Since Monday was a holiday, we called our Philadelphia boat contact on Friday from DC. Was the Cap Cleveland still leaving on September 7th? Yes, he said, the boat was slated to arrive that morning and would depart that night. He said we should show up at 6pm, but of course call Tuesday morning to confirm.

So we enjoyed a lovely Labor Day weekend with my cousin Chris, his wife Fran, and their two children Emma and Luke in New Jersey (they live across the river from Philly). I met Emma just a few weeks after she was born, shortly before I moved to California (five years ago). Here I was once again intersecting with them at another major juncture in my life. It’s funny how that happens.

Tuesday morning I called to confirm the boat details, and spoke with someone who said we should show up “at lunch” instead. Ohhhk. Change of plans, but it actually worked out pretty well. I was able to get a much needed haircut at a local barber, then we packed our bags, sent Emma off to her afternoon preschool, and Fran drove us over to the Philadelphia marine terminal. Here’s a neat satellite image of the area with what might have been the Cap Cleveland being loaded with containers.

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In New Jersey (or at least in Collingswood), they have a local specialty called “water ice”. I’m not exactly sure what constitutes water ice, but I would say that sherbet is a close approximation. We had some with Emma on Monday, Labor Day, the last day that their local pool was open for the season.

My parents took off from work on Monday to drive us to San Antonio so we could catch our train to New Orleans. On the way we stopped at my brother’s high school. He’s a history teacher (and the department head) at a brand new high school that one might mistake for a small college. They have a food lab, a sound studio, even a robotics lab. All the classrooms are organized into pods with glass walls looking out into a central “lounge” outfitted with armchairs and tables. It’s very cool, and my bro seems to be totally in his element.

After the tour we continued on our way to San Antonio. We didn’t have anything planned to do when we got there, so we went to the Rivercenter Mall and hung out for a bit, and then we walked along the River Walk to find a place for dinner. My parents still had the drive back to Austin ahead of them, so after dinner we said our final goodbyes in the parking garage, and then Stephanie and I walked off into the sunset.

It was around 7, and we still had 5 hours to kill before our train left, so we went back to the mall to catch Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. It was awesome. I would totally go see it again.

Afterwards, as we were walking out of the empty mall onto a dark street with our packs strapped to our backs, I got that first inkling of what it must feel like to be a vagabond. We no longer had an apartment or a car, or my parent’s house and their car. We had finally shed all the insulating layers of comfort and familiarity. I was wondering when things would stop feeling like a vacation. Now it was just the two of us. On an unfamiliar street. With only our packs. On foot.

The one thing we did have was a plan. We were taking Amtrak’s Sunset Limited to New Orleans, a 16 hour trip that would arrive early in the afternoon the next day. After a day and a half in the Big Easy, we’d take the Amtrak Crescent all the way to DC, a 26 hour trek, arriving Friday morning. We’d spend Friday and Saturday exploring DC, before catching a train on Sunday to Philadelphia. There we’d be staying with my cousin and his family until we board the Cap Cleveland on Tuesday, September 7th.

Sunday morning, we packed up the rental car, crossed the threshold for the last time, took a deep breath, and slid the key under the door. We were on the road at 11, heading towards Los Angeles to meet up with Stephanie’s Uncle Peter and his partner Steve.

I-5 was not new ground for us, so we motored through it, getting to their place in “the Valley” by 5:30. I’d only been as far south as Santa Clarita before, so Peter and Steve took us on a personal driving tour of LA, covering NoHo, Universal Studios, the Hollywood Bowl, Hollywood Boulevard, Grauman’s Chinese Theater, Sunset Boulevard, Beverly Hills, Rodeo Drive, and UCLA.

They were getting ready to take Sunset all the way to the beach, but after touring around for nearly an hour and a half, we were getting hungry, so we went back to their place for dinner. Stephanie and Peter caught each other up on various bits of family news, and Steve wowed us with tales of their favorite places around the world (they’re accomplished travelers). We didn’t get to bed until midnight.

We slipped out around 9 on Monday morning to meet up with some friends at Leona and Phil’s new loft downtown. Marcia was in town, working on the photography for her upcoming book, as was another Glitter Pony-alum, Chris Salvano and his girlfriend Ashley, both recent graduates of UCLA’s Library Science program, so they joined in the fun as well. As a bonus, the loft had direct roof access, so we threw together a little picnic-brunch up there with a stunning view of the downtown LA skyline.

Around noon everyone had things to go do so we said our goodbyes and hit the road again, heading west on I-10 towards Phoenix (and eventually Tucson).

The last weekend that Stephanie’s mom was in town also coincided with Eva’s birthday, so we spent the day up in Santa Rosa, enjoying the warm weather with friends and family.