Planking Across America: Like Son, Like Father, Like Father, Like Son

It's good to be back. Since I left you, a lot has happened, as things often happen when you are gone.

In something of an 11th hour decision, my father, Sam, decided to join me for arguable the final stretch of this little vision quest. Following a weekend at the GABF in Denver with Nick and Brian (more to come on that), I picked Pa up at the airport and we made our way north and west through the splendor of Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, and Washington.

And, as we're cut from the same cloth, we got some quality father-and-son planking done along the way. Griswolds united, we plank in Wyoming and lovely Coeur d'Alene, WA:

Planking Across America

Testing the waters for Pa

Looks like the plank doesn't fall far from the plank! Natural.

Local Native American creation myth holds that Raven planked a glacier, and Lake Coeur d'Alene was formed. Beautiful.

"Daddy, why is Grandpa planking those stairs so majestically?"

Caution: No lifeguard on duty, plank at your own risk.

An evening of whimsical planking turned tragic when a sculpted buck appeared out of nowhere.

And we're spent. Mein Gott, planks the likes of these have ne'er been wrought upon the land. The Father, the Son, and the "Holy Ghost, That's A Tremendous Plank"!!!

I'd like to dedicate this special experience to both of my parents, Sam and Patty Griswold. What can be said about parents? Not nearly enough. But I'll endeavor an attempt: I owe them everything. Limitless love and thanks, folks: this planks for you.

Planking Across America: From Crater Lake with Love

I cannot do this breathtaking specimen justice with mere words*:

Planking Across America
Bros from other Mo's

I'd like to dedicate this guest planking of Crater Lake to the Dunning and Benjamin families. You clearly did a bang up job raising Dan and Nick. Congrats to the Dunnings for the arrival of a beautiful baby girl, and thanks to the Benjamins for putting me up while in Easton, MA. This planking is for you.

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*Though if I tried, it would look something like this.

One or More Things I Did Today ("Dang, It's Hot Here!" Edition)

And Let It Be Known, that on July 26th, in the year of 2 thousands and 11, I was up to this:

• Friends.
• This is a special edition of One or More Things I Did Today
• Had a lot of fun on this here day.
• Made it down to lovely and meat-markety Barton Springs. But before all this, I went for a run on the hike and bike trail, something I did but not once when I actually lived in Austin (for 20-some-odd years). Hot! And invigorating.
• Upon return to Barton Springs, a dip I had.
• A perfect plan: I'm able to get some exercise, get some sun, and clean up with a shower before dinner appointment.
  
• But not just any shower...
• A shower in the fabled (for me) men's quarters at Barton Springs.
• Quarters which can be described as "European".
• Which is to say, visiting this place as a youth virtually guaranteed a bushel of giggles.
  
• Which is to say, lots of old naked dudes.
• An old naked dude is something I aspire to be one day.
• But for now, I'll have to settle for being just a naked dude.
• Wow, just thinking about this day. Lot going on.
• About this time, I wrapped up things at the Spring, stopped by Flipnotics to feed this insatiable gorilla that is the WIDWINW blog, and headed to Barley Swine to meet my buddy.
• Pete Olah. Champion of Hungary, Pride of HomeAway, And Soon to Be Married (congrats, Pete!). Also noteworthy, for the purposes of this blog: dear friend. Also, Texas 4000 Brother in Arms.
  
• Barley Swine? An epicurean delight. Pete's done it again!
• We part ways, and Dani and I head to Ky and Sue's for some Tuesday night climbing.
• Tuesday night climbing?
  
• The Harkey's have climbing holds on three walls of their dirt-floored garage.
  
• That night, we sip beers, guffaw, and watch our pals cling and swing. A particularly noteworthy chat with Sue, and Ky burns the midnight oil with us into the low hours.
• Wonderful.
• Picture of the day*:

He didn't remember falling asleep in this position.

Feel free to use this pic in your wedding thank you cards, Pete.

As they say, "It was a Day".

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*Dang, y'all! Two PoTD for the price of one!!!!1!!!!&

One or More Things I Did Today (Monday in Austin Edition)

And Let It Be Known, that on July 25th, in the year of 2 thousands and 11, I was up to this:

• Hey, this whole catching-up thing gets easier with each post!
• So, let's see what I've got in the memory banks...
• Hm, no, that's a past life...
• That one, too...
• And that's a Michael J. Fox movie I saw when I was 9...
• Wait...
• Ah, no - that's a telepathic impression from the dude sitting next to me at Starbucks.
• Well, dang!
• Oh, might have something here...
• Yep, bingo. These things actually happened to me:
• Woke up.
• Um, don't remember much about the rest of the day. I imagine I ate some lunch at some point, as I often like to do that on Mondays.
• Really, the first solid memory was meeting up with a high-school chum I hadn't seen in a decade.
• It was great to catch up with Ashley. She looked and sounded great, a life in full bloom. And after hanging out, she was kind enough to ferry me east to "The Fabulous White Swan"*.
• "Fabulous" is something of a relative term these days, apparently.
• Usually, a Monday night in Austin would lend itself to a visit to The Fabulous** TC's***.
• Tragically, TC's was, as of a week prior, no more. And apparently White Swan was the successor for the diaspora, so to there we went.
• Good to see all y'all: Ky and Sue, Paul and Kate, Cory, Liz, Kelsey. In short? Wrecking crew.
• And so we danced and drank Lone Star and Stone IPAs.
• And we chatted.
• And when we left, we found Paul's window had been smashed out and his glove compartment sacked.
  
• Seems those piles of broken glass I noticed like prairie dog mounds on every street from I-35 to White Swan were telling us something.
• Picture of the day: I'm failing here.

As they say, "It was a Day".

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*Or something like that. Honestly, all I remember about this place was the corner it sat on, which happened to be the corner that featured a robust crack trade that we'd pass every morning while driving to Junior High. 12th and Chicon, stand up!
**Ed's note: Italics added.
***What can I say about TC's? And institution. A movement. And something I can't squeeze into this edition of One or More Things I Did Today. Maybe I'll write about this place later, because it deserves a eulogy within this blog.

Planking Across America: From the Archives, Planking SF Pt.1

California,

The Golden Bear State, rival to Texas and Alaska in the big-and-populous-state categories, land of Gold's Gym, home to 4 NBA teams, motherland of many of my best buds, She of Berkeley and Beverly Hills, of Bill Walton and Huey Newton, home to lots of fruits and fruit of geological antiquity, replete with fault line, Yosemite-d up, and, most importantly, an impeccable canvas for planking.

Planking Across America.
A two part installment from my June and July visit to San Francisco

Their Eyes Were Watching Planking, Photo courtesy Beef Reavey

When you plank the pride parade, you better be prepared to be upstaged

I'd like to dedicate these two S.F. planking photos to my pal Shelly Kamboj. Peerless hostess, better half of Brian, and fan of beers, Shelly also has a mother that invented Indian food*. Shelly, thanks for the fun. This plank's for you.

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*Conjecture. Claim may not be accurate.

One or More Things I Did Today (Trip to Grandma's Edition)

And Let It Be Known, that on July 24th, in the year of 2 thousands and 11, I was up to this:

• There we go. See? This whole keeping up with the bloggin' thing ain't so hard.
• And on this Sunday, I awoke at 6am, bright eyed and bushy tailed*.
• And it had come: the visit to Grandma's.

Stock photo: Christmas 2008

• This drive to Cleburne, TX, home of Grandma (not to be confused with Cleveland, a common misunderstanding of my childhood), is unusual, for I opt to stay awake the entire 3 hour or so drive from Austin**.
• This, in my estimation, is one of the prime times of the year to be in that part of Texas. While the heat is on, everything is still quite lush.
• After a meal of Buffalo Creek, Mom, Kelly, and I make to investigate a curious object we notice on the mudflats from our perch on the hill.
• Is it animal, mineral, old rotted tire?
• Not a one.
• Turns out it's a tree stump.
• I plank the tree stump.
• Turns out it's got some pretty sharp vertical points for a tree stump***.
• "Well, Grandma, it's about time to go."
• A Texas-day trip, complete: 3 hours each way.
• Some things in life are not meant to be: Robertson's is close, so my turkey sandwich comes from Schlotzsky's****.
• Alright.
• We arrive back in town in time for a free show at Antone's with my pal Dani: Lost Mountain Bayou Rambling Old Time Boys Revival.
• And it is a good one.
• Picture of the day: Please see above...*****
  

As they say, "It was a Day".

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*And far more bushy-tailed than my activities the day prior should have allowed, though I maintain that the unusually early nights that daytime drinking often lend themselves to also provide the length of sleep to ameliorate the day's work and put you on fresh feet in time for Sunday brunch. History would not lie!
**I love sleeping in cars. Actually, it's not so much a love as it is an inability to stay awake while being anywhere in a moving car other than the wheel. So comfortable.
***An artist sacrifices all for his art.
****And with that, WIDWINW has stooped into the "what I ate for lunch yesterday" realm of blogdom. Huzzah! And they said it wouldn't be done.
*****... for a picture taken 3 years prior.

One or More Things I Did Today (One Month Late Is Better Than Never Edition)

And Let It Be Known, that on July 23rd, in the year of 2 thousands and 11, I was up to this:

• In honor of being a month behind of my "One or More Things I Did Today..." travelogue schedule, I present this classic Roots song, "Long Time".
• If I recall*, I was not the only one who slept in.
• We (The Family) decide around 9am to put off the visit to Grandma's house to tomorrow.
• Which lends itself to this.
• After a refresher beer at the Draught House, Carmen drops Mike and I off at the scene of Get Wet 3.
  
• Over the course of the sunny Texas summer day, we proceed to achieve the following: Viking chug the dark Real Ale beer from the donated kegs (for a good cause!), followed by slip-and-sliding the remnants off my chest and suit; introduce Stump (a podiatrist's dream) to Texas; rediscover the joys of the above ground and kiddy pools; make a hazy twilight visit to the new location of P.Terry's.
• Cap it all off with being in bed by 10pm on a Saturday night, and you've got yourself a number 1 hit there.
• Picture of the Day: Hm, dunno. Mike/Nick/Melissa, you guys got any of them?

As they say, "It was a Day".

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*Which I do, and I do now from a table at Uncommon Grounds in Burlington, VT.

To a Friend in Amsterdam...

... who hasn't had the best luck with summer weather the past couple of years,

please,

let us share a little bit with you:

It's not quite as nice as the real think, but we hope you enjoy.

Planking Across America: Planking Reaches the Top of Texas

Two unexplained phenomena you can find in West Texas: The Marfa Lights and a rabid appetite for world-class planking.

Planking Across America

Planking the Curvature of the Earth or Collapsed?, Self-Portrait

Such plank heights, Self Portrait

I dedicate these inaugural Lone Star plankings to three of my oldest and dearest friends: Taylor, Kivett, and Chris. The four of us made a visit to this same planking location six years back, and while some things have changed since then, my love for the absurd has only deepened. This plankings for you, guys.

Planking Across America: Belated and Epic Cali Shots

As Chamberlain once said, good things come to those who wait.

To wit: old age, ever-expanding tech bubbles, global warming, and these planking photos from Point Reyes, crafted a few weeks back during my first visit through San Francisco on this trip and retrieved upon my return today:

Planking Across America
Planking Point Reyes and About A Million Fish, Photo credit Breavey

None Shall Pass Planking, Credit Brian


http://www.flickr.com/photos/30124598@N00/5986473494/in/photostream/
Planking Shot That Broke Blogger, Too Many Megapixels

I'd like to dedicate these beautiful planking vistas to Brian McReavey (he of and Brian fame), a good buddy and ardent supporter of advances in planking culture. Brian, if I manage to remember to get those shots of me planking the Pride Festival in SF back in June... wait, that could be taken the wrong way - let's talk offline about those. Brian, this planking's for you.

Planking Across America: Angel's Landing

Kids, don't try this at home (unless you live at Zion, in which case you should try it immediately. go on, go tell your parents you're heading to the library, i'll hold off on the blogging so you don't miss anything...):

Planking Across America:
And they said it couldn't be planked.

I'd like to dedicate this planking to Malia Killings. Malia loves a good hike, and taught me enough little camping tricks to keep me alive while living with the sky as your ceiling. This planking's for you, Malia.

Planking Across America: Pool Planking

Look:

We endeavor tirelessly* to bring you the latest in planking innovation here at WIDWINW.

Case in point, pool planking**:

Planking Across America:
Planking the great divide, Assisted Photo

Jules Verne Planking, Assisted Photo

This planking session is dedicated to Jeffrey, an enthusiastic proponent and co-conspirator of my planking dreams. Thanks for hooking up the pool, Jeffrey. This planking's for you.

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*Adverb. These are typically not welcome at WIDWINW, but we've made an exception here, because we love adverbs.
**A godsend: on the return trip from J-Tree, we stopped by Jeffrey's family's pool. Rinsed off with a hose, forward planked in, sipped on a sun-warmed Tecate, and knocked some apricots off a tree. In short: the best use of one hour of time the world has ever seen.

Jeffrey Took Pictures at Joshua Tree, Too

Still want more pictures from Joshua Tree?

Well, you're in luck:

And if you were all set with the previous pictures and didn't want any more, sorry. Let me get you back to Facebook, post haste. Here to help at WIDWINW, we are.

Planking Across America: Joshua Tree National Park

Expanding the planking art form*, vertical planking

So much natural beauty here.

And the park was nice, too.

Feast your eyes on these rare planking specimens:

We called this rock "Fist Pump Rock". This was a planking first.

The original cover of U2's Joshua Tree album

I'd like to dedicate this preservation planking to Ky and Sue, mutual friends of Jeffrey and I. Ky and Sue are alright by us. Ky and Sue, these plankings are for you.

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*Or, "beating a joke into the ground, over and over again". Believe me, it will all make sense in time.

One or More Things I Did Today

And Let It Be Known, that on July 8th, in the year of 2 thousands and 11, I was up to this:

• Went for a run alongside the lovely LA River.
• Visited the Sony Pictures lot in Culver City to pick up Jeffrey.
• While there, the following ensued:
• Planked Ecto-1*:

• Left my cell-phone in the private bathroom of the Indio Target. Rather than backtrack 20 miles, decided we'd pick it up on the return from J-Tree**.
• Made it out to Joshua Tree in time to find the place more or less deserted***.
  
• Drank beer under the stars until later than we thought it was.
• A first: slept in a sleeping bag, outside, sans tent. Where have I been all this time? Highly recommended, even if there's a chance I rattlesnake/scorpion/tarantula may take your pie-hole for a cozy motel.

As they say, "It was a Day".

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*Anecdote Corner: According to Jeffrey, Sony is interested in making a third Ghostbusters film, only no one has been able to reach Bill Murray. Apparently BM doesn't have an agent, but rather an answering machine that he periodically checks when he decides he wants to work. In other news, I'm hoping to be reincarnated as Bill Murray. But instead of being reincarnated as Bill Murray, I'd rather just have an answering machine I can decide to check when I want to work. Is that too much to ask? No? Thanks for the confirmation. I figured as much, but I needed a little affirmation.
**Worked like a charm.
***Wait, just now picking up on the linguistic similarities between "deserted" and "desert". Is there something going on here? Let me know.

Planking Across America: Malibu

Planking has reached the big time: Malibu.

Planking Across America

Planking isn't just inane - it also evens out a tan.

I dedicate this planking to Chris and Rachael, great hosts and all around cool folks who fed me and kept a roof over my planking apparatus yesterday. This planks for y'all, y'all.

One or More Things I Did Today

And Let It Be Known, that on July 7th, in the year of 2 thousands and 11, I was up to this:

• Woke up at Kyle and Liz's - snuck out without a peep.
• Headed 3 or so miles - which in LA is right around the block, or so I've gathered - to do some blogging.
• Then!
• Met up with Rachael, who graciously drove both of us out to her favorite Malibu spot.
• Caught some rays.
• Blogged some more*
• Had an amazing dinner of Chicken something or other, cooked by Rachael, enjoyed by Chris and I (and her, I imagine). Fantastic.**
• Watched a documentary on Bobby Fischer. Wow. What a kook.
• Finally got into the good graces of Lola the Dog. Possibly the highlight of my day. Now we're pals.
  
• Uh, hm...
  
• Crap.
• Forgot to take my picture of the day.
• I have a picture, but it's of me planking.
• Need to save that one for the planking section.
• I'm sure you understand.
• Let me dig around for a second...
• Oh!
• Looks like I accidentally took a shot with the camera on my phone.
• Huzzah!
• Saved.
• Please consider:

So much talent on this blog.

My. God. How we love the arts on WIDWINW!***

As they say, "It was a Day".

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*These "One or More Things I Did Today" can be a chore sometime. Just sayin'. But I trudge on, because I care, and because I know Google is going to have a harder time rationalizing the purchase of my blog rights to its shareholders without a steady steam of fresh content.
**I did not expect to eat as well as I have on this trip. Who would have known?
***Just realized something: when I eventually find myself employed again, I'll have to identify those endeavors as "What I Do When I'm Not Blogging". Whoa. There's a terrifying proposition.

One or More Things I Did Today

And Let It Be Known, that on July 6th, in the year of 2 thousands and 11, I was up to this:

• Packed up and said "Adios" to Monterey.
• Hit Highway 1.
• Had a wonderful chat with the Pacific Ocean, my passenger for a good many hours on the drive, and a fantastic conversationalist.
• Found the only section of scenic Big Sur coastline not inundated with tourists (myself not included) and had what will be known going forth as:
  

The Most Scenic Picnic Ever:

• Oh, man, what a scene.
• Made it to LA in time for dinner. Kyle and Liz hooked a young bum up: pizza cooked on some stones in a grill, ft. bacon, goat cheese, pears, possibly etc. Thanks, y'all!
  

As they say, "It were a Day".

*

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*I hear you: there has been a veritable paucity of footnotes as of late on WIDWINW. Chalk it up to fewer hangovers, specifically the manic energy they inspire. Don't worry, though - those can't have gone far.

An Explanation

There a chance, however small, that someone visited WIDWINW yesterday, expecting some sort of fresh content.

There was none.

But there is a good explanation!

I was driving down I-5, through Big Sur, all the way to the 101 and Los Angeles, where I made it in time for dinner with Kyle and Liz.

That's about the nut of it. It's Thursday, and I'm heading to the beach with Rachael shortly. You're welcome to join if you're in LA.

Planking Across America: Mt. Shasta

There is over 14,000 feet of planking in this photo:

Planking Across America
And they said it couldn't be planked.

I'd like to dedicate this plank to Sam and Emilia. While the schedule didn't allow for me to get down to Costa Rica, please accept this planking as an offer of my affection. Samelia, this planking is for you.