there's a light on

today is the 11th. we set out to chicago on the night of the 8th. between then & about 3am this morning, we've been on a greyhound bus, crossing miles & miles through big old rock formations & truckstops where bald men with big moustaches fuelled up huge lorries. & there were other things too, but after a while, you kind of stop paying attention if you've only got three hours' sleep.

it was weird. we spent over 50 hours on this bus, not showering, surviving on pop tarts & fritos, getting a crick in the neck from ridiculous contortions trying to get comfortable on reclining seats that don't really recline a whole lot. but in spite of all of that, it was kind of a strangely enjoyable experience. you get a real sense, crossing the country by road, of the size of america. it's not like getting on a plane, going to sleep & waking up in another place. i don't know -- i was awake through a lot of the 50-odd hours, & it was just then that i realised how big america was, how much the scenery changes through the states, how different the atmosphere is.

now, we're in chicago, & again, it's completely different to the places we've been in before. the city has a really particular vibe about it, & we've all decided that it's already a new favourite place. collectively, today, we bought skeleton gloves, more batman grapic novels, pink vintage vans, a ridiculous but amazing noel fielding-esque faux-fur black jacket, & a drapey scarf ryan ross would be proud of. chicago has some amazing shops, but we've yet to hit up the clandestine store, it was closed for some reason today.

now, we're sitting in our motel. sara is watching house on tv, jen is reading watchmen & i'm trying to type out an update, but finding that words are kind of failing. i think i'm still tired from the bustimes. tomorrow, we might go see the dark knight in imax. again. this i find to be no bad thing.

& -- so. there we go.

today, we're in LA. difficult really to find words to describe this place. for one thing, pete wentz (& other people besides) are living on top of a hill which we can see from outside our hotel. it's this kind of completely strange situation that makes this trip so completely mind-warping. for me, anyway. jen seems remarkably au fait with the whole thing. but then again, she is so much cooler than me.

we finished the first part of our road trip a day ago. driving down miles in america, it felt like a lot & not at all, because the desert remains the same after a few days, but we probably travelled four times the length of the uk overall. everything's just bigger here. including the food portions. the three of us talked about how there should be small, medium & large portions, & a british one. because seriously. barely finishable.

we came back to san clemente yesterday after motel-hopping for a week. really quite a bizarre experience, going from room to room sometimes in the middle of nowhere, sometimes right off the strip in vegas. mostly, we looked for a place with a pool, because god, it was hot in the car. i don't think i have ever been so hot in my life. coming from a country of nothing but grey skies & rain to a place where it hasn't rained in six months & there's nothing but bone dry heat... well. like i said. mind-warp.

it's just jen & i in LA at the moment, because sara wasn't all that keen on coming here, but we'll be meeting up again in a couple of days before going on to chicago. jen & i are staying in a pretty swanky place tonight, & hey. more to add to the list of first-time experiences. the bathrobes here are epic. tomorrow, i think we're going to do the complete opposite & stay in a hostel near the beach, or maybe go to downtown LA, see what's going on. it's labour day, though. & apparently that means something here. we'll see, anyway. the point of this trip is to take it as it comes. trying my best to do that.

whatever happens tomorrow, anyway, it's another experience, & i'm trying to make it count. it should be good. maybe the sea, maybe not. maybe go by hollywood, maybe flail over the fact that pete is sitting up there somewhere with his dog & wife in a house that we can see (the concept of this -- i can't explain how unbelievably weird it is), maybe go see the dark knight again. maybe lots of things.

will update again when internets occur. yeah.

Shenanigans!

So, we're officially on the road.

Sunday morning we left San Clemente and drove to Las Vegas. Very hot, vaguely uncomfortable drive, but we were stocked up on Blue Gatorade, so that kept Eleonore happy. Flying by the seat of our pants, we pulled in at the first off-Strip motel we could find, and got a room for a couple nights. The rest of the afternoon was spent wandering around being generally dumbstruck by the madness. Always remember kids, it's in the middle of the goddam desert. There were baby tiger cubs! And dolphins which waved and jumped and ate fish! And, inexplicably, alpacas. In the middle of the desert!! Sara really wanted to go see Cirque Du Soleil's Beatles themed show, Love, so we got cheap seats up in the balcony for Monday night. Suitably blown away, we were. Oh, and then we saw Cap'n Jack outside the Bellagio. Standard.

We set out for the Grand Canyon this morning, but were way-laid by the lovely sights of Lake Mead and the massively impressive Hoover Dam. But a really lovely lady working the exhibits gave us brilliant directions after she let us watch all the educational stuff for free. So we drove another four hours or so, through the desert and impromptu rain storms. There's nothing out there. Nevada and Arizona? Just, nothing but trailers and gas stations and random poncho stores. But our navigational skills? Are for the win.

Right now we're in the middle of nowhere, Arizona. Williams is the name of the town, I believe, and we're right on Historic Route 66. Jen keeps referencing Kerouac. We ate dinner in a real live diner, with pancakes and burgers and grilled cheese sandwiches. It was an overwhelming moment for some people. And now there's another random motel with a teeny pool and the first internet connection we've found for four days. Don't know where the next one will be, so who knows when I'll next update. But we're at the turning point of the driving portion of the trip, so we'll be heading back to California by one route or another. We have to get back to San Clemente, because we have to go see The Dark Knight again. It really deserves a 9th viewing.

Later.

So, flying update.

Spent the morning on San Clemente beach, and according to the Law of Murphy, burned my back. Sara and I braved the Pacific for a swim, and were not bitten by any sharks. Hurray. Ate pizza for lunch.

Went shopping! Saw The Dark Knight again! Sang loudly in the car with the windows down!

Heading out tomorrow, firstly to Vegas and then beyond.

Be back when there's a nother chance!