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Today, on the eighth day of the eighth month, I reach the eighth vector on the Peace sign! Totally random by the way-just beautiful serendipity.

Yesterday I went in and out of four states, calm not being one of them. That’s not entirely true, my iPod was all charged up and the random shuffle really synched in with the events, helping me to remain calm. I get total joy from a good random shuffle….

I left Shreveport, Louisiana early, headed for Tulsa, about a 10 hour drive. The route wove in and out of both Arkansas and Texas. Mostly I plan my routes using a combination of google and an inadequate atlas-but a good friend just sent me a birthday package with individual states maps. Score! Usually google is pretty decent, but the detail can be convoluted and too much information to retain on a ten hour drive. I enjoy seeing the route right in front of me, old school navigation-atlas and compass. Excited about using my new maps, I ignored the route google suggested. There are several things I have to keep in mind when I plotting my course-back roads and keeping the Peace sign shape-which can be unwieldy.

Route 71 out of Shreveport looked advantageous-it was a straight shot up and over to Tulsa and would keep the first “Peace spoke” of the circle pretty defined. I was expecting to lose the usual city traffic about 10 miles out of Shreveport, but it turns out that many big rigs use the road. In these parts, scooters are an anomaly-people drive trucks-probably for farming purposes and to deal with the lackluster road conditions. They also haul more than farm equipment-they haul ass down the road. Making the best of it though, I choose to enjoy tuffing it out with the big boys, cruising along with the Peace flag flying and trying to stay off of people’s grills. Speed limit was unexpected for what had appeared to be small by-ways, anywhere from 55-70 mph, MINIMUM. Mostly 71N was a two lane road with passing allowed, so I had ridiculous scenarios with people zooming past me, tractor trailers close ahead coming towards us. I had to see it through though, unless I wanted to backtrack 50+ miles, until I could cut over to 70W to Broken Bow, OK, where 259N would take me to Tulsa. Even 259N, a curvy mountain route cutting through beautiful OK forests had a speed limit of 65 mph. I just don’t think this can be avoided, and that’s also what I have been told. My scooter can handle high speeds and if you are going cross country on roads like these, I don’t recommend anything less than 125cc. Safety is crucial! I find myself pulling over a good amount, just to relax and keep a positive mindset when facing hectic traveling. The main obstacles I face are the poor roads in certain parts-made riskier with high speeds, tractor trailers, heavy gear, and high wind across the plains. It’s relatively unpaved territory to take a scooter on these roads, so I hope the info I am offering helps other scooterists-and I welcome any travel tips. I choose to ride Audrey for this mission because she is environmentally friendlier-on roads and the fuel supply. Also, what better way to reach people than travel right through the veins of America? I get to notice all the little details of each town’s culture. And the road signs/attractions are just better along these routes!

I definitely observe a huge difference in culture, especially after leaving New Orleans and the charming southern hospitality attitude. People all along the East Coast were generally curious and engaging. That gives me an immediate opportunity to talk about the project and find common ground with people. With the exception of my host, Doug, in Shreveport and the lovely people he works with, my welcoming in these parts has been chilly. The past couple of days I have had to make the first moves and break the ice. Long stares and silences usually welcome me so I just smile a lot, use polite addresses and tell people up front what I am doing. Despite our differences, there is usually a way to dissolve a stranger’s skepticism. Part of them warming up to me could just be the sheer craziness of driving a scooter 9,000 miles. I do find it ironic that this heartland of America is very faith oriented, yet not friendly or loving to strangers. There are abundance of signs, “God Bless America,” etc. and yesterday I found myself wishing Christ had ridden a scooter and not a cross-maybe drivers would give me some room.

I am also a bit nostalgic for those bayous of Southern LA but am now surrounded by the plains and farmland. Of course I enjoy the scenery contrast, but I didn’t really get to take many pictures, since the driving was pretty hectic. The air had a smell to it that reminded me of summer camp back in Virginia, it must have been the pine trees. Southern and central Louisiana was so fragrant, to my surprise. The bayous released a salty smell, the earth there is very fertile, and at night, some particularly intoxicating flower opens up. Texas and Arkansas didnt really offer me any olfactory reprieve. State maintenance was cruising the other side of the road, headed my direction, spraying chemicals, which means that part of the route was saturated with an unpleasant toxic, smell. Bad timing for me. The raging heat amplified the smells of factories and I spent most of the day without the helmet shield even cracked. Times are a changing for sure, heading North and through the main artery of our country.

I will reach Tulsa in a few hours. I stopped last night at sunset in a town called Poteau-whose mascot seems to be Pirates. Poteau rhymes with Tae-Kwon-Do, just so ya know. Salina, KS is the middle of the Peace sign and I will arrive there Friday. Traveling is going really well overall, at every level, and I hope to see some Critical Mass rides happening soon. There is a heat wave happening, which is tolerable for me, although I am loosing lots of electrolytes and even get wicked charley horses at night-there is a correlation I think. So, even though I swear off Walmart, I utterly despise them, I am heading over right now to buy some Emergen-C. Thats a great powder you dissolve in H20 to consume mass electrolytes and vitamins at once. I have been fighting making a stop at Wal Mart, they are littered throughout the country and would make shopping easy, but my health is important. I have been able to reduce my shopping there to a once a year event-and usually thats just to take advantage of the “Wal Mart rental program.” 🙂

Stay tuned for the updates about NOLA and the ride to Shreveport. I have to scram now….

Have a wonderful day!

Here’s a response offered today about that staircase MLK JR. speaks of, “Faith is taking that first step when you don’t see the whole staircase.”

“You know that staircase I haven’t ever seen? I’m still blindfolded and still willing to do a double flip, ninja kick off the landing. “ (Daphne on life and living)

Check out the flicker stream for pictures of the most eccentric place I have stayed, to date at least. It’s called Well Necessities and it’s an amalgamation of different enterprises. Scooters, coffee, aromatherapy candles, sleep apnea research facility, big fluffy beds….come to think of it, all the necessities I need to be peaceful! Right now I am going out on the town for a ride with Doug, whose passion here is scooters! I will update later!

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Tonight finds me in Shreveport, LA, which is nestled alongside Arkansas and Texas. Hence the title. The night has been spent uploading photos, so have a look-see. http://www.flickr.com/photos/alixbryan
I am working on titling/captioning photos as well as posting updates on the past 4 days. I left NOLA Saturday evening after enjoying the SATCHMO free jazz festival.

If I hadn’t beat it out of town I would probably have rented an apartment by now! What a great city!

The power of our human network is strong-and information technology only helps us coalesce. Everyone knows about the “six degrees of separation,” right? Once you live in certain town, work for certain institutions/causes or just travel enough- I think that rule becomes, “three degrees of separation.” Between my friends, scooter boards, and the “P.E.A.C.E SCOOTER PIT CREW” I am winding up with some great places to stay and wonderful hosts. My friend Jaymii from Asheville, NC contacted her friend in New Orleans, who also used to work at Omega, but not when I was there. Rebecca is my lovely hostess this week-and because of this, my visit has actually stretched a few days longer than originally planned. She is relatively new in town, having moved here for her own anthropology research project and we have fun exploring together.
The conversation has flowed from the very beginning, as I keep pleasantly discovering it does with most New Orleanians. We both get to support one anothers projects and offer suggestions. The documentary aspect of this project is becoming clearer and I feel more comfortable with my role behind/in front of the camera. Rebecca also has a lot of information and opinions about the travesty here and the reconstruction process. I am telling you, there are so many levels of daily life affected here-no one could be prepared for the resulting circumstances. This means a strong community solidarity must demand its government, all branches, serve the people. Today I want to offer this photo to you, as a tribute to the loss my host’s family experienced. I didn’t snap it, the photo was actually taken by Thomas Dworzak and published in Time Magazine-Rebecca’s family didn’t know about it until they saw the cover. Imagine the survivors and evacuee of NOLA, people stuck in attics or rooftops four days and longer-with helicopters passing them by- all totally in the dark about their future.

I am now headed out to Common Ground, a bit of a haul over to the Ninth Ward. I finally found a route that will take me on a scenic drive through the city, versus stuck in traffic inhaling exhaust for 45 min and leading to a big drawbridge! I filled up when I came into town on Tuesday and am already on “E.” Thats 150 miles!

Later on today, the Satchmo jazz festival starts, so I will experience some free music tonight and tomorrow before heading towards Shreveport tomorrow afternoon. New Orleans, ah me.

I conclude with these two other infamous pictures below, that capture someone coping through the trauma, a bit of dark humor that symbolized the attitude of recovery here, they are reposted with permisson.

Ah me. New Orleans.
I took a long drive today, originally headed out to the Common Grounds compound in the Ninth Ward, a district hit the hardest.  As I drove further out Claiborne Street, signs of hurricane destruction became more and more apparent, until I was surrounded by nothing but devastation-except for the new shiny blue Burger King. I began to cry, there in my helmet, under the watching hot sun. I didn’t care that I was in what people tell me is a “bad area,” I had to stop and process what I was witnessing. Yes, I am a traveler here and I did not experience this suffering first hand, but I recognize the pain and injustice I see. I offer my respects and strength to the peoples of New Orleans. May you experience solidarity as a community, continue to rise up and face the big questions.

I will not be taking photos of all these destroyed houses and buildings. It is not my place to snap pictures in these neighborhoods. If you want to see them, come see yourself-make a pilgrimage and witness the biggest natural disaster to ever happen on American soil.

Instead, I am taking photos of the community and its peoples;  their beauty, resilience and weariness. Hopefully, their new chapters will wax brightly here in the Crescent City.

I have been greeted properly-welcomed into the vibrant culture that pulses through New Orleans. Today I experienced many personal shifts and have engaged in many powerful discussions. Eyes and heart ever open, I thank all those along my path today.

And, I got to see a free Brass Band-Soul Rebel!

“At the end of the day, peace is looking at that guy in the mirror and knowing he is a good guy.”

Gulu, she interviewed me for the college radio-and then I interviewed her. But, I left my book at her house, so I will quote her later.

Goodnight. Thank you for continuing to stop by and read this blog. Drop me a line if you want-peacescooter@gmail.com

Monday morning found me right outside Mobile, AL. The day before was my birthday, an unforgettable day of exploring-inner and outer realms.The traveling was also perfect that day, no wrong turns really, steady speeds, time to stop and write. Perhaps Mondays are just wretched travel days, or perhaps I didn’t rest well, but the days events were challenging, life threatening, and overall crappy. My mindset was somewhat anxious, I will admit, and I could have been projecting. I tried to settle into the ride with the mentality that any obstacles I experienced were nothing in comparison to the suffering experienced in this region, from Katrina’s demolition. At the end of the day, that only translated into a night of sleep-without resignation- knowing I was alive and a bit closer to New Orleans.
Traveling into this territory is wild-rules don’t apply.
The heavy media coverage of Katrina did not really extend to the travesty the Gulf Coast suffered. My first instinct when plotting the route from Selma to New Orleans was to circumvent the Gulf Coast all together and head west over to Hattiesburg, MS, then South. My uncle lives in Mobile and I have fond memories of visiting the Gulf Coast as a kid-its white beaches and warm water are lovely. It turned out that my uncle lived about an hour east off of my course-the first monkey wrench in my planning. The second was discovering that bridges are still out along 90W. There are only two ways into New Orleans-90W and Interstate Route 10- which means a frightful amount of zooming tractor trailers and cars. Curious to document Hurricane Katrina’s destruction, I delved into the confusing detours, with a massive storm following me the whole way. I suited up into rain gear and scooted on, stopping for a little break when the lightening was really intense. I must have looked like a space smurf, in blue gear and silver helmet, when I pulled into the local Waffle House for lunch. The lack of healthy greens in the deep South has been frustrating, but the priceless down and out banter to be overheard in these little joints nourishes and entertains me.
I was driving along 90W, which once was a straight shot into New Orleans from Mobile, but two major bridges, one at Biloxi and the other at Pass Christian were still out two years later. Actually, thats what I was told, but Pass Christians had just opened, two weeks before I came through-no map search engine is up to date on this stuff. The detours weren’t marked at all when PJ went through last year, and this year they were only slightly better. The detours only re-route you onto the Interstate and out of hot, frustrated delirium I decided to give I-10 a gander. I was cruising along the little detour bridge towards the I-10, psyching myself up for the highway, when I see a large portion of steel grate in front of me. Now, in a four wheel vehicle you can feel your tires pull on steel grates-imagine taking them on just two bitsy wheels-with a lot of gear packed on the bike. I am sure many scooters get used to it-I just hadn’t faced this yet-Charlottesville doesn’t have any. My brain was swimming with adrenaline from that encounter when I jumped onto I-10. I stayed in the right lane and just tried to brace myself, but the conditions were way to ridiculous to consider staying on for any amount of time. At that point I was going to try and stay on 45 minutes to get around the Pass Christian detour. But I had almost NO control over Audrey, the wind was very gusty from the storms, the roads were wet, and at one point there were three tractor trailers around me. I could actually feel the wind tunnel lock the bike in and I pondered my mental condition-what the hell was I doing? Then I saw a bridge loom up in front of me and had a hunch there were steel grates on it too-something I was not prepared to do again at rush hour traffic in the high wind and rain. All of the days events were making me wish I hadn’t had any coffee earlier in the day-as my natural stimulants were now fully kicked in. Earlier, a jerk had pulled right in front of me, while I was cruising at 50 mph on a wet road with a truck beside me-only to stop dead on when I began blaring the horn. Basically, at this point when I jumped off I-10 before the bridge, I was ready to punch the timecard and call it a day. For some reason, detours, backtracking or quitting after 70 miles really bothers me.

So, I stopped to figure out the backroads approach and met a gentlemen by the name of Lloyd. I know this man has an interesting past, you can see it in his eyes. He wasn’t too sure of the roads, but offered his friends help throwing my scooter into his truck and carrying me across the bridge. That was a nice gesture, and I do believe in accepting the kindness of strangers-but I’m not out here trying to scoot America only to give up over 20 feet of steel. We spent an good hour talking-Lloyd revealed a lot to me-and it was nice to have him test me a bit on the politics of human nature. The conversation branched out in too many topics-his past, his future, his kids serving in the war, his divorce, Native Americans, Aztecs, Democrats, Republicans, Harley’s, scooters, Osama Bin Laden, American foreign policy and the CIA. I interviewed him on his definition of peace and then he offered me some cash he had made playing poker. That was nice and when I turned the ignition key over, I felt much more centered. I made it over to Gulfport, with no rain falling but the clouds heavy and grey still. After my first steel grate episode I called PJ and inquired if all the bridges on 90W were like that. We spent about ten minutes discussing the complications of this route-which I kinda wish I had known before hand. PJ had a crazy, dangerous run of 90W last year, a lot of it at night, and he said he wouldn’t wish that on me, suggesting I stop for the night. There are literally no hotels, other than a few casinos, past Gulfport, they were all wiped out. Since I only had an hour of good daylight left and didn’t want to bang around on my bike at night in the deserted swamp lands, I picked a crappy low budget motel. They presented me the hairdryer, microwave and refrigerator as a great deal-but I don’t need any of those things and was irked with the price. The area seemed a bit desperate so I rolled Audrey into the hotel with me, happy I wouldn’t have to pack her up in the morning. So at 8 am we were rolling out the door, with quite some looks from the construction workers who all relocated to the Gulf Coast.
Thankfully, after seeing my post on urban scootin, a lady in New Orleans had contacted me about a place to stay. I gave myself plenty of time to snap pictures the remaining 100 miles down the coast and planned to meet her at 2:30. With all the detours, the Gulf had previously been out of my view so the morning breeze and blinding white sand was a welcome sight. However, it was both beautiful and haunting. Every dock had been viciously snapped but pieces still stood in the water, resembling broken spines. Most businesses were completely destroyed along the waterfront, but some skeleton signs remained, not that I was unhappy about one less McDonalds in the world. I believe that the Gulf area in Mississippi was quite a hot spot before Katrina. There were many affluent houses along the way and I rode up to check out their damage. Some looked fine, but their neighbors were totally destroyed. The road in front of their houses was completely ripped up with big piles of asphalt littered about. I couldn’t believe the amount of destruction that I witnessed, mile after mile. The whole drive was peppered with closed businesses, FEMA trailers and bad signage. A lot of construction was happening though, which was promising to see, but there were still meteor sized chunks of debris left everywhere. Absolutely everything has changed life in these towns. There was no protection between them and the water. Even when the road took me far inland I glimpsed destroyed buildings and trees. My guess (hope) is that a lot of road signs where also lost in the storm and that isn’t a priority to fix right now. I wound up at the NASA space station unexpectedly. 90W just dead ends at its gates unannounced. The security guard and I surveyed each other awkwardly, and then he nicely pointed me towards the road that would lead me to “old 90W”-as long “as I didn’t blink an eye, I would see it.” Thank God I wasn’t driving around there late at night in the dark, or locating said route would have been near impossible-much less surviving the drive on it. All of the local construction has made traversing dangerous-with gravel, debris and lots of mud on the roads. I was somewhat dubious the road was doing to 90W, it was totally unmarked, but after a long, creepy 8 miles it dumped me out onto “old 90W.” Here the road opened up with the swamplands all around it and made for beautiful pictures. The landscape was full of stunning contrasts-white sand, blue water and green marsh grasses against heavy industrial equipment.

I crossed many bridges, happy that none had steel grates! The heat was really kicking in and I was thankful to have been gifted a CamelBak, which helps with hydration and cools me off under the jacket. I was nearing the Crescent City and feeling the anticipation of my arrival. The road had been very odd and lonely, but coming around the bend into a more populated area of New Orleans was still eerie. I saw massive apartment complexes boarded up and felt a general emptiness to the area-even with people around-I could sense this used to be very populated. I think this was one of the sections hit the hardest, but I am working on getting all my facts straight. I have tons of stuff to post about my experiences here so far and tomorrow plan to go out towards the Ninth Ward and levees, since my attempt yesterday was intercepted my thunderstorms. Late afternoon thunderstorms are classic here and I am visiting in the “wet season.” The thunder and lightning seem so much closer than I am used to-not sure why.
Yesterday we braved a lot of the storm on scooters. Jodi and Treesa met me at a coffeeshop and took me for a great city ride, stopping to get me some fried okra for lunch first. Treesa contacted me a long time ago, when the website was bare bones and the dream was taking shape, as did Jodi. The scoot community is very supportive and better networked than I realized. It was so great to have wonderful, cheerful people to meet up with, as I had been alone since Saturday in Montgomery. After the ride we scooted over to Treesas to dry off and meet her neighbors-all very interesting. They have a shared courtyard area with a pool and everyone stops by to chat. A kind lady, Suzy, offered to put me on the guest list at Snug Harbor, a premier Jazz Club in town. With the rain letting up, Jody and I headed out to her house right before dark, a good thirty minutes west of town. Street conditions here are miserable, and have always been. The daytime is bad enough, just plant the feet firmly and stay braced and perched-but there are potholes you could go fishing in. At night, with wet streets and low visibility, I was having a hard time keeping up. Jodi, my DOT certified fairy, offered me some safety advice-it turns out you just can’t see my headlight well with all the gear on the front. She also pointed out that the lower turn signals are just dummy lights, so I need to have that wire spliced next time I get serviced. As we pulled into her neighborhood, the night sky was deep purple and I could tell we were near the swamp from the night air and cacophony of bugs and frogs. Her husband and two curious, loveable dogs greeted us. I threw my pants in the dryer and ate some pizza with them. I was quite delirious and don’t know if I made a lot of great conversation, but I really appreciated the hospitality. I was too tired to even label pictures and the big decadent bed beckoned to me. I climbed in and slumbered 10 delicious hours- waking up feeling a bit rude-but reborn and thankful to have completed one side of the peace sign. And to be so nicely welcomed into New Orleans! We talked briefly before I headed off to the city-and to meet Rebecca, who I am staying with for a couple of days. I pulled up for coffee at Mocachinos and the manager sitting outside struck up a conversation immediately. She was really interested in P.E.A.C.E SCOOTER-and very talkative. I love people without filters! In three minutes of me pulling up she knew my story and offered me coffee and a meal. The baristas there were exceptionally cool and I did some interviews with them. I am very fortunate to have these intimate discussions with locals, and am coming to understand how every level of life has been affected by Katrina. I have much more to say about this so stay tuned…

I promise! I am in Nawlins’-and I have received a proper welcoming. Yesterday I went for my first group ride, all over town. We were headed out to the broken levees and a massive thunderstorm hit us three blocks away. It was a soggy ride, but all the divas bucked up and took it on. Feel free to explore the flickr stream and see a photo blog of sorts-most of the pictures are from the Gulf Coast ride to New Orleans, and stay tuned for an account of that wretched journey. Here’s a photo from yesterday and I am busy uploading the rest.