Are we there yet?!

Day 6 of ‘merica Road Trip:

Another early morning (roughly 7am): I got everyone up and out so that we wouldn’t be late. We were all exhausted, when we finally got settled and into bed it was close to 3am. We were planning on meeting our friend from camp, (Nurse) Angie in Washington DC for lunch and I didn’t want to be late. We were checked out, moderately fed and on the road a little after 8am. In our quick haste we left my pillow in the hotel. I mourned the loss of it for an hour of the ride out-of-town. Everyone slept while I tried to stay awake and not drive us off a cliff. I got us into DC and didn’t really know where to go exactly. None of us had ever been to our Nation’s capital before. Angie was on a train coming our way and was waiting for us to decided where to meet. We drove around in circles for a while, mostly because we didn’t know where to go but also because we couldn’t find parking. We ended up parking somewhere near the National Agricultural building or something and we walked towards the national malls, I think that’s what they call it. All of DC’s stereotypical landmarks are in one area. Is that a coincidence or not — is it because tourists are lazy and don’t like to travel around to get their fix?

We went to the Washington Monument first. We were not the only tourists in DC trying to see our capital’s spots. I couldn’t help but think of that moment in The Simpsons, Lisa Goes to Washington [3.02] when Marge sees the Washington Monument and giggles and Homer says, “Oh Marge, grow up!” It was huge. I didn’t expect it to be so big. I wasn’t surprised that we weren’t going to be able to make the tour. Apparently people line up at 7am just to get tickets to be able to go on the tour. We headed down to the reflecting pool towards the Lincoln Memorial. We meandered around the World War II Memorial on the way, slowing down in the heat. Not only was it hot but it was tremendously humid. Walking down the reflecting pool we thought about the famous scene in Forrest Gump where Jenny runs in the reflecting pool as Forrest is giving a speech. We dared each other to go in and cool off but we didn’t feel like getting arrested. I was surprised by all the locals walking their dogs and babies in strollers as if it just a normal thing. They weren’t phased by the great historical memorials they were jogging past. It was just another day for them. The Lincoln Memorial was more crowded than the others.

When we made our way to the top and weaved our way to the front, I couldn’t help but be in awe. Even though I have mixed feelings about America, I am still very interested in its history. Lincoln was bigger than I expected. It was very crowded and hot. I wanted to have a quiet moment of contemplation with Honest Abe. It’s tradition to ask him a question but I didn’t know what to ask him. I had traveled more than 1500 miles and in all that time I had forgotten to think up a good question to ask. I couldn’t really stress about it because it was impossible to think while I was boiling in my own skin. I tried to show Abe my love while Amy had a bone to pick with ol’ Abe: the day before the trip a Lincoln biography fell on her foot and busted her toe. She had plans to kick him in the foot but couldn’t because of his size and the barrier around the bottom of the statue. This (see pic on left) was her revenge. We walked around the memorial some more, reading the walls when we just had to get out of there. We were walking down the steps trying to plan our next move when my phone rings and as I went to answer it, knowing it would probably be Angie, I slipped and fell backwards on my butt, falling down some 3-6 steps on the front steps of the Lincoln Memorial in front of some 200 strangers. Everyone stared at me but no one helped me up. I think some Asian teenagers took pictures of, probably under the impression that all Americans are clumsy. Sam, Franco, Amy and I were all hysterically laughing. It probably wasn’t even that funny but we just kept laughing. I wish I could have seen it. (see pic to right)

Angie was going to meet us back at the Washington Memorial then we were all going to go get some lunch…somewhere. We got there before she did and played the human Where’s Waldo to see who could find her first. Amy had met Angie briefly during our camp summer holiday break because Angie spent one night in Austin. Franco saw her first and just starting yelling at the top of his lungs “NURSE ANGIE! NURSE ANGIE” and waving uncontrollably to get her attention. She smiled and laughed. We all exchanged pleasantries and headed back to the car in search of food.

DC is a beautiful place with beautiful old buildings that seem very symmetrical. The only obvious sucky thing about DC is that there isn’t any parking. We stopped looking for places to eat and mostly concentrated on finding another parking spot. We actually found one next to a park (success). Sam, Franco and I hopped out to save the spot while Amy and Angie drove around and bought to parking pass. And just as they were back around to pull into the spot this man starts backing into it. Now, I have to say, I was hot and hungry and determined to not lose this spot, thus I had the three of us standing in it. This man starts yelling at me to move and I start yelling back that he’d have to run me over if he wanted this spot. He kept backing up and I kept standing. This must have been an interesting scene to see because people started stopping and coming over to see the commotion. Eventually the boys grabbed me because Amy didn’t want to deal with this ridiculous man, who barely spoken English.

We ended up parking at some Commerce Building garage where the security guards took our IDs and check our trunk. We were starving so we ate at the food court, stuffing ourselves with Middle Eastern food. After we were all energized we headed out to see things. See the thing is with DC is no one new what they wanted to see. Thankfully Angie helped us figure out good sites so we headed to the White House. We were in the back of the White House but it was funny because Amy and Sam said it was the front. Angie and I tried to tell them it was the back but they were sure it was the front. Once we walked to the front it was obvious to everyone. I just love it when I’m right.

We thought it best to go to the Smithsonian and check out all it had to offer. Boy, I had no idea that the Smithsonian was so big. It is basically a collection of museums all smashed together. It is obvious why it’s the ultimate field-trip destination. We strolled through mammals and considered our options. Angie or Amy, I can’t remember, wanted to see the hope diamond so we headed upstairs to the Geology exhibit. All five of us lose each other in this exhibit. It was quite funny because once one of us would find another we would then split up again to find the others only to repeat over and over. I felt like we were in that exhibit for over an hour. Once we regrouped we went downstairs to the children’s area where we played with all the interactive science exhibits. I really wanted a copy of the constitution so we checked out the gift shop which is just as large and elaborate as some exhibit halls. I got my copy of the constitution and Angie, Amy and I waited for the boys for awhile. Apparently Sam bought personalized dogtags with his music Pen name, Sammy Jay, or something. Amy and I later laughed about this because Sam was constantly worried about money and hated spending money on food, but apparently personalized dogtags were a necessity.

The cute man at the gift shop recommended that we eat dinner in Chinatown so we walked some 12 blocks uphill towards Chinatown. This was not my first Chinatown. I have been to the Chinatown in New York City and San Francisco and I’m starting to see a lot of the same things in each of these Chinatowns. They all have the same cheesy Asian gift shops and restaurants. We couldn’t decide which Chinese restaurant to ate at. Amy and I were leaning towards one that apparently was too expensive for the boys, but I mostly mean Sam, so we ate at this questionable little place that actually smelled like poo. The food was so so. I guess the price was right. It was a nice dinner of everyone teasing me since I kept dropping food on my shirt. I had to even go to the restroom to try and get out all the food stains.

We had one quick stop at Starbucks so Amy could get another mug for her collection and then we parted ways with Angie. She was a lovely addition to our crazy travel group. We were really glad to have another person that could make decisions and settle disputes. I wondered if I’d ever get to see her again. Slowly, I have gotten more and more distance from my camp friends, my camp family. Angie, you will be missed. Thanks for hanging out with us. Thanks for being there at camp all summer.

We got back to the car after some debate on where we parked. We were in need of gas which was impossible to find in downtown DC. We ended up getting somewhat lost on the east side of town but we found a gas station. Somehow we found I95 and headed towards Philadelphia. I felt like it was a quick trip traveling through three (?) states peppered with many toll booths. In Delaware some bitchy toll booth lady freaked out because she thought Franco was trying to take a picture of her. She said she got out license plate number and that she would prosecute if she found her picture online. We spent the rest of the trip making fun of Delaware and declaring it the worst state ever. I think “Fuck you Delaware” was said a lot. I think a lot of that was Amy’s frustration with the drivers. I drifted in and out of consciousness and after a little bit of time so did the boys, leaving Amy brewing, by herself, about where we were going and bad drivers. I woke up once I realized we were in Philadelphia and lost. Amy was not in high spirits. We had made plans to meet up with Amy’s friend from work, Terrence, who was in town visiting his parents and friends. He was going to let us stay with him. Terrence told us to meet him at some bar that we had a little trouble finding. We circled the downtown Philadelphia for about an hour. Philadelphia is definitely a place I could see myself in. The boys slept the whole time but I was awake and being the navigator. We found the bar at about 1am. We meet up with Terrence and his friends and we hung out. We tried a couple of bars but settled on the first one which was half diner. Everyone decided to postgame at someone’s house so we went there and continued to drink and do what young people our age do. We didn’t make it to Terrence’s parents’ house until about 4am.

Another productive day.

Amy’s Washington DC post

Amy’s Delaware Post

Amy’s Philadelphia post.

Nashville to Lexington

Day 5 of the Young & Stupid, YES! Road Trip:

Another beautiful day that this country provided our travel. We woke up and got ready for Nashville. Now Amy had been to Nashville before because it was where her sister either got married or had the bachelorette party or both, (I honestly can’t remember, I know there was a flood involved, but that doesn’t make me a bad friend) so she acted as our travel guide. I was surprised by how beautiful Nashville was – I thought it would be a bunch of barefoot hicks with guitars in wood shacks but it actually looks surprisingly like Austin. Nashville, the Country Music Capital, and Austin, the Live Music Capital, both have clean downtowns with modern architecture but seem to have very normal neighborhoods outside of downtown where people’s kids could play in the front yard.

We were on a mission: cowboy boots! Now you have to understand that Sam and Franco were trying to experience all that ‘Merica had to offer this summer. At camp, everyone had cowboy boots except the foreign boys (I had to borrow some to go horseback riding) because it was a camp founded on horseback riding and being an cowboy. Sam and Franco wanted a pair of real cowboy boots. Amy came to the rescue and took us to Boot ‘n More on Broadway where if you ‘buy 1 pair [you] get 2 free’! We each got a pair of boots, actually Franco got two, and Sam also got a cowboy hat that he wore all the time. The store cuts you a deal so that you aren’t missing out on their special. Still high off the leather boot fumes we decided to go a couple doors down to see Hatch Show Print, which began churning out posters in 1879 and basically is a famous graphic design and print shop. Trust me if you are an American that has been alive in the last 100 years, you’ve seen their stuff. I contemplated buying some of their posters so that I could hang them up in my apartment when I got home but I didn’t think they posters could last the trip. We didn’t actually have that much room in the car. I settled on a Hatch Show Print t-shirt and a key chain that I gave to Amy to replace the one I lost in Houston.We went next door to a charming old soda shop / sweet shop that also served lunch food. We indulged in some sandwich/soup/salad combos and discussed what are plans were for the rest of the day. The boys were dead set on going to the Country Music Hall of Fame Museum, Amy was leading and I was just along for the ride.

We needed to make a quick stop at a bank. The boys still hadn’t been able to cash their pay checks from camp. We figured out that the boys could just write their checks over to Amy and then Amy could cash them. Thankfully the cute redhead bank girl make this easy while the crazy woman in Houston, days early, seemed to make us think it was impossible. Finally the financial burden was lifted and we all felt free. We went to the Country Music Hall of Fame and did the museum thing. I’m not a big country music fan but I enjoyed it. I use to hate country music because it reminded me of small-town, ignorant, racist, sexist, hill-billies but now, because of my summer at camp in small-town Texas, it reminds me of the simple pleasure in life that are easily enjoyed while living in the country. I enjoyed looking at all the old pictures and memorabilia. As we were leaving Nashville everything got dark and it started to pour. This was not good. We had 11 hours to drive to DC and it was around 4pm.

I drove us out of town and into the mountains. It was beautiful. The shower let up just as the sun was setting around the mountains. The road was windy but it was kind of exciting. Once we hit Virginia we stopped to play around at the Welcome Center, one of our favorite road trip past times. Half way through the night Amy and I switched and she drove. While the boys dozed in and out of consciousness, Amy and I began to lose our minds from the driving. This peaked around 12am when we decided that we were not going to be able to make it to DC. Amy hated driving at night on these windy roads in the mountains so we pulled off the interstate, following signs for hotels that seemed to not exists. We later found out we were in Lexington, Virginia. There was a strange fog and the rural roads looked awesomely creepy. Amy mentioned that she was scared of ghosts so I came up with elaborate tales of the civil war ghosts that haunted this area that could and probably would show up and try to get us more lost. It was mostly the delirium of driving 8 hours in a row but Amy was getting freaked out. We saw a sign for Stonewall Jackson’s house but we were failing on finding some place to stay. Finally we saw signs of life and after checking with a couple of hotels we settled on one. Well there was no turning back, we just travel more than half way to New York City.

Wanna read Amy’s version of Nashville

A Big Hunk O’ the South

Day 4 of ‘merica Road Trip:

We got up early and reluctantly left New Orleans. It was such an amazing place, our favorite so far. We swung by the Super Dome on the way out to get the appropriate sites checked off the foreign boys list of things to see. Another beautiful sunny day: We took loop 610 to I10 West so that we could hit I-55 North that would take us to Memphis. We hit the Mississippi border but decided to opt out of seeing the Welcome Center. We let Francesco drive since we wouldn’t be going into any major cities for in a while. Somewhere in Jackson we got pulled over, Mississippi because Franco “took too long to change lanes with his signals on” and the police officer was “worried” Franco was falling asleep at the wheel or something. Now this cop had the thickest accent I have ever heard, I was struggling to understand him. He looked at Amy’s and Franco’s IDs for a really long time, asked all of us stupid questions like “do you have any drugs?” and “have any of you ever been arrested” and then let us go. Mississippi sucks. We stopped in Grenada to eat some food, get some gas and change drivers. The boys were amazed by the way everyone talked. We stood out a little but thankfully we wouldn’t be in this stupid state for much longer.

We were happy to be in Tennessee. We stopped at the Welcome Center and played around a little. The Welcome Center had this amazingly random structure that reminded me more of playground equipment than a memorial. We stretched our legs and got some tour brochures with coupons Graceland and info about cheap hotels but not for too long since we were basically in Memphis and excited to see Graceland. Originally when the boys and I were planning the trip I asked them what were their top things to see and places to go and both had Graceland in their top three choices. Sam is a musician and thus is a music fanatic. Honestly, it was not one of my top choices of places to go but I was curious and later, glad we saw it. As we drove in the city it started to drizzle a little. We played what Elvis Presley songs we had to get pumped up.

Graceland was very lively which we discovered was because it was Elvis Week. Apparently Elvis Week is a big deal in Memphis, it’s when the rest of the country’s Elvis lovers and aficionado pack up their trailers and head over to Graceland to get their Elvis fix. Sam and Franco are apparently big Elvis fans. They were giddy with this piece of Americana in front of them. The thing people don’t seem to mention about Graceland is that it costs a lot of money. There are different museums and tours but most of them cost like $50 a person minimally. Paying for information about Elvis’s life when Amy has internet on her phone with Wikipedia didn’t seem like it was a good use of our hard-earned money. We walked around and checked out the landmarks, the Lisa Marie plane, the mansion, etc. Interesting fact about the mansion: it’s tradition to write on the outside of the wall. There was a big crowd of people writing on the wall near the entrance of his mansion. We almost walked up to the mansion thinking it was okay but were stopped by a loud and overly aggressive security lady. We popped our heads in some gift shops and listened to some Elvis impersonators do his songs on a sad little stage in the parking lot. There are so many Elvis impersonators I began to have a difficulty recognizing real pictures of Elvis because every image of him looks fake. We headed over to the Heartbreak Hotel, partially for the kitschy touristy value but also so Amy could buy stamps. It was an Elvis fanatic’s dream, very cheesy with a heart-shaped pool with a tile crack down the middle. The gift shop was out of stamps and sent us to this trailer in the parking lot that was yet another Elvis gift shop. Amy got her stamps and the kind old woman working the counter gave us advice on where to go in Memphis.

We took I-55 into the downtown area. The gift shop woman told us to head towards Beale street and that’s what we were going to do. The drizzle had been constant while we were experiencing Graceland but as we drove into Memphis a beautiful thing happened all at once:the rain stopped, the clouds opened, that song Walking in Memphis came on the radio just as we saw famous Memphis-Arkansas I-40 bridge. I made Amy open up the moon-roof so I could get a shoot of this strange road-trip miracle but it didn’t come out the way I had hoped. We parked on 2nd and Peabody and walked around a bit. The gift shop woman told us to take the Main Street trolley because it only costs a dollar it functions as a delightful way to see a lot of the downtown area. This was great advice. The whole trip probably took a little over 30 minutes but it was fun. Downtown Memphis is very clean. You can tell at one point it was very industrial but over time had become more commercial. I wondered what it looked like before the Recession because there were a good amount of abandon old factories and buildings. We finished our ride and we saunter down Beale Street in search of some good ol’ Memphis barbecue. We were torn between two places but settled on one over the other because it seemed to be a little cheaper. In retrospect I wish we would have gone to the other place since the place we decided on specializes in BBQ pork (I don’t eat pork) and we experienced the worst service ever. We were in there for over 2 hours! They only had one guy waiting on the whole restaurant. Amy and I kept daring each other to start waiting tables but we were afraid they might actually hire us and we still had a lot of driving a head of us. The food was alright I guess, nothing to write home about, nothing like our meals in New Orleans. If we had more time we would have stayed and watched some local live music. Beale Street reminded me a lot of Austin’s 6th Street, lots of bars, restaurants, and live music.

Before we left town we had to go see the famous Sun Studio. My friend, Mike’s grandparents use to own the building and lease it to Sun Studio back in the day or so he tells me. It was a beautiful little studio. It was closed to we creeped around peeking into the windows and taking pictures. It was weird to think about all the music history that had been recorded right here at Sun Studio like Howlin’ Wolf, Little Milton, B.B. King Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, and Jerry Lee Lewis. This was another landmark that excited the boys.

We had to get on the road if we were going to make it to Nashville at a decent time. The sun was setting as we were at Sun Studio. I drove us out of town on I-40 into the darkness. I wish I could tell you what the landscaped looked like but again it was way too dark. We stopped somewhere between Memphis and Nashville for gas and sustenance, by that I mean doughnuts and soda (yum). I was losing some of my travel mojo and thus not being as fun. When we finally got to Nashville I went to sleep while the others drank and played around. Because of our budget and the randomness of finding a hotel kind of late at night, we had to compromise on our accommodations and settle on one king-sized bed for all four of us to sleep in. Thankfully I got to sleep on one of the edges. We had another big day coming up and the long driving was starting to get to me.

For Amy’s Blog

Crescent City

Day 3 of the Young & Stupid, YES! Road Trip:

After a night of drinking in New Orleans, I was surprised how effortless it was getting up. I say that, but I mostly speak for myself. In the last several years I have learned my limit and conditioned my body to not completely punish me for my nightly activities. I acted as the alarm clock for everyone which at first they resented me for but later were thankful for, or at least I hope. We had made plans to meet up with Amy’s friends for lunch at some place in the French Quarter. It was a beautiful day, very sunny with few clouds. We struggled to find it at first because we couldn’t find the street. We knew we were looking for some place called the Green Goddess on Bienville and Exchange Pl but we couldn’t find Exchange Pl. It turns out the at Exchange Pl is an ally of sorts which is why we had overlooked it. Boy was it hot. We didn’t mind too much about the heat, and sat outside to enjoy the city’s quaint atmosphere. We met Amanda and Laura, another one of Amy’s old friends, who was visiting Amanda from Chicago. We were extremely delighted by the food. It was the best food we could ever imagine. I ordered this amazing salad with salmon and avocado and some sort of cheese. Amy had this french toast stuffed with fig and goat cheese. Marvelous. I can’t really describe how good it was. It was just exactly what we needed. We parted way from Amanda and Laura with the promise that we’d see them later. We were off to explore New Orleans!

There’s so much to see, we weren’t sure where to start. We were suppose to meet up with a camp friend, Andrew, a Louisiana naive who had promised to take us to a off-the-beaten-path Voodoo Queen, but we never gota hold of him. We walked around the French quarter with eyes wide open. We took Chartres Str. towards Jackson Square and we dipped into a used bookstore to look at postcards. I picked up a gently loved travel book about Louisiana and Amy got some interesting used postcards.

Jackson Square was hoppin’ and full of a colorful array people, artists, performers and tourists, like us. We gawked at the art in amazement. I was definitely considering getting my tarot cards read from some lady for $30 but didn’t because 1.) that’s kind of a lot of money for something so silly 2.) I know how to read tarot cards and would probably be an ass about it if she read a card differently than I would and 3.) we had better things to do. We walked along the square on St. Peter’s Street towards the water to see the Mighty Mississippi, which is the largest river system in North America. It was all right I guess. I’m only kidding. The foreign boys were super excited by it and we were too. I’m not going to lie, it wasn’t what I expected. The color of the water was a sort of brownish grey; I thought it would be bluer. We wondered if it was always this color or if this was part of the afterglow of the BP Oil Spill or if this was all [Hurricane] Katrina’s fault or even just years of muck. I was briefly reminded ofAdventures of Huckleberry Finnwith Huck and Jim on the river and amused myself at the parallels between the book and our real life adventure. Were Amy and I struggling with the life’s expectations for us while Sam and Francesco just looking for something better? Maybe I need to read the book again, I’m not sure if I’m remembering it right.

We continued wandering around the square. We knew that it was our duty as tourists to eat beignets and drink coffee at Cafe Du Monde so we ate beignets but it was way too hot for coffee. We weren’t sure where to go from there but my map showed there was a French Market with a farmers’ market and a flea market, not to far from the square so we headed there. The market seemed to be an open collection of shops, anything from bags, purses, dresses, sunglasses, jewelry, t-shirts, anything really. We wandered without real direction. We saw a Jazz Heritage Museum and decided to see what it was all about. As we went in a concert going on, some sort of jazz student showcase. It was a celebration of Satchmo, aka Louis Armstrong. We listened and absorbed the unique experience we felt like we had stumbled across. We headed back towards the hustle and bustle of the market only to stop and Amy got Sweet Tea Vodka and lemonade which we all of course shared. We stopped and watched another jazz band more , zydeco than big band, play music. It was delightful. John called and laughed when I answered the phone because “that is the most stereotypical sound I could have imagined from you in New Orleans.”

We continued to walk around the market, listening to all the live music, window shopping and tasting any free samples that were offered to us. Amy and the boys got some alligator sausage. It was actually really good despite my initial prejudgments. We were all getting a little tired so we decided to head back to the hotel to unwind, recharge and get cleaned for dinner.

Amy’s friend, Amanda, had recommended a great place for dinner, The Gumbo Shop. The food was to die for. We all shared each others food, assorted seafood, gumbo, jambalaya, Cajun pasta and red beans & rice among other Cajun delicacies. We felt spoiled by a city that we loved. My favorite Louisiana-born person, Mike, had recommended that we head over to Frenchmen Street for some local flavor. We went by Amanda’s place, who has a darling duplex, and convinced Amanda and Laura to come out with us toFrenchmen’s Street. We ended up a bar where a blues bands was playing. I bought a round of shots for everyone and the band was flirting with Amy and asked her to go around and get tips for them. It was a good time.

For Amy’s side of the story go to her blog

From Banks to Bourbon Street

Day 2 The Young & Stupid? YES. Have Fun! Road Trip!:

Good grief, I can’t believe the camp gave us checks that are impossible to cash. The camp uses some small podunk middle-of-nowhere bank that check cashing places don’t trust and thus Sam and Francesco haven’t been able to cash their paychecks. We spent our morning in Houston driving around for several hours, not always in the best sides of Houston, trying to cash their checks. My bank wouldn’t let me deposit them into my account and then give them cash because I didn’t have that amount of money in my account. Basically my bank said they would cash the checks after my pay check cleared. Long story short the boys didn’t have any money until early next week and neither did I. We were now Amy’s bitches.

Thankfully our morning was splendid before all this because Amy’s dad made us breakfast, migas. YUM! It was such a thrill having real food again. We had made rough plans to meet up with one of our friends from camp, Drew, while we were in Houston. Before we saw Drew we gathered supplies for our trip which meant going to one of the worst places on earth, Walmart.It made sense to start our ‘merican road trip there but it’s usually best to avoid the whole place. Despite my personal politics I did shop at Walmart this summer while I was at camp. Because our off hours were at late hours and because HEB closes early in Kerrville, Walmart was really the only choice I had. I ended buying a digital camera since I had forgotten mine while the boys spent what felt like all day shopping for god knows what, sandals? a cell phone? Amy and I really wanted to get the hell out there since it was Walmart (see Amy’s Walmart face) and we were excited to actually leave Houston before dark.

We met up with Drew at Hermann Park where we ate “the world’s best” sliders at Little Bigs. Hermann Park is a cute area where I imagine schools come for field trips. The Houston Zoo, the Houston Museum of Natural Science, the Houston Garden are all there in the medical district of southwest-central Houston, inside loop 610. We walked around for a bit. Stuck our feet in the water and watched the ducks. I wanted to feed the ducks but didn’t have any bread so I gave them what I had, Wintergreen Altoids. I’m sure the ducts are fine despite Amy’s worries that they are dead now; I’m sure they just have nicer breath now because of me. Our other friend from camp, Ryan Fountain, was apparently have a bbq at his house so we went over there just to say hi. Amy and I were both getting antsy at this point because we wanted to leave town and get to New Orleans so that we could go out that night. Amy’s friend, Amanda, was having people at her house that night and we were looking forward to going. Ryan had just bought a house in the Heights of Houston, which is in the Northwest-central corner of the 610 loop. No offense to Ryan but I did not expect his house to be so nice. I figured it would be a post-college bachelor pad which would include a crappy posters and beer cans. However his house was great, organized and well thought out. Ryan said he bought it from a gay couple who were both artists with a big social life which apparently explains why they have two urinals on the outside of the house in the backyard. We hung out for a bit and reluctantly left around 5, despite Ryan enticing us with food and beer to stay the night.

We took I10 out of Houston towards New Orleans. Our energy levels waxed and waned with the landscapes and the setting sun. Once we hit the Louisiana border we got out at the Welcome Center. It really did feel like a completely different place than Texas, swampy. We stretched our legs, ran from the giant bugs, met some real ‘Merican bikers and were on our way. Once it got dark, I began to get antsy. I ended up playing a game on my phone, Diner Dash 2 which helped pass the time, until I introduced it to Sam who then played it for awhile.

We got to New Orleans at 10 or 11. We were too late for Amanda’s party so we went straight to our hotel. Through AAA guides and the minimal internet Amy can get on her phone, we found a great place near Tulane, just minutes from Bourbon Street. It looked a little rough at first but the friendly staff, clean atmosphere and roomy rooms made up for the stretchy pre judgements we all had. We quickly got in our party clothes and went out to the notorious Bourbon Street. The rest of the night is a little of a blur. What I never realized was that in New Orleans you can drink on the street, out in the open, which really does make for a fun time. We walked around drinking, piña coladas I think, just taking it all in. We went into a few places checked out the music and dancing. At some point we got these grenade things that were tall and really after that, if this were a movie, there would be a scene missing, then more dancing and I dunno, I think we made it safely back to the hotel around 5am.

For Amy’s Blog – Houston

Amy’s Blog – New Orleans

So Long

Day 1 of ‘merica Road Trip:

The last day of Dream Kamp was a long day indeed. Everyone’s emotions were high in a bittersweet way. On one hand after 2 action-packed months we would all be going home to what we all jokingly called, the Real World, Reality or Real Life, as if camp life wasn’t real and we were all on some magical vacation. One of the camp slogans is even “Life is good, camp is better”. On the other hand, we had all grown so custom to the daily life that camp offers, grown so use to each other, that we were sad to leave our summer home. Francesco, Sam and I would be starting our cross-country road trip once we left camp, which we were all very excited about. It was really all we could think about for the last couple of days. We would walk past each other and just say “Road Trip.” and the other person would echo it with more excitement “Road Trip!”

Before breakfast I ran up the hill to move the Jeep, that I was using all summer, closer to our cabins so it would be easier to load the car and get going later. Unfortunately it was dead and wouldn’t start. I found out that when I let Francesco park it a week before that he left the radio and lights on after he turned off the car. Silly foreigner. Thankfully the camp is full of mechanics and car parts. I put Francesco in charge of fixing it while I got ready for my class. My morning class was a little more lackluster than all the previous classes. They got half way through the Wacky Riddle Adventure Challenge and then once we got to the water part of the activity they asked if they could just stay there so we did. They did spend their time next to the water trying to decipher the code and finger out the riddle.

***What has roads but no cars, forests but no trees, rivers but no water, cities but no buildings?***

After lunch I was running around like a crazy person, packing, cleaning the cottage and saying my goodbyes. Because some people had to leave earlier than others and me and my boys were still around, we got roped into the afternoon water activity. It was fun getting to play with the campers one last time. Will they even remember me? My boss informed me that we had had a miscommunication about the way I labeled all my video files during regular camp and that he needed me to relabel all of them before I left. I was stressing. I told Amy we would be on the road by 5pm, in Austin by 7pm, in Houston by 10pm and it was getting late. I finally get done with my files, get my evaluation and pay check, the car packed and it’s after 7pm.

We zoomed through the hill country of Texas talking about camp and all the people and memories that didn’t seem distant until we left the gate of camp. Was it all really over? Did it really happen? In the beginning of camp I thought it would never end but once I got more accustomed to everything the whole experience zipped by. I ended up loving camp and I’m really thankful that I took a chance on the experience. I met some amazing some people, some not, and did some awesome things like zip-line across the Guadalupe River, horseback ride, SCUBA dive, rock climb and etc.

I love the drive from Hunt to Austin on TX 27, TX 39, through Fredricksburg onto TX 16, then to 290. You get to pass all the good Texas vineyards. If I had had more time I would have loved to snap some great shots or those quaint Texas antilandmarks. After this summer I’m starting to appreciate small-town Texas a lot more.

We got into Austin some time in the 9 o’clock hour and met up with Amy. I quickly de-packed and packed a smaller bag for the trip and got on the road to Houston around 10 something. 290 East was a breeze because of the time of night. I dozed in the backseat while the boys talked Amy’s ears off about camp even though she didn’t know the people they were talking about or the quirks and traditions they were mentioning. She eagerly listened and was genuinely excited to know what we did all summer. We rolled into Amy’s parents house, in Kingwood which is northeast corner of Houston, around 1am. I feels like we spent most of the day driving but I know that today was nothing compared to what lies ahead.

Tomorrow we will be in New Orleans. It’s my first time in New Orleans. I think when I was a kid we drove through New Orleans on our way to Orlando/Disney World but I really don’t remember much of that drive other than being nauseous and listening to Andy’s Walkman listening to the Transformers soundtrack. Stan Bush’s “You’ve got the touch, You’ve got the power” echoed through my head for 1200 miles. I’ve always wanted to visit New Orleans because of the music history and the food. And on this road trip we’re using good ol’ maps. No GPS for us.

By the way the answer is a map, A map has roads but no cars, forests but no trees, rivers but no water, cities but no buildings. And on this road trip we’re using good ol’ maps. No GPS for us.

Amy writes a great travel blog, make sure you check it out here.

The Young & Stupid? YES. Have Fun! Road Trip

I have been working at a camp all summer where I have become close to several people. Yes, that’s right, I actually made friends. Two of my new friends, Sam and Francesco, needed a ride to New York City and wanted to see America, or what the counselors’ at camp call it ‘Merica, so we all decided to drive up to New York together. It actually wasn’t that simple: Francesco convinced me to go on this road trip and really I was very reluctant at first. Now I don’t have a car and did not want to have to drive back from New York by myself, but thankfully my friend, Amy, wanted to come. Once Amy was on board I felt a little more at ease.

When we were still in the planning stage, I was talking to my dad about it. My dad really likes road trips, he hates planes. I thought it would be fun to get some road trip advice and for him to get AAA to send me some maps because I don’t use GPS’s. Our conversation went something like this:

DAD “So do you have any money for this trip”
SARAH “umm sorta but no”
DAD “Who’s car are you taking?”
SARAH “not sure. We’ll figure it out,”
DAD “So basically you’re young and stupid?”
SARAH “yes”
DAD “Have Fun!”

THUS this trip will be called The Young & Stupid? YES. Have Fun! Road Trip!!!

I won’t be writing a blog for this trip. Not enough time and I don’t want to bring a laptop. I might bring a journal and jot some things down but no promises.

If you have any advice or have a place to let us stay, please let me know.

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Our rough Itinerary:

Fri 08/06/10 (day 1) – Destination Houston / Kingwood
Leave Hunt, TX at 5:00 pm
Arrive in Austin, TX at 7:00 pm
Meet up with Amy
Leave Austin at 8:00 pm
Arrive in Houston at 10:00 pm
Meet up with Drew? Ryan?
Stay with Amy’s parents

Sat 08/07/10 (day 2) – Destination New Orleans
Leave Houston at 10:00 am
Meet up with Drew? Ryan?
Arrive in New Orleans 3:00 pm
Meet up with Andrew?
Stay with Amy’s Friend?

Sun 08/08/10 (day 3) – New Orleans
Meet up with Andrew?
Voo Doo Queen?
Have fun!
Stay with Amy’s Friend?

Mon 08/08/10 (day 4) – Destination Memphis and Nashville
Leave New Orleans at 7:00 am
Arrive at Memphis at 1:00 pm
Graceland
Leave Memphis at 7:00 pm
Arrive in Nashville 10:00 pm
Hotel?

Tues 08/09/10 (day 5) – Destination Washington DC
Leave Nashville at 1:00 pm
Arrive in Washington DC at 11:00pm
Stay with Angie? Hotel?

Wed 08/11/10 (day 6) – Destination Washington, Philadelphia
Leave Washington DC at 7:00pm
Arrive in Philadelphia 9:00pm
Hostel? Hotel?

Thu 08/12/10 (day 7) – Destination New York City
Leave Philadelphia at 12:00 pm
Arrive in New York City 3:00 pm
Meet up with Alan?
Stay with Amy’s grandparents?

Fri 08/13/10 (day 8 ) – Destination Sumter, SC
Leave New York City 10:00 am
Arrive in Sumter 11:00pm
Stay with Sarah’s brother

Sat 08/14/10 (day 9) – Destination Austin (Home)
Leave Sumter at 12:00 pm

Sun 08/15/10 (day 10) – Austin (home)
Arrive in Austin at 4:00 am

That’s me dancing while driving… because I’m excited.

I’m really excited. Hopefully this will turn into one of those trips I tell my kids about when they aren’t really listening to me.