USA Road Trip » bookshop

The Last Post

admin — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 01:54:40 +0000

It’s still Anzac Day here in the US, and it’s the last day of our trip. We’re flying home from LAX tonight and have a few hours to spend/waste/use fruitfully until we take the rental car back to its ‘home’ and check in at the airport.

The day after we saw Jersey Boys we walked up to the iconic ‘Welcome to Las Vegas’ sign. Along the way we dropped into New York New York, Luxor and Mandalay Bay, the last ‘megacasino’ on the Strip. We caught the bus back to our hotel and needed an afternoon nap to recover from the walk! In the evening we took another bus to downtown Vegas to see the older casinos and the Fremont Street experience, which is a light show along several blocks of the Fremont St Mall. As it was Easter Saturday, there were plenty of people and lots to see and hear. There were 3 stages along the Mall, with bands playing covers of popular songs. There’s a lot less glitz and sparkle in the Fremont St casinos than in the megacasinos along the Strip. We walked through the Gold Nugget and found an ATM which dispenses gold bullion! A 1 ounce coin or bar was around $1700. So if a punter got lucky in the casino, s/he could convert his winnings straight to gold. I did win another $10 on a 1 cent machine, but took the paper money and left.

We spent Easter Sunday driving from Vegas to Los Angeles, and today we have been packing, throwing stuff out and checking out the competition (Barnes & Noble and Borders). We dipped our toes in the Pacific Ocean at Redondo Beach, so we can now say that we have travelled right across the USA.

So … after one month, 4 time zones, 21 states, temperatures ranging from -8C to 30C, some fantastic meals and a few utterly forgettable ones, accommodation ranging from a 2-person tent to a hotel suite on the Las Vegas Strip (and lots of Motel 6 rooms with free morning coffee until 10am in between), we have added nearly 8000 miles to the red rental car, had a great tip, gained an extra 30 or 35kgs of luggage …. and hopefully not gained any weight personally!

Thanks for travelling with us, it’s been fun.

Feet in the Pacific

Day 23 Denver Colorado

admin — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 14:58:07 +0000

We spent the day exploring Boulder, then drove back to Denver along the eastern edge of the Rockies. The mountains around Denver and Boulder are spectacular, and the higher peaks are still covered in snow. It’s a very impressive backdrop for residents when they walk out their front door.

Boulder is a lovely town. The main street shopping area is a mall, so it reminds us of home. We happened to find a Borders bookstore that is closing down ( I’ve said it before …. books just seem to find us, even when we’re not looking), so we went and had a look. I picked up 3 gems – my current favourite author Larry McMurtry’s latest book, Hollywood, which is the 3rd part of his memoir, Annie Proulx’s latest and Before the Fall by Kylie Ladd, an Australian author. Greg found a couple too.

I had done a bit of internet research and found out about food carts in and around Boulder. Here they call them ‘gastro truck’, but that has some negative connotations for us Aussies ( I wonder what the Americans call ‘gastro’?). Anyway, I found out about one that serves American/BBQ food – a lot of them serve Mexican food, and they’re great, but I wanted to try a BBQ one. Top of the Hill Grill West sounded good, and they had posted their Friday location on their Facebook page – here. However, before we went to find them a couple of kms from the CBD, we had a pre-lunch hotdog from a little hotdog cart in the mall. Stood eating it and chatted to the seller and his customers & found out a bit more about Boulder.

And then on to our ‘real’ lunch destination. The guys run their food cart out of a very impressive van-turned-into-kitchen. They are in a different location each day, and many evenings, and post their location on their Facebook page. They offered 6 or 8 choices, plus side dishes. The food is all cooked as it’s ordered. I had a Pulled Pork and Coleslaw sandwich, Greg had a Steak & Cheese sandwich, and we shared side orders of cornbread and hand-cut fries. I almost can’t think of enough words to describe how delicious and tasty it all was. Definitely one of the best meals we’ve eaten in the US on this trip.

menu on the Gastro Truck

lunch from the Gastro Truck

Flowers in Boulder Colorado

the Rocky Mountains from Denver

Day 18 Atlanta Georgia to Great Smoky Mountains National Park

admin — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 23:20:50 +0000

We left after a warm Atlanta Night. We drove to the nearest Publix Supermarket (they have nice food) to get supplies for lunch and dinner, and then headed to the REI for another sleeping bag. Our sleeping Bags have not been quite warm enough, and we need another good bushwalking grade warm sleeping bag, so we got one on special at REI.

We headed out the I-85 north towards North Carolina. The roads were excellent, with even what we thought would be rural areas having dual carriageways. It was another warm day 85F. We crossed from Georgia into North Carolina following the US-23. we joined the US 441 and reached Cherokee, on the edge of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, the most visited park in the whole of the USA. This is alson the start of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

We visted the Oconaluftee Visitor Centre and got some history of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The park are some of the highest peaks in the Appalachian Mountain Range. The Smoky Mountains park was creted in 1934 by buying land from existing farmers and loggers. Some of the money to buy the land came from a donation by John D Rockerfeller. We drove up the Newfound Gap road, and then west to Clingmans Dome, at 2024 metres. From the carpark you still had a steep climb of another 100 metres and 800 metres walk to the summit, which in the somewhat thinner air at that altitude, a little taxing.

The views from the lookout over the Smokies, was good, being pretty clear. We descended continuing along the Newfound gap road, and made our way to Elkmont campground. The campground (which has 260 campsites), was mostly empty, and we camped in a nice spot next to a stream. We had to pack the food into the boot of the car, as this is black bear country, and we have to be careful.

Judy at the Lookout on the Clingman dome

Smoky Mountains

Camped at Elkmont campground, Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Day 8 Dallas Texas to Martin Creek State Park Texas

admin — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 14:41:30 +0000

The biggest 2nd hand bookstore we have ever seen. The Half-Price bookstore in Dallas (just one of them).

We bought even more books (mostly language software), and continued out of Dallas to the east. After about 3 hours we stopped and camped at Martin Creek State Park, which was a nice Texas State Park close to the Texas border.

Camped at Martin Creek State Park

It is a nice park, lots of trees, a lake, you can even swim in the lake. The weather has got much warmer, and we had a great sunset over the lake.

Sunset at Martin Creek

However there is a reason why its nice to swim in the lake. The lake is warmer than usual. The reason its warmer than usual, is there is an enormous coal fired power station across the lake, that uses the lake for cooling water.

Coal fired power station, across the lake from Martin Creek State Park

Day 7 Dallas Texas

Judy — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 03:38:35 +0000

We spent the day in Dallas. This morning we went to the 6th Floor Museum, which was The Texas Book Depository back in 1963 when JFK was shot. An excellent museum and tribute to JFK. An audio commentary is provided and it directs the listener around the exhibits. There is a good lead-up to the assassination, with JFK’s personal and Kennedy family history plus what was happening in the US in the early 60s … all building up to the assassination. The corner where the shots were fired is blocked off with clear perspex, and boxes are arranged as they were back on That Day.

We saw a poster when we were at the Silver Moon diner in Santa Rosa, advertising a lunch for JFK and Jackie in Dallas at 12.30 on November 22nd. They never got there because JFK was shot at 12.30 on November 22nd.

There are also film clips of various aspects of the assassination, including footage of the funeral. I always get teary when I see little John Jr saluting his father’s coffin.
The rest of the museum is devoted to the aftermath of the assassination – Lee Harvey Oswald, Jack Ruby, conspiracy theories, Kennedy’s legacy. It was all very well done, and worth visiting (thanks to Greg’s friend Guy for suggesting we go there).
We went and stood on the Grassy Knoll, wandered around Dealey Plaza, and walked up the streets that the motorcade had driven down before the shots were fired.

This afternoon we went shopping – for clothes at Dick’s Sporting Goods and the Columbia Outlet store (that was FUN! I bought a heap of clothes), and then at 2 Half Price Books stores.

Judy on the Grassy Knoll adjacent to where Kennedy was shot

The view up to the sixth floor of the Texas Book Depository where Lee Harvey Oswarld fired his shots from

Negotiating one of the many,many,many freeways and freeway interchanges that run throughout Dallas

Day 5 Wichita Falls Texas to Archer City Texas

Judy — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 02:34:50 +0000

An easy drive today. We visited Three Dog Books in Witchita Falls, which was a mix of second hand books, some new kids books, and antiques and collectables.

Then it was down the road to Archer City about 40km away south. The main reason for visiting Archer City, population 1848, was Larry McMurtry’s secondhand bookstore Booked Up. It’s actually spread across 4 buildings in the main street. Building 1 has the rare, signed, first editions and out of print books, the people who work there (2, i think) and the only cashier. If you want to buy anything from one of the other buildings, you have to take it across to Building 1 to pay for it. The photo of me with Leo the cat was taken in the garage of Building 1. I’m standing in the Political Science section.

Judy amongst a few of the 300,000 or 400,000 books at Booked Up, with Leo the friendly bookstore cat

We also visited Building 4 today – cookbooks, biography, travel, business & finance. We each picked up a couple of books, but have been very restrained compared with previous trips to US bookstores. I bought Christopher Milne’s memoir, Beyond the World of Pooh ( he was A.A. Milne’s son, better known as Christopher Robin), and Feeding Frenzy, by an American who sets out to eat her way around Europe’s Michelin 3-starred restaurants. Greg bought George Stephanopoulos’s All Too Human and The End of Certainty by Australian journalist/author Paul Kelly.

Tomorrow we’ll visit Buildings 2 and 3 before heading to Dallas for a couple of days.

Tonight we’re staying at the Lonesome Dove Inn, which is a gorgeous 2-storey guest house just a couple of blocks from the main street. It used to be the town’s hospital, and we’re staying in the Desert Rose Room which was the operating theatre and delivery room. It’s a lovely room, with big south-facing windows and a white-tiled floor. All the other rooms have carpet, but I’m glad the original white tiles have been left. Mary, the owner, has a policy of letting people who were born here when it was a hospital, stay for free in the Desert Rose Room on their birthday. She has had 3 people take her up on her offer.

We were also offered the Terms of Endearment suite, with king-sized bed and ensuite bathroom, or the Cadillac Jack room with twin beds. The room next door to us is Hud’s Library, with single bed and lots of books, including a shelf full of signed first edition books by Larry McMurtry.

Oh, and Mr McMurtry is also a guest here this evening.