I wanted to re-post my trip to Connecticut in my blog. I started writing years ago on Myspace, but as I am moving on I realized that I am shying away from that site and more towards writing on this blogging site. Enjoy!
MONDAY, DECEMBER 31st, 2007
Let The Games Begin (Life on the Road Pt.1)
After a much needed extra day before leaving, we ended up leaving today. Not for any crazy reasons or anything, but because I sold my drum set to my dad's neighbor on a whim and was invited for steaks and a nice hangover. I gladly accepted.
Of course, waking up this morning was a chore in itself, but coming to the realization that a Honda Accord doesn't exactly hold what a hand mini-van could. So I exited California without everything I thought I would be taking. I am minus my drums, my bass, and my bike. I plan to become friends with UPS very soon.
Not much of an adventure leaving California, but soon became one when we stopped at Stateline. I just so happen to throw a $20 bill into a machine and BAM, I won $180. Not too shabby, however my luck was about to change. Anyone who knows me knows that I wear my four pair of jeans and that is about it. Well, I get a call from my dad and of course 2 of the four pair of jeans AND my only two sweatshirts are in the dryer at home. There goes the $180. I plan on finding a Macy's before long.
We soon hit Utah. I will not make any jokes about Utah nor the people who live in Utah. Enough said. Stopped and ate Chili's. Hit Target for some Visine for my red eyes.
AND then good times. Hit a snow storm. It started to come down slightly and I was smiling and thinking "Oh look at the pretty snow, how charming", which turned to "What the fuck is this shit? I'm on Interstate 70 (Utahs mini version of Ortega highway), dark as can be, and it's snowing like a dudes hair before learning of head and shoulders. We drove about 30 miles through that at 40mph. It's hard to drive through snow, but its harder to drive like a goddamn grandpa.
Finally sitting in my hotel room betting on which item in my car hates the cold weather most.
Bob: Alex, I'll take "The shit in my car" for $1000, please
Alex Trebek: The Xbox 360, your acoustic guitar, your electric guitar, and your cymbals.
Bob: What is everything in the car, that if were alive, would punch me in the balls for putting them through this shit.
Alex: That is correct.
More to come……
TOTAL FOR THE DAY: 561 miles
MOOD: Relieved
Wednesday, January 2nd, 2008
Here We Go Again (life on the road pt.2)
We left our home sweet home of the Comfort Inn around 10:30am. It was cold out. We did have a nice surprise of warm breakfast and mud for coffee at the hotel. We started out and really made some good time. Apparently their 75mph speed limit signs controls my foot to an even 90. We made GREAT time, and my car was getting 400 miles per tank. We stopped in a little town called (Salinas, UT) to get coffee. I had been noticing that my wiper fluid was out though I thought that they had filled all that up at the service station before I left CA. I bought a big bottle and began dumping in. It filled up in less then a second. Lucky me, the fluid was frozen. My spoiled CA Honda is not happy with me right now.
We trekked along and stopped at Grand Junction to get coffee. Meanwhile, we kept seeing signs that the 70 was closed up at Vail Pass, where we needed to go. At that point we were at least 400 miles to our destination of Fort Collins, CO. We had plans to stay with my cousin Rich and his wife Dorina and go see the Motet at a venue 3 miles from his place. So far it wasn't looking like we were going to make it. We decided we needed to make up so more time. I drove another couple hundred of miles right into a snow storm in Richfield, CO. Very cool town. We stopped for about an hour pondering if we really wanted to die driving further. My mind was made up.
We got back in the car and started driving into the storm. Actually, it started to let up a little bit. We arrive in Eagle. CO to get gas and get the updated report about the Pass. Rich called and said it was OPEN. Back in the car, and we were off. The snow started coming down harder and we made up our mind to stop at Avon, CO for the night. Though the Pass was open another 160 miles appease my stomach which had eaten Wendy's a little earlier as well as the signs that chains may be needed. I have chains. I learned how to put them on, but that doesn't make the idea of using them any more appealing. We decided to look at getting a room. $259. Ummmmm, no. We were about 10 miles from Vail and kind of figured that it was all going to be expensive, so we turned back down to Eagle (about 20 minutes away).
We stopped at a Comfort Inn. Pulling in I laughed at all the suckers waiting in line for the stop light that was at the entrance of the grocery store next door. Also, I thought I would be funny and slide into the parking spot. I did alright, but couldn't control my car as I headed for a parked Jetta (which was black may I add). I missed it by a foot. Stupid California driver. On top of that, no vacancy. We called around an there were NO rooms available. Sitting in line for the light I was cursing under my breath.
We saw a Holiday Inn across the street. They had a room!!! No sliding into a spot for me!
We went into "town" and had dinner at, shit I don't remember, but it was ok. The countdown begins for new years. Happy New Years, everyone!!
Let me throw some fun facts out to my friends:
Eagle, Colorado
(per their tour guide) Days of Sunshine: 80% of the days have 50% or more of sunshine. Huh
The temperature right now is 21degrees. I can barely feel my toes.
The 6 pack of Shilling 90 ale was $11.29 in American currency, and worth every penny.
I sent out 40 text messages to my friends. On average 18 of those 40 people have Verizon while means I will be paying $4.40 for them, which is $6.89 less then my beer. Both were just as enjoyable.
AND my car still hates me.
HAPPY NEW YEAR'S BITCHES
TOTAL FOR THE DAY: 492 miles
TOTAL FOR THE TRIP: 1053 miles
LOWEST TEMPERATURE FROM MY CAR: 18 degrees
Wednesday, January 2nd, 2008
Sliding in the Snow (Life on the Road pt.3)
We got up and were out of the place by 11:00am. I began to realize that all the items I packed were scattered throughout the car. This included non-essentials like deodorant, jackets, etc. Wonderful. Nothing like a cold, smelly person.
The Vail Pass was open today, but it ended up being a rough drive. The roads were covered in ice and snow, so driving was a bit ackward. The drivers were relatively mellow, except for the occasional asshole who goes flying by. Funny how most of those people had California plates. We passed Vail and Breckenridge. We also went through a tunnel that I had seen on a Discovery Channel special. Pretty cool. We passed Golden Colorado and it was tough not to stop at Coors.
We shot down the rest of the mountain into the Denver area. If you have never been to Denver, you need to check it out. It really doesn't seem like a city ay all. It was gorgeous.
Fort Collins, our destination, was our next stop. Very cool place. I managed to drive pretty well, UNTIL we hit Rich and Dorina's street. I missed the turn and ended up sliding down the street. Rich said they don't normally plow apparently.
We arrived at their house and it was beautiful. I got the tour of the place including meeting my nemesis, the dread Macintosh. Actually, it was a really nice computer. We webcamed my cousins up in Oregon. Good times.
After we were off to the city. Of course, being new years day, everything was closed. We found a bar called the Crown and had a drink or ten there. I have been on this kick about trying new beers this whole time. I had a 99 Shilling the other day, and today at the bar I had a 5 Barrel. Something about numbers and names I guess. Also, was debating about getting a Guiness. I did, but at the last minute it was an Irish Car Bomb that I got. Good stuff.
We ended up heading back to their place and had dinner. After dinner it was time to whip out Guitar Hero. Good times all around.
TOTAL MILEAGE : Short day 185 miles
TOTAL MILEAGE FOR THE TRIP: 1238
LOWEST TEMPERATURE : 7 degrees
Thursday, January 3rd, 2008
Sleeping is Good…. Just Not While Driving (Life on the Road Pt. 4)
Woke up and realized it was late. Felt good to sleep in as it feels like a long time since its happened. Decided it was a good time to get some laundry done. Fairly uneventful. I hope I don't lose people with these uneventful, downtime days. We went to REI looking for a warm jacket.
REI is great. They had all kinds of jackets, bike stuff, climbing gear, etc. My only gripe is you need to have inherited money just to be able to shop there. Everything is so expensive. Kind of a bummer. So we did what any other human being would do when they cannot find a jacket at REI. We went to Target. Got a few things, mainly warm items. Also, stopped by Macy's since I had a gift card. There really wasn't anything there that was great.
Came home and took a nap. All the excitement of the day was just to much for my old body. Rich and Dorinna got home around 6:00pm and we headed off to dinner. We at this place downtown (will fill in name later). They also brewed their own beer. I really dug the chili beer. Headed off to a martini bar. I had the Macallan. I kind of sound like Neil Peart. If you don't understand my last comment (a) Find out who Neil Peart is and (b) read his latest book, Roadshow. Killer book.
Got back home and ended up just chillin and talking music with my cousin. Had some more scotch. Ended the night. Or so I thought. It's now 4:20am (sweet) and I cannot sleep worth shit. Glad I own stock in Nitequil.
TOTAL MILEAGE : None, except for peddley little miles
TOTAL MILEAGE FOR THE TRIP: 1238
LOWEST TEMPERATURE : 23 degrees (warm day)
Saturday, January 5th, 2008
Red Rocks, Rocks (Life on the Road Pt 5)
Well, its Wednesday… No it's not, it's Thursday. Who cares, I guess. It's another day. After talking to my cousin into the evening last night, I decided that Fort Collins was calling my name for a third day. I was feeling very ancy to see what this area had to offer. Got up around 8:30 and went for a 2 hour tour around Fort Collin's reservoir. Actually, I forgot the name of the reservoir, but it was nice. It was something that would have been a great bike ride, if I only could have gotten that on my car. Funny, I have all of my biking gear. I guess I could wear my biking shorts and shirt on casual day at work. I rekon I would get an ass whooping doing something like that.
We got back from the tour and decided to head to Denver. We didn't make it Denver. A better idea came up. About 10 miles away from Denver was where our destination took us. Are you sitting down?? We hit Red Rocks. For anyone who likes live music chances are you know of the place. You drive into a town called Morrison. Mr. Mojo Risin. Not that Morrison. As you go up the road you come to these giant rock formations. Looks cool from outside, but you walk up the walkway and their it is. A giant amphitheatre built into the natural red rocks of the canyon. Oh my God. It was beautiful. I was in heaven. ** I will post pictures of this place soon. The best part about the place is the fact that you can walk wherever you want there. In other words, I sang on stage at Red Rocks!! Dave Matthews, Moody Blues, Beck, 311, Phish.. All of these bands have played there. The later of the list is apparently band because of some lsd trippin fans tipped an old ladies car in town. Brilliant as they were, security sprayed tear gas into the wind. Hmm.. Brilliant! I guess good thing Phish don't play anymore. They would be beating the shit out of their fans at this point.
We headed back to town. Got home took a nap and a shower. Oh and by the way, I do need to tell you how smart I am. I was told the hot water only works for a 10 minutes or show for showers. Well, when I got in the shower it was cold and I figured I was fucked. It was freezing, but I beared it and took a military style shower. 2 minutes flat. Then I realized I had the hot water know turned off. Nice!
We went out for pizza for dinner. Had beer. 2 Below. Pretty good. Came home and it was time to drink more. I had a Hungarian based alcohol called Unicum. Terrible. The came out the Absinth. Tasted like shit, but thought I had a chance to hallucinate. No good.
Listened to two new bands that I really liked. Check out Papa Mail and Cold War Kids. Kick ass. Went to bed
Lessons learned for the day:
Colorado has a sense of humor. Driving, on a signed through the canyon, the sign read "Don't be fooled, you still have another 2.5 miles of winding roads"
Make sure to pack your car correctly BEFORE you leave for your trip.
My car got 425 miles on a tank of gas. Go buy a Honda!
TOTAL MILEAGE : Was 60 miles to Red Rocks, but its not part of the overall ride, so fuck it.
LOWEST TEMPEARTURE : 27 degrees
Saturday, January 5th, 2008
Michael Slover (Life on the Road Pt. 6)
DISCLAIMER
I think I'm running low on humor. I am tired. I love this trip. I love driving, but I am tired. Let's go over todays events.
I drove far. That's it! Have a good night everyone!
Ok, Since I am nice guy I will tell you my interesting day.
I drove from Colorado to Wyoming to Nebraska and ended in Iowa. The drive was long. I started driving at 9:45ish and ended at 8:30pm. Nothing to interesting. Actually, believe it or not, Wyoming has a Ghetto Bird that likes to follows cars. Ever see Good Fellas?? Well it was like that chopper was following me. Maybe it's just paranoia? Or maybe they know something I don't? Who is the midget under my front hood that I have been transporting this whole time? There really wasn't much to see in Wyoming, except the firework stores. Pictures of blowing my hand off and having to drive with one arm steered me away from picking anything up. Plus, would I want my right hand or left?? Hmmm. No comments.
Next was Nebraska. Hi…. I'm in Nebraska. I did crap in two spots in Nebraska.
Next was Iowa. Don't remember much as I put the car in cruise control and closed my eyes for couple of hours, and bam ended up in Des Moines. Sorry, folks. I don't really have much to tell about these states. I'll let you know about Iowa tomorrow when I see it in daylight.
We got to a hotel and I ran out to get some food. I stopped at Godfathers pizza. I tried out my best Italian accents, but noone was amused. I did get a laugh when some lady came in to the restaurant and was cussing about how some foreigners took her keys, cussed at her in achmealababa and drove off. Fucking hilarious. Always puts a smile on my face. I almost hit someone when they ran in front of my car across the street. I could have earned a hundred points for that. Maybe 200 for a dead center aim.
Well that's about it. Go away!
TOTAL MILEAGE : 670 miles
TOTAL MILEAGE FOR THE TRIP: 1908 miles (by the way, passed the half way mark)
LOWEST TEMPERATURE : 23 degrees in Colorado
Monday, January 7th, 2008
The Hotel Clerk is on Crack (Life on the Road Pt. 7)
Talking to front desk guy we were told that it was going to take 3 ½ hours to get to Chicago. I like to drive fast. However I think this guy was on crack. It took at least 5 hours. We continued our quest through Iowa. Not a bad place at all. We stopped at Taco Bell in a small town in Iowa. It was like a movie. We walked I and everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at us. HAHA I heard crickets. Not sure if the crickets were chillin in the resturaunt or if it was what they were cooking up. As we walked out we had a group of guys follow us out. We got out of there pretty damn quick.
We entered Chicago and it was confusing as all hell hitting those highway interchanges. We made it. Jill's cousin, Ken Barnard is a comedian out here. Funny, funny guy. There are some clips on Youtube that I will post links later so you check him out. Him and his girlfriend, Jodi, live in a sweet townhouse in the city. ** A side note ** My sister and I had a friend named Fay in California. I haven't seen her since 6th grade. She was a riot then and apparently she is a comedian out here in Chicago. Ken knows her. Talked about a small world. We chilled a bit and drank. Drank heavily that is and watched some football. We then headed out to Holiday Club for a comedy party. Had some more drinks. I was spinning!! Lost my phone. If you reading this, PLEASE call me so I have your numbers again!!
We got home and that was it. Crashed out!!
TOTAL MILEAGE : 420 … Sweet, 4:20
TOTAL MILEAGE FOR THE TRIP: 2328 miles
LOWEST TEMPERATURE : 24 degrees
Monday, January 7th, 2008
Cell Phone's Dead, Lost in Chicago (Life on the Road Pt.8)
My Lord, I'm still drunk. Drunk as a skunk. What a mess I am!! Stumbled out of bed and needed to get some food. We hit a fine Chicago food establishment called Subway. My stomach was very happy. Came back to the house and relaxed for a few minutes and got cleaned up.
We left and went downtown to Wrigley field. A very interesting place it was. I never imagined that the place was in the actual city. I remember in Ferris Bueller the shot of the stadium looked like it was out in the boonies. It definitely wasn't. The place was smaller then I thought. I can imagine the place being packed when games are going on. We ate a diner called Salt and Pepper's. We cruised around the city all day, including a resolving trip to Verizon Wireless. I have a phone!!!!
Got home from my subway trip full of cracked out kids, and planted my ass on the chair. We watched two Academy Award winning films (can you feel the sarcasm) and picked up some Chinese Food. No fortuned Cookies. God damnit. Also, my chopsticks broke. God God Damit Damit. Food wasn't all that bad, but with side of Tums it made it a lot better. We got ready and took of Shumbas (comedy club).
Let me back up for a second. Jill and I have been buggin Kenny to do a show while we were there so we could see what it was all about. With some twisting of arms, we got him to do an open mic night. We showed up at the club. Pretty cool place and it was packed. Apparently they banned smoking inside which made the goggles I brought completely ridiculous to wear. Although, Orlando Carbrea did look good in them getting beer dumped on him after the ALCS win. The place was full of funny and not so funny human beings. If you read the last blog, I ran into our old friend, Fay Canole. Doesn't look different or act different at all from when I remember her in 6th grade. My liver was begging for an alcoholic beverage, since its never tasted one before, so I made my way down to the bar. The bar upstairs was packed and I figured, being the degreeless, graduate in my own mind, that I would cruise down and get some beers. $40 later I made my way upstairs and caught the last joke that Ken was telling. Damit… AND to make matters worse, I didn't even hear the last joke and I was sulking in my own misery. I did hear some alienish type scream from the stage so I did recognize that it was him.
That was it people. My opportunity to see him. Down the crapper. We got back in the car, came home. I dipped into my dwindling supply of Nitequil and was out. By the way, I am not addicted. However, if anyone knows how to buy stock in the company, speak now or forever hold your peace.
Peace out!
NO MILEAGE
WARM AS SHIT
NO REAL BUZZ, except for the Nitequil
Monday, January 7th, 2008
Doxylamine Succinate 6.25mg (Life on the Road Pt.9)
What the fuck day is it??? Groggy as victim of GHB I couldn't open my eyes this morning. I peaked my toe at of my covers to get the over all consensus of the day. Fair to medium fair. Ok, I can deal with that. The train did its little roar by the station and it was time to get up.
I packed my shit .. And I packed my travel stuff as well. Hmmm, strange. It was just hitting 10:30 and I did my walk down to Starbucks. I got my ice coffee, but they wouldn't add a shot of Nyquil (correct spelling as I just read the box). We hit the road and the first hour was fun. I missed my turn and started to get real moody. There are many roads, and ever more roads after that, and even my navigation was getting in on the game.
We got on the road. After paying my $50,000 worth of tolls we were out of Chicago, through Indiana (more tolls) and past Ohio. Not really to much to mention.
We hit Pennsylvania later in the evening. You ever see Howard the Duck??? The truck driver played by Mr. Rooney? (2nd Ferris mention). Well, I am pretty sure that dude was driving behind me trying to run me off the road. I shit you not the 65 mph signs are just for cars. It's really 75mph for trucks. Tense times.
Finally got to the hotel and I am going to pass out.
Have a good night!!
LOWEST TEMPERATURE: 51 degrees (nice day)
TOTAL MILES FOR TODAY: 517 miles
TOTAL FOR THE TRIP: drum roll please. Jklasdfjkhladsfkja 2845miles
FINAL NUMBERS!
Ok, to sum up the last day. We drove and arrived at home. That's it. Except for the fact that I felt like driving another 360 miles down and back from New Jersey the day after we got back. Actually I stayed in NJ for a couple of days and ate, drank, and got tatted. Just a quick recap of the trip.
NUMBER OF DIFFERENT STATE LICENSE PLATES WE SAW: 38
STATES GONE THROUGH: California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut
STATES POOPED IN: Basically all of them. Tennessee (oops, I mean Nebraska "thanks AJ) more than once.
FASTED SPEED: 100mph.
NUMBER OF MISSED TURNS: A lot, all I have to say is Chicago.
NUMBER OF HAMPTON INNS STAYED AT: 3 (might I add that if you are planning a trip and want free toothpaste from the front desk, I highly recommend this fine establishment)
NUMBER OF BEERS DRANK: Don't know, don't ask.
NUMBER OF BOOKS READ: zero, who the fuck reads anyways?
NUMBER OF BOOKS BROUGHT: 20, I guess I do fucking read.
NUMBER OF DAYS BEFORE I REALIZED THAT I HAD CRUISE CONTROL? 6
NUMBER OF BASEBALL FIELDS THAT I SAW? 2
NUMBER OF JETTAS I ALMOST TOOK OUT? 1
AMOUNT OF MONEY SPENT ON TRIP? $1049
AMOUNT OF MONEY IT WOULD HAVE COSTED WITHOUT ALCOHOL? $500
WOULD I MAKE THIS TRIP AGAIN? Oh, hell ya!!!
