road trip

and in the end…we made it home.

just imagine 10 before 962. the tripmeter rolls over to 0.0 after 10000.

-zack.

the last few days of the trip are kind of a blur…

i learned how to surf in virginia beach! it was superfuckingawesome. i also learned about getting sunburned on the backs of my legs while waiting for waves. good times! but the few days of rest while visiting amber’s aunt bernie were pretty nice.

we drove by the pentagon on the way to dinner with jeffy k. riveting stuff. but lunch was good. if you’re looking for good food in the d.c. area then the k-man is the guy to talk to.

monday night we stayed with josh and courtney and got to see deacon and peyton. and eat some delicious home cooked ribs.

then in the morning it was off for home…but not without a quick stop at orange county choppers in newburgh new york. we go to see paul sr. in the shop and the only disappointing thing was that amber didn’t get to see rick. sad…

-zack.

off to virginia beach! …but not without a stop at my old stomping grounds.

wahoo wah! i miss you, UVA.

-amber

nashville: a nice little city in the middle of nowhere with a lot of music and a really nice historic hotel.

thanks to priceline (thanks william shatner! and veronica!) we stayed in an awesome converted train station called union station. it was one of america’s historic hotels. it was in the book and everything. no big deal.

there’s also a pretty bustling main strip with tons of bars and shops and restaurants. that was pretty cool.

since i was in high school using morpheus and kazaa i’ve been a huge white stripes fan…so it was a pretty big thrill to visit jack white’s third man records. the building practically screams who it belongs to with the boldly simple colors. inside is a small shop with records and stuff for sale. and all the white stripes’ gold and platinum albums are hanging on the walls.

nashville? thumbs up!

-zack.

i like new orleans. i like it even better when I get to play with veronica brooks and eat ice cream!!

-amber

tulsa/little rock/baton rouge are all ok places to visit with very few sites to see. tulsa has the super creepy giant praying hands statue at oral roberts university. little rock has the central high school national historic site. and baton rouge actually has two: the country’s tallest statehouse and the one and only red jacket firearms! obviously you can’t go inside but it was still cool to see!

the redeeming quality of all three places is that they happen to house awesome people!

in tulsa we suffered the 100 degree weather to spend a couple days visiting with amber’s friends bob and danielle…and their adorable 21 month old girl named juliette! they were great hosts and the baby was very shy in the most energetic and outgoing way possible.

little rock was a very quick overnight trip to see amber’s old city year friends kristyn (forgive me for butchering it. you may also remember her from the michigan entries early on in the trip.) and andrea. we enjoyed some pizza and relaxed watching “the butterfly effect.” yes…starring ashton kutcher and ethan suplee. jealous much?

baton rouge is the current afternoon/evening/night stop to visit amber’s dear friend (and totally mine too) veronica from uva. i tried gator at dinner for the first time and it was quite tasty. she is fun and very smart and was kind enough to drive us around all evening. and let us sleep on her air mattress.

the morals of the story are: a) great people can make mediocre places into fun stops and b) amber has way way more friends than i do.

-zack.