This weekend proved to be a bit of a whirlwind after arriving late, juggling work and family time, and retracing our steps back to Elko, Nevada at 1am tonight (for those of you counting, that's 50 miles from Wells). I was also without internet the entire weekend, although time wouldn't have permitted blogging anyway, but being back on the road affords me a few short seconds to write.
I was nearly heartbroken this afternoon, driving past In-n-Out Burger after In-n-Out Burger on 880 as we guided the Crocs Pleasure Cruiser past my Dad's old 'hood. Never fear, however, as Reno provided us with one last bastion of meaty goodness before heading back east for an extended period of time.
Simply delicious. This most likely began a week of rather unhealthy eating with the Land of Pizza on the horizon. I can justify it a little more now since I am back to being able to run a few miles. I thought this New Balance sign today was humorous and very appropriate for my current situation.
We'll see what happens, there might be a tempting little half-marathon in the Motor City coming up in a couple weeks, hmmm.....
As I type this, returning from an extended blogging absence over the past week, I sit in a McDonald's in Wells, NV.
I know what you're thinking, "When did the Rock 'n' Roll Wells Marathon make the schedule?" While there is plenty of space here for such an event, the expo would have to take place in either the Flying J or the 4 Way Cafe and Casino. The host hotel might be the extravagant Motel 6 at which we took residence last night - luckily they were courteous enough to "leave the light on" for us. The finish line festival could be erected in the vast gravel truck parking lot across from said Motel 6 at the base of the I-80 off ramp, exit 352, allowing for a blazing fast down-hill finish. Holding the finish line tape would be none other than Eric, our truck mechanic, and any of the other notable inhabitants that choose to live in Wells, population no more than 100 (plus Molly and me, at least until this afternoon).
So, yeah, the truck is broken again. Let me rephrase - the truck is still broken, we have just been driving it apparently in spite of the malfunctions. A shiny, new alternator is currently on its way from Salt Lake City - I can only assume from the same shop where the truck just spent 4+ days - and we should be on our way! On our way again, that is, multiple delays, parts, and thousands of dollars later, but hopefully only to return to Wells for nothing more than a fleeting glance, speeding past at 75 mph in the opposite direction.
In other news, I had a great trip to Dallas over the weekend. The wedding was fun, meetings were positive, and Whitney and I switched apartments. This is the ambiance I was originally hoping for, luckily we were able to make it happen.
Beside that, I eagerly await my second McD's meal of the day, perhaps while watching National Treasure again on my computer - all of the DVD's I brought on the tour, for occasions precisely such as this, happen to be in the back of the other truck.
I leave this post in the words of the lovely Dionne Warwick..."Do you know the way to San Jose?"
It's pretty incredible really. Even as I wrote that post last night, I didn't actually believe the other truck could possibly break down today - although having Croc 2 as the fallback vehicle didn't instill a whole lot of confidence. Needless to say, I'm now quite convinced that jinxes exist and I will never think or say bad things about anything or anyone. Two days, two fuel filter problems, three repair shops, and one guy (me) who keeps "mocking" the trucks. When will I learn.
Yes, hell hath no fury like a woman or Crocs truck scorned. And I most certainly would have experienced double trouble if I hadn't made it for my flight out of Salt Lake City to see Whitney for the wedding this weekend.
I must say, however, that while this was quite an unfortunate jaunt across the country, I was rather lucky amidst the turmoil. Consider that I was near a town with a repair shop each time the the trucks broke down, particularly today when Rock Springs, WY is surrounded by nothing 50 miles in every direction. Or that we pulled into the truck repair this afternoon a half hour before they closed. Or that while the mechanics seemed to have no idea how to fix it, we were able to tell them what to do because it was the same problem with both trucks, which allowed them to fix it in an hour and not wait until the morning, resulting in drastic plan changes being averted. So while I didn't know it was possible, I was simultaneously lucky and unlucky today.
I am not even going to touch discussing my flight tomorrow.
I don't know if I believe in "jinxes" or not. There are times when I really feel like I have the unintentional power to jinx things and bring about bad luck. Today, not 10 minutes before our truck broke down I was thinking to myself how we had 1,000 miles until Salt Lake City and at least we were in the "good" truck so nothing would go wrong. I was, in fact, wrong. So did I mentally jinx us? Perhaps, but what about all the other times when I think something and it goes right? It's not like my luck is usually THAT bad. I'm leaning towards the term coincidence rather than jinx, but who really knows?
I also find it impossible to believe our trucks don't have human personalities. For some reason, they think they have been wronged in some way and have a vendetta to get back at us. Well, trucks, this is what I think of you:
(Actually, now I'm a little scared for what's in store tomorrow...maybe I should have waited until we make it to Utah to tell them what I think)
Yesterday, I was exposed to a brand new flavor of Quaker Chewy Granola Bar: Dark Chocolate Cherry. It is quite good, but in no way does it make me less upset about the sudden extinction of Cookies & Cream some time ago*.
My current favorite Chewy granola bar flavors are as follows:
Peanut Butter and Chocolate
Dark Chocolate Cherry
Apple Cinnamon
Butterfinger
(tie) S'mores and Oatmeal Raisin
* Going back to the disappearance of Cookies & Cream, I have searched high and low and have not been able to find them for the longest time, however according to this picture on Quaker's website they still exist under the "25% less sugar" category. What kind of sick game is this?!?
If I had another two weeks in Philadelphia, I still might not be able to eat every type of food in Reading Market. I was walking around in awe at the selection today, almost wishing I hadn't just eaten another cheese steak. They have everything you could imagine - fresh, raw, prepared, and any ethnicity. Take a look at the pictures and notice all the different signs:
I could have taken a lot more photos. It's a shame they close at 6pm every day otherwise I'd be there for dinner. It seemed as though every time I turned a corner, there was something else tempting me to stuff myself. Yum.
Simply delicious. This most likely began a week of rather unhealthy eating with the Land of Pizza on the horizon. I can justify it a little more now since I am back to being able to run a few miles. I thought this New Balance sign today was humorous and very appropriate for my current situation.
We'll see what happens, there might be a tempting little half-marathon in the Motor City coming up in a couple weeks, hmmm.....
