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Suzanne ONeill
Westward Ho! Suzanne and Cem's adventure from New Orleans to Portland, Oregon. I created this travel blog so I could honor the end of one journey and the beginning of another. New Orleans -- you've been home for 11 years. You've given me tears and laughter, joy and sorrow, an amazing community of friends and a wonderful husband. You've taught me many lessons about life, about myself, sometimes painful, but always real. My excitement over our road trip to our new home in Portland is tangled with a knowing nostalgia for all that I will miss when I'm gone ... your complete disregard for conformity and mundane expectations, your genuine human interest, your joy of what makes life life (people, family, friends, front porches, marching bands, music, food, acceptance). Thank you for letting me belong here and letting me be myself. I promise to maintain some of my irreverent non-conformist self in Portland and bring a piece of you to the Pacific Northwest. Suzanne442
Travel Blog Posts
The Long and Winding Road
Published: March 22nd 2009North America » United States » California » Yosemite National Park
March 22nd 2009
Cem and I planned not to plan this trip. We wanted to leave our options open and let the feeling of the moment determine our route. After Vegas, we didn't want cities and traffic so instead elected to go to the High Sierras instead of the California Coast. There we would be able to explore Gold Country (a long-held wish of Cem's) and Yosemite. We have no regrets. Cem got to pan for gold in the preserved mining town of Columbia now a state park. After getting a lesson on how to properly pan from a period-dress guy named Steve, we both set about with absolute concentration to get the gold out of the gravel. They actually spike the troughs so you won't come away disappointed. Cem was so determined to get as much gold as ... read more
March 21st 2009
The Grand Canyone was of course "Grand". It was Cem's first time seeing it and my second, so I was prepared for the impact. But it was still special, especially seeing it through Cem's eyes. But unless you stay and hike to the bottom, I don't think you can truly grasp its vast amazingness. Its fun to imagine the first Europeans (Spanish Conquistadors) seeing it. The local indigenous people led them there and they promptly attempted and failed to reach the bottom. Cem and I made do stopping at all the points along the drive. Cem, in my view, has a death wish. He kept wanting to crawl on the rocky outcroppings to get a better look. If you've never seen the Canyon, these rocks hang over a sheer drop down to the floor. I can't ... read more
March 18th 2009
Our stay in Santa Fe was nice, if uneventful. It's a pretty town with cute manicured adobe houses and shi shi art gallerys. I had almost convinced Cem to go to the swanky tapas and wine bar La Boca for dinner, but even I could tell from looking at the menu selections, prices and artsy interior that this would not be a good choice. Cem is a simple guy, he likes tasty and large portions of food served in a down home setting. Standing on the curb, looking in the window, I could almost hear him say "I can't believe people pay that much for such a tiny plate of food." When the lady standing outside smoking a cigarette told us they frown upon people without reservations (even on a Monday Night) it capped it. She ... read more
March 18th 2009
As usual, Cem and I scrambled around in the morning and were late getting on the road. We are still too used to working and sleeping late. Our current morning routine mostly involves figuring out how to situate the contraption on our roof so the straps don't make a noisy racket while we are driving. Though it does sort offsets the awful noise our car is still making. Thus settled, We beat a hasty exit from Santa Rosa on our way to Santa Fe. Once there, I decided we had driven enough and needed a break so we checked into the Silver Saddle early - a kitchy low -budget little adobe motel on the outskirts of town. I comforted myself with the knowledge that it was recomended by the Lonely Planet. My whole reason for coming ... read more
March 16th 2009
We did make one other stop in Texas. The Big Texan Steakhouse made famous on several travel shows for its free 72 oz steak. The trick is you have to eat it in one hour along with sides and fixin's. We decided to stop and eat there, first, I was starving and second, we fell victim to the 250 miles of billboard advertising at 10 mile intervals for the famous restaurant. Whether or not Cem could win the free steak became the primary topic in those hundreds of miles. He insisted he could consume the more than 4 lbs of meat in one hour. I countered that even if he could, he would likely not be able to drive after that or may even die of an instant heart attack. He would not be deterred. But ... read more
March 15th 2009
Have you ever heard of Chillicothe? My guess is that most of you answered no. But if you asked me that question, I'd ask which one? Chilicothee is the name of a town, and there are actually more than one of them. Strange as it may sound, I've been to several. In my years a union organizer, I was constantly traveling from, or to, or through one small town or another. Traveling that way, and sometimes actually getting to stay in the town for a little while, is an entirely different experience than gasing up your car, jumping on an interstate and going to some faraway point for your vacation. On the interstate, our cars are like separate bubbles that we drive in a kind of isolated meditative haze. When you drive hrough real towns on ... read more
Departure in a Deluge
Published: March 15th 2009North America » United States » Louisiana » New OrleansMarch 14th 2009
It was my plan to enjoy a bit of the St Patrick's Day parade on my last day in New Orleans. I couldn't resist one more parade and one more good-bye before making my final departure. Cem and I had planned to make at least Dallas on our first day of travel. But the Gods weren't with us. We woke up to an incessant downpour and fretted over how we were going to load up the car in such conditions. We both knew the contraption I bought for the top of the car was a dubious device at best. It's one of those tarp-like cargo carriers. I got it for 29.99 at Wal-Mart and had a bad feeling it wasn't waterproof which was ok when I was thinking most of our driving would be through ... read more
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