4/18: Virginia & DC

Saturday started early, at least for Devin and Leif. We had gotten a good piece of Virginia behind us before stopping for the night at a rest stop 90- miles or so south of Roanoke.

After a quick refill with the remaining veggie oil stored from Memphis & Nashville, it was off for the final push thru the rest of Virginia, into Maryland, and finally Washington, D.C.

Virginia was one of the pleasant surprises of the trip so far. The western part of the state is disturbingly beautiful, at least the sliver I saw from the bus on I-81. The slight regret returned in that we hadn't gone thru this part of the country afoot. Maybe later...

The drive toward Winchester and I-66 went quickly; almost too quickly to suit me. It seemed like 300 miles were gone in a blink of the eye, and coming into Washington brought back a flood of memories. Devin was driving thru the same area I'd lived in, for a few months, back in 1995. I wondered what had become of the people I had known, and lost touch with, during my time there. And, I again wondered: how was I living there alone if I was only 15? These are the questions that linger...

Chris coordinated with his friend, Trent, as we began to gather our things and arrange our packs for the drop off in DC. Devin had a friend to see downtown, so we asked him to drop us off at the Mall so we could goof around, playing the part of Japanese tourists, while we waited for Trent to get into the city from his home in Chesapeake Beach, which is on the bay about a half- hour's drive south of Annapolis.

The weather was perfect... sunny and in the mid 70's again... as we stepped off Zeitgeist Apparatus (Devin's pet name) for the last time. I had come to enjoy being on the bus and the routines that we had fallen into. I also felt that I was leaving old friends behind, ones that I had known forever, because of the experiences we had shared over the 5+ days we had traveled together. We had a good laugh at Tennessee Law Enforcement's expense, signed their guestbook, took a few pics, did the man- hug thing, then stepped off toward The Mall- with the huge falic- tribute to capitalism looming overhead. This felt remarkable. We'd boarded the bus in Santa Fe and disembarked nearly 2000 miles away, in the heart of the most powerful city on earth. At the risk of sounding like Chris, we are a couple of badasses.

We hiked a roundabout route from Constitution Ave., around the Reflecting Pool (Forrest!), to the Lincoln Memorial, snapping pictures and relishing our role as spectacles. People were sneaking pictures of US... at the Lincoln Memorial. Ha!
Trent called after about an hour, so we trekked back down the Mall to meet him at Thor's Penis. We then walked to his car, near the Capitol Building, and drove off to Maryland.

4/17: E. Tennessee

We all got up pretty late, and pretty hungover; mine more from being allowed to smoke inside a bar again. Devin had moved the bus to a theater parking lot at some point, and immediately went into cleaning mode for quite awhile. It reminded me of trying, still, to remove all remaining evidence of last night's March of the Pigs.

My skepticism surrounding Chad's veggie oil was proven ludicrous. The barrel was completely full of the cleanest oil I have seen to date, and in such a place behind the strip mall where we could simply pull along side, using the electric gas- pumpy- thingy to take it straight into the tank. Chad was working, so we gave he and his co- workers a tour of the bus and then were off, completely full, with an extra 15- gallons loaded in extra buckets they had given us. Even the weather was perfect. 75... sunny. I honestly got the impression that Tennessee was trying to make good on the night before!

While we were there, Chris received a call from his friend, Trent, who lives outside of Washington, DC confirming that we had a place to stay when we arrived. We now had our next destination solidly in place.

Devin made a quick stop to pick up filters, then we were off for a quiet day of reflection, riding, and watching the beauty of E. Tennessee pass us by. There were lots of thoughts considering that we were doing this part MUCH too quickly. This part of the country would be killer on foot! I didn't dwell on it much however; something else is driving us, and to continue the metaphor, I am making a conscious effort to play the role of that side- car passenger.

Chris and I also discussed our different perspectives regarding Oklahoma City, and some budding ideas regarding the perception of "moral superiority" as it applies to imposed dogma. I need to step the fuck back occasionally and try to remember that I often don't have nearly enough information to presume to judge. Oklahoma City was one of these times. I wasn't "one of them" because I had been brought there, randomly, as a passenger with people who DID belong! Duh, douchebag.

We finally left I-40 after nearly five full days, getting on I-81, then crossing in to Virginia sometime around midnight. Devin decided to skip Virginia Beach, choosing instead to take the route thru Washington to Delaware. We've set a tentative off- load point: Annapolis, MD. Another fucking "plan" (ha!)...

8/15- 8/16 Nashville

Two nearly identical days. Not much that I can really talk about on Friday, but NOT uneventful. The day consisted of discussions of various kinds with both Kim and Shalain concerning action v. rhetoric, and dealing with conflict and personal hypocrisy.

I updated RWTW (the blog) for most of the afternoon while trying to process the conversations from the night before. That took some doing, and the additional drama that, again, I cannot mention just happened to fit in perfectly, boiling my blood all the more! Sorry for not elaborating, but trust me, this post could be VERY long. Some day...

I also began to contemplate different possible directions for when I leave, leaning toward North Carolina or Virginia because I love it there! I really enjoyed the Outer Banks when we saw the area in '03, and the Atlantic Coast through South Carolina and Georgia is gorgeous, not to mention that unlike California I'd actually be able to SWIM in it without freezing! I also heard for the first time about Tropical Storm Fay...

Saturday was identical but sans drama. I spent a few hours writing in the journal and updating RWTW , and the rest of the time either watching TV or chatting with Kim.

I had been half- planning to leave on Sunday, but decided to wait another day or two to see what happened with TS/ Hurricane Fay. The Weather Channel's storm- track seemed to be predicting a direct collision with Tampa, and Ken.

Most people would feel lucky that they weren't taken into a hurricane's path, but I was a bit annoyed! I have never seen a hurricane, or even a tornado for that matter, The idea of riding one out GREATLY appeals to me especially since Hurricane Ivan drove us out of Ft. Walton Beach, and ultimately to New Mexico & Denver (with a little help from my friends), in 2004.

I figured I'd keep an eye on how strong it became and where it was going from there. Not quite clinically insane... but almost.

I got to meet Kim's boyfriend, Rich, late Saturday upon his return from Dallas where he had celebrated his birthday. Ken had found it odd that Rich would have no problem with his girlfriend having a guy, whom he's never met, stay at Kim's house while he was out of town. It had actually never dawned on me until he mentioned it, but after meeting Rich, it made perfect sense. He's laid- back and seems to be Drama Gene Deficient. We got along very well and had quite an enjoyable time sitting around telling the jokes that are funny at 3am! He offered to leave his laptop for me to use Sunday which, as it turned out, would be huge.