Gibsonville, NC

Crashing tonight at Rey's Aunt & Uncle's and then Nashville in the morning!
Sonny & Carly are the labs.... General Hospital anyone?

Richmond, VA

                  

    

 

We left D.C. & headed to Richmond. It was desolate, we're thinking it's because it's a college town but college is currently out of session. We saw adorable movie-esk houses, ate the most garlic flavored spinach of my entire life, searched through super cute thrift stores and were lectured about the "terrifying world" by a lady in a neon purple coat while on line buying tortilla chips for our humus in 711. Fancy stuff.

Got my car towed....sorry mom.

Went for Oysters with our lovely host Brent after his work day at NPR. Rey and Brent did

Saki Oyster shots...I opted to treat my stomach a little better. The food was delicious. 

 SO  When I parked my car at Brent's he told me to park in the visitor spot assuring me I'd be fine

even without the visitor pass (his roommate had the pass and was currently in Illinois). So we

get back to his house after a wonderful dinner, have some wine and Brent decides to just check on my car

for safe measure... conversation goes roughly as follows....

Door Shuts to the house. 

Me - (Yelling from upstairs) everything good?

nothing

Me - brent?

Brent walks into the room. 

Brent- So I don't think your car is there.

Me - haha yeah ok. 

Brent - unless it's a nissan, I don't think it's there.

Me - you're kidding right.... 

Brent - no no, but it'll be fine. 

I have a slight heart attack but then Brent takes charge of the situation (like a grownup) and we grab a  cab to East Towing Company... aka the sketchiest place ever. The lady (Rhonda as I've named her) at the counter gives us a bit of hard time but we eventually get my car and drive safely back home. I figure everyone has to get their car towed at least once....right? You need these stories to tell your kids.

I don't think DC could have been any better.

W a-s-h i-n-g t-o-n, baby, D.C.!

D.C. = Grey. I think that's the only way I can describe it, everyone is in their own head

and the energy level feels so different than that of any other city I've been in before. Lots of

manicured lawns and shiny windows. Although grey, seeing the monuments, capital

building and white house was an experience that I needed. We walked for SO long

and I couldn't get over how blue the sky was. Abe Lincoln was by far my favorite.

It took us awhile to get to him but it was totally worth it. He was decadent, I feel like I saw

a Rugrats episode as a kid when they all climbed up into his lap and I really wish I

could have done that. 

12292010 - Morning

Being a bit uh "tired" from the late night at the bar our morning adventure didn't start until about 11am. We walked to King Street in Alexandria for lunch...ate the "World's Most Famous Chili Restaurant." We Tried all different kinds of chili and fried pickles, we're so in the south.

Bar Life in VA

Instead of going to sleep... we ended up walking to town and going to a bar, the name of the bar got lost in my memory somewhere around my third drink. SO at this bar there was karaoke, my first karaoke bar! Lots and Lots of country music and drunken people all in town from NC for a "ball" game the next day. Although we didn't sing, it was a nice night to end our first day on the road.

Alexandria, VA

Nine hours, three states and one more rest stop later we end up in the super charming city of Alexandria and are welcomed by the best host ever Brent Baughman....seriously he's the creme of the crop as far as hosts come.

122810 - all day.

I can't even begin to describe the amount I loathe the New Jersey Turnpike. After driving through the midtown tunnel, getting lost about 20 minutes in NYC, taking the Lincoln Tunnel & then finally getting to the beautiful state of NJ we were forced to sit in traffic for about four hours...which is close to the amount of time it should take to get to DC from NJ. Needless to say any potential drivers should avoid the turnpike at all costs. 

But on a brighter note, good music, lots of laughing and a handy TomTom kept the ride bearable. 

ALSO photos from our first (of many to come) rest stops. 

12281010 - morning

Packing the car took a lot shorter then I excepted especially due to the fact that I seem to bringing my entire life with me to LA. BUT I did manage to pack On The Road & The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test for the trip....totally cliche.

12272010

today, I was supposed to leave on a rather ambitious adventure but the snow had other plans for me. so tomorrow will have to due. in the meantime, this is (roughly) the current list of cities/attractions on the agenda.




DC
Williamsburg, VA
Raleigh, NC
Nashville, TN
Atlanta, GA
Baton Rouge, LA
New Orleans, LA
Austin, TX
San Antonio, TX
Roswell, NM
Las Crues, NM
Santa Fe, NM
Petrified Forest, AZ
Grand Canyon, AZ
San Diego, CA
Los Angeles CA