Wednesday, September 28, 2011

The Grand Finale



I last left you after Nashville, Tennessee, and I was headed oddly to Nashville, North Carolina so we could visit Chris’s Grandmother and Uncle. We were in, through, and out of North Carolina in about 9 hours, but I felt like I got to experience a few quintessential aspects of the south: humidity and BBQ. One of the side effects of humidity that I experienced firsthand was the abundance of mosquitoes. In the amount of time that it took me to walk from the driveway to the door of Chris’s Grandmother’s (less than 90 seconds), I received four mosquito bites. And unfortunately I am the kind of person whose bites turn into giant welts that itch non-stop for at least 3 days. However, the quality of the food we had at dinner was definitely worth it. Chris’s Uncle picked up dinner for us at Doug Saul’s BBQ and Seafood, and I was relieved when he brought only BBQ. The traditional southern meal included fried chicken, coleslaw, potato salad, hushpuppies, pulled pork, and boiled potatoes. As you can imagine, North Carolina was worth the stop.


That night we decided to continue into Virginia so in the morning we would be closer to Washington D.C. We were in D.C., checked in, and on the train platform by 2pm and headed towards the National Mall. It was overcast and a bit rainy, but definitely still shorts weather, and the mall was captivating as always. We had just enough time to walk through both the Air and Space Museum, and the Museum of Natural History.

My final destination, Pennsylvania was the next stop but not the end of the trip. I brought my truck home, emptied it out and spent Friday night in Newtown before we headed north to Boston. Chris’s flight was leaving on Tuesday but we had a full agenda for the weekend. After spending about 3 stressful hours online back in D.C., I decided that the easiest way to plan hotel accommodations was night by night based on the location of our activities. I get why it’s called “The Walking City” once you are actually IN the city, but they should include a footnote “Only if you can afford to pay $500 a night for a hotel”. Anyway… Saturday night we had dinner with one of Chris’s old friends and then he took us out for drinks in Salem, which strangely was less creepy at night. The only witch references I noticed were a bronze statue of Samantha from Bewitched, and a lady who was not in a costume but still looked just like a witch. Sunday morning we were up early and headed to Foxborough to attend the home opener of the New England Patriots. They beat the San Diego Chargers, which made my first ever NFL game a very fun experience. It didn’t hurt that we also had amazing seats, thanks to Chris. Monday morning we were again headed to a new neighborhood to watch the Red Sox. I assumed when we bought tickets in the lodge section at Fenway that we would be on the second level, but our seats were only about 20 yards from the field because the stadium is so small. The Red Sox lost, and have quite a bit since then, but the weather was great. Although I was exhausted and ready to be home, Boston was another successful stop and fun way to end my adventure.


My favorite part of the trip: experiencing all the different landscapes and cultures.

My least favorite part of the trip: driving in Connecticut (and I grew up on So Cal freeways!).

The truck did an amazing job taking me from Depoe Bay to Newtown, almost exactly 4700 miles. I drove my Mom’s car to Boston and back, making the entire trip 5100 miles.

It’s been a week since I’ve been home and I’m just now starting to feel truly settled. Between all the laundry and the boxes I emptied I felt like I was drowning in clutter. Fortunately I was able to take my time and now I can focus on job hunting. Wish me luck!


Sunday, September 18, 2011

So, where am I?

Sorry for the delay. I made it to Pennsylvania on Friday, but I only stayed there overnight. Now I am in Boston for a long weekend. I will be back home on Wednesday and will write about the rest of my trip then. It's been a tiring couple of weeks and I am ready to be home.

As always, thanks for reading!

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Texas and More!

I'm reluctant to support any assumptions y’all might have about Texas… but this was my brief experience.

Small Town Pride: Once we got into more populated areas the first thing I noticed was the water towers. All the small towns have a giant water tower visible from the highway with their name, and sometimes their claim to fame painted on it.

High School Football: It’s a HUGE DEAL. Friday night it was starting to get late and we decided to stop somewhere for dinner. We noticed a town coming up that seemed to have food and services, so we took the exit. However, when we started driving around everything was empty and closed. Sure enough a few blocks farther was a stadium with the stands and surrounding parking completely full. I’m not sure if they were going to re-open after the game, but we didn’t wait to find out.

Pickup Trucks: They dominate the roads and except for work trucks, they are all super clean and shiny. And chances are somewhere on each truck there is a sticker or decal reading “Don’t Mess With Texas” or an equivalent.

Farms: Whether there is actually a farm off every exit or not, the roads and byways in Texas are all labeled FM. Until I talked to a local I didn’t realize this stands for Farm-to-Market. While there may not be huge dairy farms everywhere, there seem to be lots of farm animals around. The other night while I was moving my truck into the driveway, I could hear cows and chickens mooing and clucking not too far away. And I was in a suburb.

Super: Super Walmarts, super churches, super sized meat, super hot, super dry, you name it. They don’t mess around in Texas!


It was nice to get off the road for a few days in Texas and spend time with Chris’s family. His niece Sarah couldn’t have been happier and I could tell everyone enjoyed their time together. Southern hospitality is another thing about Texas that is definitely true.

We left Texas on Monday morning and made the short drive to Little Rock, Arkansas to spend the night and watch Monday Night Football. Now we are just east of Knoxville, Tennessee. I originally planned to stay in Nashville, but the hotel prices were too high and quite a few of them were two night minimums. But we at least drove through and I got to see downtown and take some pictures. This first one is the Mississippi River.

The best part of the day was visiting Graceland! I’ve always been an Elvis fan and going to his ranch and seeing all his awards was a really cool experience. I didn’t realize that he is buried there too, which caught me a little off guard. But it was a beautiful place, and I’m very glad I took the time to see it. Next stop Raleigh, North Carolina and then maybe Washington D.C. before Pennsylvania.

Friday, September 9, 2011

VIVA LAS VEGAS (And Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas)

Well I stayed within budget so I’d say Vegas was a success! Of course as I drove east towards on Monday, it kept getting hotter and hotter. By the time I got to Excalibur it was at least 100 degrees and it was around 6pm. Monday night Chris and I walked up and down the strip and exploring a few of the casinos in our area. We also accepted an offer to tour a timeshare and receive free David Copperfield tickets plus $50. I was grateful for the opportunity to learn about timeshares but did not enjoy spending 4 hours of valuable pool time indoors being pressured into buying real estate. But we got the tickets and had fun at the free show on Tuesday night. Wednesday I got in some serious pool time and then we had dinner and caught the Knights of the Round Table show at Excalibur, where we were staying. Unfortunately, I think the fact that I was traveling and in the process of this move affected my energy and desire to do more in Las Vegas. So NEXT TIME I’ll have to do it as just a vacation, and not a stop on a cross-country drive.

Our next leg on Thursday was 600 miles and had lots of stops, but it was beautiful. After getting into Arizona, we drove through Flagstaff, Sedona, Phoenix, and then stopped in Tucson for dinner. Once it started getting dark near Tucson, we got to watch a really cool thunderstorm in the distance. We stayed overnight in a town called Willcox, in south eastern Arizona. Formerly I would have made fun of how “small-town” this place was, but I am moving from Depoe Bay so I have no room to talk.

Today was probably our longest straight day of driving at 12 ½ hours. What made it even stranger was going from Arizona, which doesn’t observe daylight savings time, through New Mexico, which is on Mountain time, and then ending in Texas, which is on Central time. For a short time in the afternoon, each hour of driving was two hours of time added to the clock. The most notable part of the drive was the section of I-10 by El Paso and Juarez. On one side of the freeway are your standard businesses and city housing structures, and on the other side are dirt hillsides covered in make-shift houses in Mexico. And even starting in New Mexico, most of the patrol cars on the road were not highway patrol, but border patrol.

Tomorrow we have a short drive to Chris’s parents’ and sister’s town of Justin, Texas. And you’ll be hearing from me again early next week. Sorry for my brevity on the last few days, especially Vegas. I’m committed to journaling regularly so I have more to write about next time.

Thanks for reading!

Monday, September 5, 2011

Hometown Love

When I first got to Redlands, it wasn’t quite as hot as Visalia was but I still wanted to jump in a pool right away. Luckily one of my friends was not working on Friday, so I got to spend some time cooling off.

I forgot how much I missed a skyline full of palm trees. While a lot of things have changed in Redlands, some things have stayed just the same. I have had such an amazing time visiting with some of my closest friends, seeing their new houses, and catching up on each others’ lives. It’s incredibly refreshing to be around people who know me well and can just pick up where we left off.

It has been a hard contrast of feelings for me here. I’ve been SO happy to spend quality time with my dear friends, but SO sad that this is my last stop on the West Coast. Today I’ll be driving east, and not knowing when I’ll be back is making this visit feel so final. At least it’s been a good one.

Sunday, September 4, 2011

Rocking and Rolling

Only having to drive 200 miles on Day two was a nice change of pace. Of course I couldn’t sleep in on Thursday, so I got up early and headed to Santa Clarita to have lunch with my friend from UCSB. We had a delicious meal at an asian fusion restaurant, which was a great break from the heat. After lunch I decided to head to Macy’s and see if they had any shorts on sale since it was 90 degrees and I only own one pair. While I was looking around I felt the floor move, as if someone had jumped up and down right behind where I was standing. It only took me a second longer and one glance around to realize it was an earthquake. The shaking lasted less than ten seconds but it had an interesting feel to it because it was a back and forth movement instead of a roll. It reminded me of that moving sidewalk that John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John dance on at the end of Grease.

My next stop was in downtown Los Angeles, to visit my college roommate who is attending USC Dental School. This was my first trip to USC and now I understand what people mean about the campus being beautiful, especially in contrast to the surrounding neighborhood. After stopping by the dental lab, Lola took me to a dental frat barbeque, which was pretty much as dorky as it sounds. But I say that with much love to all my new scrub wearing friends.

The main event of the evening turned out to be our dinner excursion to a place called Father’s Office. Lola’s lab partner had been talking about The Office Burger all afternoon, so I naturally expected this place to be a burger joint. It turned out to be this chic lounge and restaurant where you seat yourself, order at the bar, and pay $8 for a beer. But the burger was delicious. And now I’m in Redlands, and another update will follow shortly!

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

As Promised










Day 1 of the trip was a success even though it took 14 ½ hours. But I guess that’s not too bad considering I drove 800 miles. I finished up all my last minute packing on Monday by 12:30am so everything was completely ready to go in the morning. All I had to do was change clothes and brush my teeth, which turned out to be a good thing since I woke up for the first time at 3am. I managed to go back to sleep for a little while but around 6am I decided to just get up and go. After one last drive through town I said goodbye to Depoe Bay and was officially on the road by 7. It seemed somewhat appropriate that it was a dreary and drizzly morning (which was uncharacteristically rare for the Oregon Coast this summer).


Interstate 5, the part of the drive I was dreading the most, actually turned out to be the best. Between Depoe Bay and Albany (where I first reach I-5), there was some road work adding about 30min to my trip, and then in the last portion near Visalia there was also road work on highway 99. Other than a little slowing near Sacramento the trip was all smooth sailing, especially once I reached California and the speed limit went up to 70mph. I was surprised but grateful that I only had to stop for gas twice. With my new snug top shell and everything I own packed into the back of my truck I thought I would need more than that, but 2 ½ tanks got me all the way to Grandma Crisp’s.





Being back in CA and in Visalia is turning out to be pretty nostalgic. Just the smell of Grandma’s house and to a degree the whole town is extremely comforting. I’ve realized more and more how much I appreciate my family. It really started in college when for the first time I was around people who weren’t so fortunate in their personal lives. Regardless of economics or race, this was about the wealth of love and support, or lack thereof, which I had not been exposed to in high school. The more people I meet the more fortunate I feel to have such unconditional love and support from my family and close friends. I’ve known for a long time that you are what is most important in life and I truly feel like my decision to move and go on this journey will help me appreciate that even more. Despite how much of my heart I left in Oregon.


Saturday, August 20, 2011

My New New Exciting Plan

Surprise, surprise—my plans changed again! Not only did I fail to log some of my summer adventures, but I also failed to move at the end of summer ‘09. It’s hard to believe that it has been over two years since I last posted (TWO YEARS!!!). When my job at the Sea Hag ended, I floated around a bit and bartended for a few months until I found a job at a bank in Newport, Oregon, which is commuting distance from Depoe Bay. I worked there for a year and really enjoyed my coworkers, but realized that I didn’t see a future for myself at the bank or on the Oregon coast. Finally I made the decision to set a date and move.

Because Depoe Bay is such a tourist town, there are a lot of seasonal job opportunities available. And even though I was leaving the bank, I wanted to stay for a few more months, save money, and enjoy the rest of my time in Depoe Bay. And since June, that is just what I’ve been doing. I work at the Chowder Bowl, which is a great family owned restaurant in Depoe Bay. But coming up here in about a week I am driving all the way to Pennsylvania. I bought a canopy shell for my truck and I’ve consolidated all of my stuff so that it fits in the back.

I’m excited to go but sad to leave this beautiful place and all the great people I’ve met here. It’s nice to be back on the blog and I’m looking forward to writing about my trip—thanks for reading!