Montana, Idaho and beyond

Sorry for the delay in posting. Our computer died and its made updating difficult. But no more excuses.

We leave early from Buffalo headed for Montana. Before we know it, we enter Montana. We are anxious to get home so we're not stopping in Montana except for gas and a meal. We stop in Livingston for lunch at the Rib and Chop House, a somewhat fancy restaurant with everyday prices. I had the buffalo hamburger and Staci had a fried shrimp poorboy sandwich. Both were delicious. We drive through the rest of Montana, through several mountain passes. the roads were clear except for semi trucks that struggled on the steep roads. Near the border of Idaho there was a forest fire near the highway. It wasn't too big so hopefully it was put out quickly.

We reach Idaho which looks just like Montana. We stop in Cour D'Alene for the night. After a good meal at IHOP we settle into our hotel room for more bad tv (Staci's favorite part of staying in hotels). In the morning we head out early. We stop in Spokane to visit Manito Park, a smaller version of Butchart Gardens. The flowers weren't blooming yet, its too early, but we could tell that it will be a beautiful site to see in the summer. We plan on coming back.

We keep driving through Washington, stopping across the Columbia River from Vantage to see an overlook of the River. It's a great view of the Gorge. We stop again in North Bend for lunch and to visit Snoqualmie Falls. Neither of us had been there before. Not quite as massive of Niagara Falls, but still a site to see.

We hop back in the car for the last leg of our journey. In less than an hour we enter Seattle, a city we left 24 days ago. We traveled through 24 states, one Canadian Provence, and the District of Columbia. As we pull into the driveway, our cat Violet pokes her head between the curtains to greet us. Staci lets out an excited yelp and runs to see her cat. The trip is officially over. Over the next few days we unpack, get reacquainted with the city we left and begin to prepare for our next adventure. That one begins in July with the birth of our son.

South Dakota

Tuesday morning started out leisurely. I took a quick dip in the pool, took advantage of the continental breakfast and we were on the road by 9am. I-90 through South Dakota is all farm land. The farms were nice to look at, but after several hours of nothing but farms I've had enough. The only thing getting me through this long drive was the billboards. Lots of them. They keep advertising two things: Wall Drug and 1880 Town.

1880 Town is a town set in the year 1880, it looks more like a theme park but worth a stop in the summer time. It was closed for the season. Wall Drug is unlike anything I've ever seen. It started as pharmacy (it still is) and morphed into an all encompassing restaurant, gift shop, theme park type place. They literally sell everything under the sun. Though we were the only customers at the time, (most of the place was closed for the season) there were several parking lots and even a place for tour buses. I can imagine it packed in the summer. My favorite billboard was the one advertising "Free Ice". Now it is about 40 degress outside and there is snow everywhere on the ground. I had to ask a local about the free ice and he said the temp can get up to 100 - 110 in the summer. That combined with lots of tourists (mostly to see the Badlands and Mt. Rushmore, not Wall Drug), creates a need ice.

Before we make it to Wall Drug, we drive through the Badlands National Park. This is probably as close to the surface of the moon as I will ever get. It is a vast nothingness of small mounds of a muddy clay substance. Each year several inches errodes from these hills, leaving a flat barren wasteland behind. Even among the nothingness, it is a beautiful place and somewhere Staci and I intend to return. You could spend an entire week camping, hiking and exploring this park.

After the Badlands and Wall Drug we stop at Mt. Rushmore. Another must-see experience. We watch a 14 minute video describing how the monument was made. We admire the monument from the amphitheater viewing area. The trail leading you closer to the monument was...closed for the season. There was still snow and ice on the ground. I was tempted to hike it anyway but my pregnant companion thought better of that. We left as the monument was closing.

We decide to drive a few more hours since it's still early. We finally stop in Buffalo, WY for the night. The trip through Wyoming had magnificent scenary. The setting sun behind the blue rocky mountains probably helped. Tomorrow we head for Montana.

Chicago

Today was a lot of driving. It started out with unburying the car from 3 inches of snow. We leave Kalamazoo behind headed for Chicago. A quick 2.5 hour drive or nap depending on which seat you're sitting in, we arrive at the Field Museum (also called the Natural History Museum), our only stop. The museum is very educational, with a large collection of exhibits. Not surprisingly, it is very similar to the Smithsonian's Natural History Museum. There were even a few items on loan from the Smithsonian on display. I'd have to say the Smithsonian's museum is better, but just by a little bit. The Field museum is huge and could easily take several days to see everything. We view interesting exhibits about the Aztec, Pirates, Dinasaurs and the Lions of Tsavo. If you saw the movie The Ghost and the Darkness with Val Kilmer, the two lions that terrorize the village are at this museum. If you watch the very end of the movie, it mentions this.

After the museum we decide to head out of Chicago. We planned on going to the Sears Tower but the weather was so overcast we couldn't see anything anyways. Staci's getting a little anxious to get back, so we push on to South Dakota. This is a long stretch of freeway through many states, each suprisingly different. Michigan which we already passed through to get to Chicago only stands out in my mind as a snowy place with lots and lots of road kill. I've never seen so much roadkill on one freeway in all my life. From Michigan, we dip into Indiana for a brief few miles. Nothing note worthy happened. Next is Illinois and its crappy tollways on I-90. Without warning a toll booth appears demanding $0.80. Luckily we have exactly that much change in the car so we're on our way until we hit the next toll booth. And there's no chance to get off the freeway to grab some cash because all of the off ramps have toll booths also. After frantically searching the ashtrays in the car and coming up empty, I tell the guy I can't pay the toll. He shakes his head and gives me a pink slip. That's what he called it too. I can pay the toll online within 7 days. He also tells me where an ATM is a few miles down the road. Through Illinois we pass through 4 or 5 toll booths with tolls ranging from 80 cents to a $1.60.

From there we enter Wisconsin, the Cheese State. I see a billboard for, and drag Staci to, a Cheese shop outside of Madison to get some blueberry white cheddar and Elk jerky. Both are good. Besides cheese, I remember the ski mountains. We begin seeing signs for skiing ahead at places called Cascade Mountain and Christmas Mountain. The funny thing is there aren't any mountains around here. We naturally assume they are off in the distance, but oh no. The "mountains" they ski on in Wisconsin are really just hills, and not even good ones at that. Queen Anne hill in Seattle is taller and steeper than the hills we saw. It made for a good laugh.

From Wisconsin's rolling hills we cross the mighty Mississippi River into Minnesota. After a somewhat hilly climb we reach the top of a plateau which we never come down from. It's flat, flat, flat. Lots of farm land with barns, tractors and cows. Very pretty country. The flatness made for a good sunset, until right before the sun went down. Everything that was remotely reflective shined directly into my eyes. Since we were heading towards the sun, there was no way to avoid the blinding light. Eventually it set and I could see the road again.

We make it into South Dakota just after dusk. We are staying outside Sioux Falls on the eastern border of South Dakota and tomorrow will head for Mt. Rushmore near the western border.

Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls were fantastic. We were told to stay on the Canada side because the falls are best viewed from that side of the river. Getting into Canada was easy, we didn't have to show ID or anything. The border guard told us it was too cold to visit right now when we told him we were going to the falls. We arrive in the town of Niagara Falls at dusk, in time to check into the hotel then drive past the falls in the dark. They are lit up at night making for a cool effect. In the morning we head down again, hoping to ride The Maid of the Mist, a famous boat that takes you right up to the falls. Unfortunately it's still winter in this part of Canada, so the boats are out of the water, therefore no boat ride. We walk along the waterfront and take the obligatory photos in front of the falls. After a few hours we head out of Niagara Falls across Canada towards Michigan. We visit a winery along the way, there are a ton of them. We learn about Ice Wine, which is wine harvested late in the season when the temperature is under freezing. The frozen grapes make an unique sweet taste. We grab a bottle and hit the road. We cross the border into the US pretty easily; the line wasn't too long. We stop in Kalamazoo for the night merely because it's a funny name for a city. We probably should have driven about 30 minutes farther west because on Monday morning we wake up to find several inches of snow on the ground. There was a dramatic winter storm that hit Detroit last night, with parts of Michigan getting 7 + inches of snow. Where we are is the west edge of the storm. We should be out of it pretty soon. It's off to Chicago today.

More Pics Uploaded

Click the link at right.

Friday and Saturday

Friday was a day of recuperation. We slept in, then drove to Arlington National Cemetery. We saw JFK's grave, the tomb of the unknown soldier, the changing of the guard and many, many other graves. The cemetery is the second largest in the US, more than 500 acres. From there we caught the subway to the National Portrait Gallery. Before we got there we stopped for some delicious burgers at Five Guys Burgers and Fries. The burgers were amazingly good.

The Portrait Gallery, part of the Smithsonian, is a beautiful building where Lincoln's inaugural ball. The best part of the Gallery is its collection Presidential portraits, one for each President. A quick ride on the subway and we're back at the car. We head to Georgetown, a nearby neighborhood filled with cool shops, restaurants, cafes and Georgetown University.

Georgetown was great. We wanted to find an internet cafe to sit for awhile and upload the blog. It took awhile but we found one. I should have known when we walk in to an empty cafe and the only waitress is on the phone. Staci is craving a decaf coffee, but they only have regular. And there's no internet access. The waitress is completely unhelpful. Farther down the street we find the perfect place. We end up hanging out there for several hours. We walk down the main drag of Georgetown and grab a bite to eat at Garrets. Peter's roommate Richard checked in with us to make sure we're doing okay and suggested heading to the Waterfront which we do and its very nice. We turn in early because we're getting up early to hit the road.

Saturday we leave early from DC and head to Gettysburg, PA. One of the bloodiest battle's during the Civil War, 50,000 soldiers died, were wounded or missing during the three day battle. There is a very informative visitor's center, though I picked the farthest parking lot from the center. Did I mention the temperature outside was 40 degrees with a windchill making it even colder. It is safe to say it was a freezing 5 minute walk to the center. We did part of the auto tour and I climbed the 95 steps of an observation tower to get a great view of the entire battlefield. I couldn't stay too long because it was FREEZING up there. On the auto tour we stop at Spangler's Spring where a confederate soldier stopped to fill his canteen only to find a group of union soldiers already there. To help you visualize this there are several "union soliders" hanging out by the spring. Since the confederate soldier quietly snuck back to his camp to warn the troops, we also chose to sneak away without talking to the reenacters. We did stop and talk to some guys who were cutting the grass around a monument. It turns out these guys are decendents of the regiment who fought in this section. They are in charge of keeping the grounds around their monument clean. I can't remember which regiment he was with but he was from the South. He used the word "yonder" several times, which Staci liked. After a good country lunch at The Avenue Restaurant, we drive another few hours to Niagara Falls.

Pictures and other stuff

I uploaded some pictures from DC. Click on the link at the right to see them.

Also if you know of anyone that lives in or near the following places, let me know. We're looking for places to stay in:

Sioux Falls, SD
Gillette, WY
Missoula, MT

Thursday - The day my wife proved her love

Washington, DC is amazing. I knew it would be. I was mentally preparing Staci for the onslaught of sights and, more specifically, the walking that we would be doing today. And, after more than 6 miles of walking around, she never once complained, never once gave up, never once said we should stop. Did I mention she is 6 months pregnant??? That's true love.

We drive to Union Station and park the car. There's a 2200 car garage at Union Station, and its a major transportation hub, train, subway, bus, taxi, and of course walking are leave from it. The building is magnificent and naturally gigantic, like most things in DC. We walk from there to the Capital Building. After arriving in DC I learn that to truly experience everything you need to plan months ahead, contact the appropriate authorities to get the best access to the various sites. We of course didn't do this, thus are regulated to seeing many things from the outside. This is fine because we do have access to so much that there is just too much to see. After admiring the Capital Building, we head to the Botanical Gardens, something that neither of us knew about but it was there, so we stopped. And it was totally worth it. Not only very warm inside, (it's between 50-60 degrees and cloudy outside) the mostly rare flowers and plants are fragrant and beautiful.

From the gardens we visit the first of many branches of the Smithsonian Museum. There are 19 different Smithsonian Museums each focused on a specific topic. We start with the Air and Space Museum. This one is filled with old planes, including the original Wright brother's plane, various space crafts as well as a great planetary exhibit. Afterward, we are ready for lunch. We back track a bit to the interestingly shaped National Museum of American Indians. We eat at a cafe that serves Native American food. Staci has a buffalo chili taco and I have fried frog legs. The buffalo was better (and more filling). From there we duck into the original Smithsonian Museum. It looks and feels like a castle. James Smithson is interred there.

Next we cross the National Mall, the huge lawn area between the Capitol Building and the Washington Monument. The mall encompasses over 300 acres and we zig zag across it all day. Our next stop is the National Museum of Natural History. We spend the most time in this museum, not only because its one of the biggest but both of us were most interested in its contents which range from ancient fossils to current animals (both exotic and more common) to geology (the Hope Diamond is here) to an interesting exhibit on human bones. We both like the fossils best. We find a fossilized tree from Oregon and Washington, which makes us want to find one of our own when we get back home. We buy tickets for a later showing a movie about dinosaurs in 3D and head out to the National Archives.

Unforutunately, the line into the Archives is ridiculously long; image 500 people lining two sides of the building long. These are all people waiting for the visitor entrance. We head to the researchers entrance where there is no line, but a hefty security process. After clearing security we head into the bowels of the building to do "research." After completing a little bit of research on the archive computers, it is time for our movie so we head back to Natural History Museum. The movie is ok. The 3D aspect was great, but the information was pretty surface level.

From there we head to the Washington Monument, the giant obelisk that is synonmous with DC. It's too late to go up but we admire it from the base as the lights begin to turn on around us. This monument, like many others, are lit throughout the night. We walk west through the World War II Monument, pass the Reflecting Pool and enter the Lincoln Memorial. As a history buff and fan of Lincoln, it is a moving experience to stand before his statue. We turn around and face the Washington Monument. There is a plaque on the floor where Dr. King stood to give his infamous speech. We begin walking towards the White House, though halfway there hop into a pedicab, a type of tricycle with a bench seat on the back. It was nice to rest and our bicyclist was a great tour guide. He takes us as close as you can get to the White House. Of course, this is another place you need to get tickets months in advance to. We peer through the fence and get a couple of good pictures.

Then its off to dinner. I chose a historic, and highly popular we find out, restaurant called Old Ebbits Grill. Established in 1864, the location has bounced around DC but the decor has remained the same. It is the former haunt of several presidents, senators and DC power players. This place is packed. We wait an hour and a half before being seated. I pestered the poor hostesses so much they knew me by name and called it out as we leave hours later. Finally we're seated, devour our food, which was delicious then take our time enjoying some Bread Pudding, Staci's new favorite dessert. We take a cab back to the car; originally we had planned to take the subway back to Union Station, but we were too exhausted to walk to the nearest subway stop several large blocks away. After getting the car we drive past the monuments once more to view them in the night all lit up. It's been a truely memorable day. We get back to Peter's house a few miles outside the city around midnight and immediately go to bed exhausted.

Wednesday

On Wednesday, we wake up early with the goal to be out of Savannah by 8. The hotel we are staying in is incredibly historic with nice updated rooms and a decent continental breakfast. The hotel was built int 1881, though there was a smaller inn on the same spot since 1850. The current hotel retains its charm, is centrally located to the City Market area, and adjacent to the historic and riverfront districts. We loved it.

On this particular day, as it was the night before, it is still raining. We head out of Savannah about 8.20am, which is close enough. We were originally planning on staying somewhere in North Carolina or Virginia but decided to push through to Washington DC in one day. The reason being that we are staying with Staci's uncle's brother who is leaving the country on Thursday. He offered his place in his absence, which we are taking advantage of, but Staci wanted to see him so we hit the road for a long day of driving.

Almost immediately we are in South Carolina. And almost as immediate we hit major road construction, the type were you exit the freeway drive several miles to another parallel road and follow the detour signs for 10 miles through lots of back country S. Carolina. Staci was amazed at the number of small country churches we pass until I remind her that we are in the "bible belt". The country we detour through, mostly small communities and farms, is much more scenic that the freeway we had been on, though we travel at a slower pace.

Eventually we make it back to the freeway and into North Carolina and repeat the detour process here. This time the detour is closer to 30 miles of back country roads. There aren't as many communities to drive though this time so we keep the speed up. We see the same amount of tiny hundred year old churches, but this time the farm houses look as old as the churches, some even look abandoned. Staci suggests we buy one and fix it. I'm not sure the middle of no where North Carolina is where we need to be right now.

After getting back on the freeway we pass quickly though Virginia and into DC. We see many of the taller monuments through the rain and clouds. It whets my appetite for tomorrow's explorations. We make it to Peter's house in time for a later dinner. All told we've been on the road for 11 hours. Peter cooks us a delicious salmon, lets us rest momentarily then we hop in his car for a quick tour of the city at night. All the bright lights and tall buildings contrast with Savannah's much smaller downtown. Peter is a great tour guide having been in the city for 15 years. We go to bed exhausted though not as tired as we'll be tomorrow night.

Savannah, GA

This city is beautiful, historic and hauntingly awesome. It's billed as the Most Haunted City in the US and it just might be. We arrive in Savannah around 11am today. We head to the Visitor's Center to get a map and use the bathroom. From the parking lot, trolley bus tours are leaving every few minutes. We decide we can get a good overview of the city this way, so we hop on one. Our tour guide Bob is the third generation native of Savannah. The tour was informative, entertaining and allowed us to see a lot of the city in just 90 minutes.

After the tour we grab lunch at Christopher's, a bistro style lunch place. We then hit the streets. Founded in 1751, Savannah was designed by General Oglethorpe as a perfect square, with small parks called squares throughout. From the middle of the historic district, the city expands one mile in each direction. This makes the city a walkable place.

We walk to the Book Lady bookstore then through several squares. We duck in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, an amazingly ornate cathedral. We stop in "The Book" gift shop, concerning all things related to the book The Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. After walking the streets for awhile, we check into the hotel. Staci rests for a bit and cruise the waterfront and the City Market shopping district. Both areas were touristy but filled with neat shops.

Then it gets exciting. We go to the Sorrel-Weed House to take a haunted tour. Our tour guide Chris, a fellow former banker, and I hit it off right away. The tour is filled with lots of history about the Francis Sorrel who built the house. He was said to be cursed because the ladies in his life kept dying. His mother died during a revolt in his native Haiti, his first wife dies, his second wife dramatically commits suicide after catching him with a slave, then the slave mysteriously hangs herself, though we think she was murdered.

The tour leads through several rooms on the first floor, then the basement then outside, then the carriage house where the slaves lived and the site of the slave's death. At each spot, Chris tells us what happened there, what has happened haunting-wise, including what he has experienced. At one point in the tour there is a loud bang; loud enough to startle all of the women on the tour and messed with our tour guide. I couldn't tell if it was faked or real but he seemed very shaken up. Staci thinks it was real. We then head out to Madison Square and hear more ghost stories. We end the tour at the cemetery in pouring rain. It was a great tour. Here's a tv show on the haunted house.

We took bunch of photos and possibly got a ghost. I'll let you be the judge. Here's the picture and here's the pic zoomed in on the top left window. See the face? creepy.

After the tour we grab dinner at the Moon River Brew Pub, supposedly the second most haunted building in Savannah after the Sorrel-Weed House. We ask our waiter Richard. His eyes get real big and his face goes white. When he started working there last October, he'd heard the stories but after six weeks, he's in the back and hears something. It's late and there's only a few servers left in the restaurant. Then he hears his name called from behind, but everyone is in front of him. He runs up to the front of the restaurant but no one had said or heard anything. When he told the manager, the manager said the ghosts interact with you more after they get to know you. Dinner was filling. I take a to-go cup only because I can and its part of the culture. We run back to the hotel in the pouring rain. It feels like home.

We added a bunch of photos. See the link on the right column.

Goodbye I-10

Yesterday after driving more than 2000 miles from one coast to the other we left Interstate 10 at Jacksonville, FL. We hopped on I-10 at Los Angeles, CA drove through Arizona, took a slight detour off the freeway in New Mexico, then hopped back on in Texas, through Louisiana, the southern tip of Mississippi and Alabama and the panhandle of Florida. Now we will ride I-95 up to DC and beyond. We spent last night in Jacksonville. It was a quick 2 hour ride to Savannah, GA this morning. More to come on today's activities soon...

Road Trip Photos

I'm trying to fix the photo stream for the moment here's a link to the photos from our trip.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/85109238@N00/sets/72157615592136703/

New Orleans con't

After Faulkner's bookstore we catch a ride on the St. Charles wooden streetcar to the Garden District. The Garden District is the American side of New Orleans. Here's a quick history lesson: New Orleans was founded by the French, then secretly given to the Spanish who eventually gave it back to the French who sold it the fledgling United States (Louisiana Purchase). After the purchase Americans moved from the East Coast to New Orleans in great numbers. The problem was they weren't very welcome in N.O. so they moved west of Canal Street and founded their own city, which now is the Garden District. The successful Americans built beautiful mansions. We walked around through part of the Garden District and stumbled on to an overpriced art show. We hopped the streetcar back to the hotel.

One of the confusing things about New Orleans is the street names. In the French Quarter most of the streets are French or Spanish in name. Once a street crosses Canal street the street name changes. For example N. Peter Street turns into Tchoupitoulas Street. I honestly have no idea how to pronounce that, but I digress.

After a quick rest, we ride the Waterfront Streetcar to the end of the line and walk 15 blocks to a ridiculously good restaurant. Unfortunately the restaurant was closed so we walked through the Bywater Neighborhood, with its old houses, restaurants, coffee shops and bars. After the long walk back we eat at the Crescent City Brew House. Their bread pudding was deliciously amazing. It was Staci's first experience with bread pudding and she loved it. During the whole meal was a jazz trio playing their hearts out in the restaurant. Did I mention there's music everywhere in New Orleans?

New Orleans

The drive into New Orleans, or Naw'leans as the locals call it, is long, really long. You drive through the swamp forest, often on a raised highway a few feet above water. There is nothing, no exits, no rest stops or gas stations. We make it into town about 7ish. We check into the hotel and park on the street. There is no cost to park on the weekend so we saved a significant amount there. We grab a bite to eat at Earnest Cafe, a local pub. The Bayou Burger wasn't anything special. We go to bed early, tired from the long drive and wanting to get an early start.

This morning we get up early and head to Cafe du Monde, famous for the chicory coffee and beignet. Pronounced Bin-Yay, these donuts covered in powdered sugar are delicious. Cafe du Monde was packed so we got the stuff to go, walked across the street and ate at the beautiful Jackson Park, honoring Andrew Jackson who saved New Orleans from the British. From there we head to a walking tour. Greg our tour guide was soft spoken and brought his dachshund, Cayenne. The tour was OK, very historical, but a little long. We toured the St. Louis No. 1 Cemetery, with graves dating back several hundred years. Several famous people and families are buried here. Of course I can't remember any of them. After that we walk over the the Congo Park where African Slaves would gather on their days off. From there we visited a Voodoo Priestess. She was pretty crazy and a little senile. She brought us into her altar room packed with all types of junk. We snuck out early with half of our fellow tourists.

We grab lunch at Cafe Beignet for some great Cajun food. There is a live band playing swing jazz. From there we walk through the French Quarter. Royal Street is blocked off to cars and literally every block there is a band in the middle of the street. Each sounded amazing. No matter where you go in New Orleans, you hear live music, and it all sounds phenomenal. We bought a CD from one of the bands called The Souy Mash Band. We visit the Faulkner Bookstore, which used to be the house William Faulkner lived in. If you don't know who that is, he is a famous author.

Texas

After a long day of driving we arrive in San Marcos on Thursday night at my Aunt and Uncle's House. Their two basset hounds were the first to welcome us. They are Huge! After sleeping in on Friday we head out to breakfast at the Cracker Barrel, a first for both Staci and I. We then head to the Alamo, a traditional pilgrimage for all Crouches. We walk along the Riverwalk and have some BBQ for lunch. For dinner we join Aunt Michelle, Uncle Mark and his daughter's Kara's family at a hole in the wall diner called Blake's in a small, small town called McQueeny.

The next day we pack up and follow Mark and Michelle to Moulton, TX a town of 944 people an hour outside of San Antonio. It is here in the Old Moulton Cemetery that my Great-Great-Great Grandfather was buried in 1900. His name was Jackson Crouch and is the namesake of our soon-to-be born son. It was a moving experience. We part ways with Mark and Michelle at the cemetery, they head home and we continue down I-10 towards New Orleans. Mark and Michelle were great hosts and it was fun to see them again. We decided that I hadn't been to visit them in almost 15 years and Staci and had never been to most of Texas.

After 8 hours of driving we arrive in New Orleans Saturday night. We decided to drive the whole way so we could get up early and tackle the city Sunday.

Where we've been (Part 2)

Ok, we made it to the Carlsbad KOA and try to set up the tent. It's crazy windy. It takes both of us to hold the tent down long enough to stake it. Finally we get it set up. The manager of the KOA warns us to expect 40 mph wind tonight. Thankfully it didn't show up. We are too late to visit the Carlsbad Caverns today so we get the oil changed. That turned into a two hour ordeal. The shop didn't have the right oil filter so the manager had to drive down to an Auto Zone a mile away to get one that would fit the car. Eventually the oil was changed.

It was a cold morning. We pack up early and head to the Caverns. We're there right when it opens. One of the tours we want is already full, so we take the self-guided tour of the Big Room. It's amazing. The cavern is so big you can 14 NFL sized football fields inside. We were one of the first people in the caverns and had it to ourselves for the first hour. It was amazing. Very quiet except for the occasional drip of water seeping from the ceiling. I forgot to mention how we got into the cavern. There's a steep trail you can take that leads you into the cavern but we skipped this for a 1 minute elevator ride. It takes you 755 feet straight down. I highly recommend checking out the cavern when you get a chance.

After the cavern, we head to Texas. Before we get there, we take a shortcut which turns into a detour down a bumpy dirt road in the middle of no where. We finally make it to the highway and head into Southwest Texas. It is flat, barren and you can drive 80 mph. The temperature reaches 90 degrees, the highest we've experienced yet. We get to San Marcos around 8pm. We're staying with my Aunt and Uncle there. It's been a long day of driving.

Today, Friday, we are going into San Antonio to sight see. I know its Friday because I looked at a calendar. I've lost all track of days and time. Crossing three time zones in three day is very confusing. Even my phone is having trouble keeping track of when it is. Everytime we stop for gas, I look at the recipt for the correct local time. :)

Where we've been.

Alright, we have internet access again! So let's catch up with what we've done. On Monday we arrived in Mesa, AZ to stay with our friend Connie. Connie is awesome. She used to live up in Seattle but decided to move down to AZ to work in a mine as a geologist. We'll get to that later. The drivers in the Phoenix area are terrible. I'm told it's a mix of college student, snow birds from Minnesota, and a few crazy native Arizonians (Connie said this). But don't worry, we braved the crazy drivers and made it to Connie's apartment complex. Which brings us to another problem. I should have known when Staci read me the apartment number: there was four digits. This place was huge! There must have been thousands upon thousands of apartment units in this place. After cruising around the complex for awhile, we pass a lady that might be Connie walking. After a little depart we decided it was Connie. And it was. We grabbed a bite to eat and saw the movie "I love you, man" with Connie. Hilarious movie. Staci would also want me to mention Connie has a really shy cat, I never saw it, but Staci did once.

The next day we followed Connie to her work, the Resolution Copper Mining Company. She gave us a tour of the facility. The old mine was flooded and the new one hasn't been dug yet, so we didn't go under ground. But we did get to see the core samples. There are rooms full of core samples. Think of empty toilet paper rolls made of solid rock and that are about fifty feet long. Now stack row after row of them on a wall, photograph everything and label the different types of rocks. The workers spray the rock with a water bottle to show the different formations better. From these core samples, they can extrapolate how a mine needs to be dug. It's pretty amazing. The new mine hasn't been dug yet because the elevator structure is still being constructed. It was a giant several hundred feet in the air. Once that's finished, it will take several years to dig the 7000 feet mine shaft. Connie estimated the mine would start producing copper in 2020. Wow.

After we leave Connie at her work, we head to Las Cruces, New Mexico. This is the first real stretch of nothing we encounter. Miles and miles of barren, flat land. Right before we cross into New Mexico, we begin seeing billboards advertising "The Thing". It doesn't say what The Thing is but suggests stopping to find out. After the twentith (literally) billboard for The Thing, we decide to stop. And there's a Dairy Queen at that exit. After getting some ice cream, we decide to investigate. At first it looks like a giant gift shop. It is a giant gift shop. But in the back is a door labeled THE THING...Adults $1. We pay and go in. I'm not going to tell you what The Thing is, you just have to see it. I'll just say it's worth a buck and it let's you stretch your legs for a bit, so check it out if you're in the area.

We make it to the Las Cruces KOA just as the sun is setting. The KOA is nice, has shower facilities. We set up our tent and settle down for the night. A few hours later a van of college guys arrives and pitches a tent not too far from ours. I fall asleep to them singing and playing a guitar.

Wednesday we head out early. We pass through the White Sands Missle Range. Signs repeatedly tell us not to stop. I'm a little disappointed that we didn't see a big explosion. The White Sands National Park was impressive. The white sand goes for miles and miles. We make into Roswell, NM in time for lunch. Staci really wanted to stop there because she is a big fan of the TV show Roswell. We didn't see anyone from the TV show nor any aliens, but we did visit the UFO museum. I wanted was a hmaburger called an Alien Burger. But didn't see any themed restaurants, just tons of Tshirt stores. After Roswell, we head down to Carlsbad. This is a really long post so I'll end it here.

Where we've been

We just got to Mesa, AZ. And have an internet connection! I'll post some more pics soon. I'll catch you up with what we've done. After leaving Berkeley, we arrived in Pasadena to visit our friends Joey and Danny. Turns out it was Joey's birthday as well as his friend Darcy's birthday, so we crashed a bday bbq. It was fun to meet some of Joey's Cali friends. Spent Friday night with them, then up early and off to Los Angeles to see my brother.

Jared is a great tour guide. He took us all over the area. After passing by his office building, which he calls the Death Star, we went to Beverly Hills. We found some rock star parking and cruised the high end stores. After that we went up to West Hollywood. We saw Jared's old apartment and saw the Grauman Chinese Theater. We had lunch in this crazy mall and then hopped in the car and off to Santa Monica. Strolled along the 3rd Avenue Promenade and the Santa Monica State Beach Park. Then off to Venice and its canals and beautiful houses. Check out our pictures of all the cool houses. We walked along Venice Beach and saw the following: Muscle Beach, guys playing paddle ball, tshirt stores, crazy looking people and sunshine. We ended the tour with coffee a block from Jared's apartment. Ariel met us there as well.

We fouhgt our way through LA traffic and made it to Redlands and Erin Beaver. She is a college friend (and the person who introduced Staci and I). We spent Saturday night at her amazing condo, then went with her to the Amethyst Bible Church. They currently are meeting in a school while the new building is being built. Erin took us by the new building which she helped design. She also took us by her grandpa's orange orchard which he is unfortunately selling. I can vouch for the tastyness of those oranges.

After church on Sunday Staci and I traveled to Joshua Tree National Park and spent the rest of Sunday there. It was amazingly huge and beautiful. The rock formations, valleys, mountains and vast stretches of cactus were a lot to take in. It was a beautiful day, though incredibly windy. I took a video of Staci talking into the wind so you can have idea of how windy it really was. I'll post pictures of JTNP and the video of Staci soon.

Sunday night we spent in Palm Springs with Staci's high school friend Danielle. She was at work so we didn't see her until this morning when we went to Sherman's for breakfast. She and Staci had a blast reminiscing about old times. On the way out of town we stopped by two houses that Staci used to live in. She took a few pictures of the most recent one.

Now you're caught up with us. We're heading out of Mesa tomorrow on our way to New Mexico.

The Neon

is fine. It's old and well loved and there was some concern it wouldn't last the trip. Having a pregnant lady stranded on the side of some unnamed road was not my idea of a good time, so Jordo's parents graciously let us borrow one of their cars. The new car is awesome! Thanks Mom and Dad.

Berkeley, CA

We make it into Berkeley about 8pm on Thursday. It reminds me of The Ave in Seattle, but without the rain. Co-eds are everywhere, lots of people on bikes, the main strip, appropriately named College Way, has no corporate presence save for a 7-11 and a McDonalds. The local ice cream store is packed with a line out the door. I knew we had made it to Berkeley when we passed a man in his late forties, gray shaggy hair and beard, carrying a stack of books in one hand and a stacks of papers in the other, the personification of the slightly senile professor. He even wore Birkenstocks. I loved it.

We stayed with Josh, a friend of Staci's from high school. He lives in an old apartment building with lots of character. His roommate Oliver had lived there ten years. Josh took us to a hole in the wall Mexican place called Gordo's. We shared a tasty super sized carne assada burrito. Thursday was our longest driving day yet, so we're both pretty tired. We crash on an airmattress while watching the Disney version of Peter Pan.

A Few Pics

We stayed with Josh in Berkeley and this was a Magic Garden he made. It was all cardboard last night and this is what it looked like this morning.

Mt. Shasta from Hwy 97

Staci's Parent's House

Outside Madras, OR

Crossing into California

After a quick stop at Grandpa and Grandma's, we headed South. The drive was actually quite pleasant. We did not encounter any kind of traffic, the scenery was breathtaking and cruise control is awesome. The crossing into California was anticlimactic. We were on Hwy 97, a much smaller sibling to I-5. The two lane highway winds through the Siskiyous Mountains. As we turn a corner, a faded billboard quietly announces we've entered the Golden State. You almost don't believe that you're actually in California, until you reach the small town of Dorris, where each vehicle is stopped and "inspected" for fruits and vegetables. They used to conduct these inspections on I-5 as well, but to my knowledge haven't for several years. So I was surprised when the inspector asked us where we were coming from and if we had any fruits or vegetables. He chuckled when I told him we had left Culver, OR this morning. "That's a long way". I didn't want to blow his mind by telling him we were going all the way to Berkeley today. He let us through without even looking at the car. What I find ironic is the fruit they're trying to keep out is mostly grown in California. If it's so bad, why'd you let it out of the state in the first place?

Culver, OR

Destination number two reached today around 4pm. Pretty low key day driving over a mountain pass then watching a movie with the family.

Tomorrow we head off to California!

Vancouver, WA

The first leg of our journey led us to my parent's house in Vancouver, WA. It was a quick 3 hours from Seattle. Staci drove the whole way allowing me to catch a quick nap. I feel much better than yesterday but not quite 100%. Tomorrow we head for Oregon!

It's Broke

Jordan's fever broke this afternoon and he's been at normal for several hours. He says he's feeling great, just a little tired, even though he slept all day.

So we're leaving tomorrow. Since Jordan slept most of the day, I got a lot done so we may be able to leave earlier than we thought, not that it matters much, we're only going to Vancouver, WA tomorrow.

A Smallish Bump

We were supposed to leave today on our epic cross country adventure. But last night Jordan came down with a 103 degree fever, which we have whittled down to 102 as of 8am this morning.

I'm off to the doctor's office, then I'll come back and check again, but it's not looking good folks. Doesn't look like we'll be leaving today or tomorrow. Hopefully this doesn't get nixed all together.

Getting Ready

How does one pack for an adventure through several climates, over several weeks, across a continent, and a still to be determined itinerary? I don't have the answer, but we're faking it like we do.

Countless loads of laundry, stuffing and re-stuffing our suitcases, the "to do" list is beginning to shrink. It's been fun telling people about our upcoming trip. After shock, it is usually envy and well wishes. We're taking our computer so everyone can keep tabs on us as we traverse the nation.

I need to finish packing, another load of laundry is complete!

The Beginning

I suggested a road trip a few days ago. It was received with a bit of hesitation. Then yesterday, she said let's do it! So we are. We leave Monday. Holy crap...that's less than 40 hours from now! We're still figuring out the itinerary but we've got the first couple of stops mapped out.