Thursday, July 29, 2004
I'm on vacation - what do you want?
Wow. I just wrote a great long post for this log, but it got somehow deleted by the vagaries of The Mac’s pirating of his neighbor’s wi-fi signal. The Mac warned me that that might happen, but I didn’t listen, so here I am (again).
OK. I was telling the tale of how we got here. We have arrived, and everyone is alright (thankfully!). The NoodleDog and I left home on Sunday morning around 7:30a, but once we hit the Calgary city limits, I remembered that I forgot some medication at home, and had to go back for it. That put me behind by about 20 minutes (after some creative interpretation of the speed limit) getting to Strathmore to meet up with my parents. We met up, and were off.
The first day was pretty uneventful. We got into Saskatchewan, and it just kept getting hotter and hotter. The NoodleDog had to be transferred to the parents’ air-conditioned vehicle, and I just kept getting hotter and hotter. Midway through Saskatchewan, I started pouring water over my head to keep cool.
We crossed the border without so much as a “Can I see your dog’s Rabies Certificate, Ma’am?” and made it to Minot the first night. Minot shuts down around 9p on a Sunday (except for the 24 hr WalMart), but we eventually found a hotel. It was not dog-friendly, however, and the only room my father could get was RIGHT beside the lobby. He was not given a choice, and we had to sneak the NoodleDog through the back door. We also had to install his anti-bark collar to prevent him from making noise. He’s a noisy dog.
Monday was a fine day for driving, and we saw deer on the side of the road just as we left Minot. We also saw a stunning amount of roadkill along the roads. North Dakota really needs to install fences or something along the roadways to cut down on that carnage. We encountered kamikaze birds (the Kamikaze Birds of North Dakota), and managed to survive that, too. We ended up stopping in Mauston that evening. I think we could have made it to The Mac’s, but it would have been midnight, and the NoodleDog was tired of being in the car. The hotel we found, thanks to the Grumpaw’s handy Super 8 guide, was dog friendly, too, so that was kind of relaxing.
Tuesday, we made it to The Mac’s. We had to go through Chicago to do it, and I was leading. I have successfully navigated the mean streets of Chicago (Ok, the interstate) at least twice, and we all thought it would work out OK. We were wrong. We were supposed to take the Skyway, and I even managed to find the exit to the Skyway at the very last second, but the parents got cut off by a semi, so I couldn’t see them any more. Then, as we’re approaching the Skyway, my mother comes across the two-way radio “Do you have a dollar fifty?”
“What?” I ask, completely perplexed by the question.
“A dollar fifty. You need a dollar fifty to get through the toll.”
“Oh. OK.” And off I go, searching through my purse and wallet, which wasn’t the best idea considering I was driving at the time. I subsequently missed the exit ramp, and we were all re-routed back onto the I-94.
There were recriminations and gnashing of teeth, and an eventual blowout between my parents as to who could read a map. Somehow, after all of this, the Grumpaw ended up in my Tiny Car, and I ended up driving the minivan with my mother and the NoodleDog in it. However, we prevailed, and my mother’s map-reading skills helped us find the toll road after all.
We’re here, in the company of The Mac’s two cats, The Merlinator (after whom his own site is named) and Riley (who has made herself scarce due to the presence of the NoodleDog – he scares her). Also with us is his Mythical Wog (Snowy), who is now the NoodleDog’s bestest friend in the Universe. More about our friends in the next post – I have to go do some more shopping now.
NoodleJ Out.
OK. I was telling the tale of how we got here. We have arrived, and everyone is alright (thankfully!). The NoodleDog and I left home on Sunday morning around 7:30a, but once we hit the Calgary city limits, I remembered that I forgot some medication at home, and had to go back for it. That put me behind by about 20 minutes (after some creative interpretation of the speed limit) getting to Strathmore to meet up with my parents. We met up, and were off.
The first day was pretty uneventful. We got into Saskatchewan, and it just kept getting hotter and hotter. The NoodleDog had to be transferred to the parents’ air-conditioned vehicle, and I just kept getting hotter and hotter. Midway through Saskatchewan, I started pouring water over my head to keep cool.
We crossed the border without so much as a “Can I see your dog’s Rabies Certificate, Ma’am?” and made it to Minot the first night. Minot shuts down around 9p on a Sunday (except for the 24 hr WalMart), but we eventually found a hotel. It was not dog-friendly, however, and the only room my father could get was RIGHT beside the lobby. He was not given a choice, and we had to sneak the NoodleDog through the back door. We also had to install his anti-bark collar to prevent him from making noise. He’s a noisy dog.
Monday was a fine day for driving, and we saw deer on the side of the road just as we left Minot. We also saw a stunning amount of roadkill along the roads. North Dakota really needs to install fences or something along the roadways to cut down on that carnage. We encountered kamikaze birds (the Kamikaze Birds of North Dakota), and managed to survive that, too. We ended up stopping in Mauston that evening. I think we could have made it to The Mac’s, but it would have been midnight, and the NoodleDog was tired of being in the car. The hotel we found, thanks to the Grumpaw’s handy Super 8 guide, was dog friendly, too, so that was kind of relaxing.
Tuesday, we made it to The Mac’s. We had to go through Chicago to do it, and I was leading. I have successfully navigated the mean streets of Chicago (Ok, the interstate) at least twice, and we all thought it would work out OK. We were wrong. We were supposed to take the Skyway, and I even managed to find the exit to the Skyway at the very last second, but the parents got cut off by a semi, so I couldn’t see them any more. Then, as we’re approaching the Skyway, my mother comes across the two-way radio “Do you have a dollar fifty?”
“What?” I ask, completely perplexed by the question.
“A dollar fifty. You need a dollar fifty to get through the toll.”
“Oh. OK.” And off I go, searching through my purse and wallet, which wasn’t the best idea considering I was driving at the time. I subsequently missed the exit ramp, and we were all re-routed back onto the I-94.
There were recriminations and gnashing of teeth, and an eventual blowout between my parents as to who could read a map. Somehow, after all of this, the Grumpaw ended up in my Tiny Car, and I ended up driving the minivan with my mother and the NoodleDog in it. However, we prevailed, and my mother’s map-reading skills helped us find the toll road after all.
We’re here, in the company of The Mac’s two cats, The Merlinator (after whom his own site is named) and Riley (who has made herself scarce due to the presence of the NoodleDog – he scares her). Also with us is his Mythical Wog (Snowy), who is now the NoodleDog’s bestest friend in the Universe. More about our friends in the next post – I have to go do some more shopping now.
NoodleJ Out.
