The Dirty Yeti Beach Party Days 5 and 6.

Kanaka filled the darkened doorway, tracking sand and high desert snow behind him.

Kanaka smokes too much.

“They travel on the back of a great brown Yeti.”

A For Real Yeti

Kanaka was a tall man with sun scorched and brown skin. He made his living taking foreigners through his native mountain pass. He carefully peeled off his great goat skin boots, and shrugged off a cape of different animal hides.

Both men knew Kanaka, and gave a very slight bow in respectful greeting.

“What do you know of these two, mate?” Jack asked.

“I know they ride their great beast across mountain and plain, crushing cities. People gather in multitudes to see them.”

We left Austin’s in the afternoon, and streamed out onto the flat Midwestern highways. Shatner once again got us a room that would normally be way beyond our reach. In a few hours we had crossed the space from Illinois, through Wisconsin, and into Minnesota. Along the way we spotted frozen lakes, the Black Hills, and many truck stops.

Once we were in our room, we prepared to torture ourselves in the hotel gym for a while. We were, however, rewarded with a fine dinner of salad and wine from our local grocery store. I dozed while Blythe did computer work and the cable TV murmured in the background.

We woke early to eat some breakfast. Blythe went to the gym again while I took a look at what the city had to offer. Of course our first choice, if you know us at all, is the great consumer monstrosity known as the Mall of America. We pack out of our room and headed over. We were treated to such sights as enormous Lego statues, indoor roller coasters, and stores full of things no one would ever need. We ate, drank, people watched, and even caught a movie. Then we killed a guy and hid him in a forgotten janitor closet. If you're a local, see if you can guess which one. We named him Waldo.

 

Later we walked the city. We were both thoroughly impressed by the architecture of the city. We shuffled along the icy sidewalks while marveling at flying skyways and a great glass library. Soon we settled in the bar with some food and a few beers while we waited for Peter and the Twins.

Peter and Andy showed up with a crew in tow. They were ready to play, so we all set up quickly and prepared to rock the room. Peter and Andy opened with some of their original tunes, Peter on guitar and Andy on cajon. We followed up with a quick and tight set. The crowd was appreciative, but not crazy. People bought shirts. At the end of the night we streamed out to the suburbs to have some drinks and chat.

Many shots of whiskey and sake later, we somehow ended up in a comfortable bed. Before we knew it, the sun rose over a snowy landscape. We snuck out of the house and were on the highway in minutes.

Aberdeen SD lay before us. The Red Rooster Coffeehouse was to be our host for he evening. Our route took us on a long state road to the little town. The road wound around tiny lakeside towns and grain mills. In the afternoon we pulled up to The Red Rooster, which was situated in a prominent storefront in the downtown area.

 

The interior was lined with used books and local crafts for sale. We ate sandwiches and worked on the computers while we watched locals come in and catch up on the holidays with each other. A gaggle of dramatic teenagers sat together and complained about their lives, and a meeting of mentally challenged people assembled to decide where they could gather to discuss the role of religion in their lives. Local musicians sat together and discussed what new bands were playing in Minneapolis and whether or not they could organize a road trip. The Red Rooster is Aberdeen’s great equalizer. People of every kind came in to meet.

A trio of locals called Elder opened up with acoustic arrangements of broad ballads. Afterwards we set up quickly and slammed through and hour long set. The crowd was mostly apathetic, but a few people came up to talk and buy some merch. Dan, owner and operator, complimented our show and offered us a bed for the evening.

At Dan’s house we sat up and chatted about travel and art and such. Before long we laid down and dreamt of our coming two day drive across the Dakotas and Montana.

“These two are surely a menace!” Sir Kent exclaimed.

“Oh, I don’t know, mate,” said Jack, “Seems to me they’re just two more travelers, carving their living out of the landscape.”

 “What is this Yeti you’re talking about?” I asked Kanaka.

“They travel on the back of a great dirty beast that climbs mountains in a step.” Kanaka said solemnly.

“What manner of beast could that be?” asked Sir Kent. “There’s hardly a creature not known to man already.”

Next Week… Dakota, Montana, and Spokane.