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Here we are in lovely Victoria, British Columbia, and finally in a hotel that I believe has decent, reliable Internet access. So now we'll see if we can bore you to death with the goings on during The Trip From Hell. And you thought you knew what tedium was before...HAH!!! I take that as a challenge.

Day 1, Tuesday, 08/09
Up and away early. At the border. US Customs guy says, "Any booze?" I reply, "One bottle of liquor amd some wine." He says, "Define "some"." I say, "About a case." (Knowing full well we're allowed a bottle each, and there's actually 16 bottles.) He flinches visibly and says, "Homemade?" I respond, "Some." (Knowing full well it's all commercial. Primarily an assortment of tasty Chardonnays destined to quench the thirst of a couple of notoriously thisty well-travelled Toobin' ladies, and some reds for our own consumption.) He hesitates a moment, then hands back our passports and says, "Have a nice day." Whew! Dodged our first bullet.

Drove to Council Bluffs, Iowa. Saw every motorcycle in the world on the road, mostly because of the giant annual rally in Sturgis, South Dakota. Chatted with a pair of couples on their 4 huge Harley hogs at a rest stop. They were on their way home to North Carolina after being on the road for 6,000 miles. One lady said she was looking forward to getting home because she missed "the dawgs and the kidz", in that order I suspect.

Spent the night in the Settle Inn - sound nice and folksy, doesn't it? - and had dinner at a dandy Italian restaurant across the river in Omaha, Nebraska. The desk clerk recommended it and we found it OK, despite her directions.

Windshield Observation: Ever notice no matter what colour a butterfly is on the outside, they're all yellow on the inside?