Rainier in the BOTTLE!!!

Why the fuck don't we get this kind of royal treatment in the hometown of this tasty beverage?? Sure, we have the tall boy cans, but there's just something classic and classy about the bottles. Anyways, speaking of back home...the Red Sox are in Seattle and Manny hit his 499th career homer. Congrats Manuel! Wish I coulda been there for it, doesn't look as though he'll get 500 tonight as he was just unintentionally intentionally walked in the 9th. Met some nice folks, including a couple of girls that just graduated from college and are going back home to a town, the name escapes me, near Mt. St. Helens. They majored in equine studies, so they learned me on some horse racing knowledge. Still don't like the sport. Okay, think that's all for now!
Oh, almost forgot...yesterday was an all-Murcof day until I threw a wrench in there with Old Man Gloom, because I believe in balance through Paradox.

...Devil's Tower!!

Y'know, it's actually much larger than it looks here! I waited around for Richard Dreyfus and Teri Garr to show up, but was heartily disappointed when all I got was a bunch of small town folks from Moorcroft, Wyoming and that clunky mothership full of aliens releasing abductees from the last 50 years. Hand signals and synthesizer music ensured that we were having a peaceful meeting. Not sure if those pasty little bastards weren't actually just from Wyoming...it was like 40 degrees, which could make anybody pasty and grey. Still, after all that intergalactic communing, I wanted to drive through some more rain. So, I pushed through to Sheridan where they have...

A quick succession of little posts: Starting with the Badlands

This is me hangin by the roadway through the Badlands while I wait for Suby Sue to cool down. She was thirsty for water and coolant; problem is solved, but it took a big fuckin chunk of time, which is why I skipped the caves in the Black Hills. Also, as you can see, the weather sucked balls; socked in foggy and rainy. The rain, which spread from Southwestern South Dakota all the way to Sheridan, Wyoming, was the kind of misting crap that keeps your wipers on, but not hard enough to be consistent, so you're constantly flipping 'em on and off. I'm doing an awful lot of complaining for what was actually an enjoyable day. I saw the Badlands and...

This is how I roll in Des Moines!!

Well, the flash kinda fucked up this picture, but you get the idea. Slurpin down a Schlitz or two in preparation for an Iowa Cubs game at the High Life Lounge, which quickly became my favorite spot. That is, until the fuckin tornado force winds and the severe thunderstorms rolled in and then, I was quite happy with my hotel room. That shit was fierce! Winds in excess of 90mph and over an inch of rain in a little over an hour and a half. Haven't seen storminess such as that since living in Alaska, though this was a bit more unnerving due to the fact that a tornado coulda dropped in at any moment. Power went out about 4 times, but the hotel had a generator, so all was good and I was able to keep track of both the weather and baseball scores. Needless to say, I am glad to be the fuck out of tornado alley; tonight I bed down in Kodoka, South Dakota, just outside of the Badlands. That means I did this today...DAMN!!! That's a bit of drivin, but I don't feel worn out at all. Gave a big hoot and a holler when I hit the "Now Entering Mountain Time Zone" roadside sign. Translation: You most likely won't get caught up in a furious thunderstorm or tornado from here on out. Big Sigh Of Relief.

When weather forces your hand...

Well, since I decided to travel during the thick of tornado season, I am at the mercy of weather systems in some of my travel plans. It is very possible that I will be forced to forgo a trip to the Field of Dreams site due to severe weather here in Iowa. Tomorrow's forecast is for severe thunderstorms and high possibility of tornadoes in the Dyersville area where the site is. Call me crazy, but I am not driving into an area with quarter-sized hail and thunderstorms and a strong possibility of twisters. This is not the end of all good things, though, as I'm sure there will be another opportunity for me to see the site. Maybe that could be part of another trip to Chicago?

Gotta Love the Minor Leagues!

This was the view from my seat tonight, 9th row just to the right of behind home plate. Just awesome to be able to clearly hear the ump calling balls and strikes and the pop of the mitt and bats. The "I Cubs", as they're affectionately called here in Des Moines, ended up winning a nice little pitchers' duel 1-0. In the bottom of the 8th, Eric Patterson (any relation to Corey?) smacked a double into center that bounced off the bottom of the wall, giving him plenty of time to cruise into 2nd standing. Then up to bat comes Matt Murton, who'd I'd been texting John Baker about previous to and during the game. Baker said to tell Murton that he deserves a job in the bigs and I replied in the 5th, after a gross overswing and strikeout by Murton, that I didn't think he did deserve the job. Then, he's up in the 8th and, as a right-handed batter, aids Patterson in stealing third easily by partially blocking a quicker throw by the Oklahoma Redhawks' catcher. On the next pitch, Murton drives a single into the gap and Patterson home for the only run of the game! Oh how wrong I can be...the baseball gods love to make me look like an ass. Anyways, it was a great game and the Friday Night Fireworks were pretty cool, too. Plus, my ticket (and that great view/seat) only cost me $12!! You can't get that shit in the majors.

Quick Thoughts on the Environment

Ever since I left Colorado behind and hit Kansas and the Midwest, I've noticed an abundance of styrofoam cups in place of paper. Now, I'll admit that I don't keep up on the news enough to know the most up-to-date facts, but last time I checked, styrofoam hangs around for about 500 years! A friend told me that there's the possibility styrofoam is being made differently and, thusly, less damaging (and let's face it, paper cups and the numbers with which we toss them out aren't much better). Just a curiosity of mine, which may seem slightly hypocritical seeing as I'm driving 4500 miles in a fossil fuel burning vehicle for my trip, but I sure hope they've created a less damaging 'foam. Anybody have some insight here?