Milestones

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...As we were sitting there, a local couple walked in and started chatting up the bar tender, who was alternating between talking with us, talking with them, and talking with a co-worker who was trying to get their credit card machine thingy working. (It was Windows-based; I made a comment from my geek days: “Oh, no wonder. It's Windows-based. Whattaya expect?” I heard crickets – they weren't terribly amused. Guess they don't “get” geek humor.)...
Andy,

Awesome ride report. I'm on a rest day here in Iceland after a pretty special day myself. Being a fellow geek I offer the following Microsoft slogan as seen on a tee-shirt once:

>C:/DOS

>C:/DOS RUN

> RUN DOS RUN

It still cracks me up but man am I ever dating myself. The again I still know how to use a sliderule.

Keep up the great reporting and pics. You guys are my inspiration for mine.

Bill
Hey Bill, I still have my old slide rule, but darned if I can remember how to use it now...... but, I'm not wanting any lessons either!!!

 
Being on the road this long, and not being used to being on the road this long, it gets to be a grind.
But this is a Dream Ride, and I will look back at every moment and cherish all these memories.
Poor baby... on the road and all.. sunburned nose.. fresh sheets every night... wonderful wife...

Hey, I know, let's trade spots! You be at work with 5 reports due, a cranky crew, a beautiful central koast kali day and have to work...

Oh, BG - :****:

Sooze - :wub:

Hugs n' Kisses, you fookers! :lol:

 
Geek!Burnin' daylight here.

Maybe more time tending to the updates on this report,

and less time swilling beer and annoying the locals?

You on vacation or something?

(Hi Suzie.)
Do ya MIND?! SOME of us are actually RIDING here!

:rolleyes:

I'll throw together a few teaser pics...

For today, let me just say that, for some reason, pounding across South Dakota this morning while having Meatloaf's "Bat Out Of Hell" cranked on the stereo made my nips hard.

I imagine that, when we get home in a day or so, there will be some marathon posting going on.

And Sooze said hi back. Dunno why, ya dork... :blink:

 
Being on the road this long, and not being used to being on the road this long, it gets to be a grind.
But this is a Dream Ride, and I will look back at every moment and cherish all these memories.
Poor baby... on the road and all.. sunburned nose.. fresh sheets every night... wonderful wife...

Hey, I know, let's trade spots! You be at work with 5 reports due, a cranky crew, a beautiful central koast kali day and have to work...

Oh, BG - :****:
Screw that! No way, man! This is a Dream Ride for me, man! Go smack 'em in the 'taint an tell 'em to quit their whining or you'll GIVE 'em something to whine about. Man up, Carver!

Sooze - :wub:
Hugs n' Kisses, you fookers! :lol:
Bait 'n switch. I see how you roll...

:rolleyes:

 
July 15, 2010, continued. Milestones.

Around Flathead Lake, there are plenty of cool spots, scenery-wise.

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As we were riding along, I still had a stupid grin on my face from our chance encounter with John and Marguerite. What awesome people to meet.

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The scenery through here ain't bad, either.

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On our way back to Kalispell, we stopped in the Harley dealer and checked some stuff out. I remembered another bike recently with a bag on their Tour Pack that I liked. The guys in Kalispell had one, so I decided what the hell, so I bought one. It's a one-size-fits-none type, so it came with various types of cords and straps to attach it. Attempt #1 (and maybe #2 and #3) at getting the damn thing on there.

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And we found our way to our hotel for the evening, chilled for a bit, and hopped back on the bike to go to dinner.

Sooze wanted to take me to a cool place for dinner. She'd found a place called the Boat Club at the Lodge at Whitefish Lake. Better be good with a long-ass name like that!

We found a spot to park the bike, wandered in and found the restaurant, and were seated. While our table wasn't RIGHT on the water, we were close enough to see out onto the water.

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And, this REALLY cool wood canoe was on display. I love stuff like this.

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FOOD PORN!!!

Mmm... Appetizers....

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The lighting wasn't real great for pictures, but here we are.

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MORE FOOD PORN!!!!

Sooze had a bison burger.

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AND YET MORE FOOD PORN!!!!!

I had the orange roughy. Mmm...

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All in all, it was a nice meal in a nice, resorty-restaurant. When I say resorty, I mean to say that there were all types here: moderately confused seasoned citizens; families vacationing together where none of the parents were paying one bit of attention as their kids ran amok; groups of fourty-somethings from someplace where asking intelligent-sounding questions makes them think they're intelligent / enlightened / educated, even though they're only making themselves look like complete dumbasses (the wait staff ain't stupid, but they're tolerant – much more than I woulda been: TAKE OFF YOUR DAMN SUNGLASSES INSIDE, DUMBASS!!); the old dude strutting around with his trophy wife...

You get the idea.

Resorty.

But it was still a damn nice meal to have in Montana on my 40th birthday. My wife rules.

After dinner, we strolled down towards the water to check things out.

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The sun wasn't really helping to contribute to good pictures, but oh, well. Deal with it or get off your ass and go check it out yourself.

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There is also some cool stuff on display inside. I with this picture would have come out better – I can't imagine racing this little wood-made boat.

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If you're familiar with a game called, “WORMS!,” then you know that mooses moo. When launched from a trebuchet.

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Kinda looks like he's saying, “MOO!” to me.

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Um, ah, yeah. Forgot about this one.

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We got back on the bike for the 15 or so mile ride back to the hotel, and these jokers were right there with us.

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We don't see murals like this in the mid-west.

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And that, friends, wraps up July 15, 2010.

Milestones.

My 40th birthday.

No worries, now – there are only 16 more days of this ride left to report on. As of now, I'm about 2 weeks behind, so, so much for keeping this current. We should be home in a couple of days, and are looking at a high-mile day tomorrow, so keep an eye out: once we're home, I look forward to sitting down on my couch in my home, and pounding out a ton of updates, so please stay tuned.

Ride safe,

BG

 
...As we were sitting there, a local couple walked in and started chatting up the bar tender, who was alternating between talking with us, talking with them, and talking with a co-worker who was trying to get their credit card machine thingy working. (It was Windows-based; I made a comment from my geek days: “Oh, no wonder. It's Windows-based. Whattaya expect?” I heard crickets – they weren't terribly amused. Guess they don't “get” geek humor.)...
Andy,

Awesome ride report. I'm on a rest day here in Iceland after a pretty special day myself. Being a fellow geek I offer the following Microsoft slogan as seen on a tee-shirt once:

>C:/DOS

>C:/DOS RUN

> RUN DOS RUN

It still cracks me up but man am I ever dating myself. The again I still know how to use a sliderule.

Keep up the great reporting and pics. You guys are my inspiration for mine.

Bill
Hey Bill, I still have my old slide rule, but darned if I can remember how to use it now...... but, I'm not wanting any lessons either!!!
my wifey piped up and said I was a old protractor...

 
Looks like a trip of a lifetime. Very COOL

It was nice to meet you and the better half at WFO. Keep the pics coming and stay safe.

 
Well, gang, I'd hoped to post up a good update tonight, but we put in 590 miles in the saddle today, and after a warm meal (food porn to come when we get to that point in this ride report, of course), and a few medicinal adult beverages, I don't think I could put a decent update together. So, stay tuned. We'll make the Dash To Casa de Geek in the morning, so I'll start working to bring y'all all the details. Man, we've got a lot to show youz guyz...

In the mean time, here's a few teaser pics.

Probably the most amazing road I've ridden. I could go back and ride it again and again and again...

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Dang. Do we actually fit all this crap on the bike?

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Knuckles (on the left) and Monkey (laying down with the glowing eyes). They're doggies.

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We don't have these at Alum Creek back home.

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Cheers!

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Ride safe,

BG

 
July 16, 2010.

After 2 nights in Kalispell, Montana, it was time for us to move on.

Our morning was greeted with another bright, clear, crisp Montana morning.

By this time in the trip, Sooze and I had formed a Daily Routine. Since this was the first trip on this bike, we had worked out A System to pack and load the bike. Sounds goofy, but those of you that have taken road trips on a bike know what I'm talking about: as Joe Gribbet used to say (Joe worked for the family HVAC/R business when I was a kid and his words still ring in my ears; funny how that works sometimes, isn't it?): “A Place For Everything And Everything In It's Place.”

Before leaving town, we went to the post office 2 minutes from the hotel to mail more stuff to ourselves. Since I'd just bought a new bag to go on the rack on the Tour Pack, we had to mail the bag I already had back home.

We had been to this post office the previous morning. When we pulled in, we saw this.

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The employees were all outside of the building. Turns out that they were having a fire drill! We hung out for a few minutes until they wrapped up their drill and went in. Cool thing about having just been there the previous day: when we walked in, several people had already entered the building. The gal that helped us yesterday saw us and said, “They're next. They were here first.” BOO-yah!! It's good to be the king!

We wrapped up our wrapping and moseyed towards our destination for the day: Yakima, Washington.

Funny sign along the way...

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Our route would take us out into the foothills and mountains.

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Of course, there was our constant companion on this trip: road construction. I think every damn state we were in during this trip had road construction going on. Ugh.

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S'alright though. The scenery in Montana was nothing short of spectacular.

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If if if... If I were to Win It Big, and could afford to live anywhere, I would very, VERY seriously consider a place like this: a log cabin (or at least that style; Sooze and I both LOVE the log cabin style) in a setting such as this.

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We had a nice chuckle at a gas stop. After gassing up the bike, Sooze was inside making room for some more water and I'd pulled the bike away from the pumps and was having a smoke. A younger couple (late-20's or so) walked by and had noticed the Ohio license plate on the bike and asked about our trip. Then the gal asked, “Pardon me – but do they put side cars on bikes like this?” My response was, “Of course! They'll put a side car on about any bike. Why a side car, out of curiosity?” Their response: “Well, we'd love to go on a trip like yours, but neither of us have ever even ridden a motorcycle.” I just told 'em, “Do it. Do what you have to do to make it happen. There's nothing else in life like it.”

For their sake, I hope they do find a way.

 
Our route took us through a little town called Paradise, Montana.

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There is a road between Paradise, Montana, and I-90. It's Montana Highway 135. It's not a very long stretch of road – a hair over 20 miles.

But, guys, it's 20-some miles of road that I could ride again and again and again...

It winds through the Lolo National Forest, along a strip of water which is called, I think, Trestle Creek. For those 20-some miles, all that I could do was say, “WOW!” “LOOK AT THAT!” “THIS IS AWESOME!!” “WOO-HOO!!” “HOLY CRAP CHECK THAT OUT!!” The road itself was in fantastic condition – no gravel in the corners, no broken pavement to speak of – and around every turn was a tree-covered, rugged yet lush mountain reaching into the sky.

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This was too good to be true. I found a turn-off and, well, turned off. Some traffic moseyed by – some halued ass by – but all in all the traffic was light.

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The Geeks by the crick.

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Perspective.

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Remember – the scenery was like this in a 360-degree view – every way I turned my head, out of my peripheral vision, even in the mirrors, this is the kind of views to be had. Simply amazing for a flat-lander like me.

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If you are ever in the area, and you have time to ride a nice, scenic road, take a spin on Montana Highway 135 between Paradise and I-90.

You won't regret it.

 
Once on I-90 heading to Yakima, we stopped for gas and this little, teeny-weeny post office was behind the gas station. This HAS to be the smallest post office in the country.

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I think I mentioned it earlier, but it seems like there are casinos EVERYwhere out there.

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For slab, it's fairly scenic, winding through the mountains.

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We made out way into state number 8 for this trip – Idaho!

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The stretch of I-90 we rode through Idaho was unexpectedly mountainous and scenic. Who'da thunk?

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Several of the grades required me to downshift to 5th – and occaisonally, 4th – gear to make it up. Not bad for slab.

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This is an incredibly beautiful area of the country that I'd love to go back and spend more time exploring.

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For my buddy Big Al down in Charlotte.

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The night before, while we were preparing for my birthday dinner, we had The Great Ironing Incident. Sooze wanted to have nice, unwrinkled pants for our dinner, so she ironed her puh-shorts (or convertible pants – when we go on a bike trip, that's what we take because they pack up really small, and that way we have pants and shorts, no matter what) and the iron got too hot and … well, let's just say that she wound up with a pair of just shorts.

So, she wanted to get some replacement puh-shorts, so we stopped at Cabela's in western Idaho.

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Which was close to this – state number 9 for this trip! Washington!

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We rode through Spokane.

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The farther we went, the scenery started to change, and the temperatures rose.

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Lots 'O cows out here.

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HEY! We're in Washington. I thought this state was supposed to be the Pacific Northwest! Where are all the deep forests and stuff, man??

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In addition to rising temperatures out here, something else that was riding was the wind.

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And no wonder why – this part of the state was surprisingly flat.

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Even though the winds picked up quite a bit, it still wasn't as bad as when we were heading to Great Falls. However, on the slab, there was a semi pulling a trailer full of those big, round bales of hay. They were stacked about 5 high, and 10 or so deep. The crappy thing was that (1) this guy was NOT holding to the truck speed limit – he was hauling ass and that damn hay was hitting us in our faces like little needles; (2) when the wind would gust, you could watch the bales of hay catch the wind and friggin' LEAN, then push the whole truck over into our lane.

That guy needed to slow the hell down and cover his load. Idiot. Getting by him was kinda hairy, but we got 'er done.

Yep – this area is a heck of a lot different than Highway 135 in Montana.

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We had made our turn south, the wind wasn't as bad, and we headed towards the bridge to cross the Columbia River.

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It's a big river – bigger than I was expecting – and a big bridge.

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Once across, we starting to climb … and climb … and climb... I had the bike in 4th gear and was running the dog-snot out of it to get up that hill, into the stiff head wind. I switched the GPS over so I could watch our elevation.

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This was a good spot for these things.

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Not what I was expecting here at all. My pre-conceived notion of what Washington state was supposed to be is everything you see in the movies. You know – huge, thick forests, mountains, that kind of thing, not desert scrub.

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That's not to say that this area doesn't have any attraction, of course.

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Get yer antique fruits here!

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We made it to our hotel in Yakima and got a good parking spot right next to the hotel, which was in downtown Yakima. On our way into town, Sooze saw a bank sign displaying a temperature of 96 degrees. No WONDER we were sweating our butts off. It was damn warm.

After taking some time to cool down a bit and changing, we started looking for a place to grab a beer and a bit to eat. We found a place a couple of blocks from the hotel and walked that way.

Let me say that Yakima, Washington, has an interesting vibe. The town itself is a mix of old-west-feeling stuff and more modern stuff. We went to Bob's Keg 'n Cork.

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In case you can't tell, it's a small little place, but we grabbed ourselves a table and were greeted by who I am assuming is Bob, a rosy-faced Scotsman who speaks so damn fast that, combined with his accent, I had a helluva time understanding him. We had some locally brewed something-or-other which was pretty tasty.

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Why do I say that Yakima had an interesting vibe? Well, in addition to my above description of the town, they were also having “Wine Days” - there are a lot of wineries in the area, which I wouldn't have expected.

In the above picture of us, to Sooze's right was a group of maybe 15 or 20 people all sitting around several tables. They were NOT using their inside voices, prolly because they were putting away the wine at a pretty good rate. You couldn't help but overhear their conversations. We decided they were Official Wine Snobs. Why do we say that, you ask? Well, this one guy wouldn't shut up – he'd gone to a wine tasting and – GASP! - they had served the wines – Oh the HORROR of it!! - out … of … order. They'd had put the PINO ahead of the CHARDONNAY (or something like that). Can you IMAGINE the NERVE of some people....

Sooze and I had pretty much the same internal reactions. First, who CARES?!?!? Second, he must live a pretty rough life if THAT'S the worst thing to happen to him. Third, since he wouldn't shut up, we're pretty sure that he was having a good time showing off his obvious wine connoisseur-ness / level of wine snobbery.

We stuck with our beers.

For our food porn, Sooze had a little pizza.

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I was hungry for some chicken wings.

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After leaving the Wine Snobs to their rather boorish snobbery, we walked around the town a little bit. You can still see the remnants of the older history of Yakima.

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This is kind of a neat little area. It's adjacent to the Keg 'n Cork.

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It's an area with a little boardwalk and a bunch of little shops.

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There's an old rail terminal.

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Damn heels.

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WARNING!

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This is the back side of the shops. They're all rail cars! How cool is that?!

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Modern art in Yakima.

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Who'da thunk?

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I loved this sign. See the figure of the guy with the gun! That part of the sign kinda rotated back and forth.

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When we walked back into the hotel, we decided to stop by the hotel bar for a beer. I had this.

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Sooze had this.

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Us.

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After chit-chatting with a couple of fellas in town golfing, we retired for the evening.

A little later, I went back outside for a smoke and I saw something that bugs me. When I walked out, there were a couple of other guys around. One guy was a short, stocky guy walking down the sidewalk with a bag of something thrown over his shoulder, strolling along whistling something that must be catchy to him.

There was another guy a little ways down the street, sitting on a bench having a smoke and talking on his cell phone. He was of what I think was American Indian heritage, based on his appearance and the fact that he wasn't speaking English.

As I was taking in the sights and sounds of the city, a pickup rolled by. The 20-something guy in passenger seat had the window rolled down and, as he passed the guy sitting there talking on his cell phone, yelled something at the guy, laughed hysterically, and the driver gunned it, getting them out of there.

The guy on the phone just got up and walked on.

It took me a minute to figure out what'd just happened: it appears that the idiot in the pickup yelled some kind of epithet referring to the guy on the phone speaking in whatever language he was speaking in. They guy on the phone wasn't doing anything to even come close to inciting the morons in the pickup. It was just bigotry, plain and simple. Once it sunk in, it bugged me, and still bugs me to think back on it.

I didn't sleep very well that night.

 
Andy,

I'm not getting any photos here in Reykjavik. Either photobucket says you exceeded your bandwitdth and you blew up the internet or there is volcanic ash plugging up the internet pipeline here.

Bill

 
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