June 17, 2005 - Day Eight: St. Paul, MN to Four Wheeler Midwest Bureau
Miles: 597
Miles-to-date: 3683
States: 3
Times Sean Sneezed: 1,000,000
Barking Spiders Heard: 2,457
High-Fives In Illinois: 1 Big One
Ducks Stepped On In H2: 1,345
Electric Air Freshener Used: 1
Beards Needing Shaving: 1
Tech Editor Sean P. Holman:
Almost there...
We pulled in to the Brubaker Estate just after 5 p.m. local time, shot each other a high-five, and prepared to unload the Hummer. Fortunately, Ken has three kids who were so excited to see their Dad, they were willing to do anything - so before the mood changed we quickly employed their assistance to help unload our trusty H2. Tomorrow Ken will try to convince (read: guilt) them that washing a Hummer H2 SUT with mud and dirt from nine states on it is fun. Happy Father's Day kids.
We started out in St. Paul Minnesota and met up with Zeb Holder of the private Apple Valley Farms wheeling area. He brought with him, what are quite possibly the two-cutest wheeling compadres one could ask for. Cougar (age 2) and Max (age 1) are a couple of enthusiastic little guys that know the start of a wheeling trip when they see "Dada Truck!" rolling off the trailer. Because of the highway miles we needed to put behind us today, we were only able to play for a short time, but with 1600-plus acres of some of the most awesome and gnarliest terrain in Wisconsin, you can bet we'll be back to cover an event there in the near future.
Tomorrow we'll be hitting up our Illinois trail before I head off to the airport for my flight home. It is amazing that this wild ride is about to end, but I am looking forward to seeing my family, my girl, and my own house again.
Senior Editor Ken Brubaker:
It's day eight of H2our De Force, and we're beginning to show signs of advanced sleep deprivation. I've been drooling and mumbling and Holman has been nodding off at the most bizarre times. Today he got up, took a shower, got in the H2 and went back to sleep until we got to Apple Valley Farms, a private off-highway area near New Auburn, Wisconsin. At the park we met manager Zeb Holder and his two kids Cougar and Max, as well as his brother-in-law. They led us on a whirlwind tour of some of the trails in their highly modified Suzuki's and we were very impressed both in the trails and their rigs. We highly recommend Apple Valley Farms, and we offer our thanks for the tour.
After we left Apple Valley we hit Interstate 90 and dropped the hammer for the Four Wheeler Midwest Bureau in Illinois. Along the way we encountered the usual rubbernecking public that we've grown used to on this trip. The H2 is definitely a conversation starter. We arrived in the late afternoon in enough time to get some dinner and get a good start on our blog.
Tomorrow we do a brief tour of the Top Secret Four Wheeler Illinois Test Facility before we make a beeline to Chicago's O'Hare Airport so Holman can jet west back to quaking California.
Today's notes:
1. We're considering planting seeds in the mud on our Hummer to see if we can grow stuff.
2. The inside of our Hummer is beginning to smell funny. Not funny ha-ha, but funny rank.
3. In an effort to make the interior of the H2 smell better we plugged a plug-in air freshener into our power inverter. Now the interior smells like apples and cinnamon, a fart and a corn chip.
4. We've both decided to toss out our mattresses at home and replace them with the Coleman air mattresses. Yes, the Coleman mattresses are that comfortable. No kidding.
5. I learned something else about Holman. It seems he's allergic to the Midwest. He started sneezing and sniffling in eastern North Dakota and hasn't stopped since.