Adaptor

Adaptor
Originally uploaded by Karl Whitney.

A bargain at just six euro - this travel adaptor provides a gateway to electrical currents all over the world.

Countdown

A welcome to anyone who has received an email directing you to this site. So it's only a couple of days until the trip begins properly. On Sunday night we will arrive in Seattle, and the whole thing will kick off. Monday will be the fourth of July, and I'll be interested to see what that entails. Like St Patrick's Day but with fewer drunken poets, I'd wager. I've bought a really ingenious travel adaptor which works everywhere in the world. A phonecall to Ed earlier resulted in a deeply philosophical and hotly debated discussion about tents - it seems we have an embarrassment of riches in that there are two tents ready to rock on this tour. Which one to bring? Ed's, we agreed. Photos of the adaptor to follow.

The Avenue

The Avenue
Originally uploaded by Karl Whitney.

Nebulous clumps of vapour

Had a look at the Seattle area weather forecast. The prediction? Mostly cloudy! Bring it on!

Some Parks

Currently researching parks with camping facilities in the Oregon area. Checked out the guide to state parks, which has some interesting information.

Flickr!

So, hope that Flickr site eases the pain, Ed. I'll be taking photos on my old-fashioned film camera, complete with 10 minute wait for flash to work, and washed-out looking photos in the dark. Should be a joy. But when I get back I'll be able to get em put onto CDs and upload them. Have to get a sturdy backpack for the trip, although not too sturdy, because most of the time it'll be sitting in the boot (or, 'trunk') of the car (or 'automobile'). MacKenzie was a protest singer from the sixties, who traded in his tie-dyes for a pair of mouldy old jeans covered in paint, and made his subject avant-garde cinema and had a sideline in locking innocent students in basements, leaving them with no visible means of escape. Some say he should have stuck to the singing. Not me, though.

No Gucci

Just been on What's Happening Seattle and there's an exhibition of Isamu Noguchi's sculptures in Seattle Art museum while we're there. Didn't we watch a film of this guy's sculptures in Scott MacKenzie's legendary Avant-Garde Cinema class? One to mark on the scorecard.

Free Jazz holiday

At the moment there's so little booked, apart from the flights and the car and the hotel in Seattle. Our itinerary is open, save for the fact we have to leave San Fran on the 22nd of July. Our plans after Seattle are to head for the Olympic National Park and camp somewhere there. Would be interesting to go to the islands around Puget Sound though. Just some thoughts.

First Post

This is a blog set up to record the July 2005 trip to the West Coast of America. The car: a Chevrolet Cavalier; the people: Ed and Karl. The first day of the trip: July 3, 2005.