clouds. church. sun. new people, where are you? class starts tomorrow, you ought to be swarming all over the place by now!
must book a flight to chicago, but can't until tomorrow afternoon (after i talk to beth). too bad it will be less than 14 days before i fly then, because that's usually cheaper. hopefully the one day under won't make a big difference!
yesterday was a day of nothing...amy and i sat and watched pride and prejudice--the six hour version--all day long. then we watched emma too, for a good jane austen fix. the evening capped off with Moulin Rouge. aah, ewan mcgregor. you've been busy in the living room this weekend! too bad you aren't really in the living room!
i keep feeling like i'm supposed to be doing something, but i'm not. i have nothing to do except wait for school to start. i'm afraid to start a new book because i don't know if i'll keep reading it when class is in session. my room is (relatively) clean. i don't have any job applications to fill out right now--i'm just waiting to hear back from the three i've already turned in. no homework, not many people around...no tv...generally nothing, basically. i should take a nap or something.
tonight, however, i am babysitting for two hours. yay money! :-)
a nap is sounding better and better. have you ever started to think about something then wanted it really badly? you know, chocolate, a new book, that cd you saw at starbucks, a nap...well, i'm there. :-)
Sunday, June 29, 2003
Saturday, June 28, 2003
Friday, June 27, 2003
Charlie's Angels tonight. yay!
Greek starts monday. have I started learning it? yes, yes I have. I already knew the alphabet, of course, from when I decided to study greek last year (weird, i know, i know...whatever). I have learned two chapters of vocab and am trying to figure out the purpose of the accenting if it has nothing to do with pronunciation. so far i'mna go with...none. ha!
i know Ken is mad at me right now, but I thought of him today when I was in a mall food court and saw a sign at the japanese restaurant: a big red circle with MSG inside, and a red diagonal line across the middle (a la "no left turn"). Ken always orders No MSG at asian restaurants. anyway....
i'm going to eat dinner now. movie later. maybe by then i'll have something interesting to say.
Greek starts monday. have I started learning it? yes, yes I have. I already knew the alphabet, of course, from when I decided to study greek last year (weird, i know, i know...whatever). I have learned two chapters of vocab and am trying to figure out the purpose of the accenting if it has nothing to do with pronunciation. so far i'mna go with...none. ha!
i know Ken is mad at me right now, but I thought of him today when I was in a mall food court and saw a sign at the japanese restaurant: a big red circle with MSG inside, and a red diagonal line across the middle (a la "no left turn"). Ken always orders No MSG at asian restaurants. anyway....
i'm going to eat dinner now. movie later. maybe by then i'll have something interesting to say.
Thursday, June 26, 2003
hmm...new version of blogger has arrived for us free peoples. hmm. yay for a new color scheme, i guess?
mom reminded me yesterday that i forgot to tell one of the funniest stories from our road trip: the case of the missing contact case.
We're at susan's house (yes, that would make it day three) and we're going to magic mountain. mom wakes up to find that her contact case, which had been on the bathroom counter--with her contacts in it, mind you--has gone missing. a mischevious cat has stolen it! :-) after a LONG search of the whole house, it was found underneath a rug by the back door. hmmm....
after mom put her contacts in she put the empty case INTO her toiletry bag. we came home from magic mountain to find that it was again missing, for she had apparently neglected to zip the bag all the way up. hehehe! this time it was behind a filing cabinet at the bottom of the stairs.
apparently susan's cats enjoy stealing things. interestingly, they've never stolen susan's contact case, which is exactly the same. hmmm....
anyway, it was absolutely HILARIOUS. we looked everywhere, susan kept asking the one cat she was sure hadn't done it..."taz, did you see who did this? did you see where they put it? did you?" and she would continuously ask the ones she was pretty sure did do it: "which one of you did this? blanche, was it you? NED...did you take it? what did you do with it?" heheheehehhehehe...
FYI: it was determined that the first time it was a blanche job, because there were no teeth marks. the second time could have been a ned exploit, though. hmm...
sneaky, frisky kitties!
the new kitten at the chicas' house is very frisky herself--she likes to jump and play. apparently that makes her psychotic, according to noell. whatever. that's just what kittens do. :-)
i wish i was a kitten sometimes. then i wouldn't have to learn greek.
and greek hasn't even started yet. LOL.
mom reminded me yesterday that i forgot to tell one of the funniest stories from our road trip: the case of the missing contact case.
We're at susan's house (yes, that would make it day three) and we're going to magic mountain. mom wakes up to find that her contact case, which had been on the bathroom counter--with her contacts in it, mind you--has gone missing. a mischevious cat has stolen it! :-) after a LONG search of the whole house, it was found underneath a rug by the back door. hmmm....
after mom put her contacts in she put the empty case INTO her toiletry bag. we came home from magic mountain to find that it was again missing, for she had apparently neglected to zip the bag all the way up. hehehe! this time it was behind a filing cabinet at the bottom of the stairs.
apparently susan's cats enjoy stealing things. interestingly, they've never stolen susan's contact case, which is exactly the same. hmmm....
anyway, it was absolutely HILARIOUS. we looked everywhere, susan kept asking the one cat she was sure hadn't done it..."taz, did you see who did this? did you see where they put it? did you?" and she would continuously ask the ones she was pretty sure did do it: "which one of you did this? blanche, was it you? NED...did you take it? what did you do with it?" heheheehehhehehe...
FYI: it was determined that the first time it was a blanche job, because there were no teeth marks. the second time could have been a ned exploit, though. hmm...
sneaky, frisky kitties!
the new kitten at the chicas' house is very frisky herself--she likes to jump and play. apparently that makes her psychotic, according to noell. whatever. that's just what kittens do. :-)
i wish i was a kitten sometimes. then i wouldn't have to learn greek.
and greek hasn't even started yet. LOL.
Tuesday, June 24, 2003
Monday, June 23, 2003
ok, here's the final breakdown.
The Epic Road Trip
the recap, summary, final thoughts, whatever
*vehicle: 1993 Ford Explorer, Eddie Bauer Edition, maroon.
*persons: two. until we picked up a hitchhiker (Amy) just north of Houston. then we were 3. :-)
*Stuffed pandas: one.
*luggage: one Very Large suitcase. One smaller suitcase. Two duffel bags. One garment bag. One backpack. One laptop computer. One blanket, one pillow, one large towel, one hand towel, one washcloth. One large cooler. One bag full of snack food. Two food items as overflow from the bag.
*Snacks: Two cases of water, two and a half cases of coke/dr. pepper (total throughout the trip--we restocked in houston). Guacamole-flavored chips. trail mix. pop tarts. corn pops. fruit loops. wheat thins. pudding.
*Total days: 12
*Total driving days: 9
*Total distance: 4,794.1 miles
*Total gas: 227.791 gallons. 15 fill-ups.
*Average gas mileage: 21.046 miles per gallon. with the air conditioning on, in hills and mountains and plains and valleys...
*Highest price paid for fuel: $2.09.9
*Lowest price paid for fuel: $1.39.9
*Total amount spent on fuel: $341.12
*States: 10. Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia.
*Hotels: 5
*Friend's/Family's houses: 3
*Major sights seen: lots. including but not limited to: Grand Canyon, the Petrified Forest and Painted Desert, The Very Large Array (of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory), Roswell New Mexico's UFO museum, The Continental Divide, Carlsbad Caverns, The Alamo, Avery Island--the Tabasco place, New Orleans' French Quarter.
*Total National Parks visited: 3
*Total State Parks rejected upon arrival due to unreasonable cost and unknowledgeable rangers: 1
*Total private parks rejected upon arrival due to unreasonable cost, bad timing, or the cheesy factor: 4
*Towns rejected as places to stay due to scariness, dirtiness, or extra time in the day where we could clearly keep driving: 3
*amount of driving done by mom: All.
*amount of driving done by me: none.
*hills and mountains seen: tons.
*grass: lots. only two national grasslands though.
*trees: not many until Louisiana/Mississippi and especially Alabama/Georgia. Too many then.
*total time spent driving through unpopulated areas with boring scenery...or with occasional small towns consisting of five houses, a "store", and a sign with no indication of population: probably about 50 hours, at least. maybe more.
*cactus: well, lots of different varieties, but no saguaro, unfortunately. I've been denied the opportunity to get my picture taken next to a saguaro cactus, standing with my arms turned up (bent at the elbows) imitating the cactus. So far, anyway.
*tumbleweed: one that I saw. I slept some of the time though.
*CD's played: 52 without repeating. nearly 70 total.
*wildlife seen (alive): 4 deer in one place (nowhere near a sign telling us to watch out for deer). lots of prairie dogs, on route 66 in arizona. snake on the road (might have been dead though, we don't know.) some squirrels. two california condors. some buzzards. a couple of snowy egrets. about half a million bats. literally.
*wildlife seen (dead): deer, in Carlsbad, NM. dog. lots and lots of roadkill of various kinds, including raccoon.
*wildlife not seen though we were warned about it by roadsigns, making me very disappointed when we never saw one: elk, bear, deer, alligator.
*total time spent in the car: hours upon hours. at least 72 hours, probably more.
*longest driving day: 11 hours.
*longest sight-seeing day(s): Grand Canyon/Painted Desert/Petrified Forest, and Carlsbad Caverns. (days 5 and 7, respectively)
*Total amusement parks visited: two six flags. soon to add one (tomorrow!) though it might not really count, but mom IS still here, after all.
*time zones crossed: three.
*mountain ranges: two. plus the texas hill country.
*swamp lands crossed: one. Louisiana.
*net effect: a VERY sore behind, bonding time with mom, a nice tan, lots of great sights of the US seen, a car in Atlanta so i'm no longer stranded on the CTS campus at the mercy of my classmates.
*total money spent: TONS and tons and tons. approximately $1,000, I think. just my estimate: mom might have a more accurate guess.
*the trip itself: priceless.
the end
The Epic Road Trip
the recap, summary, final thoughts, whatever
*vehicle: 1993 Ford Explorer, Eddie Bauer Edition, maroon.
*persons: two. until we picked up a hitchhiker (Amy) just north of Houston. then we were 3. :-)
*Stuffed pandas: one.
*luggage: one Very Large suitcase. One smaller suitcase. Two duffel bags. One garment bag. One backpack. One laptop computer. One blanket, one pillow, one large towel, one hand towel, one washcloth. One large cooler. One bag full of snack food. Two food items as overflow from the bag.
*Snacks: Two cases of water, two and a half cases of coke/dr. pepper (total throughout the trip--we restocked in houston). Guacamole-flavored chips. trail mix. pop tarts. corn pops. fruit loops. wheat thins. pudding.
*Total days: 12
*Total driving days: 9
*Total distance: 4,794.1 miles
*Total gas: 227.791 gallons. 15 fill-ups.
*Average gas mileage: 21.046 miles per gallon. with the air conditioning on, in hills and mountains and plains and valleys...
*Highest price paid for fuel: $2.09.9
*Lowest price paid for fuel: $1.39.9
*Total amount spent on fuel: $341.12
*States: 10. Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia.
*Hotels: 5
*Friend's/Family's houses: 3
*Major sights seen: lots. including but not limited to: Grand Canyon, the Petrified Forest and Painted Desert, The Very Large Array (of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory), Roswell New Mexico's UFO museum, The Continental Divide, Carlsbad Caverns, The Alamo, Avery Island--the Tabasco place, New Orleans' French Quarter.
*Total National Parks visited: 3
*Total State Parks rejected upon arrival due to unreasonable cost and unknowledgeable rangers: 1
*Total private parks rejected upon arrival due to unreasonable cost, bad timing, or the cheesy factor: 4
*Towns rejected as places to stay due to scariness, dirtiness, or extra time in the day where we could clearly keep driving: 3
*amount of driving done by mom: All.
*amount of driving done by me: none.
*hills and mountains seen: tons.
*grass: lots. only two national grasslands though.
*trees: not many until Louisiana/Mississippi and especially Alabama/Georgia. Too many then.
*total time spent driving through unpopulated areas with boring scenery...or with occasional small towns consisting of five houses, a "store", and a sign with no indication of population: probably about 50 hours, at least. maybe more.
*cactus: well, lots of different varieties, but no saguaro, unfortunately. I've been denied the opportunity to get my picture taken next to a saguaro cactus, standing with my arms turned up (bent at the elbows) imitating the cactus. So far, anyway.
*tumbleweed: one that I saw. I slept some of the time though.
*CD's played: 52 without repeating. nearly 70 total.
*wildlife seen (alive): 4 deer in one place (nowhere near a sign telling us to watch out for deer). lots of prairie dogs, on route 66 in arizona. snake on the road (might have been dead though, we don't know.) some squirrels. two california condors. some buzzards. a couple of snowy egrets. about half a million bats. literally.
*wildlife seen (dead): deer, in Carlsbad, NM. dog. lots and lots of roadkill of various kinds, including raccoon.
*wildlife not seen though we were warned about it by roadsigns, making me very disappointed when we never saw one: elk, bear, deer, alligator.
*total time spent in the car: hours upon hours. at least 72 hours, probably more.
*longest driving day: 11 hours.
*longest sight-seeing day(s): Grand Canyon/Painted Desert/Petrified Forest, and Carlsbad Caverns. (days 5 and 7, respectively)
*Total amusement parks visited: two six flags. soon to add one (tomorrow!) though it might not really count, but mom IS still here, after all.
*time zones crossed: three.
*mountain ranges: two. plus the texas hill country.
*swamp lands crossed: one. Louisiana.
*net effect: a VERY sore behind, bonding time with mom, a nice tan, lots of great sights of the US seen, a car in Atlanta so i'm no longer stranded on the CTS campus at the mercy of my classmates.
*total money spent: TONS and tons and tons. approximately $1,000, I think. just my estimate: mom might have a more accurate guess.
*the trip itself: priceless.
the end
Thursday, June 19, 2003
ok, i'm back. here's the recap on the last few days.
day ten
Six Flags Astroworld. not as fun as magic mountain, but still fun. Highlight was definitely the barrell roll coaster--that was awesome!! there were no lines so we rode in the front on almost every ride. Mostly they weren't as fast as Magic Mountain, and not as thrill-ride-esque, but it was a good time. we were there when the park opened (10am) and we were out by 1, which is when the thunderstorms started and everything was shut down anyway. yay! The rest of the afternoon we just lazed about, planned the rest of the trip, did some shopping (re-stock of water and coke)...yeah. Amy made dinner--veggie lasagne, which was very good but which she left the spinach out of on accident. very funny! heheheh...we had spinach salad instead. :-)
day eleven
we left at 8:30, just as we planned, and drove to New Orleans via Avery Island. Avery Island is where they make Tabasco sauce...it was very cool. Good times! New Orleans was busy, dirty, hot, and humid. we drove down Bourbon Street, we walked around a little in the East End of the French Quarter, went to Louie Armstrong Park to take a picture, and we moved on. We stayed in Slidell for the night.
day twelve
the end...the last 8 hours! We drove via Birmingham, Alabama to Atlanta. It was a pretty boring drive--lots of trees, amy and i slept while mom drove (no change there from the rest of the trip!), and one rainstorm so heavy that visibility was about 30 feet IF the car in front of you had their flashers on. We got to Atlanta around 8-ish Eastern Time. yay! we're here.
mom's still here, and prolly will be through the weekend. i'm going to a wedding in Johnson City, Tennessee this weekend and will be back Sunday night...then we're going to Six Flags Over Georgia on Monday! woohoo! :-)
there will be a complete stat list from the trip coming up tonight. watch this space!! :-)
day ten
Six Flags Astroworld. not as fun as magic mountain, but still fun. Highlight was definitely the barrell roll coaster--that was awesome!! there were no lines so we rode in the front on almost every ride. Mostly they weren't as fast as Magic Mountain, and not as thrill-ride-esque, but it was a good time. we were there when the park opened (10am) and we were out by 1, which is when the thunderstorms started and everything was shut down anyway. yay! The rest of the afternoon we just lazed about, planned the rest of the trip, did some shopping (re-stock of water and coke)...yeah. Amy made dinner--veggie lasagne, which was very good but which she left the spinach out of on accident. very funny! heheheh...we had spinach salad instead. :-)
day eleven
we left at 8:30, just as we planned, and drove to New Orleans via Avery Island. Avery Island is where they make Tabasco sauce...it was very cool. Good times! New Orleans was busy, dirty, hot, and humid. we drove down Bourbon Street, we walked around a little in the East End of the French Quarter, went to Louie Armstrong Park to take a picture, and we moved on. We stayed in Slidell for the night.
day twelve
the end...the last 8 hours! We drove via Birmingham, Alabama to Atlanta. It was a pretty boring drive--lots of trees, amy and i slept while mom drove (no change there from the rest of the trip!), and one rainstorm so heavy that visibility was about 30 feet IF the car in front of you had their flashers on. We got to Atlanta around 8-ish Eastern Time. yay! we're here.
mom's still here, and prolly will be through the weekend. i'm going to a wedding in Johnson City, Tennessee this weekend and will be back Sunday night...then we're going to Six Flags Over Georgia on Monday! woohoo! :-)
there will be a complete stat list from the trip coming up tonight. watch this space!! :-)
Sunday, June 15, 2003
again with the no internet. grr. why doesn't earthlink have local access numbers in every town in the country? isn't that their job? whatever. here's the update.
day six
drove to carlsbad, NM. boring drive, of course. we did go to roswell, and we went to the museum, and it was super cheesy but we had fun anyway. no, we did NOT take our pictures with the glittery flying saucer model or with the movie prop alien. tell me, why is it that we always assume that life from other planets is small, with big heads, no hair, and no clothes? this makes no sense. it's as bad as racism--isn't this the way we thought about africans, south americans, indigenous australians, etc, for many many years? anyway....it was fun to visit there, and we got to carlsbad caverns in time for the bat flight!
it was so so so cool....almost half a million bats flew out of the cave at sunset! too bad there were loud people nearby, but as i always say (whatever) "those who endure to the end shall be rewarded." we waited it out and once they left, the bats would fly SUPER close. some of them, i could even hear their wings beating they were so close! it was absolutely awesome.
so anyway, we spent the night in carlsbad and went to the caverns in the morning.
day seven
Carlsbad Caverns.
SO awesome. beautiful, and thankfully different from mammoth cave, because i've been there before! we took the Kings Palace tour, which was ranger guided. i love blackout tours, where the ranger turns the lights off for a few minutes and you can see how dark caves really are. anyway, then we did the self-guided "Big Room" tour, which was very good too. the room is absolutely huge. there are lots of formations too...but there's not as much color as mammoth cave. that's probably good, because mom apparently remembers something about the color of mammoth cave being caused by algae that grew because of the lighting system, so it wasn't actually part of the natural cave ecosystem. since, after all, calcite is colorless. anyway...the caverns rocked. heheh!
there is a lunchroom (and restrooms, yay!) down there, 75 stories underground. the options of food didn't look so good (the veggie burger would have to be microwaved. i don't think so.) so we just ate a super pretzel and went upstairs to the restaurant where I could have a veggie burger from the grill. :-) it was fun.
then we drove on...mom took a "shortcut" that meant we didn't have to go back north to carlsbad, then south on US285. we cut down on whatever highway we were already on, then on an 'other road' (according to the handy-dandy atlas) over to 285. uh huh. there's a reason it's called an 'other road'. anyway...we got there. we were planning to stop in fort stockton but decided to keep driving because it was only 5-ish. we got to Sonora, TX, and decided to go ahead and stop. thanks to the Discount Traveler Guide we got $20 off a Days Inn room, and the front desk woman gave us a good tip on dinner. we ate some great mexican! with the chips and salsa they brought this mint-green stuff that was kind of weird looking. mom said it tasted good but it was so bizarre looking that i couldn't bring myself to do it. anyway, we finally asked the waitress what it was. it turned out to be avocado, sour cream, cilantro, and garlic. it really was good--but it was mint green! why would i eat that without knowing what it was first? anyway....yum. and the chips....have you ever seen "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" you know they have a game called "props." well, the chips were REALLY big half-circle shapes. like at least 4-5 inches in diameter. so we played a little game of props while waiting for dinner....elephant ears, toucan noses, cheesy grins....yeah. hilarious!
we managed to find the mariner game on tv because they were playing the braves...so it was on TBS. we watched it all and yay the m's won!! :-) and, of course, mom and i were cracking each other up the whole time. we laughed so hard that i didn't breathe for at least a minute. heheh! i'm always amusing, after all. :-)
day eight
we drove to amy's house. we stopped in San Antonio and saw the Alamo, did the riverwalk, ate, played around...then drove the rest of the way.
The Alamo was VERY cool, although now i'm quite sure that i know enough texas history to last me a lifetime. it was warm out, and sunny...we did the museums, bought a keychain and a magnet (keychain for me, magnet for mom, obviously), and moved on. however, we were in San Antonio for almost 4 hours. :-) we found a metered parking spot, which was apparently a good find!
we also saw this "saloon and museum" on our way back from the river walk. it was EXTREMELY bizarre--unfortunately we didn't have time to visit the museum part. there were lots of animal heads on the wall, and inside it appeared to be a large number of stuffed animals. real ones, stuffed. eew.
so we drove on to the Woodlands. (north of Houston) thankfully the rand mcnally directions were in fact to amy's house! we got here, we mingled, we slept. really it was mingling until late into the night, of course. good times! amy's fam is fun, and so far all is well!
so amy, rachel (amy's college friend) and i are sleeping in a queen bed. amy's in the middle. not long after we go to bed, amy wiggles out via the bottom of the bed and plops onto the floor...i had to laugh silently because she thought i was asleep. heheheheh!!! i was dying! it was so funny. she decided to sleep on the floor...even though she was preaching in the morning. i offered to sleep there, she declined. until the morning. heheh!
day nine
amy preached an awesome sermon ever!! it rocked. good times. amy and rachel and i have been chatting away all afternoon...and now i have to do my laundry. ttfn!
day six
drove to carlsbad, NM. boring drive, of course. we did go to roswell, and we went to the museum, and it was super cheesy but we had fun anyway. no, we did NOT take our pictures with the glittery flying saucer model or with the movie prop alien. tell me, why is it that we always assume that life from other planets is small, with big heads, no hair, and no clothes? this makes no sense. it's as bad as racism--isn't this the way we thought about africans, south americans, indigenous australians, etc, for many many years? anyway....it was fun to visit there, and we got to carlsbad caverns in time for the bat flight!
it was so so so cool....almost half a million bats flew out of the cave at sunset! too bad there were loud people nearby, but as i always say (whatever) "those who endure to the end shall be rewarded." we waited it out and once they left, the bats would fly SUPER close. some of them, i could even hear their wings beating they were so close! it was absolutely awesome.
so anyway, we spent the night in carlsbad and went to the caverns in the morning.
day seven
Carlsbad Caverns.
SO awesome. beautiful, and thankfully different from mammoth cave, because i've been there before! we took the Kings Palace tour, which was ranger guided. i love blackout tours, where the ranger turns the lights off for a few minutes and you can see how dark caves really are. anyway, then we did the self-guided "Big Room" tour, which was very good too. the room is absolutely huge. there are lots of formations too...but there's not as much color as mammoth cave. that's probably good, because mom apparently remembers something about the color of mammoth cave being caused by algae that grew because of the lighting system, so it wasn't actually part of the natural cave ecosystem. since, after all, calcite is colorless. anyway...the caverns rocked. heheh!
there is a lunchroom (and restrooms, yay!) down there, 75 stories underground. the options of food didn't look so good (the veggie burger would have to be microwaved. i don't think so.) so we just ate a super pretzel and went upstairs to the restaurant where I could have a veggie burger from the grill. :-) it was fun.
then we drove on...mom took a "shortcut" that meant we didn't have to go back north to carlsbad, then south on US285. we cut down on whatever highway we were already on, then on an 'other road' (according to the handy-dandy atlas) over to 285. uh huh. there's a reason it's called an 'other road'. anyway...we got there. we were planning to stop in fort stockton but decided to keep driving because it was only 5-ish. we got to Sonora, TX, and decided to go ahead and stop. thanks to the Discount Traveler Guide we got $20 off a Days Inn room, and the front desk woman gave us a good tip on dinner. we ate some great mexican! with the chips and salsa they brought this mint-green stuff that was kind of weird looking. mom said it tasted good but it was so bizarre looking that i couldn't bring myself to do it. anyway, we finally asked the waitress what it was. it turned out to be avocado, sour cream, cilantro, and garlic. it really was good--but it was mint green! why would i eat that without knowing what it was first? anyway....yum. and the chips....have you ever seen "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" you know they have a game called "props." well, the chips were REALLY big half-circle shapes. like at least 4-5 inches in diameter. so we played a little game of props while waiting for dinner....elephant ears, toucan noses, cheesy grins....yeah. hilarious!
we managed to find the mariner game on tv because they were playing the braves...so it was on TBS. we watched it all and yay the m's won!! :-) and, of course, mom and i were cracking each other up the whole time. we laughed so hard that i didn't breathe for at least a minute. heheh! i'm always amusing, after all. :-)
day eight
we drove to amy's house. we stopped in San Antonio and saw the Alamo, did the riverwalk, ate, played around...then drove the rest of the way.
The Alamo was VERY cool, although now i'm quite sure that i know enough texas history to last me a lifetime. it was warm out, and sunny...we did the museums, bought a keychain and a magnet (keychain for me, magnet for mom, obviously), and moved on. however, we were in San Antonio for almost 4 hours. :-) we found a metered parking spot, which was apparently a good find!
we also saw this "saloon and museum" on our way back from the river walk. it was EXTREMELY bizarre--unfortunately we didn't have time to visit the museum part. there were lots of animal heads on the wall, and inside it appeared to be a large number of stuffed animals. real ones, stuffed. eew.
so we drove on to the Woodlands. (north of Houston) thankfully the rand mcnally directions were in fact to amy's house! we got here, we mingled, we slept. really it was mingling until late into the night, of course. good times! amy's fam is fun, and so far all is well!
so amy, rachel (amy's college friend) and i are sleeping in a queen bed. amy's in the middle. not long after we go to bed, amy wiggles out via the bottom of the bed and plops onto the floor...i had to laugh silently because she thought i was asleep. heheheheh!!! i was dying! it was so funny. she decided to sleep on the floor...even though she was preaching in the morning. i offered to sleep there, she declined. until the morning. heheh!
day nine
amy preached an awesome sermon ever!! it rocked. good times. amy and rachel and i have been chatting away all afternoon...and now i have to do my laundry. ttfn!
Thursday, June 12, 2003
no internet access for the last couple of days...sorry...will try to be better as there are mostly bigger towns on the way now. :-)
The Epic Road Trip
day three
Six Flags Magic Mountain. Awesome. I thought I was going to die several times, but had a blast…it was great. My aunt played hookey from school (she’s an elementary teacher) and came too—it was fab! Was so tired when we got home that I pretty much passed out.
The Epic Road Trip
day four
Driving to the Grand Canyon. Good times had by all, of course! Again, mom keeps driving and I keep passenging. Passengering? Whatever…not driving! We tried SO HARD to get there by sunset, but nnoooooo, due to a freaking PARADE closing a block of the street we needed to drive on in order to get there! Dumb town. Anyway, we drove much of the way on Route 66 instead of I-40 because it was scenic and we could. We got to the GC at 8, the sun had set at 7:45. so we looked around, then went to the evening program. Ranger Randy presented a thoroughly fascinating hour on “six sweet souvenirs” to take from the grand canyon. I was so enthralled….until he started to sing and mom actually said (joking, of course) “maybe we can buy his cd!” and I busted out laughing even harder than I had been before. And no, I’m not joking about his name. oy. It was so awful, I begged to be allowed to leave mid-presentation. Mom said no. anyway, he was all into the powerpoint, the singing (Badly, and asking for audience participation that was even worse) with the guitar…and talking like everyone was 6 even though the average age in the place was probably 50.
Thankfully, we decided to get a hotel close to the canyon. I think the hour drive back to Williams would have killed me…and the hour up in the morning wouldn’t have been so fun either.
The Epic Road Trip
day five
Holes in the Ground, rocks that used to be trees, really old houses. Really really old rocks. (duh)
The Grand Canyon was super awesome—looked at lots of cool things, took photos, had a great time. Beautiful, awe-inspiring, etc. Drove briefly through Navajo Reservation—distressing poverty, or at least distressing lack of pride and therefore lack of cleanliness on the property. Some funny signs though—like by the little jewelry markets signs would say “nice Indians, behind you!” or “friendly Indians ahead!” or “got turquoise?” I was amused. There were several pueblo ruins in our day, which was VERY cool. For the second day in a row we ate lunch at Del Taco. Surprisingly good, and it’s not taco bell, which means that we’re not boycotting it, so it’s even better! We tried to see the meteor crater but it was ridiculously expensive and I didn’t want to go in the museum—I just wanted to stand on the edge of the meteor crater, duh! It’s big, though, so we saw the impact on the drive up to it, and we saw the picture in the brochure. That’s going to have to be good enough—it was so much $$ that even I, the non-budget girl, nearly had a heart attack. The Painted Desert and Petrified Forest were SO COOL, we spent almost 3 hours in the park after they told us it takes people 45 minutes to 2 hours to see it. And we skipped a couple of trails. There’s just so many pieces of tree!
The town we were supposed to stay in tonight was super shady, so we drove half an hour to the next one. The first town, as we were driving in, had two LDS churches and an Assembly of God. There were two hotels, and the only restaurant appeared to be the one at the Days Inn, which looked sketchy and smoky. The whole town looked dead and the weird vibes (especially the slightly odd LDS vibes…no offense meant…) were overpowering and I insisted that we keep driving. I’m glad we did. We’re in a nice, clean hotel, we ate really good pizza, and there was a Safeway where we could buy milk and swipe plastic spoons so we can eat cereal out of the plastic cups next to the sink in the morning. :-) ha!
Anyway, we have 10 hours of driving tomorrow so I’m going to bed. I know this isn’t very exciting, but I promise it’s a good time in the car, so far. We’ve listened to 24 cd’s since leaving home. We’ve filled the gas tank only 6 times (maybe 7?), but then again susan drove everywhere on Monday. We’ve seen some pretty good road signs. No elk, though, in spite of signs that warn us to “be alert” for them for the next 36 miles. We did see two California condors today, though! I’m waiting to see my first saguaro cactus. That will be an exciting little moment. :-)
We’re stopping briefly in Roswell, NM tomorrow. If we see any UFO’s, y’all will be the first to know, I promise. Heheh!
Time for sleep so that day six can be productive! tatafornow…
The Epic Road Trip
day three
Six Flags Magic Mountain. Awesome. I thought I was going to die several times, but had a blast…it was great. My aunt played hookey from school (she’s an elementary teacher) and came too—it was fab! Was so tired when we got home that I pretty much passed out.
The Epic Road Trip
day four
Driving to the Grand Canyon. Good times had by all, of course! Again, mom keeps driving and I keep passenging. Passengering? Whatever…not driving! We tried SO HARD to get there by sunset, but nnoooooo, due to a freaking PARADE closing a block of the street we needed to drive on in order to get there! Dumb town. Anyway, we drove much of the way on Route 66 instead of I-40 because it was scenic and we could. We got to the GC at 8, the sun had set at 7:45. so we looked around, then went to the evening program. Ranger Randy presented a thoroughly fascinating hour on “six sweet souvenirs” to take from the grand canyon. I was so enthralled….until he started to sing and mom actually said (joking, of course) “maybe we can buy his cd!” and I busted out laughing even harder than I had been before. And no, I’m not joking about his name. oy. It was so awful, I begged to be allowed to leave mid-presentation. Mom said no. anyway, he was all into the powerpoint, the singing (Badly, and asking for audience participation that was even worse) with the guitar…and talking like everyone was 6 even though the average age in the place was probably 50.
Thankfully, we decided to get a hotel close to the canyon. I think the hour drive back to Williams would have killed me…and the hour up in the morning wouldn’t have been so fun either.
The Epic Road Trip
day five
Holes in the Ground, rocks that used to be trees, really old houses. Really really old rocks. (duh)
The Grand Canyon was super awesome—looked at lots of cool things, took photos, had a great time. Beautiful, awe-inspiring, etc. Drove briefly through Navajo Reservation—distressing poverty, or at least distressing lack of pride and therefore lack of cleanliness on the property. Some funny signs though—like by the little jewelry markets signs would say “nice Indians, behind you!” or “friendly Indians ahead!” or “got turquoise?” I was amused. There were several pueblo ruins in our day, which was VERY cool. For the second day in a row we ate lunch at Del Taco. Surprisingly good, and it’s not taco bell, which means that we’re not boycotting it, so it’s even better! We tried to see the meteor crater but it was ridiculously expensive and I didn’t want to go in the museum—I just wanted to stand on the edge of the meteor crater, duh! It’s big, though, so we saw the impact on the drive up to it, and we saw the picture in the brochure. That’s going to have to be good enough—it was so much $$ that even I, the non-budget girl, nearly had a heart attack. The Painted Desert and Petrified Forest were SO COOL, we spent almost 3 hours in the park after they told us it takes people 45 minutes to 2 hours to see it. And we skipped a couple of trails. There’s just so many pieces of tree!
The town we were supposed to stay in tonight was super shady, so we drove half an hour to the next one. The first town, as we were driving in, had two LDS churches and an Assembly of God. There were two hotels, and the only restaurant appeared to be the one at the Days Inn, which looked sketchy and smoky. The whole town looked dead and the weird vibes (especially the slightly odd LDS vibes…no offense meant…) were overpowering and I insisted that we keep driving. I’m glad we did. We’re in a nice, clean hotel, we ate really good pizza, and there was a Safeway where we could buy milk and swipe plastic spoons so we can eat cereal out of the plastic cups next to the sink in the morning. :-) ha!
Anyway, we have 10 hours of driving tomorrow so I’m going to bed. I know this isn’t very exciting, but I promise it’s a good time in the car, so far. We’ve listened to 24 cd’s since leaving home. We’ve filled the gas tank only 6 times (maybe 7?), but then again susan drove everywhere on Monday. We’ve seen some pretty good road signs. No elk, though, in spite of signs that warn us to “be alert” for them for the next 36 miles. We did see two California condors today, though! I’m waiting to see my first saguaro cactus. That will be an exciting little moment. :-)
We’re stopping briefly in Roswell, NM tomorrow. If we see any UFO’s, y’all will be the first to know, I promise. Heheh!
Time for sleep so that day six can be productive! tatafornow…
Monday, June 09, 2003
the epic road trip
day two
thankfully, i got to sleep an extra two hours over yesterday. i was so tired. even sleeping on the floor at joan and eddie's house was good. ha!
the drive through california to LA was decidedly less than exciting. several wineries, but it was early in the morning and we weren't about to stop for wine tasting at 9am. can you imagine? we saw a lot of...vineyards. and random bits of grass. and one oil well. about five feet off the freeway! very bizarre. essentially, the drive was thoroughly uneventful. mom drove all the way again. i didn't nap today though.
tomorrow is six flags magic mountain. yay! 12 hours open...probably a lot of hours we'll be in the park! good times.
well, after the four-alarm fire susan's dinner started in my mouth, and the huge mint chip milkshake i had at mothers, not to mention the hour-long trip around huntington beach and long beach seeing where mom and susan grew up, including schools, hang outs, and the beach...and more oil wells...i'm tired. it's a long day tomorrow with magic mountain, so i'm going to bed. i can hardly believe how tired i am! finally, i get to sleep in a bed. i never thought one night on a floor would be so traumatic. the main issue was that i was supposedly sleeping on this cushion from the deck chair, which is a chaise-lounge cushion. i also had a body pillow next to it, so it would be a little wider (the cushion was only maybe 18 inches wide). unfortunately, i turned over and went between the cushion and the pillow, and woke up that way. on the floor, basically. it would have been better to start on the floor instead, and at least not have the shattered illusions of the cushion--y promise!
right. bed. yay. :-)
day two
thankfully, i got to sleep an extra two hours over yesterday. i was so tired. even sleeping on the floor at joan and eddie's house was good. ha!
the drive through california to LA was decidedly less than exciting. several wineries, but it was early in the morning and we weren't about to stop for wine tasting at 9am. can you imagine? we saw a lot of...vineyards. and random bits of grass. and one oil well. about five feet off the freeway! very bizarre. essentially, the drive was thoroughly uneventful. mom drove all the way again. i didn't nap today though.
tomorrow is six flags magic mountain. yay! 12 hours open...probably a lot of hours we'll be in the park! good times.
well, after the four-alarm fire susan's dinner started in my mouth, and the huge mint chip milkshake i had at mothers, not to mention the hour-long trip around huntington beach and long beach seeing where mom and susan grew up, including schools, hang outs, and the beach...and more oil wells...i'm tired. it's a long day tomorrow with magic mountain, so i'm going to bed. i can hardly believe how tired i am! finally, i get to sleep in a bed. i never thought one night on a floor would be so traumatic. the main issue was that i was supposedly sleeping on this cushion from the deck chair, which is a chaise-lounge cushion. i also had a body pillow next to it, so it would be a little wider (the cushion was only maybe 18 inches wide). unfortunately, i turned over and went between the cushion and the pillow, and woke up that way. on the floor, basically. it would have been better to start on the floor instead, and at least not have the shattered illusions of the cushion--y promise!
right. bed. yay. :-)
The Epic Road Trip
day one
we left early. a nearly ungodly hour--6:30 we were out the door.
we drove a long way. a long long way. in very boring country--south central washington, eastern oregon, and north-central california...all desert, desert, and more desert.
Highlights of the day: very bizarre looking animal statue (about 5000 times larger than life) that was very distressing...mom called it a tapir, and i called it a messed-up-looking cow. whatever. it may have been made of metal...it was black, and we later found out that it's been there roughly, oh, forever.
we stopped briefly at castle crags state park to see what was up. the park ranger gave me the world's most blank stare when i asked her "what's in here?" and ultimately she gave us some made-up info about the rocks inside, then looked at mom and i (dressed in shorts and t-shirts, i was wearing sandals...) and said "it's rated one of the top fifty rock climbs in the US." hmm. do we look like rock climbers? and if we were, wouldn't we know what was in the park? anyway, we didn't stay and check it out because it was $4 just to go in, and it was 2.7 miles hiking, one way, to the base of the rocks. so we looked at them from the freeway as we were driving away. oh yeah, she also claimed there were lovely views of mt. shasta. Lady, we drove straight at the base of the mountain for about an hour, on a completely clear and sunny day. we've seen the mountain from two sides now...don't worry.
next detour was lake shasta caverns. the drive up the hill was kind of distressing--i was so sure that mom would drive us off the edge of the cliff. thankfully, not. anyway...we got up there, looked around, but didn't go in the caves for several reasons. One, the pictures looked remarkably like Mammoth Cave. Two, it took two hours. Three, it was $18 per person. Four, we are visiting Carlsbad Caverns later in the trip.
partway to sacramento, in corning, we HAD to stop at the Olive Pit. olive tasting, a deli/restaurant, and more kinds of olives than you've ever seen made for a thoroughly enjoyable hour. that's right, an hour. we tasted, we debated, we went outside to talk on the phone briefly, we tasted more, we looked, i had a milkshake, we looked, finally we purchased. they were so good--i tasted green olives stuffed with parmesan and romano cheese, sun dried tomatoes, mushrooms, garlic...i tried ranch-style, and some other ones i don't remember...mom tried anything hot--chile, mexican, texas something-or-other, and the blue cheese (not hot, but apparently very tasty). anyway...yeah. fab.
so anyway, we drove to sacramento. we got there at about 7:30...13 hours. with two hours of stops. so the total drive was 11 hours! hmm...speeding? maybe just a little. literally--mom drove the whole way and she normally won't go above 10 miles over. whatever...just wait until i get in the driver's seat and we're driving through new mexico desert!!
anyway, we got to my grandma's cousin's house around 7:30, and my grandparents were already there, of course. we chatted for a long time, and went to bed around 10. good times.
day one
we left early. a nearly ungodly hour--6:30 we were out the door.
we drove a long way. a long long way. in very boring country--south central washington, eastern oregon, and north-central california...all desert, desert, and more desert.
Highlights of the day: very bizarre looking animal statue (about 5000 times larger than life) that was very distressing...mom called it a tapir, and i called it a messed-up-looking cow. whatever. it may have been made of metal...it was black, and we later found out that it's been there roughly, oh, forever.
we stopped briefly at castle crags state park to see what was up. the park ranger gave me the world's most blank stare when i asked her "what's in here?" and ultimately she gave us some made-up info about the rocks inside, then looked at mom and i (dressed in shorts and t-shirts, i was wearing sandals...) and said "it's rated one of the top fifty rock climbs in the US." hmm. do we look like rock climbers? and if we were, wouldn't we know what was in the park? anyway, we didn't stay and check it out because it was $4 just to go in, and it was 2.7 miles hiking, one way, to the base of the rocks. so we looked at them from the freeway as we were driving away. oh yeah, she also claimed there were lovely views of mt. shasta. Lady, we drove straight at the base of the mountain for about an hour, on a completely clear and sunny day. we've seen the mountain from two sides now...don't worry.
next detour was lake shasta caverns. the drive up the hill was kind of distressing--i was so sure that mom would drive us off the edge of the cliff. thankfully, not. anyway...we got up there, looked around, but didn't go in the caves for several reasons. One, the pictures looked remarkably like Mammoth Cave. Two, it took two hours. Three, it was $18 per person. Four, we are visiting Carlsbad Caverns later in the trip.
partway to sacramento, in corning, we HAD to stop at the Olive Pit. olive tasting, a deli/restaurant, and more kinds of olives than you've ever seen made for a thoroughly enjoyable hour. that's right, an hour. we tasted, we debated, we went outside to talk on the phone briefly, we tasted more, we looked, i had a milkshake, we looked, finally we purchased. they were so good--i tasted green olives stuffed with parmesan and romano cheese, sun dried tomatoes, mushrooms, garlic...i tried ranch-style, and some other ones i don't remember...mom tried anything hot--chile, mexican, texas something-or-other, and the blue cheese (not hot, but apparently very tasty). anyway...yeah. fab.
so anyway, we drove to sacramento. we got there at about 7:30...13 hours. with two hours of stops. so the total drive was 11 hours! hmm...speeding? maybe just a little. literally--mom drove the whole way and she normally won't go above 10 miles over. whatever...just wait until i get in the driver's seat and we're driving through new mexico desert!!
anyway, we got to my grandma's cousin's house around 7:30, and my grandparents were already there, of course. we chatted for a long time, and went to bed around 10. good times.
Saturday, June 07, 2003
The Epic Road Trip
I've been in WA three days (including the day i flew in, after missing the plane and getting on a later one...long story involving the El and a forty-five-minute window to check luggage...which I missed...anyway). it turns out that I am getting the Explorer, which is great news. i'm so excited to have that car, you have no idea! anyway...the road trip begins.
Part I: preparation
the map is made.
the car is prepared: A/C fixed, ABS checked up and fixed, oil changed, car washed, windows Rain-Xed (just in case it should rain on our route through the desert in the summertime), digital compass installed and calibrated.
snacks, beverages, and other road trip essentials (sunscreen, emergency kit, etc) purchased and piled in dining room.
packing....not started.
leaving...in 9 hours.
the basic route is:
day 1: Yakima to Sacramento. 13 + hours.
day 2: Sacramento to Long Beach. 7-ish hours.
day 3: Magic Mountain.
day 4: Long Beach to Grand Canyon. 9-ish hours.
day 5: Grand Canyon, then to the Petrified Forest and Painted Desert. 5-ish hours driving.
day 6: St. Johns Arizona to Carlsbad Caverns (new mexico). 11 hours.
day 7: Carlsbad Caverns, early in the morning --> early afternoon. drive to Fort Stockton, TX. 4-ish hours.
day 8: Ft. Stockton to San Antonio, see the Alamo, drive on to the Woodlands (just north of houston). maybe 8 hours? i can't remember.
day 9: church...Amy's preaching!
day 10: six flags houston.
day 11: houston to new orleans. several hours.
day 12: new orleans to atlanta. 8 hours driving the speed limit, but honestly....after 12 days...who knows.
I'll be taking note of interesting or not interesting things along the way, and I'll post every day about the adventures of the Epic Road Trip. Watch this space!
in the meantime, i have to pack. excuse me. :-)
I've been in WA three days (including the day i flew in, after missing the plane and getting on a later one...long story involving the El and a forty-five-minute window to check luggage...which I missed...anyway). it turns out that I am getting the Explorer, which is great news. i'm so excited to have that car, you have no idea! anyway...the road trip begins.
Part I: preparation
the map is made.
the car is prepared: A/C fixed, ABS checked up and fixed, oil changed, car washed, windows Rain-Xed (just in case it should rain on our route through the desert in the summertime), digital compass installed and calibrated.
snacks, beverages, and other road trip essentials (sunscreen, emergency kit, etc) purchased and piled in dining room.
packing....not started.
leaving...in 9 hours.
the basic route is:
day 1: Yakima to Sacramento. 13 + hours.
day 2: Sacramento to Long Beach. 7-ish hours.
day 3: Magic Mountain.
day 4: Long Beach to Grand Canyon. 9-ish hours.
day 5: Grand Canyon, then to the Petrified Forest and Painted Desert. 5-ish hours driving.
day 6: St. Johns Arizona to Carlsbad Caverns (new mexico). 11 hours.
day 7: Carlsbad Caverns, early in the morning --> early afternoon. drive to Fort Stockton, TX. 4-ish hours.
day 8: Ft. Stockton to San Antonio, see the Alamo, drive on to the Woodlands (just north of houston). maybe 8 hours? i can't remember.
day 9: church...Amy's preaching!
day 10: six flags houston.
day 11: houston to new orleans. several hours.
day 12: new orleans to atlanta. 8 hours driving the speed limit, but honestly....after 12 days...who knows.
I'll be taking note of interesting or not interesting things along the way, and I'll post every day about the adventures of the Epic Road Trip. Watch this space!
in the meantime, i have to pack. excuse me. :-)
Tuesday, June 03, 2003
CPM meeting went well. yay.
Am writing candidacy essays--due tonight...one more to go (oy) plus the revision of any that need revising. given that they've been written at an average rate of 45 minutes or less per essay, they probably need it.
leaving tomorrow morning. must pack.
grades came in today--and I'm all clear! woohoo! my GPA is a resounding 3.765...yay! an A in Church History puts me in the clear, scholarship-wise. I'm also going to get a good-student discount on my car insurance. This is a good thing.
big news on the car front: i'm getting the Explorer after all! apparently all my begging and pleading was simply a humiliation tactic on mom's part--she's been planning it as a surprise for a long while. hm. i'm glad...and thankful....yay!
anyway, i'm writing essays again. I have one hour left before I really must pack. one hour, one essay....should be good.
next time you hear from me, I'll be back in WA. oh boy. :-)
ta
Am writing candidacy essays--due tonight...one more to go (oy) plus the revision of any that need revising. given that they've been written at an average rate of 45 minutes or less per essay, they probably need it.
leaving tomorrow morning. must pack.
grades came in today--and I'm all clear! woohoo! my GPA is a resounding 3.765...yay! an A in Church History puts me in the clear, scholarship-wise. I'm also going to get a good-student discount on my car insurance. This is a good thing.
big news on the car front: i'm getting the Explorer after all! apparently all my begging and pleading was simply a humiliation tactic on mom's part--she's been planning it as a surprise for a long while. hm. i'm glad...and thankful....yay!
anyway, i'm writing essays again. I have one hour left before I really must pack. one hour, one essay....should be good.
next time you hear from me, I'll be back in WA. oh boy. :-)
ta
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