Relaxing

So I arrived in San Antonio Sunday evening not feeling great and very welcoming not doing much of anything, which was exactly what I got to do. A little catching up and some Walking Dead was the prefect ending to a crazy weekend.

It has been a very relaxing visit with Amber so much. Brynn is absolutely adorable, but it makes me miss Emma and Anthony to pieces. I really cannot wait till Thursday I am hoping I can facetime with everyone at Family dinner. Also, I give my sisters and friends with kids mad, crazy props because just like my last visit with Amber I am very much informed and reminded just how much work goes into having kids.

I am really hoping I will get to see my Uncle Mark and baby Mark... but we shall see. I am thinking Thursday I am going to take off and do some exploring by myself.

I am really trying to stay on top of my work and job searching and getting my butt in gear for whatever is to happen next. Tomorrow I promise myself to actually do some exercise!! Although, I must say I have eaten pretty well the last few days; so that is something :-)

So I have started to really hone in on the Boulder search, but still keeping my eyes open for elsewhere. I am ready to do something amazing - I just can't wait to find out what that is!

Debauchery and the Aftermath haha (Saturday/Sunday)

So of course after a night of some drinking I would wake up at 7am. Complete and utter nonsense! Travis' nephew was having a sleep over for his bday, so I ended up hanging out with the boys for awhile while I waited for everyone else to get up. Travis, mom and I went for breakfast at Ihop. I got some delicious strawberry lemonade drink that was BOMB! My whole wheat pancakes with 6 blueberries were pretty good too. We ended up taking Blake out to go birthday shopping, which was an adventure and I picked up a cool tow vacuum for Brynn's birthday present. Quick lunch for Blake and snack for the adults at Fridays and we headed back to the house. We had a nice lounging around afternoon and I even snuck in a nap! OO I love naps!

We all put on our Saturday's best (snacked on some pizzas) and then piled into the mini van and we were off! We headed back to the Library (apparently they have a deal from 8-11 of $2 you call it shots...) We danced, played some pool, watched two people basically have sex in the bar -- which it was super awkward that no one that worked at the bar did anything to stop it... literally people all the way across the bar were taking pictures. All in all everyone had a good time... little bits of drama... but what can you do.

I definitely saw the sun come up before I went to bed and only had a few hours of sleep. I felt pretty good when I was woke up, surprisingly.  Could not say the same for Travis though. I was so in love with the weather I could have sat on the back deck and napped all day. Eventually Travis' mom and I went and got lunch because we were starving. It was nice to just chat with her, we had never done that before. We picked up some food for Travis and then headed back to the house. I repacked up all my stuff (kind of almost forgot my laptop... that would not have been good) and I hit the road.

Once on the road just how tired I am really sets in and my stomach starts to just be ridiculous... So needless to say it was NOT a fun leg of the trip. Additionally, my Low Tire Pressure light came back on... which makes me think that I might have a slow leak in my rear passenger side tired... because the light came on at the beginning of my trip too... And when I went to go pay for my gas... I have no idea where my ID or debit card are. I swear when I put my money into my purse my cards were with the cash. I have the cash, just no cards. It is super weird. I have called the bar, I have checked my dirty laundry, I had Travis looking around his brother's house... nothing to be found yet. I am going to tear apart the car tomorrow in hopes that I will be able to find them. Very thankfully I had thought I lost my ID three years ago after some birthday celebrations and ended up going to get a new one, and now I have an extra one... but the debit card is going to be a little bit trickier because the card will have to get mailed to my aunt and uncle and then get sent to me wherever I am when they get it. Additionally, if makes me either have to use my credit card for everything (which I really do not want to do) or I have to write someone a check and have them give me cash so I have money.

OO the situations I get myself into. After numerous stops thanks to my angry stomach, I finally get to Amber and Jimmy's a few hours later than I had hoped, but safe, sound and in one piece. We hung out for a little while and watched the walking dead, which I feel like I should really take this show up because it is pretty bad ass. They liked the toy vacuum that I got for Brynn, and I look forward to seeing her play with it tomorrow. And with that being said... I am off to bed (way later than I had wanted) all caught up on my postings about my trip. Got some work to do tomorrow and probably an oil change since I am already past the 3K mark since I got my car. Farewell everyone!
*Star

Double Duty (Thursday/Friday)

So Thursday I was so busy getting bills paid, checking on things, and getting Taft work done I did not leave myself enough time to update everyone. So I will give you a two day update…

I woke up in Atlanta with excitement to get my butt out and walking. Tiff and Mark had shown me around in the car a little bit the night before and I was excited to check stuff out. I took a walk around and found a nice little place to have breakfast at – damn those biscuits again, I am pretty sure they will get me every time. That is where I wrote my last post. I took some fun pictures with some iron statues, poked around in some cool stores, and generally just enjoyed being outside and walking around. It is a pretty cool little neighborhood!

The truck got a new alternator and new front brakes. I probably should have done the back breaks, but the guy said that technically I could wait a little longer, so that is what I will do. I am sad that I did not ask him for the brake pads he took off because the guys at Fair Auto are being ridiculous about my truck. I am angry! And plan to keep pressing them until they do right by me.

I got back on the road around 3:30. It was a pretty simple day’s drive. At some point seeing the towns I would driving through made me feel like I should be in a Sookie Stackhouse novel! I made it the rest of the way through Georgia, all the way through Alabama, and half way through Mississippi. The cool thing was since I got towed to Atlanta I got an extra 60 miles of driving before I had to get gas J. I talked to a lot of people, being that it was valentine’s day. My Nana got me a very cute card, which she had to remind me to open…

I ended my day in Jackson, MS. I had a pretty nice dinner with some good company at the bar in some restaurant. I wanted to try this Jazz/Blues place but there were about 5 cars in the entire neighborhood so I decided against that. Then there was this walkers drive in which sounded pretty cool, except when I got there is was PACKED, with a wait and everyone was on a date and looking VERY fancy.  So I walked around the area and finally found Que Sera Sera. I had a delicious Crab Stuffed Red Fish with a lemon cream sauce, with linguini and a salad and of course a couple drinks. It was fabulous. I ended up at the Red Roof… waited about 30 minutes to get a room – I am hoping that is was more because the poor guy was not trained properly and just shoved on the shift. Once I finally got settled and the people stopped fighting downstairs, I watched some weird wrestling movie and went to sleep without setting an alarm. I allowed myself to sleep in a little bit, especially because I had all sorts of weird dreams and did not sleep well at all. 

Friday was a good day.  I got up, paid bills, checked on a bunch of stuff and got a lot of Taft work accomplished. I made a quick stop and then got back on the road. Nothing particularly interesting happened on my drive to Texas. I went through the rest of Mississippi and all of Louisiana -- drove right through Shreveport, and on into Texas. Travis' brother's house is beautiful! Travis, Alex and I went out for dinner and drinks. Drinks were super cheap at the Library -- ya that's the name of the bar we went to it was pretty cool. The one thing I am not a big fan of is that you can smoke in the bars still down here. 

Eventually we headed out to another bar to meet up with Travis' brother and mom and some other people. Sadly, my bowl of chili for dinner (and not much food for the rest of the day) was not a very good base. Definitely had a good time though. When we got home I snuggled on the couch with the two awesome very large dogs they have. It was great!

Wouldn’t Be a Jess Road Trip…

I started the day off nice and early. I would use the term bright, except it was raining and I am sure the sun would have only been peeking its nose above the horizon when I initially woke up. There was pure excitement and anticipation for the Jack Daniels tour and making it to Atlanta before the traffic got too bad.

The drive to Lynchburg was a rainy one! I stopped for breakfast, which would have been soo mediocre had it not been for the biscuits! You just get back this imaginary line and the food changes a little bit, or at least some of the food. The biscuits were the absolute saving grace of my meal. That and it was super cheap, woohoo! I got to take the equivalent of Rt 1 most of the way, which was a nice change of pace from the highway and gave me some nice insight into inner Tennessee.

My tour was amazing!! The last minute I realized they offered TASTING TOURS!! For only $11! This is made all the better because Lynchburg is in a DRY county! What a silly concept! One of the largest distilleries is in a dry county; go figure? I learned some cool little tidbits on this tour like: The county went dry during prohibition and never reverted back when it was abolished. AND there are only about 1/5 of the needed residents living in the county in order to vote on making it a wet county, and that is the main reason it remains dry! Also, I learned it does not pay to come into work early – it was ultimately the demise of Jack. One day he came into work before everyone else, after being on the road for a long time. He got so frustrated at himself that he could not remember the combination to his safe that he kicked it, and of course like a stubborn man completely ignored the pain in his foot for weeks! When he finally went to the doctor his big toe had gone gangrene and it had to be amputated. Eventually, it spread, despite the amputation, and then had to keep removing body parts until finally he died in 1911. Also, his nephew Lem is really the reason that Jack Daniel’s Whiskey still exists today. He is the one who maintained the property and restarted the business after prohibition was lifted. He made it so that he could still make whiskey, despite being located in a dry county, and ultimately kept the tradition alive and passed it down to his family. So you can be sure with the 160^th Anniversary bottle of Jack I purchased I will be saying at least one Cheers to Lem! But of course the coolest part of the tour for me was the tasting. We got to take Old No. 7, Gentleman Jack, and Single Barrel side by side with each other! It was fabulous and the Single Barrel was by far the winner in the tasting. I think I am adding to my Bucket List that one day I need to purchase my own barrel of Jack – which can range anywhere from $9-12K for approximately 240 bottles that come with your name on it and gets delivered right to your house. You also get to do a private tasting at the distillery! Anyone want to go in with me?

Well I left Jack Daniel’s a pretty happy camper, thanking that I had waited so long to do the tour because it allowed me to do this special tour, see really cool parts of the distillery you do not normally see, and I got to technically taste FOUR types of whiskey (including the 140 proof pre-barreled jack! That was delicious and potent!)

I headed on my way to Georgia, very excited to see Tiff and Mark and ready for the next part of my adventure. I did not expect the adventure that would ensue. Battery light comes on; I start to worry. Stop get gas, check things out, light goes off; SWEET everything is ok. Get back on the road, light comes on again… PLEASE GO AWAY!! And car stop dinging at me!... CRAP! AWD Disabled!, Brake Light On, Anti-Lock light on, Low Fuel ding!, fuel gauge zips down to empty, radio shuts up, DAMNIT!! SONNOFAA!! Get off the exit quick! Pull into gas station… turn off car… Crap, car will not start again… L sadness! Calls, texts, AAA… woohoo I am within 60 miles to where I had planned to be tonight and I have 100 free miles per tow!! Tiff knows a good trustworthy mechanic right by her house! Best break down ever! AAA comes in about an hour, not too bad, it’s still light out, no one really bothers me, and I am going to get the next 60 miles without having to waste my gas. AAA guy is kind of cute, mixed of friendly conversation and peaceful silence. Sun decided to show its face just as we pull off on our journey to Atlanta. OO the fun of road trips! Would not be a Jess road trip if something did not go wrong with my car! Haha at least now it is out of the way and I can happily and safely get on with my journey. Of course that is after I spend about $500 to get a new alternator woohoo…

Well today is going to be spent roaming about Tiff’s part of Atlanta, and getting in some MUCH needed exercise! It feels great to be out of the car for a little bit and walking around. It is just a bit chilly which makes walking around delightful. Happy Valentine’s Day all! I love you all in some way shape or form, as love has soo many. Fill this day and EVERYDAY with love; for yourself, for the people in your world, and for this world and all it encompasses.

*Star

Thank Goodness For Friends!

So Day 2 of driving was fun and beautiful! Virginia and Tennessee have very captivating land. In the nature of this adventure I decided to take an unplanned detour and just check out something called the "Skyline Drive"... only I completely missed the turn for it and ended up driving in the the mountains of Virginia, which was absolutely breath taking! I was on the Blue Ridge Road (I think that is what is was called...) for about 30 miles, when I started to wonder if and when this thing ever ended. I am still getting used to the truck (I really need to name her by the end of this... Bertha, Bella?? suggestions?) so I did not want to be that far away from civilization for too long, especially because most of my journey had no cell reception and no passerbyers.

Well I will tell you it was quite interesting! I got out at a few over looks, one in particular, which was breathtaking. Climbed a few rocks for better views, but thought better of doing too much since I was not in proper attire, had no cell service, and there was no one to hear me scream if something did happen... haha. Then I decided it was time for me to get back to a main road. Well did I ever get some insight on what my truck can handle. I went down one of the MOST curvy, windy, tight roads I have EVER been on in my entire life... and that says a lot! After that drive, I feel much more ready to take on the roads of Colorado!

The rest of the drive was pretty easy going. I stopped in Virginia somewhere for gas and everyone was so nice and polite; holding doors, pleases, thank yous, ma'am s and sirs. It really put a smile on my face. Not to mention they had some pretty delicious looking food! Fried chicken, mac and cheese with ham or something in it, peas and hamhocks, etc. yum! I am already snacking too much while sitting in the car so I did not partake, but I took a picture to share later.

Speaking of pictures I am really trying to stop and take them, but it would be soo much better if I could take them while driving! I mean some of the fun things I saw today include: numerous Shoney's sign (first one got me!) ... I used to work at one in Little Rock and Amber still makes fun of me for how I say it! On a sign under an Attractions a Retirement Home was listed! Are there old people extra crazy and entertaining or something?? A gigantic white cross that you could see MILES down the road. The list goes on and on!

I ended the day meeting up with Manson's cousin at a Socceer Taco in Knoxville. The food was delicious, Danny is a cool kid, and my beer mug was soo cold it left my beer a little icy - it was delicious! OO and you know what type of beer I had!??! Yuegling!!  OO how I missed its delicious taste! We ended up just hanging out the rest of the night on the couch. I had to be a little rude and take some phone calls, but it happens when you are a traveler.

So now here I am at 7am up and almost ready to walk out the door to head to Lynchburg, TN to go do the Jack Daniels tour!! Then from there I will back track and head down to Atlanta to see Tiff! I am super excited! May even get a facial tomorrow woohoo! Hope everyone is enjoying the nonsense that is my rambles. Until next time!

*Star

North East Travel

So just a quick update as I it is already WAY later than I wanted to be out and about.

I did it! I left! Monday, Feb 11 at 1:30pm I left Milford, CT and headed on my journey. Of course it would not be without worry... Lake size puddled were everywhere making my car steam like crazy and putting me into an absolute furry of concern!  Then once that finally simmers down... my Low Tire Pressure Gauge comes on!! COME ON!! Three gas stations later I still cannot find an air hose that is clear of the snow... Thankfully the Fairfield rest stop pump was open. And thanks to the little kit my aunt and uncle gave me I actually knew what my pressure was because the air pump had no gauge! Of course while I am there I forgot to pick up ice for my cooler! I even went inside! Bagh!

It was a little rainy and very foggy but a steady drive... until I get within 20 miles of the GW... what a disaster! It took forever!!

Get into Jersey... getting constantly funny smells... making me worried about my car again.... but then I remembered where I was... yucky! get me out of here! Gas, ice and pee break later I am on the road.

I really wish I had gone through during the day because it seemed like there were some cool things I would like to check out... some other time perhaps...

Made it to Baltimore!! Had a nice dinner and drink and catch up with an old friend from college and then was off again. There was NO way I was trying to deal with DC traffic in the morning (or as it would turn out afternoon!) lol...

So I found a nice cheap, clean enough motel in Charlottesville, VA and that is there I am writing you from. You have to appreciate the beauty of the North East: CT, NY, NJ, DE, MD, and VA in all less than 10 hours driving! Woo Hoo

Now off to adventure on my way to Knoxville and the meeting Manson's cousin :-) Sure is great to have friends who are also travelers -- their families are soo accepting haha.

Farwell for now!

*Star

Nothing goes as planned

So I know I am a little behind on this regular posting thing already... So why don't I get everyone caught up on the craziness that is this adventure.

After being cooped up in the house for a LONG time without a car my uncle took me out Jan 30 to look at vehicles. After a couple hours and at least a handful or places I found a truck I really liked and was in my price range.

Friday, Feb 1 I picked up my new to me 2003 Buick Rendezvous. It had all wheel drive, it super big to fit all my crap in it and its loaded with all sorts of fun little extras.  (you know only a week or two after I really wanted/needed to have a car)

It has been quite an adventure going through my life, unpacking, repacking, in and out of storage, etc... I have narrowed down my belongings, donated a whole bunch of stuff, and then put off a bunch of stuff back into storage.

Saturday (yesterday) I was supposed to have a big bash going away party... but three feet of snow sort of got in the way of that happening. It also has gotten in the way of me getting the rest of my crap to storage... And from getting some vacuum bags to minimize the space my blankets are taking up...

So my leave date has been pushed back a day... I am missing the Philly Tattoo Convention and I think I need to replan the beginning of my trip.

I hope some people are able to get themselves out and come visit me before I leave tomorrow, but I understand that it will not be possible for most.

Maybe this is how it was supposed to be... no big good byes, no big fuss, it will all work it self out in the end.

So I leave tomorrow, I am charging the camera, packing up the truck, double checking all my finances, and recalculating my routes. Planning a nap, some cleaning, getting some Taft work done and a lot of hanging out and relaxing.

Wish me luck and fun :-)