Don't blog and drive, kids

I was warned but now I agree: I-80 W is deathly boring thus far. I’m starting this entry in Omaha, Nebraska and depending on how carsick I end up feeling while I type this, I may end it in the same state or the next one, who knows?

Nebraska is my third state of the day with Colorado still to come. While not the most epic journey in the history of mankind (yet), it has had some moments. Like the GPS telling us to turn in 237 miles...

A 5 hour departure delay wasn’t accounted for in the planning stages of this trip way back in 2008. In the end we still got to where we were staying outside Chicago last night and the board bag got built so no harm done. Maybe next time the sewing will get farmed out to the Teeter sweatshop to speed things up. Luckily there wasn’t a long wait at the border to make us even later in getting to the hotel. Upon arriving there around 1am, we were disappointed to discover that our room was on the second floor with no elevators. I say this because we lugged a bunch of heavy gear up those damn stairs that we didn’t want to leave unattended in the truck overnight. Not much point in going on a snowboarding trip if all your gear and clothes get stolen, right?

This morning after sleeping for a handful of hours, we repacked the truck (i.e. we lugged all that heavy crap back down the stairs) and hit the road for our 1000 mile journey to the as-yet-unseen state of Colorado. We won’t make it to Aspen tonight but we’ll be within a couple of hours of it. I’ve already researched all the Target locations close to Aspen.

While crossing endless brown mostly flat farming states by land, there are only so many ways to amuse oneself to stave off insanity and boredom. One of our tricks is to count abandoned broken down vehicles on the shoulders of which there are often an unusually high number in the greater Detroit area. Go figure. They manufacture cars there but they also abandon a lot of them nearby. Circle of life? I just like the irony. Like the way the wheelchair parking space at the TD bank near me is right at the bottom of the stairs. But I digress...

Earlier today near Ottawa, IL we passed a tractor trailer in the ditch which looked as though it had been dropped from a height and had exploded on impact, scattering twisted bits of metal and trailer carnage all over the ditch. It was a pretty shade of blue. No sign of the driver or of any fire. It made for a good temporary diversion. I was disappointed not to see any CSI techs working on the scene but like the Rolling Stones once said, “You can’t always get what you want”.

Sean thinks it’s very wrong to see the current outside temp at 16 degrees C in early February. That would explain the very minimal evidence of snow since Iowa. Let’s hope it’s a little cooler in Aspen or else I fear for decent snow conditions. My dad would like the fact that I’ve seen about 5 motorcycles out riding today. I think seeing giant herds of cattle grazing in corn fields is a little odd as was seeing the sheriff’s car filling up at the BP gas station in Omaha beside us. Sean recommended that I get the sexy white crew cab pickup truck with the blue flames painted on it but I declined because I’d need a ladder to get into it. It would, however, go well with the flame theme that Dr. House has on his cane. Maybe I’ll write him a letter when I get back.

Last night and this morning while I was the passenger, I kept nodding off and dozing for short periods of time. I’d wake up when my head became parallel to my shoulders because my neck would start screaming in protest. I’d dig around behind me for my travel pillow, mash it up between myself and the window then promptly cat nap again. Then it was my turn to drive but I was still sleepy. I tried a Rocket Chocolate to help me wake up a little but it didn’t last very long. Out of fear for my safety, I cracked a NOS and started sipping. If you haven’t tried NOS before, you need to try this stuff. Think of it as ultra-concentrated Red Bull. It’s bigger, the can is bluer and it has twice the amount of caffeine than Red Bull. It comes in regular carbonated cough syrup flavour and in the States you can also buy it in grape flavour which tastes just like grape Crush. A word to the wise: consume as little as needed otherwise you’ll be up until 3am or give yourself palpitations like I seem to have done today... Are we there yet?

http://www.drinknos.com/
http://www.iowa.gov/state/main/index.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oklahoma
http://www.colorado.com/Default.aspx