Alright, let’s get down to brass tax; here are the journal entries for the return trip. Same as before, I will keep the untainted, original version in regular font, and anything I’m adding to that will be in italics. It’s really complicated, I know. You’ll have to deal with it. Oh yeah, and I’m going to eat a scalding, lava-hot chicken pot pie (which I guarantee I will burn the fuck out of my mouth as I eat) while I’m typing this, so…there may be typos or random aggressive comments as a result of me being in pure pain from eating something WAY too hot, and this might be something you’ll have to deal with. Prepare for that, I guess. I don’t intend for my language or comments to offend anyone, but uh… well, here we go.
12/10/09
Hollywood
I am starting up the journal again for the return trip back east. I haven’t written anything about the weekend trips, so I’ll have to add them in later on. I start out going to Hollywood with Hogan after work Thursday, Dec. 10.
So I picked up the journal again after my few months working in California. Each weekend we took a trip to some awesome place and had crazy fun-times, but like I said, I’ll have to add that in later (maybe?). As for where we lived, it was in the middle of the state, middle of no-where, cow-farm Lemoore (the horrendous combination of water with sulfur and cow shit gave the entire town a nearly unbearable stench. It stings the nostrils). After planning the return trip back to Malvern (and back to Boston after Christmas), I had to wake up to the stark reality of returning to a life of actual responsibilities and cold weather, and departed California.
I arrived in LA following Hogan after work (a short day: we said our goodbyes to the people we met at the base and left at about 10:00 am). His hotel was in Universal City, right next to Universal Park. I was staying in his hotel room because I had already used up my GE hotel stipends for the other nights of the road trip. We started off walking around the park. It was much too expensive to go in, but cool to see for a bit.
w00t - Universal Studios Hollywood
We then took a train to Hollywood. We saw the Hollywood walk of fame and the Chinese Theater. We had both been there within the past few months, so we didn’t really do anything new. We went to an Irish pub and had some food and beer. We then played a game of pool, which I accidentally won.
After getting drunk at about 6:00 pm, we took a bus down to Mar Vista to meet up with Hogan’s friend and road trip companion. Similar to the first road trip, I am driving alone, but periodically meet up with Hogan at Phoenix and El Paso. It was a very sketchy, crappy area. We eventually met up, but not before a few rounds of bowling. As usual, I was terrible. We had a Tecate (our last Californian/Mexican beer; we had grown to love this beer…kind of…during our time out west) at a Mexican bar, where we were the only people speaking English. A creepy woman started talking to us about how “guapo” we were and about her “unfortunate” body proportions. Yeah, that really happened. We went down to another bar by the beach and had a few pitchers. Then we took an EXTREMELY expensive cab ride back to the hotel. Kind of a weird, eclectic day in the LA area.
12/11/09
Phoenix
I woke up and drove to Phoenix, hitting only a little traffic in LA. The Sun was already setting when I got there, plus I lost an hour on the way (damn you Arizona, for arbitrarily deciding not to adhere to daylight savings, thus inconveniencing me slightly!), but I got to see a lot of Saguaro cacti: that really famous, tall cactus that basically represents desert life in the southwest, and only grows in Arizona and California. You need a special permit if you plan to cut any down for construction purposes. I actually got out of my car on the side of the highway to take pictures of them: they were THAT cool. Also, I passed a huge wind farm along the way. It had thousands of wind turbines, so it was pretty freaking amazing. MORE PICTURES WERE TAKEN. I admit it: I’m kind of a nerd when it comes to wind turbines.
Arriving in Phoenix, I soon realized there isn’t much to do. I walked around and saw some buildings and a park, but the Sun had already set, so I couldn't really do that much exploring. I walked by Chase Field and the US Airways Center (where the Suns are playing the Magic tonight). I am going to meet up with Hogan to try to watch the game at a bar.
OK, I’m back. We went to a little pizza place near the stadium. It had great pizza and cheap pitchers of beer. We stayed a while after closing because the owners were super nice. After that, we went to another bar where this really drunk girl kept falling all over Hogan. As she was being taken to a cab, her fairly unattractive friend (who, instead of escorting her friend home, stayed at the bar) then started hitting on Hogan. I had a good rofl at this entire situation. We went upstairs, which was an open roof where they had a DJ playing techno songs. It was actually really cool. There was some person that, for some reason, decided to wear a costume, hockey mask, and wig. It sipped its drink through a straw through the holes in the mask and danced really girly, but we had no idea if it was a guy or a girl. I actually remember being kind of weirded out by that fact, and we still have no idea what it was.
12/12/09
El Paso, TX
I left really early and drove straight to El Paso, Texas. I passed through the remainder of Arizona and a bit of New Mexico to get there. I remember feeling slightly upset about leaving the southwest, because I really found it to be a cool and interesting place. Plus, you can drive REALLY REALLY fast, and nobody gives a crap. Because there is nobody there. El Paso is a really small town right next to Juarez, Mexico. I walked around a bit, but there isn’t really that much to do or see. There are a ton of Mexicans; I only walked by two people who were speaking English. IN THE ENTIRE CITY. I had a couple burritos for lunch, and they were damn good. The menu was only in Spanish, and that is all the waitress spoke, so I’m still not entirely sure what I ate. One of them was friggn spicy though. At this point in the trip, I DO NOT YET KNOW THE DEFINITION OF SPICY. More to come.
Later on, I decided to walk over to Juarez. Mistake. There didn’t seem to be any kind of Customs process to get into Mexico, you just…sort of…walk over a bridge? I remember getting to the end of the bridge and paying 50 cents, but I really don’t know if that was necessary…or legal (I honestly didn’t know what the fuck was going on). I stood out like a sore thumb. Everyone on the streets knew I was American; it felt pretty dangerous. I only later learned the Juarez has the highest murder rate AND rate of American kidnappings in all of the Mexican border cities. Super. The homeless would ask for change from me especially, and the guys trying to swindle money always came directly to me to lead me to some “massage place.” I eventually found an open market near a really old Mission. There were thousands of people here, either going into random crappy side-street stores or eating food from the street vendors. It was an ok place, but I wanted to get out of that city immediately. I had my passport, so getting back into the US was fairly easy. Yeah, don’t go to Juarez guys. For that matter, don’t even bother going to El Paso. You aren’t missing much.
I met up with Hogan and his friend for dinner at a Mexican restaurant called Carlos and Mickey’s. It was really cool; they had a live band and enormous margaritas. I’m not kidding; it was probably a half-gallon of margarita. One was enough to get me tipsy. The food was great, although we were a little full from the margaritas. They had some amazing chips and spicy salsa (again, I have no idea what level of spiciness is in store for me later in the trip). When my chimichanga came out (and it was DELECTABLE), I was too full to eat much of it.
I had a drink back at the bar in my hotel after dinner. It was a fun place; I think I was unknowingly crashing a wedding party, but I was definitely drunk, so I didn’t give a crap.
12/13/09
Carlsbad Caverns and Guadalupe Mountains National Parks
After hitting snooze a few times (hangover related), I drove a short distance to Guadalupe Mountains and Carlsbad Mountains National Parks (they are only a 20 minute drive apart). I got lost a bit trying to find the caverns, but eventually made some random turns and stumbled upon it. Carlsbad Caverns is a huge cave system in New Mexico, on the border of Texas. It was pretty mind blowing, just FYI. The entrance to the cave is a long path down into the ground. Eventually you make your way to the bottom (well, bottom-ish) of the cavern. The depth there is 750 feet below the surface. I did the “Big Room” loop, which takes you past most of the cool cave stuff. There were stalactites, stalagmites, and all sorts of crazy cave stuff. Thanks, I AM great at describing things!
After I did the Caverns (and note that I hadn’t gone anywhere for food, I just had snacks that were in my car for every meal), I drove over to Guadalupe Mountains National Park. I hiked a few short trails, saw “Nipple Hill,” you know, the usual. Hahaha, I forgot about Nipple Hill. Oh man, it looks like a single, ripe boob growing out of the ground. That’s when the fun began. I was so proud of myself, because this was the first time I was going to set my tent up when it was still light out! This is true; every time we had gone camping during my stay in CA, or on the road trip west, I had always run out of light and set up my tent in the dark. I remember being super pumped about being on schedule for once. However, it was even windier than Joshua Tree National Park, so my tent was NOT going to get set up. If I end up writing about Joshua Tree, you guys are in for a treat. It was so windy that after attempting to set up my tent for 20 minutes, I had to give up and stay in Hogan’s shorter tent, which we managed to set up despite the wind. I tried for a friggn LONG time, but every time I got one pole set up, the rest of the tent blew down. I even had rocks inside to keep it from moving. Then I replaced the rocks with boulders. By the time I gave up, I had seven large boulders taking up a majority of the floor of the tent. Eventually I had to give in to the fact that it was not happening. I opted to sleep in the car.
Sleeping from 5:30 pm to midnight (camping in the winter sucks, because when you camp, you really can’t do shit after the Sun goes down), I woke up periodically to view some spectacular shooting stars; apparently it was one of the biggest meteor showers the south had ever seen. Some of them were insanely bright. I then drove to San Antonio (losing an hour along the way). Driving in Texas is interesting; there are different night and day speed limits (I’m pretty sure the night speed limit is a bit slower because the day speed limit is literally faster than you would have time to react to given your reduced field of vision). Some of the limits were 80 mph. They also have random speed increases (like 70 to 80 mph) for about 20 feet, and then back down. I had no idea why, and it was REALLY confusing, especially given the fact that I was pretty tired (I was driving from midnight till 8:00 am to get to San Antonio). While I was horrendously tired from an awful night’s sleep in my car, it was a cool drive. Driving 80 mph with no other cars on the highway, and about every minute I’d see another shooting star. It was something I doubt I’ll ever experience again. I have yet to decide whether or not this is a good thing.
12/14/09
San Antonio
I got to San Antonio in the morning and checked into my hotel early. I bumped into Hogan (who at this point was a day ahead of me in the road trip, so he was leaving San Antonio), but he looked hung-over and in need of a nap. Then I went out and explored the city. It was cloudy and foggy, so I didn’t feel like being too aggressive in my adventuring. I basically went around and saw everything cool that wasn’t the Riverwalk and the Alamo (I was waiting for nicer weather to see them).
After I saw some stuff, I decided to drive over to Chunky’s Burgers to try the famed Four-Horseman Burger. I had been waiting to do this since July, when I heard about it and saw the “Man vs. Food” episode that featured the burger. When I drove there, it was closed. I was devastated. Apparently it is closed on Mondays. I vowed to leave San Antonio late tomorrow so I can go there for lunch. I say this without hyperbole: this is the worst mistake of my entire life. Even six months after the fact, and with a kickass story to go with it, I continue to regret this decision.
I drove back downtown and ate at a Mexican place on the Riverwalk. It was a good meal at a really pleasant place, right next to the river canal. I then strolled around the Riverwalk for a bit and went to the Alamo. It was definitely smaller than most people think, but I was already expecting that, and it was so cool. So much history there. I probably ended up walking around every square inch of it.
It's the friggn ALAMO
I left after a bit and went back to the hotel to come up with a nighttime action plan. I also gorged myself on homemade chocolate chip cookies and pink lemonade that the hotel provided for me.
I went back to see the marketplace square. It was ok; just some souvenir shops. Then I went on a sightseeing excursion on the Riverwalk at night. It was amazing at night, completely decorated in Christmas lights. I found a Texan BBQ place and nom’d some steak, shrimp, and a margarita. I can get used to this food stipend. Honestly, I ate like a king some of the days. One of the good aspects about doing the road trip alone: the food stipend (which is probably enough for two people per day) went entirely to satiating my two-person appetite.
After a delectable meal at the steakhouse, I went to Coyote Ugly. It was surreal: it was exactly like the movie (or what I imagined the movie would be like if I had seen it. Basically it was like the episode of “Always Sunny in Philadelphia” when Artemis was acting a scene in Coyote Ugly, and then licked Dennis’s face. Haha, good times). I had a few local beers and watched the bartenders dance on the bar (and slap dudes in the face for some reason?) in what I can only imagine is the closest I’ll ever be to a strip club.
12/15/09
Houston
Worst Day of my Entire Life
All in all, I’d say this day wasn’t great. In fact, FUCK this day. The only worse day I could possibly imagine would be if the Eagles lost the Superbowl, Lauren broke up with me, my family died, the zombie apocalypse struck, AND the Sun went into Supernova ALL IN THE SAME DAY. Ah, I guess there was some unfortunate phrasing there, but you get the idea: rough day. Let me explain.
The day started off fine. I woke up late (8:00 am) and had some complimentary breakfast. I waited in the hotel lobby until Chunky’s Burger opened up and went there to FINALLY try the Four-Horseman Burger, which I had waited to do for about an eternity. Give or take. This is the hottest thing in the world, having the four hottest peppers, including the Ghost Pepper, the hottest pepper known to Mankind. Little did I know that this simple food item would bring me to what I believe is the closest to death I’ve ever been.
I actually had to sign a waiver saying they were blameless if I had to be hospitalized. Not a good start. Since I was waiting basically six months to eat this damn thing, I was the first person waiting outside for them to open, so I ordered first. I went up to the hostess (or whatever she’s called. Some girl taking the orders. Shit, I don’t know), and proudly exclaimed, “I’ll have the Four-Horseman Burger, please!” Her response did not generate a positive feeling: “Are you serious?” She called back the order, to which the chef responded “are you serious?” Shit. Not good. Then I signed the waiver, and decided not to take part in the “challenge,” which requires you to not drink anything or go to the bathroom while you eat it. FUCK THAT, I want some damn milk. UNFORTUNATELY FOR ME, I was unaware that they actually had milk. It would have been way better. Also, I didn’t realize that the guy in “Man vs. Food” had gloves while he ate. That would have been PRETTY FUCKING HELPFUL TOO. So I took my first bite. Jesus Christ Monkeyballs it was spicy. I had never before been in so much pain. Everything was burning. The burger was COMPLETELY COATED in what looked like BBQ sauce, but I later found out it was actually FRIGGN HABANARO SAUCE – the second hottest pepper in the world. Immediately, every possible liquid started pouring out of my face. I was wiping away sweat, drool, snot, tears, hell even ear wax (not really the ear wax, just in case there are some extremely gullible people reading this). My mouth had never hurt so much in my life. I went to the bathroom to wipe off all the sweat. About five minutes later, all the skin that had pepper oils on it felt like they were receiving second degree burns for an extended period of time. Even my eyes, which I had accidentally touched while I was wiping off sweat. EVEN THE PLACE I TOUCHED TO GO TO THE BATHROOM. I was in agony. I wanted nothing more than to dunk my balls into the coldest water imaginable (which I’d assume is somewhere around 32 degrees F. I KNOW IT IS DIFFERENT BASED ON PRESSURE, but give me a damn break). After I finished the burger (yes, I finished that god forsaken thing), I faced a couple glasses of milk and, disoriented from spiciness and hallucinations, went to my car to drive to Houston. I was actually hallucinating a little bit from the spiciness. For real.
It wasn’t a long drive. About an hour after I finished the burger, I finally stopped sweating and burning. I was able to feel my lips again, and my face went back from bright red to a normal color. “I’m in the clear, finally, after the worst pain in my life,” I thought to myself. Not even close. After an hour more of driving, my digestive system starts doing its thing. TO THE HOTTEST PEPPERS ON EARTH. It felt like my intestines were being torn asunder. Like my skin was trying to tear itself away from my abs. I had to pull over THREE TIMES because I couldn’t even see straight. I was alone in my car, literally screaming from pain. I downed an entire bottle of pepto bismal (no joke, I chugged the whole thing), but that wasn’t enough. At this point, I actually thought I was going to die. I even went through the 5 stages of grief. I specifically remember bargaining for my life and saying that I would never eat anything spicy again (uh, I guess I forgot about that little promise…). I got to the acceptance stage and started looking for a hospital. Before I got to one, I hit a rest area, so I stopped there. Thankfully I passed a rest area when I did. I LITERALLY kicked the stall door open, and puked for five straight minutes. I was positive that my stomach was bleeding from the POISON that I had just consumed and vomited out, but there is no way of knowing, because the entire toilet bowl was bright pink from the pepto. Finally I felt better. I’ve never been in so much pain in my entire life. It was seriously the worst. Don’t eat the Four-Horseman Burger.
After the “almost dying from eating the hottest pepper on the planet” ordeal, I arrived at my hotel in Houston and immediately began exploring. There isn’t really that much to see except some tall buildings. I saw Minute Maid Park, where the Astros play, but that’s about it. I’m going to try to go to a pub that has a microbrewery for dinner.
The next excerpt is going to be typed as best I can. Apparently I got fairly wasted, and in my blacked out condition, continued this portion of the journal entry. As such, the writing is nearly undecipherable, but I’ll do my best. Here goes:
I found some microbrew that wasn’t a microbrew at all. The owner gave me quite a few free free samples (?). He was pretty awesome, and so was his beer. We talked over four beers, and he gave me quite a few free tastes. I wish I could have indistinguishable words “gilbeinen iln it.” Yeah, not sure. It tasted so good. The tasting was incredible. I say we do it again.
Hahaha, I do not remember writing this last night. Apparently I had a great time at this bar, the Brewery Tap, and I guess the owner gave me a shit load of free beer samples. This bar was really cool, because it was one of those places where everybody knows each other and is really friendly. I chatted it up with a bunch of the regulars and had a pretty good time.
12/16/09
New Orleans
New Orleans: what an awesome city. Driving into the city I developed a headache that stayed with me for a while, which was unfortunate, but I had an amazing day (maybe I was comparing it to the previous day, which was horrendous, but no. New Orleans is awesome). My hotel, Orleans Bourbon, is a cool, but fancy looking hotel in the middle of the French Quarter on Orleans and Bourbon streets. It is right behind the St. Louis Cathedral. I started off by checking out Bourbon Street and some nearby places. I got gumbo at some little courtyard restaurant. I think the crab was bad, or maybe it was my headache, but I wasn’t really into it.
I walked around a corner, and all of a sudden I became an extra in a movie being filmed. I’m not sure what it was called, but the scene I’m in involves me walking by a street corner with some other people as a girl plays a violin and a guy plays a keyboard. Pretty cool.
I walked around the park next to the Cathedral and around the Mississippi River area for a while. Local artists were putting up their artwork that they had painted on pieces of wood. I bought a cool looking painting from a really friendly guy there. Then I bought some pralines (brown sugar-pecan candies) and had hot chocolate and beignets (fa fried dough, dessert kind of thing) at Café du Monde.
I then chose poorly for where I’d have dinner: a place that wasn’t even open when I got there. Less than an ideal start. I got seafood pasta. The seafood was bad and the sauce had cheese on it. Disgusting. It is really unfortunate that both my meals weren’t great, because from the looks of everything else there, it seems like the food should be amazing. I think I just got unlucky.
After dinner, I checked out some above-ground cemeteries (since New Orleans is below sea level). Then I decided to do the whole Bourbon Street thing. Such a cool place. I started off at Pat O’Brian’s; I got a Hurricane (a really sweet drink that was invented there), saw the cool flame-fountains, and the dueling pianos. Walking by all the strip club/whore houses, I went to a Jazz/Blues bar and a few other bars with rock bands playing. It was a great night. The only problem is that Hurricanes are too damn sweet. Also, my spit is red. Also, I think I’m drunk.
It is at this point in the road trip I think I’m starting to get that lonely feeling from being alone for the trip, where it is a bit awkward eating dinner and going out by myself. It was still fun, and really interesting to talk to people, but it would be nice to be at all these places with other people too. Hogan and his friend at this point were way ahead of me, so we weren’t going to meet up anywhere else along the way.
12/17/09
Jacksonville, FL
Waking up to rain and a monstrous hangover, I quickly checked out the Super Dome, had some beignets, and started my 8.5 hour drive to Jacksonville. Not really a fan of driving for that length of time. I passed through Mississippi and Alabama and KEPT ON DRIVING. What a sucky drive. I watched (listened to) the entire South park movie and still had 6.5 hours to go.
I eventually got to my hotel after the Sun was already down. Did I mention how it sucks when daylight savings is no longer in effect? I figured I wouldn’t really see that much of Jacksonville and decided to get some dinner near my hotel. I walked over a really cool bridge and ended up at Jacksonville Market, a really fun place.
It had an enormous Christmas tree, a fountain, some good restaurants and a live band. I quickly realized that the Colts were in town playing the Jaguars that very moment from the fireworks coming from the stadium. Also, there were hundreds of Colts fans everywhere.
I got some amazing crabcakes at a seafood restaurant in Jacksonville Market. I then finished watching the game at a small bar, River City, where I had some good local beers.
Jacksonville - in case you didn't read the title of this section of the post
12/18/09
Savannah
As I wait for my clothes to dry off and hopefully for the pouring rain to let up, I’ll update my journal. I got up early, ate some Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and drove up I-95 to Savannah. It was a short drive (at least in comparison to yesterday), but completely rainy. There was a huge hurricane/snow-pocalypse happening along the east coast, that just HAPPENED to be the same time and rate that I was driving up, so my weather situation for the next few days is pretty weird. I’ve accepted the fact that it will be rainy for my stay here, so it’s not that bad. While I’m sure this city is amazing in nice weather, it is still really awesome in the pouring rain. Also, it is still relatively warm, so I’ve got my shorts on. My hotel is in the historic district, so I walked down to River Street and saw all the candy shops and bars there. Also the famous(ish) boats. Then I walked past a few small courtyards, with very quintessential southern moss and historic Savannah houses all over the place. I then went to the Colonial Park Cemetary. A lot of Savannahians (is that what they are called? I have no idea, and at this point I don’t give a damn) between 1750-1850 were buried here.
At this point it started pouring. I made my way back to River Street and ate lunch at Bernie’s Oyster Bar. I walked in, completely drenched, and the hostess seated me and then immediately brought me a towel. I think she was amused by my adventurous spirit in the midst of a hurricane. Or maybe I looked really funny soaking wet. Nope, it’s probably the first one. I had some cheap oysters, crawfish, and beer. Delicious. I talked to a guy who worked there (I was the only customer at a bar at 11:30 am, go figure) from New York. We talked about the storm, football, the Giants and Eagles, and the northeast. It made me miss home a bit, but hey, I’m just a few days away. Great bar. I decided to go back to the hotel to dry off, so here I am.
After attempting to go out again, I was thwarted by the worst rain yet. Seriously, it was pouring really fucking hard. All my clothes are soaked.
Finally the rain stopped, so I went to Forsyth Park, a really cool, big park (big for Savannah). After the Sun went down, I went back to River Street for dinner. I had some more oysters and a crab cake sandwich. The oysters here aren’t the best, but they are really cheap, so I won’t complain. After dinner, I decided to call it a night to get up early. Hopefully I won’t be following the storm tomorrow. I do end up following the storm. For the rest of the drive. Hurray.
12/19/09
Nags Head and the Outer Banks, NC
Driving to the Outer Banks took a lot longer than I expected. Almost eight hours. I left fairly early though, and didn’t really hit much weather; just some rain and sleet here and there. Also, I stopped at South of the Border to buy some fireworks. Definitely a good investment.
When I got to my hotel, I found that my room is on the top floor with a balcony right on the beach facing the water. I guess that’s because I am one of only two guests staying there tonight. Yeah, that probably has something to do with it… anyway, the room is pretty awesome. The view at least. I don’t see myself sitting out in the 50 mph winds. The ocean is going NUTS. It is actually cold too. First day of the year I needed long pants. It makes me glad I packed ONE PAIR OF LONG PANTS for my entire duration on the west coast.
I stopped off for some quick lunch at the ONLY RESTAURANT THAT WAS OPEN in all of Kitty Hawk before exploring the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. The Outer Banks are like a ghost town this time of year. It is seriously the only open restaurant, so I suppose I’ll be going here for dinner as well, unfortunately. This place is completely dependent on tourists. Nothing is open, it is kind of crazy.
I drove down most of Cape Hatteras.
I saw the first lighthouse and drove halfway down Pea island (the second of three islands) when the water in the road (from the storm) was too high to drive through. Unfortunately I had to turn around before I could get to the Hatteras Lighthouse. Maybe another time. I think I saw it from the Aircraft Carrier when we left port a month ago, though, so no worries.
Now I’m just sitting in my room. There isn’t much to do here…in December…after dark…in a windy storm. I’ll probably get dinner and go to bed early. I think the drive to DC tomorrow is going to be terrible. It snowed over 24 inches there. I’m sure the traffic and the road conditions will be awful.
12/20/09
Washington DC
The drive was fairly horrendous, but all the snow was already on the ground, so it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. People were driving like assholes though. Apparently everyone loses their minds when it snows down south. Also, I learned that my car performs fairly well in snow. Good news.
Traffic was terrible in Virginia; at one point I was completely stopped in traffic for half an hour. It was especially rough, because I had to pee. My only option was to climb the snowy banks and go in front of the entire line of stopped cars. It must have been a funny view.
I made it to DC at a reasonable time, but there was snow EVERYWHERE (DC has no plows…) and people do NOT know how to drive in it. I saw some asshole in a SUV (thinking his car was invincible) drive full speed through a snow bank. What a prick. I parked in a garage, and went to Kyle’s apartment, in an up-and-coming, mostly Latin, neighborhood. I stayed with Kyle Thompson-Westra, my half-bear/half-lumberjack friend from Maine who I had previously lived with for four years at Tufts. Swell guy. It was great seeing him again. We just got some take-out with his roommates and chilled for the night (indulging in South Park and Always Sunny in Philadelphia, of course).
12/21/09
Malvern, PA
I drove back home to Malvern tonight, but not before seeing the ENTIRE mall area of DC. I took the DC metro to one end and saw literally everything at the mall. The Capital Building, National Air and Space Museum, Natural History Museum, Washington Monument, White House, WWII, Korean and Vietnam Memorials, Lincoln Memorial, and Jefferson Memorial.
It is pretty rare seeing Washington DC with snow all over the place
My feet were tired and freezing afterward, because there was two feet of snow everywhere and all I had were my sneakers with holes in them. Super. I may have frostbite?
I met up with Kyle, got some 5-Guys burgers for dinner, and then hit the road. It wasn’t a bad drive (I’m comparing this to the 8+ hour drives across the country and the rainy, hurricane-y conditions up the east coast). Definitely good to be home with my family. Plus, I think I’m done with Christmas shopping.
So that’s my return road trip to the east coast. I certainly miss the west coast, a lot in fact, but it is good to be with all my friends and family out here. If you get one takeaway from my road tripping experience, let it be this: DO NOT EAT THE GHOST PEPPER. You will die. The only reason I didn’t die is because I am invincible. You, on the other hand, do not have that trait. Just don’t do it.
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