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Wheeled Migration

It's hard for me to believe that this is our third trip across the country in as many years. But so far so good, and Maddscooter’s been a delight—-singing away in the back seat, getting excited for each adventure even if it is just getting some French fries, and sleeping for big chunks of the trip when we really need to cover some ground. Here are some of the highlights so far:

Coolest thing: Getting caught in the middle of the pelican migration at Aimee’s house on Lake MacBride in Iowa. Damn, who knew that pelicans flew over Iowa? But there they were, what looked like thousands of them (I’m betting thousands, L’s got her money on hundreds—I’m feeling optimistic about winning this bet). They were flying in formation over the house towards the lake and like the Blue Angel show in Seattle (but so much more amazing) you could hear them before you saw them, a rhythmic flapping and then there they were over the trees. The best of all was when they landed on the lake and Aimee and I ran to join them in the water. It was kind of scary—-they looked like riot police all in a huge imposing line with their beaks looking like sharp batons. We kept swimming towards them anyway and thankfully they didn’t attack, just kept their eyes on us and let us swim among them for a long time. When they all flew away, it was spectacular to see them run across the water, gather speed, and then take off. They were flying so low above us that if they had reached out for us with their claws they could have grabbed us and taken us with them.

Warmest thing: Diving into the mineral pools in Idaho and Wyoming , heaven after long days of driving.

Creepiest thing: Our tour of the old (actually not so old, they only stopped using the appalling place in 1981) state penitentiary in Rawlins, Wyoming. I can’t write anything more about it without getting too creeped out—-here’s why: it is supposedly the fourth most haunted place in the US, and it felt like it. They filmed the movie Prison (has anyone seen it?) there and there were still fake blood stains all over from the shoot that made it even more spooky.

Next stop Buffalo, NY and then on to Albany!

posted by cricket at 6:43 PM