I have fallen off the wagon!

I guess when you get phone calls about the lapse in postings its time to get back on the wagon. I fell off somewhere in Texas, the last place I was able to get internet. Cleburne that was. I left Cleburne on Tuesday afternoon, around 4ish and headed to Austin. Got to Austin around 6 and walked around for a few solid hours. I liked Austin. A lot. It would have been nicer not having to walk around by myself, but I atleast know its a place I'd like to go back to. And to be honest, probably my favorite big city along this journey. They say its the live music capital of the world and from walking around and hearing live music in virtually every bar, I'm pretty sure of it. I had to refresh my memory as to what day of the week it was because of the number of people out and about at the bars and restaurants sure made it feel like a Friday or Saturday night. I did venture down to the famed bridge which is home to thousands of bats… Rachel, you would not have much cared for the number of winged creatures lurking about. It was pretty interesting though. I left Austin around 11pm and was trying to get as far east as I could, ultimately needing to be in Mississippi by Wednesday night. My longest day driving up to this point was 500 miles and starting so late I wasn’t sure just how far I’d be able to get without dozing off. So I drove, and drove, and drove some more, stopping once to get gas and dinner. 6 hours later, I decided to call it a night in Lafayette, Louisiana, making it a total of 600 miles from Cleburne to Lafayette. Fell asleep at 5am, only to get up at 9am so I could shower and check out the town. Lafayette is a small little town, host to the University of Louisiana and feels a bit like a little college town. I meandered through downtown a bit, eating lunch in a little coffee shop (reading the local newspaper, this is the kind of place where the police blotter, all 10 incidents, are for everyone’s viewing- including the 83yr old man charged with attempted manslaughter) and stopping in a glass studio to watch a couple people hard at work on their stained glass pieces- the sound of the glass cutter running over the glass really made me want to get back into doing stained glass. They let me watch for a little bit, which was quite enjoyable. I only had about 180 miles to go to reach Gulfport with no need to be there before 5pm, so I was able to take my time. I’m still a little weary about the things in my car so I have been carrying my most valuable things with me each time I get out. As I came back to my car in Lafayette there was some creep hanging out around my car and he began to walk off as I approached my car, continuously looking over his shoulder. I had a half hour left on my meter but I’m glad I made it back when I did cause I might have had a couple things he may have wanted. It’s nice to be in a place where I don’t have to worry about these kinds of thing- heck, Jonah has been leaving the keys in my ignition most places we go- I’m certainly not use to that!! I made it to Mississippi early evening Wednesday, excited to see my friend Jonah’s latest purchase- a house! The house is about a half hour from Gulfport, pretty much in the middle of nowhere, which is a nice thing. In the middle of nowhere, yet only about 30 minutes from the beach. Growing up, for one reason or another, I hated the beach. Not real sure what was wrong with me, but things have changed. I’m really happy to be here, and to be able to spend over a week relaxing here between Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. Jonah was able to get a 3 day weekend so we decided to take off and hunt for sailboats and a good time. We found one of the two, the less expensive of the two! Lots of marinas are littered with boats, but we found few for sale. I didn’t do as much research as I should have, but maybe that’s a good thing cause I could have potentially come out of this weekend with zero dollars had I found one! The weekend was really enjoyable though, probably one of the best times I have had in quite some time. We spent Friday night in Alabama with Jonah’s cousins. Saturday we headed over to Florida, the Fort Walton area to meet up with my friends Josh and Carrie. We’d decided that we would engage in a friendly little round of putt-putt. Jonah stated that he would only play putt-putt if it contained these elements: a waterfall, a pirate ship, big zoo animals, and was multi-leveled. Hmmm, we wondered if we’d be able to find a place to meet his needs… and sure enough, we succeeded. This place was pretty elaborate, with some holes have 3 levels! Shewwweeeee. It brought out the worst in us, however, with some of us becoming more frustrated than others over our inability to get the damn ball in the hole! After all was said and done, Jonah got first and I came in second. The others were too far behind to mention ;) . Afterwards, we went out to grab dinner and a drink, catching bits and pieces of college football games and phenomenal Halloween costumes. Leaving here and going to the next venue was either the best or worst idea ever, depending on who you ask. It was but one block from Carrie’s house so we decided that would be the best place to hang out. Someone had told us it was called the Tiki-Lounge, so we were thinking it might be sort of this cool, beachy themed establishment, conducive to a nice, relaxing evening with friends. Hmm, turns out it was actually called the Tee-Luck Lounge and we’re not real sure why. Jonah called it the “seediest bar he’s ever been to”, Carrie kept referring to it as the VFW post, and I’m still not sure what to call it. We were the minorities there without a doubt, but it was a good time nonetheless. There was a little dancing, but not too much, a Halloween costume contest that Jonah tried to enter, animals coming out of the holes in the ceiling, and a painful tab to close it all out. We stayed the night at Carrie’s and headed back to Alabama on Sunday. We ate Sunday lunch with his extended family and then went to his cousins to help him paint for a little while. My mind though has been steadily focused on the loud grinding noise coming from the front end of my car. I felt so bad bringing my car troubles to town, but after a few people looked at it, they thought it was the transfer case which is no good. We went and bought some heavy duty grease for it, hoping that would cure the noise. Unfortunately, it didn't. Back to square one. To make a long story short, numerous people looked at it (which I feel horrible about the headache it caused many people!) and they decided it is probably the CV joint making all the noise. I much prefer that problem over the other, so Jonah is going to try and see if it's something he can fix, if not, it will be in the shop at the end of the week! That poor kid has had to deal with more of my car problems than anyone should ever have to!

Anyways, because this isn't yet long enough, I must continue. Today I drove back to Florida from Mississippi to stay with Carrie and the fam for a couple nights. We walked down to the beach today which was really nice. Wish I could have just fallen asleep out there! Ok Jonah, so maybe the sand is whiter on your beaches, but they're still not better than North Carolina's! Tonight we went and picked out a couple pumpkins to carve tomorrow and I sat over the huge bag of pecans that we gathered with Jonah's aunt last night and chowed down! Well I think this is long enough now, and I'm sure everyone's lost so I will call it good. I have internet here in Florida but not so much in Mississippi, hence my lack in postings. I should be home in less than two weeks and am excited about that, but also really enjoying myself here. Anywhere in the Southeast...

At long last...

Anytown, America.

It's been a couple days, but these country roads have brought me to a little place called Cleburne, Texas. It's about 30 mins south of Fort Worth. Most importantly, my friend from college has taken up residence here and I have been able to spend time catching up with her! I've been so lucky to have made so many good friends during my time in Alaska and even luckier to have been able to meet up with so many along my way. I find myself laughing nonstop, and realizing that these friends are the reason I was able to stay in Alaska so long. And yes, five years is a long time! Especially when you are 5000 miles from anything you've ever known. I wish I could stay here visiting much longer, but ultimately realize that in order to get home and see my family I have to keep gradually heading East. I've enjoyed my time here, and the road that has gotten me here. My last 1000 miles or so have been virtually unchanging. Rolling hills, vast farms, herds and herds of cattle, small communities who support their local highschool more than any other one thing in the community, and people who work hard to make it in this world. It's a simple life, though not an easy life I'm sure. It certainly is refreshing to see after being in some of the cities I have visited. One of my friends recently put it quite nicely, in saying "indulgence isn't a word anymore, it's melted into normality." With that said, I have really enjoyed driving through Anytown, America and seeing people who manage to maintain a high quality of life for themselves without yielding to the excessive tendencies of our societies. Tomorrow I am headed to Austin, Texas and from there I will push on towards Mississippi as far as I can. Gulf of Mississippi will be my next resting place- I will be there for several days! I'm quite the lucky and blessed person to have been able to see the places I have and to b able to visit the friends I have made over the years. I look at the map and am quite sad that I am this far east already, having missed so many unique things to do and see in the west. There simply is no way to see and do it all! Pics to follow, I promise this time.

Too busy doing nothing.

I've almost forgotten how to do all this! It's been quite sometime since I last posted, which means this may get long-winded. Sorry in advance. Wednesday morning I set out for Pueblo- my much anticipated destination for many reasons. I again hit snow as I pushed on towards the north. It didn't last for too long but was quite heavy at times. The winds were certainly howling the entire way however. It scares me to watch the big rigs not being able to maintain an even semi-straight path of travel! Far too many lane violations for my liking. I got to Pueblo right at lunch time and headed straight to the Nielsen's! I had really been looking towards to seeing those guys for a long time. I am so glad that everything worked out the way it did- it was just perfect. I got a bed, a spacious shower, a home-cooked meal (or two), and had a genuinely pleasant and relaxing time. It was exactly what I needed and wanted- just to hang out and laugh the time away. Little Ella is quite adorable I must say, and a busy body for sure. Wed and Thurs we just hung out, went downtown for a bit, and caught up while Kelly was at work. Fortunately, he was able to get Friday off from work so that we could all hang out for the day! So Friday we decided to go to a place called the Royal Gorge. It's claim to fame is that it has the world's highest suspension bridge. There's also a really neat inclined railway that takes you down to the bottom of the Gorge (this thing runs along a 45 degree angle!) and also a hanging bridge that supported a stretch of the railroad. The weather was absolutely beautiful while I was there- you know, Carolina blue skies, just as sunny as could be. Wind was blowing pretty hard all three days I was there and continues still here in Amarillo. It was nice to actually just relax for a few days- to not have to drive for a few days!! It ended up working out to where I was able to be there as Jason and Lori (another Enrollment employee!) stopped by to visit. They stayed the night last night and were gonna hang out a bit longer. I wish I could have stayed a couple more nights, but I have another friend to meet here in Dallas. We had a grand ol time last night reminiscing about our time at UAA and the memories we had from that place. Waking up the next morning with abs sore from laughing too hard the night before I'm guessing means you're pretty out of shape. Dang. A good time was had by all. It was really hard to leave today, but I had 350 miles to cover so I wanted to get started a little before the sun set on me. I ventured through Colorado, Oklahoma (for about 42 miles) and am now in Amarillo, Texas. I will explore this place briefly in the morning before heading to the Dallas area, about another 350 miles! I have another friend from UAA living there that I will be able to catch up with for a couple days! It certainly is warmer than I expected it would be this time of year. Really, I guess I didn't know what to expect, probably because every single one of these stops is a first for me! It's gonna be around 80 here tomorrow and I reckon that will keep up as I continue south and east. I guess we shall see. It's late and I'm tired. I was thinking of a lot to write earlier as I was driving, but every time I sit down to write, I lose it all- probably in the comfy-ness of the rear of my car! One of these days some more pics will appear on this site. Perhaps in the morning if my body wakes itself up early enough! Kelly and Amanda- thanks so very much again for everything. You have know idea how much I appreciated being able to see yall again. Yall were a big part of my life in AK and I know I'll see yall again in the somewhat near future. Give Ella some rocks for me! Adios.

Wrong turn, missed turn. I don't know!

Today was a pretty good day. I think this is the earliest I have ever gotten off the road and actually crawled in the back of my car to call it a night. Was also one of my farthest days. Logged 475 miles today! Before leaving the campground this morning, I was talked into go to the Pancake feed that the place puts on each morning. I've been skippin breakfast so I can get on the road quicker, but such wasn't the case this AM. I was typing in my car when an autistic kid walks up and begins talking to me. It was hard to understand everything he was saying, but he really wanted me to go eat breakfast. I think he was trying to round up anyone that he could! So I figured what heck, I'll just go ahead and eat. I joined him and his grandparents who probably had cared for him for most all of his life. It was enjoyable and was nice chatting with them. I went across the street to fill up and ended up meeting a man from Greensboro, NC so we ended up chatting for a bit too. It's never a simple, "I'm going from Alaska to NC," you always have a bit of explaining to do. We were interrupted by a lady trying to sell us some jewelry. So I finally hit the road, hoping to make to as far north into New Mexico as I could, with a stop being in Taos, NM. Well that never quite happened because I either took a wrong turn or missed my turn completely. I was bummed about that, but the route I did end up taking was quite beautiful. Leaves were turned and many of them had already fallen to the ground. All day I was surrounded by these incredible rock formations- very rich colors thanks to the sun and scattered clouds today. Anyways, the route I took put me about 60 miles west of where I wanted to be here in Colorado, but that is just fine. After my pit stop, the weather turned pretty nasty. As I was climbing the mountain, the rain quickly turned to snow- brought back memories of BC, Canada. It continued off and on until finally I hit dry pavement. I'm here in a town called Alamosa, Colorado. It's a decent sized town- they even have a Family Dollar! It leaves me with about 120 miles to cover til I reach Pueblo, CO, my stopping place for the next few nights. My friends are nice enough to give me an actual bed to sleep on for a bit, so that will be greatly appreciated!! I will try to post some pictures in the morning- the internet is working so well here! I missed out on the fair back home with the family tonight- I guess my sopapilla I had with dinner tonight is the closest I'll come to fattening fried foods with goodness on top! Hope yall ate well for me. I guess I will call it a night now since there isn't exactly much else to do... I'll wake with the sun again I'm sure! Oh yea, for the trip, I was only expecting to average about 16 miles per gallon, and I have been calculating each time I fill up. Well, today I hit an all-trip high. Over the course of 200 miles, I averaged 23 miles/gallon!! I was so excited. Too, I have driven 5200 miles as of this moment. That's all for now.

Nice to leave Las Vegas...

I guess it just wasn't for me. So many things about that place really turned me off. I don't know if it was the over-the-top buildings, thinking about the ridiculous amount of resources to run all those damn lights, the gold Donald Trump tower, the 8.5 month old pregnant immigrant passing out porn cards which ultimately wind up littering the streets- literally thousands of these things. Perhaps the kids of irresponsible adults who get dragged down into this mess and have no choice but to be surrounded by this trash. I guess Vegas is something everyone should do once- if only to make yourself appreciate being able to see the stars at night, which once I got out of the perma-glow of the city, it was incredible how dark and clear the night was. I much prefer to glow of the crescent moon as opposed to the half-naked women on the gigantic big screen trying to entice me to come into the casino to throw my money away- and to get drunk in the process in hopes of not remembering just how much money was spent the night before. It was interesting for sure. Being told to go back to BYU (a Mormon university which clearly doesn't support consuming alcohol), perhaps because I wasn't carrying a drink so large that it required a neck supporting strap, was amusing. Maybe under different circumstances I would have enjoyed it more. I was told by many people that I would have a blast. Fun was had, certainly, but I much prefer having a beer or two on the coast of somewhere beautiful as opposed to being surrounded by man-made monstrosities and littered streets. Anyways, enough ranting- maybe I'm just pissed off my bike got stolen! Sunday night I dropped Rachel off at the airport, so I am on my own now. Leaving Vegas, I made it to Seligman, AZ, birthplace of Route 66. It was a quaint little town, about 100 miles south of the Grand Canyon. This place was littered with crickets. Hundreds scattered as I rolled out of my car the next morning. Saw em jump about 3 feet high, and some of them were flying. I was glad to get out of there. Lots of trains in this part of the country too. The gentleman working there (which, by the way, 3 people said good morning to me that morning, which had not happened to me anywhere along the west coast, so that was pleasant) said about 80 trains pass through there a day, all hours of the day. It made it somewhat interesting to sleep as the tent area was as close to the track as anything else. One woke me up just in time to see the sun rising up out of the ground. The skies here are quite large- can see the stars at night at eye level, and it has been super clear each night. It was nice to spend some time wandering around that little town before my drive to the Grand Canyon. It took a couple hours to get there. I really took my time and was amazed by the number of people whizzing by me, only for me to catch up with them at the gate as we all waiting to pay up 25 bucks to get in. I guess they thought it was going to disappear if they didn't get there quick. The Grand Canyon was incredible, and I hung around until sunset, which was nice. My destination was as far past Flagstaff as I could go before I got tired. I made it here to Holbrook, AZ. I am not far from the New Mexico border and hope to make it to Taos, NM or even further if my eyes will let me. That means that tomorrow I will be in Pueblo, CO- finally getting to see Kelly, Amanda, and Ella at long last. It will be really nice to catch up with them and be able to give up driving for a few days. Sorry this is such a long post, but I had been falling behind. Adios.

That sinking feeling...

While we were staying in Vegas for two nights, we booked two separate hotels, which turned out to be a great idea. So Sat morning we had to check out, haul our stuff back out to the car and head towards our next night's home. It was about 4 miles away, so not too bad. Just before leaving the hotel, we could fight our temptation no more and indulged in one of several million Vegas buffets- ours cost 7.77- go figure huh. Too bad those numbers could never come up while we were gambling! It was your typical buffet, lots of overeating going on. We got our fill and headed out. As we walked towards the parking area, Rachel immediately noticed my bike was no longer on top of my car, where it has comfortably ridden along for two weeks now. Sure, it was a gamble to leave it up there. At first I was really kicking myself, thinking of things I could have done differently that would have given that bike a better chance to survive this trip. I feel as if there wasn't a whole lot of things I could have done outside of what I did- that putting it inside of my vehicle would have only tempted them to smash my window t take it out- cause I'm positive that would have taken less time than having to take tools to the lock that was securing it and do what they had to do to get it off. Bike gone is bad enough, but having to deal with a smashed window would have been even worse. My skis were not taken, as those are locked as well. Maybe they didn't have enough hands, I don't know. I shouldn't have to worry about these things and I shouldn't have to blame myself for some lowlife asshole stealing my shit. I worked pretty hard to get that bike, but I realize there is little I can do now about it. I did venture down to the police station to get a police report. All of the people that I spoke to regarding this matter were extremely helpful and I was grateful for that. Having saved all of the bike paperwork, I luckily still had to serial number for the bike. This is very helpful because many states keep databases of serial numbers of items that either turn up found, or pawned at the shops (many of which are 24 hours- I’m guessing so that people can pawn off their jewelry to keep on gambling for just a tad bit longer). This is my only hope, but given that this is roughly the 6th bike stolen from me and little success has been achieved in the past, I'm not expecting to ever see the bike again. I found it in me to laugh while at the police station when the kind lady asked me if I had ever been a victim of a similar crime in the past. I could have gone on and on with her, as we pretty much have to lock our bikes up inside our house now at home in Raleigh due to the high frequency of thefts, but decided to just tell her that yes, in the past I have had items stolen from me. Most all have not been from neglect, but rather the sheer determination of these dirt bags who make a life out of stealing from people who work hard and mind their own business. Luckily I remembered to tuck away everything else that night, such as my electronics and any straps that might even look like they belong to a purse or some other bag under the seat so as not to give anyone a reason to smash out my window. They certainly could have gotten money for my ipod or satellite radio…

Anyways, it took a few hours to put that partially in the back of my mind- realizing I was 600 bucks in the hole without even really gambling! Ouch!! After dealing with all of this, Rachel and I checked into our other hotel, Arizona Charlie’s on Boulder Strip- somewhat removed from the real chaos. This place was really nice, and considerably cheaper as well. Our room was set up like a suite- a couch and then two rooms with a tv in each. Blow dryer, check. Iron, check. Functioning shower water temps, check. More secure parking, check. All it required us to do was figure out the bus system so we could make it to the main strip. Most cities have an automated number you can call to get route information, and after a little research we got that number. Gave it a try and was amazed when a real person was actually on the other line ready to assist me. She was incredibly nice and helpful and 30 minutes later, we were on a bus to the strip. Our choice of footwear was flipflops, of course. Once on the strip, we watched the water show at the Belagio, then essentially walked from one end to the other, which is quite a good ways. There is lots to see for sure, but for the most part, from my experience, once you’ve seen one, you’ve seen em all. Slot machines, card tables- same things over and over. Some hotels are just more difficult than others to find your way out of! Rachel saw Kathy Griffin in the bathroom at the Belagio- pretty random. We walked and walked, and walked some more to the point where our feet could stand it no longer. At about 2am we hop on the city bus back to the hotel and call it a night. Upon our arrival, we noticed our feet were disgustingly dirty- how were not exactly sure, but I have a couple guesses. The strip is a filthy place, in many more ways than one- our feet looked as if we walked barefooted the entire night when really our bare feet never touched the pavement. Pretty gross. It was certainly another interesting night in Vegas, and again, no luck gambling. Lot of Jazzy wheelchairs around Vegas I might add.

The freaks come out at night...

Part deux. Not hard to notice when you're in the heart of Vegas. One of the first things we see is a most heinous gold-windowed monstrosity. This city defines the word excessive, in a most disgusting sort of way. It is now our city to explore; the people, the buildings, and the oddities that are everywhere around us. The first night we stayed in a place called the Plaza Hotel. We walked into our room and were quite disappointed with the quality of our room- I mean afterall, we did pay 150 bucks for this place. We had no hair dryer, no iron, and two water temps: scolding hot and ice cold. Anyways, it is in downtown Vegas, or the "old strip." It was the end unit on the street called Fremont, home to two billion blinding lights, all housed under the "planet's largest viewing screen." It is a 700 yard long screen in which they display a lights show every hour, if not more often, for people to enjoy. We wandered in and out of many of the casinos along the Avenue, not finding a whole lot of difference in them each. It was pretty sad to see people with a bungee cord, spanning from their hip to the card slot of the machine- a seemingly endless supply of money that feeds their addiction that is gambling. These places certainly are an interesting mix of individuals. There is someone from every walk of life here, must have been hundreds of nationalities jumbled up in this place. Along Fremont, for most of the night, there were different live entertainment acts, which provided for great entertainment. One of these acts in particular, a cover band playing big hits from the 70's and 80's, was incredible for their ability to draw in some of the most spectacular dancers I have ever witnessed in my life. This is where Rachel and I took notice of their moves, only to return to our hotel and practice them over and over again, only quitting when perfection was reached. Rachel will perform them if asked, she has promised me this. We had the epileptic by "Big Country," the "shimmy" by half-pint, the "I'm going to the potty" by Dolemite (with a purse) and his woman, the "Officer don't arrest me lunge" by drunk white 15 yr old male with an ICP shirt on, and the "I'm cured, don't need my cane no more" by Mr. use-to-be-injured but now miraculously-healed-by-the-music. We came and went to this location several times over the course of the night, only to find most of the same people boogying down, still. It was hard to pull ourselves away. Our attention was split between that and the nickel slots, which is pretty much the only gambling we partook in. We later attempted the Wheel of Fortune game with as little success as we had with the nickel slots. Other mentionables we witnessed this night include (but again, not limited to): drinks so large that they needed a neck support strap, babies and toddlers of all ages passed out in strollers in casinos at 1am, a man telling us what he'd do with "a million dollars in hundred dollar bills" ohhh about 10 times (he told us he would buy a 2008 candy-apple red lamborghini, so that he could be who he really was), and airbrushed chippendales posing for photo-ops (we'll post those later). All in all, it was a nice welcoming evening to Vegas, seeing most of what we thought we just might would witness. Waking up the next morning wasn't as pleasant...

Oh, where do we even begin...

So we enjoyed our time in San Francisco, complete with a walk on the Golden Gate Bridge, walked down Haight Ave, and various other things. I developed two quite large blisters on the balls of my feet- ohhh about the size of a dime. Quite pleasant if you can imagine. We drove out of San Francisco on Friday evening, only to sit in traffic for two hours- really don't know how people could do that each and every day. We needed to cover a lot of miles, so we knew it would be a long night. We headed down towards Bakersfield and then onto Barstow. It was 2:30 am by this point but we saw a sign for a rest stop just 35 more miles ahead. We continued on, but only after jumping onto the most westerly point of Highway 40, which begins in lovely Wilmington, NC. We were curious if Barstow put up a sign indicating how many miles it is to Wilmington, as we have seen the Barstow sign in Wilmington a million times. We got onto 40 and sure enough, there was indeed a sign to Wilmington, NC- just 2554 miles away! That was pretty neat to be on the other end of this cross country highway. Oh doesn't man just do wonderful wonderful things (that's for you, Matt ;)). Anyways, we arrived at the rest stop, and well, it was somewhat lacking. Good thing we got there when we did because by morning, there was no running water. What was nice was the fact that is was in the middle of the Mojave desert, providing for a nice scenic backdrop. It left us only about 120 miles to Vegas, so we woke up and hit the road. Little did we know Vegas would have so many interesting experiences for us to be a part of. I cannot possibly include this all in one post, and my computer battery is dying, so we will save that for Vegas, part deux. To preview, my bike was stolen, Rachel and I have more dance moves to last a lifetime thanks to a handful of drunken, hearty dancers, and foot funk we can't seem to shake thanks to the filth of the Las Vegas Blvd.

For your viewing pleasure...

San Fran, at long long last.

So I thought we would never make it here, but after 8,001 hairpin turns along Highway 1, we have arrived safely here in San Francisco. After all the rainfall yesterday, today brought beautiful blue skies, thank goodness! Too, there were better stretches of the highway than we experienced yesterday, but still only averages about 35 mph for over 80 miles. We stopped and saw a lighthouse, drove right up on some cattle meandering along on the highway, saw some pretty spectacular ocean views, and drove over the Golden Gate bridge. Definitely many differences between the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean. However, award for better side would most definitely go to the Atlantic for the mere warmth factor. After sleeping in the car for 4 straight days, we decided to splurge for a hotel here in San Francisco. We found a nice little place only about 4 blocks from the waterfront, in plain view of Alcatraz. The architecture here is gorgeous. 24 hours here will certainly not do it justice. Tonight we walked down along the waterfront and then back up to Chinatown. Got to witness all the sea lions fighting and yelling while others attempted to sleep. There were certainly a couple bullies out there as some would repeatedly knock the other sea lion off each time it tried to leap up onto the dock. It was quite entertaining to stand there and watch them go at it. Lots of neck wrestling... and body odor. They smelled quite funky. We couldn't take it for all that long. Anyways, tomorrow we will be going out exploring a bit more, lots of photo taking we hope. Then we will be heading out in the early evening towards Vegas. From here to there, it is about 570 miles, so we will cover what we can tomorrow and then do the rest on Friday. We certainly had a much better day today than we did yesterday, and tomorrow looks promising as well! May not have internet for a couple days but will post when I can. Peace.

Should have known...

Last night we had a good nights rest in the Oregon Dunes KOA, and a lovely 12 minute shower this morning. So we mapped out our days travels, knowing it would be around 400 miles to our destination. We left camp at 10 am and it was pretty overcast. Overcast quickly turned in to rain. Rain quickly turned into Monsoon. Monsoon continues as we speak here at Midnight here in Cali. Had my wipers on high 75% if of the 13 hour drive today. It was quite miserable. Not only that, but we have grown to dislike Oregon, and now California, at least thus far. We are thinking Nevada may be as interesting as these last couple states have been. At this point, we dislike a lot of things, including, but not limited to: all things named Fort Bragg (yes, we had an ordeal at McDonalds in Fort Bragg, California), 100 mile winding roads where maximum speed is 35 mph, deer looming on roadsides, field mice, redwoods, sneaker waves in the Pacific Ocean, winding roads, Dionne Warwick (Whitney's aunt),Gualala, and winding roads. So 400 miles should have taken about 8 hours max, but thanks to winding roads, the monsoon and Dionne Warwick it took 13 (half hour of that was driving around KOA trying to find a tent site). We did enjoy our lunch today, mainly cause we like food. That was in Bandon, Oregon when it was falling a flood. We hit Eureka, Cali at rush hour and we didn't so much enjoy that. I had a guy repeatedly flash his brights at me from behind because I wasn't going fast enough on the winding, wet, leave covered, deer and field mice infested road. I wasn't very happy with him and let him know that. Rachel wished him Assne. You can direct all questions regarding Assne to her. So you have guessed it by now, we are delirious and are upset cause the laundry room, arcade and the spa here at KOA are closed. However, our beds inside this cozy little car are calling our names. We must get a good night's sleep so that we may again attempt to tackle these winding, wet, leave covered, deer and field mice infested roads. Hopefully the sun'll come out tomorrow, bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow, there will be sunshine...

PS. Rachel and I have decided to never ride together in car for more than a couple hours over any given period of time due to the fact that things seem to go awry each and every time (if anyone remembers our outing to the Outer Banks some number of years ago, showering under an RV Dump...)

PSS. Blackforest (aka Dave), I miss you man. Rachel has found a new broom here in Cali. It is eco-friendly and she will be flying home soon. Thanks for your concern! You can keep that one as backup.

Ahhh, Showers!

So our adventures yesterday only seemed to get more interesting, but the night ended on such a good note. After having been denied showers essentially at three locations, we ended up at a rest area. We decided we wanted to simply wash our hair. We opened up the unused shower in a bag and filled it up. Got plenty of looks doing that- if they only knew what was to come! We proceeded to go out back behind the building and took turns holding the bag of water up so that each of us could wash our hair. We were alone at first, but two people decided they wanted to picnic at the table right in plain view of us- and yes, there were plenty of others for them to choose! Oh well, they didn't look like the rest area rent-a-cops so we carried on (just waiting to here, YOU CAN'T SHOWER HERE!"). By far we were the biggest freak shows there, or at least until that couple began to walk their cats on the leash. We no longer felt like we were to be the most talked about so we finished up and headed on to Eugene. My friend Matt, who I hadn't seen in quite some time, was there waiting. It was so very good to catch up with him and the three of us had a nice dinner at a gourmet pizza place. After dinner, we parted our separate ways and Rachel and I ad quite the time trying to get out of that place. Our destination was here in Coos Bay and it was quite the winding drive. We had hoped to make it further, but we also didn't want to drive a majority of the coastal highway in the dark, cause after all we are coming this way so that we can enjoy the views! Today we have a long haul- to Manchester, California (about 400 miles)- home to another KOA and guaranteed, hassle-free shower! Oh, and no one waking us up in the night! I will post pics tonight and hope to write more. We are usually exhausted by the time we get where we're going!! Adios for now.

Oh, Portland...

So we've had quite the entertaining time here in Portland, and not necessarily in the good way. We've seen everything from homeless Elvis to Betty Ford. We has the misfortune of sleeping in two locations last night after getting kicked out of the first. We drove around Portland for a while in search of a good place to call home for the night. We ended up in the parking lot of Staples stealing internet and getting on the truck stops website. Sure enough, there was a truck stop less than two miles away. Perfect, we thought! So off we went to the Jubitz truck stop, which I have now come to hate. We tried to go in the truck parking area, but were denied entry because our rig was not quite long enough (but almost). So we decided to hang out in the parking lot and we found a nice little spot to call home, or so we thought. We went in to brush our teeth and get ready for bed. We rearranged our living quarters (picture stuff piled in the front seats as high as the roof) to allow for us to sleep in the back. We were ready for bed. We climbed in the back and passed out. Two hours later, we were rudely awaken by a portly hotel rent-a-cop (securitas if you will) tapping on the windows and shining a light on us. Oh shit I thought, Rachel, Rachel, are you awake? What do we do?!?! He began reciting pretty loudly- CANT SLEEP HERE!! Damn, I should just open the door and talk to him. So I did. Mind you, we are looking a hot mess. He said we needed to leave, so I asked him if he knew of anywhere we could sleep for the night. He said try the next street over, cause that's where all the semi's go that we kick out of here. So off we went, one whole block over, to find the reject parked along side the street. We pulled in behind a nice large semi-truck and again fell asleep. Now we needed a shower. That was another adventure, but to make a long story short, the ritzy RV park wouldn't allow us to pay to use their showers so went ended up at McDonald's brushing our teeth, changing clothes, etc. As I went to the counter to purchase something as a courtesy for us using their bathroom, the hispanic ladies we speaking about "las mujeres in el bano (or, the ladies in the bathroom!!) " I just laughed and walked out. We walked around downtown today for a bit and are going to see the stripper joint that is supposedly shaped like a jug. Then we are off to Eugene to visit a friend of mine and then we will be heading over to the coast an on to North California for the night- this time in a KOA campground! Portland has metro-wide free wireless which is super nice- but we are going to find a shower for real now so I am signing off.

Guess where!

OK, so we have made it back to the US of A. We arrived to Seattle last night, just in time to pick up Rachel from the airport. It was tough making enough room in my car for her to squeeze in, but we managed. I've been missing for a couple days on here, surprise, surprise! I managed to post a few pics in 100 Mile House (yes, that's the name of a town in BC) but didn't jot down our whereabouts, etc. We ended up staying at the Ramada in there in 100 Mile. We left ourselves with about 370 miles to reach Seattle- so not too terrible for the last day through Canada. Crossing the border took a while, but it was rather pain-free other than the weekend traffic from BC to the great ol state of Washington! I gave my car a rest today as we decided to take the Metro Bus into Seattle for the day (it's about a 20 mile trip from where we are staying). I'm sure my car appreciated the breather. We spent virtually all day in Seattle doing the whole touristy thing (picture camera around my neck, jacket tied around waste, the whole nine!). Went to the Pike Place Market, rode the monorail to the Space Needle and then mom and Rachel when into the Experience Music Project. I didnt feel it necessary to go in there a second time so I dinked around taking pictures and what not. I am exhausted from all the walking around but really needed to do laundry so I am sitting around waiting for that to get done. Mom and Rachel should be asleep right now, and hopefully I will be joining them soon. Mom gets on the plane tomorrow and Rachel and I head to Oregon. Hopefully I will get to meet up with and visit with a long lost pal of mine! I think Mom has enjoyed the weeks excursions but I'm pretty sure she could stand to never ride in my car again! My computer only has 10 minutes of juice left, so I should post this already and quit my ramblin. Here's a pic from the day. Hopefully I'll get some more up soon. Adios.

Dave...

Reveal yourself please. I'm curious as to who you are and how you know me!

A few pics...

Leaving Chetwynd.

9am, we are heading out. Hoping to cover about 400 miles today. Snowed a little overnight, but hopefully we will escape the blizzard conditions of last night- for the sake of mom's health. Will probably post when we get to Seattle on Friday. And we're out.

Where do I start?!

Alright, so it's Wednesday which means I've been absent for a couple days. You just can't expect internet everywhere in this desolate land- nor should we want to! Well, a whole lot has happened in these last two days. We have covered around 900 miles, seen herds of buffalo, a few caribou, some sheep, deer and a few horses, and are now in a little town called Chetwynd. Its a little larger than your average Canadian 'town.' We were very happy to come down the mountain into a sea of lights! I will get to that a little later... I should start with Tuesday. We left Whitehorse in hopes of stopping at Muncho Lake- suppose to be just gorgeous! We left Whitehorse later than we intended and hung out in the Sign Post Forest (see pic above) for just a little too long. That, and it gets dark, pitch black, up here in a hurry! Needless to say, we got to Muncho Lake when it was pitch black out- and wouldn't have even noticed it except for the fact that the road literally comes within feet of it with no guardrail (picture Mom freaking out!). So we ventured on in search or a more lit up place to call home for the night. That came at mile 422, aka Toad River Motel and RV Park. They boasted hot showers and nice spots by the River... I guess you could say we got a nice spot by the river, but the hot water... not so much. Woke up to snow this morning really looking forward to that hot shower! We hoofed it to the bathhouse for little more than an intense letdown. Mustered up the courage to wash my hair, but my head literally hurt from frigid water temp. We decided to hit the road- it was but 9am- were in great shape I thought. We had Moberley Lake in mind for our resting spot for Wed night. However, in looking through the Milepost, we decided there weren't many places to pull over for the night and either set up the tent or sleep in the car, so we decided upon Chetwynd. It was only a couple hours further meaning we wouldn't have to drive as far the next couple of days. We set out on Hwy 29, a scenic bypass of some sort (cuts out having to drive to Dawson Creek and back down). It started out beautifully. Mom took the wheel for the first time so I got to enjoy the scenery a bit more. I highly recommend this little cut-off. Scenes are well worth it. However, it turned ugly about a half-hour in. As yall probably know, Mom is a little tense on the road, so driving in blizzard conditions just isn't her cup of tea- whether driving herself of being a passenger. And within one hour of setting out on this road, the snow is failling. Huge flakes. Lots of flakes. And blowing straight at us. I took over driving and immediately upon stepping on the gas, getting up to about 45mph (sorry, 70kph), I felt like I was driving in place- stationary. It was the most bizarre thing. No problem I thought, just follow the yellow line and hope there's no more hairpin turns, as there had been many up to this point! That is until the road became completely covered. Thank goodness for 4 wheel drive. We plugged along up the mtn slowly but surely and eventually made it back down. We were going about 35 the whole way, just praying there wasn't a large animal serving as a roadblock (as there had been many of those up to this point as well!). This, my friends, is why we were so happy to see civilization! And foolish of us to think the trickiest part would be Steamboat Mtn just before Ft. Nelson!! That was a breeze, despite having to use 4 wheel drive there as well and seeing an 18 wheeler stuck on the side of the mountain, unable to make it any further. It was an eventful last couple of days- very memorable for mom I'm sure. Upon arriving in Chetwynd, we got coke floats which prompted mom to exclaim " I don't know why I'm even eating this crap. I never want to see any more white frozen stuff in my life!" We are safe in a motel tonight- the Pine Cone Motor Inn. Tomorrow we are heading to the Cache Creek area. No telling what the roads will be like, so we will play it by ear. I still love snow :)

Leaving Whitehorse.

Not gonna get as early a start as hoped, but we will be on the road shortly. We are hoping to make it to a place called Muncho Lake, weather permitting of course. Breakfast consists of eggs and GRITS! Mmmmmm. Gas here is 4.80 a gallon. Ouch. Sleep certainly was nice- feel as if I can make it the 440 planned miles today. Sure is nice to not be at work right now... That's all for now. This is a pic of the place we stayed here in Whitehorse. Adios.

Internet at long last!

So this is my first attempt at this whole blog thing. I will do my best to keep updated regularly, assuming I can get internet access on a regular basis. Clearly I failed in posting last night- we got into Tok at 1am and were pretty exhausted. We had high hopes of leaving Anchorage early afternoon on Sunday, but because of my procrastination it was a little after 5 before we hit the highway. We hit some rain along the way and mom almost vomited several times because of nerves. Today she managed those nerves a bit better. I have not gone much over 60 mph since we started, making for some long hours. My poor car. I am beat right now- today I drove 8 hours straight- so yes we averaged a whopping 50mph- of course stopping a few times. Oh well. It is beautiful outside. A majority of the mountains are blanketed with snow, and lots of it. On the drive to Whitehorse today we did hit a few flurries, but nothing more than that. Mom was on edge after we talked to a few fellow highway drivers this morning at Fast Eddy's, only the best restaurant in all of Tok! One guy said he was snowed in around Ft. Nelson for a day and a half, so mom was a bit worried. Then, no more than 20 minutes later, two more guys said they had just come up from Washington and all was clear! Hmmm... who do we believe? The guy driving the Geo Metro who got stuck for over a day or the guys driving a Tahoe and pulling a big ol trailer? I could care less- kind of think the snow thing is fun, however mom would probably have an aneurysm if that happened. I do not know where our final destination will be tomorrow. We will play it by ear according to the weather. Today started out beautiful and was for a majority of the drive. It has begun to drizzle now and probably will continue for some time. After mom had a restless night sleeping, she decided to splurge for a motel room. It's quite the quaint little place. We looked around for some places in Whitehorse but it all appeared pretty sketch- especially since I'm leaving a lot hanging out on my car making myself a pretty big target for theft. So we drove a bit further to an RV/Motel place. There are beautiful pictures of horses on the wall and mom's watching a special about the world's largest man. Focus. So we haven't seen a lot of wildlife thus far. I saw a porcupine last night on the way to Tok as well as a moose, who I thought was standing dangerously close to the road. It's a good thing mom didn't see that one! Anyways, I am really scattered right now so I will write more, and more coherently perhaps in the morning. We both need a good nights rest. Here is a pic of how ridiculous my car looks! Oh yea, I'm frustrated with google right now because the lines I drew showing where we are on the map are not showing up when I insert the html stuff. Sorry!