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Stanzel's SpaceFebruary 28 New Site - http://scottstanzel.comThis blog has been dormant (aside from a few photos being added) since November 2006. My new website, which includes a blog, photos, videos and links to connect on social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook, can be found at http://scottstanzel.com. I plan to keep this site as an archive for the blogging I did between December 2004 and November 2006, when I rejoined the White House staff. November 03 xcd game overjust pulling up to the matt and amy well home. 3330 miles over 49 hours. more news at 11. xcd - rounding thirdat 1:23, i drove into the keystone state. at 3:48, i rolled into maryland. im about 60 miles out from dc. the fall colors are spectacular. pics later. xcd hello cleveland, hello clevelandnoon - just passed cleveland. beautiful fall day in the buckeye state. i entered ohio at 10:22 am et. Borat (comedian sasha cohen) was on Brian and the Judge this morning. he was hilarious. some guy in boulder was dressed as Borat on Halloween, and the movie wasnt even out until today. Borat's metacritic.com score (tabulation of many reviews) is 90 out of a hundred. very, very high. xcd - the final drivenow in easter time zone. i left the quality inn at 8:45am this morning. fire by ferry corsten was on bpm. sweet. followed by changes (dirty south remix) by chris lake. so sweet. because people have asked, my 12 xm presets are 90s, kiss, flight 26, ethel, lucy, bpm, foxnews, cnn, cnn hln, abc news radio, foxnews radio and xm comedy. it's cloudy today, but ive had zero precip on the entire trip. two hours to toledo. xcd day 4 wraprolled into illinois at 8:17 and exited to indiana at 10:21. staying in south bend. two late day throwback songs on lucy (xm 54) -- boby dylan's 'a hard rain's a gonna fall' and 'punk rock girl' by the dead milkmen. 600 miles to 1600 pa ave. November 02 xcd cheesheads!i just rolled into the land of the cheeseheads. beautiful views (if it was light out) from 90 of the ol'.mississippi. ive traveled 2300 miles thus far, through 9 states during 34 hours of driving. i had lunch with my good friend and former sac city neighbor jason birt (pic later). it was good to catch up with a fellow ping pong master. this afternoon, i made a stop through rochester, mn to see mom and ken. both were doing well. random observations -- in blue earth, mn, you dont have to pay for gas before filling up. how refreshingly old school. the spam museum (processed meat, not unwanted email) is in austin, mn. thought about stopping, but didnt want to have to impolitely turn down samples. best one-two song punch of the trip- jesus don't want me for a sunbeam by nirvana (off of live unplugged in nyc) followed immediately by everlong by the foo fighters. awesomeness. sunset over the minnesota cornfields (harvested) was at 4:57. had not a drop of precip on the entire drive. nice. xcd in mnpassed into minncsota at 1210 ct. heading east on I90. xcd - day 4Just leaving Spirit Lake. Check out the new pics! Kerry Fallout Hits IowaEd Tibbets from the Quad City Times has the story about a Dem congressional candidate cancelling Sen. Kerry's appearance. Will Whalen get a boost? Hope so.
Braley cancels meeting with Senator Kerry
by Ed Tibbetts
xcd - day 3 wrapI rolled into Iowa at 8:15 p.m. and got to Kristin's in Spirit Lake at 11:15 p.m. CT, almost 11 hours (+1 for the time zone change) from Boulder on the nose. I've driven now for about 30 hours and covered about 2100 miles. I've got about 18 hours to go, I think. Off to bed. Must get sleep... May load some pics in the morning. November 01 xcd - cornhusker updatecruising toward lincoln, ne. some random things... there is so much traffic in ne compared to wy. saw a tree spade truck near ogalalafalalalala. reminded me of the farm and why ne is the arbor day state. they have only so many trees and they have to move them around quite a bit. 1:43- decided tsubo rock climbing shoes make great driving shoes. 4:43- pass under the great platte river road archway. wasnt that in the last scene of 'About Schmidt'? 4:44- sunset over the ne plains. very clear orange that you often see at harvest time. michael barone is a great analyst and it is good to see bill sammon on special report again. cheapest gas- YORK @ 2.14 per. phone call shoutout to hassel, steve, kristin, york, stevens, abney and mamo. xcd - in nebraska2:04 pm mt - just passed into nebraska. sign said 'nebraska... the good life. home of arbor day' yes. arbor day. random. i suppose these wide open spaces need to have trees planted. i just got onto i-80. will stop for gas in ogalala. xcd day 3 starti spent the morning at steve's place in boulder. i went to ellie's school, had some time with baby owen and went for a great trail run in the foothills just west of steve's. pics and more later. in w co on 76 now. amusing boulder moment -- steve and i went down to pearl street to grab a beer after the kids were in bed. pearl street is a pedestrian mall. when we arrived, we were met by 50 streakers. men and women alike. all naked. the kicker is that they were all wearing real pumpkins on their heads. apparently, this is a bit of a boulder tradition. XCD - Day Two Wrap-upSo, because I wasn't able to get much data or cell coverage today, here is a bit of a compilation of my notes from the drive from Twin Falls, Idaho, to Boulder, Colorado (after I lost data service).
8:52 a.m. MT - Enter Utah. They have a nice 2002 Winter Games sign. Take note, Idaho.
I spent a good share of the day listening to various talk radio shows. Brian and the Judge, Mark Davis, Hannity, Laura Ingraham, etc. When they go to commerical, I'd often flip to the music. While I agreed with what he was saying, Mark Davis spent way too much time on Halloween topics today. He was criticizing conservatives who don't let their kids participate in trick or treating and other festivities because they think it'll lead to devil worship. Mark, I love your show, but come on. There aren't that many people who actually think that, so three hours of it was overkill.
On all of the other shows, much time was dedicated to Sen. John Kerry's comment from Tuesday night where he said that unless you focus on education and work hard, you'll end up in Iraq. His comment indicated that our brave soldiers weren't doing a patriotic thing by serving. Rather, it was their only choice because they were stupid. Kerry later tried to clarify in a press conference (without apologizing a bit to the thousands of vets, including John McCain, whom he offended) and went on the attack. Kerry accused the President of not 'studying' things before the Iraq war and not giving the resources to our troops to win. Note: John Kerry voted for the war before it began. He reaffirmed that support in 04 (much to the dismay of his liberal supporters). BUT, he voted against the money to fund things like body armor for our troops. Remember "I actually did vote for the 86 billion, right before I voted AGAINST it"? Kerry has a history of talking about our men and women in uniform as if they were victims or perpetrators, not heroes. Remember his testimony after the Viet Nam War? He's been showing disdain for the troops for three decades. Kerry's attack, and use of words like hacks, dispicable, doughy, empty suit, were transparent attempts to shift the focus from his ill-advised comments and to show what few supporters he'd have for an 08 run that he really wants fight back and not be "swift-boated" again. Alright, enough about that. UPDATE: Read Karen Tumulty's take on the story. She's spot on.
I decided not to go all the way to Salt Lake City, so I cut through the Cache National Forest. See the pics in the album to the right. Hit the scenic overview at 10:46 a.m.
11:09 a.m. MT - Wyoming welcomes me. Actually, that's basically what the sign said - Wyoming Welcomes You. Granted, it was a smaller road (30).
11:23 a.m. MT - Look down and I'm doing 90. Oops. Feels quite appropriate waaaaaay out in Western Wyoming.
11:48 a.m. MT - Determine the over under on large roadkill on this 70 mile stretch of Hwy 30 in WY is 20. Bet on the over.
1:19 p.m. MT - Windshield rock chip #2 while in Wyoming. Guess that is what happens when the semis are doing 85.
2:55 p.m. MT - Lots of windmills in the distance. For miles. Very cool sight to see. Hey Sen. Kerry, why don't you want those near your place in Nantucket?
4:30 p.m. MT - Eat a sandwich at the gas station in Cheyenne. Who knew mustard hurt so bad in a paper cut. My sandwich was made by Marvin the Martian... or at least a woman dressed like Marvin. No joke.
4:46 p.m. MT - Cloudy sunset over the Rockies.
5:45 p.m. MT - Arrive at Steve's place. Go trick or treating with Ellie, Jen and Steve. Get to meet Owen Scott.
Random Song Thoughts:
At 8:56 a.m., "One Night in Bangkok" by Vinylshakerz comes on. Nice.
At 11:36 a.m. MT, "White and Nerdy" by Weird Al Yankovic came on. That is some funny stuff. Not really a fan of his, but anyone who can rap that fast about wikipedia, java script and segway scooters is amusing. Watch it.
At 2:55 p.m. MT, I get "It Takes Two" by Rob Base. Good throwback.
At 4:55 p.m. MT, I finally hear "Cut (Remix)" by Plumb. Couldn't remember who did that one. Excellent.
Guilty pleasure song I'm ashamed to admit I like -- "Too Little Too Late" by JoJo. Not sure why. Maybe too many gas fumes from all the petro stops.
Worst Song of the Day - "I Adore Mi Amor" by Color Me Badd. Seriously. That song is so bad it defies logic that it is still played anywhere for any reason. Don't believe me? Watch it. I dare you. You'll want to use a steel-bristled retina brush and jam an ice pick in your ears after you do.
Seacrest, out.
Check out the photo album of XCD Day 1 and Day 2 Pics. xcd petro in cheyennei learned a few things while traveling through utah and wyoming today. not many gas stations, wide open spaces and fast drivers. and, there is very little data connection for my pocket pc. so, ive got lots to catch up on when i arrive at steve's in about 90 mins. cheapest gas yet - 2.18 here in the cowboy state. xcd (x-country drive) canyon sunrise7:29 beautiful sunrise over a canyon just north of twin falls. pics coming later. i think my navigation system voice lady has lost confidence in me. every 15 seconds she reminds me to stay on I-84 east. sorry ma'am, but it is a little much and you will not be getting a rose at the end of the evening. X-country drive day 2 start6:58 depature from twin falls, idaho. i've got over 12 hours until boulder. going to take 89 to 30 to 80 to avoid going to salt lake city. best food choice of last 24 hours - corn flakes and a banana for breakfast. worst food choice in last 24 hours - the ultimate double cheeseburger from jack in the box at midnight. X-Country Drive Day 1 wrap-up**Note: in the spirit of the upcoming midterm election, many blog comments are narrowcast and microtargeted. After a short night of sleep, i finally packed up my truck and left 2105 westlake at 11:15 am. the snow in the snoqualmie pass from yesterday's storm made for a very scenic drive through the cascades. At about 2, i ran into about 45 minute of 5 mile an hour traffic due to an accident. amusingly, york - without even knowing when or if i had started the drive -left a voicemail saying i 'better be through yakima' while i was pumping gas in yakima. i know u are good with the directions, but that's freaky! 4 pm - pass into oregon and get onto the old oregon trail highway (84). sunset, thanks to the annoying daylight savings deal, was at 4:44. got a great pic from a lookout pass, which i'll load soon. 5:43 crossed the 45th parallel, halfway between the equater and the north pole. random sign. 7:19 got gas in durkee, oregon. oregon gas laws are inefficient and tedious, to say the least. they must pump the gas for you and there is a 50 dollar limit, so you have to gas up twice. to the staff at the pilot station, don't use that nalgene bottle i accidentally left behind. At about 8, i passed into idaho... i think. there was no sign. no marker. come on, idaho. be proud. throw up a 'this spud's for you', or something. gas was 2.23 at the flying j. should have stopped there. patrick, i wanted to stop in, but the late start made the pass through boise well past the kids bedtime. random observations - i now have a greater understanding of why xm radio gets all the ads for truckers. couldn't drive all day without it. especially in the boonies. best news moment - hannity interviews the President. most annoying talk show host - randi rhodes. berating listeners is not endearing. best talk show host - mark davis. common sense guy from tejas. favorite xm station - Lucy, channel 54. followed closely by bpm when it is time to wake up. best hip hop adaptation of a children's song since jay-z's hard knock life - 'does your chain hang low' by.... uh, can't remember. contest for today's favorite song - 'how to save a life' by the fray was in the lead for a good share of the day, despite a strong challenge by GnR's 'November Rain.' however, at 10:15 pm both were blown away by 'Pictures of You' by The Cure. Great song. Quite appropriate. super 8 wakeup call is coming in a few short hours. the caffine isn't wearing off. gotta make it Boulder for trick or treating with Ellie! October 30 X-Country Drive - mobloggingmy drive from seattle to dc began today - a day later than planned (packing took longer than expected). My brother suggested i try moblogging (mobile blogging) my journey, so i think i'll post some observations along the way. first observation - blogging on a pocket pc (w/ a cracked screen) while driving is pretty difficult and a bit dangerous. while those rumble strips are helpful, i should be stationary when i do this. more later... October 16 Back to the White HouseThis morning, White House Press Secretary Tony Snow announced that I will be returning to the White House to be one of his deputies. My official title will be Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Press Secretary. I've really enjoyed being in Seattle, but I couldn't pass up this great opportunity to be a part of President Bush's team again.
Jane Norman, the DC-based reporter for the Des Moines Register, filed a story about the announcement. Below is an excerpt and the complete story is here.
Iowa native named deputy White House press secretary
Washington, D.C. – An Iowa native was named deputy White House press secretary today, and will be a spokesman for President Bush on issues dealing with homeland security, education and agriculture. UPDATE: Here is another story from the Sioux City Journal- Sac City native takes White House job The Hotline also picked up Jane Norman's story.
October 05 Little Baby MeganMegan Elizabeth was born on July 27 (arriving a little over two weeks early). My sister Kristin and her husband Dan are very proud parents, and I know Drew and Colin (pictured) are very good big brothers.
I got to meet little Megan in early September in Iowa. She was precious! October 03 New nephewAs of yesterday, I'm an uncle for the fifth time. Steve and Jen have a new little baby boy, Owen Scott. The whole family is doing well. I can't wait to see the little one! |
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