NYC

 Chambersburg, Mechanicsburg, Shippensburg, Gettysburg, Harrisburg. It's a burg city. McConnel has another town named after him here: McConnelsburg in addition to McConnelsville in Ohio. I went through the Pennsylvania's dozen burgs, slept in Chambersburg Walmart parking lot, and finally arrived in NJ 3 days ago.

Yesterday I took a train from Princeton Junction to Penn Station. For some reason, I wasn't not as elated to be in NYC as I was before. Maybe it's "been there, done that" syndrome. But I think it's also got to do with the fact that I'm no longer CFSed. Before, all I could do was walk slow. So walking the city streets was just about the only joy I had. Now that I can hike 10 miles over mountains, walking the city is more of a business than pleasure. 

I walked all over. First Astoria to check out the chicken coup. It was no place for humans, so I walked on. Next was the studio for sale for $675,000.  It certainly was a nice, new unit. But not worth over $1000/sf. All the rest was a bust. NYC open houses apparently requires appointments and I wasn't able to view them. So I walked on exploring Jackson Heights and Sunnyside north of Queens Blvd. And I walked fast too. Probably at 104 steps/min most of time, and 120 on the way to Penn Station to catch the train back to NJ.

I think I'll put off buying a pied-de-terre in NYC. The price bounced from the pandemic low and it doesn't make sense to compete with low interest rate borrowers when I'm paying cash. I'll come back to it when the rates get normalized and demand subsides. For now, I need to find a temporary housing for a month. It's not easy; the sublease is not as plentiful as in the summer. I may have to cobble together a couple of short terms, and hotels, into a month. If it doesn't work out, I'll move on; it's not end of the world if I skip NYC this time. In 2017, NYC was the goal. This time it wasn't. Curing my CFS was. I've done what I set out for and I can return Westward satisfied, with or without NYC.

Octoberfest ZinZinnati in September

Walmart and I are fast becoming BFF. I again slept in Walmart parking lot in Lexington, used their bathroom and grabbed a couple of peach for breakfast. Then I was all set to hit the road again.

Lexington is a historic city and horse town. Other than that, there wasn't much else. And I'm not much of a horse person, though the Henry Clay's Ashland Estate was kind of interesting. It's an English style aristocratic manor for a senator. Democracy only with propertied white men was really an aristocracy I suppose.  I stopped at Kentucky Horse Park, but drove right back out after finding that it requires $15 fee, on top of $5 parking fee. Such a highway robbery. I moved on to Cincinnati, the home of WKRP.

The riverfront was a big mess. A sea of Reds fans (and a lone Dodgers fan) descended on it in cars and on foot across the Roebler Bridge. As if that wasn't enough, the 2nd and 3rd Street were closed for the whole width of downtown for Octoberfest.  I sure picked the right date to come to Cincinnati.

I managed to park in a garage near Bengals stadium on the river front and then walked over the Roebler Bridge against the oncoming Reds fans. All Reds fans must be living in Kentucky across the bridge, it seems. Then I took Bell Connector street car to Findlay Market. I didn't even know about that market. I hopped on the streetcar to look around the city and then it came upon an open market that looked like Vancouver's Granville Market. I hopped off at the next stop to check it out. I walked around it and then ended up having lunch there even though I wasn't hungry. Then I walked all the way back to the waterfront for about 2 miles.

The size of this city is comparable to SF. And it sports 2 pro sports teams. Yet has only 300,000 inhabitants despite the terrible bustle today. That would explain the median house price of less than $200,000, or about the same as St. Louis or Kansas City. These midwestern cities aren't exactly thriving, at least compared to Sacramento, despite the appearances. Cincinnati downtown wasn't at least as deserted as St. Louis. At least not today.

Tomorrow I'll be in Pittsburgh, the last stop before NJ/NY. I'll leave my car at my sisters and then take bus to NYC, stay there for a few weeks and then head back home.

St. Louis

German footprint seems to be everywhere throughout the Midwest in general, and Missouri in particular. The wineries along Missouri river is their  handy work, and they even called it Rhineland. It reality, it's nothing like Rhine valley in Germany. For one thing, it's not a valley; it's mostly prairie and the wineries are located in rolling hills away from the river. For another, the rivers are different. Missouri is slow flowing and murky unlike fast flowing Rhine that inspired Loreli legend.

I left Kansas City in the afternoon and headed to Saline Valley State Wildlife Area to camp out for a couple of days. I could use some rest after the bedbug fiasco. But it was in the upper 80s with humidity there. It wasn't going to be restful if it is hot and humid. I can't camp past Missouri River because of the heat and humidity, and I can't sleep in motels because of bedbugs. The only option left from now on is to sleep in the car at Walmart parking lots.

Jefferson City, the jump off point for the Rhineland drive was near by. I got there after noon and it took all afternoon to get through the drive. Did I say that it was nothing like Rhine Valley already? The wineries along the route was nothing much to write home about, at least if you've been to Napa Valley. I was running out of electrons after Daniel Boon grave anyway, so I drove straight to St. Louis after paying the respect for the dead. Reader's Digest 150 Most Scenic Drives has been but a disappointment in this trip. I suppose everything would be after spending 2 months in Utah and Colorado.

The Walmart happened to be just across the road from Tesla supercharger in St. Charles. After the dinner at Sushi Ai, a phony Japanese restaurant, I went over and bedded down there.

Kansas City

What am I doing here? There is nothing to look in this flyover states. Yet I'm spending time driving through it and wasting money on these roach motels. It's depressing. And then another bedbug fiasco at La Quinta in Kansas City. I checked out at 4AM, again, and slept on their parking lot.  When I got up, I was surprisingly fresh despite the ordeal. Sleeping in the car seemed to have cure the depressing thoughts. 

Kansas City was as flat as, well, Kansas in my imagination. It's another boring midwestern city, in other words. In reality, however, it is quite hilly. And surprisingly impressive. It is more alike to SF than Kansas. The downtown, with a park around the convention center, looks somewhat like Union Square too. 

The Union Station in Kansas City looks somewhat like the Union Station in NYC. (The street in front of it is named Pershing as well). Just across it up on the hill happened to be the WW2 Memorial Museum. I climbed it, and it felt like Legionaire Museum in SF. And the Union Station like Palace of Fine Art. The view of hilly downtown felt like SF too. Who'da thought?

But I can't place the Country Club Plaza in SF. It is away from the city center and looks more like Rodeo Drive than anything in SF. Perhaps that's what they modeled it after. The Italianate buildings look a little chinzy, with a fake Plevi Fountain and all, but it was rather pleasant shopping district. To the north of it was Westport with chalkfull of new condos and to the south the river and older hotels and condos.

The Westport square is a cleaner version of Polk Gulch of SF, ith Broadway Blvd running alongside of it just like Van Ness. The vibe, however, was more like Piedment district of Seattle or Nob Hill of Portland. It's definitely more Western hip than Eastern.

The climate of Missouri, however, feel more East than West: it's hot and humid. Not quite like Lousiana or North Carolina, but you can feel the humidity. It's heavily forested like East too. The Bryantwood neighborhood along Shawnee Mission Parkway was lined with majestic trees with thick canopy. 

Overall, I'm rather impressed with Kansas City. It's nice blend of western vibe and eastern feel. 

I guess I rather be in Colorado

The eastern Colorado past Denver is as flat as Kansas. Cornfield appears as you approach Nebraska. You couldn't be able to tell where Colorado ends and Nebraska begins if it weren't for the marker. It gets a little greener as you move further into Nebraska though. Clouds get squeezed of their moisture as they climb the Rocky mountains and the eastern Colorado gets very little precipitation. It looks like Central Valley as result.

It seemed to all make sense. The sediments from the Wyoming side of Rockies spilled over to Nebraska for eons, creating bluffs in western Nebraska and sand hills in the middle. The bluffs are sedimentary rocks that crumbles into sands and it's only logical to extrapolate from that sandhills were created from the same process that created the bluffs. The truth, however, is that the sand hills were created by winds that blew sands to Central Nebraska from ancient sea. You can see ripples on the Google satellite map. Maybe the Western Nebraska was also a part of the sandhills and then the sediments from the Rockies were deposited on the top of it to create the bluffs.

The cornfield disappears as you enter Sandhills. The sandy soil must be too poor for crops. But the grass grows well on sandhills making it a good grazing land. Most of Sandhills are privately owned ranches. The corn and soy field appears again as you move south toward Platte River. This field will run all the way to Minnesota in the North and Indiana to the East.

I've been in Nebraska for only 2 days, if you don't count the rest break I took in Sidney for a moment. Yet I'm about done with Nebraska. You see the bluff and the Sand hills, and now only the cities remain. And I'll be done with them in a day or two. I'm now just being a regular tourist here, moving from hotel to strange hotel in strange cities.  The driving has been become a drag after Sandhills and I'm not looking forward to more of it.

I miss coming home to my camp after a hard day of hiking. I miss Bryce Canyon, I miss Abajo Mountain, and I miss Black Canyon. I miss the desolate drive through Utah desert, I miss the San Juan Mountains loop, I miss CO-135, and I miss the drive to Buena Vista. Maybe I should head back to the West. I would have a lot more fun hiking over Ruby Mountain to Arkanas river than meandering through these flyover states. RMNP is now getting cold, but it's still warm enough in Buena Vista and Browns Canyon. I could even go to Arizona where it is still hot and do Havasupai. Then I can always fly to the East coast later. But for now I first need to get to Lincoln and have the gimpy tire changed. I'll think about it and then decide after Lincoln.

Sidney NE

 What was that sense of gladness of returning home? It's the camp that I stayed only for 3 days. And it was loud and noxious site with ATVs running up and down all day long. 

I finally got out of that bedbug hell that is Alamosa and returned to Colorado Springs on the way to Sidney NE by finishing the second half of Colorado Springs Loop through Salida, Canon City and Cripple Creek. When I finally got to Divide and the familiar looking buildings came into site, I suddenly felt that sense of relief. It's the road that I on only a few times commuting to/from Colorado Springs and yet somehow it felt like home. I don't get similar feel for motels; there must be something living in tent that makes the habitat home. There is something about putting the stake on the ground making it *your* place. Or it could also be the neighbors. When you are camping, you talk to people. In motels, you don't. Or it could be both.

The Colorado Springs Loop was a spectacular success. The majestic view of Sawatch mountains soaring in front of you above the valley floor at Buena Vista; Drive along Arkansas River along US 50 from Salidas; The harrowing Shelf Drive. It is one of the best driving routes anywhere. I'll put it on the top along San Juan Mountains Loop. OK, maybe the second best after San Juan Loop. It is differently spectacular.

Too bad I can't say same thing about the Great Sand Dunes. It was an unqualified flop. I went mostly to roll in the Medino Creek, but the creek was dry. They said it is seasonal. It runs in the Spring when the snow melts and then dry up by late summer. The sand dunes looked kinda interesting, but hiking on one was not; it was downright boring with each step being the sameness of your foot sliding down the sand. It's was a lot of effort for low dopamine and I found myself wishing I was instead hiking on the Sangre de Cristo mountains that the dunes were nestled in. I walked up High Dune for about 30 minutes and came back down. I spent the total of less than one hour in the park before coming back out. 2 days and $300 spent just for that. It was a nice photo locale though. Beige to white light gradation and lines sure made beautiful pictures. 

Then the bedbug disaster again. This cesspool named Rodeway Inn was a breeding ground for bedugs. I moved to a different room the night before because of the bedbug bite. Then it was biting again and I actually caught on crawling on the pillowcase. I actually showed it to the scumbags running the joint and they again denied having bedbug problem to Priceline and refuse to refund. I got the hell out of there and checked into another motel, only to have the same problem there. I caught the biggest one I've ever seen, call the owner to let him know of the problem,  put the bug in a water cup for him, and left at 5AM. I hardly slept at all that night.

With that forced early start, I figured I'd be in Colorado Springs charging station by noon. But the Shelf Road took quite a bit longer than I expected and I left Colorado Springs at 2PM after lunch at Bird Tree Cafe.  Then a long drive to Sidney through Denver. I kept dozing off. If it weren't for the Autopilot, I might have crashed. When I finally got here, it was 6PM.

Sidney is not a tourist destination on anybody's list. But it has Tesla supercharger, so it is convenient. The original plan called for going to Scott's Bluff, but there is no charging station. Likewise for the Sand Hills Scenic Byway. I'll just have to drive up there then come back down to I-80 corridor to get the Lincoln on the 13th. I got the tire shipping from Tirerack.com and I'm scheduling to change the tire there on the 14th.