We left OK City and started the very long trip to Albuquerque, New Mexico. This trip took us through Texas. I have always heard all things are bigger in Texas and boy were they right. As we entered Texas we passed a giant rest area, not to be confused with the Welcome Center. This rest stop was unlike anything I had ever seen. It actually had an observation deck although, I am still not sure what we were observing. A little further down the road was a roadside cross...not just any roadside cross. This cross was taller and wider than most hotels I have stayed in. I believe they were trying to reach heaven with that cross. Again, all things bigger in Texas.
We didn't get to see any of the famous family of Texas...the Ewings but we did pass a few oil derricks. Too bad we didn't see a "gusher" because the further west we go the more expensive the gas prices get.
We stayed the night in Albuquerque just a few miles from "Old Towne". . We found a great little bar called High Noon Saloon and of course we went in for a cocktail. I mean how could you not have a drink at a place called High Noon Saloon?!? I was secretly hoping to see a dual from the old west.
Dave found this great little Mexican restaurant called Little Anita's and let me tell you I had the sixth food coma of this trip. The good was AMAZING! The salsa was so hot it caused me to have a little sweat beads on my face.
We walked around the shops and even went into a great old church that was beautiful. This was one of the first churches in the area and in my mind people from the Wild West took refuge in this church. You know people like Billy the Kid or Doc Holiday (insert over active imagination).
We headed back to the hotel to get some sleep since the next stop was Vegas. I may add this Southern Baptist girl was in for a very interesting next 48 hours.
Other news
We saw billboards for a 72 oz steak. I do believe anyone eating that would be in a food coma for life...or at least 24 hours.
We found the second last westward bound Chick-fil-a. Of course it was yummy!
Miles, miles, miles, miles of road construction.
Friday, October 19, 2012
Monday, October 15, 2012
OK City is OK
After the fun week in NOLA and Baton Rouge we loaded up the car and said "so long" to members of the wolf pack and cobra clan to head west...AGAIN!
The first stop on this trip was Oklahoma City which was a very long nine car ride. Note to self....driving nine hours in the car after acting like a 21 year college is not a wise decision. I swear that must have been the longest trip ever!
For the first time Dave and I rotated driving. He drove the first half and I think I was drooling on the seatbelt before we ever left Baton Rouge.
We finally made it to OK City. Dave had chosen the Hampton Inn in Bricktown which was great. There was a great little river walk next to the hotel that had fun little restaurants. We ended up eating at Toby Keith's Bar and Grill. I was totally taken with the saddle turned into a disco ball the bartender had to keep repeating himself.
After dinner we headed back to the hotel for my fix of Once Upon a Time and Jersey Housewives. Dave chose to read "The Odyssey" and fall asleep. I guess he doesn't appreciate good TV lol!
Other news-
Roxie and Gunner are doing great.
The entire blog about NOLA and Baton Rouge to follow with some exceptions. After all what happens in NOLA stays in NOLA!
The first stop on this trip was Oklahoma City which was a very long nine car ride. Note to self....driving nine hours in the car after acting like a 21 year college is not a wise decision. I swear that must have been the longest trip ever!
For the first time Dave and I rotated driving. He drove the first half and I think I was drooling on the seatbelt before we ever left Baton Rouge.
We finally made it to OK City. Dave had chosen the Hampton Inn in Bricktown which was great. There was a great little river walk next to the hotel that had fun little restaurants. We ended up eating at Toby Keith's Bar and Grill. I was totally taken with the saddle turned into a disco ball the bartender had to keep repeating himself.
After dinner we headed back to the hotel for my fix of Once Upon a Time and Jersey Housewives. Dave chose to read "The Odyssey" and fall asleep. I guess he doesn't appreciate good TV lol!
Other news-
Roxie and Gunner are doing great.
The entire blog about NOLA and Baton Rouge to follow with some exceptions. After all what happens in NOLA stays in NOLA!
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Never rains in Seattle (or whatever the song says)
Day 9....until Oct 9
We finally made it to Seattle. I will say that is one of the prettiest drives (well after we got passed the part of Washington that looks like Montana).
We decided to stay in downtown Seattle since the doggie spa was not going to be able to take Roxie and Gunner until the next day.
As we drove into Seattle imagine my surprise when it was not raining. I told Dave that I must have brought the sunshine we me from The Dirty Myrtle.
Since we were so early getting there we decided to take Roxie and Gunner to explore the new sights and smells of Seattle. One thing I was not aware of how many homeless people are in that city. They are everywhere. The city actually builds parks for them which happens to be where the off leash dog parks are located. Well needless to say Roxie thought she needed to greet every homeless person in Seattle with the exception of the high teenage couple.
After the parade through the parks we made our over to the Space Needle. We didn't go up this time perhaps next time.
We checked into the hotel and Roxie and Gunner proceeded to jump all over one of the hotel staff.
We made our way to Pike's Market. We saw the first Starbucks and of course there was a long line. I learned that Seattle's Best Coffee is also owned by Starbucks. I discovered that the guys at Pike's Fish Market will let you catch a fish. Don't think for one second that I will not be doing that several times over the next few years. Who knows that might be my new career! Stephanie the Fish Thrower?!!
Over the next few days we explored the area. We found a cute house to rent in Lacey which is about 30-45 minutes from Seattle depending on traffic and how fast you drive. We were able to chat with the people we are renting from and they gave us all sorts of useful information.
We went to REI Mother Ship as Dave calls it. I picked out a really cute/functional bike. Come to find out I needed an extra small bike frame. (I guess because I am four inches taller than a pigmy). That explains why I keep falling off the bikes I used to ride.
We flew back to SC for the wedding of Chris and Amy (I can now say it in public. That was the hardest secret to keep).
Tomorrow we start the trek west again. We will have company for half the trip as part of the wolf pack and cobra clan are set to invade NOLA and USC/LSU game and then we will head back to Lacey,WA. This time we are taking the southern route.
In other news:
Gunner and Roxie got to go to a birthday party at the doggie spa.
We finally made it to Seattle. I will say that is one of the prettiest drives (well after we got passed the part of Washington that looks like Montana).
We decided to stay in downtown Seattle since the doggie spa was not going to be able to take Roxie and Gunner until the next day.
As we drove into Seattle imagine my surprise when it was not raining. I told Dave that I must have brought the sunshine we me from The Dirty Myrtle.
Since we were so early getting there we decided to take Roxie and Gunner to explore the new sights and smells of Seattle. One thing I was not aware of how many homeless people are in that city. They are everywhere. The city actually builds parks for them which happens to be where the off leash dog parks are located. Well needless to say Roxie thought she needed to greet every homeless person in Seattle with the exception of the high teenage couple.
After the parade through the parks we made our over to the Space Needle. We didn't go up this time perhaps next time.
We checked into the hotel and Roxie and Gunner proceeded to jump all over one of the hotel staff.
We made our way to Pike's Market. We saw the first Starbucks and of course there was a long line. I learned that Seattle's Best Coffee is also owned by Starbucks. I discovered that the guys at Pike's Fish Market will let you catch a fish. Don't think for one second that I will not be doing that several times over the next few years. Who knows that might be my new career! Stephanie the Fish Thrower?!!
Over the next few days we explored the area. We found a cute house to rent in Lacey which is about 30-45 minutes from Seattle depending on traffic and how fast you drive. We were able to chat with the people we are renting from and they gave us all sorts of useful information.
We went to REI Mother Ship as Dave calls it. I picked out a really cute/functional bike. Come to find out I needed an extra small bike frame. (I guess because I am four inches taller than a pigmy). That explains why I keep falling off the bikes I used to ride.
We flew back to SC for the wedding of Chris and Amy (I can now say it in public. That was the hardest secret to keep).
Tomorrow we start the trek west again. We will have company for half the trip as part of the wolf pack and cobra clan are set to invade NOLA and USC/LSU game and then we will head back to Lacey,WA. This time we are taking the southern route.
In other news:
Gunner and Roxie got to go to a birthday party at the doggie spa.
Monday, October 8, 2012
Are we there yet...leaving Montana that is?!?
Day 8
We are still somewhere in Montana. That has to be the longest state in the country and there is nothing out there...not even a cell tower. Every so often when we went through a "town" I would get notification that I had a message but by the time I reacted we were well out of range. I think that if anyone wants to punish me all they would need to do was put me in the middle of Montana. So that morning I was more than happy to find out we were heading toward the final state on this journey.
Since I have lived in the "Dirty Myrtle" was aware of the homeless but I have never really seen hitcher hikers until we reached SD, WY, and of course Montana. I fully believe that people hitch hiking in Montana are trying their hardest to get up out of there. All of the hitch hikers had me asking many questions like "where are they going", "do their feet hurt", "how can they travel with so few bags" and "why are they hitch hiking in such a cold state". Durning this entire cross country trip, Dave and I never saw one hitch hiker get picked up until somewhere in Idaho. This car pulled over and picked up some dude on that side of the road that was heading west. He looked like a scrappy little fellow with dreads, hat backwards, ripped pants, and baggy shirt. I was surprised to see him actually get picked up. This of course led to many other questions. We went speeding past them and I wondered where they were going. In the mean time we stopped to let Roxie and Gunner out to potty, got gas, food and went to this very strange bathroom. So we basically wasted about 20 minutes. As we made our way up the mountain the car that picked up the hitch hiker came speeding pass us. It must have been going 90 miles and the scary thing...there was only one person in the car. So of course my over active imagination kicked into to full drive. Here is what I think happened, the hitch hiker killed the driver, dumped the body and is heading north to Canada. Of course all this all happened within 20 minutes.
We finally got to WA and stopped for the night in Spokane. It was a very pet friendly and running/walking friendly city. We arrived just in time to see the UGA game which made Dave very happy. One thing I learned, the games on the East Coast come on very early in WA and that is GREAT. This hotel room had more of a modern set up with oversized furniture so there was very little room for Dave's pacing that he does when UGA plays. Roxie found herself in the middle of Dave's pacing path so for her safety I made her get up on the bed along with Gunner. We all had sort of an island effect as to stay out of Dave's way. We didn't need any stepped on tails or ears. I think Roxie thinks that when Dave walking around she is going to get something to eat.
After the game we went to a really cute place to eat that happily played the USC game. I was getting very worried because the gamecocks were not playing very well. I said something and the bartender looked a me and said "don't worry Spurrier is awesome and he has this." It turns out that bartender was right and they won. WOO HOOO!!!
In other news:
We passed the place where they train smoke jumpers. Dave was excited because he has just tired Smoke Jumper beer.
There was a barber shop singing group that sung to every waitress that came bay their table. Come to find out there as a convention in town for these singing groups.
Dave saw some antlers that were strapped to the top of a van driving down the interstate.
I have found out that my ADHD is going to get me killed in WA. There are way to many things to stare at and too many bikes and skateboards running around.
Gunner is eating only with bacon gravy...who could blame him and Roxie now hates the car.
We are still somewhere in Montana. That has to be the longest state in the country and there is nothing out there...not even a cell tower. Every so often when we went through a "town" I would get notification that I had a message but by the time I reacted we were well out of range. I think that if anyone wants to punish me all they would need to do was put me in the middle of Montana. So that morning I was more than happy to find out we were heading toward the final state on this journey.
Since I have lived in the "Dirty Myrtle" was aware of the homeless but I have never really seen hitcher hikers until we reached SD, WY, and of course Montana. I fully believe that people hitch hiking in Montana are trying their hardest to get up out of there. All of the hitch hikers had me asking many questions like "where are they going", "do their feet hurt", "how can they travel with so few bags" and "why are they hitch hiking in such a cold state". Durning this entire cross country trip, Dave and I never saw one hitch hiker get picked up until somewhere in Idaho. This car pulled over and picked up some dude on that side of the road that was heading west. He looked like a scrappy little fellow with dreads, hat backwards, ripped pants, and baggy shirt. I was surprised to see him actually get picked up. This of course led to many other questions. We went speeding past them and I wondered where they were going. In the mean time we stopped to let Roxie and Gunner out to potty, got gas, food and went to this very strange bathroom. So we basically wasted about 20 minutes. As we made our way up the mountain the car that picked up the hitch hiker came speeding pass us. It must have been going 90 miles and the scary thing...there was only one person in the car. So of course my over active imagination kicked into to full drive. Here is what I think happened, the hitch hiker killed the driver, dumped the body and is heading north to Canada. Of course all this all happened within 20 minutes.
We finally got to WA and stopped for the night in Spokane. It was a very pet friendly and running/walking friendly city. We arrived just in time to see the UGA game which made Dave very happy. One thing I learned, the games on the East Coast come on very early in WA and that is GREAT. This hotel room had more of a modern set up with oversized furniture so there was very little room for Dave's pacing that he does when UGA plays. Roxie found herself in the middle of Dave's pacing path so for her safety I made her get up on the bed along with Gunner. We all had sort of an island effect as to stay out of Dave's way. We didn't need any stepped on tails or ears. I think Roxie thinks that when Dave walking around she is going to get something to eat.
After the game we went to a really cute place to eat that happily played the USC game. I was getting very worried because the gamecocks were not playing very well. I said something and the bartender looked a me and said "don't worry Spurrier is awesome and he has this." It turns out that bartender was right and they won. WOO HOOO!!!
In other news:
We passed the place where they train smoke jumpers. Dave was excited because he has just tired Smoke Jumper beer.
There was a barber shop singing group that sung to every waitress that came bay their table. Come to find out there as a convention in town for these singing groups.
Dave saw some antlers that were strapped to the top of a van driving down the interstate.
I have found out that my ADHD is going to get me killed in WA. There are way to many things to stare at and too many bikes and skateboards running around.
Gunner is eating only with bacon gravy...who could blame him and Roxie now hates the car.
Friday, October 5, 2012
Bringing Yogi his picnic basket
Day 7-
Still in Montana! I am not sure who has ever been to Montana but I believe there are two reasons there are little towns all over this state. One- people just got tired and didnt want to go on or 2- they thought they had left the state.
It was time to peace out of Billings and continue to head west. On the list for today was Yellowstone. On our way there we drove through some pretty landscape oh and scary! The GPS was having a "schitzo" moment and tookus through some scenic by-pass which added about two hours to our drive to Yellowstone. The scenic by-pass was beautiful for sure and completely undeveloped. By undeveloped I mean toilets (more on that later).
We were so high up in the mountains there was still ice and snow from last winter. No worries though as there was none in the ground. Dodge a bullet on that one. If you ever drive through this area bring motion sickness pills. The roads were never ending "S" turns. They were so sharp they were for sure capitol "s"! On one of the turns some really "smart" guys were riding a skateboard down the actual road. I guess that is Darwin's theory at its finest. I was able to get one text when we reached the top of the mountain. Dave spotted several mountain goats. Did I mention we were high up?!?
Somewhere in that trip nature called. I was completely unsure as to what I was going to do. I was hoping I would not have to follow Roxie and Gunner's lead. Like a vision in the desert came a little camp thing. It consisted of a general store, tents, grills, grizzly country sign and and outhouse. Yes, I said grizzly crossing and outhouse in the same sentence. I am not sure if I have ever seen something like that in my life. Let's just say it looked like the grizzly went into the outhouse. I will never complain about the potties at The Cup!
We finally got to Yellowstone. The park ranger handed us a piece of paper (to paraphrase) "it's sexy time in the park, please stay away from the animals!" About 10 minutes into the park we saw a giant heard of buffalo. Of course there were a ton of people out of their cars taking pictures. Dave said that is what a zoom lens and sunroofs are for so if we wanted a picture he would stick his head out of the sunroof and snap the photo. We tried to move forward but got stuck in another traffic jam. This time it was buffalo.
After lunch we were driving to see Old Faithful and saw a bull elk in the woods. Well this time we got out. Of course I get yelled at by the park ranger even though he was allowing people to take pictures. I mean do I look like I want to have FaceTime with bull elk?!? We just missed the explosion of Old Faithful because of a buffalo standing in the middle of the street. We didn't see Yogi this time but we did leave his picnic basket!
We stayed in Butte, MO. Yeah we were still in that state. Dave found a great little micro brew. We ended up going there and I was overwhelmed with questions. It turns out the bar was a miner bar. Yep a for real miner bar. They had great beer and a better atmosphere. The down side you ask...the menu consisted of popcorn and "brats" which were actually hot dogs. It was so fun though. In order to get a brat, we had to promise we would be back for October fest next year. Lol! We finally found a place to eat...it was a garage turned into a restaurant.
Other news-
Yippee...hunger strike over! Bad news Roxie has started to shake getting into the car.
Still in Montana! I am not sure who has ever been to Montana but I believe there are two reasons there are little towns all over this state. One- people just got tired and didnt want to go on or 2- they thought they had left the state.
It was time to peace out of Billings and continue to head west. On the list for today was Yellowstone. On our way there we drove through some pretty landscape oh and scary! The GPS was having a "schitzo" moment and tookus through some scenic by-pass which added about two hours to our drive to Yellowstone. The scenic by-pass was beautiful for sure and completely undeveloped. By undeveloped I mean toilets (more on that later).
We were so high up in the mountains there was still ice and snow from last winter. No worries though as there was none in the ground. Dodge a bullet on that one. If you ever drive through this area bring motion sickness pills. The roads were never ending "S" turns. They were so sharp they were for sure capitol "s"! On one of the turns some really "smart" guys were riding a skateboard down the actual road. I guess that is Darwin's theory at its finest. I was able to get one text when we reached the top of the mountain. Dave spotted several mountain goats. Did I mention we were high up?!?
Somewhere in that trip nature called. I was completely unsure as to what I was going to do. I was hoping I would not have to follow Roxie and Gunner's lead. Like a vision in the desert came a little camp thing. It consisted of a general store, tents, grills, grizzly country sign and and outhouse. Yes, I said grizzly crossing and outhouse in the same sentence. I am not sure if I have ever seen something like that in my life. Let's just say it looked like the grizzly went into the outhouse. I will never complain about the potties at The Cup!
We finally got to Yellowstone. The park ranger handed us a piece of paper (to paraphrase) "it's sexy time in the park, please stay away from the animals!" About 10 minutes into the park we saw a giant heard of buffalo. Of course there were a ton of people out of their cars taking pictures. Dave said that is what a zoom lens and sunroofs are for so if we wanted a picture he would stick his head out of the sunroof and snap the photo. We tried to move forward but got stuck in another traffic jam. This time it was buffalo.
After lunch we were driving to see Old Faithful and saw a bull elk in the woods. Well this time we got out. Of course I get yelled at by the park ranger even though he was allowing people to take pictures. I mean do I look like I want to have FaceTime with bull elk?!? We just missed the explosion of Old Faithful because of a buffalo standing in the middle of the street. We didn't see Yogi this time but we did leave his picnic basket!
We stayed in Butte, MO. Yeah we were still in that state. Dave found a great little micro brew. We ended up going there and I was overwhelmed with questions. It turns out the bar was a miner bar. Yep a for real miner bar. They had great beer and a better atmosphere. The down side you ask...the menu consisted of popcorn and "brats" which were actually hot dogs. It was so fun though. In order to get a brat, we had to promise we would be back for October fest next year. Lol! We finally found a place to eat...it was a garage turned into a restaurant.
Other news-
Yippee...hunger strike over! Bad news Roxie has started to shake getting into the car.
'Merica...it has some pretty cool places!
Day 6- leaving SD and heading to UGH Montana.
If you are asking if you had too much "happy" at happy hour and missed day 5. You didn't and yes I know 5 comes before 6 but I am still working on that day....so you know it's going to be good. LOL! Now on to day 6.
So our day in Rapids City started full of adventure. Let me start off by saying...WE WERE NOT STAYING IN THE GHETTO! It was a nice Holiday Inn in Rapids City with a lovely breakfast nook and wonderful breakfast buffet.
As dawn happened upon the City of Rapids Gunner and Roxie get up at 6 am for their morning potty. This is where it all started. I took the pups downstairs and they of course said hello to everyone. Dave's task was to load the car. I saw some dude sitting on the side of the flower bed holding his head. I just thought to myself "hmm he had a rough night" but Roxie and Gunner needed to go bad so I didn't have time to stare. Let me add that if staring was an olympic sport I would win a gold medal. So the pups finished their "business" and the three of us headed toward Dave that was packing the car. He said to me "did you see the homeless guy sitting on the flower bed?" I said "hmm I thought that guy was just having a hard morning after." Dave told me that was an understatement. He informed me that the guy's head was busted open and he was bleeding everywhere. Of course my first thought/statement was damn I miss everything. At that very moment the cops followed by EMT came screaming into the parking lot. Being my nosy self I NEEDED to get inside.(thank you Holiday Inn for a breakfast coupon)! As we walked inside, Dave said careful there is blood on the handle. Yeah the homeless dude made his way into the lobby of the hotel and guess what PASSED OUT in the middle of the lobby!!!! WTF?!? So we sort of walking around him. Well Dave had to guide me since I am now lost to all things but the dude passed out in the lobby. Being the nosy person I am, I picked the table with the best view of the lobby. Needless to say the Creasmans didn't have a rousing breakfast conversation. I have tried to find out what happened but nothing...no news of any kind on line.
After all an already eventful morning we headed up and moved out. Custer State Park was our first stop. As we stopped at the gate the guard stopped us for payment. Dave asked for the military rate and this started one very interesting conversation. The guy started talking about his brother being in the big one and that later he joined the military. He started taking about his job and he proceeds to tell us he used to load atomic bombs on B52 bomber. Of course Dave finds this fascinating and I had lots of questions. None of which got answered because there were people behind us.
As we headed into the park we saw some random buffalo. There is a big heard that lives in the park so it was strange that we saw one of them alone. We turned and moved though the park I saw some really beautiful sights. We got stopped by a heard of donkey standing in the road. One of the donkeys tried to get into the guys car in front of us. The guy kept swatting at him. It was so funny until that donkey tried to get into ours. Gunner and Roxie freaked out. Picture spinning, whining, drooling and barking all while in the kennel and you are with us in that moment. Thank goodness for my window being rolled up.
We finally got out of the donkey traffic jam and found out that we just missed the buffalo round up by two days. We were lucky enough to see the entire heard in one spot. We were able to get out of the car to take pictures (thank you fence). I guess a mama buffalo didnt take kindly to being photographed. She snorted, stomped the ground and charged. Again, thank you fence! We decided it was time to go.
We made our way to Mt. Rushmore. It was very cool. I thought I saw a bald eagle flying over the mountain turns out it was just a big ass black bird. We met a very interesting man in the gift shop. Him and his wife basically goes from national park to national park working. They were heading south in about two weeks. I wanted to ask so many questions but damn another line was forming so we moved on.
Our next stop was Battle of Little Big Horn, where Custer made his last stand. It was very cool and really kept the way it was back in the day. Word of warning...always stay in the walk way. I said to Dave...I hear rattling...I looked to my left and there was a 3 foot rattle snake slithering away.
In other news:
Dave is trying to catch up with Gunner. Somewhere in SD he hit a bird. Yep that little creep flew into the windshield which further enhanced my "love" of birds.
We saw another guy being taken away in an ambulance in Billings. That us two in one day.
We went to Deadwood, SD to see where Wild Bill Hickock was killed. They were charging a $1 to get into the cemetery. We just looked at the Gaye. I mean $1 is almost a diet coke.
Billings, MO made me cry. The very second we drove into that town the tears flowed like the mighty Mississippi!! Thank God we left the next morning!
The drive from SD to MO was the worst! No cell service, no places to pee, no food....no nothing!
If you are asking if you had too much "happy" at happy hour and missed day 5. You didn't and yes I know 5 comes before 6 but I am still working on that day....so you know it's going to be good. LOL! Now on to day 6.
So our day in Rapids City started full of adventure. Let me start off by saying...WE WERE NOT STAYING IN THE GHETTO! It was a nice Holiday Inn in Rapids City with a lovely breakfast nook and wonderful breakfast buffet.
As dawn happened upon the City of Rapids Gunner and Roxie get up at 6 am for their morning potty. This is where it all started. I took the pups downstairs and they of course said hello to everyone. Dave's task was to load the car. I saw some dude sitting on the side of the flower bed holding his head. I just thought to myself "hmm he had a rough night" but Roxie and Gunner needed to go bad so I didn't have time to stare. Let me add that if staring was an olympic sport I would win a gold medal. So the pups finished their "business" and the three of us headed toward Dave that was packing the car. He said to me "did you see the homeless guy sitting on the flower bed?" I said "hmm I thought that guy was just having a hard morning after." Dave told me that was an understatement. He informed me that the guy's head was busted open and he was bleeding everywhere. Of course my first thought/statement was damn I miss everything. At that very moment the cops followed by EMT came screaming into the parking lot. Being my nosy self I NEEDED to get inside.(thank you Holiday Inn for a breakfast coupon)! As we walked inside, Dave said careful there is blood on the handle. Yeah the homeless dude made his way into the lobby of the hotel and guess what PASSED OUT in the middle of the lobby!!!! WTF?!? So we sort of walking around him. Well Dave had to guide me since I am now lost to all things but the dude passed out in the lobby. Being the nosy person I am, I picked the table with the best view of the lobby. Needless to say the Creasmans didn't have a rousing breakfast conversation. I have tried to find out what happened but nothing...no news of any kind on line.
After all an already eventful morning we headed up and moved out. Custer State Park was our first stop. As we stopped at the gate the guard stopped us for payment. Dave asked for the military rate and this started one very interesting conversation. The guy started talking about his brother being in the big one and that later he joined the military. He started taking about his job and he proceeds to tell us he used to load atomic bombs on B52 bomber. Of course Dave finds this fascinating and I had lots of questions. None of which got answered because there were people behind us.
As we headed into the park we saw some random buffalo. There is a big heard that lives in the park so it was strange that we saw one of them alone. We turned and moved though the park I saw some really beautiful sights. We got stopped by a heard of donkey standing in the road. One of the donkeys tried to get into the guys car in front of us. The guy kept swatting at him. It was so funny until that donkey tried to get into ours. Gunner and Roxie freaked out. Picture spinning, whining, drooling and barking all while in the kennel and you are with us in that moment. Thank goodness for my window being rolled up.
We finally got out of the donkey traffic jam and found out that we just missed the buffalo round up by two days. We were lucky enough to see the entire heard in one spot. We were able to get out of the car to take pictures (thank you fence). I guess a mama buffalo didnt take kindly to being photographed. She snorted, stomped the ground and charged. Again, thank you fence! We decided it was time to go.
We made our way to Mt. Rushmore. It was very cool. I thought I saw a bald eagle flying over the mountain turns out it was just a big ass black bird. We met a very interesting man in the gift shop. Him and his wife basically goes from national park to national park working. They were heading south in about two weeks. I wanted to ask so many questions but damn another line was forming so we moved on.
Our next stop was Battle of Little Big Horn, where Custer made his last stand. It was very cool and really kept the way it was back in the day. Word of warning...always stay in the walk way. I said to Dave...I hear rattling...I looked to my left and there was a 3 foot rattle snake slithering away.
In other news:
Dave is trying to catch up with Gunner. Somewhere in SD he hit a bird. Yep that little creep flew into the windshield which further enhanced my "love" of birds.
We saw another guy being taken away in an ambulance in Billings. That us two in one day.
We went to Deadwood, SD to see where Wild Bill Hickock was killed. They were charging a $1 to get into the cemetery. We just looked at the Gaye. I mean $1 is almost a diet coke.
Billings, MO made me cry. The very second we drove into that town the tears flowed like the mighty Mississippi!! Thank God we left the next morning!
The drive from SD to MO was the worst! No cell service, no places to pee, no food....no nothing!
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Somewhere in the middle of nowhere
Day 4
I was sad to leave KC. I mean who wouldn't be they have a restaurant that has a meat sampler platter! Roxie's vomit stopped that morning! Thank goodness because I couldn't thing of anything much worse than a car sick dog. As for Gunner he sort of ate. My theory he knew went went to Jack Stacks and was jealous.
After a delicious breakfast of really salty hash browns and yummy bacon we headed out to Omaha. For the record that was the BEST bacon I have ever had. I fancy myself a bacon expert so the Holiday Inn in KC gets 5 stars in the bacon department! Vomit free wash cloths not so much! I was very excited to reach Omaha because after all that is the second home for the Gamecocks!
On our way to Omaha, we drove through Leavenworth, KS. This is where Dave went to school and adopted Gunner. As we got close to the base Gunner started to get really excited. He was doing his "I am so excited, I am about to pee" whine. It appeared as though he was trying to tell Roxie but she was not getting it!
While driving through the post I got to see the Buffalo Solider monument. It wasn't until three days later I put two and two together that Bob Marley was singing about this solider in his song Buffalo Solider.
Dave pointed out where he went to school and it turns out the building now a parking lot. They did however build a new building. He was kind of sad because this is where Patton, McArthur, Eisenhower, Bradley and other famous Generals went to school as well.
I realized that I had ripped my pants leg. So I decided instead of throwing away my favorite yoga pants I would sow the hole shut. News flash- I don't sow, never learned, don't care too and have only sowed one other thing in my life. That time however was an extreme emergency. We popped into the PX and got a sowing kit. Who knew those kits were so involved. Dave asked me if it has black thread. My response- yes why do you ask? He said you are wearing black pants so you need black thread. Humm...never thought about the thread matching. I said good call. So as we continued to drive I began to sow my pants. Yep, the girl that doesn't sow is attempting to sow shut the hole in my pants. Oh and in case you didn't realize...I was sowing them while I was still wearing them. After a few sticks by the needle I saved the beloved yoga pants. It may have a Frankenstein seam but the pants will live again!
We made a couple of stops. One to see the Pony Express stables. I thought it was stupid to pay to go inside so, I just peaked in through the window I guess I should change my name again to "Peeping Penelope". While I was peeping in the windows I didn't realize the "museum" worker was staring at me while she was smoking a cig. Oops! We made our way to see where Jesse James was killed.
Somewhere in the middle of nowhere we spotted a truck hauling a Chick-fil-a sign. Well that was a most unfortunate event since that made both of us want some nuggets and waffle fries.
In Omaha we stopped by the old stadium where the college world series was played and then the new one. It was very cool! They even had a USC flag hanging up in the store.
For dinner that night we went to a little brewery and we actually got Cajun style food. I asked the owner if he was from the south he said no. He did thank us for liking the "heat" of the food. I guess in NE, Cajun heat is not fully appreciated!
Other happenings:
Roxie got into briars so...that was fun trying to get those out of her paws. (insert sarcasm)
A town we stopped in had a fund raiser that was "bacon dinner" why I have I never been invited to such an event?
Some cop pulled a smokey and the bandit move and went hauling around a truck on the entrance ramp to pull some car over.
More to come...
I was sad to leave KC. I mean who wouldn't be they have a restaurant that has a meat sampler platter! Roxie's vomit stopped that morning! Thank goodness because I couldn't thing of anything much worse than a car sick dog. As for Gunner he sort of ate. My theory he knew went went to Jack Stacks and was jealous.
After a delicious breakfast of really salty hash browns and yummy bacon we headed out to Omaha. For the record that was the BEST bacon I have ever had. I fancy myself a bacon expert so the Holiday Inn in KC gets 5 stars in the bacon department! Vomit free wash cloths not so much! I was very excited to reach Omaha because after all that is the second home for the Gamecocks!
On our way to Omaha, we drove through Leavenworth, KS. This is where Dave went to school and adopted Gunner. As we got close to the base Gunner started to get really excited. He was doing his "I am so excited, I am about to pee" whine. It appeared as though he was trying to tell Roxie but she was not getting it!
While driving through the post I got to see the Buffalo Solider monument. It wasn't until three days later I put two and two together that Bob Marley was singing about this solider in his song Buffalo Solider.
Dave pointed out where he went to school and it turns out the building now a parking lot. They did however build a new building. He was kind of sad because this is where Patton, McArthur, Eisenhower, Bradley and other famous Generals went to school as well.
I realized that I had ripped my pants leg. So I decided instead of throwing away my favorite yoga pants I would sow the hole shut. News flash- I don't sow, never learned, don't care too and have only sowed one other thing in my life. That time however was an extreme emergency. We popped into the PX and got a sowing kit. Who knew those kits were so involved. Dave asked me if it has black thread. My response- yes why do you ask? He said you are wearing black pants so you need black thread. Humm...never thought about the thread matching. I said good call. So as we continued to drive I began to sow my pants. Yep, the girl that doesn't sow is attempting to sow shut the hole in my pants. Oh and in case you didn't realize...I was sowing them while I was still wearing them. After a few sticks by the needle I saved the beloved yoga pants. It may have a Frankenstein seam but the pants will live again!
We made a couple of stops. One to see the Pony Express stables. I thought it was stupid to pay to go inside so, I just peaked in through the window I guess I should change my name again to "Peeping Penelope". While I was peeping in the windows I didn't realize the "museum" worker was staring at me while she was smoking a cig. Oops! We made our way to see where Jesse James was killed.
Somewhere in the middle of nowhere we spotted a truck hauling a Chick-fil-a sign. Well that was a most unfortunate event since that made both of us want some nuggets and waffle fries.
In Omaha we stopped by the old stadium where the college world series was played and then the new one. It was very cool! They even had a USC flag hanging up in the store.
For dinner that night we went to a little brewery and we actually got Cajun style food. I asked the owner if he was from the south he said no. He did thank us for liking the "heat" of the food. I guess in NE, Cajun heat is not fully appreciated!
Other happenings:
Roxie got into briars so...that was fun trying to get those out of her paws. (insert sarcasm)
A town we stopped in had a fund raiser that was "bacon dinner" why I have I never been invited to such an event?
Some cop pulled a smokey and the bandit move and went hauling around a truck on the entrance ramp to pull some car over.
More to come...
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Kansas City....Kansas City here we come
Day 3
We woke up to 43 degree temps. Really...43 degrees in September? This was a rude awaken to this southern belle which normally doesn't see temps like this until January. I guess the puppies didn't care to much for that either as they were very fast to potty. I waved to the friendly homeless man as we were leaving the park. I am pretty sure I was topic of his conversation that most likely went something like this "that girl picked up my pee cup."at least I could make them laugh.
So we loaded up the car and headed toward Kansas City. One thing I discovered is I would have a very hard time driving in MO. Why you ask...well they use letters for highway names instead of numbers. So you have to look for Hwy VV or something like that. Good thing Dave was driving or we might have ended up in Canada.
One of things I like to do is to read billboards. It keeps me from asking are we there yet and of course saves Dave's sanity. Between the billboard of "meth kills", "ABC adult super store" "Cracker barrel" and "McDonalds" I see one of the best ever. It was for Columbia College (the one in Missouri) it read "Support Cougar Athletics" and of course the very mature Creasmans busted out laughing. I am not sure if it was the "non traditional" age girl holding a basketball or cougar athletics brought up a whole other meaning but we must have laughed at that for about 10 miles.
We managed to make a stop for gas in Columbia, MO which was sort if funny because not only did UGA mange to kick some tiger butt USC did as well. Oh and to anyone that wants to know...Columbia, MO is not anything close to Columbia, SC!
We arrived in KC and Dave had the great idea of walking the puppies to this really cool city center called Country Club Plaza. This was the coolest little place. I managed to go into Tiffany's to drool over some bling.
In the plaza they had very cool statues. One of which was a wild boar. Roxie decided she would give her herding skills one more shot. The horse was a big fail so I guess she thought this would be a success. She growled, huffed, barked and eventually nipped it's heels. To her dismay that hog didn't go anywhere. Although she did prance away so I guess in "Roxie World" this was a big success!
Dave said a stop in KC is not complete without a stop at Jack Stacks BBQ. After he told me about a meat sampler platter of BBQ chicken, ribs, sausage and burnt ends I was sold. Let me tell you this was everything I had heard about for the past 200 miles. The waitress came to get out plates after dinner and her exact words were "I don't think you could have done more damage unless you licked your plate clean!" I am pretty sure that was a nice way of calling me a fat ass.
More happenings:
The bacon gravy worked!!! Gunner is off his hunger strike! Proof bacon cures everything!
Roxie puked! Yumm! Dave being the good person he is caught it in a washcloth. Warning if you are in the Holiday Inn in KC don't use the washcloths!
3...2...1 begin food coma!
Until next time day 4
We woke up to 43 degree temps. Really...43 degrees in September? This was a rude awaken to this southern belle which normally doesn't see temps like this until January. I guess the puppies didn't care to much for that either as they were very fast to potty. I waved to the friendly homeless man as we were leaving the park. I am pretty sure I was topic of his conversation that most likely went something like this "that girl picked up my pee cup."at least I could make them laugh.
So we loaded up the car and headed toward Kansas City. One thing I discovered is I would have a very hard time driving in MO. Why you ask...well they use letters for highway names instead of numbers. So you have to look for Hwy VV or something like that. Good thing Dave was driving or we might have ended up in Canada.
One of things I like to do is to read billboards. It keeps me from asking are we there yet and of course saves Dave's sanity. Between the billboard of "meth kills", "ABC adult super store" "Cracker barrel" and "McDonalds" I see one of the best ever. It was for Columbia College (the one in Missouri) it read "Support Cougar Athletics" and of course the very mature Creasmans busted out laughing. I am not sure if it was the "non traditional" age girl holding a basketball or cougar athletics brought up a whole other meaning but we must have laughed at that for about 10 miles.
We managed to make a stop for gas in Columbia, MO which was sort if funny because not only did UGA mange to kick some tiger butt USC did as well. Oh and to anyone that wants to know...Columbia, MO is not anything close to Columbia, SC!
We arrived in KC and Dave had the great idea of walking the puppies to this really cool city center called Country Club Plaza. This was the coolest little place. I managed to go into Tiffany's to drool over some bling.
In the plaza they had very cool statues. One of which was a wild boar. Roxie decided she would give her herding skills one more shot. The horse was a big fail so I guess she thought this would be a success. She growled, huffed, barked and eventually nipped it's heels. To her dismay that hog didn't go anywhere. Although she did prance away so I guess in "Roxie World" this was a big success!
Dave said a stop in KC is not complete without a stop at Jack Stacks BBQ. After he told me about a meat sampler platter of BBQ chicken, ribs, sausage and burnt ends I was sold. Let me tell you this was everything I had heard about for the past 200 miles. The waitress came to get out plates after dinner and her exact words were "I don't think you could have done more damage unless you licked your plate clean!" I am pretty sure that was a nice way of calling me a fat ass.
More happenings:
The bacon gravy worked!!! Gunner is off his hunger strike! Proof bacon cures everything!
Roxie puked! Yumm! Dave being the good person he is caught it in a washcloth. Warning if you are in the Holiday Inn in KC don't use the washcloths!
3...2...1 begin food coma!
Until next time day 4
Friday, September 28, 2012
Meet Me in Saint Louis
Day 2-
The day started very early that morning since neither myself, Roxie or Gunner particularly like or understand the time change. I do not agree with falling backward, springing forward or anything else for that matter because I have always needed and wanted sleep. Enough about my sleeping patterns. (They will make another appearance later).
So Dave went to get the car and I had the pleasure of taking a very excited Roxie and Gunner outside for pre-departure potty break. Well this proved to be more of a shake down of the valet parking attendant. Roxie thought the girl needed to give her kisses so she proceeded to pin this girl against the key holder. Gunner thought he needed to get in the action to help Roxie get her kisses and wrapped his leash around her legs. So there we all stood in streets of Nashville tangled up and trapped. Lucky for the girl her co-worker showed up to free all of us in time for Dave to pull up the car. I an pretty sure The Creasmans are now on "the do not stay" list at all A Loft hotel.
We all loaded up and headed to Saint Louis. Some where in KY I saw an El Chico restaurant which by the way was the same one found in Cola, SC. It made me want chips and salsa but since it was only 9:30 am and it was closed I had to settle for Panera. Don't get me wrong I am not opposed to eating chips and salsa at 9:30 a.m.
Later down the road Dave and I saw a sign that read "Giant Superman Statue" so of course logic says we needed to hunt that sucker down. Well little known fact this statue is in Metropolis,IL. First- who knew there was such a city, second- why is this not on the national registry, third- they need a bigger sign and fourth- that place was AWESOME! I mean in the town square was a giant Superman, a phone booth that of course I pretended to be Super Girl (I am not a dude) and cut outs that you could pretend to be both Superman and Super Girl. You may be asking yourself...did we take a pics as those charters...Duh of course we did! Pictures to follow!
Later in IL we drove through a dirt devil and no not the vacuum cleaner. Of course not being from those parts I had to goggle this event. Dave told me what it was so I could google. Basically it is a wind tunnel thing that blows around a bunch of dust and dried corn.
We made it into Saint Louis which I have not been since I was younger. Our hotel was about three blocks from Arch. There was a lovely park next to the hotel. I took the pups over there to walk around and of course Gunner pooped and I had nothing to pick it up with so I thought to myself just leave it. Well of course I couldn't for many reasons but one of the most important was the fact there were people around. So I found a cup and decided I would pick up the poop with that. BIG MISTAKE! That cup was filled with pee...the people looking at me strange were homeless folks. Yep...that's right I picked up a cup filled with a homeless person's pee! I vomited a little in my mouth and run into the hotel to scrub down. I told Dave and he said "What did you do that for?"
After that experience we took the pups to walk around the park by the Arch. Gunner had a wonderful time. He was tracking all kinds of things. Roxie had a lot of first...horse being one of them. She mustered up a bark that came from deep in her paw pads. She thought she was big and scary...the horse was unimpressed. He kicked his hoof at her. She didn't know what to do. I guess thoughts of Roxie being a real herding dog is over. On the way back to the hotel Roxie was heading toward a midget. Ok I an SCARED of midgets. No reason as to why but I an. I just knew she was going to be all over the midget. Luckily for me she was too busy barking at other things to notice the midget. Crisis adverted!
Later Dave and I went to have lunch/dinner at TGIFridays and we saw a big foul...a guy leaving a 1/2 empty drink on the bar. That is just so wrong! After dinner Dave and I had drinks at a roof top bar over looking the Cards Baseball stadium. It was really cool!
Other happenings:
Roxie developed the poops
Gunner is on a hunger strike that may or may not be ended by bacon flavored gravy.
More updates to come. Sorry for the delay...time changes kill me!
The day started very early that morning since neither myself, Roxie or Gunner particularly like or understand the time change. I do not agree with falling backward, springing forward or anything else for that matter because I have always needed and wanted sleep. Enough about my sleeping patterns. (They will make another appearance later).
So Dave went to get the car and I had the pleasure of taking a very excited Roxie and Gunner outside for pre-departure potty break. Well this proved to be more of a shake down of the valet parking attendant. Roxie thought the girl needed to give her kisses so she proceeded to pin this girl against the key holder. Gunner thought he needed to get in the action to help Roxie get her kisses and wrapped his leash around her legs. So there we all stood in streets of Nashville tangled up and trapped. Lucky for the girl her co-worker showed up to free all of us in time for Dave to pull up the car. I an pretty sure The Creasmans are now on "the do not stay" list at all A Loft hotel.
We all loaded up and headed to Saint Louis. Some where in KY I saw an El Chico restaurant which by the way was the same one found in Cola, SC. It made me want chips and salsa but since it was only 9:30 am and it was closed I had to settle for Panera. Don't get me wrong I am not opposed to eating chips and salsa at 9:30 a.m.
Later down the road Dave and I saw a sign that read "Giant Superman Statue" so of course logic says we needed to hunt that sucker down. Well little known fact this statue is in Metropolis,IL. First- who knew there was such a city, second- why is this not on the national registry, third- they need a bigger sign and fourth- that place was AWESOME! I mean in the town square was a giant Superman, a phone booth that of course I pretended to be Super Girl (I am not a dude) and cut outs that you could pretend to be both Superman and Super Girl. You may be asking yourself...did we take a pics as those charters...Duh of course we did! Pictures to follow!
Later in IL we drove through a dirt devil and no not the vacuum cleaner. Of course not being from those parts I had to goggle this event. Dave told me what it was so I could google. Basically it is a wind tunnel thing that blows around a bunch of dust and dried corn.
We made it into Saint Louis which I have not been since I was younger. Our hotel was about three blocks from Arch. There was a lovely park next to the hotel. I took the pups over there to walk around and of course Gunner pooped and I had nothing to pick it up with so I thought to myself just leave it. Well of course I couldn't for many reasons but one of the most important was the fact there were people around. So I found a cup and decided I would pick up the poop with that. BIG MISTAKE! That cup was filled with pee...the people looking at me strange were homeless folks. Yep...that's right I picked up a cup filled with a homeless person's pee! I vomited a little in my mouth and run into the hotel to scrub down. I told Dave and he said "What did you do that for?"
After that experience we took the pups to walk around the park by the Arch. Gunner had a wonderful time. He was tracking all kinds of things. Roxie had a lot of first...horse being one of them. She mustered up a bark that came from deep in her paw pads. She thought she was big and scary...the horse was unimpressed. He kicked his hoof at her. She didn't know what to do. I guess thoughts of Roxie being a real herding dog is over. On the way back to the hotel Roxie was heading toward a midget. Ok I an SCARED of midgets. No reason as to why but I an. I just knew she was going to be all over the midget. Luckily for me she was too busy barking at other things to notice the midget. Crisis adverted!
Later Dave and I went to have lunch/dinner at TGIFridays and we saw a big foul...a guy leaving a 1/2 empty drink on the bar. That is just so wrong! After dinner Dave and I had drinks at a roof top bar over looking the Cards Baseball stadium. It was really cool!
Other happenings:
Roxie developed the poops
Gunner is on a hunger strike that may or may not be ended by bacon flavored gravy.
More updates to come. Sorry for the delay...time changes kill me!
Monday, September 24, 2012
Shh...don't wake the chickens!
Day 1
The car was loaded up the night before except for a "couple" of bags and by couple I mean more like four. Two for me, one for the pups and one for Dave. Yep that's right I was still cramming things into bags at the 11th hour.
So morning came, at least I thought it was morning because the clock said "am" however I have never gotten up that early. The time you ask...4:00 a.m. Dave had already gotten up, made coffee, showered and finished packing the car before I even stumbled out of the bed room. As I come walking down rubbing the sleep from my eyes I ran into Dave. He said "You look tired" and I think I mumbled something about Diet Dew and ran into the bathroom door. Note to self for the future...put on make up before Dave gets up and has coffee. :)
The time to leave the beach had arrived. Roxie and Gunner loaded into the kennels very easily. Well Gunner did...Roxie not so much as she had to be picked up and put in her kennel. I guess she thought it was too early as well. After a little sob-fest with mom and myself and Dave standing in the driveway telling us both it was going to ok it was time to head out. As we pulled out of the drive way I sobbed into a towel that was from the Carol Carols' house (Neechie we will return the towel in a few weeks).
The motion of a car has always put me to sleep. Mom my used to put a cranky baby Stephanie in the car and drive me around the neighborhood until I feel asleep. Fast forward to 2012 and I still fall asleep in the car. I am sure that Dave is very thankful for a snoring Stephanie instead of a crying one.
Somewhere on I-20 I woke up just as we were passing a horse trailer, not a little tiny one but a big semi one. Well I guess the "rich" horses have a very different life than the common horses. This trailer was bigger than some peoples houses. As we pass the trailer there I was face to face with some dude in the back of the trailer. NO not in the cab driving...actually standing in the trailer. We sort of gave a head nod to each other. All I could talk about for the next 30 minutes is that guy. I had questions like did he have a chair to sit on, does it smell in there, does he get to get out. My mind still wonders about that little guy.
We made it to the mountains of NC and let me tell you that is some fun riding. I felt like I was on a roller coaster. If anyone has ever traveled through those mountains have been though the tunnel. So Dave says that he used to play this game when he was little. What was the game you ask...to hold your breath while going through the tunnel and the person who does it wins. So I took a deep breath and into the tunnel we drove. Thanks to Dave driving fast because I might have passed out. I am sure that I was getting ready turn blue. As we exited the tunnel I said to Dave "I did it! I held my breath the whole time! What about you?" He responds "I didn't hold my breath...I was driving." So basically I sat there holding my breath for no reason...although I still won.
So somewhere in NC we realized that UT (Tennessee for the SEC illiterate) were playing at home. We stopped at this lovely little truck stop just outside of Knoxville and there was this woman walking a bulldog that looked strangely like her. Well to be nice to the dog he was way cuter then her and come to find out had a much better personality. I have a staring problem so I just could not turn away and good thing I didn't. Her husband/boyfriend/sucker was inside and she was standing outside trying to get into the car. Next thing I know the guy walked out and the woman to the top of her lungs yelled "A-hole" (since this is a PG rated blog I can't type the whole word but you get the idea) where the F have you been. His quite response was "Buying a power ball ticket, why?" I guess this was not the right answer as she went off like the atomic bomb! I guess she thought she was going to be late to the game that started a whole 10 hours from that very moment. I have not heard if he won the power ball...I sort of hope he did so he could take the dog and leave that "B" in Knoxville.
We passed Oak Ridge, TN. Dave said do you know what this is famous for. My answer was the Oak Ridge Boys and I may or may not hummed the tune to Elvira. He said...."UMMM no that would be where they made the atomic bomb." Again in our family Dave knows war/Army stuff and I am the pop culture go to person!
We finally checked into the hotel. Roxie and Gunner made their presence known. I mean after all they are very cute fur babies. Outside of our window were the AC and other vents. Roxie decided that she wanted to give them the shake down. She growled, ran to the door, growled, ran to the door...rinse and repeat. At 4 a.m. some drunk girls came home and Roxie was less than impressed. I told don't get too annoyed that is normally your mom....to anyone that has ever stayed in a hotel where I have been on a girls weekend....I AM SORRY!
We went to dinner at a little brewery down the street from the hotel. On they way out we could hear Gunner screaming from the room. Yep that is right we heard him all they way down the hall. We were only at the brewery for a bit however on the way out I saw some UGA fans so of course the obvious thing to do was to say "GOOOO DAWGS SIC EM" I was expecting a WOOF WOOF WOOF back but they sort of looked at me like I was on a daily pass from the crazy house.
We (well I was out cold by 8 a.m) Dave stayed up to watch the Dawgs victory.
Lessons learned:
Dogs in hotels suck. They bark and growl at all kinds of noises
Carl Jr. is Hardees in the west
There are more strip clubs than Crapper Barrels (more on that topic on day 2)
Stay tuned....
The car was loaded up the night before except for a "couple" of bags and by couple I mean more like four. Two for me, one for the pups and one for Dave. Yep that's right I was still cramming things into bags at the 11th hour.
So morning came, at least I thought it was morning because the clock said "am" however I have never gotten up that early. The time you ask...4:00 a.m. Dave had already gotten up, made coffee, showered and finished packing the car before I even stumbled out of the bed room. As I come walking down rubbing the sleep from my eyes I ran into Dave. He said "You look tired" and I think I mumbled something about Diet Dew and ran into the bathroom door. Note to self for the future...put on make up before Dave gets up and has coffee. :)
The time to leave the beach had arrived. Roxie and Gunner loaded into the kennels very easily. Well Gunner did...Roxie not so much as she had to be picked up and put in her kennel. I guess she thought it was too early as well. After a little sob-fest with mom and myself and Dave standing in the driveway telling us both it was going to ok it was time to head out. As we pulled out of the drive way I sobbed into a towel that was from the Carol Carols' house (Neechie we will return the towel in a few weeks).
The motion of a car has always put me to sleep. Mom my used to put a cranky baby Stephanie in the car and drive me around the neighborhood until I feel asleep. Fast forward to 2012 and I still fall asleep in the car. I am sure that Dave is very thankful for a snoring Stephanie instead of a crying one.
Somewhere on I-20 I woke up just as we were passing a horse trailer, not a little tiny one but a big semi one. Well I guess the "rich" horses have a very different life than the common horses. This trailer was bigger than some peoples houses. As we pass the trailer there I was face to face with some dude in the back of the trailer. NO not in the cab driving...actually standing in the trailer. We sort of gave a head nod to each other. All I could talk about for the next 30 minutes is that guy. I had questions like did he have a chair to sit on, does it smell in there, does he get to get out. My mind still wonders about that little guy.
We made it to the mountains of NC and let me tell you that is some fun riding. I felt like I was on a roller coaster. If anyone has ever traveled through those mountains have been though the tunnel. So Dave says that he used to play this game when he was little. What was the game you ask...to hold your breath while going through the tunnel and the person who does it wins. So I took a deep breath and into the tunnel we drove. Thanks to Dave driving fast because I might have passed out. I am sure that I was getting ready turn blue. As we exited the tunnel I said to Dave "I did it! I held my breath the whole time! What about you?" He responds "I didn't hold my breath...I was driving." So basically I sat there holding my breath for no reason...although I still won.
So somewhere in NC we realized that UT (Tennessee for the SEC illiterate) were playing at home. We stopped at this lovely little truck stop just outside of Knoxville and there was this woman walking a bulldog that looked strangely like her. Well to be nice to the dog he was way cuter then her and come to find out had a much better personality. I have a staring problem so I just could not turn away and good thing I didn't. Her husband/boyfriend/sucker was inside and she was standing outside trying to get into the car. Next thing I know the guy walked out and the woman to the top of her lungs yelled "A-hole" (since this is a PG rated blog I can't type the whole word but you get the idea) where the F have you been. His quite response was "Buying a power ball ticket, why?" I guess this was not the right answer as she went off like the atomic bomb! I guess she thought she was going to be late to the game that started a whole 10 hours from that very moment. I have not heard if he won the power ball...I sort of hope he did so he could take the dog and leave that "B" in Knoxville.
We passed Oak Ridge, TN. Dave said do you know what this is famous for. My answer was the Oak Ridge Boys and I may or may not hummed the tune to Elvira. He said...."UMMM no that would be where they made the atomic bomb." Again in our family Dave knows war/Army stuff and I am the pop culture go to person!
We finally checked into the hotel. Roxie and Gunner made their presence known. I mean after all they are very cute fur babies. Outside of our window were the AC and other vents. Roxie decided that she wanted to give them the shake down. She growled, ran to the door, growled, ran to the door...rinse and repeat. At 4 a.m. some drunk girls came home and Roxie was less than impressed. I told don't get too annoyed that is normally your mom....to anyone that has ever stayed in a hotel where I have been on a girls weekend....I AM SORRY!
We went to dinner at a little brewery down the street from the hotel. On they way out we could hear Gunner screaming from the room. Yep that is right we heard him all they way down the hall. We were only at the brewery for a bit however on the way out I saw some UGA fans so of course the obvious thing to do was to say "GOOOO DAWGS SIC EM" I was expecting a WOOF WOOF WOOF back but they sort of looked at me like I was on a daily pass from the crazy house.
We (well I was out cold by 8 a.m) Dave stayed up to watch the Dawgs victory.
Lessons learned:
Dogs in hotels suck. They bark and growl at all kinds of noises
Carl Jr. is Hardees in the west
There are more strip clubs than Crapper Barrels (more on that topic on day 2)
Stay tuned....
Friday, September 21, 2012
Princess Procrastination
I am officially changing my name to Princess Procrastination. I have always put off things to the last
minute and packing is no different. I am
the type that will be tossing things into a suite case while the cab is in the
driveway and this time proved to be no different. The Army has efficiently packed up an entire
house, loaded a truck and starting driving before I even decided what to
bring.
So there it was “P-Day” (packing day) which could only be
described as a train wreck of clothes, shoes, not enough bags and wine. To get a visual just picture Cookie Monster
but replace cookies with clothes and shoes and you have me. AAAAAGGGHHH!!!!
In my head I thought
I would have enough space for everything but I kept finding t-shirts and shoes that
I could not live without. So this packing
picture which was nothing but rainbows and puppies (in my head) turned into a
wine guzzling, tear fueled, clothes cramming train wreck. I ran out of space in my bags (three to be
exact) so Dave unpacked one of his so I could continue the cramming. A bottle of “Hot to Trot” wine…no joke that
was the name of the wine all of my things were packed and I use that term
loosely since some of the bags are not fully zipped.
Bright side of this small but Reality TV worthy moment is I provided
Dave with an evening full of laughter. He
was still laughing morning as I wondered around the house looking for something
to wear. Yep that’s right ladies and
gentlemen I PACKED EVERYTHING! So my “neatly” packed suitcases had to be “opened”
so I could find something to wear to work today.
Oh and don’t judge…I may have to wear this tomorrow as this
is all I could find to match. Well this dress
and my PJs.
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
T-minus 4 days and counting
Go West BELLE...go west! Ok so I took some liberty to that old saying but I think it works.
This southern girl is trading in flip flops, sweet tea and sun for rain boots, coffee and clouds. This exciting new adventure starts Saturday. Dave and I will pack up our two fur babies (Roxie and Gunner) and start the trek to Seattle. I can be thankful for a few things: comfy car with AC, sirus radio and hotels. I would not have liked to do this trip "Laura Igalls" style in a covered wagon.
Stay tuned to see where we will turn up next.
This southern girl is trading in flip flops, sweet tea and sun for rain boots, coffee and clouds. This exciting new adventure starts Saturday. Dave and I will pack up our two fur babies (Roxie and Gunner) and start the trek to Seattle. I can be thankful for a few things: comfy car with AC, sirus radio and hotels. I would not have liked to do this trip "Laura Igalls" style in a covered wagon.
Stay tuned to see where we will turn up next.
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