My loyal fans: I'll try to update tonite sometime. I'm in Abilene, TX and expect to be in Dallas around sunset. More then.

Hey again. I'm in Truth Or Consequences, NM. It's really hard to take decent pictures out here, because the towns are so fucking dumpy! And when it IS pretty, you're on the highway, and it's hard to stop, but not really. I am almost always the only car on the road. Last nite, I figured I could refuel in NM with half a tank of gas coming out of Springerville, AZ. This was not the case. After passing thru a string of oddly-named ass-ugly little NM villages, I finally stopped at a campground in Pie Hole, NM to sleep. I wish I'd taken more blankets in the tent with me, cuz after I got zipped up, coyotes started howling and wild dogs were barking in all directions. I thought it better to freeze, and it was freezing. It was exactly 32 degrees when I woke up today. There was frost all over me from what got into the tent overnite. Very cold J I was. So I took a shit in an outhouse and rolled everything up and turned on the heat until I got to Dilat, where I shaved for the first time, shit more (lol!), and washed up in the bathroom. I've been cruising around NM since about 6am looking for cool places to stop, but honestly there's not much here. I will post what few pics I have on the So Far page, so always check there for pic updates.

Also drove past some creepy satellite things, rows and rows, in Socorro county. Made me think of the movie "Contact". I felt totally cosmic! Sleeping in tent or car is a compromise between hurting my hip (tent) or legs (car), so I know now to pick my injury nightly. Almost to El Paso, but I think I'll take some more crazy NM highways to get there though, cuz it shares a border with Mexico, and that's just way too close for a non-violent J. like me. Peace out, ya'll. I gotta write some in the book.

I'm in Flagstaff now, in a Barnes & Noble. I ended up sleeping in Munds Park in Pinewood, AZ last nite. I attempted to sleep in Sedona because there was another trail I wanted to hike today, but a cop tapped on my window and there were FOUR cop cars behind me. Is that really necessary? So they told me to go to the Basha's plaza down the road, which I did, and when I got there another (different) cop was waiting for me to see if I was coming. Whatever. Five cops for someone taking a little siesta? So I said fuck it and started heading toward Flagstaff. There is a beautiful mountain that overlooks the whole city, but I doubt I can take a picture of it without getting power lines and businesses... so no. Anyway, glad to be updating one more time. Give everyone you know the link to my site! And freaking donate, ya'll! Gas is expensive out here.

I'm in Flagstaff now, in a Barnes & Noble. I ended up sleeping in Munds Park in Pinewood, AZ last nite. I attempted to sleep in Sedona because there was another trail I wanted to hike today, but a cop tapped on my window and there were FOUR cop cars behind me. Is that really necessary? So they told me to go to the Basha's plaza down the road, which I did, and when I got there another (different) cop was waiting for me to see if I was coming. Whatever. Five cops for someone taking a little siesta? So I said fuck it and started heading toward Flagstaff. There is a beautiful mountain that overlooks the whole city, but I doubt I can take a picture of it without getting power lines and businesses... so no. Anyway, glad to be updating one more time. Give everyone you know the link to my site! And freaking

I'm out, ya'll! I'm writing this tonite from Sedona, AZ. This will be my first nite having to sleep outside in my car. I'm eyeing this little metaphysical shop I saw down the street. It had a huge sign that said, "VORTEX" next to "Metaphysical". Can't be all that bad with signs like those. Sedona is cute. There is one main little strip with lots of cute little shops. Other than that, it's stretches of windy road connecting little churches to one another. As soon as I got here, I took a long hike and got lots of good pictures. Click here to see pics from today. I'm gonna get busy making the first on-the-road entry for the book. It's 8pm. I'll do that for about an hour, then go find a place until tomorrow. Let's see. Tomorrow, I'm going to the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest, so I may not have access again til New Mexico. Every few days, look for more pics, cuz they sure will be here. Good nite everyone, Good nite Jake. See you all on the laters.

Firstly, thank you so much to Kay Gabrielson for being the first to donate to the project. I feel so incredibly supported, and there is so much positive energy around this. It all helps, so thank you.

Then... I think I have a start date(!). I'm planning to leave Tempe on either Sunday the 24th or Monday the 25th. It's been hard getting everything to work around this, but I only have the edges to trim and there's no stopping now. I just hope the quality of photography and writing is up to the standards I've already set for myself. I want to produce tons of beautiful images to choose from and set them among really thoughtful journal-type entries. I feel I know everything I need to know to be smart, intuitive (that means safe), and to keep my wits about me until my planned return to Tempe on August 2nd. Hopefully things will work out better than I expect, and I can stay out there longer. Gonna go paint a bit before I rest. Next week will be a lot of running around, so it's best I sleep while I can.

Later,
-J.

Things are finally starting to feel final. My lease is being overtaken, I got my money shit as together as it's going to be, made the lists, budgeted time, money, and everything, and just need to do a few more things before I can go. Which I hope will be soon because it was 89 today here in Tempe. I need to go before it gets much hotter.

My friend's Mom was telling me how the bees start making honey in Southern Texas and slowly move north throughout the summer until they get to Canada, which is the exact route I'm taking. With the new Tori CD and all the new knowledge about beekeeping, I thought it was appropriate.

I need now to get a storage facile, gather monies, and move my shit out of here. Load up what I plan to take and... load the cameras. I thought about getting a little tape recorder for ideas I get out there or when I talk to an aboriginie.

Had a really good conversation about everything going on with Steve the other day. It made me think about a few things, made me a little anxious, too. Thought about getting a little gun just so I don't waste my psychic energy on any kind of fear. I have yet to check into that. Need to go ahead and contact papers along my first leg of the trip to Memphis.

I would've liked to update this sooner and more often, but fucking work has been ruining my every day for planning and painting and thinking through this. Like today I worked from 5am-1:30pm, and tomorrow, and tomorrow. I am so sick of work. I am disengaging from that place. My thoughts are totally elsewhere, and I would love to devote my preceding few weeks to nothing but planning, but money is my biggest issue here. Anyway, my back is getting slowly better. A couple of trouble spots remain, and my upper back is still really sensitive, but I think I'll be out of here by April 23 or so.

Really ready... and maybe that car crash prevented me from leaving too early. There may be something I'm not supposed to miss.