-a Touch-a Touch-a Touch Me" has long been a mainstay of my karaoke career. Which probably surprises no one.

[johnnybrainwash.livejournal.com]

I think it's helpful. Wouldn't you prefer a transexual transvestite from transylvania to, say, homicidal truckers and carnivorous frogs? I know I would.

[zanawake.livejournal.com]

I would, too.

Savoring the drive

[dernogg.livejournal.com]

Dude, you totally have the wrong idea about road tripping. Hodge and I made the Portland/Austin trip 3 or 4 times and it was a blast. You drive through some of the most beautiful country, you fight encroaching madness in your brief drive through New Mexico, and you might get to drive through clouds on the West Texas highways. We found the most peaceful, beautiful spot on earth one trip. If you have the choice, drive straight south from Portland down the Oregon and California coasts. Take highway 1 and drive through Redwood National park. One warning though, it is vitally important that you avoid Route 40 through Arizona. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT get Hodge within 100 miles of Ash Fork, Arizona or bad things will come. Anyway, take some good pictures and call me from the road.

Re: Savoring the drive

[zenithblue.livejournal.com]

The bummer is that we have the cats in the car and they're going to be neurotic messes, or else we *would* take the scenic route. I think we're going for as straight a shot as possible. Someday maybe we'll get to do it all leisurely-like, but this time I'm going to be a mess because my cats are (I know, lame, but I'm a crazy cat lady.)

But you are right, I should be thinking of this as an opportunity to see parts of the country I haven't yet.

I stand warned on Ash Fork. Is this where the car melted down last time you did it?

Re: Savoring the drive

[dernogg.livejournal.com]

That's what kitty valium is for. Just get a couple carriers and dope those bitches up. Yes, Ash Fork is home to the infamous Lloyd, who fixed our first breakdown but forgot to add oil to the engine and let our car eat itself. But as long as you avoid that place like the plague you won't suffer our fate.

Re: Savoring the drive

[helpimarock.livejournal.com]

"...you fight encroaching madness in your brief drive through New Mexico..."

Yeah, I'll second that. And I like New Mexico too. At one point in the mountains east of White Sands, I was semi-alone for a few hours b/c my girlfriend was sick and passed out next to me. It got so surreal that I started to feel kind of stoned. At the peak of the experience I passed a town named Weed which did not help in the slightest.

Re: Savoring the drive

[helpimarock.livejournal.com]

Oh man, I just realized, Ash Fork was the one place I got major bad vibes on my trip from Ohio to California. Old Route 66 breaks away from I-40 at Ash Fork until Kingman and we (my girlfriend was on the trip with me) went out there to check out the Hualapai Reservation and almost ran out of gas on the deceptively long and almost completely desolate road. I've rarely been that freaked out in my life. Though we found this restaurant that served something called the Hualapai Taco that made it all worth it in the end.

It's so weird though, what are the chances of two people having significant experiences in and around Ash Fork, Arizona?

Re: Savoring the drive

[dernogg.livejournal.com]

The chances are slim, and let us not speak of that place again lest we garner its terrible attention.

[antarcticlust.livejournal.com]

Quickly! I need your Portland address so I can send you a mix in time! glacialerratic at gmail dot com.

And moving is AWFUL. Although the OCD part of me is very excited about getting rid of the random crap we've accumulated in the last two years. It's amazing how quickly it adds up!

[te-amo-azul.livejournal.com]

You may wish to consider the Epic Journey of Xuanzang and his four disciples: Monkey, Eight-Precept Pig, Friar Sand, and the Third Prince of the Dragon-King. You and Hodge will have to battle it out over Monkey and Xuanzang, I suppose, and Third Prince of the Dragon-King is probably your cars, since he spends most of the narrative as a horse. But that leaves two roles for Jack and Bodhi! Journey to the West springs to my mind because your journey reminds me of these magical characters bringing sacred scrollishness from India to China. After all, you are taking your generous stores of Little Beirut Green Magic to a state that is perhaps in need of a sutra or two.

[zenithblue.livejournal.com]

Excellent idea. I've already put dibs on Monkey. My wushu is that mighty.

[te-amo-azul.livejournal.com]

Ma'am! I admire your cloud-somersault!

[zanawake.livejournal.com]

New paradigm: you'll gradually see the landscape change as you safely make your straight shot to Austin. You'll listen to good music, and you'll see at least one hilarious sign. You'll learn at least two useful things about Texas. Also the weather will be dry, so you won't need a newspaper to shelter your head from any downpour; the sweet transvestites' castle is not along your route but rather in Austin, on 5th St., if I recall.

[deadkytty9.livejournal.com]

Also the weather will be dry

Umm, good luck with that - Austin's had so friggin' much rain the last month...

the sweet transvestites' castle is not along your route but rather in Austin, on 5th St., if I recall.

Are you thinking of Rainbow Cattle Co.? Cause if so, w00t!

[bluescissors76.livejournal.com]

hahaha, i love your icon. it took me a minute, but that's even better.

[zanawake.livejournal.com]

*w00t!*

[zenithblue.livejournal.com]

I love it; the zen of the drive. The chi flows with the freeway.

We have walkie-talkiaes, since we're in separate cars. I'm sure some amusement will also come out of those.

[zanawake.livejournal.com]

Ah, fun is in store. You can talk trucker slang to each other:
http://www.layover.com/infocenter/10_codes.htm
http://www.layover.com/infocenter/slang.htm

and...?

[bluescissors76.livejournal.com]

I stayed in Charleston tonight partially because I don't want to go home and look at packed boxes. There's nothing wrong with living in your bathroom for a week.

[zenithblue.livejournal.com]

We are having a garage sale on Saturday and I hope I hope I hope we'll sell tons of shit and it will help. The house will be much more comfortable then.

[decemberthirty.livejournal.com]

One week! Whoa. I don't leave until August 11th, and I have no idea how I would be ready a week from today. Hey, here's one way to think about it: you'll be all settled in Texas, and I'll still be running around with all my shit in boxes, trying to get it together to move. Oh man, I even need to buy a car...

Also, I'm picturing your amalgam of Willem Dafoe and Steve Buscemi, and I have to say it's scary. Yikes.

[zenithblue.livejournal.com]

We're giving ourselves 2 weeks to set up housekeeping, essentially. We weren't even sure we'd get housing by the time we got there, so we wanted some wiggle room...

Ugh, buy a car? That sucks. Go for a late model Toyota (Corolla or Camry) if you can--they retain their value really well and don't have too many problems.

(from the department of unsolicited advice.)

[helpimarock.livejournal.com]

God I am so far behind in LJ or I would have replied to this way sooner.

To be honest, I expected disaster on my trip out and I have pretty terrible luck and bad things generally do happen when I attempt major changes. It just didn't happen though. Except when the box of books I was forced to lash into the luggage rack blew off in Indiana. That sucked. But there were no run-ins with crazy people (despite going through some *majorly* sketchtastic places that you'll luckily be going nowhere near) or the car running out of gas (despite my major absent mindedness) or any major stress between Jessica and me (despite all that time spent sitting next to each other with little to do).

I think really the only things you have to overcome are the fact that you and Hodge are in separate cars and you've got your cats with you. From what I've been reading I think you've got a perfectly good handle on those things.

In the end, it probably will be boring for long stretches. But after you get through that first day and settle into a rhythm, you're going to experience something kind of magical -- you're going to watch all that scenery change and the people and culture along with it and all with your entire life packed up right there with you. It's more than just you and Hodge traveling across the continent, it's you guys *and* everything that makes you be you making that journey.