Denver to Illinois: In Which the Author Leaps from Rest Stop to Hotel to Condo

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Saturday, August 29th, 2009 In Which the Author Leaps from Rest Stop to Hotel


When traveling on a road trip, I’ve often found it useful to get out of one’s town of origin as quickly as possible, making the initial push to cover as many miles as possible to ward off the possibility of being bogged down/stuck in areas that may not be where you want to be. Even excessive stops, i.e. eating in restaurants, shopping for snacks, etc. take time away from the forward progress. So, I “put on my astronaut pants” and plow forward as fast as possible. My frugalness also comes into play, as the thought of justifying the cost of spending the night in a hotel (even a MOTEL), when I usually try to drive past midnight and start as early as possible the next morning is out of the question.

So, leaving Denver at 3 p.m., Sophie and I drove until 3 a.m., covering 700 miles of 70-plus speeds, passing the gradual slope out of Denver and back into flat, desolate farmland.
We slept in an Iowa rest stop, which was about 40%!f(MISSING)ull. I placed the “book bin” into the floor of the front seat, snuggled into the sleeping bag, employing the stolen airline pillows on my back and head, and fell asleep immediately. I slept very well, straight through, and was surprised to wake up at 9 a.m., my “fellow frugal” neighbors long gone. This practice, by the way, is totally legal, and I’ve reclined for varying amounts of times in many rest stops, and have never encountered any problems. Sure, the parking lots are too bright, and refrigeration trucks drone a solid b-flat, but there’s recycling, water, Wi-Fi, and a good bathroom, which I make use of in the morning, changing and shaving.

I was shifting by now into “the trips over/final push” mode, moving away from the camping food bin, and moving into the “convenience” mode by paying someone to produce food for me (the final step—the actually cooking, anyway). I passed time by telling Sophie that we only had two more days on the road, staring at the bumper of the vehicle in front of me, and clicking through 600+ Mp3 songs to create a “go list,” thus shedding the re-finding of the player after almost every song (such as my, yes, karaoke tracks). I had 5 songs from Dylan, Vic Chesnutt, and a bunch of Jennifer’s tunes (it was good having “fresh tunes” to create/associate new memories and visuals for the trip.
I used the GPS system to find a buffet—it was Saturday morning about 10 a.m., and drove 10 miles off I-80 through the “heart” of Des Moines to Old Country Buffet (I always eat a buffets whenever possible—and make it a point to make sure to be hungry enough to be able to eat my $9-12 worth!). The servers were overly polite, so to make up for the three servings of meat that I stole for Sophie, I phoned in some nice comments in for “Evelyn.” Regarding the stealing of buffet food, I also, in a bunko revelation, I perfected the sneaky practice, evolving it from the “in the plastic bag under the table” method to one similar in picking up Sophie’s “poopsters.” The key is to place a small, clear bag over one’s hand, then, while getting up out of the booth, place one’s hand on the plate of meat, scooping in up and stuffing it into one’s pocket. Meat is a rare treat for Sophie, and she chowed down in the parking lot.

I continued east, blowing through Iowa City and arrived in the Quad Cities, in the early afternoon. As I do realize about myself, I, in general, live in the “present” only, so the trip was already fading behind me. At the same time, I knew that I wasn’t ready to arrive back in Chicago, grimy and road-fatigued, at 10 p.m. So, I checked into my first and only hotel on the trip—the La Quinta Inn in Moline, IL. on the Mississippi River. The cost was $59.99, but Sophie stayed for free. I took 3 extended baths, and made sure that I left a good tip for the room cleaner ($5) for the trouble of having to clean the tub (another advantage of the hotel vs. condo). I took naps, worked on some blog pics, and watched HBO and TBS (I’m a sucker of “Men in Black”). I even watched Fox News, spewing their general “catch phrase” arguments, and often which lack evidence. I shaved my head and beard; the entire cleaning and trimming process took over 2 ½ hours, a record for me and primping.

I slept lovingly on 5 pillows, getting up early, as apparently, Sophie had the “squirts” from the OCB meat. Also, I noticed throwing in the bag and computer, that a bunch of birds had soiled the hood of the car, as if it wasn’t dirty enough. As soon as we got back on I-80, on the final stage home, I was back in the world of orange cones and aggressive drivers. A final stop for a veggie burger from Burger King, and I was close to home. Heading onto 94 north (the Dan Ryan) towards the loop, exit on 47th Street in Bronzeville, snapping a few pictures and noticing the old, boarded-up buildings. Also, I was back in the company of mostly African Americans/blacks, a group that was noticeably absent in my western travels.

I pulled into the large park, a block away from the condo, and let Sophie get reacquainted with her old stompin’ grounds while I looked for the house keys (it was about 1 p.m.; Jennifer gets off at 4 and has a 30-minute bike ride home). An hour later, searching all the bins and the truck’s cab twice, I figured that I had lost the keys. With time to kill and the cell phone dead (to coordinate a key pick-up with Jennifer), I dug out all 11 now overdue by a day or two Chicago Public Library books and returned them. Then, I went home and, having the back gate remote, carried up a couple of loads (all would have to be resorted and washed inside) and enjoyed the afternoon reading Esquire magazine until Jennifer got home.

And then, so, finally the trip was over, having been safely completed in a satisfactory manner, and I stepped back into the world of privilege, luxury, and convenience…

I am currently sitting on the couch, watching Gay Talese on Charlie Rose, finalizing plans to finish the “gaps” in the blog, including the text and photos for Capital Reef National Park, Canyonlands National Park, Arches National Park, and the week-long camping/hike with Jennifer and Sophie in the Uinta National Forest.

Thanks for reading the blog!

Chicago Dave and Sophie

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Photos

Denver Art Museum
Chicago Artist Kerry James Marshall

Denver Art Museum
Marshall detail

Denver Art Museum
Diane Arbus

Des Moines, IA. Sophie treat
Stolen from OCB