Thursday Oct. 11th: Resumed my trek down the Cabrillo Highway yesterday taking in the sights along the coast. After getting ripped for a $3.15 cup of coffee at the Whaler Watcher Inn, I later dined on a double-double and chocolate shake from In-n-Out Burger. The final leg Southward took me past Malibu before reaching Santa Monica and Interstate 10. Did you know I-10 is also known as the Christopher Columbus Transcontinental Highway? Headed East from there and made it to Blythe before finding a bed.

A majestic view all the way down the coast.

• Get out of my way! L.A. is a traffic nightmare even at 2:30 in the afternoon. I fought a legion of stop-n-go, bumper to bumper vehicles for nearly 70 miles before I was able to freewheel it. Doin' that every day would put me in a padded room donning a helmet.

• Bit the dust: My camera seems to have, that is. The controls have gone haywire and have to revert to my cell phone camera. That last photo wasn't too bad considering the equipment.

• No good deed ... Made it to Phoenix this morning and tried to repay A. J.'s hospitality with a gift of a wireless router but never could configure it to her system. The combination of cable router compounded with connecting to AOL for online access was an exercise in futility. Spent a couple hours troubleshooting but gave up. Mine connected OK but after awhile, even that wouldn't work. Back it went to Best Buy.

This time I was out of Phoenix before their road-rage revelers hit the highway and it was smooth sailing through Tucson and on to Lordsburg NM for the night.

Friday, Oct. 12th: On the road by sunup and as I approached El Paso, the route I've driven a zillion times before flashed through my mind. It was time to take another path just to brake the monotony so I opted for the Transmountain bypass through the Fort Bliss Castner Range. I continued on to Guadalupe Mountains National Park then headed South to Pecos TX where Interstate 20 would take me East and a bed in Cisco TX.

Guadalupe Park lies just beyond this sentinel.

Saturday, Oct 13th: 161 miles down the road lies The Harbor Project in Rockwall TX which was my destination for the day. What's there that would peak my interest you ask? Why it's Jamie Hullett's Genuine Jake store that's what. I stopped in around noon and visited with her mom till Jamie and dad came in for the late shift. Spent most of the day getting in their way and eventually settled in for the night, a little ways down the road, in Greenville.

• Botanical bombardment: If you look closely at the picture of the front of Jamie's store, the light green vegetation are sweet potato vines. Looks great but gets out of control in short order. Jamie's mom clued me in on that bit of trivia. Poison ivy was my guess.

Come on in.

The Harbor is not exactly the hood.

Renoir or Monet? 

Jamie's ride? Business must really be good.

Sunday, Oct.14th: The Nationwide Tour in Chattanooga TN will be my next stop. Will try to get a bag so I may deduct my cross-country travel expenses. Made it to Huntsville AL tonight and about to watch a little baseball as I write this.