SKETCH TRIP

Jingoogk lives and works in Hudson Valley area in New York. His original travel blog is in Korean and is translated into English here for more people to enjoy.

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[Sketch Trip America] Episode 19: A Stormy Night

A Stormy Night

The building Lowell let us stay in was the General Store that his father owned in his old town. It was the most special one in the entire Red Oak II. Inside the store was a large open hall and in the back of the store was a storage room and a small bathroom. There was no shower but a sink and toilet was more than good enough for us. I washed my face and hands in the sink and wiped the rest of my body with a damp towel. A whore's bath, Lowell had told us that was the name for it. I have to say whore's bath was very refreshing for me. A patch of grass would've been plenty for us, but a whole store building to stay in?  We became a staying-over guest from mere passer-by's and we were inside s store building in Missoura. Lowell liked to separate the lower part of Missouri from the North and called it 'Missoura.' In the corner, there was a wood stove and tables that looked as old as the building itself. Sumi and I put our laptop on the round table and started to write our travel log. 'Today, we enter deep into our journey. I started to feel this sometime today, then suddenly….' I wrote this and suddenly, for sure, it started to really pour with gusts of wind. The roof was rumbling and walls made squeaking noise. The ceiling went dop-dudop-duddadop. The window panes were clattering, and the walls went kwikity-kweek. The romantic mood abruptly turned into eery feeling. "You know, in movies, the towns people come to 'take care of' the outsiders at nights like this, holding all sorts of farm tools in hands." I said half-jokingly. "That's actually scarier than ghosts." Sumi said curling in her shoulders. "Right. The ghosts disappear in the morning, but people being territorial continue on during the day." "Remember 'Deliverance'? They encounter terrible local people. So scary." Suddenly, the front door swang open. We looked up in surprise. There was someone standing at the doorway and looking in our direction.     

We also stared him in silence. For a while, we were lost for words. If we were in our house, we would say, 'Who is it?' But we were in someone else's empty building. It actually took some time to think up what to say. Most of all, I had to summon my poor English grammar and began saying, "We…. arr… tra…vel..er… so, ….." But Sumi said in simple, precise and fluent English that we were visiting and Lowell had let us stay the night here. The person standing at the door said that he was Rose's son and he thought it strange to see lights on in the empty building. He then said good night and left. It must be also unusual that someone stayed in this building over night. I admit, it is pretty strange thing to ask to stay for the night at someone's house in this day and age. We finished writing down brief description of today's journey and lied down on the sleeping bag spread on the floor. The old ceiling panels were visible in sight and it became special again that we were staying here. "It's pretty amazing that we're sleeping here. Don't you think so, Sumi?" "Yeah, I know. It's pretty, this building. I like that old wood stove, too." "The building squeaking also makes me think there's something about this place." "What about this place?" "Spirits. Ghosts are shaking the panels one on each panel, right?" "I know! There were religious fanatics lived here and they killed people while doing some sort of exorcism, then buried the bodies underneath this building. That's why there're evil spirits roaming around here." "Wait. Should I bring the camp axe from the car? Shouldn't we have something with us?" "No, Jingoogk, we shouldn't do that." "Why not?" "You know that's how people get killed, one by one. While you are gone, something could happen to me, then you. Besides, how can I tell after you're back, if it's really you?" "You're right. Let's pick a password. Shinkyo-dong! The town we lived when we were in Korea." "You can't say that out loud? The ghosts already heard you." "Uh, um. No, no, we said it in Korean. Zombies and ghosts here use English." "Okay. Then go. Bring me some chips and peanuts, will ya?" "Where are they?" "You look around. They should be somewhere behind the driver seat." "Sumi, I think I better stay. We shouldn't be apart, as you said. Let's hold together tight and go to sleep."

I closed my eyes for a long time but didn't fall asleep. I had been fighting with the squeaking of walls for some time, then I began to feel sleepy. But soon enough, the rattling of the windows woke me up. This whole process repeated several times. There was a thunder in a distance. Whenever the lightning hit, the inside of the building brightened up like in daylight. Flash! One, two, three, four, five…. Craacckkk! Five miles. Sumi opened her eyes. She mustn't've been asleep. Splatt! We started counting together. "One, two, three…" Kaboom! Three miles. Again, splatt! "One, tw…" Boom! One mile. And then? Sumi and I prepared ourselves.

Splaaattt!! Kaboooomm! Lightning hit right above our heads, and the noise ripped the sky apart. Simultaneously, the front door split open, letting the bright light and rain spears pour in. If there was a dark figure standing in the doorway, it would definitely have been an evil spirit, but there was nothing outside the door. Another lightning struck but no evil spirit or terrible townspeople came. Only rain and wind rattled the door noisily. A thought crossed my head, 'Who is going to close that door?' Now that the inside the blanket was all warm and cozy, I didn't want to get out to close the door. If there would've been a scary ghost, I would've asked it to do it for me. A terrible group of townspeople that despise outsiders didn't come by here when we needed them. It was four in the morning and no one out walking around in this storm. I had to get out of the blanket eventually and put the latch across the front door. When I laid back down, thunder, lightning, wind, windows rattling and the possible corpses underneath the floor still made me feel uneasy. As the thundering subsided and the rain and wind dissipated, I slowly fell asleep. If Lowell hadn't let us stay here, we would've been camping outside in this storm….. zzzzzz. Cock-a-doodle-do! This time, the sound of a rooster had woken me up. Seven ten. The donkey that brayed eeee-ahhh until late at night was quiet. He must not be an early riser. Outside the front window of the store only showed calm and serene landscape with no trace of the storm from last night.

Morning in Missoura The sky that the storm recently passed still looked gray, but the ground was shining and moist making it more vibrant than under the midday sun. Old car, old airplane, metal sculpture and old building…. the sight from yesterday was added with the trees and plants that are refreshed, the town of Red Oak II began to stir and started growing more beautiful than the day before. The weather in the Midwest seemed unpredictable. The vast flat land has no peak in sight. The grassy fields stretch as far as where eyes meet the horizon. This openness gives no shelter to the clouds and the restless wind only blows in one direction. In the summer, the moisture from ground boils up to form the cloud but has no control but to throw down thunder and lightning wherever the cold wind from far tells it to. Many days of accumulation may come down all at once in one night. And the ground with no hills of peaks remain mute receiving everything that's pummeling down on it. It goes up during the day and upside down, it pours out spilling everything over night. The sky and the ground pass the water up and down, connected in columns of water pipes for a few hours then quiet down all at once. That is the weather here. In between the heaven and the earth, people, animals and houses have to endure it all. That's why the border between the sky and the ground is only a straight line. Nothing of the human shoud dare to invade it.

A Cup of Coffee We made omelet in the back porch of the General store building then headed to Lowell's home. He was just coming out of the house and we had coffee together with his wife in the front yard. From where we were sitting, there was a good view of Red Oak II. Maybe Lowell had placed his home in such a way that while smoking his corn cob pipe, he could enjoy the outcome of his project and also plan a new one. As we talked about Lowell's new plans for Red Oak II, our travel stories and other stories of our lives, Lowell sometimes smoked the corn cob pipe. Milford the gray cat and Geisha the black and white cat rolled over on the grass often catching our hands petting their soft coat.

A Stroll with Lowell After the coffee, Lowell wanted to show us some place that we hadn't seen. It was the area where Lowell had first appeared when we first met him. Beyond the wide tree shade, there were Lowell's previous studio, his first house when he moved here, his daughter's house and few other houses and gardens. They were private and uniquely decorated. Lowell's stroll route was also unique. A visitor would view it from the front taking the wide paths, but Lowell walked through narrow space between eves of two adjoining roofs, then a path behind house and through a back door. It was the route he takes in his daily routine. A visitor wouldn't be able to see this convenience, function and joyfulness. The visitor and the dweller: This two different ways of seeing one thing made me realize why the old homes that were transported to some of the museums that we visited on the way here felt so fake. It was the lack of 'necessity'. The real life space shows the effort and endeavor for what is necessary, but museums certainly lack that aspect. Lowell's place is full of evidence of this effort and endeavor.  This is why Red Oak II is the true living-history.

After the stroll with Lowell we said our good-bye's. One night seemed like many days of excitement. When will we come back to this place again. I suddenly felt like someone who's lived all his life. It was because Red Oak II came into my life as a precious jewel of a place. Sumi and I put the purple beans and hand drawn map given by Lowell on the dashboard of our car, the green Passat Wagon, aka Nok-Cha(green tea: 'Cha' in Korean is a homonym of car and tea) and turned on the engine.

Sketch Trip America in Korean: http://blog.naver.com/hwangjinkook/220277431423

http://sketchtripamerica.blogspot.com/2015/04/sketch-trip-america-episode-19-stormy.html

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[Sketch Trip America] Episode 18: Lowell and Rose Davis

Carthage

To take care of dinner, we decided to go into town. City of Carthage was only ten minutes away. We were used to camping and preferred making food for the sake of convenience. However, it didn't seem like a good idea to cook near beautiful buildings in Lowell's Red Oak II. Thankfully, earlier, Lowell mentioned a place to eat in town, so we headed straight to there. When we entered Carthage, the reds from the sunset were gone and the yellows were already diminishing, then soon only the blues remained in the sky. Buildings were mostly low-lying, there seems to be nothing protruding above the horizon line. A straight line was drawn across, then there was a blue sky above and the city below it. This very simple silhouette, or rather the simple straight line, expunged the image right out of my head, the image of a city I had that is all vertical and complex.

"Why? Can't a city be flat and horizontal? Should there be buildings that are taller than two stories? This is Missouri!" The city of Carthage proclaimed.

"Sure, of course, there's nothing wrong with a city that is flat. All the better reason that no one will be falling off any tall buildings to die."

Perhaps because I drove all day in Missouri where there was no hills and mountains, I admitted at once of Carthage's argument. But I was suddenly curious, too.

"Do you even know what mountains are?" I asked.

"What? Mountains? Are you kidding me? Of course, I've heard of them. Haven't seen one, but heard they're pretty tall. Are they taller than the electric poles?" I suspected the answer to be something like this.

Actually, the only things that were standing taller than the horizon were the electric poles and the restaurant signs.

The restaurant we found was a buffet restaurant called Sirloin Stockade. If you ordered a steak, the salad bar was also included. Or one can simply just use the salad bar. Pretty similar to VIPS restaurants that I have been to in Korea. But the price was about one third of what VIPS charged. One sixth, in actuality, since the steaks were twice as big as theirs. It tastes much better, too. You may already know this, but the beef price in Korea is highly inflated. It has a lot to do with the structure of beef distribution. There were so many layers in the system, the end consumers are burdened with all the extra costs. Some says even the president cannot fix the beef distribution problem. Does that mean if the President of Korea can fix the beef problem, there would be nothing he or she cannot fix? If the President can fix beef problem in Korea, that president can achieve the unification of the South and the North probably. In a country with that much economical strength, if an average person was asked what he or she wanted to eat, the answer would be beef. There is a popular comedy skit in Korea and the line always end up as, "if you make a lot of money, you go buy beef and eat it." It is pretty sickening to think that the people are being ripped off by systematic fraud in Korea. It is not just the problem with beef for sure, but now that I'm sitting with a scrumptious piece of beef steak in front me that is also inexpensive, I couldn't help but was reminded of the sad reality of my home country. It certainly is going backward nowadays. After eating a full buffet meal with two steaks, the price we paid was $31.

   Boots Court Motel

Boots Court Motel is a famous Route 66 spot. It happened to be on the way to the restaurant. One cannot miss it while going through Carthage traveling on Route 66. It is a place of history and nostalgia for travelers of Route 66. It first opened in 1939 and still operating. A classic example of Streamline Modern Architecture which is a late type of the Art Deco, with curving forms and long horizontal lines.

'Air-Conditioned', 'Radio in Every Room'. When was the time to brag about such things…? It actually would be right now. To have a radio from many decades ago in every room in the year 2014 is certainly something to brag about. If the trend is over then it's out-dated. But if it's well past time, then it becomes worthwhile again. Such is  life.

I found pictures online and the radios in the rooms looked like these. It's more than what they can brag about. If the furniture and objects in the rooms reminded us a certain time period that had passed, then it was a place of memories and nostalgia. Boots Court was part of that history. After driving several hundred miles, take shower and    pour a glass of beer then listened to Chuck Berry coming out of that old radio, it was a fantastic day. Get Your Ki-cks on the Rou-te sixty si-x.

When we came back to Red Oak II, it was well past 9:30. Even at this late hour, Lowell and Rose had invited us into their house. In Lowell's studio, we got to see Lowell's picture books, paintings in various publications, news articles about Lowell, other numerous paintings, and a glass case filled with the miniature figurines that made Lowell famous worldwide. Lowell's figurines that portray life in Missoura brought him a great success and he toured the world with them. With the money he bought the old houses and store buildings from his old town and moved to Red Oak II. Some of the houses in town are actually owned by other people and families. There were many more exciting plans ahead for this charming town. We talked and shared stories with Lowell and Rose about many different things. The night was getting deep Red Oak II. 

-End of Episode 18.

In the next episode, we enter Lowell's General Store building to stay for the night. At first, Sumi and I thought an antique building from a Western movie, but as the time nears midnight, the General Store turns into the place of the living dead. 

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Read [Sketchtrip America] in Korean on Naver.

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[Sketch Trip America] Episode 17: Red Oak II, the Living-History Village

Red Oak II - Part 2

The family of animals followed around Sumi. She always attracted animals wherever she went. She seemed to know how to get them come to her at will. I don't know how she does it, but as long as I love Sumi, I should be able to get near animals, too. Growing up, I used to get bitten or attacked by dogs. Since I met Sumi, such things never happened to me. Therefore, it's obvious that Sumi protects me from animals, too. She is just like Tarzan in the jungle. Wait, does that make me Jane?

While I was daydreaming myself as Jane being safe from attacks of jungle animals, Sumi was still exchanging vigorous greetings with the cat. Then I noticed the turkey twins slowly disappearing behind the barn. It was clearly the sign of a suspicious activity which was about to happen. Are they going to transform now? Ha! I immediately followed them behind the barn. But, there was no sign of them anywhere but the yellow leaves fallen on the green grass. I kept searching for the trace of the turkey twins in vain. All I found was the sculpture of a fairy tale cottage in the middle of a big grass yard. I was surprised to find this space behind the barn. So I stood there inhaling the aroma of rich soil and grass for a while.

Just when I thought to myself that turkeys didn't matter any more, I saw someone in blue shirt walking out from a tree shadow across the grass field. The same blue as the head of the turkey! And a pair of blue jean! One turkey for the top and the other for the bottom. Two turkeys put together, that's just about the size of a person! The time is 5:50 PM. It was time for castle guards to go home, and enough time for the spell to break. The man in blue shirt strode toward me just like what the animals did before. Then he stopped right in front of me just like the turkey twins.

Then he put a pipe in his mouth. Something he couldn't do while being a turkey. Pooof! He blew out a puff, then glanced at me. Is he trying to suggest that he can talk now?

"It's really nice here." I spoke to him first.Turkey man nodded without a word. He might need more time since he just turned human.

"Where are you from?"

"New Yo…, no, I mean, I'm from Korea, traveling on the route 66." Phew, I almost died in the next scene.

"Nice trip. I live here."

"Yes, I know, I've been watching you the whole time."

"What?"

"I mean…., oh, never mind." He must not remember it when he was a turkey.

Some awkward moments passed and I spoke again.

"My name is Jingoogk."

"I'm Lowell. Nice to meet you."

"Lowell? You're Lowell?"

"Yes…?" 

I'm sorry to say, but I wasn't thinking that Lowell was a living person. Why was that? I don't know. I might have thought that the story Sumi read to me was from a long time ago. 'Lowell created the village and the descendants are running it.' That's how I understood it I guess. Anyway, I was very happy to meet him in real person. I had so much questions to ask him including the work on stone pavement in the front of the village. Because I was silent in my own stupor and oblivion, Lowell walked away from me and toward Sumi who was still playing with the cat. 

"Take him with you."

"Huh? Is this your cat?"

"Yes, he is, and this is my home."

"Ah, you must be Mr. Lowell Davis."

Sumi obviously knew that Lowell was alive and well. Why did I have such weird thought? Strange...

*     *     *

Fences, eaves, gallery and low stonewalls ran intricately from a house to house, front door to a garden, storage house to barn and the smithy to stable and chicken coop. Each aged more than two generations. There were someone's sculptures adorning in-between the buildings. It was the result of one man's work spanning a long time. Lowell took us into the world that was two generations before us that he revived himself. It was way before when stuff made in factories engulfed every space in our life, machines finished off creating things instead of human hands. It was the time in the world when human and nature worked hand in hand.

Lowell gave us a quick tour of the ground and went inside a house through a low gallery and eaves. There were many drawings and paintings of villages and towns. He showed us one of the pictures and said it was the village we were in right now. We didn't see this part, yet. Does that mean there are much more to this place than we'd seen so far? I felt an urge to see everything that was here. Can we see it in time? It seemed unlikely. I tried to measure the possibilities in more realistic sense. Even if we look around until dark we couldn't cover everything. The sun would set soon and it would take more than an hour to look for a place to camp. To come back here from the campground, we would lose several hours traveling back and forth. It'd be nice to find a place to sleep within few minutes of distance. Oh a whim, I asked Lowell if we could camp anywhere on the grass or an empty lot. We wouldn't even mind the barn, either. It'd be just like in the movies.

Without hesitation, Lowell told us to stay at the general store building in the village. There's a bathroom in the back so it would be more convenient for us he said. Then, he invited us into his home and showed his artworks in the studio. He then introduced us his wife Rose. After showing us the building we would be staying, we planned to meet again after dinner. There was a small bridge between Lowell's house and the general store building we would be staying at.

The general store building looked just like buildings in Western movies. It looked older than a hundred years. We were completely ecstatic at this point. We not only saved a great deal of time, but were about to embark on a full 24 hours of adventure in this awesome place. Sumi was already excited about the prospect of seeing a beautiful early morning scenery. I got excited about the sunset. It would be beautiful all hours of the day and night here. Even if it rained or snowed, or rained and snowed all at the same time, it would've been great. We were so grateful to Lowell and Rose for providing us a place to stay. Now not having to go anywhere else for tonight, we went straight out to explore this amazing Red Oak II until it was pitch black.

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[Sketch Trip America] Episode 16: Red Oak II, a Jewel of Route 66

Red Oak II - Part 1 Out from Spencer, the country road merged onto the main road, and the traffic had picked up. This somehow made me forget where we were headed next. Let's drive! I stepped on the gas while Sumi was browsing something on her phone. "Lowell Davis is an artist and sculptor. He grew up in the town of Red Oak, Missouri. After the WWII, people began to move to the big cities in search of good life. After some sixty years later, when he returned to his boyhood home from one of those "good life" careers in the big cities, most of these rural communities had become ghost towns. That's when he began buying the homes and businesses of his beloved Red Oak and moving them twenty three miles to his Fox Fire Farm near Carthage, Missouri and restoring them to their original grandeur a place known as Red Oak II." Sumi read out loud. Sounded interesting. Why are you telling me this by the way? Sumi reminded me that it was the place Gary at the Gay Parita Sinclair had told us to go to. Oh, right. The problem with fast road is that it makes you forget and pass everything. The photos of the place looked good, too, Sumi said. She also said we have to make a right hand turn to go there. "When?" "Right now! Turn right, then stop!" she yelled.

Screeech! I stopped the car as Sumi instructed me to, and we were at an entrance of a narrow road between rows of cornfields. Just like when we entered Spencer, it didn't look very welcoming so I asked Sumi for a confirmation. "You sure this is the road?" "Look, there's a sign for it." 'Red Oak II, MISSOURA' 

The signage was intriguing enough to make me want to go and find out about Red Oak II. But there seemed to be no end to the cornfield. It was five o'clock in the afternoon. We should look for a campground or something to spend the night and this road would put us far away from the main route. I hesitated for a minute and asked Sumi again for her opinion. Her answer was very straight forward. "Let's go. When are we going to come back here, again? "Right. Let's go, then." When not sure whether to do it or not, doing it is the best option, if it was during a road trip. I saw many times in the movies, the narrow roads between cornfields. I wanted to drive on one once. This was the sort of road. "What movie was it? Jeepers Creepers?" We briefly joked and entered the road between the cornfields. Cornstalks in wind made swashing sound. 

Within three to four minutes, there was another rooster shaped signage pointing to the right. 'Red Oak II, 1 Mile' This rooster signage was also very intricate. We made a right turn and kept driving through the cornfield. Another two minutes, there was a wide gate in the middle of the cornfields. Considering the country road we traveled to get here, the gate was surprisingly large and fancy-looking. The columns on either side of the gate was stone-walled. One side of the gate was covered with ivy vines and the other was iron wall which was mosaicked with circular metal parts. The two signs that we saw must've been made by the same person who made this gate. We parked the car and looked for a booth to pay entrance fee. Well, we couldn't find it, so we decided to look around first. Right inside the entrance way, there was a chestnut-red-colored two story building with green roof. It was tidy and clean and most of all, a tree with a large trunk created perfect shade at the front door of the house. The houses were said to be moved here from a nearby town, but trees were not likely. The path from the front door of the house to the front yard was also perfectly laid out that in the late afternoon, it went completely under a shade from the tree. It is 5:40 PM now in summer time, there should be enough hours to enjoy oneself under this cool shades. The stone patio area seemed to have been hand built from scratch. A professional touch. The design and surrounding space were also excellent. Wait, the outside area couldn't have been moved here. The old town would've been few generations before us, and couldn't have had designs like this back then. Unless Frank Lloyd Wright had designed it. On our way here, I thought, maybe they say they had moved the buildings from the old town, but really, just copied the exterior shapes. However, as soon as I laid my eyes on the first house, I fell in love with Red Oak II. I asked Sumi what she thought of the place. She said she loves not only the houses, but the garden, sculptures, and every little objects in and around the place. She said she wanted to build our gardens back home just like these. She must really like it, but I quickly regretted that I had asked her. When we return from our trip, there will be a lot of work.

As I was worrying about the yard work back home, a cat strode straight toward me. It was coming toward us so rightfully that I naturally thought this cat must be the owner of this place. A spell made him turn into a cat during the day, but he still has to greet the visitors even if he was in the body of a cat. Sumi shook hands with the cat holding its paw, rubbed on the back. They greeted each other excitedly.

Then, suddenly, there were two turkeys appeared in front of us. They walked around as if they had their arms crossed with each other. They looked alike like twins. They strode around even more rightfully than the cat. If the owner of this place was under a spell, the turkeys were more likely than the cat. A welcome greeting by these animals led us toward the inside of a farm, which was on the right side from the entrance. In a few steps, a white dog with black patches also came out to greet us. We've been wandering around here for over twenty minutes now and we hadn't met anyone other than few tourists just like us. If not the tourists, the animals were all we had met. Wait a minute, the entire family must've turned into…. We looked around the farm houses guided by the family that had turned into the animals under a spell. The cat meowed, turkey twins gabo-gaboed, and the dog woofed while busy showing the farm ground to us. We couldn't quite understand them well enough, but few things became clear from the body languages. 'It's very nice to meet you.' 'Please, take your time and look around.' 'The spell will break soon, give us some time, okay?' 

This is the end of Episode 16. In episode 17, we finally find out the shocking truth about the turkeys and who the owners of the Red Oak II really are.

http://sketchtripamerica.blogspot.com/2015/01/sketch-trip-america-episode-16-red-oak.html

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[Sketch Trip America] Episode 15: Treasure Map of Route 66

Gary drew on the map the road that goes east and west as north and south. Without the '96 West' on the map, it would've been hard to find the cardinal direction. For the town's people, a place is where one reaches by following a road. Who would bother with azimuth or cardinal points? Those are for people who don't know anything. From Sinclair, Sumi and I began searching for a town called Spencer according to the map Gary drew with his shaking hands. Ignore any new and straight road!Straight line is boring!Crinkum crankum find only the old ones!From this town to next!Like the treasure map of a pirate captain! If we followed the map, there would be an old landscape and abandoned shops, a town filled with treasures that had been out of fashion for over fifty years. For anyone who wants to get there, you must give up speed. The right turn into Spencer was narrow and dark, it seemed like once you miss this turn, you'd end up in a roundabout for a long time. If we weren't going thirty miles per hour, we could've easily missed the turn. Not so much because it was hard to see, but because we normally wouldn't be so tempted to make the turn. We were humming along and wouldn't care if we made circles all day, so we happily made the turn onto the road to Spencer. Soon, inside the road, a bridge with paint stripped halfway appeared.

'Johnson Creek Bridge(1926) is a stately steel truss bridge located near the hamlet of Spencer.' It was written in the book we just bought at Sinclair. Very simple editing of the book with only pictures and dates. It served the purpose within less than an hour from the point of purchase. "It already paid for itself $1 worth out of $35," I said to Sumi. From the name of the bridge, I figured the small stream running under the bridge was Johnson Creek, and the bridge was the gateway to the small town Spencer. It wasn't much of an attraction coming in through the winding road, but with the bridge, suddenly created a wonderful view. However, this intimate landscape was also the reason for its disregard. The highway that opened just a few miles away cut off traffic into this town. This town didn't create enough reasons to be stopped in place of giving up speed.

All it was in hamlet of Spencer was a small store building. In the boom of travel on the Route 66, it would've been all travelers' stopping point with all the necessities like gas station, food store, barber shop, and even post office. It must've been hard to compete with the big highways. The entire Route 66 was losing its charm because of the highways, a small town would've suffered the most. The outcome from the battle was a few random visitors like us holding a map which was drawn by a shaky hand. Sumi and I started collecting the remnants of few things that went out of fashion long ago. Pepsi Cola adverts that looked to be over sixty years old, gas pump, and building facade were collected in our cameras. The desolate surrounding was collected in our eyes. And the things that we couldn't collect by the two methods, we collected in our hearts--curiosity, awe, and excitement of the things that are two generations before us.

The roads in the past connected a town to town, but the highway system made towns disappear. Then the road that connected the towns also disappeared. A generation had passed and even highways became the thing of the past. Then a new stream of travelers began driving on this road instead of on fast highways. We were one of them. "You are once again being acknowledged and remade now. Hurry and get up. Make a new album, a movie, or anything. Here is the contract." I wanted to tell the old and run-down refrigerator and gas pump and the barbershop sign that people started to come around here again. When the next traveler crossing the Johnson Creek bridge was in sight, we got in our car and on the road again, with the map that Gary drew in our hand.

http://sketchtripamerica.blogspot.com/2015/01/sketch-trip-america-episode-15-treasure.html

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[Sketch Trip America] Episode 14: Drive to any place in life, 1966 Ford Pickup Truck

Before we left Sinclair, I looked at some old automobiles strewn on the station ground. I sure remember seeing few of them in American movies or photographs. They certainly looked different from the ones at the museums which had shiny coat of bright colored paints. These here must have been driven on the road around this area until they ran no longer. One of them was looking down on a fallen headlight in front of it. Perhaps, old things that hadn't been thrown away get even older and become antiques. These cars that surpass one or two generations before me were as romantic as they can get and were whispering to me to reminisce the memories that did not exist in me. I was a blank sheet. I've never spent time in these before. So I wondered what they could ever mean to me.

  As we were leaving Sinclair, I found another old Ford truck someone had driven here parked on the side of the road. A Missouri plate, must belong to someone from around here. I don't know about cars much, but looked like it ran for several decades. Is everything, even the trucks that people drive around here antique? I thought briefly, but that is just a nonsense a city person thinks up. It is just that the things around here exist longer than those in the cities. They are stronger and healthier, and there are plenty of apt care and maintenance around for them, so they thrive without the worries of getting thrown out or stopped working. I could not start calling these antiques simply because they are thriving longer than the others. So I did some research online. They were 1966 Ford F-Series pickup trucks. If it was bought the first year it came out, it is running in its 49th year between the cornfields in the Midwestern United States. Now I knew the model of the car, but that didn't mean that I had particular feelings toward it. Staring at it certainly wouldn't bring out any emotions, either, however, I looked around and around at it. I looked at the back of suspensions of rear wheels and underneath the oil pan as if the non-exsistant sentiment is hiding under the car. Then a couple of men wearing blue jeans hopped in the car, noticing me looking at their car, talked to me,

  "Where are you from?"

"New York… no, Korea."

I almost said the word that would get myself killed the next scene.

"Are you traveling?"

"Yes, your car is very nice."

"Thanks, it got a lot of work done on it."

"Does it run well?"

"Good enough to pass onto my son."

"It looks like it"

  Two men in jeans drove away bidding me a good travel in the truck that looked older than themselves. Heavy metal sound and dirt cloud from the disappearing 1966 Ford truck again told me to go search for the memories. So I decided to think of the memories of past few days driving through the Midwestern states.

  It's a crack of dawn. Sleepy eyed, I'm driving my 1966 Ford pickup through the cornfields. Twenty years had passed since I was able to drive by myself. Loading and unloading this truck countless times. I went to the large corn contest and county fair with this guy every year. Baseball games and football games were with him always. We went to Indiana for the Popcorn Festival and dodged tornadoes. It was beautiful and exhilarating looking at lightning strikes out front of the windshield. Numerous camping trips with friends and looking at star studded night sky with my girlfriend next to me on the hood of the truck. My young son sat in the seat next to me smiling at me. Looking back, this truck was my best buddy that was with me at any time and any place in my life, a part of me. Once again, I'm driving through the cornfields toward the sunset.

    This was what 1966 Ford F100 meant for me.

http://sketchtripamerica.blogspot.com/2015/01/sketch-trip-america-episode-14-drive-to.html

[sketchtrip]

[Sketch Trip America] Episode 13: Road Guide on Route 66

At a remote gas station in southern Missouri.

The battle between the meter gauge cheat dragon and the straight edge of justice had ended and a peace came upon this dry desolate place at last.

  Rest in Peace, you wicked dragon!

Don't ever wake up again.

While this straight edge of justice keep shining, you'll sleep forever.

We knew the reality wasn't exactly so, and we wished that day would soon arrive.

Since we had fought with a dragon, naturally we got very hungry. Then we saw an old lady who seems to be the owner of the establishment selling some donuts and drinks. Hurriedly, we went over and grabbed some donuts and coffee. When we were getting ready to pay, she said we don't need to pay for them. Wow, This must be the southern hospitality that we heard so much about!

Ray's Donuts.

This must be a local donut shop. I saw the packaging and there were three of them around. Donut tasted great. Sweet bread was rolled up in a spiral shape and it was soft and chewy when I bit into it. It was better than all of donut flavors in Dunkin Donuts combined. Sort of like the donuts in traditional markets in Korea.

    Even with the notion of southern hospitality, this seemed too much. There must be many people who pass here. We already see several people in front of us. In a day, there should be dozens, even a hundred. We looked around for some tip jar with no avail. Again, we tried to pay something for it, but the lady declined, again. Then she pointed to a direction with her chin and said, "If you want, you can buy a book, or some other souvenirs over there." Puwahahaha-. It was a marketing gimmick hidden behind the country hospitality. Sumi and I decided to buy a book about Route 66.

It was a book of photographs from all points along Route 66. This may serve as a good reference guide. The price was $35. Once we paid for the book, the kind old lady told us to go inside the office where we can get the book signed. She said the book was made by a friend of his. We weren't sure why we should get it signed by the author's friend, but we decided to go in anyway. There seemed to be lots of interesting stuffs in the office.

Inside the office was well-preserved from the time the gas station was in full operation. All four sides of wall had shelves that are filled with old stuff that even a tiny mouse would have hard time to roam about. Inside this  gap, there was an old gentleman sitting like one of the antique collections. He was signing a book brought to him by another party of tourists. While we wait for our turn, I decided to look around the shelves. Just when I thought he might be done signing the book, he started to turn the pages and explained at length which seemed to span the entire book. I looked around and around the shelves, but the story did not end. So I looked some more. Then, I started to notice something inside this seemingly random pile of antiques on the shelves--layers depicting generations and places. Different kinds of motor oils and automobile products from the time gas station was in operation were one layer. Another layer had nothing to do with gas station but things brought in to remind of Route 66. They were all old, of course. Then, there were this last layer that looked mostly like souvenirs, waiting for people looking to buy memories of old times' sake. This souvenir layer could've left bitter taste in my mouth, but being on Rt 66, this actually brought me certain warm nostalgia.

  Each layers sang to me,

  We were part of gas station and we were popular once

Everyone going east and west stopped here

Got gas and cared for their cars

A noble woman and Hollywood stars were no exception

It was time that we were the hipsters

  Then the antiques said,

  We are not from the gas station

but were popular else where in the same time period

Original Coca-Cola bottle, hand-stitched baseball, peanut vending machine...

If there is anyone on earth that lived without us, show us your face

  It was souvenir's turn,

  I won't say much, I'm just here to sell you memory

If you want to remember anything from the old Route 66, you'd better buy me

Who knows, after many years, I will also become an original

You'd better take me home with you

  Then there was a chorus,

  How about it? Isn't it beautiful?

Anything with glorious past still holds value

Everything old is beautiful

Even with a little bit of extraneous things

  The last line was the souvenir's solo.

Speaking of the extraneous things, there were more of that in the places that had Route 66 museum signs on than Gary's Gay Parita. And those places also collected entrance fees. At least Sinclair still stands where it used to be and receives the test of time, along with Gary and Lena.

It is our turn finally. The old gentleman's name is Gary Turner.

Just like the lady told us, the book is by his friend and Gary is selling it for him. A strange system that a seller signs in place of the author. However, Gary's signature is very unique, it definitely added to the value of the book.

  After signing our book with shaky hands, Gary said, "I'm not the age that I can travel. Instead, I meet folks from all over the world here on route 66. Then, he told us stories from old days, about his son's website, the friend's book, even though it wasn't his, and most of all, about the town. He told us we must stop at nearby town of Spencer and Red Oak 2. He even drew us a map in detail on a piece of paper. He then came out to the front of Sinclair gas station with us and had us hold a Route 66 flag and take picture at a pre-determined spot. I'm a bit sorry to say, but all this seemed quite manneristic. With this, we bid good-bye with self-claimed Route 66 guide, Gary Turner. As we move away in our car, watching Gary and Lena waving at us, I thought that they know very well that they are the best and most valuable collectibles and souvenirs for the travelers on Route 66. In other words, they were the professionals. They knew how to spread the message and the atmosphere of the old Route 66 more than any of the museums along the way. I was glad we stopped here. Sinclair led us into the world of the old Route 66 from being the tourists merely looking in from outside. A whole new world was about to open up in front of our eyes.

http://sketchtripamerica.blogspot.com/2015/01/sketch-trip-america-episode-13-road.html

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[Sketch Trip America] Episode 12: You Corrupt Dragon! Here Comes the Ruler of Justice!

Missouri

Sinclair

On Rt 266(part of Rt 66 at some point in time) in Paris Spring,

20 miles west from Springfield.

"Wait! A ton of old stuff!"

  "Stop the car!"

  We've passed several Rt 66 museums along the way. Museums were full of shiny things that were long removed from where it belonged. For travelers in pursuit of old times, museum full of shiny object the time had been removed from wasn't very impressive. What finally stopped us was this tiny little gas station on the side of a dirt flying winding road. To be exact, it used to be a gas station and now it stood with all kinds of objects and cars with time hammered onto them cluttered all around it.

The name of the gas station is Sinclair. Opened in 1926.

  Sinclair was filled with things that made one wonder what they were once used for. The gas pump was one of them. It took me a while to figure out that the scale on the transparent tank is to tell how much of the gasoline was extracted from the tank. One would watch the scale on the tank to see how much they needed to pay. Watching at it, I thought this analog method might have created some dispute over whether there were more or less gasoline for what one had paid. As soon as the scale became numbers, there might have been less disputes like that. Then, I remembered that some gas station owners tweaked the pump so that meters would show slightly more than what was actually pumped out and and made profit over time. This kind of news was quite frequent as I recall. Staring at the tank, I pondered on what had happened. When the tank became no longer transparent, the way to check it with our own eyes disappeared altogether. Then, there came meters in the place of our eyes. The numbers on meters changed at constant rates and speed. It was digital. People lost the means to check as the spectacular array of numbers changing, and soon, digital became trustworthy. The truth hid behind the splendor forever unchecked.

  This transparency of an old analog gas pump, small neighborly disputes over few pennies, were not a mere section of frugal life of bygone days. It was a weapon that protected lives of people from the giant wrong-doings. The scales on the transparent tank of an old gas pump, was the mystical sword that would fend off the evil dragon called corruption. I thought we shouldn't let the truths in life turn into something else that's invisible. I suddenly wanted to raise the sword of justice high and mighty.

You corrupt dragon, I will slay you with the edge of my ruler of justice!

"Sumi, I'll lure his head and you stab in between his butt cheek!"

  "Okay. You dragon of corruption, here comes the big wedgie of justice!"

  Bzzzzzzz, zchunk, zchunkkk! Bzzzzzzik!

  Until the day the charade of deception finally disappear!

http://sketchtripamerica.blogspot.com/2014/12/sketch-trip-america-episode-12-you.html

[sketchtrip]

[Sketch Trip America] Episode 11: The Genuine Route 66

The Genuine Rt 66 begins: 

Day 5. Missouri

6:40 AM. I was woken up by fresh and crisp early morning air.  I went to sleep in my underwear with no blanket but this morning, I found myself under a blanket. Sumi must've covered me up, but she wasn't there next to me. She must be up and doing something already. It is not uncommon that I wake up and Sumi is not around. She tends to get out and do something as soon as she opens her eyes in the morning, such as walking, taking photographs or etc.

I, on the other hand, was still wrapped in the blanket in the tent, while looking outside through the entrance. Beyond this thin layer, morning light was getting brighter and there were various bird calls, meandering fog, sweet smelling soil, and pungent smell of phytoncide that surrounding trees emit. This mixture of air was seeping through tent interior. Even a five star hotel couldn't provide this. I was beginning to feel the positive aspects of camping. If you set aside little bit of effort and discomfort, it is simply much better to camp than to stay at a conventional lodging. Fresh air and the positive energy from the forest began to enter my body. I may be turning into a god of the forest. My body started to elevate into the air. This must be levitation that people talk about. I was afloat with the air of the forest, then I heard a voice coming from Sumi.

  "What'cha doing sitting in your undies?"

  My short levitation ended with her voice and from god's realm I landed back in the human realm. Swoop and squat. Sumi had gone to take shower when the bathroom was empty.

We had breakfast with Doen-Jang Jjigae(bean paste stew) and beef chili paste and made coffee afterwards. Daily routines that happen in the mornings in the woods are also the best part of camping. While I was thinking this, stars and stripes pattern on the paper cups came into my sight. Half jokingly, I said to Sumi,

  "Oh, this is so American!"

  Sumi replied piteously.

  "There's nothing un-American about any of these."

  Right. But then, I realized I hadn't seen much of Korean national flag patterns on anything when I was in Korea. Growing up, national flag was something that hung only from the flag pole. To me, it was refreshing to see American flag pattern on various uniforms of American Olympic athletes. American flag patterns on paper cups reminded me that I was far away from Korea.

For our morning work, Sumi painted the signs she saw yesterday and I drew Sumi in the campground as the backdrop. It was a beautiful sight.

  "Now, this is truly American" I said jokingly, again.

  "Stop it, you're a yankee to the bones." Sumi laughed hilariously then continued.

  "You know, I bet Americans wouldn't know what I meant by yankee."

  She's right. When you say, 'yankee' in Korea and 'yankee' in America, they mean two different things.

    Yankee

  The term 'Yankee' has many origins, but one notable is the Dutch origins. Since there were many Dutch colonists in New England, the Dutch given names Jan("John") was common. Then this had grown to include non-Dutch colonists as well in the area. Now, the term Yankee is to call people from New England or the Northeast, but outside the US, Yankee simply means anyone that's from America. Someone from the South or the Midwest might be taken aback if called a Yankee, but outside the US, a Yankee just means any American. However, this can sometimes be used as somewhat of a derogatory word, so it should be used cautiously. 

Now that we started talking 'American' things, I'd like to talk about a real American camping habit. In last year's Blue Ridge camping and this year's trip, I've noticed that Americans love to make camp fires. Even in the middle of summer, people get up in the morning and start the fire in the pit. As soon as there's a fire, everyone gathers and starts chatting around it. It is almost as if it were a ritual, or right out of movies when cowboys camp out in the wild west and the first thing they do is make a fire. Maybe it is the remnants from the old culture, or simply that people watched too much western movies like me. Making fire when camping must be a code engrained in genes of camping and leisure in every American.

After finishing some creative work, we started to pack around 10 AM. We continued to pack down stuff every day and after the fourth day, it was at an optimal level. Efficient packing and daily schedule gave us valuable time in the morning to do more artwork. Within an hour, we left Meramec campground. Good-bye, Meramec Cavern campground! You were alright, just a little disorderly. Kids ran around 'till very late and the guy who laughed silly through the night was pretty funny, though. Thanks to all, anyway!

We got on the Interstate 44. This section of Route 66 runs side by side with the Interstate for a while so we decided to cover more distance and enjoy the view of Rt 66.

  Once out of city, highways look very different from the highways in Korea.

  "When do we get on highway?"

  "We are already on a highway."

  "Really? This isn't a regular road?

  When I first came to the States, I had asked Sumi this question. Being used to highways in Korea, to me, highways should be at least 4-5 lanes and covered in think concrete chunks. However, the highways in the States were mostly like the one I'm on now. Near cities, highways look like that of Korea, but once past the city boundary, instead of concrete median, a wide lawn spreads in between the lanes going opposite ways. There are usually two lanes on both ways, one for driving and the other for passing. Most drivers seemed clear on this concept and usually kept the passing lane open and drove on the right lane. Sumi said that people are better about the passing lanes in the eastern US in general, probably because there are less lanes on highways than the west or midwest. People know it by heart that the rules are there to their advantage. On the other hand, places like L. A., the drivers are relatively more reckless in changing lanes and driving on all 6-7 lanes all together. Shortage of something made the standard high for some people, I thought to myself. Sumi, of course, didn't forget to mention that Korean drivers are no better than L.A. drivers. I remembered a news commentary from few years back that people that do not know the concept of the passing lane outnumber the ones who know this basic driving rule.

  Though, only two lanes, driving amongst calm drivers next to grassy knolls made me enjoy the drive. But when noon came, strong rays started to heat up the pavement.

The temperature in the Midwest was getting over 100 degrees and we'd been driving several hours on sun-scorched highway. Our destination wasn't anywhere near. Highway was boring to drive in the same way as in the US or in Korea, and our sweat-soaked bodies under afternoon heat had long forgotten about the fun or excitement of a road trip. Then, suddenly, a couple biker women appeared before our eyes. They had matching jackets and their long pony tails flowing in wind behind them like scarves. They've got to be the Rt 66 travelers. Their flowing pony tails perked us up instantly and we were reminded again that we also are travelers on the Route 66.

One thing we got from this boring drive that had some value was this Rt 66 map of Missouri from the visitor center. All sorts of places of interests was listed in detail. It is hard to get this kind of information elsewhere. Another thing we got from our highway drive was….

This half-burnt and acned face that I got from driving from east to west for few days. We alternated driving, but the side that exposed to the sun was always the left side of face because we were heading little bit southwest.

And because Sumi insisted on wearing tank top or sleeveless shirt, she also got half of her face, left arm and knee burnt.

We couldn't just head back east to avoid getting burnt only on the left side. So we endured it and kept on driving under the scorching afternoon heat. Sumi had tuned on NPR and in the radio show, they said the nude models in Paris were on strike. In Paris, the city operates figure drawing classes for its people, so the models were hired by the government. I wondered what it would be like to see nude models on strike, while we drove on Interstate 44. We also couldn't have imagined that in a few hours from here that we'd be pulled into a magic of this jewel-like place on Rt 66.

Also on Blogger: http://sketchtripamerica.blogspot.com/2014/12/sketch-trip-america-episode-11-genuine.html

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[Sketch Trip America] Episode 10: St. Louis and the Melting Pot is still melting

Upon leaving the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge, we entered city of St. Louis. We briefly missed Route 66 and went a bit north somehow. The roads were terrible. There were potholes and deep cracks everywhere and this turtle back of a road went on for a good while. Sumi said looking at the map on her phone that the place of Michael Brown shooting wasn't far from here. Ferguson is a northern suburb of St. Louis. It is a place with chronic condition of discrimination against Blacks. Recently when Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager was shot 6 times and killed by a white police officer, resulted a national outrage and protests. Also near Ferguson, a black man stole two cans of soda from a convenient store and was quickly surrounded by police officers. He then approached police yelling 'shoot me,' and the police really shot him several times in broad daylight. He also was unarmed. Someone on the street filmed the whole thing on his camera phone and I'd seen the video right before we left for the trip. Ferguson tragedy once again put American society face a turmoil stemming from deep rooted racial discrimination. In twenty minutes or so later, we happened to drive by Forest Park, near city of St. Louis. All of a sudden, the rocky roads became smooth as if they were ironed. And unlike the northern neighbors, streets and lamps were adorned with flowers and most of passersby were whites. It was a stark difference to us as travelers that got off Route 66 briefly and drove through St. Louis from north to south.

Mom and Pop Store

Mom-and-pop store means a business that is run by mom and dad. In other word, a small, independent, family-owned business. One of the reasons Route 66 brings out certain nostalgia is because there are many mom and pop stores along Route 66. The section of Route 66 (now called Chippewa Street) that passes through St. Louis, there were two notable mom and pop stores. The Donut Drive-In that opened in the 1950's and Ted Drewes Frozen Custard opened in 1929. Perhaps, the fact that they are well and prosperous within the competition with those large franchised businesses also pique interest in people.

'Open' neon sign is lit. The friend we're going to meet in L.A. recently had a donut shop in Dallas, Texas just a year ago. It wasn't a franchise but a mom and pop store which he and his wife made all donuts themselves starting in the crack of dawn. He once told me that the people in Texas prefer donuts made in small stores than big chains like Dunkin Donuts. He believes the donuts made in far away factories can't compare in taste to his donuts made from scratch all in his store. I agree with him. He also described the scenes of his store in early mornings. When he and his wife make donuts from dawn and turn on the neon sign when it's still dark, it meant the freshly made donuts are ready. And because Dallas was so flat, people can see the light and come to buy his donuts from far away. Now, looking at the donut store that existed over 60 years and the tall sign standing above the roof, I thought that people in St. Louis also like donuts from mom and pop store and the owner of this store started to make donuts from the crack of dawn every day, just like my friend.

Ted Drewes is popular for its frozen custards. Until then, I thought custard was a bread with a cream filling. It was because of a well-known bakery brand in Korea that I thought such. It turned out the custard that I knew was just bread, but the cream filling itself was called custard. When I found this out from Sumi, I felt empty for being misinformed about custard, but was satisfied for learning it before I was dead. Puuhaha! I could only laugh a hollow laugh. Sumi expected to taste a good custard at this store, but when we saw the long line, gave up at once. I think we're not, so called foodies.

Ted Drewes' custard is supposed to be so thick that it doesn't spill when you turn it upside-down. I wondered what that meant exactly, in the world of custard. Instead of tasting it, we only gathered facts about the store being started as an ice cream truck in 1919 and now Ted Drewes, Jr is running it, then left for our next destination, Meramec Campground.

On our way to Meramec campground, Joongdeok(aka JD), the friend in LA, who used to have a donut shop in Dallas had called. JD asked, "I heard you started your trip, when are you going to get to LA?" I answered him, "We're on our way. It'll take about 10 days." JD told us to give him a ring 2-3 days before arriving in LA and I told him that we'd call 7-8 days later. After hanging up the phone, 'What a strange conversation,' I thought. Back in Korea, we used to live 5 minutes apart by walking. Now I'm telling him that it would take 15 days to get to his house to see him. And he says, "Okay, give me a call 3 days before." What a strange situation. 'America is so big,' I talked to myself, incoherently.

Meramec Campground was privately run. Basic camp site was $18 and site with electrical hook-up was $25. Usually, electrical hook-ups are for the RV's, but anyone can use it if you're particularly in need of electricity. Usually, other campgrounds are shaped in circles, but Meramec campground was a large grass field with sites scattered all over. There were many campers already there to enjoy the weekend. Some photos of Meramec Campground.

We pick a spot under a big tree. The picnic table was moved from an area several feet away. It is all right to move tables little bit as long as it is not tied down. We like to put the table close by so we can shorten the distance between tent and table. It makes it efficient for us to go back and forth between working, cooking, and going into the tent. We weren't going to make camp fire or use barbecue grill, so we put everything even tighter than usual.

Inside of our tent. For a long trip, we've set up a few rules as below:

Tent.

We need to move to a new location every day, so we wanted to minimize the stress from having to set up and take down the tent. We had the specific needs in mind while shopping for tent. Now it only takes a minute for us to pitch the tent and another minute for taking it down. Tent is from Kelty, for 4 persons and 3 seasons.

Inside the tent.

Let's put only necessary things in the designated places inside the tent. It's faster to pack up that way, too.

Pillows.

For a good rest everyday, we should have the most comfortable pillow.  So we brought our pillows from home that we've been using.

It's nothing too grand, but we planned to keep everything comfortable and also simple. I thought it was important for a long trip such as ours.

After pitching our tent, we started to paint and write, then cooked up a spicy stew with sausages and veggies. Looking at the stew inside the pot, I suddenly remembered the streets in St. Louis.

A melting pot!

http://sketchtripamerica.blogspot.com/2014_10_01_archive.html

[sketchtrip]

[Sketch Trip America] Episode 9: Route 66, Mississippi River and the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge

August 30th. Day 4 of the cross-country America trip.

Brrrrrng, brrrrng, brrrng, booang! I woke up by the combination of noises from the air conditioner and trucks driving by. It was 9 AM. Past couple days, I woke up by the sound of birds chirping, fresh air and gentle breeze on my face. When I opened the zipper on the tent, fresh air from the forest at dawn poured in along with the sound of leaves rustling, chipmunks scurrying about, and morning dew dripping on the tent fly. This morning, the air conditioning unit, refrigerator, someone taking shower from next door woke me up and when I opened the door, car noise from the highway and the hot rays of the sun all poured in. My ear and breath became stuffy at once. Inkeeper Motel is actually a decent place for its location and price. What I'm trying to say is the difference between the mid-city lodgings verses camping in the woods. Oh, wait! It was actually not 9 AM, but 8 AM. We'd already come to a different time zone. It is 9 AM in New York and 8 AM in Illinois.

One more negative aspect about waking up in motels is that we cannot make our own breakfast. At a campground, we could make anything that pleased us whether it's omelets or jjigaes(spicy Korean stews) on our little gas stove. But we can't cook in motels. Some people try to make small things like ramen noodles but it's against policy for most places and it's not even that convenient. So we decided to find a restaurant nearby.

Sumi asked what I'd like, so I said Soondaeguk(Korean sausage soup)! I know I can't have it but I yelled it out anyway. But Sumi ordered something at a Mexican restaurant and it looked incredibly similar to Soondaeguk. Sumi thought maybe spicy Mexican soup might be similar to Korean soup and she was right. She said that if we want to eat something proper, then we should order with proper pronunciation. I completely agreed with her.

Caaaallldoooo ddde Pppoyyyoooo!

I don't know which part of that is chicken and which part is the soup, but I tried my best to sound like a Mexican nobleman. Sumi ordered Huuuuuevooooos Rrrrrrancherrrrrooos.

Thanks to my wonderful pronounciation, the soup served was just like what I would have for a hangover in Korea. A spicy chicken soup with a bit of sour after taste. I emptied the entire bowl and started the day fresh. Sumi's international sense worked nicely this time. I also learned that Huevos Rancheros is breakfast burrito. Once again, I don't know which part of those words is breakfast and which part is burrito.

Route 66 was disconnected between Hamel and Chain of Rocks Bridge in Illinois. We might have missed it but we decided to take 157 instead and it quickly continued onto Route 66. We tried to stay off Interstate highways as much as we can. 

Now that we got on Route 66, the plan was simple: Just follow Route 66 signs. And stop, if we see old hidden jewels with stories along the road. That was all. What we look at when we pass it and what impressions we keep solely depended on each of us. For us, we often used Road strippers, uh, I mean Roadtrippers. The first thing to look at was Old Chain of Rocks Bridge.

Though, the center of Route 66 is always the road itself. I started to get this feeling that the scenery along the route and driving through it was the prime bases of traveling Route 66. Even if there were many roadside attractions dotted along it, if the road itself was boring, then it wouldn't mean much to travel the route. There's a saying, it takes more than pearls to make a necklace. Route 66 could be the golden thread that strings up all these old beads. It was simply amazing that this golden thread would continue all the way to L.A. 

Today, Route 66 started with sights as below.

This used to be a drive-in theater, but only the signage remained.

There are usually multitude of electric poles lined up alongside Route 66. Route 66 being one of the first road crossing the country, it makes complete sense. The first road that crossed the country would've needed electricity first and foremost and the most convenient place to put the electric poles would've been by the roadside. This also meant the Route 66 was once the most busiest streets in America.

A biker with a stretched out undershirt. He must live a block away from the Route 66 which is all bikers' dream road. It is a fantasy for others but for this fantastic biker, a daily route. That's why he's dressed so casually. His undershirt may be stretched out, but his heart burns like a flame.

Soon, we crossed a bridge and we shouted, "Old Chain of Rocks Bridge! Yeah!" But something felt strange.

To tell you the truth, all we knew about the bridge was that it was an old iron bridge and we get on it right before reaching St. Louis. From what we saw, this bridge wasn't much to look at.

Of course, it wasn't the old bridge, it was merely the passage way to get to the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge. We also found out later that Old Chain of Rocks Bridge crosses Mississippi River and the center of the bridge is the border between Illinois and Missouri State, and the whole history that followed.

The Chain of Rocks Bridge

In 1894, Water Plant was built by St. Louis Waterworks.

World's largest filter plant was added in 1915.

A Bridge was built next to it in 1929.

1,632 meters, the longest bridge in America.

In the 1930's, Bypass US 66 was designated over the bridge.

The Chain of Rocks Bridge closed in 1970.

Listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2006.

The Old Chain of Rocks Bridge reopened for pedestrian and cycling use since 1998.

Beside this chronological history, what I was curious about was the 'Chain or Rocks' part. It didn't seem like the shape or the mechanism of building the bridge. However, what I have found through some searches on the net, it was the natural shape of the river bed under the bridge. This unusual part of the Mississippi River had 17-mile shoal, or series of rocky rapids, called the Chain of Rocks. Multiple rock ledges just under the surface made this stretch of the river extremely dangerous to navigate. The bridge was built right next to it, hence the Chain of Rocks Bridge. So I understand the name part. Now I must see the Chain of Rocks as well.

Of course, one can look at the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge and also cross it on foot. It is a great looking old bridge, well-matched the mighty Mississippi River.

However, the origin of the name, Chain of Rocks can't be seen any more. In the 1960's, a low-water dam was built covering the Chain of Rocks. Only the fast currents on the surface of the river give hints to what it used to be.

Pictures below are of the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge:

Dense greens on the Mississippi River banks.

There's a red object far out on the bridge.

Water plant sends water to filter plant. We can see the fast current above the low lying dam.

Illinois-Missouri border

The red object from far away turned out to be an old truck. A family is looking out to the river from it. So we stopped and looked, too.

An inevitability stopped everyone at the same place. And we all looked out on the same spot. Wherever you came from, whatever you were doing before, looking out the Mississippi River from the old red truck on the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge was the final rest to dry the sweat off our foreheads. It was a melody from a banjo that reminded of old country home, and the straw hat of Huckleberry Finn. There was nothing else beside that on the bridge.

Also read on blogger: 

http://sketchtripamerica.blogspot.com/2014/10/sketch-trip-america-episode-9-route-66.html

Jingoogk's original blog is in Korean: 

http://blog.naver.com/hwangjinkook/220147293480

[sketchtrip]

[Sketch Trip America] Episode 8: Enter, Route 66!

We were happy to see the corn dragon in anticipation of the end of the cornfield. However, the real reason was that we had bought some beer and steak for camping tonight. A fire-breathing dragon. A dragon is a carnivore so it should know how tasty steak is. And maybe it will blow a warm firey breath to make our steak more delicious. And a cold beer on top of that! A true happiness! We ate sandwiches during the day to save cooking time for the last three days. This evening, we were going to enter the campground early and relax a bit with some wine we brought from home. In our calculation, we will be entering Route 66 tomorrow morning, so it is perfect time to celebrate our journey.

Sumi found this campground in Litchfield, Illinois, located near Lake Lou Yaeger. She said there are fish that eat men's testicles. This fish is from the Amazon but must've gotten loose in this lake somehow. Pacu fish killed two men in Papua New Guinea by biting off the testicles. This is from the internet so whether it's true or not, the lake has a story and Sumi excitedly headed us toward the lake. She seemed to want to catch the fish with me as bait. I'm not sure if my testicles would stay intact until I bring the fish up.

After driving winding country road for some time, we found the lake Lou Yeager. It was large and had many facilities for water sports. The campground… was not so great. Campground for tent was so-called 'primitive' site, which means there're no amenities like water or even barbecue grill. The fee was $12, but it was dirty. There was no shower, not to mention even a water faucet. People had left remnants of campfire here and there. Normally, there are sites with shower and sink even if a section of campground is primitive. Primitive camping can be fun but not for tonight. We needed some water and barbecue grill. The decisive moment was when we found cockroaches crawling all over the bathroom stalls. Sumi yelled 'Pass!' and instead looking for another campground, we decided to get on Route 66 right away. Yes, let's go! But, how about barbecue….?

Left turn, right turn, after thirty minutes or so of driving, we reached a road end with brightly setting sun almost blinding us.

"After a left turn on that corner, it is Route 66!" I said after checking on the map.

Then, Sumi said, "It feels strange."

The road to Route 66 was shining so brightly, we couldn't even make out where the end was. Like Sumi said, strange lights seemed to wave at us from the end.

Advancing toward the end of light, we passed an old railroad track. We already knew what this meant. This railroad track, running almost parallel to Route 66, is part of America's great old railway system that stretches across the country, transporting goods between the East and the West, solemnly and quietly, hidden behind the automobile culture of America. If there's a railroad track, there would be Route 66. Then, as we made the left turn, the shining light moved to our right, and in front, there was a brand new road, wide and clear. It was Route 66. There was something moving about this. "This is an important moment!" Sumi shouted. I also cheered on. We yelled together, "Wow!, Yeah!, Whoo-hoo! Route 66! We've arrived!" We even clenched fists and threw our arms up in the air. But the road was really, very incredibly empty and quiet. No other cars on the route, if any, no one was shouting as we were. They all looked as though the sky would fall. We must be the only ones excited about Route 66 in ten miles radius. "This is disappointing," I said. "Why? it's great!" Sumi replied. So we shouted again some more. We give the road a meaning to travel. "Whaoo! Yahoo! Eeek, eek!" I took pictures of anything and everything that said 'Route 66'. Sumi yelled, "Oh, there's really Route 66 sign on the street!" Unfortunately, I missed that while looking at other signs on the road.

Entering Route 66

Litchfield, Illinois

August, 29th, 4:30 PM

  Picture above is the official signage for Route 66 in Illinois. 1930-1940 means it was Route 66 during those years. Route 66 is a very old road that connected Chicago to LA passing through eight different states(built in 1926). Therefore, according to each states' plan, some sections were rerouted or combined with other roads. In other words, this sign reconnects the old Route 66, giving pointers in the entire route's history. If you made a turn at a fork and don't see this sign again in 10 miles or so, you can safely assume that you've made a wrong turn.

      The pictures below are the road signs and store signs of the Old Route 66 in Litchfield.

After driving some more on the Route 66, we did find out we were not the only ones yelling and shouting about the route. The ones that are still driving on this road which is still as empty and quiet as we first got on, and going slower than the speed limit, then they are probably Route 66 travelers. If the back of the car was filled with stuff, then definitely Route 66 travelers. It may not appear as so on the surface, but all traveling on this road, whether living in America or not, are filled with modern American nostalgia and shouting about it.

The gas station with above pump was opened in 1926- the same year Route 66 opened. The last day the pump was working, gas price was $5.74 per 8.88 gallons. Looking at the old gas pump, I thought about everything that modern life had thrown out for the last 100 years. The things that were trendy at the time but outdated by two to three generations. Things that are simply forgotten. Roads that were just put aside with all these things still on them. So it naturally became the symbol of nostalgic memories of last 100 years of modern history. It felt like the beginning of our Route 66.

      Pictures below are landscapes between Litchfield and Hamel in Illinois.

After excitedly driving on Route 66 for some time, we got to a motel called Inkeeper in Hamel. We looked for lodgings and campgrounds for a while and found this motel right by the road. It was run by a nice Indian family and it even had a barbecue grill for the guests in the back. 

    8:30 PM. Inkeeper motel was like a beach on a resort. The surface of a small lake outside the window was wavering in warm breeze. Soothing moon light, the kind Indian family, and their children's laughter made me feel very relaxed. While barbecuing the steak, I didn't feel like we were right by a highway, but at a peaceful beach somewhere in the Maldives.

Steak and beer.

I normally don't drink Miller, but today, I'm drinking this, because of the design on the can. Reminds me of the slogan, "Live to Ride, Ride to Live." Perfectly fitting to celebrate our entering Route 66. From tomorrow, it's the actual beginning of our history museum tour of the route. Cheers! Route 66!

http://sketchtripamerica.blogspot.com/2014/10/sketch-trip-america-episode-8-enter.html

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[Sketch Trip America] Episode 7: America's National/Regional Brand and the Corn Dragon

  Morning of August 29th, we woke up by the birds chirping. Oogagagak-ogk! Oogagagak-ogk! What sort of bird? Never heard such annoying sound. A crane? A cormorant? Though somewhat imprudent, the idea of waking up by sounds of birds was very graceful and blissful. We drove through the endless cornfields the day before and arrived at Summit Lake State Park in Indiana. It was a beautiful lake. 

  Pictures below are various landscapes of Summit Lake campground. It was almost Labor Day weekend and there were some people but not crowded, yet. We found a site right by the lake. Sumi said she wanted to come back here at another time.

The picture right above has some shocking elements. Someone did themselves justice and brought the entire refrigerator from home! It is as tall as a full-grown man. Looks like  two different families came to camp for the Labor Day weekend and they also have a cooler per person. They get a perfect score for their preparation for eating, drinking and enjoying the weekend. Summit Lake State Park has electricity for all sites.

Ricker's - A convenient store at a gas station in Indiana.  Sumi told me to take picture of this building. I asked her why and she said she's never seen that store chain, before. But why? I wondered at first, but after seeing numerous store signs along route 36, I realized, that these chain stores reflect a side of American culture. America is a nation of chain stores. Some brands encompass the entire country. Some are based in Eastern, Western, or Southern region of the country. And some chains only exist in certain states or cities. If you look at these brands not as businesses but as life and cultural aspect, one can understand a lot about the area and people. For example, if you see a certain brand, you may realize what state or region you are in. If someone seem familiar with a certain brand, one can easily assume where they're from or that they are knowledgable about that area in general. Sometimes, certain brands also represent certain area and may provoke pride or affection of the place. Anyways, Ricker's convenient store had pretty store front than any other national chains that I'd seen.

A regional fast-food restaurant chain. I don't know how the food tastes there. I saw the signs mainly in central mid-west states like Missouri, Illinois and Indiana. I actually saw this specific one while passing Indiana on Route 36.

  The signs might've reminded her, Sumi said let's eat In & Out burger when we arrive in LA. She excitedly shouted, 'Double!' 'Animal style!', but I had no clue what she was talking about. Animal? What does that mean? It must be something we can only eat in LA. And we must eat in animal style. Okay! In animal style! Whatever that means.

  Home of the Popcorn Festival

  We hoped for the end of it but the welcome greetings never stopped by the cornstalks on the roadside. And finally, we came across the sign that said "Home of the Popcorn Festival." The home of popcorn festival, eh? It seems rewarding enough after driving through cornfields for three days straight. It was like a revelation that the end is near. What kind of festival is popcorn festival? Kernels of corn thrown up in the air and pop white in the sky like fireworks? Would there be a popcorn-eating contest? Popcorn throwing contest? Popcorn pudding, popcorn juice? A giant sculpture made with popcorn? I was very curious but we have to get on Route 66 first. So we passed. Good-bye, the home of the popcorn festival!

I've heard of the middle aged men that would die to look good in their old classic car in the Midwest. I actually saw many cars like this on the road. It made me feel excited and happy for some unexplainable reason.

In the afternoon, we saw a sight that really seemed to mean the world of corn is coming to an end. A giant dragon that breathes fire. It is trying to blow pop the entire cornfield we saw up until now into popcorns. Boooosh! Bwoom! Boom! Pop! Pop! Just like I imagined, popcorn fireworks dotted the Big Dipper and the Orion's Belt in the sky. You must think I'm crazy, but aside from the popcorn star in the sky, the fire breathing dragon is real and it stands in front of a cornfield right in Illinois. It says on this scary looking metal dragon's thigh, "Danger! Dragon Breathes Fire!"

We again hoped that, beyond this dragon, there would be a different world.

  And, this wish for the end of cornfield came true! and then there was Route 66!

http://sketchtripamerica.blogspot.com/2014_10_03_archive.html

[sketchtrip]

[Sketch Trip America] Episode 6: Jeepers Creepers, Field of Dreams, Corns…. and more Corns….

Morning of the 28th. Breakfast was simple sandwich with boiled eggs. Sandwich was good but the eggs were especially good with the seasoning that Sumi prepared from home.

SUMI'S MIX - All-around player seasoning 7~8 seasonings for several different recipes are mixed in one bottle: Black pepper, rosemary, cayenne pepper, thyme, and……and a lot more, I forget. Sumi's Mix was put in my mother-in-law's diabetes prescription medicine container. We have a lot of them around the house. I hope my mother-in-law exercises regularly so we don't find the containers any more at home. Then I'd gladly buy real seasoning containers for camping. Go! Mother! Another positive aspect is that the volume significantly reduces: several bottles into only one

We decided to walk around the Parker Dam State Park before we left. We wanted to know the place we had stayed the night. When we arrived, it was dark and we thought we saw some sort of a pond. Besides, the park ranger trio we met the night before was so nice, this place must be pretty special. Pictures below are the view of the Parker Dam Campground.

It was a manmade lake with a dam and even had a beach with white sands. I've been to about 6-7 campgrounds so far in the States, and this place was the best in terms of the openness and vast landscape. Sad not to have swum in the lake, but we have to keep going combatively until we get on to the Route 66.

We marched on listening to Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, and Barbara Streisand. My personal preference in music while riding in a fast car is hard rock and metal. American band music sounds somehow better when driving on American roads I found once I arrived in this country. The music seeps into the hot asphalt and becomes unison with the scenery. Of course, when we were driving on the country road, Roy Orbison and fast beat country music was best fitting with the road and the crops growing alongside it.

Two days since the start of the trip, I suddenly thought, "Where's our destination?" From the beginning, our trip this time was different from our other trips. This trip had no real destination. Sure, we are heading for Los Angeles, but Los Angeles wasn't our destination. We weren't just heading for this one spot named Santa Monica, either, but the entire line of roads that connected to Santa Monica. The entire journey on the route. That was the purpose of our trip. Roads that never end, all scenery, and everything that we meet on it were our next destination. 'A-Ha! This is indeed what it is about crossing the country on Route 66!' A light bulb suddenly turned on inside my head. Then, I remembered what we had met on the second day of our trip.

Golden Rods along the road became our travel companion for hours.

Remnants of history that were seen from time to time.

And the biggest of the similar line of Ford trucks. The bottom of the car seemed to bounce up and down so much. I wondered how it would perform if it was in a monster truck show. Unfortunately, all I could see was the truck bouncing up and down on the top of a huge trailer truck.

And a fire-roasted corn on a cob. We roasted some corns in a campfire last night. When we were roasting them, we hadn't a slightest idea how we would not be able to get away from this realm of corns for three days.

  We drove two days straight passing Pennsylvania and Ohio and arrived in Indiana. We had met more corns than the entire population of seven billion people of the world. Everywhere we went, corns greeted and cheered us from the roadside. They can stop now, I thought, but still continued on when we drove over a hill. We waved back at them. Then I realized the faces of the corn looked all different as 7 billion of people on Earth all look different. You keep looking carefully, then you can tell the subtle differences naturally. Thank you corns, We appreciate all your greetings and cheers. You can stop at the end of Indiana please.

http://sketchtripamerica.blogspot.com/2014_09_13_archive.html

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[Sketch Trip America] Episode 5: Parker Dam State Park and the Park Ranger Trio

On, interstate 84 in Pennsylvania, shortly after we began the trip, the supernova auto chart system was put in a full gear.  "Write in 'plan' category, during this entire trip, I will drink coffee only in the mornings. I won't drink coffee while we're moving." said Sumi.  I wrote it down as it is in the chart while sitting in the passenger seat. She's right. There's nothing better to drink than water. "Wow, that tree looks cool!" said Sumi. Only in 1.5 seconds, I found that single tree out of thousands of tress passing by the car window. Then, while setting focus of the lens, I twisted my torso to the right and took an ultra speed panning shot. A success! However, my back was cramping from twisting too much. I would need to find the object sooner than 0.5 second. I need practice.  There were many things to do. I wrote down road numbers, town names that we passed, what we ate, gas stations we stopped at and the specifics such as fuel price and mileage. I also wrote our conversations, thoughts from each of us, impressions of the landscapes, stories from meeting people. I wrote down every references that would become the foundation for the travel book. We wanted to leave a record of the traces of our travel. If we put these down well enough, it would be a piece of our life history. It would be rewarding to show our children after many years- sort of like the travel book that Bilbo Baggins handed to Frodo Baggins.

In the afternoon, we were driving through the cornfield. I heard there are wealthy farmers in Pennsylvania, and it must be true. We were driving through cornfield last two hours and would find fence or divider every twenty to thirty minutes. With trees and water in abundance, gentle hilly landscape, four seasons, and strong summer sun, anything would grow in this land. Bring Yul Brynner here and he would start growing hair.

I once read that George Washington had illegally acquired land west of the Appalachians which were reserved for Native Americans. These days, he would've been scrutinized at a hearing by the government. He must've really wanted the land. Now I know why he fought with England so vigorously. On the other hand, we were also fighting vigorously with cornfields. It was already 8:12 PM when we arrived at our first campground.

Parker Dam State Park Campground First one to greet us at the campground was a young deer. It was cute with white spots on the back and long legs. The cutest part about juvenile animal is that they are so clumsy and naive in their actions. This deer looked at our car and must've thought to himself at least three times. Uh, should I run away? Should I stay? My friends are gone. Should I run backward? Forward? Well, I dunno. Let's go to the side! He ran with the white tail up and hopped away clumsily. I was worried about him. Hope he takes good care of himself.

As we entered the park ranger's office, three rangers looked at us simultaneously. They were chatting before we came in and it seemed like we both needed some time to figure each other out. Maybe two seconds? but it was a long two seconds. I couldn't tell what they were thinking but my impressions of them were as follows: 'How come their arms are so thick? Did they share something bad to eat and got bloated? How are their uniforms so tight? Are there not enough large sizes? How old are they? The one with the goatee must be the oldest? By the way, is this the park office? not the mountain bandits headquarter?' It took about 17 seconds for me to figure them out. They were all in their 20s. They were all very muscular and had enough fat layer in between so the uniforms looked tight on them. They were very friendly park rangers and we were indeed in the park ranger's office. Sooner or later, we were conversing about the Route 66 and they recommended us campsite #60. One ranger asked the other which site would be good for us, then the rest of them said, "60. 60!" It was a perfect spot with the shower facility right next to it.

http://sketchtripamerica.blogspot.com/2014/09/sketch-trip-america-episode-5-parker.html

[sketchtrip]

[Sketch Trip America] Episode 4: Begin Cross-Country America, to Meet Great Scenery and People

Finally, we are off to travel cross-country. To meet the great landscape and the people.

It took us some time to get ready for the trip. Things that aren't necessary for short trips of 3-4 days become must-have's for a trip that's a month-long. I divided the cargo in two layers- camping gears at the bottom and things we need often on top. I tried to make cargo area very flat so nothing would be blocking the view for the driver. When we were shopping for a car, we had camping on our minds. We can flip forward the back seat of this car and make it completely flat.

Even if we were camping, we would leave few things we don't need inside the car. So I stowed them further away from the trunk door. Things that we need frequently, I stuck them in the gaps and crevices behind seats and between cargo boxes. Some miscellaneous items like baseball gloves, small axe, shovel, map, sun shield for the car, umbrella, and the automatic underwear washing machine was also shoved into those spaces.

Right before we got inside our car, Sumi asked, "Are we ready? Did we forget anything?" "Well, we'll only know when we are on the road," I answered back. There has to be one or two things that we leave out even if we were trying to be very thorough. And one can only realize after the departure. It's also part of the trip. It's August 27th, 1 PM in New York time and finally, off we go.

We planned on driving 300~350 miles(400~500 km) a day or even less. We have to draw, take pictures, and also write during the trip. The most important mission on this trip is to make a book of our travel. Also the car has to be taken into consideration. As I said before, we are driving 2002 Volkswagen Passat station wagon with 180,000 miles on it. The engine had been replaced and has little over 80,000 miles. Therefore, we don't know what will happen if our middle aged car was under a stressful condition. The latest health checkup showed a good result and our car doctor 'Dr. K' said it would be 'No Problem' to drive to L.A. However, I was reminded only after we got on the road that Dr. K said 'no problem' going to LA, but nothing about coming back. Let's go! Cross-country America! Can't wait to meet the unknown landscape and people along the way! Today's Route: Going through Pennsylvania

After three hours of driving, what we first encountered was a firetruck. It had an unusual green and yellow color. It was actually very cute. Cute may not be appropriate for this dangerous situation, but the fire had been put out already and only some smoke was rising from the burnt remains. The firemen looked like they were resting, too. Few thoughts passed through my head. Someone must've reported the fire pretty early on, and the fire truck got there fast enough. The mountains look pretty rocky so the fire must've been slow to spread. The policemen were redirecting the traffic behind the fire trucks, and everything seemed well managed. It seemed as though policemen and firefighters were moving under a tight emergency manual.

Next thing we encountered was an old car at a gas station. It was carrying a canoe on top of it. Because, I was looking at the car with such amazement, the owner came over and started talking to me about the car. It's a four wheel drive and very strong with a great suspension.... You like it and you want to have it. Well, he didn't say the last part. I was just thinking out loud. He looked like he was in the mid 50s. In the States, you can easily spot people driving around with various sports and leisure equipments on their cars. This blue car is probably much more awesome because it's hauling the red canoe. It was as though it came out of the factory with the canoe attached on top. Who knows. Maybe the canoe is just for a decoration, just like the emblem in front of a Rolls Royce.

Then, of course, we started remembering what we had forgotten when we left the house- Dried seaweed, frozen pork belly, steak to cook for tonight at the campground, and…. our cat Kopi. Actually, Sumi's mother is taking care of him and we left some yummy canned food, too. We would have taken him with us if we were traveling in a large camping car. But our car is too stressful for a cat. Take care, Kopi. Let's go on trips together next time when we buy an RV.

http://sketchtripamerica.blogspot.com/2014/09/sketch-trip-america-episode-4-begin.html

[sketchtrip]

[Sketch Trip America] Episode 3: Cross-Country Trip Route and High-Tech-Very-Smart-Super-Nova-Auto-Chart-System

Sumi drives better, speaks English better and uses computer better than me. So she got to plan the route and schedule.

Hm…. I need to do something that's comparable. What should I do? The whole route was set as follows: East-West route New York - Ohio - St. Louis - Take the Route 66 then stop at town to town, canyon to canyon - L.A.  3510miles. Estimated about 12 days. 

West-East route 

L.A. - again stop at canyon to canyon - New Mexico - Dallas - Houston - New Orleans - Mississippi - Tampa - along the East Coast - Delaware - New York

4288miles. Estimated about 12-13 days.

Total 7798miles. Estimated 23 to 26 days.

Of course, nothing was certain from the beginning. As soon as we discussed the overall route, Sumi started tapping something on her keyboard. I pretended I wasn't interested at first. Then when I glimpsed over her computer screen while I acted as if I was stretching, I saw something amazing. There was the entire route drawn on the U.S. map, and when Sumi put in places and the date, it memorized them and added to the whole schedule. It was a website called Roadtrippers. You put in places to stop along the way, then it also calculates the mileage, time and fuel cost. I ecstatically shouted, "Wow, this is amazing!" But, Sumi, not caring too much about my excitement, made a quick phone call to somewhere then headed straight out to the garage. She apparently made an appointment to take the car to the auto mechanic.

I don't need to follow her out to the garage. She probably wants to check on the car to see what's needed before taking it to the mechanic. Sumi is good at car maintenance as well. While she got our travel route ready and the car prepared, all I did was to say "Thirty days seems too long." I felt like I should contribute more. I wondered around the studio thinking what I can do, then decided to come up with an efficient system to make a travel book on the trip. I actually had been thinking it in my head last few days. It was a system, sort of like a black box, which records everything that happens, such as the route we travel, the mileage, food we eat, and places we sleep. But it needed more. A magnificent systematic recording chart comparable to Roadtrippers. First, I flapped open the tents and sleeping bags as loudly as possible, and spread them out to dry where Sumi will easily notice. Then, It suddenly hit me. A system that will outstrip the Roadstrippers,… uh, I mean Roadtrippers.

It is…. HIGH-TECH-VERY-SMART-SUPER-NOVA-AUTO-CHART-NOTEBOOK System. 100 Sheets.

It is most important that we work on our travel book during the trip. We have to sketch and write constantly, but can't do that while driving. So I come up with the High-Tech-Very-Smart-Super-Nova-Auto-Chart-System-100 Sheets. It works quite simply. If the driver had something to write about, as if using a hands-free device or Siri, speak out his or her thought, then the non-driver jots them down in the notebook. To categorize the ideas, you must call out the subject before what you have to say, such as 'what to draw', 'photograph', 'tools needed', and etc. For example, if Sumi yells out, "Jingoogk, write this down! You suck!" then, I have to write under 'Sumi', 'Jingoogk, you suck!' under 'Impressions' category. There is additional services. If Sumi says, "Jingoogk, water!" then a bottle of cold water is served to her. "Jingoogk, back itches!" I scratch her back. "A tree in 3 o'clock, take a picture!" then, you have to anything to take picture of this tree without it being blurry, in a car that is going over 60 miles per hour. It is a perfect system that even Siri on iPhone cannot even begin to copy. Now, the Roadstripper, I mean, Roadtrippers is beaten. Now what more can I do to be comparable to Sumi's car maintenance skills? Then, this hit me again, suddenly.

It is called, 'Auto Underwear Washing Machine'.

A clean pair of underwear is a difficult subject while traveling. During long trips, I am used to wearing underwear for many days and leave it glued to my body then peel it off like a second skin, but Sumi, like everyone else, likes her underwear nice and clean. So I came up with the auto underwear washing machine. It soaks and pre-washes garments while camping using a rather simple method. In a container with lid, water, detergent and dirty laundry are added. Then while moving in the vehicle, it's shaken around, thus washing garments clean. Upon arriving at the camp, rinse the soapy water from laundry while taking shower. Repeat. If the container has round bottom, it may help to speed-wash. I found an empty Planter's Honey-roasted peanuts container. I like to eat them with beer often. Very rewarding aspect of beer drinking, I must say.

Clean underwear for thirty days of our entire trip, this will compare to Sumi's car maintenance. I am finally proud as a man. I'm already married to her, but I still want to impress her.

Something extra- A mood lantern for night.

We bought this flat LED lighting from IKEA a while ago. When the round part gets pushed down, it lights up. If you place a bottle filled with liquid, it creates a reverberating atmospheric light. We randomly tried this idea during our trip to the Blue Ridge and it worked really well. Other people must have thought the same, this idea was listed as one of the best ideas for camping tricks on the internet. We are ready to go now. Leaving is the only thing left.

I'm posting this two days into the trip. Currently, I'm writing about the first two days. Next episode will be about the first day of trip and the real travel story. Wi-fi is the most critical matter.

http://sketchtripamerica.blogspot.com/2014/08/sketch-trip-america-episode-3-cross.html