What day is it? - Santa Fe

G'day...

I spent yesterday afternoon in Santa Fe, NM. Its a beautiful city, as you probably already know, but I bet you didn't know that the San Francisco Street bar and grill has amazing enchiladas. Dad told me to have Santa Fe chicken while I was in the city, and that was as close as I could find. No regrets though, they were delicious.

Before dinner, I walked around down town. I wanted to go to a few museums, but for some reason they were all closed - irritating... I spoke to one of the shop owners about it, and she said that she they were probably closed so that they could be open on the holiday. I have since decided that having a holiday in the middle of my vacation is not cool (even though its the only day that I get paid for while I'm gone). More on the topic of holidays in the middle of vacation later...

For now, I will be reading my map and planning the next few days :-)

G'night.

Fast forward...

Sorry, I wasn't able to post anything for the last few days - I promise I was keeping busy.

I spent some time in Laredo and met tons of new friends. I also rode a mechanical bull (yes, there's video, but I don't have it yet). I should probably have stopped drinking when someone said 'WE HAVE TO GO TO THE COUNTRY BAR SO MANDY CAN RIDE THE BULL.' I guess That would have been a good call. It wasn't too bad though, I had fun, and apparently there's a great video. I'll be sure to post it when I get it. Everyone told me that I would hate Laredo - I don't know, maybe I just had great company, but I liked it there. I'll go back anytime.

From Laredo, I worked my way north to New Mexico. Unfortunately, I had to stop on the way in Fort Stockton (TX) for the night. I'm not sure why there's a settlement there, because there are no residents (or at least I didn't see any). Further bad news was that there was a tornado just outside of town. I (thankfully) didn't see it, but I did get a really nice lightning show (video to be posted on the photo site later).

When I got to New Mexico, I met up with my friend Jose and went into Roswell for dinner and sightseeing. (Yes, Rachelle - I have an alien for you!) The following day, we went to Ruidoso (west of Roswell). I will definitely be going to Ruidoso again, it is probably one of the best kept secrets that I've come across yet (at least I think so, because I've never heard of it). The place is amazing, its up in the mountains and it is beautiful. We drove up the mountain to Ski Apache, which was closed, but we still got some great pictures. I looked at their website, and they say that the mountain is 12,000 feet, but I don't think that we were that high (probably 11,000 though). On our way back into town, we decided to stop by the Inn of the Mountain Gods (resort and casino run by the Mescalero). I might have to stay there when I go back. Aside from it being a beautiful and well placed facility, it is lucky. Jose and I went into the casino he said he was going to gamble $20 and that I was not to let him go near any ATM machines. In less than 5 minutes on the slot machine, he turned $20 into $130 - so we cashed out and went home. On the way back we heard warnings for (another) tornado. And again, I got lucky - another great lightning show - I'll be sure to post this video too. :-)

And for now, that is all.

Day 5&6

I know I already wrote about day 5, but I didn't say it all...

I got on the road slightly later than I planned, but I wasn't concerned - Until my tire exploded (see photos). Then I was concerned. Actually I panicked for about 5 seconds before getting the spare out. Another guy was pulled over on the side of the road, and offered to change the tire for me, which was great, because I couldn't figure out how to assemble the jack. I stopped in Corpus Christi to get a new tire at a place called Alamo tire - If you ever get a flat in that area, I definitely recommend them.

When I finally got to South Padre, I met up with a friend and his family for dinner, then went out for drinks with his daughter, Amanda. We went out to three different bars, but I don't remember what they were called. I guess it was Amanda's cousin's birthday, but he was surprisingly well behaved - Unfortunately, it was not the same story for his friend who poured ice all over himself after finishing a drink, tried to dance on a table (which would have been hilarious, but the table was not going to support his weight) and since that didn't work out, he decided to try to 'hook up' with the table - enough said.

Moving on to day 6... The beach.

I can't imagine how hung over everyone else was, because they were all out partying much later than I was. I was just fine though - up by 7 and went for a walk. I grabbed a few bottles of water at CVS and went to the pool. AT this point, it is important to note that I WAS wearing sunblock.

I read for a few minutes at the pool, then went to the beach with Amanda and friends. After the beach, Amanda and I went back to her house for dinner. But by the time dinner was over, I started to notice something uncomfortable on my legs and back (by legs and back, I really mean my ass)... sunburn. Very nice... By the morning the sunburn was pretty much gone though - Thank god :-)

Day 5 - Houston

I arrived safely in Houston and noticed something I hadn't seen in days - The Sun. Unfortunately, just as my luck has been, by the time I got to the pool the sun was back behind storm clouds. Actually, the weird guy wearing a baseball cap in the pool said it best when he said 'Its fix'n ta rain.' So, rather than sit outside in the rain, I went out for burgers with with the weird guy (His name is Derek).

The following morning, I decided that it would be a good idea to swing by NASA and take a tour before driving 6 hours to my next destination. As it turns out, that was a poor choice - I paid the $5 parking fee, followed by the $25 entry fee, only to find out that all the tours for the morning were booked... DAMN, hate it when that happens... and so, I was on the road again.

Days 3&4 - New Orleans

So, I decided (poorly, you'd understand if you were here - the weather was terrible) to start the day off early today and head down town around 0800. When I called for a cab, I had no idea that I was stepping directly into the middle of an all out cab driver war zone. Right after I called for a cab, a different cab showed up at my hotel to drop off some other guests. I mentioned to the driver that I had called a cab - her response was GET IN. Out of a mix of curiosity, intimidation and wanting to get downtown quickly, I got in and the cab driver proceeded to explain to me that the evil other cab company has been listening in on her company's radio and taking their calls. Apparently, they'd taken four of their calls already this morning. And so we continued into the city...

I had the cab driver drop me off at Jackson Brewery, just in time for the skies to open up and pour rain, thunder and lightning. I was hoping to get tickets to a swamp tour and be on a boat by 1000hrs, but nothing was open yet, since it was early on a Sunday morning and STORMING LIKE CRAZY. Thankfully the brewery serves breakfast - I had a shrimp omelet :-)

After the rain and storms started to slow down, I was finally able to begin wandering the city. I took a million pictures (already on the photo site). I was in the French Quarter for most of the day people watching and window shopping. In the afternoon I took a swamp tour. That was definitely worth the drive and the tour fees. I posted a really cool picture of me holding a baby gator (I look terrible in the picture, but the gator is really cool). All I could think of was: I wonder if Rachelle would let me keep him as a pet, I think I'll name him Jack to keep up the alcohol themed pet names...

Last night I had some fun in the hotel bar with complete strangers (see photos and hilarious video). I'll definitely be back to NOLA sometime soon, but for now it's bedtime.

Day 2

I stayed in Charlotte, NC yesterday, beautiful city. Nothing really special has happened so far - just a lot of driving and a few phone calls home.

I did 9 hours on the road today and it was a great drive - crossed 4 state lines (you know that makes me happy). I'm looking forward to the next few days, as I should be stopping more frequently and seeing more interesting things.

I posted a few new photos to the picture site, and I should have more tomorrow - perhaps some video too :-)

Later...

Day 1 & Things so far

So today is day one. I'm finishing packing now, but thought it would probably be a good idea to start posting so that people don't get bored - yet, You'll get bored, I'd just like to stave off the boredom for a few days, or at least until I leave VA. I posted a few photos too (http://mandymae.shutterfly.com/).

Today's to-do list:

• Finish packing and put all this stuff in my car
• Finish mapping today's route - I know this should be done by now, but its not
• Have coffee with the world's greatest roommate
• Swing by the office and get Jose's tent
• And last, but not least - Get the hell out of here

Wish me luck...