Back to the "Real" World

Wow, has it only been a week and a half? Amazing how quickly I've assimilated right back into the day to day! Isn't it strange how experiences can sometimes make you question your perception of time? The trip is already starting to seem like a distant memory and I've just barely finished getting all of the laundry done.

It has been 10 days since our return to the OC and I've had a little bit of time to sit back and think about the adventure we just had. My conclusion? We are the luckiest people in the world! A U.S. road trip should be a required course in all college curriculum. There's no better way to really connect with this country other than seeing it and experiencing it. Plus you learn a lot about yourself along the way. I'm so glad we decided to take the trip despite all of the excuses we came up with beforehand. I guess sometimes you've just got to say screw it and just do it.

Over the last 10 days it's been really interesting talking with friends and family...I had no idea so many of you were actually reading my blog! I must say, it's nice to think I've got a fan base out there (and I didn't even have to bribe anyone!). And for those of you living vicariously through my travels, I'm not stopping anytime soon. Europe is next on the list, so be sure to keep checking in.

PS- Many of you have asked about the status of the Magic Van (or "Maggie" as James and I like to call her). She's parked safely in James' driveway and is available for rent (or for sale) if any of you are thinking about taking an impromptu adventure. In fact, at the end of April Maggie will be escorting our friends, Jake and Lovely, on a long-weekend voyage up the California coast to Big Sur. Vive le Voyage!

Rest in Peace Grandma Graham

Sadly, my grandma passed away this morning. I am fortunate to have many great memories of her that I will cherish always. Before leaving on my recent road trip, I got to talk to her about Martha's Vineyard (where she grew up) and she was so excited for me to see her hometown that she wrote me a 14-page letter filled with recommendations! She will be missed by all of us and I hope she is now resting in peace with Grandpa.

California Here We Come - Cross-Country Road Trip 12.0

It was a little bittersweet crossing the California border last night. It's been a good run and I'm sad that it's ending but I'm also excited to see my two cats, Cooper and Tank. I suppose it will be nice to have my huge closets and my bathtub back, but there's something to be said about waking up in a new place almost everyday. Maybe that gets old after a while but it's been a month and I could keep going!

Before starting our final leg home, I made a final breakfast of oatmeal and yogurt mixed with fresh mango. Delicious! On our way out of Indio we stopped to say a quick hello to my family friend, Cathy Bentley and then we were on the road again. I got my stuff packed (and joked to James that I was moving out) while we drove to make room for the kitten and 2 dogs that we would be picking up on the way. It was sad to having everything in bags again, seeing it so bare reminded me of the first night in Rhode Island when we had to sleep with no pillows and the awning as our blanket. Awww, memories.

We stopped at the parents' houses to pick up the pets, say hellos and give tours of the Magic Van. I was quite elated to hear how many people have been enjoying the blog...good old "Maggie" (what we nicknamed the van) has become somewhat of a celebrity it seems. James' neighbor even came over to take a peek! The drive home was not as disastrous as I had imagined. All three pets stayed relatively calm and we managed to avoid the Friday traffic. Walking into my house felt a bit surreal, I had forgotten what having so much space feels like!

Last Stop at Last Chance - Cross-Country Road Trip 11.2

Our last day of the Magic Van Winter '09 Tour was a nice, relaxing stop in Phoenix, AZ. I did some credit card damage at Last Chance and My Sister's Closet, two of my favorite store to find great deals. If you've never heard of it, Last Chance is basically where Nordstrom sends everything that hasn't sold or can't be resold and offers it at dirt cheap prices. My Sister's Closet is a consignment chain in the area that has tons of designer stuff well below retail. It is exactly the kind of store I dream of opening one day. I woke up early from sheer excitement and got goosebumps when we pulled into the parking lot.

Once the receipts were printed and my shopping adrenaline subsided, we strolled around the Scottsdale area soaking up the sun on a perfect, almost 80 degree day. We had some sushi at happy hour and laughed at hour similar Scottsdale is to Orange County. It was nice though to sit around and people watch in warm weather - hello Spring!

I had made reservations for much needed massages at a school in Phoenix, however, they neglected to tell me that they only accept cash, so my "perfect relaxation day" plan didn't come to fruition. Oh well, got to roll with the punches. We hit the road around 7pm and James got us all the way to Indio where we found a parking lot with our names on it for our last night in the Magic Van.

Good Morning Arizona! - Cross-Country Road Trip 11.1

Wow, I can't believe the trip is coming to a close. What initially started as a 2.5 week trip has evolved into almost 4 including our first few days in Colorado. We've seen so much in the last 4 weeks it is almost sensation overload. But we've got tons of pictures and over 50 blog posts (yikes!) to remind us when the memories get fuzzy.



Last night we were talking about our favorites of the trip...favorite city, favorite experience, favorite tourist attraction, etc. and we both came to the conclusion that what has made this trip so spectacular is not necessarily where we've been, it's the people we've connected with. Whether it be a stay at their house, a ride from one location to another or just a passing conversation, each person we've encountered has been as much of a participant as either James or myself has been.

This morning we woke up in the Super 8 parking lot in Benson, AZ (we tried to make it to Tucson but got too sleepy) and snagged a little free continental breakfast (I promise to stay at a Super 8 sometime to make up for it). The tables were full but a nice man waived me over and let me sit with him. We got to talking and it turns out he lives in Kansas but travels the country buying and selling truck parts. He and his wife want to go to Boston so I got to tell him a little bit about our adventures there.

It wasn't a life changing conversation or anything, but it made my morning a little more interesting and churned up some business ideas to think about on the drive to our last stop...Phoenix, AZ.

Exploring Carlsbad Caverns, NM - Cross-Country Road Trip 10.1

Up until a week or two before we left SoCal, I had never heard of the Carlsbad Caverns nor even knew they existed. James' roommate, Troy, heard us planning our route and suggested we check it out. Thank goodness we took his advice because it was a spectacular site to see.

The caverns are located in Carlsbad on the southeast corner of New Mexico. They are one of the world's largest known cave systems, new sections and rooms are still being discovered today. Bats have called the caverns home for thousands of years and are the reason European settlers made this incredible discovery in the first place. Someone saw a huge bat colony emerging from a cave and went inside to harvest the guano (it is used as fertilizer) only to discover this geological anomaly filled with stalactites, stalagmites and various other formations so massive they almost don't seem real.

At different points on the hike, both James and I had flashbacks of Thunder Mountain - sadly the closest thing I can compare this to. Of course Carlsbad Caverns trumps Disneyland hands down, I just found it comical that a couple of SoCal natives thought of that. The sheer size of the caves is completely humbling and made me stop to think about how awesome our planet is. I also got to thinking about what crazy person volunteered to be the first to go in. Without the current lighting system it would be so dark that you wouldn't be able to see your hand held inches from your face. I wondered what these walls would say if they could talk - imagine all that they have seen over the centuries!

New Mexico, the Land of Enchantment...OK, maybe - Cross-Country Road Trip 10.0

It was a long and arduous journey to Carlsbad, NM but we arrived without incident at around 3pm today. The terrain is very much desert now, which is beautiful in its own way, but not quite as captivating as what we've been driving through. We passed through quite a few old towns, some of which were just abandoned structural skeletons left to wither away with the elements. Seeing ghost towns like that always makes we wonder why the people decided to ditch it.

Close to Carlsbad, we passed through a currently inhabited city called "Loving" to which James replied "cute". That made me chuckle.

We arrived too late to get into the caverns today so we grabbed a campsite at the Carlsbad RV Park. This is our 2nd RV Park experience and I must say I'm pleasantly surprised. This one has a heated indoor pool, horseshoes, hair dryers in the bathroom and a huge selection of dvds you can rent for $1 (they also give you one free rental per campsite).

We took advantage of the pool, went for a walk, enjoyed a gorgeous sunset, I caught up on some blogs and then we watched The Dark Knight before calling it a night.

One More Stop in Austin - Cross-Country Road Trip 9.4

We left downtown Austin last night after seeing the bats and headed west for Carlsbad, NM. It was getting late and we were hungry so we crossed our fingers that we would find a good spot to stop and eat. I started to get discouraged when we kept seeing "closed" signs, thinking that maybe people out here go to bed when the sun goes down, but that wasn't the case. We spotted a neon spinning cowboy and an "open" sign that beckoned us into the Nutty Brown Cafe.

From the front you'd never know, but there was a huge patio out back that holds I would guess around 600 people. They have concerts there and everything. In the center of the patio is a huge cage that Cheeto the Parrot lives in. He's a gorgeous tropical parrot that talks...in fact, he even tells kids to f-off when they are bothering him. Something tells me he doesn't get invited to very many town birthday parties!

Nutty Brown Cafe turned out to be a great discovery...service was top notch, Cheeto was an unexpected surprise and the food was delicious. Mine wasn't the healthiest (enchiladas drowning in queso) but everything tasted so fresh it was obvious that it was all homemade. Our server convinced us to try a piece of their strawberry/peach pie and while my thighs weren't very happy with me, my tastebuds were jumping for joy. It was devoured faster than you can say "strawberry/peach pie" (ok, maybe not that fast!).

Until We Meet Again Austin! - Cross-Country Road Trip 9.3

That extra 24 hours in Austin was just enough to convince us to consider moving here. I absolutely love the energy - so many runners, bikers, water skiers, rock climbers - just tons of active people. I love that Austonians are so into "staying weird", it makes me think that the city is going to maintain its eclectic-ness even as it continues to grow. The weather is great (I'll take hot summers over snow any day), the music never stops and I could make a full-time job out of trying all the different restaurants.

We spent Day 2 checking out some stores we didn't get to yesterday - a bike shop for James and a couple thrift stores for me - my next project is to set up an online high-end resale clothing store and see if I can't make some side money from my bargain hunting hobby...stay tuned! We had a delicious lunch at Bouldin Creek Cafe, a nice little vegan joint just out of the hustle bustle, then spent a couple hours driving around looking at houses.

It is absolutely unbelievable how much further money goes outside of Southern California. There were so many places that I'd love to move into tomorrow...very tempting! After our real estate rendezvous, we headed back to Congress Bridge to watch the bats fly. If you didn't know, Austin has the country's largest urban bat colony and it's quite a sight to see.

We said so long to Austin just after dark and started yet another long haul to Carlsbad, NM to have a look at the caverns out there. Something tells me, however, that I'll be returning to Texas sometime soon!

Sweet, Sweet Austin - Cross-Country Road Trip 9.2

The Magic Van got some mileage today driving around downtown Austin. Our day started with a killer breakfast at Kerby Lane Cafe (thanks Kent for the recommendation!) followed by some on-foot exploration of both the University and South Congress areas. I was in hog heaven hopping from one vintage/antique shop to the next and there were plenty of music and sports stores to keep James' browsing binge at bay.


Between all of the eclectic people, the Longhorn obsession, the seemingly infinite number of mom and pop restaurants and the welcoming, come-as-you-are atmosphere, we were like kids in a candy store - unsure of where we wanted to begin but absolutely certain we wanted to gobble up every last bite. We took a break from our visual sugar rush at Choy's Hula Hut (thanks Chris!) overlooking Lake Austin (which oddly enough is a river, not a lake) and agreed that Austin deserved a little more time.

Our original itinerary put us home on the 9th (tomorrow), which obviously isn't going to happen. We were going to push to be home Wednesday but now it's looking more like Friday. Interestingly, we left on a Friday the 13th so returning on Friday the 13th just seems like icing on the cake. We made some calls to the parents to make sure they wouldn't mind watching the pets a little longer - thank you guys! - and planned out the last few days of our trip (sniffle sniffle).

We got our next fix on 6th Street where we took in some live music, some electronic music and some conversation with cool folks - and, not to toot my own horn, we looked pretty good doing it too. I'd say we've mastered the art of cleaning up quickly and making ourselves presentable. After our social appetites were satisfied, we ironically settled into a parking lot next to the original Whole Foods Market (the company was founded here). This is probably a stretch, but maybe after such a virtual high all day, we needed some subliminal nighttime nourishment.

Austin Infatuation - Cross-Country Road Trip 9.1

We rolled into Austin late last night but since it was Saturday the town was very much awake. We circled around downtown for a while trying to find a spot to park. James had his tastes buds set on Stubb's BBQ so we were not giving up until we got some. We finally found a spot with an hour to spare before closing so we quickly freshened up and made our way. Dinner was good, and there was a concert downstairs so we hung out and listened a bit. James tried to be sneaky by finding a door that looked unmanned and he very gallantly sent me through. I was quickly stopped and told to turn around since I had no wristband. Thank James for feeding me to the wolves!

After Stubb's we decided to get some z's rather than fight the crowds everywhere. The streets were jam packed with cars and people so maneuvering the Magic Van was taking more energy than usual. It was a tough decision though because the instant we got here it reminded me how much I love this city. I've only been here once before about a year ago, but had such great
time I did not want to leave. I've not experienced such a connection to very many places but Austin is one of the few.


We found a Walmart just outside of downtown and quickly realized how tired we were. We
must have been running on the adrenaline of having finally arrived in Austin because we barely stayed awake long enough to brush our teeth.

A State and a Half in One Day - Cross-Country Road Trip 9.0

Phew! We covered a lot of ground today. Departure from New Orleans was at 9:30am and arrival in Austin wasn't until approximately 10pm with just a quick breakfast stop and a stretch stop in Houston. Other than that it was hard-core road-trippin'...not something I recommend for weak at heart. I wimped out for a little while and took a snooze break soon after we left New Orleans but James kept on truckin'.

We realized that starting our tour up north was genius not only because we got the cold weather our of the way, but because we gradually got to build up our road-trippin' tolerance. The 2 to 3 hours between cities on the East Coast were good training for these southern marathons we are now embarking on.

Houston turned out to be a nice stop. We went for a much needed run at Hermann Park that got our blood flowing and reminded our muscles that they are meant to do more than just sit around all day. We even stopped at The Beer Can House. Some guy saved his beer cans for 18 years so that he could cover his property in aluminum. Not exactly the look I would choose, but to each his own. It's a landmark and I'll bet now he's sitting pretty on a tropical island somewhere with nothing to do but drink more beer. I love this country!

Laissez les Bon Temps Roulez! - Cross-Country Road Trip 8.3

We opted to stay an extra day in New Orleans since Turtle had been out of town on business and we really wanted to see him. Not to mention the city is just that cool. James and I did a little more shopping and browsing on Magazine Street in the morning, then met up with Turtle and got some authentic po' boy sandwiches.

James and Turtle caught up while I got some blogging done. We talked about work and what we want to do when we grow up which was so exhausting we all had to break for a cat nap. I love the travel life! We woke up refreshed enough for Heather and James to tackle a speaker set up in the living room that they've been meaning to get to. A little light bulb flashed over my head...maybe next time we should travel the world and fix things around the house to earn our keep. You never know!

Later I was struck with an irresistible craving for those delicious waffle fries again so we headed back to the pub and gorged. Then we hit the town before hitting the hay. It's a long drive to Austin ahead!

Side note: My Sonicare battery just now ran out, which means it lasted for 22 days without being recharged. Quite impressive! As luck would have it, Heather and Turtle have a Sonicare too so I was able to give mine some juice for the rest of the trip.

When will things get better? - Cross-Country Road Trip 8.1

The drive around New Orleans was very eye-opening for me because the last time I was here was 3 months before Katrina and I really only stayed in the tourist areas. Now I was getting an up-close view of the devastation. Heather told us the story of how they left the night before Katrina hit and for an entire month, didn't know if their house was still standing. She drive us through areas that had been flooded and while I didn't see any FEMA trailers, I did see a couple houses with the "red x", a symbol of condemnation. She did say that a lot of progress has been made - many homes have been renovated - but it is quite obvious that a lot of work still needs to be done.

The major problem, and probably one of the reasons things are so slow to improve, is that the city is riddled with corruption. Many of the people who are supposed to be helping and leading instead are stealing and filling their own pockets. Heather is a teacher and she showed me pictures of the horrible conditions that she is expected to work in. It's literally something I would expect to see in a third world country; crumbling walls, filthy bathrooms, food rotting on floors, the list goes on. I don't know how she does it and I'm beginning to understand why New Orleans is the country's crime capital.

It has been a vicious cycle of poverty and lack of education for quite some time now. Children are raised on government handouts and have no sense of value or responsibility. Heather had to start charging for pencils because she got tired of spending her own money (orders placed by the school would arrive mysteriously half-empty) only to have the kids break them into pieces and throw them at each other. We saw a story on the news about an 8th grader who is serving a life sentence for murder. He got into a fight at school and went home only to be told by his mother to go back and "get his". She gave him the gun and was later acquitted of any charges.

It's a sad state of affairs that people in this country are still living this way. The fact that the average life span of a male in New Orleans is 24 years is appalling. I just wonder when someone is going to take a stand and do something to change it.

Getting the Road Out of Our System - Cross-Country Road Trip 8.1

Our stay in New Orleans was just what the doctor ordered, lots of relaxing walks, great food and a little bit of regular life again. We got to stay in the Garden District with James' friends, Heather and Turtle who were also hosts to Tim and Rachel during the Jalopy Tour. In fact, it was an extended stay while the traveling duo earned enough cash bartending to cover the 2nd half of their tour. Sounds like fun to me and if I didn't have 2 cats at home that I'm looking forward to seeing soon, I'd be very tempted to do the same.

We spent our first day walking around the French Quarter admiring the architecture. I guess we are both suckers for buildings, we seem to take many pictures of them wherever we go. We started with a nice breakfast at a french bakery in the Garden District before catching the street car to the Quarter. And just to remind us that we are true tourists, we didn't know we had to have exact change, so the driver let us off and we had to wait for the next car. It was a scenic ride and I couldn't help but chuckle at all of the beads hanging from the trees and electricity lines. We missed Mardi Gras by a week but the energy was definitely still there.

After the Quarter we met up with Heather and she took us on an eye-opening auto tour of the area, details of which will be in a separate blog. Then we did a little shopping on Magazine Street which is lined with eclectic stores, restaurants and even a few vintage shops! My bargain-finding blood couldn't resist and I ended up buying a sundress (it's nice and warm here!). Next it was a nearby pub where we shared the best waffle fries I have ever had in my entire life. They were so good I had to take a picture.

James and I were really in the mood to stay in and unwind, so we all ordered Indian, watched some tv and commented on how great it felt to just sit on a couch again. Ah, the little things. Their dog Abbey battled me for a position next to James on the couch (she won) so I decided to catch up on some LOST episodes before calling it a night.

Miles and Miles of Mississippi - Cross-Country Road Trip 8.0

The majority of our day today was spent driving across the entire state of Mississippi, from top to bottom. I'll admit I was apprehensive of simply being there because of all the scary KKK stuff I've heard about. But, we were just driving through on a major highway so we didn't spot any burning crosses or white cone heads lurking in the forest. In fact, the landscape surprised me with its lush green grass, its gorgeous fields and brilliant sunset. Maybe Mississippi isn't so bad after all.

All of the miles we put on the Magic Van were getting to James so I took over for a while. I'm not really supposed to drive since I don't have the same insurance as Tim but I think even he'd agree that me driving instead of a drowsy James driving was in everyone's best interest. I got used to driving such a big rig quickly and covered some solid ground while James rested his eyes. We only had a few detours - a quick stop for gas, an attempted dog rescue in the highway median (that's what happens when a couple of animal lovers are driving) and a quick dinner in McComb. Other than that it was a straight shot across Mississippi down into our next stop...New Orleans!

Memphis...Did we miss something? - Cross-Country Road Trip 7.6

Maybe we missed something, but there didn't seem to be a whole lot going on in Memphis. They do have The Blues and Elvis, but we were quite shocked to discover that almost half of the downtown area is a literal ghost town. Beale Street has the blues clubs and Graceland has all the Elvis memorabilia, but other than that, there were a bunch of run down buildings, lots of hagglers and beggars and just an overall weird vibe.

I don't want to make it sound like a horrible place - we did enjoy our stay at the Graceland RV Camp. Our temporary home on "Don't Be Cruel Lane" served us well. I had a nice morning jog with Elvis songs resonating from his prior residence and James enjoyed a tour of the Gibson Guitar Factory. And amidst the plethora of fried chicken, pork ribs and fried pickles, we did have one of the best lunches of the trip so far at a place called Automatic Slim's. I had a mouthwatering roasted vegetable salad with black bean soup that is to die for. James devoured his open-faced roast beef sandwich and we almost had a silverware duel over the last bite of our blueberry bread pudding.

Despite it being the main reason for coming to this city, we passed on the Graceland tour. Neither of us are Elvis fanatics, not to mention the basic mansion tour would have set us back $60. Instead we flipped through a Graceland picture book in one of the gift shops and got our fix. In my opinion it was a wise decision because while I like Elvis' music, I think he's pretty lucky that interior decorating wasn't his day job.

I do believe that the city is trying to improve it's image; we saw one of the guys who haggled us get arrested. If anything there is huge potential for some major redevelopment and, with all the history and culture here, I really hope that happens. As for this trip however, my experience was that Memphis is desperately holding on to what used to be instead of focusing on what is right now.

Side note: We watched a movie on the flatscreen tonight! James figured out that there is a dvd player up front that connects to the tv in back. All you have to do is turn up the volume and the surround sound makes you feel like you're in a theater!