The Daily Morning Shower: A Long Lost Luxury

Less than 3 months ago I would wake in the morning, have a stretch, yawn and roll out of bed and into the bathroom and have a shower.
This is a modern day luxury of life I took for granted, until the 29th of July this year. I always knew in the back of my mind that the hardest thing to obtain on this trip, would be the ability to start the day feeling fresh.
Over the course of 70 or so days, we've become increasingly resourceful in the methods we've used to get clean. The methods of obtaining running water (sometimes hot) to wash ourselves in has varied wildly.
We started off on our first night landing on our feet by staying with some family friends, who gave us beds, a shower and even a hot meal! The next shower ended up being a hole in the ground with water from a nearby hot spring...Which was surprisingly refreshing in the dry desert heat.

Vegas wasn't an issue, as we ended up staying in a hotel for two nights...
However that would be the last running water we saw again for some time again until Tucson, Arizona.
We stayed at an RV Park, and had the pleasure of clean showers, laundry and a swimming pool in which we sipped cold beers in whilst watching the distant thunder storm light the sky.
New Mexico would not grant us with a drop of water, and so it would be a Motel in Dallas when I could finally experience the wonderful feeling of hot water against my skin.Memphis resulted in a shower courtesy of a 'friend' that Andy made whilst there... But we would wait again till New Orleans before having the opportunity to wake up and have a shower...
At this stage I'm aware that I'm not really telling the most exciting story.. So I'll skip forward to Virginia where we got desperate and needed to find a new method to get a shower.
So apart from holes in the ground, motels, friends houses, RV Parks the other venues we've resorted to have been Gyms.
In Richmomd, we were having no luck with couch surfing requests, nor did we fancy shelling out for a motel.... That's when it occurred to me... Gyms have showers.
We rang around and found a gym, offering a 7 day trial membership. BINGO. After a quick tour of the place, and some paperwork, we were in and able to scrub off the previous few days of funk. Needless to say, this method of free showers, has been repeated more than once... Recently it didn't go exactly to plan, and meant that we paid $10 for a day pass.




I write this blog after having had a free shower at a service plaza on the I-80 where we spent the night on the way to Detroit.
There's still a couple more weeks to go, so who knows what other methods I'll end up adding to the list...

Location:USA

Under the Cover of Darkness, No-one is Safe...

It was Oct 9th 2012. And we had left Gettysburg, heading for Pittsburg.

So i'll admit.. i put my foot down, which is rare. i'd been very obedient so far on the trip and stuck to speed limits like it was a religious cult (which is unlike me).


When i'm driving i picture myself looking like this...

Which i once tried to emulate....

Not quite as good looking as Gosling.. but you get the idea... i need some leather gloves.. 

Anyway.. i digress from the story...

but for some reason tonight i felt like flooring it... so there i was bombing it down this hill like there was a pack of rabid zombies chasing me.

in the mirror i noticed a cars headlights turn on, on the overpass above the road.. i thought nothing off it..

then out of no where this guy is right up my arse, there were two lanes, he could easily have just passed me.

"what a douche bag, this guy is right on my arse!" i joked with Andreas.

"haha.. imagine if it was a cop" i say in jest..

*PULL OVER* The Blues & Twos were then blinding me from the rear mirror.

"SHIIIIIIIIIIIT" i exclaim, in an alarmed manor.

jest turns to mild panic... but he got me, theres no way i can get out of this one...
a minute or two pass. finally the officer comes strolling over to my window.

"License, registration and insurance documents please" he says after giving his name and police department.

"So, you were going pretty fast down there.... i clocked you at 74 in a 55"

"yeaaaaa, i was going slightly fast then wasnt i" i say as i hand over my UK License.

His facial expresion immediately changes the second he see's what he's holding.

"OK" the officer says.. handing back the license as if it was a scrap of paper with the words "i can drive, honest" written on it.

"Look, theres a lot of White Tail deer round here, and you don't want to hit one of them"

"Just keep it slow ok, the limit is 55 and its theres for safety, ok"

"Why are you guys going this way anyway"

"we're heading to Pittsburg" i say

"well, youre better off taking the 525 then getting on the Turn Pike"

"ahh ok, yeah we'll head back and do that.. our sat nav took us this way!"

"ok, just keep it slow round here guys ok, have a good night"

and with that he was back in his car. I certainly couldn't believe my luck.
20mph over the limit, and no ticket...

GOD BLESS THE QUEEN. i muttered under my breath. (i didn't but i wish i had!)

the adrenaline rush had calmed down and we hit the road..
however that wouldn't be the last we saw of the Pennsylvania Highway Patrol...



around about 45 Mins later.. after a pit stop for fuel and food... we had switched seats.. we're now on the 'Turnpike' which is a Toll Road and the speed limit here was 65mph (as we were reminded by our friend earlier)

Andreas was at the wheel, i had lost interest in what speed he had decided to do, as i was busy eating my fried chicken... 

not long after leaving the rest stop... heading past lorries who decided they must overtake on the steepest inclines.. all of a sudden, the back window turns from the dark of night, to the frantic flashing of Blue and Red.


"Ohhhhhh FUCK!" 

i gaze up and realise the gravity of the situation... "Not again" i gasp.

we find a spot to pull over at the slide of a slip road.
We take drastic action. 
We switch seats. (At this point i could well be shooting my self in the foot by admitting this, but what the hay)

The theory being, the English license  clearly put the first cop off issuing a ticket.. so it might work again.
the seconds, turn to minutes, minutes turn to a decade of waiting.

Finally he appears at the window.

"Good evening Sir, License, Registration, and Insurance documents please" after introducing him self...

i present the UK license.. thinking we'll be away quicker than last time.. i offer to show him the international license i got in the UK as well

"yes please, i'll take that too"

I got to find it, and hope that we'll get another good ticking off like last time.. neither of us have a clue where the registration or insurance details are in the tardis like van we're traveling in.

"it's ok i can run it through the computer"

"the reason i stopped you, is because you were doing 84 in a 65" "but i'll go easy, and run it through as 71"

after lots of apologies, and attempts to act innocent, he disappears with my details to 'write up the ticket'


FUUUUUUCK.

so now i've taken a hit for something i wasnt responsible for.. however i saved us a fair amount of ball ache as Andreas's new drivers license is still in CA awaiting postage to him... so he's got a temporary drivers license which also expired... i somewhat doubt that would have gone down so well..

after a new millenium, he hands us the ticket looking pleased with himself... i could see why the other cop didn't want to bother.. it took him a good 20mins to fill it all out... 

I'll end this story with this then: The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania will see that $130.50 when the US embassy in London pays the £6m in congestion charge fines it owes. 


I for one, have rejoined my old speed-limit abiding cult. 

"Where have you been so far?"

View My USA Travels.. in a larger map

When 4 becomes 3...

Luck was on our side this morning... I think pictures will be enough to explain this...



So to recap. When you own a petrol station (OK, Gas Station) it's important to check you've set the pumps correctly each morning... For you see Supreme petrol isn't usually cheaper than Regular..... Unless you plan to operate your business in a style that generates no profit.



Well, we're having a very nice day as a result...


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Location:Exxon Gas Station, Providence - Rhode Island.

I've Come Full Circle.. Well, Not Quite..

New York, New York. So good they named it twice...

so for those of you that have been following this from the beginning might be thinking "Oh, he's back in NYC. The trip must be over".

Well. You'd be wrong. we are merely just over half way. You see the original plan was to begin here and head west like the settlers of old did those many years ago.

However due to difficulties getting an RV/campervan sorted on the east coast, we ended up starting it there.

So i've been lucky in that i've had two opportunities to visit this wonderful city now. As we were driving in back on Tuesday afternoon i had been thinking to myself.

Will i still be as excited about this city like i was when i first touched down in the states and began my adventure? would the other cities i have visited outshine this metropolis?

The answer: No.
Not. One. Bit.

This city is just one of a kind. Its probably the only US city i can honestly say that holds its own on an International stage. Theres so much going on, so much diversity, so many people. I had always thought the phrase "the city that never sleeps" was an exaggeration. Its really not. Getting on the Subway at 3am, and getting a seat isn't always a safe bet.

I've been asked many times these last few days a fairly similar slew of questions now:

Favourite City: see my top 10 post for this...

Favourite Food Dish: again see the top 10.. although NYC has not let me down yet with its food offerings

What's surprised you the most: many of my previous false convictions of Americans have been completely eroded and i understand the american culture far more now. 

Where are you going next: this always seems to differ from day to day, hour to hour...

How did you find 'the south': three words: Bar-Be-Que

Do you hate each other yet: lolz. No, we've been getting on just find... Laundromat antics always help lighten a dull mood. 

Looking back on the last two months, it really has been quite the adventure. i've really not written down as many of the stories and things we've been upto as i had planned to do.. but hopefully i can recall them all from my head before two many brain cells are desecrated on the next drinking session.

This is most likely to be the last day i spend here in NYC, and i'd like to perhaps go down and visit the famous Coney Island and see whats cracking there.. i've been slack lately with my fickr uploads and as we speak i'm only just uploading Baltimore.

I also need to get myself some business cards printed with details of my blog, instagram, twitter, etc so that i can direct more people to what we're doing.

If you are reading this and you dont know me personally or even if you do, please visit our website and although in german you can also follow us on FB and Twitter for more info and updates on the Political side of this trip.

Brooklyn Bridge. Gateway to Manhattan.

No Gym. No Tan. But boy, did we kick the arse out of the Laundry.

Jersey Shore. Home to many things.

But now it's shall ever be synonymous with Laundry. Well for me anyway.

You see, we arrived here without realising the season was now over. So that meant, No Fist Pumping, no debating whether girls are DTF... The only viable option was for some GTL...

However, the G's all seem to be shut, the T's didn't really appeal to us either.. So that left L.

We kicked the S**t out of the L. Almost literally at one point.




So here is Andreas, posing outside our chosen Laundromat... That place was deserted, so that left us with only one option... Get up to as much mischief as possible...

As you can see, SOMEBODY. Needed to wash all his clothes as he had no clean ones left... Hence the 'naked cowboy' you see here.

When I get a chance, Flickr will eventually have an albumen dedicated to today's tomfoolery.
I think it will raise a smile. It had me in tears today, just being behind the lens.


In other news: Next Stop NYC.... Via Philly again..... To retrieve my lost glasses from the gym...


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Location:New Jersey Ave,Wildwood Crest,United States

Heeeeeeeyyyyyyaaaaaa

Just letting y'all know that right now... At this very second..

I just spent the night rocking out in a karaoke bar in D.C.. But not just any karaoke bar.... A BBQ infused, live backing band, karaoke bar..

And it was freaking awesome..
Meet quite a few people tonight too.. Including a devout Republican la cross player.. To name but one..

Not sure why I felt the need to blog about this.. I should really have talked about my two days in West Virginia.. Seaking out natural beauty, coal mines and big ass bridges... But live karaoke felt more important..

Well tomorrow we travel north, to Baltimore and Philadelphia!

Ta Ta for now.


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Location:7th St NW,Washington D.C.,United States