h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

This sounds exciting. Tell us more. Will you miss the animals? Is it far?
Thanks for the Enya btw.

We are going with our daughter, Mandey and her husband Stuart. We are going for a family reunion and will be in Helena. It is a good long drive, at least two days in the car. It will take longer, though because we will definately do sight-seeing on the way. We will stop in the Badlands, Mt. Rushmore, Custer State Park, and Devil's Tower, plus more! I'd have to look up the mileage.

Yes, I will miss my animals. My sister is caring for them while we are gone. We have a goat who is hopefully going to have her babies today or tomorrow.

This sounds wonderful. Nowhere is UK is that far away! Have a brilliant time. Have you seen these sights before?
Will it be like a holiday for your sister too, or does she have a farm as well?

Bob and I have taken our children out to see the 'wild west' a couple times, but this will be the first time Stuart has left Wisconsin. We are all excited because he is so excited!! I forgot to mention Glacier National Park, which we also intend on seeing.

Sally loves coming over to our farm. She is a townie!

An adventure for her too then.
It all sounds so much fun. I'm going to check it all out on a map and several reference books. I'll follow the route in my mind. Will it be hot?

It could be in the 90's and 100's until we get to the mountains. The Great Plains have extreme's in weather; winter and summer. We are spoiled by living next to Lake Michigan. The Lake keeps us nice and cool all summer.

If you are going to follow us on a map, we are taking the South Dakota route (94), with side trips to all the places I mentioned. This should be interesting. Mandey wants to stay at all the Mom and Pop motels, and I want to do the Holiday Inn thing with the swimming pools and bars and such!

Swimming pools and bars sound fine to me! Somewhere to cool down.
Thanks for the route info. When do you leave?

Correction: its route 90 we'll be following. And Bob tells me it is 1300 miles. We leave toward the end of this week.

Coely, I caught your photo from the h2g2 party! It looked like you all had fun meeting each other. Wish I could've been there.

Was this Phil's photo where I am with Shazz? She was dressed for sofball, but I was off to the theatre (v posh!). I was only in the park an hour. There was a storm just after I left and they all got wet on the way to the pub. Reading about it afterwards it seems like nobody had a towel. At an h2g2 gathering this is a disgrace!! Make sure you take one on your journey.
1300 miles! As I said, you can't go that far over here! You could do from the top to the bottom of the UK in a day (a long day I grant you!).

Yes, that was the photo! How did you keep who was who straight? I didn't see one name tag. I'm just fair when meeting new people and pinning their proper names to the face, let alone a h2g2 name + a real life name!!

You are so right about the towels. Wouldn't leave home without mine! Pillows too. And soap, must have my own soap. *making a list of essentials to pack. *

There were more than 40 people in the park, but I really only met about 6 or 7, so that was not too hard.
Don't forget the swimming cossie for the pool.
How do you pass the time on the long journey? Musuc or games, or just enjoying the scenery?

We'll probably do all of those, plus I am bringing two books-on-tape along: Stephen King's 'The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon', and Steve Martini's 'The List'. Both are excellent, and I'm sure the others will like them. I listen to b-o-t all day, everyday at work. I got a job sewing in a factory, making sport bags and hammocks. Its the easiest job I've ever had, and I enjoy listening to lots and lots of good books while doing it.

Translate cossie for me, please. Wait! Costume?!! I think you are referring to my bathing suit, n'est pas?

LOL. Sorry. Swimming costume, yes!
B-o-t are popular here too. A good reader can really bring a story alive for you.
All packed and ready? Will you go round all the animals and say goodbye? This'll take ages!

Yes, we are ready to go now! See you back on the 10th!

Have a good trip.

Mari-Rae,

Hi I'm Big Al we have a mututal friend in Alicat.

I like your selection of books etc these are mine:-

Books I love

The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien

The Wild Swans by Jung Chang

Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach

Shogun by James Clavell

Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

The Art of Zen and Motorcycle maintenance by Robert Pirsig

ONE by Richard Bach

The Tai Chi Journey by John Lash

The secret of the golden Flower by Richard Wilhelm

The Old Curiousity Shop by Charles Dickens

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

The Bible

The Peaceful Warrior by dan Millman


LOve Big Al ,

Heya Mari-Rae!

How was the trip? Your tag says your back, tell us all about it!

Heya Coelacanth! Just on my way to see you

Hola! Big Al!

H&K
Z

Hi Big Al! Nice to meet you! You have a very philosophical bend in your fav. books. I've read a few of those you listed, but not all. My favorite books tend to be either 'what would happen if...' books, or explorations of alternative human cultures. I've found both in science fiction and fantasy genres. There is nothing like a good read!!

Hope to see you in the forums!

mari-rae

Hi Zed! I've posted a Journal Entry about our trip. It was great! We filled our eyes with beautiful sights!

xxx ooo,
mari-rae