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One, an overly-educated, outdoors-type searching for his destiny in a new city; the other an easily amused observer of humanity who's just along for the ride. Armed with their wits, a digital camera & laptop, nationwide internet access, and a 2000 Chevy Blazer, our intrepid adventurers take you along with them as they rocket across the United States. |
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Back to Day 3 |
May 4 & 5, 2000
{Howdy readers! I am going to put days 4 and 5 into one posting. The incredibly long days on the road have gotten to your author and so in the name of sanity I took a day off. Thanks for the patience!}
May 4, 2000: Kansas City, MO to Columbus, OHMorning breaks on our two wanderers in a dusty little motel on the outskirts of Kansas City, Missouri.A kinda creepy motel at that with this large, inset mirror in the bathroom that Mike and I are not certain isn't some kinda two-way film-the-bears-making-doody mirror. So if you see a video in your local smut emporium labeled something like "Candid Crapper" or "Bears NOT in the Woods" with the two of us in it, drop us a line with the distributor's name. We'd appreciate some royalties. We hit the local diner for breakfast and were off. But then Mike spied it. Just before the on-ramp, sparkling on the horizon... a Krispy Kreme(tm) doughnut shop! Like a lemming to sea, Mike swerved into the parking lot and was inside in a flash. A short time later he emerged with the red and white box, it's friendly font and logo hiding the addictive horror within. We had four states to cross today; Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. Missouri proved to be a very beautiful state with more rolling hills and green valleys. One note about I-70 in general: for the duration of the trip from Denver to Columbus there must have been over 80 miles of construction and resurfacing. Talk about maddening. And most of it was near cities so you get rush hour traffic and single-lane compression. Fun! So you can see why when Mike started to dive into the doughnuts, I got a bit concerned. The road is full of folks who didn't give an airborne rodent posterior about our safety much less whether we get sugar glazing on the dash! Luckily Mike wolfed down two of the three doughnuts (I later ate the third; I can still hear my pancreas whimpering) with haste and was prepared for traffic when it got bad. And it did get bad, between KS and St. Louis, between St. Louis and Indianapolis, and again between Indianapolis and Columbus. Did we pick the wrong year to travel on I-70? We did get to see the arch in St. Louis... well for the 5 minutes it took to drive past it. It sorta startles you, looming on the horizon as it does, getting larger and more ominous as you get closer. Then you round the bend and are presented with it's full, incongruous glory! And you find out that it's become a billboard for Travelodge. Sell outs! Actually the mini-arch is located in Vandalia, Indiana. But hey, kitsch is kitsch is kitsch...
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We made it into Columbus around 10:15 pm. (Again, no matter how
much we tried we never made it into a city before 10 pm. Memo
to myself: next time plan shorter days.) We found the Red
Roof Inn downtown and just as several kindly truckerbears had
written us prior to the trip, it was located 30 feet from the
bear bar in Columbus, Tradewinds II.
Tradewinds is a pretty sweet setup with a three bars, one restaurant, a patio, and a dance floor all in an old industrial space on the northern end of downtown. The bartenders were really friendly and the patrons pretty woofy! For a Thursday night the place was hopping and after a couple of beers the tension from sitting in a car all day kinda melted away. Mike hung with me for an hour or so but since he's been doing all the driving (hey, it's his first four-wheeled vehicle in about 10 years) he wandered back to the hotel and called it a night. I on the other hand was feeling like getting into trouble so I went back to the bar and chatted up a few of the bruins. I never did get into any trouble but got to unwind nonetheless and after a nice walk around downtown Columbus (very clean, safe, and beautiful) I called it a night as well. It was all too tempting to slip into bed with Mike. But I resisted temptation and stuck to my side of the room. :)
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May 5, 2000: Columbus to Pittsburgh
 Humphrey watches over our weary travelers. |
A short drive later through the center of town and up to Mike's new apartment and the trip was over! Mike and I walked down to a local bakery/café and had a nice lunch and took in the sunny spring morning. I look back and can't believe the trip is at an end and that we crossed over 2200 miles together through the widest variety of terrain and climate that this country has to offer.
All along the way we met a lot of sweet, wonderful people. Some old friends, some new, and most just everyday folks going about their lives. Yeah the trek was long and at times tiring, but the company always good! I wouldn't have traded a moment of it.
Tonight I head out to Phoenix and my travels don't end there. I drive up to the Sedona Campout organized by the Bears of the Old Pueblo (Tucson), and Bears of the West (Phoenix). I don't plan on seeing the inside of a vehicle for the next three days. When I get back to Tucson on Sunday I'll be summing up the trip with some observations and factoids Mike and I gathered along the way.
Hope you enjoyed our little excursion into self-indulgence. Let me know what you liked, dislike, downright hated... or loved!
Hasta Luego!
-Kevin Jackson
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
      
      
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