Sa 3rd Anna misses the train and calls us. “DON’T Go Greyhound.” We pick her up around noon and drive to B-N. We pick up Nikki and head to Mom & Dad’s. Dad whips out “the fingers” to bring me upstairs to a private conversation, which turns into an argument. Dad for some reason is reneging on letting us use the van, because he all of a sudden thinks I’m immature and taking advantage of older people. His only evidence is that at Green Lake I talked Grandma into contributing $20 to the treasure to add to the lure of Parc Island. Now he’s viewing me through bilking-old-people-colored glasses, ignoring the other 26 years of my life. He did the same thing with Mark last summer when one of Mark’s professors mentioned to Dad that he hoped Mark wouldn’t coast. Eventually Mom talks some sense into him, and we’re allowed to take the van. But “the fingers” live on.
We leave around 4. Nikki drives to St. Louis, and we stop off to buy a pillow. I drive to Topeka as we take several stops in Kansas. We switch drivers in the middle of the night, stopping on an exit, I pee, Anna takes over, and we go. Anna drives for a whole hour, then I’ve gotta drive again. I drive for over an hour, giving me 400 miles for this trip, and 550 for the day when adding in Chicago to B-N. Christine drives to Burlington, and Nikki takes the rest.
Su 4th We stop off for breakfast at 7:30, and we’re really giggly. Nikki gets us to Robi & Brian’s in Woodland Park. As we’re pulling in to their driveway, Nikki starts to park away from the house and I suggest we go up to the door. The gravel extends that far anyway. Nikki, always worried about stepping on toes no matter the cost to herself, decides to park down the hill. When we get out of the car, Brian yells from the house, “Park up here so you don’t have to carry stuff so far!”
We get in and get ready to sleep in “our room” downstairs. Nikki pops me an Allegra, and I’m a little disappointed some of the cat evidence I can still see. Anyway, time for us to crash, except for Nikki, who goes in the hot tub. After a few hours, I get up and go run. We have dinner, then go for a walk, then head to Safeway. We eat ice cream and have hot chocolate. Before bed, we have a bible study from Nikki’s devotional and have a prayer.
M 5th Anna hits me with a pillow to wake me up. Good morning! We plan the week, and go to Garden Of The Gods with Michelle, playing the Austin Powers soundtrack on the way. We drive through it, getting out a few times, buy souvenirs, get pictures, hike a little, then drive to Colorado Springs. At night, we watch This Movie Sucks! with Michelle, who falls asleep. Then Anna leads our bible study.
Tu 6th We get up and go to the fossil beds. But we get hungry, so we go to Oney’s (they have pizza!), and then head back to the fossil beds. We walk, and take the tour (getting a lot on video). We come back and Anna and I take a nap before dinner. Then we drive to the reservoir, they drop me off, and I run. It’s super hilly and after 3½ miles I see them driving back, so I get in and we head back to Robi & Brian’s. They drop me off closer to their place and have a downhill run to the house. Nikki hits the hot tub while Anna and Christine take a walk. I get back and walk with Christine. Then the two of us then take a turn in the hot tub. When we get out, Anna is all giggly, and keeps looking at us like “How was it?” Then we watch Andy’s Revenge with Michelle, and I lead our bible study.
W 7th We get up and have a money “discussion.” It’s a little bit tense—in fact, a lot of this trip has been a little tense, what with Anna’s transportation issues, my looming prelim, Christine’s health issues, Robi and Brian smoking pot, and now Nikki did not bring enough cash for the trip. She just brought 100 bucks, which is now mostly gone, and her credit cards are maxed. The irony is I’m fine with not being that active and just hanging out (which is of course cheaper), but Nikki and Anna want to go, go, go. But now Nikki nixes even activities that cost $7. So planning what to do is difficult. Eventually, we get things worked out, make up, and decide to hike around the “yard.” I put my arm around Nikki as we’re walking up the hill. It seems like this trip isn’t going as we had hoped, but hey, we’re still good friends.
We hike a trail, then I go for a fun 8 mile run around the trails while everyone else continues to hike. I lift, and then it’s time for the evening activities. Christine wants to go skate with Robi, Brian, and Michelle. I talk Nikki and Anna into going to the Rockies game. I’m able to sell this game to Anna because they’re playing the Reds—her new boyfriend Steve’s favorite team. (Yeah, I played that pretty well.) Then with that as a viable alternative to skating, we get Nikki to go with us.
It’s a beautiful drive to Denver, and I’m able to go 85mph. The parking lot has an awkward way to pay where you have to fold up your money and put it in the correct slot. But parking is $9, and of course we don’t have enough ones, so we have to put in a ten. We’re planning to sit in “Rockpile,” which is the section of cheap outfield seats that are 5 bucks each. But as we’re walking toward the stadium, a guy asks us if we want free tickets in Rockpile. He’s got a handful that he wants to get rid of, and he just hands us tickets for free. Sweet!
Anna calls Steve to impress him with the fact that she’s at the Reds game in Colorado. Steve is watching the game at home. In the top of the first, Boone hits a homer, and Anna calls Steve again, telling him “Boone just hit a homer!” Steve says, “I know, I’m watching the game.” Ken Griffey Jr. bats, but unfortunately doesn’t hit a homer.
The view is beautiful from the stadium. You can see the mountains in left field, and the scenery is gorgeous. Even inside the park, there is a nice waterfall in the center field stands. I’m wearing my Cardinals hat, because it’s my baseball hat and I want to show who my team is. Growing up a Cardinals and Redskins fan in Central Illinois, I’m used to showing who my true team is despite being in the minority (severe minority in the case of the ‘Skins). I think it’s kind of fun in an arrogant way to support the Cards when they are not even playing. But I am astonished at the number of Cardinals fans at this game. Seriously, it’s amazing! St. Louis is a thousand miles away and the Cardinals aren’t even playing here today, but there are so many people with “StL” hats and jerseys with the two birds on the bat. It’s almost embarrassing—the scoreboard has some sort of contest and they show a big group in a section of the stands cheering, and it’s dozens of people with Cardinals gear on! Later I ask somebody about it, and the reason I’m given is “transplanted Midwesterners.” Wow, that’s a lot of transplants! Perhaps it also goes back to the old days when the Cards were the furthest west team in all of baseball for decades. Wonder what it’s like when the Cardinals are actually playing here.
Anna goes to buy a souvenir, and the Rockies start turning on the offense, as Larry Walker hits a 3 run homer. I try to get Nikki into the game a bit by feeding her little information that is relevant to this game and baseball anecdotes that I think are interesting. Anna comes back wearing a Reds hat, which—as a guy—I know will melt Steve’s heart when he sees her with that on. Later in the game, we get a good taste of the Rocky Mountain offense, as Todd Helton hits a Grand Slam. I hi-five strangers around me, and it even elicits a response from Nikki. The two big shots are enough as the Rockies win 7-2.
There’s construction on the way back, so we take a detour, and hit a Taco Bell drive thru. It’s difficult for us to get back on where we left off, and we end up having a 15-20 mile detour, plus lots of construction. We get back late.
Th 8th Christine and I “ease into the day” as Nikki & Anna go to downtown Woodland Park. Then the four of us go to the Hot Springs, and cleverly move the rocks around to make our own comfy pool. We have steaks for dinner, and nix the comedy club idea, hanging out instead. We have another argumentative discussion, and then Christine and I stay up until 4am talking.
F 9th Christine and I sleep late again as Nikki, Anna, and Michelle go to Manitou. Then we head to Pike’s Peak: Christine drives up, I drive down. Mom & Dad’s van does great. We come back and cook next door at Danny’s: salmon and hot dogs. Robi's mom loves Christine’s fruit salad, and repeadly says with her mouth full of fruit, “Ziss ish a great fruit shalad!” We play ping-pong, and then Anna and I watch our video footage from the trip, and then we all start packing. Perhaps partly because of the sense that we haven’t done quite what we wanted to, we film Cooking With Cannibals: Vegan. Then everyone goes to bed and I am up until the wee-wee hours using the TV in the other room downstairs to compile all our videos, and even film an intro for the “Videys” awards.
Sa 10th Nikki and Anna start the driving (party in response to another tiff about them assuming we’ll do the bulk of the driving) and we sleep in the back seats. Of course, I’m really dragging and zonk out quickly. After about an hour, I reposition myself and look up and we are driving toward the mountains! This is about the last straw. I know I’ve been cranky this trip, but at this point I feel like Nikki and Anna are incompetent children. It’s the most obvious geographical landmark: drive away from the mountains. How could they get so lost—I can’t even trust them enough to sleep while they drive! After I’m sure a few barks, I try to put aside my anger, and Christine and I help them. Then, after I try to settle in, they get mixed up again. This is ridiculous. Finally we get them on the right track, and I don’t get settled until it’s clear we’re on the right road and driving away from the mountains.
I try to go back to sleep, but I can’t because of their driving trade-off strategy: they stop and switch every exit. OK, that is an exaggeration, but seriously, they can’t go longer than an hour and a half without swapping. And you know how it is, you can sleep in the car while it’s going, but once the car stops, you wake up. Always. Guaranteed. So I feel like I’m in a Psych sleep experiment, you know, where they have someone go to sleep and they monitor their brain and then wake them up as they’re about to go into REM. That’s what it is like riding with the Princeton Chicks. And you know the result of that experiment: super-grouchiness. Check.
Finally Christine takes over at Lincoln, and she gets us to Iowa City. We
stop there because it has everything we’re looking for as we’re planning
to exit: Wal-Mart, cheap gas, Wendy’s, and Steak ‘N’ Shake. I take over
the driving from here and finish the trip (that’s right, no stops every
hour and a half). As we’re on the ramp entering Bloomington-Normal, Anna
wakes up (see, she was able to sleep the WHOLE TIME because, well, I think
you know why) and asks, “Are we in Peoria?”
I say, “Oh, it’s better than Peoria!”
A: “Morton?”
“Oh, it’s better than Morton!”
A: “Oh.” She goes back to sleep.
We drop them off at the Hacienda. Nathan is in the Living Room and Jeanna is standing in the hallway. (I have no idea the significance of that last sentence, but it’s in my notes that way.)
The trip is over, and our friendship seems to have survived.
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