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

After a more or less comfortable night's sleep at the Bleak Seagull Inn in Provincetown, I was awakened at 6:00 a.m. and proceeded to a breakfast of runny scrambled eggs and soggy bacon, served with coffee that couldn't make up its mind whether it wanted to be second rate espresso or the Devil's House Blend.

"Not the top-shelf accommodations I was led to expect," I griped to Scribbles as he shuttled me to the yacht.

"All the good places were booked up," Scribbles explained. "Something about a worldwide Esperanto convention in town, complete with yodeling and a parkour costume ball. Anyway, before you dread today's waterskiing session, I want to assure you that, on short notice, we have managed to procure some very large water skis and fastened a very comfortable cabin on top of them. You can relax in your easy chair while letting the yacht tow your ski cabin all day."

I was mostly relieved to hear this -- I had never done any conventional water skiing anyway -- but the cool November air made me wonder how comfortable I'd be. "Is the cabin heated?" I wondered.

"It will be this evening."

I groaned. "So I stay in this cramped little cabin all day and overnight?"

"I know, I know, you wanted to enjoy the yacht's amenities. We'll' let you do that on the fourth day, after the dolphin ride..."

Grumbling, I grabbed some crossword puzzle books and my copy of "War and peace" and climbed into the little cabin for a chilly, ho-hum day of watching the ocean waves from the tiny windows, with the low buzz of the yacht's engines in my ear.

Through the cabin's rear window I watched Provincetown recede into the horizon.

[Amy P]

Do you have a link to the Esperanto yodelling?

Oh, here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iy-3u9qzefk

This journey has a promising beginning.

This is fun, I'm looking forward to days 4-6 when you journey takes you to my part of the world. Let's just hope Operation Stack isn't on.

The dolphin ride sounds like great fun.

We once spent a weekend in a hotel where there was an Esperanto conference going on. There were Esperantists from all over the world, but still plenty of room for us and a few other guests!! More like a Lib Dem party conference than a comic.con

My sister and her kids often go to comic.con get-togethers.

The point of the Esperanto and yodeling and parkour dancing was that the publisher was cutting corners, and Scribbles was making up convenient lies to cover them. This may become a pattern at the Blotch Gardens room in London, which has a scenic "view" of a dark, Satanic mill. Well, I can't let Pell [a.k.a. Pelerin Longmile] be happy for too long at a stretch.