We began this day at a truck stop. Last night pneumonia and its effects
stopped Nick, and by default the whole team. We had hoped to get a bit
further, but we had to play with the cards that we were dealt.
The day began about 7:00 am at which time I wrestled myself from my bed and
threw myself into the shower. We are all wanting to get home as fast as we
can now, and are almost becoming resentful of the Land Rovers limited top
speed of 55 mph. Hearing Bing Crosby singing Christmas Carols in London
began a wave of home sickness that has only grown day by day. By now
exhaustion and cold are the only things that keep us from dwelling on this
feeling. We had talked about the possibility of driving straight home, but
we soon realized how long this would take as we saw every type of vehicle
pass us. The bright side of this snails pace was the fact that we would not
get any speeding tickets. But, conversely, we had to watch the minimum
speed signs closely as we were barely staying legal.
After making the rounds waking everyone up I managed to talk Jeff into
sitting down for breakfast with me. Jeff and Doug are trying to shed some
"around-the world" pounds before reuniting with their loved ones, therefore
Doug declined the breakfast invitation and Jeff kept his intake to a bowl
of corn flakes and a few longing glances at my biscuits and gravy. After
breakfast we talked with some truckers on their way to Des Moines. They
said it was only a twelve-hour drive to Des Moines, if you keep the
accelerator down. I asked how long it would take in a Land Rover and they
said probably twenty hours. One fellow said he had an empty truck bed and
for one hundred dollars he could be convinced to take us where we were
going. Jeff and I looked at each other and then half-heartedly declined,
thinking this would not be in the true spirit of the trip.
After scraping ice off the windows and doing the daily checks, we started
up the vehicles. Hercules' exhaust leak had been continuing to get worse,
so in effect by starting Hercules, we were announcing our departure to the
entire state. In the other Rover, Alaska, Chanda was building a back seat
nest for Nick where he rested the entire day. I was happy that it was so
cozy because he seemed to get his rest. But, the best thing was that I did
not have to be guided by the divine wisdom of "The ultimate back seat
driver".
It started out as a beautiful day as we cruised through the snow covered
rolling hills and the leafless trees of Western Pennsylvania. It was fun to
imagine how it would have looked three hundred years ago with all of its
trees, rivers and valleys virtually untouched. If all these places had
voices what would they say? However as it became colder we began watching
the mile markers much more closely. Always checking to see how far it was
to the next border.
Meanwhile in Hercules, Jeff and Doug were wearing earplugs (unfortunately
there were no respirators) to ward off the damaging effects of the exhaust
leak, Hercules' thunder. The down pipe coming from the exhaust manifold had
shaken one nut free and had broken another, which left only one bolt
holding the pipe on. We all wanted to fix the problem, yet at the same
didn't want to take the time out nor expose ourselves to the cold, while
taking the time out. Furthermore, we didn't have the tools to fix the
problem as our tools had been stolen on the ship. Ultimately we stopped in
Sandusky, Ohio where we found the only exhaust place that was open at this
time on Christmas Eve day. We also had the great fortune of meeting some of
the few Land Rover owners of Ohio Names. While we ate, the exhaust guy
fixed Hercules. Thankfully we were then quietly on our way.
It was about four o'clock and about 300 miles to Chicago when the heater
started to go bad, in Alaska. During the course of the day we had driven
through a variety of snow flurries, which we witnessed outside as well as
inside the cars. (If it has not been mentioned before, the air tightness of
the cars is not the chief selling point of the Rovers. Their draftiness
works great in the hot dessert, but is not recommended for cold climates)
This is not so bad when you have a heater blowing on your legs, but when
you lose that, it gets cold! We layered up, but I must say I arrived at my
sister's a little better than half frozen. As the night became colder
Chanda dove under the cover of my sleeping bag. It was maddening, as she
looked so warm. But as I looked more closely I was relieved to see that she
was shaking almost as much as I was. Sorry Chanda, but fair is fair. I
tried the heater at various times during our drive. It would work for about
15 seconds and then belch out an awful sound, making us feel as though we
were standing next to a jet plane. This could have been tolerated if it had
continued to give out heat; however, it was all bark and no bite,
unfortunately for us.
We continued driving and driving and driving, the miles clicked off and we
became wearier. We passed time talking about former Christmases, Chanda
would read us stories by Roald Dahl, and I would torture my car mates with
the music of Bob Dylan. The thought that kept me going was the fact that I
was excited to see my sister. We passed through Ohio, Indiana, tucked into
Sturgis Michigan looking for a toilet, Illinois, and finally entered
Iowa. Crossing the Mighty Mississippi was great landmark as we were just
fifty miles away from our destination, West Branch.
We rolled into Kristin's and Cory's at about 2:00 am and they got up to
greet us. It was great to see a domestic Christmas tree, a friendly dog,
and a comfortable recliner. I was happy to see Jeff assume the American
posture fully reclined with the remote in his hand. We were indeed in
America! The next morning Kristin and Cory put out the Christmas morning
spread: biscuits and gravy, cinnamon rolls, eggs, and coffee. We were able
to make Christmas phone callsand shower up. We were all very thankful to be
near home and I was very happy to be with family on this day. If all goes
as planned this will be my last journal entry, Thanks for listening and thanks
for following. This is Todd signing off.
