Vacation, Part I

Norman and I went to Colorado a week and a half ago for vacation. I'd never seen Boulder, and since the drive to San Francisco is too long, we compromised with Hippie Town the Lesser. It was fun, and I like Boulder quite a bit.

I've decided to post about our exploits in four parts -- one for each day of our journey.

Day One: "Oklahoma, Kansas, and Colorado", or "Where is Everyone?"


Here's Norman trying to look normal for a picture.


And here's Norman trying to look weird. Hmm...


I'm all for alternate energy and such, but the miles and miles of these newfangled windmills was a little creepy.


Eventually Norman got tired of driving. "Oh no!!! A car!!! What do I do???"


OK, not really. I mostly looked like this for the hour or so I spent driving through western Kansas.


Steve's a great navigator. (For more of Steve's adventures, see here.)


We kept passing this bus, pretty much from OKC to Denver. It was a little ridiculous. We still can't figure out where they were going. Maybe they bought it on eBay?


An iPod and some kombucha -- two things you should never road trip without.


And here we have the worst and most monumental failure of "the Code". That would be the Vacation Code. It told us that we were not allowed to do anything on vacation that we could do at home (this mostly applied to chain stores and restaurants). The Code worked out well, on the whole. We ventured outside our comfort zones. We drank beer at random pubs (more on that later), visited the used bookstore instead of the Barnes and Noble, and ate at places we'd never heard of. And usually, that worked out just fine. But in this case...

The name of this eating establishment is apparently "Restaurant". Very original. It was attached to a gas station. The food consisted of a buffet of half Chinese food, half all-American (read MSG-laden) fare. Yeah. Oh well. Steve didn't seem to mind it.


Oh, right... Another perk of Restaurant -- Copies of "The Outhouse Book" at every table. Not my first choice, personally. But again, Steve was content.

Will Norman and Jessie ever reach Boulder? Will they keep to the Code? Is there anything Steve doesn't like?
Find out next time in Day Two: "Hello, Boulder!", or "One Very Long Day"