I will be unplugging for the next two weeks to recharge and visit family.
I’m taking the trip of a lifetime that I have been looking forward to for years. I will be taking a train across the country from New York City to Seattle, WA with my wife, 2-year old daughter, and in-laws. Along the way, we’ll be making stops in my beloved Montana before pushing all the way to the west coast. I am very much looking forward to the adventure with my family and seeing everybody together somewhere other than NYC. Add this to the benefit of not having to fly, and we’ve got the best plan ever.
I’ll be back by September 1st with the best post you’ve ever read. Hopefully. Either that, or I’ll drop out of society and build a compound somewhere deep in the woods with a secret location sent to subscribers.
Until then enjoy the rest of summer, drop me a line or link in the comments, and do something that scares the shit out of you — after all, I’m traveling in a tube with a 2-year old child.
With Respect,
Tommy
{ 23 comments… read them below or add one }
Have a wonderful trip, Tommy. My husband and I are headed to Chicago on Tuesday. We’re driving, not very green, but we’re moving there and it was really the only way. And yeah, it’s kinda scary.
Best of luck, Tommy. I hope you enjoy the trip and the time with family. If you’re looking for some good reading for the train, check out Paul Theroux’s writings about travel by rail. My favorite by him is “Dark Star Safari,” though there isn’t a whole lot of train travel in that one.
That train ride is something I’ve always wanted to do…traveling with a two year old; been there, done that, have the scars. Want all the gory details when you return, have a great time!
“I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train.” ~ Oscar Wilde
Bon Voyage!
Have a fun trip.
Just got home from a driving tour of Hiawatha land…Mackinac Island, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Tahquamenon Falls, Pictured Rocks.
Wanted to do this: http://www.agawacanyontourtrain.com/content/packages/agawacanyon.html
But not enough time and kids were getting anxious to get home. Stopped to check on our bug-out town on the way home, too (an undisclosed location). I love the train ride. It’s like a cruise without the drowning.
Our trip in a nutshell: “Hey kids, you know what’s behind those trees?”
“What, Dad?”
“More trees.”
Tommy, have fun. I just spent a month camping in Montana, mostly in the NW part and it was awesome. I love Montana. And I love trains. Put them together and it’s paradise for me.
Will add, as or doing something that’s scary, yup, tent camping in grizz country was, at first, anyway, then you get used to it.
What was really scary were the mosquitoes in Canada. I ended up fleeing back to Montana, bringing a number of them back with me in my car. Sorry about that, Montana, cause they were probably carrying some type of extra special predatory insect genes.
RAIL TRIP! Woo HOOOOOOOO!
Don’t forget to check out the Rain Forests near Seattle. The giant colorful slugs are impressive, to say the least.
Of all the people…YOU…have earned time off! The trip sounds wonderful. ENJOY every moment.
Thanks for sharing your HEART and SOUL – and for creating the FG community. We’ll miss hearing from you and from each other. Will BE HERE when you get back – PROMISE!
Love,
sus
Tommy, have a fantastic trip!!!
Best wishes, safety, and positive vibes to you and your family!
Really looking forward to reading about it!
Cheers man
Tommy, when you go through Livingston, MT, I’ll be the one waving who has the blond mohawk and the red Pendleton jacket and two Blue Heeler dogs. Wave back, OK?
Awesome! Enjoy the hell out of every minute, man. I will probably be putting on a similar amount of miles on a rental car in about ten days, driving all over Idaho, Montana, Canada, Wyoming, and Colorado. Road trips rule.
See you soon, bro. Got a cold beer waiting for you.
Enjoy your wanderings. If you ever feel like seeing Picket’s Charge, drop me a line.
Oh, and for the “dropping out of society and building a compound” comment, I meant to say…
“build it and they will come!”
Sounds awesome. I love travelling by train. I just wish it were easier to do in this country. Have a fantastic break.
Bon Voyage! I, too, recommend the Dark Star Safari book by Paul Theroux. Terrific. BTW, been trolling the JHK blog comments last week and I feel like a (relieved) refugee. Will miss your blog but have a wonderful vacation.
Joe Bageant is pretty good this week, so anyone who needs some reading material…enjoy:
“Look at the sorry-assed ‘Tea Party Revolution’, which will have to be allied with the GOP (which its backstage leadership has been anyway) in 2012 if it wants to be even a small factor. Media noise about the Tea Party doth not a revolution make, and it certainly does not overthrow the ruling class, who do not mind the wrath of the rabble, so long as it does not get in the way of the money.
And besides, the ruling class holds all the money, not to mention the media that informs the populace as to what is going on in our country. It controls our health care, our banking and retirement funds. It controls our education or lack of education, and it controls the price, quantity and quality of the food we eat. It controls the quality of the air we breathe, and soon, through pollution credits, even the price they will pay for that air. Most importantly, it holds concentrated legal and governmental authority, not to mention the machinery of both parties to grant itself more authority.
In the face of all this stands a very diverse public, which regardless of what some might claim behind a few beers, is not about to take up arms or use force to unseat the ruling class. When your life and your family are so utterly controlled by persons and forces that you cannot even see, you don’t take such risks. That’s not gutlessness. It’s common sense.
..
I think about that young reader, Brent B., who takes time to email me now and then. Today he wrote, summarizing the only thing of which I am certain:”
“It’s a hard thing to know the truth in this world, it’s like something inside of you dies, but sometimes you still have to know it.”
Getting away from the web clears the mind, and we look forward to the best post ever–which may just be some observations about what you saw on your train trip.
My old pal Mark Twain said “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness…”
We just returned from a great quest to the Allegheny Mts. to reconnect with our old tribe. Check my postings with lots of pics at http://thatcrashingsound.blogspot.com/
Have a great journey Tommy. JHK will love you for travelling by rail, btw.
I think I will have to finally climb Mt. Wheeler. For me this probably means a night sleeping out in the open at 11K feet. I’d better get a move on…
Barry: Nice quote. Thanks for that.
TaosJohn: I love New Mexico and visit there every year. Been to Taos and the Pueblo several times. Awesome place. Enjoy your climb.
Hey peeps! While we’re waiting for Tommy, I got more updates on That Crashing Sound from our quest, including The Honey Heist, The Monarch March, chickens, fungi, tiger swallowtails, etc.