Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Aloha, everybody. I love you all.
So I woke up today in a weird motel room in a place that may or may not be Tijuana. More big animals here, and big statues of a guy named Pedro. It's hot here, really hot. T&T keep telling me that we're almost there. Where? Hell? It's hotter than the devil's nuts here.
We got back on the road at about noon. After a few hours of driving we arrived at Grandma's house (that's Trevor's mom's place, near Greenville, SC). When we got there they told me that this was the "end of the road". I am totally confused. We're here at Grandma's, but T&T say we're only staying here for a while until we find a place in Asheville, whatever that is. What do they have in store for me now?
I have a feeling that things are going to slow down for me for the time being, so there probably won't be too many updates for a while. Thanks for keeping up with me over the last 4 weeks, it's really been an epic adventure. I hope you'll all keep in touch -- my email address is showbiz@mrshowbizthedog.com -- drop me a line some time.
Aloha, everybody. I love you all.
Saturday, August 4 through Monday, August 6, 2007
Partyin' in the Poconos
So after they finally got me out of that god-awful kennel at Hershey Park we drove to Tonya's Uncle Dave and Aunt Candy's cabin in the Poconos, where we stayed for the night. They are really sweet folks. In the morning they gave us a tour of the property – 3 acres with a creek and a beaver damn and all sorts of interesting things to smell and look at.
After breakfast we went into town, whatever town it was, a small one. Trevor found a place with wi-fi so we could update the blog, then we went to a Walmart. I wasn't allowed inside, as usual, so Trevor and I hung out in the parking lot for what seemed like an hour waiting for Tonya. When she finally emerged, we drove about 45 minutes to the Indian Head Canoes Campground, on the New York side of the Delaware River.
We hung out at the site for a while and started to set up camp. Suddenly a truck pulls up with my friends Brian and Alice (from Oakland) in it, along with their friends Justin and Salome. So great to see them -- how did they know we were gonna be here? Then, all of a sudden, a car shows up with my great old friends Reuben and Laura (formerly of SF now of NY) in it. This is awesome!
We hung out all night, had a fire, cooked some food, roasted marshmallows, etc. T&T told stories about our trip. It was great. Then the next day we had breakfast (bacon!) and then we all went out on canoes. Good times. Then back to the site for more fire and food.
In the morning we made even more bacon, then Trevor and Reuben burned as much stuff as they could before it was time to leave, which was at about noon. Everybody packed up their stuff and we all said our sad goodbyes. We drove south for the rest of the day and into the night, then into the morning. Tonya drove the whole way, and I slept (I don't know what Trevor did, but I'm sure it was very helpful).
I woke up at 2 in the morning in a strange place with a lot of lights guarded by a giant man in a sombrero. I think we might be in Mexico.
Thursday, July 26 through Friday, August 3, 2007
The Pennsylvania Juggernaut
Listen: I'm sorry I haven't written in a while. Things got really crazy once we arrived in Pennsylvania and unfortunately the blog has suffered. Today's post will catch you up on everything that's happened in the past week or so.
So last Thursday we rolled into Pittsburgh at around 2 pm. We went to the Mattress Factory, which it turns out is actually an art museum. We saw some nice stuff there. They had this James Turrell installation there and you had to sit in complete darkness for 15 minutes before you could even see it. I'm not sure if there was really anything there or if I was just hallucinating, but I liked it either way.
After that we spent about 2 hours driving around in circles. For some reason T&T can't find their way around Pittsburgh to save their lives. We've been here before and the same thing happened. We finally found a Red Roof Inn (our new motel of choice) and packed it in for the night.
Then the next day the weirdest thing happened. We spent the first part of the day driving around, doing this and that. Then we drove out to the airport, where Trevor got out of the car with a bag and a ukulele, and we just left him there. WTF?
Tonya and I drove about 2 hours and ended up in a campground, where I was surprised to see my human grandparents (Tonya's Mom and Dad), along with Grammy and Pappy (Tonya's human grandparents) and a bunch of other familiar faces. Turns out we're having a family reunion. We spent Friday night catching up with everybody, then the next day the whole clan showed up at the campground with food and games and kids and all sorts of stuff. It was pretty cool. I ate A LOT of food. Totally awesome. We played some Bingo, did a little swimming in the river. It was a good time. But where the hell is Trevor?
The next day was more of the same. Grammy's sister and her husband were celebrating their 50th anniversary, so there was a little party. We went over to Grammy's house and I got to run around and stuff. Good times. We camped at the campground again that night. In the morning I got up and this little kid Jeremiah was giving me whole pieces of bacon! What a cool dude! I really like it here.
We went back to Grammy's and hung out, and I started feeling a little sick – I think I really overdid it on the bacon, and everything else. I wasn't really feeling up to another car ride, but Tonya and I drove back to Pittsburgh in the evening for some reason. Tonya checked us into another Red Roof Inn. Then we got back in the car and drove to the airport, and who was waiting for us on the curb? Trevor! He's back! He'd been at his uncle's wedding in San Diego all weekend. It was good to have him back on the team.
So the Red Roof Inn was about 10 minutes from the airport, but T&T somehow got lost and we ended up driving around for like 2 hours. What a couple of dumbasses. We finally got back to the room at 1:30 in the morning. Ugg.
We took it slow the next morning. Check-out time at the Red Roof Inn is noon, which gives us a little more time to sleep in and what not. In the afternoon we drove through Punxutawney, PA, home of the groundhog for whom Groundhog's Day is named. He's all over the place there. I don't really understand what the deal is with Groundhog's Day, sounds like a scam top me.
After Punxutawney we went back to Grammy's, where we had to camp in the yard because they had a full house. That night everybody went out to eat a 6 lb. hamburger, but guess who had to stay home -- guess who's not allowed to go to the "people-only" restaurant to eat the 6 lb. hamburger! Whatever.
The next day, Wednesday I guess it was, we went fishing. I love fishing. I love everything about it. It was a great time. That night we ate steak for dinner. That was a good day.
On Thursday everybody pitched in and did work around Grammy and Pappy's house. Tonya's dad and uncle ran power to the outhouse (yeah, they have an outhouse), Tonya and her mom deep-cleaned the kitchen, and Trevor and I burned garbage in a barrel in the side yard, along with Tonya's cousin Desiree. Everybody worked hard and Grammy and Pappy were really happy. We had pizza for dinner.
On Friday we packed up the car again, said goodbye to Grammy and Pappy and everybody, and got back on the road, We followed Tonya's parents to Hershey Park, but, of course, no dog's allowed in there, so I have to go to the Hershey Park kennel. The Barking Lot they call it. Clever, huh? It's like a parking lot for dogs. The indignities never cease.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Another strange home for the night
We left the Notzes house this morning. They've been very nice to us and made us feel right at home, and it's hard to say goodbye, but I'm a rambler, a gambler, etc., and it was time to ease on down the road.
We were planning to drive as far as we could toward Pittsburgh, but T&T had the genius idea to drive 45 minutes in the other direction to take pictures of some mini-golf course, adding a good 2 hours to our trip. We might have missed all the traffic in Chicago and the storm we had to drive through for the rest of the day, but the pictures are pretty good.
I spent the rest of the day in the back seat sleeping, dreaming about spaghetti. We stopped at a Red Roof Inn just south of Cleveland. Another strange home for the night.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
This suburban life is making me soft
Another day in Chicagoland. This morning we visited a cemetary where a bunch of circus people are burried, including many who died in a train wreck near here in 1918. I paid my respects and was proud to honor my fellow showmen.
After that is was more of the same, chillin, etc. T&T went back into the city to visit more friends, see more things. I stayed home with the Notzes. It was nice, but I'm getting a little restless -- need to get back on the road. This suburban life is making me soft.
Monday, July 23, 2007
The accommodations here are very comfortable
So last night we arrived in Chicagoland at the home of Brian and Denise Notz, friends of mine from the Bay Area who moved out here a few years ago. Love them. They have 2 girls (Kiera and Trea) who are very sweet. They also have a dog, a lab puppy named Stella, who I could do without, but I'll manage.
We didn't really do much, mostly relaxing and playing with the kids. They have a pool, so there was some of that going on. T&T went into the city to visit Tonya's cousin Devon. I stayed in with Denise and took it easy. The accommodations here are very comfortable.
Sunday, July 22, 2007
I have nothing to say about it
Today I got picked up at the "pet resort" only to be dropped off at another one further up the road so that T&T could go to The House on the Rock. I have nothing to say about it.
Saturday, July 21, 2007
I was tired of hanging out with those losers anyway
Last night we drove all the way to Wisconsin Dells, and that's where I woke up this morning. Pretty exciting! Maybe, unless you're me, because I woke up and got stuck in a goddamn "pet resort" so Trevor and Tonya could go off riding water slides and roller coasters and go-carts. Nice. I was tired of hanging out with those losers anyway.
[The drawing to the left was sent to me by my friend Tim Miller in Seattle (see the postings for July 9-11). It pretty much sums up my philosophy of life.]
