Arriving in San Diego!

While at the dude ranch, Will discovered we were only 6 hours from San Diego. So once we got up on Tuesday morning, we headed straight to our new home! We got there late Tuesday night. We were both very excited as we had never seen our apartment before we walked into it. We had seen the layout in a different apartment while apartment hunting, but never our actual unit. It was exactly as we had pictured and we were very happy with it. Well, minus the fact we didn't have any power. Since we arrived earlier then expected, we were powerless for the night. Of course, with Will being an Eagle Scout, he pulled a huge bag of candles out of no where and we were in business shortly. We set up the bedroom, unpacked a few small things, and then crashed immediately. The next morning we continued to unpack some more and then started our hunt for a new TV and a new couch set. We found both on Craig's List. We got a HUGE 52" flat screen LCD Samsung TV for pretty cheap! The guy bought it while remodeling his office, but then never used it. So we were pretty pumped for that find. It's only 5 months old and works perfectly!! Our next find was our awesome couch, chair, ottoman set. It was kind of the same deal here, a couple bought it, but realized it was too big for their tiny space and wanted to get a new set. This once again confirms why I love Craig's List.

Other then that, we've obviously been busy searching for jobs and exploring our new town. We live in an area called Gaslamp Quarter. It's full of bars and restaurants. It's a newly built up section of downtown so everything is brand new, clean, and really nice. Even our apartment building is relatively new. Oh yeah, and it's the only one in the Gaslamp that has a pool! We were pretty pumped about that.

Since we've been here, we've done a lot of fun things including, watching football with Mark (Will's friend from college), hanging out with Yael (my friend from college -- she was here for a conference) and going to dinner with her friends in Ocean Beach, going to the "Monster Bash" in Gaslamp for Halloween, going to the top of the Hyatt hotel to see the sunset, etc.

I guess that's all for now! Thanks for reading our blog!!

Rest of the Trip

So we've been slackers and never finished our blog. Well, better late then never! So when we left off, we were heading to Bizbee, AZ. As we mentioned before, Bizbee is a small, artsy sort of town in southern AZ. Once we arrived, Kerri took us on a long walk around Bizbee showing us all of the different areas of the town and also the old gas station she purchased to turn into a pizza shop. It is a very pretty town and it definitely has a lot of hills. There are random staircases throughout the town because it's so hilly. It's definitely neat to see. Later that night, we went out to a Mexican restaurant for dinner and then over to a local bar for a few drinks. The people ranged from super artsy, to hippies, to homeless, to the rich. It's a neat mix of people.

The next morning we got up at 5:00 a.m.(yes, 5:00 a.m.) and headed to the White Stallion Ranch. It's located about 40 minutes outside Tucson and it's an actual dude ranch. We figured it'd be a nice ranch, but nothing super fancy about it. Wow, we were totally wrong. This place was a five star dude ranch. The rooms were super clean, nice, and big, the food was great and there were other activities besides riding horses - pool, jacuzzi, tennis courts, basketball courts, movie theater, etc. So, once we arrived at 7:30, we joined everyone for breakfast and then went on a "slow ride." The slow ride means that the horses just basically walk in line all around the terrain for about 2 hours. Will knew exactly what he was doing as he'd been on a horse a bunch of times before, but for me, I was a first timer. Of course, my horse, Montana, was bad and tried to eat every bush in sight along the trail. No matter how many times I kicked him and pulled the reins, he wouldn't listen to me. So overall, it was a frustrating ride at times.

Later on that afternoon, we ate lunch and then I kicked Will's butt in tennis. I don't know why we thought it'd be a good idea to play tennis at 1:00 in the afternoon in 100 degree heat in the middle of the desert, but we did. Either way, Will lost so that was fun!! :) After a quick shower, Will went on a "fast ride" and I went to watch cattle penning. Then came a little pool time and then dinner.

The next morning we got up and gave the "slow ride" another chance. This slow ride was a bit different at it was a "breakfast ride." Meaning, we ride horses up to a point, get off, eat breakfast (people were up there cooking pancakes, bacon, potatoes, etc for everyone), and then we'd ride back. I requested a new horse. Well, this horse also hated me. He was the slowest horse ever. I was instructed to kick him to get him to go faster, but he was basically, "Listen lady, this is my speed. I'm slow. Get over it. No matter how many times you kick me, I'm not going any faster." Obviously I was frustrated with the horse on this ride too. Maybe I'm not cut out to be a cowgirl.

Everyone at the ranch was so nice. The funny thing was it was mainly women, about 80%, and also a bunch of Europeans. I guess people make a trip to the ranch as a weekly vacation each year and they are definitely very hard core about it. They have the cowboy outfits, hats, boots, etc. Will and I were definitely city slickers in our tennis shoes, jeans, and tshirts. The highlight was overhearing a conversation about a 35 year old guy and his 50 year old wife. Can someone say cougar?? Haha. I guess the woman had been going to the ranch for 18 years and the new hubby was being dragged along this year. He looked less then thrilled! At least it provided entertainment for us.

Weekend Adventures

We first headed to La Traviata for dinner. Will’s co-worker recommended the place since his best friend from home was the general manager and co-owner. The restaurant and food was amazing. Will got some sort of pasta with veggies, and I got pasta with lamb meatballs. It was SO good. We also enjoyed talking to Chris, Will’s co-worker’s friend. He gave us the scoop on where to go and where not to go. He was a great guy and it was nice to hear about the city from a local. After we were in a food coma, we went to Fados (it’s the same chain as the one in DC) and then headed to the bars on Sixth Street. They were totally frat-tastic and very fun. We chose the few that had outdoor patios since it was nice outside. The best part was when I ordered a Red Bull and vodka (needed a little caffeine boost!), the bartender replies, “We don’t have Red Bull, but we have a similar Mexican brand. It tastes just like it. I swear.” We figured, hey, why not. It actually did taste the same, and the best part was it was only $4 a drink!! Hello fake Red Bull!! By the end of the night, we hit five bars or so. It was a really fun night and I’d definitely recommend the city to visit.

Sunday morning we headed down to San Antonio for lunch. (San Antonio is about a 1.5-2 hour drive from Austin.) We had heard so much about the “Riverwalk” so we decided to check it out. It was beautiful. Picture a small river with restaurants on both sides with people taking boat rides down the middle. It was so pretty and I’m glad we made the trip. For lunch we ventured to Dick’s Last Resort. It’s a simple chicken/ribs/corn on the cob type of bar where the waiters are extremely rude to you (to be humorous). Will and I had both been to Dick’s before, but in different cities. It was quite an experience!

After our two hour pit stop in San Antonio, Will and I were on a mission to get as far west as we could before night fall. I think we ended up driving an additional 6 or 7 hours after we left San Antonio. We’ve had a lot of people tell us that there isn’t anything west of Austin/San Antonio, and now I believe them. It was a very uneventful drive. The speed limit was 80mph and nothing is out there. However, we did get to drive very close to the Mexican border which was fun. We were hoping to see some Mexicans, but unfortunately, our trip was Mexican-free. We ended up stopping in beautiful El Paso, Texas for the night. Well, it wasn’t beautiful at all – very strip mall-ish.

On Monday morning, we started our venture to Bisbee, AZ. Will has an old co-worker, Kerri, who lives in the artsy little town. It used to be a copper mining town, but the mines closed in the 70s and it became a ghost town. However, little by little, it started to gain its life back and is now a big tourist area.

Friday, October 17th

One our drive to Austin, we saw some long horn steers and saw our first oil well. Actually, Will did; Amy was sleeping in the car again as usual. We just arrived at our hotel in downtown Austin. We are about to head out and see what Sixth Street has to offer. We have both heard it’s an awesome area of Austin, so we’ll let you know.

Thursday, October 16th

We didn’t do anything exciting on Thursday. We drove from New Orleans to a little town in Texas named Brenham. It was a seven hour drive that took about 8 due to traffic. Thanks to Emily (our Garmin GPS – you can change the voices and we selected Emily, a British female), we took some back roads. We stopped for the night at a hotel so we could rest up for our trip to Austin on Friday.

On BOURBON STREET in New Orleans

New Orleans was a lot of fun! Our friend Jane sent us a long list of places to go during our stay. (Thanks Jane!) Once we checked into our hotel with a balcony overlooking Bourbon Street (it was awesome!), we headed out to explore the French Quarter. We walked around a bit and made our first stop at Café du Monde. It’s a cute outdoor café that’s known for its coffee and beignets (French donuts). We had one of each and then walked down a little further. We came across Molly’s on Market, which apparently has “the best bloody marys … ever … and I even hate bloody marys,” well, at least according to Travis. They put a bunch of stuff in them, including Guinness beer and asparagus juice. I didn’t like it very much (as I don’t like bloody marys to begin with), but Will, who also isn’t a big fan, enjoyed it. It was too spicy for me. The bar is also known for their frozen Irish coffees so I got one of those instead. Very tasty! However, the bar got a big thumbs down when we heard the bartender say “We don’t have Jager. Do you want a shot of Rumplemintz instead?” (Mike, we thought of you!) I think they were just out of stock.
We then continued to walk around some more, past the rainbow flags, and then headed back to our hotel. We showered and then ventured out to dinner at Acme Oyster Bar. Jane said they had the best oysters in town and since Will loves seafood we figured we’d try it. When we got there, the place had a decent sized line. The seating arrangements are a bit odd. For example, Will and I sat at a ten top, with eight other people that we didn’t know. The food was good and Will braved a shot that had two raw oysters, two shots of Citron, Tabasco and spices. It looked and smelled gross, and the look on his face confirmed that it wasn’t quite tasty. Well, I shouldn’t say that, it was just a lot more alcohol then he had thought. He was a champ though. I never could have done that. I wish I had taken a picture. Anyone who takes that shot deserves a free dinner.
After dinner, we ventured out onto Bourbon Street. We went to Tropical Isle first to get a famous “hand grenade.” It’s a potent green concoction that they serve in grenade looking glasses, or with a baby grenade on top. They were quite tasty, but it was strongly recommended that we only drink one. After that we ventured to Pat O’Brien’s which is famous for their hurricanes. The place is huge and has a dueling piano bar in one room called the “morgue.” (I think because it was so cold in there.) The also had a great patio with a fire shooting out of a waterfall in the middle. Once we downed the hurricanes, we walked around some more, going in and out of various bars. There were a ton of business conventions going while we were there too. They had rented most of the hotel and restaurant rooms with balconies so the drunken business men and women were throwing beads down onto the street in business suits. Will commented that the streets were really empty, which makes sense… mid-week, off season. Regardless, it was a fun atmosphere, but I can’t even begin to imagine how crazy it would be on Mardi Gras. Maybe I’ll find out one day! Will said that it was one of the wildest craziest parties he has ever been to.

Driving out of Memphis

Tuesday October 14th- Driving out of Memphis, we stopped along Riverside Drive and took some pictures of the Mississippi River. There were some huge cargo barges going up and down the river. There were some nice house up the hill on the river bank looking west on the river. Crossing the river was a bridge that took you from Tennessee to Arkansas. We decided to drive the few miles over the bridge into Arkansas so we could both check the state off our “been there, done that” list.
About 3 hours, 200 miles, and a few catfish farms later, we arrived in a beautiful suburb of Jackson, Mississippi called Madison. My friends Lee and Nancy live there with their two young daughters Elizabeth and Molly Street. (Yes, it’s a 2 word name. It’s common in the south.) They are 2 ½ and 1 year old and are so cute. That night, we barbequed, played with the kids, and did some laundry. It was really nice to be able to relax and catch up in a friend’s home, eat a home cooked meal, and sleep in a comfortable bed. We were able to hang out for a little bit in the morning before Lee had to head off to work. It was a great stop and we hope they can come to visit us soon in San Diego! Especially since we couldn’t convince Lee to play hookie and come to New Orleans with us.

Graceland!

Yesterday (Monday) we made it all the way to Graceland. I was expecting to see people dressed up as Elvis and die hard fans crying and whatnot. Apparently that wasn't the case, but it was still a really cool adventure. Considering the house and land were bought when Elvis was 22, they were both decent size. The house was decorated with some interesting patterns -- jungle theme, shag carpet on the ceiling, 60s/70s color/pattern drapes on the walls and ceiling, etc. There were also different parts outside the house in the trophy room and other places that showcased his gold and platinum records, outfits, wedding stuff, posters, etc. It was really neat to see how many gold and platinum records Elvis had. I knew he was huge, but I don't think I realized he had SO many songs and records. I also didn't know that Elvis, his twin, parents, and grandmother were buried on the estate. They had a bunch of fan stuff on the graves. Overall, Elvis' place was pretty nice and classy! We took a TON of pictures so we'll have to send them around in a separate album. I definitely recommend going to see if if you're ever in Memphis.

After we checked into our awesome hotel room (thanks Matt!) we headed down to Beale Street for dinner. Beale Street is kind of like a mini Bourbon Street -- or so I've been told by Will. Almost every bar had live music. Will got the Catfish Po Boy Sandwich and I got the Pulled Pork. Both were amazing! We also got to see the Cleveland Browns kick the NY Giants butts which was neat. (Well, at least for me b/c I wanted Cleveland to win.)

Now we are heading to Madison, MS to visit Will's friends Nancy and Lee. Stay tuned for more!

Day 2 entry – Monday, October 13th

I honestly thought we would have had more information up on this blog site before we left. The reality of the situation is that we had 1000 things to do before we left and updating the blog site before we left dropped to the bottom on the list…so here we go.
The last week in DC was super busy. We spent nearly every night packing. The movers came on Thursday morning. We took the day off from work but they were in and out in 2 hours. Will is an awesome packer! (Will obviously wrote this part.)
Day 1 – Saturday, October 11th– We woke up as late as we could. I slept on my favorite couch that night knowing that it would be getting put to trash. We made breakfast at Jeannie and Mike’s place upstairs (they were in Ohio) and then cleaned our apartment as we packed our last few bags in to the car.
By mid-afternoon, the apartment was spotless and the car was packed. We left DC and drove down Constitution Ave past the Washington Monument, White House, etc as we headed into Virginia. We traveled 49 miles and stopped…we arrived at Sleekfest. (Sleekfest is a gathering a friends like a picnic…food, drink, games, etc…and then there is a big bonfire and you sleep in a tent.) We planned months in advance to attend this annual event and as usual, it was a lot of fun.
We woke the next morning and Amy was not feeling so well. I broke down the tent and packed the car and we headed out towards JMU. After that 30 minute adventure, we drove south again on i81 towards Roanoke to meet my friend Dave and his wife Phoebe (while Amy napped for two hours). We met them for lunch and after 1.5 hours of catch up, we were back on the road.
Our goal for the day was to make it to Tennessee, perhaps Knoxville. While at lunch earlier, Dave recommended that we visit Pigeon Forge and Dollywood. We had no real interest in Dollywood but wanted a shower and bed that night and from what he described, it sounded nice. We drove south off of I40 in TN towards the Great Smokey Mountains in search of this area called Pigeon Forge. We discovered what I thought to be “a tourist trap.” I had to explain the definition to Amy (as well as what the term, “for the birds” meant). It turned out, that Dollywood is an amusement park (that was closed for the day when we got there) and that Pigeon Forge is all the not so upscale touristy motels, restaurants, and cheesy (think Ocean City, MDish) attractions supporting it.
The road it is on then enters the National Park. Will had to pee really bad so we pulled over to a side road thinking no traffic would be on it. Of course 4 cars came by and Will “waved” at all of them. At this point we were in the woods and found nothing that Dave described to us. We turned around and I called Dave to say that “Seriously? You wanted us to hangout here?” He told me that we didn’t drive far enough. We turned around again and drove into the Great Smokey Mountain National Park. After several miles going up into the mountains, we came across an upscale lively town called Gatlinburg. It resembled a small town that one would find in south Germany or Austria. It has a small river running through it and a tram to the peak and skiing. The town had many nice shops, hotels, and restaurants….and they were all packed on the Columbus Day weekend. It was where Dave was directing us originally and it turned out to be a great find for us.
After dinner and a solid night sleep, we got back on the road with 187 miles on the odometer (add 357 miles – as Will forgot to reset the odometer while leaving WDC). We stopped in Knoxville to eat breakfast and drove through the University of Tennessee campus.
Approximately 3 hours later we were in Nashville. We drove past the Grand Ole Opry and down Broadway and got back on i40. It was 193 miles to Graceland!

Less than 2 weeks

It is less than 2 weeks away....
In less than 2 weeks, the apartment will be packed up.
In less than 2 weeks there will be no more job to go to.
In less than 2 weeks, we will be leaving DC and driving across the United States to San Diego!