July 10, 2007 by dunny.

Yup, that was our dear Disco Sophie you heard from last night. She’s got some distant cousin in Kazakhstan she keeps trying to fix me up with, and putting her pic in my blog is just the latest ploy. The Diamonds though, that was all us baby.

Lots to update on, so grab a seat. After we got to Steve’s place in Liphook his wife brought us a load of Fosters and we put a few back then went and ordered Chinese food. He ran us over to a little pub and destroyed us in pool while he told us that if he didn’t like us we would have been staying there in the upstairs room. By the way, everything in British pool is half the size of American pool…balls, pockets, table, sticks, how often me and Andy win, everything.

Right, back to the cottage and chow on Chinese food and Fosters and talk about the Rally…like we never left home. Especially when we went out to another local pub with Steve and Ben and met up with some of their buds, one of which was this real laid back cat named Allen. Now, the majority of the bars over here close at 11, but Allen didn’t get out until right at closing time, so he threw out the idea to drive back into Haslemere and catch one of the pubs that stayed open late.

Shoot it aint like we were going to say no, so we followed him and Steve off for a stroll and come to the most fantastic old VW hippie van I have ever seen…back seats torn out in favor of couches, fridge, fancy carpet, even a naked lady on the wall, the whole bit. Well we stood there screaming about how awesome it was and Allen just leaned back and said “Yeah, the van’s alright” with a little smirk, then climbed in and started blasting Red Hot Chili Peppers and we were off.

You know the rest. Boozing, being loud, a wasted Irish dude that wouldn’t leave us alone, holding conversation with an English couple while they were doing poppers, hedge-diving, back to the van (which ran out of gas right after dropping us off), finally the SkipDudes sharing a couch back in Liphook. Oh, and the fellas liked us so much they invited us to their annual guys-getaway trip to the beach in Devon next weekend. Like I said, it’s not like we’re going to say no.

We woke up the next morning, had some cereal, went back to the garage for some final touch-ups and Steve’s wife somehow getting the SJ registered without proof of insurance, and we were off. We drove her back to camp in Malmesbury so we could run off to Henley and see Stevie at the Regatta.

Here’s where we had a slip though. We caught the bus back to Swindon and had a real short trip to Reading to catch our connection. Well, in our everlasting wisdom, neither Andy or I could figure out how to open the train door. It’s not tough, you roll the window down and lean out and open it from the outside, but we wasted our minute-to-get-off just pushing on the inside and looking for secret buttons. By the time Andy figured it out, then train was moving and we were on the nonstop to London Paddington. Great. We jumped on the return train easily enough, but it was the local stop train and hit every damn town between London and Reading. Super. Then we caught the wrong connection and had to trackback again. Whatever. We finally made it to Henley as they were setting off the fireworks and the bars were making last calls. Not to worry though folks, you know we always make miracles happen.

We walked a mile to find Stevie in time for a beer. Then we walked a mile back to let the rest off in a cab and get out. Keep in mind that this Regatta deal is like Mardi Gras…everywhere around me are British people who’ve long since entered the spirit world. We ended up in a group of like 15 people at a fancy Asian restaurant with a waitress that was screaming at us to “Pay now or no more food and beer!” Andy wasn’t eating, so she kicked him out…so Stevie grabbed me and we bounced…old fashioned dine and dash. Long story short we managed to find a bar that was open until 3 and then convinced them to let us stay until 3:30 slamming Pimms and beer and having a dude marvel at Andy’s devil beard and ask us to send him themed pictures from every country so he could do us a website and we could make thousands. Whop.

We ended up in Cookham, had a 5am swim, and crashed. Woke up for bacon, some frisbee, and Stevie’s old cell phone that we’re using while we’re in the UK. If you want to call, the # is (country code 44) 07972 189901. We caught more trains, headed back to Malmesbury, and got cooked for again by Sophie’s parents…don’t worry Mom we’re getting fattened up something solid over here.

We’re in Southampton (Soton) now, though Malmesbury hasn’t quite had their fill of us yet (hint, hint). No doubt more adventures to come so stay posted…and as always here’s to being awesome.

Check out our drive here

Skip, out. (SkipLizard Homepage)

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July 9, 2007 by dunny.

We’re thinking about going to Glasgow…and it’s really for only one reason (click link)…

The Glasgow Diamonds

More tomorrow…too drinky right now

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July 9, 2007 by dunny.

Well, being highly unoriginal of course we have decided to be truelly awesome and stay in Kazakstan when we get there. Ryan recently saw a picture of his new love and she happen to be local to there, she has really fluffy ears.

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July 6, 2007 by dunny.

Right, so I just posted like an hour ago.  This is how fast things get awesome on this trip.  The fella (Steve) that sold us the good car and lent us the parts/tools turned out to be a King of Awesome.  He dropped all and helped us fix everything that needed it on the car (save some welding we’ll do in the morning), said we all ought to have a beer together, then brought us back to his 1877 English cottage in Liphook.

And we’re staying the night.  And probably getting drunk with one of the coolest dudes we’ve ever met.

Oh, by the way, him and his pops have a collection of about 35 cars, most of which are old steam-powered cars from the late 1800’s and early 1900’s.  Four of them are one-of-a-kind…literally…there’s only 1 in the entire world…and a handful of others were 1 of less than 10.  They’re stored either in the shop or in his dad’s adjacent house, which by the way is an absolute marvel of beauty that I assume is rampant here in England because everywhere I go I’m floored.

Hell, we left the shop with Steve in his old VW bug (a collector, for sure) and took a winding, road-burning drive through long tunnels of trees (the trees here grow out and bend over the roads in the summer…never seen anything like it) and ended up in front of that cottage with a clothesline and trampoline in the back and kids and dogs running around and green everywhere.  We’ll hang here for a spell then head to a few Liphook pubs with an official SkipLizard Savior.

That disaster?  Whatever.  Blessing in disguise of the utmost regard people.  Positive thoughts…it all works out.  Once again, here’s to being awesome.

Skip, out. (SkipLizard Homepage)

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July 6, 2007 by dunny.

First, I didn’t recap yesterday in all its complete glory.  After a hike to the market for a load of canned goods, fruit, and the like, we went by the local paper to introduce ourselves…figured maybe we could get people to stop staring at us if we got official.  We didn’t get two steps in the door and the lady was already taking notes…soon as we get back to camp they’re going to take pictures and we’ll be English countryside celebrities.

Then off to Swindon for goods and services, check email about the car.  Nothing special.  That’s just where you heard from us yesterday.

When we got back to Malmesbury, though, we gave the fella with car a ring.  He already settled with somebody on it.  At this point though, we were desperate…so the Irish Dunny came out and we had a little haggle session.  Turns out he almost did the Rally this year, was married in Vegas, was willing to give us the car cheap and throw in the use of his tools, parts, and garage to get us off.

So, time to celebrate.  But it was raining, and we’re too cheap for pubs right now.  Dammit, we had all this cooking gear and potatoes and canned hamburgers and wine, but nowhere to set up shop…then a light shined through the clouds onto that piece of monkey poo car just sitting by the tents and I think we both had the same realization.  We were going to get some use out of that bastard.  So we lit the stove inside the car and made potato/canned hamburger stew and drank 3 bottles of paint thinner wine…and it might have been the most satisfying meal of all time.

Irresponsible?  Not when you’re awesome.  We were up at 7 this morning and took a bus and 3 trains to Haslemere and just finished servicing the new car, the new Chariot of Awesome (just another SJ, don’t worry kids, no huge changes there and we still got what we wanted).  We’re going to flip the other one on ebay and see if we can actually profit off her

To Henley this weekend to party with Stevie and do some good English stuff.  Like drink, I guess

Skip, out. (SkipLizard Homepage)

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July 5, 2007 by dunny.

Disaster makes it all worthwhile.  We got to the car yesterday morning and spent some time tinkering around, got her started, did a few tests…little things.  Then Andy pressed down on the gas peddle and knocked a hole in the floorboard.  The “all the structural work is done” promise from the seller was about as truthful as Andy having a clean health history.

Needless to say, we refuse to Flintstones to Mongolia, but dammit we didn’t get into this to lay down and get dejected.  We hit the pub yesterday afternoon, then had dinner with Sophie and her parents, who own a vineyard in Malmesbury…had a gigantic meal with their own wines…and headed back to camp.

This morning we caught the bus to Swindon to try and find a phone, stopped by this here Internet cafe, and found another car.  This one’s actually owned by a mechanic and we’re fixin to head down and check it out.  It’s not easy being awesome.

Wait, yes it is.  Much more to come tomorrow, and not just on the car……[HINT, HINT, HINT]

Skip, out. (SkipLizard Homepage)

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July 3, 2007 by dunny.

Here’s how you define awesome…

Buy tickets days before crossing ocean…the only coordination that we made sure to arrive at the same airport.  We figured that every airport has a pizza joint and said we’d meet there, then catch 2 trains and a bus then hike a mile with all our gear to a campsite in BFE (literally).

Here’s how it all went down…

Dunny hops the 7am flight to Orlando on 2 hours sleep and passes out on a bench on arrival.  Andy sat on the DFW runway nursing a massive hangover for an hour and right near missed his connection in Raleigh.  They landed within minutes of each other in London.  Then they met at the pizza place (as though this was all planned months in advance) and commiserated the pain of flying while on typhoid vaccination pills.  Then, well, they caught 2 trains and bus and hiked to the campsite with just enough time to set up shop before a giant rainstorm hit.  Oh, and get to the library before 5.

The plan for tonight then?  We’re going to wander off around Malmesbury and try to find the field where the Chariot of Awesome is resting, then try to find helpers at some pub called the Smoking Dog and take the Texas-get-back-on-good-sleep-schedule-medicine (booze) until we’re ready to crash.

And yes, not one person has looked at us without cringing in confusion and possibly horror.  Actually, here’s some quotes from a few British pals…

Stevie: For reference mate, you’re miles away from civilization, but I’ve heard Malmesbury is cool enough.

Sophie: Frankly I think Malmesbury will be seeing its first Texans in history and probably will just implode.

Girl we asked where the Post Office was: …………………….. ………. Campsite guy: You can take that open spot over there by the RV………………actually why don’t you set up over there…..

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July 2, 2007 by dunny.

T-minus 5 hours and I’ll be on a plane to London…and we reckoned things should be hard right from the start so Andy’s on a different flight altogether and we’re going to meet each other at the pizza place in Gatwick without the use of cell phones, email, or sleep.  Awesome.

***Speaking of, car name results are in.  The winner by 1 vote is Chariot of Awesome.  Winnie and the Rubix Cube paint job tied for second, so the former will be a quick-hit nickname and the latter will depend on whether we can combine a good English pub day and some spray paint***

Right…so we get to London, catch a train to Swindon, then a bus to Malmesbury, then wander around until we find our campsite and set up shop.  The Chariot is parked in a field about a mile or two away (belonging to the parents of our convoy-mate/savior/disco-stud Sophie)…good daily hike just to try and get that car “road”-ready.

Basically, there’s absolutely no way this plan can fail.

Anyways, expect blog entries to start rolling in, hopefully on a daily basis.  Bookmark this bad boy and see how much trouble we can get into before we even leave England.  Seeing as it’s 2am, we’re leaving in a few hours, Andy’s hammered and hasn’t started packing (as in he doesn’t even know if he has a bag to fit everything and just bought a tent/sleeping bag from Wal-Mart this afternoon), and I think I just bought train tickets meant for people with student passes that we by no means will ever own, the pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps run starts right now.

That’s why they call it adventure.  Here’s to being awesome.

Skip, out. (SkipLizard Homepage)

Note: Telluride recap has been written and will be posted once retained from Strange Hippie 14’s computer.

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