2183 miles down. 1149 miles to go.

last night was great. i got to spend some time with ted and yara. we went to a pub in des moines which has a poster on the wall from the kilowatt, sf so that was exciting, obviously. we played pool and my game was so not on. i discovered the simple joy of old style lager. also, the music in the place was the bartender's ipod and he had a load of big star on there. i don't think i've ever heard big star in a bar before...

later, ted taught me how to pick a lock. he had 4 padlocks to practice on and i managed to pick them all in about 30 minutes. a career as a high-society cat burglar beckons? move over raffles.

i drove past this train today in wyoming or perhaps nebraska. the pic doesn't really do it justice but i swear it was over a mile long. tonight i am enjoying a discount rate at a marriot in cheyenne (thanks stacey :) ).

i have been listening to 'under the banner of heaven' for the last day or so. my timing could not be better. tomorrow - salt lake city.

1553 miles down. 1779 miles to go.

another uneventful day. i'm taking a couple more days on the return journey so i am driving fewer miles each day and i am also driving more slowly than i did on the way out. it's much more relaxing.

last night in chicago was great - stayed with matt, stacy, posey and poppy. tomorrow: cheyenne

1219 miles down. 2003 miles to go.

this is pretty much what i saw today. it basically rained all the way from niagara falls to indianpolis. a very grey day indeed.

on the way back into the u.s. at buffalo, the immigration guy asked me if i owned my own home or i rented. i thought that was a bit of an odd question.

tonight i got to meet two bluelighters who have been on my to-meet list: rogue robot and tathra. as ever, we will have less time together than i might like.

tomorrow - chicago.

695 miles down. 2637 miles to go.

it's hard to imagine that, last time i visited niagara falls, i wasn't too impressed. looking at the falls today (albeit from the canadian side) i was very impressed. i must have been very jaded the last time i did this. it's hard to capture in words the full experience. even a snap shot doesn't really do it. you just have to see it.

today's drive was mostly uneventful. i am listening to the new dan brown novel 'the lost symbol' during my drive. yes, it's airport fiction. yes, it's badly written but when you have to drive 500 miles, it's the best thing.

tomorrow - indianapolis.

226 miles down. 3106 miles to go.

i arrived in boston last night and it was great to be back. it's all very familiar and very much as i left it 12 years ago. spent last night with jocelyn and jennifer and their beautiful new daughter, chloe. she is, if not the calmest, quietest, best behaved child on the planet, one of the calmest, quietest, best behaved children on the planet.

as with every stop on the trip, it's over before it really begins. today - heading to niagara falls.

0 miles down. 3332 miles to go.

working at a restaurant all day every day has made it tough to maintain a blog. i blinked and summer is gone. i'm leaving locust valley, ny today for boston, ma. from there, i'm westward bound and expect to roll into san francisco, ca in about 9 days.

updates here along the way.

there is hope

looks like we'll finally have fast internet installed at the house next monday. i have never been this disconnected for this long... soon with the posting more regularly.