Spent the past couple of days visiting people we knew through email and the net and found it to be a lot of fun.

Just reporting in briefly to let you know that Microsoft has gotten cash-hungry again and is turning the free Listbot service into a US$149 per year service and is discontinuing the free service on August 6th.

I will be taking steps to make sure that there is an alternative but I am damned if I am going to pay that fee. Looks like I may have to go back to the “more work for me” option of transferring 80+ addresses to an email alias to send through regular mail. Bother.

Anyway, I will take care of it at my end. Just letting you know in case you all get emails from Listbot to tell you that the service is closing and then you all email me to let me know.

Not that emailing us is a bad thing - we really like to log on and get emails from people back home and also from those we’ve met in the US. we may not always be able to respond within a day or two, but we do respond to those that email us and it’s great to hear the news from places we are not. Hint. Hint.

We are off to Canada today so we will add to the number of countries we have been on the Odyssey. Next email should be from outside the US borders.

Categories: Travel, Odyssey 2001
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Originally posted from Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, this update was split into multiple parts (see related articles) for the sake of reducing the loading time due to the images involved…

The campground bathrooms were of such a low quality in Yellowstone that we did not spend more than one night there, choosing to leave the park and sleep at Rexburg, Idaho. We were glad we did so, since we met some fine folks from Georgia who were on a road trip of their own. Got chatting with them, and when we were discussing what we’d seen in Georgia, we managed to convince Rachel to read us a quote from the Mudboggin we’d been to. If you forget (and how could you?!?), surf on over to one of our previous tales here and check out some odd parental discipline.

After the natural wonders of Yellowstone, we cruised over to the first nuclear reactor in the USA to create electricity. Got a guided tour of the facility (all free) and learned a reasonable bit about nuclear energy. They were a little lax in telling us about the fun and games that nuclear waste brings to the environment, but overall quite educational.

From there, we went to the Craters Of The Moon which is a large lava field. Not quite what we expected, since there was more vegetation than we thought there would be. I guess we figured that it was just miles of lava without break, but it turned out that the people of 1924 did not know what the moon really looked like, and we had not taken that into consideration.

We spent today hiking up Mineral Ridge overlooking the Coeur d’Alene lake and learning about US history from Carrie (Bonita and Ron’s youngest)…

Apparently, Christopher Columbus sailed to the USA, drove on the I-90 to Idaho, then climbed a tree in his boat. The tree fell over, and they named it the Columbus Tree. He died in the forest and they buried him at the top of the hill. After he died, he sailed back home to India where he died. Again.

A very interesting spin on the history of the US and one we’re not likely to forget in a hurry since we were laughing so hard.

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Originally posted from Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, this update was split into multiple parts (see related articles) for the sake of reducing the loading time due to the images involved…

Currently the furthest north we have been in the US so far, visiting another friend made through the internet - Bonita. She actually came to Australia last year and she flew out of Sydney 15 minutes before we arrived to do some photocopying (see the Sydney 2000 travelogue for those tales) so we had to come to this side of the world to meet.
Having finally escaped Denver and the state of Colorado (new state motto : “You Ain’t Never Getting Out Of Here”), we cruised up through Wyoming to Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks and it felt great to be driving somewhere again that did not lead back in a loop to wait for a cheque.

It was really interesting to see all the animals in Yellowstone, with a large number of bison and elk pretty much everywhere we looked. We did not see any moose or bears, but hey, we’re only disappointed about the moose really.

Interestingly, we expected it to have warmed up by now but it turned out that they closed down Yellowstone two days before we were there due to snowfall. Our campsite in Yellowstone was very cold and there was snow all over the ground. A scientific theory that we tested for ourselves was whether or not snowmen like to sit around a campfire. Apparently, they don’t mind it for a while but then they get all tired and start to fall over.

As an aside, camping in Yellowstone is very expensive. The campsite was US$16.20 for a basic site. To have a shower was US$3.00 which the woman at the reservation desk happily told me was for “as long as you want”. I pointed out that we did not want to shower for that long, and offered to pay US$1.00 for five minutes and if I took longer, we’d pay them US$6.00 instead. No go. I didn’t really expect them to be flexible, but it was worth a try. Lots of people around us were all smelling pretty ripe, so it seems that there were lots of other people who felt that a shower was too expensive for them as well.

The geysers in Yellowstone were more regular in their eruptions than at Rotorua, New Zealand, but I think the boiling mud was more interesting in Rotorua. Then again, when it comes down to it, how exciting is boiling mud? I admit it - I like weird stuff…*grin*

We found many SPOTD’s who felt it necessary to touch the obviously hot things to see if they were in fact hot. You might recall the SPOTD in Rotorua who tried to climb into a boiling geyser. None of them were at that level, but they all stuck their fingers in. Took a photo of one of them just because it’s nice to have an image of a real live SPOTD.

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Yes, we are still in Kremmling and have yet to get our van repaired. Diana has decided to fill in the time by managing to get herself sunburned. Yes, I have been all good and put on sunscreen each day, but due to the high elevation (7,364 feet), we’re in a situation where the sun’s rays are quite intense.

Di put sunscreen on each day, but one day, the back of her shirt rode up a little bit, and she did not know it. Though only exposed to the sun for about 30 minutes, she managed to burn a large crescent shape onto her back.

She’s been all stiff and sore for days now, and it’s begun to blister. It all looked so bad that we went to the doctor today and found out that it’s actually the same as a 2nd-degree burn (not surprising, given the way it looked).

Again, only a few minutes with the medical person, and another large charge (still, covered by insurance. So, other than toasting Diana with the sun’s rays, we’re still getting ready to depart here Sunday and head to Denver to get the car fixed.

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Onto the SPOTD matters, we hit paydirt with one day in Lakewood, Colorado recently…

SPOTD Candidate #1 was a young male, about 28yo, who was getting his oil changed at Walmart at the same time as us. The people working there asked him to sign a form that gave them immunity from the charge that they had caused engine damage since he had brought it in without any oil in it. This is a standard form they have, so it must be a reasonably common issue, but it’s still the first time we’ve seen it happen.

The young man agreed to sign the form and went on to tell the Walmart employee that when he’d bought the car, he had noticed that no oil ever stayed in it, and it was burning lots of oil. This, he felt, was not a good thing and he went to see the dealer who sold it to him. The dealer then told him that the car was actually designed to burn through the oil, and that when the car ran out of oil, it was time to go to get an oil change. The young man had believed him - indeed, still did believe that story - and so every time he heard a pinging/clunking noise in his engine, went to get his oil changed. Mind you, since there was nothing in it to lubricate the pistons, he was really changing to oil from oxygen.

SPOTD Candidate #2 was Stephanie, the female receptionist at the bodyshop in Lakewood where we went to get a quote (aka “estimate”) for the repairs. She heard the accent and realised we were from somewhere else, so she asked and we explained we were from Australia.

Stephanie: “Wow, that’s a long way from home.”

Di: “Yeah, about 14 hours flying time.”

Stephanie: “Forty hours?!?”

Di: “No, fourteen.”

Stephanie: “Forty eight?”

Trav: “Fourteen. One Four. Fourteen.”

Stephanie: “Oh.”

She then turned to look at a map on the wall and tried to locate Australia on it. After about 20 seconds of careful scrutiny, she turned back to us with a puzzled look.

Stephanie: “I can’t see it there on the map.”

Trav: “Can’t see what?”

Stephanie: “Australia.”

Trav (incredulous): “That’s a bloody map of the United States!”

Yes, she was honestly looking at a map of the 50 states of the USA, plus the little bit of Canada above and little bit of Mexico below and trying to figure out where Australia was on it.

Stephanie (blissfully stupid): “Oh, but I thought it might be off the coast or something.”

Di: “It’s fourteen hours to fly there. It takes 6 hours just to fly from Los Angeles to New York.”

Stephanie: “Oh. So, like, you’ve got koala bears down there? I always wanted a koala bear. They’re so cute.”

Di: “Actually, they bite and scratch and urinate on you if you try to pick them up.”

Stephanie: “Oh. So, what other animals do you have up there?”

Trav: “No, we’re down there. You’re up here.”

A mystified look was Stephanie’s response. I ended up having to get a globe shaped object and try to explain that the USA was up here (pointing to the globe) and that Australia was all the way over down here (pointing to another place on the globe).

Stephanie: “I thought you were higher than here on the globe.”

Di: “Why do you think we’re called ‘Down Under’?”

Stephanie: “I didn’t know. So, what other animals do you have down there?”

Trav: “Uh, kangaroo…”

Stephanie: “Oh yeah. Are they, like, in a zoo?”

At that point, I looked at Di in despair and she gave me the same look back. We were stunned to find someone so completely clueless, and we’d been getting more and more frustrated making this small talk while the guy got ready to look at the van. Stephanie mistook our looks of depair to be looks of blankness at the term “zoo”.

Stephanie: “You know, a zoo. Like, where they have animals. Do you have a zoo up there?”

Trav: “Australia is the same land area as the entire United States. Yes, we have a zoo.”

At that point, the guy was ready to go out and have a look, so we quickly followed him and left Stephanie in her ignorant state. Alas, as we looked at the van, we met SPOTD Candidate #3.

We were standing there, discussing the damage with the bodyshop manager and then, all of a sudden, a big dorky guy was there as well, cradling a large soft drink cup and looking at the van as well. As soon as he spoke, we realised he had a severe stutter. For the sake of typing brevity, I am going to leave that bit out in the following exchange.

SPOTD 3: “Hey, can I have your roof?”

Di: “What?”

SPOTD 3: “Can I have your roof?”

Trav: “What the hell are you talking about?”

SPOTD 3: “The roof of your van. I’ll swap you for a bit of plywood.”

Trav: “Why do you want the roof?”

SPOTD 3: “My van could use the roof. See, there’s my van over there.”

There sat a crap old rust-bucket recognisable as another Ford Econoline, though not a conversion van. That was why he wanted to put a different roof on it - ours was a high roof and his was not.

Trav (sarcastic): “A bit of plywood? Sure. Why not, with such an offer?”

SPOTD 3: “Really?”

Trav: “No.”

SPOTD 3: “Nice van though. Where did you buy it? Australia?”

Trav (sarcastic): “Yes. We bought it in Australia and drove it here.”

At this point, Di and I were not sure where to go - back into the office with Stephanie or out here with this dork. We still did not know where he came from, so we assumed he worked nearby since it was not really a pedestrian area. It turned out he worked at the printer’s next door, and he went back in there when Di and I went back to the bodyshop office.

A few minutes later, he burst into the bodyshop office singing, at the top of his lungs, “Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport” and making the appropriate kangaroo leaping movements around Di. Of course, with a severe stutter, singing was not an intelligent activity anyway, and it was coming out as :

SPOTD 3: “T-t-t-tie me k-k-k-kangar-r-r-oo up s-s-s-s-s-port”

I was up the back with the manager at the time but came forward to rescue Di who was sitting on the customer sofa with a totally flabbergasted look on her face. I was not sure if she was going to leave right then and there in the face of such stupidity, but if she was, we were going together!

By the time I got to the front, he was in the second verse (which he had completely wrong anyway) and as soon as he’d finished, he left again and went back to the printer’s. As soon as the quote rolled out of the printer, I spoke quietly to Di and we planned our run to the van so that we’d not see him again. Yes, we actually did physically run to get out of there, so worried were we by the high levels of stupidity (more dangerous than radiation).

So, there you have it. Three more reasons to not be in Denver…

Categories: Travel, Odyssey 2001, SPOTD
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Been a while since you heard from us, hasn’t it? We’re a long way from those near-daily updates you were getting for a while. Ah well, this is the way of the world.

In a nutshell, we have not moved very far. We have gotten in touch with the folks at Alamo Rentals Insurance division and they are sending out the cheque. It’s nice to see that some people have shunned the computer era and are still taking 48 hours to write a cheque. No, wait. They *are* using computers and it *still* takes that long to write a cheque! Don’t ask me how it works - I am getting more confused by the day.

In any event, the cheque is coming and we have to hang around the Denver area until it does so we can take the van in and get it fixed. They are also paying for us to have 2 days of car rental and 2 nights in a hotel while it is being repaired (needs to be repainted apparently, so takes a while), so it’s not too bad.

It’s too expensive to be in Denver though, and frankly, Denver is a cultural wasteland. There are so many museums of cultural value that we consider it a “wasteland” in other words… Museum of Contemporary Art. Museum of Classical Art. Museum of Museums of Contemporary and Classical Art. You get the idea - Dullsville Central for us.

As a result, we are in Kremmling, Colorado which is home to 3000 odd people, and many of them are indeed odd people, by their own admission. The current excitement in town is that there is a new fence being built. Pretty scintillating stuff, I am sure you’ll agree. It’s a nice fence. A bit crooked though.

We also managed to find our second town in over 24 states of the USA that wants to charge us to access the internet - US$1 per 15 mins and since we’ve made it this far without paying for it, we’re damned if we’re going to start now. Most irritating aspect of it? They are connected all the time to the net and have 4 computers sitting idle, with lovely long hours each day, and we can’t use them…

The town motto of Kremmling is “Sportsman’s Paradise” but should be “By Golly, The Wind Gets Really Strong Here Every Afternoon And Blows Your Tent Over”. Still, it is working out well to be here - much cheaper than to stay in Denver and there’s enough around here to keep us busy looking at stuff.

Currently accessing the net through the computer belonging to the RV park owner since he was also horrified that we’d have to pay for it at the town library. What a good bloke, huh? We highly recommend this RV park by the way - it’s the only one we’ve found in the USA that provides complimentary soap and bathmaths for showers, firewood and a great place to spend the night. If anyone is in the Kremmling area, forget the library as an option to check email for free, but be sure to stop a night in the Red Mountain RV Park. Tell them we sent you and ask Jeff and Sara about the fence. It’s a nice fence. Bit crooked though.

We are estimating that by the time the cheque arrives in Kremmling at the Post Office (getting it sent there as “General Delivery” aka “Poste Restante”) and get back to Denver and through the body shop (aka “panelbeater” for those of us who speak English…*grin*), we are expecting to get away from here about 10 days or so from now.

There’s no hurrying some people, but I have to admit that the guy we have been dealing with for the insurance has been very prompt in helping us since we have a unique situation. Still, we were hit on the 18th May and we’re expecting to be on the road okay again by the 13th June - not exactly a blindingly fast period of time.

We encountered three SPOTDs in one day in Lakewood, Colorado recently.  Check out the relevant post for more details.

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