Dust, Guns and Cactus

After Austin, we settled in for the night at Abeline State Park. It was pretty amazing how quickly it got dry and cool just north of Austin. We set up camp and got a toasty fire crackling just as dusk rolled in. We made a little campfire music and listened to the coyotes howl all around. In the morning, we headed into Buffalo Gap to the Buffalo Gap Cafe and general store, where we enjoyed the most delicious breakfast we had had in a while. If you ever pass through this part of the world, stop in, because it is an incredibly sweet establishment, with lots of cute stray kittens and cats and a whole lot of small town charm. After we got our coffee quota and our bellies full, we high-tailed through the rest of Texas and into New Mexico. Just a few miles over the border noticed a profound difference in the landscape. It was still desert, but the land started to rise, and it became considerably more desolate between towns. The dust turned reddish and we knew we were finally in the west. Our ultimate goal that day was to make it to Santa Fe. That, however fell by the wayside as late afternoon crept in and we neared Santa Rosa, a town with a tripartite state campground. We pulled into the park, which was little more then sand, scrub and scorched earth, around four. In the morning, the three of us took a walk down the horse trail and got a breathtaking sunrise view of Santa Rosa Lake. Then, we went into town for huevos rancheros New Mexico style that rivaled breakfast in Buffalo Gap, and hopped on old route 66 to Santa Fe. It was interesting how relatively low and homogenous the city is. It seemed like nothing in Santa Fe was above three or four stories and everything was made of fake adobe. That being said, the lack of height made it feel like less of a city and more of a smaller desert town. this perception was probably heightened by the relative isolation of the region. There really isn't anything but desert between habitations in New Mexico. The highlight of Santa Fe was going shooting with our buddy Jesse. I made the mistake of drinking a late afternoon cup of coffee on our way out of town, resulting in us driving six hours through the night to Navajo Lake, where we are currently camped. Apparently it's trout season, so the campground is surprisingly full of fishermen. We are looking forward seeing the lake in the morning light! Ben and his six shooter

Louisiana & Texas!

I have always wanted to visit New Orleans, and this week, I finally got my wish! After a lovely visit with the step grandparents in Biloxi, Ben and I drove straight for the city of jazz. Though none of our Louisiana friends were in town, we had a great time walking the length of Bourbon Street, sipping Abita and taking in the local color. Gunk thoroughly enjoyed strolling down the city streets and dozing on the cool restaurant floors. As we headed out of town, we grabbed a couple of shrimp po'boys to munch on the drive to find a campsite outside the city limits. Our route took us over a thirty mile bridge across Lake Ponchitrain and past two campgrounds that were closed due to damage from the last hurricane. Though we were rather tired and verging on cranky, we persevered and drove straight into the heart of the swamp. Much to our dismay, the state campground was full upon arrival. Luckily, Lizard Creek, a privately owned site still had space. We set up camp and then set out to explore. They say the mosquitoes in Alaska are the state bird. Well, what the swamp bugs lacked in size, they more than made up for in ferocity and tenacity. All three members of this travel group came out with myriad mosquito created welts. Surely they couldn't have been the product of the lovely river complete with boat launch and fishing dock!? In any case, after a rough and humid night, we packed up and hit the road again. We were Texas bound, and nothing could stop us! Not even the impending thunderstorms threatening to overtake us. Before reaching Austin, we had to drive through miles upon miles of Louisiana swampland. Now, we have made every attempt to stay off the interstates, as one tends to find more interesting and authentic types of places on county roads and national highways. Southern Louisiana, however was necessarily an exception. We spent some time studying the road atlas, trying in vain to find an off interstate route through this marshy part of the country. It seems, however that one does not exist, or if it does, it involves intimate local knowledge of the area, and perhaps a boat, as many of the small towns in this region seem to not have roads leading in, out or even through them. How one gets to and from many of these far flung communities remains a mystery. I-10, main-dragness aside, was quite beautiful. It was raised above the swamp on giant concrete pillars, and the east and west lanes were two separate platforms. One was able to look down through the middle and out to the sides over miles of swamp trees and brackish inlets. As we left the swamp for the less porous Texas mainland it got hot. And humid. We stopped to stretch our legs and get a sticker and map at the Texas welcome center. Then, we drove on into the flat, nondescript land of oil rigs and cow farms. As we approached Austin, a MONSTER storm bore down on our little car. Driving westward, we watched the clouds grow massive, roiling and purple. Finally, twenty miles or so outside of the city, the heavens opened and it straight deluged, to the point we were beginning to worry the interstate would flood. We slowed to a creep, and hunkered in the car as thunder crashed all around us. Just as we got into town, the rain abated and the lightning stopped. The forecast, however, called for the storms to continue into the wee hours of the morning, so tired and somewhat jangled from the storm, we rolled up to an extremely comfortable hotel in north Austin, compliments of Pam (thanks!!). The morning dawned clear and humid, and we had the good fortune of meeting up with our friend David for a canyon hike through Bull Creek Greenbelt. It was beautiful and lush, not something I expected to find sitting in the middle of a south Texas city. The hike left us hungry and hot, so we went to the County Line bbq restaurant for some true Texas barbecue and a Lonestar beer. I ate pulled pork for the first time in fourteen years, and let me tell you, even though I could only manage about a third of what they served me, it was delicious! The restaurant itself was lovely. We ate on the patio, which was situated creekside, and watched the turtles lounge in the hot southern sunshine. After a successful bite, we dropped David at ACL, and took off for Abeline State Park, but more on that later!

cruisin'

We have covered a lot of ground since the last post! After leaving Georgia, we headed to Rocky Bayou State park on the panhandle of Florida for a night of camping and delicious fish tacos. Gunk, Ben and I enjoyed a post-dinner hike on a sandy palm-lined park trail by the bay in the muggy southcoast dark. The next morning, we took a meandering route to Biloxi via highway 90 with a lovely little stop beside Mobile Bay in Fairhope, AL for a walk and a cup of unsweet tea. In Biloxi, we had the pleasure of staying with Millie and Leon, Ben's step-grandparents. They live on the banks of the Tchoutacabouffa (pronounced "choog-ah-la-buff" - that's Cajun for ya!) River. I caught my first catfish on their dock and got to hear it oink like a pig! Ben caught a Brim, but both were too small to keep. We spent the afternoon downtown checking out some of the 6, 000 cars out for Cruise The Coast, an annual gathering of reconditioned classic vehicals. Studabakers, El Caminos and Thunderbirds abounded. Because we were on the gulf, we were obliged to stop in and check out one or two of the myriad casinos. Millie and Leon treated us to a buffet lunch at The Isle. We filled up on all the southern fixin's and got a great opportunity to gawk at gaudily dressed gamblers. After lunch, we headed to the Beau Rivage (also a casino) to look out over Biloxi and watch as the pellicans dove kamakazi-style into the bay from the top of the parking deck. This particular establishment had what is called a promenade, a walkway of sorts through the shops, and leading to the slots. It was more elegant than one might think, lined with lush, opulent flower arrangements, indoor gardens and massive crystal chandeliers. That same evening, we drove down to Ocean Springs to visit Drew and Amanda, friends from Georgia who moved for a job. We had a great time eating tacos, drinking Mississippi pecan beer and watching the vice presidential debates. It was with much dragging of heels and a long Norwegian good bye that we left Biloxi the next day. Gunk was sad to leave her friend Mac, the dog next door who helped her rip her tie out rope and leash into four separate pieces the first day they met. We were also sorry to leave him behind, because it was so much fun to watch the two of them swim in the river and wrestle in the mud nonstop for the days we spent in Mississippi. The three of us are out on the road and headed to Austin...more on that coming soon!

Well, it has been a long, fun week of visiting Ben's relatives down in Kennesaw, Georgia. We spent the majority of our time at the Rhoden/Prewett family compound, camped in the pool house loft on the Cadillac of all air mattresses. I'm talking double height, oxygen filled, grey suede heaven! We somehow managed to get a few adventures in even with all the eating and hanging out, including a full eighteen holes of disc golf at Oregon Park with cousin Witt and the dogs. When offered the opportunity to attend my but very first Talladega with Ben and a couple of his buddies from highschool, I jumped at my chance to get a "real" southern experience. While we didn't go to the actual race, we got in more than our fair share of people watching, and had a lot of fun playing cornhole and the like. One of the coolest things we did In Kennesaw was visiting The Southern Museum in downtown. It was chock full of civil war information and artifacts. We got a full sampling of photographs, guns, clothing, gear and letters from both the U.S. and the Confederate States. There was also a big section on Glover Industries, a large train builder and machine working company based out of Marietta, GA. And of course, the much loved General, one of the trains involved in The Great Locomotive Chase, was on display at the end of the museum. All in all it was a very cool little sampling of southern/Georgia history. Today, we left Georgia to delve deeper into the south. We are currently barreling through a corridor of scrubby pines and other sand-dwelling flora towards a beach in Santa Rosa, FL on the gulf of Mexico. We will spend another night amongst dunes on the Atlantic. Tomorrow we head to Biloxi, MS to visit Ben's step grandparents and another highschool buddy, then on to Louisiana and west! Looking forward to seeing more friendly faces in the near future!

Southern Motion

Hi folks! I'm writing from the deck of the m/v Carteret somewhere between Ocracoke, NC and Cedar Island, NC. We have been on the road for almost a week now, and finally feel like we are adjusting to life on the move. It was a frantic dash to pack up the Red Hook apartment and get going, but it's all starting to feel worth it. We spent our first night just across the river from our Red Hook apartment at Lake Onteora. After a sad but exciting good bye with old friends who decided to tag along for the first little leg of travel, we hit the road and drove three hours west to Ithaca. Though our first "real" stop was in the wrong direction, it felt necessary to visit a close friend and former roommate before heading out of New York for good. We spent most if our time upstate cooking, reading, hiking gorges, and generally relaxing. After a two day detour, the real journey began. We hit the road with a fury, and drove all the way from New York to Virginia. The Blue Ridge Mountains beckoned to us, but not before Ben's second, and my first stop at The Thunderbird Cafe for a bite. Once we both felt satiated, it was up to the Skyline Drive and over to Loft Mountain for a cool, windy night of fireside chatting and folking (thanks for the pumpkin beers, Joanna!). One of the few things I really looked forward to seeing on the East Coast was the Outer Banks of North Carolina. So, without much ado, we rolled out if the mountains in the early morning light to zig out to the Atlantic for a breath of fresh salty air. The first night we ate seafood sitting sea side, and camped on the dunes just south of Nags Head. In the morning, Ben, Gunk, and I walked down a stretch if windswept beach, littered with pelicans, shells, and anglers. Later that day, the three of us made our way down coast via vehicle and ferry to Ocracoke Island where we walked, longboarded, and ate more seafood. That brings us neatly to this morning during which we woke before sunrise to hop another ferry back to the mainland! I think I'll sign off so I can soak up some sun and salt before the long haul to Atlanta today. Hope everyone is healthy and happy. Looking forward to seeing many of you in the coming weeks!

A gorge in Ithaca

Fall foliage

Sunrise over ocracoke island

It has been a good and relaxing week. Several storm fronts have come through, making S-Turns (the break across the street from our apartment) pretty much unsurfable and the rest of the west side water choppy and too big for snorkeling or much of anything else. Staying out of the water has been a bit of a bonus, though, providing time for us to clean house and catch up on other things that have been recently thrown by the wayside in favor of getting outside to play.

My camera finally made it back about a week ago, and I've been out shooting almost every day. Today, I saw a man being pulled on his skateboard by his leashed husky, a line of six red cars parked in a row and a giant sea turtle on the beach...among other things! It's been a relief to get out and take pictures again.

Ben and I spent a day in town recently, checking out a few places we hadn't been before and making the rounds on a few old haunts, including the book store. Ah, the bookstore, my one true addiction. Every time I go, I end up spending more money and coming out with more books than I ever mean to. At least it's towards a higher purpose, right? Anyway, this time I ended up with the best and most complete vegetarian cookbook I have ever seen. It's 350 recipes long and full of interesting and helpful references about how and when to use both common and unusual ingredients. It even explains the particulars of more difficult cooking procesesses. It's called "Vegetarian Planet" by DiDi Emmons. Last night I made calzones and butter bananas, and tonight Ben's making gourmet potato skins and gaspazcho. Yum! Check it out, if you're looking for something delicious, new and meatless!

Now that we're on the subject of information, let's talk movies! Last night, we rented "Food Inc." by Magnolia films. It's a very well done documentary on where our food comes from and the way it's produced. The movie is so full of information that isn't readily out in the open that it's overwhelming and a little scary. Some of it I knew already, but the parts I didn't were shocking enough to make me even more curious about America's "factory" approach to food. One of the more interesting points the film made was that with a very limited number of cash crops (corn, soy beans, etc.), we have a very limited number of ingredients that are used in increasingly stranger and more chemically modified combinations to make the variety of flavors we enjoy today. It details how the corporate structure of American food is based on a series of quick fixes that are often inefficient and harmful in the long run. In any case, veggie or not, it's really really interesting and I HIGHLY recommend it!

Work is going smoothly, however boring it may be. The weather's great, as always, but I'm starting to miss the snow more and more. Our fourth roommate Ryan left for Juneau a few days ago and we're back to the original three. All in all, things are going really well! More soon,

Molly

Well - it seems that everyone wants me to continue updating the blog even though we're no longer on the road. So, by popular request, here's a new entry. And I'll do my best to make them more regular from this point on!

I am continuing to work at the burger joint in downtown Lahaina, but searching for something more interesting and rewarding in the way of a job. Cashiering is easy, but not so engaging, if you catch my drift. Don't get me wrong, though, I'm really happy to even have a job at this point and don't plan on quitting any time soon. Ben is still searching. As he says - "Searching for a job is my full time job!" And it's true - you can really feel the economic impact in Hawaii. Everyone is struggling to find a job or hold on to the one they already have. Homelessness in the state is at an all time high and procuring unemployment insurance is extremely difficult or even impossible. There are too many stories to count of perfectly honest and hard working individuals getting layed off and spending almost a full work week in the unemployment office just trying to get what they're owed. It takes some real gumption to receive your benefits here. The state government has actually taken to flying the homeless back to the mainland for free, because it has become such a widespread problem throughout the islands.

Homelessness and unemployment aside, we're doing pretty well. We bought a couple of old second-hand 9'2" surfboards about a week and a half ago, and we've been surfing like crazy! There's a great break about a block away from our apartment and every chance we get, we go out and ride the waves. While it's not snow, it is fast becoming a good activity to fill the snowboarding/skiing void in my winter. There's just something exhilarating about defying friction and going fast! Both of us are pretty well able to catch and stand up on waves now, so we don't make total fools of ourselves, but it's there's still a long way to go on the learning curve.

Speaking of waves, my parents flew in for a week during Christmas and Ben, my dad and I took a great surfing lesson in the downtown Lahaina Harbor. That's where the surfing bug bit us! Rick and Chris (my parents) rented a car and we showed them all around the island. One of my favorite experiences with them was driving to the other side of Maui to Hana, a tiny town in the middle of tropical utopia. If you think Lahaina is beautiful, just wait until you get to the other side! The lush green-ness, the steep cliffs and amazing beaches are a thousand times more beautiful than the west side. It's easy to imagine old Hawaii in the awesome yet peaceful ravines, forests and water of the east side of Maui. It's the paradise you always imagined you'd find in Hawaii and the landscape that great Hawaiian kings and even greater Hawaiian battles must have taken place against. In a word - amazing!

We're making plans to rent a car and spend some time on the blacksand beach near Hana camping, hiking and having fun! For the time being, we don't have any big plans - at least not until we have a little more money to waste. It's the weekend, though, so I had better get out and enjoy the sunshine while I still have some time today!

Hugs and Kisses from Maui,

Molly