the California desert wants dogs to experience freedom

The first strip was more sentimental than subsequent ones.

I wrote my name and the website on the back for passers-by.

Posted at a Flying J just past the AZ border

I "laminated" the first strip and taped it to an electrical box outside a truck stop. This felt wrong in a couple ways; i felt like i was vandalizing rather than contributing, the tape will never biodegrade if the strip falls off the box, and it was posted in AZ! What does AZ care about CA? Nothing. After this one, i changed my plan.

At the Flying J truck stop at sunset. Pretty!

People came by the electrical box pretty often while i was taping, and i got all "oh don't mind me, just looking at the trucks. come to think, i better walk over to them." smooth, Saturday.

Driving into Flagstaff was the scariest driving. I didn't die, though.

Posted in the Flagstaff Visitor Center.

Nice place, right on the Amtrak line. I bought some gloves for cheap, and later gave them to a panhandler. It seemed like she was scamming, but she took the gloves; I hope she got some use out of them, 'cause otherwise i want them back.

Informative!

Seriously. 6" of snow last night.

I'm from CA! I've never driven in snow before! there was snow all over the street signs and i didn't know where to turn! however i did not die.

New Mexico had some funny signs. AZ might have, too; hard to tell under all that snow.

jerk. Not you, NM; you had my back. yeah, you're right. no put-downs. Sorry, AZ. you're not a jerk.

Posted on the door of the Tourist Info center in Las Vegas, NM.

'cause it was closed. there were cameras up all over, and i had visions of NMPD screeching into the parking lot and accusing me of terrorist tape-handling.

Such a lovely building!

Colorado is a big state.

Posted on the bulletin board at Bookends Cafe in Boulder.

Seriously, they had this huge ball of string in a giant bowl by the bar. they also had ancient tomes of dog registry. i opened it to a page, and it said things like "McMurtry- Fido, Cocker, F/Spayed, $1.50". neat.

Bookends

Very attractive cafe.

Right next to Boulder Bookstore! That is why it is called Bookends.

Kansas

I think this is the best strip of the trip, at least as far as charmingness goes. Also immediately after I posted this strip, someone in MI bought one of my comix off Etsy. Coincidence?

26 KS context.JPG

this was posted on the bulletin board at the Broadway Cafe. It was a nice cafe.

See? so charming! and good coffee and veg sandwiches.

Evidence of my subculture: fixies and yarnbombing.

i felt basically at home, which is to say, for my subculture, awkward and ironic.

Missouri has some pretty trees and rivers, and some industry too.

Also fog.

I was basically in MO for 5 minutes, and 4 of that was the Broadway Cafe.

So this strip was hard. I didn't want to do just KCMO, i figured rural MO heard enough about the city.

This tourist info hut was advertised on the freeway, but it was just a little hut in the parking lot of an Arby's or something.

Also it was closed.

I wedged MO into a window box.

It got snowy a little north of KCMO.

Iowa was pretty snowy. A lot more hilly than MO.

At this point, my camera decided that snow anywhere in the frame meant I wanted to increase the exposure time by 1,000,000,000%. "White? I love white! Let's photograph some white! As much white as possible!" it said. Anyway this was about the only decent photo i got before the sun went down. i can't remember why i wanted to photograph this rest area.

Iowa was really uneventful, but lovely.

See?

Humanity.

We finally stopped for another tourist info sign. It led us 20 min. into the mountains to a little town called Dows Depot, which smelled strongly of poop.

There was a cool railroad... thing. and silos or grain elevators or something.

here it is from another angle. dude.

Also the tourist info center was closed.

But neither snow nor sleet nor closéd info centers, and all that. I taped it to the window.

Dows had a lot of character.

note the Ice House Cupola.

The destination.

this stayed up until approximately 3/10/11, almost three months. good run, little guy.

Posted on the bulletin board at the cafe closest my house. also a main cafe for Minneapolis art.

also a main cafe for Minneapolis art, being as it is on the first floor of a warehouse building converted into studios, and on the same block as a couple other similarly converted warehouses. the bulletin board is right next to the studio mailboxes. love me, Minneapolis.

get it? "long live thinking?"

where i've been, and where they still are