Hey everyone, well it's been a crazy few weeks and we've loved the trip, and I hope you guys enjoyed them along with us.
Yesterday we saw the flight museum and the Seattle Art Museum, where we visited a wonderful Andy Warhol exhibit. Then after a failed attempt to find Salty's (a local recommended seafood restaurant), I blame it on the construction, we had some dinner on the Pier and then went to a local improv club.
It was a fun last night and we are now preparing to head out for the 1 day 17hour straight drive ahead of us... we are stopping don't you worry but that is our predicted drive time.
As an update to the Plate Challange: we have found 38 states to date (as far as I am aware)
Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
California
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Michigan
Minesota
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nevada
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
Ohio
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carollina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
We'll miss the States, but it has been amazing and I'm sure we'll carry these memories with us forever.
So long and thanks for all the fish.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
The Departed
Hello all!
The Alex Trio has safely and successfully landed back in Toronto. There was many a teary eye to return to reality, but one thing that is for sure is that this past month on the road will never be forgotten.
To those who are still on the trip, stay well. I hope your travels lead you safely back home. Itll be strange having to check the blog every day looking for updates of a trip I just left, but im looking forward to witnessing the new adventures that await you.
Best of luck
The Alex Trio has safely and successfully landed back in Toronto. There was many a teary eye to return to reality, but one thing that is for sure is that this past month on the road will never be forgotten.
To those who are still on the trip, stay well. I hope your travels lead you safely back home. Itll be strange having to check the blog every day looking for updates of a trip I just left, but im looking forward to witnessing the new adventures that await you.
Best of luck
Monday, August 23, 2010
On the Road Again - The A-Team Version
Hello everybody!!
Sorry for the long delay in posts; as Adi said before, the time has flown and with so much to do with no breaks to organize the multitude of media we have stored on our collective media sources. Some have leaked onto the ever present and checked FB and others have been gradually appearing on the site, but the trip to Seattle with the varying tempos will be up soon.
It seems Adrian gave a general overview of our most recent travels so I will just highlight a few points that have suffered a brief brush in the previous post.
One guy that was forgotten in our LA week was the lovely and accommodating local by the name of David, who, by chance, gave us the best view of his great city that anyone will ever see. The night-scape was amazing but the day in my opinion was even better. This was because the view came from the top of the Hollywood sign on the Hollywood Hills development. Trouble seemed to follow our half hour hike that day as a man had supposedly fallen into the brush and the police, park rangers and fire brigade were called to the top for the search and rescue. I was very tempted to ask them for a ride down after the killer incline, but I knew I needed the exercise.
It was a sad time leaving LA, especially when the weather began to clear on that last morning. (I say morning very loosely because the group had a very hard time waking at any daylight hour!) However, the coastal highways were the highlight of that day and the epic moonlight pictures that ensued were amazing. Once we arrived in San Fran, a few obstacles dampened our spirits, yet the classy hotel was a fresh change from the constant horrible odour that permeated the Crown Plaza room the boys had inhabited.
San Francisco reminded me of Toronto and subsequently made me crave Timmy’s back home, but the best equivalent was Starbucks, and those prices don’t sit well with me. The group began to split and ended up with Adi, Fletch, Yvonne, and Robin going one way, and Julia, Alex, Alex, and Alex going the other.
Thus, I shall speak from my perspective: The first morning was a comfortable snooze and started off with a very good pub-lunch at the Elephant and Castle. I was aware of this chain in Toronto, but did not know of the other locations across the US. Then we branched out into the Financial district and took in the sights, which included interesting architecture, out-of-the-way parks filled with amazing sculptures and lots of history. History of ports, trains, mail, boats, and even cable cars. And, of course, the abundant amounts of seafood fresh from the coast. My favourite place definitely became Pier 39/Fisherman’s Wharf. The hooky gift shops had a type of charm that immediately endeared and enthralled you; to name a few: Alcatraz Gift Shop, The Holiday Shop, Dreyer’s Ice Cream, Everything Crab, Pearls Jewellery, and so much more. A breakfast crepe at one of their corner stores filled up all our stomachs for most of the afternoon. Bleeding into the second day, where resourceful Yvonne and Julia told us about the historical arcade and ships, as well as the Chocolate factory that moved to SAN LEANDRO. (Spell check Adi!!)
Was I really the only one who didn’t find the arcade creepy?? It was fun guys!
Now onto the next travelling portion. After the Golden Gate Bridge.....
Oh....OH....wait a sec! I almost missed out on a correction that jarred so greatly on Adi’s post. The Director’s well-timed, absolutely hilarious motion towards Adrian that momentous second morning in San Fran. I can’t believe Adi reduced this to ONE LINE. Ah well, guess it up to me to explain......
Sorry for the long delay in posts; as Adi said before, the time has flown and with so much to do with no breaks to organize the multitude of media we have stored on our collective media sources. Some have leaked onto the ever present and checked FB and others have been gradually appearing on the site, but the trip to Seattle with the varying tempos will be up soon.
It seems Adrian gave a general overview of our most recent travels so I will just highlight a few points that have suffered a brief brush in the previous post.
One guy that was forgotten in our LA week was the lovely and accommodating local by the name of David, who, by chance, gave us the best view of his great city that anyone will ever see. The night-scape was amazing but the day in my opinion was even better. This was because the view came from the top of the Hollywood sign on the Hollywood Hills development. Trouble seemed to follow our half hour hike that day as a man had supposedly fallen into the brush and the police, park rangers and fire brigade were called to the top for the search and rescue. I was very tempted to ask them for a ride down after the killer incline, but I knew I needed the exercise.
It was a sad time leaving LA, especially when the weather began to clear on that last morning. (I say morning very loosely because the group had a very hard time waking at any daylight hour!) However, the coastal highways were the highlight of that day and the epic moonlight pictures that ensued were amazing. Once we arrived in San Fran, a few obstacles dampened our spirits, yet the classy hotel was a fresh change from the constant horrible odour that permeated the Crown Plaza room the boys had inhabited.
San Francisco reminded me of Toronto and subsequently made me crave Timmy’s back home, but the best equivalent was Starbucks, and those prices don’t sit well with me. The group began to split and ended up with Adi, Fletch, Yvonne, and Robin going one way, and Julia, Alex, Alex, and Alex going the other.
Thus, I shall speak from my perspective: The first morning was a comfortable snooze and started off with a very good pub-lunch at the Elephant and Castle. I was aware of this chain in Toronto, but did not know of the other locations across the US. Then we branched out into the Financial district and took in the sights, which included interesting architecture, out-of-the-way parks filled with amazing sculptures and lots of history. History of ports, trains, mail, boats, and even cable cars. And, of course, the abundant amounts of seafood fresh from the coast. My favourite place definitely became Pier 39/Fisherman’s Wharf. The hooky gift shops had a type of charm that immediately endeared and enthralled you; to name a few: Alcatraz Gift Shop, The Holiday Shop, Dreyer’s Ice Cream, Everything Crab, Pearls Jewellery, and so much more. A breakfast crepe at one of their corner stores filled up all our stomachs for most of the afternoon. Bleeding into the second day, where resourceful Yvonne and Julia told us about the historical arcade and ships, as well as the Chocolate factory that moved to SAN LEANDRO. (Spell check Adi!!)
Was I really the only one who didn’t find the arcade creepy?? It was fun guys!
Now onto the next travelling portion. After the Golden Gate Bridge.....
Oh....OH....wait a sec! I almost missed out on a correction that jarred so greatly on Adi’s post. The Director’s well-timed, absolutely hilarious motion towards Adrian that momentous second morning in San Fran. I can’t believe Adi reduced this to ONE LINE. Ah well, guess it up to me to explain......
.....soooo, this morning the collective group in the Club Quarters hotel had been having a pretty difficult time attempting (key word attempting) to get up at a reasonable hour. By the time all of us gathered some semblance of clothing and hygiene the one unmistakable member of the group not yet ready to perform these tasks was Adi. Blood simply mentioned to the equally tired, but dressed Hofmann, to wake up the poor tired Romanian, and without blinking or pause came a loud SLAP right across the supple cheek of Mr. Muresan. Needless to say the room burst into howling laughter as Adi tried to process what Alex actually did to him.
There is no need to say that Muresan was very angry but got over it quite quickly.
Now back to Seattle....oops, I mean the travel to Seattle. There is not a lot to say about it that will not be posted by gourp 2 (Adi, Fletch, and Julia) but the Redwoods are an impressive stop for anyone travelling up or down the coast of Oregon and California.
NOW onto Seattle. The A-Team got into the downtown core ETA 10:00 on the dot and both Hofmann and I were immediately reminded of Frasier with the cityscape. This city is reminding me more of Toronto than the last, but I think that is because I am unconsciously readying myself to head back home to the familiar and comfortable pace that I am used to. The boys and I have a busy day planned tomorrow that will hopefully include the Flight museum, Underground Tour, Original Starbucks, Space Needle, Seattle Aquarium, and the SCIENCE FICTION MUSEUM, (you can eat your heart out Rankin!!!)
Both boys have decided to abstain from sleep tomorrow evening to cram everything into 1 fast-paced day; I only hope to keep up. My feet are not used to this kind of wear and tear.
Signing out from the sleepless city.
Alex S
Now back to Seattle....oops, I mean the travel to Seattle. There is not a lot to say about it that will not be posted by gourp 2 (Adi, Fletch, and Julia) but the Redwoods are an impressive stop for anyone travelling up or down the coast of Oregon and California.
NOW onto Seattle. The A-Team got into the downtown core ETA 10:00 on the dot and both Hofmann and I were immediately reminded of Frasier with the cityscape. This city is reminding me more of Toronto than the last, but I think that is because I am unconsciously readying myself to head back home to the familiar and comfortable pace that I am used to. The boys and I have a busy day planned tomorrow that will hopefully include the Flight museum, Underground Tour, Original Starbucks, Space Needle, Seattle Aquarium, and the SCIENCE FICTION MUSEUM, (you can eat your heart out Rankin!!!)
Both boys have decided to abstain from sleep tomorrow evening to cram everything into 1 fast-paced day; I only hope to keep up. My feet are not used to this kind of wear and tear.
Signing out from the sleepless city.
Alex S
OH and P.S. - Sorry Julia, I lost the game!!!
Sunday, August 22, 2010
On the Road Again
Hey all, sry for falling behind on our posts but life has been hectic. The following looks to be a rather beastly post as it is a recap of the last 4 days or so...
First off a few shout outs to some amazing people we have met along the way:
Thank you for the great service from Rosie at Pete's D restaurant in San Francisco, where we got a delicious "breakfast" burger, as well as Peter the very accommodating cheff at Pete's
We'd also like to mention Andrea and Allie, who we met while dinning at a Cafe in Elk, a small 250 person town going up the 101 on the coast of California
Lastly, but by no means least, we'd like to give a big friendly shout to Nate our waiter at the Lost Beach Cafe and wonderful establishment that had a lot of character and some delicious food.
Now to get to the meat of our adventures
The road from L.A. to San Francisco was beautiful and we took a couple of quick stops for some amazing photo ops, including some moon shadow pictures, these and many more beautiful sceneries will be uploaded soon.
The night that we arrived in San Fransisco we discovered that parking throughout the city was very expensive, so we decided to get a second room the next day that would have cheaper parking (and that we could split with Yvonne and Robyn). Fletcher and Adrian split off to do that, and Alexandros, Hofmann, Julia, and Simmons had their own adventures. They explored the farmer's market and old ferry building. They also saw the aquarium (pretty fish and jellyfish!) where Alexandros and Hofmann got to touch stingrays and sharks. They then went to Pier 39 to explore the shops around there a little bit.
That night we went out to check out the club scene in San Fran, sadly the club we wanted to go to refused to admit us with foreighn ID :'(... but we ended up goign to a wonderful place called Ko-Ko's Cocktails... The bartnder there defiatly knew how to mix. The gin mix he made me was a artistic. I highly recomend it for a chill night with a more local crowd.
The next morning I suffered a quite rude awakening at the hand of our Director. After which I was dragged out of bed at an unreasonably early hour. This breach of my beauty sleep, was, however, compensated with a delicious ham and feta crepes on pier 39.
We then visited the old Arcade on the pier. It was a trip through time, with many old arcade macxhines and most games goign for 25 cents. There was even a large mechanical diorahma of a carnival.
We were slightly creeped out by the overy smilling painted faces but it was a thoroughly enjoyable experience.
There were also two WWII era naval ships at the pier set up as museum exhibits. One was the USS Jeramiah O'Brien, a ship in the Merchand Navy. We got to see it's giant engines, which can take up to 1900 gallons of fuel, and many of it's quite large guns. The Director and Alex M. spent some time aiming it at Alcatraz. The museum on board the ship contained a very large and detailed diorama of D-Day. The other was a submarine whose name temporarily escapes me unfourtuantly
We were informed by a tour guide on it that it was in running condition, except that it needed some new batteries (and sometihng tells me runing to the corner store for some duracells just won;t cut it) and that it's propeller wascurrently on exhibit in Honolulou.
We also paid a brief visit to Ghirardelli Square. For those of you, like me, who are not in the know on the magical world of chocolate, Ghirardelli is one of the big names in the "biz". The square was nice but the factory that we had gone to see had unfourtunatly moved to San Leonardo... still it was very pretty.
Later in the Evening, armed with our passports (which we were told would gain us entry to clubs in San Fran) we tried to hit the city again. We went to two diffrent bars. The first wa a nice small place called the Minx, where we met a canadian bartender. Upon hearing my drink order she informed me that I was no longer in Canada... apparently bars int he states don't carry bar lime or smirnoff ice...
We left the Minx in search of a more dancey atmosphere and after several missed attempt with long lineups we ended up at a club called Swig. It was a nice place with a greart atmosphere and a good DJ. Unfourtunatly, to everyone's surprise, they did not carry Jagermeister or Rye... We made due with substitutes, but they unexpectadly called last call at 1:15, then closed the club and sent everyone home at 1:30... a ridiculously early time by our standards... and by the bartender's as well, who looked astonished at this turn of events as the club was full and people were lined up at the bar buying drinks.
The next morning we crossed the iconic Golden Gate bridge and made our way further up the coast. We broke up into three gourps. The A-Team (or the three Alexs) took one car at a faster pace so as to make it to Seattle in 2 days... sadly they have a plane to catch. Myself Julia and Fletcher took a slightly slower pace aiming to get there in 3 dsays, and Yvonne and Robyn took an even slower pace allowing themselves 4 days up the coast.
We drove to Eureka, Ca on the first day and spent the night there. Along the route we stopped at an Oyster bar just outside of San Francisco and had some delicious BBQ oysters, as well as some other scenic points. We have many pictures and you cna be assured they will be uploaded post haste.
It was later on this drive that we mte the previously mentione Andrea and Allie and had a delicious meal.
Today we are setting off for Portland, Oregon... an ambitious drive but with three drivers and alot of pretty redwoods we are excted about it.
Atractions comming up:
Redwood national Park (including us driving through a redwood!!!)
Scenic Drive offs (picked out by Julia from her guidebook)
and many more zany times
First off a few shout outs to some amazing people we have met along the way:
Thank you for the great service from Rosie at Pete's D restaurant in San Francisco, where we got a delicious "breakfast" burger, as well as Peter the very accommodating cheff at Pete's
We'd also like to mention Andrea and Allie, who we met while dinning at a Cafe in Elk, a small 250 person town going up the 101 on the coast of California
Lastly, but by no means least, we'd like to give a big friendly shout to Nate our waiter at the Lost Beach Cafe and wonderful establishment that had a lot of character and some delicious food.
Now to get to the meat of our adventures
The road from L.A. to San Francisco was beautiful and we took a couple of quick stops for some amazing photo ops, including some moon shadow pictures, these and many more beautiful sceneries will be uploaded soon.
The night that we arrived in San Fransisco we discovered that parking throughout the city was very expensive, so we decided to get a second room the next day that would have cheaper parking (and that we could split with Yvonne and Robyn). Fletcher and Adrian split off to do that, and Alexandros, Hofmann, Julia, and Simmons had their own adventures. They explored the farmer's market and old ferry building. They also saw the aquarium (pretty fish and jellyfish!) where Alexandros and Hofmann got to touch stingrays and sharks. They then went to Pier 39 to explore the shops around there a little bit.
That night we went out to check out the club scene in San Fran, sadly the club we wanted to go to refused to admit us with foreighn ID :'(... but we ended up goign to a wonderful place called Ko-Ko's Cocktails... The bartnder there defiatly knew how to mix. The gin mix he made me was a artistic. I highly recomend it for a chill night with a more local crowd.
The next morning I suffered a quite rude awakening at the hand of our Director. After which I was dragged out of bed at an unreasonably early hour. This breach of my beauty sleep, was, however, compensated with a delicious ham and feta crepes on pier 39.
We then visited the old Arcade on the pier. It was a trip through time, with many old arcade macxhines and most games goign for 25 cents. There was even a large mechanical diorahma of a carnival.
We were slightly creeped out by the overy smilling painted faces but it was a thoroughly enjoyable experience.
There were also two WWII era naval ships at the pier set up as museum exhibits. One was the USS Jeramiah O'Brien, a ship in the Merchand Navy. We got to see it's giant engines, which can take up to 1900 gallons of fuel, and many of it's quite large guns. The Director and Alex M. spent some time aiming it at Alcatraz. The museum on board the ship contained a very large and detailed diorama of D-Day. The other was a submarine whose name temporarily escapes me unfourtuantly
We were informed by a tour guide on it that it was in running condition, except that it needed some new batteries (and sometihng tells me runing to the corner store for some duracells just won;t cut it) and that it's propeller wascurrently on exhibit in Honolulou.
We also paid a brief visit to Ghirardelli Square. For those of you, like me, who are not in the know on the magical world of chocolate, Ghirardelli is one of the big names in the "biz". The square was nice but the factory that we had gone to see had unfourtunatly moved to San Leonardo... still it was very pretty.
Later in the Evening, armed with our passports (which we were told would gain us entry to clubs in San Fran) we tried to hit the city again. We went to two diffrent bars. The first wa a nice small place called the Minx, where we met a canadian bartender. Upon hearing my drink order she informed me that I was no longer in Canada... apparently bars int he states don't carry bar lime or smirnoff ice...
We left the Minx in search of a more dancey atmosphere and after several missed attempt with long lineups we ended up at a club called Swig. It was a nice place with a greart atmosphere and a good DJ. Unfourtunatly, to everyone's surprise, they did not carry Jagermeister or Rye... We made due with substitutes, but they unexpectadly called last call at 1:15, then closed the club and sent everyone home at 1:30... a ridiculously early time by our standards... and by the bartender's as well, who looked astonished at this turn of events as the club was full and people were lined up at the bar buying drinks.
The next morning we crossed the iconic Golden Gate bridge and made our way further up the coast. We broke up into three gourps. The A-Team (or the three Alexs) took one car at a faster pace so as to make it to Seattle in 2 days... sadly they have a plane to catch. Myself Julia and Fletcher took a slightly slower pace aiming to get there in 3 dsays, and Yvonne and Robyn took an even slower pace allowing themselves 4 days up the coast.
We drove to Eureka, Ca on the first day and spent the night there. Along the route we stopped at an Oyster bar just outside of San Francisco and had some delicious BBQ oysters, as well as some other scenic points. We have many pictures and you cna be assured they will be uploaded post haste.
It was later on this drive that we mte the previously mentione Andrea and Allie and had a delicious meal.
Today we are setting off for Portland, Oregon... an ambitious drive but with three drivers and alot of pretty redwoods we are excted about it.
Atractions comming up:
Redwood national Park (including us driving through a redwood!!!)
Scenic Drive offs (picked out by Julia from her guidebook)
and many more zany times
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Last Day in Hollywood
Our last day in Hollywood was 2 days ago. Julia got in at around noon and we immediately started to do the Hollywood tourist thing. We saw the Walk of the Stars as well as the Chinese & Kodak theaters, drove through Bel Air to see the Fresh Prince house, went down Rodeo Drive, and took Julia to the Hollywood sign.
While we were at the sign, there was some sort of police thing going on. Apparently, police spotted someone in a ravine nearby who was reported to be kidnapped.... or something. Whatever it was, there were several police helicopters and vehicles that passed us on our way to the top. When we got there, everything was done, but I snagged this panorama for your viewing pleasure.
While we were at the sign, there was some sort of police thing going on. Apparently, police spotted someone in a ravine nearby who was reported to be kidnapped.... or something. Whatever it was, there were several police helicopters and vehicles that passed us on our way to the top. When we got there, everything was done, but I snagged this panorama for your viewing pleasure.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Disneyland and Universal Studios
Here is a text update covering the highlights of the last couple of days. Two days ago Fletcher, Adrian, Alexandra, Alexandros and I went to Universal Studios here in Los Angeles. I didn't get any pictures because I didn't bring my huge camera into the park, but there will be video. We went on The Simpsons ride which was AWESOME, but the physical ride still resembles the DeLorean from the Back To The Future ride. May it rest in peace.
A shout out to Pam and JOE. Pam was our guide through the back-lot tour of Universal. She was the best tour guide ever. Joe was our heroic driver. No matter what happened, no matter what attacked us, Joe would see us to safety. Perhaps one would question why Joe would lead us to such dangerous places in the first place... but not us. Adrian got a picture with Joe afterward which can be viewed on facebook.
Later we ate outside of the park on the City Walk. One of the first restaurants you see when you enter is a Bubba Gump Shrimp. Naturally we stopped there for some delicious seafood. Our server was totally cool. Shout out to Chris Brown who was very nice when he boxed up our.... leftovers. Everyone at Bubba Gump was so nice. I am not sure if it is like this at all locations, but if you are ever in LA, you NEED to eat at the City Walk Bubba Gump.
Yesterday I went with Alexandra and Adrian to Disneyland. It was busy but fun. I purchased an Indiana Jones hat since my last one was stolen by a university friend (INA!). There is a video of us in the teacups. We tried to spin as fast as possible. I almost lost the caramel popcorn I had as a snack.
Tonight I think I'll have enough time to upload some more video. Until then I'll catch you all later!
A shout out to Pam and JOE. Pam was our guide through the back-lot tour of Universal. She was the best tour guide ever. Joe was our heroic driver. No matter what happened, no matter what attacked us, Joe would see us to safety. Perhaps one would question why Joe would lead us to such dangerous places in the first place... but not us. Adrian got a picture with Joe afterward which can be viewed on facebook.
Later we ate outside of the park on the City Walk. One of the first restaurants you see when you enter is a Bubba Gump Shrimp. Naturally we stopped there for some delicious seafood. Our server was totally cool. Shout out to Chris Brown who was very nice when he boxed up our.... leftovers. Everyone at Bubba Gump was so nice. I am not sure if it is like this at all locations, but if you are ever in LA, you NEED to eat at the City Walk Bubba Gump.
Yesterday I went with Alexandra and Adrian to Disneyland. It was busy but fun. I purchased an Indiana Jones hat since my last one was stolen by a university friend (INA!). There is a video of us in the teacups. We tried to spin as fast as possible. I almost lost the caramel popcorn I had as a snack.
Tonight I think I'll have enough time to upload some more video. Until then I'll catch you all later!
Monday, August 16, 2010
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Hollywood Update
Hey everyone!
There is a forthcoming video and some pictures, but until then here is an update of what we have been doing.
The first day in LA was a beach day. We all packed up the cars and went to Venice Beach. There we saw an open air gym and a skate park. Oh yeah... we also saw the ocean. We linked arms and ran into the waves head-on. The outside temperature was only around 20ish Celsius, so you can imagine that running into water was a bit cold. Simmons ended the day bright pink from the sun and I fell victim to burns as well.
Yesterday we went up to the Hollywood sign where we met the most awesome family selling lemonade at the top of the hill. The name of the place is "Hollywoodland Lemonade". I couldn't help but think that it was like this very nice lady was raising her children to be super heroes. They live on top of a mountain, and when we interrupted them to purchase lemonade, the lady and her daughter were playing timed chess. She also talked to her daughter in French. Anyway, the sign was very awesome and we got lots of nice pictures that I would love to upload if my camera wasn't in the back of the car.
After the sign we went to Hollywood Forever Graveyard. This was awesome, except it was rather hard to find specific people. If you ever go, the purchase of the 5 dollar map is not worth it. It gives you a general idea of where things are, but doesn't help to find specifics.
After we spent sunset on the Santa Monica Pier. T'was pretty, but so cold. After sunset we spent a large amount of time in an arcade on the pier. Alexandros and I played a Terminator Salvation game and beat it (with the help of 6 of Simmons' dollar bills). Much fun was had and we shall definitely return to the pier before this trip is done.
This has been a small text update... video and pictures will be up soon... promise!
There is a forthcoming video and some pictures, but until then here is an update of what we have been doing.
The first day in LA was a beach day. We all packed up the cars and went to Venice Beach. There we saw an open air gym and a skate park. Oh yeah... we also saw the ocean. We linked arms and ran into the waves head-on. The outside temperature was only around 20ish Celsius, so you can imagine that running into water was a bit cold. Simmons ended the day bright pink from the sun and I fell victim to burns as well.
Yesterday we went up to the Hollywood sign where we met the most awesome family selling lemonade at the top of the hill. The name of the place is "Hollywoodland Lemonade". I couldn't help but think that it was like this very nice lady was raising her children to be super heroes. They live on top of a mountain, and when we interrupted them to purchase lemonade, the lady and her daughter were playing timed chess. She also talked to her daughter in French. Anyway, the sign was very awesome and we got lots of nice pictures that I would love to upload if my camera wasn't in the back of the car.
After the sign we went to Hollywood Forever Graveyard. This was awesome, except it was rather hard to find specific people. If you ever go, the purchase of the 5 dollar map is not worth it. It gives you a general idea of where things are, but doesn't help to find specifics.
After we spent sunset on the Santa Monica Pier. T'was pretty, but so cold. After sunset we spent a large amount of time in an arcade on the pier. Alexandros and I played a Terminator Salvation game and beat it (with the help of 6 of Simmons' dollar bills). Much fun was had and we shall definitely return to the pier before this trip is done.
This has been a small text update... video and pictures will be up soon... promise!
Friday, August 13, 2010
Stories from Las Vegas Pt 1
I know that we have been very radio silent since Vegas, but that is because we haven't had a moment that wasn't jam packed with something rather. Here are some of the stories that happened on the strip.
On Gambling
Surprisingly, most of us faired rather well at the tables. Ally got herself addicted to penny slots and 25 cent video poker. These two games took a lot out of her trip budget. However, Alexandros and I faired rather well at roulette. I put 20 dollars on red at one point and doubled my money. Alexandros walked out of Vegas with 100 bucks more than when he started. I believe Fletcher and Adrian walked out of Vegas relatively even.
On Late Nights
The last night in Vegas was spent in Old Vegas at a casino called the Golden Nugget. It was a very classy place with friendly dealers and bar tenders. We found a bar that would send free limos to pick up would-be-patrons to bring them to their establishment, so we rode in style back to the strip. Fletcher, Ally and I didn't leave the bar until 7 AM the next morning. Sunlight really hurts after an extended period of time in a dark bar.
To be continued...
On Gambling
Surprisingly, most of us faired rather well at the tables. Ally got herself addicted to penny slots and 25 cent video poker. These two games took a lot out of her trip budget. However, Alexandros and I faired rather well at roulette. I put 20 dollars on red at one point and doubled my money. Alexandros walked out of Vegas with 100 bucks more than when he started. I believe Fletcher and Adrian walked out of Vegas relatively even.
On Late Nights
The last night in Vegas was spent in Old Vegas at a casino called the Golden Nugget. It was a very classy place with friendly dealers and bar tenders. We found a bar that would send free limos to pick up would-be-patrons to bring them to their establishment, so we rode in style back to the strip. Fletcher, Ally and I didn't leave the bar until 7 AM the next morning. Sunlight really hurts after an extended period of time in a dark bar.
To be continued...
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
The Invasion of the Girls
Hey everyone! This is Alex aka "hollywood" here. I thought I should try out the blog format before joining the craziness in LA. I was pretty sad about missing the Vegas portion of the epic trip, but I, along with Julia, had school restrictions (when will it END!!)
Anyway, I am very excited and will probably get little to no sleep tonight. (This will be beneficial since I have to study for my final exam that happens tomorrow) ----> Who knew Children's Literature could be so hard? And perverse....maybe I will relay the "Blue Beard" fairy tale some other time.
Just thought I should give a brief list of the events I (and I'm guessing the boys) wish to experience in LA this week. They include:
- Film Tour (Paramount, WB, or Universal)
- and by proxy Universal Theme Park!
- Disneyland - no matter what age you are, Disney is a must!
- Walk of Fame and the Chinese Theatre
- Hollywood sign
- Santa Monica Pier and Aquarium
- La Brea Tar Pits
Signing off from T.O. and I will see everyone in LAX at 10:20pm!!!
Until then ciao from Alex (number 4)
Monday, August 9, 2010
WAKE UP
GUYS WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP IT'S TIME TO GET UP AND I DON'T KNOW HOW TO CALL YOU SOOOO WAKE UP!
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Viva Las Vegas
Hello all, we've finally reached Vegas and it is glorious.
Our room at the Palazzo is as Alexadros put it "Soooo unnecessary". I beg to differ with him, I think it is exactly necessary. We have a room with two beds three TV's (one of which is in the washroom), an officer area, a sitting are with an L-shaped couch. A few interesting sidenotes would include the fact that the toilet is in a seperate room in the washroom. This room is amazing and it's opricetag was further reduced by the fact that we got $25 in casino slot money. We gladly turned this into real money and Alexandros even made 12 dollars or so.
The casino floor was amazing and we had a blast taking in the atmosphere.
Allie joined us today and we met up and started our nights of debauchery. To start off we filled the bath tub with ice so that we could keep the alcohol cool (no small task let me tell you).
It is late (4:22 am here) and we are tired so we are all crashing, tomorow the plan is to go to the gun range and a variety of other activities. Stay tuned for more exciting news to come shortly.
Our room at the Palazzo is as Alexadros put it "Soooo unnecessary". I beg to differ with him, I think it is exactly necessary. We have a room with two beds three TV's (one of which is in the washroom), an officer area, a sitting are with an L-shaped couch. A few interesting sidenotes would include the fact that the toilet is in a seperate room in the washroom. This room is amazing and it's opricetag was further reduced by the fact that we got $25 in casino slot money. We gladly turned this into real money and Alexandros even made 12 dollars or so.
The casino floor was amazing and we had a blast taking in the atmosphere.
Allie joined us today and we met up and started our nights of debauchery. To start off we filled the bath tub with ice so that we could keep the alcohol cool (no small task let me tell you).
It is late (4:22 am here) and we are tired so we are all crashing, tomorow the plan is to go to the gun range and a variety of other activities. Stay tuned for more exciting news to come shortly.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Crater Panoramic View
Here is a picture of the largest crater on the planet. Click on the picture for full size.
S-U-P-E-R, Super Super that's what we are
Hey everybody,
I'm writing to you from the Super 8 Motel in Sedona AZ, a small town about 2 hours south of the Grand Canyon National Park.
We've been incredibly busy lately so we've fallen a bit behind on the posts but I'm going to try and get us all caught up with this one.
We spent our evening in Santa Fe by going to a local bar and having a couple of drinks. This was fun and all was good, and nothing unfortunate happened aside from the director spilling three quarters of one of his beers across half the bar. Fortunately, the barkeep was a very nice guy and offered to replace the beer... this action, probably we thought out, earned him a healthy tip.
Afterward Fletcher, our DD, picked us up and we went back to the hotel craving pizza... we were astounded to learn however that by 11:45 pm every pizza place in Santa Fe was closed... and more so every kind of food one could have delivered was likewise closed. This was a very startling turn of events and so we went to be unsatiated of our craving.
The next morning did not beggin in the best way. Fletcher has been having some digestive problems for the last two days and has been restrained to the washroom on a nearly hourly basis, and recely Alex H, also succumned to a simmilar illness. They are currently recovering in bed behind me (there is nothing better than sleep for healling) and we hope they get better soon. This did however make traveling more diffcult for us.
WE hit up the town of Santa Fe and aw some of the sites before moving on to Albuquerque. We had met some very nice people at the bar the previous night who told us we needed to see the so called "miracle" staircase at the Lorretto Chaple, and so we set out the next day to see it.
We unfourtubatly ended up at the wrong church, the Cathdral of St. Francis to be percise. It was not taken amiss however, as the cathedral was quite beautiful and there are many pictures to be uploaded of it. We asked the lady at the gift shop where we could find the Lorretto Chapple and she gave us directions right away. It seemed from her manner that many people made the mistake of coming to this cathedral instead; a susspicion which was quickly proved correct as another woman came up and asked her the same qustion as i was leaving.
We found the Chapple quite easily with her instructions and went inside to see the staircase. The mircle is in it's very existance. The staircase is made out of nothign but wood and no nails were used in its construction. Though a railing and brace have now been added as safety masures, in its original form it looked much like it was poured into place. Modern engineers marvel to this day that the stair is capable of standing at all.
We originally planed to take a scenic route known as the turquise trail from Santa Fe to Albuquerque, however, due to these constraints one car went straight to Albuquerque via the much fater direct route. Alex H and I went the long way but had the missfortune of having a rainstorm hit the path at the same time making photography difficult and limitng our view. We still managed to get a few good pictures (which are, of course, currently being uploaded)
We stayed at the Hyatt Place in Albuquerque and had an amazing room. First of all I would like to thank the staff of the hotel who were extremly nice and knowledgeable and even helped us find a steak house to have dinner at. The room was quite large, it had two double beds, as per our request, btu also included a small living room area with a pullout couch. The entire hotel was very classy and we thoroughly recomend it.
Though Fletcher had recovered some by this morning, Alex was worse for wear, so when we left the hotel to see the Grand Canyon this morning we were less excited than the event warranted.
Along the route we took a few pit stops to assuage the grumbling stomachs of our compatriots as well as some touristic detours. One of these is the Meteor Crater. This is the largest preserved meteor crater on Earth at 700 feet deep and 4000 feet across.
The site was something Alexandros had wnated to see since childhood and so he was very happy when we were able to take his picture next to the monumental crater. It wa put forth that for our next trip we should go to the moon so as to se a bigger crater.
Another touristic detour was a brief (very brief) stint on the famous route 66. We only pulled of to get some food and gas but still we cna now say that the cornerstone of US roadtrips was included in our travel plans.
As I mentioned we left the hotel rather less enthused that was appropiate for the nights goal, but by the time we got the the Grand Canyon we were all excited to see the sights; and none were dissapointed. The Canyon itself is beautiful and magnificent, the Colorado winding its way at the base as if to lay clame to its creation. We got to climb a watchtower at the southern rim of the canyon and see a grand view from the top floors. The piece de resistance of the whole night was of course the sunset. Having arived fairly late, we were just in time to see the sun set behind the canyon in a magnificent dysplay of colour. We took alot of pictures of it as well as a video which we will speed up and post shortly.
After sunset we retired to our hotel, the Super 8 I mentioned before, and turned in. The lads are all aslep behind me and i am about to join them.
Stay tuned for more exciting adventures and touristic atractions. The pictures of the last few days will be up soon as will the videos.
Tomorow we hit Vegas... and boy we plan to do so in style ;)
I'm writing to you from the Super 8 Motel in Sedona AZ, a small town about 2 hours south of the Grand Canyon National Park.
We've been incredibly busy lately so we've fallen a bit behind on the posts but I'm going to try and get us all caught up with this one.
We spent our evening in Santa Fe by going to a local bar and having a couple of drinks. This was fun and all was good, and nothing unfortunate happened aside from the director spilling three quarters of one of his beers across half the bar. Fortunately, the barkeep was a very nice guy and offered to replace the beer... this action, probably we thought out, earned him a healthy tip.
Afterward Fletcher, our DD, picked us up and we went back to the hotel craving pizza... we were astounded to learn however that by 11:45 pm every pizza place in Santa Fe was closed... and more so every kind of food one could have delivered was likewise closed. This was a very startling turn of events and so we went to be unsatiated of our craving.
The next morning did not beggin in the best way. Fletcher has been having some digestive problems for the last two days and has been restrained to the washroom on a nearly hourly basis, and recely Alex H, also succumned to a simmilar illness. They are currently recovering in bed behind me (there is nothing better than sleep for healling) and we hope they get better soon. This did however make traveling more diffcult for us.
WE hit up the town of Santa Fe and aw some of the sites before moving on to Albuquerque. We had met some very nice people at the bar the previous night who told us we needed to see the so called "miracle" staircase at the Lorretto Chaple, and so we set out the next day to see it.
We unfourtubatly ended up at the wrong church, the Cathdral of St. Francis to be percise. It was not taken amiss however, as the cathedral was quite beautiful and there are many pictures to be uploaded of it. We asked the lady at the gift shop where we could find the Lorretto Chapple and she gave us directions right away. It seemed from her manner that many people made the mistake of coming to this cathedral instead; a susspicion which was quickly proved correct as another woman came up and asked her the same qustion as i was leaving.
We found the Chapple quite easily with her instructions and went inside to see the staircase. The mircle is in it's very existance. The staircase is made out of nothign but wood and no nails were used in its construction. Though a railing and brace have now been added as safety masures, in its original form it looked much like it was poured into place. Modern engineers marvel to this day that the stair is capable of standing at all.
We originally planed to take a scenic route known as the turquise trail from Santa Fe to Albuquerque, however, due to these constraints one car went straight to Albuquerque via the much fater direct route. Alex H and I went the long way but had the missfortune of having a rainstorm hit the path at the same time making photography difficult and limitng our view. We still managed to get a few good pictures (which are, of course, currently being uploaded)
We stayed at the Hyatt Place in Albuquerque and had an amazing room. First of all I would like to thank the staff of the hotel who were extremly nice and knowledgeable and even helped us find a steak house to have dinner at. The room was quite large, it had two double beds, as per our request, btu also included a small living room area with a pullout couch. The entire hotel was very classy and we thoroughly recomend it.
Though Fletcher had recovered some by this morning, Alex was worse for wear, so when we left the hotel to see the Grand Canyon this morning we were less excited than the event warranted.
Along the route we took a few pit stops to assuage the grumbling stomachs of our compatriots as well as some touristic detours. One of these is the Meteor Crater. This is the largest preserved meteor crater on Earth at 700 feet deep and 4000 feet across.
The site was something Alexandros had wnated to see since childhood and so he was very happy when we were able to take his picture next to the monumental crater. It wa put forth that for our next trip we should go to the moon so as to se a bigger crater.
Another touristic detour was a brief (very brief) stint on the famous route 66. We only pulled of to get some food and gas but still we cna now say that the cornerstone of US roadtrips was included in our travel plans.
As I mentioned we left the hotel rather less enthused that was appropiate for the nights goal, but by the time we got the the Grand Canyon we were all excited to see the sights; and none were dissapointed. The Canyon itself is beautiful and magnificent, the Colorado winding its way at the base as if to lay clame to its creation. We got to climb a watchtower at the southern rim of the canyon and see a grand view from the top floors. The piece de resistance of the whole night was of course the sunset. Having arived fairly late, we were just in time to see the sun set behind the canyon in a magnificent dysplay of colour. We took alot of pictures of it as well as a video which we will speed up and post shortly.
After sunset we retired to our hotel, the Super 8 I mentioned before, and turned in. The lads are all aslep behind me and i am about to join them.
Stay tuned for more exciting adventures and touristic atractions. The pictures of the last few days will be up soon as will the videos.
Tomorow we hit Vegas... and boy we plan to do so in style ;)
Friday, August 6, 2010
Santa Fe
So here's everything that happened to us on the road to Santa Fe and beyond (ie in Santa Fe). You may notice that this post is a little bit behind the actual date... there are reasons for the delay, but I'll get to that soon...
The drive to Roswell was very nice. It consists of a mostly flat terrain with nice weather, but with views of distant mountains and clouds. The desert-like sand and plants slowly give way to greener grasses and irrigation. Roswell is situated somewhere in the middle of this transition zone.
The town of Roswell is rather small, and you get 1-2 miles into it before seeing any reference to it's alien past. We parked the cars along the main street and went into the "UFO Museum and Research Center". It is the standard must see stop in Roswell. It isn't very large, but there are definitely some displays that will make even the UFO skeptics question the official story.
After we had our fills of aliens (possible probe joke?), we crossed the street to an antiques shop called "Salt Creek". This is another must-see if you are in Roswell. The man who runs it is very nice. He told us a story about being an "Honourary Canadian". He told us that when he used to travel to Canada for business, his Canadian colleagues would take him out for nights of drinking. If he could successfully stand and sleep at the same time during the meeting the next day, he was Canadian. He said that the secret is to lean against a sturdy wall or object. The store is filled with interesting old memorabilia and contains some rather tempting buys.
Our journeys then took us to a grocery store. We stocked up on items we would need to have a little grill session at the next "relief station" stop on the road. Said next stop happened to be located near the main Roswell crash site. We grilled up some hot dogs and some Louisiana alligator. It was very good.
The drive from Roswell to Santa Fe was simply amazing. We were surrounded by bad weather, but it was only at the end of the journey that we were ever rained on. The distant lightning combined with the colours of the sunset were something else.
And now... the moment you've been waiting for... why I didn't post anything earlier. This was due to a fine establishment in Santa Fe called the El Paseo that had a special on for $2 pints of Indian Pale Ale. While the beer left something to be desired, it seemed to do the trick. I actually spilled my 3rd pint all over Alexandros and Adrian. The bartender gave me a replacement beer on the house. That was a bad idea. The next morning I was so sick... I still haven't fully recovered. However, that will be the story of day 11, and our trip to Albuquerque. Stay tuned for that and a post containing all the wrong turns we have taken in our time here in the city that is rather hard to spell!
Video shall be posted once we get internet that doesn't suck.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Female Presence Imminent!
Hi All!
I'm super excited to be joining the trip in a mere 48 hours and so I thought I'd post about it! After all, I am the first female, and the 3rd Alex to join the trip!
I'm flying direct from Toronto on Saturday night and will arrive in Vegas at 10:30pm. Hopefully the boys will remember to pick me up!
But since I haven't actually left yet, I really don't have much to say... besides the following.
I've started packing. As the weather in Vegas is forecast to be in the high 30s / low 40s, my suitcase is full of dresses, dresses, and more dresses! And shoes. And hair product. And makeup.
Also, in anticipation of the Vegas pools, I have just tried to apply some sunless tanner for the first time ever in an attempt to hide my pasty pasty skin. I don't know why I've done this... it's bound to go wrong, and although I exfoliated before applying, and I tried to apply evenly, I'm pretty sure I'm going to wake up tomorrow a streaky orange mess :S We shall see...
And by now the boys reading this are probably regretting ever inviting me at all. So I'll stop the girl talk!
While in Vegas I'll be rooming at the Bellagio, and I believe the menfolk will be spending one night at Palazzo, and the other 3 nights most likely at Trump... so essentially we're going to get to party at 3 AMAZING hotels in just 4 days! Sounds like a good way to experience Vegas eh! The guys are also planning on hitting up a shooting range, and obviously we will attempt to get in as much classic Vegas fun as possible ;)
Ciao for now! Next time you hear from me it'll probably be from Vegas!
Ally
I'm super excited to be joining the trip in a mere 48 hours and so I thought I'd post about it! After all, I am the first female, and the 3rd Alex to join the trip!
I'm flying direct from Toronto on Saturday night and will arrive in Vegas at 10:30pm. Hopefully the boys will remember to pick me up!
But since I haven't actually left yet, I really don't have much to say... besides the following.
I've started packing. As the weather in Vegas is forecast to be in the high 30s / low 40s, my suitcase is full of dresses, dresses, and more dresses! And shoes. And hair product. And makeup.
Also, in anticipation of the Vegas pools, I have just tried to apply some sunless tanner for the first time ever in an attempt to hide my pasty pasty skin. I don't know why I've done this... it's bound to go wrong, and although I exfoliated before applying, and I tried to apply evenly, I'm pretty sure I'm going to wake up tomorrow a streaky orange mess :S We shall see...
And by now the boys reading this are probably regretting ever inviting me at all. So I'll stop the girl talk!
While in Vegas I'll be rooming at the Bellagio, and I believe the menfolk will be spending one night at Palazzo, and the other 3 nights most likely at Trump... so essentially we're going to get to party at 3 AMAZING hotels in just 4 days! Sounds like a good way to experience Vegas eh! The guys are also planning on hitting up a shooting range, and obviously we will attempt to get in as much classic Vegas fun as possible ;)
Ciao for now! Next time you hear from me it'll probably be from Vegas!
Ally
In Santa Fe
Greetings everyone!
The past 24 hours have produced many stories, but we must get on the road to Albuquerque (OMG I SPELLED IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME), New Mexico. I have updated the image page so go check out how sexy New Mexico looks and I'll have a video and a blog update for you later on today!
-Alex
The past 24 hours have produced many stories, but we must get on the road to Albuquerque (OMG I SPELLED IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME), New Mexico. I have updated the image page so go check out how sexy New Mexico looks and I'll have a video and a blog update for you later on today!
-Alex
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
In Odessa
Hey all.
We made it to Odessa safely. The drive was the real story of the day. When we left San Antonio, there were luscious trees and plants all over the country side. However, the farther we traveled outside of the city, the more we traveled into a desert landscape. It looked exactly like it did in all the movies.
When we got into town we had a pretty low-key dinner at Chili's. We then crashed shortly after at our hotel. So not much to report for the day, however the pictures and some video of the drive will be up later today (once we get to a hotel).
Bye for now!
We made it to Odessa safely. The drive was the real story of the day. When we left San Antonio, there were luscious trees and plants all over the country side. However, the farther we traveled outside of the city, the more we traveled into a desert landscape. It looked exactly like it did in all the movies.
When we got into town we had a pretty low-key dinner at Chili's. We then crashed shortly after at our hotel. So not much to report for the day, however the pictures and some video of the drive will be up later today (once we get to a hotel).
Bye for now!
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
San Antonio
Today started out how all great days in the United States should- with a trip to the IHOP. After a delicious breakfast, we spent the day doing touristy stuff in San Antonio. The first stop was of course the Alamo. The stranger who took the awesomely-framed picture above was super nice, continuing the trend of pretty much everyone we've met thus far. Looking around the Alamo, the gift shop and mass crowds made it hard to imagine the chaos that occurred there long ago for just a handful of American soldiers. Speaking of the gift shop, I got in a little bit of trouble today. I did not realize that there was a rule against picture taking when inside any Alamo structure. I was told to put my camera away, but not before snagging some awesome pictures of a model Alamo battle.
We then checked into our hotel- the Holiday Inn River Walk. The reason we chose this particular hotel was for its obvious proximity to its namesake- the River Walk. This is an interesting walkway that goes through some of the city and connects the Alamo with restaurants and hotels. T'was very pretty. We found a Tex-Mex patio along the route called Rita's. IT WAS SO MUCH FOOD... BUT SO GOOD!
The full album for today will be posted here. Tomorrow I will edit the video footage from today whilst on the road to Odessa Texas. Hopefully I can upload that for you from our new hotel!
Catch you on the flip side,
Alex
Monday, August 2, 2010
Sunday, August 1, 2010
These Boots Were Made for Walking
We became cowboys this morning as Alex got some very nice cowboy boots at Caveder's, apparently one of the best cowboy stores in town.
We then headed down to the Johnson Space Center and had a lot of fun. Among the main attractions was a Star Wars display, a slightly modified space shuttle cockpit and a presentation about upcoming NASA missions.
We also got some astronaut ice cream from the souvenir store, we have not had it yet.. but it promises to be an adventure for our taste buds.
We then headed down to San Antonio, which is where we are now, and await the arrival of the fourth in our group.
The Director is coming to town fellas and we couldn't be more excited!!!! Whoooo... we'll talk to you after we celbrate his arival... if we can ;P
This week on MacGyver
Hey all,
We have arrived in Houston, TX last night. And we are staying at the Hotel Marriott, where we luckily got a free upgrade the the King suite... It is amazing.
Yesterday we started our day off by going on a swamp tour of New Orleans. It was an exciting tour where we went on an air boat through the swap and learned a bit about the vegetation and animals in the swamp. We even got to see a 10 foot gator and the guide fed it marshmallows then petted it and grabbed its hind leg to show us it's claws.
On the way back unfortunately the Civic broke down. The compressor had seized and so was causing the engine to stall... Luckily with some quick advice form Fletcher's dad we realized that we could cut the A/C aux belt which cut the A/C system off from the rest of the car and so MacGyvered the car. It now works perfectly well and has about 2 extra horsepower for not powering the A/C.
While we were stopped at the side of the road some very nice locals helped us, the one guy was a mechanic and helped us look at the car, and another man brought us some water. I'm continually impressed with how nice everyone we meet is.
Due to this "detour" we had to skip the plantation tour... but we got into Houston last night around 11 and after a delicious meal at a buffet we checked into the hotel and crashed for the night.
Also we'd like to send a shout out to Rebbeca and Jackie, our wonderfull waitresses at the Tropical Isle, our home base in New Orleans.
We'll upload pictures and videos as soon as we have a more stable internet connection.
Stay tuned for more zany adventures.
We have arrived in Houston, TX last night. And we are staying at the Hotel Marriott, where we luckily got a free upgrade the the King suite... It is amazing.
Yesterday we started our day off by going on a swamp tour of New Orleans. It was an exciting tour where we went on an air boat through the swap and learned a bit about the vegetation and animals in the swamp. We even got to see a 10 foot gator and the guide fed it marshmallows then petted it and grabbed its hind leg to show us it's claws.
On the way back unfortunately the Civic broke down. The compressor had seized and so was causing the engine to stall... Luckily with some quick advice form Fletcher's dad we realized that we could cut the A/C aux belt which cut the A/C system off from the rest of the car and so MacGyvered the car. It now works perfectly well and has about 2 extra horsepower for not powering the A/C.
While we were stopped at the side of the road some very nice locals helped us, the one guy was a mechanic and helped us look at the car, and another man brought us some water. I'm continually impressed with how nice everyone we meet is.
Due to this "detour" we had to skip the plantation tour... but we got into Houston last night around 11 and after a delicious meal at a buffet we checked into the hotel and crashed for the night.
Also we'd like to send a shout out to Rebbeca and Jackie, our wonderfull waitresses at the Tropical Isle, our home base in New Orleans.
We'll upload pictures and videos as soon as we have a more stable internet connection.
Stay tuned for more zany adventures.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
One Last Post Before I'm in the USA!
Wow, I am GORGEOUS! Anyway... I just got back from the Fed Ex store with are sweet looking business cards. If you see us on the road, you'll probably get one!
Starting tomorrow, I'll be broadcasting to you live from San Antonio, Texas! I probably won't get any sleep tonight because I am uber excited. Before I go, I wanted to leave you with a list of alcohol I owe certain trip individuals (mostly so I'll remember).
Alexandros- 2 beers (in return for the purchase of Calamari at Jack Asters)
Fletcher- 2 beers (in return for bubble tea and laps at Pladium)
Adrian- 2 beers (for debts I am sure I have incurred over our friendship)
Alexandra- 2 beers (for putting up with my youtube shenanigans when work needs to be done)
Ally- I owe Ally pretty much all my income for helping me get the best job ever. However, we'll say 2 beers just to make things easy to remember.
Talk to you from Texas!
Friday, July 30, 2010
Trip Cards/Collectible
If you excuse me... I have a date with Kinko's.
UPDATE: Cards are at the printers. I'll pick em up on the way to the airport!
Site Pics Updated
Hey everyone, Alex here!
My flight leaves on Sunday for San Antonio and I couldn't be more excited. All these pictures of sea food and alligators make me supremely sad that I could not join this trip sooner.
Speaking of pictures, I have now updated the picture page with pics from the last couple of days. You will notice that older picture albums will just become links now as to not slow down your lovely computers with 90 albums all slideshowing at once. I have also updated the gator post with pictures and hope to do the same with the old posts over the next couple of days.
Today and tomorrow I shall also be updating the blog with more playlists and CDs, including CDs for California, Seattle and a couple of Canadian Content CDs to keep the CRTC happy.
Thanks for reading and hope you like the updates!
-Alex
My flight leaves on Sunday for San Antonio and I couldn't be more excited. All these pictures of sea food and alligators make me supremely sad that I could not join this trip sooner.
Speaking of pictures, I have now updated the picture page with pics from the last couple of days. You will notice that older picture albums will just become links now as to not slow down your lovely computers with 90 albums all slideshowing at once. I have also updated the gator post with pictures and hope to do the same with the old posts over the next couple of days.
Today and tomorrow I shall also be updating the blog with more playlists and CDs, including CDs for California, Seattle and a couple of Canadian Content CDs to keep the CRTC happy.
Thanks for reading and hope you like the updates!
-Alex
here's the low down...
Alright,
I have not posted a lot but I promise to fill you all in on the details that have been left out to the best of my ability. Lets begin with a shoutout to Elroy, the nicest guy in our HOliday Inn Lobby!!!
Last night we had a phenomenal time wandering around the French quarter....
even though this says fletcher posted this... hes now fallen aselep... so its alexandros now! we had a phenominal night. we saw bourbon street in all its glory.
we have established that the tropical isle is our home base here in New Orleans. Our night has been graced with great live music, wonderful service and great new friends.
earlier tonight, we had dinner at the at an oyster bar. As adrian does not typically eat seafood, fletcher and I enjoyed a great deal of oysters, fresh gumbo and turtle soup! I can safely say that we had the most satisfying meal thus far in new orleans.
we can only hope that tomorrow holds more exciting new things to do and experience. The tentative plan is to enjoy a boat tour of the swamps, partake in a traditional Louisiana cooking class and participate in a haunted walking tour of the city.
Thats it for now... more to come! look for the new photos coming soon!!
I have not posted a lot but I promise to fill you all in on the details that have been left out to the best of my ability. Lets begin with a shoutout to Elroy, the nicest guy in our HOliday Inn Lobby!!!
Last night we had a phenomenal time wandering around the French quarter....
even though this says fletcher posted this... hes now fallen aselep... so its alexandros now! we had a phenominal night. we saw bourbon street in all its glory.
we have established that the tropical isle is our home base here in New Orleans. Our night has been graced with great live music, wonderful service and great new friends.
earlier tonight, we had dinner at the at an oyster bar. As adrian does not typically eat seafood, fletcher and I enjoyed a great deal of oysters, fresh gumbo and turtle soup! I can safely say that we had the most satisfying meal thus far in new orleans.
we can only hope that tomorrow holds more exciting new things to do and experience. The tentative plan is to enjoy a boat tour of the swamps, partake in a traditional Louisiana cooking class and participate in a haunted walking tour of the city.
Thats it for now... more to come! look for the new photos coming soon!!
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Alligator Wrestling
Today we went to Insta-Gator, an alligator ranch outside of New Orleans, and the experience was amazing.
On the way there we traversed one of the longest bridges we have ever seen at 38.42 km in length. The bridge crossed Lake Pontchartrain and lead us to the alligator ranch.
When we started the tour we learned a lot about alligators, and more specifically the alligators in Louisiana. We learned, for example, that the alligator ranches and farms in the area are largely responsible for the re-population of alligators in Louisiana. To give you an idea, in the 1960s there were 150,000 gators living in Louisiana. As a result of the repopulation program, there are in excess of 3 million gators in a state of 6 million people. We strongly urge you all to consume as many alligator products as possible.
During this presentation, the guide brought out a small alligator and we all got to pet it and feel its surprisingly soft skin. The hands on demonstrations continued as they then gave us marshmallows to feed the alligators with. They took us into one of the barns and we got to feed the roughly 4 foot long alligators.
Afterward we headed over to a smaller pool where baby alligators were swimming around. They had their mouths taped up and the guide showed us how to pick them up and hold them. This was an amazing experience for all of us and we greatly enjoyed holding the gators, especially as they all had unique personalities. Like Snappy, who had two tape bands on his mouth, because he/she was particularly aggressive. This, coincidentally, was the first alligator i picked up.
After playing with the baby gators, we went back into the barn with the 4 foot alligators and our guide fed the alligators a live mouse. It was quite interesting actually as the mouse swam quite quickly and managed to avoid a few gators before becoming lunch. Then the guide got into one of their pools and caught a gator. Another of the visitors on the tour then taped its mouth shot and we took it outside to take pictures and see one up close.
Videos of both the feeding and the capture will also be forthcoming.
All in all the Gator ranch was and amazing and must-see experience if you're ever in New Orleans.
Birthday Wishes!!!
There is a certain friend back home in Toronto who is celebrating her birthday today!! From the crew here in New Orleans, we would like to extend a big NOLA Happy Birthday to Kat!! We wish you all the best!
PS: You have been moo-ed by Fletcher. Adrian sends you an inappropriately placed math joke, and i will eat an alligator in your honor.
PS: You have been moo-ed by Fletcher. Adrian sends you an inappropriately placed math joke, and i will eat an alligator in your honor.
The Morning After
Last night we decided to check out Bourbon Street. We went to several bars and tried some local cocktails. I found out that most of the cocktails are secret recipes, so they would not tell us what was in them.
We spent most of our night in a bar called the Tropical Isle, which had some wonderful proprietary mixes. The best part of these is that we got to keep the glasses; one was a grenade with a long neck, and the other a very cool alligator with sunglasses. While at the bar, we played a bar game where we had to throw a small hand grenade into a basket hanging from the ceiling.
I got a few from up close, but my crowning achievement was getting one in from halfway across the bar.
We met some nice people at the bar and the band that was playing was really nice and took our requests for Cat Stevens. Though they sadly did not know "The Night That Patty Murphy Died".
We have two more days in New Orleans, then on the morning of the third day look for us to the east as we will be cutting towards the west from New Orleans to Houston.
Day's pics are located here!
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
The Creole Culture
Following our epic "breakfast" this morning, we wondered how we could have possibly topped it. Having just come back from our very first creole experience at a nearby oyster bar called Desire, we barely have the capacity or energy to wonder at all.
Our meal consisted of shrimp, catfish, crawfish, calamari, mussels and clams, followed by what the locals call a Po-Boy and some shrimp and crawfish Alfredo.
Earlier we explored more of the city. We followed Bourbon street east from our hotel, frequenting voodoo shops, book stores and various other local places. We made our way past the Louisiana court houses down to the Moon Walk. From here we saw our first glimpse of the mighty Mississippi river littered with steam boats in muddy waters. Thank goodness the oil hasn't traveled up this far.
Our meal consisted of shrimp, catfish, crawfish, calamari, mussels and clams, followed by what the locals call a Po-Boy and some shrimp and crawfish Alfredo.
Earlier we explored more of the city. We followed Bourbon street east from our hotel, frequenting voodoo shops, book stores and various other local places. We made our way past the Louisiana court houses down to the Moon Walk. From here we saw our first glimpse of the mighty Mississippi river littered with steam boats in muddy waters. Thank goodness the oil hasn't traveled up this far.
We at the Hotel Motel Holiday Inn
Hey guys, we had a great sleep at the Holiday Inn here in the French Quarter.
We woke up very well rested this morning and some delicious breakfast at Someplace Else.
Looking forward to seeing much more of the city, and Bourbon Street at night.
We are also looking into renting motorcycles, as I have only my M1, this should be highly interesting.
We'll keep u up to date with our exploits.
Awake now... not really...
Heya
This is R1C3RCKT aka Fletcher joining you on my first blog post. I have just woken up from a much needed and restful sleep. Despite our aspirations to go and explore the city a bit after we settled in to our hotel room, well we settled and just stayed in. After two long days of driving we are finally in Nola! I may sound super excited to be done driving for a few days and I am! but look forward to pictures of my perma-smile while driving the infamous "Tail of the Dragon". I'm not much of a writer nor do I read a lot so I do appreciate you keeping up with us on our adventure. Just want to put it out there again: If people want to meet or join up with us along our route, feel free to drop us a line:) For now, its back to sweet dreams of the countless turns of Route 129.
ps I like cheese.
R1C3RCKT
This is R1C3RCKT aka Fletcher joining you on my first blog post. I have just woken up from a much needed and restful sleep. Despite our aspirations to go and explore the city a bit after we settled in to our hotel room, well we settled and just stayed in. After two long days of driving we are finally in Nola! I may sound super excited to be done driving for a few days and I am! but look forward to pictures of my perma-smile while driving the infamous "Tail of the Dragon". I'm not much of a writer nor do I read a lot so I do appreciate you keeping up with us on our adventure. Just want to put it out there again: If people want to meet or join up with us along our route, feel free to drop us a line:) For now, its back to sweet dreams of the countless turns of Route 129.
ps I like cheese.
R1C3RCKT
We're Here!!!!!
We've made it to New Orleans, our hotel is right next to Bourbon Street and this promises to be an exciting adventure.
Stay tuned for more, for now we're crashing.
Stay tuned for more, for now we're crashing.
5 Hour Energy for a 3 Hour Stint
After a brief stop in Meridian Mississippi, we are refuelled and re-energized. Indulging in Kei$a songs (my guilty pleasure), and with Adrian typing as my proxy, we are anxiously awaiting our arrival in New Orleans.
Tomorrow we embark on a new adventure; one with considerably less windshield time.
The exploration of the French Quarter in New Orleans is something I’ve been looking forward to for the majority of my adult life. More recently, however, my attention has been drawn to New Orleans due to the BP oil spill. Having covered this event over the last two t three months at The Court, I’m excited to find myself at the front lines of the spill.
Investigative journalism aside, our tentative plan for when we reach New Orleans is to settle in and hit up a couple of late night cafés, regardless of the fact that we will be arriving into town around 3 am.
Our impasse of sorts is whether to go down to Bourbon Street tonight (a incredibly tempting offer), or wait until tomorrow when we are well rested and can properly soak in the atmosphere. This is of course bypassing the very important and relevant issue of whether we will be in any fit state to leave the hotel room once we have settled in.
For those here who are truly interested, you may be intrigued to find that the next exciting blog post will likely (though not certainly), unveil whether or not we braved the streets of New Orleans this night.
More picture and videos are soon to come.
Coming to you from interstate 59 approximately 235 km outside of New Orleans this is Alex M and the Crew with the latest trip news.
P.S. I like your beard
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
I HAVE A CELLPHONE
Hey loyal followers, and rando stoppers by,
I got a cell phone today and it has a data plan, amazing I know. This lets us do thigs like post while on the road driving... no need to worry, I am not driving currently.
we are about 472 km and 5 hours outside of New Orleans. Looks like another very long night.
Today was a wonderful driving day. We started it off by taking the Tail of the Dragon. This is a section of Highway 129 that serves as the border between Tennessee and South Carolina. As we described yesterday it has a couple of turns, It was a wonderful drive which we have on video, and will try to upload shortly.
After which we drove through South Carolina heading towards New Orleans, and the view was breathtaking. I was constantly gesticulating to Fletcher and Alex to take pictures of the scenery.
At one point we just had to stop and get out and dunk our feet into the river.
unfortunate at some point on this trip the condenser on the civic broke... oh dear no more A/C... this will be very bad in Nevada....
Currently we are being puzzled by a strange light that is shining periodically down the highway, it's very quick and bright and slightly yellow... but we have no idea what it is... potentially small explosions?
anyway with "only" 5 more hours of driving before we get to our second stop I will sign off
Keep reading for more updates and fun stories
I got a cell phone today and it has a data plan, amazing I know. This lets us do thigs like post while on the road driving... no need to worry, I am not driving currently.
we are about 472 km and 5 hours outside of New Orleans. Looks like another very long night.
Today was a wonderful driving day. We started it off by taking the Tail of the Dragon. This is a section of Highway 129 that serves as the border between Tennessee and South Carolina. As we described yesterday it has a couple of turns, It was a wonderful drive which we have on video, and will try to upload shortly.
After which we drove through South Carolina heading towards New Orleans, and the view was breathtaking. I was constantly gesticulating to Fletcher and Alex to take pictures of the scenery.
At one point we just had to stop and get out and dunk our feet into the river.
unfortunate at some point on this trip the condenser on the civic broke... oh dear no more A/C... this will be very bad in Nevada....
Currently we are being puzzled by a strange light that is shining periodically down the highway, it's very quick and bright and slightly yellow... but we have no idea what it is... potentially small explosions?
anyway with "only" 5 more hours of driving before we get to our second stop I will sign off
Keep reading for more updates and fun stories
New Challenge Added
The license plate challenge has officially been added to the challenge page! Check it out!
Leg 2 of the Trip
We're up again at some ungodly hour... not 5 am again, but still earlier than preferred in the summer.
Today we are going to hit up Tail of the Dragon, a stretch of highway that is known for it twists and turns. It is the best riding road in America and it sports an astounding 318 turns in 11 miles (or about 18 km).
Aside from this automotive adventure, we will be en route to New Orleans tonight. Yeah baby going to the "Big Easy".
Photos from Day 1 are currently being uploaded, we hope to have both days up by tomorrow.
Keep following our zany exploits fellow internet users.
Knoxville
We've landed in Knoxville only a few minutes ago. After 19 hours on the road we are all very tired but excited to have started on this amazing journey.
We have been taking many pictures and these will be uploaded to the pictures tab of the blog shortly so keep an eye out for that.
Our day started very excitingly as we crossed the border between Windsor and Detroit and were set aside for a car search. We did not have anything illegal, and so all was well but it was the first time we have been searched at the border. I have to say it was moderately efficient.
We have taken up a challenge while driving around the states. We are trying to get pictures of a license plate from each state in the US. We have gotten around 12 or so today. Alaska and Hawaii may be the most elusive, but we remain hopeful.
On the way through Kentucky we were stuck in a beautiful thunder storm that lit up the sky magnificently.
By the time we got to our hotel in Knoxville it was almost the 27th and we were all about ready to crash.
Tomorrow will be a day of sight seeing in Knoxville then we will head to New Orleans for the next leg of our trip and a new adventure.
Be sure to stay tuned for more updates as well as pictures and videos coming soon!
Best,
-The US crew, part 1.
We have been taking many pictures and these will be uploaded to the pictures tab of the blog shortly so keep an eye out for that.
Our day started very excitingly as we crossed the border between Windsor and Detroit and were set aside for a car search. We did not have anything illegal, and so all was well but it was the first time we have been searched at the border. I have to say it was moderately efficient.
We have taken up a challenge while driving around the states. We are trying to get pictures of a license plate from each state in the US. We have gotten around 12 or so today. Alaska and Hawaii may be the most elusive, but we remain hopeful.
On the way through Kentucky we were stuck in a beautiful thunder storm that lit up the sky magnificently.
By the time we got to our hotel in Knoxville it was almost the 27th and we were all about ready to crash.
Tomorrow will be a day of sight seeing in Knoxville then we will head to New Orleans for the next leg of our trip and a new adventure.
Be sure to stay tuned for more updates as well as pictures and videos coming soon!
Best,
-The US crew, part 1.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Take-Off
Well ladies and Gentlemen, We're Off
It's 5:00 AM in beautiful Toronto, and we are about to embark on our 35 day trip around the United States.
What is to follow promises to be one of the most exciting adventures we have embarked upon, and we invite you all to share in it by following our blog. Soon the pictures and videos of our trip will start being uploaded as well as regular blog posts by various members of the trip.
We will update the Map page to reflect where we are, so keep checking back because exciting things are afoot.
Adrian "Tangent" Muresan signing out for now.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Vegas Video Predrink Party Playlist
Hey all!
Since Alex is all over this music stuff, and I've requested the task of creating a video playlist for hotel predrinking in vegas, I guess I'll post that too! (I'm also just having fun with the fact that you can embed entire playlists).
**Addendum: I accidentally deleted the entire playlist, so now I'm creating a newer, BETTER one. Find it below :) Work still in progress...
Since Alex is all over this music stuff, and I've requested the task of creating a video playlist for hotel predrinking in vegas, I guess I'll post that too! (I'm also just having fun with the fact that you can embed entire playlists).
**Addendum: I accidentally deleted the entire playlist, so now I'm creating a newer, BETTER one. Find it below :) Work still in progress...
SUPA SEXY DANCE MIX CD
1. Miley Cyrus- Party in the USA
2. Black Eyed Peas- I Gotta Feeling
3. Lady Gaga- Alejandro
4. Adam Lambert- If I Had You
5. Cascada- Evacuate the Dance Floor
6. David Guetta ft. Akon- Sexy Bitch
7. Lady Gaga- Bad Romance
8. Michael Jackson- Thriller
9. Ke$ha- TiK ToK
10, Lady Gaga ft. Beyonce- Telephone
11. La Roux- Bulletproof
12. Black Eyed Peas- Boom Boom Pow
13. Lady Gaga- Poker Face
14. Ke$ha- Your Love is My Drug
15. Flo-Rida ft. T-Pain- Low
16. Lady Gaga- Paparazzi
17. La Roux- Tigerlily
18. Lady Gaga ft. Colby O'Donis- Just Dance
19. David Guetta ft. Fergie & LMFAO- Gettin' Over You
20. DJ Earthworm- United State of Pop 2009 (Blame It on the Pop)
Entire playlist link located here.
2. Black Eyed Peas- I Gotta Feeling
3. Lady Gaga- Alejandro
4. Adam Lambert- If I Had You
5. Cascada- Evacuate the Dance Floor
6. David Guetta ft. Akon- Sexy Bitch
7. Lady Gaga- Bad Romance
8. Michael Jackson- Thriller
9. Ke$ha- TiK ToK
10, Lady Gaga ft. Beyonce- Telephone
11. La Roux- Bulletproof
12. Black Eyed Peas- Boom Boom Pow
13. Lady Gaga- Poker Face
14. Ke$ha- Your Love is My Drug
15. Flo-Rida ft. T-Pain- Low
16. Lady Gaga- Paparazzi
17. La Roux- Tigerlily
18. Lady Gaga ft. Colby O'Donis- Just Dance
19. David Guetta ft. Fergie & LMFAO- Gettin' Over You
20. DJ Earthworm- United State of Pop 2009 (Blame It on the Pop)
Entire playlist link located here.
Country CD
This CD is comprised of mostly top country songs from the billboard as of July 25th.... but it also has a few favs thrown onto it.
1. Lynyrd Skynyrd- Sweet Home Alabama
2. Alan Jackson & Jimmy Buffett- 5 O'Clock Somewhere
3. Taylor Swift- You Belong With Me
4. Big & Rich- Save A Horse [Ride a Cowboy]
5. Easton Corbin- Roll With It
6. George Strait- River of Love
7. Craig Morgan- This Ain't Nothin'
8. Little White Church- Little Big Town
9. Josh Turner- All Over Me
10. Uncle Kracker- Smile
11. Billy Currington- Pretty Good at Drinkin' Beer
12. Lady Antebellum- Our Kind of Love
13. Lee Brice- Love Like Crazy
14. Jason Aldean- Crazy Town
15. Clay Walker- She Won't Be Lonely Long
16. Keith Urban- I'm In
17. Zac Brown Band- Free
18. Brad Paisley- Water
19. Jerrod Niemann- Lover, Lover
20. Carrie Underwood- Undo It
21. Luke Bryan- Rain is a Good Thing
Playlist of available songs on youtube located here.
1. Lynyrd Skynyrd- Sweet Home Alabama
2. Alan Jackson & Jimmy Buffett- 5 O'Clock Somewhere
3. Taylor Swift- You Belong With Me
4. Big & Rich- Save A Horse [Ride a Cowboy]
5. Easton Corbin- Roll With It
6. George Strait- River of Love
7. Craig Morgan- This Ain't Nothin'
8. Little White Church- Little Big Town
9. Josh Turner- All Over Me
10. Uncle Kracker- Smile
11. Billy Currington- Pretty Good at Drinkin' Beer
12. Lady Antebellum- Our Kind of Love
13. Lee Brice- Love Like Crazy
14. Jason Aldean- Crazy Town
15. Clay Walker- She Won't Be Lonely Long
16. Keith Urban- I'm In
17. Zac Brown Band- Free
18. Brad Paisley- Water
19. Jerrod Niemann- Lover, Lover
20. Carrie Underwood- Undo It
21. Luke Bryan- Rain is a Good Thing
Playlist of available songs on youtube located here.
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Texas CD
The AC/DC song doesn't really have much to do about Texas... but it does mention the state once... However, I believe the rest of this CD makes up for it.
1. AC/DC- Thunderstruck
2. Bobby Fuller Four- I Fought the Law
3. Raveonettes- Somewhere in Texas
4, ZZ Top- Sharp Dressed Man
5. ZZ Top- She's a Heartbreaker (LINK= BEST COVER EVER)
6. Sir Douglas Quintet- She's About A Mover
7. Buddy Holly - That'll Be the Day
8. Willie Nelson- Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain
9. Lyle Lovett- San Antonio Girl
10. Lyle Lovett- Daybreak (Texas Trilogy 1/3)
11. Lyle Lovett- Train Ride (Texas Trilogy 2/3)
12. Lyle Lovett- Bosque County Romance (Texas Trilogy 3/3)
13. Pat Green- Southbound 35
14. Pat Green- Goin' Down in Style
15. Pat Green- West Texas Holiday
16. Pat Green- I Like Texas
17. George Strait- All My Ex's Live in Texas
18. George Strait- Ace in the Hole
19. George Strait- Texas
20. Lyle Lovett- That's Right (You're Not From Texas)
Link to available song online playlist here.
1. AC/DC- Thunderstruck
2. Bobby Fuller Four- I Fought the Law
3. Raveonettes- Somewhere in Texas
4, ZZ Top- Sharp Dressed Man
5. ZZ Top- She's a Heartbreaker (LINK= BEST COVER EVER)
6. Sir Douglas Quintet- She's About A Mover
7. Buddy Holly - That'll Be the Day
8. Willie Nelson- Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain
9. Lyle Lovett- San Antonio Girl
10. Lyle Lovett- Daybreak (Texas Trilogy 1/3)
11. Lyle Lovett- Train Ride (Texas Trilogy 2/3)
12. Lyle Lovett- Bosque County Romance (Texas Trilogy 3/3)
13. Pat Green- Southbound 35
14. Pat Green- Goin' Down in Style
15. Pat Green- West Texas Holiday
16. Pat Green- I Like Texas
17. George Strait- All My Ex's Live in Texas
18. George Strait- Ace in the Hole
19. George Strait- Texas
20. Lyle Lovett- That's Right (You're Not From Texas)
Link to available song online playlist here.
New Orleans CD
Here is the first installment of the soundtrack I made. This probably won't be in any particular order... just whatever I feel like burning next... Enjoy!
1. The Animals- House of the Rising Sun
2. The Rolling Stones- Brown Sugar
3. Creedence Clearwater Revival - Proud Mary
4. Elf- Annie New Orleans
5. Back to the Future OST- Johnny B Goode (Link is to the Chuck Berr Original)
6. Elvis Presley- King Creole
7. Johnny Cash- Big River
8. Louis Armstrong- Basin Street Blues
9. Blind Willie Johnson - Dark Was The Night Cold Was The Ground
10. Big Joe Williams- Baby Please Don't Go
11. Billie Holiday - Love Me Or Leave Me
12. Diana Krall- Bye Bye Blackbird
13. Otis Taylor- Nasty Letter
14. Bruce Springsteen- The Big Muddy
15. Bob Dylan- Blind Willie McTell (link is to a cover... this song is hard to find on the youtubes)
16. Jon Bon Jovi- Queen of New Orleans
17. Elton John- My Father's Gun
18. Toby Keith- New Orleans (no youtube link... or anywhere legal for that matter...)
19. Green Day & U2-The Saints Are Coming
Click here for the entire playlist... minus Toby Keith....
1. The Animals- House of the Rising Sun
2. The Rolling Stones- Brown Sugar
3. Creedence Clearwater Revival - Proud Mary
4. Elf- Annie New Orleans
5. Back to the Future OST- Johnny B Goode (Link is to the Chuck Berr Original)
6. Elvis Presley- King Creole
7. Johnny Cash- Big River
8. Louis Armstrong- Basin Street Blues
9. Blind Willie Johnson - Dark Was The Night Cold Was The Ground
10. Big Joe Williams- Baby Please Don't Go
11. Billie Holiday - Love Me Or Leave Me
12. Diana Krall- Bye Bye Blackbird
13. Otis Taylor- Nasty Letter
14. Bruce Springsteen- The Big Muddy
15. Bob Dylan- Blind Willie McTell (link is to a cover... this song is hard to find on the youtubes)
16. Jon Bon Jovi- Queen of New Orleans
17. Elton John- My Father's Gun
18. Toby Keith- New Orleans (no youtube link... or anywhere legal for that matter...)
19. Green Day & U2-The Saints Are Coming
Click here for the entire playlist... minus Toby Keith....
Departure Imminent!
Hello all!
Departure for Adrian, Alexandros and Fletcher is on Monday! Soon this site will be updated constantly with stories, pictures and videos from the road. I will be joining the troop on the 1st of August and going from there!
Until Monday I'll be updating the blog with a special project of mine. I have been charged with the sacred duty of coming up with a soundtrack for the trip. I am in the process of burning CDs for each individual drive between cities, as well as some auxiliary party mixes and other things. I shall post the song lists for each CD (as well as links to a youtube video for each song) shortly after I clean my pool.
I am posting this so you too can feel like you are coming on this epic journey with us... and so that Adrian can download these songs to his mp3 device in order to also listen to them in his vehicle.
More to come!
-Alex
Departure for Adrian, Alexandros and Fletcher is on Monday! Soon this site will be updated constantly with stories, pictures and videos from the road. I will be joining the troop on the 1st of August and going from there!
Until Monday I'll be updating the blog with a special project of mine. I have been charged with the sacred duty of coming up with a soundtrack for the trip. I am in the process of burning CDs for each individual drive between cities, as well as some auxiliary party mixes and other things. I shall post the song lists for each CD (as well as links to a youtube video for each song) shortly after I clean my pool.
I am posting this so you too can feel like you are coming on this epic journey with us... and so that Adrian can download these songs to his mp3 device in order to also listen to them in his vehicle.
More to come!
-Alex
Sunday, July 18, 2010
The Challenge Page
The last of the pages is now live! The Challenge page has been added with a more specific procedure.
Access the page here.
Sorry I haven't been on the updates, but life is busy preparing for departure. Soon more than one person will be able to edit the blog. This will greatly increase posts and content.
Thanks and stay tuned!
-Alex
Access the page here.
Sorry I haven't been on the updates, but life is busy preparing for departure. Soon more than one person will be able to edit the blog. This will greatly increase posts and content.
Thanks and stay tuned!
-Alex
Friday, July 9, 2010
Calendar!
If you haven't read Yvonne's description in The Crew section, it may contain the words "dependent on structure" somewhere in there. What? It doesn't? Well there's something like that, and Yvonne has proved it true by creating a Google Calendar for our trip! The Map tab has now been changed to "The Map & Calendar" page. The calendar will get more specific as we know more of the specifics of where/when we will be places. A huge thank you to Yvonne for the set up!
Secondly, tomorrow morning there will probably be the addition of a "Challenge" tab. This will just outline in more detail what was stated in Ally's description. A link will be added to the bottom of this post.
The Map & Calendar Page
Secondly, tomorrow morning there will probably be the addition of a "Challenge" tab. This will just outline in more detail what was stated in Ally's description. A link will be added to the bottom of this post.
The Map & Calendar Page
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Camera Test #2: Underwater
Here is the final of the camera tests. I will be filming more before the trip, however all other videos will probably be even less trip related. You can find any and all videos I make here. The next blog post will be up sometime before I go to bed. Sorry for the continued delay!
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Wednesday Post
Hello all of you beautiful people.
As it turns out, I am rather tired today and shall be going to bed soon. Therefore the first city post will probably hit the blog sometime early tomorrow morning. A new video will also be posted sometime tomorrow. Sorry about the change and please stay tuned for more!
-Alex
As it turns out, I am rather tired today and shall be going to bed soon. Therefore the first city post will probably hit the blog sometime early tomorrow morning. A new video will also be posted sometime tomorrow. Sorry about the change and please stay tuned for more!
-Alex
The Camera Arrived and NEW DAILY POSTS
My new camera came in the mail today, so Fletcher and I decided to try it out. Hope you like it!
Also- starting tomorrow I will be featuring a city from the trip everyday on the blog. Tomorrow starts with Knoxville, TN. Come on back and check it out!
Also- starting tomorrow I will be featuring a city from the trip everyday on the blog. Tomorrow starts with Knoxville, TN. Come on back and check it out!
Monday, July 5, 2010
The Trip and The Map Tabs
The Trip and The Map Tabs have been updated.
Eventually we will post information on when we will be where. This way if you happen to be in the area you can come say hi and be on the internets with us. Please check out what we have so far and I'll post again when more information is available!
Eventually we will post information on when we will be where. This way if you happen to be in the area you can come say hi and be on the internets with us. Please check out what we have so far and I'll post again when more information is available!
The Crew Tab
"The Crew" Tab has been added. Click it or read everything here:
Now that you know the plan, it is time to meet the people.
Alex aka- "The Director"
Handsome, brilliant, talented, and all-around-life-champion are some of the words just used to describe Alex. When not writing trip descriptions and auto-biographical blurbs, Alex studies media and communications. Due to his vast knowledge of the field and his stockpiling of camera equipment, he has volunteered to be the trip's main videographer/photographer
/documenter/visionary. All video taken on the trip will be posted to Alex's youtube account here. All of his videos are extremely funny and cool. All trip-related videos will also be posted within the blog itself and in the Videos tab.
Sunday, July 4, 2010
The First Post!
Hello Everyone! The Trip is less than a month away, so I thought I would create this blog. Originally, I was going to design my own website, but hosting and updating would have been a pain... so here is a blogger version that will work well! Let me know what you think about the layout and background and such- I can make changes before the big day!
Today I made a rather impulsive buy of a Kodak Playsport camera. It is a 1080p HD pocket camcorder that is water resistant for up to 10ft! I expect this will help document our journey even better. Here is a picture of the camera and a link to a quality and underwater test.
Alright, well this post is mostly so I can format the fonts and colours and such, but I hope this gets you as excited as I am for our awesome US adventure! See you around!
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