We left the El Paso house this morning and headed for San Antonio after first stopping at Chick-Fil-A for some breakfast chicken minis and then our routine Starbucks.
Here are some highlights from today: (it was not too exciting of a day because there is really NOTHING between El Paso and San Antonio)
- We get faster everyday: most of the way on 1-10 today had a speed limit of 80mph! So we cruised to SA with only 2 stops for gas and bathroom. The second stop gas station had 69 cent corn dogs and chicken legs...hmmm we resisted both.
- We crossed no state borders today. Texas is a HUGE state!
- Song of the day: "The Sign" by Ace of Base. We looked for a sign of some sort all day, but all we saw was nothing all around us.
-We drove through a very large fog bank right out of El Paso for about 30 minutes where the weather was in the 30s but when we arrived in San Antonio it was a warm 58 degrees!
-The license plate game continues and Amanda and Molly have pulled ahead with 35. We spotted on from the great state of New Hampshire today!
-Molly and I made a few videos in the car, one is a music video and we promise to post them soon (we're still figuring out all the videos/photos, sorry!)
-We tried searching for radio stations at one point and found none! What do people do out here?!
-I have gone through 4 of a total 10 states in my trip to Durham...6 to go!!
-We are staying at the Marriott in downtown San Antonio tonight and we just got back from a real Texas barbecue dinner at County Line BBQ. Then we took a nice walk down the river walk which is so cute and totally happening - there were a ton of people out! The whole downtown area is all lit up for the holidays and it's really beautiful!
Tomorrow we're off to New Orleans where we'll spend New Years Eve with dinner and a live jazz funk concert at Tipitina's. We are really looking forward to taking a break from driving New Year's Day and exploring the city a little more. This will also be Molly's final destination as she'll be flying back to San Francisco from there. :(
Have a wonderful and safe New Year's Eve! We miss everyone very much!
xoxo,
Amanda, Molly, Laura, and Josh
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Day 3 preview
We just had breakfast at chick-fil-A and got chicken minis....YUM!!! It's a good start to our day! Heading to San Antonio!!
xoxo,
Amanda, Molly, Laura, and Josh
Desert Mysteries
Today was the longest travel day that we will have on our journey!! WE embarked bright and early and set off on our way to El Paso (705 miles away!)
- song of the day: “oxford comma” by vampire weekend – our thoughts about that… eh?. Don’t really know what that means? Oh well.
- Molly broke out her new toy – the flip video camera – and was able to record some memorable moments: crossing three state borders, sticking her head out the window, the Thing tour and scenery along the side of the road.
- Stop #1: lunch in Phoenix was at a little gem of a stop that we found by chance using Yelp on the iPhone. Rito’s Market and Mexican Takeout was compared to the Seinfeld show’s “soup Nazi” in one review so we decided that we had to give it shot! (plus the green chile burritos enchilada style were apparently mouth watering!). We arrived to the place and it had NO sign on the outside but there were people chowing down on the patio plus a long line out the door. The menu was made up of two items: “burros” and chimichangas. When Molly asked the man behind us in line what a “burro” was, he said “Guuurl, where you from? It’s a burrito!” Amanda went to order a “green chile burrito with chicken” and the woman (slightly annoyed) told her that they did not have chicken – only “meat”. So Amanda inquired as to what kind of “meat” was in the burrito and she replied with “tender”. Haha! Mystery meat aside – the burrito was the bomb, hit the spot and the 4 of us were energized to truck on to El Paso.
- Stop #2 - The Thing: look this up on Wikipedia. This is an attraction that has entertained road travelers since the 1950s!! There are a TON of signs (for 200 miles there are 247 signs!) advertising this road side attraction is “the desert mystery” and that you can stop to see for yourself + get breakfast or a blizzard from the adjoining Dairy Queen. We HAD to see for ourselves. We pulled into the dirt parking lot and walked into a very impressive gift shop with trinkets that you can only hope to find at a thrift store = t-shirts with howling wolves and others with grazing bison, there was also no shortage of dream catchers, ponchos, and cactus shaped salt and pepper shakers.... plus specials on machete knives. After paying the admission fee of $1 – we walked through the attraction and all we can really say about it is that we got “punked”. But of course – I would recommend this stop to any curious traveler on the highway 10. It might be the most happening pit stop on this long stretch of road.
- Gas is getting cheaper as we drive east - $2.45/gallon in New Mexico! Dang!
- There is snow on the ground in Arizona and New Mexcio!
- The speed limit is 75 mph on I-10!
-Stop #3 – we stopped in Las Cruces, New Mexico for dinner looking for “Old Town Restaurant” but when we arrived we realized that it was no longer open. Oops! Yelp did not tell us that! We asked a local guy what he recommended and he replied with “Applebees” or “Cracker Barrel” – 2 chain restaurants, really? So instead we went for yet another authentic Mexican meal at “El Comedor.” I think we’ve had our share of Mexican food for the trip….we’re hoping to move on to some Texas BBQ tomorrow!
-Stop #4 – Buddy’s Beer Barn Drive-Thru (www.buddysbeerbarn.com): “Best Beer selection from Albe to Austin!” Josh bought some whiskey and then the girls went into the wine cellar to find every bottle covered in dust. Sooo Molly sang the song that came to mind to Buddy, the owner “There might be a little dust on the bottle…” Check out the website, it’s for real and this really would never fly in California! We’ll post some photos soon of it
-Final Stop – El Paso country home! Our friends from college rented a home in El Paso this week to go to the Sun Bowl and cheer on Stanford and we’re joining in the festivities for the night. We’re in the middle of nowhere but happy to in pajamas and resting. We’re off to San Antonio tomorrow!
Amanda, Molly, Laura, and Josh
Monday, December 28, 2009
Hakuna Matatta!
We set off this morning at about 10 after 8 (right on schedule!) made a pit stop at Starbucks and with the help of the GPS we arrived at the Cabazon dessert outlet stores around 3:00PM! We met Laura and Josh here and walked around a little (don't worry - we did not buy anything since there is NO room in the cars for more stuff) 482 miles - we made great time!!
We miss you all!
W
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Welcome!
Hi everyone,
We leave early on Monday, December 28th and our first stop is Palm Springs...stay tuned to see how our first day goes!
xoxo,
Amanda and Molly
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