Road Trip | The Napkin

She Poured It In Texas

by Marty Coleman | Jul 5, 2012 | Independence Day, Road Trip, Texas, Travel, Travel Napkins | 0 comments

On the road, deep in the heart of Texas!

I was awarded a 2 night stay at the Gaylord Texan resort from Steinbrecher and Associates for a story I wrote about the ‘aha moment’ in my life from being the Napkin Dad. Linda, Caitlin and I are here now over Independence Day and enjoying ourselves immensely.

The drawing was done after breakfast. I stayed down at the restaurant while Linda went upstairs to shower. The waitress was kind and thoughtful and I liked that her tag said she was from Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

I will post something longer when I get home but had to get at least one ‘Travelin’ Napkin’ in while I was here!

Here is the drawing after I got home and was able to work on it a bit.

Here is the story of our time at the Gaylord, in four parts.

Part Zero (the napkin)

Sketchbook History Tour, 2001 – Road Trip

by Marty Coleman | Jan 23, 2011 | Road Trip, Sketchbook History Tour | 1 comment

In 2001 I took an air & road trip to pick up a car for my daughter, Connie, who was about to turn 16. My father had a car he couldn’t use because my sister, whom he lived with, wouldn’t allow him to take her kids around in the car, too unsafe since it was a convertible.

The sketchbook was actually just a little teeny weeny journal, about 2 1/2 x 4 inches big. It only has the drawings and story from the trip, nothing else.

These are some of the drawings and writings from that little teeny weeny journal.

You fly, or rather I fly, to places and meet nobody. I could meet someone but didn’t recently. My unwife met people, young good looking men. She has their e-mail addresses and one was at Thanksgiving instead of me last year. I met a woman coming back from Boise once. I got her email address, but only wrote her once.

Now the sun is skimming the tops of cottage cheese clouds, deep cool blue and warm pale yellow on top. I love the sky. That’s why I like Oklahoma.

A dusky purple blue with a spread of sun edge is what I see now. Burning orange red as it goes behind a thin stretch of cloud. I probably shouldn’t look at it. The woman next to me has a little gift back on the seat between us. Tan & green plaid with a lace tie around the handles.

I was wrong about not meeting people on airplanes. I just met two. One, a business man, Bob, with five daughters he raised, the other a porn star, Samantha. She autographed a picture for me that I did not ask for but accepted when given. She only does quality work she says. She showed me some other pictures. She changes hair color a lot.

I drew her while she listened to Bob talk about his webcasting teleconferencing technology. She wants me to email her the drawing. I said okay. The guy in the seat behind her was really trying to see her through the crack in the seat.

My nephews went off to school with the neighbor who complained to my sister when she introduced me to her because she had no makeup on. We are going to see her again tonight at the baseball game so I told her I would see how she cleaned up then.

She wasn’t wearing a wedding ring but I was told she is married. Oh well, married people don’t look for rings like us single folk do.

Seattle Road Trip – Coda – How Much A Dunce

by Marty Coleman | Sep 17, 2010 | Road Trip, Seattle Road Trip, William Cowper | 0 comments

Whether it is lack of knowledge or lack of character we are all dunces in some way. But get yourself out the door (or be sent by someone else) and you will be a better dunce. And if there is one thing I bet we can all agree on, the world needs a better quality of dunces.

I am a better dunce after my grand road trip adventure with my daughter to Seattle. Here are a few reasons why:

Meeting new people: A wonderfully engaging woman, Robin, in a little teeny coffee shack in the middle of Montana. She talked with Chelsea all about Seattle and all the fun opportunities there, the connections she has, the music, art, etc. It got Chelsea excited. It got Robin excited. She was animated on the high plains and it was great.

Bozeman Barista

Old Friends: When we lived in San Jose from 1981-1994 we were good friends with the Savages. They had 2 daughters about the ages of our daughters and they were all great friends. They now live in Spokane and we stayed the night at their home. Being with them brought back wonderfully fun memories, including watching a video of their daughter’s 6th birthday party with all my daughters and me in it. It was a lot of fun.

More than those memories though was the present day experience of being with 2 of the most incredibly wonderful people you would ever want to meet. Martha, talkative and funny, understanding and kind. A better bed and breakfast hostess there has never been. Bob, quiet and stoic, insightful and probing. He is animated when the right topic comes along but always retains an thoughtful way of engaging in conversation. He was a fantastic tour guide to the amazing city of Spokane for us.

The Savage family in Spokane, Washington

Their older daughter, Elizabeth, came to dinner and what an amazing thing to see childhood friends of my daughter all grown up. She has her parent’s great qualities in her. Their younger daughter, Sharon, one of Chelsea’s closest childhood friends live in, of all places, Seattle. So, right there bonus score for Chelsea and her hopes of connecting to people in Washington.

All this makes me want to get back out on the road again soon because I always want to be a better dunce!

Drawing, photos and commentary by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily

Quote by William Cowper, 1731-1800, English poet

Seattle Road Trip – Day 7 – On My Way Home

by Marty Coleman | Sep 16, 2010 | Road Trip, Seattle Road Trip, Travel | 0 comments

Time to pack it in! After 5 days on a road trip to Seattle, 2 days there and 3 more in San Diego I am looking forward to home.

The Baby and the Plane of Smiles

Sometimes you hear horror stories about babies on planes. But this one, in the waiting area and on the plane, just made people smile. Sweet, funny, calm, and not crying. What more could one ask for!

I am a friendly guy, I like to engage in conversation and like meeting new people. I know some people don’t like doing that on planes and I respect that when I sit next to someone who obviously isn’t into it. But this time around the person I met added a nice full-circle ending to my trip.

D Seeing the Road Ahead

D noticed me drawing and that got us in a conversation about art, college, majors, etc. She is a biology major and wants to be a doctor. She just moved to the west coast, first time away from home. 4 months ago she married her childhood sweetheart, a Marine, stationed at Camp Pendleton in San Diego county. Talk about a radical, crazy new phase of life! Although the situation isn’t exactly the same, I started out driving with my daughter to her new home on the west coast where she is going to be building a new life with a new beau. It will be her first time living completely apart geographically from family and friends. Now I am ending my journey talking to a stranger on a plane who is living a similar story. I love that.

I parted ways with her in Houston where she was headed and I was continuing on to Tulsa. I felt good about her chances for a happy life just as I did when I left Chelsea in Seattle the week before.

Now on to Tulsa where I expect to see my wife at the gate waiting for me. Not at the baggage claim, but at the actual gate, like in the old days. How can that be you ask? Because, ironies of ironies, my wife is about to go on a business trip to Houston and is taking the exact same plane I am arriving on! So, I am getting off, kissing her hello, kissing her goodbye and driving home to a household of animals. Not the optimal homecoming but it’s even worse for Linda since she has been the one home working all the while I have been traipsing around the country.

Hello Goodbye

I can’t tell you how much I appreciate and love her for that. She works really hard in a really stressful job. She travels more than she likes and for her to have to leave as I arrive does not make her a happy camper. But it was fun to have her at the gate, no doubt!

Marty

Seattle Road Trip – Day 6 – City Of My Birth

by Marty Coleman | Sep 15, 2010 | Road Trip, San Diego, Seattle Road Trip | 0 comments

Southwest Airline napkin.
The hat is formed out of the route I took across the country and back.

At age 6 I moved away from Del Mar, California. For many decades no one in my family lived there, or anywhere close. Now, 50 years later my father and sister live in the area and I go back to visit regularly. It feels like home, always has and always will. The ocean air, the wispy low beach fog in the morning, the smell of the Eucalyptus trees and the feel of the sun all are as natural to me as can be.

Sketchbook – Sleeping Woman on a Plane

I flew down to San Diego (Del Mar is just north of the city) and spent a few days with my younger sister, Jackie and her family. I also spent a good amount of time with my 92 year old father, Skeets. He is frail and doesn’t remember much, but he is still enjoying life.

He has had a long career in aviation, first in WWII as a fighter pilot in the South Pacific, then as a test pilot, jet salesman and aviation magazine publisher. You can read about his exploits and fame here.

My father, Skeets Coleman, (famous aviator) and
myself (famous napkin dad). haha

Marty

Seattle Road Trip – Day 5 – Deep Thoughts & the Barista

by Marty Coleman | Sep 14, 2010 | Road Trip, Seattle Road Trip, Travel Napkins | 1 comment

Deep Thoughts and the Barista

We have arrived in Seattle, our final road trip destination! My daughter has been a barista for quite some time, as well as a coffee roaster, office manager, and everything else in the coffee business. So, of course the first thing we did when arriving in Seattle was to hit a nice coffee house! I drew this after meeting a barista who didn’t quite look like this (she was happier looking) and having a conversation with Chelsea about obligation. I couldn’t think of a way to succinctly ‘quote’ our conversation so I did a little question/riddle type thing. Coffee will do that to you, you know.

Anyway, the goal has been achieved and she is now off to start her new life!

I am on to visit family in San Diego for a few days before heading home.

Marty

Seattle Road Trip – Day 4 – The Waterfalls of Scared

by Marty Coleman | Sep 13, 2010 | Road Trip, Seattle Road Trip, Travel Napkins | 0 comments

We spent time in Yellowstone National Park, looking at Bison and Waterfalls and bubbling mud pots of steam. It made us imagine what the first people who saw this area must have thought, how scary it must have been for the native peoples to traverse this landscape, for the Europeans to do the same. How that scared quality actually drove them on.

Yellowstone River from above the falls

Chelsea is moving to Washington, 1,000 of miles away from home. That is scary. I know she will do well, but it’s still a courageous move and there are fears and unknowns to overcome. I am proud of her and I think facing those fears will make her an even better person than she already is.

Objects in mirror are larger than they appear.

What fear are you facing down today?

Marty

Seattle Road Trip – Day 3 – The Bagel Maker and the Bison

by Marty Coleman | Sep 12, 2010 | Road Trip, Seattle Road Trip | 1 comment

The Bagel Maker and the Bison

We stopped at a red light and asked a guy with a very hoarse voice where a good place to eat was and he squeeked out ‘bagels on broadway’ so off we went on a search in Missoula, Montana. What a beautiful town. It’s a college town (U of M is there I think) so it has that college town vibe to it. We found the place and had great bagels. We told them we were from the bagel capital of the world, Tulsa, Oklahoma so they were mightily impressed.

The quote for the napkin came from the magnetic poetry thing that was in front of us at the counter. Here is a picture of it.

I did a caricature of the bagel maker for my napkin. She wasn’t in a great mood but by the end of our time there she was smiling and happy. Our mission to get a bagel and spread joy was complete. Here she is with the napkin.

Caitlin the Bagel Maker in Missoula, MT

Sorry I have been so lame about posting, the trip has been more fun and more time consuming that I anticipated!

Marty

Seattle Road Trip – Day 2 – Buffalo, Wyoming

by Marty Coleman | Sep 10, 2010 | Road Trip, Seattle Road Trip | 0 comments

My first brown napkin ever! Got it at the Super 8 Motel at breakfast in Buffalo, Wyoming after a day getting to Badlands National Park JUST as the sun set! But we found an ultra cool abandoned church and took some pics there.

And just a few minutes later we got into the park and got to see some bison and witness the sunset. It was gorgeous. We even got a pic of us at just the right moment!