SPN Facts Help please

[druffine]

I need help with a fic. *hides in shame* The plot bunny is an especially threatening one. I swear.

So I want Dean to collect Sam from Stanford and go with him to Bobby's to check something. They're not in a life-depends-on-it-hurry but going there directly. How long would it take them? And a motel break along the way would be good - where? Is there something remarkable on the way?

I'm sorry if I stepped on someone's toes. There's just this big ocean between Europe and America that keeps me from finding out myself... and ah, yes, the lack of money on my bank account.

Thanks in advance!

Comments

[strangevisitor7.livejournal.com]

Bobby is from Deadwood SD - A shout out to the actor's time on the show Deadwood. It is about 20 hours from Stanford to western SD. Hope that helps.

As for stuff on the way - large empty plains of nothing and mountains. Really wide open spaces. If you want a pit stop just use generic small town

[druffine.livejournal.com]

Hey, thank you.

I looked into Super-Wiki and it told me Sioux County, SD, which I couldn't find at Googlemaps... is that rather the region he lives in then?

Okay, I guess I sound like a complete moron, thinking all the locations might be real. *rollseyes*

[strangevisitor7.livejournal.com]

No I understand - Where are you exactly?

Deadwood is a real town in western SD. Like I said - i don't think the producers expected Bobby to be the widely accepted recuring character when they decided to have him live there.

SD is one of the least populated states and yet one of the bigger ones.

I am happy to answer any of your questions about things in the states. happy to help!

[druffine.livejournal.com]

I'm here in Germany. State is Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and the city I live in is Schwerin.


Größere Kartenansicht

Thanks for your offer to help!!

BTW You've got a GREAT icon. I knew this phrase was going to be icon material upon hearing Bobby saying it in the show.

[tabaqui]

*waves*
There's a Sioux County in Nebraska, but not in South Dakota, heh. The license plate on Bobby's truck is from Lawrence county and yes, Deadwood is a city in Lawrence, even though in no episode does it say *where* Bobby lives, exactly.

Easiest way to do this would be to start here: http://www.mapquest.com/
The second box says 'directions'. Put your starting place - Stanford, CA - in the first box and your ending place - Deadwood, SD or whatever city you choose, in the second and hit 'get directions'. You'll get a detailed list of how to get from one place to the next, like this:

7:Merge onto US-101 N toward SAN FRANCISCO. 9.9 miles

8:Keep RIGHT to take I-80 E via EXIT 433B toward BAY BRIDGE / OAKLAND / SEVENTH ST / US-101 N (Portions toll) (Passing through NEVADA- then crossing into UTAH). 736.6 miles

9:Merge onto I-80 E via EXIT 304 toward CHEYENNE (Crossing into WYOMING). 290.4 miles

You can see at the end it tells you how long you'll be on any one highway or road or whatever. Also, scrolling down further gets you a map of the route which you can see zoomed out, or zoom in closer to get city/town names along the way. From canon we know that Dean drives over the speed limit a lot, so he'd probably make about 100 miles in a little over an hour, depending on the weather and traffic. Driving at night there's obviously less traffic. They could either marathon a trip like that, only stopping for gas/bathroom/switch drivers, or they could make it take a couple days, totally up to you.

And if you want to see what the land looks like, just put in state names into google and then click on 'images' - you'll get a lot of pictures that'll give you the general idea, and most cities bigger than a few hundred people have rudimentary online websites that will also give you images.

Good luck! Hope i helped!
:)

And hey, why 'shame'? I've asked all kinds of people for information when i'm writing - it's what you do!
*hugs*

[druffine.livejournal.com]

LOL! Forgive me that I'm giggling. I know how to use mapquest or other services like that. Googlemaps works just the same. My problem was that I couldn't figure out an ending place since "Sioux County, SD" (according to super-wiki )didn't exist. Now I know it's Deadwood, I've got an ending point to put in. *grins*

The idea to google states/cities for pics is so simple but effectiv - I've never thought of it before. Thanks for that hint!

Btw they're not going with the Impala and Dean's not driving. Oh it's not the fic you read the beginning of. *grins*

The distance between Stanford and Deadwood is just right - I need them to have one motel stop on the way.

[tabaqui]

Oh, sorry! You just never know if people know how to do stuff - didn't mean to imply you were a dumb bunny! :)

I use google and the 'images' filter a lot, mostly just to get a feel for places. I hate writing about a city or a stretch of land and not really having *any* clue what it looks like. A few photos and you're totally in the groove, especially if you're just doing a 'passing through' so you know weather to say 'rocky' or 'hilly' or 'wooded' or whatever. Very handy.

Glad i could help a little! :)

*waits for fic*

[druffine.livejournal.com]

LOL - don't worry about it. It's just that American often seem to thing we're still living in caves over here. It's funny.

Now, I'm looking forward to google for pics and find nice descriptions. *grins*

Fic will take some more time, though.

Do you use "though" and "upon"?

[tabaqui]

Oh, i know you *have* google, etc, but just don't know if you ever *use* it like that. And i've met any number of Americans who don't have a clue, so, you know...never assume!
:)

'though' and 'upon'? What? I use both of them, but 'upon' not so much. And 'upon' probably never in casual conversation.

[druffine.livejournal.com]

Oh I'm just stumbling around in the English language again. *grins*

I thought maybe 'though' an 'upon' might be British or old English you don't usually use.

[tabaqui]

I do use though, not like - constantly but it certainly wouldn't jar me. 'Upon', though *:)* is a bit archaic and in its place, most of us over here would just use 'on'. Like 'the cat jumped up on the bed' rather than 'the cat jumped upon the bed'. It just has a more formal sound to it.

[druffine.livejournal.com]

Ah, thank you for clearing that up for me.

I've got these 2 in about 10.000 words:

~ "Where's the Impala?" Sam squeaks panicked upon not seeing the car nearby.

~ "Sam? Are you home?" Despite all the worry Sam smiles upon hearing Jess call out for him.

Is that okay? I just can't think about saying it in another way without forming really complicated sentence structures.

*edited to fix converting mistakes

[tabaqui]

Hrmmmmm, okay. The second one, the more natural structure over here would be: Despite all the worry, Same smiles when he hears Jess call out for him.

And the other...
'Sam squeaks, panicked when he doesn't see the car nearby'.

That would also be more natural. 'Upon' just isn't a big part of our vocabulary.

[druffine.livejournal.com]

LOL - YOU are my hero.

Thanks just again for your help. I'll better leave "upon" alone in the future. I could decide on writing a fairy tale, though. "Once upon a time..." *laughs* Pretty unlikely.

[tabaqui]

Hehe. Yeah, upon just doesn't work well.
Of course then we have the slang 'uponz', that people use when someone is right up in your face, underfoot. We use it when, for instance, we're eating and Haji the cat is *rightthere* because OMG, we have food, gimme! and he sticks his paw in your plate.
Then it's 'Jesus, Haji, do you have to be all uponz?'

*cough*
Not really for everyday use.
:)

[druffine.livejournal.com]

You're not only my hero - I lurve you too because you've perfected the vulcano babbling which makes me feel like a train ran through my head at high speed and tears are spilling down my cheek from giggling too hard.

I'd love to have you all uponz me all the time. *wickedgrin*

[tabaqui]

Heeeeeee!
*smoooch*
Any time, bay-bee, any time.
*twirls you*

[(Anonymous)]

These are easy. You can just use, "at," instead of, "upon."

You should add some commas though. #1 Same squeaks [comma] and #2 Despite all the worry [comma].

If you don't like, "at," you can restructure the sentences a bit and use, "when."
#1 "...Sam squeaks panicked upon not seeing the car nearby," can be changed to, "...Sam squeaks, panicking when he doesn't see the car nearby."
#2 "Despite all the worry Sam smiles upon hearing Jess call out for him," can be changed to, "Despite all the worry, Sam smiles when he hears Jess call out for him."

Your easiest fixes would just be an exact swap of, "at," for, "upon." You won't need to rewrite anything.

Tues (I had trouble logging in).