We stayed in a hotel lot in Glenwood Springs, and I got some Coors Extra Gold in the morning. We drove a few hours to Gunnison, and met up with Lauren's friend Larry, and his girlfriend, Heidi, in a coffee shop. We picked up some things for dinner, and they made steak, mashed potatoes, and glazed carrots. We watched Ratatoullie, and National Lampoon Xmas Vacation (a tradition in my family). We slept on an inflatable mattress and woke up for eggs, bacon, and potatoes before getting ready to go skiing. We drove about a half hour up to Crested Butte, and I rode the bus up to the resort to see them off (and pay for Lauren). I went back down into town and did some drinking and some Christmas shopping. I bought a pint and headed back up to the resort to wait for them. Lauren had a great time and I was glad she had the opportunity to go. We went back to Larry and Heidi's and ordered some pizza. Then we watched some Christmas movies like Die Hard and Batman Returns.
After another fantastic breakfast, we checked the road conditions and headed out. We peaked Monarch Pass (11,000') and continued to Vail. The interstate was backed up and iced over, so we sat in traffic, eating salsa, and trying to inch up without slipping. We finally got moving again, but there was another wreck and we had to take a detour. I got some gas and tried to buy snow-chains, but I couldn't find any. We took a detour over Loveland Pass in a driving snow, at night, with 2 wheel drive, and without chains. We finally made it to a Walmart and to a Mcdonalds to eat a McGangbang, blog, and have some beers. The Coors tour is in the morning and then we check out Boulder and move east.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Glenwood Springs, CO
We made the rounds through the northern section of the Canyonlands, and called BS on the meteorite theory about upheaval dome. If anyone is actually interested in this, I'll rant at great length on a 1-on-1 basis. I talked to a woman about living in the truck and about some of the things we've learned while Riley ate some snow. After about 4 hours, we got kind of canyoned out, so we drove back to Moab for a resupply. I got 2 bags of chips, 2 tubs of salsa, 1 bag of bagels, and 1 tup of cream cheese. I had about 6 High Life long-necks left (you gotta' drink it to live it), and I filled up for $2.65/g. We drove up the river to I-70, and headed east to Grand Junction, CO. We used the Mcwifi, and ate some Taco John's. We went to Walmart, and tried to watch Cannonball, but it was a bad rip, so we settled for The Getaway with Steve McQueen and Ali MacGraw. It was very good. I ended up staying up till 5 playing games, and George called at 6:45. I called him back in the morning (daylight), and hes having a party for Christmas. It sounds like a blast.
We cleaned out the truck, and drove about an hour and a half to Glenwood Springs, and checked out the town. Paddler Magazine rated it as one of the coolest town in America, so we looked at the possibility of moving here for a season. The Walmart's floorplan is screwy, and has doors on both ends of the store, the beer selection sucks, and its not 24 hour. The Mcdonalds Filet'O'Fish is $3.29, and their McChicken is the Hot'n'Spicy one. I don't know if they have bagels. The liquor store is a tad pricey, but the selection and the service is wonderful. There is a Taco Bell, a KFC, a Pizza Hut, and a Subway. There is a naturally hot pool, caves, rivers, horseback riding, biking, Mexican and Chinese restaurants, lots of parks, and a few grocery stores. The gas price is a tad high, but not extreme. I like this place. There is a Toyota dealership and a plethora of nice restaurant, and rafting job opportunities. The summers are 80 to 90 degrees and the winters are mild. I will be back. We have a 3.5 hour burn tomorrow, and maybe we'll see Lauren's friend.
We cleaned out the truck, and drove about an hour and a half to Glenwood Springs, and checked out the town. Paddler Magazine rated it as one of the coolest town in America, so we looked at the possibility of moving here for a season. The Walmart's floorplan is screwy, and has doors on both ends of the store, the beer selection sucks, and its not 24 hour. The Mcdonalds Filet'O'Fish is $3.29, and their McChicken is the Hot'n'Spicy one. I don't know if they have bagels. The liquor store is a tad pricey, but the selection and the service is wonderful. There is a Taco Bell, a KFC, a Pizza Hut, and a Subway. There is a naturally hot pool, caves, rivers, horseback riding, biking, Mexican and Chinese restaurants, lots of parks, and a few grocery stores. The gas price is a tad high, but not extreme. I like this place. There is a Toyota dealership and a plethora of nice restaurant, and rafting job opportunities. The summers are 80 to 90 degrees and the winters are mild. I will be back. We have a 3.5 hour burn tomorrow, and maybe we'll see Lauren's friend.
Friday, December 10, 2010
Moab, UT
Lauren and I woke up in the Howard Johnson parking lot, and while she went to the bathroom in Mcdonalds, I went to the Basha's for some booze. I only had one tallboy left, and I drank it that morning on the way to the store for more. Unfortunately, we were in the sovereign nation of the Navajo people, and they don't sell booze...at all. We hastened the pace and drove north through Monument Valley. It happens to be owned by the Navajo, not the US, so we had to pay $5 each to get in. We continued to Mexican Hat, UT and I bought a 12 pack of Milwaukee's Best, but it turned out to be out of date and skunky. I drank it anyway. We kept going to 4 corners and we had to pay $3 each to get in there. We took some pictures, and Riley played with some stray dogs. We made it into Farmington, NM, had some ramen and Kool Aid Bursts, and to sleep at Walmart.
In the morning, we drove to Mesa Verde, and drove a loop to kill time until a guided tour into some 700 year-old cliff dwellings. Lauren took pictures tilll my finger hurt from watching her press the shutter. We took the tour and it reminded me of when I was living in the barn in Sheperdstown, WV. They even had a stuffed turkey vulture. For those of you who don't know, I lived next to a couple of them for a few months before it got too cold and they flew away. Anyway, we drove on towards Telluride, CO, but that place has zoned parking permits like Boston, and less free parking than Atlantic City. Even the hotels had parking permits. We headed into some little town I can't remember, and watched some movies. The Reanimator was a little too much for Lauren, so we finished with The Wanderers. I had a hot pocket because I'm craving pizza, and Lauren had a microwave chimichanga from a gas station.
The next day we drove to Moab, and reevaluated our daily scheduling system. Lauren went into Mcdonalds for a while, and I had some beer and took a nap on the front seat. When she came out, we drove to a Comfort Suites and slept in their lot. I went to bed around 7:30. Today, we got up by 10:45, and drove all through Arches NP. We walked a few trails, and Lauren took so many pictures, the camera got hot the touch. We just got finished, and did some shopping at a City Market, which, apparently, is associated with Kroger's and Fred Meyer. We got some Thai noodles, went to Mcdonalds' parking lot, and cooked them up. They were awful. We are currently inside blogging, and Lauren tells me I just sold a coffee mug online for a few dollars commission. Canyon Lands tomorrow, drive halfway to Gunnison, CO the next day, and Gunnison, by the 13th. Snowboarding on the 14th and onward...
In the morning, we drove to Mesa Verde, and drove a loop to kill time until a guided tour into some 700 year-old cliff dwellings. Lauren took pictures tilll my finger hurt from watching her press the shutter. We took the tour and it reminded me of when I was living in the barn in Sheperdstown, WV. They even had a stuffed turkey vulture. For those of you who don't know, I lived next to a couple of them for a few months before it got too cold and they flew away. Anyway, we drove on towards Telluride, CO, but that place has zoned parking permits like Boston, and less free parking than Atlantic City. Even the hotels had parking permits. We headed into some little town I can't remember, and watched some movies. The Reanimator was a little too much for Lauren, so we finished with The Wanderers. I had a hot pocket because I'm craving pizza, and Lauren had a microwave chimichanga from a gas station.
The next day we drove to Moab, and reevaluated our daily scheduling system. Lauren went into Mcdonalds for a while, and I had some beer and took a nap on the front seat. When she came out, we drove to a Comfort Suites and slept in their lot. I went to bed around 7:30. Today, we got up by 10:45, and drove all through Arches NP. We walked a few trails, and Lauren took so many pictures, the camera got hot the touch. We just got finished, and did some shopping at a City Market, which, apparently, is associated with Kroger's and Fred Meyer. We got some Thai noodles, went to Mcdonalds' parking lot, and cooked them up. They were awful. We are currently inside blogging, and Lauren tells me I just sold a coffee mug online for a few dollars commission. Canyon Lands tomorrow, drive halfway to Gunnison, CO the next day, and Gunnison, by the 13th. Snowboarding on the 14th and onward...
Monday, December 6, 2010
Navajo Nation (south of Monument Valley)
We headed up to the Grand Canyon, and checked out the visitor center. We looked over a few overlooks, and found a spot in the parking lot of a lodge to sleep. We got run off by a ranger after a few hourse, so we actually paid to camp in a campground. It was $16, but we got a half-price deal with the annual park pass. We spent the whole next day checking out all we could before drifting eastward towards Lake Powell. We spent a little time in a Mcdonalds there, then went to sleep in Walmart. In the morning we checked out horseshoe bend, and decided to stay until sunset. I used this as an opportunity to test my handheld GPS. It seems pretty nice, I'll do a gear review later. We went back to Walmart, and I made some fettuccine alfredo. In the morning, I made breakfast while Lauren went to the bathroom. After a long time, I went in to see if she was OK, she wasn't feeling well at all, and we spent most of this morning sitting in the truck, while I played Picross. She didn't feel like hiking to the wave, so we headed towards Monument Valley.
On the way we saw the Glen Canyon Dam, and a street with 11 churches in a row. I was really enjoying the drive, but we came to the last sizable town to sleep in, so we went to Sonic, and to a Basha's for groceries. We are internetting in Mcdonalds at the moment, but in the morning, we are going to Monument Valley, the Four Corners and either Chaco, NM or Mesa Verde, CO, depending on how we feel. I think we are beginning to reach the limit of time 2 people can spend in a truck, even if they love each other. I plan to research the techniques NASA is trying out for extended space travel. After Mesa Verde, we are going to Arches, Canyonlands, and Dead Horse Point, before starting the Colorado experience. Lauren wants me to see the countryside, but I'm not looking forward to the snow. She is meeting up with a friend and going snowboarding, while I sit in the lodge and not worry about dying. The upside is that we are going to Coors in Golden, CO, on the way east. I'll try to keep blogging often..
On the way we saw the Glen Canyon Dam, and a street with 11 churches in a row. I was really enjoying the drive, but we came to the last sizable town to sleep in, so we went to Sonic, and to a Basha's for groceries. We are internetting in Mcdonalds at the moment, but in the morning, we are going to Monument Valley, the Four Corners and either Chaco, NM or Mesa Verde, CO, depending on how we feel. I think we are beginning to reach the limit of time 2 people can spend in a truck, even if they love each other. I plan to research the techniques NASA is trying out for extended space travel. After Mesa Verde, we are going to Arches, Canyonlands, and Dead Horse Point, before starting the Colorado experience. Lauren wants me to see the countryside, but I'm not looking forward to the snow. She is meeting up with a friend and going snowboarding, while I sit in the lodge and not worry about dying. The upside is that we are going to Coors in Golden, CO, on the way east. I'll try to keep blogging often..
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Flagstaff, AZ
We went to see Lauren's Cousin in Tucson, and she stays in a huge house with a full basketball court, hot tub with a water slide, miniature golf, pool table, guest house, and many ammenities. We stayed in the gueshouse and took showers. It was a pueblo style house, and I liked the statue of Saint Francis out front. The next day, we followed Christina to her father's (Lauren' uncle (Lauren's mother's brother's (Billy's))) house. It was cool. He sells Amsoil, and he offered me a free bypass filter kit. It was an older kit, but I spent a day or two putting it on. He has a great yard with plenty of vehicles to check out. It was nice to be able to hang around outside and piddle around with the truck. Billy was very hospitable.
Billy has a son named Billy Jr. and he is a pistol. We played Lego Starwars, and he stomped me at it. Lauren caught up on some of her blogging, and I did a little cooking. We met little Billy's mother, Joselyn (*sp?), and she is very nice also.
We have to be at this ski resort in Colorado by the 17th, so we had to leave. It'll be fun to come back some time. We headed up to some small town on the way to the Petrified Forest, and slept at Walmart.
In the morning we did some shopping, and I was able to find a 30 pack of Ice. I forgot to get gas though, so I had to drive past the forest to a Farr's. When I finally filled up, the truck took 12.6 gallons. My manual states my capacity as 12. We took some deep breaths and went into the park. I really enjoyed kicking around, and Lauren took pictures of every single rock. The visitor center was empty so we got a live presentation all to ourselves. The ranger gave us the canned "don't take the rocks" speach, and I tried to reassure her by reminding her that we'll still have fiber glass dinosaurs after all the rocks are stolen. We went out of the park and headed to a Sonic for tots. Lauren then thought that when that ranger was explaining how the trees were petrified, she could have said they just needed tp scare them. Clever. We went west toward Flagstaff, and we're using some internet before crashing for the evening. The Grand Canyon is only about 80 miles north, and we have 15 days to make it to Colorado.
Billy has a son named Billy Jr. and he is a pistol. We played Lego Starwars, and he stomped me at it. Lauren caught up on some of her blogging, and I did a little cooking. We met little Billy's mother, Joselyn (*sp?), and she is very nice also.
We have to be at this ski resort in Colorado by the 17th, so we had to leave. It'll be fun to come back some time. We headed up to some small town on the way to the Petrified Forest, and slept at Walmart.
In the morning we did some shopping, and I was able to find a 30 pack of Ice. I forgot to get gas though, so I had to drive past the forest to a Farr's. When I finally filled up, the truck took 12.6 gallons. My manual states my capacity as 12. We took some deep breaths and went into the park. I really enjoyed kicking around, and Lauren took pictures of every single rock. The visitor center was empty so we got a live presentation all to ourselves. The ranger gave us the canned "don't take the rocks" speach, and I tried to reassure her by reminding her that we'll still have fiber glass dinosaurs after all the rocks are stolen. We went out of the park and headed to a Sonic for tots. Lauren then thought that when that ranger was explaining how the trees were petrified, she could have said they just needed tp scare them. Clever. We went west toward Flagstaff, and we're using some internet before crashing for the evening. The Grand Canyon is only about 80 miles north, and we have 15 days to make it to Colorado.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Tucson, AZ (still)
I decided to throw another frustrating day up. This one is from around April-ish of this year. Is about a trip to Best Buy, its a little rushed, but it should be a decent read.
The Mcdonalds nearby only has one outlet and it was in use; he said he'd be a while. I waited 2 hrs, and went to a different Mcdonalds. Their Mcwifi is down. Panera Bread's outlet is too far from the store to get their wifi. The ctrl key came off my keyboard and the power cord quit working. In the morning, I went to Mcdonalds to try to fix it, and I cut myself in the process. I couldn't fix it, so I went to Radio Shack and talked to an employee who opened every package in an attempt to find the right cord and a man with a lazy eye. They said to go to Best Buy. The electric door would not open, and the greeter told me to go around rather than opening the door for me. I pulled it open. Best Buy's cords did not list any PC compatibilty on the ac adapter boxes, and the woman didn't know her ass from a hole in the ground. She said I'd have to buy them before I can open them, and i couldn't return it if was open. I looked up the compatibility list of their adapters on the display PC's but they did not list the actual PC models. I saw an in-store TV comercial for returning used electronics for store credit, so I took my handheld gps to the gps section where it still sells for $140. The guy told me to go to customer service. The woman at customer service told me to go online, and I said I didn't have internet. She repeated the website to me. I went back to the PC department and looked up the trade-in page. My gps was not listed. The man in the computer department didn't know how to help, so I asked him about the power adapters, but he didn't know anything. He laughed and said you got two strikes. I walked around the store. I tried the Wii but it said to disconnect the nunchuck befoe it could continue, it was glued in. I tried the 3dtv, but there were no glasses. I went to the car sterio guy to ask about equalizers, but he was busy talking about a party with a coworker. I went back to the customer service counter and said that my gps was not listed, she said to call the 1800 number. My phone's speaker is dead so i have to have it on loudspeaker, and the woman on the phone (once i finally get an operator) leads me to the website that im already on. She says she can't hear me because of the background noise in their own store. Then the low battery beep causes the phone to freeze up and it disconnects me. I went to the truck to drink a beer and get my charger, but I couldn't find an outlet near the computers. I went back to the car sterio guy to ask about equalizers, but he said he didn't know what that was, and they must not have any, or they may be out of them. The guy at the door asked to see my reciept. I didn't buy anything, and wasn't even carrying anything. I went to Mcdonalds to charge my phone, and ended up temporarily fixing the power cable. But the internet was down agian, I called Mctech support and they say its their fault, but they have no idea when it will start working. They said I should try again every 15-20 minutes. its been down for days. Now the phone is frozen, solitaire crashed due to low memory, note pad is fucking up the word wrap, and my Mcchicken is cold. I can't get trashed because I have to be at KOA to work at 3:30!
If you enjoyed this at all, you should enjoy my old journal entry about my last day at the KOA.. coming soon!
The Mcdonalds nearby only has one outlet and it was in use; he said he'd be a while. I waited 2 hrs, and went to a different Mcdonalds. Their Mcwifi is down. Panera Bread's outlet is too far from the store to get their wifi. The ctrl key came off my keyboard and the power cord quit working. In the morning, I went to Mcdonalds to try to fix it, and I cut myself in the process. I couldn't fix it, so I went to Radio Shack and talked to an employee who opened every package in an attempt to find the right cord and a man with a lazy eye. They said to go to Best Buy. The electric door would not open, and the greeter told me to go around rather than opening the door for me. I pulled it open. Best Buy's cords did not list any PC compatibilty on the ac adapter boxes, and the woman didn't know her ass from a hole in the ground. She said I'd have to buy them before I can open them, and i couldn't return it if was open. I looked up the compatibility list of their adapters on the display PC's but they did not list the actual PC models. I saw an in-store TV comercial for returning used electronics for store credit, so I took my handheld gps to the gps section where it still sells for $140. The guy told me to go to customer service. The woman at customer service told me to go online, and I said I didn't have internet. She repeated the website to me. I went back to the PC department and looked up the trade-in page. My gps was not listed. The man in the computer department didn't know how to help, so I asked him about the power adapters, but he didn't know anything. He laughed and said you got two strikes. I walked around the store. I tried the Wii but it said to disconnect the nunchuck befoe it could continue, it was glued in. I tried the 3dtv, but there were no glasses. I went to the car sterio guy to ask about equalizers, but he was busy talking about a party with a coworker. I went back to the customer service counter and said that my gps was not listed, she said to call the 1800 number. My phone's speaker is dead so i have to have it on loudspeaker, and the woman on the phone (once i finally get an operator) leads me to the website that im already on. She says she can't hear me because of the background noise in their own store. Then the low battery beep causes the phone to freeze up and it disconnects me. I went to the truck to drink a beer and get my charger, but I couldn't find an outlet near the computers. I went back to the car sterio guy to ask about equalizers, but he said he didn't know what that was, and they must not have any, or they may be out of them. The guy at the door asked to see my reciept. I didn't buy anything, and wasn't even carrying anything. I went to Mcdonalds to charge my phone, and ended up temporarily fixing the power cable. But the internet was down agian, I called Mctech support and they say its their fault, but they have no idea when it will start working. They said I should try again every 15-20 minutes. its been down for days. Now the phone is frozen, solitaire crashed due to low memory, note pad is fucking up the word wrap, and my Mcchicken is cold. I can't get trashed because I have to be at KOA to work at 3:30!
If you enjoyed this at all, you should enjoy my old journal entry about my last day at the KOA.. coming soon!
Casa Grande, AZ
typed 11-27-10
So, I had planned to be in Vegas for Thanksgiving so we could find a free holiday meal, and sure enough we found one at a local high school. We woke up and headed over there. We were the fisrt ones there and the only ones for about an hour. This is the first year they had offered this meal, and their only publicity was a few flyers and an internet ad. What homeless people google "free thanksgiving meal las vegas"? We do! The local news was there and they wanted to interview someone. Luaren declined, so that left me. We'll have to keep watching mynews3.com for our story. There were hundreds of volunteers and they were all very nice and eager to serve us. We ate like kings. We stayed for about 2 hours, and a few other people trickled in. One woman sat with us, so we stayed a little longer so we could talk.
We finally left for the Hoover Dam. The TSA's felt the need to search the truck, and we obliged. We stayed there long enough to drop a bouncy ball off the edge, and take a few pictures. We headed on across the new bridge, got some gas, and drove all the way to a Walmart in El Centro on Black Friday.
We woke up, and checked out the damage. I though about getting in line for a TV, then selling the right to buy it to someone who actually wanted it. I also thought about going in at 5am to yell things like, "All the credit card machines are down!" and "OMG, the last rare purple robotic hamster thing!" Instead we just went in at 11 and looked at all the DVD's scattered on the floor and celophane wrapping everywhere.
We went to Del Taco, but they didn't have Lauren's 1$ fish taco deal, so she only got 2 of them. We went to Calexico, parked, and went into Mexicali. We had some tacos and headed back across the boarder. The Homeland Supremacy folks had a hard time believing that I was from West Virginia, and that I'd only come for lunch. They asked if i was bringing anything back with me, but I decided not to say, "just this bag," and point to Lauren. They brought out the dogs and checked lauren and I. The dog smelled Riley's fur on Lauren and they searched her. They asked if I was her husband, and if she was my wife, and if we were married, and if it was to each other.
They finally decided that they had nothing on us, and we went back to the truck. We drove to a place just south of Pheonix, and slept at a Best Western. This morning, I had to use the restroom, so I went into a Denny's. They were cleaning the men's rooms, and they said it was for customers only. My stomach has been a little messed up for a few days now, and the Mexican street food probably didn't help. I was only about 70% sure I hadn't crapped myself, this morning, so I ordered a cup of coffee. They said they had a 5$ minimum credit limit, so I sat down for an egg and a buiscuit and gravy. I ordered my egg over-easy, but their pan was a little to hot, and one side got a little crispy. Thats fine, but they should have put the crispy side down for easier forking. It wouldn't usually be a problem, but my meal had no gravy-free bread with which to sop up the yolk. I finished up, and went back to the truck to watch the part of Robocop, that I slept through the other night, and to have a beer. Today, we head to Tucson to meet Lauren's uncle, and I'll try to post this when I get a chance.
Later that day:
We went to Walmart for Lauren to use the bathroom and for me to restock on beer. I forgot that Arizona was a light-beer state. The Walmarts don't carry ANY ice beer. If I wanted light beer, I'd take it home and water it down myself. I got 20 tallboys of Steel Reserve. We continued to Tucson, and got some dog food at a Petsmart, and made it into a Mcdonalds. I hope those 20 skunky cans of beer last me until the Grand Canyon, where I know I can but some ice beer. Stay posted, the next few weeks should be fun.
So, I had planned to be in Vegas for Thanksgiving so we could find a free holiday meal, and sure enough we found one at a local high school. We woke up and headed over there. We were the fisrt ones there and the only ones for about an hour. This is the first year they had offered this meal, and their only publicity was a few flyers and an internet ad. What homeless people google "free thanksgiving meal las vegas"? We do! The local news was there and they wanted to interview someone. Luaren declined, so that left me. We'll have to keep watching mynews3.com for our story. There were hundreds of volunteers and they were all very nice and eager to serve us. We ate like kings. We stayed for about 2 hours, and a few other people trickled in. One woman sat with us, so we stayed a little longer so we could talk.
We finally left for the Hoover Dam. The TSA's felt the need to search the truck, and we obliged. We stayed there long enough to drop a bouncy ball off the edge, and take a few pictures. We headed on across the new bridge, got some gas, and drove all the way to a Walmart in El Centro on Black Friday.
We woke up, and checked out the damage. I though about getting in line for a TV, then selling the right to buy it to someone who actually wanted it. I also thought about going in at 5am to yell things like, "All the credit card machines are down!" and "OMG, the last rare purple robotic hamster thing!" Instead we just went in at 11 and looked at all the DVD's scattered on the floor and celophane wrapping everywhere.
We went to Del Taco, but they didn't have Lauren's 1$ fish taco deal, so she only got 2 of them. We went to Calexico, parked, and went into Mexicali. We had some tacos and headed back across the boarder. The Homeland Supremacy folks had a hard time believing that I was from West Virginia, and that I'd only come for lunch. They asked if i was bringing anything back with me, but I decided not to say, "just this bag," and point to Lauren. They brought out the dogs and checked lauren and I. The dog smelled Riley's fur on Lauren and they searched her. They asked if I was her husband, and if she was my wife, and if we were married, and if it was to each other.
They finally decided that they had nothing on us, and we went back to the truck. We drove to a place just south of Pheonix, and slept at a Best Western. This morning, I had to use the restroom, so I went into a Denny's. They were cleaning the men's rooms, and they said it was for customers only. My stomach has been a little messed up for a few days now, and the Mexican street food probably didn't help. I was only about 70% sure I hadn't crapped myself, this morning, so I ordered a cup of coffee. They said they had a 5$ minimum credit limit, so I sat down for an egg and a buiscuit and gravy. I ordered my egg over-easy, but their pan was a little to hot, and one side got a little crispy. Thats fine, but they should have put the crispy side down for easier forking. It wouldn't usually be a problem, but my meal had no gravy-free bread with which to sop up the yolk. I finished up, and went back to the truck to watch the part of Robocop, that I slept through the other night, and to have a beer. Today, we head to Tucson to meet Lauren's uncle, and I'll try to post this when I get a chance.
Later that day:
We went to Walmart for Lauren to use the bathroom and for me to restock on beer. I forgot that Arizona was a light-beer state. The Walmarts don't carry ANY ice beer. If I wanted light beer, I'd take it home and water it down myself. I got 20 tallboys of Steel Reserve. We continued to Tucson, and got some dog food at a Petsmart, and made it into a Mcdonalds. I hope those 20 skunky cans of beer last me until the Grand Canyon, where I know I can but some ice beer. Stay posted, the next few weeks should be fun.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Las Vegas, NV
So, after I bought some suspenders for my ski pants (that I even wear when I sleep, so the my mattress doesn't make my pants wet), we left Fresno, and headed toward Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks. I love the way my suspenders make all my clothes feel as if they are one, but using the facilities has a little bit of a learning curve. The roads in the mountains can get pretty rough. I guess I should buy some snow chains, but they are like 50$. The road was snowy, and I slid around a little bit to show Lauren how much fun it can be. We checked out one of the few groves that was open this time of year. We are definitely headed back sometime soon. Riley ran around like a nut in the snow again, and walked around, and through, some enormous sequoias. We headed back out the west side of the park, and camped in a Walmart, in Visalia.
In the morning, we drove through miles of produce groves until the road went up a mountain. We reached an elevation of about 6000 feet, before descending around Lake Isabella and back up into Death Valley (100 feet below sea level). We started to camp near some dunes, but a ranger wasn't having that. He referred us to a free campsite, but it was in the wrong direction, and gas costs 4.25$ in the park. We went to a nice lodge and stayed in their parking lot. We watched Nashville the movies, and it was awful. Its the first movie I've actually deleted. We also recently watched Kurt Russell's Escape from L.A. and 8 1/2. Neither are fantastic.
I woke up early (because I slept through most of the last movie) and played games on my laptop till Lauren woke up. She saw a roadrunner, and I heard a horse go by. I would have seen it if I had bothered to sit up, but I've seen horses before. We backtracked to the dunes and walked barefoot long enough for Lauren to pick up some sand spurs. We had ham sandwiches and drove to the lowest point in America. Its covered in some sort of salt that tastes like baking soda (I'm not going to drive all the way there and not taste it). Shotly after we left, we saw a coyote by the side of the road. I stopped to take a few pictures, and some Asians came up to do the same. Only, they threw bread at it. They waved to me and I yelled at them. I don't think they could understand me, because they just laughed. Even the park pass has a picture of a coyote eating out of someone's hand with a "no" circle over it. We continued out of the park and I put another 2 gallons in the truck to get us to civilization where gas is 2.79$ per gallon. We rolled through a sliver of Nevada and into Las Vegas. We cruised the strip long enough for Lauren to be disappointed. We are going to find someplace to stay tonight, and try to hustle a high school for a free Thanksgiving dinner in the morning. I tried to find a fabled cheap buffet, but I couldn't find anything for less that 10$, though some were buy-one-get-one. I had a spicy version of the McChicken and a beer in a McCoffee cup. Well, I had better go and figure out what the next leg of the journey holds for us.
In the morning, we drove through miles of produce groves until the road went up a mountain. We reached an elevation of about 6000 feet, before descending around Lake Isabella and back up into Death Valley (100 feet below sea level). We started to camp near some dunes, but a ranger wasn't having that. He referred us to a free campsite, but it was in the wrong direction, and gas costs 4.25$ in the park. We went to a nice lodge and stayed in their parking lot. We watched Nashville the movies, and it was awful. Its the first movie I've actually deleted. We also recently watched Kurt Russell's Escape from L.A. and 8 1/2. Neither are fantastic.
I woke up early (because I slept through most of the last movie) and played games on my laptop till Lauren woke up. She saw a roadrunner, and I heard a horse go by. I would have seen it if I had bothered to sit up, but I've seen horses before. We backtracked to the dunes and walked barefoot long enough for Lauren to pick up some sand spurs. We had ham sandwiches and drove to the lowest point in America. Its covered in some sort of salt that tastes like baking soda (I'm not going to drive all the way there and not taste it). Shotly after we left, we saw a coyote by the side of the road. I stopped to take a few pictures, and some Asians came up to do the same. Only, they threw bread at it. They waved to me and I yelled at them. I don't think they could understand me, because they just laughed. Even the park pass has a picture of a coyote eating out of someone's hand with a "no" circle over it. We continued out of the park and I put another 2 gallons in the truck to get us to civilization where gas is 2.79$ per gallon. We rolled through a sliver of Nevada and into Las Vegas. We cruised the strip long enough for Lauren to be disappointed. We are going to find someplace to stay tonight, and try to hustle a high school for a free Thanksgiving dinner in the morning. I tried to find a fabled cheap buffet, but I couldn't find anything for less that 10$, though some were buy-one-get-one. I had a spicy version of the McChicken and a beer in a McCoffee cup. Well, I had better go and figure out what the next leg of the journey holds for us.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Still in Fresno, CA
Ok, so after I typed these entries, I find that Google.com's renaming of Blogspot.com to Blogger just became manditory, and it can't find my account. I can go to my page, so its still there, but I can't log in to modify it. I pressed reset password and it asked for my account site. I entered it and it sends me an email, but Google Chrome can't open Hotmail, because the McDonald's Wifi connection gives it the willies. I open it with Firefox, but it is "undergoing maintenece". I finally get it to load, and click the link, to reset my password, and it says it needs to resend the email. I do it, and click the link again, I have to make my passowrd stronger than it was so people can't steel my blog. While all this is happening, I go out for a drink, and I notice that the truck topper lock linkage is now completely boken off, along with a peice of the castic that hold the entire mechanism together. It reminds me of a bad day I had a few years ago, I'll try to find the file, its from 5/26/2006. Here it is, enjoy:
The power went out last night so the phone didn’t charge and the alarm clock didn’t go off. My girlfriend assumes it’s my fault and proceeds to rant at great length until I leave. On my way to give a presentation for my final exam at a picnic, I run into some buddies, and we take a smoke break, and drink the rest of this girl's $2.50 wine and my $.75 tall boy. I got a B on the presentation, and some guy asked us if we wanted some munchies. I grabbed a can of pork and beans and they grabbed some pretzels. On my way home, I got pulled over for having a bad registration sticker on my plate. Turns out, my renewal card never caught up with my moving after I pad my property taxes. So I go to the court house to get a copy of my property tax receipt, and go to the DMV to get a new card, but they say my Insurance card is bad (even though it says, "valid for 30 days after expiration"). So I go to my insurance lady, and she says she can't print out a new card, because my last payment bounced. So, I go to my bank, and sit in the drive through for the better part of a Grateful Dead CD, when the bank lady says the computer down, I have to go to another branch. So, I go. The guy there says that my landlord cashed his check twice. WTF? He says it cleared up, but the money wouldn't be back in the account 'till the next day. I go home to get my stereo to pawn off, and my now-ex-girlfriend flips the f out 'cos I didn't runt he darned sweeper. I put the pawn shop money in the bank, and I'm back at the insurance office. I tried to use my card, but it wasn't activated yet, so, after I take two finals and drink a 24oz, I activate the card, go to the insurance office for the third time, get the car, and go back to the DMV. I get a new license plate and a temporary registration card. Now, force of habit takes me from the DMV to the nearby liquor vender, I notice hours late that the douche bag shorted me like $.68 in change. I've got insurance, registration, and exactly $12.66 left, so why not finally get my car inspected. I'm in the waiting room for two hours, and the turbo-skank who got there first wouldn't let me watch anything else beside the Tyra Banks show. Meanwhile, my phone rings and the cell phone company says there check bounced. I explained the bank situation to 'em, and they said that I had to have the bill paid in the next hour, or they would penalize me. I hauled it back over the pawn shop with my 27" TV in a K-mart shopping cart, through the worst of my city. I pay the bill, the phone rings, my car's done. I failed. I need a brake light, tie rod ends, tires, and a spring or two. I headed off to a cheaper garage across town. I haven't eaten all day so I go through Rally’s and use all of my coupons. I'm just about to pull away, when a state trooper nabs me for the rejection sticker. I'm in the process of moving wearing a nasty wood stain covered t-shirt and a Smokey the bear headband. The cop sees this, my 9$ worth of fast food in two bags, birdseed in seats from a previous fiasco, a pile of papers topped of with a ticket for bad registration, a bottle of 6$ vodka, and two pawn claim check in my shirt pocket. "Sir, I'm gonna need you to step out of the car." I tell my story, but he and the two other cars that arrived search my car until all of my food is cold except the milkshake. They finally let me go with a warning for my sticker, but I have to come into the regional office to prove I fixed it. After I find a gas station that'll accept a bad check, I go on to the garage. They say the parts need to be ordered. I call Advance, tell 'em I'm the son of the chief mechanic at the dealership I went to earlier (thank goodness for that Christmas card still on the wall), and I need the parts PDQ. He delivers them from a store 40 miles away, to the garage I'm at as a personal favor. I write another bad check for the work, and on my way to City Hall to get out of my registration ticket, I find my Birthday card from my grandma in my trunk. Cha-ching, the cops must have unearthed it. I swing by the pawn shop, pick up my stuff, and get out of my ticket. Because I was moving, I had the roof rack on the car, so I couldn't get my antenna up, without getting out of the car, so its just me and Jerry Garcia, stuck in two hours of stopped interstate traffic next to the sewer plant. It smelled worse than it did when Burger King came out with the Fiesta Whopper; Ole! I finally make it to the state police barracks, and the dick thinks my sticker's fake. He even picked the corner of it off. I show him my paper trail, and he said he'd take car of it. Oh, crap! I'm late for picking my girlfriend up at work. I book it back to town. She harassed me all the way to her mom's house, but, since I'd been nipping vodka and Gatorade since 9:00 that morning, it didn't really bother me. I dropped her off and got harassed by her mom and step dad until the phone rings. My education professor says that I did so bad on my final, I have to take it over again, now. I put another 8 miles on the car getting back to school for a daily total of 96 miles. I have to get an A on this test to pass the class/stay on schedule for graduation/keep my financial aid, etc. The test was on the one page of my book that happened to still be in the car from a Dr. Pepper explosion. I read it on the way over. I aced the test and headed over to mow the neighbors grass. I kept doing yard and roof work till about 9:30pm. Back to another liquor store with my fresh wad of cash. I made it to the check out at exactly 9:59 (within .06 sec. of the atomic clock at the Naval observatory in Greenwich). I head back over to my girlfriend’s mom’s house, and commence the mass genocide of my brain cells. Apparently there was some confusion about how she was getting home. I was told to wait there, while she had her mom drop her off. So I go home, sleep 3 hours, wake up, make up, break up, and head out for some breakfast. I found the can of pork and beans under my seat. A perfect end to a perfect day.
The power went out last night so the phone didn’t charge and the alarm clock didn’t go off. My girlfriend assumes it’s my fault and proceeds to rant at great length until I leave. On my way to give a presentation for my final exam at a picnic, I run into some buddies, and we take a smoke break, and drink the rest of this girl's $2.50 wine and my $.75 tall boy. I got a B on the presentation, and some guy asked us if we wanted some munchies. I grabbed a can of pork and beans and they grabbed some pretzels. On my way home, I got pulled over for having a bad registration sticker on my plate. Turns out, my renewal card never caught up with my moving after I pad my property taxes. So I go to the court house to get a copy of my property tax receipt, and go to the DMV to get a new card, but they say my Insurance card is bad (even though it says, "valid for 30 days after expiration"). So I go to my insurance lady, and she says she can't print out a new card, because my last payment bounced. So, I go to my bank, and sit in the drive through for the better part of a Grateful Dead CD, when the bank lady says the computer down, I have to go to another branch. So, I go. The guy there says that my landlord cashed his check twice. WTF? He says it cleared up, but the money wouldn't be back in the account 'till the next day. I go home to get my stereo to pawn off, and my now-ex-girlfriend flips the f out 'cos I didn't runt he darned sweeper. I put the pawn shop money in the bank, and I'm back at the insurance office. I tried to use my card, but it wasn't activated yet, so, after I take two finals and drink a 24oz, I activate the card, go to the insurance office for the third time, get the car, and go back to the DMV. I get a new license plate and a temporary registration card. Now, force of habit takes me from the DMV to the nearby liquor vender, I notice hours late that the douche bag shorted me like $.68 in change. I've got insurance, registration, and exactly $12.66 left, so why not finally get my car inspected. I'm in the waiting room for two hours, and the turbo-skank who got there first wouldn't let me watch anything else beside the Tyra Banks show. Meanwhile, my phone rings and the cell phone company says there check bounced. I explained the bank situation to 'em, and they said that I had to have the bill paid in the next hour, or they would penalize me. I hauled it back over the pawn shop with my 27" TV in a K-mart shopping cart, through the worst of my city. I pay the bill, the phone rings, my car's done. I failed. I need a brake light, tie rod ends, tires, and a spring or two. I headed off to a cheaper garage across town. I haven't eaten all day so I go through Rally’s and use all of my coupons. I'm just about to pull away, when a state trooper nabs me for the rejection sticker. I'm in the process of moving wearing a nasty wood stain covered t-shirt and a Smokey the bear headband. The cop sees this, my 9$ worth of fast food in two bags, birdseed in seats from a previous fiasco, a pile of papers topped of with a ticket for bad registration, a bottle of 6$ vodka, and two pawn claim check in my shirt pocket. "Sir, I'm gonna need you to step out of the car." I tell my story, but he and the two other cars that arrived search my car until all of my food is cold except the milkshake. They finally let me go with a warning for my sticker, but I have to come into the regional office to prove I fixed it. After I find a gas station that'll accept a bad check, I go on to the garage. They say the parts need to be ordered. I call Advance, tell 'em I'm the son of the chief mechanic at the dealership I went to earlier (thank goodness for that Christmas card still on the wall), and I need the parts PDQ. He delivers them from a store 40 miles away, to the garage I'm at as a personal favor. I write another bad check for the work, and on my way to City Hall to get out of my registration ticket, I find my Birthday card from my grandma in my trunk. Cha-ching, the cops must have unearthed it. I swing by the pawn shop, pick up my stuff, and get out of my ticket. Because I was moving, I had the roof rack on the car, so I couldn't get my antenna up, without getting out of the car, so its just me and Jerry Garcia, stuck in two hours of stopped interstate traffic next to the sewer plant. It smelled worse than it did when Burger King came out with the Fiesta Whopper; Ole! I finally make it to the state police barracks, and the dick thinks my sticker's fake. He even picked the corner of it off. I show him my paper trail, and he said he'd take car of it. Oh, crap! I'm late for picking my girlfriend up at work. I book it back to town. She harassed me all the way to her mom's house, but, since I'd been nipping vodka and Gatorade since 9:00 that morning, it didn't really bother me. I dropped her off and got harassed by her mom and step dad until the phone rings. My education professor says that I did so bad on my final, I have to take it over again, now. I put another 8 miles on the car getting back to school for a daily total of 96 miles. I have to get an A on this test to pass the class/stay on schedule for graduation/keep my financial aid, etc. The test was on the one page of my book that happened to still be in the car from a Dr. Pepper explosion. I read it on the way over. I aced the test and headed over to mow the neighbors grass. I kept doing yard and roof work till about 9:30pm. Back to another liquor store with my fresh wad of cash. I made it to the check out at exactly 9:59 (within .06 sec. of the atomic clock at the Naval observatory in Greenwich). I head back over to my girlfriend’s mom’s house, and commence the mass genocide of my brain cells. Apparently there was some confusion about how she was getting home. I was told to wait there, while she had her mom drop her off. So I go home, sleep 3 hours, wake up, make up, break up, and head out for some breakfast. I found the can of pork and beans under my seat. A perfect end to a perfect day.
Fresno, CA
We left that Enroute Camping beach and headed toward San Francisco, but it was quite a bit further than what I had expected (I hadn't looked at a map, and the GPS didn't account for all of our scenic detours). While I'm on the subject, I'd like to do an Equipment Review of my Garmin Nuvi 255W. My parents sent it to me for Christmas in 2008, while I was in Texas. It was great, except for telling me to occasionally drive off of an elevated highway. We learned that you had to take what it says with a grain of salt, but recently it has been seriously pissing us (me) off. It will list imaginary roads, tell us to drive hundreds of miles out of the way for no reason, get completely lost under clear sky in populated areas, loose which direction the vehicle is traveling, and generally slow way down. It's like the processor is slowing down over time. Since I don't think it’s worn out yet, I must assume that this is a case of planned obsolescence. But why would I pay 150$ to update the software if the hardware is crapping out so badly?
We camped one more night before crossing the Golden Gate Bridge, and heading to China Beach. Some sunbather gave us a whole bunch of hell about bringing the dog into the No-Pets zone. We informed him that he was service animal and eventually cussed him out in front of a park ranger. We tried to get back towards Fisherman's Wharf, but we accidently crossed the bridge again. I had a few beers to make the 6$ toll repeat easier to swallow. We found a spot to park and walked around Pier 39. We saw the sea lions, but the bread bowl scraps that were once so plentiful, were nowhere to be found. We slept in a yacht club across from Alcatraz.
In the morning Lauren had to go to the hospital, but not bad enough to not argue with me for 3 hours first. I drove her to the hospital and waited in the truck so it wouldn't be towed. After several hours of playing Mario's Picross, which I beat and started Mario's Picross 2 (Exclusively in Japanese), we went to a Safeway to fill her prescription. Lauren called me from the lobby where she passed out because she forgot to eat anything for the past 30 hours. We spent the night across from the electric bus depot near a bunch of RV's. After most of a day of arguing, the police told us we couldn’t sleep there anymore, so we hit Lombard St. and went back the yacht club. In the morning we washed the dog, went shopping, washed dog pee off of my sleeping bag, at a homeless center, and headed for San Jose. We stopped for internet at a McDonald’s on the way and drove past Facebook's headquarters before finding a spot to go to sleep. This was mad more difficult by the fact that the GPS led us to 3 hotels that never existed. It also has no grasp on the concept of one way streets, takes and entire city blocks time to process the fact that I turned onto that city block, freezes up sometimes.
The next day, we looked at a sushi buffet, but it was 16$ each. We tried to go to a Safeway, but their sushi wasn't very good. The GPS continued its parade of failure by taking us to 3 shopping centers in search of a Fred Meyer. Nobody in any of the centers had ever heard of a Fred Meyer. We did swing past Google, though. We kept looking and found a Safeway and ate 22$ worth of sushi in the cab of the truck, in the sun of their parking lot, while cussing about how hard we worked for it. We sat there about another 2 hours before heading towards San Jose and going to sleep.
Early the next morning, I went to a laundromat to poop, but the lady said I had to be a customer. I went over to the gumball machines, but she said those were for customers too. I asked her how buying something doesn't make me a customer, but I ended up giving her a few words you don't find in an English-Chinese dictionary. I continued my search through a Walgreens, an Exxon, and a Wendy's. The Wendy's didn't open till 9:30, so I tried the grocery store nearby. It was a cool store, but no bathrooms. I went back to Wendy's and back to the truck to wait for Lauren to wake up. We went back to that grocery store and stocked up for our trip to Yosemite. We swung past the place where I found my tuck topped, but the proprietor was scoping us pretty hard. I went to Chase to cash in my pennies and organize my accounts, but they are the last back in the world to require incoming change to be rolled.
I opened a Chase checking account because they have the most convenient branch location across the country. Their free account required me to make 5 transactions per month, thereby defeating the purpose of an emergency account, so I "upgraded" to the one that made me keep a 1500$ minimum balance. That was fine, just some money tied up, or so I thought. The called me to say that my account would be closed because of inactivity. I begged them not to, but what I eventually had to do was open a savings account, and set up a 25$ automatic transfer from checking to savings on the 1st of every month, and another from savings to checking on the 15th of every month. This made their computer think that I was still alive by completing 2 transactions per month (automatically, through their computer), but my new system was obviously unstable (as well as tying up an additional 100$ for the minimum balance for the savings account.
We're running low on cash, so I needed to combine the accounts and downsized to the 5 transaction/ month plan. I explained this to "my" banker and he seemed to understand. He told me that if I had the funds transferred from savings to checking electronically, it would take a day to process and I couldn't close the account till the next day (which they'd do for me). I said fine, but when they transferred the funds from savings to checking, the savings account said that it was below the minimum balance and charged me 35$. That buffoon tried to take that money out of my checking account. I became livid to the point security began watching me. He undid the electronic transfer and removed the charge (notated as teller error). I had to close the account, remove the funds in cash, then deposit the cash into checking, where it was a second ago. It will still take 24 hours to close the account, and for my funds to become available in checking. Sweet Christ, I had 2 more beers in their parking lot before I was able to see straight enough to drive. I went to AAA of San Jose, and met Judy, from Maryland. I asked her about a class to remove points on my license, be she said I had to do it in WV. She then asked me why I had the points, and we discussed my record. She told me that they even bust people for seatbelt violations here. I laughed and said they're not gonna get me! They can get me for a lot of things, but never that. I gassed up (with the Chase card (Transaction: Nov. 1 of 5)), and we made it into Groveland; the last town on the outside of Yosemite. We watched Escape from Alcatraz and the original Gone in 60 seconds, and went to sleep.
We got up early, ate some ham sandwiches, and drove into the park. We took our time and saw some vistas. It was really neat. There was no overnight parking anywhere, so we blended in at the lodge. We ate and went to sleep, but it started to rain, then it stopped and it got pretty cold. In the morning we noticed that there was about 8" of snow on everything in the valley (more at higher elevations). It was the first snow of the season and Riley's first snow ever. He peed on Lauren's blanked and we started our day. We tried to take Rt. 41 south, but it was closed for snow. We went back out towards 120 and Tuolumne Grove, but the grove road wasn't plowed. We pulled over for lunch, and we decided to take 140 back out of the park. We turned around, but on the way out, we saw that the grove road had been plowed while we were eating, so we walked about 2 miles, round-trip, in foot deep snow, over steep hills to see some rather unimpressive sequoia trees. But Riley had fun. We decided to check Rt. 41 again and sure enough it was open, so we drove on out of the park, after seeing a snowplow that went off the road that day. Pics will be on facebook soon. We tried a few McDonalds, and the 3rd try had electric and Wifi. We are near the northern side of Fresno, CA, power blogging.
Van Damme Enroute Camping Beach (Written 11-12-10 )
A few days ago we left my aunt, Denise's place to head for dryer climates. We had a great time using the internet, sitting indoors, and charging [all of] our batteries. Her roommate, Crowley, is a great cook, and her fiance-ish (they're having a ceremony, but not really a marriage, so I don't know what to call it), Mike, has been all over. He played us a song on his guitar and gave us a tour of his camper-converted Greyhound bus, parked beside their house. Their other roommate, Marion, told us about walking around all day in downtown Portland, on a sunny (rare) day, and not being able to see anyone smiling. I assured her that they must have been out there somewhere, she just missed them. Her dogs (a Tibetan mastiff, that looks like a huge wooly rat, and a little blond spaniel) have a tendency to poop in Denise and Mike's section of the house, seeing as how its cold outside. Marion’s boyfriend, Brandon, has two pit-bulls and a Honda S2000 stroked to 2.2l.
Years ago, (in Texas) I bought a USB game controller for the computer from E-bay for about 4$. I used it forever before stepping on it one day when I was drunk. I borrowed a 20$ Saitek one from my brother, but it just stopped working due to faulty construction. I was checking the physical connections inside the device, after it became unrecognized on multiple machines (as a last ditch effort). While I was taking it apart, Mike saw the back of the controller (with the screws loose in it) and picked it up thinking it was his brand new PlayStation 3 controller (that it is almost identical too).
He naturally panicked briefly, before we cleared up the confusion. Don't worry, I know that a PS3 controller shouldn't be left "sticks down" or disassembled by houseguests.
As I was putting my tools away (under the hood; a space previously designated for my spare battery), I was checking my fluids. I'm due (miles-wise) for an oil change, but it still looked somewhat golden, and was right on the line. I was trying to show Lauren how to check various systems, but she wasn't interested. Brandon was just getting ready to change his alternator, so I heckled, and eventually pitched in. It was nice to work on a car again, but I specifically bought this truck to have plenty of knuckle room; his roadster cut up my hands, but he gave me a glass of my favorite whiskey while I worked. For the record, it’s Black Velvet: 8 Year Reserve; I know it’s not the best, but I've got some sentimental attachment.
While we were in Vancouver, Lauren cut my hair, and all three of us got baths. We dried our sleeping pads, stocked up on beer, and headed towards the coast after making one last trip to the "old neighborhood" in Portland for some salsa and a free paper. It was dark when we got to the coast, so we went to sleep in a hotel parking lot. When we woke up we realized that we were at Haystack Rock, from The Goonies. I can't remember if I've ever seen that movie, but the rock was cool (the geological formation, and the Sean Connery movie).
Next day, we got up and putzed around the parking lot a little bit. We looked at the rock, and used their bathhouse. I noticed that I have a chipped headlight, and I called home to see if we still have some headlight covers that my Grandpop used to have. Apparently, my parent's cats have fleas, and my Great Aunt Freid died a little bit, but she's okay now. My Grandmom left for Texas, and we waited for the rain to stop and headed south. I filled up in Oregon (mandatory full service) and the attendant forgot to put my gas cap on (I should have listed for the click). Also, he washed my windows while standing in the rain. I drove 300 miles and stopped for gas again. That’s when I found out about the cap. The attendant said my tires looked low, and I guessed all four tire pressures to within 1 psi (know thy vehicle). They weren't low, but he put a few pounds in the back because they felt a little warm (and I'm already paying for full service), they are for a light truck. My truck is light when I don't have everything I own in it.
We found a Wal-Mart and spent the night. In the morning, we went to a McDonalds for internet, but the inside was closed for remodeling. I bought a new gas cap and called about the old one. They said they had it, and I could swing 600 miles out of my way to pick it up. They are mailing me a check for 7.07$. I walked through the drive-through (i didn't feel like driving), and I got a McRib for the first time.. meh. We went back to that Wal-Mart and went to bed. They ran us off in the morning (they thought we had been there for 3 nights instead of 2, even though we bought something both days). We went to the visitor center for Redwood, and on into the park.
Redwood is awesome; we stopped every few miles. Lauren even found "her" tree. It was just some unnamed tree in some grove. We took a bunch of pictures, made a sextant to measure its height, and measured the circumference with my throw rope. While we were there we met some people from a town we passed through in Vermont, a few months earlier. We had premade supermarket subs, and slept in a Best Western. By "in" of course we mean on the premises; we have not paid to sleep anywhere on the entire trip so far. We ate our free continental breakfast, pooped in the lobby's bathroom, and headed to a beach with "volcanic" black sand. It was black, it just wasn't volcanic. I didn't care, i didn't want to get out of the truck, I was enjoying the windy, one-lane road, and couldn't wait to back track. We continued as close to the coast as possible, all the way to a beach on Rt. 1 that allows enroute camping. Last night we had ramen and watched the sunset. Today we stayed in and argued all day, while I played a Gameboy game and drank beer.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
To the vegans
To The Portland Mercury
Please publish this letter for the businesses of SE 12th and Stark and residents of the area of 14th and Washington. I would address them personally, but even after polite encouragement they are unable speak with us in person. If you are reading this, and are able to, please forward it to the people to whom it may concern.
My name is Jon, and I was living in the black Toyota truck in the aforementioned areas, with my wife, Lauren, and our dog, Riley. We are unable to find affordable housing or employment in the area, though we are actively searching everyday. We chose to stay in this general vicinity for the hospitality of the kind people at St. Francis Dining Hall.
It has become apparent that we are not wanted in your neighborhood, though I cannot understand why. You left a note on our windshield, explaining that you reported our home as an abandoned vehicle, and reported our unattended dog to animal control. We move our currently registered vehicle at least once every 24 hours in accordance with the law. Our dog is only left unattended for brief periods of time while we eat a hot meal or spend what money we do have in your local businesses. We have a permanent note inside our windshield, requesting anyone with questions or concerns regarding us, our vehicle, or our dog, to contact us by way of two working cellular phone numbers.
I understand that you may not desire to have my completely painted and undamaged truck parked across the street and down the road from your business front, but it is our legal right. We know the name of the woman, and the place of employment, who wrote that note. We left her a note, asking her to come meet all three of us. We know who stole the used records that we were trying to sell. We know these businesses had cars moved into the area while we moved the truck once a day to block us out. We are not here to bother you. We moved around the block, to not inconvenience you.
The reason we chose to park in that particular location in the first place, was that it was adjacent to the dog park that we often frequent. Our Riley is very special to us. He is an AKC registered Papillon and is current on all vaccinations, Heartgard, and Frontline. He does not eat the free kibble offered by St. Francis; instead he eats the blend of Science Diet recommended by his vet, at a great expense to us. He eats twice daily, as directed by his vet, and he drinks several bowlfuls of water per day. We spend significantly more of our limited budget on him, than we do on ourselves. He has all of the toys, treats, and warm clothing he could ever need. He is kept clean, groomed, and healthy. He is never left in a hot environment, ever. When we leave him alone, we do not leave food out, because he eats a specific amount on a particular schedule. We do not leave water with him, because we sufficiently walk and water him before and after we leave him, which is 45 minutes at most.
This morning we received a call from an officer Hawkins. Apparently, someone has been calling the police department in an attempt to have Riley and our home taken from us during the 30 minutes we were gone to have coffee. The warning citation on the windshield read that our truck would be towed. There is no parking term limit in this area and the truck had been there only 13 hours. We have proof of this from the ticket stubs of the movie we went to see for my birthday. But, you were watching us closely enough to have the police come during our 30 minute breakfast.
People leave their dogs unattended. Until the day when dogs are welcomed everywhere, this is inevitable. We do it as little as possible. Now we will be taking him everywhere we go and limiting where we can go, because we cannot risk losing him. I am receiving a check that will allow us leave the area, permanently. It is truly a shame. Everyone we've met here has been very nice and personable. It's the people that can't speak to us in person that have not been so hospitable. I don't hold it against all of Portland, just you, and you know who you are.
I realize people in this area are animal lovers, humanitarians, and environmentalists... but so are we. Is it humanitarian to actively try to have our home, family, and all of our belongings taken from us while we are in a church? And, is it environmentally conscience to burn extra gasoline, at a personal expense to me, just to circle the block to remain legal? I did, so I wouldn't lose my home. Though there is a Chevy van, a Volvo sedan, and an El Camino, that have spider webs spanning from the wheels to the curbs, parked on these same streets, unmoved for weeks. These vehicles have no notes. I now realize that our driving activity was not the reason we were of concern to you. You are bigots. You do not understand our lifestyle and the difficulties associated with it.
I would also like to know what your specific goal is in threatening us and reporting us to higher authorities, capable of separating our family and taking away our home and everything we own. Is our home unsightly to you, and is that why you can justify doing that to us? Are you really looking out for the best interests and well being of our dog Riley, an important member of this family? If so, did you think it through? Do you actually think the best answer is for him to be taken away from his loving "parents" and put into an animal shelter where his future is uncertain at best? Animal shelters are unfortunately already overflowing with dogs that end up there, through no fault of their own, and a lot of them end up being killed because of this. To me, that doesn't seem like a better life for him than living with a loving family who, because of their lifestyle, are able to spend almost 24 hours a day with him, except for the 30-40 minutes a day where they leave him in a safe and suitable environment, while they go to eat a warm meal.
We are very nice people, accepting of all peoples' differences and lifestyles, and we would welcome a pleasant face-to-face interaction with any of those who would like to meet us, but anytime you have had any kind of interaction with us, it has been cruel and covert. Why were you unable to address us with your specific concerns? You are judgmental and you are cowards. Do you not have anything better to do with your time than stake out our home and plot against us? Is this your idea of being active in your community? What business is it of yours, how we choose to live our lives? I hope you feel good about yourselves and that this was your intention. What worthwhile deeds and causes are you neglecting while focusing your energy on intensifying our turmoil?
You want us gone, and since we are the minority, we will leave. You win. I just find it odd that people who live their lives advertising lifestyles of varying perspectives, celebrating openness and differences, and fighting to not be judged themselves, are the only ones that are judging us. I hope your customers will consider these intolerances before patronizing your respective establishments. I truly wish no bad will upon you, and I hope that someday you will learn to be more accepting of people of different lifestyles. May God have mercy on you.
Please publish this letter for the businesses of SE 12th and Stark and residents of the area of 14th and Washington. I would address them personally, but even after polite encouragement they are unable speak with us in person. If you are reading this, and are able to, please forward it to the people to whom it may concern.
My name is Jon, and I was living in the black Toyota truck in the aforementioned areas, with my wife, Lauren, and our dog, Riley. We are unable to find affordable housing or employment in the area, though we are actively searching everyday. We chose to stay in this general vicinity for the hospitality of the kind people at St. Francis Dining Hall.
It has become apparent that we are not wanted in your neighborhood, though I cannot understand why. You left a note on our windshield, explaining that you reported our home as an abandoned vehicle, and reported our unattended dog to animal control. We move our currently registered vehicle at least once every 24 hours in accordance with the law. Our dog is only left unattended for brief periods of time while we eat a hot meal or spend what money we do have in your local businesses. We have a permanent note inside our windshield, requesting anyone with questions or concerns regarding us, our vehicle, or our dog, to contact us by way of two working cellular phone numbers.
I understand that you may not desire to have my completely painted and undamaged truck parked across the street and down the road from your business front, but it is our legal right. We know the name of the woman, and the place of employment, who wrote that note. We left her a note, asking her to come meet all three of us. We know who stole the used records that we were trying to sell. We know these businesses had cars moved into the area while we moved the truck once a day to block us out. We are not here to bother you. We moved around the block, to not inconvenience you.
The reason we chose to park in that particular location in the first place, was that it was adjacent to the dog park that we often frequent. Our Riley is very special to us. He is an AKC registered Papillon and is current on all vaccinations, Heartgard, and Frontline. He does not eat the free kibble offered by St. Francis; instead he eats the blend of Science Diet recommended by his vet, at a great expense to us. He eats twice daily, as directed by his vet, and he drinks several bowlfuls of water per day. We spend significantly more of our limited budget on him, than we do on ourselves. He has all of the toys, treats, and warm clothing he could ever need. He is kept clean, groomed, and healthy. He is never left in a hot environment, ever. When we leave him alone, we do not leave food out, because he eats a specific amount on a particular schedule. We do not leave water with him, because we sufficiently walk and water him before and after we leave him, which is 45 minutes at most.
This morning we received a call from an officer Hawkins. Apparently, someone has been calling the police department in an attempt to have Riley and our home taken from us during the 30 minutes we were gone to have coffee. The warning citation on the windshield read that our truck would be towed. There is no parking term limit in this area and the truck had been there only 13 hours. We have proof of this from the ticket stubs of the movie we went to see for my birthday. But, you were watching us closely enough to have the police come during our 30 minute breakfast.
People leave their dogs unattended. Until the day when dogs are welcomed everywhere, this is inevitable. We do it as little as possible. Now we will be taking him everywhere we go and limiting where we can go, because we cannot risk losing him. I am receiving a check that will allow us leave the area, permanently. It is truly a shame. Everyone we've met here has been very nice and personable. It's the people that can't speak to us in person that have not been so hospitable. I don't hold it against all of Portland, just you, and you know who you are.
I realize people in this area are animal lovers, humanitarians, and environmentalists... but so are we. Is it humanitarian to actively try to have our home, family, and all of our belongings taken from us while we are in a church? And, is it environmentally conscience to burn extra gasoline, at a personal expense to me, just to circle the block to remain legal? I did, so I wouldn't lose my home. Though there is a Chevy van, a Volvo sedan, and an El Camino, that have spider webs spanning from the wheels to the curbs, parked on these same streets, unmoved for weeks. These vehicles have no notes. I now realize that our driving activity was not the reason we were of concern to you. You are bigots. You do not understand our lifestyle and the difficulties associated with it.
I would also like to know what your specific goal is in threatening us and reporting us to higher authorities, capable of separating our family and taking away our home and everything we own. Is our home unsightly to you, and is that why you can justify doing that to us? Are you really looking out for the best interests and well being of our dog Riley, an important member of this family? If so, did you think it through? Do you actually think the best answer is for him to be taken away from his loving "parents" and put into an animal shelter where his future is uncertain at best? Animal shelters are unfortunately already overflowing with dogs that end up there, through no fault of their own, and a lot of them end up being killed because of this. To me, that doesn't seem like a better life for him than living with a loving family who, because of their lifestyle, are able to spend almost 24 hours a day with him, except for the 30-40 minutes a day where they leave him in a safe and suitable environment, while they go to eat a warm meal.
We are very nice people, accepting of all peoples' differences and lifestyles, and we would welcome a pleasant face-to-face interaction with any of those who would like to meet us, but anytime you have had any kind of interaction with us, it has been cruel and covert. Why were you unable to address us with your specific concerns? You are judgmental and you are cowards. Do you not have anything better to do with your time than stake out our home and plot against us? Is this your idea of being active in your community? What business is it of yours, how we choose to live our lives? I hope you feel good about yourselves and that this was your intention. What worthwhile deeds and causes are you neglecting while focusing your energy on intensifying our turmoil?
You want us gone, and since we are the minority, we will leave. You win. I just find it odd that people who live their lives advertising lifestyles of varying perspectives, celebrating openness and differences, and fighting to not be judged themselves, are the only ones that are judging us. I hope your customers will consider these intolerances before patronizing your respective establishments. I truly wish no bad will upon you, and I hope that someday you will learn to be more accepting of people of different lifestyles. May God have mercy on you.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Sunshine Laundry, 79th and SE Glisan, Portland, OR
Oct 20, 2010
Today is my four month anniversary. I haven't blogged since, I don't know when. We've been without internet and electricity for a long time. We're still in Portland. We stay in the truck near an abandoned school. Riley plays with other dogs in the field. We are about 2 blocks from St. Francis, where we eat, recieve mail, and take showers. Everyone is pretty nice except the REALLY crazy ones, but they're tolerable. Every morning, I wake up early, and play Gameboy games on Lauren's old hacked 5th generation iPod. I've been playing Picross. At 10:00 the shelter opens, so I can use the commode, and maybe get some coffee and breakfast. Today, I had sushi. They sushi lady comes by with the leftovers from her catering business. I check the mail on the way back to the truck, and see if the new edition of the free paper is out. Then, I walk Riley, read the paper, and have my coffee. I usually eat a light brunch of extra-sharp cheddar cheese, and bread and butter pickles. Lauren wakes up and lays with Riley for awhile, then we figure out what we are going to do with the day.
Today, while deciding what to do, Lauren's Big K overturned onto our mattress. Today is Laundry Day. Last week it rained pretty heavily, so we decided to pull everything out of the truck, and clean and dry it. Luckily, the soda didn't go into the padding, so we are able to wash the cover. Yesterday we went into downtown Portland to register with Labor Ready, and check on a free laundry program. Labor Ready only accept applications at 11am sharp on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The laundry program was discontinued due to some sort of abuse/excuse. I've heard various stories from each side of the debacle. They referred us to a place about 80 blocks East of where we park. I don't have a license, so we try to call the number for them we have in our recourse manual, but it was a bad photocopy, and the number was cut off. We called the 211 vagrancy hot line and got he number. As 211 had said, they didn't answer. We drove out there and signed up for a "labor exchange". They give us free laundry vouchers to a place that has free wifi, and we give them labor, 30 minutes equals a wash and dry (with detergent). They spot you the first 60 minutes though, so we went to the laundromat. Lauren and I both got vouchers. We have 10 minutes left on the wash.
Everyday at 5, dinner is served in the dining hall. We like to get there early so there might still be some coffee left. We usually find a spot, plug in my backpack, fill the water bottles, and maybe read a magazine or play a game. After announcements and a prayer, they bring trays of food to your tables. The food is a cross between school cafeteria food and what George cooks when he's to drunk to remember cooking it, the night before; only, its on the trays they have in jail. I love it. All the kitchen staff are volunteers, and volunteers get lunch the next day. I cleaned the women's bathroom last week. After dinner I make sure that I am through with plumbing for the evening, and head back to the truck to have my after-dinner beer. It's a Schlitz Very Smooth Lager, and its the worst beer I've ever consistently purchased. Its 8.5% alcohol, 24 ounces, and costs $1.30. I try to keep them at around 2 per day.
In the evenings, we sometimes go to the dog park or stay in and play cards or scrabble. If my computer has enough of a charge, we watch a movie or two. We park in the sun, so the solar panel has time to recharge the spare battery, which can buy us up to 3 more hours of computer time. We have to use my computer because, I have Divx, and I pirate movie torrents, and they come in Divx format. I used to play Nintendo roms on my computer, but my USB controller may have died. Before The War with the Vegans, we parked on the street in front of a strip mall. The had a coffee shop (with great wifi, but no outdoor electric), A vegan clothing store (Herbivore), a vegan grocery store (Food Fight) and a tattoo parlor. This was a nice arrangement since it was closer to the shelter and had trees to provide privacy. We parked next to a van that never moved. I t belonged to the a closed business. One day we came home to find a younger couple and a police officer standing behind the truck. They heard Riley whining while we were eating. The officer told them to leave us alone, and then explained that the man was wearing a PITA fleece, and that they were crazy.
The War With The Vegans started after about a week of using this spot. While walking one morning, I found some records in the trash. I walked 60 blocks, and tried to sell them to some record stores, but nobody wanted them. One guy said he'd give me .50 for one, so I said, "sure," but then he said, "look, we don't want 'em, okay!" We exchanged another coarse word, and I left. When I came back to the truck put a sign on em. $1.30 OBO: 1 beer. They were there for a few days with no interest. I even, told Lauren, that I wished someone would steal one, just to make me think I at least had something. Then someone did. They took Phil Collins and Steely Dan. I asked Lauren if she did it, because that would have been funny. I shrugged, and went to bed.
The first shot was fired early that morning; about 5 am. I heard some people talking about my records outside, and one of them tore down my sign. I said, screw it, and went back to sleep. In the morning the records were gone, the sign was tossed down the street, and there was a note on the windshield. (They could have recycled, by using my sign for the note.) The note read that the truck had been reported to the police as abandoned, and that we had been reported to animal control for leaving the dog in the truck for 40 minutes while we eat every night. Keep in mind, its like 60-70 degrees. I went to the shelter to find out our rights. I called the police to verify them. The law says that I have to move the truck every 24 hrs. That van has been there for weeks. I called the abandoned vehicle line, and the message said, that they are nopt even accepting reports of abandoned vehicles at this time, due to volume. I new they didn't call animal control, or they would have been there already. The note told us tha, if we could not take care of our dog, we could simply deposit him at "The Tattoo Shop or Stores Across the Street." So we walk into the tattoo shop, raising all kinds of hell. They started to call the police; I told them to. They didn't know anything about the note that was signed by them and written on tattoo copy paper. We proceeded down the entire strip mall inquiring about the note. Everyone was extremely embarrassed at being called out in front of customers. Every time they mentioned how they heard of someone saying the heard the dog whining, it got worse. Later the man at the tattoo shop came over, and said it was Michelle, from Herbivore. He conveyed his irritation at being associated with the note.
We went back to Herbivore to wait for Michelle. We eventually left her a note, encouraging her to meet, us and the dog, to see for herself that the dog is in no way abused. We even told her environmentally conscience self, that we would arbitrarily burn our gas, to move the truck once a day to be in accordance with the law. She has yet to have the courage to even call. The irony is that, the dog park was why we parked there. We decided it would be best if we moved the truck once a day, so we drove around the block to dinner. The next day, when we came back from dinner, all of the spaces on the street were taken by vehicles decorated with stickers along the lines of, "Stop Eating Animals." One would wonder why the grocery store sells these stickers. We had never seen more that 1 car in this 8 car area. After the stores closed, they were all gone. We were there when they tried to come back the next day. We kept this up for a few days, till we got bored and went to the next street.
I wanted to start working as soon as I got here, but it turns out that Oregon is between the 1st and 3rd least employed state in the country. You never notice how many vagrants there are going to shelters, until you're waiting in line behind them. I threw out what applications I could, and even typed a resume for some kitchen jobs that sounded promising. I got tired of walking blocks and blocks every morning, just to have people say no, so we decided to go to Labor Ready. We (or at least I) go back tomorrow morning. We Always walk into town, because there is nowhere to park, and I shouldn't drive any more than I have to. I get my licence back in 11 days. We applied for a townhouse through the Housing Authority of Portland, but the list is like 1-6 years long, and you have to spend $70 to get on it. We are going to need an income. We don't need money for anything besides a daily allotment for beer, and the gasoline budget for our eventual departure. We plan to leave around March and we will need at least $1000 to feel comfortable. I think it can be done; we'll see.
Equipment Review
88 Toyota Truck
This vehicle has 74,000 miles and is averaging 24 mpg, and has been nothing but reliable. If you cannot get somewhere, it is not the truck's fault. I have replaced the clutch master cylinder (a common and easy repair), and I recently changed the front brakes. I turn the key, it starts. There is a small patch of dulled paint on the passenger side door, and both the bumpers could use a can of $.97 Wal-mart black spray paint. The alternator needs to spin all day to recharge the axillary battery, but with the solar panel and rationing, we do not need to drive at all. The topper is slightly leaky, but this is minimized by closing the windows completely. It has never been "too cold." The modular mattress pad is essential to routine cleaning and drying. The black topper heats up nicely in the morning. A bungee system will need to be implemented to maximize organized storage.
Timex: cheapest watch you can buy (used)
It cost half a pint of vodka, and is very easy to scratch. I traded it for a new one, which I scratched immediately. It takes a 4 hour window to change the date. It always thinks that there are 31 days in the month. The "easy-replace" band has nubs to assist in compressing the pins. The nubs wore through the strap, and its getting ready to fall apart. The band was free.
Crocs Shoes
Open shoes are essential to preventing foot rot. I got mine for $1 and they are 2 sizes too small. They are very slippery on wet surfaces. Water comes up though the holes in the bottoms. They don't slow glass down, on it way up into my feet. They are awkward in sand, useless in mud. They are like house shoes for the homeless. I wear my old Timberland boots, whenever I have to walk very far. They do offer more protection and are easier to drive in that flip flops, though. And, they don't hold stink as bad as sandals. I rotate my socks, and every week, I choose the worst pair, and wash them in the the shower. You only get 10 minutes.
Devices (various)
2nd Generation Nano: Great battery life, but needs to have the music replaced after too many sloppy transfers. Everything that is on it now, was downloaded to my old laptop, as quickly as I could, when I was in Texas. Then I put it all on my old Ipod Nano2, then the computer died, and the Ipod was about to (after impressively extensive abuse including multiple immersions). I transferred everything from the disassembled Ipod to Lauren's Old computer one night. I let it "yes-to-all" everything, so I could let it run for the 8 hrs I slept, before leaving for Florida. Then that laptop had eventually crippling power cord problems. I was able to move everything, unsorted to Jeff's old Ipod Nano2. I keep it in a water proof box, so It still functions well, except at low temperatures. It uses a flash memory system that makes it more durable, but a high-density hard drive works under more circumstances.
5th Generation Ipod (Video): This was Lauren's primary Ipod for about 5 years, but then it was formatted when we put our webbing march on it. I recently erased those songs, and loaded a Rockbox onto it. Rockbox is an open-source, multi-platform, firmware, with a built in Gameboy/Gameboy Color emulator. Most games are difficult, if not unplayable, with a clickwheel, but I can play Freecell Solitaire as part of a Windows-ported Microsoft Entertainment Pack. I downloaded about 100 titles, and I'll try them when I get the chance to. Rockbox also allows you to drag-and-drop files onto the Ipod without the headache of Itunes (the proprietary apple "you WILL keep paying for what you already over payed for" music player and online store). So, I dumped all the songs off my ex-girlfriend, Emily's old Compaq desktop. I had some rare songs, maybe I'll sort them out someday.
Olympus Stylus Touch Waterproof Camera with 5x zoom.
Bombproof. I use a 16Gb card that also has the boot.sys for hacking Nintendo Wii's, and some roms. The camera take a little while to turn on, and another little while to actually take a picture, but it has many helpful macros. I would still like it to have a viewfinder, but this is a GREAT camera. I'll try to post pictures on here someday. In the mean time, lots of them are on facebook.
LG100 Cell Phone
$.99, no touch screen, no keyboard, no blutooth, no internet, no camera, no games, no problems, whatsoever. I have it in a rubber case, with 2 quarters in behind it. It'll make one last call, even if its dead. (Or, I might end up drinking it)
Panasonic Toughbook CF-51
It was the latest thing when they were advertising the latest thing about 2 latest things ago. It is the semi-rugged model, with a rubber hard drive cradle and shock absorber and reinforced lid hinges. It was originally for school use, but was sold on e-bay for $300. With Windows 7, or optional downgrade to XP. I chose Xp, so it would just work most of the time. I found out that there is a driver issue with the DVD-R drive, but I didn't notice until now, because I don't own anymore CD's or DVD's. I may fix it someday. It is usually fast enough for me, but I did fill up the hard drive with movies. I put some of them on Lauren's external hard drive, but it stays about full. I am very cautious with the power cable, since that has been what most of my devices have died of, but so far this has not been and issue. Always bring a 3 to 2 prong adapter (or 2 for stacking) and some splitters and adapters to be able to fully utilize any electrical source. Be able to ask for an outlet, socket, or plug in various situations. Tienne un coma de torriente de electrica, por favor?
The laundry is washed and the last bit of it is drying. I hope to post this to my blog today, but maybe just "soon" Since, I am unable to blog as frequently as I like to, I may also start typing select passages from other journals and notebooks i have lying around. I also want to post Nassau county, NY's video of me running a red light on Long Island. I may post more pictures to the blog, but some people (some with metal roofs) have less that optimum internet connections. Remember 56k? FYI: I type these in Notepad, so get off my back about the spelling. And I may never get around to formatting this any better. What you see is what you get.
Today is my four month anniversary. I haven't blogged since, I don't know when. We've been without internet and electricity for a long time. We're still in Portland. We stay in the truck near an abandoned school. Riley plays with other dogs in the field. We are about 2 blocks from St. Francis, where we eat, recieve mail, and take showers. Everyone is pretty nice except the REALLY crazy ones, but they're tolerable. Every morning, I wake up early, and play Gameboy games on Lauren's old hacked 5th generation iPod. I've been playing Picross. At 10:00 the shelter opens, so I can use the commode, and maybe get some coffee and breakfast. Today, I had sushi. They sushi lady comes by with the leftovers from her catering business. I check the mail on the way back to the truck, and see if the new edition of the free paper is out. Then, I walk Riley, read the paper, and have my coffee. I usually eat a light brunch of extra-sharp cheddar cheese, and bread and butter pickles. Lauren wakes up and lays with Riley for awhile, then we figure out what we are going to do with the day.
Today, while deciding what to do, Lauren's Big K overturned onto our mattress. Today is Laundry Day. Last week it rained pretty heavily, so we decided to pull everything out of the truck, and clean and dry it. Luckily, the soda didn't go into the padding, so we are able to wash the cover. Yesterday we went into downtown Portland to register with Labor Ready, and check on a free laundry program. Labor Ready only accept applications at 11am sharp on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The laundry program was discontinued due to some sort of abuse/excuse. I've heard various stories from each side of the debacle. They referred us to a place about 80 blocks East of where we park. I don't have a license, so we try to call the number for them we have in our recourse manual, but it was a bad photocopy, and the number was cut off. We called the 211 vagrancy hot line and got he number. As 211 had said, they didn't answer. We drove out there and signed up for a "labor exchange". They give us free laundry vouchers to a place that has free wifi, and we give them labor, 30 minutes equals a wash and dry (with detergent). They spot you the first 60 minutes though, so we went to the laundromat. Lauren and I both got vouchers. We have 10 minutes left on the wash.
Everyday at 5, dinner is served in the dining hall. We like to get there early so there might still be some coffee left. We usually find a spot, plug in my backpack, fill the water bottles, and maybe read a magazine or play a game. After announcements and a prayer, they bring trays of food to your tables. The food is a cross between school cafeteria food and what George cooks when he's to drunk to remember cooking it, the night before; only, its on the trays they have in jail. I love it. All the kitchen staff are volunteers, and volunteers get lunch the next day. I cleaned the women's bathroom last week. After dinner I make sure that I am through with plumbing for the evening, and head back to the truck to have my after-dinner beer. It's a Schlitz Very Smooth Lager, and its the worst beer I've ever consistently purchased. Its 8.5% alcohol, 24 ounces, and costs $1.30. I try to keep them at around 2 per day.
In the evenings, we sometimes go to the dog park or stay in and play cards or scrabble. If my computer has enough of a charge, we watch a movie or two. We park in the sun, so the solar panel has time to recharge the spare battery, which can buy us up to 3 more hours of computer time. We have to use my computer because, I have Divx, and I pirate movie torrents, and they come in Divx format. I used to play Nintendo roms on my computer, but my USB controller may have died. Before The War with the Vegans, we parked on the street in front of a strip mall. The had a coffee shop (with great wifi, but no outdoor electric), A vegan clothing store (Herbivore), a vegan grocery store (Food Fight) and a tattoo parlor. This was a nice arrangement since it was closer to the shelter and had trees to provide privacy. We parked next to a van that never moved. I t belonged to the a closed business. One day we came home to find a younger couple and a police officer standing behind the truck. They heard Riley whining while we were eating. The officer told them to leave us alone, and then explained that the man was wearing a PITA fleece, and that they were crazy.
The War With The Vegans started after about a week of using this spot. While walking one morning, I found some records in the trash. I walked 60 blocks, and tried to sell them to some record stores, but nobody wanted them. One guy said he'd give me .50 for one, so I said, "sure," but then he said, "look, we don't want 'em, okay!" We exchanged another coarse word, and I left. When I came back to the truck put a sign on em. $1.30 OBO: 1 beer. They were there for a few days with no interest. I even, told Lauren, that I wished someone would steal one, just to make me think I at least had something. Then someone did. They took Phil Collins and Steely Dan. I asked Lauren if she did it, because that would have been funny. I shrugged, and went to bed.
The first shot was fired early that morning; about 5 am. I heard some people talking about my records outside, and one of them tore down my sign. I said, screw it, and went back to sleep. In the morning the records were gone, the sign was tossed down the street, and there was a note on the windshield. (They could have recycled, by using my sign for the note.) The note read that the truck had been reported to the police as abandoned, and that we had been reported to animal control for leaving the dog in the truck for 40 minutes while we eat every night. Keep in mind, its like 60-70 degrees. I went to the shelter to find out our rights. I called the police to verify them. The law says that I have to move the truck every 24 hrs. That van has been there for weeks. I called the abandoned vehicle line, and the message said, that they are nopt even accepting reports of abandoned vehicles at this time, due to volume. I new they didn't call animal control, or they would have been there already. The note told us tha, if we could not take care of our dog, we could simply deposit him at "The Tattoo Shop or Stores Across the Street." So we walk into the tattoo shop, raising all kinds of hell. They started to call the police; I told them to. They didn't know anything about the note that was signed by them and written on tattoo copy paper. We proceeded down the entire strip mall inquiring about the note. Everyone was extremely embarrassed at being called out in front of customers. Every time they mentioned how they heard of someone saying the heard the dog whining, it got worse. Later the man at the tattoo shop came over, and said it was Michelle, from Herbivore. He conveyed his irritation at being associated with the note.
We went back to Herbivore to wait for Michelle. We eventually left her a note, encouraging her to meet, us and the dog, to see for herself that the dog is in no way abused. We even told her environmentally conscience self, that we would arbitrarily burn our gas, to move the truck once a day to be in accordance with the law. She has yet to have the courage to even call. The irony is that, the dog park was why we parked there. We decided it would be best if we moved the truck once a day, so we drove around the block to dinner. The next day, when we came back from dinner, all of the spaces on the street were taken by vehicles decorated with stickers along the lines of, "Stop Eating Animals." One would wonder why the grocery store sells these stickers. We had never seen more that 1 car in this 8 car area. After the stores closed, they were all gone. We were there when they tried to come back the next day. We kept this up for a few days, till we got bored and went to the next street.
I wanted to start working as soon as I got here, but it turns out that Oregon is between the 1st and 3rd least employed state in the country. You never notice how many vagrants there are going to shelters, until you're waiting in line behind them. I threw out what applications I could, and even typed a resume for some kitchen jobs that sounded promising. I got tired of walking blocks and blocks every morning, just to have people say no, so we decided to go to Labor Ready. We (or at least I) go back tomorrow morning. We Always walk into town, because there is nowhere to park, and I shouldn't drive any more than I have to. I get my licence back in 11 days. We applied for a townhouse through the Housing Authority of Portland, but the list is like 1-6 years long, and you have to spend $70 to get on it. We are going to need an income. We don't need money for anything besides a daily allotment for beer, and the gasoline budget for our eventual departure. We plan to leave around March and we will need at least $1000 to feel comfortable. I think it can be done; we'll see.
Equipment Review
88 Toyota Truck
This vehicle has 74,000 miles and is averaging 24 mpg, and has been nothing but reliable. If you cannot get somewhere, it is not the truck's fault. I have replaced the clutch master cylinder (a common and easy repair), and I recently changed the front brakes. I turn the key, it starts. There is a small patch of dulled paint on the passenger side door, and both the bumpers could use a can of $.97 Wal-mart black spray paint. The alternator needs to spin all day to recharge the axillary battery, but with the solar panel and rationing, we do not need to drive at all. The topper is slightly leaky, but this is minimized by closing the windows completely. It has never been "too cold." The modular mattress pad is essential to routine cleaning and drying. The black topper heats up nicely in the morning. A bungee system will need to be implemented to maximize organized storage.
Timex: cheapest watch you can buy (used)
It cost half a pint of vodka, and is very easy to scratch. I traded it for a new one, which I scratched immediately. It takes a 4 hour window to change the date. It always thinks that there are 31 days in the month. The "easy-replace" band has nubs to assist in compressing the pins. The nubs wore through the strap, and its getting ready to fall apart. The band was free.
Crocs Shoes
Open shoes are essential to preventing foot rot. I got mine for $1 and they are 2 sizes too small. They are very slippery on wet surfaces. Water comes up though the holes in the bottoms. They don't slow glass down, on it way up into my feet. They are awkward in sand, useless in mud. They are like house shoes for the homeless. I wear my old Timberland boots, whenever I have to walk very far. They do offer more protection and are easier to drive in that flip flops, though. And, they don't hold stink as bad as sandals. I rotate my socks, and every week, I choose the worst pair, and wash them in the the shower. You only get 10 minutes.
Devices (various)
2nd Generation Nano: Great battery life, but needs to have the music replaced after too many sloppy transfers. Everything that is on it now, was downloaded to my old laptop, as quickly as I could, when I was in Texas. Then I put it all on my old Ipod Nano2, then the computer died, and the Ipod was about to (after impressively extensive abuse including multiple immersions). I transferred everything from the disassembled Ipod to Lauren's Old computer one night. I let it "yes-to-all" everything, so I could let it run for the 8 hrs I slept, before leaving for Florida. Then that laptop had eventually crippling power cord problems. I was able to move everything, unsorted to Jeff's old Ipod Nano2. I keep it in a water proof box, so It still functions well, except at low temperatures. It uses a flash memory system that makes it more durable, but a high-density hard drive works under more circumstances.
5th Generation Ipod (Video): This was Lauren's primary Ipod for about 5 years, but then it was formatted when we put our webbing march on it. I recently erased those songs, and loaded a Rockbox onto it. Rockbox is an open-source, multi-platform, firmware, with a built in Gameboy/Gameboy Color emulator. Most games are difficult, if not unplayable, with a clickwheel, but I can play Freecell Solitaire as part of a Windows-ported Microsoft Entertainment Pack. I downloaded about 100 titles, and I'll try them when I get the chance to. Rockbox also allows you to drag-and-drop files onto the Ipod without the headache of Itunes (the proprietary apple "you WILL keep paying for what you already over payed for" music player and online store). So, I dumped all the songs off my ex-girlfriend, Emily's old Compaq desktop. I had some rare songs, maybe I'll sort them out someday.
Olympus Stylus Touch Waterproof Camera with 5x zoom.
Bombproof. I use a 16Gb card that also has the boot.sys for hacking Nintendo Wii's, and some roms. The camera take a little while to turn on, and another little while to actually take a picture, but it has many helpful macros. I would still like it to have a viewfinder, but this is a GREAT camera. I'll try to post pictures on here someday. In the mean time, lots of them are on facebook.
LG100 Cell Phone
$.99, no touch screen, no keyboard, no blutooth, no internet, no camera, no games, no problems, whatsoever. I have it in a rubber case, with 2 quarters in behind it. It'll make one last call, even if its dead. (Or, I might end up drinking it)
Panasonic Toughbook CF-51
It was the latest thing when they were advertising the latest thing about 2 latest things ago. It is the semi-rugged model, with a rubber hard drive cradle and shock absorber and reinforced lid hinges. It was originally for school use, but was sold on e-bay for $300. With Windows 7, or optional downgrade to XP. I chose Xp, so it would just work most of the time. I found out that there is a driver issue with the DVD-R drive, but I didn't notice until now, because I don't own anymore CD's or DVD's. I may fix it someday. It is usually fast enough for me, but I did fill up the hard drive with movies. I put some of them on Lauren's external hard drive, but it stays about full. I am very cautious with the power cable, since that has been what most of my devices have died of, but so far this has not been and issue. Always bring a 3 to 2 prong adapter (or 2 for stacking) and some splitters and adapters to be able to fully utilize any electrical source. Be able to ask for an outlet, socket, or plug in various situations. Tienne un coma de torriente de electrica, por favor?
The laundry is washed and the last bit of it is drying. I hope to post this to my blog today, but maybe just "soon" Since, I am unable to blog as frequently as I like to, I may also start typing select passages from other journals and notebooks i have lying around. I also want to post Nassau county, NY's video of me running a red light on Long Island. I may post more pictures to the blog, but some people (some with metal roofs) have less that optimum internet connections. Remember 56k? FYI: I type these in Notepad, so get off my back about the spelling. And I may never get around to formatting this any better. What you see is what you get.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Lebanon, OR
Monday Sept 27, 2010
Okay, Maybe I should blog a little more often. We made it all the way to Butte, MT, We couldn't find anyplace to buy dog food, so in the morning, we left. We finally got some dogfood in Missoula, and kept heading towards Seattle. Somewhere, later we had Subway.
We arrived in Seattle and parked at a Whole Foods Market to look around and stretch our legs. We drove around Seattle, and went to a few McDonalds' looking for internet. We Slept at a Walmart.
When we woke up, we went to a curiosities shop, complete with mummies, and headed out of town. I could see myself spending more time in Seattle, if I had a little cash saved up.We went to Boems Chocolate Factory, and got a big sampler bag. Amaretto was the best. We then leftfor the Vancouver area. We went to a Del Taco, and we slept at a Walmart. In the morning, Walmart called security on us because they thought the dog was to hot in the truck, but we were stitting with him, and it wasn't too hot for us. After some employees stared for a while, we left to kill some time.
We hung around a different walmart for a while, and then We went to a del taco again.
We got to my Aunt's house around 5 and let Riley run in the back yard. He needed that. We went to bed pretty early after checking our emails. Next morning, we hung around the house and I caught up on my cartoons. We watched Silent Running, and later Crowley made French dips. It was really nice to see my aunt again after so long.
We woke up and packed our things to leave. We stopped in a Polish festival in Portland and had some authentic fair food, before leaving for Eugene.
We arrived in Eugene Saturday evening, and looked at everything that seemed of interest. We hopped and skipped all ovewr town till wefound a Mcdoanlds that had wifi. It was the 6th one we went to. We went to Walmart and slept. We woke up and had Taco Time, it sucks. We then drove all over Eugene for no reason. We found a starbucks inside a grocery store that had free wifi. It was a Fred Meyer. We used till about 9pm and went to speep at Walmart. In the morning we went to the DHS and got some foodstamps. We had a lovely lunch of smoked ham and havarti on sourdough rolls, and we went to test drive a 76 Luv.
Lauren is hellbent on buying a $500 truck to learn how to drive a stick with. it saves the wear on my truck, and it gives us a project. So I'm going along with it. Whatever happens from here will be very interesting.
Since this was typed, we went back to Portland, and test drove a 79 Datsun, we passed on it. We slept at a Walmart, till the cops ran us off to another Walmart. We had some Jack in the Box, recycled some cans, and trued to use the internet at another Fred Meyer. Again at a Mcdonalds, and finally at the Library. I can't legally drive after tomorrow, so we need to find a place to stay stationary for a while.
Okay, Maybe I should blog a little more often. We made it all the way to Butte, MT, We couldn't find anyplace to buy dog food, so in the morning, we left. We finally got some dogfood in Missoula, and kept heading towards Seattle. Somewhere, later we had Subway.
We arrived in Seattle and parked at a Whole Foods Market to look around and stretch our legs. We drove around Seattle, and went to a few McDonalds' looking for internet. We Slept at a Walmart.
When we woke up, we went to a curiosities shop, complete with mummies, and headed out of town. I could see myself spending more time in Seattle, if I had a little cash saved up.We went to Boems Chocolate Factory, and got a big sampler bag. Amaretto was the best. We then leftfor the Vancouver area. We went to a Del Taco, and we slept at a Walmart. In the morning, Walmart called security on us because they thought the dog was to hot in the truck, but we were stitting with him, and it wasn't too hot for us. After some employees stared for a while, we left to kill some time.
We hung around a different walmart for a while, and then We went to a del taco again.
We got to my Aunt's house around 5 and let Riley run in the back yard. He needed that. We went to bed pretty early after checking our emails. Next morning, we hung around the house and I caught up on my cartoons. We watched Silent Running, and later Crowley made French dips. It was really nice to see my aunt again after so long.
We woke up and packed our things to leave. We stopped in a Polish festival in Portland and had some authentic fair food, before leaving for Eugene.
We arrived in Eugene Saturday evening, and looked at everything that seemed of interest. We hopped and skipped all ovewr town till wefound a Mcdoanlds that had wifi. It was the 6th one we went to. We went to Walmart and slept. We woke up and had Taco Time, it sucks. We then drove all over Eugene for no reason. We found a starbucks inside a grocery store that had free wifi. It was a Fred Meyer. We used till about 9pm and went to speep at Walmart. In the morning we went to the DHS and got some foodstamps. We had a lovely lunch of smoked ham and havarti on sourdough rolls, and we went to test drive a 76 Luv.
Lauren is hellbent on buying a $500 truck to learn how to drive a stick with. it saves the wear on my truck, and it gives us a project. So I'm going along with it. Whatever happens from here will be very interesting.
Since this was typed, we went back to Portland, and test drove a 79 Datsun, we passed on it. We slept at a Walmart, till the cops ran us off to another Walmart. We had some Jack in the Box, recycled some cans, and trued to use the internet at another Fred Meyer. Again at a Mcdonalds, and finally at the Library. I can't legally drive after tomorrow, so we need to find a place to stay stationary for a while.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Butte, MT
We slept right outside the Old Faithful Inn, and got moving pretty quickly in the morning. We toured the lodge in the daylight and filled our water bottles. We took a long, meandering route through the remainder of the park, and got to see another geyser go off. We saw a bison, right on the side of the road, and later an elk was munching on a lawn in Mammoth. We left the park, and made it all the way to Butte. It's 10 hours from here to Seattle. We are completely out of dog food, and tomorrow is Sunday in a small town, in the middle of nowhere, so we'll see what we can get. Once we got out of the park we had Taco John's for the second time; we are burnt out on it already. I'm ready to settle down and get on some government assistance. Maybe I shouldn't blog everyday...
Yellowstone, WY
I woke up early, made coffee, and decided to take the dog for a walk, I took my computer up to the lodge patio, and checked a few maps. I walked down a small trail behind the lodge and took a few pictures as I finished my coffee. I came back and Lauren went to fill a few water bottles and go to the bathroom. We were probably on the road by 10:30. We cruised into Yellowstone and checked out the first basin full of geysers and springs. They are bizzare. We proceded on towards Old Faithful, and arrived at about 2:30.
We got there just in time to see it erupt, then we walked downa trail and saw many other features. I went off a little bit on a few people giving me trouble for having a dog, but, thats fine; I educated them. We backtracked a few times to be able to catch Grand Geyser (and company) at 5ish, Castle at about 5:15, Grotto around 6, and finally Riverside at 7:55.
We walked al the way to the far end of the trail again and waited forever for Riverside. It was dark and cold by the time we got back. Riley was exhausted after "working" (wearing his service dog vest) all day. We got back around 8:30. I didn't plan to stay out after dark when I left the truck at 2ish with no water and just a t-shirt, so the Wonderland building was a welcome sight.
Its a huge lodgewood building, several stories tall, with bars, shops, and a restaurant. We went the 2nd floor and Lauren waited for me to go get the truck and make dinner. I heated up some Chinese out front and came back in to drink a beer, listened to the live piano, and take my shoes off. (And blog). But, I'm not burning up all my battery on this so, more to follow.. (typed 10pm mst 9-17-10)
We got there just in time to see it erupt, then we walked downa trail and saw many other features. I went off a little bit on a few people giving me trouble for having a dog, but, thats fine; I educated them. We backtracked a few times to be able to catch Grand Geyser (and company) at 5ish, Castle at about 5:15, Grotto around 6, and finally Riverside at 7:55.
We walked al the way to the far end of the trail again and waited forever for Riverside. It was dark and cold by the time we got back. Riley was exhausted after "working" (wearing his service dog vest) all day. We got back around 8:30. I didn't plan to stay out after dark when I left the truck at 2ish with no water and just a t-shirt, so the Wonderland building was a welcome sight.
Its a huge lodgewood building, several stories tall, with bars, shops, and a restaurant. We went the 2nd floor and Lauren waited for me to go get the truck and make dinner. I heated up some Chinese out front and came back in to drink a beer, listened to the live piano, and take my shoes off. (And blog). But, I'm not burning up all my battery on this so, more to follow.. (typed 10pm mst 9-17-10)
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Grand Tetons, WY
I've noticed that my post kind-of just run on. I'm going to try to be a little more detailed today. Everything went pretty well. I woke up first, as usual, and I walked the dog and went into Walmart. I completed my morning routine, did some browsing, and read an RV Magazine in the automotive department. I came back out to the truck and got Lauren up. We were on the road by 8am.
We had to go to a pert store to get Riley's special, expensive food, so I preset the destination in the GPS last night. They didn't open till 9, so we headed west on I-90. We deviated to US 16 because I trusted a plywood sign with hand painted claims of "faster" and "better scenery" better than I trusted my high tech, $200 connection to geosynchronous satellites. I was totally right, it was way better. We had bagels and got gas around noon. I'm averaging about 24-25 MPG. Not too bad for a two-decade old carburetor. We made it to the Hot Spring National/State Park/Thing, whatever at about 3, bathed for about 20 minutes and had some tuna salad wraps.
We arrived at the Grand Tetons just in time to see the sun set behind them. We still need dog food. My shoulder is completely useless; I can't lift my arm over my head. My neck has about a a 35 degree range of motion. My right knee is shot from standing on the gas. I had it floored for like 2.5 hours. My eyes can't really focus right, and my ears won't stop ringing from the engine noise. I'm too tired to sleep, and the money is getting tight. Every decision must be put through a series of mathematical formulas to make sure its not only logical, but even possible. This is what I was built for. The plan is 250 miles or so tomorrow; Tetons, Yellowstone, and hopefully into Butte, MT. Then, a 500 mile, 10 hour burn to Seattle, buy Monday. Then, a leisurely 5 hours through Portland and into Eugene. Then the real excitement starts. I'll keep posting...
We had to go to a pert store to get Riley's special, expensive food, so I preset the destination in the GPS last night. They didn't open till 9, so we headed west on I-90. We deviated to US 16 because I trusted a plywood sign with hand painted claims of "faster" and "better scenery" better than I trusted my high tech, $200 connection to geosynchronous satellites. I was totally right, it was way better. We had bagels and got gas around noon. I'm averaging about 24-25 MPG. Not too bad for a two-decade old carburetor. We made it to the Hot Spring National/State Park/Thing, whatever at about 3, bathed for about 20 minutes and had some tuna salad wraps.
We arrived at the Grand Tetons just in time to see the sun set behind them. We still need dog food. My shoulder is completely useless; I can't lift my arm over my head. My neck has about a a 35 degree range of motion. My right knee is shot from standing on the gas. I had it floored for like 2.5 hours. My eyes can't really focus right, and my ears won't stop ringing from the engine noise. I'm too tired to sleep, and the money is getting tight. Every decision must be put through a series of mathematical formulas to make sure its not only logical, but even possible. This is what I was built for. The plan is 250 miles or so tomorrow; Tetons, Yellowstone, and hopefully into Butte, MT. Then, a 500 mile, 10 hour burn to Seattle, buy Monday. Then, a leisurely 5 hours through Portland and into Eugene. Then the real excitement starts. I'll keep posting...
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Rapid City, SD
We went to the car museum in Roscoe, IL, but it was closed on Fridays, so we went to a McDonalds. Apparently, it was the happening high-school hang-out, because at now point were there less than 30 screaming kids in there. We went to sleep at Walmart. In the morning, while Lauren was in the bathroom, the police came by and told us to beat it. We went to the museum and saw the Family Truckster, and then headed for Milwaukee, and found a McDonalds that did not allow students between 8:30 am and 3:30 pm. I don't know what they meant by that, but they didn't have wifi anyway so we looked for Miller. We found it but we missed the last tour. We found a Staples parking lot in a dark neigborhood, but they didn't have wifi either. At nightfall, it became apparent that this was not the neigborhood to sleep in, so we went to a Radison parking lot. We stayed there all the next day, and into the next morning. Then it was Millertime. We arrived in the morning as they unlocked the doors. We had time to shop before the tour, but they didn't have any Milwaukees Best Ice stuff. The tour was a movie of old commercials and a tour of a few buildings. Then we had samples. We had pretzels, and I drank 7 free beers. The best thing they had was High Life. So, we left for the Mall from Mallrats.
We drove all day and found the Mall of America as it was closing. We went to the Walmart, and Lauren used her sweat pants as a leash for the dog.We got up in the morning and got free continental breakfast at the hotel across the street. Then we hit, not only the Eden Prairie Center (Mallrats), but also the flea market where the "dirt mall" scenes were filmed.
We drove through a tiny piece of North Dakota, but there was roadwork, and we were stopped at flagging light. It turned green, so we went, but I guess they changed it by mistake, because we had to sit off the road in a dirt mound, while 4 semi's go by in the other direction. We spend about 10 minutes in the state total. We wend through Suoix Falls, saw the Corn Palace in Mitchell, and found a hotel in Wall to park behind. This morning, I really had to poop, so I went into the hotel. I ended up getting free breakfast for Lauren, and running it back to the truck. But I still had to got, so I ran to the hotel across the street. After I was finished, I got some free biscuits and gravy, and came back. We wandered through Wall Drug,drove the Badlands Loop, and went to Mount Rushmore.
They had the nerve to ask me to pay $10 to park, in a national park, for which I had a park pass. Not only, is this public property, and is as much mine as it is anybody else's, and they make me buy a $100 annual pass. But, then that pass doesn't even let me park on publicly owned land. I told them I wanted to turn around and leave. When, I got out of sight, I parked anyway. Go to hell, Mount Rushmore, I hope the damn thing falls down. After we took some pictures, we headed back to Rapid City to charge up and blog. More Later...
Thursday, September 9, 2010
North of Chicago
So the McDonalds in Bangor smelled like sewer, bad, so we left pretty early for Acadia State Park. We had a great time driving the park loop, checking out Thunder Hole, and driving to the top of Cadillac Mountain. We left the park and headed to a little lobster shack, right on the water. It was great, but nice things are lost on Lauren. We were going to take the ferry to Nova Scotia, but it was closed because of the hurricane. We drove about 3 hours through nothingness to Calais, ME, only to be turned around by Canadian Border Guards. They said my record was not sufficiently clean, and I need to apply for rehabilitated criminal status. We had our truck ripped apart and searched twice. I didn't feel much like driving, so we stayed at the Walmart (after their power came back on). We backtracked all the way through Bangor, Vermont, and headed for Buffalo. I drove about 12 hours and slept in a Walmart in New York near Lake Champlain. In the morning we had chicken at Walmart and headed for Niagra Falls. It was packed, and I couldn't go to the Canadian side, so after a few hours, we left. We stayed up for a while in a McDonalds on the way to Sandusky, OH, because it was open 24 hours. But, that means they let some colorful people in. We went to bed when we were tired of the hoopin' and hollarin'. We went to the Walmart next to the Mcdonalds and went to bed. It was nice, we parked against a big grassy hill. In the morning we watched the first 2 Mad Max movies and drove all the way to Sandusky and found a place near the hotel to park. We went for a walk and found out that the mini golf was free for the evening. We only got through half of a game before they closed though. We got about half way through Beyond Thunderdome, and I fell asleep. We had a blast in the park. Usually amusement park experience, complete with funnel cakes. We went out halfway through the day to have lunch, and I decided that I'd rather eat other people's trash than my own Taco Bell leftovers. That night, we tried to sleep in the smae spot, but security ran us off. We went to a Walmart and went to bed. The next morning, we found that we had internet in the Walmart lot, so we got some rice and chilled out. We went to a Koa so Lauren could shower and drove to the first rest sop in Michigan before we realized I lost my passport and credit card. I called Cedar Point and sure enough, they had it. I drove all the way back to get it, and re-drove everything I had just done. We were shot, so we went to Cracker Barrel to decompress. After that we got close to the Gilmore Car Museum and crashed in a Walmart. In the morning we had chicken and went shopping. We watched Tucker: The Man and the Dream, and went to the museum to see number 47. Then we drove through downtown Chicago, and found a Walmart about an hour north. The GPS has been screwing up alot, and I think its because I wont pay $120 to update the map software. It took 3 tried to locate a Walmart. We watched most of THX-1138, and went to bed. This morning we tried to finish it but I was out of power. We cleaned out the truck, refilled our water, had a nice brunch, and left. We were going to another car museum, but its a big one, so we decided to start early tomorrow. We're in a Mcdonalds now, charging everything we have. Signing off..
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Bangor, ME
So, we agreed to stay an extra week at Lauren's aunt's house, so we could watch her dog while we went out of town. We stay 5 days of that, to find out "her landlord" does not want us to stay. We quietly left. We went to a Dick's to find Lauren a headlamp, but they didn't really have anything. We went to Panera for their internet, till they closed. We found an Eastern Mountain Sports to stay at. In the morning Lauren got her headlamp, and we got some bagels and did laundry. We headed all the way past Providence, RI and stayed in a Wal-mart parking lot. I was gearing up to "shop" for a few hours, but they closed at midnight. We went to Boston, but the traffic was incredible. It was moving-in day for the college students, and there was some street fair going on. We drove past Cheers and headed to a Panera to regroup. Then, we went to a park, but the music from the club next door was so bad we left. We stayed nearby the Sam Adams brewery. In the morning we were on the first tour. We tasted several of their beers (and their ingredients) all for free. We went across town to the USS Constitution, but the shit was closed that day for some reason. We went to the museum instead. We had lunch, and went back across town for a sampling at the Harpoon brewery. My favorite is still the Leviathan Imperial IPA. We headed up I-93, and found a McDonalds. They didn't have any wi-fi, so we went to another one, but it had no outlets. We used a light bulb socket adapter, but the assistant fat-manager said it wouldn't fly. He made up some story about how they were remodeling, because he didn't have the nerve to just tell us not to. We found a nice corner of a 24hr Wal-mart, and I got a 30 pack. We continued up 93 and drove out NH 112 and played in a creek with the dog. He's doing pretty well, but he still had a few hard landings. We kept going North to what they call the basin. It had some very interesting stream beds. We went all the way into Vermont for some cheese; I found an aged, maple smoked sharp cheddar. We headed east on US-2, and found a diner. We had good food and fantastic service. We continued on to a McDonalds, just north of Mt. Washington. It didn't have any outlets, but I was able to check the weather with my laptop battery. They had an amazing parking lot. We were so far away from the building, that we were able to leave the rear window open all night. We woke up to the sound of a small stream, just starting to flow out of a big pond. We, boogied for Mt. Washington. My truck doesn't have a CD or a tape player, so I had to put the "complimentary" audio tour on Lauren's laptop and run it through the truck's speakers. We went right up, stopping twice. Once to pick up some mica, and once to put on sweatshirts. We made it to the summit and took some pictures, but it was very foggy (cloudy?). We piddled around, and had some hotdogs, and eventually headed down. I didn't feel the need to cool my brakes, but I did go very slowly. After the decent, and a tour of their gift shop, we took off for Bangor, ME, and Lauren even got some wheel time on the way. We are headed to the Arcadia area in the morning, and maybe on towards Halifax. Hurricane Earl is supposed to hit sometime Friday...
Friday, August 20, 2010
Lauren's Aunt's House
After some forceful negotiation, I managed to replace the lock on my topper. I had to get new bolts at a local hardware store. They had shoplifting warnings everywhere, even life-sized cut-outs of police officers in all the isles. They had to go into the back room for my bolts, but the woman said they were only 43 cents, I could just have them. We pretty much wasted the rest of the day, until Linda came home and made dinner. In the morning we gathered some things and headed toward the city. We walked about 5 blocks to where I thought a shoe store was to sew Riley's service dog patch on, but we didn't see it. We caught the train into Penn Station and walked up to Times Square. Lauren got a blue M golf ball at the M&M's store, then we headed up to meet her cousin Joe. He gave us a tour of the studio where they master albums. We walked around the aircraft carrier Interepid, and met back up for some German food. It was a little pricey, but it was amazing. I have to learn how to make herring like that. After lunch we headed toward Tom's Restaurant form Seinfeld, but it was several blocks, so Lauren waited for me in Central Park. I had an apple and a brown bag, and I came back to meet her. We went into the subway, but the trains were down, so we walked down one station. We sat on one for about 30 minutes, but when it finally left, it went the wrong way. we got turned around and checked out ground zero. We were going to Ellis Island, but it got to be too late. I got a PBR, and Lauren's knees were hurting, so we headed toward the house. This morning, I picked up my new camera at Best Buy, and played with it for a while. I got a message from Joe (Hamsher) saying he got a tattoo, but thats all the info I have. We went to a diner with Jayne (Linda's cousin), and it was very good. Linda asked if we wanted to stay for another week so we could watch her dog, Froto, when she went out of town, and we said that would be fine. I'm exhausted, so I'm going to stop before I make any more typos.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Long Island
We got up, packed up, said our goodbye's and loaded up the truck. We headed into DC to check out the sights, and we were finished withing 20 minutes. Then, we got stuck in traffic for an hour. We went through downtown Baltimore and up into Delaware. We drove all the way down to Chincoteague island and spent the night in the parking lot of a Comfort Inn. Delaware blows. This morning, we had the free continental breakfast, and headed to the Assateague Island visitor center. We saw some ponies in a coral, and walked out to see more of them in the wild. The mosquitoes were awful. They hurt when they bit you. On the way back we stopped for gas and some off-brand Fanta Slurpees, and drove north. We were almost to the Cape May Ferry, when Lauren's aunt, Terrie and her daughter opted not to have us over, even though we are rarely able to visit. The ferry took about 70 minutes and was nice. Not 46$ worth of nice, but nice. So we drove up through New Jersey, dodging every toll. We went to the Quick Stop from the movie, Clerks. We tried to set the GPS for Brooklin, but we still had the toll avoidance enabled, so it recommended we drive through Minnesota, and through Canada. We turned off that setting, paid 8.35 and were there in 2 hours. We are staying with Lauren's aunt, Linda, and she is very nice. Her Pomeranian is pretty neat too. I ordered my digital camera, and I'll pick it up around here in 5-7 days. I'm going to replace the topper lock on the truck tomorrow, then head into the city Thursday to meet Lauren's cousin Joe. I'm going to try to catch George if he's still on Long Island, but we'll see.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Lauren's Parents' House: Still
We went to The Cheesecake Factory; I had never been. It was good. Mike decided to leave. Then next day we rescheduled our visit with Kristin, had some tilapia, and went to the mall. I replaced my North Face high-tech action shorts that had a hole in them, and we looked for a charger for my camera. I've been waiting for years to get a waterproof camera that had a better zoom. They have always been 3x. One came out that was 3.6x, and I finally settled for it. While we were at the mall, I see that they now have 5x for only 40$ more. I've only had mine for two months. I'm going to try to sell mine to my brother, and get the new one.
The next day we went to the VA DMV, it was excruciating. Lauren's number was B78, and they were only on B62. I went for a walk and got some Mcdoanlds. It was so busy that cashiers were taking orders with clipboards and umbrellas all around the sides of the building. I ate my Mcgangbang +bbq, and headed back. B65. I went back out to the Sheetz and got a Tilt and an orange cream cookie sandwich. I drank the Tilt in the tractor supply store, and got a new light bulb/ac adapter adapter (they're priceless when you need one). I brought the cookie back to Lauren; B72. We traded off playing games on her new cell phone until it was time. Then we went to the nursing home. It was nice, Lauren's grandmother was doing well, and looking good. We had some Giovanni's and went to walk some dogs. I also checked at Butt's for some "Doah"/"Mac" Stickers, but they were closed. We came home and started recording the Redskins game with the DVR, but since neither of us new how to do it, it was on the wrong channel. It was the game, but we recorded the first 4 minutes in standard definition, rather that high definition. I don't know how we could have been so foolish. I decided to take a long nap.
The next afternoon we went to see Lauren's friend Kristin and her husband, Joey, and her son Caleb. While we were waiting, I got a tall boy and a hot sausage. The credit card machine was screwy, and the lady was a bitch about it. We had Chinese, in Berryville, and went to the Clarke County Fair demolition derby. They only had 3 rounds, but it was still fun. I stopped for a refreshment on the way home, and went upstairs to rest.
We are doing our best to destroy the leftovers, and Lauren is doing the laundry. We were going to DC today, but its kinda nasty out. It is definitely time to continue on.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Lauren's Parents' House
We went to see Mel and Brook Byers at their kennel out past Charles Town. We watched part of Blazing Saddles, then headed to meet Melissa for dinner. On the way, I ran a red light beside a cop and pulled off before he could even turn on his lights. Mi Degollado was great. Lauren left her camera there, but she went back for it. Budek came over to the Inn for a while, and we hung out with Jesse and Josh. Jesse even gave me a harmonica. In the morning, we cleaned up, said goodbye to Melissa, got some postcards, and headed to Bakerton and River Riders to see the progress. Then, we went to a kennel in Purcellville to get a dog tag and to let Lauren visit an old friend. On the way we saw a KFC/Taco Bell combo that got me thinking about burritos and gravy. We headed for her parents house, and I had some of their leftover Chinese food. Lauren's brother, Mike has his cat here and he's great. I think we are try to organize a trip to the Cheesecake Factory; I've never been. We're watching a Tivo'd episode of America's Got Talent. Woo...
Monday, August 9, 2010
Melissa's place, Harper's Ferry
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