Arizona

The last couple of days feel like we are near the finish line, which we are.

Our trip from Las Cruces to Tucson was mainly on interstate. I can't believe the numbers of the Border Patrol officers we have seen since Marfa. Living in State College, we don't see many Border Patrol officers. Here, along the Rio Grande River, I see our tax dollars at work. Speaking of work, they are recruiting. Large billboards along I10 announce that fact.

Another, notable sighting is the pecan orchards. I didn't realize pecans are grown out West...think of them as a southern thing (as in Pecan Pie or pralines...oh, oh, there I go on the food thing again). The trees are beautiful and the orchards stretch for acres and acres.

We encountered a sand storm...there were warnings about "zero" visibility west of Las Cruces, NM. I think of my friends and neighbors going through blizzard, white-out conditions...I am going through sand storms. This indeed, is a big country.

Visiting friends from Penn State in Tucson was great. Marv and Carol are gracious hosts and we were able to catch up about their, more northerly, drive out West. The area they are staying in is north of Tucson and their views of the mountains are stunning.

Yesterday, Don and I took the shortest trip of any travel day...from Tucson to Phoenix. Only two hours away, Phoenix is very different from Tucson. Tucson is decidedly the "West" while Phoenix seems to be more transplanted East. Too much grass in Phoenix. It really isn't sustainable!

Don is at ASU all day today. The Sun Devils have a good football team. College football, I like. Pro football, outside of PA and NY, I don't follow. Little did I know that the "Cardinals" are no longer in St. Louis (but that's another sport, I guess.) Go Steelers.

We leave for LA tomorrow morning. We are ready. I will miss the "open road." Even the bill boards hawking the corny roadside conveniences like South of the Board; Buc Cees; and Akela Flats where one can buy "hillbilly figurines" and "precision fireworks." We have seen so many wonderful friends. Eaten so many wonderful meals (and stopped at NO chain restaurants...after Cracker Barrell).

Our landlord in Santa Monica just emailed me. She wrote "the ocean is sapphire blue today..." We are ready!

Kathy asked me what we plan to do the two months in California...maybe just rest up for our trip back to State College in April? Not sure, but will keep you posted. Just check the blog.

Carlsbad Caverns: Sunday, Sunday

Waving goodbye to peaceful Marfa, we drove north through some absolutely beautiful country. The sun rising over mountains, absolutely no other cars on the road, the trip was great. Our goal is Carlsbad Caverns and the King Room pictured to the right. We have been to Kartchener Caverns in Arizona, but nothing prepared us for the vastness of this site. Ernie encouraged us to stop here (kudos, Ernie, for this suggestion AND barbeque at Lockhart, TX!) and Don was anxious to see, in person, the Caverns which delighted him as a child, thanks to Viewmaster. We spent the morning at the Caverns but one could spend a week viewing the various "rooms" and hiking the National Park.

We had planned to stay in the town of Carlsbad north of the Caverns, but with our goal of making it to Tucson by Monday to spend some time with friends from Penn State, we decided to continue the trip west and spent the night in Las Cruces, NM. I have to go on record to say that we had eaten NO breakfast or lunch (I don't count noshing on ginger snaps or Twizzlers in the car) so we are not ALWAYS eating. However, going without real food for 12 hours, I was ravenous. We decided on Mexican food (what else in New Mexico) and chose La Posta de Mesilla. The restaurant is among a compound which is on the National Register of Historic Buildings. It was constructed in the early 1800s. Mesilla was once important politically. A claim to fame is that Billy the Kid was tried within the compound and sentence to death. http://www.oldmesilla.org/index.html

I am watching the "Today Show" as I write this. The local weather man has just mentioned to use caution crossing the Guadalupe Pass today due to high winds. We just went through there yesterday.

Al Roker just chose Tucson as the "Pick City" of the day. So I guess it is time to move on.

The Road to Marfa, TX

We got on the road Saturday morning early to drive the 406 miles to Marfa, TX. Don is trying to win a driving award. He has only let me drive 3 hours in the last two weeks. He IS a good driver and I AM a good navigator, so I guess it works out. The picture taken from my perspective in the car gives you some idea of the terrain. However, western Texas did get a lot more interesting and we began to see mountains, grazing land, and large ranches. 80 miles an hour is permitted on many of the highways...so the 406 miles was doable in six hours.

Marfa, TX, was my idea. We were seeing so many big cities (which we do love), I thought we needed to get off the beaten path. Before hitting Marfa, we went through Alpine, TX home of Sul Ross University. It is a pretty little Texas university town. The university also has a 468 acre working ranch.

Marfa isn't quite as big or pretty as Alpine. Its population is around 2000 people and it is noted for its art community, Marfa lights (mysterious colored spheres which appear in the sky), and for providing backdrop for movies Giant, No Country for Old Men, and There Will be Blood, to name a few.

We stayed at the El Paisano, a historic hotel which housed the cast of Giant including James Dean, Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson. Don wanted to stay in the James Dean or Rock Hudson suites, but we settled for what was available.(http://www.hotelpaisano.com/pages/hp001.html)




We never saw the Marfa lights, but we did see an incredible star show after dinner. It is amazing to see a whole sky filled with brilliant lights. Actually, we thought we saw Marfa lights, but that was after dinner and a bottle of local wine.

San Antonio, PM (but two days later)

Computer glitches, busy schedules and fatigue have kept me from keeping up with the blog this weekend.

Our afternoon in San Antonio was delightful. The weather has been wonderful and we have enjoyed staying ahead of any bad weather. The Alamo was really quite interesting. Seems the Mexican government encouraged immigration , then Santa Anna reniged on the deal and started pushing out the settlers. The Alamo stood strong against Mexican dictator, but to a man, they were killed. I learned most of this from the IMAX movie I saw! We toured the grounds and enjoyed many of the exhibits. Don loved hearing about his boyhood hero, Davey Crockett (what self-respecting little boy in the 50's didn't have a 'coonskin cap?).

We then bought bus passes and toured around town. Seems that San Antonio is a really livable city. In the evening we got together with my grade school/high school friend Pat. We had so many laughs over "our early years." I am hoping that the great stories we told will encourage Don to attend my next hs reunion! Don is still raving about the dinner he had at Las Canarias. We really did enjoy the company and the food.

San Antonio, AM

I just emailed Audrey and told her that it is a luxury to stay in one place for two nights. However, I also countered that it is also nice to wake up in the morning and face an entirely new adventure.
We had Tex-Mex food last night along the Riverwalk. This morning, it definitely was gym time. Luckily, there was a big bowl of apples at the gym and that was breakfast for me (not the whole bowl…just one). It’s not that I am cheap, it’s that I have determined that I haven’t met a menu I didn’t like.

Returning to our room, reminded me that we have been in almost a dozen hotels the last two weeks. Keeping room numbers straight has been an “issue.” “We are in 208.” “No, it’s 412.” “This hotel doesn’t have 4 floors.” “Oh.”

We are going to tour the Alamo today. Don only let me see a little bit of it yesterday. He likes to delay the “good times.” Hmm, a fort where hundreds were killed is “good times.” That thought leads me back to the 9th ward in New Orleans. I guess MOST of our significant sites relate to some kind of destruction.

I hope to meet up with a St. Jude’s grade school and Elyria Catholic HS (go Panthers) classmate of mine tonight.

Off to Remember the Alamo.

Texas Highways to San Antonio

After the brief stay in Houston, we got on the road this morning for the 200 mile drive to San Antonio. Yesterday, when we hit the Texas border and saw the mile marker at 850 miles, it gave us a new appreciation of the breadth of Texas.

The land west of Houston is flat and scrubby. There are plenty of cattle ranches. About 75 miles east of San Antonio, we took a northern route to Lockhart, TX, home of the famous Black’s Texas Barbeque. Lockhart is an old Texas town with an old, ornate courthouse in the center of the square. Black’s is downtown and we weren’t the earliest for lunch at 11:30 AM. The lunch special includes two sides and either beef “briskit” (sic); chicken; pork; or sausage for $4.95. The restaurant has been in the Black family since 1932. It was great, but Texas barbeque is different in a couple of ways. It is heavily smoked and not sauced. (If you have ever eaten at Curtis’ Outdoor Barbeque in Putney, VT…it is vastly different from Texas barbeque). Also, sausage is often offered as a selection. I read somewhere that Texas barbeque is an outgrowth of the Eastern Europeans who brought the technique here. We enjoyed it immensely. Thanks, Ernie for suggesting it!

The diversion from Interstate 10 was welcome. Lockhart is in Texas Hill Country, near San Marcos where LBJ went to college and was a school teacher. The rolling hills are quite different from flat terrain outside of Houston. If you ever read The Path to Power by Caro, the description of the Hill Country is very vivid.

We got into San Antonio and checked into our hotel which is the La Mansion del Rio. I knew that the Society of Mary (the Marianists who founded the University of Dayton) had a college here called St. Mary’s, but I didn’t realize that the site of this historic hotel was also the site of their first boy’s school. That was neat to learn. (Go Flyers, again)

We are on the Riverwalk and we took a stroll. There are no guard rails along the walk. There are also many Margarita establishments. I can only imagine the number of people who end up in the drink after a drink.

We are looking forward to a good Tex Mex dinner tonight. Saw the Alamo briefly, but will go into that tomorrow. (Is there a basement in the Alamo? Only Pee Wee Herman knows for sure.)

Houston, can you hear me?

We left The Big Easy bright and early this morning. It is a beautiful city and the Garden District had so many impressive houses with “Iron Lace” balconies. But time to move on to Texas.
We drove across southern Louisiana for about 4 hours. Don is doing all the driving. Don’t ask me why, I have a really good record. Every time I ask him if he wants me to drive, he is pretty quick to say “No.” Hmm.

But anyway, I am happy navigating, reading billboards (out loud, of course) and doing other inane things. (Ted Turner is now divorcing Jane Fonda on disc 12.)

We have driven through Creole, Cajun, and Zydeco country. Claire gave us a great book…1000 US Places to See…and in reading through it as we drive reminds me of how much we are still missing as we cruise on Interstate 10. Will have to plan another trip.

We stopped for lunch at Rabideaux’s which is a “sausage restaurant.” The place is a meat market/mini mart/restaurant. Our Audi was the only car in the parking lot…the other 15 vehicles were pick-ups (there was also one Harley). Don had a sausage hoagie (sort of like kielbasa) and I had a boudin sandwich which is a southern sausage, not smoked and somewhat delicate (is that an oxymoron when talking about sausage?) with lots of rice in it. We looked a little out of place there (as most Audi drivers would) but I would recommend a visit if you are ever in Iowa, Louisiana.

We arrived in Houston and realized that we are now half-way across the country. The weather is 67 degrees. We were able to see the Houston smog from about 20 miles out. This town is really dedicated to burning up as much fossil fuel as possible. Having worked for Exxon, I should know. It isn’t my favorite place to visit, but we are stopping to see friends…an ex-colleague of Don’s from Columbia and another friend who is on the faculty at Rice. Rice University is supposed to be in a lovely area of Houston, so I am hoping to change my opinion of the town.

Tomorrow, we will get on the road to San Antonio. Ernie recommended that we stop in Lockhart, TX http://www.lockhart-tx.org/web98/visitors/bbqcapitaloftexas.asp which is the barbeque capital of the Texas and so that is the lunch plan. Did I mention that I brought a bathroom scale with us on the trip? Did I also mention that I haven’t yet dug it out of the trunk of our car?

New Orleans: day two

Our City tour was very comprehensive. We saw the French Quarter, Lake Ponchartrain, St. Louis Cathedral, the Garden District and many more historical sites. However, I have to back pedal on “not gawking at other people’s catastrophes.” Seems the tour industry feels this is an important part for visitors to look at and there’s no stopping the telling of the story. The story is very sad and there is so much to do particularly in the 9^th Ward. Our tour guide lives in an area which was devastated and he recounted the bureaucratic nightmares he experienced. Looking at the levees and the below- sea-level neighborhoods, I wondered if or when a disaster will reoccur. Rebuilding has been slow. Interestingly, Brad Pitt is funding home rebuilding which features solar power and energy efficiency. The photo shows the building and represents hope but the barren neighborhood indicates that there is so much more to be done.

After lunch we continued touring the French Quarter visiting the Ursuline Convent, built in 1753, it is the oldest building in the Mississippi Valley and the St. Louis Cathedral. As I tour New Orleans, I am struck by the influence of the Catholic Church in its history.

We walked two miles back to our hotel on St. Charles in the Garden District. St. Charles is on the Mardi Gras route and there are beautiful mansions along the tree-lined street. Looking closely, glass Mardi Gras beads hang from limbs. More beads to join these on February 24, Shrove Tuesday, when the 2009 Parade occurs.

I have been writing this while watching the inauguration. What a wonderful day.

We have now been “on the road” for nine days. We plan to arrive in Santa Monica on January 29, so we are right in the middle of the journey.

I didn’t do an entry on Sunday…a day of rest. Don was worried I would lose my readership. However, I figured that the “Nation’s Newspaper” USA Today doesn’t publish on the weekends and it is still in business, so I can take at least one day off.

Sunday morning we had such a great reunion with the Busovne family. Twenty-four years is a long time not to see friends, so we are resolved to not wait so long! We a looking forward to seeing Bernie, Jr., and his son Nathan when they visit Penn State this summer.

We hit a milestone while on our trip from Niceville to New Orleans. On I10 we hit 70 degrees while driving 70 mph! 70 is the warmest it has been on our trip. (By the way, on disc 9 of Call Me Ted, Turner finally marries Jane Fonda.)

We arrived in New Orleans late afternoon. We will be here for three nights. Don is visiting with colleagues at Tulane Monday evening until Wednesday. We are staying in the Garden District and took a trolley to the French Quarter last night. We had reservations at Galatoire’s on Bourbon St. (Yes, Michael, we are eating our way across the USA). We had some time to walk around the French Quarter. I have been here a few times for various conferences. It is interesting, but not really my “cup of tea” or more appropriately my “hurricane glass.” (Gosh, do they call the drink glasses that any more after Katrina? Have to ask someone.)

This morning we woke up to a bright, but cooler day. Martin Luther King Day will bring some celebrations downtown, I suspect. Don has the day free and I put him in charge of finding something interesting for us to do. The only thing he has come up with so far is visiting Café du Monde to eat beignets. I pressed him for something more cultural. There is a D-day Museum he is interested in…how that subject figures into New Orleans culture will be interesting to learn!

There are tours of the City and tours of the Katrina-stricken area (we did see some demolished buildings as we drove into town). But neither Don nor I care to view other people’s catastrophes. Also, knowing so many friends who have come to help Katrina victims, I would feel humiliated to be here as a mere gawker. Our cab driver last night (who was originally from Youngstown, OH) thought the City is coming back, albeit, very slowly. These are tough economic times for everyone…let alone a place struggling to make a comeback.

Don signed us up for a City tour…got to go.

Orlando to Niceville, FL

We woke up early as usual. Our dinner with Max and Ruth was great. We usually see them once a year when they visit Max’s daughter in State College, but in 2008 we missed them, so it was particularly nice to catch up.

At 7:30 AM today, we were ready to get on the road. We faced a seven hour drive. It is the longest one we have scheduled for any one day, but we wanted to see Bernie (Dr. B, to me…more about him later) and his wife Madeline, so we were anxious to get to Niceville. Should we take Interstates 75 and 10, which is a practical way to reach the panhandle of Florida, or should we take secondary roads? The secondary roads won out.

US Route 98 was a particular gem. We got on it going west just where the “handle meets the pan” in Florida. Driving along with the Gulf of Mexico to our left, we enjoyed the calm water and sunny weather (though the temperature never rose above 53 degrees). We also enjoyed a respite from franchises and commercial development.

Most of the commercial signs were handmade. One in particular caught my eye: “Live” Shrimp, 5 miles. Don wondered what “live” in quotes meant….were the shrimp really alive; were they faux alive; were they just dead? Were they shrimp at all? What made the sign maker use the quotes? We will never know.

At lunch time we started to look for a place to eat. We did come upon one town with a McDonalds, Burger King, Checkers, etc. on every corner. Sadly, there were little local restaurants scattered around, but they were all closed. Victims of the $1 menus, I guess.

When we got to a town called Panacea, there was a sign for Hook Wreck Henry’s Dockside Café. We stopped and got a table overlooking the Gulf. A Jimmy Buffet recording was providing the appropriate backdrop for our Blackened Shrimp Po Boy sandwich. There were a few locals knocking down beers and eating raw oysters (with many miles to drive…we couldn’t take the chance on imbibing OR eating just one bad oyster!).

Going the backroads took us about an hour or so longer, but it was worth it.

We are now in Shalimar, outside of Niceville and will be visiting Dr. B and Madeline soon. I met Bernie Busovne in 1971 at an admissions conference (professional call name: AACRAO) in Cleveland, OH. I was working for UD…doing a lot of the traveling I described earlier in the blog and was restless for a change of venue, so I had stopped by the AACRAO placement center and picked up a bunch of application materials. With the papers spewing out of my arms…I went to a conference room, to listen to a speaker. In those days, I smoked (horrors) and so did a lot of people. The seats of the conference room were peppered with ashtrays and I asked the man in front of me for one. He turned around to hand one to me and saw the application materials I was holding. He introduced himself, said he was looking for an Assistant at Penn State. “Are you looking for a job?” “Yes, sort of.” “Well, here’s my card:” Dr. Bernard Busovne, Director of Graduate Admissions, The Pennsylvania State University. “Send me your resume.” I did and the rest is history (well…it was a little bit more complicated than that…they offered the job to someone else who turned it down, but hey, that made me feel even more destined to live in Happy Valley). I think I did have one phone interview but really there was no extensive vetting. I think my Eastern European name of RZETELNY made me an attractive candidate to a guy with the name of BUSOVNE.

Gainesville to Orlando

We spent our last night in Gainesville and took a detour south to Orlando. We drove through Ocala which is horse country. (http://www.ocalacc.com/ocala_florida/templates/tourism.aspx?articleid=18 ) Who owns these horse farms with big gates and private air strips? Gina comes down with her horse Chubby in February and Suzanne’s daughter has been mucking around Ocala occasionally, but who actually owns these properties? They are impressive.

Don finally got some authentic barbecue at Big Rascal's off of Interstate 75 outside of Ocala. We knew it was a good place to stop…at 11:45 AM the parking lot was already full. He is still hoping for some boiled peanuts and I guess I will eventually relent.

Oh, by the way, in South Caroline I did spot a Stuckeys. It was connected to a Dairy Queen. Pecan log and soft serve. Now that satisfies a sweet tooth.

Tonight we join Max and Ruth Richards for dinner. Max was Don’s thesis advisor for his Penn State PhD program. Max was called “Max the Ax” by all his MBA students. He held all his students to very high standards. A little know fact about my husband’s doctorate is that it was not a business degree. He got an interdisciplinary PhD in strategy and studied college, hospital, and business organizations. I thought “inquiring minds” would want to know that.

BTW, we are going to Ruth’s Chris tonight…beef with butter. I did go to the gym this morning in anticipation.

Interstate driving IS a bit boring. Not as boring as sitting in an airport, but nonetheless, a bit monotonous. Since Don has only allowed me behind the wheel for about three hours so far, I have had a lot of time to check out the other drivers. (I can only backseat drive so much, you know.) What is with vanity plates? (Is this something Jerry Seinfeld would ask?) How much do people pay for these clever little sayings: Cidz Bus; HUGGY; Bzy Grl; Mi Phd; SERVN HM; ThBoyz. What would I chose for my plates? How many tries does the State Dept. of Transportation allow someone to get something original? I guess I think of a vanity plate like a tattoo…it might be cute today, but what about tomorrow?

Gainesville Redux*

*I have always wanted an occasion to use the word "Redux!"

It is nice to stay put for a day or two after changing hotels nightly.

Yesterday, we had the opportunity to go to the Butterfly Rainforest at UFLA’s Museum of Natural History (http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/) which is conveniently across the street from our hotel. I have been to smaller versions of butterfly enclosures, specifically, at Van Saun Park in Paramus, NJ, but that was a traveling exhibit. This permanent exhibit is really lovely with over 1500 butterflies living in the enclosure.

We then drove the 50 miles (hey, what’s another 50 or so out of 3,000!) to Cedar Key on the Gulf. It is so authentically a small seaside community…it looks like a movie set!!

All this car travel reminds me of my first job. I worked in Admissions for the University of Dayton (go Flyers). My boss handed me a set of car keys and told me to visit as many community colleges east of the Mississippi and north of Virginia as I could in three months. That was 1970 and community colleges were just being established. UD wanted to capitalize on admitting newly-minted associate degree students to baccalaureate degree programs on our campus. I drove 60,000 miles in a year and had one fender-bender in Syracuse. Unlike my colleagues whose recruiting efforts at high schools were clustered regionally, I moved from place to place almost daily. Hard to believe today, but forty years ago it was unusual for a woman to travel and stay in hotels alone. I grew weary of all the travel but it whetted my appetite for car trips.

So here I am, on the road again.

Since 1970, I DID have one other cross country trip in 1975. Jeanne Ormrod and I drove across country in her VW. Jeanne was a SAINT. It was a new VW and I had never driven stick shift. Sharing the driving with me, particularly in San Francisco, was an experience. On the trip West, we had a two-person tent and would set it up between behemoth RVs at camp grounds. Jeanne was getting married that year, right after we returned (now that’s a bride who was organized!) and, as luck and fate would have it, I started dating Don when Jeanne and I returned to State College. The rest is history.

I went to the gym this morning. It really did feel good! Don is off to work at UFLA and I am going to do some errands and maybe take in a movie.

You have noticed that I finally figured out how to upload pictures. I am going to add some to my earlier blogs. Got a cute one of the belted cows, particularly for Carol and Ellen!

Gainesville

Yesterday, we walked around Savannah in a light drizzle and visited Juliette Gordon Low’s birthplace and Paula Deen’s kitchen store. Odd pairing, but both interesting and enjoyable.

Every place I visit, I want to buy property and live there. Savannah is no exception. The homes are beautiful and many front village green squares (there are 20+ in town). Of course they all look like money pits. Because it is a historical district, not only does the 1800’s plumbing need to be fixed, it needs to be fixed “historically correctly.” Guess I will pass.

The trip to Gainesville was about 4 hours and it rained the whole way. We continued to listen to Call Me Ted. In the chapter we are on, Ted Turner has now purchased the Atlanta Braves. As I sit in the car, eating Twizzlers, I feel like a slug. Why can’t I turn-around billboard companies, AM radio stations, UHF TV stations and the Atlanta Braves? This is a rhetorical question. Please do not respond. Much of Turner's drive he attributes to an abusive and controlling father. Guess it was my misfortune to be raised by loving parents.

There was a certain smugness in the air driving into Gainesville. Those of you who are college football fans will know why. They won their championship (supposedly a NATIONAL championship) and the Nittany Lions didn’t. Oh, well, Barack Obama may be able to change the whole BCS thing after he solves the economic crisis, Mideast Crisis, and global climate change.

Since it is sunny and 50 degrees here and snowing and freezing in State College, I will put up with the smugness and all the blue and orange regalia. The town is a lot larger than State College and while the campus dominates, as the PSU campus dominates State College, it really has a different feel….and about 10 times the number of shopping plazas.

We are the guests of the University of FL Management Dept. Well, Don is the guest, I am the “spouse.” We had a lovely evening last night dining with a member of the faculty, Henry Tosi. The next two days Don will be meeting with other faculty.

This afternoon is free and we will be venturing to Cedar Key which is on the Gulf. According to Henry it is like the Florida Keys of days gone-by. Don is looking for barbeque for lunch. He feels deprived because I talked him out of buying boiled peanuts on the drive from Savannah. (Have you ever eaten boiled peanuts? YUK).

Some of you need to know the answer to the Manassas/Bull Run question. Kathy Gaetz posted her response (and has made suggestions regarding posting pix), but Moh Jiun sent hers in an email which I share with you:

In regards to the name of the Bull Run/Manassas Battlefield, here is a possible answer from the web; here is the URL (scroll to the bottom of the page)-- http://www.nps.gov/mana/

"During the war, the North generally named a battle after the closest river, stream or creek and the South tended to name battles after towns or railroad junctions. Hence the Confederate name Manassas after Manassas Junction and the Union name Bull Run for the stream Bull Run"

Savannah GA

Woke up in Savannah, GA, this AM. It is raining, which is nothing new for our travels. We spent a month in Europe last year with only about five sunny days. Global climate change or just our bad karma?

We had only one chance to dine in this great culinary city and we definitely wanted Southern cooking. It was a toss-up between Paula Deen’s restaurant and a place called The Olde Pink House. The Olde Pink House won out. Both Don and I love grits. Don’s mom is from South Carolina, so it is understandable that he enjoys this dish. Polish, from Ohio, who knows how I acquired the taste (or some might say grits have no taste!). The restaurant is in a grand old Southern home with several rustic dining rooms, all with fireplaces. My favorite of the evening was the pork chops; Don’s favorite was the fried green tomatoes with southern cured bacon. YUM

Speaking of YUM, how can we avoid gaining 50 pounds each as we travel to LA? We have all these great plans of not eating lunch, sharing entrees, etc., but that goes out the window. The last few days, as soon as I get in the car, after breakfast, I am plotting a lunch plan. Hmmm. And all these gyms we have at these hotels…well, haven’t hit one yet.

We are currently sitting in our hotel room, trying to decide if we want to go out in the rain to see the city. We took the bus tour yesterday afternoon as soon as we hit town. I would like to go back to some of the sites, particularly, the Juliette Gordon Low birthplace and first Girl Scout headquarters (was our troop number 83?).

A surprise for me is that Savannah has many restored colonial-era homes. I think of it primarily as Civil War era. The squares are lovely, even in the rain. Our hotel room looks out over the Savannah River and the huge container ships pass in front of us.

Time to go out and run between the raindrops.

Fearrington, NC

First, let me mention I THINK I have changed the protocols to allow anyone to respond to the blog. Now that I know that “sex” is in my URL, that means I will get ALL kinds of responses from all kinds of strange people which might be fun, right?!

Let me tell you about our stay at Fearrington. Ellen Lev was kind enough to email me and say she, too, thought a lot about visiting Fearrington and seeing the belted cows (which if I learn to post pictures in the next few days, you will see).

Fearrington Inn was really worth the trip! I tried to encourage Barb Ruane’s family and Michael Stevens’ families (independently, as they do not know each other…six degrees of separation from ME!) to move there (me, living vicariously?) but I retract that recommendation. The multi-use place is interesting, but don’t pack the moving vans. The Inn, however, is great. Yes, worth a trip if you are visiting Duke or UNC. They do have belted cows and you will love to see the pictures, again, if I figure that out.

After Fearrington, we took the six-hour drive to Savannah. We listened to Call Me Ted…appropriately as we traveled the South. (Thanks, Claire for giving it to us!). Seems Ted Turner used to have billboards from Macon to Savannah and then you know what happened when he hit Atlanta (clue: C-N-N).

One of the more interesting parts of traveling south on I95 is SOUTH OF THE BORDER (or as the water tower indicates S.O.B.). Again, pictures will follow IF… Have you ever driven to FL on I95? You will have encountered the billboards (which start 30 miles before South Carolina’s border}….a sampling:

• · Pedro Says: World’s #1 Miniature Golf
• · Camp Wee Pedro!
• · Too Moch (sic) Tequila
• · You Never Sausage a place…You’re always a wiener at Pedro’s
• · Pedro’s Africa Shop
• · Hat’s Around the World
• · Back up Amigo. You Missed It!

Believe it or not, a fellow UD grad was a manager of this rest stop. What an interesting gig.

We are now in Savannah and had a great tour. More about it tomorrow, as I am a little tired. My throat is sore from singing “A hundred of bottles of beer on the wall” for 400 miles.

Oh, by the way, I did encounter tons of computer sign-on problems at Fearrington which may be related to the belted cows, that’s why you didn’t hear from me this AM.

Also, thanks to Kathy Gaetz and Moh-Jiun Chen for the explanation of North/South battle names. Very interesting.

We go to Gainesville tomorrow and have three days there, so I have time to work out these technical problems.

PS. How many days can one wear the same pair of jeans?

Charlottesville

Yesterday, I told Don to check out my first blog submission before we hit the road. He got really excited! Not because of the blog submission but because he thought the URL sounded promising.

http://peganddonsexcellentadventure.blogspot.com/

HA…it must be a gender/sight thing.

Well, we got on our way and beat the snow and sleet on Saturday. Don and I bonded by having deep discussions, such as, “Who IS Arthur Treacher” of fish and chips fame and what was the name of Jimmie Dodd’s sidekick on the Mickey Mouse Club? We listened to oldies CDs from the ‘60s and now, listening to all the words, wondered why Leslie Gore was always taking those cheatin’ guys back.

Our first stop was at Manassas, VA, where the Battle of Bull Run took place. It was considered the “loss of innocence” of the Civil War. It wasn’t quite clear why the federals call the battle Bull Run and the southerners, Battle of Manassas. Anyone know?

We decided to eat at local places and found one called the Cracker Barrel (ha, ha). What is amazing about this chain is that it is the same everywhere one goes…right down to the packs of Teaberry gum for sale. I imagine a franchise on the moon with nary a lunar reference. I have crossed the place off my list. Don is dying to stop at an Iron Skillet, so I guess one more chain restaurant is in our future. And, needless to say, we brake for Stuckeys. However, I don’t think they are around any longer. Maybe in the Midwest?

After Manassas, we drove to Charlottesville, VA. What a lovely place. About six years ago we spent two weeks here. Don was then the guest of Prof. Ming Jer Chen and University of VA. It was nice to be back and particularly to visit the Chens. Andy and Abraham, their sons, have certainly matured since we last were with them. Looking at our friends’ “children” and our own “child” (Claire turns 28 this month) really brings home how quickly the times goes. The Chens were lovely hosts for the evening. Moh Juin and Ming Jer are so gracious.

I am determined to amass as many Marriott points as I can, so we stayed at a Fairfield Inn. This morning we are planning a drive to Fearrington, outside of Chapel Hill where we will stay at the Inn there. I have wanted to visit there ever since I saw their ad in the New Yorker about 20 years ago (strange obsession?). We will see if it lives up to the two by three column ad that has been running for decades.

Oh, Claire mentioned she posted a comment on the blog, but I don’t see it and Sue mentioned she was prevented from posting, so I will check into the protocols and post instructions…unless one of you beat me to it.

It's a beautiful morning...think I'll go outside and just smile

6:58 AM and Don just finished putting the last shirt in his suitcase. Of course I have been packed for days, which means everything I own and wear for the next 19 days will be severely creased.

We are excited about taking this trip, particularly, because we staying ahead of a big snow storm due today. The itinerary: Charlottesville, Chapel Hill, Savannah, Gainesville, Winter Park, Niceville, New Orleans, Houston, San Antonio, Marfa, Carlsbad, Tucson, Phoenix, Santa Monica. Whew. Mapquest estimated that the aggregate time for this trip is 58+ hours. We are doing this over 19 days....

We are sharing the driving. Sharing means when I drive, Don sleeps, and when Don drives I assist with helpful hints such as "WATCH OUT." Will we be speaking in 19 days? Only time and this blog will tell.