Our First Visitor

I am sorry to report that Vinnie is not our first visitor. I found that someone else decided to check out our new place and I had Derek take pictures.

He is unfortunately no longer around to enjoy his web stardom (sorry Jen.)

Derek's Birthday Weekend

We will get to the birthday weekend in a moment but first a few updates.

• I got a part time job answering phones as an orthodontists office. I will also be updating her husbands website with product information. Her husband just so happens to be a retailer I worked with at Diamond! I started yesterday and I really liked it so I am excited for this opportunity.
• We traveled all this way for warmer weather and I caught a cold.
• Found out that the Ravens are supposed to play an away game this year at San Diego. So look for us on t.v. because we will do our best to be there.

Now for the birthday fun. We have been kicking ourselves because we had a ton of fun but forgot to take pictures. On Friday night Derek's friend Kevin took us to a punk show. After the show Derek and I started talking to the singer of a band called GFI. He was awesome and gave us four CDs for free. We plan on ripping them and sharing them with punk fans back home, but so far we have been a little lazy.

On Saturday we woke up and went shopping. We decided to buy some tennis rackets. We had been running to get exercise and decided to try and get more activities so motivation will remain high and we have fun too. So we got back and played tennis and actually had a lot of fun. We had big plans to go into San Diego and sight see, but after tennis we sat around and played video games instead. We also tried In-n-Out Burger. It was pretty good fast food, but Five Guys is better.

That night we did go into the city and met up with his friends Lee and Samantha. We went to a bar that had pool tables and ping pong tables. We ended up playing a few rounds of ping pong and that is all Derek has been able to talk about since. He says he wants to open a ping pong bar in Baltimore now.

On Sunday we went to Poway, CA for his birthday present, a golf lesson. Turns out we were going right through Rancho Bernardo to get there. This was the last leg of the Tour of California with Lance Armstrong. We talking about stopping by to see it after the lesson but we didn't make it. I had no idea where we would park or anything. Golf was fun. The instructor was good and we now know the proper form. I am not sure if it is something we will keep up with, but I am glad I at least learned how to hit the ball properly.

Valentine's Day

We started out Valentine's Day by going to Target, something we already said we would never do on a Saturday afternoon again. I am used to being surrounded by people, but there are just so many people out here everything is crowded. We needed lights for the living room and spare room so we decided to go out and get some. When I got back I had a package waiting for me.
My dad sent me these beautiful flowers!

We decided not to exchange gifts since we just moved and it was hectic enough without trying to buy things for one another. Instead Derek made reservations at a place called Bellefleur. We had an excellent dinner and I decided to be brave an ordered salmon. I actually enjoyed it too!I felt like a secret agent, and see it hasn't been that warm out here! We had to wear coats cause it has been so cold at night.

Day 5- arrival in Cali

I'll start out with some pictures from a rest stop in Arizona.
Waking up this morning was so nice, knowing that it was our last day of driving for 12 hours was exciting. We left from Gallup, went through Flagstaff, AZ, the Mojave Desert and ended up in Solana Beach, CA. We stopped in Flagstaff for lunch and found it is a really nice little town tucked up in the mountains. Derek really liked the atmosphere of this city.
As you enter California you must pull over and speak to a state official. He asks you whether you are traveling with any living things, pets, fruits, or vegetables. We told the man no and he let us drive through. There was no real inspection or anything, he just asked and took us at our word. This was the only state I have ever had this happen in, pretty strange.

Upon entering the state the first thing Derek and I noticed were all of the vanity plates. I read a while ago that Virginia has the most vanity plates, but I can say I have seen tons more in Cali than in Virginia. We passed one woman whose vanity plate said, “DB Queen.” I am not sure what she means it to stand for but DB has never had a good connotation when I have heard it used.

We finally got to the part of the drive that Derek was all excited for. We hit the desert and well it’s the desert. While it was more interesting than Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas it was still not much to look at. Derek was a little disappointed since he was hoping for complete nothingness, just sand. Instead there were a lot more colors and hills than anticipated.After getting past the desert we were outside of LA. We hit this part of town perfectly at rush hour. We never really had a problem with traffic until this point. There was some in Albuquerque, but nothing like California. In addition to the traffic a storm rolled through. A cloud descended upon our route just as we were headed down a sharp hill making a curve to the left. It was slick with the fresh rain and probably the scariest part of the trip. Thankfully my car handled the conditions well and so did the cars following behind mine.We stopped by the apartment to take a look around. By the time we got there it was completely dark and I was a little cranky. We didn’t stay long and moved onto cousin Toni’s house. We arrived about 8pm and sat and talked a while. We then got showers and were passed out around 9pm, we were completely exhausted. I have realized I don't remember this day as well as the rest. I think all the anticipation made it blurry.

Day 4

On day four we left from Oklahoma City to travel through Amarillo, TX, Albuquerque, NM and stay the night in Gallup, NM. The morning part of the drive was pretty much the same as the day before, lots of flat land and not very much to look at. We did stop in Amarillo for lunch. We had been talking about going to a Sonic since we always see the commercials but have never actually eaten at one. I can say that their advertisements are better than their food. I don’t have high expectations for fast food, but Sonic fell short of even my low expectations. They don’t even have restrooms for customers to use, makes a terrible rest stop. It was during this stop we made two other discoveries; there are still gas pumps that do not take credit cards and Amarillo smells like a big cow pie. I am sorry to anyone who may be from Amarillo maybe it was just the wind…
While in Texas we also stopped to see the World Largest Cross in the Western Hemisphere. And yes, it is a really big cross. We were a little hesitant stopping by thinking a bunch of people would come out of hiding and try to save us, but it turns out the only people we saw were construction workers. It was a very nice display considering the cross is surrounded by statues of Jesus going through the 13 stages (correct me if I am wrong on that number) of his death. Disappointingly this was the only roadside attraction we came across. The route is very long, anyone living along 40 should totally make a roadside attraction, charge $1 for entrance, and sell sodas. We would have hit them all!We also stopped at a Cherokee Trading Post. It is a little diner and gift shop chain. Not sure if they are actually owned by any Cherokee Indians or not. Anyway at the trading post I bought some buffalo jerky. I have been told buffalo meat is good so I wanted to try. Turns out in jerky form it tastes exactly like cow, very disappointing. When we got into New Mexico we found a sign in the back of a car window. We liked it so we took a picture…
It says, "CAUTION!!! I'm a first time truck driver! Please drive CAREFULLY!!!"

The first portion of New Mexico is still pretty flat and not much to look at, however once you get to Albuquerque that all changes. Hands down New Mexico was the most beautiful state along the trip.

Day 3

We woke up at 6am to the sound and smell of frying bacon. Grammy had begun making a big breakfast to start our journey. Once I ate everything on my plate, I received a challenge from my grandmother. If food goes uneaten in that house it is not for lack of trying. She will continue to encourage you to eat more and more, you feel a little guilty for not eating everything in sight. There was some bacon left to which I received the challenge, “well if Anna were here she’d eat it.” Anna would be my cousin’s daughter who is six years old, I believe. I was being challenged by a child who wasn’t even there! My grandmother’s powers are great as no bacon went to waste that morning.
We traveled from Clarksville down to Memphis, west to Little Rock and stayed overnight in Oklahoma City. When we hit Arkansas I was texting Miriam and she wrote back, “how’s it look, flat?” To which I replied, “Very.” After a few minutes, not knowing the conversation I was having through text, Derek noted how flat the state looked. This pretty much sums up traveling through Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas.

We decided to hit the fitness room that the Holiday Inn had. There was already a guest on one treadmill so I got on the other and Derek did some ninja moves in the back of the room. It was a long day of driving and we were tired so working out wasn’t exactly what I wanted to do with my downtime. I felt it was important for sitting in the car the next day so we went. This was when I noticed the other guest was watching some paranormal show on the television. So here I am worn out from a long day doing an activity, that I don’t consider fun on a high energy day, having to listen to a program that I immediately flip the channel on in my home. I have never given the shows a chance and now I can say I was justified in not watching them. There were two guys who spent an edited 20 minutes staring at a camera in some stranger’s house thinking every little creek was a ghost trying to communicate. I have no idea if ghosts exist, but I do know houses settle and make noise.

This was taken in Oklahoma City, I have never seen so many birds in one place before.

Before going on this trek my mother had given me a bunch of gift cards she had never gotten around to using. There were at least four cards for Cracker Barrel. I did not bother to count the number of Cracker Barrels we passed, however I can say that it felt as if every exit on route 40 had either a Cracker Barrel or a Dairy Queen. I don’t actually have much of a point merely an observation about a trend I noticed. Since we had so many cards we decided to eat at a Cracker Barrel that night as it was within walking distance of the hotel. Of course we drove not knowing how close it was at the time, but it was close.

Day two and three were not terribly exciting, wait for day 4 at least the pictures get better. I can’t promise my stories will get any better.

Day 2- not as exciting but still some good stuff

This was our day of rest. We spent the entire day in Tennessee hanging out with my grandmother. She had told me that she was interested in getting a new vacuum cleaner. We went over to Target and started looking at the vacuums. She is 90 years old so she wanted something light, but it was also necessary that it works. I went to find an employee to help us out while Derek started taking them off the display shelf. They found one that was light enough to push and Grammy decided she wanted to test it to make sure it worked. The employee took us over to the dressing room and plugged in the vacuum for us. In case anyone ever wondered, the vacuums on display do indeed work. So Grammy started vacuuming the dressing room area. It was decided that vacuum was the correct one so off we went.

For lunch we went to CiCi’s pizza, the first of two buffets for the day. This is the place to be if you are an emergency services worker in Clarksville, TN. There were quite a few police officers and ambulance workers that stopped by for lunch. Grammy and Derek kept telling me about the cinnamon rolls so I tried them and yes they are pretty good. Not quite a Cinnabon, but at the same time they were smaller so at least a little better portion control.

After lunch we stopped by my aunt’s sister’s house. It turns out that the week before there was some excitement in the neighborhood. The house right next door had been involved in a drug bust. According to the paper about 30 people were arrested in this bust. Poor Derek’s pet allergies started acting up so we left after a little while and went back to my grandmother’s house.

For dinner we went to a Chinese buffet. This was probably the best Chinese buffet I have ever been to. Derek commented that it was fitting we were hanging out with a grandmother and hit up two different buffets. After dinner we stopped by Wal-Mart. Grammy is a big fan of this store. In fact my mother called to say she was taking bets to how many times we would have to visit Wal-Mart while there. As it turns out we only had to go the one time, but we did go to Target earlier in the day so we will say twice for the record. I believe the record is my mother taking her on three Wal-Mart trips in one day. Much to our dismay we didn’t have to test out any appliances during this trip.

We then went to Starbucks so we could check our email. Imagine this; we went almost two whole days without connecting to the internet. It was somewhat liberating but also stressful. We had only been gone two days, but being so far away from everyone and knowing we wouldn’t be back for a while I wanted to stay in contact. Starbucks turned into its own adventure when we found out you do have to pay for internet. I was always under the impression it was free wifi, turns out they are a business and want to make money, who knew?

Grammy had mentioned she wanted to get a new ladder leading up to her attic sometime this year. This meant she needed all the items surrounding the ladder moved. She mentioned having my mother do this task on her next visit. Instead of making anyone else climb up there I volunteered to do it. So Derek and I went up and found where presents and older items go to die. She keeps her home incredibly clean and clutter free, her attic is another story. She doesn’t throw stuff away instead she hides it so no one knows it is there. If anyone is looking for a kitchen appliance let me know and I can hook you up.

Traveling West- Day 1

We started our journey on Monday, February 2^nd. Our goal the first day was the reach Clarksville, TN to see my grandmother. Little did we know that would set the pace for the rest of the trip, we ended up driving 12 hours each day. We stayed in Clarksville on Tuesday and began driving again on Wednesday. We drove for four days and thankfully had no car troubles and were not pulled over at any point.

On Monday morning we woke up about 7am. First Derek received a call from his mother, saying “hi” and talking to him about the Superbowl the night before. My mother then called to us to let us know the time, clearly hitting snooze was not an option at this point. We had some breakfast and packed up the car.

We knew from the day before that we had over packed. We had both looked at the pile of stuff in the old apartment and said, “I think we have too much stuff, the car isn’t that big.” Sure enough, we were right. We were trying to plan in case we had to go for a few days without our furniture. We had a tent, sleeping bags, food, tray tables, computer, folding chair, and countless other things that were just not going to fit in the car. We threw out a bunch of the things we deemed unimportant and easy to replace. My parents are now the proud owners of the tent and sleeping bags which they will never use. We also left a few bags my mother agreed to ship to us later.

After packing the car we gave hugs and said goodbye to my family. My mother informed Derek he had better have me back in a year. The tears start to come and I left as quickly as I could to not start blubbering. Of course this leads me to take a right when I should have taken a left and started the trip off on the right note!

The first state we hit was West Virginia. We only had to go through the state for about 13 miles and of course we missed the only turn we had to make and had to stop and get directions. After getting directions in 7-11 Derek decides to bring out the GPS. I know everyone reading is asking what took so long, and I cannot answer that.

After three hours of driving Derek takes over and we listen to War of the Worlds radio program. It was so much fun to listen to and definitely worth picking up if you were not around to hear the original broadcast. I then started dozing off, for about an hour I was in an out of consciousness. All I know for sure is every time I opened my eyes nothing changed. Everything in Virginia looked exactly the same. My family made the drive to Clarksville, TN a bunch of times when I was a kid and I remember hating Virginia. The state feels like it goes on for forever! I have now learned that Virginia is not even close to being the most boring state to drive through.

As we were leaving Virginia and heading into Tennessee we hit a nice snow storm. It was fitting since we won't be seeing snow for a while. Thankfully it was still early afternoon so there were not many other cars on the road at the time.

As soon as we reached my grandmother’s house Derek noted that it looked like we hadn’t gone anywhere. He said if you had told him we were in Glen Burnie, MD he would have believed you. We sat and talked to Grammy for a few minutes and then decided we needed to do a quick workout. We were exhausted and our legs were feeling a little numb from sitting all day. We went out back and started doing some exercises. I can say that while our motivation was down I am so glad we went out and did this. I think this exercising at night was what made driving for such long periods of time possible.

As soon as we are done and got back in the house the phone was ringing. Oh crap, I forgot to call and let my mother know we had made it. As I am on the phone my grandmother is bringing out medical bills for me to try and figure out on the phone! We just got there and already I am being put to work. I have no idea what I am looking at, the dates don’t match up and we had just driven 12 hours so mom gets the necessary information from me so she can call about them the next day.

I hang up the phone and the next thing I know Grammy is trying to shovel food in our faces. She had bought vanilla ice cream for Derek and apple pie for me. Since she bought them that meant we had to eat some and she was not going to stop mentioning it until we had. After she went to bed I brought out the pie and found that it was in fact not purchased just for me, she had already eaten a slice. For a woman that says she doesn’t like sweets I found that she ate a lot of sweets in a day and a half.

The very best part about my grandmother’s house is the space heater in the bathroom. You turn it on a jump in the shower, when you come out the room is still nice and warm! No cold breeze and frantic towel drying necessary. I showed Derek around the house and told him some of the memories I have as a kid staying there. When I was a kid my sister and I had to sleep out in the living room on one particular trip. In the dining room, in plain view of the living room is a picture of Jesus. This is no ordinary photo of Jesus, not even an ordinary photo of Jesus with the crown of thorns; this is the darkest most tortured photo I have ever seen. In the daytime it is intense let alone at night when the only light in the room seems to be on this picture. Derek took a photo of this picture that haunted me on that one particular trip…