Frenchy's Rant

The trip is still moving along, today we start out in Houston and will end up in the Big Easy. I’m almost ready to jinx the trip by mentioning that we have had NO RA**… can’t do it just yet, but it’s been pretty dry so far.

Here’s a few more pictures:

My friend Pat Cassidy rode out and led us to his palatial Houston estate for another great evening of food and fun, and no Macallan.

Hard to believe the time has arrived again. For some unknown reason, October has become ‘Ride-Across-America’ month for me and Abi. Our second annual transcontinental ride starts tomorrow. This year’s route will take us from the Pacific to the Atlantic, covering approximately 3000 miles in twelve days – if all goes to plan (which it almost never does.)

In an attempt to make this trip a little more interesting than last year’s, which was mostly ride-five-hundred-miles-sleep-repeat, the tentative itinerary includes stops at Sedona, the Grand Canyon, Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument, Carlsbad Caverns, San Antonio (number three of my Top Five Favorite Cities) Houston, New Orleans (not currently on the Top Five Favorite Cities list, but maybe this trip will change that) and finally Disneyland (yeah RIGHT!) We’ll probably stumble into a few more interesting things on the way.

As of now, ZERO U-Haul rentals have been booked to ferry soggy motorcycles across snowy mountains, and hopefully it will stay that way. Of course I’m bringing my laptop and camera, and will try to post updates as we go.

The Proposed Route

Last week’s trip to Ireland was my third in two years (yes, Ireland really is that good!) I was first introduced to the intoxicating Emerald Isle in April of 2006. To commemorate that momentous occasion I wrote a thirteen page journal entitled Ireland – Quest For the Perfect Pint.

While enduring another shocking delay yesterday courtesy of Delta – the reason for the delay this time had something to do with drunken pilots unable to find Cincinnati – I wandered into Borders bookstore to find a new book to kill some abundant time. Sadly, I’ve already read almost all the popular books they offer, so I went to the travel section. I’ve read almost everything there too, but one book caught my eye.

The cover design, all black with a one inch ‘head’ of foam, was all too familiar after my most recent Irish rehab stint. Hmm… how interesting! What could this book be? A history of Guinness? No. The book was Evan McHugh’s blatant ripoff of my journal, entitled Pint Sized Ireland – In Search of the Perfect Guinness.

Bastard! I should sue him!

Instead I bought the book, and by the time I landed in Milwaukee, I read half of it. I learned a few things from his book.

1 – McHugh had a better time in Ireland than I did on my first trip, possibly because he made his trip with Michelle, otherwise known in his book as Twidkiwodm (The-woman-I-didn’t-know-I-would-one-day-marry) and I made my first trip with Abi (a.k.a. A-boring-individual)

2 – My ‘perfect pint’ conclusion was different from his, but since Evan is Australian, my conclusion was right.

3 – Though Pint Sized Ireland’s first printing in the US was in 2007, a full year after my journal was written, the book’s first Australian printing was waaay back in in 2001, so technically he could sue me I guess.

4 – This book is a great read, and I highly recommend it. I’d also highly recommend my book, if I ever come up with an original topic and actually write one.