The making of - On the grid

Seeing as we had a pretty open ended idea of how our adventure would pan out or where (specifically) it would take us we were set up and carrying equipment to deal with just about any thing .
On the grid the most important thing was money and bathrooms, we would roll into cities we found it

Headed for a days busking Rod helping out with Girlie

would take us about three days to understand the busking procedures of a new city. Our first busking stop was in Virginia beach very happening beach community tourists = disposable income .
We arrived as the sun was going down on memorial day weekend looking for a campground near the city , that's how we ended up at first landing which though near the city and beautiful is very pricey about 40$ a night, twice our total daily allowance.
Next day we drove into the city , enter our next hurdle parking was also very pricey  and difficult to find near beach which is where you gotta be to make those dollars. Eventually we found a slew of parking meters about five blocks from the

Busking on the narrow sidewalk of New Orleans

boardwalk , they had a two hour parking limit so we'd have to return every two hours and move the van to another meter that is if we could find one. The first day we just scoped the scene but it was memorial day so the scene was insane , Americans love their holidays who knew.
Parking was another huge hurdle when on the grid as I've mentioned it can be pricey and difficult to find, even for the day let alone over night , many truck stops and rest areas housed us for the night Sometimes people would hear what we were doing and offer us a parking spot and bathroom for the night . The Bradfordsville blues club was one such place they seemed so genuinely thrilled we liked their place they not only let us stay for the night but we got a wake up call from a concerned resident wanting to know if we were ok or needed help with anything .



Calhoun cooking cornbreaded catfish poolside at our hotel

  There are hotels and it's worth mentioning that a lot of these allow dogs, for a price another great thing about America in the city everything seems to have a price. We didn't stay in many hotels they were sort of out of our price range for the most part.
Cooking was another issue some inner city parks allow cook outs even have little fire pits and when available we'd take advantage of them. For the most part though we would end up dragging our tired
sweaty sun burnt bodies into a local dive bar or restaurant and taking advantage of huge portions and cheap prices that are a staple of the nation.
There were of course advantages to being on the grid , public pools are usually free and have showers a welcome treat when you spend four + hours a day hula hooping .

Patiently waiting for yours truly outside the public library in New Orleans

Public libraries where most of my blog posts were written from , if you ever see a young woman with a lap top and a dog sitting outside a library for 3 hours come over and say Hi you never know it might be me. Library people are usually super nice and accommodating it's like if your not an insane crack head out to steal outdated DVDs your suddenly a great person for using their resources , but seriously public library employees all across the states this blog wouldn't have been possible without you.


Bread pudding with friends at a shelter in Ashvillie

Then there are the drop in centers you also deserve my praise and thanks , you will never have a more authentic experience of southern food and hospitality than from a drop in center , keep up the good work you are lighthouses in what
can be an indomitably dark sea of life , you give people the support to keep their dignity and that is a truly noble endeavor. Food banks also an amazing help.
If there is anything I learned while traveling in the states it is that Americans are a very misunderstood breed of human , yes they are resilient and proud and often eccentric, they are also kind , compassionate and truly happy to share the things they find great about their country with total strangers.

 

Like my adventures in the U.S.A. check out my new blog !

https://adventureace.wordpress.com/2015/01/19/5-things-customers-think-they-are-but-arent/

 

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