Final Destination: Palo Alto, CA

We made it to California safe and sound. We had to go through a sort of "agricultural customs" when we entered CA and Graham had to get out and open up the back of the truck to assure them that we were not bringing any plants or produce into the state. The customs woman asked Graham all sorts of questions about our living situation in Blacksburg and when he asked why this made a difference she said something about Virginia being some sort of Moth state and that they eat the oaks, so she was assessing the risk. Kind of interesting.

Tomorrow we will be unloading all of our stuff into a Storage unit. That will probably be a long and tiring day, but we will finally rid ourselves from the moving truck. I'm definitely suffering from some homesickness and I think it will take a little while for me to adjust to the whole idea of being a Californian.

Our homestead for the time being. Bobby and Ethel Newell's place.

We plan on keeping up with the blog, but it will be on a much less frequent basis. Probably whenever we do something fun. We love and miss everybody!

Graham and Niki

Destination 6: Las Vegas

Sorry it took us so long to post, but they wanted to charge us for internet in Vegas, so we decided to hold out and then it's just been busy ever since.

Well we weren't able to see the Hoover Dam because it was prohibited for Trucks and Trailers to pass over it due to construction (although it seemed like a security issue when Graham listened to the recorded message) but, we arrived in Las Vegas a little bit before 2pm (although it was hard for us to really know with all of the different time changes we went through and Arizona not doing daylight savings...). We had to park our Truck in a lot a block away from our hotel because the Truck wouldn't be able to fit in a parking garage. When we were parking a security guard came up to us and said that we weren't really allowed to park there, and that moving trucks get stolen all the time and it wasn't a good idea. When we asked him for some other ideas of where to park our car he said he didn't have any ideas. After some back and forth conversation he said it would be O.K. for us to park there for one night but that we would have to move in within 24 hours. However, I was still a nervous wreck after the whole "moving trucks get stolen all of the time" comment and it took Graham a long time of trying to convince me that there wasn't anything else we could really do.

So we checked into the Golden Nugget Hotel and Casino which was REALLY awesome, and I would recommend this hotel to anybody. They had a huge pool area with a 200,000 gallon shark tank in the middle with a water slide running through the middle of the tank. Then our room was huge and the bed was extremely comfortable AND we could see our truck from the hotel window....so that helped calm my nerves some.

We had a great time in Vegas even though gambling is not really our thing. It's pretty much like Times Square with lots going on and bright lights everywhere. I loved it. Unfortunately, you aren't allowed to take pictures in Casino's...so there aren't any pictures of that. You'll just have to go to Vegas and see for yourself.


The Freemont Street entrance of our Hotel.


Guess the Celebrity in the ball cap. He was hosting a charity poker event at the nugget.


Us at Caesars Palace


The "New Strip"


Picture of the New York, New York Hotel. This whole building is one hotel that is a replica of the New York skyline. Unbelievable.


Daytime shot of the Luxor Hotel.

I was fairly confident that night before I went to bed that our truck would indeed be there in the morning, but I still managed to have a few nightmares about it. Unfortunately, the bed was so comfortable that I never did get up to check. Luckily, our things were there in the morning and there was no need to worry.

Destination 5: The Grand Canyon

Hi Guys-It's Niki again. After a good nights sleep (our last hotel had tempurpedic beds) we we're back on the road and headed for the Grand Canyon. It was quite a site to see, but I was a nervous wreck when Graham got to close to some of the edges without railings. Even Graham said if we ever came back here with Kids, he would probably put them on a leash (which in every other situation we disagree with) and not bring their mother because she would worry to much.













If I could do the Canyon all over again, the one thing I would want to do would be to ride the mules down into the Canyon...so keep this in mind if you plan on visiting the Grand Canyon. After hanging out at the Canyon we headed back to Williams, AZ where are hotel was located on Route 66 and got a bite to eat at a diner. The area looked exactly like what you would expect historic Route 66 to look like, with lots of motels and cheesy restaurants. The diner that we went to had a huge grill outside where they cooked the food. It made the whole town smell good!




Diner food!


Under the Route 66 sign

Tomorrow is the Hoover Dam and Vegas! Last stop before San Francisco.

p.s.
Amy, here is the picture of the inside of the truck.

Destination 4: New Mexico

Dear Journal,

It's me again...
I'm just kidding, but I finally distracted Niki long enough so that I could do some blogging. Hahaha, I am so funny in my own mind...

Anyway, we left Amarillo, TX early this morning on our way to New Mexico. We left a little late but luckily the time change made up for that (at least it did in my mind). The change from Texas to NM was simply amazing. Texas was boring New Mex was amazing, end of story. No but seriously, Texas was totally flat but as soon as we crossed the NM state line things started popping up... like tumble weed on the windshield and other cool things like mountains.


Our first stop was about 2 1/2 hours west of Amarillo in Santa Rosa, NM. We were looking for a place called "Blue Hole"... Long story short, we found it.



It was a lot of fun for a hole in the ground. (Check out Niki jumping)

It wasn't all fun and games at the blue hole, however, there was also tragedy...
I left my freakin' sun glasses and new Hat on the car trailer as we pulled away. Only to remember 30 miles later down the road. It was quite sad and unfortunately Niki gave them both to me as birthday gifts. But you can't drive across the country without sunglasses, so, without further ado... the replacements:


Niki says they make me look ridiculous- she's still a little shook up about it all so if you're going to mention my new sunglasses to her make sure you call them "the replacements"-Thanks, The Management.

After leaving Blue Hole we headed north to Santa Fe and stopped for lunch just north of there. It was absolutely amazing "old Mexican" food (place called Gabrielle's), which is exactly like the Mexican you're used to but when in New Mexico that stuff's old Mexican. Any way we sat out side and the view was spectacular (so were the margaritas).


We then headed strait off for Bandalier National Monument near Los Alamos. I know that I've finally grown up because today I really enjoyed a national park. It was quite cool-check it out for yourself:


(Niki would not take a picture of me strait-on with my new 'ridiculous' glasses)


(These are all holes where people used to live...crazy)



(Getting friendly with the locals) (By the by, just before we spotted this fine deer and his/her friends-which numbered 3 in all-we saw the fattest squirrel in the world, and, just before that I mentioned to Niki how surprised I was at the lack of wild life in Bandalier... go figure)

After spending some time at Bandalier we headed further west for Jemez National Monument which happened to be closed, so we continued on to Albuquerque. We were feeling pretty tired so this was not such a bad idea.

We ended up going to a really sketch restaurant for dinner. But it was recommended and in the Old Town (only about a mile from our hotel). The guy built the place himself and it was adobe style unfortunately we have no pictures of this so use your imagination. However, he was the only one working in the entire establishment as he paid almost no attention to us the whole meal. But then he would not let us leave... yeah, creepy. He kept wanting to show us around his place. After we finally escaped we made it back to the hotel and we're ready to get a good night's sleep.

Adios,
Graham and Niki

Destination 3: Amarillo, TX

Hi guys. Thanks for all of the comments. They are really fun to read and help me feel more in touch with you guys.

Per Amy Newell's request, below is a picture of the truck and car. We'll take a picture of the inside of the truck the next time we open. But we had more than enough room for our few belongings. And here I can also give thanks to my brother, Sarah, Chief, and Amy who helped us load the truck in what felt like minutes. I went to get a lock and some beer and I come home and the truck was packed. Thanks a bunch guys!


Well, today was filled with a lot of driving. We drove through the rest of Arkansas (we stayed in W. Memphis, AR on our last stop), all of Oklahoma, and half-way through the Texas pan-handle. It took us about 12hrs. in all including all of our stops. It was a pretty uneventful and boring trip as there isn't really much to look at in all of Arkansas, Oklahoma, or Texas. We we're running low on gas in Texas and decided to get off and get gas at the lone gas station. $4.99/gal for 86 octane (most pumps are 87)! That was just crazy so we just put in 10 gallons until we could get to Amarillo where our hotel was. In Amarillo it was $3.77/gal so I am glad that we didn't fill the truck up for $4.99. We arrived at our one destination today around 8pm to the "Big Texan Steakhouse". The place is really gaudy and we saw our first sign for the "Big Texan" back in Arkansas which was probably about 500 miles from the restaurant! Well when we arrived the place did not disappoint and everything really is bigger in Texas. Our steaks were delicious and we even watched someone attempt and succeed at eating the 74oz. steak, one roll, salad, and side in under an hour. I believe he finished with15 minutes to spare. Surprisingly the restaurant didn't make a big deal out of it. I guess they don't like giving away all that food for free. Well below are some pictures with captions to help you get a feel of "The Big Texan".


The Motel at Big Texan. Looks old school and like a prop, but it is a functioning Motel.



Gigantic Bull outside of the restaurant. Who could resist?


Graham got a beer in a boot. He thought it would be a cool souvenir...but the boot is plastic. Probably going in the trash soon.


My margarita. Garnished with a jalapeño pepper. Only in Texas.


A View of the Big Texan dining room. It was pretty crowded for a Tuesday night.


The stranger trying to eat all of his food.


Graham's meal. 16oz steak. Try to imagine how you would ever eat a steak over 4x that big and all of the sides.


After dinner we went to take a picture in the "Big Chair". There were already some British women sitting in it laughing hysterically...so we had to take a pictures. They were hilarious to watch.


Our turn in the big chair


Talk about everything is bigger in Texas. Check out those feet!


Night-time view of "The Big Texan"

We have another big day planned ahead of us for tomorrow. We'll be doing a little loop in New Mexico to see some neat land formations. Hopefully we'll have some more good pictures to post!

Destination 2: Memphis, TN

Well, it didn't take us very long to get from Nashville to Memphis, but we only had the afternoon since we have to leave early next morning. The first thing we did was go to eat an early dinner at A&R BBQ. This was quite an experience. First of all when we were ordering our sandwiches, I asked for a regular pork sandwich. Then she looks and me and goes "hotormiled". I look at her quizzically and say "what" and she responds "hotormiled". Then I just look at her with raised eyebrows and she says again "hotormiled". I look over at Graham for some help and he just looks at me like "I have no idea". So she tries one more time and goes HOT or MILD. Then I ask how hot is hot and she suggests I do a mix (I later find out I could have handled hot). I was completely embarrassed and felt like a total outsider, but we enjoyed our genuine Memphis BBQ nonetheless.

During our meal you could hear this thump, thump back in the Kitchen. It was a meat cleaver cutting up the meat for the sandwiches. Good to know it's fresh (I guess), but it was one step away from convincing me to be a vegetarian. I don't really like to think about what "meat" is.

After dinner, we headed to Graceland to see the home of Elvis Presley. We're not the biggest Elvis fans, but many people told us we had to do it. Unfortunately, it was closed when we got there so we just got the one picture.

Finally, we headed down to Beale St. We drove around downtown Memphis for a little bit to see if there was anything else we wanted to see, but most things were closed (I guess Monday is not a popular tourist day). So we found FREE parking on Beale St. and headed down to hear some live music.

We stopped in to the first restaurant you see on the left of the picture. Cafe. There we were able to hear a Johnny Cash cover band. They were pretty good and he sounded a lot like Johnny Cash. It reminded me of my Dad since he's seen "Walk the Line" probably 40 times and listens to Johnny Cash in his truck all the time.

After that we went to B.B. King's restaurant/bar and listed to another band for awhile.

They played all original music and were really good. Unfortunately, it was pretty dark in there so we couldn't get a good picture. After that we headed back to our hotel in West Memphis, AR because we have a 10 hour drive tomorrow to Amarillo, TX.