day 4 part 1 - stalked by a spacemonkey
previously on “Hell on Wheels”
after our stressful day of driving through Louisiana, we stayed in Mississippi, but as a reader pointed out, i forgot that fact and skipped right over Mississippi in our story.
anyway, that’s where we stayed and checked email.
Chapter 27 - SarahK Pukes
Monday morning — this being our fourth day of travel, in case you’re not properly picturing the extent to which we were beaten down — i was not looking forward to driving through the tunnel that goes under the ocean; i couldn’t remember where along I-10 the tunnel is, so i was hoping that we had just happened to avoid it in our little detour and was trying not to think about it. so i checked my email. what did i have but an email from spacemonkey telling me that i would go under the ocean at Mobile. Frank came out of the bathroom and i kissed him and said hey. then i went into the bathroom and threw up just a little. Frank thought it was because I kissed him, but I knew it was because spacemonkey had reminded me of the tunnel. nice monkey.
Chapter 35 - The Best Stalking by a Blogger of Two Other Bloggers in the History of Blogs and Blogging and Bloggers
when spacemonkey had emailed me, he’d said that he could meet us near the puke tunnel for lunch while we were on our way through. i’d replied thanks but no thanks, because we just didn’t have time for anymore long stops. but if you happen to see a 24-foot U-Haul towing an SUV, wave to us.
so we gassed up the big clunker and loaded up on junk food for breakfast. the Bebe was either riding the back of the seat (she liked to perch up there and watch now) or she was nestled inside my fleece Grand Canyon jacket between Mommy and that crazy man in the cowboy hat. music: Toby Keith’s Greatest Hits Vol. 2, our favorite CD on the trip.
we got on the highway and headed into Alabama, picking our feet up as we crossed the Mississippi-Alabama state line. i was driving, and Frank was drinking his coffee. have i mentioned how completely deadheaded this man is before he has his coffee? no lie. we got to Mobile around lunchtime, and my shoulders started tensing up. Frank had talked to his parents and updated them on his injury, Minerva was acting like a cat again, and on the trip to Mobile, all was not so bad. day wudn’over yet, though.
so we were driving down I-10, and i noticed in the passenger-side mirrors that there was a car next to us (which i mistook for a minivan) that was getting awful close to us. then i heard honking. “sweetie, is that car really close to us?”
“uh, no, i don’t think so, sweetie.”
“no, really, i hear honking. is she honking at us?” (i assumed minivan = soccer mom)
Frank looked again and said, “weird, the guy’s smiling at us…. oh!! he has a sign!! it says “sarahk and Frank J. — hey from spacemonkey!”
i was cracking up, laughing my everloving pinkytoe off. Frank was laughing, spacemonkey was honking, and Minerva was meowing and looking around like, “um, you’re disturbing my nap??” Frank rolled down his window.
then i heard spacemonkey yelling. “the tunnel’s coming up!! the tunnel’s coming up!!”
i could not stop laughing. soon after i heard him yelling, we were splitting off in the lanes to go to the tunnel, and he was forced onto a different part of the highway. Frank and i laughed all the way through the tunnel, and we were halfway across a foggy, scary bridge before i realized we were on a foggy, scary bridge across the ocean. but i was distracted by this stalking event, so it was ok. and at that point, i didn’t even know that spacemonkey had almost gotten himself killed stalking us, or i’da laughed all the way to the other side of the bridge. ;-)
so then i remembered that once a blogger sends me his/her phone #, i almost always program it in my own cell phone, and spacemonkey had sent me his phone # when he said he could have lunch with us. so i handed Frank my cell phone and told him to call spacemonkey. he didn’t answer, but eventually, he called back.
i was still laughing as Frank gave spacemonkey his props for the best stalking ever.
Links of the Day
March 14th, 2005 at 10:48 pmTyler D. has a 2nd amendment refresher course… Spearshaker has a caption contest going on… here’s a nifty little shooting…
The Evidence
March 14th, 2005 at 11:30 pmThis is the sign I held up when I was passing Frank J and SarahK on the highway. The sign sarahk mentions in her story….
That was so fun. I posted a pic of the sign I was holding.
March 14th, 2005 at 11:34 pmHm, “Spacemonkey: Better than dramamine or valium and not narcotic.
Just ask Sarahk”
March 15th, 2005 at 8:02 amI love a good stalking adventure . . .
March 15th, 2005 at 8:43 amSo, is he really a chimp like the picture on his blog, or is that a fake? :-)
March 15th, 2005 at 10:21 amSpacemonkey was a lifesaver huh?
March 15th, 2005 at 10:53 ambikermommy: i figured after throwing up she needed one.
March 15th, 2005 at 11:12 amgood times, good time…
March 15th, 2005 at 5:01 pm