what happens in sioux city, stays in sioux city.

i would just like to start this off with a large sigh. last night i had someone sleep in my truck with me for the first time, i didnt want it to happen, his name was hector. i woke up around 7 in the morning to him trying desperately to close the doors for some reason as the rain beat down upon the truck. i had to urinate and then i had to puke and then i had to poop, it quick of succession. hector started to freak out a little bit, i got out of the truck and walked around barefoot in the rain, in sioux city iowa. i didnt know where i was, and currently i will try to reconstruct what got me there.

the morning was like any other, i got up and found a place to wash up and use the internet. the place i went to was the convention center downtown, right across the street from it are the movie theatres, i had a plan for this day. the new harry potter had just come out and i wanted to see it, i was even willing to pay for it. after i got done with my morning i walked over to the theatre, there was no one there there was no one there taking tickets, so i just walked right in and went into the nearest theatre.

it was still over an hour before the next showing and nothing else was on at the time, so i walked out the back and propped the door open. then i went to my truck and drove around to find a grocery store. eventually i found one, it was a bit far away and i was rushing to get back to the theatre in time. of course i got back with plenty of time and someone had removed my door prop. so i walked around the building, saw no other sneak point and when in the front to pay.

for $7 i watched harry potter 6 and i wasnt very impressed. i had read the book three times and would safely say it is my favorite of the series. i just do not understand why the movies have to be so untrue to the books. during the movie i had deigned to watch it again right after, you know, get my full $7 worth. but after the movie it didnt seem worth it, so i ducked into a different theatre instead. there i watched the new sascha baron cohen film, bruno. that i laughed to and found to be better that harry potter.

it was about 4:pm now, i was hungry again but decided to settle for a drink. i had gone to a bar the day prior and they had a good happy hour special, and it was happy hour. so i walked over there. it was kind of like deja vu. the same bartender, and all of the same people were in the same seats as the day before. it was eerie and i ordered my drink and sat in a corner table so i could use the outlet to charge my computer. i sat over there, minding my own business for a couple of hours having two drinks on happy hour. but then everything changed.

there wasnt anyone in the bar, and i was enjoying that. there was the bartender, nikki, a few other bar workers and one other guy. i decided to have another drink, nikki was talking to the other guy at the bar so i sidled up to him to get another beer. this guy and nikki had been outside together a few times and seemed to be dating, and nikki was drunk now. she walked over to fill up my beer but didnt come back, so i started talking to john.

super sad bht and john

i asked about his relationship with nikki, he said it was complicated, and then we started talking about more things. about portland, los angeles, my travels, him leaving for culinary school soon, etc. by the time nikki came back she was on our side of the bar and john and i had become buddies. he introduced me to her as "his new best friend" she countered that i had become her new best friend yesterday. they made out a little bit and then she left, and john and i were just sitting there again. he said that we should leave after this beer.

i hadnt given any though to leaving with him or pursuing something outside of bar conversation with him. it hadnt crossed my mind at all. but when he said it, i thought about it and it seemed okay. i was about 8:pm by then and i was just going to go back to my truck, watch a movie and fall asleep. he was offering more of a night, so i took it. he suggested that we go from the firehouse, the bar we were at, to the strip club called teasers, it was only a couple of blocks away. i was okay with that. on the way we stopped at my truck and i dropped off my computer and we each had a shot of whiskey. the beginning of the end.

the three amigos!

we got to teasers and we were just hanging around outside, john was smoking his cigarette and i was just waiting for him. up comes hector. clearly i didnt know his name when he walked up, but he came up to us and asked us about the strip club. i told him it was a $3 cover and he gave me a five. i didnt have any change and he said to keep it. he told us his name, and that he was from norfolk, nebraska. he and his girlfriend were pregnant and he had just kind of left home without telling anyone and came to sioux city to have a good night. we hung out and chatted more and when he and john each finished smoking we all went inside. john paid everyones cover and then i bought everyone a beer. hector threw down a bunch of singles and we sat at the stage watching the dancers.

i cannot help but laugh as i think of this. we were an odd crew of people, but we just sat there and each kept buying drinks for one another, and getting singles, the dancer were very touchy. it was a nice experience. then john purchased a bottle of sparkling vodka. i had never seen this before, but it was a small bottle a little bigger than a wine cooler. he poured each of us a shot and i think hector made a toast and we drank. it was good. and now, everything was a good time. we knew most of the dancers, we had plenty of drinks, i was content. then we all got another shot to finish off the bottle. i didnt need that, i think that was when i was officially drunk. however i do still remember the awe in my face when i learned that john had spent in excess of $60 for that little bottle of vodka.

shortly after that however, hector wanted to leave. he felt that we had more to explore and wasnt content to stay at this place for the entire night. i didnt really want to leave, but hector convinced john and john had invited us to stay the night at his house. so i went with them. actually, i drove them. looking back, it wasnt very smart to drive. but this night wasnt about smart things.

hector wanted to go to the next strip club. john wasnt that into it and i was just driving, i had informed them of my financial situation and hector said all of the drinks were on him for the rest of the night. i couldnt say no, so i did what i could. first they each had another shot of whiskey, i waited on mine. then the three of us piled into the cab of my truck and john was driving us away from anywhere i was familiar with. at this point, john was very drunk.

the place that we went to was called mavericks. a strip club in the seedier part of town, but here we were. when we parked i got out the bottle of whiskey and offered around some shots, doing my part. hector wouldnt allow john to have one, so the two of us took shots and then went inside. again, john paid the cover for us. now, i dont know how it happened, but i didnt get very far into the club. immediately i started talking with one of the dancers, she was called secret. and she said she was cold. so i offered her a shirt. i have a few that i dont ever wear, so in the event i didnt get it back, no big deal.

after i gave her the shirt, she asked if i would massage her shoulders. of course i would. so i started doing that and eventually we were in the parking lot and i was making out with her/massing her body in someone elses pickup truck. apparently the truck we were in belonged to the bouncer and when he came out he chastised us and told her that she knew she couldnt do that kind of stuff here. i went back inside. that episode, massaging and such lasted the better part of an hour. it was midnight now. i went to find my friends.

john, bless him, had falled asleep at the stage and one of the dancers was currently slapping him. hector was trying his hardest to get a free lapdance. hector was happy to see me and asked where i had been, i told him, and he was jealous. he wanted more than ever to close out the place and try to go home with a stripper. john and i had other ideas. it was late and we were all very drunk. luckily i hadnt had anything to drink while i was at the bar, so when we finally rounded hector up i was more okay to drive than i had been the last time. still not the best decision, but we had to get out of there.

we all piled into the front of the truck again and we were on our way to john's house. but hector was persisting that the night wasnt over and instead john led us to his neighborhood bar. he insisted that he only lived two blocks from the place and hector was placated for the time being. when entered and it was mellow, but people were friendly and everyone knew john. but no one knew him as john, they all called him j.t. we ordered some beer and just hung out there. hector took out his green card and was showing it off to everyone that would care.

he was very proud of his green card and we talked a bit about us/mexico relations and then him and the owner, pete started talking about something. i turned my attention to the lady sitting next to me. her name was nikki, but not the one from earlier. she told me her story and asked how i knew j.t. i explained my story and then i asked j.t. how he knew here. he said it was complicated but that he wasnt the father of either of her children. he also assured me that he never made out with me. then she said that they had made out just last thursday, a mere 6 days ago. it was hilarious.

peeing!

at one point in the night he was trying to make out with her again, and i kind of broke it up. i am not sure if either of them appreciated it, but it felt like the right thing to do. we were at this bar for a little over an hour, before it got ridiculous and we had to leave. our plan was to walk back to johns house and we would all sleep there. once outside, john proceeded to fall down almost immediately. i picked him up and sat him on the hood of my car, hector peed on the building and then started a tirade. he demanded to go back to the strip club, saying that it was still earlier, we still had an hour to go. i told him there was no way i was driving, and he pouted for a bit but eventually understood.

and then the long march home. john wasnt sure any longer where he lived at, the other patrons at the bar were looking out for johns best interest and didnt want two strangers taking him home. there was a mini-standoff but john assured the bar folk that he wanted to go home and he wanted us to take him. i assured them that we were all right. hector on one side, me on the other, we started to walk/carry john home. then someone yelled at us that we were going in the wrong direction. of course we were.

so we had to walk back by the bar folk in our ridiculous procession and parlay a few folks that reiterated that they didnt trust us. shortly past them, we all fell down. i scraped my knee pretty bad, it was bleeding, but i popped right back up. then i lifted john up. hector said that his elbow hurt and didnt want to get up. the guys from the bar rushed over to us and i was embarassed. i wasnt so drunk i needed to fall and for whatever reason i wanted these guys to like me. pete, the owner of the bar, decided to walk us home so we could find the place. and eventually we did find it. it was upstairs, i got john up there and he immediately sat on the toilet. i went back down to thank pete and collect hector who had resumed some debate that he and pete were having earlier at the bar.

the apartment was upstaris, there was a bedroom at one end a kitchen in the middle and a front room when you walk in, with just one couch in it. the bathroom was just off the front room. i told hector to take the couch and then i checked on john. he had passed out on the toilet, so i woke him up and he pulled his pants up a bit and we got him in his bed. then i had to deal with hector. i told hector to sleep on the couch and i would walk back to my truck and sleep in it, in the morning i would come and get him or he could come and get me and then i would drive him back to his car downtown. he said no way, he didnt want to be left there alone. i rifled around and couldnt find a pen anywhere to write down my phone number. so i did the only thing i could think of.

i waited until he was in the bathroom and i took off. i literally ran as fast as my drunk self would allow me back to the bar. i got back huffing and puffing, the bar had just closed. it was a little after 2:am and the patrons were just sitting outside. they were pete the owner, heath and nikki, jen and her father richard. richard was a county sheriff. i explained to them what had happened and that i was just going to sleep in my truck. i asked pete if i could leave it parked there and leave in the morning. he said that was fine. richard threatened to call me in for vagrancy.

me and jen, very mean

but that simmered down and we were just hanging out chatting, i was trying to end it so i could get in the truck and sleep, but i wanted some water. pete wouldnt let me back in the bar to get any water, so i pulled out my third reserve, water still from portland, and drank some. jen wanted to try portland water, sucked me back into talking and then hector comes up. he isnt furious but he boldly says "why did you run away?" i told him becasue he wasnt being reasonable, i didnt want to sleep on the floor and my truck was right here. then we argued for a bit, i kept telling him to go back there and stay on the couch, the patrons wanted him to take a cab and get a hotel room, but he wanted to sleep in my truck with me.

i told him no way and showed him the back, how little it was. he wasnt really hearing what i was saying, but got back to talking to pete, and i saw my way out. most everyone else had left and it was past 3:am now, so i crawled in the back and fell asleep very promptly. when i awoke, it was not very pleasant. hector was repeatedly slamming the door to the back of my truck. it was light out and i asked him what he was doing in here, he said that he couldnt get the doors to shut. i wasnt very happy that he was in there. i was laid out on the bed and he was curled up at the end, on plywood, and laying on all my trash and other castaway things that end up towards the door to be taken out in the morning.

it was kind of pitiful and i just shook my head at him and went back to sleep. well, i tried to. i couldnt do it, i had to pee so bad. but it was raining and i didnt want to get out. so i laid there, listening to him shiver. i felt bad, but what could i do? then the hangover came in and i had to poop real bad and/or throw up real bad, the point being that i had to get out of the truck. i told him as much, he cleared the way and i jumped out. by the time i was up, pooping was my number one priority. so, barefoot in the rain, i started walking to johns house. except i couldnt really remember where it was.

i mustve looked pitiful, barefoot in the rain, disheveled, and aimless. eventually i found it, but the door was locked. i was pissed, so i walked back to the truck and hector was up now. he wanted to go to mcdonalds. i said okay, i just needed a toilet. the only problem, or the principle problem, was that neither of us knew where the hell we were, at all. so i just started driving, turning when it caught my fancy and the first thing we came upon was a mcdonalds. i rushed in and sat down, he ordered some food. when i finished, i didnt feel much better, i needed to sleep longer, but first i had to get hector to his car. he gave me some food, but it was disgusting and i couldnt eat it.

we left and eventually found downtown. i dropped hector off at his car, he kept saying how crazy of a night it was, and he was right. but it had to end here. we parted and i drove to the convention center and fell asleep in my truck for about 5 more hours. it was great. but then i was really hungry. i popped up and looked where hector was and noticed that he had been sleeping on my computer. i was a little nervous then becasue i didnt want it to be broken, it really fuels part of my journey. i open it and it was broken. sadly hector had cracked part of the screen. i was mad at him for a moment, but then i got over it. it wasnt too bad, but it still was shitty.

then i made some soup and decided to get out of the truck and jot down my memories before they fade as so many have before them. thanks sioux city.

from the middle of nowhere, all the way to sioux city!

after a long night in a casino parking lot, i set off on the road again today. i saw just as i was leaving the lot that i slept right on the border of nebraska and south dakota, so when i kept saying i didnt know where i was or in the video i took i couldnt determine if i was looking at dakota or nebraska, it was all just. there was no way to know when i was right on the border.

i got up early, i dont know precisely when, because all of my clocks said a different time. moving between the time zones, especially being right near the divide makes it hard to determine just what the real time is. my phone, i am pretty sure, updates automatically. it better, it sends me a text message when i leave the country, it should also update the time when i cross a zone.

so i started the day in nebraska. and nebraska is very boring. i drove all day and only stopped twice. my first stop was in the morning sometime when i was interested in finding some place to breakfast, i found a tiny town and they had a post office. i have been trying to visit a post office for at least the last week because i wanted to buy some postcard stamps. my attempts were laugh reel worthy. one i stopped at had just closed, like one minute before i got there. one had just gone on lunch break about 10 minutes before i arrived, it was hilarious, but i just wanted to buy some stamps.

so this morning i was able to buy some and i sent off a postcard. the problem is that i just dont have that many addresses to send to, so if you read this and want one, email me your address.

right now i am just trying to fill some lines with empty words becasue for hundreds of miles i drove through empty lands. there was nothing, every now and again i would pass through a 200 population or less city which barely consisted of a general store/gas station and post office. it was depressing, so i tried to put on some uplifting music to counter the mood. unfortunately my music is starting to get stale, i wish i could burn cd's. see this is more filling space.

i drove most of the way on highway 20, a highway i had been on before i turned north to rushmore. and it was barren. there was nothing, i wanted there to be something. mostly because i hadnt eaten anything, but also because i wanted the monotony to be broken up, i wanted to see some billboards for fast food restaurants and a walmart. i am addicted to western civilization, i dont want to be but there isnt a way around it right now. it makes me feel a bit safer to see these things. i do not frequent them, but them being there gives me some sort of sick comfort.

plainview

then i came to plainview. i think the sign said over 1000 people but i still blew through the town. but something caught my eye and i was forced to turn around. see, in the morning i made my course to sioux city, iowa. i had never been there and it was about 200 miles from where i started, maybe a little more. in my mind i had just had sioux city in my head and everything else was a blip, not only from my mind, but from reality. but what made me turn around in plainview was something spectacular, a gem in the self declared "middle-of-nowhere," the plainview klowndoll museum.

i pulled up and started taking pictures, it was the most hilarious thing i had seen. the banner out front announced that it was nebraska's #1 attraction for towns under 1100! how funny. i was taking pictures of the klown outside when an elderly gentleman opened the door and beckoned me inside. i told him to hold his horses, i would come in, but i wanted to take in outside first. when i went in the guy accosted me again. he was 85 years old and named darold. i have never ever heard the name darold before and i liked this guy immediately.

the best!

he was very attentive, i wasnt the only person there, but he was doting heavily on me. he offered me the guided tour! of course, the guided tour was just a walkman with a cassette in it and i would hold it and listen to the person tell me about the things i was seeing. i was so amazingly quaint, i wanted to cry. he handed me the walkman and pushed play, but nothing happened, it took him awhile to figure out that the tape needed to be rewound. it was very cute, he was trying so hard.

darold was drafted into world war II, i didnt really know there had been a draft, but this is what he said. he grew up in south dakota and after the war was stationed in port angeles wa. he connected with me becasue i was from portland. he moved back to the midwest becasue he didnt like being so far from the east coast, he felt that being in the middle gave him the best opportunity. he showed me his

darold

personal collection of klowns while we were on the "tour." after asking my story he told me of the trip his wife and him took a couple of years ago driving route 20 all the way to portland and then 101 south to ulysses, ca. then east to lake havasu where they wintered. it was a nice story and he was so happy, it made me so happy.

i finished the tour, which wasnt the greatest, but very cute, and then tried to leave. darold kept talking to me about the next klown or some other tidbit of his past, he showed me the ledger pointing out all the different people that had come in. he especially wanted me to see some cyclists that had come from philly, on their way to portland. eventually i was able to parlay and get out. i had a gift bag a bottle of water and a memory.

i was leaving there and deadset on getting to sioux city. it wasnt very far, but i still hadnt eaten this day and was starting to get hungry, none of the tiny towns i passed through gave me any indication of fine dining, so i kept pushing on. as a not i am now in sioux city and still havent eaten. i am sitting at a bar, drinking beer and eating popcorn...i am hungry for a real meal.

sioux city has to be the oddest town i have ever visited. it is large on the map, but the towns ten miles away are still population 200. there is nothing and then a city. the city isnt very large, only slightly larger than cheyenne, but on the map it looks huge. i rolled into the city and it was empty. i quickly noticed a plethora of sky bridges. i am partial to sky bridges. but as i noticed them i also noticed that the streets were empty of people, but the traffic was moderate. the city seemed to not have any life in it whatsoever. downtown was all commercial with very little open and no restaurants. except subway. and i didnt want to eat there.

so i drove and drove, eventually i decided to stop. i saw the convention center and all the doors were open, it was worth a shot. i walked in, all the doors were open because they were painting inside. i went to to the info desk, but no one was there. what was there was a map, the sky walk map. all of the skybridges i had been seeing were connected to each other, and most of downtown was connected via skymall. i was, i dont know how to describe the feelings that were coursing through me. i was ecstatic. i love skybridges and enclosures over cities, now i could walk throughout most of downtown sioux city via sky bridge.

skymall

and it was eerie up in there. the bridge went through office buildings, parking lots, hotels, the library, the museum, all kinds of things, and i was just walking as if i belonged there. i tried every door that didnt show me a person behind it. i didnt find much. many of the offices were vacant, for rent, and there was a dead feeling in the sky bridges. i walked and walked, through every part of the sky bridge, i only saw a few other people using it. at one point an old lady using a walker was coming out of an apartment building and walking behind me making a creaking i'm-following-you noise and i didnt like it. i walked fast to get away from her and ducked into the library for awhile.

when i got done i was ready to find something to do. there werent any "things" on the sky bridge, just places. i looked over the various maps i had collected and found the 4th street historic district, it looked like there would be things there. so i walked on over and saw a street that might boast life. except it was too early. nothing really opened until 4:30pm and it was only 3:pm. i walked to the end and then up to 5th and then i saw a bar called the firehouse. it beckoned me. the sign boasted 25 ozs of beer for $2.50. i went in.

there were a few other guys in there and i sat at the bar. i got my big beer and enjoyed it for a moment. then i just sat there. then i got out my computer. then i wrote this. then i stopped.

why oh why did i ever leave wyoming?

well, luckily i found some spare time in the middle of the worst storm i think i have ever been in to start giving an update. from the middle of nowhere, south dakota (or nebraska, i am not sure which right now).

well, i left cheyenne. and not immediately, but eventually i would sing my own version of the song "why did i ever leave wyoming." i had to jump on the expressway for a couple of miles to get to the highway that i wanted to take north to mt. rushmore. straight away i started noticing people lined up on the on the frontage road as if they were waiting for a parade.

i went under a walking bridge and people had lined up atop there as well. the further i went on the denser people seemed to be, and then cops started being on the highway forcing people to slow down. i was thinking "great, the day i leave there is a parade." but then my wits shined through and started questioning the validity of a parade that went down a frontage road. cant be too great.

i drove on and soon i started seeing cowboys on horses on the median between the expressway and the frontage road, more cops on the expressway, more people on the frontage road. i crested a hill and i saw what was coming. and i thought to myself "i wish my life could be a simple as this." these people were all waiting, expectorating, for a cattle team to come through. i assume that this was a special cattle team for the 113th annual cheyenne frontier days, but just the idea the pleasure of watching some cows go by.

soon i was through there and on my way north. the land was flat with some rolling hills, and there was nothing setting the landscape apart. it was just flatland, cattle, and grass. it was boring. it was beautiful too, but mostly it was boring. i just drove and drove and there was nothing, i went about 90 miles without seeing any signs of human occupation.

once i found civilization and was able to feed my truck, i was off again. same road, same nothingness. i was burning through gas and miles like i hadnt since california. eventually the land starting turning and there were more rocks and more hills. and i started driving through a national park. wind cave national park. also somewhere in here i switched from wyoming to nebraska and then to south dakota. there was no sign announcing my arrival in nebraska (or south dakota, i forget which).

wind cave boasts the 4th largest cave system in the world, i beleive. they currently have 150 miles of caves that are known, and they beleive that is only about 10% of the cavern that exists. there is only one natural entrance to the cave and it is about the size of a regular cowboy hat. it is very small. the natives to this part of the land believed that all life came out of that small hole and that one day they would be taken back inside the hole. the site was a very spiritual place for those people.

i walked around the park and through the visitors center, i tried to get on some of the cavern tours, but was unsuccessful and unwilling to pay $9 for a tour, i am saving up my entertainment budget for wednesday.

once i got done there it was time to get back in the truck. more driving, the landscape hadnt changed much but there were more rocks and the hills were more frequent. it reminded me of what i think ireland looks like. i took solace in that. what i was coming upon were the black hills of south dakota. a beautiful part of the country. it was started to get somewhat late, and i had been driving all day. i was close to mt.rushmore but didnt want to get there in the dark and then have to go find somewhere else to go. so, when i came upon the small town of custer, i stopped.

it was a nice little stop on the way to the big monument in the middle of nowhere. it is also the place where custer made his last stand. there were many battles around this area for the land, the natives held their own very well and for a long time, but eventually lost. and around this time i started wondering why the government would commission this monument in a place that was so far out of the way from anything. well, it dawned onme that it may have been a mockery to the natives, a final fuck you to those that held the land as sacred. i didnt unearth any facts to back this up, but i think i will stick with it.

anyway, i parked on the main strip and started walking a loop around the town. it was late afternoon and sunday, so most places were closed. i walked a couple of blocks and came upon a museum, surprisingly it was open. i walked up and saw that it charged so i didnt want to go through it, but the lady at the desk caught my hand and talked my ear off. she was super nice and her "lady friend" got me when she was done and talked to me more about my journey and gave me spiritual wishes and such. it was nice, but over the top. i liked the place.

i finished my town loop near the grocery store, so i bought some things and decided to go find a place to lay for the night. it was still early, but i also wanted to get some internet time in. eventually i found a little hotel on the main street that had wireless and i could park right in front of it. i could even sleep there, the traffic would drop to almost night by the time night rolled around. so i parked and got the internet, then noticed that i was right in front of the pool. it was just open, and there were some folks in there. i decided to test my luck.

i jumped in the back of the truck and changed into my swim trunks. then i had to wait a couple minutes until the coast was clear to jump back out, i didnt want to get caught prematurely. i grabbed my towel and walked up to the pool and opened the door. really, was it this easy? yes! i walked over to a chair and got directly into the hot tub. it had been hot outside, but there was no one in the hot tub and it was a bit more secluded, i wanted to see if anyone would ask me about my room or something. after a number of minutes no one did and i wanted the jacuzzi on, so i got out and found the dial and enjoyed it more. eventually a lady from wisconsin got in there with me and we chatted for a bit, i wasnt timid anymore, so i jumped into the pool.

it was cold, but refreshing. i swam around int there for awhile and then went back and forth between the hot tub and pool for about an hour, eventually there was no one else in there. i decided my time would be done and went into the bathroom. success! there was a shower in there and i obliged it by taking a nice long shower. it wasnt a very good shower, but it had been a couple of days and i cant pass it up when i have the opportunity. after i showered, i felt no fear to the place. i dropped my towel in my truck and got a beer and my computer and went and sat outside the pool for awhile.

when i was done with that i got back into my truck and slept right there outside the pool. i slept in late and didnt really want to get up when i did, but it was getting hot in the truck and i needed to press on. i thought about dipping back in the pool, but decided against it. instead i had breakfast next door and when i was finished i started the 20 mile drive to mt. rushmore.

it was a slow winding 20 miles and when i started getting close traffic got a bit worse. when i got to the gates, the lines were 20 cars deep and it cost $10 to park. from the way i came up, i still hadnt seen the faces, they are situated in such a way that you really need to get into the park to see them well. i drove on by the gate and turned around. i had noticed some pull outs about a quarter mile before the gate and figured i could just park there and walk in for free.

it was a spectacularly easy walk and i was surprised that not many other people had taken the idea. i dont know if walk-ins were required to pay as well because i just went in through the employees entrance. shortly i was on the main concourse and the hall of flags leading up to the monument. it was packed up there.

mt. rushmore

i filtered through the crowd and got up to the faces. they were pretty spectacular. the heads were carved to fit bodies 465' tall. and the majority of the "carving" took place with dynamite. i went into the visitors center and watched a short film, and then walked around the museum. i saw an old diagram which showed a stairway that workers could use to get from the bottom to the top. i wanted to take that stairway, after the manitou incline i figured it would be easy.

i went to the rangers desk and asked if such a stairway existed. he said no. i then asked him how the greenpeace folks got up there and he didnt look too happy about that. he said it was under investigation and he couldnt talk about it. so i went outside and found a trail and took it. it was called the presidential trail and just did a loop around the various worksites that were in operation during construction and also gave different views of the faces. there is no public access to get to the faces themselves. thats a shame.

i finished up there quicker than i thought i would and made the decision to head to the badlands. i decided to take more country roads and would eventually regret the decision. something that i didnt factor into my equations is that there is a lot of space between anything up here, even gas stations. i drove and drove. i went by one small town and saw a gas station, but i had about 70 more miles on this tank and there was another town before i actually got into the badlands. i pushed on.

the little town that i wanted to gas at was called red shirt. all it consisted of was a hill that had the words "red shirt" put into it. there were no buildings. i was in the badlands. i decided that i would drive on through and eventually wound up on a dirt road traveling 75 mph and watching my gas meter dwindle. by then i was about 40 miles away from the last gas station and had about 30 miles left on this tank. i felt i was screwed. i looked at the map and decided i would head out of my way - but not backtracking - to the next town. that town was called scenic.

i was literally terrified at the time. i was in the middle, really, of the badlands, and how cliche to run out of gas there? not only cliche, but stupid too. i wasnt even looking out the windows any longer, i was just looking at the road, then my mileage, then my gas meter. it was a vicious cycle that i couldnt break. but i also wanted to run out of gas. i am so careful usually to avoid these things and i think it would help me to experience the consequences of being careless so that i can start enjoying it more.

the badlands

i was sweating and just running the different scenarios through my head, at 75 mph. i would just run out and then call AAA (but, oh shit, no cell phone service). i would just run out and walk or hitch to the nearest town then call AAA. or i could just run out and walk away never to look back. that would be kind of dumb and reckless, but isnt that what i just said i wanted? i was hauling ass, passing people on the dirt road (part of my reasoning was that when i ran out of gas, i knew they would pass me) and then it happened.

i passed a tiny little town about 4 boarded up shops on one side and a gas pump on the other. i decided not to stop becasue it looked deserted and i didnt want to waste the gas, but then the dirt road ended. that little town i passed was scenic and the next town on the map was about 30 miles away. no way i would make it. so i turned around and went back to the gas station. i pulled up out front and still didnt have any faith, i walked in and i asked the octogenarian behind the counter if that gas pump out there was real. she said yes and gave a little chuckle, i gave her my card and went to fill up.

i am pretty sure i have a "15 gallon" tank on my truck. which means that my truck will really hold about 16.5 gallons of gas. i let the gas fill up and it stopped naturally at 16 gallons, and then i topped it off to 16.3. i was that close to being stranded, but also that far away. i went back inside and told my lady about my ordeal and she chuckled again. the guy i hadnt noticed before asked where i was from, i told him portland oregon. he asked if that was rainy like warshington. i told him that the little imaginary line that separates them doesnt separate the ecosystem or the climate.

then i was off again. i started on a 25 mile loop through a different part of the badlands. i would take that north and then east and then drop down onto a little highway and take that towards omaha. the badlands, i am not entirely sure why they are called that, are the ocean floor. the ocean that existed about 60 million years ago and was most the united states. this area still hold the contours and look/feel of the ocean floor and was extremely beautiful.

the bug graveyard

i drove with my window down for about half the way. i hate bugs. and there were grasshoppers or something very similar to them all over the place. my windshield was a battlefield that the bugs were losing, but their kamikaze efforts were starting to impair my vision. i had to roll up my window because sometimes they would fly into the cab. and i would freak the fuck out. literally, i would pull over and jump out and find them and get them out with water handy tool i could find. at one point i stopped and looked at the grill of my truck, and although i dont like bugs, i was sorry to see the graveyard there.

again, the badlands are amazing and beautiful, i got to see tons of prairie dogs and a herd of bison. i almost saw a big horn sheep, and i was able to get out with a fossil. the fossil is two teeth that are still connected to the jaw. they look human, but i am sure they arent. it is illegal to take fossils and i thought about leaving it, but i took the risk, fuck the law! i spent about two hours exploring and driving through the park. it was nice there, but i didnt really like being so much in the middle of nowhere. i was ready to start heading south back toward where people live.

i was on highway 44 heading east and in front of me i could see an amazing storm. from 50 or more miles away i was watching the lightning like it was right on top of me, the darkness was so thick in the distance that it looked like night. and i was driving right toward it. at the time i felt that it was much further away than it actually was. i was cruising and there was no one else around. i looked up to my left and saw this billowing cloud moving at such a fast pace, it was like nothing i had seen before.

the wind had also picked up. it had to be at least 50mph, blowing across the road, which made an interesting effect. at some points it felt so strong that i thought the truck might blow over, it seemed ridiculous, but plausible under the circumstances. and then the rain came. it was light at first, whipping sideways at the windows but then it started pounding harder, falling straight and strong on the truck.

soon, i could barely see out my windshield. when i stopped in the badlands and saw my grill/graveyard i was hoping that a nice rain would come soon so i wouldnt have to see it again. i wasnt hoping for this. i had my wipers on all the way and the rain was so hard and fast that i couldnt see a thing. i slowed down and then the rain slowed down a bit. then the hail came. at this point i was doing 45mph or so and the hail was coming very fast. little pellets at first, but with such force and sound that i got nervous.

then it came even harder, and i found i was driving faster, the hail was now nickel sized and bigger, and it was growing. the pounding all around the truck had me in a frenzy when one hit the top of my cab it sounded like a bowling ball, i tried to stay around 45, but i was pushing my face so close the windshield that i wasnt able to see that i had gotten back up to 75mph. i eased up some more and then wham! a golf ball sized piece of hail hit my windshield on the driver side about 6 inches from the top and 2 inches in, leaving a large crack.

i started freaking out then, the storm wasnt letting up at all and i couldnt turn around, there was nothing back there, nothing in front of me, nothing nowhere. i pressed on, waiting for another piece of hail to assault my windshield and gain entry to my cab. i tried going slower and slower thinking that the velocity of the impact would be lessened if i werent going so fast, but i was so petrified that i kept throttling back up trying to get through this.

and then i decided to stop. it was as heavy as ever, and the hail was pounding all around me, it was the sky playing war with my truck, and the sky was winning. i couldnt stay slow and it didnt feel safe to drive so fast with such little visibility and the large hail. so, i was just dead on the road, and then crack.

another hail hit my windshield and it cracked again. i wasnt doing anything but watching it, it came so fast and was so large, this left a crescent moon crack from the drivers side corner to the beginning of the first crack about 6 inches from the top. i thought how stupid i was to just sit here and take this, clearly there wasnt much i could do but i wasnt getting anywhere and the hail was giving me any mercy for stopping. then another piece of hail hit near where the first one hit and cracked the windshield right in my line of vision all the way to the bottom.

freaking out, i decided to start moving again, if i lost my windshield, it would be better to be closer to a town, and at the time i had no doubt that my windshield was toast. i was cruising about 25mph now and driving back through the worst part of the storm. i got hit again on the drivers side and another crack formed. why were all the cracks on my side! i tried to find some zen place and just get through it. eventually i made it to a little town and i found a place to park and just sat there for awhile. the storm was starting to blow over and i wanted to be done with it. it was about 6:30p, but i had recently crossed over into central time so it felt like 5:30 to me.

i decided that i would just stay here and got in the back to make some food and settle in. but, it was so early and with the storm blowing over the sun was coming back out. i made some soup and ate it while reading my book. it was starting to get hot in there. i looked outside and sun was still high, setting on the side where my window was open and just laughing at me drenched in sweat in this tin box. i looked at the time and decided to just stay here.

a half hour later, i couldnt take it. it was like mid-day again and i wasnt where i wanted to be. i wanted to get to valentine nebraska and stay there. so i put my pants back on and started driving again. if i could be stupid three times in a day, today is the day.

i found the end!

i started heading south on highway 83 toward valentine and what do i see in front of me? an amazing rainbow!! but thats not what i am talking about, i saw the storm that had just blown over me. i was already driving again, so i just kept going. it was the same as before. heavy winds, then the rain, then the hail. i was cursing myself for being such an idiot, i was still 20 miles from valentine and i was into the smaller hail already. i didnt want to get into the bigger hail, and luckily there was something here. a casino.

i pulled off and parked in the lot. the storm was heavy, the rain was harder than before and the hail was still small. the wind was amazingly fast. i got out and ran to the back. by the time i made it in, about 20 seconds or so, i was completely soaked. and here i am now, mostly dry and the storm has passed again. it is dark now but i am just in the middle of nowhere in the parking lot of a casino. i think i am going to park better and call it a night here.

technical notes part 3, with truck update!

alright. i have left cheyenne and am currently in chadron, nebraska. this land is very beautiful, but there really arent that many people, or evidence of people. i went about 90 miles on hwy 85 without seeing a gas station or really even seeing civilization. there were a few tiny towns, population 18 or so, but nothing worth stopping for.

eventually i came upon torrington wyoming, and was able to fill my gas tank. i didnt really need it, but i also didnt know when my next opportunity would be.

it has been 23 days since my last series of technical notes, in that time i have traveled 1691 miles. from tuba city arizona to torrington wyoming. i used 70 gallons of gas to get me from there to here, putting 14 gallons in each time i stopped. the average price per gallon of gas was $2.61, in total i spent $184.10 on those 70 gallons.

and the totals for the trip so far map out as such: 5300 total miles, 207 gallons of gas, $533.33 spent on gas. that is alot of money on gas!

and for my truck, i never knew this beast would take me this far. emily and i went on a trip to the coast a lifetime ago and we didnt take the truck for fear that it might break down. 5300 into this trip and it still has yet to have a major problem, however smaller problems are accumulating.

before i left the lights to the dash had gone out, i wanted to fix them before i left but wasnt able to. luckily i havent done much if any driving at night so it hasnt been a problem. a couple days ago my left turn signal went out. that is a bigger problem because i can be pulled over for not signaling. i have been pretty good about using hand signals but also frequently forget.

the leak in the power steering fluid still exists, it hasnt seemed to get any worse, but hopefully i can fix it before it does. when i first noticed and had it checked out in santa barbara, the folks that i took it to gave me a bit of a scare sell. they said that if i let the problem continue it could break something else that would cost about $800 to fix, i dont know if they were bullshitting me or not, but i opted out and the problem is still the same.