Napalm Dragon enjoys the Houston Silo

Houston has been a whirlwind adventure unto itself.

I feel enthusiastically rejuvenated to follow a dream I’ve wished for a long time now.

In the coming days there will be a nice post with some great photos about some wonderful people. For now, enjoy a little video taken at “the silo” in Houston.

The Silo (Kennywood)

Artcars inside the Houston Silo

On the Saturday night of “World Artcar Day”, we joined a wedding party at this fabulous location in the 5th Ward of Houston. It’s a reclaimed Rice Mill. A giant factory space that had a “roof collapse” leaving behind extremely tall walls, that create the most fabulous courtyard.

The owner is a passionate lover of Art and Artcars, and calls it a place “where artcars come to sleep”. When Artcars no longer run, they are still very beautiful, and this community that gathered there were equally beautiful.

Fire Cracker Hats

A highlight of the evening was “The Firecracker Hats”, where some brave souls put Fire Cracker Hats on, and then lit the fuze. One fellow told me he thinks it’s way more dangerous for the people watching. Either way, it was REALLY funny. I have a feeling I’m going to be making a few of these.

Here is an uncut section of footage taken with my Iphone. The Music was added, and I aplogize for the giddy, shaky video. There is some good bass in the music, so it’s nice to hear with good headphones.

Enjoy.

A 4 ft tall wooden mask

It seems that you never really know what an adventure holds for you. Knowing too much of the road ahead, having a tight itinerary, or being unwilling to explore would just be a tour.

Tourist

Touring is alright, it’s a valid experience. But touring, and tourism have an intrinsic quality that separates the tourist from that which is being toured. I’ve heard it said that the tourist experiences the journey from the inside of a mobile fishbowl. As a tourist we find ourselves at a place, but not necessarily in a place.

As tourists we bring the trappings of our lives and look out from these trappings as the scenery goes by.

Adventurer

Adventuring is a bit different. There are times when it feels like touring, and there can be long stints of nothing happening. Adventuring is less predictable then touring, and sometimes a little less “pleasant”.

Arguably that is part of the point of adventuring; to experience your surroundings in all it’s unpredictable glory. The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. It just so happens that we have experienced all three in the last week. Read the rest of this entry →

What a strange and wondrous adventure this has been so far. Only a month on the road and I long to explore this experience to the ends of the earth.

So far it’s been a wonderful experience and amongst one of the stranger moments so far is the loss of the pentacle off the porch of the Love Shack. Read the rest of this entry →

The last 24 hours have been a very strange ride indeed. Utah and Idaho are cold and feel baren. There’s nothing much between here and Washington State, and the drivers in Salt Lake are insanely impatient.

More Kismet on the road…

Jerry in Baker City, Oregon

But one of the stangest things happend to us yesterday. We pulled over near Baker City, Oregon to rest for the night. At about 4:30am I woke up with the urge to get on the road. I figured I would drive non-stop for at least a few hours, but decided to get coffee at the first stop.

There we were in the middle of absolutely nowhere Idaho, and the truck stop was open. We decided to go in and have a bite, rather then moving onto a later point and cook our own.

This is where strange meets awesome.

We’d been seated for about five minute when I looked up to see a couple sit at a table across the room next to the window. I stared in a confused shock as I recognized Jerry from Vancouver. I said “Of all the weird places in the world that I can run into someone…”

Needless to say, we were both slightly shocked as he said “is that yours out there?”

Jerry is an absolutely wonderful man. He makes the most amazing food, loves life, and knows how to have a genuinely great time. We cross paths like this in the strangest ways every few years and have a chuckle when it happens.

It turns out he’d just passed through a snow storm north of Vegas that had dropped a foot of snow on the blindsided locals. Trucks had jackknifed, cars slid off the road and he drove slowly north. By the time he’d reach Baker city, he was a bit tired.

Earlier that day he’d been sitting pool side in vegas, enjoying drinks, and tanning.

Well, after an hour of great conversation we parted ways unsure of when we might ever cross paths again. We parted ways slightly amazed at the random and bizzarre way this happened.

Be Dynamic

Sunrise over Nephi, Utah

More then anything as I woke up south of Provo, Utah overlooking an amazing landscape. I reflected on the nature of this trip so far. So early in our adventures, we’ve enjoyed the road the most when we have reamained dynmaic and willing to change directions as we go.

Our latest change comes from enduring days of cold rain, and wind. We’re tired of this weather and would rather bake in the sun, cook outside, and be thirsty; then hide out in our van waiting for the weather to clear.

We’re skipping colorado and kansas, looking for something more interesting then endlessly flat farm country. There’s a “whole lot of nothing” out this way.

This morning we awoke in the dreariest gloom of low lying clouds over Soap Lake, Washington. We had rolled in the night before and stopped in on the local bar to ask about the area and hear some local stories.

The bar tender didn’t live in the area and she had no idea what the name of the street was.

So, when we woke up this morning to see the lake abandoned by the cold fall skies, we only wanted to head south.

Ironically as we left town, we found some great image (posting later) and stopped to capture them.

Change of plans

Next to the Arts Center in Soap Lake, WA

Our experience of crossing the border was more adventurous then we planned. When I mentioned that I had a pellet gun, they decided to pull us over. They brought us inside, asks us to fill out paper work, then informed us that because of the driftwood railings on the Love Shack, we might have to go back to Canada.

Then we sat there for 15 minutes waiting…

After some time, a fellow walked by and asked us our story. We told him, he sent us to our car and told us to “head south”. To our surprise they let us through and we were on our way.

With the most difficult hurdle behind us, we decided to reassess our plans.

Through the Mid-West

Middle of nowhere (Washington)

Now we have decided that the rain has been getting us down. If we were at home, settled into our Fall-Winter routine, it might not bother us so much, but we hit the road to skip at least one of these cooler seasons. So we have decided to drive through Utah, and B-Line it straight into Texas for Myschievia, then hang out in Texas for a week or so before going to Mexico.

Breakfast in a corn field

This morning we pulled over down a quiet road in the middle of nowhere. It was a beautiful spot overlooking a cornfield. Snow Dragon cooked the best breakfast, and we breathed easy anticipating the strange sights ahead of us.

 It was a special moment, and now that we are passing though the mid-west, we look forward to more of these moments.

I want to meet a Utah Mormon.