Road Trip!: June 2009 Archives

Update from Dodger II, Las Vegas, Nev.

By John Syme on June 30, 2009 3:29 PM | 4 Comments

It have been 2,800 morning dogwalks, so here I am at brudda Richerd houses across past the big winds, the big rocks, the big hole, the big damn damn and over all the big mountains. It was very panty in my rolly bench yesterday, wif my lips all on the blue vinyl and drippy. I never been so panty, and him kept sayin itsa hundnert forteen but the ol Comet never wint over too fitty, even at the damn damn. That made Him happy. So at brudder Richerds it is all coolywind and softyfloor and I sleepeded all nighty and peedy once this morning and soon I'm going to sleepedy agin. I still not so sure why Him want to do dis, but when he say get in this car, I do. Here is some pitchers, starting wif one of me mad when him scare me agin wif da moveyroof.

I tole you I hated that.

Continue reading Update from Dodger II, Las Vegas, Nev..

Caliente/F.M.

By John Syme on June 26, 2009 12:19 PM | 8 Comments

Yesterday, I was 26 years old again, just for about 20 miles on U.S. 190 back to I-40. You can flat haul ass on that road, and I did, just for a little, in my 1967 Mercury Comet Caliente ragtop. I won't tell you just how fast because my mom is reading, so I'll say on the other end of the spectrum that I am typically staying under 70 this trip. What made me 26 again is a compilation cassette tape that I made for my 1989 voyage to L.A., up the coast to Seattle, then back across the top of the country.

Photo in my driveway courtesy of Jennifer Foster, WDAV announcer producer and dear, funny, special, outlier friend, the day of my departure, 13 days and 2,200 miles ago.

Continue reading Caliente/F.M..

Flagstaff, Ariz.

By John Syme on June 26, 2009 11:17 AM | 6 Comments

Chris Gunn '84 turns out to be a treasure trove of Davidsoniana. He's been in Flagstaff since the turn of the century, directing the Counseling and Testing Center at Northern Arizona University, a mile from his house near downtown. He's clearly a globally civic-minded person, doing what he can to act locally. For example, he converted the 1973 gas-burner furnaces in his home, even though the windows are single-paned. And he replaced the water-intensive grass yard with volcanic pebbles and a naturalized plant mix. Recently, his production company, Shot By Gunn, produced this montage of public art in Flagstaff, Public Art Personalized, with music by his Davidson classmate Pat Donley.

Chris has planted maple trees along with his roses, fire poker flowers (right), and low-growing indigenous purple flowers.

Continue reading Flagstaff, Ariz..

Albuquerque, N.M.

By John Syme on June 24, 2009 9:47 AM | 1 Comment

I like to say "Albuquerque." "I knew I shoulda taken a left toin at Albuquoiquey." ---Bugs Bunny, in that one where he goes across the country by tunnel and pops up in a cave. But it sure is a hard word to type. Anyway, a couple of us showed up for the impromptu happy hour at Seasons here last night, with a surprise visit by Gov. Richardson. Today, Dodger and I are off to the lava flows and the Petrified Forest, thence to Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon!

left to right: Mark Wade of the Dalton, Ga. Wades, Jeff Metz '91, sculptor extraordinaire (www.jeffmetz.com) and Dr. Dan Boye, Davidson physicist on sabbatical working on things in labs that he cannot tell you or he would have to shoot you. The face poking out above Jeff's head is Gov. Bill Richardson. Really.

Santa Fe: A Good Time Was Had By All

By John Syme on June 22, 2009 2:06 PM | No Comments

If anybody knows how to throw a good party, it's Herb Kincey '57 (see prior post for pix). Cold cuts and cold beverages provided a solid base for the pot-lucky portions of the repast, from cornbread and buttermilk pie to southwestern rice'n'corn salad and a potato dish that was delish. Most importantly, the baker's dozen size of our group of alumni and friends allowed everyone to get to know everyone, explore mutual connections of Davidson and otherwise, to reminisce about the past and mostly to share a bit about our present selves. We talked some about what we did for a living, of course, but one telling conversation centered around the importance of how we even phrase that kind of question. For example, rather than blurt, "What do you do?"---especially these days when some people are not doing as much as they would like to in the paycheck department---we agreed it's more polite, not to mention more fun, to ask, "How do you like to spend your time and energy?"

Continue reading Santa Fe: A Good Time Was Had By All.

Yukon, Okla. II

By John Syme on June 22, 2009 9:46 AM | 3 Comments

When I arrived at Lai Thai restaurant, Victor '82 and Sarah Mumy Hawk '82 and their teenage son Brett had a plate of pad thai---my favorite, extra spicy---already ordered and on its way to the table. In the course of our dinnertime conversation, I learned the Hawks have a daughter, Rebecca, currently enrolled at Davidson, who was in Yukon for a few weeks before returning to her summer job at WDAV 89.9 FM Classical Radio, a listener-supported service of Davidson College. Small world! I guess I should have known this already, but on the other hand, there's only so much online snooping that is desirable before presenting oneself as a road-weary houseguest.

left to right: Victor, Rebecca, Brett, and Sarah Mumy Hawk proudly display their Davidson license tag frame.

Continue reading Yukon, Okla. II.

Yukon, Okla. I

By John Syme on June 21, 2009 11:25 PM | 3 Comments

It was a long, hot trip down Route 66 from Tulsa to Oklahoma City. I started out on the pike, but the wind was so hot and strong at 75 mph that it unzipped my back window unannounced, and the hood was flapping on its latch every time a truck passed, so I decided to do the two-lane at 60 flat. My temperature gauge liked it better, too. Every mph over 65 costs me a degree over 220F, and since Ford tended to undersize its radiators in 1967, I thought it prudent this 99-degree day to go back in time and speed. All that said, you can bet by 4 p.m. Dodger and I were ready to stop and enjoy a cold bowl of water with David Lopp '64, his wife Jackie, and their big old Golden, whose name escapes me now. I'm sorry, Golden girl.

Continue reading Yukon, Okla. I.

Santa Fe and Albuquerque

By John Syme on June 21, 2009 2:11 PM | 1 Comment

Real time is outpacing virtual time right now, so I'm going to skip ahead a bit---to the present, that is---and post a few pictures from a great alumni mini-reunion potluck supper we had last night at the home of Herb Kincey '57, my Santa Fe host.

Then on Tuesday, June 23, all 63 or so New Mexico alumni are invited (I sent an e-mail, but pass it on!) to join me and others from 5 to 7 p.m. at Seasons Rotisserie and Grill, 2031 Mountain Road NW, Albuquerque, NM 87104, for a "flash" reunion. And remember, you can look up alumni in your area by signing up for Alenda Links online community at www.davidson.edu/alumni.

More on the folks at last night's gathering in a future post, but for now, here are a few pictures.

Herb Kincey '57 preps Mexican onions for the Davidson alumni potluck

Continue reading Santa Fe and Albuquerque.

Happy Father's Day

By John Syme on June 21, 2009 6:00 AM | No Comments

Dear Dad,

Thanks for understanding about not getting a card from me this year's Father's Day. On the eve of my departure, one more trip to CVS was just not in my Friday afternoon "cards." Thus, the card is not in your mailbox. Ha, ha. Getting ready for The Road Trip was big fun but also, to borrow your phrase, like getting ready for an Elizabethan progress through the Midlands.

As a much-beloved history professor emeritus, you will appreciate what my friend Malcolm Partin, a much-beloved Davidson history professor emeritus, wrote about my road trip blog: "I think that you have a wonderful opportunity to impress your readers with a melding of Pepys and Proust." Wow. I'll do my best, but first I had to Google the Wiki page for Pepys to refresh my memory from those long-ago freshman Humes lectures....

Anyway, here's wishing you a great Father's Day! Love,

John

Little Rock, Ark.

By John Syme on June 20, 2009 12:38 PM | 3 Comments

You never know who has got time for coffee. The morning I left Memphis, I put out a quick call from the first rest stop across the Mississippi to half-a-dozen Little Rock alumni. Two hours later, two of them showed up to meet and greet me on my way through town. First to arrive at Andina Cafe at the capital city's downtown Rivermarket area was Bob Hopkins '84, an internist, pediatrician, and professor at the University of Arkansas Medical School. A few minutes later, here came Vic Fleming '73, a district court judge in Little Rock Municipal Court.

(l-r) Vic Fleming '73, Dodger's rear end, yours truly, and Bob Hopkins '84. Photo courtesy of a nice lady walking down the sidewalk.

Continue reading Little Rock, Ark..

Fayetteville, Ark.

By John Syme on June 20, 2009 11:52 AM | 3 Comments

On my way from Memphis to Fayetteville, Ark., I decided to take the scenic route through the Ozark Mountains. You know those rumble strips on the side of the road to wake you up when you are about to wreck? Well, in Arkansas, they put them down the yellow line, too. So, while I was passing a camper truck of Travels With Charley vintage, those strips rumbled a hubcap right off my car. I saw it go bouncy, bouncy down the mountain, at one of those ridge-top spots where the only thing holding up the road is wildflowers. I said a little farewell in the rearview, but I did not even slow down. No good could have come from going back.

I was glad to pull in the Fayetteville driveway of Ward '94 and Christa Abbott Davis '96.

Summer morning: Coffee in a Wildcat cup and mowing before it gets too hot. I tried and tried to make this picture stand up straight here as it does on my computer, alas to no avail.

Continue reading Fayetteville, Ark..

En Route: Tennessee, Arkansas and Oklahoma

By John Syme on June 18, 2009 1:30 AM | 4 Comments

Here are some sights that did not make it into my camera, and assorted adventures from my travels in recent days, in no particular order:

A roadside eatery called "The Way Café," its sign in the shape of a Christian cross that shares the "a" in both words. Fifty yards farther along, just across the White County, Tenn., line, a cinderblock roadhouse with a much larger sign promoting "Happy Hour." Take your pick.
A shrink-wrapped double-wide being moved down Route 66 south of Tulsa. Slowed to 2 mph, I took the occasion to raise the ragtop for shade, which spooked Dodger to bound out of the car. The Harley Chopper dudes behind me were highly amused.

Continue reading En Route: Tennessee, Arkansas and Oklahoma.

Memphis, Tenn.

By John Syme on June 17, 2009 7:51 AM | 1 Comment

Even in the face of a substantial power outage and thunderstorm detritus all over his yard, Curtis Bickers '93 and his good ol' Golden Retreiver, Bailey, found it in their big hearts to welcome fellow Davidson travelers to their gracious Memphis abode. The electricity was back on by the time I rolled down from the Tennessee hills into the swampy, humid flatlands of Memphis and the Mississippi, and I rejoiced to discover that Curtis is not afraid to crank him some serious thermostat. We chilled literally and figuratively before heading out to the Majestic Grille with Curtis's boyfriend Alex, who was just in from Hong Kong on business.

Curtis and Bailey get ready for work

Continue reading Memphis, Tenn..

Update from Dodger

By John Syme on June 16, 2009 7:23 AM | 5 Comments

This place is grate. They has billboreds into town that says, "You had me at hound dog." It was very hot coming down out the mountings where I had a one night stand with Him's friend's dog Ellie. She had to stay tied up all the time. Then next day Him jump in a lake at Mousetail state park in Tenasee but I just put my foots in near the gooses. It was wet. Then we got to Him's nother friend's house near a big river and they we set on the sofas with kool air coming out the walls and a big whirly on top of the room. Later there was another dog. His name is Bailey and he is big and happy and Golden and he shared his food with me this morning cuz Him was still in bed. Now, Him' friend is under the water hose and he said he found a shirt he don't have to iren for a pitcher, whatever that means. Well, we all are going to leave very soon before it gets to damm hot. The teevee last nite had lots of 9's lined up with big yellow circles and Him hollered and then he laffed and said Fayetteville, Ark., here we com! That's me, to! Dodger

Memories of the Future

By John Syme on June 13, 2009 1:37 PM | 5 Comments

I have needed utter silence to pack my bags, boxes, books, and radiator hoses for six weeks on the road. But when the key turns in the ignition of my old '67 Comet ragtop, my playlist is ready to crank up to the skies.

I have learned that road-trip music provides an ear to the future, as well as to the past and present. To put it another way, sound is second only to smell in my Proustian lobes, and this June and July, starting today, are my next batch of good old days. So, I aim to remember the summer of '09 even more clearly and fondly than I remember the summer of '89, when I crossed the same continent in the same car. (I dug the cassette soundtrack for that trip out of a closet for this trip, but we'll get to that.)

Continue reading Memories of the Future.

"Alenda Links" Across the Land

By John Syme on June 11, 2009 9:42 PM | No Comments

This just in: Now, there is an easier way---easier and more precise than Facebook---for Davidson alumni to find each other. It's Alenda Links, a password-protected online community with directory info on 19,000+ alumni and privacy settings controlled by the individual.

Consider that the pushpins below represent some of the 19,000. As I drive across the country on my summer vacation, I can pull into a town, type the name of the town into Alenda Links, and come up with a list of Davidson contacts there. So, who wants to go for coffee?

Prelude

By John Syme on June 10, 2009 12:35 AM | 2 Comments

In the summer of 1989, at age 26 with six-pack abs and a flattop haircut, I quit my North Carolina newspaper job to drive 14,000 miles in three months around the United States of America in my trusty, rusty 1967 Mercury Comet Caliente convertible with a tent in the trunk. Ever since then, I have been sorry I did not brave a two-state detour one hot June day on the way to L.A., to go see the Grand Canyon. I was 800 miles late for a cat-sitting date in the City of Angels and still had to make my way across the Mojave Desert....

James Dean wannabe, ca. 1989

Continue reading Prelude .

Vroom, Vroom

By John Syme on June 7, 2009 9:46 PM | 4 Comments

It is funny to me how priorities change when long absences loom. Vacuuming my floor---MY floor, see?---is usually one of the main claims on control that I exert when the world is not behaving according to my specifications. So I vaccum a lot. Vroom, vroom, take that! But today, as I prepare to turn deadbolt and ignition switch for six weeks away from my wee, humdrum specifications, the floor is nasty. And that is fine by me.

On the other hand, it became paramount this week to scatter the cat's ashes before I left. So, last Sunday, I sat on a little bridge over a little creek and had a little cry. Dodger was no comfort atall. That's okay, he's just not that way. He's this way:

"Squirrel!"

Continue reading Vroom, Vroom.

Go West, Old Car, Go West!

By John Syme on June 5, 2009 11:44 AM | 2 Comments

What would we do without our cars and our computers?

I do not want to find out the answer to that question in the middle of some godforsaken southwestern desert 2,000 miles from home. So, with the expertise of Ray Fichthorn of Ray-Lyn Restoration and the help of Davidson IT colleagues, I have been shoring up my Comet and my MacBook for a safe and productive trip....

1967 Mercury Comet Caliente

Continue reading Go West, Old Car, Go West!.

June 2009 Archives