Afterglow RFT VIII: Before It's Too Late

Afterglow RFT VIII: Before It's Too Late - Day 3

After waiting for the Walmart people to get a new tire put on my car, I fueled up my car and myself for the drive home. At the gas station I bought candy cigarettes and played the coin shelf game. There was a Dairy Queen next door and I was surprised to find Dinosaurs hanging out in the parking lot. They were hungry, so I offered them my Blizzard and double cheeseburger as an alternative to my flesh, and they complied... for now. With them distracted by me DQ'ing something different with this good food at a very affordable price, I needed to leave before they noticed me.

There were toads of various sizes lurking in the bushes. I restrained myself from interacting with them. I was all out of food, drink and ice cream, so I had nothing to offer them in case of an attack.

It was about a 2 hour drive from LEOPOLIS/pella back to my home. From the pictures (and the fact that I am currently alive) I can assume two things - it was "warm" enough for me to keep the top down and that I made it home without any further incidents. All of the RFT Afterglow adventures have been mini trips compared to the main one in July, but this one seemed shorter than most. The amount of time I spend up there doesn't matter as much as what I do with that time. You can be the judge now after seeing it, but I'd like to think that I did good this time.

There were plenty of Dinosaurs that were hungry but only one that appeared to be thirsty. So to distract the Pterodactyl, I gave her a sip of my soda. Small price to pay to save one's life. And I'd do it again.

There were also some turtles hanging out by this roadside eatery, but they didn't pose a threat. This was a welcome change from the other creatures present because I was all out of food and had no way to distract them. So I sat and watched as they slowly went about their way.

The is a town in Wisconsin called Leopolis. Well, I'm not sure that it is even a town. With a population of 87 (according to the 2010 Census), it is more like a unincorporated census-designated place. It is about halfway between Wausau and Green Bay off of Highway 29. I have no idea how we found out about it or became obsessed with it. But before you think we are into small town life, our LEOPOLIS is a place where everyone shouts what they say at all times and ALL WRITTEN COMMUNICATION IS IN ALL CAPS TO SIMULATE THE SHOUTING!!!! On my ride home today I would finally drive through LEOPOLIS and see it for myself... and it was nothing like the one we came up with. I saw no people outside, just a few homes, a bar and a watering hole. Even if the people were indoors, I still should have heard them shouting. This was a reminder that nothing will ever live up to the version of it that you create in your imagination. So dream big, but keep your expectations small.

I am not sure who found out about LEOPOLIS, but Jenny, Kevin and I fleshed out the story and keep the memory of it alive. But we also found a nearby town of Pella, which is an actual town this time (the 2010 Census has 877 people living there). Needing a little quiet time away from the shouting of LEOPOLIS, we decided that pella was a place where everyone whispered and excelled at non-verbal communication. Think of it this way - if you want to be heard, use your LEOPOLIS voice. But if you want to keep secrets, use your pella voice. There wasn't much to this place either as I passed by some houses and bar or two. But that doesn't stop pella or LEOPOLIS from being two of the greatest places in the entire World and I for one am glad that I finally got to see them. Now I just need to plan a return trip with Kevin and Jenny so that we can mingle with these laid back country folks, grab a beer at the bar and shout or whisper (depending on what town we are in) and elicit stares from people.

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