2009 winter break update

I have finished my first term of graduate school! It was hard but extremely rewarding. Mostly I just realized how much I don't know. But that's to be expected I suppose. In seven terms I will be a licensed mental health counselor! Ashland is a great town and I can't wait to continue exploring it in winter term. Just as importantly, these are my best photos so far this break...

Rio Nerenberg

Nate & Rio

Nate & Gatsby

Shelby, Rob, & Lucy

I have much more t be excited about in the days to come! leaving for Florida on Thursday night for my first wedding photography experience! Then back to Oregon to visit with more friends from out of town and continue traveling! Happy Holidays!

Love,

Luke

who needs sleep right?

I am officially the busiest person alive. I am doing pretty well in my graduate school program. I only have class two days a week and some outside counseling session/meetings. All in all I am on my way to being a full on, mental health counselor within two years.

At the same time my photography business has started to take off! my website is mostly done, I am gaining fans, and tons of emails requesting prints and photo shoots for the upcoming winter break! I am very excited about all this.

I found out today I might start working for the residence life department here at SOU once again. Nothing is set in stone, but I think there is a position available for me. Like i said who needs sleep right? Anyways I ave my first wedding photo shoot coming up in December! the best part is that it's in Florida! with old camp friends! I will have the best winter break ever. hands down.

Love,
Luke

epic overview

My epic journey of a lifetime has come to a close. These are the many people & places I was fortunate enough to visit. I am eternally grateful for all the people who helped me. Some offered couches, beds, floors, fancy dinners, ice cream, picnics, pools, rides, hikes, cheap alcohol, tours, kayaks, music, adventures but most of all friendship. Please come see us in Oregon so I can return the favors.

People I traveled with:
OR-UT: Nick, John, Katie, & Katy
UT-NY: Katie & Katy
NY-PA: Only time I was alone
PA-NC: Anna & Darea
NC-AZ: Nate
AZ-CA: Josiah Bradshaw
CA-OR: Josiah & Rachel

I am so lucky to have the friends and co-pilots that I did. I love them all. I told Josiah that I keep a pretty short list of people that could stand being in the car with for multiple hours on end. haha

Hosts:
Corvallis, Oregon: Dixon Lodge, OSU
Portland, Oregon: Nate & Ashley
Salt Lake City, Utah: Corrin Cook
Julesburg, Colorado: Grand Motel
Chicago, Illinois: Jason Connel
Henryville, Pennsylvania: Camp Lindenmere, The Ghost
Manhattan, New York: Jazz on the City
Worcester, Massachusetts: Dianne, Peggy, and Anthony
Boston, Massachusetts: Driven by Diane
Salem, Massachusetts: Konstandt Family
Allentown, Pennsylvania: Senderowitz Family
Virginia Beach, Virginia: Perry Family & Friends
Greensboro, North Carolina: Mackie
Boone, North Carolina: Reichard Family
Charlotte, North Carolina: Kristi Lanning
Columbia, South Carolina: Gayle Harris
Savannah, Georgia: Skidaway Island State Park Camp Ground
Birmingham, Alabama: Mindy Lipsitz
Florida Panhandle: Falcor through a rainstorm*
Pascagoula, Mississippi: Jeff, Kelley, and Emma
New Orleans, Louisiana: Becca Parker
Houston, Texas: Monroe Moore
Junction, Texas: Falcor & a green river
Carlsbad, New Mexico: A cowfield off the highway
Holbrook, Arizona: KOA Campground
Grand Canyon National Park: Mathers Campground
Sedona, Arizona: Cave Springs Campground
Phoenix, AZ: Kevin, Wendy, Alleah, Emily, Tyler, & Meadow
Los Angeles, California: Val Mounter & her Aunties
Yosemite National Park, KOA Campground
Arcata, California, Ben, Cobe, Josh, & Jenny
Scappoose, OR: HOME

*Falcor is my 2000 white Ford Taurus Wagon

Cities I am considering moving to:
Chicago IL, Savannah GA, New Orleans LA, Los Angeles, CA, & Henryville PA*
*only from June 16-August 12 ☺

I realized that this trip has been filled with one beautiful moment after another. Here are a few examples:

Sunsets filling the whole sky so beautifully we have to stop driving and admire them with deep breathes stretching to the horizons. (Texas)

Delicious culturally based meals that are so good it could be our last. By that I mean if I was on death row and I got one meal before I got the electric chair, I now know what that meal would be (New Orleans)

Conversations with my best friend that would seem so strange to outsiders but to us it’s everyday. I am so lucky to have a co-pilot on the same wavelength as me. We want to see the same things, eat the same things and talk about the same things. I would literally never get sick of him. BFF tattoos are gonna happen. (anywhere in the car)

The kindness of strangers: We have been greeted literally with open arms by friends from this summer, friends from years ago in my life, perfect strangers we’ve met through couchsurfing.org and kindness in the streets from people suggesting places to visit. A woman in McDonalds near the Texas border handed me my bag of fast food and said “Here ya go baby” This simple sentence made me stop and think how lucky I am to be a stranger in a far off place and see kindness just for the sake of kindness. (everywhere)

Nature: The power of nature never ceases to impress me. I’ve seen moths the size of small birds, grasshoppers the size of my palm, swam with Dolphins in Virginia Beach, and seen plant life that looks like it belongs in the Jurassic period. Heck We don’t even mind the mosquitoes that much. We saw the indescribable power of the grand canyon and the Carlsbad Caverns

Cities: Manhattan especially exemplified the concept of industrial power and what a man or woman can accomplish with a little hard work. The cities we have seen are all bustling with action and excitement. I am no longer afraid to drive in any city anytime of the day with confidence that I will reach my goal.

Here is a list of the largest cities in the Unite States

1. New York City *
2. Los Angeles*
3. Chicago*
4, Houston*
5. Phoenix*
6. Philadelphia
7. San Antonio*
8. Dallas
9. San Diego
10. San Jose

*Visited in summer 2009

Nate & I have both decided separately and together that we have become more patriotic on this journey. Seeing the insane amount of diversity and power of the Unite States has made us appreciate it more for what it is. Exposure has led to conviction. America Is a great place and we are lucky to love here.

States Visiited: Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California.

Swam in: Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, Pacific, Mississippi

Total miles traveled: 9425.3

Cost: $557.09

On Movement: Everybody is on some kind of mission. In New York the mission seekers are most obvious. They are going places and sometimes don’t have time to stop and smell the roses that don’t exist in the streets unless they go to Central parts. In many parts of the south, the feeling was more laid back. Their mission was to seek out human connection. That’s probably the biggest observation I have noticed this summer. Everybody wants to be accepted. Human connection is part of who we are. I felt connection with strangers and friends bonded for years.

Biggest lesson I continue to learn the importance of: Life is meaningless without our friends, families, and loved ones

End of Story….(for now)

All My Love,
Luke

Overview

States: Arizona, California, & Oregon.

Miles Luke Rachel & Josiah travels from AZ to OR: 1696.7
Luke round trip: 9425.3

Cost:
Gas and camping: 316.17
Divided by three: 105.39

Hosts:
Phoenix, Arizona: Emily, Alleah, Kevin, Wendy, Tyler, & Meadow
Los Angeles, California: Val Mounter and Aunties
Yosemite Naitonal Park: KOA Campground
Arcata, California: Ben, Coby, Josh, and Jenny.
Scappoose, Oregon: Home!

Quotes:

In & out my ass! -Josiah
Just logged onto the sphincter-net and the download was complete –Josiah
Well that’s as useful as a screen door in a submarine -Josiah

Day Five: Arcata, CA-Scappoose, OR

day five: Arcata, CA-Scappoose, OR
arcata to portland: 426.7

I’m going home today.

Wow

We drove basically all day and had a pit stop in Roseburg so Luke and Rachel could get tattoos. That was fun, the drove the rest of the way home. It was so amazing to drive down my own driveway and see my own house after ninety days!!!

It is good to be home.

Day Four: Yosemite National Park-Arcata, CA

Sept 9, 2009
Yosemite National Park-Arcata, CA
Miles: 461.3

Woke up very early to the smell of a tent filled with farts. That’s right people, we stunk it up pretty bad in there (including Rachel) Got the heck out of there as fat as we could and got ready to leave. We drove the short distance to the park and the sights took our breath away! We stopped and took photos in front of the massive mountain ranges and beautiful creeks.


There aren’t many words to describe Yosemite. Go see it for your self.
We saw a few places touched by the California wildfires. There was smoke coming out of the ground! This place made me definitely want to come back

Day Three: Los Angeles, CA-Yosemite National Park

Sept 6, 2009
Los Angeles, CA-Yosemite National Park
Miles: 411.9
Music: Doobie brothers, Company of Theives, Supertramp

Mostly a day filled with driving. I’m sick and tired of saying goodbye to people. I had to say goodbye to Val and Brenna but it’s ok because we all live on the West Coast at least and they are gonna visit me in Oregon!

Rachel, Josiah, & I all drove a ridiculously long ways pretty much all day. Not much to say about it. Had dinner at the Black Bear Diner and that was yummy. After dinner we ventured into the wilderness once again to make it out to Yosemite. Stayed at a KOA campground and loved it. Pretty much just crashed quickly so we could get up early the next morning for some Yosemite action!

Love,
Luke, Rachel, & Josiah

Day Two: LA BABY!

Sept 7, 2009
Los Angeles, CA

We slept in a bit, then woke and got ready for some LA fun. The only thing I knew I really had to see was the ‘figure 8’ wall on Sunset Blvd. It is the location where Elliott Smith had his photo taken by Autumn De Wilde for his album of the same name.


I was really excited to sign the wall. Elliott Smith was a tremendous musician who wasn’t appreciated until he was dead. So tragic.

Anyways we went to the observatory where we could see the whole city out to the ocean. Apparently celebrities jog here all the time.


Val drove us through Hollywood and we saw all the cool stars on the pavement and huge houses and famous buildings. We passed LA Ink too! I hope Kat Von D was in there because she’s hot.

Anyways the coolest part of the day was visiting the La Brea Tar pits. It is a place in Urban LA where fossils of hundreds of dinosaurs and other animals were found in the tar. I also noticed it was the film location of a video that Jake and I love a lot by a comedy group called Honor Student. We checked out some cool outside sculptures and art outside the museum and that was super cool.


Had the best food ever at in and out burger. It was so crowded that Josiah said “In and out my ass!” needless to say, we all laughed at him. The burger was super good, then we went back to Val’s and hung out with Brenna before going to sleepy sleep.

Love,
Luke, Rachel, & Josiah

Sept 6, 2009
Phoenix, AZ-Los Angeles, CA
Miles: 396.8

Josiah, Nate & I woke up at 5 and took Nate to the airport! We were sad, but it’s ok because we’ll se him again in Portland. The drive was fairly uneventful and desert-like. Josiah was commissioned as the Executive Officer In Charge of Joint Systems Interdepartmental Operations Command. This meant Navigation, Music Control, Photography, Driver Warnings, etc. Josiah and I got a chance to catch up and talk about life.

Went immediately to the airport and picked up the darling Rachel Eirich! She worked at camp with us too.

After that we headed to Santa Monica Pier to meet, Brenna, Val, Tara, and Sam on the pier! I can’t believe how crazy people drive in Southern California! Holy crap it’s nuts. I ran a red light in front of four cops on motorcycles and they just kept driving. I finally found a parking space and we had our mini-camp reunion. Josiah, Sam and I swam in the Pacific. As of then I swam in the, Pacific, Atlantic, Mississippi, and the gulf of Mexico. (all in one summer)

we raced. i won.

We went for lunch, then headed to Malibu for the sunset. The sunset was amazing and we really enjoyed sitting on the beach, catching up, talking about camp and making plans.

i love my brenna.

Sadly enough, we then drove Tara to the airport to go home to Australia. Rachel wasn’t feeling well so she slept like a baby in my car. After the second airport run, we went to Val’s house and just crashed – we were beat.

Love,
Luke, Rachel, & Josiah

Overview

States: North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, & Arizona.

Miles Luke and Nate traveled from NC to AZ: 3228.4
Luke since OR: 7728.6

Cost:
Gas and camping: 543.54
Divided by two: 271.77

Hosts:
Charlotte, North Carolina: Kristi Lanning
Columbia, South Carolina: Gayle Harris
Savannah, Georgia: Skidaway Island State Park Camp Ground
Birmingham, Alabama: Mindy Lipsitz
Pascagula, Mississippi: Jeff, Kelley, and Emma
New Orleans, Louisiana: Becca Parker
Houston, Texas: Monroe Moore
Junction, Texas: green blue river
Carlsbad Cavern Highway: A Farmers cow field
Holbrook, Arizona: KOA Campground
Grand Canyon National Park: Mathers Campground
Sedona, Arizona: Cave Springs Campground
Phoenix, AZ: Emily, Alleah, Kevin, Wendy, Tyler, & Meadow

Times Pulled Over: 1
Tickets: 0

Quotes:
I’m in my underwear (southern accent) –guy outside Anna’s bedroom window.

Hey Anna nice bullet hole -Luke (about the bullet hole in her window)

You’re looking a little shady –William about Brantley holding a lamp

Hey Luke Let’s watch Free Willy in every state –Nate

I went to a bisexual high school -William
You mean co-ed? -Luke
Yeah –William

This place is southern as Shit! –Nate

I love watching the climate change –Nate
I can’t believe you love global climate change you’re such an asshole –Luke

I’m too hungry to blog –nate

(outside Roswell, NM)
What is that smell? -Luke
Alien poop dick –Nate

That guy was straight Muggin’ Luke

The Grand Canyon is so big! I’ll bet you could almost fit a football field inside it. -Nate

Day 14: Sedona, AZ-Phoenix, AZ

September 5, 2009
Day 14: Sedona, AZ-Phoenix, AZ
Miles:115.6

Nate left after we had a breakfast in town to go meet his friend Tara. Emily and I took Meadow on a super awesome hike through a Sedona Canyon.

Left for Phoenix and drove though the pouring rain. Had a great time at Emily’s girlfriends, family’s house. We picked up Josiah before we went! We did some laundry, and cleaned up after about a week of camping. Went to Sushi in town and got ice cream. Josiah had his first dairy queen experience. We went back home and swan in the awesome pool. This leg of the journey s now over because tomorrow Josiah and I take Nate to the airport and head to LA!



Love,
Luke, Nate, & Josiah

Nate’s final words of his journey:
This has been an incredible journey. A journey too many people don’t take and thanks to a friend like Luke I was able to enjoy.
Thanks to everyone who was kind enough to let us stay and spoil us with showers, washer/dryers, food, drinks, hospitality and most importantly friendship. Thank you (In chronological order) Gayle, William, Mindy, Jeff, Kelly, Emma, Becca, Maya (hope that’s spelled right), Monroe, Emily, Alleah, Meadow, Tara, and Josiah. You were all awesome and the trip wouldn’t have been as great without you.
Thank you, Ashley and Ben, I know I didn’t see you on the trip but you guys are more important to me then you may ever know. I love you.

Most importantly:
Thank you so much, Luke, for being my oldest friend and still encouraging me to be the best person I can be. To travel and not let trivial things stop me from that. It’s because of you I will continue to travel and make friends everywhere. To repay you, I promise to inspire someone in the way you inspire me. Thank you so much. Here’s to many more adventures. I love you. Friends!!!!

The most important thing this trip has taught me:
I was watching a Michael Franti concert and he was telling a story that he heard. A lady was telling him about a time she met a country legend (who I can’t remember the name of). He said “If you ever see a turtle on a fencepost, it didn’t get there by itself.” What he meant is, no one got to where they are, by themselves. Thank you to all my new and old friends who got me to where I am. I’ve always considered myself to be lucky, but now I really know it. I love you all!

Love, Nate

Day 13: Sedona

September 4, 2009
Day 13: Sedona
Miles: hiked no driving yay!

Hiked around Sedona again after taking care of some business-phone stuff. I booked a wedding to photograph next summer (yay!) Went back to camp and waited patiently for Emily to come.



She came and it was so awesome to see her and catch up with such a great old friend. Emil had her dog with her named Meadow! She was a cool dog. We hiked to a nice part of the creek and jumped off a cliff into the freezing water. Went back to camp, made hotdogs, and had a fire. Spent the night drinking around the fire and watching Meadow steal Nate’s seat right out from under him.



Nate has run out of ways to introduce his part of the blog:
Sedona is f-ing beautiful. Had an awesome hike, and for the first time on our adventure, Luke and I just relaxed and read some books. Emily showed up in the afternoon and it was awesome to meet her and Meadow. She is one of my new best friends. We all shared the tent and I spooned with Meadow. Nice.

Day 12: Grand Canyon, AZ-Sedona, AZ

September 3, 2009
Grand Canyon, AZ-Sedona, AZ
Miles: 114.1

We woke up pretty early and went to the rim of the grand canyon to take the best photo of all time…..

Story time!!!!

Nate just got pulled over while driving my car for the second time in one year. Jeez what an idiot. Once when we were driving from Arcata, CA to Portland, OR, Nate got pulled over for speeding and following too close in a rain storm. Just this morning a nice cop pulled us over for following too close! I really need to stop letting this guy drive my car. In all seriousness, Nate’s a good driver. The best part of the story is that both times the cop asked Nate if we had anything illegal in the car because we seemed so nervous. Nate tends to over-explain himself because we obviously are good guys and not cocaine smugglers with machine guns in the trunk.



Anyways we got to Cave Springs campground, set up camp, and headed into Sedona. It is one of the coolest cities we have seen so far. The red rocks are on every horizon. We checked out Red Rocks State Park and hiked the Eagle Crest trail. (We have been hiking machines) It was very hot so we bought food and headed back to camp. We decided we wanted to check out Slide Rock tomorrow because it had the best-looking rock formations we passed so far.

Nate is reading Harry Potter 5 and I cleaned a lot of junk out of my car. Great day and it hasn’t rained yet (fingers crossed)

Nate says like an idiot:
I got pulled over by probably the nicest cop in the world, saw Sedona, and chilled out. Good day.

Day 11: Grand Canyon, AZ

September 2 (Nate’s Birthday!!!)
Grand Canyon Hike!!
Miles: 12 (on foot)

We woke up at 5am very excited for the day’s adventure that lay ahead. I gave Nate his birthday present which was a dinosaur t-shirt.

Background story:

Nate and I became friends in kindergarten. One of the first conversations that we ever had was in reference to a knitted sweater that my granny gave me. It had a knitted triceratops on it and Nate was super jealous. He told me he liked my sweater and we became friends after that. Nate went home and whined to his mother that he wanted a dino sweater as well. Nate’s mom bought him one so we could be dino-sweater-matching friends. He still did not think his was as good as mine but needless to day, Nate’s intense jealousy for my awesome sweater was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Let’s fast-forward 14 years:

5am. September 2nd, 2009: It’s Nate’s 23rd birthday. Our original dino-sweaters are long lost, donated, and for sure, much too small for our now manly muscular frames. We woke up at 5 and the first thing I did was wish Nate a happy birthday and give him his new dino t-shirt. It’s black and white with a velociraptor-looking dino on it. I had bought one for myself so we could match (Mine’s a triceratops of course) and we set off for our adventure!

The sky was just beginning to creep up over the canyon walls as we set out. We made it down to the bottom by about 8 or nine and had a break in the Indian Campground. There was a nice stream and trees for shade. Along the way we encountered many fellow travelers from all over the world. We went another 1. Miles out to a plateau overlooking the Colorado river. It was absolutely breathtaking. The power of that place is overwhelming. Hiked back up and made it out by 1pm. We were both so tired! We went back to camp and showered. I fell asleep from 3-6 and totally knocked out. Woke up just in time to go get dinner at the lodge for Nate’s birthday!


Still went to sleep pretty early because we had been awake so long and there wasn’t much going on around the camps.

Nate thinks people care what he has to say:
I had one of the most amazing birthdays. Luke got me an awesome shirt. We hiked 12 miles and talked to some nice people. Luke took me to a birthday dinner and gave me a birthday shirt. It was another great day.

Love,
Luke & Nate

Day 10: Holbrook, AZ-Grand Canyon National Park, AZ

September 2, 2009
Holbrook, AZ-Grand Canyon National Park, AZ
miles: 181.3

The trend of getting up before sunrise started this day. I woke up refreshed before the sun rose and checked out the pink, orange, and red sky. Nate and I were pleasantly surprised to find really nice showers and a all-you-can-eat-pancake breakfast for $2.00 (TWO DOLLARS) which included coffee. We at next to a 2 million year old piece of petrified wood. Both of us were so so so excited to get to grand canyon that we jumped right onto the road.

Drove less than two hours to arrive at the grand Canyon! We got a campsite reservation at Mathers Campground and walked less than a mile to the rim. As with the Carlsbad caverns and numerous other sights along the way, I find it literally impossible to describe what we have seen in words. Bottom line: The grand canyon is huge and you should see it for yourself.

Nate and I spent the day walking the rim trail, which goes along the rim (duh) and planning an epic hike the next day. We wanted to hike into the canyon and spend the night but you have to book it months in advance and get permits and stuff. We’ll jus do that for spring break with Ben Powers. We got some food and were both feeling pretty lazy. Since we were planning on getting up before dawn we went to sleep early. I’m embarrassed to say we fell asleep in our tent at 8:30 pm. Seriously how cool are we?

Nate’s birthday is tomorrow! It’s the first birthday we’ve spent together since high school because I was always in Corvallis. Slept like a log.

Nate:
Good breakfast, good drive, good campsite, good grand canyon, good day.

Love,
Luke & Nate

Day 9: Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico-Roswell, NM-Albuquerque, NM-Holbrook, AZ

August 31, 2009
Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico-Roswell, NM-Albuquerque, NM-Holbrook, AZ
Miles: 534.4


Woke up very early to the sunrise in the desert. We had a great time sleeping under the stars of New Mexico. It’s a really good thing we packed up quickly and headed out when we did because just as we were pulling out to get to the highway, some guy drove by in a maintenance truck and looked very confused indeed. I recon if we had slept a little more we might have woken to a shotgun in the face and an angry farmer who did not take too kindly to strangers sleeping with his cows. We drove out as he was pulling in and all there was to do was smile and wave politely. (us: 1, camping fees: 0)


It was a very short drive to get to the Carlsbad Cavern National Park entrance. The best part about it was the whole tour was only 6 dollars each! That’s right we only paid 6 bucks to see one of America’s most amazing natural attractions. Since we were so early there was barely any people there and we got right in after a quick breakfast. The caves are very difficult to describe in words. We felt like we were being engulfed by the earth and the cavernous trails went on for miles and miles. It took us about an hour to get through the whole thing. The path into the caverns were lit by lams otherwise it would be complete darkness. The informational signs told us all about how caves are formed. Stalactites and stalagmites came from the floor and ceiling and sometimes touched and made columns. Other than that, the caverns are a very difficult place to describe. I think everybody should see them for themselves.


Left the caverns and drove to Roswell, New Mexico. I was definitely disappointed. I expected to see space aliens on every corner, but instead just saw people selling alien clothes and dolls everywhere.

Drove to Albuquerque and realized that there is a whole lot of spaces in New Mexico with pretty much nothing. We drove hours without seeing anything but grassy planes and long horizons. I bought 14.00 worth of fudge the other day so while Nate slept I just drove, ate fudge and listened to the Fun album “Aim & Ignite” Life couldn’t really be better. Got to Albuquerque around 4 and wasn’t all that impressed. It was still early so we decided to continue t Arizona! There are a few places in AZ that I really want to see so We’ll try to figure that out now.

We head into rain up ahead. It’s beautiful

That night we pulled into the tiniest town ever called Holbrook, AZ. Driving through the rain and lightning was fun but Nate and I were getting pretty sick and tired of being in the car. Hungry and tired, we found a KOA campground and set our stuff up. Had some nice Safeway food and relaxed after a long drive. The KOA had a pool so we had a nice friendship jump into the pool (see video) We went to bed pretty early that night.

Nate tells a tale:
I have no tales to tell. Luke pretty much covered it all.

Love,
Luke & Nate

Day 8: Houston, Texas-Junction, TX-Carlsbad, New Mexico

August 30
Houston, Texas-Junction, TX-Carlsbad, New Mexico
Miles: 651.8
Music: Kevin Define, OCMS, Andrew Jackson Jihad, Owl City


Today so far has been a really spectacular day. We woke up to Roe making us a hearty breakfast of sausage, eggs, ham, and rolls. We realized that it is the first time we have eaten breakfast food at breakfast for the first time all trip. Sheesh. Anyway it was delicious. Hit the road around 11 and said our goodbyes to Roe. HE is a fantastic person and we are so glad we were able to spend some time with him!

On the road most of the day. We kept seeing signs for beaver nuggets and said we had to stop at that place. It turned out to be a crazy huge rest stop with really nice bathrooms and lots of food. The beaver nuggets turned out to be really sugary snacks coated in more sugar. They were kinda like cracker jacks only less healthy. I bought 14 dollars worth of fudge. That was a really good idea. I saw a really funny poster in the bathroom. It had all kinds of guns like six shooters and revolvers with all the names of them. The title of the poster….The Peacekeepers. Oh Texas and you’re backwards logic. No offense to people who love guns. I just thought it was an interesting title. Instead of opening up that can of worms, I’ll move on…

There was also a sign with all the different kinds of barbed wire there are. Yeah.

I was happy because Darea called me (my previous travel buddy) and Brenna, who I’m going to see in Los Angeles!

Drove a really long ways because lets face it, TEXAS IS HUMONGOUS!! We’ve been driving and driving and all we see is the landscape become more and more desert-like. We are excited for the changes though. The highlight of the day by far was stopping for gas in Junction, Texas. It is a tiny tiny town with not much there. There was however a really cool river and a dam. We found a rope swing and went swimming in a Texas river! I looked it up and it was called the South Llano River. The water was blue-ish green and very pleasant temperature. We swam around for a bit then got back on the road!

So far this whole trip we have been luck enough to be able to stay with my friends from previous travels and a couple couch surfers. We decided we’ve been too spoiled so tonight the plan is to drive till about 11pm, pull off the highway in northwestern Texas or Southeastern New Mexico and camp on the outskirts of a small town. Sleep in the car if we have to but we’ll set up the tent if we can!

And we’ve been driving all day and night. Almost to Juarez right by Mexico. We stopped for gas and saw a very interesting sign. The sign read: Carlsbad Caverns and pointed in north. (We were headed mostly West) After a brief discussion Nate and I decided it was about time for a spontaneous decision at the last minute. We headed north and drove on the most desolate road so far on the trip. We didn’t see cars for miles and miles. The sun had gone down but the moon and stars illuminated the landscape pretty well. It was obviously becoming more and more of a desert. Many critters were seen on the side of the road. We saw lots of little birds and a couple coyotes. I was spacing out or using my phone when I heard Nate scream like a little girl and abruptly swerve the car all over the place. This was followed by a massive thump from under the car.

Nate killed a bunny rabbit. A jackrabbit to be specific. We stopped and got out to assess the damage. The car was fine but the rabbit had seen better days. Basically his or her guts were spread all over the road and it died pretty much instantly. We both felt bad but I’m sure Nate felt worse. We literally said a prayer to any higher being that was listening for the rabbit to have safe passage into the afterlife where he can eat lots of food, run through beautiful meadows and have sex all the time. Ya know like rabbits do.

Back in the car I played Jeff Buckley’s “Halleluiah” and drove for some time in complete silence.

Just outside the Carlsbad caverns state park we thought that it would be more adventurous and exciting to find somewhere to sleep off the road. We drove down some rural looking gravel trail near a cow field. Finding a kind-of-hidden place to park, we unpacked the tent, put blankets in it and went to sleep. Not long after we had laid down did I start to hear the sound of about 20 cows moo-ing their heads off bout 20 yards form us. It wasn’t too difficult to fall asleep. In fact it was really nice to sleep in the desert with nothing but us, the stars, and sounds of nocturnal animals sniffing about. Slept well that night.

Nate just said “I can’t wait to write my retort to that”
I said “Nate there’s nothing to retort about, you’re still a murderer”

Nate exuberates:
I hate rabbits.

Love Nate & Luke

Day 7: New Orleans, Louisiana-Houston Texas

August 29
New Orleans, Louisiana-Houston Texas
Miles: 366.4


We drove pretty much all morning and arrived in Texas at in the early afternoon at Roe’s. We sat and chatted for a bit and got settle into his awesome house in the outskirts of Houston. Shortly after we got on our finest clothes (Jeans and collared shirts) and headed out for a killer night on the town. First stop was cool Mexican restaurant were Roe’s friends met us there. Jodie and Melina were their names. We went to a comedy club next and it was so cool! It was called comedy sportz or something and they did live on stage improvisational comedy with audience participation. It was kind of like “who’s line is it anyways” (that old TV show) We were in stitches and really enjoyed it. The people were so quick-witted and humorous.

After that we went to a bar for a while and Roe bought us tons of drinks all night. We went to a huge dance club later. I can’t even express in words how crazy this place was. My eyes were like dinner plates trying to take it all in. It was like 3 or 4 huge rooms all differently themed playing different music. There was tons of people looking to dance the night away and shake what their momma gave them. Roe bought us more drinks and we basically people watched the whole time. Definitely a good time. Stayed there till about two and decided to head home. In the parking lot a small Hispanic man approached us and tried to buy our shirts off our back. Literally. To het in the club you have to have a collared shirt and he did not. We all decided our shirts were worth more than the veinte dollores ($20) that he was offering. And sent him on his way. It was fun to talk to him in Spanish though. We then went back to Roes house and fell asleep watching “The astronauts wife” which seems like a crazy good movie that we never finished. Nate and I were totally blown away by Roe’s hospitality. We hope he comes to Portland so we can show him how us Oregonians party.

Nate says:
Monroe was awesome!! Thank you so much for everything. Can’t wait for you to come to Oregon..!

Day 6: Pascagoula, Mississippi-New Orleans, Louisiana.

August 28, 2009
Pascagoula, Mississippi-New Orleans, Louisiana.
Miles: 117.8

We slept in really hard and woke up very refreshed. Jeff got off work at 11 and took us to the coolest restaurant I have ever seen. It was called The Shed and it is world famous for BBQ in the south. Very southern place. The building itself was actually constructed of materials that looked like they came off of real sheds. Outside had a stage that probably held bluegrass, country, and folk bands nightly. There was tons of outdoor seating and crazy stuff all over lie giant horses, alligators with beer in their mouth and wind chimes made of pork rib bones. We all ordered pulled pork sandwiches and it was the best BBQ sandwich we ever ate. Seriously Nate and I agree that one of our favorite parts of this trip so far has been the food. It’s all delicious!

We drove only a couple hours to New Orleans and the first thing we noticed was that the devastation of Hurricane Katrina is still blatantly visible. On the outskirts of town there are numerous buildings that were wrecked and never repaired and old boarded up houses. Very sad.

We called our couch surfer Becca (who was awesome by the way) and told her that we wanted to go explore the Bayou for a while before going into the city. We drove straight down to the gulf coast delta area and pulled off on some tiny roads. Down there it seriously looked amazing. We saw houses up on stilts to avoid the flood waters and houses right of little rivers next to swamps. There seemed to be lots of construction and progress being made. On the way back to the city we checked out a very tiny town next to the mighty Mississippi. There were lots of kids running around who got off school buses who waved at us. Walked down to the river and explored a bit while getting 17 more mosquito bites. We drove straight to Becca’s house which was really cool place outside downtown. She offered to show us around and meet us downtown later. Nate and I drove down to the French Quarter of New Orleans and admired all the awesome architecture. The streets were very busy and crowded with tourists and locals all having a good time.

One of Nate and I’s favorite things to do has been asking random strangers where good places to eat are for reasonable prices. That way we stay away form the touristy hot spots and get some local flavor and culture to check out. Some guy told us to go to Coops. I had spicy alfredo noodles with shrimp, crawfish, clams, and spicy ham. Nate had jambalaya with similar seafood and rice in it. The spices and flavor was so intense I wanted to never forget how good it tasted. Oooomhp man it was good.

Becca called me and asked us where we were and I said coops. She thought I said poops. (Hahah) We met at a huge cathedral where she and her friends were having a critical mass meeting. It’s where local people ride bikes throughout a city together in a big group. Becca passed to show us around on foot. Watched a street performer who was very entertaining and put on an impressive magic show.

There is no open container laws in New Orleans so we just walked round the whole town with beer in or hands. We went and sat by the Mississippi river and Becca told us about Katrina and what it was like to grow up in the south. She was a very cool girl and we wished we could hang out in this place longer. While we were sitting there I found a pair of sunglasses for nate to use. They had green algae all over them but Nate will clean them off and they’ll be just fine.



From the river, we went walking through town until we found probably the most glorious thing we have ever seen. A restaurant called the R Bar was giving away free huge plates of shrimp on the street corner. We got our fill along with sauce and beer and sat in the street and ate and ate until we were stuffed full. Stuff like this just doesn’t happen in Portland. People in New Orleans love to have a good time. Mostly, they love to drink in the streets though. Mardi Gras must be absolutely insane down here. We were just hanging out and a guy we were hanging with was talking about random thoughts and apparently that really rubbed some bum the wrong way. He just started yelling at people we were visiting with. It is what it is, I guess. Then, we went to a bar called Mimi’s afterward where we watched some live music. Some old guy came in and Becca started laughing because, apparently, this guy shows up all the time and starts dancing to the music. Which is totally awesome but he’s old and he danced really funny so you couldn’t help but to laugh. After a bit of that, we tuckered out and headed home.



Nate and his random thoughts:
We didn’t do some of the things people, I guess, do when they are in New Orleans. We wanted to do things like go to Café du Monde, La Divina and do other things like show our boobs for beads and have a baby with a local, but we weren’t able to do it all. La Divina was closed and Café du Monde was absolutely packed with a line out the door. We didn’t get any beads because, apparently, we don’t have boobs and it’s not Mardi Gras. As for having a baby with a local, we had a good long talk and decided we aren’t ready to be parents……. *sigh*

Roadkill Armadillo Count “Deadadillo”- 7

Love- Nate and Luke

Day Five: Birmingham, Alabama-Florida-Pascagoula, Mississippi.

August 27, 2009
Birmingham, Alabama-Florida-Pascagoula, Mississippi.
Miles: 296.6

Woke up pretty early and showered. Mindy left for school so we made like a baby and headed out. On the road for a while now. The highlight of today’s driving was that we just stopped at a rest stop in Greeneville, Alabama and cooked hotdogs on the tiny grill. One word: awesome. We even had crackers, apples, and a cold beverage. Now it’s time to figure out what the heck we’re going to do the rest of the trip.

Drove through the hugest rain storm that Nate had ever seen (I’ve seen bigger) We went straight down to the Florida panhandle on our way to Pensacola (Nate calls it Pepsi-cola?) The rain was so bad that we turned westward bound for Alabama then into Mississippi. We were staying with Jeff and Kelly, who are friends from camp Canadensis. Nate and I went swimming in the Gulf of Mexico, which by the way is a terrible idea. (kinda dirty) ON the plus side, we saw tons of hermit crabs and the fish were jumping like lunatics. Not long after, Kelly called me and met us at the park. We followed her to Jeff’s mom’s house to meet their daughter Emma Grace! I have never met such an awesome baby. Emma is always smiling, not afraid of strangers, and has a really great personality. She’s so funny! I think she gets it from Jeff. Jeff came home and we drove to their house and had pizza. Not long after, we packed up and went to Jeff’s tennis tournament. Nate and I both suck at tennis but Nate sucks more because I took a term of tennis lessons at school. Hung out there with Jeff and Kelly’s friends and watched tennis. It was cool to be around so many friendly southerners. We came home, watched the office and Nate and I planned the rest of our trip until about 1 or 2 am*.

Anyways we slept like babies .

Nate says with conviction:
Luke’s an idiot. I’m way better at tennis than he’ll ever be able to comprehend. Had another great day though.



Roadkill Armadillo Count- 5

*side note. Planning our trip for the rest of the way back was a huge pain in the butt because we had to miss some things we wanted to see and people to visit. Mostly because we had to get to the grand canyon to go camping in time for Nate to get to the airport to Seattle for a concert he’s playing at. It’s both of our faults for not communicating better back in June when we were planning the whole trip. I’ll be dropping Nate off in Phoenix and hopefully picking up two more friends and driving home with them!

Love Luke & Nate

Day Four: Savannah-Atlanta, Georgia-Birmingham, Alabama

August 26, 2009
Savannah-Atlanta, Georgia-Birmingham, Alabama
Miles: 396

Woke up this morning not feeling so hot. Ughhh that’s all there is to say about that. Nate and I went to take showers and I was greeted by the biggest freaking spider I have ever seen (not in a zoo) The thing was seriously a monster. I tried to shoo it away but Nate was scared it would go to his shower. It had to die. When I squished it with a paper towel a ton of baby spiders started crawling off it’s back. I usually don’t like killing spiders but this thing had it coming. It was really gross because when I crunched it there was an audible “crunch” noise. Sick. Anyway we packed up camp and drove out to the coast so Nate could see the Atlantic ocean for the first time. I’ve seen it more times than I can remember but it’s not a big deal or anything. We were on Tybee island and we decided we needed to swim in the ocean because it was so warm. The nice temperature of the ocean helped our hangovers a little bit and Nate lost his sunglasses when a wave knocked him over. What an idiot.

sexy

We drove back to Savannah and got some awesome subway to eat for lunch. I asked the subway workers what fun things there were to do in Savannah. They all said “Nothing” or “Move somewhere else” haha I guess the locals don’t like it much. (The subway employees anyways) we had our lunch in a nice park and then went on a quest to see where Forest Gump sat on the bench in the movie. We found the park but not the bench because it had been moved. Oh well.

On our way from Savannah to Birmingham, we decided to stop in Atlanta and do a driving tour. I think I’ve been there times on flight layovers I wanted to see more of the city. The highlight of our drive was meeting the first non-friendly southerner we’ve encountered. It went like this:

I yelled at some guy on the sidewalk. He was wearing a suit and tie:
Luke: ”Excuse me sir?”
Suit man: “Yeah” (southern accent)
Luke: “Do people in Atlanta ever call it Hot-lanta?”
Suit man: (Gives dirty look) “Yeah-up”

We clearly wasted his precious time

It wasn’t what he said, but more the way he said it. We crazy, laid-back Oregon Hippies obviously wasted his precious time on his way to some important business meeting.

Made it to Birmingham Alabama around 8ish, Or couchsurfer just told us ot go into her house even though she was teaching yoga. We let ourselves in and we were waiting for someone to freak out because they thought we were breaking and entering. Great house great girl. She is in med school and donates money to orphans in Africa! Nate and I wandered around and saw some parks. We ended up at a neat bar called “the garage” they had old automobile garages outside in this porch thing with tons of random crap in them. We got pretty Chris Tuckered out and went back to Mindy’s and crashed on the floor.



I gotta say thought that probably about 10 or 11 people worldwide told me not to stay in Alabama and the feared for mine and nate’s safety. Could not have had a more pleasant experience! Sure we were in a nicer city farther away form the south where the devastation of Katrina caused more poverty than already existed, but Nate and both still think that the south in general has a bit of a bad name. I have never seen such friendly people and the natural environment is just as beautiful as some places in Oregon. It’s just different and unique. We love the south and anyone who badmouths the south to us will get an earful!
Love Luke


Nate enthusiastically exuberates his opinion:

It’s been another awesome day. I got to see the Atlantic for the first time. The water was a perfect temperature. It was so awesome just hanging out in the water. I lost my glasses. It’s okay, though. I’d have just given them to the Atlantic if it would have just asked but it decided to them by force. What a jerk. Then, we went to Savannah. It is an absolutely beautiful city despite what the locals thought. We at least got to see the park where Forrest Gumps bench should have been. It was really nice other than Luke crying about his hangover all day. “Oh Nate, I have to puke!” *sob sob* Who cares, Luke?! I got my own problems! We drove through though Atlanta. Also, a very gorgeous city, but unfortunately we just passed through. We’re on our way to couchsurf with someone in Birmingham, Alabama. Stoked about that. Also, we got a good picture of a truck with a confederate vanity plate on the front and a semi-truck with a confederate grill on it. It was hilariously awesome. –Love Nate

Roadkill Armadillo Count- 5

Day Three: Columbia & Charleston, South Carolina-Savannah, Georgia

August 25, 2009
Columbia & Charleston, South Carolina-Savannah, Georgia
Miles: 219.6

We woke up and left for Charleston! The drive was really pretty because we finally got to see some Spanish moss hanging from the huge old oak trees! The drive wasn’t that bad and we got to Charleston and parked and walked around. The city was really cool> The people in the south are so nice! We ate at an awesome restaurant called “Jestines” The waitress was really southern and we had fried Okra, fried green tomatoes, and a shrimp sandwich and Nate had a meatloaf sandwich. I’m hungry just thinking about it! By far the most southern food we’ve had so far. At the end of the meal our waitress said “Now what kind of pie you want?” thought it was funny. We left and drove over a huge and awesome bridge in the rain.



The drive from Charleston to Savannah has been one of my favorite parts of the whole trip. There were really southern looking houses. Some old and huge, some dilapidated and being taken over by nature. As Nate put it, “This place is southern as Shit!” we drove down some random gravel road just to see where it lead. Nate immediately pulled over because there was a turtle sunning him or herself in the road! We played with the turtle, named it Billy and loved the sights and sounds of the south. The cicadas are really loud. Admired some huge trees and Nate really wanted to see an alligator in a swamp so we went swamp hunting. The only thing we found in the swamp was a butt-load of mosquitoes. We are both pretty much covered in mosquito bites from there. Arrived at Skidaway Island state park just outside savannah, Nate and I set up camp and ate hot dogs and failed at lighting a fire. Had a great night I was so happy to be there. Had many conversations about life and love and how lucky we are to be alive. Ya know the usual ☺



Amount of dead armadillos we’ve seen on the side of the road: 3

Nate just decided that the turtle we found should have been named “Stacy” not “Billy” I agreed because it’s a better name for a turtle.
Love Luke




Nate throws in his two cents:

So far this trip has been awesome. I felt like I’ve done so much and it hasn’t even been two full days. Regardless of popular belief the south is incredible. It has great wildlife and so much history. Luke explained what we have done so there is no need for me to bore you with the details again. But, if the south were a girl, Luke and I made sweet passionate love to it. I can’t wait for more adventures. –Love Nate

Day Two: Charlotte, North Carolina-Columbia, South Carolina

August 24, 2009
Charlotte, North Carolina-Columbia, South Carolina
Miles: 107.5 miles

I woke up at 5:45 and watched the sunrise as I drove to the airport to pick up my best friend! I waited with excitement by the security gait. Nate came strolling up and yelled “FRIENDS!” there was a manly embrace, and many smiles. We had breakfast at my new favorite restaurant called Panera. Afterwards, we walked around Charlotte for a while and caught up on life. Saw some sweet fountains, parks, and buildings. Nate and I discussed how we had ridiculous nicknames for people in high school like “narwhol” and “meathooks”



We were anxious to get on the road so we did. Nate fell asleep in the car like a little baby. I guess he was jetlagged or something lame like that. Whatever. We arrived at Columbia around 1 or 2. We drove through town and ended up at the townhouses where my friend Gayle lived. Gayle and I met in Antarctica! Before Gayle got home, we found some cool woods behind her place. The trees are all covered in ivy or something that suffocates them. Gayle got home and showed us around columbia, we got Mexican food and it was delicious. While Gayle was in class ante and I wandered around and found the south Carolina state house. The house still has a confederate flag flying in front of it. I guess it is a big controversy because the flag represents different things to different people. Some see it as southern pride but some people see it still as a symbol of slavery and racism. Gayle’s friend Owen said that as a country and a state, he thinks it should be taken down to move forward and progress. We went to the swimming pool and it felt really nice to swim. I kneed Nate in the face because he startled me underwater. I totally did it on purpose but played it off like an accident pphhhhh. Had some amazing and cheap pizza at a place called the village idiot and Gayle and I talked about Antarctica and what it was like to be an RA hah

Went home and Nate fell asleep sitting up in his chair at about 9:45pm…why am I friends with such a loser? I made him a bed and we slept like babies.

baby sleep nate

People in South Carolina have no idea what there is to do in South Carolina. They told us to go to North Carolina, Georgia, or show us the place in USC campus called the clapping circle, where you clap while standing on some bricks and it echoes….in all seriousness, we’re having a great time!
-Love Luke

Nate types with excitement:
We’re only one day in and Luke and I have already done so much. We went to South Carolina State building. It was really cool. It made me realize that I have never been to the Oregon State building. The best part about it was in the front they had a confederate flag. I guess it’s always caused a lot of controversy and it used to be on top of the building so it was a big deal to have it moved down from there. So naturally, we got our pictures taken in front of it. You just don’t see that kind of stuff in Oregon. We were talking about it and some girl turned around and asked us “Where y’all from?!” We must have been asked that like 8 times. Southern hospitality is real. As Luke mentioned they had a hard time telling us things to do, but they seemed completely concerned and really wanted us to enjoy ourselves while we’re here. The best part about the day was when we went swimming. I was exhausted from the heat and humidity and walking around so it was really nice. Luke kneed me in the face and everything! You know, the usual stuff you do when you go swimming..! I look like Sylvester Stallone at the end of Rocky. This morning we had grits for breakfast, another tasty treat. Thank you so much, Gayle, for letting us stay with you and taking up your time and living room! We deeply appreciate it! We are on are way to Charleston to go camping and soak up some real South Carolina history. We’ll let you know how that goes!! Love you all..!

Love- Nate!!!!

Day One: Boone, North Carolina-Charlotte, North Carolina

August 23, 2009
Boone, North Carolina-Charlotte, North Carolina
Miles: 115.3 miles

Hung Out with Anna for one last day. Just laid around, ate a lot of food and packed my bag and my car. I realized that In the whole summer, I have only driven my car by myself only once or twice in three months. That’s good because my favorite thing in the world is a full car. My car has 8 seatbelts and since this summer, we got 15 people in it. It. Was. Awesome. The people at Gables had no idea what was coming when we crawled out like a clown car in the circus.

I left for Charlotte around 6 and was terrified that I would be lost. Fortunately for me Anna was so sweet and wrote me up step by step directions on how to get to my couch surfer’s house in Charlotte. The drive was fantastic because the clouds were orange and pink. Stayed with Nice lady named Kristi who was an elementary school teacher. We watched True Blood and went to be early because the next morning I will be picking up NATE AT THE AIRPORT!!!!
Love Luke

Overview

States: Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina

Miles Anna Darea, and Luke traveled from NY to NC: 1,445.9
Luke since OR: 4,500.2

Cost:
Gas Total: 157.33
Divided by three: 52.33

Hosts:
Henryville, Pennsylvania: Camp Lindenmere, The Ghost
Manhattan, New York: Jazz on the City
Worcester, Massachusetts: Dianne, Peggy, and Anthony
Salem, Massachusetts: Konstandt Family
Allentown, Pennsylvania: Senderowitz Family
Virginia Beach, Virginia: Perry Family
Greensboro, North Carolina: Mackey
Boone, North Carolina: Reichard Family

Quotes:
That’s Hogwash –Brenna (even though she’s not here)
My gums are throbbing –Doctor
What is your location? –David/Everybody at camp
I was lookin’ a hot mess –Brenna/Everybody
One hot minute –Brenna
Let’s Discuss how… -Brenna/Everybody
Seriously guys, just come to Oregon and you’d get it. –Luke
DINOSAUR PAAAAARK –Luke
Anna google Dinosaur park. Can we camp there? –Luke

Day 9: Boone, North Carolina

August 20, 2009
Boone, North Carolina

This morning we went to Anna’s mom’s charity event for a new homeless shelter, it was a fancy brunch that included Boone’s most well groomed and wealthy citizens … and us. Anna assured Luke and I that our shorts and shirts were fine, though it was evident that we were chronically under-dressed. Luke attempted to button up his shirt but being a checked hillbilly number his success at fitting in Boone style was slightly limited. However it must be noted that Luke and I may not have fitted in aesthetically but my accent, not consisting of ‘y’all’ or even a remote American twang made me stand out like a sore thumb. Highlights of the event included Eric whispering to me ‘Now the fun really begins’ after the fifth southern speaker said the same thing to their captive audience. The giggles were inappropriately passed around the table doing nothing for our attempts to be inconspicuous. Definitely a unique morning, on a serious note though it did make us all think about the social issue at hand.
‘Downtown Boone’ was about the size of a postage stamp but was chock-a-block full of hippie stores. We especially enjoyed a certain furniture store that looked like we had stepped onto the set of ‘That 70’s show’. It was awesome…dude. We also went to the most amazing old fashioned candy store I have ever ever seen, bought a lot of candy but hey there were barrels full of it! Oh and the other uber exciting part of the day was discovering that Anna had Girl Talk. Way better than dinosaurs. Darea x

dressin' fancy in wal-mart!

Day 8: Virginia Beach, Virginia-Greensboro, North Carolina-Boone, North Carolina

August 19, 2009
Virginia Beach, Virginia-Boone, North Carolina
Miles: 370 miles
Music: Ben Kweller, Old Crow Medicine Show, The Avett Brothers

Woke up to watch the sunrise, but it was not out. The sky was grey and just got lighter and lighter with no colors. We woke up again at 8 and Lauren took us to a restaurant called “The Jewish Mother” where they had a special called 3.33 where you got two eggs and style, two pancakes, and bacon….all for $3.33!!! Sweet deal. I was especially happy because I rode to the restaurant in Lauren’s friend Chris’ convertible...which later got towed for being parked in a dry cleaner spot. After a good breakfast, some friends left for Montreal to go to a rave or something.

Lauren and Allison took us to the beach and we went swimming and laid in the hot hot sun. Lauren managed to get us a few kayaks to paddle around in for free! We accidently paddled too far out past where anyone could see us from shore so Lauren came out and said that there were dolphins near the shore. We paddled back and sure enough, dolphins started swimming right next to us in groups of three or four! We saw babies and groups of them came within a couple feet from our kayaks! It was definitely an unforgettable experience. The coolest part about it was jumping off the kayaks and going underwater. When I did that, I heard the unmistakable clicks and high pitched whistles of the dolphins making noises under water! Got pretty sunburned through the whole thing so we paddled back to give Allison and Amanda a turn on the Kayaks. I’d like to note that Darea managed to give herself the most ridiculous color bone sunburn/soon to be tan line I’ve ever seen. It’s like she put a smattering of sunscreen on her chest with no regard as to how to rub it in properly. Oh how I love this girl. I on the other hand am just sunburned all over, even though I put on Allison’s SPF 70 (allegedly it was not waterproof) Anyways It is pouring down rain now so we have no worries about any kind of sunburns.

Lauren gave us a ride back to her house and we said our goodbyes after a shower and re-packing.

On the road again! We got very lost more than once on confusing highways that wanted us to go the wrong direction. Once we were on a long straight road it was very nice and pretty. Very green all along the southern part of Virginia, and the we passed into North Carolina and Anna and played our favorite Avett Brothers and OCMS songs about North Carolina! Very pretty place.

This whole trip I have been giving any car the thumbs up if I see that they have the same car as me. (Ford Taurus) Anyways, it hasn’t been reciprocated yet unfortunately. I guess not all Ford Taurus owners are as cool as me. I was, however, lucky enough to pass by another car with Oregon plates. Thumbs up out the window and of course what happens? It gets returned. This goes to show you the friendliness of Oregonians in and out of state. ☺ Made my car riding experience complete.

On the way to dinner with Anna’s Grandmother “Mackie”

Ok so being an English gal, meeting someone who quite genuinely says ‘y’all’ has been one of the highlights of this trip for me. Mackie is simply adorable and seeing Anna interact with her was a beautiful sight to see. She is evidently a funny albeit tiny lady who felt the need to be somewhat reserved on account of the two strangers in her manicured little home, but her humor came out in no time.(I would just like it noted that I resent the way I have to spell humor, it should have a u in it but an angry red line appears when I write it like that, so when in Rome…) especially cute ‘Mackie Moments to note are her joke about if she doesn’t read her name in the obituary list then she will go out and the hilarious quip she made to Anna; ‘I thought about it before you, I just didn’t shout it out’. The lady is pure gold and it was a pleasure to meet her. The evidence for this was the fact that the moment we got back in the car, grinning from ear to ear, Luke and I rang our respective grandparents. Being the cool kids that we are one of the biggest laughs if the day came from Luke telling another ‘funny story’ about Gramma Judy and her ‘sex in the car’ story. On our way to Boone now, up some mountains in the rain but we are in good hands with Anna driving. Who I have consequently decided to call Florence Nightingale with regards to the fact that she carries a pharmacy in her purse. Thinking of shortening it to Flo? Hopefully she will be more accepting of it than I was to Drizzle. Darea x.

Note: Anna told me that the ‘site to see’ on our drive to Boone is the world’s only double storey Wendy’s. Not going to lie it is no giant ball of yarn, or an obnoxiously large Confederate flag (either of which would be truly exciting and I’m still crossing my fingers for) but hey a double storey Wendy’s? I’m prepared to be excited, after all I am just a impressionable tourist. Oh and Anna killed a bird, the weapon was Luke’s car and the location was the high-way, but she doesn’t want to talk about it. Darea x.

First impressions of Anna’s town and home: very green, winding roads and some pretty stars. I’m excited for tomorrow. Darea x

Day 7: Allentown, PA-Delaware-Maryland-Virginia Beach, Virginia

August 18, 2009
Allentown, PA-Delaware-Maryland-Virginia Beach, Virginia.
Miles: 317.6 miles
Music: Fun., Manchester Orchestra, Old Crow Medicine Show, The Beatles

Woke up and had bagels on the porch. It is ridiculously hot out today and it has been very hot every day since we left camp. Said goodbye to the Senderowitz family and before leaving took dome pictures and videos with massive white and red flowers growing in front of their home. Biggest flower I’ve ever seen. Now we’re just in the car driving south! Today I hope to surf in the ocean again. The car was filed with this song and it is stuck in our heads: “All the Pretty Girls” –Fun.

We’ have passed about 125 churches so far and a building called “church stores.” Also Anna said there is a church in North Carolina where people are Baptized in hot tubs. Welcome to the South.

Long time driving until we got to the beautiful Chesapeake Bay Bridge which is really long and pretty. We stopped to take pictures and played Hoppipolla, Darea’s favorite Sigur Ros song.


We got to Virginia Beach around 6:30 and we were greeted by Lauren and her mom in their amazing house on the bay. It was huge and gloriously decorated. We dropped our stuff of and Lauren took us to where her brother Brian and her friend Allison work at a burrito place called Muchismo’s. Had some massive burritos, then went to another friend’s house named Amanda. We waited a while, then drove downtown to the strip near the ocean. We had a drink and Darea told us about her adventures in Africa. After listening to some bands, getting ice cream, we decided it would be more fun to sit on the dock at Lauren’s house. The city lights in the distance provided some evening glow and many friends sat and discussed plans of going to Canada and stuff like that.

The floor we slept on was upstairs in a big room and it was the softest carpet I have ever slept on. Good sleep.

Day 6: Salem, MA-Connecticut-New York-New Jersey-Allentown, PA

August 17, 2009
Salem, MA-Allentown, PA
Miles: 326.2 miles
Music: “All the Pretty Girls” –Fun., “I’ve Got Friends” –Manchester Orchestra, Old Crow Medicine Show




Woke up relatively early and hit the road after a quick stop at the post office and goodbye to Marissa. We were basically on the road again all day and stuck in traffic through New York of course. I was running out of gas, had to pee, was sick of driving and wanted food. Needless to say I was not a happy camper. We eventually pulled over and took care off all those issues and Anna finished the drive to the Senderowitz Home in Allentown. They lived in a fantastic hose in a nice neighborhood. Their basement was filled with old arcade games like pinball, pacman, skee-ball and baseball. Rissa texted me and asked if we’d seen the basement. I said, “You mean canteen on steroids?” Because that was pretty much what it was like. Marlee showed us the rest of the house then her father, Donald, took us all for ice cream! Darea and Marlee got ice cream cones bigger than their faces of course. Wish we could have spent more time there it seemed like a very interesting town! Went back to their house and watched a Bat Mitzvah video and looked through photo albums. We are so lucky to have such amazing friends in all the right place.

Day Five: Worcester-Salem

August 16, 2009
Worcester-Salem, MA
Miles: 68.7 miles

Peggy and Anthony packed us a great lunch of sandwiches, potato salad, beer, water, pie, and silverware! Nicest people we’ve encountered. They were so hospitable. The drive to Salem was not that long and on the way we passed a sign that said “Dinosaur State Park” I got really excited and made Anna Google it to see what fun things were there. No camping so it was a deal-breaker.



When Luke says he was excited to see a sign that said “Dinosaur State Park” that is probably the biggest understatement ever, he was like a fat kid in a candy store or Luke in Oregon. His seatbelt held him in place but there was a good possibility he was going to jump out of the car at the sight of the word Dinosaur on a road sign. To be fair to him that is a rarity. Bless him I think the 8yr old Luke in him wanted the state park to have actual Dinosaurs in it, if not life size replicas. It makes me sad that we will not discover that place of wonders on this trip. Darea x.



Got to Salem on the hottest afternoon of the summer Marissa’s house was fantastic and really nice. It was tall and skinny with three floors. We set off for the city and Marissa played tour guide. We saw where the scene in Hocus Pocus was filmed at a tree with benches around it in a playground. We saw the Salem Harbor, bought some postcards, checked out downtown, then went to a place called The Willows. There was a Jazz festival happening and we ate ice cream and shopped around this Saturday market-type place. Met some cool artists including an oil painter and a photographer. We walked and walked back to Marissa’s house. On the way we stopped for Thai food and visited the most fantastical bookstore I’ve ever seen it was covered wall to wall with books. Completely filled! This tiny old man who ran the place said all books were half price. Once we returned to Marissa’s we were all too tired to go out and hit the night life. We caught up on emails, and letters, made more travel plans and went to bed. Nice evening in the witch hunting capital of the world!

–Love, Luke