Well "Allison and Leah's Awesome Road Trip" is officially over, because I've flown home and Leah is continuing the rest of the road trip as a family road trip with her parents. But I still have a few days I need to catch you up on!
Thursday morning we drove from Maine back down to Massachusetts to get the car seat fixed now that the part was there waiting for us. We met up with Leah's parents at the dealership, and we tried to figure out how to return their rental car. After that, we made our way over to Leah's cousins in Newton. They made dinner for us and we spent the evening talking with them, and planning our day in Boston.
Friday morning, the rental car was dropped off, then we made our way out to Boston. We parked in the lot under the Boston Commons and grabbed a quick breakfast, then walked over to the other side of the park to catch our hop-on/hop-off tour bus. We took the two-hour tour around the town, saw the sights, learned some history. Our tour included a harbor cruise, so we rode a boat out around the harbor, then got back on the tour bus and got off close to the public gardens so we could walk through them. We tried to get lunch in Boston, but instead we got gelato and drove back to Newton and had Italian food there. Then we called it a night and went back to the house.
The next morning, we condensed our luggage so that I could fly home with most of my stuff and an extra suitcase of clothes the family had over-packed. By the time we left Newton, it was around noon because Leah's mom went to temple in the morning. We drove to Salem and walked around the city. It was very interesting, very hokey. With witches and broomsticks everywhere you looked, it was hard to get passed the Salem witch trials despite the fact that the National Parks Services in the area tried not to focus on the witch trails, and tried to focus more on Salem's maritime past. After that, we got an early dinner and then I was dropped off at the airport. We all said good byes, and Leah helped me into the airport then we hugged good bye, and that was the official end of our awesome road trip.
My flight home was long and not too interesting. I started reading Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie in the terminal and finished it during the flight. Then my mom and my brother picked me up at the airport and took me home.
I can't believe I went to 22 states in 24 days, and I can't believe I'm finally home! My bed is the best bed in the country, and nothing compares to California Mexican food.
So in conclusion, Allison and Leah's Awesome Road Trip is over. We visited 22 states in 24 days and we had so much fun along the way!
Thanks for reading! I'm going to go back and edit all of this eventually, so for now, thanks for putting up with all my errors and for the lazy writing style. It's a rough draft!
<3 Allison
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Friday, July 29, 2011
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Day 22: South Portland, ME
We're out of Rockland, MA! Sure, tomorrow we will be back (probably) but for today we are out of Massachusetts, and in Maine.
This morning we woke up, waited for the dealership to call about the part we ordered, and grabbed a quick breakfast, but the dealership never called, so Leah phoned and they said they forgot to order the part, so at about 12, we hopped into the car and headed north to New Hampshire and Maine!
We have officially seen 22 states on this trip (including California and D.C.).
(List of all of the states: California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, D.C., Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine.)
It's crazy! This is about as far away as we can get within the continental US from home! (we could technically drive further north in Maine, but we need to get back to Boston tomorrow afternoon)
We tried to stop for lunch in New Hampshire, but there was no parking and the roads were pretty confusing where we tried to stop, and we were going through such a small part of NH we decided to just continue north to Maine. In Maine we drove up to Old Port Portland where we found Italian food for lunch, then we walked around the city for a bit. After that, we found a hotel in South Portland for the night (very proud of ourselves, we found our hotel around 5 pm, rather than 8 pm as we have the past few nights). We dropped our luggage off at the hotel, then drove to see three of Maine's famous lighthouses. Leah faced her fears of lighthouses, and decided they weren't all that scary. We watched the sun set across the river and I stuck my toes back into the ocean at a cobble stone beach.
After that, we made our way to the hotel, stopping at Sea Dog for some beer. They were having trivia night in the bar area of the restaurant, so we stayed for a little over half of the game. We didn't do amazingly, but we did get quite a few points that we were proud to have earned.
All in all, a wonderful and exciting day!
Tomorrow's plans are to wake up, shower, load up the car, eat breakfast, drive back down to Boston to meet up with Leah's parents in the afternoon. Hopefully during that time, the Toyota dealership will call and let us know what is going on with the part we ordered.
Just a few more days of the trip left! It's so sad. I'll be flying home from Boston on Saturday and Leah will be driving back with her parents.
Good night, <3 Al
After that, we drove back down to
This morning we woke up, waited for the dealership to call about the part we ordered, and grabbed a quick breakfast, but the dealership never called, so Leah phoned and they said they forgot to order the part, so at about 12, we hopped into the car and headed north to New Hampshire and Maine!
We have officially seen 22 states on this trip (including California and D.C.).
(List of all of the states: California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, D.C., Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine.)
It's crazy! This is about as far away as we can get within the continental US from home! (we could technically drive further north in Maine, but we need to get back to Boston tomorrow afternoon)
We tried to stop for lunch in New Hampshire, but there was no parking and the roads were pretty confusing where we tried to stop, and we were going through such a small part of NH we decided to just continue north to Maine. In Maine we drove up to Old Port Portland where we found Italian food for lunch, then we walked around the city for a bit. After that, we found a hotel in South Portland for the night (very proud of ourselves, we found our hotel around 5 pm, rather than 8 pm as we have the past few nights). We dropped our luggage off at the hotel, then drove to see three of Maine's famous lighthouses. Leah faced her fears of lighthouses, and decided they weren't all that scary. We watched the sun set across the river and I stuck my toes back into the ocean at a cobble stone beach.
After that, we made our way to the hotel, stopping at Sea Dog for some beer. They were having trivia night in the bar area of the restaurant, so we stayed for a little over half of the game. We didn't do amazingly, but we did get quite a few points that we were proud to have earned.
All in all, a wonderful and exciting day!
Tomorrow's plans are to wake up, shower, load up the car, eat breakfast, drive back down to Boston to meet up with Leah's parents in the afternoon. Hopefully during that time, the Toyota dealership will call and let us know what is going on with the part we ordered.
Just a few more days of the trip left! It's so sad. I'll be flying home from Boston on Saturday and Leah will be driving back with her parents.
Good night, <3 Al
After that, we drove back down to
Day 21: Rockland, MA
Still haven't moved on from where we are as we wait for the car to get the lumbar motor in the seat fixed (it's a special feature of the car, we were in no danger with that broken as we drove). The dealership ordered the part and now we are just waiting for them to call to confirm that they have it and that we can come in to get it fixed, so we're just waiting in the hotel for now.
Yesterday we got breakfast at a breakfast place in Milton, MA--the main difference between California breakfast and Boston breakfast is the fish, there is tons of fish and lobster in their morning food, it was a little overwhelming that early in the morning. Then we tried to see Harvard, but the parking was terrible, and there was so much construction, we were unable to park the car to walk around. Plus, Boston-area streets are laid out in a very confusing way. After that we drove through MIT and we stopped to walk around for a little bit.
By the time we finished with that, it was almost 2, so we drove to the dealership for our appointment and sat around there for an hour while they looked at the car. After, we found a sports bar with delicious food to soak in some Boston flair, then we found a hotel across the street from the one we stayed in last night.
That's about it <3 Al
Yesterday we got breakfast at a breakfast place in Milton, MA--the main difference between California breakfast and Boston breakfast is the fish, there is tons of fish and lobster in their morning food, it was a little overwhelming that early in the morning. Then we tried to see Harvard, but the parking was terrible, and there was so much construction, we were unable to park the car to walk around. Plus, Boston-area streets are laid out in a very confusing way. After that we drove through MIT and we stopped to walk around for a little bit.
By the time we finished with that, it was almost 2, so we drove to the dealership for our appointment and sat around there for an hour while they looked at the car. After, we found a sports bar with delicious food to soak in some Boston flair, then we found a hotel across the street from the one we stayed in last night.
That's about it <3 Al
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Day 20: Rockland, MA
Sorry for the morning update, I was so tired last night, I went to bed before Leah!
Anyway, we woke up and took the car to get an oil change. They didn't do window repairs there, but they looked at the window and said we were fine for now. After that, we tried to do some sight seeing in Cape Cod, but everything was either closed (Scargo Tower, Ocean Spray Cranberry Tour) or impossibly difficult for us to find that early in the day. We got some coffee and drove up to Plymouth where we saw the Mayflower II and Plymouth Rock, which, after all the downplaying I gave to the rock itself, was actually almost impressive.
Then we drove up to Lexington/Concord to see the Minute Men Historic National Park (or Monument, we can't remember). It was a nice drive/walk, but overall we weren't too enthralled with the history as it was laid out for us to soak in.
After that we sat in the car for a few hours in a parking lot trying to figure out a warranty issue with Leah's dad about the car, the resolve is that we can't go to New Hampshire or Maine until this is fixed, so we are stuck in Boston, which we can't tour until Leah's parents join us.
We stopped at the Cheesecake Factory for a light dinner, and we were surprised to learn that happy hour is illegal in Massachusetts! Instead, they have food discounts for happy hour rather than drink discounts, so we took advantage of that.
We slept in this morning, and now we're going to get breakfast! Bye, <3 Al
Anyway, we woke up and took the car to get an oil change. They didn't do window repairs there, but they looked at the window and said we were fine for now. After that, we tried to do some sight seeing in Cape Cod, but everything was either closed (Scargo Tower, Ocean Spray Cranberry Tour) or impossibly difficult for us to find that early in the day. We got some coffee and drove up to Plymouth where we saw the Mayflower II and Plymouth Rock, which, after all the downplaying I gave to the rock itself, was actually almost impressive.
Then we drove up to Lexington/Concord to see the Minute Men Historic National Park (or Monument, we can't remember). It was a nice drive/walk, but overall we weren't too enthralled with the history as it was laid out for us to soak in.
After that we sat in the car for a few hours in a parking lot trying to figure out a warranty issue with Leah's dad about the car, the resolve is that we can't go to New Hampshire or Maine until this is fixed, so we are stuck in Boston, which we can't tour until Leah's parents join us.
We stopped at the Cheesecake Factory for a light dinner, and we were surprised to learn that happy hour is illegal in Massachusetts! Instead, they have food discounts for happy hour rather than drink discounts, so we took advantage of that.
We slept in this morning, and now we're going to get breakfast! Bye, <3 Al
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Day 19: West Yarmouth, MA (Nantucket, MA)
Today we took a ferry out to Nantucket to spend the day with Leah's friend Michelle!
We started the day with a heavy rainstorm right before breakfast as we took our suitcases to the car. After breakfast, the rain had pretty much stopped, so we felt silly for running into the rain blindly. We next drove to Cape Cod and quickly found parking and ran to the ferry before it left without us. The ferry ride lasted about two hours and we had a nice time drinking coffee and playing a "Draw a map of the U.S. and name the states" game, followed by Leah trying to think of all of the state capitals (we still need to grade that one). Then we docked at Nantucket and found Michelle waiting for us to lead us to her living quarters for the summer. We stayed there for a bit and got a quick tour of the telescope she is working with, and she explained the project she is working on, then we went back to the house to change for the beach.
I was really excited about the beach. The water was warm, but not hot like it was in Myrtle Beach, it was nice. There was a long sand bar that went almost a quarter of a mile out into the water, but Michelle and I stayed on the sand bar the whole time we swam in the water. While we were there, we got to examine Atlantic Ocean sea life when I spotted a large sea snail and found dismembered crabs.
After the sky started to get too cloudy to justify staying at the beach, we walked back to the house. On the way I tripped and fell, scraping my leg up a bit. I'm fine, but I just wanted to show that Leah is not the only clumsy one on our trip. My knees are scratched, and they bled a bit, but I can walk fine, and everything has stopped bleeding for now.
When we got back to the house, we stayed there for the rest of the afternoon catching up with Michelle, because according to her, there isn't much to do on the island that is affordable. One of her roommates made us dinner, then we walked over to a juice bar to get ice cream, then we got back on the ferry and found our hotel that we had made reservations for the night before. Now it is bed time, Leah is climbing into bed, and I am ready to do the same.
Good night! <3 Al
p.s. Tomorrow we explore Cape Cod and Plymouth
We started the day with a heavy rainstorm right before breakfast as we took our suitcases to the car. After breakfast, the rain had pretty much stopped, so we felt silly for running into the rain blindly. We next drove to Cape Cod and quickly found parking and ran to the ferry before it left without us. The ferry ride lasted about two hours and we had a nice time drinking coffee and playing a "Draw a map of the U.S. and name the states" game, followed by Leah trying to think of all of the state capitals (we still need to grade that one). Then we docked at Nantucket and found Michelle waiting for us to lead us to her living quarters for the summer. We stayed there for a bit and got a quick tour of the telescope she is working with, and she explained the project she is working on, then we went back to the house to change for the beach.
I was really excited about the beach. The water was warm, but not hot like it was in Myrtle Beach, it was nice. There was a long sand bar that went almost a quarter of a mile out into the water, but Michelle and I stayed on the sand bar the whole time we swam in the water. While we were there, we got to examine Atlantic Ocean sea life when I spotted a large sea snail and found dismembered crabs.
After the sky started to get too cloudy to justify staying at the beach, we walked back to the house. On the way I tripped and fell, scraping my leg up a bit. I'm fine, but I just wanted to show that Leah is not the only clumsy one on our trip. My knees are scratched, and they bled a bit, but I can walk fine, and everything has stopped bleeding for now.
When we got back to the house, we stayed there for the rest of the afternoon catching up with Michelle, because according to her, there isn't much to do on the island that is affordable. One of her roommates made us dinner, then we walked over to a juice bar to get ice cream, then we got back on the ferry and found our hotel that we had made reservations for the night before. Now it is bed time, Leah is climbing into bed, and I am ready to do the same.
Good night! <3 Al
p.s. Tomorrow we explore Cape Cod and Plymouth
Columbia, SC to Wilmington, NC
The historic Fort Sumter. The first shots of the Civil War!
CANNON
Boone Plantation in Charleston, SC
The ATLANTIC OCEAN!!!!!!!!!!
Evening in North Carolina, no big deal :)
CANNON
Boone Plantation in Charleston, SC
The ATLANTIC OCEAN!!!!!!!!!!
Evening in North Carolina, no big deal :)Saturday, July 23, 2011
Day 18: West Warwick, RI
Well today was pretty uneventful. We woke up pretty late and drove through Yale again and found an Italian bakery to get breakfast at. Then we made our way to Mystic, CT taking the scenic route to avoid stop-and-go traffic. We stopped in Mystic for lunch at a fish market that serves food, then drove up to Rhode Island.
Rhode Island, much smaller than we anticipated! It took us about 30 minutes to drive across the state! As I was saying the whole drive, I could run across RI (if it wasn't for the heat). We stopped in Providence, and walked through Brown University then found a hotel to stay at for the night.
Pretty quiet day, but it was fun. We're currently planning the last week of our trip.
Plan for tomorrow is to visit Michelle in Nantucket!
Good night. <3 Al
Rhode Island, much smaller than we anticipated! It took us about 30 minutes to drive across the state! As I was saying the whole drive, I could run across RI (if it wasn't for the heat). We stopped in Providence, and walked through Brown University then found a hotel to stay at for the night.
Pretty quiet day, but it was fun. We're currently planning the last week of our trip.
Plan for tomorrow is to visit Michelle in Nantucket!
Good night. <3 Al
Friday, July 22, 2011
Day 17: New Haven, CT
We're now in Connecticut, but beyond that, not too much happened today.
We did our laundry in NJ then had a quick lunch, then started driving to CT around 1 and got stuck in almost 4 hours of traffic just to get 90ish miles. We got stuck in Bronx traffic, G. Washington Bridge traffic, and CT I-95 traffic. By the time we arrived in New Haven we were ready to stop driving, so we found a hotel for the night and found dinner at Frank Pepe's Pizzeria where we had their famous White Clam Pizza. It was delicious! Clam, garlic and mozzarella cheese. After that we tried to drive around Yale to see the campus but the sun was setting, so instead we stopped for some ice cream in downtown then made our way back to the hotel for the night.
Tomorrow will be a later start as well, we're moving a bit slower because of the heat. Today it was 108 degrees (not counting humidity) in certain spots, so we're just trying to stay cool. We walked into our hotel room today incredibly thankful that our hotel room has a working air conditioner that will keep us comfortable during the night.
That's all, not too much excitement, but it's still hard to believe we've made it this far in such a short time.
<3 Al
We did our laundry in NJ then had a quick lunch, then started driving to CT around 1 and got stuck in almost 4 hours of traffic just to get 90ish miles. We got stuck in Bronx traffic, G. Washington Bridge traffic, and CT I-95 traffic. By the time we arrived in New Haven we were ready to stop driving, so we found a hotel for the night and found dinner at Frank Pepe's Pizzeria where we had their famous White Clam Pizza. It was delicious! Clam, garlic and mozzarella cheese. After that we tried to drive around Yale to see the campus but the sun was setting, so instead we stopped for some ice cream in downtown then made our way back to the hotel for the night.
Tomorrow will be a later start as well, we're moving a bit slower because of the heat. Today it was 108 degrees (not counting humidity) in certain spots, so we're just trying to stay cool. We walked into our hotel room today incredibly thankful that our hotel room has a working air conditioner that will keep us comfortable during the night.
That's all, not too much excitement, but it's still hard to believe we've made it this far in such a short time.
<3 Al
Day 15 & 16: New York, NY (Highland Park, NJ)
Wow! The past two days have been unbelievable! Wednesday we woke up in Philadelphia and drove through New Jersey to stay with Leah's cousins in Highland Park, NJ. We got to their house around 11 and sat down with them and planned our afternoon in the city. After that, Dan drove us to the train station and we took the train to NY Penn Station where I was immediately overwhelmed by public transportation. Leah, keeping a cool head as usual, found the subway we wanted to take uptown towards Central Park and the Museum of Natural History.
I've wanted to go to the Museum of Natural History since I saw We're Back: A Dinosaur's Story as a little kid. When we got there, we bought our tickets and saw the science behind the world's largest dinosaurs! It was awesome! After that we took a walk through Central Park toward The Met and we had pretzels. As we got into the Met we stopped at the temple, the choir scrolls, and the armor (everything from one of my favorite books). Then we walked up to see the Guggenheim Museum, but it was already closed by the time we got there.
After that we took a bus back down to Penn Station, sight-seeing for $2.50 out of bus windows. We saw all the big sights to see--The Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center, the NY Public Library, etc. Then we rode the train back to Metro Park and we had Leah's cousins drop us off at a park so we could see a performance of the musical Hairspray at the outdoor theater there. The performance was great, we had a lot of fun (neither of us had seen it live). We both got a good number of new bug bites, and we got to go to a local NJ play.
Then we came back to the house and fell asleep! (End of Day 15)
The next morning we had breakfast at the house after showers, then we went to the train station and got some Dunkin Donuts coffee and made our way back to New York. From there, we got on the subway and made our way to the Brooklyn Bridge to buy tickets for a Broadway musical. We were hoping to get tickets to see Anything Goes and we were super excited when we got good orchestra seats for half price! After we got our tickets we walked down to the Staten Island Ferry and road it to Staten Island and back to get a view of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. We didn't have time to go to Ellis Island or go to the Statue, so we took the 25 minute ferry ride so we could still get a good view. Then we walked to another bus to get to Greenwich Village, where we had lunch and walked around. After that we went up to the New York Public Library, then walked to Rockefeller Center, then walked to Columbus Circle. By then it was already 6 pm, so we took a subway to Times Square. From there, we were disappointed to see that Times Square wasn't all that exciting, mostly a giant billboard, but we had a good time looking around.
We stopped for a quick bite to eat, then went to the front of the theater to wait for the doors to open so we could see Anything Goes. Leah was incredibly excited (seeing a show on Broadway has always been one of her dreams) so it was really fun to wait for the doors to open as Leah hyperventilated on the sidewalk. When we got in, we found our seats (which were pretty good, the theater was small, so I doubt there were many bad seats). Sutton Foster played Reno amazingly, and the rest of the cast was great. I had a lot of fun seeing the play. By the time that was done, we took the subway to Penn Station and a train back to New Brunswick, so we made it back to the house around 1:30, then went to sleep.
So far today (Day 17) we've showered, and eaten, and now we are working on figuring out the rest of our trip! We've got about a week left, it's coming to a close fast!
<3 Al
I've wanted to go to the Museum of Natural History since I saw We're Back: A Dinosaur's Story as a little kid. When we got there, we bought our tickets and saw the science behind the world's largest dinosaurs! It was awesome! After that we took a walk through Central Park toward The Met and we had pretzels. As we got into the Met we stopped at the temple, the choir scrolls, and the armor (everything from one of my favorite books). Then we walked up to see the Guggenheim Museum, but it was already closed by the time we got there.
After that we took a bus back down to Penn Station, sight-seeing for $2.50 out of bus windows. We saw all the big sights to see--The Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center, the NY Public Library, etc. Then we rode the train back to Metro Park and we had Leah's cousins drop us off at a park so we could see a performance of the musical Hairspray at the outdoor theater there. The performance was great, we had a lot of fun (neither of us had seen it live). We both got a good number of new bug bites, and we got to go to a local NJ play.
Then we came back to the house and fell asleep! (End of Day 15)
The next morning we had breakfast at the house after showers, then we went to the train station and got some Dunkin Donuts coffee and made our way back to New York. From there, we got on the subway and made our way to the Brooklyn Bridge to buy tickets for a Broadway musical. We were hoping to get tickets to see Anything Goes and we were super excited when we got good orchestra seats for half price! After we got our tickets we walked down to the Staten Island Ferry and road it to Staten Island and back to get a view of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. We didn't have time to go to Ellis Island or go to the Statue, so we took the 25 minute ferry ride so we could still get a good view. Then we walked to another bus to get to Greenwich Village, where we had lunch and walked around. After that we went up to the New York Public Library, then walked to Rockefeller Center, then walked to Columbus Circle. By then it was already 6 pm, so we took a subway to Times Square. From there, we were disappointed to see that Times Square wasn't all that exciting, mostly a giant billboard, but we had a good time looking around.
We stopped for a quick bite to eat, then went to the front of the theater to wait for the doors to open so we could see Anything Goes. Leah was incredibly excited (seeing a show on Broadway has always been one of her dreams) so it was really fun to wait for the doors to open as Leah hyperventilated on the sidewalk. When we got in, we found our seats (which were pretty good, the theater was small, so I doubt there were many bad seats). Sutton Foster played Reno amazingly, and the rest of the cast was great. I had a lot of fun seeing the play. By the time that was done, we took the subway to Penn Station and a train back to New Brunswick, so we made it back to the house around 1:30, then went to sleep.
So far today (Day 17) we've showered, and eaten, and now we are working on figuring out the rest of our trip! We've got about a week left, it's coming to a close fast!
<3 Al
Thursday, July 21, 2011
(Day 16: text update!)
Blog in the morning promise, we just got home and it is almost 2 am! Goodnight
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
(Day 15: text update!)
We had a great day in NYC this afternoon and saw a fun performance of Hairspray at a NJ park. Off to bed!
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Day 14: Philadelphia, PA
Today we spent the day in Philadelphia. We took some friendly advice and decided to take a tour around the city. Thank goodness we did too, because there is so much to see, and the tour guides were all able to give us great advice on how to see as much as we could/wanted to in our single day in the city. We took Philadelphia Trolley Tour/Big Bus Tour which let us take either the trolley or the double decker bus. It was slightly cheaper than Philadelphia Sightseeing Tour, and it offered a relatively easy to use shuttle from our hotel to the start of the tour, along with hop-on/hop-off riding for the day.
The morning started early when the fire alarms went off at 5 am. They turned off after a minute of us shuffling around trying to find shoes. Leah called the front desk and we discovered someone tried to go out an emergency exit, so I went back to sleep. When we finally woke up for the day, we realized the hotel didn't offer free breakfast, so we walked across the street to a Wawa convenience store and grabbed coffee and breakfast sandwiches, then came back to the hotel to figure out the shuttle system. After talking to the lady at the front desk, we figured it out. The shuttle man came to pick us up in our own private trolley and gave us a mini tour of the murals on our way to the visitors center from our hotel. Philadelphia is known as the mural capital because it has so many murals around the city, in an assortment of areas. Apparently, they started painting walls with murals in an attempt to decrease graffiti, and for the most part it has been successful. After that, we were dropped off at the visitors center and one of the tour guides helped us get our tickets for the buses. He then recommended we see the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall as soon as possible because neither had a long line yet.
We then saw walked into the Liberty Bell building, where we learned about the symbolic significance the bell has offered to many different political movements in its time. A quick detour up the road took us to where Benjamin Franklin's press and bindery were, along with his old house (which is really just the foundation of his house) and an old post office (that still works like it did back in the day, except now it takes credit cards!). When we finally got into Independence Hall (okay, it didn't take that long, it just felt like forever because it was already so hot out!) we were taken on a tour of the building by the most disgruntled National Parks worker either of us had ever seen. He made the exciting history of that building feel dull, like a history class you didn't want to take but had to sign up for in order to have enough units for your scholarship--you expected it to be cool, but it wasn't.
Then we hopped onto a double-decker bus and rode around, soaking in the history and sights of the town from the top level, making notes of where we would want to stop on the way back (the first commercially produced ice-cream, yes please!).
Around 1:30 pm we decided it was time for lunch, so we got off at a stop near the "most famous Philly Cheese Steak" restaurant and made our way to food. Leah had her first Cheesesteak, and she liked it. The food was delicious!
After that, we hopped back onto a bus and stayed inside the air conditioned bottom. We made a quick detour to the visitors center gift shop where we bought some post cards, then hopped onto another bus and rode to the public market where we got delicious ice cream. Then we made our way back to the hotel where we spent the remainder of the afternoon trying to stay cool and plan the next few days of our trip (New York here we come!). The A/C in the hotel room was not functioning properly, and after some time we made our way to a restaurant down the block and planned our trip from there. It started pouring rain, but after it let up, we walked down to Ben Franklin Parkway where we ran up the "Rocky Steps" (Rocky Balboa-style) and looked at the skyline from the top of the art museum steps. Then we walked back to the hotel and called the front desk again about the A/C, which appears to be finally fixed!
Tomorrow: New Jersey to stay with more of Leah's family, American Museum of Natural History ;)
The morning started early when the fire alarms went off at 5 am. They turned off after a minute of us shuffling around trying to find shoes. Leah called the front desk and we discovered someone tried to go out an emergency exit, so I went back to sleep. When we finally woke up for the day, we realized the hotel didn't offer free breakfast, so we walked across the street to a Wawa convenience store and grabbed coffee and breakfast sandwiches, then came back to the hotel to figure out the shuttle system. After talking to the lady at the front desk, we figured it out. The shuttle man came to pick us up in our own private trolley and gave us a mini tour of the murals on our way to the visitors center from our hotel. Philadelphia is known as the mural capital because it has so many murals around the city, in an assortment of areas. Apparently, they started painting walls with murals in an attempt to decrease graffiti, and for the most part it has been successful. After that, we were dropped off at the visitors center and one of the tour guides helped us get our tickets for the buses. He then recommended we see the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall as soon as possible because neither had a long line yet.
We then saw walked into the Liberty Bell building, where we learned about the symbolic significance the bell has offered to many different political movements in its time. A quick detour up the road took us to where Benjamin Franklin's press and bindery were, along with his old house (which is really just the foundation of his house) and an old post office (that still works like it did back in the day, except now it takes credit cards!). When we finally got into Independence Hall (okay, it didn't take that long, it just felt like forever because it was already so hot out!) we were taken on a tour of the building by the most disgruntled National Parks worker either of us had ever seen. He made the exciting history of that building feel dull, like a history class you didn't want to take but had to sign up for in order to have enough units for your scholarship--you expected it to be cool, but it wasn't.
Then we hopped onto a double-decker bus and rode around, soaking in the history and sights of the town from the top level, making notes of where we would want to stop on the way back (the first commercially produced ice-cream, yes please!).
Around 1:30 pm we decided it was time for lunch, so we got off at a stop near the "most famous Philly Cheese Steak" restaurant and made our way to food. Leah had her first Cheesesteak, and she liked it. The food was delicious!
After that, we hopped back onto a bus and stayed inside the air conditioned bottom. We made a quick detour to the visitors center gift shop where we bought some post cards, then hopped onto another bus and rode to the public market where we got delicious ice cream. Then we made our way back to the hotel where we spent the remainder of the afternoon trying to stay cool and plan the next few days of our trip (New York here we come!). The A/C in the hotel room was not functioning properly, and after some time we made our way to a restaurant down the block and planned our trip from there. It started pouring rain, but after it let up, we walked down to Ben Franklin Parkway where we ran up the "Rocky Steps" (Rocky Balboa-style) and looked at the skyline from the top of the art museum steps. Then we walked back to the hotel and called the front desk again about the A/C, which appears to be finally fixed!
Tomorrow: New Jersey to stay with more of Leah's family, American Museum of Natural History ;)
Monday, July 18, 2011
Day 13: Philadelphia, PA
We're in Philadelphia!
Today we woke up and made our way to Hershey's World of Chocolate! There we went on a tour/ride of their factory. It was more of a theme park ride than an actual tour, complete with singing cows, but it was fairly informational and fun to go on. After that we went to Hershey's University and got our Masters Degree in Chocolate Tasting! That's right, we're officially Masters. Then we shared a frozen mocha and made our way to Lancaster, PA where we went on a search for quillows (a small quilt that folds up into a pillow) and other fun crafts made by the local Amish community.
Leah wasn't looking for a quillow like I was, but we both ended up buying one for ourselves. After that we drove to Philadelphia and checked into the hotel. We will be at this hotel for two nights! This hasn't happened yet, so I'm very excited.
For dinner we had some bland Chinese food down the street from the hotel: after driving into Philadelphia and getting lost on two roundabouts and one way streets on the two minute drive to the hotel, we decided to walk to dinner.
Now we're trying to find a fun tour to take tomorrow through the town!
<3 Al
Today we woke up and made our way to Hershey's World of Chocolate! There we went on a tour/ride of their factory. It was more of a theme park ride than an actual tour, complete with singing cows, but it was fairly informational and fun to go on. After that we went to Hershey's University and got our Masters Degree in Chocolate Tasting! That's right, we're officially Masters. Then we shared a frozen mocha and made our way to Lancaster, PA where we went on a search for quillows (a small quilt that folds up into a pillow) and other fun crafts made by the local Amish community.
Leah wasn't looking for a quillow like I was, but we both ended up buying one for ourselves. After that we drove to Philadelphia and checked into the hotel. We will be at this hotel for two nights! This hasn't happened yet, so I'm very excited.
For dinner we had some bland Chinese food down the street from the hotel: after driving into Philadelphia and getting lost on two roundabouts and one way streets on the two minute drive to the hotel, we decided to walk to dinner.
Now we're trying to find a fun tour to take tomorrow through the town!
<3 Al
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Day 12: Harrisburg, PA
And so we end another day!
Today we hit two important places to our nation's past: Mount Vernon and Gettysburg.
We woke up at a reasonable hour (8 am!) and said good bye to Lonnie, Erika, and their lovely dog Georgia, and grabbed a morning coffee before driving down to Mount Vernon.
Mount Vernon, if you didn't know, is where George Washington lived! It's his estate, and now it's carefully guarded by homeland security, which is cool, because we weren't planning on causing any trouble. At Mount Vernon we viewed Washington's slaves' houses, the gardens, inside the mansion, and Washington's tomb. It was a nice warm, almost hot, day and we walked around the grounds and enjoyed the nice breeze off the Potomac. While we were there, we stopped inside the museum and saw Washington's infamous dentures, which aren't made of wood at all! We also learned that Washington was a pretty frugal guy, because he put a stone facade on his mansion that isn't stone at all, it's made of wood and sand! We had a lot of fun there.
After that, we stopped at Taco Bell for a quick lunch and tried to drive through Arlington Cemetery, but when we realized we couldn't do that, and we would have to pay for parking, and that we had already spent too long at Mount Vernon, we moved on and drove north to Maryland. Unfortunately, we couldn't find anything to do in Maryland that sounded like something we were dying to do, so we drove right through towards Gettysburg, PA.
At Gettysburg, we took the auto tour that the national park services has set up, and we saw many of the statues and monuments there. It was a very surreal sort of experience, I think as Californians, its hard to understand the Civil War sometimes, especially the technical battle stuff--we aren't re-enacting battles yearly, so we don't know the specific events of the pivotal battles, just what we learned in U.S. History. The landscape was so peaceful and pastoral, but when we looked down from the top of Little Round Top, I could imagine thousands of men running across the grounds fighting, killing, and dying. It was a pretty great experience.
After that, we hopped back into the car and drove towards Harrisburg for the night, the plan for tomorrow: Hershey, PA, the sweetest place on Earth. There's more to it, but that's all that I can remember from the plan for now!
<3 Al
Today we hit two important places to our nation's past: Mount Vernon and Gettysburg.
We woke up at a reasonable hour (8 am!) and said good bye to Lonnie, Erika, and their lovely dog Georgia, and grabbed a morning coffee before driving down to Mount Vernon.
Mount Vernon, if you didn't know, is where George Washington lived! It's his estate, and now it's carefully guarded by homeland security, which is cool, because we weren't planning on causing any trouble. At Mount Vernon we viewed Washington's slaves' houses, the gardens, inside the mansion, and Washington's tomb. It was a nice warm, almost hot, day and we walked around the grounds and enjoyed the nice breeze off the Potomac. While we were there, we stopped inside the museum and saw Washington's infamous dentures, which aren't made of wood at all! We also learned that Washington was a pretty frugal guy, because he put a stone facade on his mansion that isn't stone at all, it's made of wood and sand! We had a lot of fun there.
After that, we stopped at Taco Bell for a quick lunch and tried to drive through Arlington Cemetery, but when we realized we couldn't do that, and we would have to pay for parking, and that we had already spent too long at Mount Vernon, we moved on and drove north to Maryland. Unfortunately, we couldn't find anything to do in Maryland that sounded like something we were dying to do, so we drove right through towards Gettysburg, PA.
At Gettysburg, we took the auto tour that the national park services has set up, and we saw many of the statues and monuments there. It was a very surreal sort of experience, I think as Californians, its hard to understand the Civil War sometimes, especially the technical battle stuff--we aren't re-enacting battles yearly, so we don't know the specific events of the pivotal battles, just what we learned in U.S. History. The landscape was so peaceful and pastoral, but when we looked down from the top of Little Round Top, I could imagine thousands of men running across the grounds fighting, killing, and dying. It was a pretty great experience.
After that, we hopped back into the car and drove towards Harrisburg for the night, the plan for tomorrow: Hershey, PA, the sweetest place on Earth. There's more to it, but that's all that I can remember from the plan for now!
<3 Al
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Day 10 & 11: Arlington, VA (Leah's cousin Lonnie's house)
Sorry I didn't write last night, we forgot to ask for the password to the internet before the cousins went to bed.
We woke up pretty early and drove to Colonial Williamsburg, where we had a lot of fun experiencing the colonial Virginia. We toured the Palace and the Capitol building. We also visited the printing press and the wig maker.
After that we stopped at Sonic Drive-In for lunch then got caught in a ton of traffic. When we got to Arlington we had a lovely dinner at the house, then Lonnie drove us to the movie theaters and me and Leah watched Harry Potter 7 Part 2 in 3D. It was awesome, we had a really fun time, but by the time we got home it was almost 1 am, so we went to bed.
This morning (Day 11) when we woke up, we got ready for our day in Washington, D.C.! I've never been to D.C. before but Leah has, so I was really excited to see all. We started the morning at Lincoln Memorial and we made our way down to the Capitol. It was so much fun! We saw the memorials for the wars, and the Washington Memorial was huge! It was hot out, but we poked into Smithsonian Museums and the Archives before we got too over heated, and we kept hydrated. I really liked the Archives, there were a ton of really neat documents and exhibits to see. By then it was nearly 3 pm and we were super hungry, so we wandered off Capitol hill and found delicious pizza at We, The Pizza (I know, cute name!).
Looking at this I know I covered everything we did, but this isn't very long. I think it is because most of the past two days have been a lot of walking and soaking in the experiences. We did take a lot of pictures! So hopefully Leah will put those up soon.
<3 Al
We woke up pretty early and drove to Colonial Williamsburg, where we had a lot of fun experiencing the colonial Virginia. We toured the Palace and the Capitol building. We also visited the printing press and the wig maker.
After that we stopped at Sonic Drive-In for lunch then got caught in a ton of traffic. When we got to Arlington we had a lovely dinner at the house, then Lonnie drove us to the movie theaters and me and Leah watched Harry Potter 7 Part 2 in 3D. It was awesome, we had a really fun time, but by the time we got home it was almost 1 am, so we went to bed.
This morning (Day 11) when we woke up, we got ready for our day in Washington, D.C.! I've never been to D.C. before but Leah has, so I was really excited to see all. We started the morning at Lincoln Memorial and we made our way down to the Capitol. It was so much fun! We saw the memorials for the wars, and the Washington Memorial was huge! It was hot out, but we poked into Smithsonian Museums and the Archives before we got too over heated, and we kept hydrated. I really liked the Archives, there were a ton of really neat documents and exhibits to see. By then it was nearly 3 pm and we were super hungry, so we wandered off Capitol hill and found delicious pizza at We, The Pizza (I know, cute name!).
Looking at this I know I covered everything we did, but this isn't very long. I think it is because most of the past two days have been a lot of walking and soaking in the experiences. We did take a lot of pictures! So hopefully Leah will put those up soon.
<3 Al
Atlanta, GA to Gatlinburg, TN
The start of our tour at the World of Coca-Cola!!
The tasting room, 64 in all!
So much soda, but we tried them all!
The weird animated representatives of Coke
Yeah Coke, such great advertising!
Tennessee the welcome stateThursday, July 14, 2011
Day 10: Newport News, VA
We're in Virginia! After a long two days of Carolinas, we finally made it to our next destination!
Today we woke up, and while loading up the car Leah was lugging her suitcase down the stairs from the second floor to the parking lot (because the hotel didn't have an elevator, this is actually common :/ lame) she rolled her ankle. She didn't break or sprain anything, but she did pull her ankle funny, so all day long she has been icing it and compressing it. She is ok, I promise, but that does limit the amount of walking we can do now, so some plans will have to change.
Then we drove 4.5 hours to Kitty Hawk, but before we made it there, we stopped in New Bern, NC at the birthplace of Pepsi-Cola! I figured it was only fair to give both colas a chance, but as we walked up to the modest soda shop where Pepsi was first served, Leah would have none of it, saying it wasn't nearly as impressive as World of Coca-Cola. We peeked inside but it was just a gift shop, so we moved on. After that we drove through Roanoke Island, last home of the "Lost Colony" of English settlers. The only thing to see on the island about the settlers appeared to be a theater performance that was going on much too late in the evening for us to see it, so we just drove over the island. There are so many bridges out here! I'm not a fan of them; I don't like to drive over water, but I make do.
When we finally made it to Nags Head, the first city on the island where Kitty Hawk is, we stopped for lunch.
After lunch we went over to the Wright Brothers National Monument where we saw the monument, the mile markers for where the Wrights flew their first four planes, and where the first successful plane flight took off from!
After that we drove up to Virginia and got dessert at an Outback that was near our hotel. And now I'm off to bed! We're trying to plan our day tomorrow right now!
<3 Al
Today we woke up, and while loading up the car Leah was lugging her suitcase down the stairs from the second floor to the parking lot (because the hotel didn't have an elevator, this is actually common :/ lame) she rolled her ankle. She didn't break or sprain anything, but she did pull her ankle funny, so all day long she has been icing it and compressing it. She is ok, I promise, but that does limit the amount of walking we can do now, so some plans will have to change.
Then we drove 4.5 hours to Kitty Hawk, but before we made it there, we stopped in New Bern, NC at the birthplace of Pepsi-Cola! I figured it was only fair to give both colas a chance, but as we walked up to the modest soda shop where Pepsi was first served, Leah would have none of it, saying it wasn't nearly as impressive as World of Coca-Cola. We peeked inside but it was just a gift shop, so we moved on. After that we drove through Roanoke Island, last home of the "Lost Colony" of English settlers. The only thing to see on the island about the settlers appeared to be a theater performance that was going on much too late in the evening for us to see it, so we just drove over the island. There are so many bridges out here! I'm not a fan of them; I don't like to drive over water, but I make do.
When we finally made it to Nags Head, the first city on the island where Kitty Hawk is, we stopped for lunch.
After lunch we went over to the Wright Brothers National Monument where we saw the monument, the mile markers for where the Wrights flew their first four planes, and where the first successful plane flight took off from!
 |
| Right here! First successful flight... right here. Awesome. |
After that we drove up to Virginia and got dessert at an Outback that was near our hotel. And now I'm off to bed! We're trying to plan our day tomorrow right now!
<3 Al
Day 9: Wilmington, NC
Well today is Day 10, but because we didn't have internet yesterday, I'll share with you quickly what we did.
This trip is going so fast!
We drove in the morning to Fort Sumter and took an amazing tour and learned all about the history of the fort and it's significance.
Our visit to Fort Sumter was on, what our tour guides informed us, was to be the hottest day of the year. The actual temperature was about 96 degrees, reaching up to 100, but with the added humidity, the real temperature feeling was about 116 degrees. After sweating up a storm on Fort Sumter, we headed back to Mount Pleasant (where we took off on our cruise to the island) and had a quick lunch. After that we did a quick driving tour of Charleston because it was too hot to do AAA's self-guided walking tour.
We then drove back to Mount Pleasant where we visited the Boone plantation that's main claim to fame was having still standing slave quarters. The quarters we small and it was a very interesting experience to go from looking at the slave buildings to the master's home (that was actually the fourth building to stand in that place since the beginning of the plantation, the others were destroyed in a fire, a hurricane, and torn down in the 1930s to build the present one). We took a "carriage" ride around the plantation (really just a bus with no sides) and saw parts of the property, then headed back to the car as another thunderstorm continued in the distance.
The next destination for the day was Myrtle Beach, which is really just an over run tourist trap complete with flashing neon lights and over the top mini-golf. The Carolinas sure love their mini golf. We pulled of 17-business north to stick our toes into the Atlantic Ocean and had fun splashing around in the water there for a bit. The main difference we found between our beloved Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic was the temperature. I knew the Atlantic was warmer, but goodness, it was like a warm bath tub. It was almost gross how warm the water was! After that we got back in the car and it began to rain again. We got stuck in Myrtle Beach traffic on our way up to Wilmington, then there was a beautiful thunderstorm where the lightening lit up the sky and snaked its way through the clouds--almost like spider veins! The lightening was rather far away, we never caught up with the storm, and we were never able to hear it crack, but it was still a sight that we rarely get to see at home.
There was also a rainstorm that got quite heavy for a bit, but we took is slowly and carefully and we made is safely to our hotel room without problems.
And that was pretty much Day 9! <3 Al
This trip is going so fast!
We drove in the morning to Fort Sumter and took an amazing tour and learned all about the history of the fort and it's significance.
 | ||
| Leah at Fort Sumter! |
We then drove back to Mount Pleasant where we visited the Boone plantation that's main claim to fame was having still standing slave quarters. The quarters we small and it was a very interesting experience to go from looking at the slave buildings to the master's home (that was actually the fourth building to stand in that place since the beginning of the plantation, the others were destroyed in a fire, a hurricane, and torn down in the 1930s to build the present one). We took a "carriage" ride around the plantation (really just a bus with no sides) and saw parts of the property, then headed back to the car as another thunderstorm continued in the distance.
The next destination for the day was Myrtle Beach, which is really just an over run tourist trap complete with flashing neon lights and over the top mini-golf. The Carolinas sure love their mini golf. We pulled of 17-business north to stick our toes into the Atlantic Ocean and had fun splashing around in the water there for a bit. The main difference we found between our beloved Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic was the temperature. I knew the Atlantic was warmer, but goodness, it was like a warm bath tub. It was almost gross how warm the water was! After that we got back in the car and it began to rain again. We got stuck in Myrtle Beach traffic on our way up to Wilmington, then there was a beautiful thunderstorm where the lightening lit up the sky and snaked its way through the clouds--almost like spider veins! The lightening was rather far away, we never caught up with the storm, and we were never able to hear it crack, but it was still a sight that we rarely get to see at home.
There was also a rainstorm that got quite heavy for a bit, but we took is slowly and carefully and we made is safely to our hotel room without problems.
And that was pretty much Day 9! <3 Al
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Day 8: Columbia, SC
South Carolina! Today we were in THREE different states, sort of a celebration of the end of the first week of traveling.
Although our morning was supposed to start later than most other mornings, we were awakened around 5 a.m. to the loud cracks of thunder! Rain poured down outside, and we counted down "one-one-thousand, two-one-thousand..." to see how far the lightening was away from us. The distance ranged from one to five miles away. But while it was loud and scary, we were able to fall back asleep.
We started the morning in Tennessee where we slept in and ate breakfast at the Atrium. I got pecan pancakes which were delicious and Leah had pancakes and an egg and some bacon which I ate. Very happy, we're going to have left overs for breakfast tomorrow morning because we are pretty sick of hotel breakfasts (which are free and therefore terribly similar in every hotel).
After that we did the Gatlinburg Art and Craft Trail, where we got some candy, neat trinkets and art, and some soap (hotel soap makes my skin feel waxy, so real soap will be a nice change).
Then we made our way to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park where we stuck to the main road and occasionally stopped by the side of the road in pull-outs to look at the wondrous nature around us. There was a gorgeous river running along side the road that was full thanks to the thunderstorm the night before. We stopped by Chimney Top trail for a quick picnic in the car (Leah didn't want to do anything too nature-y because of the bugs) where we ate leftover pizza and Coca-Colas. We took a quick hike down to the river where we saw a small waterfall and some beautiful butterflies. Then we hiked back up to the car and continued driving.
While in the park, we crossed the state line into North Carolina up by Newfound Gap and we stopped by the lookout to see over the edge of the highest part of our journey. From the lookout, we could see the Tennessee side of the mountain and the North Carolina side. The clouds in the distance really did appear to be smoky. As we made our way back to the car, Leah got bit by a bug that had the luck of finding the one spot on her foot where she didn't get bug spray and the bug got caught inside of her sock, so it bit her a total of three times before she ran back to the car to apply first-aid ointment. So that was our bug adventure. We both got bit more than that, but that was definitely the most memorable.
Leaving the park, we drove through the Cherokee reservation and made our way to Asheville, NC, so we could taste some their famous local beer. We stopped at Westville (West Asheville) Pub and had dinner and beer, then walked around West Asheville for awhile, bought some necessities at Ingles (a grocery store) and made our way back to the car. After that Leah drove us down to Columbia, the capitol of South Carolina, where we pulled into our hotel for the night.
Tomorrow will be another early day as we head to Charleston, Fort Sumter, Kitty Hawk, and make our way back up to North Carolina. It should be another hot, humid, probably awful weather sort of day.
We will also be seeing the Atlantic Ocean for the first time!
Good night, <3 Al
Although our morning was supposed to start later than most other mornings, we were awakened around 5 a.m. to the loud cracks of thunder! Rain poured down outside, and we counted down "one-one-thousand, two-one-thousand..." to see how far the lightening was away from us. The distance ranged from one to five miles away. But while it was loud and scary, we were able to fall back asleep.
We started the morning in Tennessee where we slept in and ate breakfast at the Atrium. I got pecan pancakes which were delicious and Leah had pancakes and an egg and some bacon which I ate. Very happy, we're going to have left overs for breakfast tomorrow morning because we are pretty sick of hotel breakfasts (which are free and therefore terribly similar in every hotel).
After that we did the Gatlinburg Art and Craft Trail, where we got some candy, neat trinkets and art, and some soap (hotel soap makes my skin feel waxy, so real soap will be a nice change).
Then we made our way to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park where we stuck to the main road and occasionally stopped by the side of the road in pull-outs to look at the wondrous nature around us. There was a gorgeous river running along side the road that was full thanks to the thunderstorm the night before. We stopped by Chimney Top trail for a quick picnic in the car (Leah didn't want to do anything too nature-y because of the bugs) where we ate leftover pizza and Coca-Colas. We took a quick hike down to the river where we saw a small waterfall and some beautiful butterflies. Then we hiked back up to the car and continued driving.
While in the park, we crossed the state line into North Carolina up by Newfound Gap and we stopped by the lookout to see over the edge of the highest part of our journey. From the lookout, we could see the Tennessee side of the mountain and the North Carolina side. The clouds in the distance really did appear to be smoky. As we made our way back to the car, Leah got bit by a bug that had the luck of finding the one spot on her foot where she didn't get bug spray and the bug got caught inside of her sock, so it bit her a total of three times before she ran back to the car to apply first-aid ointment. So that was our bug adventure. We both got bit more than that, but that was definitely the most memorable.
Leaving the park, we drove through the Cherokee reservation and made our way to Asheville, NC, so we could taste some their famous local beer. We stopped at Westville (West Asheville) Pub and had dinner and beer, then walked around West Asheville for awhile, bought some necessities at Ingles (a grocery store) and made our way back to the car. After that Leah drove us down to Columbia, the capitol of South Carolina, where we pulled into our hotel for the night.
Tomorrow will be another early day as we head to Charleston, Fort Sumter, Kitty Hawk, and make our way back up to North Carolina. It should be another hot, humid, probably awful weather sort of day.
We will also be seeing the Atlantic Ocean for the first time!
Good night, <3 Al
Birmingham, AL to Atlanta, GA
First antebellum home of the trip.
Unfortunately it was not open yet but the outside was very pretty.
Georgia, makes me want some peaches (umm)
Allison with Yogi bear at Jellystone Park (just kidding it's a campground in Georgia)
Martin Luther King Jr's birthplace and monument in Atlanta, GA
Mural depicting the Civil Rights movement
On the front steps of Martin Luther King Jr.'s birth home.
Remnants of the 1996 Centennial Olympic GamesMonday, July 11, 2011
Day 7: Gatlinburg, TN
Well we are in Gatlinburg, TN. Everyday has been so fast paced, and even though we thought today we be slower, it was no exception.
We started out the morning by driving into Atlanta (the hotel we had stayed in was in the Atlanta vicinity, near the airport) to get to the World of Coca-Cola. There we learned about the history and culture of Coke, listened to overly enthusiastic tour guides, went on a 4D trip to find the secret recipe (the answer: YOU! You are what makes Coca-Cola Coca-Cola!), and I took a picture with the legendary Coca-Cola polar bear. We also took our taste buds on a trip around the world as we sampled 60+ beverages under the Coca-Cola umbrella. I felt pretty sick after that, I rarely drink soda so it didn't feel so happy in my tummy.
After that we drove north towards Tennessee, stopping briefly for a lunch at Cracker Barrel, we swung by the Chattanooga Choo Choo Train Depot, but decided a 55 minute long tour was too long because there was more driving to do up to Gatlinburg than we had originally anticipated (I don't think either of us had googled the distance the night before). So we got back on the road and drove up to Gatlinburg for our hotel and dinner.
By the time we got to Gatlinburg it was already 6 pm, so we had to skip the Arts and Crafts Trail (we're planning on stopping by tomorrow morning). We got dinner at the Alamo (our second Alamo) Steak place and walked around downtown Gatlinburg.
As we wandered, we tried to find a nice place to get some Jack Daniel's and Coke to celebrate our day of World of Coca-Cola and entering Tennessee. Unfortunately, Gatlinburg is a more conservative town than we originally anticipated so we headed back to the hotel after wandering for an hour or so through the souvenir shops (that stay open until midnight!). So no savvy sipping for us tonight, but that's all right, we still had a fun time wandering around the cheesy Gatlinburg area and we're looking forward to tomorrow.
Tomorrow we head into the Great Smoky Mountain National Park towards Asheville, NC (about 87 miles).
Leah's already in bed, she owes you two photoblogs, so you should text her to tell her you want pictures tomorrow!
<3 Al
We started out the morning by driving into Atlanta (the hotel we had stayed in was in the Atlanta vicinity, near the airport) to get to the World of Coca-Cola. There we learned about the history and culture of Coke, listened to overly enthusiastic tour guides, went on a 4D trip to find the secret recipe (the answer: YOU! You are what makes Coca-Cola Coca-Cola!), and I took a picture with the legendary Coca-Cola polar bear. We also took our taste buds on a trip around the world as we sampled 60+ beverages under the Coca-Cola umbrella. I felt pretty sick after that, I rarely drink soda so it didn't feel so happy in my tummy.
After that we drove north towards Tennessee, stopping briefly for a lunch at Cracker Barrel, we swung by the Chattanooga Choo Choo Train Depot, but decided a 55 minute long tour was too long because there was more driving to do up to Gatlinburg than we had originally anticipated (I don't think either of us had googled the distance the night before). So we got back on the road and drove up to Gatlinburg for our hotel and dinner.
By the time we got to Gatlinburg it was already 6 pm, so we had to skip the Arts and Crafts Trail (we're planning on stopping by tomorrow morning). We got dinner at the Alamo (our second Alamo) Steak place and walked around downtown Gatlinburg.
As we wandered, we tried to find a nice place to get some Jack Daniel's and Coke to celebrate our day of World of Coca-Cola and entering Tennessee. Unfortunately, Gatlinburg is a more conservative town than we originally anticipated so we headed back to the hotel after wandering for an hour or so through the souvenir shops (that stay open until midnight!). So no savvy sipping for us tonight, but that's all right, we still had a fun time wandering around the cheesy Gatlinburg area and we're looking forward to tomorrow.
Tomorrow we head into the Great Smoky Mountain National Park towards Asheville, NC (about 87 miles).
Leah's already in bed, she owes you two photoblogs, so you should text her to tell her you want pictures tomorrow!
<3 Al
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Day 6: Atlanta, GA
Today we got to sleep in!!! YAY!! We slept in til about 8, which I haven't been able to do since July 4 (when taking into account time differences, I woke up at 6. Uggh) After waking up and checking out of the hotel we drove to an Antebellum home in Birmingham. Unfortunately, it wasn't opened because it was a Sunday morning. We were able to drive up to the parking lot and walk around the property where the house was, so we got a few good pictures (see Leah's blog entry Birmingham to Atlanta) and walked around acting like Southern belles.
After that we got lost in Birmingham's, to paraphrase the AAA book, 'easy to follow grid road layout.' I complain about San Francisco having 30th St and 30th Ave, Birmingham has a 5th in N, S, E, W, and occasionally NW, NE directions! When we finally figured out where we were, we stopped at a Piggley Wiggly for dish soap (to was coffee mugs) and got some coffee at Forest Perks (yum!).
We decided to head out to Atlanta, GA after that, because the stops we had had in mind for Birmingham all seemed to be closed until at least 2 pm, and we wanted to get to Atlanta before night time. (Getting into big cities at night is overwhelming.)
On our way into Georgia it rained again. It's rained on us everyday so far this trip. The only state we weren't rained on in was new Mexico (and California which doesn't really count for this )
We got into Georgia I saw signs for Jellystone Camp in Waco, GA, and I knew we had to stop by to see if we could steal a pick-a-nick basket or two ;) When Jellystone turned out to be an RV park and not Jellystone National Park, inhabited by Yogi and Boo-Boo, we turned back to the highway to continue our 147 mile drive to Atlanta.
When we got to Atlanta, we first stopped at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial National Park. There we saw MLK Jr's birth home and his church. We stopped by the visitor's center and saw a really great exhibit on the civil rights movement. It was a really nice place to stop by and we had a great time.
By the time we finished with this it was almost 4 pm, and we still hadn't had lunch because we had lost an hour on our way into Georgia, so we stopped at Max Lager's for an early dinner. After that we drove around the city to check out the World of Coca-Cola (we will stop by there tomorrow, it was closed by the time we finished dinner), the Olympic Park, Turner Field (home of the Atlanta Braves) then we found a gelato place that we had a coupon to thanks to the GA welcome center.
After that we were pretty tired, so we made our way to the hotel and settled in. We hopped into the pool for a quick dip, and now we are planning for tomorrow and watching Harry Potter.
We had a great day today, the weather was much more tolerable, the humidity wasn't overwhelming and we were able to see and do a lot.
<3 Al
After that we got lost in Birmingham's, to paraphrase the AAA book, 'easy to follow grid road layout.' I complain about San Francisco having 30th St and 30th Ave, Birmingham has a 5th in N, S, E, W, and occasionally NW, NE directions! When we finally figured out where we were, we stopped at a Piggley Wiggly for dish soap (to was coffee mugs) and got some coffee at Forest Perks (yum!).
We decided to head out to Atlanta, GA after that, because the stops we had had in mind for Birmingham all seemed to be closed until at least 2 pm, and we wanted to get to Atlanta before night time. (Getting into big cities at night is overwhelming.)
On our way into Georgia it rained again. It's rained on us everyday so far this trip. The only state we weren't rained on in was new Mexico (and California which doesn't really count for this )
We got into Georgia I saw signs for Jellystone Camp in Waco, GA, and I knew we had to stop by to see if we could steal a pick-a-nick basket or two ;) When Jellystone turned out to be an RV park and not Jellystone National Park, inhabited by Yogi and Boo-Boo, we turned back to the highway to continue our 147 mile drive to Atlanta.
When we got to Atlanta, we first stopped at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial National Park. There we saw MLK Jr's birth home and his church. We stopped by the visitor's center and saw a really great exhibit on the civil rights movement. It was a really nice place to stop by and we had a great time.
By the time we finished with this it was almost 4 pm, and we still hadn't had lunch because we had lost an hour on our way into Georgia, so we stopped at Max Lager's for an early dinner. After that we drove around the city to check out the World of Coca-Cola (we will stop by there tomorrow, it was closed by the time we finished dinner), the Olympic Park, Turner Field (home of the Atlanta Braves) then we found a gelato place that we had a coupon to thanks to the GA welcome center.
After that we were pretty tired, so we made our way to the hotel and settled in. We hopped into the pool for a quick dip, and now we are planning for tomorrow and watching Harry Potter.
We had a great day today, the weather was much more tolerable, the humidity wasn't overwhelming and we were able to see and do a lot.
<3 Al
Jackson, MI to Birmingham, AL
Tupelo, MS birthplace of the king of Rock and Roll himself- Elvis Presley!
On Elvis's front porch. The house was VERY small
On Elvis's front porch. The house was VERY small
Statue of Elvis at age 13 kinda creepy but fun
Ole Miss- such a beautiful campus filled with brick buildings
William Faulkner's home in Oxford, MS
Allison with the legendary author himself
Sweet home Alabama!
William Faulkner's home in Oxford, MS
Allison with the legendary author himself
Sweet home Alabama!
Sunset over Birmingham, AL
New Orleans, LA to Jackson, MS
Let's get this walking tour started!
Staying hydrated
Beignets at the famous Cafe De Monde... delicious :)
I'm joining the band
I guess he's handing me meat?
Checking out the lady's fruit near the French Market
Strolling the French quarter on our self guided walking tour
Leah's Pralines!!!! Of course we bought lots :)
Delicious lunch of po-boy, gumbo, and hurricane
Moving on to Mississippi
Delicious lunch of po-boy, gumbo, and hurricane
Moving on to MississippiDay 5: Birmingham, AL
Sorry for the lack of update last night, as you can see from my text-message-blog the internet was painfully slow at the hotel last night. I also had pretty terrible cell reception throughout Alabama (not to Sprint users, your phone will suck in AL).
So let me think back to yesterday, hmm, what did we do. Well, after waking up in Jackson, MS we drove up the Natchez Trace Parkway for 150 miles. The Natchez Trace Parkway is a beautiful path traced out by buffalo, Native Americans, and earlier traders that leads from Natchez, MS to Nashville, TN, it's 444 miles long. On the way, we saw Chickasaw mounds and walked part of the Old Trace before being bitten by some mesquitos.
We took that up to Tupelo, MS--birthplace of Elvis Presley. It was super hot there again, but we had a good time walking around and looking at a time line of his life. While in Tupelo, we stopped for some more BBQ. Leah had pork ribs (different from the beef ribs she had for lunch the day before) and I had a Philly cheese steak and fried green tomatoes.
From there we drove to Oxford, MS to visit Ole Miss and Rowan Oak. Ole Miss was beautiful, but seeing so many brick buildings made me, a California girl, very nervous. With no earthquakes to worry about, pretty much every building is brick! After Ole Miss, we found our way to Rowan Oak, William Faulkner's house. It was pretty hard to find, so if any of you ever try to find it, call ahead and ask for the address of the nearest house. The house was beautiful and the property was very green and oak-y. Inside we got to see Faulkner's house, furniture, manuscripts, type-writer, and alcohols of choice. After that, we walked around the main square in Oxford, got some coffee, then headed back to the road for our drive to Birmingham, AL.
As we got into Birmingham there was a CRAZY lightening storm as the sun set. It was really pretty, and a little scary, but no one seemed phased by it, so we tried to ignore it, but admired it nonetheless. In Birmingham we stopped at a Greek deli where Leah got gyro and I got falafel. We took it back to the hotel and called it a night.
So that was Day 5!
<3 Al
So let me think back to yesterday, hmm, what did we do. Well, after waking up in Jackson, MS we drove up the Natchez Trace Parkway for 150 miles. The Natchez Trace Parkway is a beautiful path traced out by buffalo, Native Americans, and earlier traders that leads from Natchez, MS to Nashville, TN, it's 444 miles long. On the way, we saw Chickasaw mounds and walked part of the Old Trace before being bitten by some mesquitos.
We took that up to Tupelo, MS--birthplace of Elvis Presley. It was super hot there again, but we had a good time walking around and looking at a time line of his life. While in Tupelo, we stopped for some more BBQ. Leah had pork ribs (different from the beef ribs she had for lunch the day before) and I had a Philly cheese steak and fried green tomatoes.
From there we drove to Oxford, MS to visit Ole Miss and Rowan Oak. Ole Miss was beautiful, but seeing so many brick buildings made me, a California girl, very nervous. With no earthquakes to worry about, pretty much every building is brick! After Ole Miss, we found our way to Rowan Oak, William Faulkner's house. It was pretty hard to find, so if any of you ever try to find it, call ahead and ask for the address of the nearest house. The house was beautiful and the property was very green and oak-y. Inside we got to see Faulkner's house, furniture, manuscripts, type-writer, and alcohols of choice. After that, we walked around the main square in Oxford, got some coffee, then headed back to the road for our drive to Birmingham, AL.
As we got into Birmingham there was a CRAZY lightening storm as the sun set. It was really pretty, and a little scary, but no one seemed phased by it, so we tried to ignore it, but admired it nonetheless. In Birmingham we stopped at a Greek deli where Leah got gyro and I got falafel. We took it back to the hotel and called it a night.
So that was Day 5!
<3 Al
San Antonio, TX to Baton Rouge, LA
Who remembers the Alamo? I do!
Intense rainstorm, Texas just wanted to say good bye to us with a bang!
LOUISIANA!!!!!!!
Delicious etouffee, fried crawfish, and dirty rice all while listening to a live local band playing Cajun music at Boutin's in Baton Rougue!
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Friday, July 8, 2011
Day 4: Jackson, MS
I am not even very sure where I am anymore, so far we haven't spent more than one night in an individual state, we keep plowing further down I-10, until this afternoon when we headed up to Jackson.
We started the morning in Baton Rogue and drove down to New Orleans. While there, we took the AAA French Quarters walking tour around the town. It was so hot and so humid we were practically running for little shops just to get some air conditioning. For lunch we stopped at a sea food place. I got Leah to try catfish and gumbo, I think she liked both of them, so that was fun. With lunch we shared a Hurricane, a rum-heavy drink that is popular in the Big Easy. My overall impression of New Orleans is: hot, sticky, sweaty, smelly. Bleh. Don't get me wrong, I had a LOT of fun walking around the French Market and the French Quarters, I even had fun straying to downtown.
One lame thing did happen though, when we went to the Welcome Center for New Orleans this morning, the woman there told us to take the trolley all the way down to the Garden District and just ride the trolley around. That was a terrible idea. It was hot and sticky on the trolley, everyone was crowded in, sticky skin against sticky skin. Awful. The houses in the Garden District were beautiful, but between the heat and stickiness and the constant stopping and waiting for passengers to get on the trolley, the houses started to look less and less impressive. We should have driven through the Garden District on our way out of the city. Oh well, next time.
On our way back on the trolley, it started to rain, and it kept raining for the next hour or so until we left. Hotels were either too far (and too expensive to be so far) or full, so we decided we wouldn't be able to make it back to our hotel after a night on Bourbon St if we stayed in New Orleans, hence, we drove up to Jackson, Mississippi.
We found a cheap hotel (that is pretty nice) with a non-smoking room and a mini fridge, so we are set for the night.
I'll put up some pictures tomorrow! We're headed up to Tupelo (Elvis' hometown) and Oxford (a Faulkner hometown).
Good night, <3 Al
We started the morning in Baton Rogue and drove down to New Orleans. While there, we took the AAA French Quarters walking tour around the town. It was so hot and so humid we were practically running for little shops just to get some air conditioning. For lunch we stopped at a sea food place. I got Leah to try catfish and gumbo, I think she liked both of them, so that was fun. With lunch we shared a Hurricane, a rum-heavy drink that is popular in the Big Easy. My overall impression of New Orleans is: hot, sticky, sweaty, smelly. Bleh. Don't get me wrong, I had a LOT of fun walking around the French Market and the French Quarters, I even had fun straying to downtown.
One lame thing did happen though, when we went to the Welcome Center for New Orleans this morning, the woman there told us to take the trolley all the way down to the Garden District and just ride the trolley around. That was a terrible idea. It was hot and sticky on the trolley, everyone was crowded in, sticky skin against sticky skin. Awful. The houses in the Garden District were beautiful, but between the heat and stickiness and the constant stopping and waiting for passengers to get on the trolley, the houses started to look less and less impressive. We should have driven through the Garden District on our way out of the city. Oh well, next time.
On our way back on the trolley, it started to rain, and it kept raining for the next hour or so until we left. Hotels were either too far (and too expensive to be so far) or full, so we decided we wouldn't be able to make it back to our hotel after a night on Bourbon St if we stayed in New Orleans, hence, we drove up to Jackson, Mississippi.
We found a cheap hotel (that is pretty nice) with a non-smoking room and a mini fridge, so we are set for the night.
I'll put up some pictures tomorrow! We're headed up to Tupelo (Elvis' hometown) and Oxford (a Faulkner hometown).
Good night, <3 Al
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Day 3: Baton Rogue, LA
We're in LA--as in Louisiana! Today we made it out of TX and into LA, ready to start the real fun of our road trip in New Orleans tomorrow.
The morning started at 7 a.m. with a quick breakfast at the hotel, checking out, and a quick walk to the Alamo which opened at 9. These early mornings are not working well for me, but I'm dealing.
The Alamo was neat, but by 9:30 it was already almost 90 degrees out. We kept our visit short, but got a good look around the place, the inside was spare but the garden outside was beautiful. An educational time was had.
After that we drove up to Austin for a BBQ lunch at Iron Works, then walked around 6th Street. It was also unbearably hot there, and we knew we had to at least reach Baton Rouge by tonight, so we headed down a Highway-1-like road from Austin to Houston. I took a nap while Leah drove (these early mornings seem to be giving both me and Leah headaches) then started driving again after we finished driving through Houston. Right before reaching Beaumont, TX, it started pouring rain again. The rain only lasted for about ten minutes, and we got through it safely, but it was intense!
We got to LA and tried to push our way through to Baton Rogue because we wanted to be as close to New Orleans as possible, and we ended up in BR around 9 p.m. Hunger and curiosity got the better of us stopping us at a Cajun restaurant before heading to the hotel for the night.
So we are here at the hotel, and I'm pooped! Time for bed says I, I'm sure Leah will make tomorrow as early as a day as she possibly can (I'm thinking she hates sleep, that's why she wants to wake me up so early every morning--not the more reasonable she-knows-we-have-a-schedule-to-keep).
Good night,
<3 Al
The morning started at 7 a.m. with a quick breakfast at the hotel, checking out, and a quick walk to the Alamo which opened at 9. These early mornings are not working well for me, but I'm dealing.
The Alamo was neat, but by 9:30 it was already almost 90 degrees out. We kept our visit short, but got a good look around the place, the inside was spare but the garden outside was beautiful. An educational time was had.
After that we drove up to Austin for a BBQ lunch at Iron Works, then walked around 6th Street. It was also unbearably hot there, and we knew we had to at least reach Baton Rouge by tonight, so we headed down a Highway-1-like road from Austin to Houston. I took a nap while Leah drove (these early mornings seem to be giving both me and Leah headaches) then started driving again after we finished driving through Houston. Right before reaching Beaumont, TX, it started pouring rain again. The rain only lasted for about ten minutes, and we got through it safely, but it was intense!
We got to LA and tried to push our way through to Baton Rogue because we wanted to be as close to New Orleans as possible, and we ended up in BR around 9 p.m. Hunger and curiosity got the better of us stopping us at a Cajun restaurant before heading to the hotel for the night.
So we are here at the hotel, and I'm pooped! Time for bed says I, I'm sure Leah will make tomorrow as early as a day as she possibly can (I'm thinking she hates sleep, that's why she wants to wake me up so early every morning--not the more reasonable she-knows-we-have-a-schedule-to-keep).
Good night,
<3 Al
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Day 2: San Antonio, TX
OMG, I'm so glad we are out of the car! I'm not sure how long we were in the car, but I know it was basically all day! We didn't stop for a break from driving (except for quick gas and restroom breaks) until Ozona, TX where we saw the Davy Crockett monument, then three hours later we pulled into San Antonio and found the hotel we wanted to stay at. It's within walking distance to the Alamo and the Riverwalk.
We headed down to the Riverwalk for dinner and partook in adult beverages at a Jazz bar, then we made our way back up to the hotel. I'm exhausted, so this will be short.
So overall, it wasn't an overwhelmingly exciting day but a few highlights were:
+ Realizing Texas is not that exciting. Yes it is big, but not everything is bigger in Texas--for example, the Wal-mart we stopped at was much smaller than any I've ever been to at home.
+ The best thing about Texas is the 80 mph speed limit. Of course we drove slower than the speed limit--we've heard Texas traffic ticket horror stories--but it was nice that we didn't have to drive 60 mph through the most boring part of our drive.
+ The prettiest part of Texas so far was 335 miles into Texas on I-5.
+ I am not good at taking pictures of signs. After failing to get a picture the Welcome to Arizona sign, Leah gave me a second chance to get a picture of New Mexico, with little to show for it. So officially Leah is going to be taking pictures of all Welcome to (insert state) signs.
+ Two girls sitting at a Jazz bar will get hit on. Awkward, the jazz band was making their way out to their next gig and the bass player came over to our table, invited us to join them at the next bar they were playing at and asked us what our plans were for the night. We told him we were calling it early and we would be going to bed soon.
So that's it for now. Good night friends and family!
<3 Al
We headed down to the Riverwalk for dinner and partook in adult beverages at a Jazz bar, then we made our way back up to the hotel. I'm exhausted, so this will be short.
So overall, it wasn't an overwhelmingly exciting day but a few highlights were:
+ Realizing Texas is not that exciting. Yes it is big, but not everything is bigger in Texas--for example, the Wal-mart we stopped at was much smaller than any I've ever been to at home.
+ The best thing about Texas is the 80 mph speed limit. Of course we drove slower than the speed limit--we've heard Texas traffic ticket horror stories--but it was nice that we didn't have to drive 60 mph through the most boring part of our drive.
+ The prettiest part of Texas so far was 335 miles into Texas on I-5.
+ I am not good at taking pictures of signs. After failing to get a picture the Welcome to Arizona sign, Leah gave me a second chance to get a picture of New Mexico, with little to show for it. So officially Leah is going to be taking pictures of all Welcome to (insert state) signs.
+ Two girls sitting at a Jazz bar will get hit on. Awkward, the jazz band was making their way out to their next gig and the bass player came over to our table, invited us to join them at the next bar they were playing at and asked us what our plans were for the night. We told him we were calling it early and we would be going to bed soon.
So that's it for now. Good night friends and family!
<3 Al
Texas: from El Paso to San Antonio (not much in between)
Made it to Texas:
Speed limit 80 mph- awesome!
Mexico?????
Ready for adventure!!!!!
Davy Crockett memorial statue in Ozona, Texas
On the riverwalk in San Antonio. Picture something out of a ride at Disneyland.
A lovely dinner with live jazz music.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Day 1: Lordsburg, NM
The adventure has officially begun! Leah and I are currently sitting in our hotel room in Lordsburg, NM! It's hard to believe we traveled 600 miles in a day!
We started our morning bright and early at 5 a.m. when Leah left her place to come pick me up, then we headed to Ruby's Diner in Palm Springs for a quick breakfast. After that we drove through to Phoenix and stopped to eat our picnic lunch inside the Chandler Mall--it was 106 degrees outside, so we thought a picnic inside the air conditioned mall was probably a better idea then at a park.
On our way to Tucson from there we had a minor driving hiccup when a rock hit the front windshield. I was driving and Leah spent the next hour or so making phone calls trying to figure out where we could get it glued in Tucson. After a few calls, we decided it would be best to wait until tomorrow to fix it, because there was really no immediate problems.
We stopped briefly in Benson where we were caught in a magnificent rain storm--it was pouring! It was a lot of fun, we ran into a Denny's to get some coffee while we waited for the storm to pass.
And after that we headed towards Lordsburg, but first we stopped to see "THE THING?" after seeing sign after sign advertising the gas-station attraction.
The Thing wasn't enticing enough to pay for, but we walked around the sovereign shop for a few minutes to stretch our legs. Next we drove through Bowie, AZ, where we played David Bowie songs as we drove--AWESOME.
When we got to Lordsburg, we stopped at the hotel, dropped off our bags, then went to grab some dinner at a diner.
Overall, we drove way too much today, but we had a lot of fun and we are safely in New Mexico.
We have a LOT more driving ahead of us tomorrow before we get to the real fun stuff (we've both already been to AZ and NM, so we are making our way through them as quickly as is legal). Plans for tomorrow include trying to get through the giant state of Texas without getting a speeding ticket!
<3 Al
We started our morning bright and early at 5 a.m. when Leah left her place to come pick me up, then we headed to Ruby's Diner in Palm Springs for a quick breakfast. After that we drove through to Phoenix and stopped to eat our picnic lunch inside the Chandler Mall--it was 106 degrees outside, so we thought a picnic inside the air conditioned mall was probably a better idea then at a park.
On our way to Tucson from there we had a minor driving hiccup when a rock hit the front windshield. I was driving and Leah spent the next hour or so making phone calls trying to figure out where we could get it glued in Tucson. After a few calls, we decided it would be best to wait until tomorrow to fix it, because there was really no immediate problems.
We stopped briefly in Benson where we were caught in a magnificent rain storm--it was pouring! It was a lot of fun, we ran into a Denny's to get some coffee while we waited for the storm to pass.
And after that we headed towards Lordsburg, but first we stopped to see "THE THING?" after seeing sign after sign advertising the gas-station attraction.
The Thing wasn't enticing enough to pay for, but we walked around the sovereign shop for a few minutes to stretch our legs. Next we drove through Bowie, AZ, where we played David Bowie songs as we drove--AWESOME.
When we got to Lordsburg, we stopped at the hotel, dropped off our bags, then went to grab some dinner at a diner.
Overall, we drove way too much today, but we had a lot of fun and we are safely in New Mexico.
We have a LOT more driving ahead of us tomorrow before we get to the real fun stuff (we've both already been to AZ and NM, so we are making our way through them as quickly as is legal). Plans for tomorrow include trying to get through the giant state of Texas without getting a speeding ticket!
<3 Al
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