The Great Canadian Adventure: Day One

Cast of Characters:

CYNTHIA: The red-haired scribe. Since she's the one who's willing to scribble in the book, she's the one we're stuck following around. You know what she's like.
KAREN: Tall and skinny enough that she shouldn't walk over sewer grates, she's on a mission to infect the world with her slang. Key phrases: "You [suck/rule] at this game!" "FABulous!" "Sassy!" "Damn [him/her/it/them] to the fiery chasm (of hell) from whence [he/she/it/they] came!" Has a habit of whacking the ones she loves. Has a thing for accents.
CLAIRE: Very tall ex-basketball player and columnist for the school paper, she's the thinking contrast to Cynthia's more emotive reasoning. She is one of the two drivers; the "G-Corolla" in which much of the action takes place belongs to her. Claire is the most stoic of the group, but when she cracks, her passengers fear for their lives.
LINDSAY: Blonde and fun-loving, she'll say absolutely anything to absolutely anyone. The other driver, she has the best overall sense of direction and street-smarts in the group, but also the worst sense of occasion.
---AND AN ALL-STAR CAST OF LOCALS AND FELLOW TRAVELLERS---

Friday, 8 March 2002 - 4.29 PM

Well, our Great Adventure is begun. As I write, I am sitting in Claire's car in the parking lot of a Shell station on Brownsboro Road. We've already had a mild mishap; Claire accidentally smashed her cell phone charger in the car door when she got out to pump gas. Still, we are undaunted.

I had to say goodbye to Robert; I will most likely be unable to speak with him again until Wednesday. It hurt. I didn't realize how difficult even this briefest of separations would be. I cried a little. I will miss him.

Karen was the Squeegee Queen at the gas station. It was funny. The joke of the day so far is to quote the Salmon Days trailer: "S**T NO! THE PHOENIX! IT'S BEEN KILLED! SALMON DAYS!" Karen, though, is the only one acting normal right now. I'm scribbling, and Claire keeps daring Lindsay to yell to people outside the car. Which, of course, she will. She just waved and yelled to these two men in red, who waved back. I waved, too. They seemed friendly. But we need to suggest that she not yell "WAZZUP!" at the cops at the scene of an accident. This big whacking truck just hit a school bus. And as we passed the wreck, we ran over something that thumped really loud and had the following exchange:

CLAIRE: What was that?
CYNTHIA [cheerfully]: A kid, I think.
CLAIRE: NO! Kids would CRUNCH!

Okay, I'm going to go read now. [NOTE: Actually, I didn't, but that's okay.]

SOUNDS: Lindsay changing radio stations.
SIGHTS: Typical Kentucky highway -- rocks, barren trees, occasional large stretches of open field, the grass yellow, farmhouses with dilapidated barns and rusting silos to my right, a brand-new subdivision of large houses to my left.

Approximately 6 PM

Pulled over by cop. Claire was speeding. Major frowny face. She's scared she's going to lose her license, and also worried about what her parents are going to say. The police officer was very cordial, but still ... sitting on the side of the road is no fun. Claire thinks it's going to be a huge ticket, too. I don't really think there's anything I can do to make her feel better, which doubly sucks. I wish there were something I could do other than sit here and be sad in commisseration.

Okay, she's not going to lose her license, just go to traffic school. I'm glad I'm a very wussy driver who only goes the speed limit. Claire keeps calling herself stupid ... I wish she wouldn't be so mean to herself. Everyone makes mistakes. It is definitely major frowny in the car now.

I wish we could make Claire happy again. Lindsay is telling stories of her friend Laura's driving misfortunes. It doesn't really seem to be helping. *sigh* Most inauspicious beginning. I hope it gets better soon.

SOUNDS: Lots of miscommunication about how far we are from Cincinatti.
SIGHTS: The usual -- lots of trees. Many cop cars. They're everywhere. In Boone County now.

11.35 PM

Sitting at Claire's parents' house with my worldly crap lying around me. I'm trying to reorganize my things so that my backpack will take up less room in the car tomorrow. Claire seems better now. That's a good thing.

Dinner was superb: steak, broccoli, mushrooms, rolls, salad (tomatoes slathered in ranch dressing for me; I'm not big on lettuce, so I make do) ... all exceedingly delicious. There were baked potatoes, too, but I was trying to save room for "God-cake", which is what Lindsay nicknamed Claire's mother's pineapple upside-down cake. Oh, it was divine indeed. Claire's dog, Snickers, is a sweetie, too, even thouhg she was naughty and kept begging for scraps. Cute cute cute.

We've talked so very much. I can't help wondering how long we can keep all this good humor up. Call me a pessimist, heh. We just had a disagreement about how to proceed from Michigan to Ontario; I'd be a lot more comfortable following the route AAA gave us on our Triptik, but I've been outvoted in favour of a route that doesn't leave the interstate. I have my misgivings, but I figure I'll just leave it to the more experienced navigators. Karen is awesome with maps.

Speaking of Karen, she just said the following upon discovering that she can still sing the entire Tiny Toons theme song: "Oooh! I rule! Go me! Or maybe I'm just sad." She's forgotten a few things, so we popped over to her house, which isn't far at all from Claire's. On the way back, Claire also gave us a quick driving tour of Newport. Across the river, you can see the Cincinatti skyline. I really like it; it's beautifully colorful.

Dinner was so scrumdiddlyumptious. I am so full. Mmmph. I'm just not used to eating that much. Oh, and I had a Rinkie moment while we were driving; we passed a street called Winterbourne, and my first thought was of a weird wintermute-Bourne hybrid. Heheh. This is so geeky, but I really miss being on AIM and at RinkWorks. I miss Robert terribly. Not only that, but I also miss LiveJournal and Sarah and Eric and Andrea and everyone. Hrm. I must get all my reading done at some point this week, too. But I am also determined to have fun.

Tired. Wish to sleep. Closing this day now.

SOUNDS: Dryer noises from where Claire's doing laundry, Lindsay's even, slightly wheezy breathing (she's already asleep), Karen's backpack zipper (she's getting something), and the scritching of my pencil.
SIGHTS: Claire's living room. Soft blue carpet. Lacy curtains with burgundy valances. Entertainment center in a wooden cabinet. Nifty lamps [I sketched one; I'll put the sketch up eventually.] Lindsay sleeping on the couch. Our belongings spread across the floor. Chess board under one end table. Candles in wall sconces. Two cabinets and another table covered in photographs. The mantel also has candles, and a candle arch sits in front of the fireplace, but these candles are all cranberry-colored; the ones in the wall sconces are white. Enormous cushy-looking red armchair with equally cushy and enormous ottoman. Too bad Karen has taken up residence in it for the night. Looks like the floor for me.

And then: "If you want, you can sleep in the chair. It's too short for me." w00t!