The People You Meet on the Road

(Post by Tracy)

Almost two years to the day that I first moved in, our apartment was empty again. It looked strange and new without any of our stuff. It was a reminder that everything from here on out will look a little strange and a little new. All of our belongings were packed up in a rented truck, except for two suitcases that would accompany us on our road trip west to our new home: Los Angeles.

As we make the trip, and maybe even after we start to get settled, we want to share our stories with those who are interested in our new adventure; the plan is for Tom and me to take turns writing entries as we go.

Anyway, Tom and I turned in our apartment keys Tuesday morning, had a goodbye meal with friends in Chicago Tuesday night, and headed out Wednesday morning. Our first stop: St. Louis, Missouri.

Started off with a great dinner with great friends: John, Matt, and Matt’s girlfriend Catherine. After seeing the guys, Tom was about ready to quit our plans for L.A. and just relocate to St. Louis instead.

John was an excellent host and tour guide for our time there, taking us to breakfast the next day and then to see the Arch. Later in the day, John suggested that we stop at Ted Drewes Frozen Custard, where our trip started to get even more exciting.

We walked around the side of the building to read the menu and saw a two-man camera crew pointing professional-looking equipment at an older man in a yellow polo shirt and khaki pants. Standing in the St. Louis heat, directly in the sun, I had trouble focusing on anything other than the decision at hand: chocolate-dipped cone or a sundae? So it meant nothing to me when I heard John whispering loudly, “That’s Ted!” Recognizing him from the local commercials, John had identified a local celebrity. We assumed he was filming another commercial and were excited to chat with him, until our focus was shifted to a slightly more impressive celebrity – the host of the British Travel Channel show “World’s Greatest Motorcycle Rides.”

Step aside, Ted.

While not one of us knew his name until I just looked it up right now, Henry Cole (we think) was a cool guy. They were currently filming historic Route 66, having also left from Chicago with Los Angeles as their destination. It was funny to hear this Brit’s opinion of Los Angeles (“You gotta take it for what it is – then it’s great”) and his opinion of the London neighborhood where John stayed while studying abroad (“That’s posh!”) I asked to take a picture of him and his bike, and then he invited me to sit on the bike while he took my picture. Sample video for you to see our new friend Henry. So if anyone out there has a VCR or TiVo and gets the UK Travel Channel, let us know.

Now, travel in time with me, fast forwarding about 24 hours to Friday afternoon. Time again for a stop on our trip, a stop at a unique little town that history buffs and fans of classic computer games might know: Independence, Missouri (read: the start of the Oregon Trail).

We pulled up to the first good-looking gas station that we saw, and as I started the gas pump, I heard from over my shoulder, “Oh, wow! Y’all are from Wes-caw-sen??” The 60-ish man talking to us had walked up to our car, was dressed in red and white Kansas t-shirt and backwards hat, and had noticeably yellow, crooked teeth. He seemed extremely friendly. He asked about our trip and told us how he likes to go up to Wescawsen for good walleye fishing (“Get out there at 7:00 in the morning, catch all the walleye you can, drop the fish off at 9:00 and then go back out for more! Even though really that’s not allowed!”) He also insisted that I had the strong accent.

When the tank was full, I wrapped up the conversation and hopped back in the car, and he sent us off with what seemed like an innocent, “Take care and drive safely!”

I could tell that Tom was nervous about the old codger being so forward, but I figured we were on our way and we were fine. While Tom (with passenger Michelle in tow) pulled his car away, and Erika and I got readjusted in our seats in the Escape, he walked back up to the car. He leaned his face towards Erika’s face through the passenger window, and he leaned one arm on the open window. He wanted to let us know about the detour back to the highway, which was a friendly gesture, but he followed it up with more, “Take care,” “Drive safely,” and then “Watch your back.”

Watch your back?

He said it in the same friendly tone as “Take care,” which, while that should have made it seem less threatening, just made it more bizarre. We rolled the windows up and drove on.

We spent that night in Hays, Kansas. We made it there safely, with only one driving snafu: Tom became temporarily hypnotized by an evangelist van and followed it off the expressway. Luckily we were able to set him straight, find the next entrance ramp and continue on our way.

We spent today (Saturday) mostly driving from Hays to Boulder, Colorado. We did stop at a small museum in Hays that had some neat dinosaur exhibits where a mechanical T-rex scares small children (and Michelle). The drive was smooth, and I am very happy to say that we had no rain, no storms, and especially no tornadoes while in Kansas. (I am hearing about all the weather in Milwaukee and Chicago – frequently, as I am still getting the severe weather alert text messages to my phone – and am thinking good weather thoughts to all of you in that area!)

So that’s the first entry. Hope you enjoyed it. Take care, and watch your back!