The Road to Kentucky: Day 3

Today was all about detours …

I wanted to get gas at Ft Riley, Kansas, but the security guard (read: not a real soldier) wouldn’t let me on base without a decal and I didn’t feel like filling out paperwork, so I filled up at the Shell by the gate. And wow … did I forget how boring driving through Kansas is …

A few hours later, I wanted to eat dinner … I saw a billboard for a roadside eatery, followed the (bad) directions and got lost, only to find the restaurant under construction. I had dinner at a McDonald’s …it was so disappointing; I should have just stopped at a Denny’s instead.

I weighed my car in Missouri, fulfilling a mandatory step in Army paperwork .

And finally, driving into St Louis, I drove through it … into Illinois, because of incorrect directions from the hotel’s front desk … fortunately, this must be a common mistake, because the first exit has a lane dedicated to doing a u-turn and returning from where you came … and I found the Hyatt just fine. (Note: 1L Fiji water bottles are only $4 in St Louis as opposed to $5 in Denver …)

This Hyatt is built into Union Station, so its part mall, part hotel, and part club. When asking the on-duty concierge where a good place to drink would be, he suggested Maggie O’Brien’s across the street and a bar at the end of the promenade. When asked about the club actually attached to the building, he replied, “Oh. That’s a hip-hop club.”

Went to Maggie O’Briens, had two excellent Guinnesses (with clovers), a pint of Schlafly, a St. Louis microbrew, and finished off with a free shot of “orange”, the bartender’s concoction that he made for me and a few of his coworkers … a nice time out in a nice town. The bartender appreciated I asked for local microbrews, since some customers ask, "Got any beer from around here?" which is like asking a butcher if he has dead animals in the back.

Tomorrow: New Years in Louisville …

The Road to Kentucky: Day 2

Woke up to snow in Salt Lake. Got breakfast, gassed up with 88 octane (again) at $2.119/gal and headed out.

Wyoming. The snow stopped, and the sun came out. I even passed a billboard for A & B Surplus, promising they could “fill all of my camouflage needs” … too bad I already had over fifteen hundred dollars worth of uniforms in my trunk.

I passed the continental divide ... while going uphill ... does this make sense to anyone?

I got to Rawlins for lunch. Ate at McDonalds, gassed up with 87 (finally! A touch of home!) octane at $2.249 and left … in the middle of a snow storm.

An hour of white-out conditions later, I’m done with the snow. And before I even have to deal with visiting Cheyenne, I turn south to go to Denver.

I saw the huge Hyatt from the Interstate, and figured I would try it. Little did I know that:

1. the Hyatt opened last week; it's brand new
   
2. they have really nice rooms, with an HDTV in every one
   
3. they have great promotions (like cheap rooms and free wireless internet)
   

I was sold.

I ran on a treadmill (a good one this time), and had dinner at their downstairs upscale restaurant Altitude (Denver … get it?) … good, but not worth the price.

Tomorrow: Let’s see if I can make it to St. Louis in less than the 14 hours google says it will take me.

The Road to Kentucky: Day 1

I left home at 0930, making sure my chains fit before I left. Two and a half hours later, I was on the Donner Pass … and it was raining, negating any need for chains.

I stopped at Reno (or more precisely Sparks) Nevada to gas up my half-empty tank (87 octane at $2.389/gal). It was a Shell station that prided themselves on having an indoor restroom which was unlocked (or I would assume it was pride … they posted a sign that read “No key required” with enough explanation marks to make it seem they were excited by offering it). Bought drinks for the road (Starbucks Mocha Frappucino and a Arizona Sweet Tea, and tacked on a Peppermint Patty when I found out they charge a quarter for any credit card charge under $3) and off I went.

Four hours later, I stopped at a Chevron in Elko, NV, the “Home of Cowboy Poetry” … apparently in January they’re having their xth annual Cowboy Poetry convention … I didn’t see a building large enough for a convention, though. This gas station had outside bathrooms that were locked, and the deadbolt was tricky to work but I figured it out. But the food mart did not charge a quarter for under $3 purchases … Here I bought 88 (88 octane? Must be an out-of-California thing ... ) for $2.699/gal.

Three hours later: Salt Lake City, Utah (except for when a UT State Trooper was tailing me … but he didn’t pull me over).

Got a room at the Hilton, used their health center (crappy treadmills), and had two beers at Lumpy’s, a membership-only sports club a block away with HDTVs in every booth; I’m not sure if it’s the membership or the local economy that got me two pints for $3 each. If you like IPAs, try a Full Suspension if you get the chance.

Reflections on Los Angeles

I fell asleep at an AFI screening of Dracula in September ... not one of the countless rehashes, but the original, Bela Lugosi badass vampire movie from between the World Wars. I couldn't help but feel ashamed as I left the theater that I had missed part of what is probably the oldest film print I will ever see projected. (The second being The Flicker ... I don't suggest seeing it if you're epileptic).

After nearly six months in Los Angeles it's time to wake up.

And stay awake.

I will remember Los Angeles as my final destination, something to inspire my return in a few short years. I don't want to remember the too-hot climate, the self-centered masses, the horrendous movie ticket prices, the horrible traffic, or the tragic failure of so many filmmakers turned waitstaff of remembering my order.

I'll remember ...

... watching a door get blown off its hinges on a sound stage.

... a sunset vigil on a beach.

... looking at puppies at PetLove.

... bagel Fridays and cake-days at Regency (and any other free-food/free-drink opportunity while at Fox Studios).

... turning down the first job I was ever offered ... with the hope that something better would come along.

... taking up the "something better."

... having a wrap party ... at 9am ... on a Tuesday ... at the dive-est bar in all of Valencia (or SoCal, for that matter).

... meeting an ex-girlfriend of Scott Peterson's.

... winning big money in Vegas ... losing big money in Vegas ... and the best (and most expensive) buffet you'll ever have (Paris).

... asking, "Are you kosher?" right after eating a hot dog ... wrapped in bacon.

... seeing William Hung, with the whole Arrested Development cast, shooting a scene during a tour of their stage.

... an agent telling me during an interview why he loves his job: Because he gets "to sleep with celebrities ... alright, B-list celebrities ... well, honestly, she was only low B-list, but I'm moving up!"

... living in four different apartments in as many months.

... three crazy Halloween parties ... and broken kegs.

... random lost Australians on Poinsettia.

... seeing Terminator 2 at the Arclight ... and trying to see Serenity later but four different fire alarms interrupting the show.

... Baja Fresh ... too well ...

... Pink's. And what a disappointment it was.

... Diddy Reise - always.

... shots of tequila poured into my beer when I wasn't looking.

... "non-toxic soap snow" at the Grove and the El Capitan.

... racing our Director of Photography to the Emergency Room to get some stitches ... only to return to set three hours later to finish the music video.

... getting hit on the head by a mambo combo stand - it floored me.

... VIP box seats at Padres stadium, with a bottomless fridge of beer and a never-ending grill of hot-dogs.

... coming out to my car and finding it buried in ivy that was most certainly not there when I parked it.

... dinners and wine with great company.

... open bars ... and apparently not much after that.

The next two weeks see me go from Los Angeles to San Francisco to the US Army Armor Center at Fort Knox, Kentucky. New Years will most likely be spent with strangers somewhere between Colorado and the Bluegrass State. And I'll be driving a new car (TBD) out on my road-trip.

There will be plenty more to write about once more exciting things happen to me.

And enjoy what sunshine you can, wherever you are. One of my first tasks at Knox: running two miles, outside, in the snow.

Why this exists

Talking to friends it becomes clear that there are a lot of things that not many people realize about the military.

Walking down the steps of the Arclight in Hollywood, I asked Jean Picker Firstenberg, the President and CEO of the American Film Institute, if she had any advice for me as I was about to enter the US Army as a detour to coming back to Los Angeles in a few years.

She asked why I chose to serve.

The first thought to race through my mind was, Why shouldn't I serve?

A few weeks later, telling a producer why my stay in Los Angeles would be so short, she told me that I'm "too smart for the military." To which I thought, doesn't that mean I should be a part of it to make it better?

I've started this blog to show glimpses into a life that not many people know much about. Hopefully I'll be able to impart a few nuggets of wisdom through my words in the upcoming years, to give my friends and family an idea of what being an officer in today's Army is really like.