Tribute to those who made my trip possible

When I set the trip up, I considered it as a big adventure. I shall travel across the country visiting many unknown places, and when I finally finish the trip, I can look back and claim I have done something like a great expedition. I can boast about how I overcome the difficulties and find a way to finish it.

However as the trip went on, such unrealistic expectation wore down. After all, it was not that difficult at all, as so many people have traveled perhaps the same path before. I was probably one of the millions who have traveled across the country. There are roads to follow and cities to stay at. There are maps and endless information online to refer to. The longer I traveled, the more I realize there were no credits for me to claim for this trip. The credits, in my opinion, belong to those who had great vision, worked hard and suffered tremendously in their times to make my trip possible in the current time.

The Interstate Highway

I lived in LA for three years before the move. Life is so deeply involved with the highway system there so it is easy to fall into the illusion that the highways are always there, ready for us to use. As I drove away from the metropolitan I realized this thought obviously is not true. The Interstate highways cut through the wilderness between the scattered cities in the big country. It brings tremendous convenience to the long distance travelers. As I traveled across the unpopulated area between the cities, I realized that the Interstate Highway is obviously something unnatural and has to be thought up. It must be someone who had great vision to propose and erect such a system. A little search on the Internet shows me the proposal was made by President Eisenhower in the 50s. For whatever reasons they proposed the huge system back then, it is certainly convenient for travelers today.

A sign commemorating the proposal of the Interstate Highway system at a rest area.

It was difficult to establish the interstate highway system in the first place, but of course it also takes great effort to maintain it. Along the way, I saw many people working on various segments of the highway to keep it in good shape. It is not only arduous work, but the potential danger is high. These are truly the unsung heroes who keep the transportation in the nation up and running.

However, even these people are all followers of the great explorers who traveled from the East coast into the wild West one hundred something years ago, and established expedition passages and early settlements that turn into roads and cities through time. It is hard to imagine that 200 years ago most of the cities I traveled were not there. What happened in the west exploration period may not be completely politically correct today, but there is no doubts that their efforts made my trip possible. And I am thankful for that as I really had a great experience following their collective footsteps. Although it was a history long back, but I somehow strangely felt that I was connected to those early explorers on the road. Perhaps, although we live in different time, the driving force behind the trips are somewhat similar, and their stories had encouraged me to take on such a trip.

The emotion reached its peak when I arrived at St. Louis and saw the tall standing Gateway Arch. It marks the starting point of the great expedition led by Lewis and Clark in the early 1800s, the first team to reach the Pacific Coast on the land. I stood there starring at the arch, thinking what it took 200 years ago to set off from here and traveled all the way back to the west coast, without automobile, roads, or even maps. They took a great challenge at that time and emerged successful. That was really, really unimaginable.

The Gateway Arch stimulates my admiration towards the early explorers.

The Welcome Centers

Coming back to the modern era, the Interstate highways really facilitate the travelers. However, although the roads take the center of the stage, the supporting casts are equally important. Along the way, I stopped by many rest areas and so-called "welcome centers" at the state borders. At the beginning, it was for the purpose of collecting hotel coupon booklets. But soon I found such stops unnecessary with the help of the almighty Priceline and Motel6. However, I still made many stops along the way, as these welcome centers are in themselves interesting places to see, and it is a nice place to chat with people too. The information desk staff I met were all nice, and some were also very helpful in providing nice local info. Here are some interesting things I noted along the way.

(The best conversation)
I had a conversation with a senior gentleman, Danny, at a Illinois visitor center (I remember it is close to a beautiful lake visible from the highway). He worked in Chicago for 35 years, and after his retirement, he decided to come back to his birthplace to serve in the visitor center. I appreciated that thought a lot. During the conversation, he was happy about that I enjoyed the view of the lake, and did not hesitate to provide me a load of information about all the vantage points to have good view of the lake. Although I did not have time to visit those places, I felt the conversation alone made me happy about that stop. Some of the staff try hard to make travellers feel at home, and Danny is the best example I had on this trip.

A beautiful lake view at the rest area where Danny works as a volunteer.

...and it has got nice lawn, too. Not bad to retire and work at this place.

I can say this is almost as good as a tour destination in itself.

(The best modern facility)
Florida, as a state for famous tourist destinations, invested a lot in the welcome center, and it was certainly the most luxury one I saw on the road (check out the other post about it here). Georgia was the runner up. The welcome center has interesting displays about the history of interstate highways in Georgia, and some other stuff.

Special designed mat at the welcome center of Georgia.

Some displays about local history and culture.

...and a display board for Interstate system is Georgia.

(The best historical facility)
This definitely goes to the Whitehaven in Kentucky, where they make use of a historical building originally constructed in the 1860s as the welcome center. Of course, it went through significant renovation so nothing much is as old as the listed date. However, the overall appearance of the building still makes a huge difference with any other welcome centers built for that purpose, and it is exactly this difference makes it interesting.

Whitehaven, Kentucky separates itself from all other welcome centers I had been to by using a renovated historical building as the welcome center.

The front side of the building is definitely nice.

Interestingly, within the historical building there is a very modern real-time traffic information system. You can scroll and zoom to check out the traffic status in the state (and in some contiguous states, if I remember it right).

(Other interesting facilities)

Some interesting decorations to the bench in a welcome center of Tennessee.

In Kansas, they show the historical map on the wall of a welcome center....

....with some interesting carving.

This is the most interesting invention in the restroom I have seen for a long time. A fully-automatic hand washer that provides soap, water, and hot air in 3 stages, no human control needed at all. It appears to be a nice idea, but it extends the time a person standing there. Perhaps not so good for a busy restroom.

8/30 - the ending

I waived goodbye with my friends and headed south early in the morning. Before leaving the city, of course, I must visit the home of Atlanta Braves, the great legend in 1990s and 2000s who captured the division title in 14 straight seasons. I drove to the Turner Field and took a few shots. This was the last baseball stadium I visited on the trip.

Turner Field, where the legend of perennial NL East champion is born.

This Olympic five-ring logo sits close to the Turner Field. It was the only sign I saw to remind me the Olympic Games was here in 1996.

I drove with a funny mood this day. I knew that after being on road for so many days, finally I was coming home - A home I had never been, and even didn't know how it looks like. Nonetheless, I was still excited about finally getting there. The drive turned out to be longer than I thought. Although Georgia and Florida are contiguous states, Atlanta is in the northern part of Georgia. I spent most of the morning in Georgia, wondering where the state border is, and finally, I crossed the border in the early afternoon.

Welcome to Florida, the Sunshine State, and the new place I call home in US.

Being a popular tour destination, I could see Florida really makes huge effort to make a nice welcome center at the state border. First impression is important.

Hmmm.... This is really the best setup at the welcome centers I saw on the road.

I put down my "official record" of entering the state on the guest book. A picture for the proof.

As I had south from the state border, I felt I become impatient about driving. I really wished I could warp across space and arrive at the destination immediately. Just a bit longer, just a bit longer, I told myself for like the thirtieth times. With the passing of every sign on the highway, there were new clues that I was closer. And my mood lifted with that.

After so many days, finally I saw the familiar I-10 again, at the other end.

Finally, Gainesville was on the radar.

U of Florida, here I come.

I came off the interstate and set my foot into Gainesville for the first time. I was probably one of the very few international student to arrive here on the surface. I found my apartment complex quickly and my roommate, Sapon, was waiting for me. He helped me to take a few shots that I probably don't want to circulate publicly. But, for the sake of completeness, here they are.

This was the very moment I finished my 3,000-mile cross country trip. I have done it.

The joyful ending should be followed immediately by a salute to Whity. It deserved all of it.

To show I really loved the effort Whity put in to take me all the way here safely, I kissed it....

...and gave it a big hug.

Home, sweet home.... Well, it is just an empty room for now. Definitely need some work. But hell, I don't care now. It is so nice I don't have to hit the road tomorrow.

8/28 and 8/29 - Pushing forward with pain

I felt awful physically after coming back from the baseball game last night. I had a high spirit, but it was no longer sufficient to make me forget the physical problem. I had a terrible back pain, something really hard to explain, but very likely due to the extended hours I sit and drove. Actually, I could barely sit up straight during the last few innings at the ballpark.

Luckily the almighty Priceline.com granted me a nice hotel room for tonight. The bed is firm, and the bath tube is large. So I could submerge myself completely in hot water, and lied flat for the night. It helped, but within a limit.

Originally I planned to visit the gateway arch this morning. But I had to call it off due to physical condition. The original hope to save a day here and go from St. Louis to Antlanta, GA in one day was also given up. With this back condition, I didn't think it is a good thing to attempt.

So I got the whole day to go from St. Louis to Nashville, TN. This was an easy 300-mile drive, so I tried to get myself in better shape by taking more rest until noon. In retrospect, I regret that I had been to St. Louis but didn't visit the Gateway Arch. However, I had to do what I must on that day.

Nothing much else is note-worthy for the day, but it was amazing that my body naturally reacted to the pain. It seemed to find a better position for driving, as I mention in this suggestion. Sometimes, when you are extremely tired, you naturally find a way to finish the jobs in a more efficient way. As it says, life finds its own way.

At this point I was a bit tired of sight-seeing. All I wanted is to reach my destination safely and timely. With no detour at all, I reached Nashville before sunset. As I must put the all remaining strength together on getting to the destination, I stayed put in the hotel for the rest of the day.

At some point that evening, I recalled what had happened in the trip from day one. There were so many nice bits of memory that I wished to share with people. Families, friends, even strangers. I thought I had a great trip, and a bunch of stories to tell. It would be a shame to keep all that to myself, as I believe this is too good to be kept unknown. I made a small list of facts and thoughts related to this trip, and it turned out to be the outline of this blog you are reading.

The next day I drove further south. The weather was getting hotter for every state I passed, and I knew I was getting close. I traveled across four states in these two days to reach Atlanta, the last major city I would visit on the way.

As I headed to Atlanta on I-75 South, I saw the first traffic jam after I left LA 14 days ago.

I visited my friends at Atlanta. After being alone on the road for 14 days, it was really nice to see someone I know in person. I first walked around Georgia Tech, one of the schools I wanted to get in very much when I applied. Here are a few shots for the campus.

The symbol for GIT.

The steam engine at GIT.

The Tech.

That night I had my last supper on the road trip with friends at a Chinese restaurant in Atlanta. It was a very nice meal with friends, and being on the road for so many days, I really missed Chinese food. I stayed at a friend's place for the night. I thought a lot about the trip before I went to bed, as I knew it was going to the end on the next day. I was really, really happy that I took this opportunity and made a cross-country driving trip out of it. I had a great experience on the road, something I could really savor with a sense of satisfaction in the future. With that thought, I went to sleep with a big smile on my face.

Suggestions on long distance driving

After driving a long way across the country, I think I am also in a good position to provide some advices on long-distance driving.

The single most important thing I would recommend is that one should have done sufficient homework on the map before hitting the road. You must know what's ahead and what's your limit. You should have a plan for each day about how much you drive and where you stop. If you don't like the constraints brought by a complete plan for everyday, at least set up check points for every three days. Try to set up a plan that you feel confident carrying it out. Don't be over-optimistic - your accuracy in assessing your capability in driving and finding the road has everything to do with a safe, enjoyable, and well-paced trip. If you drive slowly, if you have problem following the map and signs and tend to get lost, or if you simply don't like sitting in car 10 hours a day, take them into account when you make up a plan. If you would like to have time visiting tourist attractions, make such time available at your table at home, not on the road. The most frustrating thing on the road is to find out in the middle of a trip you have to change a lot of things to make it work out. I just cannot address enough how important a good trip plan is. Everything starts from there, and everything depends on it.

Once you draft a plan make yourself familiar with it. Get the relevant maps and other materials for reference. You should think over your trip plan enough so if someone comes and asks, "What do you do on the fifth day of your trip?" you can take a piece of paper and write down the plan and a rough map for that day. If you could not do so, you are not ready.

The next important thing in long distance driving is to take plenty of rest. Don't over stretch yourself. If you have a good plan you shouldn't have to. When you plan for your first long distance trip, always make a plan on the safe side. Don't over-estimate what you can do. Remember driving when you are tired is as dangerous as driving under the influence of alcohol. My opinion is frequent, short breaks are better than infrequent, long breaks. I took a 10 minute break every 1.5 hours or so (Basically, I go to every other rest area for a small break on the road). It works for me, and you need to figure out what works for you.

The third thing I want to bring your attention to is something I learned on this trip. Drive with a good sitting position. KEEP YOUR BACK COMPLETELY ON THE SEAT. I tend not to do this, especially when I am looking for directions or driving through heavy traffic - I tend to lean forward when I need to concentrate. This is a bad habit. It does not matter for short drive - so insignificant that I didn't realize I have such tendency although I drive for more than 10 years. But I had paid my price to learn this on the road. I had a very sore back after I drove for 540 miles on a day, and got worse the next day for another 300 miles. I reached a point I almost couldn't hang on, but later figured out a better driving position solved half of the problem. you may need some work to find out the best driving position for you. It is the little things that count when you have more than 10 days on the road.

And, of course, follow the common sense and do what you should do when driving. Use your safe belt. Don't drink and drive. I think we are all mature enough to follow these rules.

Baseball Heaven lives up to its claim

As an avid baseball fan I have heard a lot of tails about the game. Among them, one thing that bothered me for long was that St. Louis claims to be the best town for baseball fans in US. Since it was not at all obvious to me why it is said so, I wanted to have a in person experience of this myself. Before I entered, at the gate of the new Busch Stadium there is a sign saying "Welcome to Baseball Heaven". I didn't like the sign when I first saw it. Major league baseball is played in many cities, and why does St. Louis claims itself as the heaven? I planned to stay skeptical and try to find if there is any reasonable support for the claim.

As it played out, my skepticism had been replaced by belief and later turned into appreciation. St. Louis lives up to its claim and, in my opinion, is the best place for baseball among places I have visited (five stadiums so far). The fans here are attentive, supportive, and classy. If you love baseball, you will certainly love the experience here.

Getting the ticket

I hurried to the new Busch Stadium from my hotel room. It was still far from the game time, but I needed to get my ticket first. It was a popular match-up: Chicago Cubs v.s. St. Louis Cardinals. The tickets were sold out on the official website, but I expected someone would have tickets for sale at the stadium. As I walked towards the stadium, someone called me and said they have tickets available. For some reason, they could sell me the ticket at a price lower than the face value. It was a win-win situation, so I took it without thinking too much.

Around the park

Although it was early and the gate would not open in half an hour, the St. Louis fans already gathered around the gates and stood in line. It was a sea of red and white, the colors on the team jersey. The new Busch Stadium just opened on 2006 and was the newest stadium in the major league then. So I took some time to check out this stadium.

St. Louis has a long history in baseball, and they nicely turn pieces of historical moments into smart decorations of the new stadium. Along the sidewalk around the stadium, they put up tiles with descriptions of important moments for Cardinal baseball. It is a good way for people to realize how much has happened right here.

One of the classic events in modern baseball history, the HR-title battle between McGwire and Sosa, has its place among the plaques.

and there are so many of them along the sidewalk around the new Busch Stadium.

I have a vivid memory of this one as I saw the monstrous shot on TV. Lidge's career took a sharp turn after this homerun. He hasn't been as dominating as before after 2005.
This event was also well-known in Taiwan partly for a reporter faking an article about it.

This was taken at the gate of the new Busch Stadium. It is very close to the Gateway Arch, and the Millennium Hotel I stayed at.

After I entered the stadium, I saw a brand new arena in mint condition. It was a bit unrealistic, I had to admit, feeling just like walking in a model house. It didn't match well with the baseball history in the city. Perhaps age will make the stadium feel right again in the future. However I liked the facility here in the new park. The gift shops are roomy and well-lit, with all fan gears I could think of on display. The other facilities are nice and adequate, too.

A corner in the team shop.

One thing very different in this park as compared to other parks I had been is the surroundings. Sitting right in the downtown of St. Louis, the park is close to a lot of buildings. It makes the skyline behind the outfield complex but interesting. The Gateway Arch sitting at the far end behind the right center field makes it unmistakable St. Louis.

The view from the home plate. It is a very crowded skyline out there.

Before the game started, I decided to go to the team store and get a Pujols T-shirt. He is one of my favorite baseball players of all time, and I believe he is the type of baseball players that when he eventually retires, the fans will be happy that we live in the right time and have seen him play.

Me with the Pujols T-shirt on at the right field pavilion.

The mascot Cardinal.

The best game experience

So far my experience at the game was an ordinary one. Nothing was wrong, but nothing really special either. Even if St. Louis is a very good team recently, I still did not see why this is named baseball heaven.

However things were different at the game time. As the first pitch approached, more and more audience dressed in red and white flooded into the stadium. Cubs v.s. Cardinals is a favorite match up, and it was a sold-out crowd in the stadium. I kept my eyes open, waiting for some things to happen so I can accept or refute the claim that attracted me to drive 850 miles in two days to make the game.

As the game played along I was really impressed. Not by the players, but by the fans. The fans in this place really love baseball. To me, they are the right people who I want to sit next to when I enjoy a good game. They are attentive, supportive, and classy.

I am sorry to say it but I sometimes felt some people attend baseball games for wrong reasons. They are just out there to "have a feel of it". At the stadium, it is very common to see fans doing something else but watching the game. A very common scene is a guy getting more food than he can fit onto his lap and working on them for 3 innings, and whatever happens on the field seems irrelevant to him. Come on, this is no restaurant. I am not suggesting you not to eat, but at least pay more attention to the players on the field than the food on your lap. Or, even worse, playing with beach balls in the stand is very popular at least in south California. I once even saw more than 10 beach balls bouncing back and forth around the diamond. This is a huge annoyance to me and I sincerely hope they could ban it. To me, the game should be the heart and the focus in the stadium, above food, beach balls, or anything else not part of the game. This should as simple as one should not talk on cellphone in the movie theaters.

And the St. Louis fans really made me impressed about this. Through out the game, they yelled, cheered, gasped, and sighed with every turn of the game. Most of them were so deeply involved in the game that I felt there were not really 44,937 individuals in the stadium. The fans appeared to be a collective entity and they were just part of this game. This is difference #1.

The second thing is, the St. Louis fans are so supportive for the local team. To begin with, I think more than 60% of local fans came to the game with some team jersey or T-shirt. It was a complete sea of red and white on the stand, something I haven't seen before. And it of course did not stop there. I remember vividly that when Pujols came up to bat in the first inning, the cheer was so loud as if he had hit a homerun already. Such support is not exclusive to players who perform well. Jeff Weaver, the starting pitcher of the day, gave up 5 runs in 6.1 innings of work. This was an OK performance at most to me. But, we he was replaced by the coach, the fans still gave him a good ovation for keeping the team in the game. That was very impressive. Comparing with fans who boo players on their own team, this is surely difference #2.

Take a look at the stands. It is a sea of red and white.

And difference #3, perhaps the most important one, is how they treat players and fans of the opposing team. There were plenty of Cubs fans on the stand that day, but it was very peaceful. The Cubs fans were free to cheer for their own team, and people wearing Cardinals jersey next to them seemed to be fine. Consider Cards vs. Cubs is one of the classic match up, what I saw was amazing. If you don't believe me, try wearing a Giant hat in a Giants vs. Dodgers game in Dodger Stadium. The fans who sit around you will make you feel lucky to walk out of the stadium with your head still atop your shoulder to wear that hat again. I have seen plenty ugly things there. Taunts, quarrels, sometimes even fights. I once saw a guy throwing a glass beer bottle right at the head of another person sitting 10 rows in the front, because he wore a Giant hat. And of course, booing the other team is a standard ritual in many stadiums. I believe undesirable aspects of the game these still exist at St. Louis, but at a much reasonable level. To me, this is a much better way to enjoy baseball.

The perfect ending

The game was a nail-biter. Cardinals jumped atop first, but the Cubs tied the game at seventh inning. Early part of the game featured stellar performance by Scott Rolen who hit an inside-the-park homerun (actually an error was charged to the defence, so it did not say so in the box score) and had a very important defensive play.

For the seventh inning stretch, an old gentleman led the song "take me out to the ball game". I figured that he is the legendary guy who sings this song regularly at the Wrigley Field because he showed up with a Cubs hat. But, when he sang "So we root, root, root for the Cardinals", he threw the Cubs hat away and put a Cardinals hat on, and the fans went absolutely crazy. This was one most interesting 7th inning stretch I have been to.

The old gentleman started to sign "take me out to the ball game" with a Cubs hat on.
(Any one knows who this man is? Please drop me a note.)

and ended it with a Cardinals hat as the crowd cheered.

Finally, at the bottom of 9th, two teams are tied at 6. the Cardinals had the base loaded and Gary Bennett, the catcher, came to bat with two outs. The crowd was on their feet for 10 minutes at that moment waiting for a victory. All of a sudden, Gary launched a high fly ball into the left field.

The crowd held their breath as the ball was hit into the dark sky. With a graceful curve it traveled, and landed on the left field pavilion with a thunderous cheer.

A walk-off grand slam. This was my first time to see it in person.

The Cardinals players took the field waiting for their hero at the home plate. The crowd on the stands all jumped up and down as Gary ran the bases. When he touched home plate, the cheer reached its peak and it was a perfect, perfect ending for a good experience of baseball.

As for me, I was too tired to stand up and join the celebration actively. My back did not feel right after the long distance driving in these two days. I just sit on the bench and tried to put this dramatic moment into my memory. What a game.

The Baseball Heaven

I highly recommend a visit to St. Louis if you love baseball. Yes, MLB baseball is played at a lot of places in North America. 30 stadiums in US and Canada, to be exact. But, it is not only the game that counts. The fans here contribute greatly to an unforgettable ballpark experience. They have a good major league baseball team, but more importantly they have major league fans here. Although I was skeptical in the first place, the baseball heaven truly lives up to its claim.