Days 18 & 19 - KS, MO, IA, IL, IN

So, we made it out of Kansas alive. The hotel was a lot less creepy during the day. We hit the road and kept heading east. We were planning to stop at the Army base in Manhattan, Kansas to see my cousin, Ricky, who is being deployed this week, but unfortunately he couldn't get off the base. So, stay safe, Ricky!

We left Kansas, drove through Missouri, and ended up in Newton, Iowa for the night. We stopped to eat at this place called The Pizza Ranch, which was pretty good. The next morning we overslept and almost missed the checkout time for the hotel.

After breakfast at Perkins, we were on the road again. We drove through Iowa and into Illinois. We got to Chicago around 6:00 so we stopped for dinner. We ended up in the Lincoln Park area and walked around for about an hour before we found something we both wanted to eat. We ended up at Pasta Palazzo, which was a casual place that made homemade pastas. Speaking for myself, I wasn't crazy about Chicago. We didn't stay long after dinner. We decided to keep driving and get some more miles in. We decided to stop for the night in South Bend, Indiana.

Unfortunately, we don't have many pictures from this leg of the trip. We haven't really seen those great landscapes that we saw in other states. All we've seen for miles and miles in farmlands. Not only that, it has been consistently cloudy and rainy since we left Utah. It has rained the most of every day.

Now we are getting ready to hit the road again. We will probably be home tomorrow or Sunday. See you all soon!

Days 15-17: NV, UT, CO, KS

We made it out of Eureka alive. We hit the road with Boulder as our eventual destination. The route from Nevada through Utah is very scenic. Utah actually seems very proud of its natural beauty and has frequent scenic view points where you can pull off the highway and stand on a precipice and behold . . . THE MAJESTY OF UTAH! We stopped in Green River for the night.

From Green River we went to Colorado. The ride through the Rockies was accompanied by a John Denver soundtrack. I had a certain preconception of the Rockies and was surprised that it wasn't all snowy peaks and pine trees. We saw red layered hills like the ones in Utah, fog covered crags, and the actual "purple mountains' majesty" I've heard so much about. And since it was August we didn't see very much snow on the peaks. We stayed in Boulder, which was really cool. It is a total college town. Eateries seemed to outnumber any other kind of establishment in the area we were in, so I could see becoming very happily fat if I lived there. We checked into our hotel and spent the afternoon wandering the town and checking out shops. The difference between Boulder and Saratoga Springs is that Boulder seems to embrace its college kid community whole heartedly while Saratoga tends to cater more to its summertime horse racing cliental. So basically we saw more than a few stores that catered solely to the sale of pipes and paraphernalia and things that are sure to look rad under a black light.

After an evening of wandering around and checking out stores and street performers (not to mention an awesome candy store that had an entire section dedicated to Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory) we went back to the hotel and used the pool. In the morning we took another stroll around town and then hit the road. A lot of driving later we're in Kansas. Denver smelled really bad as we drove by it. We made stops for gas, stretches, and food and now we are in a really weird Ramada in Hays, Kansas. You know how a standard design for a hotel is to be two stories in a U shape with parking in the middle of the U? This has the same setup but it is all indoors and it isn't well lit. I think they are currently in the middle of building a bigger hotel around a previously existing one. It really feels like we are in an underground bomb shelter, though. It's kind of creepy.

So if any of you never see us again, assume that we got killed by the zombies or C.H.U.D.s or whatever else dwells in this missile silo of a hotel in Kansas. Know that all of you, friends and family, are much loved and be sure to avenge us!

Anyway . . . here are some pictures from Utah and Colorado!

Day 14 - CA to NV

So, we left Rancho Cordova this morning and got right on the road. We drove east on Route 50 and, let me tell you, that is a BEAUTIFUL drive. We drove through El Dorado National Forest, which was all these winding roads carved into the sides of mountains. There was one point that we were driving probably 7000 feet up on a mountain road and within about 5 feet of us there was a huge, vertical drop. It was scary, but very beautiful. We took this road all the way to Lake Tahoe where we stopped to eat at an Irish Pub. The food wasn't great, but the way the lady at the table next to us complained, you would have thought they served her arsenic. She was not very nice.

We left Lake Tahoe and continued our very scenic drive on Route 50 into Nevada. Once we left Fallon, NV the road really became "The Loneliest Road in America," which it has been dubbed over the years. There are practically no towns or services on this road. Eventually it started getting dark and we could see storm clouds and some lightning on the horizon, so we decided to stop in Eureka Nevada. I would guess that the population here is about 300 people. We decided to stay at the only well-lit hotel in town, which is a Best Western. We asked what there was to eat in the area and the receptionist said we could choose the steakhouse or Chinese. We went for the steakhouse, which was also a lounge and casino (meaning it had a few slot machines underneath all the deer heads on the wall).

Now we are sitting in the hotel and waiting for the morning so we can continue our adventure! For now, we added some new photos to the San Francisco album and here are some from Route 50.

Day 13 - CA

So, in the morning we did the very touristy area of San Francisco, Fisherman's Wharf. Erik took us for our very first In n' Out Burger experience, which was really good! We both got Double Doubles with milkshakes.

Then we walked over to the Museum Mechanique, which is a collection of old video games and coin operated machines pretty much since they were invented. The most interesting ones were the executions. You would put in a quarter and a door would open to an execution, like a hanging or a guillotine. I am not sure why something like that would have been made, but they were interesting to see. There was this fortune telling machine there that typed up a fortune for you on an old typewriter that gave really accurate fortunes to Erik, Tommy and myself. It was eerie.

After leaving the museum, we drove Erik to work, where he treated us to homemade lemonade. Then we were off. We decided to take the Golden Gate Bridge, even though it was out of the way. It is crazy how foggy it gets. We took a video going over that we will post soon.

Unfortunately, because of crazy amounts of traffic, we did not make it very far at all. After sitting in traffic for about 3 hours, we decided to pull off the highway and go to the movies. If you ever find yourself in Fairfield, California, I highly recommend the Edwards Cinema. Great theater. We saw Inglourious Basterds, which was a really fun movie. Better than we both expected. After the movie, we drove a little while longer but we didn't get very far before we were both exhausted. We ended up stopping in Rancho Cordova, CA to sleep for the night, which was probably a lot smarter than driving while exhausted.

Onward to Nevada!

Days 11 & 12: San Francisco

San Francisco is a beautiful city! Plenty of cool, independently owned shops, great restaurants, beautiful views.

Yesterday morning, we ventured out into the surrounding neighborhoods after Erik and I altered our beards for maximum stupidity. First stop was the park at Alamo Square across the street from Erik's house. From there you see the famous "Painted Ladies" or as people our age know them as, "The Full House Houses." There was also a cool "shoe garden" where people brought their old pairs of shoes to plant in them. Then, Erik showed us around Haight St., which is the big hippie area in the city and where the whole "flower power" scene started. We checked out all sorts of cool shops and had lunch at a great greasy spoon called The Pork Store, which was very excellent. There was an enormous music store that I could have spent hours in called Amoeba Records, but, luckily for everyone involved, I didn't. We continued our walk through the Pan Handle and then back to the house where we hung out for the evening.

The next day Erik went to work and Alicia and I walked walked in the general direction of the Golden Gate Bridge. It was a long and hilly walk but the weather was very nice like a warm Fall day. We spotted an interesting building in the distance and decided to check it out. It turned out to be the Palace of Fine Arts. It was a beautiful curved structure with statues and columns bordering a pond. We saw a sleeping owl, too. Inside the actual building was a science museum called The Exploratorium.

We finally made our way to the beach and got a good view of the bridge as huge billows of fog rolled in. The way fog hangs over the city is really interesting. When we drove into the city, we drove into a fog cloud. From where we were on the beach we could see the dividing line. The bridge and everything to the left was gray while Alcatraz and the wind surfers were brightly lit by the sun, We walked along the shore of the Bay for a while. From there we walked to Erik's restaurant, Rose's Cafe, for dinner. The food was awesome and we were treated very well. We tried beets and prosciutto with melon, fresh spaghetti and steak. With full bellies we leisurely walked back to the apartment, checking out a few stores along the way. We walked down Fillmore Street and they were playing Iron Man in Fillmore Center, so we sat down to watch for a few. By the time we got back we were so beat, we couldn't keep our eyes open.

So, without further ado, here are the pictures (including the beard before and afters): San Francisco

Days 9 & 10 - Arizona to California

So, on our last day in the Grand Canyon we took a walk down to see the mules and took one last look at the Canyon. We were pretty sad to leave it, but also very excited about the rest of the adventure.

So, we left the Grand Canyon and pointed the car towards San Francisco. On the way, we drove down the longest stretch of Route 66 that has survived. There were plenty of kitschy, cheesy stores and diners that were left in the few towns that existed on this stretch.

We decided to stop at The Grand Canyon Caverns, which is an underground dry cavern. When you pull up, you are greeted by a giant T-Rex sculpture (which has nothing to do with the Caverns since they never found any dinosaur fossils there). They had a great greasy spoon restaurant inside, cowboy gunfights on horseback, a motel and a curio shop. It was exactly what you would expect from a roadside attraction on Route 66. We decided to take a tour of the caverns and we ended up with the best tour guide, Ron. Ron has probably worked at the Caverns for 50 years and given the same tour a million times, but he definitely still enjoys it and cracks up at his own jokes. The caverns themselves were beautiful. As soon as you got out of the elevator, the change in pressure was instantly evident. If I spent a week down there I would probably come out a foot shorter. There were tons of entertaining tidbits, like it's call the Grand Canyon Caverns because the air actually comes in from the Grand Canyon, which is almost 150 miles away. I highly recommend stopping at the Grand Canyon Caverns if you find yourself on Route 66.  The rest of Route 66 was exactly what you would expect, lots of nothing with a few curio shops, gas stations and an Indian Reservation. It was beautiful.

We spent the rest of the day driving towards California. One thing I have to say about Arizona is that it was probably our favorite place to drive through so far on our journey. It was beautiful and had everything from forests that looked like Vermont to deep deserts to craggy mountains to rolling, grassy hills. I can understand why so many people are moving there.

We didn't drive for as long as we intended towards San Francisco because we were pretty exhausted. We ended up stopping in Barstow, California and staying at the Quality Inn there. I know I am probably going to sound like an ad, but the staff at the Quality Inn was the most friendly and accommodating I have ever encountered. They must have thought we were undercover hotel reviewers or something. The hotel had a great courtyard with grills, outdoor fireplaces, picnic tables, fountains and a pool. It was pretty swank and pretty cheap.

We left Barstow first thing in the morning after our sweet free breakfast and started towards San Francisco. Unfortunately, our drive through California was not quite as scenic as some of our other drives. Everything seemed to be farmland or industrial plants. Although, on the California hilltops we saw lots of wind farms and some of the winding roads through the hills were very nice.

We arrived in San Francisco around 7:00 and spent about a half hour trying to find a parking spot, which seems like an authentic San Francisco experience. We are staying with Tommy's brother, Erik, who lives in a fantastic neighborhood right near the house and park from Full House. We went to a great pizza place, Little Star, and got a few delicious deep dish pizzas. We went down the street to a bar where we got to meet some of Erik's friends, who all had great suggestions for the drive back east.

Now we are about to head out to see the sights in San Francisco, but first I have to wait for Tommy and Erik to finish shaving because they decided they wanted funny beards. I will be sure to post before and after pictures later for your amusement.

To tide you over, here are some pics from Arizona, Route 66 and Eastern California.

Days 7,8 and 9 - TX to AZ

So, we haven’t updated in a few days, mainly because we haven’t really had access to wireless internet and because we’ve been pretty busy seeing the sights!

After staying in El Paso, we drove to Las Cruces, NM which was only about an hour’s drive. In Las Cruces we stayed with Chrissy and Dallas Rodriguez with their adorable 3 year-old daughter, Maddie. While there, we pretty much crashed. They made us great burgers and let us crash at their house. All this driving has exhausted us, so it was good to have a relaxed day. 

We left Las Cruces early Saturday morning to head to the Grand Canyon.  We made a quick pit stop in Truth or Consequences, NM (isn’t that a great name for a town!) to have Sonic for breakfast after a recommendation from Chrissy. It was pretty good. If you go to Sonic, get the tater tots instead of fries!

Anyways, the drive through New Mexico was pretty cool. The GPS took us way off the beaten track to get us onto 40 west from 25 north. We took route 6 for about 30 miles through these amazing farmlands and we were the only car on the road for the most part (with the exception of a white minivan that was driving dangerously close to us for the last few miles). Route 6 was part of Route 66, which we could have continued on, but we were really hankering to get to the Grand Canyon. As we were leaving New Mexico, we started to see these signs for an Indian village right over the Arizona border that kept boasting about the great photo opportunities. Like idiots, we didn’t stop and we totally regret it. It was these small Indian shops right off the highway built about 20 feet in front of the foot of a mountain. There were all sorts of caves and beautiful scenery, but we only got to see it from the car because we missed the exit. Heed this advice: if you are driving from New Mexico to Arizona on Route 40, get off at that first exit to see this village. It will be worth it, we assume.  We drove by a few more reservations and villages, but that one looked like the best.

So, after a few hours, we were off the highway and on another isolated road leading us to the Grand Canyon. I’m surprised we didn’t explode with anticipation on this last 55-mile leg. At long last, we found our hotel, checked in and made the way to our cabin.  When they said that we had a view of the rim of the Grand Canyon when I booked this cabin, they forgot to mention that it was probably the best view in the whole park. I kid you not when I tell you that we are about 20 feet from the rim.  For the first half hour we just sat there and stared out the window and played with our fireplace (Tommy is very easily amused by our electric fireplace). The cabin is really amazing. After we got over the initial shock, we deciding to take a hike so we walked a few miles around the rim to the west of the hotel. We probably could have made it further, but it was hard to not stop every 5 feet to take a picture. When people have said that pictures don’t do the Grand Canyon justice, they really meant it. As the sun went down, the shadows changed, giving you a completely different view every few minutes. And every few feet you walked, you could see some new angle or new detail you didn’t see before. It sounds corny, but it really is breathtaking. We went to dinner at one of the many restaurants in the village. It was cafeteria style and packed. We have also probably heard every language spoken on earth since we’ve been here. On the walk back, I am surprised I didn’t fall into the Grand Canyon because I could not stop staring up at the stars. We could see the whole Milky Way. I even saw a meteor. It was great!

In the middle of the night Tommy got up to get a drink of water and was looking out the window at the stars.  After a few minutes he realized there was a deer in the darkness about three feet away from him eating from the tree outside the window.  He woke me as quietly as he could and I sleepily watched it as it walked away.

Today, we woke up at around 8:00 and had a quick breakfast before heading out onto the trail. We loaded up a backpack with water and Gatorade and headed east along the rim trail. It was just as breathtaking today and the weather has been perfect. There hasn’t been a cloud in the sky since we arrived and the breeze really keeps it cooler than you’d expect. I made Tommy nervous a few times by getting too close to the edge, but it is hard not to. There are so many things to see so you want to take it all in from every angle. Again, we stopped every few feet to take a picture.

We even saw some animals, namely lizards, deer, hawks, friendly squirrels, chipmunks, and I even saw a mountain goat while I was standing too close to the edge for Tommy’s liking. There was one point where there was a rock that jutted out over a huge deep precipice so we went right to the edge on our hands and knees and looked over. It was super scary, but was a great view. Also, of course even though we were both wearing SPF 50 sunblock, I got a horrible sunburn on my shoulders and my forehead. Oh yeah, and apparently President Obama was here today, but we didn’t get to see him. We could have walked right past him and not realized it because our eyes barely strayed from the canyon itself. After coming back to the cabin and having lunch, we rested for a bit watching reruns of Alf. Then we caught the shuttle to Hopi Point to watch the sunset. There were tons of people there, because apparently that is the best place to see it, but we hiked down a little and found a great spot right on the edge. We even recorded it and I will try to upload it on YouTube. The video can’t do justice to how beautiful it was. From Hopi Point we were also finally able to get our first real view of the Colorado River at the bottom of the canyon. It is so hard to believe how far down it really is.

Now we are off to dinner and to stare at the stars some more. If we could move into this cabin I think we would.

Here are all the pics for the past few days: West Texas, New Mexico and Arizona (keep your eyes peeled for a mountain that looks just like Jabba the Hutt) and Grand Canyon.

RANDOM POINTS OF INTEREST:

-we saw the fence between Mexico and USA.  I could hop it in a wheel chair.

-we passed a border patrol inspection station, but our blinding white skin and MA plates made us a low threat.  We didn’t appear to be illegal Mexican immigrants or drug mules.

-speaking of mules, “MULE X-ING” signs are hilarious

-there are some great town names like Truth or Consequences, Two Guns, and Elephant Butte.

-Flagstaff, AZ looks like Vermont

-Cactus Jack does not great you as you drive into Truth or Consequences.

-Almost a thousand miles of desert terrain and no live armadillo sightings.

-since we saved a couple of hours by bypassing Albuquerque we couldn’t say we “took a left at Albuquerque” like Bugs Bunny.

-you can buy a brand new two floor, four bedroom house in New Mexico for $177,000

-squirrels are either very vain, or they know there will be a food reward if they pose for pictures.

-Even though there were signs warning of “controlled fires” in the area, we have seen nonstop smoke and flames on the North Rim across from our cabin since we got here, which makes me think that these fires aren’t as “controlled” as they say.

Day 6: West Texas

This morning we left San Antonio after leaving our painted hand prints on the wall and made our way westward. An oil change was in order before getting too far so we took care of that first. Once we really got going we got to see how awesome the land is out there. The further west we went the more hills and valleys we took in. Words or pictures won't really do it justice. Also the speed limit out there is 80 so you make pretty good time.

We ate at a Sonic, which we have commercials for in Boston but no locations I know of. It was basically like Wendy's but they bring your food to your car. They aren't on roller skates in short shorts so it isn't that impressive. Storm clouds were lingering on the horizon. The empty landscape allows you to look out for miles and see entire storms in the distance. About 50 miles out of El Paso one cloud was so dark blue and gray that it looked like a giant jellyfish in the sky and the rain was its tentacles reaching down to the ground.

We were supposed to end up in Las Cruces but flash flood warnings and tired eyes landed us in a hotel in El Paso for the night.

Day 5 - San Antonio

First, here are the pictures from New Orleans and some other random ones we have taken so far: New Orleans and Misc. 

So for the first time since the trip began, we stayed in the same place for a full day. San Antonio is really beautiful and really HOT! We did the good San Antonio touristy things like the Riverwalk and the Alamo.  Tommy was also pretty sure that the Riverwalk was where Davey shot that bad guy in Cloak & Dagger.  Also, we walked all around the Alamo and didn't see the entrance to the basement anywhere. Then we drove all around old San Antonio and some of the houses are really pretty. We ate a a Texas icehouse, Willy's, which was pretty awesome. We also went to a pizza place called Grimaldi's.

Staying with family has been great, except that the dog seems to really hate Tommy for some reason. It's probably the beard. Now we are going to put our handprints on the wall to commemorate our stay. See the pictures of our trip here.

You'll hear from us again from New Mexico!

Day 4: LA to TX

We woke up and walked around the French Quarter in the bright sunlight. It's pretty different from its nighttime counterpart. Instead of neon lights and loud music there are open doors to art galleries and slightly quieter music. New Orleans is beautiful (or at least the small part we were in was). Outside this part of town there is still a lot of damage from Katrina and one who wasn't there during that time can only imagine how bad it must have been by the state of many of the buildings, many of which are still empty and boarded up. You can see the water mark on the sides of many places as well.

We took off from New Orleans and began the long drive to San Antonio. Alicia spotted the first armadillo of the trip. Unfortunately he was wearing a tire-stripe like the Repo Man's t shirt. Near Baton Rouge I heard the first really thick Louisiana accent on our trip.

Not much else to report since the day consisted mostly of driving. We saw tons of cows in Texas. We arrived safely at Alicia's uncle's in San Antonio and had a great dinner and a good night's sleep.



. . . And we saw a sign for "Beaver Nuggets."

Day 3 - GA to LA

First thing in the morning we went to the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, which was right across the street from our hotel. I was a little skeptical of going to Atlanta because of the crime and some bad reviews online, but I was BLOWN AWAY! The Aquarium is one of the most amazing places I have ever been. You walk through this huge tunnel and there are whale sharks, manta rays, groupers, sand sharks, etc. just swimming over your head. Then you come into this viewing room with a plexi glass wall bigger than any movie screen with a view of the whole giant tank. It's unbelievable. The pictures don't do it justice, but you should look at them anyways (Atlanta Photos).  When we left the Aquarium, we walked through Centennial Park and had lunch, then we were on the road again!

The drive to New Orleans wasn't quite as long as the drive to Atlanta. It helped that we moved over a time zone so it was like we gained an hour. Also, we didn't want to stop in any rest areas in Mississippi because all of the signs advertised heavy security, which made us a little skeptical of stopping there.

We got to New Orleans around 8:00 and you can still see signs of Hurricane Katrina all over. We had to drive through a neighborhood of completely boarded up houses to get to the French Quarter. Our hotel, Hotel St. Marie, is this huge old timey place right off Bourbon Street. Every room has a balcony so we chose a room overlooking the courtyard which has a pretty nice pool and lots of tables and a nice garden. Then we ventured out to Bourbon Street. It was a Monday night but it was still packed with people. Every bar and adult entertainment location had people outside beckoning people in. We wandered for a bit and decided to eat at The Embers on the balcony overlooking Bourbon Street. We wanted to do something authentic to the area, so Tommy ate Alligator, which just tasted like turkey sausage, and I had a giant "Cajun Cooler". It is so crazy that Bourbon Street really is a nonstop party. We tried to go into a few voodoo themed places, but they were sort of disappointing, but we'll try again this morning.

Day 2 - VA to GA

Hey y'all! Today has been a pretty great day! We got a clean bill of health for the car in the morning and then had a delicious breakfast at the Silver Diner. Driving around Woodbridge, VA is really strange because they seem to literally have every chain of restaurant you could ever imagine. Before we left, Tommy and I decided that we would try not to eat at chains, if possible, unless it was something we had never tried before. Our very first night, however, we ended up at Fuddrucker's because Charlie had never been there, so it still counts. We left Woodbridge at about noon and drove pretty hard today to get to Atlanta (or the ATL, as the kids call it). All I can really say about the drive is that I-85 in Virginia is beautiful, the rest stops in North Carolina are like parks that are good for stretching the legs, there are Cracker Barrels EVERYWHERE, and JR Outlet looks like the greatest place in history. JR Outlet is a store that we saw at least 100 billboards for in a 5 mile radius advertising everything from cigarettes to porcelain dolls.

We finally arrived in Atlanta around 10:00 this evening and went right to the pool. I cannot properly describe how nice this pool was. All I can really say is that it was on the roof of our swanky hotel overlooking the city and it was a beautiful night outside. Tomorrow morning we are off to the Georgia Aquarium to see whale sharks! After that, we are heading to New Orleans.

I will be posting some pictures soon, probably tomorrow. Stay tuned!

Day 1 - MA to VA

Today was the first day of the road trip. We got up early and left about quarter past six. We covered a few states on our journey today: MA, CT, NY, NJ, DE, MD, VA. Traffic was good until everyone from NY and NJ decided that a beautiful Saturday was a good chance to go to the beach. Aside from that there weren’t many holdups. Oh . . . except for when the accelerator decided to not work at all while we were on 95 south in ole Virginny. Luckily the brakes worked and we were able to get to an emergency lane without killing us or anyone else.

AAA was called and, while we waited for a tow truck to deliver the horrible news that the car needed to be incinerated and it would cost us 9 billion dollars to remove the ashes, a VA Safety Patrol came by and troubleshot our issue. Luckily it seems that what I thought was going to be some complex mechanical issue may have just been a loose gas cap. Once this guy tightened the gas cap, the accelerator worked again, but the engine light continued to taunt us. We have to take the car in tomorrow to Pep Boys so they can either verify or negate the Safety Patrolman’s theory. We’re going to sleep with our fingers crossed that the car will be all right and we will be able to continue on our journey tomorrow. NEVER SAY DIE!!!

If all goes well with the car then tomorrow we’re off to Atlanta to get ready to see some whale sharks at the aquarium! If the car taps out then we are walking, I guess.

Today’s points of interest:
-there’s a Giant Shiny Jesus in DE
-if you hold a fast pass upside down the state gives you money
-the rest stop in MD was a bizarro rest stop and everything was counter intuitive
-the sun apparently does not shine within NJ’s borders due to the smog
-Charlie is the dude for letting us stay at his house.
-Fuddruckers
-NJ only allows full service gas stations so they can loosen your gas cap in an attempt to keep you in the state.

UPDATE:

We just got back from Pep Boys and the car is fine, thank goodness. The gas station attendant from New Jersey almost ruined our trip! Now we are off to Atlanta!

Leaving on a Jet Plane, Don't Know when I'll be Back Again

I honestly can't believe that we are leaving for the road trip TOMORROW! We have all the necessities (I hope), Tommy got his license (yay!), had Nicole's car looked over, booked our hotels and we'll spend tonight packing. I am assuming that we are going to forget something, but I really hope it's not anything too important. We will update with pictures as we go along and, don't worry everyone, we will be very careful!

Is it August 8th yet?

So, the road trip is just over a month away. Things have, for the most part, been proceeding as planned. I've given my notice at work so my last day will be July 31st, which should leave me with a week to do all those last minute things we've forgotten to do. We've booked our swank cabin at the Grand Canyon. We've gotten tour books for every state that we're hitting (and many we're not, just in case). Now for the things we haven't done... Nothing super important. Just little things like figuring out a car to take and getting Tommy licensed...