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• Iowa Caucus Trip 1/1/08 Part II


• Iowa Caucus Trip 1/2/08 Part I


• Iowa Caucus Trip 1/2/08 Part II


• Iowa Caucus Trip 1/3/08 Part I


• Iowa Caucus Trip 1/3/08 Part II


• Iowa Caucus Trip 1/4/08

I didn’t mind giving up my New Year’s Eve celebration. I prefer to sleep in the new year rather than fight with a bunch of drunks over a glass of cheap free champagne. So when I arrived at the assigned location a couple of hours before midnight I was told there was food and favors downstairs and to go claim a spot on the bus. Sure enough, as is the case in any gathering of undergrads, there was a pile of Papa John’s and some soda. Oh, and mixers. Mixers, no liquor. Mixers, no liquor, and a sign that said essentially that anyone showing signs of alcohol consumption would not be allowed on the bus. This is fine as it’s a mixed age crowd. Since none of the offerings appealed to me I headed upstairs to find a chair and read a book until it was time for roll call. At some point the crowd headed upstairs to catch the ball drop on TV after much arguing about the time of the drop (most stations time delay it so you get the full midnight effect just like the eastern folks). After all this we headed on the bus where I had a nice window seat near the front. I hoped to be on my own but no, some skinny kid sat next to me. We counted down and headed out on our way into the dark, cold night. There isn’t much to say for the first few hours except I dozed in and out, got to see the Arch and some gorgeous buildings (why does St. L seem to have the most beautiful seemingly abandoned buildings?). We eventually got to an IHOP (where, as my sister says, the waitresses are all amputees. Think about it.) where I ordered the smallest platter they had—not easy because IHOP wants to feed you into the next decade. There was also a pile of filthy snow in the parking lot which had me a little scared.

Let me take a moment to mention that skinny dude was a space encroacher. This was a FULL BUS, no empty seats except for one next to a dude who claimed to be sick. Sharing seats was inevitable. These seats, however, had no armrest between them. Additionally, I had hurt my tailbone a little a couple of days prior so I was antsy. So, he was an encroacher, I was a wiggleworm. We were quite a pair and I noticed he pointedly avoided me the rest of the time (he was not the only one).

After the IHOP we headed on. We got to watch a few movies on the bus and I happily dozed a little more. It was great, but at one point I was awakened by clapping. I immediately started clapping too only to find out it was on the movie. Nice.

We stopped at some travel stop for lunch. This really isn’t a big deal, but I felt it was worth noting. Why? Don’t know. But the c-store had a Christmas tree decorated with shoelaces. They were for sale, of course, not just part of some odd Midwestern ritual.

We eventually got there. But getting there was half the battle and I was to find out I didn’t have a room yet.

Labels: iowa, politics