And so it begins.
Last night while waiting to be tired I contacted several people about needing a place to stay in various states. We're set for a lot of the places where we plan to get out the bikes. I've heard back from several people and the only place we're worried about now is Eureka, California. Camping that night wouldn't be bad, right? How cold can it be over there? We'll find out!
8:30 AM this morning: Woke up and starting getting ready to leave while enjoying some nice instant coffee. Normally the instant variety is complete crap but this kind was really good. I'd prefer not to say which kind it is because they spend enough on marketing as it is. They don't need me putting the word out there for them. Suckers. Cody's mom made a huge breakfast for us. Probablhy the best breakfast we're going to eat for weeks. There were multigrain pancakes, hashbrowns, pumpkin or banana bread ( I forgot which ), black berries and orange juice. We started out in the truck at 10 AM this morning with a large list of final things to get done
9 things needed to happen before we could get out of town.
1. Go to the bank to deposit a check.
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We made sure the straps were staying tight. They needed a little adjustment at this point.
Balls! The bank doesn't open for 10 more minutes. Bail.
2. Get gas and inflate the tires to the trailer. This is when we realize that left side of the trailer is going to be a problem and need some CO2 cartridges to keep that sucker maintaines. As I regret giving the little brother the rest of my CO2 for his airsofts guns we discuss going to Paul's Discount for that and to check for an FM transmitter for the tunes.
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3. Go back to bank and inquire about credit card that hasn't been received yet. Deposit check.
4. Pick up some remaining items stored in my friend's garage. Gas can and a bag full of my kitchen stuff we'll be using when we camp. I think we have three cast iron skillets between the two of us. Also, a large thermos, a 2-quart sauce pan, decent storage containers, seasoning and who knows what else.
5. Go to county clerk building to do some vehicle registration on the red Honda.
6. Go to the post office to mail off a title for a motorcycle so we're not carrying proof of ownership. We also filled out some change of address forms just in case some stupid jerks mail some stuff to our old addresses. We saw a van parked outside that I think I need to show because it was so funny. Who decorates their vehicle with a fetus on the side? That's stupid. Also, a sticker saying not to vaccinate your kids? That's stupid.
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Just stupid.
Do you see the part where it says "Abortions cause breast cancer."? Right, like I'm going to believe the shit some asshole writes on the side of their van. The last time I did that I woke up in the bottom of a well, being required to rub lotion on my skin until I managed to take a dog hostage.
7. Go to Pauls Discount for the supplies. CO2 and FM transmitter obtained. Discussed getting a 12-volt cigarette lighter splitter to run the transmitter and GPS at the same time. It's on the list of things that will make spending hours in the car everyday.
8. Coffee and free wifi to update Facebook and blog to inform people we're leaving town. Fail to update blog because I got sidetracked by talking to people online and downloading a few podcasts to listen to while coordinating with strangers on the internet to stay at their
9. Get on I-80 and go in the correct direction. In our case that's West. Oregon is to the West of Iowa. Now ya know.
Remember that thing I said about having a slow leak in a tie on the trailer's right side? Well, it become an problem and Cody noticed it was time to pull over and pump a few of those C02's into the tire. We had only made it to the Montezuma exit before it needed that. He pumped four total into that tire and it only got to 20 PSI out of the 40 it needed.
While he's dealing with that I'm on the phone looking up a place in Des Moines that sells tires. First result for "tires des moines" was a page for Michelin, phone number 515-237-8473. I wrote the tire size on my hand while calling those fools up asking what they can do. The guy says he can get one in about 30 minutes. We were unsure of the lugnut pattern and didn't measure it until we made it to the tire shop. It ended up being the most common lug pattern so it was fine.
We were in that tire shop for less than 10 minutes. Those awesome people were able to change the tire before we got change and a recipt. Around the time of leaving Flatt's (lol, great name for a tire shop) hunger struck. I know an awesome taco truck near there that serves us barbacoa tacos for a $1.50. The first time I was there they served the tacos with a roasted jalapeno and lime.
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Slight difference this time. I noticed that the jalapenos looked like the had been roasted for much longer because they were fairly dried out and skinny looking. After downing my taco and my pepper Cody gave me the rest of his pepper because he didn't feel like eating it. That was not a jalapeno. It was something viciously hot. I grabbed a bottle of old water from beneath the seat. 20 minutes later my mouth cooled down.
Somewhere between steps 8 and 9 we got a call back from Keith about staying at his place tonight. The action is go. He's moved to a new house since I've been there so it's good we didn't just show up hoping to stay. We would have cmaped in the backyard assuming he still lived there but was out of town for the week. Wow. That would get a couple guys killed for sure. Missouri is a messed up place. We'll buy the fireworks to prove it.
Keith sent a message with his new location and his schedule for the evening. For the next few hours he'll probably be in his flying device before going to a climbing wall to practice his monkeying skills. He is one of the most interesting people I've ever met in my life and through his lack of fear for his safety and adventurous spirit I have enough stories to dedicate a website to him. Maybe he has a blog I can link to so you can see for yourself?
4:52 PM.
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