Independent America

Safe and Sound

We made it back safely yesterday, after three and a half days of hard driving.  Resorting to interstates and doing business with corporate chains was nowhere near as pleasurable as doing the opposite on the way down.

In exchange for shaving a full day off of our travel time by choosing this quick and dirty route, we also took a great less deal of delight in the journey.  I could tell that my travel companions were also less interested, as we stopped for photo opportunities far less than in our trip from Seattle to New Orleans two weeks ago.

Middle of the Road

OKLAHOMA CITY: It ain't pretty, but it's clean, comfortable and available.  Here, in the middle of the country, after 12 hours of interstate driving, our team found it reassuring to be able to roll into a Comfort Inn.  Dinner was another matter: a 9 p.m. dinner at Sonic was not only disappointing after our independently, well-fed journey so far, but depressing.

We need to put in at least 14 hours today if we're going to make it back to Seattle by Saturday evening (my Mom's birthday -- she's there taking care of pregnant Heather).  Salt Lake City or bust?

Bizarro IA

We're sitting in a suburban Nissan dealership right now, waiting for an oil change and tire rotation before we hit the INTERSTATE for our return trip to Seattle.  Heather is now 37 weeks pregnant, and I've got to get back as soon as possible.  Since we're breaking one IA rule, we figured we may as well break the second.  So for the sake of research, we'll ONLY be doing business with corporate chains on the drive home.  I think it'll make for an interesting contrast.

We'll be blogging from the road -- I'll take advantage of my new Typepad application on my Nokia E61i to pretty much "go live" with words and images.

And for those who are new to IA, here's a good article that was published in the University of Washington's "The Daily" today.

They made it to La!

Just got word that the HJK team made it the great State of Louisiana! Last night they were still in Colorado so they managed to get through Texas in less than a day. The 22hrs driving was crazy, and mostly done by John. What is his secret?

[Hanson's update: 36 hours later, we've just arrived in the French Quarter of New Orleans.  It's great to have finally arrived.  We'll report more on our first few hours in Louisiana soon.]

Nutritional facts of this power formula can be found at:

Gummy Bears

Mountain Dew

Red Light Camera Scourge, IA Surge

Eleven hundred miles on secondary highways, driving for over 24 hours without breaking for more than twenty minutes.  From Colorado to Oklahoma, and now, almost all of Texas.   John decided he didn’t need to sleep last night, and drove almost all the way, fueled by gummi bears and Mountain Dew.

We just had breakfast in a “family restaurant” in eastern Texas where you have to walk through the considerably larger smoking area before you reach the back of the bus – the small, glass enclosed, non-smoking section.  My tired eyes still teared from the contamination that had no problems passing through the open passageway.

Dateline: southern Colorado

We are pushing it.  Compared to the last Independent America expedition, where Heather would often comment on the amazing regionally-influenced meal we had, there’s not much to write home about this time.  The secondary roads are both our pleasure and our pain.  Delightful scenery combined with groans of not another winding mountain road at 10,000 feet above sea level, slowing our rush to New Orleans even further.

We’re stopping to eat hastily in places I would not normally even consider.  Last night, it was a Chinese all-you-can eat buffet in northeastern Utah.  Today, for lunch, it was Mexican here in southern Colorado – decent enough, but not the delicious stuff I normally seek out.  The watered-down coffee in every breakfast joint we’ve frequented is the worst kind of a diuretic for a road trip – formerly iron-clad bladders are now porous…seemingly every two hours.  Mine, in particular.

From the control tower

This is a full on digital experience. I've been in contact with Hanson and the crew via phone, email and IM as they make their way through the first day of driving to New Orleans. We have set up mobile blogging for them to send 'live' pictures from the road and we hope to set up some geo-tagging in the next few days so you can all follow their adventures.

Here's the planned route. Since they are in a rush to get to New Orleans, they don't have a lot of time to explore around. So do send any local eats suggestions  -- we gotta make sure the crew is properly fed. Also, if you know of any franchise and also local accommodations we welcome ideas!

-Adri

Leavenworth WA

A Bavarian village in the Cascades. Schultz!

Independent America Playlist

You can now catch Part II of Independent America on Yahoo now.

And for anyone who's wondering how you travel 13,000 miles across the United States with your dog and spouse without going crazy, here's how our car stereo kept us sane:

AUDIOBOOKS:
- "The World is Flat" Thomas Friedman
- "Ireland" Frank Delaney
- "Assassination Vacation" Sarah Vowell
- "Freakonomics" Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner
- "Kitchen  Confidential" Anthony Bourdain
- "The Secret Life of Bees" Sue Monk Kidd

MUSIC:
- Aimee Mann "Bachelor No. 2"
- Alain Souchon "Au Ras Des Paquerettes"
- Barenaked Ladies "Maroon"
- Beck "Mutations"
- Benoit Charest "The Triplets of Belleville"
- Blue Rodeo "Are You Ready?"
- Blue Rodeo "Five Days in July"
- Bob Dylan "Time Out of Mind"
- Bruce Cockburn "Nothing But a Burning Light"
- Bruce Cockburn "Waiting for a Miracle"
- Bruce Springsteen "Devils and Dust"
- Bruce Springsteen "The Rising"
- Bryan Ferry "As Time Goes By"
- Bryan Ferry "Frantic"
- Carla Bruni "Quelq'un m'a dit"
- Daniel Belanger "Rever Mieux"
- David Gray "White Ladder"
- Franz Ferdinand "Franz Ferdinand"
- Grant Lee Buffalo "Mighty Joe Moon"
- Green Day "American Idiot"
- Jane Siberry "When I Was a Boy"
- Jeff Buckley "Grace"
- Jimmy Page & Robert Plant "No Quarter"
- Johnny Cash "American IV: The Man Comes Around"
- Johnny Cash "The Essential Johnny Cash"
- Khaled "Kenza"
- Kid Galahad "Skeleton"
- Manic Street Preachers "Forever Delayed: The Greatest Hits"
- Marillion "Afraid of Sunlight"
- Marillion "Marbles" (love these guys for supporting IA)

Giving Thanks for Life in the Slow Lane

I picked up the DVD "Cars" for my niece and nephew's Thanksgiving turkey coma viewing.  When I originally saw the film in the theaters, I was struck by how much it represented many of the ideals of Independent America: the virtue of the slow lane on America's secondary highways, and a nostalgia for strong, self-sufficient community (Radiator Springs of an age long passed).

I also remember thinking that the town bore a passing resemblance to one of our favorite stops, Seligman Arizona.  Paying close attention to the credits, and watching some of the DVD's bonus materials, I now know that the filmmakers spent considerable time at the knee of Angel Delgadillo, the "Guardian Angel of Seligman."  He was the town patriarch who saved Seligman after it was bypassed by Interstate 40 by promoting the history of this Route 66 throwback.  Here's our videoblog entry from Seligman.

And delving further into Stacy Mitchell's terrific "Big Box Swindle," the following passage bears relevance to this post.  Mitchell uncovers a few federal studies conducted in the late 1940's to examine the impact of growing corporate consolidation on public policy.

Communities that possess a degree of economic self-reliance more competently care for themselves, while concentrated economic power threatens civic participation and democracy.

...[T]he studies were ignored and even actively suppressed...Instead, postwar policy was built on the idea that big business was more efficient and therefore would provide higher incomes and thus improved social welfare.

What followed was the very "military-industrial complex" that so concerned President Eisenhower (ironically fueled by his federally-funded Interstate highway system that undermined downtowns and gave rise to suburbs, shopping centers and corporate retail).

So I'm always heartened to receive e-mail even today, on Thanksgiving, from people like Steve and Dianne in Ellenville NY.  They want to show our film on December 4th to raise awareness about the importance of buying local as they face the possible construction of a Wal-Mart supercenter.  He may be a corporate Hollywood creation, but animated race-car Lightning McQueen would be proud....