If At First You Have a Blow Out, Try, Try, Again...

Friday, 6:00 AM...August 31, 2012......we slipped into the darkness with two dogs and a 37 foot trailer trying not to awaken the neighbors as we begin a month long trip to The Grand Tetons in Wyoming (not to be confused with Tetons anywhere else) and another crack at Colorado, minus any road hazards!

As you can see (or not), Miki and I have conquered STEALTH (or blackout)
MODE when putting the finishing touches on final packing in the wee morning
hours before liftoff on our trip west.  

Let's start by saying that Walliebloggin' is Walliedraggin', having gotten off the summer bench and back into the teacher substitution game for the new school year.  My friend Karen became a grand-mama for the first time this last week.  In a moment of weakness, when she found out her daughter was going to have a baby, months ago, I agreed to sub for her so she could support her daughter and new grand baby for a couple of weeks.  As divine intervention would have it, we had already planned to be on this trip, so I was only good for 4 days of the 10 she needed (just teasing Karen).  After the first day, I came home hoarse and draggin'. The thing about Karen, is she expects me to TEACH.  I had gotten soft.  After teaching the last of my 4 days and playing in the final night of a golf league I participated in this summer, Miki and I finished packing and cleaning, fell into bed, only to get up in the dark to cross our t's and dot our i's before heading out with the poor working saps in their early rush hour to get to work.  The only thing that made the traffic doable, was knowing we weren't going to work!

The remnants of Tropical Storm Issac gave us a beautiful sunrise, for a few minutes, as we headed north on I-29 to Omaha.

Yes it is blurry, and yes you cannot begin to appreciate the
colors or even the artistry and makeup of the shot itself, but real
art lovers can!  It is hard to keep a 20,000 lb. rocket on the road and
keep up the reputation of a fine art photographer at the same time...
something has to give...use your imagination.

As we found our groove on I-80, heading west from Omaha, the groove was enhanced by a personalized playlist of songs from one 15 year old young lady Miki and I had the opportunity to pass on our driving skills to.  After seeing her on the day she got her permit in hand, we knew without Driver's Ed., she needed us (no offense mom and pops).  For two weeks, Miki and I (mostly Miki) ran Marie through the "HeyWin School of Driver's Skills and Keep the Rubber Side Down" workshop.  In return, we received said playlist of tunes and a book on CD..."The Life of Pi",  both of which kept us moving forward today.

Thanks for the music CD Marie!  But don't notice that I don't have my
eyes on the road, I have no "10 and 2" position in effect, prior to this
photo I was driving with one knee on the wheel, and the honking
from the weaving in and out of my lane seemed to not have any
affect on the photo!

Tetons by way of Sidney, NE.  Eleven hours and what seemed like never ending diesel stops later, we arrived in Sidney, Nebraska where we are spending the night at the Cabela's RV Campground.  Conveniently located adjacent to the Cabela's outdoor store and across from a tasty Dairy Queen!

Here in Cabela's I found time to practice siting wildlife.  Miki captures a
surprised Wallie, just inches from a massive set of antlers belonging to one
of the many no longer members of wildlife we may have encountered on this trip.

Here, Miki fantasizes...trying to get her Pony Express riding man to not leave
her again as she pulls off his boot to have something to remember him by.

Now that we are settled in for the night, I can admit that after 400 of the 600 miles we drove today, the thought of another blowout faded away.  I think it took that many miles due to the overwhelming number of shredded tires I observed along the shoulder of the highway.

I leave you with a view of the "doghouse" as the sun was setting in Sidney, Nebraska this evening.  Where our neighbor RV'ers walk holding hands, playing with their dogs, and fart perfume.  Most RV Parks could be "Mayberry's" on wheels...but I am not the sheriff or his deputy (maybe the crazy barber!).

My Zen from the Road:  As tired and maybe even a bit cranky as we (I) may have been starting at 4:30 AM this morning and not having had any break in our drought ridden 
heat-a-thon this summer, many things made me happy today.  The full moon setting that seemed to be leading us out of town in the wee early morning hours, large  groupings of "weeds" along the highway that had multiple miniature sunflowers on them that just punched color scattered among all the brown, the truck drivers that acknowledged my flipping my high beams at them to know it was safe to merge in front of me... then after passing by and flashing their parking lights at me to say "thanks", to holding Miki's hand while walking to Cablea's tonight.  Sometimes getting away from things helps you to see other things you may have been missing.  I leave you with a bonus picture of three happy campers!

If those dogs only knew what they are missing in Cabela's behind them.

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