I've had a few days to recover from the second Great American Road Trip, and in that time I've combed through my 4,396 pictures. Thirty days is a little more than four weeks, so I think a four-part series of pictures - the best of the best - might just be in order. (Day one did not have any decent pictures, so I'm starting on day two.) ALL PICTURES HAVE BACKGROUND INFORMATION. HOVER OVER PICTURES TO READ. Day Two | | | | Day Three | | | | | | |
We got the call from the dealership around 11:00 and had the same older gentlemen who dropped us off pick us up and drive us over. The car's oil was changed and the water cooling system belt had been replaced. We cautiously got onto the freeway, but all systems were nominal as we took it up to speed. With a fully functioning car - the first time since Utah - we headed east on I-20 bound for the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Our previous route would have taken us to minor league teams in San Antonio
After breakfast, we re-packed our bags and headed out of Santa Fe bound for Lubbock at 10:35. We gassed up before exiting Santa Fe and took I-25 northbound (but the section we were on confusingly took us southwest) before exiting on US-285. This drive was the epitome of boring. While one lane in both directions, passing other vehicles was incredibly rare due to the deserted nature of the route. We've gotten to the foothills of the Rockies now, with the mountains of previous days turning into h
After a series of long days and not getting enough sleep, we slept about ten and a half hours last night. My dad had gotten up about 5:00 and walked around the hotel and down the street a bit, where he noted a little restaurant called Sweet Cravings. We'd passed this en route to the hotel but we'd assumed that it was some kind of bakery, but it turned out to be a breakfast-and-lunch place run by an older couple. After his excursion, he returned to the room and continued sleeping. A little ways
The day started out with an adventure in getting across the street. We had originally planned to stay in Provo, which is on the southern edge of the Salt Lake metropolitan area. However, since Orem has a minor-league team known as the Owlz, we switched the reservations just ten minutes north to that city. As it turned out, our hotel was literally across the street from the stadium. Which, of course, you can't just get to normally. We had to take a myriad of turns and navigate a seemingly i
guys guys, this is serious we don't have much time left guys guys really the end is upon us and do you know why? my dad just referenced gangnam style we're doomed
The New Year might be well on its way, but that doesn't mean that I'll let any more Christmas songs off the hook. So it's time for another objective analysis. This time, I'm taking on Frosty the Snowman. Let's get to work. Frosty the Snowman was a jolly happy soul, With a corncob pipe and button nose And two eyes made out of coal. Right off the bat we can identify a few disturbing implications. Frosty is a soul, which means that Frosty is disembodied. A soul without a body is commonly refe
I feel bad I missed a few weeks in there, but we're back now, ladies and gentlemen. | It fits my hand and can shoot fairly accurately over some long distances.
This tablescrap has a bit of a backstory. In 2007, I created a series of terrible noobish Doctor Who-based stopmotion films. To film these, I built the TARDIS exterior and interior. The exterior, which I still have around someplace, is terrible. But the interior, which accrued dust over the years, was sort of okay. This week, I rebuilt the portions of it that had fallen into disarray, mostly by patching up places where I'd cannibalized pieces. | | | | |
After waking up and making ourselves look at least somewhat presentable, we steeled ourselves for going out and getting a hotel breakfast. After the burned toast debacle of last night, we were concerned that whatever breakfast we got would be inedible. It was not inedible - it was undrinkable! We all got coffee and modified it with a number of creamers and sugars, but upon sampling it we all nearly puked due to its extreme bitterness - sort of like what I imagine liquified anthrax would taste
At around 9:30 this morning we heard a loud tapping sound outside our fifteenth-floor window. Startled and curious, we opened the curtains to reveal a gigantic seagull which had perched himself on the ledge. We saw a close-up gull yawn as well as a good look at how gulls prune themselves. It was raining - one of the many themes of our journey - so we left the hotel around 11:00. Our first stop of the day was Vancouver's famous Stanley Park, which would have been a very nice place to spend a da
After a good night's sleep we got on the road at noon, rested up and anticipating a drive to Boise. It was 55 degrees and, of course, it was raining. It was not a hard rain, so we were able to make good time. We saw orchards along with semi-arid hills and mountains covered in dust and sagebrush. I forgot how much of Washington was like this. We stopped on the Yakima outskirts for gas and car snacks, then hit the road again. We crossed the Yakima and the Naches rivers and continued on the highw
"It's iconic. It's platonic. It's absolutely supersonic. I just love dental floss - don't you?" -Sumiki's Dad, 2013 Use it for laundry to hold up wet pants Use it in salad to clear out the plants Use it with music to help yourself dance Dental floss. Use it with Windex to clean your garage Use it on sidewalks and make a mirage Use it on muscles to help them massage Dental floss? Use it with lawnmowers to hold up the blade Use it on tonsils with your eggplant maid Use it with ducklings whil
We left Brandon a little after ten-thirty after a filling breakfast. We were outside of the city - Manitoba's second largest - within no time, and by eleven we were seeing vast, wide-open expanses of sheer nothingness where we could see forever. Nearly noon, we found ourselves in Saskatchewan (province #2) at their welcome center, where we met two upbeat ladies who showed us interesting pamphlets for and lively descriptions of Saskatchewan attractions. While we did not end up getting to many o
We got on the road before 10:00 and headed west on Trans-Canadian Highway 1. The first stop of the day was Medicine Hat, which, aside from its strange and awesome name, is the first major city after crossing into Alberta. We saw a donut-shaped cloud and large eastbound trucks - probably the most traffic we've seen on Highway 1 since we got on it in Brandon. We continued the pattern of gaining altitude and plateauing. This became much more pronounced today; we were most definitely in the foothill
As one of the final steps in my quest for reorganization and restructuring of this blog, I have reformed the old "Bring Back Teal Club" into a new club: The Unused Colors Society. The mission of the UCS is to promote the use of underutilized and/or discontinued LEGO colors, such as teal, old purple, or metallic blue. All of the 130 members of the old BBTC are automatically members of the UCS - and anyone who wishes to join can do so in this entry!
Does anyone even read these? Our first stop of the day was in Northfield, a short drive from Minneapolis and a cute college town, home to crosstown rivals Carleton and St. Olaf. What should have taken thirty minutes took instead about fifty, as the Interstate down was closed. Every state has its own type of road construction, but Minnesota has its own special brand of messed up. The signs that should have denoted the complete and utter closing of the Interstate were cryptic, and we were
We left for the Mall of America at 12:20 and arrived a few minutes later. It's strange seeing the place - there's really nothing quite like it. It's not because of the shops. It's because they have roller coasters inside. Roller coasters. Inside. We walked through this gigantic area en route to the LEGO store, but had enough time to get all-day wristband passes to (nearly) all the rides. The kiddie rides are mixed in with the larger ones and the larger ones were built over, around, and o
The day began in Mackinaw City at around seven o'clock in the morning. We hadn't planned on getting such an early start, but the northern latitude of the city meant more daylight hours and earlier waking. We checked out, gassed up, and began the day crossing the epic Mackinac Bridge. It's a gigantic bridge. There's nothing special about it other than that it's just massive. You think it's going to start dipping down to the other side but it just keeps on going. Of course, we made it to the upp
Possibly a seven-foot-tall man with a handlebar mustache and the voice of James Earl Jones and the ability to carry on an in-depth discussion about the US Patent Office. (Only one of these is actually true.)
I'll be hanging around the LEGO store at the Mall of America around 1:00 this Sunday wearing something orange. If you live close by, feel free to show up and we can dream about farm animals together.
