More Karaoke but out of order

Karaoke part 1

This is a typical bar in LA apparently

This might not amuse you but we liked it

Santa Monica didnt have much to offer but it did have this...

Carlsbad Cavern tour

Colorado!!

Alright everyone, I’m taking the time now (in the car) to write a detailed entry so ya’ll can know what things were doing and so I don’t have to take time to write when I’m actually in civilization doing said things. Some crazy stuff has been happening that we haven’t had a chance to blog about, so this is the entry to read!! I’ll start a little ways back…

So when we entered Arizona coming from Carlsbad Caverns we happened upon a border patrol station. Everything seemed normal; traffic was going slow but that was to be expected I guess. But then we get up there and give the people our IDs and wouldn’t you know it, the dog smells our car and marks it as suspicious. Like, WTF dog?! I had just gotten through saying how cute it was too—that little douche. Anyways, we had to pull over and get out entire car searched. Of course, we didn’t have anything on us! We had to go into their little waiting room while they ran us through the creepiest government system ever. It knew all about us and could track our movements in and out of the country. They asked if we had ever been to Mexico and didn’t believe Jacqueline when she said no. Then they realized that we weren’t lying and that we didn’t have weed (or ecstasy!) and that going out of the county to Canada is not the same as going to Mexico… Way to go new Arizona state laws.

That was one of our misadventures. And honestly I feel like it’s the most exciting one to hear about… until we went back to Arizona! More on that later. Like I said before LA was pretty boring. Who would have thought? I mean, with all the songs people write about it I was expecting more. Apparently we didn’t know about the “June gloom” or where any of the awesome parties were at. I got to see my cousins and Jacqueline got to see her friends from college so that was a plus. We were planning on spending more days there but decided that Vegas would be much more fun.

We booked our hotel room on hotwire for Las Vegas and got a really cheap one. We didn’t know where it was really, just the address. When we got there we realized it was the Stratosphere hotel and casino! I don’t know if any of you know about it but it’s the one with the big tower that is the tallest in the Vegas skyline (and we got to go up it for free). But it gets better! We got up to the counter to check in and the clerk tells us that because we booked through hotwire, we could get the honeymoon suite for 90% off! A honeymoon suite on the top floor, with a king size bed, and a Jacuzzi!!! We were like, “HELLZ YEAH!” I mean, what other chance are we going to get to have a $500+ room for $80. We got in there and were in awe of our luck. Needless to say we bought a bath bomb and had a pool party that night.

The next day was fun because we went down to the real pool and hung out there (Jacqueline got a hella sunburn). Then we went up to the tower and got a sweet view of the city. But that night in Vegas wasn’t as fun because all of the fanciest clubs had mega dress codes and I guess I didn’t look cute enough. Lame. Also, the covers were like $30 or more, so we chose to pass. But we still went to an outdoor bar and saw a free reggae concert. We left the next morning.

So now to the next wacky thing that happened to us: it involves Arizona again. We got back into the state via the Hoover Dam, which is pretty fantastic if you haven’t ever seen it. But that wasn’t too wacky. We called AAA a bunch of times to figure out what to do in Sedona (our next stop) and where to stay and then what to do in the Grand Canyon (our stop after that). Flagstaff seemed like the most logical choice of where to stay and I was happy we chose it. It is the most adorable city! And if you’re interested in knowing it is the “First International Dark Sky City” or something like that because it has two observatories. Basically that means they have dim amber lighting on the highways and not too much light pollution in downtown at night. Pretty cool! We had a campsite on the outskirts of the city that was pretty alright in the daylight. We set up our tent and headed into the city to look around a bit. The town square had a free movie playing, but it was just Happy Feet so we didn’t stick around for all of it. Still, it was pretty cool. We met one girl in a shop who’s voice was so fun to listen to (at least to me) and an incoming freshman at University of Arizona, both of whom were friendly to us. Then we went back to our site and went to sleep. At least, we tried to go to sleep. The wind was RIDICULOUS!! Like, there’s wind, and then there is gale-force currents that threaten to blow our tent over like a pile of leaves! I didn’t sleep a wink, really. I kept on dozing and then having weird visions and then freaking out. One time I thought there was a person outside peeing on our tent, another time I thought an armadillo was weaseling its way inside, and at five in the morning I was convinced the fly had flown off and I ran outside to chase it only to realize it was just in my head. Oh god.

That morning we woke up very poorly rested and headed to Sedona. It was beautiful! We hiked around and saw all the delightful red rocks. Then we headed to Slide Rock State Park and played in the river that had natural water slides. Super cool! But while we were heading back to Flagstaff and our tent site, we noticed a curious cloud… Upon listening to the radio we learned that the forest was on fire! WTF!!!!??? WE’RE LIVING IN THAT FOREST! Turns out, though, that the fire was south of the city and we were northeast of it. So we still had a site to return to, but there was no way we were going to stay there. We packed up and headed into the city for a free music festival. The citizens didn’t seem too phased by the fire. I guess they’re used to that kind of thing? Either way, we met up with that student, Dom, again and hung out for a while. The music was pretty good and we even bought a CD. Then, since we didn’t have a place to stay we just drove north of the city and slept in the car at this back-woodsy area. It seemed safer than where we were.

The next morning we headed out to the Grand Canyon. Wouldn’t you know it, the cloud of smoke had spread all the way to the canyon! That’s a long way! AND! And we listened to the radio and found out that the fire had spread to exactly where we were camping!! Good thing we got right out of there huh??? Quite the brush with death.

The Grand Canyon was so majestic. It looked like a painting! It was hard to tell how far away the other side was because your perspective is all screwed up from the layers and the distance and the absolute magnitude of the place. It is definitely a place people should go before they die. From the Grand Canyon we went to Mesa Verde and spent the night and next morning there. We drove down to see a Pueblo built into the side of a mountain. Then hiked one of the coolest trails I’ve ever been on. It was carved into the side of the mountain in some places and had such magnificent views in others. We even saw some Petroglyphs (rock-carved drawings for those who don’t know, a cross between cave drawings and hieroglyphs) on the way. Totally was worth it to stop there. And these Rocky Mountains all along these roads are so impressive and huge I can’t help but take a bunch of pictures, so sorry if they get repetitive on the FB…

And now were on the road a couple hours out from Colorado Springs where were going to meet up with my friend Jen and crash at her place. I don’t know what to expect except some awesome times in an apparently really beautiful city. Of course, by the time I post this we’ll be in Colorado Springs so its like I’m writing to the future…! Anyways, hope you’re enjoying our posts and your summers. Our trip is nearing its close, but we still have some excellent stops to make on the way so stay tuned!!!

Flagstaff

Hello everyone,

So real quick: we haven't had internet in a while because we've been bouncing around like crazy. We could have gotten internet in Vegas, but it would have cost us another 12 dollars and we were like... No way Vegas! But it was mad fun anyway.

LA is not all its cracked up to be. The beaches were cold! Like, wtc LA? But we still made the most of it by going to the zoo and visiting my cousins. We also went to two Karaoke bars that were pretty bleak. Everyone in LA is trying to "make it" so the people performing were kind of desperate and sad looking. But they could have just been having fun! The first time we went we didn't sing anything, but then the next night I sang two chick ballads--"Come to My Window," "Alone,"--and I even convinced Jacqueline to sing the Spice Girls with me.

Now were in Flagstaff for a while. We didn't get any sleep last night because the wind was just HOWLING! So much wind! I kept on dozing off for a minute and then waking up to the tent screaming at me. And then I would freak out that it was going to collapse or blow away, but it didn't. I even got up around 5 in the morning and got out of the tent because I was convinced the fly had come detached. It wasn't, so I got back in and tried to sleep...

Were on our way to Sedona. We've heard it is so mad beautiful that we can't not go there. So keep an eye out for pictures of that! Tonight there is a local music festival here too, so that should be fun. We'll try to be better about posting, but its harder than you would expect! Stay strong noble followers (i.e. Molly and my Mom). HA!

-Dan

Made it to LA!

Alright everyone, I know it’s been a while. We have a lot to catch up on since the last post. But that just makes it more exciting to read, right?

We left Austin around noon on Friday. Michael (or MZ as he calls himself) showed us around his work because we had to go there to return his apartment key. He works with computers and web applications, which sounds boring to me, but his workplace seems to be really cool. His desk has all kinds of posters and fun games and his break room was full of snacks and things. We thanked him for putting us up and everything and then we were on our way to New Mexico!

We decided a good stopping point in the middle of Austin and Phoenix were the Carlsbad Caverns. It is a national park in Southern New Mexico. The caverns are something like 700 feet underground and are quite extensive. We saw lots of stalactites and stalagmites; take a look at those pictures! It was pretty cold too, a nice break from the heat of the desert. After the ranger told us all of the benefits, we decided to buy the National Park Annual Pass so that we can get into all of the other ones we want to go to.

When we were done with the caverns (it took about an hour and a half to get through the whole path) we had our lunch. It was a delicious combination of Spaghettios and Tuna fish. Yum! And we were off.

The drive was pretty uneventful. Most of it was the desert. The biggest cities were El Paso and Tucson. It worried us a little, as we were driving through the endless stretches of desert, that we couldn’t always find a gas station, but we didn’t break down or anything. We called my Aunt Margie and Uncle Harvey to let them know we were going to be there. They told us it would take much longer than it took so we surprised them when we got there early. It was all good though. They fed us and told us all about their journeys. They are really well traveled! They told us we absolutely have to go to Sedona and that Mesa Verde would be a great place to stop on the way to Colorado. It was really cool to see their home in Arizona; I don’t think any of my immediate family has been out there.

The next morning we woke up and were fed a huuuuuge breakfast! They just kept on feeding and feeding us all the delicious foods you could imagine! It was quite the switch from Tuna and Spaghettios. After breakfast Harvey let us ride around the neighborhood in his golf cart. We wandered around the neighborhood and took pictures of the gigantic cacti in peoples’ yards. So big! Then we returned and were sent on our way to meet Jacqueline’s friend Sarah for a hike up a mountain.

Sarah is really cool, and her boyfriend Neil and she showed us around Scottsdale when we met up with them. It is a cute little burb of Phoenix with restaurants and shops. Then we headed to Camelback Mountain. When my aunt and uncle told us we would see a mountain that looked like a camel, we were skeptical. We looked around and kept on being like, “does that look like a camel? No… does that one? No…” But then we saw it and we were like, “OMG CAMEL!” It has a head like a camel and two humps, one bigger and one smaller. It was a great hike. The climb was challenging, but not impossible, making it super fun. But we couldn’t make it to the top though because it was just so hot! Jacqueline’s face looked like a tomato it was so flushed. So we headed back down.

After the climb we went to an adorable, Panera-esque sandwich place. It was scrumptious! And then we went to another adorable frozen yogurt place. Awesome! Then we said goodbye to Sarah and Neil and headed out for Los Angeles!!!!!!

It didn’t take us long to get here, like 6 hours. We got a bit mixed up because Google maps is a dick. But we called Jacqueline’s friends and got some directions and luckily we had a map of downtown Los Angeles. So that’s where we are now! We didn’t have time to do much last night because it was, like, eleven o’clock on a Sunday. And now were eating breakfast and preparing for a fun-filled day! We’ll keep ya’ll posted. And don't forget to check the facebook group for those pictures!

Here we are in Austin!!

Alright people, what’s good? We’ve been mad busy with our trip and we finally have a chance now to put another post up. Hopefully all of you are looking at the pictures; they do a better job of telling the stories than I could hope to on this blog.

In Atlanta we hung out with Jacqueline’s cousins. They were a fun bunch, but too young! We couldn’t go anywhere! Haha, it was no big problem though. We walked around the city of Atlanta for a while and then went back to their place. We got to see the gated community where the real housewives of Atlanta live. It was pretty sweet! Then we watched the new Alice in Wonderland Movie and left for Oxford.

Oxford Mississippi is a confusing place! There were so many streets that were one way but not well marked, a square in the center of town that had parking lots adjacent to the square but not clearly marked, and literally three stores called “Square books.” Like, what? It made getting directions quite difficult. But we made it! Mouse showed us around the college and told us about how it was where that movie The Blind Side was filmed. Good times! We spent the night there and it was kind of uneventful. Even though it was the night of my birthday, it was a Sunday and I couldn’t get any kind of drinks if I wanted to!! Lame, Mississippi, Laaaaame.

After leaving Mouse’s apartment we headed south to New Orleans for my birthday! The drive was beautiful. There were so many swamps alongside the roads and the highway on the way into New Orleans was totally a causeway suspended over the swamp with no exits. It was really cool, except that Jacqueline really really had to pee and there was no place to do so! When we finally got into the New Orleans city limits she ran out of the car to run to a gas station, but there was no bathroom there. Then she went next door to a restaurant but that was closed. So she had to cross a bunch of traffic to get to Wendy’s. I was following her the whole time and talking to her out the window. Apparently this looked creepy, though, because some cops in Wendy’s asked if I was trying to chase her or something. I’m such a menace!

The hotel was beautiful! We have some pictures that should be coming up soon so check those out. And the city itself is so picturesque. Jacqueline said it truly looked like how they animated it in “that racist Disney movie” (which one?) I was mad tired so I took a brief nap before we headed out for a Gumbo dinner. Then we spent some time walking around the French Quarter and almost got roped into a vampire tour by a guy who looked like Gambit from the X-men, but it cost $17 so we passed. However, he did tell me to pin a dollar to my shirt to let people know it was my birthday, a custom I had no idea existed! Its serious! You pin a dollar to your shirt and people are supposed to buy you drinks or give you money. It was great.

We ended up meeting a guy who worked at a fortune teller/voodoo store. His name is Lawrence and he was really friendly! We asked him to call us when he got out of work so he could show us where to go, so sweet. While we were waiting for him we talked to a man sitting on the corner. He was impressed that it was my 21^st birthday. When we told him we were going to try going to the gay bars in order to get people to buy me things, he said that they may, instead of asking for my ID, just take me into the back or something like that. Also, we would probably be “grouped” which I think means groped. But we went to the gay bars anyways.

We went to one and talked to a gay pastor and a gay bartender who spent 12 years at college getting his masters in theology. They were fun and we stuck around for a while until Lawrence called. Then we went to a pizza place/bar with a TON of gay people. So it was like a gay pizz-bar-ia…? We made our way back to the hotel and went to bed after that.

The next day we decided to stay in New Orleans for another night. Luckily, Lawrence offered to put us up on his couch! What a sweetie. We spend a quiet day inside because the weather was too much to handle. We watched The Dark Night and hung out. At dinnertime Lawrence made us some red beans and rice and it was delicious! A few more of his friends were over and they are all such cool people. That night we went back out, but not for too long. Jacqueline wasn’t feeling all that up to it.

The next morning we left for Austin, an eight hour drive. My stomach was killing me the whole time, but I made it. On the drive I saw a person pass with a rifle in his front seat… Awesome! We stopped in Houston for a minute, but it wasn’t too impressive. I loved the skyline, so we took some pictures of that.

When evening came, we were in Austin (nine PM exactly!) and we met up with Jacqueline’s cousin Michael. His apartment is really mod! We played rock band and had a night in. I was pretty barred out. It was still fun though.

Today we walked around Austin. It is a beautiful city to be sure. We went to the capitol building and saw pictures of really creepy governors (like George Bush). And some of the pictures were marked “president” for when Texas was its own country. Pretty cool! Then we went to Whole Foods Market which was the most glamorous grocery store around. We got so many organic samples that were just delicious. We got food for a picnic and headed to a park across the river. Except the river is called Town Lake, so I should call it a lake I guess? But it’s totally a river. There were botanical gardens and dinosaur statues in the park, so it definitely had something for everyone.

Now were back in Michael’s apartment finishing up this entry. By that I mean I’m finishing up this entry and Jacqueline is watching Rupaul’s Drag Race. Its good though, soon we’ll be swimming

Sorry we didn’t blog yesterday. We’re still having trouble finding reliable places to upload entries and pictures. But here we are in Cummings (outside of Atlanta) at Jacqueline’s uncle and aunt’s house so now is our chance!

Leaving Washington was relatively uneventful. We made our way to Charlotte without incident, but we had a little trouble finding Timmy’s apartment. Luckily we had his roommate Nicholas’s number. He was really friendly toward us and even showed us a recording of his re-enactment of the Bad Romance video. It was good times. Jacqueline was the one who got to creep in Timmy’s bed and I was jealous, but its ok because I slept on his door. (What? Did he say door?)

The next morning we went to see Jacqueline’s grandmother for breakfast. She is a treat! We chit chatted a bit about our plans and where we are heading. But she is a busy busy woman and we couldn’t stay for too long. We headed back to Timmy’s and packed up our stuff to go to Myrtle Beach!

Getting around that city was a beach (you know, like bitch except I said beach). We finally found the KOA and it was ritzy! There was a pool, a water park, and free Wi-fi all throughout the camp, even though it was pretty spotty in most places. And the area was so cleared out I had to make the fire from pinecones and used AAA guidebooks. It was quite the camping experience… but it was two blocks from the beach so who can complain?

We met a bunch of cool people just from walking up and down the beach. Trevor is an army man from Kansas who was on vacation with his ‘loner’ friend, so he was happy to befriend us. He is really friendly and hung out with us for most of the night and the next morning. We also met a girl and her brother from Tennessee who were friendly, three people from West Virginia, and a couple of Jersey Bros. Doing all this reassured how well Jacqueline and I can make friends.

That first time swimming in the evening was great! But I ended up losing my gauge so I had to buy a new set. We left and used the beer money we brought to the beach to do so. They are much clunkier… We made our way back to the campsite where we cooked our dinner. We grilled some fresh corn and heated soup straight from the can over the fire. Delicious! Jacqueline bought some wine and we had a fair buzz when we went back to the beach at ten. That’s when we met everyone. We went night swimming and then just walked up and down some more. It was great!

Back at the campsite we revived the fire and hung out with our neighbors (the Jersey bros). Then we went to bed after a long day.

The next morning we met up with Trevor again and swam. It was our last chance to swim in the ocean until we get to the west coast so we wanted to get as much as possible.

Funny things we saw on the road:

- “Squirrel Level Road”

- Marlboro soil and water conservation district (its more funny when you think of it as the cigarette company, but Marlboro is a county in North Carolina)

- A cross on the side of the road that read “Rocky Cox” – SC

- A billboard advertising “Once upon a child: Kid stuff with previous experience” – Myrtle Beach SC

- A gas station closed so long they were advertising $1.09 a gallon

- “Booty Bros

- A house has a large sign in the front that said “Spiritual experience and advice” with an large purple Jesus idol in the front yard. – leaving Myrtle Beach, SC

- A legit road sign in South Carolina read just “Church”

Dan

I want to add two things. 1) A note to all the drivers we shared the road with in Alabama. Seriously? Seriously. Going over 90 MPH, changing lames every two seconds with out signaling, cutting people off, and just being downright ridiculous. Stop it. We heard on the radio that NY received the lowest scores on written road tests in the country. Somehow I feel like they missed a few people down south…

2) I am surprised by how similar the radio stations are down here. They play all the same lame pop music and have maybe just a few more religious stations but that’s it. But we mostly use our Ipods. We switch between shuffle and marathons of Gnarles Barkley, Lady Gaga, Rilo Kiley, Guster and what ever fits our feeling at the moment. And on our way to Mrytle, while Dan was sleeping, I took advantage of my alone time and listened to Nothing but my absolute favorite band- The Nields.

I think the video says the rest of the things I wanted to say.

Jacqueline

Dan's boisterous shower

At the KOA, there were many amenities. Although showers were included, we decided that a shower is lame. This was Dan's replacement for a shower. Although he was breaking a rule "no boisterous play". Oops!

Hey everyone,

So we have internet, and a slew of pictures and videos, but for some reason we are having a lot of trouble uploading everything. We will continue to attempt to post whatever we can, but check the facebook group for more photos.

To update, we are in Atlanta today and heading to Mississippi later on today to see Dans friend mouse. Yesterday we were in Mrytle beach and then spent the night with my cousins in ATL. Fortunately we seem to be missing all the bad weather so far which is great. When we have more time we will write something a bit more detailed, but for now I am trying to fix the picture problem. Thanks for checking in!

Jacqueline

Days one and Two: The Adventure begins!!

Hey party people! Sorry it took us so long to get this second post up. It has been an adventure and we just discovered a wi-fi connection at a Brueggers in Washington DC.

Yesterday we started our big trip! We left Molly’s house at 12:30 after a delicious breakfast and kind wishes for our safe travel. Everyone should thank Molly for how awesome she is because she cleaned the entirety of Jacqueline’s house after the get-together pretty much by herself. Just phenomenal.

The first song we listened to on our trip was “Mint Car” by The Cure, an apt beginning to our big trip. The drive was pretty uneventful. We stopped in Geneseo (though were not counting it as our first stop) to get gas and a car phone charger because I forgot mine. I realized that I left a bunch of things behind—like that phone charger, my new gauges, an iPod cord, etc.—but nothing that I totally can’t do without.

We stopped real quick as soon as we got into Pennsylvania at a scenic overlook. It was mad scenic! (See pictures). Also, there was a sign there that said “Don’t be Feulish, idling makes no cents” and some stuffed wildlife on the walls. This is where Jacqueline and I first switched drivers because my back started to hurt. And my cousin got back to me while we were in the car! Thank goodness. As some of you may know, we didn’t have a place to stay in DC since my cousin John didn’t answer his phone and because I didn’t contact him earlier… But it all worked out because he called and we got directions there.

We stopped for a bit in Gettysburg to look at some historic battlefields. It was pretty awesome! (See pictures). The place was kind of closing down because we got there around 7 so we just walked around. But we still had a long way to go to Arlington. We got turned around when we got close. I don’t know if anyone knows, but the DC area is CONFUSING AS HELL!!! There were three different Glebe streets (north, south, and west) and what I thought was supposed to be Southeast st. was actually South Eads. My cousin lives on 26^th street and we turned down 26^th road, and of course they are right next to each other! Like, wtf Washington? Right?

Last night, once we finally got to John’s house, we went out for Ethiopian food. It was fitting because that’s exactly what Jacqueline had last year for her birthday! But this time she got to order a Corona with it. After that we walked around Crystal City for a bit and chit chatted. Then we went to bed!

This morning we got up relatively early and headed into the city on the Metro. We walked around some gardens (three to be exact) and took a bunch of pictures. Were mostly staying by the mall and looking at all the historic buildings there, seeing which ones we can get into for free.

And now I’m done with my lunch and its time to get back to exploring! Check back in with us when we get to Charlotte because that is our next stop. We’ll be sneaking into Timmy’s apartment and creeping on his stuff.

Here are some funny things we saw on the road so far:

- “We have teacher gifts” – A sign on a candy store

- Reptiland! – It was a reptile zoo in PA but we didn’t stop.

- “Buckle Up Next Million Miles” – a sign in PA. The state had a lot of these kinds of signs. I guess people just hate driving there. And seeing how weird the speed limits were on major roads I can kind of understand why…

- “George Bush Center for Intelligence” – there was a sign for this in DC. Right?

- Hubcap Haven – a store for just what it sounds like.

We'll upload more things once were in not Brueggers.


This happened while walking in DC:
*Dan Spits*
Jacqueline - "You just spit on our nation's capitol!"
Dan - "Oh well. That's for all the times they've spit on me."

Hey gang,

In preparation for our cross country trip we are creating a blog. We hope that you will enjoy following us along our month long journey. With no GPS, little money, and a tendency to get into some wacky situations, it promises to be an interesting one. Anyone who heard the tales of our trip to Toronto knows what we are talking about, and that was only 2 days long. We will be posting pictures, videos, and stories/ confessionals all along the way. Forget study abroad! We want to explore our own country! But it's not going to be all fun and games. We have to find the place we want to live after college too! We hope you will enjoy vicariously traveling though our daily posts. If you live down south or out west we might be knocking on your door! See you soon,

Jacqueline and Dan

P.S. We promise to be funnier next time! But also informative and super interesting.