I Know What it Means to Miss New Orleans

Last weekend I enjoyed a couple warm days bumming around New Orleans. It was good to get back to my Holiday Inn where I checked in poolside and kicked off the mini-vacation getting some much needed sun and cracking a few beers while reading Tender is the Night:

It just so happened that some of my fellow co-workers decided to spend their weekend in New Orleans as well. I was happy to walk Uptown on Saturday afternoon in my new Kino Sandals (courtesy of friend Jack) and pop into their rental house, where everyone was laying around catching the hair of the dog. This was very different from my 7:30am wake up for coffee and the newspaper. Soon we were off to Bourbon Street to begin raging:

Fellow Program Managers Kyle and Scott sharing an affectionate moment

This gentleman walked in front of the camera as we posed for a nice picture

Yes, I had a fine time until Sunday morning when I headed for the airport to fly off to Baltimore, MD. Tonight I'm headed to Kansas City, then Dallas, then a nice few days back in Seattle where my dad will be visiting for the weekend.

Numb and Dumb, the Nickel-Plated Wayfarer continues!

A couple of weeks ago I won $100 in Reno while I was supposed to be working. The rest of the week I flew daily to wonderful destinations such as Spokane, WA and Salt Lake City! I must say, Boise was actually a cute little town. By Friday I was grouchy and tired, so I drank a beer at the airport in Albuquerque before heading to Minneapolis:

A very tired Mike wondering why he's still wayfaring

Last week I enjoyed time in Philadelphia, Harrisburg, and Rochester, NY, among other breathtaking towns. Last weekend I watched a couple of movies, drank some beer, and waited for Sunday, when I headed for Columbia, SC, finding cross-country commuting very difficult during Spring Break season. I got stuck at the George H.W. Bush Airport for four hours and flew to a town called Greenville, where I rented a car and drove for two hours, arriving in Columbia at 2am. Special thanks to my mom and dad for listening to me vent for half of their Sunday.

Today I'm in Atlanta at AmericasMart, a giant exhibition space. There was a crazy scene on the street this morning when a car decided to try and drive off the top floor of a parking ramp but only got the front two wheels past the barrier. I chatted with Martha about that for a few minutes before we went upstairs to check on the coffee:

Martha, one of my 'friends from the road' and I hard at work at AmericasMart!

Tonight it's off to Ft. Lauderdale, then on to Orlando, finishing up the week in New Orleans where I'll spend the weekend drinking beer by the pool.

Darlin' Don't You Go and Cut Your Hair...

My week ended in sunny Los Angeles and a plane ride home to rainy Seattle, which I couldn't wait to get back to. Saturday morning the first thing I crossed off my list was getting my hair cut.

Before and After

I enjoyed a quiet night making dinner for my brother Andy and my pal Adam. I cooked the steak "cowboy style," which the internet instructs to sear on an iron skillet that's been heating on high for 15-20 minutes. The whole apartment was smoked out and we quickly learned that our fire alarm is electrically wired, so instead of just taking out the battery we had to frantically fan at the ceiling with a dish rag. After dinner we enjoyed drinks and music, finding Neko Case's new album available on NPR and can be listened to here.

Sunday morning I threw on some clothes and headed to Adam's to celebrate March Day, which Adam and I created about six years ago during our "more wild" days. My friend Harry picked us up in his mom's Volkswagen Beetle convertible, and we headed for the road to get in some trouble:

Harry picking us up in his mom's car

Adam's ubiquitous March Day camera documenting the day's debauchery

Back at my house after a hard day's celebrating

We had a great time and it's amazing that Adam and I have upheld this tradition this long. I've realized something about this blog as I'm writing it. When The Nickel-Plated Wayfarer was first created, the entries all focused on the strange and new places I was visiting. Lately it seems all I write about is what happens on my weekends home. Does this mean the road has become more familiar to me than home? Maybe all the Hilton Garden Inns and Radissons have won a place in my familiar life, and these weekend visits home are what's become strange and different? I certainly hope that's not the case, but life is sure more interesting not spent in a hotel room.

We'll see what's to come for this Nickel-Plated Wayfarer! It's been a great second year of travels, but it sure has changed my perspective on the value of your friends and family. Tomorrow, it's off to beautiful Boise! I end my week in Minneapolis, where my sister Betsy will be celebrating her 23rd birthday.

A Week in Seattle Jam Packed With Fun!

After a week of steam cleaning carpets, trying new chicken recipes, and much laundry I find myself refreshed and ready to take on another week of wayfaring, starting off this morning here in Calgary with a cup of coffee. Everyone keeps telling me how beautiful Calgary is, but besides the nice gas stations and different shaped billboard signs, I don't see what's so great about it.

Ah, but the chicken! First I dipped the chicken breasts in olive oil, then flour, then a mixture of crushed up croutons and corn flakes. Then I seared both sides and popped them in the oven for about 1/2 hour baking at 325 degrees. They came out tender and juicy...that along with the steam cleaning and laundry has proved I will make a great homemaker some day! Adam and I worked out the kinks for another story he's working on about Ryan Henry Ward, an article of whom was found on the Seattle P-I and can be read here.

Adam Bale shooting some inspiring B-roll!

Well what else did I do with my week? I burst in on some couples playing Apples to Apples and dragged them to a President's Party on Valentines Day. I went to a "blind reading" of some local (Seattle) playwrights, one of whom is my friend Andrea Koval, a former Nickel-Plated Wayfarer herself! I also went to the dentist and am happy to report no cavities. So that was my week off work. I'm happy to end this work-week in Los Angeles because it's damned cold in Canada and I don't read Celcius.

Remembering the Alamo

The past week has been a sprint to the finish as I sit here at the Birmingham Int'l Airport awaiting my last day before a week-long break. Last Wednesday I hung out in San Antonio, which turns out to be quite a nice city. My favorite part was visiting the Alamo, where Mexican president Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna lead an invasion against the U.S. way back in 1836. The Alamo also made a cameo in Pee-Wee's Big Adventure.


Over the weekend I spent some good times hanging out at home with my brother Andy, whose hair has gotten long enough for me to put it in a pony-tail:

In other news, another Seattle Channel video Adam Bale and I produced over the summer is available for viewing here. We spent a night enjoying the crowd of performers singing songs from their favorite musicals as the scenes they picked played along in the background. It was one of my favorite projects with the Seattle Channel, so have a look! We're about 13:50 minutes into the show.

I'm beat and this upcoming break couldn't come any sooner. The next week I plan on doing nothing but using my kitchen and spending time with familiar faces. Now on to Dallas to get this shit done!

Shish Kabobs, Cattle Drives and Mexican Lasagna

Last week I was in the Northeast and had nothing to report but a couple mean teachers with Jersey accents.

On Saturday, me and the boys made shish kabobs on my little football shaped grill:



We had a great time drinking beer, grilling, and playing music on our old six-strings. Great to be back in Seattle, where I have my own kitchen. I miss cooking.

In Birmingham, Monday's seminar was canceled so I took an earlier flight to Dallas-Fort Worth to rent a car and find Townes Van Zandt's headstone. Townes is one of my favorite song writers, and I figured that he surely would be celebrated in Fort Worth, where he was born. I had no access to the internet so I found a place called "The Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame." I figured someone there would surely know where his grave was. Maybe there was even a little museum or something dedicated to him. At the visitors center, I met two old fellas with cowboy gear and hearing aids. After spending a good amount of time explaining I wasn't looking for the town of Van Zandt but the headstone of Townes Van Zandt, we figured out it was at Dido Cemetary, which neither of them had ever heard of. The phone book didn't have any record of it. Nor did directory assistance. Finally we pulled out an old Fort Worth directory book and found my Dido Cemetary, about 1/2 hour northeast of town.

Before I left, my two new friends suggested I stick around the Fort Worth Stockyards for a bit and wait for the cattle drive. I grabbed a beer (to go) and walked around, meeting some nice cowboys before their daily run:

Meeting one of the last authentic cowboys of Fort Worth, TX

Enjoying a test run while I waited for the cattle drive

Trying to take a picture of myself in front of the
longhorns making their daily walk down the avenue

I had a great time watching the show, but it was past 4pm and I needed to get to Dido Cemetary before sunset. The drive out was beautiful, except for the police officer that pulled me over for speeding. He let me off with a warning, which I was greatful for. Then I inquired about where I might find Dido Cemetary. "It's right there," he said, and pointed across the street.

I pulled in and called a phone number from a sign that said "For questions about Dido Cemetary, please call..." A nice old lady answered the phone and directed me to the "Van Zandt Plot," where I finally found Townes's headstone:


My adventure had ended with this tombstone, and I sat with Townes for a little while, drinking a beer and thinking about his sad life and songs that have become part of the soundtrack to my life:

Days, up and down they come
Like rain on a conga drum
Forget most, remember some
But don't turn none away.
Everything is not enough
And nothin' is to much to bear.
Where you been is good and gone
All you keep is the getting there.

I had my moment with Townes and said goodbye, heading back towards town to get a good meal in with my friend Aaron Bale, who had made Mexican Lasagna that was waiting for me in Arlington along with his girlfriend Sarah and her son Aiden. It was a great meal, but the only picture I have is one Aiden took of his cat:

Beer, Movies, and a Fish Fry at Cousin Sean's

MLK weekend was family time, spending Saturday night with my dad, my Uncle Ed, and cousin Sean at his cabin somewhere near Brainerd, MN. My dad (The Timmer) and I arrived Saturday morning, bloody marys in hand, finding Ed and Sean watching Chevy Chase in Fletch. We sat down as Sean cooked a major breakfast and finished watching the first of many movies throughout our stay.

Uncle Ed upon our arrival

Soon Sean and I were out shooting his semi-automatic 12 gauge at some empty booze bottles. After that we cracked some beers and brushed the snow off his "sled," finding it wouldn't start. Sean decided the spark plugs were the culprit, and 30 minutes later all three had been replaced. Still, only one cylinder was firing, so we drank a beer and decided to give up.

Frustration meets Sean and myself with cold hands and a broken snowmobile

Having already shot guns and no sled to ride, Sean did not relent being a great entertainer. Luckily, his entertainment center included surround sound and a loud subwoofer, which he demonstrated by playing jets flying over Nick Cage in The Rock, so we decided to crack a beer and watch the whole film.

Good viddles: Sean prepares some fried Crappie to munch on during one of our film screenings

Later on in the day, the four of us drove to a nearby lake to meet some of the locals. I finally got a ride on a snowmobile, but with Sean driving I became very afraid and asked to head back about 90 seconds after he darted away from the icehouses we were stationed at. Ed and Timmer hung back and talked shop with the fishermen and their kids:

My Uncle Ed and Dad enjoying the icefishing scene on the lake

After riding and fishing, we all decided to head back and watch The Borne Supremacy, or one of those Jason Borne movies. I fell asleep and woke up to an amazing steak dinner with rosemary potatoes and beans. We all had a blast and I look forward to future partying with my family in the middle of nowhere.

Back at my folks house, the only thing that has changed is the size of Murphy, our dog. He's still a raging puppy who chews on everything and harrasses us as we try to sleep: