The tail end of the trip

After the wedding and the reception and the afterparty and the good sleep and breakfast with Ben's parents and the shoe shopping, we met up with two fabulous D.C. folk, Adam and Blake.  I know Blake through Adam, who happens to be one of my very favorite people - we were on the same swim team throughout high school.

We got a lovely brief tour of the district right off the bat - drove around a bit and learned about their favorite (and least favorite) spots, then went to check out the botanical gardens.  They were beautiful.  It's a place I would love to see at all times of the year.  After the gardens, we went to the Natural History Museum to see the dinosaurs, gems, etc.  A perfect end to the afternoon.  Afterwards, we went back to the apartment and had a glass of wine, and made dinner reservations for Sushi Rock - yes, that's a rock and roll themed sushi restaurant.  

At the restaurant everything was appropriately named, seeing as it was a rock and roll place - I mean, the edamame were called "The Sex Pistols," and my two sushi rolls were the "Free Fallin'" and "London Callin'."  Well, the drink special that night was half off all sparkling wines.  Adam and I took a look at the options, and when the waitress came by he asked if she had ever tried the pineapple one.  She said she hadn't and then just said, "I like the sex."  Well, obviously, there was a sparkling wine called "The Sex," but we of course giggled like middle schoolers at this the entire rest of the evening.  

The rest of our time with Adam and Blake was spent making a chocolate fondue (yes) and playing cards and hanging out.  We finished off our stint with them on Monday afternoon with a delicious lunch followed by coffee, and then it was time to hit the road once more.  We only drove a couple hours, and found ourselves landing in Staunton, VA to visit the crazy camp nurse, Jacquie.  She's awesome - for those of you who know her at camp, she is just the same at home.  She and her husband, Ben, took us out for a delicious dinner, then we spent the night and hit the road again the next day.  Can't wait to see that lady again.

Our final stop was in Roanoke, VA to see some really wonderful friends - Jon Guy and Anna and their tiny guy Henry.  Henry is just over 2 now, and he took a pretty decent liking to Ben... which meant they had lots of fun together.  I mean, Ben taught him how to pop a wheelie on his strider and optimize his little hiding spot in the house... it couldn't have been better.  Aside from the play time with Henry, we really enjoyed the time to hang out with Jon Guy and Anna.  Somehow it ends up taking way to long to get back up to that area, but I'm going to seriously try and remedy that issue.

So, now we're back in Charlotte.  Yepp, the travels are all over (for now).  We have been here since late Wednesday night and have spent all free time looking for a place to live and jobs.  I have about a billion applications in, Ben has an awesome job as of February, and we have a pending application in on a condo in downtown Charlotte.  Who knows how everything will actually pan out - guess we'll see!

Alright, as promised, I am still planning on doing a photo blog, so stay tuned!  Cheers!

From NH to DC

When we got to New Hampshire on Monday night, we had a delicious cup of tea lovingly brewed by Brian, then decided to go on a walk to the local fire tower.  Now, this was a longer walk than I expected... probably 2+ miles each way - not unreasonable by any means, but I just didn't know what to expect.  It was cold, so we walked briskly, and I have now realized how inactive I have been lately... sheesh.  Well, all the walking and the big hill and the end and all the stairs leading to the top of the tower concluded with a very prompt trip back down, as a policeman showed up and let us know (loudly and in spotlight) that we weren't supposed to be up there after dark.  Oooh well.  No trouble really, but it was a short view from the top.

On Tuesday we went down to Portsmouth and had a wonderful lunch at Cere's Bakery, courtesy of Evan (who, if I didn't mention it before, is tall).  We had delicious creamy curried pumpkin soup, anadama bread, and Ben also had some chicken tacos.  Evan also treated us to kitchen sink and mexican chocolate cookies... pretty hard to beat.  We went ahead and walked around town for a bit - you know, did some shoe shopping, mailed some stuff at the post office, etc.  And then, we hit the road again.  

Oh, but it was a short drive.  We just drove about a half hour down to West Newbury, Massachusetts and spent some time with Colin and Brendan White (more friends from UNH).  Their mom, Barb, is a professor from UNH and one of Ben's favorite people, and we were lucky to get to spend a bunch of time with her too.  Not to mention, Gram was there, and she was fabulous company.  We all ate a delicious family dinner together, and then enjoyed a long game of dominos... seriously, this is a game I should play more often.  It was an awesome night.  

The next day Barb fixed us an excellent breakfast and they sent us off with homemade blackberry jam from the berries grown in their yard.  We hit the road again and drove a bit until we got to Noank, CT - we stopped for a few minutes to interrupt Kevin's workday and say hello, and then it was on the road again.  We drove just a bit further until we got to New Haven, CT and then we stopped and ate dinner and spent the night.  The next day we got some breakfast at Dunkin Donuts, then busted on through to Baltimore, MD.  We stayed in a great hotel just a block off Inner Harbor - somehow we got upgraded to a Queen suite ... so we were treated to a lovely room, a free cocktail hour, and a delicious breakfast the next morning.  While in Baltimore we walked a few blocks to Little Italy and ate dinner at a great restaurant.  You could tell that it was a locals kind of place, because we were just about the only people who got menus... well, it lived up to expectations - delicious!  

The next day we got up, relaxed a while, and then made our way to DC for Ben's brothers wedding.  More to come on that soon!

Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, New Hampshire

So we started off yesterday with some coffee and hanging out and then went on a mission to check another thing off of the list of things to do in Burlington. Wren had told us that it would be awesome to go to Lake Champlain and play a sweet game he invented, Standing Up Sticks, and look for Champ, the monster who lives in the lake.

On the way there we stopped for breakfast a restaurant called Nunyuns, which turned out to be really delicious.  Ben had a fancy sandwich, Wren had a good-looking burrito, and I had skeggs.  You may be wondering what that is - well, it is a fabulous breakfast invention that I wish I had thought of a long time ago.  It was a potato skin filled with scrambled eggs, bacon, and cheese, then served with sour cream and hot sauce... Awesome.

So, we did finally make it down to the waterfront (very carefully I might add, as it was very icy out) and I relaxed while Wren and Ben played Standing Up Sticks.  This is where you find a piece of driftwood, then twist it into the ground at the waters edge well enough that it won't fall over - the goal is to stand up the tallest piece.  It actually made for kind of beautiful scenery, which I will show you in a photo post when we're back home.  Also, one of the highlights of my day - I found my first piece of sea glass (or lake glass) ever... so much better than sea shells!

Shortly after that adventure, we hit the road and made our way to Dover, NH.  As soon as we got there, we met up with two more friends, Brian and Evan, hopped back in the car and blasted up to Portland, ME to see yet another gaggle of good buddies and spend the night.  Luckily, our timing was right and it was game night in the house - we all chowed down on tacos, talked for a while, then played some telepictionary, the game, and contact.  I would explain all of those on here, but the post would probably end up being too long and boring... so ask me sometime.  The last four guys awake finished off the night with a Mario Kart tournament.  It was pretty stinkin fun.

After some good sleep, we had a good community breakfast whipped up by a few of the guys.  Scrambled eggs and veggies, hashbrowns, and cinnamon raisin toast.  We sat around for a bit, then headed into downtown Portland to walk around and get outside.  The trip was short and sweet, but really fun.  And now, we're headed back to New Hampshire... I don't even know what/where our next stop will be.  We'll figure it out soon!

Hello Burlington (biggest town in Vermont)!

Alright!  It's been a couple of days... we're keeping busy on this trip - pretty much driving, hanging out with friends, or sleeping at all times.  When I last posted, we were in New Jersey.  We drove from there to Noank, Connecticut.  Ben describes Noank as an obnoxiously cute New England town.  He's right.

One of Ben's good friends from college, Kevin, lives there and does some farming.  It was pretty sweet hanging out... we got to see the barn where Kevin is doing a lot of work right now - he had all kinds of awesome stuff going on.  Lots of tractors, hay bales, and cows (obviously).  We also got to skip up the road and check out some sheep that his sister, Kate, keeps... they were also very cool.  Aside from the agriculture stuff, we also just got in some really good hang out time.  We even ate at the family's restaurant/diner, Carson's, a couple of times - I had a maple walnut and pumpkin milk shake, sooo good!

We left Connecticut Thursday afternoon and made our way up to the Northampton, Massachusetts area.  We entertained ourselves around a cool downtown area for a while - ate lunch at the local brewery, checked out a few shops - I bought some really nice yarn made from baby alpaca fur.  After some wandering we got to meet up with another awesome friend from Ben's college days - Bart.  We settled in to his place for a bit, and then he took us out to eat at the restaurant where he bartends... I know I talk about food all the time on this blog, but it was just another good meal.  I had a steak with mushrooms and mashed potatoes and roasted radishes, kale, and assorted root vegies. 

Before heading out of town on Friday, we got to go to Bart's parent's place and check out the operation they have going there.  The family owns multiple sugarbushes - that's new vocab for me... for those of you not familiar, that means they have a bunch of property with lots of Sugar Maples from whose sap they make maple syrup (and it's so good).  If you want some awesome legit maple syrup, let me know - I'll put you in touch... I mean, I'm talking about maple syrup that beat out all others in a maple syrup contest, yes, #1.  

Okay, okay... from Massachusetts we drove northbound to Burlington, Vermont.  We arrived just in time to see another of Ben's best buds from UNH, Wren, perform a little concert at a local record/book/art shop/gallery in town.  It was a pretty sweet show, and luckily we have been able to spend lots of time hanging out with Wren since then.  We had a great time just hanging out with him and his roommates at their house last night, then today we got into all kinds of good things around town.  We started off the day by going to the neighborhood bakery for coffee and pastries, which was wonderful.  Wren had to take off for work after that, but he left Ben and I with a list of all the awesome things to do in Burlington.  Sadly, we didn't get to do everything on the list today, but we did hit a lot of it.

After having a bit of lazy time after the bakery, we went out the lunch at one of Wren's favorite places in town, then went over to a sweet bike shop.  This place was awesome.  It's called Old Spokes Home - first of all, this is pretty much the best bike shop name ever.  Secondly, it's completely legitimate.  Not only do they have bikes and a shop and accessories and everything - they also have a museum of bikes from the mid 1800s on, and it is soooo fun and awesome to check out.  I wish they would have let us ride some of those bikes....

So, we also hit up a shop called "Junktiques" - it was exactly what it sounds like, and the owner was pretty nuts.  Then we drove out of town a bit to go visit Wren and one of his roommates, Anna, at work - they are bakers at Shelburne Farms.  The land was so gorgeous to drive around and check out.  The scenery was beautiful, the bakery was awesome, and we even got to check out this huge old barn and a bunch of animals they had around.  After the farm, we drove back to Burlington and walked Church street, which is a nice brick road with cute shops and no vehicle traffic.  Then we hit up the local co-op and made it back to the house in time to relax, eat a delicious dinner with a bunch of folks, and just hang out for the rest of the evening.  There are two Pierres (from France) staying at the house right now too, and they treated us all to a wonderful homemade meal. 

And so, here we are.  Tomorrow we will be leaving Burlington and heading to Portland, ME to see some more good folks.  The adventure continues... I'm sure there are things I'm forgetting, but I can tell you that the general idea is that we're spending a lot of time with friends and having fun.  Pretty hard to beat.

Lastly, I will apologize for the lack of photos... as it turns out, we remembered our computer but not the charger, so I'm doing posts from the tablet or borrowed computers.  When the trip is over, I'll do a blog (or a few) with pictures from this stint of the trip, so that will be good fun too.

Alright, so it has been a little bit since my last post... But we're back on the road!

Hopefully all of you had really great holidays. We definitely did. Although it was a little bit overwhelming to come home and get thrown right back into the mix, it was really wonderful to have some time to relax and catch up with our families. We even had the chance to do a bunch of work on the camper (well, it was mostly Ben making the improvements, if I'm honest). The camper now has new lights, a fully functioning stove and hood, a post for the big table, new carpet, and much more. It even has a shiny freshly-painted rear bumper and bright red hub caps :). We can't wait to get out and explore with it... But she still needs a name!

We also got to make a quick trip up to the mountains for New Years... It was super fun but way too short of a visit. Guess we'll have to go back soon!

So, like I said, we are back on the road. We left Charlotte yesterday morning and then drove to Roxboro, NC to spend most of the day visiting a bunch of the folks on Ben's mom's side of the family. They are a hoot; seriously lots of fun. I'm so excited that we'll get to see them again next week at Jay's wedding (for those of you who don't know, Ben's brother is getting married in DC in about 10 days).

We drove up to Richmond, VA last night and just stopped at a hotel to get some sleep. We slept in (I stayed up wayyy to late trying to finish the last book of the Stieg Larsson series), got a bite to eat at another Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives place (Dot's Back Inn), and then headed further north. In case you're wondering what we ate, I had a grilled cheese and a bowl of Italian white bean soup, and Ben had a burger with bacon and fried eggs on it. Delicious!

Tonight we are in Somerset, NJ visiting a great friend from high school and his fiancée. Kunal and Hiral brought us right in, despite the short notice, fed us a delicious meal, and visited until it was time for bed. Even though it was a short visit, I'm glad we had some friends to stop in with... It's just the best way to end the day.

Stay posted, hopefully I'll have some adventures to write about soon :)

Home for the Holidays

Alright - so far so good with the camper!  We slept in it for two nights and it has been awesome.  Can't wait to get to work on it and keep on traveling!  Also, I had my very first trailer-pulling experience with it.  While I did remain very tense for the entire shift, it wasn't as bad or scary as I imagined.  In fact, for the most part I didn't even notice it.

In the last two days of travel, we also finished up all of our bingo... it was sad for it to end, but really fun that it lasted the whole trip.  Here were the final wins: Ben won a yo-yo (which is really perfect for him, if you didn't know); I won these noisy magnet things... not sure how to better explain them, haha; and finally, Ben won a small wind-up flipping monkey.  Pretty freakin' awesome, and really such an amazing gift from Zach and Blaire - thanks you guys!

Well, folks, this chapter of our adventure is officially over...  Ben and I got back to our families in the Charlotte area early this afternoon.  We have spent the day with our respective families, which is pretty much the perfect end to the trip.  I still can't believe it's over, but we'll be up and moving again before too long (probably about a week from now, actually).

Since this post will be wrapping up Chapter 1, I think I'll go ahead and comment on my initial goals -
1. Have lots of fun.  This was without a doubt fulfilled.  I will always be grateful to have seen all the places we did, and to have spent good time with family and friends - I can't imagine having a better and more fun trip.  It was straight-up awesome.
2. Don't get too worked up about the details - remain flexible.  While this is traditionally something I need to work on, it wasn't too big of a deal for me during this trip.  There were definitely moments when I would worry about money or how long we had in a certain place or if we would get home in time... but really, they just ended up being fleeting thoughts - easy to get past so I could just enjoy what we were up to.
3. Stay Healthy.  While I was no health nut on this trip, I think I did pretty well.  I haven't weighed myself, but all of my clothes still fit.  I am not injured or anything like that.  I would say, goal accomplished.
4. For Ben and I to keep liking each other.  This one was so easy!  Seriously, I started to get worried when we were planning the trip and people kept advising that we spend time apart whenever we stop somewhere.  Well, we didn't spend much time apart at all, and it was totally awesome!  We had so much fun together... I honestly think we laughed every single day, multiple times.  I am a lucky girl.

Also, I thought it might be fun to quantify the trip... here are some numbers for you :)
40 days on the road
41 tanks of gas
4 chips in the windshield
11 loads of laundry
1 new derailleur
6 days mountain biking
3 days skiing/snowboarding
3 meals from Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives restaurants
11 bingo prizes won
8 days with family
10,000-ish miles driven
27 blog posts... and over 2,000 blog views.

Thanks to everybody who has been keeping up with our adventures.  We have had so much fun and can't wait to continue the journey, whether it's on the road, in a new city, or with new jobs.  It's a happy and sad feeling for this trip to be over, but it'll be exciting to see what is in store for us next.  I'm not planning on this being my last blog post - let's hope for some fun and excitement in our lives so that I have some good stuff to write about!

We hope everybody has wonderful and heart-warming holidays... and, I'll keep you posted!

5 Days 'til Home!

Hello again friends!  Well, our time on the road continues to narrow… tomorrow (Tuesday) we will be on day 36 of 40.  Wow. 

After I wrote last, we made our way to Salt Lake City to pick up our goods at the storage unit, which means we're once again traveling with a full load.  Also, do you remember how the last time we were there we tried to go to the restaurant Bruges, which my brother suggested, but it didn’t work out?  Well, we did get to go this time.  It was still packed (we had to wait in a line that went out the door), but we stuck it out and ordered the Machine Gun Sandwich and a cup of Flemish Stew to share.  The sandwich is such a hot item that they were behind on orders, so we had to wait, but it was worth it.  The sandwich was on good thick bread and had lamb sausage, homemade frites, and a homemade andalouse sauce… soooo good. 

The next awesome part about our stop in Salt Lake City was that we came across the cheapest gas prices of the entire trip – check it out people, we filled up for $2.89/gallon.  That means we filled the tank for less than $40, woohoo!  Also, it was at a Maverick, which is still my favorite gas station chain of the trip.  We got coffee and Ben picked up an assortment of snacks, including a squeezable pouch of applesauce, an Idaho huckleberry cordial, and an Idaho spud bar.  Not too shabby...

After a bit of time in the city, we kept on heading east – we stopped and spent the night in a little town called Glenwood Springs, CO.  The town is built around hot springs and has a really cool little downtown area.  Also had an opportunity to try another local brewery spot.  It wasn’t the best food or beer that we’ve had, but it’s always fun to try that stuff out.

We made our way a little further east yesterday.  We were definitely planning to spend some time with Ashley and Chris in Breckenridge, but we had some time to kill before they got off work.  We went to a restaurant called Haywood Café a little ways down the road in hopes of seeking out the Panthers' game.  Well, we got lucky because we were seated right in front of a big tv showing it, the food was awesome, and it was actually a really fun game to watch (hooray Panthers!  Fumblerooski, anyone?). 

I would also like to share with you what we ate that morning.  First of all, we started with coffee and bloody marys.  Mine was made with peppar vodka and Ben’s was a bacon bloody mary (with house-made bacon-infused vodka and a slice of bacon as garnish).  I have to say, mine was better.  Ben had a country fried steak and eggs and grits.  I had this delicious little meal called Swiss Baked Eggs – a piece of French bread slathered with garlic cream cheese, then two slices of bacon, two poached eggs, and melted Swiss cheese.  Will definitely be trying to recreate this one…

After the game and a bit of time running errands and doing laundry at a nearby laundromat (which had huge washers that could do 4.5 loads at once), we met up with Ashley and Chris at their apartment in Breckenridge.  We had a really good time talking and relaxing, and also enjoyed some food and drinks at the Breckenridge Brewery.  We’re lucky to have friends who offer up their 5-star floorspace and little bit of free time to hang out and catch up. :)

We originally planned to ski at Breckenridge today, but the conditions just weren’t quite right.  Warm weather, no snow, and a crowd of people just encouraged us to save a few bucks and head on down the Highway.  We stopped in Denver for lunch at another Diners, Drive-ins and Dives spot: Tocabe.  We had delicious taco fixings along with fresh fry-bread at this American Indian eatery... it was delicious.  After that we drove on to Kersey and are spending another night at my Grandparents’ house, and we’ll keep on heading east(ish) tomorrow.  5 more days ‘til we have to (get to) be home!

And lastly, here is a map of our progress.  It's getting a little confusing now that we're re-tracing some steps... maybe I'll do separate out and back versions the next time.

Seattle, you’re pretty fun.

Oh my gosh!  We had a great time in Seattle – we were lucky enough to be staying with one of Ben’s good friends from college, Rachel (I do also consider her my friend), which was really fantastic because she was able to give us a little bit of an inside scoop, and she was really good company.

We got to the city on Wednesday night and then left on Saturday, so we had a lot of time (though not enough) to explore.  We did the Underground Tour on Thursday and it was awesome – the tour guide had some good one-liners, though it was completely scripted, and it was really interesting to learn how the city was built.  We also explored different areas in downtown Seattle including Pike Place Market, a magnificent toy store and delicious coffee.  The market made me want to be able to shop there every day for my groceries – the produce was beautiful and meat and fish counters amazing! 

So, let’s also talk about the whole coffee thing.  I’ve met some people from Seattle who are really big coffee snobs… like, they whine constantly about not having Seattle coffee.  Well, I’m not sure I’m that big of a believer, but I did have the best mocha of my life.  I got it at Seattle Coffee Works and it was like sipping chocolate cake.  You should be very jealous, and just to seal the deal, here is a picture of it:

For the most part, we just kind of explored – we also ate a lot of awesome food and had some good drinks.  Check out these mondo PBRs that Rachel and I had (that’s Ben’s beer in the middle) – we were definitely expecting regular tallboys and then got those instead. 

I also got in a little bit of family time, which continues to add something very special to this journey.  My Aunt Boston (my dad’s youngest step-sister) lives just north of Seattle with her family.  We went over for brunch on Saturday morning – Boston made delicious eggs, bacon, sausage and pancakes and we just sat and talked and enjoyed each other’s company for a few hours… it was wonderful!

And now, on an entirely separate note, with the risk of showing complete selfishness, I’d like to tell you all about a problem I have been facing - and feel free to judge me, leave your comments, etc.  Here it is: It makes me very uncomfortable (and slightly angry) when people ask me for money on the street.  I wish I could be more graceful about this!  It is something that has plagued me for years, and I even try to give myself pep talks about feeling generous and about the fact that there are people who could genuinely use my help.  

Well, trying to psych myself up for it hasn’t worked so far, and I think this is why: I actually really enjoy being generous and helping other people, but the spontaneous solicitation is hard for me.  It really frustrates me when all of a sudden I am faced with guilt for not busting out my wallet and giving someone my cash, when really all I want to do is take a stroll down the sidewalk.  Does anybody else feel this way?  Does anybody have any insight to help me see past my discomfort?  I want to be able to handle this common situation without feeling like I have to stare at my feet out of guilt as I walk past…

Anyway, that’s the story.  Stay tuned, there is more to come!

Portland, done. Next: Seattle

Holy cow!  What a day in Portland!  Here’s how it went down:

We arrived late Monday afternoon and went straight to the home of the friends we stayed with.  Ben has a good college friend, Bri, and she and her fiancée have a great house right in town.  They were so welcoming and awesome – as soon as we arrived they cooked up a homemade meal and dessert, made us feel right at home, and even drew us maps of all the places we should hit while we were there. 

After dinner and lots of chatting, Ben and I walked to a nearby bar and met up with Brechter… you guys probably know him.  Haha, anyways, it was a great time just talking about his job and our trip and catching up on everything.  He made us want to go ski at Mt. Hood sometime.  Also makes me miss camp people like crazy. 

On Tuesday we got up early-ish, showered (which feels especially great when you don’t get to every day), and walked to the Waffle Window.  This place was awesome – you can get sweet or savory waffles with all sorts of delicious toppings.  Ben’s had thick bacon, cheddar cheese, and some kind of jalapeno/avocado topping.  Mine had sliced bananas, lots of nutella, and whipped cream…. Yum.  After that we walked over to Stumptown coffee – we were told that this would give us the true Portland coffee experience.  We were also warned that we wouldn’t feel cool enough to go in, but that it was okay, and we were.  The coffee was delicious, I was not disappointed…  They even made a little heart with the frothy milk on top of my café au lait.

After that, we definitely had to hit up Powells, which is this bookstore that is 4 stories tall and takes up an entire city block.  In the hour that we were there, we made it through 1½ levels, and were kind of rushing.  I feel like this is a place I will definitely have to revisit.  We left downtown after that and drove south to Salem – we were lucky enough to meet up with my Aunt Jodi and Uncle Deacon for lunch there… I hadn’t seen them in over 10 years.  It was really fantastic to sit and talk and catch up a little bit.  The family thing is definitely a huge part of my experience with this trip, so it’s really special to be able to make connections in lots of the places we’re going. 

When we came back into Portland, we thought we’d stop in at the Widmer Brothers Brewery and Pub.  After a few samples, I settled on a Peppermint Paddy Porter, and it was delicious – like a delightfully Christmasy, wintery beer.  If you come across it, it’s worth a try.  So, while we were sitting at the bar, some company employee came over and offered free Mumford and Sons tickets to the bartender… he just kind of said, “um, okay,” and took them.  Ben and I made obvious jealous faces.  The thing is, we aren’t obsessed with the band, but we like them well enough and some of their music is pretty catchy.

Well, a little bit later Ben had stepped out for a minute, and the bartender came over and started this conversation:

Bartender: So, have you heard of this Mumford and Sons band?

Me: Yeah, definitely.

Bartender: Oh, well, what are they like?

Me: Oh, you don’t know them?

Bartender: Nope.

Me: Oh, well, they’re kind of bluegrassy and catchy and…

Bartender: I heard there would be girls there…?

Me: Yes, there will definitely be girls there.

Bartender: Hm. Well, what are you guys doing tonight? (pointing to me and Ben’s empty seat)

Me: Umm, I don’t know.

Bartender: Well, I have basketball at 9 tonight, so if you guys want the tickets you can have them.

Um, awesome!  I mean, how can you pass up free live music?  So, Ben came back and I told him about the conversation and we slipped the bartender a little extra tip in exchange for the tickets.  We still wanted to spend time with friends that evening, but figured even if we only made it for a few numbers that it would be better than the tickets going to waste. 

So that’s the story for the evening… we met up with Bri and Ryan and ate a really delicious sushi meal, then went to the venue just in time to see the band come on… we saw the whole set, then slipped out just before the last encore song so that we could beat the traffic back.  It was a really long day, but what a fabulous introduction to Portland…

Today we slept in (obviously), hit up Stumptown for another cup of coffee, then wandered around downtown until lunchtime.  Today we had lunch at Bunk Sandwiches with another fabulous friend from camp, Leslie, and her boyfriend, Chris.  Somehow it has been about three years since we’ve seen Leslie, but she is just the same and so fun, and funny, to be with.  It’s already obvious that we’ll have to arrange more time to spend in Portland at some point… there is just so much to do and see and so many great people to spend time with. 

We left town after lunch and made our way to the coast.  Even though it’s a much longer drive, we decided it would be nice to take the more “scenic” route up to Seattle.  I’m sure I will have some good Seattle adventures to share with you in the next day or so, but for now I’ll leave you with another map of our progress.  Enjoy!

The Title!

Okay okay, already not doing so well at this.  I meant to tell everybody about the title of the blog.  Hopefully "Adventures" is pretty self-explanatory.  Now for the "Car Bingo" part...

So, Ben and I have some really really really good friends Zach and Blaire (a lot of you probably know them).  They are totally awesome.  You know, the kind of friends who really get you, and you don't have to filter the things you say or the way you feel when you're with them, and you always want to hang out... yeah, they're that kind.

Well, Zach and Blaire gave us the most unexpected and wonderful road-trip gift.  Well, it's kind of a bag of gifts.  We got to open one when they gave it to us - it's a set of car bingo!  Have you guys seen this before?  Ben had, but I don't think I have ever played it.  I'll try to post a picture of it tomorrow.  Anyway, it's got all kinds of things on it like cows and churches and street signs and people and more.  So, to offer us a little bit of fun during our days of driving, we have car bingo to play - and the best part: each time one of us wins we get to open a prize!  There are 11 prizes and we have to open them in a certain order.  I can't wait to get started (and win, hopefully).  I know with the minds of Zach and Blaire  behind it all that I am in for some good laughs.

Thanks you guys!!!

Officially Adventuring

Well, welcome to the blog!  Really, my hope is to keep this relatively updated during our travels (and maybe even after that?), but I'm not sure I'll be very good at it - time will tell.  I'll do my best to post regularly and even put up pictures... but, I warn you, Ben and I are not good at picture taking... we often just plain-old forget.  I'll work on it.

So, here's the story.  We quit our jobs, moved out of our house, and now we're driving around the USA.  This road trip is going to be about 40 days long... enough to see a lot but still be home with family for the holidays.  A lot of people have been asking us the same question, but I think my insurance agent put it best when he said, "You're quitting your jobs and traveling, and then you don't have a plan... don't you think that's kind of a ballsy thing to do?"  Well, hmm, not sure how to answer that one.

Yes, we know the economy isn't at its prime right now, and no, we don't have actual employment plans after this (though we do plan on being employed), but it is just the right time.  Through some hard work, some very generous parents, and a little bit of fate we have come to a point in our lives where we are debt-free - that's right.  No house payment, no car payments, no student loans... nothin.  We have a place to put our things, a car with 4-wheel drive, and health insurance.  So, we were feeling a little bit restless and figured Now Is The Time!  Before we get into careers, or go back to school, or get sucked into a stationary life some other way, we are going to adventure.

Well, maybe you will be interested to know that I have some goals for this trip.  Here they are (the list might grow as we continue):
1. Have lots of fun.
2. Don't get too worked up about the details - remain flexible.
3. Stay healthy (as in, don't get injured, and also, don't just eat crap).
4. Keep liking each other.  Ben and I spend a lot of time together normally... but we'll be taking it to an extreme for the next little bit.  My hope is that Ben still likes me at the end of it all, and vise versa.  There is nobody I would rather have by my side, so I'm hoping for lots of laughing, fun, and even some mishaps to tell you all about along the way.

Ben and I are also extremely fortunate to have a giant network of supportive and loving family and friends.  It is going to be so much fun to see a bunch of people during the journey, and just to share it all with everyone else.

So, we're nearing the end of day one.  We left Gastonia, NC this morning and will end up in Canton, OH.  We're visiting some fabulous friends from camp: Allyson Shank, Ben Colston and Nicholas Colston (maybe we will see Nate too?  I don't even know).  I heard that Momma Colston is making a lasagna for us all to enjoy together when we get in, then we'll head to Allyson's apartment and relax & hang out for the rest of the evening.  I can't imagine a more perfect way to end day 1.

Thanks everybody!  Stay posted!