Cross-Country Blog Log: That Ol' Highway's A Callin' (Part III)

Raleigh

Now second guessing our plans to hit the beaches up the coast (Charleston, SC, and Outer Banks, NC), we were hit with heavy indecision. Des proposed a more direct route through Raleigh, NC, but neither of us could think of anything worth seeing there. After deliberating for about 25 frustrating minutes like a couple that wants to break up but nobody can say anything decisive enough to make it happen, I gave in to Desi saying, "Raleigh it is... I know it's what you wanted". Meanwhile, the stressful delay and the uncertainty that lay ahead was taking its toll on our morale (as clearly shown on the Pace and Des Morale chart) but we quickly countered with several consecutive episodes of 24 (season 3) that catapulted us back to healthy morale levels. By the time we got into Raleigh our suspicions had been confirmed and there truly was nothing to see. We ate at the Olive Garden and made our way over to our 2-tv, cabin hotel. Through the miracle of WiFi we were able to download Radiohead's 'In Rainbows CD2' which was the ultimate godsend. Then we turned on the tube and watched 'Romeo Must Die' with Jet Li, which had just the right mix of cheesy villains, quirky fight scenes, a fairly complicated plot, and a funny black guy, that my dad would have totally been glued to the tv with this one.

Before departing Raleigh we figured we owed it to the town to at least stop by UNC and Duke since we were so close. UNC was pretty cool I guess but we couldn't find anything (Dean Smith Center, some sort of bookstore, a food court) and there was no place to park. We ended up just kind of repeating the same figure-8 formation through the campus roads, never really seeing anything new but sure we would stumble into something. Eventually we did stumble into something: The Planetarium. This was even lamer than you might expect. There was not a single tour guide or fellow observer. We ran into a couple of construction workers and a half-asleep cashier and decided to book it before any pamphlets or questionnaires were forced upon us. The decision not to continue on and see Duke University ended up being one of the highlights of our time in Raleigh.

Our Nation's Capital

Made the final ascent and arrived at our destination in Arlington at about 8:00 p.m. My new place came with only about a 10-inch tv and we wanted to watch the Suns game at 10:30 so we decided to head out to Jeff's house in Baltimore. This 45-minute drive ended up taking about 2 hours due to some factors on which I won't go into detail--suffice it to say Des did some great navigating up until this point. Fortunately, we were still able to catch the 2nd half and then we slept over and enjoyed some delicious variations of Frosted Flakes in the morning before heading back. The journey officially came to a close when I dropped Des off at the airport on Sunday morning. Now I'm just doing my best to adjust to late work nights, $18/day parking fees, chilly weather, and life in the land of "dudes and chicks" (D.C.).


*Trip Stats:
Total Drive Time: 46:30
Avg MPH: 65
MPG: 31

Cross-Country Blog Log: That Ol' Highway's A Callin' (Part II)

New Orleans


Survived the drive from SA to NO thanks to some intense calisthenic exercises, tandem style. Arrived at the Marriott hotel around 9:00 pm; still plenty of time to get our NOLA New Year's groove on. Was almost tempted to stay in for the night since this hotel had FREE WI-FI!! Made our way into the French Quarter around 9:30 and after parking about a mile away, suddenly found ourselves in the vortex of sin: Bourbon St. But the drunkards and the thumpers were actually really amusing and energetic, and there were some really cool live jazz bands blaring through the cafe windows. Then we waited in line for a while to get in the Cafe Chartres where we had jambalaya, fried shrimp, and spicy hush puppies. Counted down the final 10 seconds on St. Peter + Decatur St. near Jackson Park and then watched a fireworks display by the bridge. It was a lot of fun. Desi did his best to let everyone know that "2007 sucks". Like most parties involving alcohol this one left its fair share of teary-eyed damsels in its wake and we witnessed at least one awesome heated argument between a couple. It left me curious, do these guys chose to drop relationship bombs on their girlfriends immediately following the start of the new year. Shouldn't there be like at least a 2-hour grace period in which neither party shall be allowed to deliver any serious relationship blows? Anyways, I enjoyed myself.

Pensacola


Made our way through Mobile, AL without getting the Memphis blues--team morale was still at a favorable level. Arrived at Pensacola around 3:00 pm and couldn't decide where to dine. There was a Mexican place called La Hacienda which supposedly had "the only salsa in town" so we had to determine if we wanted any salsa for lunch. We stopped at a Gulf of Mexico beach park to weigh our options and scope out the coast. We were approached by this bum in the first two places we parked so we got back in the car and looked for a spot that was a little more remote. We got close to the water and it was freezing and windy. We walked closer to the ledge and I asked Des what it would take him to go swimming in it. He answered $100. I countered with 2 gift cards valued at $90.10 (after activation fees) and he accepted. I couldn't stop laughing at the thought of it and then he was suddenly completely submerged. As he raced back to get out of the water another bum rode by on his bike and declared that Des's manliness exceeded that of his own (in not so many words). Once that little adventure was over, we had burned enough time that Outback would now be open for dinner. Once they opened the doors we rushed in to beat the senior couple and enjoyed a delicious meal before pressing on to Jacksonville.

Jacksonville


Stayed at an oceanfront Marriott Fairfield on the cheap. It was OK. The hot tub in the morning was nice except for the chilly wind which prompted us to cut our dry off short and just run inside the hotel still sopping wet. Once showered and checked out we walked over to the beach and endured it for about 10 minutes until a blistering cold gust of wind picked up. So this is why people don't go to the beach in the winter... My source has just informed me that Florida is experiencing its lowest temperatures since 1928. Yikes.

Cross-Country Blog Log: That Ol' Highway's A Callin' (Part I)

Tucson (12/29/07)

Official departure from the Creighton & Melissa B. residence (formally that of Li Farn Tang) at 7:15 p.m. We raced to get to Mark & Mika L's house before 10:00 pm so we could enjoy some delicious Sonoran hot dogs. Unfortunately, we were too late and the stand had closed early as we're now in the cold months. But Mark invoked his internal map of Mexican hot dog stands around town and we followed his backup routes. The 2nd stand was closed too but we struck it rich on the 3rd. The three of us marked twain on the spicy dogs and went back to the house to chat and watch Star Wars III (my favorite of the 2 trilogies). We liked the line where Anakin tells Padme, "our love won't save you, only my new powers can do that." We stayed the night there and Mika most graciously offered us waffles and eggs before we darted off to 8:30 church. She also gave us chocolate-covered twig snacks (the equivalent of lamus bread to the hobbits) and spicy japanese trail mix which didn't taste half as good as it normally does (don't buy 片仮名 brand). A great start to the trip and props to the Mark & Mika B&B establishment.

We left sacrament meeting a few minutes early so we could beat the big church rush, and so Des could practice on the clutch in the parking lot. We stopped for gas at a heavily advertised (a comical amount of billboards) fireworks store. Tempted to buy some $25 leather jackets and genuine moccasins but ended up resisting. I used the stinky torture chamber of a restroom and opted not to wash my hands believing that in the end the trade off of exiting the bathroom sooner would result in less total germs. We're assuming this gas station was somewhere in New Mexico... You do have to pass through NM to get to Texas right?

Lunched in El Paso at the Outback. As was to be expected the food was delicious, but Des was infuriated by the exorbitant amount of ice cubes hogging up precious coke-glass volume. This was appropriately accounted for in the tip.

After 11 hrs 50 min of straight-shot, foot-free cruise-control driving we arrived at the $100/night dump of a Motel 6.


San Antonio (12/30/07)

Enjoyed some local breakfast cuisine at the McDonald's and patronized the attached "Red Box" DVD vending machine (these $1 rental machines are ideal for brothers [or sisters] on road trips as you can return them at most McD's around the country). Then we drove into town on Houston St. and parked somewhere near the Alamo. The Alamo wasn't all that impressive in stature or anything but it was fun to walk around and read some snippets of the history of Travis and Santa Anna and Bowie and all that. The weather was ideal too (almost a lack of weather) which made it very enjoyable.

After taking in the sights of the Alamo we crossed the street to a place of historical significance which rivals, nay trumps the significance of the Alamo: The Guiness Book of World Records museum. Here we learned about the smallest dog ever, the most drum beats in a minute, and tons of other useless records. I will say I was disappointed not to see a display of probably the most famous GBWR character, the man with the longest finger nails.

Then we just walked around for a bit until we stumbled upon the "Riverwalk". This was much cooler than anticipated. It meanders all over the place and there are lots of cool, breezy cafes and eateries along the banks of the shaded river. We got some pizza and Orange Juliuses and just enjoyed ourselves for a good while before running back to the car to beat the parking meter and be on our way to New Orleans. Despite the negative connotation from the Spurs, San Antonio was much better than we both expected.