One of the big items on my mom’s bucket list was to go to Ireland. She always wanted to go with my dad and kept putting it off. Sadly my dad passed having never left the country. When my mom got sick in 2015 I promised when she was better I was going to finally take her. True to my word, I took my mom for her first trip out of North America at the end of April 2018.
Category: Geocaching
Reisen ist die gesündeste Sucht
Two of my besties are brothers. This is both good and bad. It’s cool because knowing both makes me part of their family. I’m not just Travis’s friend or Tyler’s friend when I stop by (yep, all 3 brothers have T names, nope I’m neither friends nor unfriendly with Trevor). When I come over it’s “Hey Andy, the family friend!”
Day 12: We’re all going to die, all of us; what a circus! – CB
The title quote is for Vinny, who is fairly certain I won’t make it through the night. Tonight I sleep in the infamous Clown Motel of Tonopah, NV.
Vinny, if I meet my demise tonight, I will Facebook Live it as promised. Continue reading “Day 12: We’re all going to die, all of us; what a circus! – CB”
Day 11: In the U.S., you have to be a deviant or die of boredom. – WB
I’m over halfway through my trip and tomorrow morning I leave Howard’s house. I have a lot to look forward to, but I’m a little bummed everything is moving this quickly. This post will be quick. I want to hang out with Howard for a bit then turn in early. The goal is to be on the road to Nevada by 7:00am.
Continue reading “Day 11: In the U.S., you have to be a deviant or die of boredom. – WB”
Day 9: Bad decisions make good stories.
Overall I think Howard and I were good kids. So why is it when I think of him, I think of 
getting shot by BB guns, being caught on fire from coffee-mate explosions, the sound of exploding light bulbs, pee limit signs, and 1996 AOL phishing schemes? We both turned into fairly successful men. We’re educated and have been consistently employed. In my head though, I still see us as idiots doing our best to hurt ourselves in the name of fun. I haven’t seen Howard in too many years and I’m really happy to be spending this weekend at his house.
Day 8: What I say is that, if a fellow really likes potatoes, he must be a pretty decent sort of fellow. – AAM
Fact: Idaho = Potatoes. There’s no getting around it. That’s why, even though I love animals, I had to sacrifice feeding baby bears in order to get a true potato experience. My first two stops today exemplify the theme of this trip perfectly. I’ve now traveled thousands of miles to look at potatoes and clean things.
Day 7: And I guess that was your accomplice in the wood chipper.
Today was my longest day of driving. I started in Fergus Falls, MN and ended in Bozeman, MT. Early in the day I got to see the wood chipper from Fargo. Sitting in my room, I feel like I’ve been passed through it. Originally this part of my trip was split into 2 days, but for the sake of spending an extra day with my friend Howard, I decided I could drive 15 hours through some of God’s most boring scenery.
Continue reading “Day 7: And I guess that was your accomplice in the wood chipper.”
Day 6: Dad, we wanna see the biggest ball of twine in Minnesota. – WAY
After 4 great nights in Wisconsin, I move on. I wish I could get paid to drive around and see all these silly places. I could easily spend a month exploring Wisconsin and all its weirdness. To be honest though, I was getting a bit itchy to move on. All of this driving is tiring but suits me. The plan for today was to make it to the west side of Minnesota. It’s been several years since I’ve been to Minnesota and I’m happy to be back for the day.
Continue reading “Day 6: Dad, we wanna see the biggest ball of twine in Minnesota. – WAY”
Day 3: To awaken alone in a strange town is one of the pleasantest sensations in the world. – FS
I had a great nights sleep again! The pillows were fantastic. Looking over the hotel score card, it appears Carolina is going to win. She got all the major point items (except a magic hands bed) and gets extra points for being awesome. My motel for the next 3 nights isn’t near as nice. For the price and location though, it’ll do. Also it has another key, which is cool.
Day 2: Mustard’s no good without roast beef. – CM
I slept like the dead last night. Fitbit says I got a healthy 6.5 hours with more deep sleep than I normally get. First I want to say thanks for all the post sharing and comments through the day. The praise and support kept my spirits high even during the day’s frustrations. I hope you all enjoy this post as much as yesterday’s. Day 2 had it’s ups and downs, but overall I’m super happy. All of the last minute changes and decisions I made were great! I met wonderful people, fought with terrible weather, and have realized I need photography classes or a photographer to come with me on my next trip. Today is the first of four days I’m going to stay in Wisconsin. I had no idea how great this state was until I started my planning. Today was an early start but I covered a lot of ground.
Continue reading “Day 2: Mustard’s no good without roast beef. – CM”
