The drier is broken. So we're heading into day 6 without the ability to dry any of the clothes that we wash here at Sobingro. Of course that means nothing is being washed and when the drier is repaired (tomorrow I hope), there will be a mad rush to the laundry room to see which roommate will use the wonderful combination of washer & drier, as opposed to ending up with a soaking pile of clothes.
And this begs the question -- it's about 90 degrees outside this week. Sun's blazing overhead for a good chunk of the clock, and yet no one here thought to wash their clothes and hang them out to dry?
The sad answer to that question is a resounding "no".
This got me to think about life back before our age of automation. And then, coincidentally, John starts talking about how he found the Oregon Trail game online -- you, know the one from the 80s that some played at school on the really old Macs?
Here's a schnifty screen shot:
So after John's adventures on the trail (which seemed to have resulted in multiple casualties), I decided to try my hand at leading us West. Here is our adventure (in more detail than you probably want):May 1, 1848 -- As a carpenter from Ohio, I decided to head west. I only had room for four people, so I invited Mary to join me. Then I had to bring John since he introduced me to the idea of the trail. Mike was invited and then Laila suddenly realized a road trip was forming and she took the 5th spot.
May 11 - Severe storms are slamming the plains. We're going to make camp tonight. I think this will set us back a day, hopefully no more.
May 18 - I blame myself. Mary has broken her arm. She tripped climbing out of the wagon -- she was carrying some water and one of her books and I should've offered to hold something for her. Laila keeps telling me there was nothing anyone could do, but I still feel like if I'd just looked up from the maps a second earlier, I might have been able to at least catch her. It's not too serious, we hope. We'll be at the next fort soon.
May 19 - Arrived today at some Fort. Sad that I don't know. Didn't pay any attention on the way in and don't want to look like a banker or something by askin' now. Doesn't matter -- we're staying here two days while Mary's tended to by a doctor. Says she'll mend, but that the trip might be too much with that arm. She said she'll be fine. If we stop, we'll won't make it to Oregon by the Winter and we can't risk hitting the Blue Mountains so late. Two days is all we can spare.
May 25 - Another week. Up until today, things were going smoothly. The we hit some rough trail and one of the oxen is injured. He'll live, but he's slowing us down.
May 31 - Damn it. We're all blaming each other, me, Mike, and John, but whoever's fault it is doesn't matter. We took the wrong trail - lost four days. We're back on course now -- should be at Chimney Rock in a week.
June 5 - Chimney Rock. Ahead of schedule. It's somethin' allright. Food's going quick, but we brought more than our share and we're still stocked on ammunition for hunting. Not too concerned yet.
June 12 - Arrived at Fort Laramie. Took a rest and enjoyed a day around some type of civilization. It's been a cool summer thus far.
July 14 - The last month had been pretty uneventful up until about a week ago. Now it's just going to Hell. The wagon isn't speaking -- we're not speaking. We got lost again and I was blamed and there were words. Five days it cost us. That's a lot of rations we'll need later on and the stress is starting to take a toll. We're worried that Mary has Cholera. Laila's trying to convince us that she's just tired, but -- it's starting.
August 7 - Mary's weak, but feeling better. But now we've been hit again -- this time it's Mike. He's got Typhoid. Looks like the devil. We're stopped anyway -- some of the oxen wandered off. John's a mess over it -- he was watchin' 'em...I don't want to get into it.
August 24 - The last couple of weeks haven't seen improvement. Mike has measles now...I fear the worst for him. We're doing what we can. Hope to reach a town or a fort soon. Lost one of the oxen -- didn't wander off, not this time. Died. It was the injured one. Lasted as long as he could, but the wound was infected and...wasn't pretty.
August 27 - We've reached another Fort. Gonna rest a few days. We shouldn't. We're not even close, but we need to stop. Mike's seen the doctor -- says it's a miracle he's survived. Mary still seems a little weak, but she's doing so well.
September 24 - September just hasn't been our month. After the rest at the last Fort we lost five days when we took an impassible trail. That was my mistake. The next one was John's -- took another wrong Trail - lost four more days. Our food is running low. I don't want to deprive anyone as we need the strength, but soon we won't have much. Hoping the hunting up ahead yields more than rabbits. We're coming up to the Snake River in about a week. If we don't get ourselves lost into oblivion.
October 3 - After two days of resting and hunting at Snake River, we tried to caulk the wagon and float across -- don't know why we always thing that'll work. We tipped, almost lost everything. I guess we should be happy that no one was hurt and that we only lost our spare wheels, tongues, and an axle -- oh, and 66 pounds of food. It was a shit day.
October 9 - A better day. Stopped to hunt and came back with 100 pounds of food. Took down a bear and a buck, but couldn't carry everything. Should've brought John out with me. Mike wanted to hunt, but he's still comin' back from his illnesses. Probably the next time, he'll head out to hunt. He's a good shot. I got lucky today, but I'm noticin' that luck's not par for this journey.
October 15 - We've made it to Fort Boise. This week was rougher than some. Heavy fogs slowed us a bit and Mary has exhaustion. Keeps saying not to worry none, but that don't stop me.
November 9 - If it weren't for Mike's hunting, we'd be starving. We were scraping by with just under a hundred pounds of food left -- rations have been cut down. We're all starving and it makign everyone a little testy. The pace has been rough and with everyone eating as little as possible, we're all reaching our breaking points. But Mike's bringing home enough to eat when we stop, so it's not as bad as could be. Mary has exhaustion again. Decided to rest a day. She didn't want to, but we said we can't keep this pace without food. Water's thinning out too. We've reached the Blue Mountains and as we're heading into October, so we're concerned about Winter on the horizon.
November 19 - Mary has Cholera. I'm convinced. I don't care what the others say -- we're losing her. She's been through Hell on this journey. I promised her we'll get her to a doctor when we get to Wiliamette Valley -- we're close. A week maybe and we'll get to help.
November 20 - Son of a BITCH! A theif made off with 71 pounds of our food last night. We'd stopped and I don't know how we missed him, but this morning we woke up and Laila started yellin' for help -- we though maybe somethin' was attackin' her, but it was the food. No good bandit takes what little we got. Why didn't he just slit our gullets open and spill our suppers while he was at it?
November 23 - Winter has set in up here in the North. Perhaps April would have been a better time to go. We've lost so much time on this trip and now this blizzard has set us back another day. The Dalles is close. We're almost done. But it's cold. The oxen are freezing. Thankfully we brough extra clothes, so we've got that to help keep us warm. Mary's quieter. Laila's sittin' by her, keepin' her talkin'. We're almost there.
November 24 - She's gone. Mary, our sweet angel has left us. She never fully recovered from breaking her arm back in May and after that it was all we could do to keep her going. We had a small service for her. Laila carries the good book, so she said a few words. John didn't say much -- I tried. Stopped just long enough to do what we had to and then we decided not to rest any longer -- as she would have wanted us to keep going and not mourn her for too long. We will remember her always.
November 26 - Yesterday brought us something, a little hope and smile and the night brought us pain -- first it was an abandoned wagon with some supplies. Not much, but the extra clothes will help as the cold sets in and if we need any repairs along the way. But then last night another theif stole almost 100 pounds of food. We're down to scraps. John thinks the abandoned wagon was a diversion. Maybe it was. Doesn't matter. We'll reach the Dalles tomorrow and be in the valley soon.
November 27. 1848 - We've reached the Williamette Valley. This journey was rough and what we lost along the way can't be recovered. I only hope those who follow us will fair better.
----------->
So that was that. This game is addicting. I'm gonna take another trip across the country and see if I can't get everyone safely there next time.... look for those adventures soon.
i remember that game! sounds like you had a journey! had me laughin' cryin' prayin' hopin'. glad ya'll made it!
ReplyDeleteI'm just glad we didn't try bringing that couch! It would have been real tough crossing the Dalles with THAT in our wagon.
ReplyDelete...But, on the other hand, at least we know how we'd lift it into the cart.
Jeremy, I am cracking up! I know this is an old post but I was JUST playing this game here at work! Er...well, it's Friday.
ReplyDeleteI also had John in my wagon but he died because we were so low on food. (But actually, I fed him peanuts cleverly hid in his gruel so there would be more food for the rest of the wagon.)
-Emily