Smokey Mountains

Map route

After a day of relaxing we were recharged to drive east to the Smokey Mountains. We stopped at a flea market and met some interesting people who kept asking why we were all dressed up. We continued driving along to Smokey Mt. Nat'l Park, we drove through a section of the park then stopped at the visitor center to get information on the park. We saw tons of elk and the ranger brought out an elk antler that they had to cut off when an elk rammed a car. We even got to hold the huge antlers. The park is so beautiful, bright green trees everywhere and little streams that the road winds around. We left the park because it was getting dark and stayed at an RV park in the woods down the street. The campsite was secluded and we could see tons of fireflies around the grass.

Alicia holding an elk antler

Natalie holding an elk antler



A little hiking trail at Smokey Mt. Nat'l Park

We got up and then drove to Smokey Mt. Nat'l park. We tried to drive down the Roaring Fork Motor Road but motor homes aren't allowed. We hiked to Laurel falls, a big hike for a small waterfall. We continued on the trail past the swarms of people and got to see some old growth trees. Of all of the old growth on the east coast 90% of it is in this national park. We drove through the park and to Clingman's Dome, an observatory structure that allows you to see across the park. This particular day was foggy and we couldn't see very far. We crossed the state line from Tennessee to North Carolina and left the park. We stayed in the parking lot for Harrah's in Cherokee, NC. We ate dinner at the casino and got our ID checked 3 separate times, they are pretty serious about under age gambling..



Clingman's Dome



Nick on the stateline

Nick and Natalie making their way up Clingman's Dome



Nick on the hike to Laurel Falls

In the morning we went moccasin shopping and spent the day trying to find the best deal. We found some feathers to make our headdress for Burning Man and Natalie and Nick each got a real fox face and tail. After getting our native goods we headed onto the Blue Ridge Parkway, it's a scenic byway that passes from North Carolin into Virginia and stretches for over 450 miles. The parkway is one of the most beautiful places I have seen. The trees are green and thick and the ground is dotted with wildflowers. After being on the parkway for 10 minutes I saw a bobcat run across the road. This bobcat was a reddish brown color which made me think it was a fox at first, but his bobbed tail gave him away. We stopped at various overlooks that showed the lush valley and rolling hills below. At one overlook I saw a black rat snake while taking picture of flowers and found a dead butterfly in perfect condition. We enjoyed the live butterflies that surrounded the wildflowers then drove on. Nick and I hiked Devil's Courthouse- a cliff that houses a cave, the natives believed the cave is where the devil hold court. We didn't find the cave but we did hike to the top of the cliff and overlooked our tiny motor home below and saw the mountain ranges from the surrounding states. We passed through Ashville, NC where we ate dinner at the Mellow Mushroom, a pizza place. The pizza was amazing, and the restaurant even more amazing. We sat on the outside patio that had bowling balls built into the brick walls. As we were finishing eating it started to sprinkle and we tried to hurry along so we could close the open vents in the motor home. Before we left the pizza place the sprinkle turned into a full on down pour. Natalie put her new moccasins in a bag and ran back to the motor home barefoot. By the time we got back to the motor home we were soaked and so was some things in the motor home. We did our best to dry up and then we drove along the highway and found a picnic area where we stayed the night.


Alicia- Blue Ridge Parkway

Butterfly on Blue Ridge Pkwy

When we woke up the sun was coming out so I laid out our damp shoes to dry. After we were ready to go we continued on the parkway, we stopped at a visitor center and started to hike Craggy Gardens. It was supposed to be a 10 minute hike but we came to a split in the trail and decided to head to the falls instead. The trail wound down the mountain over stumps and rocks. After hiking for quite some time we ran into a couple who told us the falls was an 8 mile hike and that it was going to rain soon. We turned back and it started to rain, thankfully not as hard as it did in Ashville. We drove to Crabtree Falls- a 2 mile relatively dry hike to an amazing waterfall. The waterfall was huge and definitely worth the hike. We headed back to the motor home and drove to the Mineral Museum where we learned about the stones that are found along the Blue Ridge. We went to Linnville falls and hiked to the overlook. We were at the top of a cliff overlooking a mountain bowl that a large waterfall collected into. All kinds of trees and plants were growing out of the cliff side creating a very beautiful picture. We slogged back up the trail then down another trail that took us to the base of the cliff and to a small sandy beach. If it hadn't been so late and overcast we definitely would have swam in the pool. After playing around the water we hiked back up and parked near the Linnville River for the night.

Natalie, Nick, and Alicia at Crabtree Falls

Alicia at Linnville Falls

In the morning Nick and I hiked more around Linnville Falls and then we drove on along the parkway. We stopped at an RV park/ water park in Hillsville, Virginia for the night. We stopped in early and spent a couple hours catching up on laundry and got pizza from the snack bar. This campground was insane! It was probably the entertainment for the whole county. They had 2 swimming pools, 1 had an obstacle course on it and the other had some small slides. There was 2 big water slides that you rode in a tube down the hill and then climbed back up the stairs to do it again. There was a catch and release lake with paddle boats and mini golf course along with an arcade, pool, and horseshoes. For $10 someone could use the park for the day. On Friday nights they do outdoor movie night with a big projection screen and Saturday nights they have karaoke in their hall. There wasn't much more we could ask for.

Linnville Falls day 2

We woke up early and got the motor home ready to go then hit the pool. We rode the 2 water slides- the cobra and the black mamba, then we swam in the pool and did the obstacle course. After swimming for a while we laid out then got ready to go. We drove to Washington D.C, and walked through the National Mall. There we saw the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, the US Capitol, and the White House. You never realize how large these structure are until you are right next to them. We decided we were going to drive to Philadelphia for the night and take a bus to New York in the morning so we tried to leave Washington D.C. and it was crazy! We turned down a street and got a ways down to an underpass where the clearance was 11'- our motor home is 11'6". There was no where to turn around and there was a huge line of traffic behind us. With our hazards on we slowly backed up about 1/8 a mile until we got to an intersection where we could turn around. We finally got to the hwy we needed to and drove towards Pennsylvania. It was getting late so we parked at a rest stop for the night. Tomorrow we will be in New York.

Alicia with the Washington Memorial

Nick at the White House

Natalie with Lincoln Memorial

Quote:
      "If you want to fly, you need to give up what weighs you down"

East Coast Living

Map route

We woke up and got our laundry taken care of before heading up the coast. We got a late start and did a lot of driving. I was beginning to get restless so we stopped in at a Starbucks to enjoy the AC and WiFi. We stayed at Starbucks for quite some time before heading on our way. A rain storm rolled in turning the sky beautiful colors of bright orange and purple. We drove just outside of Daytona Beach and called it a night.




The amazing sky near Daytona Beach, FL

We woke and drove to Daytona Beach for the day. After parking I saw a store with boogie boards for sale so we headed over to pick up one for the beach. In the store there were baby red eared and yellow bellied slider turtles for sale and they were going for cheap. The turtles are about the size of a silver dollar and we couldn't resist their cuteness. After talking with the turtle expert we decided the turtles had a pretty good chance of surviving in our motor home back across the country. I bought 2 turtles since they like company and Nick and Natalie each bought one. We were so excited with our purchases we brought our new friends to the beach to play with. We didn't stay put for long as a storm came in quickly and rained us out. We ran back to the motor home and made lunch (we definitely washed our hands to avoid salmonella from our little loves) The rain had stopped after an hour so we grabbed our new boogie board, said goodbye to our baby turtles and hit the waves. We played in the ocean body surfing and riding the waves on our boogie board. The water of the Atlantic ocean was a little colder than the Gulf, but still warm in comparison to the Pacific. After playing in the water we laid out on the beach soaking up some rays. We started to get hungry and worried about our new pets so we went back to the motor home. After cooking up some dinner we spent some time figuring out the best place for the turtles to ride and rigged up the seat belts and bungee cords to keep them safe as the motor home bumped around. We drove to Jacksonville and went to the store to find aquarium pieces for the turtles to bask on out of the water. After getting some aquarium gravel, fake rock/coral, and more turtle feed we set up their tanks and fell asleep.



Koopa and Yoshi getting their bronze on at Daytona Beach

We woke up and fed the baby turtles. My two turtles, I named Koopa (Troopa) and Yoshi after Mario, seemed to be doing the best and eating tons of turtle food. Natalie's turtle is a lot smaller than the others and hasn't eaten yet. He doesn't move around as much and just lays under water. We are worried for him, he might be sick. We drove up the East Coast to Georgia. We tried to go to Cumberland Island, a wildlife area with armadillos and alligators but we missed the last ferry by an hour so we continued up the coast. We stopped at the Hofwyl-Broadfield plantation. The plantation was built in the 1800's and was made for rice cultivation. This house stayed in the same family until 1973 when the last owner died and donated the house and land to the state. We toured the plantation home and everything that was in the home when the owner died was still there in place. There was tons of really old books, furniture from the 1800's, civil war pieces, and the owners Oldsmobile sat unmoved in the garage. We got to look around the house, the dairy farm and milk bottling shed, as well as saw the slave quarters. The plantation was surrounded by live oaks, one right next to the house was 800 years old. We stopped at a peach stand and got some fresh Georgia peaches and tried some boiled peanuts, they taste more like beans. While driving I DJed some songs that talked about peaches with lyrics like "in the teaches of peaches" "moving to the country going to eat a lot of peaches" and "peaches and cream". We drove up to Savannah and crossed over to South Carolina. I stopped to figure out where our drive would continue to. In order to save time and miles we drove south back to Georgia, then cut across Georgia towards Tennessee. We made it outside of Atlanta where we stayed for the night.



Hofwyl-Broadfield Plantation

Nick holding a sword from the Civil War
At Hofwyl-Broadfield Plantation

After waking up to Natalie's turtle still not eating and being sessile we decided to go to Petsmart for some turtle meds. We actually found an employee that we deemed the turtle master. He had 2 red eared  turtles about a year old that were doing great. He looked at Natalie's turtle and said he thought he looked fine and that his own turtles didn't eat for the first 2 weeks. They told us that these turtles need UVB light and a heat lamp on them and that Natalie's turtle was probably just really cold. We picked up the lights and set up a tanning booth for our babies. We continued on our drive to Tennessee and stopped at Ruby Falls in Chattanooga, TN. Ruby Falls is a waterfall inside a cave. We walked about a mile to the falls and ended about 1200 feet below ground. The whole thing was a lot more commercial then we thought it would be with colored lights illuminating structures and music to enhance the scene. It was still pretty cool to check out even with the theatrics. Once we were out we climbed the stairs up to the top of tower of lookout point. On clear days from lookout point you can see parts of multiple states. We drove down the mountain to an RV park and after eating some "breakfast" at a waffle shop we hung out around camp and got to see fireflies for the first time. I only saw one and Nick saw a couple buzzing around. So cool!!


Ruby Falls

A rock formation that looks like a turtle at Ruby Falls



Alicia at Lookout Point, Dolphin in the parking lot

We got a late start out of the campground and drove to Lynchburg, TN to see the Jack Daniels Distillery. We were not going to make it in time before they closed but luckily we passed into central time zone and got to the distillery 30 min before their last tour. We did the sampling tour, due to loopholes we were allowed to taste in the otherwise dry county. We got to see how the charcoal was created from burning wood with 140 proof alcohol. We went through the distillery and got to taste the yeast and corn mix from day 1 to day 5. Day 1 was sweet from the sugars and had a cornbread taste to it. Day 5 tasted more like stale beer. We saw the charcoal mellowing process and tasted the vapors of the 140 proof alcohol. We walked around the distillery and saw various buildings that were built in the beginning and the natural stream that the water for the whiskey is collected from. After the tour we sampled Jack Daniel's, Gentlemen Jack, and Single Barrel. My favorite was the Single Barrel, this particular batch had a smooth and sweet start then warmed up. The tour guide was impressed with my knowledge (I work with Jack Daniels) and pulled us aside after the tour to let us know about the cemetery up the road. Jack Daniels was buried there and he had many girlfriends. Back in the day they kept finding girls passed out in the cemetery from visiting his grave and installed 2 chairs next to his grave for multiple women to grieve on. We checked out the cemetery and the local Jack Daniels store then drove on to Nashville. We got to Nashville, TN late and parked in the city parking for the night. After getting ready to go out we walked down Broadway Street looking for a bar to hang out in. After passing up a couple bars I spotted one I wanted to check out so we crossed the street to go to a tri-level bar- The Honky Tonk. While walking to stand in line I noticed a guy in line that looked really familiar and the more I looked I realized it was (my brother) Micauly's friend Dean. At the same time I realized who he was, he realized who I was. Dean, who lives back home, was on a trip with his fraternity to Nashville for the week. After having a freak out about seeing a good friend from home we went into the bar and grabbed some drinks and caught up. The Honky Tonk bar had a band playing on each floor along with a bar on each floor. It was a really cool atmosphere, and it was packed. Dean let us know about some bars down by Vanderbilt College and we took a cab across town. The cab brought us too far from the bars and we ended up walking a mile to get to them. We hung out at Rebar and Losers & Winners then took a cab back towards our motor home. We hung out with Dean at the Omni Hotel, where he was staying, then walked back to the motor home for the night.

Nick, Natalie, and Alicia with Jack Daniel's statue

Alicia and Natalie mourning over Jack

We woke up exhausted from staying up so late, but got ready and walked to the Country Music Hall of Fame. We got to see instruments and costumes from the beginning of country music. I really enjoyed all of the costumes and their intricate detail made by Nudie. We saw Webb Pierce's car- Nudie had customized it with 1000 silver dollars, embossed leather interior and pearled guns all over the car. It was amazing. We also got to see Elvis Presley's old car and gold piano. We went into the sound booths and listened to some old country music and walked around looking at the more modern guitars and costumes. The attention to detail had not been lost on any piece. After we were done at the museum we grabbed some burgers and then went back to the motor home to get our swimsuits. Dean had given us an extra room key so we could use the pool at his hotel. He was in a meeting all day so he couldn't join us but we hung out is the rooftop hot tub and laid poolside for the day. After relaxing for a couple hours we decided we needed a real nap and went back to the motor home where we slept for the night.






Webb Pierce Car

Johnny Cash Guitar

Costumes made by Nudie



The Sunshine State, sometimes The Rain State

Map route

We spent the day at the marina RV park, swimming in the pool and catching up on laundry. After cooking some dinner we went to Frenchmen Street in New Orleans, LA. We took a taxi into town and walked along the streets. Since it was early not much was going on we stopped into some art galleries. The first shop was full of art and row after row of books. The only theme of every art piece and book was homosexuality, we giggled at all of the nudes. We continued on along the road admiring the Creole French style houses with the shutters painted in bright colors. We kept walking along, stopping in shops we found interesting. We stopped into a bar that had a patio with a water feature that had fire coming out the top. We only went in to admire the patio decorations and exited on the other side, where we found ourselves back at Bourbon Street. Things seemed a lot more calm than the day before. It was earlier than when we had gone out the previous  night but we could only assume that as it got later things would get crazier. We quickly walked back to Frenchmen Street and stopped at an art gallery that had a huge shrine "A tribute to smokers" with cigarettes hanging down with wings on them. This gallery was so cool and unique- the artist, Chris Roberts-Antieau had done a lot of embroidery and had installations that pointed out the faults in society and with technology. We stayed for a long time admiring the details of her work. We found our way to an artist district where there was vendors selling various forms of art from clothing to jewelery and paintings. I bought a tiny starfish ring made from wire. The artist used to be an electrician and he took to making jewelery and doing metal working, his real passion. Natalie bought a print of Bill Murray and Nick found a button up shirt that has Sasquatch embroidered onto it. The artist that makes the embroideries himself used to work at an embroidery factory and he said now he just sits at home and does "tons of drugs" making awesome embroideries. Some of the other t-shirts the artist had included Sasquatch fighting a shark, unicorn stabbing someone with its horn and our favorite (though we refrained from purchasing it) was a woman's shirt that had cute hearts on the shoulders and read "suck your own dick" - this guy obviously is awesome. After some convincing (not really much convincing needed) we got Nick to get his nose pierced. For the best healing results he has to wear a diamond stud for a couple months which pisses him off because he really wanted a hoop. We stopped at a cafe and got some jambalaya, red beans and rice, and crawfish etouffee. All of it was really delicious. After strolling the streets and listening to the jazz players on the sidewalks we called it a night and went back to the RV park to sleep.

Jazz band playing on Frenchmen Street



Natalie with a self portrait on Frenchmen Street Art Walk

We woke up and swam a little bit  in the pool before heading to Florida. We drove along the highway through Mississippi and Alabama to Florida. The first thing we noticed once we got into Florida is that everywhere was selling boiled peanuts, we have yet to try any but we want to before we leave the state. We drove down along the Gulf Coast. We turned down some street towards the beach but found a "utopia" country club. Everyone was riding bicycles dressed in preppy clothing. This looked like a picture from an ad for anti-depressants. Everyone wore a plastered white smiling face over their stretched tan skin. After figuring out we couldn't access any of the beaches without a membership we turned back. We picked up groceries at the Walmart in Panama City and stayed in the parking lot for the night.



Sunset along the Gulf Coast in Florida

In the morning we continued along the Gulf Coast. We came onto a beautiful white sand beach just off the hwy. Mexico Beach was picture perfect. An empty beach with crystal blue water. We swam for hours. Wearing goggles I chased schools of fish trying to catch and hold one but the fish proved faster. The water here was comfortably warm but still refreshing under the hot Florida sun. We laid out on the beach and buried Nick in the sand making him a mermaid and then into a large sea turtle. The sand here was of a consistency I have never experienced in sand. The sand was so soft and fine it felt like we were playing in powdered sugar and the sand itself was almost as white at sugar. We drove on along the coast to another beach where we cooked dinner and ran through the white sand under the almost full moon. After the stars came out we drove to Carabelle and parked for the night.



Fluffy white sand on the Florida Gulf Coast

We continued following the coastline then headed north through Tallahassee and then South East to Orlando. We stopped at Crackle Barrel- a staple restaurant for every state except for Nevada and California. We had some home cooked style southern food that made us miss our mother's homemade meals. We stayed at Turkey Lake RV Park- a campground with a large park for frisbee golf, where we put up the tent for the night. We wanted to escape the confines of the motor home- the small space along with the heat was not making for comfortable sleeping conditions. As soon as I finished the tent the dark clouds overhead let out the rain. At first a sprinkle and then full on downpour. I was really excited to sleep in the tent now, knowing I would be cold for the first time since Colorado. Natalie stood out in the rain in a bikini re-dyeing her hair and I held out the umbrella for her. We probably looked ridiculous. The weather was strange, but the hot air and the cold rain drops felt amazing. In the campground bathroom we found the largest green tree frog about the size of our palm- we had officially made it to the tropics. After staying up reading we finally called it a night. We crawled into the tent and listened to the rain pitter patter on the cover until I fell asleep worrying about snakes and alligators.



A large green tree frog in Florida

Natalie dyeing her hair in the rain- Our tent in the background

When we woke the rain had stopped and the hot air was already drying out the tent. After cleaning up camp we went to Disney World. Natalie had never been so she was ecstatic. We got our tickets to Magic Kingdom and took a ferry across the lake to the theme park. We rode rides all day- the lines were still very long for it being a Wednesday. The rain came in late afternoon and we got ponchos to stay dry. Luckily the rain didn't last too long and most of the rides are indoor. At night we watched the Electric Parade with all of the Disney Characters dancing along. We got some snacks and went to the front of the castle to watch the most amazing firework show. When the fireworks were over I grabbed Natalie's hand and ran through the crowd to Space Mountain, a ride I had yet to go on. Along the way I ran ahead of Nick and Natalie, at the ride entrance I saw a huge crowd was coming and if I waited for them it would be an hour wait before we could ride. I  made the decision to continue without them on the ride and it was amazing. The roller coaster that's in the dark with fake stars made my night. I felt like my money spent on the park ticket was well worth it. When I got off the ride Nick and Natalie were no where in sight. With my phone dead I decided I better not let the fun stop and I went on more rides for a couple hours until the park closed. I got back to the motor home to find them locked out (I had the key) and worried about me. They thought I was looking for them and though annoyed at me ditching them for fun they were happy that I was safe. :) We found a parking lot for the night and fell asleep quickly from being worn out

Natalie and Alicia about to ride the ferry to Magic Kingdom

Natalie spotting Minnie at Disney World

The next day our feet were sore from walking all day. I drove us to Clearwater Beach through Tampa. We spent the day swimming, wearing goggles to search for shells, and laying on the sandbar. The water here was not as clear as Mexico Beach but still a bright blue that contrasted beautifully with the white sand. We swam until the storm came in- darkening the sky and raining us out. We ate dinner at a restaurant right on the beach. Sitting on the patio we overlooked the setting sun and listened to the live band. After eating and a couple of drinks the rain had stopped and the clouds rolled off. We walked the beach and then drove back to Orlando to wake up early for Universal Studios.

Clearwater Beach



Alicia at sunset- Clearwater Beach, Fl



A boat in the Gulf of Mexico

At Universal Studios we rode rides and walked through the streets of Harry Potters Wizarding World. After riding roller coasters we sat down for a meal at Three Broomsticks. We ate our roasted chicken and turkey legs and drank Butterbeer (the most delicious drink ever) We went to Ollivander's Wand Shop where they picked out a wand for someone in the room. The 14 year old girl they picked was decked out in Harry Potter attire and almost cried. Her mother was tearing up for the excitement her daughter felt. It was a really cool experience to see how much this meant to the girl and her family, in fact we all felt a little emotional. We rode all of the rides in the park and were beyond soaked after the 3 water rides and tried unsuccessfully to dry out by riding rollercoasters. We left the park water soaked and with squishy shoes then headed back to our parking lot to sleep for the night.



Alicia, Nick, and Natalie at Universal Studios




Alicia, Natalie, and Nick in Dr. Sues land

We drove South to Miami Beach for a day of relaxation. After driving around for quite some time we found parking that would fit the motor home. This is an issue we have continued to have in larger cities. Most parking is in garages that will not fit the height of our 11'6" motor home. We had to find a parking lot near an outside shopping strip that was a bit further from the beach. We planned to lay on the beach but got distracted by the shops and spent the day dragging Nick around to beach shops. When it got late we drove into Miami city through the freshly rain flooded streets and parked for the night.

In the morning Nick and Natalie were hoping for a day of doing nothing but I had other ideas. I drove us east to Everglades Nat'l Park where we hiked along the swamps and canopy of trees. We saw our first alligator in the swamp swimming along. After a couple minutes he sank down deep under the water and we walked along. Natalie spotted an alligator laying right next to the walkway under the trees. We watched him and he watched us. He just laid there about 5 feet away from us. It was pretty scary being that close to such a large predator. Next to the gator in the water was a smaller one just laying in the shallows also watching us. We stood there taking pictures and being cautious about the huge reptiles. Seeing the alligators completely made our trip. We would have been pretty bummed if we hadn't found any while in Florida. There was tons of wildlife from brightly colored grasshoppers the size of our palms, turtles, and birds. We continued along to other hikes where we got eaten alive by mosquitoes and are probably now infected with West Nile. We ran one trail to stay away from the blood suckers. We drove through the park to the ocean at Flamingo Beach, an area that was once heavily populated by Flamingos but now seeing them is rare. We didn't see any Flamingos sadly so we drove on to Ft. Lauderdale. We planned to take a ferry in the morning from Ft. Lauderdale to the Bahamas but the prices kept fluctuating every time we looked and eventually the cheapest we could find was $200 a person which wasn't something we could justify. We stayed at an RV park and on our way to the pool I almost stepped on a baby python. Thank god I didn't see it otherwise I would have cried. Natalie saw it and watched it slither away through the grass. This was the first and only snake siting we saw, thankfully. After a day of reptiles we relaxed by swimming in the pool. When we got out I read a "children's" book There's a Hair in my Dirt: a worm story by Gary Larson of Farside cartoons. This isn't really a children's book and was hilarious. I bought it at the Nat'l Park and couldn't put it down. I read the short story out loud sharing the pictures like elementary school. We then watched Counselor- an action movie that was funny and gory and left us with a WTF did we just watch. We realized it was now 3:30 am and climbed into our beds for the night.

Nick hiking through the Everglades

Large cricket in the Everglades



Butterfly with broken wing in Everglades

Bird hunting for lunch

Alligator swimming through the swamp

Alligator laying in the water, keeping his eye on us

Quote:
      "Maybe the journey isn't so much about becoming anything. Maybe it's about unbecoming everything that isn't really you, so you can be who you were meant to be in the first place."

Country Fever

Map Route

Nick catching his breath at the top of Enchanted Rock

After looking at Texas' capitol we drove from Austin toward San Antonio. We drove along Texas Hill Country road with our first stop being Pedernales Falls State Park. We walked out to look at the falls and then went to the swimming area. After being in the hot motor home we were looking forward to some refreshing water. We were sadly disappointed to find that the water was lukewarm. The river felt more like bath water, which I'm sure would be nice at night but not in the scorching noon sun. We paddled around the murky waters then continued on to LBJ state park. By the time we got there the park center was closed but we followed the map and drove around looking at the living history barn and church. We made our way to the Enchanted Rock State Park. The park is for the rock formations, the largest rock of entirely pink granite. We followed the path through overgrown bushes, cactus, and flowers to the base of the mountain. Natalie and I, naively in flip flops, hiked to the summit. The hike was very steep. Ominously, vultures circled over us as we neared the summit. The mountain seemed to be getting more steep with each step, we came over a ridge to find a dozen vultures sitting and watching us. Luckily we pulled through and the view was worth it. The sun was setting over the valley which created more of a pink glow on the granite. The rock is said to be enchanted because there is a buzzing noise at the top from the mass contracting and expanding. We laid on the top and felt the earth around us, listening to the buzz of "spirits".  We got up and hiked back down before it got pitch black and wandered our way back to the motor home for the night.

Enchanted Rock

Pink granite of Enchanted Rock

In the morning we woke up and drove to the Museum of Western Art in Kerrville, there they had life size iron sculptures of cowboys and horses outside with miniature ones inside. We walked around looking at all of the country paintings, stagecoach wagons, and horse saddles. We then drove on to the Lost Maples State Park. This is an area where Maple trees grow because the park is shaded by canyon walls and river runs through providing water for the maples. We walked down the Maple Grove along the river. After a quick hike we drove to Garner State Park, we only drove through to see tons of people camping and floating in the Frio (cold) river. We didn't have enough time to stay as we were trying to make it to Houston. We drove on and through Bandera, the cowboy capitol of Texas. Sadly no hot cowboys were waiting in the streets for us, so we continued through to San Antonio. In San Antonio we went to the Alamo and then did the famous River Walk. the sidewalk follows along with the river on one side and restaurant on the other. It was really cool thing to see, there were a lot of people and there were river tour boats going by. We left and headed upstairs back to the main street level. We drove to Houston, all while watching a lightening storm that lit up the whole sky. The lightening crackled across the sky looking like a root system. In Houston we parked and slept for the long drive.

Alicia and Natalie at the Alamo

Indian sculpture at the Museum of Western Art

Natalie and Nick on the River Walk in San Antonio, TX

4th of July!!! We left Houston early and drove to Galveston, TX- an island in the Gulf of Mexico we reached by bridge. We somehow found free parking and made our way to the beach which was packed for the fourth of July. We claimed a piece of white sand and made our way to the brown, seaweed infested waters. The water was cool and refreshing as we swam and body surfed the small waves. After laying out to dry off we took the ferry across back to the mainland. We drove to Louisiana, the highways are mainly bridges over swamps. We drove through Baton Rouge, one of the more green city we have seen (from tons of trees). We made it into New Orleans, and after getting lost down some road by the train tracks we were beginning to feel uneasy. Where we had accidentally drove to looked like a movie set for a rape/murder/ torture road, one where nobody would find our bodies for a month at least. After redirecting ourselves we made it far away from the creepy zone and to the campground. The campground, Pontchartrain Landing, is on the marina, and had their own fireworks display that we saw go off over the Pontchartrain Lake. We took a cab to Bourbon Street to experience the night life and boy were we out of our element. The first thing you notice when walking up the street is the mass amounts of people and the crazy things they're doing (not as much flashing going on as I'd had imagined) then the smell hits you. There was a constant smell of shit all the along Bourbon Street, but the smell changed as you went along to more of a pee smell, then more of a vomit smell, to more of a rotten food smell. This was not a smell any normal person could get used to. We walked the streets trying to avoid running into all of the people and not step in small puddles of mystery brown liquid. This time it was Nick and I that had wore sandals which is not something I would suggest to anyone. We went inside Bayou Burgers for bite. We got Gator Traps- deep fried alligator with jalapeno cheese, and the ultimate hamburger that had a grilled cheese bacon sandwich within it. We continued along the streets, I honestly didn't feel comfortable enough to drink anything because I felt hyper aware of everything going on around. When we made it to a cross street we decided to turn back and walk the other direction. We had made it 20 feet before we saw a wall of people barreling towards us. Like the Lion King we were about to get ran over by a stampede. Everyone was screaming and you could see pure fear in their eyes, something that reflected back in ours. One girl yelled into my face that there were gunshots and we needed to get out of there. We turned and ran as fast as we could so we didn't get trampled to death. We made it to the crossroad and turned, some girl grabbed mine and Natalie's arms and pulled us to the side. She said to calm down and that nothing was going on. She had lived there forever and goes to Bourbon Street all the time and she said this was a regular occurrence. She said that we shouldn't run and just step out of the way unless we actually hear the gunshots. This wasn't really an option for us, if we had tried to move out of the way we would have been knocked down just like the homeless man that was cowering on the ground covering his dog. My heart had finally stopped pounding and the crowd had cleared so we made our way back down the street. After the stampede tons of policemen were out riding their horses, we came along a huge group of people bunched together. We didn't know what was going on in the middle, but a police officer riding a horse rode through the group with the horse swaying back and forth to break the group up. When this happened it created a lot of commotion people screaming again and jumping out of the way of the horse and other people. In this process my foot got smashed by a large man and I was officially done with New Orleans. We caught a cab back home and called it at night at 12am. I can honestly say I will never go back to Bourbon Street as the craziness is a normal thing there, I cannot imagine what Mardi Gras is like. Tomorrow we will got to Frenchmen Street- a place where locals go that is "very calm" and more artsy with live Jazz music. Hopefully we won't get trampled.

Alicia and Natalie on Bourbon Street

Bayou along Hwy 10 in Louisiana

Quote:
       "The wish to travel seems to me characteristically human: the desire to move, to satisfy your curiosity or ease your fears, to change the circumstances of your life, to be a stranger, to make a friend, to experience an exotic landscape, to risk the unknown."