Road Trip

[harrykwong]

OK, since I am starting this game, I get to choose the origin point. We start from St Louis, MO and we travel by road to any other place in the USA. To add a link, specify the highways we need to take and the destination. You need to specify a tourist site or two at that destination to make it worth the trip.

Yes, Hippie can come along but he'll have to ride in the luggage rack on the roof.

1. Leaving St Louis, we take I-55 Southbound to Jackson, MS where we then head west on I-20 to Vicksburg, MS
Civil War battle sites, siege of Vicksburg displays at Vicksburg National Military Park. Stop off for some riverboat casino gambling.

Tried to pawn off Hippie for some extra cash. No takers.

[harrykwong]

Nobody else want to go on a road trip? Doesn't the thought of squeezing into this VW mini-bus with as many people as possible (and one hippo) excite you? Ah, the smell of fresh country air (and the hippo) as we cruise down America's roads.

Oh well. Leaving Vicksburg, MS, we go south on US-61 to Baton Rouge, LA. This is the state capital and is famous for being the tallest "skyscraper" capital in the US. It's at least 26 stories high with an observation deck/gift shop on the top. Why build it so tall? They needed something to make their capital distinct from all the other, run-of-the-mill, capital buildings.

Explore the state's history while there. Enjoy excellent cajun cuisine and listen to some zydeco music. Drink too much, dance too much, and try to kiss Hippie.

Where we go next, who knows?

[harrykwong]

We've been here in Baton Rouge, LA for several days now. The hippo has been eating too much cajun food and has put on a few extra pounds. Can you imagine what it's like to be in s minibus with a large hippo in the summertime?

Well, it's time to move on. We head west on I-20, going to Houston, TX where it is very hot and humid. Hippie insists on riding inside because no one else is joinging this road trip. Talk about b.o. - ugh, try h.o.

We head northwest on US-290 to Austin, TX. Here we stop for some site-seeing. Take a look at state capital and its very beautiful floral-decorated lawn. Go down to Sixth Street for its music scene and some barhopping. Hippie loves the jazz but Mexican food is making him gassy.

[ladey_hawke]

alrighty,
next we head North on I-35 to the 190 junction and head West into Killeen, TX.

We'll get a pass, had into Fort Hood and watch a change of command ceremony, visit the local history museum and head out again.

Where to now?

[harrykwong]

Hippie was very impressed with the fort and now he insists on driving, so we head west on US 190 from Killeen TX. Passing thru San Angelo, TX we head north on US 87 to the Interstate. There we head west on I-20 to Midland, TX.

Hippie is not a bad driver, he just goes too slow. Think we won't let him drive anymore.

We stop off at the Petroleum Museum. We also go to The Museum of the Southwest which features an art museum, children's museum, and a planetarium.

[ladey_hawke]

Ok, no more driving for Hippie and he's taking a snooze in the back.

We head West out of Midland at night using the stars to guide us since we learned so much at the planetarium. Just kidding.

We take I-20 West to 285 North to 652 West to 62/180 North right into Carlsbad Cavern's National Park, NM.

We get a camp site, have a weenie roast, and eat s'mores 'til we're stuffed and the next morning we see all the sights.

We also remind Hippie to send a postcard to mom. She worries.

[harrykwong]

Just what we need, a hippo as the backseat driver!
Oh well, time to hit the road again. We had a bad experience in Carlsbad Caverns. During the cave tour, Hippie got wedged in a crevass. After some frantic moments, we figured to grease him up, and then POW. He shot thru the cave like a cannon ball. We quietly left the cave and head to our minibus, our heads hung in shame.

Leaving Carlsbad, NM, we head north on US-285. Passing thru Roswell, we notice Hippie acting strangley and his skin has taken on a purplish tone. We drive very quickly thru Roswel, NM and continue north into Santa Fe, NM. Do a little siteseeing in one of New Mexico's most charming cities. Looked at the state capital building. We head south a little bit on I-25 into Albuquerque for an extended stay.

We now visit the Historic Old Town where, once again, Hippie eats too much Mexican food. Now you understand why we drive around with all the windows rolled down. Pick up some souvenirs and go for a ride in the Sandia Peak Tram to the top of Sandia Peak. Of course, guess who got motion sickness?

After a quick apology, we then head to the Rio Grande Zoo at 903 Tenth St SW. Hippie wanted to see some "relatives."

We also visit the home of a DoD member. As Hippie and I sneak up to her door to ring the buzzer and then to run away, I notice a funny smell.
(sniff) (sniff) WHAT ? ! ?
Bad hippo!. Bad, bad hippo!
We quickly run into the bushes and back to Old Town.

Someone else will have to explain to the poor woman why all her plants have just died.

[ladey_hawke]

Well, Hippie, having recovered from the tram incident is napping.
Hopefully that will keep him out of trouble for awhile.

Meanwhile, we head out West on I-40 for the AZ border. We drive into Flagstaff for a bite to eat, but seeing as Hippie is still snoozing, we head South on I-17 into Phoenix.

We stop in Phoenix for vittles and sustenance and then decide to find a nice place to bed down for the night. Heading West again on I-10 until we get to the junction for State route 85 and head South.

We find a quaint little roach motel called the Yucca Motel and settle in for the night. Then Hippie discovers that the beds have those cool quarter vibrators on them and it costs us $20 in quarters to amuse him. It's hard to sleep with that stupid humming noise going on all night.

[harrykwong]

Now it's the next morning and we are rested but Hippie is very drowsy. He didn't sleep much but stayed up playing with the coin-operated bed vibrator. Maybe we can make some distance and Hippie can stay out of trouble.

We go back north on AZ 85 to pick up I-8 and head west as far as Yuma, AZ. Then we take US-95 and AZ 95 north to Lake Havasu City, AZ. Here we admire and take pictures of the original London Bridge, disassembled and re-built here from its home in England.

Hippie buys a postcard, puts some hippo prints on it, and sends it home to the folks. I bought him a tee-shirt but he later ate it .
Here US-95 and AZ 95 are near each other and can be confusing. We take I-40 west a little bit to pick up US-95 north to Boulder City, NV. We visit Hoover Dam and thoroughly enjoyed the tour. Hippie kept interrupting the guide with stories of how his best friend Buddy Beaver built an even bigger dam than this one.

We have enough time to stop by Lake Mead where Hippie spent hours swimming and doing what hippos do. Needless to say, the other bathers were not amused, and once again, we have to silently slip out the back gate, this time to avoid the icy stares of the women whose bikini Hippie ripped off and ate.

Soon we will enter Las Vegas. We can't wait to see the look on the faces of the restaurant staff when we bring Hippie to an all-you-can-eat buffet.

[ladey_hawke]

Vegas we have arrived!

We wander the strip for awhile trying to decide what we want to do first. I thought we would get more looks, but it seems hippos are not out of place around here!

We head into Circus Circus and look at the game gallary but then security spots us with Hippie and thinks we're trying to steal part of the show. Hurry up Hippie!

We decide to have lunch at Treasure Island and the manager of the buffet finally asks us to leave. We try to argue that they didn't specify that hippos are excempt from the all-you-can-eat rule but they threaten us with security too.

We go outside to watch the Treasure Island ship battle but the cannons scare Hippie, so we go to Ceasar's Palace and go shopping in the forum shops. Just as we come walking out a soda shop with our drinks, the statues in the middle of the mall start talking! Hippie is fascinated. He tries to get them to talk to him, but when they don't he starts to yell at them. We hustle him out amongst more icy stares. I think it's time to find a place to sleep.

We drive off the strip to Arizona Charlie's, head to the coffee shop for a snack and retire to our room for a good night's sleep.

[harrykwong]

We decide to spend our last day in Vegas doing the downtown Fremont Street experience. Went to Fitzgerald's, Four Queens, Binions and several other casinos. Hippie likes the darkened interiors and we can hardly pull him away from the slot machines.

Hippie really made a fool out of the street performer doing the "I can guess your weight" thing. With that extra money, we continue to gamble. At night we take in the laser light shows on Fremont St. While Hippie wanted to go to the Stratosphere Hotel and Casino for the roller coaster ride in the sky, we were reminded of his experience on the Sandia Peak Tram. No, Hippie!

Finally, it's time to pack up and hit the open road. We leave Vegas by heading north on I-15, up to St George, UT. Whenever we cross a state line, Hippie likes to leave a calling card on the side of the road. Kinda amusing but we wonder what the folks at the highway department think of it.

St George has an awesome looking Mormon temple, visible from many miles away. We drive up to it and take pictures. As they say: "St. George Temple is a beautiful building towering impressively above the rest of St. George. " We also look at the winter home of Mormon leader Brigham Young, which sits on a pretty tree-lined street near the center of town.

They do not believe Hippie's claim of being a member of the LDS Church, so we quietly walk away. Leaving St George, UT, we proceed onto UT-9 into Zion National Park. Here we spend a few days of camping and admiring the fantastic scenery. There is no other experience similar to night time in the desert, looking up at the pitch black sky with all those stars, and with a hippo by your side. Hippie buys many postcards which he plans to send to his DoD friends.

After several park officials asked Hippie not to graze on the vegetation, he got depressed. This lasted for a few hours until we checked into a motel with, guess what? Bed vibrators. Looks like all those quarters we got in Vegas will come in handy now.

[harrykwong]

We have now spent several days hiking around Zion National Park. Hippie enjoys the scenery and likes to climb the hills there. With the desert-like environment, he has sweated alot and now looks more like a greyhound dog than a hippo.

What are we going to tell his mom?

[ladey_hawke]

We'll just tell her that we were attacked by Richard Simmons in the park!

We decide to head out and back toward the interstate where we go North on I-15 through Provo and into Salt Lake City.

Hippie doesn't really like the looks of this place and I have bad memories of pre-Olympic construction so we decide to keep going and hit I-80 West going past the Great Salt Lake and into the salt flats.

Before we know it we're back in Nevada at the state line and stop at the Red Lion for a bit more gambling and a soft bed as a change of pace from the desert floor or the broken down seat of the bus.

[harrykwong]

As we are in Nevada, it's back to the casinos and Hippie can bulk up at the all-you-can-gorge buffets. Heh, heh, we were able to sneak him in as a seeing-eye dog. Now he looks more like a hippo; unfortunately, Harry ate too much and needs to spend several days resting in his room. Last time anyone challenges Hippie to an eating contest.

Nice beds are good, but Hippie, once he gets in such a comfy position, doesn't like to leave. It takes all our combined strength to get him up and out. Now we continue west on I-80 to Winnemucca, NV. We turn north onto US-95 til we hit NV-140 to go into Oregon. Going along, Hippie keeps sticking his head out the window, with his tongue hanging out. So many passing motorists think he is a dog. We drive to the town of Klamath Falls, CA.

Here we explore Klamath Lake and nearby Crater Lake National Park. Hippie is so amazed at the surreal landscape. We check into a lodge and rest. Nothing like roasting marshmallows with a hippo at your feet.


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[harrykwong]

We take a break from our road trip as one of the passengers has gone off and went to get married. While Hippie and I will miss her, our loss is some lucky guy's gain.

Congratulations from Hippie and the other passengers. Heh heh, we steal her souvenirs that she left behind.