Day 5

Oh what an adventure, let me fill you in. It started with a bang, me loosing my keys and turning Alysha's house upside down for them. We had a show to catch in Orlando as our first stop so my back up key had to do the trick until they turned up somewhere, hopefully. A quick stop by Caitlins to say good bye and pick up my pants that had been the recipient of little Desmonds diaper snafu and on to O-town we went. We spent the evening downtown at the Social to watch The Givers, awesome show I would recommend them for anyone who appreciates inventive upbeat quasi hippie music, a stellar performance and who wants to be blown away. We spent the night at her brothers house, which was so very nice of them to let us stay. So technically our trek out of Florida didn't start until Thursday am, and from Orlando. For those who are not familiar with Florida and traveling through it, it feels like forever, and then some. We broke it up with a pit stop at the Ponce de Leon State Park to stick our feet in what legend has as the original fountain of youth, but really it was just a cool natural spring that stays 68 degrees all year round and is in fact quite refreshing. About 12 hours later we finally arrived in Biloxi, MS. Just in time for a bite to eat. My friend Kathryn from AC and her roommate , Bailey, were the most gracious of hosts as they took us to experience Biloxi. Casinos it was! As it turns out Biloxi it self was hosting a rodeo, and the Beau Rivage was their hangout. Last Thursday night, you'd find the four of us people watching and getting our groove on to a not soseamless mix of country and old school hip hop and the room full of cowboys, hats, Wranglers, and rodeo participant number still pinned on the backs of each and everyone of them, no lie. Needless to say, our time was well spent and as we woke the next morning our journey was picking up the pace. Austin, TX was our next stop, a route we are familiar with but we decided to spend some quality time checking out the pre mardi gras Decatur and Bourbon street. We met up with Sandra, another friend for some sight seeing and coffee, another flashback from year one in AC, and headed out west once again leaving the green, yellow and purple banners flags and beads to the city that's always welcoming and never stops partying. This time, the drive took longer then forever, I-10 is not know for fun and entertaining roadside distractions. Alysha and I passed the time with stories, reorganizing the glove box and drinking crack in a can to try and stay awake. We made it into Austin just passed midnight and had just enough time to blow up Chris' air mattress and pass out. We woke up to a lovely Saturday morning and a shower that was worth the wait. If there was one theme to our time in Austin it was good food. We spent the morning at a quaint little hipster coffee house down the street and talked about our plans for the day after I dropped my car off for a new wheel and a rotation, to keep it safe. We had seen an incredible amount of restaurants and billboards that advertised tacos and after falling for the Taco Cabana trick last time( they are everywhere so we assumed they'd at least be worth it) we wanted a rematch. Alysha Chris and I met with Marina for lunch at a different and much better taco establishment. We picked up my car and headed to S. Congress street downtown to check out the nightlife. We bumped around to a few different stores and bought a cupcake from a food truck, that didn't quite justify the three dollars. Sometimes, no matter how much chocolate is present, a cupcake will just be cupcake. Dinner time called for Kerby Lane, Austins version of a classic 24 hour diner and Gordoughs, yet another food truck specializing in... yup doughnuts, big ones. At this point throwing up seemed eminent but after forcing this delicious, gooey fried banana-y goodness down we met back up with Marina and some of her friends for some good old fashion karaoke. Now it's not generally my thing because I'm a horrible singer, but Alysha and I had a surefire winner, Meatloaf “ Paradise by the dashboard light”. They called our name not 5 minutes before they started kicking us out at 2 am and we sang our little hearts out to the wonderfully drunk but uninterested people of one of Austins best karaoke bars and a few friends (including Kat, yet another AC favorite :)). Somewhere there is footage of this, I have yet to see it and its probably better that way. The next day Chris took Dan Alysha and I to Hamilton Pool, which is a lovely area about an hour outside the bustling city. We hiked to the cavernous cutout of the pool area and to the river that we waded across to bask in some sunlight on the limestone rocks. It was close to lunch time so we headed back. The plan, Hopdoddy's a trendy burger bar that was totally worth the wait, especially the thin mint milkshake. Our last day/ Dan's birthday was coming to a close when we headed out of Austin for our next destination, Denver, CO.

For no apparent reason and in the dead of winter...

Yes its true. I have completed over 4000 hours of national service in the last two years and spent countless hours driving up and down 95 and the intricate state roads of our Atlantic coast states, and a few others. It started as simple idea, I have all these people I had the chance to meet but now we live far away from each other, so Ill drive to visit them... So I've graduated from my NCCC experience, and ahead of me is a horizon as blank and full of potential adventure as the plains of Kansas, maybe we'll have to see about that later, but for now I'm assuming. Money has been saved, a plan A, B, and C have been established as mere guidelines to what may actually happen, and my stuff is packed (in a red suitcase which I get a kick out of). Now, being that I am used to traveling with my beloved B3 and all of our issued red bags placed like tetris blocks in the trunk of our 15p (whose name was never really decided upon because I was never sure how to feel about “Stanky Marlee flame”... ) I wasn't ready to spent another set of countless hours driving solo through the great expanse of the US. I am lucky enough to have friends who love traveling and adventures as much as me, so for those who may be concerned, I won't be alone on this adventure. As a side note, I have done a lot of traveling by myself and although there is more to come, for now while I have them, traveling with great company should never be refused I think. Plus nothing beats having a partner in crime who can stand being around you for hours, literally just sitting next to each other :)

I could begin the adventure from when I left Maryland, a place I never thought I'd call home, crying because I no longer had two phones to keep track of, never mind a whole team. From there, I went on to visit my corps member who is incarcerated and who I hadn't seen in 6 months and probably won't see again for a long time, but hopefully it'll be because he is off on his own adventures when he gets out. There was also the pit stop in DC and Richmond, love you all! I could pick up again at my dad's in North Carolina, where I spent a couple days sleeping in way too late, watching too much discovery channel and spending time with my family that I never get to see as much as I'd like. Then jump to visiting with my little brother and my nephew who is far from anything terrible as a 2 year old, and then back to Sunrise, FL, where I spent the last three weeks, planning my next happenings. Or, I could just start here, in Tampa my home away from home. It was here that I did the most growing up and finding out about lots of things, and there's something about the way Spanish moss hangs in trees made for climbing and feeling closer to the sunset that makes me smile when the wind blows warm even in mid January. Tonight, in a few hours, Alysha and I head onward and upward to something old and something new. We are two years older then the last time we had a road trip but you can't shake a travelers soul, no matter how many wrong turns, flat tires and bad food you come across.