Day 10: San Francisco to Eureka
miles traveled: 291 + however many it was after we stopped for gas
Woke up this morning to a little bit of rain. Turtle was already awake and had gone for a 2 mile run and got watched by a sea lion, which freaked him out. Jenn and I said quick silent prayers, and the rain stopped. We all got up and packed up our tents. We found out last night that the showers were going to cost a quarter for 2 minutes. Sarah ended up finding a quarter in her bag and Jenn found one as well. We figured we could all just get in our bathing suits and at least shower off even if we weren't able to take full showers. I found .25, so I asked the people camping next to us if they could give me a quarter if I gave them my .25. The guy was nice enough and gave me two quarters and wouldn't take any of my money. In case you are bad at math, that made 4 quarters. You remember the number of people on this trip? That's right... 4. We each got to take a 2 min shower with hot water, which was lovely. Since you could turn the shower off and save your time, we all took navy showers, but at least we were all clean. After getting out of the shower, Jenn and I saw Sarah and Turtle talking to our neighbors that had given us the quarters. We ended up talking to the couple and their kids for a while, and a guy from the next campsite over came over to talk as well. We found out that he was on a road trip with his friend as well, but they were coming from Toledo, OH. The couple, Chris (Pastor Chris or PC) and his wife Suzanne were angels. They gave Sarah and I coffee, let Sarah, Turtle, and Jenn sit in their chairs around the fire, and even gave us some real fruit bars so that our diet wouldn't be as crappy as it is now. As we were leaving, they told us they would be praying for us. We were truly blessed to be camping next to them. We drove up through San Francisco and made the executive decision to not go into Berkeley because all of the bridges were toll bridges. We got to drive over the Golden Gate, which was pretty cool. We headed up to Napa Valley to Yountville, where we went to Cornerstone for our free wine tasting. Jenn ended up joining their wine club and buying a case, but saved over $200, so it was a bargain. As we were driving out of Napa, we found a couple of vineyards that we recognized the names of, which was kinda cool. Sarah and Jenn were sitting in the back seat and ended up falling asleep while Turtle drove and I rode shotgun. The drive up to Eureka was BEAUTIFUL! We passed a bunch of redwoods and followed along the Eel River for a bit, which was phenomenal. The river was this beautiful aqua color, which we had never seen before with our own eyes. The entire drive was overcast, but it was beautiful with the clouds getting trapped in between the mountains. As we passed a couple of fields where they had cut and rolled the hay, they had covered the hay balls with white sheets. This made them look like giant marshmallows, which Turtle had to comment on. On the drive, we actually passed a town called Leggett, and one of the signs was for south Leggett, but it was abbreviated So Legget. This made Turtle and I laugh because it looked like "so legit." We made it up to Eureka and are staying in a hotel room for the night. We splurged and got Wendy's for dinner, so we are really living large!
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Headed out to San Francisco for the labor day weekend show
Day 9: El Capitain to San Francisco
miles traveled: 374
Even though we don't have our hush puppies on and were never meant for glitter rock and roll, we made it up to the beautiful city of San Francisco today. Before we left our campsite, Jenn gave the tennis ball I had found in the woods the other day to a couple of dogs that these people were walking. Another lady was walking around and spotted our campsite and complimented us on the fact that it was a pretty baller site. We told her that she could take it since we were heading up north and wouldn't need it again tonight. She thanked us profusely for it and we informed her that we had left some extra firewood for her as well. We encountered our first tunnel on the trip, but it was a pansy short tunnel, so holding our breath was not a problem. While driving along 101 and 1, we saw the people harvesting the strawberry fields, multiple hawks, and a bunch of vineyards. We stopped around 2:30 for gas and lunch, which consisted of summer sausage and triscuits. We traveled through Silicon Valley on our way to San Francisco, which was cool to see. When we got to San Fran, we drove through China Town on our way to the Fisherman's Wharf. We got out and walked along the water front, bought postcards, looked at shop vendors, and Turtle and I went to Boudin and bought two loaves of sourdough. Turtle also bought a sourdough turtle, which was pretty cool. We took pictures of Ghiradelli square and the boats in the harbor. Jenn, Sarah, and I got one glass of wine at a wine tasting store. When we asked the guy where a good place to go in Napa for dry red wine. He gave us a business card and wrote on the back of it for a free tasting, which was super awesome. We got back into the car and headed over towards Lombard St, drove down that, and went to Coit Tower. At the top, we made friends with a guy from Greece, who took our picture. Jenn and I impressed him because we knew the word "thithima" which means twin. I have no idea if I spelled that right, but that is how it is pronounced. We left San Francisco and headed down to Half Moon Bay campground. We walked on the beach which actually had sand!! Jenn, Turtle, and I were walking around and talking on the phone to our people back home while Sarah stayed back up at the campsite. I found another sea lion and tried to take pictures of it, but he was being sneaky and didn't like getting his photo taken. I went back up to the campsite, and Sarah and I headed out of the campground to scavenge for free fire wood. We ended up being sketch at the back of a neighborhood and the edge of a field, but we got enough wood to have a decent fire. Since we couldn't break the logs down because we didn't have leverage, we folded down the seats in Sylvia and brought back 6 ft logs to the campsite. Turtle ninja'd them into smaller pieces and one of them we just burned in the middle. We sat around the fire and chilled before heading to bed.
miles traveled: 374
Even though we don't have our hush puppies on and were never meant for glitter rock and roll, we made it up to the beautiful city of San Francisco today. Before we left our campsite, Jenn gave the tennis ball I had found in the woods the other day to a couple of dogs that these people were walking. Another lady was walking around and spotted our campsite and complimented us on the fact that it was a pretty baller site. We told her that she could take it since we were heading up north and wouldn't need it again tonight. She thanked us profusely for it and we informed her that we had left some extra firewood for her as well. We encountered our first tunnel on the trip, but it was a pansy short tunnel, so holding our breath was not a problem. While driving along 101 and 1, we saw the people harvesting the strawberry fields, multiple hawks, and a bunch of vineyards. We stopped around 2:30 for gas and lunch, which consisted of summer sausage and triscuits. We traveled through Silicon Valley on our way to San Francisco, which was cool to see. When we got to San Fran, we drove through China Town on our way to the Fisherman's Wharf. We got out and walked along the water front, bought postcards, looked at shop vendors, and Turtle and I went to Boudin and bought two loaves of sourdough. Turtle also bought a sourdough turtle, which was pretty cool. We took pictures of Ghiradelli square and the boats in the harbor. Jenn, Sarah, and I got one glass of wine at a wine tasting store. When we asked the guy where a good place to go in Napa for dry red wine. He gave us a business card and wrote on the back of it for a free tasting, which was super awesome. We got back into the car and headed over towards Lombard St, drove down that, and went to Coit Tower. At the top, we made friends with a guy from Greece, who took our picture. Jenn and I impressed him because we knew the word "thithima" which means twin. I have no idea if I spelled that right, but that is how it is pronounced. We left San Francisco and headed down to Half Moon Bay campground. We walked on the beach which actually had sand!! Jenn, Turtle, and I were walking around and talking on the phone to our people back home while Sarah stayed back up at the campsite. I found another sea lion and tried to take pictures of it, but he was being sneaky and didn't like getting his photo taken. I went back up to the campsite, and Sarah and I headed out of the campground to scavenge for free fire wood. We ended up being sketch at the back of a neighborhood and the edge of a field, but we got enough wood to have a decent fire. Since we couldn't break the logs down because we didn't have leverage, we folded down the seats in Sylvia and brought back 6 ft logs to the campsite. Turtle ninja'd them into smaller pieces and one of them we just burned in the middle. We sat around the fire and chilled before heading to bed.
There's a place off Ocean Ave where I used to sit and talk to you...
Day 8: LA to El Capitain
miles traveled: 125
Today was a short day. We had originally planned on spending the entire day in LA and using it as a beach day, but since it was overcast, we decided to roll out. We all woke up to a beautiful view of the Pacific ocean from our campsite, and after showers and packing, we headed into LA. Sarah ended up walking around Rodeo Dr. while Turtle, Jenn, and I went to church at the Good Shepard Church in Beverly Hills. It was a beautiful church and it was Pentecost, so the vestments and such were red. The homily that was given was slightly long, but unlike most long homilies, I really enjoyed it. After church, we called up Sarah, who was already heading back towards the car. After all of us were together, we headed over to Hollywood Blvd. Sarah wanted to find the Hollywood sign, which we sort of did, but we had to get a picture of it from far away. We ended up driving around to see if we could get a better picture of it, and on the way, Jenn spotted an orange tree. She got out and attempted to grab one, but sadly, she was too short. We ended up parking on Hollywood Blvd and walking along the walk of fame. We walked down for about 7 blocks and then crossed the street to walk back towards the car. On our way back, Jenn suggested we stop in at the farmer's market, which was the best decision of the day. We picked up a bunch of carrots (4) and a basket of strawberries for $3 total. We continued to walk around the market and look at the sights and smell the wonderful food that was being cooked up. Turtle actually bought a thing of ice cream from a homemade ice cream stand. We all snagged a few small bites from him; it was delicious. We ended up heading back to the car, continuing to snap pictures of our favorite people along the walk of fame. My favorite was probably James Stewart. We got back into the car, our stomachs wondering what this fresh fruit and vegetables were doing there, and headed towards El Capitain State Beach. We got slightly lost on our way there because we were following signs for the campground. Unfortunately, the signs were for the wrong campground, so we had to turn around. It only took us about 5 minutes out of the way. We arrived in the campground and it was beautiful! We found a spot that had two giant trees with it (we were in a forest) that were perfect for climbing. The girls ended up going into town to a K Mart to get some hot dogs and some cash. When we got back, we found Turtle in a tree, playing with the machete, trying to get firewood. Jenn got a picture of him which should be up on facebook soon. We ended up setting up camp and gathering some more firewood before heading out to the beach... the rocky beach. I walked down the beach a bit and talked to Clayton. The others talked on the phone, journaled, and Turtle made towers with the rocks as prayer requests. We went back to the campsite after about an hour and cooked our hotdogs on the fire. Turtle dropped one into the fire, but ate it anyway, and my first hotdog fell into the fire. Turtle was kind enough to eat that one for me, so I made two more. We didn't have any condiments for them, but after eating peanut butter for a week straight, the hotdogs tasted like heaven! We banked the fire and walked back to the beach to watch the sunset and to journal more. We ended up getting these two very nice people, Jeff and Mark, to take our picture. My favorite quote of the night was Mark saying that he knew we weren't from California because we were too polite. Guess what, mom? You taught us well... We chatted with Jeff and Mark for a bit and after a while, noticed what looked like dolphins in the ocean. Jeff said that they were sea lions, which some of them were, but I still held my ground, thinking that I had seen dolphins. The sea lions were about 100 ft off the shore and there ended up being 2 dolphins swimming parallel to the coast. After the sun went down, we said goodbye to our new friends, and headed back towards camp. I brought a log from the beach back so that we would have something to sit on. We made a fire and sat around and talked and hung out for a bit before getting ready for bed. We went to the bathrooms and were able to charge our phones for a bit, which was nice. Since they charged a quarter to use the showers for 2 min, we all went to bed smelling like smoke, which made me really feel like I was camping.
miles traveled: 125
Today was a short day. We had originally planned on spending the entire day in LA and using it as a beach day, but since it was overcast, we decided to roll out. We all woke up to a beautiful view of the Pacific ocean from our campsite, and after showers and packing, we headed into LA. Sarah ended up walking around Rodeo Dr. while Turtle, Jenn, and I went to church at the Good Shepard Church in Beverly Hills. It was a beautiful church and it was Pentecost, so the vestments and such were red. The homily that was given was slightly long, but unlike most long homilies, I really enjoyed it. After church, we called up Sarah, who was already heading back towards the car. After all of us were together, we headed over to Hollywood Blvd. Sarah wanted to find the Hollywood sign, which we sort of did, but we had to get a picture of it from far away. We ended up driving around to see if we could get a better picture of it, and on the way, Jenn spotted an orange tree. She got out and attempted to grab one, but sadly, she was too short. We ended up parking on Hollywood Blvd and walking along the walk of fame. We walked down for about 7 blocks and then crossed the street to walk back towards the car. On our way back, Jenn suggested we stop in at the farmer's market, which was the best decision of the day. We picked up a bunch of carrots (4) and a basket of strawberries for $3 total. We continued to walk around the market and look at the sights and smell the wonderful food that was being cooked up. Turtle actually bought a thing of ice cream from a homemade ice cream stand. We all snagged a few small bites from him; it was delicious. We ended up heading back to the car, continuing to snap pictures of our favorite people along the walk of fame. My favorite was probably James Stewart. We got back into the car, our stomachs wondering what this fresh fruit and vegetables were doing there, and headed towards El Capitain State Beach. We got slightly lost on our way there because we were following signs for the campground. Unfortunately, the signs were for the wrong campground, so we had to turn around. It only took us about 5 minutes out of the way. We arrived in the campground and it was beautiful! We found a spot that had two giant trees with it (we were in a forest) that were perfect for climbing. The girls ended up going into town to a K Mart to get some hot dogs and some cash. When we got back, we found Turtle in a tree, playing with the machete, trying to get firewood. Jenn got a picture of him which should be up on facebook soon. We ended up setting up camp and gathering some more firewood before heading out to the beach... the rocky beach. I walked down the beach a bit and talked to Clayton. The others talked on the phone, journaled, and Turtle made towers with the rocks as prayer requests. We went back to the campsite after about an hour and cooked our hotdogs on the fire. Turtle dropped one into the fire, but ate it anyway, and my first hotdog fell into the fire. Turtle was kind enough to eat that one for me, so I made two more. We didn't have any condiments for them, but after eating peanut butter for a week straight, the hotdogs tasted like heaven! We banked the fire and walked back to the beach to watch the sunset and to journal more. We ended up getting these two very nice people, Jeff and Mark, to take our picture. My favorite quote of the night was Mark saying that he knew we weren't from California because we were too polite. Guess what, mom? You taught us well... We chatted with Jeff and Mark for a bit and after a while, noticed what looked like dolphins in the ocean. Jeff said that they were sea lions, which some of them were, but I still held my ground, thinking that I had seen dolphins. The sea lions were about 100 ft off the shore and there ended up being 2 dolphins swimming parallel to the coast. After the sun went down, we said goodbye to our new friends, and headed back towards camp. I brought a log from the beach back so that we would have something to sit on. We made a fire and sat around and talked and hung out for a bit before getting ready for bed. We went to the bathrooms and were able to charge our phones for a bit, which was nice. Since they charged a quarter to use the showers for 2 min, we all went to bed smelling like smoke, which made me really feel like I was camping.
Saturday, May 22, 2010
I remember the day when you left for Santa Monica
Day 7: Mesquite to Malibu
miles traveled: 710
Well, we left Mesquite around 11:20 this morning. I slept in because I was the one driving last night and this morning, so I needed a good night's sleep. Anywho, we rearranged the packing of the car to make things a little easier to get to and to free up some extra space in the back seat. We drove back through Vegas, and in a little town called Baker, CA, we switched drivers. Turtle ended up taking over. Fun fact about Baker: they have the world's tallest thermometer. Not sure why that is something to be proud of, but its whatever. Interesting note on California driving: they have individual lanes for trucks on hills. We passed an interesting road called Zzyzx along our route, which was just fun to see. After crossing over the mountains and coming back down the other side, the landscape started to turn green again and there were actual trees. I have never been so happy to see a tree before. We ran into a little bit of traffic outside of LA, but not too much because it wasn't a weekday. Jenn ended up developing a nose bleed for the dry air, but luckily, it didn't last too long, so everything was all good. We officially arrived in LA at 4:55 and proceeded to drive around the city for a bit. Sarah wanted to see the Hollywood sign and get a picture of it, but that didn't happen today. It is in the cards for tomorrow, however. We drove up towards Malibu in search of a campground. The state park that we were planning on staying was up a huge mountain. By the time we got about halfway up, we all decided to just turn around and go back to the campground that was right off of hwy 1. It has a beautiful view of the mountains and the beach, so we are all pretty happy with our surroundings. It is interesting how they do their tent camping, though. We had to park our cars in a parking lot and then tote our stuff to our spots. They had hand carts available, so it wasn't that bad. When we were walking in, Turtle and I found some guys playing beer pong and were invited to join them. Needless to say, we did not, although we seriously considered it! We set up camp, and then Sarah stayed behind to talk to Matt while Jenn, Turtle, and I headed down to the TV room in order to get some internet. Jenn sat inside while Turtle and I talked to people on the phones, and then I got onto the computer to update the blog and such. Turtle and I have been sitting outside talking and blogging for about the last hour, so we are going to say goodnight and good luck...
- Megan
miles traveled: 710
Well, we left Mesquite around 11:20 this morning. I slept in because I was the one driving last night and this morning, so I needed a good night's sleep. Anywho, we rearranged the packing of the car to make things a little easier to get to and to free up some extra space in the back seat. We drove back through Vegas, and in a little town called Baker, CA, we switched drivers. Turtle ended up taking over. Fun fact about Baker: they have the world's tallest thermometer. Not sure why that is something to be proud of, but its whatever. Interesting note on California driving: they have individual lanes for trucks on hills. We passed an interesting road called Zzyzx along our route, which was just fun to see. After crossing over the mountains and coming back down the other side, the landscape started to turn green again and there were actual trees. I have never been so happy to see a tree before. We ran into a little bit of traffic outside of LA, but not too much because it wasn't a weekday. Jenn ended up developing a nose bleed for the dry air, but luckily, it didn't last too long, so everything was all good. We officially arrived in LA at 4:55 and proceeded to drive around the city for a bit. Sarah wanted to see the Hollywood sign and get a picture of it, but that didn't happen today. It is in the cards for tomorrow, however. We drove up towards Malibu in search of a campground. The state park that we were planning on staying was up a huge mountain. By the time we got about halfway up, we all decided to just turn around and go back to the campground that was right off of hwy 1. It has a beautiful view of the mountains and the beach, so we are all pretty happy with our surroundings. It is interesting how they do their tent camping, though. We had to park our cars in a parking lot and then tote our stuff to our spots. They had hand carts available, so it wasn't that bad. When we were walking in, Turtle and I found some guys playing beer pong and were invited to join them. Needless to say, we did not, although we seriously considered it! We set up camp, and then Sarah stayed behind to talk to Matt while Jenn, Turtle, and I headed down to the TV room in order to get some internet. Jenn sat inside while Turtle and I talked to people on the phones, and then I got onto the computer to update the blog and such. Turtle and I have been sitting outside talking and blogging for about the last hour, so we are going to say goodnight and good luck...
- Megan
Viva Las Vegas!!
Day 6: Williams, AZ to VEGAS! (well, Mesquite)
miles traveled: 234
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MAMA SHINNERS!!!!
We left the KOA pretty early (around 8:20 mountain time) and got into the Kaibab National Forest around 9. We drove down this long road for a very long time until we got to the Grand Canyon! We all were amazed by the beauty of the Canyon, which is obvious, but roll with me here... We walked along the southern rim for about 2 hours. Sarah and I were hanging back just a bit and found a squirrel that was very used to humans being around; we named him Lonny. Turtle was getting a little apprehensive at times because of the height thing. It freaked him out a little bit when Jenn, Sarah, and I got closer to the edge than he was comfortable with. Jenn and Sarah found another squirrel while Turtle and I were exploring other parts of the pathway. They called us over, and when we got there, we saw this squirrel perched on very edge of a rock cliff. He sat there as if he was posing, and ended up coming closer to all the humans that were milling about. He, like Lonny, was very used to humans. After getting our pictures and memories of the view, we went to the bookstore and bought some postcards and such and then headed on our way. We got gas before getting back on interstate 40. We hit 3000 miles on the trip tik about an hour before we got to the Hoover dam. There was a police security checkpoint before we crossed over the dam which consisted of one guy glancing in our car and assessing that we weren't terrorists. He waved us on and we got in the seemingly endless line of cars. We got into Pacific time at 4:10/3:10 when we crossed over the dam. After driving over the dam, we switched drivers, and I took over for Turtle. We got into Vegas around 4:00 and headed north to Mesquite which is about an hour north. We stayed in a hotel, so we were all able to get showers and relax on queen size beds before getting ready to head back to Vegas for a night of fun. Sadly, all of us are too poor to have too much fun, but we managed to get a good share of it. We started off towards the Bellagio, but sadly, the light and water show wasn't playing for the rest of the night. Turtle bought a drink that consisted of 3 margaritas and now has a giant glass to take home as a souvenir, Jenn broke even, and I lost $5 at blackjack (the one hand I played). We all walked around and found an amusing sight outside of the New York New York Casino. One incredibly drunk guy was sitting on the ground without his shirt on while his friend was fighting with the bouncers. The drunk guy on the ground had the paramedics called for him, but we weren't sure what his friend was so angry about. The bouncers were trying to restrain him, and the guy ended up spitting in the bouncer's face. That caused the bouncer to push him into a metal fence-like apparatus and say that he was going to get him arrested. The drunk guy then proceeded to shout "7,6,5,4. When I get to zero, I'm gonna sue your ass!" This made all of us chuckle a little. There was a couple standing next to us enjoying the show as well. The guy turned to us and said "I'm just waiting for him to get tased." After the paramedics arrived, we all ended up leaving and let them do their jobs. We arrived back at the car (which we parked for free at Mandalay Bay) and headed over to the "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign where we took pictures. We then drove back to the hotel and got there at 3:20. We crashed almost the second we were in the room.
- Megan
miles traveled: 234
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MAMA SHINNERS!!!!
We left the KOA pretty early (around 8:20 mountain time) and got into the Kaibab National Forest around 9. We drove down this long road for a very long time until we got to the Grand Canyon! We all were amazed by the beauty of the Canyon, which is obvious, but roll with me here... We walked along the southern rim for about 2 hours. Sarah and I were hanging back just a bit and found a squirrel that was very used to humans being around; we named him Lonny. Turtle was getting a little apprehensive at times because of the height thing. It freaked him out a little bit when Jenn, Sarah, and I got closer to the edge than he was comfortable with. Jenn and Sarah found another squirrel while Turtle and I were exploring other parts of the pathway. They called us over, and when we got there, we saw this squirrel perched on very edge of a rock cliff. He sat there as if he was posing, and ended up coming closer to all the humans that were milling about. He, like Lonny, was very used to humans. After getting our pictures and memories of the view, we went to the bookstore and bought some postcards and such and then headed on our way. We got gas before getting back on interstate 40. We hit 3000 miles on the trip tik about an hour before we got to the Hoover dam. There was a police security checkpoint before we crossed over the dam which consisted of one guy glancing in our car and assessing that we weren't terrorists. He waved us on and we got in the seemingly endless line of cars. We got into Pacific time at 4:10/3:10 when we crossed over the dam. After driving over the dam, we switched drivers, and I took over for Turtle. We got into Vegas around 4:00 and headed north to Mesquite which is about an hour north. We stayed in a hotel, so we were all able to get showers and relax on queen size beds before getting ready to head back to Vegas for a night of fun. Sadly, all of us are too poor to have too much fun, but we managed to get a good share of it. We started off towards the Bellagio, but sadly, the light and water show wasn't playing for the rest of the night. Turtle bought a drink that consisted of 3 margaritas and now has a giant glass to take home as a souvenir, Jenn broke even, and I lost $5 at blackjack (the one hand I played). We all walked around and found an amusing sight outside of the New York New York Casino. One incredibly drunk guy was sitting on the ground without his shirt on while his friend was fighting with the bouncers. The drunk guy on the ground had the paramedics called for him, but we weren't sure what his friend was so angry about. The bouncers were trying to restrain him, and the guy ended up spitting in the bouncer's face. That caused the bouncer to push him into a metal fence-like apparatus and say that he was going to get him arrested. The drunk guy then proceeded to shout "7,6,5,4. When I get to zero, I'm gonna sue your ass!" This made all of us chuckle a little. There was a couple standing next to us enjoying the show as well. The guy turned to us and said "I'm just waiting for him to get tased." After the paramedics arrived, we all ended up leaving and let them do their jobs. We arrived back at the car (which we parked for free at Mandalay Bay) and headed over to the "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign where we took pictures. We then drove back to the hotel and got there at 3:20. We crashed almost the second we were in the room.
- Megan
Get your kicks on Route 66
Day 5: Lubbock, TX to Williams, AZ
miles traveled: 820
So, thanks for Josh for letting us stay at his house. We ended up leaving his house around 10:00 central time and headed for the post office. We picked up some postcard stamps and mailed off a couple of letters. After heading out of town, we had a plane fly over our car. After watching the plane for a few more moments, we found out it was a crop duster, which was rather cool to watch. At 11:56, we hit 2000 miles on the trip tik. We got into Amarillo around 1 and got an oil change at Meineke where we made friends with the guys working there. After leaving Amarillo, we stopped off at the buried cars and spray painted "Epic Road Trip 2010" and then signed our initials. We left the cars and headed west towards New Mexico where the time changed at 3:15. We stopped and got some gas at 4:00 and met a beautiful golden retriever named Sophie. We were stopped at the pump when the car next to us opened the door and Sophie jumped out and ran over to Jenn. Sophie's owner apologized at the fact that the dog was wanting attention, but we all assured her that we loved dogs. Sarah actually devised an equation to explain the situation:
When dog deprived college kids and attention deprived dogs get together, a lot of happiness and tail-wagging occurs. The equation is as follows: (Sdd)(4) + (Dad)(1) = H where Sdd -> Student dog deprived and Dad -> Dog attention deprived and H -> Happiness
Anyways, we hit Albuquerque around 5:45 and then decided to stop at Cracker Barrel around 8:00. We all decided that we needed some greens in our life except for Turtle who got a cheeseburger. We were all a little nuts after being in the car for so long, so we were acting a little crazy at the table. I felt bad for our waitress, but she ended up being really nice and got a pretty nice tip. We left Cracker Barrel and got some gas before heading out towards Williams, AZ. We arrived in Arizona at 10:10 mountain time, but our phones were saying that it was 9:10. This confused all of us until Sarah figured out that Arizona doesn't recognize day light savings time. This was probably one of the latest nights because we didn't get into the KOA until 12:45. All in all, it was a good day, but it was incredibly long and we are all tired.
- Megan
miles traveled: 820
So, thanks for Josh for letting us stay at his house. We ended up leaving his house around 10:00 central time and headed for the post office. We picked up some postcard stamps and mailed off a couple of letters. After heading out of town, we had a plane fly over our car. After watching the plane for a few more moments, we found out it was a crop duster, which was rather cool to watch. At 11:56, we hit 2000 miles on the trip tik. We got into Amarillo around 1 and got an oil change at Meineke where we made friends with the guys working there. After leaving Amarillo, we stopped off at the buried cars and spray painted "Epic Road Trip 2010" and then signed our initials. We left the cars and headed west towards New Mexico where the time changed at 3:15. We stopped and got some gas at 4:00 and met a beautiful golden retriever named Sophie. We were stopped at the pump when the car next to us opened the door and Sophie jumped out and ran over to Jenn. Sophie's owner apologized at the fact that the dog was wanting attention, but we all assured her that we loved dogs. Sarah actually devised an equation to explain the situation:
When dog deprived college kids and attention deprived dogs get together, a lot of happiness and tail-wagging occurs. The equation is as follows: (Sdd)(4) + (Dad)(1) = H where Sdd -> Student dog deprived and Dad -> Dog attention deprived and H -> Happiness
Anyways, we hit Albuquerque around 5:45 and then decided to stop at Cracker Barrel around 8:00. We all decided that we needed some greens in our life except for Turtle who got a cheeseburger. We were all a little nuts after being in the car for so long, so we were acting a little crazy at the table. I felt bad for our waitress, but she ended up being really nice and got a pretty nice tip. We left Cracker Barrel and got some gas before heading out towards Williams, AZ. We arrived in Arizona at 10:10 mountain time, but our phones were saying that it was 9:10. This confused all of us until Sarah figured out that Arizona doesn't recognize day light savings time. This was probably one of the latest nights because we didn't get into the KOA until 12:45. All in all, it was a good day, but it was incredibly long and we are all tired.
- Megan
Updated Itinerary
So, we all sat down and figured out a couple of things that we wanted to tweak about our trip. Here is the updated itinerary:
Day 1: Clemmons --> Opelika, AL
Day 2: Opelika --> Baton Rouge
Day 3: Baton Rouge --> Houston
Day 4: Houston --> Lubbock
Day 5: Lubbock --> Williams, AZ
Day 6: Williams --> Mesquite, NV
Day 7: Mesquite --> LA
Day 8: LA
Day 9: LA --> San Francisco
Day 10: San Francisco --> Napa
Day 11: Napa --> Coos Bay, OR
Day 12: Coos Bay --> Seattle
Day 13: Seattle --> Butte, MT
Day 14: Butte --> Yellowstone
Day 15: Yellowstone --> Aspen
Day 16: Aspen
Day 17: Aspen --> Hill City, SD
Day 18: Hill City --> St. Cloud, MN
Day 19: St Cloud --> Milwaukee
Day 20: Milwaukee --> Erie
Day 21: Erie --> Boston
Day 22: Boston --> NY
Day 23: NY
Day 24: NY --> NC!!!
Day 1: Clemmons --> Opelika, AL
Day 2: Opelika --> Baton Rouge
Day 3: Baton Rouge --> Houston
Day 4: Houston --> Lubbock
Day 5: Lubbock --> Williams, AZ
Day 6: Williams --> Mesquite, NV
Day 7: Mesquite --> LA
Day 8: LA
Day 9: LA --> San Francisco
Day 10: San Francisco --> Napa
Day 11: Napa --> Coos Bay, OR
Day 12: Coos Bay --> Seattle
Day 13: Seattle --> Butte, MT
Day 14: Butte --> Yellowstone
Day 15: Yellowstone --> Aspen
Day 16: Aspen
Day 17: Aspen --> Hill City, SD
Day 18: Hill City --> St. Cloud, MN
Day 19: St Cloud --> Milwaukee
Day 20: Milwaukee --> Erie
Day 21: Erie --> Boston
Day 22: Boston --> NY
Day 23: NY
Day 24: NY --> NC!!!
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Chase the sun till it runs out of sky...
Day 4: Houson to Amarillo (well, Lubbock)
We got a late start today. Everyone woke up to their respective alarms but went back to sleep because no one else was awake. We all got going around 10:00, which is an hour later than we had planned. We actually left Mark's house at 10:32, and at a random stop light on Clear Lake City Blvd, there was a flyby of two fighter jets. The Top Gun quotes followed almost immediately. We got onto 45 N and headed up towards Houston on our way to Dallas. We stopped off around 1 to get some postcards and other souvenirs. I was driving for this stretch of the trip. We got into Dallas around 3:45 and met up with some of Jenn's friends in Plano at this Italian ice cream place. She hung out with them for a bit and then headed on our way to Lubbock. We changed the plans up a bit and headed to Lubbock instead of going to Amarillo (Jenn had another friend we could stay with... Go Josh!). After leaving Plano, we got stuck in a traffic backup from an accident. We got through that, and in Denton, we got onto 380 which was by far the most beautiful road we have traveled on thus far. We were on this road for about 5 hours. Around 8:15, the sun started setting (I know, technically the sun starts to set at 12:01, but just roll with me here). It was BEAUTIFUL. We took a bunch of pictures and just sat in wonder at the beauty that was around us. It almost made me forgive Texas for being so boring... almost. The sun finally set behind the horizon around 8:45, but the light stayed until closer to 9:30 or so. We all decided that we should take a break and get out of the car and stare at the stars. Ironically, there was only one star out for the longest time (luckily this was before we went star gazing)... For those of you that don't know, Texas is the lone star state. Get it? You should... Anyways, we got back into the car and went through Post, TX around 10:40 and arrived at Josh's house in Lubbock around 11:30 or so. We are all exhausted and about to crash.
P.S. The craziness factor was in overdrive today... I guess with the lack of sleep + the fact that we are all crazy anyways + we are all in the same car for hours at a time = super craziness...
Sarah speaks fluent stupid, Jenn speaks fluent sarcasm, Turtle speaks fluent turtle, and Megan speaks all three...
- Megan
We got a late start today. Everyone woke up to their respective alarms but went back to sleep because no one else was awake. We all got going around 10:00, which is an hour later than we had planned. We actually left Mark's house at 10:32, and at a random stop light on Clear Lake City Blvd, there was a flyby of two fighter jets. The Top Gun quotes followed almost immediately. We got onto 45 N and headed up towards Houston on our way to Dallas. We stopped off around 1 to get some postcards and other souvenirs. I was driving for this stretch of the trip. We got into Dallas around 3:45 and met up with some of Jenn's friends in Plano at this Italian ice cream place. She hung out with them for a bit and then headed on our way to Lubbock. We changed the plans up a bit and headed to Lubbock instead of going to Amarillo (Jenn had another friend we could stay with... Go Josh!). After leaving Plano, we got stuck in a traffic backup from an accident. We got through that, and in Denton, we got onto 380 which was by far the most beautiful road we have traveled on thus far. We were on this road for about 5 hours. Around 8:15, the sun started setting (I know, technically the sun starts to set at 12:01, but just roll with me here). It was BEAUTIFUL. We took a bunch of pictures and just sat in wonder at the beauty that was around us. It almost made me forgive Texas for being so boring... almost. The sun finally set behind the horizon around 8:45, but the light stayed until closer to 9:30 or so. We all decided that we should take a break and get out of the car and stare at the stars. Ironically, there was only one star out for the longest time (luckily this was before we went star gazing)... For those of you that don't know, Texas is the lone star state. Get it? You should... Anyways, we got back into the car and went through Post, TX around 10:40 and arrived at Josh's house in Lubbock around 11:30 or so. We are all exhausted and about to crash.
P.S. The craziness factor was in overdrive today... I guess with the lack of sleep + the fact that we are all crazy anyways + we are all in the same car for hours at a time = super craziness...
Sarah speaks fluent stupid, Jenn speaks fluent sarcasm, Turtle speaks fluent turtle, and Megan speaks all three...
- Megan
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Houston, Tx
May 18 Houston Tx,
Well it was another busy day of being on the road exciting... not really western Louisiana from Baton Rouge to Lake Charles was flat and boring. We got to see a flipped over semi though and I-10 heading east was diverted completely away from that section of highway. Well before going into the excitements of today, there was some stuff I missed out on from yesterday and some stuff that happened later after I posted last night. Other random news from the car would be that Sarah is suffering from mystery allergies and has been plagued with them since we started on sunday, the idea is that it monomonia.
Well lets see first while we were in New Orleans we had a man a hari-krishna give us bumper stickers, hats, and books for only 20 dollars a good deal right? I mean we got a lot of stuff to take with us for a little price. I also came into contact with one of my friend's Judy's sister, Amanda. Who is on a road trip in the opposite direction, though we did not meet up we were in contact and wished each other luck on our trips. Then headed on our way to LSU where we had oven baked pizza and attempted to dye my hair with no success. There was a lot of visiting of friends that I can't remember them all off the top of my head because it was 7-8 new people in one night, all we're very nice and welcoming. Stayed with John and Michael on the LSU campus.
For today as described earlier most of the driving in Louisiana was rather boring. Yet prior to leaving today one of the people that we stayed with John cooked us pancakes which was awesome of him to send us on our way. Then we got to Texas where it was even more exciting....there were lots of industrial parks. I also saw a football field that was for a college team and was relatively equal in size to that stadium for App. State. Then we arrived at my birth city Houston, megan had some issues with the gps telling her to keep going left. (basically, GPS is satan and people just need to look up where they are going first... or ask people for directions). Then we tried to find an art place in downtown Houston or more towards the ghetto area, excuse me if that offends anyone. Rick Lowe (Sp) a few years back bought some of the houses in the area that had been run down to try and attempt to restore them. Around 10 and then allowed artists to come in and paint the house and set it up the way they wanted to show it off to restore the area to some of its more community setting. Though we drove around for a little while we were unable to find it. So instead we drove downtown to the cathedral that my father said "doesn't exist". We found two actually one older one and a brand new one built in 2008. The building is beautiful. Jenn and I took a great many of pictures of the Cathedral, aka got a lot of pictures with Jesus after which we decided to go meet up with Jenn's old friend Mark, who allowed us to use his pool and was kind enough to lodge us for the night. So since getting here it was catching up with old friends, going out to dinner, and driving by nasa and getting some pictures. That is it for the day and the night is still left, you will here about the night tomorrow from Amarillo Tx. Well keeping you all posted and knowing that we are safe. (and well)
~shinners
Well it was another busy day of being on the road exciting... not really western Louisiana from Baton Rouge to Lake Charles was flat and boring. We got to see a flipped over semi though and I-10 heading east was diverted completely away from that section of highway. Well before going into the excitements of today, there was some stuff I missed out on from yesterday and some stuff that happened later after I posted last night. Other random news from the car would be that Sarah is suffering from mystery allergies and has been plagued with them since we started on sunday, the idea is that it monomonia.
Well lets see first while we were in New Orleans we had a man a hari-krishna give us bumper stickers, hats, and books for only 20 dollars a good deal right? I mean we got a lot of stuff to take with us for a little price. I also came into contact with one of my friend's Judy's sister, Amanda. Who is on a road trip in the opposite direction, though we did not meet up we were in contact and wished each other luck on our trips. Then headed on our way to LSU where we had oven baked pizza and attempted to dye my hair with no success. There was a lot of visiting of friends that I can't remember them all off the top of my head because it was 7-8 new people in one night, all we're very nice and welcoming. Stayed with John and Michael on the LSU campus.
For today as described earlier most of the driving in Louisiana was rather boring. Yet prior to leaving today one of the people that we stayed with John cooked us pancakes which was awesome of him to send us on our way. Then we got to Texas where it was even more exciting....there were lots of industrial parks. I also saw a football field that was for a college team and was relatively equal in size to that stadium for App. State. Then we arrived at my birth city Houston, megan had some issues with the gps telling her to keep going left. (basically, GPS is satan and people just need to look up where they are going first... or ask people for directions). Then we tried to find an art place in downtown Houston or more towards the ghetto area, excuse me if that offends anyone. Rick Lowe (Sp) a few years back bought some of the houses in the area that had been run down to try and attempt to restore them. Around 10 and then allowed artists to come in and paint the house and set it up the way they wanted to show it off to restore the area to some of its more community setting. Though we drove around for a little while we were unable to find it. So instead we drove downtown to the cathedral that my father said "doesn't exist". We found two actually one older one and a brand new one built in 2008. The building is beautiful. Jenn and I took a great many of pictures of the Cathedral, aka got a lot of pictures with Jesus after which we decided to go meet up with Jenn's old friend Mark, who allowed us to use his pool and was kind enough to lodge us for the night. So since getting here it was catching up with old friends, going out to dinner, and driving by nasa and getting some pictures. That is it for the day and the night is still left, you will here about the night tomorrow from Amarillo Tx. Well keeping you all posted and knowing that we are safe. (and well)
~shinners
Monday, May 17, 2010
More fun....More Stuff
Hello from Baton Rouge Louisiana on May 17,
Well so day two of our grand adventure and to say the least today we had so much more to do. Left Auburn around 9:30 in the morning, central time. OH YEAH WE ARE IN A DIFFERENT TIME ZONE NOW!! Which confused Sarah and I this morning. Both the Jenn and Megan slept in a little today. Chris (jenn's and megan's big brother)and his wife, Courtney, were awesome and cooked us a fantastic dinner last night and a great breakfast this morning to send us off on our way. Other than that there wasn't much else in the morning, we hit the road towards New Orleans. The car ride was calm not too much happening with Megan driving the first half till Mobile, Al. Then I took over and drove straight until New Orleans. I didn't remember how long the bridges were in Louisiana; it was kind of crazy. Yet we got to New Orleans 3:40 (central time again), went and traveled around with Jenn's friends John and Jade. They showed us around parts of New Orleans got some pictures cool pictures and visited some interesting stores. Tried out some interesting drinks that are apparently Tm'd (apparently the hand grenade can't be claimed anywhere else). After which we traveled up and down bourbon street and french quarter finding some stuff for the each of us. Sarah found some shirts and a mask. Megan found Margarita-ville store or mecca... I found some postcards that I can keep and some pencil's for Mrs. Penny. Though the stop was brief....3 hours we saw what we needed and went back on the road and ended up here on LSU campus...Well for now that's it not too much from anyone else since its already 11 here because we are going to bed quickly since up at 8 and on our way to houston, going to see some interesting artwork. Hope you all are doing well we are doing awesome keep following us and keep us in your prayers.
~shinners
Well so day two of our grand adventure and to say the least today we had so much more to do. Left Auburn around 9:30 in the morning, central time. OH YEAH WE ARE IN A DIFFERENT TIME ZONE NOW!! Which confused Sarah and I this morning. Both the Jenn and Megan slept in a little today. Chris (jenn's and megan's big brother)and his wife, Courtney, were awesome and cooked us a fantastic dinner last night and a great breakfast this morning to send us off on our way. Other than that there wasn't much else in the morning, we hit the road towards New Orleans. The car ride was calm not too much happening with Megan driving the first half till Mobile, Al. Then I took over and drove straight until New Orleans. I didn't remember how long the bridges were in Louisiana; it was kind of crazy. Yet we got to New Orleans 3:40 (central time again), went and traveled around with Jenn's friends John and Jade. They showed us around parts of New Orleans got some pictures cool pictures and visited some interesting stores. Tried out some interesting drinks that are apparently Tm'd (apparently the hand grenade can't be claimed anywhere else). After which we traveled up and down bourbon street and french quarter finding some stuff for the each of us. Sarah found some shirts and a mask. Megan found Margarita-ville store or mecca... I found some postcards that I can keep and some pencil's for Mrs. Penny. Though the stop was brief....3 hours we saw what we needed and went back on the road and ended up here on LSU campus...Well for now that's it not too much from anyone else since its already 11 here because we are going to bed quickly since up at 8 and on our way to houston, going to see some interesting artwork. Hope you all are doing well we are doing awesome keep following us and keep us in your prayers.
~shinners
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Auburn, AL
Well hello from Auburn, Alabama.
Well we left today from Clemmons North Carolina and begun our long and winding trip with a stop in Auburn, Alabama. Though today was short and brief since we left around 3 o'clock today, there are still some fun memories from the car ride. Such as that Sarah could not avoid being attacked by everything in the car that could fly. She was attacked by cd cases twice, Megan's bojangles cup, and any other object that could be picked up in the wind. Or the fact that within 10 minutes of leaving the eklunds I somehow both lost my cellphone and got stuck in my car seat.....well the seatbelt locked up what else can I say. Other than that we are on our way, in New Orleans tomorrow. Keeping you posted
~shinners
Also noted there is some difficulty uploading pictures to the blog.....if you need to see them try and check out facebook.
Well we left today from Clemmons North Carolina and begun our long and winding trip with a stop in Auburn, Alabama. Though today was short and brief since we left around 3 o'clock today, there are still some fun memories from the car ride. Such as that Sarah could not avoid being attacked by everything in the car that could fly. She was attacked by cd cases twice, Megan's bojangles cup, and any other object that could be picked up in the wind. Or the fact that within 10 minutes of leaving the eklunds I somehow both lost my cellphone and got stuck in my car seat.....well the seatbelt locked up what else can I say. Other than that we are on our way, in New Orleans tomorrow. Keeping you posted
~shinners
Also noted there is some difficulty uploading pictures to the blog.....if you need to see them try and check out facebook.
Friday, May 14, 2010
Prayer for the safety of travelers...aka us
O Almighty and merciful God, who has commissioned your angels to guide and protect us, may they be our companions from our setting out until our return. Clothe us with their invisible protection; keep from us all danger of collision, of fire, of explosion, of falling; and finally,having preserved us from all evil, and especially from sin, guide us to our heavenly home. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Thought I would throw this up since we are all Christian
Thought I would throw this up since we are all Christian
New Itinerary
New Details posted on where were going. Canada got cancelled but we are still going to see a lot of cool places. Also only two days till the road!!
Disclaimer: I just felt like calling it that. We know that this is only a rough itinerary, it would be wonderful if it went all to plan. Yet we understand thats not likely. So we are going to follow this to the best of our abilities.
Day One: Clemmons, NC – Auburn, AL
Day Two: Auburn, AL – New Orleans, LA
Day Three: New Orleans, LA – Houston, TX
Day Four: Houston, TX – Dallas, TX – Amarillo, TX
Day Five: Amarillo, TX – Albuquerque, NM – Flagstaff, AZ
Day Six: Flagstaff, AZ/ Grand Canyon
Day Seven: Flagstaff, AZ – Peach Springs, AZ – Las Vegas, NV
Day Eight: Las Vegas, NV – Los Angeles, CA
Day Nine: Los Angeles, CA – San Francisco, CA
Day Ten: San Francisco
Day Eleven: San Francisco, CA – Eureka, CA
Day Twelve: Eureka, CA – Crescent City, CA – Newport, OR
Day Thirteen: Newport, OR – Portland, OR – Tacoma, WA
Day Fourteen: Tacoma, WA – Seattle, WA
Day Fifteen: Seattle, WA
Day Sixteen: Seattle, WA – Missoula, MT
Day Seventeen: Missoula, MT – Yellowstone National Park
Day Eighteen: Yellowstone National Park – Salt Lake City, UT
Day Nineteen: Salt Lake City, UT – Denver, CO
Day Twenty: Denver, CO – Hill City, SD
Day Twenty-One: Hill City, SD
Day Twenty-Two: Hill City, SD – St. Paul, MN
Day Twenty-Three: St. Paul, MN – Madison, WI
Day Twenty-Four: Madison, WI – Dyersville, IA – Chicago, IL
Day Twenty-Five: Chicago, IL – Detroit, MI
Day Twenty-Eight:Portland, ME – Boston, MA
Day Twenty-Nine: Boston, MA
Day Thirty: Boston, MA – New York City, NY
Day Thirty-One: New York City, NY
Day Thirty-Two: New York City, NY
Day Thirty-Three: New York City, NY – Hershey, PA
Day Thirty-Four: Hershey, PA
Day Thirty-Five: Hershey, PA – Winston-Salem, NC
Disclaimer: I just felt like calling it that. We know that this is only a rough itinerary, it would be wonderful if it went all to plan. Yet we understand thats not likely. So we are going to follow this to the best of our abilities.
Day One: Clemmons, NC – Auburn, AL
Day Two: Auburn, AL – New Orleans, LA
Day Three: New Orleans, LA – Houston, TX
Day Four: Houston, TX – Dallas, TX – Amarillo, TX
Day Five: Amarillo, TX – Albuquerque, NM – Flagstaff, AZ
Day Six: Flagstaff, AZ/ Grand Canyon
Day Seven: Flagstaff, AZ – Peach Springs, AZ – Las Vegas, NV
Day Eight: Las Vegas, NV – Los Angeles, CA
Day Nine: Los Angeles, CA – San Francisco, CA
Day Ten: San Francisco
Day Eleven: San Francisco, CA – Eureka, CA
Day Twelve: Eureka, CA – Crescent City, CA – Newport, OR
Day Thirteen: Newport, OR – Portland, OR – Tacoma, WA
Day Fourteen: Tacoma, WA – Seattle, WA
Day Fifteen: Seattle, WA
Day Sixteen: Seattle, WA – Missoula, MT
Day Seventeen: Missoula, MT – Yellowstone National Park
Day Eighteen: Yellowstone National Park – Salt Lake City, UT
Day Nineteen: Salt Lake City, UT – Denver, CO
Day Twenty: Denver, CO – Hill City, SD
Day Twenty-One: Hill City, SD
Day Twenty-Two: Hill City, SD – St. Paul, MN
Day Twenty-Three: St. Paul, MN – Madison, WI
Day Twenty-Four: Madison, WI – Dyersville, IA – Chicago, IL
Day Twenty-Five: Chicago, IL – Detroit, MI
Day Twenty-Eight:Portland, ME – Boston, MA
Day Twenty-Nine: Boston, MA
Day Thirty: Boston, MA – New York City, NY
Day Thirty-One: New York City, NY
Day Thirty-Two: New York City, NY
Day Thirty-Three: New York City, NY – Hershey, PA
Day Thirty-Four: Hershey, PA
Day Thirty-Five: Hershey, PA – Winston-Salem, NC
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