I would have never had this idea on my own. That's a long way to drive in one weekend. But Shane suggested it, and I'm crazy enough to say yes.
To further add to the insanity, I hadn't ever met Shane or Dan in person before. This sounds like an article in Wired about someone who gets murdered, doesn't it? But I trusted them ;-)
Meeting Shane in person was great. We had plenty to talk about; no awkwardness at all.
Something else about Shane: he drives really fast. Further, he regaled me with stories of all the times that he has fought speeding tickets and won. I don't drive that fast, but I don't mind if he does.
Since the ancestral family farm was right along our path, we stopped for dinner Friday evening. Here's the picture my sister took:
They had just had a blizzard a couple days earlier (missed three days of school) and the interstate was littered with cars and trucks on the side of the road.Shane's first post
For my part, I was glad to visit some real winter weather.
Something else about Shane: he doesn't really know much about how big Iowa is. We made really good time to the Iowa City area and he thought we'd make it to the Sioux Falls area in no time at all. Well, it took a little longer than that. But we made it to Dan's place right around midnight (Central).
Shane's second post
It was really cold in South Dakota, in case you weren't watching the weather report. 11 degrees F at noon on Saturday with a RealFeel of -10.
Shane's third post
The reception was at noon on Saturday. Met lots of great people, including Brendan of I Hate Linux fame. Took a number of pictures outside in the -10 RealFeel. The people trying to stay warm were not amused when we kept going outside to take pictures. Fei's stepmom popped up to go sit by the fire.
Yes, it is sad to be so short. But I was glad to be with Shane and Dan.Shane's fourth post (wherein I supplied the snarky comment to Mark, who we had hoped could go with us, but, alas, he could not get free).
Dan's first post
Technically it was not -35 when we were apparently locked out in this picture:
Here's a picture that shows a little more of my current facial hair configuration: beard, no mustache:
Shane introduced me to Guitar Hero. And Dan's sister had it, too. This is a shot of her playing, generally destroying Shane.
I've got cashews and a glass of shiraz on the window sill. That's Brendan bottom right with a Pomegranate liquor.Guitar Hero is seriously fun! And I thought I did pretty well for a noob.
Dan playing:
We went to bed about midnight, alarms set for 5:10. But Shane woke up at 4 and we lighted out. It was bitterly cold, -10 with wind chill in the -30 to -40 range.Shane took a number of pictures of the snow blowing over the road. There's one in his last post.
Refilling the van with gas was the coldest part, all the way up until after lunch in East Peoria, IL.
I offered to drive, but Shane was trying to keep his average high, and I don't normally drive faster than 75. Including stops, Shane was able to keep his average above 71 mph!
We arrived in Oak Ridge Sunday night about 9 pm (Eastern). Unwound, had a little dinner, sat in the hot tub, played some Guitar Hero, went to bed.
I woke up around 10 am the yesterday and drove home to SC.
Great trip. Much fun was had by all.
18 comments:
Totally cool!
But Sean . . . that first photo . . . short sleeve shirts?
And sandals?
Oh, yeah, I do notice the socks.
OK then.
well, it was pretty warm inside, and we only stepped outside for a moment :-)
God, I love a good road trip!!!
"To further add to the insanity, I hadn't ever met Shane or Dan in person before. This sounds like an article in Wired about someone who gets murdered, doesn't it? But I trusted them ;-)"
I'm still chuckling!
Ugh - there's NO WAY I could sit in the car for that long. Glad you enjoyed your road journey! I've driven across country a couple of times, but I think my road tripping days are over - in college it was fun. Now it's a headache.
I'm with La Frog. Too many hours in a car, and I get cranky.
thanks for all the comments, friends! :-)
Madhu: and, you know, otherwise you're never cranky at all ;-)
TDAXP must have forgotten about that Boyd Conference last summer, when he did meet me (but I must have been inside his OODA loop....). ;-)
Awesome trip -- it just shows that the spacetime continuum is *not* a constraint!
Shane: Dan was quoting me not having met either of you before, and laughing about my commentary.
i've heard that spacetime bit somewhere before ;-)
Yup, shane was /exactly/ how I remember him!
I'm glad you and Shane could come! I'm also glad that it has been acknowledged to the world that I beat Shane at Guitar Hero (Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock! to be precise)
I had a lot of fun meeting you!
Ashley Lynn A.
TDAXP's Sister/Cook/Maid
Ashley, "Beat" is far too kind a term. "Toasted" is closer to the truth, especially when you nailed 99% of the notes on "Medium" while I stuck to the shallow "Easy" side of the pool... -s
Ashley: the pleasure was mine! :-)
(and i really hope you're not cooking for and cleaning up after Dan! ;-)
Shane: modesty becomes you ;-)
Wild trip. They are great to do, and you remember them.
Nice.
Spent some time in Aberdeen. It wasn't the temperature or the snow up to your waist. It was the wind got me off the reservation.
You'll be needing to change the numbers in your buddies survey. ;~)
Maybe Jim will back me on this---you drove to SD and won't drive from Iowa to visit us in Tulsa in the summer! You so better be in Florida with the fam this Sept.
BTW, Josh was very impressed with my GH ability in Toys R Us one Sun afternoon. He talks me up to his friends. Course I was playing on the Easy level. I hear Rock Band is even better.
Kathy: most of the responses i have thought up are variations on the the theme 'how many times have you come to Columbia?' ;-)
Rock Band's about the same for guitar, but the bass and drums are wicked cool (haven't tried vocal yet).
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