4,177 miles!

WE MADE IT!

Yes, at 11:46 pm on Friday night, we pulled into the driveway in Pennington, NJ! 

Friday morning we did a college tour for Abby at Elon University in North Carolina.  The visit was much smoother than our Tulane trip, as things are actually labeled at the school (Tulane requires a secret code, I think, as there are no signs to signify its campus)  Michael and I hung out in the Mosley Center while Mom and Abby checked out the campus. 

After two hours checking out the campus, we hit the road!  As we did with long strips of time on the road, we listened to an audio book.  Up to now, we had listened to A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers, Al Capone Does My Shirts and Dress Your Family in Denim and Corduroy. The last 8 hours were bearable thanks to the book on cd, Bud, Not Buddy.  It was a good call to copy a choice of 7 books for the trip, even if we only heard a few!  (I wholeheartedly recommend short stories!)

Of course we hit some traffic right outside of Philadelphia, which made the last hour go. so. so. so. slow.  Mom and Michael fell asleep, which made it all the more entertaining when Abby and I yelled "NEW JERSEY!" as loud as possible when we crossed the Delaware.  That is still funny.

So, we've made it.  The house over here is fuller than it's been in about 10 years, but it's all love.

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA.

Just kidding.  We're just getting settled back in to east coast life and this girl has got to get a job!  Hope to hear from all of you guys soon!  (And see my Cali friends again soon too!)



The pictures from the last day (all 15 of them...)

Lots of love!
Victoria

In the ATL

We stayed in a lovely Hyatt room last night just outside of the Atlanta metropolitan area last night.  It was bigger than most of the apartments I lived in in Oakland.... It was plenty big for the four of us!  Michael could not get to sleep last night, so I had the dubious honor of staying up with him and then we both fell asleep on the couch.  Nothing like a super comfortable bed to sleep in and then falling asleep on the couch with a squirmy 13 year old. 

Anyway, we got up and moving to make it to .... The World of Coke!  Yes, as many of you know, I am a sucker for a factory tour (Jelly Belly, Scharffen Berger, etc.) and when the opportunity came to see Coke (even as a die hard Pepsi fan) I was in!  Luckily, no one protested too much and I'm surprised Michael didn't try to move in to the attraction.

I think everyone's most-and least-favorite part was the tasting room, where you can taste 60+ Coke products from around the world.  I think the consensus that the grossest was Beverly, a drink from Europe, but everyone had their own idea about the ones that were good.  Like good Americans at Coke world (can you get more middle America consumerist than a visit to Coke?) our favorites were the tried and true North American products.  Of course, by the end, everyone but Michael had had our fill of sugar and carbonation. 

Along with the theme of my favorite things (factory tours), the world's lamest largest aquarium is across the way and I convinced the family that we had to go.  We did not.  It was full of crazy, loud, pushy people.  Not so much fun.  It has nothing on the Baltimore Aquarium or even the Cal Academy of Sciences, as there are only about 4 exhibit halls.  I do have to say that they have a fair number of uncommon marine life, including 2 whale sharks (Alice and Trixie; they are not so creative at naming), the only manta rays in the USA, and 2 Beluga whales.   So, in essence, it was worth going to see those things but it does not make it on the list of favorite aquariums.

I do love taking pictures of jelly fish and I got this one, right after they "kissed"

and this may be my favorite picture of the day, thanks to Finding Nemo:

Obviously we have not talked about food yet, so here's our treat of the day, a Coke cupcake!

(It didn't taste like Coke at all... but I had to try it!)

Check out all 200 pictures here!  I told you I would have more pictures today!

Victoria

Eating Across America

I figured I would call a spade a spade, since today we ate at a place that had so much food on the plate that it looked like we had as much on the plate at the end as we did in the beginning... so. much. food.  That, and everyone keeps commenting on how we are only reporting about food.  You can only talk about blue skies and green trees so much! Ha, ha.

We had a pretty relaxed morning on the Gulf and could see the "tropical depression" getting ready to move in.  Again, the beaches there are gorgeous.  I got a few shots on our way out of town:

For lunch we hit a little place called Lambert's, which is "The Only Home of the Throwed Roll," and originated in Missouri.  I had heard a lot about this place from a former roommate, so we hit their Foley, AL location.  The "throwed rolls" they (of course literally) throw at you are about the size of two fists on average.  They are also delicious.  The portions are on par with the giant rolls: huge.  Abby and I both got the meatloaf (sharing is not allowed) and although it reminded me a lot of Ohio meatloaf (and canned corn to boot) I could not get anywhere near finishing it.

Before

After

Yeah, so... a lot of food.  Mom tried the porkchop and Michael tried chicken fried steak and loved it (said it tasted like chicken nuggets... who knows!)

I think three out of the four of us would have been more than full with the roll! 

Needless to say, we did not get dinner upon our arrival to Atlanta tonight (well, really just outside of Atlanta) and are enjoying a quiet (and still full) evening in a two room suite before we take on Atlanta tomorrow!


Check out the pithy amount of pictures here (really? only 32? lame.)  I promise at least 100 tomorrow!

Night all!

Victoria

Gulf Coast Stop

This morning we checked out of the Hotel Dauphin (a New Orleans haunted hotel, as demonstrated by the crazy elevator which would have the numbers light up for no good reason--a relative of Sheila the elevator from Hood College?) and headed over to Tulane for a college visit.  Abby and mom checked out the campus while Michael and I hung out in Mayer hall.  We had a quick French lunch at La Boulangerie (not recommended) followed by a delicious ice cream dessert at the Creole Creamery, as seen on the Food Network!

Mom had Espresso Chocolate Chunk

Abby had  Lavender Honey

I had Black and Gold Crunch (chicory ice cream with chocolate stuff in it!)

And Michael, in my opinion, picked best with... surprise! Avocado ice cream.  It was like a sweet cream ice cream with a slight hint of avocado.  It was so creamy and good!

In New Orleans, we got some poolside advice to hit up the gulf coastal location Orange Beach, Alabama, since Abby has wanted to swim in the Gulf of Mexico since elementary school.  So we followed the kindly advice and had a dip in the Gulf of Mexico tonight!  The surf is rough because of the tropical depression that is coming in (and that hopefully we will miss!) so we didn't spend too long on the beach, but it was beautiful!  The sand is a super fine white (much like that of Kailua Beach in HI!)  and the water is warm!  It's definitely a good stop and I think I will have to come back here in the future.  (There are no pictures because I brought the one dead camera down to the sand)

After the Gulf, we had dinner at Wolf Bay Lodge and I think we are all in a food coma.  The portions were HUGE.  We had to have Gulf Coast seafood, but it was crazy the amount of food we got.  I got an entire flounder, Abby and Mom had shrimp, and Michael had fish and chips the size of his torso.  So much food.

I can't type anymore because I am about to pass out!

Here are the pictures from today

and yesterday!

Night!
Victoria

Catch Up Pictures...

Here are the pictures from Dallas 


and


Here are the Houston/Baton Rouge pics

I'm running a bit behind with the uploading online so I'll get to the NOLA ones tomorrow!

New Orleans

Well we spent 8 9 10 doing what we do best: eating.  Like you would expect anything less from us.  We had breakfast this morning at Brennan's and definitely had a first for us: dessert with breakfast!  Yes, although we all had delectable breakfast meals

(eggs benedict, eggs hussard, cheddar cheese and ham omelet, and fried shrimp were our choices)

we had to try the bananas foster, as Brennan's is the first place to ever serve the sweet dessert.

Michael got to participate in the "show"

Here Mario, one of our servers, cooks up all 4 (yes, 4) of our bananas foster.

Our afternoon plans of swamp touring were squashed, thanks to a severe thunderstorm hovering over New Orleans.  We found some other swamp things:

Yeah.  Um.  Almost?

And then we had dinner at Cafe du Monde.  Coffee and beignets for dinner sounds just about right for us....

Not a very busy day, but we had fun bumming around the french quarter.  Plus, we have to rest up for a college tour tomorrow.  And then ice cream!  Haha!

Victoria

PS
Possibly my favorite sign from today...

...autographs, maps and weapons??? Sounds like a trifecta to me!

Catching up! 8/7 and 8/8

    Dallas was great! We got in late on the 6th and spent some time with friends who lived next to my parents in Rocky Hill, N.J. it was great to see you Norma and Eno. They live north of Dallas in Mckinney,Texas a lovely old Texas town.


   Michael fell in love in Dallas. Norma and Eno are the proud 'parents' of Kit, a 3 year old Keeshound. He played and played with Kit. I know this will not help us keep his wanting a dog on the back burner, but he did have fun.


    We took a tour to downtown Dallas and the site where JFK was shot. It was high on my list of things to do. I was really taken back to my 9 year old self sitting in math class taking a test when 'the news' came in. The book depository tour is interesting and self guided with headphones and a mini transmitter. It was unsettling seeing the exact spot where the shots rang out.  Michael was not as interested but once he sees it on the History channel it will become 'real' for him.

Fun for us to head back to the car and cool off from the 107 degree weather!

Norma and Eno then took us to dinner in McKinney for some genuine TexMex dinner, FABULOUS. The food tour continues! Funny thing when Norma mentioned Victoria was from California and Abby, Michael and I from New Jersey the waiter gave me a high five and said 'Tastykakes'! He had been a  trucker and spent time in Bordentown, N.J, Crazy....

     Leaving Dallas early this morning heading down to Houston, sunny and hot. Lunch is another Mexican meal, Fajitas, nachos and a new treat Puffy Tacos! NOT low cal. Abby and I shared and yummy. we loved them.

Now the reason for going through Houston was just around the corner from Lupe's Tacos...


The National Funeral Museum. It had a big exhibition on the Pope and Presidential funerals. Many different hearses, all kinds of coffins, and different rituals surrounding death and dying. It was really interesting.  A bit creepy, but interesting just the  same.

We are now settled in at the Dauphine Orleans Hotel in New Orleans, La.  it is lovely. and we are exhausted after a very, very long day in the car.
                         Night, Elizabeth