truk Rambles - Read truk's Blog! RSS Feed Katherine and Hayley Katherine 2015-01-24 20:09:42 View more truk blog entries One Second Everyday - Last 3 Months of 2014, Plus Everything to Date 2015-01-02 09:35:08 Happy New Year to everyone out there, especially those that I know that I haven't had a chance to see yet in 2015! I hope the coming 12 months bring fun, laughter, and joy to you in everything you do throughout the year. I'm still doing the 1 Second Everything thing, so here is the video of the last 3 months of 2014, plus a video of the entire year, as well as all seconds recorded thus far. October 1 - December 31, 2014 All of 2014 August 4, 2013 to December 31, 2014 - All Seconds Thus Far View more truk blog entries 8th Annual Memphis Walk 2014-10-26 23:00:04 For eight years now (see here or here or here or here or here), Richie, Robert, and I have been doing this thing where we meet at the Mississippi River cobblestones at dawn during a Saturday in the fall and walk until nearly sunset, seeing a good chunk of Memphis at a relaxed pace through out the day. For this edition of the Memphis Walk, we were joined by John Christenson, with the goal of following urban rivers. This year, the Memphis Walk took us down Riverside Drive, past the finally-completed Beale Street Landing complex. I still think the cost of it was too high and time required for construction was too long, but at least it is here now and it is an impressive structure for visitors. I hope we are still using it 13 years from now, unlike the Pyramid. I'm sure we will still be paying for it then. We walked through the downtown River Arts Festival before it opened for the day. I saw nearly as many food stands as artist booths, but I'm happy to see a vibrant and active South Main District. Heading south on Main, you eventually come across one of my favorite companies in Memphis, at least in terms of the name. I love the winking screw lady... Continuing south, we entered the area around I-55 and Crump Blvd that features a number of abandoned warehouses. I've driven past many of them before, and this was our chance to really peek inside and really take in how large, and sometimes beautiful, they are. (I even startled a homeless person that was living in the first floor of one of them.) We also came across some gems, such as an old fire engine next to a diesel repair shop. There is also a huge recycling center in this area, near Kansas St at Wisconsin Ave, that I had never seen before. Eventually, we circled around past the French Fort Historic District, near the National Ornamental Metal Museum, and headed south again, bypassing the turn-off to President's Island. All along the way, we could see cobblestone streets that had been covered up by multiple layers of concrete and then asphalt, which was gradually breaking up and revealing the original roadbed below. Seeking a way to get away from the industrial area and stick closer to the river, we walked through the Riverside Golf Course, which offered bluff views of McKellar Lake and the Riverside Bayou. Even while you are still in Martin Luther Riverside Park, you can see the steam? stacks of the Valero Memphis Refinery, just over the tree line. After passing the scrumptious smells of Jim Neely's Interstate BBQ on Highway 61 (also South 3rd St), we turned off into an interesting area, bisected by levees and raised railroad bed and bridges that exists just to the south of I-55 and north of Nonconnah Creek. This grassy area is highly maintained and contains several gas and other fuel pipelines, as well as (possibly) the rumored direct Valero fuel pipeline that goes directly to the Memphis Airport and FedEx. Most intriguing, there are a number of small farm operations in this area which look like something you would find in the most remote parts of the southern US, complete with horses, chickens, and other livestock. One appeared to have power run to it, while another did not. Here, we are standing at the intersection of Nonconnah Creek and Cane Creek, trying to figure out how to cross either one of them. Eventually, we found a shallow section of Nonconnah Creek and waded across, watching out for all of the broken glass in the creek bed. We found what must be the boyfriend of the screw logo lady when we emerged from the woods around Nonconnah Creek in a modern warehouse district. Those two should definitely get together. After a tasty and very filling meal at Uncle Lou's Fried Chicken and observing a minor car wreck, we headed toward Winchester Road and points east. The Airways Blvd at Democrat Rd area of Memphis has seen better days. At the Airways Transit Terminal, we just missed the bus downtown, so we called for a car from Uber, which got us to Bardog for a quick pint in less than 15 minutes. All in all, a fun and interesting way to spend the day. View more truk blog entries Scott and Lia Come to Memphis! 2014-10-26 22:39:53 Scott and Lia spent a couple of days with us in Memphis last week. We explored the Mud Island River Park and Ornamental Metal Museum, ate Top's beef brisket from a styrofoam cup, chased after Sadie holding a tennis ball, paddled plastic animals around a symbolic Gulf of Mexico, listened to Lia recite pi to about 20 places, chowed on some pizza with Dave, Christina, and Lucky, made some pottery figures that need to be fired, and generally just caught up on each other's lives. In short, we had a blast! We have got to go up to Rhode Island to visit the whole Douglas clan soon... Thank you to Scott and Lia for making the trip down to see us!   View more truk blog entries One Second Everyday - July to September, 2014 2014-10-08 16:19:34 Yes, I'm still doing that 1-Second Everyday thing. I've now been going for over a year. Here are my seconds from July 1 to September 30th, 2014. View more truk blog entries More Hot Springs 2014-10-05 09:51:03 View more truk blog entries Hot Springs 2014-10-05 09:48:37 After a night out in Hot Springs at the brewhouse and possibly crashing a wedding party at the Arlington, we enjoyed an evening at the Alpine Inn and some pancakes downtown. View more truk blog entries Haw Creek Falls 2014-10-05 09:32:13 On Friday, Wisch, Dave, Turner, Elizabeth, and I rode mostly curvy 2-lane highways to the Ozark National Forest and the Haw Creek Falls. There was more riding and less picture taking, but here are a few shots from the trip. View more truk blog entries More from the St. Francis Ride 2014-09-03 08:01:35 View more truk blog entries St. Francis National Forest Ride 2014-09-01 16:57:00 I went riding on Labor Day with Dave, Snake, and Chris from Memphis, down to Marianna, through the St. Francis National Forest, into Helena, across the Mississippi River, up through Arkabutla, then through Walls, and back into Memphis. 3 states, 7 hours, 2 bridges over the Mississippi River, and 1 great ride. View more truk blog entries The Rambling Continues: Read All truk Blog Entries Here

What is truk.com? It covers the travels and thoughts of truk, this guy that lives in Midtown Memphis. More questions? Contact me... 2014 - Memphis January One Second Everyday Video from August to December 2013 March New Orleans April January to March 2014 Daily Video | Mississippi River Ride with Antonio May Southern France, Sicily, Barcelona - Carcassone | Castles of Southwestern France | Hill Towns of Provence | Avignon | Riams | Grand Canyon du Verdon | Les Baux | Arles | Cassis | Pont du Gard | Nimes | Aix-en-Provence | Cotes du Rhone | Roussillon | Rural Provence | Apt and L'Isle-Sur-la-Sorgue | Monaco | Nice June Antibes | French Riviera | Salina | Panarea | Island Hopping | Gothic Barcelona | Beach to Bullring in Barcelona | Welcome, Sadie the Border Collie! 2013 - Memphis January Tahoe with Aaron, Jeff, Larry, and Scott May Memorial Day at the Parkers' Lakehouse October 7th Annual Walk Across Memphis November Farewell, Jake 2012 - Memphis March Goodbye, Mazzy May Pennington Family Visit July Sicily - Mount Etna Up | Mount Etna Down | Cefalu | Tindari | Palermo | Northwest Sicily | Erice | Southwest Sicily | Enna | Villa Romana del Casale | Caltagirone to Scicli | Siracusa | Salina August Median Sunflowers September More Scenes of Sicily December 6th Annual Walk Across Memphis 2011 - Memphis April San Diego and Tijuana May Memphis Flood, Rising, Rising June Double Negative, Nevada Land Art August Ireland - Dingle Peninsula | Dunbeg Fort | Kilmalkedar Church | Giants Causeway | Dunluce Castle | Derry | Dublin Museum | Trinity College 2010 - Still in Memphis January San Francisco Bay and Wineries April Douglas Family Visit | End of the Road July - West and Central US Badlands | Black Hills, SD | East Glacier National Park (1, 2) | Polebridge, MT | Northwest Glacier | Missoula Anniversary | Yellowstone (1, 2, 3, 4) | Grand Tetons | Spiral Jetty | Park City | Vegas | Grand Canyon | Hoover Dam September Labor Day Motorcycle Ride October 4th Annual Memphis Walk November Circle Arkansas Ride 2009 - Still in Memphis January Sydney and New South Wales (pics) May Douglas Visit July - Italy (Amalfi Coast with text | Capri | Herculaneum | Southern Tuscany with text | Florence with text | Northern Tuscany | Rome | Vatican) August Otha Turner Family Goat BBQ Picnic October Ozark Trail Ride day 1 | day 2 | day 3 November Dave Gets a KLR 650 | Hot Springs Honeymoon | Rhodes Cajunfest 2009 December Memphis Walk North(east) | Savannah Off-Road Motorcycling | San Francisco with Jeff, Katy, Larry, and Michelle 2008 - Still in Memphis April Visiting Jeff and Katy May - Spain and Morocco with Dave and Christina (Segovia | Casa | Central, Northern Spain | Picos de Europa | Bilbao and San Sebastian | La Roija Region | Madrid | Marrakech | Fez | Southern Spain) October Memphis Walk South December Sydney (pics) 2007 - Memphis February Snowboarding in Tahoe May Memorial Day at the Parker's Lakehouse June Larry and Michelle's Wedding on Shelter Island, NY July Hawaii (Oahu | Big Island (plus kayaking at Captain Cook) | Kauai text 1 and text 2 | Hawaii (Mostly Budget) Accommodation Review) 2006 - Memphis January Las Vegas April Jacob Born July Douglas Visit in Rhode Island September Iowa Visit October Urban Wolf River Trip November and December Costa Rica (Volcan Arenal | Monteverde | Montezuma | Uvita | Porto Jimenez | Corcovado | Aerial Photos) 2005 - Memphis January New Years at Dave and Christina's May Kath's PhD Graduation from Duke University June Kath's PhD Graduation Party at the Shack-Up Inn December New Zealand and Australia (Tahiti and Wellington | Marlborough and Kaikoura | Abel Tasman and the West | Manapouri and Milford Sound | The Catlins | Dunedin and Christchurch | Sydney) 2004 - Memphis January Jeni's Baby Shower | Birth of Emmett February Snowboarding in Park City May Memorial Day at the Parker's Lakehouse July Yucatan Movie [QT 7] (Isla Mujeres, Tulum, Chichen Itza, Valladolid, Merida, Celestun) | Paris October Visiting the Douglas's in Boston 2003 - Memphis January New Years February Aaron's Snowboarding Bachelor Party June Jaymie's Bachelor Party October Dave & Christina Wedding Shower September Dave's Bachelor Party October Dave & Christina's Wedding 2002 - Australia - Memphis January Tasmania - Port Arthur [1st] | Tasmania - East Coast [2nd] April Queensland [1st to 15th] June Sydney Opera House [11th] | Broken Hill [15th] | South Australia [20th] | Western Australia [26th] July Darwin, Litchfield, Katherine Gorge [16th] | Arnham Land [19th] | Kakadu National Park September Prague Wedding Reception, People, More People, Buildings | Croatia Mainland, Vis November Kath's Surprise Birthday Party | Thanksgiving December Christmas 2001 - Australia September Peyton's Baptism [2nd] | Apartment [9th] | Cliffwalk [18th] | Footy Final [23rd] October Koori Knockout [1st] | Vigoro [20th] | North Sydney Beaches [30th] November Sports Awards [9th] December Tasmania - Cataract Gorge [30th] | Tasmania - Cradle Mountain [30th] | Tasmania - West and South [31st] 1999 - Southern Africa Cape Town | Garden Route | Jo'berg | Victoria Falls | Stellenbosch 1998 - Peru Lima | Huancayo | Ayacucho | Cuzco | Machu Picchu/Puno | Lake Titicaca | La Paz | Arequipa | Colca Canyon | Nazca/Pisco/Lima 1997 - Prague, Greece, Turkey Prague | Cesky Krumlov | Romania | Alexandropolis | Samothraki | Ruins | Prague 1996 - Australia Sydney 1995 - Asia, Silk Route Turkmenistan | Kyrgyzstan | Kashi/Urumqi | Iron Rooster | Beijing | Great Wall | Hong Kong | Philippines 1994-1995 - Prague Other Trips - Greers Ferry Lake (2001) Arkansas Expats A collection of friends Peebo.net Jeff Parker's blog Issafly Brad Sim's blog truk.com truk and kath's website The Tackle Box by Matt The Adventures of Pete Big Bear Follow the adventures of Pete Big Bear while he roams around the US A Foolish Consistency CinemaApprentice's blog; great advice on movies and books From a Place Near a River Lady Di is online and loving it Life Beyond Expection Kath's CF blog Jethro Williams Travel Blog A man from England, working his way around the world Dave and Christina