Of laundry, Wall Drug, and desolation
Or, The trials and tribulations of Jamie and Buzzy’s cross-country adventure.
This is the first in a series of very backdated posts demonstrating that I am indeed still alive and just as ornery as ever. More will follow, eventually.
Jamie and I began our journey across the country (i.e. Oregon to Michigan) with a UHaul, a Miep cat, and lots of food. We ended our journey with a UHaul, a Miep cat, somewhat less food, and a bumper sticker proving that we visited Wall Drug in South Dakota, among other things.
We did, however, get slightly more out of it than that. The trip took us about 12 days overall because we really wanted to spend our time and enjoy this beautiful country of ours (no I haven’t gone Republican on you; I’m serious!). Our first stop was actually visiting Patrick in Vancouver, which was a most-wonderful visit. Our visit began with a covert operation to smuggle Miep into Patrick’s apartment complex, an operation that resulting in a basket of laundry with quite remarkable mobile qualities. Anyhoo, our visit with Patrick was quite lovely.
We decided that we would stay in KOA campgrounds along the way, specifically in the Kamping Kabins® (please note the use of the trademarked “K.” This is very important in distinguishing what we stayed in from mere camping cabins). While certainly high in the kitsch factor, the KOAs were nice because a) the were relatively cheap, b) they’re pet-friendly, and c) they have hot tubs and pools. Our first stop was in an Idaho, where we promptly hopped into the hot tub. We were occasionally joined by some vaguely obnoxious children, but a good time was had by all.
Next stop was Montana. Actually, the next several stops for Montana. I’m pretty sure that we were in Montana for at least three or four months. Maybe more. That state is frickin’ huge. First, some general observations about Montana:
A) There seems to be a reason why Montana is called “big sky country” - the sky is indeed rather huge there. Huge, but beautiful.
B) Montanans, along with what little we heard from Wyomingites (I looked this term up to make sure that it’s correct. Here, see for yourself), seem to have an inordinate fondness for Garth Brooks (I mean, who doesn’t?) and the song “Billy’s got his beer goggles on.”
C) And I thought that Oregonians were crazy libertarians! Sheesh, you can do anything in Montana!
C1) Along with the ability to do anything comes a price. Montana has TONS of markers in memory of people who died in alcohol-related crashes.
D) Montana is quite gorgeous. It was probably my favourite state that we visited in terms of its pure beauty.
Our first significant stop was unscheduled but quite a surprise. Simon was visiting his parents in Missoula! And Abby was there, too! We stayed with Simon and had quite a lovely time. Missoula was a great town. And we got to visit Tipu’s Tiger, the fabulous Indian food restaurant at which Simon used to work and his brother does now. Mmm, Indian food.
After Missoula, we went up to visit Glacier National Park. The park itself, while beautiful, sucked for us. We couldn’t go anywhere because we had our UHaul. Plus, the area of it to which we were restricted seemed really commercialized. We stayed around for a bit, but we eventually decided to go back to our KOA. While at this particular KOA, I had the distinct honor of overhearing three teenagers doing their laundry:
T1: This doesn’t seem to be working. It’s not washing.
T2 (grabbing the detergent box from T1): Well duh! You just put the soap in and it washes stuff!
T2 (pushing the coin acceptor in and out): it’s still not working!
Other Kamper® : The machine takes 5 quarters, honeys, not 3.
All: Oh!
Later on, Jamie and I came back in to pick up our laundry only to find the three girls sitting with their feet in the sink eating ice cream. “Our feet were cold” they told us. We did not wash any of our clothes in that sink.
Given our tepid visit to Glacier, we decided to skip our previously-scheduled visit to Yellowstone and instead spend lots of time in the great state of South Dakota! Actually, S.D. was one of my favorite places that we visited. Because we got to visit the Badlands. I found the Badlands absolutely fascinating. Whereas parks like Glacier and the parks I used to visit in Oregon were beautiful for their trees and lakes and such, the Badlands was beautiful in its desolation. While barren, it exuded a certain majesty in that barrenness. The Badlands was also interesting in that we could go anywhere that we wanted; no part of the park was restricted. In fact, there’s a southern part of it that separated from the rest of the park that people can hike through despite the presence of unused ordnance. There’s a big warning about it to hikers: do not use cellular phones as they may cause set off the ordnance. Not that there are cell phone towers in the boonies of South Dakota, but the warning is nonetheless appreciated.
On our way back from Badlands, we managed to run into the infamous Wall Drug, a veritable smorgasbord of kitschiness. Giant dinosaur statues! Fake cowboys! Rock shops! Children galore! And Jamie got food poisoning there, too! But hey, at least we got our free bumper sticker, right?
We also visited Deadwood, which was kitsch combined with lots of casinos. It was actually really interesting there. It’s a shame that the town has become so commercialized, but it was fun to see nonetheless. Southwest South Dakota in general was very beautiful. It was such a different environment from Oregon, or at least western Oregon. The rest of South Dakota, however, was not that exciting.
Southeast South Dakota and Minnesota mainly consist of corn and soybeans.
Next stop was paying a visit to Regina in Madison! It was exciting to get to see Regina, since we hadn’t seen each other in forever-and-a-day. However, it was rather nerve-wracking trying to a) drive the UHaul in downtown Madison with oblivious college students walked all about the road and b) attempting to back it out of the cul-de-sac on which Regina lives. Regina, Jesse, Jamie, and I got to watch a lovely concert in the park while we were there and listen to the violinist play his recently-acquired, rather-expensive Stradivarius.
And then it was off to Ann Arbor!
P.S. Driving through Chicago sucked. Those people are crazy, though not as crazy and Ann Arborites. More on that later.
This is the first in a series of very backdated posts demonstrating that I am indeed still alive and just as ornery as ever. More will follow, eventually.
Jamie and I began our journey across the country (i.e. Oregon to Michigan) with a UHaul, a Miep cat, and lots of food. We ended our journey with a UHaul, a Miep cat, somewhat less food, and a bumper sticker proving that we visited Wall Drug in South Dakota, among other things.
We did, however, get slightly more out of it than that. The trip took us about 12 days overall because we really wanted to spend our time and enjoy this beautiful country of ours (no I haven’t gone Republican on you; I’m serious!). Our first stop was actually visiting Patrick in Vancouver, which was a most-wonderful visit. Our visit began with a covert operation to smuggle Miep into Patrick’s apartment complex, an operation that resulting in a basket of laundry with quite remarkable mobile qualities. Anyhoo, our visit with Patrick was quite lovely.
We decided that we would stay in KOA campgrounds along the way, specifically in the Kamping Kabins® (please note the use of the trademarked “K.” This is very important in distinguishing what we stayed in from mere camping cabins). While certainly high in the kitsch factor, the KOAs were nice because a) the were relatively cheap, b) they’re pet-friendly, and c) they have hot tubs and pools. Our first stop was in an Idaho, where we promptly hopped into the hot tub. We were occasionally joined by some vaguely obnoxious children, but a good time was had by all.
Next stop was Montana. Actually, the next several stops for Montana. I’m pretty sure that we were in Montana for at least three or four months. Maybe more. That state is frickin’ huge. First, some general observations about Montana:
A) There seems to be a reason why Montana is called “big sky country” - the sky is indeed rather huge there. Huge, but beautiful.
B) Montanans, along with what little we heard from Wyomingites (I looked this term up to make sure that it’s correct. Here, see for yourself), seem to have an inordinate fondness for Garth Brooks (I mean, who doesn’t?) and the song “Billy’s got his beer goggles on.”
C) And I thought that Oregonians were crazy libertarians! Sheesh, you can do anything in Montana!
C1) Along with the ability to do anything comes a price. Montana has TONS of markers in memory of people who died in alcohol-related crashes.
D) Montana is quite gorgeous. It was probably my favourite state that we visited in terms of its pure beauty.
Our first significant stop was unscheduled but quite a surprise. Simon was visiting his parents in Missoula! And Abby was there, too! We stayed with Simon and had quite a lovely time. Missoula was a great town. And we got to visit Tipu’s Tiger, the fabulous Indian food restaurant at which Simon used to work and his brother does now. Mmm, Indian food.
After Missoula, we went up to visit Glacier National Park. The park itself, while beautiful, sucked for us. We couldn’t go anywhere because we had our UHaul. Plus, the area of it to which we were restricted seemed really commercialized. We stayed around for a bit, but we eventually decided to go back to our KOA. While at this particular KOA, I had the distinct honor of overhearing three teenagers doing their laundry:
T1: This doesn’t seem to be working. It’s not washing.
T2 (grabbing the detergent box from T1): Well duh! You just put the soap in and it washes stuff!
T2 (pushing the coin acceptor in and out): it’s still not working!
Other Kamper® : The machine takes 5 quarters, honeys, not 3.
All: Oh!
Later on, Jamie and I came back in to pick up our laundry only to find the three girls sitting with their feet in the sink eating ice cream. “Our feet were cold” they told us. We did not wash any of our clothes in that sink.
Given our tepid visit to Glacier, we decided to skip our previously-scheduled visit to Yellowstone and instead spend lots of time in the great state of South Dakota! Actually, S.D. was one of my favorite places that we visited. Because we got to visit the Badlands. I found the Badlands absolutely fascinating. Whereas parks like Glacier and the parks I used to visit in Oregon were beautiful for their trees and lakes and such, the Badlands was beautiful in its desolation. While barren, it exuded a certain majesty in that barrenness. The Badlands was also interesting in that we could go anywhere that we wanted; no part of the park was restricted. In fact, there’s a southern part of it that separated from the rest of the park that people can hike through despite the presence of unused ordnance. There’s a big warning about it to hikers: do not use cellular phones as they may cause set off the ordnance. Not that there are cell phone towers in the boonies of South Dakota, but the warning is nonetheless appreciated.
On our way back from Badlands, we managed to run into the infamous Wall Drug, a veritable smorgasbord of kitschiness. Giant dinosaur statues! Fake cowboys! Rock shops! Children galore! And Jamie got food poisoning there, too! But hey, at least we got our free bumper sticker, right?
We also visited Deadwood, which was kitsch combined with lots of casinos. It was actually really interesting there. It’s a shame that the town has become so commercialized, but it was fun to see nonetheless. Southwest South Dakota in general was very beautiful. It was such a different environment from Oregon, or at least western Oregon. The rest of South Dakota, however, was not that exciting.
Southeast South Dakota and Minnesota mainly consist of corn and soybeans.
Next stop was paying a visit to Regina in Madison! It was exciting to get to see Regina, since we hadn’t seen each other in forever-and-a-day. However, it was rather nerve-wracking trying to a) drive the UHaul in downtown Madison with oblivious college students walked all about the road and b) attempting to back it out of the cul-de-sac on which Regina lives. Regina, Jesse, Jamie, and I got to watch a lovely concert in the park while we were there and listen to the violinist play his recently-acquired, rather-expensive Stradivarius.
And then it was off to Ann Arbor!
P.S. Driving through Chicago sucked. Those people are crazy, though not as crazy and Ann Arborites. More on that later.