Statistics

I've arrived back in the proper time zone after a two-week whirlwind. Here are some numbers, including evidence shown on the Nuvi. Note that the drive was not continuous. I spent the majority of the time in Utah and then had detours through Kansas City, Indianapolis, and Louisville.

15 days
16 states
5540 miles
0 tickets
[Undisclosed] Diet Cokes



The Max Speed on the Nuvi has been reset to protect the innocent driver who obeyed all posted speed limits the entire time. This is an amazing, beautiful country.

Scenery

Oklahoma!

I set about driving from point A to point B on Saturday. What did you see this weekend?

Note that this isn't 490 miles to the destination, it's just to the next turn.



Texas rest stops are big. Of course, they are! What else would they be?



The last 200 miles to Phoenix were on local highways and small roads. This is entering the desert.



And just after I emerged from the forest. I somehow escaped the full brunt of the storm visible in the back.



Keep in mind this is one day, one thousand miles.

Saris Bones 2

6 Oct 2009 Update: I've posted a few more notes on my experience here.

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I began a quest this morning to find a bike rack for my impending country lap. Europeans take note: in the next 3 weeks, I'll cover over 6000 miles without repeating terrain, while going through less than one-third the states. This is why we yanks gripe when gas prices rise, this place is huge. Hamburg to Seville is roughly a fourth of what I'll drive, and with no checkpoints.

This post is largely intended to help the fellow motorers who, like me, would give up their left, uh, toe before parting with their MINI. However, we do wonder which accessories fit our diminutive rides and how well they do it. In my search today, I couldn't find a picture of the rack I wanted on the car I have. Worse, the manufacturer's site was a little inclusive, casting enough doubt that it wasn't worth losing the cost of shipping if the thing didn't fit. Heaven knows that there just isn't a perfect match for carrying a bike on a MINI.

After a reasonably impatient search, and an obligatory swing by the local bike shop where I picked up a couple of insulated water bottles (more on those later), I settled on either a low-end Bell trunk rack or the Saris Bones 2. It took more than 2 seconds, but less than 5, to decide I wanted the Saris, if I could get a deal on one. Although the bike shop had only Yakima racks to show me in person, I called back to see if they could order a Saris. Lo and behold, I overheard the friendly mech say, "Justin? Tell him he can have my old one." (Price not disclosed.) Take note people, this is why you schmooze, talk, and otherwise design t-shirts for free for your local bike shop.

Here is the Saris Bones 2-bike rack.





The top arm doesn't actually touch the spoiler. It does rest on the lip; I'm not sure how that works over 2000 miles, but I'll be trying a few adjustments.







The following words are gratuitously included so that fellow motorers can have what I didn't: pictures of an '06 Cooper S with a Saris Bones 2 on the back. Saris, Bones 2-bike, Mini Cooper S, Mini Cooper with Saris Bones, Bones on Mini, Bones 2-bike, 2006 MINI bike rack, rack options for Cooper S, Mini trunk rack, Saris Bones 2-bike rack on 2006 Mini Cooper S.

A street half empty

I was looking at some random pictures of old Boston. I love scenes like this one.



I commented that all the streets and buildings are in use, "people still live there." My sister replied, "Yes, but they're not happy."

Two if by Sea

I spent the weekend in Boston at a Down syndrome conference. Interesting stuff. Although I've been to Boston a few times while living in New York, it has been 7 years since I walked around downtown and the historic areas. It was really great this time and not nearly as cold as when I did it last.

This is for my western friends, seeing as though most easterners probably study this stuff for years: We walked through the Paul Revere House and struck a (good) nerve with one of the stationary guides. Seeing that we were the last group and she had no requirement to repeat her lines over and over, she grabbed maps from behind the door then proceeded to lecture on more intricacies of Paul Revere's ride than I had ever read. I was stuck in my spot and soaked it in.

Here's an interesting tidbit: Revere and Dawes would not have shouted, "The British are coming!" because they considered themselves to be British citizens. They also didn't know for certain where the British were headed; the troops were already in Boston (after the tea incident), and the main suspicion was that Samuel Adams and John Hancock needed to be warned of any troop movements. Revere himself would have put the lanterns in the Old North Church, knowing that they were visible across the water gap, knowledge he gained while working in the church as a boy. Ultimately, Revere was made famous by Longfellow's poem just prior to the Civil War, written as propaganda. He intentionally omitted mention of Dawes and the others in order to emphasize the notion that one, single individual can be historically significant.




25 minutes later and we looked back at the Old North Church.

MINI EV

From Automotive News Europe, via Wired, another in an lengthening line of things BMW-makes-but-won't-sell-to-me comes the electric Cooper. I don't know that I'll ever give up the power and torque of the S, but man, would I appreciate at least the opportunity to turn my nose up.



The gist is that MINI needs to meet a California requirement to produce a certain number of zero-emission vehicles in its fleet by the year 2014. But my cynical side says here's hoping the JCW Clubman stays available for those of us below the Mason-Dixon line.