Not exactly Kerouac, but we hope to have a very interesting trip over the next four weeks.

We'll be out the door and on the road pretty soon, so time to shut down the computer and pack it up.

Don't know if we'll be nearly as entertaining as Kenny, but we'll keep you posted as often as possible.

First stop: Cleveland - gotta see what's in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

First forum member meeting: Big Al, sometime this afternoon

It's a tough life, but someone has to live it!

Bye for now!

Bye Plays and Improv!

Have a great time!

Have a great trip, drive safely, and keep an eye out in that rear view mirror for flashing blue lights!

Plays,

Enjoy! Have a great time and tell Big Al I said "Yo from Philly".

Enjoy.

Hey, perhaps you can update Charles Kuralt's "On the Road" with a daily journal! He too wrote about the Beartooth Highway.

I forgot to post this here last night:

Hiya peeps! We had a fun first day. Wanna know what we did? Well, I thought you'd never ask!

We left the house a bit later than we'd hoped, but made good time until the metro DC area; then it was heavy traffic and a few backups until we were well into Maryland. By this time it was 1:00 and we were hungry, so we started looking for a place to pull over and eat the picnic lunch I'd packed. One place marked as SCENIC OVERLOOK AHEAD looked promising, so we stopped there. Sure enough, the scenery was lovely:



We grabbed our electric cooler and bag of goodies and started to head to a picnic table when we were warned by a guy in the parking lot that the area was crawling with tons of ticks! Hmmm, a lovely stop, ticks in the picnic area and we're starving. What did we do? Tailgate time, ba-by!



So we stood in the parking lot and ate our lunch and stared at the scenery, then headed off for Pittsburgh. Just in case we got lost or confused in the tangled mess of interstates, we brought a backup system



Talk about wretched excess in electronic equipment: two GPS navigators and one laptop with navigation software...oh, and an ipod and an electric cooler running in the backseat. It is fun to play with the laptop though and not be running down the battery, since it's hooked up to an inverter that's hooked up to the car's battery.

Waiting for us right outside Pittsburgh was Big Al, who was such a delightful person to meet -- he and Improv drank a beer (or three) and I sipped some tea while we swapped stories about a variety of subjects. Before we knew it, at least 90 minutes were gone and it was time to head off for Cleveland.



Thanks Al, for a great time! We hope to see you again in the future.

We're here in Cleveland, and looking forward to seeing the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame tomorrow.

Stay tuned...


We are headed to the R&R Hall in a few.

Looks like fun, plays! I can't wait to hear about the R&R Hall of Fame--some place I've always wanted to go.

Will you be going through Akron? If so, you could check out the Goodyear Rubber Museum and Zeppelin Hanger, or even the Mechanical Barbie and Band of Many Kens!

Mechanical Barbie

Another cool thing in Akron is the Quaker Square Inn - University of Akron. It used to be a bunch of huge Quaker Oats grain silos, so the rooms are round, with 3/4 being living area and 1/4 the bath. They kept the original surfaces of the material that made up the silos in the halls and it is really and interesting place. Very unique among hotels.

Wow, how unique for the silo architecture!

Plays...you are going to think this very odd of me but when I went yearly to a convention the past 6 years, I never ended up visiting the RR H F! We went to several other wonderful museums, even the children's museum next door to the H F, and several went there, but for some reason it didn't interest me for our one day excursion. There is a local REAL antique Merry Go Round locally, and one museum with Gems and a Planetarium. We saw King Tut there too. So I am looking forward to your report.

And all your reports! What fun to have Kenny's and your adventures posted to us!

quote:

Originally posted by Mikhailoh:
Very unique among hotels.

So says Mikhailoh, Chairman of the Department of Redundancy Department.

Day 2 has been a blast. First of all, the weather was glorious - a bluebird day for sure.

My pictures are uploading to photobucket right now and I'll post some as soon as I resize them. What you won't see, unfortunately, are pics from inside the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I had to check my camera at the front door. But, I can tell you about it.

We saw some amazing artifacts and more than once I remarked to Improv how privileged we were to be mere inches away from so much iconic stuff. For instance: all four of the Beatle's grey collarless suits that they wore on the Ed Sullivan Show. John Lennon's yellow satin costume worn on the cover of Sgt. Pepper. Janis Joplin's psychadelic embellished Porsche convertible. A 1967 letter from Bill Graham to Jefferson Airplane's guitarist Jorma Kaukonen's mother, telling her that he was concerned that "an ego bubble was growing" following the success of the "Surrealistic Pillow" LP, and asking that she talk to her son about this. Timothy B. Schmidt's duffle bag full of keys from all of hotels The Eagles stayed in on tours. Vol. 1 No. 1 edition of Rolling Stone. One of Jimmy Page's guitars. Neil Young's fringed buckskin jacket. Jimi Hendrix's handwritten lyrics to songs from "Electric Ladyland." Buddy Holly's high school diploma. And thousands more. I'll post more as I remember them.

Going to check on the photos. Back in a bit.

I gotta get me to Cleveland. I would appreciate all this Rock n Roll stuff more than Improv!

And the odss of getting kathyk to come with me?

Less than zero.

jf

It is fun to hear of your progress so far. I have to admit that Cleveland had never interested me. But it sounds at least worth a decent stop on a road trip. Don't know about that silo hotel, though. Looks kind of claustrophobic. You have absolutely no excuse for getting lost. Maybe a dead battery, if there is malfunction somewhere. Have fun and a safe trip. Enjoying your diary. Is Chicago next? Playing any piano? Did you put your digital piano in the back??

Sounds like great trip so far, Plays! Keep the photos coming!

Do you think you'll make it as far west as Bakersfield?

I had problems trying to post these earlier. Hope it works this time.

OK, here are today's pics:

We're staying in a Sheraton hotel that's in a Cleveland suburb. It's nice, but we won't be eating here. Notice the name of the chef! I also like this pic because it shows our reflections.



Since we skipped b'fast and left the hotel around 11:00, we decided to eat lunch before going downtown. We went to a place Big Al recommended to us yesterday, and man am I ever glad we did! Al, Great Lakes Brewery is AWESOME! Here's a pic of the side street where it's located (on the left):



It's located in a very old part of town with lots of charming Victorian houses. They have about 10 different kinds of beer they make on premises, and a menu with all fresh, organic ingredients. Here's Improv sampling the beer:



My meal was fresh butternut squash ravioli with some wonderful sauce and pecans. I was so hungry I dug in before I remembered I hadn't taken a pic of it yet - it was such a nice presentation, too. Oh well. Improv's bratwurst and pierogi are on the left behind my plate.



That great food left a big smile on my face:



Next: we go to downtown Cleveland.