My dear friends, we added up our mileage yesterday and came up with these results:
8300+ miles on the little car since we left Chicago
$950 in gas (Gas in Cali and Chicago have been the highest. We actually saw $4.09 in California.)
16 states on this trip--Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, Nevada, California, Oregon
We consider our trip having actually started in Indianapolis where we joined my family for the Indy 500 (seriously good fun and great people watching...don't knock it until you've tried it...). That means:
We have covered every time zone in the US, excepting Hawaii.
And the trip isn't over yet.
I'm working on getting a map widget to show you our trip but I'm still having trouble finding one that I like.
Monday, July 19, 2010
Flagstaff Fourth
We spent the 4th of July in Flagstaff with our friend Jack. Flagstaff, like Austin, surpassed my expectations. Flag sits at a higher elevation and in the middle of the pine forest. It was warm by day and very cool at night, requiring long sleeves for me. It was still burning in parts of the forest.
It was food and fun that weekend. We spent much of our time at Jack's favorite bar, Beaver Street Brewery/Brews & Cues. This bar had a decent selection of their own brews. The lager was my favorite but they had a great trippel, too. Their sister bar, The Lumberyard, was the more college influenced bar with a DJ (yeah...about that...I will still drunkenly shake myself around on a dance floor and call it "dancing"). We finished off our 4th of July outing at that bar where we celebrated a birthday with a guy we just met and watched a couple break up.
The other perks of Flagstaff:
The Greek Islands restaurant: great food, sweet staff that really took care of us, and good prices. This little place is off the beaten path in a tiny little space. In the warm months ask to sit in the back patio area. I ordered the gyro sandwich with fries and an Aris Greek lager. Apparently people don't like the Aris since every time I looked for a link I came up with reviews. I enjoyed this beer. It is a light, cidery beer that paired nicely with the heavy gyro. The staff was trying out "Greek cinnamon rolls" that they provided us with for free. They also supplied us with additional freebies when Jack pressed them on the issue. I loved this little restaurant and it satisfied my craving for "hamburgers or BBQ" (my 4th request), although the restaurant served neither of these.
Roma Pizza: Decent pizza. The best deal with this place: the girlfriend hook up, courtesy of Jack's girl, and the breadstick deal we received. We ordered breadsticks, 12 of them to be exact. The server came back with this: "Bad news guys. I don't have 12 sticks tonight. What I do have is 7 sticks for free. You still want these?" Yes, we did still want them. The pizza here is big, New York style slices. I think we walked away from this meal for $8+tip. Thanks to all those that helped in this eating transaction.
All you can eat fish fry: I don't know where we were for this exactly. It was outside Flagstaff with Jack's lovely parents in some hotel's restaurant. The fish was really good (cod, perhaps?), battered and fried perfectly. The catch--they ran out of fish on all you can eat and I'm pretty sure we ate all that they had. Bonus here: free desserts. The server, who was on close terms with Jack's parents, was so excited we came and joined them that he brought me a free ice cream sundae. Thanks, Miguel!
4th of July horse races: I am not a gambling kind of girl. I work hard for my money and I hate to throw it away frivolously. However, I did enjoy the horse races that were held at the Flagstaff Fairgrounds the weekend of the 4th. I won every race I bet on except one. I was looking at a different race card, thought I was betting on Mia Casa for the one mile and ended up betting on Pete's Possum Pony for the 220. Scott had to tell me that the reason my horse quit running, along with all of the other horses, was simply because the race was over. Not to be deterred, I bet on Mia Casa for the 1 mile in the next race and came up a winner. When asked about my winning strategy I explained that it was a "feeling". I simply waiting for the horses to hit the parade grounds before line up, watched the jockey and horse and then allowed Scott to place my bets based on my gut. It's a sure fire way to win for me.
Downtown Diner: I don't remember what I ordered from here. It didn't matter, really, since it is just good diner food. It's greasy, hot, and we sat in a crappy booth with cracked seats that my bare legs stuck to. The Coca-Cola was divine and the food was good for the headache and growling stomach. This place really places up the kitschy diner theme but it's worth a visit.
In all, we really enjoyed Flagstaff. The people are friendly, the food is good, the weather is beautiful, and there are tons of activities for the outdoor and indoor enthusiast. If you see an oversized Chevy with a fireman who may or may not have a gun in tow, it could be Jack; give him a wave for us and don't let him bully you around, he's really a good-hearted kind of guy.
It was food and fun that weekend. We spent much of our time at Jack's favorite bar, Beaver Street Brewery/Brews & Cues. This bar had a decent selection of their own brews. The lager was my favorite but they had a great trippel, too. Their sister bar, The Lumberyard, was the more college influenced bar with a DJ (yeah...about that...I will still drunkenly shake myself around on a dance floor and call it "dancing"). We finished off our 4th of July outing at that bar where we celebrated a birthday with a guy we just met and watched a couple break up.
The other perks of Flagstaff:
The Greek Islands restaurant: great food, sweet staff that really took care of us, and good prices. This little place is off the beaten path in a tiny little space. In the warm months ask to sit in the back patio area. I ordered the gyro sandwich with fries and an Aris Greek lager. Apparently people don't like the Aris since every time I looked for a link I came up with reviews. I enjoyed this beer. It is a light, cidery beer that paired nicely with the heavy gyro. The staff was trying out "Greek cinnamon rolls" that they provided us with for free. They also supplied us with additional freebies when Jack pressed them on the issue. I loved this little restaurant and it satisfied my craving for "hamburgers or BBQ" (my 4th request), although the restaurant served neither of these.
Roma Pizza: Decent pizza. The best deal with this place: the girlfriend hook up, courtesy of Jack's girl, and the breadstick deal we received. We ordered breadsticks, 12 of them to be exact. The server came back with this: "Bad news guys. I don't have 12 sticks tonight. What I do have is 7 sticks for free. You still want these?" Yes, we did still want them. The pizza here is big, New York style slices. I think we walked away from this meal for $8+tip. Thanks to all those that helped in this eating transaction.
All you can eat fish fry: I don't know where we were for this exactly. It was outside Flagstaff with Jack's lovely parents in some hotel's restaurant. The fish was really good (cod, perhaps?), battered and fried perfectly. The catch--they ran out of fish on all you can eat and I'm pretty sure we ate all that they had. Bonus here: free desserts. The server, who was on close terms with Jack's parents, was so excited we came and joined them that he brought me a free ice cream sundae. Thanks, Miguel!
4th of July horse races: I am not a gambling kind of girl. I work hard for my money and I hate to throw it away frivolously. However, I did enjoy the horse races that were held at the Flagstaff Fairgrounds the weekend of the 4th. I won every race I bet on except one. I was looking at a different race card, thought I was betting on Mia Casa for the one mile and ended up betting on Pete's Possum Pony for the 220. Scott had to tell me that the reason my horse quit running, along with all of the other horses, was simply because the race was over. Not to be deterred, I bet on Mia Casa for the 1 mile in the next race and came up a winner. When asked about my winning strategy I explained that it was a "feeling". I simply waiting for the horses to hit the parade grounds before line up, watched the jockey and horse and then allowed Scott to place my bets based on my gut. It's a sure fire way to win for me.
Downtown Diner: I don't remember what I ordered from here. It didn't matter, really, since it is just good diner food. It's greasy, hot, and we sat in a crappy booth with cracked seats that my bare legs stuck to. The Coca-Cola was divine and the food was good for the headache and growling stomach. This place really places up the kitschy diner theme but it's worth a visit.
In all, we really enjoyed Flagstaff. The people are friendly, the food is good, the weather is beautiful, and there are tons of activities for the outdoor and indoor enthusiast. If you see an oversized Chevy with a fireman who may or may not have a gun in tow, it could be Jack; give him a wave for us and don't let him bully you around, he's really a good-hearted kind of guy.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Vehicle fixes
Since leaving Chicago the little car has received some much needed love and care. Scott has so diligently been spending his days on repairs and little fixes making it truly road worthy.
When we lived in Colorado, we here incredibly hard on the little VW Golf. We made that car an off-road vehicle even though it didn't really have the capacity to be such. Chicago saw the little car hit by a bus, dinged and keyed and roughed up by Chicagoans, wintered and summered, hit by another car, and several parts giving out on us at various points.
Since embarking on this trip, we've had the AC fixed, tires rotated and balanced, sunroof drainage system modified (VW recall as well as parking brake recall), flex pipe from engine to catalytic converter replaced, oil change, headlight replacement, rear windshield wiper replaced. We think that's all. At least, that's all that we can recall at the moment.
Yeah, we've had some work done...
Yeah, we've had some work done...
Saturday, July 17, 2010
New Mexicos
A quick jot about New Mexico:
Tucumcari: We stayed here because it began to get dark and we were tired of driving. We stayed at the Tucumcari KOA for $25. This is a neat little town tucked away on old Route 66. The low-roofed motels and RV parks are still there as are a few diners and ice cream parlors. This little town in worth a drive through. The KOA has wi-fi and other handy amenities and the people are very friendly plus you get to camp with the mesa on the horizon.
Santa Rosa: We used the internet at the library here. They didn't stare and laugh at me which I considered a huge plus for this town. We realized Asher was getting a little overheated from (obviously) the heat and the dry climate. To remedy this situation, we took her out of the car and doused her with water and made her drink some. A nice man came up to suggest that we check out the town's park with a lake we could use to cool her off. He didn't even bat an eye when he saw that we did not have a cute furry dog but instead had a large scaly reptile on the lawn of City Hall. Nice people in Santa Rosa.
Pecos Pueblo: Nothing says Southwestern frontier like some pueblo ruins. This is a cool area to check out and provides a nice stopping and stretching point before you reach Santa Fe. The ruins and the historical accounts of this area show the pueblo and the Spanish mission and walk you through the various stages of history that this location played out. There were also students making mudpies in a pit area not too far from the mission (ok, I think they were actually making adobe bricks to help with the restoration of the ruins...). Oh yeah, the signs "Rattlesnake area: avoid and report" were pretty exciting although we had nothing to avoid or report.
Santa Fe: We camped in the national forest here for $10. We did see a coyote on the hill just above our campsite and we were able to enjoy our first campfire of the trip. It was a great deal and we met some very nice folks from Oklahoma, Pat and Pat (Patrick and Patricia, perhaps?) who were very familiar with the Santa Fe area. They gave us a map and some suggestions for different places to check out and dine at. Joey also sent along a text with suggestions of places to check out since he and his girlfriend had been in SF just days before us. We ended up eating at La Choza where we filled ourselves with New Mexican foods (think chilis), definitely one of Scott's favorite foods. It was delicious and the outdoor dining area was an extra perk here, as were the good margaritas. We also saw the Santa Fe Railroad while out that way which appeals to the train-loving kid that still exists within us.
We didn't care for Santa Fe so much, to be honest. The sales people were generally aloof when they realized we were simply browsing or didn't really know what we were looking at. Perhaps this is better off the Plaza area. The open air market was the best part of the Plaza; artists bring their wares and sell them for good prices. These artisans are much nicer and friendlier than the Santa Fe Plaza sales people.
Albuquerque: We only passed through this oddly spelled city. We did, however, stop to dine at the Frontier Restaurant, on the suggestion from our friend Adam. This menu is vast and you walk up and place your order at the bar. They then flash your number over a screen and you go and retrieve it. This place was packed, the food was good and served up quickly, and the cinnamon rolls are killer. It's right off the UNM campus, too, so you get a pretty eclectic crowd here which always makes for great people watching.
Tucumcari: We stayed here because it began to get dark and we were tired of driving. We stayed at the Tucumcari KOA for $25. This is a neat little town tucked away on old Route 66. The low-roofed motels and RV parks are still there as are a few diners and ice cream parlors. This little town in worth a drive through. The KOA has wi-fi and other handy amenities and the people are very friendly plus you get to camp with the mesa on the horizon.
Santa Rosa: We used the internet at the library here. They didn't stare and laugh at me which I considered a huge plus for this town. We realized Asher was getting a little overheated from (obviously) the heat and the dry climate. To remedy this situation, we took her out of the car and doused her with water and made her drink some. A nice man came up to suggest that we check out the town's park with a lake we could use to cool her off. He didn't even bat an eye when he saw that we did not have a cute furry dog but instead had a large scaly reptile on the lawn of City Hall. Nice people in Santa Rosa.
Pecos Pueblo: Nothing says Southwestern frontier like some pueblo ruins. This is a cool area to check out and provides a nice stopping and stretching point before you reach Santa Fe. The ruins and the historical accounts of this area show the pueblo and the Spanish mission and walk you through the various stages of history that this location played out. There were also students making mudpies in a pit area not too far from the mission (ok, I think they were actually making adobe bricks to help with the restoration of the ruins...). Oh yeah, the signs "Rattlesnake area: avoid and report" were pretty exciting although we had nothing to avoid or report.
Santa Fe: We camped in the national forest here for $10. We did see a coyote on the hill just above our campsite and we were able to enjoy our first campfire of the trip. It was a great deal and we met some very nice folks from Oklahoma, Pat and Pat (Patrick and Patricia, perhaps?) who were very familiar with the Santa Fe area. They gave us a map and some suggestions for different places to check out and dine at. Joey also sent along a text with suggestions of places to check out since he and his girlfriend had been in SF just days before us. We ended up eating at La Choza where we filled ourselves with New Mexican foods (think chilis), definitely one of Scott's favorite foods. It was delicious and the outdoor dining area was an extra perk here, as were the good margaritas. We also saw the Santa Fe Railroad while out that way which appeals to the train-loving kid that still exists within us.
We didn't care for Santa Fe so much, to be honest. The sales people were generally aloof when they realized we were simply browsing or didn't really know what we were looking at. Perhaps this is better off the Plaza area. The open air market was the best part of the Plaza; artists bring their wares and sell them for good prices. These artisans are much nicer and friendlier than the Santa Fe Plaza sales people.
Albuquerque: We only passed through this oddly spelled city. We did, however, stop to dine at the Frontier Restaurant, on the suggestion from our friend Adam. This menu is vast and you walk up and place your order at the bar. They then flash your number over a screen and you go and retrieve it. This place was packed, the food was good and served up quickly, and the cinnamon rolls are killer. It's right off the UNM campus, too, so you get a pretty eclectic crowd here which always makes for great people watching.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
My heart breaks
I have several posts about our travels forthcoming, however, we are quite unexpectedly, and quite sadly, back in Oklahoma for a few days.
Scott and I were headed to Bryce Canyon from Zion National Park when I received a phone call that one of my oldest and best friends had passed away on July 4th. We immediately headed from Utah to Oklahoma.
I cannot begin to explain how difficult, heart-wrenching, and terrible this loss is. Joey was an incredible person. I have known Joey since I was 10 years old. We have stayed in close touch over the years as we grew up, went off to college, changed colleges, moved around, visited home and each other. Joey was an usher at our wedding and never failed to mention how comfortable the shirt and pants he wore were. I'm pretty sure he wore those to threads. His humor was always wry and quirky but always quick and ready. When visiting us last summer he took a picture of Asher and sent it to his girlfriend with the message "Iguana wish you good morning." Scott and I had a conversation recently where we thought Joey should come back to Oklahoma and change the shape of politics there. We would, obviously, be his campaign managers. Joey loved music and we were always swapping shows, album recommendations, and other hidden gems. Food was another one we shared. In fact, the last message I received from Joey was about restaurants to check out in Santa Fe--he had been there just a few days before we were.
There was so much to love and admire about this man. My heart just breaks as I think about life without Joey. He will be forever fondly remembered and dearly missed.
Joey was a upcoming 3rd year law student at William and Mary. They issued this release about him:
http://www.wm.edu/news/pressreleases/2010/message-regarding-joseph-doyle.php
Friday, July 2, 2010
Hacked
I logged into one of the bank accounts we are traveling on only to discover several odd transactions through PayPal. Since we were only expecting one authorized transaction this made us pause. We realized we have potentially been hacked. Well hell's bells.
After calls to PayPal, Scott was told to contact the bank. He went to remove our bank account from PayPal only to receive the message that there were pending transactions. Now we wait to see what actually comes through.
Scott called the bank and had the account suspended with the information being if we want to dispute any transactions it must be done in person. Excellent news since we don't plan on being in Chicago anytime soon.
Since it is a holiday weekend, everything has to wait until Tuesday.
So frustrating...
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