Everybody we talked to said the drive from Austin to El Paso is the longest most boring car ride ever. Let’s just say that Mari and I placed bets on minutes passed before seeing another human being. A typical winning answer was approximately 8 minutes.
We stopped in Lyndon B. Johnson’s hometown and had sandwiches at [...]

[Read more →]

“Keep Austin Weird”. So says the bumper stickers. I’m totally cool with it. I don’t mess with Texas, as previously instructed by other bumper stickers.
We rolled up in Austin by midnight, and promptly drove around town with the map my best friend from home scribbled for us on a piece of notebook paper. We found [...]

[Read more →]

the past 3 posts were posted from Phoenix, where I am currently “stealing” somebody’s wireless signal in the middle of a gated community. I gotta run. I think neighbors are getting suspicious about me just sitting on the steps here typing things quickly.
Grand Canyon today.
Vegas tonight.

[Read more →]

“If you had a pair of binoculars, you could see where I was born, or where JFK was shot”.
We didn’t have binoculars, or time to stop, so we cruised by the grassy knoll, the hospital and set out for Austin by midnight.
Somewhere along the way, I got hungry. I had to decide between the [...]

[Read more →]

“Hey, Mari. Pop quiz- What’s Arkansas’ biggest export?”
“I dunno.”
“Lameness.”
Not much else can be said about that state. Actually, yeh. One more.
“Hey, Mark. What do you think the most beautiful thing about the land of Arkansas is?”
“I dunno”.
“The sky.”
Oooh. So there it is. Arkansas is the most boring state I’ve ever seen. Passing through Hope, you [...]

[Read more →]

The road sign on my grandparent’s street in Memphis was missing. No problem. I had a feeling we were close, and we were.
I should preface all of this by saying that I never answer my phone when my grandparents call. Not because I don’t want to speak to them, but because every voicemail they [...]

[Read more →]

It began around 6:45am. Or maybe it didn’t, it’s hard to say when it’s a cross-country road trip. Perhaps it began when my friend Mari received an envelope with her acceptance from Berkeley a few months ago, or maybe it all began when I stumbled across some Kerouac several years ago. It’s always difficult to [...]

[Read more →]

I just posted on Craigslist:
We’re going to San Francisco, and in addition to the requisite wearing of flowers in our hair, we’re offering to carry your cargo.
We don’t have much room at all, so please don’t ask us if we’ll pull along your vespa, pet labrador, lumber, snowboard, or tired huddled boxes yearning for precious [...]

[Read more →]

Dear Mark Pike,
First and foremost, allow me to introduce myself as a fellow “Mark Pike”. I feel a cosmic bond with you based solely upon our given names. All of that being said, there can only be one of us.
Please don’t take this as a threat, but merely a friendly contest amongst Mark Pikes. Google [...]

[Read more →]

The amber scotch glasses slip out of our relaxed hands, with the ice melting and the sun setting, because that’s what happens.
We’re on the roof of a beach house in a neighborhood called Croatan, a Native American word for “town talk”. We’re talking, appropriately, waiting for the July 4th fireworks high above the sand where [...]

[Read more →]