Signs of home

Just a short note from Lancing, Michigan. Only a few days ago we were in Tennessee. Time flies and the miles fade into the rearview (too cheesy?). It's bitter sweet, pointing the compass north. It means the trip is nearing its conclusion. It also means there are signs of home.

Last night, pulling into Michigan, there was snow blowing across the road. I'm ok with the colder weather, but the south's warmer climate definitely won me over. Alex on the other hand sees snow and his thoughts turn to frozen roads and the coming driving season. And when we neared Okemos, the side-of-the-highway food-plaza included Tim Horton's. I won't say Tim's coffee is anything special, but I'll concede that Tim Horton's is a legit Canadian institution. Definitely turned my thoughts to getting home.

Anyway, that's enough out of me. I'm off to JavaBarn. More soon.

Loren

The ambassador of kwan

Hello again. Writing to you from rain-drenched Lavergne, Tennessee. We saw rain drops today for only the second time since we got out on the road more than a month ago. I'm sure that will get a groan and an eye-roll from anyone reading this in Yellowknife. According to reports, it was 26 below zero this morning. The good news is that the gasoline and food shortage has blown over. Sorry, I'm gloating.

We had a great event today at the Ingram Book distribution centre in Lavergne. It was a private event, but hundreds of people showed up to hear Alex do what he loves to do more than just about anything else: dispense advice. He figures he's held down enough weird jobs and raised enough heck-raising kids to qualify him to give advice on everything from how to cure whatever ails them with herbal remedies to where people should set up shop to raise their families and find good work.

The more people who turn out to hear what Alex has got to say, the thicker he lays on the advice. Today, around 300 people heard about the merits of having a big family. He encourages people with 5, 6 and 7 kids by saying, "That's pretty good, you've already got half of a family, keep going." He also says having 11 kids and 10 grandkids (with an 11th on the way) is the surest way to start your own fan club.

Perhaps Alex's favourite advice is to sell people on the idea of coming north to Yellowknife. In the last 40 days, almost nobody has managed to shake Alex's hand or get a photo taken without getting a tourism brochure or DVD from the Northwest Territories or Yellowknife. It amounts to thousands of people hearing a quick story about how to cope with the cold or how they could ply their trade or skill to great success in Canada's north. At the very least people leave with the knowledge that the north is vast and beautiful, and if they do make it up north, they're welcome to look him up.

It is nice to hear Alex trumpet the north (over and over and over and over) because it's a good reminder that we actually do have a home. This road trip is a constant adventure with a new location, with a new set of faces and personalities everyday. The daily refreshed audience constantly gives Alex a new crowd to regale with advice. He clearly enjoys it and it can seem like life on the road is his natural habitat. But his focus on the north roots the whole trip in our real home. Which is good.

The photo here was taken this afternoon in Tennessee. Alex is explaining where we're all from. The video is one of a couple northern reels that we play on the huge LED screens on the outside of the Red Giant big rig at events.

Hope this finds northerners digging the onset of winter and southerners contemplating a trip to Yellowknife. My advice: March and July are the best months to visit. Take care.

Loren

Too late and too many miles to say a lot tonight. We're shacked up at a Motel 6 in Mississippi. I can confirm that Thanksgiving in Corpus Christi was out of this world. We picked up Louise in Houston and drove south to the coast. When we pulled in, we were bag piped into town by Alex's nephew Tim. He piped two tunes: "The Clumsy Lover" and "Itchy Fingers," both were dedicated to Alex. I did not ask why.

Alex's sister Simone, her husband Dave and their sons Adam and Tim opened up their home to Alex, Louise, Jay, myself and three visiting university students: two from Taiwan and one from Saudi Arabia. The exchange students were part of a larger group that were farmed out to local Corpus Christi families so that they could experience a "typical American Thanksgiving." Not sure who's definition of "typical" the Debogorski/Hardy gathering would have lived up to, but it was great.

Before the big meal, Alex, Louise, Jay and I all spent some time down at the beach. Nice to dip our toes in the gulf. The beach and the home cooked meal were a healthy break from the road. And it was nice to be around while Alex and Louise had time to relax and catch up. Adding Louise to our team for a few days shaped us all up. Now that we've said goodbye to Louise, and we all realize that a woman's presence helps keep our team on track, we've switched the voice in the GPS to "Jessica." Her Australian accent is just a bonus.

Tomorrow we'll arrive in Nashville in time for a 6pm radio gig for Alex. He's co-hosting the Billy Block show, which should be available on the web here.

That's all for now. Have a good night.

Loren

Thanksgiving in Texas

Howdy Gang. Hope this finds everyone well. Thanksgiving is just about upon us and we're hanging out in Texas. After a stop at the George Bush Airport to pick up Alex's wife, Louise, we're all going to head down to Corpus Christi for a home cooked meal. It'll be the first in a month.

Alex's sister Simone and her (truck driving) husband Dave live down there on the gulf coast and have been kind enough to set two extra places at their table for Jay and I. Simone even went so far as to check in with me before hand to ask what's my favourite kind of pie. I said I'd eat whatever she made, which is true, but Simone, if you're reading this, my absolute fave is pumpkin.

The picture here is from a great guy we were lucky to meet in San Marcos, Texas. His name is Lamar. He opened Lamar's Barber Shop in 1972, the same year Alex started driving truck for a living. Alex had a trim and a hot shave at Lamar's under the watch of John Wayne, who's image is plastered on just about every wall in the shop. Lamar told us the story about this past August when he was working in the yard and was stung by 1200 bees. This thanksgiving, the people of San Marcos are all lucky Lamar is still around to cut hair and tell stories.

As Thanksgiving is a great time to reflect on the kindness and generosity that people have bestowed on us during this trip, I've been thinking a lot about Texas and Texans. Like people from anywhere, the state and its people have developed an identity. Part of it is the wild west, cowboy thing, but another big part of it is kindness.

When you drive into the state, the speed limit drops by 5 miles an hour and you're asked to drive like a Texan: friendly-like. Everyone we have met makes a huge effort to be friendly. Neighbourly, you might call it. People stop us and say, "I hope everyone here in Texas has been awful welcoming to y'all." It's a great trait to build a state's identity around. And it has been obvious in our Texas travels that people are serious about it. So, among many other things (like family, friends, my lady, and safe travels) I'm grateful for the warm, neighbourly hospitality of Texans.

Happy thanksgiving to all.

Loren

The economy and the stimulus package

Just about to call it a day in San Marcos, Texas.

It has been significant to meet so many people on this trip who have lost their jobs in the last couple of years. Most often when someone mentions that they've been laid off, others standing around chime in with their own similar stories. Definitely a lot of people who seem to take a bit of solace in sharing a common, difficult experience. Can't say that I've seen so much of that in Canada.

Today we stopped in at the Peterbilt truck plant in Denton, Texas. It was very cool to see these impressive machines come together from scratch. I haven't spent anytime in Windsor or Oshawa, so in a way, being around the well lit, loud assembly line felt like a very American experience. At the risk of getting predictable, it made me think of another Alabama song:

"Hello Detroit, auto workers, let me thank you for your time.

You work a 40 hour week for a living, just to send it on down the line."

The plant can pump out as many as 150 trucks a day with two shifts going around the clock. That's when the market demands it. Right now they're building about 60 a day. One of the plant supervisors who hosted us told me that things are looking up. Demand for Peterbilt freight-haulers is on the rise. That's a good sign for people in Denton and likely for the people we've met all over the country who have lost their jobs. That same plant supervisor figures trucking should be one of the first sectors to feel hints of recovery. As soon as people and businesses start getting busy again, goods need to get moving.

And what about the stimulus package? It turns out that Alex Debogorski is delivering it on a daily basis. Often when he poses for a picture with someone he waits to see if they're smiling as widely as they should be. If the grin doesn't cut the mustard, he gives them his tailor made "stimulus package." He tickles them. It's a sweet gesture and just about always gets people laughing, which shows up in beaming photos.

Jay, Alex and I stopped in to the French Quarter diner in Temple, Texas, off I-35 for dinner. It's a little road side shack with heaps of natural character. Also really, really good grub. Afterwards the cooks and wait-staff came out of the kitchen for a group photo shoot with Alex. Eventually the cameras were turned on Jay and I. Alex gave us our first "stimulus package." It worked. Despite being uncomfortably full of road food, we laughed our heads off. And Alex assures us, and others, we won't be taxed on it. Good night.

Loren

If you wanna play in Texas, you gotta have a fiddle in the band

Hola a todos de Texas. The lone star state is a great, big place. Beautiful, wide-open high plains. Jay and I are attempting to look the part with our new belt buckles.

Alex fits in more naturally. He's a cowboy, of sorts. Down here people wonder where his drawl accent is from. They say he's sometimes hard to understand. I reassure them, in Canada people also wonder where his drawl accent is from and sometimes struggle to understand him.

And after a couple of years of visits, Alex has friends in this neck of the woods. The cowboy hat he's been wearing was a gift a while back from Tammie and Fred out of Fort Worth. We're hoping to cross paths with them while we're here in Texas. Maybe at the Peterbilt truck plant.

Ever since we crossed the border from New Mexico I've had that Alabama song stuck in my head:

"If you wanna play in Texas, you gotta have a fiddle in the band.
That lead guitar is hot, but not for a Louisiana man.
So rosin up that bow for faded love and lets all dance.
If you wanna play in Texas, you gotta have a fiddle in the band."

Not sure what that all means to our traveling, non-musical band. But I know that beyond the belt buckles and Alex's hat, we've been missing something. Couldn't put my finger on it. Until we stopped into Shepler's Boots and Jeans.

Alex decided on a pair of boots (s#&t kickers, as I've always heard them called) with leather uppers and ostridge-belly bottoms. Now we're fitting in. Or at least Alex is.

All the best, gang.
Loren

The wild Southwest

Hello from sunny Albuquerque, New Mexico. Just pulled in here after 2 days off the grid around Jamestown, New Mexico. We stayed with Mark Bush, his wife Tina, and their son: Cowboy Zach. What a kind, generous family. They call the 7600 acre "Bass Ranch" home. Tina's family bought the land with winnings from a poker game a couple generations back.

When I say "off the grid" I mean that literally and figuratively. For the last two days, I've been mostly out of cell and computer range so blogging was a stretch. During those two days, I was also getting my boots dusty in the red hills of New Mexico, sleeping under the creepy watchful gaze of a monstrous taxidermy'd elk, and getting out into the fields to shoot Mark's assault rifles and Dirty Harry revolver (44 Magnum). New Mexico is as beautiful and as wild as I had imagined.

Arizona was also beautiful. We made it up to the Grand Canyon and got to peer into that giant hole. But alas, the crack and kick of the 44 Magnum has made everything that happened before it seem like a distant memory. Now having pulled into Albuquerque, I think it's time to dust off my boots, get a latte, go for sushi, and put this cowboy-hillbilly fantasy behind me. But I gotta tell y'all, it ain't gonna be easy. Especially in Texas.

Loren