40 Hour Drive of Death

So as I mentioned we definitely now know that our decision to continue on the Tarja tour was the best choice for us and I know for us at the time it was a relatively easy choice to make. The only catch with us jumping on the west coast dates was traveling the 2,131 mi. (3,430 km) across country in a 12 seater van with a trailer, in 2 days. Google maps said it would take 1 day and 6 hours to do the distance and us being the naive and crazy brave guys we are thought “yeah… no problem”…

Being the seasoned long distance travelers that we are from our collective years of touring experience we have, we entered into this drive with a innocent optimism that was soon to be destroyed and left behind somewhere on some butt-fuck nowhere highway somewhere between Lincoln, Nebraska and Salt Lake City, Utah.

We started the drive at about 9pm Tuesday night with the plan to drive through the night and the next day, stop for a rest somewhere on the Californian boarder and drive the rest of the way, the day of the gig. We were to drive, ride shotgun and sleep in shifts and somehow make it to the other side of the country alive. a Goo plan but one that did not account for the series of mishaps that was about to occur.

We were off, driving into the night full of optimism and all desperately trying to sleep in the uncomfortable van to prepare for our turn in one of the hot seats. after maybe five hours of driving we decided to stop for gas, finding the petrol station we stopped for was closed and also discovering that Connie, had been driving us for over an hour in the wrong direction… time to back track. in another hour we were back on the road to San Fran still optimistic about getting there with plenty of time.

The sun came up somewhere between Iowa and Nebraska only to reveal the most flat, boring, featureless landscape you could imagine. Nebraska felt like it went on for ever and to my recollection it took upwards of 8 hours to cross. Being the amateur photographer I am I was naturally disappointed that our daylight hours were wasted by such boring landscapes.

My disappointment was soon forgotten as we travelled through Wyoming and in to Utah where the landscape started to become truly breathtaking. The sun was setting over the desert and rock formations and despite the fact that my body was beginning to freak out from being so confined for so long, I was really happy we got to see this. We travelled through Salt Lake City just after dusk which is also very beautiful and travelled along the great salt lake towards the Nevada boarder. Just as we passed Bonneville speedway (where kiwi Burt Monroe broke all those land speed records) we moved into Nevada and into the Nevada desert.

It was an amazing contrast to witness, traveling from Utah, one of the most religious states in the union into Nevada, possibly the most sinful. We went from temples and beautiful natural landscapes to all night casinos and strip joints.

It was about this time that our current driving team Marty and Mark debated whether to fill up with gas or rely on the gas gauge and make it to the next town. They chose to wing it and in hindsight maybe we should have stopped. About 20 miles into the Nevada desert at about 12.30 am the van stopped. We had run out of gas. It reads like the script of a B-grade slasher movie and we were a little concerned because we had to be at the venue in less than 15 hours and the Nevada desert is not the kind of place you want to be spending the night. Dom and Steve set off into the night to try and find someone to help but found that no one would stop for them, I still wonder why. Once again slasher movies come to mind.

After about half and hour they returned with news that someone was on the way to bring us gas but it was gong to cost us over US$200 for them to do so. We bit the bullet and after about 45 min our saviour, a simple minded local who we nicknamed Gomer Pile arrived and we were back on the road. After another couple of hours of driving we settled in at a motel somewhere in the middle of Nevada to get a few hours of sleep to prepare for the show that day.

After a truly exceptional diner meal we set off towards the California Boarder. Just after you cross the boarder is some really beautiful mountains and lakes including the famous Lake Tahoe which were very nice to see. We finally made it to the outskirts of San Francisco and crossed the bay bridge into the city, arriving at the venue nearly 2 hours late.

We had survived, and as difficult as the drive was on all of us I think it was truly an experience to be had. We drove thousands of kilometres through the heart of the USA. We got to see some of the amazing natural beauty that america has to offer and experience some of the most backwards and interesting cultural attractions along the way. Thank you America, it was a fucken trip alright.

Track our Journey on google maps

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Chicago,+Illinois&daddr=San+Francisco,+California&hl=en&geocode=Fe8HfwIdc_XG-g%3BFVxnQAId_Ae0-CmxclTX9oCFgDFYPZ-89e-Eiw&mra=pe&mrcr=0&sll=39.784364,-105.076049&sspn=32.679014,58.447266&ie=UTF8&ll=39.842286,-105.029297&spn=30.96979,58.447266&z=4