Worst night so far. Easily. Night 3 kept me at the Holiday Inn, St. Joseph, MO. Otherwise comfortable, there’s a train. I dunno? Hourly? maybe? it’d blow it’s horn and wake me from my slumber. ‘Blow’ will figure in later.

I had a dickens of a time falling asleep last night. About 2:30am - near as I can figure - I ended up falling asleep. When my alarm sounded at 6:35am I was beyond frustrated. I lay in bed and blinked a lot wishing for more time.

Within an hour, I’d SSS’d, and hit up Sonic for a Toaster-sandwhich thing. Ham, layered, with egg and cheese. Was VERY GOOD, IMO. Something I could make myself, and perhaps do a better job by adding bacon (there’s a shock - a fat guy wanting BACON on something eh?) and a few shots of Trader Joe’s brand Pepper sauce.

You’ve got to blame it on something. Blame it on the Rain. Lots of rain.

The whole trip was a mess with spraying water and rain. Driving was horrible. I’m tellin’ ya right here and now I saw more crappy driving in MO than any of the previous 2000? miles. SHOW me state? How about SHOW ME a f’ing TURN SIGNLE eh? How about SHOW ME some consideration by moving BACK over to the right lane? How about SHOW ME you refrain from being a jerk by NOT speeding up, passing me, and cutting me off JUST to exit? How about LET ME MERGE? Show Me state…hrm…if I could substitute TWO letters in that slogan with the letters B and L, it’d accurately reflect how I feel about my stay there.

Saint Louis. Hereby named America’s WORST CITY. I’m tellin’ ya - if STL is the crown Jewel of MO, it must be one of the paper burger-king crowns, because the city sucks. Heros of the city? I drove down Mark McGuire Parkway. I felt my junk shrinkin’ and Roid Rage all at the same time. Traffic lights? Expect to wait 10 minutes for a Red to turn green, then only 2 minutes until back to red. Cobble stone down by the Arch? PRETTY!!! But HORRIBLE. Look, if I wanted to live in 1880, I’d…well…I guess I’d be sorta out of luck. Still - HOLY CRAP STL People…FIX THOSE STREETS. The stones varied in height by as much as half a foot, I’d guess. SCRAPE was the word of the day. My Poor Car. The holes and dips were so bad I started to get sea-sick. Literally. I could show you a pic of the street, but you’d not pick up on how nasty it was. Here’s a dash-cam shot:

AND…who the Frak builds a Fraking BALL PARK right down town (except Seattle and a bunch of other places)???

The ONLY redeeming quality of St Louis - White Castle.

I had a Regular, a Cheese, and a bacon w/ Onion Rings and a large diet coke w/o ice.

A lot more rainy, nasty driving got me to tonite’s bed - Metropolis, IL. If I visit the Superman Statue, I’ll post-pics. Otherwise, I’m exhausted and will go to bed now.

Again, thanks for reading!
Darin

Edit -

I headed into town to view the Superman Statue -

After snapping that pic, I walked into a Superman Store - they sold superman stuff - go figure. Prices were outrageous, imo. More outrageous was the conversation I found myself in with some of the staff.

After I walked in, I heard somebody obviously on the phone telling somebody “You kant goe too jayl for no late payments on a bill!” “Taik them too small klaims kort!”

I walked up and said (what I THOUGHT was obviously tongue in cheek) “Well..if you need a lawyer…”

“Hay! Heers a lawyur rite heer!” he said to the person on the phone. A by-stander said “Can she (person on phone I guessed) go to jail for over-drawing their bank?”

Putting on my best Perry Mason face I said “Indebtedness can’t put somebody in jail - unless it’s child support - as far as I know.”

(back to the person on the phone) “Thair’s a lawyur rite heer he says yoo cant go to jay-ell for no debts but child support!”

Wow. He’s giving her legal advice based on some guy in his superman store!

Down the street I found a local bar - Willy-Jak’s.

typical Bar food - I had Buffalo strips and deep-fried breaded jalapeño and onion strips.

The beer looks pretty watery, doesn’t it? Let me tell you why I had that beer.

After ordering, I walked up to the bar and asked for a “Hefe-vite-zen” (written that way, cuz that’s how I said it).

The very cute, perky bar tender looked at me with the cutest WTH? face I’ve seen on a young lady in some time.

“Heff-a-WHITE-zen?” I tried again, in Illinoiseze.

“Uh…” She said, with her head tilted sideways a bit.

“Forget it - what do you drink with the buffalo strips?” I asked. “What’s your favourite?”

She straightened her head and said “Miller Lite!” as if I should have known.

“That’ll do, love.” I said.

After I ate a waitress, a bit older, but just as cute and southern, walked by.

“Hey hon, I was asking the bartender about a hefeweizen (the waitress’ face went blank, so I paused..)…..and she gave me that same look…” I smiled.

“What is it?” she asked.

“It’s a very well known, so I thought, German wheat beer.”

“Yeah…ya know? We’re VERY close to Kentucky!” she quipped with a smile. I giggled back at her, then headed out.

If it weren’t for the southern chicks, the south wouldn’t have much in the way of entertainment, I fear. hehe

- darin

Match the quote with the speaker….

1. We will lay the foundation for our future capacity to meet America’s energy needs from America’s own resources.

2. We cannot afford continued delays. We cannot afford prolonged vulnerability to foreign producers. We must act.

3. We are the generation that will win the war on the energy problem and in that process, rebuild the unity and confidence of America.

4. Energy independence is the best preparation America can make for the future.

5. The Congress should enact measures to increase domestic energy production and energy conservation in order to reduce dependence on foreign oil.

6. We have it our power to act right here, right now. I propose $6 billion in tax cuts and research and development to encourage innovation, renewable energy, fuel efficient cars, fuel efficient homes.

7. We have got to do something about our dependence on oil, for two reasons. It provides an economic and national security risk and makes it harder to be wise stewards of the environment.

A. Gerald Ford
B. Ronald Reagan
C. Bill Clinton
D. Richard Nixon
E. Jimmy Carter
F. George HW Bush
G. George W. Bush

1-D
2-A
3-E
4-B
5-F
6-C
7-G

Source; USA Today, 5-15-08, page 11A

Wow. Today, my friends…today kicked me square in the arse.

I awoke about 6:30am, planning to get to Rushmore at 8 - according to the .gov website it ‘opens’ at 8am. More on that later.

About 7:15 I head out and find a starbucks. I asked the barista “how far to Mt Rushmore?”

“Maybe 45 minutes or an hour. Yeah.”

“It’s supposed to be twenty-something miles…” I thought. He has no idea.

So - I roll up to Rushmore about 7:41. twenty-some minutes after leaving Starbucks. It’d been open since 7am. The website told me 8 - but 8 is only for the admin buildings. Who cares?
Mount Rushmore - BEAUTIFUL. Truly awesome. I really ‘felt it’

On the way out, I was playing on the radio, “God Bless the USA”. As I pulled around to the exit, low-and-behold? A freakin Mountain Goat was there to say good-bye.

Forget what I said yesterday, THIS GUY is named Stephen Wilds. What’s a little prairie dog gonna do? He needs a new name.

Hitting the highway eastbound, I read all eleventy-thousand “Wall Drug” roadside signs. Holy Cow. I was powerless to resist.

VERY cool - but I suspect the only reason the town of Wall, South Dakota exists is because of this place. Inside:

LOOK OUT, LADY!!!!

So - yeah…I’m tellin’ ya, the wildlife I’ve seen so far has NOTHING on this guy - Behold…the NEW Stephen Wilds. I mean - what’s a mountain goat going to do? Fight this guy?

T-Rex Stephen Wilds roared to life every 12 minutes. Yes, I stood around looking goofy waiting for a big fake dinosaur Stephen Wilds to animate and roar. I’m 35. Way too old for that stuff.

On to Pie. I mean…the ONLY thing I can come up with that tops a Dino, is…Pie. YUM! Blackberry.

No need to salivate - it wasn’t that good. My wife’s pie tastes MUCH better.

Speaking of food. Sioux Falls, SD. Bob’s Cafe Diner. HOLY COW. I’m being as honest as I can when I say I can’t remember eating BETTER where my brother wasn’t cooking.

11 seats inside -

This is the kind of place I DREAM ABOUT when I dream about quitting my job and opening a diner.

The BBQ sauce was spot-on. Sweet without being sugary. A bit of a kick for sure. The ColeSlaw - holy crap - That slaw rocked. I also got a taste of the potato salad. I felt like I’d seen God. Just kidding. But close.

That’s all I’ve got for today. I got into St. Joseph and into my room about 8:45pm. I feel like 700 miles of bad road. Speaking of bad roads. Guys - if anyone lives in Iowa or Missouri. PLEASE call your congressman or woman. IMPLORE them to FIX THE Freakin’ ROADS. I’ve never seen such crap as I29 in my adult life. Bumpy and nasty.

Tomorrow’s a short day for me, with less than 500 miles scheduled. If I get into Metropolis, IL early enough, I might come back and add to this day’s report, in addition to my Day 4 round-up!

Thanks for reading!

Darin

I awoke this morning in Beautiful Butte, MT.  Outside temps were about 25 degrees.  Brrr….Car covered in 1/8th of icy-frost stuff. Last night was restless.  I dozed off about 11:30p or so.   I tossed and turned for most of the night.  The 4 large pillows in bed with me were not a substitute for a nice soft body beside me.  Sleeping alone sucks.

As I was getting into my car i noticed a Freakin- HUGE Virgin Mary atop a peak up from my hotel.  She lights up at night!

After fuel  and about 10 minutes cleaning my car’s wheels of 1100 miles of brake-dust, I headed east.  I LOVE 75mph speed limits. I honestly do.  (sigh).  The cold temps brought slick roads as I crossed the continental divide at nearly 7000 feet.  Surprisingly, the car didn’t feel too-awfully-sluggish up that high.

On the down-side of the pass, I encountered VERY thick Fog.  I used my GPS to give me warnings of pending corners and curves ahead! I wasn’t white-knuckling it, but I did have to slow to a more REASONABLE speed.

My 2nd Fuel stop was in Gillette, WY.  I pulled off the highway and into a Flyin’ J. As I was measuring my 2-cycle oil, I realized I wouldn’t have enough for the whole trip; thankfully there was a Checker Auto Parts nearby.  As I was fiddling in the car, shutting things down, a guy in a beater Cadillac pulled in beside me.  A young man got out - probably late teens, early 20s.  He was looking at my car.  A lot.  When I stepped out, he said “Nice car!”

” Thanks”

“Wanna race?” he offered.  I really think he was serious.

“Uh.  No?  I don’t race people.  The car looks too good to race folk.”

“I’ve got a Mistubishi VR4 with twin terboze, all-wheel-drive and Noss…It’s so fast”

I gave him a ‘wtf’ look as he just got out of a beater Caddy.

“It’s at my mom’s place in Colorado - i just got the caddy.”

“Oh. Aight then. ”

A few hours later I turned off I90 and headed North, towards Devils Tower National Monument.  It took all I had to keep from testing the speed limiter during stretches of road like this:

As I got closer to the tower I was gifted with some of the very best roads I’ve driven.  Absolutely beautiful.  The road has a 65mph speed limit, so it was nice to have ‘head room’ and BLAST corners without/or barely breaking the limits.

THIS IS IMPORTANT.  THIS MEANS SOMETHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:-)  I’d stopped at KFC in Gillette and picked up a Large Mashed Taters, sans Gravy.  I think it’s neat.  I laughed.  People looked at me VERY FUNNY/ODD as they saw me carrying a load of mashed taters on a paper sack.  The bus-full of Japanese tourists either laughed or moved to the OTHER side of the trail.  While I was setting up a few pics with the taters on my RX8, an obvious climber walked by.

“NICE Car!”

“Well thank you!” I said

“Man, I’ve always wanted one of those.”

“Invest in an oil company if you do - it uses a lot of oil and gas!”

On the way back down to the highway I stopped for a pic of a buddy.  I’m going to call him Stephen Wilds.   Just fits him, don’t you think?

One final pose with the Rock!

A couple hours later, I FINALLY made it to tonite’s end-of-journey.  Holiday Inn, Rapid City.

After I got unloaded, I went and found dinner:

I had a bacon Cheddar burger w/ hotwings sauce on the side. FANTASTIC! The Honey-Rye beer was good, too!

Now, I’m back at the hotel, exhausted. At check in, I met a licensed massage therapist.  $55 for one hour. Full Body.  Wow.  I can’t tell you how tempted I am to call the girl.

I found myself staring at my alarm clock at 3:57am. I could hear the cats moving around in the house. My thoughts were centered on departing as quickly as possible. No use trying to go back to sleep. Up at 4:00 am, I started tooling around the house. I did a last-minute sweet to ensure I’d brought everything I wanted to bring. I watched TV for a few minutes wondering if It’d be the last time I get to enjoy “my” TV (we’re including it in the house sale).

After the car was loaded and warming, Mary and I exchanged our goodbyes and off I went. Traffic was thick coming out of Puyallup towards and thru Sumner. I didn’t feel free of traffic until I made it to I90, just about 4 Miles up the road from Tiger Mountain, off hwy 18.

Wasn’t too long until I stopped for a potty break. I snapped a couple pics to show how I have the in-car camera set-up.

Stopping at the Columbia River, at Vantage, WA

On to Spokane, WA to pay my regards to my Grandfather, Grandmother, and Uncle -

Through Idaho, I found beautiful wide-open fast mountain roads…and snow on the edges.

After my final stop for fuel of the day, at the Missoula Kum & Go -

…I made it to today’s final stop - Holiday Inn, Butte, MT.

Four more days to go! Yikes.

-darin

It’s 10:03pm as I sit down and start writing. I think i’ve got everything ready, although I know I’ll have forgotten SOMETHING. The kicker is, I won’t realize I’ve forgotten it until I get too-far-away to turn back.

In my suitcases I’ve got about 70lbs each worth of junk. Attached you’ll see the stuff that goes inside the car with me - the trunk is full of woofers and boxes of other stuff, a pile of clothes, a tripod and monopod, and extra oil.

One suitcase will go strapped into each back seat. The laptop, my camera backpack, one other bag (not pictured because it’s blue, and didn’t “go” with the others), and misc. stuff will be in the passenger’s seat area. The StickyPod will be stuck to the inside of the passenger’s window, and the Canon S2IS will be securely fastened to the arm.

I’m actually surprised I won’t be COMPLETELY crowded with junk - although about hour six into my 10-12 hr day tomorrow, I’m sure I’ll start feeling claustrophobic.

Anywho - here we go! For day one, it’s Butte or Bust!

- darin