Alright let me first start by saying for those followers of my blog will you please give me some love and comment on my posts...good, bad, and ugly comments will be read! This blog takes me a good amount of time to write - so i hope people are reading it. :). Like i said in my last blog i thought that was going to be my last post because we were suppose to camp tonight outside petrified tonight; however we decided to couch surf tonight. Our host is actually a park ranger for petrified forest. We are staying in his house which is in Holbrook, AZ and he lives in these government owned houses with the majority of his neighbors being rangers as well. He is a nice guy with a ton of knowledge on all national parks around the world.
We left Carlsbad this morning around 7:30 am and arrived in Holbrook, AZ around 7:00pm. When we got here we went to this place called Joes and Aggies Cafe - which was authentic Mexican food. I had this meal called a navajo taco (IT WAS HUGEEEE). This place is actually right on Route 66 and was displayed in the movie cars. We then went straight to our host's house where i am currently sitting on his couch writing this blog. His name is Kip.
Tomorrow we will visit the petrified national park in the morning for about 2 hours and just do a couple of hikes. Then we are off to the grand canyon! However, we are going to stop in Flagstaff so i can get a haircut! My hair is out of control especially since Kevin is making me ride the trip with the windows down.
I can't really tell you where we are going in the canyon (north of south side) because we don't know yet, but we will be going to Zion after the canyon and then after Zion straight to Yosemite. Thus, we will be camping and backcountry hiking for the next 10 days.
I hope to blog again while we are at the trailheads and we can go into the lobbies which should have Internet so until then.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Carlsbad Cavern 5/20/10 - 5/23/10
This could be my last blog for a while as Kevin and I are doing mostly camping and backpacking after today. We are currently staying at this RV park in White's City NM, and the lobby has Internet so we were able to post today. So I don't think i was able to tell you about New Orleans. We didn't get very much time in the city at all which we both regretted because there is so much to do and see in New Orleans. We road our bikes into the main part of the city down the riverwalk on Friday morning (I believe it was Friday) all my days get mashed together. Anyway our first stop was Cafe Du Mon which has coffee and the best beignes ever - it is basically a fried doughnut with powdered sugar on top. There is nothing not to like about this delicious treat. After that we walked around the french quarter and up and down some of the side streets that run off Bourbon Street. We were able to pick up some souvenirs, and experience some of the live performances on the street. The first performance we saw was by this man cover head to toe in silver pant. Not an inch of his skin was showing. He had a jukebox in front of him (covered in silver as well) and he would pretty much dance like a robot and make noises with his mouth to go along with his music. It was pretty amazing - i got a video of it that i hope to post in the near future. I don't know how this guy was not sweating. New Orleans was soooo HOT and humid - step out side and you start sweating. We also saw this swing/jazz band playing in the middle of the street. They are so good, and has two swing dancers to go along with their performance. Just honest people trying to make a living i guess you can say. That was pretty much it for New Orleans - after that we left for out long drive to Austin, Texas.
Austin was just a stopping point to get to Carlsbad Cavern National Park. We were planning on going to Dallas after Austin, but we wanted to spend more time in Carlsbad so we cut that portion of the trip out. So we stayed with Kevin's friend in Austin. We didn't arrive until really late friday night.
We woke up Saturday morning and went out to eat with Kevins friend were he took us to get breakfast tacos at this Texan restaurant called Rudy's. They put brisket in these breakfast tacos. We then left for the Caverns which is about a 9 hour drive across west Texas. However, the speed limit is 80 on 10 West so we were cruising in the hybrid. The landscape was actually really pretty a lot of rolling hills and trees. It was really hot though especially since we did not have any AC. Kevin thought it would be a good idea to start getting used to this heat, so we made a pack not to use the AC. When we hit New Mexico and the temperature hit 100 i wanted to kill him haha but it was a good idea i have to give him that. I'm not sure what the rest of NM is like but we are in the desert right now and our entire drive through new Mexico was in the desert. We will dive through the rest of the state tomorrow so will get a feel for what the rest of the state is like.
This morning we woke up around 6:15 its hard to sleep in when the sun is shining right in your face the the birds are making soooo much noise. I actually didn't sleep between the hours of 3am-6am because this freaking bird was doing some type of mating call and i mean he did not stop ONCE!!! It was really terrible - i wanted to kill the bird!
Anyway we got up cooked some breakfast (rice), and got ready to go into Carlsbad National Park. We took a guided tour all the way down to the deepest part of the cave that they let tourists visit (King's Palace). The tour lasted about an hour and a half and then Kevin and I explored the rest of the cave by ourselves. The cave was beautiful, rock formations everywhere and each room you would see something different. I can't describe how beautiful it was to be honest. It is a site that everyone must see. On a totally different level than the caves i have seen in northern VA.
We are leaving for the petrified forest tomorrow and then we will arrive in the Grand Canyon on Tuesday and be there until Saturday. So like i said before if might be a while before you hear from me.
Austin was just a stopping point to get to Carlsbad Cavern National Park. We were planning on going to Dallas after Austin, but we wanted to spend more time in Carlsbad so we cut that portion of the trip out. So we stayed with Kevin's friend in Austin. We didn't arrive until really late friday night.
We woke up Saturday morning and went out to eat with Kevins friend were he took us to get breakfast tacos at this Texan restaurant called Rudy's. They put brisket in these breakfast tacos. We then left for the Caverns which is about a 9 hour drive across west Texas. However, the speed limit is 80 on 10 West so we were cruising in the hybrid. The landscape was actually really pretty a lot of rolling hills and trees. It was really hot though especially since we did not have any AC. Kevin thought it would be a good idea to start getting used to this heat, so we made a pack not to use the AC. When we hit New Mexico and the temperature hit 100 i wanted to kill him haha but it was a good idea i have to give him that. I'm not sure what the rest of NM is like but we are in the desert right now and our entire drive through new Mexico was in the desert. We will dive through the rest of the state tomorrow so will get a feel for what the rest of the state is like.
This morning we woke up around 6:15 its hard to sleep in when the sun is shining right in your face the the birds are making soooo much noise. I actually didn't sleep between the hours of 3am-6am because this freaking bird was doing some type of mating call and i mean he did not stop ONCE!!! It was really terrible - i wanted to kill the bird!
Anyway we got up cooked some breakfast (rice), and got ready to go into Carlsbad National Park. We took a guided tour all the way down to the deepest part of the cave that they let tourists visit (King's Palace). The tour lasted about an hour and a half and then Kevin and I explored the rest of the cave by ourselves. The cave was beautiful, rock formations everywhere and each room you would see something different. I can't describe how beautiful it was to be honest. It is a site that everyone must see. On a totally different level than the caves i have seen in northern VA.
We are leaving for the petrified forest tomorrow and then we will arrive in the Grand Canyon on Tuesday and be there until Saturday. So like i said before if might be a while before you hear from me.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Day in Memphis 5/19/10
We woke up this morning around 7:30 - we are trying to get in a little bit of a routine. Our plan is going to be to visit these cities in the early morning and afternoon then drive on to the next place. We didn't end up getting out of our host's house until about 9:00am. By the time Kevin and I wright in our journals, blog, shower, clean-up, and then re-pack the car at least 2 hours pass. We went to the Civil Right Museum this morning. The museum is actually in the Lorraine Hotel where Martin Luther got shot. When we arrived we watched a documentary about the civil rights movement and Martin's life. He was a good video - it actually got me a little teary eyed watching how terrible the people were treated. We spent about 2 hours after that in the museum taking an audio tour.
We road out bikes down to Beale street after the museum to look around and find some live music to listen to while we eat. We found this little bar called Blues Spot with a live band. Dave, we didn't go to Rendezvous because of location - but the BBQ place to go to in Memphis is called Tops BBQ - for future reference. Memphis and Nashville are pretty similar places. I think Nashville is bigger into the music scene than Memphis; however Broadway and Beale street are very similar. After Beale street we ended up going to Graceland - we didn't end up paying 30.o0 bucks to actually go onto the plantation, but we saw the house from a far and signed the wall the surrounded the plantation.
Last night we didn't arrive in New Orleans till about 9:00pm. The drive in to New Orleans is really beautiful. Its this long bridge surrounded by the bayou. WHen i say long I'm talking about 100 miles. We walked down to the Bourbon street got a quick bit to eat and then went to a place called Pat O'Brians. I really enjoyed this place as there were two piano players and then a man in the middle that had these what seemed to be thimbles on his hand (but they were metal), and he was literally playing a serving board. These three band members would take any request you could think of and play it - it was actually kinda of amazing. We heard a range from broadway musicals to Journey.
Tomorrow we will spend the day in New Orleans then it is off to Austin.
We road out bikes down to Beale street after the museum to look around and find some live music to listen to while we eat. We found this little bar called Blues Spot with a live band. Dave, we didn't go to Rendezvous because of location - but the BBQ place to go to in Memphis is called Tops BBQ - for future reference. Memphis and Nashville are pretty similar places. I think Nashville is bigger into the music scene than Memphis; however Broadway and Beale street are very similar. After Beale street we ended up going to Graceland - we didn't end up paying 30.o0 bucks to actually go onto the plantation, but we saw the house from a far and signed the wall the surrounded the plantation.
Last night we didn't arrive in New Orleans till about 9:00pm. The drive in to New Orleans is really beautiful. Its this long bridge surrounded by the bayou. WHen i say long I'm talking about 100 miles. We walked down to the Bourbon street got a quick bit to eat and then went to a place called Pat O'Brians. I really enjoyed this place as there were two piano players and then a man in the middle that had these what seemed to be thimbles on his hand (but they were metal), and he was literally playing a serving board. These three band members would take any request you could think of and play it - it was actually kinda of amazing. We heard a range from broadway musicals to Journey.
Tomorrow we will spend the day in New Orleans then it is off to Austin.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Memphis/Couch Surfing Experience # 1 5/18/10
Let me start by saying i am not going to be able to sleep in at all this trip because my travel buddy wakes up at the crack of dawn! When i say early i mean early - yesterday morning i herd him moving around at 6:00am! We were still in Nashville at this point, and we decided to ride out Bikes down to Broadway street, and look around maybe buy some souvenirs. Again, live music was going on at 10:00am on this street. They are a fan on country down this way.
We left Nashville around 2:30pm and headed to Memphis, TN where we were couch surfing with a guy by the name of Gabe Bouck. Couch surfing is basically when people open up their homes to individuals or groups who travel around the world and need a place to sleep (and its free). The house was really nice - looks like it was built about 3 years ago. Gabe seemed like a nice guy over when it came to first impressions. Very inviting and talkative. He has hosted people from all over the world and says must of his surfers are European. His roommate Doug was a little weird! His personality was dry and sarcastic and put you in those moments where he made a joke, and you felt like you had to laugh to be polite. Gabe took us out to dinner in downtown Memphis at this place called South of Beals (SOB). It was a really great restaurant with different authentic food. I had a bar pie - which was this flatbread with cheese, eggplant, and zucchini on it. Kevin is a pretty plain eater, but i have to say he has been putting himself out there. He tried sardines last night along with olives and hushpuppies the other night.
On our way home after dinner - Gabe had the music going at an ear piercing level and was singing his heart out. I forgot to mention his favorite things in life which are photography and music (as he used to play in a band). He actually has a pretty good voice, and I'm pretty sure he was serenading Kevin in the front seat if you know what i mean! He was so upset at Kevin for not singing along to the proclaimers 5,000 miles that he stopped the music and gave him a lecture on his participation skills. At this point I am just dying laughing in the back seat, and of coarse i am singing along because who doesnt love that song!
Today we are planning on going to the civil rights museum in Memphis and then head to New Orleans.
Oh yea. I just wanted to add that I am going to post a link to Kevin's page on my blog. You can read about his day and get a different prospective. We are not going to read the other persons thoughts until out trip is over
We left Nashville around 2:30pm and headed to Memphis, TN where we were couch surfing with a guy by the name of Gabe Bouck. Couch surfing is basically when people open up their homes to individuals or groups who travel around the world and need a place to sleep (and its free). The house was really nice - looks like it was built about 3 years ago. Gabe seemed like a nice guy over when it came to first impressions. Very inviting and talkative. He has hosted people from all over the world and says must of his surfers are European. His roommate Doug was a little weird! His personality was dry and sarcastic and put you in those moments where he made a joke, and you felt like you had to laugh to be polite. Gabe took us out to dinner in downtown Memphis at this place called South of Beals (SOB). It was a really great restaurant with different authentic food. I had a bar pie - which was this flatbread with cheese, eggplant, and zucchini on it. Kevin is a pretty plain eater, but i have to say he has been putting himself out there. He tried sardines last night along with olives and hushpuppies the other night.
On our way home after dinner - Gabe had the music going at an ear piercing level and was singing his heart out. I forgot to mention his favorite things in life which are photography and music (as he used to play in a band). He actually has a pretty good voice, and I'm pretty sure he was serenading Kevin in the front seat if you know what i mean! He was so upset at Kevin for not singing along to the proclaimers 5,000 miles that he stopped the music and gave him a lecture on his participation skills. At this point I am just dying laughing in the back seat, and of coarse i am singing along because who doesnt love that song!
Today we are planning on going to the civil rights museum in Memphis and then head to New Orleans.
Oh yea. I just wanted to add that I am going to post a link to Kevin's page on my blog. You can read about his day and get a different prospective. We are not going to read the other persons thoughts until out trip is over
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Nashville, NT 5/17/10
Welp, Day one of this next 5 week journey went smoothly. Kevin and I left Hartfield around 7:00am on Tuesday morning and ended up in Nashville around 8:00pm that night. For those of you who don't know Kevin; he and I went to graduate school together at California University of PA. To be honest i'm not exactly sure how we even thought of doing something like this, but i'm glad we did. The car is packed to the brim with our bikes on top and the seats in the back completely full. Living out of a car is a little bit of a challenge, and im not sure if i have down the best way of doing things, but I do believe i am a little more organized than Kevin as he keeps reminding me of things he has forgotten or misplaced. Im sure this is not surprising as most people know how anal I am about knowing where everything is and being neat - I know Celeste always makes fun of me for this!
Anyway, the drive down was not to brutal - I can say that the conversation was flowing! I mean for being in a car for 12 hours together we had things to catch up on. I have learned that Kevin is obsessed with his hybrid. I am not exaggerating when i say obsessed. He is really upset and disappointed that the car is only averaging 32 mpg on the interstate, and he is constantly looking at this screen that shows like how much energy the car is using. He tried to explain to me all of this, but i can't say i was as interested as him. Sorry Kev :). As he puts it when you are used to getting 49 mpg its a little bit of a shock.
When we got to Nashville we stayed with Jack Cooper - this is Nathalie's older brother. He has a great apartment about three blocks away from broadway street. Nashville is this small city with big personality. It's a great place. There are musicians everywhere and live bands at all times. We went to this place called BB Kings BBQ last night which had a live band. The keyboarder was extremely into the music - I mean this guy was feeling it if you know what i mean! He was going crazy up there. After dinner Jack and Kourtney (Jack's friend) took us out on broadway street which is this popular street downtown. Again, bands everywhere. Kevin made the mistake of asking what the popular liquor drink was in Nashville. Jack Daniels is made about an hour south of here so thats what was on the menu for the night. Needless to say i slept well last night :).
Today we are headed to Memphis - until next time...
Anyway, the drive down was not to brutal - I can say that the conversation was flowing! I mean for being in a car for 12 hours together we had things to catch up on. I have learned that Kevin is obsessed with his hybrid. I am not exaggerating when i say obsessed. He is really upset and disappointed that the car is only averaging 32 mpg on the interstate, and he is constantly looking at this screen that shows like how much energy the car is using. He tried to explain to me all of this, but i can't say i was as interested as him. Sorry Kev :). As he puts it when you are used to getting 49 mpg its a little bit of a shock.
When we got to Nashville we stayed with Jack Cooper - this is Nathalie's older brother. He has a great apartment about three blocks away from broadway street. Nashville is this small city with big personality. It's a great place. There are musicians everywhere and live bands at all times. We went to this place called BB Kings BBQ last night which had a live band. The keyboarder was extremely into the music - I mean this guy was feeling it if you know what i mean! He was going crazy up there. After dinner Jack and Kourtney (Jack's friend) took us out on broadway street which is this popular street downtown. Again, bands everywhere. Kevin made the mistake of asking what the popular liquor drink was in Nashville. Jack Daniels is made about an hour south of here so thats what was on the menu for the night. Needless to say i slept well last night :).
Today we are headed to Memphis - until next time...
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