Day #62
Tuesday
July 1st, 2008

Hello from Boulder!!

Woke up in Ames, IA .... and hit the BOOGIE BUTTON
--- drove all day and put about 750 miles on the ODO.

Pulled up to the curb at my brother's place in Boulder @ 10:17pm local time.

(A few blocks before that, I was amazed to see a pickup truck (towing a trailer)
RUN THE RED LIGHT @ 28th St. & Jay Rd.; had I goosed the gas when I got the
green light, he may have slammed into me a mere 1/10 of a mile from my destination!)

Moments later, I safely parked my red 1991 Saab Turbo convertible at the curb and looked
at the odometer which read 12,736.3 miles. (62 days and 38 states after it started, the trip was over.)

~Ted ... ((July 2008))   :o)

p.s. I'll be spending the next few weeks compiling/editing all the photographs, videos, & blog entries.
Sometime in August or September I'll be offering commemorative T-shirts and a multi-media package
for anyone who may be interested. (SO STAY TUNED & thanks for joining me on my epic USA journey!)


http://shop.seattletude.com

Day #61
Monday
June 30th, 2008

Greetings from Ames!!!!

Woke up early (5:35am) in Madison, got a cup o' joe, and headed to IOWA....
Drove through some beautiful (and quiet) farm-land in the sunny End-of-June mornin'.

Made it to my birthplace (3/2/1965: Ames, Iowa) a little past 1pm (odometer is at 11,941!)
and found 523 Beach Avenue ((check out the photographs at MYSPACE.com/tedsthreads)).

Went cycling for 100 minutes around Ames' perimeter (20-25 miles); had a late lunch SubSammich!
Took lots of photographs (at dusk) of Ames & the ISU campus; had 2 beers at a local internet cafe.

Cheers from AMES//IOWA//USA !!!!

:O)
~Ted
(O:

Next up: sunrise in AMES, then coffee & pics & wi-fi .... then WESTWARD across NEBRASKA & WYOMING....!
(((( COLORADO, HERE I COME! )))

Happy July 2008 <----

Day #54
June 23rd, 2008
Monday
Burlington, Vermont

Greetings!!

Left Rutland (VT) this morning and drove NORTH.
Made it to Burlington (VT) & found a nice cafe (for web-surfing)
Right next door was a burrito place. Yum!!

It rained on & off (no cycling today. drat.) & I caught the ferry boat
from Burlington (VT) to NEW YORK STATE (across Lake Champlain).
It kept on raining.... Took LOTS of PHOTOGRAPHS & some video footage.

Made it to LAKE PLACID (NY), had coffee, drove south (saw a tiny deer in the dark),
found a REST STOP and car-camped.

********************************************************
NEXT UP: LAKE GEORGE (NY) ............ Hope to do some hiking & biking!!
********************************************************

~Ted
:O)
xoxo

Day 55 - Tue -  Drove to Lake George, cycled, went hiking, met a Saab Buddy (BAZIL B.), drove to a rest stop.
Day 56 - Wed - Drove from Eastern NY state to Buffalo to Canada (Niagara Falls) to Erie (PA) to Lorain (OH).
                         Met a Saab Buddy (Doug M.). Slept on the sofa, then ate breakfast out w/ Doug on day #57.
Day 57 - Thu -  Drove from Lorain to Columbus to Springfield; crossed into Indiana & drove to Jody's in Carmel.
Day 58 - Fri -    Had breakfast w/ Jody, cycled into INDY (30 miles, RT), swam in the pool, had a great dinner & bed.
Day 59 - Sat -   Drove to Grand Rapids (MI). Had beers & dinner with Saab Buddy (Ken S.). Slept in a real bed. (~:
Day 60 - Sun -  Drove from Grand Rapids (MI) to Chicago (IL) and then to Milwaukee (WI). ((States 33/34/35.))

~Ted

JUNE 29
DAY 60
STATE 35
** MILWAUKEE, WI **

p.s. Listening to 'THE JUKE JOINT' on WWW.KSER.ORG!!!!

Greetings from VERMONT!!!

Day #51 (Friday) ------------- Messed around in/near Boston, MA (and Cambridge, MA). Went cycling in Cambridge and got a "guided tour" thru the 'mean streets' by a very cool bike messenger guy whose name I never caught.
Had lunch at a place with a FIREPLACE indoors. Met up with a Saab Buddy (nicknamed SLUG) for beers & appetizers at a place in Cambridge. (It started raining late in the day.) Drove to Rutland, VT. (Arrived around 1am.)
Hooked up with another Saab Buddy (Dave) and spent the night upstairs at his place after meeting his wife and his 16-year-old bassett-hound named OKIE P. WRINKLES. (SLept like a log.)

Day #52 (Saturday) --------- Slept in until 10:30am. (Rode the bike into "town" and bought some socks and a shirt at DICK'S SPORTING GOODS.) Spent the day just hanging out @ Dave's place. (Had a great dinner. Bed by 2am.)

Day #53 (Sunday) ----------- Slept until 1pm! HOLY COW! (Spent the day hanging out @ Dave's.) Watched the NASCAR race (Sonoma road course) on TV; had a great dinner; lots of vodka shots (LOL); watched Ghostbusters.

*** *** ***

NEXT UP: Driving north on Route 7 to Burlington, Vermont (and Lake Champlain)!!

~Ted

Day 48 (Tuesday, June 17th) --- Drove to the tip of CAPE COD, cycled a little bit, then drove to Boston. Found a cafe and logged onto the internet. Took a nice 90-minute bike ride around beautiful Boston, MA. (Watched Game 6 at a restaurant on Boylston Street, then drove up I-95 thru NH, to Maine. Car-camped @ a Rest Stop.)

Day 49 (Wednesday, June 18th) --- Spent the day tooling around coastal Maine. (Cycled around Portland.) Had dinner (and logged on to the internet) at a PANERA restaurant. (Got a motel just west of Portland, Maine.)

Day 50 (Thursday, June 19th) --- Had breakfast @ Denny's; drove west along the backroads (mostly Rt. 25) of southern Maine; crossed into NH (briefly visited Freedom Village, NH); sent postcards from Dover; had dinner & beers at a waterside restaurant (OLD FERRY LANDING) in gorgeous Porstmouth, MA (across the river from Kittery, Maine.) Looked for motels, but didn't want to spend $70+ at DAYS INN, so found a quiet neighborhood to car-camp. (The moon was very close to being FULL.)

NEXT UP: Friday --- Boston (seeing the sights, then hooking up with a Saab friend in Cambridge --- for beers!)
               Saturday --- Heading to Vermont (via Concord, NH) to see Burlington & to hook up with a SAAB frend.

Cheers (from NEW ENGLAND),
~TED
(O:

Greetings!!
*********

Well, here are the past 3 days:

Day 45 - June 14 (Saturday) --- Drove around NYC for 5hrs in the heat/humidity with the convertible top down.
Found a motel in New Jersey (in a downpour) and slept like a baby. Mmmmm: a REAL bed! ;-p

Day 46 - June 15 (Sunday) ----- Spent the entire day walking lower Manhattan & seeing the sites; left at 8pm.
Drove north on I-95 until I got to Stamford, CT (watched game 5 of the NBA Finals at 2 different pubs.)
Car-camped somewhere in Connecticut.

Day 47 - June 16 (Monday) ---- Drove thru Connecticut & Rhode Island; Car-camped at a rest-stop in Mass.
Another crazy downpour (with thunder/lightning!!!!

...........................Check out hundreds of photographs on my MYSPACE page, under "tedsthreads".......

Next up: Cape Cod & Boston..............Wheee!!
*************************************

~Ted

"Be a part of this world!"

(O:

xoxo

Day 39 --- June 8 --- Sunday --- Had breakfast & a leisurely morning (took a nap later); Jak looked at my Saab; around 6:30pm drove to Durham (NC), arrived after dark, got a motel room & watched the NBA game on TV.

Day 40 --- June 9 --- Monday---  Drove from Durham (NC) to Wash. (DC), via MD. (Spent some time in Richmond (VA) -- cycling, having lunch, surfing the 'net. (Arrived late in DC & car-camped near CHEVY CHASE (Maryland).)

Day 41 --- June 10 --- Tuesday ---  Woke up early & saw the sights in DC like the monument, the white house, & Arlington Cemetery...then drove west to Jeffersonton (VA) & met Jim M. (Watched the nba game in Wheaton (MD).) Drove (at around midnight) to Baltimore (MD) arrived at 2am; found a motel at 4am; slept like a rock.


Day 42 --- June 11 --- Wednesday --- Spent the morning in Baltimore (in the waterfront area); drove to Wilmington (DE); spent the afternoon in @ Kelly's Logan House, had beers with Tom M., drove to Essington, PA.

Day 43 --- June 12 --- Thursday --- Spent the day in Philadelphia (saw some sights & snapped some photographs), met Buck (Saab guy) in Malvern (PA), watched nba game at a sports bar, got a nice motel room.

Day 44 --- June 13 --- Friday --- Hung-out all day in Cherry Hill, NJ (cycling, lunching, surfing the 'net), then drove to Sea Girt (NJ) near the ATlantic Ocean & found a cafe with inernet (am there now!). Heading to Asbury Park!!

Next up: NEW YORK CITYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!! :O) ~Ted (BE WELL.) xoxo

Days 35-38
June 4 - June 7, 2008
Wednesday - Saturday

June 4 (Wed) --- Drove from Palmetto (FL) to Brunswick (GA) --- via Tampa, Orlando, St. Augustine, & Jacksonville.
Lots of hours in the car. (Touched the ATLANTIC OCEAN @ ST AUG, FLA!) Found a motel in GEORGIA.

June 5 (Thu) --- Drove to Savannah (SC) and spent the day there. (Had a great time seeing the town with my new friend (and bicycle host) Sam.) Took lots of photographs, then found a nightspot for NBA hoops & karaoke.

June 6 (Fri) --- Drove from Savannah (SC) to Columbia (SC). Hooked up with my SaabBuddy Larry (he has a black 1988 Saab turbo convertible) who had come down from his home near Charlotte (NC). We went out & spent the evening drinking beers & generally having a good time at several local pubs. (Crashed at his friend's house.)

June 7 (Sat) --- Drove from Columbia (SC) to Black Mountain (NC) --- via Asheville (NC). Slept until 10:30am, had coffee/brunch in downtown Columbia. Left town by noon. Got to Asheville around 2:45pm. Hung out at a local coffeeshop/cupcake place (for 4hrs, omg, lol) and talked to my cousin Fred who phoned me (from Colorado). Hooked up with my SaabBuddy Jak. (Headed into "downtown" Black Mtn and had some delicious pizza & beer.)
Crashed at Jak's house on Saturday night. (Met his wife & 2 kids & 2 funny dogs. Had a great night & morning.)

~Ted

NEXT UP: Heading EAST on I-40 toward Washington D.C. (via Virginia) ... sometime on SUNDAY afternoon. (O:

Days #32, #33, & #34
Sunday/Monday/Tuesday
Palmetto, Florida

Greetings from Palmetto, FL (Near Tampa/St. Pete)!!

Spent 3 days relaxing & just chilling at my friend John's place in Palmetto.
Took lots of photographs & shot some videos. Rode the bike to Sarasota (32 miles, roundtrip).
Spent numerous hours in the pool in the backyard at John & Chantal's house.

It's hot & sunny & muggy here in FLORIDA
and it's amazing to have a real bed for 3 days!
(Not to mention the a/c, good friends, & a pool!)

Goodnight from PALMETTO, FLORIDA.
:O) **Hello, Whitney. ** (wink/smile)

~Ted

Next up: driving to THE ATLANTIC OCEAN on Wednesday ... via Orlando, Daytona, St. Augustine, & Jacksonville.
THEN UP THE COAST TO SAVANNAH, GEORGIA .... (wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.)