CHARACTER PROFILE for: TED

Ted was a wonderfully friendly asian man, who was good enough to supply us with a jack to change our tire when we really needed it. Now I'm going to blow the surprise here right off the bat, and tell you that some pictures depicting how ridiculously steep many of the streets of San Francisco really are- will be included in our next STATUS UPDATE, and also in relativity to our blown-out tire dilemma, will be a HOW-TO about using tire plugs to fix your flats like a pro, in no time! I'll give you all a second to digest that before going on about Ted...

Now for those of you who don't know, The Great B.O. is capable of getting a car off the ground, swapping the donut for the flat, and plugging a tire hole quicker than a caffeinated gypsy! In reality, I'm a mere accessory to the process- much like an unnecessary tool in your collection that "might some day come in handy." And as much as I'd like to think that I am needed (similar to a small child who is told he needs to be his fathers 'bolt holding assistant'), my role is probably, realistically, similar to that of Vanna White's (for those of you who remember wheel of fortune).

Moving onwards though, I will tell you that we were in a crummy predicament when we found ourselves completely flat on Aguello and Fulton St., because that particular half of Fulton, is a fairly steep hill, and the jack we had to work with, is about as tin-chinsey as they come. B.O. knew, that jacking the car up on such a steep incline, with such a cheap jack, might be a serious problem- but what other option did we have? So, needless to say, we jacked the car up off the ground, got it off the car, and just as we did- the car leaned downward with slow, sure, furiousness, bending the jack, and resting its entire weight on the now bare wheel well.

Most any white collar Californian we would have seen, would only have had the same standard, cheap-grade jack, that through trial and error, had proved wouldn't suffice. Having no other options, we continued asking people, often times sending Chassy since she is obviously the cutest of us all.

Eventually, an Asian man pulled out of the closest driveway that we nearly blocked, and when we asked him for a jack, he gave (what we took as) a false look of concern, muttered some broken english, and then pulled away and drove off. We sat by the car cursing our luck, and asking people in vein for a jack, until finally, the asian man returned! He pulled into the barely one-car garage beneath his tiny, colorful, San Franciscan house, and a moment later, he stepped outside, and walked toward us pulling behind him a rolling hydraulic jack that was nearly as big as him- some serious gear for the tiny BMW he was driving, but none the less- PERFECT for our current predicament. We cranked the Le Sabre up with the greatest of ease as we laughed with relief, and in no time, B.O. had the donut on the car, and we were safely guaranteed that we would make it to the Chevron gas station, where we could plug the gash in the tire, and get it back on the car, in a place of level ground.

If it weren't for TED, we might have been stuck there on Fulton for quite some time. His real name was much to hard for us silly americans to say or remember, so he introduced himself to us as TED, and even managed to shoot the shit with us for a few moments. Apparently Ted was a stock broker, and by the looks of him, I'd have guessed that he took his morning coffee with one cream and one sugar, but I could be wrong on that estimation. He was obviously a man of great efficiency, and he smiled a great smile of sly admiration when we told him that we had a tire kit, and would be able to handle ourselves just fine now that he had gotten us off of this hill. He explained several times, and to great extent, where a good gas station, with "good friendly people" was located, and he even took the time to explain to us that he had only left earlier because he had to pick his kids up from tennis practice. I thought that was good of him, and although Brian say's he couldn't understand a word out of the guys mouth- I felt like I was on the same page as him. He gave us his business card expressing a relative fondness and modest trust, and then finally told us to give him a call if we needed any further help. Thanks a ton Ted, you deserve a good Samaritan prize as far as I'm concerned.

THATS a flat...

That can't be good for the... the rotating spinny thing in the wheel well... You know, the one that holds the tire, Jeeze, I never claimed to be the car guy- that's B.O.'s field!

I loved the way Ted articulated the English language with his hands, as if he were forming the syllables with his finger tips.

Ted seemed to be a man of business, and it seems like when it came to helping us out, Ted meant business! Just tell me when to stop with the word play, I could go all night...

STATUS UPDATE: Exploring San Francisco, Life In The Car, And Tearing Up The Pier With Forty's and Skateboards

It's hard to believe that we have been gone nearly a week now, sometimes because it feels like its been many weeks, and sometimes because it feels like we just got here. Another surprise for me, was how approachable the city really has proven to be for us. The people are incredibly friendly and down to earth, and for the most part, the neighborhoods don't seem to be reflective of a culture fed entirely upon consumerism. Despite much of the presumptions we had upon entering, most of the neighborhoods feel blue collar and middle class- even if they might not actually be. An amazing difference that really contributes to this atmosphere, is that all the stores and establishments outside of the major metropolis/downtown area, are Ma and Pa run stores, deli's, grocers, cafe's- there is really almost NO corporate presence surrounding the plethora of tightly knit neighborhoods in San Francisco. The different atmospheres of all the neighborhoods are another really amazing thing that works to ensure that there's really something for everyone here. They say San Francisco is the most European influenced city in the United States, and I can really vouch for that (although I have never been to europe, so I'm not really a qualified person to ask).

So what about us, your all saying by now I'm sure, right? Well, Myself, Chassy, B.O., and Ben Meyers, have been staying in the lovely Haight Ashbury neighborhood. A famous hippie haven in the 60's that hasn't really lost touch with it's roots. For my Wisconsin readers, I can say that in all honesty, it's not all that different from State St. in Madison, so yes, allot of "hippie hype," which seems irrelevant in a place where marijuana is basically legal. The neighborhoods are beautiful though, and if you stay off the main drag, the residential areas are filled with stereotypically quaint SF houses which are pretty cool. We are living out of the Buick Le Sabre, and after a few nights of sleeping 4 in that thing, we are all pretty sore and cranky in the morning. As wonderful as it has been to have our short traveling guest, Ben Meyers here with us- it will be nice to have the extra space in the car to try and organize all our crap, and to arrange a more comfortable sleeping situation. We have been staying about a block away from the famed, "2400 Fulton St," a staple album of Jefferson Airplane (if you kids never checked 'em out, I highly recommend that album!). On the far side of our car, is a residential street, and the closest side, is the enormous AND beautiful "Golden Gate Park." This makes it possible for us to duck into the woods to pee, wash our hair, or just hang out in the park. Another main advantage to our little urban camp, is that we only have one side of houses/people watching us (otherwise it would be pretty noticeable that we are inhabiting our vehicle).

We will definitely be switching up our position soon, but it has been difficult since it is just so damn convenient! We have learned how to get around the city using their WONDERFUL public transportation option, the MUNI, which is a speedy electric bus with 2 dollar tickets, 4 hour transfers, and bus drivers that usually let you go the whole day on ONE single bus ticket! They also have trolley's here, and an underground train called the BART. We will surely take the BART before we leave, as I think public transportation is an important thing for us to have under our thumb, AND it seems to be a very fast affordable option in getting very far distances- like when we want to go explore the Berkely area, or Oakland.

So far, we have made it across the Golden Gate bridge, and over to historic "Sausilito," a gorgeous little area, we put aside our american inhibitions and had an AMAZING meal in Chinatown after walking up the RIDICULOUSLY steep hills from downtown market St, Me and Chassy practiced the art of homeless bathing in order to hit up a trendy little film screening in the NOMA neighborhood, We made it down to walk all the piers near the Cannery, North Point Beach, and the fisherman's wharf (Ben and B.O. tore up the skate spots, and B.O. managed to get ahold of a lovely local ladie's phone number along the way!), Ben and B.O. went to the first annual "Medical Marijuana Cup," held here in SF- details of the event will be provided by our correspondent, B.O., spent some quality time in Dalores Park in the Mission District, and of course Golden Gate Park, in Haight Ashbury neighborhood (our current home).

We have been tearing through the city, and getting a taste of all the flavors a penniless traveler could possibly have access to- it has been a dense blast of culture, fun, and exploration.

We have been conquering the city, and as far as on-the-fly urban pioneering goes, me and Chass need to hit up the SFMOMA (modern art museum), and we need to check out the BART, and possibly take it to OAKLAND and BERKELY area, just across the Bay Bridge. I would also like to see to it that I get to visit "CITY LIGHTS" publishing/book store in SF. After that's in check, it will be time to start looking at opportunities to keep on keepin' on. This might entail checking out the RIDESHARE section, and seeing if we might have some ride-sharers to help us get to Portland cheap, or it might be something entirely different (friends in Big Bend, Denver, Austin, etc).

Although the extra space in the car will be needed when Ben leaves tonight, we are all really looking forward to set a tent up in the country, and spend a few night's sleeping with our legs stretched out for a change. I put a post up on COUCHSURFING.ORG, to see if there might be any people willing to host us for a night, and let us hit up their shower- otherwise the next destination will be based on access to a shower facility, and affordability!

Much more to come Y'all! There are tons of stories that are being left out here, but with how crammed our experiences have been thus forth, an outline of it all is most appropriate for the time being- I will have some time to do more narrative forms of writing when we have a more solid place to rest our heads...

*THIS POST'S APOLOGY NOTE* (I might make this a regular attachment to my updates, it seems necessary)

SORRY MY WONDERFUL READERS, for how F'ing campy and "tourist-y" allot of the photos are, by no means is this our general style, but I just can't not include some of the landmark/landscape/blah blah blah type photo's as they have been a unique part of our experience thus forth. Even if these exact photo's probably exist in your "great aunt something or another's" slide show from the 70's, it's still relevant materials. PLUS, your aunt didn't add a 40 of highlife to half of her photos, now did she?

Until we meet again...

Regards,

Joseph R. Reeves

After one hot minute on GOOGLE, Brian and Ben have found a "frolf" course that happens to be located only 15 minutes from our lovely little urban campsite (and thats walking distance too). They pack up a "day bag" with their frolfing (frisbee golfing) material, as Chassy seems to question the durability of that skateboard there...

B.O. gets all decked out for the first ever "Medical Cannabis Cup," that is held in the United States. He is going as a journalist correspondent reporting on behalf of "THE LAST GREAT american NEWSPAPER." "Of COURSE" he has already taken his Gallon Shower, which is why he obviously looks so astute. Way to go B.O.!

The Great B.O. takes advantage of California's policies, and gets properly medicated before he goes to the MCC lecture's.

Since me and Chassy have been living on the same funds, we agreed that a fair compromise in dealing with the cost of smoking, would be to smoke rolled cigarettes instead. After a tough two weeks of torpedo shaped mishap cigarettes, she rolls like a real cowgirl now. Maybe I don't encourage her habit, but I'm not one to judge, and it goes to show you how far effort goes!

Heres our new MACBOOK PRO, an external hard drive, and a phone charger ALL running wonderfully off of our car-lighter conversion adaptor, and 3 way extension- dare I say, our office is getting downright savvy?! Maybe that shot of B.O. on the laptop isn't quite complimentary, but you can't win 'em all right?

NOTE TO READERS: A George Foreman grill is about 5 times too powerful for a cars cigarette lighter to handle without frying the fuses. I learned the hard way, by not having any car power until B.O. got back that day, and came to the rescue by swapping out new fuses for it. (sigh...) There goes all of our dreams of burgers, corn dogs, pancakes, and even bagels being consumed as we fly down highway 80 at full speed while still eating hot, tasty, meals from our invincible do-anything Forman Grill!

Habitation in Vehicles prohibited 10 pm to 6 am? So that means that technically, we're only breaking the law for 8 hours a day- thats not too bad right? It's only 1/3rd of the whole day...

Here's a nice little shot of the golden gate bridge, just like your great aunt Susan would have taken!

San Fran Skyline... IDK what else to say.

... And here's our family at the golden gate parking lot, Chassy was refusing to smile because Brian ate her chips during the car ride there- oh, those two were at each others throats the whole ride home to Maybury! Why couldn't they just behave like Ben, our golden child?

And here I am, standing next to the handsome statue of the "lone sailor." There was a whole little plaque there about the significance of him, it was really neat-o!

As we are all fanatical "Big Labowski" fans, we simply HAD to go to the "In-and-Out Burger." It was pretty damn good all and all, but they really aren't kidding with the title "In-and-Out," and unfortunately for me, one of the most difficult things to do in any popular area of San Francisco, is find a restroom that they will actually let you use.

The Great B.O. prompts all these tourist type folks, to put out there hands for a high five, and in one swoop of the skateboard, he rolls past giving rounds of high fives, and warning them to stay away from drugs. What a guy, eh?

Believe it or not, I was originally just taking pictures of B.O. putting sun-screen on since he feels self-concious about applying lotions to his face in public- how it turned into all this, I'm not sure...

Pictures like this, remind me that sleeping in the car, is really nothing to complain about. The homeless population in San Francisco is enormous, and any one of those guys would give a limb to have a place like the Le Sabre to sleep.

In California, even the dollar store is more expensive. The DOLLAR TWENTY-FIVE STORE!! California also presents such wonderful delights as the DOLLAR SIXTY FIVE menus at McDonalds, or most any other fast food restaurant! Yay!

Sitting on the back of the "MUNI," enjoying a Miller High Life. Don't look at me that way, we're young, we get to be irresponsible and foolish- it's budgeted into our time AND schedule. Your just mad cause you have to go to work tomorrow, or even worse, your at work right now... Yep, I called you out on it- now get back to work!

Brian insisted that I take a picture of this bashful women, who was shyly painting by the pier. He still says he's going to marry her, and strangely, I half believe him. That is a damn cute smile, wouldn't you say?

Huge freight is moved in and out of all these piers at fisherman's wharf, and people fish for sardines, and net for crabs- its quite a sight to see!

Chassy catches me balancing on a concrete strip along the pier- the beautiful San Francisco skyline in the background, is on the house, so don't tell me I never did nothin' for ya...

Ohhh don't you just want to puke? Were just too damn cute!

The champagne of beers should probably be opened with a little more gusto, wouldn't you say? Every time we crack a new one, the celebration commences, so needless to say, we've been a marry band of travelers since we arrived. We are genuine examples of living the "High Life!"

Ben and The Great B.O. tore up just about every damn skate spot we came across in our journey across North Point Beach

Wow, its been far too long since I've gotten going on a skateboard... Bryan flings a shoe at me, so to indicate that my marine boots aren't appropriate skate gear- he could have just told me, but I'll let it slide.

Heres a nice shot of ALCATRAZ, which is apparently no longer in operation. Check out that coast guard boat rolling past with the enormous gun turret on the front!

Flower Power!

Some of the street artists in San Fran, are freakin' ridiculous! This guy has a spray booth set up, and he makes these awesome aerosol landscapes of the city- they are amazingly articulate, and because he has it down to a formula now, he is able to draw QUITE the crowd, and make his visual artwork, a performance! Bravo my friend.

Some street performers have absolutely NO talent, which is why you might see me and B.O. in the street free-styling, or playing the trumpet, or whatever we decide to do that particular day...

We all cashed a single in and spent a few quarters on this AMAZING vintage arcade on the pier-they had soooo many cool games from wayyy back when. Apparently "slob your knob," was a game they played back then- I can't think of anything else he would be doing... O.K., actually, he is playing his unenthusiastic girlfriend in Ms. PacMan

Here's a weird ass looking mannequin- put a quarter in, and watch his limbs barely creak. I was personally just impressed it still moved at all...

They had those "Peep Show" boxes you look into after paying a quarter- the ones from like the 50's! Basically, this was pornography to them- how fun!!

They all had painted signs above them that said things like, "Come See What This Naughty Belly Dancer Does On Her Day Off!" I managed to wedge my camera over the viewing lenses, and was able to capture these super risky photos for you all to enjoy. Undoubtably, the best 25 cents I've ever spent!

This sonofabitch cheater of a game, was invented to make you look like an idiot in front of your girlfriend! I tried so hard, and lost on both heavy-weight, and welter-weight. I figured if I won on light weight, I wouldn't really be winning anyhow. No matter how you look at it, I lost...

After being beaten by a robotic arm-wrestling machine from the 50's, I didn't have the heart to get behind this sign. My pride will forever be harmed. Chassy looks pretty tough though- I hope she doesn't decide to beat me up...

Even street sculptures need to take a break and have a smoke once and a while. I believe it's outlined as mandatory in their union contracts actually...

Ben nails a nose slide in the background of this sunny photo- go ben, go!

A nice picture of Ben, as well as a parking-lot in the ocean for boats.

Where's Bryan?? PEEK-A-BOO, He's skateboarding intoxicated!

Here's the main crew, chillin' like villian's

Grrrrr! I can't think of anything else to say about this one...

Chassy's always picking someone's nose- usually mine though. This guy would have some enormous boogers I bet...

B.O. fearlessly leaps this enormous gap, but unfortunately, his board is nowhere near him. A for effort though B.O., J.U.I.C.E. is all about determination, results are secondary.

Some more sweet air, compliments of The Great B.O... if you think these ups are sweet, you should have seen the wipeout that took place afterwords!

Ben was determined to land his nose manual- the spirit of J.U.I.C.E. lies deep within you Ben- take it back with you to Milwaukee, and show 'em who's boss!

STATUS UPDATE: Milwaukee to San Fran in 42 Hours!

WHOAAAA, that's right y'all, it took us 42 hours to get to San Fran from Milwaukee, AND thats still with us f'ing around a bit along the way! Thats a new record of dreary-eyed, caffeine spiked endurance driving for me and The Great B.O., and a definite first for our newest traveling teammate, Chassy! Although it was a definite endurance drive for our wits, it was surely as enduring of a test for poor lil Chassy's butt (seeing as she sat in the middle pretty much the whole time). As painful as it really was at times, there was an immense feeling of satisfaction upon crossing the bay bridge into lovely San Francisco Bay, and in the long run, getting there with 6 people crammed into the LE SABRE, was a feat managed by all involved. So I know your mind is racing with questions right now, and I promise I will get to them soon enough, but this particular posting is saturated with imagery, so I will try my best to be short and sweet in my words. How we happen to be getting along here in San Fran, will be covered more exclusively in the upcoming post/post(s), and this post will concentrate on the journey across the states that miraculously took place in record time. We will have some interesting CHARACTER PROFILES to post for the 3 RIDE-SHARERS we took with us- Ben Meyers (a long time friend we pulled along from MILWAUKEE), and then ALEX and JAMES (backpacking/train hopping fella's we found on Craigslist). In the short time we have been here, we have established a few safe bases for the car (and ourselves to stay when needed), and have already began to navigate the primary streets/ main drags that need to be known to get around here in San Fran. I am particularly proud that we already began to navigate our way around using the "MUNI'S" here, which are basically super quick little busses that run on the same electric cables that the trolley operates on. So as I promised, I will keep this brief, and focus on the plethora of photography that I have gotten thus forth- enjoy, and stay tuned for the latest STATUS UPDATES, CHARACTER PROFILES, AND an outline of the major event taking place tomorrow and sunday, the MEDICAL CANNABIS CUP (a world-wide yearly event, that is taking place in the USA for the first time ever!). Until we meet again... Regards, Joseph R. Reeves

P.S.

When Im on the road, It becomes harder to focus on editing and format and all that fancy-pants detail work- forgive the mistakes please...

3 pairs of pants, 3 tee shirts, 2 coller shirts, 2 undershirts, AND that bag there, which includes a super decked out outfit incase they decide to make me the new city mayor or something (pleated pants, dress shirt, tie, and of course, suspenders)! This wardrobe may seem excessive for a traveler, and in many ways it is, however an important part of our traveling philosophy is that we are not limited in where we are able to go. This means clothes for art gallery's, job interviews, and other such nonsense- are necessary to blend into high society events. On the opposite end, and just as essential in getting along- is my favorite holey hippie pants and shirts for good underground parties, or the Haight Ashbury scene for example. It's a key strategy to come equipped with something for squares AND hippie types, as well as anyone in between.

To make this all fit into your backpack, having good folding/rolling skills is essential to condense such an excessive undercover wardrobe as this. I haven't bagged all of my clothes because I shouldn't have to worry about rain like other adventures in the past- a luxury of traveling in a car.

There's my old pal, packed pretty full once again, "La Cienda." That new foxy little outfitter to the left, has been aptly titled "Babe," in reference to it being Chassy's new traveling bag, as well as its color, and of course Wisconsin folk-tale's of "Babe The Blue Ox." Babe, is an absolute luxury to have for a bag- it holds all of my and Chassy's clothes (so it's much lighter than it looks) AND includes a back frame, and tons of bells an whistles that are to keep your body from aching. I REALLY wish I had that bag for my hitchhiking in Florida, but, live and learn. To top it all off, I got the bag for 20 bucks off craigslist, by haggling the guy down from 30 (It's in perfect condition, and would have costed over 150.00 easily!). Luckily, many people who have benefited from similar such adventures throughout their life, are willing to help our cause by being generous enough to work with our small budget.

Here's a photo of "MAYOR KEN," and "PONOS OF THE NORTH (a.k.a. Aaron)"- My last day with these guys was spent discussing the future of our collaborative relationship, as well as an outline for some of the blog work I owe them, and will be doing while traveling. It was sad to have to leave, but luckily, they had a similar attitude as me in understanding that this is a celebrated leave, and only a physical absence of my presence. CHARACTER PROFILES of both of these guys are soon to come, quality writing is difficult to do though when I am moving around so damn much.

It was unfortunately a rainy mess in Milwaukee upon our departure- we didn't let that detract from the glory of it all though, and as is depicted, the sun eventually prevailed!

Here's good old Ben Meyers, an old friend of mine who really wanted to make it out to San Francisco for the "Medicinal Cannabis Cup," a revolutionary event taking place, and a first for the U.S.A.! More on Ben's short stay with us is to come, as well as a CHARACTER PROFILE of course. Check out the 8 PERSON TENT strapped weakly to the trunk with string, it flapped obnoxiously in the wind all the way to the bay!

Here's another shot of that gorgeous sunshine coming through, as Me, Brian, Ben, and our two travelers (picked up from the METRA in Kenosha), head to Sun Prairie (outside of Madison), to pick up the lovely Chastaine Tallon, the 6th and final traveler in our caravan, and the third and final traveler in our crew!

There's my girl! Isn't she lovely?! O.K., I'll try to refrain from all that stuff for the moment- here is where we picked up Chass, who had been visiting her parents, and her good pal SHEL. I suspect we will be crossing paths in our travels with Shel again, so remember the face of this wild one!

Me, Chass, and ALEX (one of our latest ride-share buddy's) having fun with the camera. Alex looks a bit apprehensive (for good reason) of my haphazard photographic techniques.

Seriously?! Apparently this house was constructed before the advent of LEVELS! This gem exists in Western Wisconsin, near the S. Minnesota border.

After I drove all night, the sun began to rise in the western end of S. Dakota. Chassy, who was good enough to stay up driving with me through the night, got some cool photo's of the distant glowing lights among the vast farm fields of S. Dakota.

Here, the backdrop of the waning sunlight is more apparent, and serves as a magnificent canvas for the watery glow of these town lights as we fly past.

Brian eventually awoke, and I took a very short turn sitting in the middle while Chassy drove. The turn was very short because of my freakishly tall stature, and the lack of elbow room for my legs. Along with learning how to use the self timer on the camera, comes the skill of being able to act like you aren't aware that you are photographing yourself- I think I pulled it off well actually...

See! I felt terribly about Chassy having to sit in the middle the whole ride, but aside from the problem that comes from me and Brian accidentally touching legs and eventually crying and fighting like whiney seven year olds over it, is the fact the we physically can't fit. Chassy was a good sport about it though, and the caravan moved onward!

Ben and our other new ridesharer, JAMES, sleep like baby's in the back. Lucky bastards...

Aside from the sunglass kiosk we have going on the Le Sabre's spacious dashboard- you'll also probably note the condiment collection that we have. Collecting condiments becomes an essential sport when living on the whim, and is also a valuable strategy in being able to eat the cheapest of cheap canned foods etc. without having to spring for a bottle of ketchup, ranch, or... Cheese? Hmmm... I don't know how long thats gonna last B.O...

Here in the eastern stretch of Wyoming, the road and the landscape open up substantially. It's really quite a beautiful sight.

Chassy drives, Ben sleeps, and I take pictures of Chassy driving and Ben sleeping. What else is new...

A disgruntled mug-shot of our Cali-bound ride-sharers as we cruise through Wyoming. Lighten up Alex, it's only a freakin' picture!

A nice shot of the Great planes, as the rolling hills open up and start to really expand before eventually developing into canyons and mountains! Now I finally understand all those tests I have been failing my whole life in geography class...

After driving through Minnesota and S. Dakota all night, it's time for me to get a few hours in, so I am reasonably rested for my next night driving shift.

The Great B.O. really understands the importance of concentrating when driving for extensive periods like we often do. Always keep your eyes on the road- take it from B.O.!

The toughest part of Chassy being stuck in the middle, was that she really couldn't find a reasonable position to rest in for our ride. I guess my chest will suffice in the meantime...

James nodding off in the back seat after a few 40's. Drunk driving is a no no, however, drunk passenger-ing, that's a whole different story. Obviously a victom-less crime (unless you count the person's bladder)

Wyoming is a credible source for american's to rely upon for theological information. The next billboard we saw, went into great detail about about how to find god via map quest. A good christian should definitely not be skeptical of such information, otherwise they would be lacking faith, and thus forth- going to hell. I already have hell's coordinates on map quest luckily...

Here, you can see that I urgently requested that the car be stopped, so I could mend the wire on the fence. I wouldn't want a cow to escape after all...

Drunken passenger-ing can be fun, but frequent pee stops make it inconvenient. Here, Chassy desperately pee's on a desolate off road in Wyoming. This probably happened about 15 times in that state, all thanks to Chassy's pea sized bladder.

The great B.O. enjoys an adult beverage, and lectures us on the importance of investing in bio thermal technology.

Buying crap food is far too easy when living on the whim such as us, so when you come across any opportunities to buy cheese, crackers, produce, or other types of snacks that you're much better off eating- it is important to stock up on them. Ignoring my advice like usual, The Great B.O. decided to fulfill his taste for cantaloupe as we headed into Nevada. Splitting cantaloupe in the car with a buck knife as your driving down I-80, isn't the best idea, but somehow, B.O. managed to best me by getting it done with relative ease. The guy was even good enough to share a bit with us. Obviously, Chassy's a bit hungry...

Here's a regionally flavored little cafe in the middle of nowhere- if you have to spend a few bucks on a cup of coffee, heres a better option than starbucks- just ignore all the spiteful looks from city-boy hating truckers, purchase your meth, and move along.

Driving through Utah in the dark, surely keeps you on your toes with super high altitudes, 6% inclines, runaway truck ramps, and stations to secure chains onto your tires- the whole 9 yards! Heres a shot of SALT LAKE CITY, as we drive past it from far above.

After driving all night, I was in a dead slumber by the time we hit Reno, and I continued to sleep most the way through Sacramento and into the bay. Heres a quick shot Chassy grabbed as we rolled through the mountainous areas of CA.

Just an old fashioned skyline-on-the-go photo of San Fran as we enter through the Bay bridge. Such a gorgeous city!

Finally, we can all rest our legs! We made it!!!

A nice little bit of earth art, compliments of the local's. I can't wait to make a bit of my own, now that I will have some time on my hands...

The first thing we decide to do after the long ride, is walk to the highest point we can find, and check out this strange new world.

Such great heights! I can see why they liken San Francisco as being the most European influenced city in U.S.A. It was such an exhilarating view.