Pandifest '99 Part I
Welcome to....
The Arrival from Mass to Rhode Island to Pennsy
The big day had finally arrived. It was Monday, June 15th, and later on
that afternoon two of my internet friends, Judi & Pandi would arrive via bus in my
little town of Milford for the beginning of our cross country trek
to the first Pandifest Gathering in Inver Grove
Heights, Minnesota.
I went to town(one stoplight, NO McDonald's)to wait in front of the Drug
Store/Bus Station. A Bus whizzed by and my first thought was "oh Sh**!"
That bus never stopped and I figured they had missed their connection in
Wonderful Charming NYC.
I envisioned them in their new careers, wandering the cavernous streets of
Midtown as Bag Ladies, luggage in hand.
A quick look across the street at the Minit Market, after racing into the
Drug Store/Bus Station to confirm that there was no other bus til after
midnight, and I spied the Daring Duo I had come to meet.
Looking like a couple of Deer in the Headlights, one was trying to be
nonchalant, smoking a cig, while the other was hanging up
the pay phone receiver as I eased my Minivan into the parking space in front
of them. Though we had never seen each other in person before, there was an
instant recognition born of the commarderie of many late nights in the
chatroom & in the list mail. I do think they were glad to see a friendly
face after the Bus Ride From Hell!!! (This
is another story unto itself.)
I whisked them & their many heavy bags away to my little shoebox in the
woods to meet my family, including Grandma, eat a little
spaghetti dinner and rest up for the journey ahead.
But before sacking down for the night, there was the matter of
the autographing of the Beanie....the Sluggy, er...I mean Swirly Beanie.
Yes, Pandi had brought her personal Swirly to
be autographed by the Mama of Slugs, me!
Sluggy makes her slimey mark.
The next morning we were up at the crack of dawn for our ride-thanks
hubby!-to the Car Rental window to secure out Buggy for the Trip. The
Mercury Cougar was just the thing to arrive in Minnesota in style. A/C,
Armrests, Cruise Control, Reclining Seats and most importantly....the
biggest, deepest Trunk known to man & car!
Dubbed Thelma(Sluggy), Louise(Pandi) & The
Blonde(Judi), we were off from Scranton, PA around 9:30
a.m.Southbound on I-81, to Westbound I-80 on the second leg of the journey,
across the breadth of PA.
We made good time so decided to stop for lunch somewhere around Milton, PA.
Judi & Pandi
stretch their legs.
It wasn't long before we got in the door that Louise & The Blonde found some new toys....
Judi soon found new ways to take a smoke with
the help of Jar Jar Binks.
Thanks for the toke Jar Jar!
After a yummy & filling & cheap pizza buffet we were off to cross the rest
of Pennsy. To occupy ourselves, we popped a tape in the player and were
soon cruising to the tunes of Gilbert & Sullivan. Sluggy at the helm belting out Buttercup's aria
while Judi was humming along with the 3 Little
Maids from "the Mikado" and Pandi wincing with
pain and wondering how she had ended up in a car with these two
Non-Metallica Aged Loonies.
Pandi took her turn at the wheel soon enough
and had to keep fending off the advances of her Yoda cup! His long boney
little plastic fingers kept trying to cop a feel sitting on the seat next to
her.
This proved to be quite the source of amusement for Sluggy & Judi, if
not Pandi.
After what seemed like days, we were finally crossing the border waving
goodbye to Pennsy and hello to Ohio. As we apprroached Youngstown, Sluggy pulled out her copy of a phone number of
another friend who we were going to be meeting in Minnesota. This
unsuspecting list member had written Sluggy
that if we happened to be passing through Y'town to look her up. Not
knowing that Thelma, Louise & The Blonde
were "up" for most anything we stopped for gas and Pandi took the number to the pay phone to give our
friend a call at her place a business.
Our friend's sister, Pam , answered the phone. When she shouted across the
room to her sister, Pervie, that it was
somebody named Pandi, Pervie got just a little excited.......Judi & Sluggy heard
her screaming from the car!LOL Pervie
insisted we come to the Beauty Shop to see her before proceeding on our way.
We were instructed to wait where we were and look for a Purple car. So there we stood, on the corner in
beauteous downtown Youngstown, Ohio looking like three demented Hookers.
We figured we could handle spotting a Purple car, even in our tired states. Piece of cake, right?
Did you know that the ratio of Purple
to non-purple cars in Youngstown, Ohio is
substantially above the average of the ratio in the rest of the World? Yes
indeed, every 5th car tooling past us was Purple. We agreed that there must be some regional Purple Cult in this part of Ohio or there was a
big sale in Youngstown on Purple cars at
every car dealer in town or there was a city ordinance of some kind
declaring that there must be a minimum quota of Purple vehicles registered per household.
After about the 26th Purple car whizzed past
in the span of 10 minutes we went quite daft and the Hi Jinx started kicking
in again. Soon our Swirly mascot was on the roof & I got Louise & The Blonde on
film....
"Keep your hands of my Swirly woman!"
Finally, one Purple car peeled off from
traffic and headed straight at us into the Gas Station Parking Lot. It was
Pervie's sis, Pam, and we piled into the
Cougar and followed her up the road to our next adventure on the trip.
Face to Face with that woman of Mystery-PERVIE
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Denise Bowman-Arcure
Last Updated 9-5-99
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