Sunday, July 6, 2008

Happy Birthday to Josh~

Saturday, June 21st. We awoke again in a baking tent. Joy of joys. We packed up and headed to the local restaurant to grab some grub. I ordered the grits. I still don't really know what grits are, and apparently I was the first person to ever order them from that waitress. I'm pretty sure she didn't know what it was other and they just made me cream of wheat and pretended it was grits. Regardless, I put about 45 gallons of brown sugar in it. Pretty super yummy. Then we hit the road!

Not a whole lot of excitement on the road really. We had about 70 miles to our final destination of Butte that day and it was gunna be a long one. So lets see.. pretty scenes... a bunch of signs about a railroad. I didn't really read them- just took pictures. Look if you care.




But hey! Mile 700 also! Woo hoo!


Milestone 7 of 35ish

We stopped and got some food at a gas station about 30 miles down the road. I found these! This one goes out to good ol' Midge-face.

About another 20 miles down the road the sun was scorching. We got to an exit off 90 and came to the only building around. Turns out it was a bar and like usual, I was feeling bad walking in and just asking for water. So this time we asked for water, sat down, and ordered us a nice Dr. Pepper on the rocks. I don't even like Dr. Pepper. But it was delicious. So we just sat there, waiting for the heat to pass. We ended up talking to some really cool and nice people. For example- we met these two. Their names are Cal and Paula. Did they do anything special? No. They just sat and talked to us. That's how it works, you're cool people you go on my blog. You two rock.


Cal and Paula

About 45 minutes later we left. It was still hot as hell but we pushed on. Another 15 miles down the road I was feeling really light headed and odd. I knew I wasn't dehydrated I had been drinking plenty. For some reason I just kept thinking I might had been sweating too much and depleting my electrolyte levels. Now, in all reality I probably was just fine but I kept having day dreams about really salty foods. I stopped, ate a raw pack of ramen noodles... then choked down the flavoring packet for it's salt content. I actually felt better afterwards although it was probably all mental.

About 8 miles outside of Butte the wind became horrendous. The winds must had been blowing at least 30 mph. At our sides and to our face. Very very discouraging after a long day in the wind.


The wind at the end of the day.

On top of that, as we reached the outskirts of town the sky darkened. Made for some cool pictures, but the impending storm was pretty ominous. We decided to call it a day when we came across a Motel 6. I mean after all, it was Josh's birthday! He deserved a bed and a shower for such an occasion, no?




We got into the room and the guy even cut us a nice 10% break. I'm not sure why, but he did. Score only 50 bucks. I let Josh shower first- a seemingly nice gesture but I had ulterior motives. While he bathed his disgusting body I snuck across the street to a truck stop. I grabbed a 12 pack of Budweiser and a foot long sub for each of us.

When I got to the room Josh seemed a bit down, talking to his girlfriend. Hit face lit up when he saw the booze. He said, and I quote "Ross, I thought this was going to be the second worst birthday of my life.. but then I saw you come in with the beer and everything just seemed better." We proceeded to be extreme light weights and get drunk off three beers each. Hey! We hadn't eaten in hours and biked! We then proceeded to finish off the WHOLE 12 pack. Whoa. Here comes awesome drunken videos!

In respect of Josh's wishes, this video has been removed. We gotta keep the kid looking professional. Sorry! You may however enjoy my drunkenness below..

After we finished the beer and ate our food we wanted some more crap. Real crap. Candy. So we decided to wander over to the truck stop. I figured I'd practice my "sobriety" before I got there so no one would know I'm drunk. I think it worked flawlessly, didn't it?



So we gorged ourselves on candy and cake. Josh felt like shit, but held it all down. I drunk dialed Zak and his friends that night. For those of you who don't know it, a mosquito consists of three parts. A body, a thorax and a face. And I fucking punch mosquitoes right in the face! All in all a great night. Happy Birthday Joshyboy!

Trip Summary
Day's mileage- 67.82
Total mileage- 746.14

11 comments:

Anonymouse said...

You are the most flamboyant drunk I know.

Anonymous said...

I could have drank as much beer as you and Josh did together and been less drunk

Anonymous said...

Oh Rossy,
You need to work on your alcohol consumption.... Manly men can drink more than 3 beers without getting drunk!!!
Moi ;)

WilloWhilspers said...

So the tornado almost got you. Remember run for the ditch. Hey Ross got your postcard. I hope you are having fun out there. Wish I was doing it. I am stuck here in Cortland teaching summer school. I kinda miss you. Come back. Love the blog, makes for enjoyable reading. Take care and have fun and I will come back for the updates. Ciao, Lisa.

Anonymous said...

Got your postcard today, I could beat up that moose

Anonymous said...

So that's what you're like all liquored up Ross, you silly wabbit ;-) Happy (belated) Birthday Josh! Im REALLY curious to know just how many Birthday spanks were doled out in the "no tell motel" that night while high on brew, cake, candy, and downing 12 inch meat subs...However my Mother always told me it was impolite to ask a person his/her age, so I shall refrain.;-)~

Hugs,
Darlene

Anonymous said...

PS.
While doing this in bed convalescing gig I have now read your entire blog from start to date Ross, and thoroughly enjoyed following along on your journey vicariously. ...Your great pics/clips, witty remarks, smart, succinct writing kept this ADD girl entertained & engaged!

PSS. Thanks for your thoughtfulness, care & concern Ross. You are a total Sweetheart! I'm feeling better, thanks no doubt to the support of loving people such as yourself, (and pain killers!).

Savor the moments before they turn to memories....

xoxo
Darlene

Zak said...

Haha Ross, I'm so touched you thought of me. "This one is for Zachary Swartz." Awesome~

Erica said...

Hi Cycle-friends!

So refreshing to see your blog and see you antics, clearly you are having a great time on the road, though it looks like you are having a hard time finding internet. Dad and I are currently in Dubuque, Iowa and crossing the Mississippi tomorrow. Haven't met any other distance travelers since we caught up with you. Lots of folks in Iowa keep asking us if we are training for Rabrai. We have done the math and on 7-26 I should be into Auburn, NY so I don't know if we will cross paths again, but I will keep tabs on the blog. Hope you catch a great tailwind to blow you across South Dakota and Iowa.
Cheers!
Erica

Anonymous said...

37 Kit-kats bars was hilarious!!!!! lol, you light-weight!

Anonymous said...

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