This is a photo of the sheet of paper we used as a travel log during the road trip. Some things are pretty funny to read again. It does help us remember what happened, as the trip is pretty foggy to all those involved. Especially the week we spent in Vegas but only remember the one night :) There was a map along with this sheet that had the corresponding numbers located where they happened but that has since been lost :(
Back in Ohio we came up with the plan to use Jason’s Toyota Truck which had a bed cap on it so we could create a bed back there for the third person to sleep in while we take shifts. The shifts were to be 8 hours at each spot; driver, co-pilot and “sleeper.” We also set a stipulation on the co-pilot spot that whoever is there is not allowed to fall asleep because it is his job to keep the driver awake. This did require some sacrifice from Jason as he was in St. Louis and would have to drive 5 hours to Ohio and pick us up, only to turn around and retrace his steps the next day.
We packed up and headed out of Columbus, Ohio around 10 a.m. Everything went pretty smooth through the first shift in which I was the driver, Skippy was co-pilot and Jason was in the back. Not sure how we chose who got which shift, but Jason was not going to be able to sleep because he just woke up, that might make it tough going later as Jason was scheduled to drive through much of the night.
Just before getting into the first pit stop and the first change-over of drivers, the weather started getting nasty. We were just outside Columbia, MO when we all looked up at the low lying black clouds as they were beginning to swirl. I remember the words coming from Skippy’s mouth, “Man, that looks like a tornado…” Then it hit! A wall of rain and wind that rocked the truck violently! We could not see anything and then as quickly as the wind and rain came, it was gone.
I then looked in the side mirror and could make out a faint funnel shape take form through the rain and disappear into the wall of the rain and debris. We just missed getting hit! Jason at the time was living in Columbia so this was also a stop to pick up a few things he forgot. People were outside their apartments in the parking lot all talking about a tornado they heard formed on I-70 and swept through town. Talk about a close call. The funny thing was we thought it was soo cool as we are storm-chasers at heart! Skippy and I drove around so many times in Ohio trying to get a glimpse of a tornado to no avail, but this time one found us!
It was around 6:00 p.m. Jason was now in the driver’s seat and Skippy was struggling to fall asleep in the back. This leg was pretty rough, as driving through western Missouri and Kansas is BORING! I have never seen somewhere so flat and devoid of trees. It was somewhat fascinating for an hour maybe, but not 8 hours. The only thing of any consequence to break up the mononity were the huge lighted crosses that always seemed to be off in the distance and somehow always facing us. It seemed so odd was that we never able to see them from the side which made them almost mystical, even a little creepy. Around midnight we were just a few hours from Colorado’s border and still 2 hours from a shift change. I was exhausted and was dreading this shift as co-pilot as I knew for sure Jason would NEVER allow me to dose off.
Jason was also road weary and struggled to stay awake. We were both complaining about it when we devised a scheme. It had been 6 hours now since we switched and our plan was to move the clock forward 2 additional hours and wake Skippy. We would inform him it was his turn to drive. But we had to keep a straight face through it because we knew he would be upset and very skeptical since we have been doing stuff like this to him since we were very young. To add to it, for some perverse reason, we find it very humorous to see Skippy get upset. Jason turned the clock from midnight to 2 a.m. and pulled off the next exit.
As we got out of the truck we noticed it was freezing cold and the wind was howling. Just one more thing that would take Skippy by surprise as it was probably 60 degrees when he climbed into the back and it was now below freezing. We knocked on the back hatch and lifted it up to tell Skip “the news.” He looked like he had just been woke up in the middle of the night, eyes barely open and slightly swollen, hair a mess and crease marks on his face from the pillows. He stared in bisbelief the first couple of times we told him as if his mind was numb and trying to process what he was hearing.
Then he just said. “No. It can’t be. I just fell asleep I think.”
“Nope Skip, it’s been six hours already, it’s your turn,” Jason said matter of factly, with no hint of insincerity.
I chimed in as well “Seriously, we’ve been driving a long time. What’s wrong, you still tired?” I asked with sarcasm in my intent and holding back laughter.
“Holy shit it’s cold, where the F**K are we?” Skip said with a hint of anger and slight whininess as he made his way out of the back. “Nah it can’t be my turn. That was not long enough. It just can’t be! I wanna see the clock.”
Jason just answered “Go ahead Skip, I swear it’s 6 o’clock”
“Son of a bitch!” The reality set in. Skippy realized he was now the driver. “Jason you better not fall asleep on me bastard,” he angrily blurted out.
“I would never do that to you Skip,” Jason replied as he turned to me and chuckled as he tried to restrain from bursting out laughing. He fully intended on falling straight to sleep.
I proceeded to climb into the back and get cozy, which in fact, it was extremely cozy with all the sleeping bags, blankets and pillows. Those guys finished filling up the truck with gas and got back on the road fairly quickly. I remember listening to Skippy bitch about being cold and tired, and then yelling at Jason to sit up. He whined about everything, even that the wind was pushing the truck off the road. I laughed silently then fell off into a deep sleep, as well as did Jason I found out later.
I awoke just on the other side of Denver, just before heading up into the Rockies. It was my turn to drive as we agreed to help Skip out a bit earlier and voted to make the shifts only 4 hour now, we were nice like that.
I was excited though, I love the Rockies and they were beautiful this time of year with snow-capped peaks all around us. I was a bit tired but the adrenaline woke me right up. My shift ended as we entered in Vail and stopped at a McDonald’s to eat. We were a little shocked to see the food costs almost triple there compared to Ohio McD’s.
The remainder of the drive was pretty uneventful as we winded our way through incredible canyons and through huge rock formations in Utah that made me feel like I was on the surface of the moon. We did have weird weather follow us such as heavy snow with outside temps around 70 degrees. I am still not sure how that was happening.
By the time we got to Vegas it was dark and the descent into that town was as spectacular as you would expect. The twinkling and sparkling of the distant lights of Sin City was unparralled by anything I had ever seen. It was a huge expanse in the middle of the complete darkness of desert. We had made it. It took almost 36 hours.
Not long after arriving we had to pick up Sean at the airport. That first day we could not wait for the evening to hit the strip so we started early, probably around 2 o’clock. We hit so many casinos and collected plastic cups from each one with the different casino logos printed on them. Why I am not sure, as none of them made it back to Mark’s place. We must have set them all down somewhere.
Another thing that one of us kept grabbing was knives, and butter knives in particular. For what ever reason Sean had an obsession with stealing knives from places. I remember one time at the buffet Sean held his arm straight up (which is about 5 feet long) holding onto the knife with a crazy look on his face just to see if people would notice. No one did. It was Vegas. Nothing ever seems too weird apparently. I also remember this quote from him. When ever anyone would tease him or give him shit for anything, he would say “consider yourself knived.” He even said it to a few strangers. Sean tends to crack himself up at times. But I have to say that quote is not nearly as famous as the “I hear you looking at me mother f*****r” but that is a story for another time. That quote will be engraved on his tombstone someday for sure.
We finally had enough of the strip and wanted to head home, that was, all except for Skip. He wanted to stay out and explore, perhaps to go to one of the strip clubs he kept reading about in the free newspapers containing sex and strip club ads.
We did not want to argue as he said he did not mind walking back to Mark’s and he pronounced himself “The human navigator” and he knows the way home. He just didn’t remember in his drunken state that it was going to be 12 miles back to Mark’s place!
He did not get back to Mark’s until the morning. He told us that as he stumbled back he was so close to the airport runway that he was almost blown over when the planes roared over his head. The temp had really dropped also as it does in the desert and he said he was freezing and worried about hypothermia. But we all knew it would take a lot more than that to kill Skippy. He even got so tired at one point he slept on a bench, where a transient guy sat down and started talking. Not necessarily to Skip, but more to the voices in his own head. I must note, that poor Skippy never did make it to strip club that night.
Coming soon, Part 2: Sean goes to Tiajuana…