NYC -> Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania train: September 1st
Pittsburgh -> Columbus, Ohio via car: mere hours on the 5th, deliciously spent at Bob Evans.
Columbus -> Los Angeles, California via car: 5th-7th

Once upon a time, Shasta Cross was looking for a co-pilot to drive cross-country from Ohio. A little girl named Alli had never done that before and was more than ready to make it happen. And so they did.

Photo: Shooting the passing sunset (somewhere in Missouri) through a pair of honest-to-goodness 1970s Vuarnets given to me by Mr. John F. McClellan.

A little bit about Vuarnet and why John, me and everyone who has ever put them on their face LOVE them:

1957: Invention of the Skilynx lens. The history of the company begins with the meeting of two opticians, Roger Pouilloux and Joseph Hatchiguian, who were developing night-driving lenses. It is by associating various surface coatings (more or less dark coloring on different but very luminous glass bases) that Joseph Hatchiguian discovered a lens which allows one to see the sun without being dazzled and increased its luminosity in dark weather. Glass of this quality and with this capacity of absorption did not exist.

1960: Vuarnet Sunglasses. Pouilloux and Hatchiguian watch the news and see Jean Vuarnet, interviewed after his win at the Olympic Games (Squaw Valley), wearing the sunglasses Pouilloux had given to the entire French ski team. Contacting the skiier, the two opticians then got approval to name their Skilynx Acier sunglasses after him.

1984: Vuarnet sunglasses are official partners of the Los Angeles Olympic Games.

In conclusion, if you...

a) like your view of the world to pop with extraordinary depth every time you look out a window
b) prefer warmth in images (though now they make many a shade of lens)
c) value and appreciate a great lens
d) don't understand the overwhelming and recent trend toward the Ray-Ban Wayfarer

... then Vuarnet is probably an excellent choice.

Hell, I love these glasses so much, I had to call John while driving to tell him how stoked I was to be seeing the country through these lenses. It just couldn't have waited.

So it was decided that we were going to write to Vuarnet to see if they will cut a filter for Nikon lenses. Wish us luck!