While the road trip could have been considered officially over once Dr. Tsou and I arrived in Vancouver, the vacation didn’t really end until today. Just twelve hours ago, I was squeeing like a little adolescent fanboy at the Science Fiction Museum in Seattle. They don’t let you take pictures inside the museum, so there’s less to show than usual. But the museum was still highly entertaining and it made me realize that I’ve still got a long way to go before I can consider myself a true sci-fi fan. Too bad that catching up on my sci-fi isn’t going to be at the top of my priority list any time soon. Now that I’m back in Chicago, I’ve got plenty of academic work to catch up on. Speaking of which, I seem to have inadvertently convinced the 10 year old that I was sitting next to on the plane that she wants to read a book on the history of the electric chair called The Executioner’s Current. Um… whoops?!

Klaatu barada nikto.

At last, we have made it to Vancouver! We successfully crossed into Canadialand yesterday afternoon, despite a slight hang-up at the border because a certain Dr. Tsou didn’t have the title to the Canadian car with American license plates. The border guard also felt it necessary to tell us that our little car should not have been pulling a trailer in the first place, which is probably true, but was obviously of no concern to the U-Haul people when they installed a trailer hitch. Good old U-Haul! Anyway, whether the car was meant to do that kind of hauling or not, it did it just the same and without incident. And now, after being in the car for 8 days and traveling through 9 states, all I got to show for it is a ridiculous number of freckles on my arms and these three totally awesome t-shirts :-)

My wardrobe gets sexier by the day.

The road trip is quickly coming to a close. Later today we head to Seattle, and tomorrow I fly (gulp!) back to Chicago.

The road trip continues. It seems I left off by giving you a quick glimpse of the Devil’s Tower, which we visited on Day 4. For those of you who don’t know, the Devil’s Tower is in Wyoming and figured prominently in the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind. I wouldn’t exactly call myself a huge fan of the movie or anything, but ever since I saw the movie years ago, I’ve hoped to see the Devil’s Tower. Of course, since it’s in the middle of nowhere Wyoming, I never thought I would. Well thanks to the Great American-Canadian Road Trip, that’s changed now.

The Tower was really amazing. Yes, it’s just a volcanic intrusion exposed by years of erosion, but it’s still a dramatic anomaly in the landscape. I can see why the aliens would want to hang out there ;-)

Before the trip to the Tower, we spent the evening in Sundance, WY, former home of the Sundance Kid. So of course, we took some pictures with the town’s commemorative statue.

I think this photo’s going on my CV. Badass!

Days 5 and 6 were spent in Yellowstone National Park. We didn’t have time to explore the park all that thoroughly, but we got to see a fair number of some of the park’s most breathtaking sites. By far the most awe-inspiring of these was the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. The canyon walls are steep and brilliant in color, and the falls at the end of it are spectacular. Although I think the best part is just how close you can get to the edge of the canyon–nothing like a healthy dose of fear to really make you appreciate the power of nature! Honestly, my pictures don’t really do the canyon justice. I’d go back to see it in a heartbeat.

Other highlights from Yellowstone include the sulphur cauldron and mud volcanoes, Old Faithful, and the Mammoth Hot Springs. These last two weren’t actually that spectacular–Old Faithful isn’t all that impressive as a geyser, it’s just fairly regular in its eruptions, and a lot of the hot springs seem to have dried up because the thermal vents shifted in recent years. The roiling mud puddles were pretty cool, however. I love seeing the colors produced by the microorganisms growing in the pools. But again, also a little scary. The puddles I had really wanted to see were actually closed because the trail gave way recently and some poor woman’s leg broke through the thin surface crust and into scalding hot water underneath! Another highlight was seeing all kinds of wildlife. We saw deer, elk, marmots, bison, and a bear. Oh yeah!

This guy likes hanging out by the stinky sulphur cauldrons. Don’t ask me why.

Alas, the trip hasn’t been all fun and games. As most of you well know, I’m usually about as pale as a ghost’s ass. This means two things: 1. I don’t tan, I freckle and right now my arms are disturbingly freckly. 2. Despite slathering myself with sunscreen several times daily, I’m still getting a sun rash on the back of my hand. It’s nothing serious, but it’s itchy, annoying, and it makes me look like I have some kind of hand herpes. See folks, I avoid the sun for good reason.

Yes, I really am a vampire.

Now we’re on the last legs of our journey. Not too many points of interest on the agenda for the next few days, just some full days of driving toward Vancouver. Hopefully, all will continue to go as well as it has been and we expect to arrive in the next two days.

Hey kids, if you want postcards from the trip, email me your postal address! (Yeah, I forgot my address book…)

Again, I’m exhausted, so not much of a post tonight. Besides, I’m coasting on the wireless connection of the hotel across the street and the connection may not last for much longer. But I’ll leave you with a picture of today’s sight for the day: Devil’s Tower. Tomorrow we hit Yellowstone and I know we won’t have wireless there, so ta-ta for now!

Well, I’m happy to see that the tantalizing picture from yesterday’s trip to the Spam Museum was such a bit hit with my readers.  So, to fill in for yesterday’s missing post: stop #1 was the Spam Museum in Austin, Minnesota, and it was awesome! The museum was well-done and chalk full of interesting information, which was way more than I expected from a free museum created for the exclusive purpose of promoting a canned meat product. Of course, they also gave out samples of Spam. Try the bacon variety.  Seriously tasty!

Look ma, there’s genuine history in this here museum! 

Because the Spam Museum took longer than we had anticipated, we got a late start on the road. We didn’t make it quite as far into South Dakota as we had initially planned, but we did end up staying at a comfortable hotel in Chamberlain, SD that had pretty neat hunting lodge feel to it.  This was after we were rejected by the Best Western in town, which was apparently filled up with fans of a hydroplane boat race that had taken place on the Missouri River over the weekend. Oddly, enough, we actually saw the boats from the race being towed on the highway the next day.

Speaking of the highway, we have easily been the slowest moving vehicle on the road the entire trip.  This has been a source of great amusement to Dr. Tsou and I.  Every time the highway narrows down to one lane for road construction, we make a game out of counting the number of cars that we’ve held up along the way. Our record so far has been a total of 15 vehicles racing past us as soon as the road widened.

Look at all those cars lined up behind us! 

Today’s adventure included a visit to the infamous Wall Drug in Wall, SD, which I can only describe as a kind of western/hunting themed Disneyland. No, there aren’t rides (although there is a shooting gallery and an animatronic T-Rex), but there’s kitsch up the wazoo there.  Of course, the entire thing is just a glamorized roadside gift shop, but Wall Drug has done a tremendous job of turning a gift store into a bona fide tourist attraction in and of itself.  I swear, I was *this* close to buying a mounted jackalope head!  

The billboards beckon you for miles to stop at this oasis of kitsch.

 From Wall Drug, we pressed onward to Mt. Rushmore.  The drive up to Mount Rushmore was quite scenic and the carving itself is really impressive.  However, there’s also not much to do except go, see the monument, take some pictures, and leave.   And so that’s what we did.

Can you imagine hanging from this with a jackhammer to carve this?

So tired…

Totally awesome!

I wish I could say that the first day went off without a hitch, but when you’re hauling a U-haul trailer cross-country, you know that just isn’t going to be the case. Despite an early rise, we were confronted with inclement weather and, more importantly, trailer troubles. First, our safety chains were dragging along the road. Hmm, that doesn’t sound very safe, now does it? Second, we slightly damaged the trailer backing up out of the parking lot. And by “we,” I mean, “Dr. Tsou, Ph.D” damaged the trailer backing up out of the parking lot. So instead of hitting the highway, we headed back to the U-haul place to get our trailer, um, readjusted.

Fast forward three hours later and we’re finally on our way. The bad thing, we know we’re not going to make it to Austin, Minnesota in time to visit the Spam Museum before closing! The solution: spend the night in Austin! So after a long day and a long drive, we are arrived safely in a little hotel in Austin with free wireless internet, eagerly awaiting the Spam-filled morning. More to follow.

A beautiful Minnesota sunset.

Beginning bright and early tomorrow morning, Dr. Tsou and I shall begin our 10 day journey across the badlands of middle America, traveling over 2200 miles from Chicago to Vancouver. We’ll see some of the greatest sites America has to offer, from Mt. Rushmore to Yosemite National Park, as well as some of the strangest sites America has to offer, like the Spam Museum. Who knows what else will surprise us along the way? Stay tuned, faithful readers, for more exciting tales of ROAD TRIP 2008.

“Dear Mr. Levi!
Congratulations! You have taken my young, beautiful, intelligent, concerned girl and made her into an embittered, alienated woman. This has not been just another step in the maturation process. You have used as a pressure cooker the cold, grey city; the ghetto; the incredible housing; and above all the distant, aloof, and uncaring faculty.”

A letter to University of Chicago President Edward H. Levi, March 10, 1969.