So we’ve been on the road for thirty-six days.
We started out in New York, NY on September 11. Then came Philadelphia, PA, Hillsboro, WV, Cincinnati, OH, Chicago, IL, a horse farm near Peoria, IL, Kansas City, MO, Council Grove, KS, Boulder and Estes Park, CO, Pinedale, WY, Missoula, MT, Stevensville, MT, Coeur D’Alene, ID, Portland and Gresham, OR, Medford and Ashland, OR, San Francisco, CA, Los Angeles, CA, Las Vegas, NV, Sedona, AZ, Santa Fe, NM, somewhere near Lubbock in West Texas, Austin, TX, Baton Rouge, LA, and now I’m sitting here in the French Quarter in New Orleans, LA, exhausted, but still standing, with a little over two and a half weeks to go before I fly back to Berlin, beg my wife for forgiveness, and then have to try to turn this crazy road trip into a book.
The major themes and structure of the book are beginning to take shape, but I’m way too tired to try to articulate them at the moment. So just the news, and that just briefly.
First and foremost, the Alamo Car Rental Corporation finally tracked us down and forced us to surrender our Cerulean Stallion. The good news is, after a bit of quasi-blackmail on my part, they gave us another Ford Mustang convertible, this one a red 2024 model, so the “Scarlet Stallion.” My thanks to DD Shipman in Austin, the winner of the Name the New Convertible Competition!
When I last posted we were hiding out in Las Vegas, desperately trying to recover from part one of the road trip and an unfortunate smoking-related episode in Los Angeles. After we exchanged vehicles, we high-tailed it to Sedona, Arizona, which was stunningly beautiful, but you’ve seen all those red rock photos before, so I’ll spare you ours. We rolled into Sedona, had dinner, passed out, and then got up and tear-assed it to Lamy, New Mexico, just outside of Santa Fe, where we were hosted by Tom Hyland, a sign painter, straw-bale house builder, and man of many other talents. We had a fantastic gathering with Tom and other locals that night.
The next morning it was off to Club Paradiso in Santa Fe proper, where we had one of the most exciting and moving reading/discussion events of the tour.
We hit the road for Texas directly after the Club Paradiso event, as we had to get as far down the road toward Austin as possible that night.
We pulled off the road around 11PM and slept in a motel somewhere in West Texas. I can’t recall the name of the town. The next day was another long drive to Austin, but we got to have lunch with a bunch of friendly locals at Scotty’s, which was one of the highlights of the whole road trip.
We got into Austin that night and passed out. The next morning I was in pretty rough shape. I’ve been doing most of the driving, usually with the top down, and shouting at Hugo to take pictures of things as we speed past them at 85 miles per hour, which is a lot harder than it probably sounds.
The main event in Austin was a dinner gathering with a small group of locals at a lovely Italian restaurant organized and sponsored by one of my extremely generous readers. The food and wine was outstanding, as was the company, and we all had a wonderful time, until I started ranting about global capitalism …
The next day, we staggered back into the Scarlet Stallion and tore-ass down to LSU in Baton Rouge, and had a small but exciting town-hall type event with some students. I was really pleased to listen to these intelligent, insightful young people—most of the folks we’ve been talking to have been, well, older.
We arrived in New Orleans yesterday. We’re here until Sunday morning with nothing scheduled. It’s kind of a second break, which is sorely needed at this point. That said, if you’re in town and want to get a drink or a Beignet and tell me about America, feel free to get in touch.
On Sunday, we’re off to Oxford, Mississippi, where we’re doing an event at Ole Miss on Monday. I’m very much looking forward to that, as well as to the gathering we’re doing at a fire station in Bakersville, North Carolina. We don’t know exactly where we’ll be on the 21st, probably somewhere in Tennessee.
OK, that’s it for this update … which I have a feeling is the penultimate America Road Trip update. I’ll probably be able to get one more out before we do the town-hall at St. Mary Church in Greenwich.
In any event, the end is in sight. Here’s what remains of our insane itinerary …
New Orleans, Louisiana — October 15-18. Meetings with locals.
Oxford, Mississippi — October 20. Event at Ole Miss: University of Mississippi.
Tennessee — October 21. (TBD)
Bakersville, North Carolina — October 22. Gathering with locals.
Washington, DC — October 24. A visit with FIRE.
Greenwich, CT — October 27. Town-hall event at St. Mary Church (4-7PM).
Kensington, NH — October 28. Gathering at Crows’ Feat Farm (4PM).
P.S. You can still support the America Road Trip Project via Freefunder:
The America Road Trip Project is made possible by generous contributions from Harley Lennon Squires, Ralph A. Korpman, M.D., Debbie Lerman, Sasha Latypova, Integrity Media Group, several anonymous contributors, and donations from readers.
Photos: Hugo Fernandez, Professor of Fine Art and Photography, LaGuardia Community College, CUNY, Long Island City, New York
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