"Listen up and I'll tell a story // About an artist growing old // Some would try for fame and glory // Others aren't so bold." -Daniel Johnston "Story of an Artist"

 Oh my brothers…I think it's over again.

Yesterday, I crossed that goddamn state line into California and wept. But the tears were not bitter, but instead sweet and sentimental and mixing with the snow as it turned to rain on my windows. It has been turtles all the way down.

I spent a night in SLC with a poetry professor of mine and his wife, good people. He and a partner run Tavern Books, a small independent non-profit poetry press (5x fast) that I HIGHLY recommend. It is brilliantly curated. Order from their website, here. His own work is also just awesome. Michael McGriff. Hunt it down. Here's one brutal little poem, here.

Monday night I made it into Battle Mountain, Nevada, after 5 hours weaving between mountains and warring against the desolation of the salt flats. Battle Mountain is a brothel and a bus stop in the middle of nowhere. I had a pizza and some rest and finished Nevada in the morning.

Now, I'm a stones throw from home, nestled in Sierra foothills in the old mining town of Nevada City, California. Nevada County in CA was named so before the state came around. The shape of Nevada County, which points right at Nevada State, serves as a constant reminder to keep their shit together in the Silver State.

I'm heading home tomorrow, but in the meantime I'm catching up with some old friends here and contemplating the events of the preceding five weeks.

Let's take a look at the numbers:

Miles Driven: 5,250
States Visited: 7
Total Days: 39
Driving Days: 19
AMDD (Avg Miles per Driving Day): ~276
Average Speed: ~82MPH
Cops Seen: ~25
Times Pulled Over: 0
Animals Killed: 50 (3 flies, 15 gnats, 32 bull-moose)
Animals Killed Inadvertently: ~0
Photos Taken: ~1500
Ratio Smiles:Cries : ~80:20
Awkward Moments: ~74566

If God is in this country, he's a right prick. There is no universal language, but if anything comes close it's cheeseburgers and strip malls, not music and smiles. I haven't learned anything grandiose. If you are waiting for some stately conclusion of my mission, I apologize. This is an ongoing process that I pray I never complete. You're all on this path with me, like it or not, and I appreciate the company. As always, I hope I haven't been a bore.


I didn't find love, not that I was really looking for it. Not that I think I know what it is. Maybe just an honest connection. Something warm and close. I don't know, somehow I'll manage.

I'll leave you with one bit of wisdom. Don't eat cold food at truck-stops.

Leave 'em laughing.
-Isaac










PS. Here's your slideshow, D-Lew.