August 30

I got up at 5:00 to beat the rush hour through Sacramento and out towards San Francisco. Grabbed my batteries, and they were finally charged all the way. About time! On I-80 westbound I saw an Amber alert for the first time. I, and the rest of the drivers, hold our speed down for 15 miles as we follow a K-9 unit. It's funny to see the cars speeding along and then slam on the brakes when they notice the light bar. Finally he pulls a truck over, and we are free to speed along.

I'm only going as far as Dixon, however, to reshoot a store. The sun still hasn't come out when I reach the Dixons tore, so I sleep for another hour. When I get up, there's enough light, but also a steady line of cars at the drive-thru. That's the trade-off.

I stop in Vacaville for another reshoot and then a slow drive along a SR-12 on to my first new store of the day, in Napa. Before visiting the store, I tried to find an Internet cafe, but the address I had pulled off a CyberCafes.com didn't appear to exist. At the Starbucks, I waited quite a while for the manager, but the line never got shorter, so I just paid for my coffee and left. Took the opportunity to get a better shot of another Napa store I passed, and while I was there I refilled my cup of water, which I had forgotten at the the other store. I pulled into a gas station, pleased to have found such a cheap price--but then I discovered the low price was only good with a car wash, so I drove on, back to the freeway and south to a new store in Rohnert Park.

I stop in Petaluma to find the 24 Hour Fitness, and go ahead and get a breakfast biscuit from JB, it having been about 24 hours again since I last ate, and some juice at the Starbucks that I had previously visited. On the way out of town, I spotted a library and tried to get on the Internet there, but I wasn't able to download my log for editing.

Now this is strange. The Burger King in Sacramento had a breakfast biscuit on its menu, but not the one in Rohnert Park, maybe 100 miles away, if that much. Wassup wit dat???

Oh, and my atlas that had been threatening to completely fall apart for weeks finally did. Fortunately I was towards the end of my trip, and it actually turned out to be easier to tear out the northern California page and hold it by itself in my hand, rather than in the book. Still, I need a new Atlas.

Further down the 101, Mill Valley, where the gas prices were even higher than back in NYC (although gas prices have been rising during the course of my trip). At the Starbucks I inquire about tolls, and learn that there is no toll eastbound on the San Rafael bridge, so I decide to head back in that direction. While waiting at the light to get on the bridge, I-580 eastbound, I see an actual female hitchhiker, unusual. I think about offering her a ride, but I figure I'm not going far enough for her, just across the bridge before my next Starbucks, and anyway by the time the light changes some truck has already pulled over.

Outside the Point Richmond store I see this cool car.

On the way to El Cerrito, In Albany I think, I noticed the biggest price different in gas I could remember anywhere during this trip, 33 cents between Shell at 1.77 and Arco at 1.33. The attendant explained that he preferred to make up the difference in volume. But still, 33 cents!

The manager at the El Cerrito store was kind enough to offer a replacement folder--the one I had gotten back in NC was too beat up and with coffee (and probably food) stains.

Continuing south, I detour into Berkley to check out the Hear Music store. Hear Music is listed on the Starbucks store locator, because they were bought out by Starbucks or something like that. I had already called to find out if they served coffee, but I decided to drop by anyway and confirm, plus I was curious about their music selection. EXCELLENT music selection. Plenty of stuff that you won't find at the big chain stores like "Best Buy", but the downside is you have to pay full price. And they don't take the Starbucks card, or I would have bought a few discs.

I passed a library in Berkley and stopped in to see what there Internet access was like. I was able to access it without even having to get a guest code, but I had to wait 15 minutes to use the 15-minute station, as the others were already booked for hours. But the meters outside were cheap, so I didn't mind the wait. I was only able to use the machine for 15 minutes, but that was enough time to browse the job listings and respond to a few.

Next I left my batteries at Kinko's, and then down to downtown Oakland to visit a couple of stores that had been closed for Christmas the last time I was in the area. And then... AAAAGH!!! I screwed up trying to get on the 880 towards San Jose from Oakland and ended up on the Bay Bridge instead, which cost me $2 and the chance to reach a couple of stores in San Jose by 8:00 PM. I hadn't wanted to be in San Francisco until Tuesday morning in case one of the downtown stores wasn't open on weekends. And sure enough, the 100 Spear store is a cart only open on business days, and only 'til noon. I wasted 20 cents parking finding this out, but I was lucky to avoid a ticket from an aggressive bicycle-riding officer.

I drove down Mission to find that Latin American restaurant I had discovered on a previous trip. But they did not have any green plaintains, only ripe ones. So I took a look at the free weekly and it had a pretty decent restaurant guide which led me to this Colombian restaurant, El Majahual. Practically broke though I was, the excellent food was definitely worth it.

I tried to get ahold of Aaron, a friend of my friend Howard's, to see if I could use his computer, but the number I was given was incorrect. I e-mailed him later, but the e-mail address bounced.

On the way back towards downtown from the restaurant, I was amazed to hear an uncensored version of "Fuck Tha Police" on the radio, 93.7 was the station. I listened on in amazement until the song ended and discovered that the station was calling itself "San Francisco Liberation Radio", and the particular show was the "Amateur Bastard Show", hosted by a couple of females who were quite liberal with the expletives. I wasn't sure if it was a legitimate radio station, or if they were somehow overriding the signal, or what. I called up a friend who said there's no way they would have enough power to jam a major band like 93.7 and still sound clear.

On the way up the steep, steep, Powell, waiting at a light at Sutter, I think, I feel a jolt. I don't know if the car behind me hit me or if I let my foot off the brake and rolled back into it. I wasn't afforded the opportunity to find out, either. I drove across the intersection and pulled over to the curb, but the other car turned left and kept going, so either he hit me, or he didn't deem the bump worthy of stopping. So I drove on and around and around until I finally found some parking, and in the distance I was puzzled by this mist. I asked a couple of locals and they explained that it was a regular occurrence.

Finally, after over a week of searching, I found an Internet cafe, on Market St. The only parking space I could find on the next street over looked dubious to me, or rather the characters out and about did. But since I was parked right in front of an adult video store, with a couple of employees standing out there, I figured it was okay. Still, I was relieved when I discovered the Internet cafe only took cash and I had to go find an ATM and then found a different parking spot when I returned.

At $7/hr, this Cafe.com, at 970 Market St. in San Francisco, is pricier than the $4/hr that the one in Mountain View charges, and much pricier than in Canada. However, the new Dell equipment here is better than anything I've seen anywhere else, including Kinko's. And I'll have a chance to burn my photos onto CD later, for added safety. The owner was kind enough to override the shell they had installed and allow me access to the Windows explorer so I could do everything I needed, copying all my photos to Zip and downsizing them and uploading them to my site. Then I spent the rest of the time until I tired updating my log, but I didn't get that far--tired quickly. I got some sleep around some corner, and then later on I drove down to Daly City to wait for light so I could reshoot a store.


August 31

I woke up to a cloudy day, lousy for photos, so I bypassed all the stores I was planning on reshooting and headed straight to San Mateo to visit a new store. I hung out there and waited for a technical interview, which took about an hour. Now the sun was peeking out. I continued southward to San Carlos, where I wondered how I had missed that store, which had been there for 7 years. I thought I had cleared out that particular part of the Bay Area. But their Starbucks card reader wasn't working so I stopped at at another store for juice, but no scone, so I settle for a croissant. Hey, when you're this hungry, food is food.

I find myself wishing I had further to drive, because my favorite NPR shows, "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" and "This American Life" are on, and I'm trying not to miss them as I hop from store to store. And later on there's a Daniel Shore special on Watergate, and I ended up missing most of it because I got my Walkman's headphone stuck under my seat.

At the Colorado and Midfield store in Palo Alto, I am thoroughly annoyed by the obnoxious beeping have installed for the sight-impared to cross the street. And freaked out, because I'm just standing there waiting to walk, and it SPEAKS to me. This disembodied voice coming out of nowhere. Freaky, man.

I head towards the cybercafe in Mountain and stop at Wal-Mart for a couple of quarts of oil, but only need to put one into the car. There's a 24-Hour Fitness in the same lot, and as I head in for a shower I notice they are serving burgers. It was a little past the lunch hour and they were winding down, so they had run out of chicken and buns, but a couple of beef patties with cheese on a tortilla sure hit the spot!

The internet cafe disappoints me in that they've locked down the machines to allow only browsing and games, but I realize that I can type up the log entries and e-mail them to myself, and upload them later.

At a Mountain View Starbucks I sit on a bench for a while, feeling tired despite having eaten those two burgers, and feeling hungry too, even though it was just an hour or two ago that I ate. Too bad, because that's supposed to be my meal for the day.

At the Los Altos store, some customer who traveled to London has given then photos of a few stores over there to put up on the bulletin board. Seeing the photos makes me long to go back, with my camera this time. While I'm outside photographing the store, this amazingly cute something-year-old piece of jail-bait rides by on her bicycle and asks if I'm taking photos, in that curious-cum-flirtatious way that girls of that age do.

Further along in Mountain View, it's just past six and I find a store closed for the day, surprisingly early. Others are probably open, but I switch modes and begin just taking photos until the sun goes down--some are reshoots, and others are new stores that I'll go back and visit after the sun has gone down.

Outside the El Camino and Mathilda store, as I'm walking around the large colorful obelisk outside wondering about it's purpose, I notice some guy reading "On the Road" and chat with him for a while and put the book on my short list. Makes sense that I should read it, considering the project I'm on and all.

I went back to the cybercafe and worked on my log some more, then crashed on the other side of the parking lot in front of the 24 Hour Fitness.


September 1

During the night I had a bizzare dreram, that my mother and grandmother were a road trip too, and that I met them at some motel somewhere. My father was also there, but not talking to me, upset that was out on the road instead of home looking for a job. As I left the motel, I nailed shut the attic door, trapping the roosters.

I wish it had been a dream, the ants that were crawling around the socks I grabbed from my dashboard. How the heck did they get in my car???

Since I awoke in front of the 24 Hour Fitness, I was able to start the day fresh with a shower and shave, a really smooth shave, having bought new blades at Wal-Mart the previous day. What a difference it makes!

Some guy drives by in the parking lot and bumping some heavy base in an old car. The base makes the car rattle and it sounds like shit, but I bet that guy thinks he's the shit.

After visiting Saratoga store and a couple of reshoots, I finally hit central San Jose. The line at Almaden and Julian was long, so I just paid for a refill instead of waiting for the manager. While shooting the store outside, some guy, perhaps an indigent, protested until he realized I wasn't photographing him. He said that he didn't like it when "THEY" did that, and I had to wonder who "THEY" was.

While shooting that store, my battery indicator went to halfway, and so I had to conserve power so that I could finish the area before heading up to Berkeley to pick up my other batteries.

Once again I breakfast on a Starbucks pastry and juice.

Thankfully I am able to shoot the stores I needed in the area and then I head up to Berkeley, where I forget under which station I had plugged in the batteries and briefly start to worry thinking they had been stolen or confiscated. But I got them and headed to Pinole, where I got one of the best receptions from a partner who became very excited and yelled out to the customers that I was the guy visiting Starbucks and says she would have been disappointed if I had shown up and she hadn't been there. I stick around and have a sandwich and chips, some peanut butter and apple thing after passing on the ham and swiss which had mustard--yuck! Not great food, but what's a broke guy like me going to do? By way of coincidence, the bathroom of the store was vandalized with the slogan "Starbucks customers suck", and dollar bills with the same slogan were left at the store--I guess in the tip jar.

Further north, I picked up some girl who might have seemed like a backpacker from afar, but as soon as she got in the car it was clear she was indigent, because of the awful, awful smell. I think the first thing that came to mind, other than to get her where she was going quickly, was to pray that I didn't smell like she did after several days without a shower. The smell was so strong that it persisted even after she had left the car. Which she did further up the hill, after being unable or unwilling to tell me where I needed to take her, after having me do a couple of u-turns. Before she left, she kept playing with the door lock and window controls, as I repeatedly told her that they were okay. Very strange. Probably drug-addled.

The smell wasn't bad enough, apparently, to keep the ants away from my car. They are crawling around all over the place! I hate ants just slightly less than wasps and hornets and the like.

At the Lincoln & Benicia store I wanted to rush in and out and listen to a report about the anniversary of the terrorist attack at the Munich Olympics, but the drive through line was going nuts. The barista in charge overheard me ask about the manager and asked what I needed, and then indicated for me to wait. But time just kept passing by and he still didn't direct his attention to me, so I gave up and paid for my coffee, making this the third, I think, where I didn't bother to ask. I expected more of those to come here in busy California.

Great--I spilled coffee on the radio and the volume control is not working.

In downdown Martinez, the owner of the building asked what I was doing and I explained, and we ended up chatting for a while. That was a first. The owner of a furniture store across from the Starbucks overheard and told me some an interesting story about how the Starbucks had improved business in that part of downtown, and about the flooding of the building. Anyhow, I'm glad that I'm older and wiser, because 10 years ago I might have tried to balance myself on the railing above a ditch to take a cool shot of myself in front of the Starbucks--I probably would have fallen.

I guess it just needed to dry out, because the volume control on the radio is finally working again.

The ants, however, are relentless.

On the way to the Clayton Station store, I get caught in Tom Petty concert traffic. I take advantage of the stopped traffic to get a better angle for my photo, and a motorcycle cop tells me he doesn't want me in the middle of the road.

By the time I reach Walnut Creek for a couple of new stores, the sun is going down, and the second store remaining has closed for the day. However, I still manage to increase my daily high to sixteen stores.

I pick up my batteries and sleep in a parking lot in Berkeley. After a few hours I wake up to answer the call, when by coincidence a car pulls into the parking lot and I have to zip up quicker than I would have liked. I get back in the car and proceed to observe some strange behaviour, as the car pulls a few circles, then backs (in an empty lot) into a space. I think I see the drivers seat go down, and at least two people in the car. Okay, that makes sense, but then another car streaks into the lot and pulls up next to the first car. Some guy gets out, goes around to the first car, and that's all I can see. Strange. No movement, so I go back to sleep.

Later on I get up again and cross the Bay Bridge and drive to Daly City.

September 2

I wake up in Daly City again, but this time to good weather, and so I reshoot a ton of stores, and have me a pretty good bagel and juice for the tummy. I head back up to San Francisco to Cafe.com, and ask the guy on duty if there was a note from the owner about breaking me out of the shell so I could do what I needed to do. No note, but I discovered that I can indeed edit my log via my hosting company's web interface. I had previously tried to edit one of my other pages via the web interfaces and received an error about illegal characters in the file, and so I erroneously assumed the same was true of all the files. To think, all this time I could have been editing my log at these various libraries without all the hassle.

The bathroom had that same rank homeless-person smell, like the girl from yesterday.

I crossed back over the Bay and drove to Orinda. When I arrived, I got that deja vu feeling, and I figured that I must have visited the store when it was closed before. Added some more oil to car. Almost left my cousin's Star Wars book in the store, but caught it before I got back out to the freeway, thankfully.

Went back to Walnut Creek and reshoot some stores, then continued on up Main St. to the 24 Hour Fitness for a shower. Got back to the car to discover yet another unwanted visitor in my car. Jesus Christ! What is it with all these insects!!! First a hornet, then ants, and now a spider taking up residence in my car. It's not enough I have to sleep in there, but all the creatures of the world want to sleep there too. Come on!!! For all I know, it might have been a brown recluse, so it had to go.

At that other Walnut Creek store that I had missed last night, Ericka was only slightly less excited than Danielle at Pinole, so we had to take a pic. In Danville, the manager gave me the formal treatement and suggested that I contact the D.M., thinking that I wanted this to be some sort of official project. But she provided the coffee anyway, and file folder to replace the one I left back at that Walnut Creek store. Since my journey was almost over, I didn't want to take the time to go back and get my articles, since I still had a few more copies. I just called them and told them they could keep the articles. Before I left I got me a yogurt and another bagel and juice for my hunger.

Heading south on Danville Road, two kids, maybe 10 years old or younger, on bikes, flashed me some hand sign with the thumbs. A gang sign? You can't assume anything from their age these days, the way kids have gotten.

At the next store, a partner really weirded me out. She wasn't rude or hostile or dismissive, but her abrupt manner of speech and the questions she was asking me were really strange. I didn't even have a chance to present my articles to the manager before she spotted them and asked to see what they were and what this was about and started looking at them. But the manager overheard and sort of took over and all was cool. She suggested that I sample the coffee and tell them if it was the same as in the other stores. Asked if I wanted a picture with the staff, but I don't think she was serious. I left shaking my head wondering what that was all about. But the worst of it was that the sun didn't do a very good job of warming up the bagel I had left on the dash.

At the next store, all was explained, however, as a partner from the previous store came in to pick up or say hi to his girlfriend who worked at this store, and I asked him what was up with that partner, and he said she was just strange. The manager of this store didn't say anything specific, but indicate she knew of the strangeness. So I felt better, that I wasn't specifically directed at me.

As I continued, I was feeling really tired. Not sleepy, not particularly hungry, but just tired. I sat at the Marketplace at San Ramon store for a while just recouping my energy before taking a wacky pic of myself that involved some climbing.

I picked up some coolant at a Wal-Mart on the advice of a friend who said it was best not to let it get too low. I cursed that the coolant didn't come in a smaller container. And then none of the 45-cent soda machines outside were working, so I settled on another juice from Starbucks to go with the Fuddrucker's hot dog that I waited forever for.

At the a new store in Milpitas the barista told the next customer who walked in about my project. She was a cute girl, a bit on the masculine side, who dragged me outside to meet her father and tell him about my project, since he was such a Starbucks fan.

On the way to the next store the radio played a very strange, alternative cover of Madonna's "Frozen".

I went back to Neutral Ground, the Internet cafe in Mountain View, worked on my log 'til they closed, then crashed outside 24 Hour fitness again, after asking the attendant to plug in my batteries.


September 3

I was still tired when I got up, showered, and left 24 Hour Fitness before 6:00 AM, but now that the holiday weekend was over I wanted to avoid the rush hour traffic. However, I guess I wasn't yet all there mentally, and I ended up taking a wrong turn trying to get on Steven's Creek from Foothill and ended up down a winding road along some park before I realized what was up. Not only that, but as I passed I caught a flash of something like a camera, and I got worried that I might have been going to fast and gotten busted. Didn't really know how fast I was going, nor even what the limit was as I turned on the street. I was just trying to figure out if I had turned the right way. Not only did I lose time, but precious gas too.

My mother hadn't called me back yet, so I was getting anxious to see if she had deposited some money for me yet.

Headed to St. Pedro Square and parked right next to a Kinko's. Checked my e-mail and BLAZOW, I was amazed to discover a ton of e-mails from fans who had seen me on the Wayne Brady show. It was only about 8:00 AM, but on the east coast the show had already started airing in various markets.

At St. Pedro, I didn't bother to introduce myself because of the line. Had to worry about parking. At Metro and Technology, parking wasn't a problem, but the line was so long I knew even before I asked the manager that she wouldn't be able to spare a minute.

At Capital and Tully, I was almost fooled by the business alliance store in the Albertson's before I noticed the real Starbucks across the parking lot. The manager there alerted me of a new store that had opened today, at Willow and Meridian. But the manager at Princeton Plaza alerted me that the store was supposed to open today, but was delayed, so I didn't have to waste my time. As I was photographing the store, some dumb-ass in a truck passing by yells at me to get my ass out of the road.

At the next four stores I didn't bother with an introduction and just got a quick shot of espresso because I was getting close to having to deal with rush hour outbound. As I left the Blossom Hill store I think I was getting the evil eye from a partner who came outside and stared at my car.

I received an e-mail from someone who wanted me to use my website to collect e-mail addresses for spamming purposes, and I promptly wrote him back telling him to go fuck himself. Well, actually I was more polite, but I told him I didn't approve of spam.

AAAAAGH!!! I lost my Starbucks card somewhere between the Almaden Center store and the Silver Creek Valley store. The manager called the Starbucks card number to see about getting me back a card, and it took a while to get them on the phone. The rep couldn't immediately do anything for me other than send a new card out to Houston, so I had her hold off as I headed back to Almaden Center, because I needed that card for food. But at Almaden Center the card was nowhere to be found, so I called back and had her cancel it. I asked her to see if anyone in her department had heard of my project and might be a fan and would bend the rules. But she best she could do was "overnight" it, which would still take 'til Friday. So I was stuck out unless I ran into managers that would help me out with food.

Meanwhile, while on the phone, I was heading southbound out of the Bay Area. Stopped at the store in Morgan Hill, and then Hollister before the sun went down, but by the time I reached Clovis night had fallen, and I was lucky to arrive before the store closed. I had hoped to reach Porterville that night, but that wasn't going to happen. I checked my e-mail and discovered an e-mail from a fan in the area, near that Starbucks, who offered to put me up for the night, but didn't provide a phone #. I also had an e-mail from Jake the reporter in Seattle saying that some girl named Shayna had contacted him for my #, saying she had met me at a Starbucks in Plano. I had no idea who this person was, but I called the # and left a message. At the Clovis store, I was recognized by some kid who had seen me on Wayne Brady. It was cool.

I parked nearby to sleep until the cars cleared for a photo. After a while, Shayne finally called, and it turns out she was a girl I met not at the Starbucks in Plano, but the TGIF across the street. She was in town from Seattle for a yoga conference. She had read the article in the Seattle Times and contacted the reporter. Told me she could have helped me out with a place to stay, food, and more cash than the few bucks I collected on the street.

Sometime in the wee hours I took a photo and got out of town before the morning rush began. Stopped at a rest area on 99--it was unusual to find a rest area on a state highway, but 99 is a major route across California.


September 4

I wanted to get more sleep, but was tossing and turning, so at 7:30 started the drive to Portersville. Stopped in Visalia for Kinko's and a shower. E-mailed a couple of news stations in Midland and Abilene about my upcoming visit to their Starbucks. At the Porterville store I got my free coffee, but the partners didn't seem enthusiastic enough for me to ask for a bagel. But in Bakersfield a barista asked me to stick around until the manager arrived for a photo, and the manager was pretty cool, so I got a bagel and juice out of the deal. And another customer recognized me, a good-looking girl this time, which is even better.

On the way to Palmdale I caught this view of the nearby fire and hoped it wouldn't be in my path.

At the Palmdale store, I had to wait a while for the manager, but it gave me time to plan my route southward, either 14 into L.A. or 138 towards Apple Valley. While I was sitting there, a third person recognized me from my appearance on the Wayne Brady Show.

I chose to head into L.A. At the Victory and Burbank store the manager was busy and said she had a meeting with the D.M. who was waiting in the store. So while the D.M. was unoccupied I introduced myself and she went back and got my free coffee.

I was soooo close to home, and thinking I'd get back with no more tickets, but I screwed up big time and missed the no parking during rush hour sign. I thought I was being ticketed for going over the few minutes I had allotted myself outside 350 Grand to reshoot a photo, but really it was because it was after 3:00 and parking wasn't allowed. A whopping $65 fine!!! The last thing I needed now that my money's run out.

Headed to Versailles for some takeout. Still no green plantains, so I had yucca. As I pulled out of the parking lot, I promptly spilled my rice down the side of my seat. I was able to recover much of it, but I had to pick out hairs and stuff. Yucky, but I couldn't afford to go back and buy more.

The Western and Slausen store because unlucky # 13 store to deny me free coffee. It had been 19 days and 158 stores since I had been denied (when I asked). Manager said something about this being a Magic Johnson store and having specific rules about not giving free coffee. Worst of all the manager looked at me all suspicious-like. And when I went back to the car to get my cup for the discount and returned to stand in line, I overheard the manager talking to a partner about something I had in my hand--he definitely didn't trust me. He came over to the register to make sure I was charged for the coffee. Perhaps it was the neighborhood, this being South Central L.A. and all. I really wanted a shot since I had just eaten, but the drip coffee was cheaper, and now that I had lost my magic Starbucks card it was coming out of my pocket.

Next I got to deal with downtown L.A. rush hour traffic, possibly the best experience to be had anywhere. At 2nd and Alameda, I get back to the car with my coffee, put it in the car, and went to cross the street and take a photograph when I was accosted by the parking lot attendant who wanted $2. I told him I was a patron of Starbucks, so parking was supposed to be free, but he thought I was leaving. In my attempt to explain myself to him, I ended up spilling my coffee, and had to go back in and get some more. Finally he said go ahead and take the photo. So now I've got coffee on my seat and rice and beans down the side. And as I drive away I can feel it soaking through my jeans.

At 9th and Santee the store had just closed at 6:30, but I motioned for the barista to read my article, and when I explained myself she told the other partner to get me some coffee. The other partner recognized me from Wayne Brady, which made things smoother I suppose.

Parking is disallowed nearly everywhere until 7:00, and I wanted to visit 7th and Figueroa before I left downtown, so I ended up driving around the block several times until it was almost seven, cursing the sun for going down all the while. I didn't mind the wait, since I got to listen to an "All Things Considered" report about asteroids destroying the earth, RIAA royalties being too high for small webcasters, and a cool radio station in Boulder. I got my free coffee at the store, but what I really wanted was the cool downtown L.A. shirt. They did, however, let me know about the new Wilshire and Union store, not yet listed when I left Texas. It was a UCO store, like Western and Slausen, but the partners didn't have sticks up their asses and got me my free coffee.

I headed up to Pasadena and visited a couple more stores.

Then I started heading outbound. I had just enough money for a little fun at one of the strip/hostess clubs in City of Industry, where I've had some fun experiences, but only if I could find a dancer willing to cut me a break. I didn't find one, so I got to save my money and drive on.

I stopped at the rest area around Yucaipa for the night.


September 5

I woke up and reached for my phone to see what time it was, but couldn't find it attached to the power adapter. I'm pretty sure I didn't leave it anywhere, so it must have been stolen by that lady I gave a ride to. Ungrateful wench.

Still, I figured I might as well go ahead and visit the Yucaipa store, and even though my low-detail map didn't show it, the next exit past the rest area eastbound allowed me to get back to Yucaipa without having to turn around on the interstate.

On the way out of town, I stopped at a pay phone and calling Sprint PCS and reported my phone stolen and had the account deactivated and tried to get the addresses of Sprint PCS outlets in the Palm Springs area. So I headed out there, and the Sprint PCS store, in Cathedral City, happened to be right next to a Starbucks I had already visited. Since I had an hour to kill before the Sprint PCS store opened, I asked the barista at Starbucks about any new stores, and she told me of one further down that would open the next day. I tried to nap in my car, without much success, and ended up just sitting outside the store and reading until 10:00 AM when it opened. It took longer than usual to get my phone because I needed to charge it to the Sprint PCS account, and they had changed the rules, at least in the area, to require a manager do that. But after calling customer service and getting no cooperation from them, the rep at the store went ahead and did it.

Next I stopped at Kinko's to check my e-mail and bank balance and discovered it to be about $1000 more than expected. I tried to call my mother but no answer. I went over to a branch and was going to inquire about it, but then though the better of it. If there was a problem, they might just freeze the funds. I decided instead to withdraw the $1000 until I could get ahold of my mother and clear that up.

Finally on the way to Phoenix, I stop at that new store in Palm Desert and say hello to the manager.

I receive a call from Southwest Airlines Spirit Magazine about a photo of myself to use for their article.

I had been dreading the drive across the desert since my air conditioning first started failing when I started me trip, and I was right to worry, for it was fairly miserable. It was hot, hot, hot, and I could only run the air for brief periods when I had drive slower than 80 MPH. I was grateful the the cloud cover that kept the temperature down a bit. But even so, with the windows down, the air coming in was warm, more like a blow dryer than anything refreshing.

I stopped in Blythe to pump a couple of gallons, even though it would be cheaper in AZ, just in case the manager from Palmdale was right about their being no gas in Quartzsite. I asked some trucker, and he said he didn't know anything about it. It was moot, anyhow, because right on the other side of the state line their was cheaper gas. And a big sign indicating the temperature to be 104. Made me sweat just to see it.

The speed limit was now 75 MPH, and I was able to do 100 for some stretches, which made it very, very loud in the car with the windows down. But the heat if I raised the windows would be worse. My hunger of 22 hours didn't help, with at least an hour to go before the next Starbucks where I hoped for a bagel.

Thankfully, the manager at Avondale hooked me up with some bagel and juice, and I started feeling better right away.

I had been waiting all day to wake into the Surprise store and yell "Surprise!" and I finally got to do it. It helped the (admittedly lame) joke that the partner had heard of my project. Then I spent some time chatting with a couple of customers outside who were curious about why I was taking photographs.

For a moment I thought a high-speed chase was about to break out. I saw lights flashing behind me. My first reflex was to assume I was busted, though for what I didn't know. But he was actually pulling someone else over, who kept weaving in and out of traffic. Deciding whether to run or not, maybe? But the guy finally pulled over.

I had hoped to make Tucson by the time the new store closed at 10:00 PM, and I barely had enough time, until I was told at Val Vista and Warner that a new store had opened at Powell and McDonnell. I was able to hop back on the freeway and reach the store in time, but had I known of the store earlier, I could have optimized my route. That left one more store, and by the time I was done there, no chance of reaching Tucson in time.

Since I had blown my timetable, I called around and found a massage, now that I had money, then got on the web to get some info on the club scene, dropped by a couple of clubs that were cheaper than usual. But clubs shut down in Pboenix at 1:00 AM, not 2:00 AM, which is for the best, since I was getting tired anyhow. I drove on to the rest area before Tucson and slept until 8:30 to miss the morning rush.


September 6

I started driving at 8:30, and didn't get heavy traffic at all down into Tucson, even getting off at Broadway and going east through town towards the new store.

I returned a call from a journalist in Abilene about my timetable for visiting the new store there. I was running behind.

Had a hearty Brugger's bagel sandwich for breakfast, necessary for the hundreds of miles to drive through AZ and NM before El Paso. Earlier I had e-mailed a former student from UT who I also knew from Plano, now working as a doctor in El Paso, about meeting for lunch. She e-mail back, but now I was looking at trying to arrive in time for dinner.

I almost get pulled over trying to pull away from a minivan who was pacing me too closely.

My energy gives out and I have to stop and get some sleep just outside New Mexico, in the shade of a truck. I had some weird dreams then that my car was having problems and some truck driver who looked it over said it wouldn't make it to Texas. Then as I started to drive on my brakes filled and I rolled right into the truck (in the dream). The dream was just realistic enough to be scary, and probably came about because of my general anxiety about my car and also because at a previous rest area I had come too close to a hitting car, for being not quite awake yet, for comfort.

As I left the rest area I saw some white smoke coming from the back of my car, which freaked me out. I pulled off at Lordsburg to see about an oil change, but didn't find a quick lube place. Manisha calls me back and we make plans for dinner with her girlfriend, which will blow my timetable for Midland and Abilene. Manisha also said not to worry about the smoke. Probably just oil in the gas, or vice-versa, or something. I had misplaced the # to the news station in Abilene, so when I reach Las Cruces I e-mail the station with the info about my being late. I still try to find an oil change in Las Cruces, but it's too late in the day.

At 6:40 I'm finally back in Texas after seven weeks!

After a couple of wrong turns, I finally arrive at Manish's place, and she and her girlfriend Lisa treat me to a pretty good dinner at a well-know restaurant in town, Barriga's. The beans and rice are excellent, but the flautas weren't so great--the beef was stringy and the shell was crumbly. During dinner I realize I had left my phone back at her house, so if the Amateur Bastard Show called, I missed the call. After dinner, we had coffee across the street at Sah Va!, a plush little cafe with some atmosphere. But as usual with indie coffee houses I've visited, the coffee tasted weak to me.

Manisha offers to let me crash on her couch, but I figure I'm not going to want to get up early and am better of starting the drive now. I don't get far, however, and crash at the first rest area, 40 miles out of El Paso. Wake at 7:00, but still not ready to go, and go back to sleep 'til 9:00, blowing my chance for a morning news segment in Abilene.


September 7

120 miles east of the border, just past the I-20 / I-10 junction, on I-20, I see one of the most beautiful signs in the country, a "Speed Limit 75 sign in Texas! Finally!!! Yahoo!!! With the higher speed limit, I didn't feel so bad letting the minivan I was pacing go so I could take this photo. I'll also point out that that very stretch of road where I-20 begins is sweet, the pavement is smooth like butter, and visibility is great so that one can floor it without fear of patrols hiding in bushes or around corners or behind hills. A slight downhill grade added to my speed--I let it get up to 123 MPH before the car started to shake. The thing about going 120 MPH+ for any length of time is that once you slow down, 90 MPH feels like you are crawling.

Not long into the drive I start feeling the need, for it was now 24 hours since my last cup of Starbucks back in Tucson, and that weak stuff back in El Paso didn't seem to be staving off my jones. And still another 60 - 90 minutes to Midland.

Whoa! That was a strange senstation. I was sailing along a flat, straight, stretch of highway at 90+ MPH when a long string of railroad cars moved in my direction, but slower, across the road, combined with a stream of oncoming trucks in the opposite lane caused me to experience a momentary disorientation unlike anything I had experienced before. Thankfully it did not last.

As the day drags on, it finally gets too hot outside for the air coming in the vent to do any good, so I have to lower the windows to get some fresh air and my pillow starts to blow around the back of the car. I throw it towards the back a few times, but it keeps coming back at me.

When I cross into Wood County the speed limit drops back to 70 MPH. Too bad that 75 MPH limit only last about 100 miles.

I finally read the Midland store, and Ryan the partner who had e-mailed me was there, and the manager also knew of my project and they treated me pretty well. Another barista was a photographer and got pics of us all.

I continue on towards Abilene and during the trip an Andre Agassi tennis match begins, and I call a couple of friends to get scores because I'm really into the outcome of this match. If Agassi wins, then he'll play Pete Sampras in the final, and I really want to see that on Sunday.

I hit a stretch of road where some trucks are traveling way too fast, which I hate. I don't want to follow them, because if we hit some lane blockers or road contruction takes the interstate down to one lane, I'll be stuck. But staying ahead of them brings danger of getting busted. 18-wheelers just shouldn't be going faster than 80 MPH.

I hit Abilene around 4:00 and WTAS sends a photographer to interview me.

I check e-mail and discover Agassi did win the match, so I'll get to see Agassi/Sampras on Sunday. I also check the store locator for new Dallas listings, and relieve that there are not a bunch.

I reach Dallas in time to pick up comics and have dinner at my favorite restaurant, the Columbian one. I stop at Kinko's to check mail and the debit card machine breaks and takes my $5. The lady behind the counter is incredulous, insisting it would not have taken my money without giving credit, even though that's what it did. But coworker opens the machine and finds the bill. I'm so pissed off I show the guy all the receipts from Kinko's around the country.

I hang out at my usual Starbucks in Plano but no one is around. I sleep outside the new Starbucks in Plano near Central Market until it opens in the morning.


September 8

I wake up at 7:30--it's raining and I head over to the Starbucks but it's not open yet. A barista is sitting out in her car and says the manager hasn't arrived to open it yet. So I have to whiz behind some wall in a field and go back to sleep until about 9:00. Visit the store, stop at 24-hr Fitness for a shower, and head back to Houston.

I hit 20,000 miles during the trip.

I am slowed down because the freeway is closed because of this major collision, in which an 18-wheeler hit a bridge column and collapsed the overpass, killing a child in the cab of a pickup.

I detour to College Station to meet a freelance German reporter interested in taping an interview for a youth radio station. She feeds me pizza rolls from DoubleDave's!

Finally, in the early afternoon, after seven weeks and two days, I end my trip. Whoo-hoo!!!