The trip is finally on. Actually, it has been for close to a week now. We're in Seattle, at Jacqueline's parents' house. We're heading out early tomorrow morning, charting a course for Ketchum, Idaho, where my friend Brian has been practicing being a ski bum all winter.
Our going-away party last Saturday night was fun. It was good to see a lot of our friends. Fortunately, we're old and incapable of partying too hard, because we still had a lot to do the next day before our departure--clean the apartment (thank you Marie-Therese!), make a run to the dump & recycling center, another visit to Goodwill, and a final trip to our storage place.
We finally left Oakland around 3 o'clock Monday afternoon. We stopped for the night at a rest stop near the Rogue River, just north of Medford, Oregon. Depsite the many "No Overnight Camping" signs, we slept there anyway, in the bus, and weren't disturbed.
The next day, we stopped off in Portland, where J. gave me a tour of her alma mater, Reed College. It's a beautiful, quiet place, although J. assured me that it was only because it was right before finals. We even found her dissertation in the library. I was a bit disappointed that no one had checked it out. I guess there's not much demand for works on the blurring of autobiography/biography boundaries in Collette's works.
We got to Seattle in time for dinner--something that is not to be missed in the Turnovsky household. J.'s mom is an excellent cook, and we were fed very well the entire time we were here.
Finally, the update on the bus: It's been running very well; no overheating, no 20-mph going uphill. It is still burning/losing oil, though--seems about a quart every 200-250 miles. I think we can live with this, though, as long as it keeps rolling. We bought a case of oil today, which should just about get us across the country. I also changed the oil myself today--a first for me on any car. It was actually pretty easy, although I think I left a few big stains on the road in front of the Turnovsky's house. Hopefully they won't notice it until after we're gone.
Take care and see you in 600 miles or so.
Posted by brad at May 3, 2003 11:16 PMZappa? of all the human beings, alive or dead, and you pick THAT druggy !
Posted by: mom at May 6, 2003 01:47 PMHey, I'm with Mom. Zappa was overrated. People thought he was cool, but who actually listened to his records? Too tedious.
Here's a better quote that will go with the name of your blog:
"What is the feeling when you're driving away from people, and they recede on the plain till you see their specks dispersing? -- it's the too huge world vaulting us, and it's good-bye. But we lean forward to the next crazy venture beneath the skies." - Jack Kerouac
of course Kerouac was overrated too, and a drunk, but we'll ignore that fact.
Posted by: jake at May 7, 2003 09:54 AM