Day 25

Ok. I know this is getting rediculus but it was another amazing morning to wake up in Brooklyn. Seventy degrees, dry and sunny. Maura had told me about this great French Bakery down the block the night before. I cracked my eyes open and knew that I was headed straight for a double latté and an almond croissant. I made it down to the place stumbling, with flip flopped feet over the jumbles of cobblestones that make up Water St. just below the bridge. Went in and could tell from the moment I stepped in I was about to taste greatness. That's why I gladly spent $7 (w/ $1.50tip) for my double short latté and my almond croissant. Though it was just as amazing as expectations had suggested, the graphic on the bag I had to reach in to get my morsel was a little disturbing. I wasn't sure if I was going to get a croissant or a feminine napkin. I'm not sure who decided on this thing, but if anyone who works at Almondine Bakery in Dumbo is reading this...take my word...the picture looks like it came straight off the Summer's Eve bottle. Get rid of it. Ok enough on that. While walking back to the apt. I found two cool spherical flowers in the gutter. Stragglers from a catered event the night before. I decided they would be great in the van. I took a picture of them then walked to the dock to look at the water. A tug boat went by and an epic right revealed itself to me. Back up inside the place, Maura suggested I take a bike ride out to Red Hook and check some of the sights along the way. Good delis and shops etc. Great brownstones...whatever. So I did. When I got out to the park in Red Hook I was starving. The sound of Banda music , along with soccer whistles drifted behind the smoke of grilling meat under make shift tents and vending booths. I was in heaven. THis is JUST LIKE HOME!!!!! I couldn't have been happier to come upon this scene. I stood in line for a Hauracha and some sliced mango with salt, chili powder ,and lime. OH MY GOD was it all insane. Football y Tacos ...Red Hook...Pura Vida.

Day 22 to 24

I'm really settling in here in Brooklyn. Having my bike is the best. My van has just been siting under a tree next to the East River since I arrived. Every other day I just look in on it. You know, to make sure there isn't a body dumped in it or something. I took a run up to the Mollusk Surf Shop here in Willamsburg and talked a bit with Mike who was working there. Nothing happening surfwise...Not even a blip in the Caribbean to speak of! I'm concerned I might find a wave in Nova Scotia! It struck me for the first time. All the product in that place is created by people I know well. It's funny. Other days I've headed over the Brooklyn Bridge into Manhattan and just meandered around SoHo and the Villages. Up the W. Side, down the E. Side. At one point, my eye caught this random grouping of chairs chained together on the sidewalk and I stopped to check it out. It was an impromptu viewing area for a butterfly garden apparently. A woman coming home from market stopped to tell me she was the one who set this whole deal up. She was beaming with pride, excitement as she spoke, the Monarchs fluttering about behind her. I took a few shots and was on my way. This particular day I was searching for a barber shop that looked old and forgotten with a bunch of old guys hanging around not actually cutting much hair. I figured I'd get a cut and get a great story too. In my search a hand painted window sign caught my eye. The lettering was great. It read "HARRY CHONG" in all caps forming an arch with a white drop shadow. I peeped in at the ancient barber chairs, soda fountain, and glass decanters of colored liquid on the counter. I inquired about a haircut....next week he said. I told him I liked his place and asked if I could take some shots. Ricky (his name was Ricky) said sure and offered me something from the fountain. He told me this place is actually called Sit and Sip Beauty Parlour and he just kept the "Harry Chong" on the window because the neighbors asked him to. He went on to say before he moved in it was a Chinese laundry that had been there 0n the corner of Waverly and Charles for eighty years! The oldest Chinese laundry in New York he said. The lettering on the window was such a neighborhood icon he agreed not to scrape it off.Thanks Ricky. It's funny...for all the bad rep New Yorkers get for being an unfriendly bunch, I've been meeting great people left and right. That same day some waitress/actress just started chatting me up about her show and gave me an invitation....the parking guy, Hasan talked with me for an hour and gave me a recommendation to a friend's shop to get an oil change. All super nice folks! Mike met me one day and we got up to the 50's on the W. Side and it started to down pour. We got soaked and rode back to his place. While the clothes dried and the rain subsided we sat an watched The Deer Hunter. Damn, so good. When the sun came out we got back to it and watched an amazing hazy sun going down behind the Statue of Liberty as we cruised by Battery Park. I stopped in the Chelsea Market building to see another old friend of mine Chris, who was working for Sanctuary Records. He told me this was the old Nabisco building and that the Twinkie was invented "right here". What could I do but be blown away. On his desk was an album from a band called the Tide...I don't know 'em but the cover art reminded me of home and Ando. I couldn't get out with out him giving me some albums for the road! Score. Thanks Chris.

Day 21...Viva Los Labios Negros!!

Slept in and didn't leave my beautiful apartment which over looks the East river, Manhattan skyline, the Brooklyn Bridge and every tour bus that carries the rest of the world to catch a lesser elevated version of my spectacular view. Did I mention this place has a modest panoramic view? I could tell you about it again. I'm so stoked. You know, I did actually leave once but not until 9PM. My old old friend Mike, a booking agent here in town, rang me up to go see one of my favorite bands The Black Lips. Every time I'm in New York we're always guest listed at some show or another. It's great. We used to go see shows all the time back when we were going to college but a lot of water has passed under the bridge since then. Mike is the kind of friend you might not see for 10 years and the minute you do, not a day has passed. At the show there was more beer throwing,stage diving and head bobbing than I've seen at a show in years. I'd have participated years ago but was fine just watching and listening. It was good to see the kids still know how to cut loose. Needless to say the Black Lips were great. They have been touring for something like ten years straight and they are only in their early twenties. Their sound is spectacular for this genre and they understand that once you take the "stoopid" out of "stoopid rocknroll" it becomes lame. It was their song "Dirty Hands" (from the album Let it Bloom) that caught my ear several years ago. You can hear it below. The Black Lips get it. The Black Lips are it. Number of souls saved by the Black Lips sound...one and counting. Viva Los Labios Negros!



I'm crazy for this Greek yogurt and honey combo

Day 20

Woke up cold and too early in the Pennsylvania Welcome Center parking lot. Fine welcome. Took my time and made up some coffee and oatmeal which set me right for the trip to New York. On the drive I made a bunch of phone calls in an attempt to secure a place to keep the van. My friend Maura was out of town and offered me her place in Brooklyn and even hooked me up with free parking! Sweeeet! The only thing I had to do now was pick up the apt. key in some SoHo park from the babysitter...then cross the Brooklyn Bridge and meet this guy, Hasan, at an auto garage next door to the apt. and he would tell me where I could park. Sounds fine right? Once I made it through the Holland Tunnel into Manhattan...my city state of mind was back like a flash. Ahhhh....the city. Yes, Please! I maneuvered the great white pig through the narrow streets of SoHo eventually jumping a curb up on a sidewalk to make a call. It's illegal to talk on the phone while driving without a headset here. I shut the van off and kicked open the drivers door My bare feet hit the pavement after my flip flops which had fallen out when I kicked the door. The warm pavement still felt like summer on my feet. While getting the directions from the key lady, I started to notice that several of the patrons of the open air cafe where I parked my van were taking notice of my presence (not something that I've experienced in New York before). This parking spot and erratic manner was making me somewhat of a spectacle. I finished my call, changed my shoes and jumped the van off the sidewalk. Rolling down blocks bursting with hordes of beautifully preened people I smiled a big smile and felt glad to be back for a stretch.

Day 19

Wisconsin to Pennsylvania. Fourteen hours. Seven hundred and eighty eight miles. Two hours to get through Chicago. The I80/90 is nothing but alternating construction and speed traps once you are East of the Mississippi. What a trying stretch of pavement. I know I've been posting a bunch of cliché sunsets but I get tired of looking out for the cops and staring at the backs of semi trailers. When the sun goes down I take the time to take my eyes off the road ahead of me.

day 18

My time is up here at the farm. Gotta get back on the road tomorrow. I started preparing for the transition back to city living this morning....I took the Thursday Styles section of the Times into my favorite little barn on the farm and read it thoroughly. Kim Gordon was at the Marc Jacobs show sporting a leather mini dress. Thought you might want to know. I'm kind of having a style crisis myself. I got rid of most of my clothes before I left in hopes of finding my new wardrobe on the road. So far I've picked up a red acrylic winter hat at the gas station/general store/ hardware store in Pepin for $4.99 (union made in the USofA). I might try to hunt down The Sartorialist here in NYC for an opinion or two. We'll see...he's a busy guy I'm sure. Regardless of that stuff, I spent the day just organizing the van, packing up and soaking in all the good stuff around me. After dinner, David suggested we take the Polaris up the hill and catch the sunset. We cruised the back 40(or 60) to check for deer. Sure enough there was a young doe just near the property line. Our arrival didn't seem to scare her. We speculated she wouldn't last very long since deer season just opened. Her curiosity got the best of her as we sat admiring her not more that thirty yards away. She came closer. We watched her until she leaped over the stone wall into the neighboring field. What a treat. A huge THANK YOU to my hosts David and Greg for everything. I couldn't have made it through the middle of this country with out the Twin Cities and these guys.

Day 17

A bright warm morning. Coffee and home made apple skeevers (Scandinavian apple doughnuts) set the pace. The guys wanted to take the boat out one more time this year and suggested we head up the lake to Maiden Rock where Flood Run would be passing though. The Flood Run is a motorcycle rally that happens anually. Like a small Sturgis. I tossed my board and wetsuit in the boat just in case it was glassy enough to try surfing behind the boat. We hitched up the boat and took off with the dogs. The chop on the lake was a bit much for surfing so we just motored to a sandbar for some beach combing. After running ground in the shallow water near the dock we sucsessfully tied the boat up and walked down the dock to meet the hoards of leather clad bikers who were gathering in town. Brats and beer for lunch again. There was some coleslaw which was great. A little greenery tasted great. The train tracks which are still heavily utilized ran smack dab in the middle of the party. I loved having the train parting the biker rally, but the whole thing got a bit over stimulating after a half an hour so we retreated back to the water. I'm having mixed feelings about leaving tomorrow. There are good people here and it's so peaceful. I'll have to come back, but the road is egging me on.

Day 16

Fall arrived at the farm this morning. Word around town was a frost was coming tomorrow....the tomatoes had to come in. After a lazy morning , coffee and oatmeal (with home made apple sauce. YUM.)...we headed outside. David chewed away at his table in hopes of finishing it by today and I plucked tomatoes from the vines. Lunch was meat and local brew. I plopped down in the solarium and warmed my bones. This fly that had been annoying me met his fate by my swift hand...then lunch continued peacefully. Later, I took some time to shoot photos of some other stuff on the property. The grapes were sweet, the junper berries were out, and I found a couple of burrs on my jacket after trompsing through the brush. I'm getting tuned in to the country again and it's a great feeling.

Day 15

David and I packed the dogs in the van and headed across the Mississippi to the farm in Wisconsin. On the way he suggested we stop at this drive in for lunch. It was a trailer attached to a house nestled near a cornfield with a home made drive up window in it. The sign boasted "broasted chicken" whatever that meant. I skeptically toyed with David's iphone while the food was prepared. When the food arrived I was in heaven. This is the stuff I had been craving. What a meat laden trip this has been and Minnesota and Wisconsin were not the places I was about to go back to tofu. David even got fried cheese curds which I polished off at his suggestion (along with a chug of his chocolate malt) YUM. Upon arriving at the farm, I was promptly buckled into David and Greg's puffed up golf cart for an exhilarating ride through their large acreage. We came upon an owl eating a hawk, then two wild turkeys, a bald eagle and a couple of deer. After parking the 4x4 Polaris cart. I got the walking tour and enjoyed an apple from one of the many trees weeping with fruit. Then I finished off the red raspberries from a neighboring bush. Damn, they were good. We jumped in the van and headed two miles back to town for some gas for the chainsaw, a slab of meat for dinner and I wanted a beer. We toured the center of Pepin, WI and the marina by Lake Pepin. Not so much in the way of epic peelers on the jetty. Head high on a mouse...maybe. It had potential though. Back at the house, pot roast in the oven and beer in hand, there was a knock on the door. It was the neighbor and resident carpenter , Erik and his pal the welder, Wayne. They were checking in on David and wanted to get permission to take their new hunting rig up in the fields to scout for deer. Wayne informed us the season was opening next week and they were getting their locations scouted out. I was into their little Suzuki 4x4 with the camo paint they did on it last night themselves. An oak leaf motif of browns and greens really suited the vehicle. I noticed aside from the two beers they were holding there was a case in the front seat and a freshly cracked bag of pretzels. I liked these guys so I showed them my rig too. They got a kick out of how dialed in it was and questioned me about my trip. Then we bid each other adieu. I've gotta say, I wish there was a third seat in their rig....I could have gotten some epic footage! Maybe tomorrow.