I tend to think of myself as a hopeful skeptic.

I’d like to be a believer, I’m just cynical enough to think I know how the world works, and many things that require a leap of faith are hard for me.

This is especially true for me in the realm of the supernatural. 

I think there is definitely more to the world than we know, or even guess at.  I’d just like some irrefutable proof, on my terms.  Show me the science or the recipe.  But I want it the way that I want it.  I want to go to your house or business or whatever, witness it for myself, with all possible quantifications, and then I want to return safely to my own home.

I’ve read lots of books on various kinds of parapsychological phenomenon.  And I always start reading these with an optimism that this will be the one that gives me the incontrovertible proof I want.  Then there are a series of questionable conclusions or leaps of faith that I don’t agree with.  Or there’s just no conclusion at all.

That’s one of the reasons I’d never gone to a psychic.  I want to believe, but I just don’t.  And if there was a psychic out there who was so good that they could give me specifics beyond reproach, well, I’m pretty sure we all would have heard of them by now, right?

There used to be a psychic who lived on the edge of town, the last house in a row of homes near the airport.  I used to pass her house daily when I was doing traffic reports for a radio station.  One day, as I passed her house, there was a car parked facing the highway, with a big FORSALE sign in the windshield.

I joked on the air about how, if she was really a psychic, she would have waited to put the car there until the person who was going to buy it was going to come by.  Ha ha ha.

That car was gone the next day.

As far as this being any kind of experience, it’s really nothing more than a slightly humorous anecdote.  Part of me really wants to believe that whoever that psychic was, they did know the person that was going to buy that car was coming by.

But I also can’t help but think that, even if someone did buy that car on that particular day, it really doesn’t prove anything.

And I want proof.

I think that’s how just about everyone feels whenever the conversation turns to psychics.  Tell me what number I’m thinking of.  Who’s going to win the Super Bowl?  And if you’re really a psychic, how come you haven’t already won the lottery for yourself?

Being a psychic must be the only profession where, if you aren’t always one hundred percent right about every single thing, than you must be a fake, a fraud, a phony.

I wonder why it is that we don’t hold others to these same kinds of standards.

The first example that leaps to mind is that sorcery known as “meteorology”.  It’s supposed to be a science.  Is there anyone that really thinks their weather-person is right even half the time?  They have years of science and the latest technology, but they still aren’t sure where the storm is headed.

And how about baseball players?  Hank Aaron didn’t hit a homerun every time at bat.  Neither did Babe Ruth.  Or Barry Bonds (and he was cheating).  A baseball player can do a little better than getting a hit thirty percent of the time, and he’s considered All-Star material.  A little better than that, and he’s headed for the Hall of Fame.

And not only can a car mechanic be wrong about the problem with your car, but you’ll actually wind up paying them for being wrong!  And then you’ll come back and give them another chance!

We listen to doctors who can’t cure the common cold, let alone the flu.  And if they tell us that it’s not an exact science, we accept that.

But if a psychic says they can’t see Tuesday’s winning lotto numbers because it’s too random, there’s too much free will and it’s not an exact science, then we nod knowingly and decide they’re obviously trying to scam us.

Don’t get me wrong.  I still need some proof.  And I don’t mean to suggest that every single person claiming to be some kind of psychic is legit.

Of course, it isn’t as if there aren’t plenty of scammers in every other business out there.  Lance Armstrong is probably the most recent to be featured in the headlines, but there are plenty of non-celebrities who also fit that bill.
On the other hand, every stock broker who loses their clients’ money is not necessarily a fake.  Car manufacturers that sell new makes and models with defects aren’t necessarily frauds.  And just because I said no pickles and they put pickles on anyway doesn’t mean McDonalds is a phony.

This is all the kinds of things I had running through my brain when I finally got the chance to meet a new friend of my wife’s, whom I have reason to believe is the real deal.  And I think I believe this without proof (though I’d really like to have that).

You can check out her store HERE and find out about some of the classes she offers HERE (especially if you’re in or around the San Diego area).  I probably should mention that I’m not getting paid for any of this.  I just think we all have some pre-conceived notions about just what “those kinds of people” are like.

And I’ll share some of the reasons I think Teresa is the real deal next time, though if you require your own proof (and I understand if you do), check her out at the links above and think about attending one of her events (you won’t be sorry).

Ken

P.S. - Forgot to include today's playlist!  This comes from a new list I put together of classic rock, mixed with many of my favorites from that era who are still active today...

Tony Carey "A Fine Fine Day"
The Radiators "Confidential"
The Pretenders "Space Invader"
Stevie Nicks "Secret Love"
Lynyrd Skynyrd "Free Bird" (live)
The Cranberries "Roses"
Meat Loaf "All Of Me"
Styx "Renegade"
Billy Joel "Everybody Loves You Now"
Slade "Mama Weer All Crazee Now"
Elton John "Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding"
Ray Davies with Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora "Celluloid Heroes'
U2 "Two Hearts Beat As One?

I still haven’t won the lottery.

I did just put the final finishing touch on this season’s broadcast for my Christmas station, posting the top 100 songs from this year (which you can find HERE).

That station is something I would definitely continue doing, and WILL continue doing, after I do win. 

I’ve been blogging off and on about living my life as though I’d already won the lottery.  And as we plunge into 2013, I’ve thought about some other things I’d do that I could do right now.

One of the first would be to spend more time with my family – both the family that lives with me, or near me, in Sunny San Diego, as well as my parents, my siblings and their attachments (all back East).

The easiest is those who are geographically desirable.  Like Lisa, who is about three feet away right now, writing on her computer on the other side of the office we share.  I’ve been resistant to the whole eat-better-and-exercise thing, but I’m trying, and this is something we can do together.  Misery loves company, right?  We’ll head out for our walk together shortly, and I’ll try not to complain too much.

It’s much more difficult to keep connected to those I love on the other side of the country.  The Mega Millions would make that a bit easier, of course, as I could fly there or fly them here (or alternate). 

My schedule is always a little crazy, and when you add the time difference to that, and it makes phone calls a little tricky.  So, I’ve taken to writing them, trying to catch up through email.

I’ve discovered that this is becoming a lost art.  Not email, but writing letters (even if the medium used is email).  Do you write newsy, here’s-what’s-going-on-with-me emails?  I haven’t in a while, and it’s taking a little to get back to it.  But the longer we go without seeing each other, the less we really know one another.

So I’m going to email at least one of them every day.  I don’t live such a glamorous life that every day is jam-packed with news, but since I don’t see them that often, they really don’t know what a day in my life is like (and I don’t know what their days are really like, either).

Once the lottery winnings come in, and I make it through that first wave of rampant consumerism, this is probably something I’d still want to do.  Even though I’d get to see them more often, we’d still be living on opposite coasts, and I hate to miss out on stuff.  I already feel like I’ve miss a lot.

As this becomes part of my routine, I’d really like to do the same with some of my friends.  Sure, we reconnect occasionally on Facebook, and I see videos they like, who they’re beating at Words With Friends and that sort of thing.  But so many of these people were friends I used to see almost every day, and I’d like to get to know them all over again, too.

I don’t really make resolutions, so that isn’t what this is.  It’s already halfway through January, anyhow.

But I would like to see 2013 be the Year of Reconnection.  And that’s not something I could buy no matter how many lotteries I win!

Thinking about all this has made me a little nostalgic, so here’s what I listened to as I wrote this, shuffling out of my 80’s playlist…

The Cars “You Are The Girl”
The Hooters “Day By Day”
Simple Minds “All The Things She Said She Said’
Wall of Voodoo “Mexican Radio”
Fairground Attraction “Perfect”
ZZ Top “T.V. Dinners”
Dire Straits “Money For Nothing”
The Alarm “Rain In The Summertime’
Pat Benatar “Fire And Ice’
George Thorogood and the Destroyers “Gear Jammer”

Off to walk now.  Hope your 2013 is off to a good start!

Ken

The Sounds of Christmas, my online Christmas music station, is up and running!

In fact, we already have listeners in 46 states, Washington DC and 45 other countries!

I realize that, with just over a week to go before Thanksgiving (here in the U.S.), not everyone is ready for Christmas music.  That's fine.  We'll be ready and waiting for you when you are!

For those who are ready, just click on this tree to go to the Sounds of Christmas website, where you can listen for free (and even pop the player up out of the page, so you can listen while you do other stuff online).

I know there are lots of radio stations all over that go "All Christmas" this time of year.  And they tend to play the same hundred songs over and over, which is one of the main reasons so many people say they're sick of Christmas music before the first of December!

Well, I have loaded almost two thousand songs into the station (so far), and there's plenty more to come.  You'll get more from Bing than just "White Christmas, more from Nat "King" Cole than just "The Christmas Song" and more from Mannheim Steamroller than just "Deck The Halls".

Plus, lots of new music, including the Polyphonic Spree, Scotty McCreery, Richard Kincaid, Judy Pancoast, Rod Stewart, Cee Lo Green, August Burns Red, Celtic Woman, Christina Perri, Colbie Caillat, Gary "U.S." Bonds, Rita Collidge, the Backstreet Boys, Chris Mann, Lady Antebellum, the Civil Wars, Blake Shelton, the Empty Pockets, Cheap Trick, Fun, Jim Brickman, Kem, the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Mikey Wax, Norah Jones, Olivia Newton-John (with John Travolta), Richard Marx, Tracey Thorn, Steven Curtis Chapman the Shins, Dropkick Murphy's, Rick Braun, Jason Castro and Paul McCartney!  To name a few.

Here's what I listened to on the Sounds of Christmas as I typed this...

Big Bad Voodoo Daddy "Christmas Is Starting Now"
Commodores "Deck The Halls"
Pat Boone "Old Fashioned Christmas"
Barry Manilow "(There's No Place Like) Home For The Holidays"
My Chemical Romance "All I Want For Christmas Is You"
Bobby Vee "Blue Christmas"
AgesandAges "We Need A Little Christmas"
Mariah Carey "Charlie Brown Christmas"
Dennis DeYoung "When I Hear A Christmas Song"
Carpenters "Do You Hear What I Hear"
Slim Jim Phantom "Christmas Tree Boogie"

So if you love Christmas music, I hope you'll tune in!  And if you know someone who loves Christmas music, please send them my way!

Especially if they live in Alaska, Delaware, Maine or Wyoming (those are the four states I need to have all of America listening)!

Thanks so much!  And may you always believe in Santa Claus!

Ken

Now that the Sounds of Christmas is up and running, I'm trying to take care of all the behind-the-scenes things.

One of the questions I get a lot if about apps.  Nice to know people want to take me with them!

The easiest thing to do is to go to your favorite app store and just search Live 365.  It's a free app for your i-Phone, i-Pad, i-etc. as well as Android and other devices.

Once you have them installed, just search for the Sounds of Christmas.  It really is that easy.

By the way, I held off mentioning this until I had a chance to test drive it myself.  It worked flawlessly!  I used it while out doing laps, and this was in an area where I frequently have interruptions when I use Rhapsody and  Amazonmp3.  No stalls or interruptions from the Live 365 app.

I've used it several times since that initial test drive, and have yet to have a problem.  One of the times I opened it, my phone freaked out and froze, but I just uninstalled and reinstalled it and everything was fine.  I also got rid of another app that was enormous and has caused other problems before, so I'm inclined to think this had nothing to with the Live 365 app, anyway.

You can check out the details of the apps by clicking either of those pics above.  I'm so glad we have access to them this year, so you can listen on the go, or even in the car if you have one of those thingies that let you hook up your device to your car stereo.  Didn't mean to get all technical on you but I think you know what I mean.

Anyway, here's what I heard through my Live 365 app, streaming the Sounds of Christmas, as I wrote this...

Ann and Nancy Wilson "Here Is Christmas"
Ringo Starr "I Wanna Be Santa Claus"
Tina Lambert "Hark The Herald Angels Sing"
60's Invasion "Incense and Chia Pets"
Cee Lo Green "What Christmas Means'
X "Jingle Bells"
Kylie Minogue "Let It Snow"
Perry Como "There's No Christmas Like A Home Christmas"
Thee Fine Lines "We Will Be Happy On Christmas Day"
Dennis DeYoung "When I Hear A Christmas Song"
Chris Mann "White Christmas"
Pomplamoose "Always In The Season"

Details coming soon about giveaways and the return of the All-Request show!

In the meantime, thanks so much for listening!

And may you always believe in Santa Claus!

Ken

Just so you know, since I run a Christmas station, a lot of the blogs over the next couple of months will be about the station, Christmas music and all other things Santa-related.

Like this one.

My station is the Sounds of Christmas, and if you're ready for Christmas music, you can listen right now, for free, right here.

We went live late on Halloween night, so I as I write this, we've been on for about two and a half days.  During that time, I've loaded up our first thousand songs.

We already have listeners in 34 states, plus Canada, Mexico, the UK, Germany, New Zealand and thirteen other countries (even China)!

There's lots more to do, and once I get the rest of it all set up and working, I'll have details about requests, special shows and our CD giveaway (courtesy of Scotty McCreery).

In the meantime, in lieu of a playlist today, here are the top ten highest-rated songs (so far) on the Sounds of Christmas...

1) Annie Lennon "Lullay Lullay (Coventry Carol)"
2) Burt Reynolds "Frosty the Snowman"
3) Bing Crosby "White Christmas"
4) Anna Wilson "Yule Swing"
5) A Fine Frenzy "Christmas Time Is Here"
6) Scotty McCreery "Holly Jolly Christmas"
7) Darlene Love with the Brian Setzer Orchestra "Sleigh Ride"
8) Faith Hill "Little Drummer Boy"
9) Hey Monday "Mixtape For Christmas"
10) Johnny Mathis "The Christmas Waltz"

I try to update our top ten once a week, and since I'm adding so much music, there's a good chance next week's list will look nothing like this one.  With luck, by then we'll have all the rest of the states and a lot more countries, too!

Ken

As we shift into what's really my time of year, things are getting crazy-busy!

I re-launched my Christmas station last night, kicking off the sixth season of the Sounds of Christmas.  By midnight, we already had listeners in five states, Canada and Bangladesh!

If you're ready for Christmas music, you can tune in now, for free!

Just click that tree to go to the Sounds of Christmas page.

If you're nursing a Halloween candy hangover, thinking you need to do something about what's left of the pumpkin on your porch, and really not ready for Christmas music, yet, I completely understand.  And whenever you are ready, we'll be ready for you!

If you do want to listen, you can click the little box in the upper right hand corner of the player on the Sounds of Christmas page, and the player will pop out, so you can listen while you check email, update Twitter and Facebook and otherwise surf around the internet.

As I load up the first thousand songs, here's what shuffled out of my latest playlist, which is made up of much of the new music I'm adding to the Sounds of Christmas this year...

The Cast of "A Christmas Story - The Musical" "A Kid At Christmas"
Rita Coolidge "Let It Snow"
Colbie Caillat "Christmas In The Sand"
The Polyphonic Spree "The Christmas Song"
Francesca Battistelli "Marshmallow World"
Fun "Sleigh Ride"
Trans-Siberian Orchestra "Dreams Of Fireflies (On A Christmas Night)"
Rod Stewart "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas"
Tracey Thorn "Sister Winter"
Soctty McCreery "Santa Claus Is Back In Town"
The Piano Guys "Where Are You Christmas"
Katherine Jenkins "Deck The Halls"
Christina Perri "Please Come Home For Christmas"
Mikey Wax "Catch The Midnight Flight"
Steven Curtis Chapman "Christmas Time Again"
Paul McCartney "The Christmas Song"
Celtic Woman "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town"
Empty Pockets "What Christmas Means To Me'

I'm really excited about this new season, and hope you can listen whenever you're ready for Christmas music!

And may you always believe in Santa Claus!

Ken

Like most families, Halloween and Christmas are big at our house.  Here, Lisa and the kids are on the Halloween side, while I'm with Santa.

I learned long ago not to try and convert any of them.  I think what happened at Disneyland once illustrates it best.  In one of the studios at California Adventure, you can use this machine to determine which hero or villain you are.

I was Tarzan.  All three of them were villains.

Oh, well.  They love me, anyway.

So as October winds down, I'm in a mad rush to get my Christmas station ready to go. Last year, I turned it on a little early, featuring Halloween songs up until November 1, and I may do that again, depending on how things go this week.

In the meantime, even though I've been listening to lots of new Christmas music to get ready (and figure out which new songs I'm going to add this year), I've tried to respect my family's love for the rapidly-approaching Autumn holiday.

So here's what shuffled out of my Halloween Playlist...

Danny Elfman "This Is Halloween"
Blue Oyster Cult "Don't Fear The Reaper"
Weird Al Yankovic "Attack Of The Radioactive Hamsters From A Planet Near Mars'
Screamin' Jay Hawkins "I Put A Spell On You"
The Dickies "Killer Klowns From Outer Space"
Brave Combo "Vampire Twist"
Jumpin' Gene Simmons "Haunted House"
Susan Sarandon "There's A Light Over At The Frankenstein Place'
David Bowie "Scary Monsters and Super Creeps"
Los Lobos "Grim Grinning Ghosts"

Are you getting in the spirit?  For either of these holidays?  I'm going to continue to try and prepare for both, as I much on this candy cane while trying to figure out where Lisa hid the Halloween candy...

Ken

I am now the Mayor of the Pacific Ocean.  At least, according to Foursquare.  If you don't know what Foursquare is, you can find out all about it HERE.   And if you're on Foursquare and want to connect, I'm the only Ken Kessler whose picture is a Christmas tree on a record.

I’ve been blogging, off and on, about trying to live my life as though I’d already won the lottery.  So much of it really seems to be about attitude, after that initial wave of rampant consumerism, of course.

While I would love to live in a huge, lottery-bought house on a magnificent stretch of private beach, I find that I really get a lot out of just taking an hour or so (sometimes even less, if that’s all I have), and just enjoy the sight.

It’s especially helpful after a string of days where I feel like I’ve been chained to my computers and my desk.  A little like Sir Paul said in “Band On The Run”, “Stuck inside these four walls, sent inside forever, never seeing no one.”  Well, I do get to see Lisa.  And the kids.  And various dogs.  And even the cat.  But you get the idea.

As long as I can remember, I’ve loved the ocean.  And while I’ve lived in a lot of places (check my Pinterest board if you want the details, almost every single one of them has been in a state that touched the ocean.  And all but one of those was the Atlantic. 

I was never Mayor of the Atlantic, though.  Probably because there was no Foursquare at the time.

For me, there is just something soul-soothing about the ocean.  It’s kind of like the way Danny Glover described the Grand Canyon in the movie of the same name.

“You ever been to the Grand Canyon? It’s pretty, but that’s not the thing of it. You can sit on the edge of that big ol' thing and those rocks, the cliffs and rocks are so old.  It took so long for that thing to get like that, and it ain't done either! It happens right there while you’re watching it. It’s happening right now as we are sitting here in this ugly town. When you sit on the edge of that thing, you realize what a joke we people really are.  What big heads we have, thinking that what we do is gonna matter all that much.  Thinking that our time here means diddley to those rocks. Just a split second we been here, the whole lot of us. That's a piece of time so small, it ain’t even get a name. Those rocks are laughing at me right now, me and my worries.  Yeah, it’s real humorous, that Grand Canyon. It’s laughing at me right now. You know what I felt like? I felt like a gnat that lands on the ass of a cow chewing his cud on the side of the road that you drive by doing 70 mph.”

I couldn’t find the clip on YouTube, so that’s pretty much from memory.  It may not be one hundred percent accurate, but you get the ‘gist of it.

I have some great memories of the Ocean.

I can remember catching a glimpse of it, as a kid, at Ocean View Amusement Park in Virginia.  You could see it, for a moment, when you rode the “Skyway” cars.  You could see more of it from the rollercoaster.

Much more recently, there was a trip to Virginia Beach with Lisa.  We were sitting in the hotel restaurant, and the sunrise sparkled on the water, shining like diamonds.

My family used to go to Myrtle Beach for vacations every summer, starting in the mid-70’s (I think).  Myrtle Beach was still a small town back then, and once you got out of the touristy downtown area, there wasn’t a lot.  It’s a hard to imagine that now, but I remember the second or third time we went, we stayed on “Condo row” and we were still too far away from the city to get pizza delivery.

Another time in Myrtle Beach, many years later, I brought my new family back east to spend Thanksgiving with my parents, siblings and their attachments and kids.  I went out on the patio of the condo where we were staying, and leaned against the rail to watch the waves.  Moments later, all on their own, my new daughter and son came out to join me.  That was a really nice five or ten minutes.

In high school, for junior-senior weekend, a bunch of us went to Atlantic Beach in North Carolina.  We were so excited when we got there that first night, that we ran out on the beach and broke out the Frisbee, only to sadly watch as it whirled out into the darkness somewhere over the equally dark waves.  Happy ending to that story, though, as I found it on the beach the next morning.

And when I lived in Florida, my brother and I went out past where either of us could stand, enjoying the sun, the surf and each other’s company.  When we came back in, everyone was pointing at the big dark shapes that were swimming in the waves between the beach and the sand bar.  Had we stayed out there much longer, they would have been between us and the shore.

I should add that we were both adults at the time.  At least chronologically. 

Another time in Florida, I reconnected with an old girlfriend, who I really thought I was going to marry.  We went out to Cocoa Beach (yes, the same place where Tony and Jeannie lived).  It was a clear night, and I think I saw a falling star out on the horizon.  The waves crashed on the shore in a kind of domino effect, sounding almost like a string of fireworks, pop-pop-popping from one end to the other.

There’s a place on the boardwalk in Ocean City, Maryland called Thrasher’s.  All they make are French fries.  And they’re so good, people are lined up all day long to get them.

And just north of there, in Delaware, I stayed in a hotel that was so close to the water, when the tide came in, I literally felt like the waves were breaking right outside my window.

My first sunset on the ocean was with my cousin at Venice Beach.  It was overcast that day, but I still thought it was pretty cool.  I’d seen plenty of sunrises at the ocean, but never a sunset.  Depending where you are on the east coast, the sun usually sets behind the hotels, condos and other high-rises, so a lot of the beach can be in shadows by late afternoon.

I know for a lot of people, especially back east, the stereotypical image of Southern Californians is that we all live at or near the beach.  I know this because that’s what I always thought.

On a clear day, and there are a lot of them, you can see the ocean from our kitchen window.  But it’s a thin, shiny, kind of squiggly line on the horizon.  Comforting to know it’s there, but a letdown if you were buying the property because it said “ocean view” and that’s what you got.

By the way, you can't really see it in the picture, so don't hurt your eyes trying.
But I am extremely fortunate that, within about half an hour, I can be parked next to the ocean.

I can also pretend that I’m taking a CARE package to my son in college.  Here’s the view from the parking lot at his dorm.

Not a bad spot to sit and munch drive-thru, huh?  It can make a quarter-pounder taste like a steak!

Not only is the geography of the beaches on the Pacific much different than that on the Atlantic, the music associated with the beach is also very different.

In my first few trips to the beach on the left coast, I expected to hear the Beach Boys being piped in.  Back east, especially around the Carolinas, where I spent most of my life, beach music is different.  It’s a lot more Motowny than “Surfin’ Safari”, more Drifters than Jan and Dean.

In my first few trips to the beach on the left coast, I expected to hear the Beach Boys being piped in.  Back east, especially around the Carolinas, where I spent most of my life, beach music is different.  It’s a lot more Motowny than “Surfin’ Safari”, more Drifters than Jan and Dean.

They both mean the same thing to me, and that’s what I was listening to as I ambled along Sunset Cliffs Blvd, overseeing my constituents and basking in the glow of my new mayorship.

So here’s what shuffled out of my Beach Playlist…

First Class “Beach Baby”
Bruce Springsteen “Girls In Their Summer Clothes”
Sly and the Family Stone “Hot Fun In The Summer Time”
Seals and Crofts “Summer Breeze”
The O’Kasions “Girl Watcher”
Eddie Cochrane “Summertime Blues”
Janis Joplin “Summertime”
Rivieras “California Sun”
Go-Go’s “Vacation”
Jan and Dean “Surf City”

As I wish I had some of those hot, salty Thrasher's fries, I wish you some beach in your day, or whatever else gives you that just-won-the-lottery feeling!

Ken

P.S. – Hi Marvin!  It’s all there – the falling star, McCartney (from “Band On The Run”) and even some steak!

This is the 5th part of a five part travel blog, celebrating the seventh anniversary of the start of my new life.  If you want to read the other parts, and you really should, you can find them here --> Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4.

I was up, showered, checked out and back on the road by 3:30am, seven years ago today.  Once outside of Amarillo, getting up so early was an idea I immediately began to question.

Not only was there no traffic, but there was no anything.  For miles.  In every direction.  I barely even noticed passing into New Mexico, feeling a little like I was the last human on the planet.

In those pre-dawn hours, this looks much more desolate.

This was the first day of this trip that I didn't have a particular plan.  I thought I would get to Phoenix in the afternoon, hopefully before rush hour.  If I still felt okay, I'd press on.  If I was dying, I'd find a hotel somewhere.  Phoenix is big, and I didn't think it would be a huge problem finding a place with a vacancy.

The sun finally came up, and I saw signs of civilization.  I admit that because of Bugs Bunny, I was planning to stop for breakfast in Albuquerque.  Just to be able to say I did.  And since I was headed west, I could even say I took that left turn at Albuquerque.

I'm sure people have stopped in places for worse, or sillier, reasons.

I randomly selected an exit and pulled into the parking lot of a small shopping center.  It was about 9:00am and I'd been on the road already for over five hours.  So I treated myself to an actual restaurant, instead of drive-thru.

The Owl Cafe.  They were hopping that morning.  Even so, I didn't have to wait long for a table for one.  It was nice to think that the "table for one" days were coming to an end.

The other interesting thing about the Owl Cafe was that this was the first time I had been anywhere that had Chorizo and Eggs on the menu.  There's a movie called "Midnight Run" (Robert DeNiro and Charles Grodin) that's one of those movies my family really latched onto.  It's a good movie, and really funny.  It also has a lot of bad language, so if you don't like that kind of thing, you shouldn't watch it.

Anyway, there's a scene where there's a discussion of Chorizo and Eggs.  That was the first time I'd ever heard of it, and I'd never seen it on a menu anywhere.  So I had to order it.

For those who don't know, Chorizo is a Mexican sausage.

It was good, and if you're ever in Albuquerque, I recommend the Owl Cafe.

After a leisurely breakfast, I left the restaurant and saw that there was a Target nearby.  It was a Tuesday.  That's typically when new music releases come out.

Yes, that's the actual Target at that exit in Albuquerque.

I wandered over and not only did they have the one CD in particular that I was looking for, but they also had a second CD that I was sure wasn't coming out until the next Tuesday.

You didn't think the Christmas music thing was something new, did you?

I popped these two into my CD-changer and headed back out on the road.  The new music reinvigorated me, and the miles flew by.

The Grand Canyon!  I hadn't even thought about that!  I thought long and hard about taking a side-trip.  After all, I could still get to Phoenix by that night.

But as much as I wanted to play tourist, I wanted to get to Lisa and California much more.  So I passed all the exits and signs for the Grand Canyon and kept going.

Gassed up again during a brief, cold rain in Flagstaff.  I had thought it was always hot in Arizona.  And a dry heat, at that.  But I was lucky that this was the first bad weather I'd encountered on the drive, and it was brief, anyway.

I was starting to think that maybe Phoenix would be it for the day.  While I really wanted to get to Lisa, I also wanted to get to her alive.  And I was dragging.  I even started to convince myself that, if I stopped in Phoenix, I could still get up early the next day and be in San Diego by lunch, if not earlier.

Then I talked to Lisa.  And she told me how her mom (my future mother-in-law) had remarked that if I was going to get all the way to Phoenix, I should just go the rest of the way, since it really wasn't that much further.

And there it was.  I had to go on, now. 

So I got to Phoenix, and kept on going.

I got around the city close to 4:00pm, so I was able to beat most of the traffic.  I figured once I got past the city, I'd find somewhere to grab a bite and some caffeine.  Unfortunately, once you get past Phoenix, there's not a lot.  In fact, there were a few times, during that first hour after Phoenix, that I seriously considered turning around and finding a hotel for the night.

But I kept going.  And as the sun started to sink behind the mountains, I made it to Yuma, which is a small town right on the border of Arizona and California.

I was so relieved to finally be in California!  I wasn't sure what there was between Yuma and my final destination, so I exited and pulled into a Jack In The Box.  How very Californian!  There are even Palm Trees!

With my body and my car refueled, I got back on the highway.  I tried to pick up one of the radio stations Lisa listened to, but I was still too far away, so it was back to Brian Wilson and Brian Setzer.

As I drove, I had that stereotypical idea of California that I should soon be able to see the ocean on the horizon.  Crossing mountain after mountain, all I saw was more mountains.

Then the sun sank and fog rolled in.  Maybe it was a cloud.  The elevation was pretty high.  Exhaustion really started to take it's toll, and I found myself gripping the steering wheel tighter and tighter.  It was almost like some movie, with the fog coming right up to the edge of the highway.  I started to worry it would cover the road, and I'd wind up driving off the side of the mountain, never to be heard from again.

That last maddening stretch took the better part of three hours.  With visibility reduced, I couldn't drive nearly as fast as I wanted.  But soon, the fog started to dissipate, and I saw signs for my exit.  I almost couldn't believe that just four days before, I had been in Washington DC, and now I was pulling into the driveway of my new life.

And now I find it hard to believe that it's already been seven years.

I've lived in a lot of places.  In part, because that's the nature of radio; you're hired to be fired.  But I did the math recently and realized that, not only is today the seventh anniversary of the start of my new life with Lisa, but it also marks the longest I've ever lived at one particular address!

San Diego.  Where it's almost always sunny, except when we have a slight chance of a cloud.  You can click that, by the way, and see my Pinterest board of all the places I've lived.  Well, most of them, anyway.

Seven years.  I am so glad I finally got here.  I've been fortunate enough to have gotten lots of hugs over my life, especially during the last seven years, but the one that I got that night, seven years ago tonight, was my favorite.
'
In honor of the anniversary of my becoming a Californian, and because I listened to Brian Wilson quite a lot that day, some Beach Boys seems appropriate.  So here's what shuffled out of my Beach Boys' Playlist...

"Wouldn't It Be Nice"
"Sloop John B"
"Help Me Rhonda"
"California Girls"
"Surfin' Safari"
"Good Vibrations"
"God Only Knows"
"In My Room"
"Be True To Your School"
"Catch A Wave"
"I Can Hear Music"

Anyway, I hope you have something to celebrate today, and I really hope you have someone to celebrate with.

And Lisa, thanks for welcoming me in seven years ago.  And thanks in advance for the next seven.  And the seven after that.  Infinity.

Ken

This is Part 4 of my move west to start a new life.  You can find the previous posts here --> Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.

I left St. Louis around sunrise.  I was hoping once again to have a lot of miles under my belt before I talked to Lisa that morning.

I also really wanted a breakfast biscuit from Hardee's.  BoJangle's would have been even better, but I was pretty sure I was out of their geographic range.  I didn't have Yelp or any other apps.  Or even a smartphone.  And I passed a few exits, hoping what I wanted would be just a little further on up the road.

I was also a little distracted, again, as the sun came up in my rearview mirror, over the Ozarks.  Another rare time I wish I had my camera. 

This picture really doesn't do it justice, but that's a little of what I was seeing roll away behind me as I headed west.  Add in some brighter colors, a bluer sky and the sun just up over the horizon, and you'd have a better idea of what I was seeing.

I was also a little distracted because I was really close to Hannibal, Mark Twain's home town.  Twain has always been one of my favorites, and if it wasn't out of my way, I probably would have stopped for an hour or three.

But I was a traveler, and not a tourist, and I was much more anxious to get to Lisa than to see Tom Sawyer's fence.

So I drove on.

As the sun went higher and the miles went by, I gave up hope of Hardee's, drove through a McDonalds and found a gas station.  Refueled and caffeinated, I got back on the road.

Eventually, I crossed out of Missouri, skirting the corner of Kansas and went into Oklahoma.

Since I had gone through so many states the day before, it was somewhat of a relief to finally get to a new one on this Monday seven years ago.  Since I was going diagonally across the state, I was going to be there for a while.  But at least I was out of Missouri, so it seemed like progress.

I consulted the AAA triptych and decided I'd go past Tulsa and keep going to Oklahoma City before I stopped for lunch.  It seemed like a good idea at the time, but I was really dragging by the time I realized that maybe it wasn't the best idea.

I decided I needed to get off the road for a bit when I did get to Oklahoma City, and exited at a busy looking area where I thought I could sit down to a real meal, where someone would bring me lots of iced tea.

I found a Lonestar Steakhouse, and could see a Best Buy on the street behind it.  So I stopped for a mid-afternoon steak, and then planned to add a couple new CDs to my player.

The first part of the plan went fine.  Great food and service.  I even fired up my laptop and checked my email.  It took a little longer than I really wanted it to, but I needed to break.

Road construction kept me from being able to get to the Best Buy, so I started my CDs over again and got back on the highway.

This was not the sign that greeted me as I crossed into Texas.  I kind of like it, though.  And for many who've never been to Texas, this is probably what you'd expect.

It was about another hundred miles before I was done for the day, and I got to Amarillo just as the sun was going down.  Exhausted (and possibly a little cranky), I weaved through traffic, driving directly into the white hot rays of the setting sun.

I checked in and called Lisa.  My plan was to get on my laptop, find my next stop and get some sleep.  I'd had a steak for a late lunch and really didn't feel like going back out to forage for food.  Lisa made me promise I'd eat something, so I got some peanut butter and cheese crackers from the vending machine and called it a night.

My plan was to make it to Phoenix the next day.  If I left early enough, I could get there around dinner time.  And then there would be just one more trip to go.

I looked at my triptych again.  It only looked like another four or five hours to San Diego.  After all I'd already done, that didn't seem to be out of the question.  I didn't want to say anything to Lisa about it, just in case I was too tired by the time I got to Phoenix.  Sorry if I just put that song in your head.

So I asked for a wake-up call at a ridiculous time of the morning.  And for the only night I've ever spent in Texas, I didn't see any sites or get any barbecue.  Instead, I fell asleep just as "Two And A Half Men" was coming on.

I didn't have any ZZ Top in my road collection of CDs, but for some reason, I couldn't help but think of that little ol' band from Texas as I started to write this.  So here's what shuffled out of my ZZ Top Playlist...

"Just Got Paid"
"Concrete And Steel"
"Tush"
"Backdoor Medley"
"My Head's In Mississippi"
"Burger Man"
"Gimme All Your Lovin'"
"I Gotsa Get Paid"
"La Grange'
"Vincent Price Blues"

Had I know when I went to sleep that I was seriously considering driving a thousand miles on that next day, I might have done things differently the next day. 

Might have.

Ken