All Entries Tagged With: "road trip"

News From Poughkeepsie – Day 145

Road trip..on a miniature sleigh, with eight tiny reindeer

“I don’t normally pick up hitchhikers, the fat man in the sleigh said. “But you look like you need hand.” His reindeer looked restless, eager to be on their way. The fat man, however, looked like he had all the time in the world.

“This can’t be real,” I said. “I stopped believing in you years ago.”

“I don’t take it personally,” said the fat man. “Come on in. Where you headed?”

“Silver City, Utah” I mumbled as I climbed into the lollypop-red sleigh. The fat man moved over a gargantuan bag, and cleared as much space as he could. This could not be real. But I could feel the sleigh as I sat down, I could smell the reindeer. It could not be real, but it had to be.

“You’re a long way from home,” the fat man said. I shrugged and nodded. “Luckily, it’s on the list. Hope you don’t mind me making a few stops first…”

News From Poughkeepsie – Day 144

Road trip..though a fantasy world

Wardeler stood next to the contraption with clear glee, but Astrid was nervous. Wardeler’s glee always made her nervous.

“What is it?” she asked the wizard. Astrid hesitantly touched the device’s wheels, the boiler, the gears. The elements were all familiar, but the combination disturbed her.

“It is an automatic mobile!” Wardeler said, rubbing his hands together. “I think it will be just the thing for your quest! It seats four! Oh, the rest of the magician’s guild will be so jealous!”

Astrid placed one hand on her sword hilt, the other hand on her forehead, and said a small prayer for strength. It was going to be a long quest.

News From Poughkeepsie – Day 143

Road trip..though space

Barnaby wanted snacks. Toloro had told him no stops–the trip to Xiston Beach was 37 lightyears, after all. With no stops on the way, the boomdrive should get them there in about 6 hours. But for Barnaby, 6 hours without snacks was unthinkable.

So against Toloro’s better judgment, they stopped at Wegan’s Buy Cycle on Nesak Prime. Unfortunately, the rotating fuel station was being held up by none other than the Chinga and Slingo, the Slaughter Sisters. And they took a shining to Toloro’s XJ61 VW shuttle, which, as it turned out, made a more than adequate getaway vehicle, even with Toloro still behind the wheel.

Turns out, the Slaughter Sisters were planning on hitting Xiston Beach themselves, they just have to make few detours on the way….

News From Poughkeepsie – Day 142

Road trip..though time.

Cindy was just about go off shift when an elderly couple in silver jumpsuits approached her.

“Excuse me, Officer,” said the woman. Her red hair and white teeth stood in proud defiance of clear age of her face. She motioned to her companion, who sported white hair and huge sunglasses. “My boyfriend Barry–he’s not my husband, don’t call him that–Barry and I were on our way to the Paleolithic, and I think we’re lost.”

“We’re not lost, Myra,” Barry said. “I’ve been traveling this time stream for 60 years. We’re in 1963, right? The year? 1963? I know how to get back from 1963.”

“No,” Cindy said. “This is…um…this is 2009.”

“I told you. Why can you never ask for directions?” Myra turned to Cindy. “Can you tell us how to get to the Paleolithic from here?”

News From Poughkeepsie – Day 141

…And we’re back! It’s a Christmas Miracle!

I’ll be honest, I missed you guys. Hiatus ended up taking longer than usual, due to a very important project that I cannot talk about just yet. It’s big, though. Super big. I’ll say more about it when I can.

It’s nearly Christmas, which puts me in the mind of road trips. My family is a handful of states away, so the holidays are chock full with plane reservations and Google maps printouts. Some might brush off the journey as a means to end, but to me, the distance traveled has always been as important as the destination.

After all, how can you get to where you’re going, if you don’t know where you are?

Road trip..though Purgatory.

“Hey, Bea. It’s Dante. No, I can just barely hear you. No, No…it’s not Hell. It’s Purgatory… PURGATORY!!! Yeah, I didn’t think there’d be service out here either.

I think this is the Fourth Terrace….I SAID THE FOURTH TERRACE!! YEAH! LOTTA ANGRY PEOPLE! RIGHT! Hey, I think I see your Uncle Dave! YOUR UNCLE DAVE! Nah, I’ll leave ‘im alone. I’m glad he’s dead, too.

Look, Virgil says we’ve got to keep going, I’ll let you know when we reach the sumit. I SAID I’ll CALL YOU BACK WHEN WE REACH THE SUMMIT! OF PURGATORY! PURGAT–LISTEN, I’LL JUST CALL YOU BACK, OKAY?”