Ouch, that doesn’t sound too good.  But the days have been ok so far.  The van feels really gutless going up hills, that could be the huge load of luggage or inferior American Gas.  I’ve been using mid-grade as the regular stuff has lower octane levels than Canadian regular.  But it is still cheaper than ours!

KM’s travelled today: 1033

I was planning to go all the way to Dalhart, TX today but ended up in Raton, NM.  I had already been going for 12 hours when I got to Raton and the weather is actually quite gross.  I don’t know what black clouds and high winds mean in New Mexico but where I come from it’s not a good thing to travel in.  So I grabbed a hotel room which means a shower tonight!

Really uneventful day today.  Took quite a while to get through the Denver area due to all the construction and accidents on the interstate.  Downtown Denver is amazing to see, totally makes Calgary’s look like puke.  Huge stadiums, beautiful buildings, etc.  I went through Colorado Springs which apparently has the head office of Focus on the Family.  There was a large sign to go visit their Visitor Centre and I was awfully tempted to stop there for a picture of some kind.  But the need to keep driving took over.

Tomorrow I had originally planned to go to San Antonio but that would be too much driving (12 hours at least for a third day).  So instead I am going to camp at the KOA in Junction, TX.  I slept outside last night which was nice and I am hoping to do the same tomorrow night.  I also checked the forecast for Hurricaine Gustav and I should avoid any problems from that.  Wish I could say the same for New Orleans.

Just to let everyone know, we haven’t had any offers on the house yet.  We’ve decided to try for 2 more weeks and if there is nothing happening then we will try and get a renter.  Our preference is still to get a buyer but we’re willing to be flexible.

/RD

Words I never thought I’d say.  But it’s nice here.  Lots of flies and wasps though.

KM’s driven:1096.9

Road kill seen: 3 deer, 10+ porcupines, 2 skunks, 1 racoon

Things I hit with the van: a small bird (this always seems to happen at the start of road trips),

a porcupine (but it was already dead)

a tin can which I assume had creamed corn or similar in it.  Didn’t see that one in time but it sure sounded cool when I hit it!

- I don’t know why so many porcupines though.  I suspect there is some kind of religion in Southern AB and Montana where you get “holy points” for every one killed.  Some kind of water bed based faith I suspect.

Trip was pretty good.  100+ degrees for most of the afternoon.  It didn’t feel like it though.

HUGE recomendation: listen to the audio commentary by Larry the Cucumber and Mr Lunt on the Veggie Tales Jonah movie.  SUPER funny.  I will never hear the word “hushpuppies” without laughing now.

I have some pictures.  One in particular I found funny at the time.  A car with the license plate “DANIML1″ which I read as Dan-imal.  But they were doing 60mph on a 70mph road.  And then they got passed by a mini-van loaded with enough stuff to outfit a small army.  I’m sorry Dan, you’ve lost your cool nickname privilages.

I also thought of a cool movie plot consisting of Andy Richter and Andy Dyck.  Well, I just found it funny that both guys are really just pieces of satire placed in movies so we can laugh at them.  So a movie revolving around them should be good, right?  And Andy Rooney could do a guest cameo.

/RD

The title sounded cool at the time I wrote it.  Kind of a super hero type of exclamation.  But since I didn’t find an open internet connection, here is a note I wrote earlier today in Great Falls, Montana.

Aug 30, 12:20 PM

Crossed the border at 10:30ish.  No problems.  Border guard looked a little amazed at the amount of stuff I had until I told him I was heading to Mexico where my wife and three kids would fly in to join me.  He asked me if I was planning to possibly move to Texas and I replied “No sir,I like it too much here” referring to Canada.  Not sure if that was wise but it didn’t cost me.

Arrived in Great Falls at 11:30.  Had lunch.  Once again made the discovery that a BLT does NOT have cheeze.  That’s the 2nd time in a couple of months that I have done that.  I don’t know why I keep ordering a BLT expecting cheeze, but I do.  And it should.  And yes, I know that then it would be called a BCLT.  But then again, isn’t cheeze an assumed part of any sandwich?  If not, it should be.

Great Falls apparently has waterfalls, and at least to some they’re great.  I didn’t see them so I can’t say for sure.  And I crossed the Missouri River in about 2 seconds which would probably make Lewis and Clark quite angry as it most likely took them a few hours and the loss of a good horse and/ or cook.

/RD

Well the van is all packed and all that is left is for me to shower and shave, spend a little more time with the kids (maybe I shouldn’t be doing this right now!) and then get some sleep.  Take off time is approx 0600 tomorrow morning with a goal of Sheridan, Wyoming.  Should be about 10 hours of driving so hopefully I will be relaxing in the KOA campground at supper time.  Although it is Labour Day (Labor Day in the USA) and there is a good chance of all sites being full.  Hmmmmm, should’ve thought of that.  oops.

I’ll keep posting updates of where I am as time and Internet connections permit.

/RD