Adventures of Abby & Trent

The Usual Belated Update

2010-03-27T23:01:00.002-04:00

Ok so. As usual, I have been horrible at updating. Part of the problem is, though we've been to some cool places lately, I sort of have senioritis. Yes, I am kind of tired of living on the road. It's weird because I get a bit exhausted from traveling from place to place, but at the same time, I get so excited when I think about all the places I've been and the overall experience. It has been truly awesome.

Even this past month has been rad. We left Florida a few weeks ago, headed up to Memphis, then to Michigan (Detroit and Grand Rapids), passed through Chicago, chilled (literally and figuratively) in Wisconsin (Milwaukee, Madison, Green Bay, Appleton, Eau Claire), and now we are in...

dun dun dun...

North Dakota!! And yes, it does exist! And is way better than I imagined. Well we are in Fargo, ND this weekend. It is obviously the largest city in ND. I went to Target tonight and they still had the ENTIRE Liberty of London collection available (if you're not familiar, it's a designer collection that has sold out online and in stores everywhere...except ND apparently)! I was stoked to get it all!

But I dunno, we'll see how long it lasts, because later this week we travel to Williston, ND, and there seems to be nothing there. I'm told it's an oil town. Yet somehow the HAL reservation center is there. Random? Yes. And all the motels are sold out (yes I said MOTELS, they don't even have so much as a Hampton or Fairfield Inn!). Half of them didn't even have websites. So we are staying a couple hours out of town and will drive early to the show.

Anyways, I have been impressed by this part of the country. Sometimes I forget the North-Mid-West exists. I have no ties to it at all. But first off, Michigan was warmer than Florida! So that was a good surprise. Wisconsin is pretty rural and there are lots of dairy farms. But I didn't get to try any Wisconsin cheese. And probably my favorite host EVER was in Wisconsin. Her name is Janet and she was super nice and just so freaking awesome. And our BDM Linda was so sweet too!

So yea, that's about it. We haven't done anything crazy, haven't done any touristy stuff, so that's why I have no photos. But it's been fun! So I will keep you guys posted as we wrap up our last couple weeks on the road (will be done entirely as of 4/15). :)

Coca-Cola Museum, Atlanta, GA

2010-03-12T18:53:00.003-05:00

Well hullo there! So this post is only 1 1/2 months late, but I can't forego this experience. So, we went to Atlanta back in early February, and I have always heard that a must-see in Atlanta is the Coca-Cola museum, so we trekked to downtown ATL on a brisk afternoon to check it out. It wasn't mind-blowing, but it was fun, and informative.

They had a lot of fun Coca-Cola memorabilia. My favorites were the 30's and 40's ads, they're just so glamourous and good quality.

We saw a 4-D film here where not only is the screen 3-D, but the chairs move around, water sprays, air brushes past you, etc. It was fun but kind of nauseating. :)

So here are some fun memorablia pics:

This scary polar bear was here, you could get your picture taken w/ him but he looked a bit chester molester to me!

Of course, the highlight of any Coca-Cola museum trip is the taste-testing area, where they have 60 Coke products from around the world. Now, what's funny about this, is that, ever since I was little when my dad came home from a trip from ATL, I thought that Coke tasted different in different countries. Like, I figured it was the way they bottled it or whatever, that each had a local flavor, so I fully expected to go there and find Coca-Cola, written in all different languages, each one with a special flavor. However, what it turned out to be, was just different sodas of all flavours, from bitter lemon, to sangria, to orange or lime soda, etc. So while I was surprised, I wasn't necessarily disappointed. There were some odd flavored drinks, but some of them I wish we had in the U.S.

And of course, the gift shop, which they force you to walk through in order to exit. They have pretty much everything Coca-Cola that you can imagine! But my favorite thing was the polar bear! Much cuter than the mascot one in the museum, haha.

I ended up taking one of these home because they were priced at $14.95, which I thought was perfectly reasonable for these cute bears!

Anyways, the overall experience was positive. It's a fun place to check out, maybe not more than once, though. :)

Update

2010-02-27T20:19:00.003-05:00

Yes, once again I have been delinquent in posting! I have to post our adventures in Georgia and will do that soon, I promise! In addition, we've spent a couple weeks in Florida, but will you believe it, I didn't take a single pic while I was there?! Well ok I took a couple at Disney World, but other than that, Trent and I both felt that Florida was somewhat of a bust. If I wanted to go to New Jersey, I would've gone there!! And it's true what they say, you can take the person out of NJ, but you can't take the NJ out of the person. How's that for Florida? j/k!

No really it wasn't horrible, but it also was nothing to write home about. Maybe I will post about Disney World. But the weather was iffy- hit 80 maybe once but was overall in the 50-60s and overcast. Visually, they have interesting foliage in FL, but other than that nothing too stimulating. And finally, the overall consensus of the people there = weird. They are odd. There were certainly some normal folk there, but I think that because everyone there is from different places, it makes for an odd melange of individuals.

Am I being too harsh? But honest at least, right? On a good note, Trent saw 2 armadillos today in FL- one alive, one dead, on different locales on the highway. I was jealous because I missed both due to playing on my dumb iPhone. So that redeems FL a little!!

Anyways, for the next few days we are in Mississippi, Gulfport to be exact. And I am in love, it is really remarkable. I should definitely have some photos from here, it's truly cool, just how I envision the true beautiful south. And on Monday we are day-tripping it to New Orleans!! Can I really be this lucky?!

So yea, more to come!

Sweet Home Alabama

2010-02-02T23:29:00.004-05:00

Saturn V

We weren't in Huntsville very long, just a couple of days. Which frankly, is enough for me. But, we did make a fun discovery- thanks to my sharp Wikipedia skills, we learned that Huntsville is quite the engineering hub, and has lent many a hand to NASA. In fact, it is currently the home of Space Camp, yes the Space Camp!

Why this even matters, is that Trent's grandpa, Claude, was an engineer for the Saturn V, the first rocket to the moon. He did the heavy hydraulics on it. Well, this said rocket happens to be on display at the Space & Rocket Museum in Huntsville! And even better, it's outside, so even though the museum was closed today (once again, a Tuesday, what's up with not being open Tuesdays, museums of the world?), we managed to snag some shots of it!

Trent said he always wanted to be an astronaut when he was a kid. Then he asked me if I did too, to which I replied, "Oh hellz naw". Ok actually I said "not really". But the whole idea just seems a little freaky to me. I think it takes a lot of guts to want to do something like that. Maybe one day, when it's a common thing to go to the moon, I will consider it. :)

But yea, Alabama was good. Some parts definitely live up to their reputation, but other parts were absolutely breath-taking. And they have 2/3-sized ducks! They're cute and 33% smaller than your average duck. Very cool. Oh and we passed the Alabama fan club and museum- for Alabama the band, which is in Alabama. Hah. Yea it's a pretty awesome state.

PS- Check out this parking lot sign, and tell me what is wrong. I'll give you a hint, the error is on the bottom half. Maybe it's just me, the spelling freak that cares. :)

Nashville Returns!

2010-02-02T23:24:00.004-05:00

I know it might seem strange, but I quite enjoy re-visiting certain places in our journey. We returned to Nashville for another round of shows, and while there were able to visit Opry Mills (an outlet mall, akin to Franklin or Potomac or Grapevine, etc. Mills). I kinda wanted to visit this mall again, so I conveniently made sure we stayed close by to make this happen for us. The good news is, the hotel was actually pretty sweet!

We stayed at a Hampton Inn, which usually are like glorified Holiday Inns. However, this one, seeing as though it has to compete with all the fancy schmancy Nashville hotels (and being in close proximity to the Grand Ole Opry), was totally decked out and fun- very my style!

Oh and then we went to Knoxville, where we got snowed in for a couple days, but on the way out of town, the trees were lined with ice, and it was the most beautiful, magical thing! I tried to take some pics, but I don't know if they do it any justice. It was simply gorgeous.

Not too much excitement occurred, but it was fun!

Memphis, TN

2010-02-02T23:12:00.003-05:00

"I may not get there with you, but I want you to know that we, as a people, will get to the promised land"- Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King

Ah yes, Memphis. Well, the original plan was to swing through here on the way to Nashville, so we could see Graceland. Sadly though, upon discovering that a good quality visit to Graceland would set us back $70 a pop, we decided to forgo that and instead, opted for the much-cheaper National Civil Rights Museum. After all, who isn't a fan of civil rights?

Now, although I am generally a fantastic party planner, I might have dropped the ball and ignored the fact that the museum is CLOSED on Tuesdays- of all days of the week! I know, I know. It definitely explained why there were no cars in the lot, and how we managed to find parking downtown for a 45-foot motorcoach. But, we still took some photos of the Lorraine Motel, where MLK was assassinated (which is now the museum), and enjoyed a lunch in the Arcade Cafe, the oldest diner in Memphis:

It was neat to see the MLK tributes, because let's face it, he was pretty awesome. Trent felt the peace sign was an appropriate symbol of MLK, and I agree. :)

Also, there are tons of old trolleys floating about in the streets. I had fun watching them from the restaurant window, and hoped to get some great photos, but only ended up with a couple pics. They took me back though, to like the mid-20th century, and I could really feel an interesting energy from those trolleys. I wish I could live in the hey-day of these trolleys.

Overall though, Trent and I pretty much decided we weren't very impressed with Memphis. Perhaps it was because our hotel was in the middle of a ghetto? Maybe it's because I saw a dead chipmunk that was standing up? Or could it be the hair I found in my queso at dinner? Who can tell? Though, I honestly wouldn't mind going back and seeing some of the museums, the recording studios and DEFINITELY Beale Street (which we drove past quickly, and it looked awesome- my dad would love it!).

Bonus: On the way from Missouri to Tennessee, I saw the sun rays breaking through these clouds and managed to capture it- on an iPhone too! Actually these iPhone cameras take some decent shots!

Meet me in St.Louis!

2010-02-02T22:55:00.004-05:00

So, I was actually pleasantly surprised by St. Louis. I had been there once, long long ago- 10 years ago, to be exact- so it was a nice refresher course in good ol' Saint Louie.

Of course, we wanted to take the coach down to the arch so that it could get its picture taken. I wasn't sure how we were going to do that, imagining hordes of tourists and next to no parking, but great news everyone, there was ample room for a cute bear bus to get its picture taken!

Now, we unfortunately could only stay in the bus pick up/drop off area for 10 minutes, so I let Trent out of the cage so he could explore the arch area a little (can you believe, he has family in Missouri, but has never been to the arch!), and then we took off. It was sweet and simple.

The next day, we had our event at a The Kemp Auto Museum in Chesterfield (St. Louis suburb).

When I first heard it was an auto museum, I was thinking one of those decrepit roadside museums that litter the midwest highways. However, we were pleasantly surprised at what the venue turned out to be- check out some of these sweet, one-of-a-kind cars for yourself:

Cool, right?! There were more where that came from, too. I was not only impressed, but honored that our beautiful motorcoach could (sort of) join the ranks amongst those fancy automobiles, if even just for a short day. :)

Well, that pretty much was the extent of our Missouri adventure. We learned a good lesson about Missouri, though: If you hear the name "Sarah Palin" in a sentence but don't know what they said about her, just tell them you're a fan of hers, too. :) We went to some japanese restaurant, the kind where they have commune tables, and this guy across from us said something about how he was a big fan of Sarah Palin, and Trent, having not understood the man exactly right, replies "Yea, we're not a big fan of hers, either", to which the man says, "What?! What was that?!", as hostile-y as I typed that. I'm not going to lie, I thought he was going to hop over the grill and beat us down. I nudged Trent under the table, and muttered "We are fans of hers, Trent, remember" to which Trent said "Yea we're fans of hers too". The man simmered down and was fine after that. So yea. We learned our lesson. :)

Til next time!

Arkansas

2010-02-02T22:40:00.003-05:00

I was excited to get to Arkansas because I've never been there, and I wanted to check it off my list. Here is the only photo I took in Arkansas, and I think it safely sums up my visit there:

I realize it's hard to see what exactly that photo, so I'll tell you- it's a table of clowns. There were five fully decked-out clowns, and two humans, sitting near us in Chili's (naturally the only restaurant within walking distance from our Arkansas hotel). One of the humanoids was once a youth pastor. Yes, I like to eavesdrop, though sadly, they didn't drop any clues about what exactly they were doing dressed up in clowns. I'm guessing they'd just finished up scaring the s%^$# out of a bunch of 5-year-olds.

But based on the sum of the whole of the state, we decided Arkansas' new slogan should be: Arkansas, where everything is just a little bit slower. :) J/K- it is actually a beautiful state, I wish I could've seen more of the Ozarks, and I am putting Hot Springs on my list for next time!

Dallas, TX (still!)

2010-01-12T22:41:00.002-05:00

So, we are in TX still, though I think we are escaping as of Friday. Phew! Anyways, this trip has been kinda fun. Here is the beautiful view from our hotel room:

Not bad, huh? It's a really pretty lake, and we were excited to find a path going around it, but unfortunately, the path keeps ending, then starting up like 30 feet later, but in all random places. So, a bike ride didn't work out so well.

We also lucked out at having an event right next to the Dallas Galleria, which is a high-end mall in the area. I'd been eyeing this mall, so it worked out well that we were in walking distance.

Yes, there are palm trees inside the mall! And it is like 3-4 stories, depending on what part you're in. Tyson's Corner in Mclean, VA definitely has it's run for the money! Sure, Tyson's has a sushi-conveyer-belt bar in the middle of it, but look what the Galleria has?

That's right, a skating rink! Awesome right?? I enjoy ice skating, so I'd love to go, but I don't think Trent is a big fan.

But speaking of Trent, he wanted me to tell you that, in his mind, the one redeeming thing about being in Texas, is that they have Dr. Pepper at every single restaurant. Even Diet Dr. Pepper, which is unusual. It's all because Dr. Pepper was founded here.

And, he took some sweet photos today, so we will posting them...next time!

Texas Part II

2010-01-04T22:37:00.002-05:00

So, we have had a nice tour of Texas. It's a huge state, and we are covering tons of ground! Here's an idea of where we went:

Houston > San Antonio > San Marcos > Austin > Houston (again) > Harlingen > Brownsville > McAllen > San Antonio (again) > Dallas

...then holiday break, but when we return...

Dallas > Plano > Grapevine > Leaving TX!

...so all in all, I think we have covered a lot of ground so far.

In Houston, we stayed at a lovely full-line Marriott, which we don't usually get to do because they rarely have parking accomodations for a 45-foot motorcoach! :)

Marriott Westchase- Houston

It was a nice property, and even better- we were there when Houston got its earliest snow on record!

Earliest snowfall in Houston's history via motorcoach :)

Needless to say, we were excited to head down to the Texas-Mexico border, and even though it was cloudy for part of the time, it was nice and warm!! Very enjoyable, especially in December!

Cute Palm Tree in McAllen, TX

On our way north from Harlingen-Brownsville, we had to stop through somewhat of a border inspection stop. It was kinda funny to see the search dogs sniffing our coach to make sure we weren't harboring any illegal substances/immigrants!

I also discovered the most delicious Red Velvet Cupcakes ever! Ok, so they're actually just Cheesecake Factory brand from Starbucks (they sell them in B&N Starbucks), but they are sooo good! I had to take a photo to pay homage to the amazingness that it is:

Then, we went to Dallas, where we visited the site of JFK's assassination, and actually, I will probably post an entire entry on Dallas but here is a photo of the city from my iPhone:

Dallas, TX

And we've still got a bit of time to spend in TX, so I will be sharing the rest soon!

Laura Creole Plantation, Vacherie, LA

2010-01-03T21:09:00.002-05:00

Ok, so this is a really delayed post- we visited Laura Plantation nearly two months ago- but I feel like it's DEFINITELY worth sharing. We didn't intend to visit this plantation either, but on our way out of Louisiana, we were gladly surprised to see signs for various plantations, and this is the one we chose, a choice that we're very pleased we made! It is a must-see!

I will try to summarize some of the interesting history that our guide (also the owner/restorer) gave us.

-First, Creole culture was predominant in Louisiana in 19th Century, but it was VERY different from that of European or American; they held a high regard for "family", though it differed as well from our knowledge of it. When passing down the plantation (aka the family business, which everyone in the family worked on), they would pass it down not to the oldest male, but to the child that they thought was the most capable. In this family's case, they passed it down to their 14-year-old daughter.

All of the lines on this map represent plantations that bordered the Mississippi River in the 19th century.

At age 13, you were a child, but at age 14, you were considered an adult, and considered capable of running and maintaining the plantation. Naturally, this 14-year-old had to grow up very quickly.

Business was often performed in one's bedroom- it was considered the polite way to do it, and this often offended the American businessmen, prompting them at times to not do business with the Creoles.

Houses were brightly colored (as seen above), and they said as the Americans moved in the neighborhood, one could tell which house was an American house, and which one was a Creole house, because American houses were boring white.

-Life on the plantation (at least a Louisiana plantation!) was nothing like Gone with the Wind. As I mentioned, it was mostly work, very little play. Just to get breakfast out to all the slave cabins, it was a 4-mile trek, so often times the food was very cold by the time it arrived. They worked early in the day (3am-10am) and in the evenings (5pm-8pm) to avoid working in the mid-day sun, which could be deadly.

Louisiana slaves were not necessarily chosen due to their race, but was more an issue of class; Native Americans, Whites and Blacks could be all be slaves, it just depended on how poor they were. Conversely, any race could be a slave owner.

Slaves were expensive, and cost up to $100,000 in today's currency. The most expensive might be a 20-year-old man, the price depreciating with age and gender. The cheapest way to obtain slaves was to "breed" them. Often, the plantation would "rent" a "stud" (male slave) from a neighboring plantation to come in and re-produce with the women. And yes, often the plantation master would have relations with some of his female slaves, sometimes producing illegitimate offspring.

-Language: Creoles are a mixture of French settler, Native American and African-American. Their language is a variation of French. Theoretically, if one speaks French they could probably, with a little difficulty, understand Creole. Speaking English was strictly forbidden, but in 1913, the state of Louisiana ruled that school could ONLY be taught in English- Creole and French were not allowed- which heavily contributed to the deterioration of the Creole culture in Louisiana.

In the above photo, Trent is standing in Laura's garden, which she discusses in her book, Memories of the Old Plantation Home. When the restorer got there, the garden was non-existent; however, there were still some bricks that outlined a possibility of how her garden with. So, with the help of an architect at Tulane and her diaries, they were able to reconstruct the garden in the style that it would've been. It was conveniently a popular style of the day, AND it cost the restorers $0 to do, because at the time France was offering grants to projects related to French culture, and they were able to get one of these grants!

The above basin was actually what they used for cooking Sugar Cane. They started boiling it in a bowl this size, but the process would eventually condense it into a bowl small enough to hold in your hands- all this work for a small bowl of sugar!

I loved all the beautiful details of this plantation, it was like a paradise :)

The house fell into disrepair over years, and was even a victim to a fire that occurred a decade or so ago. The rear of the house is not completely finished, to offer us an idea of how it looked before they came to finish it. Despite its dilapidated condition however, many of the ancestors of slaves lived in the slave cabins til the 1970's! They eventually moved out, but only moved as far as a few hundred feet away. It's also important to note that much of Louisiana was excluded from the Emancipation Proclamation, thus slavery continued for almost 100 years after slavery was abolished!

The above photo represents how well the plantation was constructed. First, it was made out of Cypress, which is one of the smoothest yet toughest woods, as it is termite-proof. It grew in abundance in Louisiana, but was quickly wiped out because of its appeal. They say it will be at least 200-300 years until the newer growths of Cypress are mature enough to use for building.

You'll notice in the photo a roman numeral. These pegs were numbered and measured across the length of the building for support. The house had to be strong enough to withstand hurricane winds, and some of their tactics were amazing. One example: they had giant "staples" in the roof to keep it intact, and they were so effective, that the owner took some of them to his own house after Hurricane Katrina, to keep his house safe!

Well, this tour was absolutely phenomenal, first in part to the rich, diverse history of the plantation, and also to our wonderful guide who was eloquent and well-researched. There was tons more that he told us, but I guess you'll have to go yourself to get the full tour, because it's really worth checking out!

The bearmobile in the parking lot :)

Update

2010-01-03T21:02:00.004-05:00

Well, I hope everyone's had a fabulous holiday season, and got everything they wanted! Sorry I've not posted for so long- I am currently on break, chillin' at the parent's house, and slated to go back out on the road in less than a week. It's crazy that a month has gone by almost, and though I'll definitely miss my lovely family, I am excited to get out on the road and see some new things!

Here's a rough idea of where we'll be in the next month:

-Texas (finishing up our long run here- been here since mid November!)

-Tulsa and Oklahoma City, OK (here's hoping it's not too cold, since I lost one of my gloves today!)

-St. Louis, MO

-Knoxville and Nashville, TN (again!)

...and come Feb, hopefully we'll be heading south to Florida! Cross your fingers for us :)

Anyways, that's what's to expect shortly, and the good news is, now that it's the new year, my resolution is definitely to write more frequently!! But I have 2 awesome posts to add still from before the break so I hope to get on that now! <3

New Orleans- Finally!

2009-12-10T00:23:00.002-05:00

Ok so hopefully this entry is worth waiting for, because it's been a month since we were in New Orleans! I had a great time there- we weren't really expecting to stop in, but it just turned out that we had plenty of time to get to Texas and you just breeze right by N.O., so why not?!

Unfortunately however, we didn't really have a lot of time to spend here- just an afternoon- so we just had the cab driver drop us off on Bourbon street and we'd take it from there.

As you may know, le Quartier Francais is, well the French Quarter, and as such, is heavily influenced by this culture. In the schools, they still teach French and even Creole which is like a French ebonix :) It's a very interesting language in and of itself. Our taxi driver was taught it in school.

We ate at some random restaurant, as there are millions down there, called "Remoulade", which is actually the name of a mustard-type creole sauce. I enjoyed a Po'boy, which is basically a hoagie.

We visited a couple gift shops, but just like Alaska, once you've seen one, you've seen them all. However, they do have some funny souvenirs such as real crocodile heads (above), feather boas and other very mardi gras-esque trinkets (see below).

And, what would Bourbon Street be without some rather eclectic people?

^^ Yea, uhh what is that?

^^ A creative homeless person- if you look like a street performer, maybe people will give money :)

One of those still-standing mute people that pretend to be a statue

^^ Some dude doing magic tricks

Realizing that Bourbon Street just wasn't our cup of tea, we migrated away. Here is this awesome church, still in the French Quartier. Sadly, I've forgotten the name, but it is well-known, so you can easily google it.

We saw a huge crowd, so we walked over, only to find this dance troupe, who actually I believe were on America's Dance Crew or whatever it is. They were pretty talented!

Then we headed over to the Mississippi River waterfront. Maybe this is lame, but I think that the Mississippi River has a culture of its own. It is such a huge part of this area of the country, and I find it fascinating that it played such a huge role in life during the 19th Century. There is just a mystique about it.

But yea, we were kinda excited to see a riverboat waiting for us :)

Sadly, it began to grow dark in New Orleans...

...so photo-ops became a rarity, and boredom ensued. This is the beginning of Bourbon Street at night:

We did take one last stroll down Bourbon Street, but by then it was getting rowdy (think Mardi Gras every night) and we might have seen a couple girls completely naked, trying to get us to come into the Peep shows, so we called it a night and booked it back to the hotel.

I wish we'd had more time to spend here, as there were a few things I didn't get to see, such as the cemeteries with the raised tombs. Well, we DID see one from the road, but I know there are some older ones near downtown. I also wanted to see some of the beautiful old mansions that New Orleans famously boasts. AND I wanted to see Brad Pitt, but no such luck :(

Despite the short visit however, I did learn a lot about the city, and it was very interesting to still see evidence of Hurricane Katrina. Did you know that nearly 30% of the population left town, and most did not return? There are still many buildings all around that are in ruins from those storms. I also learned that N.O. has one of the highest murder rates in the country, and is one of the poorest cities. It's such a shame because it is truly a gorgeous city, and probably the most fascinating one in the U.S. One of its nicknames is "The City that Care Forgot", implying that it is basically treated like the ugly step-sister, which is kinda evident in the fact that there is very little Federal presence in the city. It kinda does its own thing down, far far away from everything, and you get that feeling when you're there. It's just very...different.

FIN

Texas, etc.

2009-12-09T00:14:00.002-05:00

We have been in Texas since mid-November, and can you believe it, I haven't taken any photos?! I took maybe 2 verry random, not very representative photos with my phone's camera. I admit, I have kinda been burned out and ready for Holiday break. I can't wait to have a 3 week break so I can regenerate. I'm still not fully recovered from working all summer long, I think :)

Anyways, Texas has been interesting, to say the least. We started out before Thanksgiving in Houston, then went to San Antonio. After Thanksgiving, we traveled to Austin area, Houston (again), and now we are in "The Valley", ie just North of the Border :) We have been in the cities of Brownsville, Harlingen and now McAllen. All of the places we've been to have had similar aspects, but have been very different from each other as well.

Honestly though, "The Valley" is a little out-of-this-world, or at least, out of this country. It feels like Little Mexico. We are really close to the border- in fact, apparently there was some crazy shoot out at the Mexic0-Brownsville border yesterday morning. The Mexicans were shooting at people on the bridge or something. Insanity, I tell you. Unfortunately a lot of the area is run down and unkempt, and Brownsville happens to be the most impoverished city in the U.S., a fact that is evident when simply driving down the street.

And, may I say, the people of Texas- sigh. They are very friendly, that's for sure. But if you want to know why, after everything, they still love George W. Bush, it's probably because they see a lot of themselves in him. A couple comments we've gotten MULTIPLE times in our presentations here:

-Trent always asks, "how many hours of direct sunlight do you think we get in Alaska in on the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year" and for some reason, I always hear someone saying "two!" or "five!"

....I am having a hard time understanding how it could even be summer up there if were only 2 hours of sunlight a day, and why would anyone wanna go up there if they couldn't even see anything? :P

-We hand out Holland America pens to everyone at the end- they are long stemmed with a bear or whale design at the top. We announce that they need to grab a pen on the way out, and for some reason, there's always at least one who says "ooh, what's this? A margarita stirrer?"

....uhh....'nuf said.

Anyways, I will do my best to take some photos and have some tourism ops before I leave Texas. We are doing a Holiday Parade this weekend, so I'll probably have fun to report on that.

I haven't forgotten my New Orleans trip, I just really need to load those pics on here!

AND, a bonus, since I suck at photo taking, here's a map of all the states I've been to.

create your own personalized map of the USA
or check out ourCalifornia travel guide

We will most likely knock out Montana, North Dakota, Arkansas and who knows what else before we're done, though probably not Hawaii or New Hampshire...this time :)

It's Been a While...

2009-12-03T20:01:00.002-05:00

...I know, I know, I've neglected this blog. Well, one good excuse I have is a thing called Thanksgiving- we spent 10 days in Utah, and though enjoyable, just flew on by. We are currently in Houston, TX again, after spending a couple of days near Austin. Then tomorrow we head south towards the border. My biggest hope is that I see at least one Armadillo, wanted dead or alive. :) Anyways, I need to post my entry for New Orleans, so I promise I'll do my best to get that out a.s.a.p.

Nashville, TN

2009-11-15T00:40:00.003-05:00

Yeehaawww! Ok ok, so it really wasn't that climactic, but Nashville can easily live up to its reputation. Lots of cowboy boots and hats! And lots of country music! In fact, the CMAs were being held while we were there, so we saw the red carpet and a huge group of people, but sadly no celebs.

Anyways, we lucked out because our coach had to get some work done while we were there, so we got to rent a car to drive around, which makes these ventures a little easier.

The first night, we visited the "Grand Ole Opry". To be honest, this was like a "so what" thing, because I have no idea what it is! I mean truly, I'm not a huge country fan, and even though we "saw" this building, I'm like "woopdee doo". Plus we went in the evening when nothing was happening, so maybe it'd make more sense if we'd gone at a different time?

Trent, sad that we arrived too late

GOO, where something historical happened

Yay for togetherness

So luckily, the Opry Mills (outlet mall, woo!) is right next door, so we saw a movie ("Zombieland"), and ate dinner at The Aquarium, which is an "underwater" restaurant, surrounded by fish tanks. It was okay, mostly exciting for the "view" if you will, but, as it turns out, has just average food.

Sorry they're so dark- that's what happens at night, I guess!

The next day, we made a slightly earlier start, and headed down to the Country Music Hall of Fame.

What?! The windows are made to look like a piano keyboard?! I just realized this now! This is far too much for me to comprehend!

Here, we decided that I was far to disinterested in country music to shell out $20 a head, so we browsed the gift shop and left. I mean honestly, I don't think I would've gained much from that museum, no matter how well it was put together.

Giddy up and ride pardner!

Like my hat?

Admiring this gorgeous shirt

"But Trent, it's only $99!"

Yes, this is the photo you will see if Trent ever achieves America's Most Wanted status

Yes! on all accounts

Right outside of the museum was where the red carpet was for the CMAs. We poked our head in, but it was still a bit early so no celebs had really shown up yet. Not that I'd really know who they were anyways. :) But there were a lot of fans, and some of them cracked me up, especially the girls, because they were all decked out with their up-dos and evening gowns, as if Garth Brooks would, by happenstance, notice them as we was walking down the carpet, and sweep them along with him, and they'd be the belle of the ball or something. Ha.

Oooh Ooh Ohh! Who is it? Miley?! Taylor?! The Janitor?!

We also checked out Broadway, which is one of the main, touristy drags there. It's actually quite quaint, and though somewhat modern, still calls back to the good old days of Nashville...

Hurray, Ernest!

Fusion of new and old...yay for being progressive, Nashville!

We ate at a BBQ joint/bar called Rippy's (typical bar food), stepped in to a couple gift shops like the Boot co., where cowboy boots (and nice brands actually!) were buy 1, get 2 free. I tried on a few but I ultimately decided that cowboy boots have no room in my life. Sorry, they just aren't my thing. Maybe a kitschy, trendy and cheap pair will end up on my feet one day, but to pay $200 for a pair was not an interest of mine.

Howdy!

Mm! Gotta get me some of them Nashville souvenirs, like that Pow-Mia skully!

Oh and we also grabbed some ice cream at a little ice cream parlor there on Broadway. I think it was called Mike's. It was tasty. I had a cold, so I know it's supposedly bad to eat dairy products, but it actually made me feel better at that moment.

See? Ice Cream makes Trent feel better too!

So...that's Nashville in very much a nutshell. Fun place, interesting to see how people in other places live, and on to the next place, I guess (which happens to be New Orleans, and I've already been there, so I'll post my report as soon as possible!).

But wait! There are more photos to be had:

Yay a record. But wait a second...

...and you will find even more records! But step back a few more feet...

...ZOMG!!!! Wow!

Grand Ole Opry area...and yes, I am a professional

I just like these photos

Philly!!

2009-11-07T20:52:00.003-05:00

Yay, home, sweet, home! Yesterday we had the lovely opportunity to head to downtown Philadelphia for a couple of shows. It is such a wonderful place with great people. Ya know, the Northeast is not well-known for its friendliness and/or hospitality, but from my experience, I find that the people in this area are quite pleasant.

At one point, we stopped at a small gas station to fuel up. The three guys working there- definitely Philly born-and-raised- were so fun and helpful. They chatted it up with Trent for a good half hour about the coach, Alaska and of course, Philadelphia!

I will say though, that it was a trial for Trent to drive in the city...I've now decided that after taking on some of those small streets, he can pretty much take on anything! All the other commercial vehicles had scratches and dents all over them...which is not a possibility for us! So I'm very proud of him :)

Also while we've been here, SEPTA (the local public transportation) has been on strike, and according to locals, the strike was done without any notice- people went to the bus stop in the a.m., but no bus came for them! ANYWAYS, we thought we should go around with our bus and charge people for a ride...of course we didn't, but it would've been a great way to make some extra income, right?? :)

Ok so here are some photos of beautiful Philthy!

Down the street from first event- City Hall

Second event, South Philly

...so true!

Sorry but this made my day!

...I love this pic because you can kinda see the coach seats in it too :) Not on purpose, but cool nonetheless!

Rocky, anyone?

...ready to get back to the hotel after a long (fun!) day!

Delaware

2009-11-06T19:03:00.002-05:00

I don't think anything really sums up Delaware better than a quote I remember after years from Wayne's World: "Yay, we're in Delaware. Yay, Delaware..."

It's not that the petite state isn't enjoyable, but when I think of Delaware, I think of flat license plates. And, after having spent a few nights there, that's still pretty much all that comes to mind. Sorry!

Nonetheless, here's a couple photos from one of the agencies we visited. The owner dressed up as Mickey Mouse. It added a lot of entertainment to my day, and undoubtedly garnered a lot of attention for our coach, so that's good! Personally, I am one with a phobia of mascots, in the way some fear clowns. At one point I think I even needed to ask him a question, but was too afraid to confront the mouse. Such is the life of a masklophobic (see! I'm not alone! There's even a name for my fear!!)!

Ocean City, MD

2009-11-05T23:36:00.005-05:00

Yes, I'm still alive! Just been so busy traveling to update, so sorry. Plus, uploading photos takes forever. >:(

Anyways, last weekend (10/24-ish), Trent and I got to go to Ocean City, MD. It was one of my favorite stops to date. Not only was Ocean City great, but we also got to visit Assateague and Chincoteague Islands. My sister and my mom came to visit us- helped us get around a little! :)

We brought our bikes to Assateague, so here's Balls wearing her helmet on the beach:

And my cute mom collecting shells on the beach:

Trent in his cute biking outfit:

The Sunset:

Oh, hi, it's me!

Finding the wild ponies- Trent even went so far as to pet one! Luckily, he was a nice horse :)

So speaking of the horses, when we were entering the park, Trent asked the lady in the booth why the horses didn't just walk across the bridge to Chincoteague Island- she replied that it wasn't in their nature to walk across. Well...the next day, as we were going in again, my mom asked the lady the same question. I don't think she recognized us, but she gave us the same canned answer- i'm sure she gets this question a lot. lol. ANYWAYS, on our way out of the park, we saw the horses chillin by the bridge! And we were sooo hoping they'd walk across so we could prove her wrong! :)

Anyways, back to the photos:

Assateague Lighthouse

Trent chillin on the bench with the ghost bear:

Balls, what are you doing?

AND NOW, Ocean City!!

Boardwalk

OC is so quiet in the winter! Nice and refreshing :)

Welcome to OC!

Silly Trent

Well, there you have it folks! I have more photos to share, so I will be working on getting the blog updated! :)

Virginia

2009-10-13T22:54:00.004-04:00

Actually, I am currently in Pennsylvania! I love PA. I was raised here, after all. We have an event here tomorrow. However, the reason I have titled it Virginia, is because we were in VA for 2 weeks, and yes, I am very delayed in writing about our experiences in this lovely state. I should also mention that we are only touching PA this week; we will be back in VA this weekend. PA will see much more of us in the next few weeks. :)

ANYWAYS, ON TO VA! So we have visited: Roanoke, Christiansburg, Blacksburg, Lynchburg (a.k.a. Forest), Charlottesville, Williamsburg, Virginia Beach, Fredericksburg, and Fairfax (many towns in this county!). Yes, we've seen a lot of this beautiful state, which is nothing new to me because I did in fact spend a few of my growing up years here. However, it's nice to see it as a grown up who actually/finally cares.

Ok so first, we stayed in Christiansburg, a rather sleepy town near Blacksburg (think Virginia Tech). After getting sick of eating at Cracker Barrel and Denny's, we decided to head in to Blacksburg to try a local sushi joint, and see the VT campus. The sushi was just o.k., but we also found a Rita's Water Ice, which was exciting. If you don't know what "water ice" is, maybe try googling it :) And one day, try it yourself. It was Trent's first taste, and he enjoyed it. Anyways, after a short and quaint jaunt on the VT campus, that pretty much summed up our visit to this area. We left with a new understanding of what a "hokie" is! :)

Virginia Tech:

Next, we traveled, to Lynchburg/Forest, where Thomas Jefferson once owned a house in a "poplar forest" of sorts. We visited this lovely agency, and fun was had by all.

Yup, we got all our lovely cohorts to follow suit:

Following Lynchburg, we visited Charlottesville (That guy is Larry, our BDM for VA/WVA).

Enjoyable, yet largely uneventful, we carried on to good ol' Williamsburg.

It was this point that I realized something: I have been to Williamsburg almost every year for 16 years! That's a pretty good record there. I love this place. It's comforting, like a 2nd home. My parents came to visit for this weekend. We saw all the normal sights, such as Colonial Williamsburg, the Prime Outlet mall, The Trellis, etc. The first night, we took a stroll in the colonial area during the night, and stopped by one house that is supposedly haunted.

See any ghosts in there? I didn't.

Then the next day was Trent's birthday! Since he got a lovely new bike for his birthday, we decided to ride on Jamestown Island to celebrate:

Interesting pink berries

Trent on his new bike (holding mine too!)

My mom, me, Trent

Cute mom and I

Cute Trent and I

Trent and Mom gift shopping it:

My mom and I hit up the Yankee Candle Co outlet later that day. I was fascinated by this place. It was huge, and had a section for Christmas stuff, and it was really elaborate, with a faux bridge and stars on the ceiling:

^ Yes, I am a dork for being so excited about such a lame thing :)

Ok, so Williamsburg was fun, but we had to carry on- on to Virginia Beach, to be exact. We didn't actually see the beach, but we enjoyed beach type weather from the event here.

I regretted not actually wearing beach clothing!! It was really warm.

Then off to Northern VA.

Luckily my parents live only 1 mile from where we lodged. It was really nice to see them and to be in a very populated area, with all the stores at our beck and call. We went on a beautiful bike ride on the W&OD Trail, and enjoyed a couple funky restaurants. Mmm..and it was nice to have people to drive us around so we didn't have to find a place for the bus to park! :)

The sad part is that my camera was m.i.a. almost the entire time of our visit to Fairfax! I was searching high and low for it for 4 days! It was weird because I knew it couldn't have gone far, so it was a complete mystery. Then, just as I was about to consider it long gone, I found it under a stack of brochures! Duhh..

Well, so that brings us to now, where we are just beginning our visit to PA. I love it here, it is gorgeous! We are in a town in the suburbs of Harrisburg, called Pine Grove. It is set in these beautiful rolling hills, and all the leaves are turning to vibrant colors!! I will let you in on this trip in the next post. Thanks for reading! :)

Cincinnati, OH

2009-09-28T20:46:00.003-04:00

I hesitate to even write this entry because I foolishly forgot to bring my camera on almost every outing here in Cincinnati, and I just want to smack myself because well...I under-estimated how much this place would impress me. I honestly thought Ohio would be boring, like a wanna-be-East-but-really-Midwest type of place. However, it's pretty freaking cool. I could *almost* see myself living here one day, or at the very least spending some more time in the area.

Well, to be entirely accurate, we didn't hit the actual city of Cincinnati; rather, we stayed in a 'burb called Blue Ash. We might as well have been blind folded and pointed at a spot on the map when we picked it, because I don't know how we did decide to stay here. But it was a great choice nonetheless! Our hotel (Hilton Garden Inn) is super impressive for the price range- the best we've stayed in so far on our journey. It's brand new, modern and chic, and very comfortable (which is the most important part!).

So here's how our time was spent in Cinci:

-Saturday: Since we have a 45' motorcoach, it can be a challenge to take it places. We were hungry, so we decided to find a local mall, which we knew would have plenty of wide open parking. We selected the Tri-City Mall. It was not the most ghetto mall I've ever been to, and actually would've been pretty decent had not about 1/3 of the stores been out of business. I think it is at these points where the recession becomes real to me. ANYWAYS, after (shamefully) settling on the food court, we did some shopping and got the h out of there.

That evening we went to Paramount's King's Island. I am a sucker for amusement parks, and half off admission is pretty enticing. I was most excited to see "The Beast", apparently the longest wooden roller coaster in the world. It wasn't it's superlative that excited me; No, it was actually the fame placed on it by one R.L. Stine (the Goosebumps guy!) who wrote a scary novel about it- I read it in elementary school. :) So I was excited to see the actual rollercoaster. But besides that, King's Island proved to be a major bust, as it started to rain, thunder and lightning shortly after arrived, thus shutting down the park. We ultimately rode 2 (really fun!) rollercoasters, the swings, and went through a abysmal haunted house.

Sunday: Ah, the sabbath, and what a sabbath it was. So after rising at 1pm, we skipped across the street and ate at Cinci's famed Skyline Chili. This place has been around for 60 years, and most Cinci natives that we met insisted we had to go there because it is a Cinci specialty. And yet somehow it was the most disgusting food I've had in as long as I can remember. Sad day.

Then, we took a bike ride (I got a bike, by the way!) to "downtown" Blue Ash, and then on to "downtown" Montgomery, two very picturesque towns. They reminded me a LOT of Newtown, PA. In Montgomery, they had even closed their main street and were holding a little art fair, which is telling of how quaint this area really is. Old buildings, cobblestone sidewalks..sigh...

Monday: Today was our presentation day- meaning we actually had to work! It proved to be a fun, successful day, if we can just forget about the hectic morning we had (which I won't even go in to, since I'd rather not recall it). We ended up in Mariemont, another small suburb of Cinci. I was informed that Mariemont is the first organized community in the U.S., and that it was designed by this Marie lady who intended it to be a walking community; hence all the stores, restaurants, theater, etc are in close proximity to one another.

In Mariemont, we met a lot of nice, interesting people, and affluent, no less. After a long day of presentations, we ate at a little Italian restaurant called Mio's and topped it off with ice cream from Graeder's which is supposedly what puts Mariemont on the map. :) They are known for their chocolate chips in their ice cream. Trent and I enjoyed a scoop of that, and headed on our merry way. I dunno, ice cream just always tastes like ice cream to me.

On the way out of Mariemont, it was really fun to look around and see how old this town appears. Aside from the Tudor-style buildings, it was just so quaint and the road system played a huge part as well in its charm, as it seemed that all the roads intersected at one central point and then carried on. Finally on the way out, I saw the coolest house, which I now know to be the Mariemont Boat House (Picture I stole from someone's Flickr) - it was down in the dip off the road and had an old wooden, moss engulfed shingled roof that sagged a little in the center- it looked very characteristic of old England or the early colonies. Very very cool.

Well, just google any one of these sites and see why I regret bringing my own camera! These are such mature, well-kempt towns, and I'm sorry I couldn't spend more time here.

Seattle, WA

2009-09-18T23:10:00.001-04:00

Trent and I have begun our voyage with a bit of training in Seattle. We got here Monday night, trained and prepped on Tuesday and Wednesday, presented Thursday and Friday, and are leaving in the early morning to head down to Utah (to grab a few things before heading out big time).

First off, have you ever felt that you are not cool enough to be in a certain place? Yea I had never felt that way either, UNTIL I came to Seattle. Everyone seems so put together, so smart and aware, and of course, pretty, that I feel like I stick out like a sore thumb. They kind of seem "good quality", which is not something I can say I've ever felt about any other place. I love this city, just don't know if I'd ever be able to live here because I'd constantly feel inferior :)

Like I said, we enjoyed every moment in Seattle, even if we were so busy that we only had a little time to do some exploring- which, by the way, we are sorry that we didn't get to visit with anyone!

But, some of the things we did get to do:

-We visited the Flagship Nordstrom. I have wanted to do this for a few years now, so I was excited to finally be able to explore the massive, 5-story department store. :) On the same trip we also went to H&M which I always have to do when I have the opportunity. Of course for dinner we were losers and ate at Cheesecake Factory- blahh!

-We took a walk in Elliott Park (I believe it is called). This is right down by the water and stretches for what seems to be miles. We got in to the park via an access area by Pike's Place and walked probably 2 miles before we found a foot bridge to cross over the tracks and back in to the city. I was a little worried we would never make it back. :) The cool thing about this park though is that one trail is for the pedestrians, and another trail is made for the bikers. I think my dad would LOVE this park because of the excellent bike trail. :)

-On Friday night, I decided that we'd had enough of the chain restaurants, so we ventured out to Umi Sake House (1st Ave) for some sushi. We are both in love with sushi, and it helps that our job offers us a generous per diem, so we decided to put it to use and indulge in a nice helping of sushi. I was blown away by the portion sizes- these rolls are absolutely MASSIVE! We looked like gluttons because we both ordered 2 rolls each, and we ordered an appetizer of tempura veggies/shrimp, and of course we didn't think they'd give us so much sushi. So let's just say we definitely took some of it home. :)

-Another local restaurant we went to is Buckley's which is kind of like a pub type atmosphere, so think of burgers and sandwich type fare. We actually ate here twice for lunch, because it was in close proximity to the office, and was decent enough.

And now, for a slideshow :)

Here is Trent at Le Creperie Voila, a little crepe stand downtown. He loves his crepes and it was a nice way to get over the bland Cheesecake Factory's food. Pretend the guy behind him isn't there.

Here I am, in this little coastal park, enjoying the scenery!

I love this photo of Trent- look, I'm not photographer, but this is cool nonetheless. :)

Our delicious meal at Umi!! Look how much food we got- much better deal than Happy Sumo- and much tastier :)

Nom nom nom nom!

Supposedly haunted Moore theater! I can't remember if ghost hunters debunked this place or not, but we were excited to pass by! Balls, this one is for you :)

I always feel like, somebody's watching me... (also for Balls)

So yea, we had a great time in Seattle and were sad to leave. But hopefully we'll be back soon, as our great uncle "HAL" is based there, so ya never know when we'll be in town!

Welcome!

2009-09-18T20:37:00.001-04:00

Hi folks! So...Trent and I have recently accepted a job for our wonderful company that is going to be keeping us busy and living life on the road! For the next 7 months, we will be taking a beautiful Explorer Coach around the United States to get the word out about Holland America Cruisetours. We are so excited to have this opportunity to travel and explore more of the U.S. This blog is dedicated to those travels- can't wait to share them with you! :)