Road Trip 2008 hit 2,000 miles while on the way to Memphis. The last thousand miles have featured a wide variety of stops, from NASA in Houston to a Corvette factory to one of the largest makers of vinyl records in the world.
(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET News.com)JACKSON, Tenn.--What a week.
I am running on fumes as the Road Trip 2008 odometer hits 2,000 miles even.
I've spent the last week or so almost entirely in Tennessee and Kentucky, visiting some of the most interesting factories, museums, distilleries, and other destinations in the region.
At 1,000 miles, I was on Interstate 65 on my way to visit Space Camp in Huntsville, Ala. I made it there and had a great time getting a taste of the astronaut training primer that more than half a million kids have gotten over the years. As well, Huntsville was the home of the Rocket park at the U.S. Rocket and Space Center, where the original Saturn V is on display, a very impressive piece of hardware indeed.
Looking back, it was really a crazy thousand miles.
There was also a visit to the General Motors assembly plant in Bowling Green, Ky., where I got to watch Corvettes get made.
After that, I took a couple hours to wander through Geek Squad City, a giant facility in Brooks, Ky., where the famous computer repair company has 700 technicians servicing thousands of machines every day.
Next up was the Louisville Slugger factory, where more major leaguers' bats are made than anywhere else in the world. And then it was time for two days of full UPS immersion.
First, I spent several hours on a tour of Worldport, the cargo company's unbelievably big Louisville air distribution center. Then, the next day it was on to visits to several companies that are part of the larger UPS logistics system.
If you think that's enough for any thousand miles, you're seriously underestimating me. I still had a several crazy days in which I experienced some of the most interesting Kentucky color, including the famous gold depository at Fort Knox; a museum of a century of cavalry and armor; and the well-loved Maker's Mark distillery.
Alongside Interstate 65 near Jackson, Tenn., I hit exactly 2,000 miles.
(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET News.com)That's all that's been published so far. But stay tuned to Road Trip 2008, because I've already visited United Record Pressing, one of the world's biggest makers of vinyl records; NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston; and Gibson's specialty and custom guitar factory.
And all of that was within a thousand miles of driving what is turning out to be a really nice 2008 Subaru Outback 2.5 XT--though I will admit that I had to take a quick overnight flight to Houston for the NASA visit.
What will the next thousand miles bring?
To find out, please keep watching this blog, as well as my Twitter feed and my Qik channel.
If you're a fan of the Flying Spaghetti Monster and the gospel of Pastafarianism, then you have to love what's going on in Crossville, Tenn.
Members of the Crossville, Tennessee chapter of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster sought and received approval to install a statue of the Flying Spaghetti Monster outside the city's courthouse.
(Credit: Ariel Safdie)There, as I discovered today on Laughing Squid, some members of the local chapter of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster have gotten city approval to erect a statue of "His Noodly Appendage" outside the local courthouse.
I talked briefly by phone Monday with Ariel Safdie, one of the local chapter members involved with building and installing the statue, and she said that for her and her fellow members, the issue involved in building the statue and seeking and acquiring approval to install it wasn't about religion, but about freedom of speech.
That seems perfectly appropriate to me, since the whole point of the Flying Spaghetti Monster is to make the point--via free speech--that if communities are going to give credence to one theory of the origins of life in their schools, then they also have to give credence to others.
Safdie and others applied for permission to install their statue, and it was granted by the city of Crossville.
This is the official form granting approval to install the statue.
(Credit: Ariel Safdie)This is the text of the statement they made at the installation ceremony, according to the blog of the Crossville chapter of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster:
"We are lucky enough to live in a country that allows us, its citizens, the freedom of speech. I have chosen to put up a statue of the Flying Spaghetti Monster to represent the discourse between people of all different beliefs. The many faiths, ethnicities and backgrounds of Cumberland County's residents make our community a stronger richer place. I respect and am proud that on the people's lawn, the county courthouse, all of these diverse beliefs can come together in a positive dialogue. Here, we are all able to share the issues close to our hearts whether it is through a memorial to the soldiers killed fighting for our country, the Statue of Liberty honoring our nations welcoming promise to all, a group's fight to stop homelessness, or powerful symbols of faith. I greatly treasure this open forum between everyone in the community."
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