Cancer Posted May 11, 2018 Report Share Posted May 11, 2018 Wife and I set out about 10AM on Monday April 23rd, returned about 2.5 hours ago. Much good times, and many hours behind the wheel (roughly 4500 miles, all told) to reflect on them. Some reflections deposited here. 1. Let the record show that the very first text message I ever sent included the word "cretins", sent about 5:30 PM on April 25th, in reference to Denver traffic. Pariah, Old Man and tkdguy 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pariah Posted May 11, 2018 Report Share Posted May 11, 2018 I've driven in Denver traffic more times than I can count. Your response is entirely appropriate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Posted May 11, 2018 Report Share Posted May 11, 2018 Are they like North Carolina drivers? (aka "those lines on the road are just guidelines") Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted May 11, 2018 Author Report Share Posted May 11, 2018 2. It takes a secure and brave man, or a thorough fool, to bring his S.O.'s from different segments of his life into free, unmediated contact. Pattern Ghost, death tribble and Armory 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starlord Posted May 11, 2018 Report Share Posted May 11, 2018 NOOOO! Why are you back? You had escaped...y-you'd made it out of this place! WTH, man!?!? RDU Neil 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted May 11, 2018 Author Report Share Posted May 11, 2018 I miscalculated. Despite a certainty that it was a valid assumption, a man cannot live on green chile alone. Pariah 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
death tribble Posted May 11, 2018 Report Share Posted May 11, 2018 1 hour ago, Cancer said: I miscalculated. Despite a certainty that it was a valid assumption, a man cannot live on green chile alone. What about Red Argentina, Blue Peru, Yellow Brazil, Orange Uruguay, Purple Bolivia, Brown Venezuela, White Paraguay and Black Colombia ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted May 11, 2018 Author Report Share Posted May 11, 2018 3. Accommodations in Moab, Utah are unreasonably expensive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted May 11, 2018 Author Report Share Posted May 11, 2018 4. Polychromatic visions on why this is a great country: White Sands National Monument, New Mexico, on Saturday, May 5, 2018, Cinco de Mayo. Three Buddhist monks, complete with saffron robes, are walking in the dunes, happily marveling in the drifting gypsum. Meanwhile, a biker with a sound system in his chopper rolls away on the unpaved sand-swept road at a stately pace, Dark Side of the Moon carrying through the desert heat, complementing the surreal atmosphere. wcw43921, drunkonduty and death tribble 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted May 11, 2018 Author Report Share Posted May 11, 2018 5. The place to shop on a spring Sunday in Santa Fe is the row of Indian vendors seated on the north side of the Plaza. Bring cash. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pariah Posted May 11, 2018 Report Share Posted May 11, 2018 2 hours ago, Cancer said: 3. Accommodations in Moab, Utah are unreasonably expensive. ...and this is the off-season. Did you go to the Blue Pig? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted May 12, 2018 Author Report Share Posted May 12, 2018 Nope. We got to Moab almost exactly at 9 PM, the end of the day we started in Flagstaff, went to the Grand Canyon, had dinner in Tuba City (in which we saw no brass instruments at all, oddly ). I think we stayed in the only place in town with a room under $100 a night. Got up about 8 the next day, head northwest through Price, the SLC complex, over I-84 across Idaho, and then final night-over was in Ontario, OR. It was after Grand Canyon that we were in travel-fast mode. We had one place remaining on the list of things to see, and that was really close to home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted May 12, 2018 Author Report Share Posted May 12, 2018 6. The population on the road changes qualitatively about May 1. Exactly when that occurs I can't say, but right about then the RVers came out of their winter slumbers and infested the roads with large semi-mobile obstacles piloted by timid, not-quite-up-to-the-task drivers and powered by timid, not-quite-up-to-the-task gasoline engines. Cruiseamerica.com: Purveyors of highway misery on a massivr scale. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted May 12, 2018 Author Report Share Posted May 12, 2018 7. Sweet creeping Jeshua on a stick, #1: Tanker truck eastbound on I-84 labeled "LIQUID HYDROGEN". Lawnmower Boy, death tribble and L. Marcus 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted May 12, 2018 Author Report Share Posted May 12, 2018 8. My best friend in high school came upon a situation so insanely great it speaks of the man's true brilliance. When you are a professor in the Food Science department in the agriculture school of a state's land grant university, and you take up the mantle of teaching brewery operations and management, not only do you get free samples from the nearby brewers, but you can write off all your home brewing stuff as business expense. I am in awe, Stu. death tribble and Lawnmower Boy 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted May 12, 2018 Author Report Share Posted May 12, 2018 9. Southern Wyoming is a vast emptiness, and if you have no interest in or knowledge of geology you will be bored spitless as you drive I-80 there. (If you do have those, there's lots to see and think about.) I saw a few critters while in the passenger seat (highlight: a pair of sandhill cranes) but otherwise it's rocks and arid high plains and damnear nothing else. Mine tailings were obviously visible from the road only once that I recall, but I am not an expert. Once you get within 40 miles of Laramie you start seeing pronghorns in the open, but you're almost out of Wyoming by then. death tribble 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted May 12, 2018 Author Report Share Posted May 12, 2018 10. I did see one of the fabled black helicopters once, but it was on a trailer being towed by an unmarked Ford F150 pickup eastbound on I-10 in southwest New Mexico. Interesting ramifications for an RPG scenario. death tribble 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Posted May 12, 2018 Report Share Posted May 12, 2018 On 5/11/2018 at 10:42 AM, Cancer said: I miscalculated. Despite a certainty that it was a valid assumption, a man cannot live on green chile alone. You'd live in the bathroom if you tried. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted May 13, 2018 Author Report Share Posted May 13, 2018 11. Sweet creeping Jeshua on a stick, #2: Tanker truck westbound on I-10 labeled "HYDROFLUORIC ACID". death tribble 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted May 13, 2018 Author Report Share Posted May 13, 2018 12. Those of us who have played Deadlands, or at least have read through that rulebook and the background for its published setting, are quite amused by the existence of a little artists' community adjacent to Colorado Springs named "Manitou Springs". We kept looking for ghost rock. death tribble 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pariah Posted May 13, 2018 Report Share Posted May 13, 2018 Wish I'd known you were passing through my city. I would have waved in your direction or something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pariah Posted May 13, 2018 Report Share Posted May 13, 2018 Liquid hydrogen AND hydrofluoric acid on the same trip?! Some guys have all the luck.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Posted May 13, 2018 Report Share Posted May 13, 2018 If only we could have crashed them together... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
death tribble Posted May 13, 2018 Report Share Posted May 13, 2018 I tried but you just can't get the staff today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted May 13, 2018 Author Report Share Posted May 13, 2018 9 hours ago, Pariah said: Liquid hydrogen AND hydrofluoric acid on the same trip?! Some guys have all the luck.... 8 hours ago, Old Man said: If only we could have crashed them together... 4 hours ago, death tribble said: I tried but you just can't get the staff today. Yeah, they were even headed in opposite directions, too. But the collider needs tuning: the two trucks were on paths 1200 km apart in distance and a bit less than two weeks in time. OTOH, both were on relatively flat, uncluttered terrain, ideal for observation of the event. Nothing that couldn't be overcome (that's what postdocs and grad students are for), but I didn't have those resources with me. Maybe I'll write up the proposal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.