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| The trusty Santa Fe ready for yet another trip to the mountains. This would be trip #8 for the beastly machine. |
Sleep came fairly easy for me the night before so I was feeling refreshed and totally stoked when I got up at 6:45 AM. Yeah, it was later than i wanted but knew I'd have enough time to get my stuff together before having to deaprt at 8:30. I had staged most of my stuff then night before, and some ahd already been loaded into the trusty Santa Fe so this would be a pain-free morning.
There wasn't a lot I had to do but I quickly got at it. First I made my famous roast beef sandwiches for the ride out. The frozen lemonade and ice from the basement freezer was brought upstairs and the cooler packed. I grabbed my electronic devices and put them into the truck.. Don't want to leave without all of the camera baatteries and memory cards so I gave the contents of the camera case a quick once over to make sure everything was there. Put the rest into the truck, surf the net for a few inutes and hit the showers.
I was ready to roll by 8:15---right on schedule. I said goodbye to my sleepy boys, then to Yumi and was about to climb into the truck when next door neighbor mike showed up with a small bundle of Joy. Mike and Amy just had a baby and now was the time to introduce her to us. Oh well, i'd still get out by 8:30 and their infant girl was cute.
Brad and I had worked out the details of the pick up well in advance. his light was schedule to arrive in Milwaukee at 9:32 so I figured to get there at 10:00 which would give him plenty of time to claim his baggage and take a squirt.
Once behind the wheel i decided I should stop at work just to remind everyone that I'd be gone for the next two weeks and that they shouldn't try to call me for anything. After an hour of driving I was ready for a bite to eata so pulled into a McD's in Port Washington for a couple of breakfast burritos and, more importantly, a few packets of Picante sauce I could use on the trail.
Back on I-43 I was nearing the airport exit when my cell phone rang at exactly 9:52...it was the Canadian Dude and he was ready for pick up. I told him I'd be there in 5 minutes.
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| Thumbs up...ready to roll |
As I was looking for Northwest Airlines my eye caught a figure waving his arms frantically---"gotta be Canadian dude" I thought and pulled over. The first words uttered by Brad were "game on", and in just a few seconds his gear was stowed in the trusty Santa Fe and we were off.
After some early stunted conversation the chatter started to flow a little easier as we sped through southern Wisconsin. My "Road Trip '08" CD was a big hit (Foo Fighter's rule!) as was the seminal "Nevermind" from Nirvana. We rocked our way through Wisconsin and into Minnesota.
Once we got into the land of lower gas taxes we pulled over in Nadine to fill up the tank and clean the windshield. While I gassed up the trusty Santa Fe, Brad went inside to buy some water which reminded me that I must be thirsty so I popped open a can of Coke...then promptly spilled it all over the front seat, floor and console. (Insert naughty word here)!
I saved the camera and charger from harm and wiped things up the best I could. The fllor mat would have to be stowed in the rear with the other gear as it was a sticky mess. Oh well, if that's the worst thing that happens we'll be doing OK.
Fast forward to 4 PM when we began hearing an annoying tapping sound coming from the roof of the trusty Santa Fe. Thinking it was a strip of moulding from the luggage rack flapping in the breezeI pretty much ignored it until it became louder and decided to pull off the interstate at the next exit.
And t hat is how I rescued my digital camera, three batteries and 3 GB worth of memory from the roof of my trusty Santa Fe. After taking the camer out of the truck after the Coke spill, I placed the camera out of harms way up on the roof then forgot about it. Nice. Thankfully, the case and contents were semi-wedged between the roof and rack so it wsn't going anywhere unless I locked up the brakes. Still, it was an embarrassing moment.
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| Brad looking all hard at a South Dakota rest area |
Relieved, we continued through Minnesota nd into South Dakota without incident. By the time we got to Sioux Falls, SD, it was time to think about getting something to eat. We'd already eaten a couple of the roast beef sandwiches so figured the best place for a nutricious meal would be at a McDonald's. NOTE: add the Sioux Falls McD's to the growing list of crappy franchises West of the Mississippi i've been unlucky enough to dine at.
The rest of the trip across South Dakota was, as you might expect, uneventful. Brad managed to get a few minutes of sleep here and there and by the time were arrived at Rapid City at 10:45 was pretty much alert. I was in the "driving zone" and was beginning to think that I might be able to get us all the way to Buffalo without having to stop for sleep. However, we had no lodging for the night so decided to stick with the original plan of stopping t the Moorcroft, WY, rest area.
We arrived at Moorcroft just before 12:30 AM and began to reconfigure the trusty Santa Fe to sleep mode. Everything that didn't fit in the front seats was put up on the roof in the bag, thermarests were inflated to our exacting specifications. Sleeping bags in their storage sacks were used as pillows and light fleece blankets were produced to complete the truck's transformation from hard core wilderness transportation to a 5-star motel.
Except for the trains that kept passing through town every 15 minutes and the constant parade of semi's coming and g oing, the Moorcroft rest area was a quiet place.
After getting something close to sleep for a few hours, we were up at 6:15 and returned the trusty Santa Fe back to hard core wilderness transportation mode. Ten minutes later we were back on the road and in Buffalo before 8 AM. neither of us could believe how easy a drive it was.
Our nexxt order of business was to find a few picnic tables to get our gear together. having been inBuffalo a couple of times before, I knew there was a city park close to downtown so we made our way over.
It didn't take long to get situated and within an hour were on our way to the Sports Lure to buy a few topos, postcards and some fuel canisters. From there it was to Grandma's for an wesome omlet.
We were ready. Game on.
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