Monday, July 31, 2006
"At least we have the humidity."
Before you go thinking all this time on the road has confused us, the title quote is actually one we heard from a newscaster on Wisconsin tv last night. Here's the context:
Weather Guy: It's going to be 100 tomorrow.
Fool Newslady: Wow - it's like we're in Arizona or something.
WG: Yes, but in Arizona they have a dry heat.
FN: True. At least we have the humidity.
Will & Erin: WHAAAAA????
(Special note to Sarge - yes, this really did happen, and yes, the humidity makes a diff!)
So, today we covered Wisconsin, Minnesota and just barely crossed into South Dakota. Currently we're holed up in the "I have a giant dog with a menacing bark" wing of the Comfort Inn in Sioux Falls.
Once again we started the day on side roads, taking in American life and unfortunately several AmericInn's, which I have decided to boycott because that name is friggin' ridiculous. Our route took us up toward Madison, WI, over to Dodgeville, home to Lands End and then toward the Mississippi. Along the way we saw the "House on the Rock" and Taliesin former home of Frank Lloyd Wright.
We also saw another excellent "get your ass to church" motivator:
We're starting a Wordy Gurdy of the day, which will hopefully be somewhat linked to the places we've seen that day.
What's a Wordy Gurdy? We give a clue and you answer in a two word, rhyming phrase. For example - Clue: angry father, Answer: mad dad. Fun, right?
So, here goes.
Clue: Tribute to Winsconin's pride.
Have at it.
Badlands tomorrow...
Weather Guy: It's going to be 100 tomorrow.
Fool Newslady: Wow - it's like we're in Arizona or something.
WG: Yes, but in Arizona they have a dry heat.
FN: True. At least we have the humidity.
Will & Erin: WHAAAAA????
(Special note to Sarge - yes, this really did happen, and yes, the humidity makes a diff!)
So, today we covered Wisconsin, Minnesota and just barely crossed into South Dakota. Currently we're holed up in the "I have a giant dog with a menacing bark" wing of the Comfort Inn in Sioux Falls.
Once again we started the day on side roads, taking in American life and unfortunately several AmericInn's, which I have decided to boycott because that name is friggin' ridiculous. Our route took us up toward Madison, WI, over to Dodgeville, home to Lands End and then toward the Mississippi. Along the way we saw the "House on the Rock" and Taliesin former home of Frank Lloyd Wright.
We also saw another excellent "get your ass to church" motivator:
"Missing prayer for 7 days makes one weak."
Hee! God is funny!
Will and I almost perished today. It was for a good cause, though. In an effort to enjoy some local food - namely CHEESE and avoid the chain crap for lunch we drove and drove and drove. Unfortunately the chains seem to have quite a bit more cash in their marketing budgets for advance warning signs. McDonald's will tell you one's coming for MILES, but the fabulous looking cheese house waits until you're flying past to throw up a sign. Finally we found Ed's Family Food where we found some delish cheese and crackers. Seriously. We were close to death. Ed saved us.
Once we crossed into Minnesota we decided to stick to the interstate so we could make up some time and I took over the driving duties. In a word: BORING. Nothing at all of interest happened except that shortly after we left the Amish rest stop, Bella discovered a fly in the cab.
Now, I'm driving, and if I was alone, I wouldn't have thought twice about it. HOWEVER...I'm hurtling down the highway with a dog that loves to lunge wildly at all insects and a husband who despises bugs and assumes that I do to and that I would like him to whack the bejesus about of any bug that even thinks about landing on me. (This almost always means whacking me, too. It's awesome.)
So at this point I'm feeling like I'm in some serious peril. Bella's lunging and Will's swatting and I'm trying to stay on the road while hysterically laughing AND trying to defend myself. So then we decide to roll the windows down and hope the fly will leave. But that weather guy wasn't lying, and it was HOT! So the cab became a swirling tornado of steamy dog hair and eventually, after nearly knocking himself out with the swatting, Will got the fly out. I had just barely stopped laughing when along came another. See above.
The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful. We did see a pretty awesome lighting storm, but that's about it. It felt good to park the Penske tonight, for sure.
Hee! God is funny!
Will and I almost perished today. It was for a good cause, though. In an effort to enjoy some local food - namely CHEESE and avoid the chain crap for lunch we drove and drove and drove. Unfortunately the chains seem to have quite a bit more cash in their marketing budgets for advance warning signs. McDonald's will tell you one's coming for MILES, but the fabulous looking cheese house waits until you're flying past to throw up a sign. Finally we found Ed's Family Food where we found some delish cheese and crackers. Seriously. We were close to death. Ed saved us.
Once we crossed into Minnesota we decided to stick to the interstate so we could make up some time and I took over the driving duties. In a word: BORING. Nothing at all of interest happened except that shortly after we left the Amish rest stop, Bella discovered a fly in the cab.
Now, I'm driving, and if I was alone, I wouldn't have thought twice about it. HOWEVER...I'm hurtling down the highway with a dog that loves to lunge wildly at all insects and a husband who despises bugs and assumes that I do to and that I would like him to whack the bejesus about of any bug that even thinks about landing on me. (This almost always means whacking me, too. It's awesome.)
So at this point I'm feeling like I'm in some serious peril. Bella's lunging and Will's swatting and I'm trying to stay on the road while hysterically laughing AND trying to defend myself. So then we decide to roll the windows down and hope the fly will leave. But that weather guy wasn't lying, and it was HOT! So the cab became a swirling tornado of steamy dog hair and eventually, after nearly knocking himself out with the swatting, Will got the fly out. I had just barely stopped laughing when along came another. See above.
The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful. We did see a pretty awesome lighting storm, but that's about it. It felt good to park the Penske tonight, for sure.
We're starting a Wordy Gurdy of the day, which will hopefully be somewhat linked to the places we've seen that day.
What's a Wordy Gurdy? We give a clue and you answer in a two word, rhyming phrase. For example - Clue: angry father, Answer: mad dad. Fun, right?
So, here goes.
Clue: Tribute to Winsconin's pride.
Have at it.
Badlands tomorrow...
Sunday, July 30, 2006
If You Think It's Hot Here...
Saturday took us 180 miles to Edinboro, PA, just south of Erie to visit with Will's brother Paul and his family.
They seemed happy to see us.
It was a great chance for Bella to play with their dog, Emma and for us to drink beer and eat meatballs.
Although it was sad to say goodbye (largely because we knew there were more meatballs) on Sunday morning we loaded up the Penske and headed out for our biggest day yet.
Paul is a truck driver and he knows the roads we were headed for, so between beers we mapped out a route that not only helped us avoid toll roads all day, but also allowed us to actually SEE the parts of the country we were driving through. One of my primary duties as co-pilot is to take pictures of the "Welcome to..." signs we see as we enter each state. I did ok, as you can see in our previous posting, but starting with PA, I kind of lost my touch. On our approach to Ohio I was all ready to go, camera strapped around my wrist, but then Will distracted me by pointing out a sparkly powder blue trike w/ a Harley front end and a Corvette back end, pulling a pop-up camper. Sadly I wasn't with it enough to take a picture of that either.
If only we could have missed the state itself instead of just the sign. I can't say much stands out from Ohio. We passed through Sandusky, the name of an Uncle Tupelo song. We saw a church so big, Will dubbed it God City. We proved our guidebook true by passing bait shops, drive through liquor stores and drive-in movie theaters, all in the space of about 5 miles.
One notable thing about Ohio was that it was where I first drove the Penske. Just before the Indiana line, I decided to take the wheel. Having once run for Mayor of a short stretch of sidewalk in Bloomington, Indiana, I felt a responsibility to be the one to drive us across the Hoosier State (more accurately known to some as the Goober State).
My Mayoral campaign started when I was tossed out of a Bloomington bar for dancing and was forced to wait for my friends who didn't seem to mind being opressed like the kids from Footloose.
Anyhoo, the beautiful day we were having went to absolute shit about four minutes after I started driving.
Anyhoo, the beautiful day we were having went to absolute shit about four minutes after I started driving.Luckily it didn't last and I took us to just about Gary, Indiana - where the Jackson family grew up. (Obviously not going to win "Best Place to Raise a Family" anytime soon.)
We passed such fun sites as Gays Hops 'N Schnapps, an Amish buggy dealership and loads of churches, each with their own fear-inducing message on the marquee. One cleverly suggested that "Exposure to the 'Son' prevents burning," and another we used as inspiraion for the title of this post.
Will drove us through Chicago, while Bella continued her sleeping tour of the US, and we made it all the way across the Wisconsin line! 530 miles in all. Our directory of dog-friendly hotles listed two in Pleasant Prairie, WI. We chose the Holiday Inn Express first to find that they charge an additional $50 for dogs because they steam clean every room. Screw that we say! Our dog is perfect! Why would we pay for an unneccessary steam cleaning?!? So we headed over to La Quinta (so Will could ram the 10' 6" truck into the 9' covered entryway -- only minor damage to hotel and truck, at least), where not only is there no charge for dogs, but they also gave us a way better room rate!
We walked into the room, gave Bella some water and a little treat and within about 5 minutes she puked all over the rug. So....sorry to the peeps who stay in Room 203 next! You should have stayed at a Holiday Inn Express!
Saturday, July 29, 2006
Speedy Gonzales
We woke up to closing and moving day in a weird place on the floor. In actuality it was Phil's bedroom and an air matress, but it was a good start to the day anyway. We were thinking we would just grab the tv off the wall at our house and head to closing, but there ended up being much more to do first.
We picked up the Penske truck, filled it up with junk from Hall St and Lucas Rd and took it to the dump, got our last items from Lucas, picked up and loaded the car trailer, closed on our house, and then signed up a management company for Hall St, since it didn't sell. At that point it was after 1 so we grabbed some lunch and eventually hit the road around 2. By an odd concidence we realized that we were leaving manch vegas by the very same exit off 93 that we first came when looking for a house.
The next 8 1/2 hours were mostly uneventful, with Bella sleeping between us most of the time.
Massachusetts went by with many harrowing attacks on our lane by the terrible drivers. There were just as many harrowing attacks on my ears by Erin's audible panic attacks. Not the best passenger, she.
New York was mostly a blur. We hit some heavy rain in Albany and stopped multiple times for gas. At this rate it will be about $1500 just in gas by the time we hit the Pacific Ocean.
We rolled in to the Chamberlin domicile in Walworth, NY at 10:30 EST and as I driving around the cul-de-sac when my co-pilot shouted out 'Slow down there, Speedy Gonzales!!'. Looking down I commented that we were going 10 mph. That pretty much sums up the long but productive day we had, covering over 430 miles.
Today we head to Erie, PA for an overnight at my brother's place with his family. Should be a nice, short drive.
We picked up the Penske truck, filled it up with junk from Hall St and Lucas Rd and took it to the dump, got our last items from Lucas, picked up and loaded the car trailer, closed on our house, and then signed up a management company for Hall St, since it didn't sell. At that point it was after 1 so we grabbed some lunch and eventually hit the road around 2. By an odd concidence we realized that we were leaving manch vegas by the very same exit off 93 that we first came when looking for a house.
The next 8 1/2 hours were mostly uneventful, with Bella sleeping between us most of the time.
Massachusetts went by with many harrowing attacks on our lane by the terrible drivers. There were just as many harrowing attacks on my ears by Erin's audible panic attacks. Not the best passenger, she.
New York was mostly a blur. We hit some heavy rain in Albany and stopped multiple times for gas. At this rate it will be about $1500 just in gas by the time we hit the Pacific Ocean.We rolled in to the Chamberlin domicile in Walworth, NY at 10:30 EST and as I driving around the cul-de-sac when my co-pilot shouted out 'Slow down there, Speedy Gonzales!!'. Looking down I commented that we were going 10 mph. That pretty much sums up the long but productive day we had, covering over 430 miles.
Today we head to Erie, PA for an overnight at my brother's place with his family. Should be a nice, short drive.
Thursday, July 27, 2006
The night bunny died.
If you're reading this, you have these folks to thank.
I'd been wanting to look into a new digital camera to document our trip to San Francisco, but being married to Will means that any tech purchase must include loads of research. Ick. No likey.
We'd also thought about blogging about (during? not sure of the right word to use there...) our trip west, but without pictures it would just be words. "Blah dee blah...Bad drivers suck...Bella's cute...Will drives slow... Nothing you haven't heard before.
SO....on our last night here in ManchVegas, we went to dinner with Phil and Angela to C.R. Sparks (named for the renowned Chuck Rolocek, for those in the know). It was a lovely meal, complete with Goat Cheese "Macaroni & Cheese," a dish that included both macaroni AND cheese, so we're not sure where the quotes come from.
Just before dessert Phil and Angela presented us with a gift bag holding two fabulous Welcome to Manch Vegas t-shirts and... a digital camera! I would tell you what kind it is, but that would include research. See above. (I know reading a box isn't exactly research, but some of you are with me, right?)
We were blown away at their generosity, but the gift did come with a restriction. That we actually use it. Didn't seem like too much to ask, so we agreed. So...with Bella's help, we'll be documenting our road trip to San Francisco over the next couple weeks - hope you enjoy!Tomorrow we leave, heading for Walworth, NY, then a quick trip to Erie, PA and from there, we're really not sure.
Check in to find out!!
P.S. Tonight Bella ate the face off a stuffed bunny.
