TheNOLOG

"Tales of the Cocktail"

2010-08-27T09:42:00.000-07:00

We'll continue with our adventures from the Road soon. But, in the meantime, we wanted to share a blog we did during "Tale of the Cocktail" (TOTC) on our site www.inthelandofcocktails.com. TOTC is a huge, city-wide event that happens every year down here for an entire week celebrating all things cocktail and cuisine. People from all over the world (mixologists, vendors, restauranteurs and plain ole cocktail enthusiasts) descend on the city for seminars, tastings, tours, dinners, luncheons etc... It was super fun. Here are the links to Part 1 and Part 2.

http://www.inthelandofcocktails.com/blog-post/tales-of-the-cocktail-recap/

http://www.inthelandofcocktails.com/blog-post/tales-recap-ii/

Cheers!!

Road Trip 2, Day 4 to Sallisaw, OK

2010-06-26T14:03:00.000-07:00

Friday 5/7/10

Good Morning, Amarillo!
Man, that really doesn't have a ring to it, does it?

Ned and James were right where we left them -- although, there were a few empty beer cans nearby, wondering if they had a tailgate mixer last night.

Ah, yes. Farewell TGIFridays.

The front of the hotel where we found THIS...

You know you're in Texas when -- this was outside the door of the hotel. It's so you can knock the dirt and manure off your boots before you come inside like decent folk. Yep, one at every door.

She was wearing Berkinstocks so she didn't need to use it.
The link is for you, Steve H.

With Celia tucked in her cocoon, we were on the road by 8:30am.

Hittin' it.

In the interest of not Messing With Texas, we tried to get through it as fast as we could without getting popped by the ongoing "Super Blitz."

More stuff we didn't see. but it looks really cool.
They claim Billy the Kid's REAL grave is here. Yes, they do.

Another truckload of stuff to stock the shelves of the mega stores that are killing Main Street. On a side note, hard for NL to bad mouth Walmart -- as her parents put her through college on the $$ they made from their stock. But Paige can. However, NL now shops at Target vs. Walmart (better politics...) This concludes the marketplace section of the show, we now return you to the NOLOG.

Look, it could be Squidward's baby!

This train went on for miles. You know the view is boring if this was getting us excited.

But we did find something that was actually exciting...

THE BOOGER TOWN BOYS!
(when you check out their website you'll realize
they're hardly boys anymore, but still kickin' it!)

The Booger Town Boys. Official website.

Have you ever wondered where you would go to buy a big rig? Now you know. In the middle of no-where Texas. NL liked the blue one with the sleeper cab. Paige liked the red one. Celia wouldn't play the game with us.

She did however make us some more great sandwiches. Today was delicious black forest ham and provolone cheese. At one point Celia started laughing from her cubby hole. When we asked her what was so amusing -- she said while she was making one of the sandwiches she dropped a slice of cheese. And couldn't find it. "I lost the effin' cheese! How could I lose the effin' cheese?" Couldn't find it in the 2 inch space she was working in. We all howled for a few until she finally found it. When we asked where it was she said, "I'm not going to tell you." But...for the rest of the trip when we wanted a snack we ordered an Ass-Sandwich from the back seat.

And then there was....

THE BIG ASS CROSS!

Oh, yeah... we're stopping.
Because it's not just a big ass cross (they don't call it that, of course),
there's a whole Jesus city thing happening here. Official website of the Cross.

In case you didn't know which exit to find the giant cross...

This is your scale picture. Those trees are tall.
But not as tall as the second biggest cross in the Western hemisphere. The biggest cross is in Effingham, Illinois.

But honestly, it looks pretty close to us.

Life size bronze of the Last Supper. Wait, who
is that at the end of the table? Could somebody
please pass the hummus?

There are also life size stations of the cross. And the crucifixion, and the tomb with the stone rolled away. NL wanted a picture of her helping Jesus carry the cross, but we were afraid of lighting bolts, and getting our ass kicked by the people who got off the church bus to visit this holy place. FYI Celia stayed in the truck -- she wasn't going down with us.

Does this cross make my butt look big?

Groom, Texas is where the cross is. Seems fitting
what with the whole Bride of Christ thing.
And look at the sign next to it -- Blessed Mary's Restaurant.
Wonder if we could get a Blessed Bloody Mary there? Doubting it...

Another landmark. The leaning tower of... Britten.

Rest stop, Texas style.

This is the rest stop we chose...

The little motel attached to the grocery store.

Sort of a remote, Western-styled Bates chain motel.

Howdy, pardner!

Towing a James look-alike...

We felt a kindred spirit with these road warriors.

In case you were wondering if you can be buried
right off the I40 in Texas. Why yes you can!!

Let's see... what do you need to know. Um...

Celia rushes the stage, er the cubby hole,
when a Moody Blues song comes on.

Freebird! Wait, wrong band.

We rocked the big hair bands for a hundred miles.

We rocked some Dr. Demento, too. Strange stuff.
The link takes you to his online streaming site.
He's not just for Oklahoma anymore.

Okay, so every time we needed something from the back Paige would get scolded by Ned. Here's what it sounded like...

What is this? A hill or a mirage?

Filed under Stuff We Didn't See. Moon Rock.

We must be entering Oklahoma -- it's starting to get green and we are back on the Indian theme. Some history for you -- The Five Civilized Tribes that were forced to settle in Oklahoma are -- Choctaw, Chickasaw, Seminole, Creek and Cherokee. NL will refrain from her usual rant about the Trail of Tears, Andrew Jackson, and the Oklahoma land rush...

This little "Trading Post" has a casino in it.
See all the traffic they get. Take that Andrew Jackson!

Paige's knee.

Truck on a stick!!!!! Peterbuilt.
(How the hell did Peter get it up there?)

OKLAHOMA CITY

Celebrate OKLAHOMA!
With what? A case of beer? A bunch of meth?

Who IS this tailgating A-hole???

Heh, never gets old.....

Celia cam of Paige, who is wearing both pairs of her glasses.
For navigating between the road and the iPhone map app.
Perhaps prescription sunglasses are in her future.

This sign says we can Pig Out at the next exit.
Maybe we don't want people to know we are going to pig out?
Maybe we want to Pig IN where no one can see us.

They got some purty paint horses in Oklahoma.

Pammy shout out!

OOOOOOOOOOH-KLAHOMA!!!!!!

Approaching Sallisaw, our destination...

Wildlife Refuge?
For reals?

Once you come to Sallisaw... you never leave.
Tag line for a slasher movie we'll write someday.

But you can get awesome trinkets. If you got enuf wampum.

Maye's gorgeous home...

Sweet Maye greeting us at the door...

Warm welcome...

And for all our effort we get a sixer of Bud Light Lime.
Seriously? Somebody needs to make a store run.

We're ready to get our comfy-clothes on
and catch up with Mama Maye.
LET THE WEEKEND BEGIN.

Road Trip 2, Day 3 to Amarillo, TX

2010-06-25T10:59:00.000-07:00

Thursday, Day 3 PM drive to Amarillo, TX 5/7/2010

With Celia packed within an inch of her life in Ned's backseat. We waved good-bye to Clay and set out for Amarillo.

(SIDENOTEs: If you didn't listen to the song at the end
of the last post, you should. George Strait does a fine
version of "Amarillo By Morning." Also, in Spanish
Amarillo means yellow.)

Celia was a good sport. Especially since she was crammed in the back, making us sandwiches, no control or say over the music or entertainment we were choosing, and she didn't really sign on to be a part of the NOLOG. (note to self, get a release from Celia...).

We headed out on I-40, just around rush hour. Which compared to what we've been living with in Los Angeles, was a breeze. Seriously, there was a little bit of a slow down getting on the freeway and that was it.

We started seeing flashing signs that said "Super Blitz." And sure enough, Smokey was everywhere busting ass.

Crossing into Texas. Look at this wasteland...

We have a whole day of this facing us tomorrow, too.

See, Celia doesn't like Texas, either...

Kind of hated leaving the Land of Enchantment, especially when we were trading it for Tex-Ass. Sorry, but we are not Texas fans. Now there are some great towns in Texas -- Dallas, Houston, Austin, to name a few. But most of this state is a sprawling ugly mess. Why this country isn't using this land to feed America or put up some wind turbines for alternate energy sources is beyond us. Oh, wait, then no single person or company would be making a profit. Of course.

NL smiling after having one of Celia's custom PB&J sandwiches. She puts the peanut butter and jelly in a plastic cup and stirs it all together. Then when it goes on the bread it's the perfect combo of the flavors. No jelly squishing out and running down your arm. Great for driving and chewing. Downside, the plastic cup with the brown sticky goo smeared all over it looks disgusting. Not going to go into the jokes we made about that. But it almost put us off our PB&J's.

Yes, please. On the rocks with salt.

The sun was setting behind us in our beloved West.

We shifted into night driving mode. And watched the landscape change...

Along the way we caught a great interview with Richard Gere on NPR. He was talking about being a Buddhist and the Dalai Lama.

Richard Gere headbutting His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

A Few of our favorite Richard Gere films:

The interview got us thinking about a faith and spirituality that doesn't judge or impose rules on others... Now that's just crazy! It was on the Diane Rehm Show out of WAMU in Washington, D.C. Someone was sitting in for Diane Rehm for the interview with Mr. Gene. Thankfully.

Diane Rehm

Diane speaks so slowly and with such awkward pacing
we looked for her all the way across the nation. Awesome.

We arrived at the Ambassador Hotel. We parked Ned, James & Tow-Tow in a long line of U-hauls, RVs, Trailers, and Trucks and told them to behave themselves.

It's a great old hotel. Check out the indoor pool.

No one swimming. Wonder why? Could it be that it sits in the center of the entire hotel - so everyone can watch you slosh around. Later some kids got in and got rowdy -- so it didn't go to waste.

There we also some ponds and fountains running through the lobby. It kind of made the place all steamy inside. No doubt preparing us for the humidity of Nola.

Our room was great. Celia and I put on our PJ's cracked our box of wine and settled into some late night TV. Paige decided to head down to the bar for a nightcap. The bar was in the Fridays restaurant that was part of the hotel. They were about to close up shop, but she spun a sob story about being on the road all the way from California. (sniff sniff) The sweet, beleaguered assistant manager was afraid his manager (whom he called a roaring bitch on a stick) would catch him. But the sob story worked and Paige got her night cap.

Also across the bar was sitting a group of three dudes. Now, seriously Siobhan, after you've been on the road for days and you've just gotten an almost purloined cocktail the last thing a girl wants to do is field the advances of some cocktailed traveling salesmen. "I really just wanted a smoke, a drink and a shower... and not with any of these fellahs. The bravest one came over and started with the usual questions. I gave him one word answers. Cordial but not engaging. Where was I headed? New Orleans.
He told me I had nice "guns."
Um... thanks.
Then he asked why we were moving to New Orleans. Ah geez, the question.
So I told him, "It's a secret." And wouldn't budge. "Really?"
"Yup... K Bye."
"Bye."

This was response number one in our Top Eleven List of responses to "Why are you moving to New Orleans?" We got sick of telling people the meandering truth.

It's a secret
We want to adopt a Katrina baby
Saints cheerleader try-outs
We didn't like Old Orleans as much
We didn't want our dogs raised in the Hollywood scene
No extradition in Louisiana
Within missile range of Texas
When we hock the Emmy we'll probably get a better price
Los Angeles 4 = New Orleans 8
Zombie Prom
Drive-thru daiquiris

All travelers sated and in pajamas, we placed our 7AM wake-up call and put the road behind us for the night...

Road Trip 2, Day 3 Santa Fe

2010-06-24T11:13:00.000-07:00

THURSDAY, 5/6/10

We woke up in the "Roadie" Marriott in Albuquerque (on Louisiana Blvd.) feeling a lot better than most who have woken up there we imagine, borrowed Celia's car (so we wouldn't have to drive Ned, James and Tow-Tow) and hit the road to Santa Fe for the day.

Actually, we were headed to Tesuque (pronounced teh-soo-kee) outside of Santa Fe to visit our dear friend, the amazing Joan Tewkesbury. More on Tesuque and Joan later.

This sign says Santa Fe, but NL was driving too fast.

Random sign.

The roads were wide open. Beautiful vistas and desert.

And the occasional housing development. There are ordinances governing building in New Mexico. The style, size and color are all in keeping with the traditional adobe housing. It's really great, as the big developments blend into the landscape rather than define it.

The Sandia Mountains, we think.

"Bunny"

Okay, just when we were praising the aesthetic of New Mexico we saw these paintings on the freeway median walls. What? Seriously, did someone in the dept. of transportation give the job to their 4 year old?

"Birdy"

"Mean Birdy"

"Lizard"

Soooo, you can't paint your house the color you want, and you have to look at these stupid "installations." Rethinking New Mexico...

Ahhh... falling back in love with NM. Once we got off the main highway and started up into the hills and valleys of Tesuque, the desert gave way to blooming plants, shady trees, little rivers flowing, and lots of green. Enough so, that there were a lot of pastures with horses grazing, etc.

A few words about Joan Tewkesbury: Writer, Director, Mentor, Sage, Wicked Funny, A Great Broad, Fiercely Loyal, and always the most interesting person in the room - yet she'll make you feel like you are the superstar. (That's her tree in the picture above.) We have been lucky enough to write and work on a couple of projects with Joan. Trust us when we say, she makes us all better.

Joan's house (which she helped design and build) sits on a hill. There are only 4 or 5 other houses on this hill. All beautifully designed to disappear into the landscape. It is truly a hideaway. And it's pretty darn close to paradise. Single level, with lots of casita type rooms/bungalows. We missed the turn-off at first, but eventually found our way.

Look at Joan's garden. Paradise, right?

The patio. These great Wisteria vines climbing
everywhere -- Joan says when they bloom it's incredible.

Joan's house was built with a lot of
salvaged doors, wood, fixtures, etc.
Very green and totally cool.

Photo: Jean Pagliuso

Her house is full of great and amazing art, artifacts, and photos from her life and work. We didn't want to post too much of the interior and bust up her privacy. But we did want to share this great photo of Belushi. He and Joan had worked together. One morning they came out for breakfast and John was sitting at the table with this kitten in his mouth. They snapped the photo and it's one of Joan's faves. And we can see why...

Joan leads NL to the guest casita.
It was hard to get NL to leave however.

Entrance to Joan's office. Just a walk across the courtyard. Now this would make me want to go to work.

One of the foreign posters for Joan's movie "Nashville."

The movie trailer from 1975. We apologize for the cheesy ads.

As we headed out for lunch and a tour of the local sights -- Fed Ex came a callin'.
It's true, you can run but you can't hide.

One of Tewkes' neighbors... just down the block. (gorgeous)

Entering the town of Tesuque.

Local watering hole on our way to lunch at Gabriel's for some authentic Southwestern food.

A carved St. Francis watches over the lunch rush. Didn't help the animals we enjoyed for lunch, however.

Spooky art at Gabriel's. Eat here or else.

Paige gets all arty farty in the Gabriel's courtyard.

Lovely Fajitas! (spoken in a thick Irish brogue. Thank you, Miss Mary Quinlan)

Bellies full we drove on.

This is gigantic casino out in the middle of the desert called "Buffalo Thunder Resort." Insert Buffalo Thunder jokes here. Anyway, Joan said the tribe who built it had hoped it would be the crown jewel of their tribal enterprises.

However, it turned out that it was overpriced,
the slots weren't paying and the service sucked.
Word traveled like smoke signals on a clear day --
and now they can't give away the rooms.
At this point in time, I'd like to plug the
Cherokee Casinos in Oklahoma.
SHAMELESS PLUG HERE. Loose slots,
nice rooms, good food and entertainment.

The landscape here is amazing. If you're into beauty and majesty and that sort of thing.

...even the soldiers of God are staking a claim here.

Speaking of God, Tewkes took us to the town of Chimayo. It is built around a church that is said to have healing dirt. There are pilgrimages to this tiny chapel to pray, light candles, get some holy dirt. Lovely.

When the new priest came to Chimayo, he decided to turn the faith of the believers into commerce. Building turnstiles and gift shops and adding services. It backfired, as the people stopped coming when the simple services and places to meditate and pray changed.

See the crosses in the fence. People put them there to get the saints surrounding this church to pray for them or their loved ones.

There's a river that runs behind the church...

And rumor has it that is where the healing dirt is harvested from each morning at dawn and brought into the chapel and placed into the sacred dirt pit (not the official name).

A lone horse lives in that pen. I wonder if he has special powers, too? He's the only one there, so he's doing something right. Dios Mio!

NL stops to feed the horse... naturally.

Exterior of the original church.

NL & Joan walking up the newly installed walkways
and turnstyles. We were almost the only ones there.

We're guessing when the twinkle lights are
turned on at night it has a more spiritual effect
than it did in daylight.

The inside of the chapel. Not allowed to take
pictures in there, but Paige stole this one.
She'll have to atone for that.

We lit a candle for our loved ones in need. As
we do at every Catholic church we visit.

Here we are after having been in the church. Don't we look more spiritual? Joan said that the church tried to buy the house in the BG of our picture. As it was an eye sore and housed some less than spiritual neighbors. They wouldn't sell. Sometimes even God can't close the deal.

This lovely gentleman worked in the store next to the church. He was great, told us all about the spiritual items in the store. And sold us some great dried chili powder - which we've already used in some chili and sauces. Killer!! He was really honest about what was going on in the town and with the church, sad to see the changes, but happy that the old ways are winning out. He snapped a picture of us in the store. (Thank you!)

Exterior of the gift shop.

It's a great pic of Joan.
(We look a bit road-weary.)
She bought us some beautiful
housewarming gifts from this store --
she'll get to see them when she comes
to see us in NOLA.

Heading back to Tewkes' house, we drive through town.

Here's a restaurant that Joan says is great. Check out the dried chilis hanging from the roof.

She gave us lots of history, lore and gossip.

We dropped Tewkes back at her fab house and said our goodbyes, for now. Thank you for a great day. We love you, Toothfairy!

We headed back to AlbuQ to pick up Celia and get back on the road.

Celia had asked us to make sure that when we packed in California to leave a little room for her and her small suitcase in the back seat. We literally left the tiniest spot (in Narnia) for her. She was such a good sport. Sitting in the back, making us sandwiches out of the cooler. I kind of felt like she was a poor little girl working in a sweat shop back there. But she didn't complain. Well, until she had to try to use her legs to walk... Okay so that's it for the day trip LOG.

We hit the road that evening -- next stop Amarillo, TX.
PB & NL

Road Trip 2, Day 2 To Albuquerque

2010-06-14T18:23:00.000-07:00

WEDNESDAY, 5/5/10

We maybe should've thought about investing in one of these rolling racks. And a bellhop to go with it. So we thought we had this travel light, in and out, thing figured out... This was for ONE night, not even 7 hours, at the Raddisson. After this, we really did pack for the one night stays. Mostly, because re-packing it all back in Ned and James was really hard. We don't have Rachel's packing gene.

And we're off! Heading from Flagstaff, Ay Zee to Albequerque, En Em.

322 miles according to Google maps. Not tragic.

Gorgeous mountains.

Snow still on the mountaintops in AZ.
Pretty... Eyes on the road, eyes on the road!

Coconino National Forest
We didn't realize we had entered the National Forest. We must have been rooting around in the cooler when we passed that sign.

Sedona. No photos. (File under "Stuff We Didn't See." Next time.)

They misspelled it, but it still counts.

Which came first? The sign?

... or the arrows

Albuquerque in our future. James in our rear view. BTW we never quite got over the knee-jerk reaction of looking in the rear view mirror and cussing the A-Hole who was tailgaiting us. File it under #Pavlov

Sno cone machine! Don't leave home without it.

One of the many Native Trading Posts in AZ and NM. Don't you just love the traditions and humility of the desert & plains people. BTW good prices here on those beaded belts that say Arizona on them and petrified wood pieces. Lots of these places along Route 66 haven't changed in decades. And neither have their restrooms.

Meteor City Trading Post. No time to see the crater this time. If you really need to see the big hole again (heh heh) please re-read the blogs from our first road trip.

Announcing the big McCain/Palin rally that the "Tea Baggers" (really? that's the name you chose?) hosted in AZ. Huge turn-out, despite the cheesy sign. Lots of talk on the AM airwaves about this one. We worry for America.

Lots of Squidward friends on the highway.

Jeez, this dope won't get off my tail... uh, nevermind.

Twin Smokestacks. We've been sucked into the theme.

Making sure America has power. And what better place to contaminate the environment than on Indian Land.

The cooling ponds near the power plant. That there is some cancer water, ladies and gents.

Native condo with a view.

We're looking for the Mildly Timid Forest. Might be in Connecticut.

We didn't stop in Winslow, AZ this time. But here's what we missed. The La Posada Hotel, which was one of the original Harvey Houses next to the train stop. It was completely redone and supposed to be great.

And of course, Winslow was made famous in the Eagles song, "Take it Easy." In fact, you can have your picture taken with the "Girl in the Flatbed Ford" on the corner in Winslow. Wonder what that gig pays?

Lots of US Military and Homeland Security vehicles on this trip. Not sure whether to feel safe or in danger? But at least they aren't hiding behind some fake Baskin Robbins or Piggly Wiggly truck like in "Close Encounters." It's right out there for us to see.

While we didn't stop in Winslow we did however stop in Holbrook another little burg on Route 66.

Route 66 Wigwam Motor Motel. Awesome!

I think as as child NLM stayed in WigWam number 4 when she was traveling Route 66 every summer with her family. She wanted to stop and see if they ever found her polished rock collection that was accidentally left behind. We didn't stop though, as she was sure they saw the value of the collection and sold it on the black market.

Look at those cars! The station wagon brought back some memories for NLM (not all good...).

Joe & Aggie's Diner in Holbrook. A recommendation from Road Food (thanks, Meredith!)

Begs the question "Original what?" How many times do you think Pat heard over the years "What do you have that's semi-original?" I'd really rather not pay full price for an original. Do you have a copy of an original? Maybe that's her cousin's store "Sally's House of Knock-offs."

Now that's original.

Handy velociraptor parking here.

But are they polished?

Blizzard anyone?

Knife City. Much better deals here than at Knife Hamlet.

That's a right purty rig, mister.

Just hit a big bump in the road. Thought we heard James yell "Cowabunga!"

Not sure what this is that they were hauling, but it looked scary and scifi-ish. Oh wait, "SyFy-ish." Okay, X-files maybe.

Glimpsing Maeve's future...

Speaking of Maeve...

Big rock. (you can tell because of the semi truck for scale. See what we did there?)

Four dollar blankets?! In 90 degree heat?! Stop the car!!!!

Woooo! New Mexico! And it's Cinco de Mayo. Cut to: us plugging the blender into the cool lighter adapter inverter thingy we bought at the fancy TA truckstop.

Longing for the Squidward.

And some food... Gallup, NM, here we come.
First we tried to find a place recommended on roadfood.com, but it literally looked like the food might actually come from the road. So we opted for the much better option of the El Rancho Hotel and Motel.

Super famous for the Hollywood set back in the 40's & 50's. Tons of movies were filmed in the near by desert and mesas. Now it's a stop for tourists and bikers. We had lunch, snapped photos and wished for those glam days of yore. Rooms are named after famous guests, signed photos line the walls, etc. the whole shebang.

"Hallelujah Trail" was one of the films shot here.

Neither one of us had ever seen it, but ironically, it was on TV in New Orleans the day we arrived. Spooky, right?

In addition to the El Rancho, Gallup is a good place to buy Indian Jewelry -- if you don't mind the bad juju -- pawned to buy booze or dug up from the Indian graves. Nan's mom, Maye, used to always ask when buying pawn in Gallup. "Is it dead pawn?" She never wanted to buy from the graves. We all have our lines we won't cross...

Dinosaur nesting ground.

Cool!

Not nearly as exciting as we thought it would be. See? But I guess if you were traveling by wagon or horse this halfway point would be a huge event.

This is total "Thelma and Louise" territory.

As a matter of fact we are.

That too.

Thinking of you. You know who you are.

Guess you gotta work with what you've got.

We arrived at Nan's sister Celia and her husband Clay's house at sunset. We parked Ned, James & Tow-Tow in front of there house for the night. Clay was impressed with our rig and our driving skills. Of course, he hasn't seen us try to back this thing up.

We threw our stuff in Celia's car and headed for the Albuqueque Marriott for a girls night and slumber party. Celia picked this hotel, she says it's where all the roadies stay when they are working rock tours in town. When we asked how she knew that she said "first hand" and that's all she would say.

Celia is a Moody Blues fan. A big fan. Has followed them around the world. Now she's no Penny Lane, but she has had her share of rock n' roll fun in the late 60's & 70's.

We laughed and relaxed and drank excellent box wine and actually got to bed at a decent hour. Tomorrow, a day trip to see Santa Fe and our pal, Joan Tewkesbury.

Road Trip 2 , Day 1, Tuesday 5/4/10

2010-05-31T12:14:00.000-07:00

TUESDAY

NL woke up with a Zen attitude.
Ommmmmmm. Feel the Zen?

We'd take our time packing, not get nuts and get to our first stop (Flagstaff, AZ) whenever. We had our reservation at the wonderful Radisson (you'll remember from our first trip).

The weather was going to be great, and whatever we couldn't fit in the truck, we'd get when we came back in the summer.

We hauled everything out to the curb to try to fit it all in our rigs. It became clear quickly, that we had too much stuff for our trucks. Plus we needed to save some room in the backseat of Ned for my sister, Celia...

NL, Mama Maye & Celia
...who we were picking up in Albuquerque, NM and taking with us to OK to see our family. So good thing we had already decided it was going to be okay to leave stuff behind. Just as we started to play "Sophie's Choice" with our stuff, NL's cousin, Rachel, came jogging up. Not kidding, she was out for a run and stopped by to say good-bye one last time. Turns out, Rachel is a master packer. Seriously, she could win a game show with this skill if there was ever a show that involved packing skills.

She took a look at the boxes, bags, cases, etc., still sitting on the curb and went to work. Another gift of amazing timing... Rachel got everything in the trucks with the exception of a couple of cases of wine, which went back in the cellar, and two coolers. Looks like Maeve is ready to host a party at the clubhouse. Thanks, cousin! There's a cocktail or three with your name on it in New Orleans.

James packed to the gills.

During our Monster Truck Pack-a-Thon, another moving truck pulled up and parked in front of our house and began to unload "Maeve's house" into ours. Talk about timing. As Maeve orchestrated yet another move we put the last of our stuff in Ned and got ready to say good-bye AGAIN. In the chaos of move and sleep deprivation and joking about being the Judd's on their farewell tour which is still happening (NO JOKE), we had neatly avoided any real and final good-byes with Maeve. And then it was upon us -- while Ned was idling and movers rolled furniture back into the house, there was a tearful good-bye. We mean a get down and sob in the front yard for the world and neighbors to see. But then this probably wasn't nearly as interesting as most of the stuff that has gone on at the "Clubhouse" in the last 4 years. But those are stories for another time filled with and are for mature audiences only.

We jumped into Ned and glided the rig away from the curb, down the block and around the corner -- without running over the curb, we might add.

So, after a couple of rough starts and 3 hours behind schedule we were finally starting our adventure. Wooo!

The first day of our drive, was the same route we took on our mini move a couple of months ago.

It's Miller Time somewhere.

The Pink Kong -- still guarding Victorville along
the I-10 for all God's creatures who dare to be different.

Thank God we're not going there.

We're goin' to the bayou!!!

This place seriously needs a drink of water.

And voila! The Colorado River!

Aaaaaa-rizona!! Not sure that's right.

Oh, thank God we made it to the giant golf ball.

Got some driving to do.

We were looking forward to our stay at the Radisson in Flagstaff, AZ, which we had road tested on our last trip through. Great beds, room service and easy parking was in our future. This time we had no rain or snow, but we did not count on being their after dark (3 hours later this time....). Hot Tip for those of you traveling to Flagstaff in the future and land on a Tuesday night - the town effin' closes down at 10PM. Including the hotel bar and room service!! When it appeared that we would be there 10 minutes after 10PM we called to inform them and plead for wiggle room. However, the night desk clerk was less than helpful. Instead of assuring us we'd be fine, or taking our order or suggesting ANYTHING helpful. She just kept repeating the information.

We squealed into the Radisson at 10:05PM only to find the restaurant and bar manager turning out the lights and closing the kitchen. We couldn't even negotiate a salad. She was very sorry, and wondered why we didn't call in our order in advance. At this moment the months and weeks leading up to the move, the lack of sleep, and basic road weariness hit us like a ton of bricks. But rather than go postal we just shut-down. We shuffled to the front desk, with the very kind and helpful restaurant manager on our heels, to confront Miss-Information. When it became clear that there was no food to be had at the Rad -- the phone book came out and the local restaurant search began. The ONLY dining establishment (and we say that loosely) open after 10PM in a town full of (our beloved) Applebees, Chili's, Coco's, and assorted steak houses and restaurant chains was Denny's. Too tired to drive another inch, we called a cab to go 3 blocks. Which BTW the cabbie turned into 6 blocks and a 10 dollar fare.

There's a Denny's in our Burbank neighborhood that has served us well over the years, so how bad could it be? Awful. That's how bad. It was the Zombie Denny's, really... 6 tables were occupied at the late late hour of 10:30PM. A table full of teen punks and punkers who were avoiding going home.

A date that had gone on too long and
there was nothing left to say to each other...

Two gamers who were hopped up on coffee
talking too fast and too loud...

Another road weary family...

Some employees ending their night...

And us.

We opted for breakfast -- how could they wreck breakfast, it was how they made their empire.

What we got was a slightly more gray-ish version of this picture. Apparently, the breakfast "chefs" only work at breakfast time. We took a couple of bites, asked for the check and opted for sleep vs. sustenance.

Another 10 dollar cab ride (transportation now costing more than our meal) and we were in the room. The travel God's had one more trick to play -- our sleep number bed was broken! Oh cruel world. We were forced to sleep on the number of firmness/softness chosen by the last guest in room 211, which was like four hundred.

On the bright-side, we got to sleep more than 3 hours for the first time in a week... We woke refreshed and were greeted by the lovely Kelsy at the front desk who sent us on our way with a cheerful and efficient attitude. She redeemed the Radisson for us.

Thanks, Kelsey!

We were ready to head to Albuquerque, NM. Wagons, Ho!

Road Trip 2, Day 0

2010-05-31T09:55:00.000-07:00

Day Zero, Monday 5/3/10

Moving... We recommend that you don't do it unless completely necessary. Statistics say it's one of the 6 most stressful events a person can endure, uh, encounter. The other 5 in no particular order are -- Planning a wedding, going through a divorce, having a baby, a death/funeral, getting a new job. NL has actually at one point in her life had 3 of those events happen at the same time. So this time it was a breeze... Ha! Positives of moving -- purging and getting rid of STUFF. And setting up the new place -- new carpets, paint, shelf liners. Anal OCD peeps unite!!

Monday started at 6:30AM (after only 3 hours of sleep and packing). God Bless Maeve Quinlan who was there lovingly leading the packing charge the entire time. Actually, she was probably just trying to get us out of town so she could have the house to herself.

Our House

Bekins guys were supposed to be there at 7AM. However, they were 2 hours late. Come to find out, they had never driven in LA traffic and didn't account for that. Ha! Amateurs! Lamont and Brian were originally out of South Carolina, but are based out of Little Rock, AR.

Once they finally arrived they were a well oiled machine. Two local guys, Jose and Ernesto (father and son team), took stuff out of the house, while the drivers loaded. The truck was huge (see video below) and it was divided into lockers. We shared the truck with 3 other families heading east. These guys were amazing -- it was like a giant Jenga game. Seriously, walls of our copious crap, perfectly stacked.

The last half hour was crazy -- the local guys had another move to load elsewhere in town and needed to leave. So we had to power pack the kitchen. It was certainly interesting to see what got lumped together in the boxes when they finished their journey. Of course, we have Maeve's great box labeling again... You'll see some of those photos along the way. Thanks to Maeve, Matt and Natalie for help during that crunch.

Whoa!
4 hours start to finish they were ready to roll.

Did you see in the video NL's truck hitched up to a trailer with Paige's car in the background?

Ned & James
A few words about our rig for this leg of the move... First of all, you know we name everything -- NL's truck is named Ned. Long tradition of trucks named Ned in her family. Paige's Jimmy is named James, and is a girl FYI. Confused, yet? And the auto trailer, while no Squidward, we have named it, as well. There is a Kansas plate on the trailer, but we resisted naming it Dorothy. So instead it's name is Tow-Tow. Get it? Okay, we were sleep deprived. So these are the players, Ned, James, Tow-Tow... oh and Natalie. She's the navigation system in Ned. Comforting voice, even though she's kind of bossy.

A few words about getting the trailer hitched up. NL has hauled a lot of horses in trailers over the years, so this was going to be a breeze -- same rules apply: Wide turns, lots of room between the vehicle in front of you, plenty of breaking time, and try to say in the right two lanes. Note to all drivers -- when you see a big rig or someone hauling something, give them room, don't cut them off, don't tailgate, let them merge and don't park too close to them as it makes it hard to get out without creaming your car, or accidentally spilling a jamba juice on the hood.

Our "son" Matt Cohen went with NL to the U-Haul place to pick up the trailer to tow James. This begins the through-line of the universe giving us some great timing. Matt was supposed to be in Florida with his family and Mandy (his fiance and our "daughter"), but he had stayed in town for some auditions and work. Lucky for us. As it turns out, Matt's childhood was filled with hauling race cars all over Florida with his dad -- boy knows a thing or two about hitching up cars. He hitched Tow-Tow to Ned, drove James up on the rig, and secured her on the trailer, got all greasy, and gave NL a little driving lesson in the neighborhood.

Now if only he was going to be in NOLA to unhitch... Matt? BTW one of the Bekins guys asked if Matt was NL's son -- "Is that your boy?" NL said yes, and Bekins guy said they "favored each other." NL is still high from that one -- but clearly Matt got most of his daddy's good genes...

After the Bekins truck pulled out, all that was left was to pack our clothes for the road and whatever we were cramming into Ned and James. Which ultimately came down to -- Clothes, Liquor/Wine, guns, ammo, guitars/mandolins, cleaning supplies, fragile stuff, a stocked cooler, dog beds and the Emmy.

Monday night we had some BBQ from USA Ribs in Burbank, Nat and Maeve continued to pack us up. We had a visit from Lizzie P. who had given us a great going away gift -- flip flops with a bottle opener on the bottom (we're going to be so popular), and Dara dropped by with a great bottle of champagne which we will be opening in our new home in NOLA.

We actually got to bed around 2AM for a few hours of sleep. Tomorrow we head out. Here's the map of our route.

We'll get our kicks on Route 66.

That's good cause we probably packed any kicks we had left in a box with a fart.
Tomorrow it's gentlewomen, start your engines!!

Road Trip 2, Day -1 (negative one)

2010-05-16T18:50:00.000-07:00

It's been a glorious "going away." I'm sure at times it has felt like the Judd's Farewell tour (which went on for 4 years), but the last few weeks leading up to us actually leaving has been bittersweet... Thank you to all who have called or sent lovely email farewells. And our thanks to those of you who we managed to see for an evening or an hour or a moment before we left town. Our apologies to all of you who tried to see... we just couldn't break free of the chaos that is moving. We'll see you when we come back to town and regale you with stories of our new life and digs.

While our last fortnight in Burbank was chock full of sorting and packing, stresses and confusions, heavy lifting and headaches, dentist/doctor/hair/tax appointments, (and thankfully Tums, bourbon and valium)... these weeks were also full of BBQs, brunches, gourmet ninja grilling, statue painting...

Before...

During...

After...

Our new Mardi Gras Jockey!!!

Also on the pre-moving menu was...
Tap dancing...

polo playing...

fancy grown-up steak dinners, life-saving take-out, whatcha got? with Chef Will

colorful box labeling...

singing with the band...

friends from faraway places and from right down the hall...

Santa Anita winners...

and losers...

beautiful track days...

goats...

(Well, just this one. This is Peas&Carrots who lives at the Silver Spur barn near us on Riverside. He used to be one of an identical pair: Peas and Carrots. One died. They didn't know which one. Thus... Peas&Carrots. Maeve and Nancylee rescued Peas&Carrots from Riverside Drive. He went AWOL.)

Shirtless men...

Shirtless women...
[PHOTO WITHHELD FOR THE
PROTECTION OF THE SHIRTLESS]

Awesome parties... (Thank you, Miss Mary)

(too many pictures to post all at once)

last minute pleas in cake form...

Wii rock stars...

pizza!, great champagne, great wine, great cocktails, mani-pedis, good timing, bad hair (both dog and human), cool looking desert clouds,

crying/laughing/singing jags and love and love and LOVE!

BTW, we have the best looking packers EVER! Can we get an amen?

This was her only break in six hours and she's STILL doing something.

we just wanted to show this one again.. hee

Here's a tired, sweaty, mismatched grateful toast to our troops!

This entry is long but so were the days and nights, the sighs and goodbyes...
And it's gonna be a long time before Matt & Mandy get over the humiliation of the knobby hat.

And we're off...

Home Stretch

2010-05-11T07:04:00.000-07:00

Hey, y'all!
We have to say Y'ALL because we're back in the South (as if we didn't say it before).

We know we haven't been giving you the blow-by-blow you're accustomed to on this trip, but we've been collecting some awesome stuff along the way. And hopefully all will be forgiven when we finally put it up here. Our plate has been just a wee bit full. Today we head out from Memphis, TN to Jackson, MS, where we'll have a night before we hit the oily, swampy ground in Nola.

So, thanks for hangin' in with us (we miss you all terribly!) and we'll have some juicy-ness for you soon.

love,
Paige & Nancylee

PS: If anyone out there prays (and you know who you are - both of you), please send up a flare for cool weather on Friday. That's the day our veloci-labs, Varuca and Violet, are to fly in. (god bless you, Maevey) If it's over 85 degrees they'll have to reschedule. And it ain't gettin' no cooler in Nola. `Specially once we hit town.

Road Trip 1 Day 5 New Orleans

2010-04-17T16:35:00.000-07:00

OMG! We woke up in our new home in Nola for the first time... and it feels right.

View of our courtyard on our first morning. With some of our stuff out there! Ah.... FYI the big outside table that now lives in Burbank will be traveling here on the next trip -- which means fabulous dinners and cocktails in the courtyard is in your future!

We walked three blocks to Magazine Street and CCs Community Coffee for some Monday morning internet. We walked. I know, right?! We haven't walked anywhere in Los Angeles in ages... unless you count power walking from the outer limits of a Target parking lot just before it closes. Or walking back and forth in front of Disney with picket signs during the Writer's Strike 2 years ago.

It was a gorgeous day - breezy, sunny, around 68 degrees. A nice welcome. Thank you, New Orleans. CCs is a local coffee franchise. Family owned, free WiFi, and Paige said the coffee is great! NL is more of a Chai Latte gal. We sat out on their beautiful patio and planned our future. It happened to be right across the street from the Number 5 Fire House, which made us feel secure knowing they were 2 minutes from our new house. There is also a Yoga Studio and gym there (signed up already) and a great little restaurant called Cafe Rani. One of many restaurants and bars we can walk to and stumble home from.

And now...

Goodbye to Squidward
He carried us and our stuff safely across 1,904.8 miles of America (according to the iPhone maps blue dot).

Now we had to return him to his pack.

Nancylee talks with Carlos, the nice fellah we're handing him off to.

Carlos agreed to take a parting picture of us with the Squid Man.
Carlos understood. (We still look like hell on a Ritz. That's why it's a long shot.)

Here are some of the others we could've had instead of our dear Squid.

Could've called her "The Sack"

A Dinosaur? Really? Doesn't even exist anymore.
Plus, he was a mean carnivore.

Now, how is a dumb flower gonna protect you when you're crossing a scary bridge over the Mississippi River?

Okay, Gorton would be good if you reeeeeeally needed fish sticks.

Who even knows what the heck this is?

The Uhaul place is right across from the Municipal Courthouse and Jail, so the street was lined with cop cars and Bail Bonds emporiums. Squidward was a little pissed, "Did you see my Arizona plates? What are you doing leaving me here in Louisiana, you bitches? After all I've done for you?! There's not a cactus or a Tex Mex joint for 200 miles!!" We apologized and we all made up.

The Squidward is the best, hands down... all eight.

Here's the Squid Man making his exit for shampoo & a blow dry, no doubt.

It's a full moon tonight (or at least it looks like it - it might be waxing, who knows) and the end of our first full day in New Orleans. We're flying back to Burbank on Thursday and will be there for about a month. We hope to see any that can be in B'bank for a proper good-bye.

We're here just for a year, for now. It'll be an adventure. We've already had a good one this last week, so we're ready. MQ said - This is just a necessary shift in energy. And she's right. We're all headed forward and not backward. And remember, you now have a New Orleans address for work and play, so use and abuse. We love y'all!

Stay tuned for the next chapter in the adventure (sadly, this time without Squidward) in May.

Road Trip 1 Day 4

2010-04-17T13:43:00.000-07:00

Buon jour, Amies!

As previously reported, the Hampton Inn in Natchitoches (pronounced "Nag-A-Dish" whatever) was our last resort. Matt the 5'2" night manager used his power (compensating no doubt for the counter which hit him at chest level) knocked off an additional ten bucks because he put us in a smoking room and it was 10:30 at night. It smelled weird... less like smoke and more like a rugby team locker room. Other than that, it serviced our needs. It offered free Wi-Fi which we were too tired to use, but we did channel surf the excellent cable channel selection as we passed out.

In the morning we hustled out of there with hot coals in our shoes. Paige barely had time to ravage the complimentary breakfast array in the lobby which included biscuits and sausage gravy (you don't get that kind of continental breakfast in West Covina, that's for sure). Nancylee got a Diet Coke, a banana and a cheese danish for the road - please don't judge. And off we went...

Just before we got back on the I 49 southbound we found this...

Luge-cycles - our next trip!
(kinda looks like Wilford Brimley at the wheel, doesn't it?)

Squidward wanted to eat them. Said they looked like deep sea plankton. We hit the gas before any mayhem occurred.

We're starting to see a lot of wild life (read "roadkill") in southern Louisiana: possum, raccoon, skunk, a fox-looking-thingy, and a shredded tire carcass. Not sure National Geographic is gonna be covering this interstate ecosystem anytime soon.

(PHOTOS MERCIFULLY OMITTED)

The beloved blinking blue dot on our iPhone took us off the Interstate and onto state road 167. This was a nice, smooth two lane highway dotted with little towns, mostly forgotten by the freeway that runs pretty much parallel.

Here's LaMonte...

Desolate because everyone worth their salt was in church.

We were reminded it's Palm Sunday when we saw some folks heading from church, dressed in their finest fineries literally walking on the side of the highway carrying to-go containers in which was probably the most delicious church barbeque ever.

Gorgeous little town... one of many.

With fields plowed and prepped for the Spring seed.

Reluctantly, we had to jump down to the interstate and met up with the I 10. It offers it's own kind of Palm Sunday ritual...

Gas, Car Wash, Snacks, Casino... What, no bait?

Penny's Diner Hwy 49, NLM on a pie mission (huh huh)
Shout-out to Penny McCraw in Memphis! See you on the next trip.

The engine behind Penny's Diner.
They were out of all of their most popular items, biscuits & gravy, and pie. No Pie?! Thank goodness they had sweet tea.

The Girls of Penny's Diner

Squidward at Penny's Diner

It's getting pretty swampy now.
We're looking for alligators, but didn't see any. Guess they're smart enough not to become roadkill. Wily devils they are.

Okay, so this is the bridge over the Mississippi River just near Baton Rouge.

It's kind of narrow here and we didn't really realize it was THE Mississippi River until we looked it up. Idiots. We should've done some kind of ritual or something. Not sure what... we did however have a little 4 string banjo packed in the back of Squidward and probably should have stopped and ripped out a tune.

A really scary bridge.
Lots of bridges in this part of the country - we reckoned it's because there's lots of water. These are the diamonds of wisdom and keen observation we're spittin' at this point.

But, let it be said, that Squidward was stoic throughout the river crossings, even though there was an uppity Ford Focus on his hip the whole way across this bridge. We would've let him eat that one.

And that's a train on the rusty elevated track next to the bridge and it was... we were there and... okay, that's all... it just looked cool.

This is exactly how the pictures in this travelogue have been taken. Just for the record, if it seemed we had some kind of space age rigging hanging us out of Squidward to get the fabulously evocative shots we've gotten... thank you so much, but we didn't.

Crossing Lake Pontchartrain on I 10.
The bridge is low and long so it's hard to see, but what you CAN see is this lake hits the horizon. The thing is a 630 sq mile shallow lake. Amazing.

See, we're still on it. This is one long ass bridge.

Lake on one side. Swamp and alligators on the other.
Door number one or door number two?

That's the Super Dome up ahead as we approach New Orleans.
Home of Super Bowl winners the SAINTS! Who Dat?! Awesome shot, right? As we get closer we'll get a better shot...

Okay, behind this billboard for chicken wings is the Superdome. Swear. (never gets old)

Oh, alright, here it is...

The Superdome, obviously repaired since Katrina and all the sadness that went on there.

We finally dropped down into Nola proper from highway 90 and headed to our new digs via the blue dot. Squidward felt a bit pudgy off the freeway, but he carries it well.

St. Charles Ave, which leads to our new neighborhood.

The St Charles Line Streetcar.
We were told it's not a Trolley, that's for San Francisco. We have not yet found the one they call Desire but if it still exists and it's around and we're squeal like little drama club geeks. Don't think we won't.

Turning the Squid-man onto our street.
It took us circling a few times to figure out all the one way streets. Tricky terrain in these parts. And the streets took such a hit during Katrina that it is no place for you bike or Vespa enthusiasts. It's a nice idea until you hit that first pothole. Aaaaggghhh! Thud.

So, four days and three nights on the road. We left Burbank hoping to be at our new digs by 3PM on Sunday. We arrived at 4:15PM. Not too shabby for a couple of girls in a U-Haul. No jokes please about lesbians and U-Hauls -- you should have lobbed those at us on day one. Too late now. The truth is we are logistical geniuses. Many of you who have called for directions to various locales, knows that one of Paige's nicknames is Mission Control. One of NL's is Control-a-rella, but that's a different thing all together. (We do owe a great deal of credit to Paige's mom and her friends for guiding us away from our initial route into more friendly, safe terrain. You were right, thanks y'all.)

The guys we hired were right on time. Got everything in and put together quickly. They also messed up the new carpet and newly painted walls, which is their job, I think. Otherwise they don't feel fulfilled.

We got the truck unloaded and some of the rooms set up in a couple of hours. And started opening a few boxes. (Note to self: Next time keep watchful eye on Maeve Q. when she offers to pack and label your boxes.)

See?

Also, even though we're far from our dog palace in California, we're still finding their hair.

This made Paige sad even though it's gross. She's a bit odd. (No, Im not.)

Of course we have to end this missive with a hairball. It just seems right.

We finally finished puttering - feeling and looking dazed (notice no portraits) and slept.

Tomorrow is another day. Typing that just now makes this time honored saying just feel too obvious.

NL & PB xo

Road Trip 1 Day 3 (Part Two)

2010-04-17T11:40:00.000-07:00

PART TWO

Squidward made us stop at the DQ in Chillicothe, by chanting "Blizzard Blizzard Blizzard" for 20 miles. (Okay, maybe it was NL).
In case you need a point of reference for Chillicothe -- it's between Quanah and Vernon.

A word about Dairy Queen. In Los Angeles, there's a Starbucks on every corner. Across this nation, there's a DQ (and sometimes their competition Sonic.... mmmm cheese tots with and ice cold strawberry limeade... wait what were we talking about?) Oh right, there's one in every town. Seriously, they may not have anything else but a gas station and 25 churches, but there will be a DQ.

Paige had the chicken strips but not with honey mustard sauce, which as everyone knows is the universal dipping sauce for chicken strips, but... gravy. Yum squared. All creamy and peppery, gravy should be the universal dipping sauce for everything.

We talked to our counter girl -- she's kind of bummed that DQ has raised their prices and are now charging the employees for food. We agreed. So we tipped her, and she thought it was a mistake and we had left our change. God Bless her. Union! Union!

Good-bye to Chillicothe.
We hope all you guys and gals who want to get out and be "from there" instead of living there, make it.

Dust storm on I-40.
As long as there's not a funnel attached, we were okay. BTW storm season starts officially on April 4th. Time to clean out your cellars and lay in some water and Spam.

Can you say "Netty Pot?"

While we love our Squidward, there have been some awesome rides along the way. Lots of cool vintage trucks and cars. Cool, right?

White walls with red... pretty... (NL tried to get the whole car, but well...)

Ft. Worth skyline.
That's not some venerable university in the foreground, it's a La Quinta Inn.

Squidward finds his soulmate, but we don't have time to stop.
Sorry, Squidman.

Big D. This skyline has some interesting shapes.
Thinking of you. You know who you are.

At this point in time we missed our exit to catch 175 to the 20. We ended up on the streets of Dallas at the corner of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X Blvds. Not kidding. There was a big Saturday night parking lot BBQ party going on out in front of a boarded-up theater. The logo on the theater doors was a huge silhouette of an afro comb with a black panther fist on the top of it. We waved. They waved back and we wished we could stop for the BBQ. The aroma was intoxicating. Power to the People and good hair -- an excellent message for all.

We found our way once again by the power of the iPhone maps and the blue dot!

That's the Cotton Bowl and a really annoying tree.

Look at that sky. Come on, it's so perfect it looks fake.
Why do we think that? Is it because us city dwellers don't see enough real views? Food for thought. We started eating Pringles again while we pondered that.

Stopped for some gas... huh huh.
Loved this place. Gas, full liquor store, and I.T. help. I think we are glimpsing our future business. (note to self: they can help with computer, but not spelling)

It's Texas. They are serious about their beef jerky. Notice the "humidor" of the specialty strips.

Paige's kinfolk were also here picking up some supplies.

Texas Yard Art

Jim Hogg Rd. It was funnier to us on hour 9.

The crate actually says "Cat, The Other White Meat"

Back on the road as the sun was starting to dip in the West. (Fancy rear view mirror shot. NL meant to do that... kinda)

We were grateful to be out of the sere desert climes and be driving between rows of large green trees. The cicadas chirped in them as Squidward carried us onward.

We put away the cameras and started to search for a place for dinner. In Marshall, Texas, on the border of Louisiana we found another Applebees. Perhaps they should be sponsoring this blog... However, this Applebees was a let down. Not the food, always good. The service. We were spoiled by Val in Alberquerque, who was an excellent server and representative for the chain. Maybe we should be Applebees secret shoppers? New career path?

Then we crossed the Louisiana state line in the dark of night. Found a great radio show called the Art of Song. We listened to great musicians talking about and playing their music. It took us all the way to Natchitoches and the Hampton Inn.

So Squidward, Paige and NL hit the rack and called it a wrap on Day 3. Off to New Orleans today!

love to all!

Road Trip 1 Day 3 (Part One)

2010-04-16T20:25:00.000-07:00

Hey Everybody,

Sorry we couldn't get our report out to you last night. Hope nobody was worried. We got in pretty late and were plum tuckered. Our goal was to make it to Shreveport, but as it turned out, hotels in the Shreveport and surrounding areas were chock full. Seems there were a lot of events in Shreveport this weekend: conventions, sporting events and debutante balls, so we drove on to the lovely Hampton Inn in Natchitoches. Yes, we got totally screwed by debutantes (if I had a nickel - Couldn't help it, apologies all around for that one...)

So...
The Quality (sub-Quality) Inn we stayed at in Tucumcari provided us with a bed for the night, but that's about it. Their free breakfast lure, soooo not worth it. Full dinning room (we were the youngest adults in the room, however, so that was uplifting) and only 2 waitresses. They were running like turkeys trying to get out your choice of five breakfast entrees. Paige went for eggs and NL had some cereral - an HOUR later we were back in Squidward, sort of nourished and kind of cranky. But the road, the great weather and beautiful views helped us shake it off.

Here's Squidward in the morning taking in "the view"

On a positive note, Squidward got to participate in the Uhaul Big Brother program. He's a giver.
(For more about Squidward, "The Chief of Squid" click HERE
and look for our buddy.)

Another "lure" of the Sub-Quality Inn was the advertised desert museum...

And that's it. Somebody got an A on their fifth grade science project.

See, we told you it reminded us on the Hotel Lorraine.

We were warned by fellow road-trippers that we were heading into some areas that had been closed the day before. We pushed forward and hoped for the best.

We barely missed a total closing of I-40 because of brushfires at the border.

So long, New Mexico... Hello, Texas.

This sign says "Welcome to Texas." Or maybe it doesn't. You'll have to take our word for it.

Texas is vast, flat and extremely windy. But I guess you're still not supposed to mess with it even if it totally messes with your hair. Like beyond repair.

A really bad picture of a really famous tableau - a bunch of Cadillacs painted and stuck in the ground. Somebody needs a real job. Paige was at the wheel during this time, so you can blame NL for the "less" than professional photos on this leg. There was a lot of grumbling about trying to focus and shoot at 70 miles an hour on an iPhone. (Paige had no trouble, just sayin'...)

Traffic was mostly good, people polite, except for a couple of horse's asses along the way. (Hey-ohhhhh!)

Since Squidward does not have a cd player or iPod hook-up we relied on AM/FM the entire way. We hit the jackpot in the great metropolis of MEMPHIS, TX!

We were fortunate enough to catch the yearly Lions Club Benfit on KSR 105.3. First Baptist Church paster, Glen, and his buddy Dan took over the radio station in Memphis for the afternoon. They started to get hungry around noon and promised a free on-air plug to anybody who brought them something to eat. Nobody showed so they grumbled and left around one to get some BBQ. Not before they informed us of some vital community details. We've given you just a couple of choice quotes (and hopefully we'll figure out how to share an actual recording of a part of their show.

FYI Apparently over at Goldstrom's Barber Shop "They'll lower your ears in a snip." And another fave ad was "It's a bird! It's a plane! No, it's Ron Hink. He'll take care of all your cropping needs..."

BTW, Memphis was beautiful and sad all at the same time. The town square (which we took a loop through) has gorgeous red brick streets. But the entire town was almost empty. Store fronts closed up, etc. Looks like, as in the case of most of these small towns, the city has shifted out toward the 4 lane and the WalMart. This town is a perfect small town location though... ala "Pleasantville" "Last Picture Show" "Ghost and Mr. Chicken" etc...) Seriously, the whole "downtown" area ready to dress and shoot. Any takers?

Town Hall, center of the square (and the radio tower). Hi, Glen & Dan!

Leaving Main Street.

As we left we realized that this area is all about farming. Mostly cotton fields and a big "Co-Op" gin just outside of town. The fields as you can see have been picked/harvested.

It's a hard life, y'all. We're grateful for our cotton clothing today... We're sure 100 years ago, for the pickers "the touch, the feel of cotton" meant a very different thing.

(CONTINUED IN PART TWO... we broke it up because it's kinda long)

Road Trip 1 Day 2

2010-04-16T14:33:00.000-07:00

Hello!

Day 2 was a potpourri, or as Kitty would say a "Pastiche" from Mother Nature. We experienced all kinds of weather. Not kidding -- it was snowing when we woke up in Flagstaff, AZ. And then along the way on our drive on I-40 to where we landed for the night, Tucumcari, NM it Snowed more, sleeted, rained, hailed, severe winds and dust storms. But then it would break and the sky would be spectacular over the red mountains and buttes (heh heh).

Morning snow in Flagstaff. Squidward likes.

Squidward says goodbye to the Radisson in Flagstaff.

Squidward did very well, we put his little U-Haul hiney between some big ass semi trucks, jumped on their convoy and used them as a shield. And lucky for us we found a country station that was playing all the oldies -- so we sang road anthems for support.

Again we chose to listen to the AM airwaves across AZ and NM. The Christians and the Right Wing have it pretty sewn up. There was a particularly irritating show and we almost called in. But we lost them somewhere outside of a windy, sad town on old route 66 called Grants. (Dismal.) But there was also some really cool stuff to listen to, as well. Small stations hosted by Navajos who were speaking their language and singing their songs and talking about tribal events. FYI there will be a Navajo Idol Karaoke contest this Saturday night at their new casino. And they want you to sing a real song, not "like the jingle bells, but something good."

Meteor Crater??! Do we go?

Squidward says hellz yes!

But the big highlight of the day was our detour just outside of Winslow, Arizona. Please sing along -- "Standing on the corner in Winslow Arizona..." Oh, and according to the 1610 AM the info. station there is a girl in a flat bed Ford you can have your picture taken with -- perhaps on our second trip, but we digress. Back to the big detour -- we stopped at the METEOR CRATER. Totally cool, even though it was freezing and the winds were up to 67 miles per hour, so said the very helpful park ranger.

Our accommodations

Yep, it's a crater...

...a really big one

This was fake, don't get excited. A third grade school teacher took this for us.

We are now up to speed on all things meteors. There was a school bus of kids there on a field trip and we mooched in on their tour -- see photos below. Feel free to ask us any meteor related questions. This particular meteor impact site is the biggest and best preserved in the world. Right here in our own United States. Paige opted for pressed pennies to add to her collection rather that meteor rocks as a souvenir.

Paige's astronaut boyfriend.

Two-timing slut!

Does this crater make my butt look big?

Neat Nasa stuff

.
I went to the moon and all I got was this dumb anti-gravity pen.

Now, she's a pod person.

Lot of rocks in AZ.

And geodescic domes

Behind the big, dumb mirror it says "Welcome to New Mexico." Swear.

Lots of rocks in New Mexico, too.

The train the wouldn't end. Sitting still in the desert.
If you're wondering where your crap is that you ordered... I'm guessing here.

Thinking of you - you know who you are.

Just a local landmark - just one of many.

Route 66 casino

We stopped at Applebees in Albuquerque and had a lovely dinner before hitting the last leg of the drive tonight to Tucumcari.

Dinner in Albequerque

Squidward's choice

Holy cow at that color!

More blue, if it's possible... leaving Albequerque at sunset.

Tonight we are in a Quality Inn. Which have now named the Sub-Quality Inn. Paige said it kind of reminds her of the Hotel Lorraine in Memphis... only older, and creepier. We were spoiled by the Radisson, that's for sure. Tomorrow we hope to get through TexASS and into Louisiana. And NLM is hoping for a nice room in a casino, giving back to her people, ya know.

Thanks for keeping us in your thoughts and sending us good wishes, we are feeling it. That's all for now, good buddies...

Love, Paige and Nancylee

ROAD TRIP 1 DAY 1

2010-04-16T11:28:00.000-07:00

Hey All,

First of all, thank you for all your good wishes and help on this first leg of our move. And especially to those of you who were at the house yesterday packing, cooking, keeping us focused and fed, and taking care of the dogs & house while we get thing set-up -- Maeve, Martin, Jane, Anthony, Matt, Mandy and Eddie. We'll be back on April 1st and have a whole month before the big, bad Bekins truck rolls out.

Thought we'd give you some updates from the road. We are sure they will improve, better pictures, funnier moments, more interesting musings from America's highways. But today, this first day, was all about actually getting on the road, figuring out the nuances (now that's a joke) of our U-Haul truck, and fighting the urge to turn around and say "Tap Tap Take it Back" and turn around and get back in our jammies. And we always have the drive in May to improve on our travel road show...

So here we are 9 hours later in Flagstaff, AZ at a very nice Radisson (surprisingly affordable with our AAA discount. Plus they have Sleepnumber beds. Cool!). It's cold outside, snow on the ground, our 17' truck (who we've named Squidward, see the photos below) is in a secured parking spot. Back in our jammies, room service ordered, Thursday night mindless TV in the background, and Day 2 travel plans plotted.

So here are some of the highlights from today and a few photos to enhance.

Planned departure 9AM, actual wheels up at 10:30. Route 210, 15, 40. All roads leading east. Our truck has no CD player or i-pod hook-up. While we figured out our i-pod for the trip, we decided to let the AM/FM offerings on the road entertain. NPR, Top 40, Classic Rock, Jesus (preaching & singing), Tejano, and lots of country kept us going. We saw a sign that "Watch for Elk" and we're thinking shouldn't they really be watching for us?

Lots of great truck stops today, as we're truckers now - Paige's CB handle "Bullwinkle" NLM's is "Blue Jean Baby" (long story, actual CB use when Elton John was ruling the airwaves.) While we actually didn't need to use the showers at the Pilot Truck Stop at Lake Havasu, there were plenty of stalls available.

In Victorville, which Matt informed us is the suicide capital of America. Who knew? There we saw a lot selling Used Spas. One word, "Ewwww."

Squidward HO!

Close-up of Squidward (homage to Sponge Bob)

The Miller Brewery an hour out of town. We almost stopped.

Thinking of you - you know who you are.

The first of many snow capped and beautiful mountains.

Pink Kong. There was also a Blue one. They must have gotten a deal. I know that when I see a blow up Kong, I want to buy a new car.

Gas, which is what we had. Thanks, Jane. The pot of beans, great, but seriously, the night before a road trip. Evil. Sorry the picture sucks but Paige was too busy cranking down the window.

Colorado river CA/AZ line. Lots of people pulling boats, jet skis and off road contraptions. Don't these people have jobs. It's Thursday.

AZ official sign. Would have been more excited about Nevada.
Guess why? Penny slots!

Um... Shin your own rump.

SNOW IN MARCH!!

Thawing lake near Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon.

Devil Dog Rd... We miss you, Varuca! You too, Vi. And we're glad you've
stopped chewing on your butt. Poor little nervous girl.

If the altitude wasn't making Paige sick, I'm sure she'd appreciate the view.

That's it for today... more tomorrow. And don't feel like you have to reply or even read these if you don't have time. It's just our way of saying, we're taking you with us WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT!

Gotta go check on the truck... and yes, we're packing heat.

Love, Paige and Nancylee xo