Typical Day on the Road

November 2007

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Nov. 1

Salem, MA. With another colorful Halloween behind us, we checked out of the campground on Winter Island, where the doors and windows were being boarded up for the winter, and headed into town to do some errands. We took our laptops into the Front Street Coffee Shop to do some online work. A decent cafe, but unlike Panera, they're not so willing to have you linger with your computer unless you keep putting money into their coffer by making more purchases.

We met up this evening with Erin, our supervisor from Salem's 13 Ghosts, and we were all supposed to rendezvous with a young man who was going to take us on a ghost tour, but he made a ghost of himself tonight. So instead Erin, who grew up in Salem, gave us a little tour of the haunted sites herself. Even scarier, she related that last night as she threaded her way in her car through the throng of revelers on her way home, she witnessed a fight that involved a stabbing; and one of the participants even leaped over the hood of her car.

We then said goodbye to Erin and the fascinating town of Salem, and headed south.

Nov. 2

Leaving our vehicle in the Quincy/Braintree area, we caught an MBTA (Metropolitan Boston Transit Authority) train into Boston, our first time to ride this rail system. We were reminded of the old song (made famous by The Kingston Trio) about a man named Charlie who got on the MTA (as it apparently was called in days of yore) just before a fare increase went into effect and, unable to cough up another nickel, he was doomed to ride forever beneath the streets of Boston.

Happily, we avoided such a fate, and debarked at the Museum of Science, where we were joined by Zephyr's friend Cassia, who lives just south of Boston. During most of the day, we all went our own ways, attending whatever exhibits interested us individually (we'd been here a couple of times before). Dennis spent quite a bit of time in the math section, which everyone else would have placed in a history museum alongside medieval torture devices. Kimberly watched a presentation by a solo performer about the Titanic, which she thoroughly enjoyed.

But at the specified time in the afternoon, we all met at the CSI exhibit, the real reason we came here. This traveling interactive feature is based on the CSI television series, of which Zephyr is an avid fan. We were ushered into one of three "crime scenes"-- ours depicted a man who died accidentally (or did he?) when the car he was driving crashed through the wall of someone's living room, apparently due to his intoxication. After taking some time to jot down and draw all the clues we could spot, we were able to inter the forensics laboratories, and examine the evidence in the light of autopsy reports, DNA evidence, fingerprints, and other methods of detection. The crime was really not difficult to solve (it has to be a satisfactory experience for kids as well as adults) but the whole exhibit was really quite well done.

Nov. 3

Drove down to Norton to a place that sells propane, only to find that the office closes at noon on Saturday, and it was already a little after. But the same business also has water machines outside (a great rarity in New England, as we've stated before) so we filled our jugs and then drove to North Attleboro, where we spent some time doing computer work at the cafe in Borders.

We called a U-Haul nearby to see if they had propane. They did, and they were open until 7:00. So we went there late in the afternoon, but incredibly, when the attendant started filling our tank, his valve broke just like at the Flying J in Pennsylvania. So we went on to another U-Haul in Rhode Island -- by this time it was getting close to 7:00 -- to get the tank filled there. But would you believe that of the two attendants on duty, neither really knew how to do the job properly. They fumbled in the rain for 15 minutes or so, but we we still ended the day with an empty tank. And Libby, our houseguest from California, had to bundle up against the cold.

Nov. 4

Today we took our excursion into the Big Apple to see a Broadway show, which we try to do whenever we're in the vicinity. We found a municipal lot in Darien, CT. not far from the train station to park our vehicle for the day -- it was a 3 hour lot, but we hoped that on a Sunday we'd get away with leaving it all day. We discovered that in the course of the vain attempts to fill our propane tank, we'd actually gotten some propane into it, so we had enough to make our tea this morning and heat some lunch to take along. Then we walked to the station and boarded a train for Grand Central Terminal.

From there it was a short walk to Times Square, taking in such familiar sights as The Naked Cowboy (not really naked, but close to it), who seems to be out there day after day, year after year, a living landmark. The half price ticket booth was not far from his turf, in a temporary location while the permanent location is being remodeled. (And note that even at half price, Broadway tickets are quite stiff.) After debating which show to see for a few minutes, we settled upon "Avenue Q", an award winning musical with puppets -- a sort of Sesame Street for adults. It was a rather small theatre, about half the size of the other theatres we've seen Broadway musicals in, and unlike other musicals, this one didn't feature any dancing as such. But it was great fun for the broad-minded.

We didn't have enough time to do anything else in the city, and an afternoon isn't really enough time to spend in New York. We did stop by Virgin Records because Libby wanted to look up someone she knows who works there. But we never found her, so we trained back to Darien where, to our relief, our vehicle was unticketed.

Nov. 5

Resuming the Great American Propane Saga, we dropped in at a U-Haul in Bridgeport, CT. Every U-Haul sells propane, right? And this, being the biggest U-Haul by far we've ever encountered, was a sure bet, right? NOPE! But they directed us to another U-Haul down the road, where we were able at long last to get our fill -- with no problems whatsoever. Phew!

After Zephyr and Libby went to a movie, we dropped Libby off at the ferry, which she was taking to visit some relatives in New York before flying back home to California. (She apparently enjoyed her month of the gypsy life with us, and indeed is talking of meeting up with us in Las Vegas next spring and spending another week or so with us.) We had to help her load her stuff onto the ferry, as she had too much to carry on herself. We don't know how she ever managed on the plane getting out here, and she's accumulated even more stuff since then. (It seems she hardly could walk into a bookstore without buying another book!) And so we were able to give her a goodbye hug just before she left; one of the ferry crew, to whom we'd explained why we were accompanying her aboard when only passengers were supposed to be permitted, expressed concern that she'd be able to manage her belongings on the other end of the line, and we assured him that someone was supposed to meet her there.

We then drove to Stamford, where we again briefly visited our nephew and his girlfriend, sending out for some excellent Indian food for dinner. We said goodbye to them for this year, and started migrating south for the winter.

Nov. 6

A rather routine day, if such a thing exists for us; we made some of our usual stops -- at Trader Joe's, Panera (to spend some time online) and a YMCA. But as with many other days, there was also a great deal of driving involved. Thus, our stops were in Westchester NY, Paramus NJ and Garfield NJ.

Nov. 7

We woke up this morning uncertain what state we were in. (Turned out to be Pennsylvania.) On through Philadelphia -- another place we'd hoped to spend some time in this fall but didn't -- and into Delaware, where we hoped to find a suitable place to get online in the wilmington/ Newark area. But unable to find anything without driving miles out of our way, so we continued on to Bel Air, MD.

Nov. 8

We'd had a performance scheduled today for a group in Virginia, but they cancelled only a couple of days ago because they decided they couldn't come up with the money to pay us. Don't we just love it when that happens!

Nov. 9

Three morning performances at a school in Huntingtown, MD. Then we drove up to Alexandria, VA.

Nov. 10

Zephyr is more gung ho than ever about masquerading as Capt. Jack Sparrow, following his Halloween adventure in Salem. He's been accumulating his own props and costume articles, some of which, interestingly enough, have been adapted from women's clothing. (It's quite an experience to take your teenage son shopping for makeup and dresses.) He's been wanting to try his hand at busking (i.e., performing on the street for donations), and he'd planned to have a trial run today in Washington -- not an ideal setting by any means, but it's close to us, and he figured if he'd have any success there, it should work just about anywhere. But by the time he'd acquired everything he needed, the day was more than half over, so he decided to delay his debut until tomorrow, which promises to be rather warmer anyway.

Nov. 11

And so today we turn our pirate loose upon Washington -- a fate which the more cynical among us might say Washington deserves. Zephyr donned his basic Jack Sparrow outfit, loading the finishing touches onto his bicycle, then we all biked into D.C. from Alexandria, a distance of less than 10 miles.

Our route took us past Arlington Cemetery where, this being Veterans' Day, a ceremony was to take place featuring a 10-minute appearance by Dick Cheney. Also present, we later learned, was a gentleman who, at age 106 is one of only 3 known surviving veterans of World War I. Not only that, but he was also a POW during World War II. What stories he must have to tell!

Our route took us past two signs, in close proximity, pointing the way to Lady Bird Johnson Park and Ronald Reagan Airport, and we couldn't help noticing the odd juxtaposition. It's appropriate enough to name a park after a first lady who exhorted citizens to "plant a tree, a bush or a shruh-ub", but it seems just a bit bizarre to name an airport after a president who fired all the air traffic controllers for going on strike. (We can thank the Reagan Legacy Project, an organization founded for the purpose of naming something after our 40th president in EVERY STATE and EVERY COUNTY in the U.S. -- as well as in several locations overseas!!! Which makes a person wonder: if they're really so soundly convinced of his greatness, then why -- particularly given his reputation as a populist -- can't they trust the American public to honor him on its own initiative?) In any case, the name of this facility will forever be linked in our minds with George W. Bush's promise, shortly after 9-11, that "this Thursday, ticket counters and airplanes will fly out of Ronald Reagan Airport". That's an image you just don't forget easily.

Speaking of 9-11, we also biked right by the Pentagon, which is looking as good as new these days. But construction crews are still on hand, assembling a Pentagon Memorial.

Across the bridge and into the nation's capital, we landed at the end of The Mall, where another ceremony was in progress, with graying veterans of all branches of the armed forces (some maimed from combat, but at least they came back alive) and even some current service men and women. We were uncertain where Zephyr should try his hand at busking -- we didn't want him to do it near the ceremony, because it well might be considered disrespectful. He asked a policeman where street performers usually do their stuff in Washington; the cop gave him a puzzled look and said he wasn't aware that there ever were any street performers in Washington. This wasn't sounding at all promising.

He finally settled upon a place by the sidewalk, down the street quite a distance, where he launched into his spot-on Johnny Depp routine. He was beginning to draw quite a bit of attention, but unfortunately that included the attention of a federal policewoman on horseback, who politely informed him that he'd need a permit to do what he was doing in The Mall, which is federal property. So he took his trade across the street, to the sidewalk in front of the Dept. of the Interior. He didn't draw as much interest there, as there just wasn't enough traffic, and he was competing with a display of motorcycles, all shiny and ornate and some nearly big enough to qualify as a two-wheeled RV, that some of the vets were exhibiting for the adoration of passersby. Still, despite the unfavorable location and conditions, he was admired and photographed by many, including some professional photographers, and no doubt considered a loony by a few others. And he did collect a few dollars in booty. The mission was definitely a success, and we expect he'll be trying it again on greener turf.

We were disappointed that our busking expedition left us no time to see any of the sights. Washington is one of our favorite cities to visit, rich in historical and cultural attractions (and the Smithsonian museums are FREE!!), and unfortunately this will be our only time here this year.

Nov. 12

Fredericksburg, VA. We seem to have crossed that magic line that separates chardonnay and brie Virginia from Marlboro and NRA Virginia. At dinnertime, we met up with a homeschooling couple with whom Kimberly has been in touch online. He's an air traffic controller at the marine base in Quantico, which sometimes fields the presidential helicopter.

Nov. 13

Another fairly mundane day of chores. But we did read a fascinating and illuminating news report concerning the "debate" over global warming -- a debate which, contrary to rumors in the media, actually ended some time ago, at least among scientists. But as you know, there are many people who believe that scientists can't be trusted to give us the straight dope about science -- and so we instead must consult televangelists, petroleum executives and venomous pundits. (Many of whom try desperately to convert the whole thing into a political issue.) Quite often, they call themselves skeptics, yet swallow whole the utterly unfounded notion that global warming is a "hoax". Well, to drive home the absurdity of such an attitude, a fellow in Wales concocted a REAL hoax: a bogus report of bogus research by bogus scientists from bogus institutes concluding that climate change actually is caused by marine bacteria. And -- you guessed it -- the "skeptics" latched onto it with iron claws. This included not only the likes of Rush Limbaugh, who trumpeted the ersatz findings on his syndicated radio program, but also more respectable organs such as the Libertarian journal Reason, which is not particularly prone to gullibility, ideological extremism or anti-science bias. Yes, the "skeptics", who'd been insisting despite the overwhelming evidence that (a) global warm isn't real, and (b) it couldn't possibly be caused by anything as paltry as human activity, now suddenly declared, based on a single report, that (c) it's real after all, but (d) it's actually caused by something infinitely smaller than people. The human animal is indeed a curious critter, is it not?

Nov. 14

Three shows at Pocahontas Elementary School in -- where else -- Powhatan.

Nov. 15

A cold, rainy day. But it was our only opportunity to tour the Jamestown Settlement, so we took it -- even though it meant driving a bit out of our way. Jamestown, which is celebrating its 400th birthday, was the first English colony in America, a place where three cultures (Anglo, Native American and African) came together to lay the foundation of a new country. There's a large indoor museum, and three outdoor areas: a recreated Powhatan village, a recreated Fort James, and a waterfront with replicas of the three ships the settlers arrived on, one of which you can go aboard. This part of the tour was especially fascinating to us, having a pirate in the family.

Then we were off to Floyd, VA, a town on the border of North Carolina that is a charming mixture of hippie and redneck. It's home to the June Bug Center, a wonderful little performing arts complex that brought us in to perform in its theatre a couple of years ago. This time they brought us in to perform at a school tomorrow. We arrived to find it very cold and windy, and we saw the first few snowflakes of the winter.

Nov. 16

Performed both of our shows at the school in Floyd; very receptive audiences, and we were amazed to see that Mary and Dennis from the June Bug Center not only came to both performances, but prepared some excellent printed programs for them. Then went to the Cafe de Sol to get online. They let us linger until after the 6:00 closing time, while they set up for a performance by a band tonight.

After dinner we drove south, passing through Mt. Airy, NC (hometown of Andy Griffith, which we visited a couple of years ago), arriving in Winston-Salem at nearly bedtime.

Nov. 17

Dropped Zephyr off with his bandmates, then the rest of us went to get propane (no trouble this time!) do some banking, do some computer work, and get a workout at the YMCA. We'd hoped to pick up our mail today, but this being Saturday, the post office was, surprisingly, closed all day.

This evening we went to Salem Academy, an all girls school in Old Town Salem, to see a performance of "Cry Havoc", a drama about medical volunteers during World War II. We found it rather well done. And at intermission, for the first time ever, we saw a line for the MEN'S restroom rather than the women's! (This being a girls' school, the men's room was rather small.)

Nov. 18

After stopping at Whole Foods to buy our Thanksgiving tofurkey and fill our water jugs (which isn't quite so difficult to do in North Carolina as in Massachusetts) we headed to the Greensboro Campground, which is coincidentally just a few miles out of Greensboro. We're going to be spending an entire week parked in one place, which is a great rarity for us.

Meanwhile, Zephyr was having a recording session with his band.

Nov. 19

Kimberly hibernated with her computer all day. Dennis did likewise, except for biking to a library about 3 miles away.

Nov. 20

Another full day at the campground. Zephyr was dropped off to join us in late afternoon. They just missed the traffic jam caused by a three-car accident on the freeway, right beside our campground. (No one appeared to be hurt.)

Nov. 21

This morning, Dennis spilled tea on his computer keyboard. Leaving it to dry with a fan blowing on it, he biked into downtown Greensboro to take care of some pressing business at the post office. But when he returned, about half the keys were nonfunctional, making the whole thing useless. He called Circuit City and asked about having it repaired under warranty. They said yes, they could do it, but not in-house; it would have to be shipped off to outer Amboyna somewhere, and would take at least two weeks -- at which time we'll be long gone from this area. So he started calling local repair shops, and the only one he managed to reach on the phone (tomorrow being Thanksgiving) said that their technician would be out until Monday. And so his visions of having a productive week with his Compaq began to dissolve.

Nov. 22

Thanksgiving Day. Zephyr left about noon to have dinner at a restaurant with his friends, and from there go spend the night and have another recording session tomorrow. All of which was rather last-minute. As Zephyr turns 18 next September and is chomping at the bit to be out on his own, we figured this might be his last Thanksgiving with us. Turns out it was probably last year instead. But mom and dad still had an excellent holiday meal, despite the microwave throwing the breaker a couple of times. Early in the day, Dennis tried his computer again, and still had the same problem. But tonight it was suddenly healed! Now THAT's something to be thankful for.

Nov. 23

Zephyr is recording with his band in Winston-Salem. Mom and Dad are holed up at the campground in Greensboro, attached to computers and, at times, to an electric drill doing some RV repair. We're finally getting some winter, or at least pre-winter weather.

Nov. 24

Another full day at ye olde campground. More electrons were shuffled around into their proper places, and two coats of paint were applied to the new wooden ladder we recently acquired for our shows.

Nov. 25

Finally checked out of the campground -- the week flew too quickly -- and headed to a Borders to get some researching and recreational reading done. Then we stopped by to visit our son for a bit (he'll be hanging out with the band for a few more days still).

Nov. 26

At last, the day Dennis has been eagerly anticipating for weeks: he went to spend several hours and a chunk of money at the dentist we patronized the last time we were in town. Since then, he's had two fillings and a crown chipped, so he figured on a marathon session today, but it turned out to be not nearly as bad, time-wise or money-wise, as he expected.

We finally picked up our mail today, for the first time in about a month, and there was some confusion about the correct post office. In every other city we can think of, it's the main post office that handles general delivery; but when we went there, they directed us to the Center City branch, downtown. So we went there, and after parking with a bit of difficulty, Dennis walked in and inquired if this was indeed the place for general delivery. They asked, "Are you Mr. Goza?" Seems they had been anticipating our arrival for several days.

Nov. 27

Picked up Zephyr and his bandmate Wylie to take them to a recording session, but it was cancelled at the last minute, so we took them back to Wylie's house. Then we stopped at a Firestone to see if they could replace our two front tires. But alas, we wouldn't fit through the door of their shop.

Nov. 28

Zephyr is still AWOL, and Mom and Dad spent the day doing errands, including computer work and grocery shopping. In fact, she was doing the former at a Panera and he was doing the latter at Harris Teeter, a few doors down, when he ran into a snag. We've shopped at Harris Teeter markets, including this one, several times before, and one reason we go back there is that we've had no trouble writing out-of-state checks. But this time, they suddenly decided they couldn't accept one without a local phone number. Dennis did not know the number of the friends where Zephyr is staying, so he used the store's phone and the manager's cell phone to attempt to call Kimberly on our cell phone, even though she was nearby. Getting no answer, he left the cart of groceries behind and went to find her at Panera. She said the phone was still in the vehicle, so he went to retrieve it, then back to the store to show them the local number, and finally the transaction was complete. Phew!

Nov. 29

We picked up our missing son and delivered him once again to the recording studio, where he recorded some guitar parts by himself. Then, after trying a couple of more places in vain, we managed to persuade Sears to replace our front tires. Just like all the other places, their bay door was too short for us to fit into, but they agreed to do the job outside. (There's no reason the other facilities couldn't do the same, except they just weren't as accommodating.) We've also had a bit of a problem with a coolant leak that we can't quite pinpoint, so we're going to have to get that taken care of soon.

Meanwhile, it was back to our friends' house, where we hung out until well into the evening. Cappy, the mother of Zephyr's bandmate Wylie and his brother Nash, was going to be out until fairly late, so we agreed to stick around and make certain the boys didn't blow a hole in the space-time continuum. We finally managed after some maneuvering, to park right in front of their house, but it wasn't easy. It's a tree-lined street, and in most places if we get very close to the curb, the tree branches start screeching against our vehicle.

Nov. 30

Went back to Cappy's house and picked up Zephyr. Had to deal with a cantankerous neighbor because we parked (very temporarily) in front of his house, and he asked why we were there instead of in front of our own house, and Kimberly said that we couldn't park anywhere else (because of the tree branches), but before she could explain any further, he launched into a long rant and rave without even taking a breath, after which he declared that she was "jumping down my throat" because he asked why were there. We wondered what kind of medication he was on.

Anyway, we picked up Zephyr and Nash, and took them to Guilford Technical college, where Zephyr is thinking of enrolling in some music recording classes next year. In the admissions office, he spoke to an extremely helpful woman who was as soft-spoken as our "neighbor" was obnoxious.

Dropped Zephyr and Nash at the home of their drummer, Daniel, for his birthday party, before we started heading out of town. But before leaving town, we paid a visit to Angelina's Tea Shop, which we discovered our last time here, and stocked up on some of the teas we have trouble finding elsewhere (it's hard to find tea almost anywhere that's not in bags) plus we finally caved in and picked up a wicker whisk such as they use in Japanese tea ceremonies to go along with the ceremonial tea we brought back from Japan last year.

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