Then luck slapped us across our faces.

There it was, a sign reading Oasis and pointing to the lonely road that lead us to a Mobil.

I was pretty hungry, so I popped my head into the store and found a bunch of bananas. Let me introduce you to the most expensive banana I have ever eaten.

$1.08; I made sure to get the biggest one.

A few hours into our drive down to Des Moines we found out that Ben had left. We were headed to Omaha. No more juggalos, no more Faygo. We drove along 80 for a while and spotted really large signs for what claims to be the World’s Largest Truck Stop. Pretty sure they aren’t making that up.

Chelsey and some trucker husbands of hers.

This place was awesome. There were trucks in the larger room, everything you’d need to modify your truck (with the exception of truck nutz), a “movie theater” somewhere, a barber, laundry, showers, you name it. I’ll just fill this chunk of the post with photos from this wonderful stop.

Guitar Hero machine.

'MERICA!

All of the shirts were video game / religious jokes.

photo: Chelsey

Waiting for some Taco Bell potatos; ACDC pants.

We arrived in Omaha just as the sun was setting. The only thing we knew we were doing was looking for a place called “The Cave.” We parked on some random street and walked toward where people were coming from. We passed a high school that I thought was a government building.

High school? Yea right.

And right next to the high school is an art museum, and we got there during the last song some band was playing for the more respectable folk.

We asked a woman where we could get some food, and she gave us some walking directions to 16th where we would find “plenty of eaterins.” On our walk towards 16th, we found out where The Cave was. We drove there, we knew it was a warehouse with some stupid nickname, but we didn’t realize what we were in for.

Actually a cave.

We walked in during the middle of a metal band called Pariah. At least half of the people were in some sort of costume. I was having trouble letting it all sink in.

Pariah

There were kids running around wearing things like this. Photo: Chelsey

While hanging around outside, we found out that this was all being filmed for a kid’s variety show called Whoop Dee Doo (Kansas City). It ended with a group of people dancing on stage, including Chelsey and Helen.

No, this post isn’t done yet.

Ben was spending the night with his friends Hercules. They told us we could stay with them, and we accepted. We dropped our things off at their nice, incredibly clean home and went out for burritos.

If you weren’t aware, Omaha is on the border of Nebraska and Iowa. We drove to Council Bluffs, IA to go to this Mexican restaurant called Aldourado’s. All I have to say is that we all had the best burritos of our lives, and it only cost us TWO DOLLARS.

AMAZING!

Coolest temporary tattoos. Machine was broken. Everyone got bubble gum.

And then we went to bed.

But wait, there’s more.

The guys of Hercules told us about the Omaha zoo (Henry Doorly) so we decided to check it out in the morning before our drive. Apparently this is the country’s second best zoo.

Skyfari!

Right over the giraffes!

And the rhino!

I love bears.

There is plenty more I can show, and plenty more I could tell (like the gorilla that tried to punch a kid in the face, continuous lack of helmets), but it’s all too much. Time for Boulder.

The passenger in a passing car rose the roof for me after I took this.

Chelsey got in touch with a friend from home now living in Chicago. Us picky vegans wanted to eat at a good vegan place, and our friends from Chicago (now living in Brooklyn) told us to go to Pick Me Up Cafe.

I ordered a “Bumpen Grinder” made vegan. The waitress asked if I wanted vegan cheese, and I said sure assuming it didn’t cost extra because neither she nor the menu claimed that it did. Well, it was $1.50 extra on the check. Thanks. The sandwich was really good either way, which I can’t say for Justin and Chelsey’s personal pizzas. Sorry, guys!

nom nom nom

So then we hung out outside waiting for this kid Harrison, who offered to let us stay at his house for the night. There was a giant sombrero across the street.

Still no helmets.

And then we were off to Harrison’s three floor punk house and local venue. The five of us and his roommate Chris hung out on the kitchen floor for a while listening to some records. Helen and Justin slept on a big couch in the front room, and Chelsey and I marked the beginning of our extended sleepover.

Girlfriend.

We woke up at a reasonable hour and were offered pre-dumpstered bagels. Mine was poppy, already bitten into, and I turned it into PB&J. I wasn’t hungry enough to finish it. My bumpen grinder really helped fill me up. By now our plan was to go to Des Moines for lunch and sleep with friends of Harrison in Lincoln, NE at the Ghost House. Neither happened.

Here are more Chicago pictures!

RESPECT LIFE

Next stop, Nebraska.

sponsored by Volkswagen, Trader Joe's, and Dr. Pepper

My roommates Justin, Helen, Chelsey, and I ended up going on this trip by chance. I’m the only one who didn’t have a reason to go, but at least I made gas cheaper and had a great experience. So on July 27th 2009 we packed all of our things, and at 3AM on July 28th it was all shoved into Justin’s VW Rabbit.

appropriate

No one expected to leave that late, so no one bothered to get some sleep ahead of time. We already knew we were starting with a 12 hour drive to Indiana, which for Chelsey and I meant the beginning of a hunt for Juggalos and Faygo. We hit New Jersey in 10 minutes and didn’t stop until around 9AM in Pennsylvania. Chelsey took over the wheel, but not before grabbing some much needed caffeine, for some reason in the form of Mountain Dew.

Chelsey doin' the dew

Ohio was pretty boring.

At around 5 or 6PM we made it to Allie’s house, a sweetheart and good friend of Helen and Justin in Kokomo. Her home is really nice, three bedrooms that she shares with her dog Charlie. While she’s only required to pay for utilities, the house is valued at the same price as my room. Brooklyn is a gyp.

I noticed that in the midwest no one on a motorcycle wears a helmet.

Charlie

We made chili for dinner and were visited by some babies. The older of the two seemed to be overjoyed by our presence, screamed for fun, made Chelsey uncomfortable, and sucked us into some Elmo videos.

not lookin' too happy

photo: Chelsey

The babies went home and the rest of us decided to watch Aladdin. Sort of. We all started passing out, and everyone slept for about 12 hours.

7/29
We took our time showering and eating then headed over to Treasure Mart, a massive three floor warehouse filled with thrift-store like goods. Everyone got something cheap, including some deer antlers for $4.

Found in Treasure Mart. photo: Chelsey

Our plan was to meet with Ben of In the Face of War in Des Moines, but we were having trouble getting into contact with him. We decided to forget about Des Moines, and we drove straight for Chicago without any Faygo.

A few photos from a Sleepaway Camp shoot from a few months ago. Yea!