Gimme Shelter - From the Sun

The best selling novel of all time says that it took God six days to create the world, and on the seventh day he rested. Well, perhaps if he had spent a little more time and done a better job, it wouldn't be so very, very hot here in Phoenix. And if he spent 140 days working on doing it right, he probably would have needed about four days rest, because that's what I needed after such a long trip.

I spent those first four days here at the Treason's, sleeping, drinking, basking and baking, and drinking. Did I mention the drinking - water to hydrate, beer to dehydrate, water to hydrate...it's a vicious cycle.

But by Monday, I had decided it was time to start life again. Nice and slow. I spent the day leafing through books and magazines as well as surfing the net for any available apartments. I found a house just a few miles from the Treason's and went up to check it out. It was nice and remote, with great views, but it looked like it would take a lot of work, and was much more house than I need. It was also pretty far off the beaten path, which is a good thing.

The place was a bit more than I wanted to pay ($1,095 per month). So, in order to test the renters market here, I put in a low ball offer of ($900). I am actually a bit surprised that they haven't gotten back to me. The place has been vacant for a couple of months, and it doesn't seem like there would be much of a market for a rental place this remote.

After thinking about it some more and with some sage advice from the Treason's, I decided it would be easiest to find a schmaltzy rental community to use as my base. These places have all the amenities - cable, high speed Internet, well maintained pool, central AC, business center, gym, the works. Plus they are reasonably priced. I want to save as much as I can for a future purchase, once the market crashes some more and I get a better feel for where I really want to set up house.

So yesterday I set out an all day home seeking trek that took me to one realtor and five of these communities. The first stop was at IronHorse. It is located right on the North Central edge of Phoenix's city limits. I was greeted by a young, beautiful, elegant sales agent. I say this because the quality and style of each and every place I went was pretty much represented by the agent that assisted me. Thus, IronHorse was also young, beautiful and elegant.

The next place I went was CrossRoads; the agent was nice enough, but busy as well as showing wear and tear from the passing of time - perhaps 10 years past her prime. This was a cheap place, and it showed. No view and a crowded section of the city. I sped East on The 101 to Mydale where there is a conglomerate of housing complexes. I tested two of them. Each one was represented by young, sassy, classy, attractive in their own special way agents. Great places, a bit on the pricey side, but well worth the money. Yet they were still in highly populated busy sections, near interstates and 8 lane highways and fast food restaurants and gas stations.

The crowds of cars and people really irked me. It felt like being back in NJ, driving along Route 80 (out here they would call it "The 80") through the northern portion of Jersey. In other words, exactly like my old daily commute, except with sand instead of grass. And I didn't drive 24,207 miles just to end up in the same old, same old for these dog days of summer.

I quickly retreated north and went to my final destination for the day. I was greeted by the agent who said, "Hi, I'm Scott." To which I replied, "Yep, me too." It was a nearly identical place to the IronHorse, so I decided to go with the young, beautiful, elegant sales agent. Actually the real selling point became the view - I will be on the third floor with my balcony facing west across the desert to the mountains at the horizon, and any day it doesn't rain I should be treated to a pretty awesome sunset - based on the forecast that should be every day.

I move into IronHorse on Sept. 10th. (See my western view right.) That should be one day after returning from my trip to NJ. Mr. T and I have purchased a large cargo van that I will be picking up in NJ. I'll be driving up to Hoboken for the fantasy football draft and to load up all my storage stuff. Then Mr. T and I will be driving across the country, as fast as the law will allow.

Since I had signed my 6 month lease this morning, I had the afternoon free, so I took a cruise around my new neighborhood. I headed over to Mydale again, taking only the back roads and really enjoyed the scenery. The more remote areas of Scottsdale are fantastic, and I will surely be exploring it more when I get around to buying a home. I got sidetracked by the Frank Lloyd Wright Blvd, and a trip to Taliesin West. Unfortunately it was closed for an event, so I will have to go back for a tour another day. But I did meet a couple of broads that were on their own Road Trip from Florida. One of them is looking to move to Sedona with her husband and were on their way up there to scout for a house. With my vast experience, I told them to check out Jerome first as it might be more to their liking.

Did I say it's hot here. I could only loiter outsided Taliesin for a few minutes before needing to retreat to the comfort of Pre and her AC. The thermometer on the Treason's porch reads 118 - two more degrees and it will be pegged. Yet, I don't mind. The whole "dry heat" thing you always hear about really matters, and it just isn't that bad. You sweat, but it evaporates before leaving any wet spots on your shirt. And even a slight breeze, makes it quite bearable - I just wish we had a slight breeze.

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By the way, do any of you remember Battlestar and B-girl? Well, they have moved into Seattle and are doing great. I know this because he has started a blog of his own, and says just that. Because I will not be posting any where near as frequent as before, and since some of you seem to need your daily "stories", check out his blog: Battlestar's Blog. I have also added him to the links section on the right.

Road Trip 2007 Ends

End of Road Trip ( 7:05 AM, Arizona Time - 08/23/07 )

I started thinking about it on my drive in. It just sort of hit me. Whether I like it or not, the Summer of Scott, Road Trip 2007 is over. This drive into Phoenix would be the last time I am entering the city from the road, and henceforth, any trips I take will be away from here, for this is my new hometown.

The Road Trip sub-title was “Quitting work, selling my place, and going on the road for an extended journey with a final destination yet to be determined”. With the final destination now determined, it’s time to acquire a place and find work. I am now going to start thinking about the rest of my new life. It’s time to stop living in the moment and start planning for the future…things that until now I had eschewed. The issues of the real world are upon me again…Aaaaargh!

That's not to say I am done with my travels or adventures (or the blog). I have a few more things planned, including a sort of “grand finale” trip to Bryce Canyon. A few weeks from now, TP, Mr. T and Beana will be tripping with me, and we will all be piling into a borrowed RV for the adventure. We’ll probably drag Pre along for some twisty day trips that the RV can’t handle. It’ll be about a 5 day trip, camping out and is scheduled around the weekend of Sept. 22.

Between now and then, I will be flying back to NJ to sort through my storage space, acquire some form of spacious transportation, and possibly with Mr. T’s help, do a sprint home to Arizona. (Hey, I’m now a Zoner!) Then, in early November, the Murphy men (me, bro and buz) are going to the Murphy birthplace - Ireland. My crew’s annual golf outing is scheduled for the middle of October in Myrtle Beach. I began checking out some flights, but with so much already scheduled and a whole new life to start, I am feeling overwhelmed. I’m gonna need to make a decision soon as to whether this trip is the right thing for me now, but after a few more days of relaxation, I suspect I’ll come to my senses and book the flights. I’ll add blog entries of these trips.

I started the blog with entries about quitting work, selling my condo, and all the thoughts and tasks that went into making the actual Road Trip a reality. I’ll end the blog similarly, with sporadic entries over the next few months on topics like renting an apartment, becoming useful to society again, and perhaps the purchase of a new house in the future (sis has put in an order for a vacation friendly place with 3 bedrooms and a pool – if the housing market continues to crumble, I may be able to accommodate).

I will also be adding some Road Trip blog addendii. There are a lot of numbers, stats and lists that I need to accumulate and calculate such as total miles hiked, weight gained, just how much money this lark cost me and where it was spent, and any other curiosities I come up with. I am going to spend some time getting the actual trip map pulled together, perhaps in a couple of forms. I have recorded it on MS Maps and Trips in 4 parts...hopefully I can find a way to unify it and post it. I also need to get one big freaking map of the US, plot it out, and perhaps frame it for some future garage wall. Unfortunately, I should also do some puff pieces on things like lessons learned, how I’ve changed and what this has meant to me; for these I think it best to take advantage of the perspective only time can provide.

So while the Road Trip itself may have come to an end, I still need to wrap up the loose ends. One of the loose ends was my trip from Santa Fe into Phoenix. Here’s the Blogwithinablog:

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The Trip Home – Days 137 - 140

I started thinking about it on my drive in. It just sort of hit me. “I’m on my final drive of “Road Trip - 2007”. I left Santa Fe, NM early on Wednesday with a long 500+ miles through the desert to my day end destination: the Treasons. 12 days straight on the road with not a familiar face the whole way. It was time to be done with this leg and a straight shot on the interstates was planned. But, when the “final drive” realization set in half way, I had to pull over.

It just wouldn’t be right to have spent all trip long avoiding interstates as much as possible, only to spend the final leg wrong. I pulled out the maps and got off highway to take a more scenic route in. Fortunately, I was close to a drive I’d done before, and was pleased to do again (you can only enter Phoenix so many ways without repeating). And the familiar drive would give me time to relish the last leg.

Quickly, I was back in the groove, and I spent the next four hours experiencing the changing scenery through hard to pronounce places like Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest, Sierra Ancha, Mazatzal Mountains and Fort McDowell Mohave-Apache Indian Reservation. I first put “The Who” on the IPod, and later selected the playlist of “Most Played Songs”. I was totally reminiscing. I even called mom, a near daily ritual during the trip, for one last call (alas, I only got the answering machine). It was a great drive and fitting end to the trip!

And then I arrived at the Treason’s. Wow! Such a disorienting mix of feelings of relief, arrival, friendship, completion, anticipation, exhaustion and much more. It’s a lot to comprehend, and I have spent the past few days catching up with the Treason’s as well as myself. It’s good, nay great, to be home.
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So there you have it.

I am done counting the days! It was 4 and a half months; 140 days; a nice round 20 weeks. As you can tell from the odometers, I put on 24,207 miles on Pre since I started this trip. That's not the total mileage, as there were other vehicles and modes of transportation involved, but that's another stat that will be in an upcoming page.

I’m finally going to get a chance to read this blog thing I created. I figure it’ll be pretty good bathroom reading over the next few weeks. I hope I like it; but, like many of you, I'll probably be mad at myself for writing such long boring posts. The pictures will be good. I need to go through all the pictures and see what I want to print off and perhaps some to blow up and/or frame (again for the future garage).

A few questions and answers: So is this the end? In a sense yes it is. And here's the (sorry!) cliché: it’s also the beginning. Did I achieve what I set out to achieve? YES. Heck, I would have been fine if I just quit my job. But what an adventure. I know I will look back on this trip not just as a major transition period of my life, but also as one of the happiest times of my life.

Thanks to all of you who have aided and abetted in the journey, or simply lived vicariously through me, which helped keep me motivated. I hope you’ve enjoyed the Road Trip. I know I did! - RT

Playing In The Big Sand Box - Day 136

I dragged into Santa Fe, NM tonight. I have a throbbing heat headache caused by far too much sun. When you're in the Great Sand Dunes National Park (another NP name for exactly what it is) there isn't much shade.

This NP consists of 30 square miles of sand, and little else. As you approach the dunes from a distance, they are dwarfed by the surrounding mountains and don’t look like much. But when you are at the base and looking up, it’s pretty daunting. And once you spend a half hour slipping up the dunes, distances become a trick of the eye.

You may wonder why all the sand doesn’t just blow away, and that’s just it. It did all blow away and it blew to here. From river banks and mountain tops, sand is blown east and is caught by the baseball mitt shaped mountains that trap it. Some of it does blow down to the shoestring rivers that also encircle it and these wash the sand back out to the west, deposit it on the banks to dry out and then slowly roll it back into the pile again by the winds.

This park is just a playground and the game is to see how far you can go. Since it was a walk in the sands, I took the beach bag Mom gave me to carry water, keys and camera. The first hill teaches you just how hard it is to go up. Every step forward is reduced by slippage and the going is slow. After the first little hill about half the hikers decide that’s enough. I continued on and the next stretch was a tiring slight uphill route. You have to learn quickly how to choose a route so as to minimize the steepness. You can take any route you want, and everybody does it a bit different. But we all arrived at the steep incline...it was the only sane way up to the next plateau.

It is here that almost everybody else turns back. Probably only 5% still feel like they can make it at this point. It is only about a tenth of a mile of incline, but it is a killer. When I started, there was a woman in pink (we’ll call her Pinky) and a man in red (Red) already about half way up the hill, seated and resting. These two became my points of reference for the rest of the hike. Red took off and within about 20 minutes was at not just the top of the incline, but also streaked on to the peak. Red was my end of trek reference and Pinky was my competition.

About thirty paces up, I had to stop and sit down. Just starting below me were a couple of fit Finns that had maintained a pretty good pace, and plunged right into the slope. They made it about 10 paces past me and had to stop also. We then spent the next half hour jockeying up the hill in bursts.

Both the Finns (I have no idea their nationality, so I’m guessing) were wearing sandals and Finn1 busted his sandal during the walk so that it was unusable. The sand reaches about 140 degrees and it would be unbearable to do it in bare feet. Yet he was determined, and spent his energy doing Dudley Moore in “10” types of sprints across the sand until it got too hot and he’d slam down on his butt to get the feet off the ground. If it didn’t look so painful it would have been comical. Pinky, me and the Finns all gruelingly reached the top of the steep incline.

The whole trek up, the only reference you have as to how far away things are is the size that people look in the distance. Check out the photos of the dunes…in almost everyone there are people, it’s just that sometimes they are really teeny. Sort of a where’s waldo.

The National Parks book I consult instructed me to use hiking boots or sneakers, so I was in my New Balances. Pinky eventually congratulated me for my Good Samaritan deed that I did, giving my sweaty, stinky, sandy socks to Finn1. He thanked me considerably in some language I couldn’t understand. I just couldn’t bare to watch the pain, and he was determined to continue. Oddly, he and Finn2 eventually went all the way to the very highest point in the park. So a part of me (my socks) made it to the very top.

After the incline it was still a trek to get to Red who was waiting for Pinky and the peak, the place where the three of us decided was far enough. Pinky, Red, I and the Finns all took pictures of each other swapping cameras. I was pretty proud of myself; this was definitely the hardest 1.5 miles I will ever hike in my life.

Going up was just a slow, mesmerizing venture into as much desert as you can handle. Going down was the reward!

Red tried a head first slide down the hill and then a long roll. I opted for the 15 foot long stride leaps. At a running pace, going down the steepest parts that could not be walked up, you can cover distances in 10 seconds that would take an hour to go the other way. Having taken a different route down, I could hear Pinky and Red laughing with glee over the ridge at their fast trip down. I was giggling myself, it was like being a kid let loose on the beach for the first time. Heady stuff.

I should mention that back at the bottom I ran into a couple from Hamilton Township, NJ who were out on their own road trip. They were 3 weeks in and on this was their last big hurrah before heading home. It was fun hearing someone besides me exclaim “Wow, I haven’t seen a New Jersey license plate in 3 weeks!”

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Addendum: I uploaded two videos to the end of the Picassa web album for Day 136. The last one of Pinky and Red running down the dunes is worth a look.

A Pleasing Road Through Nowhere - Day 135

I had to go deep in my list for todays route.

Besides Road Tripping and blogging, the thing that takes the next most amount of my time is planning. The whole process is one of going from the big picture to the small picture. At the end of the Jersey Shore family visit, the next big picture was Cape May to Phoenix.

For a trip as immense as that, I started by referring only to two resources and only had a three step process.

How to choose an immense route:

1. First I analyse the map of the entire US. I know where I have never been, so I focus on those areas and look for big adventures. In the case of this trip, I haven't done the south east of the country, so I figured I should get down there and see what's interesting.
2. I check the National Geographic National Park's book to see if there are any biggies along the way.
3. I also see if there are any friends or family along the way.

That's how I ended up in the Smokies and Hot Springs. There aren't many NP's accessible in the SE U.S without going far out of the path to Phoenix. It also helped determine that I should head down the coast first. And lately it helped guide me from Hot Springs to here. The Great Sand Dunes NP is not far from here in south central CO, and it was a big picture kind of area. AuntieR was in Arlington, and the Ingles were in NC, so I kept the options open. But bad timing (too close) and driving the coast overrode Arlington. And food and new states overrode Asheville.

After the big picture, I do a cursory scan of the medium picture (the next 2 or 3 days of travel). I do a bit of this every night of the trip. It usually includes any must sees that can be fit in (Mount Rushmore or Corn Palace), plus any cities (like Oklahoma City) or side lights (like Chapel Hill). Otherwise, I play it day to day...which leaves us with:

How to choose a single days route:

1. The first thing I do is check the National Parks that are within striking distance. If I can get to an NP with enough time to find a camp site, set up camp, and acquire ice, beer, and bear repellent then take any route that will allow for that. I've come to the definitive conclusion that National Parks are AWESOME. If I get a chance to spend any time in a National Park, I must do so. You might have another fetish to substitute for this, but from what I've seen, National Parks are the way to go.

2. After NP's, I take a look at the Road Food book and see if there are any restaurants appropriately spaced for lunch or dinner. If there is something interesting, I then pull out both the Scenic Highways and Byways as well as the National Parks books to confirm if the place is worth shooting for. This would be combining multiple textures to the day and it usually can't be found. But when it plots out well, a great day is virtually guaranteed.

3. I next zero in on the scenic drives that are between me and my final destination (which in this case is Phoenix). I go as deep as reading the summary for each drive that can possibly be en route. I determine whether it must be included and fold the corner of the page if I must make sure to include it (I unfold once I drive it or skip it). Because I have driven in and out of Phoenix 8 times, 8 different ways during this trip so far, I've exhausted most everything the book has to offer. There's some interesting stuff in Utah, so I'm keeping that in mind for later options, but there was nothing remotely worth doing for this leg.

4. I then might go back to the Food Book and see if there is at least a meal anywhere nearby worth going for even if it means taking some interstates for a while. I still found nothing. I had steak for dinner last night at Cattlemans Steak House from the book. Every place in my current path was another steak house and couldn't repeat so soon...this is moo cow country. (Sorry url, I didn't go to "Eat At Joe's" Joe's Restaurant while in OKC...the Cattleman's entry sounded too good, but it didn't live up to the billing. I should have taken your advice.)

5. I reluctantly check out the pamphlets that I pick up in the hotel lobby with all the touristy things to do in the expanded region. I could find caves to spelunk , horseback riding, glider rides, and if something fits with my day well enough I set a route to it. Unfortunately, no luck for today.

6. At last I am down to: Find a place that is within striking distance of Route Option 1 above and isn't too boring. This is when I start looking for any green dots on the map. And this is the option that I had to choose for today's travels.

I spent the entire day on small two lane highways winding through OK, KA and here south central CO, a town called Walsenburg. The drive was quite pleasant, and offered a pretty good variety of scenery, history, negligible traffic and high speeds. And with the Rocky Mountains encroaching on the horizon, there was a beautiful sunset here at the Best Western.

This leaves me within striking distance of the Great Sand Dunes National Park, which I may be able to get a good taste of and still get back on the road to Phoenix before tomorrow runs out. TP - it's looking like a late Wednesday or early Thursday arrival...have my bed turned down either way.

Option 6 only barely beat out the final item on the list:

7. Take an interstate as fast as possible through the area because there is absolutely nothing redeeming.

Week 19 Ends

End of Week 19. ( 6:30 AM, CST - 08/19/07)

Otherwise, today's game has been called on account of rain.

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Addendum: I was watching the local news here in OK, and apparently 6 people were killed by the rains today. Flooding was everywhere, and I drove through some of the worst of it. Roads got destroyed and whole towns are flooded. The storm was the remains of the Tropical Storm Erin that soaked Texas. It was dying out late yesterday. To quote the meterologist tonight, "I've never seen anything like this. The storm while crossing land regained strength. It actually formed an eye over parts of Bumpkin County." Weird weather...I plan to continue to avoid Dean.

Arkansas: Well Blow Me Down, It's Awesome! - Day 133

No pictures inserted in this post because of upload slowness to Google. I did upload them all to my web album (as Day 133), and linked to them in the photos section...if you only look at the pictures (which is most of you) just go there...I added more subtitles than usual and you can avoid reading the following blog entry:

The first time I passed through Arkansas, I went to Little Rock and visited the Clinton Library and followed that with a layover in his birthplace of Hope, AR. A million years ago (on Day 15) I quote myself having written about the drive through AR as, “Nothing of particular interest”. And yesterday I spent the better part of the day driving along the back highways of AR, only to write, "I drove all day through (sic) Arkansas with nothing really worthwhile to write about." By last night, I had all but given up on AR, and was looking forward to putting some miles on the odometer and perhaps getting to Oklahoma City before the end of the day.

I'd decided it wasn’t a great idea to mess with Mother Nature and Hurricane Dean (it became a Category 4), and there was a Scenic Byway in the book heading North from Hot Springs, AR. So upon awakening, my plan for the day was:

1. Start with a morning spa treatment
2. Then cover the little 160 mile scenic drive
3. And make for Oklahoma, perhaps getting as far as Oklahoma City if I take some of the interstates.

I got off to a great start. I woke up at day break, packed up my camping gear, and headed around the bend to Hot Springs NP's bath houses, arriving at 7AM on the steps of the Buckstaff Bath House as they opened their doors. I walked out an hour and a half later floating a few inches off the ground. The old fashion treatment ritual, the ancient equipment and fantastic architecture, and, most of all, the water, truly seem to have restorative powers. Maybe the powers are not scientifical (as GWB would say) or statistical, but you can’t go through the process and not come out the other end feeling better. The more you sip the water, the more you buy into this odd place being a National Park.

By 8:45, after buying the obligatory NP tee-shirt, I was off on the short scenic drive…at only 160 miles, I could fit it all in by lunch. Driving out of town, I hit a couple of the minor landmarks, skipped the digging for diamonds side trip, and was actually not hating this short scenic.

But then I saw a slightly faded sign that said “Auto Route Scenic Drive”. I stopped, reversed 20 yards, and made the suggested turn. It started out mundane, and I expected I would be back on the main road in a mile or two.

5 miles I drove on a paved route, before the sign that read "One lane road ahead" – good. 5 more miles I drove on before the road, without prompting, turned to gravel – better.

In my now vast experience with scenic routes, when the gravel appears, it means you are very close to the end and usually it will have been worth the drive. 10 more miles I drove on the mostly upward and increasingly twisty gravel road. My expectations were rising…how could they make a road like this up such a twisting winding hillside and it not be spectacular finale. Finally a sign up a head. Just a little one that read “Auto Route” and had a little caricature of a 1970’s style sedan. At least I knew I hadn’t made a wrong turn. I began hoping this was some sort of loop road because I didn't want to return the miles of gravel I had traversed.

Three hours later I finally left the gravel road. I was a changed person who now knows that Arkansas is a beautiful state and this drive was one of the best I have taken.

I could describe at length this amazing journey. It was a solitary trek which took me into the heart of a practically uninhabited forest and showed me many treasures along the way. I have uploaded the pictures from this trek and subtitled more than usual. They are great, but as always don’t live up to the experience of being there. This ranks as one of the best days I have had. (Perhaps it isn't in the top 5, but certainly in the top 10. When I am done with the trip, I will have to give this topic more thought. But the Number 1 of the list of "Best Full Day on Road Trip" is probably the first Yellowstone day with BS.)

I am lodged tonight at the Cliff House Inn perched atop what they call “The Grand Canyon of Arkansas”. Pretty cool place to spend the night...I tried to upload a video, but I have bad connection problems in this aerie and couldn't get it to upload in one shot. So just check out the pictures in the Photo section on the right for Day 133. Enjoy...I did!

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Addendum, here is a link to the video I was trying to upload: "Hotel Room Video". I had spoken during it, but couldn't hear it on my laptop...if anyone hears it let me know. - RT

Hot Springs National Park - Day 132

I should have another title for this post. But I drove all day through Tennessee and Arkansas with nothing really worthwhile to write about. I avoided the interstates nicely and spent all day looking for a sign (not from God), but there was nothing that caught my interest. So I kept on keeping on and eventually ended up here at the Hot Springs National Park.

I'm camping out again. I am have a river for my front yard again. However, there are not many campers here at the only park campsite. I have a feeling that people don't camp much here because the primary attraction at this NP is four city blocks that are historic bath houses. For those coming here, being pampered is the objective, and the many hotels offer greater comfort, though not as much beauty. But just to be safe (in case I cramp up during the night, or develop some unthinkable stress) my bath, warm towel wrap and massage are scheduled for 9:30 tomorrow morning.

This is easily the oddest NP. I accidentally drove most of the park while looking for the Visitor Center. The hike listed as the top priority is to walk the 4 blocks of bath houses; Estimated Time: 2 Hours...or 5 minutes if you don't stop in for a spa treatment.

The park is only 55K acres, smallest of any NP. And those acres form a doughnut around the city of Hot Springs. The "park" has a rich history of patrons that came to drink the "healing" waters including American Indians, De Soto, La Salle, Jesse James, Al Capone and FDR, as well as being the proud childhood and high school home of the country's third greatest president (Lincoln, Washington, Clinton).

I've nothing else to add, except that this is surely the only NP campground that is within (literally) short walking distance of a gentleman's club. Good night all, I'm going for a stroll.

Dean, Spelunking, Pigging Out and Luck - Day 131

To Dean, or not to Dean--that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune
Or to take wheels against a sea of troubles
And by avoiding, end them. - BS and me

It's an interesting question, and one that I am not sure which path I should choose. As Dean strengthens and approaches the Caribbean, should I drive toward it, track it to the north, and aim for landfall. Or should I just be aware of it's area of arrival, and make sure I keep the sun above me by heading more toward the north and inland. Both are options right now, and I don't know whether to try to get a peak at some serious global warming, or just keep having the kind of wonderful adventures like today provided...once you check out the weather channel for a few minutes, any comments or updates would be welcome. But right now I am itching for a glimpse...I'll be keeping up with the weather reports as I can. If I had to guess, Corpus Christie, TX could be a soft spot for the storm to land, and since Al Gore is not yet president, it is almost likely. Gonna have to check out if there are any scenic drives still above water in that area.

Today, with no National Parks in sight, and no drives being suggested by the Scenic Byways book, I had to go to option 3 and use the Road Food book as my traffic director. Within striking distance and appropriately spaced, I selected Jackson's Family Restaurant in Madison, AL for lunch and the Pickwick Catfish Farm Restaurant in Counce, TN as my destinations for the day, and anything else that seemed interesting along the way.

Instructing Sake to: Take me to my lunch, but without using a highway, I was guided the way I hoped she would. I had seen some green dotted lines on the map (indicating scenic) and her path led me directly along it. Unbeknownst to me, her path would take me spelunking twice before lunch (she also took me from TN to GA to TN, to AL to MS to TN before the day was out - 6 states with one repeated 3 times).


While driving the route, I saw a brown sign (meaning something neat to see) that said "Russell Cave Nat'l Monument". So I turned. It still surprises me when I see something that says Russell Cave turns out to be an actual cave. The only other cave I've seen is the ice cave in Idaho, and this was completely different. The huge cave openings had been home to many generations of beings dating back to the prehistoric. Many artifacts have been excavated and it has greatly contributed to the sciences that look into these things. I could say more, but I am already boring myself. Let's just say, it was cool.

But my next accidental (or lucky) cave find was completely awesome. Again, driving along and having passed another dozen brown signs, the one that read "Cathedral Cavern's State Park" caught my eye. Cavern...perhaps a cave? So I turned. I never research state parks...just too low a level for the trip I am doing. But I have occasionally taken in a few of them and they are usually either fishing or hiking things, and sometimes single item things. This was a single item thing and it was another cave. Only this cave was a big deal. Cathedral Cavern holds 4 world records including highest cave opening and widest span for a cave opening.

As always, I arrived just 5 minutes before the next tour was beginning. So I had to do it. 5 minutes later and I would have had to wait an hour, and I wouldn't have done it. But it was going to push lunch back to 2 PM (little did I know that I'd already passed a time zone and had gained an hour.) The tour was a 1.3 mile trek into the cave and the same back out. It was incredible, and I can't put into words the bizarre structures and features that I saw, but it elicited many "Wow's" from me and the others on the tour. Stunning. I took a ton of pictures, but not many came out well. I don't know the proper camera settings for caves.

We were a group of 16 on the tour, and I hung out with a family of three and their niece. During the opening talk by the ranger, he asked us where we all were from. When it was my turn, I didn't answer my standard, "NJ". Instead I said, "I used to be from NJ, but now-a-days I am from nowhere, just driving around the country for a while." After we started the spelunking, the 23 year old daughter said over her shoulder to me, "So, you're just driving around...that's cool". I was immediately smitten. I spent the next hour tagging along with her and her family. Just lucky to meet nice people.

For lunch, I did eat at the Jackson Family restaurant and for 7 bucks, I had the "Meat and 3" meal. The meat was country fried steak with white gravy, and the 3 were corn, cole slaw and deviled eggs. For dinner, I went to the Catfish Farm, and found it was only open on Fri, Sat and Sun...what a disappointment. I used Sake to direct me to a hotel, and the nearest medium sized city was Savannah, TN where I am sleeping tonight.

As I completed my room transaction for the night, I (as always) asked for a dinner recommendation. Again, drool formed. Again, there was only one place to eat, and it was the Fish Hut. "Just a shack a couple miles away, but it is the only place to eat." I passed about 40 other dining establishments before arriving at the Fish Hut, but the slobbering concierge was right, it was the Only place to eat.

Everybody was there. I joined a grandmother and her son at a small vinyl table and chairs, and was lucky I was a single or I'd have had to wait. This place was only open Thurs thru Sun, so I got lucky (on this trip, isn't it always the case). The far too religious granny told me that she had visited all the places in the area that were said to have great catfish, and she swears this is the best of the lot. I have nothing to compare it against, but I agree I would be hard pressed to get a better catfish. Just lucky...or is it?

While I was driving and contemplating just how odd it was that everything works out so well, time and again, I started thinking of bro. Bro's best friends (bewick I know you're out there) would agree that everything Mark does works out great. "He's just lucky.", we all say.

I've had a bunch of talks with bro about this and he still says, "Yeah, I'm lucky I guess, but it's more than that. I work hard to put myself in a position to be lucky." Or something of that nature. But what I'm getting at is this: I think I get it now...it might be less about luck, and more about putting yourself in places where serendipity is allowed to take you along for the ride. You just need to be ready to take an off ramp and enjoy that ride. Then again, Mark is just plain lucky.

A Day In the Smokies - Day 130

I arose early, how can you not when camping out. The peaches form two days ago have ripened a bit, so it was nice to have a fresh breakfast. Cade's Cove was just a twenty mile drive, but the road was so twisty that the average speed was about 20 MPH.

In many places, the morning sun penetrates the forrest with dramatic views. Places are named after real things, and I assume the Smoky Mountains were so named either because of their haziness when seen in panorama off in the distance or because of the many times that the hazes and mist make it look like they are smokefilled. Perhaps both.

Cade's Cove, well, Cade was just some guy who used to live here. They seemed to have a lot of religious people, and the "highlights" of the 5 mile drive around the cove were 3 old bland churches. The residences and the grist mill were nothing special either, but these people certainly picked a beautiful place to set up shop. Apparently the rangers had to shoo some black bears away from the visitor center, but I didn't see them. Others were spotting deer in various places, but none for me. The best wildlife I saw was a butterfly that was either very patient for photographers, or dead.

The next stop was Laurel's waterfall and a 1.3 mile hike straight up to get there. Good hike through the steep forest. I've seen a lot better waterfalls, so a bit of a let down for that length of hike. I think it normally would have been more powerful but for the dryness of the summer. Still, good to get out and see the Smokies from the inside, and the 1.3 miles back down hill were a breeze.

From there it was a scenic drive out of the park, and a scenic drive through the foothills in Tennessee ending up here in Sweetwater, TN for some much needed rest.

Smoky Mountains NP and Cooking Out - Day 129

This is what I always imagined camping to be. Sitting by the fireside, listening to the murmuring river which is my front yard, and gazing up through the giant trees at a myriad of stars.

For the very first time, bar none, since this road trip began and with great fanfare - da da dahhh - tonight I cooked myself dinner. Over the campfire I built, and on the skewers I loaded up, I fired up some steak. I got the stir fry ready sliced steak from Krogers, and I had earlier purchased some bamboo spits. I cooked 3 skewers for varying times. The medium rare was good, the medium better and well done was the way to go. If I had A1 Sauce, perhaps the reverse, but the wood BBQ added the most flavor to the meat. My next camping purchase will be salt and pepper shakers...or I'll just steal them from a restaurant.

It has passed into complete darkness now and I revel in the day I had.

I left Murphy around 9:30 and worked my way to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. The route I chose through the Smokies was to cut across it diagonally, catch the good stuff, and set up camp early. The good stuff was plentiful, and it took me til 6:30 to set up camp. I did a couple of mile long hikes, but they felt longer because of the steep inclines. The best was to Clingman's Dome with a panoramic view of the layered Smokies. That hike was straight up, and it embarrasses me to see the four year olds, super fatties and great grandfathers that pace their way to the top. I'm surprised more people don't keel over on these things.

I met one interesting gentleman, his wife and daughter that were from South Africa and were taking it all in. They've recently moved to Florida but continue their import-export business and have the following website (http://www.agclogisticsinc.com) if anyone is interested in wine barrel furniture...I just might be myself in the near future.

Before camping, I went for provisions (Jiffy Pop that didn't work so well and the aforementioned dinner meat) and passed through Gatlinberg, TN. This is the city to which TP and Mr. T eloped. I just gotta say, what a cheesy, tourist trap, we got a Ripley's and Wax museum, throw your money away city. No offense TP :)

My thumbs are tiring and I want to do some star gazing before enjoying the comforts of the air mattress. It's pitch black now as all the campfires are out. I have a plethora of options for tomorrow, but I think I will just hike to a waterfall, do a historic scenic drive and move on and check out some more of Tennessee...perhaps Dollywood can take the cheesy taste out of my mouth that Gatlinberg inspired.

Classic - Day 128

What a delightful day. As a microcosm, this day held a lot of what I have really enjoyed during this trip - a classic "Road Trip" day.
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I started out early from Charlotte, NC and headed to Gaffney, SC to start the Cherokee Foothills scenic drive. I haven't had a great scenic drive in a while, and I didn't hold out hopes for this one. The book described it to be more historic than scenic as it was a path travelled by the namesake Indians and was subsequently followed by armies, traders and bootleggers.

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But I was wrong, the drive was great. It was supposed to take about 3 hours, and I usually beat the estimated time. It took me 5 hours. I was thrown off schedule early when I met John A. Robertson at my first stop. He is a ranger at the Cowpens National Battlefield, site of a Historic victory for the American Patriots; his real passion is the Revolutionary War. He's a buff. This is a long post, and the next long paragraph is about him and his passion, so skip it if you have no interest in the Rev. War.

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Mr. Robertson spent many years working on genealogy, but a few years ago, feeling his work was complete, he moved his attentions to the Revolutionary War. An early adopter of technology, he has designed a series of web pages to organize, share and request information about the war. He has an online page (http://gaz.jrshelby.com/) that shows all the sites of the war that he knows about. Many of them have a comment of "incomplete". These are sites where he is looking for more information, and he provides a simple sheet to fill out that describes the basic information he is looking for. One city marked as incomplete is Haddonfield. Perhaps someone (buz) can help out and send in the answers he is looking for. And he welcomes any other support anyone has to offer. The fill-out sheet exists somewhere, but I couldn't quickly find it, so John, if you use the card created by my sister and get to this blog page, feel free to add the link to the sheet in a comment. BTW, his other main pages are (http://lib.jrshelby.com/ and http://jrshelby.com/). Needless to say an interesting guy and a wealth of knowledge. The actual park was fine, but not as interesting as John. He dared me that I wouldn't find a more interesting spot to visit during the day, and I believed him at the time, but we were both wrong.

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I continued along the byway, SC Route 11, enjoying the scenery as it headed into the foothills of the Blue Ridge mountains. After skipping a few possibilities, I took the detour to Caesar's Head, a mountaintop overlook. The actual head looked more like Bart's Grandpa Simpson than Caesar, but it was a twisty drive that ended with a beautiful overlook.

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Back on Route 11, I took advantage of the local crops. Perhaps I should have waited for Georgia, but I bought a satchel of fresh peaches and a bag of boiled peanuts. The peaches were just picked and aren't ripe yet, so I will enjoy them in the future. And the peanuts were great at first, but once they cooled down, they seemed a bit soggy to me. I prefer roasted and crunch to boiled and mushy, but it was a unique experience.

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After that, it was just an enjoyable drive to Lake Hartwell - pretty, but not worth writing home about. I was then going to head for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, but when I looked it up on the map, I noticed a little town called Murphy, NC. It showed it had camping, so I figured I might spend another night under the stars.

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Sake (my GPS) said Murphy was only 95 miles away, but said it would take 3 hours. Sake was right this time. The winding roads that lead to Murphy were slow and twisty. I didn't see the camping, so I am stashed tonight at the Murphy Best Western. Nice place.

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Murphy, NC is beautiful. It's a bit head turning to see my name on the town, schools, restaurants, hardware stores, and dump. But when not rubbernecking, I enjoyed getting lost in my namesake town set in the Blue Ridge foothills.

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I asked the clerk at the hotel for a good place to eat, an act that has become second nature to me. But her breathless, drooling yet emphatic response of "Doyle's!" caught me by surprise. Usually the clerks ask, "What are you in the mood for" or "We have a Bennigan's". But there was something about this response that was different. I stammered, "Really? It's good?". She could only nod and suck back the saliva creeping down her lower lip.

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I parked in the gravel lot, and sauntered in. I could get a table if I waited, but I could sit at the wine bar alone if I wanted to sit right away. Mondayfreakingnight, and a line...I sat at the wine bar, and was lucky for it. The line grew longer as I perused the wine list and selected a glass of Gewurztraminer from Germany, but the hostess said it was a bit on the sweet side and pointed me to a Sauvignon Blanc that was crisp and delicious.

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Only when the bread arrived did I begin to understand that I had fallen into an exquisite fine dining experience, one of the best I've had on the entire Road Trip. The bread came with freshly whipped homemade butter and a hummus thingy. I ripped off a piece of the (I'd guess just baked) bread and buttered it and it was great...but the butter wasn't needed. The next piece was just the bread and it tasted as good. The third nugget of bread was dipped into the hummus thingy, as well as every piece thereafter. It was a curry hummus, very freshly made, with chunks of garlic, and a few other tangy spices.

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My eyes opened, the National Parks book closed, and I began to take the menu seriously. Because I had recently had beef, I went with the Seafood Linguine plate at the recommendation of the hostess, who still tried to convince me to have the steak...perhaps I should have heeded her, but the pasta worked. The garden salad came first and by now, I knew to take the house dressing which was a curry ginger sauce that I had to lick off the plate. The garden part of the salad consisted of mushrooms, tomatoes and carrots grown by the chef. I even tasted the tomato, and have a new found appreciation.

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The seafood pasta arrived and it was decadent. The abundant muscles and shrimp were perfectly cooked. My only disappointment was that there were only 3 giant scallops that were better than perfect. Scallops are so easy to ruin, and so hard to get right; when they are perfect, it is a treasure. The sauce must have been half butter or more. It separated from the garlic cream sauce in the same way as when you put a pat of butter into hot clam chowder. It was a dipping sauce for the seafood as well as an excellent sop for more of the homemade bread.
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(BTW the service was excellent also, and because the wine bar was also a station for the staff, I constantly was chatting with the employees passing through.)

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I was full. I asked for the check. Jean sat down.

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Jean escaped New Orleans just one day before Katrina and has made a home of Murphy. She's now in charge of the homeless shelter here, the only one in a hundred miles. She convinced me to re-open the check and order the creme brulee for desert, to which I added a snifter of Warre's port. I'm not much of a desert person, but it was as good as the rest of the meal. What a great restaurant...if anyone is ever within striking distance of Murphy, NC come to Doyle's and enjoy this for yourself.

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If I hadn't already decided on the Phoenix area, Murphy, NC could win me over. Tomorrow I hope to do the camp-out thing, so we'll see about another blog post, hope this one leaves you as full as me.

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Addendum: I received this message from John Robertson after he checked out the comments, so I figured I'd add it to the main message:

Scott.

I tried to post this as a comment to your blog, but it hasn't appeared, so I must have done something wrong.

Anyway, I was able to expand the Haddonfield page extensively. It was a very busy spot during the RW.

See

http://gaz.jrshelby.com/whatsnew.htm (it won't be at the top of the list for long).

http://gaz.jrshelby.com/haddonfield.htm

http://gaz.jrshelby.com/m.htm#mantuacreek (I can't understand why anyone would say that any part of Mantua Creek was "near Haddonfield".

I have been adding these "Incomplete" pages as quickly as I can, because when I have them all up, I want to make yet another serious effort to recruit someone with interests similar to mine but focusing on New Jersey and New York. It those states were covered along with SC, it could be as much as half or more of the total.

Only a week or so, I gave an informal refutation to someone emailing the park that NJ had more actions than did any other state. I have no interest in bragging rights, but my work has turned up noticeably more for SC than any other colony, followed by NY then by NJ. Working with Haddonfield, I could see that someone (or several) in NJ have done the detailed searching there that some of us have done for the Carolinas. I think that I initially had 2 actions mentioning Haddonfield, and these expanded into 8. When we have had an opportunity to research all the NJ sites, the whole question of "bragging rights" may require revisiting (at least, on my part).

John

Week 18 Ends

End of Week 18. ( 12:30 PM, EST - 08/12/07)

I took a pleasant drive through NC on the blue highways. Wikipedia has the following definition for "Blue Highways" with my own notations in red:

Blue Highways is an autobiographical book by William Least Heat-Moon, born William Trogdon.
In 1978, after a divorce and losing his job (no divorce, I quit my job), Heat-Moon, 38 at the time (38 when I started, 39 now), decides to take an extended road trip around the United States, sticking to only the "Blue Highways," (unless driving through Iowa, then you need to get out as fast as possible) a term he coins to refer to small, forgotten, out of the way roads connecting rural America (which were drawn in blue on the old style Rand McNally road atlas) (I have the 2007 Rand McNally road atlas and it is reversed now...interstates are blue and the smaller highways are red). He outfits a white van (a red Prius) with a bunk (a tent), a camping stove (a bag of what bCollins calls salty snacks), a portable toilet (an as yet unuesd roll of Scott's TP) and a copy of Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass (The Stearn's "Road Food) and John Neihardt's Black Elk Speaks (National Geographic's "Scenic Highways and Byways). Referring to the Native American resurrection ritual (the cars model), he christens the van (car) "Ghost Dancing," ("Pre,") and embarks on a 3 (5)-month soul-searching tour of the United States, wandering from small town to small town, often just because they have interesting names (like Murfreesboro, Intercourse, Climax - oh, I could go on!). The book chronicles the 13,000 (so far 21,000) mile journey and the people he meets along the way, as he steers clear of cities and interstates, avoiding fast food and exploring local American culture. (yep, that's right.)

Exiting NJ through 5 States - Day 126

I exited New Jersey today. The Cape May - Lewes ferry was completely booked, so I had to take the long route around. And with shore traffic, it was extra long. But once I escaped, I started catching the driving bug, and entered four more states before I was through. 5 states in just 400 direct miles...it can only happen in the north east.

My exit out of NJ was over the Delaware Memorial bridge. I assume this will be the last time I

drive Pre out of her birth state.

I headed straight south through Delaware. Until now, DE had just been a "cut-through state"...sort of like a "fly-over state", except you're on wheels and they vote for the good guys. But this time I didn't make the right turn into MD, and instead headed down the Delmarva Peninsula.

I found Delaware quite pleasant, except for the nuclear power plant which made me feel a bit uneasy while observing the people swimming and fishing near by (oddly, I support nuclear power). Otherwise the birds, farms and little towns were entertaining scenery.

I don't remember Maryland at all, I think I turned left once.

Virgina gave me the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, which at 17 miles is the longest in the world. It's a pretty amazing feat of architecture. Reading about it was better than driving it, as it was just a series of connected bridges and tunnels covered with some large egrets (now I have a visual for the common crossword puzzle shore bird) .

By the time I exited I was only a hundred miles from Murfreesboro, NC. So I pushed on. Arriving in my misspelled namesake town, I am disappointed to say I didn't fit in. So I pushed on. I am now chilling out in Roanoke Rapids, NC.

I put nearly 450 miles on today, a pretty big chunk for me, but it felt good to get back on the road again, especially with a glimpse of the end in sight. I think I'll slow it down a bit tomorrow, and take a closer look at the scenery.

Cape May Endings - Day 125

Here's the head of Max and a couple of the kids that have made this week at Cape May so enjoyable.

The shore week is wrapping up and I will be embarking on the next leg of the Road Trip. Perhaps it is the penultimate trip. I'm pretty sure what the final trip is, but it is still about 3000 miles away. So for now, I am focusing on this trip. Phoenix here I come. Are you ready for me TP?

If possible, I will be catching a morning ferry out of Cape May and into Delaware. I think I will head down the coast for a while, getting into the hotter climates. I will be turning right eventually and heading out west, probably when the shore crowds start to drive me nuts.

In the title section of my blog, I wrote that this Road Trip had a “final destination yet to be determined”. That’s not really true anymore. While it may not, and probably will not be my final destination, the Road Trip’s final destination is going to be the Phoenix metro area…perhaps a Dale named after me.

I’m thinking that I will be renting a place for a few months while I scour the area perhaps to buy a place. When I will arrive there in the next few weeks, there is still another big trip being scouted out right now and as TP has already alluded to in a comment, there will be an RV involved. Should be an interesting new adventure.

After that, I think I will be flying back to NJ, renting a U-Haul, unloading all my stored stuff and driving back to AZ. So, that about sums it up. You can all stop reading now. Sure, I’ll be finishing up the blog with the next month and a half or so of stuff, but I just gave away the ending…sort of like knowing that Harry Potter dies at the end of the 7th book. (For you kids who haven’t read the book, neither have I, so I made that up…maybe.)

Homecomings - Day 121 - 123

Thank you Maitlyn for the previous blog!! Great job. Let me know when you want to post another one.

It's been a long time since I have been back to my old home territories, and I have had a whirlwind tour in the past few days. After arriving here at Cape May on Sunday, and revisiting with all of my immediate family, I took a two day sojourn to Hoboken where I had spent my previous 15 years.

I think Maitlyn sufficiently described the goings on during the "Day at the Beach". And the goings on during my sojourn to Hoboken were nothing remarkable...same as it always was, I was glad to see. What's different about these days is me.

I know I have been a changed man since I started this trip. I'm happy. That's the most obvious thing I notice, as well as what most others say they see in me. A few decades ago when he met me, MFox used to call me "Mr. Happy". I feel like I could earn that title back again someday. But the changes are a lot more than just being happy, and being back in my former habitat has made me more aware of some of the changes that have taken place.

Seeing the whole family again at once, perhaps for the first time since our Disney cruise, was a bit overwhelming. (Then again, spending time with a ton of kids is usually overwhelming to me since it is not a normal occurrence in this single guy's life - I would be in much better shape if I were a parent.) The nieces and nephew grow so fast, learn so many new things, and are endlessly entertaining. And draining. And that was in less than one full day.

I then spent two nights with the former and current Hobokenites. I say two nights, because during the day they all seem to be working. Their loss.

During the day, I was able to catch up on a few local tasks that needed to be done. I went to the dentist for a correction to a previously botched cavity replacement and I did some banking at my local Citi branch to deposit some funds. Most surprising to my prior self was that, I took the opportunity to drop off my clubs at my Hoboken storage unit. Yes, that's right, I have removed the golf clubs from the car. If I need to golf, I will be renting clubs. It became a space issue and camping gear has forced the golfing gear out of the Prius. I'm not giving up golfing, but my newest hobby offers much more rewarding immediate dividends.

As for the two nights, they were spent doing what I perhaps love most. Eating. Ted and Joes for bar food and Maxwells in the city for steak. Both, great meals. The best thing I've eaten in a long while was the slab of bacon appetizer at Maxwells. It was about a half inch thick, with tons of perfect fat. It could have been a meal in itself. (see picture.)

Though the eating was great, the de ja vue effect Hoboken and NYC had on me was surprising. It was like watching a rerun of first season Seinfeld episode. Same cast and crew, same jokes, same stories, but new laughs all over again. I found myself talking too much...I think it was the gin.

It's lonely on the road at times, especially in the I states (Iowa, Illinois, Indiana). And I have picked up a greeting common in most of this country that doesn't exist in the northeast. Hugs: while I was west, I picked up the habit of hugging people. At first I didn't take to it at all - it weirded me out, but it's happened so often during the trip, it's become natural to me. MFox always did this (charlies influence I'm sure), but me and most of the crew had always been just hand-shakers. I noticed that some of my friends were a bit stiff when I hugged...bFranc, Franc and url - stiff boards...loosen up guys.

Thanks 6pack for the lodgings...I'll be back in a month or so when I am wrapping up this trip.

A Day at the Beach - Day 120 - 121

Hi, this is Road Tripper's (Uncle Scott's) niece, Maitlyn and I am going to create his blog page for him today. He needs to sleep because he has been driving too much. He got here yesterday afternoon. Here's what we did:

Yesterday we went to the beach and jumped waves with Mary and Megan (my cousins) and my sister Melanie.We also played in the sand, looked for seashells and rocks, and buried Mia (my little sister). I actually have three sisters Melanie, Megan and Mia. They are all younger than me (8,5,3).

The cool thing about my family is that my family's names all start with an M, Maria (my mom), Mark (my dad), me, Melanie, Megan and Mia. There are a lot of people with M names who are with me in Cape May. Maritza (Uncle Joe’s girlfriend), Mary ,Megan(my cousins), Meme(my grandmother), Mare-mare(my dads aunt),and Max(my cousin). Now for the people without M names. Uncle Joe, Buz (my grandfather), Aunt Terri, Uncle David, Ries (my cousin), Aunt Kristin, Cousin Tina, Uncle Dickson, Adam(a friend who is here), Abby(Adam’s girlfriend), Bruce(My dads uncle) and Beana. Now if you want we could go through my moms side of the family! I’d rather not because that is a lot of people!

Last night we had dinner(tacos) and a birthday party for Melanie, Mary and Aunt Terri(the august birthday girls). Mare-mare was driving the cake home, and she turned the steering wheel left and the cake fell on her because it was a sharp turn. Luckily it was in a box so the car didn’t get messy. But the cake got smooshed on one side and the icing got stuck on the top of the box. So the cake needed surgery. First we cut out the clear top of the box that had the “Happy Birthday” writing on it. Then we pressed the plastic on the cake so it still said “Happy Birthday” (we put candles in the cake except for the plastic part). Luckily it worked. The icing was really sugary…Yummmmmmm! We stayed up til 10 PM because of all the sugar.

Today we woke up and it was raining! We went to breakfast at the Pancake House and I had strawberry pancakes with whipped cream on top...Yummmmmm again! Then the rain cloud went away and we decided to go to the beach. The waves were really big and we got pushed over a lot. It was rough, really rough. But we all made it through.

For the next blog, I'm gonna leave it for Uncle Scott to do. Bye everyone!