Virginia to Phoenix...and back!

Talk about a journey!

Start time: August 10, 2007 0700 hours

End time: August 13, 2007 0200 hours

Kijuana and I drove approximately 3600 miles in 3 days! It seems like a lifetime ago now that we're back, however at the time, it seemed like we'd never be done! I am sort of what you might call an "expert" if you will at driving cross country...:)

It was sort of a full circle moment because as most of you know, I moved to DC after BYU in August of 2000. When Kijuana moved to DC in December of 2000 I flew back to SLC and we drove back to DC together in her crammed Jetta along the snowpacked roads of I-80 where we stopped in Denver for some delicious baklahva (thanks Janice!) and somewhere in Illinois or Indiana for literally the grossest pizza I have ever had in my life. It was worst than the worst frozen pizza.

I digress.

This time was a little easier, we had great weather, a great Volvo that wasn't AS packed, (but we still couldn't lay the seats back), and unfortunatley the same CD's as in 2000. But, I couldn't have asked for better company either time.

(kijuana jammin while driving)

The day started on Friday the 10th with me taking the Chinatown bus from New York to DC. It left at 7am. I got in to DC around noon and got some lunch for the drive, walked around as much as I could while I waited for Kijuana. We got on the road around 1:30.

When we started the drive, we told ourselves that we would try not to go to chain restaurants the whole way…little did we know that chains are overtaking the entire USA! It was pretty ridiculous.

The first few hours were uneventful. Mostly spent on the phone with my office, dealing with the temp who covered for me who apparently didn't know how to book a rental car, and breezing through Harrisonburg, Roanoke, and Greenville, Virginia - it was green, but uneventful.

We finally got to Knoxville, TN around 11pm which was the first major city in Tenessee. We had planned on stopping there, but the University of Tennessee was having a graduation and there were NO hotel rooms. So, we continued on and tried again in Nashville...but to no avail. Finally we found a spot in Dickson, TN at this Baymont.

It wasn't the best, but we were tired so it didn't matter too much and it was cheap. They had a fairly sick continental breakfast that consisted of these saucer-shaped sausage patties and eggs the same shape. It did not look normal.
I had cereal and a boiled egg.

On Saturday morning, we continued on until we got to Memphis. Neither of us had phone chargers so we tried stopping in Memphis at a Sprint store. Well, we got some bad directions and rather than back track we continued on and tried not to talk tooo much.

A bridge in Memphis where you cross over into Arkansas.

One interesting sidenote in Memphis. We pulled up to a gas station and there was a woman about my age with a baby and she saw our car all loaded up and asked, "y'all movin' here?" in a thick accent.
I told her no, that we were just passing through on our way west. We started chatting as we were pumping gas and I asked her how she liked living here and she said it was alright, but that people who came to visit always thought the prices were cheap, but she thought they were expensive. For example, Air Force Ones you can get there for $50 at certain places, but her friend from California said they are $200 in the store…

Huh? Tell me again how this place is expensive? I think she wanted to be friends with us if we were in fact moving there, but since we weren’t I guess we’re out of luck. Oh well.

So, we continued on to Little Rock where we found a radio shack who not only hooked us up with a great charger, but told us of a great local restaurant – Smokey Joes.

Here we are to prove it. It was pretty good bar-b-que and we definitely wouldn’t have found it without our radio shack helper.

On we continued. From Little Rock we veered south so we could stop in Dallas. It was a long stretch through Texarkana. (What kind of name is Texarkana anyway?)

The highlight was stopping to get a blizzard at Dairy Queen. (a chain) When's the last time you've been there? Soooo good!
We made it to Dallas around 5:30p and only stayed for about an hour and a half. We were greeted with 2 precious babes, 2 tired parents, 1 tired sister and one very energized Dresden. He put on a performance for us while we all sat and watched. It was such a great break and we only wanted to stay longer, but we had to keep on trucking.

We drove for another hour or so, then stopped at IHOP (another chain). We tried to make it to El Paso where my Aunt Mildred lives, but we got too tired and had to stop in Abilene around 2am.
After checking the rates on several hotels we decided to stay in luxury. Ok, not really (Hampton inn) but it was the only new hotel on the block, so that is a good sign. (We encountered some really sick motels) We pulled up and the first thing we noticed was these crazy black crickets that were overtaking the parking lot. I had to drop Kijuana off at the front with our suitcases and then go and park. I literally sprinted like Carl Lewis to the entrance. I honestly hadn’t run that fast since the 4 x 100 meter relay race during the State Track meet in 1996.

Anyway, when we were checking in around 2am, we talked to the front desk manager and asked him if the crickets ever come to the rooms and he assured us that they would never, ever come upstairs, etc.
Wouldn’t you guess, we walked into our room and there was one right there hanging on the curtain!!!
It was so sick. So we called downstairs and the guy came up and got it for us after it jumped all over the room.

We slept great despite the drama.
In the morning we went downstairs, ate a continental breakfast – much better than the baymont – loaded up our purses with fruit and muffins and headed on our way.
We drove through tons of nothingness, through midland and other non-descript towns. We were so burned out at this point, we couldn’t wait to get home!

At one such non-descript “town” or more like a gas station in the middle of nowhere, we talked to the worker who told us that one of the perks of his job is that he gets 4 gallons of free gas everyday! When we asked what in the world he does for fun around here, he said that they go to the pool. Or to the bar/restaurant in “town”. He lived 30 miles away from the gas station.
Such a different life – it seems difficult to imagine.

After driving 20 minutes out of the way due to a misunderstanding on how to say Alameda, (apparently Alma-getter to some) we finally made it to Aunt Mildred’s house who let us rest our weary bones, eat some fresh corn, pea salad, chicken parmesan, and candy. It had been years since I’d been to her house in Texas and way too long since we’d seen her. It was fun to catch up and we just wish that we could have stayed longer.
She had a few things she wanted us to take on to Phoenix to my Aunt Betty and to my dad – one of them being a “Yellow Meat”.

What is a yellow meat you might ask? Well, it’s basically a watermelon that is yellow inside. Apparently they don't grow them like that in Phoenix (or anywhere else that I know of) and my Aunt Betty had been craving them…right.
So here is a picture of our packed car after retrieving the yellow meat.
Kijuana was sooo bugged. It was hilarious.

The last 8 hours were brutal. We went through Las Cruces, Tucson and finally Phoenix!!! We had to amuse ourselves by doing some phone pranks and having mini dance parties, but we made it!!!

We stopped by my Aunt Betty's house to drop off the blessed "yellow meat" and we were dying to take a peak inside, so here she is performing the procedure.

Once we dropped off the precious goods, we had to unpack the car at Kijuana's new apartment and then we could finally sleep!
It was such a crazy drive and then I had to fly out the next afternoon (after getting delicious Mexican food of course!)

Ever hear your husband scream?

I have.

On Thursday night Dereck and I wanted to try this famous pizzeria in Coney Island, so after work we drove there only to find out that it was closed. (Who closes at 8pm?)
BUT no drive to Coney Island would be complete without a ride on the famous Cyclone.

Sidenote: The summer I moved to New York (2005) to start school Sara and I didnt' have jobs yet and so were able to roam about the city at our leisure. We took a whirl on the cyclone but I hadn't been back since and Dereck hadn't been before. We haven't gone to an amusement park together, so I asked him if he usually screamed or raised his hands in the air or what and said he remained cool, calm, and collected....sure.

It's super old and doesn't look very intimidating, but it is SO deceiving. We bought our tickets and got in line. Soon enough we took our seats in the very back and as we started that first climb all the feelings came back and I immediately wanted to climb out or throw up. But, they don't stop the ride for scaredy cats, so I was locked in! That first rapid decline is sooo intense and that's when I heard it - Dereck actually got scared on a rollercoaster! It was so classic!

Like a lot of places, they take a picture of you at the scariest moment. All you can see is the look of pure terror in both of our eyes. (Although Dereck's eyes were closed.)

If I hadn't been gripping the bar and screaming myself I may have even laughed. The rest of the ride is just as intense and for being such a small and old roller coaster the twist and turns are ridiculous. The only problem is that it jerks you around so much that we both had headaches afterwards!

But, it was great and most importantly I finally have something on him for all the times I do ridiculous things!

Anyway, the bottom line is, go to Coney Island for the best thrill in New York.

Not to mention the crazy fashion! If only I had brought my camera, I saw some ridiculous outfits. I will have to do a post at some point about Coney Island fashion (or lack thereof.)

Nothing is ever EASY!

Not even going to work sometimes.

On Tuesday night we were woken up by a crazy rain storm with thunder and lightning, but by Wednesday morning it was gone and the sun was coming out. I left for work and was actually going to be on time (for once) except when I got to the subway it was closed.

Strange.

So, I talked to a few people who were standing around and they said it was due to flooding...

Well, I could understand if there was water on the ground, but there wasn't, it was all dried up!

I went back home and called my work to let them know and everyone was having the same problem I was. Dereck was kind enough to drive me to the nearest open subway stop in Brooklyn which should have taken 10 minutes, but instead took 40 due to everyone else thinking the same thing.


I finally got on and had just hit the first stop in Manhattan when the conductor instructed everyone to exit the train because this was the last stop...huh? How is this the last stop when I still have to continue to go uptown?


So, I got out and proceeded to wait for the bus with all the rest of the masses. Bus after bus went by completely jam packed. No way I was getting on. So, I started to walk. It was soooo hot and humid. I kept asking myself why I didn't have Dereck drive me all the way in and why I even tried to come to work...


So, as I was walking I kept looking for cabs. None. All full.

My mind kept flashing back to the subway strike in December of 2005 when I had to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge the coldest day of the year during Finals....

I finally caught a bus when I was nearly at work. Anyway, I made it to work, extremely sweaty, tired, hot, annoyed, and 3 hours late. Oh well. Luckily on the way home the subways were working again.

Gotta love New York.

Great Vintage Prints

I came across this website through another website...can't remember which one but it has some amazing vintage fabrics!
Enjoy!

REPO DEPOT

Ignoring...Rude or a Necessity?

I have gotten pretty good at ignoring all the crazy people in New York, however sometimes I get really annoyed at their antics! It seems as though people feel that it's their business to speak to strangers. Dereck and I went to dinner with Alysha and Tom on Wednesday and she was sharing how people just loved to predict her due date when she was pregnant. Like, "Were you due last week?" I think people need to understand boundaries a little better.

Some more examples.

Me walking to the subway in the morning. Still tired.
"Good morning, ma"
Maybe I don't feel like saying good morning. Maybe I am not your mother. Not sure.
"Oh so you aren't going to speak?" "You too good?"
To myself - No I am not, I am going to mind my business. And yes maybe I am too good.
"Ok, you have a good day anyway sweetie."
Oh FIRST you get mad I won't speak NOW you call me sweetie. Figures.

Or the people in midtown who try to get the tourists to spend money...
"Do you like to laugh?"
At you perhaps, but not in a general sense. I mean what kind of question is that? (They are trying to get you to buy tickets to a comedy club.)

"No donation is EVER to small to donate to the homeless"
I donate a few pennies...
"That's all you have?"
Right...

or

When Sara was pregnant she used to get some really disgusting comments such as:
"I'll be your baby's daddy."
Excuse yourself, sir, but the baby obviously has a daddy already...

Sometimes they think that if you stand directly in front of you then you'll donate to their cause. Word to the wise, don't EVER step in front of a pregnant woman like that. Or be prepared for the backlash!

Earlier this week Sara and I went to lunch and little Clark was in the Bjorn and someone came and stood directly in front of her, yet again...
"Do you want to save a child's life?"
Um, if you don't step away from my baby, you'll want someone to save YOUR life!

That same day we saw a man approximately 60 years old wearing a shirt that said "Show me your boobs" Sick! As he walked by he said, "Hello ladies..."

Pervert.

Even on the subway there is no respite.

We have the young kids who "aren't raising money for NO basketball or baseball team, I'm just trying to make a few bucks to keep me off the street and out of trouble"
They then try and sell you m&m's and starbursts for $1.

I have seen breakdancing, magic, even comedy shows all happen in the time it takes to get from one stop to the next.

I just I have to admit, they are pretty ingenious schemes out there that are probably fairly lucrative.

I usually read on the train. It's nice to have the 20-25 minutes of semi-interrupted reading time, so when people come asking for money I don't look up, don't acknowledge, just read.

One night during finals I was coming home really late and was reading to try and stay awake and someone was asking for money and when I didn't look up he snatched the paper out of my hand so that I would pay attention.
Yeah, that's going to work buddy.

Also, I forgot to blog on my 1 year anniversary of my Nubbing. In case you forgot, read here.

Even with all of it's craziness, I do love being in New York. Feeling the energy here and living life in this city! I am lucky to be able to follow my dream!

MIDNIGHT MADNESS

Dereck and I went to see THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM last night at midnight. It was really fun, however, I am so tired and apparently too old to be doing that kind of thing...
The movie was great, my favorite "bourne" yet in fact!

Go see it. It will make you want to drive really fast and crazy and then yell "I am the bourne ultimatum" (like my husband).

I'll give YOU an ultimatum...