elizabeth’s thoughts from the road

Well, we are finally in Charlotte! We arrived Monday and after a couple nights in campgrounds, and we have procured an apartment in the SouthPark area. It is lovely and real close to a lot of things. Pixel Dust has done a great job and she is resting in the back parking lot here. We bought a TV just in time for the 2 hour season finale of LOST!

We will be taking more trips throughout the south on our continuing journey and will update this post when we do! Don’t delete the link! = )

Happy Pink Flamingo day everyone!

Micah is doing MUCH better and yesterday we traversed to Remington, Indiana. We plan 2 more travel days to get to Charlotte so tomorrow night we should arrive!
Chicago traffic SUCKS! Never again!

Well, what Micah thought was the flu turned out to be a kidney infection. Fun! We found this out in Urgent care in Menomonie, Wisconsin on Thursday morning.

Micah is feeling a little better than 24 hours ago. He was really in bad shape there! We were concerned this morning that he still wasn’t that much better after 24 hours on the meds but the nurse told me to give it another 24 hours before we get alarmed. I think it was pretty bad so that medicine has it’s work cut out for it! Poor Micah!
We explained our traveling situation to the doctor and she made sure Micah got 2 shots AND the prescription to assure he didn’t need to be seen again. (side note: Walmart $4 prescriptions rock!) She also took our number and told us she would call this weekend for an update. She was a nice young doctor and quite nice. She enjoyed Micah’s jokes! Yes, even in as bad of shape as he was, he was STILL joking with the staff.

I will update tomorrow. For now, he is sleeping and getting better. He has juice and water and protein shakes. I am taking good care of him! My poor husband!

For those of you from my college days; Menomonie has upgraded quite a bit from what we experienced! Lots of new shops and restaurants as well as new campus buildings! I had a sub at Acoustic Cafe (micah was sleeping and no appetite) and I drove all around to see what was here and what wasn’t. I was happy to see that “The Flame” was still there. It looks a little different and they are toting it as a Sports bar but it was nice to see it anyway!
Classes are out for the year so it is quiet here. I bet the locals like the break times!

Weather is beautiful! I am writing this as I sit by a campfire drinking a leftover wedding rum drink. Micah is inside sleeping and the dogs are out here with me. We are in a nice little campground here and as memorial weekend comes up, it has gotten busier. They said we could stay in our spot as long as we needed as it wasn’t reserved for the weekend. This will be our 3rd night here.

Fingers crossed Micah feels much better tomorrow! = )

Hello everyone! I am not much of a traveler lately! I have traveled to the Minneapolis airport but that is about it. We are parked in my parents driveway in Mound, Minnesota. It is nice to hang out in the beautiful spring weather and go up to the local coffee shop for some internet time. I am looking for an ID job in North Carolina and trying to keep in touch with all my friends. It is tough!

I am going to watch LOST tonight with my big brother and Micah comes back tomorrow from his FIRST trip out of the Minneapolis airport. It is an less interesting time but still fun. It is a lovely time in MN and I am glad to be here with family.

We plan to get to NC by next weekend and get an apartment or park Pixel Dust somewhere where we can stay for a while. We will see…We are getting excited to get down there and scope out the new location. We are excited to find a house sometime soon too.

We seemed to have picked up a denver rodent in the trailer. Ewww…. It might be gone now as we have been running the sonic pest repellers any time we don’t have the dogs in the trailer and now, there doesn’t seem to be any more evidence that they are there. That is good! It is a small space to share with another creature!
My little terriers don’t seem to be very good ratting dogs though…they haven’t even noticed!

We left from Denver and headed north to cut through Wyoming and then across South Dakota. If you have ever been on the route from Denver to Minneapolis before, you probably know you have 2 choices. You can do the southern route through Nebraska or the Northern route through South Dakota. These are 2 fine choices. Both are boring as hell.

We hit Cheyenne, Wyoming on the way up there (apparently the cheapest gas in the country…I wouldn’t have called out …WOW that was cheap but it might have been a few cents less or something) and we were in South Dakota by lunch time.

Mount rushmore, the Black hills and the Badlands make South Dakota a supeirior route to Nebraska. I think Micah enjoyed seeing them for the first time. I enjoyed seeing them again and they seemed different as I was to see them 20 or so years later. Everyone at Mt. Rushmore spoke a different language! It was still quite cold out. We saw it as we got out of the truck but still walked up to the viewing area. There wasn’t anything open as it is still winter season. There really wasn’t much reason for us walking up there but we had come all that way and we thought we would make it the last few steps. It is a lovely sight! Did you know each one of their eyes is 10 foot across?! Awesome.

We caught a quick glance at the Crazy Horse memorial but I missed getting a picture as it was gone in an instant.

The black hills are spectacular and unlike other mountains. Really beautiful! We spent the night in the Black hills near Rapid City, SD where the hooved goat man licked our trailer windows at night (our made up story for rattling windows and creature in the night). Still quite cold and no one around but nice. We ran out of propane right before going to bed and looking back, we probably should have went to exchange that tank before we went to bed. The dogs woke up and were shivering. poor things. We almost had dogcicles that night!

The last thing we did before we headed into South Da”coma” was to ride the Badlands loop. the badlands are so interesting and we got pictures of some prairie dogs as well as some mountain goats! Awesome!

Then…we were in South Dakota for another day or two. At least that is what it seemed like! It was insane how long it took from Rapid city to Jackson, Minnesota (My aunt rosie and uncle vern live there and we bunked with them for the night).

What a great day! There was a rainstorm last night in Denver and I was up for hours with scared dogs…It was great! Jemma digs non stop and would dig through the carpet if given the chance. So…to save my aunts furnishings, I attempted to hold Jemma and settle her down. It was like wrestling an alligator for and hour! I need to get her some sedatives! Ebby shakes uncontrollably and hides anywhere she can. Dear lord!
2 hours of sleep gone…

Then, after I got up and out to run errands and meet a friend for lunch, I headed over to the house where Pixel dust is being kept.

Stupid me…Stupid, stupid me.
I didn’t wake up with all my brain cells.

I pulled the truck into this field/yard to jump in the trailer and get a few things. Instantly, but too late, it occured to me that…damn…it rained quite a bit just an hour ago….And then I slid to a stop in the muddy field. I attempted to get out but to no avail. Mud mud mud everywhere! Gunning it and rocking it did not work for me. I am just not good at those sorts of things.

Good Sam to the rescue again!
30 minutes later, the nice mans field was a muddy mess of tire ruts but Otis was on paved land once again. The nice man from Robin’s towing named Marcus drove Otis out. I think he was just trying it to get it better positioned for winching but he managed to actually get it out without using his truck.

I felt like a dumbass. The car needs a car wash. Good sam roadside assistance is my favorite thing. I don’t like not having my husband around.
= )

But the day got better as I cleaned off my shoes and feet with wet wipes and I met Judith for a nice lunch at the Boulder Dushanbe Teahouse. We had a great time and then explored the greatest store ever, McGuckin’s hardware. Having worked in a hardware store my entire high school and college life, this was wonderful to see. It was like my hardware store only 10 times the size and just full of fun things! If ever in Boulder, check it out! I also heard from my Aunt that McGuckin’s had a time in the spotlight as the rope that was involved in JonBenet’s murder was purchased there…thus used as “incriminating” evidence against her mother Patsy (as she bought it). Anyway…
Then after a Whole foods stop at a very small but quite busy store in downtown Boulder, I was headed home (or home for now!). The dogs didn’t even know I was stuck in the field for over an hour…Must be nice to be a dog…

Ebby and Jemma are loving it here but because of the carpet, I seem to be electrically charged and every time I reach out to touch them, they wince because they know the shock is coming! Poor dears!

I can’t believe I have been in Denver for over a week. It has been nice though. Getting some portfolios out there and trying to get into the work world in North Carolina!
It is nice to watch a few TV shows in real time instead of on the web!

So when I found out that Blue Moon and Killians is made by Coors, I was all for going over to Golden for a tour of the Coors brewery. I had read all about it online and when I mentioned it to my Aunt she told that they used to have unlimited tastings but that it was much scaled back now a days. Bummer but…Oh well, we headed off anyway. We have been on brewery tours before but the beer tasting and the different brews always bring me back.

The new system they have going at Coors (and I heard it was in the last couple weeks only) is that one’s ID is swiped and one is given a wristband and an electronic listening device. It is a little hand held phone like thing that you hold up to your ear to hear. You punch the # of the stage you are in on the tour and a guide tells you about it. It was a “go at your own pace” sort of tour. We listened to most of it and watched through the windows at what they were talking about but we looked like idiots. I know this because I saw the other visitors that traveled up in the elevator with us…We wandered around aimlessly staring into space with a phone attached to our ear. It was quite amusing. They tell you about grains and hops and it smelled familiar in there…Not like beer….I finally decided it smells of Malt-o-milk….

They gave us a little taste of coors or coors light half way through the tour and then more standing and listening and no interacting…And then the “Sample room” was the last stop. This was similar to a bar and huge. You could buy snacks out of a vending machine and enjoy your 3 samples of beer. There were bar tables and people sitting around in groups, some with cards and dice.They punched off your wristband for each drink you ordered. For me, 3 was just great. I can just imagine what a free tour and free beer would do to some people with too much time on their hands. I understand why they cut it down from unlimited.

I also wondered when they swiped my ID at the beginning if they have a “frequent visitors list”…You know, sort of like the 10 most wanted of beer abusers? Do you think they have a talk with them and ask them not to come back?
One guy that came in the same time with us said he didn’t want the “listening device” and that he was only here for the “short tour”…Which meant he went directly to the free beer. Weird but I guess if you don’t have any other way to spend a Thursday afternoon, it is a choice.

We are having a good time in Denver. It is cold and I hope it gets back to how it was tuesday when it was sunny and 75!

we are thinking about heading to Boulder for a Celetial Seasonings Tea tour. Micah isn’t too thrilled but we’ll see. I hear the peppermint room is a real eye opener! why do I like food and beverage tours so much?

Ebby is MUCH improved with the medication!

Well, we finally arrived in Denver. Denver is where my dear aunt Connie is located. We are staying here in an actual house for a little while! It is so plush and we don’t even have to hook up the sewer line or stablize the place with jacks!
Connie and Phil have welcomed us (and the dogs!) into their home until they can’t stand us anymore. = ) Micah will be here through Sunday when he will fly to Dallas for a work week there. I will stay here with the dogs and continue adventures. We parked Pixel Dust in a neighbor’s friends house until we pick back up again. It was sad leaving her there but she needs a little rest too. Connie and Phil are great and fun to be around. The 4 dogs seems to have a blast together. It will be a good week!

Ebby finally went to the vet today. Thank you for all of the well wishes and suggestions. Before finally deciding she has to go to the vet, the last two weeks we had her on Omega 3 capsules, were bathing her in tea tree oil with Aloe and giving her a doggie dosage of Benedryl. Nothing seemed to help! So the vet perscribed a “combination steroid and antihistamine” to try to “break the itch cycle”. We did even have the thought that this whole thing was a behavioral issue brought about by us leaving her home of 3+ years and moving her around the country in a different place each night! Well, the vet said if her itching improves in the next couple weeks but then as the meds taper off she regresses again…then it is for sure severe allergies. We always knew she had them but it just has been so bad! She has scratched herself some great bald spots! After 6 hours on this, she seems to be doing much better!

Tomorrow…Coors here we come! I also heard the Denver Museum of Art is pretty good and we might try that saturday!

friends and family, we love the emails and love that you are keeping up with the blog! I really plan to get better about writing individual emails again! Love from the mile high city!

Beer. I like beer. Micah doesn’t so much…but he is a trooper. I wanted to go on a Coors brewery tour (they own Blue moon and Killians Red) but they are closed to tours on tuesdays and wednesdays. Darn. So, I had my heart set on a good beer and Micah found this place called the Yard house. It had like 100 beers on tap or something like that. If you look at the pics, you can see the three beers I tried. It was good food and good beer.

We then went over to my aunt’s place to say hello. This was our last night “on the road” for a week and a half. We are in Golden, Colorado tonight. We will be staying at Connies place for a little while and putting the trailer in storage for the time being. It will be weird to not be in our little home on wheels!

Ebby goes to the vet today. I hope they can do something for her…She is so miserable!

We will go to Coors on Thursday! whoohoo!

Today was one of those days were things just don’t go as planned when you really need them to! We left Moab headed toward Grand Junction, Colorado and were sure it was going to only be a couple hours of driving and then work at the campground for the rest of the day. It did not turn out that way! In Moab, we took off like any other morning from a campground. We had 1/4 to 1/2 tank of gas and Micah did not think about stopping in Moab.

This was a problem because about the time we realized we really needed gas, we were in the middle of 75 miles of nothing but “no services” exits. Damn….
Damn is what was going through my mind as we rolled to a stop on the side of I-70 eastbound. I immediately picked up my phone and called Good Sam Roadside assistance. I signed up just for such occasions (we could have used it for the beach incident too if I would have had my card on me!) I was put on hold for a good 10 minutes while they tried to locate anyone in our area that could bring us gas. As you can imagine, Utah services are a little sparce. They came back and said it would be 1/2 hour. Whoohoo!
Then the tow truck driver called to make sure of our location and we find out he is 100 miles away. Nice. Ok, back on the phone with Good Sam and another hour later, they assure me someone from Mac’s towing is coming.
Micah makes this nice sign for the back of the trailer. Gas?
We tried to be in good spirits. Micah worked on his computer (still in cell and broadband range can you believe it?!) and I ate lunch in the cool trailer as semi’s swayed us when they passed us. Don’t people usually move over when someone is on the side of the road?

When one is sitting on the side of a strange road in a desolate country, one starts to doubt if help is ever coming.
After one hour, a nice man stops and offers us Diesel. Thanks but, that won’t work…
Another 1/2 hour passes and someone with a long trailer stops up the highway and backs down to us pretty quickly and expertly. He says he was just in Moab (a large ATV and dirt biking area) and he has a 50 gallon tank in his trailer! It even had a hose and everything! Micah gets into the truck and finds out that the battery is now dead too…
Damn…
Turns out this guy has a jump start battery pack too. Rock on!

He talks micah into putting the truck in neutral and backing the truck and trailer back off the road some more so he can pull up beside and get the hose in the right place. This worries Micah because of the large slope on the side of the road. The expert trailer driver, we now know him as Steve from Eagle, colorado…assures him that nothing will happen and talks M through the whole process. To a bystander, this seemed easy as pie, Micah says he was really sweating!

Just as they were giving us some gas, up comes Mac towing. Well isn’t that great timing! Good for Good sam anyway! Steve and his wife Lee head up to the next exit to meet us so we can get some cash for the gas they gave us. Mac’s towing gives us the 3 gallons Good Sam pays for. We drive up to the worst exit in the world (contruction was crazy) and meet them AND proceed to fill up our tank completely.

Micah assures me that he will never run out of gas again and that he will be sure to fill up way ahead of time. I like this thought!

Then, we are off to RV ranch in Grand junction…Only I stupidly typed in “RV Ranch, Grand junction, CO” into Microsoft streets and trips and trusted where it was taking me! Dumb, dumb thing…We ended up 8 miles away from where we should have been down a long windy desert road with winding switchbacks and nowhere to turn around. It sucked. M turned Pixel dust around in no time though and we found a better map to the ranch…

So, after 3 hours of unexpected fun, we are where expeced. It is warm, I would say 75 or so, and beautiful.

We thank our good Samaritan friends, Steve and Lee, and plan to visit their friends campground tomorrow night…
We thank good Sam (even though a little slow)
We thank the tow truck guy from Mac’s
and we thanked each other for not getting upset at each other and realizing our mistakes and hope to not repeat them!