Travels With Stu

Three weeks ago I was told by my boss that I could no longer come into work until June 1, at the earliest.  That’s if they needed me to come back at all.  I left work that day feeling disgruntled, but more importantly, confused about what I was supposed to do for the next few weeks until June, when I’d hear back from work.

I returned to Long Island for a few days, to get out of New York City and see my family, and I continued to do what I had been doing in the city.  I went running during the day, did a lot of reading and writing, as the days slowly passed before flying out to Madison, Wisconsin for my sister’s graduation.  Unfortunately, during one of my runs during that week I fell (the second time in my life I’ve fallen while running) and seriously cut my hand.  I felt somewhat incapacitated to go running regularly as I wanted my hand to heal first, but I felt kind of in a funk.

After a weekend trip to Madison. Wisconsin to celebrate my sister’s graduation with my family, I returned to New York still confused about what I was supposed to do, but I convinced myself that until the beginning of June I was going to have a good time and if I was called back to work in June I’d be able to drive back to New York from Chicago in a couple days, or if they didn’t need me back, I could start anew in Chicago where I have some friends living.  It seemed like the most logical reaction for me to take during my few weeks off.

After returning from Madison I drove from New York to Cleveland, Ohio to meet Chris, but before arriving in Cleveland I stopped by Scranton, PA to meet up with a friend of mine from Hebrew School.  My friend was working at the Scranton Times and on my drive to Cleveland I saw Scranton pop up on my GPS so I thought I might as well stop by and see how he was doing.  I grabbed a drink, walked around Scranton for an hour or two, saw his apartment, and wished my friend farewell before hitting the road for the long drive to Cleveland where I was to meet Chris.

Chris has been working it seems like since graduating, and when I got to Cleveland, his life hadn’t changed much professionally.  He was working at his high school as a volunteer, but was trying to make plans for the following fall, because he was extending his current job through the summer.  While I was in Cleveland, Chris landed not one, but two, jobs for the following school year at two diffferent schools.  It was an exciting time for Chris and his family and I was psyched to see good things happening to Chris.

While Chris was working I walked around downtown Cleveland for the first time in my life and really enjoyed the city.  I also was working on an article for Junior Scholastic so I was also technically working.  I was also frantically trying to make plans for my next destination - Detroit, Michigan.

Detroit was about 160 miles away from Cleveland, and after hearing so many horror stories about the city I was psyched to finally see the anarchy and chaos that so many people had told me about.  I was expecting people to be shooting each other on the streets, babies crying, and even public beatings and damn, might as well throw in rape.  I mean, no one had told me one positive thing about Detroit before I arrived and I had no idea what to expect.  Lonely Planet even thought Detroit was an insane place.

My first “adventure” on the road trip occurred before I even arrived in Detroit.  I was driving into Michigan and was only a few miles away from the person who’s house I was couchsurfing at, and after following my navigation system, and paying a $5 fee for what I thought was a tax to enter the city, I found myself in a very awkward situation.

“Bridge to Canada” read numerous signs as I made my way past the toll booth and onto a very large bridge.  There was a ton of construction occurring on the highway entering Detroit so I was forced to take numerous detours, but I didn’t think I’d end up in Canada.  Before going any further on the bridge, I cut across the bridge, which was very illegal, and cut in line to go through Customs.

As I waited in line I rummaged through my wallet looking for any identification I could use to prove my U.S. citizenship since I wasn’t carrying my passport.  I grabbed the only three things that could prove any type of U.S. citizenship in my mind - my Driver’s License, my Health Insurance card, and my College ID.  The woman behind the booth wasn’t buying it and couldn’t understand how I had “accidentally” left America and now wanted to re-enter.

I was told to pull my car to a special section and I was told to enter this white building where I found myself sitting next to 10 Arab men.  After 30 minutes of waiting I was called up to the desk where I was asked questions like, “Why were you entering the US?” “Are you traveling for pleasure?”  “How could you afford to go on a road trip when you’re unemployed?” “How did you manage to leave the US in the first place?”

I tried giving the woman behind the desk my sad puppy face look which is miserable and pathetic, but I was seriously concerned that I wouldn’t be able to return to the States.  After an hour and a half of waiting and answering questions I was told that I could leave and I hopped back in my car and went through another toll booth where I explained that I had already paid to go over a bridge I never even used, but I had to sign some form to explain why I couldn’t pay the fare.  My explanation was - “Already Paid” and my signature was illegible.  The last thing I need is for the Feds to put me on their watch list.

I finally arrived in Detroit and met my Couchsurfing hosts - a girl about my age and a guy a few years older.  There was also another couchsurfer staying at the house from Germany, but who was working in Canada for the time being.  He was about my age - 22.  The male host drove Matthias and myself around Detroit for a few hours showing us the “highlights” and “lowlights” of Detroit and I got to see some really beautiful stuff as well as a bunch of terrifying realities.  Detroit is a real mess in some areas, and I definitely have no interest living there just because it seems like the city has no order.  It’s quite the sight.

I was mostly alarmed during the trip not with what we were seeing as much as that the driver was drinking a huge bottle of beer and had very little concern for the authorities.  This was the first time in my life I had ever been in a car with someone drinking alcohol.  I was terrified but didn’t want to piss anyone off by seeming to be a straight-edged guy.  I was somewhat terrified.

That night we went to a bar and listened to live electronic music to get warmed up for the following day and the Music Festival.

The next day I drove around Detroit, visiting the Motown Museum and the Ford Museum before heading back to the couchsurfing host’s house where the girl had found me an extra wristband for me to watch the Electronic Music Festival - the biggest music festival in Detroit.  I was the only jackass in the city who was visiting Detroit just for the helluva it, and not to see the EMF.  However, I was extremely grateful that my hostess was able to acquire a wristband for me.

After acquiring the wristband I had to deal with my next challenge - riding a bike.  Riding a bike isn’t a challenge for the majority of people out there, and I understand this, but I hadn’t been on a bike in over a decade and I was somewhat anxious about getting on a bike again.  I had failed miserably when Matt and I were in Cambodia and I couldn’t re-learn the necessary bike skills - balance - to bike around Angor Wat, but somehow I was able to hop on this bike and get my bearings rather quickly.  The next problem was dealing with gears.  I had never been on a bike that required me to change gears and I was terrible with the transitions as we biked towards downtown Detroit.

We grabbed a few drinks and then walked around the city where I got to see part of a Tigers game from outside the stadium before heading to the Music Festival.  My ex-girlfriend had been a very big fan of electronic music so I had listened to some of her favorite songs awhile back and enjoyed them as well, but I can’t admit that I’m a huge fan of the genre.  However, walking around the different stages and listening to the music I realized a lot of the sounds were similar to what I actually enjoyed listening to, and for the next six-seven hours I walked around with my new friends listening to numerous bands before jamming with Moby who was the final performance of the evening.

After the concert we went to a post-concert party where there was more mixing and electronic music but after a couple hours I was drained and was ready for sleep.

The next day I wasn’t really sure what I was supposed to do.  I hadn’t been on the internet since arriving in Detroit and was worried that my editor had sent me numerous emails, so I tried to find a place with free wireless.  This took forever to do, but I found a cafe and checked my 70 emails and tried to get in touch with a close friend from Kenyon who was currently living in Lansing.  I called her home and had to keep leaving messges which I found quite strange.

Eventually I decided that I should just drive towards Lansing and hope that my friend would call me back.  I had been in touch with her earlier in the week and asked her if it was OK for me to stop by for a night and she was cool with that.  However, her and her family had been kicked out of their home because of a mold problem and they were staying with friends.  Somehow my timing was perfect because the residents of the house weren’t around and they had a couch for me to stay on.

It was a ton of fun to meet  up with Rachel and her family and finally see her 1 year old daughter.  Rachel and her husband are a very young couple, only a few years out of college, but they both seemed extremely happy with their lives and family and I felt so happy to see them in such an elated state of mind even though they were dealing with numerous problems with their home.  I explored downtown Lansing, and spent a lot of time talking and catching up with Rachel and her daughter before I headed north towards Mackinac Island.

Due to the ridiculously high gas prices I was trying to stay on a $20 daily gas budget which at $4 a gallon gets me about 125 miles.  My drive from NY to Cleveland hurt me with that goal but I was now making much shorter drives and staying in places for a few days also helped.  But I had to let Rachel and her family get on with their lives, but before I left she got in touch with her mom who lives in Houghton, an area I was planning on stopping by and her mom was cool with me staying a night.

I left Lansing and made my way up to Mackinac City where I caught the last ferry to Mackinac Island by two minutes.  I grabbed my backpack with my computer and that was it since I was only planning on staying one night on the island.  I quickly realized my serious blunder - I didn’t bring a sweater and the breeze on the ferry to the Island was more than enough to remind me how serious of a problem this could end up causing.

I arrived on the Island, found a bed/breakfast for $40, signed in, and started walking around the Island.  I saw a couple forts, and walked along some trails before returning to “downtown” where I grabbed dinner and warmed up after freezing for a few hours during my walk.  The next day I woke up and walked the perimiter of the Island - 12 miles - nearly freezing to death in my shorts and t-shirt, but was able to collect my belongings and returned to the ferry to make my way back to Mackinaw City.  The room I had at the B&B was incredible.  I had my own queen-zied bed, a television, a kitchen, a dining table with four chairs, a fridge and so many other things I didn’t know what to do with myself.  I also learned that I had internet access which allowed me to answer numerous pending emails.

I hopped on the ferry and returned to the mainland where I called Rachel’s mom to confirm that I would be arriving in Houghton that evening and was off to my next desination - Picture Rocks National Seashore.

I arrived at Pictured Rocks in reasonable time but only was able to walk around the park for a couple hours.  I saw the “highlights” of the park, according to the Park Ranger, which included the Bunny Ear sight and the actual seashore and a waterfall.  I chatted briefly with a local who was also hiking through the Park and felt bad when I had to hop in my car and make my way to my next stop - Marquette.

I didn’t know much about Marquette other than their basketball team, but I decided that Marquette would be the best place for me to find a decent meal option, so I grabbed a pizza and walked around the city for an hour or so before hopping back into my car and driving to Houghton.

I arrived in Houghton kind of late that evening and it didn’t help that the closer I got to Rachel’s mom’s home the darker everything became.  I had entered the true countryside of the UP (Upper Peninsula).  Each household seemed to own a few hundred acres, and I was totally amazed that my navigations system was able to direct me to the house without any problem.  I entered the home to some shock that I didn’t have any problems finding their house which was located off a dirt road.  I met Rachel’s mom and brother, both of whom were really pleasant people, and Rachel’s brother and I talked about numerous topics before both of us went to bed.

The next day I had breakfast with Rachel’s family before they made their way to downtown Houghton and I made my way West towards the Porcupine State Park.  “The Porkies” were a lot more accessible than the “Isle Royale National Park” which was a six hour ferry ride from the mainland, as I continued my trek through the UP.  Once I arrived at “The Porkies” I stopped by the Park center talked with a ranger about what to see and after charging my camera and watching a video about the park, hopped in my car and drove towards a few highlighted trails.

I got out of my car, grabbed my walking stick from my trunk - the same walking stick that I used during my “bear encounter” in upstate NY - and made my way to the trails.  Before entering the trails I was thrown aback by one of the Park’s signs.

“You Are Entering Bear Country,” the sign read as my heart became a soft thud in my chest.  “If you encounter a bear, make a lot of noise and let it pass.  Do not incite the bear.  It will attack you.”  I kept reading the sign and learning what I was supposed to do when, not if, I encountered a bear, and took a quick snapshot of the sign before heading deeper into the woods.  It may have not even been ten minutes into my walk that I heard the first noises that made me freeze.

“Rowr!!” I heard from a distance that made me nearly crap myself.  What I had heard could be nothing other than a bear because this sound actually sounded like something from National Geographic or a Nature channel.  I decided that even though I heard these growls from all over, none of them seemed imminently close to me, so I kept heading deeper into the woods with my walking stick.  I walked a few miles following a trail on trees, and was somewhat terrified that I’d actually spot a bear during my random walk.  As I got deeper and deeper into the woods I kept hearing bears around me, but I wanted to get a good hike in, so I kept going regardless of the bear growls surrounding me.

I eventually stopped when I realized that the trail markers I had been following actually lead me in a completely different direction than where I thought I was heading, so I quickly backtracked and move rather briskly now accepting my fear of the bears in the woods and wanting to return to my car ASAP.  After not hearing any bears for a few minutes I thought I’d check out a waterfall, but after walking two steps in the direction of the waterfall I heard a few bear growls in the distance and decided to head back to my car, unscathed and still alive.  I then walked up to the highest point of the park and saw a bald eagle.

After romping around the Porkies for the afternoon I returned to my car and headed towards Bayfield, WI - my launching pad for the Apostle Islands.  I was very relieved to leave Michigan and it’s incredibly high priced gas and was relieved to see $4 a gallon instead of $4.45.  In Bayfield, I found my bed and breakfast and walked around downtown looking for dinner.  I found the bar, the only place open past 9 in town and talked with an Iraqi war veteran for an hour or so, and paid my tab and left after he made me feel rather uncomfortable.  The war sounded like hell and it made me feel even more queasy because I have a close friend heading out there in the very near future.

I stuffed myself with cereal provided for me that night and the next morning I took a boat over to the main Apostle Island - Madeline Island - where I rented a bike and biked around 8 miles to get to the beach on the Island.  I walked to the state park and walked around the park for a few hours before returning to the beach and biking back to the port to catch the ferry.  I was very proud of myself for being able to ride a bike twice in a week after not riding a bike once in over a decade.

After returning to the mainland I hopped back in my car and drove towards Duluth, which had nothing for me to see or do, and made my way down to Minneapolis/St. Paul where I met up with Alli, my close friend from London.  I hadn’t seen Alli since London - December 2005 - so I was extremely excited and anxious to see her.  We had become very close friends during her one semester in London and I had no idea what the dynamic of our friendship would be this time around.

When I saw Alli, I quickly realized that both of us were still friends but the intensity had plummeted since our time in London which seemed natural.  For the next couple days I stayed with Alli and her roomates in St. Paul.  I walked around the Twin Cities with Alli and on my own, checked out the Modern Art Museum, and the most exciting part of the trip had to be when there were three tornado warnings for the Twin Cities during one of my days.  I wanted to see a funnel cloud, as long as it was very far in the distance, but unfortunately, or fortunately, I didn’t see one from my car.

Before leaving the Twin Cities I stopped by a town parade, and helped Alli paint her new apartment before making my way down to Madison, where I currently am.  One of my closest friends and roomates from colllege, grew up in Madison and his family has been nice enouhg to allow me to spend a couple nights at their home.  My first night I spoke a lot with his family, and today I went out to Taliesen to see a lot of Frank Lloyd Wright buildings and learn a lot about the man.  I had dinner with Ira’s family before joining his father and one of his father’s friends at a music concert at a bar tonight.  Ira’s father was a huge fan of the performer, and I, too, enjoyed the music.

So tomorrow, I head to Chicago to round up my road trip.  Physically, I feel like shit because I haven’t had a serious workout, or any workout since I’ve been on the road and I feel somewhat miserable.  I’m hoping I will start running once I arrive in Chicago and ground myself there for awhile.  The other thing, I’m really excited to arrive in Chicago because regardless of what happens in NYC with my old job, I feel like I’m actually doing what I want to do with my life right now and I’m excited about this new opportunity.  However, it will take a lot of work and energy to find work in Chicago, but I’m excited because I have some leads and I can only hope this trip to Chicago is more promising and productive than my last trip where I returned to New York single and unemployed.

Yep, it’s been an awesome few weeks.