New Jersey Pizza, Flagstaff

It was unfortunately not that great. Incredibly friendly staff, and went out of his way to confirm that their vegan cheese doesn't have casien. But it was still kind of greasy and notsuper tasty.

Flagstaff on balance, however, is lovely. J and I put out on the short list to consider for retiring. Yes, it's THAT lovely.

Bakersfield, you're all right

Ride 6 miles in 100 degree heat and a blistering hot wind to get to Lengthwise Brewing's pub, but it was flat and fast, with courteous drivers, and nice (if under-utilized) river trail. Yeah, this beer is gonna go down just fine.

Sacramento TOMORROW!

Welcome to Bakersfield

Yes, that is an actual, operating oil rig next to our truck.

Chess

I whipped J at chess last night at The 806 in Amarillo, a cozy vegetarian coffeehouse in Amarillo.

She had her comeuppance today, taking five of seven games of Trivial Pursuit in the truck. But we agreed that many of the questions were ridiculous - some preposterously easy, some amazingly obscure, many just super dated (we're playing with questions from the cross ~1982 original.)

I then came back to handily win the Alphabet Game. Woot!

Oh, Idyllwild

Of the readers of this blog, probably only S will be able to relate to this - do you remember how Husch and McNeil smelled? Slightly musty, yet comforting, high desert?

The Best Western in Amarillo smells identical in the hallway!

Amarillo!

I'm brown.

Had some tasty vegan snacks here at The 806, and tasty beer, but nothing extraordinary.

Long but mostly thunderstorm free day of driving. Third flat tire in two days (two on bikes, one on the car carrier.)

Why I'm not especially sorry to be leaving Atlanta

Second in a series.

Why I'm not especially sorry to be leaving Atlanta

First in a series.

Pratt Street Ale House, Baltimore

From the outside you wouldn't think much, but it has some solid house ales, brewed mostly in modern interpretations of British styles. Some delicious stuff. Unfortunately for vegans they use a lot of honey for gravity bumping.

Dad's ship!

Circa 1959-61. Gonna tour it tomorrow!

Hope we at least get to peek at the galley.

On the front of the boat you can see the big guns, test firing of which made him flinch at big fireworks for the rest of his life.

I kinda like Baltimore, but it is, like many rust belt cities, a city of contrasts, even extremes: decaying urban core and long blocks of abandoned buildings, then you wander in to corporate capitalist tourist hell (think Hard Rock and Bubba Gump Shrimp Company.) I prefer the blocks of abandoned buildings.

Vegan dinner at Noodles & Co

Not the greatest, but... edible. I'm tired (woke up at 4:15am in Atlanta, flew to DC, ride all over town on their excellent bike share program) then took the Amtrak up here. And it's raining. And the sun is in my eyes...

Good ol' fashioned American hypocrisy

At the Jefferson Memorial.

Busboys and Poets

In Mt. Vernon, Washington, DC. A nice, if undersalted and underspiced, tofu scramble. A little spendy (bottomless coffee, while excellent, is $2.75) but fun place, great vibe, super pleasant people.

Now to rent a bike share and see some sights before the game!

Sad Jeep

This is what your steering column and ignition look like when an amateur car thief tries to steal it. Fortunately we have comprehensive.

Minneapolis

Minneapolis is definitely my favorite city in the Midwest. This is my Nice Ride Minnesota bike share bike, about to ride over the Mississippi River. No, i didn't walk it.

Walker Art Museum, Minneapolis

 

Proposal, by Dave McKenzie.

Triple Rock Social Club

The curious thing is that there is almost nothing else ironic about this place: it's a grungy motherfucking punk rock bar. And awesome at that.

Nice Ride Minneapolis

It's $6 for unlimited rides under 30 minutes for 24 hours. And there's a station across the street from Hard Times, one literally right outside the door of Town Hall Brewery, and another within a block or two of my hotel, and Target Field.

Excited that a bike share program finally makes sense for me to use!

Lotta domain to survey

Only a couple of you get the joke...

The Artist Formerly Known As Comiskey

I'm pretty sure this is the least attended major league game I've ever been to (Mets at White Sox.) US Cellular Field is big and pretty, bye kind of a ballpark is search of fans. I'm literally the only one sitting in my section, and the concourse outside of it is like a ghost town.

Weird.