Tomorrow we will be setting off on our road trip to Toronto, via the USA. We are driving down the west coast, stopping off in Seattle and various oceanside parks in Oregon and California, before arriving in San Francisco, where we will spend a week hanging out with various friends in the area. Yay.
Then it's a cross-country jaunt on the I-80 through California, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York, before fetching up in T.Dot (as the cool kids call it) around the 21st August, assuming all goes well and our 23-year old Volvo 240 Estate (known affectionately as "Thor") lasts the journey. We are hoping that driving a Volvo doesn't attract unwanted attention in the more red-of-neck states, but are confident we will blend right in at least in Berkeley, where every third car is a Volvo with a "Darwin" or "My Karma Ran Over Your Dogma" badge.
We are really looking forward to this trip, with the possible exception of the Nebraska section (Corn, corn, corn...) and I have personally always dreamed of driving across the USA. Granted, in my dreams I was usually driving a supercharged Ford Mustang, but I'm sure Thor will be a trusty conveyance.
We'll be sure to take lots of photos and keep a journal. We may buy an old manual typewriter so that we can write on the road - this is inspired by Adrienne's great-Uncle Alec Dalgleish, whose (highly amusing) letters written from the road during his trip to the 1933 Chicago World's Fair we have been reading, having recently become their guardians. (More on that later).
Not sure how often we will be able to blog en-route - as I imagine (I may be wrong) that we may not always be able to find cyber-cafes en route.
So, wish us luck for our epic voyage through the United States of Amnesia. We're hoping it will be a lot of fun.
Rik, you bastard. You didn't leave me a number to ring you back, but things are sorted at mine and you two can kip here in sunny Seattle. You've probably already left, haven't you. Oh well. Ring me on the way.
Posted by: Chris | August 02, 2004 at 11:44 PM
Lovely to see you both. Enjoy the library. Safe travels in Thor...
Posted by: Chris | August 03, 2004 at 06:04 PM
Explain to me why, actually, I didn't get a photo of the four of us while you were here? Stupid, really. You must send me one of the two of you at some point.
Posted by: Chris | August 04, 2004 at 05:56 PM
Hey, let me know when you get here (T-Dot!) and we can scare up some of the GTABloggers for a drink somewhere, ok?
Posted by: james | August 05, 2004 at 04:28 AM
Hey Chris, Thanks for having us - it was great to see you and meet Celeste. No idea why we forgot to do photos - we must be twats.
Hey James, I will certainly let you know when we arrive in Toronto - it will be lovely to get together with some GTABloggers, I'm looking forward to it - probably around the 20th August, I think.
Posted by: Rik | August 09, 2004 at 03:28 AM
Right. August 24th. Where did the Volvo break down?
W.
Posted by: Wim | August 24, 2004 at 01:20 PM