Trippin in St Pete

[2tallbill]

Having found the ocean I was a hero again. We stocked the ice chest with
more ice and provisions and away we go.

[2tallbill]

We take off East leaving the Ocean behind and cross some fields that
I don't know what they are. I stop to take a look and of course Angel
Eyes picks one and takes a bite of it, which I wish she wouldn't do when
neither of us know what it is.

Does anyone know what this is? there were several fields of this

[2tallbill]

Back to the Trip Report Angel Eyes is having a blast, she enjoys the scenery
and snapping a zillion photos. She has also decided that when she is tired
of driving that therefore I am tired of driving and for safety sake we need
to stop. I wanted to drive all the way through Washington and get at least
into Idaho or better yet Montana but it's not going to happen.

I've tried arguing but it falls on deaf ears. I have decided to let the
whoever gets tired first (her) or the weakest bladder (me because I
drink several liters of tea and water every day) determine our stops.

I also get hungry first but she has a sixth sense about that always
making a snack or popping something in my mouth when I start feeling
hungry.

More to come

[Boethius]

Does anyone know what this is? there were several fields of this

It is clover.

[2tallbill]

It is clover.

What's it for? grazing? feed?

[Boethius]

I don't know.  I assume it is used as animal feed.

[2tallbill]

I don't know.  I assume it is used as animal feed.

I pulled over and looked at it. Angel Eyes picked some and ate some.
I've met 2 year old children who were more skeptical of sticking something
in their mouths.



I hope that it didn't have any insecticides etc on it.

[2tallbill]

Driving around about half lost in Portland I would set up my cell phone as a hot spot
for my laptop and my trusty little navigator Angel Eyes would figure out which road
to take.



Another River and more kisses 

[2tallbill]

Portland Oregon driving with my sweet kissing navigator

[2tallbill]

Another of Angel Eyes duties was speed limit monitor. Entering into towns the
speed frequently changes and little towns in Oregon and other places LOVE to
pass out speeding tickets. I gave her the job of announcing the speed anytime
we passed a sign if I was driving faster than the speed and she was pretty good
at it and I didn't get any tickets.

Generally speaking on the Highway I set the cruise control to the speed limit
plus a 3-4 mph. If you listen carefully to her Russian narrated video in the
middle of she says 55 in English I look down and sure enough I am at 60 mph
so I back off the speed.

Speeding tickets in North Dakota are fined at $1 for each MPH over the speed
limit. In most other states the penalties are quite severe.

[2tallbill]

Driving towards the Rockies with commentary by Angel Eyes in Russian.

[2tallbill]

Driving around the Oregon Coast with Angel Eyes giving commentary in Russian

[2tallbill]

Driving around in Oregon with commentary by Angel Eyes in Russian

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JH-6achmbE&feature=youtu.be

[2tallbill]

We headed back to North Dakota and Angel Eyes took no fewer photos
coming than she did going. We did stop at a manufacturers outlets Mall
where Angel Eyes power shopped while I caught up with emails and various
stuff that doesn't stop just because you are on vacation.

My various family members who met AE sent off glowing reports to those
who hadn't. The number of family who want to meet her has grown substantially.

We spend two days driving back to North Dakota. One the way West we missed
it when we passed the Continental Divide



The rain that falls East of this line eventually arrives in the Atlantic Ocean and the
rain that falls West of this line eventually arrives in the Pacific Ocean. The elevation
here is 6393 feet or 1948 meters

[2tallbill]

We arrive back in North Dakota and have a couple days to relax. We
meet with the people at the Jr High school to see what they would
need to register Smiley Girl. They basically want transcripts and
immunization records, I explained that they have a little different
grading system and everything is in Russian.

I agree to get everything translated.

We spend the last days together, dropping Angel Eyes off at the
airport is becoming nearly impossibly difficult. I don't have words
to explain. Here I am sending AE thousands of miles away, when
that's the last thing that I want to do. I can't believe that I am
putting this woman on a plane. Why would I send her away? I
don't want her to go. I am completely and totally smitten with this
girl.

We hug, kiss and say good bye and my son tries unsuccessfully to
cheer me up with jokes and antics (he has many) as I drive back
home.

to be continued,

[2tallbill]

Angel Eyes has a close girlfriend in New York who married an American
guy and has 4 kids with him. She has wanted to visit her but like most
people at this stage we are trying to spend all of our time together
possible.

I've been going to Kayak.com and a host of others trying to find the best
deal on a flight from MOW (Moscow airports) to DIK (Dickinson). I popped
onto Delta's website and they do a couple of weird things. First all the prices
are in Euro's which aren't frequently used in either Russia or the USA and
secondly every trip has an 18+ hour layover in some place. Who wants to
subject themselves to that?

I call customer dis-service at Delta and if I don't want my girls to spend
18or more hours someplace en route then I have to pay an extra
$500.00 x two tickets.

So I go back to the drawing board and like usual I check other airports
like BIS (Bismarck) and find out the price is less and that they spend
an 18+ hour layover in New York, where her girl friend lives. It's
3:20 am in Russia and I don't want to wake up Angel eyes so I buy the
two electronic tickets and send them to AE's email along with a mushy
love letter.

Guess who woke up, read the letter and was very happy with her
fiance'? Yep, I got major points for both the layover and the letter
with mushy stuff.

So I got a ton of work to do to make my house presentable again,
create a place for Smiley girl to sleep, and a multitude of other
arrangements. 

More to come

[jone]

Angel Eyes has a close girlfriend in New York who married an American
guy and has 4 kids with him. She has wanted to visit her but like most
people at this stage we are trying to spend all of our time together
possible.

I've been going to Kayak.com and a host of others trying to find the best
deal on a flight from MOW (Moscow airports) to DIK (Dickinson). I popped
onto Delta's website and they do a couple of weird things. First all the prices
are in Euro's which aren't frequently used in either Russia or the USA and
secondly every trip has an 18+ hour layover in some place. Who wants to
subject themselves to that?

I call customer dis-service at Delta and if I don't want my girls to spend
18or more hours someplace en route then I have to pay an extra
$500.00 x two tickets.

So I go back to the drawing board and like usual I check other airports
like BIS (Bismarck) and find out the price is less and that they spend
an 18+ hour layover in New York, where her girl friend lives. It's
3:20 am in Russia and I don't want to wake up Angel eyes so I buy the
two electronic tickets and send them to AE's email along with a mushy
love letter.

Guess who woke up, read the letter and was very happy with her
fiance'? Yep, I got major points for both the layover and the letter
with mushy stuff.

So I got a ton of work to do to make my house presentable again,
create a place for Smiley girl to sleep, and a multitude of other
arrangements. 

More to come

Where are we in the sequence now?  Smiley Girl's first trip to the US?

[2tallbill]

Where are we in the sequence now?  Smiley Girl's first trip to the US?

Yes, we are in sequence and Smiley Girl's first trip to the USA and Angel Eyes second
trip.

I'm sorry that I bounced around but My Trip to St Pete was my first trip report but I had
made 4 trips before going there. So then I had to dig in the cobwebbed recesses of my
brain to remember the details of the first trips then add in the subsequent trips. There
are advantages of writing them all separately but then they become hard to find later.

Putting all of my trip reports in one place is easier to find but chronologically hard to
follow since I didn't write them in that way.

Hopefully, it's not too hard to follow.

[2tallbill]

Angel Eyes and Smiley Girl arrive at JFK at 2:10 pm Eastern Time. AE
has specific instructions to contact me as soon as possible after she clears
customs. I worry that some official will decide to send them back or some
of the various other horrors that I have read on Visa Journey.

I finally get a call at 5:49 pm, more than 3 1/2 hours later that AE and SG
are safe and sound. AE doesn't have a ticking clock in her head like I do.
15 minutes and 3 1/2 hours are essentially the same if you compare it to
glacier flow or continental drift. However, if you are worried about somebody
then it's like holding your breath for a minute then catching your breath and
then doing again repeatedly.

They will arrive in Bismarck tomorrow afternoon. I am cleaning all the stuff
that hasn't been cleaned since she left last time in May and my son is actually
helping me. 

[2tallbill]

As I was getting ready to leave for the airport in Bismarck and huge sinking
feeling hits my guts. Bismarck is in the Central Time zone  how could I
forget this 

My city is in Mountain time which is an hour earlier. It's 100 miles (161 km)
to Bismarck! I am going to be late.

I start laying rubber as I set the cruise control to 80 mph (129 kph). My son realizes
that I messed and always being the helpful sort he says "Classic Dad, just classic."
I arrive at the airport over 15 minutes late and go inside to find out that Angel Eyes
and Smiley girl have missed their flight and will be arriving in about an hour.   

I had brought along a spray bottle and some paper towels and give the interior of the
car a scrubbing and pick up a couple bottles of water, apple juice, peanuts and raisins
for snacks. (If only I had known to armor all the tires).

I had already bought flowers for each of them and gave them to the girls when they
arrived. Man Angel Eyes smells good 

I took them to a mall and got them both sim cards for their phones, then we
went to a Mongolian barbecue where you pick out your own plate of stuff then
they fry it up for you.

They had a good time in New York with some beach photos but they were wiped out
and wanted to head home. Angel Eyes had some water from the Atlantic Ocean and
some assorted shells and other valuable treasure. I get them unpacked fed and settled
and they are soon off to dreamland.

More to follow

[2tallbill]

The weekend arrives and we take off to Bismarck and the zoo.

They love the animals but are unable to follow any of the zoo rules.
They feed animals that they aren't supposed to feed. They touch
animals that say DON'T TOUCH!!

Then one of the bears has it's arm hung out trying to reach through
the bars as far as it can. So Smiley girl squeezes through the bars on
our side of the double fence and tries to reach the bears arm (claw).

I flip out and tell her that she might not realize how tasty she would be
compared to boring zoo food. She just wanted to touch it    I nearly
swallowed my head. The bears claws were at least 6-8" long and if
Smiley Girl touched those claws with her little delicate hand the bear
could easily rip her arm off.

She is a total city girl and has never been around wild animals. They are
wild animals and they survive by eating other smaller, slower and naive
animals.They had double fences almost 6 feet apart. Why would the zoo
do this? Could it be that they didn't want the bears eating the arms of
young girls?

To this day she  still doesn't think she was in any danger and that no harm
would come to her but she knows that my head will explode if she tries to
touch the bear again and most people try to avoid being around my head
when it explodes.

After the zoo we have a picnic that Angel Eyes packed for us on the Missouri
River. Yes I got kissed both over and back by Angel Eyes and cheek kissed by
Smiley Girl when we head back.

Life is good 

[2tallbill]

I have a huge loop in my sales territory that occasionally I take so
I tell the girls and that we are leaving the next day at NOON exactly.
Anyone who is not completely and totally ready, loaded and has not
already emptied their bowels and bladders at precisely NOON the next
day will be left behind to fend on their own and certainly will NOT be
riding with me because I will have left already.

At 2:39 pm on the dot the next day I am backing out of the driveway. 

The plan is to go to Watford City and meet three customers then to Williston and
drop off two windows that barely fit in the car when carrying 2 Russian girls with
all their supporting gear for a couple days away from home.

I somehow accomplish everything in Watford City and head to Williston. The road
construction is horrific and it takes more hours. My nephew lives in nearby Ray and 
will be 2 on Sunday so we head to the Williston Walmart which is just like a Chinese
fire drill during an air raid, but add a little zombie apocalypse in (some of the oil field
workers wear their soiled work clothes to Walmart).

There are nearly zero females in Williston who weigh less than 250lbs and those
who are in the sub 200 range are clearly above average and get stares. Smiley
Girl is teasing her mom (in Russian) about all the stares that she is getting.

The girls select several loud toys that will make shrill noises if you push any of
the many buttons they have. I decided to give my nephews parents a break and
grabbed a big excavator tractor* that will make less noise and will keep a 2 year
old busy and happy for hours. I also grabbed a Minnie Mouse color book for my
niece.

more to follow


*Note he plays with the big excavator tractor at least once a day even now nearly
a year later. Young boys LOVE excavators and playing in the dirt

[2tallbill]

After making the loop of my territory we headed into South Dakota.

We went through Sturgis which is a huge biker rally area but not when
we went through however


We visited Mount Rushmore

[2tallbill]

[2tallbill]

We drove through a wild animal park. Angel Eyes and Smiley Girl
opened the windows against park rules (and sensibility) even in the
bear exhibits