More Photos

Sitting in downtown Flagstaff, AZ right now as Nat gets a haircut. Not gonna blog much, but check out the photo album I just put a link for on the right side of this page under, "Important Stuff". I'm sure you all would rather look at photos than read my weak attempts to describe the places we've been to. Leave some feedback so I know you all can access the photos. Feel free to leave feed back here on the blog, on the photo album, or even on our facebook pages. Alright, gotta run...headed to the Grand Canyon tonight so I am not sure the next time I will blog...talk to you all soon.

Sunday 5/23: Where do I begin?

The last time I blogged was only 2 days ago...but it feels like I have done and seen so much since then. Here is my best attempt to detail it. (p.s. Comment on my blog, this is a pain in the but to keep up with, so it would be nice to know people are actually reading it.)

In the morning on Friday, May 21st, we toured New Orleans.I know the city is known for it's night life, which is like no where else, but during the day, New Orleans really comes to life. It is certainly the most unique city that I have ever been to. Street after street there are memorabilia shops, street vendors, artists, break dancers, and even bands playing in the middle of the street. We only spent the morning walking around all these great places, but we could have definitely spent multiple days, or even weeks in the diverse city of New Orleans.

We then headed to Austin, TX where we met up with my buddy from Merrimack, Tim Burns, or "Burnsy" for those that know him. We got in late and Nat wasn't feeling good, so she stayed back while me and Burnsy went downtown to experience the nightlife. And experience it I did. We went to 4 different bars on 6th street, all of which I remember, and then I picked up a t-shirt for Austin at about 2:00 in the morning. Saturday morning, Burnsy took us out to this awesome BBQ place called Rudy's where we got some "Texas style" breakfast tacos, which were full of flavor. After that, Burnsy gave us some awesome directions and we headed towards Carlsbad Caverns in Whites City, NM.

The drive to New Mexico was really fast...mainly due to the 80 mph speed limit in Western Texas. When we crossed the border into New Mexico the temperature just kept on rising...88, 91, 93, 97, and eventually topping off at 100 degrees (mind you it was 6pm at this time. It wouldn't have been that bad, but we weren't using the air conditioner because we had to start acclimatizing ourselves for hiking in the Grand Canyon. We finally arrived in Whites City, NM, and set up camp at an RV park 7 miles outside the caverns. We ate our first meal on the backpacking stove and finally had some time to relax.

We woke up early today (Sunday) made breakfast, and headed towards Carlsbad Cavern National Park. For those of you who don't know, it is an underground cavern that is full of the most interesting, amazing, unique, distinct, jaw dropping limestone rock formations. It honestly felt like I was in another world. I could describe it more, but I would do it no justice. The pictures I put up will hopefully wet your appetite, but even the pictures are nothing compared to the experience of walking 800 ft underground. Definitely another "bucket list" item for everyone and anyone.

Well that's about all I did over the past few days...I know, kind of boring. Anyways, I am currently blogging from the lobby of the information center and have to let Nat get her blog in before we get out. (p.s. I am looking to create an online photo album to link to this blog. Anyone who knows of some good, FREE, programs let me know.)

Friday 5/21: N'Oleans

Woke up in New Orleans, LA this morning and didn't remember how I got back to our hotel...just kidding. We did go out on Bourbon St. last night but we were too exhausted to stay out too long. We had dinner at this place called Ambers where we tried some alligator sausage...it was really flavorful and had the perfect amount of spice. We then went to this place called Patty O'Brians where there was a piano bar. For those of you who don't know (like I didn't), the piano bar had two piano players up on a small, cozy stage taking requests from the audience. The pianists were equally impressive with their vocal and piano skills. The unique part of this stage was the 60 yr old man who was playing a pizza pan as his instrument. He had these metal-like finger tip covers that he tapped rhythmically against the pan. There was definitely an "underground" feel to the place.

We spent the earlier part of the day in Memphis, TN going to the National Civil Rights Museum and eating on Beale street. The museum was actually the Lorraine Hotel where MLK was assassinated, converted into a museum. It was a very eye-opening and somewhat depressing experience to see the way people used to be harshly mistreated in our country. I would highly suggest this place as a "bucket list" item. After the museum we ate lunch at this place called Blue Hall, where once again we got to listen to some live music while we ate...man I love eating to live music. We made a quick stop at Graceland, but didn't feel like paying the $30 fee for the tour of Elvis's house. We signed the wall outside the estate and headed to New Orleans.

For today, we are going to explore New Orleans a little bit more and then head to Austin, TX for the night. Catch you later.

Day 4: Great State of TN

Finally have a little bit of time to sit down and update this blog thing. Let's see, that last time I blogged was when I got to Nat's house in Hartfield, VA. We officially started our road trip around 7:15 am on Tuesday morning and headed out towards Knoxville, TN. The car was just about packed to the max with all of our gear, and with the bikes on top of the roof, the great mpg's that the Prius is known for dropped down to ~30 - 33mpg's...horrible lol.

It was about an 8 hr drive to Knoxville where we got to meet up with my cousin Emily and see her new house. It is an awesome house with a really sharp hard wood floors and tons of space for the two of them. Her garden out back was cool too...planting more vegetables than I can remember. Emily showed us a few pictures of Zion and Arches National Park (future stops), and gave us some advice for our trip. She then brought us into downtown Knoxville by the University of Tennessee campus so I could pick up a t-shirt. Downtown Knoxville seemed dirty, outdated, and a little run down, But Emily's place was awesome. We then ate a couple fresh strawberries from her yard, took a picture, and hit the road.

We spent Tuesday night in Nashville, TN where we met up with Nat's friend from home named Jack. He took us out to this restaurant called BB Kings where we ate dinner to live jazz music. We then went to these two country bars downtown called Tootsies and Lengend's, each of which had live music. The next day we ate lunch downtown at a place called Honky Tonk Grill, at which we also listened to live music (if you like country music, you have to go to Nashville immediately).

After Nashville we headed towards Memphis, TN to our first ever Couch Surfing experience. It was unique to say the least, and we will leave it at that. We went out to eat in Memphis at this nice place called S.O.B. where I tried sardines for the first time (they were ok). We didn't do much else after and called it a night. We are headed into Memphis for the day today, so look for some updates later.

Day 3: Already falling behind on the blogs

No time to blog but here are a few pics to wet your appetite.

Day 1: Lot's of driving

After spending the last few days frantically packing and tracking down things that I needed, I finally hit the road this mornining, traveling to Hartfield, VA from Hartford, CT (well really Bloomfield, but the Hartford/Hartfield combo works so good). Besides having to drive to Timonium, MD to pick up a part for my roof rack system, and having the GPS in "bicycle" mode to avoid highways, the 11 hr trip was pretty uneventful. It wasn't until the Baltimore area that I realized the GPS wasn't really just bad at giving directions, but was in the wrong mode. It was a good thing that I don't really trust GPS's because otherwise I would have ended up in Lancaster, PA taking a horse drawn carriage through Omish Country or something. Well I'm sure nobody wants to hear about a boring 11 hr car ride, so I will wrap this up. Tomorrow the road trip really begins and we are headin to Knoxville and then staying in Nashville for the night.

p.s. Sorry no picture this time...will definitly have one for tomorrow though.