Road Trippin': post-Indy thoughts from a dingy motel in Alliance, Nebraska

[thehefner]

Pound for pound, Indianapolis Fringe was my most positive Fringe experience to date (of the eight festivals I've taken THE HEFNER MONOLOGUES to over the past two years).

Attendance was stronger than my usual first-time fest experience. And then there's the response! FIVE reviews, and all of them glowing! Well, one was a bit lukewarm, but that publication is suspect anyway, since it ended up trashing some of the best shows and loving some of the worst. But the latter were few and far between; the shows at Indy were, more often than not, awesome. I'd already have been thinking of going back to Indy in 2010 just for the talent alone, not to mention the incredibly friendly and generous people of Indianapolis themselves--artists and patrons alike!--but to top it off, I actually made money! I *know,* right?!

Now, while I'm still going to be in the red no matter how well I do in Vancouver over the next couple weeks, the fact that I actually made a profit being a first-timer at a Fringe is a hell of a thing.

And I'm not sure I could have done it without the invaluable help of my lovely henchgirl, the mighty bitemetechie. Folks, you heard it here first: a partnership for the ages is shaping up here. Assuming we survive the experience. And each other. It's amazing to find someone who can be my director, writing partner, emotional baggage handler, AND one of the best friends I think I've ever had. There aren't too many other people with whom I'd be able to handle another massive road trip, albeit one under the constraints of arrival deadlines to Vancouver Fringe and then back to DC at the end of September.

The plan currently: to hit up Yellowstone National Park for one day (I know, I know, what a waste, right? Would that I had a whole week, plus camping equipment and actual outdoorsy experience!), then head North up to Glacier National Park for another day, then to Seattle for another day or two, then up to Vancouver for thirteen more days of Fringe Festival madness!

After that, we have roughly five days to drive back to DC in the hopes of attending the Small Press Expo on Sept. 26th. But I'm still making it a point to spend a day or two in South Dakota to hit up Mount Rushmore, Devil's Tower, and--most important of all--WALL DRUG. Hell yes, WALL DRUG. If you know it, you know it has to be spelled in all caps.

What a grand mad dash home this shall be. All this assuming the Hopemobile doesn't have a meltdown. There's some minor concern there. But hey, it's always an adventure, isn't it? At least this time I have someone else along to help take notes. Not to mention point and laugh at me whenever something Hefnerian happens. How will I ever manage without her?

I miss you all. No bullshit, I swear. Hope to see as many of you as possible at my epic homecoming party on Saturday, October 3rd. As for the rest of you... well, hope to see you on the road one of these days!

Comments

[kmousie.livejournal.com]

WALL DRUG! YES!

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

HELL YES!

I'm gonna get me a Bison Burger, and I just know Techie's gonna make good use outta the Bottomless Cup of Coffee.

[kmousie.livejournal.com]

Enjoy! *hugs*

[angrylemur.livejournal.com]

I've been camping in Yellowstone, AND to Mount Rushmore AND to WALL DRUG. In one go. On a road trip with my mother. I will tell you about it when I stop repressing it enough to remember specific details.

If you are going through South Dakota, dude, you HAVE TO SEE THE CORN PALACE. I just... I can't even explain it, except to say that IT IS CALLED 'THE CORN PALACE' and god damnit if that is not enough for you then I don't know what is.

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

The fact that you've been to WALL DRUG (hell, even that you'd know what it is, since no one seems to!) amazes and delights me more than all the others combined! When/if you're up for it, do share the details! Particularly if there's anything you recall that we should definitely not miss!

And fuck YEAH, the Corn Palace!!! I saw it back around '98, when my brother took me on a road trip to Seattle. That was my intro to WALL DRUG, Devil's Tower, Rushmore, and Yellowstone as well! I need to show henchgirl the Corn Palace, not to mention reexperience it myself.

In fact, funny you mention it! Today, we went to a museum in Sioux City, Iowa, that had photos of their old Corn Palaces that they'd build and tear down annually in the late 1800's! Buildings as huge as the corn palace that still stands today! I think the Sioux City folks are still a wee bit bitter that they don't get to be the city that has the Corn Palace.

That said, I recall being disappointed by the inside of the Palace. Like, no way it could live up to the outside. Did you go in?

By the way, I forgot the Vancouver to-do list you wrote out for me, but I'm getting my mother to mail it to me so it'll be waiting for us in Seattle. I definitely did not want to go without that!

[angrylemur.livejournal.com]

Honestly, WALL DRUG was the least memorable part of the trip. I recall being disappointed - or maybe I was too young to really appreciate it. A lot of things that were hilarious in retrospect went over my head, like jackalopes (Pif insists that he's seen jackalope stuff in the interior of BC, but I've never witnessed this phenomenon outside of South Dakota). I remember going to Mount Rushmore and having to walk through this big plaza that's basically a mall full of tourist shops to see it, and talking deliberately loudly about how it used to be a sacred mountain for Indigenous people and we were all participating in a colonialist tradition built on cultural genocide, and getting a lot of dirty looks (and some attention from the security guards, because there is crazy security at Rushmore), but I was young enough that I could get away with it. SPEAKING OF COLONIALISM, every white person in the midwest seems to refer to Indigenous people as "Indians". If you want to have some fun, try correcting them some time.

I remember being kind of underwhelmed by the interior of the corn palace. It's basically like a big touristy flea market or something. Meh.

[lairdofdarkness.livejournal.com]

Well done Sir on your profit making run - I am very pleased for you. Hopefully this happens more often over the coming years.