BLOGlyn Banks

Sure...we skateboarded a bit today (alot)...took the train to the LES skatepark(a fun little piece of Chinatown with a little pyramid and flat bar and some ledge/manny-pad things)...kicked our way up to the banks (so very hard to skate but a must-go-to spot each time we are here. I mean really...push, push, push, push, push, push, push, push...all for a 4" high wallride? Really?) and back across town to Red Hook...did some shredding.
But let's get to what is really important. Did y'all see LOST?

Rickvillage..."I mean, they all know I'll bring the noise. I'm the man. You saw what I just showed you...all those people around me are my b&*@#!s. I could unleash the fury at any moment. I'm a virtual planetoid."

No BLOG 'til...

We made it a point to wake up a bit early today to hit the road. The hope was that No-Show would come through in the clutch...but no. So we drove for a few hours to Sayerville, NJ, home to NJ Skateshop and a wonderful cement park. I'd never been there before so it was a real treat...despite the fact that the park is located across the street from the high school and we rolled in as school was letting out. The bowl there is the right combination of open space and hips and pockets. The downfall is the waxed coping. Oh, well. Overall a good place. After all this driving, the van has earned a few days off.
Now we're in Brooklyn. Rich greeted James with a wonderful new facial hair configuration. It truly is a sight to behold. All are well here.


Rickville..."Pretty quiet. Actually, a few of my European people are giving me props...European Props."

FredericksBLOG

Today felt like a turning point. We're right about half-way through the trip and we've begun to head north. Really, nothing to report. We skated a not-so-good park in the out-of-way town of Williamsburg, VA. Same kids as every park doing their snowboard fly-outs and the one park champ that 360 flips things yet can't do a simple trick. Oh, well. We still had a good time.
We are now in Fredericksburg, VA. The plan has been to visit No-Show Joe in NJ tomorrow. But, as shocking as this may seem, Rich emailed him a few days back to get his phone number and he hasn't responded yet. Is he trying to up the No-Show ante? Taking it to previously unforeseen heights? I nod to you, No-Show. You have outdone yourself.
What do you think this guy is reading to Stella right now?:
This just in. Rickville update..."Ya know what? I didn't check it. But I have a feeling that the village is blowing up. I made some moves yesterday that I think are going to pay off."

The Legend of Ricky Prouty

Birmingham wasn't really what we had hoped for (bad timing I believe with the holiday and all), so my hobo friend and I got up this morning and promptly left. We headed towards Atlanta and found one wonderful stop off:
We took some pictures and looked around as much as we were allowed. The track isn't really that close to the actual town, so I say might be a bit off. But, we saw no hotels or motels are anything that would resemble a hotel/motel. What we did see was about a hundred empty RV lots. Come October, that place must be Crazytown, USA. But on this day, it was calm...some might even say empty. Rich posed by the sign with the van (pretending it was broken down) and then we were out.
We continued on through Atlanta (which seems like a good city...good size...some nice buildings...not nearly as bad as David Cross makes it out to be in his rant about Light Up Atlanta) and found our way to Duncan Creek Skatepark. This park opened within the last month or so, I believe. It's pretty good; Four different bowls (all of which have many pockets and hip), a bowl/street type area, and a few legit looking sets of stairs and rails and ledges. As far as Wally Hollyday built parks go, I think it's the best I've skated.
We're now in a little town in South Carolina.

Rickville.."Yeah. Ya know. It's fine."

Ala..BAMA

We skated the Nashville park one more time this morning before leaving. It's a pretty fun place. Not really a destination park like Louisville, but still a good time. It's also home to more head-bandannas than I have seen in one place before.
The drive down was uneventful. Not nearly the number of roadside attractions as KY.
Birmingham is hot and there are no people. It's like a set for "I Am Legend" downtown. We couldn't find one street spot or any signs that people even skateboard down here. I'm sure they do, but we didn't find anything. So we saw the sights and headed out of town to find a spot to skate...and we turned it out:
'Nuf said.

PS. RickVillage...fine.

The rain let up sometime last night, allowing us to shred this morning. Good times. As I wrote before, I love that skatepark. Nice and wide open...doesn't feel cramped. But enough about that.
We've continued on south into previously (by me) uncharted territory. Once again, we were suckered off the highway towards the Bourbon Trail:Jim Beam was what we expected (shot glasses and bandannas). Heaven Hill was next (much nicer but more pricey than we were prepared for [I see no need to pay $350 for a bottle of anything, let alone whiskey]). Finally we ended and Maker's Mark (The biggest let down of the trip. Sure, if you buy a bottle you get to dip it in the red wax yourself.But you must wait for them to call your name before you get to put on the smock...and gloves...and protective glasses. All show with little payoff).
After this it was on to Mammoth Caves National Park. This place is amazing. It's a series of caves, all connected, that stretch for over 350 miles. We walked down to one of the mouths and was told by a park ranger that...well, we're not really sure what she said. But we took it to mean, "Sure fellas. Go in the cave and look around. It's nice". So we did. And it was nice. At one point we were about 140 feet into the earth in natural caves.
Upon walking out, however, we were informed by the afore mentioned Ranger that we were supposed to pay and that the people behind her (two serious looking gentleman that had driven their official looking vehicle [complete with lights on top] down into the woods to where we were) wanted to write us some tickets. But she was nice and reasonable and let us go with a slap on the hand (literally). It turns out that the National Park system is at risk for terrorism and under very close watch. Plus, they want money.
Now we're in Nashville...Grand Ole Opry and car fires...Skateboarded a bit...

PS. "The village is rocking out hard" -RLP

Well, in an effort to send one out to "Barbarians At the Gate" we sought out some-out-of-the-way, non-skateboarding activities.
After this little stop, we moved onto Louisville.
After 17 or so hours of being in a van, our old bones moved slow. But me managed to skate for a couple of hours or so before being in need of food. And some site-seeing:After some food (Note:When moving away from the coast, sushi is not the best choice for food) we tried to skate again:

We'll try again in the morning before moving on to Nashville.
Despite the weather, it's really fun to be back in Louisville. The skatepark is a ton of fun...no pads...24 hours...full-pipe...just a lot of fun to cruise around. I could come back here every year and skate for 20 minutes and the drive would be worth it.


PS. Village Le Rick is still good and producing lot's-o-corn

Clarksburg's the new Flatwoods

Well, we are on our way. A night stop off in West Virgina and tomorrow we'll be in Louisville. Then it's off to the glamor of Birmingham and Nashville. We stopped a bit earlier in the drive than in past years with the intentions of avoiding the $110 a night Holiday in in Flatwoods. And we realized that goal at the Knight's Inn in Clarksburg. Super.
Now back to watching a sport I know very little about...

PS. Rick's village is doing fine.

Back from Denver.