Day the First.
As some of you don’t remember, a few months ago I asked if anybody was interested in hearing about my 2001 summer road trip. The response I got was simply overwhelming. So many of you were kind enough to at least feign an interest in something I had mentioned was important to me, so here I am rewarding your kindness. I’ve decided to finally attempt a comprehensive travel log in the effort to immortalize my most precious memories. I kept a travel diary during the actual trip, but that became lost to me when the hard drive it was stored on crashed. All the photos I took were likewise lost, and just thinking about their inaccessibility makes me sad. I even kept a to-the-penny log of how much money I spent, where I spent it, what I spent it on, and the time I spent it. Very saddening. I am praying that the future will invent some way of restoring the lost info, because there are some very important memories on that disk that I’m sure I’ve forgotten today.
Anyway, it is the loss of that diary and those pictures that is guiding my typing fingers. While most of the trip is still fresh in my mind even after all these years, I still think it prudent to write them out for preservation’s sake. What follows is the first day of that grand trip. I don’t know how often I’ll recount subsequent days, though. I have many LJ projects in the works, so it just depends on how often the motivation strikes. Also, these tales are largely for my own sake, so expect a lot of details and seemingly pointless bits of minutiae.
September 1st, 2001 - Saturday evening, Sunday morning
Approximate miles traveled: 627
My journey began under dubious terms: the previous night I had injured my back at work so thoroughly that a trip to the emergency room was required. It was just a pulled muscle, but so severely pulled that I found it painfully difficult to take even the babiest of steps. I was given a shot in the rump by a nurse with large, fake juggs, given some painkillers, and told to take it very easy for the next few days. Come to think of it, I think I might’ve postponed the trip by one day. Irrespective, I was in mild discomfort when I drove out of Omaha. I left town at 10:30pm. I worked nights back then, so those were the hours I was accustomed to, and since I love driving at night, it seemed a fitting way to begin my trip.
The elation I felt as I left Omaha (after first stopping in town at a gas station to procure a few bottles of Gatorade, ice, and a banana), was overwhelming. I was embarking upon a solo adventure the likes of which I couldn’t even begin to anticipate. And I’m not only saying that with the vantage of hindsight; I knew that I was on the precipice of something grand. I had traveled by myself once before (to Estes Park, CO), but I had already been there with friends, so it wasn’t truly a trek into unknown territory. With this trip, I’d be entering states (both geographical and mental) theretofore unknown. I also had very little idea of where the trip would take me. I knew I wanted to visit Yellowstone, and I had a friend in San Fransisco I could stay with for a few days, but other than those two destinations, I had no set schedule or plan of attack. I was simply going to go where ever the winds blew me. So, to say I was elated as I left Omaha’s city limits would be a major understatement.
I don’t remember much of those first four or five driving hours. I do remember stopping at a Perkins/Village Innesque all-night restaurant and eating myself a quick meal. There was a girl sitting with her friends at a table near mine. She was quite fetching, and I took a shine to her. I don’t recall her features now, but I do remember this eye-catching necklace she wore. It was possibly Native American in design. I always remember just the necklace whenever I think back to that moment.
After my meal, I continued my travel across Nebraska. I think there was a full moon out that night. My memory places the time at roughly three or four in the morning. The moon was low in the sky - not quite near the horizon, but certainly far away from the sky’s zenith - and the moonlight reflected eerily off the fog rolling across a green field to my left. I was playing a Goblin CD at the time, and if any of you are familiar with Lucio Fulci movies, you’ll know what type of music it was, because Fulci used many of their songs in his films. Listening to the music made it easy to imagine little impish creatures cavorting around a campfire somewhere deep within the foggy field. My back was really starting to hurt about this time, as I had been sitting in a car driving for the past seven or eight hours. The doctor had recommend a lot of bed rest, so driving wasn’t doing my lumbar region a lick of good. But the pain eventually passed, or I just became habituated to it, and it was about that time when I decided to take my first "where ever the wind might blow me" side trip.
I chose to drive along some anonymous side road to see where it would take me. I exited I-80 and quickly found a gravel/dirt road that wound its way through shimmering, moonlit rolling hills. Well, hills to my left, and a valley/forest to my right. It was beautiful. The hills were dotted with wild flowers and long grasses, and the way the fauna caught the moon’s glow was just breathtaking. My first little side adventure had truly paid off. (I’m also suddenly remembering trying to take a picture of a plane, or the moon, or something in the sky right around this point.) After soaking in the glory of that white-bathed weald, I drove back to the Interstate and continued on towards Ogallala, NE.
Ogallala is a right near the border of Colorado. In fact, traveling on I-80 it’s the last town one would drive through before entering the Centennial State. This is also where I made my first navigational decision. My day's (night's) goal was to make it to Casper, Wyoming. I could either take the Interstate west to Cheyenne, then north straight up to Casper. Or, I could veer off from Ogallala and drive some of the state’s highway system. I chose the highway system. Adventure was the name of the game, after all. It would be a slower drive, but it would also be a shorter one, plus I’d get to drive through small towns and enjoy the early morning countryside as it awoke from a night of slumber. I made the appropriate corrections to my course through a seemingly deserted Ogallala, and with a happy chirp to my whistle, headed out of town. Then, with the sky’s expanse tinged with light pinks, blues, and violets, I took my trusty SUV over the pavement of Nebraska’s famed highways.
It was a fairly peaceful and quiet drive. I stopped at a rest stop somewhere along the way. Of course, this wasn’t anything like an Interstate rest stop; it was just one of those historic point of interests stops. It was here that I had an amusing encounter with a group of persistent gnats. I got out of the car and had myself a delicious breakfast of chocolate milk and bananas. As I was eating and drinking, I became aware that a swarm of tiny, flying insects had taken a shine to my head region. These suckers were buzzing so close to my face that I feared I’d suck a few into my mouth every time I took a bite of fruit or a swig of cow liquid. I couldn’t swoosh them away with my swatting hand, so I tried to outrun them. Then I’d quickly take a bite of banana before they could catch up. That was the plan, at least. The reality was that I couldn’t outrun the f’ers, because the moment I stopped, there they were, ready to flit about my head. Realizing the futility of my awesome plan, I then took to running around the parking lot and eating/drinking at the same time. Yes, I could have just gotten back into the car to finish my breakfast, but that would have defeated the purpose of me wanting to enjoy the morning sunshine and cool breeze against my face. But, I finally finished my heroic meal without chomping too many insects, so I chalked it up to a rousing success.
Back in the car I went, and back to the road I drove. Nothing memorable happened for the next few hours. As I was finally nearing Casper, I noticed my gas tank was crawling dangerously close to empty. I had already passed the last town before Casper, and there wouldn’t be another gas station until I reached the city... which was like 60 or 70 miles away. My math told me I’d barely make it, but it was a pretty stressful drive because the gas light was on for most of it. But, like any true titan, I rolled into town on the fumes of pure determination. Great success! I checked into a hotel around 10:00 am. I closed the curtains, turned up the AC, and fell asleep quite quickly. It was, if I remember correctly, a very peaceful slumber.
Up next... Paul gives himself a mohawk.
Anyway, it is the loss of that diary and those pictures that is guiding my typing fingers. While most of the trip is still fresh in my mind even after all these years, I still think it prudent to write them out for preservation’s sake. What follows is the first day of that grand trip. I don’t know how often I’ll recount subsequent days, though. I have many LJ projects in the works, so it just depends on how often the motivation strikes. Also, these tales are largely for my own sake, so expect a lot of details and seemingly pointless bits of minutiae.
September 1st, 2001 - Saturday evening, Sunday morning
Approximate miles traveled: 627
My journey began under dubious terms: the previous night I had injured my back at work so thoroughly that a trip to the emergency room was required. It was just a pulled muscle, but so severely pulled that I found it painfully difficult to take even the babiest of steps. I was given a shot in the rump by a nurse with large, fake juggs, given some painkillers, and told to take it very easy for the next few days. Come to think of it, I think I might’ve postponed the trip by one day. Irrespective, I was in mild discomfort when I drove out of Omaha. I left town at 10:30pm. I worked nights back then, so those were the hours I was accustomed to, and since I love driving at night, it seemed a fitting way to begin my trip.
The elation I felt as I left Omaha (after first stopping in town at a gas station to procure a few bottles of Gatorade, ice, and a banana), was overwhelming. I was embarking upon a solo adventure the likes of which I couldn’t even begin to anticipate. And I’m not only saying that with the vantage of hindsight; I knew that I was on the precipice of something grand. I had traveled by myself once before (to Estes Park, CO), but I had already been there with friends, so it wasn’t truly a trek into unknown territory. With this trip, I’d be entering states (both geographical and mental) theretofore unknown. I also had very little idea of where the trip would take me. I knew I wanted to visit Yellowstone, and I had a friend in San Fransisco I could stay with for a few days, but other than those two destinations, I had no set schedule or plan of attack. I was simply going to go where ever the winds blew me. So, to say I was elated as I left Omaha’s city limits would be a major understatement.
I don’t remember much of those first four or five driving hours. I do remember stopping at a Perkins/Village Innesque all-night restaurant and eating myself a quick meal. There was a girl sitting with her friends at a table near mine. She was quite fetching, and I took a shine to her. I don’t recall her features now, but I do remember this eye-catching necklace she wore. It was possibly Native American in design. I always remember just the necklace whenever I think back to that moment.
After my meal, I continued my travel across Nebraska. I think there was a full moon out that night. My memory places the time at roughly three or four in the morning. The moon was low in the sky - not quite near the horizon, but certainly far away from the sky’s zenith - and the moonlight reflected eerily off the fog rolling across a green field to my left. I was playing a Goblin CD at the time, and if any of you are familiar with Lucio Fulci movies, you’ll know what type of music it was, because Fulci used many of their songs in his films. Listening to the music made it easy to imagine little impish creatures cavorting around a campfire somewhere deep within the foggy field. My back was really starting to hurt about this time, as I had been sitting in a car driving for the past seven or eight hours. The doctor had recommend a lot of bed rest, so driving wasn’t doing my lumbar region a lick of good. But the pain eventually passed, or I just became habituated to it, and it was about that time when I decided to take my first "where ever the wind might blow me" side trip.
I chose to drive along some anonymous side road to see where it would take me. I exited I-80 and quickly found a gravel/dirt road that wound its way through shimmering, moonlit rolling hills. Well, hills to my left, and a valley/forest to my right. It was beautiful. The hills were dotted with wild flowers and long grasses, and the way the fauna caught the moon’s glow was just breathtaking. My first little side adventure had truly paid off. (I’m also suddenly remembering trying to take a picture of a plane, or the moon, or something in the sky right around this point.) After soaking in the glory of that white-bathed weald, I drove back to the Interstate and continued on towards Ogallala, NE.
Ogallala is a right near the border of Colorado. In fact, traveling on I-80 it’s the last town one would drive through before entering the Centennial State. This is also where I made my first navigational decision. My day's (night's) goal was to make it to Casper, Wyoming. I could either take the Interstate west to Cheyenne, then north straight up to Casper. Or, I could veer off from Ogallala and drive some of the state’s highway system. I chose the highway system. Adventure was the name of the game, after all. It would be a slower drive, but it would also be a shorter one, plus I’d get to drive through small towns and enjoy the early morning countryside as it awoke from a night of slumber. I made the appropriate corrections to my course through a seemingly deserted Ogallala, and with a happy chirp to my whistle, headed out of town. Then, with the sky’s expanse tinged with light pinks, blues, and violets, I took my trusty SUV over the pavement of Nebraska’s famed highways.
It was a fairly peaceful and quiet drive. I stopped at a rest stop somewhere along the way. Of course, this wasn’t anything like an Interstate rest stop; it was just one of those historic point of interests stops. It was here that I had an amusing encounter with a group of persistent gnats. I got out of the car and had myself a delicious breakfast of chocolate milk and bananas. As I was eating and drinking, I became aware that a swarm of tiny, flying insects had taken a shine to my head region. These suckers were buzzing so close to my face that I feared I’d suck a few into my mouth every time I took a bite of fruit or a swig of cow liquid. I couldn’t swoosh them away with my swatting hand, so I tried to outrun them. Then I’d quickly take a bite of banana before they could catch up. That was the plan, at least. The reality was that I couldn’t outrun the f’ers, because the moment I stopped, there they were, ready to flit about my head. Realizing the futility of my awesome plan, I then took to running around the parking lot and eating/drinking at the same time. Yes, I could have just gotten back into the car to finish my breakfast, but that would have defeated the purpose of me wanting to enjoy the morning sunshine and cool breeze against my face. But, I finally finished my heroic meal without chomping too many insects, so I chalked it up to a rousing success.
Back in the car I went, and back to the road I drove. Nothing memorable happened for the next few hours. As I was finally nearing Casper, I noticed my gas tank was crawling dangerously close to empty. I had already passed the last town before Casper, and there wouldn’t be another gas station until I reached the city... which was like 60 or 70 miles away. My math told me I’d barely make it, but it was a pretty stressful drive because the gas light was on for most of it. But, like any true titan, I rolled into town on the fumes of pure determination. Great success! I checked into a hotel around 10:00 am. I closed the curtains, turned up the AC, and fell asleep quite quickly. It was, if I remember correctly, a very peaceful slumber.
Up next... Paul gives himself a mohawk.