Bozo

Yesterday I started my new job.  A guy dressed up in a clown outfit came in.  Maybe if I had moved to New York from Montana I would have been startled or laughed, but San Francisco has prepared me for this.  It honestly didn't phase me as he made miming motions to the other customers in the store.  <3

Tip to mother effin tip

My friend Kate told me about something one of her friends did, and as soon as she told me I knew I wanted in on those bragging rights.  We decided to walk from the top of Manhattan to the very bottom (tip to tip).  It's 14 miles if you walk straight down, but of course that's not how we wanted to do it.  We planned our route around site seeing, street food, parks, drinks, etc.  Our route ended up being close to 25 miles we think.  We started at 9:30 am, joined by her parents visiting from Montana and finished close to 11 pm.  Today I have three blisters and my feet hurt so bad I'm hobbling around, but it was so fun!  I highly recommend it if you have a day and want to see the city by the best way, on foot.

The top tip-looking across to the Bronx (215)

Stairs at the beginning, we ran up them at this point in the day

Our first stop in the 160s...we needed coffee

This is a row of old houses from the 1870's across the street from the Morris Jumel mansion that was once inhabited by George Washington.  The doors were just tall enough for me to walk through.

The bathroom at the Morris Jumel mansion

Reminded me of the Hunchback.  This was at City College of New York which was the best unplanned part of our trip.  So amazing, I want to go back to school there!

City College

Apollo Theater

Grafitti wall in Harlem with tons of notes for Michael Jackson

Hudson River

I think this was in the 60s

Little birdies in Times Square

Scariest job ever...Hells Kitchen

Empire State Building...we're in the 30s!

Bottom tip!  Staten Island Ferry terminal.

I Heart New York

After spending a week in Seattle I finally made it to New York!  The joys of flying stand-by are not joys anymore.  Every flight was over sold until Saturday, so I spent a lot of time lying on the couch catching up on tv, thanks Krista and Nathan for being such great hosts and letting me take over your space.  I got the last seat to Newark, spent 3 hours getting to Brooklyn, but I'm here!
Everyone's seen the t-shirt.  The "heart" is used for everything now a days-robots, vampires, bacon...whatever the latest craze is.  I believe New York was the first thing people hearted though.  I never know what to say when people ask me what it is about New York.  It's got great restaurants, bars, parks, music etc, but so does San Francisco, and Seattle for that matter.  There is just something about New York, a vibe, a feeling that you can't describe, you have to feel it.  That's why I'm here.  Getting on the subway and not having to ask for directions.  Walking to the East Village to have the best pizza on earth.  Entering an unmarked doorway to have a cocktail made just for you.  Laying in the grass at Central Park reading a book.  Bring.it.on.
<3

Dairy Queen and Potatoes

Day two the excitement definitely was not there.  We decided to forgo our stop of a ghosttown because it was too far off the highway, and we just wanted to get home.  Regardless, it still took us 12 hours to get home:  stops for lunch, repaving the highway, a Dairy Queen that was not right off the interstate that we had to call and get directions for because we had to have it, multiple bathroom breaks, and the potato museum.

They may want to look into getting a new sign I can't imagine they get a lot of business with this one.

Uniroyal Girl in Blackfoot, ID. Wish we had stopped here for lunch those fries look amazing.

We were pretty excited!

This picture is funny on so

many levels.

A collection of Mr Potato Heads

As soon as we crossed the Montana border you could see the difference.

This is in Lima Montana.

Montana, Home Sweet Home

I saw this cloud in the sky...pig head?

Dill Pickle Sunflower Seeds

So I'm in the middle of working on a post full of deep meaning and reflection, but in the meantime I thought I would share how the first leg of the trip went. My friend Kate from high school (thank you social networking for reconnecting us) flew down from Seattle on Wednesday to hang out with me for my last days in SF and to help me drive back to Montana. I was able to check off a lot of items on my bucket list with her help!

Going away dinner at one of my favorite places in SF Local Kitchen. Going to miss my SF friends a lot!

Finally made it to the Castro Theater to see Inglorious Basterds which was amazing.

Still my favorite bar in SF, Elbo Room with one of my favorite people, Grace.

We drove out early Monday morning to drive my car back to Montana, so I could leave it parked with my brother for a few months (no need for a car in NYC).

Cheap flights have cut down the amount of road trips people take. I did a lot of traveling by road with my family as a kid. I didn't even get on an airplane until I was 18, a freshman in college, scared out of my mind. My dad drove trucks for a living, so we got to see a lot of the United States from the cab of a semi. This could have been the most boring road trips I've taken though. First stop was Elko, NV, almost half way between San Francisco and Helena along the 80. I have a large fascination with "weird" things. I have both the Weird America and Weird California books, and plotted our trip with as many Roadside America stops as possible. These stops were the only thing that kept us going on the trip.

First stop Auburn, CA! I've been through here plenty of times on the way to Tahoe, but never stopped to have my picture taken in the gold miners bowl.

The long expanse of road we covered. Boring!

Our stops in Sparks were a bust (they were either gone or we couldn't find them), so we decided to stop for In-N-Out, Kate's first taste!

Probably the jackpot of Weird. This was called Thunder Mountain (not the same as the ride at Disneyland) outside of Imlay, NV.

My first taste of Basque food in Elko, NV. Definitely fit in with our weird finds. You order a main (ours was pork tenderloin, covered in garlic and pimento) and are served an array of sides: green beans (canned), pinto beans (canned), french fries, spaghetti (canned), cabbage soup, salad drenched in dressing and bread. Not the epitome of gourmet or taste, but a fun experience.