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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June 12, 2007 by dunny.

Alright party people, the names are in so let’s start the voting. Either post your vote as a comment here or email it to me at ryan@skiplizard.com

This Friday (June 15), I’ll tally up all the votes and that beast of a Suzuki will be official. Here’s the list of entries in alpha order…pick one:

• 4 Balls, 1 Brain, Goulet! [Sammy]
  
• Arkhni Masheen (Mongol for “The Vodka Automobile) [Mika Roberts]
• Bullet Proof [Uncle Cliff]
• Chariot of Awesome [Sammy]
• Duke #2 [Poopsy]
• Fat Bastard’s Floater [Sammy]
• For Sale: Russian Armaments on Armenian Black Market [lb4lb Bremer]
• Genghis [Boner San]
• Git ‘er Done [Amaan]
• Lando McJalopy and his Magical Manginas [Sammy]
• Larry’s Crucifix [Sammy]
• Leapin’ Lizard [Robin Taylor the son-contributor]
• LeCrapper [Sammy]
• Lizardmobile [Robin Taylor]
• Lizzie [Auntie Chris]
• Loch Nessy [Elisa]
• Midnight Tabouli [Rihani]
• Nogoon Khon (Mongol for “The Green Sheep”) [Mika Roberts]
• Nolan Ryan [Boner San]
• ***not a name, but paint it like a rubix cube [Sandry]
• Phlegyas [Dow]
• Rehab [Sammy]
• SeXXXy Beast [Elisa]
• Smokey Does ‘Stans [lb4lb Bremer]
• Smokey McGee, Train Conductor and His Magical Mystery Tour [lb4lb Bremer]
• Spies Like Us [lb4lb Bremer]
• The Donkey Show [Sammy]
• The Lizard Lounge [Cindy]
• The Mongo Mongoose [Larry Taylor]
• The Parsley Predator [Rihani]
• The Tabouli Terror [Rihani]
• Winnie [Baby Cuz Lee-Ann, b/c it’s the “Winner’s Car”]
• YURT a Go-Go [Uncle Cliff]

If voting was ever an important responsibility, it’s now. You only get one folks, so make it count, this will be our first impressions in 20 dadgum countries after all.

Skip, out. (SkipLizard Homepage)