Day 4 and 5 of the Road Trip: The South

The saying is true, everything is bigger in Texas including the drive. 10 hours later from leaving Las Cruces, New Mexico, we arrived in Dallas where we promptly ordered pizza to the room and flipped on the tv. Our plan for the next day was to wake up early and begin our next 10 hour drive to Alabama to Scott and Emily Hawkins' home. The next morning began well....eventful. We definitely got up ready for a day of excitement. At 7:45am I (Carly) woke up to a blaring fire alarm. Normally 7:45am would be late for me to wake up but in reality it was 5:45am since we had fallen back two hours with the time zones. Chris screamed get some sweats on and we both headed for the door. As we were headed for the door the alarm stopped. We smelled smoke but there was no fire. We called the front desk and a nice lady came up to inform us that it was just the heater. Turns out Chris was had tried to warm up the room before I got up and was trying to turn the air conditioner up but instead the heater kicked on. Since it is blazzing hot in Dallas (in the middle of summer), the heater had not been turned on for months. So, the smoke came from our own heater that definitely woke up the entire hotel. Oh well! The next event during the eventful morning was flooding the bathroom. How does one flood a bathroom, one may ask? Well it is quite easy when your shower has the streamline of a fire hose and blasts towards the wall at 100mph. After I (Carly) mopped the floor I attempted a "take two" into taking a shower by putting the shower head at toddler height in attempt to direct the water towards the drain. After successfully power-washing the bathroom floor and managing to direct some drops to get clean, we were ready to head back on the road. This leg of the trip was gorgeous. We were on the Interstate-20 East freeway for about 600 of the 638 miles for the day, however it was beautiful. The freeway was lined with lush greenery and trees. Even the rest stops were nice (especially in Louisiana!!). We got to cross the Mississippi River which was enormous and pass the football stadium for the Independence Bowl. The best part of the day was ending the day and the warm embraces from Scott and Emily in Biringham, Alabama along with a hot plate of slowly smoked BBQ ribs. So good!

Day 3 of the Road Trip: On the road again

Chris and I knew we would want to break up the trip some how so we decided to stop in wild, wild west, Tombstone, Arizona. Yes, the stomping grounds of Wyatt Earp, Doc Holiday, & the Cowboys and the battle at the O.K. Corral. With hope that this stop would be great since we love the movie "Tombstone." We traveled over red sandy rolling hills lined with cactus, with magnificent blues skies filled with cotton candy clouds. Together we imagined Wyatt Earp and Doc Holiday triumphantly riding along the desert landscape back to the OK corral after running the cowboy gang out of town. What we found was....just a rundown ghost town filled with tourist shops in the remains of the once lively Tombstone town. The grave site had been re-done with new tombstones that were meant to look old and there were tour guides (WEIRD). It ended up being an odd stop to say the least. We got back in the car, laughed and headed in to New Mexico, to the city of Las Cruces where we would be stopping for the night. Along the way we got stopped twice by U.S. Border Patrol checkpoints but were luckily released each time. Although Tombstone ended up being bust, the Mexican food in New Mexico definitely made up for it. We stuffed ourselves with Margaritas, Fajitas, Chimichangas, and Sopapillas (an awesome Mexican pastry). Definitely the best fajitas I (Carly) have ever eaten. Since there is supposedly no Mexican food in New Jersey we made sure to stock up. I am pretty sure I will have to where sweat pants for the rest of the journey.

Day 1 and 2 of the Road Trip: And so the adventure begins.....

The whole last month of August seems like a blur. 4 weeks worth of packing, 3 goodbye parties, 2 weddings, and 1 packed car later we where ready to head east on our road trip. We were fortunate enough to get to say goodbye to most of all our friends and family as well as celebrate 2 new marriages of some of our closest friends. We could not be more grateful for the wonderful send off. The first day of the trip felt a bit like a dream. We began our journey by flying from Northern California to Southern California at 6am, said final good byes at 10:00am, hopped in the car at 11:00am, and were in Arizona by 5:00pm. The weather was crazy hot......111 degrees! By the time we reached Arizona, we could not be happier to see Chris' sister Bri and brother-in-law Jake Johns. They were great hosts and showed us everything you could possibly see in Arizona (ASU, Blue Wasabi Restaurant, some shopping malls, their church, and an incredible tour of their newly purchased home in the city of Gilbert). The best part of our trip however was pedicures. All four of us sat in our comfy spa chairs and enjoyed relaxing massages and soaking.... well almost all of us. Chris had never had a pedicure and is extremely ticklish on his feet which proved to be the most horrifying/hilarious moment of our time. In the end everyone left happy and we enjoyed taco Tuesday and savored Margaritas in our last moments of rest before heading back on the road the following day. Thanks Bri & Jake!

Cali-Jerseyan

Welcome to our blog! We decided to move to New Jersey so that Chris could pursue a Masters of Divinity at Princeton. Both born and raised in California this has been a big step for the both of us. No more beaches, no more warm weather, no more friends or family, and no more In and Out. Although it has been a huge leap of faith, we both believe that this is where we are being called. It could not be better timing to embark on a great adventure. I (Carly) just graduated with my Doctorate of Physical Therapy and am preparing for my boards to begin practicing. With no kids nor mortgage, we could pick up and go see a whole new part of the country. We have created this blog to share our adventures with all of our family and friends and allow you to be part of this process. So, welcome to the journey!