I heart FL outfits...A Special Thanks to Misty & Ben
Jason, Joanna, Katie, & Karl
Table Tennis World Championship
Best damn Greek food in Alamaba
Katie Gallaher
Brother Steve
Stephanie, Tad, & Lola in Kansas City
Grand Lake Colorado
Canyon Lands
Grand Canyon
The Rosen Twins at the Santa Monica Pier
Karen & Katie Santa Monica
We made it to Mexico without the car exploding (that happened later to Claire)!
Thank you to everyone along the way who put us up, fed us, entertained, provided booze, etc. We really do appreciate it and would love to return the favors...So COME TO NEW ZEALAND AND VISIT US!!!
Our road trip was great, we over packed, but hey, we were prepared. We did manage to hit all the major cities at rush hour so we could get what my dad calls, "the full effect." This occured in Atlanta, St. Louis, and best of all... Los Angeles. (No wonder they have drug problems in Califonia.) I maintained a high level of paranoia about the cargo shell flying off the top of the car and visualized mittens and underwear flying down the highways.
Birmingham, Alabama was our first stop. I drove nearly the whole way. I think mostly because it made me feel like I was getting further away from the movers. I'll save the story of the movers and 70 year old diabetic with a bread truck for another day. Anyway, Birmingham is awesome southern city. Joanna and Jason had scoped out all the great restaurants and shops in less than two months of living in the area. Suprisingly good Greek food, who'd a thunk it? The Civil Rights Museum was sort of a bust for those us who know the main points. I was expecting more details and artifacts. Less elementary school feild trip orientation. Joanna and Zeke and Katie talked about old college days in Gainesville, God's Country.
Kansas City and Overland Park, Missouri and Kansas, we think...
We had a grand time visiting with both Steve, Cindy, and Katie who showed us the best BBQ a gas station has to offer and what midwesterners do on hot summer days. They head to the water park of course! (and then to watering holes I believe)
Stephanie, Tad, and Baby Lola also call the mid west home. Steph and Tad showed us that high art and gourmet cusine exits in what I thought to be the hinter lands of our nation. Lola showed us that, yes you can eat ALL day and be charming, so long as the next bottle is close at hand.
Grand Lake, Colorado was wonderful...again. That sure is a chill place. Nice hikes, nice weather, really good beer & brats, and execellent napping in the afternoons. Kathy & Gary have got it made out there. On our way out we mised a turn and ended up driving through a gorgeous national park west of Rocky Mountian National Park. What a great mistake, it cost us nothing in time and we got to take in some beautiful mountain views.
Our trip through the desert led us through Moab, Utah, the Canyon Lands, Monument Valley, and the Navajo Nation. Unreal.
We stayed in Flagstaff, Arizona at the Hotel Monte Vista, historic and charming in the heart of downtown. This is Karl's undergrad college town. I dig it. We toured the Reardon Mansion to check out the Craftsman architechture. From there we drove to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Holy tourist trap nightmare... way to blow it America. Anyway, there is more Craftsman architechture up there in the shape of the El Tovar. We did enjoy it, you just have to step away from the tourist areas and not push anyone into the big hole. I thought about it. Karl advised against.
Kingman, Arizona Baby! I finally got to see the town where Karl was raised and the house in which he grew up. I also finally got to meet some of his hometown friends and here stories about him being a dumb teenager for a change. His physics/drama teacher, Tom Jennings, even pulled out some old photos for the "full effect." Very much appreciated.
From Kingman we drove through hell. No seriously, there is nothing but death and heat in between Arizona and Los Angles. Nothing, until you suddenly find youself in the middle of the worst drivers, in the worst traffic out of literally nowhere. This is when I decided Karl should drive, because he had afterall lived in Califonia during his formative years of birth to three years old, thus making him far more experienced in L.A. traffic. We had arrived alive at Aunt Maggie and Uncle Johns where we were welcomed with open arms and forced to eat large amounts of delicious Palestinian food. Their pet pigeon looked like he needed to call Janny Craig, so who knows how much baklava the poor bird is eating. Katie Issa put us up at her place as well as Claire, who joined us for the trip down to Casa Rosen, Mexico. We met Ms. NYC Karen Coviello at the Santa Monica Pier for beers and grub.
The last leg of the raodtrip was bitter sweet in no way. It was just plain sweet. We knew we had made it at this point. No more switching drivers, no more scary rueben sandwiches in western Kansas that sounded like a good idea and looked like a GI upset waiting to happen, no more audio books with a CD missing in the middle, no more Driving through the Desert!! Horray! I even got to go to an IKEA store for the very first time. (Thanks Claire, that was fun!)
To see more of our fun roadtrip pictures just click on the following link:
http://picasaweb.google.com/dr.karlrosen/Roadtrip?authkey=HGIT2G7wSkU
