vacation update.....
ok, my vacation isn't over yet, but since i have access to the net i figured i'd give you all a little update (at least, those that still read this).
i left saturday afternoon (practically from work) and headed to memphis. got to memphis and hung out with sister and her family (hubbie/3 kids). slept there, woke up, and ate breakfast. i left sunday morning and headed west. i drove through little rock (which was surprisingly bigger than i thought - lotta suburbs). since i hate traffic and big cities, i skitted around dallas and took a back route which would lead me to the highway i wanted to take the next day. the back route was a state highway (not interstate), so it was a 2 lane highway. however, i think this is the first time i've ever been on a two lane, non-divided highway where the speed limit is 70! i must say, though, that throughout my travels so far, the texans have been the best drivers. they would pull over onto the shoulder if you were going to pass them easily so that you wouldn't be stuck behind them. also, when pulling onto the highway from a side road, they would pull onto the should and get up to speed instead of pulling in front of you, causing you to break or pass.
using my gps, i found a state park along my route. i decided to stay there for the night, since it would be much cheaper than a hotel/motel room. there were a few things i didn't count on though: the heat, the bugs, my paranoia, and the fact that it stays light until about 9:30pm. the heat sucked. do you know how hard it is to go to sleep when you are sitting there sweating with no breeze? it's pretty tough. the bugs were very annoying. although there was one funny aspect to the bugs: on the trees in my site there were beetles all over the trees. i soon found out why: they were mating. i noticed a little group of them only to realize it was like a beetle gangbang! there were 3 or 4 guys on one female! fortunately they didn't come near me; they stayed on the tree. since i was at a camp site, my options for food and supplies was limited. i HAD to go into town to get some supplies, though. the reason? during my 6-8 hours drive time that day i had neglected to put ANY sunscreen on my left arm. by the time i got to texas, i pretty much had a second degree sunburn on my arm. it hurt like a mofo. so, i at least had to get some aloe and sunscreen to put on my arm for the rest of the trip. i also picked up a citronella candle and some drinks. (yes i am an idiot and didn't get any bug spray. i though the candle would be enough).
get back to my campsite, light up the candle, take off my shoes and relax. i start walking around in my semi-new flip=flops to air out my feet. by the end of the night, i will have rubbed my toes raw because they aren't used to flip-flops (or anything between the toes). to pass the time i make some phone calls, play my ds, and try to get to bed early (which only ended up in my lying around for about 2 hours). the hardest part i had about getting to sleep there was my paranoia. i'm lying in my car trying to get to sleep and all i can think about is someone sneaking up onto my car and killing me. it's like a horror movie in real life. so, every little sound i hear, i have to look. i know the chances are very slim that something like that is going to happen, but that's just how i'm wired. it sucked. i eventually get some very restless sleep, and wake up early with the dawn. i take my shower (which i forgot my soap at home, so it was more of a rinse), and head out.
so, monday i headed out from texas to oklahoma. i was given the suggestion by a friend of my sister's (in memphis), that i should visit the bombing memorial in Oklahoma City (OKC). of course, i slapped my head and was like "why didn't _i_ think of that?!?!?! i got to okc and drove to the memorial. luckily, there was a lot directly across from it that was parking all day for only $5. saw the memorial, got some pics, then decided to visit the museum. $10, but it was good. very emotional. there was one room where they have a recording from a meeting that was happening at the time. it was from the actual building, but one close by. about two minutes into the meeting you hear the bomb going off. scary. 168 people died that day. of the whole museum, the part that almost got me gushing was the help people received. not only am i talking about people saving lives at the site, but the help from the community as well. for example, there was a cooking convention going on at the time. after the bomb went off, it got cancelled (as did all other conventions, meetings, etc). however, the people from the convention didn't leave. they stayed and used their products to feed the workers. also, the outreach from the community was outstanding. when they got on the news to report what they needed, they would have to get back on within a half hour to say not to bring any more in since they have gotten flooded with those products. one example was when they said that they needed boots (because the workers/rescuers were going through their boots so fast), one guy drove up and dropped off a pair of slightly used boots. it wasn't until the guy was walking away that the person noticed the guy was walking away barefooted.
so, after the museum, i tried to find some eateries around the area. my gps said there was some, but when i walked around i couldn't find any. instead of actually talking to people and asking where they are, i decided to head to the mall. you all know how much i love crowds of people, and malls, but it's kind of a tradition since canada. so, i got to the mall, ate lunch, and walked around a little bit. from there, i decided to head to best buy to get a multi-port adapter for my cigarette lighter (which i'm basically living out of) and i also go mario party for my ds. that'll give me something to do while i'm sitting around the campsite.
from okc, i drove to kansas. during this trip, i learned to trust my gps (which will come into play later). it was telling me to take some back route instead of taking the main route. i couldn't figure out why, so i ignored it. a couple miles later, i found out. i was able to get off on the last free exit of that stretch of road; it became a toll road and my gps is set to bypass toll roads. good job gps! i drove around kansas and ended up finding another state park to stay for the night. the view at my campsite was awesome. it was on cheney reservoir, and the lake looked great. there was a nice wind the entire time, so it wasn't too hot. played ds, talked on phone again, and battled the bugs again. they were everywhere this time. i wasn't able to keep them out of the car, so i stopped trying. ended up sleeping totally covered up to avoid the buys (which failed since throughout my journeys i have acquired bug bites all over my body). woke up near dawn, took shower/rinse (still hadn't gotten soap), and headed out.
my first stop on tuesday was the lebanon, kansas. "what's in lebanon, ks?" you ask. it is the geographical center of the united states. i got some pictures of it, but since they aren't digital, i probably won't be able to post them (if i can, i will). now, here's where the gps started irritating me. to get to my next stop (lincoln, nebraska), it was telling me to take a lot of back routes instead of taking the main highway. since i had learned my lesson last time, i followed them. during that ride, it started pouring down rain. it was raining so hard at times that you couldn't see 10 feet in front of your car! however, these showers didn't last long, which was a plus. i get to lincoln, nebraska and try to find the mall there. first the gps gives me some back routes, then it tries to give me a route with roads that don't exist! finally i make it to the mall to find out it's not a normal mall. it's an "open air" mall, where the stores do not connect in the center. so you have to go outside to go from store to store. i wasn't wanting to mess with that, so i left. however, there's a problem. my cigarette lighter, which was working when i arrived at the mall, stopped working when i left. within those 10 minutes, it stopped working. great. now NONE of my things can run off it of, or recharge. so, nebraska ended up just pissing me off, as a whole, so i decided to leave the state. also, since nebraska had pissed me off so much, i didn't eat until 6:30 that night (which was in another state). that was the only time i ate the entire day! argh!!!!
i figured that i would drive to missouri (my next stop) and find another state park to sleep. as i drove through iowa (all 20 minutes i was in that state), i don't know if it was because they are trying to 'restore the wetlands' or because of the flooding, but there was water everywhere. it was literally only a couple feet from the road at some points! the rest of the drive was pretty uneventful, until i get close to stopping. as i said, i was planning on stopping at a state park, but come time there was quite the lightning show going on. needless to say, sleeping in a car during a lightning storm, or any kind of storm, didn't sound too safe. so, i called up brian and amanda and asked a favor...
let me say how awesome b/a have been! i was originally going to be coming in on thursday and leaving saturday. however, with the time i was making, i called b/a on sunday (in texas) and asked if it was ok if i arrived wednesday. they said it was ok, no problem. well, come tuesday as i'm watching the lightning storm, i called them up and asked if i could possible come in tuesday instead of wednesday (i was about an hour out of stl at the time). again they said sure, no problem. i really didn't want to impose on them, since they are already being generous enough, but they said it wouldn't be a problem. so, thanks again guys!
got here tuesday night, we hung out, played wii, then went to bed. finally, i got to sleep in a real bed, in a/c, with not bugs! it was so nice! wednesay i got up and left when they did. i spent the entire day at the zoo. OMG! the stl zoo is FREE!!!!! no admission fee. of course, all the extras (like shows, train ride, etc) all cost you, but if you want to go in and just see the animals laying around, it's free!!!!!! how awesome is that?!?! got back around 3 and hung out with amanda, playing mario party on the ds (yay for download play). that night we went to a pizza place for dinner. the service was crap, but the food was pretty good.
so, here i am today. thursday. the plans for today are this: shower (with SOAP!), chillax. no plans, no traffic, no nothing, but hanging out doing nothing. that's what vacation is all about, right?
one thing i can say about the trip so far is this: all the states i've been to (granted they are all midwestern states) all look the same from the interstate. some parts a little more hilly than others, but other than that, they all look like southern indiana. honestly. from what i've heard, is that you have to go further west to see the real change. that may be true, but at least now i've seen some more states that i've never been to and i can compare them.
hope you all enjoyed my 'little' update. so far this trip has been pretty interesting. for all those that care (which i doubt any of you do), my average miles per gallon ration is about 35 mpg. eat that high gas prices!!!
speaking of which, i have a question for you all...... in nebraska it is cheaper to buy unleaded plus than regular unleaded. why is that?
i left saturday afternoon (practically from work) and headed to memphis. got to memphis and hung out with sister and her family (hubbie/3 kids). slept there, woke up, and ate breakfast. i left sunday morning and headed west. i drove through little rock (which was surprisingly bigger than i thought - lotta suburbs). since i hate traffic and big cities, i skitted around dallas and took a back route which would lead me to the highway i wanted to take the next day. the back route was a state highway (not interstate), so it was a 2 lane highway. however, i think this is the first time i've ever been on a two lane, non-divided highway where the speed limit is 70! i must say, though, that throughout my travels so far, the texans have been the best drivers. they would pull over onto the shoulder if you were going to pass them easily so that you wouldn't be stuck behind them. also, when pulling onto the highway from a side road, they would pull onto the should and get up to speed instead of pulling in front of you, causing you to break or pass.
using my gps, i found a state park along my route. i decided to stay there for the night, since it would be much cheaper than a hotel/motel room. there were a few things i didn't count on though: the heat, the bugs, my paranoia, and the fact that it stays light until about 9:30pm. the heat sucked. do you know how hard it is to go to sleep when you are sitting there sweating with no breeze? it's pretty tough. the bugs were very annoying. although there was one funny aspect to the bugs: on the trees in my site there were beetles all over the trees. i soon found out why: they were mating. i noticed a little group of them only to realize it was like a beetle gangbang! there were 3 or 4 guys on one female! fortunately they didn't come near me; they stayed on the tree. since i was at a camp site, my options for food and supplies was limited. i HAD to go into town to get some supplies, though. the reason? during my 6-8 hours drive time that day i had neglected to put ANY sunscreen on my left arm. by the time i got to texas, i pretty much had a second degree sunburn on my arm. it hurt like a mofo. so, i at least had to get some aloe and sunscreen to put on my arm for the rest of the trip. i also picked up a citronella candle and some drinks. (yes i am an idiot and didn't get any bug spray. i though the candle would be enough).
get back to my campsite, light up the candle, take off my shoes and relax. i start walking around in my semi-new flip=flops to air out my feet. by the end of the night, i will have rubbed my toes raw because they aren't used to flip-flops (or anything between the toes). to pass the time i make some phone calls, play my ds, and try to get to bed early (which only ended up in my lying around for about 2 hours). the hardest part i had about getting to sleep there was my paranoia. i'm lying in my car trying to get to sleep and all i can think about is someone sneaking up onto my car and killing me. it's like a horror movie in real life. so, every little sound i hear, i have to look. i know the chances are very slim that something like that is going to happen, but that's just how i'm wired. it sucked. i eventually get some very restless sleep, and wake up early with the dawn. i take my shower (which i forgot my soap at home, so it was more of a rinse), and head out.
so, monday i headed out from texas to oklahoma. i was given the suggestion by a friend of my sister's (in memphis), that i should visit the bombing memorial in Oklahoma City (OKC). of course, i slapped my head and was like "why didn't _i_ think of that?!?!?! i got to okc and drove to the memorial. luckily, there was a lot directly across from it that was parking all day for only $5. saw the memorial, got some pics, then decided to visit the museum. $10, but it was good. very emotional. there was one room where they have a recording from a meeting that was happening at the time. it was from the actual building, but one close by. about two minutes into the meeting you hear the bomb going off. scary. 168 people died that day. of the whole museum, the part that almost got me gushing was the help people received. not only am i talking about people saving lives at the site, but the help from the community as well. for example, there was a cooking convention going on at the time. after the bomb went off, it got cancelled (as did all other conventions, meetings, etc). however, the people from the convention didn't leave. they stayed and used their products to feed the workers. also, the outreach from the community was outstanding. when they got on the news to report what they needed, they would have to get back on within a half hour to say not to bring any more in since they have gotten flooded with those products. one example was when they said that they needed boots (because the workers/rescuers were going through their boots so fast), one guy drove up and dropped off a pair of slightly used boots. it wasn't until the guy was walking away that the person noticed the guy was walking away barefooted.
so, after the museum, i tried to find some eateries around the area. my gps said there was some, but when i walked around i couldn't find any. instead of actually talking to people and asking where they are, i decided to head to the mall. you all know how much i love crowds of people, and malls, but it's kind of a tradition since canada. so, i got to the mall, ate lunch, and walked around a little bit. from there, i decided to head to best buy to get a multi-port adapter for my cigarette lighter (which i'm basically living out of) and i also go mario party for my ds. that'll give me something to do while i'm sitting around the campsite.
from okc, i drove to kansas. during this trip, i learned to trust my gps (which will come into play later). it was telling me to take some back route instead of taking the main route. i couldn't figure out why, so i ignored it. a couple miles later, i found out. i was able to get off on the last free exit of that stretch of road; it became a toll road and my gps is set to bypass toll roads. good job gps! i drove around kansas and ended up finding another state park to stay for the night. the view at my campsite was awesome. it was on cheney reservoir, and the lake looked great. there was a nice wind the entire time, so it wasn't too hot. played ds, talked on phone again, and battled the bugs again. they were everywhere this time. i wasn't able to keep them out of the car, so i stopped trying. ended up sleeping totally covered up to avoid the buys (which failed since throughout my journeys i have acquired bug bites all over my body). woke up near dawn, took shower/rinse (still hadn't gotten soap), and headed out.
my first stop on tuesday was the lebanon, kansas. "what's in lebanon, ks?" you ask. it is the geographical center of the united states. i got some pictures of it, but since they aren't digital, i probably won't be able to post them (if i can, i will). now, here's where the gps started irritating me. to get to my next stop (lincoln, nebraska), it was telling me to take a lot of back routes instead of taking the main highway. since i had learned my lesson last time, i followed them. during that ride, it started pouring down rain. it was raining so hard at times that you couldn't see 10 feet in front of your car! however, these showers didn't last long, which was a plus. i get to lincoln, nebraska and try to find the mall there. first the gps gives me some back routes, then it tries to give me a route with roads that don't exist! finally i make it to the mall to find out it's not a normal mall. it's an "open air" mall, where the stores do not connect in the center. so you have to go outside to go from store to store. i wasn't wanting to mess with that, so i left. however, there's a problem. my cigarette lighter, which was working when i arrived at the mall, stopped working when i left. within those 10 minutes, it stopped working. great. now NONE of my things can run off it of, or recharge. so, nebraska ended up just pissing me off, as a whole, so i decided to leave the state. also, since nebraska had pissed me off so much, i didn't eat until 6:30 that night (which was in another state). that was the only time i ate the entire day! argh!!!!
i figured that i would drive to missouri (my next stop) and find another state park to sleep. as i drove through iowa (all 20 minutes i was in that state), i don't know if it was because they are trying to 'restore the wetlands' or because of the flooding, but there was water everywhere. it was literally only a couple feet from the road at some points! the rest of the drive was pretty uneventful, until i get close to stopping. as i said, i was planning on stopping at a state park, but come time there was quite the lightning show going on. needless to say, sleeping in a car during a lightning storm, or any kind of storm, didn't sound too safe. so, i called up brian and amanda and asked a favor...
let me say how awesome b/a have been! i was originally going to be coming in on thursday and leaving saturday. however, with the time i was making, i called b/a on sunday (in texas) and asked if it was ok if i arrived wednesday. they said it was ok, no problem. well, come tuesday as i'm watching the lightning storm, i called them up and asked if i could possible come in tuesday instead of wednesday (i was about an hour out of stl at the time). again they said sure, no problem. i really didn't want to impose on them, since they are already being generous enough, but they said it wouldn't be a problem. so, thanks again guys!
got here tuesday night, we hung out, played wii, then went to bed. finally, i got to sleep in a real bed, in a/c, with not bugs! it was so nice! wednesay i got up and left when they did. i spent the entire day at the zoo. OMG! the stl zoo is FREE!!!!! no admission fee. of course, all the extras (like shows, train ride, etc) all cost you, but if you want to go in and just see the animals laying around, it's free!!!!!! how awesome is that?!?! got back around 3 and hung out with amanda, playing mario party on the ds (yay for download play). that night we went to a pizza place for dinner. the service was crap, but the food was pretty good.
so, here i am today. thursday. the plans for today are this: shower (with SOAP!), chillax. no plans, no traffic, no nothing, but hanging out doing nothing. that's what vacation is all about, right?
one thing i can say about the trip so far is this: all the states i've been to (granted they are all midwestern states) all look the same from the interstate. some parts a little more hilly than others, but other than that, they all look like southern indiana. honestly. from what i've heard, is that you have to go further west to see the real change. that may be true, but at least now i've seen some more states that i've never been to and i can compare them.
hope you all enjoyed my 'little' update. so far this trip has been pretty interesting. for all those that care (which i doubt any of you do), my average miles per gallon ration is about 35 mpg. eat that high gas prices!!!
speaking of which, i have a question for you all...... in nebraska it is cheaper to buy unleaded plus than regular unleaded. why is that?