Wandering Study

The volvo and I are headed out into the cold and rainy New England elements, hopefully at least one of us can stay dry. I’ve been staying with Jeff for over a month and it is time get back to California. The surf was fun if infrequent out here but I can’t wait to be back at my home break. I have a job lined up for the winter as well, working at June mountain. I have had to slow myself down though, remind myself there are a lot of states and cities and gas stations and car camping spots to pass through before I get home, best not to get ahead of myself. There are some projects I have brewing in my head for the trip across, they will manifest themselves here.

This is a sampling of the sketchbook from the last few weeks.

A vista feet from our tent.

Studying from the master.

Getting there in my mind anyway.

Finished reading Vonnegut’s Galapagos, the main thesis of which is human brains have grown too big to be useful as a survival scheme (i.e. humans are greedy and eternally unsatisfied as opposed to all other animals who only want to eat their fill and ease away any spare time) and therefore it is in the best interest of humans to evolve back to a smaller brain and a more simple life. When I first arrived in New England and met up with my cousins we talked about why we are all unsatisfied by our jobs, and in my case my lack of. One thought came up, we have too many options. Having no solution….we went camping.

Sleeping out on the river bank. A little damp and a little cold.

Blaine, Me, Brad, Dan, Jeff on Labor Day at the summit of the highest peak on the east coast along with the entire population of New England (just out of frame).

Another fruitless surf check.

As David is soggy somewhere north of me, I’ve made it safely to school in Geneva, New York. Dorm life is considerably a large switch from living in an old Volvo, but here I am! I chickened out along our journey across the continent as far as writing goes, but here are some of my favorite photos from the trip (the digital ones, anyway. Dear Holga has yet to be developed…).

Day 2, Yellowstone National Park. A viewing spot on the way out of the park. A wedding party joined us in the photo-taking.

Yellowstone National Park

Day 3. Sunrise view over Mono Lake from Inyo National Forest

Game Hunting Grounds, Idaho. Our valley for the night with only birds and a dilapidated shack for company.

Idaho. David playing with the Argus

Idaho. The Volvo at sunset.

Red Canyon, Wyoming

Red Canyon, Wyoming

Red Canyon, Wyoming. David and the Argus

Red Canyon, Wyoming. David showcasing his Swiss mountaineer look.

An unfortunate hood ornament

Badlands National Park, South Dakota. Off-roading with the Volvo

Badlands National Park, South Dakota. Grasshopper on windshield and David.

Badlands

New York. Walking across the George Washington Bridge into the City!

New York City. David outside the Met (on a monday)

New York. Our 6.5 x 10 ft room at the Jane Hotel.

New York. Counting Crows/Augustana/Michael Franti concert

New York. Last day of driving. David enjoying the passenger seat.

I feel a bit like I’m navigating a sinking ship. The Volvo has indeed sprung a few leaks. A small lake is developing at my feet and I am repacking the car to keep electronics and books centered, away from the unpredictable intrusions of rain. All the while my the windshield defroster is losing ground against the fogging windows.
I’ve made it to Montauk, Hurricane Danny is delivering waves but I cant figure out how to get to the surf between the private property and the high fee state parks. Its seems there is a 125 dollar fine for parking any where in this town.
Listening to Counting Crows’ Rain King for the fifth time today.

some where rainy on long island (hamptons)

Well…I called it. Haphazard reporting taken to its end. We have both been shooting plenty of shots on our variety of cameras, but wanderingstudy has been neglected. Our non driving time has been dedicated to sleeping and eating. Our very limited internet time(usually poached from unsuspecting rural type folk) has been dedicated to logistics. So it goes.

I’m really looking forward to developing the roll of film that is in my argus right now. It’s a high saturation film that my uncle gave me when we dropped through Dayton, NV.  There should be some great shots on there of our Idaho-an shack lit up by a singular sunset.

Tonight we are in a hotel in Chicago (outside Chicago actually for financial reasons).  This is the most settled in we have been thus far. Internet and a big bed…oh…and TV.

We’ll be in NY in a few days and get some more up here.

Oh yeah…cross your fingers for good weather…the Volvo seems to have sprung a leak.

Testing out the Volvo's roll over limits with some off roading at the badlands.

Fish eye cliff view in the badlands.

I can never sleep the night before anything important, but big trips are especially tough. When I close my eyes my brain is still moving way too fast for sleep. I cleared my mess out of the living room and finished packing the things I’m leaving behind into the attic around three in the morning and made a feeble attempt at sleep but was back at my computer in a few minutes.

My last few trips have been haphazardly documented, and I don’t plan on doing any better here.  The plan for wanderingstudy is to have a depository for photos, thoughts and drawings from both Briana and I. The site will start as a road trip and we will see where it goes after that. The same can be said for my life.

Our itinerary is loose, only constrained by its endpoints. Leave Los Angeles(home) on 8.10.09 and arrive in New York by 8.25.09. Briana starts school at Hobart in upstate New York a few days later.

We are armed with inexpensive and unreliable cameras and an ‘87 Volvo wagon to match.

Here comes the day…