Amarillo, New Mexico, Arizona, Cali

We made it to San Diego! We arrived at Eric's house late last night, after a 12 hour drive from Socorro, New Mexico. I fixed the link for the pictures so it works now.

After we left Oklahoma, we changed our plans a bit. We decided to skip Santa Fe and the Grand Canyon for now, and hit them both on the way back to Mass. We stopped in Amarillo, Texas for lunch, and ate the best burgers we've ever had at this hole-in-the-wall place in the middle of nowhere. I know it seems like all we do is eat, but the only times we really got out of the car were to eat, so that's why. And also we had some amazing food that we want to tell you all about. After Texas, we decided to camp out in New Mexico at a state park. When we arrived at Santa Rosa State park, just off the highway, it was completely empty and the "lake" was more like a large dirty puddle in the middle of the desert. We decided to try a different park, about three hours southwest of that one....but when we got there the gate was already closed and we couldn't get in. We then spent about 2 hours driving around back county roads in the middle of nowhere in the desert, and ended up (thanks to the GPS) at a pretty gross motel in Socorro, New Mexico. 

The next day was much better. We woke up and decided to just drive to San Diego, so we typed it into the GPS and got on the road. We took a scenic highway called Route 60 that goes through New Mexico and Arizona. It took us through canyons and mesas, up to 4,000 ft in elevation and back down to sea level a bunch of times. There were many scenic views and we got a few pictures. In New Mexico, it took us through a town called Pie Town, where the only places in the town were two pie shops. We went to the one called Pie-O-Neer, where the owner/baker/server named Kathy made us feel at home. It was the best apple pie we've ever eaten. She told us she was passing through here one time and it was a town called Pie Town with no good pie place, so she settled down there and opened a pie shop. We thought that was pretty cool. 

We kept driving, through small towns with no street lights and four buildings in the entire town. Sometimes there would be no civilization for 30 miles in any direction. We drove through one area with only a state detention center in it, and a sign saying "State Detention Center: Do Not Pick Up Hitchhikers." We couldn't believe that people lived out there, in the middle of the desert, with not even a grocery store or gas station for 30 or 40 miles sometimes. 

We didn't get to stop very much in Arizona, but we hope to hit up Flagstaff and Sedona on the way back. We did enjoy the scenery there, and stopped in a great little town called Globe, Arizona. We drove to San Diego and were pretty close to the Mexican Border. We were stopped twice by Border Patrol stations, where they asked if we were American citizens and if we had any illegal aliens in the trunk. They even had a dog with them. When we got to Eric's place, Eric said he had a surprise for us. His grandmother, who lives on the beach not too far from here, is going out of town for a week and wanted us to house sit for her. So, we get to live on the beach for a week which is really awesome. Thanks Eric! We will probably stay at Eric's for the weekend and then go there. We are looking forward to taking a break from traveling and relaxing for a while down here. It really is beautiful here, and the weather is excellent. Well, time to get going. Thanks for reading and stay in touch! 

Memphis, Hot Springs, Oklahoma

Hello!

We have some pictures up on http://www.flickr.com/photos/31445485@N04/

We really liked Memphis, and it was much smaller than we'd expected. We walked down Beale St. in the morning and got some coffee. Then we were on our way to Hot Springs, Arkansas. We discovered that Welcome Centers have a lot of valuable information about state parks and such. The Arkansas Welcome Center steered us to this great park called Ouchita State Park about twenty minutes from Hot Springs. We stayed right next to the lake, and it was gorgeous. Once we set up our campsite, we drove into downtown Hot Springs. We walked around a little, saw the historic bath houses and signs proclaiming Bill Clinton's hometown. We went into a shop and asked where we could get a great meal. The girls recommended this little German place in the basement of a shopping center. We decided to check it out, and are very glad we did. We went in and ordered two beers, and tried to decipher the menu. While trying to figure out what yager schniztel was, an older gentleman and his wife interrupted us with the definition (breaded pork in a mushroom sauce). We began talking (they were from Tennessee) and they were nice enough to buy us our drinks before they left. We thought that was very nice and unexpected kindness. We did order the yager schniztel (it was excellent) and a platter with some German sausages and such on it. It was a very good meal. Before we left, a waitress came over to tell us that she overheard us talking about going cross country, and wanted us to know that she was going to pray for us at her next bible meeting. Everyone we meet seems both concerned for our safety and a little jealous about our adventure. One waitress told us she'd never left Oklahoma. It is comforting to know that people care, though.

The next morning we woke up and began our drive to Santa Fe, knowing that we would probably only make it to Oklahoma or Texas in one day. We were hungry and stopped off at a cute little diner, decked out in 50's decor, and were waited on by a sweet elderly woman (her husband was the cook). They were a very nice couple. We still can't get over how friendly and concerned people seem about us and our trip. We have yet to meet anyone else traveling from the Northeast, but we have met a lot of travelers from the Southern states.

We drove past Oklahoma City to a place called El Reno. We went to another Road Food destination, Jobes. It was an old school drive-in place (we went inside though). We were starving, and ordered corn dogs, Frito Chilli Pie, tater tots, and milkshakes. It was quite the meal, but definitely not something you could find in Mass. We are staying in El Reno for the night, and waking up early to drive to Santa Fe (about six hours). We might stop in Amarillo, Texas. We plan on camping out in Santa Fe, so we hope the weather holds. Well, we're pretty tired so we are going to bed now. We miss you all! We'll write soon...

The South...

Hello again! 

Sorry we haven't had a chance to update this for a while. I'll start from Raleigh, NC. We left Erica's apartment and drove about 4 hours west to Asheville, North Carolina to visit Forest and Wren (some old friends of Will's). They have an awesome place and two really cute dogs named Harriet and Smoky. Once we got there we all went to walk the dogs in the Blue Ridge Mountains. The leaves were all turning and it was so beautiful there. Forest and Wren took us to this awesome chicken and biscuits place for dinner that night. It's called Bojangles and it's only in North Carolina. We really enjoyed our time in Asheville and definitely recommend it if you ever visit the south! 

The next morning (Sunday) we got up and began our drive to Blairsville, Georgia. We both agreed that it was one of the most beautiful drives we've ever taken. We took the Smoky Mountain Expressway, with scenic views of the mountains and foliage. As soon as we find the photo cord we'll post some pictures. Once we arrived at the Vogel State Forest Campground, we checked in and set up our tent. Then we headed back out to eat dinner at this delicious ribs place called Rib Country. 

This morning we were about to check out of the campground and we realized that we had a flat tire. The campground rangers were nice enough to take the nail out and patch up the tire for us. We only had to listen to a little lecture about putting Jesus first in our relationship. But, the tire is holding up fine. Then we got on the road and drove through Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi to get to Memphis, Tennessee (where we are now). We had dinner at this great place called Leonard's,(which we had looked up in the book Roadfood Ethan gave us.) It's famous for it's pulled pork sandwiches with coleslaw on top. They were the first barbecue joint to do that to their sandwiches, and they have been doing it since they opened in 1922. It was excellent! Tomorrow we plan on checking out downtown Memphis, and then heading to Hot Springs, Arkansas. Thanks for reading! 

DC

Hi Everyone!

We had a great time in Washington, DC the past few days. We arrived there on Wednesday and left yesterday afternoon. We had amazing Ethiopian food in Adams-Morgan Wednesday night (we don't know exactly what we ate but it was really good). On Thursday we walked around Columbia Heights and then went into downtown DC to see the White House and the Museum of Natural History (we liked the skeleton exhibit). That night we had dinner with Will's brother Ethan, then met up with my friends Katie, Jackie, Ryan, and Faye at a bar with live Jazz. We'd hoped that Katie would be singing there but it became too late and we hope to hear her another time. Thanks again to Katie and Jackie for letting us stay with you guys in DC! We had a lot of fun and wish we could have stayed longer. We are in Raleigh, North Carolina right now (Thanks Erica!). We can't believe the economy here. The apartments are insanely cheap and there are plenty of jobs. We're going to check out downtown Raleigh in a bit, and then head down to Ashville, North Carolina to see Will's friend Forest. We'll keep you posted! 

We Leave Tomorrow!

Hey everyone! 

We are starting this blog so you can all keep track of our trip. We will try and write an entry each time we are in a new place, and post pictures too! We will miss all of you but hope that this will be an amazing adventure for us. See you soon and enjoy!

Will and Melissa