Friday, June 27, 2008
The Trip to Denver
The 3 post following, are a story John wrote for his colleagues he worked with at Adonis. Go and read the last one first the up. Even though you are just now getting these I posted the story to actually correspond with the real dates.
Our Trip to Denver Part III
Oh what to do? We’re stranded in Topeka with no place to stay during a tremendous thunderstorm. Oh wait… my mom has the internet; she can find us a place to stay! Sure I could get a phone that has the internet on it, but I hate phones. I think the only good use for a phone is flushing one down a toilet. One quick phone call and a few minutes of surfing we have a place to stay in Grand Junction. Yes, it was that easy. The upside was they take pets; the downside was Grand Junction was about an hour away. It was already after 9 p.m.
Driving at night during a thunderstorm is something else. There was nothing as far as the eye could see but lightning every few seconds. Well that is what I could see through the rain. What a horrid, miserable state Kansas was turning out to be! I was already tired and I could only imagine Tim was much worse, he doesn’t fare well driving long distances. I’m pretty sure I’ve made that pretty obvious.
It was a long hour’s drive to the hotel. I wasn’t expecting much on such short notice so it was great that I didn’t get my hopes up. The place was a dive. It was a small extended stay where some people have obviously extended their stay. It was a good thing we weren’t. First priority was to check for bed bugs! Hey, even fancy hotels have them, better to be safe than sorry! The place checked out and the bed wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Plus there was another bed in a different room just in case Tim wanted to kick me out for snoring!
I slept like a rock, and we headed out early. We stopped to grab some fuel and coffee at a store near the hotel. The store was pretty busy and it seemed the clerks knew everyone by name. All I could think of was what a strange little place this is. We started out on the highway and decided to grab some breakfast at an IHOP in Manhattan. Yes I know, a little bit of a detour from Kansas right? Manhattan didn’t look much like the place it was named after, but they did have an IHOP. At least I can get a decent breakfast.
We ate quickly because amazingly enough Manhattan, Kansas is just a little over half way from Cincinnati to Denver. Kansas is a pretty big place to hold absolutely nothing. Shortly after we left the restaurant we started upon one of two things mentioning about Kansas. Off in the distance we could see huge white structures. The appeared to be long poles bent about 20 degrees almost at the top. Tim paged over the radio asking me what I thought they were. I told him it seemed to be a wind farm. That’s exactly what it was, and it turned out to be gigantic. Mile after mile of windmills we passed, it was an impressive sight.
After a little more driving we passed the second mentionable spot in Kansas. Tim wanted a drink out of the cooler I had with me in the van. We decided to pull off at the nest exit so he could grab one. We got off at the next exit and lo and behold, the exit off of Interstate 70 was a dirt road both ways. No lie! Tim took the opportunity to tell me that Kansas’ Welcome Center appeared on the map on the way out of the state. I suggested we visit it because we had visited the others. When we got there, it seemed small. It was marked as a Welcome Center on the map, but in actuality it was nothing more than a regular rest stop, and a primitive one at that.
The good thing was Kansas was almost behind us. Not long in the distance I could see the border sign marking our entrance into Colorado. I wanted to stop the van get out just before leaving Kansas, and try to set the state on fire. I didn’t though because I convinced myself that I couldn’t set the whole state ablaze with a lighter. Colorado’s state sign was large and made of stone and wood, very rustic, and oh look, they had a Welcome Center! How novel, a place to welcome people to your state!
Colorado’s Welcome Center was very nice. It had a large well manicured lawn, and many beautifully landscaped sections. There were several large signs detailing several things about the state. Inside was spacious with several pictures of the natural wonders of the state. There was a large wall filled with information on things to do and places to see. We wanted to stay and browse, bit we had to get back on the road.
Funny, eastern Colorado looks a lot like western Kansas. The climate was obviously rather arid. Everything looked very dusty and dry. We would routinely pass over small bridges marked with signs saying that the bridge crossed so and such creek. Every time I crossed the bridge I peered over the side to see… no water. Now I may be new to this state, but where I come from creeks are made of water. These are ditches where water may or may not be after it rains.
A few more hours of driving and the traffic began to get heavy going in the opposite direction. A little further a long and a plane flew low overhead marking that we were near the airport. Soon we I was able to make out the skyline of downtown Denver. Just beyond that I could make out the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. We made it! We merged onto Interstate 25 to head south towards Highlands Ranch where we were going to be staying. As soon as get got to the end of the entrance ramp we stopped dead in our tracks. We made it to Denver just in time for rush hour traffic. A perfect ending to our perfect trip!
The End
Yup that’s it, well my mom met us a little further down the road where she guided us so we didn’t have to drive the jammed highway to Highlands Ranch.
Driving at night during a thunderstorm is something else. There was nothing as far as the eye could see but lightning every few seconds. Well that is what I could see through the rain. What a horrid, miserable state Kansas was turning out to be! I was already tired and I could only imagine Tim was much worse, he doesn’t fare well driving long distances. I’m pretty sure I’ve made that pretty obvious.
It was a long hour’s drive to the hotel. I wasn’t expecting much on such short notice so it was great that I didn’t get my hopes up. The place was a dive. It was a small extended stay where some people have obviously extended their stay. It was a good thing we weren’t. First priority was to check for bed bugs! Hey, even fancy hotels have them, better to be safe than sorry! The place checked out and the bed wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Plus there was another bed in a different room just in case Tim wanted to kick me out for snoring!
I slept like a rock, and we headed out early. We stopped to grab some fuel and coffee at a store near the hotel. The store was pretty busy and it seemed the clerks knew everyone by name. All I could think of was what a strange little place this is. We started out on the highway and decided to grab some breakfast at an IHOP in Manhattan. Yes I know, a little bit of a detour from Kansas right? Manhattan didn’t look much like the place it was named after, but they did have an IHOP. At least I can get a decent breakfast.
We ate quickly because amazingly enough Manhattan, Kansas is just a little over half way from Cincinnati to Denver. Kansas is a pretty big place to hold absolutely nothing. Shortly after we left the restaurant we started upon one of two things mentioning about Kansas. Off in the distance we could see huge white structures. The appeared to be long poles bent about 20 degrees almost at the top. Tim paged over the radio asking me what I thought they were. I told him it seemed to be a wind farm. That’s exactly what it was, and it turned out to be gigantic. Mile after mile of windmills we passed, it was an impressive sight.
After a little more driving we passed the second mentionable spot in Kansas. Tim wanted a drink out of the cooler I had with me in the van. We decided to pull off at the nest exit so he could grab one. We got off at the next exit and lo and behold, the exit off of Interstate 70 was a dirt road both ways. No lie! Tim took the opportunity to tell me that Kansas’ Welcome Center appeared on the map on the way out of the state. I suggested we visit it because we had visited the others. When we got there, it seemed small. It was marked as a Welcome Center on the map, but in actuality it was nothing more than a regular rest stop, and a primitive one at that.
The good thing was Kansas was almost behind us. Not long in the distance I could see the border sign marking our entrance into Colorado. I wanted to stop the van get out just before leaving Kansas, and try to set the state on fire. I didn’t though because I convinced myself that I couldn’t set the whole state ablaze with a lighter. Colorado’s state sign was large and made of stone and wood, very rustic, and oh look, they had a Welcome Center! How novel, a place to welcome people to your state!
Colorado’s Welcome Center was very nice. It had a large well manicured lawn, and many beautifully landscaped sections. There were several large signs detailing several things about the state. Inside was spacious with several pictures of the natural wonders of the state. There was a large wall filled with information on things to do and places to see. We wanted to stay and browse, bit we had to get back on the road.
Funny, eastern Colorado looks a lot like western Kansas. The climate was obviously rather arid. Everything looked very dusty and dry. We would routinely pass over small bridges marked with signs saying that the bridge crossed so and such creek. Every time I crossed the bridge I peered over the side to see… no water. Now I may be new to this state, but where I come from creeks are made of water. These are ditches where water may or may not be after it rains.
A few more hours of driving and the traffic began to get heavy going in the opposite direction. A little further a long and a plane flew low overhead marking that we were near the airport. Soon we I was able to make out the skyline of downtown Denver. Just beyond that I could make out the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. We made it! We merged onto Interstate 25 to head south towards Highlands Ranch where we were going to be staying. As soon as get got to the end of the entrance ramp we stopped dead in our tracks. We made it to Denver just in time for rush hour traffic. A perfect ending to our perfect trip!
The End
Yup that’s it, well my mom met us a little further down the road where she guided us so we didn’t have to drive the jammed highway to Highlands Ranch.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Our Trip to Denver Part II
(Part Two A.K.A. Missouri Madness and Kansas Craziness)
It was early Thursday morning, and it felt like we were finally on our way. Thanks to a generous donation of a McDonald’s gift card for our travels breakfast was paid for. I couldn’t even remember the last time I even ate at a McDonald’s! The next thing on our agenda was to get the heck out of Dodge … I mean Indy and get some gas. No not the, I just ate McDonald’s, kind either.
Ah rush hour in a big city! There’s nothing quite like the display of our basest emotions all laid bare for the world to see. People all driving like maniacs for the sole intent on going to … work, does anyone else see something wrong with that picture? Tim called over the radio because he spotted a place to fuel up. He went to the big old burly trucker side and I went to the side where people in less impressive vehicles went. I scan my card to begin fueling when suddenly this pops up on the screen: “Please enter Zip Code”. Ok sure I’ll play along, I punched in my Cincinnati Zip Code and hit enter. WHAT? Flagrant Zip Code error! Go see attendant inside immediately! I stood there dumbfounded for a moment and then realized, oh yeah, we already changed our address with the bank. The dumb machine wants a Denver Zip Code, and rather conveniently I had forgotten what my new Zip Code is.
I march though the store looking for Tim just to see him slip out the back. I chased him down and asked him if he was all done fueling up. He told me no because he had to see the attendant inside, something about the zip code. I was glad to see that I wasn’t the only person who fell for that trick. Tim gave me our new zip code and I was back off to feed the beast. Ha, ha, ha, Only 40 bucks later and I was done. As soon as Tim stopped peeing we could get back on the road!
The radio in the minivan is kind of screwy the display is all messed up so you can’t see the station your on. Oh it has a CD player, but someone… SOMEONE packed the CDs and they were nowhere to be found. So here I am stuck listening to the flotsam and jetsam of middle of nowhere music. Tim on the other hand was listening to our Zune. So he had our entire music library at his disposal, while I spent my time singing adlibbed songs to our dog Roxanne. I’m sure she appreciated it. Next stop Illinois and probably their Welcome Center.
It actually wasn’t much longer until we got to Missouri. We might have gotten there a little faster but we kept stopping at Rest Areas. Mostly for Tim, and sometimes for Roxanne, she’s prone to car sickness so the fresh air does her good. There it was the mighty Mississippi River… boy did it look fat. All those flood waters I suppose. Oh and look a Welcome Center! Can’t go to a state without going to their Welcome Center! This place also doubled as a lunch spot, it had a pretty nice picnic area. After a quick bite and the grabbing of travel brochures we were ready to get to Kansas.
So we were off, but not for long within an hour we hit another Rest Area. The same pattern seemed to repeat itself several more times. As we approached Kansas I came to the realization that those stops were in fact the only means of entertainment for the entire state of Missouri. Luckily for me Tim didn’t like listening to the Zune so I got and it made my right ear very happy (yes just my right ear driving around with ear buds in both ears is right out!).
Kansas City, Missouri was the only thing keeping us from yet another state. As I said earlier the plan was to go to the Kansas Welcome Center and pick up a lodging brochure so we can grab a place to stay that night. First however was the seemingly unnecessarily complicated highway system that is, Kansas City. Following someone who is driving a large truck with a trailer during rush hour traffic is hard! Surprisingly we made it to Kansas City, Kansas without incident.
Now it was time to get to that Welcome Center! We drove for quite awhile with no apparent sign of one. Pretty soon the highway we were on was to become a toll road. Perhaps the Welcome center was going to be on the toll road… that makes some kind of sense. Driving on the toll road for awhile and I saw nothing. All I saw was one of those pull off areas with a convenience store. I paged Tim and we decided to pull off there, surely there had to be something there we could use to look up a hotel. Nothing! Ok I thought to myself no need to panic, Topeka isn’t far. We can get dinner and find information out there. Horary for John and his plan!
Ah Topeka the bustling Capital of the fine state of Kansas! Hardly! The place seemed like a ghost town. There were almost no cars on the road and there didn’t seem to be any places to eat. It wasn’t until we were out of town that we found a spot with places to eat. We decided on Ruby Tuesdays and I noticed a Barnes & Noble in the same parking lots. The bookstore will have a travel section that will be able to help us out. Ah, my plan is working perfectly. Perhaps not, during dinner dangerous, even violent storm clouds gathered. As we were leaving the restaurant the heavens opened to a downpour of rain. We ran to our car and huddled there for quite awhile. Roxanne hates thunderstorms and this one was very active. Several bolts of lightning hit much closer than I would have cared for.
Before too long the rain let up and we ventured into Barnes & Noble. After much wandering the store looking for the travel section, we finally broke down and asked an associate where the travel section was. Right by the front door! We perused the books for several minutes and I found one… wrapped in plastic. Thwarted, my brilliant plan came to naught! It worked so well in Indiana too! What were we going to do now? Not only was it dark, but the storm wasn’t looking any friendlier.
It was early Thursday morning, and it felt like we were finally on our way. Thanks to a generous donation of a McDonald’s gift card for our travels breakfast was paid for. I couldn’t even remember the last time I even ate at a McDonald’s! The next thing on our agenda was to get the heck out of Dodge … I mean Indy and get some gas. No not the, I just ate McDonald’s, kind either.
Ah rush hour in a big city! There’s nothing quite like the display of our basest emotions all laid bare for the world to see. People all driving like maniacs for the sole intent on going to … work, does anyone else see something wrong with that picture? Tim called over the radio because he spotted a place to fuel up. He went to the big old burly trucker side and I went to the side where people in less impressive vehicles went. I scan my card to begin fueling when suddenly this pops up on the screen: “Please enter Zip Code”. Ok sure I’ll play along, I punched in my Cincinnati Zip Code and hit enter. WHAT? Flagrant Zip Code error! Go see attendant inside immediately! I stood there dumbfounded for a moment and then realized, oh yeah, we already changed our address with the bank. The dumb machine wants a Denver Zip Code, and rather conveniently I had forgotten what my new Zip Code is.
I march though the store looking for Tim just to see him slip out the back. I chased him down and asked him if he was all done fueling up. He told me no because he had to see the attendant inside, something about the zip code. I was glad to see that I wasn’t the only person who fell for that trick. Tim gave me our new zip code and I was back off to feed the beast. Ha, ha, ha, Only 40 bucks later and I was done. As soon as Tim stopped peeing we could get back on the road!
The radio in the minivan is kind of screwy the display is all messed up so you can’t see the station your on. Oh it has a CD player, but someone… SOMEONE packed the CDs and they were nowhere to be found. So here I am stuck listening to the flotsam and jetsam of middle of nowhere music. Tim on the other hand was listening to our Zune. So he had our entire music library at his disposal, while I spent my time singing adlibbed songs to our dog Roxanne. I’m sure she appreciated it. Next stop Illinois and probably their Welcome Center.
It actually wasn’t much longer until we got to Missouri. We might have gotten there a little faster but we kept stopping at Rest Areas. Mostly for Tim, and sometimes for Roxanne, she’s prone to car sickness so the fresh air does her good. There it was the mighty Mississippi River… boy did it look fat. All those flood waters I suppose. Oh and look a Welcome Center! Can’t go to a state without going to their Welcome Center! This place also doubled as a lunch spot, it had a pretty nice picnic area. After a quick bite and the grabbing of travel brochures we were ready to get to Kansas.
So we were off, but not for long within an hour we hit another Rest Area. The same pattern seemed to repeat itself several more times. As we approached Kansas I came to the realization that those stops were in fact the only means of entertainment for the entire state of Missouri. Luckily for me Tim didn’t like listening to the Zune so I got and it made my right ear very happy (yes just my right ear driving around with ear buds in both ears is right out!).
Kansas City, Missouri was the only thing keeping us from yet another state. As I said earlier the plan was to go to the Kansas Welcome Center and pick up a lodging brochure so we can grab a place to stay that night. First however was the seemingly unnecessarily complicated highway system that is, Kansas City. Following someone who is driving a large truck with a trailer during rush hour traffic is hard! Surprisingly we made it to Kansas City, Kansas without incident.
Now it was time to get to that Welcome Center! We drove for quite awhile with no apparent sign of one. Pretty soon the highway we were on was to become a toll road. Perhaps the Welcome center was going to be on the toll road… that makes some kind of sense. Driving on the toll road for awhile and I saw nothing. All I saw was one of those pull off areas with a convenience store. I paged Tim and we decided to pull off there, surely there had to be something there we could use to look up a hotel. Nothing! Ok I thought to myself no need to panic, Topeka isn’t far. We can get dinner and find information out there. Horary for John and his plan!
Ah Topeka the bustling Capital of the fine state of Kansas! Hardly! The place seemed like a ghost town. There were almost no cars on the road and there didn’t seem to be any places to eat. It wasn’t until we were out of town that we found a spot with places to eat. We decided on Ruby Tuesdays and I noticed a Barnes & Noble in the same parking lots. The bookstore will have a travel section that will be able to help us out. Ah, my plan is working perfectly. Perhaps not, during dinner dangerous, even violent storm clouds gathered. As we were leaving the restaurant the heavens opened to a downpour of rain. We ran to our car and huddled there for quite awhile. Roxanne hates thunderstorms and this one was very active. Several bolts of lightning hit much closer than I would have cared for.
Before too long the rain let up and we ventured into Barnes & Noble. After much wandering the store looking for the travel section, we finally broke down and asked an associate where the travel section was. Right by the front door! We perused the books for several minutes and I found one… wrapped in plastic. Thwarted, my brilliant plan came to naught! It worked so well in Indiana too! What were we going to do now? Not only was it dark, but the storm wasn’t looking any friendlier.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Our Trip to Denver Part I
My Trip to Denver
(Not unlike those “What I did for my Summer Vacation” essays you did in Elementary School)
It was Wednesday morning and we were just finishing cleaning up the apartment. Packing can be kind of hard when there are only two of you. I had a great idea though; we could drive just to Indianapolis that night, get a hotel that would have a pool, and hot tub where we could relax before the long trip.
Around noon we got on the road. What is it with Cincinnati drivers? I’m following a slow moving truck, so I’m not going that fast. Every nut on the road came barreling right up to my bumper then veered off right at the last second. I felt like I was being dive bombed by a bunch of two ton birds…with wheels… on the ground. It’s a good thing we were only going as far as Indy because I was zoning before we even got to Indiana.
As we approached the Indiana welcome center I called Tim on the two way radio to suggest we stop there grab a lodging guide. We needed to find a place that allows pets for the night. My plan worked beautifully, we had no trouble finding a place and we decided that we could do the same thing when we got to Kansas.
We arrived at our hotel for the night took a quick nap and headed out for some dinner. Tim wanted Cracker Barrel… I guess growing up in a small town it makes him feel at home. I grew up in southern Georgia and try to avoid places that attract red necks. Sure enough not far from our table sat a man with overalls on. I roll my eyes and proceed to eat my fried catfish. Hey, I said I avoid red necks, didn’t say anything about not eating like one. We got a GPS for our trip out to Denver, and I swear it likes to take you a different way each time, because the way we went back to the hotel sure wasn’t the way we went! It took us through a shady looking neighborhood, or rather a series of shady looking neighborhoods. Soon enough we were back to our bed for the night and amazingly we quickly passed out.
(Not unlike those “What I did for my Summer Vacation” essays you did in Elementary School)
It was Wednesday morning and we were just finishing cleaning up the apartment. Packing can be kind of hard when there are only two of you. I had a great idea though; we could drive just to Indianapolis that night, get a hotel that would have a pool, and hot tub where we could relax before the long trip.
Around noon we got on the road. What is it with Cincinnati drivers? I’m following a slow moving truck, so I’m not going that fast. Every nut on the road came barreling right up to my bumper then veered off right at the last second. I felt like I was being dive bombed by a bunch of two ton birds…with wheels… on the ground. It’s a good thing we were only going as far as Indy because I was zoning before we even got to Indiana.
As we approached the Indiana welcome center I called Tim on the two way radio to suggest we stop there grab a lodging guide. We needed to find a place that allows pets for the night. My plan worked beautifully, we had no trouble finding a place and we decided that we could do the same thing when we got to Kansas.
We arrived at our hotel for the night took a quick nap and headed out for some dinner. Tim wanted Cracker Barrel… I guess growing up in a small town it makes him feel at home. I grew up in southern Georgia and try to avoid places that attract red necks. Sure enough not far from our table sat a man with overalls on. I roll my eyes and proceed to eat my fried catfish. Hey, I said I avoid red necks, didn’t say anything about not eating like one. We got a GPS for our trip out to Denver, and I swear it likes to take you a different way each time, because the way we went back to the hotel sure wasn’t the way we went! It took us through a shady looking neighborhood, or rather a series of shady looking neighborhoods. Soon enough we were back to our bed for the night and amazingly we quickly passed out.
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