Breaker Whiskey

[TRANSCRIPT] [click, static] Breaker, breaker, this is WAR1974 calling out from Route 36, heading South. Don’t worry, I’m not going to Denver. I’ll drive right past but…I assume that’s okay? You still haven’t told me anything about why I should avoid it, so— [click, static] I think—I think my last transmission probably cut off. I was in the hotel, in that room, Room 217, talking on the CB somehow...

[TRANSCRIPT] [click, static] So I…I followed the feeling this morning. Somehow, I managed to fall back asleep last night. I didn’t sleep well—I don’t remember any of my dreams, but I think they were nightmares. They must have been. Because I woke up and that feeling wasn’t gone. That feeling of dread. Of something standing, just off to the side. And it still doesn’t feel like mine which—that doesn...

[TRANSCRIPT] [click, static] (heavy breathing) [click, static] (whispering) I don’t know what’s wrong with me. But I…I woke up a few minutes ago, heart pounding. I don’t know why. [click, static] There’s nothing…wrong. I looked out the window, there’s no figure in the trees, the door is locked, the entire hotel is empty, I checked. I wanted to be sure that there weren’t any wild animals that had g...

[TRANSCRIPT] [click, static] I feel like I can breathe again. I’m in Estes Park, a beautiful little…resort town? I don’t know, it seems like a place the fancy muckety-mucks would come to. It’s tucked in the mountains, but not so far that I’m worried about Donner Party-ing it. There’s a gorgeous lake and a cute little downtown and this stunning great white building overlooking the whole place. The...

[TRANSCRIPT] [click, static] I barely slept last night, thanks to you. I know you’re probably thinking, “yeah, Whiskey, you idiot, you slept in your car in October in the middle of Colorado, of course you didn’t fucking sleep”. And sure, I was a little cold, but I’ve got thermals. Mostly it’s the—you don’t realize it. Just how unnerving open spaces are until you’re in them. It should be better, ri...

[TRANSCRIPT] [click, static] What does that mean? [click, static] Birdie, I’m serious, if you’re listening to this right now, tell me what that means. [click, static] “Stay out of Denver”? That’s all? You knew I was headed to Colorado, why didn’t you tell me before now? [click, static] Is this a prank? Is that what you’re doing? Trying to pull some kind of sick joke? Because I’m going to be furiou...

[TRANSCRIPT] [click, static] Lost Springs, Wyoming. The smallest town in America. I don’t know if that’s actually true. I passed a little rundown sign outside of Cheyenne advertising it—or, I guess not advertising it. Proudly proclaiming it. There’s nothing really to advertise. According to the sign at the town’s edge, the population of Lost Springs is five. As far as I’ve been able to tell, the p...

[TRANSCRIPT] Hey Birdie I— (yawning) [click, static] Man, I guess it’s been a while since I slept in a really good bed because I found a motel last night and I knocked out like the dead dead. And I am feeling better—less like roadkill (yawning) and more like a person who might even consider hiking again someday. [click, static] I, uh—I got your message. I think maybe you started broadcasting it la...

[TRANSCRIPT] [click, static] I am getting fucking old. Between sleeping on the ground for a week and all the driving…I am feeling it in my back. I never really thought about how much exercise I was getting in just the daily upkeep of the house and everything in it, but now that I’ve gone several months with little physical activity beyond driving and walking around a little, I am feeling the last...

[TRANSCRIPT] [click, static] Hey Birdie. Officially on I-25 and on my way out of Wyoming. I doubt the whole state is a dead zone, but…I don’t know, I guess I’m getting a little superstitious. I’m sorry I was MIA for so long. I thought…I don’t know, I thought it would be good for me, to get out of the car and sleep under the stars, spend some time in nature. And it was nice, it was, but I still— [c...

[TRANSCRIPT] [click, static] [beeps] [click, static] Birdie?? [click, static] Birdie? Are you still there? [click, static] Birdie? Dammit. [click, static] I think I’m in some kind of dead spot still—goddammit— [click, static] (deep breath) Okay, okay, sorry. I’m—I’m here. 
I don’t know how long you’ve been sending this message and I’m not even positive I got all of it, because it keeps going in an...

[TRANSCRIPT] [click, static] Hey Birdie.  I think—I think I need to get out of this park. Out of Wyoming. I still don’t understand how the hell you’ve been managing to reach me this whole time, no matter where I’ve been, but I feel like maybe— [click, static] Huh. Well, actually, I’m realizing that I’m not even sure you’ve been reaching me wherever I am. For all I know, you’ve been sending message...

[TRANSCRIPT] [click, static] (out of breath) Oh my god, oh my god— [click, static] You will never believe what I just saw.  [click, static] But, go on, guess.  [click, static] Okay, yeah, I figured you wouldn’t. A moose! I saw a goddamn moose!  [click, static] Thank god it didn’t see me, because I’ve heard those things can run fast. But it was just…I mean, it was huge. I thought I knew how big moo...

[TRANSCRIPT] [click, static] [stray morse beeps] [click] Birdie??? Birdie, are you there? [click, static] Birdie.  Do you read? [click, static] Goddammit.  I could have sworn that I heard… [click, static] I was tuning through the channels and there were beeps that sounded like you. Like you were trying to send something.  [click, static] (sighs) Maybe I’m imagining things. Wanting to hear from you...

[TRANSCRIPT] [click, static] (yawn) Good morning, Birdie.  [click, static] Sorry—good morning, Birdie.  Man, sleeping in my car is not as tolerable after sleeping in a comfortable sleeping bag on the ground for a few nights. Not that sleeping on the ground is all that comfy, but at least I could stretch out.  I’m headed back out to where I made camp in a bit—I really just wanted to come and grab s...

[TRANSCRIPT] [click, static] Hey, Birdie. [click, static] It is really goddamn late. And goddamned dark. I wanted to wait for the worst of the heat of the day to pass before hiking back to the car, but I think I miscalculated, because I’ve been hiking in the dark for way too long. Not that it’s been so hot here, but the sun is strong. All that big sky, I guess. The sun is strong and my skin is pal...

[TRANSCRIPT] [static] (morse code, tuning radio, radio snippets, sonic chaos)  (a voice tries to break through) [static] See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

[TRANSCRIPT] [click, static] Breaker, breaker, this is WAR1974, talking to even more of no one than before, because I am deep in the Wyoming wilderness. I mean, most of Wyoming is wilderness. But I’m intentionally heading off the well beaten path onto the road less traveled. I raided a camping store in Jackson—the whole town was untouched. Pristine, almost, if you ignored how overgrown the streets...

[TRANSCRIPT] [click, static] So if you’ve got a question, send it on over. I’m bored . I’m stopped right now, eating some dinner, and—well, if I thought That’s not fair to Colorado—I don’t know that there’s any purpose in comparing the two. Wyoming is just...its even more untouched by... anything. It’s empty in the same way the rest of the country is empty, except it doesn’t feel so hopeless here....

[TRANSCRIPT] Another gas station today, right over the border in Wyoming and they had this tiny little buffalo toy at the counter. He’s sitting on my dashboard now, watching over the road as I drive. Maybe I’m overthinking it. [click, static] [click, static] You know, he’d talk to the farmer for a while, ask them what their speciality was, if there was a jam they liked best, or if they had any fru...

[TRANSCRIPT] [click, static] Breaker, breaker, this is Whiskey Alpha Romeo, staring at the Rocky Mountains. [click, static] Colorado is...it’s beautiful . I don’t know what I expected, but somehow the mountains are even larger than I ever thought they would be. They just... loom over everything. And yet, the sky is still so huge . I didn’t know the sky could be this big. I can’t quite explain it,...

Please visit  breakerwhiskey.com  for more information or to send a message to Whiskey's radio. Breaker Whiskey is an Atypical Artists production created by Lauren Shippen. If you'd like to support the show, please visit  patreon.com/breakerwhiskey.  As a patron, you will also receive each week's episodes as one longer episode every Monday. ------ [TRANSCRIPT] [click, static] I’ve been trying to t...

Please visit  breakerwhiskey.com  for more information or to send a message to Whiskey's radio. Breaker Whiskey is an Atypical Artists production created by Lauren Shippen. If you'd like to support the show, please visit  patreon.com/breakerwhiskey.  As a patron, you will also receive each week's episodes as one longer episode every Monday. ------ [TRANSCRIPT] [click, static] I stopped in at a gas...

Please visit  breakerwhiskey.com  for more information or to send a message to Whiskey's radio. Breaker Whiskey is an Atypical Artists production created by Lauren Shippen. If you'd like to support the show, please visit  patreon.com/breakerwhiskey.  As a patron, you will also receive each week's episodes as one longer episode every Monday. ------ [TRANSCRIPT] [click, static] [beeps] [click, stati...

Please visit  breakerwhiskey.com  for more information or to send a message to Whiskey's radio. Breaker Whiskey is an Atypical Artists production created by Lauren Shippen. If you'd like to support the show, please visit  patreon.com/breakerwhiskey.  As a patron, you will also receive each week's episodes as one longer episode every Monday. ------ [TRANSCRIPT] [click, static] Breaker, breaker, thi...