Such is Life

Okay, I've been avoiding updating because I'm supposed to write about the end of my trip.   Which I don't want to do, and everyone has already heard about it anyway, so I'm going to just skip right past that.  If you are one of the rare few who has not heard from me since my return, my apologies.  Yes, I am alive and well.  Hi!

Anyway, I don't know why I'm writing today, since I have nothing interesting to say.  Does anyone (not at Genzyme) want to give me a job? 

I spent far too much time trying to figure out how to post that world domination meme to my livejournal.  But alas, I am livejournal inept, and it will remain unposted.  So I will summarize my results with:

Clearly, I am an overachieving control freak.  Accurate enough, I suppose.  It's good to know that I can take over the world while juggling knives and perverting science in a genius manner.  Too bad I have such serious moral qualms about it.  I would like to add that the first time I took this quiz, Admiral Sab was my knife-wielding, science perverting lieutenant with serious moral qualms (yeah, like we didn't all know that already!).  I guess it was too much for her and she quit, so I had to take over.

Ah, the first day back on the road.  The clothes are clean, there's actual food--and ice!-- in the cooler, and I just got that cramp worked out of my leg.  I left Dutchy's house at 4am to drive to Nanaimo and hop on the ferry while it was still dark out.  Of course I tried to be nice an organized, but I managed to leave my water bottle behind.  Goodbye sweet Nalgene bottle, enjoy your new home.  Dutchy, enjoy your new water bottle!  Or maybe Tika will enjoy it.  Either way.  I got a nice early start and wasn't planning on driving too long today, but I defeated myself by picking the slowest, most inefficient route possible.  I can't really regret it though, because it was a wonderful drive, other than being really long.  (As always, I put too many pictures in here.  I can't help myself, it's a compulsion.  None of them are very exciting, and Michael Bear was camera shy today, so don't click if you don't want to be bombarded!)


The whole reason for this longer route was because I didn't have any cash on me when I started out, and the most efficient route was a toll road.  No problem, I'll hit an ATM when I get gas.  Oops, ATMs won't take American cards.  I don't understand why I can charge $20 to my card, but not get cash.  I mean, maybe my debit card wouldn't work because they didn't have a connection with my bank, but why the visa credit card?  The funniest part of the whole thing was when I bought some peanuts and asked the guy at the counter if I could charge them and add extra to the charge, to get cash back.  Pretty normal thing to do, I thought.  At least, normal back home.  Is that weird in Canada?  The guy seemed to think so!  He looked shocked and told me that no, it was a company machine!   I felt like I'd accidentally asked him to help me rob the store.  Either the guy was nuts, or I encountered a strange bit Canadian/American cultural confusion.  So then I ask where a bank is, and of course, the nearest bank is about 60 miles behind me.  So I decide to go east on the non-toll road until I can find a bank (yeah, you can guess how long *that* took.  Of course, when I did find one, four hours later, it was on the same road with three other banks!).  And that's how I ended up driving around until 7pm. 

But like I said, it was worth it.  I drive up along Okanagan Lake, which was wonderfully scenic with the mountains in the background.  They have these teeny tiny little "parks" along the side of the road with picnic areas set up, so I stopped there for awhile to eat lunch and hang out with the ducks.


These aren't very exciting stories, and most of the pictures from the day were taken from my car window.  But road and water and mountains and car windshield are what I spent all day looking at, so I share them with you.  The truth is, it might sound strange but days like this are almost my favorite.  I like the feeling of covering distance, seeing the world around me change (though not too drastically today), and just driving without much of a goal.  "East" is good enough.  It doesn't make for very interesting lj updates, but its satisfying.

Trip Days 15-21 (August 20th-27th, 2007)

Sadly, it's almost time to give Dutchy and Tika a fond farewell.  Tomorrow I am off again, like a rolling stone (a rolling stone in a Chevy hatchback, that is).  Warning, this post is picture-heavy.  Please don't click under the cuts if that's going to give you trouble.

This has definitely been the relaxing vacation portion of my trip.  A whole week with a bed, a shower, and a cute puppy.  Oh, and a friend of course.  (Sorry Dutchy... but I think I like Tika better.)


I have lots of pictures, of course.  Not as exciting as Yellowstone or the Badlands, but I think I'd like to live on Vancouver Island.  Except for the rain.  This is probably a "duh" for anyone who's ever lived on or visited this area, but... gee, it's sure wet here. 


Anyway, adventures.  For those playing the meet-a-DCer game, I have added Babs, Catolicus and Nan to my scorecard.  I'd like to count Tempest and Xan too, but I'm told that they don't count until they've posted on DC.  So Babs, put your children on the computer, quick!  Except for Nan, we all met up in Victoria on Friday.  For those back home, I think Victoria is the nicest city I've ever been to.  I should have taken more pictures of the city, but whenever I had my camera out Tempest was around, and the camera cannot resist.  The harbor area is both beautiful and entertaining.  I saw Darth Vader playing a violin (I'm told he rakes in the money), the world's worst magician (If he didn't have a hangover, I think he might be a pod-person), a random lunatic, and a very entertaining juggler.  I drank/ate "bubble tea" in Chinatown.  For those of you who have never heard of this local beverage, think tea-smoothie-squishy-flavored-jelly drink.  Not peanut-butter-and-jelly type jelly, for the Americans like me who don't understand the difference.  Anyway, yes, it was just as strange as it sounds.  But pretty tasty.


Dutchy and I met Nan on Saturday for lunch, but alas, I forgot to take pictures to commemorate the occasion.  For the DC people reading this journal, who have not yet had the pleasure of meeting the great Nan in person, the answer is yes, she is quite as strange and entertaining in person!  (That's a HUGE compliment, of course.)  Nan, should you be reading this, I'm sorry I can't make it back to Victoria to see you again before I head back east.  I've decided to take a northern route home, which means that the ferry in Nanaimo is more on route.  I'd like to hang out in Victoria for longer, but the money is running low!  I do wish I'd thought of stealing the paper tablecloth from the restaurant though, your doodles would have made a great souvenir.  I'd like to come back here for another vacation some day (maybe fly rather than drive next time), so perhaps I'll meet you and Babs again.  Until then, we'll always have DC. 

Dutchy, Tika and I went to Cathedral Grove yesterday, home to the Big Trees (that may not be their official name, but it's apt).  We saw the oldest tree there, which is about 800 years old.  Tika and I posed in front of it, and we look pretty small.  Even smaller than I usually look.  Michael Bear would have liked to have his picture taken, but he was a little afraid that Tika would eat his face off.  Next time, Michael Bear.


And tomorrow Michael Bear and I continue our journeys. 

Sorry for the long lack of updates.  Sunday I was out late and felt lazy when I got back to the hotel, and Monday I was driving, driving, waiting for a ferry, and driving some more.  But I'm back now!

Day 13 (August 19th, 2007)

More Seattle!  The weather was awful, but I persevered.  I saw the space needle, but I wasn't too impressed.  I think it cost too much money to see such a foggy view.  They should discount in bad weather.  :)  Went back to the marketplace, saw the fish fly.  It made me hungry.  I thought about buying a net a few stalls down and grabbing one of those fish out of the air when the guys were tossing them around, then making a run for it.  But I wasn't sure how to cook the fish in my hotel room, so I refrained from felony fish-snatching.  Mostly I wandered around and poked into random stores and sights when I got too cold and wet.  I love the fish bars along the water front.  Now that's what fast food should be-- fast and yummy.  Okay, so these stories aren't very exciting.  I really like Seattle, but I didn't get as many good pictures as I'd like.

Day 14 (August 20th, 2007)

I was traveling forever today.  You should all consider yourself lucky that I didn't take any pictures to document the day, because they would be excruciatingly dull.  Actually, that's not fair.  I did stop in some nice places, but I was so brain-fried by then that I couldn't remember to pick up my camera.  I left Seattle this morning, which was a complete nightmare.  I hate one-way streets.  Especially when they're also really, really steep uphill streets.  I was afraid my car was going to rebel at some points, but we finally made it out alive.  After many, many wrong turns.  My GPS unit doesn't work so well when streets are that close together.  The drive to Horseshoe Bay in Vancouver wasn't very long, but sadly, I didn't realize how long it would take to get onto a ferry.  Four hours later we were off again, to Vancouver Island.  The ferry was fun, but it was too cold and rainy to appreciate it properly.  I hope the return trip is in nicer weather, so I can get some nice pictures.  After the ferry there was some more lovely driving, in the pouring rain and dense fog and the dark.  I am very proud of myself for reaching Lindsay's house without getting (seriously) lost once.  Without the GPS giving directions, no less!  Go me.  It was a long day, and hopefully I now get a little break for awhile.  I still haven't decided what route to take home, but I've definitely reached the turning point in the trip. 

So this journal update is taking place on Day 16, but I don't think I'll be doing daily updates while I'm here.  They'd mostly consist of pictures of Lindsay's dog, anyway.  Who is cute and photogenic, of course, but I can't imagine that she would be very exciting to read about.  I promise to begin documenting my adventures again on the trip home.

Michael Bear sends his love to everyone (well, most everyone, there may be a few stray weirdos reading this journal, and he doesn't love all of those people). 

Before I recount my exploits of the day, I'd like to take a moment to toast my Aunt Gwyn, who passed away recently.  Today is her celebration of life, which I am unable to attend due to being about 3000 miles away.  My aunt was a very cool, very crazy (in all the best ways) woman, and I am proud to be named after her.  She was always a great example to me of how to be larger than you look (we share the same tiny Gwyn stature) and how to laugh at the often painful ridiculousness of life.  Today my heart is with her children and sisters and all the people who loved her as we gather, in spirit if not in person, to remember and celebrate a woman whose life we all very much enjoyed being a part of.

In honor of Aunt Gwyn, Michael Bear and I have raided the mini-bar for all the bourbon nips (bourbon being my aunt's drink of choice).  I'm not sure how drunk we can get off of these tiny bottles, but it's the thought that counts.  Michael Bear already looks a little glassy-eyed, to tell the truth.  I'd ask you all to raise a glass to a great woman (anything you're drinking other than milk) who will be missed very much.  Thanks.


Trip, Day 12 (August 18th, 2007)

Today I began my exploration of Seattle.  So this isn't really a complete entry, because I will be going back out shortly for more adventures.  I came back to the room to drop off some goodies and drink some bourbon.  I went to the Seattle Aquarium this morning, which was fun.  I still think the Boston Aquarium is the best, but I have to admit that the sea otters here are very cute.  Then I wandered over to the Seattle marketplace.  Wow!  I think I should move here.  There's a lot of exploring to be done.  I bought more stuff than I should have, and I'm sure I'll be going back.  Just about everything can be found there.  I excused my irresponsible shopping based on the premise that I could give everything I bought away as Xmas gifts this year.  However, I can't promise that I won't just keep everything for myself.  I'm thinking about trying on the shirt I bought for my sister Amelia.  That would be only a little wrong, right?  I love all the interesting food stands in the marketplace-- jams and jellies and vinegars and smoked meats.... Mmm.  I ate a quarter pound of fudge already.  I feel a little ill, but it was worth it.  I'm trying to resist the impulse to buy fancy hand-decorated jackets for my nieces.  They'll just puke rice cereal on them anyway.  But boy they're cute.  I had more seafood for lunch today, mm mm good.  I left my peanut butter and crackers in the car, which is parked who-knows-where, so I guess I'll just have to eat real people food for the next few days.  Oh, well.

I'll upload Seattle pictures later today or tomorrow.  I didn't take any of the marketplace anyway, because it felt rude to snap the flash in people's faces.  I have some cute sea otter pictures, though.

Okay, I'm leaving Michael Bear to sleep of his bourbon while I go back out wandering.

Well, the past two days haven't been too exciting.  Just westward bound.  So I have no pictures and not too many stories to share, and even Michael Bear has been awfully quiet lately.

Day 10 (August 16, 2007)

Driving, driving, driving.  I should have covered a lot more distance than I did, but the fates were against me.  I think just about every road in Montana is under construction.  They completely stop traffic for about half an hour, then let some cars pass through, then stop again.  Bleh.  And then once Michael Bear and I were passed that excitement, and zipping down I-90 at 80 mph again, we learned a valuable lesson about why motorcycles suck.   They only have two wheels!  And no roof or sides!  So when one wheel blows out while zipping down I-90 at 80 mph in rural Montana, Bad Things ensue.  A woman right in front of me learned this sad lesson.  The good news is, she didn't have to learn the lesson about what happens to your brain when you don't wear your helmet.  Or your skin when you don't wear protective clothing.  Thankfully she was properly attired.  Actually, she was very lucky in general.  Right after I and a few other drivers stopped to help and call 911, a paramedic happened to be driving by, with a full bag of medical gear, and he took care of her until the ambulance arrived.  And if I ever had any plans to move to rural Montana, that would change my mind-- it took more than twenty-five minutes (yes, I was timing it) for the first emergency vehicle to show up.  Her arm and shoulder were broken, and I'm betting on a concussion, but otherwise she seemed fine.  Which considering what her bike looked like when we dragged it off the road is something of a miracle.  But anyway, that took awhile to sort out and get traffic moving again afterward, so we didn't get as far as I'd hoped.  Stopped somewhere random in Idaho.

Day 11 (August 17, 2007)

And more driving!  But today we finally reached Seattle.  I feel that I can now safety say I have succeeded in driving across the country (there are some islands further west, but I'm close enough, right?).  I feel quite accomplished.  I'm going to stay in Seattle for a few days, and leave on Monday.  I'm spending too much money on my hotel, because I didn't make reservations far enough in advance and everything cheap was completely booked.  Even the local campgrounds and hostels are full!  I guess Seattle is a very popular place to be.  But at least now I'm staying downtown, so I don't need to drive much.  Which is good, because as anyone who knows me well can attest, I will do just about anything to avoid driving around cities.  They scare me.  One way streets and tourists jumping all over the place.  All I can say so far about Seattle is that the seafood is yummy.  Mmmm.  I had dinner at a seafood bar a few blocks over, and it was great.  And cheap, so maybe I can feel better about the hotel.  My stomach seemed a little confused about the addition of real food to my diet; it's gotten used to meals of pretzels and crackers, dried fruit and sometimes sardines for protein.  And lots and lots of peanut butter.  I just wandered around a bit this evening, tomorrow I'll begin the real tourist activities.  Anyone have any must-see suggestions for the area?

Michael Bear says hello to everyone.  We promise to have more interesting stories tomorrow.  This was a boring and rambling update, so thanks for reading it anyway!

Hello Gentle Readers,

You and I have not spoken directly before, but I have heard much about all of you from my travelling companion.  I thought it was time for me to introduce myself officially.  I am Michael Bear, pleased to meet you.  I apologize for the crooked nature of my userpic, but I am not a computer savvy bear and this technology confuses me.  Today my travelling companion took a break from her wanderings to do laundry and relax a bit.  I told her that her clothes would last longer if she could learn to sweat less.  I myself have been wearing the same shirt for fifteen years and it's still quite fresh.  But humans are slightly dirtier creatures than I am, I suppose. 

I took advantage of my companion's distraction to take a day for myself.  Of course I'm happy to act as travel chaperone most of the time, but sometimes a bear just needs time to himself.  So I borrowed the car and drove back to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons National Park by myself.  Some kind humans were willing to take some pictures of me communing with nature, and I took some pictures of mountains to share with you.  I hope you enjoy them.  I don't know where we are going tomorrow, but I'm sure it will be another exciting adventure.  Until later, my friends.

I wrote this last night, but couldn't post until this morning due to spotty internet connection.  I'm taking the morning off my travels to do laundry today.  Woohoo.  It has suddenly becoming cold here.  Brr.  If you are perusing my pictures on snapfish, I took a lot more than are on there.  I had trouble uploading.  I'll put the rest on later when I can.

Day 8 (August 14^th, 2007)

Yellowstone, at last!  This place sure is huge.  Which I probably should have known, but I prefer to go places without knowing anything about them other than where they are.  Okay, not really, I’m just too disorganized to research ahead of time.  Anyway, I cruised around Yellowstone for about ten hours today.  Hiked a few trails (okay, really easy ones, I started small), saw some geysers and springs (dozens and dozens), snapped a lot of photos.  Sadly, I saw no buffalo today.  The closest I came was a hoof print in the dirt that a learned expert on the matter informed me belonged to a buffalo.  The learned expert was a six year old who’d gone on a wilderness tour with a park ranger that morning, and she called it a “buffy track”, but I believe she knew her stuff.  I took a picture of the print for you all to admire.  If there are any buffalo experts in the crowd who want to repute my buffy print…. Don’t.  I like it.

Much less elusive were the bisons.  Bisons, bisons, everywhere!  I got really excited the first time I saw one, but the marvel wore thin after awhile.  A whole herd of them decided to congregate around a road I was driving on in the afternoon, and I took some excellent shots (by excellent I mean I had fun taking them, not that they’re of any artistic value whatsoever).  Only after I moved on I realized that I had neglected to take a picture of Michael Bear with the bisons, a golden opportunity missed.  Maybe tomorrow I’ll get another chance.

Took some shots of another… animal of some kind.  Um, an elk or something?  I’ll look up the name before I post this so I don’t sound too dumb.  (Confirmed: Female elk) Every time an interesting animal wandered near a road, everyone pulled over to the side (these were mountain roads mostly, so that was tough to do) to look at them.  Sometimes though I went to the effort to squeeze into a spot and jump out of my car, camera at the ready, only to discover that two dozen people were staring at nothing at all.  Possibly it was some obscure psych experiment, to see who would pull over and how long they would stare out into nothing with everyone else.  Or maybe my vision is just terrible, and there were hordes of buffalo wandering just past the point where my vision goes fuzzy.  We’ll never know, I guess.

I’m staying another day here at least.  Tomorrow I’ll do some laundry (the matter is reaching a crisis point) and check out the Grand Tetons.  I’ll search for buffalo and try to be more alert to any excellent opportunities for Michael Bear to shine.  I need at least one shot of Michael Bear enjoying Yellowstone.  Maybe I can stand really near some small child when I carry him around, so people don’t think I’m too crazy.

Wyoming verified.  Today was a long drive, and not much else.  Wyoming is at least an interesting state to drive through.  After starting off with the usual extensive hill after hill of nothing, nothing, and cows I abandoned I-90 and drove through the mountains in Bighorn National Forest.  That was a very cool drive, but sadly I didn't get many pictures of it because my camera's batteries died and I didn't get replacements until arriving at the camp grounds.  I'm about an hour east of Yellowstone now, I think.  I could have kept going but all the camp sites at Yellowstone that take reservations were full, and I was warned by some guys I camped with a few days ago, who had just been there, that all the non-reservation sites fill up quickly in the mornings.  So I will try to arrive early tomorrow morning and get a camp site before exploring.

And that's it for my updates today!  Progress made, but nothing really exciting to share.  I don't even have any Michael Bear pictures today, which I'm sure disappoints you all greatly. 

I'm back!  I was camping without internet connection for a few days.  It was creepy, I felt so out of touch with the world.  I did write down in a book my experiences for the past few days, and I'll copy what I wrote to livejournal for your enjoyment.  Warning: I went a little overboard with the pictures in this post, and I still only linked to a fraction of the pictures I took over the past few days.  Please do not click on the links if that will cause your computer to have a nervous breakdown.  Also, if anyone would like to see more pictures (not counting the people who already have access to the snapfish account) please email me and I will send them to you.  The best are here anyway, I think.

Day 4 (August 10th, 2007):

To South Dakota, we go!  The drive across Minnesota is boring.  Trees, corn, more corn, and some cows.  Then whoa!  We enter SD.  I have never seen any place like this -- it's like entering an alien world.  It's amazing to me to be able to see so far away.  Almost no trees in this part of the state, and  possibly even fewer buildings.  Just rolling hill after hill of brown grass, and some bright green grass.  No corn!  Lots of cows, though.  They looked like they were just running wild over the empty hills and valleys.  (Mmm, steak!)  So I have now confirmed that the state of South Dakota exists.  I'm still not sure more than ten people live here, though.  Michael Bear and I stopped for gas at a random place off I-90 (now nothing like the I-90 of MA or NY) but we couldn't even get to the pumps because there were a bazillion bikers there filling up their tanks.  We stopped anyway to see what a real SD pit stop in what felt like the middle of nowhere was like.  Apparently this week in some kind of biker gathering week.  There are endless parades of motorcycles on the roads.  At both campsites now the proprietors have "warned" me about all the bikers I would be camping with.  I'm not sure why, because of course they always follow up with "But they're great folk!"  Which seems to be true.  I camped next to a biker family yesterday that was travelling with a biker grandpa!  Guy must have been at least 70-something, still wearing Harley leather clothing.  He had trouble getting into his tent, but he could still ride a bike.  I want to be old like that someday.  And today I hung out with Canadian bikers from Montreal in the Badlands, they are to be thanked for all the pictures of me.

So!  The Badlands.  I only spent an hour there this evening, and plan to go back tomorow.  Better than Niagara, I think.  Well, maybe not so much the place as the atmosphere.  Niagara was a tourist trap surrounding something beautiful.  Very crowded.  This place feels mostly empty.  I sat alone for about ten minutes looking out across the park and I don't think I've ever heard so much quiet before.  It's very still and serene, except for the wind blowing through.  It makes me feel very small, in a good way.

To bed now.  Hopefully I won't blow away.  The wind is crazy and there might be a storm tonight.  That'll be interesting.  Oz, here I come!


Day 5 (August 11th, 2007)

I didn't blow away last night, though I remain convinced that it was a close call.  I couldn't sleep after climbing into my sleeping bag.  I just kept lying there, staring in paranoid fascination as the sides of my tent shook like crazy.  Eventually I gave up sleep and joined the group in the next site over at their fire for a few hours.  After that, I was tired enough that I didn't really care if I blew away.

I got up early this morning to enjoy the Badlands some more while it was still cool and not crowded.  It was just as impressive in the morning.  In the afternoon I decided to go to Wall Drug.  I had no idea what this "Wall Drug" was, but the place had signs all along I-90 for at least a hundred miles prior to the actual stop.  Of course, none of those signs said what it was exactly, but I knew from them that the mysterious "Wall Drug" had pie, coffee, FREE ice water (wow!), biker leather and a dinosaur.  An irresistible combination, really.  There actually was an 80 foot dinosaur awaiting me at the turn-off.  Sadly, I did not get  a picture.  The great Wall Drug turned out to be a whole bunch of random stores and a cafe (with FREE ice water!) all smushed together.  It was impressive mostly in the number of people there, more than I've seen since entering SD.  Of course, they were all tourists (75% bikers) so it still doesn't prove that more than 15 people live in this state.  I came very close to buying a can of "Buffalo milk-- GUARANTEED to cure what ails you!" but instead I bought a tube of chapstick that put me over my expenditure limit for the day. 

Oh, and I determined that the biker gathering is called Sturgis, which I'm sure most of you know already.  It was new to me, though.  I think I should buy myself some Harley leather attire and go stand by one of the motorcycles I've seen left by the side of I-90.  I could pretend to be one of them and hitch a ride.  Now that would be an adventure. 

Tomorrow I'm off to Mt. Rushmore, which I don't think is far.  I had planned on just stopping there on the way to Yellowstone, but I'm going into internet withdrawal.  I found a cheap hotel with a Wi-Fi connection, so I'll be able to put my pictures online for the viewing pleasure of all.

That is, assuming I don't blow away tonight instead.  Yesterday could have been a fake-out.

Day 6 (August 12th, 2007)

Not a very long drive today, though the terrain changed wildly again.  I am now the in forested Black Hills of South Dakota.  It's very beautiful here of course, I went for a long drive and hike through the nearby Custer park, which has crazy winding roads that tilted so much going around hairpin turns that I was vaguely afraid I would slide right off of them.  I also visited Mt. Rushmore, of course, though I didn't find it all that impressive.  I mean, I admire the skill and effort and time that went into carving such a huge monument, but in the end there's only so long I can look up at four giant faces before they start to bore me.  And the little visitor's center was rather sappily patriotic.  Which you'd expect, but I don't think it was really very educational.  I have been forced to admit that more than 15 people probably live in this state.  I've discovered lots of houses and stores in this area, so I am raising my estimate of the population of South Dakota to 315.  (I hope there are no South Dakota natives being offended by this joke.  You have a beautiful state! Just very empty compared to what I'm used to.)

The best part of the day was a stop at the nearby Mt. Rushmore caves, which were very cool.  Unfortunately, I forgot that I had left my camera on the passenger seat of my car this morning, when I took my last few Badlands pictures, so I didn't have it when I went into the caves.  They give a very entertaining tour.  There's a lot of climbing and slipping through narrow areas and ducking under low hanging spots.  It freaked out a few people in the tour group, so I got to feel smug and advantaged, for once, to be my tiny self.

I think tonight will be an early bedtime.  I spent too much of the last two nights worried about being swept across the Badlands with a strong gust of wind.  And I got up at 5 this morning when thunder started booming overhead.  That was just too much for me.

Another glorious day of non-stop driving!  Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota have all been verified.  I didn't really doubt Illinois or Minnesota, but I wasn't sure about Wisconsin.  There was a lot of corn to be seen.  Some cows, trees, and a whole lot of I-90 were also available for my constant viewing pleasure.  Tomorrow I head to the Badlands National Park, SD.  I'll stay there for a few days, so maybe I'll have some more interesting pictures to share soon.

Michael Bear and I drove past a funny sign in Indiana today that said "seat belt law enforced next mile."  Well, Michael Bear was sure we could breeze through that one mile's worth of enforcement without being caught, but I said better safe than sorry.  Sure enough, there were three cop cars along that one mile of highway, presumably peering into people's cars in search of neglected seat belts.  I told Michael Bear "I told you so", and he admitted that it was a wise precaution to fasten him in.  I didn't see any other cops on the remaining 500 miles of road.


I set up my first tent today, as well.  Okay, so it's a really easy small tent, but I'm still proud of myself.  Happily, even campsites have wireless internet these days.  Life is good.  Except for the sad fact that I missed out on having lunch with K'Tara today, since I didn't check my messages until this afternoon.  Curses.

Wow, today was a thrill and a half.  Drove for about nine hours to... nowhere.  I think I'm in Indiana somewhere.  Ah, well.  The motel is very cheap and has internet service.  I'm just trying to re-align my back and legs.  I have no pictures from today, because I didn't see anything interesting.  Road, road, and more road.  I deviated from I-90 to go through Ontario and Michigan.  Took about 3 minutes to get into Canada, and an hour and a half to get back out.  I almost decided to stay forever rather than brave the seemingly endless line of cars.  I wish I had something interesting to say about the day other than "my butt hurts" but I don't.  I have at least personally verified the existence of a few new states.  Tomorrow, according to the plan, I confirm Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota.  Hopefully I'll get some pictures to share.

Does anyone still read this journal?  I told you all I'd probably never update.  But I have started my great road trip, and will document my progress across the country here.  Well, until I get bored documenting, of course.

Day 0 (August 6th): Nothing interesting happened today.  Unless you count 8 hours driving I-90 West as an adventure, which sadly, I kinda do.  My butt will never be the same.  Left at about 11:30 am after a long search with my sister and the babies for the perfect send-off breakfast place.  Arrived at about 8:30pm.  Woohoo, Comfort Inn!  Yes, you smell of stale cigarette smoke and possibly mildew.  But that's okay.  Michael Bear enjoyed the drive.  He hasn't travelled much since my mother took him with her on her road trip when she was my age.  He agreed to come along as my mascot. 


Day 1 (August 7th):  Niagara Falls, ahoy!  Wow.  The most beautiful, awe-inspiring sights right next to the tackiest tourist town in existence.  Okay, that's not fair, I haven't been to every tourist town in existence, so I can't say for sure.  Anyway, I'm not sure what to say about the falls except that I wish I could be the only person on the planet for just a couple of hours.  I'd like to be able to sit and watch the water all by myself, for as long as I wanted, without being pushed aside by someone with a camera and a screaming toddler.  It was a little overcast, so the pictures I took are not the best, but they are still pretty cool.  (Yes, I had to push aside some other people for those pictures, what of it?)  I took the boat that goes to the bottom of the American Falls, and got soaked.  Then I took the wooden stairs that go up and under one of the waterfalls.  And got soaked.  But that was the best part.  I was able to put my hand out and into the falling water (a slow part, of course).  I should have brought a water bottle!  That would have been a cheap souvenir.  It's about 4pm, and I'm taking a break to write this down, but I think I'll go back to admire again this evening.  Maybe there will be fewer people.