So close...!
We made it to Phoenix late Saturday night after an eventful day of driving... driving... driving... and more driving... whoopee. I have come to the conclusion that Texas is a whirling vortex of never ending highway and sand. At least the drive across interstate 10 has high desert and greenery to look at. Driving across interstate 40 is like purgatory; nothing but flat sand and wind from Dallas ever westward. Ugh.
I will say the cool thing about driving through Texas was when we got to El Paso and saw the Rio Grande from the highway, which is something I'd never seen before. We also saw the ridiculously huge Mexican flag flying over Juarez... woah. Quite proud, aren't they? We stopped for lunch/ dinner at a place in El Paso called Bonny's Cafe on Tyler's reccommendation, that had the biggest burritos you've never seen in your life! How does one person eat an 17 inch burrito?! We split one... delicious.
So, after crossing in and out of 3 time zones, 2 states and 4 tanks of gas, we made the trip in about 16 hours (including food and gas stops) from Austin to Phoenix... not too shabby.
This afternoon, Uncle Bill and Aunt Diane threw a wonderful BBQ at their house. Pretty much everyone made it out for the festivities, and we had a great time talking, eating and carrying on.
Tomorrow, we're going to hang with Grandad and Grandma Barb and then trot over to Grandma's before coming back to Uncle Bill's for Monday Madness!! (it's pizza night :o) )
We'll head out of here Tuesday morning, making one last stop before L.A. to see Josh's grandparents in Villa Park, CA.
From there it's second star to the right and straight on til morning! (well, straight on to LA, really...)
26 October 2008
24 October 2008
Rockin it in Austin!
Austin. Is. Weird.
Example? Sure thing.
Currently, there is a woman sitting behind me. Backwards baseball cap. Overalls. Work boots. Biker hoodie. Shaved head...? At least, little to no hair. VERY tan. Spitting tobacco juice into a styrofoam coffee cup.
For those who know me, you'll understand the sound I'm making when I say "bleugh"!
Not to mention the fact that, when you get on the freeway, the entrance is actually a service road paralleling the freeway at the same speed and when you exit the freeway onto said service road, you have the choice of continuing on the service road or getting back onto the freeway using what I like to call the "second chance entrance". Say you got off on the wrong exit. In real life, you would continue on to the next exit, get off, make a u-turn and carry on, right? In Texas, they are kind enough to give you a second chance to get back on the freeway about 100 yards from where you may or may not have accidentally exited. Or, I suppose, if you just felt like taking a slight detour off the freeway and then right back on, it's a handy road.
WHAT?!
Hilarious.
Amid the craziness, Austin seems like a fun-ish little town. Last night, we went to a dueling piano bar downtown. The guys playing were hilarious and ridiculously talented. They sang everything from The Eagles to Kid Rock and Elton John... wicked. After that, we walked around a little bit downtown and had a slice of pizza at a local "New York style" pizzeria, where the slices are as big as your face and taste out of this world delicious.
Tonight, we're going to see Nicole perform as Ulla in "The Producers" at a local community theater. After that, we're off to a costume party where I will be making an appearance as a ladybug!!!! Sweet!
Nicole and JoNathan are going to be Bonnie and Clyde and Josh is undecided... Sheesh.
Tomorrow morning we'll hit the road again on our way to Phoenix for a few days to hang with the family there before continuing on to L.A.!
Example? Sure thing.
Currently, there is a woman sitting behind me. Backwards baseball cap. Overalls. Work boots. Biker hoodie. Shaved head...? At least, little to no hair. VERY tan. Spitting tobacco juice into a styrofoam coffee cup.
For those who know me, you'll understand the sound I'm making when I say "bleugh"!
Not to mention the fact that, when you get on the freeway, the entrance is actually a service road paralleling the freeway at the same speed and when you exit the freeway onto said service road, you have the choice of continuing on the service road or getting back onto the freeway using what I like to call the "second chance entrance". Say you got off on the wrong exit. In real life, you would continue on to the next exit, get off, make a u-turn and carry on, right? In Texas, they are kind enough to give you a second chance to get back on the freeway about 100 yards from where you may or may not have accidentally exited. Or, I suppose, if you just felt like taking a slight detour off the freeway and then right back on, it's a handy road.
WHAT?!
Hilarious.
Amid the craziness, Austin seems like a fun-ish little town. Last night, we went to a dueling piano bar downtown. The guys playing were hilarious and ridiculously talented. They sang everything from The Eagles to Kid Rock and Elton John... wicked. After that, we walked around a little bit downtown and had a slice of pizza at a local "New York style" pizzeria, where the slices are as big as your face and taste out of this world delicious.
Tonight, we're going to see Nicole perform as Ulla in "The Producers" at a local community theater. After that, we're off to a costume party where I will be making an appearance as a ladybug!!!! Sweet!
Nicole and JoNathan are going to be Bonnie and Clyde and Josh is undecided... Sheesh.
Tomorrow morning we'll hit the road again on our way to Phoenix for a few days to hang with the family there before continuing on to L.A.!
21 October 2008
On the road again!
Greetings from Memphis!!
Josh and I left this morning at 6:13 am from New Bern, NC headed due west for destinations unknown!
Ok, that's not true... we headed west with 14 hours of driving ahead of us, towards Memphis.
We stopped for lunch in Knocksville, TN where we ate oddly amazing Mexican food.
We blew through Nashville, seeing the sights from the highway. (I know, lame)
At 7pm local time (central time) we coasted into town on fumes and thankfully found a nearby Exxon station. After fueling up (ps, I'm getting a whopping 37 miles to the gallon!! WOOT!!!) we made a beeline for the famous downtown Beale St. We strolled along for a little bit, enjoying the many live bands and crazy homeless people before settling on dinner at BB King's Blues Club. There was a live 7 piece band there and we ate the most delicious BBQ on earth. I had ribs and Josh indulged in pulled pork.
All in all, it was a long but fantastical day!!
Tomorrow we make our was south and west to the lovely city of Austin, TX to see Nicole and Jonathan!
Josh and I left this morning at 6:13 am from New Bern, NC headed due west for destinations unknown!
Ok, that's not true... we headed west with 14 hours of driving ahead of us, towards Memphis.
We stopped for lunch in Knocksville, TN where we ate oddly amazing Mexican food.
We blew through Nashville, seeing the sights from the highway. (I know, lame)
At 7pm local time (central time) we coasted into town on fumes and thankfully found a nearby Exxon station. After fueling up (ps, I'm getting a whopping 37 miles to the gallon!! WOOT!!!) we made a beeline for the famous downtown Beale St. We strolled along for a little bit, enjoying the many live bands and crazy homeless people before settling on dinner at BB King's Blues Club. There was a live 7 piece band there and we ate the most delicious BBQ on earth. I had ribs and Josh indulged in pulled pork.
All in all, it was a long but fantastical day!!
Tomorrow we make our was south and west to the lovely city of Austin, TX to see Nicole and Jonathan!
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