Midwest (1 of 3)

Stopping to take photos with an old Minolta 35mm.  Photo by: Dan

I love this one!

Photo by: Dan

The GMC Vandura.

One year ago, each member of Dan's band chipped in $300 of their own money to buy the 1991 GMC Vandura that you see in these photos.  They purchased it from a 15-year-old boy and it died on the way home.  It has since been sitting in Dewey's mom's driveway with a FOR SALE sign and has been posted on Craigslist countless times.

Several months ago, the band decided to record some of their new songs and this guy, Zach, from somewhere in Illinois donated $5,000 of his own money to support their cause!  In return, he wanted the old GMC.  This worked out perfectly because A)  Dan and I love road trips, and, B)  Dan's family lives in Illinois.  So, we started to plan a trip out there to drop off the van, see family, and fly home.

One week ago, Dan's cousin decided to move home to Milwaukee, WI.  We offered to take her because, obviously.  The van is big and the seats for down into a bed so it wouldn't be too comfortable with three people and bunch of stuff but we decided to give it a try.  She was going to leave her car and most of her stuff here in Tacoma.  So, she calls me an hour before her going away party to ask if she should just take all of her stuff.  She wanted to fully commit to Milwaukee and have no excuses to leave no matter how hard it got.  So, she ended up packing her Ford Escort FULL and loading a ton of stuff in the van and bringing Sam along for the ride.

One day into the trip we hit a deer.  Sam and Brittny were about 15 miles behind us.  We were on a little 2-lane-highway at dusk.  It was a full grown deer, so it should have known better!  It came darting out from some tall grass and ran right in front of us.  Dan screamed like I've NEVER heard before.  I screamed like a little girl.  We pulled over to inspect the damage, our hearts still racing and both laughing nervously.  The hood was dented and there were...um... remains all over the front end.  It was disgusting.

Two days into the trip, we awoke after a nice stay at the Thrifty Motor Inn.  I wanted to ride with Brit so Sam and Dan were in the van.  We met at a Burger King for $1.04 Chicken Sandwiches (the $1.04 was for 4th of July weekend).  Sam had grease all over his hands and face and the guys said the van had started leaking oil.  I figured they knew what they were doing so we all hit the road and Brittny and I continued to sing at the top of our lungs and listen to educational tapes about the great state of South Dakota.  A few hours later, Dan calls and I find out they're still somewhere near that Burger King we all ate at.  Not only is the van leaking oil, it's also got a fuel blockage and the fuel pump was going out.  He's 99% sure that this was all because of the deer.  He told us to just to keep driving.  So, we did.

We got to Milwaukee late on Saturday night.  Dan and Sam were somewhere in Minnesota.  I was too tired to care very much.  We chatted with Aunt Margie and Brittny's bother Marc and fell fast asleep in Brittny's new room.

More to come....

Photo by: Dan

The Tacoma-Mobile.  

The Thrifty Motor-Inn.

Self-portrait.

This is the only cowboy I saw the whole time.

Beautiful sunsets every night.

$1.04 Chicken Sandwiches. Thanks, Burger King!

I-90 East... the whole way