Well, back in the States now. I miss Canada already…
At least I get to hang out with my favorite son, Geo, for a couple of days.
After crossing the border, I observed a few things. There’s a small percentage of East Coasters? that are obnoxious bad drivers. As opposed to the obnoxious good drivers in LA and San Diego. This small minority is driving like their hair is on fire, and they have all the skills of Michael Schumacher, but after the ski accident. I know it’s a bad joke, but it’s the best analogy I could think of… brain dead morons. The vast majority, thankfully, is driving normally, and these bad drivers endanger everyone (unskilled aggressiveness).
Also, the streets in Providence remind me of 1990 Romania, after the winter had passed. Or maybe Dresden streets in 1945. If you’d like to experience the perfect exercise in futility, try to dodge potholes.
And like the entire East Coast it seems, there are pockets of beauty and pockets of ugly. I cannot understand why the most powerful and richest real country in the world cannot fix these problems (infrastructure, homelessness). We can put a man on the Moon, and we can’t solve these issues? C’mon ‘Merica, let’s do better!
Portland ME is another prettier Providence. Beauty on the commercial shore and at sea, islands, etc. Where the rich congregates, I surmise. The rest, well, not so much.
Let’s concentrate on the beauty:
And Geo and I like food almost as much Roci likes Premium gas and spare parts from Europe…
Thankfully we were both tired, so we skipped the fancy seafood place, in favor of a more down to earth restaurant…
And this is after we had pierogis. I authoritatively explained Geo they’re the national food of Hungary, and they are quite tasty. He consulted the menu, and said “but Dad, they’re Polish!”
I’ve changed the subject…
But Polish or Hungarian, doesn’t matter, they were good!
The main course was even better, and for whatever unknown reason that mushy kale salad totally works with vast quantities of meat.
And the server seems impressed with us, and she says “would you like desert?”
I said “absolutely.”
“I’ll bring you a menu.”
”No need, we know what we want for desert.”
Needless to say, the desert was excellent.
We walked to the restaurant (Durk’s Bar•B•Q – self proclaimed best bbq in Providence – and I have no reason to doubt it).
It took us 30 mins. The way back it took us 45, as we were very fat. And happy.
Just by looking at these pics a day later, and I’m drooling. Inside. Mostly.
This morning we went to Geo’s mechanic to fix some things on his Mazda, and on the way back we stopped at Mickey D. We ignored the signs…
For the record, I had black coffee… I felt no creamer will make out for the last night’s meal.
And today I’ve managed to get a flat ass. Technical term, describing one’s ass after 8 hours seating in f..g traffic. Have I mentioned how I feel about some of the drivers here?
But I’m in DC now, and that’s all that matters!
Tomorrow it’ll be a three hour Capitol et environs walking tour, if I figure out how to use the stupid local transportation app. It’s not Japan Airlines website bad, but bad nevertheless… And Friday I get to see my favorite son, Mihai! 😀😀😀
Long day today, Thursday.
Note to self: walking for hours in Converse shoes is not the smartest thing you could do. Although I could have been on his heels, lol. Ummm… no.
Started the DC discovery by doing a Capitol and surroundings walking tour. Three hour tour, visiting quite a few locations:
I went to see the Washington monument with trepidations…
After all, it was so convincingly destroyed in Olympus has fallen, that I half expected not being there. But, I’m happy to report, that was just Hollywood magic (AC-130 hits the monument at 2 min 50 in the clip).
And talking about that movie, it instilled in me the desire to protect the city from terrorists… so I was on the lookout for baddies the entire day, itching to showcase my inner Gerard Butler… Washington DC was very quiet today, the Senate, Representatives and the Supreme Court all being away, hence no TV crews and no protesters… and no sight of North Koreans flying in a stolen AC-130 gunship. So I just walked around for hours in my comfortable-for-a-10-min-walk Converse shoes (remember “baschetzi chinezesti?😀😀😀).
DC is such a nice place, albeit relatively overrun by tourists… walking and seeing all the landmarks I’ve seen before in movies and I’ve read about it was awesome.
Btw, if you look at the above pic, I’m the one with the tired smile, and Lincoln’s the one big and white. The other guy’s Pedro. I plan to vote for him😜.
Combined with seeing the street vendors selling Make America great again paraphernalia in the same shop with Kamala for President, it gave me the idea to go see Mihai dressed in a Kamala tshirt with a Trump cap. And if I find a way, get a “Vote for Pedro” sign on the back of the tshirt.
Geo thought it is hilarious, and I should totally do it. Radu thought it’s a very dumb idea.
I think it’s both, and maybe I’ll buy them tomorrow. Since Mihai will be with his gf, I doubt that’s the way he’d like to introduce his dad. Hmmm… decisions, decisions…
I just spent 10 mins with ChatGPT and Gemini to make them generate a picture with the above mentioned combo, but could not convince either. Maybe I just need to do it, as dumb as it sounds?
We shall see…
America: Layd down from the Latest
Observations and Best Authorities Agreeable to the Peace of 1783….
As a complete random thought that has nothing to do with DC, I wish I would have remember to visit the Falling water house…
My time in DC is almost over. Tomorrow morning I’ll go see Shenandoah Valley…
But until then, I’ve been on an aerospace diet. Saw both Smithsonian Air and Space museums. If you’re in DC and you want to see this museum, be aware there are two locations. One is downtown, with all the other museums, and the other one is close to the airport.
If my mom would still be alive, I would have said to her these tiles look like the ones in her original kitchen…
The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center site of the Smithsonian Air and Space museum (the one close to the airport) is a veritable smorgasbord of famous planes and space ships… I only had an hour a half-ish, as I’ve tried to squeeze it in before having dinner with Mihai. Not considering the Friday afternoon DC traffic that ate at least an hour out of the 2.5-3 hours I was planning to spend here. If you visit, allow yourself more time!
And before seeing Mihai, I went to get Roci, as she was waiting for me sitting pretty in the parking lot.
It was great to see my favorite son, Mihai at dinner… and I’ve got to see him again next day at the downtown Air and Space museum.
True story, Neil Armstrong found something very interesting on the Moon. He took it back to Earth with him, and later donated it to the Smithsonian:
I guess one of the Rebels forgot the ship unattended or something…
After seeing most of the museum, we went for lunch, and since Mihai admired /what Geo and I had in Providence, we’ve done a reenactment of the “Revansa” movie, and this is a shot:
In my defense (as I did help Mihai with the vegetarian dishes in the above pic), I had this for breakfast:
A few other random shots from the last couple of days.
Arlington is both beautiful and moving. I’m really glad I jumped off the sightseeing bus to see it.
While I’ve read a lot about the Civil war, I didn’t know Gen. Lee was a prominent career U.S. army commander. He was offered the command of the U.S. army, and then he resigned a few days later. And became the secessionist army commander, although he was vehemently opposed to the war. What a personal struggle he must have been through… A controversial personality even today, I’m glad his story was on display in the Arlington house.
Arlington is another must see DC site in my opinion. There were a lot of foreign tourists, and one of the most prevalent foreign languages during my visit was French.
Another day, another adventure. Like I keep telling my favorite sons, in life it’s better to be lucky than smart.
Here’s proof:
In my quest to park poor Roci far from the adjacent parking line, thus protecting her from dings and scrapes from bad drivers, I’ve managed to do a masterpiece parking job. In the process I’ve used her mirrors, the sonic distance sensors, the High Def rear view camera, and my infallible intuition / 6th sense. Nothing worked, as I’ve came within a couple of inches from hitting her roof on some metal thingie, probably an AC unit or whatever. Definitely I was lucky… a lucky dumbass…
And while walking around with Mihai, we saw an opportunity to reenact another one of my favorite movies (and Mihai’s), Big ass spider!
In case you haven’t seen this masterpiece, do yourself a favor and watch it ASAP. It’s brilliant, in the vein of another brilliant classic, Grabbers.
Now as I write this I’m in SoCar (South Carolina), not to be confused with SoCal😜.
But, the road was long between DC and Spartanburg SC. I took the scenic route. Actually routes.
First road that goes for 100+ miles is called Skyline Dr and goes through Shenandoah National Park (thank you Radu and a few other friends that recommended it). As this is a National Park and it was Sunday, for what is probably one if not the last really scenic “leafs are turning” weekend, it was quite busy. I wish I’d arrive a week earlier, as some trees appeared ready for the winter hibernation (or whatever trees do in the winter). I guess several days ago the colors would have been even more spectacular. The road itself is good, and there are myriad of overlooks where you can stop and take pics. Or as you’ll see a bit later, Roci does create her own overlooks.
The second scenic drive (which I liked even more) is called Blue Ridge Parkway and goes for a lot of miles. I’ve probably done 70 or so, and then went to the normal state roads to gain some speed, as Radu promised “potol gretzos” (which loosely translated means really yummy food). He even promised one of his many specialties, “cheese au borcan.” Yum!
As mentioned, now I’m in Spartanburg, the capital of South Carolina. I’m not sure, but let’s call it the capital. Maybe it’s the other city, Greenbier or whatever its name is…
Very pretty here, too. And going in a tangent, couple the beautiful nature with a relatively inexpensive cost of living and you have a great combo!
And while the food was delish, the most surprising thing for me it was how thin RDK got since I have seen him last time. I wonder if he’ll tell me his secret!
I’m already drooling by thinking about tonight’s dinner. Pray there’s still “cheese au borcan” as I think I kinda finished it at lunch…
Please, pretty please!
A few hours have passed…
…and yes, there was “cheese au borcan.”
I’m getting quickly fat in SoCar…
And another day, another experience. I’ve never been a pool boy, with or without “”.
Now I’ve become one. Unfortunately without the “”. Or maybe fortunately?
And that video showcases my DJI Neo drone 4k video qualities. For a Chinesium toy, it’s quite impressive.
While we’re on the drive videos topic, here are two more:
Radu preparing the gratar (grill).
Helix runs around the pool, showcasing Radu’s mansion.
On a technical side note, the damn toy can run fully automated. Impressive. One can see the potential of these drones in all types of applications, including chasing the U.S. president.
Man, I really like Gerard Butler… He’s the most American Brit ever!
And now for something completely different, Radu and Mony got a tiger for Adi, and here’s the pic to prove it:
SoCar is the most advanced state in the nation when it comes to car washes. Spartanburg has a million of them, and the one I’ve been at it’s by far the most advanced one I’ve ever been to (Shine near pine car wash).
When we’ve finished the bubble bath (including the pedicure for Roci’s wheels and tires), we’ve tried the vacuums. Holy Mother of God! (I’m in SoCar, so holy cow just doesn’t do it anymore).
That vacuum could suck a coherent idea out of our presidential candidates! It did suck the plastic eye guide from the carpet out. Luckily it was too big to go through, so after disassembling the head, I’ve recovered it. I was actually afraid to put my hand in front of it to test the suction… no kidding!
Awesomest car wash ever! If you ever visit Spartanburg, you need to see this place!
Radu and I went shopping and I’ve got an awesome hat.
When Roci saw me, she wanted the same hat, too.
An extremely clean Roci as she hasn’t been since we’ve left Carlsbad, in front of Radu and Mony’s mansion. The basement is bigger than my arguably sizable two bedroom condo in Carlsbad!
To put my new Tractor Supply cap to good use, we went hiking. Ok, walking.
And we’ve encountered an actual tractor. Or tractor-ish vehicle.
Since it’s Halloween, we went shopping for Adi’s American Psycho costume (more on that later). And Roci was not the only one making new friends, I did too.
This tall dude made some comments about me needing to go on a diet, and gave me some advice. Which I promptly ignored. Don’t tell him.
Radu is world renowned for his salads, and Geo (after seeing the below pic) said “it looks divine.” I think he meant the salad.
And after a great dinner, we let the conversation die down, while admiring the SoCar sky.
And talking about Halloween, here’s Adi channeling his inner American Psycho.
And that gave Radu and I the inspiration to reenact another famous duel from “Cine-anfipt laleaua’n brinza.” As is “cheese au borcan,” I guess.
And after a good meal, a good duel ending in a draw, a very light nap of 10 hours, we went hiking again.
Helene was here, too. The destruction that Radu told me about was eye opening. I can’t imagine how bad it was in Asheville, if there was so much damage here, in Spartanburg,
Trees cut and placed at the side of the road everywhere. And I mean everywhere. Crazy.
And since Roci did not take a church pic in a while, here’s another one, a day or two after taking that famous bubble bath. She’s still a very clean girl. And church-going, also.
More Halloween evening pics follow:
After listening to music, and some light dancing by R&M, and drinking some beer (I repeat, for the benefit of local police, non-alcoholic in my case), we left. And I’ve tried to do the Lambada or whatever that move is called. Failed miserably, but had fun in the process.
I swear the beer was non-alcoholic!
After getting home, in a very clean, sporty and comfy Roci, I saw a ghost on the patio.
The generosity of the local SoCar business is amazing. Not only the exquisite food this sandwich shop provides, but they also had freebies.
Another night, another salad has been executed.
A few pics from Pisgah park. I think it’s in NoCar (North Carolina).
And to cap great weekend, RDK made a special pulled pork recipe. It didn’t end as pulled pork, but it was soooo good, that we forgot to take any pics. Yum!
And what a surrender that was! The meat was cooked to perfection, and he made baked potatoes and beet salad of two types. Again, I have no photographic proof, as everything look so good that we forgot to take any pics (especially for Comandante’ Aurel).
I’ve also contributed a bit to making the dinner, by mixing the olive oil in the beet salad. I did however contribute a lot to the magic event of the evening, by making a lot of food dissapear. I am very gifted, what can I say…
Well, another day, another presidential election, and we have a new 47th prez…
More importantly, however, RDK made some more “cheese au borcan.”
Yes, I am that good when it comes to eating cheese…
And speaking of Radu, here’s him taming the beast.
And speaking now of Birdie, this is one intelligent cat. And persuasive, as she knows how to get what she wants. She’s as stubborn as Navalny, and thankfully RDK’s not Putin.
And finally, this is Roci sleeping outside a couple of nights ago. Pretty lines even from this angle.
She has new HID lights, and for the life of me, I can’t tell if they’re any better as the old ones… amazing how the Chinesium products improved – both quality and price. 22 years ago, when Baby (my Honda S2000) was new, an HID bulb (one) was something like $800. Now, for Roci, I’ve bought two HID bulbs from Amazon for $20. SYLVANIA bulbs would probably be better, but they would be 10x more expensive. Crazy globalized world! Still globalized, for now. And hopefully for ever…
As tomorrow I start my drive home, I will only post the final mileage (update: over 13k miles in just under two months). And perhaps some final thought of wisdom. Probably,
An adventure it was, and what an adventure!
One can note my artistic abilities completing the map by hand. I marvel at my graceful drawing… Leonardo had nothing on me!
After a third day with 750+ miles driven in a row, my butt says “no more roadtrips for a while!”
Finally back in Carlsbad, after two months and a lot of miles, too many hotel rooms, premium gas, great and sometimes shitty food, innumerable number of times I had a ton of fun doing fun/silly/plain stupid things, meeting some interesting people, seeing awesome vistas (and some boring parts), and figuring out life (well, maybe just a bit).
Before posting my final words of wisdom, here’s a bonus pic from SoCar:
Well, I was thinking how lucky I am… I was able to take a personal sabbatical to decompress, de-stress and recharge my (Li-Ion) batteries.
When you have time, you don’t have money, and when money’s not an issue, time is… I am very thankful for being able to do this road trip and decompressing and assessing.
After these two months of traveling across the U.S. and Eastern Canada, I feel a lot wiser. Ok, maybe just a tiny bit wiser.
And in my magnanimity, here are some random newfound(land😜) bits of wisdom:
- Friends are most important in one’s life
- Relationship that work, work. The ones that don’t, don’t
- While work is important, there’s a ton of life outside work that you should “live” first
- Being alone and away from your daily grind allows one to put some perspective and realize that one should re-read “The subtle art of not giving a f*ck”
- The old Audi S8 from Ronin is a great traveling machine
- Cheese is the essence of life
- Good food (in addition to cheese) is wonderful, and some times one should stop eating microwaveable stuff (even the good stuff from Costco)
- Before leaving for an extended vacation, one needs to adequately prepare. Amber driving Serengeti glasses are a life-and-death matter. Ish
- Trying to save money looking for cheaper premium gas is an exercise in futility (especially when the journey is the destination)
- Canada is awesome
- CarPlay is awesome
- French is awesome, Quebecoise not so much
- Natasha St Pier is awesome, even when she’s hard to understand (which for me is too often)
- Michelin Pilot Sport 4 all-season are da bomb (in combination with a proper alignment)
- Life is short, and please re-read the above point about not giving too many f*cks about any little issue
- All the above means nothing, if it means nothing to you. In the end, as Landmark says, I have learnt nothing
It was exhilarating sharing all this wonderful wisdom with all of you, my readers!
Hmmm… all my readers… this reminds me of a Houston burger place advertisement I saw a long time ago: “Mega Burger – Over six served!”
