Vicaribus Travelogue

This Is The End

Ehren & Miro — 2005-08-01T16:00:00+01:00

When did it end? We're finally in Mequon, my homeland from 1987 - 1998, parked and looming large in my mom's driveway. Only one set of neighbors have come over to ask "What... what is that thing?" but I have a feeling there will be more. You could argue that the grand voyage ended for me the first night in Madison, when I slept in my dad's house instead of in the bus. Arriving in Mequon and pulling into Lac du Cours, then Chantilly Ct. had a substantially stronger feeling of finality. We're

Tulip the Bulldog

Ehren & Miro — 2005-07-28T16:00:00+01:00

It's been four days since my last post, and I thought that was terribly unfair to msnbot.msn.com, who dutifully checks this webpage at least 20 times a day in search of new content. It's 11:04 and I have a big steak dinner in me, and the space-age washing machine at El Padre's is... it sounds like it's going to travel through time. In any event, I wasn't sure if I had the energy to really tackle Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, and then I saw that Miro took care of it. Rock on. Th

Minnesota

Ehren & Miro — 2005-07-27T16:00:00+01:00

It�s time to go home. I�m lying in bed on Sunday and that idea is echoing through my brain as I try not to sweat through in my bed. After a half hour of that I climbed out of my room and declared to Ehren it was time to head home. He�d been sometimes gently and sometimes not so gently suggesting that we skip RAGBRI and head for Wisconsin. He seemed to feel torn about not packing as much activity and adventure as possible into our last week, but really aching to head to Wisconsin now that we w

On Fumes

Ehren & Miro — 2005-07-25T16:00:00+01:00

The wind has left our sails. Miro woke up Sunday morning, pushed his door open, and basically oozed down his stairs on a trail of coagulated sweat (it was about 90 degrees outside, probably above boiling in his room) and said "Ok, I give. I'm ready to go home." I had been mumbling the same quitter's mantra under my breath for a few days, having said that if it were up to me I'd skip RAGBRAI and drive straight on through to Milwaukee, land of box springs, grilled cheese sandwiches, and the fir

500 Miles

Ehren & Miro — 2005-07-23T16:00:00+01:00

We just rocked the 500 mile stretch from Minot to Minneapolis. Started around 11:30 after the Tim McGraw show, I drove until 3:30 (when I reached Jamestown, on I-94... yep, it took 4 hours to get to an interstate from Minot). Miro woke up at 6 and started driving while I slept in the back... until the first couple of bumps when I became airborne and moved to the couch (substantially smaller moment arm). When I woke up around 10 we were in Minnesota, stopped at a Perkins, then I drove the rema

Angry Blacksmith

Ehren & Miro — 2005-07-23T07:23:00+01:00

We�re cruising down I-94 in Minnesota. I�m a little loopy from lack of sleep/intermittent sleep/terrible dreams. In a bid to fill out the last week and a bit of our trip with as much activity as possible, we decided to both attend the Tim McGraw concert (in North Dakota) on Friday night and a party in Minneapolis on Saturday. These two locations are 500 miles away from each other (about 14 hours away at our top speed). So we left after the concert last night. Ehren drove till 3 am while I slept,

Oofda.

Ehren & Miro — 2005-07-20T16:00:00+01:00

It's now the 20th. 10 days left. Forgive the scatteredness of this entry, as my mind is starting to fall apart...800 miles has had a quisinart's effect on my body, and mentally I'm moving into the future at a rate greater than time. Once or twice in the winter, while I was bitching and moaning about winter in Arizona, probably, I mentioned that I was starting to become numb to all the new experiences, the bizarre situations, the gritty but transcendantly satisfying road life I wouldn't have

Are we there yet?

Ehren & Miro — 2005-07-19T16:00:00+01:00

This travelogue has never really lent itself to dialogue form, but today it will serve to spare the reader a lengthy description of the first 300 miles or so of open plains on our drive to North Dakota. Did you know the bus has cruise control? Distances are inaccurate, and fabricated. 54 Kilometers:
M: Here comes a turn!
E: Oh no!
M: It's a Slight Left!
E: So dangerous!
M: Here we go!
E: Aaaahhhhhhhhhh! 97 Kilometers:
M: This is flat.
E: Th

Leaving the North Country Fair

Ehren & Miro — 2005-07-18T16:00:00+01:00

Saturday and Sunday I stayed and the campground, working a decent chunk of Sunday, but spending most of Saturday on the internet wasting time. Sean and I went for a shorter bike ride Saturday, into the town of Chambermere for a pint. Sunday we cooked pork on the grill after I successfully started a fire with one match, no paper, no cardboard, no lighter fluid, just wood. I should admit that 10 or so matches were used to heat the kindling before I actually tried to light the it. We never sa

Aurora Borealis

Ehren & Miro — 2005-07-17T16:00:00+01:00

Last night we saw the Northern Lights. They were spectacular for that time of year, at that latitude, spread out over the RV park. The best description I have for them is like a giant green translucent cloth spread out over the sky, flapping in the breeze. Most striking was how fast the flutters moved through the �curtain� of lights. An arc in the lights would almost race across the sky covering your entire field of vision in 20 or 30 second. Remember that in Calgary the our field of vision is a