oceantheorem (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
oceantheorem) wrote2006-09-11 01:57 am
oceantheorem) wrote2006-09-11 01:57 am
Entry tags:
Summer of Insanity, Volume 3
Saturday, 8 July
Day Three began slowly. We slept in and didn't make it out of the campground in the Flaming Gorge until 11:30. We drove into Green River again, found the grocery store and some coffee, and set out.
We drove through the Grand Teton National Park and saw the mountains. They were very impressive. We finally FINALLY made it to Yellowstone around 7 pm. We made camp and cooked dinner.
Today we saw a coyote and three buffalo. Supposedly there has been a grizzly hanging out near our campsite for the last two days. I kind of hope we see that.
I miss Neal and Stephane and Clark. And showers and bars and vodka.
Sunday, 9 July
Dear god, still in fucking Wyoming.
We got up around 9 and checked out of the Yellowstone campground. We went and saw Old Faithful and were not terribly impressed. Steam. Wooooo.
It rained.
We drove.
We drove north through the park and then east. We saw great herds of bison. And a coyote and some pronghorns and some elk and two moose.
We stopped and had dinner in a teeny teeny tiny little town in Montana. Montana looks a lot like Alaska.
Then we drove south and we are now in Cody, Wyoming, at a hotel, which is a nice feeling. We finally got some beer and it's after 1 am and I drove all day so I am soooo tired. Goodnight.
Monday, 10 July
Wow. Sooo drunk.
Last night the car was making a funny noise, so we stayed in Cody, Wyoming. This morning we shopped but the mechanic didn't have time to look at the car, and it stopped making the clicking noise (click click click really fast) so we just decided to drive on and so far it has been okay, no car problems.
We went to Devil's Tower today, which was really cool, and we bought some Devil's Tower Lager, which is better than the Grand Teton Ale that we drank last night. So we drank the whole 6-pack.
We are staying at a Best Western hotel in Sundance, Wyoming, because I needed to not camp tonight. The hotel is nice, it has a pool and a hot tub and tomorrow there will be breakfast. Then we will get out of Wyoming! This is our fourth night here and we are so sick of it!
I'm so drunk. Just sober enough to write, but also just drunk enough to not make sense. I think I might go to bed soon. It is almost one in the morning and tomorrow we will go to Mount Rushmore. Devil's Tower was really cool but Mount Rushmore is way more iconic, you know?
I really miss Neal and Stephane and the city and I meant Santa Cruz when I said "the city" not San Francisco, which is what "the city" really means. But my point is that I miss Santa Cruz and I miss college and the climbing gym.
But I'm really drunk and I think that you shouldn't write too much while drunk, so maybe it's time for me to get some sleep.
So goodnight.
And Will and Grace is on so I'm gonna go watch that and then sleep.
I love the drunk.
Yay! Lager!
Tuesday, 11 July
Whoa. Today was pretty crazy.
We stayed in a Best Western in Cody, Wyoming, last night, because I REALLY didn't want to camp. We drank 8 beers between the two of us and Emily got sick. So today sort of started out slow, but worked out really well.
We drove into South Dakota--thank god we're out of Wyoming--and the first town we came to was Spearfish. There was a billboard for the historic fish hatchery and Em said we had to go, so we did. It turned out to be pretty cool. They had a fish trolley and an underwater viewing area and all sorts of cool historic fish hatchery neatness.
After that we went to a dollhouse museum (also in Spearfish). That cost money and was kind of disappointing, but I'm glad we did it. It was one of those fun road trip adventure things.
(Sorry for the illegibility--I'm writing in the dark, with only the light from Em's flashlight as she reads, plus I'm drunk again--god I love alcohol; two nights ago it was Grand Teton Ale, last night it was Devil's Tower Lager, and tonight Hefeweizen.)
After Spearfish we drove for a while, but we stopped to see "The Crystal Cave," which turned out to be really amazing. It was a half-mile tour back into this cave, mostly coated with calcite, and our guide was this kid Nathan who was seriously weird. He was really nice, but also definitely a native South Dakotan.
The middle of the country is sooo fucked up. It's weird how weird Americans are. NO wonder all the other countries hate us.
Anyway. After the caves we headed for Mt. Rushmore, but it's $$ for parking and they only take cash, which we didn't have, so we drove up, saw the mountain, and drove away again, which was kind of annoying (it was Emily's idea, and I felt pressured, so we just abandoned the Rushmore idea).
We then drove toward the Badlands and on the way we saw about a hundred signs for a thing called Wall Drug. So in the town of Wall Drug there is what used to be a drug store and what is now a Western-style strip mall. I bought a shot glass.
I don't know why the middle of America thinks it's the West, but South Dakota and Wyoming both seem to be convinced that they are The West. They're not west of anything except the Mississippi! It's dumb.
Anyway. We finally made it to the Badlands, which at first glance this evening were pretty FUCKING amazing, which we hadn't expected. We're camping at a KOA campground tonight.
We went to the campsite next to ours to borrow some wood and ended up hanging out with the people. They're actually from Connecticut and know a ton about New Haven, so it was a pretty fortuitous thing that we ended up braving the night to go ask them for firewood. They were super nice.
Anyway. I'm pretty exhausted and maybe a little past drunk, so I think it's time to wrap up this entry and head to bed.
Notes about Connecticut:
-shoe place on Chapel St
-bars near 9th square?
-don't go to Hartford, at least never alone or at night
-beaches --> go to Rhode Island
-New York is beautiful at night.
I miss Ann and Neal and Clark and Stephane. Fuck.
....
But really this trip has been so good for me. At first I just wanted to get OUT of Reno, but now I want to get TO Connecticut. It's been a very pleasant, slow change in attitude. I've had a chance to get used to the idea and to feel better about it and to let go of Santa Cruz as my home. I'm so far away from it now, and it's so far away idealistically from these states. The middle just doesn't think the same way the west does. It's good for me.
Anyway. Today's caves were cool.
Sorry about all the drunken half-legible entries. But you have to enjoy life. You have to really live it.
Day Three began slowly. We slept in and didn't make it out of the campground in the Flaming Gorge until 11:30. We drove into Green River again, found the grocery store and some coffee, and set out.
We drove through the Grand Teton National Park and saw the mountains. They were very impressive. We finally FINALLY made it to Yellowstone around 7 pm. We made camp and cooked dinner.
Today we saw a coyote and three buffalo. Supposedly there has been a grizzly hanging out near our campsite for the last two days. I kind of hope we see that.
I miss Neal and Stephane and Clark. And showers and bars and vodka.
Sunday, 9 July
Dear god, still in fucking Wyoming.
We got up around 9 and checked out of the Yellowstone campground. We went and saw Old Faithful and were not terribly impressed. Steam. Wooooo.
It rained.
We drove.
We drove north through the park and then east. We saw great herds of bison. And a coyote and some pronghorns and some elk and two moose.
We stopped and had dinner in a teeny teeny tiny little town in Montana. Montana looks a lot like Alaska.
Then we drove south and we are now in Cody, Wyoming, at a hotel, which is a nice feeling. We finally got some beer and it's after 1 am and I drove all day so I am soooo tired. Goodnight.
Monday, 10 July
Wow. Sooo drunk.
Last night the car was making a funny noise, so we stayed in Cody, Wyoming. This morning we shopped but the mechanic didn't have time to look at the car, and it stopped making the clicking noise (click click click really fast) so we just decided to drive on and so far it has been okay, no car problems.
We went to Devil's Tower today, which was really cool, and we bought some Devil's Tower Lager, which is better than the Grand Teton Ale that we drank last night. So we drank the whole 6-pack.
We are staying at a Best Western hotel in Sundance, Wyoming, because I needed to not camp tonight. The hotel is nice, it has a pool and a hot tub and tomorrow there will be breakfast. Then we will get out of Wyoming! This is our fourth night here and we are so sick of it!
I'm so drunk. Just sober enough to write, but also just drunk enough to not make sense. I think I might go to bed soon. It is almost one in the morning and tomorrow we will go to Mount Rushmore. Devil's Tower was really cool but Mount Rushmore is way more iconic, you know?
I really miss Neal and Stephane and the city and I meant Santa Cruz when I said "the city" not San Francisco, which is what "the city" really means. But my point is that I miss Santa Cruz and I miss college and the climbing gym.
But I'm really drunk and I think that you shouldn't write too much while drunk, so maybe it's time for me to get some sleep.
So goodnight.
And Will and Grace is on so I'm gonna go watch that and then sleep.
I love the drunk.
Yay! Lager!
Tuesday, 11 July
Whoa. Today was pretty crazy.
We stayed in a Best Western in Cody, Wyoming, last night, because I REALLY didn't want to camp. We drank 8 beers between the two of us and Emily got sick. So today sort of started out slow, but worked out really well.
We drove into South Dakota--thank god we're out of Wyoming--and the first town we came to was Spearfish. There was a billboard for the historic fish hatchery and Em said we had to go, so we did. It turned out to be pretty cool. They had a fish trolley and an underwater viewing area and all sorts of cool historic fish hatchery neatness.
After that we went to a dollhouse museum (also in Spearfish). That cost money and was kind of disappointing, but I'm glad we did it. It was one of those fun road trip adventure things.
(Sorry for the illegibility--I'm writing in the dark, with only the light from Em's flashlight as she reads, plus I'm drunk again--god I love alcohol; two nights ago it was Grand Teton Ale, last night it was Devil's Tower Lager, and tonight Hefeweizen.)
After Spearfish we drove for a while, but we stopped to see "The Crystal Cave," which turned out to be really amazing. It was a half-mile tour back into this cave, mostly coated with calcite, and our guide was this kid Nathan who was seriously weird. He was really nice, but also definitely a native South Dakotan.
The middle of the country is sooo fucked up. It's weird how weird Americans are. NO wonder all the other countries hate us.
Anyway. After the caves we headed for Mt. Rushmore, but it's $$ for parking and they only take cash, which we didn't have, so we drove up, saw the mountain, and drove away again, which was kind of annoying (it was Emily's idea, and I felt pressured, so we just abandoned the Rushmore idea).
We then drove toward the Badlands and on the way we saw about a hundred signs for a thing called Wall Drug. So in the town of Wall Drug there is what used to be a drug store and what is now a Western-style strip mall. I bought a shot glass.
I don't know why the middle of America thinks it's the West, but South Dakota and Wyoming both seem to be convinced that they are The West. They're not west of anything except the Mississippi! It's dumb.
Anyway. We finally made it to the Badlands, which at first glance this evening were pretty FUCKING amazing, which we hadn't expected. We're camping at a KOA campground tonight.
We went to the campsite next to ours to borrow some wood and ended up hanging out with the people. They're actually from Connecticut and know a ton about New Haven, so it was a pretty fortuitous thing that we ended up braving the night to go ask them for firewood. They were super nice.
Anyway. I'm pretty exhausted and maybe a little past drunk, so I think it's time to wrap up this entry and head to bed.
Notes about Connecticut:
-shoe place on Chapel St
-bars near 9th square?
-don't go to Hartford, at least never alone or at night
-beaches --> go to Rhode Island
-New York is beautiful at night.
I miss Ann and Neal and Clark and Stephane. Fuck.
....
But really this trip has been so good for me. At first I just wanted to get OUT of Reno, but now I want to get TO Connecticut. It's been a very pleasant, slow change in attitude. I've had a chance to get used to the idea and to feel better about it and to let go of Santa Cruz as my home. I'm so far away from it now, and it's so far away idealistically from these states. The middle just doesn't think the same way the west does. It's good for me.
Anyway. Today's caves were cool.
Sorry about all the drunken half-legible entries. But you have to enjoy life. You have to really live it.