1989 Mother Tour Comes to a Close

We finally made it!! Our beloved home State of Oregon!!!

Yes, I did screech my tires, pull over and run up to the sign and hug it.
We had fun in California, but nothing quite compares to the ocean air, the fresh water, the incredibly nice people…

Almost as soon as we crossed over the border, I stopped at Dutch Bros. I couldn’t wait to get an Iced Kicker! As I finished paying, the teenage girl handed me my coffee and said, “How are you doing today?”

I almost started crying. I missed this! People actually caring about others. She was considerate and polite and didn’t even realize how rare of a find she was in this country, let alone her age group. Once again, Oregon proves its worth.

My Mom loves the old bridges in Oregon, so she decided to sketch one out to paint later.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was going to be our last day traveling. We left Arcata that morning and ran through the redwood forest. All that was left now was to enjoy the Oregon Coast line on the way up to Florence. There was no way I would be driving to Oregon and not getting a bowl of Mo’s Chowder…but that comes later.

What I had initially planned, months before this whole trip, was to visit as many light houses as possible on the California/Oregon coast. I failed miserably at this. I overbooked myself, thinking I could do a zillion things, but driving eats up so much of the day!

We did manage to see one, Cape Blanco Light house, located just outside Port Orford, Oregon.

It’s part of Cape Blanco State Park, home to the windiest, steepest, gravelliest roads ever.

Another attempt at watercolors, this looks almost identical to one I did…when I was seven.

As we climbed further north, my Dad kept calling, asking when we would be home. He was getting very impatient since we were a day behind schedule (thanks a lot San Francisco).

But we couldn’t help pulling over to soak up as much of this gorgeous coastline as we could!!

I’ve always loved how outrageously graphic Oregon warning signs are.

We even stopped at a bookstore in Gold Beach, Oregon. It was a dollar sale, how could we resist?? We ended up buying a book on tape to keep us awake. BEST IDEA EVER. I can’t believe we hadn’t been doing this the whole time instead of playing the alphabet game a billion times (and Taylor’s 1989 album of course).

Driving through trees and misty corners gets a little creepier when you’re listening to Stephen King’s book Salem’s Lot read to you in very convincing voices. (it’s about vampires)

Luckily, we escaped from King’s creepy clutches by reaching Mo’s!!

We’ve been going to Mo’s for over twenty years, because it’s that good. The clam chowder is the reason you come; the service, atmosphere and clam strips are why you stay.

Because we are the nicest people ever, we brought a case of chowder base home for my Dad.

After a very long day of driving, we finally made it home to Central Oregon. I was so happy to see my Dad and my brother again!

This was an incredible trip. I wouldn’t have changed a thing about it. Although we had some hang ups and wished we could’ve stayed longer in places, every moment spent in that car with my Mom was wonderful. We hadn’t spent 15 days straight with each other for almost ten years! Not only did our mother-daughter relationship survive, but I think our friendship as two women really grew.

Travelling together really tests a relationship. You experience a lot of discomfort and discover new things that may annoy you about a person. It can also show you how they handle a crisis, what kind of music gets them in a good mood, and it reveals the goofiness that exhaustion brings, creating the best jokes on the planet.

So choose your co-pilots wisely. Make sure your personalities will compliment each other. If you are a planner, and your friend likes to wing it, communicate before you start driving what kind of schedule you’d like to keep. If you’re on a budget, but they want to wine & dine the whole way, that needs to be addressed as well. It can all go swimmingly as long as you both communicate everything you expect from the trip.

Beginner’s Road Trip Checklist:

• killer mixtape (books on tape highly recommended)
• good co-pilot (must be willing to chat it up when it’s dark)
• road snacks (nothing smelly or crumbly)
• water water water
• general plan of where you wanna go. (this can be wibbly wobbley)
• Zero Expectations, just a goal to HAVE FUN!!!

1989 Mother Tour – Northern California

Napa Valley

My Mom was very new to the wine-tasting life. Luckily, she had the perfect tour guide with years of experience. (wink-wink)

Our first stop was Domaine Carneros, a very swanky Chateau.

We felt pretty under-dressed, but tried not to let it bother us.

The view was spectacular. My Mom seemed to be favoring the sweeter Whites while I am a dark Red fan. I had to take it slow though, this was only the beginning!!

We bought some little mementos, took some photos and went searching for the next one.

A very rough watercolor of the grapes.

Per a recommendation from a local, we went to Cornerstone Sonoma.

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It was like a mini wine lovers town! (the town was mini, not the lovers)
They have five wineries, restaurants, and beautifully designed gardens. It was the perfect lunch spot. My Mom enjoyed sipping my White wines and squinching up her face at the Reds.

Finally, our favorite, Chateau Montelena Winery

If you haven’t seen the movie Bottle Shock, stop right now and rent it.
Trust me, Alan Rickman and Chris Pine (with long hippie hair) are a dream together. And it’s all about wine! This wine to be precise:

Back in the day, France was still considered the authority on all things wine, especially Chardonnay. It wasn’t until 1976 during a Paris Tasting Competition that the Chateau’s 1973 Chardonnay took first prize, showing to France and the world that California was officially in the wine game. You can read about it here, but really, just watch the movie!!!

We loved all of the wines. This could have been because it was our fourth tasting of the day, but they were all very delicious! And our server was very kind, given the fact that we came in twenty minutes before closing. (he could’ve been flirting. Ooh yes, let’s say he was!)

Sad to leave our beloved wine country, we headed back towards Route 1 and the beautiful Pacific Coast Highway. The Mountains were so beautiful to drive through.

We ended up in a Denny’s in Eureka, California and it was very late. After a very strange meal with angry old men banging on the windows, we decided to look into a hotel for the night. Google Reviews was a life-saver. One reviewer recommended a hotel by saying, “This place is great, as long as you don’t mind having meth dealers next door.” We decided Arcata might be a better town to stay in.

Mom found a pretty postcard she wanted to practice painting. I am so lazy and minimalist with this, but she really commits!

We only had one more stop to make before we reached Oregon, and that was the Redwood National Forest. We took a detour off of Route 1 onto the Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway.

It was here we entered Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park.
It’s perfect if you want to keep driving, but pull over every once in a while for a short hike to get the blood flowing. And that is exactly what we did. Drove a few miles, jumped out, ran in the woods, took photos, ran back, did it again.

Pictured below is Big Tree who is  1,500 years old, 304 feet high, 21.6 feet in diameter, and a circumference of 68 feet. Pretty dang impressive.

This park has cabins and a campground available. So I will definitely be visiting this area again in the future.

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Next up: OREGON!!!

 

1989 Mother Tour – Southern California

We had finally made it to the West Coast!! The end was drawing near, but California had so much fun in store for us!

First stop San Diego

…to stay with my sister and her family. I had been missing this nephew of mine hardcore. I hadn’t seen my partner in crime in nearly 9 months!!

We couldn’t wait to start making trouble.

Obviously, the first thing we needed was rest. Driving really takes it outta you. Sun, sand, and warm air was the only cure we needed.

This bug is getting so huge. I had a really hard time saying goodbye to him, knowing he will be so much bigger the next time I see him. He’ll know more things, have seen more, and maybe, just maybe, not want as many kisses from Auntie anymore…

But we didn’t want to focus on that. Instead, we focused on injury #3.

All Mom wanted was to enjoy her book and eat her sandwich, but the seagull didn’t feel that was an option. He decided she didn’t want it enough, swooped down and snatched the entire sandwich from her hand.

“Only you, Mom,” we all said

It was a perfect day with this little bug.

After a very tearful farewell, with many blowing kisses, we started out early for Anaheim, California.

Second Stop, Disneyland!!

My father went to Disneyland as a kid, my brother went as an adult. My sister went to Walt Disney World for her honeymoon, and I worked there for 3 years.

My mom was the only one to never have experienced the House of Mouse firsthand. I needed to fix that.

This was my first time as well, to Disneyland. I knew the basic Disney tricks to get us around quickly, but in terms of knowing about all the attractions, there were a lot I didn’t recognize.

I’d describe it as the better, even more kid-friendly version of The Magic Kingdom. In Florida, MK has around 13 rides that any child can ride. At Disneyland, they have over 20. Anyways, don’t get me started on comparing parks…

Another perk was Disneyland was celebrating its 60th Anniversary. I feel like these days, they have an anniversary for everything, but this one was actually legitimate. 60 is the Diamond year, so that was the theme throughout the park.

First thing we had to do was get our buttons. Mom got a First Visit and I got a Happy Birthday one, hey it was the following week…

She thought this was incredible and couldn’t believe I knew about it. C’mon Mom…(just stop by Guest Relations on your way in to get some, the building is usually labeled City Hall)

Next was the big reveal of the castle. I filmed her reaction. I’ve gotta say, I was a little underwhelmed. She probably thought it was charming and loved it. I’ve just been spoiled with the greatness that is Cinderella’s Castle in Florida, so Sleeping Beauty’s is kind of blah.

But unlike WDW, we got to go inside this one. Each corridor led to another part of the story, all self-led.

She didn’t care about Meet & Greets with Characters (thank goodness) or hitting every single ride. We picked a few areas and let the day plan itself. We rode Jungle Cruise & The Haunted Mansion and explored Tom Sawyer Island.

I couldn’t let my Mom leave this place without trying the glorious Mickey’s Premium Bar.

We got souvenirs for surprisingly cheap in a glassware shop. We each got mugs and engraved glasses celebrating the 60th.

Lastly, before we headed out, we watched the 60th Celebration Parade. If there’s one thing that Disney know how to do well (besides fireworks), it’s a parade.

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It really killed me that we couldn’t stay all day to see the fireworks show at night. It’s something I’ve always wanted to show my Mom.  I really regret not biting the bullet and delaying the schedule to stay an extra day so she could’ve seen it.

But we had a blast. We drove the rest of the day, ending in Santa Maria. We couldn’t go too far because we were meeting an old friend in the morning that we both hadn’t seen in ten years!!

I decided to try my hand at people this time and practiced with the parade dancers.

Independence Day

We met our friend for breakfast. She was my youth pastor and a wonderful friend growing up. I miss her council and complete non-judgmental understanding.

Seeing her again definitely made our morning.

We were aiming for Napa Valley, but my Mom really wanted to drive through San Francisco. This, my friends, was a HUGE MISTAKE.

Pier 39 is a mess on the fourth of July. Never ever go there. We drove for two hours looking for a parking spot. I finally had to admit defeat and take the day as a loss. It wasn’t all bad though. We got some beautiful shots going over the bridge.

We also spent the night with my sister’s in-laws who lived about thirty minutes outside the city. They took us up this humongous hill so we could watch the fireworks shows of all the surrounding towns.

Even though we lost a day, it was a blessing to see friends and family.

Next Up: Napa Valley & The Redwood National Forest!

Me: so many hours, I can’t even keep track anymore

Mom: 2

1989 Mother Tour – The Grand Canyon

After visiting the caves in the morning, we drove from Carlsbad to Tucson to spend the night at Red Roof Inn. What a refreshing stay compared to the horrors the night before. Comfy beds, clean bathrooms, and continental breakfast!

Rejuvenated and energized, we set off for Peoria, Arizona (just above Phoenix). Here we unloaded my car a little bit to make room for another Disney friend! We borrowed her tent and she hitched a ride up to The Grand Canyon.

Thankfully, they both followed my advice to set up the tent before we went to the canyon. I knew we wouldn’t want to set it up in the dark later. Amateurs.

We chose to stay at a KOA campground about an hour from The South Rim. (only because the speed limits are so low, and cops are everywhere). While setting up camp however, I realized we were missing a sleeping bag. Wonderful. That should be fun.

I was so excited. I had always wanted to see this giant of nature. Everyone had always told me it was a ‘see it to believe it’ experience. And I get it. These pictures don’t do it any kind of justice. It is just too massive.

It really makes you feel small, but not insignificant. I felt honored to be able to witness such beauty on this earth! It was quiet too. I envisioned people trying to hear their voices echo the whole time, but there’s no way you could hear your voice with how humongous it is.

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My mom was having heart palpitations watching all the tourists act so cavalier about dancing on the edge of a 5,000 feet drop.

Again, had it been just me and a friend, I would’ve taken a few more crazy photos closer to the edge, but I’m not stupid. I won’t risk my life for a good selfie. But to save my mom from heart failure, I stuck to the path for the most part.

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I wanted to stay for about a week. I wanted to kayak on the Colorado river. I wanted to hike down and swim in the secret pools James Franco found in 127 hours. But alas, the dreaded schedule.

We camped for a night, went to the canyon one last time, then drove back down to Peoria to drop off my friend. (It was here I realized the missing sleeping bag was hiding behind her seat. oops.)
This was our longest day of driving. We started at the top of Arizona and drove all the way down through Phoenix to San Diego. With breaks, it was almost 12 hours.

 

Next Up: California! (Disneyland!)

Me: 55+ hours of driving

Mom: 2

1989 Mother Tour – Austin to Carlsbad

I’ve heard so much hype about how awesome Austin, Texas is. How it’s the Portland of the Southwest and a hipster alternative to the West Coast. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to stay long enough to see if any of it was true. We were here for half of a Friday and most of a Saturday, but we made the most of our time!

We stayed with a friend I worked with at Walt Disney World. She took us to the Zilker Botanical Garden. This place was for my mom. I had gotten pretty cranky on the drive over and felt bad, so I gifted her an afternoon with flowers: her and my father’s hobby and passion. (something I do not share)

I had not seen this lovely friend of mine in four years. We had some serious weirding-out to catch up on. Luckily, my poor mother only had to endure our craziness for a day.

After a coffee break, we went to Graffiti Park. This place is amazing. This is a climbing fort of unsafe adventure aka a child’s dream!! I do not recommend you bringing your kids here though. I nearly broke my neck climbing to the top.It’s pretty much free rein for artists to paint as they please. The only rule I saw was a general request for respect and not to paint over the exceptional pieces that clearly took some serious time and talent to complete. It would have been an excellent location for Avril Lavigne’s Sk8rBoi.

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The view was pretty great too.
At this point in the trip, we realized our painting project was getting neglected. I hadn’t attempted watercolor since grade school, so I decided to try it out with some flowers from the botanical garden.Since my friend had to go to work, we decided to hit the road and drive as far as we could through Texas. Our next stop wasn’t until New Mexico. Everyone warned us that this would be the most miserable and boring leg of the trip. They all said Texas was big, flat, and a whole lot of nothing.
We heartily disagree.While yes, it was hot and miserable weather-wise, we enjoyed the scenery and the tiny towns we drove through. There was only one moment where we were a little uncertain…

It was getting spooky dark, and the GPS said we were coming up on the town we had chosen as a good stopping point. We’d rather drive the last hour to Carlsbad, New Mexico the next morning. Well, this mystery town of Orla, Texas was nowhere to be found. There was nothing in sight for miles save for the oil field flames in every direction.
It felt very X-Files…..

Thoroughly creeped out, we drove to Carlsbad and stayed in the dingiest motel ever. The noises we heard. The smells. The water…
-side note- Please please please, do not ever use the comforter in hotels. While sheets are usually changed daily, 5 star hotels only change comforters every 45 days. So, how long do you think the hotel you’re in has waited?

Next Destination: Carlsbad Caverns National Park

This was by far my favorite activity so far. I’ve always loved caves, despite their tendency to house creepy crawlies. Something about being underground makes me feel cozy and safe. Weird.
But, before we go under, we need to talk about what happened above ground. That’s right, injury #2 happened in the parking lot. And it’s all due to this view:My mom got out of the car and stood dumbfounded looking out over this vast scene, which to her, looked like an ocean, even though she knew it to be otherwise.

Well, let’s just say, the parking lot cement block won. She lost her footing and face planted right in front of me. Thank goodness my impulse to laugh was overpowered by my panic for my not-super-old-but-not-forty-anymore mom’s well-being. Several band-aids later, we were ready to descend 750 feet below the surface.Did I mention it was paved? How cool is that? Spelunkers can’t have all the fun! It was a steady decline the whole way with an elevator at the bottom to bring you back up. OR in other words, a lazy girl’s dream. It was nice and cool down there, and quiet.

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It wouldn’t be a national park without a gift shop, 750 feet down. Yes, I bought a glow in the dark t-shirt.

This was an unforgettable experience. It made me want to find more caves to explore!

Read the Next Post for The Grand Canyon!

Me: 30+ hours of driving

Mom: 0

1989 Mother Tour – Ole Miss & New Orleans

Day Four — We drove straight through Mississippi, except to pee.
Driving into New Orleans was strange. Maybe it’s the media skewing our view of this unique piece of the US, but we were getting a little freaked. For nearly an hour, we drove on these highways set up on stilts above ominous swamps and shady shacks. Basically, if you get a flat tire, you may as well just give up. There’s nowhere to go and no one to help you. Although, it could also be the fact that neither my mother or I can swim. So there’s that….We stayed in the Garden District with one of my DC friends who was gracious enough to give up her adorable little apartment for a few days. It was in a small neighborhood that was in the middle of cute and don’t-go-too-far-that-way-it’s-not-safe.
I loved how old the city felt. So much history had happened here. We loved how walkable the city was too, at least in our area. We stopped at this coffee shop every morning. Our first task was to explore the French Quarter, in the morning, since the late party scene isn’t really ‘our scene.’ -may I just say however, being asked if I wanted a beer to go was an experience I’ll never forget!!

 

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Bourbon Street is pretty much a tourist trap. It’s just bars and gift shops. We found another Hard Rock Cafe for my dad and even ducked into Marie Laveau’s House of Voodoo. It wasn’t until after I took picture of the masks that I noticed a ‘No Photos Please’ sign underneath. oops…
We only had to dodge a few early drinkers, but for the most part people were pretty nice. Apparently, we committed the most heinous crime of all though. We did not try beignets. We didn’t actually know what they were, what they looked like, or how to pronounce it to ask someone….It was hot and humid people.

There was a beautiful courtyard in front of the St. Louis Cathedral. There were musicians and artists all around it, plus a statue of General Andrew Jackson. Fun fact: The St. Louis Cathedral was visited by Pope Pius VI in 1793. (there are other cool historical facts about it here.)
We actually learned a lot in Louisiana. After our morning in the French Quarter, we took the trolley back to the Garden District for a cemetery tour. Is that morbid? Nah. Anne Rice lives here, it’s totally normal.

 

We were a little late, so we tried to scoot in with the tour at the back, but they were smarter than us and made us pay. I am not normally a tour person, but we had been warned numerous times by our local friends that the cemeteries in particular were commonly used to attack or rob tourists. Had I been with a friend, we would’ve risked it, but there’s no way I’d put my mother in any sort of danger in a city I didn’t know, so 20 bucks for a walk and a lot of listening…

I had no idea how crypts worked. I thought it was just a really unnecessary, expensive, space wasting way to monumentalize (this should be a word)  yourself. Well, wasn’t I a judgmental jerk. It’s actually an incredibly efficient burial system!

A. New Orleans is practically at sea level, so they can’t actually bury anyone six feet under. So these little tombs are required.
B. They are reusable!! It only takes about a year for someone to…um…well, you get the idea..so there’s a new spot for the next unfortunate occupant. The tour guide was full of one liners around this part of the speech, saying, “Take a good look folks, you can even get in if you want to, only rule is: Once you go in, you can’t come out.”
C. Because of this recycling, generations of families can all essentially be buried in the same spot.
Talk about a time saver on Memorial Day…too much? Our tour guide taught us what all the architectural elements meant and what kinds of families used what, but the only one I remember the story for is because of Tom Cruise.

Yep, this is Lestat’s crypt from Interview with a Vampire. Here is where our beloved Louis aka Brad Pitt became a vampire by the vicious bite of Tom Cruise, fog machines not included. The tour guide named a few other movies and music artists that had used the cemetery for filming; some not so savory…

Little did we know, this tour took us out of the cemetery (to our dismay) and into the surrounding neighborhoods to learn about the old houses. My mom was thrilled. I was dehydrated. Cue seven-year-old-me throwing a pouty look every time she wanted to stop and take a photo.

We did get to see one of Anne Rice‘s old houses with the classic Rose Gate (the knotted wires look more like skulls than roses).  We saw the house where they filmed parts of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. As well as the homes of Sandra Bullock, John Goodman and the Manning family (Peyton & Eli’s parents).

 

Our final evening, we shared some catfish with our hosts, took a sunset walk and went to the Frenchmen for some live music.

 

We had a lot of fun here! We even bought some bayou music to take on our trip by Yes Ma’am. It was interesting to learn about the city and see it through a local’s eyes. Will we ever go back? Probably not. But we’re glad to have seen it.

Me: 21 hours of driving

Mom: 0

Go to the next post for Austin, Texas!!

1989 Mother Tour – DC to TN

This summer was non-stop traveling for me, but my favorite bit was the 15 days I spent on the road with my Mom.

I was planning a move of my car (and most of my possessions) from D.C. to Oregon in preparation for my move to South Korea and I was in desperate need of a co-pilot.

Nothing could have surprised me more than my mother offering to drive with me. She is not a road tripper, a camper, a spelunker,nor a night-life-er….but in spite of it all, she was stoked to come along! Honestly, there’s no one that deserved to be my co-pilot more. She has spent over half her life raising three kids, which means she basically hasn’t had a real vacation in about thirty years. So my brilliant plan was to reignite her artistic passion, as well as open her eyes to the beauty and wonder of road trips as she enters the wonderful era of retirement.

My mother is an incredible painter, but due to life, kids, marriage, etc., she stopped. I’ve written her notes (many many notes) with tiny assignments for each day we travel, and a travel paint set. Each day we will paint whatever inspires us on the road. – I posted our art on my tumblr, where you can see the color versions.

Given the fact that this trip covers a two week period, I’ll be splitting it up by State. Otherwise, this post would take two weeks to read. Why 1989? Well, Miss Swift’s 1989 album was pretty much our jam the whole trip….

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DAY ONE

As you know, road trips are never short of snags along the way, luckily mine tend to happen in the beginning. My mom’s flight got delayed, rerouted, and delayed again. Finally, after nearly a full 24 hours of flying, she arrived at Ronald Reagan-Washington National Airport and straight into my very eager arms for a long overdue hug.

I would’ve loved to show her around the city I had grown to like-a-lot-but-I-wouldn’t-say-love, but I wanted to spend our wiggle room in California with my sister and nephew, which meant, staying on schedule until then. (i hate schedules)

My poor mother didn’t know what she signed up for when I said I’d show her my favorite spots. You see, you walk everywhere in D.C. It wasn’t until she was roasting hot and nearly panting that I realized that I’d made her walk over 20 blocks before lunch. She wasn’t complaining though, she loves architecture and bookshops as much as I do. I might have suggested tennis shoes though…

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Day Two – We left bright and early, drove through Virginia, and ended up in Friendsville, Tennessee (just outside of Knoxville).

If you’ve read past posts, you may remember me mentioning this Tennessee location.
I stopped here on my way up from Florida, Fall 2013.If there is a more relaxing and tranquil place in North America, I doubt it compares to this. We considered scrapping the whole trip and moving in. You know you’ve found a great friend when you can nap on the couch, even though you haven’t seen each other in two years.

Three days in, I already had my first injury. Turns out being pushed into the lake isn’t all fun and games, but meh, it wasn’t my driving foot!

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Day Three–Reluctantly, we set off  from our  haven of bliss with our gracious hosts.
We stopped in Nashville for lunch and a little sight-seeing. I bet you didn’t know Nashville has the only full-scale replica of The Parthenon in Athens…It functions as an art museum now, but it began as an exhibit as part of the Tennessee Centennial Exhibition. It was a nice break from the hot day in the car.

We ate at the Hard Rock Cafe (we were getting my dad shirts from every one we passed on the trip) and walked around downtown listening to live musicians while wishing we could afford the amazing boots.

We ended the day in Memphis, staying in our very first AirBnb.
-side note- The whole business of renting your room/house/condo out to a complete stranger sounds insane to me. Thankfully, they weren’t ax murderers and we weren’t planning to rob them blind. They were incredibly nice! They even typed out a full list of restaurants, music clubs, etc. in their area for us. However, there is a huge amount of mutual trust involved when using AirBnb, especially since no information is required besides a Facebook account. So, while I do highly recommend the adventure and convenience of AirBnb, be smart and make sure the people you are going to stay with are real people. 

We had grand plans to go out that night and listen to live music on the Mississippi, but…I was lame. I had been driving all day and could barely keep my eyes open. My wonderful mother understood and said we could stay in and watch Netflix. It would’ve been the perfect stay had I not made the mistake of getting late night sushi.
Never again.

Me – 14 hours logged
Mom- 0

Read the next post for New Orleans!!

Brothers, Badlands & The Black Keys

Planning a cross-country road trip is like planning a two-year old’s birthday party. It’s pretty much pointless. No amount of forethought and effort can stop the beautiful chaos about to begin, so you might as well embrace it.

Sure, you need to have a starting point and an ultimate destination, but everything in between? Let it happen. Don’t make fifteen different hotel reservations. Don’t map out ‘photo op’ moments. Get in your car, and just drive.

The only thing that warrants careful and precise planning is a decent Road Mix. If you don’t have good music, you’re going to go insane.

My second trek across the US of A had a snag in it even before we got in the car. Due to annoyances with the DMV, we were set back a day and a half. Gotta plan for it guys. And who was my co-pilot this time? My older brother. Well, he’s my only brother. But, if he insists on referring to me as his ‘little’ sister (even into my mid twenties?!), he’s gets to be old.

It just so happened that as I was planning to move to Florida, he was relocating to Tennessee for his job. “Tag along, partner?” I said. “Don’t mind if I do.” he said. (yes we are cowboys) –Can we take a minute to admire my Tetris-perfect packing job? My brother was allowed the big suitcase on the right, and his guitar. That’s because I’m so nice.

So we said ‘So Long’ to the parents in Oregon and drove off into the sunset.  – I told you, we were behind schedule.  It started out great. Windows down, blasting Ventura Highway (America) and Movin’ Out (Billy Joel) just to get the groove going. Well, guys, Oregon has badlands. That’s right. They are actually named The Badlands. And they go on forever.

The most excitement that first day was almost hitting an owl. No, let me rephrase that. The owl was flying directly at us. So he almost hit us. Jerk.
We decided to drive until we couldn’t anymore. That, my friends, is a bad idea.

(it needs to be said, that you, Idaho, were by far the most grotesquely smelling state we drove through, so thanks for that)
We dodged many a deer, goat, and cow (yes, wild cows) on the curviest, cliff roads ever. Not the best. The clouds were pretty though.

Our bodies lasted until 6am the next morning which turned out to be about thirteen hours of driving. I checked us into a skeezy hotel (I had to wake up the manager) to get a nap in. I said we’d check out in four hours, so he only charged me forty, which I thought was fair. I wanted to sleep; he could’ve said anything.

Sleeping Beauty here slept like a rock. I on the other hand slept maybe two hours. I was so nervous about completely passing out and sleeping way past our check out that I just couldn’t relax. Meanwhile, waking my brother takes nothing less than a blow horn and an apocalypse. But I settled for plugging his nose.

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Day two, we were excited to see new sights, explore the great open spaces of America, starting with its charming rest stops.

I always document how I look at the beginning of a trip, because as the days go by, my ‘style’ looks more like a 90’s grunge band.
My brother has been my reluctant model for years, and my weird photo shoots were finally rubbing off on him, because this was his idea.

As we dipped into Utah for a bit and onto Montana, we played a lot of Lord of the Rings. It just fit.

It was around this time, we got on the worst road in all of the United States; I-80 East.

It is one of the most hopeless stretches I have ever had the misfortune of traveling. We were on it for eight hundred miles. Not eighty. EIGHT HUNDRED. It was horrible.
So, we made use of all the rest stops to keep Jack from turning into a dull boy.

We chose most of our stops based on what food we were craving. Little America won us over with their 99 cent ice cream cones.

And I found a friend while we were there.

We continued on through mountains…

over bridges…

Through rocky terrain that belongs in The Flintstones…

I’m telling you, it went on and on. Thank goodness for The Black Keys and Gotye.

-side note- I’ve never liked the look of these wind turbine things.They just creep me out. They look alien. I think that’s how they spy on us. yeah sure. I’ll go 75…when I’m exiting…

As the day came to a close, we were somewhere around Nebraska. As we looked for a promising exit, we saw this:

There is no way there would be a sign in Nebraska for Oregon…Hours later….We pulled into a Days Inn. First mistake.
It was 2am. Second mistake.
The check in guy was the creepier cousin of Napoleon Dynamite’s brother, Kip. And what he was doing before he came out of the back room just made it all the more disturbing. Let’s just say I made my brother go back for shampoo. After our longest day yet at 17 hours, it was time for a good 6 hour nap.

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Day three, Independence Day!! If all went well, we would reach Tennessee and my brother would ‘supposedly’ leave me to drive the rest of the way alone.

All siblings have a language, or at least a verbal shorthand and ‘isms’ that only they understand. My brother and I are so hilarious together. Trust me. We almost pee ourselves doing Ace Ventura & Nicholas Cage impressions. If anyone could have seen or heard what was going on in that packed tight Honda CRV, we would’ve been committed immediately. We both oddly have an obsession with sunglasses. We had enough to each wear two different pairs a day. I have a lot because I break/lose them almost as fast as I buy them.

Letting my brother use my camera while I drive can be an interesting experiment. I wonder sometimes if he notices his own patterns.
The Beautiful Photography of ‘OLDER BROTHER‘

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After another full day, we were finally getting somewhere.

I was ready for a hearty, American meal to celebrate the fourth, but my brother was too hangry to listen to any of my Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives suggestions. We didn’t even get to stop at the St. Louis Arch. What a butthead.

This was the best I could do.
We finally stopped in Kansas City, but everything was closed! Well, duh…National Holiday nonsense strikes again.

This is where we would have loved to eat, The Brick, purely for the The Oklahoma. It’s a deep-fried hot dog wrapped in bacon.
You just salivated. Gross.
We did find a cool wall though.

We stuck to munchies until we finally made it to Nashville, Tennessee, where I slept twelve straight hours without even feeling it.

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Day four, because my brother is the BEST, was a short traveling day.

Yes, he gave in to my pleading and agreed to drive to Florida with me and fly back.

Gold stars, bro.
We drove four short hours to Marietta, Georgia to stay the night with our cousins, because frankly we didn’t have a 12 hour day in us.

The next day, with only six hours to go, we figured we’d seen it all when it came to strange-rest-stop-activity. But we were wrong.

Horrific murder scene? Dirty handed, clumsy bum? Trapped souls in the walls??

Oh, and there was a horrendous, monsoon of a rainstorm, which my brother braved to fill up on gas, while I took videos of him shivering and glaring at me.

Hope was in sight as we passed our final state border.

And as promised, my brother got to see the first palm tree of the trip.

Over three thousand miles, five days, too many energy drinks and 5 hour energy shots, and two days short on underwear supply (my brother freeballed it in his swim trunks; it was nasty), we finally made it to Orlando, Florida.
It was a great trip, full of laughter, farts, real talk, and wow-that-was-too-much-information.

You were an excellent driving buddy, Bro. We should do it again sometime.
(please pack extra undies)

2200 Miles in 2 Days Flat

Does my title sound a little far-fetched? Well, believe it. Forty eight hours exactly from Norfolk, Virginia to Redmond, Oregon. I guess a better thing to question was our sanity. Why would anyone choose to drive across the country in two days?

Growing up in my family, vacation was known to be a precious, precious thing that my parents enjoyed to its fullest potential. Which means, any place we went, there was an itinerary for every minute of our trip. No side stops, no deviations, no sleeping in or naps in the middle. There were things to do, sights to see, places to set up camp.

Now I’m all for having a plan, but a more, generalized, flexible plan that if need be, can be completely rewritten in the moment. My best memories come from things not going according to plan, so I plan…not to go according to the plan. Confused? I am.

Anyhoo. A little of this hyperscheduling must have been passed down to my sister and I, because we figured, to maximize our time with family back in Oregon, driving straight through, sticking to the turnpikes, was the best and most logical choice. 

I’d like to tell you that it was magical. That those many many hours spent driving, stopping only for gas and peeing, went by in a musical montage of laughing and rainbows. I really would like to.

We took turns napping in the back, drank far past the healthy amount of energy drinks, yelled at the GPS that refused to update and kept repeating, “bear left, bear left, bear left” in a British accent. It wasn’t all bad though. I listened to good music (this trip helped me discover just how much I love Of Montreal), took fun pictures, realized energy drinks and jerky bites do not mix well and that we will never EVER do this again.
(at least not this way)

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It was all worth it though once we reached home. I had never been so happy to see tumbleweeds and junipers in my entire life.