(no subject)
So much traveling. So little time to write about it.
Let's see. I think the last time I wrote anything about our travels, we were still in Nashville. From there, we went to Memphis, which was... scary. And that's coming from someone who just spent four years living in NYC. I never once felt anywhere near as unsafe there as I did while we were in Memphis. I rather strongly suspect that if I hadn't been wearing my "don't fuck with me, I'm a New Yorker" attitude the entire time, I would probably have been mugged. Possibly more than once. *shudders* We looked up the crime rates on our last night there, and were not surprised to find that it's one of the very worst cities in the country right now.
(Good barbeque, though.)
Once we realized that no, Memphis really is that scary, we hauled ass out of there. A day's drive found us in Hot Springs, Arkansas, which was lovely in a quaint little town sort of way. We splurged one a night at the Arlington Resort, where I did my best to turn into a human prune. Hot tub good. Pool also good, but hot tub very, very good. We also had dinner at one of the very best Italian restaurants I've ever been in. There was an excellent pianist who amused me with his improvisations on jazz and classical pieces, and the food was fantastic. I don't remember much of the rest of that night, because it involved a bottle of Concord wine that we'd bought in New York. Wine tasty.
The next day -- we remarkably didn't have hangovers, although I'm not sure why -- we toddled about 30 miles west to Mount Ida. I spent one day digging in the dirt at a crystal mine, and brought home some nifty quartz clusters. At least, I think they're nifty; I haven't managed to wash all the clay off of them yet, and they'll need an acid bath after that before I can really tell what I've got. I also bought a big honking crystal ball, and a nifty cluster of celestite crystals.
From there, we went to the Crater of Diamonds. I found a couple of chips of glass. After about two hours, Amy and I decided that we were bored, and would rather be driving. Since neither of us particularly like driving anymore, that tells you just how bored we were.
Huh. That was... yesterday? Maybe? I lose track of time pretty easily lately. Anyway, after we got back on the road we drove down to Shreveport, Louisiana, which was unremarkable. Stopped for dinner, decided we weren't all that tired, and got back on the road. Stopped for fuel at a gas station where an idiot in an SUV had parked in front of the only RV diesel pump, and had to go hunting for said idiot. Said idiot was found yapping into his cellphone, and upon being told that he needed to move, stared blankly and kept yapping. We ended up using one of the car diesel pumps, which is always an adventure when you're 40 feet long. While we were fueling, Amy belatedly realized that she really should have drawn the guy's attention to our New York plates and the fact that our front fender is still bent from the last time an idiot left their car parked where it didn't belong.
(This is why I can never, ever live in Louisiana. I'm not sure if I'd go insane or if I'd drive everyone else insane, but either way, it would be bad.)
After fueling, we got back on the road for a couple of hours. We haven't done much driving at night on this trip, partly because my night vision is truly horrible, but it was nice easy interstate driving and there was no traffic. We stopped in Alexandria and overnighted in a parking lot, and then pulled through to Lafayette this morning. Amy was born here, incidentally, and we both wanted to stop and get some good seafood.
We went out for dinner at a lovely French restaurant, where we spent more money on dinner than I've ever spent on one meal in my entire life. I'm too tired to do it justice in words, but it was... amazing. Neither of us had ever been to a French restaurant before, and it definitely qualifies as one of those things everyone should do at least once in their life. My table manners were insufficient, I suspect, but if I made any horrible gaffes, the waitstaff politely pretended not to notice. So much incredible food, including the best chocolate cheesecake I've ever had.
Tomorrow we pull through to New Orleans, where we'll be stopping for about two weeks. I'm looking forward to being back there, and to seeing our friends, and to having some downtime. Life on the road gets a bit stressful, and we've been covering a lot of ground in a relatively short amount of time. It'll be good to stay in one place for a while.
Somewhere in the middle of all of this traveling, I finally got around to doing something about the inside of the trailer. If you missed the photos I posted when we first moved in, the interior of the trailer is a very good example of Why The Eighties Were Bad, or All Beige, All The Time. I've stayed in cheap no-tell motels that were more tastefully decorated than this thing, and the overwhelming blandness has been making me twitch ever since we moved in. I suspect I'm now going a bit overboard with the color -- one of the walls in the living room is now painted in huge swirls of jewel tones, and I'm working on a treescape on another wall -- but if you'd been living with this much beige for two months, you'd be just a little insane too. Photos once I finish it. *shudder*
I also set up a small version of my altar, with the help of rather a lot of double-sided tape, and I'm slowly hanging up various pieces of art on the walls. It's all a vast improvement. This place may look like something other than a motel room on wheels yet.
(Painting is fun, too. I think I may have a new hobby, which is good, as my old hobby is now my job. I have a bad habit of doing that.)
Now, though, I think I should go do another layer on the treescape, and then go to bed. Amy's already sound asleep, as are the cats, and we have a bit of a drive ahead of us tomorrow.
Let's see. I think the last time I wrote anything about our travels, we were still in Nashville. From there, we went to Memphis, which was... scary. And that's coming from someone who just spent four years living in NYC. I never once felt anywhere near as unsafe there as I did while we were in Memphis. I rather strongly suspect that if I hadn't been wearing my "don't fuck with me, I'm a New Yorker" attitude the entire time, I would probably have been mugged. Possibly more than once. *shudders* We looked up the crime rates on our last night there, and were not surprised to find that it's one of the very worst cities in the country right now.
(Good barbeque, though.)
Once we realized that no, Memphis really is that scary, we hauled ass out of there. A day's drive found us in Hot Springs, Arkansas, which was lovely in a quaint little town sort of way. We splurged one a night at the Arlington Resort, where I did my best to turn into a human prune. Hot tub good. Pool also good, but hot tub very, very good. We also had dinner at one of the very best Italian restaurants I've ever been in. There was an excellent pianist who amused me with his improvisations on jazz and classical pieces, and the food was fantastic. I don't remember much of the rest of that night, because it involved a bottle of Concord wine that we'd bought in New York. Wine tasty.
The next day -- we remarkably didn't have hangovers, although I'm not sure why -- we toddled about 30 miles west to Mount Ida. I spent one day digging in the dirt at a crystal mine, and brought home some nifty quartz clusters. At least, I think they're nifty; I haven't managed to wash all the clay off of them yet, and they'll need an acid bath after that before I can really tell what I've got. I also bought a big honking crystal ball, and a nifty cluster of celestite crystals.
From there, we went to the Crater of Diamonds. I found a couple of chips of glass. After about two hours, Amy and I decided that we were bored, and would rather be driving. Since neither of us particularly like driving anymore, that tells you just how bored we were.
Huh. That was... yesterday? Maybe? I lose track of time pretty easily lately. Anyway, after we got back on the road we drove down to Shreveport, Louisiana, which was unremarkable. Stopped for dinner, decided we weren't all that tired, and got back on the road. Stopped for fuel at a gas station where an idiot in an SUV had parked in front of the only RV diesel pump, and had to go hunting for said idiot. Said idiot was found yapping into his cellphone, and upon being told that he needed to move, stared blankly and kept yapping. We ended up using one of the car diesel pumps, which is always an adventure when you're 40 feet long. While we were fueling, Amy belatedly realized that she really should have drawn the guy's attention to our New York plates and the fact that our front fender is still bent from the last time an idiot left their car parked where it didn't belong.
(This is why I can never, ever live in Louisiana. I'm not sure if I'd go insane or if I'd drive everyone else insane, but either way, it would be bad.)
After fueling, we got back on the road for a couple of hours. We haven't done much driving at night on this trip, partly because my night vision is truly horrible, but it was nice easy interstate driving and there was no traffic. We stopped in Alexandria and overnighted in a parking lot, and then pulled through to Lafayette this morning. Amy was born here, incidentally, and we both wanted to stop and get some good seafood.
We went out for dinner at a lovely French restaurant, where we spent more money on dinner than I've ever spent on one meal in my entire life. I'm too tired to do it justice in words, but it was... amazing. Neither of us had ever been to a French restaurant before, and it definitely qualifies as one of those things everyone should do at least once in their life. My table manners were insufficient, I suspect, but if I made any horrible gaffes, the waitstaff politely pretended not to notice. So much incredible food, including the best chocolate cheesecake I've ever had.
Tomorrow we pull through to New Orleans, where we'll be stopping for about two weeks. I'm looking forward to being back there, and to seeing our friends, and to having some downtime. Life on the road gets a bit stressful, and we've been covering a lot of ground in a relatively short amount of time. It'll be good to stay in one place for a while.
Somewhere in the middle of all of this traveling, I finally got around to doing something about the inside of the trailer. If you missed the photos I posted when we first moved in, the interior of the trailer is a very good example of Why The Eighties Were Bad, or All Beige, All The Time. I've stayed in cheap no-tell motels that were more tastefully decorated than this thing, and the overwhelming blandness has been making me twitch ever since we moved in. I suspect I'm now going a bit overboard with the color -- one of the walls in the living room is now painted in huge swirls of jewel tones, and I'm working on a treescape on another wall -- but if you'd been living with this much beige for two months, you'd be just a little insane too. Photos once I finish it. *shudder*
I also set up a small version of my altar, with the help of rather a lot of double-sided tape, and I'm slowly hanging up various pieces of art on the walls. It's all a vast improvement. This place may look like something other than a motel room on wheels yet.
(Painting is fun, too. I think I may have a new hobby, which is good, as my old hobby is now my job. I have a bad habit of doing that.)
Now, though, I think I should go do another layer on the treescape, and then go to bed. Amy's already sound asleep, as are the cats, and we have a bit of a drive ahead of us tomorrow.