RobBlog RoadLog Road date July 8 

Today was our first day on the road. We packed everything yesterdayand this morning we loaded the last minute sundries into the car.  Included in our sundry list were thingslike clothes and shower stuff we’d need for our last night in her house.

 At least thatwas the plan.  Apparently thepirate queen called the water people to put a cork in it.  They arrived at 8 am and the only waterwe had was the two yellow Solo cups that she grabbed before the water wentoff.  We used these for brushingteeth and sprinkling shower.

The queen was a little salty sluggish; she was stillrecovering from her head wound her father gave her as a goodbye gift.  While loading the truck, her dad tosseda tie down hook across the load and popped her behind the ear.

Yeah, that’s love. I’ll tell ya though, she forgave her father the hook a lot faster thanshe forgave me for laughing.

The big challenge today seemed to be the bike rack.  We’d hoped to ship the bike with theother stuff, but it wouldn’t fit. The Queen had a rack.  Itwas a weird piece of foldy metal.

“I think it balances on the back,” she said.

I’m rotating the metal triangle with my hands, canvas strapsslapping my legs, “Like a spoon on a glass?”

She twisted her head, “I don’t remember.”

We’re working on our teambuilding techniques.

After I spent a half hour being a guy, and trying everycombination of latch and hook attachment, the queen said, “maybe we should lookfor instructions online.”

Three minutes later we were loaded and done.  Yup. That’s how teams are built. Menmangle while women supervise.

The trip itself was uneventful.  We admired the countryside and made hypotheticalconversations about the collapse of capitalism and the rise of the rise of the SesameStreet Militia. They’d enforce Snufalufagus power.

One sundown and a time zone later we reached our day onedestination: St. Louis.  Weunloaded the cat into the Motel, then pulled our stuff into the room.  The Motel 6 staff was nonplussed by ourstay, and seemed even less interested when we explained that goldilocks hadbeen in our room.

“Excuse me, we just checked in, and somebody has alreadybeen sleeping in our bed.”

“Try the next room.”

Our new neighbor lives here.  As I’m unloading he’s telling me about the his life here atthe hotel.  He’s swaying a bit tothe rhythm of the drink in his hand. The queen stays out of the way allowing me all the time in the world totalk to our new friend.  I planon  thanking her later.

We got along great for our first road day together.  There were a few moments wheresuggestions were carried on winds of strong wills, but we found the way to sailthrough.  On to day two.