Summary and Closing Thoughts

Thanks guys. Mean it.

Rodney here, writing from the study of my temporary quarters in Falls Church, VA. I am sipping a glass of wine from the Fess Parker winery in Los Olivos, CA, as close as it gets to “local” from my former home in Simi Valley.  I start work and the next life-chapter tomorrow in downtown Washington DC.

My closing thoughts are quite simple.  Please indulge me with a grenache-syrah-mourvedre stained memory lane:

The Mission.  Acceptance by Clark, Matt, and Mana’o. Picking up Clark at LAX and having a few beers before shutting the door at the Residence Inn Westlake Village. The first hotel caffeine and breakfast of the trip.  Turning on our GPS unit, “Sheila,” for the first time and having her take a non-traditional route to Palm Springs.  Lunch with American hero Rich B. at his palatial, gorgeous, resort-like desert home.

Desert and cactus.  Questions about Gila monsters.  A car pulled by the side of the freeway, with what appeared to be people…napping…with hands behind their heads under an overpass.  Arrival at Matt’s and a demonstration of his Blu-Ray projection Home Theater (I felt I was in the church with Clint Eastwood during the opening scenes of Grand Torino).  Dinner with the Perez family.  Travel to Kanab.

A nice encounter with the State Police of Utah, with a friendly admonishment to slow down under 77 mph.  He had also asked for proof of insurance – current insurance I have, but the document in the glove compartment said it expired a few days earlier.  Oops but no worries as the nice officer said nothing.  Grabbing the last room at the best hotel in Kanab, the Holiday Inn Express, and watching the people behind me in line get turned away.  No parking because the Model-T Ford Club of San Diego took all the spots with their beautiful antiques.  Breakfast in Kanab with the wholesome ones, and almost missing coffee service which was hidden in a corner of the room.  Hmm, the beer really is 3.2% ABV here.

End Act One.

Gorgeous Bryce Canyon.  Little People filming in a Big World .  We just drink in the majesty of God’s creation, which looks in parts like a nature-made Angkor Wat.

Discussions on Battlestar Galactica.  Trek.  More Galactica.  Star Wars.  Then guess what?  Galactica.  We wonder about what Kara Thrace was…did that thread just kind of drop?  Saul Tighe: best executive officer ever represented on film, played by a great Canadian actor Michael Hogan, and our favorite BSG character.  Impressions, quotes, jargon, man-talk.

Confessions from Rodney that he has had No Game.  Chorus from the car saying they don’t either.  I actually suspect that Matt and Clark have more than they let on.

Rest stops.  Bathrooms.  Gasoline.  Trash disposal. Windshield squeegies.  Burgers/Arby’s, and many, many curly-fries.  Coke zero, Pepsi Max, Gatorade, water, chewing gum, almonds.  Side trips to Circle Ks.  Cruise control.

The mountains of Colorado.  Elevation.  Arriving at the MacLennans horribly late, but troopers they are, they fed us and entertained us magnificently.  Pictures of Kent, Clark, and me from college.  Why was I staring at blank walls so much and at such proximity?  Hmm.  An amused Mana’o.  Gila monster question resolved:  it is a myth.

Rocky Mountains from afar, then Kansas, which looks just like Ireland…a place I’ve never visited but heck, my imagination says this is what it would look like.  Dang there are are lot of bugs here and they all sound like rain hitting my windshield.  Wheat.  Wheat.  Wheat.  The dour, taciturn, Swiss-like people of Colby KS, self-proclaimed oasis of the plains (meh.)  Oh  look:  wheat.  Sheila takes us via Lawrence KS and KU to Leawood.  End Act One.

Fiesta, Filipino food, more old photos (why did my mom dress me in suits so young?), reunions and reminiscing.  Family.  My father and grandmother’s gravesite, which I discovered by feel and distant memory.  The old family house, with its beautiful backyard Japanese gardens now overgrown with neglect and weeds, the facade of the house no longer a Tokyo aesthetic.  Off to Indiana, via St. Louis’s arch, crossing the Mississippi and through Illinois via a roundabout way courtesy of Sheila.

Evans Farm.  It’s good to know farmhouse hospitality known worldwide and eons old, still exists.  Beautiful themed gardens.  Corn and wind energy growing rapidly on acres of fields.  Snacks, homemade pickles, and the best damn black raspberries we’ve ever had.  Wish we could have stayed longer.

Chicago = urban civilization.  Our hotel, the Marriott, on a truly magnificent mile…too good for us but we’ll take it on reward points thank you very much.  Old friends, one not seen for over 30 years, but felt like home again.  Especially over a world famous Giordano’s stuffed pizza as seen on Food Network!  One more beer, he says, and well, that was plenty.  Steam cleaned bathrooms at 0100 hrs.

Greeted by dorks (i.e., us) wielding MacBooks in the Marriott lobby, composing hangover haikus and trying not to hear the conference breakout sessions at the next table.  A quick stroll to the Navy Pier and a view of Lake Michigan, a four-masted schooner, and shirtless un-beautiful people walking the streets.  We missed the free acoustic concert by Better than Ezra near the Chicago Tribune and WGN hqs.  Why is a sculpture of American Gothic here too?

End Act Two.

Thunderstorms, a satellite-less Sheila, delays us a bit but no worries…nothing ahead for us but South Bend and Cleveland.  Touchdown Jesus and a walk around Notre Dame Stadium.  Then checking in the beautiful downtown Cleveland Residence Inn.  Matt skilfully executes a beautiful 47-point turn to fit into the world’s smallest parking space.  Dinner at the Winking Lizard.  Drinks afterwards at the Irish pub down the street.

Walking to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  Interminable.  Had to take a break at a CVS where a 3-inch roach said hello.  It was not afraid of us.  Hall of Fame was AWESOME – Guitars from all the greats, numerous exhibits, films.  Very disappointed that Fangboner was not inducted on our arrival, however.  Eerily, we saw Michael Jackson’s glove and various costumes (Thriller, et al).  and all this before word of his hospitalization and eventual death was forthcoming.  Just as eerily, we discussed Billy Mays quite a bit.  Anyway….

Canton aka “Guangdong” Ohio.  Pro Football Hall of Fame – just as AWESOME.  Clark was the only one who could throw a spiral and hit the WR targets.

We note the “international destinations” we have visited on our route, among them:  Morocco (Indiana), Medina, Angola, Canton et al.

Pittsburgh – not much happened here. Just a baseball game and dinner, really.  Ok, I do remember a really close and exciting baseball game.  And caipirinhas at the tapas place afterwards.  Some advice and wisdom for Mana’o…such as it is from three balding middle-aged men.  There may have been some conversation with the table across from us, and a trip later to a Latin nightclub, where they told Clark and me to remove our baseball caps.  Please do not swing around the pole.

We’re so close we can taste it.  No free breakfast at the hotel, so Rodney makes do with the Subway across the street.  We drive with intent, only 4 hours from our destination.  How the hell did we end up in West Virginia?  Well, we were only there for about 20 minutes then all was well in the world.  Our first Maryland license plate – we’re getting close!  Our first DC plate…then a Virginia plate.  Hancock, MD marks the crossing of the Mason-Dixon line and our arrival in the American South (technically).  The radio stations soon start to become familiar.  Our welcoming committee came out in droves for us on the beltway…yes, traffic.  It feels more oppressive than LA’s for some reason.

At home, my wife and kids greet us all with enthusiasm, beer, cheese, bread, and dried Italian meats.  Gail you are the BEST.  Mom is there as well, happy to see me, and our dear friend Stacie as well (I worked with her at The Walt Disney Company, and she is the best they EVER had).  Notwithstanding an hour-long conference call that rudely interrupted my vacation, I felt good.

Bottom line: it was all I ever imagined and more.  I got to know Clark, Matt, and Mana’o on an even deeper level and the journey will cement what we had before into lifelong relationships.  I will never forget the trip, and more important, the generosity, camaraderie, laughs, and jokes of the road.

To Clark, Matt, and Mana’o, my deepest gratitude to you for the trip of a lifetime.  You’ve shown me the value and meaning of friendship.

End Act Three.  Cue music.