Fin.

July 29

You may have noticed that these blog entries have been getting shorter and shorter as the trip goes on. Long gone are the days of the 1,000 word descriptions of the Corn Palace, 4^th of July rodeo, Yellowstone animals, and ketchup mishaps. Since today is the final day of the trip, we’re giving up on writing lengthy descriptions. Here’s what we did today:

· We woke up.

· We took showers.

· We ate omelets and cinnamon bread with Aunt Jane and Uncle John.

· We packed the car.

· We got into the car.

· We drove.

· B saw a yellow Hummer.

· We got stuck in traffic.

· We entered Maryland.

· We entered Pennsylvania.

· We got gas.

· We peed.

· We drove.

· We got stuck in traffic.

· We kicked ourselves for not thinking of this blog-writing idea earlier.

· We got gas.

· We peed.

· We drove.

· We got stuck in traffic.

· We talked about pizza.

· C saw a yellow Hummer.

· We drove.

· We entered New York

· We got antsy because we’ve all driven on these roads before.

· We drove.

· We drove.

· We drove.

· C called the last yellow car of the trip.

· We pulled in to Cooperstown.

· We arrived at K’s house.

· We ate pizza.

FINAL TRIP MILEAGE: 9,337

States visited: Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York

Yellow car count:

C – 400

B – 417

K – 448 **Winner!

Highs and Lows:

Group high – End of the Road Trip

Group low – End of the Road Trip

C high – Sleeping in my own bed tonight

C low – Realizing I have only four days to pack and prepare for Oregon

B high – Pizza! Home! (not necessarily in that order)

B low – Traffic, backseat the whole day

K high – Home!

K low – Being stuck in traffic so much

Aunt Jane always makes dessert

July 28

It was the smell of sizzling bacon and fresh waffles that drew us out of bed this morning as Aunt Judy had prepared a feast before our departure! Before leaving Wilmington we wanted to make sure everything was still good with the car so we took it for an oil change and check up at Midas (thank you, Safeway coupon!). With the assurance from the mechanics that all was well, we loaded the car, said our goodbyes to C’s family and prepared to roll out, but not before Aunt Judy filled our arms with food for the road. We were sent off with so much water, fruit, and Stromboli for lunch that we didn’t think we would go hungry for the rest of the (two day) trip! Although we have to say, the Stromboli looked so good that it hardly made it to lunchtime.

C drove us through quaint downtown Wilmington and pointed out some of the sights like the battleship along the waterfront, a gourmet Italian market, and the Cotton Exchange. She also informed us that Wilmington was the lovely filming spot of One Tree Hill and Dawson’s Creek. We were not asked to be extras in OTH, despite our previous experience in New Orleans.

Nothing much happened on the drive to Richmond.

C & B were really excited to arrive in Richmond since the last time they were there (for K’s graduation) they only saw a tiny bit of the city. K took them on a lovely tour of all her favorite spots in the area including Maymont, a beautiful former estate turned park. Maymont provided us with a chance to stretch our legs a bit as we wandered around looking at the bears and bald eagles that lived in sanctuaries there. K then drove us past the Jefferson Hotel, the fanciest hotel in all of Richmond. It houses a famous staircase which has provided grand entrances for some of the South’s greatest leading ladies – from Scarlett in Gone With the Wind to our very own K at her Ring Dance for the University of Richmond. Finally, we took a quick tour of K’s alma mater to check out some of the new building construction that had been started since she had left.

When we passed the football team practicing, C started chanting “Go Wildcats!” and singing the Villanova fight song. K was not amused. (U of R and Nova are big football rivals.) Rather than digress into a chanting match (which, lets be serious, a Wildcat would out roar a Spider… until the Spiders bit back), we decided to head to K’s Aunt Jane and Uncle John’s. We were all anxious to know what was on the menu, especially since we knew that Aunt Jane always makes dessert!

We got to K’s family’s house, and chatted for a while with Aunt Jane until Uncle John came home from work. Once he came home, we had a delicious dinner of grilled pork chops and veggies – we really have been spoiled lately with all this home cooked food! And after we ate… the long-awaited dessert! Tonight’s was Aunt Jane’s all-time favorite summer dessert – frozen pineapple torte! We were soon stuffed, and could only stay up a little bit longer to chat some more before going to bed… can’t believe it’s our last night of the trip!

Mileage to date: 8,828

States visited: North Carolina, Virginia

Yellow car count:

C – 363

B – 381

K – 419

Highs and Lows:

Group high – Aunt Jane always makes dessert

Group low – Missing Jonathan in Richmond

C high – Finally getting to see the pretty side of Richmond

C low – Saying goodbye to family

B high – Food (from both Wilmington and Richmond)

B low – Running out of Stromboli so early

K high – Seeing Aunt Jane & Uncle John, dessert

K low – Not seeing the otters at Maymont

We shall form a Family Band

July 27

We awoke in our luxury hotel and enjoyed the first continental breakfast that actually deserved that title. There was coffee, tea and juice, along with bagels, muffins, and cinnamon buns. But what really impressed us was the real southern biscuits and gravy, which K was thrilled to see.

Before we continued on our trek north, we took a little tour of the City of Savannah. We wound our way through the cobblestone streets to the riverside. We parked the car and strolled through the tree-lined streets of the historic city. We found several candy stores with free samples of pralines and cookies. K took two samples of each. We considered buying some pralines, but discovered that is was $17 a pound!

After we finished our snacking, we hit the road, heading towards Wilmington. On the way we passed through South Carolina, and unknowingly North Carolina. We missed the North Carolina sign, but not to worry! We snagged a shot the next day when crossing into Virginia (using South Dakota-style photography, see blog post: “The Day of the Biggest Mistake Ever”). We arrived in Wilmington to C’s Aunt Judy and Uncle Joe’s house. When we walked in we were greeted by her Aunt and Uncle, her cousins Anthony and Gianni, and the first home cooked meal we had had since Austin! It was delicious! Chicken cutlet, penne à la vodka, scallops, and salad. Tasty good.

After dinner we went for a walk down one of North Carolina’s sandy beaches and dipped our toes into the Atlantic Ocean (no, C, not the Gulf of Mexico!). Upon returning to the house, we were treated to the deluxe version of s’mores involving a fire pit, metal skewers, and an easy burn log that B stared at in awe – imagine how much easier fire-making would have been with that handy companion! This experience was a far cry from our poor man’s s’mores at the Grand Canyon (see “Disclaimer: No C, B, or K was injured during this event”).

Finally, it was time to participate in the family tradition of a Rock Band jam session! (Yes, Gianni, we know it is actually Guitar Hero!) For those of you still sitting in the dark, Guitar Hero is like Karaoke for guitar but in video game form. The band version of the game includes bass, drums, and a mic for vocals as well as a guitar. For beginners it can be a little overwhelming because while the song is playing color cues for each note fly towards you on the screen. The better you do, the better the band does, however too many missed notes means the band gets booed off the stage (nooo!). Needless to say, the CBK band feat. Gianni and Anthony never quite made it through the intro to Blondie’s “One Way or Another.” We still had a lot of fun trying different songs over and over and even held a tribute for C’s brother with “La Bamba.” Playing long into the night, we wore ourselves out and when it was time to retire we crashed hard like true rock stars.

Mileage to date: 8,519

States visited: Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina

Yellow car count:

C – 343

B – 367

K – 395

Anthony – 1

Highs and Lows:

Group high – Guitar Hero/Rock Band

Group low – Missing the sign

C high – Seeing Family!

C low – No Angie!!! L

B high – “La Bamba”

B low – Expensive Pralines

K high – Having fun with Caitrin’s family

K low – Not getting to see much of Savannah

Heading North

July 26

We stayed a little later with Amanda in the morning, enjoying sharing stories about the “old days” of youth group. Ian had been called in to the hospital so it was a girls-only affair. Amanda whipped out a game called Bananas Grams for us to play – it was basically speed Scrabble without a board. Though Amanda did put us all in our places, K followed up with a strong finish for “First Place Loser”, though we expected nothing less from our Scrabble Queen.

As it neared noon, we finally decided it was time to pack up and get on the road. Amanda lined up the huskies for a proper goodbye and we pulled out of the driveway wishing we could take our friends with us. (We’re pretty sure that Jasper wanted to go with us too – she seemed to know we were headed for the cooler Cooperstown climate as she chased us down the driveway.)

We soon realized how hungry we were and found a Publix grocery store to browse for food. As is often the case when anyone decides to shop on an empty stomach, we ended up with our arms brimming with unnecessary but delicious items that would probably be consumed at a faster-than-normal rate. We climbed back in the car trying to find a place for all our new purchases and set out for Savannah, the most haunted city in the U.S.

We didn’t know anyone who lived in Savannah to spend the night with, so our options were either to camp or to stay in a hotel. We quickly made an executive decision (democracy!) that we had enough of camping and would rather spend the night in a hotel than cramped and hot inside the tent. We picked up some hotel coupon booklets at Georgia’s Visitor Center and began calling around with our hotel prerequisites: continental breakfast, Wi-Fi, and – after Creepy Towns 1 & Dos – indoor hallways, Luckily, we found a place that fit all of our requirements.

We rolled into Savannah and stared, wide-eyed, at the glamorous Sleep Inn, which was far superior to any other motel we had stayed at on our trip. The receptionist at the front desk had told us that if we flashed our room keycards at the Applebee’s Restaurant around the corner we would get a 10% discount on our meal. B, trying to emulate K’s frugalness, lobbied heavily for the savings and led us to the Applebee’s. K tried to remind everyone that a 10% discount really isn’t a lot, but B wasn’t to be swayed. Though the restaurant did have air-conditioning and free refills, in the end, the food was terrible and we only ended up saving a few meager pennies –a grand total of $2.25!

As we left, all we could think about was the ball of food sitting in each of our stomachs and we could hardly appreciate the harvest moon rising just above the horizon in the distance. We quickly popped some Tums and climbed into bed, praying for a better food day tomorrow.

States visited: Florida, Georgia

Yellow car count:

C – 312

B – 337

K – 369

Highs and Lows:

Group high – the “ritzy” Sleep Inn Hotel

Group low – Leaving A&I and Applebee’s

C high – No more camping!

C low – Won Ton Tacos

B high – Saving 75¢!

B low – Only saving 75¢.

K high – No more camping!

K low – Eating an entire package of fudge cookies – both because it made her feel ill and also because there were none for the next day.

CEYG Reunion Tour

July 25

The long hours of driving and (let’s be frank) the fact that we are on Day 27 of our epic adventure caused us all to sleep in a bit later than we planned. Lucky for us, Amanda and Ian completely understood – they are avid blog followers after all.

When we got ourselves together for the day we headed out for a fashionably late lunch at Datz Delicatessen. While we were waiting for our table we explored some of uptown Tampa with Amanda who blew us away with her amazing sense of direction and driving abilities. (Not kidding Ian – we forgot to tell you that she was really incredible at figuring out where we were!)

Ian met us from the hospital and we all enjoyed the delicious sandwiches, salads and homemade potato chips that were sprinkled with a salt & sugar and then drizzled with blue cheese and scallions – also known as “crack” chips for their mildly addictive qualities. There was also wonderful live music from a talented guitarist and pianist.

Deciding what to do for the day was a challenge. Should we explore Tampa? Should we go to the beach? Or should we just hang out at home? In the end we decided to have a quiet afternoon at the house and it was glorious! We lounged about the pool and caught up with Amanda and Ian – oddly enough a lot can happen in five years!!

Before we knew it dinnertime had rolled around and we hadn’t even gone to “make groceries” – a little NOLA terminology there for y’all. C, K, and Amanda went to the Publix down the road to pick up the essentials for a dinner we had planned to cook CBK style: Bruschetta appetizers followed by Chicken Parmesan, Italian-style summer squash and spaghetti. K’s fabulous blackberry and peach cobbler completed the menu.

During dinner, Amanda had us all on the edge of our seats, hanging onto her every word as she described what it was like to live in New Orleans during Katrina. We couldn’t believe our ears as she described what it was like to come back to their home after it had spent five weeks in water. Mold covered everything that she and Ian had left behind, debris was strewn everywhere and they had only moved to NOLA eight weeks before Katrina hit! Even though they had lost a lot of possessions Amanda reminded us that she and Ian were some of the lucky ones as they had only lost things that could for the most part be replaced. Thousands of others had lost everything they owned – including their homes – and loved ones as well. We too were grateful that Amanda and Ian (and Jasper) had all survived unscathed. But, as the hour had grown late, we reluctantly retired from our reminiscing for the evening.

States visited: Florida

Yellow car count: Moratorium but…C saw 1 yellow hummer so 5 pts for her.

C – 296

B – 296

K – 356

Amanda – 3

Highs and Lows:

Group high – A & I & J & T

Group low – too short of a visit

C high – poolside debates, kitchen chats and perfectly steeped teas.

C low – hospital pagers

B high – old friends

B low – having to take cold meds

K high – hanging out with A & I

K low – that Ian was called away to the hospital

Off to the Sunshine State!

July 24

Throughout our trip, all three of us had been looking forward to this day the most, because we were reuniting with our friends Amanda and Ian! For those unfamiliar with these wonderful people, between 2000 and 2003 Amanda and Ian were the directors of Cooperstown Ecumenical Youth Group. Even though they are nine years older than us, we definitely consider them to be some of our closest friends, and when planning this trip, seeing them was the first thing on our list!

For breakfast, we stopped at La Boulangerie on Magazine Street, a delicious French-style bakery with the tastiest croissants any of us had eaten in awhile (since maybe… France?) Once we had eaten our pastries and gotten in the car, we started to realize how tired we were (we had woken up especially early this morning to get an early start on the road – no Caitrin time today!) Driver K, large coffee in hand, gave B & C permission to break one of our road trip rules, so they could both take naps at the same time in the car. It was an offer they couldn’t refuse, and both B & C were asleep within 15 miles – before we even left Louisiana!

Both B & C slept for two hours, while K drove. K was very careful not to play music too loud or sing along too much, to let her car-mates sleep as long as possible. We passed through Mississippi, Alabama, and eventually entered Florida – B & C sleeping the whole time! K decided not to pull over at the welcome signs for Mississippi, Alabama, or Florida, so we’re missing pictures for all of those states. B & C finally woke up in Florida – not too disappointed for missing all of Mississippi and Alabama, since K told them that there was nothing interesting to see.

While driving through Florida, we were slightly disappointed that there was no sunshine in the Sunshine State! It started to pour as we got closer and closer to Tampa (rain from Tropical Depression Bonnie, we think). With Amanda and Ian so close, we drove on through the storm. At one point we even passed a motorcyclist battling his way through the rain! We were thankful our vehicle had a roof.

We had saved Amanda and Ian’s address into the GPS, so when it announced, “turn left and arrive at Amanda and Ian’s” we all squealed in delight. We pulled into the driveway behind their cars and looked at each other a little uncertain of what to do next. All of a sudden the garage door opened and out flew the fluffy welcoming committee. No not Ian! It was Jasper, Amanda and Ian’s black and white husky that they got while in Cooperstown, and Tula, the brown and white, 18-month-old version of Jasper. Ian was there too, just not as fluffy, and Amanda was following closely behind them. Hugs and pets, kisses and licks flew all around the reuniting friends (we’ll let you sort out who did what). After sufficiently affirming that we all were in fact together we went on a quick tour of their lovely house that they had only moved into a few weeks before – that’s how good our timing is! We were psyched to see that there was a pool, which is almost a necessity to survive the Floridian sun.

Everyone was hungry, so we went just down the road to a quirky little BB-Q place. We placed our orders for ribs and pulled pork sandwiches (or pig’s butt as the very mature C informed us) and began our marathon of catching up on each other’s lives. When the food arrived we thought we had somehow transported ourselves back to Texas – the sandwiches were ENORMOUS! All of it was scrumptious but we were struggling to finish. Luckily, staying with Amanda and Ian meant we had a fridge at our disposal so we boxed up the leftovers and headed back to the house.

We spent the few remaining hours relaxing and swimming by the pool until our long day finally caught up to us and we went to bed.

Yellow car count:

C – 291

B – 296

K – 356

Highs and Lows:

Group high – Amanda and Ian!!

Group low – Missing 3 State signs

C high – A&I

C low – Not having more time for New Orleans

B high – A & I

B low – Missing FL sign

K high – A & I

K low – Rain, 99 cent Pecan Pie

Living Benjamin Button

July 23

For those of you who haven’t seen Benjamin Button, we highly recommend you do it for no other reason than the fact that it shows some of the beautiful streets of New Orleans.

Our day in NOLA began with a ride down St Charles St on one of their historic cable cars. It is certainly the most entertaining way to travel through the city and affords for a chance to see all the beautiful houses and Spanish moss-draped oaks that lined the streets. We got off at Canal St and soon found ourselves on the notorious Bourbon Street of the historic French Quarter. Now, one might think that since it was around lunchtime that this street, known for its lewd behavior, would be fairly tame. This was not the case. Minding our own business, we came upon a doorway where a scantily clad young woman stood to entice patrons to enter the bar. Needless to say, her presence had the opposite effect on us and we quickly turned towards Royal St, one block over.

It was noon, hot, and muggy, so we sought out a place to find some lunch and reprieve from the heat. We had received an insider’s tip (thanks Amanda!) about a great place to get authentic Po Boy sandwiches and great oysters at the Acme Oyster House. We each ordered a different Po Boy – short for “Poor Boy,” a name earned by the out of work cable car drivers who most often ate them – C: oyster, B: oyster and shrimp, K: roast beef. We also ordered some of their famous charbroiled oysters topped with garlic, butter, and Parmesan cheese. Sooo good. A half dozen was not enough!

From Acme’s we went to explore another thing that the Big Easy is known for – voodoo! The Voodoo Museum was quirky, spooky, and downright weird! Honestly, it was everything you’d expect it to be. When we opened the door, we walked straight into a tiny little gift shop filled with amulets and potions for love, luck, revenge, and wealth, but we won’t tell you which ones we bought! Also in the room was an oversized man at an undersized table. He informed us that he was a real live Druid and Voodoo Priest who had been in charge of the museum for years now. After a brief bio of his life’s history, he filled us in on the facts and myths of voodooism and Marie Laveau, a famous quadroon voodoo priestess from the area. We paid our entrance fee and walked through a tiny hallway to our right that opened into the strangest collection of items we had ever seen. Masks, statues, and paintings lined the walls and in each nook and cranny was a shrine erected for various voodoo deities where we were instructed to leave an offering. There was even a voodoo wishing well where we could write down our wish and drop it, wrapped in money, into an old stump, praying to Marie for it to come true.

After freaking ourselves out thoroughly, we decided that something sweet was in order. We soon found ourselves at Café du Monde, the old French coffee house where we got some famous beignets (French doughnuts) and coffees. We then went for a stroll along the muddy end of our old friend the Mississippi (see “Mosquitoes? You, Betcha!”).

We decided to stop back at the house to freshen up before beginning our search for some authentic New Orleans jazz. As we walked through our hosts lovely garden we were thrilled to find them all at home. Chris and Kendra were incredibly obliging with all of their local knowledge and Fiona, their 3 year old, was possibly the cutest little girl we’d ever seen!

With a quick shower and wardrobe change we were ready for our night out on the town. First stop: SnoBalls! These are the NOLA version of SnoCones but are (supposedly) very different. B got her shaved ice topped with mango and raspberry, K got mango and mojito, and C got lemon-lime and tiger’s blood – a combination of all the berry flavors with a hint of coconut. True to it’s name, tiger’s blood arrived bright red (and very tasty).

From our frozen delights we headed down to Frenchmen St (a recommendation from our lovely hosts) where all the locals go to enjoy the city’s nightlife however, being small town girls we didn’t realize that good music in the city generally started around 10pm. It was only 8 o’clock when our search began so the only music we could hear came from a bar called Maison (French for “house”). We found the opening act for the night to be an authentic New Orleans jazz group comprised solely of women who had found their musical calling later in life. They could have fooled us though, since they still rocked the house (sorry, maison). Unfortunately, we had barely gotten ourselves settled when the band decided to take a break. Little did we know that a new form of entertainment had just walked in the door. As we were chatting with the bassist, two strange men entered the bar and sat at our table as though they knew us. “Tiny” and his friend informed us that they were “shooting a student film” about silliness and decided to use us as extras for their bar scene. A minute later we were all seated at the bar taking shots of water and trying to understand what this had to do with Joie de vivre. Despite the camera, lighting, and sound crew, we decided that we had had enough of this strange film and moved on to find some more agreeable company.

Our next stop was a direct result of our rumbling tummies. The Marigny Brasserie on the corner seemed to be the perfect place to have dinner and wait for the street to fill with more music. Once our stomachs had been filled we knew it was time to find some more music. Our first stop at the Apple Barrel proved fruitless. The second attempt at the d.b.a. was thwarted by the cover charge at the door. (Don’t judge us! We’re poor!) Our third try paid off like Goldilocks. Not only was there no cover but B recognized the music to be the famous Cotton Mouth Kings! We enjoyed listening to their beautiful and catchy music while watching locals swing dance along. All around we agreed the local NOLA scene was a blast!

On the way home, curious to how it differed from our lunchtime experience, we decided to drive down Bourbon St to see what the nightlife was like. For the sake of the children, we will merely state that it was not our scene.

We got home much later than planned, but then again that’s the sign of a good time! After making sure the air conditioner was turned up we all passed out so we could get an early start on our trip to the Sunshine State the next morning!

Mileage to date: 7,253

States visited: Louisiana

Yellow car count:

C – 275

B – 277

K – 334

Highs and Lows:

Group high – Southern hospitality

Group low – Spending $5 unnecessarily on public transportation

C high – Great jazz, Southern gentlemen, French!

C low – Not having enough time for the WWII museum

B high –Cotton Mouth Kings!

B low – Humidity

K high – Hot waiter, southern accents

K low –Bourbon St

What's behind door #3?

July 22

Avid blog-followers,

Remember a couple weeks back when we ran into some fellow road trippers in Yellowstone, who were went to UVA and now live in Portland? In our brief conversation with them, they had tipped us off on a free breakfast option in Austin. Since free food is one of our favorite things, of course we had to try it out when we were in the city!

We first packed the car up, and said our goodbyes and thank you’s to Megan and Chris for putting us up for a couple nights. Then we headed to the original Whole Foods in downtown Austin for the “Whole Foods Breakfast Graze.” The Yellowstone girls had told us that early in the morning Whole Foods puts out lots of free samples. Their advice was to wander around the store and try as many as you could and soon you would have yourself a complete breakfast! Unfortunately we got there a little late for the samples (Yellowstone Girls said to get there by 7AM… we got there around 9AM), so there were only five samples or so to taste. They were all delicious but not enough to call a real breakfast. To fill the remaining space in our bellies we broke down and bought some bagels and muffins.

During our foray into Whole Foods we decided to split up and tour the store solo, each with the mission of finding an interesting food to share in the car. C got pita and southwestern hummus, B got cupcakes and bean dip (not to eat together), and K got Quack n’ Bites (or Quack-a-Doodles, as she likes to call them) – basically goldfish crackers shaped like ducks.

We got on the road to head towards New Orleans. We were making good time until it started to DOWNPOUR! The roads had poor drainage systems and it was hard to see so we decided to pull off at a McDonald’s to wait out the worst of the storm. (From all of our stops at McDonald’s you might think we are auditioning for Supersize Me 2, but we swear it’s really just for the Wi-Fi!)

Once we got to Louisiana, most of the roads we drove on we long, flat bridges over marshlands. B & K looked through the windows to try to spot alligators, but didn’t see any. C was relived.

The trip from Austin to NOLA is about a nine-hour drive, so we didn’t pull into the Big Easy until about 7:30 PM. We had made arrangements to stay in the guesthouse of Chris and Kendra, friends of some of our friends who had recently moved out of the area. We found their house and rang the doorbell. No one answered after a few minutes so we walked around back to where we were told we would find the guesthouse. Little did we know that when we walked around to the backyard we would find not one but three doors! We had no idea which door was the guesthouse, so we tried all three. Door #1… kid’s playhouse… door #2… shed… door #3… neighbor’s house… or so it looked. C called Kendra to make sure we were in the right place (and we were), but for a few minutes we were thoroughly convinced that we had just walked into a neighbor’s house. We met Chris a few minutes later (who also assured us that we were in the right place) and enjoyed talking to him for a little while and seeing some of the interior of his beautiful house!

The guesthouse was the perfect amount of space for us, and had so many amenities that we have not been used to having – a normal person’s idea of space to sleep three, a real kitchen and the fastest Internet ever! We made some dinner and watched the finale of Glee online. (B hadn’t seen it yet, so we hadn’t been able to talk about had what happened for the whole trip!) Then, after a couple hands of rummy, we called it a night and climbed into bed.

Mileage to date: 6,701

States visited: Texas, Louisiana

Yellow car count:

C – 275

B – 277

K – 334

Highs and Lows:

Group high – Guesthouse

Group low – Downpour and needing to pull over because of it

C high – New Orleans

C low – Mosquitoes

B high – Finally watching the Glee finale!

B low – Sooo Hot

K high – The awesome guesthouse!

K low – Whole Foods Breakfast Graze kind of sucked

Between a Rock and a Weird Place

July 21

After an exciting and colorful night on 6^th Street we were all looking forward to what the Texas capital could offer us in the daylight. We began with the biggest building we could find: the State Capitol Building. While Austin’s State Capitol is the largest state capitol building by square footage, it is not actually the tallest – we will let you figure out the second half of that trivia. We actually learned lots of fun facts on our mini tour of the Capitol:

• · The phrase “Six Flags over Texas” is about all the various countries and nations that have contributed to the history and development of the state. (France, Spain, Mexico, the Republic of Texas, the Confederate States of America and finally the good ole United States)
• · The Texas legislature is an “extreme part-time job” and only meets every other year for about 130 days total – and probably gets more done than the NY State legislature!!
• · The young children and grandchildren of the newest members of the legislature always act as the mascots for that year’s legislative session – their baby pictures appear in their state senator and representative composites.
• · At the top of the inside of the Capitol’s rotunda is a star with the letters T-E-X-A-S between each point. Though it doesn’t look like it from the ground, the star is eight feet from point to point and each letter is three feet tall.

After touring the Capitol for the bit, we realized that we were getting hungry for lunch. C taught us a never-fail trick she learned from her dad about how to find the best local places to eat – just ask a police officer or a security guard. Turns out, it really worked!! We asked the guard at the door where we could get some good BB-Q and he directed us toward Stubb’s on Red River Street, a small but well-known local favorite. We all agreed the food was delicious and B even got a shirt so she could do some out-of-state advertising. We were so full after Stubb’s that we had to walk around a bit before jumping in the car and driving off to Buffalo Exchange, a fabulous store that sells “new and recycled” clothing.

We all had lots of fun browsing through racks and racks of clothes, shoes and accessories and trying on everything in the store – a la Kowboyz’ boots (see post: “Santa Fe A-O’K!”). The best part about Buffalo Exchange was that when checking out you are given the option of “bag or chip.” If you choose “bag” the items you purchase go into a typical plastic shopping bag for easy portage. If you select “chip” you receive instead a small round token worth 5¢. You can then put this into one of three boxes for various charities at the exit where your five cents will be donated.

After a successful stop for C & B, we continued north toward K’s family’s house for dinner. We stared out early hoping to miss the rush hour traffic and also knowing we had one more stop to make before we got there – Amy’s Ice Cream. Amy’s is an Austin ice cream shop chain that, for non-locals, can be most commonly related to Coldstone Creamery but, as any good Amy’s employee will tell you that Amy’s was there first! The ice cream and sorbet we got was delicious and made for an excellent continuation of our tradition of dessert before dinner (see San Fran).

We finally arrived at our dinner destination and received a warm welcome from K’s Uncle Andrew, Aunt Susan and cousin Jordan. On the menu that night were Susan’s homemade chicken enchiladas and tasty chocolate chip butter cookies. After our feast, we met Toby and Ruby, the family’s chocolate lab and border collie, and took them for a walk through the surrounding fields. We saw the neighbor’s cows and horses and a little bit of Austin’s wildlife. Jordan warned C of the dangerous jumping spiders that could attack at anytime and C recoiled in fear as Jordan pointed out one right in front of her – of course, after recovering from the giggles, it was revealed that this deadly insect was just a lowly cricket. B did not turn out quite so lucky in her spider encounter. While investigating the recently added storm shelters, she turned to her left and noticed a large, eight-legged “friend.” The black spider looked slightly familiar with the red marking on her back and when B pointed it out, Uncle Andrew told her she should probably get out of there right now since that was the biggest black widow spider he had ever seen.

Once everyone had been sufficiently spooked, Jordan gave us a peek at his summer project – a blue Ford Mustang named Dolly that just happened to be K’s mom’s first car! We were all just a little bit jealous and were trying to figure out how we could pack everything into the Mustang so we could drive that home instead. Lucky for Jordan, the car wasn’t ready for the road at the moment and there would be no thieving on our part… yet. (Watch out, Jordan.)

States visited: Texas

Yellow Car count:

C – 246

B – 231

K – 300

Highs and Lows:

Group high – Keeping Austin Weird

Group low – Hot & humid

C high – Buffalo Exchange

C low – not seeing Leslie

B high – real Texas BBQ

B low – real black widow spider

K high – dinner with Uncle Andrew, Aunt Susan, and Jordan

K low – wearing the wrong shirt for the humidity

The Day of the Best Decision ever: Leaving Lubbock

July 20

We woke up and immediately started talking about the hubbub of last night; very anxious to leave what felt like the grimiest and sketchiest campsite we have stayed in. We packed up camp at turbo-speed, and drove over to the showers so that we would look somewhat decent when we arrived in Austin later that day. Unfortunately, although we soaped and scrubbed our bug-bitten bodies, the showers we pretty nasty, so even at the end we felt like a very dirty-clean.

On our way out of the Lubbock campground, C jumped out of the car to ask one of the park workers about the person(s?) who had been rushed to the hospital the night before. The worker said that she couldn’t give out any details, but that everyone was okay (phew!).

On our way through the largest state of our trip, we noticed more country and state pride than anywhere else we had been. (But are you really surprised? We were in Texas…) Texas flags and “lone stars” hung from every possible place. We also noticed that the state flag was frequently hung at the same height as the American flag. We later learned that Texas is the only state allowed to fly their flag at the same height as the national flag – although Wikipedia says this is an urban legend.

When we arrived in Austin, we met C’s friend Megan (whose apartment we would be staying at) and her boyfriend Chris. After unloading our bags, we piled into Megan’s car to go get some tasty southern food. She took us to the Hills Café, an Austin hotspot, for dinner. C’s chicken friend steak and K’s chicken fried chicken made for some interesting dinner conversations. It was unanimously decided that we preferred the yellow gravy (with chicken broth) to the white gravy (without). The Hills Café had a great outdoor atmosphere including a stage where they had live music almost every night. It was singer/songwriter night when we were there, so a few different musicians serenaded us during our meal.

After dinner, we drove down to the Congress Street bridge to watch the bats fly out from under the bridge. This may sound like a strange evening activity, but it is actually one of Austin’s well-known features! Up to 1.5 million bats – the largest urban colony of bats in North America – live under the bridge, and wake up at sundown to search for food. As it got darker, more and more bats began to wake up and fly around the arch of the bridge, and it began to get smellier and smellier. K, with nightmares of the rabies shot still fresh in her mind, was grateful that the bats didn’t fly too close to her. It was a low-flying night for the bats, but still a very cool sight to see – “classic Austin,” as it has been referred to by locals.

Once everyone had seen enough of the bats, we worked our way over to 6^th Street, Austin’s late-night hotspot, filled with music and other activity. This street is also the home to the unofficial mayor of Austin, but unfortunately for us, Leslie the Transvestite was not wandering about the same night we were. We walked up and down 6^th Street until we found a place that interested us. We ended up at Pete’s Dueling Piano Bar, a small chain that we also passed by in Las Vegas! There we two pianos onstage, set up facing each other so that the pianists could banter with each other and the audience. As soon as we walked through the doors it was clear that we were no longer in Cooperstown. People were shouting, and throwing money, requests, and alcoholic offerings to the performers. We quickly found a seat so we wouldn’t get in the way SLASH accosted by the performers. It was a bizarre experience for the three of us because most of the songs they sang (American Pie, Proud Mary, Time of Your Life, etc) were ones we used to sing in our middle school youth group… although this time we heard them in a very different setting and with slightly altered lyrics.

Pete’s was fun, but 6^th Street was full of places with live music and no cover charge, so we moved on, and bar hopped down the street. We eventually ended up at a rooftop bar with more music and excellent view of the nightlife on the street. B & K just couldn’t kick their pizza craving from San Francisco (really, you’d think it’d be gone by now), so they crossed the street to get a late-night slice. Once they had gobbled that down, (craving still not quite satisfied) they returned to the rooftop bar to reunite with C and Megan. We all stayed a little longer there, dancing, talking, and hanging out, before returning to Megan’s apartment for the night.

States visited: Texas

Yellow car count:

C – 246

B – 231

K – 300

Megan – 3

Highs and Lows:

Group high – 6^th street

Group low – Waking up in Lubbock (but also a high since we knew we were leaving there)

C high – Megan! and Austin bats

C low – post-chicken-fried steak feeling

B high – Pete’s

B low – Unsatisfied pizza craving

K high – Dueling piano bar, Leaving Lubbock

K low – Being close to Bats

Everything is bigger... and noisier... and scarier in Texas

July 19

Before we could leave the Santa Fe area, we had to make one last stop in the city to see a major attraction we had missed the day before – the Loretta Chapel staircase. This 33-step spiral staircase has baffled architects for years because it has no visible form of support. We only managed to snap one picture of the famous staircase before our camera ran out of battery. Bummer.

We were all reluctant to leave what we unanimously agreed was our favorite city (so far) of the trip, but we knew it was time to hit the road. We wanted to drive along part of the Historic Route 66 on our way out of New Mexico, and began to look for signs as soon as we hit Interstate 40. We knew that Route 66 ran alongside I-40, but we didn’t see a single sign for it, and we beginning to get worried that we would miss it. We pulled over at a rest stop to ask for directions. A worker there told us that we were already on the famous road, because in that stretch, I-40 had been built right on top of Rt. 66. Though slightly disappointed since we were expecting a much different drive, we continued to drive. It wasn’t until Santa Rosa, NM – right before where we were going to turn off of I-40 – that we saw a sign for Historic 66. B, a big fan of Disney’s Cars, was especially excited about seeing this landmark.

We entered Texas, and were surprised to see that its “welcome to” sign was much smaller than the other ones we had seen. Isn’t everything supposed to be bigger in Texas? K appropriately framed the picture of B to include both the Texas sign and the American flag flying in the background.

We were camping for the night in Lubbock, which from our pre-trip research appeared to be the only campground between Santa Fe and Austin, TX. The campground was far from the nicest we had stayed at, and its roads and campsites were not well maintained. The bathroom stalls didn’t even have doors! The tent sites were right next to the ATV park, but we managed to find a somewhat secluded spot down a slight hill. It even had a water feature! (Even though that water feature was a gross, smelly pond with lots of bugs.) Our neighbors across the pond were noisy, but we figured that we could survive one night there.

We climbed into our tent early, since the bugs were eating us alive. We would have fallen asleep early, but a few fellow campers had decided to take up some late night ATV-ing. We lay awake, wondering when the noise would stop and when we could go to sleep when we heard a different, but distinct, sound. Sirens and flashing lights suddenly filled the campground, and we watched as four police cars sped past our tent. C & K decided to “go to the bathroom” to investigate. On their way to the door-less stalls, C & K saw three more police cars and an ambulance speed into the campground, and then a helicopter fly in! Stunned, startled, and not quite sure what they had gotten themselves into, C & K hurried back to the tent where they met an equally stunned and startled B. We all set outside and watched from our campsite as the ambulance drove from one RV site to where the helicopter had landed. Our theories ranged from heart attacks to drug overdoses, to contaminated water poisoning, though it was doubtful that any of those were close to accurate. We fell asleep confused and concerned, and also eager to leave the strange town of Lubbock, Texas.

States visited: New Mexico, Texas

Yellow car count:

C – 200

B – 215

K – 267

Highs and Lows:

Group high – shorter drive (at least compared to some of our previous ones)

Group low – Lubbock, TX

C high – seeing the Loretta staircase

C low – campground

B high – learning more Santa Fe history

B low – ATVs

K high – Seeing more of Santa Fe before leaving

K low – Lubbock