Home Sweet Home!

Home-Trying the Knot
Bainbridge Island to Buxton, Oregon
59.9mpg/ 252.2 miles traveled
Start mileage: 112,968
Finish mileage: 131,706
Miles Traveled: 18,738.2 miles traveled
Interstate Hwy: 240 miles
Blue Hwy: 18,498.2 miles

Bainbridge to Buxton: Rt. 305N to Rt. 3S to Shelton, Rt.101S, then Rt. 108W, Rt.12W, Rt.107S to Rt.101S to Rt.4E to Cathlamet, Rt.409 to the Ferry across the Columbia River to Westport, Oregon, then Rt.30E to Hwy. 47S to Buxton, Oregon
The final leg, after a leisurely morning on the island, then helping Tom & Maureen with moving of some large rocks, it was time to journey home, the final leg of this journey to Jeff & Kim’s house in Buxton for a week of catching up, then the annual Labor Day BBQ weekend.
A perfect NW late summer day, 80 degrees cloudless sky, pass all the familiar sights of the first day of my journey, I am not stopping today, most pictures are from the car as I race southward to Oregon, this day is different in feeling, not looking for the unknown or discovery, yet a new meaning on travel is in me, I must not forget those feelings of traveling alone on back roads, side roads, some dirt, some very narrow, up steep mountain sides in low gear, then coasting down them with just enough brake not to fly off in a Thelma & Louise moment, driving a hybrid car gives one perspective of how a car works, what’s mileage on the way up, and can I make it up going down, how can I get 71mpg one day, then 59 mpg the next, in years past a wrong turn meant frustration, not anymore, just wait then read ajust to ones error, are mistakes’ mistakes, we are told not to make them, we cover them up, don’t admit them, we shame ourselves for them, we keep them secret, if we have a destiny our mistakes will help take us there, a past lover told me the time we spent together was a lost time, I disagree, it’s part of the process, gleam what you can, learn for those mistakes and grow them into a better truth, give praise and thanks to struggle, a year ago I would have said bull, my struggle was 23 months long, thousands of dollars for a lawyer, two jobs, sometimes not enough money to pay even the parking meter at my second job, drinking a 40oz of PBR was my quality of life, yet I survived and am a better man for it, no past regrets, yes it could have been done some things better, yet as a collected group of people we influence each other, as a solo flyer we much adjust to our own medicine and decisions, so choose wisely, back to heading home, down the road to views of the Pacific, a burger in Cosmopolis, to the ferry to cross into Oregon, missed the 8pm, thoughts of racing to the bridge, wait 30 minutes it will be OK, then standing on the front of the ferry like George Washington crossing the Delaware, the sun has set, the moon over the water I am guiding this vessel to the shore, I kiss the ground, my home of 30 years Oregon, then Rt.30 to Hwy 47, my home for the last 10 years, up the Devil’s Spine, a bit dangerous with large elk about at night, around hairpin curves upward to Vernonia, buy some good Oregon beer, then down the hill like water looking flowind towards the sea, into a gravel driveway late at night to spend time with friends, my family, Home Sweet Home!

Home is place where a person or family lives, perhaps spends much of their time, or where a person is comfortable being. While a house (or other residential dwelling) is often referred to as a home, the concept of "home" is broader than a physical dwelling. Home is often a place of refuge and safety, where worldly cares fade and the things and people that one loves becomes the focus.
“Welcome Home” Kerrville Folk Festival greeting
"Home is where you hang your hat."
"Home follows the family."
"Home is where the heart is."
"Home is where you make it"
"Love makes a house a home."
"There's no place like home"
"You can't go home again."
"An Englishman's home is his castle."
"I'm only at home when I'm away."
"Everybody wants to go home."
"Make yourself at home."
"Home is where the hurt is."
"Give a dog a home."
"Home Sweet Home."
"Charity begins at Home".
"A home is in all hearts"

Journey can refer to:
Journey (band), an American rock band.
Journey (album), their 1975 debut album.
Journey (video game), an arcade game which featured the band.
Journey: The Quest Begins, a 1989 computer game.
Journey (book) (2000), by Danielle Steel.
Travel, the transport of people.

My journey was to explore the smaller roads across America, it will take a little longer, it’s not a straight line, there are stop signs and lights in most towns, there are school zones with small town cops to make sure you do it right, on the record I was never stopped, yet one day after being back in Oregon, I got pulled over in Forest Grove, I showed him my route on the map, no ticket, my journey was a general direction with decisions made daily, occasionally I pushed past a point on the map had I known better, on to an unknown, be patient it works out, on a long journey one loses the date, the day of the week, the newspaper was seldom read, yet the news stayed the same, then I look at the big map to realize why Canadian radio is on, the weather can be dealt with without the weather channel, just let me know if something big is coming, dirt roads have pot holes, and please take time to talk to the locals and listen to their stories, our stories.
The other aspect of this trip was rural politics, America is a great country, our people are real, and our Government has too much power, so remember you are the America, stand up, and look pass the bull, we as a free society that stands for something bigger, we will pay the price for true freedom, that is our cost, not killing innocent people and bad ones too, that Gods job, local is better, local is America, treat the rest of the world like your neighbor, stay out of their yard, unless you want to mow the grass, speak kindly to all, if offended quietly walk-on, share what you can with others less fortunate, this journey has taking me to a lot of door steps and backyards, forests, mountains, deserts, valleys, towns and cities.
Most small towns across this country struggle with economic needs, social pressure to keep their communities intact as they are told to be patriot, and that freedom is killing folks in other countries, at home schools struggle to teach our children basic skills, health care for the poor and young people does not exist, hunger is an on going problem, we dump the mentally ill on the streets, the local church tells people support the troops, I do support anyone that kills in Gods or Jesus or Muhammad’s name, many small towns are empty with the big box stores with low prices down at the crossroads, that’s all of our responsibility, is it a lack of knowledge, we must support small local business, pay a dollar more, we do for gas, and why are all goods made in China, our debt both individually and nationally is astounding, we all owe, can we not take care of ourselves, all people need good leadership, democracy is were everyone listens and we come up with a plan for the people, the corporations will get theirs, but let’s be real, on the morality issue, let anyone who loves another do it, the modern family should be diverse, damage done in shame, guilt and persecution is not right. We need to get back to common sense and have honest talk with our neighbors.
Food: lots of good to great eateries out there, in Orick, California at the Palm Café, a great greasy spoon, delightful creamy cheese at Cypress Grove Creamery in Arcata, in Utah, always good food, it’s in their blood, wholesome comfort food, in Panguitch great smoked turkey and peach cobbler at the Cowboy Café, at the Flying M the worlds’ largest Cinnamon roll, two days of eating, then to Springdale outside of Zion, the Spotted Dog for world class in the country food, BBQ Ribs to die for at the Lee Ferry Lodge on Hwy 89a around Marble Canyon, Arizona, then in the Gila Wilderness, NM at the Wilderness Lodge B&B for Dean’s wonderful breakfast and hot springs to boot, on to Texas for lots of great BBQ, folks know their smokers there, the County Line (Austin) for the best BBQ beef ribs and in Fort Stockton for Mexican at Mi Casita for my best lunch, enchiladas from heaven, back in Austin, Churra’s with most unique salsas like toasted Pumpkin and great Tamales, in Dime Box at the general store for a $2.25 pulled Pork Sandwich, farther down the road in Cleveland great Brisket and an excellent chef telling me has sauce recipes and sharing chef/food stories, into Louisiana for Cajun, BBQ Shrimp it’s a different type of BBQ, and dancing to work it off, on to Mississippi were good food dots the map in Natchez for Mr. Smith’s freshly smoked pork butt and sauce at 8am to the Blue Levee in Rosedale for a great plate special on to Clarksdale, the home of the Blues and another Pulled Pork Sandwich at Abe’s, since 1924 at the crossroads, on into the south, Tennessee for grits and smoked ham for breakfast, North Carolina for Vinegar based BBQ sauce in the western part of the state to the east for smokery sweet, and biscuits all the time in the south, then on the coast for steamed crab and shrimp, good enough to quiet the whole family sucking the sweet meat out of the shell, back into the interior for more good BBQ and Fried Chicken, and soul food if you look in the right places, Pennsylvania around the Amish for food that sticks to the bones and warms the tummy, oh yeah, pies, from Utah to Texas and the whole South, Fruit Pies, yummy, on into Jersey for great Pizza and Cheese steaks, Pretzels and Tastycakes, on to NY for great Italian Food, and great Garlic Knots, then there’s Submarine Sandwiches for a meal that a single man can live on, into Maine for Lobster everywhere, every nook along Rt. 1, Lobster Rolls for lunch, steamed whole lobster for dinner, into Vermont for Ben & Jerry’s and great cheeses, a wonderful organic movement here with farmers supplying the local chefs and wonderful downtown of Burlington, Vermont,
back though NY for more great Italian, wonderful thin pizza, just enough cheese and a little sauce to make me smile, into Michigan for a downtown celebration in Detroit and BBQ, so good, folks wait in line for hours,
more great fruit pies in the north, all types of fish from the Great Lakes to be had, Up State for home-made jams and jellies and Pasties for a hungry miner or a passing tourist like me, on to Hibbing, Minnesota for a good healthy portion breakfast on a rainy Sunday morning without Bob, further west Wild Rice and Walleye Pike dot the menu, Mayville, North Dakota for a counter-top lunch $5.99 for beef, mashed potatoes and Gravy with a cup of soup, topped off by homemade pie and coffee, salt of the earth folks here need good food, into Montana for more great pies, Huckleberry anyone, back into the NW for our great seafood, oysters, an excellent meal at the Boundary Bay Brewing in Bellingham, then back to Bainbridge and Seattle for more of the same, and of course NW coffee, my fav, a 4-shot Latte in a 12oz cup, read the blog for more details.
Beer nationally is better, almost every state has a local micro-brewery, always good, some great beer full-bodied ones too, read the blog for more insight about food and beer, and I am fixing to put together a slide show of the trip and a separate one of food.

Quest, a voyage towards a higher goalA knight-errant is a figure of medieval chivalric romance literature.
"Errant" meaning wandering or roving indicates how the knight-errant would typically wander the land in search of adventures to prove himself as a knight, such as in a pas d'Armes. Many knights-errant fit the ideal of the "knight in shining armor". A knight-errant performed all his deeds in the name of a lady, and invoked her name before performing an exploit.
In the romances, his adventures frequently included greater foes than other knights, including giants, enchantresses, or dragons. They may also gain help that is out of ordinary; Sir Ywain assisted a lion against a serpent, and was thereafter accompanied by it, becoming the Knight of the Lion. Other knight-errants have been assisted by wild men of the woods, as in Valentine and Orson, or, like Guillaume de Palerme, by wolves that were, in fact, enchanted princes.

When driving the road less traveled often one takes a wrong turn, part of a journey is to do just that, then let the unknown reach out to you, and enjoy a new found discovery, William Least Heat-Moon writes in blue highways about the word error, it comes from a Middle English word, erren, which means “to wander about,” as in the knight errant. The word evolved to mean “going astray” and that evolved to mean “mistake.” As for mistake, it derives from Old Norse and once meant “to take wrongly”, he explains he had been mistaken and in error, taking one wrong road after another, as a result he had come to a place of clear beauty.

My quest was to allow myself to be the best of me, to learn to be better for me and others, to wander, to find home in other places, to give thanks to all places
and to find peace in my thoughts and actions, and clarity for the each day and I have found faith in my process and my spirit to find truth in my actions and deeds.

Thanks to my friends in Oregon, I value you all, to all the folks that let me ask questions and gave me their time, even thanks to those that don’t know their own neighborhood, if you work in the service industry learn your surroundings and please do a better job waiting on me, I am blessed to have many great new friends all over the country, special thanks to all the musicians,

both live and the ones that showed up in my car, a sincere thanks to my family, our reunion was healing, one without my sister Donna who passed away in December, her memory lives on, Bless You, and my kids Abraham & Anna with new grandchild Gianna,
and to those that followed me around this great country on this blog.

We lock ourselves into a life to survive, and create a space of comfort, work, pay bills, raise children, see friends, use our small bits left to find rest, our mind may wander, our body ages, open the roadmap that is tucked away somewhere in the car, go ahead open it up, pick a spot and go, a good day is one where you don’t go back, explore a curious thought, drive down that dirt road, talk to your fellow wanderer, look at a new wonder, don’t let your dream stay stuck in your head, life is too short, approach everyday as your last, it may be, go ahead and live your dream. Paradise can be found!

a special thanks to William Least Heat-Moon and his book 'blue highways', an excellent read and inspiration for me on my journey.