San Diego, CA

One of our good friends lives in San Diego, and we were looking forward to seeing him and staying at his house for our second "leisure week".

When I say leisure here, I really mean it.

We opened the huge front door, and walked into the foyer. As soon as we were in, I remembered everything from five years back almost instantly. I knew exactly where the kitchen, living room, weight room, all four bedrooms and their bathrooms were. I guess it's like riding a bike with some places. Especially this one. Even the outside was magnificent! The swimming pool was big enough to house a dolphin comfortably, and the private tennis court...well, that's really all I have to say! It's private for gosh sakes! We were there for a couple hours by ourselves, when Mr. Keith walked in unexpectedly. "Hello everyone!" He threw his arms out as if to say "Ta-da! I'm here!" Despite that he swooped in from a side door, and surprised us all, I thought it was a pretty grand entrance. But hey, he's a grand guy, so why not? Mr. Keith is a hunter, and a good one at that. Every time we sat down to dinner, there was always a story to go along with whatever wild animal we were about to eat. I think I ate more meat in five days than I have in five years! Boar sausage, deer burgers, elk burgers, you name it, he'd shot it.

On Sunday, we all piled into two cars. Mr. Keith found out that I had gotten my license and asked if I would like to chauffeur him to church while the other car followed. He drives a BMW. Do I have to say anything else? It was a really smooth ride. After church we ate lunch at the Fairbanks Ranch Country Club and watched the World Cup right there while we ate. Wahoo!!! Go Spain!!!



We went on two hikes while we were in San Diego. The first one was seven miles long, and the last one was only two and a half. The first one was really pretty, but I loved the second one, because at the end was the Pacific Ocean! The beach itself was nice, and we played in the waves for at least thirty minutes before heading back up.



One of San Diego's crowning glories is Balboa Park. It is 1,200 acres of gorgeous buildings from the turn of the twentieth century. It almost feels like a small town in itself. We went two days in a row, in order to cover a substantial amount of museums and other buildings. The first day we ate lunch at a fantastic restaurant called El Prado. The food was amazing, the atmosphere was great, and the waitress was the best! The second day, we went to the zoo and ate at a place called the Sabertooth Cafe....I'm embarrassed to even call it a cafe. The food was less than satisfactory, and on top of that, it only cost about twenty dollars less than the fabulous meal we had eaten the day before. It was bad. Anyway, there are way better places to eat in San Diego. We are headed to Yosemite National Park!

Phoenix and Jerome, AZ

Yes, I know, it's been awhile.

The past few weeks have been leisurely ones for us. The first week was spent in swelteringly dry Phoenix, Arizona. On the way there, the heat was amplified by the fact that the Steed's air conditioner had broken again. It turned out to be the same problem it had before, so when we got there, we immediately found another AAA guy to fix it. In the mean time, we rented a really nice car and drove it all over. It's a good thing rental places charge by day and not by miles! We went to a small mining town called Jerome, about a two-hour drive north of Phoenix. And what a drive! It was a potential "up-chuck" road. It seemed like every five minutes we would see another car pulled over on the treacherously narrow shoulder. By the time we got to Jerome, it was already five o'clock, and most of the stores and museums had already closed. As a two-hour drive can sometimes "do you in", we were looking for a bathroom, and followed the public restroom signs to a little museum that appeared to still be open. Upon entering, a loud voice greeted us. "Ooooohhh soooorrry, we're just closing!" The tall, skinny guy with big eyes was obviously expecting us to ask about the museum. "Can we just use the restroom real' quick?". Really, who is going to turn down a mother and three children from a potty break? "Suuure, absoluuutely, go ahead." When we walked out of the bathroom, we asked the man where he recommended we eat dinner. He told us the name of some place (which I've forgotten), and sent us off with the instruction, "Tell 'em Maaaansel sentchaaa!" ....Wait...Mansel?! Who names their kid Mansel?

I can't remember how we decided on our next move, but we sure didn't go where Mansel had sent us.

At the top of the town --Jerome is built into the side of a mountain, so there really is a top and bottom--is a historic hotel called The Grand Hotel. Let me tell you, the only thing grand about this hotel is the view. The place is supposed to be haunted, and after eating dessert in the restaurant there, I'm not surprised it is. We might have been better off taking Mansel's advice. Jerome has its weirdness going on, but I'd be lying if I said it has no charm at all. It's definitely a cute town, and if we had spent a little more time there, I'm sure I could tell a redeeming food story or two.



We left Jerome only about an hour and a half after we got there, and drove back down the mountain, only this time we took the highway back to Phoenix. Despite the blazing weather, I love this city, and it has once again proved to be an excellent stop on our travels. For the whole week we were there, we stayed at my mom's aunt and uncle's house. It was really nice to have our own beds and be able to relax a bit more than usual. I was a little sad to pack up and leave, but I knew what was coming and that took the edge off. To be continued....

Day 13 and 14: Canyon De Chelly and Monument Valley

The Southwest is one of my favorite places on earth! There is so much space and freedom. We could be staring at a vastness of nothing, and all of a sudden, be headed straight for a mountain of red rock. It really is incredible and surprising. We went to Mesa Verde and toured the Balcony House, which is the most strenuous tour offered. Visitors have to climb a 35-foot ladder into ruins that are thousands of years old. There is also a tunnel to the exit, where we had to climb up another three sets of stairs right next to a sheer dropoff to the canyon below. I'm always a little jealous of the Indians, cause I mean...they lived in caves, and had a great view every morning. How awesome is that?! Anyway, it was a really fun tour, and I'm glad we went. The next day we went to Canyon de Chelly (pronounced de shay) and went down another strenuous trail. We've been here before, and have always loved this place. The only bad thing about this hike:



"If I could make a simple suggestion: Bring TOO much water! If you do not, you will stop 12, eeehhh...13 times, and wish you had a margarita!" -My 10-year-old cousin Samuel's wise words.



Anyway, I can't even describe the beauty of the Southwest. From the giant red rock formations, to the ancient ruins and petroglyphs. All of it is gorgeous!

We spent the night in Goulding's, Utah, in Monument Valley. Someone just driving down Highway 163 would never imagine there would be anything for miles. But there is, and it just sort of pops out of nowhere. Goulding's is a lodge, restaurant, grocery store, movie theatre, gift shop (of course), and museum. That's it. In the middle of nowhere. They offer Navajo-led tours through the valley, so one can get close-up views of some of the most famous formations in the world. Most of us may not realize it, but Monument Valley has starred in scenes from Forrest Gump, Thelma and Louise, Back to the Future III, and numerous John Wayne films, not to mention the many commercials. It was really fun to actually be there.



We just found out about the oil hitting our beaches back in Mississippi. Why can't everything remain as untouched as it does is here.

Day 9 and 10: Albuquerque, NM

We've been to three museums in the past two days. But unless you are actually visiting them, they aren't that interesting to hear about. So I'll just list them, and describe the main themes.

• The Albuquerque Museum of Art and History. (Pretty straight forward...Art, History.)



• New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science. (This is a really cool museum, because it takes you through every phase of Earth's existence as science sees it, with a special exhibit on computer technology.)



• We tried to go to a rattlesnake museum, but it was closed. (All live snakes.)



• The National Museum of Nuclear Science and History. (The main emphasis here was, of course, World War II and the Cold War, but it was also interesting to see how nuclear technology has impacted medicine through the years.)

As you can see, there is a lot of science and technology to be had in Albuquerque. That's not the only thing though. Like I said in an earlier post, the people in Texas are really nice. So are the people in New Mexico! When we were riding down from our room, a Hispanic guy was rushing to catch the elevator and John held the door for him. The ride down wasn't that long, and we were about to get off when the nice guy handed John a scorpion he had made out of copper wire. I was sort of wondering if he had just finished making it, or if he just liked to carry it around in his pocket. Anyway, it was obvious the man didn't speak much English, so we thanked him as best we could. I thought it was really sweet of him to do that, because it had probably taken him at least fifteen minutes to make. But people are nice, even if you do not know them at all.

Day 7: Albuquerque, NM

Carlsbad's main attraction is the caverns. I've been here before, but... have you ever been inside the earth? It's ridiculous! Last time we went, we toured King's Palace, a highly decorated part of the caves. Sounds really fancy, but the best part of this tour is when they sit you down, and then turn out the lights. The blackout lasts about three minutes, and it's the blackest black I've ever been in. Ever. I could not have seen my hand, even if it were touching my face. There is absolutely no light, and for three minutes, you don't care whether you're in a box, or a stadium. It wouldn't matter, because it's DARK! As much as I wish we had done this tour again, I'm sad to say that we didn't. We ended up going on the Big Room tour. This is a self-guided tour that lasts about an hour. The Big Room is about the size of sixteen football fields, so yeah...I was impressed. Hold tight, we are headed for Albuquerque!

Can I just say: Crepes are overrated. They are just big, thin pancakes made of eggs and something else. They really don't have that much flavor. You can probably just guess that we had crepes for dinner, and that I wasn't impressed. What I was impressed with however, was the waiter. He pronounced every French word like it was the easiest thing, which, if you've ever tried to say anything besides "Oui", is very difficult. We were all pretty amused with this guy because his facial expressions were so...ever changing! Every time I looked at him (this was really hard to do without losing it, because he held eye contact for way too long) his face was different. I ended up having to pull one of those "intently looking at your menu" things, so that I wouldn't laugh. This is a very hard thing to do, especially when you know the person next to you (in this case John) is having to do the same thing. Then it is always a relief when they leave the table and you are free to laugh as much as you want. The other funny thing about this guy was how slowly he spoke when he wasn't impressing everyone with his speedy French. He would quickly say the name of an appetizer, and then draw out the explanation of what it was. As if it wasn't hard enough not to laugh, there were about six different specials. I'm proud of myself for not blowing it.

Day 11: Durango, CO

Durango is one of those really artsy towns that you see a lot of college people in. It's also a very recreational vacation spot. In the summer, it is all about whitewater rafting, mountain biking and hiking. In the winter, skiing and snowboarding. Since it's summer, the Durango-Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad was open, so we booked seats for a three-and-a-half-hour ride to the small town of Silverton. The views we got were some of the most beautiful mountain scenes I've ever seen. In fact, this railroad is one of the top ten best in the world! It runs parallel to the Animas River, and comes up through steep dropoffs. We only got to stay in Silverton for two hours, but you can pretty well get the gist of it in that amount of time. It's very touristy, because the main source of income is the railway itself. One thing my brother really wanted to do here was buy a knife....I guess it's just one of those things you have to eventually do to stop it from bothering you. We walked into a really macho hunting shop and my brother and cousin immediately rushed to the knives, while my mom and I wandered around a while, admiring all the taxidermied animal carcasses. I got bored with that and walked over to where the guys were and started looking at knives too. Before I go on, let me just say: I think knives are cool. I appreciate them, however, they do make me nervous sometimes. The man at the counter started giving us a spiel about which ones were the best, which eventually led to him teaching us about all the weapon laws and knife laws in the state of Colorado. Yes, switch blades are illegal in every state but Oregon, unless you are in the military and have specific orders to carry one, or you are a police officer.

Day 7: Alpine, TX

Taking into consideration that we were STUCK in a small Texas town for almost a week, getting back into the swing of things hasn't been that bad. Besides never having any privacy, and always having to pack, unpack, repack and move on, it seems as though things are starting to straighten out. I promise you, I'm not trying to make this blg dramatic. This is really how it happens. Leaving Fort Davis was a little sad, especially since we started to meet some locals. When we went down for our hotel breakfst in Alpine, there was an old cowboy talking with my mom over some coffee. Naturally, we sat down with them, and he started telling us about himself. His name is Ted Gray and he is 87 years old. This guy has been places. We're talkin over 150 countries, and although you can barely tell it from his face, he's had quite the life. Mr. Gray has been a cowboy since the beginning. I mean the real kind cowboy, the one that ropes steers, camps next to a chuckwagon, and uses a horse as his main trasportation.
Since He is old and we are young, he had some advice for us, 'cause you know that every old person likes to give advice. I've heard alot of stuff from the aged, and not all of it is that great, but Mr. Gray's advice really was useful. "Work hard, be honest, and associate yourself with good people who are going somewhere." I've heard "work hard" more times than I can count, but it was obvious he meant it. He went on to tell us that he had come to West Texas when he was 15 and only made $30 a month. By the time we left the table, we realized that we had just had coffee with a multi-millionaire. Hard work...food for thought.

I don't know why certain things happen, but I do know that if we hadn't gotten stuck at Fort Davis, we would not have met Mr. Gray.

We got the van back, left Big Tex with it's owner, and headed for New Mexico.

Day 6: Fort Davis and outlying areas

So guess what! We are STILL in Fort Davis!
We found out that something else in the van needed replacing, and the new plan is that it will be ready by eleven tomorrow morning.
We are all starting to love the roughed-up truck, and I'm not sure what it is about us and naming vehicles, but we named it Big Tex. Big Tex has just driven all over the area between Fort Davis, Marfa and Alpine. These towns make a little triangle and are about twenty minutes apart from one another.
I guess I've got a lot to cover about what we did to occupy ourselves for three days.

• We went to a "Star Party" at McDonald Observatory. This was so cool. We got to see Saturn and four of its five moons (my favorite thing), as well as the moon up close and a star that is actually two stars, which are actually double stars themselves. I'm not sure why they don't just say "This star is actually four stars". It would be a lot easier.
• We did a little swimming.
• We went to Alpine and ate at a cafe called the Reata.
• We learned about the area at the Museum of the Big Bend.
• Then we drove to Marfa, and to our surprise, there was a very nice restaurant called Cochineal. OK, I know it looks like we did nothing but eat back to back, but we really did do some other stuff in between: went into a bookshop, walked around in a couple historic hotel lobbies, and drove, drove, drove. Oh! We also found out that the 1950s' movie Giant was filmed in Marfa. I guess that's their only claim to fame besides the Marfa Mysetery Lights. They are supposed to be UFOs but...ya know....
• We also hiked a mountain.
• After finding a great little health food store in Fort Davis, we started talking with the cashier, and realized that everyone in the area is friendly.

When we found out that we had to stay yet another night, we decided to go back to one of the hotels we walked through in Alpine. And that's where we are now.

Day 4: Fort Davis, TX

After another long day of driving, we decided to make camp in Fort Davis, Texas. Just before we arrived, our air conditioner went out and left us with a really hot, thirty-minute drive the rest of the way into town. Luckily, there was a AAA- and NAPA-rated mechanic right in town, which is pretty crazy since Fort Davis is only about as big as a large ranch. The guy said we would have to pick the car up the next afternoon. So that left us a whole day without our van that we lovingly refer to as "the Trusty Steed". As a "for-the-day" replacement, the nice mechanic lent us his Chevy Silverado, which looks like it has run over its share of javelinas. It is one of those trucks you can trust, complete with dinged-up bumpers, a Copenhagen can tucked up into the visor, and dust all over the dash. As soon as we revved it up, the most twangy country song started to play, and the "service engine soon" light came on. This is very ironic since the owner could probably just take care of the engine in an hour. The truck has 350,000 miles on it, which is almost twice as many as the Steed.



While all this was going on, we had to check out of one hotel room and into another on the same day. So the situation was this: We were driving around in a honkytonk truck, we also had all of our luggage in it because we were in the process of changing rooms, we were supposed to go to the McDonald Observatory later, and had been raining off and on. So to say the least...We were in trouble.

Every time we got in and out of the truck, we had to take the bags out of the bed and shove them all into the cab. We did this ten times. We made it back to the hotel, checked in and tried to unlock the door. But as luck would have it, we had to switch keys, and to make matters worse, the rain started up again while we were waiting. We finally got inside. Mom drove back to the mechanic, hoping to exchange the truck for the Trusty Steed, and it turns out we are staying till Thursday instead of leaving on Tuesday because a part has to come in.

Over all, it's been a pretty rough day. But the first few are always the worst.

Day 2: Austin, TX

Austin is one of those places I never thought would be very exciting, and to be honest, we didn't do much. But that doesn't mean there isn't stuff to do. Especially if you like to shop. There are tons of great stores you would only hear about in Mississippi. I'd never been to an R.E.I. store, but I had to get some substantial walking shoes because I guess I can't just traipse around in flip-flops all summer. Especially if the summer consists mainly of walking and hiking. So I got some Keens. These things are the Rolls-Royce of hiking shoes. Seriously. They are waterproof, they have great arch support, they have some fancy kind of antibacterial material, they come in all sorts of fun colors, and as if that wasn't enough, they are machine washable!

After the R.E.I. extravaganza, we went to Whole Foods. Wahooooo! Actually this place rocks! Yeah, I know, you're probably wondering what is so great about a health food store. And if you're asking yourself this question, then you have obviously never been before. If you are looking for some hardcore hippies or the dreadhead type, then this is the place to go. But the really great thing about Whole Foods is actually not the hippies (believe it or not). This store has an incredibly laid-back feel. If you want to try something from the bulk aisle, no big deal, just ask someone who works there. Or just do like we do, and wait till no one is watching and get it yourself. I can't say enough about this store. I know it's probably a little weird, but I'll just say it anyway: I would come here just to watch people and walk around. Is that creepy? 'Cause I don't really care.


Of course, every location is different. For example, the store in New Orleans is almost a whole house-size smaller than the one in Austin. But it still has that same urban co-op feel we love. And did I mention it smells like an Indian tea shop? The Austin store has an entire section devoted to tea. So I guess I'll leave you with that. When was the last time YOU had organic fermented black tea from China?