Michigan: Route Survey - Day 3

Awoke early to a breakfast of toast and tea at the hostel. Group heads out and we make our first stop at Dick Smith's electronics to grab an inverter (one of the key pieces of equipment stuck in customs) and some miscellaneous other electronic bits. We then go to Flinders camping to meet Roscoe Shelton, a longtime Australian friend of the team. Roscoe treats us to coffee, gives us our bearings a bit on the Stuart Highway ("The Track"), and kindly asks "what happened on the gridiron on Saturday?". I had hoped we'd gotten far enough away from Ann Arbor to escape that, but it's a small world these days. Roscoe sends us off with some good advice and a pair of two person tents for the trip. Next stop is at the shop of Bob Allan, another longtime contributor to the team and weather / communications equipment guru. We unpack a bit of our excess luggage, get some more sage advice, and get in touch with Chris Selwood, director of the WSC. He agrees to meet us back at Roscoe's to deliver the official route book, which has just arrived hot of the press. After a brief lunch at McDonald's (which is basically the same here, although they do offer a burger with egg), we stop back at Roscoe's to pick up the book. I should note that Roscoe, Bob, and Chris are all fine chaps with many good stories, so this process actually took somewhere around 5 hours all told. With all that settled, we booted up the computer and began the official route survey in Victoria Square in the heart of downtown Adelaide.

We drove north until about 10 PM, with a stop at the Big W and also Woolworth's in Port Augusta (the last WSC control stop) for supplies (lunchmeat, bread, PBJ, water, a cooler, a shovel, TP, etc.). We stop in the pitch dark (the stars are clouded over) at a barren little rest pull-off just north of Pimba. Mike and Dave can't take the cold (it's below 12 C) and sleep in the car (an arrangement which will continue throughout the trip). Nate and I brave the gale force winds and tie the tent to the car to keep it from blowing away. Lightning flashes ominously in the distance.

--Garrick Williams