The Great Sub-Appalachian
Road Trip of 2001

November of 2001 I hopped in my shiny new Chevy Tracker and set out across 6 states in search of friends old and new. Here's what I found:

Huntsville, Alabama

In old Alabammy there's a town called Huntsville that, thanks mostly to large sums of government cash, has actually achieved such modern conveniences as indoor plumbing and computers. Nevertheless, the rest of Alabama still has room for improvement.

In this tech mecca of the south live my friends Amy (right) and Jeff. Were it not for Amy's HTML tutelage in my formative college years, I would not be showing you these pictures right now, because I would be an unemployed English major and musician who wouldn't know foo about web design. Go to Domesticat.net and see just how much better than me she really is.

This is the gang playing Uno. From left are: Amy, Jessica, Kat, Jeremy, and two guys whose names I've already forgotten. Perhaps the reason for that lies below...

The day after Who says tech geeks can't booze it up like regular Bama folks?

Some bridge in the middle of nowhere, Tennessee or Alabama I don't even remember (it was a long, hazy drive). I just thought the massive blue bridge stood in stark contrast to the rustic natural setting that characterized the majority of my drive. Ever read Anecdote of the Jar by Wallace Stevens? Change "jar" to "big freaky blue bridge" and it's like Wallace was right there with me. To paraphrase Alicia Keyes, Wallace Stevens is my dawg.

Roanoke, Virginia

Trina (left) and Jennifer (right) Trina and I had known each other for two years but had never actually met in person - isn't the Internet wonderful? It connects weirdos across the world who thought they were all alone...Another case in point is Amy and Jeff from above - they wouldn't be married but for the Internet's ability to draw together similarly deranged people. And, at the end of the day, isn't that what existence is all about? Finding people that understand you even if you're a big big freak?

Anyway, Trina and I both play guitar and listen to the same stuff (lots of Zappa and guitar whizbang); we even drive red Trackers. It's always good to meet new old friends. A big excuse to make the trip was that Mike Keneally and Beer for Dolphins (click here for photos from the show) were playing in West Virginia, a mere 4 hours from Roanoke. That show alone was worth the entire road trip.

Separated at birth?

This is a water tower in Wytheville, Virginia. Am I becoming my grandmother because I thought it was really cool? Driving across Virginia and West Virginia was an interesting experience. Maybe it was just the mind-numbing 8-hour treks, but I really enjoyed seeing the landscapes. The Appalachians are very different from the Ozarks; they're MUCH taller and more impressive. Ironically, West Virginia reminded me a lot of West Germany. Tall hills with all the civilization lining the valleys along major rivers. I felt like I was in a model train set.

I picked a good time to go on a road trip.

This is from Roanoke, but only the Huntsville crew will fully appreciate the joke.

I passed this guy THREE TIMES coming from Roanoke to...

Bowling Green, Kentucky Mac Murphy is the proprietor of a Deck the Walls store in Bowling Green. He is pictured here with his trusty assistant, Frenchy, who in addition to being a sparkling conversationalist, is remarkably lifelike. Mac's getting me a great deal on a frame for some art I got from my friend Heidi - he's doing it for free!

Nica Murphy Mac's lovely wife. Mac and Nica are both old Hendrix pals, but Nica has the distinction of being a fellow escapee of Harrison, Arkansas. Alas, the homegirl and I were not able to attend an Ozzy Osbourne concert due to an injury on the part of the Ozzman. So we mostly vegetated on the couch, which is probably for the best, as the rigors of the road were catching up to me.

Me? In addition to the aforementioned free frame work and opportunity to vegetate with the Murphys, I picked up this picture of me from Mac and Nica's wedding on July 1, 2000. I played all the traditional wedding music - bridal chorus, wedding march, Sting's "Shape of My Heart," etc... Looking at the picture, I'm starting to miss the old Ibanez Jem. It looked great in a tux.

The Sunsphere Oh yeah, I stopped off for lunch in Knoxville on the way from Roanoke to Bowling Green. This is the Sunsphere that featured prominently in the 1982 World's Fair. I was looking forward to seeing the Tower again, as I had not seen it since that World's Fair. I was 6 years old back then and I remember only shadowy impressions of being lost in a very large crowd of people. I recall going up into the tower to see if I could see my family. I don't remember how I found them. But I do remember the Budweiser Clydesdales. And getting a Twiki action figure. Sadly the area was closed for renovation, so no progress was made in the retrieval of lost memories.