Croncast - 2006-06-12.mp3 Show: #235 Length: 37:05 Size: 25.4 mb Format: mp3 Betsy and her husband Kris June 12, 2006 Thus begins our sharing of a vacation that ended 5 days early. We are not quite sure that our big summer vacaction driving to Denver in Slowsky was really a vacation. But we are sure that we will never drive anywhere on vacation again. What we can say about our trip is that with the help of many lucid memories and five days to regain our footing on solid ground that we would like to bring your our trip in three separate podcasts. There is too much to share in a single 30 to 40 minute podcast that deserves great attention to detail. What do you call a thousand mile trip in you wife's savings account? If you're us, show prep. The long, feel good intro Sending email easy like When we last left you it was June 2 of 2006 a millenia ago Things were much simpler then H.G. Wells Time machine could take us back Walking hand in hand with your spuse at the beach I would have liked to have decided not to go on vacation We should have flown Short version, we leave, there's trouble and we come home five days early Here we go We're going to rcap the whole thing in 3 shows It is June 2, 2006 in nice and sunny Naperville, IL Kris is an hour late and damned Skype showed it to Betsy Moments of our life are really important to you Betsy pretends that she is me on Skype sometimes The planets seemed to be aligned for our trip The eBay pick-up guy got here right on time Naperville was going to be hardest part with traffic Driving Slowsky is like launching a boat An hour and a half later w'ere making 8 miles of progress The van is too tall for most drive thru awnings Slowsky went to the dealer and got $1500 of repairs to travel worldwide This is the point where you start adding up the costs Gas doesn't count as vehicle maintenance We finally make it to I-88 Slowsky is topping out at 70 mph with nothing more to give First omen . . . we ignore it We're gonna make it to Omaha It wasn't a shifting issue but I am pushing Slowsky really hard We get near DeKalb which is 50 miles from home and think about turning it around again We push on Betsy says "no" to my lead foot and thinks the 70 mph thing is good Slowsky is sucking gas and needs refill at 180 mile mark, still in Illinois Another omen Kris starts venting that we should have flown at gas station number two "I drove the Alaskan Highway and need a new car." All the signs were there It was our decision to keep moving on Not true to Betsy's faith Dinner at The World's Largest Truck Stop on I-80 Maybe it is safe because it's a tourist trap Nope, it's a 3-D world of a sex offender registry All just minor inconveniences at this point Bleeding money out of my eye balls 10 years ago this would have been an adventure but with kids it is a nightmare In Iowa they drive on the grass Not a single room vacant Pulling off on Omaha hoping for an empty hotel room Scoring a room 20 miles north of downtown 10,000 lesbians converged on Omaha the same day as our vacation, of course Coming up on Wednesday . . . Vacation: Act #2 Omaha to Denver